EPIGRAM 319

Fortnightly 13th November 2017 Issue 319 Winner of Best Publication and Best Use of Digital Media 2017

University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper Nikki Peach News Editor

Reclaim the Night campaign back for an entire month

Epigram / Emma Chittleburgh Epigram / Alisha Bradbury

This year, Women’s Officer Sally Patterson is relaunching the ‘Reclaim The Night’ march for women as a campaign to last the whole of November.

Bristol Women’s Network has said, ‘Women are still encouraged to not talk too loudly, or take up too much space, both physically and metaphorically.

‘Bristol Women’s Network is challenging these stereotypes; reclaiming our bodies, our power and reclaiming the night.’

The decision to extend the campaign from one night to a whole month comes at a time of sexual assault being increasingly discussed and confronted.

The recent #metoo hashtag, which encouraged victims of sexual assault or violence to speak out was shared on Facebook over 20 million times.

In early November, ‘Reclaim our Bodies’ aims to tackle the verbal and physical assault that women face every day. In partnership with Bristol Body Positivity Society, the Women’s Network will celebrate women’s diverse bodies and identities through photography, poetry and articles.

Reclaim our Power as a movement intends to remind women that they are not alone and support is available.

Women are also encouraged to use the ‘Spotted_Sexism’ Facebook page to anonymously publish their experiences at the University of Bristol.

The network claims their ‘Hands Off’ campaign will also ‘remind women that their bodies are not for public consumption, and they are not up for grabs.

‘Finally on the 25th November we will be celebrating our fourth Reclaim the Night march, walking through the streets of Bristol, making as much noise as we possibly can.’

Sally Patterson, chair of the network added, ‘When we all shout together, our voices are too loud to be ignored.’

As well as the march at the end of the month, the Women’s Network is hosting a variety of events at the SU over the course of the month.

Events include a women-only life drawing workshop, with tickets costing £1.50.

If you are looking to support the campaign or join the march on the 25th of November, the Women’s Network is encouraging people to get in touch through Facebook or email.

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Epigram | 13.11.2017

Editorial

A note from Noa...

It’s easy to feel a bit lost at this time of term. The excitement of the new year is passing and you’re often not really sure what you’re doing or why you’re doing it.

The news is full of Weinstein and Spacey and offshore accounts, and the ever darker, ever colder winter is not an appealing prospect in your student house.

And with all the deadlines, it’s hard to find any time or energy to sort out any problems in your head.

For me this is often a time when my work goes okay but everything else doesn’t. I forget any hobby I may have been giving attention to, and often quarantine myself until I’ve finished the essay on hand.

When I was doing my GCSEs and acting as if they were the most important thing anyone could ever do, my granny told me to stop worrying. She said ‘Life is about living and loving, not grades’ (much to my dad’s annoyance).

I realised I had stopped everything – including revision, usually – to worry. All of my school clubs, all my little projects, several of my friendships and definitely my family (sorry again) were being neglected. I was forgetting my dreams of being a creative-writermarine-biologist (not much has changed) in order to get some near-meaningless statistics on a sheet of paper.

It’s easy for us to tell ourselves we will start earlier, work harder, hand it in well before the deadline (…) – and of course everyone works differently – but it is much easier to be realistic with ourselves.

Work as hard as you can (when you need to), and don’t punish yourself for not being able to do more. Between work, ground your mind in things that reset you – meet up with a friend, do some sport or something creative, perhaps go home for a few days.

On top of work we are also having to think about the next stages - whether it’s where you’re going to live next year or with who, what modules you want or need to take, or what the hell you’re going to do when you graduate.

We can get lost in work and wondering which week of the term we are now in, but it is important to keep a direction in the back of your mind. Even if you don’t know what you want to do, you know what it is that makes you happy and that is a good place to start.

Alex and I had the pleasure of meeting a Bristol graduate of 1964 named Barry recently. He told us that it is important to find the balance between leaving life to chance and ‘drifting’; for Barry, life is not always about excessive planning but living by what comes to you.

When you do have some time, which might be five minutes before you wake up or go to bed, have a think about where you want to be next and maybe even do some research. But be excited about it – this is your life!

Don’t forget why you came to university. You are surrounded by people who came here with dreams - of every kind - and just because they have decided to take a law conversion or apply for internships doesn’t mean you have to.

Even if your goal seems really unrealistic now – you’ve found out it’s ultra-competitive or you don’t officially have the right grades or subjects – nothing is worth giving up on at this point. I’m certainly still striving to be a poet-diver one day…

Get your assignments done and give them what you can, but don’t abandon the life you have around it. Keep building your skills, your interests – and keep planning those post-graduation adventures (and all the ones that come before!)

The pressures of work and the ‘next stage’ are not all there is to life. Take advantage of the life drawing classes, comedy nights, free talks and everything else Bristol and the University has to offer.

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2 Co-Editors in Chief: Alex Boulton and Noa Leach

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From the archives‘Hall fees set to soar past £5k’ ‘Increase in accomodation charges is ten times rate of inflation..’

Following the release of Cut the Rent’s newest campaign, reported in this issue on page 4, we looked back at previous accommodation prices. In 2007, the front-page story was dedicated to the news that some halls had increased their annual charges by 18.7%, an increase that was then ten times the national rate of inflation.

The article tracks the annual price increase of Wills Hall, calling it ‘Bills Hall’ showing how in the academic year 2002/3 the average cost of a room was £2,646. This had increased to £3,359 in 2005/6 and to £4,193 in 2007/8. A single en suite room in Wills now costs £7899.78. This shows an 88% increase in 10 years.

In 2007 there were concerns that price increases would discriminate against some students, with one student telling Epigram: ‘I think it’s dangerous to put up the prices so much, as it just makes it more difficult for people of less privileged social backgrounds to apply. All it’s going to do is increase Bristol’s public-school reputation even further.’

Another student, a Wills returner, argued the halls were worth the price tag: ‘bearing in mind that I’d obviously want the best value for money, I think Wills comes out on top- what with weekly formals, awesome food, beautiful grounds and good sports facilities.’

Other halls showed a significant price increase in the academic year 2007/8. Badock Hall increased in price by 17.7%, Hiatt Baker and Churchill by 5.3%, CHH by 5.8%. The article points out that despite University Hall being by far remaining the cheapest hall, prices rose by 20% in one year, with a single room with en suite costing £3,382 that year. The cheapest en suite room at UH now costs £6329.40, showing an 87% increase in 10 years, virtually the same increase as Wills.

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First published in Epigram on the 5th of November 2007

Chief Proofreader Lucy Moor Sub-editors on this issue Nadia Hassan, Chloë Moloney, Izi Miller, Imogen Benson, Jess Browne- Swinburne, Samuel Wong, Laila Freeman, Dani Salvalaggio, Alice Chancellor, Max Lewthwaite, Jess Cselko, Poppy Price Managing Director Calli Keane Director of Communications Joe Jones Director of Finance Josh Moloney Deputy Finance Jeremy Mei Head of Ads and Sales Aravin Skantha Ads and Sales Assistants Cameron Hooley, Emily Lowes, Frances McNab, Ashley Oshinowo, Joshua Varghese, Ben Woods Head of Marketing Lowri Daniels

Epigram is the independent student newspaper of the University of Bristol. The views expressed in this publication are not those of the University or the Students’ Union.

The design, text and photographs are copyright of Epigram and its individual contributors and may not be reproduced without permission.

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News

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@epigramnews Editor: Nikki Peach news@epigram.org.uk

Deputy Editor: Hannah Wakefield, Lucy Downer

Deputy Online Editors: Emily Vernall, Jecca Powell

Online Editor: Emma Chittleburgh

Students from aspiring schools perform as well as peers from high performing schools Ed Southgate Comment Editor

“

26% of students [from an aspiring school] achieved a 1st class degree

alone do not always reflect potential.

‘Recognising the context in which students have been taught and the challenges they may have overcome allows us to reach hundreds of brilliant students every year who might otherwise have been excluded from our programmes. Evidence has indicated that students who receive a contextual offer thrive at the University of Bristol and make a significant contribution to our academic community.’

Contextual offers are given to applicants from disadvantaged background. Applicants must meet one of four criteria to be eligible: -You have attended an aspiring school -You live in an area with low progression to

Higher Education -You have completed a University of Bristol outreach programme -You have spent time in care The data in this article is from the period when contextual offers were one grade lower than the standard offer. The figures used represent the number of students enrolled from aspiring schools in the past five years.

Students may have exceeded the terms of their contextual offer, and not all students in these figures necessarily received one; some students, such as mature students at City of Bristol College, may have entered via nontraditional routes.

Instagram / @AlexaHolroyd

Twenty six per cent of students [from an aspiring school] achieved a First-class degree, and 60 per cent achieved a 2:1 The report found that the university has over 60 per cent of courses for which offers made to students from lower participation neighbourhoods appear lower than those made to students from high participation neighbourhoods. This is significantly higher than any other university, as the University of York – which has the second highest per cent of courses giving lower offers – has around 25 per cent.

Lucy Collins, head of UK recruitment at the University of Bristol, said: ‘The University’s approach to contextual admissions has recently been described by the Sutton Trust as sector leading. We’re very proud of this and believe that key to the success of policy is the clarity that we are able to provide to applicants.

‘We make it as easy as possible, with a published list of eligible schools and colleges and a postcode checker, for students to see whether they are likely to receive a reduced offer. At the heart of our approach to contextual admissions is the belief that A Level grades

University of Bristol

Students enrolled at the University of Bristol from ‘aspiring state schools’ are performing as well as their counterparts from betterperforming schools, an Epigram investigation has found.

Aspiring schools are those ranked in the bottom 40 per cent in the UK that year; students from these schools are eligible for a reduced contextual offer.

Of those who graduated in 2016 and received a contextual offer because of their enrollment from an aspiring school, 26 per cent achieved a First-class degree and 60 per cent achieved a 2:1. This compares with the entire student body of that year, where 30 per cent achieved a Firstclass degree and 59% achieved a 2:1.

Alex Boulton, a third-year History student who received a contextual offer for attending an aspiring school, said about the statistics: ‘It goes to show Bristol is doing the right thing in using contextual offers, that talent comes from a variety of places, and I hope it will encourage more students from aspiring schools to consider coming here.’

Epigram also found that the university has increased its intake of students from aspiring schools in the past five years. In the 2012/13 academic year, 604/ 19.4% students were enrolled from aspiring schools; in 2013/14 there were 517/ 15.7%; 640/ 17.5% in 2014/15; 798/ 21% in 2015/16; and 1,000/ 24.4% in 2016/17. The data for the 2017/18 intake is not yet available as it is still being finalised.

Alex added: ‘I wouldn’t have even considered Bristol without contextual offers – A*AA just seemed too out of reach.

‘I have experienced a lot of self-doubt in my academic ability whilst at university considering the education many of my peers have received, so it is a relief to hear the statistics that state

school students can expect to do just as well at university.’

According to a recent report by The Sutton Trust, the University of Bristol is one of only a small number of competitive universities admitting students successfully from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Bristol students graduate successfully regardless of schooling

Huffington Post

New report highlights the importance of University of Bristol to the UK economy The UK’s leading universities, including the University of Bristol, contribute nearly £87 billion to the national economy each year, a new report has shown.

The research, commissioned by the Russell Group and conducted by the economic research consultancy London Economics, looked at the short, medium and longer-term economic impact of Russell Group universities.

The study focused on the year 2015/16, in which the 24 Russell Group members were found to have injected £86.6 billion into the economy.

This figure was based on factors such as the economic impact of international students, the employment opportunities created by universities, and the overall spending of Russell

“

Jecca Powell Deputy Online News Editor

Group institutions.

One of the most significant factors was found to be the impact of Russell Group students themselves, as those graduating in 2015/16, the study revealed, will go on to contribute £20.7 billion to the UK economy over their working lives.

24 Russell Group members were found to have injected £86.6 billion into the economy

This earning potential, the study claims, is a result of the enhanced skills gained at Russell Group universities.

Another leading factor in this economic

benefit was the impact of the research conducted

by Russell Group universities in 2015/16. This, the report states, will contribute £34.1 billion to the UK economy by helping to develop new technologies and increase productivity.

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, the Chair of the Russell Group, said: ‘This analysis provides compelling evidence that our research-intensive universities are critical to the future prosperity of the United Kingdom.

‘As we continue to recover from the financial crisis and carve out our position in a postBrexit world, it serves as a reminder that higher education represents a smart investment in the country’s future.’

‘Our research-intensive universities are critical to the future prosperity of the United Kingdom.’

Though the figures from the report were not broken down into specific universities, Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor and

“

President of the University of Bristol, was keen to emphasise Bristol’s role in these findings.

In a post-Brexit world, it serves as a reminder that higher education represents a smart investment in the country’s future He said: ‘The findings from the Russell Group, coupled with our own research, highlight the importance of research-intensive universities such as Bristol. We are proud to play such a vital role in the region’s economy, driving growth and innovation.

‘It’s clear that, in the future, cities are unlikely to thrive without the social, cultural and economic impact of world-class universities.’

Epigram 13.11.2017

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Bristol Cut the Rent release petition demanding more affordable student housing Bristol Cut the Rent have released their 2017 petition, calling on the Vice-Chancellor to ‘cut the rent and cap the rent.’

The petition makes three main demands, asking that the University expand provision of affordable student housing, publish a breakdown of running and maintenance costs of accommodation, and implement a retroactive rent cut of 10% in all University-owned residences.

rent activists name this an ‘ideological attack on education’

In the petition, Cut the Rent point to increasing financial pressures on students as a major reason for the reduction of rent prices. They express concern that accommodation costs are getting higher as, they claim, beds are now 25% more expensive than they were 5 years ago.

According to research by Cut the Rent, only 1% of beds under University owned accommodation are now covered by the minimum maintenance loan, while less than 30% of beds are covered by 70% of the maximum maintenance loan.

In their petition, rent activists name this an ‘ideological attack on education’, due to fears that high prices may prevent some students from applying to university.

In a statement, the University defended their position on accommodation. They said; ‘we recognise that accommodation is a considerable cost for students and work closely with our Students’ Union when setting rents to ensure we provide the most cost-effective service we can.

‘We do not make a profit from residential accommodation and simply seek to cover our costs.

‘The price of accommodation here in Bristol’, they said, ‘is similar to that charged by universities in the other cities in the south of England and is competitive against private rented accommodation in the city.’

The University argued that 96% of students are given accommodation that fits their budget, and said that they ‘are always looking at ways to improve efficiency to keep rents as low as possible and will continue to work with student representatives on

this issue.’

A spokesperson for Bristol Cut the Rent, however, rejected this statement. The University’s entire approach, they argued, ‘is guided by a toxic combination of ignorance, arrogance, incompetence and, worst of all, dishonesty.’

They dismissed the claim that 96% of students are given a room they can afford, and called it ‘offensive to the many students who work countless hours a week to support their studies, or cut back on basic necessities just to get by.’

The spokesperson said; ‘the university has a duty to its students to provide accommodation at a reasonable price, and not simply reflect the market rate, as the housing market in Britain is quite obviously broken.

‘Unfortunately the university’s rhetoric isn’t matched in its deeds. We believe decisive action is needed from students to challenge the university and ensure the University of Bristol is an institution for students from all backgrounds, not just the privileged few.’

Flickr / Shane Adams

“

Jecca Powell Deputy Online News Editor

Rent has been increasing in Bristol

Bristol named UNESCO City of Film Students use Nikki Peach News Editor Bristol’s reputation as a world-leading film centre has been recognised as it’s named a UNESCO City of Film (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).

The announcement by the Director-General of UNESCO was made yesterday (31st October), confirming that Bristol has succeeded in its bid and will join the likes of Sydney, Galway, Rome and Bradford as City of Film.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network, created in 2004, is a network of creative cities working together towards a common mission for cultural diversity and sustainable urban development. It is currently formed by 116 Members from 54 countries covering seven creative fields: Crafts & Folk Art Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Music and Media Arts.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism at the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport, John

Glen MP said: ‘This is fantastic news for Bristol and recognition of their global significance to film. This UNESCO designation will enhance their reputation around the world and help forge strong partnerships with other nations.’

Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, said: ‘This is fantastic news and a ringing endorsement of Bristol’s position as a world leader in film production, education and training.

‘Our reputation as a diverse and creative city has long helped to attract productions and talent across film, TV drama, animation and of course natural history. I hope this recognition will be a catalyst for bigger opportunities for the city and Bristolians to showcase Bristol as a centre for film.

‘Bristol’s cultural sector is a diverse industry that plays an important role in breaking down the barriers inequality creates.

Our ambition is that the education, training and employment opportunities developed by the sector will benefit all communities across Bristol and being named as a UNESCO City of Film is a step towards meeting this goal.’

The UNESCO City of Film bid process began

in 2016.

Bristol’s application was put together under the guidance of a management group comprising Bristol City Council, Bristol Film Office, University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), University of Bristol, Screenology, Destination Bristol and Bottle Yard Studios.

Leaders from across the city’s film and TV sector put the bid together. Contributors included experts from production, education, screen heritage and exhibition, including Watershed, Knowle West Media Centre, Calling The Shots, Aardman Animations, BBC Bristol, Encounters Festival, Bristol Festivals and many more.

It is a designation for the city and not a single year award, meaning that Bristol will be known as a city of film for many years to come.

Bristol is a popular filming and cultural destination, with many pop-up screenings, popular locations, world-class training and education, a well-established skilled crew base, film festivals and the award-winning Watershed Cultural Cinema and Digital Creativity Centre.

UNESCO / Bristol City Council

Watershed venue at the Harbourside

study apps to relieve stress of university Lucy Downer Deputy News Editor

The use of apps to help studying is becoming more prevalent amongst university students according to a new study.

According to new research by Kit Out My Office, students are increasingly relying on apps to aid their study and enhance their learning experience.

Out of 1,294 students surveyed, 87% of them said that they use apps to help them study, with the main reasons cited for this as to help them remember deadlines, reduce their stress levels and to allow them to plan their work more efficiently.

The biggest causes of stress whilst at university according to the study were listed as follows; work and imminent deadlines (49% of respondents); part-time work necessary to financing their life at university (27%); and separation from family and friends (11%).

According to one student studying a Master’s Degree at the University of Manchester, they owe their success to the use of an app named Todoist that allows users to create to-do and task lists with deadlines. The student went as far as to say, that they were only able to achieve a first in their degree because of it.

A move towards embracing technology within academic work is encouraged by Dr David Parker, a lecturer of Computer Science at the University of Hull. He stated that, ‘mobiles can’t be labelled ‘tool’ or ‘toy’ for many of our students.’

Dr David Parker also highlighted how times have changed for the modern student, arguing that ‘it is a completely natural progression for mobiles to be an integral part of their education’. With new technology comes new opportunities, which the study highlights can help to relieve some of the mounting stress faced by university students.

94 per cent of the UK adult population owns a mobile phone, forcing us to question the effects of this on the student population. This study suggests a world dominated by mobile phones can provide benefits to the way students study, not just distractions.

Epigram 13.11.2017

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Hannah Wakefield Deputy News Editor

“

Alcohol has now been found to be the smallest monthly expense

The survey also looked at all other main monthly expenditures. The most dramatic increase was in the money students are spending on travel, from £68 a month to a staggering £235.

The second biggest increase in spending has been in health and fitness, such as gym membership and fitness classes, rising from a steady £33 a month from 1997-2017, to a huge £120 a month today.

Leon Ifayemi, the CEO and co-founder of SPCE, has said that ‘the stereotypical view of students spending all their money on drinking and partying is, in reality far from the truth’, and that students today are defying past stereotypes.

He went on to note that ‘the modern student is evidently more health conscious, while the increasing cost of travel and household items are also eating into university budgets far more than in the past’.

“

Throughout university I’ve spent less and less on alcohol

Three academics from the University are due to explore Mars and the microgravity environment after having secured funding from the UK Space Agency as part of the Aurora Science Programme and Human Spaceflight Microgravity programme.

Dr Robert Myhill and Dr Nick Teanby, both from the School of Earth Sciences will be undertaking the research. They will be working under the Aurora Science Programme which examines past and present life on Mars, particularly focusing on the possible presence of water on Mars.

Dr Myhill’s project will aim to recreate conditions similar to the bottom of Mars’ mantle in high pressure laboratory experiments. His research will also focus on the first few million years after Mars’ formation, similarly in highpressure laboratory experiments.

Dr Teanby’s project will employ the use of infra-red technology to determine the global energy balance of Mars’ climate. He is also due to investigate links between atmospheric and surface processes with data pulled from the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft.

The cutting-edge research is backed by Universities Minister, Jo Johnson, who said: ‘Science enables and shapes the UK’s future in space exploration. This government funding will play a vital role in ensuring UK academics can continue to study the secrets of our solar system, from the polar regions of the Moon to the potential of life on Mars.

‘Research and innovation are at the core of our Industrial Strategy, and by investing in these types of projects, we are reinforcing our

“

Academics from the University set to explore Mars

position as a world leader in these important and exciting areas.’

Science enables and shapes the UK’s future in space exploration

Academics from the School of Earth Sciences will also be joined by Professor Kate Robson Brown, from the Departments of Anthropology and Archaeology, and Mechanical Engineering,

and Dr Chrissy Hammond from the School of Physiology Pharmacology and Neuroscience who will develop a zebrafish model to examine the response to microgravity.

They hope that their research will provide answers concerning the deterioration of musculosketal regions in space which will not only to improve the conditions of astronauts in space but will also improve general understanding about spinal conditions among the general population.

The research team from the University of Bristol will also be working in tandem with researchers within the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency which includes colleagues Professor Richard Trask from the University of Bath and Andrew Caldwell from RAL Space.

University agrees to a three-year partnership with Santander Emma Chittleburgh Online News Editor The University have renewed an agreement with Santander after 10 years of partnership and £1 million of support.

Santander first started providing philanthropic support in 2008 when the University received funding to support scholarships for postgraduate students from Central and South America, Portugal and Spain.

A new agreement between the University and Santander has been signed which will see the partnership continue for a further three years. Over the last decade, Santander Universities have donated

over £1 million to support a range of initiatives designed to benefit Bristol students.

The partnership has been working to support mobility, scholarships and enterprise at the University.

Since 2008, Santander’s philanthropic support has provided 222 scholarships to Bristol students, offered 663 undergraduate year-abroad travel awards and has supported 111 internships at 71 companies.

The new three-year partnership agreement signed with Santander will build upon the last 10 years of partnership and philanthropic support.

Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of Bristol, said: ‘We are delighted that Santander’s support of the University will continue. Our ten-year anniversary

Flickr / Mike Mozart

Lucy Hackett, a fourth year Geography student spoke to Epigram and gave a student perspective: ‘Throughout university I’ve spent less and less on alcohol as work has piled up. In first year I would be buying a litre of vodka which would only last a week because of constantly going out to cheesey nights at Bunker [now Gravity] or Lounge.

Now in fourth year a litre of gin can last me over a month, as I just don’t have the time or energy to go out as often. The price of alcohol in Bristol is also pretty steep compared to that of my friends in other universities, especially in places like Cardiff or Leeds. In fact, I would say that I have probably spent more money on the gym pass over the past two years than on alcohol, even though the gym pass is a bit cheaper this year’.

The survey was nationwide, but the difference between the average cost of living and the cost of living in Bristol is certainly noticeable. SPCE found that the average amount students are spending on rent a month is £274, which is far less than most students are paying for rent in Bristol.

Emma Chittleburgh Online News Editor

Flickr / Kevin GIll

According to a survey of 2000 by the students letting app SPCE, students are spending less on alcohol than previous generations.

In the years 1997-2007 students spent an average of £79, in 2007-2017 they spent £71, but in 2017 alone students are spending just £68 on average per month. In fact, alcohol has now been found to be the smallest monthly expense, and is the only expense that has actually decreased from previous generations.

Bristol academics are set to explore Mars and its environment

The University has a renewed agreement with Santander

“

Student alcohol expenditure at an all-time low

provides a great opportunity to look back on what we have achieved together, celebrate our successes, and reflect upon the ways in which we can continue to provide the kind of university education that sets our graduates apart’.

The renewal of the agreement will see continued support for students through a variety of initiatives such as the ‘New Enterprise Competition’.

The kind of university education that sets our graduates apart

Discussing Santander’s partnership with Bristol, Matt Hutnell, Managing Director of Santander Universities, said: ‘Our partnership is a great example of how two very different institutions can work together and run joint programmes that help both our students and support our local community. We are delighted to extend our collaboration agreement with the University of Bristol and very much look forward to this relationship developing further in the coming years.’

To celebrate the 10 year partnership with Santander, the University have taken the the opportunity to induct Matt Hutnell and Santander Universities into the Dorothy Hodgkin Circle of Discovery.

Epigram

13.11.2017

Features

@epigramfeatures

Editor: Ellen Jones

Deputy Editor: Dani Bass

Online Editor: Olivia Cooke

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Why is Bristol so druggy?

Jessica Doran looks into why drug taking is normalised at Bristol

Jessica Doran Second Year, English

“ There’s a lot of cocaine use because people here have the money to buy it

3. Others believe the drug reputation comes attached to certain University halls. Students from Churchill halls last year (who wish to remain anonymous), have said: ‘there are a lot of people who go to Bristol University who have a lot of money.

Those who go to halls in Churchill are often part of that majority. There was a lot of Cocaine around because people had the money to buy it and regularly’.

In 2014, The Telegraph posted an article that featured a list of the Universities who admitted the most and least number of state school students that year. The University of Bristol came as the third worst known for this, having only accepted 59.4% in 2013.

Another student claimed: ‘From what I gather, accommodation such as Stoke Bishop (who aren’t near the city) often don’t go out as much to the big venues like Motion so tend to do more drugs in the accommodation’.

After speaking to other students from Stoke Bishop accommodation however, the problem seemed just as

prominent in slightly less expensive halls, such as Badock and Hiatt Baker.

4. It feels that the question isn’t so much as to who can afford drugs at University, but just how accessible drugs are to students. The city of Bristol is known for being a port city, and with this of course brought trade from across the globe. This context possibly brings another reason as to why Bristol has gained a reputation for its drug use over the years, as it has been a hub for trade and commerce. With trade often brings the black market and illegal substances. Today, the big city brings with it a flock of students with a loan to spend. This means drugs have become increasingly accessible to students through friends, apps and social media.

The drugs problem continued for example; when I spoke to students from the University of the West of England (UWE). One claimed that

‘There is no doubt it has been so much easier to get hold of drugs in Bristol than my hometown. One out of six people in my flat is not druggy. I saw more Ketamine in the first 3 weeks of my University experience than I had in my entire life’.

Though Bristol does provide the music scene renowned for class A drug use, it seems it is not the sole reason as to why students are taking drugs. In England and Wales, 1 in 5 of 16-24 - year olds have used an illicit drug. Perhaps it isn’t the case that Bristol is ‘druggy’, but that students are. Perhaps the lack of the parental eye brings with it a new-found independence that seeks to experiment with the thrills that a big city brings. But should students be questioning a city’s reputation with drugs before attending the University?

The prospect has begun to deter some students from attending University, fearing that peer pressure will lead

them to try drugs. ‘The Student Room’ for example, saw multiple students specifically question whether Bristol University is ‘druggy’ before confirming it as their final choice.

Is this what being away from parents and gaining independence at University amounts to for the 2017 student? The effects of this frequent illicit drug use would become detrimental to a student’s learning.

This then, is not the type of question that those seeking to attend University should be worrying about in order to achieve their potential at any University.

If you are seeking help with any of the issues discussed, please visit the University of Bristol website at http://www.bristol .ac.uk /studentcounselling/self-help/drugs/. The site provides multiple external sources that can also help, such as ‘Frank’ and ‘Bristol Drugs Project’.

Epiigram / Amy Stewart

From Banksy to Wallace and Gromit, Bristol has become one of the most popular cities in the UK. In 2014, The Independent ranked it as the best city to live in, with it landing in a strong 7th place in 2015. Students flock here every year with the hope of attending the Russel group university, The University of Bristol and living in a city renowned for its quirkiness and independent vibe. Time and time again have students been accused of adopting ‘the Bristol look’ when they move to the city, turning from oblivious fresher to edgy Bristolian after taking a quick trip down Park street to purchase their new wavy garments.

However, it has become questionable as to what ‘the Bristol look’ now really entails. Across the UK, govt.co.uk says that of the 16-24 year – old age category 6.6% used Cannabis, while 2.3% used powdered cocaine and 1.3% used ecstasy. Overall, 4.2% of young people were ‘frequent drug users’ from 2016/17. The use of drugs has been a problem in most universities amongst students and particularly those living in a big city, such as Bristol. It feels however that Bristol has claimed a more ‘druggy’ reputation and we begin to question why this might be…

1.

The city’s music scene is partly what adds to Bristol’s edginess, and a strong Drum and Bass scene may imply a reason for why Bristol is seen as so druggy, with stimulant drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine often floating around in these venues.

2.

Earlier this year, BBC News posted an article online about the use of ‘smart drugs’ at Bristol University. It appeared that students felt so under pressure by upcoming exams, that they had resorted to the drug modafinil to keep them awake and work into

the night. The effects modafinil for long term use are still ‘unknown’ and although legal, students are not advised to be using it to help them study. What this article shows however, is that the pressures of an elite University such as Bristol, could add to why the city has gained a reputation for becoming ‘druggy’.

Bristol has claimed a ‘druggy’ reputation

Reclaiming Our Campus

Sally Patterson discusses the SU’s campaign to tackle issues of harassment on campus harassment is the norm. It permeates

every crevice of society, right from the Sally Patterson Third Year, Sociology and Politics top of our political classes, through the Let’s talk about sexual harassment.

According to an NUS report published in 2010, one in seven women students is a victim of sexual assault or violence.

One in four students have ‘suffered unwelcome sexual advances’, according to NUS findings in 2014. Personally, I feel that these statistics barely scratch the surface of the reality of campus life. As a third year student at Bristol University, I struggle to find a female friend who hasn’t been sexually harassed during their time at uni.

And it’s everywhere. The headlines in the papers show us that sexual

media industry, and into the business world. Research conducted by the TUC found that more than half of women surveyed said they had experienced some kind of unwanted, inappropriate behaviour.

More than half of women surveyed said they had experienced some kind of unwanted, inappropriate behaviour The thing that makes sexual harassment and assault on campus

so depressing is that those of us born at the turn of the Millenium really did believe that things had changed.

Evidently they have not; the issue is endemic in society. Perpetrators may have altered their techniques, but the harm that they continue to cause hurts victims just as much. One of the most infuriating elements of sexual harassment is how normalised it is.

With every new allegation or scandal that comes out, we become further desensitised to the problem.

And then, who is responsible for dealing with sexual harassment on campus? Students, newly away from home, are determined to be independent and able to cope without adult help. Moreover, very few believe

that they could actually be part of the problem themselves. Statistics published by RAINN, a leading antisexual violence organisation, show that seven out of 10 rapes are committed by someone known by the victim.

This evidence indicates that victims of sexual assault are incredibly likely to know their assailants, and yet the image of a lurking stranger in a dark alleyway continues to dominate our preconceptions about perpetrators.

When, albeit minimal, attempts are made to challenge this culture, some students become defensive, even offended, at having to sit through an hour-long Consent Workshop. If we are not all willing to even acknowledge the scale of the problem, how can we

possibly begin to challenge it?

Bristol SU Women’s Network have just launched our Reclaim campaign, which aims to tackle exactly this.

It is an all-too necessary reminder that sexual violence on campus is everyone’s problem.

The university must proactively protect the students in its care, the Student’s Union must continue to tackle the normalisation of harassment at Bristol, and perhaps most importantly, every student must stand up and speak out. Throughout November Reclaim will be hosting workshops, online campaigns and our annual march on the 25th; We may be part of the problem, but we can also be part of the solution.

Epigram

13.11.2017

7

Pakistani, female and fed up of patriarchy Neha Maqsood discusses her transformative move from Pakistan to Bristol Neha Maqsood Second Year, Medic Pakistani, female and fed up of patriarchy: my move from Karachi, Pakistan to Bristol.

I am not British, nor am I ‘BritishPakistani’. My accent, which is a mixture of Pakistani-English with a hint of American, has made it difficult for people to decipher what my heritage is. Pakistan is the country in which I was raised; my roots are buried deep in its soil and its culture and traditions are crystallized in my soul. But today, at this very moment, after spending 1.5 years in Bristol, it is safe to say that the disconnection I feel to my own country, has never been greater.

“

Having lived in Bristol for 1.5 years has drastically altered my mindset, mentality and cultural thinking for the better (in most ways, anyway).

Just as the university prospectus said I would, I have had the pleasure of encountering a diverse group of friends hailing from South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Philippines and Thailand, and the list goes on. When a person gets the chance to interact with different races and cultures, it broadens their perceptions and breaks down prejudices; which was, luckily, the case for me. Due to the greater freedom regarding choice of clothing, my style of dressing was influenced by Bristol’s liberal touch; a pair of skinny jeans and a woolen jumper became my go-to look. My tone became louder, my voice became stronger, and used to express opinions on every international matter. Late night strolls around Clifton Village, during first year, became the norm.

Flikr / Farhan Chawla

Coming to the UK allowed me to seek independence from the old version of myself

Adapting from life in Pakistan to life in Bristol has proven a challenge

me with an unexplainable confidence.

It allowed me to seek independence from the older version of myself. The aforementioned acts and alternate ones like catching the bus or walking with a friend late at night, may seem like a normality or a regular task for people in this country, but coming from a developing, semi-conservative and partially religious country, one needs to understand how different it is to do this! Don’t get me wrong; my high school education was completed at a prestigious Grammar School in Pakistan, which was actually founded by the British when they colonised the subcontinent, so my thinking is quite liberal and my dressing is not so conservative. However, the fact of the matter is that when one lives in a conservative country, she has to fit in with the societal and traditional norms and do as the patriarchy deems appropriate.

did not hit me. As I stepped into the airport, the hot winds instantly threw my hair into a frenzy and the humidity made me regret my decision to don a turtle-neck sweater (the latter protected me from the icy winds at Heathrow). I see the porters come rushing to me, shouting loudly, ‘Baji, bag daydain!’

(Give me your bags, miss!) Are they unaware of the fact that I lugged this 24kg suitcase on my own throughout Heathrow and Dubai International?

Perhaps they are unaware that acts like carrying your own luggage is the norm in the UK. Unsurprisingly, only the young females get asked for help by the porters, which begs the question: Is it inconceivable that a young women can carry her own load?

As I look up, I feel the eyes of policemen, families waiting for their loved ones and strangers, on me. I feel the disapproving gaze of the religious woman donned in a ‘Burqa’ as I try to tug my sweater below my thighs, which proves nearly impossible. I feel the leering gazes of Afghani men who refuse to look away, making me increasingly uncomfortable. For the first time ever, I feel like a foreigner in my own country.

Café Nero five minutes away from me back in Bristol. But I am not allowed to go there alone; and if I insist, it is only if I have a chaperone. I refuse.

Whatever happened to the long walks, simply alone with my thoughts? Why is my clothing now looser, my tone more hushed? Why are my male cousins allowed to sit in restaurants or loiter the streets till dawn while I must be back in my room before dusk? I am now confined within these four walls of my room; my routine dictated by the patriarchal values of society. Four walls keeping me in: My gender, the dominating patriarchy, my gender and once again, my gender.

adapting to alternate traditions, I would probably be stagnant; I would be unable to move forward with my life.

At the end of the day, the truth of the matter is that no matter how great my dislike is for chaperoned visits or long tops covering my thighs, my love for the simple notion of ‘home’ will always trump the aforementioned unbearable adaptations.

Bristol is simply a recession for me; it is a break from the chains of my country’s rules and the Pakistani mentality. It provides much needed relief, which undeniably has given me brilliant experiences and broadened my perceptions. I am thankful for Bristol and grateful to its liberal culture.

However, if I were ever to choose a country to spend my formative years in, Pakistan would always be my first choice. The very idea of the word Pakistan is synonymous with terms like, ‘family, friends, love, cousins, culture’. Although my rant in the earlier paragraphs may have seemed like I was putting down my own country, despite it all, the conservative thinking and the religious culture, with some adaptation and evolving, I will consistently choose home over anything.

“ “ “ I would have profound conversations about the patriarchal Pakistani society

Bristol: Due to the similarities in our cultures, my closest Indian friend and I would have profound conversations about the patriarchal Pakistani and Indian societies and the difficulties such societal thinking posed to us women. These deep-seated talks would dominate our dinner-table conversations. Walking to lectures, discovering new locations, grocery shopping and cooking for myself; in some way, all these little acts provided

“ “ I am instantly aware that I am home...I feel the dissaproving gaze of a religious woman

Pakistan: Every time the Emirates plane hits the tarmac in Karachi, Pakistan, I am instantly aware that I have arrived home. It is often an unspoken awareness; factors like the blazing sun or the fact that ‘Urdu’ and not English is the spoken language, make me feel like I have arrived home.

However the first time after returning from Bristol, the feeling of ‘I’m home’

I miss Bristol when I am home and I am homesick when I’m in Bristol

A week into returning home and everything is different. I know there is a nearby café, just like there was a

At the end of the day, my love for home will trump the unbearable adaptions

I miss Bristol when I am home and I am homesick when I am in Bristol.

However, it is not the friends or the academia pulling me back to Bristol, but rather the freedom. I had no chains on my hands here, I was never trapped within the 4 walls, within this ‘box’ back in Bristol as I know both my mind and myself are both bigger than this ‘box’.

Adaptation, for me at least, will be the key to settle in to two vastly different countries which are home to polar opposite cultures and people.

Although it is tough to constantly mold the mind each Christmas or Winter break when I return to Pakistan, it is a task which I have to accept. Without

They say home is where the heart is... and the food is

They say, ‘Home is where the heart is (And where the food is). More importantly where the food is for me.

Epigram

13.11.2017

8

Time for America to question their gun laws?

Sparked by the recent attack in New York, in which fake guns were used to cause terror and fear, Edwin Teong Ying Keat questions America’s gun laws Edwin Teong Ying Keat First Year, Law

the terror attacks in New York spurs discussion, regarding the perennial debate of gun laws.

In this case, the terrorist was seen to be holding a pellet and paintball gun but because guns are permitted under the law, it caused far greater degree of terror and chaos than it would have, if recognized on the onset.

While it is debatable that recognition of the paintball gun is not solely determined by legality of guns, the fact that gun laws allow a right to carry guns therefore establishes common acceptance that anything that resembles a gun is a gun, and is likely to be the first thought

Flikr / Kevin Stanchfield

“ Gun laws serve no purpose insofar as protecting the collective safety of societies

when in times of danger.

Be that as it may, gun laws evidently have to go, for it contravenes human rights in terms of anticipating the misuse of guns in utilitarian comparison with merely being in possession of it. We have seen how former president Barrack Obama wept during the shootings in Santa Barbara in 2016, implicitly acknowledging his powerlessness to enact changes to gun laws and entrench our ‘inalienable right to human life’.

No matter how we view it, gun laws serve no purpose insofar as protecting the collective safety of societies. Without delving too much into jurisprudence, the least law achieves for any given society is to chart safety perimeters, not create scenarios where danger is likely to happen, as empirical proof and history suggests. What this means for us, is in fact nothing much, for the tears shed after

Flikr / Nicu Buculei

The recent terror attacks in New York that claimed the lives of eight are but a continuation of the chapter Terrorism has written since its maleficent birth. Tears were shed, tears in the social fabric sustained.

Yet being an observer of such distraught news can often evoke emotion but inadequate reflection.

Here in Bristol, we are grateful for the relatively safe environment, but that does not mean terrorism does not exist and we should always maintain our collective vigilance.

For those of us who are not acquainted with terror attacks in Bristol, one of the most prominent attacks include the bombing of the Brass Pig in 1974 by the Irish Republican Army (“IRA”). In recent years, we have reports by the Guardian back in 2009 which reflect how close

we were to being casualties of a bomb attack in Broadmead by former schoolboy Isa Ibrahim.

Despite our relative clean slate of terror attacks in recent years, we should not take this safety for granted. This is especially so taking into consideration the Guardian’s article published on 19th September 2017 which revealed existential struggles admitted by the police in responding to a terrorist attack due to funding cuts.

Notwithstanding the validity of the report, the grain of truth is that combatting terrorism goes beyond appreciation of our safety in acknowledging tears in our social fabric caused by terror attacks. What the people in France did in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in 2015 emulate the ‘joie de vivre’ spirit; one that resolutely refuses to abstain from being joyous in public just because terrorists exist.

Beyond collective vigilance,

The New York attack should be a warning sign to America to rethink their gun laws. these terror attacks dry from the ground they drip onto and are shed again when the next one occurs.

Is it not ironic then, that these tears or tears in social fabrics

caused by these attacks could be prevented or at least reduced in probability by tightening the lid so the bottle of spilled milk does not have to spill for us to shed tears over?

Fire safety should be taken seriously Nicky Withers discusses the importance of fire safety after joining Avon Fire and Reuse on a planned evacuation When I was a first year, I remember sitting through a long presentation about fire prevention. There were stats, anecdotes and a video showing the difference between fire spread when a fire door is open and closed. The same year, Colston Street- home for over 100 students- was destroyed by just the type of fire we’d been warned about.

That’s why when Avon Fire and Rescue offered the opportunity for an Epigram reporter to go with them to a planned evacuation at UWE, I took it.

As soon as the fire crews arrived, I got kitted out in genuine uniform, which is surprisingly cumbersome.

After only twenty minutes in the helmet I was starting to be very irritated by it, the boots were difficult to walk in and the jacket was warm. Very warm.

One block of flats were evacuated, the sirens went off and students soon started filing out of the building, looking rather annoyed. Shockingly, after ten minutes, the occasional straggler appeared.

Ten minutes. Admittedly, if they could smell smoke I’m sure they would have moved a lot quicker, but in a scenario where they had no knowledge of whether

this was a drill or a real fire, ten minutes is a long time.

It would be easy to take this opportunity to rip into UWE students, or make some sarcastic comment. However, we know you replicate this drill at any UoB accommodation and the results would be the same.

Whilst this was happening, a fire officer explained the procedure. Campus security and the fire wardens have eight minutes to establish whether there is a fire or not before calling 999. The fire engines will then be despatched to the location. Campus universities such as UWE are difficult to navigate for the crew, with multiple security barriers and

Nicky Withers / Epigram

The crews making preparations outside the planned evacuation

dead ends, which increases the time it takes to get the fire engine in position.

Once the engines had arrived and all the students had finally left the building, the team got together for a briefing. Entry and exit of the building is incredibly strategic and crucial for securing the casualties and getting them out. It’s at this point they establish how much oxygen each crew member has and therefore how long they’ll last inside. By this time, around 20 minutes have gone since the alarm fire alarm went off.

For most of the crew, this was one of their weekly drills, ‘casualties’ were placed within the building to be rescued and the whole flat was smoked out. I was assigned a senior officer to make sure I got to see everything, but also keep me out of the way of working crews.

Even with the knowledge this was all just a drill, it was still very intense. I followed the first team up into the flat, which had been smoked out (using harmless disco smoke) to replicate a real fire. It became clear very quickly that the multiple doors and narrow stairwells would make difficult work of hauling the hose up. Even without carrying anything and not wearing any heavy breathing apparatus, I was quickly heating up getting up the stairs in all the kit.

The fire officer I’d been assigned told me to stay right next to him and even hold on to his jacket, as soon as we entered the reason for this became evident. Visibility was down to a few inches in front of your face. The smoke made seeing the hose, other people and even doorways almost impossible.

With the alarm still blaring it was all very disorientating. The hose got easily stuck in doorways and around the stair bannisters, leaving the firefighters using their whole bodyweight to haul it through.

“

Nicky Withers Sports Editor

The experience was a real eye opener to what fire crews have to deal with, I can’t imagine how horrendous the real thing would be.

Firefighters wear six metre lines that attach to others in their team, which in a halls environment would be invaluable. The halls and doors are all identical, so unable to see or hear, it would be incredibly easy to get totally lost.

By the time the drill had finished and the ventilation fans were placed to clear the smoke, I was glad to get outside.

It was hot and claustrophobiceven without a single flame.

The experience was a real eye opener to what fire crews have

to deal with, I can’t imagine how horrendous the real thing would be.

So here’s some shocking stats for you: between April 2016 and March 2017, Avon Fire and Rescue were called to 53 false alarms in student accommodation in Bristol. One firefighter I spoke to said they were called out when a student pressed the alarm in the middle of the night to annoy his friend.

Maybe this was an isolated idiot, but seriously?

In the same time period, they were called to two fires at student accommodation in Bristol that were caused by cooking appliances.

The talks may be boring, we may think we’re sensible enough to not burn the kitchen down making beans on toast, but all it takes is one mistake.

Maybe you don’t want to queue for Diamond Kebab on the way home so decide to cook, but pass out before you finish.

Maybe you really need the toilet mid-cooking and think ‘eh, it’ll be fine for five minutes’.

None of us want to see anyone go through what our students went through at Colston again.

After my time with Avon Fire and Rescue, I wouldn’t want the crew to go through the hours of tackling a blaze like that either.

I’m not trying to be a buzz kill, but nobody thinks it will happen to them until it does.

Want to get involved with an award-winning student newspaper?

Join one of our 14 Facebook groups for details on commissions and writers’ meetings

Epigram/ Noa Leach

Epigram News 2017-18 Epigram Features Contributors 2017/18 Epigram Comment 2017-18 Epigram Science and Tech 2017-18 Epigram Letters 2017/18 Epigram Living 2017-18 Epigram Wellbeing Writers’ Group 2017/18 Epigram Food Writers (17/18) Epigram Travel Section 2017/18 Epigram Style Contributors 2017-18 Epigram Film & TV 2017-18 Writers Epigram Arts 2017-18 Epigram Music Writers 2017/18 Epigram Sport Writers 2017/18

If there is something you would like to write about, contact the relevant section editor.

No experience is required!

Write for every issue or just one - as much commitment as you would like to give.

Epigram 13.11.2017

Comment

@epigramcomment Editor: Ed Southgate

Deputy Editor: Jake Porter

Online Editor: Cameron Scheijde

@ed_southgate comment@epigram.org.uk

@porterjake

@camscheijde

Epigram Comment is the home of the student voice. The opinions expressed here are from individual students with an individual perspective. As an independent newspaper, we do not affiliate or associate ourselves with any one view, but aim to publish all views of the student body as and when they come to us. If you would like to respond with an opposing point of view in a subsequent issue, please contact the Editors.

What the #editors are saying...

The NUS is representing us as students A year on from Bristol’s NUS referendum, Zoe Pereira explains why the NUS has been and still is representing students’ interests Zoe Pereira Second Year, Modern Languages Let’s talk about the National Union of Students, any positive thoughts?

“I think it’s a flawed institution. I don’t see what it adds to anything.”

“The NUS does not represent me when really that should be its main purpose.”.

And our favourite, “NUS makes me think of ANUS.” The unanimous dislike for the organisation collates to a dreary, reverberating, prolonged moan.

The stack of articles spewing hate towards the NUS and ex-President Malia Bouattia is helpfully archived online for any student to pore over, and duly back up their opinion with smug evidence. Antisemitism is a word many students in 2016 were eager to deploy in their oh-so-clever hate campaigns.

Twitter/ @NUSUK

“

The positive contribution that the NUS has made is hardly, if ever, recognised

“

What the @NUSUK is saying...

Everyone is entitled to their unanimous dislike of the NUS, yet what is startling is that the positive contribution that the NUS has made is hardly, if ever, recognised. An article published in 2013 entitled “Has the NUS had its day?” in bold, loud print, can now in hindsight be completely thrashed. An interesting read, Tim Berkman, a Bristol University student and member of the Syndicalists, is quoted in the article, stating that the NUS was “bureaucratic, and dominated by people who want to get a career in politics rather than change anything” and that “Most students don’t want to sit through long meetings with politicians - we want to take action,” Berkman says. “We can do this much better without the people who claim to ‘represent’ us or ‘lead’ us - we don’t need them”.

The Poverty Commission will put pressure on government to make change

Yet since 2013, the NUS has turned Berkman’s statement on its head. In 2015, NUS got the postgraduate loan cap banished with the #capsoff campaign, so those aged over 30 could have access to postgraduate loans. In 2016, the court found 48,000 international students who were wrongly deported by the Home Office based on an expert legal opinion that – guess who? – The NUS provided. And now in 2017, the Student Poverty Commission led by the new President Shakira will incite change in terms of student poverty. And the list of how the NUS has contributed to a prosperous society stretches almost as far as the noses of the Pinocchios who argue that we do not need the NUS. The Poverty Commission is built to tackle the barriers that working class students will face in regard to access to further education – a very real problem as NUS Extra revealed that 46 per cent of students are worried about being unable to afford basics like bread and milk. Martin upheld “We are all capable of

On launching the Poverty Commission, NUS President Shakira Martin said: ‘I believe that we are all capable of furthering our education’

achieving, but for some the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against us. That is what I want to change.

That’s why I am launching my poverty commission: a massive piece of work that will span two years, will reach out to the forgotten corners of our society…”

She goes on; “I’m not just talking about the people who have been lucky enough to make it to university.

I’m talking about students like myself: a single parent of two children from a working class background who could never have had what many people would call a “typical” university experience. I’m talking about apprentices like Hannah: 19 years old with a twoyear-old, living in council housing and left with £30 a week to care for herself and her child.” If Hannah then vilifies the NUS, then perhaps disaffiliation may be considered, yet many students who criticize the NUS have never been in such a position.

This is why I believe the poverty commission is so important. It will put pressure on government to make change, and provide research so that the numerous pitfalls of university life that are stacked against people; student loans, accommodation, living expenses and extenuating circumstances may be revitalised and the NUS can better address students’ current concerns. The main principal of the commission, to help students who feel financially excluded from university is integral and because of this, I would argue that the NUS deserves positive recognition.

There have always been clashes between the national leadership of the NUS and fed-up student unions. Threats of disaffiliation are nothing new and disagreement is almost expected. Whether it’s tuition fees, the Israel-Palestine conflict or the manner in which delegates elect the NUS President, we will not completely see eye-to-eye. However, isn’t that the beauty of freedom of expression, of democracy? If an organisation is cripplingly evil, then we should, by all means leave and shut the door behind us.

Yet, a flawed but primarily good organization is an opportunity for change, and instead of pioneering hate, let’s pioneer improvement.

Indeed, it was not a fluke that Bristol’s Remain campaign triumphed; by a margin of 67% to 33% with YES getting 2409 votes and BONUS getting 1186, even after the NUS being highly demonised.

That is because it takes a huge haul of ignorance to disregard the work done by the union because of certain dislikes we may have. The NUS have done a lot of good work.

“

It was not a fluke that Bristol’s Remain campaign triumphed

Many students are worried about tuition fee increases. Well, look no further than the NUS’ work on decoupling the TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) from fees in the House of Lords. The NUS was one of the organizations referenced regularly in Parliament during these speeches, because it has a great deal of influence. Students worry about housing costs, yet rarely acknowledge the NUS’ work on arguing to get rid of administration fees. In terms of further education, there’s now £500m being put into technical education over next five years, because of the blood, sweat and tears the NUS shed in their #FEUnplugged campaign. Berkman, do we not need the NUS? It’s all very well having a student rally to smugly declare that ‘we, clever students, have overturned the NUS’ in our sheer ungratefulness while dishing out our angry rhetoric in extra-large portions. By all means, throw your toys out of the pram when it comes to the NUS, if you can afford to. In my books, it will only be justified if you can then propose a perfect, unflawed organisation to take its place that will tackle the inequality that permeates our education system. If not, we have to accept that, sorry Berkman, we do need the NUS.

Epigram 13.11.2017

11 A response to the round-up...

Political round-up

Bristol is choking, I’m not joking

Natasha Owen demands we take Bristol’s environmental problem seriously

World politics:

UK politics: Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, raises interest rates for the first time in ten years to 0.5% Bristol politics: Bristol NW MP, Darren Jones, raises in parliament that there are just three electric car charging points for 40,000 homes in his constituency The round-up is from the time of writing; developments in these events may have since occured

The MP for the North West of Bristol, Darren Jones, raised the issue in parliament last week that for the 40,000 homes in his constituency there are just three electric car charging points.

Hardly the greatest of incentives to ditch the diesel! Though gut-wrenching statistics, like the 300 premature deaths in Bristol each year due to air pollution, suggest that the time to act is now!

This shortfall in green initiatives has been noticed at a time when nitrous oxide levels in Bristol are at a worrying high. Nitrous oxide is released when fossil fuels are burnt and it traps 200 times as much heat as carbon dioxide, contributing to the greenhouse effect. The EU set guidelines in 2000, stating that by 2005, nitrous oxide levels should be at 200 µg m³ and not exceeded this figure more than 18 times in a year. Yet, in 2017 I checked the Bristol air pollution data base, and on a Sunday morning in Fishponds, even without rush hour traffic, the nitrous oxide pollution level was 400µg m³.

Seventeen years on from when the target was set and air pollution levels are still double the recommended level! You would think (or at least hope) that after Bristol Being Named Europe’s Green Capital in 2015 more would be being done to address something as important as air quality.

Without cutting the number of dirty vehicles in the city, every person living in Bristol will be directly affected by air pollution. Every Bristol resident will have an increased risk of inflammatory lung conditions and asthma. So,

Epigram / Ed Southgate

Ivanka Trump spoke at the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo, saying sexual harrassment should ‘never be tolerated’

Natasha Owen President, Bristol Uni Friends of the Earth

What more should be done to clean Bristol’s air?

what’s being done to improve air quality I hear you cry? Or, cough?

Bristol city council released a document called the Bristol Clean Air Cabinet Report Study this year, detailing ways air pollution is being addressed. Plans include introducing an entirely clean bus fleet, offering electric car grants for businesses and doubling the number of electric charge points (oh wow!). Also the introduction of a clean air zone, the planning of which is currently taking place. It will be decided whether the zone is small, medium or large and if there will be zones that drivers get charged to use.

All of these plans are a step in the right direction, but telling people that they can’t use their vehicles or will be charged to do so can cause problems. Especially when you consider that the use of a vehicle may be an essential tool for livelihoods or a person’s independence? It’s a touchy subject, no one wants air pollution, but also forcing people to change their lifestyle or risk taxation is a difficult one. Perhaps it’s better to look to the bigger picture, globally we are feeling the effects of climate change right now.

Tune in to an episode of Blue Planet you can see that damage delicate ecosystems have sustained.

Climate change worsens everything from food security to cancer trends and we’re all affected.

There is no more mañana, these problems won’t go away unless we address them head on, right now.

Currently, Bristol Friends of the Earth are working on a clean air campaign which encourages the council to choose the largest possible clean air zone whilst educating people about how imperative it is to cut pollution levels.

The organisation is looking for public engagement and support so come along and get involved!

Find out about the direct action that Rising Up are doing by blocking roads, to make drivers think and learn about air pollution. Put pressure on our University by supporting Fossil Free’s divestment campaign. How can it be acceptable for Bristol University to have investments in dirty fuels when Bristolians are dying every year because of pollution?

Bristol City council has set out plans to improve things, there are environmental activism groups working hard to raise awareness and make change. Yet more can be achieved and momentum gathered if people took notice of what is choking Bristol. We all need to act.

A response to the news...

Contextual offers successfully widen participation

Caitlin Prosser celebrates Bristol’s schemes as succeeding in minimising inequality at the university

The University of Bristol prides itself on leading widening participation research and implementing schemes that reduce educational inequalities at university. The news that Bristol graduates in 2016 who enrolled from aspiring schools – eligible for contextual offers – achieved degree classifications on par with the entire student body, despite prior educational disadvantage, demonstrates the Contextual Offer Scheme’s success. Since its introduction in 2009, it has grown and evolved: 1000 students arrived on contextual offers in 2016/17, forming a substantial 24.4 per cent of the year’s intake.

Contextual offers are typically two grades

Twitter/ @CrawleyCollege

Comment Editor, Ed Southgate, received a contextual offer for attending an ‘aspiring school’

lower than standard offers, having previously been only one grade lower. The offers are awarded to Bristol applicants that attend a state school or college in the lowest 40 per cent academically or by progression to higher education (HE), live in a low-progression area, have participated in an access scheme, or have been in care. Students only need to meet one element to be eligible.

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That these students are as capable as others should not surprise us

A major strength is that students do not have to be aware of or apply for a contextual offer specifically. The automatic nature of these offers greatly benefits students who are more likely to be from a background in which participation in, and awareness of, HE is low.

That these students are as capable as others should not surprise us. In 2010, a study on the University of Bristol concluded that students from state schools outperform those from independent schools, despite the latter arriving with better A-levels.

Students eligible for a contextual offer have likely overcome more barriers to achieve their qualifications and university place. Barriers can be as unambiguous as low socio-economic status as financial concerns and responsibilities can eclipse academic potential. Other obstacles are more complex, such as cultural barriers, low selfesteem, and low aspiration. The resilience

and perseverance fostered means that these individuals are invaluable assets to a researchintensive university. Diversifying the student body improves representation in research and influential professions.

Bristol’s widening participation goes beyond contextual offers. Recognising the university’s over-representation of white students from independent schools, several initiatives focus on enhancing representation. Aiming to recruit the ‘most talented students from the most diverse background’, the university has targeted schemes locally. In Bristol, extreme wealth and extreme deprivation disparately coexist. The child poverty rate stands at approximately one in four, and Bristol has the second lowest percentage of Free School Meals pupils progressing to HE. Additionally, Black and Minority Ethnic pupils and pupils with English as an alternative language achieve below expectations at all educational levels.

By working with local schools, the university expands those it engages with.

Schemes such as IntoUniversity work with primary schools to raise aspirations and give young people the knowledge to choose their educational route. Access to Bristol brings local sixth-form students to the university, providing them with academic experiences that enhance applications, and opportunities for a bursary and guaranteed offer. For some students, these outreach schemes will be their first discussion about HE with someone who attended university and this alone can inspire them. The university is also aiming to increase participation of Black and Minority Ethnic students by working with schools with a high percentage of non-white students.

Encouragingly, Bristol provides several grants

– the new Accommodation Bursary will help counteract poorer students’ apprehensions about rent prices.

Despite the progress that the contextual offer scheme has contributed towards, the university is still not as representative as it could be. There are concerning trends of a racial divide in degree achievement, showing that educational inequality persists beyond admission. Students that arrive on contextual offers are given no extra support or guidance during their studies, despite being likely to be from a disadvantaged background. This contrasts with those who complete outreach or access schemes, who do receive additional support.

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Caitlin Prosser Third Year, Medicine

For some students, these outreach schemes will be their first discussion about HE with someone who attended university and this alone can inspire them As a contextual offer recipient, I am grateful for Bristol’s efforts to reduce educational inequality. Widening participation is the responsibility of every HE provider, and Bristol is readily responding to the needs of its student and local population. Although more progress must be made, contextual offers benefit the whole university by increasing diversity, and hence providing a broad education for all.

Read the original news story on page 3

Epigram

13.11.2017

12

It is too early to choose our housemates

Will Charley insists that first year students are thrown into an unfair GBBO-like technical challenge when deciding next year’s housing Will Charley First Year, History Reading week has come and gone, and it’s time for first years to choose their future housemates, as well as the property they’ll live in.

Realistically, this is one task that can’t be put off in favour of binge watching TV; it needs to be done by Christmas. For some, it’s just another step on the journey through first year. For others, it’s a dreaded prospect that is as stressful as it is complex.

It seems unnecessarily early. We’re expected to choose who to live with for a whole year upon just having joined the university. Having lived in Bristol for eight weeks, students are unlikely to truly know their new friends, or how they’ll deal with having to live in a shared house, particularly if those weeks have been spent in a catered hall. It makes much more sense that students choose who to live with at Easter. By then, students would have several months of experience of living with their friends and would certainly know them better, making them more informed in choosing whether they want to live with them in second year. This would make the whole ‘house decision’ feel a lot less rash and demanding.

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Students are unlikely to truly know their new friends, or how they’ll deal with having to live in a shared house

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Until the government implements regulation to create more available homes, there can be no star baker in student housing

As some might point out, if students really are that stressed about choosing who to live with they can leave getting a house sorted until Easter. The problem is just that by Easter you’ll be lucky to find a broom cupboard without black mould and a homely rat, let alone a habitable house within a student budget. Therein lies the second major issue.

By 2022, it is predicted that there will be a shortfall of over a million new homes in England.

The housing crisis isn’t limited to the homeless and the poor. If there were more affordable and habitable buildings in Bristol, the scramble for student accommodation simply wouldn’t exist.

Due to a lack of clean, basic and well-maintained houses, a whole lot of unnecessary stress is caused.

There are two obvious solutions for worried freshers this year and, unfortunately, neither will be effective until long after those freshers have graduated. The first would be Bristol University, UWE and the city implementing a policy prohibiting students from renting houses until the spring, something that is certainly unlikely to happen due to the private market. More realistically, the government needs to ensure that the accommodation landlords provide is clean, habitable and inexpensive for students so that more current homes are actually viable. If all houses in Bristol were relatively appealing, the rush to get the minority of ‘good’ homes wouldn’t exist and students could comfortably wait until Easter.

There is currently no short-term solution.

Until the government implements regulation to create more available homes, there can be no star baker in student housing.

Maddie Goodfellow Third Year, Politics & Int. Relations Everyone knows student housing horror stories: freezing houses with no heating, rat infestations, damp, mould, and landlords who do nothing to help. But with Bristol hardly being known for its affordable student rent, it would be reasonable to assume that housing standards should be of an acceptable level. This is not the case. The lack of renting experience of new students is continually exploited by landlords and letting agencies alike, and lack of student knowledge on their rights allows this situation to continue.

Students have highlighted their own issues with letting agents and landlords. One I interviewed stated that ‘when our fridge freezer broke last year, it took a month and us contacting the letting agency several times for it to be replaced’. Another tells of a time when ‘our shower broke, so the letting agency sent someone to fix it. He then proceeded to smash the shower door in the process, and the letting agency blamed us and tried to make us pay for a replacement door’.

In the most recent Bristol SU survey, 90 per cent of Bristol students reported experiencing a problem with private accommodation, with only two letting agencies, UBU and Anthony James, gaining a student approval rating of over 50%. Many students report their houses having serious safety concerns, with 75% of students having a damp or mould problem at their property. 25% of students were unhappy with the security systems in their homes, with 9% of students not having a working fire alarm.

Although the report found that students had a marginally better time overall when dealing with private landlords as opposed to letting agencies, both had low student approval ratings.

A recent NUS survey found that this was not only the case for Bristol. A quarter of student homes throughout the UK are infested with rats, mice or slugs. A third have a damp, mould or condensation problem. Only 32% of students have carbon monoxide detectors. It is not only in terms of living conditions that students are being exploited; costs for student renting are astronomical in many cases. In the same survey, more than half of students reported having paid £500 or more to secure their property, and a fifth paid over £1000, well above the average student maintenance loan. 43% of students report having some or

all of their deposit withheld. Of those that challenged this, only 16% were granted any change in the money they received.

Many lettings agencies and the landlords they represent are notorious in Bristol for exploiting students. Just last year, Bristol letting agents DIGS were forced to repay students after taking unfair deductions from their deposit money. The students took the landlord to court and won. It is not just in Bristol where students have taken action; students at UCL and Goldsmiths enacted rent strikes last year due to poor accommodation conditions. However, this type of action against university accommodation services is a lot more common than action against private landlords, as many students do not see challenging their landlord as a viable option. Landlords are aware of this, and treat students accordingly.

In the most recent Bristol SU survey, 90 per cent of Bristol students reported experiencing a problem with private accommodation

This must change. The fact that it makes the national news when students take action against exploitative landlords shows how rare these situations are. Most of the time, inexperienced students are taken advantage of by landlords and letting agencies and are not provided with the knowledge to fight back.

Hence why the university should provide better education on renting and rights to give students the basic understanding needed to prevent exploitation. Although information and a dedicated private sector advisor are provided to students, many simply do not know that they are available. Furthermore, pressure needs to be put on landlords to provide basic rental standards. Many of the issues that students have reported would not be tolerated when renting to non-students, and it is unacceptable that students should be expected to live in this overpriced, substandard accommodation.

It would be good to see private landlords and agencies take the initiative in improving their standards; history tells us that this is extremely unlikely. Yet again, the onus falls on the students themselves rather than exploitative landlords.

Epigram / Cameron Scheijde

As an avid Great British Bake Off fan, I can’t help but compare first year students’ situation to the ‘technical challenge’ that bakers go through each week. As it stands, students are trying to complete a task that they don’t have all the knowledge or experience to do. They’re also time restricted, when it’s obvious that they’d be far better at finishing the task without this. Finally, some students are in the same boat as the bakers on the GBBO because they’re not even sure what their end product should really look like. Clearly, students need solutions and GBBO offers these.

Firstly, ease off on the time pressure. If students could choose their houses in the spring, the panicked feeling of having to decide who to live with as soon as possible would be lifted.

Moreover, if students could choose later, then this relieves stress in another way. Students would have a better and more comprehensive recipe, one that actually gives them all the information they need. As well as this, students - or bakers - would know which spices they truly enjoy and which ones they like on occasion but wouldn’t want to try every day.

Now, of course this doesn’t apply to all students at university, or potentially even a majority.

Some know who they want to live with around week four, and certainly by the reading week that straddles October and November. They click with their flat or course mates and form one small group from the start. For these lucky students, the only problem that they have is simply who they have to kick out of the group so that they can fit into one house. And don’t get me wrong, almost all students click with people in their accommodation, societies and course, it’s merely a matter of deciding which group to make the designated second year squad.

To avoid being exploited, Maddie Goodfellow demands more education and support for students renting

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Epigram / Wilf Stoddart

Does the scramble to choose housemates and to secure a nice house leave our plans for the next year ‘half-baked’?

Landlords must stop exploiting student tenants

Are landlords exploiting students when they rent out their properties?

Epigram

13.11.2017

13

National media must perform their duty to report student suicide respectfully

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Following the tragic news of another death of a Bristol student, Max Langer demands national newspapers take more care when reporting student suicide Max Langer First Year, Film & TV TW: This article contains references to suicide Following the death of another Bristol student in the past week questions are rightly being raised about how the university plans to improve how it supports its students. However, too often newspapers plaster the names and faces of the dead across their articles with a complete lack of sensitivity, using tragedies to provide shock factor.

The article that brought me to this realisation was when I opened The Times on October 28th to find an article about student deaths at Bristol University. At first I didn’t see it as a negative: bringing national coverage of a serious issue in our community can help to pressure the university in to taking greater action. However, as I read through the article I found that it was simply listing the names and details of all those students who have taken their lives over the past year. In some cases, they even included

about the dangers of exposure and thus wish to be kept anonymous. Thereby, journalists can refrain from including names and pictures while still reporting on the facts of the events.

important. These events are highly personal to those affected as well as their entire community, so the media must be able to tread lightly. Recent events have shown news outlets to be lacking in this sympathy so it is important that we pressure them to improve.

When tragedies strike, the way that the media reacts is highly important

Another publication that reported on these events is the local Bristol Post, who have consistently run stories about student deaths despite some backlash. Last year, this paper published two open letters to the Bristol Post urging them to tone down their reporting on such events. So, have they listened? Not entirely.

In their most recent article they do include the contact details for Samaritans as well as information about warning sign. However, they also include a large photo of the student in question, despite acknowledging that the family has asked for privacy. That doesn’t seem overly private to me. They also fail to tag the story with a warning message, so they still seem to have some way to go.

Journalism is there to inform the public, but it is also a powerful force for shaping the way we think as communities. When tragedies strike, the way that the media reacts is highly

Epigram / Ed Southgate

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There is a complete lack of sympathy demonstrated by the media in tragic cirmunstances

some quite graphic details of the events that had transpired.

This article shows the complete lack of sympathy demonstrated by the media in tragic circumstances. When a student is found dead at Bristol a many people are affected, from friends and family to others in their halls of residence and on their course. When reporting, the newspapers have to take the feelings of all of these people in to account. Clearly this poses a difficult problem for reporters.

When, therefore, is it appropriate for them to disclose such information to the public?

Everyone will have a different response to this, but there are a few things that news outlets can do that help balance the need for privacy and for transparency.

Firstly, for any articles covering tough subjects, such as suicide, there should always be a trigger or content warning at the top of the article. This gives any reader a chance to stop reading before coming across anything they find distressing or triggering. It may seem a small thing, but it can help people immensely - especially when it comes to suicide coverage.

Next, articles can include help links and numbers around the subject. Epigram includes contact details for the university helplines and the Samaritans in all articles about student deaths. This helps spread this information more widely, but also makes clear that help is always available.

Finally, it is important that news outlets listen to the wishes of those effected when reporting on events. Some families may be more worried

‘Journalism is there to inform the public, but it is also a powerful force for shaping the way we think’

Sponsored Content

Exciting new graduate opportunities available at Womble Bond Dickinson

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Bond Dickinson and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice combine to form Womble Bond Dickinson law firm

From November 2017 Bond Dickinson and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice will combine to form Womble Bond Dickinson law firm.

This will create a progressive, forward thinking firm, with transatlantic capacity and an understanding of our local markets, putting Womble Bond Dickinson in the UK’s top 20 and in the top 80 in the US listings.

Womble Bond Dickinson will have more than 400 partners and 1,000 lawyers across 8 offices in the UK including an office based in Bristol, just five minutes away from Temple Meads.

In addition there will be 16 offices in the US. The company will be representing more than 250 publicly traded companies with more than 150 Chambers.

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We bring an entrepreneurial approach to an increasingly connected world

The recent change to combine the two firms will raise the profile of these two already established and respected firms.

It will be offering its clients services in a vast array of sectors including corporate, commercial, technology, real estate, finance, healthcare, insurance and many more.

The firm is unique in that its large scale enables an international perspective, yet the local branches create an intimate and strong lawyer to client relationship.

People are at the very heart of what we do and to succeed we need the most talented and motivated teams in place

Womble Bond Dickinson works with an impressive and diverse number of clients including: RES, Akelius & AIG. Some examples of the work that Womble Bond Dickinson are working on at the Bristol location in particular include: Private wealth, Energy and Natural Resources, Environmental and Regulatory and Planning and Insurance claims.

There are currently 12 trainee solicitors working in the Bristol branch alone.

It is the perfect time to join a firm such as

Womble Bond Dickinson and the company is interested in recruiting for a number of positions including lawyers, paralegals, trainee solicitors, and apprentices.

Trainee Solicitors are recruited two years in advance, making it an ideal time for second/ third year students to apply. The applications are already open for Training Contracts starting in September 2020.

The competition for jobs in this field means that work experience is becomingly increasingly sought after. Womble Bond Dickinson have a number of opportunities across each of their locations, to help develop skills and gain experience.

A great way to find out more about the firm is to go on an open day which will introduce you to the Graduate Recruitment Process.

The recruitment process usually consists of a two stage interview process, during which the applicant will get the chance to meet, and ask questions to the people working in the applied for field. This will help to learn more about the firm and see whether it is a place you can see yourself working.

The process may also involve additional assessment tools, such as work-based tests which will be specifically tailored to the applied position.

Womble Bond Dickinson are looking for hard working and motivated individuals who can

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A very ambitious, exciting atmosphere

In the Chambers Student Guide 2017 a trainee said: “There’s a very ambitious, exciting atmosphere – it feels like the firm is going places and everybody is playing their part to try and make that happen. New people have been coming in and the work is flowing at a rate of knots,” If you think you have what it takes to work for Womble Bond Dickinson or are interested in finding out some more information, visit the website below: https://www.womblebonddickinson.com/uk/ work-experience-application-form You can also visit their training contract page here: https://www.trainingcontract.com

13.11.2017

Science & Tech

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Epigram

@EpigramSciTech Editor: Emma Isle Online Editor: Sadhana Kalidindi scienceandtech@epigram.org.uk

Deputy Editor: Oliver Cohen

Bristol research wins Paper of the Year James Charlick Second Year, Pharmacology Until now, there has been little to no evidence to support the long-term effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in treating depression. It is used as a sort of last resort, after the failure of pharmaceuticals, for people diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression. However, the void in research-backed evidence for its efficacy - and cost-effectiveness - has now been filled, emphatically.

Dr Nicola Wiles is a Reader in Epidemiology at the University of Bristol, with a particular interest in the primary

care of mental health and treatmentresistant depression. One of her recent papers has, alongside colleagues from the universities of Exeter, Oxford, Glasgow and UCL, just won the RCGP Research Paper of the Year Award 2016. The paper is called ‘Long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for treatment-resistant depression primary care: follow-up of the CoBalT randomised control trial’. It was was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment.

There are six categories considered for the prize each year, including cancer,

Flickr / Pascal

Cognitive Bahvioural Therapy can be hugely effective at combating depression

endocrinology and body systems. Dr Wiles and her colleagues entered and won the ‘Neurology, Mental Health and Dementia’ category, as well as the overall best paper accolade. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) annually award individuals or groups that produce excellent primary care research papers.

This year, two out of the six best papers were Bristol-based.

“ Dr Wiles and her colleagues entered and won the overall best paper accolade

The initial‘CoBalT’study demonstrated for the first time that CBT could, in combination with antidepressant drugs, make more likely the alleviation of depressive symptoms after 12 months. It was also the largest study yet supporting the effectiveness of CBT, taking place across 73 UK sites with 469 participants.

In the most recent study, the group found, again, for the first time, that CBT is effective over a number of years as opposed to just one. Moreover, it was shown to have a 92% probability of being cost-effective, and lead, perhaps most crucially, to the remission of physically and psychologically morbid symptoms associated with severe or chronic

depression.

Treatment and funding for depression is in need of scaling up. The economic impact is staggering, with tens of billions of dollars lost per year, mainly through reduced workplace productivity, in the US alone. CBT relies heavily on patient interaction,teaching coping mechanisms and ways to modify thinking, which can be useful long after therapy finishes.

This could help to surmount, or control, workplace problems actively. Alone, the passiveprescription-dose-effectapproach of pharmacotherapy works fully for just one third of patients, and half see not even a 50% reduction in symptoms after 12-14 weeks: for many, the drug by itself cannot do all the work. Through either in-person or online therapy sessions, CBT engages the patient’s mind in productive techniques that overcome maladaptive information processing; it restores a sense of proportion, seeing events, positive or negative, for what they actually are, making them easier to comprehend and deal with. While the antidepressant works physiologically in the background, the individual is learning and practising techniques that address daily problems and barriers directly. They should eventually see that what seemed like obstacles before treatment, are either frustrating hurdles that can be overcome, or just distortions of the completely normal.

Indeed, Dr Wiles emphasises the ‘importance of investment in psychological services’. But investment

has to go to the right places.

But investment has to go to the right places

The paper warns that although there has been a recent increase in government interest and investment in these services, the effectiveness of the low intensity alternative of CBT being promoted, which is received by patients through internet-packages and self-help, is not supported by medical research.

The paper emphasises that regular, one-to-one therapy sessions lasting 30 minutes, meanwhile, can change how patients approach their daily routine and face up to depressive thought cycles, then apprehend and change them.

Steering attention, and funding, to this form of CBT is essential, as it is not currently being recommended as much as it arguably should be at the level of primary care.

This paper by Dr Wiles and her colleagues will be a touchstone for future research focused on the efficacy and economic benefits of CBT. It also exemplifies the exceptional quality of neurological and mental health research currently being carried out at the University of Bristol.

Bristol research beats the resistance

The biggest threat to patient safety in Europe

Two recent studies, led by the University of Bristol, shed new light on bacterial resistance mechanisms to commonly prescribed antibiotics, and offer evidence as to how this can be reversed. The results provide significant new hope in the fight against antibiotic resistance and have the potential not only to save lives, but improve healthcare systems by reducing time spent in hospital.

Beta-lactams are a group of antibiotics that share a common element in their molecular structure – a four-carbon ring known as a beta-lactam. They treat GramPositive and Gram-Negative bacteria and include broad spectrum antibiotics such as penicillins, cephalosporins

Flickr / Chilanga Cement

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Antibiotics have long been used as a treatment for bacterial infections.

However, with the number of cases of inappropriate prescription and use rising, and the growth of global trade and travel, antibiotic resistance is quickly becoming the biggest threat to patient safety in Europe.

and carbapenems. For this reason, beta-lactams are the most commonly prescribed antibiotics worldwide. This group of antibiotics is however becoming increasingly ineffective, resulting in minor bacterial infections that could once be treated quickly and easily, developing into persistent infections that are difficult to treat.

In the first study, University of Bristol researchers explored two mechanisms by which beta-lactam antibiotic resistance occurs. The first states that bacteria possess the ability to restrict the entry of antibiotics into the cell, rendering them ineffective. The second states that an enzyme produced by the bacteria, known as beta-lactamase, acts on the antibiotics by hydrolysing the four-carbon ring, deactivating the antibiotic’s antibacterial properties. This suggests that by producing chemicals that can inhibit beta-lactamase activity, researchers are unlocking the potential to reverse a significant proportion of global antibiotic resistance.

The follow-up study, working in partnership with chemists at the University of Oxford and the University of Leeds, investigated the effectiveness of two different beta-lactamase enzyme inhibitors in stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a bacterium known to be severely infectious and highly resistant to common antibiotics. Inhibitors known as avibactam and bicyclic boronate were studied. Whilst avibactam has already been introduced into clinical practice,

Flickr / Núcleo Editorial

Bethany Harris Second Year, Biology

Over prescribing of antibiotics has contributed to increased resistance.

bicyclic boronate has only recently (2016) been reported by the Bristol/Oxford/Leeds team.

Both inhibitors failed to consistently prevent hydrolysis of the beta-lactam by beta-lactamase in the antibiotic ceftazidime. However, when a different beta-lactam antibiotic, aztreonam, was studied, the inhibitors were found to be highly effective, resulting in some of the most resistant bacteria ever seen in a clinic being destroyed.

Reader in Molecular Bacteriology from the School of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, and senior author for both studies, Dr Matthew Avison, commented,

‘Our bacteriology research has further demonstrated that beta-lactamases are the real ‘Achilles heel’ of antibiotic resistance in bacteria that kill thousands of people in the UK every year.

‘Structural/mechanistic work on betalactamase enzymes, including that led by my colleague Dr Jim Spencer, is helping to drive the discovery of wave after wave of beta-lactamase inhibitors, including the potentially game-changing bicyclic boronate class, shown to be effective in our research, and recently successful in phase one clinical trials.

‘Two beta-lactamase inhibitors have recently been licenced for clinical use:

avibactam and vaborbactam. Our work shows that avibactam might more successfully be deployed with aztreonam instead of ceftazidime as its antibiotic partner. We are delighted to see that this combination has entered clinical trials, and has recently saved the life of a patient in the USA who was suffering from a previously untreatable infection.

‘This is an exciting time for researchers studying beta-lactamase inhibitors. At the risk of sounding like King Canute, it is the first time for a decade that there is some genuine positivity about our ability to turn back the rising tide of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance.’

Epigram 13.11.2017

This Month in Science

Oliver Cohen Deputy Science Editor

Battery research

Changing winds The cool morning breeze may have more sinister consequences if new research is to be believed. Geophysicists at the University of Texas examined satellite observational data of the ice over 14 years, looking at its position and size. This was then compared and referenced against surface wind and sea ice measurements to investigate patterns and interplay between the two effects. The scientists found a mechanism whereby the wind swirled the ocean moving cold water upwards and sending the warmer regions down. Around 19 months after said effect, there was a noticeable decrease in the size of the local ice shelf, with all evidence pointing back to the disturbed warm water as the root cause.

With climate change and rising sea levels ever-looming threats to humanity, understanding of the interplay between the environment and the ice could better help humans combat negative effects.

Lithium-based batteries are as abundant in the modern world as cars, running water or even people. They power phones, laptops and their incredible energy density means they are also finding their way into the next generation of electric cars.

They are, however, not without their vices, with a large fire risk. This problem has recently been investigated by Yuzhang Li and his team at Stanford University.

They looked at microscopic lithium fibres known as dendrites, which can run through the battery causing short circuits and consequently inflame. Previously any attempt to view them at the resolution required ended with the fibres themselves being destroyed. However, using Cryoelectron microscopy, Li’s team were able to image the fibres after the battery had been rapidly frozen with liquid nitrogen.

This technique gained three other researchers the chemistry Nobel Prize recently and it has great promise.

Flickr / Don McCrady

An extraterrestrial visitor has been observed recently. The first interstellar asteroid ever observed by scientists has been seen crossing into our solar system. First observed by astronomers using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope atop Haleakala in Hawai, they soon realised it was like nothing before because of the eccentricity of its orbit. This is a parameter that describes the shape of the orbit. An eccentricity of zero corresponds to a circle while anything less than one describes an ellipse - a skewed circle like an egg. These are the common orbits shapes of objects found within our solar system. The asteroid, however, had an eccentricity much over one giving it a hyperbolic orbit. This alternative shape, somewhat like a bent line will take it zooming out of our solar system, making it impossible to detect within two months.

Flickr / boogie yu

Extraterrestrial visitors

Flickr / bill briggs

Bristol scientists made the first major steps for providing a genetic basis for asthma, hay fever and eczema. Although they affect very different parts of the body, the study has confirmed existing suspicions within the research community - that they share genetic foundation. This was the first study to establish the specific genes that the similarity centred around. The result was established by analysing the genomes of no less than 360,838 people which lead to 136 specific positions in the genome being identified as risk factors. Although these genes are only a risk and not a definite cause, the study carried out as a collaboration between Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the US and the UK, has made big strides for targeted and better treatment.

Flickr / 2di7 & titanio44

Flickr / allispossible.org.uk

Asthma genetics

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New species of orangutan Everyone’s favourite primate is now one species richer. Recently scientists have discovered a new species of orangutan.

The apes were first studied as early as 1997, but it has taken decades for the biological genome to be fully classified and confirmed as distinctive to other ape species. Named a Tapanuli orangutan, they can be identified from a fine analysis of their skull.

While there is no doubt jubilation at the announcement of the first new species of great ape in almost a century, it also serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of nature. The estimated amount of remaining individuals numbers around 800, making this animal one of the most endangered of all the great ape species.

With the species discovery, however, conservation efforts can be better informed, and the Tapanuli will hopefully not leave the animal kingdom so soon after joining.

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Emma Isle... reports on the possible function of the T-Rex’s small arms

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Emma Isle... informs us of the test run of the new Bristol built Bloodhound

Jonathan DeOliveira... talks about a new material inspired by mussels

Flickr / thellr

Epigram

13.11.2017

Letters

@EpigramLetters

Editor: Ellie Chesshire letters@epigram.com

Dear the wannabe ‘Insta-girl’ Amelia Griffiths Second Year, Geography

Umsplash / Ian Dooley

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms there are, used by 70 million people every day. Last week, the University of Manchester found that self-harm had increased by an unprecedented 70% in young teenage girls in the last 5 years.

Similarly, a poll by the Royal Society for Public Health called out Instagram as being the ‘worst for young mental health’. This suggests that the rise in social media and the prevalence of‘social media influencers’ online could be the crux of this surge in mental health issues.

But Tom Madders, a representative of the YoungMinds charity, points out that ‘simply “protecting” young people from particular content types can never be the whole solution.’ (bbc.co.uk/news/ health-39955295).

Five years ago, ‘bloggers’ were largely young women sat at home on old computers writing about what they love: their favourite makeup steals and high street shops. Followers increased quickly as people were intrigued by the girls who made fashion something that was attainable.

Unlike the elite, glossy pages of Vogue which sported stick-thin models in designer gear with 4 figure price tags, bloggers were normal everyday women with full-time jobs like you and me. Bloggers became ‘Influencers’ who showed girls how to embrace a high-street wardrobe and encouraged individual, on-trend, and affordable style.

Over the last few years, these social media influencers have since gained huge followings, thanks to the rise of social media platforms like Instagram, where they are able to advertise more easily their online platform to a wide audience. Brands began to notice the followings these bloggers attracted and made use of this by paying bloggers

Today we are surrounded by unealistic beauty standards.

to advertise products on platforms like Instagram. These adverts were often inconspicuous, such that it became difficult to see what a blogger recommended and what they had been paid to recommend.

Many bloggers quickly became fulltime ‘online influencers’; a glamourous and highly lucrative career. Now, feeds are filled with paid advertisements where influencers are geared with professional photographers, hairstylists and makeup artists to get the perfect shot to post on their page. Top influencers are paid as much as £2000-5000 for a photograph on their Instagram (vogue.co.uk/article/ what-is-an-influencer), transforming these ‘normal’ girls into celebrities who can finally afford luxury price tags, a camera and lighting crew, hair and makeup artists - full-blown photoshoots to ensure their latest post stands out and attracts more followers and brands.

Being an online influencer has

“

become a well-paid business venture, if you’re able to climb to the top; influencer Camille Charrière was quoted in the March issue of Vogue, saying that “your number of followers is more important than anything else you can add to your CV. It has become your worth”. (vogue. co.uk/article/what-is-an-influencer).

“ It is important that young women recognise that the majority of influencers are full-time business

Blogging has evolved from an online forum of normal girls online to a million-dollar industry. Influencers and their Instagram pages have become the latest way of advertising

to young female audiences captivated by the ‘Insta-girl’ perceived as normal.

Paid endorsements from clothing companies and brands like HiSmile and the Silisponge commodify the pages of influencers, setting influential makeup and fashion trends.

The young girls following these influencers are left struggling to keep up with these expensive online trends, making them feel left behind, whilst the new girl-next-door projection of normality moves further away from any attainable reality.

Furthermore, many of the social media influencers that cover the popular pages of Instagram are now able to afford a range of minor cosmetic surgeries such as lip enhancements, derma-fillers and botox.

Young women are faced with a paradox between influencers who brand themselves as normal girls with normal body shapes, who simultaneously

undergo serious and expensive cosmetic surgeries to try and adhere to a standardized ideal of ‘beauty’. All this encourages the promotion of a certain type of ‘woman’ that has become both unnatural and expensive to obtain.

The commodification of these fashion influencers has confused the lines more than ever between what is normal and what is not. While social media influencers are seen as the relatable alternative to fashion, posting selfies and mirror photos on informal media platforms on a daily basis, corporate funding has elevated the lifestyles of these women to that of models seen on billboards and magazine covers.

Many of these women are now lucrative business owners, living the 1st class lifestyle on private jets, kitted with a designer wardrobes they haven’t had to pay for. This unattainable lifestyle is inescapable, laced through-out pages of young people’s Instagram’s.

With so many trying to emulate these successful influencers and entrepreneurs, the lines between what is real and what is not has never been so fuzzy. The effects can be seen by influencers who have spoken out about the dark side of this new wave of a better-than-life reality; Essena O’Neill ‘quit’ social media in 2015 because of the damaging effects the insta-lifestyle had on her mental health.

Influencing has become a business model for generating income and follower stats as Instagram has become the new and arguably most effective form of advertisement.

This article should not be seen as an attack on the successes of these new business women. But it is important that young women recognize that the majority of influencers are full-time business women, spending extensive working hours creating an Instagram page that is no longer representative of any attainable reality, no more so than the Vogue covers we sought refuge from.

Dear freshers and the housing madness Ellie Chesshire and Lily Hammond Second Year, History Now that reading week is behind us the annual housing madness is rapidly approaching. The number one question on everyone’s lips is, ‘do you know who you’re living with next year?’ This is a crisis we both remember from last year: the few weeks leading up to Christmas were filled with continual debates with people you’ve only known for a few weeks over rent prices, locations

and agencies. The biggest tip we can give you is not to panic and rush into something you are not sure about.

The question on everyone’s lips, ‘who are you living with next year?’

to think properly about who you want to live with - a year is quite a long time.

There seems to be this idea that all of the houses will disappear overnight, when in reality unless you are signing a house of 14 it is worth it to sit down and think about it.

On the flip side, if you do end up in a house you are not 100% happy with don’t panic; you will probably have a

Contrary to the rumours that will be flying around, there will be houses left well into the New Year. Take your time

best friends next year.

Having to make a decision with housing is something that is sprung upon you very early in the first term and brutally confirms to you that you are going to have to make some adult decisions at university.

It is stressful, but living in a house is a whole lot different to halls, and something to look forward to.

Tweets of the fortnight: @jolwalton

Epigram / Ellie Chesshire

We don’t live together but we are still really close!

much better year than you think you will.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to make everyone happy when housing choices are made and so it is a good time to be a little selfish and think about what you actually want to do. It is also important to have friends outside of your house, so there really is a silver lining if you aren’t living with all of your

‘Apparently we’re not “allowed” to say “Merry Reading Week” any more.’

@rach_jones98 ‘Absolutley no reading has been done in reading week, fantastic x’

@viccdyer

‘You don’t know cold until you’ve lived in a student house.’

Living Wellbeing Food Style Travel

Epigram / Alex Boulton

Keep on going!

Editor Jordan Barker

18

Online Editor Josie Roberts

Deputy Editor

13.11.2017

Emily Hayman

living@epigram.org.uk

@Epigram Living

Epigram Living Section 2017/18

Student housing: money, fungi and cowboy landlords Emily Hayman reveals the honest truth about housing and what to be wary of Blue tac on walls DON’T DO IT. Use alternative methods to decorate your rooms and walls, such as sticky adhesive tape or masking tape, which do not rip off the paint on the walls, or nail pins into beams if you have them.

Garden maintenance Epigram/Jasmin Perryw

If you have a garden, the landlord WILL charge you at the end for not de-weeding it, despite not having provided you with any tools or information about how to do it.

Make sure you know your own house inside and out. A friend’s landlord, when it came down to the crunch, took photos of ANOTHER PERSON’S HOUSE with damaged radiators, broken lamps and general bad conditions of the house, and then tried to play off like it was my friend’s house and charge them for it! Luckily the students picked up on this straight away and refused to pay for these ridiculous charges, which simply were not to do with them.

Epigram/Jasmin Perry

”

Is the hope of ever receiving back your deposits an unrealistic idealism?

It’s safe to say, we’d all rather have a roof over our head during our time at uni, but to what cost? I’ve been speaking to fellow students about how confident they feel regarding the return of the money they have been forced to invest at the start of the year from their landlords. These third year students having previously experienced the chaos and stress which comes at the end of the term, the excitement of finishing the academic year is tainted with the realisation that you will not be receiving back the full sum of your money.

To avoid disappointment, I’ve tried to include some examples of things to watch out for in your own houses, things by which landlords slyly try to catch you out.

Flickr / Alan Levine

Deposits: gone with the wind?

Knowing your own crib

Tips to avoid having these unexpected and unjustified charges sprung upon you at the end of the year:

Landlords will charge you extortionate prices, typically £20 per lightbulb

”

TAKE PHOTOS OF THE PROPERTY AS SOON AS YOU MOVE IN.

This way, you can refer back to the original state of the house if you should need to provide evidence to support your claim against unfair charges.

CHECK THROUGH YOUR INVENTORY

Go around and fill out the inventory with the landlord when the tenancy begins, checking for the state of the house and noting down the property’s condition. One student commented on their failure to do this at the start, resulting in their inability to notice the small field of mushrooms growing in the corner of the lounge (gross, right?)

This consequently resulted in a long process which consisted of them removing these fungi by hand. This was because the landlord did not disclose the fact that the house was in such a dire state, and the students made the mistake of not viewing the house with the landlord prior to signing and entering the contract; thus these mushrooms went unnoticed and the students then had to deal with it themselves later on.

General ‘wear and tear’ This loose terminology basically refers to the fact that having a large number of students living in a house, supposedly it is acknowledged that this will result in soft scratches and marks on the walls, carpet etc. However, there are ample cases of this phrase being used to charge excessive amounts extra, with one student exclaiming how she had to pay for “70% of general wear and tear?!”.

ACTUALLY CLEAN THE HOUSE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

‘Dust on the lightbulbs’.

Flickr/RIchard Sandoval

Flickr / Dave Schafer

Landlords will charge you extortionate prices, typically £20 per lightbulb for supposed dust around the lightbulbs which has prohibited their efficiency. Having previously experienced this myself, in a large student house, the number of lightbulbs can mean this slight attention to detail can rack up to a ridiculous cost for just the lightbulbs.

Yes, it may seem like effort but believe me, it will save you stress and time at the end if you actually bother to continually keep the house in a liveable condition. It avoids the growth of mould, damp areas and an overall lack of hygiene. If everyone puts in a helping hand, it will make your uni experience a lot more enjoyable, I can guarantee!

Emily Hayman Deputy Living Editor

13.11.2017

19

Journey to the centre of the G-Spot What is it, where is it, and why did God give me one? Jordan Barker deeply explores these questions Warning: the following article contains scenes of graphic sexual frustration.

A few weeks ago I didn’t know what a G-Spot was. I’d heard talk of it, faint whisperings amongst lewd friends during my innocent youth. I figured it’s probably that part of a theist’s soul that channels the voice of The Holy Spirit. The God Spot, if you will, where the good Lord whispers life advice and lets you know if/when the Rapture’s coming.

The God Spot, as it were, where the good Lord whispers life advice

”

”

I tried. Honestly, I did. My search for the G-Spot was a complete failure. Maybe it’s not a DIY job and other instruments are required.

It’s something that takes practise I worry, like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, ‘I just wasn’t made for these times.’

Some men just can’t be arsed with it all, and I suppose I’m one of them. These things require time and patience. I demand satisfaction, and I’d rather it be second rate and instantaneous than incredible but drawn out. Maybe the G-Spot isn’t so different

Flickr / Harry

Flickr/Sam Wood

How very wrong I was. It’s one of those things I never bothered to look into. Like ‘watersports’. For some reason, I thought it was a weird fetish amounting to something like sex on a kayak. That’s probably a thing, too. Bukayaki? I don’t know, I’m not paid to come up with names for these things.

Turns out that the male G-Spot (or, das Gäfenberg Spot), is an erogenous zone located ‘up the arris’ that, when stimulated, can induce atomic orgasms. Wow! Sounds like a hoot! Sign me up!

After reading an extremely enlightening Wikipedia article, I made it my week’s ambition to discover and exploit the hidden potential of this enigmatic and orgastic pleasure spot.

Like anyone looking to better understand the human anatomy, I went onto Cosmopolitan to see how I should prepare for my quest.

I mean, it shouldn’t be too hard to find; apparently it’s the size of a flipping walnut. I like to think of myself as a pretty liberal fella, so taking a trip up the back passage didn’t phase me in the slightest.

Things looked simple enough. Lube a finger, ease it in a few inches, locate the walnut – like a voyeuristic sex squirrel – and heypresto: champagne supernova in the balls!

Hours passed. Daylight began to fade. Night had come; I hadn’t.

to the God Spot. Some people will spend their entire lives in search of salvation, yearning for some deeper meaning, only to be left dissatisfied. To those who do succeed in finding the G-Spot, good on you. I, however, remain an atheist.

Jordan Barker Living Editor

This week’s horoscopes

What are the stars saying this week? Dr. Bull Sheti has the answers Aries | March 21 to April 19 Loss is a constant in life. Expect to lose your mind whilst embracing the love of your life and their skin begins to peel away, revealing them to be a fully functioning android. Blade bummer.

Taurus | April 20 to May 20 You’ll fall for the same old shit you always do. They say ‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.’ That’s exactly what an enemy would say, you gullible boob.

Gemini | May 21 to June 20 Jupiter is in ascent, and that can only mean one thing: bath night. Which sucks, because you were planning on going to that Naked Mud Wrestling Soc. social. What a waste!

Cancer | June 21 to July 22 Actions speak louder than words. Unless you’re a mime artist. Be wary of French street performers, especially at this time of year, when they swarm the streets in their droves.

Leo | July 23 to Aug. 22 “The fool on the hill / Sees the sun going down” sang Paul McCartney in the Medieval times. This fool will turn out to

be one of your Philosophy professors, who’s been yelling at the sky ever since he realised his discoveries “Won’t bring her back.”

Virgo | Aug. 23 to Sept. 22 Evil has many guises. A cockney orphan will offer to clean your chimney. But careful! He’s travelled from the 1840s to swap your soul for his. Don’t be fooled by his poetic rhyming slang and look of lost innocence in his tear-filled eyes.

Libra | Sept. 23 to Oct. 22 Life is full of mystery. Here’s a mystery that will occur during a session of self-reflection that inevitably turns into loathing: ‘If I’m the sperm that made it, what the hell were the others like?’

Scorpio | Oct. 23 to Nov. 21 Everyone’s an idiot except for you. You don’t know how a creature so gosh darn sexy could exist, but you do. Don’t deny it, you’re frickin’ great. Keep doing what you’re doing, you absolute God. Sagittarius | Nov. 22 to Dec. 21 What’s that old saying? ‘Give a dog a bone, and he’ll shit on

your Persian Rug.’ You’ll think taking in that three-legged dog you found abandoned on the M4 will absolve you of your past sins. In fact, the dog will just turn out to be really annoying, and you’ll end up taking it back to the spot where you found it.

Capricorn | Dec. 22 to Jan. 19 Someone you love will rub you up the wrong way. And not in a good way.

Aquarius | Jan. 20 to Feb. 18 The moon is in the seventh house, and your centrist dad has also decided to move house. Expect him to donate all his old Private Eye annuals (1995-2008). Oh, lucky you!

Pisces | Feb. 19 to March 20 An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but seven bananas will cause you to have a potassium overdose. Don’t do it. Don’t even bother. It’s not worth it. Baz and Gaz will try to convince you it is, but trust me mate, you’ll regret it.

Dr. Bull Sheti Supposed professor of ‘Astrology’ at UoB

13.11.2017

20

Memes: are they good for our children?

Are memes a force for evil? Or are they just harmless fun? Laura Abernethy On Thursday the 20th of July, MumsNet user ‘funkylady’ took to the discussion forum to express concern for her unruly fifteen-yearold daughter. The eldest child of Funkylady had recently become overprotective of her phone, and after a sneaky look, Funkylady found the device ‘jam packed full of memes!!1!!’, many containing the ‘F-Bomb’. She asked whether she should ban her daughter from the internet altogether, and signed off with a flourish - ‘thanks, funkylady x <3’. What a woman.

Epigram / Laura Abernethy

I was unsure about where to start on my research into memes’ effect on society. Typing ‘meme’ into Google is never a good idea, unless you are feeling particularly nostalgic for rage comics and lolcats, or want to browse the Daily Mail’s slightly out of touch list of topical news memes.

Nonetheless, I took the plunge, and who was there to fish me out but MumsNet. Good old MumsNet! I trust the mums. Mums have never let me down, mine sure hasn’t. If anyone on the internet was going to be concerned about teens and memes, it was going to be the good old mums of MumsNet. The results from a search for ‘memes’ on the site exposed some harrowing stories, but there was one in particular that piqued my interest.

”

Funkylady found the device ‘jam packed full of memes!!1!!’, many containing the ‘F-Bomb’

”

Epigram / Laura Abernethy

It seemed Funkylady’s main concern was with the possible detrimental effect memes were having on her daughter’s communication skills, potentially making her uncouth and impolite.

It is not uncommon for parents to take to the internet to express fears on the degeneration of millenials’ ability to communicate, often also sneering at the use of phones at dinner tables and the taking of selfies.

Could it be true? Tell me it’s not so, Salt Bae, that you’ve ruined me?

I don’t buy it. Memes aren’t just a 21st century phenomena. It sure as hell didn’t start with Dancing Baby or Nyan Cat. Memes have been around for thousands of years, take ‘Memento Mori’ for example. Something of an ancient ‘YOLO’, ‘Memento Mori’ is basically Latin for: Oi Mista! Don’t forget you’re gonna die! Although I can’t see it selling as many t-shirts as its modern alternative, the sentiment had equivalents across many cultures, and could be

recognised without words in the subtle imagery of a giant cloaked axe-wielding skeleton, or even today in the shape of an Elf on the Shelf meme, which always makes me anticipate my own death.

In this way, a meme is an easy way of communicating and spreading cultural tropes and ideas in an instantly recognisable format. They haven’t destroyed society! They are proof that we are all ~ connected ~ by our ideas; that communication can exist outside words; and that we sure are all the same.

Now isn’t that wholesome? I only wish I could reach out to Funkylady, and save her potty-mouthed teen from internet exile.

But there’s something about Funkylady, maybe the look in the eyes of her emoticons or the kiss she left me hanging off, that makes me wonder if she may not have indulged in a meme or two herself. If I know Funkylady, she’s enjoyed a good Minion meme in her time.

Laura Abernethy Third Year, English

Aunt Aggie: “I believe in a thing called God”

This week, a desperate nihilst bemoans her newfound belief in The Holy Spirit God’s existence.

From, NihilistGrrrl97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear NihilistGrrrl97, It’s not enough to read the theory, to look the part, to wear black turtle necks and sit on park benches looking pensive.

Perhaps atheism isn’t SO great anyway. I lived in Paris for a few years during the 50s and became close acquaintances with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Simone was an animal – I mean when she wanted to have sex, she sure as hell got sex.

Sartre, whilst just as excitable as Simone, was never so fortunate.

It was that face, you see. Sure, he bragged about his sex life, but I don’t think he ever actually did it. Albie Camus would always call bullshit. Their atheism seemed to be an excuse for their insatiable desire to shag anything with a pulse.

Same with Christopher Hitchens. God, he was a randy bugger.

Get a few lagers in him and he couldn’t help himself, slobbering all over you like a farmer’s prized pig. Nothing ever happened though – too rat-arsed to get his zipper down.

In this post-God Delusion world, the atheist has run its course if you’ve found a belief in God, then good for you! People like

Flickr / Aisling Keavey

Dear Aunt Aggie, Ever since I can remember, I’ve been an atheist. Read Dawkins when I was five, had Nietzsche down when I was eight, and managed to polish off Sartre’s ‘Being and Nothingness’ before I hit secondary school.

I thought I had it all figured out. How wrong I was!

I don’t know how or why it happened, but one day, whilst I was on one of my solitary walks through Ashton Court, I had this strange… feeling. Like a presence I’d never felt before, something ethereal, otherworldly… Godlike, you might say.

And since that day, I haven’t stopped finding reasons to believe in God! No matter how much I try to deny His existence, something always gives me reason to believe.

Like just the other day, I witnessed the most extraordinary miracle. Just as I was returning from my Humanist Association meeting, a gigantic moth the size of a Nissan Micra descended upon a group of old women. They greeted this wondrous beast with tears and applause, hopped on its wings and flew off beyond the clouds and into the stars.

Now, I don’t know why God would send a moth for these old women, or why it’d take them into outer space, where they’d definitely meet their deaths. But they seemed happy enough. It must’ve been the work of some omnipotent cosmic being.

What should I do? I’ve invested so much of my life denying

St Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and even J.C. himself are as rock n’ roll as The Big Existentialist Bois. Burn your Zarathustra! How much more Nietzschean can you get?

You could always flirt with Satanism if you want a religion that’s a bit more out-there. Aleister Crowley is a good place to start.

Good luck on your spiritual quest.

Regards, Aunt Aggie XO

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Editor Chloe Payne-Cook @EpigramWB

Deputy- Editor Jasmine Burke

Online Editor Leila Mitwally Epigram Wellbeing

If you ever need to talk to someone, try www.bigwhitewall.com and register with your bristol email @epigramwellbeing

Are the Student Counselling Service doing enough?

Voicing a silent community - siblings of people with eating disorders ‘From letter D – for idiot!’ our school wind band conductor bellowed over the rowdy teenagers. The weekly rehearsal was a time for dry humour, sharing talent, and making beautiful music against the bitter Cumbrian night. However, sitting across the horseshoe from the lead clarinettist, the occasion provided me with a regular opportunity to assess the progress of the frightening changes in my brother’s face and physique.

My experience with student counselling After finally working up the courage to go to the student counselling service, Bobbie discusses her unexpected experience.

Throughout the appointment it was evident that they were trying to avoid adding more people to their books. Feeling unwanted is bad enough, but being unwanted by the very service that is supposed to help you during your worst times is something I would not wish upon anyone else.

”

Anorexia rifted us apart; it’s an invisible but cruel barrier that can break down the closest of sibling relationships.

I did suffer. At the age of fourteen, one is embarking on the process of developing as an individual. However, I had to balance this with respecting my brother’s decision to keep quiet about his illness.

The Anorexia was only evident in his weight loss. To the outsiders teachers and friends - we seemed stable and content.

I feel this articulates the necessity for change in the support provided to siblings and friends of those with mental ill health in our educational and medical systems. During the worst few months of my brother’s illness, the only outlets for my feelings were shared tears and conversations with my best friend. Although our parents were fantastic in maintaining support for the both of us, at school and with friends I was never sat down and directly questioned about how I was feeling during the most evident period of his eating disorder.

If you are aware of someone who is in the process of supporting a sibling suffering from an eating disorder such as Anorexia, make sure to vocalise your willingness to talk and help as explicitly as possible. Clearly every situation will be specific and circumstances will be understandably varied, but it is possible that the sibling feels somewhat unjustified in expressing their emotional fragility given they are not the direct sufferer of the illness. A greater recognition that the effects of mental ill health are not exclusive to the sufferer is necessary, particularly amongst young people.

Helen Astle English Literature, Second Year

The reception area was cute and relaxing, and, although nervous, I was optimistic about the step I was taking. I met my therapist who led me to a room off the corridor. There, she showed me my results from questions I had answered before my appointment; I was mild and had no risk level. This seemed to tell her I was pretty much fine, and her effort, if ever present, seemed to wane.

After she talked at me for a few minutes, I told her why I was there.

I explained how I have suffered with anorexia and depression before.

She seemed to think that as these were in the past I was fine. After all, I had “definitely overcome the anorexia”, she said, looking me up and down. If this wasn’t hard enough to take when the thoughts of my eating disorder still swirl in my head, nothing could have prepared me for what she said next.

Apparently, “anorexia is an effective coping mechanism,”... Did she just tell me anorexia is a good way of dealing with life?

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Apparently, ‘anorexia is an effective coping mechanism,’ because it means you don’t have to feel or worry about anything else while in the midst of it. ‘It’s just a shame it has damaging effects on you.’ - Did she just tell me anorexia is a good way of dealing with life?

She went on to say that the fact I am feeling anxious or low now is good, because it means I have progressed past only ever thinking of food. When I told her my previous treatment did not explore the cause, nor was particularly effective, admittedly because I did not engage, she still did not suggest any ways in which the service could help. She seemed, now, to completely lose interest in my cause completely… If it didn’t help before, why would it now? We even discussed how that was three years ago, and now, I had come forward for help myself, rather than having been dragged to my sessions in the past. This didn’t aid my case; she was now adamant I didn’t want help, and shouldn’t need any for problems I was treated for three years ago.

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Epigram / Jasmine Burke

Nevertheless, the effect upon the sibling must not be allowed to fall by the wayside. We need to admit to, and not be ashamed of, the resentment, hate and guilt that our sibling’s illness instills within us. Emotional authenticity is something which should always be embraced and encouraged.

It has taken me a long time to get the point where I want to improve my mental health. For so long, my issues have taken over my life, and I have been scared of who I will be and what I will do without them. After some strong, persistent persuasion from the best friend I’ve ever had, I finally took the first steps in talking to my doctor. She referred me to the Student Counselling Service.

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I firmly believe that Anorexia is an illness which permeates the sufferer from the core outwards. The hurled insults and hateful words are not an expression of their true self, rather that the victim is craving an outlet for a perpetual internal conflict and trauma.

Although the impact upon me was sincere, I acknowledge that the keenest pain was obviously experienced by my brother, for whom I have the greatest admiration in sharing his recovery.

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

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At the age of 16, my extremely gifted and witty older brother suffered from Anorexia Nervosa across a period of twelve months. The illness brewed from an increased interest in the content of his food to excessive exercising and painful eating rituals that caused bitter arguments and tensions within our family. I became normalised to receiving increased portion sizes served by my brother at mealtimes, satisfying his need for constant comparison with his only sibling.

It became impossible to have a conversation without arguing and I would choke back tears as he pinched his torso before and after every time he ate in order to monitor his body fat. Anorexia rifted us apart; it’s an invisible but cruel barrier that can break down the closest of sibling relationships.

I had finally taken the step to ask for help, but on the other, it was an experience that lacked the care, support and professionalism I needed.

I didn’t expect to leave therapy feeling more lost than I was when I went in.

I didn’t expect to leave therapy feeling more lost than I was when I went in

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Is there no hope? It seemed as if there were only two options for me: be anorexic and feel nothing, or be depressed and anxious. Should I be grateful for having three or more panic attacks a week, because at least I have emotions?

I was astounded at the lack of sensitivity. At an earlier point in my mental health journey this would have been extremely damaging for me to hear. It would have allowed me to regress and justify starving myself, making myself sick, and excessively exercising.

As a friend put it, my experience was bittersweet; on the one hand,

Unfortunately, I know only too well that my experience is not a unique one. I can only hope that this will not go on forever.

Epigram contacted the University for a comment and received the following response from Carmen Alonso, a member of the Senior Team at the Student Counselling Service: I am very sorry to hear that this student was disappointed in the response they received from the Student Counselling Service. We always strive to offer the best possible service and I, or any member of the senior team, would be happy to speak to the student in question to learn more about their concerns. The University takes student health and wellbeing very seriously and we would urge any students who feel they need our support to make contact.

Bobbie Cattani Biology, Second Year

International Survivor Day Saturday 18th November is International Survivor Day: a day dedicated to the family and friends of those who have lost someone due to suicide.

On this day, people all around the world gather at events in their community to give and receive thoughts from others. Suicide can be a silent killer and take those around it completely by surprise. Having to process a loss of this kind alone - or having to process it at all can be exremely difficult for those involved. We just wanted to say that our heart goes out to everyone this affects and we hope that you are gifted with the support and comfort that you need on a day like today.

Participating in a Survivor Day Unfortunately, there is not an official event held in Bristol, but that does not mean that you should not participate...

ONLINE: For those who cannot make it to an official event, ASFP will host an online event that you can tune into at 3:30pm. It will be 90 minutes long and include a screening of the documentary The Journey: A Story of Healing and Hope as well as a post-screening discussion on healing and dealing with loss. You can find this, as well as check out the last three year’s screenings at: www.afsp.org/find-support/ive-lost-someone/survivor-day/ EXETER: If you are interested in going to an actual event, the closest official one to Bristol is held on Saturday 18th in Exeter. The event will be similar to the online one, with the added bonus of food, donation boxes, and the ability to talk to others in person.

CASUAL: If these seem to serious or official for you, you should surround yourself with your friends and family, or have a self care day - maybe you need a good old remembrance and cry, or maybe you need a distraction, everybody’s different.

We, at Epigram Wellbeing wish you the best on this day - and in general - and hope you know that if you ever need to talk there are many places you can go to - we’ve even listed one at the top of this page.

Jasmine Burke Deputy Wellbeing Editor

13.11.2017

23 20

WE NEED YOU! Whether you’re a budding journalist or just have an interest in mental health and wellbeing, we want to hear from you! If you are interested in writing about your own personal experiences with mental health, offering advice or writing about current mental health events, join our Facebook Writers’ Group or email us at: wellbeing.epigram@gmail.com

Bristol med students deem University health support system ‘superficial’

In May 2017, Wellspring Healthy Living centre spoke to 25 Bristol medical students about the adequacy of the mental health services offered at the university, and what changes they would like to see implemented to improve the support available.

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Before relaying the opinions expressed by the students, a representative from Wellspring tells Epigram Wellbeing that of all the medical students who took part in the workshops, those who contributed to the discussion were primarily female: significantly, ‘only one boy’ spoke to the group. This detail is worryingly reflective of the particular stigma around male mental-health, and the dangerous pressure on men to bury their suffering rather than share it and seek the help they require. The groups, she claims, were particularly affected by the number of student suicides that year and referenced them throughout the discussions.

The students complained that the level of support available is ‘superficial’, referring to long queues, difficulty accessing treatment, and unreasonable waiting lists – some claiming that it took them ‘six weeks just to get an initial assessment’. The Wellspring representative explains that ‘having a pre-existing diagnosis might get students quicker treatment, but the university sees so many low-level issues due to stress which are pushed aside.’

Also mentioned was the timeframe in which treatment can be accessed – specifically, the fact that the counselling service runs on a 9am-8pm basis and is closed on weekends doesn’t account for the nature of mental illness. ‘The time of day that most students feel low is in the early morning or late at night’ says the representative.

‘Students who are feeling unwell are unlikely to wake up early in the morning to get an appointment to see a doctor or a counsellor, and are more likely to remain in a low mood until it’s too late in the day for them to access treatment.’

Of treatment once it is accessed, the students were similarly critical, discussing the all too narrow range of issues which the counselling service will treat. The Wellspring representative tells us that cases of sexual abuse have been dismissed as ‘too specialised’ or ‘not relevant’ enough to be treated. ‘There should be practical support available for a wider range of issues. CBT [Cognitive behavioural therapy] is only one model, and is often not deep enough.’ Another problem mentioned was the tendency for GPs to issue medication as a first port of call, which although may be initially effective, can be difficult to come off in the long run.

Responses to the campaigns run by students and the university were mixed: the groups commended these for the awareness that they raise on a ‘surface level’, but said that they are only short-term effective and ‘just don’t have the support behind them’ – claiming that they lack the relevant information which should be publicised alongside them. The representative tells us that the students felt there should be more guidance available in Welcome Week to help prepare students to care for themselves. ‘Coming to university is such a huge life change, but nobody talks about that in the inductions. You have activities preparing you for your course, but nothing to prepare you for living on your own.’

Similarly, the students thought that more support should be available to students in the first few weeks of university, discussing the tendency for freshers to expect university to be the best time of their lives, and then to become lonely and isolated when this isn’t the case. The representative tells us that ‘the highest student dropout rate is in the first term of first year’, a statistic which reflects this issue. ‘Many students will try to put up a front that they are enjoying themselves and start drinking anyway, which can make things worse’.

Despite this, ‘the groups saw other students as a great mechanism for support’, and suggested the idea of a 24 hour ‘safe place’, where students who are struggling can go and talk to each other and offer support to peers who are in similar positions. Nightline, the service already in place to offer out of hours support, was seen as a ‘one-sided listening ear’, when in fact students who are feeling low often want more of a guided two way dialogue. On top of this, the Wellspring representative notes, Nightline is a volunteer based service which is often under-staffed.

The groups also saw room for improvement in the quality of academic support at Bristol – the students claimed that when talking to tutors about mental health, ‘they don’t give genuine help’, and should be better trained in supporting student wellbeing, given the high number of students they teach that will statistically suffer with mental health issues.

As international students, their level of access to NHS health services and subsequently student counselling is ‘very

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Another suggestion was that of physical noticeboards around the university which detail the different mental health resources available at Bristol, as students claimed that ‘forwarding people who ask for help to the student counselling website is not enough’, because those who are mentally struggling are unlikely to want to research the information they need for themselves, as they may be unconvinced that they have a problem that requires professional help in the first place. The groups suggested that there should be easy to access, physical lists in a range of university buildings so that students can find out where they need to go for help as simply as possible, without having to navigate the website themselves.

Aside from the opinions and issues discussed by the medical students at the mental health workshops, the representative from Wellspring who spoke to Epigram shared some of her own ideas on the Wellbeing services at Bristol and how they could be improved.

Specifically, she claimed that international students are especially lacking in mental health support. These students, she says, might be thousands of miles away from their homes and families, and often have no idea of where to go to access support if they find themselves struggling. As international students, their level of access to NHS health services and subsequently student counselling is ‘very different’ to that of British students, meaning that not only

Epigram / Leila Mitwally

‘Having a pre-existing diagnosis might get students quicker treatment, but the university sees so many low-level issues due to stress which are pushed aside’

The students had a range of ideas for how the mental health services could be improved – many of which were focused on peer support systems. The groups acknowledged the way in which many university societies – specifically sports societies – are not well suited to those suffering from mental health issues: primarily because they are unlikely to join these the first place, but also because these societies are often based on competition, and so can be particularly stressful.

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Wellspring Healthy Living Centre – a charity which provides health and wellbeing support in inner-city Bristol – conducted a series of workshops earlier this year in which they spoke to groups of medical students from Bristol about the mental health support available at the University. Epigram Wellbeing arranged to meet with a representative from Wellspring, to discuss the issues raised by the students.

do these students have less access to support from their families but also to support from the University’s wellbeing services.

A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “We are aware of some of the specific challenges facing students studying in the Faculty of Health Sciences and are working with the Students’ Union to learn more about these and what additional support may be required.

“Across the University, and following an in-depth review of our student support services, we are investing an additional £1 million annually to create an enhanced student wellbeing service that offers our 22,000 students unique support. At the heart of this is a team of wellbeing advisors embedded in every academic school who are well-placed to identify and assist students at an early stage who might be struggling, so they can be offered support before any issues start to escalate.

“A new Mental Health Advice Team will work proactively with students managing severe and enduring mental health difficulties to ensure they can access healthcare in a timely manner and navigate their student experience more effectively. University GPs will also have additional capacity to provide same-day extended mental health appointments to students.

“We’re working hard to make sure students know what support is available for them within the University, and to provide help at the earliest possible opportunity. A widespread awareness campaign around the campus has been underway since the start of the new academic year, signposting students to what support is available and where to find it.”

Leila Mitwally Online Wellbeing Editor

Find for your mind Here you’ll find a new person or service to follow or check out online which you might find beneficial to your wellbeing. This weeks is...

The App Headspace!

Deadlines getting you down? Finding it hard to cope with the postreading week blues? Do you just need to clear your mind? Download the app Headspace and have a little go at guided meditation!

The basics pack is free to download and teaches you the essentials of living a healthier, happier life. However, if you enjoy it a lot and want to see more you can pay the monthly subscription and have access to hundreds of meditations, helping you manage your stress, anxiety, sleep or focus.

Have Spotify Premium? Well then you don’t have to worry about the monthly subscription costs! Headspace and spotify work together to ensure that if you have spotify premium, you get unlimited access to Headspace’s resources! Download it, give it a go and see if mindfulness works for you!

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Editor

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Jane Cowie @janecowiefood food@epigram.org.uk

Holly Penhale

Sarah Roller

Epigram Living 2017-18

13.11.17

@epigramfood

The weirdest thing I’ve ever eaten: Extended edition Matthew Lu recalls a traumatic childhood encounter with the traditional cuisine of his heritage hatred and disdain. Thinking back on it, I probably looked silly being a small Asian kid just glaring at a sign like I was trying to melt it with just my eyeballs. I remember sitting down at the table and my grandparents pinching my chubby ‘Asian baby’ cheeks that hadn’t decided to wear away with age just yet - that had me frowning as well.

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How could they serve such a thing at a proper restaurant establishment? Those were the thoughts going through my head

Pixabay / IppikiOokami

Pixabay / JonathanValenia5

In Chinese cuisine, Boar’s ear is normally served as an appetizer or a side dish. Firstly, it is either boiled or stewed then sliced thin, it is then served with soy sauce or spiced with chili paste. When cooked, the outer texture is gelatinous, much like tofu, and the center cartilage is crunchy.

Pig’s ear can be eaten warm or cold.

Pixabay / AnneKroiss

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Unfortunately, despite my best wails, my most violent kicks and screams, and best puppy-impression sulking we ended up going to the restaurant. I remember standing outside the doors staring up at the daunting sign and just furrowing my eyebrows in contempt. I felt like those movie characters staring up at their enemies with complete

But, that is when everything changed, the explosion of flavour as the ‘rotten spaghetti’ was soaked with the reddish-orange oil. It was enlightening to have a new flavour that I liked other then Haagen Dazs bars. I later learned that the ‘rotten spaghetti’ was actually boar’s ear soaked in chilli oil and spiced with chilli paste. I finally understood that my dog had good taste after all!

I remember looking at the menu and not understanding a single thing on it because it was all in Chinese. The only thing I understood were the brightly coloured pictures. That’s when my grandparents decided to order a ‘special dish’ for me since I was sulking so much.

They said I would love it. I did not believe them. Soon enough, our dishes came out and my grandparents pointed out which one they had ordered for me to eat. I couldn’t believe my eight-year old eyes. It looked like rotten, thick spaghetti that had been hardened in some sort of reddish-orange sauce. My grandparents took their chopsticks and piled a bunch of ‘rotten spaghetti noodles’ onto my plate. It felt as if my eyes were going to bulge out of my face.

My mum scolded, “Matthew, you are an older brother now… What kind of example are you showing him?”, but I just could not do it. I did not want to do it. It was a decision that was being made for me and I had absolutely no control over the outcome and that outcome was something I held and still do hold dearly. I did not get to choose what I got to eat! We had to go to a Chinese restaurant! My worst nightmare was coming true right before my eyes! My parents tried to explain to me that I needed to do this to please my grandparents and how they would only eat Chinese food. As a kid, I did not understand that principle at all. How could one want to eat egg fried rice for dinner or have shumai for brunch every day? It was mystifying and completely irrational in my eight-year-old brain. So, like any other well-behaved child, I did what we do best: I threw a temper tantrum for my parents.

I remember looking at the menu and not understanding a single thing on it because it was all in Chinese

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took the plunge. I remember bringing the strange substance up to my mouth and watching as the reddish-orange oil dripped off the ‘rotten spaghetti’. Cold and slimy - that’s all I remembered as I started chewing the substance.

How could they serve such a thing at a proper restaurant? That was the thought going through my head. I brought the plate up to my face to give them a whiff and boy, did they smell weird. It was my prerogative to not eat it at all had it not been for the glare my mother shot in my direction halfway through the dinner. That’s when I knew I was fighting a battle I could not possibly win. Chopsticks in hand: I

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I remember yelling, screaming, and crying that day. My baby brother sitting in his highchair staring at me with his beady, dough eyes and his mouth agape. I do not think he could comprehend why I was the one thrashing about. It was a pure paradox in the finest terms. As you could probably imagine my parents were not the happiest of people on the planet.

The most satisfying part of my experience was seeing my grandparents smile at having found something I enjoyed

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So, this concludes my ‘weirdest thing I’ve eaten’ story and, while I could say I learned a lot by trying something new, the most satisfying part of my experience, although cliché, was seeing my grandparents smile at having found something I enjoyed.

Matthew Lu

First year, Law

Recipe: Soy, chilli and ginger salmon fishcakes Holly Penhale shares her Asian inspired recipe so you can give the sushi bars a rest and still tantalise your taste buds Serves 2 Takes 45 mins Tip: For a gluten free version of this recipe substitute plain flour with a gluten free version.

Epigram / Holly Penhale

Method: Preheat the oven to 180° and bake the salmon fillet for 15 minutes until almost cooked.

2. Finely chop the spring onions, ginger, and coriander stalks and fry gently in a pan.

3. Add a knob of butter to your left-over mash and microwave for one minute.

4. Flake your baked salmon into a bowl mixing in your spring onion, ginger and coriander stalks, the zest and half the juice of a lime, chilli powder and a good lug of soy sauce.

5. Add in your mash and bind the mixture with 4 heaped tablespoons of plain flour and season well with salt and pepper.

6. Split the mixture into four even patties and press a handful of sesame seeds onto each side.

7. Heat a pan of olive oil and add each patty keeping the edges neat with a spatula.

8. After 5-10 minutes the patties should be crispy on one side and ready to flip – though they may need a bit of reshaping.

9. When golden brown and piping hot throughout, serve with steamed veg, chopped coriander leaves and a dollop of natural yogurt if you can’t take the heat.

1.

Epigram / Ali Cottam

If you’re in the mood for Asian flavours tonight but cannot justify another Chinese takeaway, then these flavoursome fishcakes are the perfect solution. They are a great way of using up leftover mash potato and making those pricey salmon fillets go that bit further. By substituting breadcrumbs for sesame seeds they are a guilt free treat.

Ingredients: 150g mash potato 1 salmon fillet 3 spring onions Large handful of sesame seeds 4 tbsp plain flour 1 lime ¼ tsp chilli powder Soy sauce 1cm fresh ginger Handful of coriander Salt and pepper Natural yogurt Steamed veg to accompany (tender stem broccoli, chantennay carrots, sugar snap peas & bok choi are good options)

Holly Penhale

Deputy Food Editor

13.11.17

25

Out with conventional and in with convenient Holly Penhale reveals the new way to food shop according to Waitrose’s annual Food and Drink Report

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Epigram / Holly Penhale

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However, this movement towards convenience should not be mistaken for a slackening approach to home-cooking. The report’s findings on what we are consuming suggests the opposite in fact.

With herb sales rocketing, it seems shoppers are taking a more handson approach in the kitchen, exhibiting an interest in what goes into their food and increasingly taking to the recipe books to have a go at making it themselves. In the past, convenience shopping has meant grabbing a last-minute ready meal or oven pizza after a draining commute, but in the wake of a rapidly growing craze for quick, easy, home-cooked meals, it seems shoppers are no longer suppressing their creative flair.

If that’s what it takes to recover a population in the midst of an obesity crisis, then we are not sorry

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The report also recognises a mass of buying trends which go hand in hand with this Super Food culture, including Buddha Bowls, brunches, nut butters and a rage for high-protein products. There is no denying that our generation of Instagram obsessives have driven these trends. It is no longer acceptable to post a snap of your mighty hangover fry up no matter how proud of it you are. If it doesn’t involve smashed avocado, rye bread or a perfectly poached egg, it’s unlikely to be deemed aesthetically pleasing by the platform’s community of hard-core food bloggers. As pretentious as it might seem, our generation are cultivating a desire for picture-perfect, healthy meals, and if that’s what it takes to recover a population in the midst of an obesity crisis, then we are not sorry.

The record-breaking success of both Jo Wicks’ Lean in 15 series and Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients is testament to the growing favour for speed and simplicity. It seems shoppers are finally striking a balance between convenient and home-made and after a series of attempts in which 30 minute meals became 15, and 15 minute meals became five ingredient meals, Jamie’s relief is almost palpable. This trend has not passed students by - BuzzFeed’s ‘Tasty’ video recipes have gone viral on social media and are immensely popular with 18-24 year olds, as are Mob Kitchen’s series of one minute videos which teach viewers to produce delicious home-made food for four people with ten pounds or less. Rest in peace slow cooker, quick and easy meals are here to stay.

Epigram / Holly Penhale

food shops to smaller, daily shops with 65% of Brits admitting to visiting a supermarket more than once a day. It seems the age of meal planning is over, our busy, fast paced lifestyles have given rise to a trend of last-minute purchases, little and often shops and a ‘what-we-need-when-we-need-it’ approach to shopping. The exponential growth of small convenience stores like Tesco Express has allowed for such a change to take place and it is us, the 18-24 year olds, which the report flags up as the worst offenders, twice as likely as the over-55’s to shop more than once a day.

In the wake of a rapidly growing craze for quick, easy, home-cooked meals, it seems shoppers are no longer suppressing their creative flair

In terms of nutrition, convenient is often taken as a synonym for unhealthy. However, the statistics suggest that fast-food outlets are no longer our only solution to time-constrained meals.

Waitrose have reported an increase in the consumption of barley, bulgur wheat and quinoa. Customers are moving away from simple carbohydrates and towards complex ones, demonstrating a growing awareness of nutritional value and the birth of an increasingly health-conscious customer base.

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But how far do the nation’s youngest shoppers conform to these new patterns? The average budget-bound student is a far cry from the archetypal middle-class, middle-aged Waitrose shopper. However, we should not be too quick to disregard the report as irrelevant - many of the trends are disconcertingly familiar, suggesting perhaps that students are not the conformists here, but rather the trailblazers, leading the way in a new era of food shopping.

The report emphasises the transition from large, weekly

However, we could argue that this change is all in aid of waste reduction - if we only buy what we need when we need it we are far less likely to throw out food which we bought at the beginning of the week and never got around to eating. Students, notorious for last minute meals of pesto pasta or beans on toast, are reluctant to waste their precious student loan on produce which rots in the long-neglected salad drawer at the bottom of the fridge. With a third of Brits leaving it until 4pm or later to plan our meals, it seems the nation, in its newfound spontaneity and disorganisation, has taken a leaf or two out of the student handbook - and the landfill sites should thank us.

Epigram / Holly Penhale

This week, premium supermarket Waitrose has published their annual Food and Drink Report, unveiling how shoppers’ habits are changing in line with a social movement towards control, simplicity and convenience. In an attempt to keep up with the adapting consumer, supermarkets are modifying their businesses to cater to their changing needs and thereby retain their custom. The report is a collation of data from their own purchase statistics, focus groups and survey in which a broad ranging sample of 2000 shoppers took part.

Holly Penhale

Deputy Food Editor

Recipe: Lemony garlic baked chicken with giant couscous salad Packed lunches are back! Jane Cowie shares her advice on how to beat the lunch time rush and save youself a bomb

The other great thing about taking in your own packed lunch is that you can be conscious about the food you’re putting in to your body. You can plan a personalised portion size, as well think about how much your meal is going to sustain you throughout your day. You want your meal to promote productivity and leave you feeling satisfied and satiated, rather than bloated and lethargic.

You can pack your Tupperware with slow releasing carbs (pasta, cous cous, rice, sweet potato etc.), protein (chicken, fish, chickpeas etc.) and fats (avocado, olive oil dressing, cheese etc.) to provide you with essential vitamins and minerals as well as hitting your macro goals.

In contrast, in many restaurants and cafes, the food options are loaded with saturated fat, sugar and salt. And it is all too tempting when these unhealthy choices are staring in to your soul, trying to lure you in. Do you need that dairy milk snack? Probably not, but at the time you absolutely do. Not only that, but how often do you feel

genuinely satisfied after finishing your Tesco meal deal? I’d be surprised if people feel their productivity was boosted noticeably after you’ve eaten. Whether you are tracking your macros down to a T, are wanting to maintain control over your diet to live healthily, or you simply are trying to cut your expenditure, meal prepping your lunches is a fantastic way of doing so.

Ingredients: For the dressing: 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 clove garlic, crushed ½ teaspoon sea salt ½ teaspoon black pepper For the salad: 200g giant cous cous A punnet (approx. 280g) cherry tomatoes Handful of spinach leaves, sliced ½ cucumber, diced ½ red onion, thinly sliced 1 red pepper Handful of flat leaf parsley For the chicken: 6 chicken breasts 1 lemon 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons black pepper Drizzle of olive oil

Epigram / Jane Cowie

As a university student, I often find myself trying to tighten my purse strings as, notoriously, being a student is expensive business. One of the most effective ways to save money is as easy as this: make a packed lunch for yourself. The cost of buying lunch out, even if it’s just a meal deal, really adds up. Let’s say you buy lunch out every day you’re at university (36 weeks a year), and you opt for a sandwich and a drink. If you’re lucky that’s going to add up to £5 a go, which results in a whopping £1260 a year. A standard sandwich and drink is simply not deserving of that horrifying stat. You could go on holiday for that money.

Method: Preheat the oven to 200c. Whilst it’s heating up, place each chicken breast on a small piece of baking parchment.

Drizzle over olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder, then squeeze the lemon over each fillet.

2. Fold the parchment over the chicken fillet so it forms a ‘parcel’. (This method is called dry poaching, which allows the chicken to cook in its own juices meaning the fillet is deliciously moist). Put in the oven for 25 minutes.

3. Whilst the chicken is cooking, put the giant cous cous in a pan of cold water on the stove. Bring the water to the boil and leave for 8 minutes. Allow the cous cous to cool slightly when it is cooked.

4. Next, in a large bowl, mix all the salad ingredients together, along with the cous cous.

5. In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients together and whisk together. You may now pour your salad dressing over the giant cous cous salad.

6. When the chicken breasts are done, take them out and leave them to rest for approx. 5 minutes.

7. You’re all set. Simply distribute the salad between 6 Tupperware containers, and place 1 chicken breast in each box.

Enjoy!

Jane Cowie 1.

Food Editor

13.11.2017

Editor Nancy Serle style@epigram.org.uk @e2style

Deputy Editor Lottie Moore

@epigramstyle

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Online Editor Hannah Worthington

Epigram Style 2017/18

Interview: Brothers We Stand

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Every item undergoes rigorous research to meet high design and ethical standards

When and why did you get involved with Brothers We Stand?

I had seen Brothers We Stand set up during my time at uni, they had curated an excellent collection of ethical brands, doing essentially what I wanted to do but online. Just after I finished my degree I got in touch with the founder, Jonathan, initially just to gain some work experience. I explained the idea of a physical store to Jonathan and he was on board

Our garments have a tag on them explaining the environmental and social impact of the product

Have you always shopped ethically and how would you convince others to make the change to ethically produced items?

No, I actually started buying ethically just before I came to Bristol. I went clothes shopping and pretty out of the blue my conscience wouldn’t let me buy anything that wasn’t ethical. From that point on I only bought ethical clothes.

I think there’s a couple of ways I would try and convince people. Firstly, if someone truly understood the impact the fashion industry has on people and the world, you would easily convince people to buy ethically - so informing people is one way. Secondly, I would challenge some misconceptions about ethically produced clothing, like price point and design.

What is your vision for the brand?

To make ethically produced clothing as accessible as possible. Practically, I’d love us to branch out into women’s, open up more stores and provide even more accessibly priced items

to go along with our £12.50 organic cotton tshirts.

How do you select the products that go online and in store?

Every item undergoes rigorous research to meet high design and ethical standards. It starts with us hearing about a new brand, this could be through word of mouth, instagram etc.. then once we find a brand whose design is on point, we grill them about their supply chain. If at that stage they still hold up, we then get them on board.

What are your favourite pieces the brand sells at the moment?

There’s a super soft organic cotton flannel shirt in store which feels real nice to wear. I also love a strong colour, we’ve got a beaujolais coloured sweatshirt, that is one of my favourites.

In this way, the positive aspects of production are celebrated without ‘greenwashing’ the areas where there is genuine room for improvement.

And finally, how would you describe Brothers We Stand in three words?

Independent Ethical Fashion You can find Brothers We Stand at Unit 20, Cargo 2, Museum Street, Bristol BS1 6ZA Opening Hours: Wed- Fri 11-7, Sun 11-4 Instagram: @brotherswestandbristol

Nancy Serle Style Editor Brothers We Stand

“

What did you study at Bristol?

Music, with an open unit in Accounting in my final year, as a little nod to wanting to set up a business.

with seeing how we could work together, so from that point on the beginnings of a collaboration with BWS began.

How do your consumers know the environmental impact of the products purchased from Brothers We Stand?

Our garments have a tag on them explaining the environmental and social impact of the product, we call it the ‘footprint’ tag. For example, the tag for one of our sweatshirts explains that the item was made in a wind powered factory in Tamul Nadu, India, where workers are treated well with a medical room, free lunches and recreation space. Then there is also an ‘areas for development’ section which explains that although the stringent Global Organic Textile Standard means that cotton pickers aren’t exposed to harmful chemicals, and that all cotton farms are independently audited, it does not directly measure the working conditions of the pickers.

Brothers We Stand

Brothers We Stand

Following the opening of ethical men’s retailer Brothers We Stand in Bristol’s Wapping Warf, Style Editor Nancy Serle interviews former Bristol student Sam Mabley who is heading up the flagship store

Living without a Reflection

Style writer Iona Barbour shares her experience and the challenges of living at university without a mirror

I don’t think I ever really considered how not having a mirror would affect the way I see myself physically don’t think I ever really considered how not having a mirror would affect the way I viewed myself physically. I’m not saying I haven’t seen my own face for a month or two in some strange Robinson Cruesoe situation, there are bathroom mirrors and mirrors in my friends’ rooms, but I’m usually too lazy to make the effort.

I do see myself, just not with the regularity and consistency that I was used to; the odd glance here and there. In terms of clothes and fashion, not having a mirror takes the focus from you

and places it on the clothes. My judgement of an outfit changed from how I thought it looked on me, to how the clothes looked together. In a weird way it took a lot of pressure off. I was able to wear a lot of things I had been afraid to before, I was able to focus entirely on what I wanted to wear, and how the clothes looked together and not on me. I found my daily routine getting a lot shorter and smoother, and I didn’t have those uncomfortable moments of embarrassment when an outfit I loved didn’t look the way I had wanted it to. Not having to see myself allowed for possibility. I could look amazing, I could look terrible, but I didn’t have to know; I loved that freedom.

But, as someone who struggles with body image and body positivity, not having that constant confirmation that I was ok, that my body wasn’t changing, that I wasn’t gaining weight was an issue. Without those small checks in the mirror now and then I began to become paranoid about my body and my weight. I began to be able to feel it on me. I felt heavier, bigger, became more aware of my eating, and the way I thought I looked. It made me realise

“

“

When I first moved into my flat, the fact I didn’t have a mirror was mainly just annoying.

How was I supposed to make sure my outfits were acceptable? How could I check I didn’t have food on my face after a Nando’s binge? I

how dependent I had become upon mirrors, and how the way in which I evaluated and valued my body, and myself, came from my perception of the girl I saw in the mirror.

It wasn’t until I went home and saw myself in my mum’s full body mirror that I realised that I hadn’t changed at all. I looked exactly the same as I always had; there was no change, no difference in my body. It wasn’t necessarily a moment of relief as much as it was surprise.

Having said that, I don’t think I want to buy one, mainly because I’m poor, but mainly because I want to be able to rid myself of that dependency. I’d rather continue being able to have some freedom in how I dress and not rely so much on how I see myself in the mirror.

Iona Barbour Second Year, English

It made me realise how dependent I had become upon mirrors

I had convinced myself of how I thought I looked, and it wasn’t what I was looking at. Not having a mirror in my room has made me realise how much I rely on them, how I depend upon those constant checks and affirmations.

Epigram/ Nancy Serle

28

13.11.2017

Models: Hannah Worthington, Emma Elgee and Cat Choate (NU Ambassador) Photography: Rowena Ball and Sára Neužilovà Makeup: Nancy Serle NU Ambassadors: Julia O’Driscoll and Celine Nonde

13.11.2017

29

Style take a look into the NU wardrobe

“

Online Style Editor Hannah Worthington reveals details from Epigram Style’s photoshoot with sustainable start-up NU and how you can get involved A running theme within Style’s three page spread this issue is an engagement with fashion ethics.

In looking back at some of our previous issues, a lot, if not every page, involved an un-ethically sourced fashion item. Whether that was a coat from high street fashion stores which use intensive labour overseas, or simply by using expensive, un-recyclable materials.

We wanted to change the way we thought about churning out new fashion trends, and so do Nu, a femaleled start up sustainable online fashion platform, which centres itself around swapping, borrowing, thrifting or renting clothing pieces.

“

The principle aim of this platform is to provide sustainable alternatives to the fast fashion industry Nu was originally set up by Ali Kelly and Aisling Byrne in Dublin, 2015. When travelling in India, the two girls were exposed to the harmful conditions of industrial textile, and met with garment workers in order to learn at face value about how our rotating fashion climate is sourced and funded. Their experiences gained by viewing the damaging manufacturing practice consequently gave the girls an impulse to set up Nu. The principle aim of this platform is to provide sustainable alternatives to the fast fashion industry; reducing the environmental impact of damaging trends.

To give some perspective of this damage, Julia O’Driscoll, a Senior Brand Ambassador for Nu in Bristol, informed Epigram Style that just manufacturing a single t-shirt can require up to 2,700 litres of water – a crazy amount of energy and natural minerals.

The girls initially ran swap shops in Ireland to counter this growing problem, ‘both to encourage people to get the most wear out of their garments, but also to allow students to affordably and sustainably replenish their wardrobes’ comments Julia. Since September, Nu have launched their online website. Principally, one can sign up to the Nu wardrobes service. However, it is a flexible borrowing

platform. This sign up, simply asks for your name and the Campus that Nu is running in. So far, Nu has spread to over 30 different campuses. There is no money requirement, this sign up just enters you into the wardrobe of clothing options, and you don’t have to offer your own clothes if you don’t want to.

There is no money requirement, this sign up just enters you into the wardrobe of clothing options

Now, along with four brand ambassadors, Style are aiming to spread awareness of Nu’s policies and philosophies. ‘Bristol is an increasingly environmentally conscious city, and many students are already engaging with sustainability in various ways’, Julia notes. The Style team and the Nu ambassadors in Bristol, consequently got together on a Sunday morning towards the end of October to find a way of promoting ethically sourced fashion, and ways to promote Bristol as a new campus addition to the Nu wardrobes site. We decided the best way was through a fashion shoot, photographing items that are currently already up on the online platform.

Indeed, the backbone behind this shoot was volountary support. Emma Elgee, a third year English student, alongside Hannah Worthington, Online Style Editor and Cat Choate, a brand ambassador for Nu, modelled the select pieces.

There was a large variation to be modelled already in the Bristol collection, from autumnal day dresses, crushed velvet wide legged flares, to glittery going out pieces. It was our intention to only photograph borrowed clothes, with the help of Style Editor, Nancy Serle’s re-styling techniques.

We took a checkered green button up dress, for example, that was very oversized, yet with the addition of a belt around the waist, the garment was transformed into a 60’s inspired vintage number, a newly created fashion forward piece.

We equally had a few formal dresses, in this image, Cat is modelling a red tulle maxi dress. While it

may not be an everyday number to just borrow and throw on, Julia noted the beneficial nature of borrowing and thrifting formal occasion outfits in particular. ‘As a student, it can be a nightmare finding an outfit for another 21st or formal. Nu garments are online for such a low cost, so this alternative has a plus on top of that for being environmentally friendly’.

Rowena Ball, another volunteer who studied French and Italian at Bristol, along with Sára Neužilovà, a current Film and Theatre student, were great at photographing the images and capturing the best angles for the clothes. As a student based platform, we wanted to ensure the images were student reflective, as well as looking professional.

No money at all was put into these photographic creations, we simply took images of the garments around Julia’s house, and surrounding locations on Whiteladies road. These photos have since been shared around, and are already up on the Nu wardrobes Bristol section. All clothes pictured and advertised are able to be borrowed for up to a week. In the detailed descriptions, you can find the dress size, colour, style and cleaning instructions. Not only will this ensure you find the specifics of what you are looking for, but the aftercare instructions also contribute to a dual agreement with Nu; if your product is mistreated, the borrower will pay back the lender the current value of the item. More specifics on the terms and conditions can be located on the Nu Wardrobes webpage.

Julia and the ambassadors in Bristol are thinking of holding events like this again in the near future. A ‘wine / swap party’ is coming up in November, giving students the opportunity to meet alike, ethically minded people and get sharing their wardrobes.

“

A ‘wine/ swap party’ is coming up in November, giving students the oppertunity to meet alike, ethically minded people

If anyone is interested in getting involved, Nu have a Facebook and Instagram page to follow, and their website can be browsed without having to sign up. This ‘constantly changing, affordable wardrobe’ is Style’s new go to, not only are we protecting our planet by using the Nu service, but we also get to look stylish at a low cost, which is an obvious bonus.

Find NU on Facebook @thenuwardrobe, Instagram @thenuwardrobe and Twitter @thenuwardrobe Check out the online platform at www.thenuwardrobe.com

Hannah Worthington Online Style Editor

If you are starting your own fashion related business or are already running one contact the style team on Facebook to be featured in another issue of Epigram!

Editor Nick Bloom travel@epigram.org.uk

30

Deputy Editor Evy Tang

@EpigramTravel

Online Editor Ellie Caulfield

13.11.2017

Epigram Travel Section 2017/8

@epigram_travel

Time to step your holidays up a gear Kathryn Firth, Master’s Environmental Policy and Management student, argues that often the journey, rather than the final destination, is the secret behind a rewarding and memorable holiday experience

”

”

You immediately stand out from other tourists, leading to unexpected yet wonderful conversations with all kinds of people who’d never normally give you a second glance

”

One woman who stopped to chat to me outside Lidl was so horrified to hear I was camping on my own that she offered to give me one of her kitchen knives to take onwards with me for self-

It’s not always easy: there were days when I cried, felt tired, stressed, scared, lonely, and was convinced I couldn’t carry on

”

More often than not, though, a particularly bad day would be followed by an exceptionally good one, with the whole world seeming brighter and easier after the previous day’s horrors, and I’d find it hard to believe I’d been thinking about quitting just a few hours before.

Of course bike touring won’t be for everyone – it’s hardly a relaxing beach holiday – but it’s a cheap, exciting and environmentallyfriendly way to spend a few weeks traveling, and I can’t recommend it enough. Meandering through a country at such a leisurely pace, you really get to experience it from every angle, and see places well off the usual tourist track. If you do it right, you can even spend your evenings cooling off with a swim in your lake/river/sea of choice before consuming an inhuman amount of food and watching the sunset on the beach (just watch out for the mosquitoes).

Flickr / Robert Ashworth

Epigram / Kathryn Firth

”

I hadn’t been camping since my D of E days back in 2011, and I couldn’t (still can’t) read a map properly. All I knew was that I love cycling, and I wanted to spend the summer outside exploring new places, so at 6am on the 26th June I found myself waking up after the overnight ferry to France, loading up my bike and rolling off up the Normandy coast.

The first day was incredible: over 80km of blue skies, dramatic coastline, seaside towns, sunflower fields, switchback climbs and crazy descents, all the while adjusting to how different my bike felt with 15kg of gear strapped to the back.

My first big learning curve came in the evening, when I’d got so carried away enjoying the route and the weather, only to realise the sun was close to setting and I had no idea if there were any campsites around, and no phone signal to ask Google maps for help. Luckily an old French couple came to my rescue, drawing a map in the sand of how to reach a small campground nearby, where I just about managed to get my tent up before the light faded completely.

This was the first of many experiences of seeing how traveling by bike can be extremely rewarding. You immediately stand out from other tourists, leading to unexpected yet wonderful conversations with all kinds of people who’d never normally give you a second glance. The generosity and warmth I experienced from complete strangers was astonishing; people would invite me into their homes to eat, sleep, shower, drink beer and learn about the area

from an insider’s point of view. I made friends in hostels and I met other cyclists at campsites, sometimes joining up for a day or two on the road.

”

This summer I spent two months cycling though Europe on my own, with a tiny tent and not much of a plan

defence (I politely declined).

It’s not always easy: there were days when I cried, felt tired, stressed, scared, lonely, and was convinced I couldn’t carry on. The freedom of not knowing where you’re going to end up each day is exciting but it can also be utterly exhausting, especially when it’s raining and you’re in the middle of nowhere with no way of escaping indoors for the night to warm up.

Epigram / Kathryn Firth

This summer I spent two months cycling through Europe on my own, with a tiny tent and not much of a plan. My improvised route of nearly 4,000km took me through France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and was the best ‘I’m unemployed and don’t know what to do next’ experience I could have asked for.

I should start by saying I’m hardly a pro cyclist: I’ve had my cheap hybrid bike since I was 12 years old, and the extent of my cycling in the months leading up to the trip was a 15-minute commute to work each day, and a couple of panicked ‘training rides’ when the reality of what lay ahead started to set in.

Kathryn Firth Master’s, Environmental Policy and Management

A note on Berlin’s gentrification Third Year Ancient History student, Jamie Muddimer, explores the areas of Berlin that are battling against hipsters, militant veganism and bohemian cyclists Lying to the south of the River Spree in what was the trendy heart of West Berlin, the neighbouring quarters of Kreuzburg and Neukölln have collectively established themselves as the capital of the Berlin Hipster’s beverage of choice, Club-Mate. Beyond iced tea, these student districts stick to the counter-culture script that comes as part of the package with any metropolitan hipster district: militant veganism, bohemian cyclists and heavily politicised graffiti are all part of the Kreuzburg/ Neukölln aesthetic.

”

Anti-gentrification movements have formed against the tide, targeting Airbnb and the man who lives by the turmeric latte

Epigram / Jamie Muddimer

”

But there is something distinctively Berlin about this area that sets it aside from any other standard city hipster quarter.

Kreuzburg and Neukölln are not only aggressively left-wing, but they are districts that are incredibly angry about what they’re becoming. Anti-gentrification movements have formed against the tide, targeting Airbnb and the man who lives by the turmeric latte. Social cleansing is a disease that directly threatens the authenticity of an area that revels in being abstract, and understandably people are kicking up a right fuss about it.

The response taken by many anti-gentrification resistance groups is to target their frustration at the young, white, western backpackers, or the middle-class professionals, who are ruining their counter-culture vibe. For sure, it might be a bit of a dampener, but surely it’s better is direct the anger at the system as a whole rather than students who just want to spend some time here? This is the line taken by the non-ironically named Hipster Antifa Neukölln (hipster anti-fascists), who condemn anti-Hipster rhetoric in Neukölln. Their organisation was founded in response to bars throwing hipsters out in the area, and even physical attacks on tourists.

Areas like Kreuzburg and Neukölln have deservedly earned a glorious reputation among the left in Germany for resistance politics and direct action against the state and capitalism. As Hipster Antifa’s spokesman Jannek maintains, there is something fundamentally un-lefty about targeting the young rather than the broader capitalist powers. Sure, Berlin’s downtown might be changing, but isn’t it better to challenge the developers, executives and those responsible for ‘regenerating’ the area, rather than fighting among ourselves?

Jamie Muddimer Third Year, Ancient History

13.11.2017

31 Interested in spending your summer Au Pairing?

The dilemma of a dual identity Deputy Travel Editor, Evy Tang, explains the pros and cons of being mixed English and Chinese.

I got to travel all around Spain on my weekends off, meeting people from all over the world in the process

”

Make sure you speak to any previous au pairs the family have had - you can ask them all the questions you didn’t want to ask the family, like how well do the children really behave?

I ended up with a family with three little girls who looked adorable.

In reality, there wasn’t a day when two of them didn’t cry or fight or both. But don’t let this put you off - my language skills have increased faster than they ever have before and I learnt so much about Spanish culture from living with a Spanish family. I also got to travel all around Spain on my weekends off, meeting people from all over the world in the process.

”

Epigram/ Sonia Atkins

”

Left to right: my newphew (quater chinese), me, my older sister, my grandfather and my grandmother.

Epigram / Edie Essex Barrett

My language skills have increased faster than they ever have before and I learnt so much about Spanish culture from living with a Spanish family

”

In terms of location within the country you’ve picked, try and stay flexible. I initially wanted to au pair in Madrid because I prefer cities, but ended up in a small town in the south of Spain instead.

It ended up being a better experience than if I’d stayed with a city family because hardly anyone could speak English, meaning I had to speak Spanish everywhere I went.

Once you’ve narrowed your options down you should have Skype conversation with the various families, asking any questions you have. This is a great way to decide whether you would be a good match.

Once you’ve chosen a family, I’d highly recommend creating a timetable so you know what to expect when you arrive. This is a problem I had - while I stuck to our timetable, the family didn’t seem to pay it any attention which meant I worked more hours than I’d thought I would. Now all you’ll have to do is book your flights!

Try and keep a dialogue going with the family in the months/weeks leading up to your arrival.

It has only been relatively recently that I have come to both accept and embrace my Chinese background

I finally realise I don’t need to appear fully white or European to belong here. England is my home and no one can tell me otherwise anymore. I am so proud to have family in Hong Kong and love how lucky I am to have visited the city more times than I can remember.

Hong Kong is such a contrast to the sleepiness of British cities and when I visit, I do feel a strong sense of belonging to the city. I think part of the ‘shame’ I felt when I was younger is that I never learnt to speak Cantonese, something which still bothers me today. When I visit my grandparents, I have to go with family who are able to translate for me. Not being able to talk to my grandparents directly is the probably to hardest part about being mixed race.

Finally, consider language barriers. Although au pairing is a great way to improve your language skills, be realistic. If the family don’t speak a word of English and you’ve only just started learning another language, try and think about whether you can cope with constant games of charades and pictionary as you both try and get your meaning across.

Au Pairing really is an experience that you can get so much out of. Who could turn down work experience, language practice and travel opportunities all in one?

Edie Essex Barrett Deputy Editor

Edie’s five top tips for Au Pairing 1. Create a timetable with the family and make sure they stick to it 2. Do as much as you can with your free time (travel, join a language school, go to the beach!)

4. Bring a little goodie bag of things for the kids 5. Think of some games you can play with the children before you go. I quickly ran out of ideas and ended up playing ‘Grandma’s Footsteps’ five times a day

Epigram / Edie Essex Barrett

3. Try and find some other Au Pairs in the area before you go

A more annoying aspect of being mixed is new people asking me where I am really from. Too many times people ask,“Where are you from?” and the answer “London”, is never sufficient. When I finally say, my Dad is from Hong Kong, there is usually a reaction along the lines, “Ah! I knew it, I knew there was something Asian about you!”. Bravo. Well done. Non-mixed people do not know how annoying it is that people you just meet are so inquisitive about your parentage just because you look that bit different.

Secondly, when new acquaintances have established my ethnicity, they ask, “Can you speak Chinese? Can you say [usually something rude], in Chinese?”.

”

Epigram / Edie Essex Barrett

How do you become an Au Pair?

There are many ways you can become an Au Pair, such as through Facebook groups or websites like aupairworld.com. However, I’d highly recommend going through an agency for your first time because it’s reassuring to know there’s someone there if anything were to go wrong. I used ServiHogar which is specific to Spain (make sure you find one that doesn’t charge you fees)!

Since the most important thing is to pick a family that you’ll fit in with, search through loads of profiles and find the ones that sound best to you. There’ll always be someone else, so don’t necessarily stick with the first people you find. Usually you send over your CV and a letter about yourself with photos which families will send you too so you can learn more about them.

Who should I choose?

There are a lot of things to consider when picking a family. Think about how many children the family have first and foremost, compared with what experience you have. Also think about the ages of the children you’ll be caring for. Are you comfortable looking after children under 12 months?

Next, think about how the family’s interests compare with yours.

Are you happy to spend every day playing golf ?

Establish how many hours the family want you to do, and what kind of responsibilities they expect you to have. The things you have to do vary from family to family. Some purely want you to help their kids with homework and English practice, whereas there are some horror stories where au pairs have essentially been housemaids.

Find out about the personal space you’ll have. Will you have your own bedroom and bathroom? Will it be on your own floor or will you be next door to the children?

”

Au pairing is a great way to experience another country. It’s the perfect thing to do over summer because it’s really cheap - you live with the family for free, full board, like an older sibling. You help look after the family’s children who you typically speak to in English. You are given a weekly allowance and only need to do light household chores such as tidy up the kids toys or wash up, with about 20 hours a week of work being the norm. Sounds good?

Growing up in rural Devon had its cons when it comes to being ‘different’, and being ethnically different certainly did not help life on the playground.

Now I am in my third year of university and it has only been relatively recently that I have come to both accept and embrace my Chinese background. Throughout my childhood, I was taunted and reminded that I am not English, but foreign.

When I visited China, I would always be seen as and treated as white, so quite naturally, I was always confused about where, or if, I belonged anywhere.

”

Deputy Editor, Edie Essex Barrett, gives us her insight into being an Au Pair and how you can become one this summer

Non-mixed people do not know how annoying it is that people are so inquisitive about your parentage just because you look that bit different

”

Okay, to start with, ‘Chinese’ is not one language, there are so many dialects. Moreover, when I admit I sadly cannot speak Cantonese (spoken in Hong Kong and Macau), there is usually an accusatory follow up question of, “Why did you not learnt to speak it?”. Sadly, I could not control the languages I heard whilst growing up, but believe me, I really wish that I could speak Cantonese.

I love being half English and half Chinese. I love having family the other side of the world, but it isn’t easy. I don’t get to see my relatives often. I definitely have a more international outlook on life and it has given me the courage to explore different cultures and travel. I am more open minded towards different peoples and curious about them too.

And yes, I can use chopsticks, and no, it’s not okay for you to make fun of me for that.

Evy Tang Deputy Travel Editor

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Bristol SU will be hosting a vigil for Trans Day of Remembrance, taking place on November 24 in the Anson Rooms at 6pm, where we will be remembering transgender individuals worldwide who have lost their lives in this past year.

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Isabelle Kerwick Bristol SU Trans Network

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

Epigram

13.11.2017

Film & TV

filmandtv@epigram.org.uk Editor: Charlie Gearon Deputy Editor: Gabi Spiro @GearonCharlie

@GabiSpiro

epigram_film

@epigramfilm

Online: Tim Bustin Deputy Online: AshleyYonga @timbustin1

@ashyonga

Netflix cancels House of Cards following Kevin Spacey sexual assault allegation Spacey accused of making unwanted sexual advances towards fourteen-year-old actor, Anthony Rapp

David Giesbrecht / Netflix

Kevin Spacey in House of Cards playing Francis J. “Frank” Underwood, Democrat from South Carolina’s 5th congressional district

Nura Alyah Second Year, Politics and Philosophy Producers of popular political drama House of Cards have reported that the show will be cancelled after the end of the next series. The announcement followed actor Anthony Rapp’s sexual assault accusation against Kevin Spacey, star of the Netflix series. A spokesperson for Netflix has confirmed that the decision to end the series was made months prior to the allegations, although the news was shared on the same day.

At the same time as Netflix’s announcement that the show will be cancelled, the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced that they will no longer be giving Spacey the International Emmy Founders Award, which he was set to receive later in November.

House of Cards began in 2013 as the first Netflix Original Series.

The plot follows Frank Underwood (Spacey), a Congressman with ambitions to reach a higher position of power, even if by criminal means. The show has received critical acclaim and 33 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations.

The allegations of sexual misconduct made against Spacey came

to light on Monday in an interview Rapp had with Buzzfeed News.

He recounted a party held in Spacey’s Manhattan apartment. At the time of the incident, which allegedly occurred in 1986, Rapp would have been 14, and Spacey 26.

Rapp told of how Spacey, seemingly drunk, had picked him up ‘like a groom picks up the bride’ and proceeded to lay on top of him until Rapp could squirm out from underneath him. He further recounts feeling dazed and confused upon managing to leave the apartment, as well as feelings of panic and discomfort upon having seen Spacey at events and on sets since the occurrence.

People have taken to social media to register complaints about the apology given by Spacey, wherein he decided to come out as gay despite having previously said numerous times in interviews that his sexuality should not be a concern. Many feel as though the placement of his ‘coming out’, which directly followed his claims that he didn’t remember the event, was in poor taste.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president president of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has registered her complaints, saying that “Coming out stories should not be used to deflect from allegations of sexual assault.” In addition, the GLAAD twitter account has focused their statements on thanking Rapp and others for having ‘risked everything to speak out against sexual assault,’

making little mention of Spacey himself.

Comments from House of Cards producers suggest their support lies with Rapp. Beau Willimon, creator of the show, has said that this case is ‘no exception’ to any other assault allegations, and that he does ‘support [Rapp’s] courage’.

Similarly, other Hollywood stars have denounced Spacey’s actions, including Zachary Quinto and Rosie O’Donnell. The latter, for instance, suggested that Spacey’s actions were akin to Harvey Weinstein’s, who has also recently come under fire for sexual misconduct allegations.

Rapp similarly discussed how he was compelled to come forward with his story after hearing the many stories regarding Weinstein.

The actor told Buzzfeed he feared such behaviour was shrouded in a ‘witting and unwitting conspiracy of silence’, going on to add that ‘the only way these things can continue is if there’s no attention being paid to it, if it’s getting forgotten.’

However, regardless of the cancellation of House of Cards, Netflix has released news that a spin-off series is in early development stages, with plans to air after the sixth and final series is finished.

It is unclear at this point what the focus of the show will be, or whether or not Spacey will make an appearance - although it’s highly unlikely that he will.

This day in cinema history 14th November 1976: ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!’ - Sidney Lumet’s Network premieres

Flickr / Bob Lovelock

It’s rare that a film manages to maintain its political relevance fourty-odd years after its initial release. Network, Sidney Lumet’s 1976 satirisation of the birth of ‘entertainment news’, is one such rarity.

It follows the career of news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) after an on-air drunken rant about his imminent redundancy brings in unprecedentedly high ratings for his tevelsion network - UBS Evening News.

Realising his star potential, network executive Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) decides to exploit the increasingly unstable Beale by giving him his own show, in which he offers conspiracy-theorist diatribes against everything from government to the network which airs his show.

Beyond its obvious relevancy to our current climate of ‘fake news’

and ‘alternative facts,’ Network is successful as a deeply personal film. It offers a powerful exploration of a mentally ill man’s decline into insanity, and an unflinching look at the ruthless nature of the entertainment industry.

This culture of exploitation, in which executives exert their power over those more vulnerable than themselves, is more relevant than ever amidst the recent outpouring of sexual assault allegations, permanently marring the face of the entertainment industry. In this sense, Network is still tragically relevant, four decades after its initial release. It is a masterclass in memorable screenwriting which blends its political and personal elements seasmlessly.

Charlie Gearon Film & TV Editor

Epigram 13.11.2017

37

‘Misogyny, community, captivity’ - a review of the Zambian satire I Am Not A Witch After Q and A session at Watershed, Deputy Online Editor Lucy Thompson reviews the strikingly original film Lucy Thompson Deputy Online Editor Set in Zambia, I Am Not A Witch begins with the seemingly unremarkable incident of a woman dropping a bucket of water.

This results in the young Shula (Maggie Mulubwa) being hauled into the police station and accused of witchcraft, due to the highly comical accounts from the villagers.

The parasitic government official and witch-hunter, Mr Banda (Henry BJ Phiri) tells her she must to decide ‘whether to be a goat or a witch’, and is brought to a witch-camp. For Welsh-Zambian director, Rungano Nyoni this is her first feature film. While Shula’s Zambian witch-camp is fictional, Nyoni drew inspiration from modern-day witch camps in Ghana by staying in one of the oldest camps.

By no means does the film try to debunk ‘magic’, which Nyoni is agnostic about. The film is a mystical and satirical fable about the wider themes of misogyny, community, captivity and complicity.

Like the other witches in the camp, Shula is tethered to a long white ribbon to stop her ‘flying’, and is ostracised from mainstream communities.

“

Watershed

there is an uneasy interplay between the tragic and the comic, revealling in the crulety of the Zambian sense of humour

Protagonist Shula, played by nine-year-old Maggie Mulubwa

In a poignant scene later in the film, she enjoys a fleeting moment at school, before she is dragged back by her ribbon.

Nyoni uses the motif of the white ribbon, rather than the chain to emphasise, to a degree, how the witches are complicit in their own captivity and subordination.

The film uses satire to examine the rules society places on different groups, with the absurd depiction of the camp, in order to make a wider point about women who are controlled. However, Nyoni makes it clear that it is not just men who are guilty of misogyny.

This concept is presented in the character of the Queen, who is instrumental in Shula’s captivity. Nyoni said the character of

Shula was inspired by her grandmother who retaliated against the stringent requirements placed on women in Zambia, and ‘broke rules constantly’.

Throughout there is the uneasy interplay between the tragic and the comic, revelling in the cruelty of the Zambian sense of humour.

There were many instances where I wasn’t sure whether I should be laughing or recoiling at the horror of Shula’s circumstances.

Mr Banda is the comic-villain of the film, answering the call about Shula from a bubble-bath and trying to sell supernatural eggs on a TV chat show. A makeshift courtroom he sets up to find criminals, using Shula’s ‘powers’, is continually interrupted by an embarrassing ring-tone. The film thrives in this absurdity and unpredictability.

Rule breaking and unpredictability is translated in the

soundtrack. Rather than use African music, Nyoni chose to use the dramatic and grandiose sounds of Vivaldi and Schubert. When the film neared its sombre close it was also surprising to hear Estelle’s ‘American Boy’ pumping through a man’s headphones.

While the cinematography is beautiful, one of my only criticisms of the film is that the landscape shots of Zambia linger too long, and some scenes became a little stagnant. The film is, however, a highly original and intriguing debut from Rungano Nyoni.

Have you seen Rungano Nyoni’s debut film I Am Not A Witch? What did you think? Let us know on Twitter @epigramfilm

Editors’ Picks

To celebrate Mindhunter’s release, the editors list their favourite Fincher films

Twitter @ shutuptodd

Twitter / @gonegirlmovie

Twitter / @flyonthe4thwall

Tim Bustin

Ashley Yonga

Gabi Spiro

Online Editor

Deputy Online Editor

Deputy Editor

Gone Girl (2014)

Fight Club (1999)

Few things are certain in life and one such thing is that the movie can never be as good as the book. Luckily for all of us, David Fincher was chosen to direct Gone Girl, proving just how wrong this statement could be. Gone Girl is a dark story - it is packed with murder, deceit, broken marriages and damaged people. Fincher manages to capture the twisted atmosphere of the small town in Missouri with grey undertones and intermediating cinematography.

He brings together eerie mystery, a slow-unfolding plot with a wellselected cast. Fincher’s Gone Girl makes you think, has you rooting for people you’d never thought you would and sells mystery like no other thriller has before. He makes this film just as incredible to dive into as the book and considering how phenomenal that book was, that’s a remarkable feat.

Despite initially receiving mixed reviews at the Box Office, David Fincher’s early work Fight Club has now rightfully earnt its place as a cult classic. Edward Norton plays the unnamed narrator, an insomniac who grows bored of his mundane, mediocre life. After meeting Marla Singer and Tyler Durden (Helena Bonham Carter and Brad Pitt, respectively), his life begins to spiral out of control with thieving, underground fighting, and toxic relationships.

Through Norton’s demise we see the dangerous conflict between the bored younger generation and a consumerist culture. The trio complements each other well, fuels the fast-paced plot and manages to pay homage to the powerful novel the film is based on. Fight Club is a witty, quotable tragicomedy which sports one of the best twists in modern cinema.

Alicia Wakeling The Social Network (2010) Second Year, Film & Television That a film about the legal feuding between the co-founders of Facebook turned out so chillingly exciting only proves Fincher’s greatness. The history books may have suffered to achieve the feat, turning Mark Zuckerberg into a scowling narcissist and twisting the real-life events into a dark Shakespearian drama, but in doing so the film captured the essence of the social media-obsessed generation that the invention of Facebook spawned. With a snappy script and perfectly cast Jessie Eisenberg, Fincher’s slick directing style has so much greatness to play with that the film is elevated to truly some of his best work. He excels in dramas and this one about the complexity of 21st century friendship will be a historical landmark to refer back to in years to come.

t-

39 Epigram

13.11.2017

Arts

@EpigramArts

Editor: Alina Young Deputy Editor: Anna Trafford

Online Editor: Helena Raymond-Hayling Deputy Online Editor: Avital Carno

arts@epigram.org.uk

Redefining body art

‘Our generation is making tattoos something to celebrate’: Bristol students share their tattoo experiences Nora Gunn Second Year, English

Helena Raymond-Hayling Online Editor

Josie Roberts Second Year, English

I couldn’t wait to get. Of course there were nerves but I don’t think I felt the pain as much because I was so excited and full of adrenaline.

I think that older generations don’t understand tattoos. To them they’re a sign of bad decisions, bad education and regret. Before I got my tattoo my dad imagined tattoos to be names or cliché sayings in big bold writing or garish violent images on men with piercings and eyeliner.

Our generation is making tattoos something to celebrate. For me they represent times in my life that had a big effect on me, and they’re works of art created by incredibly talented people. Getting a tattoo is a commitment because it’s forever but I think it is so much more than a bad decision.

My tattoo is a small 2 ½ inch traditional style dagger on my ribs. I’ve always liked simple line work and black and white, and saw a similar traditional style dagger tattoo on someone’s hand and sort of just immediately wanted something like it permanently on my body. Which is weird if you think about it.

It took about five minutes and hurt like hell. It’s not perfect, but considering how skin moves and stretches the unevenness in it doesn’t bother me very much.

I had wanted a tattoo for a while and was contemplating drawing my own as I’ve done for people in the past, but I followed an artist called Eszter on Instagram and thought her work was absolutely beautiful. I saw she had worked at Hell To Pay in Camden - she now works at Sang Bleu Tattoo - so I contacted Hell To Pay and booked an appointment. My tattoo was done by Lee Jones.

It doesn’t have any particular meaning to me,

I just loved the design, but I suppose in a way it has meaning considering I got it in a transitional period in my life. People seem to want to attach meaning to tattoos, which is very valid and understandable; if you’re going to put something on your body permanently you want to be sure you’ll like it in a few years time, and a way of assuring that is to have something that’s meaningful to you.

However, having said that, a tattoo without ‘meaning’ is not somehow less valid or valuable; tattoos are art (most of them) and wanting to put art on your body permanently I see as an equally valid reason.

It’s true that it’s addictive though. I plan on getting a few more, and some of them may have sentimental value, but there are tattooists all over the world whose work I would happily have inked on my body, as a piece of art.

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Natasha Holt Second Year, Chemistry My tattoo is an illustration of a feather, which I came across in an adult colouring book of all places. My identical twin and I decided to get the tattoo together as a symbol of our relationship and the bond we share. We wanted to have a physical representation of something we feel is special and unique, and we chose something we both found beautiful to represent that. It’s uplifting to have a piece of art on your body that you associate with someone who means so much to you.

It took us about a year from when we decided what to get to actually have it done.

We sat in the tattoo parlour at the same time.

Sharing the experience was great, especially since it was my sister’s first tattoo. It took about an hour, but felt like four. It obviously hurt but the pain was somehow comforting, especially when I was kind of sharing it with my sister.

I’ve mainly been met with positivity around tattoos, apart from the odd person here and there who regards it as a mistake.Generally,I find the‘your body, your rules’ concept to be the main attitude.

I think that tattoos are so common now that society has been forced to accept it. For

digitised drawing, and it was absolutely awesome.

After some refinement with shading and line thickness which we discussed together, it was perfect and I got so excited to go into the studio.

I’ve thought a lot about how my tattoos will ‘go down’ with my non-immediate circle and with a future career, but I think as with most mods and fashion choices, being tasteful tends to go down pretty well with most people.

People in my life that don’t have tattoos, and thought they didn’t like them much, have complimented me on this particular piece because it’s nice to look at and artistic.

the younger generation in particular I feel the concept of tattoos isn’t even a big deal.

For a lot of people, getting tattoos feels like the ownership of one’s body. Using your skin as a canvas and committing to something for the rest of your life is empowering. I think this concept is lost on a lot of people; they may just see it as a fashion statement that’s going to become unpopular in a few years time. I think the fear of regret holds strong for a lot of people.

I was worried too at first, but I just decided I didn’t care! If it means something to you or you just love the piece, and you loved it at the time, there’s no room for wasteful regret.

Epigram / Natasha Holt

Iona Barbour Second Year, English

Epigram /Josie Roberts

The tattoo on my back is of a random mountain range. Some say that it looks like the Evian bottle logo but I like to think that it looks a little cooler than that.

My artist Alexandra Baksza is from Budapest and was doing a guest spot in Camden for a couple of days. I had admired her black and white dot work from afar for ages, so when I saw she was coming into London I got in contact.

The tattoo symbolises a turning point in my life away from a time when I was really low. The mountains represent a place where I’ve spent many happy weeks with my family, and it feels like a place of safety for me. However, every time I look at it what it represents evolves, which is what I love about it most. Since the tattoo is on my back I don’t see it all the time, so nearly 2 years after getting it I am still pleasantly surprised every time I see it.

If you can last through eyebrow threading, you can endure the pain of a tattoo. I think it helped that I couldn’t see the needle going into my skin. Because this tattoo was something I saved up for, had put a lot of thought into, and had been talking about for weeks, it was something

My tattoo is of some roses and figs in geometric shapes and dotwork. It covers my whole upper right arm, and was my second ever (and the biggest to date).

I like tattoos, so when something small comes to me I tend to mull over the prospect of fresh ink and develop it slowly, so I can’t name one particular inspiration. I have a memory as a child of my grandpa handing my grandma a rose he had cut from the garden after they’d been bickering, to say sorry. He was big on horticulture, and his roses were always so lush.

My grandparents also had a fig tree that was as tall as their house and yielded the tastiest figs I’ve ever had. The house is sold now, but my mum took some cuts from that tree and we now have a flourishing sapling, which is a really beautiful symbol of all the great times we had in grandma and papa’s house. Figs are sort of symbols of femininity and fertility, which I also like.

The artist is Fiona Hambleton, who was recommended to me when I said I was looking for an artist who uses vegan ink. None of my tattoos are particularly realistic; I like them to look hand drawn. I emailed her with a lot of photos and drawings from instagram for reference, and gave her a really clear description of what I wanted. She emailed me back the

Epigram / Helena Raymond-Hayling

are so personal and DIY. I love my tattoos and wouldn’t change them. Even though they were done by an ex, and we broke up only a few weeks later, the idea behind the tattoos was never his, or for him, so they still feel like they are mine alone.

Society is becoming more forgiving in terms of personal appearance, but the acceptance of tattoos lags behind. It’s the permanence of a tattoo that scares people. So many celebrities have tattoos now, however, that the stigma of them being just for sailors is almost gone. Finally, they are gradually being celebrated as the artform they are. They are called tattoo artists after all.

Epigram / Nora Gunn

I have two small tattoos on the back of my calves. One is an unhappy face, the other is a happy face. These may sound like quite stupid tattoos, and to be fair they sort of are, but to me they are a visual reminder of the phrase ‘don’t worry, be happy’. Having this message constantly on my body helps remind me to stay optimistic, even when things get tough.

I didn’t get them done in a tattoo parlour, I opted for the ‘stick and poke’ method often used in prisons. My (now ex) boyfriend used a needle attached to a pencil with some cotton and Indian ink, which he then stabbed into my leg until the patterns were completed; it surprisingly wasn’t too painful. He’s an art student which luckily means he has a steady hand. It took around half an hour in total, with the healing period being about two weeks.

It was also free - except for the needle - but I wouldn’t recommend trying this unless the person doing the tattoos is experienced. The chance of infection using the ‘stick and poke’ method is very high, and the tattoos that it produces tend to fade quite quickly, my own included.

The reaction I get to my tattoos is mixed. Some people think they’re stupid, my brother even said ‘If you were gonna get tattoos why didn’t you get proper ones?’. Others like them because they

FEELING INSPIRED?

Instagram is a great platform to find tattoo artists. Here are some accounts to explore //Artists mentioned

Helena: @fiona_jay

Josie: @ftwalexandra

Iona: @eszterdavidtattoo

@helltopaytattoos

@sangbleutattoolondon

@el_jonez

//Others @zihee_tattoo @sashaunisex @tealeigh @jonboytattoo @peteraurisch @coreydivine

Epigram

13.11.2017

39

Shaking up the poetic canon Here to prove that there’s more to poetry than fusty old white guys, three students recommend their favourite modern poets

Anna Trafford Deputy Arts Editor

Rupi Kaur

My contemporary poet of choice is Rupi Kaur. She is the leading light of a generation of ‘instapoets’ using social media to bring poetry into the modern day. She publishes her short poems on Twitter and Instagram, and in doing so has come to the attention of the mainstream media. A staggering 1.6m follow her Instagram account.

The sparse wording, white background and fluid illustrative doodles may be familiar to you.

It’s an aesthetic that she has carried across to her two published books, which are as much a visual experience as they are poetic. Though Kaur has clearly triumphed in navigating the volatile arena of millennial marketing, her poetry is much more than a media fad.

In form, her work feels like the lovechild of ee cummings and William Carlos Williams, but as a young immigrant woman of colour she brings something very different to the table. Kaur’s voice is the fresh injection of life and relevance

Mitchell May Second Year, English

that poetry so dearly needs to bring it out of the realm of the dead white male.

She articulates with heartbreaking eloquence what it means to be a woman today, and what it means to be an outsider. In a world gripped by xenophobia and intolerance, her longing for acceptance is deeply resonant. She calls for a change of perspective in ‘we are not enemies’:

borders are man-made they only divide us physically don’t let them make us turn on each other - we are not enemies I love her most for her candidness and realism. She does not shy away from the ugliness of suffering. She speaks of the jealously in heartbreak, and exposes the debilitating nature of low self-esteem. If this is not material drawn from

Melissa Broder

The American poet Melissa Broder may be better known by her Twitter handle @sosadtoday.

Her dark, deadpan musings seem perfectly suited to the medium, and to the neurotic, attention-lacking impulses of our age. It’s telling that the Twitter page was originally anonymous, allowing her the freedom of expression without the burden of biography so often thrust onto artists’ work, as if the tweets transcend authorship.

Her poetry inhabits a weird state, at once familiar and unburdened by normality. In ‘Lunar Shatters,’ the speaker imagines herself as having been born male; becoming a woman involves a psychical return to her male state. The easy handling of this fantastical subject matter is perfectly matched by Broder’s strange syntax and ear for surreal aphorisms:

I made a poison suit I darned it out of myths Some of the myths were beautiful Some turned ugly in the making There’s a fantastic freedom and complete lack of pretension in her poetry. Some words

are lodged awkwardly, doing their own thing. It often feels like each line is a reaction to the last, adding to a feeling of the speaker’s nonchalance.

The speaker’s voice is idiosyncratic and singular but there remains a universality to this persona, as she explores the pains of being a not yet fully formed adult.

What made Broder a master of the 140-character form is translated and expanded in her poetry, but with more breathing space.

It would be amiss not to recognise the sheer funniness of her poems, created by the interplay of an inherently sincere or confessional form and the otherworldly nature of Broder’s from ‘Lunar Shatters’, describing the physical change from male to female:

And gone forever was my feeling snake And in its place dark letters

The use of symbolism here and throughout her works is brilliantly knowing; trying to analyse Broder, you will come up against the problems of a voice that feels at home in the internet age, far from our traditional conception of poetic voice.

her own experience then she has done a good job of faking it. The emotion is so raw and relatable (disconcertingly so at times), that her immense success, as a New York Times bestseller, instantly loses any mystery it may have held.

When she writes about the unrealistic standards set by the beauty industry she communicates in words that real women can understand. ‘human’ summarises the problem in nine simple words:

their concept of beauty is manufactured i am not - human It’s almost as if you can feel women everywhere breathing a collective sigh of relief. Finally someone is saying something, and their voice is being heard.

Her work is not just for women though. You should read Rupi if you have ever felt alone, if you

Eden Peppercorn First Year, English

have ever felt despair or if you have ever been in need of empowerment. In short, everyone should read her.

I will leave you with my favourite poem of hers, which is from her first collection, ‘milk and honey’. It goes like this:

i want to apologise to all the women i have called pretty. before i’ve called them intelligent or brave. i am sorry I made it sound as though something as simple as what you’re born with is the most you have to be proud of when your spirit has crushed mountains from now on i will say things like, you are resilient or, you are extroadinary. not because i don’t think you’re pretty. but because you are so much more than that

Kate Tempest

Kate Tempest, for me, represents her own form of poetry as something undefinable. Her work, ‘Everybody Down’, has been called everything from an experimental hip-hop album, to an epic poem, to spoken word, but it is to her testament that she straddles all of these genres through the power of her language, a punch to the gut whether on paper or witnessed in performance.

She is political, explicitly so. The sense of empowerment I felt by watching an angry young woman tear painful social truths out in a BBC performance of her latest work, ‘Let Them Eat Chaos’- if you can find it online, give it a watchhad me glued to the screen for the whole twohour duration. Something about the rhythm and meter, set to music throughout and performed with such intensity reminded me of Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’, or any other poem that screams of disenfranchisement in a time of turmoil.

She is unapologetically honest about the world that we live in today- the ugly parts, the underbelly, and the shadows on which noone wants to linger. She writes about sex work and drug deals; ‘Let Them Eat Chaos’ tells of seven seemingly separate lives drawn together by a supernatural storm, providing scorching

commentary on our increasing isolation and separatism. The raw honesty and plain, unminced words with which she writes are refreshing in a genre like poetry, which has such a history for romanticising tragedy.

And this impact is not lost in print. You don’t need a speaker to be able to hear her words from off the page. In fact, dipping in and out of the text is a far less draining experience than witnessing the catharsis of the poetry in performance, and the ability to absorb Tempest’s work in as many ways possible just shows her versatility, her inability to be contained.

Poetry, after all, has never been easily defined.

Much like modern art, there is always someone around to say what counts and what doesn’t. Kate Tempest’s achievement is showing that in any form, across all genres, and solely down to its power and passion, everything does.

The myth of the individual has left us disconnected, lost and pitiful I’m out in the rain It’s a cold night in London and I’m screaming at my loved ones to wake up and love more

Epigram / Octavia Clark

Thinking about thinking?

28 November 2017 6pm Great Hall Wills Memorial Building

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Epigram

13.11.2017

Music

@epigrammusic Editor: Alexia Kirov

Deputy Editor: Kate Hutchison

Online Editor: Joe Samrai

music@epigram.org.uk

An interview with Newton Faulkner Ten years after the release of his first album, Newton Faulkner returns with Hit the Ground Running and his longest tour to date. Ellie Clark caught up with the artist to discuss his musical career, plans for the future and life on tour.

Ten years after the release of his first album, Newton Faulkner returns with Hit the Ground Running and his longest tour to date.

Whilst travelling back from Ireland for the first leg of the tour, Faulkner helps me capture the idea behind the anniversary video of his number one debut album, Hand Built by Robots: ‘We thought of all the things we could do but they mostly involved people paying for stuff or it being for a select group,’ hence the soothing play through of all 17 songs was filmed at his home and uploaded to YouTube as a thank you to his fans.

Now he’s onto his sixth studio album.

Released last month, Hit the Ground Running creates a beautiful combination of his five previous albums. Reminding us of his signature percussive guitar skills, folk roots and emotive lyrics familiar in his older albums. The latest album also calls on the more mainstream and abstract styles of his fifth, Human Love. ‘I think this album has a number of fairly major breakthroughs for me… I’ve found the core of my recorded sound which I’ve been searching for over the past 10 years’.

The challenging vocal range in the lead single and title track showcases the development of Faulkner’s voice over the years, produced from extensive training and a lot of trial and error: ‘Everything I gained in the studio, every bit of register or every kind of height check point, I need to be able to do every night. I need to work out how it happened, how I did it, how to stop it and how to repeat it’.

Intense cardio warm-ups such as skipping and ‘weirdly technical’ breathing techniques help him achieve these soaring vocals, some of which he learned from playing Johnny in the Tony award-winning musical American Idiot in 2016. He describes how the opportunity ‘Opened up a dormant section’ of the brain, learning the different things his voice was capable of through the new acting experience – ‘Just moving my voice around opened up a lot of ideas.’

It’s nice to get people’s faces now and again

On stage, it can be seen this virtuoso’s raw talent has no boundaries – Faulkner’s not just a man with a guitar. In his upcoming gigs, he creates ‘Quite a balancing act’ alone on stage: he challenges himself to play the guitar, a kick drum, to use effect pedals and sing - all at the same time. He has ‘Learned huge amounts’ from having his brother Toby and other friends join him on stage in previous tours, and feels he is now better prepared to go back out alone. Faulkner embraces the challenge of going solo on stage again – ‘There are a lot of very good technical guitarists who play all the right notes at exactly the right time. For me, it’s the feel and the emotion that comes from getting things slightly wrong’.

From Edinburgh onwards, the only new companion joining him on stage will be a

I went to a summer holiday village and only saw two other human beings

Newton Faulkner plays Bristol’s O2 Academy 19.11.17

Just moving my voice around opened up a lot of ideas

Using the direct to consumer platform, PledgeMusic, Hit the Ground Running is the first album released through Faulkner’s own record label, Battenberg Records. Signed CDs, handwritten lyric sheets, and guitar shopping trips with the man himself were just some of the exclusive merchandise and experiences Faulkner fans could get their hands on through pledging on the site. For the highest

Flickr / Bryan Ledgard Newton Faulkner performing

Flickr / Bryan Ledgard

Battenberg Records / Newton Faulkner

Faulkner’s new album

““

I think this album has a number of fairly major breakthroughs for me

“

Ellie Clark Second year, Maths

piano, as he will be reunited with all his ‘toys’.

Faulkner is looking forward to the different sound, texture and intimacy a piano will bring to a performance. ‘It’s got a different mood,’ he describes, ‘guitars hold sound at the front but [piano] has a different mentality of playing - it’s a lot more thoughtful’.

With the new addition, I proceeded to ask Faulkner how he rectifies things if they do go wrong. ‘That’s quite an opportunity to make the gig special. If something blows up...people are like “Okay so how’s he going to deal with this?”’ Faulkner explains that this is why he encourages heckling at gigs. ‘I like people just shouting out random challenges to try and play, I think that gives it a reactionary element and that makes it different every night’.

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to attend one of his gigs, you will notice audience participation is essential: jumping, harmonising and the audience automatically dividing into different singing parts are a common theme due to the ‘nerdiness’ of this fan base. ‘The danger is sometimes you get a long line of gigs where the crowd come straight in singing and then in the next gig you do, no one does it and I’m like “Okay hang on a minute guys, I thought we had a deal!”’

Once the tour concludes, Faulkner will finally be slowing down from his hectic schedule in December, although he’s ‘Very bad with time off’. Visiting Norway in his last break, he had to go ‘Completely off-grid’.

He laughingly tells me, ‘I went to a summer holiday village and only saw two other human beings’. Hopefully, he won’t be in hiding for too long, as another ten years of flawless music is surely on the way.

“

Flickr / Bryan Ledgard

Newton Faulkner performing

premium, pledgers could enjoy a private performance in their own front room.

‘They were so much fun,’ Faulkner says as he excitedly describes the house gigs to me: ‘They were all completely different – there were some very organised parties with catering and all kinds of stuff and some were literally just a family on a sofa with me playing in front of them’. To me, this seems like it could be more intense than a normal gig, but Faulkner explains that ‘It depends on how nervous they get as to how nervous I get. But most of them were absolutely lovely, it was really fun’.

There will be plenty of opportunities to see a live performance from the singersongwriter in the upcoming months. ‘Holy shitballs that’s a lot of gigs!’ was the reaction from Faulkner when he first saw the back of his tour t-shirt – with 38 shows across the UK, this will be his longest tour to date. Although there are more performances, this tour will take place in smaller venues as ‘It’s nice to get people’s faces now and again’.

42

13.11.2017

Simply the best of Simple Things 2017 Online Music Editor Joe Samrai and Deputy Music Editor Kate Hutchison review their favourite acts at the Bristol festival

Carla dal Forno @ The Lantern Behind the doors of The Lantern, the small, carpeted side-room within Colston Hall, the vibrant buzz of the festival momentarily calmed with the beginning of Carla dal Forno’s performance. The space was dimly lit, with only blushed pulsations of light irregularly accentuating the minimalistic features of dal Forno’s dark, ambient sound.

But this was all that was necessary; the stage held little visual variety. Carla stood motionless, illuminated with her bass strapped around her, while a man stood beside blocked by a soundboard: dal Forno’s music is what held the crowd, and allured them throughout.

The show relied heavily on the layering of sound; recordings of nature formed preliminary substructures for ethereal harmonies and monotone strikes of bass, forging a profoundly rich auditory involvement. Sombre echoes were magnified, forcing murkier, indeterminate cacophonies into sounds of crisper, galvanised momentum.

Yet, amidst the enthrallment of the audience, dal Forno remained timid, thanking the spectators sporadically for their applause; the multi-instrumentalist’s interest wholly resided within the delivery of her material, professing a commitment to both tight performance and her work as a form of immersive art.

Kate Hutchison

Epigram / Kate Huchison

Lorenzo Senni @ O2 Academy

Joe Samrai

Elliot Moe hangs out with South London post-punk band Shame at their intimate gig at Bristol’s Lousiana Elliott Moe Second year, English In the dull, incandescent light of the Louisiana, the sultry voices of The Marvelettes sing ‘Please Mr. Postman’ through raspy, old speakers, as Shame eat a cozy meal of chicken and potatoes.

The five young men, all clocking in under twentyone, have just finished a sound check that shook the dust from the ceiling and rattled pint glasses behind the small bar. Later in the evening, this quaint family-owned pub hosted a sold-out show filled with sweaty youths high off their own adrenaline - and quite possibly other substances.

Guitarist Sean Coyle-Smith requests we conduct the interview outdoors, where cigarettes can be rolled and smoked in the approaching dusk. He’s joined by Charlie Forbes, drummer, and Charlie Steen, vocalist, on one of the benches lining the white-walled façade of this unassuming local. A conversation starts with details of their upcoming tour through the States.

Forbes mentions that their first gig is in New York and jokingly asks ‘New York? What was wrong with the old York?’ This elicits a slight chuckle from Coyle-Smith and Steen, in a serious monotone, declares that it’ll be the band’s first time in the city. They’ll be playing November 11th at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right, a venue popularized, much like The Louisiana, for its ability to provoke a raucous intimacy among its patrons. The tour will then continue for another eight dates through the land of the Big Mac, until their last show in Delaware at the Arden Music Hall. It is there, in what looks like a remodeled skilodge, that Coyle-Smith and Forbes excitedly tell me they’ll be playing with Ought, one of the most revered post-punk bands still currently active.

This will be Shame’s second time playing in America since they first went across the pond to perform at SXSW earlier this March. It seemed to be a group consensus that America was a rather strange place with perhaps even stranger people.

Steen recounted a story from this previous trip, of a less than savory group of gentlemen loitering under a highway overpass, who were rather keen on providing the band and all their equipment with a ride. The offer was courteously declined and Shame was able to make it to their gigs, where during one memorable performance, Steen stripped down to his boxers and attempted to climb a photo booth.

This rowdy ‘throw your cares and your clothes to the wind’ persona was not what I got amidst interviewing three-fifths of the band, though.

Coyle-Smith sat casually rolling tobacco looking like Kurt Cobain’s kid brother; blonde hair parted down the middle, swept behind the ears, and framing his blue eyes. Forbes was laid back, yet attentive to the discussion and the meticulous sprinkling of a little extra jazz into his papers.

Steen sat leaning forward, clasped in a leather jacket, talking to me in a downwardly cast, brooding gaze as if some visage of the future was materializing a few feet behind the back of my skull. The three of them together, including the rest of the band, share a familiarity that only comes from growing up in the same place and having shared experiences. So, I ask how long they’ve all known each other, getting a flurry of responses.

Forbes answers first, ‘Me and the other guitarist have known each other since we were like five and most of them have known each other since they were babies’. ‘We all basically kind of went to school together, pretty much,’ says Coyle-Smith.

Steen clarifies ‘We all grew up together and we’re all like close to each other in South London, and

we’ve been in the band since I was sixteen and everyone else was seventeen’. I tell them I just had a good friend that was staying in South London with her aunt and Coyle-Smith describes their home town as ‘definitely the kinda place your aunt would live.’ They’ve been playing together for the last three years now, and from their recently growing popularity, they haven’t done badly for their first musical endeavor.

“

We’ve been in the band since I was sixteen and everyone else was seventeen

Steen explains that their musical success was ‘A very gradual process’. Coyle-Smith puts it more elegantly admitting that it took them ‘Quite a while to get not shit, basically’. I remark that they’re lucky they were spared the embarrassment of any rubbish band names, but Steen says they weren’t, the others ‘Are just not for public domain’.

‘First times the charm’ chimes in Coyle-Smith, obtusely recognizing their accomplishments as a band. Their tight-knit comradery defines their friendship, and is the foundation of the way the band crafts their music. ‘I write all the lyrics and I leave the music up to the musicians. But, if we’re not all completely sold on something, then we won’t continue with it any further. We’re not a band where one particular person is the leader, we’re a band where everyone has their own individual say,’ Steen tells me.

The band has also benefitted from what on the outside, appears to be a London music community that’s creatively incestuous in the best way possible. Fellow Punk band Goat Girl released a video for their song Scum which was directed by Holly, the girlfriend of second Shame guitarist, Eddie Green. The video depicts a series of people with oatmeal and baby food sloshing from their mouths. In two of the vignettes, Green can be seen dribbling in a button down along with Coyle-Sean fashionably spitting up oats while wearing shades made famous by Natural Born Killers’ Mickey Knox. The collaborative energetic scene in London has surely influenced the band’s sound in conjunction with England’s eclectic history of post-punk bands. Classic English pioneers of the genre like Joy Division and Television Personalities can be heard in a modern, viscerally youthful incantation when listening to Shame.

So far, the band has released four stand-alone singles: ‘Gold Hole’, ‘Tasteless’, ‘The Lick’, and ‘Visa Vulture’. These tracks have helped place them prominently in the burgeoning catalogue of bands responsible for what has been labeled as the ‘Post-Punk Revival’. ‘Visa Vulture’ stands out of this lineup for its unbridled satire and uniquely smooth surf-pop quality which serves both as a critique on the overwhelming expanse of indie boy bands and a depiction of the band’s underlying political consciousness. The art for this particular track depicts a long set of vampire teeth poking out from Theresa May’s deceptive smile, insinuating the two-faced nature of her political career and ultimately a lust for blood.

Steen drops his usual rugged vocals on this song for a more harmonious voice singing: ‘Oh, Theresa baby, we’ve been going for a while…

Do you feel like a commoner, exposed and

dominated? Have you gained a moral conscious or are you not that degraded?’

Similar social and political commentary can be heard on other tracks like ‘The Lick’ and ‘Tasteless’, which makes the band stand out against the horde of young male musicians who still seem to be hung up on the concept of unrequited love.

When I pose the question of whether the band purposely sets out to make songs like this Steen remarks, ‘I think as a band we are quite political but that’s not something we ever set out to be, it’s something that might come quite subconsciously’.

Steen’s political insights may have begun with his father - a journalist who according to one source, wasn’t afraid of mixing it up with the politicians.

But Steen credits the inspiration for his subversive and third person lyrics to the variety of music he experienced in London and the recent rebirth or exposure, depending on how you look at it, of radical conservatism in the political landscape of Western society. ‘When I was sixteen I assumed the go-to lyrics would be about like a breakup or all these things revolving around love. But being exposed to a lot of different lyricists I started to sort of realize that you can talk about a lot of other things that don’t have to revolve around the predictable. None of the songs are really from my perspective’.

As a band we are quite political but that’s not something we ever set out to be

‘Concrete’, their newest and first single from their debut album, scheduled to be released midJanuary, continues this lyrical quality and shows an improved level of production along with an increased sense of nuance in their songwriting.

‘The production style is done in quite a Martin Hannet way, where the drums and the bass are very prominent as the pulse,’ explains Steen as he describes the methods used to create their latest track. Martin Hannet is the legendary producer of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasure and Closer.

He’s often heralded as being the creative genius

Epigram / Elliott Moe

A highlight of mine on this year’s lineup, I was very excited to see how Lorenzo Senni would present his trance experimentations in front of a live audience. Performing in front of a giant banner that read: ‘Rave voyeurism is not a crime’, a nod to Senni’s outlook on club culture, and equipped with a laptop, mixer and synthesiser, Senni transformed the O2 Academy into a whirlpool of euphoria. It was fascinating to see what the artist is able to do with trance music.

Nowadays the genre is associated with music of a higher BPM similar to gabber and hardcore, but Lorenzo Senni plays with the key element of trance that is euphoria.

A technique akin to artists such as Evian Christ and Mechatok, Lorenzo Senni maintained the entire show in a state of euphoric build ups. With no ‘drop’ ever actually taking place, Senni utterly manipulated what is expected of club music in the present day. Hence his slogan, ‘Rave voyeurism is not a crime’, Senni himself was a ‘Rave voyeur’ watching his audience amidst a transitional state of euphoria for an entire hour. Rave satire?

This is ‘The Shape of Trance to Come’.

A shameful evening...

“

Epigram

Epigram 13.11.2017

43

behind the birth of the Post-Punk genre. By running extremely controlled drumming through delay and having the bass particularly present in the mix Hannet created an entirely new and modern interpretation of punk that has left an indelible mark on modern music.

This influence is clear on the track and hints at what can be expected from the upcoming album.

Kojey Radical @ The Exchange (26.10.17) ‘Only one word can pinpoint this East London enigma: energy’. Matt Dominey reviews upcoming rap artist and poet Kojey Radical live at The Exchange

Epigram / Elliott Moe

Unexpectedly, a wave of startled exclamations passes through the table as some tall, lanky individual walks up to us. I give Forbes a confused look and he explains ‘This is the dude we did our record with’. This is when I’m introduced to Joe Jones, who worked as the studio engineer alongside Sean Genockey on Shame’s album. Jones and Genockey worked several times together in the Wales-based studio where the album was recorded. According to Jones, this intimate knowledge of the studio helped them know what types of equipment to use and how to mic the drums in a manner that would provide an interpretation of the sound found on a Martin Hannet-produced track.

The concise precision and compressed attack of Forbe’s drums on the track ‘Concrete’ creates a drum machine-like quality that emulates, in

Epigram / Elliott Moe

“

The drums and the bass are very prominent as the pulse

a way, the drum machines Hannet used on a few Joy Division tracks. The drums and bass build a tight rhythm, which provides sonic space for the guitars to have interesting dynamics and move the song forward. Genockey, being an avid guitar player himself, and working in studios for bands like The Pixies, gave the band access to a person incredibly knowledgeable in the world of guitars. The band also had access to a myriad of vintage guitars, amplifiers, and pedals to achieve a modernized version of classic sounds. However, Coyle-Smith explains that for live shows they use a fairly stripped back set up to accommodate for their habit of thrashing around on stage.

Gradually a group gathered around the table and somewhere between our first and third beer, the interview ended. I followed the band upstairs through the narrow staircase with a camera in hand in an attempt to capture the ensuing anarchy.

Emerging into what felt like a washing machine of human torsos, I tried my best to blindly snap photos without destroying the camera. After the show, Coyle-Smith invited me to join them for a night cap at the Old England, where they were cordially invited to take refuge by the bassist of LICE, who was clad in cowboy apparel adorned with leather tassels. It was here that the night fell into debauchery. The smoke of a jillion cigarettes lingered in a grey haze around the billiards table, where arm-wrestles and the exchange of saliva ensued. The band has managed to remain humble despite their budding stardom. With a high-speed van chase after Iggy Pop from a festival, and a performance at Pitchfork Paris already in their list accomplishments, it’ll be very interesting to see what the future holds for Shame.

London Grammar @ Colston Hall (27.10.17) Nick Kramers reviews symphonic trio London Grammar’s Bristol gig as part of their European tour

Epigram / Matt Alderton

Epigram / Tom Whitson

Matt Dominey Second year, Politics and International Relations If somebody asked me to describe Kojey Radical, I’d tell them its hip-hop, and then I’d tell them it isn’t. Too rock and roll for a rapper and too political to hit the mainstream — only one word can pinpoint this East-London enigma: energy.

Fresh from a sell-out show at London’s Village Underground, Kojey commanded the somewhat smaller stage of the Exchange with a presence that felt bold yet vulnerable. Jumping between bravado and brutal honesty, it became clear that versatility, both in character and music, is what makes him one of the most exciting artists on the UK’s hip-hop scene.

The crowd’s diversity was a true

testament to the many cultural threads woven together throughout his 1-hour set.

From the stadium rock opening and political freestyles to the heartbroken ballads, disco shuffles and heavyweight hip-hop - the entire set was a patchwork of sounds neatly brought together by his unique vocal delivery and tight accompanying band.

His ability to command such a charismatic stage presence, while discussing in lyric and speech often sensitive topics, is both deeply impressive and oddly comforting. Rarely do you find an artist with so much of worth to say on the predicaments of modern life, alongside the confidence and intuition to say it in such a way that people can engage with it.

If Thursday nights show told us anything, it’s that Kojey Radical is here to stay. The east-London poet turned rapper who shakes everyone’s hand as they leave the venue is too raw, too honest and too talented to fade from the ever-brightening spotlight.

Nick Kramers Second year, History The tour support, Lo Moon, gave an energetic accompaniment, memorable for their progressive chords and emphatic crescendos.‘Songs Loveless’and ‘This Is It’were particularly notable tracks from the LA Trio, featuring Matt Lowell as frontman/songwriter and Sam Stewart, (son of Eurythmics’ sensation Dave), providing a sensational guitar performance. Lo Moon has attracted a huge amount of hype considering they have only three releases and have their first headline show at The Lexington this December.

They are definitely one to look out for.

London Grammar have received many plaudits for their work, with If You Wait (2013) a certified UK double Platinum, and Truth Is a Beautiful Thing (2017) peaking at no. 1 in the UK charts. Since, they have stimulated a suitable amount of hype for their second return to Bristol. Having played the

Hippodrome and the O2 Academy, London Grammar had cemented a firm fan base in Bristol.

From the first song, however, it was apparent London Grammar were designed to be heard in venues like Colston Hall; the incredible acoustics played host to the resonant combinations of guitar, drums, and synth along with Hannah Reid’s phenomenal voice, filling the room with a perfect balance of grandeur and intimacy with the opening song ‘Who Am I’. The visceral drums from Dot Major and intricate guitar from Dan Rothman were a perfect support, subtly adding to the powerful vocals without detracting from the hymnal sense of destination.

The evening felt like a spectacle; Hannah’s timid demeanour left little interaction, just many dropped jaws, stunned silences, and rapturous rounds of applause. The lighting and backdrop complemented each song perfectly, alternating from scenes of Mountains to Urban landscapes, grasping the strength and delicacy of each song.

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Epigram

Puzzles

13.11.2017

@EpigramPuzzles

Editor: Joselyn Joanes puzzles@epigram.org.uk

Solutions will be posted online at www.epigram.org.uk before the next issue is released.

The Omnipuzzle The aim of the Onmipuzzle is to find a word. Some clues here can give you a letter, a number or a symbol. A hint will be released online on Epigramâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website and tweeted on Wednesday.

Word Sudoku ladder

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

Can you get from top to bottom, changing only one letter from one rung to the next?

If you need any help, contact the editor by email or through social media

Word grid Word links 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.

18= Average 24 = Good 30= Excellent

Find the three letters that can suffix the word on the left or prefix the word on the right, in each case giving a real word. E.g. HE-AR-MY.

TIP SUB MAD MAG HONEY

NAIL DOWN OUNCES HOLES HOLE

Just a phrase Find the word which can come before each of the four words given, in each case giving a common two-word phrase. E.g. LIFE line, LIFE time, LIFE less.

1. Line, Out, Table 2. Room, Box, Man 3. Print, Fall, Rest 4. Light, Fish, Gaze 5. Aged, Able, Ages

Killer sudoku Sudoku rules apply and all the numbers in a cage must add to the number in the top left corner of the cage.

Quick crossword ACROSS 1. Male Duck (5) 4. Without end (7) 8. Found memories (9) 10. Regret (3) 11. Girls name (3) 12. Cutting tool (3) 13. Chile capital (8) 14. Place to extract iron (3) 15. Wipe out (5) 16. Together (5) 18. Foolish action (3) 19. Paper with drugs (12) 24. Books of synonyms (11) 25. Dark colour (4) 26. Warn (5)

DOWN 1. Outdated person (8) 2. Criminal act (5) 3. Joy (7) 4. Busy (7) 5. Period of time (4) 6. Arctic Whale (7) 7. Officerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rank (10) 9. Someone who bears false witness (4) 15. Explodes (6) 17. Middle Eastern country (6) 20. Colour in (5) 21. Countryside area (5) 22. Problem (5) 23. Particle (4)

Solutions Issue 318: The Omnipuzzle: FAT Worklinks: read, ever, step, base, mass Just a Phrase: pat, bed, bit

Follow us on Twtter @EpigramPuzzles If you would like to join the Puzzle Team email puzzles@epigram.org.uk

46

13.11.2017

“

Epigram

UBRFC battle back to winning ways Tom Anderson Second Year, Geography

“ I can’t reasonably print what was said by the Swansea players to each other

However, it was a day to forget for the Swansea fly half, who pushed his kick wide of the posts.

Swansea redoubled their attacking effort, and began to play a more direct game. They found an effective weapon with which to penetrate the Bristol line in the maul, finally giving their supporters reason to cheer. Two penalties conceded by the Bristol pack saw Swansea mauling once more towards their first try of the match. Fortunately for Bristol, the straightforward conversion was missed, leaving the scores on 9-5.

Swansea continued their

resurgence; the momentum was now with them for the first time in the game. A period of strong forward play resulted in a Matthew Pace try under the posts, to their kicker’s visible relief, who tied the scores at 12-12.

As a team I think we were disappointed with our performance, however a win is a win

Bristol endured a period of attacks from Swansea following the restart, and were forced into clearing their lines. Coaches felt changes were needed, and brought on Callum Sanders at the captain’s expense, followed by Nathan Youngs. Sanders promptly justified his introduction, slipping through a gap and placing a kick into touch five metres from the Swansea try line, who handled the pressure admirably and cleared well.

Swansea’s kicker was soon presented with an opportunity to put his team into the lead, but he handed Bristol a reprieve for the third time in the game, leaving the scores poised at 12-12 with ten minutes to go.

Bristol continued their attacks, seeing Ewan Evans breaking through a gap in midfield and throwing a long pass to find Creswell, who dotted down in the corner with four minutes left. Gordon could be forgiven for his first missed kick of the night from the left touchline, but Bristol now had a fragile lead.

Swansea restarted hurriedly, and tackled Bristol Number 8 Ollie Lyons mid-air in their eagerness.

Some Bristol ill-discipline conceded two penalties in quick succession, which was kicked to the corner by Swansea, providing them with a final chance to steal the victory. One immense effort saw a possible try heldup over the line by a Bristol defender.

The Bristol forwards, impressive all evening at set piece plays, held their scrum following a Swansea knock-on and delivered the ball

to Evans, who kicked the ball into touch and punched the air, with the final score for Bristol on 17-12.

Bristol centre Peter Gordon reflected on the victory to Epigram.

‘As a team I think we were disappointed with our performance, however a win is a win. It was pleasing to see so many people come down to watch and make noise’.

Twitter / UBRFC

Bristol Rugby’s 1st XV faced Swansea on Wednesday for the first time this season. They were hoping to put in a strong showing, after losing narrowly last week to Exeter in their first league defeat in a year.

Bristol aimed to play a fastpaced, expansive game against a much larger Swansea team, and from kickoff this tactic paid off.

The Bristol forwards, led by openside flanker George Carrie were immediately awarded a scrum. Despite being the lighter pack, Bristol looked the stronger of the two and forced a penalty, which was kicked to the corner.

After another penalty from a ruck infringement, Peter Gordon wearing 12 kicked the first points of the game.

Bristol quickly demonstrated their ability to carry the ball and retain possession, making several line breaks which tested Swansea’s scrambling back in defence.

Gordon added a further two penalties - including one long-range effort - as Swansea struggled to cope with Bristol’s speed and physicality with ball in hand.

Bristol’s game was hindered, however, by the slippery conditions, resulting in knock-ons and plenty of scrum restarts, in which their pack continued to impress.

In defence, tackling from Carrie, Tom Ford and Joe Moore stood out.

On the few occasions when Swansea did have the ball, their runners looked ineffectual in gaining territory.

The Swansea scrum-half was often forced into box-kicking his team out of trouble, however the Bristol full back, Jack Bradby, looked comfortable under the floodlit

high ball and was able to sidestep his way back into the Swansea half.

Perhaps feeling their Celtic rivals needed a little motivational boost, a contingent of Bristol fans broke out their rendition of ‘The Fields of Athenry’, and later ‘The John B. Sails’.

The Swansea men answered the call, but the Bristol defence proved difficult to breach. A big tackle from lock Max Cresswell provided mirth for the singing home fans.

I can’t reasonably print what was said - or screamed - by the Swansea players to each other during the half time team talk, but it seemed to have the desired effect as they immediately earned a kickable penalty in the second half – a reward for a rare sustained period of phases.

The 1s captain after being substitued, with a shirt that’s not so white

South West Varsity success for UBACCC Felix Rusby Deputy Sports Editor

Epigram / Felix Rusby

UBACCC runners warming up on the track at a past meet

Most Varsity events take place at Bristol, fuelled by the rivalry between UWE and the University of Bristol.

However, Bristol University’s athletics society, UBACCC, looks further afield to find worthy rivals to compete against.

To begin the season, Bristol got their running underway by competing at Exeter Arena in Devon, for the Varsity fixture with Exeter University and a number of other universities in the South West, including some as far afield as Gloucester and Swansea.

The competition is a small-scale athletics meet, but a great way to start off the season and get in some early PBs before the bigger races in the year such as BUCS indoors.

This year, UBACCC fielded 19 athletes in the annual event, competing in a variety of events, including sprinting, middle distance running, jumping and throwing, with some athletes competing in multiple events.

The event took place on Wednesday 18th October, with the first events, the 60m sprint and the Javelin, getting underway at 13:00. Despite what was an early start for the Bristol athletes, leaving at 9am, UBACCC saw some strong performances from many.

Annabelle Ford came third in the 60m at the beginning of the day in a tight race and then finished an impressive second in the 200m later on.

Tom Webster also put in some strong performances, coming in the top five in the long jump, 200m and 60m. Amalia Westerlund, the UBACCC captain, was particularly impressive, running a rapid 60m hurdles, which she won in a time of 10.6. She also competed well in the javelin, coming third with a throw of 17.63.

The last event of the day was the four by two hundred meter relays. Bristol fielded a strong team in both the men’s and women’s events. For the men, it was Tom Webster, Hannibal Knowles, James Warhurst and George Presland, while the women’s team was composed of Charlotte Sanderson, Charlotte Forth, Imogen Imeson and Samantha Doyle.

Both were high-quality teams, each with competitors who had finished well in the earlier individual races. In the end, after some impressive running by both teams, they both finished second.

The men narrowly missed out on first place by only a tenth of a second.

Overall it was a successful first event of the season and a great opportunity to get UBACCC’s running, up and running.

If you’re interested in giving running a try, check out UBACCC’s website or Facebook page.

Epigram

13.11.2017

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Epigram introducing... Archery Nicky Withers Sports Editor

Facebook / UoB Archery

The archery stand at Welcome Fair, hoping to attract new members

Welcome back to Epigram Introducing, where each issue we showcase a lesser known sport that you can get involved in at university. This week it’s archery.

Archery is one of the newest sports clubs at the University of Bristol, not founded until the 2012/13 academic year.

The club was supported by Archery GB, Bristol SU and various local clubs to ensure a successful set-up process and it quickly because a very popular sport within the university.

From there the club has progressed in leaps and bounds, and last year Bristol played host to the BUCS Indoor National Final. To finish it all off the club was shortlisted at the SU Awards for Sports Club of the Year.

I spoke to club captain, Will Armstrong.

NW: How did you get into archery?

WA: I first got in to archery as a junior, I was eight at the time, quickly rising to compete at nationals and winning myself a bronze and two gold medals.

By the time I got to university I hadn’t done any shooting for five years, I turned up to a club session a couple of weeks before the Christmas holiday in first year and was instantly hooked again.

NW: What’s your best memory with the club?

WA: I’ve had quite a few great

summer. Yes, you did read that right £140 million. But while Newcastle and Burnley opted for logical and useful signings, Everton splashed out £45 million on Sigurdsson only to play him out of position on the left wing. In fact, at the time of his dismissal, it is fair to say that the club’s mismatched transfer policy had left Koeman without a clue regarding what his best team should look like. It is no wonder that

West Ham and Everton, both blinded by the supposed talents of singular talents, have struggled this season.

In a football age dominated by inflated egos and stellar names, the dawn of this topflight season has been a refreshing and muchneeded reminder to us all that the path to success is best taken together.

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The Premier League table, after nine matches, included five of last season’s top six at the summit. Up there challenging teams like the defensively fragile Liverpool are Burnley and Watford. These clubs owe their early season successes to one simple ethos: we are a team first, and separate individuals second. We can also add Huddersfield and Brighton, who sit pretty comfortably mid-table, to this pool of examples.

Let’s be honest here: how many people honestly did not include at least one of these five teams in their three tips to go down in August? Obviously, a lot can change – it is only November after all – but each side has picked up at least a quarter of the points they will need to survive this campaign already.

Neither Newcastle nor Burnley claimed any headlines throughout this summer’s transfer market, instead focusing on acquiring diligent mercenaries who could be easily integrated into the side. Certain fans expressed disappointment at the absence of nonsensical spending occurring at their clubs, and yet the policy has undoubtedly worked: both managers have retained the spine of their starting elevens and incorporated new faces into the mix seamlessly. Dyche’s decision to refrain from spending big on a replacement for exiting centre-back Michael Keane, and instead putting faith in the

mightily impressive James Tarkowski, was a master class in managing a football club the right way. Meanwhile, Marco Silva – suddenly everyone’s favourite manager – has got a Watford side previously low on confidence playing attractive but deterministic football: the Hornets have scored five post-eighty minute goals already.

For anyone who watched Brighton’s recent 3-0 victory over West Ham, the reminder that the team is greater than the individual was as blatant as could be. Centre-back duo Dunk and Duffy repeatedly put their bodies on the line, ageing right-back Bruno silenced any attacking intentions from the Hammers, and unstylish striker Glenn Murray netted a vital brace. This was a team constructed as one single entity – a proper old-fashioned team.

Compare that to West Ham. Tipped by many to regain their form of two seasons ago following numerous eye-catching signings, Bilic’s players wouldn’t have known purpose, drive or spirit if it slapped them in the face. In the second half, their frontline contained Arnautovic, Lanzini, Antonio, Ayew and Hernandez. Five attacking individuals in one lineup, and not one of them worked or sacrificed themselves for the good of the collective effort. Arnautovic in particular, West Ham’s most expensive player of all time, could not be bothered.

The same criticisms can be launched at another immensely disappointing club: Everton. The Toffees, at the time of writing, sit in the relegation zone despite spending £140 million this

Men’s Football Exeter 2s 0-2 Bristol 2s

memories with the club. From competing at BUCS matches with every university archery club present and shooting alongside Olympic archers, to getting very drunk with my mates at The Apple - we occasionally know how to have a good time!

NW: What are the club’s aims for the season?

WA: Our club is relatively new and last year we burst on to the university archery scene with an eighth place finish at BUCS overall, as well as second place in the ‘experienced’ and first place in the ‘novice’categories of the local South West and Wales Universities (SWWU) league.

This year we will be improving on that again, with stronger teams and more intensive training, featuring the official introduction of the performance squad.

NW: What would you say to anyone thinking of joining the club?

WA: Archery is a sport with unique challenges, a rich history, and plenty of fun. Everybody has different reasons for shooting, so I’d say, if you are interested in giving it a go, get in contact. There isn’t a better, or cheaper, place to start than at university.

Training takes place at Coombe Dingle - indoors during the winter then moving outside to the fields as it gets warmer.

If archery sounds like something you want to try, get in touch via Facebook or their website.

Teamwork makes dream work - the Premier League so far Henry Edwards Second Year, History

BUCS Results Wednesday 1st November

A tribute in mural form to Burnley boss Sean Dyche

Epigram

13.11.2017

Sport

@epigramsport Editor: Nicky Withers

Online Editor: Ben McCall-Myers

Deputy Editors: Tim Godfrey Twiss & Felix Rusby

sport@epigram.org.uk

Two gold medals for UOBCC at BUCS hill climb

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The BUCS hill is a bit steeper than St Michael’s Hill and about four times as long!

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Hester also put in an incredibly strong individual performance, finishing in sixth position

NW: What’s your next goal?

KM: I’m doing the BUCS Duathlon in a few weeks. It’s fiercely competitive and I’m aiming for a top 10. Then it’ll be my off-season so I’ve got a few things to work on before next year. I need to focus on my swimming and get a few cycling CRIT races done to practise cornering and bunch riding. The triathlon season starts with BUCS sprint at the beginning of May. NW: What would you say to anyone thinking of getting involved in cycling?

KM: I would say don’t be scared to give it a try! I’m really passionate about getting more girls into cycling and racing, and trying to get women’s cycling the recognition it deserves. You can get a second-hand bike off Gumtree for

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Who’s got the power? Kate and Hester flexing their muscles

as little as £50. Start by cycling into uni each day and gradually build up your distance. Maybe try a ride up to the Downs or over the Suspension Bridge to Ashton Court. Before you know it you’ll be going distances you never thought were possible. We’re so lucky in Bristol because we’ve got the Mendips, the Cotswolds and even Wales so close by and you can see so much more travelling by bike!

Congratulations to all the University of Bristol cyclists who took part!

If you’re inerested in getting involved with cycling, you can get in touch with the club on their Facebook page, or via Twitter at UOBCC. It’s a great way to keep fit and can give you that extra five minutes in bed if you cycle into uni!

Interested in writing for Epigram Sport? Head over to the Epigram Sport Writers 2017/18 group on Facebook for more information, or drop us an email!

UOBCC / Andrew Kirby

Regularly walking up Constitution Hill is hard enough, let alone cycling up something steeper and longer! The sheer power in the legs of the athletes is staggering.

I spoke to Kate Mactear, double champion, about the event and her experience with the club.

NW: How did you get into cycling?

KM: I actually joined the triathlon club in my first year at university but wanted to improve my confidence on the bike, so got involved with the cycling club. They’re such a friendly and welcoming group of people. There was a great group of girls who all raced regularly and they encouraged me to come and give it a try. It’s a little bit addictive and every race I did gradually built up my confidence. Triathlon is my main sport but I enjoy the cycling races because they always put me out of my comfort zone and that’s when I know I’m really improving!

NW: How did you prepare for this event?

KM: I entered the hill climb hosted by the university a couple of weeks ago to practise doing a hard, short effort. I also found a hill near Bristol that’s about the same gradient and length as the

BUCS results Weds 1st November

UOBCC / Andrew Kirby

The 28th October was a day of great success for the University of Bristol Cycling Club (UOBCC) as they sent two teams to compete in the BUCS hill climb event in Sheffield.

We are all aware of the horrendous hills in Bristol - especially when stumbling home at 4am - but Sheffield can certainly compete for the title of ‘worst hills’. The competition took the form of a timed ascent of Pea Royd Lane, with both team and individual events for men and women.

Kate Mactear put in a stunning performance to claim top spot on the podium, with a time of three minutes 13 seconds, putting her eight seconds ahead of the next fastest. She partnered up with Hester Stembridge for the team event, a match made in cycling heaven, as they dominated the field and took the gold.

Hester also put in an incredibly strong individual performance, finishing in sixth position with a time of three minutes and 48 seconds.

The men’s team raced well, but were just edged off the podium to finish a very respectable fourth. The stand-out performance was from Fred Cook, who finished an impressive seventh out of 188 competitors.

BUCS hill climb and did a few hill rep sessions on that. To put the race in perspective, the BUCS hill is a bit steeper than St. Michael’s Hill and about four times as long!

NW: How much difference does the quality of bike make?

KM: In hill climbing the most important thing about your bike is to make it as light as possible. I rode my boyfriend’s hill climbing bike, which weighs 5.3kg and only has one gear at the front. It’s totally stripped down so anything that isn’t necessary like water bottle holders or bar tape are taken off.

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Nicky Withers Sports Editor

Kate Mactear and Hester Stembridge with their team gold medals and the other medal winners