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The University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

How diverse are our societies?

Fortnightly 1st April 2019 Issue 338 Celebrating 30 years

Only 15% of BME students join sports clubs - half the rate of white students

• Culture societies could be considered the most diverse, with Performing Arts, sports and campaigning faring worst. • 30% of all white students have joined sports clubs this year, compared to just 15% of BME students

Zoë Crowther

Students’ Union Correspondent

ccording to the composition of membership, cultural societies can be considered the most ethnically diverse, while the percentage of BME student memberships in sports, performing arts and campaigning societies is comparatively low. According to statistics showing student membership in different types of SU societies, 30 per cent of all white students at the University of Bristol have joined sports clubs this academic year, compared to only 15 per cent of BME students. BME students only make up 13 per cent of sports clubs memberships, despite BME students making up 26 per cent of the Bristol student population. Performing arts and campaigning societies also have a low percentage of BME memberships, at 15 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. Earlier this year, Bristol was named the fifth ‘most healthy’ university in the UK from the results of a survey conducted by MyStudentHalls. Bristol’s sports clubs were described as varied and accommodating ‘everyone with a wide variety of health and wellbeing options - befitting of its standing as one of the country’s most popular universities.’

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Ginny Troughton, Sport and Student Development Officer, said: ‘We are aware of the difference in demographics and we are working to address this. We recently held a Barriers to Sport survey and will be working closely with SEH on the recommendations to broaden the appeal of university sports. ‘Existing initiatives such as This Girl Can and our Intramural teams also provide a good opportunity for increased inclusivity in sport.’ When asked whether sports clubs should make more effort to be inclusive, Captain of Bristol’s Korfball Club Holly Rowland said: ‘I think sports clubs definitely have a very “white” image. This is a big shame and something sports clubs should try to work against. ‘While we don’t do anything specific, I do think Korfball does attempt to avoid and dispel some stereotypes surrounding traditional sports clubs. It’s always our aim that anyone feels welcomed when they join the club, and we work hard to keep inclusivity as a central part of both training and socials.’ The figures also show unequal distribution of student memberships in other areas. BME students are nearly three times more likely than white students to join cultural societies, with only 5 per cent of white students joining these groups. On the SU website, many cultural societies declare their intentions to promote different cultures to all students as well as local communities. Stanford, Union Affairs Officer, said: “Many of the hobbies and interests represented in our student groups have an appeal to students of all backgrounds” Continued on page 2...

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Editorial Free speech is an issue that seems to come up time and time again, and it is no wonder that the Free Speech Society often fall at the centre of controversy by inviting speakers to talk on issues that otherwise are not. In February, a Durham student, Angelos Sofocleous, who had been accused of transphobia was removed from a panel event on free speech following SU and police concerns over security. While not attending as a speaker, he decided to show up regardless as an ‘audience member’ before then rejoining the panel after audience demand. It seems here then that the intention of removing a speaker, at least until suitable security measures could have been put in place to facilitate his visit, was so easily thwarted. Indeed, this was notably not a case of the SU restricting free speech - never did they intend to stop Mr Sofocleous from speaking, but rather wanted to ensure there were enough security measures in place - but regardless of this, the SU was clearly, and easily, undermined. Most recently a student-led movement, in which an open letter gained over 400 signatures from students and student leaders across the UK, planned to protest an event put on by the society, which was hosting Emma Fox from the Henry Jackson Society. The University and SU then soon released a statement saying the event will not take place, citing ‘security concerns’. While the outcome certainly seems to have been a success for those who believe in student protests, there is one twiggler. The number of students who had said they were going on the event page was originally in single digits, but once the event got cancelled, and instead was live-streamed from a secret location, 3,000 people have watched Emma Fox speak. It begs the question, for which I have no answer, over the strengths and weaknesses of such a move. The students who organised the letter and protest, however, must be commended for sticking to and standing up for their values, and making themselves heard in a situation where their concerns so easily could have been ignored by the student body. While the talk has been heard by more people than would have been originally, the concerns surrounding the event in the first place are now in the minds of students across the country. Protests and large collective movements do then have power and strength. We need only look also at the current movement for a People’s Vote on Brexit, for which SU Officer Sally Patterson has been noticeably dedicated to, gaining more and more attention by the day. There was the first People’s Vote march in October, where Sally took a coach full of Bristol students to. Since then, she has been working tirelessly with the cause, helping to organise events looking at the impact Brexit will have on various minority groups around campus, bringing the Brexit battle bus to Bristol for students to sign, and writing letters to local MPs expressing the concern over how the Brexit process has been handled and putting the case as to why they should bring it back to the people. On 23 March, Sally again took students down to London for the second People’s Vote march. As such, whatever the secondary effects of the movement, the views and concerns of those involved are being heard loud and clearly. As someone who was originally against a People’s Vote, and similarly as someone who would not have been aware of the Free Speech Society’s event before the letter, both movements have succeeded at getting me to think in depth about both issues at hand. I am now even of the opinion that, despite not being ideal, a People’s Vote is the only way out of the Brexit mess we find ourselves in. What I guess I am trying to say in this editorial is then that whatever your views are, there should always be a place to stand up for what you believe in. You never know what might be achieved, and whose mindset you may change.

co-Editors in Chief: Ed Southgate & Cameron Scheijde editor@epigram.org.uk Deputy Editor: Nikki Peach

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How diverse are Bristol’s societies? Continued... Stanford continued: “I recognise that it’s difficult for societies with more of a cultural focus to draw in students who aren’t from that cultural background. Not all societies will have the same focus and level of delivery so their levels of ‘diversity’ are likely to be different. SU events such as the International Food Fair in Welcome Week and Global Carnival involve cultural societies but are promoted to all students to encourage them to engage with international culture and traditions. I believe there will be more work done in this area next year with the introduction of the fulltime International students’ officer.’ Amar Shah, a fourth year Engineering student, was recently featured in an SU promotional video. He spoke about how sport has improved his university experience and the benefits of in intramural sports for widening participation in sport. He told Epigram: ‘I’ve never really felt as though my ethnicity or colour has had any impact on anything like that - if there is a lower BME participation in sports, maybe this divide is a result of higher level issues in society. ‘I know that Bristol has a disproportionate amount of students from private schools, which in turn tend to be more white, and these are the institutions that promote sport to a higher level. ‘So if you’re looking at sports participation in university level

performance sports clubs, it’s only natural there would be more white students, as they’ve been introduced to the sports from a younger age and they also have more role models to look up to. ‘A way to combat it would be to make people more aware on how to get involved in sport at a lower level of performance, like intramural, where you can take part as a group of friends, society teams or halls.’ Omar Chowdhury recently was recently elected as BME Network Chair for 2019-2020. He said of his plans for next year: ‘Drinking is a huge part of both sports and performing arts, so if you don’t drink, it doesn’t feel welcoming. I would work with societies that want to diversify to create plans. Many ethnic minority students – like me – find cultural societies to be a safe space, which others are not.’ Bristol Students’ Union told Epigram that they have a Code of Conduct to ensure that discrimination on an individual or group level would be sanctioned. The SU also stated: ‘we encourage groups to have Equality Officers who we run bespoke training for. We celebrate groups who are proactively working to be more inclusive through our SU Awards where we have an Equality and Diversity award and the Balloon Accreditation Scheme.’ If students are worried about the issue of diversity and inclusivity in societies, the SU encourages them to contact the sabbatical officers or the Chair of the Societies Network, so that their concerns may be discussed and addressed.

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

Clarifications & Corrections

Epigram strive to be as accurate and impartial on student news as possible. However, should you wish to raise any editorial, commercial or legal issues please email editor@epigram.org.uk with the problem, addressed to the Editors-in-Chief. Please be sure to include the issue number and article headline if the article was in print, or the URL if the article was online. We endeavour to correct any inaccuracies as soon as they are raised with us.

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News

Editor: Imogen Horton Online Editor: James Cleaver Deputy Editors: Lucy Downer, Nina Bryant Investigations Editor: Louise Cripps Uni Management Correspondent: Laura Reid Student Life Correspondent: Victoria Dyer SU Correspondent: Zoë Crowther

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Free speech event cancelled following ‘security concerns’ • Following intervention from Bristol SU and the University the event organised by the Free Speech Society was postponed • The decision follows the publication of an open letter which accused the society of ‘hosting islamophobic rhetoric’

Maddy Russell

Second Year, Politics and IR

Scarlett Sheriff

Fourth Year, French and Spanish

Bristol Free Speech event accused of ‘hosting islamophobic rhetoric’ was cancelled following security concerns over planned protest last night. Bristol Free Speech Society had planned to host Emma Fox from the Henry Jackson Society, a think tank. Yesterday, a few hours before the even was due to start, the SU and University released a joint statement postponing the event. The statement outlined the University’s reasons for postponing the event: ‘Our security services, in consultation with the police, are concerned about their ability to keep attendees, the University community and the public safe. ‘The SU has therefore recommended that the event be postponed. The University agrees,

and so the decision to postpone has been communicated to the Freedom of Speech Society.’ Postponing the event is said to allow time to find ‘a suitably experienced speaker with an opposing view’ to join the event. The SU has also requested that an independent chairperson is appointed. The move was in response to an open letter, signed by over 400 students and student leaders across the UK, accusing the Free Speech Society of inviting an allegedly Islamophobic speaker. The letter said this was ‘deeply troubling’ and ‘insensitive’ in light of the recent shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. A protest was set to take place outside the Queen’s Building, where the event was due to start. Bristol Islamic Society praised the decision. ‘They [the University and SU] have heard our concerns and agree that the format of the event and its time was as unacceptable as we found it’, a spokesperson said. ‘They have assured us that we will be at the forefront of the process of ensuring this speaker fairly represents us and Islam, and we hope to work with them and a wide range of groups such as the BME network and cultural societies.’ The society added that they will protest again if the postponed event is not ‘satisfactory’. Despite the recommendations from the University and SU, the originally planned

discussion by Fox was later live streamed on Facebook by the Henry Jackson Society. This decision by the Society has been met with opposition from SU Officer Sally Patterson. She has expressed her frustration and anger that the event went ahead on livestream, calling it ‘irresponsible and immoral to ignore instructions and carry on anyway’. Patterson added that she would be in conversation with the University ‘about next steps and repercussions’. The Free Speech Society expressed their regret at the event’s postponement, arguing that there is a free speech problem on campus. A spokesperson said: ‘We believe that the question we asked in our first event of this term, ‘Is there a problem with Free Speech on University campuses,’ has been clearly answered: yes. ‘We would like to apologise to anyone who was looking forward to this event, and we ourselves are deeply disheartened by the University’s last-minute decision. ‘Unfortunately, it is a common tactic by those who oppose free expression of ideas to characterise ideas they disagree with as hateful. The recent chain of events is a good example of this.’ Despite the cancellation of the talk, the society expressed their commitment to hosting the same event in the same format on campus in the near future.

“If the postponed event isn’t sataisfactory we will protest the event again” Bristol Islamic Society

Two vocal members of the campaign to stop the Henry Jackson Society speaker, current Undergraduate Education Officer Nasra Ayub and former Undergraduate Education Officer Mason Ammar, declined to comment. In a statement made on Facebook, the Free Speech Society expressed their regret at the event’s postponement, stating: ‘We believe that the question we asked in our first event of this term, ‘Is there a problem with Free Speech on University campuses,’ has been clearly answered: yes.’ ‘We would like to apologise to anyone who was looking forward to this event, and we ourselves are deeply disheartened by the University’s last-minute decision. Unfortunately, it is a common tactic by those who oppose free expression of ideas to characterise ideas they disagree with as hateful. The recent chain of events is a good example of this.’ Despite the cancellation of the talk today, the society also expressed their commitment to hosting the same event on campus in the near future. The originally planned discussion by Fox was later live streamed on Facebook by the Henry Jackson Society. The society said: ‘Given that yesterday’s event was not hosted by us, we will be hosting the speaker in the near future instead of the event that was planned.’

‘Parliament is in chaos and doesn’t seem to care our futures. Let the people decide.’ • A train was chartered from Bristol to London by ‘Bristol For Europe’ • The revoke Article 50 petition has over five million signatures

James Cleaver Online News Editor

U Epigram Twitter / James / Sally Cleaver Patterson

niversity of Bristol students descended on London on Saturday 23 March for a million-strong protest to call for a People’s Vote on any proposed Brexit deal. The demonstration, the largest since the 2003 protest against the Iraq War, saw students come from across the country to the capital, responding to calls from groups such as Our Future Our Choice (OFOC) and the student-led For Our Future’s Sake (FFS). Despite the SU not laying on any travel for the occasion, a train was specially chartered from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington by Bristol For Europe and Bath For Europe, complementing the nine coaches laid on by Bristol For Europe. Sally Patterson, the Student Union’s Equality, Liberation and Access Officer told

“The march will hopefully put pressure on and show how much support there is for a People’s Vote” Joe Monkman, Third-Year History Student

Epigram, ‘I was so proud to bring Bristol students to the march. We joined over a million people in demanding a say on the final Brexit deal. Parliament is in chaos and don’t seem to care about our students, our Universities, and our futures. Let the people decide.’ Joe Monkman, a third-year History student said: ‘I went to show solidarity for the cause and because of frustration at how the government has dealt with the process. The march will hopefully put pressure on and show how much support there is for a People’s Vote.’ The march from Park Lane to Parliament Square concluded with speeches from students, celebrities and politicians, including the Labour Party’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson and London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan. Meanwhile, a petition calling for Parliament to revoke Article 50 has surpassed five million signatures, making it the most-signed parliamentary petition in UK history. Over 33,000 people from Bristol West have signed up, the most of any constituency in the country.

epigram 01.04.2019

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North Village residences more private school educated than other halls • Over 50% of Churchill and Wills privately educated • Catered or mixed catering halls top the statistics • 93% Club urge Bristol to ‘take greater responsibility’ in tackling class divisions in halls

Louise Cripps

Investigations Editor

n Epigram investigation has shown that halls in North Village residence have a greater independent school intake, ranging from 29 to 59 per cent. 26 per cent of all the students in halls are privately educated. The halls of North Village residence, more fondly Stoke Bishop, hold a significantly higher proportion of students educated at independent schools. Halls in Stoke Bishop, which are predominantly catered, are notably more expensive than their City Centre counterparts. Holding to its stereotype, Churchill Hall tops the chart this year, with a significant 59 per cent of its students independently

educated. Wills follows with 54 per cent of its cohort from private schools. Badock holds 49 per cent and Hiatt Baker 42 per cent. Whilst, Durdham and University Hall, North Village’s non-catered halls are lower, with the former 29 per cent privately educated and the later 20 per cent. The North Village residence website reads, ‘We’re a diverse, inclusive and vibrant community.’ Halls located outside of this suburban residence are notably lower. Northwell House is the lowest with only 5 per cent of its residence from independent schools. The larger residences are also notably lower. Favell House holdings 13 per cent, Riverside 10 per cent and New Bridewell 17 per cent. Overall the average intake for halls outside of Stoke Bishop is 14 per cent for the 20182019 cohort. The 93% club, a Bristol society ‘concerned with providing a space for low income students to feel represented’ commented on the findings. ‘The 93% Club are shocked but not surprised by the findings of the state and private school divide in student accommodation’. They went on, ‘the higher percentage of private school students living in Stoke Bishop is a barrier to those outside

“The higher percentage of private school sutdents living in Stoke Bishop is a barrier to those outisde of this bubble” Publicity office of Bristol’s ‘93% Club’

of this bubble.’ The society believe this will have an adverse effect on, ‘financial and social inclusion, especially acknowledging how important first year accommodation is in forming friendships and shaping your university experience.’ In urging future change they commented, ‘Bristol University needs to take a greater responsibility in ensuring that University life in all respects is accessible and nonexclusionary for all students.’ Halls prices between the villages are wide ranging. The average ‘catered room with basin’ in Badock and Hiatt Baker costs £7,558.74 per annum, whilst the same room in Wills and Churchill costs £8,079.96. Costs can rise further with a single catered studio apartment in Churchill Hall costing £10,551.24 per annum. This cost difference is not merely down to the largely ‘catered’ status of north village. A self-catered room with basin in Hiatt Baker costs £6,492.36, but an equivalent room in Hillside Wood or Northwell House would cost £4,114.32. A history student, who was in North Village residence last year, told Epigram: ‘The class divide is so blatant. No joke it’s

like the iron curtain between City Centre and Stoke Bishop.’ A student from Waverley House reported: ‘It feels so elitist. Stoke Bishop has the most desirable halls, socially speaking, but the they’re so expensive.’ The same student went on, ‘I really feel like it prevents integration at University, you get whole social circles that are state or privately educated.’ Another student from Favell House described North Village residence as, ‘it’s a kiddies members club; a protective bubble for all the rich kids.’ A University of Bristol spokesperson said: ‘We aspire to a fully inclusive culture and when allocating students to residences strive for gender-balance, a mix of home and overseas students, as well as students from a variety of faculties. ‘We recognise that some students have preferences for certain types of residences over others, and that this may partly relate to cost. This is something that we will continue to monitor and address where possible. ‘We actively monitor costs against other institutions and other accommodation in the city and try to provide a range of rental offers to suit different students.’

Bristol’s hall system ingrains class divisions: it needs reform By Former Rackhay student The extent of division at the University is already bad enough with the absurdly high proportion of private school attendees. This is not to discredit the hard work some students have put in, but considering at Bristol the number is over five times the national percentage of private school attendance, one wonders at what point does this reflect a process of unfair social modelling, in which the wealthy have a disproportionate access to higher tier education. This is made worse by the exclusive nature which comes from an us vs them mentality, legitimised through the class divisions within first year halls.

As someone who attended city centre halls, I was struck by the frankly classist responses I received by Stoke Bishop residents: the insinuation was that without the interconnected Stoke Bishop bubble (and the private school camaraderie this results in), it would be so much harder to make friends and thrive at uni. I was told by state school attendees of Stoke Bishop halls that the private school network meant it was harder to make friends: the disparity in wealth, culture and experience both gave them imposter syndrome and meant they were more easily othered. The physical distance from the city itself can make it feel like an exclusive cult as well.

‘By collating ‘high end’ halls in one secluded area of Bristol, the University act as a bulwark to integration’

Obviously social experience isn’t uniform, and people shouldn’t feel bad for having had a private education, but more should be aware of what that privileged experience means for their state school counterparts and be aware that many have had to do more with less resources to get here. This uncomfortable division, is undoubtedly systemic. I once heard a fellow student denote the hall system ‘the new frontier of the class war’. Hyperbolic as this may be, there is no doubt that hall divisions reinforce class difference. By collating ‘high end’ halls in one secluded area of Bristol, the University act as a bulwark to integration. The University ought to take action. Stoke Bishop requires a diversity of

price bracket. A medley of halls, selfcatered, catered, with varying cost, will inevitably produce a more mixed and hopefully better integrated cohort. The city centre and Clifton hall areas should also be equipped with catered options, perhaps then the flow of privately schooled students to stoke bishop would be redirected, if only in part. I don’t under-estimate the immensity of this task. Such infrastructural change will take time. But the University is constantly re-developing and expanding its halls system, and when doing so it should strongly consider its own impact on class divisions. A structural and evolutionary course of action could produce real integration at Bristol that carries forward for the rest of our lives.

01.04.2019 epigram

5 Bristol Researcher slams Cadbury’s ‘intensely stupid’ treasure hunt

Uni sports societies fundraise for hospitals’ mental health services

Nina Bryant

Deputy News Editor

James Cleaver

“Ignit1On is about bringing students together to have some fun and raise money”

Online News Editor

Cheryl Campsie, Head of Campaigns for the Campus Heart programme

trampoline. This year Ignit10n also took on new challenges such as 24 hour tennis, overnight badminton and a cycle tour of thebrances of the South West chain, Mission Burrito. Visitors were able to meet the team behind the exciting new Global Lounge who ran a Spring pop-up, demonstrating how the first day of spring is celebrated in different cultures. There were also stands dedicated to Careers’ advice, Bristol Futures, and the new University Library. Student organiser, Ed Hanton said, ‘This is the sixth year that Ignit10n has supported Bristol city centre hospitals through Above & Beyond, we’re so excited that this year’s event is right at the centre of the campus, so anyone can drop in to support, join in with or cheer on the amazing efforts of the students taking part.’

Epigram / Nina Bryant

ast Thursday, 21 March, more than 600 members of University sports societies embarked upon 10 hours of activities, as part of the annual Ignit10n fundraising event. As has been the case for the past five years, students were fundraising in aid of Above & Beyond, a Bristol charity which raises funds for city centre hospitals. The money raised by this year’s event will specifically be spent on mental health services. Students aimed to raise over £10,000. This year Campus Heart, the University’s development programme to transform the spaces and services on Tyndall Avenue, joined forces with Ignit10n. The event took place in the middle of the campus in Royal Fort Garden, making it easy for students to drop by and enjoy a variety of refreshments, including mocktails, Friska treats, eco-

friendly goodies, Innocent Smoothies and baked goods from the ‘Bake your Thesis Competition’. Speaking about the collaboration, Cheryl Campsie, Head of Campaigns for the Campus Heart programme, said: ‘Ignit10n is about bringing students together to have some fun and raise money. Campus heart is about putting students at the heart of the campus and building community; together it felt like a really powerful collaboration.’ The main part of the event took place between 8am and 6pm; students took part in over 25 different sporting activities, including slacklining, fencing and salsa. Challenges included 60,000 lacrosse passes and one million degree rotations on the

Epigram / Nina Bryant

• More than 500 sports societies took part in 10 hours of activities • The students were fundraising for ‘Above & Beyond’. a Bristol charity that helps to fund city centre hospitals • The event took place in Royal Fort Garden

Cocaine traces in Bristol sewage nearly quadruple in five years • Bristol has the highest cocaine trace out of 73 sample cities tested • The results may suggest an increase in the purity of drugs being taken rather than usage

Patrick Sullivan Film and TV Editor

ut of the 73 sample cities tested across Europe in 2018, notably excluding London, Bristol had the most traces per 1000 population of benzoylecgonine, suggesting it has a high recreational use of the drug.

In a study conducted by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) using samples of untreated wastewater, Bristol had 969.2 milligrams per 1000 people per day of benzoylecgonine, the main excreted metabolite of cocaine. The results placed Bristol as the highest of the cities tested, four per cent more than Amsterdam, in second place, and over 30 per cent more than Barcelona in fifth. The results of the annual study were released on 14 March this year, however London was not involved in the 2018 study. The English capital had previously recorded the highest values for cocaine in 2014 and 2015.

“The results placed Bristol as the highest of the cities tested”

Bristol was the only UK city to take part this time around, and was sixth in the 2017 study with 754.7mg/1000p/day. The new results show a rise of 30 per cent in the year since and a 390 per cent hike from 2014, the first year Bristol were included. The study also measures the amount of amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA in the wastewater, however there are only published results for cocaine and methamphetamine in Bristol. The city was 30th out of 73 cities in the list for methamphetamine traces. The report noted that the results may alternatively suggest an increase in the purity of drugs being taken rather than simply an increase in usage.

campaign by the confectionary company to encourage children to get involved in archaeology has been withdrawn after it turned out that what it was advocating was illegal. The company had encouraged children to ‘grab your metal detector and go hunting for Roman riches’, failing to note that digging without permission could potentially be illegal and in contravention of the 1996 Treasure Act. In an article for the British Archaeology News Resource, the University of Bristol’s Dr. Aisling Tierney slammed the proposals, calling them ‘intensely stupid and deeply illegal’. Furthering Cadbury’s embarrassment, she pointed out that an image used in the campaign was not actually that of Mooghaun Fort, despite Cadbury claiming that it was. Tierney continued, ‘the whole campaign is in breach of the Advertising Standards Agency’s requirement for social responsibility whereby advertising materials should not condone or encourage unsafe, irresponsible or illegal acts.’ The Advertising Standards Authority said that it received about 30 complaints, and was weighing up whether to begin an investigation.

‘Let Bristol Breathe’: Campaigners Call on the City Council to Reduce Air Pollution Maddy Russell Second Year, Politics and IR

rotesters gathered on College Green on Tuesday 19 March to call on the council to take action over air pollution in Bristol. Local activists from the health professionals’ charity MedAct gathered outside the council building to call on Bristol Mayor, Marvin Rees, to take stronger action on air pollution in Bristol. Campaigners demanded the council adopt stronger measures to improve air quality in the city centre after Bristol City Council failed to meet a second deadline set by the UK government to improve air pollution levels. Dr. Victoria Stanford, who organised the protest, told Epigram that ‘air pollution, remains at illegal levels in the city centre. We know that this sort of pollution has an accumulative effect on people’s health right through from the early fetal stages of development in to later life. ‘High levels of air pollution have been found to be even more damaging than smoking and recent studies suggest that air quality can also be linked with a number of other health-related issues that we might not expect, such as strokes.’ Campaigners also expressed concerns that the effects of air pollution disproportionately impact Bristol’s poorest residents. Mayor Marvin Rees affirmed the council’s commitment to reducing air pollution in Bristol and said that he intends to convert all city buses to bio-gas and improve infrastructure for walkers and cyclists.

epigram 01.04.2019

6 News

New full-time team for Bristol SU as 2019/20 election results announced • Seven full-time officers have been elected • All of the team are new to the roles • The first ever International Students Officer has been appointed

Patrick Sullivan Film and TV Editor

even full-time officers were appointed at the Balloon Bar on March 15 alongside the 12 Network Chairs, Student Council Chair, Faculty Reps, and Student Trustees after three days of relentless campaigning. A fresh team, the first one ever to not have an existing officer continue in their role, has been voted in to the paid roles: Julius Ogayo (International Students Officer); Hillary Gyebi-Ababio (Undergraduate Education Officer); Chris Brasnett (Postgraduate Education Officer); Amy Brook (Sport and Student Development Officer); Julio Mkok (Union Affairs Officer); George Bemrose (Student Living Officer); Jason Palmer (Equality, Liberation and Access Officer). Julius becomes the first ever International Students Officer after the role was

“It’s an incredible team that’s been elected” Stanford, Departing Union Affairs Officer

introduced for this year’s elections. They will now go on to represent the student body, hopefully addressing the issues highlighted in their manifestos, ranging widely from free laundry in halls to the culture of sexual misconduct at the University. Julio spoke of their joy and surprise at their fellow students voting them into the role: ‘I’m speechless. If you had told me this morning I would be on the podium giving a speech, I would have said “it’s not April Fools Day”.’ Hillary was also delighted with the results: ‘I’m overwhelmed and ecstatic. I am so passionate and it’s an honour and privilege. That’s all I can say right now!’ Overall, during the three day voting period, 7219 students exercised their democratic right to choose their SU officers, 149 more than last year. The 26 per cent turnout this year was a one percent increase from 2018; however, those who did take part submitted more votes for nominees, with a 12 per cent rise in total votes cast. The busiest hour of voting was also the last available, between 8-9pm on Thursday evening 2565 votes were submitted in a mad rush to the finish line. The departing team of officers are: Nasra Ayub (Undergraduate Education Officer);

Shubham Singh (Postgraduate Education Officer); Ginny Troughton (Sport and Student Development Officer); Stanford (Union Affairs Officer); Vanessa Wilson (Student Living Officer); Sally Patterson (Equality, Liberation and Access Officer). Over the past year, their key achievements have included; ensuring student feedback was included in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, as well as running food and drink surveys in November; securing access for exam scripts for all students; lobbying for all lectures to be recorded, , SU Living Room and the Multifaith Network. On their work, Shubham said, ‘I’m proud of achieving PGR hub this last year and I’m sure Chris will achieve many things for postgraduates.’ On working as a full time officer, he said, ‘I think it’s a very challenging experience. You get to learn a lot about university and then you get a limited time to change things. You have to hit the ground running.’ Sally, who presented the ceremony with fellow departing officer Stanford, spoke to us afterwards. ‘It’s an incredible team that’s been elected. People don’t see everything that goes on behind the scenes. They don’t see how much a team supports each other. I feel that’s what this team is going to do. [...] Collectively, as a team, they’re going to be so strong.’

Three full-time SU officers won by less than fifty votes

• Voter turnout was up only 1% from last year • 7,219 students voted • The winning candidates will earn a salary of £21,600

The candidate who claimed the strongest victory was Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, winning the Undergraduate Education Officer role by 1017 votes. Her only opponent was Mehul Pasari and Gyebi-Ababio’s strong campaign ensured that her victory was clear on a first preference basis alone. The successful candidates for Sport and Student Development, Postgraduate Education and Equality, Liberation and Access Officer all won by more than 100 votes. The winning candidates will start their roles in the summer, and will earn a £21,600 salary. At the results night, the next Union Affairs Officer Julio Mkok said: ‘I’m speechless. If you had told me this morning I would be on the podium giving a speech, I would have said “it’s not April Fools Day!”’

Patrick Sullivan Film and TV Editor

Zoe Crowther SU Correspondent

KoLab Studios / Alastair Brookes

he results of this year’s SU elections have been announced, with the close-fought contests revealing the power of the student vote. 7219 students voted and 33898 votes were cast, demonstrating a 26 per cent turnout. This was only marginally higher than last year’s turnout of 25 per cent. Using a Single Tranferrable Vote system, students ranked their preferences for each role in order. Then, during the vote count, low performing candidates based on first preferences were eliminated and their votes redistributed according to voters’ second and third choices. The elimination stages continued until there were just two candidates for each role remaining. One of closest fought contests was between Julio Mkok and Beth Mulley for Union Affairs Officer, with Mkok claiming victory by 16 votes in the final stage of the count process. Julius Ogayo also won the new position of International Students Officer by only 16 votes, ahead of Shailaja Laxman. The small margins of victory here

demonstrate the importance of the individual’s voting power. Student Living Officer was also a close call, with George Bemrose beating Ruth Day by only 45 votes in the final stage.

“I’m speechless” Julio Mkok, Union Affairs Officer

01.04.2019 epigram

News 7

Bristol Research Fellows publish paper predicting long term suicide attempts • The data used charts the health of 14,500 Bristol families

Patrick Sullivan Film and TV Editor

Imogen Horton News Editor

cademics at the University have examined questionnaires to assess how many high risk young people take action on suicidal thoughts to aid clinicians in their assessments. University of Bristol Epidemiology Research Fellow, Dr Becky Mars, along with several other University associated co-authors, including Professor David Gunnell, have produced a paper for The Lancet Psychology of their research into what proportion young people with suicidal thoughts go on to make an

“This new study should help improve ways of identifying and supporting those young people who are in the high-risk category” Jacqui Morrissey, Samaritans

attempt on their life and any key predictors. Gunnell said: ‘While suicidal thoughts and self-harm are common in young people, with around one in six young people reporting self-harm, suicide and suicide attempts are thankfully relatively rare. ‘Being better able to identify those at greatest risk and intervening may help reduce suicides in young people.’ The paper adds to an increasing range of research conducted by the University on self-harm and suicidal behaviours, enabling better pre-emption by clinicians of young people who may be at risk. The researchers used questionnaire data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, otherwise known as the Children of the 90s study, which has been charting the health of 14,500 families in the Bristol area. When 16 years old, 310 young people taking part experienced suicidal thoughts and Dr Mars and her team

Epigram / Leah Martindale

Bristol students attend vigil for Christchurch victims • Bristol students hold vigil following the brutal attacks on mosques in Christchurch • The vigil took place at the Harbourside fountains

Leah Martindale

Third Year, Film and TV

niversity representatives, students, community leaders and local Bristol residents gathered for a vigil to honour the 50 known fatalities of the mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. The vigil took place on Monday 18 March at the Harbourside fountains, with a number of speakers addressing attendees. The master of ceremonies was Bristol SU Islamic Society’s Interfaith Representative, Khadija Meghrawi, who opened with a speech: ‘dinner table racism, casual racism… “It doesn’t matter does it, it’s just words?” These words facilitate the breeding ground of acts like this.’ Speakers also included Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees, who warned against ‘[falling] into these traps set by the mongers of hate.’ Rees announced plans to engage with the community: ‘it won’t just be the usual suspects, the ones who want to reach out. [We will be] reaching out to those vulnerable to being recruited.’

He also said that his office has written to the Mayor of Christchurch expressing condolences for the tragedy. Other speakers included representatives from ‘Kiwis and Aussies in Bristol’, whose message was: ‘You should have been safe at home, and I’m sorry.’ Members of the Islamic Society and SU Officers Nasra Ayub and Sally Patterson were also in attendance. Nasra Ayub said to the crowd: ‘Let’s fight hate with love, let’s educate each other, let’s respect one another.’ The Area Dean for South Bristol Church of England told the crowd ‘we were weeping with you and weeping for Christchurch.’ A council member for a local Muslim collective highlighted that ‘What this terrorist didn’t anticipate was that we will not be divided.’ Bristol Stop the War, Stand Up to Racism, and the Multifaith Forum were amongst others to speak, all placing emphasis on the need for unity, community, and allyship in politically tumultuous times. Third year student Consuela Sutherland, who attended the Christchurch vigil, said: ‘I think it’s important for students to attend this event because although we may only be visitors for two or three years, [Bristol] definitely becomes a home and a community. ‘We need to stand with those around us if they are facing any prejudice or racism. They’ve welcomed us into their city, so why shouldn’t we be there for them?’

evaluated that 12 per cent of those went on to make a suicide attempt by the age of 21. It should be strongly noted that the majority of 16 year olds experiencing suicidal thoughts did not make a suicide attempt in that period. 20 per cent of those who experienced both suicidal thoughts and non-suicidal selfharm at the age 16 made an attempt in the subsequent five year period. The findings led to the recommendation for clinicians to ask adolescents about the identified predictors during risk assessments. The introduction of the paper states that ‘a better understanding of these factors is crucial for improved suicide prediction and prevention’. Mars also echoed the importance of the research: ‘Although other studies have found differences between young people who have thought about suicide and those who have made an attempt, this is the first study to look at predictors over time.

‘Findings from our study could be used to help those who work with young people identify those in greatest need of timely help, support and interventions. ‘We’re now planning studies to look at predictors during shorter time frames (hours/ days/weeks) and to look at other predictors which are not covered in this study. This is important as many well-established risk factors for suicide (such as mental health problems) do not predict suicide attempts in these high-risk groups.’ The suicide and self harm research group (SASH) is one of the leading groups in the UK to help understanding of the causes of suicidal behaviour and self-harm. Jacqui Morrissey, Samaritans Assistant Director of Research and Influencing, added: ‘This new research should help improve ways of identifying and supporting those young people who are in the high-risk category [of those who have suicidal thoughts].’

Homelessness situation in Bristol branded ‘deeply depressing’ • Homelessness in Bristol has risen by 23 per cent from 2017, a number greater than the national average

Will Charley Comment Editor

he number of individuals who came into contact with Bristol City Council’s rough sleeping teams has increased 23 per cent, from 771 people in 2017 to 951 in 2018, a rate of increase above the national average. The increase in homelessness is likely to be higher since the numbers do not include those who are in temporary accommodation, are squatting or are ‘sofa-surfing’. This is in line with data released by national homeless charity Shelter in November 2018, which revealed that across the UK, there has been a rise in homelessness by 13,000 individuals, or 14 per cent. However, according to Shelter’s 2017/18 annual review, homelessness in the south west of England has fallen by eight per cent. This might suggest that those who are homeless across the country and in the south west are travelling to Bristol for its services, rather than an increase in Bristolians who are homeless. Significantly, of the 951 people the council’s rough sleeping teams came across in Bristol, roughly a quarter were foreign nationals, which is an increase in the proportion of homeless migrants compared to that of 2017. As well as this, 362 individuals - almost two in five - had no specific connection to Bristol in 2018. Responding to evidence that homelessness has risen by almost a quarter in a year, the Chair of the Bristol Homes Board, Councillor Paul Smith called the situation ‘deeply depressing’.

“It is clear people come to Bristol because they know there is support here.” Cllr Paul Smith

In particular, Cllr Smith stated that there are many causes for the rise in homelessness but attributed much blame to the Government’s ‘benefit sanctions’ on individuals who miss appointments or fail to answer phone calls. Cllr Smith stated that: ‘there have always been different reasons why people end up on the streets… the difference now is that the safety net that has always existed for those people at times of crisis in their lives is no longer there. It’s been replaced by a tightrope and it’s very easy for them to fall off’. This echoes a statement put out by Shelter’s Chief Executive, Polly Neate, in November, who stated that ‘due to the perfect storm of spiralling rents, welfare cuts and a total lack of social housing, record numbers of people are sleeping out on the streets’. However, on a local level, Cllr Paul Smith stated that to solve the increase in Bristol, other local authorities need to do as much as Bristol City Council. As he put it, ‘it is clear people come to Bristol because they know there is support here’. Of the 951 people who were encountered in 2018 by Bristol City Council’s rough sleeping teams, 53 per cent were found accommodation, around 30 percent were not seen again, seven per cent returned to where they had a local connection and five per cent were assisted in returning to their country of origin. A spokesperson on behalf of the University of Bristol’s Help the Homeless Society told Epigram that: ‘The best thing that we can do as students to help is to get involved with the many charities and initiatives throughout Bristol. Many run projects through the University, and don’t require massive time commitments - for more information please get in contact or have a look on our group for our list of Bristol homelessness charities, what they do, and how to get in contact.’

Features

Editor: Ollie Smith Deputy Editor: Tom Taylor Online Editor: Niamh Rowe

@OllieWJSmith @tomtay10r

Twitter: @EpigramFeatures

In conversation with Bristruths: ‘We get around 250 submissions a day’ “So many issues that affect student life or the wider world have been discussed on and because of Bristruths”

Epigram Features chats to the anonymous admins behind Bristruths in an exclusive interview

Maggie Sawant First Year, Law

ristruths has become a familiar feature in Bristol University’s student community. Epigram Features set out to unearth what goes on behind the account’s very public but enigmatic presence on our newsfeeds. The admins explain how Bristruths has come to play a key role in platforming and guiding conversation on campus, from humour to personal reflections to ‘girl with bangles please be quiet in the ASS’ - sorry, girl with bangles. Bristruths has, arguably, provided an accessible mouthpiece to the student body and cultivated a sense of joint experience. How does Bristruths influence the Bristol community? ‘Mainly, it’s changed conversations on campus. All of the admins hear people talking about it when they’re in lectures. It’s worked in two ways: with the “injokes” where everyone asks, “did you see that Bristruth?” and secondly it starts more important conversations. ‘So many issues that affect student life or the wider world have been discussed on and because of Bristruths. We think that the platform is amazing for that.’ Which university confessions page is Bristruth’s greatest rival? Or is Bristruths supreme? ‘Bristruths is of course supreme. The submissions we receive span so many topics that the page becomes varied and interesting.

Do Bristruths go beyond amusing statements and informal expressions of grievances and actually bring about change? ‘It has a huge amount of potential to bring about change but its hard to see if it really does without speculating. The only change we’ve seen made directly as a result of Bristruths are the story of Herman the Cleaner which was amazing but also the story about the Noise Pages breaking. ‘The Noise Pages were first mentioned on Bristruths and then gradually as more and more opinions came to the fore, the University changed their response to them.’

A lot of other pages just focus on political rants or just grudges but Bristruths seems to have this balance of everything which means you have no idea what the next one you read will be about which makes you want to read more.’ Bristruths have spawned Briscrush, Brispets and Brisfood - are there any other areas you are thinking of moving into? ‘Not for a while. For now, we think we have a strong base. In future it would be awesome to build upon the idea of anonymous crowdsourced content/journalism and feature that in some way.’ What do you think are the most important debates that have occurred on Bristruths? ‘It’s hard to single out one debate that’s been had as more important than another. This is because we have no idea how much the conversation has impacted on others behind screens but also because the form of Bristruths isn’t really ideal for debating social issues. ‘Effectively, we see the most useful posts as those which start a conversation which go elsewhere. ‘Arguing about the intricacies of UN declarations on the Israel/Palestine conflict won’t solve anything on our page and as we’ve seen just tend to annoy people. ‘That being said, the voices that have been allowed to speak have shown the variety of views that Bristol students hold which we hope helps. ‘We also believe that the conversation that occurred last summer in the wake of the student deaths was monumentally important. ‘When people started sharing their experiences of the health services with others it showed that many people weren’t alone in feeling let down.

‘We were so proud that our page became such a force for good at that point and really hope it helped.’

Has the University administration ever contacted Bristruths? ‘Only the press office so far.’ On average, how many Bristruths are submitted every day, and how many are posted? ‘Bristruths gets around 250 submissions a day, we tend to post between 40 and 60 depending on the quality of them.’ What was the all-time most popular Bristruth? ‘Right now, the Mamma Mia drinking game (#Bristruth18658) is the one with the most likes/comments/shares. That doesn’t

really mean anything though, everyone has their own favourite one.’ We need to know when to check Facebook: are Bristruths posted at certain times every day? ‘They’re posted over the course of the day, there’s no set time.’ We all loved the Bristruths birthday bash. Are more events like this on the horizon? ‘Definitely.’ Most importantly: what makes a good Bristruth? ‘There’s no set recipe for a good Bristruth. Originality, humour, but also poignance all make a great truth. Our favourites tend to be brilliant jokes about Bristol, but a lot of people will say that their favourites are the meaningful ones or the helpful ones.’ There’s been a few recent posts where admins have themselves commented on individual Bristruths. Does this diminish Bristruths’ vital impartiality? ‘We try and avoid commenting too much on issues but in light of a string of submissions we received some comments were made.’ ‘Normally our own views are withheld or submitted the same way that everyone elses are. We try and keep the comments light but sometimes, very occasionally a comment or our thoughts are helpful.’

Analysis / The perils of unaccountable submission pages “There’s no set recipe for a good Bristruth. Originality, humour, but also poignance all make a great truth”

Bristruths has experienced phenomenal growth since Bristruth #1 was posted in January 2018. With over 15962 followers on their Facebook page and around 20000 ‘truths’, the submission page enjoys considerable support from a large portion of the student body. However, it’s worth considering the dangers that accompany running anonymous forum. Admins, in essence, play Tinder with students’ opinions, swiping left or right with impunity.

This subjective method can lead to serious problems, as the admins of Exeter University’s equivalent page, Exehonestly, recently discovered when they approved a racist and discriminatory submission directed at a journalist from Exepose, the student paper. So far, Bristruths admins have managed to tow a line which has been broadly wellreceived, but it would only take on illthought approval for the entire empire to come crashing down.

01.04.2019

Features 9

epigram

Spring has sprung! Here’s how to make the most of the season of sunshine and new beginnings The Met Office has declared March 20 as the Spring Equinox, the offical start of the season

Claire Hargreaves

Fourth year, French & German

Strolling in the sunshine Take a calming walk along the Harbourside, starting by the Watershed and going up to SS Great Britain and back. Stop for a refreshing coffee or drink at one of the cafés or bars along the way; there are plenty where you can sit inside and enjoy the relaxing views of the water if it is still a bit too chilly to sit outside.

“We are in the final period of being able to fully enjoy uni without the stress of revision and the need to spend most our time inside in front of a computer”

A spot of boating With the river in mind, there are a number of boat trips you can go on, to take in the city from the water. Perfect for when families visit or for when you just need a bit of tranquillity in your life. Most trips last up to an hour and cost just a few pounds, departing from various points along the river.

Kate Hutchinson / Epigram

e should be able to start looking forward to the odd brighter day or two – in amongst the classic, British spring weather, of course, with clouds aplenty and April showers surely beckoning. But with daffodils pushing their way up and trees coming out in stunning blossom, spring is most definitely in the air. And if we are set for another stifling heatwave like we experienced last summer in Britain, we should hold onto spring for as long as we can. Sunny spells but manageable temperatures which don’t leave you sweaty on your walk to University mean that it is refreshing and cheery rather than suffocating and souldestroying to leave the house. However, exams are just around the corner after the Easter break, which means that we are in the final period of being able to fully enjoy university without the stress of revision and the need to spend most of our time inside in front of a computer. So make sure you make the most of spring before it will be time to swap spring flowers and Easter eggs for those fluorescent flashcards and highlighter pens. With the unseasonably warm period we experienced in February not making itself the new normal, the temperatures and overcast skies outside might not generate a lot of enthusiasm. But the wealth of outdoor activities just a stone’s throw away from the University mean it would be a shame not to take a

break from lectures and assessments to get a breath of fresh air, especially for those in their final year, soon to be leaving the city. With that in mind, here are seven top ways to enjoy the spring season in Bristol:

Sandwiches and scones On those sunnier days, have lunch outside on the Royal Fort Gardens, or up to Brandon Hill if you’ve got a bit of extra time to spare getting there. The green space on Victoria Square is another good spot if you’re based in Clifton or the SU. Easter Egg Hunt As Easter draws closer, an egg hunt is obligatory - in your garden if you’re lucky enough to have one, or else inside, since most student flats and houses in Bristol have plenty of quirky nooks and crannies in them.

Swigging a refreshing beverage

“Bring your flatmates on a group trip to Blaise Castle Estate near Henbury to take in the history and nature it offers all in one go”

the Botanical Gardens in Stoke Bishop as the flowers begin to come out in bloom.

There are a wealth of beer gardens in Bristol, with plenty of them being conveniently located within a short walk of the university. Try the classics on Cotham Hill and St Michael’s Hill, or branch out and take a trip down to the area around King’s Street for pub gardens and terraces for streets on end. Blooming botanical gardens Free for Bristol Uni students, stroll around

Sample some Somerset history If it’s been on your bucket list for a while, make the journey over Clifton Suspension Bridge to Ashton Court for a walk around its grounds; even on a slightly overcast day, it’s a beautiful spot to enjoy with friends or family. Equally, bring your flatmates on a group trip to Blaise Castle Estate near Henbury to take in the history and nature it offers all in one go!

Histories of Bristol: Victoria Hughes Following Women’s History Month, Epigram Features looks into the unusual life-story of a Bristolian woman

Frankie McNab Managing Director

Mark Simmons / Flickr

orn just off Blackboy Hill on June 22 1897, Victoria was the fifth child of Alfred, a scaffolder, and his wife, Ellen. Her 1977 memoir, Ladies’ Mile, reveals a surprising aspect of Victoria’s life; detailing her experiences as a lavatory attendant from 1929-1962, it sheds light on the lives of working women in twentiethcentury Bristol. On July 16 1916, in the midst of the First World War, nineteen-year-old Victoria married Richard Hughes. That same day, Richard left to fight in France as a member of the Royal Berkshire Regiment. Unsurprisingly, Richard returned from war with injuries, and by 1929, suffering from the effects of trench foot, a limp, and failing eyesight, he was no longer able to work. With a young daughter to support, Victoria became the family breadwinner. She found irregular work nannying and

nursing, but eventually needed a more steady income. For four shillings and six pence she began working two days a week as a lavatory attendant. Despite her concerns about being recognised by people she knew, Victoria enjoyed the social side of the job, chatting with people as they came in and out. Soon, a position became available as lavatory attendant at the public toilet in Stoke Road on Durdham Down. Although there were many women working as ‘loo ladies’, Victoria’s situation as carer for her husband was considered, and she was given the position. Working late into the evening, she discovered that many of her customers were prostitutes working on Ladies’ Mile, a profitable area for them in the pre- and postwar era. Sitting in her office with her knitting, the kettle was always waiting to be boiled for visiting women. Victoria offered them tea, sympathy, advice and sometimes money. Speaking in her memoir, of these women she said, ‘I hope I showed some compassion’ and continues, ‘They in turn gave me a sort of compassion and warmth’. Ladies’ Mile was published by Abson Books in 1977, however many libraries were wary about stocking the book, due to its shocking subject matter. Despite this,

“I believe her memoir is a true record and therefore is the true story - dark and light - but through the eyes of a caring, warm woman” - Ingrid Jones, Director

the book sold out, and is now considered a valuable source of local history. Hughes’ memoir includes bizarre and entertaining stories, including one evening when she cycled home down Blackboy Hill wearing nothing but her raincoat after becoming infested with lice. Victoria did not shy away from the gritty details, including stories that are shocking and harrowing, demonstrating the hardships women faced. Hughes explained that she wanted to be like a mother to the women she met, saying she would never judge or condemn them, as they were very poor

and had hard lives, ‘My job was to take the pennies and not to moralise. I’ll leave others to huff and puff about what went on.’ Victoria became the first lavatory attendant to have an entry in the Oxford National Biography. Philip Carter, their publications editor said, ‘She fits within the long tradition of recording everyday life,’. In 2003, she was recognised with a blue plaque unveiled on the toilets in which she worked, which states, ‘Victoria Hughes 1897-1978 who befriended and cared for prostitutes when she worked here as a lavatory attendant from 1929-1962’. Her legacy continues to live on, with Bristol-based Acta Community Theatre performing a play of the name Ladies’ Mile, in April 2018. Director of the play, Ingrid Jones, was working with a group of Bristolian women when she came across Victoria’s story. Jones wanted to focus on real people, and knew the women she was working with would connect to Hughes’ story. Jones hoped to inform the audience of the experiences of working women, and the poverty and difficulties they faced. ‘I hope people recognise the name more now and think of Victoria with fondness… I believe her memoir is a true record and therefore is the true story – dark and light – but through the eyes of a caring, warm woman.’

10 Features

epigram

01.04.2019

What is Bristol doing to save the environment? A look at at what our city is doing to help protect the environment in the wake of a mass climate strike by school children

Robin Connolly First Year, History

University of Bristol

ir David Attenborough in his address to the 2018 UN Climate Summit: ‘If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon’. A bold claim. His speech at the recent University of Bristol Alumni Awards addressed young people, urging us to do something about the climate emergency. He exclaimed that our history has been a ‘disaster’, before passing on his message to young people to ‘get engaged, come together and do something about it’. This is a man who has committed his life’s work to nature and the environment, a man who is an expert in the world around us. He is a man who really, truly knows what he’s talking about. Attenborough shares strong ties with the University of Bristol, partially due to BBC Bristol’s key role in the production of nature programmes. These connections are what led to his being honoured at the recent Alumni Awards, and why he opened the University’s Life Sciences building in 2014.

Gretta Thunberg, meanwhile, made the audiences of TedxStockholm laugh, when she explained that her OCD, Asperger’s Syndrome and Selective Mutism prevent her speaking except when she thinks it is necessary, but that now is one of those moments. However, she didn’t make the World Economic Forum laugh, when she stated that she didn’t want the hope of adults, but that instead she wanted them to panic and to ‘feel the fear’ she feels every day. These are two people whose words have helped to inspire the Youth4Climate Strikes and #FridaysForFuture Protests all over the world, where students have been invited to walk out of their lessons in order to protest climate injustices. On Friday 15 March, young people from 2000 cities, roughly 1.4 million people, walked out of school to protest government inaction on the topic of climate change. Bristol was one of these. The city saw teenagers up to their knees in the water feature opposite City Hall on College Green, shouting into megaphones that they ‘want climate justice’ and that they ‘want it now’. While the strike itself was incredibly uplifting and full of hope for the future, it was somewhat frustrating to hear fellow students claim that they couldn’t attend the strike because they had lectures. The University felt severely under represented and I might even go as far as to argue the turnout was disappointing.

“Bristol City Council have [...] made a concerted effort to reduce its effect on the environment, for instance reducing carbon by 71 per cent since 2005”

There are just under 20,000 undergraduates at the University of Bristol, yet I would estimate that there were considerably less than 1000 university students there in total. When this seems to be a topic that is so important, I was surprised at the lack of university students who attended. But, on a more positive note, it is highly commendable of those students who did make the effort to go to the strike. You were a small but powerful force! Young people, and especially students,

have the potential to be a mightily powerful pressure group. Recently, our political interests have been notoriously snubbed, yet I feel like there is limited action on our part to try and make that change. We complain a lot about how things aren’t going our way without making them happen ourselves. Discussions such as those on the environment should be being led by us, as we are the ones who will be fire-fighting the problems that come with climate change in the future. This is what Greta and David are arguing – that those of us who are going to be affected by this the most need to step up and start taking action. I believe we are painfully aware of the climate emergency. We know that the IPCC have given us 12 years until the damage we have done will be irreparable, and we have all heard of the damage that will come with 2 degrees. Bristol City Council have been making a concerted effort to reduce its effect on the environment, for instance reducing carbon by 71 per cent since 2005, hitting their target two years early. In 2015, Bristol was declared to be the European Green Capital. Meanwhile, in the recent Student Union elections, George Bemrose, the new Student Living Officer was voted in on his promise to ‘work with the University to reach their goal of being Carbon Neutral by 2030’. This shows that both our city and our university are working to limit their effects on the climate. I hope that we, as students, want to do the same.

Meet this term’s newly affiliated SU societies Deputy Features Editor Tom Taylor gives you the run-down on all the new SU societies that have been set up this term

University of Bristol Barbell Club Pexels / Victor Freitas

Have you ever watched Olympic weightlifters on TV and thought ‘I could do that?’ Me neither. But if pumping iron in an inclusive and accepting space sounds appealing then the University of Bristol Barbell club is for you. The society brings together beginners, athletes and everyone in between who enjoy powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting for training sessions twice a week. The society’s committee aims to ‘provide support with form, training programs, competition entry and equipment.

Bristol IFS Society

Students for Life

Cat Soc Epigram / Ollie Smith

Cat pub visits, film nights with pizza and volunteering at a cat shelter called The Moggery. I’m already sold, and I don’t even have a cat. The society’s mission is to ‘connect students with Bristol’s cat scene and foster a feline friendly and inclusive environment’. If you’re feline like you need some more kitties in your life, then you should sign up right meow. It will be paw-some. I have no more cat puns fur you. I’m sorry.

Eurovision Society Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The society aims to break the ‘fight club’ stigma Eurovision has which I think is one of the best mission statements I’ve read on the SU website. If you know your Conchita from your Jacques Houdek then head down to a Eurovision Soc pub quiz or impress your friends with a rendition of ‘Rise like a Phoenix’ on karaoke night. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a Euro-casual, Eurovision Society is waiting to welcome you.

Bristol IFP is a space for all International Foundation Program students to meet and transition into IFP from overseas together. They hold ‘culture-mingling’ activities including drama performances, music and food. The society connects students with IFP alumni who can offer guidance and insight into undergraduate study and future careers.

Claiming to open conversation and develop the pro-life feminist philosophy, Students for Life holds debates, panel discussions and socials where they discuss issues such as euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy and capital punishment. ‘Pro-life feminism’, the group states, ‘seeks to protect the dignity of all human life from conception until natural death.’ The society encourages those sceptical of their views to come along.

University of Bristol Ukrainian Society The Ukrainian Society hopes to ‘present a new colourful world’ of Ukrainian culture to students. The society brings Ukrainian students together with the wider Ukrainian community and welcomes ‘everyone who is curious to learn more’’. Whether you want to try Ukrainian food, sample the country’s culture or just make some new friends, Ukrainian Society is for you.

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Editor: Will Charley @willcharley1 Online Editor: Ffion Clarke

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Epigram is an independent and neutral newspaper, aiming to publish opinions from across the student body. To respond with an opposing opinion, please contact comment.epigram@gmail.com or join our writers’ group on Facebook.

Sexual assault is an issue that our university must do more to tackle Epigram’s recent investigation shows that the University must do a lot more to counter sexual assault Syirah Ami

Epigram/ Nikki Peach

Co-President of FemSoc

espite living in the midst of the #MeToo movement, campus sexual assault is still a huge problem, which seemingly has not improved much over the past five years. Epigram has found that the number of sexual offence reports have dropped from 17 in 2017/18 to five in the current academic year. While idealistically this would reflect positive change, it actually is not a sign the number of sexual assault cases is significantly decreasing - 52 per cent of students have faced sexual harassment at university, and most of these cases go unreported. While support for survivors has been gaining higher visibility in media, this does not seem to be reflected systematically at university. Through my personal experience, there has been little translation from social media campaigns to structural changes to support survivors. This is not to discredit movements like #MeToo but rather to assert that

institutions need to do better. The University of Bristol insists that ‘bullying, harassment, assault and discrimination are never acceptable’, but there needs to be improvement on what this means in practice. For example, having experienced sexual assault while at Bristol, I have found it difficult to find an immediate safe space- as recommended by university guidelines. It is notable that since this is not a campus university, it is harder for the University to enforce a zero tolerance policy on nearby non-university spaces. This means that people are especially vulnerable on nights out, even if a university building is close by. Needless to say, this is not an excuse. There is opportunity for the University to reach out to spaces around Bristol to pledge

“It is not enough for support systems merely to existthey must be easily accesible too”

a zero tolerance policy. This has been done successfully before, such as at the University of Kent. Licensed premises should receive guidelines on how to tackle sexual assault, especially spaces frequented by students. There needs to be bigger support from the University towards campaigns such as the Good Night Out campaign; the effort should not just be coming from the Students’ Union, but a continuous collaborative effort. To further complicate things, the Report and Support service is not something that is widely understood among students. In my first year, I assumed the service was only for cases of rape while in reality, it covers much more. This is part of a wider problem that I believe exists, whereby there is little communication on the services provided by the University for students. This extends past the Report and Support service; many students do not know how to access Counselling Services or Disability Services. It is telling when students go to anonymous confession pages for advice on accessing university services, rather than the University website itself. It is not enough for support mechanisms to merely exist - they must be easily accessible too. There needs to be clearer communication from the University on the essential support they can provide. They cannot expect students to go down the rabbit hole of clicking multiple links on the website just to access a single

Epigram/ Alisha Bradbury

service. However, the problem is also reaching far beyond Bristol. Rape culture is ingrained into society, whether it be in media consumption or ‘locker room talk’. While the means of which rape culture manifests itself are varied, an aspect that is not solely characteristic to university is the lack of understanding of consent. In fact, in a study by The Student Room, only 51 per cent of students said they understood what consent means. I believe that people should be learning about consent far before university, especially since it is applicable to more than just sexual settings. The importance of understanding people’s social and physical boundaries should be highlighted early, in order to counter rape culture. As it is, the University provides consent talks in halls of residences, but the system is flawed in many ways. The talks are not compulsory - and while I understand that survivors may not want to attend them due to existing trauma surrounding the topic - many students simply choose not to attend them for personal convenience. I also think they should be available outside of halls too; consent should be something continuously emphasised by the University, not just for a select group of students. I will even go so far to say that committees of societies and sports clubs should have mandatory training on consent, especially for nights out. Essentially, I find it important to bridge the gap between the University and the student body when it comes to tackling sexual assault. The University seems disconnected from the realities of survivors and the presence of rape culture on campus. While I have friends that did receive adequate support, I have plenty who did not even know where to start in getting support. I can even confidently say that the most visible anti-sexual assault campaigns on campus have been thanks to the Students’ Union - and while that’s reason to applaud the work by the SU, it brings to question whether the University itself will assertively stand with students too. The University arguably has a wider reach within the student body than the SU, considering that not every student engages with the union. There is so much more they can do with this reach, as tackling sexual assault has to be an actively ongoing fight. There is not an easy solution to all of this. A revamp of the University’s zero tolerance strategy is required, and while there are better qualified people than me who can give more comprehensive guidelines on that, I can still speak within my capacity as a survivor. When I was assaulted here in Bristol, I was confused and did not have a clear guidance on what I should do - I was a fresher in their first month in a new city, miles away from home and any familiar support system. The University needs to do better than expecting survivors to reach out to them; they need to reach out to us too.

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epigram 01.04.2019

Student drug use is causing the most vulnerable to be exploited, abused and even killed

Scarlett Sherriff

Fourth Year, French and Spanish

fter the stabbings a few weeks ago, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Cressida Dick, commented that middle class drug users bear some responsibility for violent spates in deprived communities. While on LBC, a caller asked if these stabbings would go down if the drugs market was smaller. She began her response by saying that her “absolute priority … is violence”. She said that ‘stop and search’ aims to target the people causing harm, as opposed to those using drugs. When pushed by the caller she stated that the force is dealing with the ‘Mr Bigs’, but that their priority has to be violence. The presenter, Nick Ferrari then pushed her on to the next topic. However, I think this is a great loss. Ms Dick has previously been outspoken about middle class cocaine users, the role of which in the rise of gang violence

“A huge proportion of children involved in gangs are involved because of drug supply”

Pexels/ Kat Wilcox

ainsbury’s self-checkout machines turn a frustrating day into one that is utterly unpalatable. The sheer passive aggressive disdain at me, a slow, incompetent human, is uncalled for. I do not need a machine to bother me, there are plenty of people who are more than capable of that. Mostly when I go to Sainsbury’s it is because I have forgotten to make a packed lunch. I do not go to the place out of choice. I would never, of my own volition, go somewhere that is always busy and that I find a confusing maze. I know I am not speedy or logical in the supermarket so I certainly do not need the passive contempt of a machine to remind me I’m inefficient. I can accept the extortionate price of a meal deal which includes bog standard crisps and a just about edible sandwich, and I can accept that it is my fault for being lazy. I can blame my poor timing for the queue, and I will blame myself for the rude glares I get from people when I haphazardly bump into them. But what grates me is the phrase, ‘Please take your items’, said by a machine in an exasperated and authoritarian tone. A machine has no right to be offended. It has no feelings. I, however, do- I’ve got deadlines and I have been hurrying up for a whole selection of people all day. When I get my lunch, it is a moment for pause, even if I must shift past crowds of freshers. I have got my music on in my ears and I refuse to hurry. I am perfectly happy to ignore everyone, and shamelessly, I will do everything at a snail pace. People are stupid to endure the endless queue if they were pressed for time, so, for the love of God: Sainsbury’s, stop rushing me. Alan Carr’s voice telling me about Red Nose Day was also utterly uncalled for. Why were you trying to guilt me into buying a stupid red nose? I am deep into my overdraft and the meal deal is extortionate as it is. I heard from Bristruths that you can mute the things, and I will definitely be doing so.

Second Year, History

of 17-year-old Jodie Chesney, in what is speculated to be a case of mistaken identity. I am not claiming that all stab victims are involved in gangs, Ms Chesney was not, or even that all stabbers are. What I am saying is that a huge proportion of children involved in gangs are involved because of drug supply. This is causing violence to increase, by creating a culture where people feel that stabbing is a solution. If we want to help in this situation, surely the first step we can take is admitting that student drug use is not harmless. It does not fit the simple utilitarian justification that ‘it doesn’t hurt anyone, it makes me happy’. Surely, we can see it does hurt people, and more than that it hurts the most vulnerable people in society. The point of this article is not to present a conclusive case for the correlation between drugs and violence toward young people. Although I would contend the case for that correlation is strong, it requires one more able and better informed than I. What I want to argue is that we should consider the impact that our actions have on other people. Funding the drug industry does lead to harm, and significant harm, even if we cannot see it being done in front of us. The conclusion from this could be one of legalising drugs, or of cracking down on them. Either way, at the moment, drugs are not harmless. They are very harmful. And harmful to those who cannot help themselves.

Epigram/Will Charley

Sainsbury’s, stop telling me to take my stuff- I’ll take as long as I like

Tim Bodey

is undeniable. She had previously specifically targeted those who ‘sit round ... happily think about global warming and organic food but think there is no harm in taking a bit of cocaine. Well, there is; there’s misery throughout the supply chain’. But surely the harm goes further than cocaine? Victoria Atkins, a Home Office worker, commented on the relation between drugs and crime, calling drugs ‘the main driver … of this serious violence’. Why are there gangs in the UK? Mainly, to provide drugs. County lines are a system used by gangs where children are exploited to traffic drugs into cities, and these traffickers are left unfed and in squalid conditions. These gangs exploit the vulnerability of poor children, left behind by society. Desperation leads to violence, tension and unrest. But how do such foul gangs survive? Because they are profitable. What makes them profitable? Customers. This is a basic principle, yet it seems to be ignored by far too many. Suppliers exploit children to ensure that their product remains profitable. They do not have to pay children, and children are less likely to get arrested. However, this does make life more dangerous for children. One of the more publicised killings of late is that

Pexels/ Alexander Krivitskiy

Epigram/ Will Charley

Your weekly rant:

Too many students forget that their drug use does not exist within a vaccuum and is actually ruining lives

Bureaucracy rules supreme at Bristol University A recent Epigram FOI highlights why student satisfaction is so low Will Charley Comment Editor

any Bristol students have felt the painful grind of the University administration. Whether it was my postgraduate housemate who turned up to registration in Wills back in September, only to find out that he was not on the University’s system; or instead the fact that we only find out when our exams are about a month before sitting them. In a thousand ways, the University can sometimes be painfully slow. However, this being the penultimate issue

“If the University wants to improve student satisfaction, an easy fix would be cutting the bureacucracy”

of Epigram for the academic year, I thought I’d turn to one piece of the bureaucracy that has particularly bugged student journalists. Epigram has revealed that less than 30 per cent of all Freedom of Information requests have been carried out within the statutory deadline, as set by the Freedom of Information Act 2000. On the surface, this might suggest the University is trying to be secretive, discouraging individuals from finding out information that they have a legal right to know. With the removal of the University’s headquarters from Senate House to Godknows-where, it would be all too easy for some students to believe that our own university is hiding information and dismissing students. But the tragic reality is that the University

is simply bureaucratic, impeding its students, its staff and journalists, both amateur and professional. The failure to complete even half of FOIs on time is the perfect quantitative example of the University’s disregard for efficiency. Of 585 FOI requests, just 158 were completed on time. If the University wants to improve student satisfaction, an easy fix would be cutting the bureaucracy. Over the past year as Comment Editor, this issue has been raised to me by so many people: undergraduates, postgrads, arts and science students alike. Yes, the University can be painful to work with at times from a journalistic perspective, but the results of Epigram’s latest study are best understood as emblematic of one of Bristol’s biggest issues.

Comment 13

01.04.2019 epigram

All students should receive suicide awareness training: we are best placed to intervene Our friends are those most likely to notice a deterioration in our mental health- it is time they received training so they can help us Lucy Rowe

Second Year, English

Epigram/ Ed Southgate

ast month, Epigram reported that Bristol’s Director of Student Services is ‘very open’ to the possibility of providing online suicide awareness training for all students. Although there are no definite plans for this to be implemented yet, I believe that training all students in suicide awareness would be extremely useful. Bristol’s current Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, published in December 2018, contains aims such as increasing the engagement of senior leadership in tackling mental health, and clearly signposting the support available for students. Free activity classes will be offered during exam seasons, and the counselling system will be improved to enable students to access it quickly. The issue with all these policies is that they require the student suffering to ‘make the first move’ in getting help, be this contacting their personal tutor or booking an appointment with the counselling service.

However, warning signs of suicide include hopelessness, becoming withdrawn, and a loss of interest in most things. If someone feels hopeless then they may not feel inclined to contact to a counsellor or their personal tutor. If someone loses interest in most things, then it is unlikely that they will attend university - let alone activity sessions. Of course, mental illnesses and suicidal feelings manifest in a multitude of ways, and all of the proposals made within the Mental Health strategy will surely be beneficial. However, if a student does not feel motivated to access mental health services, they may remain untreated, and their issues may worsen as a result. The implication of this has been welldocumented: two thirds of sudden deaths involve students not previously known to mental health services. Currently, students appointed as senior residents receive the online suicide awareness training, which is certainly positive; older students may provide an unintimidating and accessible source of support for struggling first years. However, this training is still only useful if a student suffering with their mental health feels able and willing to reach out. Speaking personally, I saw my senior resident roughly once a term when I was in halls, for meetings focussed on practical matters. Students’ experiences will naturally vary, but if someone has little contact with their senior resident, they may not feel comfortable contacting them about suicidal feelings. Based on this, we need to look at how the

people closest to a student who may be at risk of suicide can help. Flatmates, friends and classmates are the people most likely to notice deteriorating mental health, because they are the people who know us best at university. If symptoms of depression stopped me from attending my contact hours, my friends would notice long before my tutors. Our peers know which behaviours are normal for us, meaning that they are best placed to notice abnormalities symptomatic of severe mental illness. Understanding the signs of someone being

“Two thirds of sudden deaths involve students not previously known to mental health services”

suicidal will enable students to reach out to a peer who is at risk and guide them to mental health services, gently prompting them to book an appointment or talk to a member of staff. If we are equipped with knowledge of both warning signs and available support, we can aid each other in getting professional help. Suicide awareness training would not only be beneficial within the university setting, but an extremely valuable life skill. Suicide rates are even higher amongst non-students: knowing the warning signs of suicide might well save someone’s life.

The English need to find their own day to celebrate Following Saint Patrick’s Day, it is increasingly clear that the English need their own national holiday instead of appropriating Irish tradition

and vagabonds to get absolutely trollied and slap on a pair of green knickers. Maybe, if Mr Patrick is lucky, one might buy a pint of Guinness in his honour. Before happily returning to pink gin or whatever one usually get sloshed on. This “holiday” (for the English celebratees) is utterly devoid of culture. It is the opposite of culture. It is a chance

for cheap lager companies to flog hideous merch to idiots, based on the stereotype of our favourite celtic magical midget. This ironically charmless celebration of absolutely nothing brings up a deeper and even more depressing reality. Are we not a nation of drinkers, have we not paved the way in liver destruction since we could put hops in a pot?

“St Patrick’s Day highlights an embarassing shortfall in English culture”

Will Haslam

Third Year, Biochem

Bristol SU

Epigram/ Will Charley

am annoyed about how the English celebrate St. Patrick’s day. Before we get into that I want to preface my snobby condemnation: this is not a criticism of how anyone Irish, half Irish or Irishish wants to celebrate their holiday. For it is their holiday. Why do we English celebrate St Patrick’s day? Most of the Bristolian participants are not Irish, have no subsequent interest in Ireland and certainly are not religious enough to celebrate the obscure 5th century Saint with such extravagance. If you have gone to an Irish pub, that’s fine. If you have gone to a Celtic folk gig, brilliant, you have shown real enthusiasm. I fear however that most of our Sunday night revellers spent the evening in the local spoons before moving on to the Triangle, trying to pull and dancing to Bohemian Rhapsody. For most of my non-Irish brethren, St Patricks day is just an excuse for students

We compete with the very best in disorderly inebriated self destruction, and yet we cannot find our own reason to have a drinking holiday. You would think that at the expense of thousands of livers, millions of NHS hours and most of my student loan we could rustle together our own tradition. Perhaps English drinking is so prolific that our ancestors were more hungover than those of our neighbors, and could not find the energy to pick a day. I doubt it. St Patricks day highlights an embarrassing shortfall in English culture, leading us to lazily nicking a holiday from our neighbours. A holiday, whose English incarnation, is predicated on perhaps offensive stereotypes of Irish drinking. Could we not drink ourselves silly on May Day, or St Georges day or any day with genuine tradition? Are we embarrassed by our own traditions? Or did everyone get together and decide that the bloke who slew the dragon probably was not real, so we’d better go with whoever the Irish got. Worse still, I suspect we did not nick the tradition from the Irish directly but through the US. This is the ultimate humiliation. It is unacceptable for a country to grab ancient traditions off of its historical progeny that is 850 years younger! You would not celebrate Bastille Day without a Frenchman and you would not celebrate Defender of the Motherland Day without a Russian buddies’ invitation. Can we, as a people, please treat St Patricks day with the same polite reservation and stop pretending it has anything to do with us.

Science & Tech

The Mind

Editor: Bethany Harris Deputy Editor: Vilhelmiina Haavisto Online Editor: Caitlin Bromfield

Follow our Instagram/Twitter @episcitech

Have you given mindfulness a try? The science behind it just might convince you to . . .

Carissa Wong

PhD Cancer Immunology

“Meditators have been shown to be more emotionally resilient in behavioural studies compared to non-meditators”

cycles. MBSR was originally developed to help patients deal with chronic pain and focuses on developing non-judgemental acceptance of physical or mental conditions. MBCT was developed to help prevent relapse in depression, and combines mindfulness practices with CT. While traditional CT aims to invalidate negative thought patterns and develop alternative ways of thinking, MBCT aims to change how you relate to those thoughts. Here at the University of Bristol, over 50 medical students have taken part in a research study to investigate how an eight-week MBCT programme could help them with everyday life. Students on the programme reported an enhanced awareness of their feelings which enabled them to respond better in patient-facing situations. They also found mindful practices useful during exam periods and long days to refresh and reset. Other RCTs on university students have shown reduced exam anxiety and stress, and boosts to positivity as a result of mindfulness practices. It’s no wonder Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US

Unsplash / dorota Flickr / AJC1

indfulness is rooted in ancient Buddhist philosophy and has grown increasingly popular in the Western world. Ever since mindfulness meditation research began in the 1960s, associations have been made between mindfulness and mental wellbeing. This has led to the recent boom in excitement over the power of mindfulness to treat common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. While the science to support the use of mindfulness as a treatment for mental health is still in its infancy, promising results have led many people to use mindfulness practices as tools to de-stress from busy lives. Hype aside, let’s take a deep breath and focus on the existing evidence behind the trend. At the heart of mindfulness are two essential elements: awareness of your experience in the moment, non-judgmentally and with acceptance. Acceptance refers to the ability to experience without being emotionally preoccupied with or negatively affected by the experience. Mindfulness has been most popularly defined in research as ‘paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, and non-judgmentally’. The word mindfulness in research can be used to describe a mental trait - a tendency to be mindful in everyday life - or actions taken to cultivate the mindful state, such as mindfulness meditation. Trait mindfulness is measured in research using a mindfulness scale, of which there are several currently accepted versions. People

who report higher levels of trait mindfulness also report increased life satisfaction and higher levels of optimism, empathy and self-esteem. Several studies have shown a negative correlation between trait mindfulness levels and depression. When scientists look at the brain, trait mindfulness seems to be associated with reduced restingstate activity in the amygdala, the region responsible for the flight-or-fight response. Meanwhile, increased resting-state activity in the amygdala has been shown to positively correlate with levels of depressive symptoms. As you might expect, practicing mindfulness meditation has been found to reduce stress levels, while improving self-reported sense of wellbeing and selfcompassion. Mindful meditation involves focusing your attention on a sense and/or your breathing and returning to that focus whenever your mind wanders. Meditators have been shown to be more emotionally resilient in behavioural studies compared to non-meditators, with faster recovery from reactions to emotional stimuli. It has emerged that it may be a case of mindfulness over matter, as meditators have been shown to have a thicker prefrontal cortex, a brain region involved in attention and processing sensory inputs. This would explain the enhanced ability of meditators versus nonmeditators to shift focus from one moment, that carries emotional stimuli, onto the next. Gold-standard research studies, called randomised controlled trials (RCTs), have shown that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) can reduce depressive symptoms, decrease social anxiety and increase quality of life. Both MBSR and MBCT aim to reduce negative thoughts from self-stated facts to simple mental events that form part of automatic thought

dylka

The science of mindfulness

already include mindfulness within their medical courses, and it might not be long before the UK follows suit. It is important to note that, as with most treatments, the effectiveness of mindfulness will depend on the individual. For example, it has been found that while MBCT is often effective to reduce relapse of depression for people who have suffered three or more depressive episodes, this effect is not seen with people who have suffered two or fewer episodes. Moreover, some people have found that mindful states enable traumatic experiences to enter the mind unexpectedly, and therefore mindfulness is not the best approach for them to deal with PTSD. Continued research will help to narrow down which therapies mindfulness is best combined with, and which people are most likely to benefit from mindful practices. Nevertheless, mindfulness continues to be popular; the mindfulness app Headspace has been downloaded more than 11 million times worldwide, showing that it’s helping plenty of people go about their everyday lives with more ease.

Avoiding the afternoon slump Science might be able to help when it comes to dealing with the dreaded slump Unsplash / Davide Cantelli

Isobel O’Loughlin First year, Biology

erhaps the most common excuse for unproductivity is a lack of energy. But what if you could use fluctuations in your energy levels to your advantage? Throughout the day, the brain tires via two main mechanisms: homeostatic and circadian control. In homeostatic control, adenosine builds up during the day as ATP (the molecule that provides energy to cells) is used up. Adenosine causes tiredness and its levels are reduced by sleeping. The other mechanism, circadian control, occurs by the complex interplay of many hormones (most notably cortisol and melatonin) over a roughly 24-hour period. Melatonin is secreted when it is time to sleep and cortisol is released at other times to counteract this and stay awake. This is just one aspect of your circadian rhythms, or ‘biological clock’, which keeps your bodily processes in tune with the time of day.

“Knowing the time of day when you have the lowest energy levels means that you can work around it and increase your overall efficiency”

The combination of homeostatic and circadian control creates a regular pattern of reduced and increased alertness throughout the day. As alertness increases cognition, this causes a daily variation in the level of productivity. As noted by Professor Russell Foster, fluctuations in energy and cognitive performance follow a general pattern in most people: an increase until midday, then a dip around 3pm, another peak around 6pm and a gradual decrease following that. However, he stresses that this is not the case for everyone as our natural chronotypes (inclinations to certain times of day) vary. This means that some people work best early in the morning and others late at night.

If you are unsure about your own chronotype, it can be useful to monitor daily fluctuations in your energy levels for a week. A greater understanding of your own circadian rhythm enables you to use it to your advantage. For example, coordinating more intellectually demanding work with your biological prime time- when you have the most focus and energy. Additionally, knowing the time of day when you have the lowest energy levels means that you can work around it and increase your overall efficiency. According to Foster, most people experience an ‘afternoon slump’ – a dip in energy and focus around 3pm. This is the best time to schedule easier or more mundane tasks. Alternatively, there are things you could do to increase your energy that are particularly useful at this time: One of the most effective ways to do this is by taking a 20-minute nap. This reduces the ‘sleep pressure’ caused by the build-up of adenosine and improves cognition. Increasingly, businesses are encouraging employees to take power naps to improve their efficiency. A well-publicised example of this is the introduction of nap pods into the Google

offices. If sleeping is not an option, drinking tea or coffee (in moderation) can mimic its positive effects. This is because caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, so the signals are not sent to cause feelings of tiredness. Breaks can also be coordinated with times of reduced energy. Many recent studies have highlighted the advantages of taking regular breaks. Some of the specific benefits found include restoring motivation, preventing decision fatigue and even memory consolidation. These all contribute to increasing your productivity. There is some debate about how often you should take breaks: advocates for the Pomodoro method suggest alternating 25-minute periods of work with 5-minute periods of rest, whereas a study from the University of Illinois found one break per hour to be the most effective. The best method is likely to be individual, so experiment with various frequencies (and lengths) of breaks to find what is most effective for you. So, before you next put off your work from a lack of energy, consider the science behind it and try out some of these methods to improve your productivity.

epigram

Science and Tech 15

01.04.2019

Food for thought: Should we all be eating mushrooms? Mushrooms were recently shown to decrease mild cognitive impairment, but they may not be acting alone

Vilhelmiina Haavisto Second year, Biology

Unsplash / Andrew Ridley

esults from a study published earlier this year by researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) suggest that 60+ year olds’ risk of developing mild cognitive impairment could be reduced by eating at least three portions of mushrooms a week. Mild cognitive impairment is the stage between the expected cognitive decline associated with healthy ageing and the more serious diagnosis of dementia, which describes a group of symptoms indicating decreased cognitive abilities. Mild cognitive impairment involves symptoms including a gradual and sometimes subtle increase in forgetfulness and problems with language and attention. The study was conducted over a six-year period, and lead researcher Lei Feng called the results “surprising and encouraging”; they indicate that eating mushrooms more than twice a week may lower the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment by up to 10%. This beneficial effect was observed independent of several health and lifestyle factors, including gender, smoking habits, physical activity levels, and incidence of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. This reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment is likely due to a number of compounds found in mushrooms, such as hericenones and scabronines, which have been shown to promote nerve growth in laboratory models. Mushrooms also contain compounds that contribute to preventing neurodegeneration by halting the production

and accumulation of proteins that go on to make up the plaque found in Alzheimer’s patients’ brains. This plaque accumulates between nerve cells and disrupts their normal functioning. Overall, the NUS researchers assert that their findings support the fact that mushrooms and their bioactive compounds may have a “potential role” in delaying neurodegeneration. So, could going hardcore with the mushrooms now be beneficial to our health in the long run? The life-long effects of eating mushrooms is not a topic that this study touched on, and indeed no such studies appear to have been conducted. Identifying preventative measures such as dietary interventions for diseases that do not yet have cures, including Alzheimer’s, though, is clearly important. On that note, there are several other food groups whose impacts on lifelong brain health have been scientifically investigated and characterised. The foods that make up the ‘Mediterranean diet’ are just one such example. Sometimes called the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH-diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet, it emphasises the importance of foods including green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, and whole grains. Olive oil is the main source of fat, and most of the animal proteins consumed come from fish and seafood. It also limits the quantities of foods such as red meat, cheese, pastries and sweets. The MIND diet was developed by combining elements of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, as well as specific food-based strategies to promote brain health. The foods included in the MIND diet may seem like no-brainers to some; even if it doesn’t, the research on its beneficial effects on cognition should convince the remaining skeptics. The first-ever study that dealt with the MIND diet found that adults who adhered to it showed slower decline in cognitive skills than those following only either a Mediterranean or DASH diet. One of many

“‘Up to a third of [dementia] cases could be prevented by changes in lifestyle, including diet’”

subsequent pieces of research on the effects of a MIND diet on cognition, published in 2018, was conducted on over 16,000 women aged 70+ from the long-term Nurses’ Health Study. Their adherence to the MIND diet was monitored between 1984 and 1998, and cognition was measured later in the women’s lives, from 1995 to 2001. The study found that the longer the women adhered to the MIND diet, the better they tended to perform on the verbal memory component of the cognitive assessment. However, the researchers could not confidently make a link between adherence to the MIND diet and reduced risk of general cognitive decline. Lei Feng rightly points out that the reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment that the NUS study identified is likely due to a “combination of many factors”, and cites tea, green leafy vegetables, and fish as other foods that may have contributed to the findings. These seem to come up again and again, so they must really have at least some

health benefits. Obviously, it can be hard to incorporate all these foods into the student diet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try - one way of doing so could be to incorporate more seasonal produce into our meals. Dr James Pickett, head of research at the UK-based Alzheimer’s Society, remarks that ‘up to a third of [dementia] cases could be prevented by changes in lifestyle, including diet’; as we have seen, this is widely agreed upon in the scientific community. He also cautions that we should not ‘get carried away with the findings of any one single study’, and emphasises the importance of basing healthcare advice on ‘consistent evidence... built up over multiple studies.’ So, based on the NUS study’s results alone, I wouldn’t advise going on an all-mushroom diet right away to ensure mental dexterity in retirement. However, there is something to be said for incorporating even a few more portions of veg, fish, and nuts, among many other foods, into our meal repertoire.

What’s new in science? Mental health research Bethan Howe explores the link between anxiety and later alcohol abuse

Unsplash / Mike Labrum

The study found some evidence for a positive association between anxiety and later alcohol use disorders, which may be explained by the self-medication hypothesis. This suggests anxious individuals consume alcohol to alleviate their physiological and emotional reactivity. Anxiety may also reduce alcohol use due to factors such as the fear of negative consequences associated with drinking and social withdrawal. Associations between anxiety and later alcohol consumption and binge drinking were inconsistent. However, absence of evidence does not mean that there is no relationship between anxiety and alcohol use, and the positive associations do suggest that more anxious young people may be at a greater risk of developing alcohol problems. Further research needs to investigate specific anxiety symptoms related to development of alcohol disorders, and the causation of this relationship needs to be established. Maddy Dyer, PhD student in TARG stated that we need ‘to understand why there are differences in associations for alcohol levels versus problematic use, and to establish which individuals with anxiety develop alcohol problems. This could lead to improvements in personalised interventions.’

Unsplash / Adam Wilson

With the rise of anxiety disorders in adolescents over the last decade, recent research conducted by the University of Bristol Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group (TARG) explores whether child and adolescent anxiety is related to later alcohol use disorders in a systematic review. Both anxiety and alcohol abuse inflict significant health, social, and economic costs on the individual and on society, but their relationship remains unclear.

Vilhelmiina Haavisto reports on research from Bristol’s Medical School that has given new insight into predictors of suicide amongst young people The research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, was carried out on 310 young adults aged 16 to 21 from the Bristol-based ‘Children of the 90s’ study who disclosed that they had had suicidal thoughts. They found that just over 1 in 10 of those who had suicidal thoughts made a suicide attempt within the five-year follow-up period. The researchers were most interested in possible predictors that could help clinicians to make assessments of ‘high risk’ young people. The factors that were found to be most pertinent included illicit drug use (including cannabis), self harm or exposure to it among friends and family, and having a personality type that makes them more open to new experiences. They also found that 16-year olds were the group with the highest risk, with one in five of those with suicidal thoughts attempting suicide within the follow-up period. Dr Becky Mars, a Research Fellow at the University and lead author on the paper, notes that ‘most young people who think about suicide will not make an attempt on their life’, and that it is ‘crucial that we know more about how we can predict thoughts into actions’ if we are to effectively protect those most at-risk. Professor David Gunnell, also from the University, has led several suicide prevention research studies and adds that ‘being better able to identify those at greatest risk and intervening may help reduce suicides in young people.’ With regards to future work, Dr Mars says that they are ‘planning studies to look at predictors during shorter time frames and…other predictors which are not covered in this study.’

Postgraduate open afternoons Explore postgraduate opportunities, meet current students and academics, and ask questions about postgrad life at Bristol and our alumni discount. April â&#x20AC;&#x201C; May 2019

Book your place today: bristol.ac.uk/postgrad-visit

MASTER your potential

Wellbeing Living Food Style Travel Issue 11 / 1st April 2019

Style //

Stepping Into Eden FUZE 2019 Reviewed Wellbeing //

The Pill: combined or progesterone-only?

Travel //

Can animal tourism ever be an ethical experience?

Living //

Where to go and what to do when mum comes to stay

epigram / The Croft 01.04.2019

Editor Jasmine Burke

Deputy-Editor Luke Unger

Online Editor Marina Afzal-Khan Epigram Wellbeing

@EpigramWB

@epigramwellbeing

Let’s talk about sex!

From picking the right contraception to discussing unhealthy sexual habits, we’ve got you covered Unhealthy relationships with sex

exual health has been a prominent issue since teenagers and young adults began fornicating with every Tom, Dick or Harry. Let’s be clear: this is not an article to shame you on your chosen actions. If you’re of age, then you are responsible enough to make your own decisions and be as promiscuous as you like, as long as it isn’t hurting anybody. Whether you are a virgin or someone with a few notches on your bed post, it is important to be aware of the unhealthy habits we can often find ourselves slipping into when it comes to our sex lives. These unhealthy habits aren’t exclusive to women; every single person who is sexually active needs to be fully aware of the problems that may arise from having frequent sexual intercourse.

Not having your boundaries respected This may be the most important one of all, especially in the age of #metoo. Some people become quite adamant of the fact they want to sleep with someone and can often take things way, way too far. Consent is indispensable, whether the person is your partner, close friend, acquaintance or one-night stand. Ranging from ignoring safe words

victim sooner. We often blame ourselves when we are sexually abused with questions racing through our minds such as “maybe I didn’t say no enough?” or “maybe he didn’t realise I was upset?”. We all see the “Tea Consent” video when we start university - do not forget it. If the unimaginable does happen to you, tell somebody as soon as you can.

Not feeling comfortable talking about anything sex related If you are having sex, you need to be able to talk about it. By this, I am not referring to dirty talk but the value of sexual communication. It is an essential part of a healthy sex life and is important for many reasons, including expressing any reservations or boundaries you may have and sharing your sexual desires. Not dealing with your feelings in a practical way

Not using protection

Epigram / Luke Unger

Mainly applying to those with new sexual partners, preventing sexual diseases and unwanted pregnancies should be your ultimate concern when having sex. I understand that it can be a downer (mind the pun) reaching over for a condom but I can guarantee a bigger downer would be being told you have an infection you could have prevented. If you’re using money as an excuse, get down to your GP’s office and just ask for condoms. If you’re too embarrassed to ask for condoms, you’re probably not mature enough to deal with the responsibilities of having sex. If you want to play, play safe. Not being picky The biggest mistake of sleeping around is sleeping around. You should be picky about the people you share intimate moments with and, just for your assurance, this isn’t coming from a judgemental place but from experience. Don’t have sex with someone if you’re not attracted to them but just need some attention. Don’t have sex with someone so that you can get experience for when the right person comes along. Don’t have sex with someone just so that you can say you’ve slept with a multitude of people. Have standards and stick to them.

The Contraceptive Pill Minefield: Combined or Progesterone-only

he contraceptive pill sounds simple enough; you take a pill that prevents unwanted pregnancy.

When I first went to the doctors about a year ago to ask to be prescribed it, I thought it’d be nice and easy and ta-dah I’d walk out with the pill. As it turns out, in reality it’s far more complicated for many women. If you do not fit into the typical contraceptive pill route, then it can feel like you are in a stressful minefield of simultaneously too much information or no information at all.

to forcing themselves on you, it is not right. My own personal accounts range from being woken up by a man forcing himself inside of me to fullblown rape and I wish somebody would have helped me realise I was the It is from there that things started to get complicated. Whilst I had never experienced any negative side effects from Microgynon 30, it was then discovered by my doctor that I had experienced migraines with visual disturbances when I was younger and, as such, could not take pills with oestrogen in as it would put me at risk of a stroke. So, here comes pill number 2. Cerelle (or, as me and my boyfriend affectionately named it, ‘Cerhell’) brought with it a whole range of problems for me. Of course, one of things which makes the contraceptive pill so tricky is that every woman is different so there isn’t really a guidebook of what works and what doesn’t for every individual. That said, after having been prescribed Cerelle, I googled it and the only non-NHS information I could find about it was a scathing Netmums thread on its horrific side effects. I wasn’t hugely excited to try it. For the first three months of Cerelle I was fine. As it is a progesterone-only pill (POP), it is to be taken every day with no breaks, potentially making bleeding more or less regular, random or stop completely (it’s a bit like a horrific lottery). Yet, ignoring some slightly random bleeding patterns, it was looking to be fine.

First, I didn’t even know that there were two types of pill: the combined pill (containing both oestrogen and progesterone hormones) and the POP (containing progesterone hormone only). Unsplash/ @Thoughtcatalogue Then came the mental symptoms. Unfortunately, my time on Second, I had no idea of the range of brands that make pills with varying levels of hormones and Cerelle coincided with my moving to university which undoubtedly with varying scary-sounding side-effects. That said, one didn’t help my mental health as it is always going to be tough moving year on and having tried 3 different brands to date, I am now certainly to a new place. That said, I started to feel so out-of-character in a way more well-informed. that I knew couldn’t just be caused by homesickness. Usually ever the optimist, I couldn’t seem to find much good in anything and would cry My pill journey started on a pretty regular path of Microgynon 30, and feel frustrated to the point that I wanted to scream for seemingly no which is, to date, the most commonly prescribed pill in Britain. It is a reason at all. I was losing myself. combined pill which you take every day for 21 days and then take a 7-day break in which you bleed – fairly standard. In my experience of talking Finally, it got to the point where I couldn’t handle Cerelle with the to other women, given that this is the pill format that most women take, irregular bleeding and unhealthy mindset it caused and, so, having everybody kind of understands this system. Not only that, but there is a endured it for 9 months, I went back to the doctors and asked for plethora of information online which gives insight into the combined pill. something new.

Sex can be used to soothe your emotions in the moment but, by the end of it, chances are your problems will still be there. Relying on sex to boost your mood will only work in the short term; it should not be your primary coping mechanism. This also extends to porn and masturbation as a way of distraction from feelings you can’t bear to deal with. The next time you find yourself trying to use any of these methods, question whether you are merely doing it for pleasure or if you may be trying to use it as a distraction from a bigger issue. Sex can be great and pleasurable but, most of all, it is an intimate act that you want to share with the right person. We must remember to take care of ourselves mentally and physically, and realise the responsibilities that come with being sexually active. Listen to your body and don’t force yourself into doing anything you are not comfortable with. Just acknowledging your patterns with any of these unhealthy habits can be enough to make a change in the way you approach your sex life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with it all, enlisting the help of an experienced sex therapist can help you delve into any unresolved issues.

Anonymous In being unable to take the combined pill due to migraines and in being unable to handle the balance of hormones in Cerelle, my options were already limited. So, I was presented with two options: Noriday (POP) or the coil. I cannot actually speak for the coil as, frankly, I was too scared to consider a surgical contraceptive, so I apprehensively opted for yet another pill. As had become habit from the previous 2 pills, I googled what other women had to say about Noriday and found even less information than I had for Cerelle. I felt like I was about the only woman on the planet who was taking this drug. And, for someone had had a negative experience with a different pill, this was terrifying. Thankfully, my three months of experience on Noriday has been positive thus-far. Much like Cerelle, the fact that you take it every day with no breaks can lead to a bleeding pattern which can be described as, at best, irregular, but, past that, my mental health has settled into its norm. In fact, in coming off Cerelle, I finally understood the cliché of a fog being lifted because I can now look at situations in a rational way that Cerelle, without me realising, had totally prevented. There is much to be said for the contraceptive pill; of course, the prevention of pregnancy, but also a multitude of other benefits such as sometimes helping acne, irregular bleeding and aiding sexual liberation. That said, I would urge that it is treated warily as it can affect you in ways that you don’t even necessarily realise whilst you are taking it. I hope that there is more discussion around them, particularly with regard to the less-well known POP so that women can really understand what they are taking. We need openness and honesty around the pill.

Elisha Mans FirstYear, Politics

01.04.2019 epigram / The Croft

BPD: a rollercoaster of unstable emotions

Online Wellbeing Editor Marina Afzal-Khan discusses her experience of BDP and the networks that offered her support

Unsplash/ @Kalimullin

o this day I’m afraid of rollercoasters and refuse to go on them. However, ironically, it seems that when it comes to my emotions, it’s hard not to see a similarity. When I was 20, I was diagnosed with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, more commonly known as Borderline Personality Disorder. BPD is a personality disorder characterised by extreme emotional reactions, impulsive behaviours, unstable relationships and an unstable sense of self. Through this, I’ve come to learn a lot about myself and why my emotions range from one end of the spectrum - euphoria - to the other: depressive. I am in a constant battle, not knowing when I’m going to feel on top of the world or feel as if life is too much for me to handle.

”

At the end of the day, your brain works in its own way. No one is the same and you’ve just got to own it

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Not having an awareness of when I am going to be extremely social, energetic and happy, or the opposite, can be extremely exhausting. People with BPD tend not to have a strong sense of self and struggle with their own identity, which changes depending on who they are around. My friends and family always ask me the same routine questions: ‘Why can’t you just have a balance? Why can’t you just feel normal, not always either so happy or so sad?’. The only response I have to this is: that is not how my brain works. For me, one week or even one day can be extremely chaotic and I’d make decisions which are often extremely catastrophic in hindsight, yet in the moment, I think they are the best decisions. Due to my impulsive mind, I seek drama, I seek action and I am constantly on my feet. I usually feel overly excited, constantly fidgeting and end up doing harmful selfdestructive acts. My relationships and friendships can feel very intense and unstable which can be mentally draining because of the fear of feeling abandoned, therefore constantly craving strong attachments. Sleeping without my mind racing is impossible and eating is nonexistent. The only things I seem to care about are being social, energetic and to remain as euphoric as I can for as long as I can. On the other hand, feeling euphoric for a long period of time can also feel uncomfortable. There is never a moment where I feel a healthy and content range of emotions.

having to feel every emotion so deeply, it is also exciting and an amazing feeling when I’m euphoric. At the end of the day, your brain works in its own way. No one is the same and you’ve just got to own it.

helped me understand them more and has made me feel less ashamed of my actions. Addressing them also means I can notice a manic or depressive spell more often and stay in control.

There isn’t any official medication for BPD; there isn’t anything I can physically do besides try to stay in the driving seat of my mind. Taking the extra second before making the decision or feeling a certain way can help manage your emotions and keep you grounded a little bit more. SHERPA offered by the Student Health Service had offered me emotional regulation therapy which has also been a saviour. Being able to talk about my week and how my emotions have fluctuated with a professional has

Having unstable emotions does not have to be debilitating; as much as I fear rollercoasters, I know the majority of people enjoy the ride, which I am beginning to do myself. I’ve accepted BPD as a part of my identity, instead of just being an illness, because I am doing something about it and, through my personal journey, I love the person I have become.

OCD: There is hope Halfway through my first year of university, I was diagnosed with OCD. I had previously been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and had been treated with a course of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). Then my anxiety returned with a vengeance and had slowly, and then very quickly, progressed into OCD. OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is a mental illness which affects the way you think and, subsequently, the way you behave. It starts with an obsessive thought, which is so overpowering and so real that it causes you to behave in unusual and irrational ways. For some, this manifests with an obsession with cleanliness, or fear of contamination and germs. For others, it can be a compulsion to engage in repetitive behaviours and actions. For myself, it was characterised by horrible intrusive thoughts which I could only find relief from by indulging in irrational tasks and superstitious beliefs. If I saw a magpie, I had to salute it or it meant my family would die. If someone said the phrase ‘touch wood’, I would immediately have to touch the nearest piece of wood or something bad would happen, no matter how trivial the comment had been.

Suffering with chronically unstable emotions is more than just going through a small mood swing. Although it consumes my life, I try to look at the positives. As much as it can be tiring and I can feel out of control

life. But going to a professional and being told that I was not crazy and that my thoughts didn’t make me a bad person, was such a huge relief. Putting a name to what was going on in my head- OCD- made it so much easier to tackle. Things got even easier when I started seeking proper treatment. I was fortunate enough to only have to wait 2 months before I could start a course of CBT specifically designed for treating OCD - Exposure Response Prevention Therapy - thanks to the organisation ‘Mind’ which is partnered with our University. It taught me how to tackle my compulsive behaviours one by one and gave me the skills to help myself should any new ones appear. I also began taking medication which I was told should help me become more receptive to the therapy and minimise the symptoms of my condition. There is such a dangerous stigma around taking medication for mental health, which can seriously hinder people from getting the treatment they need. Medication does not make you weak, nor does it mean you are crazy. It just means you need a little help. Taking this did not hinder my performance at university and, whilst I am by no means an indicator of how another person will react to medication, for me, it made dealing with my condition whilst dealing with university all the more bearable. I am aware that there is an irony in claiming that I am not ashamed of my OCD and writing this article anonymously. In truth, it is because not many people know about it. Other than my parents, only three other people know: two of them my flatmates and the other, my course mate. My parents were incredibly kind when I told them about my diagnosis and were so supportive, encouraging me throughout my therapy. And my friends are understanding and do not make me feel crazy for having to check if the oven is off three times before going to bed.

The reality is that what comes up must come down. After a certain number of days, or even in the space of hours, I am brought back down and grounded. I suffer an extreme crash, where all the happiness I had felt suddenly disappears and a very uncomfortable feeling takes its place. This can bring about feelings of shame, embarrassment, paranoia and the fear of wondering what I’ve done or how I have behaved during my intensely happy period. I am lucky to have friends and family that understand, so that when they see me in my different emotional states, they are able to be there for me and not judge my actions, especially the behaviour that is self-destructive and harmful to myself. However, for me, it is exhausting. During a crash, I feel unable to do anything and need to rest for a significant proportion of time. The sheer guilt, shame and embarrassment that follows, even if I haven’t done anything terrible, ends up being overwhelming and then the cycle starts again.

Marina Afzal-Khan Online Wellbeing Editor

On bad days it even went beyond this. Sometimes I could not bring myself to go to university. I would miss lectures because I was so afraid that someone would break into my accommodation and rob me, or even murder my flatmates whilst I was out. The times that I did make it to lectures, I would often be late, having spent twenty minutes checking and re-checking that my door was locked, that the oven was not left on or that a tap was not still running (intrusive thoughts about a fire or flood were one of my most common obsessions.) I knew that these thoughts were irrational, but I still could not shake them. My intrusive thoughts had a hold of me and dictated every part of my life. However, it does get better, no matter how bleak it appears. Before I went to the GP and got diagnosed, I was at one of the lowest points in my

It also got better when I came to university. My personal tutor understood how it could affect my attendance and ability to do my assignments, and by simply acknowledging that I may struggle, but that I could still achieve what I wanted, I was feeling so much better. Support is out there. Speak to your personal tutor, see a GP, attend positivity sessions like the ones held by the ‘Peace of Mind Society’, talk to your friends and realise that you will be okay. Whilst I am not saying they will ‘cure’ you, they will definitely help. I have been told that I will probably have OCD for the rest of my life, but at least during my time at university, I do not have to struggle alone.

Anonymous

01.04.2019 epigram / The Croft

1 in 3 women in the UK choose to have an abortion

So why are they still so hard to talk about? An anonymous student discusses her own experience and what you may need to know

Firstly, you are not alone! More than 1 in 3 women in the UK choose to end a pregnancy in their lifetime. And that is fine.

ending my pregnancy. I then swallowed one pill and inserted 4 pills into my vagina. They told me exactly how to do this. I was given the option of splitting the pills across two days or taking them all at once. I took them all at once, which reduced the chance of success by 1%, but meant only one visit to the clinic. After that I had to sit down for ten minutes, then I was free to go. I went away with a lot of leaflets, painkillers, and a free pen. I was told to expect the pregnancy could start to pass any time between one to 24 hours and the bleeding could last up to four weeks. I was also told not to have sex for two weeks due to risk of infection, and if I were going back on the contraceptive pill, to start it the following day.

Recovery Look after yourself. A medical abortion is essentially a miscarriage - it is hard on your body. It took me a few weeks to fully recover, with a very hard first few days. The cramps had me in bed for most of it, so prepare to watch a lot of films.

First Steps Please take a test as soon as possible. Getting the process started early will make your life a lot easier. How far along you are with your pregnancy will determine what kind of abortion you will be able to have. Something that came as a surprise to me was the waiting time. I had to call a clinic and book a phone consultation. This phone consultation took place a few days later, and then I was booked in for the appointment at the clinic. This whole process took two weeks. For me, this was terrifying - two whole weeks of knowing I was pregnant. Try your best to stay calm for this time. It is physically and mentally draining, but unfortunately once you are booked in you have done everything you can.

Many of those around us will proudly say they are pro-choice, but would you have anyone to turn to if you wanted to terminate a pregnancy?

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You should check all of your information before the phone consultation – try to work out when your last period was and know your weight. They will also ask you to make up a password so that you are able to call back if you have any questions. You are able to call them before or after the abortion, and no question is too silly or embarrassing. The clinic I chose was Marie Stopes. I absolutely recommend them, but of course do your own research and choose who you are comfortable with.

Preparing for the day The clinic was not a convenient location. I had to be driven about 20 minutes away from central Bristol. I suggest getting a lift or taxi home, as bleeding could start if you have a long journey on public transport. They also advise that you do not come alone, but it is up to you. Take painkillers before you go – they should advise how much to take. Bring a book or something to do. Bring heavy flow/night sanitary towels. Wear something comfortable. Choose somebody to list as an emergency contact.

What happens? I can only provide my own personal experience, but hopefully it will still be of some help. They did a finger prick blood test and I had an ultrasound scan. They asked me before if I would like to know if it was a multiple pregnancy, I said no. They did not show me the scan but I did not ask. They confirmed that I was about seven weeks along, so I was able to have a medical (pill) abortion. This is what I had asked for on the phone, but it cannot be confirmed until your scan. If I was further along, I believe I would have had a surgical abortion. Every option has pros and cons but fortunately I was able to have the one I wanted. I had to wait for about an hour after my scan before the procedure took place. When I went back in, they checked to make sure I was definite about

It is messy. The blood is not like a normal period, there’s a lot more clots and a lot more of it. Be aware of this before it starts and maybe try not to look at it. And have many more sanitary pads than you think you will need, the last thing you want to be doing is running to the shop!

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lthough abortion as a concept is becoming less and less of a taboo subject, I do not believe we have seen much change in conversation on a real level. Many of those around us will proudly say they are pro-choice, but would you have anyone to turn to if you wanted to terminate a pregnancy? Unfortunately, I did not. There is a lot of advice to be found online, but what we lack is honest, specific information. That is what I would like to provide. I want to offer my experience of having an abortion whilst studying at the University of Bristol. I want others to know exactly where they can go, what happens and what support is offered. I want to save you the time and energy of figuring this all out.

It felt incredibly long to me, but just remember that your body will be completely yours again at the end

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The whole thing is longer than you might think. It felt incredibly long to me, but just remember that your body will be completely yours again at the end. I didn’t know too much about abortion before I had one, so I’ve tried to answer the questions I had. Hopefully some of this information will become useful if anyone falls into a similar position, or even just allow people to read some details about a real experience!

Anonymous

Editor Hope Riley

Deputy Editor Imogen Rogers

Online Editor Josie Roberts

Epigram Living Writers 2018-19

Things to do in Bristol for non-drinkers Living Sub-Editor Hendrike Rahtz shares some ideas for alcohol-free adventures around the city

morning!

The Cube – Cinema

Bristol Uni Comedy – Entertainment/Comedy The University’s improv society holds a comedy night fortnightly on Sundays. It’s free, and, while small, the theatre itself is warm and inviting. It’s an entertaining night, and you don’t have to be drunk to guarantee this. Expect standup comedy along with improvisation games performed by members of the society.

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ights out don’t always necessarily require alcohol as an accompaniment. Below are some ideas for an alcohol-free evening in Bristol that offer pure entertainment and fun, ideal for those who do not drink, or those who are looking for a night out without the headachey consequences in the

This venue offers a variety of music genres and acts that do not necessarily turn your night into a messy-drunk moshpit kind of gig The Canteen - Music

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This venue offers a variety of music genres and acts that do not necessarily turn your night into a messy-drunk-moshpit kind of gig. Blues, jazz and a multitude of others promise a casual night of entertainment that lets you sit and enjoy the music. Check out their website to see if any of their forthcoming acts entice you!

Epigram / Gabi Spiro

A café that opens late is always a nice meet-up place to go with friends if being drunk is not on the agenda

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whereas the mini-golf is more of your real-life recreational activity. The Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf hosts a vibrant indoor golf extravaganza, where prices start at £7.50 for students.

Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3QY The Lanes – Bowling Who doesn’t enjoy bowling? It generates excitement at any age; from children’s birthday parties, to school trips, to bowling as a massive group in your teens, it’s a great way to socialise and have friendly competitive fun. You don’t have to book either; it’s just £6 p/p after 5pm. 22 Nelson St, Bristol BS1 2LE

This cinema is a secret little gem tucked away near Stokes Croft, it shows art films as well as some new ones

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Dove Street South, Kingsdown, Bristol BS2 8JD

Flickr / Heather Cowper

50 St Paul’s Road, Bristol BS8 1LP

This cinema is a secret little gem tucked away near Stokes Croft. It shows arty films as well as some new ones, in an old but cool building. The main bonus is the price - £4-£5 a ticket – but it also offers a cosy ambience that only a one-screen cinema can provide.

Gaming – Kongs and Mini-Golf

Kongs, 13-15, Kings Street, BS1 4EF | Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf, top floor Cabot Circus, Glass Walk, Bristol BS1 3BQ Wellbeing/Relaxation – Café Kino A café that opens late (10:30) is always a nice meet-up place to go with friends if being drunk is not on the agenda. The café also offers amazing food (that’s vegan and local), but on some evenings, classes like life-drawing and events such as spoken word performances are hosted which can be a relaxing yet fun way to spend an evening.

” Best exercise classes to try - give it a go! Both offer an indoor-gaming scene, but Kongs is a café that throws it back to the ‘80s and ‘90s with its arcade games,

108 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3RU

Hendrike Rahtz Living Sub-Editor

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Deputy Living Editor Imogen Rogers gives us a rundown of the best gym classes the Uni has to offer If you are a beginner:

To introduce yourself to weights: Body Pump is a barbell workout using light to moderate weights with lots of repetition for a total body workout. If you want to start lifting weights it is a great place to start, as the all the instructors are on hand to give you advice and it is great to have the moral support of everyone else in the class! It is a great way to build muscle, tone up and lose fat! The downside is that because it is a very popular class it is often hard to get on to the waiting list, let alone book a place onto the class.

Although spinning is a great way to burn calories, it quite quickly becomes monotonous. PiloXercise: Afro Caribbean Spin or ‘Spin and Wiggle’ is a great alternative to the traditional spin class; combining spinning at various speeds and resistances combined with dance! PiloXercise Zumba or ‘Afro-Caribbean Fitness Fusion’ (in the SU) are fitness- dance fusion classes packed with dance moves and cardio training to leave you very sweaty. The classes are all set to upbeat and exciting Afro-Caribbean and Latin music and are a great way to start the day! Instagram / bristolunisport

‘Tums, Bums and Thighs’ uses your own body weight as resistance and a high degree of floor work to target the main areas which people want to improve. It is a great class for those that haven’t done much exercise or are coming back after some time away! Similarly, both Body Conditioning and Body Sculpt are full body workouts designed to tone and shape up your body with the use of light to medium dumbbells. There are new exercises each week, so it never gets boring. If you mainly stick to cardio these classes are a great way to introduce some resistance exercises into your regime!

Best soundtrack:

The best if you are stressed: Body Combat is a brilliant cardio class which is inspired by a number of martial-arts. But don’t worry, this empowering class is completely non-contact, so you won’t be leaving covered in bruises. It is a high intensity- and energy – class available on Tuesday and Friday evenings and is the perfect stress reliever! If you prefer something more relaxed, the various yoga and Pilates classes are also a great way to tone your physique, build flexibility and strength whilst

Imogen Rogers Deputy Living Editor

01.04.2019 epigram / The Croft

Tips for spring cleaning your life!

Chloé Fox helps us to de-stress this season with ways to cleanse our mind, body and soul, with a bit of help from Marie Kondo... the room. Keeping houseplants is also a great idea. Research shows that nature can reduce feelings of anxiety and anger. It is also considered good luck to move furniture around, so if you have the space to do that in your uni room, why not give it a try!

Clear your space

An important way that your physical space may affect your head space is in terms of clutter and mess, so getting your Marie Kondo head on and thinking ‘out with the old and in with the new’ will help you to feel better about the space around you giving your mind room to breathe and develop. It will help you to appreciate what you do have, and avoid wasting time looking for things and feeling stressed out in areas made for downtime. When I tried Marie Kondo’s method for tidying my clothes I was amazed by how many items I loved but never wore, this is a great way to encourage you to wear different things that are no longer hidden in your wardrobe!

Epigram / Chloe Fox

Take time out

Realign your space Staying focused and motivated is reliant on a good frame of mind, and variables such as sleep and emotions can interfere with this. Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese geomancy art which focuses on the impact of place and surroundings on an individual’s mental wellbeing; a part of life which may be off-step and having a negative impact without you even realising it. In Feng Shui the effect of place on a person is described in terms of energy; whether it be positive, or negative; the composition of furniture and placing of rooms in a house is paid careful attention to. When applying this to your own life it may be worth considering the following:

gradually decrease without you even noticing. In addition to this, it is worth having a list of things you want to do outside of uni to help keep the work-fun balance in check, since it is all well and good to have life goals but having fun goals too is highly underrated. Even ones that aren’t likely to be achieved anytime soon, as long as you don’t despair when it isn’t ticked off by the time you wanted, having aims and dreams can be inspiring and motivating.

Headspace When we are under pressure or anxious, meditation can be a godsend. YouTube is labyrinthine when it comes to sorting the good meditation videos from the bad, but I would strongly recommend the app Headspace. There is a subscription fee if you want to get really into it, but there are also plenty of free courses to explore. Whether you want to improve your focus in the morning, or wind down with a sleep exercise before bed, headspace has a plethora of guided meditations, breathing exercises and talks to help you relax and switch off.

Something we often forget to do that does wonders to boost work performance and general wellbeing is to take proper time out. I don’t just mean to go out and then feel hungover on your day off, but maybe try doing something you wouldn’t ordinarily do, like going to a spa and using a sauna and steam room to detox and rejuvenate (the Mercure hotel provide a £7.50 visitors pass before 3pm, you can use the sauna, steam room, hot tub, swimming pool and gym), or going for a walk outside as there are plenty of places just a bus ride away, to get a change of scenery and soak up some nature.

Epigram / Nikki Peach

ere are a few hacks to keep you feeling fresh and focused for finishing the academic year living your best life, and feeling your best self!

Dream big If your room has a desk in it – make sure it is not opposite or within clear view of the bed, as this could encourage you to associate bedtime with work, having a negative impact on your quality of sleep. Lighting and air quality are also valued for maintaining a healthy mind, so therefore opening your curtains as soon as you wake up helps start the day and bring natural light into

Feeling like you are in a rut is something we can all relate to in some way or another, and often when the workload is really overwhelming we can be left not knowing where to begin. It is worth remembering the bigger picture in order to put things into perspective, staying focused on the end goal and what you want to achieve will help the workload to

Ideas for when Mum comes to stay

Chloé Fox Fourth Year English

Zosia Gontar shares her experiences of having a parent visit you at university, and how to entertain them

”

It was the first time my Ma and I were going to spend some time by ourselves in quite a while, so I was really looking forward to it. At the same time, I was quite anxious about what we were going to do and how to celebrate her visit to make it really memorable. Last time she was here with my dad and younger brother, it was early in my first year and I still had no idea of what Bristol had to offer, so I left them with an impression of it being rather boring and with way too many furniture shops. Now that I have come to realise for myself that the city has a lot of hidden gems, and has so many things going on, I’ve been anticipating a family visit so that I can prove to them that I live in a really extraordinary place.

So, two weeks or so before my mum’s scheduled arrival, I sat down and drafted a list of potential places to go. It included the most

Epigram / Zorsia Gontar

Mum was just happy to see how I live, and how I navigate this independent life in another country

King. Out of a lack of other ideas, I offered to take her to the newly opened Polish restaurant on King’s Street for dinner, but she just laughed and said she was fine. So, we ended up defrosting my tomato soup which we ate in my room.

landmark Bristol sights such as the Suspension Bridge, Clifton Village, the SS Great Britain, the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol Old Vic, St Nicholas’ Market and Cabot Tower. I hatched a highly ambitious plan which would include visiting all of the above in less than 3 days, whilst also having time to eat in some nice places and talk about all the things we needed to. As is usually the case, the reality was quite different to what we had originally planned. On the first night, we managed to see ‘Noughts and Crosses’ at Bristol Old Vic which we both enjoyed. My mum loved the way BOV was refurbished – how its old architecture fuses with modern design. We also managed to check off the list the Museum with the Da Vinci exhibition, Clifton Village and the Bridge from a distance (we were tired and it was super windy). To eat, I took her to my personal favourite places for Sunday and Monday lunch – East Village Café and Falafel

For 3 days though, it felt like enough. I realised that rather than seeing a massive amount of sights, Mum was just happy to see how I live, where I spend most of my time and how I navigate this independent life in another country. She seemed to love everything: hearing me speaking English, the way I decorated my room, what I cooked, the short walking distance to Sainsbury’s, the pretty houses in Clifton, Banksy’s graffiti, the odd statues of Gromit that are scattered around. In the

”

oming from Poland, I don’t usually celebrate Mother’s Day until May 26, however this year I was lucky enough to have my mum come and visit me for a weekend, which for both of us was a celebration of our upcoming birthdays in late March (hers is one day after mine!). It was the first time she’s visited me this year so I was quite nervous to hear her verdict on my new house and lifestyle in general. I spent the whole morning before her arrival cleaning frantically, not only my room but also the living room and kitchen, which, as I live in a house of nine, you can imagine were in a bit of a state. Not entirely sure how, but I managed, and by the time I had to go and pick Mum up from the coach station, everything was clean and shiny, with (nearly) dust-free carpets.

Her verdict?... Bristol is basically better than Paris!

”

end her verdict was that Bristol is basically better than Paris, because not only it is quite beautiful; there are a wide variety of things to do, and also it is so much easier to live.

So, if your ma comes to visit you in Bristol around the time of Mother’s Day, or in fact any other time of the year, make sure you take her to places you care about – because if they mean something for you, they will mean something for her too. Chances are that what she will be most happy doing is having a little window into your life. Seeing how you live your everyday life and how you manage on your own will make her feel happy and proud – which for her, might be the best present there is.

Zosia Gontar Second Year Psychology

Editor Laila Freeman @lunchingwithlaila

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Olivia Critoph

Nicole Abou-Abdallah

Epigram Food 2018-19

@epigram_food

Mum’s the word: Where to take your mum in Bristol LailaFreemanreviewsthebestspotstotakeyourmuminBristol,whetheronMother’sDayoranyother

For its location: Browns

f you are lucky enough to have your mum visiting you this Mother’s Day then there is no doubt that you will want to take her out for a nice meal. But even if you do not, these restaurants are great places to take your parents any time they visit. Bristol has an amazing range of food options, but these are some restaurants that will really make your mum’s day super special.

For most people, The Triangle does not immediately scream parents, instead conjuring up words like “Spoons”, “Lounge” and “Taka Taka”. However, Browns - located right next to Wills Memorial Building - is a lovely, and definitely parent approved, stylish chain restaurant in the most convenient location. The fish and chips are especially good, or get there before 12 to sample their great brunch offerings, which even includes steak and chips.

For an iconic Bristol view: Avon Gorge Hotel

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Much like with any visitor you have invited to Bristol, the first place you are going to want to show your mum is, of course, the Clifton Suspension Bridge. What could be better than combining this picturesque view with an equally satisfying bite to eat or a drink or two? At the Bridge Cafe you can even treat your mum to afternoon tea, which is certain to go down well. Better start thinking up that obligatory bridge pun for your Instagram!

For brunch: Primose Cafe Bristol, home of avocado toast, smoothie jars and the best brunch scene you could wish for. While lunch or dinner may have been your immediate thought, perhaps your mum is only here for the daytime, in which case brunch offers the perfect early meal, While there are so many contenders that could have bagged this spot, Primrose Cafe’s idyllic location , situated at the heart of Clifton Village, and its delicious menu mean that it comes out top. For a similar option, East Village Cafe - situated about five steps further - offers a very similar experience.

For a more affordable option: Pinkmans Bakery

For the aesthetic: The Florist

Primrose Cafe

If you have not been to The Florist, located mid way down Park Street, then you are missing out. The restaurant itself is adorned with floral wallpaper, floral chairs... floral everything really, while the separate cocktails room boasts a beautiful flower wall, completed with an eye catching neon sign in the middle. If that has not persuaded you then I do not know what will. On top of that, the food is delicious and the choices available are plentiful- the hanging kebabs which come in tofu, meat or seafood are especially unique. Just be sure to book in advance because this place is often very busy.

You may have noticed that here at Epigram Food we are constantly raving about Pinkmans Bakery and that is simply because it serves great food at great prices. The pizzas start at only £7 which is particularly good considering how big they are. Also, the low price certainly does not mean that the restaurant compromises on its interior, as this restaurant is modernly decorated - think lots of plants - and has a lovely atmosphere. Make sure to try one of the many delicious cakes at the counter too, or better yet, a famous sourdough-nut.

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Instagram / thefloristuk

For a great deal: Las Iguanas Many chain restaurants offer deals for Mother’s Day and I believe that Las Iguanas offers the best of them. Not only does your mum get a free glass of something on arrival but kids eat free with a paying adult (yes, you probably cannot pass as one yourself but your siblings could). In addition to this, Las Iguanas are donating £1 per mum to dine at their restaurant to Women’s Aid, which campaigns to stamp out domestic violence, so this really is a great deal for everyone.

Laila Freeman Food Editor

epigram / The Croft

01.04.19

Fake meats: Do they meat your expectations? DeputyFoodEditorOliviaCritoph sharesheropiniononvegetarianandveganmeatsubstitutes Fake meat has received a lot of criticism recently. Either people seem to be confused as to why vegetarians would want to eat something that tastes like meat, or dislike that the word meat is used to describe something which is not meat.

However, in light of the knowledge of how devastating the meat (and dairy) industry is to the environment and its contribution to climate change, many may choose to make the ethical decision to cut meat out of their diet.

However, I believe fake meat is one of the greatest recent inventions in the food industry.

Having fake meat available, which does not taste dissimilar from the real thing but at a fraction of the environmental cost, may mean those who are attempting a vegetarian or vegan diet are far more likely to stick to it. So I really do not understand why it seems strange to people that there is a ‘meat’ being produced, where people are able to get the taste and texture which they enjoy from meat, but without the huge ecological footprint.

So, if you are a big meat eater, then seitan chicken and Linda McCartney’s vegetarian hoisin duck is a great place to start if you want to reduce your meat intake but find it a struggle to remove the meat from your diet. If you do not like the taste of meat, remember you do not have to try these fake meats, so please understand how brilliant they are for the vegetarian food industry!

Epigram / Laila Freeman

All things considered, I would urge anyone to try some exciting new fake meats. Especially now there is such a range of options available that there is no doubt something will satisfy you, whatever your tastes. Firstly, seitan is a fake meat made from wheat. It is often used as a substitute to chicken, and it is delicious. I have not seen it in many supermarkets yet, but it has started appearing in restaurants. The tastiest place I can suggest to try seitan would be Ooowee vegan, the burger I tried when I was there was ‘The Side Chick’, which I would highly recommend to anyone. Another great find, which can be spotted in most big supermarkets, is of course the great Linda McCartney’s vegetarian hoisin pulled duck. I normally fry the duck a bit and put it in a wrap with hoisin sauce, and I have to say I was shocked by firstly, how tasty it was, but also how similar it was to duck, I genuinely thought they might be lying about its vegetarian status.

I can understand why if one does not like the taste of meat they may not want to eat fake meat which is similar in taste to the real stuff. However, it is not like fake meat is taking over the vegetarian food industry, you are still able to buy soya mince, bean burgers, and all the other alternatives people have traditionally used as a replacement for meat.

Then, of course, there is the classic quorn. This fake meat is versatile, cheap and - best of all - always on offer in Sainsbury’s. Quorn sausages add great protein on the side of any meal, while quorn mince makes for the perfect veggie bolognese.

Olivia Critoph Deputy Food Editor

Pasta Loco: Definitely not one to pass-ta on VirginiaCampbell reviewsPastaLoco,amuchlovedpastarestaurantonCothamHill

I finally settled on the Parpadelle with brown crab, mussels and tenderstem broccoli, whilst my friend went for the gnocchi with salsiccia and caramelised hispi cabbage in a cheesy creamy sauce. The variety of textures in my dish - which was served promptly and with beautiful presentation - was wonderful. Soft sheets of freshly made pasta, alongside crisp garlic breadcrumbs and tender broccoli made for a marriage in heaven. The flavours in the gnocchi dish, a mouthful of which I was able to

Dessert was no less balanced - a deconstructed tart in the form of soft lavender Italian meringue, frangipane crumb, cherry compote and poached plums.

Epigram / Virginia Campbell

I found myself there at lunch time, when they offer a set menu deal of two courses for £14, or three courses for £17. There were three options for each course, yet it still took me a good ten minutes to decide what to eat - every option sounded innovative and delicious.

pilfer from my friend, were phenomenal. Perfectly cooked gnocchi pieces sat beautifully next to the salty salsiccia, and were bathed in a cream sauce that was neither too heavy or too thin.

Instagram / @crumbykitchen

ucked away near the bustle of Whiteladies Road, you can find this gem of a restaurant. Unassuming in appearance, Pasta Loco, on Cotham Hill, is quite easily missed amongst the nearby bright colours of bakeries and charity shops. Its interior even, although undoubtedly chic and comfortable, is nothing particularly out of the ordinary. There is a great irony then perhaps, in the fact that the food is incredibly extraordinary.

The service was equally exemplary. I was politely seated at my table, the chair pulled out for me with manners that would be expected in a restaurant of much dearer prices. I felt constantly looked after, but not pestered.

It is perhaps this exceeding of expectations that is truly defining of Pasta Loco. The quality of the food - not least in the daily freshly made pasta, and the constant variety of the oft-changing menu - is far greater than you would expect for the money you spend. It is an original and intimate setting, with exquisite dishes that mirror their environment.

Virginia Campbell First Year Religion and Theology

01.04.19

epigram / The Croft

Flexitarianism: a vegan’s thoughts

LeahMartindale sharesheropinionsonflexetrianism,oneofthemostrecentdiettrends

With this, my inception into the mainframe as people’s go-to vegan was catalysed.

lexitarianism is defined by BBC Good Food as ‘casual vegetarianism’, the ‘increasingly popular, plant-based diet that claims to reduce your carbon footprint and improve your health with an eating regime that is mostly vegetarian yet still allows for the occasional meat dish’. The lifestyle choice has divided opinions across the spectrum, from hardcore vegans who disregard it as not doing enough, to red-blooded carnivores decrying it as the end of

01/04/19 epigram / The Croft Epigram / Laila Freeman

I have no high lofty aims of full-scale conversion. I personally think that veganism is the future, whether the masses reject it or not. Carbon footprints, land usage, and water wastage all rally environmentalists to the cause. Fluffy cosmetic bunnies, viral videos of frolicking calves, and celebrity quotes condemning ‘speciesist’ loyalties tug at the heartstrings of ethical eaters. Traumatised abattoir workers, global food and water insecurities, and misplaced locals light fires under the humanists amongst us. Health scares, cancer warnings, and carcinogen buzzwords set the fitness freaks running for the hills. Veganism is coming, whether you like it or not. Flexitarianism is a bizarre concept to me, as it lauds the act of not eating meat as a rare and bizarre concept, rather than something that is surely rather common. If you are genuinely eating meat for every meal, to the extent that a single day without it warrants a whole new identity, your arteries are on strike and your bowels are more congested than the M5 in rush hour.

Epigram / Laila Freeman Instagram / @dailycheesedelight

While reducing your meat-intake is an admirable quest in my eyes, I cannot help but think that a balanced and varied diet should be a part of everyone’s life. While I am often asked about the validity and variety of my dietary choices, (partly influencing my decision to Instagram my cooking, and partly pure vanity) I cannot help but scoff at the idea after watching flatmates eating packet ramen noodles every day of the week, bowls of pasta with only butter, or a full rack of ribs as the entire meal. A balanced meal of vegetables, carbs, healthy fats, and a fair portion of salts and sugars are equally as valid and healthy as meat inclusive choices.

civilised eating. After a childhood surrounded by animals, desperate every Christmas for a puppy, and cherishing every moment spent at petting zoos and dog parks alike, I was a perfectly formed Lisa Simpson eco-freako kid. At the age of 8, after seeing some cows being taken to slaughter, I decided to drop red meat, my tiny heartstrings pulled in all directions. At 12, I went vegetarian for a week and never looked back. Finally, at 17, after a ribbing from my godbrother that highlighted how in consuming animal products I was still contributing financially to the meat industry, I jumped ship into the sea of veganism. As a reasonably soft-core vegan, with dedicated eating habits but little inclination for vehement judgement and rallying in the streets, I am often asked by fellow foodies for my opinion on the trend. At the beginning of third year I started an Instagram page, mainly for friends and family, posting easy, tasty, but often ugly vegan meals.

Flexitarianism is a novel idea, and if it encourages more people to share in healthy, ethical, and locally sourced options I am all for it. Hopefully it can also foster more collaborative cooking experiences, more interest in local places (especially here in vegan heaven, Bristol), and reignite the love of cookery and good food

Leah Martindale Third Year, Film and TV

Cafe review: Ironworks Supply Co. EliseVigsharesherthoughtsonthislesserknowncafe,offeringawelcomebreakfromWhiteladiesorParkStreet

ronworks is a cute little cafe which sells a wide array of breakfast/brunch type food such as pancakes, smoked salmon bagels and omelettes situated on a street off St Nicholas Market.

However,on one occasion my pancakes were under-cooked and I had to send it back. They dealt with this well and swiftly made me a new batch. I also usually get a hot chocolate with a shot of vanilla, and Ironworks uniquely lines their mugs with Nutella when they serve a hot chocolate, making it that much more decadent. I will give the food 8.5/10. Atmosphere & Service: Ironworks is certainly a lively place and due to the fact it closes between 4-5pm depending on the day, it is usually decently busy from 1pm until closing. On weekdays, this is not an issue and there will still likely be tables available immedi-

Epigram / Elise Vig

Food: I usually order the three stack pancakes topped with strawberries and blueberries with one boar sausage. The sausages they provide simply cannot be critiqued; they are a hefty size, packed with seasoning and clearly have a high meat percentage. In regard to the pancakes, 8/10 times they bang (for those of you not from London, if something bangs it is good). The majority of the time they are nice and fluffy and I really like how Ironworks place the toppings not only on the top but also within the layers.

ately. However, note that on weekends if you arrive between 12-1, you may have to wait a few minutes for a seat which is not the end of the world as you can sit on the counter and order a drink in the meantime. Apart from liveliness, Ironworks’ environment is incredibly welcoming and I put this down to the staff and the owners. You are always greeted with a nice smile when you walk through the door and the owners are very hands-on and often wait the food themselves. The staff is also one of the reasons I do not particularly care if an order is not perfect because I know that they will be very understanding, non-combative and rectify the situation the best they can. Also, Ironworks has a banging playlist. Overall, atmosphere & service gets a 9/10. Is it worth it? YES! As someone who has frequented Ironworks more than ten times, I can resoundingly say that Ironworks is one of the best places in Bristol to get breakfast or brunch. Ironworks is really good value and you can expect to have a filling brunch for less than £8. On top of this, the staff and the owners are lovely and will make your day that bit better. If you ever find yourself in Bristol city centre, you should definitely give it a visit.

Elise Vig Second Year, Politics and International Relations

Editor India Harrison-Peppe

Deputy Editor Jemima Carr-Jones

@e2style

Online Editor Ruby Gleeson

@epigramstyle

epigram / The Croft 01.04.2019

Epigram Style 2018/19

Neo-feminism is fuelling global inequality: change my mind Billy Stockwell discusses global inequalities driven by neo-feminism and fast fashion that we continually to support, ironically, the countless times we in fact endeavour to do the direct opposite

arlier this month a scandal hit the headlines, putting some of the UK’s most-loved female icons in the firing line, and exposing a sickening irony within much of the western feminist movement. Leading up to International Women’s Day, cheap high-street retailers stack the shelves with T-shirts adorned with feminist slogans and feel-good quotes, ready to exploit the somewhat naive but well-intentioned consumer. One such brand is ‘F equals’, supposedly an ‘empowering platform for women on the rise’, who released ‘Girl Power’ T-shirts with the support of Holly Willoughby and Spice Girl Emma Bunton. Despite retailing at £28, the Bangladeshi garment workers making these items were receiving just 42p an hour, according to The Guardian. Further investigations by the Fair Wear Foundation, into this particular factory, heard reports by a female employee claiming that male management said she would be ‘killed and her body put in a cardboard box’ if she protested against wage cuts.

“Supposedly an ‘empowering platform for

women on the rise’”

“Male management said she would be “killed and her body put in a cardboard box” if she protested against wage cuts”

This came just a month after the Spice Girl’s ‘gender justice’ T-shirts promoted by Jessie J, Sam Smith and Jessica Ennis, were revealed to have been made in a factory where wages were even lower, at 35p an hour. The T-shirts, sporting the hashtag #IWannaBeASpiceGirl, were made by Bangladeshi women, sometimes working in excess of 16-hour shifts; underpaid, overworked and often abused. No maternity, no union rights, no living wage. In a Guardian exposé last month, one machinist confessed ‘The wages we get are very minimum. It’s barely enough to survive’. She also spoke of the abusive male management who would force workers to carry on despite heavy pregnancy, heat-stroke and severe back problems. This comes in gross contrast to Sam Smith’s instagram plug late last year: ‘please please please go and support @ spicegirls by purchasing one of these cute t shirts!!!! It’s for a beautiful cause’.

But in reality, this is not about irony. If the only thing making these particular cases scandalous is their deeply woven irony and - quite frankly - comical link to International Women’s Day, then what’s to be said for the other 364 days of the year? This is not about irony; this is about social justice. And this cloak of neo-feminism, reinforced by woke capitalism, is ridden with moth holes and covered in red wine stains. If you look for it, you will see it: the latest addition to my little book of ironies is The Little Book of Feminism sold by sweatshop giant Urban Outfitters, who received the lowest score possible on a survey, conducted by the Responsible Sourcing Network, regarding forced labour in the supply chain.

“This cloak of neo-feminism, reinforced by woke capitalism, is ridden with moth holes and covered in red wine stains”

“Sanctimonious conceit and a metaphorical blow job to the patriarchy” Parallels can be drawn here with the flamboyance and triumphal fanfare that is Pride ‘festival’, which is now more of a music concert than a protest. This vastly corporatised event continues to become more colourful year on year, even in spite of the growing persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals around the world, notably Putin’s anti-gay purges in Chechnya, responsible for over 100 abductions in February 2017 alone, according to Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. It seems that, in accordance with Britain’s pro-Brexit rhetoric, we’re becoming increasingly disconnected with the world outside our bubble of western privilege, independence and indeed, false self-sufficiency. Despite this narrative, we live in a global world, and we therefore need global feminism.

The 2018 Global Slavery Index revealed that $127.7 billion worth of apparel, vulnerable to modern slavery in its supply chain, is imported annually by G20 countries. This makes up 80 per cent of world trade. And not surprisingly, 71 per cent of the 40.3 million people snared in this modern slavery trap were women. As Carry Somers - founder of Fashion Revolution - puts in an eerie, but beautiful, manner: ‘We may not hear the voices of the women who make our clothes, but every garment we wear has a silent #metoo woven in its seams.’ Fast fashion cannot, and will never be, synonymous with feminism.

“Every garment we wear has a silent #metoo woven in its seams”

FUZE @ Bristol Grammar School: stepping into Eden

This second-wave feminist movement, described by columnist Laurie Penny as something that ‘speaks of shoes and shopping and sugar-free snacks’, is failing to promote global equality for those who most need it. In 2013, the worst three disasters in the history of global fashion took place, all in Bangladesh - Rana Plaza building collapse, Ashulia factory fire and Aswad Mills factory fire - killing more than 1,500 people and injuring thousands more. The Suffragette Movement fought tirelessly for female choice in a patriarchal system, but this ability to choose should never be exploited, or cause exploitation; as global feminist Jo Lorenz puts, ‘your right to choose to do something which adversely affects other women is sanctimonious conceit and a metaphorical blow job to the patriarchy’.

den - the show’s theme - inspires the narrative of this dance / music / fashion event. The audience experiences an innovative evolution from creation to destruction and ultimately to redemption; a comment on contemporary climate issues which have come to the fore in recent headlines regarding environment youth strikes across the globe. The opening of the show, introduced by Natalie Fee the founder of chosen charity City to Sea, explained the charity’s work which seeks to drastically reduce plastic pollution and to dispell myths that you should ever need to buy bottled water again while on the go once equipped with her organisation’s app.

Each catwalk phase evolved through different representations of the natural world incorporating jungle print, natural and recycled materials and silhouettes to highlight the natural bodies; altogether celebrating the coexisting relationship between nature and man in fashion. This did, in part, create a thread for the show’s transitions as a whole. Some changes were quite slow, the narrative sometimes lost, and the theme at times, felt forgotten. Had these transitions been crisper, a coherancy would have been brought, making the narrative easier to follow. This was a shame as it was evident that much work was put into the creative process and for the most part, the event was phenomenal.

The show incorporated over 50 designers, models, musicians and dancers and FUZE’s vision of a modern-day Eden quite literally springs to life in the garden created in Bristol Grammar School’s Theatre. Each fashion collection is tied around music and dance to fully stimulate the senses. From velvet fitted co-ords to men’s tailored suits, be prepared to be graced with a variety of different styles strutted out by some of Bristol Uni’s finest faces.

Nevertheless the stand out collection came from Bristol based Eco-Designer Linda Thomas, as her pieces, artistry constructed with waste collected by deep-Sea divers and beach clean-ups across South coast of England, poignantly presented our destruction of our own Eden. Speaking to Epigram Style, Linda told us she was thrilled to have her pieces walk in this charity show, especially because the funds raised were going towards reducing plastic waste through the City to Sea charity work.

In the words of Jo Lorenz: ‘If you decide to look the other way and continue to blindly buy yet another t-shirt, then I’ve got news for you: you’re not a feminist. In fact, you’re a jerk’.

Billy Stockwell, First Year Zoology

After studying medicine at Bristol and working as a doctor for 25 years, Linda decided to fully pursue her love for design and channels her activism for climate action into her work to create thought-provoking sustainable fashion pieces. The hauntingly impactful ‘Ghostnet’ dress, modelled by the glorious Eve Townsend, graced the FUZE stage in the style of a dystopian mermaid. Composed out of washed-up fishing wire, Linda’s aim is to highlight the staggering 640,000+ tonnes of fishing equipment left at sea every year. Be prepared to be blown away by Linda’s recycled designs as she reimagines waste, constructing striking signposts to the danger of plastic pollution – a message which is overriding throughout the show. Linda’s powerful designs give agency to activism in the fashion industry, encouraging us to strive to save our Eden and to build a more positive relationship between human waste and the natural world. The show was ultimately a cathartic experience, a fusion of creative means offering an ‘optimistic vision for a future in which we as humans can learn to work with the natural world.’ With a few more tweaks to string the show together, this would serve for a truly enchanting experience.

Jemima Carr-Jones & Laura Mallinson, Deputy Editor & Sub Editor

01.04.2019 The Croft / epigram

Spotted around campus The Bristol fashion scene is a tour de force. The Epigram Style team has been on the lookout for some of our favourite outfits over the last week and it seems like the Science students caught our eye. Who ever said that the ASS featured the creme de la creme of student fashion? We’re going to be getting our inspiration sitting outside the Physics building from now on. Although global warming has meant that we haven’t really felt the full force of a British Winter, it’s heating up even more, and now’s the time to really find those staple items that make the long-awaited transition into the next few months a little easier ROSS- 3rd Year Physics

Image Credit/Epigram, Laura Mallinson

Image Credit/Kichelle Comrie Carson

ROSS is wearing a top he found in Camden Market. His trousers are DICKIES, and his shoes are VANS. To achieve Ross’ look we recommend a thorough search in BS8, Park Street. With cool graphic tees and a current collection of Dickies Trousers, now would be the perfect time to go in and have a gander.

EMMA- 3rd Year Physics EMMA is wearing LEVI’S Jeans, A GANT coat and a top from URBAN OUTFITTERS. Though it might not seem like the most exciting way of going about finding an outfit, we recommend URBAN OUTFITTERS for an outfit like Emma’s. With their own collection of vintage LEVI’S Jeans for a slightly cheaper price than the LEVI’S high-street outlet, you might actually be getting more bang for your buck by taking a trip down to Cabot. CLAUDIA - 2nd Year English

Image Credit/Kichelle Comrie Carson

NAOMI- 3rd Year Physics Naomi is wearing a pair of ADIDAS trainers, her trousers are from ME + EM, her coat is from PULL AND BEAR and her top is from TOPSHOP (Made in Britain Collection). What really stood out about Naomi was those flashes of red against the rest of her monochrome outfit. If you feel like wearing black and not making too much of a statement, why don’t you add a couple of flashes of colour to make an outfit go from something you might wear to the library, to something you’re proud to be wearing as you walk down Queens Road (even if it is only to go and grab your lunch from Pret)

A rogue English student in a midst of Physics fanatics! Claudia gives the arts faculty a better name. Her shoes are DOC MARTENS, her jeans are the TOPSHOP flare jeans and her top is from URBAN OUTFITTERS. What we loved about Claudia’s outfit was her reimagining of the ‘jeans and a nice top’ trend. While these two pieces seperately might usually be reserved for nights out at Lakota, the combination of the two is perfect for a day of lectures and lunching. We predict big things for the wider-legged jeans style, and can’t wait for the boho, white peasant tops to be dragged out of our wardrobes from last year and seen in a new light.

FUZE: A gallery of some of the fierce female models

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Deputy Editor Editor Amelia Edgell-Cole Rachel Evans

Online Editor Amelia Shoebridge

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Spotlight on...Valencia Valencia: the perfect weekend getaway Jasmine Silk sings the praises of the Spanish city

The Beautiful Old Town When I was there we stayed in a hostel in Valencia’s Old Town, just a bus or bike ride away from the beach. The buildings were stunning. Whilst most of the main attractions - such as the cathedral, or ‘La Lonja’, an old gothic exchange building - will allow you inside, it is equally lovely just to wander through the square or pedestrianised areas and explore. From the the pool of water in the centre of the square, where you can see straight down to the Roman ruins below the glass, to the amazing street art which hides around every corner, it is uniquely beautiful. It’s not quiet either; bars and cafes cover every street, serving Agua de Valencia, their deadly and delicious drink, which combines champagne or cava, with gin, vodka and orange juice. At night, people sit out in the squares and drink Agua de Valencia, competing in challenges similar to the famous ‘ten before ten’ of the Cori Tap here in Bristol (it pretty much ends in the same way). The Marketplace

Your Valencia Easter break planned in 10 easy steps Izzy Green gives us her top tips for enjoying Valencia, with some helpful advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Travel Aware Campaign

n need of some sun, sites and great food? Valencia is your perfect Easter getaway. I was extremely fortunate to have spent five months in this incredible city as part of my year abroad and want to share my favourite spots and top tips with you - as well as some great travel tips I have learned from being a Student Brand Ambassador for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Travel Aware Campaign.

Just a short walk away from the cathedral is Valencia’s most famous Marketplace, designed by friends of Gaudí, Alexander Soler i March and Francesc Guàrdia i Vial, when they won the design contest in 1910. It was completed in 1928. Aside from being beautiful to look at, the marketplace has a huge range of food and drink on sale - you can sit and eat tapas, or you can wander round filling up on the millions of free samples. All of the food is delicious, and with enough stalls for you to get lost in, you could easily spend all your time and money here, and not regret it one bit.

Plan, plan, plan

The ‘River’

Airbnb it

The Turia River is known for its floods, and after the Great Flood of Valencia in 1957 the city decided they had had enough. The river was diverted to skirt the city, and the space which was once the riverbed was transformed into the beautifully green Turia park which stretches through the city all the way to the ‘City of Arts and Sciences’ complex. The complex is perhaps the biggest tourist attraction of the city, with a variety of activities to do including a planetarium, IMAX cinema, an opera house and interactive museums. It is surrounded by pools which you can row or paddleboat your way around.

I’d highly recommend using Airbnb for your stay in Valencia. It has some fantastic and extremely reasonably priced apartments in great locations, especially in the old town - which is the best place to stay. From my experience, and those of my friends, the majority of the hosts speak great English, and are often locals, so can give you amazing tips on places to eat/ drink.

The Beaches Finally, one of the best and simplest attractions of Valencia is its beach-front location, making it a city break and beach holiday rolled into one. Not half as busy or polluted as the beaches in Barcelona, the long sandy beaches in Valencia are the perfect place to spend the day. Stretching on for miles, there’s plenty of room for everyone, and if you get there early you can set up right by the sea and spend the day swimming and sunbathing. So, there you have it - four good reasons to book that flight to Valencia right now. The city offers some of the most unique sights I’ve ever seen, and something for everyone to enjoy; from culture, to food, to drinking the deadliest alcohol (outside the Cori Tap) on a beach in Spain.

Jasmine Silk Third year, French & Italian

Epigram / Izzy Green

Epigram / Jasmine Silk

he increasingly popular city of Valencia sits on the the Mediterranean coast of Spain, south of, and often overshadowed by, Barcelona. Valencia’s long history is what makes it the amazing place it is today - from being the birthplace of paella to La Tomatina, a festival held in a nearby town every August, where everyone pelts each-other with tomatoes. There are a million things to do in Valencia; from churches to zoos to beaches - it would be impossible to list them all. So, here are just four reasons why I love it so much.

My best advice for travelling in Valencia is to be prepared: plan your days. It’s not a huge city, but all of the sites are pretty spread out, so make sure you know where you’re going and what else there is to see around there. I recommend spending at least one day in the city centre, a day at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, and a day by the beach - so make sure you also allow for at least three days for your stay.

other restaurants in an otherwise cheap city, it is absolutely worth it. It is extremely popular with locals, so I also recommend booking in advance. Test out the tapas There are some really incredible tapas places in Valencia. If you are in the city centre and are looking for some great value-for-money tapas, I really recommend Cafe Lisbon. It’s set in a bustling square, with lots of outdoor seating. I recommend ordering the patatas bravas, croquetas and tortilla, along with a jug of sangria, and soak up the great Spanish atmosphere. Bask in the sunshine Enjoy the beautiful April warmth of Valencia at the beach! Whether it is hot enough to sunbathe, or to simply go for a nice warm walk on the sand, you can’t miss visiting the beach. If you are staying in the old town, I really recommend getting the bus, or alternatively use the cities amazing bike hire service, Valenbisi! If you do go to the beach, however, be aware that in some places in Spain it is illegal to be in the street wearing only a bikini or swimming shorts/trunks so make sure you take a coverup/t-shirt with you if the weather is nice enough to sunbathe. Watch out for your belongings

However, if you do choose to stay in a hotel, something you might not know is that hotels have a legal duty to register the passport details of tourists on check-in - so don’t be alarmed if this happens to you. Allow them to register your passport details or take a photocopy but be sure to collect it from them straight after.

While I would say that Valencia is, on the whole, a very safe city, be very wary of pickpockets (especially near the beach). Try not to keep all of your belongings on you – I would recommend taking a photocopy of your passport with you so you can leave your passport in your hotel/hostel. But do make sure you have a copy of it on you, as police officers may ask you for it (and you must be able to provide it!).

Go back in time in the Old Town

Immerse yourself in culture

My favourite attraction in the city centre is, without a doubt, Plaza de la Virgen. The whole of the old city has a magical charm to it, with its stunning traditional Spanish architecture, its beautiful winding streets and endearing hidden shops; but Plaza de la Virgen is beyond breath-taking. Spend your day wandering the city but take a break in this Plaza to have a cortado and breathe in the amazing atmosphere of this stunning square.

The Arts y Ciencias is an absolutely unmissable site. It is right at the end of the Turia, a former riverbed, which is now a beautiful park that stretches from the old city to the Arts and Sciences village. The Turia often has festivals happening on it too, so I really recommend strolling down the Turia to the complex. You should then hire a boat to row on the water by the magnificent modern glass buildings, even if you don’t go in the museum or aquarium themselves. By night, the area turns into one of the most incredible clubs in Valencia, Mya, as well as a rooftop bar lined with palm trees above, called Umbracle.

Be hotel aware

Try the paella The best place you can get this famous Valencian dish is, without a doubt, La Riua on Carrer del Mar in the city centre. This family-run restaurant serves the best, most authentic and traditional paella you can get in the city. While it may seem more expensive than

Izzy Green Fourth year, French & Spanish

epigram / The Croft 01. 04.2019

On safari in India: can animal tourism be an ethical experience? Leah Martindale discusses her experiences on safari in India, weighing up the thrill of the experience with the human threat to the environment

The first safari was relatively uneventful. We saw boars, monkeys, birds and reptiles. We tracked the calls of smaller animals, inferring from their screeches that there must be predators in the direction they were fleeing from. No such beasts of the East were spotted, but the experience was still thrilling just for the novelty.

The park was a veritable feast for the eyes

”

Within seconds of stopping a little boy - who, in my humble opinion, really shouldn’t have been out, uncovered and dehydrated in the sun for such an extended period of time announced loudly in baby garbling that he was hungry. Cracking open a packet of crisps on safari is like walking the cat-infested streets of Bristol in a coat made of Dreamies, as birds descended from parts of the park we had not even travelled to yet for a little tasty snack. Of course, the family were happy to oblige. Feeding wild, beautiful birds tomato flavoured crisps from the palm of your hand may be funny to some, but to me it was a damning indictment of the general education tourists arrive in foreign ecosystems with. With the guides laughing along, it was clear that these people were more interested in making a buck than preserving the nature they were blessed to live amongst. India in itself was a curious adventure. In amongst the wildlife reserves and natural preservations are street performers with monkeys on chains, billboards decrying the funding of bear dances, and so many stray domesticated animals you could lose count in a few steps. The whole country’s devastating juxtaposition between extreme wealth and nightmarish poverty has bred an economy where the exploitation of animal life is a sad side effect of many people’s survival. As much as I loved the safari, it was hard to enjoy without the realities of the country I was exploring seeping through the cracks.

Flickr / DJ SINGH

Leah Martindale Third Year, Film & Television

indale

”

Finally, after what felt like at least a full semester sat watching, the tiger set off at top speed for the deer. Somehow, despite far too long spent contemplating the attack and a natural advantage of about 600lb, the beautiful spotted deer managed to escape the

”

As much as I learned about nature, wildlife and the beautiful planet during my safari adventures, sadly I also learned a little too much about the selfishness and disrespect that some humans are all too happy to exhibit. The safaris are about three hours long each, from leaving the hotel to returning. Naturally, about halfway through a few members needed the bathroom, at a designated though no doubt disgusting - pit-stop makeshift bathroom.

art Leah M

Later, our trailing of the animal calls paid off, as we found ourselves across a lake from a tiger stalking his prey. As majestic a sight as it was, I will be the first to admit that forty minutes in a jeep hot enough to cook an egg on, watching a speck of a tiger in a well-camouflaged bush watching a squad of deer chomping on dry grass was not the most riveting use of my time. The initial excitement quickly returns when you are sat in silence (so as not to spook any of them) watching a still scene.

nature’s most beautiful and elusive hunters.

/ Epigram

The second attempt was much more eventful. As well as all our sights from the morning, we spotted a host of exotic and exciting animals. Crocodiles basking underwater marked our first sight, easily mistaken for logs even by vigilant tourists, so it’s easy to understand how smaller animals get gobbled up before they know what’s hit them.

It was clear that these people were more interested in making a buck than preserving the nature they were blessed to live amongst

Epigram / Leah Martindale

Our first safari started at 6:00 am, as the roasting sun rose over the rolling hills. We sat as two of fifteen tourists in a rickety jeep, the exposed metal reaching burning temperatures under the 40 degree (celsius) blaze. Tired, sweating, but overwhelmingly excited, we headed off.

”

Ranthambore National Park, a relatively short distance from Jaipur, has been open since 1955, dedicated to conserving and preserving the local wildlife. With critters ranging from the cute and cuddly, like chital deer and chipmunks, to the beautiful and awe-inspiring, like peacocks and leopards, to the huge and terrifying, like crocodiles and tigers, the park was a veritable feast for the eyes.

The most amazing, if short-lived, part of our safari was probably our fleeting encounter with a leopard. As we embarked on our way back from the somewhat anti-climactic tiger viewing, a gasp rippled through the group as the dry bush slowly twisting in the wind stood up and ran past us. In a couple of seconds we had gone from unsuspecting, happily rolling on home, to blown back by a gust of wind that accompanied the departure of one of

Martindale

We went ‘glamping’, staying in what was officially a tent but would be unrecognisable to your average explorer scout. Although pretty stuffy, being fitted with a makeshift air-con system and fully functioning bathroom and shower made our stay in the tent a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Being woken up by monkeys bouncing and screeching, off the roof at 5:00 am was equally oncein-a-lifetime, and yet somehow less charming.

tiger’s grasp. We were informed by the Safari driver that only about 20% of tiger hunts actually result in a catch, which seems unlikely considering how massive they manage to get, unless they’re catching full cars full of tourists in those effective fifths.

ah Epigram / Le

early two years ago, in April 2017, my mother and I embarked on a two-week long tour of Northern India. Alongside the usual sights of the Taj Mahal, the multi-lane highways of Delhi, and the jewellery dynasty of Jaipur, we were also fortunate enough to embark on two authentic Indian safaris. The experience was enlightening, enjoyable, and enraging in equal measure.

01.04.2019 epigram / The Croft

Top three underrated European destinations to visit this Easter on a student budget Amelia Edgell-Cole offers advice on three student-budget-friendly places to go in Europe this summer that you probably haven’t considered T

Valletta, Malta

Flickr / Jo Hey, bm^, Ava babili, Stella

ith the Easter break looming, the likelihood is that you have all kinds of dissertation/essay/exam related stress occupying your time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a few days out for a mini trip abroad. In fact, taking some time out will probably revitalise your capacity to work, as a change of scenery and a venture into a new culture provides ample mental stimulation; who said going on holiday wasn’t beneficial? So without further ado, let me offer up my top three destinations that are perfect for a short trip abroad, which won’t break the bank, and aren’t as predictable as the usual Budapest/Amsterdam/Barcelona.

For a taste of the mediterranean, without having to use up your entire student loan, Valletta in Malta is the place. As both a European Art City and a World Heritage City, this miniature capital has a lot to offer in such a small space. Begin your day with a visit to one of the stunning gardens - the Upper Barrakka Gardens, Hastings Gardens and the Lower Barrakka Gardens all provide stunning scenery, with the Upper and Lower Barrakka gardens offering amazing views of the glistening harbour. Also make sure to schedule trips to the neoclassical St. Publius Parish Church, the Triton Fountain and the ruins of the Royal Opera House site, which dates back to 1866.

Flickr / Lucio Sassi, Sergio Tumminello, Paulo Valdivieso, TausP

Sofia, Bulgaria

Flickr / Adrian Drumea, Jan Smets, Sue Povey, in4n4

Unsplash/ pigleting

Amelia Edgell-Cole, Editor, Travel

Unsplash/ refar

Known as Estonia’s cultural capital - as well as it’s actual capital - Tallinn is the perfect quick getaway, with flights taking around 2 hours 40 minutes and starting at £100 from Bristol Airport. Once there, be sure to visit its intriguing monuments with architecture dating back to the middle ages - perfect for any history buffs. The Town Hall square at the heart of the city sets the stage for various events, whilst a climb up the Town Hall’s 34 meter tower will allow for stunning views across the old town, complete with winding cobbled lanes and colourful houses. The Town Hall Square also boasts Europe’s oldest continuously-operating pharmacy, which has been open since 1422. From here, take a tram to the magnificent baroque Kadriorg Palace, dating from 1718 that now houses Art Museum of Estonia’s foreign collection. Wander amongst the hundreds of sixteenth - twentieth century paintings and be sure not to miss the stunning main hall, with its intricate stucco ceiling. When sightseeing gives way to hunger, grab a cheap bite to eat in one of the old town’s affordable cafes; III Draakon in the town halls serves up the local delicacy of pirukad - essentially a pie filled with vegetables and meats - for €1-2, whilst the medieval Olde Hansa offers delicious and affordable meals cooked with traditional fifteenth century methods. AirBnb’s across the city provide incredibly affordable accomodation and average around £30 a night for the entire property.

So there you have it; three brilliant destinations definitely worth spending some of your second term budget on. Take in the sights, sip on a pint, taste the local delicacies and come back feeling inspired and refreshed, ready for exam period hell!

Tallinn, Estonia

Sticking with the Eastern Europen theme, Bulgaria’s historic capital city of Sofia has culture, history, and food a drink aplenty, all offered up with a chilled out, ‘off-the-beaten-track’ vibe. Start off your sightseeing with a trip to the iconic Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, with its stunning Neo-Byzantine style making it a sight to behold, before perusing The Sofia History Museum - which features a real-life retro tram you can climb inside. As for food and drink, you can’t leave without trying kyufte and kebapche, grilled spiced meatballs, and lyutenitsa, a spicy spread that can go on pretty much anything. For tasty, freshly baked bread and dips, take a trip to SunMoon, whilst burgers, kebabs and local favorites, cevapi and baked beans, can be found at street vendors throughout the city. Use the city’s location to your advantage and take a day trip to one of Bulgaria’s quaint coastal towns - with a third of the country’s Black Sea coast being made up of sandy beaches, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to exploring the city’s outskirts. Alternatively, take a trip to the Rila range, Bulgaria’s highest mountain range, for a day of hiking and taking in the stunning scenery. With flights from around £90 depending on when you go, Sofia offers all the escapism you could want, without breaking the bank.

When it comes to getting around, eating out and sightseeing, Valletta is incredibly affordable; plan to spend around 25-30 euros a day if being frugal, or 45 if planning to splash out a bit more. Eating out need not be expensive; nestled in a 400 year old cellar, Trabuxu Wine Bar offers delicious wines and a changing menu, and Café Jubilee is perfect for a quick bite or delicious bowl of ravioli. As is to be expected, fresh pizza and pasta can be found throughout the city and won’t require a significant amount of wandering around to find. Accomodation wise, Airbnb does have some good, affordable options, but staying in a hostel may be a slightly cheaper option; a quick Google will reveal numerous options around the city.

Bristol SU Sponsored Content

Meet your new Officer Team 2019/20 After three days, over 30,000 votes and over 7,000 voters another elections period comes to a close and with it a hard week of campaigning for all of our candidates. An enormous congratulations to all of them and thanks to everyone who nominated and voted! We now have our seven officers who’ll be guiding the direction of the SU over the course of the next year. Here’s who’s been elected for each position along with their top priorities for the next year:

Union Affairs Officer: Julio Mkok •

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Improving Student Experience: UoB/ BristolSU App, free washing in halls and opening up lecture halls as study spaces during exam time. More support to Societies: Benchmark achievement grants for societies and establishment of a southwest regional network for similar university societies. Bringing the SU closer to students: Ensure SU presence in all Faculties and to change the election period to earlier in the year.

Equality, Liberation and Access Officer: Jason Palmer •

• •

Creating a robust wellbeing service by pushing for culturally competent, issue representative and diverse counsellors as part of the University's wellbeing strategy, while tackling sexual violence and promoting support for victims. Push for an academic oriented response to the BME Attainment Gap. Represent students of faith through reducing clashes with religious holidays, lobbying for more culturally and religiously diverse food, and increasing prayer spaces on campus.

Undergraduate Education Officer: Hillary Gyebi-ababio • • •

Address the lack of diversity in the curriculum across all faculties. Supporting all students both financially and academically. Campaign against the upcoming

Sport and Student Development Officer: Amy Brook •

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differential fees policy.

Student Living Officer: George Bemrose •

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We need to ensure that wellbeing support meets the needs of our diverse student body. We need to prevent rent increases above the rate of inflation to protect both our financial and mental health. Work with the University to reach their goal

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increased recognition and support.

International Student Officer: Julius Ogayo •

of being Carbon Neutral by 2030. •

Postgraduate Education Officer: Chris Brasnett • • •

Wellbeing service awareness of postgraduate specific issues. Academic diversity and undergradute to postgradute retention. More provision of study space for postgraduates

Images by Alastair Brookes - KoLAB Studios

Improve funding and support for intramural leagues, ensuring more people have the opportunity to participate in sport. Ensure the university continues to work towards providing a regular bus route to Coombe Dingle including a free bus for sporting fixtures on Wednesdays. Implement a system to ensure clubs who don’t compete in regular fixtures receive

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I will fight to ensure that all VISA issues affecting International students to be addressed through implementation of a VISA policy favourable to all. Lead in calling for reduction of high fees being paid by international students both for tuition and accommodation. I will seek to create a portal or database through which empoyment opportunities and career services are advertised only to international students.

Bristol SU Sponsored Content

WHAT'S ON Varsity Simplyhealth great bristol 10K Sunday 5 May, 9am, Bristol Harbour

We've teamed up with the Great Run Company, UWE Bristol and Ashfords LLP to participate in the Simplyhealth Great Bristol 10K on Sunday 5 May 2019, part of the popular Varsity series. Never run before? No worries! The Great Bristol 10K is for everyone, from complete beginners to elite athletes. Taking part is a great way to get active and support your physical and mental health.

www.varsityseries.com Jailbreak, Saturday 6 April, 7am Jailbreak is one of Bristol RAG's most popular annual events. Beginning bright and early at 7am on Saturday 6th April, teams of 2 or 3 will race from the starting point at Bristol SU and get as far away from Bristol as possible (in whatever direction you choose) in the following 36 hours, without spending a penny, a cent or a dime.

Royal Fort Garden Nature Trail, Friday 26 April, 11:30am, Royal Fort Gardens As part of the International City Nature Challenge, come and delve into the magical world of mini beasts, flora and fauna in the historic Royal Fort Gardens. Learn more about the nature on your doorstep, help record the huge variety of species in the gardens, try your hand at building a bug hotel and pot up a plant to take home.

Varsity: Tour de Bristol, Saturday 6 April, 10am, UWE Tour de Bristol is an annual bike ride which raises funds for patient care at St Peter's Hospice, Bristol's only adult hospice. As part of Varsity, UWE Bristol and Bristol University students can enter the 40k ride at a special discounted rate. Further info online.

Mo Amer and Guz Khan, Saturday 6 April, 7pm, Anson Rooms. Comedians Mo Amer and Guz Khan have joined forces to tour the UK with new show Persons of Interest.

Lefty Scum: Josie Long/Grace Petrie/ Jonny & The Baptists, Tuesday 9 April, 7pm, Anson Rooms. Music! Comedy! Revolutionary socialism! Following sell-out tours in 2017 and 2018, Lefty Scum are back on the road for another year. Join us for a riotous evening with three of the UK's most joyfully rabble-rousing acts!

Lost Voice Guy, Friday 19 April, 7pm, Anson Rooms Following the unprecedented success of his appearance on the final of Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Got Talent 2018, BBC New Comedy Award winner and star and writer of BBC Radio 4â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comedy series, Ability, Lee Ridley (aka Lost Voice Guy) is setting out on a tour of the UK.

Idlewild, Friday 26 April, 6:30pm, Anson Rooms. Scottish rock band Idlewild are back on tour following the release of their new album Interview Music. You can catch them in the Anson Rooms as part of their limited spring tour.

For more information on all upcoming events see bristolsu.org.uk/events

Film & TV

Editor: Patrick Sullivan Online Editor: James Turnbull Deputy Editor: Luke Silverman Deputy Editor: Nora Gunn

“I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley” When comic actors go dramatic Steve Carell

Jim Carrey

Best Comedic Role

IMDb / NBCUniversal

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Sports Editor

Why are we surprised when we see typically comedic actors producing outstanding dramatic performances? This is nothing new. We know full well that it can be done, and done masterfully. And yet when we see a Chris Pratt in a Zero Dark Thirty (2013), we can’t help but raise our eyebrows. Such a narrow assessment levelled at performers is unfair and naïve. Here are a few usually comedic actors who produced outstanding dramatic performances. Comedy actors ‘breaking type’ should not be met with the gasps of incredulity the casting decisions so often receive. Nailing a comedic performance takes a supreme understanding of timing and human emotion; it is of little wonder that all these comedic figures were seamlessly integrated into dramatic parts.

IMDb / Universal Pictures

The goofball comedy king of the 90s, Jim Carrey’s infectious energy and ridiculous facial expressions earned him standout roles in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) and the cult classic Dumb and Dumber (1994). In a revelatory performance, Carrey broke type and then some - to play shy introvert Joel Barish in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He spends the film responding to the eccentricities of the colourful Kate Winslet. His mastery of comedic dynamism clearly helped him realise the intricacies of a muted performance.

Melissa McCarthy Best Comedic Role

Bridesmaids (2011) Best Dramatic Role

IMDb / Focus Features

IMDb / Sony Pictures

Best Comedic Role

Groundhog Day (1993) Best Dramatic Role

In most of her comedic roles, McCarthy’s ability to combine the obnoxious with the loveable is what has separated her from others in the field. 2011’s widely loved Bridesmaids became her playground to show off her talents as a physical performer as the unfiltered sister to the bride. However much she grosses the audience out, we can’t help but warm to her character’s wholly positive attitude on life. In last year’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?, McCarthy is equally tremendous as cynical and struggling writer Lee Israel. Yet, as we have seen from McCarthy at her best, she successfully endows this criminal with a likeable quality that makes us sympathise with her plight.

Foxcatcher (2003)

Robin Williams

Best Comedic Role

Mrs Doubtfire (1993) IMDb / Miramax Pictures

IMDb / Twentieth Century Fox

Focus Features / Yoshio Sato

Lost in Translation (2003)

Best Dramatic Role

From Brick in Anchorman (2004), to hapless boss Michael Scott in The Office (20052013), Carell specialises in portraying quirky and isolated comedic characters. It should be of no surprise then that he was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of erratic and paranoid wrestling coach John du Pont in Foxcatcher. He was equally captivating in The Big Short (2015), playing the troubled and indignant Mark Baum.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Bill Murray

Murray’s mastery of the deadpan expression allowed him to fashion an iconic comedycentric career. There is no better example of this than in Groundhog Day, in which he portrays a weatherman who becomes mentally consumed by the frustration of reliving the same day continuously. It is no surprise then that he expertly portrayed a weary, washed-up actor in Lost in Translation. We buy his frustration, but we equally warm to his soft charm as his relationship with Scarlett Johansson’s character blossoms in Tokyo.

Annapurna Pictures / Scott Garfield

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)

The Office (2005-13)

Universal Studios / Suzanne Hanover

Best Dramatic Role

LFF / Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Comedy actors and actresses are typecasted within their genre but many have proved their acting chops in celebrated dramatic roles Henry Edwards

Best Dramatic Role

Good Will Hunting (1998)

Originally a stand-up comedian throughout the 1970s, the late Robin Williams went on to star in numerous iconic comedy films. We all remember him as Mrs Doubtfire and indeed the iconic voice of the Genie in Aladdin (1992). However, it was his ability to showcase a tremendous tenderness that resonated most powerfully. Starring as vital and considerate mentors in both Dead Poets Society (1989) and Good Will Hunting, Williams perfectly demonstrated his ridiculous range as an actor. Terry Gilliam summed the man up perfectly in 1992: ‘[He could] go from manic to mad to tender and vulnerable […] there’s nobody like him out there.’

Leah Martindale’s full length profile on Robin Williams is available on the Epigram website!

01.04.2018

epigram

Film & TV 35

Fools no longer: how women finally have input in their comedic representation Universal Studios / Suzanne Hanover

Comedy can question the norm and redress the balance, raising female representation on screen Laurence Boag-Matthews Second Year, Liberal Arts

here have been standout examples of women working in comedy over the years - notably Nora Ephron who wrote, produced, and directed some of the most well known comedy films of the 20th century, including the 1989 classic When Harry Met Sally, arguably one of the sharpest ever. However, when compared with their male counterparts, leading women in comedy have been few and far between. It has taken a painfully long time for female-led comedies to begin to be more normalised in Hollywood. In a study of the top 500 films in 2017, comedy was the genre with the second highest percentage of female employees and still only a modest 23 per cent. This, nevertheless, represents a significant upturn with film and TV seeing a huge rise in female-led projects in the last few years - in 2008 women comprised 16 per cent of these filmmaking roles in any genre. This change was amplified by the #MeToo movement, but started before the Weinstein allegations emerged. Bridesmaids (2011) kickstarted the visibility of female driven comedies in which comic Kristen Wiig starred in a majority female cast. Before this, the general trend in comedy was for women to be presented as fitting into narrow tropes which did not allow the complex scope of womanhood to be explored. Traditionally, the objectification of women is normalised in the genre; women

aren’t awarded any agency and are treated as a prize to be won by the male protagonist. The recent wave of gender swapped remakes could be explained as an attempt to reclaim comedy, to point out the flaws in the originals and open the conversation about how to proceed when creating new material. In the 1984 original of Ghostbusters, Dana (Weaver) is hypersexualised, left to writhe around on a bed for large parts until she is finally paired up with sleazy, arguably predatory Peter (Murray). Whilst the 2016 gender-swapped remake was controversial, it provided a way for women and girls to reclaim a narrative that had been so defined by its inadequate treatment of women. Female driven ensemble cast films such as Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect (2012) allow women to act out in ways that the comedy genre previously reserved for men. The positive reaction to films such as Bridesmaids reveal the appetite amongst women to be represented truthfully on screen: the apparently perfect life of Rose Byrne’s character is seen as unattainable by Kristen Wiig, who acts as

“Intersectional representations of women of all ages, races, figures, and sexualities have been scarce, but film and television have been slowly seeking to break this tradition”

the everywoman. Further, Melissa McCarthy delivers a great comic performance, and refreshingly, the filmmakers did not reduce her comedic potential to a series of fat-jokes - traditionally the fate of women larger than size 10. The film critiques the prevailing narrative of chick-flick wedding comedies, such as Bride Wars (2009), that women are crazed, perfectionist tyrants, as well as the general trend in the comedy genre to perpetuate the societal pressure on women to be tiny, perfectly dressed and well made up for example, The Devil Wears Prada (2006). This shift towards a more sophisticated representation of women is echoed by the female-driven TV programmes which attempt to lay bare the reality of womanhood. From Broad City (2014-) to Derry Girls (2018-), the portrayal of women is becoming increasingly complex, attempting to truthfully tell women’s stories. Lena Dunham’s Girls (20122017) pioneered the depiction of female friendships and careers as nasty and ugly in every sense of the word, but still beautiful and vital. While Dunham was criticised for

her frequent nudity on screen, it opened discussions on the narrow - both literally and figuratively - physical restrictions that are placed on women in film and TV. Phoebe Waller Bridge’s Fleabag (2016-) takes Girls’ frank look at female sexuality and stretches it to its limits. Women are statistically far more likely to appear naked on screen - a study found that 26 per cent of women appeared nude in the top 100 films of 2016 versus only 9 per cent of men. This often comes from the standpoint of the male gaze, oppressing women’s bodies rather than liberating them. The portrayal of female sexuality in film and TV has been tiresome. Women are depicted as either entirely non-sexualised; objectified, devoid of independent opinions and desires; or grotesquely hypersexualised. In the male gaze, Fleabag, with its raucous comedy and twisted look at its main character’s sexuality, would never have flourished and speak to the female experience in the way it does, although admittedly through an idioyncratic and often unrelatable main character. Intersectional representations of women of all ages, races, figures, and sexualities have been scarce, but film and television have been slowly seeking to break this tradition. In 2014, women aged 40 and over comprised only 30 per cent of female characters. Grace and Frankie (2015-) broke this mould in casting older women as protagonists, leading complex lives, far from the stereotypical ‘grandmother’ roles. We have come a long way in recent years, and we should celebrate the victories we have made so far in questioning the normalised representations of women in comedy and film and tv in general, however clearly there is much more to be done.

Editors’ Picks

IMDb / Amazon Studios

IMDb /Paramount

IMDb / New Line Cinema

IIMDb / NBCUniversal Media

Don’t expect any serious news here, it’s April Fool’s Day and we’ve picked our favourite comedies!

Patrick Sullivan

Luke Silverman

James Turnbull

Nora Gunn

Editor

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Deputy Editor

Community (2009-15)

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Galaxy Quest (1999)

The Marvelous Mrs Maivel (2017-)

Three sitcoms defined my teen humour: Friends (1994-2003), Scrubs (2001-09), and How I Met Your Mother (2005-14). Any could have been my pick, but Community stands out because the jokes themselves are well-written within narratives. The premise is simple: a successful lawyer, Jeff (McHale) attends a community college because he faked his degree before reluctantly befriending a wacky cast of students. TV comedy has dominated films popularly, and Community takes advantage of the episodic format to meddle with genre and surrealism, pushing the sitcom boundaries in a way films are unable to do in their restrictive two hour runtime. I always compare it hyperbolically to one of my least favourite sitcoms; The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019) is a dumb comedy about smart characters, whereas Community is a smart comedy about dumb characters.

If you like mid-2000s esque dumb comedy, then the Austin Powers trilogy is for you, which culminates in Austin Powers in Goldmember. This time travelling comedy takes us back to the 1970s and introduces us to two of the best characters in the franchise: Goldmember and Foxxy Cleopatra. Mike Myers, who also portrays Austin Powers and Dr Evil, flexes his comedic chops to play the eccentric Dutch villain. Beyonce - yes, you read that right - makes her film debut as Foxxy, and does so with style. The film, as with the others in the series, is a parody of the James Bond films and does so with overly obvious tropes and sign-posted characters. Case in point, Austin’s boss is called Basil Exposition. The film smartly reduces itself, allowing the audience to sit back and enjoy the oftentimes slapstick comedy and immature humour.

The stars of defunct cult TV show ‘Galaxy Quest’ are scraping a living; hopping from convention to agonising convention and forcing a smile at dire promotional events, they’re still stuck in the shadow of the show’s Shatner-esque lead actor (Tim Allen). However, an alien race decides to enlist the cast’s help in their ongoing war with the evil General Sarris (Robin Sachs), as they believe that ‘Galaxy Quest’ is an entirely factual documentary. Their performances in the heat of battle are mixed, to say the least. Ultimately, the film’s greatest strength is its ability to both belittle and elevate the target of its jokes: die-hard sci-fi fans. Galaxy Quest begins with an almost cynical attitude to nerdy sci-fi devotees, but gradually sheds its layers of irony to show audiences how real, earnest passion can bring people together.

The Marvellous Mrs Maisel is a comedy drama set in 1950s New York. It follows the life of the wonderfully witty Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) and her journey to become a female comic. Her career is jump started the night she learns her husband Joel (Michael Zegen) has cheated on her with his secretary. The break down of her nuclear family, and all the complications that comes with it, form the basis of her first set. This show is all about discrimination and breaking down boundaries, but it makes its point in a gentle way, without having to preach. Part of what I love about this show is that Midge is a girly girl, she fits all the stereotypes, and yet she is not constricted by them. She proves that femininity is not inherently weak, while remaining absolutely hilarious. Here’s hoping we see even more great women lead comedy!

epigram 01.04.2019

36 Film & TV

Are comedies less critically acclaimed?

Second Year, History

n the summer of 2016 the BBC published a list of films, aggregated from 177 film critics from around the world of the best movies of the 21st century. It featured modern classics like Oldboy (2003), There Will Be Blood (2007), and The Tree of Life (2011). Then the next year, the BBC published a new list – noting the reaction to the first list. The general reaction to the list was that there were simply not enough comedies. It was yet another example in popular opinion that comedies are so often left out of critical acclaim, or maybe that comedies aren’t as high quality as drama. To really understand this phenomenon, we have to re-interpret exactly what a comedy is, and analyse what genre means in the modern cinematic landscape. It’s pretty plain why people think comedies are less acclaimed than other popular genres. We can look to the Academy Awards to see very few comedies even being nominated in the Best Picture category – let alone winning the whole thing. In the 21st century, you’d find it difficult to call any of the winners a comedy, apart from Birdman (2014). Before that, you’d have to trace all the way back

to 1977 to find Annie Hall, which had to be one of the best comedies ever to be a winner - though many were nominated. In the new list published by the BBC, they didn’t revise the first list, but rather, they asked a different question. This time they asked ‘what are the best comedies of all time?’ Now this was a list of real critical acclaim for comedies from all of cinema history, but again there were snags. This list for best comedies included the likes of Pulp Fiction (1994), Ghostbusters (1984), and other films that are, while funny, surely not just comedies. This is the crux of the issue, that we see the word comedy and the comedic genre as reductive, not as enhancing. Pulp Fiction for example, is funny, and also a unique crime drama and commentary on popular culture. It is serious and comic; it is part of a modern cinematic world where genre cannot be easily pigeonholed. Ghostbusters too is funny and also a fantasy action film. We can flip this as well, and look at examples of the many best picture winners you would struggle to call comedies, but are inherently funny. This year Green Book (2018) won, which, despite being a serious take on class and race, also had laugh out loud moments. Then going back further we get films like Argo (2012), The Departed (2006) and Forrest Gump (1994) that all take time for humour. So what’s going on here? If critics like humour in movies then what is wrong with a comedy film, which will get you more laughs than Green Book. Well, the answer lies in the slew of comedies often released without

“If critics like humour in movies then what is wrong with a comedy film”

substance and without elevating the genre, instead reverting to its base components and hoping for success. Last year we had a number of these safe comedy films come out – Blockers (2018), Holmes and Watson (2018), I Feel Pretty (2018), and Tag (2018) were all major releases that made more than 80 million dollars worldwide, except for Holmes and Watson which struggled at the box office. None were appreciated by critics and were fairly safe, funny films. These are the films that can be labelled simply as comedies. Films like Game Night (2018), Sorry to Bother You (2018), Love, Simon (2018) and Isle of Dogs (2018) also have terrific comedic value, but they elevate the genre and are more than they first seem. These films received critical praise, and reflect something that should be taken into

account in all filmmaking, rather than just dramas. All films, as part of whichever genre, have to do more than just follow their respective conventions if they want to be critically acclaimed; it’s the trailblazing films that are remembered, not the traditional ones. Annie Hall did just this, and became one of the best comedies ever made, and in turn established itself as one of the best films of the ‘70s. Once funny films like Pulp Fiction and Ghostbusters elevate themselves beyond their base funny roots, break convention and become a tremendous film in their own rites, we start to see them as above comedy, and we refer to them as such. It’s not that funny films are less acclaimed, it’s that when they really are that good, we refer to them as being more than the sum of their parts.

IMDb / Game Night / Warner Bros

Comedies are often less recognised than dramas - why do we often ignore the artisitc merit of the genre? Ewan Marmo-Bissell

Iconic British TV comedy since the ‘60s Third Year, German

t wasn’t until the mid-1960s that colour TVs really started selling in large numbers and British TV as we know it began. Technological advances meant that more and more time was spent watching TV and there was an increase in the number of productions, including comedy shows. A classic British comedy show that comes to mind is Dad’s Army (1968-77). The show follows a cast of unlikely characters all serving for the Home Guard and is seen by today’s standards as rather tame. When it first aired in 1968, however, the BBC were terrified of insulting veterans of the Second World War. Contrary to those fears, it quickly became a hit with WWII survivors. The complete ineptness of the entire battalion resonated with those who may have also served with the Home Guard - which was almost completely made up of those two young or too old to serve in the regular armed services. The late ‘60s also produced one of the most memorable British television shows - Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-74). The style of humour used in the show was completely new, but managed to gain a large following due to its intellectual and satirical take on the peculiarities of British life. After John Cleese quit the show in

1974, he stayed busy with another script, specifically that of Fawlty Towers (1975-79). Originally rejected by the BBC, the series was not received so well on initial release, but the misanthropic Basil Fawlty eventually gained a cult following and ended up earning first place on the British Film Institute’s list of Best British TV Series in 2000. The show only produced two series, but that ensured its quality didn’t decline, and it remains one of the most successful shows of the ‘70s, if not the history of British comedy. As TV continued to bloom, the 1980s produced a range of characters, from familyoriented market-trader Del from Only Fools and Horses (1981-2003) to the eccentric and ever-changing list of Blackadders from the series of the same name (1982-99). Only Fools still has a cult following today, due to the massive number of viewers it accrued during its lengthy original run, and Blackadder is curiously cited as a source in many secondary school history lessons.

Series from the ‘80s are of a time when older generations watched them growing up, yet they are still relevant enough to be enjoyed by younger audiences. Both shows capture the attention of audiences with their ridiculous plot lines and loveable, if strange, characters and Blackadder cemented Rowan Atkinson’s place as one of the most treasured figures of British TV, with its last release being a short film, Blackadder Back & Forth, aired on the last day of 1999. The ending of the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, ‘Goodbyeee’ (2 November 1989), was voted the ninth most memorable moment in British TV in a poll by Channel 4 and The Observer, one of two top ten entries not news coverage. The other was a scene from Only Fools. The ‘90s brought about a different kind of comedy series, namely Absolutely Fabulous (1992-2012). With the first episode airing in 1992, the series shows a different side to the previously ‘laddish’ shows that the BBC had previously produced. Written by and

“The theme linking all of these [...] shows together is something that Brits have always been good at - not taking ourselves too seriously”

Photo courtesy of BBC Archives

TV produced in the UK has been lauded for its quintessential comedy for over 50 years and its legacy continues Leah Roberts

starring Jennifer Saunders, Ab Fab follows the borderline-alcoholic and drug-abusing Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) as they desperately try and stay relevant. The show boasted five series and a film in 2016. The 1990s is also when the University of Bristol’s very own alumnus, Simon Pegg, created his Channel 4 show, Spaced (19992001). The series was not the most popular show to come out of British TV, but was still nominated in 2000 and 2002 for a British Academy Television Award. Moving to the 2000s, the shows most of us will remember more fondly started airing; The Office (2001-03), Top Gear (2002-), Little Britain (2003-06) and Peep Show (200315) all focus on laughing about British stereotypes, and shows such as Outnumbered (2007-14) and The Inbetweeners (200810) highlight the struggles of family life and teenage awkwardness. At the time, Outnumbered proved to be a classic go-to for substitute teachers who didn’t have any lessons planned, and The Inbetweeners was a right of passage for teens of the late 2000s. The theme linking all of these classic British shows together is something that Brits have always been good at - not taking ourselves too seriously. Dark and sarcastic humour is a hallmark of Britishness, which often doesn’t translate well and may seem downright strange to foreigners. Through 50 years of British telly, not much has changed, but there’s not been a decline in quality, either; the fact that programmes such as Little Britain and Outnumbered are still a go-to on streaming services such as Netflix proves that home-grown comedy will always have a place in our hearts.

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epigram 01.04.2019

Editor: Alina Young Online Editor: Gabi Spiro Deputy Editors: Anna Trafford and Livi Player

@epigramarts @epigramarts

The best of Bristol’s bookshops Dreadnought

Our Deputy Arts Editor takes us on a tour around Bristol’s finest independent bookshops in all their chaotic and colourful glory

Beware of the Leopard Books

125 St. George’s Road Light, airy and stuffed full of second-hand books from top to bottom, this riverside shop is difficult to pass by without being tempted to pop in. Another key attraction is the owner’s cat, which appears to have taken up permanent residency in the window. There’s a good selection of fiction, but the shop’s main focus is history and politics, with a special emphasis on local history.

Anna Trafford Deputy Arts Editor

Covered Market, St. Nicholas Street Books spill from crates and burst from the shelves in this quirky little bookshop, hidden deep within the warren of St Nick’s market. You’ll need some time to truly make the most of a visit, with plenty of treasures to be found among the seeming disorder. Both fiction and nonfiction are well accounted for and, for any bargain hunting science students out there, there’s even a fair few undergrad-level textbooks. It’s quite a mess, actually.

The Last Bookshop

74 Colston Street

Hydra Books 34 Old Market

This one is a bit further afield but well worth the trek if you’re after something a little bit different for your shelves. This community book shop/coffee shop/music venue stocks a variety of books, including trans and queer literature. Curl up in a comfy armchair with a slice of vegan cake from the café and peruse their interesting selection of zines, which cover everything from surviving HM Prison Service to self-care.

Epigram / Anna Trafford

If you don’t mind climbing back up St Michael’s Hill afterwards, this Colston Street gem is near enough University to justify a cheeky study break trip. Decorative typewriters are dotted around, origami lanterns hang from above and an eclectic mix of fresh publications and golden oldies line the shelves. The feminist literature section deserves a special mention, as does the special editions shelf, guarded by an ‘electrified’ piece of red string (or so the sign says).

Epigram / Anna Trafford

Bloom & Curll

Epigram / Anna Trafford

You’ve probably huffed and puffed your way past the bright orange façade on the slog up Park Street many a time. If you want some modern reads and a guaranteed good deal, then next time you’re walking up, pop in to Last Stop for a halfway break. It’s four books for a measly £10 and the shelves are rammed with big name contemporary novels. If you don’t mind some dodgy cover art, then the English students among you might be grateful for their well-stocked selection of Wordsworth Classics.

Epigram / Anna Trafford

73 Park Street

Interview with Josie Dale-Jones: co-creator of dressed. Epigram chats with Josie Dale-Jones — artistic director of ThisEgg and co-creator of the awardwinning show dressed. — to chat costume, collaboration and companionship Gabi Spiro

Arts Online Editor

ressed. is the brave and inspiring show which took Edinburgh Fringe by storm last summer. The four women - Josie, Olivia Norris, Nobahar Mahdavi and Lydia Higginson - are currently on their UK tour, gracing Bristol in May.

lucky to have similar friendships with a lot of my male friends. I witness similar friendship and support between the males in my group.’ ‘I think [female friendships] are much more instinctual and the four of us in particular are very instinctual towards each other. You don’t need to say that something’s up, even if it’s something really small. Michelle Obama talks about female friendships being small kindnesses being swapped back and forth over and over again and yes that’s 100% what I think we do.’ dressed. combines choreography, live sewing, comedy and original music in a symbolic act of

“It’s always about turning something dark and traumatic into something beautiful”

collaboration. Each of the four women play to their strengths. ‘It happened quite naturally in that we all do different things. We knew that we would need more than one thing to tell the story. Text was quite a hard thing to work with in the show – there’s a lot you can’t say with words, and a lot you can’t say without movement or music. Song and dance are a really useful way to talk about the things that are just too raw to say.’ dressed. runs at Tobacco Factory Theatre from May 21-23.

ThisEgg / Lidia Crisafulli

This piece follows the true story of Lydia’s recovery after being stripped at gunpoint, and the support of her childhood friends. A costume-maker, she set out to remake her entire wardrobe, and now only wears her own clothes. Four costumes are a focal point of the play. Made by Lydia during her recovery, they were the inspiration for dressed. ‘They were the four archetypes that she found herself trying to be. Sometimes protective – a warrior being strong and pretending you’re ok. A showgirl similarly putting on a façade, or the clown making jokes. ‘We were interested in how we use these costumes and archetypes in life to help us get through different situations but also how sometimes those are the specific things you need for a friend – and sometimes that’s really brilliant and sometimes it’s too hard to be that one thing.’ dressed. perfectly balances light and dark, comedy and seriousness, and despite its sensitive subject matter, leaves the audience with a gut-wrenching sense of joy and hope. I wonder if this was a conscious decision. ‘For Lydia, it’s always about creativity and it’s always about turning something dark and traumatic into something beautiful. I think the stories that we get around similar topics are always quite negative and there’s never a story of recovery.’ Instead, dressed. focuses on friendship, support and solidarity. The play seems so ardently focused on empowering female friendships that I wonder what Josie thinks about these. But she surprises me. ‘A friendship is a friendship, and I’m really

01.04.2019 epigram

Arts 39

Your off-the-wall culture fix

Whether you’re home or away this Easter, check out our round-up of off-beat arty events around the country Hull

Glasgow

What: Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed at M Shed Why: A first of its kind exhibition which charts the history of British tattoo art, featuring 400 original artworks, cutting edge designers, photographs and historic artifacts. When: 26 March - 16 June, £5 student

What: Comedy and Curry at The Duke of York Why: A laugh out loud evening featuring 3 stand-up comics, where the fiver it costs for entry also bags you a curry to enjoy while you watch. When: 6 April at 8pm, £5 entry with a curry included

What: ‘AI! Oh Aye!’ exhibition at The Lighthouse Why: Ever wondered what society could look like if an AI won a democratic majority? This exhibition presents a ‘future museum’ that explores a vision of society with technology at its heart. When: 28 March - 28 April, with free entry

Oxford

Newcastle

Edinburgh

What: She’s a Good Boy at the Old Fire Station Why: In a striking solo performance, Elise shares their experiences of non-binary gender through physical theatre, song and comedy that glides from heartbreaking to hilarious. When: 27 April, £10 student

What: Janet at the Alphabetti Theatre Why: Somewhere between Emmerdale and Monty Python, this absurd dark comedy play is ‘a very human story told by objects’. Who can resist a coming of age story about a very ordinary woman who is ‘played by a lump of dough’? When: 9 April, £8 concessions

What: ‘Awrite Hen - An Exhibition with Maria Stoian and Natalie J Wood’ at Flamingosaurus Rex, Bruntsfield Why: Playful ceramics and prints muse on calling women ‘chicks’ and consider the significance of language used to describe women When: 6-30 April, with free entry

Nottingham

Cardiff

What: ‘The Guilty Feminist’ podcast at the Cambridge Corn Exchange Why: Hear comedian Deborah FrancesWhite and guests discuss live the goals of 21st century feminists as well as open up about the anxieties, hypocrisies and paradoxes that come with them. When: 16 May, £18 ticket

What: Extreme Championship Improv at The Glee Club Why: You’d be hard pressed not to be intrigued by what the internationally touring ‘Extreme Improvisers’ will bring to Nottingham with their special blend of on the spot comedy that pushes limits. When: 10April, £10 student

What: Séayoncé at the Wales Millenium Centre Why: This ‘dragtastic seance’ where the ‘camp ecstasy of cabaret’ meets charactercomedy. Join Séayoncé as they summon visions of sordid pasts and futures along with celebrities from beyond the grave. When: 13 April, £12 ticket

London

Birmingham

Manchester

What: After Edward at Shakespeare’s Globe Why: A daring new play written in response to Marlowe’s Edward II invites us into its chaotic world where Queer politics collide with imagined and personal experience. The company are also performing the original play, with the playwright acting the titular role in both. When: 21March-6 April, from £10

What: Timpson, The Musical at the Old Joint Stock Why: An imagined origin story for the high-street cobblers Timpson, told as a musical. Star-crossed lovers and budding inventors from the warring families of the Montashues and Keypulets break away from their parents and follow their dreams. When: 3-6 April, £15 ticket

What: Kingdom at Home Theatre Why: ‘The world is going to shit, let’s celebrate’ is the motive behind this cinematic-style production, which promises: bananas, consumerism, commercials, King Kong, supermarkets, confusion, multinationals, coups d’état, trap music and very macho men. When: 9-13 April, £5 ticket

Cambridge

Epigram / Luke Unger

Bristol

“a coming of age story, celebrating the life of Janet, an ordinary woman (played by a lump of dough)”

Brighton What: Stand Up and Slam at Komedia Brighton Why: Performance poetry and stand-up comedy go head to head at this event with six phenomenal acts. Prepare for your expectations to be challenged, for your sides to be in stitches, and vote with your applause on who will win this time. When: 17 April, £5 student

Arty dates: getting saucy at spoken word

What do you normally do for dates? TD: We’re usually up for anything, from a meal out to any kind of outdoor adventure! We definitely like doing new things and particularly like exploring but are also always up for a drink at the end of it. Or before it. Or during it. So to be honest, anything really that has a drinking establishment near it. CB: Normally we try to make it pretty

outdoorsy; my fave dates are when we go the beach. But on week nights we’ll usually just go out for a meal or drinks.

Why did you choose the spoken word night? TD: International Women’s Day called for a different date to commemorate this momentous day. Also, my housemate told us to. We picked it over going to a queer comedy night because spoken word was nothing like anything that either of us had been to before; neither of us knew what we were in for which was sort of exciting. Also, I hardly go to Stokes Croft now that I’m in third year so it was a nice change of scene! CB: It was an event that I wouldn’t normally choose so it was nice to experience something completely different to how I would normally spend an evening.

What would you score it as a date destination out of 10? Please explain your score TD: I would give it a 7. I was definitely a bit apprehensive at the start as I thought it was going to be all about smashing the

patriarchy - which I love - but was worried about what Chris might think! Although at times it got a bit heavy, the performances were all really moving, and we heard a lot of poetry from women from all walks of life. It was definitely different to the problems encountered in the Bristol student bubble. There was also alcohol which was a bonus and it was a really welcoming atmosphere. Epigram / Tati Dowley

Tati Dowley, Third Year Archaeology and Anthropology student, and Chris Bonnick, Third Year Engineering student, first caught eyes on a field trip with Bristol Officer Training Corps. The pair bonded over their love for shooting imaginary enemies and running around in camo. Last weekend, they decided to mix things up with a visit to PRSC on International Women’s Day for a spoken word evening.

CB: I would rate the event 8/10 because whilst it wasn’t something I really expected to enjoy, I actually found it very interesting and surprisingly fun.

Would you recommend to a friend? TD: Yes. I think it would be lovely to go with a group of friends who are up for something different and less student-y. I definitely felt that I was a part of the Bristol community more than I usually do. CB: I would definitely recommend it to a friend, the venue itself was really different and the spoken word was also something new and definitely worth trying at least once.

Any final comments?

TD: Women are cool.

“I definitely felt that I was part of the Bristol community more than I usually do”

CB: I was a little apprehensive of going to the event because I thought I would stand out a bit compared to the other people I expected to find there. However, I was made to feel very welcome and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The poems relating to the difficulty of growing up in a conservative Muslim family in Britain were particularly interesting and thought provoking for me.

epigram 01.04.2019

40 Arts

The students’ ode to the art of coffee

“You’ll need to have a dialedin machine and know your extraction time, but really learning how to foam milk is key”

“A beautiful coffee has been cared for from plant to mug. It will have been brewed with utmost precision and attention to detail, to coax out the depth of scent and flavour.” - Hannibal Knowles, Coffee Aficionado, Third Year Geography

Wellbeing editor Jasmine Burke shares an especially aesthetic coffee from the Playground Coffee House

“The best bit is the plunge. Got to savour that.” - Jonny Bound, Proud Cafetiere Owner, Third Year Biology

“One tablespoon per person in the cafetiere + 1 extra in the pot, bit of cold water on the beans so that you don’t scald them with the hot, then slowly add in the hot, wait seven minutes exactly, plunge, bam.” - Matt Jerome, Coffee Pedant, Third Year English

“Coffee starts with the beans, they need to be well roasted and freshly ground. They make coffee a completely different experience.” - George Gill, Bakesmiths Barista, Third Year History with Innovation

Epigram / Livvi Player Epigram / Livi Player Arts’ new Deputy Editor Livi Player shares a picture of the flat white she made at work

“Really, a beautifully-made coffee is the most reliable - and most relied upon - work of art: an exhibition might be too whacko or a play become dull, but coffee always reinvigorates and satisfies your senses.” - Alina Young, Forever With Coffee In Hand, Arts Editor

“I love it when there’s a good foam to coffee ratio. Added bonus if there’s chocolate on top. I’d really recommend Rubicon on Cotham Hill. They get the ratio bang on.” - Tati Dowley, Caffeine Addict, Third Year Archaeology & Anthropology

- Anna Trafford, Flat White Fanatic, Deputy Arts Editor

Abigail Alltimes, 3rd Year English student, snaps her coffee at the Epiphany Cafe in the RWA

“For me, a ‘professional barista’ who only really enjoys iced coffee with a generous helping of vanilla syrup, I find that the best coffee actually comes from the milk. Granted, you’ll need to have a dialed-in machine and know your extraction time, but really learning how to foam milk is key.

For the serious bean connoisseur Coffee + Beer 16 Cotham Hill Slick and to the point, this independent coffee shop is a no frills establishment that’s all about flavour. Part retailer, part espresso bar, and with craft beer on tap, they aim to showcase the best of speciality coffee + beer from around the UK. Their ‘try before you buy’ approach to coffee allows you to take the plunge with a new flavour before committing to buying a bag, and the passionate and knowledgeable staff are always up for a chat with fellow coffee fanatics.

For those keen to get into the craft TwoDay Coffee Roaster 135 St. Michael’s Hill You may have passed this unassuming coffee shop on your sandwich run to Co-Op, but we’d highly recommend that you stop by for a takeaway coffee and to oggle at their gadgets. If you’re keen to get into crafting your own perfect cup at home, they sell everything you’d need - from stunning blends to aeropresses. Their USP is a commitment to freshness; read all about the adventurous backstory on their website.

For the atmospherehunter

To make the ideal flat white, once you have your beautiful espresso (please never ask for an eXpresso), steam more milk than you think you will need and stretch it only for a moment - then it’s all about the microfoam. Pour slowly, mixing it in for one rich golden colour and then use the remaining foam to pour the perfect tulip. Enjoy.” - Lucy Hall, Manager of the Wimbledon Players’ Lounge/ Coffee Queen, Third Year Theatre and Performance Studies

Epigram / Abigail Alltimes

“A beautiful cup of coffee is all about the ingredients; the perfect espresso, made of a rich Brazilian blend, and a steady-handed delicate swirl of steamed milk.” - Livi Player, Recently Trained Barista, Arts Deputy Editor

“It’s important not to underestimate the importance of the coffee being served super hot. No one likes a lukewarm latte, no matter how pretty the art on top is. Having said that, though, I do really appreciate it when the barista takes the time to get a little creative with the foam”

ARTISTICALLYACCLAIMED BRISTOL COFFEE SHOPS:

Lucy Hall, Manager of the Wimbledon Players’ Lounge and 3rd Year Theatre Studies student, shows us her latte art

Small St. Espresso 23 Small Street

Cosy and effortlessly cool, Small St. Espresso is tucked away in the Old Town. While unpretentious, they are serious about their beans: choose from a range of artisan blends and single-origin beans. They regularly rotate their coffees so that you can be sure to try something new. The gorgeous lowkey decor of their small premises is a relaxed backdrop to a lovingly made brew.

For those who drink hard and play hard

Epigram / Lucy Hall

Epigram / Lucy Hall Epigram / Lucy Hall

Playground Coffee House 45 St Nicholas Street Undoubtedly the most playful coffee shop around, here you can sit on a swing or play boardgames while sipping on your afternoon cuppa. Their selection of roasts is small but reliably delicious, and there are rumours that the baristas are rather talented latte artists. With tempting cakes and sandwiches, it’s an ideal pick-me-up.

MTB / Laura Travis

hether you enjoy a single fresh brew with your breakfast, or need several cups throughout the day to fuel your heavy library stints, most of us would agree that coffee is a staple part of the student lifestyle. With three caffeinefuelled years of undergraduate study under their belts, these Bristol students are wellequipped to share what they think makes a beautiful coffee...

“Call me a coffee heretic but I love to order a mocha. The sweet aftertaste and cocoa-y tasting notes really float my boat. A good mocha requires the perfect ratio of choc to coffee, milk heated to 70 degrees, thick froth and a light dusting of cocoa powder. Latte art preferable, but not a requirement.” - Flora Whyte, Coffee Heretic, Third Year Geography

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

From the humble to the artisan, the homely to the technical, coffee is an art form accessible to all. Epigram Arts gets beneath the foam to discover the beauty of this glorious beverage

Music

Editor: Alexia Kirov Deputy Editor: Joe Gorecki Online Editor: Bethany Marris @EpigramMusic

epigram_music

Review/ Ibibio Sound Machine @ Trinity Centre Epigram /Harry Goldsmith

Ibibio Sound Machine brought their unashamedly joyous blend of afro-disco to the Trinity Centre Joe Gorecki Deputy Music Editor

bibio Sound Machine know to hold a party like few other bands. Blending kinetic synth grooves and the tightest afrobeat rhythms, the band know how to create an incredible atmosphere that invites the audience to share in the sheer joy created on-stage – Trinity Centre was no exception. From the opening track ‘Sweet Like Sugar’, the group enraptured the audience so much that you couldn’t not join in and dance. Ibibio Sound Machine’s arrival on the scene has coincided with a wider resurgence in disco as seen by tracks from artists such as Mitski and Kacey Musgraves but also night outs showcasing the successes of DJs’ crate-digging to find forgotten ‘70s gems. But Ibidio Sound Machine are different, blending disco and synths with afrobeat creating a crosscultural synthesis of sounds. The cultural fusion is completely unique and unashamedly joyous. Their music isn’t only what sets them apart: many of the songs are bilingual featuring lyrics in the Nigerian language ‘Ibibio’ which gave the band its name. While the band’s set began frenetically, they crucially know how much is too much with such high-tempo songs. Four songs in, they slowed the tempo but lost none of the energy or enthusiasm for ‘The Chant (Iquo Isang)’. While still ‘lower tempo’, frontwoman Eno Williams invited the

The band knows how to create an incredible atmosphere that invites the audience to share in the sheer joy on-stage

sections of the audience to join in for the catchy chorus. The song also demonstrated the polymath talents of the band where the trio of synth players also doubled as the brass section, which injected an added vibrancy and colour to the band’s sound. The group itself, numbering eight members, took up the whole stage surrounding Williams in the middle, who was clad in an incredible ornately-patterned caped jumpsuit which added to the band’s wider afrofuturist aesthetic. Her passion translated to an incredibly energetic performance punctuated by

impromptu dances that showed she was having as much fun as the crowd was. While the whole group deserve praise for the sheer tightness of their playing as an ensemble, lead guitarist Alfred Kari Bannerman simply exuded charisma through his playing. This was matched by percussionist Anselmo Netto, whose enthusiasm and beaming smile was unmatched throughout. Most of the band left the stage for ‘I Know That You’re Thinking About Me’ leaving just Williams and Netto on stage for an intimate performance that proved the strength of the songwriting didn’t just rest on the talent of

the wider group. After this, however, the band delivered the one-two punch of ‘Tell Me (Doko Mien)’, lead single of the newly released Doko Mien and ‘Give Me A Reason’ from 2017’s Uyai. These brought back the infectiously revelrous atmosphere and raised the gig’s intensity back to its previously stratospheric levels. The set closed with ‘Basquiat’, the group’s acerbic funk-driven tribute to the eponymous artist which rounded off a dazzling set. Ibibio Sound Machine create frenetic joyous atmospheres as only they can, their stellar grooves shining through until the lights come up and beyond.

Review/ The Comet Is Coming @ Thekla Different to anything in the current UK jazz scene - The Comet is Coming filled Thekla with celestial ‘space-jazz’ Max Turnpenny Third Year, Philosophy

ith a surprisingly understated entrance, the psych-jazz trio’s opening song to their Thekla gig felt like an incantation to the cosmic gods or the build-up to a space launch. Danalogue (Dan Leavers) commenced the boat’s astral journey with other-worldly synths while King Shabaka’s (Shabaka Hutchings) gently rising saxophone phrases whirred around. As the track began to take shape, I overheard someone say, ‘This is so space-jazz’. If indeed space-jazz is a thing, then The Comet is Coming are its

contemporary pioneers. The Comet Is Coming bring a different approach to the current resurgence of UK jazz. The band’s saxophonist, Shabaka Hutchings, is at the epicentre of this scene, figuring as a band member in a range of acclaimed projects, including the Mercury Prize-nominated Sons of Kemet. Together, the band’s hybrid style of jazz electronica brings a heavy, irresistibly danceable groove to the scene. Their names, song titles, and synthetic form are a reflection of their own cosmic mysticism – a nod to the afro-futurist visionary, Sun Ra (whose posthumous legacy Shabaka continues by playing in the Sun Ra Arkestra). Early into their set, King Shabaka uses his tenor sax almost like a synth to create an organic loop effect. Small moments like this symbolise the group’s ability to combine elements of jazz with a multitude of genres, styles and musical approaches. At the same time, The Comet Is Coming have

the same instinctive musical relationship of a traditional jazz ensemble. Each element of the band exists separately but synchronise effortlessly with every injection of pace or breakdown of energy. The kinetic understanding builds in their third song as drums, sax and synths swell into a feverish crescendo of noise. By removing it from its usual context, Hutchings liberates the role of the saxophone from the rigid categories of academic jazz. His playing fluctuates between screeches of free jazz frenzies, Ethio-jazz-esque melodic minors and more traditional accents. While such unconventional approaches aren’t uncommon at the moment, Hutchings’ style remains unique. By incorporating a range of infleunces into his playing, Hutchings’ contribution traverses musical binaries, bringing together diverse sounds to create something accessible. The band’s synthetic form of psych-jazz offers a way-in for both jazz

If spacejazz is a thing, then The Comet is Coming are its contemporary pioneers

aficionados and open-minded listeners curious to unravel the band’s mythical presence. More familiar tracks, ‘Final Eclipse’ and ‘Space Carnival’, triggered an eruption of cheers from the crowd. The night too offered a glimpse of their new album, Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery. ‘Unity’, a recent single from the album, demonstrates their ability to craft beautifully gentle jams as well as roaring cosmic monoliths. It’s hard not to let your mind wander along its ethereal synth pads and soft sax over Afrobeat-style drums. Instead of propelling us through the asteroid belt, ‘Unity’ lets us float gently in the ripples of the atmosphere. Landing back on Earth and looking around for the first time as their set ended, I realised that Thekla was packed out – the crowd extending all the way to the back of the boat. At the end of it all, people hung around, reluctant to return home after the celestial journey of the last hour.

epigram 01.04.2019

Music 42

‘You can only be you and play like you’: A masterclass with Cory Wong Musicians and fans filled The Fleece on a Sunday afternoon to listen to Cory Wong (Vulfpeck) impart his musical wisdom Lauren Paddison First Year, Music

Epigram / Lauren Paddison

‘You don’t have to be the best guitarist in the world, you just have to be the best at what you are doing’

would just feel right’. His humility was ironically humbling. He encouraged band leaders among us to admit that they don’t know everything and stressed the importance of coming at your music from a different angle and to try things out. Explain things to your musicians in a way that doesn’t affect them personally and remember you’re managing a group of overly conscious human beings. Make it about the part, not the person. Communicate the concept. Every word seemed to carry so much weight that the audience was only too happy to bear. Next, he truly delved into the six strings that he held in his hands. It is so easy to get trapped in the box of pentatonic scales when improvising. Even in the way we teach them, it is so often counterproductive to highlight the boxy nature of the main scale used in guitar soloing. When asked about how to break free of these bonds that we create for ourselves, he taught ways to enhance your phrasing through interval skips and chromaticism. We already all approach the same scale differently because of the musical influences already in us, so you need to follow your own ear. Because the pentatonic scale is laid out so conveniently on the guitar, it’s easier to work with what we’ve already got. Wong is renowned for his harmonisation in 4ths within the pentatonic scale; it’s a key feature that is unique to his own sound, and the way he spreads himself out horizontally as well as vertically across the neck is testimony to his extensive skill, he has spent over a decade perfecting. As a practice tip, he suggested taking the C major arpeggio and highlighting the triadic notes but coming at them in different ways. Take two notes above, or two notes below the key notes of the triad, because each approach will add a different flavour to your playing. The same chromatic approach taken three notes above or below the triad has the same amount of possibilities and opportunities. He talks of chromaticism, saying ‘It’s not about the specific note you’re playing, it’s about the destination of that note. Nothing sounds wrong if you phrase it right’. Using this approach, you’re suddenly covering every note in and between the pentatonic scale. His advice was to not get too bogged down with where your fingers are supposed to be- ‘If it sounds good, play it’.

‘You can only be you, and play like you’, advice to himself after years spent trying to be Dean McGraw, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Metheny and Prince. Cliché advice, but I’m suddenly willing to take it after hearing it from him. The need to find your own musical identity and finding what you want to express artistically through music is about as paramount as the drive and need to be the best at your instrument. He followed up with ‘You don’t have to be the best guitarist in the world, you just have to be the best at what you are doing’, and suddenly everyone in the room could breathe a bit easier, knowing we had a shot at being and doing something meaningful. ‘I went to school for science and thought I needed a ‘proper job’’, says Wong, who didn’t start pursuing musical professionally until he was twenty years old. His audience who were a real mix of maturities let out another heavy breath. Some in shock that it took him that long, some in relief that they still have some time left to do the same. He actually started as a bass player and switched to guitar when the two people he was jamming with in school at the time both already had bass guitars. This also came as a shock to us but there was a heartily triumph among the bass players in the room, knowing that was where Wong started. After the realisation of his bigger and higher purpose, he set off to become one of the most influential instrumentalists to come out of Minneapolis. He explained how a lot of his projects, such as his tangent with the Fearless Flyers came about because of his open mind and ability to collaborate. ‘In the modern era people are much more approachable than you think they are’, were his words. This is hard to believe as the greats can seem so untouchable to those not in the same circles. His advice to any future music

stars in the room was to be as approachable as possible, to help bridge the gap between the upand-coming and the already elevated. His last venture of the talk was centred around time. Practice with a metronome! It develops mental focus as well as execution on your instrument. He pushed for people to play about with timing, once you’ve mastered the art of playing on the beat. Experiment with the grades of accountability that a metronome can offer, just before, just after- find your groove. ‘It’s not sterile or boring to play on the grid at all’, were his words to combat the misconception that straight time can be predictable and uninventive. ‘Some of the hardest grooving music in the world is right on the grid, and it’s funky.’ Wong concluded with a message of motivation: ‘The more creative endeavours I find myself in, the more creative energy I have for the next project...’

Epigram / Lauren Paddison

ith a small introduction from the University of Bristol’s Jazz/Funk/Soul Society who organised the Masterclass, Cory Wong sat humbly with his guitar on his lap and a beanie hat that almost drowned his vision. Maybe the English weather was a climatic shock to the American guitarist. He introduced himself and announced that he needed to warm up; then it began. It was instant, he started playing and we were all hooked. You couldn’t not look at him. He effortlessly moved up and down his guitar neck creating a groove that I didn’t know the instrument was capable of. Wong is predominantly a rhythm player, which to some would mean four minutes of strumming chords to make up a song. Wong does nothing of the sort; he takes rhythmic playing to a whole new level and makes you rethink the whole concept of the rhythm guitar. He brings rhythm playing to the forefront, and his guitar has a whole new function compared to his role in American funk band, Vulfpeck. In his own music, he is free to do as he pleases; his most recent album, The Optimist is evidence of this. He says, ‘It’s my project, I kinda get to play whatever I want’. He encouraged everyone in the room to ‘be who you are on your own instrument’ and explained that sometimes we can get tunnel-visioned in our younger years on a particular player or style - but this is all part of growth and learning. He talked about his collaborations with other musicians, and the way he referenced band member’s names instead of their instruments made the listener really feel a part of the process. It made it all real, and in a big way was relatable to the bedroom type jam sessions that so many of us in the audience have experienced. At the end of the day, the way you get to know people musically is by playing with them, whether you’re famous or not. If Wong has mastered just one thing, which would be a gross understatement, it would be the integration of a ‘hook’ into his rhythmic melody writing. ‘Just play the line’ he says, ‘sometimes as young musicians, we improvise with what we get bored with’. He tried to emphasise the importance of simplicity in making something musical and ear-catching. You don’t catch anyone improvising with the intro for ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ or any other classics, so keep the hook and understand its role in the greater context of your music. You’re not handcuffed or in some way bound to what you’ve written because you understand the role behind what you’re playing. He spoke as an experienced touring musician, saying that ‘There are certain things you need to execute exactly the same way each night and when you’ve achieved this, you could live in that groove for an hour and it

Want to write or take photos for Epigram Music? Contact us! Email: music.epigram@gmail.com Facebook group: Epigram Music Writers 2018/19

01.04.2019 epigram

Music 43

SW Sound #4: TS Graye

In conversation with Kawala Epigram Music sit down with Kawala ahead of their O2 Academy tour date. Here’s what they had to say.

What was the hardest track for you to produce? Dan: That we’ve done so far? Jim: Maybe Small Death. Dan: Yeah Small Death was tough. It’s a bit sadder than the other ones. It was a little bit more difficult as it was probably the furthest out of our comfort zone. In terms of everything else where it feels either quite fun and happy or quite strict and upbeat. This one had a bit of a different style. It was definitely the hardest to get over the line.

Ellen Kinsey

Fourth Year, French and Film

he indie-pop band KAWALA, made up of Dan McCarthy and Jim Higson, were the mid-winter perfect tease of spring. The Kentish Town duo played at Bristol O2 Academy supporting dodie. Despite the bitter British winter, KAWALA managed to bring sunny feelings to the venue thanks to their bright, melodic style that puts them in the same league as Saint Raymond, Glass Animals and Bombay Bicycle Club.

t the age of just eighteen, Bristol’s TS Graye has already been making music for half a decade. 2018 saw the release of four singles: ‘idfc x Take Care’, ‘MY2’, ‘Take Notes’ and ‘Honestly’ – a Shura remix of the latter came out last month. Comparisons can be made to the likes of Dua Lipa and Lorde – high praise indeed at this nascent stage of her career; it will be exciting to see how Graye’s sound evolves and develops over the coming years. She recently performed an acoustic set at the University’s Balloon Bar as part of the Coffee House Sessions. The Coffee House Sessions is an initiative that brings emerging artists to campuses all over the country, every week. Following Graye’s performance of both covers and original material, Epigram Music caught up with the indefatigable singer for a Q & A.

What made you want to start when you were thirteen? It’s a funny story: my mum heard these voice memos I’d recorded on my phone, these shit covers I was doing. She cashed in all of her Tesco vouchers and booked me into this studio for Christmas. I was like “how do you know about this? How do you know that I’m singing?”. I went and recorded a couple of tracks and never looked back. It’s my mum and my dad.

Who is your favourite Bristol artist?

but it’s crazy. I covered her song, ‘Touch’, over a year ago- and she didn’t know who I was, and I was such a massive fan of hers and still am. But now she’s remixing my track a year and a half later, it’s sick.

In the description for the ‘Take Notes’ video, it says, “this video features real people telling their actual love stories”. Who are the people that feature? We just found them through friends of friends and people who know people. Their stories were so interesting. Obviously, we cut quite a lot of them [to put] into the music video, but the actual stories were incredible.

Is the video making process something you’re interested in? I definitely want to stay more with music in that direction but I do like to have an idea of what I want a video to be about. I feel like if I’m not involved in it, it doesn’t feel like it’s my video.

Where did you get the initial idea for the ‘Take Notes’ video from? The guy who did the ‘MY2’ video came up with the concept about subtitles and stuff; we were like, “how cool would it be if we had people telling their actual stories and stuff?”. But then I wasn’t quite sure how we could incorporate that into a video – because we’ve got the music - so we used the subtitles [to tell their stories].

I’ve actually played The Louisiana; I love it there. Thekla as well – I really want to play there. That’s the main one I want to play – and obviously – o2.

What is more important to you – the music or the lyrics? I think the lyrics are very important because if they’re not a) true or b) interesting, or c) if they don’t make sense – I don’t think there’s any point in writing a song at all. It’s nice to have just one concept – I think lyrics, all the way.

How did the collaboration with Shura for the remix of ‘Honestly’ come about? We just hooked up through management,

What was the first record you remember falling in love with? Lana Del Rey’s first album, Born to Die. She’s so good. That was probably the one album that did it for me; it’s so inspiring.

What are you listening to at the moment? Just a lot of 6lack; it’s really funny, I made a new playlist the other day and it’s literally just all him. He’s so good - I love him.

Last year was a very busy year for you – what would like to achieve most in 2019? I want to do more collaborations with people; we’re actually releasing singles towards an EP, so that’s cool. I want to do a tour; I want to do everything that I can this year.

Alexia Kirov Music Editor

Dan: We once supported this guy, whose name we will keep nameless for his sake. We were in this venue in Manchester, it was as Sunday night and a proper banging venue. We were there being like, this is going to be so cool. It was pretty big! The venue is called Deaf Institute, its basically a big floor space and with layered seating in the back, and also a balcony. It’s all of that in a small space. Jim: There was like twenty people who came to the show. Dan: Not even, like fifteen and six of those were our friends. Jim: Everyone was sat in the back of the room and six of our mates were at the bar. Dan: We were like, oh god what are we going to do here. We made a bit of a thing of it. Jim: So what he did was stage dive! Dan: I said I was going to stage dive as a joke. I was like, ‘you guys are getting too rowdy, man’. Then at the end they got all got there in a line and I staged dived and they all carried me around in silence and no one was clapping anymore. Jim: I was just staring at him awkwardly stage like, ‘what is going on?’

The pair first met in Leeds College of Music before returning to North London to start their band. Their music is upbeat and fun. The dynamics between the duo make for a lively and exuberant performance with Daniel, the guitarist and frontman, cracking jokes and Jim bringing his quirky dance moves and vocals. I sat down with KAWALA before their show to quiz them about their music and get to know the dynamics of the duo.

Let’s start with the basics; why are you called KAWALA? Jim: This is quite an embarrassing question. It has such an embarrassing origin. Dan: Basically, it is entirely based on Jim being 100%, critically, dyslexic and that is how he thought you spell koala. Jim: K-A-W-A-L-A, that’s how the Australians say it anyway. We are trying to appeal to Australians. Dan: Break Australia!

And which gig was your favourite? Jim: Rize festival was pretty fun. There were two-and-half thousand, three thousand people there. Dan: It was pretty nuts. We had pretty low expectations and we walked out to three thousand people and we were like, ‘this is not normal!’

In three words how would you describe your music? Jim: Um, I would say Juicy. Dan: Yeah I would go for juicy, juicy is a good way to describe it and I hope interesting. Jim: That sounds like a really boring one. Dan: I ‘hope’ interesting. Does that count as two? I’ll add a hyphen. Jim: and ‘not racist’… Inclusive!

How is it to work as a duo? What does each of you bring to the table?

Massive Attack – 100%.

Which venues would you like to play in Bristol?

What’s your worst gig story? Any bad experiences you’ve had?

Dan: Jim brings height…and I wear silly clothes. Jim: Yeah, you know it’s quite nice having a business partner. Dan: Do you know what? It makes life a lot easier, having the two of us, being able to bounce off each other. To write and everything, we are there to help each other in case someone says something crazy, then the other can be like whaaat? Jim: Also you wear the clothes so I don’t have to. Dan: The silly clothes, yeah.

Yeah someone has to do it! Okay, so what is your favourite track of your album, D.I.L.Y.D (Do It Like You Do)? Dan: That’s tough, I’d say “Runaway” or “Moonlight”, they are both quite special. With “Runaway” it is has a balance of fun and gets different elements of our music.

‘You know it’s quite nice having a business partner who wears the silly clothes so I don’t have to’

Which song would you pick that best defines your music? Jim: ‘Runaway’. It’s upbeat, and it’s got a bit of an intro. Dan: There is a song coming up next. I don’t really know if I am allowed to talk about it though, but I think that it would be right up there. There is two coming out at the same time and they both have a balance of chill, upbeat and fun; then slow and emotional stuff.

•

• • •

Puzzles

epigram

Editor: Ruby Rosenthal

01.04.2019

puzzles@epigram.org.uk If you need any help, contact the editor by email or through social media

2. The skirt, which Susan sent back as it was an ‘Unsuitable Colour’, cost more than the item she rejected as it was ‘Not as described’.

Blouse

3. The hat Susan purchased from Over Heads was not the cheapest of the five items she ordered.

Hat

4. A payment of £37.50 was made for the item bought from Clobbered.

‘Too small’

‘Too big’

‘Not as described’

‘Damaged’

£43.00

£41.50

£39.00

£37.50

£36.00

Wear Wares

Threads Depot

Over Heads

Get Up To Go

Clobbered

1. The item Susan bought from the shop called Wear Wares turned out too big.

‘Unsuitable colour’

Logic Problem

Susan bought five clothing items online recently, each from a different shop. She had to return al of them on finding, when they were delivered, that they were no good for her. Using the following clues, can you match each item with the shop it was bought from and the amount it cost, as well as the reason as to why she had to return each purchase?

Dress

Jacket Skirt ‘Damaged’

5. A blouse costing £39.00 was sent back to the retailer (this was not the item which was ‘ Damaged’)

‘Not as described’

6. Susan’s new jacket cost exactly £2.50 more than the item she bought from Get Up To Go.

‘Too small’

‘Too big’

‘Unsuitable colour’ £36.00

Item:

Shop:

Price:

Reason:

£37.50 £39.00 £41.50 £43.00

Mindfulness Colouring

Binary

Complete the grid so that every row and every column is filled with just as many zeros as ones. A maximum of two zeros or two ones can be placed side-by-side to each other, horizontally or vertically.

1 1

1 0

1 1

1 0

0 1 1

1 1

1 Inspired by PuzzleLife Collection 24

46 Sport

epigram 01.04.2019

U.S. ‘soccer’ blossoming across the pond Increasing attendances, bright young players and Wayne Rooney - could football in America be in line for a renaissance?

Barney Stone

Deputy Online Sport Editor

“The US, Canada and Mexico will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup”

in America has commanded European recognition. For example, Christian Pulisic signed for Chelsea for a fee of £58 million, and became the youngest ever captain of the USA National Soccer team at the age if 20. Timothy Weah, the son of Ballon D’or Winner and President of Liberia George Weah, is currently on loan at Celtic from PSG, and made his international debut at the age of 18. The US, Canada and Mexico will co-host

the 2026 FIFA World Cup. I suspect by this stage the American national team will pose a greater threat in the tournament than most would care to admit. Both Pulisic and Weah will theoretically be enjoying the primes of their respective careers, alongside other youthful prospects such as Schalke 04’s Weston McKennie. With the US’ staggering investment potential, soccer across the pond will no doubt become a very real global contender.

Flickr/ brent flanders

he MLS is traditionally viewed as a place where formerly great footballers are put out to pasture. Despite bearing famous names, they are judged to be no longer up to scratch, and exchange the rigours of the major European Leagues for a more lackadaisical denouement to their careers. Acknowledging the yearly growth of the MLS, it appears the league is beginning to shrug off this reputation. Founded in 1993, as part of the United States’ successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the league was originally comprised of 10 teams. The enterprise was initially unsuccessful, receiving minimal fan engagement and suffering from financial issues. However, the popularity of the MLS was soon catalysed by the 2002 World Cup, in which the national team enjoyed a protracted run in the tournament before falling foul with Germany. Since then, the MLS has expanded to 24 teams, with plans to have 28 teams by 2022 on track. Recent franchises to be merged include Beckham’s Inter Miami and Austin FC. The MLS is now home to an array of

talented footballers, impressive stadia that exceed the average attendances of the NBA and NHL, and is increasingly becoming a place where European players can seek truly competitive football. Prompted by Wayne Rooney’s recent hat-trick for DC United, an exploration into club rosters unveils several familiar faces. Zlatan Ibrahimović (LA Galaxy), David Villa (New York City) and Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto) are representative of this observation. Average attendances are also impressive; suggestions that the American public relegate soccer to the bottom of the pile in their list of favourite sports appear unfounded. Indeed, the average national television audience for an MLS game is up 13% year over year, whilst MLS teams have received a 46% uplift via social media. Moreover, Atlanta United play their home games in front of attendances as high as 42,500, courtesy of the MercedesBenz Stadium. This trumps the maximum capacities of 13 Premier League clubs, including Chelsea. In the future, Austin FC will have the potential to exceed this further, with the Nissan Stadium providing 69,143 seats for its devotees. According to Nielsen Sports Sponsorlink, MLS has experienced a 27% rise in interest since 2012. As in the history of the MLS, the league’s current trajectory has been aided by the success of the National teams, in both men’s and women’s soccer. The latter is the most successful women’s soccer team in history: 3 World Cups and 4 Olympic Golds. Whilst the men haven’t had quite the same impact, the quality being produced

Lionesses believe ahead of 2019 World Cup England’s success in the SheBelieves Cup has heightened expectations ahead of this summer’s World Cup - is it coming

Luke Sansom

Fourth Year, Politics and French

time. The Lionesses will then face Argentina on June 14 before clashing again with Japan on June 19 in their final fixture of the group stage. With confidence running high on the back of some superb results, Neville’s side will expect to top their group and at the very least, reach the latter stages of the tournament. 2019 represents probably England’s best

ever shot at becoming world champions and their campaign will unquestionably capture the excitement of the general public. With a strong squad, blended with experience and talented youth, galvanised by a head coach enjoying great success in the job, the Lionesses will believe that they stand a good chance of lifting the World Cup on July 7 in Lyon.

Flickr/ joshjdss

he left-field appointment of Phil Neville, the former Manchester United and Everton star, as head coach of the England women’s national team, incited widespread debate in January 2018. Critics observed that Neville possessed neither any experience in the women’s game, nor as a head coach in the men’s game, yet was nonetheless preferred over several wellqualified candidates. However, despite the debate off the field, England have performed admirably on the field in the months leading up to this summer’s World Cup, losing only 2 of their 15 fixtures under Neville’s tenure. Confidence is rightly high that the Lionesses can mount a serious challenge in France, having finished third in the 2015 World Cup. Their prospects were further boosted by an extremely impressive and victorious showing at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup. In Neville’s first fixtures as head coach, the Lionesses performed admirably at the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, finishing second, but they went a step further this year in the 4th edition of the invitational tournament. The convincing manner of England’s victory will undoubtedly encourage both the playing squad and spectators. As in previous years, four sides faced off in a round robin format, each playing three

matches. This year however, Brazil and Japan lined up alongside ever presents England and the USA, replacing France and Germany. In their first clash of the competition, the Lionesses came from behind to see off Brazil in a 2-1 victory after Ellen White’s equaliser and Beth Mead’s spectacular long-range winner. Three days later, England faced the topranked women’s side and reigning world champions, the USA, and performed superbly in a thrilling 2-2 draw. The Lionesses were perhaps unlucky not to win, having come from behind to lead 2-1 after goals from captain Steph Houghton and forward Nikita Parris. They went into their final fixture against Japan knowing that victory by any margin would guarantee them the trophy and swept their opponents aside in a resounding 3-0 win. The impressive result further emphasised the Lionesses’ progress, defeating the side who had knocked them out in the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup. Clinching silverware in the run-up to the World Cup with three strong performances will have impressed onlookers, and Neville was particularly pleased with the all-round efforts of his full squad, most of whom featured throughout the competition. The apparent strength in depth at the head coach’s disposal will certainly serve England well in France this summer. Looking ahead to the 8th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Lionesses will rightly rate their chances of success and are among the group of bookmakers’ favourites behind frontrunners, the USA. 24 nations will battle it out across nine French host cities between 7 June and 7 July 2019. Drawn in Group D, England will open their campaign on June 9 against Scotland, who will feature in the World Cup for the first

Sport 47

01.04.2019 epigram

Riverside Dads strike Intramural balance The intramural football team have had a memorable and exciting season, full of onpitch drama and off-pitch social occasions

Pete Hanley

Second Year, History

Riverside Dads FC

his season has seen the University’s intramural football league system undergo organisational shifts in order to increase both participation and publicity. One side that has reaped the benefits of these changes significantly is Riverside Dads FC, who currently play in the fourth division of the system (Ligue 1). Whilst the on-pitch action may have been lacking in quality at times, the Dads have developed a strong social calendar (culminating in a team tour) which has often served to distract from the woes of the day’s 90 minutes. However, this season has seen the Dad’s quality of football increase drastically from last season, with prospects for the 2019/20 season seemingly bright. The team formed from last season’s City Centre Riverside accommodation side, failing to win a game throughout the entirety of the 2017/18 campaign (despite a famous 9-9 draw against Hiatt Baker 2nds which has since been immortalised in song by the Dad’s players). Deciding to play on into the current season as an independent club, early results suggested that little had changed over the summer – a 10-3 defeat to EngMaths solidified this notion. When a first win in over a year finally did come (a 9-0 walkover vs Wills), the team celebrated by lifting a trophy bought by the club captain, Pete Hanley. A second win came the following week, when the Dads defeated Spartans 6-1. This extraordinary two weeks for the club set the tone for tighter contests, with

a narrow defeat to second division UBLFC perhaps representing the side’s strongest performance of the season. In early December, the club stepped things up when they embarked on their first international tour – a trip to Wales to face Cardiff University’s dentistry side, Borussia Teeth. Organised largely by centre-back Harry Robertshaw, goals from Morgan, Barrett, Cameron, Sharma, McNey and Hanley were unable to prevent the Blues coming out 8-6 losers in a classic encounter in a cold and drizzly Cardiff. The evening festivities enjoyed by both clubs cemented relations and ensured that a return fixture is on the cards. Since the high of Cardiff, up to the time of writing, the Dads have only secured one more victory in Ligue 1 – an 8-1 defeat of a highly depleted AFC Churchill. The expulsion of Wills from the league, due to lack of

“Changes to the intramural system itself have allowed broader participation in its activities, and Riverside Dads have exploited this”

participation, has left the side bottom of the division. With three more league fixtures to go, against strong opposition, it looks a tall order for the Blues to avoid finishing rock-bottom for the second season in a row. However, lack of on the pitch success has not inhibited the off the pitch activities which have become emblematic of the side. In early April, a formal awards evening is planned, with awards ranging from more conventional footballing accolades (including a Golden Boot award currently in the balance between Fergus Cameron and Ben Morgan) to those you’d be unlikely to come across as a Premier League club – ‘Rear of the Year’ springs to mind. Meanwhile, prospects for next season seem high: the club is looking at a range of sponsorship options and is taking part in March’s intramural varsity. Changes to the intramural system itself have allowed

broader participation in its activities, and Riverside Dads have exploited this to its fullest capacity. Under the leadership of Tom Wallis and Amar Shah, communication of fixtures and pitch numbers is considerably more coherent than last season. The League Republic website allows teams to view their upcoming fixtures, as well as their current league standings – a feature which has increased excitement surrounding Wednesday afternoons. Most significantly, the introduction of Saturday morning fixtures to make up for previously cancelled matches represents a significant effort to increase the value for money teams receive from participation. Intramural is a fun and social way to play semi-competitive at university. Riverside Dad’s fine balance between on the pitch quality and off the pitch fun is the prime example of how the system can benefit the student experience.

UBAFC snatch three titles on historic Wednesday

UBAFC 1s, 3s and 4s all won their respective leagues to wrap up an outstanding four-title BUCS season

Freddie Keighley Online Sport Editor

“The 1s have claimed their ultimate prize and now await a play-off to earn promotion to the BUCS Premier South league”

overturned a 2-1 deficit to win their league with a game to spare in a scintillating 4-3 victory over Exeter 4s. A poor first-half was improved on in the second period, and a brace of penalties from Tom Ryan and late goals from Chris Speed and Thomas Buckler wrapped up the Western 3A for Aaron Farr’s men. The 3s had only just left the 3G when the 4s arrived to take on USW 4s in search of topping the Western 4B.

The 4s started better than the 3s, and were soon 2-0 up and in the driving seat. A third goal came late on, with a James Tippett brace, including a penalty, and a Jorge Mataix goal sweeping the opposition aside on the day. Thus ended one of the most successful Wednesdays of BUCS competition ever for UBAFC. Three league titles won in one day and four for the season - what a campaign it has been for Alex Hunt’s Red Army.

Epigram/ Freddie Keighley

he 1s travelled to Southampton knowing that only a win would seal them the Western 1A. Their hosts, though dismantled 7-0 in the reverse fixture, were out to spoil the party. A nervy first half saw the home side hit the bar whilst Bristol squandered two good chances from close range to take the lead. Bristol’s task was made harder when Southampton pounced on a rebound to take the lead. Goalkeeper Ross Cusdin made a fantastic save to keep the first effort out, but was powerless to stop the second. Fortunately, Bristol struck back straight away and levelled the scores before halftime. A corner was won on the first attack after the restart. Al Harlington’s delivery was excellent and Matt Hinks was able to bundle the ball home from close range; 1-1. After the break, Bristol played with greater confidence and tempo as they pressed to take the lead. Consequently, a second goal for the visitors came soon into the second half. Matt Hinks was released down the left and lifted an effort over the onrushing keeper. Jasper Harlington was on hand to poke home at the

far post and put the league title in sight. However, a cagey last twenty minutes of the match followed. The momentum of the game had swung as Southampton were out to spoil the party. Ross Cusdin made two magnificent saves to deny first a header and then a shot from in the box. Bristol’s grip on the trophy looked all but guaranteed when Will Gale rounded the keeper and was brought down in the box, earning a penalty and a red card for the Southampton no.1. Al Harlington stepped up to the spot only to see his effort from 12 yards saved by the makeshift goalkeeper - Bristol were not home yet. In fact, Southampton almost equalised in the dying moments of the game with a wellstruck free kick rattling the bar, but Bristol were able to clear their lines and the fulltime whistle came; the Western 1A was won. This result more than compensated for the pain of a semi-final exit from the BUCS Trophy for the second year in a row. A 2-1 extra time loss at Bath 2s earlier in March, in which Harry Cruttenden fed Toby Thomas for Bristol’s goal, was a devastating result at the time. However, the 1s have claimed their ultimate prize and now await a play-off to earn promotion to the BUCS Premier South league. With the 1s’ league won in Southampton, dramatic scenes were unfolding back at Coombe Dingle. The 3s

Sport

Editor: Henry Edwards Deputy Editor: Charlotte Greenwood Online Editor: Freddie Keighley Deputy Online Editor: Barney Stone

Chess success for Bristol’s Kings and Queens Epigram / Alice Lampard

Bristol’s Chess team put in a marvellous display at the recent British University Chess Association Championship, as the club continues to develop

Ethan Luc

Epigram Chief Proofreader

ebruary 23 saw a weary and apprehensive University of Bristol chess-playing cohort greet the day at 7am. As we waited for the minibus, tensions were high. A tactical and strategic battle of minds would be taking place that weekend; it was the annual British Universities Chess Association Championship. This year, the club saw its largest number of participants ever taking part, allowing us to send five teams to the tournament, making us the second largest squad there. Bolstered by the recent acquisition of Ian Gallagher from Cambridge, who was perfectly placed to slot into board 1 of the A

team, the odds of succeeding were somewhat higher than usual. The sun shone brightly that morning, at least. Having joined the other 100 or so students from all over the country in checking in, the teams were ready for their opening game. The A team were handed a fair first draw. We were to play Southampton in a Matt Chapman-derby: Chapman having previously played for Bristol before relocating to the coastal town. In fact, I was paired with Chapman on board 3, and was given the honour of defeating him in an up and down endgame. As Polish and French grandmaster, Savielly Tartakower once said: ‘The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake’. My teammates played just as well with Alice Lampard and Ian Gallagher both winning their games to give us a 3-1 overall win. We then followed this up in the next round with another 3-1 win against Leeds, where Alice, a Scottish national team player, comprehensively defeated her opponent in the endgame, winning smoothly with black. Bristol were joint top with Imperial at this point, with two wins out of two, but round

“This year, the club saw its largest number of participants ever taking part”

3 was where things started going downhill. Paired against the co-leaders, a team which boasted one International Master, two FIDE Masters and a bottom board with a ‘mere’ 2139 rating. Fair enough, then. The defeat was hard fought but not entirely surprising. Our board 2, Morris Stranger, played an excellent tactical sacrifice in his game and managed to draw against his much higher rated opponent. Round 4 saw another 3-1 defeat to LSE, with strong play from both their underrated bottom boards in defeating myself and Alice. By round 5, all chances of winning had disappeared in the smoke left behind in Imperial’s wake. We lost the third game 3-1, with respectable draws from Morris and Alice. Elsewhere, our Bristol B team played very well. Having lost a disappointing first game, with only a draw from Oliver Clarke to take away from it, the team proceeded to romp to a brilliant 3rd place finish by winning each of their remaining games, with Clarke remaining undefeated and earning himself a gold medal performance in the process. It should also be mentioned that the

team only finished third on tiebreak; their points score was equal to Imperial in first. Congratulations to captain Alex Vaughan, Illias Pergatis, Srishti Jain and Oliver Clarke. The C team composed of Peter Bradshaw, Daoyi Wang, Jonathan Long and Aaron Kelly faced stiff competition in the Bowl division of the tournament and finished ninth. Special mention goes to Peter Bradshaw on board 1 who finished with a very decent 3/5 score, and just missed out on a bronze medal. The final two divisions saw Bristol D and E produce some great individual performances. Daniel Owusu and Marios Tsoukis both ended undefeated with perfect scores and subsequently gold medals, while James Thomas and Jim Champken also won medals for their performances. All four players were competiting in their first BUCA. Final special thanks must be given to Alice Lampard and Conor Newton, both of whom were instrumental in organising the event. It is the most successful the club has ever been, considering the numbers we were able to send. The club continues to go from strength to strength and we look forward to next year’s tournament.

A triumphant ode to Intramural Football As another exciting season draws to a close, we celebrate all the Wednesday afternoon warriors among us

Sam Grossman Third Year, History

ith pitches at inclines Pythagoras would have found hard to calculate, extraterrestrial weather conditions and more games in hand than games played, one could be forgiven for thinking that intramural doesn’t mean that much to Bristol’s student community.

Just tell that to the Left Back, wearing short sleeves in January, who crunches into a tackles knee-high before pleading that he got the ball. Or the Utility Man, who sacrifices finishing his crucial third-year essay just to get pummelled 7-1 by a team that isn’t even trying . Or the Captain, who rouses the troops at half time with the words ‘we just don’t want it enough’ – even though his team never wants it after a few too many jaegarbombs on The Triangle. Intramural stalwarts have even been spotted holding the ball in the corner as if they were playing the last echelons of a World Cup Final, rather than the dying

“Could he do it on a cold Wednesday afternoon on the downs?”

moments of a crucial bottom of the table clash against Hip-Hop society. And what would intramural be without the once-a-term screamer from the star man, who transitions from king of the messy night to prime-Messi. Thomas Tuchel has recently been advised to show the PSG squad live footage from the downs so they know what it really means to play for the badge on the front of the shirt. And when intramural games are cancelled on behalf of the weather, a lack of goalposts, or even unknown ‘technical difficulties,’ thousands of students turn from easy-goers to Joan of Arc-esque heroines willing to sacrifice anything to solve the problem themselves.

Intramural football would be nothing, of course, without Wednesday night socials which keep Chai Pani afloat. There exists no better method of team bonding than the intramural-curry-bunker combo: David Brent should have taken note. Many a third-year team rely on the same spine of their squad since first year – perhaps intramural football is the most loyal league in the world. Some would say true greatness can only be achieved once an intramural Varsity fixture against UWE has been won. So next time you want to judge the true measure of a player just ask yourself: could he do it on a cold Wednesday afternoon on the downs?