August 2015

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August 2015

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Dear Readers,

I’ve had the privilege to be guest co-editor of this August’s NewGen magazine, and I was astounded by the breadth and depth of articles that NewGen offers - from politics, social issues and opinion pieces, there really is something for everyone. I also was lucky enough to experience the annual ACF Street Party on 2nd August, and it was a fantastic day with beautiful weather (no rain)! Of course this event would not have been possible without the support of the community, neighbours and local shops. A big thank you to everyone involved.

This issue of NewGen includes some fantastic articles covering current issues in the news such as terrorism from a youth perspective (page 5-6), the Prevent strategy (so if you’re interested in law, government or politics give it a look on page 7-8) and the Calais migrant crisis (page 9). It’s the perfect issue to get your mind going again after a long summer break.

On page 14-15, Richard gives us an insight to the value of education, and how the system can be improved, whilst Alice looks at how class divides affect university selection on page 20. But if science is more your topic then make sure to check out the two articles on pages 16-19 which cover the Big Bang Theory and biomedical science.

MB has chosen to address the topic of women’s representation in the media and advertisements, and how these ads and ideas shape our views, while Sofia wonders how the perception of others affects young women’s everyday lives.

Here at ACF we like to encourage young people to challenge themselves and on page 21 Nadia reviews the highs and lows of the MyBnk workshop which took place at our centre in July, and let a group of young people experience the practicalities of running their own business.

By the way Hamza, thank you for your article in the July issue of NewGen on universities vs. apprenticeships which was mis-titled and mis-labelled. To everyone who enjoyed the article, it was courtesy of Hamza Abdulwahi.

Good luck with the new school year, happy reading and thank you for giving me an insight into what topics and subjects interest young people in the UK.

453 Lea Bridge Road, London E10 7EA Tel: 020 8279 1258 E: enquiries@activechangefoundation.org Web: www.activechangefoundation.org An electronic copy of this magazine can be found on our website.

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Chief Excecutive Hanif Qadir: hanif@activechangefoundation.org

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Chief Editor Fatima Lahnait: fatima@activechangefoundation.org

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Guest Editor: Sara Phillips

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Contributors: M. B., Ayush Bhuttoo, Bertrand Dowuona, Nadia Najah Hussain, Sofia Mahmood, Sara Phillips, Narayan Ramji, Alice Roder, Richard Yeboah, Nazim Yousaf

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Head of Communication and Media Shafiul Islam: shaf@activechangefoundation.org

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Pictures: Outreach Team

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Cover Picture: Hamza Abdulwahi

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Printed by: FOZ Designs Ltd, hello@fozdesigns.com

The New Gen Magazine is printed in Great Britain for the Active Change Foundation, by FOZ Designs Ltd. All rights of translation and reproduction reserved. All articles and images in this magazine are under the exclusive copyright of the Active Change Foundation.

Sara, The Aussie

CONTENTS 5.

Thinking About The Perception Of The Terrorist Threat By Young People

7.

Prevent And Channel

9.

10.

An Introduction To The Representation Of Women Through Time

11.

Do You Recognize Me

12.

14.

The True Potential Of Education

16.

History Of the Universe

18.

19.

22.

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How Much Does A Class Divide Shape Further Education For Our Generation?

20.

Go On- Mind Your Own Business!

21.

What Is The Calais Migrant Issue?

Events at ACF

Not All Heroes Wear Capes Cinema: Visionaries Born Or A Slow Decline In Cultures

A Life Changing Work Experience www.activechangefoundation.org

August 2015

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August 2015

Thinking about the perception of the terrorist threat by young people

By Narayan Ramji

A bomb goes off in a populated town centre, there’s a mass shooting on the beach, a siege in office buildings in the capital. Since the 9/11 terrorist attack, the UK threat level, as shown on the MI5 website has oscillated from substantial (an attack is a strong possibility), to severe (an attack is highly likely). A significant development for this level of threat has been globalised terrorism, which emerged prominently after the end of the cold war, with improvements in global communications and technology. A globalised world produced global terrorism. With that said, how are young people supposed to make sense of these situations? How should terrorists and their accompanying threat be perceived?

Critically quite frankly!

Sidetracking to the psychology of perception for a moment, research in the field indicates that perception is an active process. ‘The process of arriving at a conclusion in which people develop their own version of reality based on the information received through the five senses’.

In addition, what people perceive and how they perceive, are greatly influenced by past experiences, education, cultural values, and roles requirements. As a consequence perception is subjective, based on the assumptions and preconceptions of an individual. A few simple optical illusions illustrate the subjective nature of perception below; how well do your powers of perception fair.

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Briefly summing up, cognitive psychology presents three useful pitfalls that can help young people better perceive the terrorist threat. We tend to perceive what we expect to perceive; new information is added on to existing images; mindsets, thinking in certain ways, tend to be quick to form but resistant to change. By becoming aware and understanding these common errors in the our thought processes, it allows us, as young people, to be more critical and arrive at better conclusions, with all the information thrown our way in this globalised age of mass digital communication. So what are the general sources of information for young people when it comes to terrorist threats?

The television, internet and social media in particular are the main sources for information of the youth of today. According to a YouthNet research survey, taken as part of the ‘European Digital Youth Information Project 2010 (on the theme of online information for young people), on average respondents spent more than four hours a day online. Four plus hours is a significant amount! Establishing that, the online medium portrays a vast array of information

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August 2015

on the terrorist threat from both sides of the fence for young people. On the one hand, there is the mainstream online news providing ‘fast news’ and live coverage of terrorist threats on television. The traumatic scenes of these attacks such as, the 7/7 London bombings in 2005, the recent Charlie Hebdo siege, and triple terrorists attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait, normally provide western take on events similarly repeated throughout most online and television outlets. On the other hand, social media sites provide opinionated viewpoints from live tweets to blogged articles, and Facebook status updates from the millions of users, including accounts from official sources as well as those from terrorist organisations and their supporters.

Keeping in mind the three common pitfalls in perception mentioned earlier, we as young people need to be more actively aware and critical when absorbing this information. A great example is David Cameron’s extremism speech in Birmingham in July, where he claimed ‘what we are fighting, in Islamist extremism, is an ideology’.

With many of the mainstream news channels reiterating this point, it can cause the creation of a mind-set which stigmatizes Muslims. Particularly, with images of Muslim terrorists, such as Jihadhi John, Al-Qaeda holstering Islamic flags, and terrorists shouting arabic utterances, this may colour young people perception of terrorist threats. Linking Islam and terrorism together, may prove to be counter-productive and missing the real issue. There are other extremist ideologies that exist, the Buddhist 969 movement or KKK for example, Should we really perceive Ideology as the problem?

questions. However thinking on these lines brings us closer to perceive in a clearer way, than accepting the repeated rhetoric thrown at us through various channels whether online or elsewhere. Instead, pointing to Ideology as the problem, Prof Andrew Silke – a counterterrorism specialist and advisor of the Cabinet Office and the UN – says research shows that people are drawn to terrorism more because of “identity issues” than ideology. He explains; “Why would anyone want to take their family to Syria to join Islamic State?” he asked. “Nobody is going to say they are doing it to join the most evil movement that has ever existed. So you need to see it more in terms of how they see themselves and how they see the world. Then you can see the incentives to join and realistic obstacles to them doing it.”

Exploring the greater debate of the terrorist threat from different angles, will help young people to shed rigid mind-sets as new information assimilated adds on to existing images and forms the bigger picture. By this, what young people expect to perceive of the terrorist threat - the image that comes to mind when you think of a terrorist - can change with a critical outlook, by being more aware of our thought process and the pitfalls in perception, young people can begin to question where these images come from, and why they stick. So in essence when it comes to complex political assessments, be critical and question vigilantly.

A better way to discern the terrorist threat could be to take an empathetic step in their minds.

Why do terrorists commit these violent atrocities?

What convinces young people to run away and to join ISIL or other terrorist factions? Is ideology to blame? There are no clear answers to these NewGen 6

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August 2015

Prevent & Channel

By Sara Phillips

What is it?

Channel is one of the components of the Prevent agenda, which is one of the four P’s of Contest, the national Counter-Terrorism Strategy: “Prepare for attacks, Protect the public, Pursue the attackers and Prevent their radicalisation in the first place.” Hence the goal of Prevent is to stop individuals in the UK becoming involved in terrorism and as a result reduce the threat of terrorism in the UK. Whilst Prevent aims to address all terrorism, it does prioritise different threats according to the current climate, so it mainly focuses on the threat of ISIS and Al Qaida, as well as the far right. The Channel guide outlines three strategic objectives: “i. respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it; ii. prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support; iii. work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.” The strategy defines extremism “as vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.”

Channel uses a multi-agency approach which involves cooperation between local authorities, statutory partners, the police and local community.

The programme has three stages: identifying the individual, assessing their risk and vulnerabilities, and then developing a support plan for them. It is aimed at both children and adults, as both have proven to be at risk of radicalisation and becoming involved in extremism.

however some of the factors can be peer pressure, influence from other people or via the internet, bullying, crime against them, involvement in crime, anti-social behaviour, family tensions, race/hate crime, lack of self-esteem, identity and personal or political grievances. Some of the organisations in contact with potentially vulnerable individuals who make the referrals are social services, the education sector, health, children’s and youth services, offender management services and community organisations.

There are three criteria the Channel panel assess the individual by; engagement with a group, cause or ideology; intent to cause harm; and capability to cause harm. Examples of engagement are for example, spending increasing time in the company of the other suspected extremists; changing their style of dress or personal appearance to accord with the group; day-to-day behaviour becoming increasingly centred around an extremist ideology, group or cause; loss of interest in other friends and activities not associated with the extremist ideology, group or cause; possession of material or symbols associated with an extremist cause (e.g. the swastika for far right groups); attempts to recruit others to the group/ cause/ ideology; communications with others that suggest identification with a group/cause/ ideology. Examples of the second criteria - intent to cause harm - can be clearly identifying another group as threatening, what they stand for and blaming that group for all social or political ills; using insulting or derogatory names or labels for another group; speaking about the imminence of harm from the other group and the importance of

How does Channel work?

Local ‘Channel’ panels assess individuals that have been referred, either by the local police or other individuals and organisations, and provide them with support before they can become involved in terrorism-related activity. There is no one way to determine who is vulnerable to extremism,

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August 2015

action now; expressing attitudes that justify offending on behalf of the group, cause or ideology; condoning or supporting violence or harm towards others; plotting or conspiring with others. And examples of capability to cause harm include having a history of violence; being criminally versatile and using criminal networks to support extremist goals; having occupational skills that can enable acts of terrorism (such as civil engineering, pharmacology or construction); having technical expertise that can be deployed (e.g. IT skills, knowledge of chemicals, military training or survival skills). These are only examples and there can be many more but ultimately the Channel strategy outlines that “there is no single route to terrorism nor is there a simple profile of those who become involved. For this reason, any attempt to derive a ‘profile’ can be misleading. It must not be assumed that these characteristics and experiences will necessarily lead to individuals becoming terrorists, or that these indicators are the only source of information required to make an appropriate assessment about vulnerability.

Outward expression of faith, in the absence of any other indicator of vulnerability, is not a reason to make a referral to Channel.”

The individuals that the panel deems vulnerable are then, providing they consent (or their parents if they’re minors), given a support plan tailored to them specifically. The support can be provided by health and education services, specialist mentoring and theological guidance.

These support providers must be credible to the individual and know the local community. The support plans and progress of the individual are assessed at least every three months to ensure it is working and that there is in fact progress. Once the vulnerability of the individual is considered to be reduced or managed, an exit plan is created and they are reviewed after six months, and then after twelve months, after which point they actually leave the program.

has been successful in the sense that none of the individuals who have gone through Channel have been involved in radical extremism afterwards, there are still many individuals it misses – it is estimated that around half of the British citizens and residents who go to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS are not known prior to security services.

Controversies and criticisms

Initially following the London bombings in 2005 Prevent received a lot of funding (£80 million over six years) however this went to many different organisations and projects without any real coordination or way to measure their success.

Furthermore it was felt there’s a stigmatisation of the Muslim community in particular, which undercuts the strategy.

Why Channel?

Whilst the Prevent agenda and Channel have been around for a while, this year’s CounterTerrorism and Security Act did make provisions for Channel and its local panels. The Act actually requires local councils to ensure there is a multiagency Channel panel in their community, the support plans developed and alternative support suggested for those who do not quite come under Channel’s mandate.

The radicalisation and recruitment of people in the UK, particularly young people, has been a growing problem. It is estimated that about 700 British people have gone to Syria and Iraq to join extremist groups such as ISIS, and it is believed around half of those people have actually returned to the UK. So Channel is relevant in trying to prevent terrorism by preventing the radicalisation of people in the UK from the outset.

You can refer someone to Channel by contacting the local Channel coordinator, the Police Prevent team or Police in general, or your local borough council. Whilst the enquiry does go into a police database, this is not a criminal database – all enquiries go into this database (missing persons, safety concerns etc).

Successes and failures

Whilst Channel has been successful in its more subtle approach within the Prevent agenda, and it NewGen 8

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August 2015

What Is The Calais Migrant Issue?

By Alice Roder The whole transport system in Kent has been held at frequent delays for the past few weeks. Even now, travelling back through the Blackwell tunnel to get back home from visiting family is a struggle. The word from security is that the closures and delays are the result of a series of security checks. Whether or not this is the cause of a spiralling migrant issue at the Calais border has been difficult to confirm but is highly suspected.

Calais has had a migrant issue for nearly 20 years now: an evolving population of mostly asylum seekers from a range of conflict zones. Most of the current migrants are from: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Egypt, Iraq, and many other countries. Though the UK is only halfway up the EU in its asylum seeking population, the Calais migrants are just part of a huge pressure on the UK borders. Many have grown up learning English, others have family here or believe in better job prospects.

Some have permission to be in France, others have travelled from the Italian border, but for the most part these migrants are at the last stop in a long and dangerous journey. The horror stories continue at the border as increasingly desperate migrants jump onto moving Lorries and boats to enter the UK. As if crossing the Sahara wasn’t enough, over six migrants a year are being killed at the border (and that’s just the recorded deaths).

Five thousand migrants are estimated to be living in the Calais camps, and the organisation of this is ever evolving.

The original migrant camp (known as the jungle) was demolished by French authorities causing most of the Calais migrants to relocate to the ‘jungle 2’ which is far more organised, and (though further from the port) is hauntingly close to the motorway.

Fears are that migrants now are more determined than ever, and the French government suggests that a turnover of 70% leave the ‘jungle 2’ every year. Though not all of them make it, there is every possibility that most do. Conditions in the jungle are becoming more permanent with churches, schools, and services. However, conditions here are considered worse than refugee camps because there are no humanitarian standards on this unofficial status. The result is an established town with no established community: migrants that stay more than a month or two are at the bottom of the food chain.

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It seems that there is no answer to this issue as tightening security is only building tension. Pressure on the freight tunnels at Calais are arguably the cause of fencing further up the motorway. The loss of a migrant target at this point has pushed a stronger concentration of migrant pressure directly onto the port. This has led to conflict and delays right the way through Calais into Kent. Whilst we cannot shoot security enforcements at the symptoms of a deeply rooted problem, neither can we just accept a steady stream of immigrants into the UK without papers, or the resources to house them.

Some French politicians want the UK border to move back to the UK. French enforcements are facing heavy scrutiny, and are operating under pressures of their own. Some believe that if the UK is attracting migrants, France should simply let them go. But this is not a popular opinion. The migrant issue does not belong to Calais, France, the UK, or the EU – it is a world issue that needs to be tackled at the source.

One migrant’s response was that the UK colonised Sudan so we should let him in. Though this tit for tat approach is perhaps too direct, you can’t deny a Western responsibility for international instability. We should commit more assistance to the right side of war zones, and release the economic pressures we use to manipulate poor countries, with: the World Trade Organisation, food dumping, and structural adjustment programmes. You can look any of them up and see how the UK makes things so much worse; why refugees feel forced to leave their homes.

Whilst we shouldn’t open the doors to migrants, 20 years of Calais camps tells us that the most important action is an investment into the future. An investment into a world where nobody needs to seek asylum.

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August 2015

An Introduction to the Representation of Women through Time

By MB I want to introduce you to our new series of articles titled The Perception of Women through Time by the Media: from the 19th Century until Present. This series will be divided into three parts: the 18th and 19th Century advertisement posters, the First and Second World War representations, and finally, the shift between the 1950s and the Contemporary Cyberspace.

Our readers might wonder why I chose this topic.

The reasons behind this choice are many, but one of the most important is that I want to give you an account of how relevant the media’s representations are for our society. Especially when they concern women.

To give you a quick example, how many of you are familiar with the billboards in the underground?

Many, I suppose. Well, everyday when we travel and sit on the train, in front of us there is at least one ad. The ads might sponsor different kinds of products, but there is something that they have in common very often: they portrait women and girls, using their images for their advertising purposes.

However, these images are not real: but they look as such and they are immensely present in our lives.

Looking at them as if they are real is what makes media and advertisements extremely interesting and problematic. Through posters, online ads, billboards etc we see images that represent women and girls; a representation of them that we assume is real, but nonetheless is not. We don’t think on the staging process behind that representation, and the hidden meanings of those who work for the production of those images attach to them.

Stuart Hall, the father of British Cultural Studies, NewGen 10

once said: “(representation) is one of the central practices which produce culture”. We need to rethink the meanings that the makers of ads attach to the representation of women. As these meanings become a part of our culture when we share them and reflect them.

My intent with these articles will be to cover different centuries of British history through media, and its influence on how we perceive women and their bodies today. In other words, I want to bring forward media’s hidden meanings: I want to unveil them, so that we can really see what has been overseen.

Within the British context, media representations of women are also entangled with the specific history of the UK: Imperialism. Through my investigation, I hope to give to my readers an account of British popular culture, and its entanglement with imperialism and looking at the representation of women.

Next time you bump into a poster, a billboard or any other media images that represent a woman don’t overlook it. Really ask yourself what kind of representation of women it wants to give, what kind of message it wants to share, and, in particular, according to whom.

REFERENCE Stuart Hall (1997). Representation. Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage Publication.

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August 2015

Do You Recognize Me?

By Sofia Mahmood

It is early afternoon and I contemplate how society has changed the identity of young people particularly young females within the 21st century.

In a busy room, I sit and observe the crowd of young females that pass me by: within their groups or walking individually, from all backgrounds. I ponder and reflect on how I was once a young female facing society alone, lost, confused and not knowing which direction to turn, worrying if I would be accepted by those that matter.

We live in a society today where young women struggle to balance their lives, with what is expected of them from society, media, peers and what is imposed by culture and family pressures.

One can sit and state that an individual has a choice in being who they want to be without influence and dictatorship. However, where does this choice of having an identity and being your own person stem from? It brings me to think, is it the impact of one’s society or individuals they associate with and furthermore the influence of culture and family? Is it simply growing up and the temptation of media and the impact from a billboard that is up in the high street, catching the eye of every young female that walks by?

to understand her religion or simply trying to live life in her social surrounding. Yet it seems that when these young Muslim women slip up and make mistakes, everyone is ready to point out her flaws and mistakes, yet not take time to reflect that mistakes are part of life, and question, would life be normal if mistakes didn’t happen?

Did we, women, not learn from these mistakes?

And become who we are today – a better rounded person.

Muslim women are judged on the basis that they are Muslim, but let’s take time out to understand whether it be Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, the young women making the mistakes, struggling to understand life and their role within society, are first and foremost human beings – religion follows. But people are quick to judge women not as women but Muslim women, why should this be the case I wonder. Do the media play a part in these negative stereotypes that are often put on a particular section of society?

As every young woman struggles with her identity and tries to become comfortable with who she wants to be or what people expect her to be, I would like to draw your attention to a topic that interests me “identity of young Muslim women within western society.” I reflect and contemplate on how quickly life and identity changes for these individuals from being a young girl to a woman who is trying to understand her internal self and the journeys life brings her. As a Muslim women, identity changes as the days pass on. Being a young woman in the 21st century is not an easy thing to contemplate, especially being a young Muslim woman. It seems that everyone has an opinion on how young Muslim women should be, an individual that is judged on her dress code, garments, headscarf, attitude, and more. It is difficult to balance her daily struggles of trying NewGen 11

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August 2015

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EVENTS AT ACF

STREET PARTY

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Street Party Donations: Akbar Halal Meat & Fish Dial – Halal Meat Capital Fruit Market Junction Market E10 Food and Wine Tesco Express – Lea Bridge Road Mark - Sports Direct Walthamstow Mr. Mashtaq (Mangoes)

I shine Empire Cinema Mosh Barbers Quality Halal Meat / Al Madina Meat Sarah - Nando’s Walthamstow Abdul Hamid - Boots Poplar Lahore Express Prime Cars

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Ali Motors Harris Homes Ltd. Fastlane Telecom I workshops

August 2015

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EVENTS AT ACF

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August 2015

The true potential of Education

By Richard Yeboah

Education is one of the most powerful tools in modern days. One if its main significances is its ability to empower people socially, politically and economically. Apart from raising income levels, education has the potential to help individuals develop awareness, improve social status and gain access to networks that could lead to enhanced social outcomes for all. Moreover, by fully recognising the power of education, policy makers could better address diverse societal challenges such as poverty and epidemics.

However in recent times too much focus has been placed upon its economic significance to the point of transforming academia into an instrument for economic enrichment only.

Some observe that in some ways the current education system could be the root of the growing disparities between rich and poor. It has been estimated that one extra year of schooling increases an individual’s earnings by up to 10%. The danger of this is that for those pupils with low or no economic incentives may not be motivated as much and worst of all education’s other benefits may not be appreciated. More directly, the education system has been criticised for its failure to promote equality. This is largely due to its rigid structure, which limits some people. The standardised tests which begin during the early stages exposes students to huge amounts of material to learn. The problem is that pupils who fail to excel in such tests are not considered for their outside abilities/interests nor for their socioeconomic circumstances which may had prevented them from getting additional help.

In the UK, the core subjects including science, mathematics and humanities are evidently weighted with more reverence than others. Thus those gifted in the arts, drama and sports are not considered as much and instead throughout their education journey are indirectly pressurised to try fit into the system by pursuing more technical subjects which may simply fail to complement their abilities. Those who fail to fit into the system live the rest of their education journey feeling NewGen 14

incompetent. There is evidence to suggest that those from higher income backgrounds are more in tune with the system than those surrounded by dire environments e.g high violence and poverty. This could explain the divide between academic performances between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

We must remember that in general the education system has its roots from the enlightenment period which made a distinction between academics (smart people) and non-academics (non-so smart people), and this made the latter group occupy lower paid occupations. Clearly this had a huge impact on the social dynamics, eventually becoming irreversible so that we see this trend even today. More shockingly the education system seems to have been modelled on the interests of industrialists. Once again this can be reflected by the state’s obsession with the economic aspect of the country, even to this day, as they are aware that on average one extra year of schooling raises the economy’s GDP by 0.37%. It is as the result of this that the government seems reluctant to promote the arts, music and drama in schools, which interestingly have the potential to awaken the interests of some students both mentally and physically.

It is hardly debatable that education is important, however in my opinion it requires a reform. One which has to be done socially and economically, as well as politically. Education should try to empower students from all backgrounds, rather than a select few. One

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August 2015

effective way to achieve this in my opinion is to attempt to reconstruct some of its perceptions to remind some pupils that there is more to it than simply economic betterment. Moreover there needs to be less reliance on standardised testing and perhaps the introduction of more interactive learning methods such as character education. Jessica Lehley, a supporter of this method, observes that students who attend character education schools report feeling safer because they know their fellow students value respect, responsibility, compassion and hard work. I believe that at a time in which crime and violence is on the rise, education can be used as a stabilising tool in the face of social tensions.

system directly. With such reforms in place pupils, especially from deprived parts, will be able to better identify and develop their skills and instead of feeling threatened by the education system they would readily use it to their advantage.

Moreover there needs to be a prioritisation of the other non-core subjects. As well as beginning to value the creative arts, engineering and IT with the same respect as the ‘core’ subjects, there needs to be programmes in placed to help students develop their talents and creative sides.

Moreover the system should be restructured to facilitate the changing nature of learning, especially the ways in which modern students comprehend things. This can be achieved by attempting to understand what excites them, take into account different talents and better suit such abilities. We should aim to introduce a more integral approach to changing attitudes towards education.

Education should be narrated as a system of not only economic, but social and personal empowerment and the understanding of this at an early age can help some students. Clearly such a process should start at home, reinforced in schools and promoted by the state to make the education system broader and more considerate to others.

A practical example of this would be for class tutors to push students to identify their interests and passion, and help them explore different career options at an early age - even those not provided by the education NewGen 15

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August 2015

History of the Universe

By Nazim Yousaf

The Big Bang Theory:

13.8 billion years ago the universe was born along with everything inside it like all the stars, galaxies, black holes and every living and dead creature on Earth. The birth of the universe started with The Big Bang. The Big Bang Theory talks about how the universe came into being and the theory is widely accepted throughout the scientific world. This theory is mocked and tossed aside by religious groups such as Christians, Muslims and Hindus because they don’t know much about the subject, apart from that the name makes them think of an explosion. So they say that explosions can’t have created everything in the universe, as explosions only destroy not create, but if you go into this theory’s depth you find out that it wasn’t really an explosion but that the universe was in a very high density state and then expanded. If the known laws of physics are extrapolated beyond where they are valid there is a singularity. This is similar to an explosion hence the name The Big Bang Theory.

Expansion:

- 0 to 10−43 seconds after the Big Bang

The Planck Epoch is an era in traditional (noninflationary) big bang cosmology wherein the temperature was so high that the four fundamental forces—electromagnetism, gravitation, weak nuclear interaction, and strong nuclear attraction—were one fundamental force.

- Between 10−43 seconds and 10−36 seconds after the Big Bang

As the universe expanded and cooled, it crossed transition temperatures at which forces separated from each other. These are phase transactions much like condensation and freezing. The grand unification epoch began when gravitation separated from the other forces of nature.

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- Between 10−36 seconds (or the end of inflation) and 10−32 seconds after the Big Bang

According to traditional big bang cosmology, the Electroweak Epoch began 10−36 seconds after the Big Bang, when the temperature of the universe was low enough (1028 K) to separate the strong force from the electroweak force (the name for the unified forces of electromagnetism and the weak interaction).

- Unknown duration, ending 10−32(?) seconds after the Big Bang

Cosmic inflation was an era of accelerating expansion produced by a hypothesized field called the inflation, which would have properties similar to the Higgs Field and Dark Energy. While decelerating expansion would magnify deviations from homogeneity, making the universe more chaotic, accelerating expansion would make the universe more homogeneous. The universe is still expanding till this day.

After That: The Dark Ages Period The baryonic matter in the universe consisted of ionized plasma, and it only became neutral when it gained free electrons during “recombination”, thereby releasing the photons creating the CMB (Cosmic Background Radiation).

Formation of Stars: It is predicted that at the beginning there was only hydrogen and that stars used fusion to create the heavier elements like helium all the way up to iron, and all the elements after that were created during supernovae (explosions created by stars, like red giants that collapse under the pressure of their own gravity because the fusion reactions could no longer counter the gravitational pull). The first stars, most likely Population III stars, form and start the process of turning the light elements that were formed in the Big Bang (hydrogen, helium and lithium) into heavier elements. However as yet there have been no observed

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Population III stars, and understanding of them is currently based on computational models of their formation and evolution. Fortunately observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation can be used to date when star formation began in earnest.

Analysis of such observations made by the European Space Agency’s Planck telescope, as reported by BBC News in early February 2015, concludes that the first generation of stars lit up 560 million years after the Big Bang.

Formation of the Solar System:

The Solar System formed around 4.6 billion years ago from the remnants of a previous star and it formed it from from a giant cloud of gas and dust called a Solar Nebula. Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago and life on Earth started around 3.8-4 billion years ago. Abiogenesis or biopoiesis is the natural process of life arising from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. But we as humans are young species in the history of the universe. We are like toddlers in the cosmic time scale and we have a long way to go to survive the future and populate other planets. Homo sapiens (the modern humans) evolved around 200 thousand years ago which is nothing compared to the universe and we humans won’t be able to survive 100-200 million years if we can’t expand past the border which is Earth. Humans are expected to go extinct by a similar extinction event to the dinosaurs if they can’t expand into man’s final frontier SPACE!

My Interest in Astronomy and the Study of the Universe: The reason why I am interested in the study of the universe is because it will help humans get to the truth of how everything came into being, and astronomy also, because it reveals the beauty of the universe and each discovery is like a piece of the puzzle which will reveal the truth behind everything. The only problem is that the puzzle has trillions of pieces and we as a species have only collected a few thousand, so the puzzle is not easy and will take time money and technology to finish it. This will be humanity’s biggest achievement and I want to be a part of this history.

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Not All Heroes Wear Capes

By Bertrand Dowuona

D

octors are often acclaimed to be the forefront of medicine and are highly hailed as society’s unsung heroes.

However in the medical industry there are a lot of people behind the scenes that allow for the protection, safety and wellbeing of patients to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Nurses, anaesthetists and radiographers are just some of the well documented people who work behind the scenes at hospitals, surgeries and at general practitioners. Other unsung heroes in the medical industry are biomedical scientists.

You could refer to biomedical scientists as the crew members of a TV or movie production. They are not seen on camera. However without them, very little would get done by doctors and no one would be taken care of. In essence, biomedical scientists carry out a lot of the laboratory work that goes on in a medical facility with the sole purpose to diagnose diseases of patients. Biomedical scientists are also at the forefront of medical research, and play an integral part in the discovery of new cures, as well as making progress towards prevention and treatment of diseases that are currently a major global problem, such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola and cancers.

In September, I will be off to Brunel University to study Biomedical Science for 4 years. In my time in Sixth Form I was completely clueless with what I wanted to do. I had changed career pathways multiple times, from wanting to do Engineering to studying Psychology. However a biological pathway was always on my mind. I have always aspired to enter this sector one way or another.

The reason I want to enter this field is purely based on my ideals of trying to make the world a progressively better place by utilising my skills.

We all want to leave a good mark on this planet one way or another, but I have always been determined to help with some of the biggest problems the world faces.

Poor health doesn’t just affect an individual’s health. Poor health can lead to a cycle of poverty and lower quality life. There are links that can be made between disease and poverty. For example, Chad has the lowest life expectancy on average on the planet, with a life expectancy of 44 years, which is almost half that of most western nations, and coincidently it has the highest levels of poverty in the world. Many other examples can be cited to show this link as well.

A healthy population will lead to a more productive, happier and fulfilling society. We have to start by eradicating diseases step by step. We can’t do this all in one day. Millions of work hours go into research annually across the world by biomedical

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scientists to contribute towards maybe one day eradicating malaria, or AIDs. But there have been successful cases. Thirty-five years ago, smallpox was eradicated globally which was a result of decades of research, mass vaccinations and raising awareness. Smallpox was one of the greatest threats to humanity due to it killing over 300 million people alone in the 20th century. It makes you wonder whether we have to wait for something to have a vast impact in the world for something to be done. This is what I want to do by continuing the works of many, as well as to perhaps tackle issues that medicine encounters in the present day, such as the rise of antibiotic resistant superbugs.

If you want to find out more about what biomedical scientists do, visit the Institute of Biomedical Scientists, as well as keeping up to date on the latest developments in the medical community.

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August 2015

How much does a class divide shape further education for our generation?

By Alice Roder As the cost of university fees was tripled at the turn of the last government and public funding is shrinking, the pressure on young people to invest in their futures is ever growing stronger. The promise of David Cameron’s government is that even though young people have to step up and take action, they do so in a system of equal opportunities where they will see fair results. Is this really true? An evaluation of the top institutions may suggest otherwise.

Everyone knows a class divide exists. It’s evident in our streets, our social landscapes, our work places, and just about anywhere really. Especially in London. Such a high demand for space in our cities leaves a patchwork of conflicting territories, where the strata of wealth is divided into categories that are visibly distinct. It leaves us unable to walk around any borough without drifting into rich new residential complexes and out onto run down council estates. Each street almost has its own identity, the class of which resounds in the reputation of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ neighbourhoods.

But university education must be exempt from this inequality, right? Means tested maintenance funding supports students from all backgrounds proportionately. Degrees all across the league table level at £9,000 and student finance takes the weight of that off most students until they earn £21,000.

They’re stats forever ingrained in my memory from the obsessive research I undertook when choosing my degree, and I can honestly say that it’s highly supportive for working class students.

The issue of class divides is most important in the selection process of the best performing universities. The population of Oxford University for example will welcome far fewer working class students than the University of East London.

This harks back to the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ neighbourhood you were born into, considering who: chooses to move further away for university, had a school that prepared them for UCAS applications, or had a social circle that supported ambition. These are often class based trends that lead to different university choices. In a society where nearly half of all 18 year olds are going to university, going to an elite university offers the competitive advantage.

The top institutions are overtly exclusive, they used to be known as red brick universities, nowadays they construct the Russell Group, or more specifically centre on Oxbridge.

In 2011 five elite private schools sent more students to Oxbridge

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than 2000 other schools. Though most of these schools produced lower results than the five private schools, many schools do have similar attainment levels but still send two or fewer students each year.

The gap also appears to be growing wider in a sort of ‘right of birth’ hierarchy. In spite of the right wing promise that a free market economy is fair, state school applicants need higher qualifications than private school entrants for the same jobs in elite London firms. Though government systems are perhaps cultivating equal opportunities for all students to obtain a degree, deregulation in the private sector imposes definite class limitations on where this degree comes from and the social codes attached to it.

The stark reality in contemporary society is that this degree is only relevant in the economy as a qualification for jobs.

The conservative dream that the market is based on merit ignores the ‘free’ market’s ability to cut corners on worker rights and centralise profit. Class connections may be a corrupt method of generating business, but well connected, affluent workers are preferable to firms just the same. It’s no conspiracy as such, just a chance to get more money.

As the government cuts back further on trade unions and worker regulations, people stand less chance of social mobility, even with degrees. Employers may just always be snooty about the applicant from the college down the road and rub shoulders with the Eton alumni. It’s a long standing tradition that has had fewer obstacles over the past decade or two.

We have little power in the application process after we click send. It’s scary to think that after three years of studying for a degree, you’ve moved no further than the class status of your post code.

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August 2015

Go on- mind your own business!

By Nadia Najah Hassan It’s safe to say that nearly two weeks ago I had a pretty hectic schedule to comply with. I really didn’t know what I was in for when I signed up to the “Mind Your Own Business” programme and was stunned to find out the practicality of the comprehensive tasks. I experienced five consecutive days of intense work to discover the hardships of starting a business and was exhausted yet proud, to say the least, in the end.

So, how did I end up this tired by the end of the programme? Well as mentioned before, I and nine others were involved in a range of challenges daily that tested our intelligence and creativity to produce a business that suited a certain large audience in the community. On the first day our persuasive skills were tested when our first challenge was announced; we had to sell fair trade products to random customers on the local streets of our borough. This certainly was going to be tricky as we had to quickly come to grips with the elevator pitch, a quirky forty five second speech that would determine whether a customer was interested in buying your product or not. We planned thoroughly before setting off to sell the product, where we quickly had to adapt our speech to suit the customer’s needs.

The next day we brainstormed ideas on what to sell and headed off again to quiz locals on what products they would potentially buy. Moreover, on Wednesday we had a tour of the Westminster Hub and after, knuckled down and went to the market to buy our essentials to create our goods using our budget, which depended on our sales made on the first challenge. Thursday was possibly the most stressful day as we made our products and created flyers to advertise where we would be selling it on Friday – this day involved numerous changes to our original plans and treks back to the market to buy more material.

awarded our certificates. It was definitely worth all the hassle!

Besides, over the course of the programme we had to overcome various obstacles that we faced. The first was the pricing of our product, when competing against the inexpensive goods in the local area we experienced a lot of rejections from customers. This developed our flexibility as we adapted our speeches to counteract their concerns by making our charity the focal point of our product to attract customers to make donations or buy the product. However, another challenge we faced was approaching different customers as we had to adapt our speeches to attract their attention; for example, when we had to sell candles and soaps to males, we had to convince them to use it as a gift for a family member in order for them to purchase the good. This improved our presentational skills as we also corresponded with our team members in order to target certain customers, to ensure our product was presented in the best way.

I’ve learned a lot by participating in the programme and have to thank MyBnk for the unforgettable experience and ACF for offering me the once in a lifetime opportunity.

It was tough and I only wish the programme was longer so our business could’ve expanded. My team raised a small yet satisfactory sum of £64 and still came away £10 richer after donating 20% of our funds and paying back our loan. I’ve seen the financial and practical struggles of a business, it hasn’t made me afraid but more determined to succeed. This taster of reality of the working world has made me more focused on succeeding and I would definitely do it again if offered.

Think it’s still easy? Go on- mind your own business!

Finally, on Friday we made the finishing touches to our products and travelled to Wood Street Market, where we sold more than half of our stock to passersby and advertised our stall to local shops and parks. We pushed our way through four hours of selling to raise funds for the Active Change Foundation, to whom 20% of the amount my team accumulated was donated. After, we came back to the centre to complete our booklets, calculate and distribute the money we raised and were

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Cinema: Visionaries Born or a Slow Decline in Cultures?

By Ayush Bhuttoo purely made for monetary purposes.

For most people, modern cinema is seen as a way to elude time whilst receiving a cheap thrill or tear, and most don’t care about the art itself.

And in this contemporary society, why should they? Mainstream media focuses the masses on Hollywood and its drivel which was specifically made to make a quick buck off of the audience.

Recently, we’ve seen an uproar from critics demanding innovation within the media rather than its repetitive sequels and prequels and reboots etc. Take a trip back in time, where the silent film industry slowly shaped itself using newly invented equipment. Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane stood as a timeless classic and landmark in cinema, a testimony to cinema which then sparked requisition in the industry with new faces stepping forward to place their visions on screen for the world. From this bore masterpieces such as, Michael Curtiz’s ‘Casablanca’ and Stanley Kubrick ‘2001: Space Odyssey’.

Have we sunken this low? For film ideas to be so limited, that we leech off of the ideas of visionaries. It has always been disheartening when good movies flop in the box office; it gives endless comfort to those who would rather not have to try to make them and can happily take cover behind a shield labelled "The people have spoken." But it's really bad news when the industry essentially rejects a success, when a movie that should have spawned two dozen taste-based gambles on passion projects is instead greeted as an unanswerable anomaly. That kind of thinking is why Hollywood studio filmmaking, as 2010 came to its end, was at an all-time low—by which I don't mean that there are fewer really good movies than ever before (last year had its share, and so will 2016) but that it has never been harder for an intelligent, moderately budgeted, original movie aimed at adults to get onto movie screens nationwide.

In conclusion, I implore the readers to now think carefully about their choices when going for the movies; check the reviews for horrible films, don’t take this media for granted. Don’t trust a movie just because an actor you know is starring in it.

Take your pick of genres but never take the ones out of the garbage. Before leaving ask yourself this: Can you live in a world of bad movies? Do you want another ‘The Last Airbender’?

However coming towards 2016, we see countless remakes and unnecessary sequels that plague the industry. A good example of this is the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ franchise. The first film left a mark in pop culture with many quotable scenes. But Hollywood decided that the best way to make more money from the film was to make a sequel named ‘Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry met Lloyd’. This effectively killed the franchise with its cheap humour and sullied the name. If that wasn’t bad enough, in 2015 “Dumb and Dumber Too” was made (as an unnecessary sequel) that was well received yet was clear that the film was NewGen 22

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