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Not Here, Not Anymore holds protest against Oxford Uni’s sexual assault policy Meg Lintern reports on the Not Here, Not Anymore protest. On Sunday 22nd, crowds of students convened outside the RadCam as part of a protest organised by Not Here, Not Anymore (NHNA). against the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in colleges and push Oxford University towards improved sexual assault policies. It is associated with It Happens Here, a group linked to the Oxford Student Union which has been promoting a safer university environment free from sexual assault since it was founded in 2013. During the protest, a series of speakers voiced the demands of NHNA and described their personal experiences of the cultures of “silencing and victim blaming” that exist within Oxford University. co-chair of Oxford University Labour Club. She read aloud the open letter which NHNA has addressed to Oxford University and published on their Instagram linktree. She said: “Oxford can and must do better to prevent sexual assault amongst students and protect survivors. To take up your place to study at one of the most prestigious institutions in the world should not mean you forfeit your right to learn in a safe environment. Education should not cost an exposure to danger.” Hamilton voiced concerns that Oxford’s to tackle systemic sexual misconduct, since each of the colleges has an independent set of policies and procedures. She said: “You should not be at a higher risk of being assaulted or mistreated in the aftermath of sexual violence based on your college.” Widespread calls for the universalisation of sexual misconduct policies across Oxford colleges have followed in the wake of highIn 2021, a postgrad at Balliol described how she was treated with “hostility” after making a victim of rape. In light of this, NHNA’s open letter states that “all colleges should adopt the same sexual misconduct policy so students are not forced to gamble with their safety based on where they are accepted or pooled to”. Kesaia Toganivalu subsequently addressed the audience, saying that she was “sick of seeing well meaning infographics but no actual
change”. She described her own experience of sexual assault, having been attacked by “someone I knew and trusted”, and she stressed that “it is not the job of survivors to beg [for protection]”. She criticised the University for worsening the trauma of survivors: “How are survivors meant to be able to heal if rusticating has such big stigma?” “I have the same punishment as the person who assaulted me,” Kesaia continued, referring to the responsibility generally placed on survivors to avoid environments where they might encounter their assaulter. “[Colleges] are rich as hell, they can afford to care, but they just don’t. I’m f***ing sick of this system and it needs to change.” Hannah Hopkins, women’s rep at St Anne’s, added: “I’m so tired of Oxford not addressing things as they are, and caring more about reputational damage than the safety of students living there. “Rape in most cases is legal in Oxford colleges… cases are run by professors who aren’t trained.” Discussing the role of NDAs in Oxford colleges and the urgency of banning them, said: “NDAs are forced onto survivors who are in all directions.” The NHNA campaign is actively urging JCRs to lobby their colleges to ban the use of NDAs. can force every other college to change.” Jeea and Nicola, the two co-chairs of It protest. They stated that “sexual violence is one of the biggest threats facing our students today”, but urged students affected to turn to the resource guide circulated by It Happens Here and NHNA for guidance and support. With a growing Instagram following of 545, the NHNA campaign is gaining traction. Having posted an image of the NHNA sticker covering the O of the Oxford Union sign, it seems that their mission is to not only tackle cultures of abuse in colleges, but also within Oxford’s societies, ultimately pushing for a more coherent and legible approach to sexual violence across the university. Photo credit: Ceci Catmur
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Oxford nuclear fusion revolution: First Light Fusion Humza Jilani reports.
scholars. No one applied.
With a snap of its oversized claw, the tiny pistol shrimp, which has an average body length of between 3 and 5 centimetres, fires off a savage shockwave of bubbles at a volume that rivals the clicks of a sperm whale, three-hundred and twenty times its size. As Nicholas Hawker – a then-DPhil candidate in Oxford’s Department of Engineering – researched these small but mighty creatures and their perplexing shockwaves, a wild idea sprung up. The pistol shrimp’s ability to create such a powerful shockwave, despite its small size, might mean that it is possible to utilise focused shockwaves to trigger the conditions for nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun. As an energy source, nuclear fusion produces no carbon emissions and a very small amount of fuel could theoretically power a house for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It could be the closest thing to a silver bullet in the global quest to transition away from fossil fuels. Yet, fusion remains prohibitively expensive and currently consumes more energy than it produces, making it commercially unviable for the near-term. With his creative application of pistol shrimp research, Hawker may have found in the oceans an answer to a vexing problem that nuclear fusion scientists had searched for in outer space stars. Projectile fusion was an unexplored approach that could crack the code to make fusion viable within the next ten to thirty years. In April, First Light Fusion successfully combined atomic nuclei through projectile fusion, demonstrating an exciting proofof-concept in the race for commercially viable fusion. Cherwell interviewed a representative from First Light Fusion to share its decade-long origin story, from the labs of the University of Oxford to the forefront of scientific breakthroughs today. Before they launched the startup, Hawker and his DPhil supervisor, Professor Yiannis Ventikos (now at University College London), put out an advertisement for a fourth-year project student. Hawker and Ventikos hoped to tap into the raw talent and ambition of these young
now runs the target design team at First Light Fusion, answered their call in 2010. “I saw the advertisement, and I said to myself that this looks terrible and that I will not apply for this!” Betney told Cherwell. Sometime later, Betney found himself in a meeting with Dr. Ventikos, who reassured him that he need not worry about what was written on the advert and that he should take the plunge. “I decided I really wanted to be involved in this project, but I was not planning to join as an employee straight away,” he added, “It was a hyper risky startup with just two people and no one knew if it’d last 6 months, much less over 10 years.” Today, the conversation around fusion has certainly shifted from earlier uncertainty to greater optimism. “I am very positive about the future of fusion,” Betney told Cherwell. “I know that our technology is good. We have a good program to get to where we want to be. Fusion technology all around the world is really progressing. A lot of other research companies and projects are getting really interesting results,” he added. Instead of superheating reactants within a strong magnetic field, First Light Fusion aims to fire a salvo of small copper projectiles at hypersonic speed into a tiny capsule, thereby transferring energy from each shot into a coolant. They hope to demonstrate energy “gain,” wherein the process will generate more energy than it consumes, within the next two to five years. And with so many of the fusion efforts centred in and around the University of Oxford, First Light Fusion is part of a burgeoning community of researchers and startups. “It is amazing that so many startups are starting here in Oxfordshire, such as Tokamak Energy,” said Betney. “With all of this around us, I would say to Oxford students: take up exciting opportunities. If you want to work at the cutting edge of science and research, going into new areas, believe in yourself. These problems are really interesting!” Betney added.
