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‘I am still dealing with the effects of unnecessary painkillers’

No deal would be hard, but we’re prepared

Navigating second year while high on prescription painkillers

Exclusive interview with VC Prof. Hugh Brady on Brexit and Universities News page 8

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The University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

Fortnightly 4th February 2019 Issue 334 Celebrating 30 years

Uni condemns The Noise Pages for privacy breaches

Illustration: Cameron Scheijde

Tom Taylor

Deputy Features Editor

Exclusive • Uni spokesperson: the page ‘does little to encourage community cohesion’ • Concerns were raised around publication of house numbers • Noise Pages founder: “The University would naturally avoid any public discussion that shines a spotlight on their own failure”

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ristol University has condemned ‘The Noises Pages’, a website set up to report loud house parties. A spokesperson for the University said ‘The University voiced concerns to the owner of The Noise Pages website from the outset, particularly around the impact on students’ safety by publishing house numbers’. The spokesperson has told Epigram that ‘We feel this approach does little to encourage community cohesion and we would prefer if concerns or complaints could be raised with us directly’. Reports from The Noise Pages website now no longer include house numbers and previously stated house numbers have been redacted. Whilst this move has been welcomed ‘as a positive step towards respecting students’

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safety and privacy’, Bristol University ‘would much rather issues were raised with us directly rather than any detail about student properties or accommodation published online.’ This statement follows Epigram’s report in October last year that the number of noise complaints about students in private housing has risen by 52%. The Noise Pages is a website founded by exjournalist and Redland resident, Andrew Waller. Waller creates detailed noise reports, which usually concern student house parties or loud drunken behaviour on the street in residential areas, and posts them on the site in order to raise awareness about residential noise pollution. Waller has responded to the University with the following statement: ‘First, no students are named on my website – as I’m pretty sure

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the university knows. Second, any “shaming” is self-inflicted: if you hold a loud party and keep the street awake, you’ve advertised yourself to the world and it’s a it’s a bit rich to then suggest that the community shouldn’t discuss your activities. Third, by far the main risk to community cohesion is those students who indulge in anti-social behaviour. Fourth, I and other residents have been raising our concerns directly with the University for years – with little meaningful result. The university, naturally, would prefer to avoid any public discussion which shines a spotlight on its own failure to get these problems under control. And lastly, I’m always unimpressed by “spokesmen” who hide behind anonymity’.

Continued on page 5...

Special Report on page 9

Editorial Hello! Welcome back! Happy new year! How was your Christmas? How was your new year? How did your exams go? Are you ready for this term? Great, that’s got all of the back to term small talk out of the way - I’m sure I have missed out some though. This term for everyone I’m sure is going to be a busy one. If you are in first year, this term you are hopefully going to feel more settled and confident to go out and explore this great city. If you are in second year, you will be settled in to your new home, you have hopefully established the group of friends that you will stick by and who will stick by you, and you will be feeling the pressure of the first year that counts towards your degree while still being able to have fun in your free time. If you are in third year, like me, welcome to what may well feel like Hell. With dissertations and finals looming, I’m sure that you, like me, are feeling the pressure of wanting to make this term really count towards your degree, while simultaneously being aware that this is our last term in this city and wanting therefore to make the most of it. What I want to stress in this editorial is that whatever year we are in, we need to pace ourselves during this term, look after ourselves but also use it wisely. I, rather hypocritically, have already failed this - I am here in Epigram’s media suite with a raging temperature having got a coach back to Bristol last night, despite knowing I was ill, just because I felt obliged to help finish the paper. Once I have finished this, I am being sent home - perhaps I should have listened to my body and stayed at my non-Bristol home instead of taking a five hour journey back. In some shape or form, I think we are all guilty of this - putting our work commitments before our own health. At university, there is always something more we could or should be doing, be it academically or socially. There might be another club night that we urgently want to go to, or have already got a ticket for so feel we cannot miss, or there might be another piece of extra reading we could be doing for our seminar, or another hour or two could be spent on our assignments. With so many coulds and shoulds, it is all too easy to forget to put yourself and your own health, both physical and mental, first. If you are feeling exhausted, take a break. If you are feeling mentally drained, take a break. If you are feeling that you just cannot focus for that much longer, take a break. This is advice I am writing for myself as much as for you, for I am the king of all nighters and a shoddy sleep schedule that I desparately need to fix for my own wellbeing. In my first editorial last term, I mentioned how I enjoy going out to a DnB night and having a skank to get rid of all the tension and stress in my body. This term I have realised that, yes, that is a good way for me, but sometimes if I am stressed I need to just do nothing. It is hard, for me and I imagine for most university students, for our brains to switch off. As I said, it always feels like there is something we could and should do. But this term I am challenging myself to listen more closely to my own body and mental health, and I am determined that when I need a break, I will take it. I will not be made to feel guilty by the endless amount of dissertation reading there is to do, nor will I be made to feel guilty if I am unable to complete the reading for every seminar when we are only going to discuss that reading for one or two hours annd never return to it. This term, for us all, should be about looking out for ourselves and for our friends. If we do not properly look after our own wellbeing, we can easily slip into a pattern of unproductiveness that makes us feel even worse. Taking good study breaks and knowing your work limits is crucially important and as much a part of the Uni experience as cramming last minute reading in the library. One of the main problems we all encounter, especially in third year, is that there is no end in sight to the amount of work we could be doing. Spending fifteen hours a day in the library is seemingly going to bring you no closer to the 10,000 word goal as spending three, and the seminar readings and essays just keep plodding along at the same pace. It had taught us resilience, by the time we get to third year a 1500 word essay can be done in your sleep, but it also has indoctrinated us into some incredibly unhealthy work patterns. Thus, going into this term, let health be the priority, and DnB a welcome distraction.

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

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

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

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Uni study links private rented accomodation with increased stress • The study shows that private renters experience higher stress levels than home owners • University of Bristol halls are among the most expensive outside of London • Student renters can pay up to £8000 for their room per year

Laura Reid

Uni Management Correspondent

“A lack of affordable, good quality housing in many parts of the UK is recognised as a serious problem. However, implications for health are rarely considered.”

Laura Reid

Uni Management Correspondent

new report shows that University of Bristol students are some of the most targeted by the top 100 employers. Bristol has risen two places to take the second spot in the 2019 Graduate Market report. The 10 universities targeted by the largest number of top graduate employers in 2018/2019 are: Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Warwick, University College London, Cambridge, Nottingham, Durham, Leeds and Oxford. The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list features companies including PwC, Goldman Sachs, GSK, HSBC, Rolls-Royce,

“Bristol attracts some of the best students and produces some of the most employable graduates” Stuart Johnson Director of the Careers Service

of accommodation bursaries available, with £200,000 available for the 2018/19 year, in addition to the range of financial packages available to support students from lowincome households. ‘There are also 400 rooms which are capped at a lower level ‘value’ rent. We ask students about the size of their budget when they apply for accommodation, and last year 95 per cent of people were offered places within these budget limits.’ Whilst the study focused on those over 21, the link between cost and quality of housing and increased stress fuels the conversation

Dr Amanda Hughes Senior Research Associate, Bristol Medical School

Bristol 2nd most targeted university by employers • Bristol reaches its highest ranking as the second most targeted university by the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers • This is a rise of two spaces since the rankings last year

rent, but the very next day, there’s still more to pay.’ The video critiques how ‘rent prices have doubled in the past ten years’ and highlights the ‘huge waiting lists for counselling’. The student-coalition group have also published an open letter to Professor Brady demanding ‘urgent reform’. It is open for all members of the university community to sign. Simon Bray, Director of Residential and Hospitality Services at the University of Bristol, has said: ‘To help with this (financial management), we have increased the number

India Harrison Pepe University of Bristol

recent study led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Essex has indicated a link between people living in the private rental sector and higher blood levels of a protein associated with stress. The study assessed C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, a chemical in the body related to stress and inflammation, to measure the effects of housing on health. Blood samples were taken from 9,593 adults and their CRP levels were then measured. Around one in five, or just over 22 per cent, of participants had a CRP level above 3 mg/l. This raised level has been associated with cardiovascular disease. Moreover, the study revealed that renters

in the private sector had significantly higher levels of the stress hormone than home owners with a mortgage. Dr Amanda Hughes, Senior Research Associate in Epidemiology, Bristol Medical School (PHS) said: ‘A lack of affordable, good quality housing in many parts of the UK is recognised as a serious problem. However, implications for health are rarely considered. These results underscore the links between the two, and the need for health to be a consideration in housing policy.’ Bristol halls of residence have been ranked as some of the most expensive outside of London. Several halls can cost students between £7000 and £8000 a year, for example a standard catered room in Badock costs £7497 per annum. Even the cheaper halls often cost above the basic maintenance loan of £4,054, meaning that students can be left funding accommodation themselves and with little money to live on at University. Bristol Cut the Rent also recently released a new music video in a critique of rent prices for university-owned accomodation. The video, which is a rendition of Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’, includes an adaption of the chorus: ‘last Christmas I gave you my

the BBC, Amazon and the NHS. Stuart Johnson, Director of the Careers Service, said: ‘We’re thrilled to be ranked second in this latest report - the University’s highest ranking to-date. Bristol attracts some of the best students and produces some of the most employable graduates’. The report, conducted by High Fliers Research, found that the number of paid work experience places available at the UK’s leading graduate employers is expected to increase by 1.8% in 2019. As well as this, the UK’s top employers are increasing their graduate vacancies by 9.1% in 2019, the highest annual rise in graduate recruitment since 2012. The median starting salary for new graduates joining the UK’s leading graduate employers in 2019 is £30,000. The report also found that at least a sixth of places on the top graduate programmes now provide starting salaries of more than £40,000. However, The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019 lists Cambridge and Oxford as the best universities in the UK and sees Bristol ranked in 19th place.

Uni doubles scholarship for international students to £1million • International students often have to pay double the amount UK and EU students pay

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

he University has doubled its investment into a scheme offering scholarships for international students. Think Big, a scheme introduced last year to attract outstanding international students, offers access to funding for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It now also will offer funding for international foundation programs, and has been doubled to £1million. Marah Alassaf was awarded a Think Big scholarship to study a Masters in Advanced Microelectronics Systems Engineering; ‘Having a scholarship in such a prestigious university is a dream for so many students

– it was my dream, and it came true. It will help me in the future if I want to apply for a PhD or a job. ‘The city is very interesting. I feel it’s like home – I came from Syria to Bristol, and I’m very satisfied, happy and settled. Meeting students from around the world is a very beautiful experience.’ International students often have to pay double the amount UK and EU students pay, and they do not get a loan. Any prospective student who has applied to Bristol can apply for the scheme.

epigram 04.02.2019

4 News

Bristol named the world’s top city for veganism • Bristol has the most plant-based food related Google searches • Around 3.5 million people in the UK are believed to be vegan

Zoe Crowther SU Correspondent

Bristol is “the new European and worldwide vegan capital” Spokesperson, Chef’s Pencil

Filming at Wills Memorial Building confirmed to be for new BBC drama Vic Dyer

Student Correspondent

ilming at the University’s Wills Memorial Building for a new BBC drama, The Trial of Christine Keeler, commenced the week of the 7 January. For the most part, the drama is being filmed at Bristol’s Bottleyard Studios but it has been confirmed that filming will also take place at the University’s Wills Memorial Building.

Written by Bafta award-winning novelist and screenwriter, Amanda Coe, the drama is set to take a fresh look at the Profumo Affair of the 1960s, promising an all-star cast. Christine Keeler, the woman at the centre of the storm, is played by Sophie Cookson. Other notable cast members include James Norton, Ellie Bamber and Ben Miles. Corridors inside the Wills Memorial Building were made up to look like the Houses of Parliament, whilst the outside garden area became populated with set lighting. The Great Hall was transformed into the House of Commons, complete with despatch boxes and green benches, with the common room being used as members’ offices. Some students raised concerns to the affects of filming during the middle of exams. However, the library remained open and the Hall reopened in time to serve as an exam venue.

ristol came out as number one in a Google trends analysis which showed the volume of searches relating to veganism. The Chef’s Pencil study found that Bristol had the most plant-based food related searches, closely followed by Portland and Edinburgh. Australia was found to the world’s top country for veganism, with the United Kingdom and New Zealand the second and third most vegan-friendly nations. Despite the reputations of capital cities such as London and Berlin as vegan top spots, Bristol has surpassed them by becoming, according to a spokesperson for Chef’s Pencil, the new European and worldwide vegan capital. The wide range of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Bristol has contributed to it securing its position as the most vegan-friendly, as well as the popularity of veganism among the student population. Popular student destinations include

Beets and Roots, Café Kino and VX. Bristol is also renowned for its availability of non-edible vegan products, including clothing and shoes. Laura, a third year Bristol student, said ‘Bristol is the best city to be a vegan. It’s so easy to find amazing food options everywhere you go. I’m never hungry!’ Roughly 3.5 million people in the UK are believed to be vegan, about seven per cent of the entire population. With Veganuary just been, veganism has been increasing in popularity across the world. The most popular reasons for adopting a vegan diet are animal ethics, environmental concerns and personal health. Organisations such as the Vegan Society are currently pushing for veganism to become mainstream. Petitions include demands for vegan options on every public sector menu. Recent publicity campaigns such as the Greggs vegan sausage roll have caused a social media storm over the benefits and controversies of making the shift towards a diet free from animal products. With a highly visible presence on university campuses and in all major UK cities, the popularity of the vegan movement shows no signs of letting up in 2019.

Council threatened over air quality • Bristol City Council were provided with over half a million pounds to carry out reforms but have failed to do so

Imogen Horton News Editor

ristol City Council has failed to produce a Clean Air plan by a deadline of December 2018, despite being provided with over half a million pounds to carry out reforms. The Government has threatened legal action against the Bristol Mayor, Marvin Rees, over inaction on poor air quality. In Summer 2017 a feasibility study was set up to explore various options for a Clean Air Zone in the city, however no plans have been carried out since then. The environment minister, Therese Coffey, has written to the Mayor stating she is ‘absolutely astonished at [the Mayor’s] delay in improving air quality for the people of Bristol as quickly as possible’. Cllr Jerome Thomas, deputy leader of the Bristol Green councillors said that despite passing the Council motion to take action on air pollution back in 2016, over two years later ‘the Labour administration is scarcely any closer to dealing with our city’s toxic air. ‘The question needs to be asked, is the Mayor letting politics get in the way of cleaning up our poisonous air? Children in

“Children in our city currently inhale the equivalent of two cigarettes a day in toxic air” Jerome Thomas, Bristol Green Councillor

our city currently inhale the equivalent of two cigarettes a day in toxic air.’ While Bristol Green candidate for Mayor, Sandy Hore-Ruthven, said: ‘If Bristol City Council fails in its legal duty to comply, this is a serious failure to the people of Bristol and its environment. ‘It is frankly outrageous to continue neglecting the health and lives of Bristolians – particularly those in the most deprived areas of the city’. A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to tackling air quality in Bristol. We are currently carrying out technical modelling work to explore fully all possible options. We’ve been clear with JAQU (the government’s Joint Air Quality Unit) that we will take the proposals forward and we are working to ensure that the potential solutions have the highest possible chance of success. “We are therefore looking at the bigger picture including measures to cut congestion and improve public transport, infrastructure and traffic management. “Bristol is an inclusive city and we are determined that any proposed solutions do not have a negative impact on people on low incomes. Each authority has different challenges and priorities and we are working to identify a solution specific to Bristol. We already have a number of initiatives and sustainable transport plans being developed so we need to make sure one policy doesn’t affect the whole framework. We look forward to working with government to achieve our shared goals.”

04.02.2019 epigram

News 5

University drops initials in new email addresses due to concerns raised by transgender students • Trans staff and students have highlighted that IT log-ins for transitioning employees or students remain linked to their deadname • The new IT log-ins will use randomly generated letters

Lucy Downer

Deputy News Editor

he changes aim to address the issue of old log-ins reflecting transgender students’ and staff’s former identities. You may have noticed that new students

to Bristol University no longer have email addresses which start with their initials. It has been revealed that this is due to concerns raised over the problems this could cause transgender students and staff who have changed their names. A spokesperson for the University explained: ‘An issue that has been raised periodically with the University’s Equality and Diversity Team is around how the IT login, assigned to each new employee or student when they join the University, and which starts with their initials, has unintended consequences for some. ‘Concerns have been expressed by trans staff and students who may have transitioned to their preferred gender during their time here as their IT log-in remains linked to their former identity. ‘Other issues have surfaced when staff or

“It’s a small change but a welcome one” Grey Fraser Vice-President, Bristol’s LGBT+ Society

students have divorced but are still required to log-in using the initials of their married name. ‘Although not significant in numbers, we are aware that this has had an adverse impact on some staff and students. ‘Consequently, IT log-ins for new starters are now created using randomly generated letters.’ This change comes after the University’s recent moves to become more conscious and inclusive of the rights of transgender people, with the installation of gender-neutral toilets in various university buildings, and the checking of students’ preferred pronoun. Some backlash to the move has been reported, with Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University branding the changes ‘an absurd over-reaction’. However, Bristol University have said

Fry Building after the fire: School of Mathematics set to open in July • The building has been undergoing a £33 million renovation • It is now set to open in the summer, rather than Spring, after the fire last year set works back months

Laura Reid

Uni Management Correspondent

year on from the major fire, Bristol University has released images of how the Fry Building will look after its renovations are completed.

The Fry Building is set to become home to a new School for Mathematics after undergoing a £33 million renovation. The project is being undertaken by Wilkinson Eyre, who have designed and refurbished buildings for the University of Exeter, University of Oxford and Queen Mary University in London. The work was due to be completed by Spring 2018, however the University now say the majority of the newly renovated building will open in July of this year. A Voronoi screen, designed off mathematical Voronoi diagrams, will be incorporated into the new atrium.

“The Fry Building will provide an outstanding home for mathematics.” Professor Noah Linden Academic Project Lead

that: ‘concerns have been expressed by trans staff and students who may have transitioned that their log-in remains linked to their former identity.’ Grey Fraser, Vice-President of Bristol’s LGBT+ Society, responded to the news stating: ‘The recent switch to emails that don’t have the users initials in them means that trans students or staff members who choose to change their name as part of their transition are not stuck having to use the initials of their deadname (the name given to them at birth). ‘It’s a small change, but a welcome one in making trans students/staff members feel safer and more comfortable whilst at the university.’ The hope is that these changes will make steps towards the inclusion of transgender rights in all aspects of university life.

Noise pages ‘do little to encourage community cohesion’ says Uni

The University has said: ‘The screen performs both aesthetic and conceptual functions as well as providing shading to the south-facing atrium’. There will be views of the city through the screen’s design. There will also be a 140-seat lecture theatre underneath a roof garden, as well as new seminar and tutorial rooms. Professor Noah Linden, academic project lead, said: ‘The Fry Building will provide an outstanding home for mathematics in the heart of the University’s precinct, and we are very excited about moving into it later this year - albeit later than anticipated.’

Tom Taylor

Deputy Features Editor Continued from front page he University has told Epigram that it ‘takes its commitment to the community very seriously and is exploring options to support communities experiencing noise disturbance.’ The spokesperson states that ‘the community liaison team continues to support students with the transition to community living and deliver campaigns and initiatives that positively integrate students with their local neighbourhoods.’ ‘We encourage students to get involved in local events’, the spokesperson continued, as ‘well-connected neighbourhoods can feel safer and happier.’

Bristol University Wilkinson Eyre

Wilkinson Eyre

epigram 04.02.2019

6 News

Bristol student elected to guide national claim for strike compensation • Five students elected to a University Compensation Representative Committee • Strike estimated to have affected millions of students across the country

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

Bristol student has been elected to fight for a national compensation claim against the lost teaching time during last year’s strikes.

Inigo Ackland, a Law student at Bristol, is one of five students elected to a University Compensation Representative Committee who will guide Assersson, the law firm that have organised the action. The committee will meet in the coming weeks to discuss funding for the claim, before legal action is then taken. Last year, students across the country had their studies disrupted by 14 days of strike action over a staff pensions dispute. The University and College’s Union (UCU), who organised the strike, estimated that the strike action affected millions of students, with

“There are strong grounds for compensation” Inigo Ackland

to succeed. Asserson estimates that students on average will receive £1,000 compensation on the basis that students should be compensated for the market value of the teaching lost, and the market value is by reference to international students, not UK tuition fees, which are capped by the Government, therefore artificially low. 6,303 students across the country have so far signed up to the compensation claim, with Bristol having the fifth highest number of signatories at 251. Nottingham University has the most with 453.

Moreover, it cautioned against potential funding decline. No-deal Brexit would ensure UK institutions ‘immediately become ineligible’ for EU financing, with a £90bn loss at stake per-annum. Student visas were another area flagged up by Universities UK. Following the government’s December White Paper on Brexit, Russell Group have warned of an ‘unrealistic and unsustainable’ administrative task placed on universities. With the paper proposing that our 130,000 EU students, must in the future hold visas and be sponsored by a University. Bristol has maintained an adamant proEU line. ‘Bristol is a European city’, the University declared. It openly supports the sentiments of Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, who said: ‘Bristol has always been an outward-looking city and we benefit enormously from our overseas relationships...Our reputation as one of Europe’s leading innovative, creative and sustainable cities makes Bristol a valuable asset for partners around the world.’ Others, however, have accused the University lobbies of fear mongering.

Educationalist Toby Young dismissed the letter as ‘the usual ultra-Remainer hysteria’. Whilst the government has assured that its immigration plans will keep British universities ‘open to the talent we need from Europe’. Speaking to Epigram, Bristol’s Vice Chancellor Professor Hugh Brady offered guarantees that the University of Bristol had prepared with Universities UK and the Russell Group for a No Deal Brexit. However, he repeated the warning that the guarantees and reassurances offered by the government to the higher education sector were at risk in the event of a nodeal Brexit. These reassurances included continued membership of Erasmus Plus, The European Research Community and the continued ability to attract students from European countries. When asked about the main thing that Universities were looking for out of the Brexit deal, he said “certainty”.

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575,000 teaching hours that were missed and not rescheduled. Inigo Ackland said: ‘Witnessing the sheer disruption these strikes had upon students at a critical time in the year strongly impressed the belief there are strong grounds for compensation. ‘Even a rudimentary understanding of contract law makes this apparent. My legal background, passion and dedication would make me highly suitable for this role.’ Earlier this year, Assersson received formal advice from one of the UK’s leading barristers, who suggested that it was likely

Bristol backs Universities UK’s warning: No deal Brexit ‘biggest-ever threat’ • University representatives have stated that a no-deal Brexit would harm research links • The Mayor of Bristol has also emphasised that ‘Bristol is a European city’

Louise Cripps

Investigations Editor

he University of Bristol has backed Universities UK’s warning that nodeal will compromise our higher education system. In a statement to Epigram, the University confirmed, ‘as a member of the Russell

Group and Universities UK, we support the sentiments of the letter sent to MPs last week’. In an open letter to parliament, the representatives of 150 higher education providers have cautioned that no-deal could lead to ‘an academic, cultural and scientific setback from which it would take decades to recover’. The letter warns against the detrimental effects of losing our place in European research networks. No-deal would comprise ‘vital research links…from cancer treatments to technologies combating climate change’. They warned that ‘the valuable exchange of students, staff and knowledge would be seriously damaged’.

“Bristol has always been an outwardlooking city and we benefit enormously from our overseas relationships.” Marvin Rees Mayor of Bristol

Read Epigram’s full interview with Professor Hugh Brady on page 8...

News

04.02.2019 epigram

University of Bristol staff to be balloted for potential strike action • The ballot is in a response to a UCEA pay offer • 70.000 UCU members shall be balloted • The ballot is running until 22 February

James Cleaver Online News Editor

he ballot comes amid a dispute about staff pay, the gender pay gap, excessive workloads and insecure contracts. 70,000 University and College Union (UCU) staff in higher education will be balloted on whether they support a marking boycott or potentially strike action in response to a pay offer from the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA). UCU argue that the proposal fails to improve on the two per cent increase offered at talks last May, pointing to a 21 per cent in higher education pay since 2009. The union is also seeking greater assurances

“(Universities have) left us in a situation where we have no alternative but to ballot our members.” Matt Waddup UCU Head of Policy

about closing the gender pay gap by 2020, reducing excessive workloads and reducing the number of insecure contracts. The offer made by UCEA in May 2018 was rejected by 82 per cent of respondents in June, but an initial disaggregated ballot on strike action following that failed to reach the 50 per cent turnout necessary to legitimise the ballot action. 72 per cent of staff respondents at the University of Bristol voted that they were prepared to take strike action, on a 46 per cent turnout. UCU Head of Policy, Matt Waddup, claimed that universities had ignored the concerns of staff and had ‘failed to engage with us in these negotiations which has undermined the credibility of national bargaining and left us in a situation where we have no alternative but to ballot our members.’ In February and March last year university staff across the country took part in strike action to protest against proposed changes to their pensions by Universities UK (UUK) through the Universities Superannuation Scheme by Universities UK. The ballot, which encompasses staff at 143 universities, closes on 22 February.

Survey ranks Bristol fifth most healthy university Imogen Horton News Editor

he University of Bristol has been ranked fifth in a new survey which assessed how 28 universties supported healthy lifestyles. The rankings were compiled by student accomodation website MyStudentHalls, which looked at the cost of a gym membership, number of yoga and meditation classes and societies for tee-total students at each university. Bristol scored 17 points out of a possible 26, and was described as having ‘a wide variety of health and wellbeing options - befitting of its standing as one of the country’s most popular universities’. Particularly commended was the efforts of Bristol SU through its Wellbeing Network, such as its ‘Mind Your Head’ campaign. Looking specifically at societies, the survey said: ‘Those looking to unwind and de-stress should look no further than the University’s Yoga Society, which the SU website describes as, ‘one of the most successful Yoga Societies in the country’.

With classes running twice a week, there’s ample opportunity to get involved. ‘Elsewhere, whether you love walking and adventuring with the Break-away Bristol society, or more traditional sports such as Rugby, Football and Cricket, Bristol is a happy home for all students - regardless of interests or preferences.’ The top scoring university was Nottingham, with 18 points. The universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge and Exeter also made the top 10.

Not much love in the inn: student charged with GBH after scuffle in Stokes Croft • A medical student was left with a fractured eye socket after a fight in Love Inn with fellow student Courtney Brown • The incident took place in February last year

Hannah Worthington Online Editor

“I’m glad it’s over now and I can get on with my life” Thomas Roberts

Instagram / @guido.frabotta

University of Bristol

Bristol third year electrical engineering student has been sentenced by Bristol Crown Court to a 12 month community order with rehabilitation and a £200 fine for committing Grievous Bodily Harm to another student in The Love Inn last February. Courtney Brown, the 21 year old engineer pleaded guilty to GBH after an argument broke between himself and Medical student Thomas Roberts. Brown was said to be ‘annoying’ one of Roberts’ friends, the Court heard. The pair became argumentative and Roberts accordingly ‘flicked’ Brown’s hat. The students separated, however Brown later reignited their feud in Love Inn’s smoking area, asking for £20 from Roberts for his lost hat. The clash saw Roberts take a blow to the head and a taxi to Bristol Infirmary. Doctors confirmed his eye socket was fractured.

In the hearing, Philip Shepherd QC gave Brown the community order and requested the fine as ‘compensation’ for Roberts. He stated: ‘You are a man of good character who has not offended before. ‘You are a man of great talent and promise and your application to your studies, a degree in electrical engineering, shows that you are capable of academic excellence of a high order. ‘This was a single punch and I accept that this was wholly out of character.’ Thomas Roberts, victim of the assault, said to Epigram after the hearing: ‘All I have to say is that I’m glad it’s over now and I can get on with my life’. Courtney Brown also offered his final words to Epigram: ‘I just want to say I’m thankful to the DA and judge for allowing me to move forward and finish what I started here in Bristol. ‘I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me throughout this nightmare. ‘I don’t believe it’s fair to say Love Inn was involved with any of this, considering we had both just arrived at the club. ‘And if it wasn’t for the severity of the injury, I would have liked to have said a lot more about his macho rival-like behaviour. ‘Nevertheless, I’m pleased with the rehab recommendation. A forwardthinking pragmatic approach of helping misunderstood youth with managing their emotions.’

8 News | Brexit Special

epigram 04.02.2019

Uni prepared for No Deal Brexit, says Brady

• Bristol is prepared for a No Deal Brexit due to its strong fundamentals as a university • The University seeks clarity above all else. and will continue lobbying government • Government has been listening to the Higher Education sector

Ed Southgate co-Editor in Chief

Cameron Scheijde co-Editor in Chief

Ed Southgate

co-Editor in Chief

aving launched the SU’s People’s Vote campaign by taking a coach full of students to London’s rally in March, ELA Officer Sally Patterson has been at the forefront of the student campaign against Brexit. But why is the SU campaigning so actively for a People’s Vote? Should a student union be so involved in politics, or should they take a neutral stance? Sally strongly believes that this is exactly what the SU must be doing, given they have a mandate from students at the SU’s Annual Members Meeting to challenge this new direction our country is headed. ‘An SU is a democratic structure’, she said. ‘The officer’s are voted in on their own campaigns and policies, but they are also voted in to uphold the mandate that is set

“There is no situation where the UK leaves with no deal and we end up in a better place than where we are now” Sally Patterson - ELA Officer,

The University had planned to pay for all its EU students to apply for settled status, before the government announced that they would no longer charge the £65 fee. In the email, Brady recognised the potential alienation felt by EU students and staff. ‘The UK may not feel like a welcoming place for EU students and colleagues now, but I very much hope our University provides the collegiate and supportive environment that you deserve’.

our democracy has found itself in. Those who are against this outcome or against Brexit in its entirety should not just sit back because that’s what ‘the people’, by a small majority, voted for in 2016, she said. ‘It’s defeatist. If you’re angry about Brexit, do something about it.’ Sally expressed an urgency with which our country must avoid a no deal Brexit, which ‘would be absolutely devastating for everyone involved. There is no situation where the UK leaves with no deal and we end up in a better place than where we are now. There is this misguided idea that no deal just means we’ll be in a position of power to negotiate whatever we want - I think people really overestimate the influence and power and prestige of the UK. ‘We weren’t promised no deal - yes, there wasn’t a tangible option but the connotations of no deal is definitely not what was promised in 2016.’ Regardless of what was promised in 2016, however, the referendum has left our country bitterly divided. Indeed, Patterson admits that she shares concerns that a second referendum risks further division to a nation in need of healing. But this should not be a reason against a second referendum; if, Sally said, we allowed this fear to control everything we do, ‘society would never progress. ‘There are always going to be a big group of people who don’t agree with what you want to do’. Criticising both sides of the Brexit debate, Sally urged that the way to manage the backlash is to have ‘real meaningful discussion with the other side’, something that she hasn’t seen any of in this debate. She urges campaigners to engage with

those who voted Brexit, or those who are against a People’s Vote, and to genuinely understand where they are coming from. ‘There are students here who voted leave and still want to leave’, she added. ‘We need to engage with them and I would encourage them to engage with the campaign because that is how we make meaningful change, by communicating with each other.’ The SU have so far organised numerous events campaigning for a second referendum, including setting up the Bristol SU People’s Vote Steering Group who meet up regularly. Before Christmas, they had regular stalls on campus where students wrote postcards and over 100 letters to MPs, and they had a Q&A with Thangam Debbonaire. Events like this, according to Sally, prove that the campaign is more than just a People’s Vote, but is about understanding the numerous different perspectives within this very complex political issue. ‘It is so important that students are engaging with out local MPs and local democratic structures’, she said, ‘but also Thangam is currently not in favour of a People’s Vote so things like this event completely undermine calls that we are just doing stuff around a People’s Vote or we’re not looking at Brexit in a wider picture. What we wanted to do was hear from our MP what was going on in parliament, what the situation was and what she thought would be best.’ Unsure what would happen if a second referendum lead to a 52/48 split for Remain, Sally expressed a hope that it would not be the case and is confident it would not be the case. If it was, she concludes that the People’s Vote campaign would have ‘failed’ in what it seeks to do.

Leaving the European Union is now more likely because of the defeats suffered by the Grieve and Cooper amendments in the House of Commons

Sally Patterson: ‘If you’re angry about Brexit, do something about it’ • SU Officer, Sally Patterson, urges students to get involved with the People’s Vote campaign • No Deal Brexit must be avoided at all costs, she says

on a second referendum when, at the time of writing, it is ‘not on the table’. ‘We must focus on those matters where we have control’, he said. ‘What we want is a good deal, and we will continue lobbying for certainty’. In an email recently sent out to all students, Professor Brady assured EU students that they are valued. ‘You are an important part of our community and we want you to stay with us at the University of Bristol’, he said.

India Harrison Pepe Epigram / Cameron Scheijde

he University is prepared for and ‘up for the fight’ in the case of a No Deal Brexit, Vice-Chancellor Hugh Brady has said. In an exclusive interview with Epigram, the Vice-Chancellor said that he is ‘optimistic without being deluded’ about the University’s post-Brexit future. While some universities would find it ‘difficult’, he said that a No Deal Brexit ‘wouldn’t be a disaster’ for Bristol given the strong fundamentals of the University and the city. The University has ‘weathered storms’ before, he said, citing the Second World War as an example in which Wills Memorial Building was hit by a German bomb. He further assured that the University is ‘always collaborative’ across borders, which will be maintained, which is helped by Bristol being a very ‘globalised city’.

Since the Brexit vote in 2016, EU students and academic staff are still applying to this university, while its researchers are also still winning European grants. It comes as two amendments, tabled by Dominic Grieve and Yvette Cooper, suffered narrow defeats in the House of Commons last Tuesday (29 January). Grieve’s amendment sought to give parliament a vote on various options to find a way forward that it could agree on, while Cooper attempted to delay Brexit and avoid a No Deal by extending Article 50. Leaving the European Union without a deal is now more likely because of their defeats. Professor Brady stressed, however, that no deal would be difficult and what the University seeks most of all is ‘certainty’, with a deal being the preferred option. While the government has provided several reassurances for the Higher Education sector, such as continued access to Erasmus and European Research, much of them are dependent on a deal. He is confident though that the government has listened to most of the sector’s demands, and that the quality of UK research is valued. He refused to say whether the University would have preferred Theresa May’s deal, which was defeated by an unprecedented 232 votes, to have passed, nor did he say whether the University would support a People’s Vote – something that the SU is campaigning hard for. He said: ‘We have to be apolitical’, and did not wish to focus the University’s attention

for them at AMM and at Student Council. We have an active policy which is about combating Brexit. I believe passionately that if this is something students tell us they care about, they want policy on and they want us to be active on then that is what we need to do.’ ‘This is not a radical decision. This comes directly from a mandate that we have been given from the students. If people don’t like policy we are acting on, I would encourage them to come to our democratic meetings and change them.’ S h e dismisses calls that a second vote would be undemocratic, arguing instead that ‘this is democracy. Democracy is people saying they want something, government going forward and seeing if they can make that happen, coming back and showing the people what that means.’ Given the recent defeat of Theresa May’s deal by 230 votes, Sally noted that the only option now seems to be no deal - something that she laments would be ‘devastating’ for the country. A People’s Vote, with options of Remain, No Deal, and possible a third option such as finding a new deal, is therefore the only way out of the ‘political gridlock’ that

Features

epigram

04.02.2019

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

Does The Noise Pages put student safety at risk?

The Noise Pages’ tactics are hardly popular, but what do the University and local community think?

Tom Taylor

Deputy Features Editor

Special Report

“Andrew Waller thinks ‘it’s about time the student community faced up to the fact that keeping people awake at night is unacceptable”

Credit: The Noise Pages.com

However, Waller still mentions information such as ‘windows were open’ and that ‘students left the house noisily at about 12:30am’. Does The Noise Pages actively advertise information which is useful to potential burglars? I put this question to Waller and his response was that ‘Any such reference on the website is to what was happening at the time of the incident. Reports don’t usually appear on the website until a day or two later. Any householder needs to take some obvious precautions when leaving a house empty… If you’re a student and you want to make it less obvious that yours is a student house, you might want to tidy up your rubbish and recycling bins, keep any night- time noise to a minimum – and ask the agents to remove their signboard’. Redland and Cotham Amenities Society does ‘not believe that the information on The Noise Pages puts student at risk’. Waller says that he ‘will collect the same information as before, but store house numbers in an offline database.’ He argues that ‘a key reason to record the numbers is that most of these student houses are HMOs, which come under a specific licensing regime. Residents have a legitimate interest in whether the landlords are fulfilling their legal duty to help prevent anti-social behaviour’.

is that someone has been watching certain houses and reporting extremely close details’. I raised the issue of students feeling uncomfortable about their houses being reported to Waller. He responded that ‘I’m sorry to hear someone felt uncomfortable, but forgive me if I’m more preoccupied with the discomfort felt by residents who’ve had to put up with unacceptable behaviour by students for far too long’. Waller continues to state that ‘at a time when there’s much talk about the mental health needs of students, I’d like to see some recognition from the student community of the impact antisocial behaviour has on their neighbours’. Student noise, clearly, is a contentious issue in areas such as Cotham, Clifton and Redland and one that needs addressing. The University claims to ‘take its commitment to the community very seriously and is exploring options to support communities experiencing noise disturbance, in collaboration with relevant authorities’. ‘The community liaison team’, a spokesperson told me, ‘continues to support students with the transition to community living and deliver campaigns that positively integrate students with their local neighbourhoods.’ Councillor Negus states that ‘from the beginning of my so far ten years as the

Some of the students I spoke to, on the other hand, believe that the information publicly available on The Noise Pages does put student safety at risk. Most of the issues they raised related to the publishing of student house numbers, a tactic Waller no longer uses. One student argues that ‘having your address publicly posed on the internet and outed as a student house makes it a much more attractive target for burglars who then know what there are likely to be x number of laptops, phones, cameras etc’. Others raised the issue that by publishing street names, which Waller still does, student parties can fall victim to unwanted intruders and gate-crashers and that it ‘let’s predators know of vulnerable/intoxicated students in general that they could prey on’. Another student believes that ‘without specific numbers [being published], I don’t see how the page could cause student safety to be put at risk. What is more worrying

local councillor, I have consistently sought to keep everyone working together. I helped set up a local residents group and a liaison group with all agencies on that basis’. But, he laments the ‘very hands-off approach’ of the ‘universities’ management and the police’. The Noise Pages and Waller’s methods seem a problematic and ineffective solution to a very real problem. Of the students who responded to Epigram’s survey, 54.5 per cent answered that if their accommodation was reported on The Noise Pages it would not influence their behaviour compared to 31 per cent who said it would. The redaction of house numbers is welcomed by critics, yet sensitive information that should not be in the public domain is still present on the website. Students need to be more considerate of their neighbours but what some see as ‘public shaming’ does little to mend a faltering relationship between University students and local residents.

Credit: The Noise Pages.com

houses had been burgled and who had lost personal belongings and subsequently lost university work.’ The academic went on to say that ‘whilst it is good to hear that precise addresses are no longer included… I’m not convinced that other sensitive information needs to be kept either.’ It is important to stress that correlation and causation between being included in a Noise Pages report and being a victim of burglary are not the same, yet it seems equally important to explore what information The Noise Pages is making public. Until recently, Waller included house numbers in most of his reports. He has since redacted the numbers because it ‘seemed easier to take the issue of the table’ as the ‘core issue, which is that keeping people awake at night is unacceptable’ was being ‘drowned out by rumour and speculation’.

Epigram / Ayo Okojie

pigram has reported that Bristol University voiced concerns to the owner of The Noise Pages website around the impact on students safety ‘from the outset’. The methods that the owner of the website, Andrew Waller, has used to raise awareness of student noise have been highly contentious within the student body. The Noise Pages is a website founded by ex-journalist and Redland resident, Andrew Waller. Waller creates detailed noise reports, which usually concern student house parties or loud drunken behaviour on the street in residential areas, and posts them on the site in order to raise awareness about residential noise pollution. ‘We should acknowledge that most students do not annoy their neighbours’, Waller writes on his website, ‘but the minority who do is fairly sizeable, and it’s a bit of a lottery as to whether they end up living in your street’. Local residents can email The Noise Pages to raise awareness of a party or disturbance near them. Waller ‘hopes this site helps to coordinate community responses’. Councillor Anthony Negus, who represents Cotham on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, agrees that student noise is a significant problem. ‘My experience in my ward of Cotham, Cllr Negus tells me, ‘is poor in terms of parties and street carousing. While the number of inconsiderate people is low proportionally, such is the density of HMOs (house of multiple occupancy), particularly student occupied, in some areas all residents may have to endure several incidents a week at certain times of the year as the houses are close-packed and sound travels.’ When asked whether students were treated differently by non-student residents, one University of Bristol student told me to ‘imagine an influx of residents to your community who do not pay council tax to fund local services and, in general, are louder, messier and more rowdy than average professional residents; it is natural there should be an air of discontent towards the student body from sections of the local resident population.’ A spokesperson from Redland and Cotham Amenities Society, a neighbourhood group which aims to ‘protect and enhance our area’, explained how ‘issues of noise from parties that have been reported by a number of our members… have been raised with the police, council and at University Community Liaison meetings over a number of years.’ Whilst the group does state that ‘there is only an issue when particular individuals

or households are not considerate of their neighbours’, they also argue that ‘insufficient action has been taken to try and find a solution until very recently. ‘We are pleased to hear that the Universities are now attempting to address this problem’, the spokesperson tells me, and ‘with a better process for dealing with unacceptably noisy parties, the role of The Noise Pages will no longer be needed.’ Such discontent amongst local residents seems to be growing. In October, Epigram reported that the number of noise complaints made about students in private accommodation rose last year by 52 per cent on the previous year. Waller thinks ‘it’s about time the student community faced up to the fact that keeping people awake at night is unacceptable’. Whilst student noise and disruption has been accepted as an important issue – the University ‘recognises the impact of high density student populations in local residential areas’ – the methods which Andrew Waller uses have been strongly criticised. A Bristol University academic, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained how they had ‘heard about The Noise Pages through a few of [their] personal tutees whose

“A Bristol University academic heard about The Noise Pages through a few of their personal tutees whose houses had been burgled”

Features 10

epigram

04.02.2019

University working to widen participation in sports and exercise Epigram Features talks to Matt Birch about how the Sports, Exercise and Health department are working to increase participation

Nikki Peach

Deputy Editor

att Birch has oversight of all sport and physical activity that is organised at the University, particularly relating to participation programmes, sports clubs and performance programmes as well as running the university sports facilities. We discussed what the department is doing to widen student participation in sport and physical activity, he said ‘If we go back

“We are increasingly understanding that physical activity should be incorperated into everybody’s lifestyle”

Epigram / Will Charley

a few years, only 30 per cent of students were engaged in activity organised by the institution. Over the past three years we have worked quite hard to improve that figure, now over half the student population engage in those activities.’ ‘One of the key things we did was look at membership prices and whether cost was a barrier. There had been a lot of feedback that students were unhappy with the product and the cost of the product so we had a pricing review group which students were involved in. The outcome was that we reduced the price of memberships between 25-30 per cent which has led to huge increase in membership sales.’ ‘We have about 6,300 members of the gym and there’s a roughly 50/50 split between males and females.’ He added, ‘the next thing that we did was look at a residential offer. Things like Be Active residencies programme provide an entry-level, free and low-commitment programme.’ I then asked why he thinks engaging in sport and physical activity is so important, particularly at University. ‘Traditionally sport was viewed as a Wednesday afternoon thing for sporty types, primarily white middle-class males. We are increasingly understanding that physical activity should be incorporated into everybody’s lifestyle and there is a definite mental health benefit too.’ ‘That’s something as a division we are working on for example, with the development of the Healthy Minds programme. For students moving away from home for the first time it helps develop a sense of community and a sense of belonging, physical activity is relevant to all

of that.’ Birch then went on to explain how his department are looking to improve representation in sporting competition through new development strategies. He explained, ‘what we’ve tried to do across the board is adopt a student-led approach and work closely with the Students’ Union.’ ‘We have a development process now which allows a club to outline their plans for the sport and improve participation and drive performance. If the vision set is clear then they will get support in terms of resources, facilities and so on. This has meant that students have driven improvement in performance sport. We’re handing over significant responsibility to student clubs to really drive this change.’ We then discussed how participation and access can also be improved to include more members of staff. ‘As part of the pricing review, we looked at ensuring that the staff offer was at least similar to the student offer’. ‘The number of staff engaging still isn’t as high as we would like so I suppose we need to look at the causes. We’re keen to work with Human Resources and potentially Occupational Health to provide better opportunities for staff but it is true that students have been our main priority.’ ‘There are various staff sports clubs that use the facilities and there’s an organisation called Staff Social that I would like to build more of a relationship with. Those clubs are developing and supporting staff engagement, whether it be timings or facilities we can definitely ensure the offer is better. For one, we just spent nearly £5,000,000 on the Indoor Sports Centre to benefit both students and staff.’

As part of the discussion about widening participation, he then went on to explain how the department is addressing stereotypes and barriers that people often associate with the gym. ‘We’re not suggesting it is a finished job. However, the membership of the gym is pretty reflective of the student body. We support things like This Girl Can, they recently did a take-over where we ensured the weights area was only available to females for a set period of time.’ ‘We introduced significant reductions for Widening Participation students and we now have well over a thousand members. A target group for us is international students, we did a colour run at Coombe Dingle last term and over 50 per cent of entrants were international students.’ ‘We’ve also deliberately changed the design of the gym. Previously we had free weights in a separate room which become a male-only cave and we have now removed that physical barrier and people can see what’s going on.’ ‘There is no longer elitist phrasing that focuses on regular gym users. We would consider free taster sessions for people to try stuff and see what is on offer. Though we don’t want to reinforce divisions. I would like to see an exercise class programme that is representative of the student body rather than targeted at specific groups.’ ‘I have an ambition that our offer is accessed by all. ‘There is feedback mechanism on the website and there are feedback forms in the reception areas of all facilities. Matt Birch. ‘We are also keen to get feedback from those who aren’t members, they can also do that online or are welcome to write to me directly.’

Holocaust Memorial Day: We remember them

Bristol University J-Soc

n the run-up to Holocaust Memorial Day, four Bristol University students reflected on how the Holocaust affected their families and the lessons to be learnt from the genocide. Holocaust Memorial Day is held on 27 January each year to mark the anniversary of the liberation of AuschwitzBirkenau in 1945, the largest Nazi death camp. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust states that ‘each year across the UK, thousands of people come together to learn about the past and take action to create a safer future.’ Emma Russell I don’t remember the first time I learnt about the Holocaust, but rather, I feel that I have always known about it. Alongside fairy tales and lullabies, my family spoke of the horrors of the Holocaust. My grandma had the misfortune of growing up in Poland during the 1930s and experienced the brutality of anti-Semitism and increasing popularity of the Nazis. Kicked out of school for being Jewish,

living in hiding before being transferred to the Krakow ghetto, and saying goodbye to her father, my great-grandfather, as he boarded the train to Auschwitz are bleak, yet prominent memories in my grandmother’s childhood. I have always been taught about the tragedies of the Holocaust and the importance of respect and tolerance towards those who are different to myself. I am encouraged to embrace the freedom I enjoy living in the UK as a Jew, and feel a sense of pride at being a ‘3rd generation Holocaust survivor’. Sabrina Miller The Holocaust is in the DNA of my community. The Jewish school that I attended saw it their duty to teach us about the Holocaust and offered Year 12 students a trip to Poland. Every single student in my year attended. For a week we travelled from death camp to death camp, mass grave to mass grave, remembering the unnamed victims. As someone whose family was not directly affected by the Holocaust, I was horrified to see my friends searching for their relatives in the log books of Auschwitz. We walked down the infamous train tracks of Auschwitz, sat in the gas chambers of Majdanek, and mourned at the ruins of Treblinka. Sitting in a gas chamber, walls worn with scratch marks, bricks stained blue with gas, was a surreal experience. 100 Jewish students crowded inside the chamber, caged in by four walls, sang ‘the Jewish people live on’. We then did something our grandparents never could: we walked out of Auschwitz.

Epigram / Tom Taylor

Four members of Bristol University Jewish Society reflect on Holocaust Memorial Day and why the genocide must be remembered

Joel Freedman

“We then did something our grandparents never could: we walked out of Auschwitz”

Holocaust Memorial Day is a day of extreme importance. On this day we remember the genocide of Jews and other minority groups during WWII. I believe that the commemoration of genocide must not end with the Holocaust. This day should inspire us to remember all genocides against all minorities. I have always found it problematic that the West only recalls the horrors of the Holocaust and ignores all other genocides. Surely the tragedies that befall: Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia and Cambodia deserve to be respected? Holocaust Memorial Day must be a day of education. How can we mourn on this day without acknowledging that genocides are happening right now, in Darfur, Myanmar, the Central African Republic, Yemen, South Sudan and Syria? On this Holocaust Memorial Day, do not let these atrocities go unnoticed – please educate yourself.

Nina Freedman It can be difficult for us to connect to the atrocities of history. Hearing an arbitrary number such as six million is certainly shocking but it is as unrecognisable to a millennial as the faces of forgotten victims. So how do we try and relate to the victims of the Holocaust with the number of survivors rapidly dwindling? When I visited Auschwitz with my school, the only thing that could help me make sense of what I had seen was an anthology of Holocaust poetry. The beautiful art forms that can emerge out of a time of such darkness and terror are truly inspirational and reading the poetry penned in the bowels of the concentration camps is chilling. For me, the best way to forge a personal connection with the Holocaust is to listen to the voices of its victims and wonder how they were inspired, in a time of such darkness, to create such art. On 12 February the University of Bristol’s JSOC and History Society in partnership with the SU have organized an event to remember the Holocaust. The BME Network, LGBTQ+ Network and Widening Participation Network are also supporting the event and representing the other groups targeted by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The university will hear from Holocaust survivor John Dobai who will speak about his experiences in Budapest during WW2 and how he survived the Holocaust. Tickets are available here: https://www. bristolsu.org.uk/events/holocaust-memorialday-d533/buy_ticket.

04.02.2019

Features 11

epigram

Is student activism on the rise? Last year saw dozens of student marches: is student activism becoming ever more popular? Matilda Toseland

Second Year, Psychology

“Mental health in particular is an area not represented significantly in student protests until the last few years”

Epigram / Tom Taylor

t is clear that as Bristol Students we understand the power of peaceful protest. It was February last year when students marched from Stoke Bishop, down Whiteladies Road, onto the University campus to demonstrate their opposition to the proposed new pastoral care model. The revised model was set to reduce the amount of senior residents living in halls and remove wardens. Those opposing it claimed that it would leave students without sufficient wellbeing support. Following this the ViceChancellor Hugh Brady had to revise the new model, changing the ratio of senior residents from the originally proposed 1:100 to 1:50. March saw the occupation of Senate house for 50 hours, this was due to proposed cuts to staff pensions. The three day sit-in led to Hugh Brady publishing a letter to all students, promising to lobby both the Government and Universities UK over the pensions dispute. In both May and November students marched in response to the growing mental health crisis, demanding that the University take this problem more seriously. These demonstrations were as a result of an increase in student deaths in recent years, as well as an increase in students seeking mental health support. Figures indicate that over the last five

years those seeking mental health support has increased by more than 50 per cent. In May hundreds of students marched demanding better mental health care. The ‘March for Mental Health’ demanded change in the University’s approach to mental health. In November students marched again demanding ‘people not profit’. Protesters stated that despite previous attempts to get the University to drastically reform, mental health care services were still ‘inaccessible’. Last November saw a demonstration against sexual violence towards those who identify as women: Reclaim the Night. This national movement has become an annual fixture at Bristol. Also, last December a student run anti-racism organisation held a demonstration in response to a far-right group dying the Victoria Rooms fountain red. This is not a new development, however, Bristol University has a long history of student activism. Our first large scale protest as a University was in December 1968; this demonstration demanded greater student representation on University bodies and asked that all students in the city of Bristol including those at technical and vocational colleges have access to the newly opened SU facilities. Students entered the administrative headquarters, Senate House, and occupied it for 11 days. They were joined by other students from LSE, Cardiff and Birmingham. Of the 6000 students at the University of Bristol at the time 700 joined the sit in. Eight students even received court summons. The year of 2010 saw many student protests as the government proposed cutting spending in education, increased tuition fees and the removal of the education maintenance allowance. On 24 November, 2000 students marched through the streets of Bristol, following this they occupied the

Student Union building, stating that their Student Union was not properly representing them on financial matters. On 7 December students occupied Senate House, this lasted until 17 December. Students were demanding greater representation in senate meetings and that the Vice-Chancellor, Eric Thomas, write an open letter to the government in critique of cuts to the education budget and publicly call for Vice-Chancellors across the country to unite against the cut. Although the students main demand was not met, they considered this occupation a success. Perhaps, then, the amount of student activism is not on the rise, but we are instead seeing students protesting issues they have not before. Previous marches were concerned mainly with demanding greater student representation and financial matters, now students are marching for a much wider

range of issues including mental health, feminist issues and race issues. This coincides with a generational shift in attitudes towards discussing subjects such as mental health and the harm caused by marginalising certain groups. Mental health in particular is an area not represented significantly in student protests until the last few years. This development is both due to the mounting student mental health crisis and the global push to get people talking about this, previously taboo, topic. However, as we have broadened the range of issues we protest, we have arguably become disengaged from mainstream politics. This is reflected by only 5.5 per cent of the student population voting in the last NUS election. Moreover, out of a student body of almost 22,000 only 119 are involved in the Bristol Labour, Conservative and LibDem societies combined.

The plastic crisis closer to home As the global community becomes more environmenally aware of the perils of single-use plastics, we should look at the crisis closer to home

Charlie Campbell

Fourth year, French & Spanish

“Each piece of plastic that has ever been created still exists in one form or another today”

its cyclical, never-ending nature. Given plastic has been in production for around sixty years, it is truly terrifying to consider how deeply-embedded plastic has become, figuratively within our daily lives and literally within our surrounding environments. A huge proportion of Bristol’s plastic ends up contaminating the very natural landscapes and waterways on

Epigram / Kate Hutchinson

n recent years, we as a global community have become increasingly aware of plastic pollution and the devastating implications it has on our ecosystems, marine life and by extension our own health and wellbeing. In 2017, wildlife photographer Justin Hofman captured the distressing image of a seahorse with its tail wrapped tightly around a cotton bud whilst floating in polluted Indonesian waters. It both captivated and appalled the world; an image illustrative of the real-life consequences of our global failure to deal with the ever-pressing issue of plastic waste. Images of a similar ilk are now commonplace within our news channels and social media sites; photographs of sea

turtles with plastic packaging ensnared in their nostrils and beached whales with stomachs full of plastic bags are merely a few visual examples of the plastic crisis. As pertinent and heart-breaking as these images are, they arguably make it easier for us as UK citizens to dismiss the plastic crisis as a manmade catastrophe occurring within some distant, exotic location, when in reality it is happening quite literally on our shores. Nowadays, plastic pollution can be found practically everywhere, irrespective of location. It is present in both rural and urban spheres and even previously uncontaminated environments void of human activity. Bristol, despite its reputation as a ‘green city’ has not managed to evade plastic pollution and unfortunately, we as citizens are amongst the primary culprits. Irresponsible behaviour ranging from failing to dispose of refuse correctly, flushing indecomposable items down the toilet, and excessive consumption of single-use plastics, all contribute to the pollution of Bristol’s diverse and beautiful landscapes. Each piece of plastic that has ever been created still exists in one form or another today, which puts emphasis on both the overwhelming scale of the plastic crisis and

which the city prides itself, namely Bristol Harbourside and the River Avon. But there are local activists and initiatives fighting against the plastic crisis and doing what they can to preserve and protect Bristol’s natural environments. Clean Up Bristol Harbour is a community initiative which welcomes members of the public to collectively clear rubbish from the city’s Harbourside. Taking place each month, the event works in conjunction with the Harbour Office to ensure the harbour is clear of discarded rubbish and waste, reducing the levels of pollution around the waterway and limiting as much as possible the dispersal of pollutants such as plastic into the River Avon and beyond. Collected rubbish ranges from cigarette butts, discarded receipts, plastic bottles, glass bottles and more. On average the event attracts between 20 and 30 participants who scour the Harbourside by boat, on foot and even sometimes on kayak, collecting bags of rubbish to either go to landfill or where possible to be recycled. The event is informative and ultimately rewarding, knowing you have contributed, even in a small way, to preventing plastic from polluting the environment you call home.

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epigram 04.02.2019

Editor: Will Charley @willcharley1 Deputy Editor: Noor Evers Online Editor: Ffion Clarke Deputy Online: Maia Miller-Lewis

@ffionclarke5 @maiamillerlewis

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

Going vegan for a month: not so bananas? The success of Veganuary shows that we should promote more environmental campaigns with short term goals

Alice Oliver

Fourth Year, French and Portuguese

nce considered a bizarre diet choice reserved for hippies, veganism is becoming ever more popular in the

Epigram / Will Charley

UK. Today, over half a million people consider themselves to be vegan, and vegan restaurants and cookbooks abound, with Bristol recently being dubbed the best city in the world for vegans due to its diverse food scene. Veganuary is a charity that inspires people to go vegan for January with the hope that they will continue with veganism once the month is up, citing animal welfare, environmental and health factors for embracing veganism. The charity does essential work in encouraging individuals to embrace veganism, as well as increasing public awareness about vegan issues and leading more restaurants to offer vegan menus. Due to increased public awareness of the environmental, animal welfare and health benefits of veganism, many people have been motivated to give Veganuary a try. Indeed, the scheme has massively grown over the past years; last year, 168,500 people from 165 different countries registered to take part in the scheme, up from 59,500 in 2017.

Whilst the statistics for this year’s Veganuary have not yet been released, the figures from last year’s scheme were surprisingly positive. 82 per cent of respondents to a survey following the end of the month said that they had managed to stay completely meat and dairy free, and 62 per cent said that they intended to stay vegan permanently. 66 per cent said they felt a vegan diet had improved their health. Though some have questioned the effectiveness of the campaign, it is certain that Veganuary does have an impact. In 2017, the charity published an estimate that they saved five animals per £1 spent on the campaign as a direct result of those going vegan for January. Whilst some have argued that is wrong to reduce a lifestyle choice such as veganism to a month-long challenge, there is significant evidence to demonstrate that Veganuary has a positive impact throughout the rest of the year. The increased publicity on veganism caused by Veganuary has led a number of restaurants to introduce new vegan options. Zizzi launched a new vegan pizza for Veganuary in 2018 and have just created a new “four cheese” vegan pizza this January. The restaurant maintains a large vegan menu throughout the year and reported that vegan dishes accounted for 7 per cent of sales in 2018. Additionally, Greggs launched a vegan sausage roll on 3 January this year. Clearly, Veganuary has the effect of increasing vegan options at mainstream restaurants, options that may remain on offer throughout the

“Debunking widely-held myths about veganism can only be seen as a positive”

whole year. When it comes to the individual, Veganuary is a win-win scheme. It is certain that at least some participants will continue with veganism after the month is up, either because they feel health benefits from the diet, because they feel passionate about environmental and animal welfare reasons for going vegan, or both. Even if a person returns to consuming animal products after the month is up, their experience will have educated them on the facts of veganism – that it is possible to get enough protein whilst eating a vegan diet, that lots of restaurants provide vegan options, that

veganism is in fact a viable and practical life choice. Debunking widely-held myths about veganism can only be seen as a positive for the movement. On top of this, cutting meat, dairy and eggs out for a month will have considerably lessened their carbon footprint for the year, as well as causing a decrease in the overall sales of animal products. Schemes like Veganuary are a practical, productive way to increase public awareness about the realities of veganism and encourage restaurants to introduce vegan options, as well as a key tool in helping people to go vegan long-term.

Stop blaming scientists when the ASS library is full Arts and science students should stop pitting themselves against one another. The problem is chronic underfunding

Alice Lampard

Third Year, Veterinary Science

am currently writing this as I sit in the Medical Library at 9:30am. I had to get here early to secure a table. Every

so often I look up from my laptop and I am always met with the sight of students entering the room desperately looking in every corner for a free seat. You would think this surprising, as most sciences students descend en masse upon the ASS library. Or so the arts students would have you believe. However, the Medical Library fills up just as quickly as the ASS library, as does the Biological Sciences building and most other science libraries. I have often had to visit three or four buildings around exam time before finding a free seat. And of course, none of

This university is facing an overcrowding and under-funding crisis. Instead of blaming each other and fuelling an “Arts vs Sciences” war, perhaps we could put our heads together and come up with some solutions. We should not be fighting and ranting at each other, we should be ranting to the University, who does not seem to appreciate the additional stress and difficulty this issue puts on students every year.

Epigram Will Charley Epigram / Ed/Jonny Southgate Epigram/ Fryer

Epigram / Will Charley

“This university is facing an over-crowding and underfunding crisis”

these are open 24 hours a day, everyday, like the ASS library. In fairness, the Veterinary Sciences Library is always open and often has several free desks. However not many students are able to make the over forty-minute journey to the middle of nowhere. For those arts students who do not know, the veterinary campus is not even in Bristol- it is in a place called Langford. “What about the study centers?!” I hear you cry; well, not only do you have to fight to find a seat not taken by a student, but you will often struggle to find a desk not taken by notes or a laptop. Yes, taking a well-earned break from studying is acceptable- go to stretch your legs, or even grab some lunch- but I have seen all too often desks taken up by laptops, notes or jackets, only to see the student come back from a 3-hour long lunch break- this is infuriating! The truth is, overcrowding and lack of seats is an issue faced by all libraries and student spaces throughout the University. Online and in student publications, we hear all too often that science students are ‘stealing’ the seats of the arts students in the ASS library, and that they should return to their own territory. However, we do not often hear from the science undergrads. This is certainly not because there is plenty of free seating in all the science libraries, quite the opposite, however perhaps it is time we realize that this is not the fault of students.

Comment 13

04.02.2019 epigram

The North is defined by its cultural identitysomething all Northern students can draw on The North has a unique, unchanged and special cultural heritage, which ties all Northern students together Alex Rhodes

Bristol Northern Society

he ‘which is better north or south?’ debate has always been a heated one, causing many arguments in Bristolian pubs- a relative haven for both sides. The strong regional pride and a sense of being is synonymous with any Northerner, and between these regions in the North of England there is mutual respect, huddling under the umbrella of the North and revelling in its care. In order to talk about the importance of the Northern regional differences, it is imperative to talk about the South, starting with London. London itself is an amalgamation of cultures from all over the world. It truly is a melting pot with the capacity to dilute any traditions of the native specific peoples of the London area as a result of its acceptance and warmth to lands afar.

As a result of being so close to such an intense cultural hub, in the Home Counties very little seems to change as you cross the borders from county to county. This is due to growing interconnectivity. Take Kent for example. Most people from Kent lost their accent and dialect in the 20th Century due to the improvement of infrastructure, allowing people to move to and from the big city with ease. There is a lack of cultural identity. Now onto the North. Because of its isolation, the North has

managed to retain its regional differences. There is no single large cultural hub as London is to the South, and as a result, the opposing cultures are accepted but still attenuated by the Northern places themselves. Industry is an identity in the North of England, and as a result of the old working-class background of the Industrial Revolution- which encapsulated the vast majority of the population- a sense of commununity has developed in the form of trade unions. This profound sense of community has

“London... a melting pot with the capacity to dilute any traditions of the native specific peoples”

permeated into the towns surrounding these big cities and continues today. Delving even further into history, people in the smaller towns and cities had no real reason to leave the North for work, leading to further isolation. This led to dialects, accents and traditions developing, unique to each region. For example, the Liverpudlian accent starkly contrasts the Mancurian accent, despite being only 34 miles apart. Unlike the South, the traditions and dialect of the North have for the most part been preserved, save for the strong Viking dialect that was prominent amongst rural communities in Yorkshire. Evidently, it is important to retain the sense of community that was cultivated by the Industrial Revolution, by isolation and by the relative self-sufficiency of the towns and cities in the North. This sense of community has produced the identity of the Northerner. Being ‘gritty, friendly and welcoming’ are identifiably Northern traits- traits which no Southerner can seek to claim cultural heritage of. Furthermore, the regional dialects, accents and traditions- preserved for hundreds of years- provide a huge sense of belonging to a certain location, which other Northerners can rally behind. In Bristol, this rallying identity reminds Northerners of their cultural integrity, and in this they can seek solace knowing that they are amongst one of their own.

Get rid of reading weeks and introduce a three semester academic year at Bristol University The January Reading Week is asked for by no-one and provides no fun. It is time we rethought the system

George Ruskin

First Year, French and German

s we wassailed our way home in December, we cried “See you after Christmas!” to our friends and flatmates. Most other universities had been on Christmas vacation for at least a week by this point. The pay-off for those tortuously late December lectures? The promise of a lovely reading week slap-bang in the dullest, most depressing part of the year, before any teaching has actually had the chance to take place. For those of us without exams, reading week has furnished us with a seeminglyendless January holiday in front of Loose Women. For poor scientists- social and otherwise- a long miserable stretch of exam rooms, dark evenings and halfempty halls. Reading week is nothing more than a half-hearted half-term, placed randomly at an arbitrary point in the so-called ‘Teaching Block’. Some of the most miserable conversations I have had in Bristol have been discussing peoples’ plans for reading week, and the binary choice that

this provokes. Either ‘dunno, going home I think’, or ‘probably just staying here, you know’. Neither seem particularly appealing at a time when all that students want is to get their exam results and move on with term, and, oh I don’t know, maybe do a degree? Feasibly, a post-exam week-off is a lovely idea, but in reality, all that is achieved is a week for students to torture themselves over what-should-have-been in exams. The dreaded examination postmortem. In all fairness, this is not one of the University’s more catastrophic errors of judgement. But in a year of sensitivity to mental health issues, it certainly needs reform. I am no workaholic. I loved my November reading week. It was a Godsend to grab a few days at home after my first hectic six weeks in a new city, surrounded by new people. However, the beginning of term is a bizarre time for the Stoke Bishop stampede to Temple Meads. Reading Week’s only real beneficiaries may be Great Western Rail and Megabus. In general, dates at Bristol make no sense. Has an SU plebiscite changed Bristol to the Mayan calendar? This is because Bristol is unwilling to pick a side on the ‘terms-versussemesters’ debate, and has, much like Theresa May, plumped for a middle-ofthe-road solution that pleases no-one. Call me old-fashioned, but do three

terms of roughly-equal length really not cut it these days? Heaven forbid if Bristol adopted semesters properly, with students arriving in August, leaving on Christmas Eve, and breaking up for the summer holidays in March. At least we would know where we stood, and semester dates- however eccentric- would be unilateral.

“A lovely reading week slapbang in the dullest, most depressing part of the year”

Scrap the reading weeks and give us three succinct terms. I cannot stand living in the Bristol University Timezone of GMT-80years. I would love to see Bristol scrapping reading weeks and readopting the threeterm system, giving our term-times some momentum. Do this, and we will no longer have to live in this temporal hinterland.

epigram 04.02.2019

14 Comment

Arts subjects are becoming less vigorous, but let’s still make the most of our degrees

of writing, I had been given feedback on only one essay, and I am still waiting for the other one to be marked. You might think that I feel let down by my faculty in some way, however the reality is much more complicated than that. In fact, one of our senior lecturers described how he was very dissatisfied and worried about the way universities are changing. He spoke of how he fought against the decision to cut the number of formative essays that we had to do in half. He said that students should be forced to do things like prepare for essays, in the same way that you force your child to learn a musical instrument. Though kids may want to do something else with their time, forcing them to take up good habits when they are young greatly increases their character. The australia.gov website has an ‘art fact’ page and I found one of these facts particularly interesting. Whilst only 20 per cent of children were forced to play instruments, 70 per cent of adults wished they had been forced as a child. I feel that this sentiment will resonate with many students later on in life. Preparing essays, in the humanities, is the best way to learn a topic. Because in doing so, you must know what you are writing about, you are forced to analyse the content, and planning ensures that you formulate your own evaluative argument. Though stressful, I always feel far more satisfied after having done an essay. So why has the amount of work required of some arts students lessened immensely?

First year of arts degrees may ‘not count’, but we should remember that we are at university to learn Epigram/Ffion Clarke

Your weekly rant:

Let me wear my leggings in peace

Ffion Clarke

Online Comment Editor

First Year, Philosophy

ith exams so soon after the Christmas break, why did I feel so unprepared? ‘First year doesn’t matter’ was my favourite mantra over Christmas with ‘I only need 40 per cent to pass’ coming a close second. It was a good excuse to neglect revision, choosing instead to spend some quality time with friends and family over the holidays. Besides, it is true, at least for us humanity students. First year really does not matter all that much as it does not count towards our final grade. You only really need to pass, and that is an easily attainable 40 per cent mark on the exams. So, I had a plan: do a minimal amount of work to get a decent enough grade to pass and spend time you would have spend studying with friends and family. Relax, take it easy; it’s only first year after all. This plan may seem like it would have reduced my stress and anxiety, but it did not. In fact, it made it worse. Sure, I have done enough work to get a decent grade, but is that really what I want? I realise now that I was not anxious because I was worried that I would not get a good grade, but instead I was concerned that I had not done enough work to properly learn. Unfortunately, I only realized this when looking through a ‘how to write an essay’ guide on blackboard. Along with ideas on how to move your essay style beyond A-Levels and into university standard, there was a strong implication that we would have a lot of practice at writing essays before being assessed on our ability to write one. That is strange, I thought. For at the time

“[Universities]... seem to be becoming less a place of learning, and more like a cooperation”

Pexels/ StartupStockPhotos

xams have drawn to a close. The ASS is thinning out. Time to go back to my old presentable ways? You could not be more wrong. Having made this lifestyle shift to become a daily legging wearer over this exam period, I cannot see myself turning back. It lets me to have the comfort levels of staying at home, in my own bed, without the detrimental impact of actually staying in and avoiding human contact. I can eat what I want, when I want, and not worry about my Joni jeans cutting off the bloat which is destined to happen. Generally, I can avoid them cutting off my circulation, which is always an added bonus. Granted, sometimes I do want to dress a bit ‘nicer’ and wear ‘normal’ clothes. But having not done it in so long I always somehow manage to forget what I actually like wearing and end up with the classic Bristol look of flares and a headband. Stretchy flares are really just leggings pretending they are not . Plus, they do not even do a good job of it. They are not half as comfy and they are see through. Dressing up in the Bristol look just makes me blend into the masses. The ‘presentable’ masses who are lying to themselves if they do not think they should be at their maximum comfort levels at all times. Imagine sauntering around in the most buttery-soft leggings known to man. I am truly living the dream. When I wear my leggings there is an air of mystery. No one really knows where I could be going. To be honest, I quite like it. Especially with the ASS usually reeking of some faint familiarity. ‘Oh I think he’s in my seminar’, ‘I swear we were in halls together’. University should not have to be a fashion show. Go for it if that is what makes you comfortable. But, I personally have a love affair with leggings and would like to go hand in hand with them into my final term. So, let me wear my leggings peace. In general, stop judging other people for their clothing choices.

Euan Merrilees

Why are many humanities students getting fewer and fewer contact hours? One explanation is that this move was one led by students who felt they were being pressured too hard, a move that was then confirmed by administrators who felt they should do something to reduces stress and anxiety. As significant and important as wellbeing is (and the way in which this University is handling it is an entirely different can of worms), I feel that this move to do less work is going to haunt us in the end. We will come out of the first year less prepared and less knowledgeable than those who came before us. Universities in general seem to be becoming less a place of learning, and more like a cooperation. They are curbing their products in order to be more appealing to students- the consumers- even if it may be bad for us in the long run. Your parents sent you to school because they knew that learning would be hugely beneficial to you in the long run, even if you hated it at the time. Now, it seems we are losing touch concerning what is good for us. In many ways, my feeling of lack of preparation is on me. I could have done more, and I would not now feel like I missed an opportunity. I am not saying that we should neglect our social lives, in some ways that is more important than passing our exams. However, these years are so vitally important for our futures. We must remind ourselves to keep one eye on the goal, by asking ourselves the question: Why are we here?

An editor’s thoughts: degrees are being bought not earned Doing an arts degree increasingly feels like ticking a box at university Will Charley Comment Editor

n this issue, Euan Merrilees has suggested that ‘universities are becoming less a place of learning’ and to his credit, he has brought a very positive attitude to this problem. However, I feel the commercialisation of higher education is one that merits further discussion. Jargon aside, this is the idea that universities are making arts degrees less academically rigourous, in order to attract more students who then pay £9,250 every year. It is the idea that arts degrees have

“Students have often felt like they are on a conveyor belt”

gone from seeking to develop students’ knowledge and analysis, to a product that the University can exchange for tuition fees. More students mean more money, and the easiest way to get more students is to make these degrees easier to get into and more attractive to ‘consumers’. For example, Bristol University’s standard offer to study History in September 2017 was A*AA, yet the following year, the standard offer was just AAA. The bar to study History at Bristol was lowered. Similarly, whilst the University has increased the number of hours for some arts students, many are finding that they have fewer contact hours. Euan also points out that fewer essays are being required of students, again making a course less academically rigorous, potentially increasing it’s appeal. Admittedly, this problem is not a new one. Whilst the tripling of tuition fees in 2010 may have turned higher education into a big

business, I was reminded by my own degree that undergraduates in America protested the commercialisation of university when student ID numbers were first introduced in the 1960s. Students have often felt like they are on a conveyor belt, travelling through a machine that takes their money and spits them out. But the problem is not the fault of lecturers. My experience is that Bristol’s staff work incredibly hard and are very passionate about their subjects. Perhaps the increasing desire for all job applicants to have a 2:1 is driving this change, with students caring less about learning and more about achieving a degree as easily as possible. Ultimately, questions must be raised about whether university is becoming increasingly commercialised and if something needs to be done. If you have thoughts on this issue, write for Epigram Comment by emailing comment team.epigram@gmail.com

Science & Tech

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

Vita-moan: the problem with supplements In a health-obsessed world, is there true value to vitamin and nutrient supplements?

Luke Leckie

Epigram / Bethany Harris

“The vitamin and nutrient supplement market in the UK alone was predicted to be worth £421 million in 2016 and this figure is predicted to rise to £457 million by 2021”

Unsplash / Kristina Flour

t a time when Britons are more health-conscious than ever, people are willing to shell out some money towards supplements for their perceived health benefits. The vitamin and nutrient supplement market in the UK alone was predicted to be worth £421 million in 2016 and this figure is predicted to rise to £457 million by 2021 (Mintel – ‘Vitamins and Supplements’ report, Sept 2016). There is no question that if you are vitamin or nutrient deficient supplements can be beneficial. However, a survey by the HFMA found that only 17 per cent of people regularly using supplements do so as a consequence of a vitamin or nutrient deficiency. With so many people using supplements, this raises the question: are vitamin supplements beneficial in the absence of a deficiency? The short answer is no. If you have a healthy diet, you should be obtaining all of the vitamins you need. In this case vitamin supplements are at best a waste of money, at worst a risk to your health. A quick look at the ingredients of a popular multivitamin supplement showed that it contained 100 per cent of your daily recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamins A, B, C, D, and E. If you are obtaining any vitamins from your diet at all in addition to this supplement you would be exceeding your RDA. Many other supplements even exceed your RDA many times over; one popular supplement I found contained 1091 per cent

Epigram / Vilhelmiina Haavisto

Third year, Biology

of your RDA for vitamin B1 and 643 per cent for vitamin B6! Exceeding your RDA is not advantageous in any way as the body likely cannot digest and absorb the excess vitamins anyway. The problems really begin when your vitamin intake is close to the tolerable upper intake level (UL). The UL for a vitamin or supplement is the maximum amount you can consume daily before expecting any negative side effects. Regularly reaching the UL for any given vitamin over the course of weeks or months can result in the accumulation of vitamins in your body, eventually causing toxicity and a range of other potential health problems. The risk of toxicity is greatest for vitamins A, D, E, and K which are all fat soluble so accumulate into our fatty tissue. Chronic vitamin D toxicity, for example can result in a condition known as hypercalcaemia, where the calcium levels in your blood rise resulting in vomiting and in severe cases kidney failure. In recent years there has been a dramatic rise in the reported number of cases of vitamin D toxicity, with over 75 per cent of the total reported cases occurring since 2010, according to Taylor and Davies (2018). So, whilst you may think that more is better, this is not necessarily the case. There are exceptions however. Vegetarian and vegan diets are often poor in iron and vitamin B12; deficiencies in either of these can result in serious health consequences such as anaemia. With the rise of vegetarianism and veganism in Veganuary, and the particularly high proportion of both diets amongst students, it is important to be aware of these deficiencies and plan your diet accordingly. For iron you should ensure that your diet is rich in beans and dark-leafed vegetables such as kale and spinach. Vegetarians can obtain vitamin B12

from eggs and dairy. However, since vitamin B12 can only be obtained from animal produce, vegans may seriously struggle to obtain any from their diet; in this case it is recommended to take B12 supplements or B12 fortified foods. For the most part, the vitamin and supplement industry is full of quackery and is looking to take advantage of the public’s growing health awareness for profit. Healthy people with balanced non-vegan diets shouldn’t require extra vitamins or

supplements. There are demographics and lifestyles which have a higher risk factor for vitamin and nutrient deficiencies where supplements may be beneficial, however, you should always follow the advice of your doctor and consult them when considering using supplements. For a comprehensive advice for the use vitamin and nutrient supplements please visit here: https://www.nhs.uk/commonhealth-questions/food-and-diet/do-i-needvitamin-supplements/

The antidepressant debate Are antidepressants really effective? Even medical professionals cannot seem to agree.... Rowan Fenelon Fourth year, Chemistry

longside mental health rightfully becoming less taboo, we have seen an increase in the prescription of antidepressants. The total number of antidepressants prescribed in the UK doubled between 2005 and 2015. The reasons for this could be increased prevalence of depression, more people asking for help, or an increase in willingness to prescribe from medical professionals. However, the debate surrounding antidepressants is still a hot topic. The main issue with antidepressants is that their effectiveness is yet to be explained. Depression is a complicated illness; genetic predecessors, life events, substance abuse, and medication can all contribute to the illness. Thus, treating the condition can involve many solutions and doctors cannot agree whether antidepressants should be prescribed. There are numerous types of antidepressants; the first produced were the tricyclic type, whose significant side effects

“...to go to the doctor with mild depression and be told to exercise or use an app may feel like a slap in the face”

mean their use is rare. The second type produced were SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). These prevent the reuptake of serotonin, a hormone often associated with happiness and responsible for sending messages in the brain, and so increases the blood’s serotonin concentration. SSRIs such as Prozac or fluoxetine became big in the 1990s, and have since encouraged pharmaceutical companies’ investment. SNRIs, serotonin and noradrenaline, another neurotransmitter, were then produced and are prescribed for severe depression or anxiety. The other main type of antidepressant, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, prevent the functioning of the enzyme that stops the action and reduces the concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain. Due to this generality, they affect more neurotransmitters than just serotonin and noradrenaline and so MOAIs have a plethora of severe side effects. Also, due to the interaction with the amino acid tyramine, found in fermented foods such as cheeses or tofu, they can increase in blood pressure, a restrictive diet is needed. Thus, this is a last resort drug. Despite this understanding of what the drugs do, it is still unclear why they alleviate the symptoms of depression. This had led some to believe that antidepressants are nothing more than a placebo; however, this opinion was refuted recently in a major review of antidepressant

trials. It showed that the effectiveness of antidepressants varied, but five drugs performed highly in effectiveness and acceptability - fewer people stopped taking them within the trial period. However, their effectiveness was not compared to other treatment methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), counselling or interpersonal therapy. Currently, the NHS’ guidelines give selfhelp treatments such as exercise, speaking to friends and mindfulness apps for mild depression. For moderate depression, either an antidepressant or CBT may be used and for severe depression, a combination of antidepressants and CBT is recommended. Distinguishing between the severity of depression can be difficult and is not always obvious, even for professionals. The mental health services are overwhelmed and can’t cope, evidenced by the wait time for CBT in the UK. This could contribute to more people being prescribed antidepressants due to lack of availability of therapy. Furthermore, to go to the doctor with mild depression and be told to exercise or use an app may feel like a slap in the face, so how to treat depression is clearly a difficult decision. Another big issue with antidepressants is their side-effects. Although rare, for some there can be an initial increase in suicidal thoughts. Other common side effects are nausea, constipation or diarrhoea,

sexual issues such as loss of sex drive and erectile dysfunction, insomnia and a dry mouth. However, symptoms should subside over time, but this requires persistence. Antidepressants are also notoriously hard to come off, either because the depression will come back, or for the symptoms withdrawal causes. Some may then feel if you start taking antidepressants then you are on them for life, but it is arguably better to live a life free of depression than suffer. Public opinion on their use can also be negative. Many people think that taking medication is ‘cheating’ or a sign of weakness and that it is a quick fix, not solving the underlying issues that cause depression. This may have some merit if no talking therapy is given. However, I think this stems from people not taking depression seriously. You would not tell someone not to take medication for a physical illness or ailment; such as a pain in their back, even if it could also be improved with physiotherapy. The combination of the use of antidepressants and therapy is a similar situation and it can be up to doctors and trial and error for each patient to find what works. Overall, antidepressants alleviate depression’s symptoms for many and improve their quality of life. I think the most important thing is not to judge someone for taking antidepressants as they are getting the help they need.

epigram

16 Science and Tech

04.02.2019

Fibre? I barely know her! Evidence for the importance of fibre in our diet is accumulating - but most of us are still not eating enough of it.

Vilhelmiina Haavisto

Deputy Science & Tech Editor

Flickr / Marco Verch

that “fibre and whole grains are important physiologically, metabolically, and even to gut microbiome.” Indeed, a 2017 study conducted on data long-term twin study in the UK found that the diversity of microorganisms in the human gut was positively correlated with fibre intake and subsequent lower risk of obesity. Obesity is another growing public health issue that has also been associated with predisposition to non-communicable diseases including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The study argues that dietary fibre and obesity are linked; increased dietary fibre intake bolsters the diversity of the gut microbiome, which in turn seems to be associated with lower weight gain in the long term. The researchers also estimated that over 60 per cent of the variability in people’s gut microbiome diversity is due to non-genetic factors, and note that the composition of the gut microbiome is highly modifiable. Findings from the Flemish Gut Flora Project reported that fruits, vegetables, and yogurt are among the best foods for promoting microbial diversity in the digestive system, while highcarbohydrate diets as well as medication such as antibiotics are among the most destructive. Co-author Professor Jim Mann, also from the University of Otago, remarks that “while we all knew that dietary fibre was good for us, we didn’t know the extent to which [this] was true.” He believes that the results of the study are “essential” to boosting our understanding of “the impact our dietary choices have on our risk of certain diseases.” Professor Mann points out that they found “an overwhelmingly positive effect, with high fibre diets being protective against heart disease, diabetes, cancers and measures of mortality.” The results from the study will be used to develop new recommendations for daily fibre intake, and also to understand the effects that different carbohydrates have on weight gain and the incidence of noncommunicable diseases.

“Dr Reynolds asserts that ‘fibre and whole grains are important physiologically, metabolically, and even to gut microbiome.’ ”

Epigram / Bethany Harris

new study commissioned by the World Health Organization and published in The Lancet has concluded that consuming high amounts of dietary fibre can decrease incidence of noncommunicable disease including coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer by between 15 and 30 per cent. They also found that in clinical settings, diets high in dietary fibre were linked to significantly lower bodyweight, systolic blood pressure, and total cholesterol than those low in dietary fibre. These conclusions are based on a large-scale review and analysis of over 200 studies and clinical trials from around the world that include over 4,500 adult participants. The

observed reductions in health risks were at their greatest when the participants’ daily intake of dietary fibre was between 25g and 29g, and the researchers found evidence to suggest that the relationship of high dietary fibre intake to reduced risk of noncommunicable diseases could be causal. But what is dietary fibre, and what do we need it for? It may not be the hippest ‘superfood’ out there, but it is definitely deserving of the title. Dietary fibre is a broad term encompassing all plant-based carbohydrates that pass through the small intestine undigested, and are instead dealt with in the colon, or large intestine. Dietary fibre bulks up the food passing through the digestive system, helping you feel fuller for longer and slows the absorption of sugars. The study also investigated the effects of whole grains on health, and found that they too have protective effects similar to those of dietary fibre. Lead author Dr Andrew Reynolds from the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago in New Zealand says that this there is “no surprise there, as whole grains ... can be major sources of fibre in the diet.” Dr Reynolds asserts

Granted, 30g of fibre per day is an ambitious target to hit for many, especially students already living on a tight budget - a medium-sized apple contains 4.4g of dietary fibre, and a serving of Sainsbury’s Basics penne only contains 3g. Ten bowls of penne every day would do it, but this is hardly practical in the long run. Luckily, the NHS website has a couple of ideas to get us started - just choosing wholemeal breads and pasta over white varieties and eating potatoes with the skins on are steps in the right direction. Vegetables, nuts, and beans are all good sources of dietary fibre too, and peppering these into our daily meals can help us all inch closer to that health benefitdelivering 30g.

What’s new in science? Diabetes dogs and feather iridescence!

Flickr / Farrukh

A recent study reports that glycaemic alert dogs can effectively help type 1 diabetes patients manage their insulin levels. The research was conducted in collaboration with Medical Detection Dogs, a charity that trains the animals to detect the odour of human disease. Our canine companions have such an acute sense of smell that they can sense minute changes in blood sugar levels of their human partner. When these levels fall too low or rise too high, the dogs are conditioned to prompt the owner to take precautionary actions such as administering insulin or eating. Although not intended to replace existing technology for monitoring blood glucose, alert dogs act as a non-invasive safeguard against the longand short-term medical complications of out-of-range (OOR) episodes. This is especially important for hypo-unaware patients, who have a diminished ability to recognise when their blood sugar levels are falling to potentially dangerous levels; this could lead to unconsciousness, a coma, and even death if left untreated. The study is the largest of its kind and found medical detection dogs to be more effective than previously acknowledged, with dogs alerting their human partners to 83 per cent of hypoglycaemic episodes in over 4,000 OOR episodes examined. Variation was observed between the dogs and several factors identified to optimise performance such as ongoing training and a good relationship with their human partner. The data from the trial is encouraging and indicates that medical detection dogs have the potential to offer owners greater freedom and an improved quality of life.

UoB Press Office / Trevor Martin

Rosie Armond delivers a ‘lab’ report on the University of Bristol ‘s research into diabetes guide dogs.

Emily House reports on Bristol research into the origins of bird feather iridescence. In different lightings and viewed from different angles, bird feathers have the extraordinary capacity to change colour. This trait of iridescence is made possible by the same molecule that gives colour to our skin and our hair – melanin. Organelles that contain melanin are called melanosomes, and when these are arranged in specific nanoscale patterns and coated with keratin layers of various thicknesses, the resulting lattice creates an iridescent structural colouration. Researchers from the University of Bristol used scanning electron microscopy to compare the structural coloration of 97 different bird species. They found that although solid melanosomes are commonly responsible for colouring feathers in grey, black, and brown, melanosomes in iridescent feathers are more diverse in size, flatness, and hollowness, increasing the range of colours that bird feathers can achieve. Further, the origins of feather iridescence were studied by examining fossil from two extinct bird ancestors - Scaniacypselus (related to modern tree swifts) and Primotrogon (related to modern trogons). Both are from the Eocene period, around 48 million years ago. The Bristol group discovered that neither ancestral bird exhibited the diverse melanosome characteristics that give the feathers of modern birds their iridescent qualities. However, Primotrogon is predicted to have had iridescent feathers, achieved by using cylindrical and solid melanosomes. This original melanosome structure is predicted to be the ancestral shape from which all modern iridescent colourations have evolved.

Wellbeing Living Food Style

Issue 7 / 4th February 2019

Travel

Wellbeing//

Pain Inducers How an opiod prescription can change your University life

Style// How to be successful on Depop

Living// A studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to reducing plastic waste

Travel // Destinations for 2019

epigram / The Croft 04.02.2019

Editor Jasmine Burke

Deputy-Editor Luke Unger

@EpigramWB

Online Editor Marina Afzal-Khan Epigram Wellbeing

@epigramwellbeing

Prescription painkillers: my experience with Cocodamol and the dangers of opioids nt and Dec have, for several years. been a prominent feature of our television viewing. And let’s be honest, would shows such as Britain’s Got Talent and I’m A Celebrity actually be bearable without them? Recently though, Anthony McPartlin has been missing, reducing the usually infallible duo into a solo act for the time being. The reason for this is a drink driving charge and a stint in rehab that all stems from a painkiller addiction following a routine knee surgery.

I am still dealing with the side effects of being put on unnecessary painkillers.

”

For those of you who don’t know the humble writer of this article, my name is Megan Good. I am a third year English student at the University of Bristol, I love singing and I am on committees for the musical theatre and pantomime societies, I work teaching students and love it and I’m also technically a drug addict. I currently have three slipped discs in my spine. In layman’s terms this means that the discs – the spongey bits in between your vertebrae – are out of place, pressing against a bunch of fun things like the sciatic nerve and my spinal cord, which as you can probably imagine is excruciatingly painful. This is an issue I have had since August 2017.

Epigram/ Megan Good

Thankfully today I can say that I am in a really good place. At my worst I couldn’t feel or use most of the left leg, was in so much pain I physically couldn’t sit down and in general struggled to move at all. Today I am active and living life to the fullest and just thankful I have managed to maintain control of my bowel movements thus far - this is a side effect of slipped discs, not just paranoia about incontinence. However, I am still dealing with the side effects of being put on unnecessary painkillers. Ant is addicted to a substance called Tramadol, while I have just finally gotten off of Cocodamol. Both of these are opioid painkillers, in the same family as heroin, and are used to treat moderate to severe pain. The only real difference is that Tramadol is synthetic while Cocodamol is derived from poppies, much like morphine and opium. They’re good for helping with pain as they literally attach to pain receptors and block the signals getting through, but that also govern reward pathways, making the substance addictive in a physical and psychological sense.

As a little foreword I will state that I have been incredibly lucky. Thanks to my wonderful cousin, I have been incredibly well prepared for withdrawal and Cocodamol life and it is this education and understanding that she has given me that has helped me to keep going. If not for this I would most likely still be on them - having received very little help from doctors - and damaging my kidneys more than they already have been

That’s enough humilition for now. I was on Cocodamol for over 11 months, and let me tell you the fun of it wore off very, very quickly. I never really had many bad side effects. Save constipation. You may laugh but my bowels were honestly more backed up than the M4 after a lane closure in the middle of rush hour. I also was tired all of the time. I would easily sleep 11 hours a night and still wake up absolutely exhausted. Now the reason I gripe about Cocodamol is that I was put on the drug so unnecessarily. I was presenting with a burning pain behind my knee initially. Upon inspection my knee was fine and I have a beautiful MRI scan of what is anatomically a textbook perfect knee. The next step for a doctor should have been to think of another source of pain coming from higher up the body ie. the spine. But on a first examination this is easy to miss and a forgivable mistake, and the GP couldn’t leave me in pain so prescribed Cocodamol. Epigram / Megan Good

Over a long period of time, they change the chemical balances in the body, making coming off of them incredibly difficult. Now, in the interest of getting the word out and sort of defending Ant’s struggle and trips to rehab, I am going to share with you a far too intimate review of my experiences with withdrawal and life on the drugs to hopefully enlighten how dangerous these drugs can be.

The first four weeks I was on the tablets were amazing. I was very dreamy and happy in general. Everything was hysterical. Here is a comprehensive list of the embarrassing things I did: 1. In an hour long seminar, I was the only person in the class to contribute. The catch? I was extremely high and hadn’t done the reading so it was mostly me making jokes and giggling while my tutor looked on in horror. 2. I walked around in circles in the living room for about 45 minutes muttering: ‘what do I need to do, what can I do?’ When my flatmates tried to make me stop, I apparently increased in circle speed while chanting ‘no sit’ for a good while. 3. I bumped into a frien in a lift whom I was going to a specific event. I did not recognise her and tried to give her directions on how to get to the event which I was meant to accompany her to. 4. I sat down and stared into space for a record 56 minutes. 5. Developed a facination with socks. 6. Talked about how much I secrectly hated my friend X, with X well in earshot. 7. Developed an incessant need for cuddles. 8. Formed a habit of throwing food items at my flatmates head. 9. Auditioned for 2 shows. I don’t remember doing this, but I received an acceptance and a rejection email respectively so I guess I must have. 10. Liked touching people’s faces inappropriately. 11. Took 12 minutes to make it up two flights of stairs. 12. While trying to change my duvet cover, I climbed inside instead and stayed in my little tent for a considerable amount of time. 13. Periodically spacing out mid-sentence. 14. I was out to dinner with a friend and ordered a pot of tea. Drank the pot of tea. A few minutes later, I went to go pour myself another cup, only to find out I had finished the pot. Cue crying. 15. When going to a restaurant and seeing a cute waiter I had recognised, I very publically shouted ‘THE ATTRACTIVE MAN IS SERVING US AGAIN’ in full earshot of said attractive man. 16. Dancing in my local high street around a war monument. 17. Threatened my friend’s father with urinating in his car. 18. I also had to smuggle about £500 worth of opioids through security checks to get in to see Hamilton which was a very interesting conversation to have.

Again, fine, as it was a stop-gap measure and only meant to be taken short term. My issue is that I was inspected by about

five different doctors, plus one orthopedic knee consultant and despite the fact that there was nothing obviously wrong with my knee, no one thought to check the back. Despite the fact that the pain soon spread all up and down my leg, no one checked the back. Despite the fact I soon had pins and needles and numbness in my foot, which are literally only brought on by nerve issues, no one checked the back. Despite the fact that three people in my family have had to have multiple back surgeries and procedure, no one checked my back. Despite the fact a physiotherapist checked my knee and managed to diagnose me with a slipped disc and gave me an exercise plan within 25 minutes, the doctors all ignored her findings and still did not check my back. having a heart attack. It felt totally real at the time but my boyfriend managed to calm me down and I went to the doctors the next day. They put me on beta blockers: a medication that reduces the physiological symptoms of anxiety. But, as a psychology student, I knew that I needed to seek therapy to reach a long-lasting solution. The one problem with this was that I was absolutely terrified of going to therapy.

Epigram / Luke Unger

”

Personally, I’ve heard a lot of people criticizing Ant, claiming that he should know better and that the only reason his case has been brought to the forefront of everyone’s thoughts is because he’s a celebrity. Undoubtedly his story has brought all of these issues under the scrutiny of the tabloids, but I think it’s an excellent opportunity to start the dialogue about how dangerous prescription painkillers can be.

by exposure to the drugs.

It was not until receiving my MRI in December that they realised the error of their ways. The standard test for a slipped disc involves the patient lying down and the physician trying to lift one of their legs straight up in the air. It takes about thirty seconds and if the patient starts screaming bloody murder it’s a pretty good indicator that they have a spinal issue. Had at any point a doctor had bothered to carry out this incredibly simple and quick experiment, they would have realised that the issue was with my spine and that Cocodamol was not an effect method of pain management. Cocodamol is the equivalent of trying to put out a fire with one bucket full of water at a time. It acts as a blanket painkiller that isn’t particularly effective. Considering how addictive it is makes the frequent prescription of the drug very problematic in my

”

Megan Good documents her second year on persrcription opiods

I was also tired all of the time. I would easily sleep 11 hours a night and still wake up absolutely exhausted

”

opinion, as it can literally ruin lives – just look at Ant. If someone had bothered to test for a slipped disc earlier, I would have been put on a drug similar to Amitriptyline, which is a neurological painkiller. Compared to the bucket of water that is Cocodamol, this is equivalent to using ten fire hoses at once. I was fully maxing out on Cocodomol at my worst, and it still felt as if someone was actively burning me with a cigarette lighter. To give you some sense of the pain I was in, I spilled a hot drink on my lap while at work one day and felt nothing. When I got home and tried to get changed I had to separate my jeans from my skin, as I had a second-degree burn on my leg. This blistered and got infected and I can honestly say 100% that I did not feel a thing. Sciatica is so bad that I literally didn’t notice getting a second-degree burn. As soon as I was put on just 10mg of Amitriptyline, I was out of pain. Had someone bothered to check my back before I’d been showcasing neurological symptoms for four months, I could have been on Amitriptyline far earlier. This would have saved me a lot of pain and suffering and allowed me to get off of Cocodamol sooner and take a lesser dosage, thus not allowing my body to develop a dependence and addiction to it, and then subsequently put me through shitty withdrawal symptoms. My issue isn’t with Cocodamol as a drug per se, it’s how easily and freely it’s given out by doctors and pharmacies. Of course doctors can’t reasonably leave their patients in large amounts of pain, but the quick use of opiods is an issue. Cocodamol and other drugs are used as a stopgap while a real diagnosis is made. The issue is that with the considerable amount of pressure the NHS is constantly under, diagnosis can take absolutely ages, leaving patients suffering and in risk of addiction in the interim.

Megan Good Third Year, English Literature

04.02.2019 epigram / The Croft

The power of positive self-talk Third year student Anna Hart discusses how positive self-talk can have a powerful impact on your wellbeing

It seems strange to me now that I had never previously been fully aware of my self-talk. I was aware I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and pushing myself to an unhealthy extent to achieve the best I could, but I didn’t realise how self-destructive this was or that I had any

I was aware I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and pushing myself to an unhealthy extent to achieve the best I could, but I didn’t realise how self-destructive this was

overwhelming at first, becoming aware of how you talk to yourself and perhaps realising there’s a lot you want to change, but if you take it one step at a time, you’ll get there. When you notice one of these thoughts, for example ‘you’re a failure’, combat it with a positive thought. It may be difficult at first to completely transform the thought; it might not be realistic to say to yourself ‘I am an amazing person and I am doing the best I can, which is all I can do and it is always good enough’, as you might not believe this. Start out by saying something like ‘I’m not a failure, I’m trying my best and that is enough’. You might not even believe this at first but keep replacing the negative thought with this more positive one

”

he way you talk to yourself has a profound impact on how you feel, your self-image and your perspective on life. One of the key things that helped me build my confidence back up after some really tough times in life was recognising, and making a conscious effort to change, the way I talked to myself. I was first introduced to the concept of self-talk by the immensely helpful and ever amazing Kati Morton, who has YouTube channel all about mental health. As she is a therapist herself, her videos are unique in that she can provide expert insight into issues and provide practical tips on how to work to resolve them. She often talks about the importance of how we talk to ourselves and how much this can affect our emotional wellbeing.

You would never go up to a friend and say ‘you’re ugly’, ‘you’re worthless’, ‘you’re stupid’, ‘you’re weak’, ‘you’re not good enough’, ‘you’re a failure’. Yet, you may be saying these kind of things to yourself.

”

beliefs as your truths. Then, gradually, you can start to build on it until you believe that you are that amazing person who is always good enough. You can write these down if you feel that will be helpful for you, perhaps with the negative thought on one side of the paper and the corresponding positive thought on the other side, or else just say it to yourself, either in your head or out loud – whatever works for you. Now, this is not easy work. It requires patience, dedication and commitment to change. It will not always be straightforward and you may feel like giving up, but keep going. I can vouch for the fact that it’s always a work in progress. As Kati Morton says, ‘it’s a process, not perfection’. So remember, if you slip up sometimes, that’s okay; healing isn’t linear. Remember how far you’ve come along the way and keep believing in yourself. It requires time to foster change at this deep level, but transforming your relationship with yourself from one of dislike or lack of self-belief to one of confidence, understanding and love is a

Anna Hart Wellbeing Sub-editor

– even if you don’t believe it, just say it to yourself – and I promise you that you will begin to believe it in time. You will start to take on these positive

Deputy Wellbeing Editor Luke Unger interviews the DJ’s working to raise mental health awareness. Hey guys, give me a rundown of the night

Kati Morton talks about how the first step in changing your self-talk to a more helpful, positive dialogue is to notice what kind of conversations you’re having with yourself. We all engage in these conversations from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep; we’re constantly talking to ourselves, even if we don’t realise it. If your inner voice is constantly belittling and insulting you, then no wonder you feel down. If you feed yourself negativity, you will undoubtedly feel negative. You

The event is called ‘Right Mind’ at Blue Mountain on Feb 13th, we have a really talented mix of local, and a few student DJs, lined up. This includes Ian DPM & the Midnight Shift Collective, A-bee, Jurango, Yushh b2b Tramma, Alya L, Doug Norman b2b Perlam, Floor Function residents & Lost FM. There will be a range of stuff including house, techno, garage, electro, breaks and Baltimore/club. Scott: All the money we raise will be going to Bristol Mind, a mental health charity that provides a massive range of support from support groups to helplines, to people in and around Bristol. They also work incredibly hard to raise awareness of the issues and help fight the stigma. Why have you guys decided to do this? Well both of us personally, and people we know, have suffered from mental health issues over the last few years. There were definitely times it felt like there wasn’t much out there to help either. But this really isn’t the case as Mind has been working hard for years but like all charities, they rely on public help to raise funds and awareness of what they are doing.

It is a bit of a legendary club in the Bristol music scene and has played an important role in the development of the cities club and music culture. It is exciting to get the opportunity to put a night on there and join the impressive list of DJ’s to have performed at the venue, and an honor to be doing it for such a great cause. We were really lucky to be able to get the date so close to the venue closing, as venue availability in Bristol is always a struggle for anyone looking to put a night on. It is a big club which means there is the potential to raise a really good amount of money for Mind and really make a difference. We also think it’s concerning. In our time in the city we’ve seen a few venues closures and Bristol’s nightlife suffers. Lakota is also closing its doors soon. It’s an issue that’s happening all over the country, not just in London. Obviously, it was great to see the support of Fabric a few years

Mind has been working hard for years but like all charities, they rely on public help

ago but this happens all the time across the country.

On the other hand, the closure of Blue Mountain could provide room and incentive for promoters to explore venues and look into new spots around the city. There is such a range of events going on but sometimes it feels like there’s only a small handful of venues, especially in terms of smaller spaces. Stokes Croft has almost become a clubbing strip.

”

Mind and Student Mind work closely together and there is naturally a lot of overlapping

Why not just student Mind?

”

would never go up to a friend and say ‘you’re ugly’, ‘you’re worthless’, ‘you’re stupid’, ‘you’re weak’, ‘you’re not good enough’, ‘you’re a failure’, yet you may be saying these kind of things to yourself. The goal is to talk to yourself as you would talk to your best friend, or how your best friend would talk to you. Time to befriend your inner critic.

Obviously, student mental health is a massive issue right now, the issue isn’t just affecting students. As we have a range of Bristol DJ’s playing, not just students, it felt more appropriate to raise the money for Bristol Mind who can use it to help the whole city. We also think it would be good if there was less of a separation between students and locals.

Changing a self-critical, anxious, doubting mindset to one of confidence, calmness and self-belief starts with countering these negative thoughts with positive ones, one at a time. It can seem

Mind and Student Mind work closely together and there is naturally a lot of overlapping so the money we can raise will have the maximum impact by going to Bristol Mind.

” Unsplash / Miguel Angel Hernandez

Instagram / @katimorton1

Music has always been one of the best ways to escape some of the issues that may be wearing me down, so helping the cause by putting on a club night seemed like a no-brainer. As well as raising as much money as we can, we are trying to raise awareness of Mind and mental health as a whole, we hope more events like this can reduce the stigma associated with the issue.

So you guys are doing it in Blue Mountain, which closes at the end of February. How do you guys feel about that?

”

power to change my inner dialogue. I realised I was being my own worst enemy, rather than my own best friend. Think about it, you are the only person that will be there with you from the moment of your birth to the moment of your death, so you might as well be a best friend to yourself!

Blue Mountain event to support Bristol Mind

Regardless, it’s sad to see it go and hopefully there won’t be any more closures any time soon. How can people get tickets? Tickets are up on headfirst. Early bird’s have sold out but general release are £4 and it will be £5 on the door.

Luke Unger Deputy Wellbeing Editor

04.02.2019 epigram / The Croft

The unspoken struggle of gambling addiction A student who wishes to remain anonymous comes forward to discuss his unhealthy relationship with online gambling, an underdiscussed topic in student circles

It is perhaps the gambler stereotype – a middle aged man who spends his life at the bookies – that plays a part in preventing people from coming forward to talk about their addiction. However, anyone can be affected, including students.

‘I think Summer is when it all started. Homelife isn’t great so I was in my room most the time over summer. I started betting on horses. With horses the races can be a minute long, so I guess there’s more of an instantaneous pay off. You don’t have to sweat it out over an 90 minute football game.’ ‘I think the turning point was where I bet this Tennis match between

I spoke to one student who wanted to remain anonymous about his gambling addiction, his first time opening up about it publicly.

Luke Unger / Epigram

‘In the first few months of doing it I made £500. Most of it was on football and it originally started out with me and my mates’ he tells me. ‘I’ve always thought of myself as quite a smart guy, always quite calculated and mathematical. I guess I thought I could beat the system’.

”

I did this for quite a while, but it wasn’t really making me money fast enough. Then I watched a YouTube video where this guy was saying that the only way really to make ‘real money’ was through gambling. It has bigger pay-offs over a smaller amount of time. That’s when I began to really gamble’

Kevin Anderson vs Diego Schwartzman. Basically, to put it bluntly I lost £600 of my own money. I think that was my first big loss. I remember being in my room literally drenched in sweat. My hands were shaking, and I felt so anxious. It was ridiculous. I’ve actually developed stress related eczema ‘Before, when I was Match Betting I always kept a log of how much I won and how much I was putting in. When I stated gambling, this stopped. If I’m being honest with you, I have no idea of the net sum of how much I’ve lost.’

I asked him when he thought it started going downhill

An interview with Bristol’s new Peace of Mind Society What is Peace of Mind Society?

What exactly does Peace of Mind aim to do? We aim to offer a safe and comfortable space for students who need a bit of a breather. We all understand that the pressures of University can feel overwhelming and so we want to relieve some of that pressure in any way we can.

‘I slowly came to the realisation that this just isn’t sustainable. I was living on the poverty line, £10 a week. I had to get two jobs to pay for my rent. My friends have been really good supporting me the whole way through, I can’t thank them enough.’ I asked him what advice he’d give to anyone suffering from a gambling addiction. ‘Even if you’re match betting, it’s not worth it. If you need money get a job. It’s literally not worth it. Also, make sure you’ve got friends out there who are going to support you when things get bad.’ With gambling seemingly able to permeate every nook and cranny of our life through our mobiles, laptops and TVs the need to break this stereotype has never been greater. Especially as multiple student websites now are lauding match betting as an easy way to make money, despite it’s inherent dangers. If ageist conceptions behind alcohol and drug addicts are slowly being worn away, why does society still fail to recognise the dangers of young people gambling?

Luke Unger Deputy Wellbeing Editor

some fun events. We can also help out with Academic Support if you need help applying for extensions, extenuating circumstances, speaking to tutors, or organising support for your Mental Health. We are here to alleviate some of the stresses that come with these things... A problem shared is a problem halved and all that. We have first hand experience with these processes so we are more than happy to help anyone who needs it. We have also got our social media, such as our Instagram. We post little pick-me-ups and tips and tricks for things you might be struggling with. We all know the feeling when you have been scrolling on Instagram and it can leave you feeling a little deflated, so our page aims to leave you feeling a little more uplifted. Evidently, Bristol has a problem with mental health amongst its students. What would you like to see change in the next year?

”

Mental Health is such a prevalent issue in Universities. There appears to be a bit of a A problem shared is a disconnect between central University and problem halved Support Services which needs resolving. For example, some courses such as Law, which might have 300 students in a lecture, do not And in which ways do you do that? register you for lectures. This is great if you are sleeping off a hangover, but in terms of Mental Health, a primary sign of someone struggling is We have a weekly meet-up called ‘Positivitea’, in which everyone can get together, chill-out absence from classes and so forth. In not knowing and have a chat, as well as a couple of biscuits and who is attending, it is hard to tell who might be Peace of Mind Society/Facebook maybe a cup of tea. It is super informal and everyone is struggling - especially in first year students. So, maybe welcome. We are hoping through exam season to use our some kind of implementation to assess who is attending Positivea slot to give students an additional Quiet study area as more accurately. This should not be used to reprimand them, but we know how hectic the libraries get around exam period. We are also just to make sure they are doing alright. hoping to team up with some more societies and organisations to sort

”

Johan Mouchet/ Unsplash

Peace of Mind is a student-led society committed to making student life that little bit more peaceful. We are a group of students who want to create an environment where people can take a break from the pressure which can come with being at University.

I was living on the poverty line, £10 a week

‘I think the worst it got was losing 2 grand over the course of 2 weeks. But again, I don’t have the records, so I can’t be sure that was the worst. I remember coming out of my room in disbelief. I’m a good liar and I think you definitely get into this habit of lying to cover up your addiction. Whenever someone asked me if I wanted to go out, I’d just say I was saving. Instead, all that money was going on gambling. I never told anyone about it until I had a breakdown after I lost that two grand.’

He said it had started off with ‘Match Betting’, a technique in which you use free bets given to you by gambling websites for opening an account to bet both bet on the bookies and against them. This is lauded by many student websites such as Save the Student as a ‘zero risk’ method of making money.

I remember being in my room literally drenched in sweat. My hands were shaking, and I felt so anxious. It was ridiculous

‘It really consumed me. I’d wake up and immediately start betting. I remember bringing my seven-year-old sister to buy school shoes in Oxford Street. The whole time I was desperately trying to find a Wi-Fi hotspot to put a bet on some horses. I didn’t tell my sister what I was doing.’ I asked him when it got worst.

”

n the UK it is estimated that 350,000 people suffer from gambling addiction, with only 1 per cent ever seeking help. This increase in gambling has been facilitated in large part by the rise in mobile gambling apps and an increase in the amount of money spent on gambling advertisement.

How can other students get involved in the society? We really want student input on how the society should run. Get in contact with us on Facebook and tell us what you want to see from us or come along to Positivitea! We want to be able to offer a helping hand to other students so it would be great to have more student involvement. Plus, it is free to join - you just have to sign up on Facebook, or follow the page to see what we have going on. Is there anything else in particular that you want people to know about your society? We are hoping to run a Positivitea in the new Living Space in Senate House on Wednesday 6 February from 12-2pm. So, come along get your hands on some biscuits, have a chat and take a bit of a break from studying! We are hoping to make this a weekly occurrence as well, which would be good. Jasmine Burke

Wellbeing Editor

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Editor Hope Riley

Deputy Editor Imogen Rogers

Online Editor Josie Roberts

Epigram Living Writers 2018-19

A student’s guide to reducing plastic waste

Introducing the ‘UniPocket’

Breaking news: plastic knives to be discarded. They’re just not cutting it anymore. Daisy Farrow shares her tips on how we as students can reduce plastic wasteage!

Take out the plastic when you take-away your dinner Taking away your left over Nandos? Ask for a cardboard container, not plastic. Grabbing some food on the way home from your night out? “No plastic cutlery please” (you’re drunk so you’ll probably be eating it with your hands anyway). Hell, even Donervans will give you your chips in a paper bag and not a polystyrene container.

Living Editor Hope Riley reviews The

your plastic wasteage. Whilst walking into a Lush store may be harder than it sounds (the over-friendliness of the staff can be off putting) it’s definitely worth making the trip into Cabot Circus or even buying it online. Granted, these bars can be a little more expensive for students, especially if you’re used to buying Sainsbury’s own-brand £1 shampoo, but we all have to make sacrifices, right?

Unibox’s spin-off product, the ‘UniPocket’ The UniPocket / Steph Makins

So it’s 2019, and one of your New Year’s resolutions is to use less plastic. Or maybe you’ve just had one too many angry environmentalists judging you for using plastic bags when you go to the supermarket. Whatever the reason, you’ve decided that this year you’re going to cut down on your plastic consumption as much as possible. And beyond the old paper-straws-that-get-wetand-dissolve, you don’t really know what else to do. Well – look no further. Here I have compiled a list of things to do that are either student-friendly or Bristol-based.

Think about your drinks If you haven’t done this already, then you must be part of the 1% of the Bristol student population that doesn’t have a keepcup, because I see these everywhere. A little store on Cotham Hill called Amulet sells these cute little bamboo takeaway cups, perfect for hot drinks (can you tell I’m obsessed with bamboo?) But if these don’t take your fancy, any reusable cup will do. Cutting down on your plastic waste every time you buy a hot

For Christmas this year, I received bamboo toothbrushes and bamboo straws. Sounds like a bit of a crap present, right? Wrong. Bamboo is a fantastic substitute for plastic as it’s so cheap and a natural resource that it literally doesn’t make sense why you

Bamboo is a fantastic substitute for plastic, it’s cheap and natural!

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wouldn’t swap over. Not only can you get them in really cute styles, but making the swap from plastic to bamboo is such a small change that has a huge impact! Plus, think of how indie and progressive you’ll look sipping your vodka lemonade through a bamboo straw at pres. It definitely fits in with your Bristol-student aesthetic.

Ditch the plastic whilst keeping your hair fantastic As part of a new effort to reduce our cosmetic plastic waste, companies like Lush have now started selling bars of shampoo and conditioner, makeup, and even hair dye that come without a plastic container, meaning that you can lather up without the concern for

The products included in the package change every month according to a different monthly theme, but mine contained a green tea face mask, some vegan chocolate and salted caramel roasted

Zero Green Bristol: ‘Bristol’s First Zero Waste Shop’

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drink not only will make a huge difference across your lifetime, but can also save you money in the long run too. Source Cafés on the university campus and the Hawthorns Café offer discounts if you bring in your own takeaway cup, so if you’re not doing this for the environment, at least do it to save yourself some money.

When we go to Sainsbury’s or Waitrose for our weekly shop, we end up buying so many plastic-dependent items that even if it’s recyclable, it still encourages the making of plastic. So here’s my solution: buy fresh. Fresh fruit and veg or loose items from independent stores means you can bring in your own bags to bag them up, and don’t have to use the plastic punnets which are the size of a book but only contain three strawberries. And if you’re looking for a place in particular, then I recommend Zero Green Bristol: ‘Bristol’s First Zero-Waste Shop’, located on North Street. Bring in your own containers, jars, cloth bags, and fill up as much as you want from their loose products. From organic coffee beans and rich spices, to dishwasher safe dining-ware and natural deodorant, they’re the first store in Bristol totally committed to reducing your waste.

Daisy Farrow Second Year, English

Epigram/Hope Riley

Say goodbye to mass-produced, and hello to fresh produce

Epigram / Daisy Farrow

Embrace the magic of bamboo

Marketed as ‘a bite-sized version of The UniBox that contains stationery, vegan treats, a dose of pamper and of course the quote card of the month,’ the UniPocket is a small, beautifully wrapped package of little treats delivered to your door to ‘inspire and motivate students.’

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Flickr / Byrion Epigram / DaisySmith Farrow

” Even if you only have one takeaway a month, which I highly doubt considering we’re all students with poor self-control, then you’ll still be making a difference. Single-use plastics like cutlery and food containers are one of the biggest culprits when it comes to contributing to our waste, so be more mindful the next time you open the Deliveroo app.

Epigram / Daisy Farrow

In October, Epigram reviewed student subscription service ‘The UniBox.’ To mark the company’s 2nd birthday, on the 21st January they launched spin-off product the UniPocket, priced at just £10 + P&P / month.

All items were well-curated and of high quality.

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peas, pencils and a pad of paper with the logo ‘get sh#t done,’ post-it notes and a matcha green teabag. All items were well-curated and of a high quality. With larger package ‘The UniBox’ priced at £22.95 individually or £170.55 for a year’s subscription, at over £12 cheaper the UniPocket seems to be a great purse-friendly alternative. The product would make a lovely pick-me-up gift, so you can treat yourself or a student you love without rinsing your student loan! Receiving this through my door was a welcoming change from the usual junk mail and electricity bills. The next UniPocket theme is ‘Be a Unicorn’ and ships from the 11th February. For more information or to subscribe go to their website: https:// theunibox.com/pocket/

Hope Riley Living Editor

04.02.2019 epigram / The Croft

Beating the winter blues... With the short days and bad weather taking their toll, Chloe Fox explores a range of feel-good things to do in Bristol to beat that post-Christmas feeling Post-Christmas winter can be a bit of a dreary time for many of us, with the short grey days, the after-effects of Christmas on the bank balance, not to mention the slam of deadlines and exams most of us will be experiencing too. So, to get us all through what are arguably some of the toughest months of the year, I’ve found some of the best bits that Bristol has to offer to brighten up the greyest of winter days!

in Bristol in terms of affordable places to go out for food, so organising a dinner with your house or a group of friends could be a great and affordable pick-me-up. Another option is arranging a dinner with friends where you can cook up something tasty together and enjoy socialising, without having to brave the weather or damage the bank balance too much. Feel inspired

Get a move on

Epigram/ Imogen Rogers

When it’s cold and rainy 80% of the time it’s no wonder most of us aren’t too keen to venture outside. However, on the odd crisp and sunny winter’s day, a walk or a jog around the harbourside or at Ashton Court could be just what your body is craving to get the endorphins going and replenish some of the body’s much-needed vitamin D levels! Alternatively, adhering to the ‘new year, new me’ mantra could be motivation to invest in a gym membership or start a new exercise class. It’s advice that is well drilled into us but the effects of a small change such as exercising once or twice a week can drastically improve moods and help to fight feelings of lethargy. Keeping active, even during the months that do everything to put you off it, whilst making sure to get sunlight when possible, is proven to help with mental health, sleep quality and energy levels, making it one of the best ways to beat those blues. Eat your way happy Studies have shown that eating in the company of others as opposed to alone can be hugely effective for beating loneliness and boosting wellbeing in general. With voucher apps such as Wriggle, Citymunch and Toogoodtogo that provide discounts for different restaurants and cafes for up to 75%, we are pretty spoilt for choice

Whether it’s the mountain of work yet to be done, or the many hours of being cooped up in the library/ in your room that have left you feeling uninspired, a great way to get the creative energy flowing is to visit some of Bristol’s finest art galleries. The Arnolfini is currently showcasing a project by the artist Briony Gillard called ‘A Now or Never Project’ with the name ‘To See, To Feel, To Speak, To Dare’. The installation is centered around topics that ‘imagine new futures’ such as equality, environmental sustainability and compassion in politics. Spike Island is currently holding an exhibition by the artist Christopher Kulendran Thomas called ‘New Ealem: Bristol.’ New Ealem is a real estate technology company founded by the artist to develop a global housing subscription based on collective coownership. The exhibition explores how a more ‘liquid’ form of citizenship might be constructed beyond national boundaries. Furthermore, the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery is holding an exhibition called ‘Leonardo DaVinci: A Life in Drawing’ from the 1st of February to mark the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death. The exhibition will be displaying twelve of the artist’s finest drawings in order to celebrate his extraordinary scope of interests that included zoology, botany, anatomy, engineering and much more. Chloe Fox

Fourth Year, English

Aunt Aggie: ‘I think I’m addicted to Waitrose coffee’

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To be honest, Carol, I’ve seen it all before

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I’ve even started using it as a hair mask... is this weird?

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Dissertation planning got you down? Or is one of your flatmates grinding your gears? Aunt Aggie is here to answer all your problems, however big or small. Get in touch with us at livingteam.epigram@gmail.com, or submit your problem on our Facebook group: Epigram Living Section 2018-19. All submissions will be published anonymously.

Editor Laila Freeman @lunchingwithlaila

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Olivia Critoph

Nicole Abou-Abdallah

Epigram Food 2018-19

@epigram_food

New year, new healthier me WavegoodbyetoJanuary’sfaddiet.FoodEditorLailaFreemanofferssomealternativeresolutions tomake 2019ahealthieryear As another new year roles in, so does talk of New Year’s Resolutions. Amongst the most common New Year’s Resolution is to go on a diet, particularly in the aftermath of the festive period and its copious food offerings. However, come February, many people seem to find themselves in a bit of a diet slump. There are many better ways to incorporate improving your health into New Year’s Resolutions without falling into the trap of starting - an most probably abandoning - a dieting regime that you probably do not need to be on in the first place. Here are some ideas for alternative resolutions.

1. Increase your fruit and vegetable intake Realistically how many of us are actually eating ‘five a day’ on a daily basis? Although not exactly synonymous with the typical student diet, ensuring that you eat enough fruit and vegetables is a great goal to work towards - and one that is also very feasible. Soups are an ideal way to pack in vegetables in the colder months, or try smoothies and salads as the weather gets warmer. Fruit and vegetables help your body in so many ways, such as by boosting your immune system or, on a more cosmetic note, by making your skin glow! They’re also great for filling you up and allowing big portion sizes that don’t massively increase your calories. 2. Drink more water Drinking water has countless benefits but most adults are simply just not drinking enough. Whilst the importance of staying hydrated is drummed into us from childhood, there are so many other reasons why drinking enough water is important. For example, your digestive system depends on water and water is essential in maintaining blood pressure. As someone who personally really struggles to drink enough water, I’ve found that aiming to drink one glass every two hours is a good goal. Alternatively, getting a large water bottle to finish throughout the day is another way to monitor your water intake.

Instagram / @beerdbristol

3. Do more exercise Although not strictly food related,doing more exercise makes for an ideal alternative to going on a diet. If the aim of your diet was to lose weight, why not aim to up the amount of cardio you do instead? Apps like Couch to 5K are amazing as they really help people to ease into running by assisting you on three runs a week, increasing in distance each time to gradually increase your fitness. Alternatively, why not take out a one month gym membership and try to maintain this for a set time period. Chances are, you will get into a good routine and want to extend your membership once the month is up. If weight loss isn’t your aim, doing exercise is an amazing way to tone up, increase your overall fitness and therefore your overall health, and build up your strength.

4. Reduce your meat consumption Over the years, in particular with the growth of vegetarianism, people are becoming more aware of the positive impact of eating less meat. This is not to say that eliminating meat entirely is necessarily the ‘healthy’ choice, but initiatives like ‘meat free Monday’ could be something to consider adopting in the new year. Ensuring that you do not eat meat as a part of every meal will encourage a more varied diet and is bound to lead to the discovery of new alternatives such as pulses and beans. And of course the environmental benefits of reducing meat consumption are undeniable, with the production of just one kilogram of beef requiring 15,000 litres of water and five square metres of land. 5. Ditch the calorie counting apps In the most stark opposition to the ‘go on a diet’ resolution, why not agree to ditch calorie counting entirely. So many of us have apps like My Fitness Pal lurking on the back of our phones and, whilst these apps can be very useful to achieving goals when used correctly, simply counting calories without tracking macros or considering the food that makes up those calories can actually be to one’s detriment. Setting arbitrary calorie limits suggest that it does not matter how you get to the goal figure, even if that is by eating one and a half large packets of Doritos as a substitute to three balanced meals. Likewise, many people fall into the mindset of believing that they should stop eating once having reached this figure, even if that means consuming no proper meals or no food with any nutritional value. Of course, this is not to say that these apps are all bad, but if you are going to use them then aim to use all the features, for example the charts showing you how much protein, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins you are consuming, so you can aim for balance rather than a set number.

Laila Freeman

Food Editor

Pinkman’s Bakery - worth your dough? VirginiaCampbellsharesherfavouritebakeryinBristol currants and perfectly seasoned pastry.

Always busy, but never intimidating, the decor of Pinkman’s strikes somewhere between a cosy living room and arty cafe. Aside from the plants, you are immediately struck by the delicious sights and smells emanating from the countertop. Cakes, sandwiches and scones are only some of the delights on offer. Sourdough pizzas and cocktails even make the list after 5pm, as do the obligatory fresh loaves of bread and pastries in the morning.

Pinkman’s is also incredibly accommodating for dietary requirements. They always have a huge number of vegan dishes on offer, and even offer gluten free pizza bases.

Whilst some of these may sound rather average and expected in a cafe, the flavours found in each are not. A fellow Pinkman’s enthusiast once described her sandwich as the ‘best she has ever eaten’. Their seasonal ranges are no less enticing. Their shortbread base mince pie, with a frangipane layer and toasted flaked almonds was the best mince pie I have ever eaten. Even the traditionalists amongst you would have no chance of objecting to its juicy

Their signature sour-doughnuts are also essential to try. I warn you though, you may never want another doughnut once you’ve tried these.

I’m not going to pretend that Pinkman’s is cheap; it is not. You are however, without a doubt, getting your money’s worth. The fresh ingredients, unbelievable flavours and care that go into each of their products means it’s a unregrettable treat. There are also deals to be had, such as the ‘pizza and a beer for ten pounds’ deal, which is unlikely to be beaten by other restaurants.

Instagram / @crumbykitchen

Pinkman’s Bakery, just off of Queen’s road, needs no testament from me. With a plethora of self-earned awards - including the Sunday Times’ top 25 Bakeries in the UK, it has plenty to recommend it. Whilst other high fliers may fall short of expectation however, Pinkman’s only exceeds it.

One final thing that confirmed my love for this bakery was its attitude to food waste. Through the ‘Too good to go’ initiative, Pinkman’s sells off its potential food waste at discounted prices, meaning you can help the planet, and get cheap tasty food. I am yet to be disappointed by this gem in the heart of Bristol. If you have not yet, a visit is what is kneaded.

Virginia Campbell

First Year Religion and Theology

04/ 02.19 epigram / The Croft

Study cafes to the rescue Inatermfullofessays,courseworkand,forsome.,thedreadeddissertation,FoodSub-EditorErinLawleroffers hertoppickofcafestostudyin cious cappuccinos – bring on the caffeine – you definitely won’t be

Is the constant lack of space in the ASS Library getting you down? Can you not stand the heat of Senate House so you have to get out of the student kitchen? Here are some alternative study spaces in the form of cafes to make you feel more relaxed and welcome rather than stressed and scrutinised.

lacking in energy. Being close to University and the atmosphere of academia really helps get you in the headspace to work hard but also offers a little respite from the deadlier quiet and guilt inducing study spaces and libraries. Brew Coffee Co @ Whiteladies Road

Convivio @ Cotham Hill

Brew can be very busy around lunchtime so it is not inducive of hard work and hard-core revision but is more for a break from exactly that. With a cosy atmosphere and welcoming staff, you feel you are able to relax here and give your mind a rest before recommencing revision after a Brew break. With lovely food again, such as their delicious homemade baked beans, you will feel fuelled for

This café has to be top pick for me. Situated on Cotham Hill it’s the perfect location for anyone living in the student hub of Redland/ Cotham and close enough to the University to pop into (God forbid) the stress pulsing ASS to grab a book or two. It is pretty quiet which is really good for keeping up concentration throughout those long hours of revision and is open from 9am to 11pm Tuesday-Saturday and 10am to 5pm to facilitate said dreaded long hours. To make such times more bearable, as well as 20% student discount on all food and drink, they have some great deals for those well-needed breaks like their 2-for-1 pizza deal on Tuesdays. An extremely relaxing atmosphere in a stressful time. Boston Tea Party @ Park Street

Instagram / @thecookierookie

Instagram / @dailycheesedelight

There is so much space in the upstairs of this Boston Tea Party that you can almost always find a table. It is really lovely throughout the day with sunlight streaming in from all sides through their big windows. With free Wi-Fi you will never want for a connection. This was a typical haunt for me last year when I lived nearby and had essays to edit and submit. The food at Boston has to be my favourite of any coffee chain and will definitely keep you going throughout the revision and essay-writing filled days, I would highly recommend their eggy bread topped with bacon, avocado and roasted tomatoes – it sounds simple but oh boy does it deliver on flavour! Café Nero @ Queens Road While it can be very full at this chain hot spot with office workers and University goers it is definitely more buzzing with sound than busy with noise so no need to worry about it affecting your zone. With one of the best sugary hot chocolates around as well as deli-

Erin Lawler Food Sub-Editor

Go sugar free this February for Cancer Research ScarlettSherriffexplainsherreasonsforgoingsugarfreethismonthandwhatshewillhavetoovercometodoso Put simply, when it comes to chocolate I have a problem. The sugary reliable goodness of milk chocolate, the glorious, rich caffeine hit of dark chocolate, and the sweet childhood memories in white chocolate all fill me with a short-lived happiness. It’s an addiction - the way it melts in my mouth, the sugar, the creamy feeling is something that I crave on a daily basis. This February I’m going ‘sugar free’ for Cancer Research. I put this in inverted commas , because my aim is to reduce the amount of sugar I consume to under 5g per meal or snack. In preparation, I have been slowly but surely weaning myself off my Dairy Milk habit: I can now inform you that a single bar of Dairy Milk has 25g of sugar. That is about five teaspoons - and a ridiculous 28% of your daily recommended sugar allowance! I am also sure that I am not the only one that has at least once unwittingly consumed a lot more than one small bar. But chocolate is the least of my worries - baked beans, a staple for a terrible cook like me - are full of sugar. I am having to cut back to half a portion rather than a portion. White wine: another vice, again full of sugar. Instead I’ll be on double the vodka and tonics - my bank balance will appreciate that, I’m sure.

People always say it is the hidden sugars we need to be wary of and annoyingly they are absolutely right. Heinz tomato ketchup - which I’ve always claimed ‘I need’ with my chip s- contains 4g of sugar in one tiny spoon, and heck do I use a lot more than that! It is not like I’m going to preach about health. Absolutely not: I am uncommonly disorganised in every area of life, so eating some vegetables, and just generally something other than salted peanuts and chocolate is more my priority than a perfect diet of careful proportions and home-cooked food. Also there is no way I actually LIKE the idea of not having chocolate and wine - things that, I repeat, I really do enjoy. I chose to do this because I recently lost my Baba (which means grandma in Serbo-Croat) to cancer. Seeing her suffer has made me understand the importance of research into cures, early diagnosis, and palliative care. Other than that - I do want to actually start being an adult (a girl can dream thanks) and cooking properly for myself - because it’s really shameful that I am a massive fan of good food but just can’t pull it off in my own kitchen! Still, I highly doubt I am going to be completely successful in this sugar-free endeavour because it involves at-

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Nevertheless, I am told it is important to be aware of what you put into your body. As I’m twenty-two, and after this year I’ll no longer have the excuse of being a student, I should probably think about making sure mine is still in good form in five years time, when I won’t feel quite so invincible. So cutting out a bit of sugar, is, at the very least, a good idea. So it may or may not work out, but I’ll say this: if I finish this thing, you should definitely give it a shot, because I am actually being 100% serious when I say if I can do it you can too. Honestly, I am not like the protein-shake fuelled, packed lunch in tow, organised people. I am literally the opposite. I have not been to the gym, my hair needs washing and I just spilt coffee down myself, so there. As a last note, please remember to get yourself checked for cancer regularly as an early diagnosis can be life saving.

Scarlett Sherif Fourth Year French and Spanish

epigram / The Croft 04.02.2019

Ten ways to start saving money in 2019 Isabella Armishaw shares her top tips to save money in the new year 1. Start Meal Planning By taking 20 minutes to plan what you are going to eat for the week, it ensures that when you go shopping you will only buy what you need and that no food will go to waste. It doesn’t just save your wallet it also saves the planet! You can use recipes withsimilar ingredients or by following an existing meal plan. You can find meal plan recipes on Sainsburys, BBC goodfood and Tesco Real food websites. The prices of the meal plans range, I’ve found some for as little as £10 a week. 2. Top up pesto and curry pastes with oil Pesto is a student staple but too often it’s kept in the fridge only to go moldy on the surface. By submerging it in oil the surface is no longer in contact with the air and therefore does not grow mold. Make sure when you do this to push all the pesto/curry paste on the sides down beneath the oil.

3. Buy bottled lemon juice instead of real lemons Bottled lemon juice in Sainsburys costs 70p whereas a single lemon costs 30p. By switching out real lemons for bottles lemon juice you’ll be saving £1.40 per bottle. This also means you’ll never end up with the awkward second half of the lemon lying around ever again. I promise you won’t be able to taste the difference. 4. Batch make lunches Avoid the dreary £3 meal deal and make a big batch of lunches at the start of the week. This could be anything from cous-cous bowls to stews if you have a thermos flask. If you are usually home for lunch, batch making is still worthwhile as you no longer have to make lunch every day. By taking 30 minutes to batch make a lunch at the start of your week you can save money, time and energy.

Christmas holidays and I’m still using them today. Since storing my cheese in Tupperware, I’ve never had to throw cheese away. 9. Go full traditional and buy dried beans It may feel like you’re in a period BBC drama, but buying dried beans and soaking them the night before is much cheaper than tinned beans. If you are meal planning the forethought needed for dried beans is not an issue. They also take up less shelf space than their tinned form. 10. Eat 3 large meals a day Sounds stupid, but if you are eating 3 proper meals a day you are less likely to snack, and a bag of crisps is much more expensive than homemade soup. You’ll be healthier, save money and maybe the block of cheese in your fridge at 3am may live to see

5. Where possible, buy frozen. Frozen spinach, frozen white fish and frozen chicken are all staples in my freezer. The great thing about frozen spinach and frozen fish is that you don’t have to defrost it, just throw it into what you’re cooking! Frozen meats like chicken or mince take more planning but are worth it for the price difference. If you are meal planning, knowing when to defrost items becomes a lot easier. Epigram / Laila Freeman

Epigram / Laila Freeman

6. Make your fresh food last longer. Have a salad or spinach pack? Put a piece of kitchen role in the pack and it will absorb the moisture, making it last longer. Any veg that comes in plastic packaging with holes should be kept in that packaging. The packaging was designed to prolong the life of the veg and will continue to do so in your fridge. Remove any bits that look like they might be turning, this will preserve what is left. 7. Before buying something, consider if you could make it. In Sainsburys the other day I spend a good 10 minutes staring at the hummus thinking, could I make it? The answer was yes, in fact making hummus is incredibly easy. The same goes for pesto, pasta sauces and curry pastes, they look intimidating but most of the time they only take 3-5 ingredients and an extra 10 minutes which is worth the satisfaction of making it from scratch as well as the saving. 8. Store your cheese in Tupperware I left my cheddar and parmesan cheese in Tupperware over the

Isabella Armishaw Second Year Music

Recipe: Chicken Paella Nadeen Jawad shares a delicious, warming recipe for Chicken Paella Method:

- 500g chicken breast, diced - 2 white onions, diced - 1 garlic clove, crushed - Tomato puree, 1 tbsp - Chilli powder, 1 tsp - Paprika, 2 tspw - Turmeric, 1 tsp - 300g Spanish paella rice - Tin of chopped tomatoes - 750ml veg/chicken stock - 2 bell peppers, diced - Handful of frozen peas - Juice of one lemon - Handful of parsley

1. 2. 3.

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Epigram / Nadeen Jawad

What you will need:

In a paella pan, or a large frying pan add the onion, garlic and chicken and cook, around 10 minutes. Add the tomato puree first and mix until combined, and then add the spices and mix, around 1 minute. Next, add the paella rice, chopped tomatoes and your stock. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice sticking to the pan, for around 15-20 minutes. Add the bell peppers and peas and leave to cook, around 5 minutes. Finally, add your lemon juice and parsley and your paella is done! Flickr: rpavich

Nadeen Jawad Fourth Year Dentistry

Editor India Harrison-Peppe

Deputy Editor Jemima Carr-Jones

@e2style

Online Editor Ruby Gleeson

@epigramstyle

epigram / The Croft 04.02.2018

Epigram Style 2018/19

How to make money on Depop May Garland interviews year-abroad student Liv Blackmore about her thriving 6,000 follower Depop business.

ll you need to know about selling clothes online according to Liv Blackmore.

Q: I’d like to start off by asking what made you want to set up a Depop account? A: I started my Depop account for two reasons; the first to sell items that I had been making myself and the latter to shift clothes that simply weren’t getting worn. Q: In three words, how would you describe your style or aesthetic of your Depop page? A: Snazzy, jazzy and fun! Another option is to create a fusion between 70s and 80s fashions by pairing the print with some flares, like Bershka have done here with a fluffy knit zebra jumper in red. Q: Is there a trend you’ve noticed with which items or styles sell better? A: 90s/00s are always popular as are designer items! More broadly speaking, in my opinion the items that sell the best are the most original and unique items. Aside from the benefits of shopping sustainably on Depop, the platform offers a huge variety of products that you can’t find on the high street, therefore vintage items or handmade items are always popular. I tend to find that the more unique the print or design, the better it sells. Q: What are your top tips for a popular shop?

attract a plethora of attention to your featured item, and in turn your page which, speaking from experience, increases sales significantly. Depop staff select items themselves to feature on the page, so the best way to gain their attention is by stay active on the site (liking other items, following people etc.) which also has the benefit of selfpromotion. Q: Do you have any guidance for successful photography? A: Take your photos during daylight hours and the simpler the background, the better. Customers will then have a clearer idea of what they’re buying. Q: Do you have a preference of shopping online or in stores, and why? A: I prefer shopping online, from a time management perspective and because you can grab some great bargains! If I go into a high street store to buy something, I’ll look up in advance the items that I want to buy so I don’t stray over budget or have to spend too much time browsing, which usually goes to plan! Q: Also it’s way more eco-friendly! So would you say that Depop is making Generation X more globally conscious? A: Yes! The majority of the items that I sell, I make myself. From an ethical point of view, customers know that their purchases have not been mass produced in a sweatshop. Additionally, by purchasing second-hand or vintage items the negative effects of fast fashion on the environment, such as textile waste, are reduced. Therefore, Depop allows you to be environmentally conscious as well as looking fab in an outfit that will turn heads!

A: Although an inclusive and a welcoming community, the majority of users are aged 16-25, so you may want to take your target audience into consideration when listing items on your page. Having said that, there are options to list children’s clothing, art, tech, books and even sports equipment, which provides a platform for those looking to not only sell clothes. Q: Did you encounter any problems with using the site or setting up your account, and if so how did you overcome them? A: I didn’t encounter any initial problems with the site. Although, it is worth noting that you cannot change the name of your handle once you have joined, and having built up an account and worked hard for reviews to add credibility to your page, you wont want to start a new account. So, choose your handle wisely! Q: Finally, any last advice for a seller or buyer new to Depop? A: Have fun with it! As a buyer, everyone on Depop is super friendly so don’t be afraid to ask for discounts as lots of people are prepared to offer them. As a seller, you may be surprised what will sell and remember to always retain your proof of postage!

You can find Liv’s Depop at @livblackmore1

A: The best thing you can do is get on the explore page as this will

Q: Is there a particular age focus for Depop or can anyone join?

May Garland First Year, English

Epigram/India Harrison Peppe

Deputy Editor, Jemima Carr-Jones in conversation regarding recent charity shop steal and her personal style ethos. Q: So, we love your trainers they’re so fun, they really brighten up your active wear look. A: I actually got these in a charity shop on Cotham Hill while I was procrastinating the other week during exams... my friend picked them out and said - these are so you try them on - so I threw them on and they fit perfectly. They’re Nike as well so really good quality and actually they’ve hardly been worn at all. I said I’d buy them if they were less than a tenner and that’s exactly what they cost! I love them. Q: Tell us more about the style choice, why do you feel like they’re very ‘you’. A: I’m really into running and I love wearing something slightly wacky when I go out for a run, just to cheer me up really. I have these blue tinsel earrings that I’ve borrowed from my sister this term, much to her annoyance - sorry Flo - and they just put me in such a good mood. So, I figured having some pretty jazzy-looking trainers would give me a similar lift! As Billie Mackie says - ABJ which stands for Always Be Jazzy. I live by this. Stylishly extra. Q: How would you describe your style in three words? A: Um... I think I’d like to say a fun sort of glamorous chic? I don’t know if that makes me sound unmodest... but it’s certainly what I at

least TRY to convey in my clothes/outfits! I’m not very functional at the best of times. There were about two years where all my shoes were so uncomfortable. I’d arrive home at the end of the day bare foot or just in my socks everyday because I just couldn’t cope with the discomfort or pain of all my shoes! It was ridiculous, but I am just so much more concerned with how they look than how they feel! I have gotten better but I can still be guilty of this... I also don’t wear a coat sometimes when it wont look nice enough with my outfit or doesn’t fit nicely enough over an oversized jumper! My friends call it my ‘coat-strike’, I’m getting better at wearing one but if it doesn’t go then it doesn’t come. Q: And last question, what would you say is your top tip for styling yourself/choosing what to wear to an event or just out and about? A: It’s better to be late than to be ugly. I think my iTunes password is actually something along the lines of that saying. Also, DON’T buy it unless you absolutely love it. You won’t wear it. And don’t leave the house unless you feel confident in yourself. I mean, obviously you won’t always look in the mirror and think ‘hello you spice’ but make sure you wouldn’t mind bumping into someone you’d want to impress? But you don’t have to do this of course, I just find clothing and style falls under self-care and I think this is really important.

The Croft / epigram 04.02.2018

Sustainable Beauty Claudia Dupé, second year English student shows us how to get more bang for your buck and how to do so sustainably.

total of 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans every year. In an attempt to tackle this problem, many of us have cut down on our plastic use beginning with the easy swaps: grabbing a reusable carrier bag, buying loose veggies and finally investing in a reusable coffee cup. Sadly, our impact on the planet has gone too far for our efforts to stop at the food and drink aisles. Instead of improving one area of our lives, adopting a more sustainable lifestyle is the next step. Inevitably, our daily beauty regimes are the next issue to face. We live in a beauty conscious world, but beyond the surface is a guilty conscience. The cosmetics industry is notorious for its negative impact on the environment, and as consumers we are secondary culprits. Zero Waste reported that more than 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry, and studies show that a lot of it doesn’t get recycled as it should be. Be honest, do you bother to wash out all those empty bottles of shampoo and conditioner so they can be recycled? It’s an ‘inconvenience’ that many of us simply can’t be bothered to do, but it’s also a decision that has long-lasting consequences; that pot of moisturiser you have will be around for another 1,000 years if it ends up in landfill. Beauty products may make us look beautiful, but they’re leaving an ugly mark on the planet. To make positive changes, the manufacturers must change. Fortunately, the beauty industry is slowly evolving, with many companies moving towards sustainable and eco-friendly products. For students, a sustainable lifestyle is often labelled as ‘out of our budget’, but contrary to prejudices, this is often not the case. There are a lot of affordable products on offer and often the more expensive ones are a good investment because they are more economically-efficient in the long-term. To help inspire you to procure an eco-friendlier beauty routine, I have tried and tested a few brands and products that have the environment in mind: 1. Lush. A key player in the ethical cosmetics industry and now the sustainable one too. Their stores offer many ‘naked’ products 100 percent packaging free! - and a recycling incentive where if you return five empty Lush pots, you get a free face mask. They offer a full spectrum of cosmetic products, using cruelty-free and mostly vegan natural ingredients. My personal favourite is their Prince of Darkness exfoliating face mask, which I’ve already used ten times and barely made a dent in.

3. The Body Shop. Committed to an ‘Enrich Not Exploit’ ethos in the hope of being the world’s most ethical and sustainable global business. By 2020 they aim to ensure their products are made from 100 percent sustainably sourced, natural ingredients; whilst actively helping to enrich the biodiversity of the environment in which they are grown. They are also aiming for 70 percent of their packaging to not contain fossil fuels. My handbag essential is this citrusy hand cream which is perfect for these drying winter days.

Satsuma Hand Cream RP: £5

4. Funky Soap. A small London business which aims to create ‘natural products with the health of the planet in mind.’ Their handmade hair and body soaps use 100 percent natural, vegan and cruelty-free ingredients, as well as sustainably sourced palm oil. Their packaging is also biodegradable - even its bubble wrap! My favourite product is their Acai Berry Shampoo, a solid bar rich in antioxidants. It can also be used as a 2 in 1 face and body wash, so you get a lot of bang for your buck.

RP: £3

There you have just a handful of the eco-friendly minded brands and products available to us on the market at a student friendly budget. In order to continue shopping sustainably, look out for products labelled with the Fairtrade logo and Rainforest Alliance logo to help reduce deforestation. Also, keep a #PassOnPlastic perspective in mind by looking out for recyclable, biodegradable and even packaging-free products on the shelves. Beyond purchasing a product, you can even use the products more sustainably. The average Brit uses 142 litres of water per day, but Aveda calculated that we could save 6 gallons by simply cutting 3 minutes from our shower time – saving both the planet and your water bill.

Claudia Dupé Second Year English

Would you like to feature in our SPOTTED section? Either wait to be sought out around campus or send in submissions @epigramstyle on Instagram or through our Facebook Group.

5. Floral Street. A perfume company which uses minimalist recyclable packaging and sugar cane to make 100 percent compostable boxes. With no tissue paper, plastic or cellophane in sight, they are a first in the world of fragrance. It was love at first smell when I visited their store in Covent Garden. Although on the pricier side, nothing says luxury more than a gorgeous scent with a clear conscious.

RP: £8.50

Yes To Cucumbers Hypoallergenic Facial Wipes RP: £3.99

Wonderful Peony eau de parfum RP: £55

Our favourite submission wins a surprise prize at the end of the term!

Would you like to write for us? We are currently accepting new aspiring fashion/style writers and would love for you to

2. EcoTools. Offering makeup brushes, hair brushes and bath tools which are environmentally friendly, high-quality and affordable. Their products are made from recycled aluminium and plastic, as well as renewable bamboo for the brush handles. Even their packaging is made from 100 percent tree-free paper. They are also PETA certified and vegan, yippee!

get involved! Visit our Facebook page for regular updates on articles we are commissioning. If you

Airbrush Complexion Kit RP: £14.86

Enhancing Eye Set RP: £5.10

would like to write please do get in contact with one of the team. Although we have a 6. Yes To. A vegan beauty brand whose products are made from 100 percent biodegradable and compostable cellulose. Their Yes to cucumbers face wipes are made from 95 percent natural, crueltyfree ingredients, with no parabens in sight. Not only are they environmentally good, but they also remove eye makeup - those magic words we always long for on a face wipe.

bunch of exciting plans in the pipeline, we are constantly on the look out for new inspiration. Join the team!

Deputy Editor Editor Amelia Edgell-Cole Rachel Evans

@EpigramTravel

Online Editor Amelia Shoebridge

epigram / The Croft 04.02.2019

@epigram_travel

Welcome back from Epigram Travel!

From top destination picks to sustainable and solo travel, we’ve got some great ideas for livening up your 2019 adventures

Flickr / dronepicr

ello and welcome to TB2 from Epigram’s Travel Editors! Amidst looming deadlines and dissertation stresses we’ve been thinking (obsessing) over our future travel plans, dreaming of warmer, less anxious times and planning the minute details of our trips as the ultimate form of procrastination. My next planned adventure is to Budapest in April - I’ve long wanted to explore the historysoaked architecture and infamous heated baths and can’t wait to visit a country I’ve never been to. It may be something of a cliche but I’m also looking forward to exploring the ruin bars, old buildings converted into drinking holes adorned with quirky knick-knacks and graffiti to sample a few drinks and Hungarian snack. What’s more, as graduation looms and with one long summer stretching out ahead of me I’ve also started planning some larger trips, the most exciting being Sri Lanka in the summer. Having never been to this part of the world I can’t wait to be pushed completely outside my comfort zone whilst exploring the fascinating temples and idyllic white sand beaches. One of my favourite things about travelling is sampling the local food and the prospect of hoppers, bowl-shaped pancakes made from fermented rice, tasty dahls and spicy curries is something I’m hotly anticipating. Our next few pages are filled with ideas for places to go and ways to travel in 2019, so you can take a break from essay writing and indluge in some desk-side wanderlust. In the meantime though, it looks like rainy Clifton will have to make

Amelia Edgell-Cole Travel Editor

Epigram / Rachel Evans

Epigram/Amelia Shoebridge

HelloHello and welcome to TB2 from Epigram’s Travel Editors! always Amidst likelooming to start thedeadlines year by reflecting and dissertation back on stresses we’ve the year been before, thinking and thinking (obsessing) aboutover all the ourgreat future travel plans, experiences dreaming I’ve of warmer, had. 2018less wasanxious a fantastic times yearand planning the for minute me travel details wise. of our My summer trips as was the jam ultimate packed form of procrastination. with Mytrips nextto planned Paris, Morocco, adventureanis internship to Budapest in in April - I’ve long wanted Beijing, to and explore a long theweekend history-soaked in Tokyo.architecture It was a andfantastic infamous chance heatedtobaths relaxand andcan’t catchwait up with to visit friends a country I hadn’t I’ve seen never been forto. ages, It may as well be something as makingof many a cliche newbut ones. I’mItalso waslooking incredible forward to to exploring go and live the in ruin another bars,country old buildings for three converted monthsinto anddrinking experience holes adorned a different with quirky cultureknick-knacks that is so different and graffiti to everything to sample aI’m fewused drinks andto.Hungarian Looking forward snack. What’s to 2019,more, I haveasa graduatioHello trip planned to and Holland welcome in to TB2 February. from Epigram’s I’m lucky enough Travel to Editors! be going Amidst on a dissertation looming deadlines researchand dissertation trip to Rotterdam, stresses we’ve and will been be staying thinkingup (obsessing) with one ofover my our friends future travel in Amsterdam. plans, dreaming I can’t of warmer, wait! Amsterdam less anxioushas times to be andone planning of mythe minute favourite details places of our intrips the world. as theThe ultimate architecture form of is procrastination. stunning, and IMy next think planned it’s one adventure of the few is to places Budapest that does in April actually - I’ve look long like wanted the to explore photographs. the history-soaked It feels like every architecture little side and street infamous you walk heated downbaths is andpacked can’t wait with toexciting visit a country shops selling I’ve never all sorts been to. of wonderful It may be something things. of aAmsterdam cliche but I’m is amazing also looking for art forward too, with to internationally exploring the ruin renowned bars, old buildings galleries converted like the Rijksmuseum into drinking and holes the adorned Van Gogh with museum. quirky Like knickknacks Amelia, andIgraffiti love being to sample able toa few eat all drinks the local and Hungarian dishes whenever snack. What’s you more, travel as graduation somewhere, looms and Iand cannot withwait oneto long getsummer a plate of stretching Poffertjesout ahead (Dutch of me pancakes) I’ve alsoand started try allplanning sorts of cheese. some larger I don’ttrips, knowthe what most exciting the summer being Sri will Lanka bring, inbut thesome summer. of the Having best experiences never been to happen this part of the spontaneously, world I can’tyou waitjust to be have pushed to becompletely open to anyoutside experience my comfort that zone whilst exploring the fascinating temples and Rachel idyllic white Evans sand Editor beaches. One of my favourite things aboutDeputy travellingTravel is sampling the

018 was a tremendous year for travelling, I had the pleasure of visiting Porto in April,

HelloHello and welcome toand TB2Kenya from Epigram’s Travel Editors! Amidst deadlines and dissertation Ireland in June in October. The privilege of beinglooming able to travel is something I

stresses we’ve beentry thinking (obsessing) ourbeing futureeconomically travel plans, able dreaming of warmer, less anxious always to remain aware of.over Whilst to travel is a luxury not times and planning the details Iof our trips as the ultimate form of next planned afforded tominute many people, am also trying to be more aware asprocrastination. a human of the My devastatadventure is to Budapest in the April - I’ve long wanted explore the history-soaked architecture andthe infamous ing effects on environment all thistoplane hopping can have. I hope this year and heated bathsyears and can’t visit the a country nevermy been to. Itisland may be something of a cliche afterwait thattoI take time toI’ve explore home more. I would love to visitbut theI’m also looking to exploring the ruin bars, oldin buildings converted into drinking adorned with quirky windyforward islands off Scotland and go for a surf the Cornish sea. Saying this, I doholes already have plans knick-knacks and and graffiti to this sample few and Hungarian snack. What’s graduatioHello to go to Marseille Nepal yearaso far,drinks so perhaps my attempt to limit my flymore, time isasnot going and to TB2 from Travel Editors! looming deadlines and dissertation stresses as welcome well as planned. I hopeEpigram’s that all our readers takeAmidst the time this year for their own adventures, we’ve beenfar thinking future plans, dreaming warmer, lessfor anxious whether or near,(obsessing) I wish that over 2019 our comes withtravel new horizons, sunsetsofand scenery you all.times and planning the minute details of our trips as the ultimate form of procrastination. next planned adventure AmeliaMy Shoebridge is to Budapest in April - I’ve long wanted to explore the history-soaked architecture and infamous Online Travel Editorheated baths and can’t wait to visit a country I’ve never been to. It may be something of a cliche but I’m also looking

epigram / The Croft 04.02.2019

New Year, new you? Travel resolutions for 2019

Giving up chocolate not your idea of a New Year’s resolution? Charlie Campbell offers up her top five travel resolutions for an action packed 2019

hether it’s taking on dry January or vowing to go to the gym more regularly, the first month of the year is often saturated with the distinctive “New Year, New Me” mantra, whereby individuals forge New Year’s resolutions to better their health, bodies and minds. Whilst travel resolutions might not always feature on traditional lists of this kind, the start of a New Year can mark a turning point in how we experience and explore the world around us, helping us to travel wiser and with greater purpose.

Explore more locally Whilst it’s great to dream big, far-away destinations can often prove unrealistic in terms of practicality and price. So this year, instead of travelling further afield, look closer to home and explore more local destinations. The varied and diverse nature of the UK means there are countless travel opportunities on your doorstep, (or at most a plane or train journey away); the quaint Devonshire coastline, the peaceful highlands of Scotland and eclectic cities such as Bath and Bristol are travel destinations just as picturesque and captivating as those more exotic and remote.

Travel sustainably An inherently relevant and pertinent travel resolution for 2019 is to travel more sustainably. If we don’t explore the earth in a responsible way, with the environment in mind, incredible locations and natural wonders may not exist in years to come. There are countless things that we as environmentally aware tourists can embrace in order to ensure we travel in a ‘greener’ way. To mention just a couple; choose eco-friendly, low-polluting modes of transport as much as possible when travelling to your destination, and always carry reusable bags and a reusable water bottle to refill so to avoid contributing to the plastic crisis.

Travel solo

Go technology free As wonderful as it is to record and capture our travel experiences on the many social media sites available to us at the touch of a button, this arguably reduces the authentic nature of travel. Traveling technology free not only means we’re less prone to distractions and social media pressures, but ensures that we are truly absorbing what’s around us. If we only ever travel through the camera lenses on our phones, we aren’t living in the moment, or connected to the unique environments around us. Challenging ourselves to focus less on documenting our travel experiences and more on what we see, hear, and feel, can bring a whole new and engaged perspective to travel.

Travelling solo is a polemic subject in itself, one which can often raise concerns over safety, but done wisely and responsibly, it can be a truly fulfilling and enriching experience. Exploring a new destination on our own can encourage us to step outside our comfort zones, to interact and connect with people in a different dynamic than when in a group. It builds self-confidence and allows us to be our own tour guides and travel planners. As a consequence, whilst learning about and experiencing a new culture and environment, we can also learn a lot about ourselves as individuals.

Tick that one dream destination off your bucket list As another year comes to an end, we often hear ourselves saying things like ‘we’ll go next summer’ or ‘there just wasn’t enough time’. This can be the year to change that. Too often we postpone travel plans or delay experiences simply because they can require a lot of organisation. One travel goal for this New Year is to be more actively engaged and productive in organising our travel opportunities. Perhaps there’s somewhere we’ve always wanted to tick off our bucket-lists but never had the time, energy or means to commit to. Now is the time to live in the moment and make 2019 the year we finally visit our dream destination.

Charlie Campbell Fourth Year, French & Spanish

Unsplash / Sangarsh Angura

04.02.2019 epigram / The Croft

Top destination picks for 2019 Plovdiv: rich history and vibrant culture

Jemima Stafford explains why we should all visit Bulgaria’s second largest city. lived and died here. The Hillock of Fraternity, for example – a sombre, concrete construction, containing the interred remains of partisan fighters, sits in the urban, western part of Plovdiv, a seemingly forgotten testament to the communist era. Plovdiv is Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited city, and as such you can expect to see this imbued in the city’s topography. Walking from the direction of the Old Town, Plovdiv’s ancient Roman Theatre (still in use today) is a sudden contrast to the lively and vibrant centre as it sits crumbling, having been fading away into the city’s foundations since the 1st century AD. Flickr / Juan Antonio Segal

lovdiv. You’ve probably never heard of it. But with its new-found status as a European Capital of Culture, you’ll most likely be able to point to it on a map soon. I’m claiming Plovdiv as my dream location for 2019 because it’s upand-coming, and before you consider it as a potential holiday destination you should ask yourself: what kind of traveller am I? Because if you’re looking for something tried and tested, Plovdiv isn’t. But what it is, is rich in history, abundant in local culture and set amongst unspoiled and stunning natural geography. Dreamy.

Moving away from history new and ancient, the Kapana district, aka “the Trap”, was until recently a neglected and derelict area in the centre of Plovdiv. But it’s helping to earn the city the title of the capital of cool, as it’s been transformed into an arty and eccentric hub for the bohemian traveller, and dweller, filled with craft beer halls, wine bars and sanctioned street art. In the evenings the bars and beer halls double up into night clubs. There are even a couple of restaurants that cater to veggies – a rare sight in

What can you expect to see? In Plovdiv itself there is an eclectic mix between the gentrification of different areas of the city such as the Central Square and the lingering relics of the period of communist governance, as well as the interspersion of ancient monuments reminiscent of the multitude of different epochs which have

the otherwise meat-obsessed world of Bulgaria. You won’t be too concerned about the lack of variety with food though when you can get a pint for 2 Bulgarian levs, ie., just one pound. What better way is there to leverage your spending money? The Old Town itself is a cobbled microcosm of culture, filled with quirky overhanging traditional buildings (apparently overhanging because property tax was based on the size of the ground floor) that constitute a photographer’s delight. Venturing outside of the main town, perhaps the biggest landmarks are the hills for which Plovdiv has been labelled the City of the Seven Hills. There are actually only six hills because one of them got blown up and made into material with which to pave road surfaces with. Alas, the other six hills can still offer incredible views, and offer a sweet release from the buzz of the town. Plovdiv is my dream destination for 2019 because it offers a more off-piste version of what you can see in any of the more upholstered European cities. Think Salzburg in style, with Ljubljana prices, and Bulgarian food and hospitality. With their bid under the theme of ‘togetherness’ winning them the European Capital of Culture title for 2019, you might just be seeing the multifarious threads of inspiration behind Plovdiv’s current style becoming more widely recognised in the coming year.

Jemima Stafford Second Year, English

Medellín, Tokyo and Yucután Peninsula: three increcible places to s the new year gets underway, its days filled with grey skies and deadlines, many of us can only dream about being somewhere warm and sunny. Summer might seem a long way away, but it’s never too early to start planning a good getaway. Here are some top destinations to be dreaming of in 2019. Flickr / Mauricio Carvajal Bustamante

Unsplash / trapnation

Medellín The City of Eternal Spring, Columbia’s second biggest city Medellín boasts not only pleasant climate but also beautiful mountains and a vibrant culture. Once among the most dangerous cities in the world due to ongoing drug-wars, over the past two decades Medellín has experienced a colossal transformation, and is now packed with museums, bars and restaurants. The Medellín Metrocable built in 2004 to connect poorer communities in the mountains with the rest of the city carries over 30,000 passengers daily and offers panoramic views of the city’s diverse neighbourhoods, from rich to poor. Head to Plaza Botero to see 23 giant sculptures by Medellín born artist Fernando Botero in his unique style known as boterismo. The neighbouring Museo de Antioquia features pre-Columbian, colonial and modern art

Tokyo Tokyo’s sprawling metropolis offers the best of Japanese cuisine, futuristic architecture and world-class museums. The city promises a jam-packed itinerary; there’s just too much to do and see in one visit. For an insight into Japanese history and culture, visit the Sensoji Temple. Completed in 645AD, this Buddhist temple is the oldest in the capital, hosting a grand hall, a colourful five-story pagoda and extensive surrounding gardens. Shibuya Scramble Crossing on the other hand offers an iconic image of Tokyo, with up to 1,000 people at a time rushing across the intersection. For shopping, Harukuju, famed for its neon, eclectic fashions, is home to both high end boutiques and smaller, backstreet clothes shops whilst the outside market at Tsukiji sells fresh fish, seafood and produce alongside crowded restaurants. Even in the world’s most populous metropolis, it is still possible to find nature: the city hosts a number of parks including the Imperial Palace East Garden, the grounds of the former Edo Castle. In spring, the arrival of the cherry blossoms is celebrated across the city with events such as the Sakara Festival.

Flickr / FarFluncgTravels

Alice Oliver rounds up some of the best places to visit for a vibrant, individual and unforgettable trip.

Yucután Peninsula Comprising three Mexican states as well as parts of Belize and Guatemala, the Yucután peninsula has a lot to offer. Combining Caribbean beaches, Mayan ruins and colonial heritage, the peninsula is a truly diverse and unique destination. The east coast hosts resorts well known for their stunning beaches and great climate, such as those at Cancun and Playa del Carmen. These spots offer a perfect beach getaway, but the peninsula has so much more to offer. A two-hour journey from Cancun, Mayan ruins at Tulum offer a doorway to another time. An ancient port trading mainly in jade and turquoise overlooking the ocean atop jagged cliffs, Tulum’s ruins are unusually well preserved. The site also hosts a secluded beach complete with white sand and turquoise waters. To the west, Mérida combines Mayan ruins, colonial architecture and a unique gastronomic heritage in addition to a lively music and drinking scene and the best museums in the peninsula. Nearby cenotes offer a magical break from the city. These natural waterfilled sink holes appear both uncovered and in caves. The Mayan people believe the cenotes were a gateway to the underworld, and today they hold a mystical charm, as well as offering visitors a place to cool off with a refreshing swim. Alice Oliver

Fourth Year, French and Portuguese

Bristol SU Sponsored Content

The shortest month of the year often proves to be the busiest one with calendars packed full of different campaigns and events. This February proves to be no different, and here's a small sample of what you can get involved in...

LGBT+ History Month

give it a go

LGBT+ History Month

Give it a Go is your opportunity to try lots of different societies and sports clubs for free. If you're looking to try something new, or wished you'd signed up to something different at Welcome Fair, this is your opportunity to give everything from massage to canoe a go.

LGBT History Month is a month-long annual observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. Join Bristol SU LGBT+ network, Trans Network, LGBT+ Society and Bristol University LGBT+ Staff network for a month of celebration, exploration and discussion.

Elections #SUYesYou

sustainability month

Sustainability Month February 2019 brings you four weeks packed full of talks, panel discussions, mingles, workshops, volunteering opportunities, screenings and more! The Bristol SU RAG, Volunteering and Sustainability Network has collaborated with sustainability societies across the University to organise a full month of events.

Bristol SU Election nominations are open now giving you the opportunity to nominate yourself or recommend a friend for a range of different voluntary part-time and paid full-time roles. Every current student is eligible to run for a role, and there's such a variety there's bound to be one for you! Whether you want to campaign for change, boost your CV or try something new (and have fun doing it) you should consider running in the elections #SUYesYou Find out more at: www.bristolsu.org.uk/elections

Interfaith week

Join our different religious and spiritual student groups joined in collaboration for a week of celebrating what faith means to students. Expect a series of different events from 18th February.

Bristol SU Sponsored Content

WHAT'S ON Volunteering Fair

Wednesday 6th February, 5pm, Anson Rooms Are you ready to have your horizons broadened? To be inspired by ordinary people achieving extraordinary things? To effect real, tangible change in your local community? Entry to the Fair is FREE, and we'll be bringing a bit of something for anyone and everyone who fancies getting stuck in with volunteering this February.

Volunteering

Fair

www.bristolsu.org.uk/volunteering

Bristol University Vintage KILO SALE Tuesday 5th February, from 11am, Bristol SU Browse the seection of vintage clothing, pick what you like and take it to a weigh station, pay for the amount that you've picked and leave happy! Join us for another vintage kilo sale at Bristol SU.

Campus Heart Advisory Group: Help us name Senate House Wednesday 6th February, 1:15pm, Senate House Join a workshop with artist The Fandango Kid who will help us explore ‘What’s in a name?’ and what Senate House means to you. You can help shortlist the names at a second workshop the following week.

LGBT+/Folk Society Ceilidh Saturday 9th February, 7:30pm, Anson Rooms Bristol Folk and LGBT+ Societies are teaming up to bring you the LGBT+ Ceilidh! (a gay-lidh, if you will). Join our two societies as we dance the night away to some folky bangers - there will be an inhouse band playing the tunes! No previous experience is necessary, and everyone is welcome!

Holocaust Memorial Day, Tuesday 12th February, 6pm, Anson Rooms

Find a Flatmate, Wednesday 13th February, Bristol SU Living Room

Holocaust Memorial Day is the national day of commemoration for the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. This event will include the personal account of a Holocaust survivor, accounts of the experiences of groups persecuted in the Holocaust and the lighting of memorial candles.

If you’re still searching for your perfect future ﬂatmates, don’t worry. Join us for a fun and informal event to meet new people. Think speed-dating – but for people you want to live with and with less awkwardness and more snacks.

Richmond Lectures: Suzanne Imber Thursday 7th February, 6pm, Anson Rooms Suzie is a space physicist, a high-altitude mountaineer and explorer, and the winner of the BBC2 series Astronauts: Do You Have What it Takes? Join her for a talk on Adventures in Space.

Zero Waste Fair, Sunday 10th February As part of Sustainability Month Bristol University Sustainability Network are organising a Zero Waste Fair. Come along to the SU to meet businesses, charities and causes that support the Zero Waste initiative and learn how you can reduce your own impact and waste less.

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

Film & TV

epigram 04.02.2018

Editor: Patrick Sullivan Online Editor: James Turnbull Deputy Editor: Luke Silverman Student Film Correspondent: Miles Jackson

How mainstream films are received differently in China and internationally

Third Year, Social Policy and Politics

n December 21, Once Upon A Deadpool (2018) premiered in Beijing, with fans lining up craving for a long-waited face-to-face meet and greet from Ryan Reynolds, who immediately agreed to go when he received the invitation. Once Upon a Deadpool, a special PG-13 version of the previously released movie Deadpool 2 (2018), was released shortly before Christmas. Although it contains a lot of new shots, and has also caught attention from X-Men Cinematic Universe fans, it is not a brand new movie and has only been shown on a much smaller scale than the original R-rated Deadpool 2. But, not only did the premiere in Beijing make headlines in many newspapers, the movie itself has gained 151 million dollars in the first week of releasing in China. The reason why Once Upon A Deadpool became such a hit in China is the strict censorship in the Chinese film market. Due to the lack of a proper film rating system, most ‘foreign films’ in China are strictly edited before releasing - scenes considered ‘inappropriate’ for mass audiences will be cut from the film. The R-rated film Logan

(2017) was almost given the same treatment and turned into a PG-13 version in order to be permitted to release in China. Both of the Deadpool movies, however, are inappropriate inside and out - its scenes of sex and violence together with its very inappropriate language throughout made it really hard to cut. Not releasing it at all became a rational choice for the Chinese government. It is therefore not hard to understand why films such as Venom (2018), which was not received very well in Western markets, still gain incredible box office results in the Chinese market. Chinese audiences have always suffered from the starved market as a result of the government censorship and restrictions on releasing foreign films each year. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has also

been a great boost to the Chinese film market phenomenon. It has become a trend to watch Marvel and DC related films - regardless of whether you understand it or not. In other words, we will take whatever is offered. The Chinese market is thus a heaven for popcorn movies. Because of the underdevelopment of CGI techniques, there have been very few Chinese films that are able to excite and pump up the adrenaline of the audience. The lack of quality in action and sci-fi movies results in a high demand for big budget foreign films which make use of big explosions and high-tech spaceships. The market has become more like an insurance for popcorn movies. As long as you have big action sequences, we will buy it - the cherry on top being the involvement

IMDb / Columbia Pictures

The underdeveloped and censored Chinese film industry limits the quality of movies Joanne Yang

“The market has become more like an insurance for popcorn movies. As long as you have big action sequences, we will buy it”

of some Chinese actors and movie stars. For example, The Meg (2018), although severely criticised among both Western and Chinese audience groups, still received a boost from the Chinese market. The film industry in China is largely underdeveloped compared to the western countries, despite growing audiences. Due to the political and historical context, films have been highly restricted for decades and few outstanding filmmakers and movies have emerged. The majority of the Chinese audience therefore have a relatively low standard regarding the appreciation of cinema. This is why films such as Venom and The Meg enjoy success at the box office in China ahead of dramas celebrated in the US and UK.

Notable filmmakers from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and their best works Ang Lee

Jia Zhangke

Chen Kaige

Ann Hui

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Ash Is Purest White (2018)

Farewell, My Concubine (1993)

Boat People (1982)

‘Chinese Fifth Generation’

Tony Rayns Film Critic & Expert in East Asian Cinema 50 Best Filmmakers Under 50, Cinema Scope

Yellow Earth (1984)

YouTube / kungfufilmsdotnl

A Simple Life (2011) YouTube / Asian CineVision

IMDb / XStream Pictures

Still Life (2006)

IMDb / Focus Features

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

“[Zhangke’s] aesthetic excellence goes handin-hand with his brilliant analysis of the methods needed to maintain [...] independence in state-capitalist China”

‘Hong Kong New Wave’

IMDb / Beijing Film Studio

IMDb / Sony Pictures

IMDb / XStream Pictures

‘Chinese Sixth Generation’

IMDb / Guangxi Film Studio

‘From Taiwan to Hollywood’

04.02.2018

epigram

Film & TV 35

The new Chinese ‘independent’ cinema IMDb / Blind Way / Authrule Media

The government control is limiting a blossoming independent film industry in the country Maddie Bowers

Third Year, Theatre & Performance

ndependent films have long been part of China’s cinematic history – but not often welcomingly on part of the Communist government. Chris Berry notes in a 2017 article for Asia Dialogue: ‘In the United States and most liberal democracies, ‘independent cinema’ is understood in contrast to Hollywood and other mainstream commercial industries. The main thing that Chinese independent films and filmmakers try to be independent of is the state.’ For decades, these daring creatives have gone underground, privately funding their budgets and ducking under the government’s censorship turnstile by not attempting to commercially release their films within China’s borders. Instead, they rely on international film festivals or hushed private screenings. In recent years, however, the western interpretation of the term ‘independent cinema’ has been reinstated with an authoritarian twist as President Xi Jinping’s government takes a hard stance on soft power. China’s film market is gradually on its way to becoming the biggest in the world, with 25 screens reportedly opening daily. Naturally, Hollywood wants a piece of the swelling pie, but in doing so it has to bow to China’s terms: only 36 foreign films are allowed to be shown in Chinese theatres

“For decades, these daring creatives have gone underground, privately funding their budgets and ducking under the government’s censorship turnstile”

(although in recent years there has been some leniency). Additionally, international studios only receive 25 per cent of box office commissions in China, as opposed to 40 per cent in most other markets. So why the great taxes? Well, as most people are aware of, the Communist Party of China has imposed increasing censorship upon the country’s media since coming to power in 1949. This is to conserve its unifying ideology within the mind of its citizens, its arguments being that the integration of Western (mostly American) ideals of democracy and liberty leads to uprising such as that of the Arab spring and hence, in their view, the collapse of peaceful and secure nations. Therefore, international films must undergo China’s rigorous vetting process, being filtered and chopped until they’re allowed to entice China’s growing middle-class audience. As much as this might bring a tear to your eye on behalf of the Hollywood conglomerates, those that truly have to face the magnitude of this

suppression are the often-unacknowledged Chinese filmmakers. Li Yang, a star of Chinese independent cinema, has consistently had his films banned in China throughout his career. His talent for portraying the raw and gritty reality of the Chinese lower classes has won him a ‘Silver Bear’ at the Berlin Film Festival and ‘Best Feature’ at Tribeca Film Festival, both for Blind Shaft (2003). However, 40 per cent of his latest project has been scrapped by authorities as Li has chosen to work with the censors to ensure Blind Way (2017) receives a theatrical release in his home country. ‘We [filmmakers] survive in a narrow gap,’ Li laments, ‘we are dancing with shackles, but we still want to dance, want to express ourselves. In China, there is a special situation, the censors don’t regard the movies as a complete artwork, they believe the movie has the propaganda function, an educational function.’ In March 2018, the government overhauled its department of media

regulation and placed TV and radio under the direct control of the state council. Film was given even more special attention as China acknowledged its superior role in ‘affecting the hearts of the people’. It was placed under the command of the Central Propaganda Department. It’s now no longer enough for Chinese filmmakers to adhere to the censors – mainly against graphic violence, sexual scenes, and homosexuality – they now have to actively stand in solidarity with the Xi Jinping’s ideology. The government are enforcing these rigidly, especially now that the Chinese population’s tastes are maturing and independent cinema more than suits their palate. Last year, the influential Sixth Generation independent filmmaker Jia Zhangke launched a brand-new film festival in his home province of Shanxi. His aim was to bring a wider audience to artisan film and kick start the career of many young directors. Admittedly, of course, all films shown had come in accordance with the censors. Li Yang, Professor of Film Theory at Peking University - no relation to the aforementioned director - believes that these new upcoming filmmakers are taking a fresh approach to their creative limitations. ‘They neither directly criticize state ideology, nor overtly court commercial appeal,’ he states. ‘The new generation of directors is trying to strike a balance between the market, and the system, and the self.’ The ever-increasing Chinese cinema market is granting upcoming independent filmmakers more opportunities to express their views on Chinese society. Only if, in the eyes of the authorities, they don’t go too far.

Editors’ Picks

IMDb / Wenhua FIlm Company

IMDb / Focus Features

IMDb / Columbia Pictures

IMDb / China Film Co-Production

To celebrate Chinese New Year on February 4, we have chosen our favourite films from the region

Patrick Sullivan

Luke Silverman

James Turnbull

Miles Jackson

Editor

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Student Film Correspondent

Ju Dou (1990)

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

In The Mood For Love (2000)

Spring in a Small Town (1948)

An early film by one of China’s great contemporary directors, Zhang Yimou, Ju Dou features a forbidden love in a rural setting, not unlike American auteur Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978), and one of the most terrifying teenagers of cinema in Tianbai (Ji-an Zheng). Li Gong put in a powerful performance and went on to become of China’s most recognised actresses, winning Best Actress at Venice Film Festival in 1992 for another Yimou film, The Story of Qiu Ju (1992). She plays the titular character, who is abused by her cruel, impotent husband for failing to provide an heir before she claims the child she conceives with his hardworking nephew is his. Overall, the film is an insight into the familial pressures of Chinese society, and the vast spaces of rural China differ from the megacities known to many.

Kung Fu Hustle is a martial arts gangster comedy film that follows Sing, played by director Stephen Chow, and his simple minded sidekick Bone, portrayed by Lam Chi-chung. The premise is simple: Sing and Bone are desperate to join the notorious Axe Gang to affirm their lives as gangsters and a place in society. Along the way, however, we meet a colourful band of supporting characters who fill the narrative with such brilliant performances that it makes it hard to resist the charm of this film. Of particular note is Yuen Qiu, who plays the Landlady of Pig Sty Alley - the victim of attack by the Axe Gang. Her dynamic with Yuen Wah, the Landlord, is incredibly funny throughout. The fight choreography is exceptional and at times takes on a cartoon style. If you are a fan of Jackie Chan’s filmography, check out this one too.

Though I enjoyed my first taste of Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai’s work - 2013’s The Grandmaster - I never expected to be so utterly entranced by this film, widely considered to be his magnum opus. In The Mood For Love delicately walks the fine line between ecstasy and despair, bringing to life the all-too-fleeting moments of romance between two neighbours (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) who seem doomed to long for each other from afar. The stunning cinematography presents audiences with a glimpse at an almost dreamlike sensual limbo, and I couldn’t help but admire how frames so busy with human life could feel so desperately lonely. But it’s the music that sticks with me after all this time. ‘Yumeji’s Theme’, the film’s instantly iconic cello leitmotif, is truly unforgettable.

Widely regarded as the greatest film of preCommunist China, Spring in a Small Town is a delicate exercise in minimalism that follows a Chinese family crippled in the wake of the Second World War. The locales - battered by war - perfectly frame a profoundly sad love triangle, brought to life by an uncompromising cinematic stillness that makes even the smallest of gestures speak volumes. The stark, black and white photography - expert in its use of shadow - as well as its profound soliloquies, make it a worthy companion piece to the desolate chamber pieces of Ingmar Bergman. Like that auteur’s films, Spring in a Small Town’s languid pace can certainly be taxing, but Fei Mu’s lushly understated compositions tell an affecting story not only about its characters but about post-war China as a whole.

epigram 04.02.2018

Film & TV 36

Student Film Correspondant

n Orson Welles’ documentary F for Fake (1973), cinema’s greatest artistic statement about forgery, Welles presents the true story of a biographer that made up details of the person he was writing about. Welles turns to the audience and describes his biographer as ‘a highly gifted writer. Does it say something about this age of ours that he could only make it big by fakery?’ It’s a question posited in Marielle Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which tells the true story of Lee Israel, another biographer who turned to forging letters supposedly written by famous authors in order to pay the rent. Israel, delightfully played by Melissa McCarthy, is a clearly talented writer who naturally embodies the voices of those she memorialises even if the words themselves are fake. Yet McCarthy’s nuanced performance is undersold by a curious lack of vision from Heller and screenwriter Nicole Holofcener, who ironically fail to get into the head of a protagonist who is adept at just that. Heller’s debut film The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) was a perceptive and sensitive ode to adolescence which also boasted a fabulous visual imagination, beautifully evoking the

innermost desires of its protagonist through bold imagery. The same cannot be said for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, in which the washed-out, bland cinematography and flat, meaningless framing rarely say anything either about Israel or the world she inhabits. There’s an implication in Holofcener’s screenplay that Israel’s forgery was not merely about paying her bills but rather gaining appreciation and recognition for her undeniable talent. Yet nothing in Heller’s lifeless direction ever reflects or dramatises such desires, leaving a film that features great performances and entertaining wisecracks but ultimately treats its subject superficially. Heller’s wanting direction extends to the mechanics of the plot itself. The film fails to adequately build tension as the law inevitably catches up with Israel. A climactic heist sequence is shot entirely in close-ups and medium shots, with no sense of geography, scale or spatiality between

LFF / Fox Searchlight Pictures

Can You Ever Forgive Me? has been nominated for three Oscars, but the film has major flaws Miles Jackson

Searchlight IMDb / Fox Like It HotPictures Some

Can you ever forgive lifeless direction?

Israel and the people she is stealing from, thus nulling any sense of tension. Likewise, there’s little sense of escalation as Israel’s crime spree expands, the screenplay never making the world around Israel feel tangible enough to measure any sense of change in her lifestyle or character as she profits from her fakery. It’s a shame as the film’s cast work together like gangbusters. McCarthy has always had a talent for finding an eminent likeability in life’s losers. Here, she turns a passive-aggressive, alcoholic cat lady into a lost, broken soul, grounding the character’s cynical, acerbic jibes in a bittersweet poignance. She’s matched by Richard E. Grant as Jack Hock, an irascible and foppish dandy who forms a strong bond with Israel, two cynics united by their self-destructive qualities. The film’s best moments are when the two actors are simply allowed to talk to each other, Holofcener’s witty dialogue elevated by two performers who find soul in the comedy. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to hide the

“A film that features great performances and entertaining wisecracks but ultimately treats its subject superficially”

film’s inability to generate tension or develop Israel beyond a great performance and a few funny lines. Whilst the film’s cavalierness with which it treats both Israel and Hock’s homosexuality is admirable, Israel’s romance with a bookstore owner to whom she sells forged letters is a low-point of the film, neither character ever developing enough for the audience to feel any investment. Whilst watching Can You Ever Forgive Me? I was reminded of television’s Better Call Saul (2015-), another story of an underappreciated talent turning to petty crime not only to achieve financial security but to vicariously gain recognition for their own smarts. Where that show regularly succeeds in cinematically depicting its protagonist’s ego and envy, as well as making crimes even more insignificant than the ones Israel commits feel earth-shattering, Marielle Heller’s sophomore feature simply fails to have the same impact. It’s a waste of a talented cast and a great story, as well as Heller’s own previously documented expertise.

Film & TV Editor

t has been two years since filmmaker Barry Jenkins’ personal work Moonlight (2016) became a cinematic classic, and the expectations for anything he created thereafter changed to astronomic heights. His follow up feature is an adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk which is the story of Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James), two childhood friends who fall in love in early adulthood before Fonny is wrongly accused of rape and imprisoned. Barry Jenkins is a true artist and, working again with Moonlight cinematographer James Laxton, If Beale Street Could Talk

features many stunning still frames. He is the antithesis of Michael Bay in that regard - while Bay uses high intensity, fast paced, large scale shots to exhilarate the audience, Jenkins elevates the most ordinary objects or moments with extraordinary lighting and slow introspection unlike anyone else. Smoking on screen is continually being discouraged, but, oh my, in one scene here it has never looked more beautiful. Fonny - an aspiring sculptor - examines his latest work of art with a cigarette, circling the empty room in which it centres with smog. The white smoke cuts through the dim light from above and snakes round him as he peruses his masterpiece tellingly. The scene is intercut with a parallel of Fonny circling his prison cell - showing him at his most free and oppressed. Another wondrous sequence occurs in the final third when Tish gives birth in Fonny’s absence, supported by her in-laws. The moment is set in a modest bathroom and

LFF / Annapurna Pictures

Barry Jenkins’ third feature film hits home with beautiful imagery amidst institutional racism Patrick Sullivan

accompanied by flashbacks to when Fonny and Tish shared baths together as kids, but it’s impossible to do justice in words the impact of Jenkins’ imagery. There exists both here and in the earlier sex scenes an appreciation for the natural beauty of the acts, which provides a stark contrast to the hopelessness and desperation the characters feel as a result of human cruelty. The familial love, especially fervent when Tish holds her newborn son, presides over this film despite its themes, and it is also heartwarming to see such a prominent romantic arc between two Black characters. The patient pacing of the entire film is at times stultifying and elsewhere a wonderful example of classic drama. The narrative is revealed throughout rather than actively told - we know early on Fonny is imprisoned through Tish’s transparent voiceover, ‘I hope nobody has to look at somebody they love through glass,’ which precedes a scene where they stare at each other longingly through glass. Details regarding the origins of their love story and the crime Fonny didn’t commit are drip fed, giving every luvvy-duvvy date Fonny and Tish share more weight than one might expect in a tale of racial injustice. However, the passive storytelling techniques excel in certain sequences, especially the middle section when Brian Tyree Henry appears as Daniel. KiKi Layne and Stephan James do perfectly fine jobs with their lead roles, but Henry is the standout performer in his short cameo, as well as Regina King in her award-winning

IMDb / Annapurna Pictures

Beale Street is another Jenkins masterpiece

“Jenkins elevates the most ordinary objects or moments with extraordinary lighting and slow introspection unlike anyone else”

supporting role as Fonny’s determined mother. Henry has the gravitas needed to execute the slower, layered delivery. He undercuts his lively character introduction with a compelling, dark monologue detailing his time unjustly spent in prison before snapping back to the default, happier mood. One of Daniel’s utterances summarises the political heft of the subject matter: ‘When you’re in there, they can do they whatever they want.’ As it reaches its climax, the tempo could have risen to exemplify the weight of the story and really hit home the systemic injustice of racism in contemporary US history. That being said, the beauty of the film partially owes itself to its narrow focus and the time it allows for considered observation. Overall, If Beale Street Could Talk is another gorgeous Barry Jenkins film, and a rare on-screen love story between Black characters.

Pop into your local College Green Co-op for a delicious mid week meal College Green Co-op, 40-42a College Green, Avon, Bristol BS1 5SH. Opening times: 7am-11pm, 7 days a week Serving suggestion. Products shown are stocked in participating stores and subject to availability. Varieties as stocked.

Arts

epigram 04.02.2019

Editor: Alina Young Online Editor: Avital Carno Deputy Editors: Anna Trafford & Gabi Spiro

@epigramarts @epigramarts

How to make 2019 your year of arts flexible, well-balanced schedule. I’m also a clichéd musical fanatic – yup, the one regularly and shamelessly caught dancing to the Mamma Mia soundtrack- and I plan on seeing Kinky Boots touring at the Bristol Hippodrome from 25th February until 9th March. After watching the phenomenal performance of Miss Saigon at the Hippodrome last year, I became inspired to make more time

Forget diet fads and promises to ‘work harder’— spice up your year with some arty goals Livi Player

Second Year, English

busy my bullet journal was put aside to gain dust. So, for my New Year’s arts resolution I hope to start Bullet Journaling again, and, this time, to use it to its full potential. Bullet Journaling was a great stress release and an aesthetic activity that brought out my creative side, which other aspects of life, such as university work, have sometimes inhibited. It’s a small project to work on and become proud of – and maybe it will help me to become more productive, both in and out of university, if I can stick to the

bullet.journals / Instagram

Milly Randall / Epigram

he all too familiar whisperings of dreaded diets and demanding exercise regimes are circling, clouding our social media - but I’d like to talk about my New Year, new arts resolutions. They’re small creative alternatives that may even provide some inspiration for your 2019, ones that might include a cheeky square of chocolate every now and then. Last year, I was introduced to the wonderful world of Bullet Journaling. This involves a creative diary or planner used in whatever way you wish, be it a fitness tracker, a daily diary or a mindfulness log to track your thoughts and goals. As you can imagine, a quick search for Bullet Journals on Instagram instantly filled my brain with colours, fonts and doodles, sending me to my nearest stationary shop for a fresh new notebook and fine tipped brush pens that remain my pride and joy. Unfortunately, as life inevitably became

“Bullet Journaling was a great stress release and an aesthetic activity that brought out my creative side”

for theatre trips, and what better place than Bristol? Book wise, as an English student you can imagine my to-read list is already fairly long, bordering on a novel all unto itself, but a couple of books have particularly caught my eye in recent weeks and shot to the top of the list. The first is Michelle Obama’s memoir,

Becoming. My initial response to the book is of pure awe at such an incredible role model. Finally being able to get my hands on her book and read about her life has led to great excitement to sit down, a cup of tea in one hand, maybe a square (or four) of chocolate in the other, and spend some time with such an author. Second, a fairly old book, is Adam Kay’s diary of being a junior doctor, This is Going to Hurt. I’ve seen a lot of hype surrounding this book with its painfully funny anecdotes of life as a junior doctor, a genuine observation of life on the NHS frontline, and I can’t wait to start a book so different to my normal read. While this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the main idea is that by choosing this book I’ve really gone out of my comfort zone – let’s make 2019 the year we allow ourselves to look somewhere unexpected to find something wonderful. I hope my ideas have inspired some arts resolutions to fuel your 2019. Be it a theatre trip, a colourful new page in your own Bullet Journal or something entirely different – there’s something artsy for everyone to add a sparkle to the cold January days. Who knows, maybe you’ll still be going in February, when everyone else has cancelled their gym memberships…

Broke? Take up armchair travelling Escape the January blues with some international reads Lydia Barnes

Luke Unger / Epigram

f you’re like me, one of your New Year’s resolutions is probably always to ‘read more’. And for the most part, I do well: in the last four years I’ve gone from reading around 20 books a year to reading 64 in 2018. But, unfortunately, that has come in the form of reading a load of books primarily in the English language. For someone who can read in three different languages and studies comparative literature, I read embarrassingly few books that weren’t originally written in English. So, this year, I am resolving to read significantly more books by non-anglophone authors. The most commonly cited reason for reading in translation is that it expands your cultural horizons, and this is absolutely true. I couldn’t advocate more for reading widely in order to expose yourself to a multiplicity of viewpoints and voices as a form of ‘armchair travelling’. In such a globalized world it’s easy to think we’re all constantly consuming new content which expands our worldview, but international literature is a way to truly immerse yourself in the thoughts and experiences of others, grounded in their own cultural stereotypes, their histories, and their language. There are plenty of other persuasive reasons for reading more globally. One of the

in French, where graphic novels have a wider readership. Therefore, if you can speak French, you’ve got a leg up on other anglophone readers who simply do not have access to this work. There are plenty of other reasons to read more international literature, but it all comes down to the pressing need to question our ways of seeing the world, which is inevitably steeped in our own cultural norms.

Luke Unger / Epigram

Comparative Literatures and Culture MA

more important ones is that it supports the translation industry. We live in a capitalist society in which supply and demand fuel the market for books. If we all read more world literature, it would push the bigger publishers to commission more translations, and hopefully make a dent in the publishing industry that’s pretty oversaturated with anglophone texts. We’ve already started seeing this happen during the last few years here in the UK, with independent presses such as Tilted Axis leading the way. This notfor-profit press are committed to shaking up the international literature industry: ‘Tilting the axis of world literature from the centre to the margins allows us to challenge that very division. These margins are spaces of compelling innovation, where multiple traditions spark new forms and translation plays a crucial role.’

It is important to note, however, that reading books in translation into English comes with its flaws as well. The majority of translated fiction is translated into English, revealing something about the laziness of anglophone readers. The assumption that everything will eventually make it into English is both untrue and arrogant. Of course, you must be able to speak a second (or third, or fourth) language in order to go beyond this, and reading a text in its original language allows you to enjoy the work free from the inevitable distortion, for better or for worse, that occurs during the process of translation. However, the rarely talked about benefit of being able to read another language is that it also opens you up to works that may have not been translated into English but have been into your second language. An example of this is the Japanese manga artist Hikaru Nakamura, whose work will be exhibited in the British Museum this summer. Her work has not yet been translated into English, but it is available

Fancy trying out some works in translation? We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, translated from the Russian by Natasha Randall ⭐

“International literature is a way to truly immerse yourself in the thoughts and experiences of others, grounded in their own cultural stereotypes, their histories and their language”

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, translated from the Spanish by Ruth L.C. Simms ⭐ The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith ⭐ The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafón, translated from the Spanish by Lucia Graves

04.02.2019 epigram

Arts 39

Catch a whiff of Lynks Afrikka Epigram speaks to Elliot Brett, 3rd year student and self-described “producer” of Lynks Afrikka – an uncategorizable creature of queer performance art’ Alina Young Arts Editor

“The beauty of Lynks is that it cannot be categorised; perhaps it’s more a mind set”

That feeling of knowing that you’re feeling terrible because of what’s happened, but wanting others to realise that it’s not their fault.’ Accompanied with a music video, the single is very much a ‘Lynks production’ – it blurs bizarre, engrossing visuals with a catchy yet unusual sound. With a great reception to this initial single, there are plans for the release of more of Lynks Afrikka’s songs digitally. Don’t get complacent, however, in assuming these will continue to be in the same format: ‘In terms of music videos, Lynks wants to avoid staying in one box. The first product Lynks released was a fragrance in July 2018, for which there was a fragrance launch party in London. Who knows what might be next? A series of vlogs or a disposable rain mac... I don’t know. It could be anything. But there will definitely be more songs.’ But, in true Lynks style, that can’t be announced yet. Elliot presents a need to keep Lynks Afrikka as an act separate from himself, giving it a

Elliot Brett/ Lynks Afrikka Elliot Brett/ Lynks Afrikka

on. Go to the gigs, everyone is so nice; just go talk to them.’ Lynks Afrikka deliberately tries to break away from the grain in Bristol’s performance scene: both musically, and in the queer art that is most prevalent amongst Bristol’s clubs. Explaining his experience with Bristol’s queer art scene, Elliot notes how ‘In London if you just search “Queer nights in London” you get a million responses, but queer spaces in Bristol are way fewer and further between - you’ve got to really search for them.’ While Lynks Afrikka may have been angled towards drag earlier in its evolution, the focus now is ‘more performance and music’. From a musical perspective, the driving force is fun: perhaps it’s ‘not massively groundbreaking on a technical level, but it’s great dance music that works as a backdrop for conceptual songs.’ In his production, Elliot tries ‘to avoid genre, which is fun. I try to not, for example, just do a “house song” and a “techno song”. I try to make them mush around and just do whatever.’ Aside from feeding into Lynks’ genre-bending ways, the music’s resistance to specific rules also partially stems from Elliot’s self-taught background. ‘As I taught myself how to use the software, I don’t have a background rooted in that knowledge; perhaps I’m making mistakes, but I think that contributes to making it sound a bit weird completely unintentionally, which I like.’ He also appreciates how unique this possibility is to our time, considering the widespread availability of learning music production. ‘It’s the incredible world we live in now that I can make music literally just with my laptop. We can make music with any time signature, any instruments, you can sample anything.’ Similar to how it experiments with queer art forms, Lynks Afrikka’s music makes the most of what, it could be said, many acts do not take full opportunity of: how ‘you can get on stage and literally do anything. It makes me wonder why we so often play songs with such similar vibes. It can be great music, but when there’s so much we can do now, why are we not pushing further?’ October 2018 saw a milestone for Lynks Afrikka, with the release of its first single “Don’t Take It Personal”. ‘The single came about from Lynks observing all the anger, frustration, and the weird ways people seem to treat each other’, Elliot explains. The lyrics show Lynks’ perspective, how ‘It tries to get into the head of a person on a day when everything seems to be going wrong.

Elliot Brett/ Lynks Afrikka

Epigram / Elliot Brett/ Lynks Afrikka

So far, Lynks Afrikka has appeared in London gigs and the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as its Bristol birthplace. ‘The audience in Bristol is very receptive and gets what Lynks is going for’, Elliot adds. While the act is unlike Bristol’s other performance art, Elliot has likewise found the community of artists and those behind the scenes as ‘a beautiful, amazing network of people’. He recommends aspiring performers to branch out into the friendly scene: ‘the daunting part is putting yourself out there, and being able to deal with rejection. But in Bristol for example there are so many great people; I want to shout out to Spinny Nights who are amazing. But, if you send people music of a decent quality, they will put you

Elliot Brett/ Lynks Afrikka

For those unfamiliar with Lynks Afrikka, it’s most likely impossible to promise that in reading this your understanding of this act/ creature will be much better defined. If you’re already familiar with Lynks, you’ll know this to be true. I catch up with Elliot Brett, Lynks Afrikka’s “producer”, to discuss the act’s evolution so far, and illuminate – if only partially – the creature that first disgraced Bristol’s stages in 2018. By way of introduction, Elliot explains that ‘the beauty of Lynks is that it cannot be categorised. I think that’s what draws people to come back each time: when you go to a show, you never really know what you’re going to get. One set may be light and frothy and everyone will be having a giggle, other times you might go along and be terrified, that’s what’s so fun about it.’ Concept and mind-set aside, in layman’s terms ‘the closest way to describe it is somewhere between music, comedy, performance art, and drag.’ It’s an understatement – and we’ve all been told it enough – that 2018 was a year of confusion and uncertainty, as 2019 promises to be. ‘It’s just the time when you need something to poke a finger at all of that, and say f*** you to it. To really try and put a mirror up to 2018 show it how ridiculous it’s gotten.’ For that, Lynks captures something of a larger contemporary mood through its lyrics, which ‘blend the surreal and the absolute mundane.’ To Lynks, as ‘this thing that doesn’t live in the human world, it all seems so ridiculous and bizarre, and almost comical.’

life of its own during performance. The nature of the act – what Elliot describes as ‘this thing comes out, gives an incredible performance, and leaves everyone going “What the f*** was that?”’ – would lose something if there was too much a sense that ‘there’s a person underneath it.’ It marks a change from Elliot’s previous music performances. ‘In every part of life, even if we don’t realise it, we’ve created a bit of an identity for ourselves. And that holds on stage 100%. You can see people thinking how to not seem too happy or cool or anything that’s seen as not being “in”. That always bothered me, I’d feel uncomfortable. ‘Lynks Afrikka creates a complete divide between Elliot and Lynks; to the point that Lynks can do whatever on stage and I’m not even thinking about how people are looking at me, because it’s not me. That’s why I’ve stopped doing the full make up that I used to, and now I’m doing these masks that I’ve cut holes in. Which has fully done it. Before there was still an element of exposure, but now the face is covered I feel no connection between me and Lynks. It’s now fully an escape on stage.’ This is a part of Lynks Afrikka’s shift away from drag, which Elliot believes needs a specific skill set: ‘part of the skill of being a drag queen is being able to stay in that character. It’s creating a personality as well as a performance.’ For Elliot, he ‘could never do that really. Once Lynks gets off the stage, Lynks is gone from me. But that’s what I like about it too.’ I’m keen to hear from Elliot – as Lynks Afrikka’s producer, of course – what might be next. ‘There’s so much talent in Bristol, but so many club nights are so similar. I’d love to do a night celebrating interesting music that’s just fun to dance to, as well as some live performance, hopefully getting some drag involved. Just a really good queer, fun space.’ A more distant dream is festival performance: ‘I think that would be just brilliant. I can imagine maybe one day having a take-over tent, getting queer dance music and performers and drag and DJs; combining those things that Lynks tries to combine, but actually doing it by getting different people in. I thinkit will really resonate with how late-night at a festival everyone’s really mad, and going to see this would be like, “WHAT is that?!”’ While Lynks Afrikka may intend to grow towards larger live gigs, in terms of Lynks’ own growth it seems that there will never be a way of knowing its next mode or medium. Watch this space, but leave your expectations at home.

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Music

epigram 04.02.2019

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

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Epigram’s 2019 Spring Gigs Guide Kmeron / Flickr

Wondering what upcoming gigs will be worth going to? Let Epigram Music’s editors select the best of the next few months February 15th Dorian Concept Fiddlers Experimental/Jazz Part of the Brainfeeder stable, Dorian Concept specialises in experimentally blending genres resulting in a uniquely eclectic classical style.

6th Sleaford Mods O2 Academy Punk Sleaford Mods aren’t afraid to get political and will be bringing their own distinctive brand of East Midlands punk to 02 Academy. 8th + 9th James Blake O2 Academy Indie/Electronic Following the release of his fourth studio album Assume Form, Blake’s dreamy falsetto will fill the O2 in not one, but two Bristol performances.

15th Jimothy Thekla Hip-Hop/Indie Less than six months since filling the back room of Bristol’s Rough Trade, Jimothy (who’s now dropped the Lacoste) will be bringing his unique brand of bedroom poprap to Thekla.

26th Gus Dapperton Thekla Pop/Indie Indie sensation Gus Dapperton will be bringing his trademark catchy lo-fi pop for a packed gig at Thekla.

17th Neneh Cherry SWX Trip Hop/Pop Touring her excellent, mature 2018 comeback Broken Politics, Neneh Cherry will kick off 2019 as Trip-hop’s homecoming year.

March 1st + 2nd Massive Attack Steel Yard Trip Hop Taking place at their own custom-built venue in Filton, Massive Attack’s two homecoming shows celebrate the groundbreaking Mezzanine. Sure to be one the biggest gigs of the year.

17th Hot 8 Brass Band Marble Factory Jazz/Funk A real New Orleans institution. Their latest European tour will see unforgettable brass band renditions of classic songs.

24th The Orielles The Fleece Indie Halifax three-piece The Orielles bring their unique take on jangly indie-rock to The Fleece. Demand is such that the show has already been upgraded from the Exchange – don’t miss out.

April

21st Self Esteem Thekla Pop The new solo project from Slow Club’s Rebecca Taylor returns to Bristol following her appearance at Simple Thimgs promising a night of catchy pop and good choreography. 22nd-24th Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival Various Jazz/Blues With the refurbishment of the Colston Hall, this year’s celebration of all things jazz and blues will be taking place all over the city including Bristol SU’s Anson Rooms for a mix of gigs and open workshops. 26th Nao O2 Academy Pop/ R&B Following a wealth of praise for her latest LP Satun, British R&B star NAO will stop off in Bristol on her UK tour.

8th Maribou State O2 Academy Electronic After the release of Kingdoms in Colour last Autumn, electronic duo Maribou State will be stopping off at Bristol’s O2 Academy on their UK headline tour.

Photo credits L-R: Derek Bridges / Flickr; 5gig/ Flickr; alejandro jofré / Flickr

9th Ibibio Sound Machine Trinity Centre Afrobeat/Electronic Ibibio Sound Machine will be bringing their joyous mix of afrobeat rhythms and synthesiser hooks to the Trinity Centre.

27th Sharon Van Etten SWX Indie Rock Following her appearance at the Proms last year, Sharon Van Etten will be touring her acclaimed new album Remind Me Tomorrow on her latest UK tour.

12th Nilüfer Yanya Thekla Indie Bringing her low-key but unmistakable indie grooves, Nilüfer Yanya will be playing Thekla in support of her recently announced debut Miss Universe. 13th Terry Riley St. George’s Classical/Experimental Writer of such groundbreaking minimalist pieces as In C, few living composers can claim to be as influential as Terry Riley whose Bristol show promises to be a masterclass in minimalism from one of its pioneers 10th Lucy Rose St George’s Indie Folk If ‘Conversation’, the elegant, yet sombre first taste of Lucy Rose’s No Words Left is anything to go by, her gig at the stunning St George’s is going to be something special. 21st Suede O2 Academy Alternative On the back of two sold-out London gigs a to celebrate the release of The Blue Hour, Suede showcase their chart-scaling eighth album across the UK this April.

epigram 04.02.2019

Music 42 ‘We’re playing the biggest crowds we’ve ever played’

In conversation with TesseracT Kyle Gaddo / Flickr

Epigram recently spoke to James Monteith from TesseracT about touring, food and fandom in 2019 Gail El-Halaby

Second Year, Pyschology

ow has the reception been for your latest album, Sonder, compared to previous releases? Yeah, good, we’re playing the biggest crowds we’ve ever played, loads of new songs coming out, the audience has become more diverse and the age range has grown. There’s a lot more young people there. We had a spontaneous wall of death one night, which doesn’t happen very often at our shows, which was cool. Wall of death? Amazing, what song was that for? ‘Concealing Fate: Part 1!’ It was an unexpected surprise. So, have you found your fanbase has increased in size, in terms of age etc since the latest album? Yeah, I mean we’ve always had quite a diverse range of ages but I feel like our new album has appealed to people who may be newer to music and new to more proggy/tech stuff. I definitely think you guys were the band who eased me into more proggy and tech bands! Do you have a favourite song to play live on this tour at the moment? I’m not sure: I quite enjoy playing everything at the moment, that’s a hard one, it just depends on the day and the vibe. How about choosing setlists, is it a collaborative effort, songs that you know people will like etc? Yeah, it’s a mixture of all really, we play songs we know will go down well, songs that will fit well together as it’s a continual thing we need all the tracks to work together musically… though sometimes it’s laziness as there’s some songs that we’ve never actually got round to learning properly as it’ll take extra effort. You’re also touring with Plini and Between the Buried and Me at the moment, how did that come about? Well they’re both bands we’ve known for quite a while now, we toured the US with Between the Buried and Me back in 2011. It’s our first time doing Europe with Plini, but we did Australia with them and the US leg of this run with them as well, they’re old friends we’ve known for a while now. I also see from your instagram you do post quite a lot of food, are you a bit of a foodie? I wouldn’t say I’m a food connoisseur, but I do like my food. Obviously, you spend a lot of time on tour, is there any cuisine in particular that you’ve enjoyed? We’ll try anything- especially the more extreme stuff! The other night we tried Swedish delicacy called Surstromming, which is essentially rotten fish, well fermented fish, an old-fashioned way of preserving it. But you open the can and the smell itself is enough to make you vomit, it was horrendous and the taste really wasn’t much better! Have you tried the Durian fruit? I remember reading that the fruit smells terrible but tastes quite good! Oh yeah! In Thailand, I remember seeing a ‘Do not eat this fruit on public transport’ sign. But it’s actually really delicious. The

smell isn’t anywhere near as bad as the smell of this fish, smelt a bit like cat piss, to be honest. If there was only one food that you had to eat for the entire tour, what would it be? I reckon if I asked the other guys it would be sushi! Half the band are complete sushi addicts- don’t know what my staple would be! I’d say maybe kebab? But that’s more a drunk food! On a completely new topic- being away on tour means being away from your family quite a lot- that must be quite difficult. Definitely, it’s a difficult balance. I have two kids at home, it’s way tougher on my wife than it is for me. I do miss my family a lot when I’m away but it is manageable and you do get used to it. Do they visit on tour? Not really, maybe when the boys are a bit older, but at the moment they’re a bit too young. One is 8 and the other is 10, so they are getting bigger. One of them absolutely loves the whole music thing and we actually took him to Download festival last year and he had a great time! My other thinks that metal music is racket and hates it- he thinks it’s the worst thing in the world! On the same note of being away from family, is it difficult being around the same people 24/7? Sometimes even as a student it can be difficult living with the same people all the time! Well we’ve all been doing this together for so long, we’re very good at managing that. The only problems that really occur are smelly feet and snoring. It’s just like any relationship- you learn to manage them! I read the other day that you studied mechanical engineering at uni! I did! A long time ago. I was always in bands as a teenager and heavily involved in music and at uni I was studying music on the side. Then when I graduated I just thoughtdo I want to go and get a job which will be completely unaccepting of that side of what I do or do I just bin it off and do what I really love- and I chose the latter. This was back in 2002 that I graduated! From that you’re also heavily involved

‘We had a spontaneous wall of death one night, which doesn’t happen very often’

in PR, has the way you publicise bands changed a lot over the years? Yeah I’ve been doing PR for a decade. I’d say it’s changed quite a lot, in the past physical mail-outs were a real thing. Postage was a massive thing back then, which is basically non-existent these days unless you’re sending someone a nice finished copy. The online world is always evolving too, online features, online reviews and recently reviews are becoming less important. There was a real phase were premieres were a big thing, such as getting websites to do the first showings of a music videos, again that’s sort of going out of fashion. Content wise it’s shifting way more towards features and special content rather than the run-of-the-mill standard stuff. A lot of things have evolved and I guess a big part of it is how relevant social media has become. Which social media site would you say is currently the most influential in terms of marketing and PR, it seems to me Instagram is quite a big deal? Yeah, Instagram is definitely important at the moment, Facebook his sort of dying and younger people have stopped using it as much. We’re finding that young people under 25 or 30 rarely actually use the programme itself unless it’s for messaging. Twitter is still very useful as well- it’s a far better tool to use rather than cold e-mailing people. Do you guys Google yourselves and read online reviews often? Probably not as much as I used to, but I definitely read the odd one every now and again. it’s good to keep an eye on that sort of stuff but I don’t worry about it too much. I tend to avoid reading comments on social media- a lot of people say a lot of ridiculous things. You have to take everything with a pinch of salt. Do you have anything in store for 2019? We’re not really sure yet! We obviously have all the live dates coming up but we’re hoping to work on new music as soon as possible and hopefully turn out something quicker than the last one!

Review/ Metal 2 The Masses @ the Exchange

hen I arrived at The Exchange on Friday night, I was fresh out of an exam and absolutely shattered. It was going to take something pretty special to make me sit up and pay attention. Luckily, the first heat of the Metal to the Masses competition was just that. Back in Bristol this year, Metal to the Masses runs all over the country and gives local rock and metal bands the chance to perform and compete for a spot on the Hobgoblin Newblood stage at Bloodstock festival. To win the competition, the band must win their heat, the semi final and then the grand final. Two of the competing bands in this first heat; NO:IR, Revello Drive, Trep and Next Stop Olympus would get through to the semi final, based on 50 per cent votes from the audience, and 50 per cent judges panel. Everyone was there to support local bands, playing at a local venue. All bands start on small stages like the one at Exchange, and competitions like this help to support the bands and ultimately keep the metal scene alive. First up was NO:IR. Their set began with a beautiful melodic guitar riff and vocals, which quickly accelerated into a machine gun like mixture of power and precision, all set to awesome bass licks. Think Rage Against The Machine, meets Pantera, meets Gojira. My favourite moment was watching their bassist grinning as he looked out on the crowd getting swept away by the music. After a quick break the next band, Revello Drive, were up. They were completely different to the band that came before them, bringing the variety which is part of what makes this competition so special. Hailing from Bristol, Revello Drive are a five piece hard rock band. I was immediately captivated by the deep and soulful vocals and the clean and complex guitar riffs, and then taken off guard when the riffs got heavier and the vocals became a vehicle for pure unadulterated rage. It’s a combination guaranteed to deliver an emotional gut punch. After another break were Trep, a three piece who had travelled across the bridge from Wales to take part. Trep were fantastic to watch, they had great interaction with the crowd and with each other, they looked like they were having a great time and that was infectious. The vocals were clean and perfectly harmonised and the bass lines were captivating. Trep are an intermingling of prog and heavy rock, reminding me of the mighty Tool. They were my personal favourites at this stage of the competition. Having been a fan of Tool since before they released ‘10,000 Days’ (yes THAT long), Trep are exactly the sort of new band I’m excited to discover. Finally, finishing off performances for the evening, were Next Stop Olympus. Next Stop Olympus joined us from Salisbury, combining metalcore with rock ‘n’ roll for an energetic show that was a lot of fun to watch. They were incredibly polished, and their crowd interaction was superb. I loved watching their singer windmill with his impressive mane of Dave Mustaine style ginger locks. Vicki Wolfhart, Second Year, English

04.02.2019 epigram

Music 43

Review/ 808 State @ SWX Acid house pioneers 808 State are still able to thrill with their refreshingly retro brand of dance music Joe Gorecki Deputy Music Editor

Epigram / Harry Goldsmith

he recent Bristol gig from 808 State was part of the dance music veterans’ 30th anniversary tour and while it was definitely a night of vintage State, it was more than just an ‘80s throwback evening. For much of the set the band were able to capture the energy of the acid house past yet able to give it an updated groove. With their focus on keeping everyone dancing and the energy up, 808 State played through a continuous set, with their past and present hits blending into each other. This was particularly impressive considering they were using a live drummer whose playing impressively never faltered. It was this atmosphere that gave the gig a unique feel, capturing a taste of retro dance music. Despite the lack of on-stage banter, you got a feeling for the personalities of the duo with Andrew Barker manning a large rack of drum machines and synthesisers whereas Graham Massey was constantly switching

‘This atmosphere gave the gig a unique feel, capturing a taste of dance music of the past.’

instruments and even sitting down at the end of the stage while he played the gorgeous Spanish guitar loops of ‘Plan 9’. Most of the audience were either dressed as if they were at the Haçienda during its heyday or old enough to remember 808 State the first-time round. The ravey vibes were reinforced with bright green lasers that came from behind the band slicing in to the audience. The visuals perfectly meshing with their spacey retro futuristic sound. The band played many of their classics

including ‘In Yer Face’ which has fairly recently been remixed by current major dance music duo Bicep. However, the undeniable highlight of the night was 808 State’s classic 1989 hit ‘Pacific State’ – its gorgeous saxophone part still able transcend nearly 30 years later with Graham Massey relishing his ability to enrapture the crowd with it. The set seemed to run out of steam after this peak though, with the band continuing for another twenty minutes but struggling

to recapture its momentum amid some slightly samey high intensity playing. For many fans this was cut short though as the band abided by a strict 10pm curfew from the venue forcing them to abandon an encore. While this left the gig on a slightly disappointing note, for much of the set 808 State showed why they have been so successful for 30 years in creating grooving atmospheres. A perfect opportunity to dance to and explore some electronic music history.

Review/ Kraftwerk re:werk @ The Marble Factory Charles Hazlewood

Kraftwerk re:werk reimagined the work of electronic music icons and was able to raised the roof of The Marble Factory Joe Gorecki Deputy Music Editor

he Marble Factory hasn’t played host to many orchestras in its time as a gig venue but it provided atmospheric surroundings for Kraftwerk re:werk, a show presented by an amalgamation of local conductor Charles Hazelwood’s two Bristol-based orchestras, Army of Generals and the British Paraorchestra, which describes itself as the world’s only large-scale ensemble for professional disabled musicians. The incongruity of the surroundings was not lost on Hazlewood who pointed it out in his regular chatting to the audience between pieces but due to Kraftwerk’s important influence on the development of Detroit techno, the venue was more perhaps more natural than at first glance. If the venue didn’t give it away, the music made it clear that it certainly wasn’t an ordinary classical concert. After some varied shorter and more avant-garde

minimalist pieces, the orchestra got to what we had all been waiting for: the symphonic reimagining of Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express written by Charlotte Harding and Lloyd Coleman. The programme notes promised ‘a symphonic-electronic joyride on the Autobahn.’ While a slightly shoehorned Kraftwerk reference, it actually wasn’t that far off. If much of Kraftwerk’s original Trans Europe Express album is a steady train journey through continental landscapes,

the concert had all the sheer intensity of a rollercoaster. Vast soaring strings would repeatedly give way to tidal waves of horns. Unlike many classical concerts, Kraftwerk re:werk was incredibly loud and all the more joyously impactful for it. Hazlewood commented that all of the instruments would not only be closemicced and amplified but live-mixed too, he could include instruments like bass clarinets and bass oboes that would

‘The concert had all the sheer intensity of rollercoaster.’

otherwise be drowned out in conventional orchestras. What the piece most resembled was Philip Glass’ Bowie symphonies, orchestral interpretations of his Berlin trilogy which took particular themes and motifs and built layers of minimalist orchestration around them. This is not such a surprise as it was Hazlewood and many of the same musicians who took Glass’ Heroes symphony to Glastonbury in 2016. Kraftwerk re:werk did a similar thing but often the themes used were subdued and, unlike with Glass, the movements were more freer in their relation to the tracks on Trans Europe Express. While allowing the piece to stand on its own two feet, some of the motifs did eventually become overly repetitive and occasionally a slightly closer relationship to its source might have been welcomed. It was however successful in its stated aim of symphonically reimagining Kraftwerk. In doing so, it excelled at its ability to stretch the boundaries of what you might expect from a ‘classical’ concert. It had all the electrifying atmosphere of a rock concert or electronic set warming up a chilly Marble Factory. While for now concerts like Kraftwerk re:werk might be an outlier, it showed the sheer potential of reconfiguring the orchestra for the 21st century and bringing it to otherwise unconventional spaces to reach otherwise unconventional audiences.

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Puzzles

Editor: Ruby Rosenthal

epigram

27.01.2019

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

Word Sudoku

Maze

Fill the empty squares with letters W, O, N, D, E, R, F, U, L so that each letter appears once in each row, column and 3x3 box.

Sudoku Fill the empty squares with numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and 3x3 box.

Word Wheel How many words can you find including the middle letter, with at least four letters per word? There is at least one nine-letter word.

O A U C 31= Average 48 = Good 70= Excellent

D N

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T I

The most common first letter of a word is ‘s’

The longest word in the English language that has its letters in alphabetical order is ‘almost’

Arithmagon Solutions will be posted online at: epigram.org.uk/tag/puzzles facebook.com/epigrampaper

If you would like to join the Puzzles Team, email editor@epigram.org.uk

The aim of an arithmagon is to work out which numbers from 1-9 go in the empty circles. The numbers in the square boxes are made by adding together the numbers in the circles either side. A number can be used more than once.

46 Sport

epigram 04.02.2019

Ireland firm favourites ahead of Six Nations A team-by-team preview of the upcoming tournament Nick Kramers Third Year, History

reland: Grand slam winners in 2018, undefeated in their autumn internationals, including a convincing 16-9 win against New Zealand, and tipped for another Grand Slam this year, Ireland come into this competition firing on all cylinders. With injury boosts in the return of Johnny Sexton, fellow vice-captain Peter O’Mahony, and talisman open side Sean O’Brien, Ireland will be playing their best rugby in time for the opening game against England. Connor Murray and World Rugby Player of the Year 2018 Johnny Sexton will be well equipped to exploit any opportunities with the assets of Stockdale, Earls, Kearney, and 2018’s stand out find Jordan Larmour fighting for places in the back three. The pure strength of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw is capable of punching a hole in any line, with Gary Ringrose also flying for Leinster at outside centre. Ireland’s squad depth is the envy of world rugby and it’ll take a mammoth performance from either England or Wales to overturn them this year.

absences it is hard to see the Red and Whites overcoming the Irish on home turf. Where England’s tournament will be decided is in the back line. If Eddie Jones and captain Owen Farrell can galvanise the pace of Eliot Daly, Johnny May and Jack Nowell, and the power of returning-to-form Manu Tuilagi and recently fit Jonathan Joseph, then England will be well set to pick apart any defence. If England’s success against South Africa and strong performance against New Zealand in the autumn internationals are any barometer, England can certainly mount a successful campaign. Wales: Wales kick off the Tournament away to France in the Stade de France on Friday, and victories against South Africa, Australia, and Scotland put them in good stead to also challenge for the crown. Having the most important fixtures against Ireland and England both at the Millennium will fortify their challenge at the top. In the back line there are considerable concerns for Wales, with Leigh Halfpenny missing the first week’s match against France. Gareth Davies at scrumhalf, Liam Williams at full back, and Scott Williams in the centres are also ruled out, luckily only for the first round of fixtures. Debate still

France: While the French football team had a stellar 2018, the rugby team did not, winning only two of their Six Nations fixtures, and one of three autumn internationals. Jacques Brunel will certainly be hoping his side’s fortunes can change this year, although it will be an uphill battle, he has managed to name an experienced squad with a minimal injury list. French threat has often come from their backs distributing well and converting penalties. With the dynamic wingers Gael Fickou, Wesley Fofana, and Yoann Huget all fit, Brunel has a wealth of resources. Now this case seems all quite damning for French hopes this tournament, but it is worth noting that excluding a white-wash series of New Zealand 3 of their 5 losses in 2018 were within 5 points, and that French clubs have been in excellent shape in the Champions Cup, Toulouse and Racing through to the final 8 in style.

“It’ll take a mammoth performance from either England or Wales to overturn Ireland this year”

Flickr/ Marc

England: England will certainly be looking to do exactly that in Dublin on the 2nd of February, last year’s 24-15 defeat on home turf and the compounding embarrassment of finishing 5th with only two wins will be resonating with the players. Eddie Jones described his squad selection as his strongest yet, but with a number of notable

remains over the number 10 position with Gatland recently favouring Cardiff Blue Gareth Anscombe over Dan Biggar, but the rest of the team falls into place. Wales can surmount a challenge to the recent trophies of Ireland and England this year. Having both of those fixtures at home and receiving a considerable boost to their squad from injury returns over the next two weeks will help considerably.

Scotland: Scottish preparation for their game against Italy comes in the wake of a series of bad losses in 2018, most notably losing to the United States. While at last year’s Six Nations Scotland managed to beat England, Italy and France, this series of bad results and an injury list of 20 capped players does not bode well for Gregor Townsend’s men.

The most notable absences from the forwards include hooker Fraser Brown, lock Richie Grey, and back rowers John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Blade Thomson, and David Denton. These 6 players have been central to Scotland’s structure and attack up front in recent years and massively dent the team’s threat at the breakdown and at set piece. Glasgow Warriors prop Jamie Bhatti has said in an interview with BBC Sport that the camp is on a high and that the belief is there that they can win their first ever Six Nations title. Scottish clubs are in exceptional form in Europe, with Warriors and Edinburgh both through to the last 8, and this alongside the inevitable rolling over of Italy in the first week could provide some much needed momentum for this side, and with a few returns from injury during the first few weeks of the tournament we could see a strong turn out for the Scots. Italy: Italy’s six nations woes of recent have been consistent to say the least. Over the last 5 years Italy have won 1 game, against Scotland in 2015, and since joining the 5 nations in 2000 have managed a record high finish of 4th with two wins in 2013. With no major changes, upsets against the big five look unlikely. The 2019 Six Nations campaign has been fraught with upsets in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Veteran captain and international face of Italian rugby, Sergio Parisse, has said that the tournament will most likely be his last, giving a testimonial aspect to proceedings, and supplying the team with extra zeal to win. Italy are owed an upset, and are a completely different force with the return of Parisse, while the chances are looking slim the foundation is there for Italy to be competitive.

Nationalistic chauvinism rife in sporting debates With Spygate dominating sports news recently, why do we persist with looking at ourselves through rosetinted glasses? Henry Edwards Sport Editor

or any of you who have been keeping up to date with the January sports news, you don’t need me to tell you about how much ‘Spygate’ dominated the back pages. The story concerning Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa admitting to sending a ‘spy’ to view Derby County train ahead of their match up was discussed by seemingly every football pundit under the sun. Bielsa, a highly influential Argentine manager who is often credited for inspiring figures such as Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino, stated that he has sent members of his staff to view every Championship side train. In a remarkable hour-long PowerPoint presentation, in which he walked a handful of journalists through the process of gathering information ahead of individual games, he stated that studying training sessions is useful mainly to keep his mind at ease and justify what he has already deduced. Frankly, the reaction to this issue has been nothing short of ridiculous. Derby County manager Frank Lampard, despite

claiming that he would have taken offence to it regardless of the result, duly lapped up the chance to blame his side’s eventual 2-0 defeat at Leeds on the incident. The formerChelsea midfielder commented that on a sportsmanship level it is wrong. He criticised Bielsa for failing to ‘abide by the etiquette’ of this nation. Bielsa himself stated that in a conversation with Lampard, the Derby boss said to his counterpart that he ‘didn’t respect the fair play rules.’ Hapless pundits Ray Parlour and Martin Keown were quick to jump on the bandwagon. The former labeled it ‘totally wrong’, while Keown described the act ‘morally outrageous.’ Let’s get one thing clear: what Bielsa did is not wrong. There is no rule or law stating that football clubs cannot do what Leeds did. The ‘spy’, as the individual is being described, was stood on public ground peering in. The BBC reported that Derbyshire Police found that there was zero damage to the fence and that no arrest was made. Clearly if it means so much for teams to train in private, then perhaps they could invest a fraction of their millions of pounds on something that may obscure the vision of onlookers. A wall, perhaps. Because Bielsa has admitted to using spies to gather information in every country he’s managed, this issue has spiralled into a question of national culture. Lampard, Parlour and Keown, among many others, have essentially arrived at this conclusion: ‘Well, maybe your shady foreign mischief is excused overseas, but it will not stand

Flickr/ Articularnos.com

“Our perceptions of the Premier League become hilariously skewed thanks to out nationalistic imbued goggles”

here on this sacred isle. We, after all, are gentlemen.’ We as a nation consistently apply this flawed logic when discussing the latest goings on. Every World Cup a foreign team or players are lambasted by England fans for being ‘unsporting’: in 2006 it was Ronaldo’s Portugal and more recently in 2018 Colombia were vilified. Our perceptions of the Premier League become hilariously skewed thanks to our nationalistic imbued goggles. We consider it to be the best league in the world, despite an English team failing to win the Champions League since Chelsea’s rather bizarre 2012 victory. We doubt foreign players and managers; indeed, one of the enduring questions posed by little Englishmen at figures in the mould of Messi has always been ‘can he do it on a cold windy night in Stoke? You know, can he play proper football?’ The transfer saga involving West Ham’s want-away striker Marko Arnautovic’s potential move to the Chinese Super League has thrown up the same type of thoughts. British fans cannot seem to fathom why any footballer would not want to play in the

Premier League, and brand any footballer that moves to China a gold-digger. This is presumably said while completely forgetting the commercial nature of Britain’s top-flight – this is a league that recently gave departing executive chairman Richard Scudamore £5 million as a goodbye present. The financial power of every Premier League has reached a state of enormity: lowly Bournemouth can afford to splash £19 million on an unproven Liverpool striker who is unlikely to even start. How dare we criticise China for merely trying to emulate our indulgence. Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock got himself in the news recently for voicing his support of Brexit. He stated his belief that Britain would be better ‘in every aspect’, before inexplicably stating ‘to hell with the rest of the world.’ Warnock’s nationalistic arrogance is increasingly becoming the norm in these troubled times. We come to sport to escape reality, and yet these off-the-field debates have become tinged with naïve pro-Brexit rhetoric and beliefs. Climbing down from our high horses and questioning our bigoted and undeserved

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04.02.2019 epigram

Sunderland ‘til I die: is all-access necessary? Rory Macnair Third Year, French and Spanish

rofessional sport has come to dominate the entertainment industry, but with the explosion in popularity of streaming services such as Netflix and Prime Video, more and more viewers are turning their attention to a new wave of behind-the-scenes documentaries. The most recent, Sunderland ‘Til I Die, focuses on the 2017/18 season of thenChampionship football club Sunderland AFC. With an almost all-access camera crew covering club ownership issues, coaching changes and player disputes, the documentary follows the team’s painful experience and subsequent relegation while exploring its importance to the city and its people. While this genre of content provides excellent entertainment for both sports fans and the general viewer, it raises several questions about the relationship between professional sport and the modern-day media. Sport, specifically football, attracts an enormous audience both at live events and on screen so there’s little doubt about the popularity of these behind-the-scenes documentaries. The recent examples of Sunderland ‘Til I Die on Netflix and All or Nothing: Manchester City on Prime Video highlight the huge demand for this kind of content with both series receiving a positive reception. One of the most common aspects praised by critics of STID is that it takes the sport out of its entertainment context and stresses the significance of the football club as part of the city’s culture. With numerous interviews and focus points in the

Sunderland community, the documentary removes the superficial and exoticised aspects of the sport and instead draws the viewer’s attention to how the people of Sunderland are unified and inspired by their team. The documentary frequently visits a local church in which the performance of the club is integrated into weekly prayers, but rather than typically comparing football fandom with dutiful worship to produce a generic marketing campaign, the producers present a very real, and almost vulnerable connection between the club and the people who eagerly tune in each week. These intimate moments throughout the production are exactly why this genre has taken off so dramatically; they highlight the human aspect of sport and remind us how and why sport becomes part of who we are. Being able to imagine yourself as that hopeful face in the stands, that tearyeyed character by the radio or that beerfueled supporter shouting in the pub creates an empathy which is often lost in the presentation of sport in the media. All of these characters may appear in Sky Sports adverts or Betway posters, but the fact that this support is framed by a club in such an awful state, brings a sentimental value that is so rarely depicted. A problem arises when one begins to question the presentation of the club itself. Of course, creating a story and directing certain narratives are inevitable when filming for the purpose of entertainment, but if this genre of sports media really kicks off, it will affect people’s perspectives of the teams into which they invest so much. A portion of the documentary focuses on manager Simon Grayson who, in large part thanks to the stubborn wallet of the club’s owner, fails to bring any high profile players into the club. Grayson is ultimately portrayed as something of a villain in the narrative and with his eventual dismissal, the long awaited hero Chris Coleman arrives to take the reins. Grayson himself commented on the documentary, stating

Flickr/ Walt Jabsco

The recent Sunderland AFC Netflix documentary has received a fair share of attention, but will the format really take off?

“Do we really want to see everything that goes on behind closed doors?”

that ‘I was disappointed that they didn’t portray myself and my staff how we are... We didn’t really get the air time to show our personality.’ Those close to the club will know that to some extent Grayson is right and it seems that his character was moulded into something of a negative presence whose departure would serve as a moment of hope for the story. Grayson argues that ‘When it went onto Chris [Coleman], you saw a different side to him’ which again fits into this idea of building a story since even with the arrival of Coleman, Sunderland were relegated to the third division and he left for greener pastures. It becomes hard, at least as a fan of the club on display, to appreciate what you are viewing when you begin to feel that certain moments and truths are lost for the sake of creating a sellable story. Do we really want to see everything that goes on behind closed doors? There is undeniably an ugly side to professional sport. Whether it’s the huge amounts of money that change hands throughout the organisation or the blunt, all-business attitudes of owners and coaches, a great deal of normally-unseen operations may be best kept behind those very doors. Interactions such as these risk severing the connection between fan and club as one loses the passion and excitement felt at

matches and begins to question the innerworkings of the sport. Every year the NFL produces a similar documentary, Hard Knocks, for one of its 32 franchises. This production very rarely shies away from the back room exchanges, showing the often emotional meetings that occur when players are annually cut from the team. This kind of raw footage certainly captures the intrigue of the viewer and gives them an insight into the real feelings behind the players, but these often-powerful moments can end up being jarring for the casual sports fan. A certain level of detachment is necessary to enjoy sport. Before watching STID, it’s easy to immerse yourself in the match and enjoy the energy and emotion that comes from watching athletes playing a sport that both you and they love. However, seeing backstage and learning that Jack Rodwell refuses to train on £70,000 a week while Sunderland are forced to make the majority of their kitchen staff redundant, adds a harsh reality to the sport and makes you question your emotional investment. These documentaries do well to fill the void of the sporting off-season, but they find themselves toeing the line of truth and entertainment and when that truth becomes a bit too real, you may wish you’d never asked to see how the sausage gets made.

Ole’s Gunnar save Man United’s season Rejuvenated under caretaker manager Solskjaer, a top four place at least is now firmly back in the club’s crosshairs Barney Stone Deputy Online Sport Editor

ith United ‘crawling on their hands and knees’ after a predictably humiliating 3-1 defeat at Anfield, Mourinho and his calamitous escapades this season were swiftly axed. In replacement, an unassuming club legend was provided the managerial reigns at one of the world’s footballing juggernauts. Instantaneously, Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s affable demeanour has brought a feel-good factor back to Old Trafford; reminiscent of

the Sir Alex Ferguson glory days, Solskjær’s appointment has promised a renewal of the club’s winning ethos, a return to the popular mantra ‘attack, attack, attack’, and faith in club academy graduates. With Manchester United in his heart, the fans finally have someone who understands the magnitude of the job, and the honour it bestows. In the Premier League, Manchester United’s record has been perfect. 6 wins from 6, scoring 17 goals and securing two clean sheets, the latter being arguably the greatest bonus given the perpetual leakiness of the defence this season. To underscore the potency of United’s attacking prowess under Solskjær, these 17 goals should be considered against Mourinho’s total after nineteen games – a measly 29. Although the teams faced by Solskjær are all wallowing in the bottom half of the table, with the obvious exception of Spurs, it remains important to remind critics that in the Premier League,

“Solskjaer’s affable demeanour has brought a feelgood factor back to Old Trafford”

Flickr/ Mikey

anyone can beat anyone. Arsenal suffered a recent defeat against relegation strugglers Southampton, meanwhile Manchester City flopped at home to Crystal Palace. The re-emergence of Paul Pogba has also precipitated both a huge sigh of relief and palpable sense of excitement; the Frenchman has been unplayable, notching up five goals and four assists – under Jose, it took 20 games to bag that many. Similarly, Solskjær has been justifiably full of praise for fellowstriker Marcus Rashford. Rashford, arguably the team’s only consistent performer throughout the season, has already snatched five goals and two assists, one of which came from some delightful trickery that bamboozled Bournemouth’s Nathan Aké. To supplement this, Romelu Lukaku has been effective from the bench, most recently netting against Reading. It will be exciting to see how competition for places in the attacking third will affect the team’s goalscoring productivity looking forward to the rest of the season. Despite this upturn in form, Manchester United must remain realistic in assessing their objectives for the season. Undoubtably, a top four place remains a surmountable goal as both Arsenal and Chelsea have revealed inconsistencies that can be pounced upon. Given a tough draw in the FA Cup away at Arsenal, and the forthcoming tie against

PSG in the Champions League, Solskjær will have to utilise some more Fergie magic to advance. By dismantling a buoyant Spurs side at Wembley recently, Solskjær’s rejuvenated Manchester United re-emphasised their credentials. As the team’s momentum steadily accrues, they remain in good stead to take on an increasingly unfortunate fixture list within the next few weeks: Arsenal (A), PSG (H), Liverpool (H). As for the future of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, it feels as though he has already won over the fans. Yet, with football remaining a results driven business, it will be interesting to see what parameters the club have set for Solskjær to get the job permanently. Would Top 4 be sufficient, or perhaps a protracted run in both remaining cup competitions as well? Nevertheless, it is obvious that the clouds hanging over Old Trafford this season have now subsided and Manchester United’s renaissance is starting to blossom. Following their successful trip to Newcastle, Solskjær asserted that United “can win every game”. Reminding his audience that at a club like this “you expect to win games”, previously dejected fans should certainly shrug off that sense of despair and rekindle that arrogance and swagger that has brought unparalleled success in years gone by.

Sport

epigram 04.02.2019

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

Bristol in BUCS: a mid-season recap

Henry Edwards Sport Editor

just three points behind leaders Bournemouth with a game in hand. A tasty match against Bath 2s will hopefully see Bristol pull away from their rivals in the Western 1A division. Futsal The men’s first side will be pleased with their start to the season, having recorded 4 wins from their 6 league matches.

merican football The University side are currently joint top of the 2A South West division. A dramatic away win at Southampton Solent remains the highlight for this season.

Hockey The women will be hoping for a more fruitful second-half to the campaign. They will need to convert more draws into victories; they’ve only been beaten 3 times in 9 games, but 5 of those have ended in ties.

Badminton The women’s 1s are second in the Premier South division. Their most recent win over UCL was vital, as they now sit 3 points above them. They have a job to catch Bath, who are top by 11 points.

The men sit in a more comfortable third place in their South A league.

The men are not doing quite so well. They have just 1 win from 8 so far, and will hope for a more successful end to the season. Basketball The women 1s sit in an impressive second place, with 5 wins from 7. The imperious Bournemouth sit top with 7 from 7, but Bristol deserve credit for separating themselves from all of Cardiff, Southampton Solent and Exeter, who each have 9 points to Bristol’s 15.

The women’s team most recently recorded a vital win over Swansea in November in order to draw level with them in fourth place.

Lacrosse The fourth placed women’s 1s play a key match against third placed Oxford at the end of January. A victory will hopefully see them close the gap on leaders Cambridge and Exeter.

In the larger men’s South A division, Bristol sit in an impressive fourth place out of 8, only a few points behind both USW and Swansea. They take on the former at Coombe Dingle at the end of January in what promises to be a pivotal match.

The men’s team have arguably had the best half-campaign of any Bristol BUCS side. 9 victories in as many matches makes for impressive reading, and they should have more than enough to hold off Bath as we move into spring.

The men currently sit in mid-table with 3 wins from 7. A key fixture against Cardiff 1s beckons.

Netball The netball team will be eager to close the gap on second and third-place Bath 2s and UWE, but a tough game against unbeaten leaders Exeter lies directly ahead in the Western 1A league.

Football The women’s 1s are tied in second place having won 4 of their 7 league fixtures. They remain in touching distance of Bournemouth, who are only 2 points ahead of them.

Rugby Union A comfortable mid-table position for Bristol, who will fancy their chances of gaining further points by beating the league’s whipping boys Aberystwyth at the end of January.

The men are doing equally well. They sit

Epigram / Ed Hanton Epigram/ Freddie Keighley

With BUCS fixtures set to start back again after the winter break, how are the various University sports societies doing?

Rugby Union

Table Tennis The women’s 1s sit atop their league, having won a mightily impressive 5 from 5 before Christmas. The men’s side has a bit of work to do to claw back UCL at the summit of Premier South division; they play each other at the end of January.

“The men’s lacrosse team have arguably had the best half-campaign of any Bristol BUCS side”

Tennis The women’s team is just three points behind leaders East London, thanks to a fantastic 6 wins from 8. They will have the chance to put yet more distance between themselves and Bath 2s at the end of January. The men’s 1s are also in second-place

in their respective league. On the 6th o f February, they are set to go up against thirdplace Exeter 2s in a match that will help determine who will most likely challenge leaders Bath 3s. Volleyball In the Premier South division, the women’s team will be desperate to claim a victory over Cambridge in their next match to pull themselves off the foot of the table. The men’s team will need to recapture their best form, which was shown in their sole victory over Exeter earlier this term, as we move into spring in order to climb off the bottom of the league. Water Polo A wildly successful start to the season has seen the women’s 1s claim the number one spot in the Premier South division. A recent away win at third-placed Imperial is just the latest in an ever-growing line of great triumphs. The men’s 1s sit level on points with Bath, although their close rivals have played three extra games than Bristol. They remain in contention to win their Premier South league.

Champions League reaches knockout stages The Champions League has thrown a variety of tasty clashes for us to look forward to this February David Thirkeld Third Year. History

he first leg of the round-of-16 commences in just a few weeks, and, perhaps more so than the last few years, there are some enticing fixtures awaiting. The cream of the crop are Manchester United vs. Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool vs. Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus. The Red Devils will hope for a renaissance under new caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solkjaer, yet this is their first real test since his replacement of Mourinho and will surely prove to be a stern one. United will hope they don’t catch PSG at their rampant best; they despatched Guingamp 9-0 in an

underwhelming performance by the Ligue 1 minnows. What is for certain is both attacking line-ups will have room to roam and test ailing defences. Thiago Silva and Dani Alves are past their best days, and little needs to be said about the fragility of the central pairing of Jones and Lindelof. This is a sizeable chance for Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe to make their mark and push past the early knock-out stages. Paris are yet to make it to the semi-finals since the 1994-95 season and Neymar’s patience is will likely run out in the French capital if they continue to underwhelm on the European stage. Bayern vs. Liverpool holds the potential for a fiery battle too. Liverpool have been struggling recently with a string of choppy performances. Few can criticise their loss against City at the Etihad, yet narrow wins against Palace and Brighton leave much to be desired for a team that made the finals

“Atletico Madrid’s contest against Juventus is arguably the pick of the bunch”

of this competition last year, and sit atop the table in the Premier League. Having been bolstered by the signings of Van Dijk, Allison Becker and Fabinho, it looked as if Liverpool’s leakiness had been sealed. Yet, conceding three goals at home against Palace says otherwise. Luckily for Liverpool, Bayern are a shadow of their former selves. Recent results in the Bundesliga leave them only behind high-flying Dortmund, but their shortcomings in the Champion’s League group reveal a further problem – an aging squad in need of major rejuvenation. Two draws against Ajax suggest they are no longer the stalwarts of Europe they have been. Atletico Madrid’s contest against Juventus is arguably the pick of the bunch though. The Old Lady have been consistent, although not yet brilliant domestically. Equally, Simeone’s side haven’t reproduced the results that took them to two finals in

the ‘13-’14 and ’16-’17 seasons. Despite this, both camps have reached the latter stages regularly enough recently that you would be advised against discounting either. The Ronaldo-factor remains an impending threat, even though he has yet to make his mark this season after an ignominious sending off against Valencia. His 60 goals in the knockout stages prove we shouldn’t be too hasty to write him off though - 20 of these came in the upcoming round. The other round of 16 games, and their dates, are: Roma vs. Porto (12/02), Tottenham vs. Dortmund (13/02), Ajax vs. Real Madrid (13/02), Lyon Barcelona (19/02) and Schalke vs. Man City (20/02). What seems a certainty is the knockout rounds this year should not be missed. Man City, Juventus and Barcelona have shown rare glimpses of excellence in Europe, but none have blown the competition away. Such slight inconsistencies mean the eventual winner remains difficult to call.