Epigram #282

Epigram 26.01.2015

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Best of Bristol lectures’ details announced Alex Bradbrook Academic Experience Officer The names of the lecturers who will be giving the Best of Bristol Lectures this year have been announced, with the first lecture taking place on Thursday 19 February at 1pm, in Wills Memorial Building.

The series is returning after a two year absence and is bigger than ever before; for the first time, the Best of Bristol lectures will be held both on Thursday lunchtimes in the Great Hall, and on Tuesday evenings in Halls of Residence, with a total of 11 lectures being given in total, over six weeks.

The lectures are being organised by students, with the support of the University of Bristol Students’ Union and the University.

Kicking off with a lecture entitled ‘How to change the world in three simple steps - a guide to extreme(ly creative) sustainability’ by Dr James Norman (Civil Engineering) in the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building, the 11 lectures will span a diverse range of topics, ranging from the colour of dinosaurs (26th February), exploring Mars (12th March) through to science fiction in the classics (17th March).

In addition to the presence of many of the larger Schools of the University, the organisers have also ensured that smaller departments get their chance to shine, with Childhood Studies, Classics and Film & TV featuring in the line-up.

The lecturers speaking in the series were chosen by students, both via a public vote held in December, in which nearly 1000 students voted, and nominations from academic societies.

Speaking to Epigram, Steve Bullock, a senior resident at Clifton Hill House and co-organiser of the series, said: ‘I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to relaunch the lecture series this year, and that we’ve got such an interesting line-up. This is a great chance for students, staff and the public to see some of the best lecturers at the University, and to hear about the fascinating research that goes on here. We’d love to see as many students as possible come along to the talks and take advantage of this unique opportunity’.

Previous series of the Best of Bristol lectures held in 2011 and 2012 have attracted audiences of up to 500 people. This year, the organisers hope to match the interest of previous years, and hope to engage not only staff and students, but the general public as well.

British Council Russia

For more information like the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/boblectures.

All of the lectures are free of charge, however you can register for a free ticket at www.boblectures.org.uk. Enjoy!

There will be 11 lectures in total

Date/time

Title

19th Feb, 1:10pm

How to change the world in three simple steps - a guide to extreme(ly creative) sustainability

Given by

Venue

Dr James Norman

Wills Memorial Building

24th Feb, 7:30pm

Fighting antibiotic resistance: we’re all in it together

Dr Matthew Avison

Hiatt Baker

26th Feb, 1:10pm

Knowing the impossible: the colour of dinosaurs

Dr Jakob Vinther and Prof Mike Benton

Wills Memorial Building

3rd March, 7:30pm

The Idea of the University: the University in Crisis?

Dr Ian Wei

Goldney Hall

5th March, 1:10pm

What makes a good film?

Exploring film criticism and evaluation

Dr Pete Falconer

Wills Memorial Building

10th March, 7:30pm

Damaged Landscapes of the Anthropocene: the cost of living in the modern world

Dr Merle Patchett

Churchill Hall

12th March, 1:10pm

The best selling show: Is there life on Mars?

Dr Lucy Berthoud

Wills Memorial Building

17th March, 7:30pm

A cyborg genealogy: science fiction in the classics

Dr Genevieve Liveley

Clifton Hill House

19th March, 1:10pm

Cadavers to computers: the changing face of Medical Anatomy teaching

Mrs Liz Gaze

Wills Memorial Building

24th March, 7:30pm

Veterinary Public Health and your Sunday Roast - the role of vets in the production of safe meat

Mr Andrew Grist

Badock Hall

26th March, 1:10pm

Product design and research with children: supporting children in care

Dr Debbie Watson

Wills Memorial Buiding

Uni funding secrecy Bristol ranked in not unique to Bristol top 5 for research Sorcha Mairead Bradley News Reporter

The lack of transparency over spending by the University is not an issue unique to Bristol. It has emerged that universities across the UK will not reveal where specific funding comes from or how money is used throughout their institutions.

The Higher Education Policy Institute invited a range of institutions to explain how they were spending the money – but received just 10 replies.

Almost all of the UK’s top universities did not respond to the question.

Nick Hillman, director of Hepi, plans to publish a pamphlet next month outlining how universities spend their money – a task he will now find very difficult due to the apparent attempts of universities to keep their spending habits under wraps.

This comes weeks after the ASS Protest, organised by a group of Bristol students questioning the lack of transparency in the way student tuition fees were spent and also voicing concerns about growing student numbers, student-staff ratios and extra costs.

Lack of resources and high up-front fees are problems frequently cited by Bristol University students – especially in the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Social Sciences & Law. Despite some issues being addressed in an email by Pro ViceChancellor for Education, Professor Judith Squires in response to the ASS protest, many students still feel unclear on university spending, and that that they have not been provided with enough details on faculty spending and budget. Indeed,

some felt angered by her immediate response to students as she addressed them outside Wills Memorial Building after the protest, describing them as simply ‘platitudes’.

A second year Philosophy student said, ‘Transparency is especially necessary now that the cost of attending university is so high. Students have a right to know how much funding their faculty is receiving and how much money is going towards an increase in resources in their department.’

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Universities across the UK will not reveal where specific funding comes from or how money is used throughout their institutions.

A second Law student added, ‘I feel like the enthusiasm for teaching is good, but it isn’t matched in the level of resources needed for the number of students. We spend hundreds every year on books’.

Indeed, the Universities Student Funding Panel, a body which is examining the current funding system, recently said that the large fee hikes has done little to improve quality of teaching and learning in universities – despite reassurances from the government that the rise in fees would do so. The panel found that there is ‘little evidence that the reforms have improved incentives for institutions to pursue innovations in teaching’.

Luke Wilson News Reporter A month after being ranked 29th in the world by the QS World University Rankings, Bristol University has been ranked in the top 5 universities in the country for research in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 conducted by Times Higher Education.

The REF results place Bristol alongside Oxford University in joint 4th place in the country. This result continues an upward trend in academic performance and demonstrates Bristol’s reputation and principle as a research-intensive university.

The REF takes into account the Grade Point Average for research and the proportion of eligible staff submitted for assessment, producing a figure for research intensity, which placed Bristol in the top 5 in the country. Bristol’s success is even more impressive given the number of staff submitted: over 91% included in the assessment, putting Bristol amongst the highest in the Russell Group.

Furthermore, 36% of research was given the top 4* rating, defined by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) as ‘world-leading’.

Bristol University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Sir Eric Thomas, attributed the University’s research success to its strategy of including as many staff as possible, ‘In the end, this strategy – right at the heart of our values as a university – has paid off much more than we expected. It’s also not just about research; having so many staff as intellectual leaders in their disciplines provides a unique atmosphere for the teaching of our students.

Our research success leads to their educational success.’

The results of the REF have wider implications as well and are used by the government to allocate around £2 billion in research funding for 2015-2016, the results of which will be published in March.

The University submitted research from a wide range of subjects, with certain subjects achieving particular distinction. Research in Geography was ranked 1st in the country, as were Sport and Exercise Sciences, with Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences in an impressive second place.

Professor Judith Squires, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students, highlighted the impact that such research has on students, saying that ‘Our research intensity is one of the very strongest in the country, as the various tables produced in recent weeks show. Bristol students can therefore be confident that they are being taught by internationally recognised researchers.’

Despite the good news on the research front, there are still questions to be answered by a university that is 29th in the world in the QS rankings, but 34th in the country according to the Guardian rankings, which takes into account student satisfaction scores.

The fickle nature of league tables is a valid concern, but clearly there is still work to do for university management. With research evidently a strength, there is now even more reason to address student satisfaction in a university that some feel puts particular emphasis on independent learning, all to often leaving some students out in the cold.

Epigram

26.01.2015

5

Union gets a facelift 70% of students will

get a 2:1 or better

Matt Field Online Comment Editor

UBU

There is now more study space in the Students’ Union

UBU

As part of the updates the Winston Theatre has been revamped

70 per cent of students graduating from university will be awarded a 2:1 or a first according to statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa).

The statistics for 2013-14 show that nearly one in five graduates received a First, compared to only 8 per cent in 1999. 20 per cent of full-time undergraduates and 17 per cent of part-time undergraduates graduated in 2014 with a First.

Continuing trends of grade inflation have led to some universities considering implementing a US-style grading system for undergraduate degrees. Six Russell Group universities are among those considering the introduction of a ‘grade point average’ system of marking.

Fourth year French and German student Rachel was sceptical about the findings, stating ‘It’s all very well reporting that universities are handing out more Firsts, but I’d like to know how that varies between universities and degree subjects.’

Speaking to Epigram, Pro Vice-Chancellor Education Professor Judith Squires said: ‘We are confident that the evaluation of the quality of degrees being awarded by the University of Bristol is of the highest standard. We have robust

internal and external examination mechanisms in place to ensure that this is the case.

‘A review of the percentage of undergraduate degrees awarded in each classification since 2001/2 shows very modest variation, with the proportion of 2:1s slightly lower and an increase in the proportion awarded first class degrees over the period, but no major change in the overall proportion of Firsts and 2:1s combined.’

Around 80 per cent of undergraduates from Bristol University achieved a 2.1 or a 1st in 201213, with the number of 1st class awards at 19.5 per cent. The Hesa statistics also showed a continuing decline in the overall number of students enrolled on all higher education courses. Between 2012-13 and 2013-14 there was a fall of two per cent following a decrease of six per cent after the introduction of increased tuition fees.

The survey by Hesa showed large decreases in the number of students enrolling on part-time degrees. Part-time undergraduate enrolments decreased by eight per cent between 2012-13 and 2013-14 and have fallen significantly since 2009, with student enrolment in part-time study falling from 314,770 in 2009-10 to 162,485 in 2013-14.

In spite of these falls to part-time enrolments, the total number of full-time first year undergraduates increased by around 7 per cent in 2013-14.

NHC_UHI

70% of graduates will be awarded a 2:1 or more

UBU

The roof-top has also been updated

Issy May Bull Deputy News Editor

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After three years of building works, the University of Bristol’s (UBU) new Students’ Union is finally going to be unveiled this March.

On it’s website UBU has announced that ‘The wait is finally over – after 3 years of refurbishment the Richmond Building is opening its doors for business!’

After three years of building works, the revamped Students’ Union is finally going to be unveiled Students and academic staff alike have been waiting to see the updates. The formal re-opening will take place on the 20th of March 2015. A ‘massive student event’ will be held in the evening to celebrate this re-opening.

Timeline of Progress - Summer 2011, work starts on updating UBU’s home - 12 January 2015, study spaces open for students - 19 February 2015, new café, bar and shop open - 20 March 2015, the formal re-opening of the updated Union

Rape conviction rate barely 20% in region Issy May Bull Deputy News Editor The Bristol Cable has recently revealed that between the 1 December 2012 and the 12 January 2015, only 20 per cent of rapes and sexual assaults recorded by Avon and Somerset Police resulted in the charging of a supposed perpetrator.

When broken down, the data discloses that about 20 per cent of recorded rapes and 21 per cent of recorded sexual assaults resulted in a charge or a court summon for the accused.

The Bristol Cable obtained this data through a Freedom of Information Request, which also revealed that over 8 per cent of reports of rape and sexual assault are being recorded as ‘no-crimes’.

This means that without any subsequent evidence surfacing these claims will not be investigated any further. It has been suggested that in most cases these reports have been erroneously downgraded to the status of ‘no-crime’.

Though on its website Avon and Somerset Constabulary commits itself to providing help

and support to any alleged rape and sexual assault victim, and even supplies a link to an ‘online reporting form’, these findings paint a different picture. They may also make for particularly unsettling reading for, particularly female, students at Bristol University.

This comes after Avon and Somerset Police was named as one of the worst forces regarding their dealing with sexual assault and rape. A report

by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), which was published in November 2014, found that investigators did not correctly record every report of rape that they received.

Growing pressure has recently been put on all police forces across the country to work harder at tackling crimes of a sexual nature. In November last year HIMIC also reported that nationally 26% reports of rape were not even recorded.

When The Bristol Cable asked Avon and Somerset Constabulary to comment on their findings they declined. The Bristol Cable, which specialises in investigations, has also pledged to look into these issues further.

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Epigram

26.01.2015

37

Bristol in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo Leo Bernard News Reporter Ivana Scatola Deputy News Editor continued from the front page The idea came ‘naturally’ to Christophe Gaspard, who wanted to organise an event to allow people to express their sadness as well as voice their thoughts and beliefs, and had a lot of experience protesting from his student days in the 90s in the Pyrenees.

Nicolas Hatton joined him in organising the event, ‘I learnt about the killing of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and the police officers from Facebook, through a post full of disbelief from a

Parisian friend. At first, I struggled to understand what happened but the dark reality sank in and like many who had come to know the cartoonist since being a child (I’m 44 now), it felt like a close member of my family had been murdered.

Only later did I consider all the implications.’

During the event, the two organisers delivered speeches - one in French and one in English thanking people for remembering those who died in Paris. Their speeches also included messages of peace, remembering the victims of war in Syria, Sudan, Nigeria and Palestine.

The protest saw a diverse range of ages and nationalities in attendance. Many brought signs with the slogan ‘Je Suis Charlie’ to symbolise their support for freedom of expression and to honour those who died on Wednesday. Towards the end, attendees spontaneously gathered

all papers and pencils together as an homage.

The policeman in charge of the event commented that: ‘Even if it’s a different country with different laws and different events, policeman all have the same job. It’s hard to put it into words, isn’t it? At the end of the day we are all people and we feel for our colleagues.’

Bobby, a Bristol student, said he was there to ‘defend the freedom of thought, freedom of expression and to say enough is enough.’ Hubert Web, a Bristol farmer who spent his honeymoon in Paris, said, ‘We are upset about what happened. We feel sad for people who died. We have to fight for freedom of speech as well and even more in England where this right is a bit less important than in France.’

Abdul Malik,a local politician and businessman, suggested that the solution was ‘to be more

open, have a lot of dialogue and to have a lot of education within all sectors of humanity’.

The event in Bristol, alongside similar shows of support throughout the country, demonstrates the extent to which the events in Paris have had a global significance.

Talking after the event, Nicolas said: ‘It was a very moving experience, almost like a funeral.

We were inundated with beautiful messages and stunning pictures in the 24 hours that followed and we decided that we had to create a legacy so the positive energy we were surrounded by after the tragic events in Paris could be channeled to benefit Bristol and its communities. This is why we created the temporary Facebook group Je Suis Charlie, Bristol and we’re planning to start a new café philosophique soon.’

Wessex Water/PA Ludovic Rousset-Penglaou

Ludovic Rousset-Penglaou Sozialfotografie StR

Protesters gathered outside the Hippodrome

Uni begins to respond to ASS dissatisfaction George Robb Investigations Editor

An hour-long forum was organised for 1pm on Monday 26 January in LR8,21 Woodland Road,with ASS students invited to voice further concerns.

The new task force consists of Squires, Austin, Corey Sutch (Social Sciences Faculty Rep.), Professor Michael Basker (Undergradute Dean of Arts) and Professor Wendy Larner (Dean of Social Sciences and Law). Details about the panel debate also scheduled will be announced in the next couple of weeks.

Chloe Potter News Reporter Bristol Mayor George Ferguson’s controversial comparison of abuse towards cyclists as echoing ‘60’s Deep South racism’ recently caused stormy debate on Twitter. Ferguson’s tweet read: ‘Stockbroker hit #cyclist tweet has chilling echoes of 60’s Deep South racism.

We must develop greater tolerance’. He was referring to Bristol stockbroker Rayhan Qadar’s own tweet, which read: ‘Think I just hit a cyclist.

But I’m late for work so had to drive off lol.’

The tweet immediately opened up a debate over the legitimacy of the analogy. Twitter users criticised Ferguson for not placing events in perspective and equating abuses aimed towards cyclists as equal to racist attacks on African Americans in the 1960’s.

Lib Dem Councillor for Whitchurch Park, Tim Kent, commented: ‘Don’t want to overreact to what is a cascade of over reactions. But a bit of perspective needed.’ Natalie Jester remarked: ‘You’re joking?! Cyclists aren’t lynched.’

However, Ferguson later tweeted a link to an article entitled: ‘The “Racist” Abuses Against People Who Cycle.’ The author, Last Wheel, compares the abuse given to cyclists ‘wearing a helmet and “lycra” [as] much the same as being abused for wearing a burqa’. He justifies the analogy through exploring the terminology of racism and proposes the idea of cyclists as a race.

He concludes that the terminology ‘only really exists inside the heads of bigots as crude objectifications’ and ‘you only become a race when bigots turn you into an amorphous other group to encourage violence and oppression.’

Last Wheel’s article is extremely controversial. However, whilst he perhaps

ideologises abuse towards cyclists, he does highlight a growing issue around cycling.

Katja Leyendecker comments: ‘I am sick of discrimination for my choice which is cycling’.

It is clear that cyclists are under-catered for in Bristol by the lack of cycling lanes available. Only the day before Ferguson retweeted an article entitled ‘Labour and Tories squabble over who will spend least on cycling’, highlighting that funding for cycling is becoming an increasingly politicised issue.

Ferguson later clarified he had not intended to equalize all forms of discrimination, tweeting: ‘I apoligise for causing any offence – was never my intention to equate both forms of intolerance.’

Remaking Cities

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It is the start of a new plan to provide current and prospective students with more extensive information on what they have to pay for, and which costs the University will cover

Mayor sparks Twitter controversy

Sam

The University has created a five-person ‘task force,’ which includes the Pro ViceChancellor, Professor Judith Squires, to tackle growing discontent amongst students.

The University has also sent Epigram a draft copy of a new ‘transparent cost policy’ which targets some of the issues highlighted by the Arts and Social Science Protest, which took place last term.

Max Austin, Arts Faculty Rep and task force member, said ‘we had our first task force meeting, during which some new commitments were made by the University.

‘This task force appears to have quite a lot of power as there are only five members.

We are hoping for a quick turnaround in producing short and long term changes.’

The new policy, which should be sent to students soon, consists of three core principles: timely transparency, costs the University will bear and means-tested support.

But the draft suggests that the University will not implement a definite, immediate increase in the number of contact hours or library books available to students, which was a key tenet of the ASS Protest. The policy only promises the increase in the amount of electronic resources.

It is the start of a new plan to provide both current and prospective students with more extensive information on what they have to pay for, and which costs the University will cover.

The document also states that ‘schools may

make available an option to purchase printed [resources] in addition to the electronic version via a bulk print-order scheme.’

But the University promises to collate information from schools, academic societies and course representative, which will be used to ‘map the actual costs students are incurring, both mandatory and discretionary, to map those onto the University policy.’

Many brought banners, flowers and pens to the event

Twitter users criticised Ferguson’s comments

Epigram 26.01.2015

Wriggle - the last-minute Bristol app

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Rob Hall, founder of on-the-day deals app Wriggle speaks to Anna Skoulikari on Bristol-based start-up and future plans Anna Skoulikari Features Writer For those out there who don’t know you, give us a little introduction of yourself and what Wriggle does.

So I’m Rob Hall, and I was Bristol University until 2008 studying English, then went off to be a lawyer for a few years. I was very frustrated there and decided I wanted to set up my own business - Wriggle was the outcome of that.

The idea behind Wriggle is that we encourage people to go to independent restaurants, bars and other businesses. So we connect people with the empty tables or the fresh produce that might go to waste at the last minute in handpicked bars, events, or theatre entertainment. The event or the restaurant gets to fill up an empty space at the last minute and the customer gets a reduced price offering at a really nice independent business they didn’t necessarily know about before.

So do you think you are in a way supporting the local economy?

Yeah, that’s the point! We work with

Photo: Anna Skoulikari

independent businesses and we want to encourage people to support local businesses.

Developing the idea of community and going to new places locally rather going to the chain down the road.

If you could have given advice to yourself while at university what would it have been?

To think about what I was like and what I was suited to do. I didn’t really think about what career I should go into and I went for the boring option of being a lawyer. I would have done some more work experience.

Did you do any internships?

I did a few, but I didn’t really pay attention enough. I wasn’t a very focused student and I didn’t connect until a few years into my career when I thought ‘What am I doing? This isn’t right!’

I was complaining three weeks into my job as a lawyer and knew I wasn’t suited to it.

What was the most important thing your English degree taught you and how has it helped you in your career?

Well to be honest, it taught me to write. Both my English degree and my job as a lawyer have taught me to write very clearly. Obviously during an English degree you write the whole time. When you are a lawyer it is about very focused writing.

When it comes to your career, do you follow your head or heart?

I don’t know, heart probably. I think definitely leaving a legal career to start your own business is heart. Because the sensible option or the riskaverse option is to just stick it out and have a very nice career as a lawyer. So heart in that sense and once you’ve started you need to do things by head. You need to look at the numbers and you need to make sensible decisions.

What was your biggest struggle with setting up Wriggle?

The biggest challenge with something like this is getting it going at a very low level. You are matching buyers with sellers, which is a two-

ended market place. When you have a platform business like that you have to really get it going at a low level. You can’t just suddenly have a launch with 100 businesses and expect an audience to come. At the beginning it was building up that audience and building up a name for us. You can’t just create a great product and expect people to come use it straight away.

How is the development of the app going?

Really well! We just launched in London in November so that is the next step. London is huge so we launched just in northeast London.

Now all eyes are on that. We just wanted to launch before Christmas so we could be there for January when all these businesses are quiet.

Everyone has gone out too much over Christmas.

So we can pick up new businesses and be there and really grow over January. We also have the Bath launch coming up in January.

How is Wriggle doing in Bristol?

It is doing really well. I mean you work really hard to build it up and then the nice thing is that businesses start coming to you since your name is already out there.

Have you ever had any chain restaurants come to you and had to tell them no thanks?

We haven’t had chains. But our app is not just for independent businesses but handpicked independent businesses. So we have a lot of businesses come to us who we don’t really think are good enough yet for Wriggle. So we are very careful in that sense. We are more filtering for quality.

How do you do quality control?

In Bristol we go to the bar or restaurant usually and in London we have somebody doing the London launch. Otherwise there are good places to check up whether a place is good. If someone has got 100 reviews on TripAdvisor and they’re four out of five we take that into consideration.

We don’t necessarily think TripAdvisor is the best tool since it can be pretty negative but you

know if someone is consistently good there then that’s great. We also look at reviews from Bristol bloggers. Or we just go and try the place out which is a nice perk of the job! Trying out new bars or restaurants is a perk of the job.

How many people are on the team?

Seven - six in Bristol, one in London. And we have a few guys helping out part-time in London. In Bristol we have myself, Dan who is at the University and does the social media, Andy who does sales, Sam who does the partnerships, Quintus who does sales and partnerships, Yasmin does the graphic design, and Kit who is in London. But we found out one person is not enough for London. At the beginning we set him loose and he was signing up businesses.

But now more and more I will be in London, and soon we will have to take more people on there.

If you could choose a question for me to ask you what would it be?

Well, you could ask where I think I have learnt the most about setting up your own business and the answer is everywhere. You just need to talk to as many people as possible. When you have an idea, even if it is not the idea that you think you will settle on. You need to test it out as soon as possible. You can reject as much of it as you want because you are going to get lots of contradicting advice but just pick out the good stuff.

There are also some amazing tools for startups out there. At the moment I am listening to some amazing podcast series including Seth Godin’s Startup School and How to Start a Startup with Sam Altman from Y Combinator. So just plug that in wherever you go, put it in your ears and listen and learn.

A little treat for the audience: if you insert the promocode ‘pioneer’ on the Wriggle app, available on Android or iOS, you get £3 free to spend on the app!

Hope for the homeless at Christmas Ruby Huett Features Writer

“ All of these people were individuals with thoughts, feelings and stories

I was surrounded by pieces of writing entitled ‘I am’. Some were filled with anger, others with self-loathing.

One individual described their mental health problems which they, let alone any doctor, couldn’t understand. They labelled themselves as ‘mad’.

Volunteering on the sewing team, one homeless man was so proud of

his time in the army that he asked for his number to be sewn into a t-shirt.

Interestingly, around 82 per cent of the guests were male and the average age was around 42.

In spite of their problems, the homeless are human and just like me and you. At the dependency overnight centre, which is for homeless people with addiction problems and is the only one that allows drinking on site, one man owned just one pair of trousers and needed them to be sewn up. We lent him another pair while we repaired his own and he was anxious for us to be quick as he was very conscious of his style and didn’t want to be seen wearing the trousers that were, in his opinion, unfashionable.

Another woman wanted lapels put into her jacket, for extra warmth but also for aesthetic purposes. Who says a homeless person has no pride or sense of fashion? Individuals had favourite items of clothing that meant a lot to them because they actually fitted or because they had sentimental value.

One woman brought in a jumper to be repaired, and had asked for that same jumper to be sewn up last year too. Another man brought to us an irreparable jacket which he could not part with because it had belonged to his dad.

In the sewing team, I was surprised at the gratitude of the guests. Tightening a button or repairing a zip can make a huge difference to making someone warmer and more comfortable. The guests were so thankful; some were

even surprised that we had given up our time to help them. Being largely invisible or unimportant to people can be lonely. Through Crisis, not only are the individuals offered companionship, but they are also shown that people do care and want to help them.

The hardest part for me was leaving on the last day, knowing that the guests would be back on the streets in the biting cold the next night and that all of the food, services and help would be coming to an end. I had been so affected by what I had witnessed that I found it difficult to re-adapt to the everyday goings-on of the world and my life. I also found it difficult to articulate what I had experienced and how it had made me feel. I think

it really is something that needs to be experienced firsthand to be truly comprehended.

Nevertheless, for many of the homeless people I worked with, the good that Crisis offered at Christmas can continue. For them, January may not be the horrible month after Christmas and next Christmas may be better. Around a third of the guests used the advice service and many were set up with job interviews. Crisis is not a charity restricted to helping people during the festive period, and it will continue to do all it can to support as many people as possible in the new year.

Photo: crisis.org.uk

Christmas is a difficult time for various reasons. One only needs to switch on Eastenders to realise that troubled people often face more difficulties during the festive season.

It is a time of joy and celebration with family and friends, but also a time for reflection, and for those who are not in a position to enjoy lots of food, parties, gifts and time with loved ones, their circumstances can feel particularly dire at this time.

This Christmas, I volunteered with Crisis, a charity which works to tackle homelessness. Throughout the year they run educational and training classes, and help the homeless into employment. During the Christmas period, they open up day and overnight centres in London, Newcastle and Edinburgh for one week. In London alone, 10 centres took in around 3620 guests and delivered 656 healthcare consultations.

Covering all of the volunteering shifts and helping to provide crucial support and services, over 10 000 people offered their time to Crisis at Christmas. The guests were fed and entertained, offered haircuts, clothes and bag repairs, skills workshops, CV help, advice, massages, and more.

For me, the experience was a huge eye opener. Rooms full of old sleeping bags and bedding are certainly humbling, as is the sight of individuals

sleeping in a warm corner or queueing for a warm shower. The things we take for granted are luxuries to others.

Seeing the suffering en masse is somehow more emotive than seeing individuals in the street on a daily basis.

But anyone can feel pity for a homeless person. Volunteering with Crisis not only helped me to empathise with the people on the streets, but it also enabled me to better understand their circumstances. All of the people there were individuals with thoughts, feelings and stories. Whilst working with a mobile sewing team one day, I was put to work in a room which had previously been used for some sort of problem sharing exercise.

Epigram

26.01.2015

109

How Brits get more UK influence in Europe Andrew Bennett Features Writer As ‘man-of-the-people’ Nigel Farage donned his Bayeux Tapestry tie recently, he unknowingly became an unlikely fashion icon, with the tie selling out online soon after.

He has come to personify the Euroscepticism that is seemingly sweeping the country, such is his role as a the new paragon of popularity... and now fashion symbol.

But what is it, precisely, about Europe which is being complained about? According to the UKIP

website, ‘a vote for UKIP is a vote to leave the EU and recover power over our national life’.

It would seem that a lack of control over the EU’s actions is a primary issue, and we need to have more influence over what affects us. Yet, given that UKIP have also manoeuvred their way into representing the anti-establishment party, it is difficult to see if their support is genuinely based on an antiEurope sentiment, or if people would rather ‘replace’ the current old boys’ club of politics with Nigel Farage.

Instead of leaning right in the struggle against a political elite, thereby inviting intolerance and prejudice in the name of patriotism, does it not make sense to work with the current situation, to improve it, allowing us to have the free trade and cooperation that the EU brings, whilst also prioritising our own interests?

We live in a multinational, multicultural world - this warrants celebration, not shame.

Maybe next time we think of tea, bunting and fish and chips, they ought to be seen as just one

part of a British culture that we should be holistically proud of.

The crucial point that is often overlooked throughout all of these debates, is that for the UK to be influential in Europe, it needs to have strong representation in Brussels, and this is the very thing it lacks.

Hannah Shackleford, a third year Psychologist and Bristol University’s EU Ambassador, identified that many Brits are put off by the requirement of having two of the official languages (English, French and German) to work in the

“ EU, yet currently there is greater leniency with British applications, such is the extent of the UK’s underrepresentation in Europe.

There is greater lenincy with British applications, such is the extent of the UK’s underrepresentation in Europe

Likewise, a number of EU myths require debunking, as Hannah stated, ‘people think that you have to be a linguist, or a translator, but you don’t, there are jobs for everyone’. In fact, many students are simply unaware of the broad range of opportunities and experiences on offer in the EU, and this is down to a fundamental misconception of the type of organisation it is, and the role it plays.

For example, in the same way that Britain has a huge diversity of needs, resources and people, the EU is simply a parallel, albeit larger, network of workers from a great array of disciplines, whether it be diplomats, economists, lawyers or psychologists, not to mention linguists and translators.

We talk of a lack of influence in Europe, yet as Hannah reiterated, ‘if we want to get more things out the EU, we need more people representing us’. In fact, ‘they have such an emphasis on being completely objective and fair’, meaning the opportunities are there for British workers, and they’re just

not being taken.

A perfect storm of UK underrepresentation in Europe is therefore created as a result of public unawareness and apathy, and a greater competition from those member states with an active interest in Europe. As Hannah describes, ‘if Eastern Europe has a huge proportion of the jobs and the UK has hardly anyone in those roles, obviously you’re going to get opinions maybe biased towards the needs of Eastern Europe, and not towards the needs of the UK…because there aren’t enough UK voices’.

So, with the rise of UKIP and with Tories leaning ever more right, euroscepticism is allegedly in full flow, yet the point is totally misunderstood: if we don’t get enough out the EU, that’s because we don’t put enough into it.

As one of the biggest countries in the EU, our financial obligations will naturally be bigger, but if we want to see value for money, it surely makes sense to do everything we can do influence how this money is spent, and who benefits from it.

So perhaps next time you see Nigel Farage holding up a pint and grinning for the cameras, you’ll see he’s not quite got the point. A vote for a pro-EU party allows for greater integration, freer trade and widens the marketplace for tomorrow’s jobs - ideal for Bristolian graduates everywhere…

You can contact Hannah directly by emailing eucareers. uobristol@gmail.com, or find out more about EU Careers Bristol through the Facebook page.

70 years since liberation of Auschwitz Nia Price Features Writer

“ the police recorded over 100 hate crimes targeted towards Jews in the UK in July 2014

successes and their barbarism in the Middle East – where will all this lead? It cannot be forgotten that the ‘Final Solution’ led to the mass extermination of the Jews, but began with the exploitation of prejudices in 1930s Germany.

Whilst events from the Second World War remain at the forefront of popular opinion surrounding anti-Semitism,wars of recent decades in Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur, and closer

to home in Bosnia, are evidence that mankind still has not learnt its lesson – genocide still exists.

Present day armed conflicts in Africa and Asia see hatred leading to extreme cruelty, with no end in sight. So often we hear the words – ‘never again’ – until the next time.

I was fortunate to recently meet and hear the testimony of Mr D. T. Davies, a World War II veteran and prisoner of war. I was struck by his main message – ‘Do not take for granted that liberty and freedom is something you get all your life, it needs to be protected’. In light of Holocaust Memorial Day, these words can help us reflect on the privilege we have today to exercise our free will, a basic human right denied by the Nazi’s and other dictatorships.

‘Keep the Memory Alive’ places the survivors of the Holocaust, and indeed all other victims of the Second World War, at the heart of this year’s commemoration. We have a duty to learn from their experiences, as well as remember them and their stories – for the untold

Photo credit: flickr/Robert Pittman

Global preparations are underway for the commemoration of one of the most defining episodes of the twentieth century – the Holocaust.

27 January 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration and death camp AuschwitzBirkenau. As the horrors of the Nazi regime unfolded, the world gasped in horror at the extremity of man’s hatred towards the Jewish community and others. With the passage of time, survivors are dwindling, so it is apt that the theme for this day is ‘Keep the Memory Alive’.

Why should the Holocaust be remembered? The lessons to be learnt are more relevant in the world today than they have ever been. Discrimination and racism still exist. Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Britain as a legacy of the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict, with an increase last

year following the hostilities in Gaza. According to the Sunday Times, community organisations and police recorded over 100 hate crimes targeted towards the Jews in the UK in July 2014 alone. Correspondingly, the aftermath of America’s 9/11 has seen the birth of Islamophobia, recently accentuated by the Isis

millions who will never voice theirs.

What can you do this Holocaust Memorial Day? Why not call in at Manor Hall at 6pm

on 26 January. As a Regional Ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust I will be screening the film Schindler’s List and encouraging Bristol

University students to think about the Holocaust and its contemporary relevance – all are welcome to attend.

SIMON AMSTELL TO BE FREE

‘Simon Amstell has a gift for taking a social norm and gently mocking it until it seems utterly ridiculous.

Highly literate... an endearing mixture of offhanded candour and sharp wit.

Such ease and understatement makes him very good company’ THE NEW YORK TIMES

BRISTOL

Colston Hall 26 FEBRUARY 8PM

Tickets 0844 887 1500

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Epigram

26.01.2015

Letters

@EpigramLetters

Editor: Olivia Petter letters@epigram.org.uk

The Theory of Every Film

Cartoon by Alan McAlpine

Tweets of the fortnight: @PatrickGalbrait

‘And all of sudden, we were in third year and Friday night became a pot of tea and back-to-back Grand Designs.’

@JakeGoodman

‘Just bought an electric blanket, does this mean I am old?’

@rachel_hosie

‘Friday evening spent making houmous. Feeling rather middle class. And somewhat middle aged.’

Today, it seems that the Film industry is only concerned with producing hyperactive films that are a product of CGI overdrive, lazy writing and bad acting. This impression is not improved with the Marvel superhero juggernaut that will never better Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. The problem is that if the industry continues in this trend, then it will lose the soul that it was built on.

Filmmaking is an art, just like poetry and novels; it has the capacity to make us cry, laugh and be inspired. A recent talk with a dear friend brought to our dismay the lack of recognition for what is a good quality film. I fear that many of my generation (not everyone) would complain about the slow developing start of The Godfather where Marlon Brando’s Don Corleone does not talk for five minutes, which was to showcase his intimidating presence.

In contrast, the industry lavishes money on overrated film trilogies (Taken 3 for instance, should have only been one film), at the expense of historical or quirky films.

Historically, this has happened as Martin Scorsese filmed the entire of Raging Bull in black and white but the film was a flop financially. However, now it’s considered a masterpiece.

Very recently, I experienced a renewed interest in film by watching The Theory of Everything. Starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as Stephen and Jane Hawking, it was a triumph. In a performance that no doubt should land Redmayne an Oscar and hopefully Jones too, The Theory of Everything was one of those films that hooked you from start to end. The film narrates the

journey of Stephen Hawking’s life with his descent into motor neuron disease coupled with his simultaneous ascent into the field of science with his thesis of Time.

Throughout the film, Redmayne’s performance was simply memorising.

He captured the qualities of Hawking, and his performance reduced you to tears on many occasions. Alongside, Redmayne’s tour de force was Felicity Jones, with a powerful performance as Jane Hawking. Jones channeled both the strength and will of Jane, and showcased her nerve in the face of obstacles she and Stephen faced. At the climax of the film, you find yourself inspired by this remarkable story. It is rare for a film to make you feel awed by the quality of the acting and storytelling rather than the special effects.

That is what films should be about: telling a story. In the midst of all these advancements in technology, this seems to have been lost. Take a look through last years Academy Award winners and there are compelling stories. Dallas Buyers Club tells us the story about the journey of a man with AIDs and 12 Years a Slave shows us the harrowing story of man kidnapped into slavery.

The Theory of Everything encapsulates this superbly and acts as the perfect tonic to the CGI heroes. The charm of the film is that it entirely hinges on the brilliance of two actors, a strong script, masterful directing and a wonderful soundtrack.

With the Oscar season approaching, I

Manvir Singh Basi

“

How to eradicate unpaid internships

Laura Davidson’s recent article on the rise of unpaid internships highlighted a growing injustice facing many students and graduates. Whilst some are able to take on these roles, hoping that the knowledge and experience gained will land them a well-paid job in the future, others have no such luxury. Instead the implication is that they must forego them in favour of paid but perhaps unskilled work, which while keeping them afloat in the short term, does not provide any of the suggested long term benefits of the internships.

The Labour Party, as mentioned in that article, proposes to tackle this by limiting these positions to one month before employers must pay the interns the minimum wage. This typically shortsighted approach fails to consider that there may actually be a more complex cause for this phenomenon than the illwill of business owners. This cause is of course the minimum wage.

Despite their continual popularity as a vote-winner in many countries, minimum wage laws are damaging to an economy as a whole as well as for many of those whom they purport to help. Though politicians readily ignore reality, market forces do not. Here the reality is that some workers simply do not produce sufficient output for a business to pay them such a minimum while remaining profitable. If you

perceive an injustice here and wish to ascribe blame, to look to the employer in this situation is again short-sighted.

It is us, the consumer, whom the employer must ultimately answer to, and we invariably vote with our wallets for lower prices.

minimum wage laws are damaging to an economy as a whole

In certain industries such as service and retail, the introduction of the minimum wage does indeed have the intended effect – people get paid more.

The consumer bears the cost of this, but not by choice. We’re left with no cheaper option. In other cases, workers are not so lucky. If the new minimum is above their old rate, the price of any goods they produce or services they render will rise whilst the price of foreign competition will remain the same. Thus businesses are forced to take cost-cutting measures

in order to survive (and provide any jobs at all). They may, for example, adopt labour-replacing technology or outsource certain operations.

The consequent job losses fall largely on the least skilled and lowest paid age group – the young. In fact, strong correlations have been made around the world between rising youth unemployment and rising minimum wages. A study by the Cato Institute in 2012 on youth unemployment in the EU found that in those countries with a minimum wage the average rate was 27.7 per cent, while in those without it was 19.5 per cent, a gap that had only widened since the economic crisis. Notable among those without is Germany, which had no minimum wage until this year yet has a youth unemployment rate of 7.7 per cent and a general rate of 5 per cent. In the UK youth unemployment stands much higher at 16.3 per cent, yet the general rate is not far off Germany’s at 6 per cent. Clearly, a minimum wage is not needed for a healthy economy or a high standard of living.

Unfortunately, the estimated 21,000 young people currently undertaking unpaid internships are not able to be paid directly as a result of the minimum wage. Since any competing employer is free to pay them the minimum wage, and this offer is obviously not

forthcoming, the only economically sound conclusion is that they are not worth it. However, their true value is clearly more than nothing. The injustice then is that current law strips them of their ability to demand that value just because it is too low. Sadly, it would surely be enough that at least some of those previously denied these positions due to financial circumstance would be able to consider them.

“ we should let the young and inexperienced reclaim their unique selling point – their low price

Labour’s proposal would do nothing more than increase the burden on those companies who are at least giving young people a chance. The availability of these positions would decrease accordingly, as some employers will find the hiring process too costly for such a short stint and opt to pay a more experienced worker instead. Those who

do find one may simply find themselves replaced after the four weeks. If the employer didn’t want to hire a paid worker at the start of the month, what will have realistically changed by the end of it? This damage to young people’s job prospects would be compounded by the effects of raising the minimum wage even further, to £8 from £6.50, another cynical promise the party has made.

Instead we should abolish it entirely, and let the young, inexperienced and unskilled reclaim their unique selling point – their low price. At the very least, no longer will anyone have to go without pay entirely. But further, the opportunities that will arise once the stranglehold upon the market is lifted will allow more people to get on the career ladder earlier in life, gaining valuable skills and experience along the way and even rising up the pay scale sooner. Perhaps our ever-expanding list of ‘rights’ does need an addition; the right to work at any wage.

Theo Dickson

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Epigram

Arts Introducing: Paloma Parkes

26.01.2015

37

First year Geography student

‘My main inspiration stems mainly from music and literature. I have a certain ‘fascination of the abomination’, to quote Heart of Darkness, especially around WW1 and the beautifully dark scenery of certain landscapes. I primarily use oil paint and occasionally resin-based house paint’.

From ‘In Search of the Rainbow’s Pot of Gold’ With time to kill, I wander around the casino floor. Apparently gambling is a serious business.

Punters perch in serried, hypnotized ranks in front of the garish slot machines, not a smirk between them. Players on the roulette and blackjack tables are a bit livelier; the odd whoop erupts from a winner here and there. A loser, it would seem, makes no sound. The casino’s conduits of chance, the croupiers, are impassive; they don’t care if the punters win or lose. They are flesh and blood cogs in the casino machine and act accordingly, collecting, counting and distributing chips with ruthless efficiency.

But poker isn’t gambling in the same way roulette is. Luck is still a factor, but in poker everyone faces the same amount of luck. The skill comes in understanding how this luck works and how your opponent plays. Or so I keep telling myself as the time finally comes to locate my seat amid the half dozen oval baize islands.

My crescendo of nerves reaches its peak as I sit down and start eyeing up my opposition.

The mix of players at my table is eclectic to the point of satire. The guy opposite me looks like the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto 4. He is slight and gruff and bald and surly and eastern European. The full mobster starter pack is on show: v-neck jumper, chain round neck, Lonsdale tracksuit. He has more rings than fingers and they all jostle for supremacy on his hairy hand. He catches my eye and I look away. I should have held his gaze. First mistake.

C R E A T I V E CORNER Mattie Brignal

For the full story visit epigram.org.uk/category/arts

WHEN

WHERE Flickr: littletriggers

Roth was born in 1933 to a middle class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey – a setting which recurs throughout his fiction. In true Thoureau-esque style, Roth now lives alone in a cabin in the woods of Connecticut.

Over the course of his long career Roth has won nearly every literary award available, from the National Book Award in 1960 to the National Humanities Award in 2011, for his ‘Contribution to American Letters’.

WHY Though Roth’s fiction is rooted in a particular Jewish-American experience, his stories shed light on the human condition as a whole. The novelist explores the nature of otherness, alienation, and the extent to which one can assimilate into a country whilst maintaining a unique cultural identity. These are themes to which anyone can relate, presented with all the nuance and complexity they entail.

Liam Marchant

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For Science graduate Layo, that meant exploring the business world on our Tax Summer Internship – and like many of our talented interns, she was offered a job with us at the end. Now she works on major tax projects, helping the employees of some of the world’s biggest companies manage their complex tax affairs. Join PwC – we’re focused on helping you reach your full potential.

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041050_333x265_BristolStudent.indd 1

Diverse people make us stronger

20/01/2015 12:14

Epigram 26.01.2015

41 30 We are met with a more aesthetically and narratively creative film, exploring the possibilities of the mind and broaching the topic of possible insanity flirting with reality. There is no intense ongoing quest in Birdman; it is more of a reconstruction and a representation of the aftermath of such an ordeal. The film allows the viewer to reflect on the sequela of showbiz through the ever active and questioning mind of Thomson, still strongly under the influence of his alter ego, Birdman.

Gone Girl sets itself slightly apart from the rest. Being excluded from the preaward season UK release party and having shown its colors a few months beforehand it is less current but by no means any bit less worthy. David Fincher’s girl goes missing thriller does not focus on a quest to greatness in a positive initiatory journey sense but still on a quest to utter perfection in the chosen field: Revenge. In order to keep the twist a surprise and to encourage

Flickr/Ma_o2013

flickr/ canburak

“

all of these films were so successful because they dared to be

anyone who hasn’t yet seen the film to go and watch it immediately, I won’t divulge any plot details. Saying that, what I can reveal is that like our other films Gone Girl focuses on the ruthless feat that is perfection, and stopping at nothing to reach it. Crossing the lines of the morally acceptable, verging on insanity and its characters earning nicknames such as ‘crazy psycho-bitch’ amongst others, Gone Girl was probably the first film of 2014 to depict a quest in such a way and to associate it with unhealthy obsession and betrayal beyond limits.

The film explores the deep depths of modern relationships and denounces what we are truly capable of, whether we will admit it or not.

So overall it’s been a pretty intense year. It showed us extremely strong and complex characters and took fictional narratives to great lengths.

When it comes down to it, we realize that all of these films were so successful because they dared to be. They let go of all taboos, closed their eyes over social norms and showed us powerful, raw and intense cinema. 2014 inspired us, reminded us to strive for greatness and ultimately showed us how to make a damn good film. If it carries on in this direction then I don’t know about you, but this only makes me more excited for the future of the current film industry.

Bring on 2015.

Go to epigram.org.uk to read Ella’s full reviews of Whiplash and Foxcatcher!

Hint: they’re not sh*t.

Flickr/Chris Elt

Hands up if you reckon Channing Tatum is sexier with this false nose? No? Me either. BUT THAT ISN’T THE POINT.

Taken 3 Film & TV Writer Ben Lewis has seen all three Taken films.

Here, he explains why you shouldn’t. was the casting of Forrest Whittaker. Pitting his character against Neeson’s Bryan Mills seemed like a good choice. Unfortunately, Neeson and Whittaker’s acting calibre cannot hold up the predictable plot.

Richard Kimble is framed for a murder he did not commit and Samuel Gerard is the man sent to bring him to justice. Wait, this is a review of Taken 3. Not The Fugitive. Sorry.

That is almost as embarrassing as teenagers thinking Paul McCartney was ‘new blood’ when he went on stage with Kanye West.

Taken 3 does try to be original but in trying, it fails on all counts. See this if...you haven’t seen The Fugitive (shame on you - Tommy Lee Jones won an Oscar for playing Gerard) or, like me, you need to see the trilogy as a whole (I sat through all three Transporters - enough said). Other than that, focus on award season films as you are more likely to get your money’s worth.

Testament of Youth Film & TV Editor Matthew Floyd argues that despite his best efforts, Kit Harrington doesn’t quite ruin this WW1 drama.

James Kent’s film marks the first big screen adaptation of Vera Brittain’s celebrated and bestselling memoir Testament of Youth, which was the first in an intended series of four which remained uncompleted at the time of her death in 1970. Previously, this first autobiography which covers Vera’s life 19001925 was made into a 5-part BBC2 serial in 1979, and later into a fifteen-part dramatization for BBC Radio Four in 1998, with the trend continuing with BBC Films producing here.

Brittain is something of a national treasure, living as she did as a prominent writer and vocal pacifist, also notable for being mother to the phenomenally productive liberal politician Shirley Williams. Thankfully, for a film handling such a beloved source text with serious, ever-prevalent messages, Testament of Youth is for the most part an effective and affecting adaptation.

Set over the period of 1914 to 1918, Alicia Vikander stars as Vera, whom we initially meet as a studious, uncorrupted teenager whose concerns rest primarily with attaining a place at Oxford and resisting her father’s

attempts to build her into a marriageable property. At this point she is content to while away her days in books or the lavish countryside harbouring her family’s home with her brother Edward (Taron Egerton) and pal Victor (Colin Morgan). At the outbreak of war, however, her efforts in reaching Oxford and tentatively cultivating a romance with Roland (Kit Harrington) are cast aside. Seeing her loved ones enlist, Vera is compelled to herself participate in the war effort as a nurse, through whom we observe a rarelytold female perspective of the War. Within the first few minutes of Testament of Youth I was concerned that I was going to hate the whole thing. Early scenes of welloff, glamorous-looking teens doing what can only be described as frolicking in fields and a lake really made me concerned that the film was angling for the Young Adult, love-versusadversity box office sales. Fortunately, I was later proved wrong as the film bravely dug itself into the cinematic trenches, boldly visually displaying the terrible nature of the War in a commendably vivid fashion, particularly for Alicia Vikander thinks ‘thank god Kit Harrington isn’t here ruining the scene...’.

flickr/ Antony Steele

flickr/ canburak

Liam’s on the verge of tears as he reads the script for Taken 4. Not because it’s good.

In 2008, Taken was a surprise hit and went into movie history with that quote. We all know it. I won’t write it. But if you don’t know it, I will find you and I will...teach it to you. It is a great sound bite. Shame on you for not knowing it.

Four years later, a sequel was released.

People were understandably sceptical that it wouldn’t work and it...didn’t. Everything that made the original great was stripped away and it became a generic by-thenumbers action film. You can’t blame the studio for trying, maybe director Oliver Megaton, but not the studio. That said, it made a ton of money and justified the studio thinking about a third one.

Liam Neeson was now the sceptical one and said he’d only do it if the premise wasn’t about the kidnapping of one of his family.

The trailer came out and it was explosive, to say the least. The most exciting thing about it

Epigram 26.01.2015

42 a 12A certificate. By considerable measure, the film succeeds most when it depicts the impact of the conflict on both individual and macro levels. Early on, this takes the form of Vera seeing how the experience is changing her friends when they return on leave, and later as we are shown the state of affairs in France - one scene at a military hospital being an especially wrenching gut-punch.

Nevertheless, it is the romance element of Testament of Youth which really lets the side down. Sure, Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow) may seem like an appropriate fit to play Roland, the handsome, poetry-writing soldier who courts Vera, but in the film he comes across as wholly bland and what little character he possesses is inconsistent.

Crucially, Vera and Roland’s relationship in the film is a vacuum of chemistry, which undermines the emotional impact that should be had when it is inevitably torn apart by war. What’s more is that it’s a shame that so much early focus is given to their pairing when literally everything and everybody else is far more interesting.

Otherwise, in such a thoroughly British production Swedish Alicia Vikander is splendid as Vera, playing her as a headstrong, compassionate feminist in scenes devoid of Kit Harrington. The remaining young cast is similarly first class, including Taron Egerton who is soon to hit big starring alongside Colin Firth in Kingsman: The Secret Service, and Colin Morgan of TV’s Merlin fame, who is looking increasingly Cumberbatch-y with age. Additionally, the entire adult cast is frustratingly underused in spite of all being excellent, with Miranda Richardson, Hayley Atwell and Dominic West offering great depth in their criminally small amounts of screen time.

One can only be grateful that the Roland component doesn’t manage to stifle the film as a whole, however much Kit Harrington looks completely blank in his scenes.

Testament of Youth is at times exasperating in how it dispenses its attention, but overall succeeds in providing a realistic and affecting adaptation of a distinguished piece of British history.

Birdman Film & TV Writer Henry Mitton tells you to fly off and go see Birdman.

Approaching awards season, one expects to see a sprinkling of experimental features hit the box office. In recent years, this has included The Artist, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Her. Rarely, though, are we treated to something quite so innovative as Birdman. From the start of the opening titles to the rolling of the credits, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu whose name might ring bells from 2006’s Babel and more recently, Biutiful, playfully experiments with most of the conventions of Hollywood cinema.

Michael Keaton heads an impressive cast as Riggan Thomson, an ageing ex-superhero actor experiencing what should really be called a later-life crisis, turns to Broadway theatre in an attempt to carve out some artistic credibility. The parallel with Keaton’s own career and the experiences with which he draws from leads to a stroke of casting genius. Fine performances from everyone involved, notably Edward Norton and Emma Stone, carry a plot that flutters (forgive the pun) erratically but enthrallingly around the opening night of Thomson’s stage adaptation.

The relationship of the two mediums, cinema and theatre, plays arguably the biggest role in Iñárritu’s play (no, I’m not using that word by accident) and is the driving force behind the innovations.

“

rarely are we treated to something quite so innovative as Birdman For starters, the film is made to look like one long continuous shot. Director of Photography Emmanuel Lubezki surely has a finger, if not his whole hand, clasped around the cinematography Oscar for what he and the editors have achieved here – splicing scenes shot with cameras that move almost as much as the actors, but managing to make it look seamless. It has profound consequences for the audience; it feels somehow interactive, as if you are following the characters round the

Flickr/screen relish

Good old fashioned fun, eh? Speedos are compulsory.

Flickr/canburak

sprawling hallways and rooms of the theatre, and it means that the pace is unrelentingly rapid. In fact, when the camera paused at the head of a long, silent corridor some twothirds of the way into the film, I realised this was the first moment yet that I’d been given a chance to relax and reflect.

“

Birdman toys with the medium of cinema and has a lot of fun along the way With a score that sounds like it’s been snatched from the soundtrack of awardhunting competitor Whiplash, the creative team play around with another trick. It is never clear whether the exciting, impulsive drums that alone comprise all the original music are diegetic (heard, as it were, by the characters onscreen) or not because of the occasional appearance of a live drummer in shot. Just when you start to think they must be part of the soundtrack in the traditional sense, you are hilariously caught-out when said drummer is witnessed ‘ad-libbing’ in a storeroom backstage.

This barely scratches the surface of unusual techniques employed in the film, which, in itself, should be a reason for you to see it. Sometimes the motive behind their implementation is obvious, as with the singleshot effect, and at others it is wonderfully (and amusingly) unclear. To expose the differences in both the methods of film vs. theatre and the attitudes towards them, and to attempt to fuse the two together, Birdman toys with the medium of cinema and has a lot of fun along the way. This, I think, is innovation. It has most likely been said to you countless times already but it bears repeating: here is a film not quite like anything you’ve seen before.

Editors’ Picks

Our personal choices of what to watch over the next two weeks

flickr/ Ma_Co2013

Matthew Editor

Hannah Deputy Editor

Manvir Online Editor

Inherent Vice Friday 30 January 2015

Testament of Youth Friday 16 January 2015

Selma Friday 6 February 2015

It’s Californian auteur director Paul Thomas Anderson re-teaming with the enigmatically brilliant actor Joaquin Phoenix, following on from 2012’s scientology-y cult drama The Master – why wouldn’t you see it? The two cinematic powerhouses have reunited for this substance-laced 1970s crime comedy, undoubtedly worth a watch.

Love, literacy, war, oh and John Snow from Game of Thrones… I’m sold.

Testament of Youth is based upon the memoirs of Vera Brittain during the First World War, and definitely looks to be a tearjerker.

Martin Luther King’s historic struggle to secure the right to vote hits the big screen. Starring British actor David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King himself, this Oscar nominated film is a timely reminder of the face of political apathy and with a General Election upon us, that the right to vote is a precious commodity to be used by all.

Cucumber Thursday 9pm on Channel 4

This has got to be one of my favourite programmes ever. The dynamic of a law firm intertwined with American politics, and a strong but imperfect female lead that I can’t help but love. Season 4 definitely kept us on our toes, with some shocking twists so very excited to see what else this award winning show has up its sleeve.

Russel T. Davies is the TV hero responsible for regenerating Dr Who and bringing homosexuality into the cultural mainstream with his controversial and excellent Queer As Folk. This is his new show - watch it.

The Good Wife - Season 6 Thursdays 9pm Channel 4

Wolf Hall Thursdays BBC2 9pm This adaptation of Hillary Mantel’s award winning books Wolf Hall looks a real treat. Think Tudor style House of Cards, but instead of politics think religion. A must watch, not just for us historians.

Epigram

26.01.2014

44

actually, I can’t be bothered to type (and I’m sure you can’t be bothered to read) 30+ pop artists’ names – so you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you that out of all of those names the only ones which could be considered remotely ‘alternative’ are Paolo Nutini, Kasabian, Black Stone Cherry, The Who, NIN, Madness and Frank Turner. Most of these acts only played one of our two comparison venues, suggesting that the Bristol Arena would only host 3 or 4 musically interesting gigs per year.

“

George Ferguson will probably reveal that it was secretly a spaceship and use it to fly off to Mars

George Ferguson will probably reveal that it was secretly a spaceship and use it to fly off to Mars.

Even if (i.e. in a parallel universe) the Arena is full whenever bands play it, we’ve got to ask ourselves whether this is actually of any real benefit to Bristol. As in, instead of a night at the Bristol Arena, can’t Bristol residents attend an extra night at the O2 or Cardiff Motorpoint Arena? Ah, The Other Fergie (that should be on the Mayor’s number plate. Scrap that, tattooed on his forehead) has something to say about this – ‘local residents will no longer need to leave the city to see their favourite artists and shows’. So what? Who cares? I mean, really – the only real justification for this huge, huge project seems to be that Bristol residents can’t be arsed to get on a train.

But, to be fair, 51 minutes each way on the train is pretty far, even if most residents will only make that trip on rare occasions.

It’s far enough to be inconvenient, and I’m sure Fergie would agree with me here. But – 91 million pounds. You can’t tell me that that money would not be better spent on education, for example, or on stimulating the Bristol arts scene. Imagine how many poorly attended plays could be put on with that money. We could start a Festival For Pretentious Arts. But, in all seriousness, that money is better spent on something that has a real effect on people’s lives rather than removing an inconvenience. And I suspect Ferguson’s intentions, if he really examined them, are far less sane than that. The suspected diagnosis here is delusions of grandeur. The symptoms are a tendency to build arenas.

But am I really right in assuming that Bristolians have such a ‘good’ music taste? Of course, for every 10 Bristol Old Skool Jungle fan there will be at least 10 One Direction fans, no matter how much Bristol likes to think of itself as the UK’s cultural black sheep. But I’m genuinely convinced that Bristol is a place of music taste markedly different from that of your typical arena audience. I’m not alone in this – a guidebook to Bristol remarks that the city is full of ‘graduates, because Bristol is a place where one can feel rebellious without actually being so’, and your typical accountant who happens to be a closet Sex Pistols fan is unlikely to be an arena frequentee. Let’s face it – Bristol’s residents are more at home in sh*tty venues watching great bands rather than watching sh*tty bands in great venues.

And so there will likely be no demand for the arena, bookings will collapse and Ben Duncan-Duggal, First year, Law

flickr: PaulNUK

Bristol’s mayor George Ferguson does not look noble. In fact, he looks something like an Oxbridge academic who perhaps makes occasional appearances on BBC 4. This is important because one who does not look noble may be less inclined to erect huge North Korean-style gold statues of themselves, and instead may look towards shiny white elephants as a way of getting a good ego massage. Shiny, 91 million pound costing, 12,500 capacity white elephants such as the Bristol Arena – Ferguson’s place to ‘see your favourite artists and shows’ (assuming that Bristol resident’s ‘favourite’ artists are Miley Cyrus, 1D et al.).

Really, will there be enough demand for a venue of this size in Bristol? Probably not. And no matter how much the people of Bristol want an arena like this (and that’s a big assumption) no one wants to play empty arenas.

A major stumbling block for any suggestion that there will be enough demand is the fact that most of the cities of a similar size to Bristol which do have 10,000+ capacity arenas – Nottingham, Sheffield, Glasgow, Belfast and Newcastle - are isolated from any other arenas (the exceptions are Nottingham and Sheffield). This would not be true of Bristol – the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena is about 45 minutes on the train, London is an hour and a half away – and thus Bristol Arena would be joining a select group on the edges of viability.

Adding to this, there’s a very real concern that Bristol’s residents aren’t the sort of people who would want to see the sort of acts who can fill arenas, whereas Nottingham’s and Sheffield’s are. (There’s also a very real concern that I sound really snobby, but anyway). Let’s take a look at the list of acts who visited Sheffield or Nottingham as part of nationwide tours in 2014. It reads as – well,

flickr: Paul Townsend

Bristol’s Long Arena Saga Continues ... George Ferguson’s 91 Million Pound Shiny White Elephant for Bristol

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26.01.2015

45

Viet Cong Viet Cong Jagjaguwar January 20 2015

Post-punk, as ‘in’ now as it was 30 years ago, makes up the bulk of their sound. It is joined by the kind of art-punk made famous by Talking Heads, along with a sizeable weight of noise. The eternal coolness of which is one of this life’s few universal truths, as anyone who owns an amp with a dial marked ‘gain 3’ will testify.

What follows Viet Cong’s first distorted drum beat is as self-aware and energetic as you’d expect from a band who burst from the ashes of the legendary Women. It’s chaotic: throwing together enough influences to make it impossible to pin any of them down and pushing the boundaries of each while they’re at it. To take a stab at it, guitar drones meet jangle pop to a kick-drum which must be in need of constant replacement. Lead single ‘Continental Shelf’ schizophrenically cuts between a riff-lead, foot-stomping call to arms and noise-less epiphanies, which on my money represents the small moments of serenity dotted throughout the process of smashing up a guitar.

Elsewhere, the abstract, claustrophobic layers of ‘Pointless Existence’ slowly build up to ‘if we’re lucky we’ll get old and die’, ‘March of Progress’ sounds like The Dodos on a bad trip and the over 11 minute, sweat-soaked jam that is album-closer ‘Death’ sounds like it will send most of a live audience berserk. In fewer words, it’s fantastic.

Despite the fact Viet Cong could have been released before its members were born, it looks set to dominate the indie world of 2015. Or, if not quite that, at least give fans of guitar music something to talk about during the increasingly long pauses between good albums.

‘Guitar music is dead’. Or at least it should be. To be quite honest, no one really knows how the hell it is still going. The recent death of the UK’s oldest person highlights the fact the guitar-genre set, from Blues onwards, is almost as old as she was.

That means a lifetime of music for any bored kid on YouTube to discover: allowing them to grow up to play watered-down versions of 90’s indie that was itself a throw-back to the late 60’s/early 70’s, and even most of that is probably reducible to a few bars on a Beatles B-side.

Alternatively, you could take the same route as Viet Cong and dip your hand into the genre bag, see what you get and hope the combination Jonny Hunter, Second year, Philosophy sounds like something no one has done before.

Uptown Special Mark Ronson Columbia January 19 2015 I am sure that Mark Ronson is a very talented producer and DJ and very well respected within the industry for his talents. However, it does baffle me how he has become so famous when there are many other talented producers knocking about.

I view him as glorified and over-lauded – fair play to him, he’s clearly very good at networking and self-publicity, but the work he’s done has hardly reinvented the wheel. I cannot fathom how he now has the audacity to release songs that are titled Mark Ronson featuring... It seems a bit egotistical to me and I can’t recall many other producers, or song-writers even claiming credit for the performance aspect of their songs which they do not directly contribute to. Ronson himself

has commented that probably his most famous output, ‘Valerie’, only featuring Amy Winehouse of course, achieved the fame it did because of Winehouse’s talent. Yet Wikipedia, the trusty source it is, informs us that he won a Brit award and a Grammy for this song.

Record labels will tell us that his music sells extremely well and he constantly produces hits. This does not mean his output is original, exciting or genius. He is a musical crow, collecting samples of songs he likes and splicing them together, no fewer than 9 in the hit single ‘Uptown Funk’ featuring Bruno Mars, which is currently occupying the Number One spot in both the UK and USA. There is also no doubt that Ronson slaves over what he does and is something of a perfectionist. He is said to have fainted during the production process under stress having failed to meet the deadline for finalising the guitar part of ‘Uptown Funk’.

Ronson is clearly a fan of 80s Soul and Funk as he mimics the ‘Old Skool’ greatly in his songs.

His guitar parts are Nile Rodgers-influenced and horn section breaks reminiscent of James Brown. Therefore, because he is using a tried and tested formula that works, it is a successful and entertaining album. However, it is also worth noting that Michael Chabon wrote most of the lyrics for the tracks, thus highlighting that Ronson is a small cog in the musical machine that contributes to creating a track.

So overall, Ronson can indeed produce a hit, and he is good at what he does, even if his chosen field of expertise is unoriginal and a little depressing. He has given us a fun album yet he remains a jack of all trades, master of none.

Guy Barlow, Second year, Music

What does the future hold for underground dance music?

“

irony of displaying little interest in solving the belligerent drinking culture that has permeated the last few generations in the UK.

Bristol is blessed by its possession of one of the most vivacious underground music scenes in the UK A crucial observation to make is that the country does not lack talent – indeed, a new producer seems to crop up almost every day, possessing the potential that may have once led to their national success. Given the less frequent opportunities for upcoming homegrown musicians to display their work due to the probably unintentional anti-culture attitude of these property developers, they are being forced abroad to make a name for themselves with notable instances in Objekt and Happa.

Bristol is blessed by its possession of one of the most vivacious underground music scenes in the UK – the title for which only Manchester and Leeds are realistically able to challenge.

Between them, the three cities just about manage to sustain a culture that our capital was once able to match, but how long will it be until the Motions, WHPs and Canal Mills are eradicated in favour of ambitious housing plans, simultaneously dismantling a dance culture that many of us hold so dear?

Edward Fernyhough, First year, Ancient History

flickr: Dimi

The UK has always been able to boast of its magnificent culture of music, whether in the popular mainstream with world-renowned artists no longer worth mentioning in articles such as these, to the once pulsating underground dance music scene - its earliest roots lying in the 1980s in Manchester and later London with the emergence of Acid House music. Many of our peers may often excitedly inform us that the culture has never been stronger, with labels such as Hessle Audio, Swamp81 and Black Butter Records spearheading the national ‘bass revolution’.

However, in light of the more recent crackdowns that the government has taken against clubs in London, such as the closure of Plastic People and further licensing restrictions to tackle Fabric’s really damaging social effects – a club revered across Europe - it is needless to say that the capital’s underground music culture appears to be waning. Given the obvious illegality of once abundant free parties across the UK, combined with overbearing legislation and the damaging effects they wreak on a once prolific part of British culture, not to mention the frequent closures of leading clubs, what does the future hold for the scene?

Many of the once public spaces used for clubs in London seem to be the target of tyrannical property tycoons – like a disease, they sweep across the capital, ensuring to remove any residual remnants of culture firmly from our megalopolis in favour of a hefty pay packet - no doubt spent on Starbucks’ most extravagant lattes and decorating their walls with expensive kitsch. The government does little to prevent this, preferring instead to naively focus on tackling a drug problem with completely the wrong attitude, with the additional

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Bristol leading research into 5/2 diet

Research has found that

you will eat more than usual at your next meal,

but not by enough to replace the lost calories

that missing two meals will do no physiological damage to a healthy adult. The idea of having three meals a day is deeply ingrained into our culture, however this concept is entirely a social construct. Humans evolved in a climate where food is not a regularity and we have compensated with our ability to store excess calories from one meal to make up the lack of another.

The diet works physically because the body will not compensate fully for the calories missed in the meals you don’t eat. Research has found that you will eat more than usual at your next meal, but not by enough to replace the lost calories. This incurs a net deficit, causing weight loss.

What about the negative effects of fasting? The BBC’s Dr Michael Mosley has debunked some of the most common myths - low blood sugar: ‘people think that after several hours without food they will feel faint because their blood sugar has fallen, but this is a myth. Unless you are a diabetic, your body is extremely good at preserving your blood sugar levels and will do so for many days without food.’

Starvation mode: ‘this is another common myth. The initial response of your body to a reduction in calories is to increase your metabolic rate. In our huntergatherer past, survival in times of food shortage would have depended on our becoming more active, going out to hunt and look for food. Only under conditions of extreme calorie deprivation, when we have been for weeks without

Flickr/Sonof Groucho

Anyone who has dieted before will understand that the process is as much a mental challenge as it is physical one. We spoke to Professor Peter Rodgers, of Bristol’s Department of Experimental Psychology, who is currently researching the highly popular and successful ‘5/2 Diet’, trying to find out just what it is about this diet that makes it so effective.

The premise of 5/2 is: - eat freely for 5 days of the week - ‘fast’ on 2 days of the week (500 calories for women, 600 for men) Surely not... A diet that allows us to eat whatever we want for 5 days of the week? It’s a food lover’s dream. As it turns out, it’s exactly this incentive which gives 5/2 the edge. Research has shown that one reason it is so sustainable is because it incurs short periods of restriction rather than the extended periods of restriction involved in normal dieting - which is far more preferable psychologically.

Keeping a ‘tomorrow I can eat what I want’ mentality increases a person’s motivation to restrain.

It’s suspiciously simple, but this simplicity is another reason for its success. Sustaining a complex diet, which involves obsessing over food types, ingredients or calories, can be taxing and time consuming.

It’s also very likely to increase the number of thoughts you have about food.

Whereas, the 5/2 involves

no checking of labels and no preparatory effort: you simply don’t eat for short periods of time.

It is actually less effort than your normal life, as it cuts out 4 meals per week. This saves time and reduces involvement with food, making it perfect for people who struggle with temptation. The flexibility and lack of rules in the 5/2 additionally reduce the chance of a ‘catastrophic breakdown’ or an extreme relapse and the guilt which often ensues. The phrase ‘I’ve ruined my diet!’ ceases to exist when one can just compensate by fasting the next day instead.

The study retrospectively asks its participants what their experience of the 5/2 was, compared to their preconceived opinion on how difficult it would be. The general preconception was ‘if I miss a meal I’ll get hungry’ - ‘hungry’ always perceived as ‘bad’.

Professor Rodgers believes that this response demonstrates that the anxiety we feel when dieting is completely defined by the way we conceptualise eating: we see it as pleasurable, rewarding and feel that it would in some way harm us not to eat. But, the reality is

“

Sofia Gymer Science Writer

different to crash diets. Bristol has not carried out research on the physiological effects, but research at other universities indicates that intermittent fasting increases metabolic responses.

There is evidence that it increases insulin receptivity, and of course decreases the chance of obesity, both of which consequently reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Studies of intermittent fasting in animals have shown that it reduces risk of dementia. Human studies have just started.

If you’d like to take part in upcoming nutritional research, please contact Professor Peter Rodgers at peter.rodgers@ my.bristol.ac.uk.

enough food and our body fat has fallen dramatically does the body go into ‘starvation mode’.

Intermittent fasting is not the same as crash dieting. Starvation mode does not happen if you cut your calories for a day!’ Lack of concentration: ‘Some people report headaches or constipation. This is often the result of not drinking enough water during the day. There is evidence that the side effects you experience are the ones you expect, so it is best to approach intermittent fasting with the expectation that it will be fine.’ 5/2 veterans have informed the researchers that it becomes a ‘way of life’ and can be a long term solution: it is this sustainability which makes it so

Say goodbye to Google Glass Ver 2.0 Ryan Khan Science Writer In case any of you missed the very quiet announcement, last Monday was the final day that you could become a ‘Google Glass Explorer’. Google stated that they felt the explorer programme, which charged £1000 per Glass and was received with mixed reviews, had gathered enough information on how people, both glass-owners and the general public, responded to their product. They hope to incorporate all this field-testing into the next generation of Google Glass.

The groundbreaking technology raised some troubling questions, mostly concerning the Explorers walking around with a camera on their faces. Restaurants turned away people wearing the glass

a long shot, an

experiment, but a reality that is ready to be

rolled out as a product

the Google Glass as all but certain.

I don’t think this is the case. What most of these commentators have missed, or ignored, is the fact that Google is moving Glass from Google X to its own department run by Tony Fadell.

This is a clear statement that the Glass is no longer a long shot, an experiment, but a reality that is ready to be rolled out as a product worldwide. Fadell is a superstar in the technology world having

worked on the original iPod and iPhone, as well as starting his own company Nest (which incorporates smart-tech into home), purchased

by Google for $3.3 billion.

His appointment shows that Google is confident that, in the right hands, Glass can become the next iPhone. That is to say, initially revolutionary before becoming generally accepted. The end of the Explorer programme marks the end of one version of the Google

Flickr/Peter Thoeny

“ Glass is no longer

and newspapers jumped on the bandwagon, with one exclaiming that the Google Glass signaled ‘the end of privacy’. Explorers, with their $1500 toy, were portrayed as smug ‘glassholes’ in the United States. The reaction of some Explorers only escalated the problem. None of this will concern Google. Google Glass is the first of its kind and with every advance in consumer technology comes a public discussion on what this means for society. What was once science fiction became a sudden reality and people freaked out. This was probably expected.

It would take time for people to adjust. What should worry Google are the overall ambivalent reviews for their product. I was never able to become an Explorer. The price tag was a bit too much for me. I have tried the Glass and my curiosity has led me to read almost every review widely available on the Internet.

Generally, there seems to be a consensus among the reviewers – the Google Glass is good but it isn’t good enough to warrant its cost and the silliness of wearing it on your face all day. The lack of apps, the strange minimal, design of the frames and the forty-five minute battery life were all commonly cited problems. Many, in recent days, have declared the demise of

Glass, the £1000 gadget owned only by strange technology nuts and news correspondents, and the beginning of a new version that everyone can find a use for.

Their advertising has changed a lot since the Glass’s initial announcement, with several base jumpers filming their fall to Earth, to cyclists using the Glass to track and improve their fitness regimes.

The upcoming version will allow you to fit the Glass frame onto prescription lenses. Provided the frames come from them at around £230 a pair. From what can be gathered from rather vague press announcements, the new version will be far more diverse than its predecessor. Google has teamed up with third-party designers, licencing the glass frame on top of their unique designs. Version 3 will come with a revamped appstore with apps for ‘everyone to use and for almost every task.’

Only time will tell how well these improvements are actually received. But, you rarely make billions of dollars by selling a product that appeals only to a small number of people. For the next version of Glass, it seems that Google is shooting for the mundane.

LUNCHTIME SPECIAL

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£4.99 Collection until 4pm

119 Whiteladies Road, Clifton BS8 2PL

(0117) 97 33 400

Opening Hours: 10am – 5am 7 days a week, Collection Sun – Thurs 1am, Fri & Sat 2am

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(0117) 927 77 99

Opening Hours: 10am – 5am 7 days a week.

Classic and thin crusts as priced, premium bases and crusts will be charged as extra. Not valid with any other offer. Please mention offer when ordering.

Epigram

26.01.2015

51

Netball aiming for Success on the cards more of the same in in the new year for action-packed 2015 ladies’ tennis Dulcie Jones UBNC

Lowri James UBLTC

With the new term approaching, Epigram Sport caught up with Bristol’s netball club at the halfway point of their season. The girls enjoyed a thrilling autumn term on Tyndall Avenue and across the south-west, with second year Dulcie Jones giving us the details: First Team: So far this season, the firsts have enjoyed a set of fantastic results. They have really stepped up their game against some tough opposition, often clinching victories in the dying seconds of the match.

Notable wins have come against Gloucester, Bath, Cardiff Met and, in a real grudge match, the Bristol seconds! The Southampton game was a particularly exciting encounter which finished dramatically with the only loss of the season so far but hopes of promotion are very much alive as return leg takes place in Bristol on February 11.

It has been a topsy-turvy season for Ladies’ Tennis so far. With the second half of term just around the corner, Epigram Sport gets all the inside news from the club…

Second Team: Elsewhere in the club the seconds have faced a lot of strong competition, including our own friends in the 1st team, and have not produced the outcome desired. Despite this, they remain positive that 2015 will be the year they become undefeated!

Third Team: The thirds, captained by Bex Markham, have also found themselves yielding to their opposition more often than not but are almost neck-and-neck with Cardiff, so there remains plenty of opportunity to turn their league position around.

First Team: After the autumn term the firsts are fifth in the Premiership Division, only just behind Bath seconds in fourth spot.

It all started positively with an impressive 12-0 away victory to Cambridge, but came crashing down after three defeats in a row to Exeter firsts, and both Bath’s first and second teams.

Another encouraging victory against Cambridge was a cause for celebration, even if it was followed up with a hard-fought loss against Cardiff Met. By the end of the term the team had regained its flair and determination with strong and impressive draws against Bath seconds and Cardiff Met. Many of the teams are very close in the table, fighting for the third spot. The start of 2015 brings away games against the strong Exeter and Bath first teams, with more success naturally the hope!

Fourth Team: The fourths have had a fantastic season so far, placing themselves second in their league, only three points from the leaders, and with it all to play for in the second half of term.

Fifth Team: The fifths, led by Becky Morton, have also been having a stormer of a season, top of the league at the halfway point and with Exeter sixths desperately trying to knock them off their spot with little luck!

Second Team: The newly-promoted second team were unbeaten in two years, but that record ended in the first game against recently-relegated Bournemouth.

The team bounced back, however, with a victory against varsity opponents UWE and a home win against Southampton.

Unfortunately the momentum couldn’t be maintained with three devastatingly close 8-4 losses to Cardiff, Exeter seconds and Bournemouth.

However, finishing with a win away to Cardiff sees them sit third in the league behind Exeter and Bournemouth.

In the new year, the seconds are looking forward to matches against Exeter, UWE and Southampton.