Issue 274 Monday 24th March 2014 www.epigram.org.uk University of Bristol Independent Student Newspaper
Issue 274 Monday 24th March 2014 www.epigram.org.uk
Sport at Bristol: ‘an absolute rip-off’
• 82% students believe UoB sports policy is elitist • UoB sports passes 3rd most expensive in poll • 90% believe Bristol sport is poor value for money Alex Bradbrook Deputy Editor
Twitter: UBSWPC
Bristol
Sheffield Leeds
Cost of an unrestricted gym membership £0 £60 £90 £102 £104 £110 £115 £130 £135 £135 £160 £160 £162 £165 £170 £170 £180 £182.50 £183.60 £191 £195 £197 £199 £205 £210 £219 £220 £240 £250
£250
£252 £269
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Institution Imperial Glasgow Plymouth Oxford Edinburgh Durham Coventry Kent Bangor Southampton Cardiff UCL York Lancaster Newcastle Queens University Belfast KCL Aberystwyth Aberdeen Birmingham Swansea Liverpool Nottingham Manchester Leicester Bath LSE Exeter Cambridge
Twitter: UoB Women’s Football
Epigram can exclusively reveal that the University of Bristol is one of the most expensive universities in the country for sport, coming 30th out the 32 elite UK institutions surveyed in terms of affordability. A survey, run in conjunction with the investigation into the cost of sport, also revealed huge dissatisfaction with the sports offering provided by the university. In a poll of 240 students, 90% of respondents believed that the £150 off-peak and £250 peak dual sports pass system was poor value for money, with 82% students stating that the facilities provided by the university do not justify fees far higher than the majority of Bristol’s competitor universities. Perhaps more significantly, just 8% of respondents agreed with the statement that ‘sport at Bristol is accessible to everyone regardless of financial background’, with 82% disagreeing. Many of the comments received by Epigram also served to validate this: one student wrote, ‘I had to quit basketball when I came here because I could not afford to play’. Given the large amount of work undertaken by the university over the past decade aiming to dispel its elitist reputation, this is arguably a sad indictment on the institution in its failure to ensure fair access for all to every aspect of the student experience. One respondent wrote: ‘[The cost of sport] is yet another example of Bristol Uni catering to the large upper-class privately-educated portion of its students’. A major point of contention is the requirement of focus sport club members to purchase a £250 peak sports pass. Focus sports clubs are clubs that receive additional funding to provide supplementary coaching and facilities, and include 20 sports teams. Many students taking the survey claimed that this requirement prevented them from being able to pursue their favourite sports at university: indeed, one student stated, ‘I would have loved to commit to a major sport this year, but with no parental or governmental support I was unable to pay the £250 fee upfront’. Many more comments of this nature were also expressed: ‘I would have liked to try sports such as rowing but have been unable to do so’; ‘I wanted to play in the Uni Football team, but this involves buying the sport membership, something I can’t afford, therefore depriving me of the opportunity to play sport for my university’. When presented with the results of
Epigram’s survey, Simon Hinks, the director of Sport, Exercise and Health at the university seemed unsurprised. On the issue of focus sports being obliged to pay for a peak sports pass, he responded, ‘We believe that given the amount of investment that Sport, Exercise & Health put into focus sports, we don’t see it as unreasonable that club members pay for the £250 sports pass’. When challenged that many students from poorer backgrounds are unable to pay such a large sum up-front, on top of club membership, match fees and sports kit, he responded that ‘everything has a price’ and pointed out the efforts SEH and UBU have made in recent years to promote programs such as UBU: Active, which permit students to take part in sports on a more casual, cheaper basis. A sports consultation led by Hannah Pollak , VP Sport & Health in 2012 similarly revealed a high level of dissatisfaction with sporting provision at Bristol: in her consulation, which can be found online on the UBU website, over 50% of students said that the price of sport had prevented them from taking part. Seeing as this figure has now surpassed 70% in Epigram’s survey, it seems that this problem is worsening. Worryingly, it seems that the university is doing little to rectify this situation. The survey revealed an extensive lack of confidence in university sports policy-making, with 60% of students believing that student feedback was ignored by those in charge. Several other Russell Group universities have taken proactive efforts to promote inclusivity; for example, the University of Glasgow’s peak, fully-comprehensive sports pass costs just £60 per year (76% less than Bristol). They told Epigram via Twitter: ‘we want to promote participation in sport, and keep costs low to ensure that. With nearly 12,000 student members, it must be working!’. When this statistic and quote was put to Simon Hinks, his reaction was one of amusement: ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘but who wants to go to university in Glasgow?!’. Epigram’s survey has shown that sport at Bristol is a highly divisive and contentious issue that highlights the perpetuating class divides at this university. It remains to be seen whether or not the university will act to address this issue, which threatens to further divide the student body into those who can afford extracurricular activities, and those who are prevented from doing so due to affordability. See the full range of facts, figures and quotes obtained in this investigation on page 3.
Epigram
24.03.14
News Editorial
Editor: Josephine Franks
Deputy Editor: Alex Bradbrook
Editorial Assistant: Anna Fleck
editor@epigram.org.uk
deputy@epigram.org.uk
anna.fleck@epigram.org.uk
A note from the editor
Inside Epigram News 7 Bristol Law Conference a success
“ ‘Everything has a price’ is not a good enough excuse
Kate Grocott-Mason covers the Bristol Law Conference which brings together some of the brightest minds within the country
See page 1 and page 3 for the full report
Despite efforts to alter Bristol’s image as an elitist university, the idea of Bristol as the bastion of ex-private school kids raised on a diet of polo and Tory rhetoric still holds true – not only in the media, but among many of its own students. Bristol’s admission statistics regularly reveal that its intake of private school students is grossly disproportionate to the national average. While widening participation schemes indicate that the university is keen to combat this, these efforts are undermined by the barriers to participation that exist once admission has been granted. In this issue, Epigram looks at the high cost of sport at the university, which many participants in the survey reported to be prohibitive to their pursuing sport at university. Sport – especially those sports regard as ‘traditional’ – is all too often in danger of being damned as elitist. It is a pursuit nurtured in private schools, where leadership skills, teamwork and a competitive spirit are nurtured. Comparatively, it often falls down the agenda at state schools, where facilities may be stretched at best.
Living 23 Why the beard? George Robb gets to grips with the latest phenomenon, the beard
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Travel 24 Street art in Buenos Aires Travel explores the urban jungle of South America
Style
We’re looking for creative, dedicated and enthusiastic students to take Epigram forward into its 26th year. Past editors have gone on to top jobs with the BBC, The Guardian and The Times to name but a few. If this is where you see yourself in the future, there’s no better place to start your journalistic career than with Epigram!
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Editor Josephine Franks
Style takes over with ‘The People’s Republic’
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BBC
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Letters Editor Emma Leedham letters@epigram.org.uk
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Sport Online Editor Arts Online Editor George Moxey sportonline@epigram.org.uk Editor Erin Fox Science Editor artsonline@epigram.org.uk ollie.yorke@epigram.org.uk Tom Flynn Patrick Baker Nick Cork Online Editor editor@epigram.org.uk Deputy Living Editors comment@epigram.org.uk science@epigram.org.uk Music Editor Ciara Lally News Editor Sophia Hadjipateras Mike Hegarty online@epigram.org.uk Deputy Editors Laura Jacklin Letters Editor Deputy Science Editor shadjipateras@epigram.org.uk music@epigram.org.uk Jonnews@epigram.org.uk Bauckham Emma Corfield Emma Sackville Deputy Online Editor: jon@epigram.org.uk Izzy Kerr letters@epigram.org.uk Deputy Music Editordeputyscience@epigram.org Chris Giles Deputy News Editors Hannah Stubbs ikerr@epigram.org.uk Danny Riley deputyonline@epigram.org.uk Joseph Quinlan Culture Editor Sport Editor hannah@epigram.org.uk deputymusic@epigram.org.uk j.quinlan@epigram.org.uk Calum Sherwood Tom Burrows Living Online Editor Chief Photography Editor e2 Editor Morwennaculture@epigram.org.uk Scott Music Online Editorsport@epigram.org.uk Marketa Brabcova SpencerMcCrory Turner Matthew livingonline@epigram.org.uk Dan Faber photography@epigram.org.uk spencer.turner@epigram.org.uk Deputy Culture Editor Deputy Sport Editor e2@epigram.org.uk musiconline@epigram.org.uk Zoe Hutton David Stone Travel Editor Photography Editors News Editor Sarah Newey Olivia Lace-Evans deputyculture@epigram.org.uk Film & TV Editor deputysport@epigram.org.uk Vivian Lee sarah.newey@epigram.org.uk Alice Young travel@epigram.org.uk Gareth Downs Georgina Winney Music Editor news@epigram.org.uk Puzzles Editor filmandtv@epigram.org.uk News Online Editor Nathan Comer Deputy Travel Editor Lily Buckmaster Chief Proofreader Deputy News Editors Stephanie Rihon Andrea Valentino music@epigram.org.uk Deputy Film & TV Editor Atkins newsonline@epigram.org.uk Abigail Van-West Head SubEdEditor deputytravel@epigram.org.uk Matt Field Deputy Music Editor avanwest@epigram.org.uk Emma Corfield deputyfilmandtv@epigram.org.uk Sub-editors: Features Editor PippaEditor Shawley Travel Online Ciara Murphy Jenny Awford Hugh Davies Sub Editors Emma Frazer Emilia Morano-Williams deputymusic@epigram.org.uk Film & TV Online Editor jawford@epigram.org.uk features@epigram.org.uk Harriet Layhe, Guy Watts travelonline@epigram.org.uk Hannah McGovern Wagg FIlm & TV Editor Alejandro Palekar Kate Moreton, Features Editor filmandtvonline@epigram.org.uk JeremyRosemary Barclay Deputy Features Editor Will Ellis Style Editor Tristan Martin Matt Floyd Sophie Padgett Illustrator Maddy Streets filmandtv@epigram.org.uk Science & Technology Editor Nicholas Irwin features@epigram.org.uk deputyfeatures@epigram.org.uk Sophie Sladen Ryan Maguire style@epigram.org.uk Molly Hawes Deputy Film & TV Editor Sahar Shah Deputy Features Editor scienceandtech@epigram.org.uk Web Designer Features Online Editor Tom Herbert Anthony Deputy Style EditorAdeane Andrew White Michael Coombs Rob Mackenzie Deanne Ball deputyfilmandtv@epigram.org.uk deputyfeatures@epigram.org.uk featuresonline@epigram.org.uk deputystyle@epigram.org.uk
Managing Director Ollie Yorke Editor
55 Varsity Day Special
Online
Editorial team
28 Centre spread
Sport
University is often touted as the perfect opportunity to try out new hobbies. However, for those who have previously not had the opportunity to flex their sporting muscles, the expense is likely to be off-putting. To be fair, if you’ve reached your late teens with little proven sporting prowess, you’re unlikely to go on to be the next Jessica Ennis, but by preventing wider access to sport the university is pandering only to the privileged. While the union has made strides towards making sport more accessible through projects such as UBU:Active, such schemes should not be used by the university to get them off the hook of having extortionately high costs for sport. They should exist in addition to, not instead of, accessible sports passes. ‘Everything has a price’ was the response of Simon Hinks, director of Sport, Exercise and Health, when questioned about the survey. While this may be one of life’s unfortunate truisms, this is a price that the university should be willing to pay – not only for its students well-being, but to combat the elitist image that still plagues this university. Josephine Franks
Living Editor Tori Halman Comment living@epigram.org.uk
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News
Epigram
24.03.2014
3
@epigramnews Editor: Spencer Turner news@epigram.org.uk
Deputy Editors: Laura Jacklin; Joe Quinlan; Sarah Newey deputynews@epigram.org.uk
Online Editor: Stephanie Rihon newsonline@epigram.org.uk
Epigram’s sports investigation: in quotes, facts and figures We asked 240 students for their opinion on sport at Bristol. Here is a selection of what they told us...
A summary of our respondents: Sports pass - peak 93 35% Sports pass - off peak 29 11% Sports club member 42 16% Use facilities on 20 8% pay-as-you-go basis None of the above 80 30%
94%
universities included in the study had cheaper sports provision than Bristol
70%
students say that cost has stopped them taking part in sport at UoB
‘There is clearly not enough sports funding at UoB for the size of the student body.’
77%
believe the compulsary purchase of a £250 sports pass is unfair to take part in Focus Sports
‘The University does not seem to acknowledge the great attraction In comparison to other universities, value better funded, advertised do you believe UoB has outstanding sports facilities? and structured sports could provide to prospective students.’
83% said no
‘The gym is extremely out of date and poor quality compared to other universities. It is also no way near big enough for the whole university.’
‘I think it’s abhorrent that something as basic as partaking in sport is a reserve of the rich at UoB.’
‘For prospective students, I have recommended the University for academic reasons, but have discouraged them if they want to take their sport seriously in the future’
90%
students believe the cost of Bristol’s sports passes is a rip-off
‘It’s a system based on solely making money, regardless of the individual needs or ability to pay of each student. The university rarely cares if at all about the needs or concerns of certain sports in the university and tends to be very awkward and antagonistic to work with.’
61%
believe the university ignores students when it comes to sports policy
48%
Bristol’s peak sports pass costs
NATIONAL AVERAGE UNRESTRICTED SPORTS PASS:
£169
NATIONAL AVERAGE RESTRICTED SPORTS PASS:
£109
more than the national average
RESTRICTED BRISTOL UN PASS: SPORTS
£250
RESTRICTED BRISTOL UN PASS: SPORTS
£150
‘The lack of support for casual sport users is a very disappointing part of studying at Bristol’
‘The fee for the gym is far
too much. Coming from a weaker financial background I would have to give up things, eating included, to join the gym.’
Bristol set for its very own slip n’ slide? Stephanie Rihon Online News Editor
Could Bristol see a see a waterslide in May?
Luke Jerram
Local aritist Luke Jerram is trying to raise funds to create a water slide down one of Bristol’s main streets, Park Street. If this project is seen through, Bristol’s Park Street will be transformed into a slide on May 4th - now there’s a purpose for that hill! Jerram, its creator, is pushing for the 90m slide to become a reality. Jerram was responsible for the ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ initiative in 2009 where different pianos lined Bristol’s streets ready to be played by visitors. The concept has been tested at Ashton Court and needs £5,621 in donations to become a reality. He told the Bristol Post that is ‘it was sort of inspired by the heatwave last summer’ as his office on Park Street ‘got [him] thinking’. The initiative is also non-profit and Jerram has already contributed £3,600 to the project. The Mayor’s new initiative of closing the city centre on Sundays during the summer with ‘Make Sundays Special Initiative’ will also help to draw locals to the event without disturbing the businesses around it. When asked why he chose Bristol, Jerram said that ‘Bristol is a good place to test these things out. To try and do this in London for example would be impossible’. He continued to state that ‘Bristol has a sense of fun and is a creative place so it’s perfect’. This giant 90m water slide is currently being developed for presentation on Park Street in central Bristol. The aim is to install it for Make Sundays Special and Bristol Art Weekender on 4th May. Enabling people to navigate the streets of their city in a new way, the slide is a simple architectural intervention and a playful response to the urban landscape. Like many of Jerram’s projects the installation requires public participation to be activated. The person on the slide becomes the performer, while spectators either side watch on. This massive urban slide aims to transform the street and asks people to take a fresh look at the potential of their city and the possibilities for transformation. To ensure Bristol’s students and locals can look forward to the day when Park Street is lined with this slip ‘n’ slide, donations can be given on Spacehive.
Epigram
24.03.2014
4
Record nominations Speed limit rollfor UBU 2014 elections out continues Laura Jacklin News Editor This March sees the student union elections take place once again, as candidates battle it out to be elected as student representatives for the coming academic year. This year has seen a record number of candidates being nominated, with the number of full-time officer nominations up 38% on last year, and Senate Rep nominations up by 60% on last year. This follows the full time officer role review, in which the six full time positions were reviewed and changed. The full time officer roles are now Union Affairs Officer; Academic Experience Officer; Equality, Liberation and Access Officer; Postgraduate Officer; Student Living Officer; and Sport and Student Development Officer. As well as the full time roles, students will be voting on part time officer roles and senate representatives. A full list of the candidates can be found on the UBU website. Campaigning began on the 21st March, and with the manifestos now available to students, the race for getting voted in has begun. Voting opened on the 24th March, and remains open until the 27th, before results night in the student union on Friday 28th March. The day’s break between voting closing and the announcement of results is to allow the union to have more time to process the votes than in previous years, and also to allow candidates to get a night of sleep before results night, which current President, Rob Griffiths, described as ‘very emotional’. Throughout campaign week, Epigram will be providing election coverage online, and live tweeting from results night on the 28th March.
• •
Equality, Liberation and Access Officer Naomi McKay Alice Phillips
• • •
Postgraduate Officer Frank Sondors Sorana Vieru Hang Yu
• • •
Sport and Student Development Officer Peter Cassell Alyx Murray-Jackman Alice Webb
• • • •
Student Living Officer Eimear Diamond Megan Golding Tom Phipps Aarthi Srinivasan
• • • •
Academic Experience (UG) Alex Bradbrook Alice Hoad Sophie Mew Isla Stewart
• • • • •
Union Affairs Officer Florence Hunter Neda Jajeh Pouyan Maleki-Dizaji Imogen Palmer Jo Woods
As part of the on-going initiative to reduce traffic speed and increase road safety around Bristol, a draft Speed Limit Order has been issued in areas south of the river. This order, produced by the Bristol City Council, reduces the speed limit to 20mph. Areas affected in southern Bristol include the majority of roads in Filwood, Knowle, Brislington and Ashford Vale. The areas in question were selected due to their high rates of pedestrian and cycle accidents, especially those involving children. Also taken into account were the proximity of schools and community facilities to major roads.
Two Pilot Schemes, funded through donations from the City Council’s Cycling City Project, have been in place in southern and eastern areas of the city since 2010. Government research shows that the scheme has received an 82% support rate from the local population. The council hope to roll out the scheme fully by early 2015. Conversely, not all members of the community support this move. Conservative councillor Mark Weston argues that the scheme’s legacy will consist of only a rise in pollution and congestion levels. He has called on the mayor to rethink his proposal arguing that ‘20mph is [not] the right speed for a thriving modern city - it will increase travel times, increase congestion and might actually reduce air quality’.
A draft Speed Limit Order has been issued in inner city areas south of the river
EdinburghEveningNews
Keep checking the Epigram website for the latest election coverage
The nominees
Alex Green News Reporter
Fancy getting involved with Epigram next year? We’ve got over 50 editorial positions to fill! If you could see yourself working on Bristol’s best-loved media product, turn to page 12 and page 18 for more information on how to apply. Good luck!
Epigram
24.03.2014
5
UBU gets the (summer) ball rolling Stephanie Rihon Online News Editor
The UBU Summer Ball will have an Alice in Wonderland theme this year
Flickr: quicheisinsane
UBU has released the first information on its much-anticipated summer ball, due to take place on June 6th. The second year of the event heralds an Alice in Wonderland theme and a move from Leigh Court to Ashton Court. Ashton Court, which boasts a mansion and extensive, landscaped grounds, has been the site of several events lately, including the Medics Valentine’s Ball. The mansion has a rich history, having been used as a military hospital during the First World War. The Wonderland ball will be transformed into a psychedelic playground with four bars, gourmet food outlets and three areas of live music. UBU President, Rob Griffiths, said ‘this event promises to be bigger and better than before, with a brand new team at the helm and a student panel driving the direction’. Keen to avoid the backlash from disappointed students that last year’s event generated, UBU has conducted a series of questionnaires and feedback sessions from the last ball to ‘ensure that Wonderland is what students want’. Given the general dissatisfaction last year with the event’s ‘festival’ set-up, the results of the January survey showed
a surprising enthusiasm for a similar arrangement – potentially because it allows more students to attend the event. Not everything will take place outside this year, however, with an indoor VIP area for those graduating this year. This will include a cocktail bar and tea party with the Mad Hatter himself. The main event will feature a secret chill-out garden, a shisha tent and a spectacular firework finale and the ticket price will also include transport to and from the venue. A committee of students is closely involved with the organisation of the event; Rob Griffiths commented ‘The student panel has and continues to shape all the key decisions including choice of venue, acts, theme and pricing. I want to thank them for their time and effort to ensure this important event continues to get bigger and better’. The UBU ball falls on the same night as the Fire & Ice Stoke Bishop Ball, which will make for some interesting decisions from Bristol’s freshers. The first release of tickets will go on sale on Friday 28th March, incidentally the same night as the UBU Elections results night. More information can be found on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ubusummerball
Bristol’s jazzy weekend unearths new talent Stephanie Rihon News Online Editor
Osibisa, thought to be the godfathers of Afrobeat, also performed
commons.wikimedia
Pee Wee Ellis Myspace
A session with Alfred ‘Pee Wee’ Ellis was the highlight of the weekend
The 7th to the 9th March saw Colston Hall play host to the second annual Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival. The weekend saw over 24 individual concerts take place, including late night sessions and informal jam sessions with some of the movers and shakers in the jazz world.. The annual Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival, now in its second year, aims to be ‘breaking new ground by giving new musicians hope and becoming the city’s treasure.’ The range of events included film showings and musical acts. This included Osibisa, thought to be the godfathers of Afrobeat, who paved the way for artists such as Bob Marley. New Orleans jazz legend Lilian Boutte closed the weekend with her gospel choir. A highlight of the weekend was a session with Alfred ‘Pee Wee’ Ellis. Ellis was the saxophonist in James Brown’s 1960s band, appearing in several of Brown’s recordings, and has worked closely with Van Morrison too. Kavina Minhas, singer in the new allfemale trio ‘The Sirens’ that took Bristol by storm, performing recently at FUZE 2014, volunteered at the Jazz Festival. She said she found it to be ‘Really exciting, sometimes scary, always inspiring and the most worthwhile thing I have ever done in my life to date’. Although Minhas initially went to meet her idol, Boutte, she said she ‘came out with at least twenty-something new idols, thirty-something new opportunities, and more new friends than I can count’. Her favourite moment by far, however, was taking ‘a selfie with Pee Wee Ellis’, which is ‘its own life win’. To continue the jazz craze of the
weekend, Bristol’s Mayor George Ferguson has recently announced a historic musical partnership with New Orleans jazz legend Lilian Boutte. 2015 will see Bristol become the ‘cultural twin’ to the world’s jazz capital thus affirming our city’s place as the second centre of creativity and musical talent. The Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, has also been invited to visit Bristol. Ferguson says that ‘the cultural and business exchange will be part of improving jobs and raising Bristol’s profile.’
For more news stories, visit www.epigram.org.uk/ news
Epigram
24.03.2014
37
News catch-up Bristol drops out of list Students provide legal aid abroad of top 100 universities Sorcha Bradley News Reporter
Spencer Turner News Editor
Flickr: hearnoevil8
Recent rankings from the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings show that there are currently 10 UK universities inside the top 100. However, Bristol University is not one of them. Bristol has missed out on a place in the top 100 after the University of Leeds dropped out in 2013, and the University of Sheffield dropped out in 2012. The tables produced show a widening gap between redbrick universities and the ‘golden triangle of UK institutions. The ‘golden triangle’ consists of Oxford, Cambridge and many of the Universities located in London. 2014 has seen the rise of London universities in the rankings with KCL, UCL, LSE and ICL all holding onto a strong position in the table, along with Oxbridge, Manchester and Edinburgh. There has been concern that redbricks such as Bristol have fallen out of the
rankings, and as a result there may be increased difficulty in attracting talented international students, further investment and also making collaborations with other universities.
Can Bristol regain its place in the top 100?
In the rankings, first place was awarded to Harvard University in America, with other US universities faring particularly well in the table.
‘If you have ever wondered what impact you can have on this world, join a Human Rights Brigade, because if you do not come you do not understand, and if you do not understand you cannot help.’ This message is currently being sent out to UK students by Global Brigades, a student-led global health and sustainable development organisation that has been operating in universities since 2004 and in the UK since 2009. A group of 18 current Bristol students are preparing to answer this call by volunteering to provide legal aid to under-resourced, remote communities in Eastern Panama. Many of these communities have little awareness of their fundamental human right to legal access, or of their legal rights. The Bristol Human Rights Brigade is preparing to fly out to Panama for ten days in June in order to provide legal counsel to these communities. They will be working with Panamanian lawyers to provide pro-bono legal counsel
“
through legal clinics in the community and educational workshops in schools. In particular, these workshops will focus on the rights of the child, as well as attempting to develop a sustainable legal support system in the region, which does not currently exist.
The project hopes to empower both the students and the community
The group, with the help of Global Brigades, hope to provide personalised legal care on a family by family basis, tackling issues such as divorce, child-support payments and
domestic abuse. The project hopes to empower both the students it sends to Panama and the community for which it aims to provide legal care by setting up this project from which both parties can mutually benefit. The community that the Human Rights Brigade enters into gains highly personalised legal care of which they would not otherwise have access, whilst the students gain a ‘unique and meaningful legal experience’. Global Brigades has expanded hugely since its establishment. Starting with only a few hundred volunteers, there are now around 4,000, with over 400,000 beneficiaries of the various projects it facilitates in Ghana, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. However, Global Brigades depends entirely on contributions from volunteers in order to put their projects into action. The group flying out to Panama this June have raised £2,715 to help fund the scheme, but hope to reach a target of £22,662 If you would like to donate you can do so at: www.empowered.org/BristolHuman-Rights-Brigade-Panama-June2014.
Bristol University Law Conference a success Kate Grocott-Mason News Reporter On Friday 7th March, students and professionals from around the country came together for the 2nd annual Bristol Law Conference. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Law and Terrorism: The Security vs Privacy Debate’. The conference was opened by Conservative MP Robert Buckland, and consisted of presentations from four speakers, each offering different perspectives on the notoriously entwined conceptions of privacy and security in today’s society. The speakers were LSE Professor Andrew Murray, Former Information Commissioner for Northern Ireland Marie Anderson, Bristol University Lecturer Dr Theo Tryfonas, and The Guardian’s former Security and Defence editor Richard Norton-Taylor.
The Security vs Privacy debate was chosen in light of recent worldwide privacy scandals which have called into question the price we pay for security. The conference provided a forum for the speakers to voice their opinions on this matter and respond
The Bristol Law School hosted its second Law Conference
flickr: Stokeparker
“ The security vs privacy debate was chosen in light of recent worldwide privacy scandals
to questions from the audience. The Bristol Law Conference is the legacy of Law graduates Steven Hunter and Ross Burrell, who, in their final year at Bristol hosted the inaugural conference, entitled ‘Law and the Media’. The conference was a huge success, with Supreme Court Judge and Chancellor of the University, Baroness Hale attracting aspiring lawyers from across the UK. Steven and Ross’ vision was to establish a sustainable conference that could grow year on year. They hoped that it would attract bright legal minds from around the world and would become a symbol of the University’s status as a centre of legal excellence. It is an incredible testament both Steven and Ross that they managed to organise the entire conference whilst juggling the stresses of final year. When the baton was passed over to us, a committee of six, in April 2013, it quickly became clear that the organisation of a conference of this size was no easy feat. Despite facing challenges and set-backs along the way, this year’s conference came together to be a great success. We hope that we did Steven and Ross proud, and we look forward to passing over to a new committee to see what next year’s conference will offer. The Bristol Law Conference is an entirely student run event, which since 2013 has aimed to bring together some of the brightest legal minds within the country, and provides a platform for law students and others to participate in contemporary and important debates outside of their usual studies. To those who did not or were not able to attend this year, details about the 2015 Law Conference will be available in the next autumn term.
Epigram
24.03.2014
Editor: Hugh Davies
Deputy Editor: Sophie Padgett
Online Editor: Michael Coombs
features@epigram.org.uk
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Homelessness: Bristol’s biggest challenge Alfie Smith speaks to Mayor George Ferguson amongst others to find out what’s being done to combat homelessness in Bristol Alfie Smith Features Writer Bristol has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the UK, far higher than cities with comparable populations. The task of tackling the problem is split between non-profit organisations, private groups and government services. Recently, I attended BCAN’s annual Big Sleep Out for the homeless, the main focus of which is to raise money and awareness of the challenge Bristol faces while helping to connect the different groups together. I spoke to some of the groups attending hoping to gain a wider perspective on what George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, called ‘one of the biggest challenges facing Bristol’. The first and most obvious problem is that rough-sleepers (people sleeping in public places) are outside of the system. This makes it difficult to take accurate records. This forms the basis for the ‘homeless trap’ A person cannot apply for a job without a permanent address, without a job you cannot sign the lease on any accommodation and you cannot do either without a bank account which requires both of the former. Although long-term accommodation exists, most homeless people find themselves placed in temporary accommodation at best. Furthermore, many feel discouraged by their time out of employment. Paul, a leading member of Crisis Centre Ministries, told me of an increasing number of homeless people being treated for drug/alcohol related abuse, placed into temporary
housing before falling back into homelessness. He told me that the social services frequently failed to treat the underlying causes of homelessness and the psychological effects of longterm rough sleeping. Moreover, people classified as ‘low-priority’ find it difficult to access the support that they need. He feels the current system fails to recognise ‘the great variety in homeless people’. Those that are at first classified as low-priority soon become ‘high-priority’, meaning that all ‘the variety gets wiped out’. I asked him how long he believed it took for someone to lose the specific details of their homelessness - ‘about two to three weeks’ after that point ‘the serious problems [alcohol dependency, drug use and illness] have begun’. He feels that ‘it makes no sense at all’ to postpone priority care, as ‘small’ problems soon become serious and intractable issues that are much harder to solve.
“ It makes no sense at all to postpone priority care... small problems soon become serious
Furthermore, a senior member of Crisis, wishing to remain unnamed, told me of an obstructive lack of cooperation between different governmental departments. He said the three worst offenders were – the NHS, the Social Services and the Avon and Somerset constabulary. ‘They’re treated in a hospital and
then left to their own devices… almost no follow up’, he told me, ‘people aren’t bits, they need a whole solution’. Frequently, the social services fail to report cases of physical and mental injury to the police, seeing the harm as an extension of homelessness, when in reality it is specific threat by one person – drug dealers, other rough sleepers etc. In 2012 Scotland abolished the priority needs test choosing to treat all ‘unintentionally homeless’ as equal in need. The priority needs test remains active in England and Wales. I was told of the ‘gutting’ of state services since the Coalition government took power with the local authority failing to keep up with the demand. This is not, however, a post–May 2010 problem. The previous New Labour government failed to provide adequate support for the UK’s homeless, a problem the current government is exacerbating with further cuts. Private groups and church organisations have stepped in to fill in some of the gaps. Yet, this begs the question – when did the Government of the UK shed its responsibilities to our fellow citizens? Even those classified as ‘priority cases’, such as the 16-25 age group, have found the care offered underwhelming. Mr Ferguson, who took office as Bristol’s first mayor in November 2012, claims that he and Bristol Council are working on numerous projects to tackle homelessness; starting with ‘getting all the groups together’ to make a concerted effort. He told me how he is working closely with private groups and NPOs such as St. Mungo’s – an award winning organisation
about which I received both positive and negative reviews. Several people I spoke to, including the Mayor, think St. Mungo’s are doing an impressive job.However, a few were highly critical and questioned their role, the income they receive compared to other groups and their lack of success in Bristol when compared to London. Paul told me, ‘they won the bid for Bristol mostly because they did an excellent job in London’ but since starting in Bristol ‘they’ve been a lot less successful’. I questioned Paul on why he felt St. Mungo’s was failing to reach the same high standards in Bristol. ‘They’re trying the same things to some success but Bristol has fundamentally different problems’. I reached out to St. Mungo’s for a response but at the point of publication none has been received. One thing is certain though, St. Mungo’s has contributed to several successful schemes in Bristol. The social impact scheme, first commissioned by the Greater London Authority in 2010 and funded by groups such as Triodos bank, received positive results for their four hundred homeless participants. Bristol Council is hoping to set up a similar scheme with the lion’s share of the money coming from sources outside the already stretched budget. ‘It’s not only charity it’s an investment in helping people rebuild their lives’, said the Mayor. Getting organisations to invest in people may be one way to avoid cutting expenditure elsewhere. However, it seems paradoxical that we now seek the voluntary aid of banks to solve problems caused mostly
by their own callous business practices. Without even factoring in the asinine decisions that led to the recession, it is the culture of modern finance that expels people from their homes if unfortunate, and sometimes random, events leave them one or two payments behind. The mayor was very happy to tell me that Second Step, a charity focused on tackling mental health issues and reintegrating homeless people into society, has received ten million pounds to run for the next eight years in Bristol. Mr Ferguson told me that the lack of affordable housing in Bristol is a major concern. This failure of supply to meet demand was present before the current Cameron administration but again the situation has only been made more difficult since the Coalition’s recent budget cuts. ‘Undoubtedly some of the austerity measures have exacerbated the situation, such as the bedroom tax. We still haven’t seen the full impact that they [the cuts] will have’. I asked the mayor what he expected the long term effects of the cuts will be and he replied, ‘I expect to see homelessness rise significantly’.
“ Undoubtedly some of the austerity measures have exacerbated the situation, such as the bedroom tax
The Coalition government’s
austerity measures have seemingly created a two-fold problem. Measures like the bedroom tax, cuts to rent allowances and new measures to withhold relief until a rather arbitrary set of requirements has been fulfilled will undoubtedly put more people onto the street. This problem is made worse by cuts to the social services and other related departments leaving them with less money to deal with a larger problem than faced before. I was told by one member of the Julien Trust, a Queen’s award winning charity providing meals and beds to the homeless five nights a week, that she couldn’t understand why people are being ‘caught up in it’ [the government’s rhetoric] when ‘only looking at the number of people we see on a weekly basis would see it’s only getting worse.’ This is certainly true. Figures for rough-sleeping, temporary accommodation and those drifting between friends’ sofas and family - so called hidden homelessness - show a shocking increase since 2011. I still have reservations regarding the role we expect private groups to play in tackling homelessness. But this did not stop me from finding the sincere dedication of those attending the Big Sleep Out, and others working to help the homeless, deeply humbling. Many give up several nights a week to aid those that our society has left devoid of basic human rights. In amongst the politics of it all, it is easy to lose sight of the individual sleeping in the cold, uncertain of when they will next eat, perhaps ill or dependent, finding small comfort in the generosity of another person.
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– for example, providing insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect against malaria and immunisations against neglected tropical diseases. Significantly, all the charities rated as the most effective by Giving What We Can work in the developing world. Quite simply, a pound spent in the developing world goes a lot further than it does in the Western world, not least because some of the causes of illness are so easily preventable. To put this in perspective, in the UK it costs around £30,000 to train a guide dog. For the same amount of money, enough people in the developing world could be cured of trachoma-induced blindness to prevent a total of 2600 years of blindness. The parable of the drowning child illustrates not only that it is immoral not to help those who need it, but that it is morally inconsequential whether this help is required locally or internationally. The value of a human life is not determined by country; the grief of parents whose child has died does not diminish with the distance they live away from the ‘Western world’. For a society built on the mantra ‘charity begins at home’, this can be a difficult concept to digest; giving back to those charities close to our hearts seems intuitive and proper. However, in a world which technology has condensed to the size of a screen, we have become part of a global community and must thus accept global responsibilities. Effective altruism may appear to lead with the head but ultimately it comes back to the heart. While it may require self-scutiny and the sacrifice of selfishness in choosing charities, its primary concern is to save as many lives as possible, and the preservation of human life is surely the deepest human intuition.
flikr: TED conference
Tasked with choosing a geographical location to represent a philanthropic and sustainable lifestyle, Bristol residents would nine times out of ten pick somewhere like Stokes Croft. Crowded with notfor-profit HQs and charity shops and populated by trustafarians keen to live green and change the world, it seems like it’s got all the boxes ticked. But despite the very best of intentions, global problems will not be solved through the sale of hand-medowns and a dogged allegiance to compost heaps. What is needed is cash. Cold, hard cash – and this is what’s making the City the rising star in the world of charitable giving. Rhetoric of recent years has portrayed bankers as nothing if not morally reprehensible. While this may often be justifiable, within the swathes of suits exists a sub-culture of philanthropists – the Robin Hood bankers who are making money from the rich to give to the poor. Where the traditional route of ‘do-gooding’ might once have been epitomised by a six-week stint in an Asian orphanage or a full-time career in a soup kitchen, many are now rejecting this in favour of ‘earning to give.’ This idea rests on the premise that, for those with the right skill-set, working in a well-paid job and donating a considerable amount to charity may do more good than directly working in the not-for-profit sector. The keystone of this philosophy is effectiveness, and the idea of earning to give is only one branch of the effective altruism movement. This movement has been gathering pace and recognition in the last few years, as a growing number of people have started to question not only how, but how
best, they can give. Effective altruism combines the heart and head in charitable giving, using evidence and reason to pinpoint the most effective ways of bringing about positive change. One of the movement’s main proponents is Australian philosopher Peter Singer (pictured below). Some effective altruists believe that charitable giving is a moral obligation, which Singer expressed in a parable that goes like this: A man passing a shallow pond notices a young child apparently drowning. To wade in and save her would muddy his suit and make him late for work. He chooses to do nothing. The child dies. Our gut reaction to this is that the man’s actions were immoral – he had nothing of significant moral worth to lose by helping, and yet neglected to act. However, while we condemn this man’s actions, Singer argues, we are simultaneously engaging in the same behaviour, ignoring the plight of millions of suffering people despite the fact that we could help them at no great cost to ourselves. Although a job in the City may provide a lucrative way of giving to charity, you do not have to be making millions to make a difference. Giving What We Can, an effective altruism society, is made up of members who pledge to give at least 10% of their income to help alleviate global poverty. Donating this percentage of a £29,000 average UK salary would save 57 lives over the course of a career. The organisation also ‘rate’ charities, conducting detailed research to ascertain the charities that, in crude terms, give you the most bang for your buck. Research has shown that some charities are up to one thousand times more effective than others. It is often those that work on preventative measures that are the most effective
flikr: swanksalot
Effective Altruism: the Robin Hood bankers who give to the poor Josephine Franks Editor
24.03.2014
Shameful beauty products Gjeta Gjyshinca Features Writer Just when you thought fake nails, fake eyelashes, hair extensions, creams for every possible body part and skin condition,powders, perfumes and a tonne of makeup must surely be enough to eradicate any imperfection in a woman, along came buttpads. Apparently being thin, although absolutely necessary, is not a sufficient condition for being attractive – you also need sexy curves to flaunt, and that’s where Booty Pop comes in. This padded underwear,which makes your butt ‘go from FLAT to FAB in just seconds’, is just one of a number of ridiculous products that target women’s insecurities in order to make money. Companies in the beauty industry are literally inventing physical problems with women so that they can sell products which offer a remedy, with little thought for the damage they do not only to the individual women pressured into buying these products, but also to society as a whole. I guess after padded bras, we should’ve seen this one coming – it was really only a matter of time before the beauty industry inflicted upon us yet another way to enhance body parts. In fact, it seems padded bras are not the only option when it comes to enhancing breasts. Apparently, with just one or two F-Cup cookies a day, your breasts will grow. Seems to me like Sainsburys Bakery cookies would have much the same effect. This honestly sounds like something out of Mean Girls, – if Regina George was snacking on something along with those high-calorie Kalteen bars, it’s these breast-enhancing cookies. Facial toning masks are yet another example of these endless ridiculous beauty products. These battery-powered
face-masks supposedly tone skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles with gold-plated contacts and light energy pulsation. There are a number of problems with these things.First, they look like something Jigsaw would hand you in one of the Saw movies before convincing you to chop off your arm granted, this is coming from someone who thinks eyelash curlers are pretty terrifying, and in comparison these masks are the stuff of nightmares. Second, they are useless and possibly even dangerous; one Amazon reviewer complained of a burn as a result of using this torture device – ahem – beauty product, which had left her scarred for life. Third, and most importantly, the aforementioned items promote the ludicrous idea that natural ageing in women is something to be avoided at all costs - while an older man may be a silver fox, an older woman is simply one who has let herself go. It is a clear indication of the double standards for men and women that the worst product of this sort to be targeted at men is spray-on hair. While women are pressured to remove every single hair from their bodies, leaving them raw and shining prepubescent pink, men have the luxury of actually spraying on more hair when that crazy unnatural inhuman thing called old age takes its toll. One of the most disturbing products I’ve come across is Eye Talk Eyelid Glue, designed for Asian women who want to hold their eyelids up for ‘bigger, rounder, and deeper eyes’. This not only sounds painful, but also raises troubling issues about narrow beauty ideals. By introducing these products, the beauty industry is reinforcing the idea that there is only one type of beauty – and one which seems unattainable for most of us. Targeting Asian women
in such a way suggests that these women should aim to look Western, even if it means applying glue to their eyelids. These companies feed off the low self-esteem of women to sell their products. The media already bombards us with images of photoshopped size zero beauties, expecting us to aspire to look like them. Women in the public eye are scrutinised, every inch of their body inspected; their flaws criticised in such a way that makes almost any normal sized woman feel wildly inadequate. When trashy magazines can find flaws in Kate Middleton, what hope is there for us commoners? By creating solutions to non-existent body flaws, these companies pressure women into suddenly adding one more inadequacy to the never-ending list inflicted on us by the media. The problem is that if even only a few women buy these products, others instantly feel pressured to buy them too – if someone else is sleeping with a Kush cleavage cushion stuck between their breasts to avoid the disaster that is cleavage wrinkles, then there really is no excuse for other women not to do the same. The other worrying factor here is the effect products like these have on male outlook, the way men perceive women and the expectations they have of their bodies. If a man has only ever known hairless, wrinkle-free, caked-in-makeup women, then meeting one who doesn’t buy into this rubbish may well come as a shock. The fact that men then have unrealistic expectations of what women should look like is just one more part of the vicious cycle that will promote low selfesteem in women, and boost the sales of these products they are shamed into buying.
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24.03.2014
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Bristol school girl leads the campaign against FGM After Epigram’s FGM feature in News #273, Issy Bull caught up with the face of the campaign, Fahma Mohamed.
Beef with the meat industry over damage to environment Maria Smith Features Writer Not everyone would guess that more energy is required to make one burger than to fully power seven iPads. Or that it takes 1,500 glasses of water to produce a single glass of milk. The meat industry is one of the world’s biggest sources of energy expenditure, and a primary cause of increasing global temperatures and rising sea levels. However, despite it being the driving force behind many of the world’s mounting environmental problems, the catastrophic effects of the meat industry continue to be relatively ignored. The 2009 reports estimate that meat production is responsible for a staggering 32,564 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year. This number represents 51% of total emissions worldwide, meaning that our appetite for meat is even more damaging to the environment than habits like driving inefficient cars or wasting water. As a Scientific American article succinctly puts into context for us; ‘producing half a pound of hamburger for someone’s lunch releases the same amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000 pound car nearly ten miles’. So why is it that we aren’t all more frequently encouraged to make changes to our diet? To swap chicken for quorn, or beef for a bean burger? Even in the face of overwhelming statistics, the meat we eat continues to be a reluctantly addressed topic. Whether it’s because food and diet is widely accepted as an inherently personal issue or because the world simply isn’t ready to sacrifice the enjoyment of a Big Mac, we are not often pressured to save the planet through changing our eating habits. Studies indicate that the last
few decades have in fact seen a rise in meat production rates across the globe, regardless of increased environmental discourse. Countries such as China and India, which have only relatively recently undergone economic transformation, show the most significant rise in meat production. A study compiled by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation suggests that an intrinsic correlation between national wealth and demand for animal meat will only see a continuing growth of the meat industry over the next decades. Agricultural forecasts estimate that if current rates of increase persist, total meat production will have doubled from a 229m ton figure in 2009, to over 460m tonnes by 2050.
“ Our appetite for meat is even more damaging to the environment than habits like driving cars or wasting water
The notion of meat production doubling is a fearful one when considering that 26% of land today is already devoted to rearing farmed animals. The amount of land required for grazing, feed production, meat processing and distribution all constitute a wasteful siphoning of resources, space and energy. The convoluted process of American kona beef production stands as a glaring example of this waste. The process entails the collection of rain in Northern California, which is then piped through thousands of miles to Southern California, where alfalfa is grown as cattle feed. This is subsequently shipped across to Japan, in
order to feed kona beef which must then be shipped back to California in order to be finally distributed and served as steak in restaurants across America. Faced with a world population of 842 million people suffering from starvation, the absurdities of an inefficient meat industry confront us with an ethical dilemma regarding our meat eating habits. A single plot of land catering for a meat-based diet can feed over two and a half times the amount of people if used to yield a vegetarianbased diet. The more efficient utilisation of grazing land for the production of crops, beans and pulses might therefore far better serve the world in terms of people fed per hectare across the globe. The question remains as to why society remains reluctant to embrace the notion of a more vegetarian diet. Government drives to encourage ecological energy use in the form of cycle schemes and car shares, campaigns and school curriculums result in a world aware of the dangers of fossil fuels and excessive energy consumption. Primary school children can tell you the consequences of burning fossil fuels, and how turning off the tap when you brush your teeth can help to save the Earth. But how many children come home with posters advocating meat-free Mondays, or tofu sandwiches? Regardless of ongoing scientific discoveries about the destructive impact of the meat industry on the natural world - an impact which will provoke immense repercussions for future generationsvegetarianism remains a rare lifestyle choice. Perhaps a meal without meat is a change as easily accommodated into our everyday lives as turning off that tap whilst we brush our teeth, and is a change more of us might have to make in the face of compounding environmental concerns.
Fahma Mohamed is a 17 year old school girl from Bristol. Like most girls her age she is studying for her A Levels. However, despite her tender age, she has also recently become the face of The Guardian’s new campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM). First getting involved in campaigning against FGM because she felt that it was an issue that had been hidden away for too long, Fahma now works with a team of about 100 people with Integrate Bristol, a local organisation perusing greater equality and integration, in particular by visiting local schools to give peer education sessions. When asked how she felt about the responsibility of being the face of this new campaign she was quick to stress the hard work put in by this team over the last six years underscoring that, ‘I’m just the face, but my face didn’t do all this on its own’. FGM is one of the most repelling practices conceivable. Survivors have described it as being so agonisingly painful they lost consciousness; and they’re the lucky ones. Performed often without anaesthetic or proper surgical equipment, each year thousands of girls across the world, some of whom are still young babies, die due to this deplorable ritual. Unlike male circumcision there are no medical benefits to this female counter part. It is used in order to control and suppress female sexuality. Though predominantly practiced in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, FGM is also prevalent in the West. For years the issue of FGM has been swept under the carpet. Barely spoken about, under reported and often forgotten, it is one of the most repugnant
forms of child sex abuse imaginable. Yet in the United Kingdom right now there are allegedly 24,000 British girls at risk of being cut and undergoing this horrific mutilation. No other form of sexual abuse would be as overlooked. Nonetheless, since 1985, when FGM was made illegal in the UK, no one has ever been prosecuted for practicing it. This is really quite alarming, especially given the fact that the conviction carries a 14 year prison sentence and that in 2003 it also became illegal to send girls abroad to undergo FGM. In Fahma Mohamed’s eyes the lack of prosecution is mainly due to the fact that it relies on a girl handing her parents over to the police. This would be unconceivable to many, and unfair on any girl.
“ Dubbed the ‘cutting season’, each summer, hundreds of girls are sent overseas to be cut
Heartrendingly, it has been further reported that it is commonplace for many young girls to be sent to foreign relatives to undergo FGM in the school holidays. Dubbed the ‘cutting season’, each summer holiday hundreds of girls are sent to foreign relatives to be cut. Purportedly, ‘cutters’ are now also performing FGM in Britain, some working in expensive clinics in cities such as London and Birmingham. This inhumane practice can be stamped out though. The first glimpses of light have begun to appear at the end of the tunnel for campaigners. Things are changing. FGM is finally being
recognised as an issue which needs to be addressed. The magnitude of ending FGM does seem daunting, but there are measures which can be taken to begin the process. Along with a coalition of pressure groups and charities Fahma has called on Michael Gove MP, the Minister of Education, to do more to help end FGM in Britain. For Fahma ideally PSHEE would be standard across the country in all schools with lessons focusing on FGM being mandatory. Unfortunately, however, she does not believe this will happen: even if Gove were to come on board it would be unlikely that the House of Lords would support compulsory and universal PSHEE lessons. However, as she points out, if head teachers themselves were to ensure that their pupils were informed about FGM lack of formal legislation would not present an obstacle to increasing awareness of the issue. Fahma has publically called on Gove to remind all teachers of their ‘safeguarding duties’, For her ‘talking about it, speaking out against FGM and seeing it as gender based violence is the way FGM will end’. Education across the board is the key here. Girls must know their rights. And that is exactly how we can help fight against FGM here at the University of Bristol too. As Fahma suggests all students on all relevant courses should be made aware of its existence. In particular, she emphasises how the University should ensure all medical students know what FGM is and what to do if they come across it. FGM is a very real issue. Easily hidden and unnoticed, still more needs to be done to highlight its presence as a persistent and common form of child sex abuse. But thanks to the campaigns of organisations such as Integrate Bristol, hopefully one day no girl in the UK will have to face the prospect of this barbarous custom.
Oliver Zimmerman
flickr: shalawesome
Issy Bull Features Writer
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24.03.2014
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There’s no place like home: an asylum story Khaled Abdul Aziz, a Syrian asylum seeker, tells Isidora Provatos about the long journey from his war-torn homeland to Bristol
The smart, softly spoken young man sat in front of me seems a world away from the images of a devastated Syria that we see on our television screens. Khaled Abdul Aziz is a welleducated entrepreneur, who not so long ago was teaching English literature to high school kids and running an internet business. Over the last two years he has undertaken a remarkable journey from war-torn Syria, to a London prison and now Bristol. He is one of the 2.5 million Syrian refugees that have fled their homes, and travelled thousands of miles to reach Europe in search of help and asylum. Khaled was born in Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, but is hesitant to speak about where he grew up; ‘Aleppo and the rest of country has been flattened or bombed randomly.’ Two days before the interview, he managed to contact a friend who lives in Syria. ‘They tell me so many bad things about places I’m obviously very connected to, that I had emotional connections with these places. They would say: “Oh you know this building it’s knocked off now. You know this guy who lived there, he’s dead now”.’
“ Every time I tried to tear up my passport, I couldn’t. It’s my identity
Khaled’s life wasn’t always like this; he graduated from Aleppo University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. He taught English
for 11 years at Huda Shaarawi High School whilst engaging in entrepreneurial activities: ‘I had an internet business and four apartments… I was doing very very well in Syria.’ Khaled fled his hometown in 2012, travelled across Northern Africa to Morocco where with the help of an ‘agent’, he acquired a Russian visa with a transit stop through London Heathrow. ‘There is no flight from Morocco to Russia, it must transit through the EU. Obviously, for us it’s not hard to get a Moroccan visa, a Russian visa you can get it just like this.’ Many Syrians decide to stay in the country because the reputation of living as a refugee is so bad that ‘some people prefer death in a war state to disgracing themselves, to living without dignity.’ Khaled explains how the standard of living in refugee camps is well below the basic human rights requirements and even the neighbouring Arab countries don’t welcome Syrians anymore. He was actually one of the lucky ones; an agent is ‘not cheap at all, many cannot afford to get out of the country.’ Those who flee via Turkey and Cyprus through uncharted waters, ‘risk their lives even more than in Syria.’ Khaled responds quickly when asked about his arrival into the UK. ‘Here, actually, there is an interesting story because the agent had asked me to tear up my passport. Maybe I should mention people who get out of the country; they don’t use their passport but a similar person’s passport, even if they have to change their hair or wear makeup.’ On board the flight, Khaled tried to tear up his passport many times but he says: ‘every time I tried to tear it up, I couldn’t, because it’s my identity.’ In a moment of desperation Khaled placed his passport in a friend’s luggage, who was travelling to the US, in the hope that she would keep it safe for him and one day he could retrieve it. Upon arrival at London
has a criminal record, which makes his life very difficult because whenever he has to apply for a job, ‘or wherever I go I have to say, yes, I’m a criminal.’ What does it signify, then, to be a refugee or an asylum seeker in a first world country like the UK? According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, an asylum seeker is someone who has applied for asylum and is waiting for a decision as to whether or not they are a refugee. The UK received 23,499 new applications for asylum in the year ending June 2013.
“ My brother was shocked when I called him and said I’m in England, in prison, you should come visit!
Put into perspective, Pakistan hosts the highest number of refugees at 1.7 million. These are people who, like Khaled, are escaping war-torn countries, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
Khaled’s case is representative of what it means to be a refugee in the UK; disorientated, vulnerable and exposed. His application for asylum, to achieve refugee status, was delayed for half a year. ‘Terrible, imagine six months being in the air not knowing what is going to happen to you plus the worry you have about your homeland.’ Khaled was lucky, his case was approved within the next few days of him being interviewed, but applying for asylum can take up to one year or more. Many vulnerable people are left in limbo; without a residency permit they are not eligible for proper accommodation and without the right to work they are left completely powerless. I ask Khaled what his experience of Bristol has been so far and how he finds the city. ‘Very interesting, very multicultural. This is not very common in Syria, it is not mixed at all. In a way it is very interesting, but very different also. I do not have any peace of mind.’ Khaled has been doing volunteer work with Bristol Refugee Rights (BRR) which is a volunteer lead charity where asylum seekers and refugees can meet, receive help and get involved with the wider community. He interprets for as many people as he can at the BRRs Malcom X Community Centre, St Paul’s, and says this is the only place where he feels
at home. ‘No one knows one another but everyone is gentle and supportive with each other. No one would want to cause or add trouble to each other. You go there to relax, to have some peace of mind and try to pretend that you have forgotten all your worries.’ Khaled is now leading his very own initiative, to provide accommodation to all Syrian refugees through council law: the Bristol Refugee Accommodation Project (BRAP), with the help of Rachel Bea, head co-ordinator at the BRR whose mission is to fight destitution, creating a network of support for future asylum seekers and refugees. Khaled is arguably one of the lucky ones; many others find themselves in the grey zone of asylum seeking, waiting to be accepted or rejected by the system. Although Khaled is busy interpreting and heading the initiative in Bristol he confides in me: ‘I think it’s worth mentioning, people who come here don’t come here on holiday. There is a main or major risk over their life. That’s why they decide… no, not decide, but have to leave their country; because they are desperate.’ Even though Khaled is aware of the danger he faces, he still plans to return to Syria. We can only hope that the situation improves so that he and the thousands of other refugees are one day able to return to their homes.
flickr: edbrambley
Isidora Provatos Features Writer
Heathrow, Khaled ran into trouble when he couldn’t produce his passport. He tells me that the Border Official ‘from the very beginning, wasn’t having a good day.’ After being asked numerous times if he could produce the document, to which he replied no, the Border Official retorted, ‘Then you’ll be in trouble!’ Khaled continues: ‘Now, I know it’s completely up to the officer to do whatever he wants. So many people arrive without a passport and others like me were not so lucky and went to prison.’ He was detained in Heathrow overnight, sent to a London police station where he was charged with ‘Arriving in the UK without a passport’ and was provided with a ‘random solicitor’. The solicitor, upon reading his case, stated that he would serve up to a maximum of 6 months in prison. He then expressed hope that, if Khaled were to plead guilty at the earliest opportunity, then the sentence passed would be reduced by up to one third as per the Early Guilty Plea scheme. Desperately he asks me ‘If someone thinks and believes that I should be sent to prison, how are they going to defend me?’ Khaled’s sentence was reduced to a four months. He smiles and says; ‘My brother was shocked when I called him from prison and said I’m in England! In prison! This is the address, you should come and visit me!’ Khaled now
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Epigram
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Has the United Nations failed as a peacekeeper? Yes
As tensions rise between Russia and Ukraine over
Oscar Clarke
preserve international harmony.Are they justified? at least expressed the shame that attends to such an abject failure: ‘We made serious errors of judgement, rooted in a philosophy of impartiality and non-violence... unsuited to the conflict in Bosnia... The tragedy of Srebrenica will haunt our history forever.’ In years to come we might witness similar sober statements of contrition about the UN’s reluctance to name the Sudanese government as a party to the genocide in Darfur, and to punish it early with the arms and oil embargoes which could have halted the killings. It might also be acknowledged that the continuous attempts to negotiate with the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad were mistaken. All of the above, and probably much more besides, constitute the throat-clearing which should be de rigueur to discussions about the success or failure of the organisation set up to promote peace between and within nations; prevent atrocities; punish aggressors; and stand for universal human rights. And yet the nobility of these ideals prevents me from concluding that the UN is beyond repair. The conspicuity of its failures renders the proposition easy to answer: of course the UN has failed, repeatedly, but I wish it would succeed. I am encouraged by the emergence of the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), for it will not have passed the notice of attentive readers that that the failures enumerated above are, for the most part, sins of omission. But this is only one of several reforms which the UN ought to embark upon. There must, for instance, be conditions placed upon membership of the Human Rights Council. The 2016 Group, recently admitted to begin its three-year term, includes Russia, which has banned public demonstrations in favour of LGBT rights, and, of course, just invaded the territory of a neighbour. Other paragons of the human rights movement to have joined include China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia. And such absurdities are paralleled in other UN bodies. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee for Disarmament are rotated yearly. A rotation decided, incredibly, by alphabetical order. As such, its May 2003 meeting (but for March’s invasion) would have been chaired by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. And who would the vice chair have been? The country which had, less than two decades previously, used ‘human-waves’ to clear Saddam’s minefields, Iran. That’s a disturbing counterfactual.
Flickr/ToddKlassy
In April 1994, Romeo Dallaire, who was the commander of the UN force in Rwanda (UNAMIR), sent a cable marked ‘most immediate’ to the desk of Kofi Annan, the chief of peacekeeping at the time. It detailed information received by Dallaire from a credible informant, a former member of President Habyarimana’s security staff and trainer of the interahamwe (literally: ‘those who attack together’), the Hutu militias preparing to become génocidaires. His informant had received orders to register Kigali’s Tutsi population. ‘He suspects,’ wrote Dallaire, ‘it is for their extermination.’ The cable was not only a terrifying warning; it was a plan of action. Dallaire believed that the bolstering of the UN force in Rwanda could prevent the plotters within the President’s administration from succeeding in their efforts to initiate a campaign of mass murder. Furthermore, his informant had promised to reveal details of more than one major weapons cache in exchange for his evacuation. Dallaire wanted to carry out raids within thirty-six hours, and, following the confiscation of weapons, to wind up the various cells which had been formed throughout the capital city. UNAMIR had been created in 1993 to supervise the implementation of the Arusha Accords, which had stipulated that Kigali should become a ‘weaponsfree’ zone. The government had been exorbitant in its weapons purchases from France and China, and Dallaire’s report revealed the extent to which they were being hidden. Yet the response he received from Annan’s desk in New York was that the UN had no mandate to enforce the rules it was supposed to be supervising the implementation of. The raids which would have taken vast quantities of weapons out of the hands of murderers - and demonstrated the UN’s conviction to stop them - never occurred. Instead Dallaire was instructed to share his information with the President, whom he had reason to suspect was complicit in the genocidal plot. Around one million Rwandans were killed between April and July of that year. Rwanda is not just the grave exception to an otherwise impeccable record. A year later, Ratko Mladic’s Bosnian Serb Army murdered eight thousand Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. The UN Protection Force had labelled the town a ‘safe area,’ which they demilitarised by disarming the Bosnian forces, helping to ensure that the crazed Serbians encountered no opposition. Kofi Annan has
Crimea, many critics of the UN accuse it of failing to
No Nafisa Jones For a little girl growing up in a nation that has been ravaged by a modern conflict, be it Syria, Liberia or Kosovo, the various agencies of the UN would provide a constant source of support and benevolence. The blue helmets of the peacekeeping force offer a reassuringly ubiquitous sight in a maelstrom of hostile combatants. The UNHCR would provide a safe refuge from the violence tearing apart her community. Upon her return back home, the FAO would provide free or discounted food to her family to help ease the return to some form of normality. If the peace is sustained, the UNICEF would help to rebuild her school and ensure that she is up to date with the most important vaccinations. To even the most hard-headed critic of the UN, these are clearly not the actions of an incompetent and irrelevant organisation. To go through the basics, the United Nations is composed of six main organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc), the Trusteeship Council, the Secretariat and the International Court of Justice. There are also 16 autonomous agencies that deal with concerns as disparate as health, atomic energy, and telecommunications. The General Assembly is unique in that it contains a representative of almost every country in the world. It thus provides a neutral ground for the discussion of the issues of the day. This particular point must not be underestimated; the General Assembly has provided a platform for such momentous speeches such as that of Mikhail Gorbachev at the twilight of the Soviet Union, the defiantly antiimperialist declaration of ‘Patria or Death’ by Che Guevara on behalf of Cuba in 1964, and Yasser Arafat’s haunting ‘Olive Branch’ speech in 1975. Smaller and less developed countries that would otherwise be lost in the shadows of their wealthier neighbours and former imperialists are allowed more diplomatic independence thanks to the General Assembly. Whilst much criticism has been levelled at the UN for its lack of progress in Syria, it has previously taken pivotal roles in the resolution of several previous conflicts. Its swift and effective action in Yemen helped avert the outbreak of civil war in 2011 when fighting had already killed and wounded hundreds. In 2012, presidential elections were conducted under UN supervision and a peaceful transfer of power was carried out. Also, their facilitation of mediation between the government and rebel forces during the Sierra Leone Civil War helped both parties to
negotiate the final cease-fire. Even after the end of the war, the UN maintained a presence in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission formed to help begin the nation’s healing process. The eight Millennium Development Goals formed by the Ecosoc have galvanised unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest. They range from halving extreme poverty to reducing infant and maternal mortality to combatting as well as halting the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, all by 2015. The great thing about the MDGs is that striving towards the achievement of one particular goal ostensibly aids in reaching another. For example, thanks to increased funding, more children are sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets in sub-Saharan Africa; as a direct result of this, countries with improved access to malaria control interventions saw child mortality rates fall by about 20 per cent. Also, whilst some of the goals are unlikely to be attained, tremendous improvements are evident. Although the likelihood of reaching the target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio/MMR (the number of maternal deaths in a population divided by the number of live births) by three quarters is doubtful, according to a report made by the WHO, the MMR in 147 countries had significantly declined during the period 1990-2008, 90 of which showed a decline of 40% or more. Of course, it’s not all sweetness and light in the UN. The power of veto held by the five permanent members of the Security Council (the US, UK, China, Russia and France) reflects the outdated power patterns that still heavily influence the decision-making of the organisation, especially underlining the occasional lapses in representation that occur within the organisation. Taking the recent case of the Syrian War, Russia has vetoed four resolutions on international action. In addition, the IMF has been widely condemned for the “conditions” that they place on loans given to developing countries that have often provoked serious economic and social turmoil in the countries and saddled them with ruinous debt. In spite of these admittedly serious flaws, the UN is still a constant presence in the international scene. It continues to play a major role in the global dynamics and to argue to the contrary is both short-sighted and simply incorrect.
Epigram
24.03.2014
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership: a threat to democracy?
Richard Seaton The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a proposed free trade deal between Australia, Brunei -Darussalam, Canada, Malaysia, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, United States, Singapore, Vietnam and Japan. TPP is aimed at increasing economic ties and trade and boosting investment flows between the countries in order to further their economic growth. TPP aims to reduce or eliminate tariffs and tax on trade, between the participating nations and to help open up trade in goods and services on top of improving relations on economic policy and regulatory issues. The countries currently negotiating TPP are part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC). The effort is naturally being led by the US, being the world’s largest economy and its biggest trading bidding nation; however some sceptics of the pact suggest that the US is trying to use TPP to undermine China’s growing
economy and influence on the region. It is likely that more members of APEC will join the agreement in the future. Consideringthesignificantproportionof global trade and the world’s population that is made up by APEC members, TPP will have a significant impact globally. Negations have been held primarily behind closed doors and a significant proportion of the information made available to the public is through whistleblowers such as Wiki leaks. There have been 16 rounds of discussion since 2010 with the latest round being held in Singapore and the direction certain aspects of this shady treaty will head is still unclear.
“ The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a proposed free trade deal
After negotiations ended in late February 2014 the main areas of difficulty appeared to be market access and tariffs on imported goods. The US and Japan clashed over tariffs on
agricultural products which Japan is trying to defend from outside competition. However other member nations with large agricultural sectors are keen to remove all such tariffs. This highlights one of the key problems facing the TPP. The countries involved are spread right across the economic scale from small emerging economies with heavy reliance on the government sector such as Malaysia, to global economic superpowers like the US and everything between the two. These countries will have totally different aims and targets to improve their economy so trying to meet everyone’s demands will likely end in a treaty that satisfies no one with the possible exception of the US limiting China’s rapid economic growth. TPP has received a lot of criticism from a wide range of areas, the main concerns appearing to be the impact the treaty will have on certain products and services within member countries. The most divisive issues discussed are the impact TPP will have on intellectual property laws and patent enforcement between nations. There is serious concern in nations such as New Zealand that the scope of patents may spread into areas such as medicine and prevent the distribution of basic medicine which could have a significant impact on the New Zealand health service. The exact effect that the TPP will
have on intellectual property rights is unclear, but if the pact were to go ahead, signatory countries would be required to match their laws and policies regarding intellectual property with the provisions in the agreement. These countries may have to adopt copyright laws that would massively complicate sale of intellectual material online.
The largest criticism currently facing TPP is the secretive nature of the negotiations
The largest criticism currently facing TPP is the secretive nature of the negotiations, with very little information being released to the public. Delegates have not stated the issues that have been discussed and what agreements have been reached, or how these agreements will impact on trade. Even members of Congress
have struggled to view the details proposed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). A significant proportion of US based opposition is centred on trying to fast track negotiations and limit congressional involvement. The fast track procedure would mean Congress would have to vote up or down on the issue without amendments which would impact significantly on Congress’ authority to regulate commerce with other nations. Further, negotiations are being headed by the executive branch, which is under far less public scrutiny and pressure than congress, and gives the executive branch the ability to negate and pre-empt legislation by elected representatives in the US government. In effect, there has been almost no opportunity for democratic opposition. The main thrust behind TPP is the US government. The predicted economic benefits are not likely have a significant effect on The US’ GDP and seem more targeted at improving business for Americas largest corporations without any tangible benefit being felt by the American people. What is highly plausible is that the US Government’s interest in TPP is an attempt to reduce China’s growing economic power in the region and its increasing competition with the US.
Flickr: staxnext Flickr: GlobalTradeWatch
Epigram
24.03.2014
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Flickr: Liberal Democratst
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Would a Lib dem/Labour coalition be such a bad idea after all?
The 2010 general election produced a result barely anyone had predicted. The hung parliament was a shock, as was the coalition between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. Now for the 2015 General Election, in which a hung parliament may not come as much of a surprise, many are discussing the possibility of a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition, including the politicians themselves. Voters are tired of coalition government, when one has voted for a particular party, one wants that manifesto to be implemented, not a coalition agreement. However another coalition is a real possibility, with voters as split as before. One might think that it is time for a Labour victory after such a controversial Conservative tenure, but it is still difficult to split
Those with power in the Labour Party see the Lib Dems as trying to cling onto power
The most likely coalition to occur would be a Liberal Democrat and Labour coalition, with the Labour Party being the dominant party. Their ideals and principles seem relatively close together, and so one would think they would make the most obvious partners, even if this was exactly the same in 2010. It does not appear that the Conservative Party or the Liberal Democrats particularly want to stick together if they have to, and the Liberal Democrats have even been making
clear. They have not acted as a brake on the Tories, but as a prop’. This is a view that quite a few of the Shadow Cabinet hold, why should they bother putting aside their differences for a party that clearly goes against Labour values, the party, who when in government implemented stringent spending cuts? Those with power in the Labour Party see the Lib Dems as trying to cling onto power, possibly without legitimacy. Ed Miliband has firmly put aside any planning for coalition government, making clear his ambition for a majority government, one he feels is completely within Labour’s reach.
Personally I think that coalition governments are a good thing
Whatever the Labour hierarchy is hoping for, there is still the very real possibility of the nightmare situation occurring, where they would have to negotiate with the Lib Dems in order to secure power. Len McCluskey, leader of Britain’s biggest union, Unite, has hit out at coalition government, saying he did not want to see the same ‘failed consensus’ for the next five years, or Labour’s election manifesto ‘filtered through the soggy Lib-Dem sieve’. There are many of the opinion that a coalition government has no mandate to rule in Britain, and it should be a majority or minority government of the winning party. Nevertheless, minority governments are very hard to run and so the Lib Dems may be called on again, something that would please Nick Clegg. There are overlaps between the Labour Party and the Lib Dems in their policy, from mansion tax to the reduction of the voting age to 16. Personally I think that coalition governments are a good thing, much like Nick Clegg, and a Labour-Liberal Democrat partnership would not be a bad thing for the country at all. Still, anything could happen over the next 14 months, let’s see. Flickr: eTombotron
Adam Becket
slight overtures to the Labour Party. It looks like the Liberal Democrats will receive huge losses due to their massive unpopularity, and yet they could end up being the kingmakers once again. Their small collection of seats, possibly numbering around 30-50, could be the difference between minority and majority government, making up the ground for the Labour party. The Labour Party is still undoubtedly pressing for an outright win, a Labour majority, however they have seen their lead slip in the polls in the past year. The Labour lead, which was by ten points last year, has been reduced to six points. Thus the Labour party has switched their approach ever so slightly, preparing for the possibility of coalition. It must be stressed that none of the major Labour Party MPs have expressed any preparation for coalition, if anything they have distanced themselves from it. Above all else, Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman have repeatedly spoken of their target of majority government, and their stance against joining the Liberal Democrats in government. Sources close to Miliband in government, as reported in The Guardian, stated recently: ‘Our view of the Lib Dems is
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the parties. Polls suggest a Labour win, yet it would be silly to rule out a hung parliament and a resulting coalition.
Epigram
24.03.2014
Letters
@EpigramLetters Editor: Emma Leedham letters@epigram.org.uk
The arts of self discipline Dear Epigram, I have a confession to make.
Molly Hawes Geology
the appalling conditions in which hundreds of millions of people all across this planet find themselves, there is another reason to despair. Our own reluctance to assist those who have been failed by the world around them (including ourselves) is an appalling indictment of the civilisation in which we find ourselves. This is only compounded by the fact that many in this country will only do anything about these problems when that posh bloke from Made in Chelsea tells them to do so. Some would argue that we cannot possibly be expected to constantly remember and understand poverty when it doesn’t exist within our society. The fact is that it does. One in six UK children grow up in relative poverty. Whilst not touching the chronic levels seen in other parts of the world, people suffer within the UK too. So whilst you might think that your £5 may go to a starving African child, it may just as likely end up in London, Birmingham or Manchester. The myths don’t end there either. Whilst your £5 may go to someone who hasn’t eaten for a few days, it may also stop a man attacking his wife. Although the truths of poverty may be relative depending on the region, the truths of domestic violence remain universal. ‘Even’ within the EU, one in three women suffer domestic or sexual abuse according to a recent report. In addition, these stats are almost identical across the globe – the WHO estimates that 35% of women
worldwide have experienced some kind of violence at the hands of men. Whilst your thoughts may allow you to escape the suffering of others, they will have to suffer it daily. So if you did give at the weekend, ask yourself why. Was it because you thought that two pounds would get rid of the mental image of the starving African child for another year or so? Because that might not be where your money actually went. It may have gone to a local charity, such as Southside, who help victims of abuse. It may have helped to fund soup kitchens in one of our inner cities. It may have financed any number of projects across the world. Unlike the TV images of starving children, none of the problems here will vanish instantly. That is why you should think about where your money is going and why it is going there. The truth is that it might not disappear to some far removed ‘failed‘ society; it is equally probable that it will go to our own. Poverty and violence are just as likely to be on your doorstep as they are to be on a different continent. Of course, you may not want to think about where your money goes, or you may not even act in the first place. If that is the case then that far flung failed society that you’re thinking of – you’re contributing to it, and it might be closer to home than you realise. Alex Longley Flickr: Scismgenie
With Sport Relief taking place over the last few days, millions of pounds have been donated to good causes across the world. Some of you reading this may even have been generous enough to donate yourselves. If that is you then well done. It is a cause that deserves as much money as we can afford to it. According to the 2013 UN report on progress towards the ambitiously set Millennium Development Goals, 1.2 billion people across the world live in extreme poverty. That is twenty times the population of the UK living on 75p per day. If you gave some money over the weekend then you can live safe in the knowledge that you have done a little bit to help someone that you will almost certainly never meet. But where do you think they are? I imagine that if you did donate to Sport Relief, you probably feel a quiet sense of satisfaction from your recent philanthropic indulgence. Yet for too many people (perhaps even yourself), it all ends with a throwaway donation. For too many people Sport Relief, Comic Relief and Children in Need are all just annual attempts at alleviating the stifling middle class guilt that accompanies the knowledge that whilst someone elsewhere in the world is starving, you’re buying focaccia from Waitrose. For too many of those who gave money over the weekend their concern was not the plight of 1.2 billion people, it was making sure that they could sleep well at night. Although the real tragedy is
Flickr: Hash Milhan
Until today I was an utter, utter snob about arts students. I appreciated the value of all degrees but failed to understand how having a couple of lectures and a book to read a week constituted an education. I bugged my first year flatmates about this incessantly.‘You aren’t really getting your money’s worth, though, are you?’ ‘Don’t you wish you had, you know, some actual work?’ I’ve always had a pretty hefty timetable - starting with about twenty hours a week and three nine o’clocks in first year. Even in my third year now I have lectures, practicals, scheduled group meetings, lab work and tutorials as well as scientific papers to read. I’ve had occasional days off but today I experienced for the first time that holy grail of student timetables: a free Monday, unblemished by externally imposed commitments. I have Mondays off for the next four weeks too, and as I have a dissertation due shortly I expected that I would be my usual disciplined self, despite having no classes. Last Monday, for example, I had two lectures, a group meeting and a three hour coding class. I assured myself I’d do as many hours, if not more than that, today. However I have rapidly discovered that it takes enormous will-power to do anything productive with a so-called ‘day off’. I didn’t leave the house until
twelve, having gotten absorbed in a brilliant novel. I then got roped into a psychology experiment before having coffees with not one or two but three separate groups of friends. By this point it was 5pm. Then I went to Sainsbury’s for cookies before popping into a bookshop to look at the vintage Jeeves & Woosters. Having seemingly exhausted all possible avenues of procrastination, I headed for the library dragging my feet, at which point I bumped in to my lovely friend Sophie. I explained my newfound awe for her and all her kin, whereupon she helpfully suggested I further procrastinate by writing an open letter of apology to all the arts students whose degree courses I’ve questioned over the years. Honestly, I have so much respect for you guys actually getting anything done with so few contact hours. I don’t know how you do it. I automatically get half my week’s work done just by pitching up to things whereas you actually have to structure your time and motivate yourself as you wind your way through the endless temptations of bookshops, coffee breaks, cookies and naps. Respect. Anyway it’s now 6pm on my first ever Monday off and I’m just about to start researching this damn essay. Once I’ve had another cookie. Oh, and caught up with the friend I’ve just spotted coming in to the library…
Flickr: Hash Milhan
Do you have something you want to
letters@epigram.org.uk
Flickr: UK in Spain
say? Email your letters to
Epigram
24.03.2014
17 13
epAnagram Can you unscramble the names of Harry Potter characters?
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Last issue’s answers: Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Diwali, Easter, St David’s Day, Passover, New Year
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Fortnightly news quiz
Puzzles
@EpigramLetters Editor: Emma Leedham
letters@epigram.org.uk
How clued up are you on the news of the last fortnight? Have a go at this quiz and find out... 1) Which former Labour MP and cabinet minister passed away, aged 88? 2) What is the flight number of the missing plane that left Malaysia on 8th March? 3) Which pop star announced that they will be a judge on the 11th series of the X Factor later this year? 4) Which football team was knocked out of the UEFA Champions League competition after they lost to Barcelona? 5) The World Wide Web celebrated its anniversary. How many years ago was it invented? 6) Judges were deciding where to bury the remains of King Richard III this fortnight. Where were they controversially found buried in 2012? 7) The personal payroll details of around 100,000 employees were stolen from which major supermarket? 8) In order to fight air pollution, which European capital has enforced a law that allows drivers to only their vehicles every other day? 9) Which actress, who starred in Ashes to Ashes, is to play a villain in the new series of Doctor Who? 10) What would Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson scrap in order to fund 1,000 extra nurses and midwives in the NHS?
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Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights, Russia, Doncaster Rovers, 715, 91m,
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e2
MarkĂŠta BrabkovĂĄ
urban jungle
Editor: Tori Halman living@ epigram.org.uk
What’s On
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Travel
Living
@e2Living
Deputy: Deputy: Sophia Hadjipateras Izzy Kerr shadjipateras@ ikerr@ epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk
Online: Morwenna Scott livingonline@ epigram.org.uk
Boozy Brits
Frank Sinatra once said that ‘alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but The Bible says love your enemy’ and loving this particular enemy may be the one thing that around 99.9% of all university students seem to agree on. The consumption of alcohol is an age-old tradition at uni after all; it’s an initiation rite, a way to get to know people and, above all, a way to let your hair down after a week of three essay submission deadlines. However, I am going to make a bold statement here and say I actually like my degree. I genuinely came to university to learn more about it and do something productive. I read newspapers and blogs and books and, the biggest shock here, I attend most of my lectures and seminars. And so I have a problem with people who don’t. Most importantly, I have a problem with people who don’t attend lectures or seminars that they are paying for, just because they are hungover. Why waste £9,000 a year on your university degree if it’s just to get drunk every night and not go to any lectures? I am not saying that getting drunk is wrong those who know me well will know that I would be the world’s biggest hypocrite if I were in any way
suggesting that. But I am suggesting that university drinking culture is taking many university students’ attention and priorities away from their education and studies and instead towards a hedonistic, and slightly pointless, way of life. It seems to me that people are unaware that it is actually possible to go out and have fun and yet still be able to focus on the important things in life, such as getting your degree.
Why waste £9,000 a year on your university degree if it’s just to get drunk every night? When some students take their infamous drinking culture to a new level, it is all students, as a whole group, who are given a bad name and aren’t taken seriously in the world. We are supposed to be an influential group in the country, with the ability to make a change and benefit future generations, so why is it that we are becoming increasingly bogged down in who can do the most shots rather than campaigns and education? With five Neknomination deaths and
Though Clifton, Redland and Kingsdown may not reflect this, there are many areas of our wonderful city of Bristol that resemble a mysterious, yet exciting, urban jungle. This issue, e2 is celebrating all things urban. From funky graffiti through to a special photoshoot amongst the concrete, let e2 guide you through the hidden beauty of the urban environment.
the recent, shocking statistic that a whopping 71% of students at the Univeristy of Bristol are not involved in student politics, I am shocked by a culture that seems to be entirely engulfing our lives. And so, while I am not here to have a nag or to put a downer on the university way of life, I would advise we all take a moment to consider what we are actually getting out of our time at university. If you are sitting there, pondering this thought, and the best achievement you can think of is your talent to down ten pints in one sitting, then maybe it’s time for a reevaluation. I would like to think that no one at this university, one of the best universities in the country, has become so snobbish that we now take no pride in our education and take it entirely for granted. There are young men and women in all parts of the world who would kill for the opportunities that will present themselves to us with a degree from Bristol and so maybe, no matter how many times you chundered last night or how many toffee vodka shots you did, it’s time to get yourself out of bed, at least for your twelve o’clock lecture… even if you can’t make the nine.
Lucy Stewart
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24.03.2014
Summer Boyfriend Wanted Georgina Turner explores art project that shows the science behind love
Love is central to our culture – films, songs, art and even nights out revolve around it. So when I heard about local artist Noemi Iglesias Barrio’s recent project ‘Summer Boyfriend Wanted’, a project that set out to find love without falling in love, I decided to find out a little more. Her project began with her handing out 500 flyers, advertising for a ‘Summer Boyfriend’ – someone who would spend time with her doing the activities a boyfriend would do, but specifically for the summer period and no longer. The response she received was amazing – some 478 applicants were whittled down to 10 interviewees out of which one Summer Boyfriend was selected. This boyfriend would take part in a number of activities that mirrored what a new couple would do; in short they would go through the motions of a relationship. She says, “I suppose that the aim was to fall in love without falling in love… I think I have achieved that.” The project had a start date and an end date, the boyfriend’s duties were clear from the outset and perhaps this ensured neither would actually fall in love in the process. What is interesting was the response Noemi got from this project, a project about which, I must admit, I was initially somewhat sceptical. When I asked Noemi why she thought the project was so well received she said, “For some reason, people
www.bristol-street-art.co.uk
‘Keep it unreal’ - Luke Egan, Filthy Luker Graffiti The best of Bristol’s graffiti scene
seemed to identify with what I was.” This raises some questions about what we are really looking for when we are searching for love. Do we want a long-term commitment? Do we want our duties as a boyfriend or girlfriend to be defined and decided on from the outset of a relationship? Perhaps this project evoked such a response because it was in fact exactly what we are all looking for. The problem with a short relationship is that you probably never reach a stage where you can demand something from your partner or have expectations of them. This was an opportunity for someone to be in a fully functioning relationship, safe in the knowledge that it would end on the 20th September. Of course this was not a fully functioning relationship, it was an artistic experiment and each week Noemi and her Summer Boyfriend did an activity that any normal couple would do, but in a forced sense. Week 2 was ‘holding hands’, and the two of them spent the day with their hands plastered together. Week 3 was ‘physical contact’ and they used their hands to paint each other. For me this project is interesting because it is a true example of art for art’s sake, more interested in the experience and emotions it evoked than in producing an end product. It is a daring project that leaves food for thought – maybe a boyfriend for 3 months is just what we all need!
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So, spring has sprung (apparently). This season should see the sun shining through the ever-looming rain clouds of Bristol, reminding you that despite the imminent exam term; summer is really not too far away. Now some people - idiots, I call them - instead of booking a city break or jetting off abroad to a tourist hotspot for their summer holiday, will totter off to the countryside. Unbelievable I know but some people even LIVE there. As someone who originally comes from a town, but one that is surrounded by expansive green fields and tiny villages (the original shire, don’t try and convince me otherwise) and has subsequently moved to the beautiful city of Bristol, consider me a voice of authority on the city vs. country living debate. And I absolutely cannot comprehend why someone would enjoy spending any amount of time in the country. It smells. We all know that. No one enjoys that funky odour seeping into your car whilst driving through the country, let alone getting out and filling your entire lungs with the stuff. It’s unpleasant enough on your journey having to undertake Lewis Hamilton style swerving to avoid the thousands of potholes, or worse farm animals that line the roads waiting to shatter your car to smithereens without having to be gassed by eau de manure. When you eventually arrive at your ‘idyllic’ destination, you will most likely be greeted by… nothing and no-one. If you’re lucky, a sheep might bleat in the distance. Tumbleweed will most likely roll by your feet. The complete lack of civilisation is eerie. Unless, that is, there has been some sort of village scandal, in which case EVERYONE knows everything and will already be whispering over their
garden fence about you. There is also, quite literally, nothing to do. Once you’ve scanned the over-priced shelves of the one convenience store in the vicinity and realised the residents of the village pub will be heavily judging you upon entry if you haven’t lived in the area for a minimum of 5 years, the only activity you have left to do is walk. Which I have noticed that some country bumpkins can’t seem to be able to do without donning the uniform of some pricey Hunter wellies and a Barbour jacket.
manage to endure the ordeal; firstly well done, in my eyes you have Bear Grylls type survival skills. Secondly, say hello to your inevitable morning breath and greasy hair. I believe city livin’ is just far, far more enjoyable in every way. All the best places in the world are cities: New York, Paris, London. There’s so much to do and see - cities have culture, architecture, nightlife. I wouldn’t rule out completely visiting some greenery, for about an hour maybe, when the
hustle and bustle of urban life gets me down. Or perhaps begrudgingly having to relocate when I’m old and decrepit and need more space for all my cats. However, if you’re in any doubt of urban superiority, please let’s all remember one thing. There was a very good reason why one of the best programmes of our time (stop judging me) was not in fact called ‘Sex and the Country’. Laura Burridge
“It smells. We all know that” I also have major problems with the classic countryside activity of camping. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for the free roaming, going wherever the wind takes you, stopping off and staying at beautiful places aspect of it. Just when I get to those beautiful places, I kinda want a double bed and running water. There is absolutely nothing remotely exciting to me about getting into a cramped canvas shell in close proximity to other people who also haven’t showered, and trying to catch some z’s while constantly worrying about incoming attacks from wildlife and/or mass murderers. Putting the damn things up in the first place requires some sort of engineering degree. Tents also have the incredible ability to go from making you freeze to death in the middle of the night, clutching at every available layer around you to gain any amount of warmth, to you waking up with the morning sun beaming down on you and wondering if this is what being fried alive feels like. If you
Flickr: JohnWestrock
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Room 101: a city girl takes on the country
The Student Notebook It’s a Jungle out there I’m going to get historical for just one moment here so bear with me. A great deal has changed over the past hundred years: there have been tiffs both worldscale and small, things have been discovered and people have come to be more accepted. One thing, however, you cannot dispute is how everything passes in the blink of an eye. Life has become so fast-paced, so much so that if you’re not powering through at lightning speed you get left behind. London, New York, Paris (well not so much, they prefer to go about their espressos tranquilement), everything in our urban jungle can change in an instant. We love our little Bristol jungle, not quite fast lights big city or the land of country bumpkins. Granted, it’s not as crazy as our capital but you can still get some decent food at 4am – yes, that is how I measure the worth of a city. Now the obvious story to recount here is about testosterone fuelled freshers’ animalistic pursuits, the drunken mistakes (sometimes interchangeable) or for the oldies amongst us, the night-time
adventures in the ASS. But how about if the jungle of the night comes crashing into the folds of the day? We’ve all experienced the horror of this encounter but how about when it’s a double dose…
“All those deep secrets buried in the confines of the boudoir prancing about in daylight” So a few lovely ladies are dining at their favourite joint, talking men, dresses and life – you know, obviously how we do, very Sex and the City – having a dandy time. The joy, or curse of living in Briz is that no matter where you go, even if you’re trying to be ‘edgay’ and find a new place to chill, you will always bump into someone you really don’t want to. At the exact time of recounting a hilarious
story about their freshers’ adventures, in waltzes the walking, talking memory of that fine evening, placing itself exactly two tables down. Oh, great all those deep secrets buried in the night and confines of the boudoir prancing about in the daylight. But it’s all jokes, so it’s okay. The food arrives, colourful, scrumptious deliciousness, and we’re all ready to dig in and brush it off. About half way through however, in walks another one of these little memories one wishes to bury. What are the chances, in this fine city we have here that these reminders parade into the exact restaurant simultaneously? Stick to nighttime existence I tell you! Have they no decorum? Maybe this is the ‘concrete land where dreams are made of’, slim pickins if so, or perhaps just a place to do the dirty work until the real city-scraper Nirvana comes along. For now, this jungle is all we’ve got so make the best of it as you will.
Stephanie Rihon
George Robb
24.03.2014
BEARDS
I went to an industrial techno night the other night because that’s the kind of guy I am. There was aggressive strobe lighting, synchronised fist pumping and, more importantly, a load of beards. Where did the sudden facialfollicle mania come from? They’re everywhere I look. I can’t get away from them. There’s even that pizza place on St. Michael’s Hill called “Beerd” with a beard as its logo. And they’re not even the beards of laziness which form when you can’t be bothered to shave. These are fullon, highly groomed, and perfectly primped displays of puberty. These beards are masterpieces sculpted by hairy angels. I’m not passing judgement – I don’t think I’m allowed to after a recent article on America vs. Bristol, which by the way was grossly misunderstood. I do not believe that I am a fashion guru of unmatched beauty, I was putting on a persona to highlight a sincere point on authenticity. Bloody bastards… But I’m not bitter. Not at all. It’s not as if I had to go on a spa break with my mum to lick my wounds or anything. I am interested, however, in where the desire to grow a beard comes from, and why they often go hand-in-hand with cable-knit jumpers, turtlenecks, or cable-knit
Morwenna Scott discovers Bristol’s new restaurant offer app:
turtlenecks. One beardman I spoke to on Whiteladies Rd. tried to dismiss me and my questions by dismissing his beard. He said there wasn’t much thought behind it, and that he definitely wasn’t trying to emulate Freud, Socrates, Thor or any other of the bearded greats. Liar! There is no way in hell that such effort can be put into such elaborate face-fur without there being some sort of inspiration. It may not be Thor, but the beard certainly isn’t grown trivially. I couldn’t really argue with him – there’s something very knowing and wise about a bearded gentleman. A beard endows the wearer with a “don’t confront me intellectually or I will leave you flat on your intellectual back” aura. I am certain, however, that he was concealing something from me. The most depressing thing about it all is that I will never be able to join the club. I’ve got a pretty mean set of chest-hairs and my head-hair is to die for, but sadly that just doesn’t cut it anymore in the techno scene. Whilst all the beardsters strut around enticing the techno-ladies, I’ll be at the back, all on my own, trying and failing to squeeze out a little bit of hair from my soft, supple cheeks.
Top of the Polls
The Living team asked an ecclectic mix of Bristol’s finest students on what they thought of what our city has to offer:
Calling all hungry students! Wriggle, developed by one of our very own Bristol graduates, is bringing you the best on-the-day offers from some of the many thriving independent bars and restaurants in Bristol. Wriggle’s app will be available in early April, but until then it’s operating through a trust-based email system where they send out a few emails a week offering on-the-day deals at great local places to anyone who signs up to receive them at www.getawriggleon.com. Based down at the Engine-Shed, and created by Bristol University graduate Rob Hall, Wriggle really is at the heart of the city. Rob originally studied English before moving into Law, in which he found success working for a large firm in Brazil. Despite Brazil’s significantly better climate, Rob eventually decided to move back to Bristol as he considered it the ideal place to try out his idea for an app. By Rob’s admittance, bringing his concept to life wasn’t always a particularly easy process, but he was able to put his Law skills to good use when it came to drawing up contracts and presenting his idea and, eventually, Wriggle was born. It’s safe to say that I am definitely a fan and I have no doubt that it will be a great success. As I’m sure everyone is aware, Bristol is a fascinating city, known for its individuality, and filled with many excellent independent businesses. The problem for many of us though – at least those of us studying frighteningly brief three year courses – is that we don’t make the most of our time here to truly get to know the city we live in. Using Wriggle is a fantastic (and efficient) way to try out some of Brizzle’s best eateries at
a fraction of the price and on a very timefocused basis. These “on the day” offers are not only great in providing last-minute dining inspiration, but they also give us the chance to check out places that we may not even have known existed. We get to find a new favourite restaurant, whilst boosting the profitability of Bristol’s independent businesses and so supporting our city’s unique personality. Not only does Wriggle notify us of the best offers around, but its fool-proof payment method means that it is quick and easy to book your table. When the app is ready, you’ll pay in advance over the app before claiming your offer in the venue– but until the app is available and whilst the system is email based, the lovely people at Wriggle are basing their system on trust. On agreeing to an offer, they will provide you with a code to present on arrival, you’ll then have an oh so delicious meal, and settle up with Wriggle afterwards. No need to run to the cash point! Even handier, they’ll also provide you with a map and a timer, so you know exactly where you’re going and how long you have left to redeem your offer. Eating out couldn’t possibly get easier. Immerse yourself in Bristol’s foodie culture, try a huge variety of delicious food and drink, and help to support local businesses. Who could fault that?
Bunker 14% Lounge 20%
Lakota 37%
Best Club?
Blue Mountain 29%
Syndicate 33%
Worst Club?
Po Na Na 38% Pryzm 19% Reflex 10%
Primrose Café 20%
Boston Tea Party 34%
Deco Lounge 16%
QED 30%
Best Café?
Editor: Deputy: Online Olivia Lace-Evans Andrea Valentino Emilia Morano-Williams travel@ deputytravel@ travelonline@ epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk
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Paint the town red: Street art in Buenos Aires
This time last year I left my comfortable life in a small and conservative southern German city for the unpredictability and chaos of the urban jungle of Buenos Aires. Disorganised, scatty, clumsy in parts, the city’s charisma, warmth and energy is remarkable. Everywhere I wandered in my new city was different. The streets were an obstacle course. Walking through the centre there are loose paving stones to be tripped over, dog-shit to be stepped in, unmanned road works to fall into and slow paced Argentinians to bump into, all the while getting wolf whistles from construction workers who never seemed to do any work. It was this wandering, sometimes with a purpose and sometimes aimlessly, that alerted me to the art work on the walls. I am the first to condemn graffiti, but what I witnessed in this city was an incredibly impressive art form. Not only is it the detail or size of some of these pieces that captivated me, but that the more
I saw and the more I talked to people about it, the more I learnt about Argentina’s turbulent history. The development of the street art of Buenos Aires not only has its own story, but has the ability to retell Argentina’s recent history. The brutal impact of Argentina’s military dictatorship, which ended in 1983, is still evident in the country today. Any form of expression was completely forbidden and anyone who did not toe the party line risked death. No one knows the exact number of those murdered by the regime; the fate of thousands is unknown as they were simply declared as los desaparecidos (the disappeared). The walls have become a memorial to those who lost their lives because they dared express their views. The street art that characterises the walls of Argentine cities today is a result of the economic crash of 2001 that saw the collapse of five governments in two weeks. The future of Argentina looked bleak, the banks crashed and fortunes were lost overnight. By 2002, 53% of the population were living under the poverty line. Various artists and designers of Buenos Aires wanted to cover up the grim reality of the situation by painting
over the presidential campaign posters with strange, random and colourful images. They wanted to reclaim the streets. In contrast to the UK, the artists of Buenos Aires have the capacity to transform areas of the city through the ability to simply ask the permission of the owner of a building if they can paint. Planning permission laws do not stand in their way so there is no need to work in the night nor anonymously. Audiences gather to watch the street artists at work. Political messages are a common theme of the urban art scene. The walls are often used for political expression. One resident of the Palermo neighbourhood is such a strong supporter of Cristina Kirchne, that he commissioned the artist ‘Silva’ to cover the walls of his house with quotations from his hero. Her late husband and ex-President, Nestor Kirchner, is also commemorated on the walls of the city. The image of the ‘Nestornauta’ is not just homage to his efforts to bring the country out of the 2001 economic crisis, but also the recognition of his work in bringing the criminals of the junta to justice. One of
those sentenced was Jorge Rafael Videla (President 1976-1981) who died in May 2013 while I was in Buenos Aires. The street artists responded immediately to his death, such as one image of the ex-President’s face with a play on his own words about those who disappeared under his dictatorship, ‘Videla does not have an identity; he is neither living nor dead’. The artist wanted to show that his death, just like his life, does not deserve recognition. The city’s walls are constantly changing as the artists adapt to the political and cultural changes around them. It is this versatility that makes it so unique and fascinating and testament to the creativity of the artists. The walls tell the story of the spirit of the people in a city where art and activism go hand in hand. The unique character of this urban art scene is its respect and appreciation in society. Street art is accessible and the walls become an open air gallery for everyone. Street art is not just a part of this urban jungle, but it develops with it. I know that if I returned today, the walls would be unrecognisable.
Katie Moss
Raising the roof: The growth of the roof garden When you think of rooftop gardens, you might think of Hobbiton or the Teletubbies house. In fact, the trend for urban green spaces has become increasingly fashionable and major cities, notably Shanghai, have embraced the trend. For those who want the hustle and bustle of a city, but also enjoy having a private green space of their own, a rooftop garden is the ideal solution. The benefits are seemingly endless: rooftop gardens help to insulate buildings, purify the air, cut down on noise and reduce dust and general pollution through their constant production of oxygen. All of this is fantastic news for the environment, but city-dwellers benefit too – especially during the summer. Perhaps one of the most valuable upsides for a city like Shanghai, where temperatures reached 40.8 degrees Celsius
during the height of last summer, is the way in which a rooftop garden can cool a building down. Studies show that rooms within a greentopped building are, on average, 23 degrees Celsius lower than their concrete counterparts. Returning to the rather more superficial, many of these garden creations are also absolutely stunning. Some personal favourites include the Acros Fukuoka Building in Japan, a regular office block from one side, but a sloping park from the other; Chicago City Hall’s picturesque wilderness of a roof; and the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, which is a 5storey facility with beautiful, curving green roofs. Unfortunately, I have yet to visit any of these spectacular sites, but I have visited the Heritance Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka.
This was the piece of architecture that first sparked my interest with designs that merge landscape and building. The civil war meant that tourists were few and far between, which made the natural setting even more powerful. Designed by Geoffrey Bawa, the hotel peers out from a sprawling green canopy. It is not just surrounded by the Sri Lankan landscape, but part of it. Watching monkeys climb around on my balcony as I lay in bed, with the sun setting, is an image that will forever stay with me. While you might not find monkeys atop a Shanghai building, I think the idea of nature and city merging is just as magical, and a wonderful antidote for the stresses of modern life.
Camilla Gash
24.03.2014
Manaus, Brazil Taking a walk on the wild side...of Bristol The real Urban Jungle
Flickr: paulchapmanphotos
Ever since I started drinking, the twilight hours after wandering back from the pub have followed a particular routine: a shakily-poured cup of tea, too many chocolate biscuits, and the velvety tones of a documentary presenter. For a while, David Attenborough has been my post-booze companion of choice. Already in something of a stupor, Attenborough’s gentle musings on the mating techniques of the Amazonian squirrel monkey complete my journey into a happy world free from dissertation deadlines and postgraduate employment. In this spirit, and because this edition of e2 emphasises the exotic nature of our urban areas, here are a few of the mating techniques I’ve encountered over my three years in Bristol (not personally, it goes without saying).
The Highbury Vaults Visitors to these parts prefer vocalising their affection. Long, droning calls are intended to demonstrate mental agility to a potential suitor. These calls tend to change depending on the crowd: wailing chants about Kant’s metaphysics can easily be swapped for similar mantras on 11th century choral music or David Foster Wallace. These hymns do not have to be accurate; they just have to be passionate. Potential partners apparently become weak at the knees at a misquoted line of Milton. Woolly jumpers are the preferred attire of many, but more research should be conducted in this respect: battered leather jackets are apparently popular too.
Flickr: krelusus
Lakota The hipster is very much a creature of the night, but colourful markings are vitally important: attracting a mate is often down to the vividness of your neon face paint. This is often accentuated by the bizarre markings scribbled over potential mates; locals will regularly bring along tattered t-shirts especially for this purpose. ‘Feeling’ the accompanying music, no matter how incoherently, is also a crucial part of the mating process. Once paired, the couple will engage in a long and complicated sequence of movements designed to demonstrate their mutual adoration: swaying and flapping is highly recommended.
Lizard Lounge Many will have unfortunately experienced this most vulgar ritual. Like the cat that marks its territory by scraping against neighbourhood lampposts, the male tends to approach the female – often surreptitiously from behind – and gyrate against her. Understandably, the female is often upset; she is obviously not a lamppost. Things regularly get even more heated near the establishment’s waterholes. Single males hang around looking to impress females with their largesse. A double vodka and coke has apparently become a standard in generosity for some. Tender caresses are often carried on in the bathrooms, the proximity and intimacy of such locations probably carrying some allure. Given the choice, perhaps for now I’ll just stay at home with the Amazonian squirrel monkey. At least then I won’t risk being mistaken for a cat.
Andrea Valentino
Amazonas, Brazil. It may be largest of the 26 states in the country, yet it is home to only 1.8% of the Brazilian population. Perhaps this is unsurprising when you consider that much of the area is covered by tropical rainforest; estimates say it could be as much as 98%. Riverboats or planes are generally the only transport options as roads are limited, and those that do exist can be closed for months at a time during the rainy season. In short, when imagining this region, riverside villages spring to mind, tribal communities deep in the forest, maybe even the odd larger town to supply others. It is almost unbelievable that nestled in amongst the almost 1.5 million square kilometres of forest, almost 5 days by boat from the mouth of the Amazon river, hides the 7th largest city in Brazil. Welcome to Manaus: population 1.7 million. It’s the ultimate urban jungle. In the late 19th Century, the rubber boom brought great prosperity to Manaus, and with the arrival of the European entrepreneurs ready to make their fortune, came displays of extravagant European culture and even electricity (before many European cities had it!) The Teatro Amazonas Opera House is still standing today and is home to an annual opera festival, and the main square is reminiscent of Covent Garden gone Brazilian style – or at least that’s what my friend and I decided on our third night of drinking cocktails in the late-night heat.
Nowadays, Manaus is much like any other major city. Vast shopping malls abound, full of multiplex cinemas, fast food restaurants and Havaiana shops. It’s very easy to forget that just a few miles outside of the city there is a forest that stretches miles and miles in a seemingly endless sprawl. After a few days on a riverboat seeing nothing but water, arrival into a busy, commercial port at a point where the river seems as wide as an ocean is really quite bizarre. Only the smell of coxinhas (delicious deep fried dough balls stuffed with chicken) and cupuaçu juice remind you that you have not left Brazil entirely and entered another world. This summer Manaus will be seen on the global stage as one of the host cities of the 2014 FIFA world cup. I doubt the England players have ever played in a stadium in the middle of the jungle before. It will be interesting to see how they cope, given that the city has an average June temperature of over 31 degrees and an average humidity level of 83% (if you don’t know what that means, it basically equals you sweating…. a lot). Preparations were already well underway when I visited a year ago, with the international airport being almost completely re-done, and a new stadium, Arena Amazonas, being built from scratch. It’s a lot of effort to go to for just the four matches due to be held in Manaus. Clearly Brazilians want to show that there is much more to their country than just Rio, São Paulo, and one very, very long river.
Polly Johnson
Editor: Deputy: Online Olivia Lace-Evans Andrea Valentino Emilia Morano-Williams travel@ deputytravel@ travelonline@ epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk
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Oh Maya, have a look at that!
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Brazil’s world cup In this week’s ‘A Final Thought...’ column, Anna Rowley considers the problems faced by Brazil as it gears up to host football’s blue-ribbon tournament.
El Dorado – the lost Mayan city of gold. As far as we know, it’s nothing more than a myth, but is there truth behind this fable? Large cities built long ago have since become hidden by the forests which surround them, creating secret – but nevertheless real – urban jungles. However, more and more remnants of past civilisations are now increasingly being stumbled upon due to deforestation and new technologies such as aerial mapping, which have helped to uncover these long-forgotten settlements. Only last June, an ancient Mayan city was discovered by archaeologists working in the rainforests of the Yucatan region in eastern Mexico. Signs of a once-illustrious city were found, including numerous pyramids, plazas and ancient sculptures. It’s estimated that during its zenith around 600 to 900 A.D, this
forgotten city could have been home to almost 40,000 people, but is now only home to the flora and fauna which have invaded the ruins. So what happened to these abandoned places and those who inhabited them? Historians have struggled to provide concrete answers, but
it has been suggested that many were abandoned as a result of war, demographic pressure and the nomadic nature of many societies. Cities like this have spawned some of the most striking
re Wish you we
travel destinations that the world has to offer, providing a mix of anthropogenic influences of the civilisations that built them and the natural world which has since taken over. There’s something eerily beautiful about these fragments of times gone by, and their pull is felt by tourists and locals alike. For example, lost cities in Colombia provide spiritual places for the local tribes who believe them to have been inhabited by their ancestors, much like the abandoned Guatemalan monuments rising up through the forest canopy that are admired by all who visit. These stunning urban wildernesses have even provided inspiration for Hollywood blockbusters such as Tomb Raider. Similarly, Hashima Island in Japan provided the inspiration for Raoul Silva’s evil lair in Skyfall after the thriving mining town was left to die, leaving only the unnerving silence of a
Brazil has won the World Cup five times - more than any other country – and in the process has produced some of the best players of all time: Pele, Ronaldo and Socrates to name but a few. When it was awarded the 2014 FIFA World Cup back in 2007, its economy was booming and its citizens were, generally, in favour of hosting it. Today, however, its economy has stalled and popular support for the tournament has slumped with it. The main criticism is the fact that the Brazilian government has continued to spend vast sums of money on the event whilst 21.4% of its citizens ghost town. continue to live in poverty. Nevertheless, not all And while the government had previously promised its citizens these real urban jungles that the funding for the event – necessary in order to meet ‘FIFA have yet been completely standards’ – would come from the private sector, the majority reclaimed by the of it has in fact come from the public sector. This has resulted in natural world. Indeed, money that should have been spent dealing with the country’s many jungles still have problems, is instead being spent on football, sparking numerous inhabitants, for example protests. To add to this frustration Brazil is also hosting the 2016 in the Amazon, Papua Olympics, requiring even more investment. So is it really right New Guinea, and many for the Brazilian government to be spending such large sums of parts of Africa, where vast money on these events when so many of its own citizens live in numbers of tribal people such poverty?
reside in villages built and maintained without the help of modern technology, much like the cities mentioned above. However, as to whether these villages are headed the same way as the lost cities, only time will tell. It’s impossible to guess as to whether the real El Dorado is waiting out there to be discovered as yet another of these fascinating forgotten cities. Nonetheless, one thing we know for sure is that these cities have left behind some amazing places to see, and provide clues that could help to unravel the mysteries of the past surrounding these This is not the only controversy to be linked to the World Cup. real urban jungles. The country has also come under fire for the numerous delays in
Flickr: euqirneto
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A FINAL THOUGHT ON...
Ciara Murphy
here! Dear e2, across e our way As we mad l Park ni Nationa yu U e th to this we visited in Bolivia, azing . It was am y’ it c e n to ‘s inate e sun illum watching th the rocks. ans
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Love, Oliv
the construction and upgrading of its stadiums: three are yet to be completed, including the one hosting the opener in Sao Paulo three months from now. This has led some to question if safety will be compromised as a result of these hastily assembled stadiums. Just a few weeks back a crane fell onto one of the stadium’s roofs killing two workers. But it’s not only the threat of the stadium’s safety that could be a risk; tourists are also being warned of the threat of being the targets of armed gangs. The diseases present in some tropical areas where the games are being held are also a danger. This has caused some critics to say that the English fans will be risking their lives in supporting our squad, though this may be a little melodramatic. But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are certainly some benefits in hosting the World Cup and it has brought to light problems that we westerners might have previously ignored, notably the issue of Brazilian child prostitution. The fact that the twelve different stadiums are dotted around the country has forced the government to spend some of its budget on developing the country’s infrastructure in order for fans to reach them, which will undoubtedly help to make the country more efficient and could increase economic demand from overseas. And, for the first time, access to sport in Brazil has been permitted for ordinary citizens. But more importantly, I feel that if everything runs to plan, hosting this event will be a catalyst for building a more positive image of Brazil – just look at London 2012. So, although there may seem to be few short-term gains, this event should certainly have longerterm effects. Whatever happens, I’m sure that the Brazilians, with their obsession for football, will embrace the World Cup when it finally comes around.
Editor: Maddy Streets style@ epigram.org.uk
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Online Amelia Impey onlinestyle@ epigram.org.uk
Interview: Thomas Cridland
Style editor Maddy Streets sits down with Thomas Cridland to find out how the Bristol graduate has moved into fashion Only last year you were a student at Bristol, now you run your own company. How did you first get the idea? I graduated last July from the University of Bristol, where I read French and Portuguese. The same month I had the idea and I immediately began working on it. There is no online men’s clothing brand devoted solely to making trousers. I knew that by making Tom Cridland an online business, I’d be able to offer designer quality trousers at better value than more high profile brands.
as possible, without rushing the process at all. Designer wear is usually associated with luxury and expense. Do you still think there’s a market for your trousers with a more strapped-for-cash audience, say students? Of course! For the price of a couple of pairs of trousers that are made in China out of poor quality material, you can have a pair of Italian cotton trousers with a contemporary slimming cut. Our trousers will last years and years, so the investment will save you money in the long run.
Did you always know you’d be running your own business? How did you go about starting up? I’ve always had a bit of an entrepreneurial streak. When I was in my final year of school during the flu pandemic of 2009, a friend and I started selling t-shirts with the slogan “Swine 09” emblazoned on the front. We ended up raising well over £2,000 for Médecins Sans Frontières within a week. In order to raise the necessary funds for Tom Cridland, I applied to the Fredericks Foundation - one of the new start-up schemes for young people supported by the government. I had to present my business plan and financial forecasts to a panel of judges, which was a daunting process, but luckily they agreed to give me the funding. Unlike most other clothing brands, you’ve chosen to only specialise in chinos. Why is this? I like the idea of doing one thing but doing it very well. With fashion it is often those who specialise that end up making the finest products: Brora do the best jumpers, Corgi do the best socks, the best leather shoes come from the old Northampton shoemakers.
What’s On
Deputy: Deanne Ball deputystyle@ epigram.org.uk
We wanted to do the same thing with chinos. A lot of trousers of a similar cut to ours are made out of crappy material and
Who would you say has inspired you the most during this process? In fashion terms, the West Hollywood sunglasses house, L.A. Eyeworks, really inspired our branding and vision. US e-commerce brands that cut out third party retailers also come to mind: Greats Brand, Warby Parker, Harry’s. The soundtrack to our work has been inspirational too: John Grant, Hanni El Khatib, Zac Brown Band and, of course, Elton John! won’t last. Those of a similar type of luxury cotton often either have a terrible cut or are very overpriced. We aim to offer value. We never wholesale to third party retailers, but sell direct to the customer. We therefore offer a higher quality pair of trousers at a lower price. Tell us about the design process. We design our trousers in Cambridge, a process that takes months. Cotton fabrics are then sourced from the town of Biella in Northern Italy, the type of material that is suitable for wear all year round. Our trousers are then put together, one by one, by our seamstresses in the foothills of the spectacular Serra da Estrela mountains in Portugal. Do you have any advice for aspiring designers or entrepreneurs? If you’re new to the fashion industry, like I am, I’d recommend that you keep it simple and take it slow. I try to put as much care into the design of our trousers
Anything else we should know? It seems like you’re off to a great start! We’re currently running our pre-order offer. The first 250 people to order a pair of our trousers will receive a complimentary invitation to our launch party on September 20th. This will be a black tie evening of dinner and dancing, with members of the business, entertainment and fashion industries in attendance. We launched a couple of weeks ago and there were only a few places left at last check, so we’re very happy with how things have been going so far!
Tropical Eyeshadow Looks Whenever I get a new eyeshadow palette there are always certain colours included which have fallen by the wayside in my routine. Bright blues, vivid greens and vibrant purples always seemed too daring for a neutral eye lover like me - and I’m sure I’m not the only one guilty of this! Although these jewel tones can look beautiful on an exotic flower or the feathers of a tropical bird, working them into my daily make-up routine is a much bigger challenge. However, spring is the perfect time to get brave and be inspired by these jungle hues in order to create some more eye-catching eyeshadow looks. When it comes to wearing bright eyeshadows, there’s one golden rule for newcomers: pick one colour and stick to it. Clashing may work in your wardrobe but can be more challenging to pull off in your makeup! Instead pair your bold colour with a neutral shade; this will automatically tone everything down and make it more Bethany Laverack wearable.
LOOK 1 This first look is the easiest to pull off day to day. I’ve used a light blue shade for a subtle pop of colour. Start by wetting your liner brush in order to intensify the shade before taking the shadow along the upper lashline. Finish it off by adding a very small amount of black eyeliner to the upper eyelid, then a couple of strokes of mascara.
LOOK 2
Begin by taking a neutral shade and sweeping it all over your eyelid right into the crease. Then take a purple eyeshadow and begin to blend it with a fluffy brush into your crease and slightly along your upper lashline – in an almost “C” shape. This look offers the opportunity to really smoke everything up for a more dramatic evening eye.
LOOK 3 Definitely the boldest of the bunch. I used a sea green but blue shades would look super sultry. Pack your chosen shade onto a brush and sweep the colour all over your lid building up the intensity as you go. Avoid going into the crease. You can leave it at this or sweep the shade onto the outer corners of your lower lashline for a more dramatic eye.
The People’s Republic
‘Coca- Cola’ Top, £26 from Dutty. Quilted Jacket, £13 from Loot. Leather Skirt and Fishnet Tights, stylist’s own. Boots, model’s own. Police Jacket, £35 from Loot. ‘Bristol’ Tee, £24 from Dutty.
Navy Two-Way Zip Windbreaker, £275 and Denim Jeans, £130 both available at Hoko. Grey Rework Sweatshirt, £24 from Loot. Necklace, model’s own. Leopard Print Jacket, £36 from Loot.
What’s On
Style
Travel
Living
@e2Style
Quilted Jacket, £13 from Loot. ‘Too Much’ T-Shirt, £30 from Donuts. Jeans and shoes, model’s own. ‘Dutty’ Sweatshirt, £35, White and Leopard Polo Crop Top (worn underneath), £18, and Tiger Print Skirt, £16 all from Dutty. White Trainers, model’s own.
Editor: Maddy Streets style@ epigram.org.uk
Deputy: Deanne Ball deputystyle@ epigram.org.uk
Online Amelia Impey onlinestyle@ epigram.org.uk
24.03.2014
White and Navy T-Shirt, £40 from Donuts. ‘Ringside’ Authentic Boxing Shorts, £28 from Loot. ‘Tuff’ T-Shirt, £25 and Grey Bomber Jacket, £80 both available at Donuts. Black Jeans, model’s own.
Photographer: India Castle-Gibb Creative Director/ Stylist: Deanne Ball Make-up Artist: Tracey Lear (tracey-ann.com) Models: Polly Chappell and Jake Weston With extra special thanks to... Loot 6-9 Haymarket Walk, Bearpit Island, Bristol BS1 3LN. GimmeTheLoot.co.uk Instagram: @LootVintageWarehouse Dutty 116 Cheltenham Road, Bristol BS6 5RW ShopDutty.com @ShopDutty Donuts 8 Perry Road, Bristol BS1 5BQ DonutsTheStore.co.uk @DonutsTheStore Hoko 24 The Mall, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4DS HokoShop.co @HokoShop
Style
Travel
Living
32
What’s On
The best pick of this fortnight’s theatre, film, music and more.
Theatre & Comedy
Abigail’s Party Bristol Spotlights warmly invites you to Abigail’s Party, Mike Leigh’s iconic ‘70s comedy. Taking place in the hostess Beverly’s wonderfully tacky home, she is determined to make the evening a successs - but the harder she tries. the more her plans unravel. It’s sad, funny, and very, very awkward. 24th - 26th March 40 Alfred Place 8pm
Flickr: Xanda
Dirty Dancing The classic love story between Baby and Johnny is brought to the stage in this explosive performance full of smash hit songs, passionate romance and sensational dancing. Until 6th April The Hippodrome 7.30pm
The Magic Flute Bristol Operatic Society proudly presents Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an enchanting tale of love and friendship which follows the story of brave Prince Tamino’s quest for his true love, Pamina. This stunning production uses elegant paper puppets and striking use of colour to accompany Mozart’s mesmerizing score. 26th - 29th March The Station 7pm
Film
Image: Spotlights
The Past Oscar winning director Asghar Farhadi’s latest offering is a complex drama about the consequences of lies and the pitiless grip the past has upon us all. Marie is attempting to finalise a divorce with her long-estranged husband, but as the plot slowly unravels, the macabre truth about her relationship is laid bare. 23rd March - 3rd April The Watershed
Gigs& Nightlife Denai Moore Catching ears as a singer songwriter is harder than ever but Denai has a unique quality to her folky, enchanting music which is a real treat. Thursday 27th March The Birdcage
What’s On
Editor: Josie Benge whatson@ epigram.org.uk
20 Feet from Stardom This fascinating documentary takes a look at the moving personal stories of the back-up singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of all time. It also includes interviews with Mick Jagger, Bruce Springstein, Stevie Wonder and Sting, as they theorise as to why such unquestionably talented singers weren’t able make the final leap to fame and fortune. From Friday 28th March Showcase Cinema de Lux Flickr: Steve M Walker
Molitov Jukebox There is really only one way to listen to folk ska, and that is from the front of the crowd, arms flailing wildly along to the trumpet solo. This band tour country towns all over the uk so they know how to raise a roof.
Wild Beasts One of the most refreshing and original indie bands of the past few years, these hard working northerners are a delightful and worthwhile shock to the system. Sunday 30th March O2 Academy
3 of the best... Breakfasts in Bristol Whether you’re nursing a hangover or just feel like treating yourself to some great breakfast grub, here are 3 of the best places in town for coffe, bacon or a pancake or two.
Translation / Transmission: Sweet Sugar Rage As part of Women’s History Month, the Watershed are celebrating the diverse ways women activists have communicated their struggle and resistance through film over the ages. Sweet Sugar Rage looks at the harsh conditions faced by women on a Jamaican sugar estate, and will be followed by a discussion. Tuesday 25th March The Watershed
Saturday, 5th April Thekla
Flickr: djenvert
Rocotillos This 1950s American-style diner is usually packed every Sunday morning – and with good reason. The menu offers pancakes to die for, incredible ‘shakes in anything from Oreo cookie to peanut butter and banana flavour, as well as hearty full English breakfasts with all the trimmings.
The Love Inn This Stokes Croft gem is renowned for its tasty bagels and pancakes as well as its more adventurous options – like French toast with caramelized cinnamon bananas and maple syrup. And all at very reasonable prices, too.
Havana Coffee Conveniently located on Cotham Hill, Havana Coffee serves no less than 15 types of English breakfast (including vegetarian options), has funky South American style décor and free tea or coffee with food on a weekday. What’s not to like?
Queen’s Road, Clifton
Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft
Cotham Hill, Clifton
CULTURE
Illustration by Rachel Mfon. See p.40 for full feature.
Epigram
24.03.2014
Arts
Editor: Claudia Knowles
Deputy Editor: Rose Bonsier
Online Editor: Erin Fox
arts@epigram.org.uk
deputyarts@epigram.org.uk
artsonline@epigram.org.uk
@EpigramArts
In Women’s History Month, Hollywood’s sexism ain’t so sexy So, International Women’s Day and the Oscars have come and gone. The former is dedicated to celebrating respect and positive attitudes towards women and their achievements and promoting equality, and the latter is an annual awards ceremony honouring achievements in the film industry. What’s the link between the two? The worrying answer is that there is little about the Oscars which fits in with the promotion of equality between men and women. Actresses are still at a disadvantage in Hollywood – according to a study of movie statistics, this year’s best actress nominees averaged 57 minutes on-screen in their films, compared to the best actors’ 85 minutes. Sandra Bullock, who was on-screen for 87% of Gravity, went some way towards shifting the balance, although director Alfonso Cuarón reportedly considered a male lead in initial plans for the film.
It isn’t just the acting which suffers from this unbalance – a recent report suggests women’s employment levels in the film industry are in decline and fewer women take on key roles as directors, writers, producers and editors than in 1998. Yet a study undertaken last autumn for the BFI found that independent films were more likely to be profitable if they had women in key production roles. The same could be said of films in which women play the lead role – the success of the recent Hunger Games films is largely due to the lead, Jennifer Lawrence, who plays a strong and independent female role. In fact, Catching Fire is the first movie featuring a female lead to top the yearly box office in the United States for over half a century, the first since The Sound of Music in 1959. Combined with the success of recent films such as Gravity and Philomena, this may be indicative of a general trend in the box office towards films with strong female flickr: Joe Seer leads. However, not only
Gjeta Gjyshinca
Red Women’s Workshop
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While Angelina Jolie topped the list for best paid women, her $33m was dwarfed by Robert Downey’s top payment of $75m
are women under-represented on screen and behind the scenes, but even the most successful female stars are paid significantly less than men. Of the ten biggest payments to actors per film, not one went to a woman. While Angelina Jolie topped the list for women, her $33m was dwarfed by Robert Downey’s top payment of $75m. Reports also show that age has far more influence in women’s earning potential than men’s – and this ageism towards women has cropped up yet and again in TV and media. The question is not only why women are being so underrepresented, but also what can be done to fight this imbalance. Gender inequality in Hollywood is only a single case of sexism throughout various sectors in society, and while much has been done in International Women’s Days campaigns to raise awareness, there are still serious issues which need to be addressed. The fact that sexism remains such a problem in so many areas in 2014 suggests an underlying prejudice against women in the film industry, or even an unconscious acceptance on the part of women to conform to gender stereotypes and accept that they are somehow inferior. It suggests that we should be doing more to shift this negative attitude from childhood, both in girls and boys. Women should neither be expected to put up with inequality, and nor should they accept it as a fact of life. Hollywood can make a start if all those involved in the film industry, from the scriptwriters to the directors to the producers to the actors themselves, strive not only to keep women on screen and involved backstage, but also to promote equality in the actual films produced. Given that millions of viewers watch the Oscars, and the films being celebrated, this would send a message to a significant proportion of the universal population – a message which International Women’s Day campaigners would be proud to promote.
What happened to plain Leaving the Tobacco Factory Theatre after and Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About watching their production of As You Like It, Nothing to name a few (including the best). I found myself thinking of the performance Some of these have been less blatant: who as ‘refreshing’. With knew 10 Things I Hate minimal prop usage About You is based (some chairs, a table, on The Taming of a piece of paper), the Shrew? Or She’s Why, screen adaptation, the Man on Twelfth traditional costume and an uncompromising Night? In one English do you give us adherence to lesson at school Shakespeare’s script, we even watched a everything and leave how could I have clay animation of thought this adaptation The Tempest. These the imagination to be refreshing? The versions prove that clue is in the word Shakespeare’s tales nothing! ‘adaptation’. are timeless, insofar Perhaps it is because I as plot structure is am not a regular theatreconsidered. Yet are goer, but during my life not his original tales, I have been bombarded with their medieval with modern versions of Shakespeare. Some language, bawdy puns and [enter stage of these have been blatant: Baz Lurhmann’s right]s timeless too? Why swap swords Romeo and Juliet, the BBC’s ShakespeaRe Told, for guns or have stately homes and not
WHAT WHO Frida Kahlo Artist 1907-1954 Strikingly distinctive, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is unlikely to
pass you by. The wife of fellow artist Diego Rivera and friend of the ‘founder of Surrealism’, André Breton, Kahlo produced bold, colourful and often selfreflective paintings. In her graphic and disturbing depictions of the natural toils endured by women, she is largely considered a feminist icon.
Odd, unsettling and even absurd, Kahlo’s surrealist-inf luenced pieces never fail to provoke reflection. Almost half of her paintings are selfportraits, focusing on the physical pain from which she suffered for many years of her life.
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From a dream skeleton entwined with dynamite (The Dream) to her own infant figure sucking from the breast of another woman (My Nurse and I), Kahlo brutally extends the vision of a suffering soul.
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39
Kitty Fuller visits Bristol’s buzzing Book Hive ‘The Book Hive is alive and growing’
Bristol’s first public library, the central library by College Green, was dedicated by local merchant Robert Redford on the 7th December 1613. 400 years on, and through a unique and living sculpture, years of books from the library appear in animation, filling the front entrance hall of Bristol’s central library. It first took residence on its birthday, the 7th December 2013, and the sculpture has steadily grown over the three months. Beginning with only 100 books, it now flutters with pages, springing to life
400 rustic and vintage smelling books that have been read by thousands of Bristol’s book enthusiasts over the past four decades. Both imaginative and inventive, it brings together the past and present, creating an experience that celebrates such a significant point in Bristol’s history. But how has this all come about? The hive was put together and designed by Rusty Squid, the avant-garde design collective based in the heart of Bristol’s Spike Island artistic circle. Levers and belts attached to the books slowly draw them open and closed, sending a literal buzz of excitement down the corridors. The project has expanded into an immense feat of mechanistic skill, combined with the imaginative capacity of a 400 year-old library. It was only with the help of insightful volunteers, artists, engineers, and designers from the South West of England it’s been able to grow into the masterpiece seen today. As a collective they ‘explore the primal emotions stirred when encountering objects and environments that sense, react and move as if they are alive’. Their strong and professional team embrace interesting and bespoke materials, and then mix this with the wonders of modern technology. Through this technique they create such bizarre yet inspiring pieces, exhibited perfectly through the unique attributions of the Book Hive. As an artistic collective they are constantly on the look out for new ideas, and exciting opportunities in which they can cast their skills. Having spent a while in the entrance of the library, it was fascinating to see the range of people all intrigued by the books’
ol’ Shakespeare? cardboard cut-outs? Why, screen adaptation, do you give us everything and leave the imagination nothing! The characters of the Tobacco Factory Theatre’s production captivated the audience; with no distractions they had everyone’s gaze fixed and ears tuned in, everyone’s minds revelling in the poetic language so that no one was left behind by the fastpaced dialogue. Musical intervals and mid-scene songs provided pleasant breaks for our internal translators. Rosalind accosted certain audience members during the famous epilogue, which left the rest of us giggling and grinning at their terrified faces; audience participation at its best! Despite actors and actresses assuming
24.03.2014
Erin Fox on TFT’s As You Like It
multiple characters, despite the small performance space of the theatre and despite the difficult language, I was transfixed. I was in the Forest of Arden, the boxing arena, the Court. I was not aware of it before seeing the Tobacco Factory Theatre’s traditional, unmodernised As You Like It, but I’m tired of 21st Century Shakespeare. Plain ol’ Shakespeare is enough. As You Like It is running as part of Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory until 22nd March www.sattf.org.uk/
buzz-like sounds. As a wishful artists myself, I enjoyed the array of different coloured books that filled the entrance hall. From the youth to the old of Bristol’s diverse refinement, it has certainly encouraged people to interact with the richness of the arts within the cultural homes of libraries and museums. It is extremely clever, as the hexagonal frames in which the books are assembled are inbuilt with movement sensors that respond as people walk past, allowing for the neverending rustle and creak of the books that
emphasises their years of use. Having a chat with some of the volunteers who have embraced the project and given their time to this honeycomb hive, one in particular described it as ‘a wonderful blend of art and engineering, reminding us of the intrinsic beauty and love affair we have with books as tangible items.’ For more info, or to check out Rusty Squid’s other work, visit www.rustysquid.org.uk
Tobacco Factory Theatre
WHEN Born in 1907, Kahlo’s work spans the first half of the twentieth century before she died aged only 47. Sadly, her work wasn’t acclaimed until decades after it was produced. Politics were to have an influence on both her work and personal life, where Kahlo strived to be associated with the Mexican Revolution of 1910, and reportedly engaged in an affair with Soviet politician Leon Trotsky.
WHERE Starting out in Mexico, Kahlo went on to spend a short time in the USA where Rivera’s works had been commissioned. Both husband and wife were dedicated communists, and returned to Mexico after unveiling Rivera’s poorly-received portrait of Lenin. Kahlo once said, ‘I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.’
A bus accident in which Kahlo was involved at the age of 18 left an indelible mark on the content of her work; she was bed-bound for long periods of time and unable to have children. Her stormy relationship with Rivera was equally an influential artistic source; Kahlo once reported, ‘I suffered two grave accidents in my life … one in which a streetcar knocked me down and the other was Diego.’ Nikolas Muray Collection
Millie Morris
Epigram | 24.03.2014
40
A moving performance?
For many, the term ‘Physical Theatre’, like ‘Interpretive Dance’, conjures images of an exceptionally abstract performance trying to show something deeply important to the performer but difficult for the audience to understand. It’s sometimes associated with amateur productions, a loss of focus, or worst of all, trying too hard to be arty. But done properly, physical theatre can be exceptionally engaging and have clear thoughtfulness and intelligence running through it.
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Sometimes natural physical movement isn’t enough to adequately depict what’s happening
Spotlights’ production of Mark Ravenhill’s Pool (No Water) was an example of physical theatre done really well. The choreography from directors Izzie Milne-Turner and Olivia Marcus was exceptionally tight, and the actors were perfectly in unison. They moved not only with confidence but with relish, switching flawlessly from one action or setting to another. Of course, it helped that the physical action was accompanied by a punchy script that moved the narrative slickly through events, but without the accompanying physical performances it would have been impossible to bring the script to life so. This performance made me realise that physical theatre can be used show actions and events that wouldn’t be possible in any other way. Without a huge stage, enormous budget and well-managed stunts, it wouldn’t be possible for the performance to literally show a woman incurring life-threatening injuries diving into an empty concrete pool. One alternative option would be to have an actor blandly recounting the story whilst
Arts Introducing: Rachel Mfon Far right: Jolaoso Portrait of a friend, in celebration of her cultural identity, painted with oil paint. Right: Beast Portrait exploring ideas of transformation - the human face merged with bestial, animalistic features, painted with oil paint. Far bottom right: Teiko I drew this whilst listening to music by Teiko. It’s a sketch of a friend I drew after being inspired by her music, drawn with a charcoal pencil and biro pen. Bottom right: Lianna La Havas A drawing of singer/ songwriter Lianne La Havas, using pencil.
ARE YOU AN ARTIST OR PHOTOGRAPHER? Or know someone who is? You could be the next Arts Introducing! Send us three examples of your work, with brief descriptions of each, how you got into art and what you are currently studying at Bristol.
Rose Bonsier on physical theatre and the absured
remaining static, sitting uncomfortably on a chair or loitering awkwardly in the centre of the stage. Physically acting out the dive, stood lent forward and arms outstretched, the actors were in the moment, and so were we sat in the audience. Professional productions will often use similar techniques. One of the most impressive physical performances I’ve seen was from Benedict Cumberbatch in The National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein. Directed by the remarkable Danny Boyle, Cumberbatch acted out the birth of Frankenstein’s creature, moving about on-stage as though he were an infant in an adult’s body taking its first stumbling steps. Not only would this have been physically demanding but psychologically as well - such a performance requires the actor to carefully co-ordinate every movement and as such consider their character in much
more depth than they might otherwise have to. Eve Mazza-Coates’ performance as a drug-addicted artist in Pool (No Water) was similarly impressive and deeply affecting. The audience watched her wracked with the shakes of withdrawal while she stuttered on about the destructive situation she’d found herself in. This was one of the most effective uses of physicality in the whole production and Mazza-Coates’s performance would have had made nowhere near the same impression without it. Physicality is important to any character, but sometimes natural physical movement isn’t enough to adequately depict what’s happening. Exaggerated and expressive movements may be more suited to demonstrating certain characteristics or states of physical change. So let’s embrace the physical within performance, because you risk losing so the real essence of a piece without it.
Epigram
24.03.2014
Editor: Gareth Downs
Deputy Editor: Matthew Field
Online Editor: Alejandro Palekar
filmandtv@epigram.org.uk
deputyfilmandtv@epigram.org.uk
filmandtvonline@epigram.org.uk
flickr: richcz3
Film & TV
@epigramfilm
Need For Speed is driving me crazy, yo! No driving movie in recent years has come close to Nicholas Winding Refn’s 2011 masterpiece Drive, but I felt there was the potential with Need For Speed. Yet while it is certainly fun, sadly Need For Speed falls short of being the next great driving film. Need For Speed, a spin-off of the hugely popular Need For Speed video game franchise, stars Aaron Paul - of Breaking Bad fame - as hothead racer Tobey Marshall who seeks revenge for the death of his friend in an illegal street race, which sees him wrongly imprisoned. ‘Next big thing’, Imogen Poots, co-stars as Julia Maddon, a British exotic car dealer. The pair break Tobey’s bail and race across country from New York to California in a stunning Shelby Mustang to challenge his rival, Dino Brewster, played by Dominic Cooper - one of a series of ridiculously named characters, - and reveal him as the villain responsible for his friend’s death. What ensues is essentially a glorified penis measuring contest facilitated by the use of a series of beautifully and technically shot car chases, races and stunts. The main let down with Need For Speed is a script which matches the depth and nuance of recent ‘masterpieces’ of new writing such as Battleship or Transformers. Most irritating was the utterly predictable and all too common storyline of a half-witted and clichéd: ‘oh look a girl - she can’t drive – *jokes* she can!’ sub plot. Another high point in the writing was where Aaron Paul got to shout a ludicrously extended ‘NO!’; very moving - and another point where he got to say ‘Yo!’. Finally an Americanised use of the word ‘tart’, which the writers clearly thought meant something like ‘baby’ or ‘sweetheart’, but we British would know better… However, to credit the actors they do a good job with what they are given. Poots is charming and funny and delivers a really accomplished performance which elevates her character from simply being the ‘love interest’. Aaron Paul is as good as you would expect and fits the rugged racer image perfectly, although some
of the lines he has to deliver are utterly cringe inducing, but, dare I say it, he looks great in a leather jacket behind the wheel of a Mustang. Need for Speed was never going to revive the driving genre on its own, at present it would be a success if it broke even of its $66m budget, but as a no holds barred thrill ride it certainly succeeds and does some real justice to the driving films that inspired it. Gage Skidmore
Matthew Field Deputy Film and TV Editor
Critics have pointed out the mindless immorality of the characters, who laugh of the constant near death experiences. These are characters so blind to the danger they face that even death cannot stop their drive for justice, or trying to staunch the wound of revenge. While more effective script writing might have led to this immoral attitude generating a more gripping story, unfortunately the writers clearly underestimate the intellectual capacity of their
audience to appreciate anything other than bland one dimensional stock characters. The morality barely even registers, which is a shame because, with a bit more thought and love put into the story as was put into the cars, we could have had a genuinely decent driving movie. But ultimately, why do we need silly morals when we can watch cars do cool stuff? Need For Speed teaches about as many moral lessons as the game it was spawned from but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to the super-car, or Aaron Paul, fan boy/girl. And there is some frankly mouth-watering eye candy. That’s right, I’m talking about the range of glorious super cars on display. And the whole film just feels cool. Paul looks the part. The stunts and chases nail you to your seat. While the story and script suffer, the technical sequences are all masterfully shot using almost no CGI and instead opting for practical effects for the races and aerial stunts. The cinematography and editing proves to be the film’s real saving grace. What it seeks to do it does well and provides that adrenaline fix that a driving film should. It is otherwise unpretentious and uncomplicated, letting the cars do most of the storytelling. It’s not great - it’s pointlessly silly and woefully scripted - but the characters are funny and enjoyable, the stunts are remarkable, and above all it left me with a childish glee and a sense of excitement that plenty of action thrillers simply lack. And when I got behind the seat of my 1.1 litre, silver Renault Twingo, I gripped the wheel that bit tighter, relished the rev of the engine and gently and safely pulled out onto Redland Road, the boy racer released in the catharsis of the guilty pleasure that was Need For Speed.
Need For Speed is in cinemas now Dir. Scott Waugh 130 mins.
Epigram 24.03.2014
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Lloyd Maliphant Film and TV Writer It is quite an amazing feat that Wes Anderson, director of The Grand Budapest Hotel, manages time and time again to make truly unique films. Over a career spanning 20 years and 8 films, he has managed to carve out a certain style that is instantly recognisable as his own. But it seems as though his previous efforts have all been little more than practice, a chance for him to perfect his techniques, and in The Grand Budapest Hotel, they come to glorious fruition. Here is an unashamedly entertaining film from start to finish; consistently fantastic. The film delves back through its layered narrative structure to recount the a d v e n t u re s of the titular establishment and its eccentric but charming concierge – and romancer of the elderly – Monsieur Gustave H. - Ralph Fiennes. The bulk of the story is seen through the eyes of the new lobby boy, Zero - newcomer Tony Revolori, - as he is taken under the wing of Gustave and is dragged into his ordeals when he becomes a wanted man. The plot is much stronger and more focused than any previous Anderson films, despite the gleefully hectic pace at which it unravels. The film is set in the fictional European republic of Zubrowka, and yet, in a typically Anderson fashion, largely populated by Americans and Brits. It’s this sort of anomaly that is totally commonplace in Anderson’s universe and one that highlights and separates it as its own entity. As with most Wes Anderson films it boasts an
impressive cast, including most of the Anderson regulars. It’s the newcomers though, that really steal the show. Ralph Fiennes plays Gustave sublimely, the perfect picture of politeness and etiquette but oxymoronically short-tempered and brash. It’s a wonderful role on paper which Fiennes turns into one of the most memorable comic performances in years. And every clown needs his straight man, which Revolori delivers with admirable, deadpan sangfroid. As the audience’s avatar, he grounds Fiennes madcap performance and eases us into this manic world. Other notables include Willem Dafoe’s ubiquitous menace as the sinister bodyguard to Adrien Brody’s irascible and petulant antagonist. To name and praise the rest of this stellar troupe would be to needlessly diminish my word count. It is a gargantuan cast; not necessarily consisting of the biggest names in Hollywood, i n s t e a d favouring more idiosyncratic character actors that make so much sense in Anderson’s world. Ultimately, it is director Wes Anderson who is really the star of the show, and no coincidence that I’ve mentioned him more in this review than any actor. His presence can be felt in every whip-pan, every starkly flat shot and in every whimsy of the picture. Rarely do you find a director with such control over each frame, all decisions clearly his own and not the product of any interfering studio system. Here is a man liberated by the freedom of the independent scene and able to create a piece of work that is so obviously a product of his unrivalled imagination. Alexandre Desplat’s tinkling, European-tinged score is beautiful; Yodelling choirs, lilting strings
“ ” An unashamedly entertaining film from start to finish; consistently fantastic
and booming horns make for an eclectic accompaniment to the quaint romp of Anderson’s antics. It’s a slightly more twisted and darker effort than what we’re used to with Anderson, reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock and the Ealing comedies, especially in a suspenseful museum chase scene, which ends in amusingly grisly fashion. There are huge laughs found in the film but amongst these moments of levity are the occasional emotional hits that really elevate it to the astounding work that it is. In the current cinematic climate; overwhelmed by remakes and sequels, it is just so satisfying to see such an original piece of filmmaking doing so well and any cinemagoers should really owe it to themselves to give The Grand Budapest Hotel a watch. Who knows, maybe it will encourage studios to give more filmmakers like Wes Anderson a chance to get their ideas out there, but if not, you will at least have had a delightful 100 minutes in the bright, comforting glow of a masterpiece.
flickr: walt74
A grand triumph for Wes Anderson
The Grand Budapest Hotel is in cinemas now Dir. Wes Anderson 99 mins
300: Rise of an Empire
forbes.com
of slow-mo to make you see every detail of the fighting choreography, or the imaginative and vibrant imagery that everything works together to create, making the film a joy to watch. This is all tied together with an effective soundtrack that makes full use of pounding drums to get the audience’s blood pumping and get them excited for upcoming action. The film is careful to preserve the original feel of the first one, and does a great job at it. However, it’s possible that it succeeds too well at capturing the spirit of the original film, as its biggest problem is that it goes through the exact same paces as 300. I’m not talking about its overall tone, as that is something that they were right to preserve, but rather how the plot seems to be retreading itself. Just like before, we have Greeks on the defence against a force that greatly outnumbers them, a moment where the Persian general meets with the Greek general to try and persuade them to go over to their side, and a narrator who addresses an army on the eve of battle about the film’s events before coming into play at the very end. While not identical, the sequel resembles the first one so closely in how it plays out that it somewhat makes you wonder what the point of it was. Conversely, the film elevates itself from the original through its casting. The protagonist,
Toby Jungius Film and TV Writer The original 300 from 2007 was the definitive macho film - it had action, sex, and enough gore to satisfy the inner blood-crazed psycho in all men. It certainly wasn’t an intelligent film, but it knew what it wanted to be, and it succeeded tremendously. So, seven years later, the release
of its sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, creates an important question: are all those qualities still enough, now that we have marginally matured? The franchise certainly retains all of its technical qualities. The film’s action is top-of-theclass, and introduces the new element of ancient naval warfare, a type of action rarely explored in films. Rise of an Empire takes full advantage of this, presenting clever naval tactics that strongly evoke the era it seeks to depict. While Zack Snyder doesn’t direct this sequel, it preserves the ultrastylised visuals of 300, whether it’s the heavy use
Themistocles, feels more rounded as a character than Leonidas, and much of that is due to Sullivan Stapleton’s performance. Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey reprises her role as Queen Gorgo and displays her signature ability to depict a female character that embraces her femininity without compromising on her capacity to be intimidating. The star of the show, however, is Eva Green as Artemisia, the Persian Naval General and the film’s main villain. Green masterfully envelopes her role as a vicious fighter and tactician, and uses her sexuality to utterly dominate the competition without it coming off as pandering to the audience. The Warrior-Queen is a character that has been done many times before, but Green perfects it, taking a simple character archetype and taking it to new levels, making her the film’s strongest component. Despite the characters’ repeated cries of fighting for freedom, Rise of an Empire fails to fully escape its predecessor, chained to the same motions and resulting in a sequel that does not deliver the same impact. With that being said, it’s definitely one of the better-directed action films currently on the market, and its stellar villain makes it a memorable ride you won’t regret experiencing.
300: Rise of an Empire is in cinemas now Dir. Noam Murro 102 mins
Epigram 24.03.2014
BBC Pictures
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Chilling, dark and comic: Inside No. 9
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Many familiar faces make an appearance and Shearsmith and Pemberton themselves display a CV of versatility. There’s huge variety; the physical comedy of bumbling housebreakers,
Catherine Blom-Smith Film and TV Writer I don’t often get nightmares, but the culmination of Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s clever and chilling Inside No. 9 genuinely made me lose sleep. This six-episode series is the kind of slow-boiling comedy that gets progressively darker and darker. You don’t notice it at first, but by the last episode, they’ve turned the lights out and you’re clenching your fists in the dark. The series is refreshingly unbound by constraints of recurring characters, plots or contrived concepts, except for the fact that each episode is set in the claustrophobic setting of a house, flat, or dressing room, number 9. Each episode is extremely funny with an uneasy edge, and then, in the last episode, the tables are turned. Shearsmith and Pemberton are masters of form – the second episode for instance is a memorable hymn to silent comedy, proving it can still be relevant. There is a brilliant meta-Macbeth episode for Shakespeare fan boys.
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Each episode is set in the claustrophobic setting of a house, flat, or dressing room, number 9
the hair-fine line of terminal illness jokes while people fight over a balloon filled with the dying breath of a pop star. You need a nature not easily offended by black humour, and if you like your horror slightly diluted, it provides a welcome break of tension with comedy. The best thing is that each episode, for all its twists and turns, ends ambiguously. The final consequences are never shown, which makes it all the more intriguing because it leaves your imagination to do what it does best – traumatise you in your sleep. Inside No. 9 is black comedy done masterfully, and a refreshing change from predictable period dramas and bleak murder mysteries. If you haven’t seen it, go and watch it now.
Inside No. 9 All the episodes are now available on iPlayer
psychological turmoil of a man who thinks he is doing a good deed, pastiche self-aware horror, and an episode which dances on
RIP BBC3 (2003-2015), short lived and not missed Richard Assheton Film and TV Writer BBC director general Tony Hall has unveiled plans to axe BBC3 as a linear channel. The move, which comes as part of efforts to save £700m a year by 2017, means that BBC3 will be an onlineonly service as of autumn 2015. The channel’s budget will be cut from £80m to £30m, practically in line with that of BBC4. This will mean a dramatic reduction of opportunities for young talent, notably in new comedy, where Little Britain and Gavin and Stacey are just two of many successful programmes commissioned by BBC3 since its inception. Hall’s decision has already attracted controversy, with Jack Whitehall one of a number
of comedians to condemn it: ‘I really hope reports that the BBC may kill BBC3 are just rumours. Their support of new comedy in particular is vital.’ The channel itself has also taken to Twitter to launch a campaign that has received widespread support from young people, with many expressing concern that axing the channel will further marginalise the voice of the youth demographic, an audience already under-represented by the corporation. Controller of BBC3, Zai Bennett agrees, pointing out that as well as producing comedy, ‘BBC3 is also the only channel in the UK that makes documentaries and current affairs programming specifically for the young adult audience. From Our War to The Call Centre via Tough Young Teachers, BBC3 tackles the most serious of subjects, but delivers them in a unique way that young adult
audiences find compelling.’ Hall has made it clear however that the first ever proposal to close a BBC channel has not been made lightly. He insists that the ‘difficult’ decision has been made for ‘strategic and financial reasons’ and that in closing an entire channel rather than announcing further ‘salamislicing’ across the BBC, he will ‘ensure that the quality of what we do is not compromised along the way.’ He emphasises that the plan still needs to be approved by the BBC Trust, the body that has rejected moves to close both BBC Radio 6 Music and its sister channel the Asian Network in recent years. Although this provides hope for supporters of the campaign to save BBC3, Hall is keen to stress that even if plans do go ahead new talent will not be sacrificed. The Guardian reports that the BBC is thought
to have struck a deal with TV ratings company Barb, whereby official viewing figures will include iPlayer statistics for the first time, protecting the interests of the youth demographic. The BBC have pointed to predictions that within years, 40% of viewing by 16- to 24-yearolds will come from platforms outside traditional television, suggesting that moving BBC3 online is a move that is inevitable, if slightly premature. The consequences of Hall’s decision will not be evident until the proposal, if approved by the BBC Trust, comes into effect. For now though the BBC will continue to answer questions from various voices, such as that of John Whittingdale, chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, who wonders how the BBC can justify closing down an entire channel to cut costs whilst as an organisation it has much to improve on in terms of efficiency and management.
Epigram
24.03.2014
Music
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Editor: Mike Hegarty
Deputy Editor: Danny Riley
Online Editor: Dan Faber
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BOpS Orchestra conducted by Michael Coleby
Preview - BOpS Presents: Mozart’s The Magic Flute
From the 26th to the 29th of March, UoB musicians from the Bristol Opera Society are running a production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at city centre creative space, The Station. I spoke to producer Felix Canetty-Clark about what makes this particular production unique and why this could be a perfect first opera for those unfamiliar with the style. In terms of music and drama, The Magic Flute couples the most enigmatic, dramatic themes with the some of the finest music by one of the greatest composers of all time. The production is a large one with a 25-piece orchestra, 17 singers, 2 producers, a director
and a conductor. I started off by asking how true this production will be to traditional ones in the past. Felix replied: ‘our production tells the same tale of love and friendship, but will be unique in its use of elegant paper puppets and striking application of colour.’ There are many other aspects that makes this production unique as he adds ‘the audience are on the same level as the orchestra. You will be able to see exactly what is going on both on stage and in the orchestra.’ This brings the audience closer to the action and allows them to experience the music in a way unlike that of a traditonal opera. Felix also mentioned the venue:
‘The Station may be known to most students as it is also used as a club venue. For our production it has been a blank canvas in that we have been able to craft it exactly as we want.’ Experiencing a classical performance in this otherwise decidedly modern venue should prove very interesting. Opera isn’t the natural musical territory of most students, so I asked Felix why those of you who are completely new to opera should come to this production: ‘This production has been produced, directed and conducted entirely by students.’ On a further economic note, a night at the opera for just £6 is, as Felix says, ‘an absolute steal’.
He adds that last month Sir Roger Norrington - famous British conductor and president of the London Philharmonic Choir - came to workshop the production. ‘We had a four hour rehearsal with him. It was hugely beneficial and inspirational for the singers and players to have such a famous figure giving them direction and guidance. He was hugely complementary of what we had achieved so far.’ Praise from such an esteemed classical music figure is indicative of the quality of this production. This is not one to be missed - get down to The Station this week! Guy Barlow
BOpS Presents: The Magic Flute 26-29 March starting 7pm The Station, Silver Street BS1 2AG Find out more at www.ubutheatre. com/themagicflute
Heeere’s Anthony: Room 237 Presents Surgeon The first night of Anthony Child’s quarterly residence in Bristol was a showcase in techno transcendentalism and rhythmic brutality. Jonny Hunter reviews the night and muses on techno’s increasingly broad appeal. If you haven’t noticed, Bristol is all about house music. It’s about other things too, as long as bass is involved somewhere, but walking down a road without tripping over a house night is harder than enjoying Lizard Lounge sober. As a steadily growing, successful techno night, Room 237 is therefore a bit of an anomaly. The leftfield events company has been spending its time putting on semi-regular nights with big names in interesting places: seeing such success that students have actually caught wind of it. The nights played host to critics’ favourite Andy Stott, the impossibly dark Demdike Stare and genre bending Surgeon. It was this last show where half the regular music section writers found themselves and went on to have such a good time to merit writing an article
about it. Techno’s been underground for a while now, but that takes a new meaning when you find yourself in repurposed prison cells with only a slow, solitary red strobe light to tell you what’s going on: your ears assaulted with bass and the crowd appearing like a slide-show of half developed photos under infra-red. The genre’s been pushed far enough out of the mainstream to warrant a kind of group solidarity and shared interest, so for the split seconds of vision it’s all redstained smiles and many questionable yet well-intentioned dance moves. The night attracts people from all demographics, which gives a great opportunity to see people who’d never normally interact find companionship through love of techno. The music itself has been consistently
great, with an emphasis on the more serious, deeper side of the genre and often introducing tunes that can only really make sense in a basement at 4am. Heavily rhythmic bass is a must, as is a kind of minimalist approach to dance music with ebbs and flows as opposed to floor gazing lulls between drops. At the same time it has the capacity to be pretty aggressive; techno was never really designed to be compatible with an iPod dock on a kitchen table; it was made in Detroit. The highest praise to give to Room 237 is the fact I could look round after the official end time of 5am and still see a crowded room. Bristol might be much more familiar with its house, dubstep and disco, but its techno underbelly is definitely here to stay. Jonny Hunter
Epigram
24.03.2014
47
Bristol boy done good:
George Ezra
In the midst of a busy European tour, rising bluesy songsmith George Ezra sat down with Epigram’s Rowena Henley to talk about celebrity, club snobbery and severely questionable cuppas. George Ezra has one of those refreshingly organic success stories that you rarely come across in today’s music world. Starting out at Bristol’s very own Institute of Modern Music, Ezra attracted attention simply due to his unique, beautiful sound and his own hard work. Since leaving BIMM he has gone from a residency in The Gallimaufry to becoming one of the BBC Introducing’s ‘Picks’ to a performance at Glastonbury festival and now he is headlining his own soldout UK tour. I have followed Ezra from the very beginning and was delighted to have a chat with him ahead of his performance at The Fleece a few weeks back. ‘Sorry I’m feeling quite rough today,’ Ezra tells me as I walk into the backstage room where he’s standing at the kettle in his pajamas. ‘Have you ever seen this before?’ He holds up a bottle of some very odd-looking Asian tea. ‘Rae Morris and Lucy Rose are the first people I ever supported and they swear by this stuff. Apparently one of the key ingredients is plant semen.’ As an interviewer, it’s hard to know exactly where to proceed from plant semen, but I soldiered on. I started by asking how the tour had gone so far. Ezra told me he’s really
loved it, especially cities like Edinburgh and Dublin where the crowds have been great. ‘It’s just been so busy,’ he said, hence the illness. It seems like he hasn’t had a minute’s break. ‘I was supposed to have a day off yesterday to recover,’ he told me, but he just happened to get a call from Dermot O’Leary who asked him to come down to London and play on his radio show. ‘Would you consider yourself a celebrity then?’ I asked ‘I mean, you have a Wikipedia page and everything.’ ‘That is the mark of any good celebrity,’ he responded, but he went on to say he doesn’t actually understand celebrity culture and he never really gets star struck. During the interview I learnt that his humbleness really is as genuine as that, he won’t be forgetting his roots any time soon: ‘It’s so exciting. After I play the London gig tomorrow my Dad is going to come pick me up and drive me back to our family home in Hertford and I get to sleep in the bed I grew up in!’ However, he didn’t seem too excited about the London gig itself. ‘There’s a lot more industrytypes there. It feels like they’re kind of watching you saying “Come on, play, you can’t mess up”. ’ I asked how he was feeling about playing in Bristol that night. He lit up
at this point and I could tell he really does love our little metropolis. We started talking about our favourite places to go out in Bristol. ‘I love The Gallimaufry, obviously. Mother’s Ruin and Mr. Wolfs are great. I also love Start The Bus, that’s where I used to go with my sister when she lived in Bristol so there’s just a lot of great memories there,’ I then asked the one crucial question I’m sure many a Bristol University student is dying to know: ‘Have you ever been to Lizard Lounge?’ Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer was no, but he has been to Bunker one or two times. It was brilliant to hear that Ezra shared my view on club snobbery: ‘It’s pointless. Who wants to go to a club and be like “ahhh I love this song”? For me, the shitter the song, the better. As long as I have a few pints and a few good friends I’m going to have fun.’
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Rae Morris and Lucy Rose are the first people I ever supported and they swear by this stuff. Apparently one of the key ingredients is plant semen
We went on to talk about his trip around Europe that inspired most songs on the Did You Hear the Rain album. He told me how it was simply a case of writing down any words, phrases or doodles that he picked up along the way and later coming back and seeing how he can make music out of them. He even got out his latest notepad of scribbles and I got a little sneak peek inside, which was pretty exciting. I caught a glimpse of a few words and a doodle of an old man inside. ‘Vienna was my favourite city; it’s so beautiful there’, Ezra went on to say. He told me how he thinks that European crowds are the best kind: ‘They’re not judgmental at all, they are just really there to enjoy themselves. But that’s not to say I haven’t played some amazing gigs in the UK.’ I told him I hoped tonight’s crowd lived up to expectations. Ezra opened the evening’s performance with ‘Blame It On Me’ - this jazzy, up-beat song set the tone of the evening from the start. The whole night buzzed with energy both onstage and off and Ezra built up a great rapport with the crowd, telling us stories behind the songs and cracking jokes about having to ‘last all day’ during the filming of his video for ‘Cassy’O’, which prominently featured some rather attractive females. My personal highlight of the evening was ‘Get Lonely With Me’. I couldn’t believe I had never heard this song before. From the first line I was completely lost in the deep, velvety nature of his voice.
“ Who wants to go to a club and be like ‘ahhh I love this song’? For me, the shitter the song, the better
This song perfectly illustrated Ezra’s old soul and flawless vocals, which would not be out of place in a 1950s New Orleans jazz club. This young performer has completed grasped what it is to be an authentic and interesting artist amongst the white noise of today’s music industry. Fastpaced songs such as ‘Budapest’ had the audience jumping around, while the likes of ‘Angry Hill’ and ‘Leaving It Up To You’ cast a beautiful stillness across the audience. Ezra ended on a high with ‘Did You Hear The Rain’, sustaining the energy until the end of the night and allowing this powerful song to really leave its mark as every one filed out of the venue. This young soul singer has a combination of unstoppable talent and sincere humbleness, which will no doubt lead to a long-lasting and admirable music career.
Epigram
24.03.2014
48
Reviews The War on Drugs ... on drugs!
The War On Drugs Lost In The Dream Secretly Canadian 17th March 2014 while on ‘Red Eyes’ he whoops for joy as he loses himself in a jubilant lick. Lost in the Dream, though, is equally as absorbing as it is expansive. A brief, halfway pause to this insistent urgency sees meditative instrumental ‘The Haunting Idle’ follow ‘Eyes to the Wind’, a poignantly crafted track of considerable beauty. Beginning with a sparser strum, the gentle vocal recalls that of Slave Ambient favourite ‘Best Night’, asking his elusive lover in a moment of brilliant lyrical pertinence, ‘Have you fixed your eyes to the wind?’ It is difficult to avoid comparison to avoid comparing this album to the pioneers of ‘classic rock’ when at times it swings so prominently to the rhythms of Springsteen, Petty et al- ‘Burning’ is an explicit homage to Bruce’s ‘Dancing in the Dark’. Yet it is the refreshing reinvention of the classic formula that sets Philadelphia’s finest apart, as synths and mood gild guitars. The effect is stunning and has proffered a truly stellar LP. Heartbreak has rarely sounded so good. Sam Mason-Jones
flickr: chrisgoldny
Break ups are wonderful aren’t they? There is something in the recess of romance that consistently presses songwriters to bare all and realise their best- think Beck’s Sea Change, Closer by Joy Division, Jeff Buckley’s Grace or, err, 21 by Adele. So it was with Adam Granduciel, the War On Drugs front-man, who turned from the loneliness of his recent heartache to pen Lost in the Dream. The record is the sound of a transcendent catharsis. Picking up where 2011’s Slave Ambient left off, it is a work of sprawling soundscapes and shimmering guitar lines; the band banish the confines of lonesome claustrophobia to evoke infinite space. It feels overwhelmingly happy: there is barely a minor chord progression to be found, and though Granduciel has played up the importance of his more downbeat lyrics, they are never too barbed to jar with the giddy rhythms that immerse them. Indeed, opener ‘Under the Pressure’ finds the singer ‘standing in the wake of [his] pain, staring straight into nothing’, before breaking, trance-like, into boundless euphoria, Future Islands ... on drugs!
Future Islands Singles
flickr: bearlikemouse
4AD 25th March 2014 Maryland-based indie synthpoppers Future Islands return with their fourth album ‘Singles’, which is not a best of compilation, as the name may imply, but the follow up to their well received 2011 record On The Water. Future Islands’ impassioned performance on David Letterman’s Late Show earned plaudits earlier this month from the likes of Guardian music heavyweight Tim Jonze and synthpop queen bee and 4AD labelmate Grimes. But does their latest offering live up to the hype? Album opener and lead single‘Seasons - (Waiting On You)’ is the clear stand-out – a gorgeous and heartfelt paean to change and relationships, set to euphoric synths and driven by lead singer
Evian Christ Waterfall
It might not be quite fair to say that Kanye West brings out people’s nastier sides, but it looks like time spent behind the buttons on last year’s Yeezus has definitely beefed up Tri Angle records beatmaker Evian Christ’s approach a tad. Former offerings like 2012’s MYD specialised in a woozy, opiate take on trap that managed to be both brooding and restful, yet here, the UK producer’s rhythms smack like a fist across an unsuspecting croissant-bearer’s cheek. Marking the producer’s first foray into fully fledged banger territory, opener ‘Salt Carousel’ sends chaotic, clattering snares across a backdrop of warped synth stabs; an unashamedly avant-garde, challenging piece of industrial music that could still easily send any high street club into gurning paroxysms. That this sort of garish aggression is pretty much
replicated across the whole EP does come across as a definitive statement of intent from such a formerly mellowed, downtempo artist, but while tracks like ‘Propellor’ and EP standout ‘Waterfall’ pack a lurching intensity that Death Grips would be proud of, a moment of respite might be welcome. This EP proves Evian Christ’s dab hand in creating the kind of unashamedly tear-out tunes that few would have thought him capable of even six months ago, but a track or two of the deft ambiance that first launched him into the big league’s attention would help to hammer in his abrasive ambitions a bit more effectively. Even so, Waterfall remains a brief, compelling curveball of a release that would pack as much punch in an Atlanta basement night as in the offices of Pitchfork. Alex Schulte
flickr: laviddichterman
Tri Angle 17th March 2014
Samuel Herring’s fiery vocals – a true summer anthem to warm you this spring. The rest of the album follows on strongly, with tracks ‘Spirit’ and ‘Back In The Tall Grass’ highlighting the smooth interplay between vocals, bass and synthesisers that forms the cornerstone of Future Islands’ sound. Comparisons to the likes of The Knife and the UK’s Chvrches are inevitable, but Future Islands stand out from the crowd by crafting a unique sound and persona, whilst still staying true to their synthpop and new wave influences. Don’t let their endorsement by the likes of Pitchfork and The Quietus put you off; Future Islands have made an album that everyone can - and should - enjoy. Alex Whitehead Evian Christ ... in greyscale!
Epigram
24.03.2014
25 49 Perfect Pussy Say Yes To Love Captured Tracks 18th March 2014
Singer Meredith Graves shrieks, howls and speaks all over this aggressive garage punk mess. Say Yes To Love consists largely of white noise, guitar and strangled shouting, recorded, it seems, in an air-tight cubicle somewhere in Syracuse, New York – production is scratchy at best. Lyrics, when decipherable, are suitably angry and driven, usually detailing the past conquests of Graves or other dilemmas she faces in an uptight modern world that is too rigid and square to placate a punk like her. Not that Perfect Pussy are a one-trick pony:
there are more facets to their - mixed metaphor - bow than they will probably be given credit for. Glacial moments of introspection are given licence once the walls of feedback and squall recede to a lower plane, and there are stabs of analogue synthesiser that weave in and out of the cacophonies. It’s a bit more experimental that the EP they released last year entitled I Have Lost All Desire For a Feeling, but no less feral or purposeful. At only 23 minutes long Say Yes To Love is, if nothing else, bitesized enough not to demand everyone’s vitally important time. Barney Horner
What’s on in Bristol Atomic Bomb: William Onyeabor - 2nd April, Colston Hall Members of the mid-00’s dance-rock elite - ie. LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and Bloc Party - come together to recreate the sounds of the Nigerian synth master.
Flower-Corsano Duo - 11th April, The Exchange Excellent improvisational group featuring members of Sunburned Hand of The Man and Vibracathedral Orchestra. Set those drones to stun, man.
Evian Christ - 4th April, Start The Bus Cortex-shattering EDM and trap beats collide with brutal noise experimentalism in the new material from the Yeezus producer. Catch him showcasing his Waterfall EP in the intimate city centre venue.
Room 237 presents Objekt - 12th April, secret location His bio says: ‘adventures in machine music built to make subs rattle and feet wiggle; a convoluted mess of elektrology and teknology, 3-step, basscore, post windmill, proto-minimal wankstep, gondola, shithouse, acid wonk, no more, no less.’ Need we say more?
Loop - 10th April, The Exchange Meditative drone-rock of the highest order from the 80’s indie legends. Frontman Robert Hampson asserts this will not be a permanent reunion so catch them while you can.
Stephen O’ Malley - 12th April, The Old Coroner’s Court The legendary guitar conceptualist and one half of the mighty Sunn O))) brings the noise to this creepy venue. Support comes from French kraut/ black metal hybrid Aluk Todolo and upcoming London grunt-mongers Ghold.
flickr: sumlin
Matt Berry - 8th April, Thekla 70’s-obsessed TV funnyman brings his prog and folk-inflected original material out on tour.
Forest Swords - 10th April, Thekla After postponement the Wirral producer brings his arcane-sounding, dubby electronica to Bristol.
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Epigram
24.03.2014
Science & Tech
Editor: Molly Hawes scienceandtech@epigram.org.uk
@EpigramSciTech Deputy Editor: Sol Milne deputyscienceandtech@epigram.org.uk
Online Editor: Stephanie Harris
Bristol’s food revolution Eleanor Rogers Science Writer
Bristol has been awarded the title of European Green Capital 2015, causing a huge stir in all things green and, to use a rather worn- out term, ‘sustainable’. This may have something to do with all the fair trade, good-for-the-Earth options of cafes and restaurants popping up over Bristol, although as we know, Bristol has always been on the edgy side of things. But this time it’s not just Bristol, Britain as a whole may finally be on the edge of an overhaul of the ‘mass-produced’ food culture that’s been haunting this country. To investigate this, I’ve looked into some of the new alternative methods of food production around the country as well some places to experience eco-food yourself closer to home. UNDERGROUND FOOD Zero Carbon Food has recently set to work converting some of old tunnels and underground units in south-west London from creepy subways to colourful gardens growing none other than coriander, rocket and watercress. These rather posh salad foods are then dispersed in various restaurants around the capital. This is a fantastic example of how wasted space can be used incredibly well and save costs and resources of shipping salads in from all over the world, as well as saving ever precious land. Not forgetting lowering the price of the VERY costly bags of greens.
Flickr: margaretkiljoy
CITY FARMS Think your miles from the nearest patch of sprouts? Think again, you’re probably less than ten. City farms are on the rise, using empty spaces in the middle of busy towns is getting the most out of the local environment. St. Werburgh’s City Farm and the Severn Project in Bristol, to name a couple, provide meat, eggs and salads from the city to the city.
Flickr: crfsproject
HYDROPONICS AND AEROPONICS No soil? No problem! Plants can be grown straight from a water or air environment – with a little help of course. The ‘H2O Farm’, based in Slough, has patented technology to grow barley on shelves in a large shed which then goes to feed hungry cattle. The benefit of this is that growing food for animals in buildings rather in fields could reduce the growing tension over the choice to use land for meat or crops. Two birds, one stone.
Flickr: malonekm
Rowena Ball Science Writer Jewish and Muslim communities throughout the UK have jumped to the defence of shechita and zabiha – the methods of killing animals for food sanctioned by the Torah and the Qu’ran respectively. This follows the British Veterinary Association’s condemnation of the practices earlier this month. The controversy stems from the fact that the animals are not stunned before slaughter and president-elect of the BVA John Blackmore has predicted than outright ban on such techniques is looking increasingly likely, due to the perceived inhumanness. Dr Blackmore was careful to note that his statements came from concern for animal welfare rather than an attack on religious groups. However, Dr Shuja Shafi, deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, has responded by pointing out that these methods were devised with animal welfare ‘at the core of one’s belief ’. Hechita and zabiha are not the same thing but the element that they have in common is what has raised the BVA’s concern: conscious animals killed with an incision to the neck to insure it is drained of blood before consumption. Defenders of the practices point out that, as this completely cuts blood flow to the brain, it causes immediate unconsciousness when carried out by trained practitioners. Writing for The Guardian with members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Jonathan Arkush, Dr Shafi points out that the traditional methods of stunning animals in the UK have not been proven to be more humane than this practice. While animals stunned by electrocution, gassing or captive bolt may be paralysed and therefore unable to show pain, it is impossible to know whether it is feeling pain or not.
Arkush and Shafi also point out that there is a risk of animals regaining consciousness during conventional slaughter which is not present during shechita or zabiha. Religious figures are not alone in their defence of their customs. Members of the UK government have spoken out against Dr Blackmore’s comments, notably David Cameron and Nick Clegg. In a speech to the Knesset on March 12th, Cameron assured the Israeli Parliament that ‘on [his] watch, shechita is safe in the UK’. Clegg addressed the issue of protecting religious minorities, stating that ‘as a liberal’ he believes in protecting diverse culture and ancient beliefs. There is hope that, if a ban on the slaughter of conscious animals came into law, these customs would still be protected in the UK to an extent. In 2006 Dr Haluk Anil, then a research fellow in Veterinary Medicine at University of Bristol and now a Consultant for the RSPCA, published a paper claiming that traditional methods of stunning are not necessarily incompatible with shechita and zabiha. Dr Anil stated that his research confirmed that blood loss is not impeded by the animal being stunned with a captive bolt before incision. It is estimated that around 6% of students in the UK are practising Muslims while the Union of Jewish Students has 8500 members in the UK and Ireland. University of Bristol’s website says: ‘The University periodically assesses the demand for particular dietary requirements, whether arising from religion or belief (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, kosher, halal). The University endeavours to meet such requirements through its catering services; taking into account cost, demand and the practicality of providing for such diets’.
Flickr: tricky (rick harrison)
Flickr: dierk schaefer
IN BRISTOL A little closer to home, you can get your hands on some well-produced food and contribute that little bit to our own food revolution: • Chickpea Café on Cotham Hill I can vouch for myself. They advertise local produce and only sell hand-made foods. The halloumi and roasted veg wrap is a must. • Arc Café, a community project to aid recovering addicts, is wholesome in a social and environmental sense. It sells very affordable lunches and snacks all hand-made from local ingredients while supporting those in the community who need it. • Beatroot Café on Lower Park Row also boasts cheap local foods as well as a freshly done up and slightly edgy interior. Definitely worth a trip if you’re on your way to Cabot. • Café Kino offers the same as the above but in an even more extreme version. The whole company is going ethical and is partly owned by its workers. It’s also completely vegan – a scary thought for some maybe but well worth a try because why not? I’ve heard the falafel could rival that of Falafel King’s. • Fancy staying in? ‘Bristol Veg Boxes’ are affordable at only £7 for potatoes, carrots, leeks, courgette, parsnips and broccoli from Leigh Court’s Farm on the other side of Ashton Court. This is a great way to support local economy, go organic and get fresh food delivered to your door for FREE! They also offer extra fruit, eggs and other goodies. What’s not to love? As futuristic as the idea of underground or water-grown food may be, it’s well on its way to our plates. For now, there are plenty of options to help change our food ethos and where better to start than in a city already in the lead?
Is ritual slaughter ever pain free?
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24.03.2014
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Crocodile vs snake: unpacking the meme Rob Cooper Science Writer
Flickr: e_monk Flickr: charl1ie
On 2nd March an epic four hour duel to the death between an Olive Python and a metre long crocodile was captured in a series of pictures by Tiffany Corlis. The event was observed by several other shocked spectators on the shores of Lake Moondarra near Mount Isa in North West Queensland. How does the snake manage such a daring feat and how on earth does it digest such an enormous meal when we can get indigestion simply from eating too fast? Constricting snakes typically attack by biting their prey, and piercing them with hundreds of recurved teeth to prevent escape. This holdfast allows the snake to wrap its body around the animal; each time it exhales, the volume of its lungs and the snake crushes even tighter. Every breath brings you closer to death. The extremely flexible lower jaw of snakes allows them to swallow prey larger than their own head without dislocating their jaw. Snakes like the Olive Python are more at home with smaller prey such as rats or wallabies but the opportunity presented by a large prey item such as a crocodile is mouthwatering. It means the snake can afford to go without food for several months, and in extreme cases snakes have been observed to go up to two years between meals. Of course, attacking a powerful croc is risky for obvious reasons and also because it will take the snake around five hours to swallow such a meal and leaving it completely vulnerable to attack by a dingo or another predator. Irrespective of this, snakes have been known to regurgitate their meal if they are interrupted or attacked soon after having swallowed their food.
After swallowing their prey, the snake’s digestive systems go into overdrive. The intestine, which exists in a massively reduced state between meals, suddenly becomes active and can grow up to 4 times in size in a period of roughly 48 hours. This also contributes to the further bloating of the snake even after the meal is wolfed down. Within two weeks the snake will begin to slim down as most of the fat and muscle are digested, and after about three weeks, the snake will egest a calcium ‘blob’ containing remnants of feathers, claws and hair that the snake was unable to digest. However, snakes do sometimes misjudge the size of their prey causing things to get very ugly. Nine years ago, in Florida a Burmese python was found with a dead alligator still half inside its tattered remains. The possible explanations include that the alligator was simply too big to swallow or that it wasn’t quite dead: meaning it could have struggled inside the snake and broken an artery causing the snake to burst. These misjudgements however are fairly rare. Pythons have an uncanny ability to sense the heartbeat of their prey, which for them is very energy efficient as they can regulate how much pressure to apply to their deadly squeeze. Whilst giant prey taken by snakes acts as fuel for the imaginations of many misguided horror movie directors, it is worth remembering the snakes normally tackle much smaller prey. Even the largest of snakes, such as the green anaconda, tend not to attack most humans as our shoulders are typically too wide for the snake to ingest… although this does little to make the prospect of having the air crushed from your lungs any more appealing.
April fools: scientists show us how its done Molly Hawes Science Writer As scientists we aren’t known for our practical jokes. We’re often seen as cool, clinical calculators with a poor sense of humour. Epigram takes a look at some of science’s better pranks in the run up
to April Fools ’ Day. Patrick Moore was perhaps one of the best known astronomers. In his spare time, he taught himself to play the glockenspiel and wrote over seventy books on astronomy. In 1976 he played an elaborate hoax on BBC2 radio: he told listeners that thanks to an auspicious alignment of Jupiter and Pluto at 9.47am, the earth’s
gravitational field would be weakened. At 9.48 the phone rang off the hook with listeners reporting how high they had managed to jump. In 2008 the BBC played fake documentary footage of flying penguins, telling viewers this was a first sighting for zoologists. The video starred Monty Python actor Terry Jones and was aired as a teaser to a new series.
The penguins are depicted flying to the South American rainforests. Tweeting took a battering in 1999 when a magazine published an article claiming that emails could now be sent telepathically. Readers wrote in to express delight and consternation at this latest invasion of privacy. This may seem far-fetched but in Germany thought-driven cars are under
development, so this technology may not seem so unrealistic in the future. Nature is a bastion of science famous for its high-quality academic literature. In 1998 they pulled a highly celebrated prank involving the discovery of a flying t-rex. The bones were reportedly damaged by fire. It was dubbed Smaugia Volans which delighted many Lord of the Rings fans.
Flickr: Leshaines
Flickr: Fulla T
Epigram 24.03.2014
Sport Jo Bloggs Sports Writer
Bristol football: the only way is up
News168.co.uk
Bristol has always lacked that one key ingredient as a city. A football team with a national presence playing in the top division. Bristol City’s Championship play-off defeat in 2008 provided a momentary glimmer of hope, but since then both Bristol sides have been on a downward curve. Now with the season entering the final stages, it’s a good time to evaluate how the sides have fared and if there is any cause for optimism that Bristol can finally have a football team to be proud of. Bristol City, with ten games remaining, find themselves 15th in League One, 5 points clear of the relegation zone. Winning their last three games has been crucial with survival now looking likely. To have suffered a consecutive relegation in to League 2 would have been catastrophic. As it is their recent form has been good, 17 points from their last 10 has led to renewed optimism that although this season has been inconsistent and wasted, promotion could be a serious target next year. City have been at their best this year when playing without fear, using attack as the best form of defence. Despite being in a relegation scrap all season, they are the 6th highest scorers in the league with Sam Baldock currently top goal scorer for the division. In Baldock City have a player who is proven at this level through his time at MK Dons. Bought from West Ham, he has clear ability even if not quite making the grade there. The pacey, skillful Jay Emmanuel Thomas completes one of the
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most formidable forward lines in the League with 38 goals between them. Their goals have proved crucial as Bristol City have struggled defensively, keeping only 2 clean sheets all season. Assuming they can hold on to their star strikers, reinforcing the defence is where manager Steve Cotterill will need to focus his attention this summer. On 41 points, with 10 games remaining City should have enough to avoid the drop, particularly if they can beat fellow strugglers Crewe and Notts County at home. A season in which many hoped for an immediate return to the Championship has teetered on the edge of disaster but City have an infrastructure and stature big enough to attract players so that if they stay up they should aim for a push for the play offs next season. Bristol Rovers have hardly
had a chance to gloat at their neighbour’s misfortunes as they have had a relegation fight of their own to focus on. Rovers sit 16th in League 2 and have a 5 point gap to the relegation zone. With 11 games remaining though it is hard to be as confident in their survival as with Bristol City. A factor in this is that their next 4 fixtures are all against sides in and around the play offs. Struggle in these games and Rovers could find themselves back in the thick of a dog fight. It may be their saving grace that only 2 sides get relegated from League One and bottom placed Torquay are already looking cut adrift. Rovers have relied too heavily on the goals of John Joe O’Toole, their only player to reach double figures this season and need to recapture their knack of discovering great strikers. What they would give
now to find another Jamie Cureton, Marcus Stewart, Jason Roberts or Rickie Lambert. If Rovers stay up this season then with an experienced manager in John Ward and a potential new stadium, they have to aim for a top half finish next season. At all costs though they cannot drop out of the Football League as it is no given they would find their way back. Both sides remain well supported and are in the top 5 for average attendance in their respective divisions. Rovers perhaps have the fuller ground, but City are still attracting an above average attendance for their position. The potential then is there for one of these sides to push on and give Bristol a side to be proud of and get behind. It is a long way back but here’s hoping for survival this season and something special next year.
The future of test match cricket Edward HendersonHowat Sports Writer Continued from page 56 The 2005 Ashes were pure white gold. Every ball, every run, every wicket sewed together a stunning tapestry of cricket. Each moment was an intriguing story in itself then stepping back from the individual stitches and the whole magnificent canvas is revealed. Skill and daring can be enjoyed in T20s and ODIs but there is no time to create the same sense of theatre. The one day arena serves up scores of predictable and formulaic contests but no two Test Matches are ever the same because each one tells its own tale as the days unfold. Pressure can build for hours before a sudden moment of brilliance can turn a match on its head. When England’s Gary Pratt ran out Ponting in 2005 it was not only the quality of fielding which won him national
adoration. His direct-hit was a pivotal turning point in the match and series. England were defeated by India in the Chennai Test Match of 2008 but so many sub-stories were woven into the contest. Strauss triumphed scoring hundreds in both innings, Swann shone on debut taking two wickets in his first over. England were seamlessly winning the match as the days went by before Tendulkar’s innings of genius in the 4th innings led India to their famous victory. Such gripping tales can unfold only in Test Matches. The contests and duels of other sports are highly anticipated but so often short lived. In Test Matches, personal rivalries can be drawn out across the decades. From McGrath and Atherton to Harris and Cook, individual contests constitute another fascinating aspect of Test cricket. Maidens, yorkers, googlies and bouncers may seem a foreign language but dare to delve into this world and it will
enthral you. No other sport or format of cricket can combine the apparent serenity of tea intervals, whites and blazers with the raw intensity of play. A fast bowler will sprint four miles in a day’s play; a fielder must stand ready for hours, waiting for that one match shaping catch to come their way; and a batsman plays in the knowledge that a single mistake will send them off the field. No physical contact is allowed yet bowlers fire balls of almost 100mph at batsmen’s heads. Players may be sledged to excess but their success will still be applauded by the opposition. It is the most sporting of sports demanding bravery to play, dedication to watch and commitment to follow. Learn its magic and you will be able to gaze upon the most breathtaking display. The alluring beauty of cricket is visible in every form of the game but only when its drama is stretched over 5 days can its ultimate form be reached. The IPL and other T20
competitions are an exciting part of the game but if we spend too long gorging upon a gluttony of sixes, sponsors and slogs the beauty of Test cricket will be de-valued. South Africa and Australia have offered hope in wishing to extend future Test series. But the recent disbandment of a Test Championship in favour of the Champions Trophy indicates that the ICC still do not prioritise Test Match Cricket. As Sachin Tendulkar said in 2009 “Twenty20 cricket is the dessert and you can’t survive on that. Who wants to eat only desserts? Test cricket is my main course, with all the meat and vegetables, and then it is nice to have Twenty20 as a dessert.” Put simply, if the cricketing community is only fed T20s and ODIs it will be sick. By all means enjoy the sweetness of the one day game but realise that the true culinary delight lies in Test Cricket. A balanced diet between the two is what will allow cricket to stay in fine fettle for many years to come.
Editor’s Column
Sports Editor Jacob Webster takes the opportunity to revel in the delight of the RBS 6 Nations I guess one of the perks of being a Sports Editor with my own column is that, every now and then, I get a blank canvas upon which I may write about anything that takes my fancy. Thinking about this week’s column, there was only one thing that I could even consider writing about – the RBS 6 Nations, a magnificent combination of the general atmosphere, the ambience of friendly rivalry mixed in with something slightly more threatening, the cocktail of alcohol, mud and patriotism, the smorgasbord of attacking flair, incredible collisions and gut-wrenching tension. Passion is a word over-used in the context of sport. It is used to signify any players showing an inclination to sing the national anthem before an international football game, or an inebriated rendition of Jerusalem halfway through the afternoon session of Day 3 of the Lord’s Test Match. Well, if you want to see passion, take a look at Alun Wyn Jones, a 6ft 5 grizzled forward, descending into floods of tears midway through Land of My Fathers under the roof in Cardiff; take a look at Chris Robshaw, at Joe Launchbury, at Tom Wood, dragging themselves off the floor to fly up in the face of another oncoming attack and put in another colossal hit, all to prevent a single metre of ground being gained; take a look at 50,000 Irishmen, from both north and south of the border, standing and applaud ingthe majestic Brian O’Driscoll as he made his way off the Dublin turf for final time, and look at BOD himself struggling to hold back the tears during his final postmatch interview. As a proud England rugby supporter, of course I have been left somewhat deflated by the final look of the 6 Nations table. Do I feel like England are the second-best team in the northern hemisphere? I do not, as were it not for 15 minutes at the start of their opening game in France, I have no doubt whatsoever that Stuart Lancaster’s men would have gone on to comfortably take the Grand Slam. England had, without doubt, the player of the tournament in Mike Brown, a player so far above his contemporaries in the backs division that I would go so far as to say that he is the form player in world rugby at this moment in time. The forward pack must now be considered as one of the most feared globally, with Launchbury and Courtney Lawes surely the best second-row partnership currently gracing a rugby pitch. And there is so much potential still to come back into the fold – Alex Corbisiero, Tom Croft, Marland Yarde, Manu Tuilagi and Christian Wade. The future is bright for English rugby, and I for one cannot wait for next year, when I feel England have as good a chance as any of lifting the William Webb Ellis Trophy again on home turf. What of the other sides in the tournament? I wish to make it abundantly clear that I am not being a sore loser here – I truly believe that Ireland deserved to come out on top, and under Joe Schmidt they must be the most tactically adept and efficient side in the world. The Ireland-England game at Twickenham was, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest, and most absorbing test match that I have ever seen, and anyone that begrudges BOD, dare I say the world’s best ever player, having his final, aweinducing and magnificent send-off, is not a true rugby fan. He has been a stalwart in the truest possible sense of the word, and Irish rugby will never be the same. Wales were a side perhaps still suffering a Lions-induced hangover, a shadow of the frightening machine that steamed to consecutive Grand Slams over the last two years. The destruction of a, quite frankly, awful Scotland team apart, they struggled against teams that were more physical and inventive, teams that had worked the single bloody-mindedness of the ‘Warrenball’ tactic. France were just so French, brilliant one minute, appallingly bad the next. From the sublime in the shape of Gael Fickou’s last minute, length of the field try against England, to the sheer awfulness of their slow, plodding performace against the lifeless Scots on the Murrayfield bog. Scotland were as bad as they have been for a long time, a mirror image of their shockingly bad pitch – lifeless, brittle, none too pretty on the eye. This was down, in no small part, to their coach, Scott Johnson, a man intent on stamping his authority on the team by dropping, then reinstating, and then dropping again the captain, Kelly Brown. The sad thing is that Scotland have such talent – Richie Gray and Stuart Hogg, for example – and the sooner that Johnson vacates his desk to be replaced by Vern Cotter, the better. Finally, Italy – without doubt the pluckiest team in Europe, monumental in defence - time and again making tackle after tackle. But the fact is that it simply is not enough to be the brave loser, and the Italian fans can only regard the Wooden Spoon year as a failure, a step back from the vast gains made in recent years. The last couple of months have been a rollercoaster for all rugby fans, the weeks blending in to create a long wait for the next gameday, the games themselves riotous displays of rugby brilliance. Now it’s a case of settling down and counting down the days until next February, when we can do it all over again. We love it!
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Sports Editor Jacob Webster gathers the best of the action together in our Varsity Day Special Swimming and Water Polo Alice Beckett On Wednesday afternoon the University of Bristol Swimming and Water Polo club scored a decisive victory over UWE, winning three out of three of their Varsity contests. All three contests were held at the University Swimming Pool. The Men’s Water Polo team kicked off the action winning their match in fairly tightly fought game. Although Bristol led from the outset, UWE battled hard to avoid an embarrassing defeat maintaining pressure on the Bristol side throughout. Ultimately UWE’s attempts were no match for Bristol’s strength and Bristol won the game 8 goals to 4. Next up were the Women’s Water Polo team who maintained the earlier momentum to score the second win of the day. In the absence of their usual goal keepers, the Women’s team defended effectively to reduce UWE’s opportunities to score. Final score: Bristol wins 10 goals to 6. The afternoon culminated in the Swimming competition, which saw both Bristol and UWE entering A and B teams for a tightly fought varsity gala. From the first event, the 4x50m Medley Relay, it was clear that the UWE Men’s swimming team would be a force to be reckoned with. Despite this, the Bristol Men’s side battled hard to make small gains against the strong UWE side with strong performances in the 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle. Coupled with a convincing performance from the Bristol Women’s team and strong performances from all in the mixed relays, Bristol won the match 59 points to 54.
Trampolining
Alex Wilson
After last year’s unfortunate defeat by UWE, Bristol came back fighting this year, with strong performances throughout the evening. Suzie McKee, hot off the heels of her success in Cardiff, gave a beautiful routine to clinch gold in her category. UoB continued to medal strongly, with Megan Young and Alex Wilson receiving silver, and Beth Shingfield recieving bronze. However it still wasn’t enough, and UWE pulled through to a 34-26 victory.
Rugby League
Matthew Cole
Bristol Rugby League beat UWE in emphatic fashion to claim varsity glory. A display that demonstrated just how far they’ve come under Nick Adam’s inspirational tutelage. Charlie Lacey set the tone for Bristol’s physical and mental dominance in the encounter by running in the first try after 5 minutes. Despite being the better side, Bristol kept letting UWE in with the half time score being 18-12 to UWE. Not once did Bristol’s heads go down as they fought back through the formidable Greg Hopkinson and the sublime Max Townsend, who each got an impressive brace of tries. However, going into the last 10 minutes the score stood at 22-22, as UWE converted all but one try and Bristol the inverse, missing all but one. Enter man of the moment Dan Yusli. The Malaysian magician conjured a hole from nowhere to run in the winning try. A special mention must go to Constantine Metcalf, a four year veteran, and Matthew Cole who both played their last game for the club. However, with the vast majority of the squad continuing next year the future looks bright. There is only one rugby league team in Bristol now and they play in maroon.
Hockey (Men) Michael Jones Varsity 2014 was a very successful day for the UBMHC, after they recorded 4 wins out of 4 and subsequently denied UWE any bragging rights. Proceedings got underway with a 4-0 win for the 3s with goals coming from drag flicker Josh Bryce, Rufus Roy and Rhys Davies. The winning streak continued with a closely fought 3-2 win for the 2s, and a fantastic performance from keeper Freddie Goddard. In another closely fought game the 4s were victorious after a last minute strike from Michael Jones. All eyes turned to the 1s for the last game of the day, and having won the last two encounters the boys were confident on completing the treble. An early goal for UWE provided an uphill battle for the 1s, but after a clattering tackle from the UWE goalkeeper a penalty flick was awarded which Matt Poole slotted top right. More goals came quickly through a sublime Ted Croker deflection and an Arthur Mitchell deflection. All in all a victorious day for the UBMHC which left UWE with nothing to sing about anymore.
Squash
Katie Lloyd
This match was always going to be a big one with 5 full teams competing and UWE boasting famous names in the squash world. Recent BUCS and local league results suggested UWE had the edge but there was all to play for! The matches got under way at 1pm at Redland with the Men’s 4th team kicking off the action. A few early wins from the bottom seeds saw Bristol take the match 4-1. The 3rds were up next and this time UWE had the edge winning the match 4-1. Then the girls stepped up and UWE again proved too strong, winning with the same score line. There were still some huge games to come in the top two teams and more fierce maroon and pink battles to be finished! Despite some very tough competition, the 2nd team played brilliantly with UWE only stealing the match 3-2. Notable wins were for Rebecca Quiney (girls #1) who stepped up to compete in the Men’s and won an impressive match 3-2. So it came down to the big matches as the Men’s 1st team took to the courts. We knew we didn’t have it easy when UWE pulled world number 66, Lucas Serme, out of the bag at #1. Despite the world-class opposition, all our boys played with passion but the score ended 5-0 to the local rivals. So the match ended with UWE as the victors, however it was a great display of the sport with some fantastic competitive spirit and plenty of support that did the University proud.
Tennis
Katrina Smith
After drawing following a long final match last year, Bristol were out for the win against fellow Bristolians UWE. It was a quick start for the girls, winning two doubles and four singles matches in a row. Cause for concern came in Hannah Moran and Savannah Simons’ first doubles match, saving three match points to win in the tiebreak 13-11. Similarly, the first Men’s doubles pair Mark Hazzard and Matthew Fairbairn took their match the distance, ultimately coming through with the win 11-9. The winning streak was only stopped for one match, which saw UWE’s no.1 lady beat our counterpart. However, this was the only match of the day Bristol conceded. Comfortably, the end result was Bristol 241 UWE. One could say it was annihilation. Three-set singles matches were won by Matthew Fairbairn and Savannah Simons, along with extremely comfortable wins for Joanna Kondratowicz, Helena Phillips, Sara Cameron and Katrina Smith. Muppet of the day goes to Lowri James, for, well, playing like a muppet – but still winning. Bobby East of the Men’s team also won his match easily, only dropping three games. As the Ladies match was counting for a League match as well as the Varsity score, the Bristol Ladies 2s won every match, only dropping eleven games in six matches – making the team not only top of the league but fighting for both the Cup title and promotion in next week’s match against UWE 1s.
Hockey (Ladies) Cat Melville The 1s game against UWE was fairly uneventful, ending in a 4-0 win. With the new boombox in full swing we started off slowly and despite keeping possession in their half, no goals were scored for the first 15 minutes. However, a goal by Kirsty Crampton-Smith got things going and by the end of the first half we were 3-0 up with two more goals from Georgie Killingbeck and Emma Bevan. Despite the entirety of the second half being spent in their D, only one more goal came from Lucy McKee to leave the final score 4-0. Man of the Match went to Rhian Richardson. Arriving with a cracking team, the 2s were prepared for what was going to be an epic, but eventful, victory over UWE. We knew we were good and we were ready. A worrisome first 15 minutes saw us struggle to convert and reaching half time, we were just 2-0 up despite possession falling completely in our hands. Reaching 8-0 with 10 minutes to go was obviously a good time to send the keeper up front, right? Wrong! A spectacular (yet disgraceful) tackle and take-down saw Katie Butler with a yellow card and UWE with a keeperless penalty flick. In went Georgia Curtis, our willing forward who could not save the shot. 2 minutes to go and we’d conceded. But just to prove our worth, and 30 seconds left on the clock, another was scored and the 9-1 victory had been secured over a devastated UWE.
Volleyball
John House
Bristol Mens and Ladies Volleyball both travelled to UWE early on Wednesday, eager to kick off Varsity day with two victories. The women played first and began strongly with good hitting from Ellie Harrison taking the first set by a comfortable 25-11. As ever the UWE support was strong and with the crowd behind them UWE fought back in the second set to take a 25-15 victory. Helped by great blocking from Catherine ‘The Wall’ Wright , the ladies regained their composure in the third set, and with superb all round play from the American powerhouse Kelly O’Connell, the ladies took a 15-13 victory, giving them a deserved overall win of 2 sets to 1. Bristol men’s first set was a UWE rout, with the men failing to find their rhythm and succumbing to a 25-11 loss. After a shake up on court, Bristol came out much stronger in the second set, and with Justin Hui playing perfectly, assisted by good hitting from Brunet and Pennifold, Bristol took the set 25-17. With the noise growing in the sports centre, thanks to the arrival of the Bristol Futsal and Netball teams, the men began the final set with renewed determinism. Having got over his dismal first set performance, Volleyballs northern bumpkin Mike Wilsher found his feet and began to block spike after spike from the UWE half. With the set getting tenser by the minute, Captain House foolishly promised the men a drink at SCORE if they were to win. Emboldened by this news James Throup leapt majestically to smash the ball down into the UWE half, helping Bristol to take the set 15-11 and thus the game 2-1, making it two wins out of two for the Volleyball teams in Varsity, an excellent result!
Netball
Lucy McDermott
This year’s varsity proved to be a tough rematch for both UWE and Bristol, with both having a lot to prove after all but one of UWE’s teams lost last year. However, the UWE team that was victorious last year was their 1st team, with Bristol losing in a tight-fought final match of the day. All five teams have been in strong positions in their league, with the 4s and 5s coming 2nd and 1st respectively, putting them in good form for today’s encounter. Despite the delayed start to the matches, all teams fought hard and put on a great show for their supporters, with #mightymaroon overcoming the hot pink of the UWE shirts and the 5s kicking off proceedings with a 38-6 win. The 4s followed suit, winning 46-13, up by 14-0 after the first quarter, showing off their strong defence. The 3s played a tough match against their UWE counterparts, eventually drawing their match. The tough opposition then stormed through in close matches, the UWE 2s just pipped Bristol 42-40 and the UWE 1s were victorious with a final score of 37-33.
Badminton
Rebecca Gordon
The ladies’ team started with an advantage that UWE did not field a full team, and so we started 4 games ahead. The first doubles game was very close, with every point being intensely fought for. Bristol won the first set 22-20, but lost the second two sets, 19-21 and 18-21. UWE won both of the singles matches, but Bristol pulled it back, with Felicity Boyce and Piya Sachdeva securing a resounding win, 21-11 and 21-9, so that the Ladies’ team won their match 5-3 overall. The men’s doubles was a very close match from the beginning with 5 out of the 8 games going to three sets. Two victories for Adrian Sim and Gordon So and one for Pablo Burns Roa in the singles meant it was all to play for in the final game, with the score standing at 4-3 to a Bristol team needing to win to ensure victory. Unfortunately Bristol lost the deciding set, and so it was tied at 4 matches all, with UWE taking it by virue of having won more sets overall. The men’s second match was a tough game for Bristol, and despite Bristol’s first doubles pair winning one of their games 21-16, 21-14, UWE ran out 4-1 winners. Overall, UWE won 3-1. There were some fantastic games that were really close and the whole team performed really well, as did the social teams.
Lacrosse
Elliot Wilde
Starting the day Bristol Lacrosse teams had every reason to be confident of victory, having never lost to UWE in a Varsity series. The women’s match was the first to get underway. Any hopes of a competition were quickly dismissed as the UWE defence crumbled and Bristol began a procession of goal scoring. Even with the Bristol players switching positions and their keeper playing straight attack the goals continued unabated, the game finishing 29 – 0. The second match of the day saw the Men’s 2nd teams face off against each other. This was familiar ground as the teams had already played twice in BUCS this season with Bristol comfortably winning both fixtures. Despite a slow start, which saw Bristol with only a narrow 2 – 0 lead at the end of the first half, a predictable result emerged with the game slipping away from UWE in the third quarter and finishing 8 – 1. The third match of the day was unfamiliar territory as a formal Varsity Mixed fixture had never been played before. Bristol once again seemed confident, prioritising the choreography of their goal celebrations over a warm up. In what was the closest match of the day Bristol still managed to come away with a comfortable 4 – 1 win and their first Mixed Lacrosse Varsity title. After already suffering 3 defeats, UWE arrived with a big crowd, keen to at least challenge Bristol in the Men’s 1st team game and final lacrosse fixture of the day. Despite both sides scoring quickly Bristol soon began to build up their goal tally. Although UWE never properly threatened, the efforts of their goal keeper combined with some solid outside shooting from their attack meant that Bristol never completely ran away with the game. The final whistle saw Bristol finish the day with a 20 – 10 win, achieving another Varsity clean sweep and maintaining the unbeaten record for Bristol.
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Twitter: UoB Women’s
UoB Korfball exceeds expectations
Twitter: UoB Tennis
Twitter: UoB Hockey
Twitter: UBSWPC James Lydall
Twitter: UBSWPC
James Lydall Bristol Korfball
Twitter: UoB Lacrosse Twitter: UoB Squash
Twitter: UoB Volleyball
their momentum into their final local league match against Exeter University and their trip to Holland to play in the Attila International Tournament. Unfortunately, as with all sports this year will see a few more players graduate, UoB Korfball are optimistic about their future. The club has established a third team for the first time who are set to start competitive matches next year after beating the Gloucester firsts in a friendly this month and the second team players have proven they are ready to make the jump up. With the club looking to continue growth and attract more beginners next year, UoB Korfball have shown they are a club to be wary of.
James Lydall
Twitter: UBRFC
What ball? Korfball! The Dutch mixed sex sport that takes elements from basketball and netball but is like neither. In 2012 the UoB Korfball Firsts edged qualification to the BUCS National Championships, subsequently losing all of their games in the tournament. The Seconds consisted of a wide variety of players with mixed commitment that fought to a respectable 12th place at the BSKA Club Championships. With the loss of the teams coach and many of the Club’s most experienced players and top scorers graduating the future looked bleak for UoB Korfball. However this did not prove the case. The 2013-14 Academic year has seen a resurgence in the club. Without a formal coach 2nd Year Geography Student Jordie Wildin took on the responsibility of player/coach. The year started with a mass influx of excited beginners joining the club (taking the club’s membership to 35, its largest in recent years) and the club has never looked back. Discipline and commitment improved (with 7.30am trainings becoming compulsory) and with it did the club’s talent. The firsts qualified for the National Championships with more ease but still went into the tournament with low expectations being an un-seeded team. They proved to be the surprise package of the tournament however, qualifying second in their group and coming nerve-rackingly close to a huge upset against reigning champions UEA in the quarter-finals.
They did not stop there however, beating Edinburgh on the second day and finally closing the tournament in 6th place (ten places higher than the previous year). Bristol finished as the only un-seeded team to break the top 8 and first year Esther Birrell-King finished as second highest scoring female. This meant UoB Korfball’s first BUCS points since 2009/10, and their highest finish 1999/2000. Success continued the following weekend with the second team showing that Bristol have a bright future in the BSKA Club Championships, finishing first in their group and making it to the semi-finals. Despite being knocked out (again by UEA) the seconds beat several first teams along their way to an all-time best 4th place. The season is not yet over for the club who are looking to carry
Epigram
24.03.2014
Sport
Editor: Hetty Knox
Editor: Jacob Webster
sport@epigram.org.uk
jacob.webster@epigram.org.uk sportonline@epigram.org.uk
Online Editor: George Moxey
Bristol student rows to Guinness World Record
2boysinaboat.com
Hetty Knox Sports Editor University of Bristol student Jamie Sparks, a third year studying anthropology, has set
a new Guinness World Record. Sparks and his childhood friend Luke Birch, an Edinburgh University student, have been awarded with the title of ‘Youngest Row Across Any Ocean (Tandem)’ by Guinness
World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday. Sparks, 22, and Birch, 21, broke the world record while taking part in the gruelling Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge – one of the toughest
races on earth. They rowed 3,000 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean. On Monday 27th January 2014 the two boys crossed the finish line coming overall fifth in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and
second in the pairs category. It took them 54 days of nonstop rowing, they battled huge life-threatening waves, 30 knot winds, excruciating salt-sores and no more than 80 minutes sleep at a stretch. They each lost over 12kg each in spite of eating 6000 calories a day. The pair decided to fundraise for Breast Cancer Care after Birch’s mother was diagnosed with the disease in 2012. Sparks said ‘It’s great to celebrate the success of our row with all the people who have supported us throughout. We can’t believe we raised such a huge amount of money for Breast Cancer Care. It’s a charity which means a great deal to us after Luke’s mother and grandmother were diagnosed with the disease. We’d like to thank everyone who supported us.’ They have raised over £310,000 for Breast Cancer Care so far - the largest sum ever received by the charity from an individual fundraising challenge.
The future of Test Match cricket
A great festival of cricket has begun at the World T20. However, this entertainment can never match the splendour of Test Match Cricket. Around the world crowds are dwindling, Test fixtures are being cut and
money is flowing towards one day cricket. If we continue to shun the finest form of the game we risk losing the very essence of what cricket has to offer. The beauty of Test Matches
starts in the name itself, it is the greatest test for any player. The utmost degree of concentration is needed over the five days of battle as any flaw in a player’s game can be ruthlessly exposed in series which may last for
months. Cricketing philistines and Americans may wonder how any sane spectator can endure seven hours of play or how the sport’s most dedicated disciples can watch day after day of a
Test Match. The truth is, it is the length of the game which makes it so fascinating.
@epigramsport
Inside Sport VARSITY Bristol vs UWE Bristol now lead 12-8 in the series A comprehensve look at Varsity Day Pages 54-55
The state of professional football in Bristol Page 53
Bristol Korfball success Page 54 Editor’s Column: The brilliance of the RBS Six Nations Page 53
Continued on page 53
CALLING ALL BANDS, SOLO ACTS AND GROUPS! THIS COULD BE YOUR CHANCE TO PLAY THE MAINSTAGE AT wonderland 2014 - THE OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL SUMMER BALL
1st prize: mainstage wonderland set runners up: wonderland SECOND STAGE set
TO REGISTER, EMAIL benji.staples@bristol.ac.uk APPLICATIONS CLOSE FRIDAY 4 APRIL