EPIGRAM 326

Fortnightly 26th March 2017 Issue 326 Winner of Best Publication and Best Use of Digital Media 2017

University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

University of Bristol to fully divest from fossil fuel industry Jecca Powell Online News Editor The University of Bristol has announced plans to withdraw its investments in fossil fuel companies.

The University has around £2m invested in companies connected with fossil fuel, all of which will be divested, following extensive talks with the Fossil Free society.

The decision makes Bristol the 10th Russell Group university and 62nd UK university to fully divest, coming just behind the University of Edinburgh, which made a similar decision last month.

Papatya O’Reilly, Fossil Free UoB President, said: ‘It fills me with pride to know that our University is playing its part in the Fossil Free movement. So many institutions have divested now that it has become mainstream, yet its impact is undeniable.’

The University had already introduced measures to reduce its involvement in the fossil fuel industry that were deemed insufficient by Fossil Free.

Bristol University invested £3m in a ‘green’ fund in 2016, and last year pledged to divest from companies that derive more than 5% of their revenues from the extraction of coal, oil and gas from tar sands by 2018.

The University’s most recent decision, however, marks a move from partial to full divestment, that could see Bristol as the first Russell Group university to fully divest, with experts predicting that the process could be completed as soon as 2020.

Chief Financial Officer at the University, Robert Kerse, called the timescale ‘ambitious’, but emphasised the ‘importance of swift action to combat climate change.’

He said: ‘Hitting this target will make Bristol the first Russell Group university to achieve full divestment.

‘We are proud to be a sector-leader in sustainability - from the research we support, the curricula we teach and the student experience we offer, to the way we behave as an organisation.’

Can’t find a study space?

The results of Epigram’s survey: page 6 Epigram / Alex Boulton

Continued on page 2

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Epigram | 26.03.2018

Editorial

A note from Alex and Noa As this crazy term draws to an end, we finally have a bit of headspace to reflect on everything that has happened. Amidst pastoral reviews (and what seems like endless changes to them), two lots of heavy snowfall (in a city famously snowless), and a term of strike action, we can perhaps breathe a sigh of relief that Easter is here.

This term has brought many positives too, including ferrets rescued in the snow, amazing student-led charity shows like FUZE (page 5) and CLIC, and the news that the University plans to fully divest investment in the fossil fuel industry (front page).

As the term drew to a close we also saw the conclusion of the SU elections (page 5) and great campaigns from both student-led groups and University initiatives.

Speaking of elections, this is also the time of year when we will have to start thinking about our successor(s) here at Epigram. We are excited to read the applications and choose next year’s team, reluctantly passing on the reigns but with the excitement of (finally) being able to turn our phones off for the summer!

Strangely for us, this time of the year also means it is drawing to the end of our time not just as Editors but as students. While we will reserve an epi-reflection for our next and final issue, we cannot help but wonder at the matter of weeks that we have left at Bristol before we are thrown into the big wide world.

The next few months sees for us, like many others, a pile of essays, dissertations, and exams - but it also includes celebrations, balls, and graduation… Not to mention summer - if the snow stays away long enough!

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

Online Editor: Georgia Marsh

editor@epigram.org.uk

georgia.marsh@epigram.org.uk

Deputy: Edie Essex Barrett

Online Deputy: Lucy Thompson

Editorial Assistant: Mary Richardson

For advertisements, please contact calli.keane@epigram.org.uk

News in Numbers

Chief Proofreader Lucy Moor

the number of strike days to date 30,265 the number of votes cast in the SU elections the percentage of students 73% dissatisfied with study spaces

Sub-editors on this issue Gianina Dwek, Willow Smith, Dani Salvalaggio, Anna Hart, Izi Miller, Nadia Hassan, Jess Cselko, Jess BrowneSwinburne, Trystan Cullinan, Jamie Muddimer,

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Epigram News 2017-18 Epigram Features Contributors 2017/18 Epigram Comment 2017-18 Epigram Science and Tech 2017-18 Epigram Letters 2017/18 Epigram Living 2017-18 Epigram Wellbeing Writers’ Group 2017/18 Epigram Food Writers (17/18) Epigram Travel Section 2017/18 Epigram Style Contributors 2017-18 Epigram Film & TV 2017-18 Writers Epigram Arts 2017-18 Epigram Music Writers 2017/18 University of Bristol to divest from fossil fuel industry

2020

Chris Saltmarsh, People & Planet’s Fossil Free Campaigns Coordinator, saw this as a significant development in the national fossil fuel debate.

He said: ‘Bristol’s full divestment after a powerful student campaign is another hammer blow to the fossil fuel industry haemorrhaging its social license to operate.

‘2018 has already seen Huddersfield, Sussex, Edinburgh, Anglia Ruskin, Durham and Cardiff divest millions from this terminally declining rogue industry.

‘It’s time for our banks like Barclays and the UK Government to take our students’ and universities’ lead and exile fossil fuels from our economic and political life.’

Director of Finance Josh Moloney Deputy Finance Jeremy Mei

the year the University of Bristol aims to fully divest

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

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Epigram / Evy Tang

A second ‘Beast from the East’ 2 hit Bristol on the weekend of the 17th/18th March. While it was not enough to close the university like the last snow, it brought freezing temperatures and a yellow weather warning for ice across the country.

From the archives: ‘OCCUPATION’ When 400 students storm Senate House in protest over top-up fees and replaced the Senate House flag with their own...

Almost 18 years ago, an occupation like the one staged by our very own current students a few weeks ago (but with far, far more people) took place at Senate House to protest the possibility of top-up fees being introduced at Bristol. Top-up fees was an idea proposed by the Russell Group as a solution to the funding crisis in Higher Education.

Before the occupation, 800 students gathered at the Tyndall Lecture Theatre for an emergency SU meeting to discuss top-up fees, and a motion was passed to officially reject the proposal and make it the SU’s ‘Priority Campaign’. At this point they decided to occupy Senate House the same afternoon to coincide with a University Council meeting.

At least 60 students entered the building and occupied every floor, and more forced their way through a side door: ‘They came across as a body. Had we known, we would have been able to stop them’, said University Porter Mr. King.

Some students even got onto the roof to take down the University flag, and replaced it with that of the Students’ Union.

Carol Mayman, a secretary in Senate House, told Epigram: ‘I wish students were more responsible. I was a student once and we would never have done this.’

Unfortunately for Carol, it looks like occupations have only got more popular since the noughties.

BBC / BBC Archive

Front page article continued...

Director of Communications Joe Jones

gender pay gap at the 16.2% theUniversity of Bristol

Alex Boulton and Noa Leach, Co-Editors in Chief

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Managing Director Calli Keane

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Epigram 26.03.2018

News

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

Gender pay gap 16.2% at the University of Bristol Alex Boulton Co-Editor In Chief On International Women’s Day (8th March 2018), the University of Bristol released its inaugural Gender Pay Gap Report 2018. The report reveals that the University of Bristol has a gender pay gap of 16.2%, compared to a national figure of 18.4%.

This year is the first year universities are required to release such information.

At the University of Bristol, women make up 55% of staff but the report found that they comprise of just ‘41 per cent of the upper quartile of staff when we look at male and female staff by salaries’.

The report also discloses that the proportion of female professors has increased by 6.1 percentage points from 2013 to 2017, and the University say ‘the current level being in line with the Russell Group universities’ average’.

The gender pay gap is defined as ‘a measure of the difference between the average hourly earnings of men and women’, not to be confused with unequal pay which is ‘the unlawful practice of paying men and women differently for performing the same or similar work or work of equal value’.

The report concludes that a range of factors are responsible for these findings, including a greater number of men in higher paid roles and the nature of an academic career that the University say ‘can make it difficult for early career academics to progress quickly to more senior roles’.

In order to address these inequalities, the University say they have introduced a number of ‘family friendly initiatives’ and have ‘rolled out unconscious bias training across the organisation’.

The university also ‘aim to increase the number of female professors from 23.5% to 33% by 20222023’.

Deputy Online Editors: Emily Vernall, Will Charley

Summary of week four strike action Ed Southgate and Cameron Scheidje Comment Editor and Online Comment Editor The Bristol branch of the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), and the national UCU, have voted to reject a deal put forward by Universities UK at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) talks.

The Bristol branch was one of 34 UCU branches to reject the proposed deal after claims that it failed to properly address the problems posed by USS reform. The deal was reached after six days of talks between UUK and the UCU under the auspices of ACAS and has been widely criticised by academic staff.

In an online survey conducted by Bristol UCU, 222 voted to put the agreement to consultation and 516 voted to reject the agreement outright out of 738 responses.

Bristol UCU tweeted: ‘The branch has made #depthoffeeling clear.’

At the Emergency General Meeting (EGM) held by the UCU, members overwhelmingly rejected the deal. The meeting was attended by around 250 members, according to Bristol UCU. This means that strikes will continue to affect teaching and assessment and may even lead to a second wave of strikes over the exam period.The decision informed Bristol UCU’s representative at the briefing in London on Tuesday 13th March and a new deal will have to be reached if the strikes are to be called off.

The UCU said: ‘The Union said the strikes and action short of a strike will remain on, and it would now make detailed preparations

for strikes over the assessment and exam period.’

UCU General secretary Sally Hunt said: ‘Branches made it clear today that they wanted to reject the proposal. UCU’s greatest strength is that we are run by and for our members and it is right that members always have the final say.

‘The strike action for this week remains on and we will now make detailed preparations for strikes over the assessment and exam period.

We want urgent talks with the universities’ representatives to try and find a way to get this dispute resolved.’

In the deal, both UUK and UCU agreed to a transitional benefit arrangement, which would have taken effect from 1st April 2019 and have lasted for three years. The arrangement would have also maintained a meaningful level of defined benefits for all scheme holders.

Summarising their agreement, UCU and UUK said: ‘To achieve this interim solution both employers and members will be required to pay higher contributions. This includes a total employer contribution of 19.3% of salaries and a total member contribution of 8.7%. These increased contributions are only in place for the duration of the 3-year transitional arrangement.

‘Given the concerns raised by some employers and UCU about the scheme’s valuation methodology and assumptions an agreement has been reached between UCU and UUK to convene an independent expert valuation group.

‘By recognising the agreement on benefits is set as a transitional 3-year solution there is commitment between both sides to engage in meaningful discussions as soon as possible to

explore risk sharing alternatives for the future from 2020, in particular Collective Defined Contributions (CDC).’

For the transitional benefit arrangement, both sides agreed to maintain a meaningful element of Defined Benefits, which would have included a salary threshold of £42,000 and that Defined Contributions above the salary threshold would have remained at 12 per cent.

Lecturers were immediately dissatisfied with the deal, putting together an open letter calling for its rejection. The letter stated: ‘The current agreement kicks a serious solution to the pension dispute in the long grass, committing to a three year process of re-evaluation. It further does so at the very moment we are strongest and able to force a more decisive victory.

‘The employers’ valuation has been demonstrated to be bogus, yet the UCU leadership is now accepting to increase our contribution while we re-evaluate. Employers’ contribution however will rise by only 1.3%.

‘In three years time we will be demobilised and pressured to accept a worse deal. In our opinion we should keep going and throw UUK’s offer out all together.’

The proposed agreement between UCU and UUK came on the same day that ViceChancellor Professor Hugh Brady addressed the rally outside Senate House. He told the rally that he ‘fully appreciates’ that no one on strikes want to be on strike, he hoped for a ‘coming resolution’ of the dispute, and that he is ‘worried about the health of the scheme.’

Also in his talk, he recognised that this is an ‘important time’ for students, and urged that ‘we all work together to ensure that those students are supported.’

In memory of Freya Cox: University Triathlon Club reach equivalent of Mount Kilimanjaro summit Nikki Peach News Editor The University of Bristol Triathlon Club organised a 24-hour triathlon event in memory of the social secretary Freya Cox, who passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition.

Freya, a second-year English student, tragically died on 31st December 2017. She was described by the Triathlon Club as a ‘vital member’ who trained with them regularly and was responsible for organising team socials, including club meals, weekend trips and nights out.

Aside from her involvement in the Triathlon Club, Freya participated in a number of charitable projects around the world, volunteering in South Africa and Asia.

A member of the club said: ‘Perhaps the achievement she was most proud of was climbing Kenya’s Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa at 5,895m in memory of a late friend of hers.’

To honour her memory, the University of Bristol Triathlon Club took on the challenge of covering the cumulative distance from the University of Bristol campus to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in just 24 hours. This mammoth task includes each member of the club swimming 8km, cycling 200km and running 30km.

In context, the Ironman Triathlon, the

Members of the society celebrate their achievement

pinnacle of endurance sport, contains a shorter distance at 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run. The club undertook this challenge not only to honour the memory of their friend, are also raising money for CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young, by request of Freya’s family.

Every week at least 12 young people, aged 14-35, die from undiagnosed heart conditions.

The money which the club are able to raise will allow CRY to continue doing their amazing work screening young people for cardiac risks and supporting the families of those victims taken too early.

The challenge commenced at 7am on Saturday 10th March, culminating on Ladies Mile at 7am on Sunday 11th March.

Lorens Blok, a member of the Club who

took part in the triathlon said: ‘24hours and 7195km after the adventure began we made it to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro! This journey saw us swim 158km, run 508km and cycle 6529km, with individuals swimming up to 12.5km, cycling 300km and running 34km.

Literally every kilometre was needed to make it, amazing job from everyone who joined.’

Another friend, James Price, added, ‘This challenge was undertaken in the true Freya spirit of adventure and I hope this motivates people to keep adventuring and push their personal boundaries.’

Esther Bancroft also commented, ‘I’m glad that we can add this achievement to the memories we have of Freya. She brightened the lives of everyone she met, and I’ll remember her, always.’

RAG / Bryan Wong

In response to this news, Bristol UCU commented: ‘We at Bristol UCU submitted a formal claim on Tuesday this week, based on figures from the 2016 Equal Pay Audit, to ask the University to commit to closing the gender pay within three years. It’s clear that across the institution, the higher up in seniority, the more male dominated the university is. We have asked the University to work with us on this as an issue of collective bargaining.’

Sue Clyne, Co- Chair of the University of Bristol’s Gender Equality Group and Head of Organisational Development said: ‘While it is good news that our gender pay gap is below the national average, we remain utterly committed to ensuring that women and men can advance their careers equally to bring about career fulfilment, enabling a fully inclusive culture and harnessing even greater research and teaching success to sustain our university into the future. I am encouraged by our increasing number of female professors and that we are reviewing issues around the pipeline of female academics.’

Vice-Chancellor Hugh Brady also commented: ‘People are at the heart of our institution. Achievement of all our goals depends on the skills, professionalism and engagement of our staff. The University and its senior leadership team is committed to closing the gender pay gap and will continue to embed practices to attract, retain and develop our talented female staff.’

Online Editor: Jecca Powell

University of Bristol Triathlon Club

“

The University is committed to closing the gender pay gap

Deputy Editor: Hannah Wakefield, Lucy Downer

Epigram 26.03.2018

4

Bristol SU election night sees new Officers elected The Balloon Bar hosted the results announcement of the SU elections. Turnout was down from last year’s record numbers but there was still a strong showing with 3130 students voting for the role of Union Affairs Officer alone which was the highest number for any position and one of the closest run races.

This year’s elections saw 7070 students cast votes which was down from 7400 in 2017. In total 30,265 votes were cast which was also down from last year which saw over 32,000.

Over 86% of those who voted were undergraduates. In total nearly 31% of all undergraduates voted which was also down from last year when over a third voted. It is worth mentioning, however, that recent strikes have meant many have not had lectures where last year many chose to campaign to acquire votes.

The Union uses the single transferable vote system where, in the event of multiple candidates, those with the least votes are eliminated after each stage with voters casting a preference vote for each candidate. The winner is then decided between the final two candidates remaining after eliminations.

“

Ollie Smith Online Features Editor

Stanford was re-elected Union Affairs Officer after defeating his only challenger - Chanté Joseph. The race was incredibly close with just 33 votes separating the candidates; Stanford acquired 1545 votes, the most for any full time officer challenged by an opponent.

In the race for Student Living Officer Vanessa Wilson was elected unopposed after receiving 1816 votes with her only challenger withdrawing earlier in the race. This meant she received the most votes of any full time officer.

Over 86% of those who voted were undergraduates

Undergraduate Education was another two person race with 2295 votes being cast. Nasra Ayub ultimately defeated Dylan Woodward after receiving 1180 votes.

The role of Equality, Liberation and Access Officer was won by Sally Patterson with 2952 votes casts. With four candidates running voting went to a second round with Sally defeating Maheera Zubair after winning 1265 votes.

Union Affairs Officer: Stanford Course: Politics and International Relations Year: “4” What one thing do you want to see changed throughout university?

The Uni needs to improve information transfer and communication. I would like to reform Blackboard - the channels of communication at the moment are not modern enough in my opinion. With things like Uni closing because of snow, that shouldn’t just be a bulletin on Blackboard

or an email. There should be an app with push notifications. This is a conversation I have already begun.

What have you enjoyed most about Bristol?

The whole place is really beautiful! I’ve lived in a different part of Bristol every year of my degree and each area is so different and lovely.

On my walk back from Uni my view just uplifts me and makes me happier - it’s something I haven’t felt in any other city.

Favourite Bristol night out: I’d have to say Itchy Feet. It’s the up-tempo music it makes you want to boogie and smile.

Undergraduate Education Officer: Nasra Ayub Course: Philosophy and Politics Year: 3 What is the one thing you want to see changed throughout the university?

The thing I want to see changed throughout the university is better mental health support.

I also want to see a more diverse curriculum in terms of gender, class, and race.

What is the thing you’ve enjoyed most about Bristol?

I am originally from Bristol, but the thing I love the most about it is its diversity, and how it is an up and coming city. There are so many opportunities to be creative, and for students to pursue a huge range of hobbies.

Favourite Bristol night out: My favourite night out in Bristol is Bar Forty Eight because the range of diverse music they have.

Equality, Liberation & Access Officer: Sally Patterson Course: Politics and Sociology Year: 3 What one thing do you want to see changed throughout university?

I want people to stop using sexual violence on campus as a political football. I will make practical changes such as implementing bystander intervention workshops for all freshers (which I am already working on); encouraging popular student night clubs to sign up to Bristol Zero Tolerance; and ensuring that all student-facing roles know

how to deal with reports of sexual harassment or assault.

What have you enjoyed most about Bristol?

I have loved being president of UBTV this year. It has allowed me to meet students from all over the University, and cover a range of events such as the lecturer strikes, and use of study drugs in Bristol. There’s always so much going on on campus!

Favourite Bristol night out: Basement 45 — they put on sick student nights and they’ve got a Zero Tolerance pledge.

Shubham Singh was elected Postgraduate Education Officer after defeating five other candidates for what was the most contested position. After the fifth stage of voting Shubham was elected with 780 votes after 1864 were cast altogether.

Finally, the role of Sport and Student Development Officer went to Ginny Troughton after she defeated Isaac Haigh. 2200 votes were cast altogether with Ginny acquiring 1486 in total.

Women’s Rugby saw the largest turnout of a society with over 50 eligible voters with over 78% voting, this was closely followed by PantoSoc at just under 78%.

Classics (BA) had the highest turnout of a study programme with over 50 eligible voters at just over 52% with Music (BA) close behind at just over 51%.

The full results of the SU elections can be seen below: Full-Time Officers: -Union Affairs - Stanford -Student Living - Vanessa Wilson -Undergraduate Education - Nasra Ayub -Postgraduate Education - Shubham Singh -Equality, Liberation & Access - Sally Patterson -Sports & Student Development - Ginny Troughton

Chairs of Networks: -Societies - Jade Campbell -Sports - Ed Hanton -RAG, Volunteering & Sustainability - Maddy Kunkler -Wellbeing - Hester Careless -Student Council: Zoe Backhouse -Women’s - Chloe Lake -Disabled Students - Felix Manocha-Seymour -LGBT+ - Nura Alyah -BME - Eva Larkai -Trans - Charlotte Buchanan -International - Marina Rodriguez Rubio Postgraduate Faculty Reps: -Arts - William Hamilton -Engineering - Joshua Mudie -Health Sciences - Jessica Naylor -Life Sciences - Edmund Moody -Science - Chris Brasnett -Social Sciences and Law - Jafia Camara Undergraduate Faculty Reps: -Arts - Michael Natzler -Engineering - Dario Quintero Dominguez -Health Sciences - Anthony Charalambous -Life Sciences - Anders Morris -Science - Sally Emerson -Social Sciences and Law - Julio Mkok Meet the full time officers below. Pictures taken by the Epigram News team.

Student Living Officer: Vanessa Wilson Course: Psychology Year: 3 What is one thing you want to see changed throughout university?

At the moment I think there’s lost faith in the Union - the survey’s aren’t representative of the student body and the policies aren’t based on valid student evidence.

One key thing that I want to target is improving student wellbeing. Improving this involves three key areas: Housing, Mental Health and Community Care. I want to increase affordable housing, make

mental health services more inclusive and improve the consistency and quality of tutorials.

What have you enjoyed most about Bristol?

I have enjoyed meeting people I wouldn’t normally meet.

There have also been so many opportunities - I’ve got my own radio show 6-7pm on a Tuesday called ‘Lone and Groan’ . I’d say it’s a mixture between BBC Radio 1xtra and Radio 4, tune in!

Favourite Bristol night out: I’d probably go to Love Inn and listen to some disco or soul music and then finish with a lovely meal at Taka Taka. After that I would make tea at my house and watch Netflix with my friends.

Sports & Student Development Officer: Ginny Troughton Course: Zoology Year: 3 What one thing do you want to see changed throughout university?

The thing I want to see changed starts in the gym. It is typically male-dominated and can be very intimidating, especially if you struggle with confidence or body image.

I think that a cultural shift needs to happen

everywhere, and that the gym is a good place to start. I also want the unequal ratios in club sports also needs to be addressed.

What have you enjoyed most about Bristol?

The thing I’ve enjoyed most during my time at Bristol is playing rugby and the friends and support network I have got from it. We have a lot in common and I don’t think I would have got such close friends from any other setting.

What’s your favourite Bristol night out?

Sports’ night on a Wednesday!

Postgraduate Education Officer: Shubham Singh Course: Masters in Gender and International Relations Year: 3 What is one thing you want to see changed throughout the university?

I would like to bring about more structural change at the university that would increase support for international students. So far this year, I have already generated an increase in the number of international scholarships that are granted by the University from zero places to twenty-six. If I was to win, I would aim to further increase the number of

Scholarships from those twenty-six places to fifty, doubling my current work.

What is the thing you’ve enjoyed most about Bristol?

What I have enjoyed most about Bristol is that it is very calm, pleasant, and just generally quite quiet.

I am from a country that is the opposite and is very busy and noisy. Being in Bristol is a very significant, but pleasant change from living in India. Bristol is very relaxing.

Favourite Bristol night out: I would have to say that my favourite night out is Lizard Lounge, it’s iconic.

Epigram 26.03.2018

5

Epigram investigates the disparity between student activism and political disenchantment Nikki Peach News Editor Bristol SU

“

Students engage with political issues such as sustainability, mental health and the running of the SU on campus in a variety of ways. The impacts of which are often unnoticed. Epigram investigated the disparity between engagement and disenchantment in student politics.

In October members of Fossil Free Society started a series of protests to ‘Divest Barclays’, which involves demonstrating with banners and getting petition signatures outside the Barclay’s branch on Queens Road.

The ‘Divest Barclays’ protest that took place last term resulted in the arrest of Robin Boardman, a member of Fossil Free, for criminal damage after spraying chalk graffiti on the bank doors and walls. The chalk was removed immediately upon the arrival of the police. The court hearing has been adjourned for a third time to late April 2018.

Despite the potential threat of a criminal record, Robin states that his arrest has not affected his drive to implement change or encourage student activism.

‘The police should question their priorities and realise that my actions should not warrant arrest,’ he commented.

When asked about the continuing perception of student politics being futile and not able to create noticeable change, he responded, ‘there have been so many small groups in history who have managed to make a large difference.

‘For me a big thing was this summer hearing about these twelve activists in America who campaigned for a decade to end the genocide in East Timor. This is not the US government funding their actions, it was just a small group of people who campaigned about it for so long. That example of ‘people power’ really encouraged me to become a student activist.’

‘I think we have created some tangible differences. Things like the Fossil Free campaign has created a partial divestment from companies that get more than 5% of their revenue from coal and oil industries. By lobbying the Finance Director, Robert Kerse, this year we pushed him to the point of saying “yes, we will push for full divestment” in front of the board of trustees.

These discussions wouldn’t have been had without a student group behind it.’

The SU election results have recently been annournced, with less students attending results night than last year.

Although Robin believes, ‘it takes a small group of people to make sure the morals and ethics of this institution are kept in check’ he admitted that he would not run for an SU role or take part in a University election himself stating that ‘those roles often curtail the cause’.

‘Democratic structures like the SU are super important for making changes. The elected people like the sabbatical officers are essential, having them on committees is how we get our voices heard and feel part of the community.

Democratic structures like the SU are super important for making changes

‘It can often feel very individualised at University and that we only care about our own degree and not the students around us and how decisions are made.

However he then said, ‘Personally I don’t see myself doing that just because I recognise these power structures in the past as things that have corrupted a lot of people. I recognise my own privilege within the world and I would rather help

to empower other people and make sure they have the conversations.

‘Seeing the changes the SU and small groups have made in the past should make people want to create that more within the student body’.

Despite many students seeming to have vested interest in student politics: occupying the Vice-Chancellor’s office to promote pension strike negotiations, cycling around campus with campaign flyers and starting petitions to ensure reforms are made to student wellbeing in halls of residence, very few students seem to apply for electoral positions.

This year, for many senior roles in the political student community such as Student Living Officer and Union Affairs Officer, there were only two candidates for the positions yet the University has over 22,000 students.

Epigram spoke to other student campaigners to see if they share the same sense of disillusionment with regards to formally involving themselves in student politics.

Nic Hamer, a second-year English student, who has been involved in various campaigns since starting Bristol, primarily ‘Cut the Rent’ and Fossil Free Society said: ‘I may decide to run for Student Living Officer when I graduate, though it’s true that I have been somewhat put off by previous officers telling me about their experiences.’

Nic added, ‘the system does not seem to be set up to allow them to make meaningful changes easily. I would like to see a more politically active SU that is ready to hold the Uni to account where

necessary.’

However, Maddy Kunkler, a second-year History student running to be chair of RAG, Volunteering and Sustainability network responded: ‘I didn’t really think that I was the sort of person to run in an SU election but then I kept hearing myself complain about aspects of the university and realising that I wasn’t actually doing anything pro-active to tackle them.

‘But just as I feel a responsibility to run, every student at the University has a responsibility to vote in order to push the issues they care about and not just sit passively waiting for change to come to them’.

When asked about voting in the election, second-year student Ethan Prior said, ‘I voted for one of my friends because she asked me to but I don’t really know what impact students actually have and how important it is. It makes me feel sad to be honest, I feel like Bristol could be a thriving democratic institution’.

Stanford, who is running to be Union Affairs Officer for a second year in a row, sees the benefits from engaging in student democracy. He told Epigram, ‘I wanted to become Union Affairs Officer because I wanted to make sure the complaints I saw regularly were dealt with. So far I haven’t been able to make life perfect for students- but I have been able to make incremental improvements and upgrade certain key processes and services that matter to students.’

What can be done to engage students more in University politics? Read the full article online.

Epigram reviews FUZE: this year’s circus of fashion, dance and music Emily Vernall and Hannah Worthington Deputy Online News Editor and Online Style Editor Epigram / Hannah Worthington

Gaby Ekaireb / FUZE

This year’s FUZE was in support of One25, an outreach charity that offers relief to women trapped in or vulnerable to street sex work, supporting them in breaking free and building new lives away from violence, poverty and addiction.

Hosted at The Passenger Shed, Creative Managing Director Seun Oyeleye talked about the production.

‘I wanted all aspects of the show - dance, fashion and music - to fuze together, as it were, and create a slick show that ran seamlessly. I also wanted it to be clear that we were raising money for a great charity, so I publicised them as much as I could.’

The show involved student fashion brands such as Cossie + Co’s swimsuits, paired with History student Maria Perry’s Glitta Glo’s sunglasses.

Among other brands that made an appearance at this years multi-media spectacle were Indiana Rose London, who displayed a beautiful array of lightweight paisley print coats on FUZE’s models, as well as HalfPenny London, who teamed with T.M Lewin to offer some graceful, and sleek fitted black tie inspiration. Returning FUZE Male models Joshua Wellington and Oli Rowlands and

The evening was a collection of performances, market stalls and drinks for students to enjoy

their perfectly defined abdominals continued to have a big impact on the FUZE crowd. Theatre and Performance student Phoebe Campbell also proved her talents extend way beyond the the academic as she strutted in killer heels.

A mix of small student-led style and accessory brands also appeared in ‘The Marketplace’. Model Sophie Thomas doubled as ‘Marketplace Director’, creating a varied array of thrift shop stalls and student businesses. Jazzy Glitter also pitched, retailing poly glitter sets, gels and gems for £5 a pot. This Marketplace epitomised the prominence of bubbling student creations and fashion in Bristol.

Meanwhile, the dance cast performed eight technical numbers across the two Acts, each with its own unique sense of personality, thanks to Dance Directors Ella and Joseph.

Beginning the circus themed showcase was contemporary trio ‘Clown’. This contrasted the later numbers ‘How we burlesque’ and ‘Ladies on Stilts’. The former embraced all the glitz and glamour of the traditional burlesque movement whilst the latter proved that no heel is too high for the FUZE girls, who performed with flair despite vertiginous footwear.

Music Directors Harry and Matt collated an incredibly talented variation of singers, sax

players, pianists and guitarists for this years show. Frances offered a fantastic jazz number, and second year student Rachel Mailer continued this with an original composition dubbed ‘Blues’.

Both Will Bryant and Aaran Daniels delivered phenomenal male vocals.

Creative Director Seun’s ‘Purple Rain’ rendition, supported by Marisa Lopes, Harriet Kelley and Rachel Mailer, surmised the show in a perfect fashion. Heartfelt collaborative work was at the core of the production. This extended into the backstage seams as Sponsorship Directors pulled in the likes of high-end beauty brand Pixi by Petra and Pointe Apparel to support their work.

Epigram 26.03.2018

6

73% of students dissatisfied with study space availability Edie Essex Barrett Deputy Editor

Epigram / Edie Essex Barrett

The Arts and Social Sciences Library at dusk

It is possible to view how many seats are available using an online service that shows your nearest study desk and shows how many desks are available. However, Epigram’s survey results show that many students are dissatisfied with this service: 18% are strongly dissatisfied, 25.9% are dissatisfied compared to 16.5% who are satisfied and 2.9% who are strongly satisfied. Other students comment that it is not updated regularly enough, writing, ‘find a study desk may be useful if anyone actually bothered to keep it up to date (within about hourly periods)’.

Another huge problem that many students have highlighted is ‘desk hogging’, with 71.9% of students feeling that this is a problem. One of the main issues when trying to find a seat in a study space is that many seats appear occupied but actually are reserved with a pile of books or a coat. In some cases, students leave their items in a seat overnight so they can reclaim the same seat the next day.

Certain libraries have been making increased efforts to tackle this desk hogging, for example some libraries clear items left overnight, while others, such as the ASS offer ‘break cards’.

Students can fill in the time they left their desk, providing a 45 minute window for them to return before their items are cleared to make room for another student.

Nevertheless, many respondents have found these services unhelpful, and find desk hogging a particular problem in Beacon House and Wills Library. In response to the question ‘In what ways do you think the University could improve?’ replies include: ‘Harsher policy on people leaving their stuff in seats for hours on end.’

‘Patrol and not allow students to reserve spaces if they are not there. That is the main reason that the libraries are full, not because people are using them to their full capacity.’

‘Make more room during exams, if you don’t turn up before 8am you won’t get a space!’

‘Policing people taking computer spots despite the fact that they are using laptops’ Despite these strong feelings about overcrowding in study spaces, if the survey results were to be considered accurate for the entire student population, we can see that the majority of students do not think certain study spaces should be exclusive to certain students (i.e. the law library only for law students) - 75.9% of respondents share this view.

Apart from increasing study space seat numbers, more regular online seat updates and better tackling desk hogging, there are further points that many respondents said needed improvement. These include having more 24 hour facilities, more plug sockets, less broken printers, cheaper and an increased quantity of café facilities and ending the ‘mindless expansion’ of students that the University take in annually - another respondent said, ‘stop taking on so many students ‘cause we bring in cash’.

1 seat per 5.6

students

“

‘Make more room during exams, if you don’t turn up before 8am you won’t get a space!’

‘Find a study desk may be useful if anyone actually bothered to keep it up to date’

On a positive note, out of those who have used the advice and support available from subject librarians (37.6% of respondents), almost all respondents found it useful, commenting ‘They’ve helped me with any problems I’ve had, and ordered me books when I needed them.

Lovely people!!’

It is clear that students are overall dissatisfied with the number of study spaces available, and this is felt particularly strongly during exam periods.

In response to our survey, University of Bristol Director of Library Services, Philip Kent said: “The University currently provides nearly 4,500 study spaces within its libraries and study centres.

There are also further work spaces available within faculties, schools and other university buildings. During busier times such as the exam period, we extend library opening hours to maximise the use of these facilities. Looking ahead, the University also hopes to develop an online tool to help students find available study spaces more quickly.

We are aware of the increasing space demands of our growing student body and are investing heavily in our campus to accommodate these needs. Plans include transforming the area around Tyndall Avenue and Woodland Road to provide new and enhanced facilities for students, and a welcoming ‘heart’ to the University. This will include additional study spaces in the refurbished Senate House, a new library and increased study centre seats.”

4,434

spaces for

25,024

students

Infogram / Edie Essex Barrett

Further to this, we asked ‘What is your preferred place of study?’. The responses revealed that the ASS, the SU, Wills Memorial Library, Beacon House and Queens Building were the most popular places for students to study.

We wanted to know more about what students look for in a study area, so we asked ‘Why is this your preferred place of study?’. The most common responses involved the correct books, natural lighting, noise levels, the toilets, the provision of functioning plugs, the location and the likelihood of finding a seat.

Currently, there are plans underway to open a new £80m library to replace the Hawthorns, however a public consultation on this will begin in spring 2018, so it is unlikely that current students will feel the benefit of this. This also applies to the new campus due to be built in Temple Meads.

More recently, the University have made some efforts to increase study spaces for students, having converted what used to be the Refectory into the Hawthorns Study Lounge in Autumn 2017, providing an extra 115 seats. There is also a new Hawthorns Study Centre that opened in early January 2018 with 235 study seats. Nevertheless, some students have commented in our survey that ‘The refectory doesn’t work as a study space for silent study. Everything is just too close together’.

One student made a very useful suggestion: ‘a check in/out with a uCard would be useful and then the number of students (and a % of how full the space is) could be posted online’.

When asked ‘Is there a certain study space you think needs considerable improvement? Why?’, the vast majority of respondents highlighted that it is the ASS that needs the most improvement, with Senate House featuring frequently. One respondent pointed out the lack of ‘Women’s toilets in Queens - there are about half the number of the mens - [which] reinforces the idea that women shouldn’t be in engineering’.

Others have said: ‘Build a new study space for Arts students there is one Arts library vs multiple science ones’ ‘The ASS is the main library on campus: it seems to be the ‘to-go’ for students of all disciplines. This means that in dissertation/exams season its so busy, and filled with people who don’t need to be there to use its books. These students also have their own libraries, which Arts students don’t have the privilege of. I think the ASS should only allow arts and social sciences students to study there in busy periods.’

“

Following complaints about the lack of study space across the University from multiple students over the past academic year, Epigram decided to investigate these opinions further.

The investigation reveals that out of 25,024 students, there is only 1 study space seat for every 5.6 students at Bristol University, when considering the capacities of the 15 centrally owned University study spaces. These include the following: the Arts and Social Sciences Library, Beacon House, the Biological Sciences Library, Bristol SU Richmond Building, the Chemistry Library, the Education Library, the Grace Reeves Study Centre, the Hawthorns Study Centre, the Hawthorns Study Lounge, the Medical Library, the Physics Library, Queen’s Building Library, Senate House Study Centre, the Veterinary Science Library and Wills Memorial Library. In total, these spaces have 4,434 study space seats as of February 2018.

This reality of this statistic hits us hardest around exam season - which is fast approaching - with many of the complaints about study spaces directed at overcrowding at this key period in a students’ academic year.

Therefore, Epigram recently launched a survey investigating student opinions on University study spaces discovering that out of the 144 respondents, 73.6% of students do not think there is enough study space at Bristol University. Furthermore, 64.6% do not think the University is doing enough to increase study spaces for students.

We began by asking what study spaces students were currently aware of, the most popular answers being Beacon House, the Arts and Social Sciences Library (ASS) and Wills Memorial Library. While most study spaces scored high (the majority above 65), the least heard of study spaces were the Education Library and the Veterinary Science Library.

Epigram

@epigramfeatures

Editor: Ellen Jones

Deputy Editor: Dani Bass

Online Editor: Ollie Smith

features@epigram.org.uk

An

26.03.2018

Features

un-fee-sable proposal: Education Secretary calls to vary tuition fees

Leila Freeman Sub-Editor

“ Varying fees could cause an undeniable barrier to higher education for many students

This comes several years after arguments back in 2012 - following the sharp increase in tuition fees - by ministers, who claimed that university fees would be varied. As this was not put into

Flikr/ Kunal Shah

Education Secretary, Damien Hinds, has proposed that tuition fees should reflect a degree’s ’value to society’, ahead of Theresa May’s university fees review, which began on 19th February.

He has suggested that individual degrees should be priced based on future earnings of graduates and the cost of delivering courses.

According to Hinds, future tuition fees should be decided by considering ‘a combination of three things: the cost to put it [the course] on, the benefit to the student and the benefit to our country and our economy’.

practise at the time, the vast majority of current full-time university degrees in England cost £9,250, placing England’s universities amongst the most expensive to attend in the world.

As arts degrees typically have much fewer contact hours than science degrees, do not require expensive lab equipment and, ultimately, often do not provide a clear career path at the end, varying the cost of degrees is likely to mean that many arts and humanities degrees will cost less than science degrees. If science degrees are priced more highly than arts degrees, more people are likely to be deterred from choosing them. At a time when there is already an increasing need for STEM graduates, this will surely contribute to worsening this shortage.

In addition, professions such as medicine and law risk becoming accessible only to students that are able to pay the highest fees for their degrees.

If poorer students are forced to opt for cheaper degrees - which, according to this proposal, will be those degrees that are less likely to lead to top paying salaries - then this will severely hinder social mobility and will block intelligent but less financially able students from accessing certain jobs.

It is also possible that higher ranked or more famous universities could become more expensive than lower ranked ones. Again, this could translate into poorer students being denied the opportunity to attend certain establishments, including the University of Bristol. This would cause an undeniable barrier to higher education

University tuition fee changes have been a source of controversy for numerous years for many students and would massively enforce class based privileges.

Hinds’s proposed criteria to determine university fees is assessed on subjective ideas about ‘benefit’ and ‘value’.Moreover, the value of academia should not and cannot be measured entirely on future salary prospects and to suggest so is highly problematic. Higher education should be about exploring the fields of study that one is most interested in. All education is of great value and this should not be undermined by degrees

being classified as more or less valuable than others.

May’s tuition fees review was included in the Conservative Party election manifesto of last year, due to a growing concern of whether universities are providing value for money, in light of massive student debts. It comes amidst calls from the Labour Party to abolish tuition fees altogether and demands to bring back maintenance grants, neither of which are on the current Conservative agenda. The review is set to run for a year.

Is Bristol zoo a justifiable institution?

Ffion Clarke discusses whether the conservation efforts of Bristol zoo justifiy keeping animals in captivity

Following human environmental interference and exploitation, many animals face extinction.

The issue is so severe, it is described as the Sixth Great Extinction. There seems to be a need for increased conservation efforts and societal concern. Overwhelmingly this is used to justify the presence of zoos. However, popular documentaries such as ‘Blackfish’ have made the wider population increasingly critical of the quality of life of animals in captivity. With Bristol Zoo Gardens’ focus on education and conservation, a closer look at the situation here gives a useful insight into the help versus harm balance of zoos.

“ It’s easy to become desensitised to animals in captivity with the zoo so near to where we live

Bristol Zoo is tied to the Zoological Society charity, which provides interactive educational opportunities for children of all ages. This encourages the personification of animals, allowing the formation of attachment and desire to care for their wider conservation. This benefit does not however justify the sheer number of zoos in the UK. With over 500 institutions displaying wild animals in the UK, it seems zoo

culture is driven by profit.

It is also questionable whether zoos are really the best way to teach children about animals.

Though it is an easy way to come close to animals, and one of the few ways to do so, seeing animals in a captive context could do more harm than good. At the University of Bristol, it is easy to become desensitized to animals in captivity, with the zoo so near to where we live and study. We walk past, make the most of student offers, and attend ‘formals’ and balls at the zoo on a regular basis. It encourages the idea that animals are something to be controlled by humans. So, while it may make them want to help animals, the form of help desired won’t really do anything to improve the lives of animals with most of their issues driven by human exploitation.

Through the Zoological Society, a central focus on conservation is also claimed. Part of the zoo’s profit goes to conservation projects, protecting species like the Kordofan Giraffe.

With these giraffes significantly threatened by their politically unstable native region of West Central Africa, it seems some kind of external aid, such as from the Bristol Zoological Society, is necessary for their survival. The Zoo has a good understanding of how to truly help the giraffes, with recognition that their diminishing population is driven by the over-grazing of cattle.

With other institutions, such as governments and corporations, often failing to address this while discussing the environment, as they often benefit from the over-exploitation of land, Bristol Zoo’s focus on curbing this over-grazing seems incredibly useful.

Arguably, holding animals in captivity also facilitates the closest possible monitoring to ensure greater research than would be possible with wild animals. Consequently, it is possible to conduct research beneficial to the sustenance of

the wider population of such animals.

As is broadly discussed, the quality of life experienced by animals in captivity is however something to be questioned. There are widespread criticisms that the animals look incredibly distressed. But with limited knowledge of animal behaviour we honestly cannot be sure of this. The behaviour of animals does not mimic that of humans, therefore something that seems distressed doesn’t necessarily mean it is. That being said, it is very understandable that animals in such a position would likely experience a level of discomfort. Not just because their movement is now limited, but because the noise and light levels are so unusual and unpredictable. For example, the extreme noise levels experienced on the night of the Bristol Zoo’s adults-only ‘Big Night Out’ event. While such events do not seem to be running anymore, the fact the zoo was willing to cause the animals at least a slightly increased distress says a lot about the profit drive of zoos.

“

Ffion Clarke Second Year, Politics and International Relations

It is problematic that he wellbeing of soma animals is knowlingly limited

The distress of these animals is, to some, justified by the conservation and educational opportunities they provide. However, it is problematic that the wellbeing of some animals is knowingly limited at the expense of others. This is particularly so

considering that most of the issues focused on in such projects (i.e. non-natural occurrences) are widely caused by human interference with nature. It is therefore questionable whether further human interference should really be the answer, or whether an attempt to change this norm is necessary alongside such efforts.

“ We can do our bit as students by boycotting the zoo

The idea that zoos can solve the issues faced by animals is truly quite ironic. It is doubtful that animal issues, widely caused by human exploitation, can truly be solved by anything which continually perpetuates the idea that we as humans have the right to control everything.

While the zoo may be targeting the specific human issue of over-grazing, dealing with this will only solve this specific problem in this specific area. At the same time, as zoos encourage human control of our environment it normalizes other forms of nature exploitation damaging to animals. This idea of human superiority is so deeply embedded that specific zoo conservation agendas cannot tackle it, and lessening the captivation on animals might actually be more useful. As students and as local residents to one of Britain’s biggest zoos, we can do our bit by boycotting the zoo as a party venue, and perhaps even avoiding it altogether.

Epigram

26.03.2018

8

“

Meet the student taking big strides for charity Sarah Roller discusses her walking challenge to raise funds for Bristol’s homeless Moving to Bristol from a small, genteel, incredibly middle-class city 3 years ago was a bit of a shock to the system. The thing that struck me most of all by the end of Freshers’ Week was the sheer amount of people I’d seen begging and sleeping on the streets: I couldn’t quite believe it.

Every night, someone was asking for my change.

I walked past 3 Big Issue sellers every day as I walked to and from campus. Last summer, I spent 2 weeks volunteering at The Big Issue Foundation – their motto is ‘a hand-up not a hand-out’, and they offer legal, regulated work (selling the magazine) to anyone who comes through their doors. But, whilst I was there, it became clear that the Big Issue is not just a magazine.

Vendors automatically get offered help by staff at the Foundation, whether it’s referrals, advice on where to get a bed, registering at a GP, CV workshops, opening a bank account, or tackling addiction problems.

8

Taking people off the streets is the first step – it solves the symptoms of the problem. And in relative terms, it’s pretty easy to do. With a bit of co-operation from both local and national government, it would take remarkably little time or money to find beds for all those who currently shelter under doorways. In the grand scheme of problems in the 21st century, this one

Hopefully this will allow me to give something back to Bristol

I had every intention of going back to volunteer there once or twice a week this year: not least because the people I met were so great, and I have so much to learn from them.

Unsurprisingly, given the hectic terms of 3rd Year, I didn’t manage to give up any more of my time: so when the chance came to fundraise for the Foundation instead, I jumped at it.

Originally I was planning to do a sleep-out, but thanks to the Beast from the East, this ended up being cancelled – so in order to fulfil my obligations to all those who had donated, I decided instead to take up their Big Step Challenge. Their target was 10,000 steps a day – which is what we’re meant to do to stay healthy anyway. In order to make it a bit more of a challenge, I decided to up it to 252,000 in 2 weeks, which breaks down to 18,000 a day. Many, many steps. It has been incredibly good at forcing me out of the house (9pm walks across Bristol anyone?) in a desperate attempt to meet 18,000 steps after a day of dissertation work, as well as making me much more proactive. I’ve taken out the bins regularly (running up and down many many flights of stairs in the

process), gone to Sainsbury’s rather than asked my flatmates to grab something for me, and signed up for more exercise classes than ever before. So far, I’m averaging out pretty much on track – and am yet to feel any aches and pains.

Fund-raising has probably been the easiest part of the whole thing, to be honest. I’ve been genuinely astounded by how generous my friends have been, and I smashed the necessary fund-raising target in less than a week. It means a lot to me that people are willing to give their much-beloved student loan / earnings to charity, and I am very grateful that they are. What has struck me more than most as I’ve learned about homelessness is that it could happen to anyone. Homeless people struggle with exactly

the same problems as the rest of the population – employment, paying rent, relationships, and often substance abuse. 40% of people in the UK have £100 or less in savings available to them (according to the money advice service).

Homelessness really isn’t that far away from any of us, which makes it an even more pertinent problem to tackle.

Bristol has been my home for 3 years, and I feel very lucky to have got to spent time in this city.

It sounds like such a cliché, a nostalgic third year looking back at it through rose-tinted glasses, but it’s true. Bristol is so much more than a university, and in raising money for The Big Issue, hopefully I will have been able to give something back to the city that has given so much to me.

Flikr/ Jon Candy

“ Homelessness really isn’t that far away from any of us

is so easily fixable that it seems shocking we haven’t managed to do so yet. But that’s only the start. Helping people tackle the root causes of homelessness is what really matters, and that’s exactly what the Foundation does.

“

Sarah Roller Online Food Editor

The Big Issue Foundation provides purpose and employment opportunities for Britain’s homeless

Train fares have gone completely off the rail B e t h G ra n t d i s c u s s e s t h e e n v i ro n m e n ta l i m p l i ca t i o n s o f i n c re a s e d t ra i n fa re s

Beth Grant First Year, Law

The crunch of it really comes down to how much of a social butterfly you are - if you really do not need or miss the comforts of home, a termly visit is more than plenty, or if you are lucky enough to have your plethora of friends come and visit you, then you can probably budget in

Hence it is no surprise that students, being (as a generalisation), more economically than environmentally motivated, turn to the less green alternatives, such as getting a coach home, or even a flight, to avoid those prices. Yet we don’t realise how bad for the planet this actually is emissions of CO2 per passenger/Km by train are around half that of travelling by car. Therefore the disparity between the prices of these modes of transport means our restrictive student budget is actually having an adverse effect on the planet.

Yet the increase in cross country train fares is not the only thing that encourages students to favour less environmentally friendly methods of transport. Ask any student, and most would agree that the student discount is the saving grace of everyone’s bank accounts (RIP Wildwood and its

relatives to loan you the money. Plus, if it is your family that you are visiting, they will probably be happy to reimburse you for any money spent.

We also do have the option of reaching into that dreaded overdraft. Nevertheless, even with these options, the high price of cross country trains undoubtedly creates a huge financial burden for all those who travel on the regular, limiting their freedom to choose environmentally efficient means of travel, if not travel at all.

Flikr/ Romain Decker

“ CO2 per passenger/ Km by train are around half that of travelling by car.

Unidays and NUS cards offer better deals for coaches and flights than for trains

50% off). However, both Unidays and NUS cards offer better deals for coaches and flights than for trains - the NUS student card offers 40% off National Express coach travel, but only 10% off advance tickets with Virgin Cross Country trains.

There is some truth to the saying that ‘where there is a will there is way’, so if you are truly desperate to travel around, there are many things you can do to ensure you are able to - budget according, or potentially ask your parents or

Flikr/ Koji Harula

Cross country fares have been on the rise for the better of two decades, so in theory paying more for a train ticket is nothing new. Yet this increase has continued over the past year, with train companies celebrating the 2017 new year by seeing the average ticket price increase by 2.3% in the first weekday of January.

Of course, how much you pay varies greatly depending on where you live - applying a 40% student discount, a one way ticket to Durham bought a week out costs £87.60, whereas a return ticket to and from Birmingham would only be £34.08.

those kind of prices.

If, however, you are travelling around the UK every two or three weeks, then your overdraft is probably going to become your new best friend.

Train fares have increased by 2.3% in the last year

Epigram

26.03.2018

Interview with local MP Darren Jones

9

O l l i e S m i t h i n t e r v i e w s t h e M P f o r B r i s t o l N o r t h We s t a b o u t a ra n g e o f t o p i c s f r o m B r ex i t t o s t r i k e s Ollie Smith Online Features Editor It’s Saturday afternoon in snow-dusted Clifton when I receive a call. It’s Darren Jones, Labour MP for Bristol North West who represents those living in Stoke Bishop; he’s stranded in London so our scheduled meeting is taking place over the phone.

I begin by asking him what he’s found most challenging since becoming an MP in the snap election of 2017. ‘Probably deciding what not to do’ he says. ‘You can be involved in everything if you want to, but time in office is comparably short between parliaments in terms of achieving credible change and so one of the things I realised quite early on was you need to be quite clear on what you’re not going to do as well as what you want to’.

Darren sits on the European Scrutiny Committee, where his job is to ‘scrutinise any document that comes out of the European Union that will have a legally binding effect in the UK’, and the Science and Technology Committee which ‘scrutinises government policy wherever there is a science or a technology angle’.

lot of money in tuition fees, we’re not getting the teaching time that we need therefore give us the compensation for that, I kind of understand the logic of that argument and I think there’s a whole other piece about whether students are getting value for money these days, I don’t think you are which is why I would like student fees to go back down’.

“ I will want to see more houses, more affordable houses and better transport connections

At 31, Darren is very young for a Westminster politician and says ‘The reason I became an MP was because I wanted to achieve change and I hope to be able to do that’; he is however realistic about his situation, admitting that his seat is marginal and ‘pragmatically you’d assume you’d be there for maybe five or ten years before being booted out’. If they want him longer, however, he says he’d be privileged to do so.

He gives two reasons for his success last year: firstly ‘excitement around Labour which some of us including me didn’t expect, what that led

I think it’s hugely disappointing when some of my colleagues criticise Labour in government because of course it’s all very good having principles but unless you’re in power you can’t really do anything about it’.

‘I’m not saying everything that the New Labour government did was right, you know Iraq is an obvious one ... PFI contracts perhaps weren’t the best way of rebuilding public service buildings and assets ... private providers in the NHS probably went a bit too far but there’s no getting away from the fact that three terms in government changed the face of Britain both in terms of economic outlook, our standing in the world but also our cultural acceptances ... we became a modern country as a consequence ... there’s lots of Tory policies now that would have been entirely unacceptable under Margaret Thatcher or John Major at the time but that’s because Labour had created a new normal in the centre-ground’.

By the end of the current parliament, he gives two things he wants achieved locally: firstly ‘quality of life, so when it comes to people’s pay and rights at work, their access to good employment, childcare and gender politics... we’re doing a lot of about family life, I’m hoping we’ll have made some improvements on those issues locally with local businesses and providers. ‘And secondly about infrastructure in Bristol which

Twitter/ Darren Jones MP

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to change their minds once they see the facts. I think we’ve learnt a lot about the consequences of Brexit in the last 18 months … democracy didn’t stop at the last referendum’.

Darren also says that the government should make its economic impact assessments available for public viewing ‘because people need to understand that every form of Brexit is bad for the economy’.

By the end of the current parliament, he says ‘nationally I would like to have either stopped or mitigated the risks of Brexit which means either it doesn’t happen, with democratic legitimacy by another referendum, for example, or we’ve ended up in the single market and the customs union’.

Darren says the part of being an MP that he enjoys the most is ‘the fact that tackling injustice is now my full time job ... I’ve been able to do something that I really care about on a full time basis which is a great thing’.

Locally he’s proud of tackling the issue of modern slavery and unethical working. ‘I’ve had a couple of raids of modern slavery businesses in my constituency where people have been trafficked into the country and then forced into work-based enslavement’. Giving an example of restaurants that mistreat their staff he says, ‘I’m hoping that we can push the Government to close the loopholes ... so that waiters and waitresses get to keep the tips that they’re given without their

I would like student fees to go back down

Flikr/ Keiichi Yasu

After Starbucks introduces a cup charge, will other places follow suit?

“

Darren Jones discusses what he wants to see change in Bristol employers taking it from them’.

Renewable energy is another key issue, and he wants to find a way to utilise the tidal energy of the Bristol Channel effectively and develop ‘district heating’ where he hopes heat from industry can be used to warm homes and end gas use.

I was kind of pushed into politics because of my own experience of inequality and social injustice

Moving on to university issues, I ask his opinion on the current strikes, which he supports; when I ask him if he thinks student compensation is fair he says no, ‘largely because you wouldn’t get compensation in any other situation ... I can kind of see an argument that says look we’re paying a

to was an increase in our core Labour vote’ and because of ‘Brexit there were a lot of Lib-Dem and Tory voters who wouldn’t traditionally vote Labour who I think voted for me because they wanted a pro-European member of Parliament’.

But what got him into politics, and why the Labour Party? ‘I grew up in Lawrence Weston in my constituency in the 80s and 90s which is in the days before the National Minimum Wage ... neither of my parents continued their education after finishing secondary school so were on low incomes ... it was a time of poverty and huge inequality and as a kid growing up you kind of saw that around you ... I was kind of pushed into politics because of my own experience of inequality and social injustice ... I’d seen the Labour Party, you know, doing great things in government ... I hold the view that I wouldn’t have been able to have gone to university if it wasn’t for Labour being in government because people from my background didn’t do that’.

He values the last Labour government a lot so I ask if he thinks it gets a bad rap. ‘Yeah and

“

Because of his keen interest in the EU, I ask him if he’s happy with the Labour Party declaring its intention to remain in the Customs Union following Brexit. ‘Yes but I’d like it to go further’ he replies. ‘I represent a constituency that has a port and around 10,000 jobs here, a lot of them are linked to import and export and logistics, as well as chemicals and advanced manufacturing and most of those jobs have some connection to the trade of goods with the European Union, so the customs union membership will mean that we will have no blockages at the ports in terms of imports and exports and that businesses will be able to get their goods out and also get their goods in’.

The Labour Party’s position on Brexit has been questioned since the general election, with Jeremy Corbyn historically being a Eurosceptic.

I therefore ask Darren if it’s difficult to try to change the Party’s position. Darren explains that the ‘hard-left’ of the Party, the likes of Corbyn and John McDonnell, ‘think that Europe is based on a neo-liberal capitalist framework that might prevent them from implementing their policies. I mean I disagree with that, you only need to look at Emmanuel Macron nationalising a port a few months ago, there are state-owned companies in France and Germany, you know we’re perfectly able to do that in the UK whilst remaining members of the European Union’.

Despite differences, however, he’s keen to show party unity. ‘The Labour Party’s a broad-church, I’m on the centre-left; I’m a moderate Labour MP, I’m not a hard-left Labour MP but we wish to achieve the same outcomes and we want to protect jobs and industry in this country, and I’m pleased that Jeremy and John have realised that that means remaining at least a member of the customs union, and I’d say we’ve got a bit more work to do to get them to reach the same conclusion in terms of the single market’.

Continuing on the topic of Brexit, I ask if he supports a final say on the agreement, even if it means remaining. ‘Yes. People deserve the right

isn’t an easy ask but I want to see more houses, more affordable houses and better transport connections and links by the end of my time in office and I expect to see those delivered’.

I will want to see more houses, more affordable houses and better transport connections

We had been chatting for over half an hour and honestly could have gone on for much longer.

Darren is incredibly passionate about his job and even more so for his local community. I can’t begin to imagine the huge amounts of work he most go through. With so many people relying on him, the sheer responsibility of an MP goes beyond, I think, what many people realise.

Epigram 26.03.2018

Comment

@epigramcomment Editor: Ed Southgate

Deputy Editor: Jake Porter

Online Editor: Cameron Scheijde

@ed_southgate comment@epigram.org.uk

@porterjake

@camscheijde

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

I am one of those people who get highly irritable in the Arts and Social Sciences Library.

Loud music, chatting, heavy breathing - you are here to study, not have a gossip or listen to Metallica at full volume. Have some respect for the grumpy third year in the corner.

But, there is nothing more disgraceful than giving evils to one of these delinquents, only to realise they aren’t even reading or writing essays but writing equations or tapping numbers into a calculator. As well as being distracting, they are taking up seats for Arts students in their one dedicated building, one which is underfunded and limited in the first place.

Rubbing salt into the wound, when I ventured into the Merchant Venturers Buildingt he other day I discovered that I wasn’t even allowed to log on to one of their zillions of computers.

While I understand that this is probably because they have some software vital for the students to complete their course, the ASS exclusively holds arts books and our subject librarians, the arts students’ equivalent to fancy software.

Fix this double standard Bristol, arts students need the ASS a whole lot more than other faculties do.

Nina Bryant argues that scaremongering students with potential physical illnesses is detrimental to mental health and student life Nina Bryant Second Year, Psychology Scaremongering tactics are often employed to deter students from engaging in behaviours that are seen as ‘risky’ – but we often fail to challenge whether these fear-inducing ploys may be affecting the quality of student life.

Scaremongering tactics are no novelty: to this day I am still haunted by memories from school of being told ‘you should be careful not to accidentally use someone’s razor because you never know who could have HIV’ or being told by a sex education teacher that she ‘wouldn’t let her children sit on toilet seats’ when specifically asked if this was a way of contracting STIs.

“

Scaremongering tactics are no novelty

Of course these experiences were far more traumatic for me than the average person because at the time I was in the midst of developing severe obsessive-compulsive disorder – but let’s just say it wasn’t uncommon for someone to faint during our sex education classes when being shown graphic images of STIs. When discomfort is getting to the level that people are passing out, surely there is something unhealthy about scaremongering?

Moreover, even if scaremongering tactics do only particularly affect people like me with a disposition towards anxiety disorders - why should my needs as someone with a mental illness be seen as less important than my needs to stay physically healthy?

Despite our growing knowledge and independence, scaremongering tactics continue to infiltrate university life without people being aware of how damaging they can be. Sitting in the waiting room at the Students’ Health Service, your thoughts may be bombarded with questions like ‘do I have gonorrhea?

Could I get meningitis? Do I have septicaemia?’

You may have never thought it would happen to you, but suddenly you are confronted with a poster of a woman who has lost her leg due to bacterial meningitis, telling you that she never thought it would happen to her either.

Scaremongering continues to infiltrate university life without people being aware of how damaging they can be

The way that we as a society use emotive language to prevent physical illness is a manifestation of the priority we place on physical over mental health.

For some people, brushing off these thoughts may be easy, but for someone with a disposition towards anxiety these images might stick in their brain for years.

Take one example of a slogan from a poster in the Students’ Health Service waiting room which read, ‘Freshers’ flu? Hangover? Or meningitis?’

Not only does this kind of language have the potential to create an unnecessary overflow of demand on the Students’ Health Service, but it

Epigram / Jake Porter

What the #editors are saying...

Doom and gloom health warnings risk an increase in anxiety

“

A decry from The Duchess...

Could overt scaremongering send people to Hampton House for mental anguish?

also has the potential to create unnecessary anxiety amongst students surrounding what, despite the recent rise in prevalence, is still a very rare disease.

That is not to say that meningitis is not devastating, but insinuating to students that their regular dose of freshers’ flu - or those all too familiar sensations of a bad hangover - could actually be signs of a lifethreatening illness is not the way to ensure that they thrive to the best of their abilities at university.

If people are not convinced by the toll that a serious mental illness can take on someone’s wellbeing – they should at least be able to recognize the effect it can have on a person’s physical health. Anxiety can fuel physical problems such as a weakened immune system, eating disorders and unsuccessful suicide attempts leading to long-term health damage. In reality, men in their twenties are statistically more likely to die by suicide than any physical illness. So why is it that during Freshers’ Week we had a talk about recognizing the signs of meningitis but not about recognizing the signs of mental illness?

Unfortunately, raising awareness about increased exposure to physical illness is not the only part of university life that scaremongering wheedles its way into. Discussions about the problems associated with student drug-taking often involve using a personal story where drug usage caused tragic physical complications, appealing to people’s emotions without offering large-scale scientific evidence, and often ignoring more prevalent but ‘minor’ issues such as the effects on mental health.

As a result students could either be overly terrified, or ignore the so-called advice promoting abstaining from recreational drug use as the only option altogether. Either way we need to sit back and wonder - what have we achieved by making young

people feel scared?

Even more importantly, when it comes to academia we are often taught to be driven by fear of failure more than we are by the temptation of success. We submit our coursework out of fear of what would happen if we did not – not because we are eager to succeed. Especially for students who have worked hard to get into a Russell Group university like Bristol – sometimes we forget that marks and credentials are not the be all and end all.

“

When educating young people, the tendency to promote the worst possible scenario needs to be questioned

For so long it has been ingrained in our psyche that motivation has to come from threat, meaning we can forget that avoidance of risk and failure is not really what student life is about. Being taught that ultimately we have to be in control of our exposure to negative outcomes is going to impair students’ quality of life far more than it will improve it.

When educating young people, the tendency to promote the worst possible scenario needs to be questioned. University life is not about being in control or being perfect, or meticulously avoiding risk, and we need to be communicating that mental wellbeing is as important as physical health and academic achievements.

Epigram 26.03.2018

11

Political round-up World politics: Former South African President Jacob Zuma faces corruption charges UK politics: Relations between Russia and the UK hit a new low with Russia implicated in a state-sponsered assassination attempt Student politics:

(see page 3) The round-up is from the time of writing; developments in these events may have since occurred

Support the students during UCU strikes

Phoebe Chase constrains against the negative impact of strikes on students

Phoebe Chase First Year, Archaeology and Anthropology At the time of writing this article, it seems there is no end in sight to the UCU-UUK pensions dispute. An atmosphere that in the initial week of strikes was reminiscent of a kitchen on steroids gradually dropped to something more along the lines of tired, blind, dogged determination. The weeks of cancelled lectures and seminars heralded no victory for anyone involved. We are expected to write essays on topics that have not even been covered, sections of the term’s exams papers have been cut, and deadlines are being desperately extended to minimise the unavoidable effect on grades.

I sympathise with the crisis that many of the lecturers are facing. The treatment of staff

by UUK is inexcusable and I fully understand the importance of these strikes in protest of the proposed pension cuts. However, our lecturers also have a duty to their students, and in this duty they are currently failing.

If these strikes continue, many students will have missed almost an entire term of teaching - this is unacceptable. It is very difficult to feel comforted by emails from striking lecturers saying ‘your education is very important to me’, when the strikes are may extend into exam season. Am I actually going to get my degree at all, or should I just sod off now and try something else?

Although I support the reason behind the strikes, I strongly disagree with how they are being dealt with by the University

governance. What exactly have we been paying for for the past four weeks? True, I’ve used the library a fair amount, exercised my right to book reservation, and bought more coffee from the Source cafe than possibly ever before, enjoying the generous gift of a free cappuccino. But one might hope that £9000 would cover a little more than this.

“

I did not pay to come to university to be my own lecturer

That students are not being compensated for cancelled lectures is one of the biggest problems, and points to the arguably wider issue that we are receiving the bare minimum support from our university. Whilst at the time of writing, some have received reassurances from their faculties that there is not an expectation to do exams and essays on topics not covered, many certainly haven’t received any such news. It is still mystifyingly unclear to a large number of students, the extent of which our grades will be affected by the strikes. During this time, I refuse to be expected to merely teach myself the missed material. I did not pay to come to university to be my own lecturer.

This is a time of great uncertainty for both lecturers and students, so we much respect and understand each other’s situations. This does not mean that we must also agree with

those situations that we have been thrown into. I want my lectures back. So does every student that I have spoken to about this - and there are many.

I earnestly want the demands of the UCU to be met by the UUK, but I don’t see how obnoxiously bashing one’s entire crockery collection at students trying to study will achieve this. The animosity from a number of student picketers towards other students, who simply do not want to fail their education, is extremely disappointing. Are protests going to escalate even further? Abseiling down from the top of the Will’s Memorial Building shouting ‘support our lecturers’ is not going to make the slightest bit of difference.

Epigram / Alina Young

First UCU/UUK agreement rejected; strikes to possibly continue

A response to the round-up...

Are the strikes effectively impacting their intended target, or just harming student progress?

A response to the news...

SU elections can be exciting shows of democracy

Ed Southgate shares an optimism about the SU’s potential to have engaging moments of democracy

It is all too easy to be critical of those in positions of power. From the government, to our university Vice-Chancellor, down to Bristol SU, we often feel an urge to uncover their flaws.

This is rightly so, for any institution must be held to account, but we must be careful not to dismiss moments of optimism.

Bristol SU has been widely criticised lately, from the AMM not being quorate leading to no motions being passed officially, to their questionable stance on the UCU strikes, to some positions at the elections merely having one or two candidates. There is a wealth of ammunition to attack the SU with, which leads to the question: ‘Can student democracy at Bristol ever be exciting, engaging or even valid?’

The short answer? Yes, it can. And I should emphasise that this writer is notoriously ready to criticise the SU whenever they make a blunder – which, in my view, is all too often.

If I am caving to admit that we can find a

glimmer of hope in the SU, then we can.

Indeed, if we look beyond the lower turnout at the recent election than last year, and zoom in to the fight for Union Affairs Officer, we see that student democracy can be exciting. Not only did the incumbent officer, Stanford, receive the most number of votes of any officer with a challenger to remain in office for next year, but he beat his opponent, Chante Joseph, by a mere 33 votes.

“

Any institution must be held to account, but we must be careful not to dismiss moments of optimism

This tight result was probably inevitable – it was essentially a ‘Battle of the BNOCs’ after all. However, it does show that student democracy can be engaging, unpredictable, and tense when it wants to be.

Epigram / Ollie Smith

Can we be optimistic that student democracy in Bristol can be legitimate and exciting?

Perhaps ‘when it wants to be’ is the wrong phrase. Maybe we should focus on this being a contest between two BNOCs. Both names have a high-profile around campus, meaning they both have a high following too.

This may of course give us more ammunition to criticise the election with: was the whole election merely a popularity contest?

It some ways, it probably was. But it is not necessarily a criticism we must focus intently on. Indeed, it has been like this since electing our School Council in primary school, and it is also true for electing our politicians.

Indeed, Jeremy Corbyn’s appeal over Theresa May is partly because he has character when she has none, whilst the ‘bumbling buffoon’ image that Boris Johnson has created for himself has worked wonders for him has drawn people in to like him semi-regardless of how they perceive his politics. Should we really, therefore, be focusing so negatively on the ‘popularity’ element of the SU when it is in no way exclusive to student politics.

Furthermore, that they have a high-profile does not necessarily mean we should be drawn to that conclusion of it being a mere popularity contest. Candidates standing for election are naturally reliant on having a high-profile, without which no one will know what they stand for and therefore will not be inclined to vote for them. By having such a high-profile, students already knew what both candidates stood for, or at least had an idea which got clarified during the campaign period, and so already had their politicalinclination as to who they want to represent them. That is how politics works.

It is important to remember, therefore, that their high-profile comes from their continuous

political involvement throughout their time at university. They have shown throughout their academic career that they did not want this role for their CV, but because they genuinely have thought on, care about, and believe in their manifesto promises.

This then becomes a message to all future candidates for future elections: to be an SU Officer whom the students can get truly behind - instead of voting for you to shut you up whilst we try to study in the library - you must show a strong engagement in student politics throughout your time here, rather than showing a generic interest for two days of bribing people with sweets rather than convincing them of your politics.

“

Ed Southgate Comment Editor

Stanford and Chante have shown they wanted this role because they genuinely have thought on, care about, and believe in their manfesto

The SU election has shown both that student politics can be exciting, and perhaps sends a message that if we are to strengthen the legitimacy of politics here, it is on us to be and show consistent engagement in the issues that matter.

A hanging question is consequently left: is it the SU that should engage students in politics, or is it students already engaged in politics that should make the SU? Read the original news stories on page 4

Epigram 26.03.2018

12

‘Study drugs’ should be regulated, not demonised

The QS rankings confirm it: we attend a world-class university Cameron Scheijde celebrates the history of the University of Bristol, and its status as a world-class university Cameron Scheijde Online Comment Editor

Students will continue to take these drugs; the government does more harm than good by not allowing their regulation

‘There shall be from henceforth for ever in Our said City of Bristol a University’ (King Edward VII, Charter of Incorporation of the University of Bristol, 4 December 1909)

One of the biggest problems caused by the misuse of drugs such as Aderol and Ritilin is that taking them can make it harder for people with ADHD to receive the medication they need.

Patients are finding it harder and harder to receive these sorts of medications, especially at Student Health Centres, with doctors reluctant to prescribe due to fears students will sell the drug. This is evidently an issue, but only due to the government’s unwillingness to legalise and moderate the range of these drugs. Considering government fears for their safety, surely it is illogical to demonise and illegalise them, reducing the potential for further research.

The regulation of safer drugs such as Modafinil would see huge reductions in the rate of abuse of these ADHD medications.

Echoing the words of Professor David Nutt on drug policy, it all goes back to regulation.

While I do agree we need to promote a society which is not exclusively dependant on drugs for cognitive function, to ignore the benefits of these drugs is simply primeval.

Epigram / Ed Southgate

Are ‘study drugs’ immoral? This student thinks not. He’s been awake for 60 hours and is feeling great!

‘The latest QS world subject rankings can be interpreted and twisted by any University Press Office - but one message is clear, Bristol is pretty damn good.’

When you drag yourself to your 9am, feeling a twinge of regret that lecturers have returned to work, spare a thought for award-winning Neuroscience Professor Hugh Brady. There is no job I envy less than the Vice-Chancellorship of the University of Bristol.

First, there were the hall reforms. Then, there were longer working hours. Wellbeing was always a problem, and to top if off, the teaching staff went on strike for four weeks. If there was one man who needs a paracetamol and/or a stiff drink, it’s Hugh.

“

If there was one man who needs a paracetamol and/ or a stiff drink, it’s Hugh

However, whilst we drown in the quagmire of bad news, you can continue to trek past Beacon House, gaze happily upon the Corinthian might of the Victoria Rooms, the Gothic splendour of the Wills Memorial and the Georgian glory of Woodland Road and be content in this knowledge: you attend a world-class University.

The latest QS world subject rankings can be interpreted and twisted by any University Press Office - but one message is clear, Bristol is pretty damn good. 29 of the courses that you can take here are among the top 100 in the world, nine are in the top 50 and three are in the top 20. We compete on a stage with the world’s old elite stalwarts of academia - Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, Princeton - and we hold our own. I am privileged enough to study in the Faculty for Social Sciences and Law, where the school of Social Policy is ranked 16th best on the planet. Earth Sciences also holds 16th position and anatomy and physiology is ranked 18th.

It is very easy to complain and moan about the imperfections of our university, and,

“

I have never taken ‘study drugs’. But I am fed up with this demonised conception surrounding them and people’s inability to see their potential. To a lot of people, when someone mentions that they’ve used a ‘smart drug’ there’s a sudden cynicism, prompting comments such as ‘you don’t even know what’s in them’, ‘they don’t even work’ or ‘that’s cheating’. I would like to address a few of these statements, along with a few other misconceptions.

Perhaps the most convincing argument against taking the drugs is that they are dangerous. Psychotropic drugs such as Ritalin and Aderol are deemed Class B due to their addictive quality, similar to that of cocaine.

We do not know for certain if there are any long-term effects to these study drugs; some of them may have the potential to react with substances already in our system. However, does this mean we should not take them?

Speaking to students who have used the drug and simply looking online, it is clear to see that drugs used to treat ADHD are simply not the most popular. They are difficult to acquire, and the risk is simply not worth the reward for being found in possession. Instead, safer Nootropic drugs - such as Modafinil, Noopept and Adrafinil - are sold and advertised garishly across websites. These smart drugs are more stable and have far fewer or even nonexistent side effects. Considering the number of students who take them regularly, surely if they were that damaging we would be seeing the widescale effects in the media?

The government is forcing students to take these more addictive substances - if they allowed regulation of less harmful substances, this would be accompanied by a scientific education into their effects and suitable dosages. Students will continue to take these drugs; the government does more harm than good by not allowing their regulation.

Another misconception, that the drugs don’t work, is simply inaccurate. After researchers tested the effects of the drug Modafinil, Guy Goodwin, President of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), stated ‘this overview suggests that, on current evidence, modafinil enhances cognition independent of its known effects in sleep disordered populations.’ As part of the study, scientists from the University of Oxford and

Harvard Medical School analysed 24 studies into Modafinil. They concluded that it does improve cognitive function, especially on long and complicated tasks.

Whether taking these drugs is ethical or not is a separate but relevant factor. There are a large proportion of people who feel that, by taking these drugs, you echo athletes who take steroids to enhance performance. This may be partially valid for students, but what about scientists? What about doctors? Are we going to ban these drugs for members of society who hope to improve the world we live in? Surely the aim of the work we produce as students is not to be competitive but to develop our field of study. By banning the drugs at the grassroots, we only stifle future scientific and intellectual development that could potentially benefit society. With current threats such as global warming, food shortages and international tensions, we are going to need all the cognitive help available.

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Luke Unger Second Year, English

Epigram / Cameron Scheijde

Luke Unger explores the stigma and misconceptions around the use of so-called ‘study drugs’

granted, there are many. Ironically, one of the main things that tends to hold back Bristol’s potential to sit comfortably in global top 30 and UK top 10 is its comparatively poor student satisfaction ratings - and how the pastoral changes will affect this is yet to be seen. However, our overall student satisfaction is still 86, with some schools consistently scoring 95 and above.

Away from the arbitary league rankings, Bristol is also an inspirational place to live, study, work and enjoy

We are still one of the top three universities targeted by employers, one of the top five for research and comfortably in the top 50 worldwide. Whilst every university these days claims to be a ‘UK Top Ten’ , Bristol can credibly sit on a global throne of learning.

Away from arbitrary league rankings, Bristol is also an inspirational place to live, study, work and enjoy. It is easy to take for granted our surroundings but we are truly privileged to study here, having worked so hard for our As and A stars at school. The green spaces of Royal Fort, the imposing grandeur of our very own Wills Memorial, or the modern touch of Beacon House, our city has it all, while we explore our academic capabilities and dive into our latest piece of research.

The history of our university is similarly rich. University College Bristol, established in 1876, evolved from the Merchant Venturers College that dated back to 1595. Some of the buildings on campus date back to the 15th century, such as the former Baptist Theological College on Woodland Road, now home to the Philosophy department. One of the principal founders of University College was John Percival, former headmaster at Clifton College, who used his connections with the principal of Balliol College, Oxford, to get support from Oxford University. Yes, we’ve been in Oxford’s shadow from the very start.

To link this all back to the QS rankings, Bristol is a brilliant university and though everyone’s experiences will inevitably be different, I think it’s good to take a step back and enjoy our privileged existence.

Epigram

26.03.2018

Science & Tech

@EpigramSciTech Editor: Emma Isle Online Editor: Bethany Harris

Deputy Editor: Oliver Cohen scienceandtech@epigram.org.uk

Twitter’s priorities: protection or free speech?

Valli McAdam discusses the debate surrounding the censorship of accounts on Twitter Valli McAdam Second Year, Chemistry

“ It raises the question; is Twitter a public space in which the right to free speech should be left untainted?

It raises the question; is Twitter a public space in which the right to free speech should be left untainted? With the increased power that social media companies have, is it not important that the laws applying to the non-screen world apply in the

Epigram / Katy Hubbuck

Recently white nationalist Jared Taylor sued Twitter after the social media network banned his account.

Taylor is the head of American Renaissance, a white supremacist newsletter and website that supports ideas of “racial difference”. Twitter suspended his account in December as part of a crackdown on censoring abusive content. However, Taylor denies Twitter’s claims that his account was promoting violence. Mr Taylor filed his case in a Californian law protecting free speech in public spaces, a law yet to be applied to the internet.

“Our lawsuit is not about whether Taylor is right or wrong. It’s about whether Twitter and other technology companies have the right to ban individuals from using their services based on their perceived viewpoints affiliations.” Taylor’s lawyer posted online.

same way to such free and accessible platforms?

According to The Telegraph, the average Briton spends around 1 hour 20 minutes browsing social media networks per day. With the amount of airtime these companies get it is vital that they provide a safe online space as well as not implementing any political bias.

Twitter also suspended some accounts until they provided a telephone number that they had to verify, this was claimed to be part of a movement to remove abuse and misinformation posted by malicious bots. Concern was raised when many blocked users claimed they were being blocked for their right-wing political views.

The efforts, whether biased or not, are of course upsetting many users, mostly because in many cases followers were lost after accounts were logged back in. With many people deeming the “#twitterlockout” as an attack on conservatives. One user, @dbongino tweeted “The twitter attack on conservatives hit me too last night. I was deemed “ineligible” to use twitter ads and had followers purged. @twitter should [be] ashamed, we have to organize a response.”. But in classic internet fashion, the lockout supporters did not go unheard, with many mocking the allegations of bias. Twitter user @Relax_For_Real tweeted “Wait, what? Twitter locked you out and you have to verify your phone number? Oh the horror of it all! Hey conspiracy theorist, just verify your damn number and move on with your life…bunch of snowflakes.”

It is, however, important to note that similar charges to Twitter’s account closures have been filed before. Conservative activist Charles Johnson has a lawsuit against Twitter pending in California after he was banned in 2015.

Is Twitter’s policing of it’s platform a violation of freedom of expression?

Perhaps it is obvious that Twitter were under pressure to police the spread of misinformation, and maybe the owners of the website have the right to do whatever they want – it is their website after all. But then again, surely this is violating twitter’s self-proclaimed goal to “give everyone the power to create and share ideas instantly, without barriers”.

Many may think some barriers are best kept up, particularly in cases where political or religious beliefs may insight harmful behaviour from others – but for Conservative ideologies, surely this is unlikely to be have been raising such alarms?

This story leads us straight back into the classic free speech debate. Surely taking away anyone’s voice is taking away their right to free speech? But are we not all responsible for preventing speakers from evoking hateful thoughts and behaviour? I guess it just depends on where you draw the line.

Whatever your stance on the matter, the events of the last couple of months definitely raise some important questions, and with the daily use of social media networks by people across the globe, these questions are unlikely to be swept under the rug.

Are video games to blame for violent behaviour?

In light of recent events, Riya Kahn looks at the effect of violent video games

Riya Kahn Third Year, Neuroscience

“ 85% of video games contain some form of violence

Research on the effects of movies and television on violence have shown that youth exposed to violent media showed an increase in aggressive behaviour immediately following exposure. Critically acclaimed and popular games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty, the latter which belongs to a genre known as first person shooters, both simulate large amounts of violence and gore using realistic graphics. As over 85% of video games contain some form of violence, this can become concerning particularly when considering its effects on more impressionable members of society such as children and adolescents.

As such, recent studies have begun to explore the

Flickr / Núcleo Editorial Flickr / Pete Slater

The golden age of gaming saw the introduction of video games into mainstream pop culture and resulted in an unprecedented increase in consumption of this form of media. Three decades on, an estimated 2.4 billion people game in some way either through consoles, personal computers or mobile phones. Because of this increase in exposure, concerns about the effects of video games have been brought to question.

relationship between video games and violence, with the majority concluding that no such correlation exists. For example, York university found that video games do not ‘prime’ players to specific behaviours.

‘Priming’ is a form of learning whereby exposure to a concept, in this case simulated violence, should make those concepts easier to carry out offline.

Participants in this study were exposed to a carthemed game and then asked to identify images of vehicles from non-vehicle objects. If priming was to occur, participants should have been able to categorise vehicle images faster than participants who did not play the car-themed game, however there was no difference in reaction time between the two groups. While this study does not focus on violence specifically, it may suggest that those who play violent video games are not being encouraged to enact their virtual escapades in real life as priming is unlikely to occur.

In Germany, researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate whether empathy was decreased in long term players of violent games. No such relationship was found as these players exhibited the same neural response to emotive images as non-gamers. While empathy was not shown to be decreased, another study did suggest that some form of desensitisation to violence was indeed taking place. Gaming results in physiological arousal, a normal response of the body to tense and exciting situations, and it was found that players of violent video games experienced less physiological arousal to real-life violence relative to those who did not play violent video games. While it is an interesting finding, this does not mean that violent video game players will then go on to commit violent acts, as using this logic it would not be too farfetched to claim that playing Fifa or Farming Simulator will turn you into a footballer

Video game use is widespread among the general population, could it be a cause for violent behaviour?

or an agricultural God. Rather it highlights that exposure to violent video games during childhood may need to be restricted in order to avoid future desensitisation to real-life violence.

Overall, video game consumption has increased since the 90s, but violence has conversely decreased in this time. While countries like the US do have legitimate concerns about youth crime rates particularly those involving firearms, targeting the video game industry appears to be a scapegoat for dealing with arguably more impactful issues such as gun laws. It is also important to note that claiming that all video games cause violence is too broad a statement. Regardless of the degree of correlation between these two factors, if there is one at all, video games like other forms of digital media consists of many genres. It is more appropriate to suggest that it may be specific components of video games from specific genres e.g. first person shooters could

contribute towards encouraging aggressive attitudes.

Also, it is not unlikely that those with a predisposition to violence or aggression will pursue gaming as a hobby. Genres such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) including the likes of World of Warcraft have been reported to foster a sense of community and belonging to those without an offline support network, and many other positive effects of gaming have also been observed.

It may be worth narrowing the discussion so more effective research methods can be applied and more meaningful conclusions can be drawn, especially if the end goal is to influence public policy.

As video games have been consumed on a large scale for only three decades, the impact of this relatively new technology on society has yet to be fully understood. Further research must be carried out if we are to make informed decisions about the future of this growing industry.

Epigram 26.03.2018

15

This Month in Science

Vilhelmiina Haavisto First Year Biology

Flickr / UniversityBlogSpot

Flickr / IBM Research

Tardigrades, or “water bears”, are some of the stranger animals we know of. They generally range from 0.3 to 0.5mm in size, have eight legs, and have a round mouth with three rows of microscopic toothlike stylets. They are found virtually everywhere on Earth, from mud volcanoes to the Antarctic.

Recently, a novel species of this micro-animal, Macrobiotus shonaicus, was found in the parking lot of an apartment block in Japan. Kazuharu Arakawa, a tardigrade researcher at Keio University, routinely carries out tardigrade samplings, and found this new species by scraping up some moss from his block’s parking lot. What is most striking about the new species was that it not only thrived, but also reproduced, in a laboratory environment – this is relatively rare for tardigrades. Arakawa said that this quirk makes M. shonaicus, “an ideal model to study the sexual reproduction machinery and behaviors of tardigrades”.

Flickr / Liam Quinn

Flickr / WIDOMIRAMA

Reserved Parking

Penguin Super colony

Quantum Computing

Spring Cleaning

Researchers have confirmed that there is a “supercolony” of Adélie penguins living on the remote archipelago of the Danger Islands, off the northern Peninsula of Antarctica. The researches made use of a combination of on-site sampling and drone footage to quantify the population size and distribution, and estimate that there are around 1.5 million individuals in the colony, or around 750,000 pairs of the penguins, who mate for life. Study coauthor Michael Polito says that the population “appears to have not suffered the population declines found along the western side of Antarctic Peninsula […] associated with recent climate change.” Indeed, Adélie penguin populations in the western Peninsula are rapidly declining, due in part to the region’s ever-warming climate. The researchers are calling for this supercolony to be especially protected by conservation measures as it is, and will likely remain, a “hotspot” for Adélie penguins in the wake of climate change.

Google researchers are currently in the process of testing a quantum computer with 72 quantum bits, or qubits. While traditional computers work with a binary system, where information exists as either 0 and 1, quantum computers store information that can exist in any superposition of 0 and 1.

Qubits, therefore, are able to store much more information than traditional ‘bits’. Google is not the only company trying to break into the quantum computing business - both IBM and Intel are testing quantum computers of their own, with 50 and 49qubits respectively. When the technology does take off, it will allow us to model complex systems that traditional computers would simply not be able to process. The researchers are racing to demonstrate “quantum supremacy”, which involves performing a calculation that no traditional computer could complete. They are optimistic, citing that they hope to demonstrate quantum supremacy within the next few months.

Chinese scientists have designed and implemented a prototype of an air-purifying chimney. The 60-metre high structure filters out noxious particles from the polluted air of Xian, a major city in central China, using solar power. Officials throughout China have long been lobbying for solutions to ever-increasing air pollution levels, which are estimated to have caused 1.1 million premature deaths in China in 2015 alone. Experts around the world have praised the prototype’s innovative design, but others have raised concerns about the long-term strain on resources of building and running such air-purifying facilities.

There are also worries that while the technology reportedly decreased the prevalence of particles of a certain size by 19% during the study period, it does not remove gases such as sulphur dioxide or nitrous oxides, which also contribute to air pollution. On the whole, though, experts agree that this technology is ultimately worth investigating and refining further.

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pays homage to the recently passed scientist Stephen Hawking.

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Emma Isle... talks about an exciting new algorithm to combat cancer.

Vilhelmiina Haavisto...

discusses the interesting new analysis of the suspected bones of Ameilia Earhart.

Flickr / thellr

Epigram

26.03.2018

Letters

@EpigramLetters

Editors: Nicola Hamer and Lily Hammond letters@epigram.com

Dear future freshers: an honest reflection on first year

“ The people you live with are what make your hall experience

I haven’t met many students who don’t rave about their respective halls, so don’t worry if you don’t get into your first choice. The people you live with are what make your halls experience but if worse comes to worst, many students apply to transfer halls.

Facebook / Tom Taylor

A flurry of March snow gave me the opportunity to reflect on the ups and downs of what has been an amazing first year at Bristol University. I hope future freshers find my ramblings helpful, or if nothing else, honest.

After a long, nervous car journey I arrived at Goldney Hall, beautiful accommodation in the decidedly middle class bubble of Clifton Village. I was met at the door by my senior resident (these are live-in mature students, postgraduate students and staff who provide accessible pastoral support).

I moved into a lovely flat and quickly became firm friends with my flatmates with whom I am living next year.

Bristol is famous for its street art

Home to Banksy, Aardman and wavey garms, I chose Bristol because of the city’s reputation for vibrancy.

I have not been disappointed. Bad nights out are few and far between, as long as you avoid PRYZM, and there really is something for everyone. Mr Wolfs has brilliant live music (especially on a Tuesday); the Love Inn and The Canteen give you an eclectic taste of Stokes Croft; Lakota and Blue Mountain are perfect if you like Drum and Bass; Lola’s, Gravity and SWX provide more casual clubbing and Motion brings DJs

at the top of their game to Bristol.

There is so much going on that it’s hard to keep track of all the events that interest you, but do try: I stumbled across an amazing acoustic gig in someones living room, and relaxed in the WeAreCurious planetarium to a Pink Floyd light show.

Your first academic contact will be your personal tutor. In personal tutor group sessions it can be a case of everyone nodding and muttering that they’re ‘doing alright’ whilst looking at the floor. In one-to-one sessions,

however, personal tutors are invaluable and my tutor was vital in helping me when I really needed them.

The oft repeated phrase ‘First Year doesn’t count’ may have some truth to it, but it doesn’t mean that going to lectures or tutorials is optional. You have the opportunity to experiment with different styles and approaches without being penalised.

I’m sure you’re all feeling very excited about coming to Bristol and so you should be! However, this wouldn’t be an honest reflection if I didn’t point out

“

Tom Taylor First Year, History

some of the pitfalls. Considering Bristol’s nationwide reputation for culture and music, Welcome Week could have been improved in terms of attracting better DJs and organising more original club nights.

Also, whilst my halls experience has been brilliant, the University management is currently attempting to carry out ill-thought out changes in the pastoral care system which show a lack of understanding for student mental health.

I’ve been less than impressed with the Students Union, particularly the Annual Members Meeting - perhaps online voting would be more reflective of wider student opinion rather than that of pressure groups - and its failure to represent student interests in the strikes (although I do support our lecturers).

I hope I have given an accurate reflection of the university

Of course, this is just my personal snapshot of Bristol, but I hope I have given an accurate reflection of the University beyond the brochures and look forward to welcoming the new freshers to the best city in the UK - just be prepared to listen to a ‘gap yah’ story or two!

Dear students, following the rejection of UUK’s proposal

Anonymous Lecturer at UoB

“ I saw no provision in the agreement asking UUK to encourage universities to spend this money on services for students

The ‘accrual rate’ was lowered from 1/75 to 1/85. This alone amounted to a significant -- nearly 12% -- pension cut.

The defined benefit threshold was lowered from £55,550 to £42,0000.

This threshold is the amount of a staff member’s salary from which they currently pay into the defined benefit ‘USS Retirement Income Builder’ scheme, and the maximum amount from which their defined benefit pension income is computed after retirement. Salary over the threshold is handled by the defined contribution ‘USS Investment Builder’ scheme, and pension income derived therefrom is therefore uncertain.

In short, lowering this threshold means that a significantly higher proportion of many staff members’ pensions will be subject to the vagaries of the market, contrary to the principle that our pensions are not a ‘perk’ - they are part of our pay.

The ‘indexation’ was capped at 2.5%.

So, whenever the consumer price index -- a standard measure of inflation -exceeds 2.5%, our pensions begin to decrease in value. Note that CPI has, historically been much higher than this (double digits) and exceeded 3% at various points in 2017. This part of the agreement would make it certain that benefits will be eaten away by inflation, causing income reduction in retirement.

It is hard for me to see this as anything

other than an under-hand way of slowly destroying defined benefit.

The proposed increase in contributions appeared to be needless, given that the premise on which the dispute is based (the supposed deficit) is questionable.

The agreement proposed that UCU ‘encourage’ members to prioritise rescheduling of teaching. Staff will not be paid for any of the days they were on strike, but the agreement made no apparent provision for staff rescheduling teaching - doing work that they did not do while on strike - to be paid for that teaching.

As well as being unfair, this would leave universities in a position of having gained money from the dispute, and

Epigram / Anonymous

I’m writing as a lecturer currently striking to defend our pensions. (I’m writing only on behalf of myself, not the UCU or any other organisation, in my personal capacity.)

On the 12th March, UCU informed us of a proposed agreement on pensions between UCU and UUK that would suspend the strike on 14th March pending a Universities Superannuation Scheme Joint Negotiating Committee meeting. I gave the agreement due consideration, because the prospect of going back to work on Thursday was extremely attractive, but I could not in good conscience support the proposed agreement. My opinion was apparently shared by a majority of UCU membership, and the deal has been rejected.

The latter means that industrial action will continue. I’m very aware that many students will be upset by this, and don’t blame them. I understand that the strike is very disruptive for students, so I feel I owe an explanation for why I’ve personally taken the position I have.

The following is why I could not

support the agreement.

The deal proposed a three-year transitional plan, which did retain an element of the ‘defined benefit’ pension staff have been fighting for. However, there were problems:

Strike rally at College Green

I saw no provision in the agreement asking UUK to encourage universities to spend this money on services for students.

There was little in the agreement to convince me that UUK will not try again to implement massive pension reductions. It seemed that, after the transitional period, UUK could simply take advantage of our demobilisation to try to impose something like they’ve tried this time.

The drastic changes that have been proposed are simply not necessary, in my view.The ‘deficit’is merely an artefact of a set of unrealistic assumptions, which have been discussed extensively elsewhere. The truth about the deficit and the assumptions underlying it needs to be confronted before specific proposals to change our pensions are even considered.

I know that some of you, even those who may have been sympathetic to our cause, might find your patience seriously tested by the latest development. However, I want you to understand what was at stake, and why I, and many others, felt unable to accept what looked like a seriously flawed agreement after having come so far already.

Living Wellbeing Food Style Travel

Epigram / Evy Tang

Summer is coming!

Editor Jordan Barker

18

Online Editor Josie Roberts

Deputy Editor

26.03.2018

Emily Hayman

living@epigram.org.uk

@e2living

Epigram Living Section 2017/18

25 things to do before you leave Bristol Deputy Editor Emily Hayman challenges you to accomplish these fun and enthralling tasks. Will you accept?

So I thought it was probably appropriate to write something about finishing uni (lol), but rather than try to pretend like any of us have any clue about what we’re doing, I thought it would be better to list off the things my friends and I would like to achieve before we’re forced to accept the uni bubble no longer has any room for us. So here you go, feel free to join us for any of these fun and wholesome activities!

1)

BBQ on downs

2)

Swimming in Abbot lake

3)

Hit up Whapping Wharf

20) Mutiny on Thekla and sail it up the river Thames.

21) Rave on Avon

5) Try and watch Bristol’s hot air balloon show from the ground #moneyproblems 6) Slide down Park Street on giant water slide (YES THIS IS A LEGIT THING)

22) St Paul’s carnival 23) Bear pit all day party again! Literally the most random but best day of first year

Flickr / Shaun Spencer-Smith

Epigram / Emily Hayman

4) See a show at the renowned Old Vic Theatre

7) Swim to Motion (preferably in the sun 13) Get back into Lola Los just once so I can dry off within 10 mins of boogying) #blacklisted 8) Steal a disco ball from ‘Bargs and not 14) Go back to our favourite smoke spot at get kicked out (@miabarrett, a wee job for Churchill- the one and only LOG you) 15) Revisit the botanical gardens with the 9) Compete the 10 before 10 at the Cori dinosaurs (firstyearmems) (made it to 9 but it wasn’t pretty) 16) Squad rollout to Pam Pams 10) One last Donervans. You know what, the cheesy chips are actually the dank, DON’T 17) Get to the very top of the Wills Memorial CARE ABOUT TAKA TAKA THERE I SAID IT. Building (apparently its free for students sometimes!)

11) Eat out at The Ivy lol maybe just the one time #graduation #prettypleaseparents 18) Charity shop crawl down Gloucester road 12) Cycle around Ashton Court and have a picnic 19) Downs for sunrise (more likely to be en route home from somewhere than having successfully made it up in time for that)

24) Go to a random lecture 25) Do karaoke at the Cat and Wheel 26) Buy the lecturer you fancy a drink 27) Take a slash on a famous Bristol landmark

Epigram/Jasmin Perryw

28) Properly look round the M Shed and learn about the history of the slave trade in Bristol 29) Go to Spike Island and try not to laugh at the exhibition 30) Go to the Everyman cinema with a pal and treat yourself to the amazing food, pretending you can afford this extravagance 31) Go on a Bumble date 32) King Street pub crawl, finish line= THE APPLE 33) Bristol to Bath railway path, take a picnic and enjoy in a green field en route Epigram / Emily Hayman

34) Go to an intellectual talk/ debate and ask the speaker where the loos are and last, but definitely not least, 35) GRADUATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emily Hayman Deputy Living Editor

26.03.2018

19

The art of being prepared in advance Online Editor Josie Roberts shares revision tips to take away over the Easter break I know that the concept of university for some of our readers may be a loose term after the past few weeks but I am here to offer you some handy tricks for the next couple of months which will be invaluable for you when you come to your exams!

Like many people I am finding studying to be an alien concept after having nearly all of my lectures and seminars cancelled and so I thought it would be a good idea to revisit my trusted revision and studying techniques.

1) Slow and steady always wins the race

Flickr/Sam Wood

2) Reward yourself As well as getting all organised for your revision, put in place some rewards and treats that will keep you motivated. For instance you could put a chocolate bar between every 100 pages of a book you have to read or you could tell yourself, ‘If you wake up early and revise today, you can go out and do

something later in the afternoon or evening.’ Having things to look forward to, rather than just sitting in your room ploughing through pages and pages of notes (and seeing no end to the pain) is really important.

3) Short bursts not long marathons Flickr / wenday :D

When you are revising make sure that you are doing it in short bursts rather than making yourself study for hours on end. After about an hour your brain will be frazzled and there is absolutely no way that you will be taking anything in. Take breaks. This links with being slow and steady and giving yourself enough time because if you don’t have enough time, you won’t be able to have breaks.

There’s a reason that HIIT is so popular in the gym now. It works with the mind too.

Flickr / gorekun

Yes I know that ol’ Aseop’s fable may be just a children’s story to you but it actually rings true. If you start revising now (…really?) you will be able to spread all that work out slowly and steadily make your way through it rather than in a panicked way cram everything into revision weeks a few weeks after Easter. That is no good. Start with making a beautifully organised timetable of the next few weeks and allocate times for each topic or unit and it will immediately get you into the mindspace getting stuff done. If you love a highlighter or five, colour coding is a must.

4) Don’t worry I know this may sound super patronising and ignorant if you are a third or fourth year completing your final exams because these exams probably mean a lot to you, but try to limit the amount of worrying. By trying to follow the above steps, you should minimise your exam anxiety and worry a lot, I promise!

Exams are horrible and stressful and everyone has different ways to cope but sometimes it is good to shake it up a bit. Maybe you’ll find some of these ideas will help you this year! Good luck!

Josie Roberts Online Living Editor

Poetry Corner Struggling to exist in the age of toxic masculinity? One student has written a poem, expressing how difficult it is being a man (or something) The Beta Male (anon) why am I so different to other guys?

I asked a girl for her number But she refused.

All I wanted Was to wax lyrical Over curious volumes Of forgotten lore.

do my Beliefs intimidate you so called men? what is a man? am I a man? meat + 2 veg = man? who knows in this

[so called]

Beneath this Pay Tree Are Key

You know, Marx said that.

Engels said that.

Your lecturer definitely said that.

When you said “kill all men” I laughed. I have a really dark sense of humour – Or so (Fleetwood Mac) rumour has it.

England I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing...

Except the £4.67 in my jeans.

I see you men but I know not your kind.

society.

I am no man whore.

I hate it when men call women whores.

Because we are all whores Under Capitalism.

Who needs alpha.

I am beta, better than you.

FIN

26.03.2018

20

Third year: the reality Fergus Horsfall compares our expectations with how final year really turned out passions for sub-tropical tech house and collecting ugly tracksuits.

Unfortunately, you will go to Mbargo Thursdays every week and nowhere else. You will spend forty minutes queuing in the rain before you eventually make it in. You will then be physically assaulted by either some locals, or, if you are really lucky, Ben Stokes. At 12.30, you go home.

1. ACADEMIC WORK What you expect: To work hard and aim for a first What actually happens: You spend nine hours in the library every day from Monday until Thursday every week. Each nine hours in the library only contains about three hours of work. Despite this, you give yourself Friday off as a reward. You spend the whole weekend desperately failing to finish the reading for your Monday seminar. Sunday evening is spent crying. You drop to a 2.2. You hate yourself.

4. BEING PREPARED GRADUATE LIFE

FOR

What you expect: To slide into an easy grad’ job.

What actually happens: The first three months of third year were spent applying for absolutely all of the banking internships available. Despite how much you wanted them, none of them wanted you. At this point you ran out of motivation and applied for a master’s. You didn’t get this either. The rest of the academic year will be spent pretending to your parents that you are still applying for jobs.

2. EXTRA-CURRICULAR What you expect: To make the most out of your last year by getting involved in societies What actually happens: You haven’t done any sport since the football trials in first year freshers’ week. The last time you did anything cultural was your GCSE art project. This was all going to change in third year. You were going to finally use your free time and find something to fill in the gaps in your CV. Instead, you do nothing. Again.

5. BECOMING AN ADULT

Flickr / Matt Gibson

3. GOING OUT What you expect: To find some new, exciting places to go out and discover new music What actually happens: In second year, you moved on from Bunker Mondays and Friday SWX to abandoned warehouses and the crack alleys of Stokes Croft. In third year, you hoped to further explore your new

What you expect: Your grad job will somehow afford you rent in London and you’ll no longer have mould on your bedroom walls. Reading will be for pleasure again!

What actually happens: When you started at Bristol, you thought that after three years you would be independent and ready to start an exciting new chapter of your life. You still don’t know how to change a lightbulb.

Fergus Horsfall Third Year, English

Your Horoscopes

Not another bleeding set of Horoscopes! Dr.Bull Sheti is back from the Underworld with some more exciting insights for you (un)lucky Bristol students.

Aries

Virgo

After much thought, you’ll decide you never wanted a 1st anyway.

Knowing that your life is just as brief and insignificant as anyone else’s has made coming to terms with getting a 2:1 easier.

Taurus

Libra Flickr / fly

Though you’ve managed to alienate all of your house this year by being a total arse-wipe, you’ll win their hearts after showing off your newly discovered telekinetic powers.

Gemini Religion is something you’ve always been hostile towards. But after being crowned the Leader of Divine Priests of the 8th Order, you’ll realize this whole religion thing ain’t so bad.

Flickr / Jon-Rellim

Pisces You remember that guy in first year? Yeah, you know. The white guy with the dreadlocks who always played an acoustic guitar in the stairwell? Yeah? He’s still around… waiting… and waiting… For what? Who knows!?

Your boyfriend will be knocked unconscious by a loose brick.

When he awakes, he’ll only be able to communicate in internet acronyms. LOL!!11! XD

Cancer A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You’ve got quite a grip on you, so don’t be surprised if that bird gets crushed by your big meaty claws.

Leo You’ll pierce your bellybutton, but your body will reject it. After a week, a portal to another dimension will open. I guess that’s what you get for acting like a fifteen-year-old.

Your boyfriend will take you to Thorpe Park. After the third time going round the Saw Maze, you’ll realize he’s not going to propose.

Scorpio Hell is other people, a fact you’ll come to accept after noticing everyone has tiny horns sprouting from their skulls.

Sagittarius “I is another.” So don’t feel bad about pissing your life up the wall, like a dog urinating on a bollard.

Capricorn You’ll have to make some pretty tough decisions. Would you rather have nipples for fingers or fingers for nipples? Think quickly

Aquarius Events in your life will keep happening. You’ll carry on living.

Forever. And ever. And even when the last star breathes its final breath, you’ll still be here. Enjoy!

26.03.2018

22

Editor Chloe Payne-Cook

Deputy-Editor Jasmine Burke

@EpigramWB

Online Editor Leila Mitwally

Learn more about eating disorders at www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk @epigramwellbeing

Epigram Wellbeing

Voices from the dark

Epigram Multimedia Editor Luke Unger discusses the stigma behind male eating disorders Beginning to write an article about the stigma behind male eating disorders daunted me somewhat. While a couple of my friends had experienced eating disorders before, both of these friends were women and therefore I knew absolutely zero about the problem from the male perspective. Having spoken briefly to Ed Southgate - Comment Editor of Epigram - about his struggle with anorexia, it was clear that not enough help is currently being given to men with eating disorders. In fact, the eating disorder charity, Beat, found that men typically have to wait two times as long to receive help for an eating disorder than women. That is simply ridiculous.

the stigma were compelling. I hadn’t yet considered the gendering of food and how this affects what we eat. Furthermore, I had not been aware of the apparently more noticeable problem of eating disorders within the gay community.

Looking to find more people who had suffered from eating disorders within the LGBTQ+ community, I was messaged by Harry Fox who shared his experience. I was surprised because I had worked with Harry back at home and had never had any notion that he was suffering from an eating disorder.

Harry began by telling me about his experience with his bulimia.

Thankfully I have never suffered from any sort of eating disorder. However, my absence of experience left me in a position where I felt so uninformed that, personally, if I were to write an article about this issue from my perspective, it would be insulting to those who have suffered firsthand.

Epigram /Jasmine Burke

”

”

‘I think a stigma exists with men and eating disorders for a number of reasons. One being that eating disorders are seen as being exclusively an ailment of women, which I think is a by-product of beauty being seen as thinness in a woman and ripped muscles in a man. So it begs the question: why would a man want to be skinny? And then, on top of that, I think some people believe male eating disorders afflict only gay men, which is obviously just not the case. I think men in general often find it difficult to talk about mental health, so when that mental health issue literally translates to the food on your plate then people can be a tad cynical and see it as a less debilitating issue. In addition, men are stereotyped as loving ‘manly foods’, such as big steaks, burgers, chips etc., and the same for alcohol: beer over vodka etc. So even having to order a salad as a man, if I’m at dinner with male friends, can be a bit of an embarrassing experience.

From speaking to Shane, his opinions regarding the reason behind

Sadly it’s still possibly to qualify as a doctor with no training in eating disorders and, of course, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness

”

Having previously known nothing about gay body stereotypes I was confused at how such an apparently body positive community could have such a catastrophic issue.

I asked him whether he felt it was easy to talk about within the community.

‘The gay community is a bitchy community, so it is hard to approach people who have it. But society now is much more accepting of everyone, which can be seen in the fact that the protagonists in TV shows are not always white perfectlooking men. But, instead, everyone’s imperfections are shown as a perfection. So I believe we are on the right track to dealing with it.’

I asked him why he thought this stigma surrounding the issue remains? He replied: ‘Because it is considered a women’s issue. Because of industries such as ballet, models, gymnasts and actresses. For a man to have an eating disorder makes it ‘emasculating’. They are considered weak. The stigma around eating disorders themselves is due to the lack of understanding about it, as many people think you just force yourself to starve or vomit, when in actual fact it is a mental disorder. I did not have the physical capability of eating, as food made me feel sick, thus if I ate I was sick.’

What advice would you give to sufferers of similar issues?

‘My message to men is literally just get help. Specifically, someone and only one person to start with that you can trust. Someone who can monitor what you’re eating and when and how much and watch you do it, so you can’t hide it.’

‘For ten years now my weight has constantly fluctuated and I’m ‘okay’ with my wight now. To get me through this, I have learnt to stop counting calories, fats, sugars etc., and to stop weighing myself. Now, I think that I am getting through this but I still have days that I do not eat due to stress or for control reasons. Personally, I do not really class my eating disorder to be anything connected to my sexuality, it may change for others but I feel mine stemmed from a need to be in control of my own life. When I am in pain emotionally, it is triggered.’

Over the course of my research, I have spoken to an unforeseeably large number of guys, gay and straight, suffering from this issue. To get a broader sense of the treatment for male eating disorders, I was able to contact the CEO of Anorexia and Bulimia Care, Jane Smith and propose a series of questions I had regarding the issue.

Through your organisation are you seeing more men come forward with these problems?

‘Not really - there’s a small shift forward but 98% of our service users were female in 2017. 12% of our carers getting in touch are male. There is a huge unmet need for women coming forward and men are even slower to come forward for a number of reasons, stigma included of course.’

Why do you think the stigma exists?

‘Eating disorders are wrongly considered female issues that usually affect teenagers and are all about vanity. Therefore, boys and men of all ages face the hurdle of being judged and misunderstood, even by health professionals, as well as by their peers.’

Instagram / @beatedsupport

‘So I would say around age 7 I noticed that I was not the same size as other kids in the class; I was getting bigger while everyone else seemed to grow taller and skinnier. So to say when it ‘started’ is sort of difficult because it almost felt like an intrusive thought that just grew bigger and bigger until it became deafening. Around the ages of 12 to 14 is when I would say it was at its worst in terms of always dominating my psyche and influencing what I wore, what I ate, if I let people see me eat etc. I would dread the changing rooms at P.E. or any sort of physical activity that would make me stand out. It never got to the point where I needed medical help or anything, but I would have teachers and friends being concerned and certainly experienced constant fatigue. In terms of it getting better, I would I say felt very in control of it the last two years or so when, actually, the opposite was true; it was controlling me.

I was healthy, I would go to the gym a lot, I would not eat junk food like pizza etc., and I thought that was positive, when actually it’s incredibly restrictive and quite mentally punishing, as you have to constantly guilt yourself if you stray from this regiment. I feel that I am more in control now but it is never not in my mind. I hate to say it but I have had it so long it is sort of a part of me.’

Asking why he thought eating disorders were such a huge problem within the gay community he answered:

‘I believe this is mainly due to the gay community being obsessed with labels. As a gay man I am considered a ‘twink’ so I had to remain skinny and young-looking, which exacerbated my already f*****-up body image. It also works with people who are labelled as ‘fem’ (being considered more womanly than manly). I know people who have had ribs removed to get an hourglass feminine body. So yeah, LGBTQ+ labels, most of the time, are very appearance-based. If you are not hot, you will be judged more on body than face.’

”

How did your eating disorder start? How bad did it get? Do you think it has gotten better?

Why do you think this stigma exists?

‘My eating disorder started largely at the age of 17. I think it may have originated from me never really eating with my mum as a child.

She always had small meals and my meals never really had much nutritional value due to not having much money. At 17 I worked for Toni and Guy, which showcases a lot of the fashion weeks all over the world on their televisions and their channel (including bikini runways) which all had size 0 models. Fashion magazines were always at hand and so the pressure of looking the part for the company had a huge impact on me.’

I asked him what the worst period of time for him was.

‘It started when I was around 15. I had this image in my mind that skinny was deemed attractive. So it started off basically because of vanity. It did however develop considerably. I became bulimic and felt the need to vomit after every meal to the point it was uncontrollable, yet very easy to hide. So this eating disorder then made me into a liar and I was able to manipulate those around me, all just to avoid a meal. I do think it has improved. It is a slow process though and sometimes I do relapse with my bulimia but it’s not as severe as it was.’

I decided the best approach to this topic was to speak to the people who have actually suffered with these problems. I have collected a series of stories from men who have suffered from eating disorders in a bid to draw attention to this serious problem that men face. First, I spoke to journalist and student Shane Kenneally. Chatting over messages about his past, he was as honest in real life as he was in the article.

This eating disorder then made me into a liar and I was able to manipulate those around me, all just to avoid a meal

Cameron Reid messaged me after the initial Facebook advert was put out onto the Bristol LGBT Facebook page.

What is the best approach for dealing with this issue considering its scale?

‘We need the media to concentrate more on the real, complex and understandable causes and triggers of eating disorders in all ages and genders, rather than sensationalising them and their consequences. We need to train all doctors in eating disorders as they are often the first port of call. Sadly it is still possibly to qualify as a doctor with no training in eating disorders and, of course, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. ABC has written the only training for doctors through the RCGP, with an average 33% rise in those completing it.’

‘Men tend to not restrict eating in traditional ways when developing an eating disorder, but to over-train instead, which can have serious consequences including an increased risk of suicide due to pain desensitization. We want personal trainers, fitness instructors and gym managers to be aware of eating disorders, particularly in men, and know how to prevent it and support them in recovery.’

While I was not able to include all the conversation I had with everyone, it is clearly evident that this conversation needs to occur imminently on an international stage. It is only by starting this discussion that we will ever be able to achieve this vitally-needed change: a change that, for many men, could save their life.

Luke Unger Multimedia Editor

26.03.2018

23 20

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

Summer is right around the corner!

And with that comes the search for that perfect ‘bikini body’... In these times, our Wellbeing editors discuss different ways to think about your appearance and diet body positive society and I think women of all shapes and sizes have beautiful bodies. Yet, I cannot, however hard I try, apply this logic to myself. Was this not a healthy or ‘normal’ decision to make?

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Epigram / Chloe Payne-Cook

As somebody who has suffered with anorexia, bulimia and excessive exercising, I am constantly trying to navigate the road between healthy and harmful

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Before Christmas last year, I decided to join Slimming World to budge a couple of pounds and reach a weight of 9 stone or less. This concerned my girlfriend and some of my friends; however, I told myself that a lot of people try to lose weight before Christmas in order to offset the inevitable gain. I am member of Bristol’s

These tribulations can affect eating disorder sufferers daily. My mood can still be altered depending on whether I’ve had a ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ day, which, it’s worth writing, are both social constructs and are in no way indicative of your worth as a person! BUT HEY, on the flip side of this is the idea of harm. When does an unhealthy day become not ‘normal’? When does it become a binge day? This line is often so hard to establish. A binge day means I am inclined to have obsessive and all-encompassing thoughts about making myself sick.

I’ve gone from being put on food supplements, from my GP, to try and make myself gain weight, to being told by this same GP two years later that I need to lose a bit of weight

”

As somebody who has suffered with anorexia, bulimia and excessive exercising, I am constantly trying to navigate the road between healthy and harmful. Quite frankly, it’s exhausting. I compare my own diet to my peers to try and gauge whether what I am doing is right. I am still teaching myself to fuel my body correctly, but not in a way which is deemed ‘too healthy’. I can’t risk cutting out food groups, such as carbs, for fear of becoming obsessive. Additionally, exercising can become problematic as I push myself further into ‘needing’ to exercise every day in order to be ‘safe’ or comfortable.

When you are recovering from an eating disorder, or even disordered eating of any sort, there is such a strong emphasis on changing your outlook to a healthy one. But everyone’s definition of a healthy diet differs, and quite substantially too. In a society which epitomises thinness as a healthy ideal, it can be beyond difficult to distance yourself from diet culture. I continue to try, despite how hard it is. Although in the media, recovery is often represented as quick, relatively painless and a guaranteed pathway, it is in fact incredibly difficult. My recovery continues to be long, painful and featuring relapse. Excuse the *vintage* expression, but we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We are too healthy or not healthy enough. Fattening food is good, but only if we still look healthy. Chocolate is fine but only if you fit into a healthy BMI. We are constantly receiving messages such as this from society, the media and even our GPs. My advice, from somebody who is still going through recovery (and probably will be forever, which is fine), is to know yourself. It’s so much easier said than done and I appreciate that, trust me. But knowing yourself, your body and your habits enables you to identify when your personal diet becomes ‘unhealthy’ or a cause for concern. From experience, I know it can feel impossible to get measurements such as BMIs out of your world. Just know that you are worth more than your weight and you are not defined by a number on a scale.

Chloe Payne-Cook Wellbeing Editor

Find for your mind!

Here you’ll find a new person or service to follow or check out online which you might find beneficial to your wellbeing. This week’s is...

Off the Record: @otrbristol Off the Record are charity, who work across Bristol and South Gloucestershire. They have a variety projects but their main aim is to work with and help young people. They focus on mental health but also look at the intersections of sexuality and mental health. If you identify as LGBTQ+ or you’re questioning your own sexuality, they can help you to understand your identity. They have a social action group called ‘Freedom’, which you can get involved in! This group works specifically with young LGBTQ+ to help them with issues such as mental health, housing and also relationships. You can find them at 8-10 West Street, Old Market, Bristol BS2 OBH. Pop in and have a chat to them anytime!

I’d be lying if I said I like every single thing about myself. I’ve had many an unhealthy relationship with my body and my face and, yes, I am probably at my peak of self-confidence, but I still have days where I question things about myself.

I’ve always enjoyed pictures and the memories that come with them and, whilst I used to take pictures of myself occasionally when I was with my friends, I never did it to the extent that I do now. I’ve gotten more comfortable in front of a camera and I’ll actually pose with my friends, but that in no way means that I’m 100% confident all of the time. The more I take and post pictures, the more I get a real good look at every part of myself. I see every frown line, or angle that makes my head look weird and, though I try not to scrutinise or focus on anything too much, I can’t deny that there are parts of myself I see as flawed.

I’ve never really liked my mouth. I know that Kylie Jenner big lips have been all the rage, but still it never really helped me like mine.

It’s not exactly an intense hatred and most of the time they aren’t an issue for me at all, but my number one reason for deleting a photo of myself will be because my mouth looks weird in it. When I have a neutral expression it looks too big for my face and makes my face in general look really flat. If I had to change something about myself, it probably would be my mouth. However, the truth is, if I were actually given the chance to change it, I wouldn’t, because it’s MY mouth and I wouldn’t be the same me without it.

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I am a 5 ft 2, size 10 woman. My BMI tells me that I am overweight and need to lose weight. My friends and family tell me that I look healthy and happy. I no longer fall into my ‘safe-weight’ zone, which makes me uncomfortable but it always will. Of course, this might sound like disordered eating and, realistically, it probably is.

But the fact of the matter is, once you’ve suffered with disordered eating or eating disorder(s), it is very, very difficult to ever ‘fully’ recover. This is not to dismiss or disregard people who have made amazing recoveries.

It is possible! And many people achieve it. I am recovered and applaud myself for overcoming these immensely complex conditions. What I am trying to say is that it is very hard to completely let go of these deeply ingrained feelings towards diet and exercise, hence why I am writing this piece. As somebody who has experienced eating disorders, I often wonder where the line between healthy and harmful lies. When does my diet and exercise become unhealthy?

Flaws and photos Epigram / Jasmine Burke

Epigram / Chloe Payne-Cook

By far the thing I struggle with the most, in terms of my diet, is finding the balance between healthy and harmful. I am aware that people who have not experienced disordered eating or eating disorders also find this a struggle. But for people like myself who have had eating disorders, food and diet can be very difficult arenas to tackle. I’ve gone from being put on food supplements from my GP, to try and make myself gain weight, to being told by this same GP two years later that I need to lose a bit of weight.

”

The line between healthy and harmful

My scars come with stories and my insecurities come with the evidence that I can rise above them

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I have a scar on my left eyebrow from a bike accident when I was seven. It cuts across my eyebrows and forces my eyebrows to suffer the fate of never being perfectly shaped. Sometimes I get really frustrated about it because eyebrows seem to be so important to appearance nowadays. But again, it’s part of what makes me, me. It’s a story that I’ve been able to tell since I was seven years old. It’s a part of my history and, as far as I’m concerned, it makes me at least a little bit more interesting.

I also have had eczema on my knees since I was a child. Though it’s not as bad as it was when I was younger, it still means that I will never have perfectly smooth knees and in the summer that tends to dawn on me. When I was around 14 I decided that I could no longer wear shorts, mainly because of my knees. However, the more that I think about it, the more that I realise that nobody probably even notices the things I care so much about and, honestly, I’ve never had anyone mention my knees.

A lot of us see ‘flawed’ aspects of ourselves and that’s okay. But the truth is, our flaws only add to everything that makes us interesting. My scars come with stories and my insecurities come with the evidence that I can rise above them; I am the way that I am and every part of me, whether I like it or not, is still a part of me. The truth is, if I saw a stranger walking down the street with a mouth I deemed ‘too wide’, a scar on their left eyebrow and eczema on their knees, I wouldn’t even think twice about it. In fact, I probably wouldn’t even notice. So why do I care so much when I see them on myself?

Yes, of course I still have moments where I doubt certain aspects of myself, but I also love who I am, and that hopefully isn’t changing anytime soon.

Jasmine Burke Deputy Wellbeing Editor

24

Editor

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Jane Cowie @janecowiefood food@epigram.org.uk

Holly Penhale

Sarah Roller

Epigram Food 2017-18

26.03.18

@epigramfood

World Happiness Day - the food that makes us smile

With World Happiness day upon us, we asked a few of our favourite foodies what food never fails to put a smile on their faces Sticky Toffee Pudding

Saffron and Rosemary Fried Chicken

Sushi

Taste buds evolve over time, shaping our gastronomic heavens and culinary hells. And oh, how I’m glad mine changed. From not even stomaching spoonfuls as a youngster, to nowadays gleefully finishing multiple helpings, sticky toffee pudding’s stature has been exponentially elevated within my foodie hall of fame. It’s an undisputed classic: rich sponge hiding slivers of sweet dates, bathed in toffee sauce oozing 5-star luxury, adorned with a vanilla ice-cream quenelle. Family dinner dessert or à la carte swansong, sticky toffee is a positively life-affirming sweet sensation, and a vanguard of my food heaven for a long time to come.

The food that makes me happiest? My mum’s Persian-inspired saffron and rosemary fried chicken, without a shadow of a doubt.

There is not a lot to stop me from eating it scalding hot out of the frying pan, and I could eat unholy amounts of it in one sitting. But it’s not just the divine taste. Every time I eat it I’m reminded of long, hot summer evenings, sitting outside laughing and eating, of picnics with friends and family, and of some of my happiest memories. Food is so much more than just nourishment for the body: it’s nourishment for the soul too.

Fourth Year, Geography

Online Food Editor

Josh Francis

Sarah Roller

Epigram / Jane Cowie

Second Year, Economics & Maths

Food Editor

Harry Wilkinson

Jane Cowie

Matthew Lu

First Year, Law

Epigram / Jane Cowie

Epigram / Sarah Roller

‘Bacon is good for me.’ This is the mantra I attempt to live my life by. Those of you who have not woken up with that sweet smell filling their nostrils, only to run downstairs and engulf a sausage, bacon and egg sandwich, almost in one: you have not lived. Why is bacon so good? It just has it all. You want it on your pancakes?

Got it. You want some spaghetti carbonara? No problem. You want a smoky beef burger? Bring it on.

Bacon is, singlehandedly, the most satisfying food on the planet.

It’s salty, fatty, crispy - if you cook it right - and is the ‘je ne sais quoi’ to any meal you can think of. It marries sweet and savoury in perfect harmony. There is no better taste than the morning after a night out than a greasy bacon butty between your choppers.

Brian Merkel (a butcher) reiterates my point in the most eloquent fashion. Someone asked him, ‘What’s your favourite cut of pork?’

He stated: ‘It’s pork. It’s all f***ing good.’ And that, my friends, is why I will be consuming bacon morning, noon and night, until the day I die.

Oats I’m an oats addict. Whenever I roll out of bed, be it the crack of dawn or dangerously close to midday, there is one thing that never fails to tempt me - a huge bowl of oats. Last week I was subjected to gulping down a bowl of Quaker’s original packets. It was as though I was eating tasteless, sticky, baby food. My friends, if this is your experience of porridge, I am sorry. This is not an accurate representation of what that that humble grain truly can be. No matter what, I always recommend the large, rolled oat variety, mixed with your milk of choice - be it almond, coconut, or the simple cow - along with an exotic variety of your favourite fruits, nuts and seeds. Imagine a cold autumn day. You’re tucking in to a honey-baked pear. Its sweet juice oozes into your porridge bowl, combined with caramelised pecans and pumpkin seeds.

Place yourself on a bright summer morning with a vanilla and coconut porridge bowl in hand, topped with the most succulent strawberries you can get your hands on and complimented with the crunch of chia seeds. No matter what, you can craft an oats bowl that will hit the spot.

Bacon

When I think of the food that makes me the happiest I am always brought back to fond childhood memories of watching Zoey 101 and the one character that always pronounced the word sushi wrong - sounding like slushie without the ‘l’. If you know the character, you’ll know that his pashion for sushi was borderline obsessive. That is a perfect description for my relationship with sushi. Whether it be a thick, buttery piece of sashimi or a perfectly complex crafted roll, it never fails to bring a smile to my face. This is to you, sushi. No matter the hate you may get from non raw-fish eating people, I will always love you!

Pavlova When a relative of mine brought along a pavlova to a family event a few years ago, I wasn’t sure it would be my cup of tea.

I’m not normally a fan of berries in desserts as they can often be sour and I tend to avoid double cream as I find it quite tasteless when unsweetened. I could not have been more wrong. Inspired by a Nigella recipe, the meringue was baked to perfection. Chewy on the inside and crisp on the outside, with blueberries and raspberries as the perfect antidote to the intensely sweet doublecream filling and the tartness of the raspberry coulis. Surely the perfect accompaniment for this otherwise overly rich dessert. It is safe to say it’s up there with some of the most indulgent foods I’ve ever eaten. Its a true crowd pleaser and, needless to say, it has become a regular feature of all family get-togethers ever since.

If you’re looking for a heavenly summer dessert in the coming months, you can find Nigella’s Prodigious Pavlova recipe here: thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/prodigious-pavlova

Holly Penhale

Deputy Food Editor

Recipe: spinach, ricotta and mushroom mini filo pies National Spinach Day is coming! Holly Penhale offers us a recipe starring that versatile green Serves: 4 (or four lunches) Cooking time: 40 mins

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Method: Preheat the oven to 180°C, finely slice the garlic and fry gently in a litle olive oil before adding in the sliced mushrooms.

2. When the mushrooms have softened a litte, spoon in the ricotta and season the mixture generously with salt and pepper.

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Tip: To reheat, place back in the oven for 20 minutes on a baking tray.

• For a little extra cheesiness, try adding a sprinkle of cheddar to each parcel before sealing them..

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Epigram / Holly Penhale

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Ingredients: 250g Chestnut mushrooms 200g fresh spinach 250g pot of ricotta cheese 2 cloves of garlic 1 egg 6 sheets of filo pastry

When the consistency is creamy, stir in all the spinach allowing it to wilt a little before turning off the heat.

Grease a cupcake or muffin tray with a little butter and cut each of the filo sheets into quarters.

Line each of the cups with 2 squares of filo and spoon a heaped tablespoon of the spinach and ricotta mixture into each one.

Scrunch the overhanging filo pastry into the middle to seal and coat each one with the beaten egg using a pastry brush.

Place in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes or until the filo is golden and crispy on the outside.

Holly Penhale

Deputy Food Editor

26.03.18

25 The power of food: a beacon of happiness

Jane Cowie discusses food-relationships and ways that food can bring happiness to our lives

Cooking can be a therapeutic exercise, working like meditation with the rhythmic chopping

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A plate of good food has the ability to drastically alter your mood, whether that be a succulent salmon salad or a mound of baked cookie dough, crafted from your own fingertips. I cannot count the amount of times I have got home feeling stressed, overworked, and exhausted, but by just having a delicious dinner to look forward to, all of that seems to fade away. All that matters is you, the plate in front of you, and the sensuous enjoyment and fulfilment you feel after finishing.

Food is essential in all of our lives. We eat food to sustain ourselves, and need it to fuel our bodies and our minds. It is no surprise we love food so much. Our brains are hardwired to make us feel good about doing so. Our brains have evolved to develop a reward system, and when we carry our primal behaviours, like eating, it releases dopamine. Dopamine causes a ‘feel-good’ sensation within our bodies, which is why we have such an emotional attachment to food. It’s our brain’s way of congratulating us on surviving. However, evolution hasn’t quite caught up with some of

Use cooking as therapy Perhaps you aren’t an expert in the kitchen. That’s okay. But if you’re looking at ways to be more mindful, and better your mental health, perhaps you should be spending a little more time in the kitchen. Cooking can be a therapeutic exercise, working like meditation with the rhythmic chopping and slicing, allowing you to slow down, take a moment to breath and think about the delicious meal you are soon to enjoy.

Learn a Little Just taking a few moments to educate yourself on the nutritional benefits of food, be that pasta, dark chocolate or butternut squash, will allow you to organise your diet in a way that satisfies your taste-buds and your body. If you’re feeling under the weather, maybe a vitamin C kick is in order. A little research will reveal what foods you can enjoy to perk you up, be that kiwis, red peppers or the nation’s favourite brussel sprout.

Recipe: hot cross bread & butter pudding

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Ingredients: 2 eggs 20g granulated sugar 350ml whole / semi-skimmed milk 50ml double cream 4-5 hot cross buns (depending on the size of your dish) Butter / marmalade / Nutella / jam / Biscoff Handful of sultanas / chocolate chips

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form a custard.

Pour over the hot cross buns and leave to stand for 20-30 mins.

If you want a crunchy top, sprinkle with a tiny bit more granulated sugar.

Cook for around 30 mins at 180 degrees until golden brown on top.

Appreciate the food in front of you A lot of people don’t have the privilege of having three delicious meals a day. Remember how lucky you are to be enjoying the food you have, and you’ll start to count your blessings you have the opportunity to look forward to your favourite foods when you feel like it.

Make the good times worth it Balance. Moderation. All the best buzzwords that nutritionists, foodies, and Insta famous stars use. Clichéd, but true. For me, if I want to treat myself, I find it helps to ensure it is really good. I want to know I won’t regret for a second choosing to eat it, because it just tasted so damn good. A hobby of mine is going out for meals - an expensive one, I confess. When I’m out, I choose whatever so takes my fancy, regardless of how many calories it may contain.

By allowing myself the freedom of tucking in to an enormous porchetta and salami pizza, it means I look forward to these moments, and keeps me on track during the week.

The relationship you have with food is personal to you. We all have different things that tickle the taste buds and tempt us like no other. In a world with so much choice of the foods we can enjoy, it’s really positive for you to enjoy your food, guilt-free, and use it as a way of bringing happiness to your life.

Jane Cowie

Food Editor

Inspired by World Poetry day, Josh Francis writes an ode to the magnificent roast dinner A glorious spread to cheer one and all, Enough to sink a battleship said he, Table laid, oven off, time for a ball, Glass filled, stage set, this is heaven you see.

Tender slices with many a plump peer, All crispy, fluffy, buttery and hot, Join casts from green and root all through the year, soaked in lavish juices that strike the spot.

Epigram / Jane Cowie

Method: Cut the hot cross buns in half, spread with the spread of your choice, and place face up in a baking dish.

2. Scatter sultanas / chocolate chips across the buns.

3. Whisk together the eggs & sugar until pale and whooshing up a bit in volume.

4. Heat the milk and cream together without boiling until they’re really hot.

5. Whisk together the milk & cream with the eggs and sugar to 1.

6.

Be kind to yourself If you’ve had a long hard day, don’t feel guilty for indulging in your favourite chocolate and a glass of wine. That’s totally okay.

Food guilt is all too common nowadays; we need to start realising it is okay to tuck in to some Ben & Jerry’s if our bodies crave it, without chastising ourselves for it. Remember, no food should be forbidden. Everything in moderation.

The Greatest Feast

Easter is nigh! Sarah Roller shares her comforting easter pud recipe

This one always goes down a treat with my flatmates – nothing like a warming, carb-filled dessert to make you smile.

Variations on butter - marmalade, jam, Biscoff or Nutella - add a little variety to mix things up ever so slightly.

Epigram / Jane Cowie

Epigram / Jane Cowie

One of my main passions in life is food. Hands down, no question.

Why? Because food has the power to bring people together, whether it be in the cooking of the meal, or dining out together.

What’s your favourite part about Christmas Day? For most, it’s the Roast Dinner. And Easter? Most likely those chocolate eggs of joy.

And how do most people celebrate birthdays, anniversaries or valentine’s day? Why, a meal out – of course.

Food is an important part of any celebration all around the world, regardless of the nation’s geography, culture or religion. So, when Cady from Mean Girls says she loves maths because ‘it’s the same in every language’, I’d pose the same point about food. It’s universal. No matter who you are, or where you come from, you can connect with someone else through a joint love of food.

the unhealthy habits that have developed within our society.

There are hundreds of articles out there on the destructive effects of dopamine-triggering foods, which can lead to an addiction to this ‘feel-good’ chemical. This dependency had led to the unprecedented rise of obesity and type-2 diabetes across the western world.

It is vital to be mindful of this addictive dopamine-trigger that ensues from fast-foods and sugary sweet treats, and make sure we don’t overload our bodies with foods that give us an instant high - swiftly followed by a soon-after crash. This is the basic science behind why you find it so difficult to just have one sweet or chocolate brownie, rather than guzzling down the whole packet, leaving you feeling riddled with guilt and slightly nauseous.

Nevertheless, the release of dopamine is not a destructive force.

By training your mind to associate good food with the feel-good reward, you’ll start reaching for a healthy alternative when you want to satisfy those dopamine cravings. I think it is essential we have a positive relationship with food, so we can use it as a means to enlighten positivity and happiness within us. We want to be able to enjoy that ‘high’ when enjoying our favourite dessert. But, we also don’t want to develop an unhealthy dependency on that feeling.

Personally, I haven’t always had the healthiest relationship with food, struggling for years with an eating disorder that caused a dysfunctional and obsessive mindset. Luckily, I have now fully recovered and can see the fantastic benefits that having a healthy, balanced diet can have on an individual, without restricting oneself from food deemed ‘unhealthy’.

As I said, food is a passion in my life, and I want you to share that with me. So, here are some of my top tips on my food journey on ways to have a positive relationship with food, so you can really reap the happiness rewards that food can bring to your life:

Sarah Roller

Online Food Editor

Seasons pass, actors swap, the show goes on in dynamic scenes of joyous flavour, A comforting prize when the week is won, A celebration of times to savour, Such family occasions deserve a treat; a glorious roast dinner’s hard to beat.

Josh Francis

Fourth Year, Geography

Editor Nancy Serle style@epigram.org.uk

26

Deputy Editor Lottie Moore

@e2style

@epigramstyle

26.04.2018

Online Editor Hannah Worthington

Epigram Style 2017/18

Is Snapchat changing beauty?

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Style Editor Nancy Serle discusses the impact Snapchat filters have had on modern day beauty standards

We have all experienced the unflattering double chin that appears when we accidentally open our phone’s front camera, or that sinking feeling we get when a Snapchat filter doesn’t quite compute with our face, it slips off, and we are left staring at someone who doesn’t have cutting cheekbones, dog ears, or a flower crown. It can almost feel as though you are looking at a stranger - do I really look like that?! - but in reality, it is just your reflection.

A recent poll by Epigram Style asked Bristol students: How often do you use a Snapchat filter?

Whilst only 30% of students stated that they use a filter ‘most of the time’ (67% said that they ‘rarely’ used the filter service), a whopping 45% of students admitted to feeling ‘more confident’ sending images of themselves on the social platform when they did use a filter.

Snapchat has undoubtably revolutionised the way we present images of ourselves on social media. Whilst editing photographs is nothing new, Instagram has allowed us to Clarendon, Gingham and Inkwell ourselves from its outset, Snapchat focuses primarily on our faces offering

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45% of students admitted to feeling ‘more confident’ sending images of themselves when they did use a filter Speaking to the Huffington Post about Snapchat’s effects, psychology professor and author of Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women, Renee Engeln stated: ‘There’s an issue with losing perspective on what you actually look like, and it’s not something we talk about much’ ‘It’s not enough to have to compare yourself to these perfected images of models, but now

The Denim Jean

First year Spanish student Jemima Carr-Jones documents the history of the denim jean Rewinding to its origins, ‘Jeans’ is a term which refers to a distinct style of trousers coined ‘blue jeans’, which were concocted by a tailor named Jacob W. Davis in partnership with Levi Strauss & Co. The concept was simple, with the California gold rush, beginning in 1848, came a massive influx of minors and workers alike. Hence it was only natural that there became a demand for clothing which would sustain the conditions of their work, clothing which was durable - Davis thought up the idea of riveted work pants.

The design placed small rivets at the points of the garment which withstood the highest measure of strain, such as pockets. Additionally, jeans were constructed with a mere four pieces of material allowing for less wear and tear. Having previously made tents and wagon covers Davis was well versed in the key facet of durability and his design proved ideal. Since their initial arrival in 1873 at Levi Strauss & Co, jeans have rather taken the world by a storm.

Jeans are ubiquitous apparel. You would be hard pressed to find a wardrobe or watch a film that doesn’t feature a pair. However, it is interesting to learn that prior to the cowboy era of 1930s Western films jeans were considered solely the gear of the hardwearing miners, ranchers and farmers. It wasn’t until after cowboy actor John Wayne’s frequent cinematic appearances sporting the Levi 501s, the epitome of the cowboy image, that jeans made their venture into the mainstream. Initially, people only really wore jeans to emulate the fashionable cowboy look admired by the masses during the 30s.

A decade later during the 40s, with the strike of WWII, the denim blue jean took on a new lease of popularity in becoming the utilitarian wear for those who took to working in the factories aiding wartime efforts. The expectation after the war was that American society would then return to peacetime societal wear, however the hoi polloi ached to continue wearing their beloved blue

you’ve got this daily comparison of your real self to this intentional or unintentional fake self that you present on social media. It’s just one more way to feel like you’re falling short every day’.

The filtered looks provided are unattainable and distort the idea of how our faces should look

Whilst the damaging effect on self-esteem when we are not behind the guise of a filter is evident, Snapchat has also altered the beauty standards we strive to achieve today. The platform has already been criticised several times for the filter’s promotion of thin, westernised beauty ideals; the narrow nose, the lightening effect.

Whilst I’m sure many of us simply consider Snapchat filters as just a bit of fun (I will admit that I am partial to the classic ‘rainbow sick’ filter when it pops up), it seems that some are internalising its effects.

Recently, plastic surgeons have noted that many young individuals are coming in to their clinics with pictures of celebrities or themselves using Snapchat filters as inspiration; images that are both distortive and often, unattainable.

Dr Matthew Schulman, a New York based plastic surgeon has stated: ‘Everyone basically is using a filter on their own and they’re taking that next step to bring it to me saying, ‘Hey, this is what I want to look like’ ‘Not everyone is going that far, but in their head, that’s what they want to look like and then they’re coming to me saying ‘I want smoother

jeans - groups refusing to conform in this the post-war era, still donning their blue jeans, were naturally deemed somewhat rebellious.

You will most likely be aware that for some years now rebellion has been at the height of fashion; fashion continually seeks to stand out, to be something different and if and when possible, shocking. Jeans in this time represented a rejection of social norm. The 50s saw the status of jeans soar yet again due to much celebrity endorsement, the likes of Marlon Brando, James Dean and Elvis Presley donning the garment the ‘bad boy’ was born, everyone wanted a piece.

Since then, jeans have featured in a plethora of the most iconic fashion images (and thus statements).

To name a few, there was the Brooke Shields 1980 Calvin Klein advert, launching the labels first collection of jeans the fifteen year old model stretches provocatively across the floor, the commercial line reading, ‘You wanna know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.’

In 2001 we saw the Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears couple sport double denim at the American Music Awards.

And Anna Wintour’s first Vogue cover in November 1988 featured the Israeli model Michaela Bercu sporting a gorgeous bejeweled Christian Lacroix jacket and a pair of faded jeans.

Through this issue, having newly taken over the role of editor-in-chief from Grace Mirabella, Anna Wintour supposedly signalled the direction in which the fashion industry was headed, it was

skin, I want my eyes to be opened up, I want my lips to be fuller’ This disturbing new trend has been coined ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’; a variation of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) which as the NHS website states, has symptoms such as: going to a lot of effort to conceal ‘flaws’ through heavy make up and hair styling, picking at skin until it is ‘smooth’ and spending frequent amounts of time comparing your appearance to others.

Unsurprisingly, the effects of Snapchat filters relate heavily to these symptoms: the smooth skin, the long lashes, the cheekbones.

Whilst going to the lengths of plastic surgery to look like a filter is an extreme solution, for some with this disorder, or simply those who feel uncomfortable with their appearance, it is the only way to feel confident. Such effects can even be seen on a smaller scale all around us; two of my friends have admitted to desiring the long eyelashes that frequent several of the Snapchat filters; one even got £40 eyelash extensions specifically to achieve the effect. Another dressed up as a the ‘dog filter’ for Halloween.

Whilst Snapchat (and Instagram who have now introduced facial filters of their own) seems all fun and games, there is no denying that these filters are having an adverse effect on beauty standards we aspire to today. The filtered looks provided are unattainable and distort the idea of how our faces should really look. Whilst, at the moment, here in Bristol only 30% of students regularly use these filters, with the omnipresence of Snapchat and the internalisation of its beauty standards, unfortunately it seems as though these figures will rise as more and more people turn to filters to feel confident on social media.

Nancy Serle Style Editor

the first time jeans had featured on any cover of American Vogue.

Since their arrival, to this day and most probably for years to come jeans are a massive aspect of western fashion culture. No longer are they considered solely workmans wear but have morphed into an item that may be either dressed up or dressed down, their perennial nature is massively owed to this fact. Each year the total number of denim jeans sold worldwide is 1,240,000,000. This would suggest that the blue jean is most definitely not just a fad!

Instagram/ missalanacoke

Jemima Carr-Jones First year Spanish

Instagram / Kylie Jenner

standardised filters that actually distort the proportions of our eyes, nose and jaw. Often, what we see when we use a Snapchat filter is nothing like what we see in the mirror, but what we see as a ‘better’ and more ‘attractive’ version of ourselves. It is no wonder that almost half of the Bristol students surveyed turn to Snapchat filters to boost self esteem and feel more confident.

With 83% of people aged 12-17, and 79% of people aged 18-24 using snapchat at least once a month, an incredible amount of young individuals regularly see themselves through Snapchat’s distorted lens.

Personally, I think I know about three people under the age of 25 who are not active users of Snapchat or don’t have the app at all. With access to the ability to change our faces at the click of a button, undoubtably the social platform is having an effect on how we see our real selves and how we feel in our own skin.

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Let’s get real Third year History student Eve Burke-Edwards discusses the importance of honesty when it comes to portraying our online lives

Instagram / darth_bador

present a ‘flawless’ figure. This, however, overlooks a fundamental distinction; on social media, physical perfection is normalised and expected, whereas in the media people are more prepared to acknowledge that it does not reflect reality.

There is a widespread challenge to this trend, seen currently in the #CantRetouchThis campaign with celebrity advocates such as Kate Winslet figure heading the movement, which challenges the use of techniques such as airbrushing.

However, the same campaign has not been made relating to social media, in fact, it is a largely unrecognised issue. Sure, we can admit that it’s probably doing damage to beauty ideals and standards, and understandably damaging the confidence of young people, but there has been no wide-scale change in attitude.

As such, we need refreshing voices challenging this on the internet. Instagrammers such as model Emily Bador (@darthbador) and musician Morgan Mikenas (@i_am_morgie) are leaders of the body-positivity movement. They use the platform of Instagram to challenge this expected perfection; exposing body hair, stretch marks and aspects of the body many try to hide. Emily has said ‘If you give a shit that I or anyone else has stomach rolls, scars, eczema, armpit hair, etc then I have less than no time for you’. Morgan has expressed similar sentiments: ‘Accepting and loving your body and your ‘flaws’ because you know they are what makes you who you are’.

Emily and Morgan both have a large and growing following, nearing 200,000 followers combined.

This suggests that the movement is growing in popularity, but still we need more voices like

Confessions of a fashion journalist

Deputy Style Editor Lottie Moore interviews freelance journalist Olivia Wakefield

Instagram/ olivesw

Give us a little history of how you got to where you are now...

When I was at university, I squeezed in all the internships I possibly could during the holidayseverywhere from Dazed and Confused to Olive (food) magazine! After I finished my degree I did the Magazine Journalism Masters at City University and managed to get a junior role on the Features team at Harper’s Bazaar. From there I went to Net-a Porter to help launch their digital magazine and print title, PORTER. Why did you decide to become a journalist?

I have always been a bookworm but whilst studying English at Oxford I really fell in love with writing and language. As part of my degree I studied all kinds of literature, from political speeches to Old English war poems. The power

theirs to bring body-positivity and social media realism into the public consciousness. It’s a small step in the direction of widespread self-acceptance and self-love, attitudes that are valuable but hard to attain. Most importantly, in challenging the industries in which they work, these two women serve as inspiration to those who do not feel comfortable in themselves.

The pressure for everyone to be creative, fashionable, beautiful or funny, has never been more intense. Our personas and characters are constantly subject to criticism. Why should we present versions of ourselves we aren’t happy with, when we can fix our flaws with a simple tap on our screens?

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with curating images of ourselves online. We should just be striving to make these images more honest, which will serve both ourselves and the online community better.

Instagram / i_am_morgie

Instagram / i_am_morgie Instagram / i_am_morgie

of words and their ability to shape culture really took hold of me. I started writing for the uni newspaper.

What is the favourite part of your job?

I get to travel to LA a lot and interview some fascinating people as part of my job.

What has been your favourite feature that you’ve written?

Last year I flew to LA to interview Jane Fonda.

She is a fascinating, fearless woman; completely ahead of her time when she campaigned for women’s rights and protested the Vietnam War. Some things she revealed in our interview were picked up in the international press and went viral all over the world!

What advice would you give to any aspiring journalists?

Read as much as you can and constantly think of ideas for stories. Always have your reader or ‘audience’ in mind - this varies from publication to publication. I used to pitch ideas to the online counterparts of my favourite magazines (where they need a high turnover of features or posts and pieces can be edited easily) and write them up for free just to build up my portfolio and hone my writing skills.

Is working for a fashion mag as glamorous as perceived?

Absolutely! You can always count on the fashion girls to bring the style.

Eve Burke-Edwards Third year History

Instagram / olivesw

Social media has influenced life in the twentyfirst century more than any other technological development; we are constantly exposed to the effects of social media, whether we conform to them or not. It provides us with instant access to every corner of the world and every corner of our friends, family, and celebrities’ lives. The access we now have to each other should result in a greater sense of reality, yet what we are continually presented with is hyper-perfected versions of ourselves.

The most insidious aspect of social media, particularly on Instagram, is that it is supposed to reflect every day life. We can compare the augmented self being put forth on social media to the use of Photoshop and airbrushing techniques in magazines, as both have ulterior motives to

Lottie Moore Deputy Style Editor

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Bristol student businesses

The Style team interview a handful of the creative businesses that are run by Bristol University students Last term, Epigram Style promoted student businesses on a weekly basis via our social media platforms, and fortnightly in the paper. In doing this, we realised that student businesses were bubbling all over Bristol, and were cultured by students studying a whole range of different disciplines at the University. When Online Style Editor Hannah went to FUZE in mid-March, Sophie Thomas’ creation of ‘The Marketplace’ again epitomised the prominence of student run businesses.

Sophie encouraged student entrepreneurs to take a stall and sell their creations - from thrift items, to tie up bags, willy rings, and glitter - there was a whole array on offer. Hannah had a chat with second year Victoria Harradine who pitched a stall offering poly and cosmetic glitters that are increasingly popular for festivals and cirque nights. Victoria, having taken a year out of University, grew her business in London, and now has an office in Stokes Croft where she runs Jazzy Glitter.

Her glitter pots differ from the regular high-street store creations. With heart shaped glitter pots on offer, holographic angular pieces, or texturised ultra fine sparkles, Victoria has found a niche market that is targeting and hugely benefitting from the millennial demographic. With 74.8k followers on Instagram, she has transformed a student business into a company that now ships worldwide. Go and check out her brand new website, jazzyglitter.com

Also at FUZE was former ‘Style pick of the Month’ Ruth Bannister, who we interviewed previously as ‘Marbleous Roo’ in first term.

Now, History with Innovation student Ruth has transformed her small student platform into a new company, ‘Roo Bannister’. Online Style Editor Hannah interviews Ruth to find out more: Last time we spoke, you were running Marbleous Roo. Now you have set up a different company, Roo Bannister. Can you tell us a little bit about this transition and why you did it?

Yes, all change over here! So... Marbleous Roo was great. It came from an art therapy hobby and helped me out of a bad patch of mental health, but I never intended it to be a long term business.

I always wanted to launch an ancient world fine jewellery brand, ever since (very briefly) studying Ancient History and Egyptology at UCL, whilst working at Liberty London. Now I’m finally in a good place and I am just going to go for it! I launched at Fuze, and I have got my website up and running.

Epigram / Ruth Bannister

My first collection, entitled, ‘Pillars of Strength’ includes the Amelia earrings, which are chunky hand-marbled maple wood hoops, capped in sterling silver. These transition the project from Marbleous Roo to Roo Bannister, as they’re ancient-rooted and nod to my last venture. As part of this transition I’m also running some Marbleous Roo workshops in Bristol next month, to teach people these mindful arts, and also use up my leftover materials (as I hate to waste them!) from Marbleous Roo. How do the two jewellery platforms differ?

Marbleous Roo was not a jewellery platform by intention. In all honesty, I aimed to make handmarbled phone cases as original artworks for the everyday, and I failed. These were harder to sell than anticipated, as people wanted different colours and sizes and mega durability which I couldn’t really do. I had a pivot point and decided

to turn all of the marbled phone cases into earrings by adding sterling silver components to the marbled pieces - they went down a treat. I prototyped and tested from immediate feedback at local markets and so it just naturally became jewellery based creations.

This new project is completely new and different. This is now not only about jewellery, but history, accessibility of design and education through fashion.

How can people buy your products now on Roo Bannister? Will you still be making custom items over on Marbelous Roo? My site is now live where you can buy workshop tickets and the new jewellery collection. If you’re Bristol-based and want to see pieces in person before purchasing, then appointments are bookable and you can try on the jewels before buying!

I have now finished all of my Marbleous Roo custom orders and I won’t be taking any more. I want to concentrate on the new rather than the old. However, I may make more marbled framed miniatures for one loyal US client who has grown quite the collection. Some customers were sad to see it close but so supportive of my new venture and are even attending my workshops.

What captivates you about Ancient world treasures - do you feel like your jewellery makes you stand out on the student market by providing something a little bit different?

Ancient world treasures are incredible artefacts. I don’t replicate these treasures, but I study them to design my pieces, making me stand out not only to a student market, but to a large market overall. I educate the wearer about the original historical context of the designs and the culture who first created them. My site, my social media, and my packaging will all tell the stories of the treasures.

Not only does my work make ancient design accessible in an educational way, but each collection will be dedicated to a charitable cause.

My first collection ‘Pillars of Strength’ will give a percentage to mental health awareness charities and ‘The Goddess’ will feed into female-focused charity work in Bristol.

Even my logo is informed in design! It combines ancient script with mythological, astrological and elemental symbolism.

How did your work at Liberty London inspire you?

It inspired me to just do what I want to do.

I was surrounded by products and brands and businesses - and I decided that I could do it too! In the jewellery department, I learned an

Alchemy £3.50

immense amount from my collaboration with Annina Vogel. I also got to try on the real deal ancient world jewels! Kojis (in Liberty) stock a selection of genuine museum standard treasures.

I tried on a Pre-Colombian pure gold neck piece, and I could barely move it was so heavy!! Sad that such treasures are in private hands but wow, so inspirational to see, touch, and try on those artefacts.

You mentioned to Online Style Editor Hannah that you’re now working with other student businesses at the University of

Hi Sarina, tell us a bit about yourself...

Hi, I’m Sarina. I’m a third year biology student here in Bristol. I really enjoy living here; there is always so much to do! When I’m not studying or painting for SmartSquid, I really enjoy reading and illustrating for independent magazines, taking care of my numerous houseplants, and charity shopping.

What inspired you to start SmartSquid?

I’ve always enjoyed making things, and actually started SmartSquid while I was 16. Tie-dye was a pretty big thing at the time, I used to dye clothes and add pompoms. Since then, I’ve become increasingly interested in sustainable fashion.

Fashion Revolution is a global movement that not only provides amazing learning resources with regards to responsible consumption, but also aims to bring people together to change the way that the fast fashion industry exploits people and nature.

Learning about the detrimental impact fast fashion has on our planet has sparked me to steer SmartSquid in a new direction. I now focus on painting second hand garments to spark ecological conversations.

Tell us a bit about your brand’s ethos ‘sustainable fashion to spark conversation’ Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned. We throw away so many clothes, most of which take many years to degrade. I only use second-hand and vintage items as a base for my designs; why use new when there are so many great items that already exist? Vintage denim is usually a more

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Bristol - can you tell us a little bit about this and what is to come?

Yes, I’m so excited! I’ve teamed up with Sarina Saddiq (biology student & founder of Smart Squid) to create a new collective and network for University of Bristol small businesses. We are currently organising our debut event (early May!) which will showcase the University’s entrepreneurial talent, support their growth, raise their profiles and hopefully raise money for charity too. This is not-for-profit and I’m so so excited to get it going. interesting shape than modern clothing, and the quality is far superior too!

I think that what we wear can be used as a tool to showcase important topics. One of my favourite things to paint at the moment is the dung beetle. We have over 80 species of dung beetle in the UK (hard to believe I know); they are worth millions to the UK agricultural industry but are being seriously threatened by insecticides. I hope that when people wear items that I’ve painted, they are inspired to tell others about the creatures that are on them which will hopefully spark conversations about ecological topics.

What sort of products do you sell?

The majority of my pieces are denim. I really enjoy painting jackets as they provide a great amount of space for designs. I’ve recently started painting non-denim items too! I’m working on a lovely second-hand black jersey pinafore at the moment. I’m planning to diversify into homeware textiles soon.

Where can we purchase your products/ will you be appearing at any markets in Bristol in the near future?

I’ve got a website (smartsquid.co.uk) where I sell items I’ve already made and take custom orders. I’ve previously held stalls at the Bath Artisan, and the Sunday Upmarket on Brick Lane, London. At the moment I’m a bit out of the market loop! I hope to do some Bristol markets, and have some items in a local shop in the near future.

Epigram / Sarina Saddiq

26.03.2018

Editor Nick Bloom travel@epigram.org.uk

@EpigramTravel

Deputy Editor Evy Tang @evy_tang15

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Online Editor Ellie Caulfield

@epigram_travel

Epigram Travel Section 2017/8

Europe, Europa, Evropa, Avrupa... so similar yet so different?

Epigram / Becky Burkes Instagram: @birdqueen

Rich culture, affordable living: Porto is the place to be

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Amelia Shoebridge talks magic and mystery in Portugal’s food-loving coastal city

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Epigram / Amelia Shoebridge

Flickr / Andrea Moroni

On Saturday, we went to ‘Folias De Baco’ for supper, each of us enjoying a sharing set of five different cheeses, salad, vegetable pie and bruschetta for €10. All the ingredients used were organic and local, creating what I call a ‘slap-up’ meal; oozing fine taste without the heavy price tag. That’s what’s so brilliant about Porto: you don’t need a full wallet to have a meal that tastes homemade and delicious. Food is a natural source of pride here.

Sundays in Porto are a quieter affair, as religion still pervades daily life. As locals headed to church and closed up shops, we searched online for things to do. When you think of Porto, Hogwarts and wizardry don’t immediately spring to mind, but we discovered that there was a bookshop, ‘Livraria Lello’, from which J.K Rowling found inspiration for the Harry Potter series. We definitely didn’t want to miss out on this ‘experience of a lifetime’. It was like stepping into the pages of a magical book, dusty with deep reds and gold glimmering everywhere. An imposing, winding staircase was the main feature in a mystical space where books lined every inch of the walls, shelves creaked and angled lamps cast light above you.

It was like stepping into the pages of a magical book, dusty with deep reds and gold glimmering everywhere

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As we still hadn’t been to a marketplace - our favourite aspect of European culture - we set out for ‘Bolhao’ market on Monday.

Unfortunately, the goods on sale were typical tourist souvenirs, but right in the centre were tables squeezed together next to an unassuming restaurant. Sat on plastic outdoor chairs with linin tablecloths, we feasted on salmon so delicate it fell apart as soon as the fork touched it, vegetable soup so simple but rich in flavour, and the softest, most buttery potatoes that melted away in your mouth. Each meal was a homecooked delight, a hidden gem of a restaurant immersed in the hustle and bustle of the market.

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Art breathes life into the city

Epigram / Amelia Shoebridge

The seamless layering and merging of traditionally-tiled buildings against modern architecture commands your attention as you wander around Porto. Blue Azulejo tiles dress the city’s walls, a proud display of the country’s rich cultural and artistic history. Art breathes life into the city; every way you turn, a delicately-graffitied mural appears, both beautiful and politically-charged.

Although Porto is known for its port, we drank (and kept on drinking) ‘Verde’ wine on our first evening. Green in colour, glorious in taste and slightly more sparkling than white wine, Verde was a welcome alternative to port, which was too heavy for our palettes.

The Cathedral gave me a snapshot of the power and dominance of religion

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Needing to tick ‘historical monument’ off our list we snaked down to the adeptly-named Porto Cathedral, built in the 12th century in the historic centre. Pushing past heavy doors under the watchful eye of gothic gargoyle-like figures, we were halted by three thick pillars interspersing the pews. The little natural light coming in through the high-slit windows allowed us to see intricate bronze carvings lurking in all corners. The Cathedral gave me a snapshot of the power and dominance of religion in Porto.

On Tuesday, we caught our flight back to Bristol. I was sad to leave Porto’s calming atmosphere and its unparalleled selection of ‘Verde’ wines. Here’s a tip though: buy three bottles and continue your holiday that little bit longer!

Amelia Shoebridge First Year, Sociology

A German students’ view on living in post-Brexit Britain

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Florian Messemer discusses the impact our decision has on his future I came to Bristol from Germany in 2016, some time after the referendum. The University had already guaranteed that my fees would remain at Home & EU levels, and with graduation planned for 2019 - the earliest time at which the UK might leave - my plans were fortunately never affected. Seeing that I always hoped to leave the UK after my Bachelor studies, and as I don’t have any long-term plans for my Masters yet, I cannot speak for those of us that worry about postgraduate degrees or job opportunities. For me, Brexit is a conversation; it’s interesting to learn what my British friends think at this critical time.

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Epigram / Evy Tang

My plans were fortunately never affected

The cynicism about politics among UK students seems unusually strong

The cynicism about politics may have been around before among UK students, but it does seem unusually strong. There seems to be a sense of resignation and just hoping for the best. If young UK citizens voted in the referendum and the 2017 election, who could blame them? Now their most powerful democratic tool seems to have been exhausted and Brexit inevitable. As a strong believer in the benefit of European integration, I am more worried about the implications of Brexit on my friends’ futures rather than my own.

Florian Messemer Second Year, Economics and Politics

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26.03.2018

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Europe, Europa, Evropa, Avrupa... so similar yet so different?

Epigram / Becky Burkes Instagram: @birdqueen

Italy’s elections - a divisive rise in populism British rule in India

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Brexit, Trump, Italy? Eleonora Rimini explains why we should be worried On Sunday 4th of March, Italians voted for their next Prime Minister after one of the most divisive election campaigns the country has ever seen, resulting in a hung parliament. Two populist parties once considered fringe have triumphed, highlighting a move away from the centre-left and centre-right and a collapse of established parties. But the situation in Italy is almost comically tragic; with the highest levels of youth unemployment in the EU and an immense amount of debt, the country’s political landscape is now in complete chaos and two anti-establishment parties have divided the country in half.

Maybe it’s because Italian politicians seem so often embroiled in scandal

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The situation in Italy is almost comically tragic

Flickr / Marco Verch

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Known for his ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties and misogynistic comments, Berlusconi makes Trump look modest

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Ultimately, things aren’t looking good for Italy and what will happen next is anyone’s guess. Currently the two most likely possibilities are either a party with very little political experience and no clear direction, or an extremely xenophobic nationalist party. Both Salvini and di Maio have claimed the right to try and form a majority and, in classic Italian style, coalition talks will be lengthy and repeat elections could be a possibility.

If Salvini wins, he would be Western Europe’s first far-right leader since 1945 and is far more dangerous than both Marine Le Pen or Nigel Farage

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Epigram / Nick Bloom

Considering the implications of these elections on the rest of Europe, there has been surprisingly little media interest especially when you consider the coverage given to Le Pen vs Macron in France last year. Maybe it’s because after Brexit and Trump we are no longer so easily shocked, or maybe it’s because Italian politicians seem to be so often embroiled in scandals that no one really cares anymore. Either way, these results are significant and we should be following them with close attention; the Italian example could predict how European politics will play out in the next few years.

Eleonora Rimini Fourth Year, French and Italian

On 14th August 1947, the British rolled their maps and sailed back to Britain acknowledging the independence of India. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announced the independence of India in his speech ‘Tryst with destiny’, famously declaring “At the stroke midnight, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”. 70 years on, I can’t help wondering whether we’ve only gained partial or incomplete freedom.

It’s tricky to tell what Indians really feel about the British – there is such religious and demographic diversity in India – so drawing fair conclusions is difficult. Many strike a balance: Britain is closely associated with Imperialism, but also boasts a rich and beautiful culture. Whilst some want an end to British influence in India, others hope to benefit from British-inspired technological advancements, even arguing that British India should have been an autonomous colony like Australia.

I’ve heard friends speak critically of the British for cherry picking Indians to fill clerical roles, but also know people who defend the British for identifying Indian talent such as the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. While no one I spoke to seemed to harbour any resentment towards the present-day Brits, a degree of postcolonial animosity remains; over a century of British rule inevitably leaves its mark.

Epigram / Vihang Jumle

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So, who could be Italy’s next leader?

Luigi di Maio, Five Star Movement – 31-year old di Maio won the highest percentage of the votes with 32%. What is the Five Star Movement? Well, no-one’s really sure. The populist party declare themselves anti-establishment, anti-corruption, and Eurosceptics, but are very unclear on what they actually stand for. A purely Italian phenomenon, the group were founded online in 2009 by the comedian Beppe Grillo, and have won almost every constituency in the south of Italy, but didn’t quite reach the 40% for a majority.

Matteo Salvini, Lega – The far-right nationalist group won 17% of the vote, with most of their support coming from the north of Italy following a strong anti-immigrant campaign. If Salvini wins, he would be Western Europe’s first far-right leader since 1945 and is far more dangerous than both Marine Le Pen or Nigel Farage.

Just a few of his outrageous comments include suggesting racially segregated buses and trains in Milan, comparing a top female politician to a sex doll and, when an ex-Lega candidate draped in Italy’s tricolour flag shot six African migrants last month, Salvini blamed the migrants for bringing violence to Italy.

Matteo Renzi, Democratic Party – Italy’s ex-Prime Minister Renzi fared even worse than expected, winning only 18% of the votes compared to 40% in the last elections. Calls for his resignation as party leader have already begun.

Silvio Berlusconi, Forza Italia – Il Cavaliere is back after staging a remarkable comeback. The media mogul was forced to resign as Prime Minister in 2011 after sleeping with an underage prostitute, claiming in defence that, “it’s better to be fond of beautiful girls than to be gay.” Known for his ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties and misogynistic comments, Berlusconi makes Trump look modest.

Although only winning 13% of the votes, he has formed an alliance with Salvini and smaller far-right parties to reach a total of 37%.

Vihang Jumle speaks from Mumbai

The main issues people raised were racism and monopolising the economy to serve British interests. Generation X, which kickstarted the Indian recovery after 1947, and Generation Y, which adjusted India’s direction towards economic progress, are still bitter to this day. Many hold on to nationalist feelings and want to drive business for Indian firms, rather than invest in British companies.

However, my generation is different. We are enthusiastic about the prospects of globalisation, celebrate the successes of India’s rapid, if non-linear, economic growth and seek to drive good business irrespective of the organization’s origin. Whilst our grandparents’ generation hope that the U.K. remunerate India for its colonial exploits, we are more eager to establish employment and investment opportunities with the U.K. My aim is to get India’s current population to talk about the complex issues that surround Britain’s colonial and historical presence in India. Part of this complexity is due to varied approaches in educating the Indian population about British colonial rule creating an inevitable disparity in views. Accepting that the past cannot be changed is only part of the problem, going forward both Indian and British communities need to encourage open cultural and technological exchange and seek collected, sustainable economic growth to foster a healthy diplomatic relationship between these two nations. We need to open our markets for fair competition and take stock of the huge potential benefits strong bilateral relations can have.

Though we have our differences, what will never change is that we are both proud nations. The lion and the tiger have to appreciate each other for them to rule the jungle.

Vihang Jumle IT Engineering, University of Mumbai

26.03.2018

31

Economic opportunities, security challenges: a brief overview of Turkey Travel Editor Nick Bloom challenges Western misconceptions and reflects on Turkey’s untapped potential

Epigram / Nick Bloom

”

Epigram / Nick Bloom

In 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk took office. The Turkish army officer and revolutionary would preside for fifteen years until his death in 1938. By that time, he had transformed Turkey into a secular state, championing liberal foreign policies and modernising the economy. Atatürk improved literacy rates, built a

”

”

This doesn’t always sit well in the West. Amid fears of right-wing nationalism and Islamic radicalism, the European Union keeps a watchful eye over Ankara. This is partly justified. Turkey has suffered decades of economic crisis, generations of corrupt politicians and a series of military interventions and violent coups. One glance at a map shows Syria and Iraq to the south, a heavily-armed border with Georgia and Armenia to the east and a Black Sea of geopolitical uncertainty with the Crimea, Ukraine and Russia to the north. The divisive Kurdish question dominates Turkish politics. Regional insecurity and a migrant crisis have damaged Turkish-German relations and there is a growing frustration among the Turkish population that, despite applying repeatedly for EU membership, their future in the EU is bleak.

Epigram / Nick Bloom

Amid fears of right-wing nationalism and Islamic radicalism, the EU keeps a watchful eye over Ankara

better education system and defended women’s rights. Today, he is a national hero; Turkish schoolchildren learn that Atatürk was the founding father of modern Turkey. Yet the Turkey I have just visited is unquestionably different to the one Atatürk envisioned.

It is ruled by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former mayor of Istanbul, who pushes for de-secularization and re-Islamization and favours a more hard-line approach to Turkey’s security problems.

Epigram / Nick Bloom

Turkey is a fascinating country. It is both unique and complex, an ancient crossroads tied to centuries of history, trade and empire.

As one of three transcontinental countries on the planet, Turkey boasts a singular geography: a 5,000-mile coastline bordered by eight countries, a peninsula bathed by four seas and a famous river, Istanbul’s Bosphorus, bisecting two continents. It seems only logical that some historians place Turkey at the centre of human existence. In “The Silk Roads: A History of the World”, Peter Frankopan argues that the Middle East and Central Asia have always been the heartbeat of civilization. Much like Edward Said in “Orientalism”, Frankopan criticises the West for essentializing and exoticising the ‘Orient’/East, and suggests that Istanbul, or rather Constantinople/Byzantium, better reflects our anthropological history than Paris, London or Berlin.

I have just spent a week in Turkey, where I learned a fresh perspective from some wonderful people. Here is a brief outline of today’s Turkey, paying homage to its history, charting its geopolitical and economic position in the world and challenging Western/British misconceptions.

From its architecture and art to its food and language(s), Turkey exports a vibrant culture all over the world

”

Is all this fair? Should the West be so sceptical of Turkey? We are quick to forget that Turkey is a powerful member of NATO, that Turkish and European students study together as part of the ERASMUS programme and that Turkey remains the most strategically important country between East and West. The longterm implications of Brexit on our shores pale in comparison with the immediate threats of the Syrian civil war, insurgency and cross-border terrorism. Meanwhile, at a time where the world’s superpowers compete globally for resources and investment opportunities, it’s not surprising that Erdogan hopes to drive Turkish-grown business and attract foreign capital. Turkey is a transit state for several of the world’s largest and most productive pipelines, a key player in China’s large-scale Belt and Road Initiative and an important trade partner with Russia, the United States and the European Union. From its architecture and art to its food and language(s), Turkey proudly exports a rich and vibrant culture all over the world. From Capadoccia’s Bronze Age caves to the hustle and bustle of Istanbul’s cosmopolitan old town to five-star resorts in Bodrum, the Turkish tourism industry attracts millions of visitors every year.

So while Turkey may never be able to claim to be a fully integrated part of Europe, lags behind in promoting human rights and gender equality and faces great security challenges, we should remember its role in our shared history and remind ourselves how much it has to offer. As Napoleon once said, “If the world was only one country, Istanbul would be its capital!”

Nick Bloom Travel Editor

Travelling Europe on a Budget Online Editor Ellie Caulfield shares her top-tips on how to travel Europe for less - and yes, it can be done!

Being a student with an ever-increasing over-draft is hard when you want to make the most of your free time and explore. I’ve been reluctant to break the bank whilst travelling and thought I’d share my top tips on how to cut down the costs.

1

Travel in the off season

Different counties are cheaper at different times of the year, and this often depends on weather and school holidays. Early and late flights are often significantly cheaper, so if you don’t mind where you sleep, you should consider this.

3

Consider all accommodation options

See what suits best with your group size. If there’s a lot of you, Airbnb’s are often the most cost effective.

Do your research

Country profile, unmissable sites, accommodation, deals – it’s all worth it.

2

4

Go somewhere less ‘popular’

Europe has a lot to offer, and although Paris, Barcelona and Rome are lovely places to visit, they are more expensive.

Consider Vilnius, Riga or Warsaw, as these all promise just as much fun, but with less impact on that overdraft!

5

Eat well, for less

Eating out for 2-3 meals a day is pricey. Prepare your own food in the morning or buy sandwiches from a supermarket rather than a bistro café. Always pack a bottle of water in the morning!

6

Lighten your luggage

If you’re flying, consider whether you need hold luggage. It’s often more expensive and inconvenient.

7

Get souvenir-savvy

Don’t buy the first gift you see! Often the markets that attract lots of tourists hike up their prices, and you’d kick yourself if you found that necklace around the corner for half the price.

8

Take alternative transport

See if you can bag a cheap flight early. If you’re on a budget, go by coach!

9

Get travel insurance

If you travel regularly, it’s worth investing in annual travel insurance. It saves time, money and hassle (just remember to renew it).

10

Plan your nights out

Buy a bottle of wine from the supermarket for pre’s or ask locals for cheap deals.

11

Master your money

Exchange your money into local currency beforehand, rather than at the airport!

Ellie Caulfield Online Travel Editor

Meet your new

OfficerS! BRISTOL SU ELECTIONS

meet your new elected officers TERM 2 OVERVIEW

what's coming up

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS

bristolsu.org.uk

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Image by Photosoc Events Team - Tobias Berchtold

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term 2 overview

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL photo highlights

Since January it feels like it’s been non-stop with campaigning, democracy and representation. Here are just a few of the things that have been happening:

•

Almost 500 people nominated someone for the Bristol BME Powerlist

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Over 5000 of you watched our Top Tips for Exam Wellbeing video

The Balloon Bar has had a bit of a revamp – with new nightly deals and plants making an appearance.

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The University are giving you access to your exam scripts after results have been released – a huge hard-won victory for our reps this year

<RX FDQ QRZ JHW À[HG UDWH 1DWLRQDO Express travel from Bristol to London if you book in advance through The Basket. From £5 a ticket!

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You voted overwhelmingly to oppose any model to pastoral support, which includes a change from managing pastoral support in residences to managing pastoral support in clusters of residences ('hubs').

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We hosted a sold out Richmond Lecture featuring Professor David Nutt and a sold out Fight Night

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Bristol SU LGBT+ network, Trans Network, LGBT+ Society and Bristol University LGBT+ Staff network hosted a month of different events for LGBT+ History Month

WHAT'S ON Total varsity wipe-out Wednesday 25 April, 2 - 7pm, Coombe Dingle

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Ashfords LLP Varsity 10K, Sunday 29 April, 8:15am, Harbourside.

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Millenial Sex: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Thursday 26 April, 6:30pm, Anson Rooms. -RLQ RXU H[SHUW SDQHO FRQVLVWLQJ RI VWXGHQWV SURIHVVLRQDOV DQG DFDGHPLFV IRU D OLYHO\ GLVFXVVLRQ RQ VWXGHQW VH[ ZKDW V ZRUNLQJ DQG ZKDW V QRW

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

Epigram

26.03.2018

Film & TV

epigram_film

filmandtv@epigram.org.uk

Editor: Charlie Gearon Deputy Editor: Gabi Spiro @GearonCharlie

@GabiSpiro

@epigramfilm

Online: Tim Bustin Deputy Online: AshleyYonga @timbustin1

@ashyonga

Synthesis and Sound: Sorcerer ’s Soundtrack In conjunction with Watershed’s Filmic season, Oliver Goddard explores the importance of sound in film

Tommy Curtis / Watershed

Oliver Goddard First year, English As part of Filmic 2018, their annual celebration of music and movies, Watershed are screening a selection of sci-fi films and thrillers with idiosyncratic scores. There is a chance to revisit the late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s mesmerising work for Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016), and to reacquaint oneself with some more familiar faces, such as Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith and Hans Zimmer. Buried among these usual suspects is a more striking inclusion: William Friedkin’s Sorcerer (1977), scored by krautrockers Tangerine Dream. Friedkin’s remake of the Henri-Georges Clouzot’s suspense classic The Wages of Fear (1953) marked the German band’s first foray into the form. A few years later they contributed equally essential work to Michael Mann’s debut thriller Thief (1981) - currently streaming on Netflix UK and perhaps somewhat more inexplicably scored Tom Cruise’s breakout film Risky Business (1983).

Their first effort remains their most compelling work, at once jarring with the lush yet brutal onscreen imagery whilst complementing the film’s pitch-black pessimism.

Electronic bands with prog-rock inflections were certainly no strangers to European cinema of the 1960s and 70s. Popol Vuh contributed mysterious soundscapes to the early work of German New-Wave master Werner Herzog, with Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) perhaps being their best work. Italian outfit Goblin similarly cut their teeth writing soundtracks to the giallo films of Dario Argento. Their somewhat funky yet unnerving compositions, a marriage of both synthesised and organic instrumentation, added a sense of propulsive momentum to Hitchcockian slasher Profondo Rosso (1975).

They later refined their sound with their nowiconic score to Suspiria (1977). Their timbre was now more reliant on synthesizers and looping electronics, which complimented both the film’s intensity and its brazen use of colour. On the other side of the Atlantic, however, such synthdriven soundtracks were rare, particularly with regards to big budget studio pictures. There was the odd exception, such as Wendy Carlos’ score for Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971), but otherwise such scores were more commonplace in independently financed movies, such as John Carpenter’s Dark Star (1974).

Sorcerer, on the other hand, was a studio movie

with studio financing. Hot off two critical and box-office smashes, The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist (1973), Friedkin pretty much had carte blanche with his next project. He chose to adapt Georges Arnaud’s novel The Wages of Fear, a tale of a ragtag group of four men tasked with transporting two truck-loads of lethally unstable nitroglycerin across treacherous terrain. The project could not have been any less commercial; shot on location in the jungle of the Dominican Republic, with no big-name box-office stars, and with a lengthy, almost cinema verité prologue that alienated US audiences from the outset due to the lack of English dialogue. The shoot was equally challenging. Blighted by crew illnesses, extreme weather conditions and unaccommodating locations, Sorcerer falls into a category with Apocalypse Now (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982) as a film that inexplicably remained coherent in spite of the immense challenges faced during production.

And yet the challenge of the shoot translated into some of the most remarkably visceral imagery of 1970s American cinema, with Tangerine Dream’s electronics offering a dramatic counterpoint to the realism Friedkin so effectively generates. It is an unapologetically

loud film, with the diegetic sounds of rattling engines and deafening explosions competing in a loudness war with Tangerine Dream’s wall of synths. The score disappears into the background at critical junctures, which only heightens the unbearable tension. One such instance of this, the grueling river-crossing centrepiece, remains one of the most unbearably tense set-pieces of modern moviemaking, in no small part due to the stark sound design. Though Sorcerer was certainly action-packed, moviegoers in 1977 failed to respond to Friedkin’s nihilistic world view. Famously, it was buried at the box-office by a little film by the name of Star Wars (1977). George Lucas’ space melodrama of good-versus-evil was clearly more palatable to audiences of the day.

A box-office bomb on its initial release, Sorcerer has grown in critical stature over the years, with many now considering it one of the most underrated films of the 1970s. While this writer may not feel it is necessarily the best movie to come out of the American New-Wave, it nevertheless was one of the movement’s most characteristic films, and certainly remains one of the most dour and misanthropic movies ever to get major studio backing - and Tangerine Dream’s score remains singular and unsettling to this day.

This week in cinema history 27 March, 1940: ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again’ - Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca premieres

Youtube / IFILMuser

Alfred Hitchcock is generally considered the master of cinematic suspense. Anybody even tangentially aware of the man’s work will likely recollect dissonant percussive strings striking as a trail of blood trickles down the drain in Psycho (1960).

Rebecca, however, takes a different approach. The film still has its suspenseful moments, and it certainly builds to a climax as do most of Hitchock’s works. But Rebecca’s genius lies in its subtlety, in the way it teases out its narrative, gradually revealing more and more about Max de Winter (Lawrence Olivier) and his eponymous, deceased wife. It’s a harrowing and disturbed tale of love, deception, and the abuse of power, complete with stunning visuals and big-

budget production value The film is the second of three projects which Hitchock based on works by Daphne du Maurier - the others being Jamaica Inn (1939) and The Birds (1962) - and marks Hitchock’s first Hollywood film. It shows the master of suspense flexing a different kind of muscle, and remains essential viewing for any self-proclaimed fan of Hitchockian cinema

Charlie Gearon Film & TV Editor

Epigram 26.03.2017

37

The big screen vs the laptop - Annihilation review Miles Jackson questions the studio rejection of Annihilation and the damaging effect of streaming service releases Miles Jackson First Year, English and Film

“

It’s increasingly likely that studios will continue to view challenging, risky, big-budget sci-fi as not worth the expenditure

Annihilation is the sort of film cinemas need in order to survive in the Netflix age. It’s a film layered with a sense of spectacle that simply cannot be replicated on a laptop screen, and it simultaneously tackles far weightier themes than most blockbusters would even attempt.

Whilst it often falters in examining those themes with the philosophical rigour they deserve, it’s still a genuinely ambitious, often ecstatically realised work of science fiction. Yet in a cruelly ironic twist, the film has been dumped straight to Netflix by a studio that deemed it ‘too intellectual’ to make money in cinemas.

Netflix Press Office

Midway through Alex Garland’s second film Annihilation comes a scene so viscerally terrifying it will haunt my memory interminably. The scene is too existentially horrifying to spoil, yet it involves a bear with a human skull for a head, the disembodied, blood curdling screams of a departed companion and a pervasive quality of powerless dread that recalls both Hitchcock and Francis Bacon. It will surely be remembered as one of the finest scenes in a film this year. It is also one that residents of the UK will probably never get to see in a cinema.

Regardless of whether or not the studio was right, selling off a film to streaming services without a chance for people to see it in cinemas sets a dangerous precedent for the future of the multiplex. It’s especially damaging in cases such as Annihilation, a film whose dizzying visual ambition is muted when viewed on a computer screen (or god forbid, a smartphone).

Following a team of five female scientists as they enter a mysterious anomalous zone known as ‘The Shimmer’, one might be confused during the film’s first hour as to why the studio balked at Annihilation. Indeed, the film’s opening half deals almost exclusively in stock characters and B-movie cliches. Despite featuring some of Hollywood’s most talented female leads, actors such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson are attributed with thin characters whose motives, while interesting on paper, are explained within the film through rote exposition.

Likewise, the various action and horror setpieces in the first hour fail to inspire, whilst there are some truly bizarre compositional techniques employed throughout the film; the relentless centre-framing of characters with ugly dead space behind them is perplexing.

Yet as the film goes on, it settles into an eerily existential groove as it delves into its funhousemirror depiction of a world where biology has gone awry. As the minds and bodies of the characters start to collapse and even intermingle, the film creates images that are both memorably haunting and genuinely gorgeous, finding a perverse and horrific beauty in decay. The film’s stunning production design - which creates an expressionistic world built from the fractured psyches of its characters - manages to elevate the film beyond its often two-dimensional dialogue scenes and flat, washed out cinematography.

The studio’s rejection of Annihilation becomes

clearer when one reaches its sumptuously radical finale. Doubling down on the film’s elegiac examination of humanity’s capacity for selfdestruction, the film’s climactic pas-de-deux between Natalie Portman’s Lena and an uncanny stalker is a giddily hypnotic piece of genuine avant-garde cinema. The film’s thin characters and relentlessly simplistic overuse of cancerous imagery prevent Annihilation from attaining the cerebral complexity it yearns for, yet its finale is executed with such genuine visual awe so as to affect the viewer on a more visceral level.

Comparisons have been drawn between Annihilation and the ponderous portent of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, as well as the visual experimentation of 2001: A Space Odyssey. To be sure, Annihilation never reaches the psychological profundity of either of those reference points. Yet

there are few big-budget sci-fi films today that would even attempt to, and when Annihilation lets its mesmerizingly melancholic imagery speak for itself it transcends whatever issues its screenplay might possess.

It’s especially cruel that this flawed film’s finest qualities - its magnificent horror scenes and spellbinding spectacle - are the ones that have been hurt the most by the decision to forgo a cinema release. In an age of safe bets and bean counters, it’s increasingly likely that studios will continue to view challenging, risky, big-budget sci-fi as not worth the expenditure. When (and if) films like Annihilation are released, they may well suffer the same fate of being dumped on the internet by executives that assume there isn’t an audience for progressive and adventurous blockbuster cinema. Prove them wrong.

Editors’ Picks

Our favourite sombre films with sunny messages to mark the start of Spring

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Gabi Spiro

Tim Bustin

Ashley Yonga

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Deputy Online Editor

500 Days of Summer (2009)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Alicia Wakeling Little Miss Sunshine (2006) Second Year, Film & Television

The burning Italian sun can be said to fulfil two different function in The Talented Mr. Ripley. In the first half of the film, during which Ripley (Matt Damon) is simultaneously spying on and courting Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), the almost palpable warmth creates a hazy, lazy atmosphere. The pair drink chilled beers, lounge around, and do nothing in particular. In the film’s latter half, following a somewhat abrupt swing of an oar, this changes.

The sun is no longer relaxing, but oppressive. The fervent and unbearable tension is exacerbated by the overbearing and all-encompassing heat, adding a sense of inescapability to Ripley’s situation. As he’s chased down, the beating sun doesn’t give him a moment’s respite, and follows him just as persistently as his human pursuers.

Twitter / dani0993

Editor

Flickr / sinemabed

Flickr / Gideon Tsang

Flickr / Craig Duffy

Charlie Gearon

Little Miss Sunshine, on face value, is a dreary film tackling hard-hitting themes of drug addiction, divorce, disability, bankruptcy, and suicide. Yet this indie classic beams positivity, warmth and humour, and teaches the powerful (and very American) message of persistence in the face of adversity, unembarrassed self-love and the strength of the united family unit. The unconventional Hoover family travel across the US in a gorgeous canary yellow VW, on a mission to get seven-year-old Olive to a beauty pageant in time. Despite numerous obstacles, the family arrives unscathed, and realises that beauty pageants are silly anyway. This quirky film will make you cringe, laugh, and cry and most importantly, will teach you that even the worst situations can be made light of.

On the surface, this is a high-energy, whirlwind love story, obsessed with indie pop music and fuelled by the adorableness achieved when you combine Zooey Deschanel and Joseph GordonLevitt on screen. But this is not a love story.

Told out of sequence, with heartfelt emotions and heart-wrenching memories all mixed into a mess, this is a break up movie. Your first true love is rarely your first and despite how beautiful the seemingly never-ending summer might feel, with its dramatic song and dance numbers in the middle of the street, its beautiful cityscapes and mad adventures to be shared with that special someone, the more mature autumn that follows can be just as bright.

Eternal Sunshine follows Clementine (Kate Winslet) and Joel (Jim Carrey) as they go through the peaks and troughs of an incompatible relationship.

The film takes place mainly in Joel’s mind as he discovers that Clementine has erased him and decides to do the same. As he goes through his memories, he relives their relationship from its sweet beginning to bitter end, and through this he realises that he wouldn’t want to forget anything about them. The film is bright and sunny in its cinematography and also unexpectedly sunny in its theme. There may be sunshine in forgetting heartbreak but who’d appreciate the sunny days if there were no rainy ones.

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39

@EpigramArts

Editor: Alina Young

Online Editor: Helena Raymond-Hayling

Deputy Editor: Anna Trafford

Deputy Online Editor: Avital Carno

arts@epigram.org.uk

26.03.2018

Arts

Self-love and art Forget summer body preparation, it’s time for a dose of body positivity from Instagram’s most exciting artists With the Beast from the East banished - hopefully for good this time - and holiday-wear slowly infiltrating the high street once more, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the encroaching summer months. The prospect of sunny afternoons basking on the Downs, tinny in one hand and ice-lolly in the other, is enough to make your mouth water. But along with the soaring temperatures comes the inevitable onslaught of fleshbaring apparel, which means that the dreaded ‘beach body’ preparation season is upon us.

If you find yourself starting to peruse the fake tan selection during your Sainsbury’s shop

and Googling cheap pedicures around Bristol, I can assure you that you’re not alone. And if the thought of getting your legs out doesn’t make you reconsider the wisdom of scoffing quite so many Parsons donuts over the past few months, then good for you. But you’re probably in the minority. Sunshine may be lauded for its beneficial health properties, but it also has the capacity to expose our biggest body worries.

So maybe you could try to find a miracle quick fix for your cellulite or make use of that expensive gym pass for the first time this year.

Chances are though that even dogged commit-

Instagram / marieboiseau

@silvanadenker This account features the work of German photographer and plus-size model, Silvana Denker.

She uses Instagram to promote her BodyLove campaign, which aims to encourage self-love, acceptance and diversity.

Instagram / marieboiseau

@marieboiseau This is a lesser-known account but an absolute gem nonetheless. French illustrator, Marie, loves to draw the female form in all its stubbly, saggy, stretch-marked gloriousness. Her work is colourful, fun, proud and sure to liven up any Instagram feed.

@radiantbambi Ash Soto, the woman behind this account, suffers from a skin condition called Vitiligo, in which areas of skin loses its pigmentation. This account is the product of Ash’s mission to embrace and love the skin she’s in by using her unusual colouring as a canvas to create art.

@drawnbyjovanna Swedish illustrator Joanna’s representations of the female body are unapologetically real, beautiful and at war against the patriarchy. This text beneath one of her portraits, written by the subject, summarizes the power of her work:

‘In a world where not only magazines and media form your vision of the world but also your mum criticizes you, it is not easy to see yourself as a beautiful human being… It is so hard to find a way to love my self and so I decided to let Jovanna do a painting. A painting to remember myself that I am beautiful and that it’s ok to be different’.

Epigram / Luke Unger

Instagram / silvanadenker

One of our own illustrators, Luke Unger, approaches the less talked about- but incredibly important- issue of male body positivity in his piece ‘The Elephant in the Room’. He explains: ‘Over the course of the last few weeks I have had the privilege of talking with a number of men about their issues regarding eating disorders. Having never considered the issue from the male perspective, the stigma with which many of these men were met with when trying to open up to doctors, parents or friends was horrifying. With ‘body positivity’ being such an empowering movement for women, unfortunately its seems that men are getting left behind. ‘While for many men, these eating disorders are not born from concerns around body image but more to do with an element of control, the former reason still remains as prevalent in men as it is in women. With this illustration I hope to convey that men, as well as women, should be comfortable in their own skin, and that seeking help is not a form of weakness but a form of inner strength.’

and illustrators whose goal it is to celebrate the body at its inhibited best and to encourage true body confidence.

Sometimes we all need a bit of a pick-me-up and an antidote to the toxic feelings of inadequacy perpetuated by insidious advertising and social media. Art is a truly powerful medium, with the ability to can heal and uplift and it turns out that, in our modern age, it has the power to inspire self-love in those who need it. If you want a little more positivity on your feed, here are a few Instagram art accounts that will have you feeling more ‘bikini ready’ than a few squats ever will:

Instagram /drawnbyjovanna

Instagram / ruvvani

@ruvvani This young Sri-Lankan born artist describes drawing as a ‘healing process’, which allows her to romanticize the parts of herself that she’s been told to hate and to counter the under-representation of people of colour in art.

Instagram / radiantbambi

Instagram / zinteta

@zinteta This Spanish artist describes herself as an ‘artivist’. She is most well-known for her colourful stretch mark art, which aims to inspire people to consider the beauty of parts of themselves that they’ve been told to hate.

ment to the 8am spin class won’t save you from your insecurities. Let’s face it, at this stage in our media-inundated lives, we’ve probably been too brainwashed by airbrushed images to be truly happy with what we see in the mirror, no matter what fitness regime we undertake.

Instagram can be inspiring and destructive in equal parts when it comes to body confidence.

There’s nothing quite like following a ‘bikini blogger’ to inspire both a trip to the gym and a bout of instantaneous self-loathing. However, step away from the fitness bloggers and the bikini models and you can find a whole treasure trove of artists

Epigram

40

26.03.2018

@EpigramArts

Mindfulness in arts and crafts Arts writers recommend their favourite way to de-stress and clear their heads with creative pastimes, just in time for deadline season Keavy Keller- Colouring

Ritu Patel- Card making At our age giving cards is not something many people do but I find the process quite heart-warming. For me, taking the time to hand draw or paint a card is very relaxing as it involves a creative type of concentration that can be calming.

Cards don’t need to be overly complicated to be effective, so the actual process doesn’t have to be hard; you can just zone out and relax. When people receive cards that you have hand-made they really appreciate the gesture, too. I would highly recommend it to all.

Anna Trafford- Collaging

Epigram / Ritu Patel

Instagram / johannabasford

It’s been a long day. St. Michael’s Hill was that bit steeper today. The ASS was that bit more crowded. And the walk to Redland felt like miles.

So what do you do? You shut the door on your housemates, fall at your desk, put on some music (or your favourite serial killer or conspiracy documentary) and pull out a colouring book.

The one you’ve been working on for two years. The well-used colouring pencils your aunt bought you are a comfort in your hand as you start to shade the tree, the elephant, the geometric sunflower and you can finally rest.

Jeanette Moon - Knitting Instagram / heybulldogknits

Instagram / quinnie.jpg

For me, the pottery studio is a place of undeniable comfort, a place where I find myself when I am happy, when I am exhausted, when I am stressed or even when I am meant to be in a lecture.

It is the perfect balance between creation and destruction, where what you make so brilliantly portrays your emotion in physical form.

I am not particularly talented at throwing pots or sculpting beautiful things out of lumps of clay. My bowls turn out wonky, mugs turn into vases, dysfunctional teapots resign themselves to being ornamental and I once made a caterpillar that exploded in the kiln. It is these imperfections, the never-ending cycle of forming and reforming, that makes pottery so rejuvenating.

The delicate, carefully moulded vase offers complete forgiveness when you destroy it in a half second flick of your finger in a moment of distraction. Every slight touch changes its form and it feels glorious to be so in control, or out of control.

I would encourage everyone to create, whether that be through trying out pottery or through other mediums. At the University of Bristol, we are extremely privileged to have the pottery studio and the availability of classes. Unlimited access for a year nominal fee provides you with a place to unwind, to be alone or just to make an exploding caterpillar.

Instagram / fabtailoringmalta

Epigram / Alice See

Being a proud 5’2”, getting into sewing was at first a very practical hobby: all shop-bought trousers or skirts dwarf my legs, and it costs a fortune to take-up a whole wardrobe. Slashing seams and resewing them was a satisfying solution, as I could make clothes (finally!) fit exactly how I wanted.

Although my first attempts led to wobbly seams, dodgily cut shapes and frankly ruined clothes, the successes of some items encouraged me to continue practising and eventually honing my skills. Now, getting clothes that inevitably don’t fit just fills me with excitement- I get the chance to make a bespoke piece of clothing, by doing something I love.

What I love most about sewing is that the immense concentration it takes not to screw it up makes the process meditative; my mind is totally occupied by the task. It combines working with your hands with problem-solving skills, as each garment requires you to improvise with the material. It’s also incredibly creative: I start with one garment, and make endless design decisions of how I want it to hang, or how I want something to change.

While stressed, sewing is a perfect activity.

You completely forget other pressures, and can spend hours in that idyllic state of flow. Best of all, you can physically wear your creation, meaning that you reap the rewards of your efforts time and again.

Epigram / Alice See

Alice See - Pottery

Instagram / minalovec

Alina Young - Sewing

Some people find themselves in Southeast Asia, some people don’t find themselves at all. I was lucky enough, however, to embark on a journey of self-discovery whilst bed bound following an operation on my knee. A confession - I am hopelessly, ridiculously and wholeheartedly addicted to knitting. The clicking of the needles, the way the wool wraps neatly around my fingers and the excitement of watching my masterpiece grow row by row.

It’s the perfect way to relax and have some me time - partly because I am yet to find someone else of a similar age that shares this passion.

I once had withdrawal symptoms from Lizard Lounge, but now my mind is constantly occupied by needles, knitting and pearling.

Epigram / Alice See

Instagram / polupuikoilla

Instagram / laura___elise

When I was younger I used to be obsessed with glossy magazines. I loved the satisfying feel of the fat spine of an ELLE, Red or Tatler, the whisper of the crisp pages as you turn them, the smell of the ink, and the bold colours leaping out at you from the page.

The carefully considered aesthetic of these high-fashion mags appealed to me; I wanted to reach out and take all the most beautiful elements of these pages, the images that made me stop and look, and to make them into something of my own. And that’s how I came to start making collages.

I used to pilfer my mother’s discarded collection of magazines looking for resources. I would scour the pages for the prettiest pictures, the eye-catching quotes and the colours that would complement the project in hand, engrossed for hours at a time. There is nothing more therapeutic than becoming totally and utterly absorbed in an activity like cutting and sticking, where you don’t have to think. All you need to do is listen to your creative instincts in deciding which pictures belong together.

Epigram

26.03.2018

41

Your holiday arts fix The Easter holidays aren’t just about endless revision. Get your head out of your books and make the most of the arty events going on near you: Theatre: ‘Celtic -- The Musical’ 18th April - 12th May @ Pavilion Theatre

Exhibition: ‘Surrealism and the Marvellous’ On now @ Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Exhibition: ‘Bomberg’ Until 28th May @ Laing Art Gallery

Exhibition: ‘ Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ Until 29th April @ National Museum of Scotland Theatre: ‘Private Lives’ 10th - 14th April @ Hull Truck Theatre Theatre: ‘Cherry Orchard’ 19th April - 19th May @ Royal Exchange Theatre

Exhibition: ‘No one knows me like Dawn from the Jobcentre’ Until 27th March @ Humber Street Gallery

Exhibition: ‘Annie Swynnerton: Painting Light and Hope’ Until 6th January 2019 @ Manchester Art Gallery

Glasgow Theatre: ‘War Horse’ Until 7th April @ Royal Concert Hall

Edinburgh

There’s a whole host of short-run plays on in Birmingham over the holidays. Here are some highlights:

Newcastle

Pentabus: Here I Belong 28th - 29th March

Hull

Rhum And Clay: Testosterone 29th - 30th March

Manchester

Uncanny Theatre: Outrage 6th April

Nottingham

@ Mac Birmingham

Birmingham Cambridge Exhibition: ‘Portrait of the Artist: Kathe Kollwitz’ Until 17th June @ Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

Exhibition: ‘The Family in Disorder: Truth or Dare, Cinthia Marcelle’ Until 27th May @ Modern Art Oxford

Oxford

Swansea

Cardiff

Bristol

London

Southampton Exhibition: ‘Swaps: Photographs from the David Hurn Collection’ Until 15th April @ National Museum Cardiff

Theatre: ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ 9th - 14th April @Cambridge Arts Theatre

Brighton

Exhibition: ‘Another kind of life: photography on the margins’ Until 27th May @ Barbican Centre Exhibition: ‘Modigliani’ Until 2nd April @ Tate Modern

Plymouth There’s a huge variety of theatrical productions visiting Brighton this Easter. Maybe one of these will tickle your fancy: Whilst The Rest Were Sleeping 28th - 29th March

Exhibition: ‘History Painting: Rosie Wylie’ Until 30th May @Plymouth Arts Cenre

Theatre: ‘A View from the Bridge’ 18th April - 12th May @ Tobacco Factory Theatre Exhibition: ‘Iman Issa’ Until 15th April @ Spike Island

Illustration by Luke Unger for Epigram

A Flear In Her Ear 3rd - 5th April

Theatre: ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ Until 30th May @ NST City

The Producers 10th - 14th April @ The Old Market, Hove

Epigram

26.03.2018

Music

@epigrammusic Editor: Alexia Kirov

Deputy Editor: Kate Hutchison

Online Editor: Joe Samrai

music@epigram.org.uk

The curious case of Clairo The DIY bedroom pop artist Clairo (aka Claire Cottrill) has suddenly shot to fame, even securing a gig with Tyler The Creator and Brockhampton. But how? Given her evident connections in the music industry, can her DIY persona be justified? Asher Breuer Weil discusses.

Asher Bruer-Weil Third Year, English

Facebook / Clairo

If you haven’t heard of Claire Cottrill, more commonly known as Clairo, let me explain the story to you. She is a 19-year old indie artist from Boston who shot to the limelight in 2017 with a series of lo-fi bedroom pop songs, notably ‘Pretty Girl,’ that went viral on YouTube.

Although the songs are good, there is nothing that separates them from the countless other artists producing similar lo-fi indie pop – so how has she managed to accumulate millions of streams and views where others haven’t?

I imagined that it was because of the charm of it all. Watch ‘Pretty Girl’ if you haven’t, and tell me that you didn’t get swept up by the cuteness.

I don’t mean to use such a patronising word, but it really is the best way to describe her. She seems real, earnest, full of character, and just cute. She makes you smile. This quality alone was what convinced me that she fully merited the huge success that she has achieved.

Then murmurings began about it all being a sham, that she was an ‘industry plant’ with a powerful father who effectively engineered her success. These are allegations that one should be careful with – the internet is obviously full of junk-spewing left, right and centre. Yet, having done further research, there does seem to be fuel for the fire.

Her father, Gary Cottrill, worked in the music industry for a number of years, and currently runs Rubber Tracks, Converse’s record label – Clairo is continuously featured wearing Converse shoes in her Instagram pictures. He also is close friends with the founder of The FADER magazine – Clairo’s first big feature piece was in FADER. She has also recently secured a gig with Tyler, The Creator and Brockhampton - a feat that could only have been achieved through connections in the industry due to their respective statuses.

There is nothing explicitly wrong with getting a leg up for success, but to market yourself as a DIY, homemade and authentic pop singer, when clearly you are anything but that, is wrong. In all her interviews, features, social media posts, etc., she has not once mentioned the fact that her dad is big within music. It’s a conscious ploy to deceive her listeners into thinking she’s self-made.

My whole perception of her changed after hearing this. Everything she stood for was essentially undone – that ‘cuteness’ transformed into an unappealing fake-ness, the honesty became hollow.

In an industry that already struggles hugely with a lack of transparency, the whole affair seems so crude. The Reddit post that exposed her mentioned that Gary Cottrill has a reputation as a Donald Trump-esque figure, stopping at nothing to get rich. This couldn’t come through more strongly here. In planting his daughter within the industry, not only does the music side of his business prosper, but he can then use her success to promote his other businesses, like the Converse that feature all over her social media.

It’s free advertising to a significant audience.

But ultimately it’s also more complicated than that. Assuming Claire’s ambitions are to be a pop star, he is technically giving her the tools to achieve success, and if both can profit from that, then so be it. She is also clearly a talented musician who deserves what she has; you can have as much promotion as you want, but if your music isn’t good, you won’t take off.

It really has nothing to do with the art, or the morals of her father, only the deception. If this can happen, how else could we be played for fools?

How else can the media and industry construct artists as false brands that we fall for? It probably happens all over the place.

In an age where streaming services have already created a vacuum of transparency, stories like this make you worry about the reputation of music as a whole.

Clairo’s self-made promo shot.

What’s on? Editor’s picks...

The best events Bristol has to offer over the next few weeks.

The Fratellis @ O2 Academy Bristol, 29/03/18

How to get through exams: a guide by Epigram Music It’s almost that time of year again - exam season. To make your revision a little less stressful, we’ve picked out our favourite albums to work to - thank us when you get a 1st.

Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92

Glasgow indie rockers are back in Bristol, touring their recently released fifth album, In Your Own Sweet Time. A mix of old favourites like ‘Chelsea Dagger’ and new material - what’s not to love?

Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 85-92 has been my go-to studying album for some time now. At one hour 15, it was the same length as timed essays in sixth form, but now that essays can stretch on for weeks, I still use this classic of 90s electronic music to bring me focus and calm.

Discovering Aphex Twin initially through the surreal maximalism of his later singles ‘Windowlicker’and ‘Come to Daddy’, I was surprised to see an ‘ambient’ album of his held in such high regard. Perhaps ‘ambient’ is misleading - this is a rich and layered album built on repetition, somewhere between techno and ambient music, but Selected Downtempo Works doesn’t have the same ring to it. If you find Brian Eno’s ambient albums too sparse for noisier environments, I’m thinking of you, ground floor of the ASS!, then this is the album for you.

Gregory Porter @ Colston Hall, 03/04/18 There’s no stopping Gregory Porter. In the last year, he’s won multiple awards for his brilliant jazz/soul and released his fifth album, Nat King Cole & Me. Tickets are going fast - don’t miss out.

Larkins @ The Crofters Rights, 07/04/18 Manchester four-piece Larkins bring their highly lauded and anthemic indie pop to The Crofters Rights. According to their own Facebook pages, their sound will appeal to fans of Everything Everything, FOALS and The 1975 - so get down to The Crofter’s Rights.

IAMDDB: Flightmode live @ The Marble Factory , 16/04/18 Manchester artist IAMDDB, dubbed the ‘lovechild of trap and jazz’, brings her unique and hotly anticipated concept show to Bristol next month - she even asks her audience to come dressed to a theme.

Mitchell May Second Year, English

Epigram 26.03.2018

43 bops from their entire discography, if you will.

Listening to the album from start to finish – while in the library which was admittedly a little overwhelming – I was pleased to pick up a running theme. Considering the time span in which the record was written this is pretty damn impressive - though I might be biased, because if nothing else I’m a sucker for a running theme.

“

The tune’s snappy running synth riff sits perfectly beneath frontwoman Natassja Shiner’s soaring vocals

Leila Mitwally Online Wellbeing Editor On the 16th of March, Brighton-based indie quintet Fickle Friends are set to release their debut album: You are Someone Else with Polydor Records. If that wasn’t enough to blow my tiny mind, I’ve had the chance to listen to it already.

It’s clear that Fickle Friends have been relentlessly polishing their idiosyncratic synthpop/80s disco/eternal summer sound with every release of the last five years. You are Someone Else is the end product of this refinement served up on a plate – a musical selection box of the boppiest-

Each track seems to paint part of a bigger picture – that picture being a mind conflicted by a position in an unhappy relationship. Each song represents a different side of this general headspace, relating to different stages in said relationship. Sorry, but I literally just said I like themes. If you thought that was a bit deep, please buckle up.

The album’s opening track, ‘Wake Me Up,’ launches us into this mindset. The tune’s snappy running synth riff sits perfectly beneath frontwoman Natassja Shiner’s soaring vocals, in a mix so bouncy you’d be forgiven for missing the fact that it’s all about a relationship that’s, well, ‘absolutely failing.’ Next we’re met with one of the quintet’s more recent singles – ‘Glue’ – which might particularly resonate with student listeners, as Shiner describes over light syncopated beats the process of discovering an emotional connection with someone you’ve drunkenly just met: ‘I think I have a screw loose/I think you have a screw loose too’.

After ‘Swim’, Fickle Friend’s significantly older, breakthrough single, comes a brand new track which emulates the conflicted nature of a mind trying to work through their options

Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem Domine

Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music For Airports

Arvo Pärt’s choral work is meditative, sombre, and achingly beautiful. Influenced heavily by medieval Gregorian counterpoint (see Leonin and Perotin), Pärt’s vocal pieces unfold slowly and deliberately as parts weave in and out with one another, creating a delicate, textural web of sound. Unlike his medieval predecessors though, Pärt’s choral work possesses the ability to build to fervent climaxes which fill the listener’s ear with resonant beauty. These climactic moments are tactfully chosen and avoid the melodrama and cheesiness which permeates some contemporary choral music, like that of Eric Whitacre.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, the seven-movement ‘Magnificat Anthiphons’ gives a good overview of what Pärt has to offer. The second movement exhibits some of the darker, more sinister moments that he’s capable of, while the jubilant final movement – ‘O Immanuel’ – ends the piece with a glorious optimism. The Latin lyrics make for perfect accompaniment for revision and don’t attract too much attention, while the music on the whole generally succeeds at inducing a meditative and contemplative state which Pärt intends to invoke. Whether you’re thinkin’ bout God, or boning up on your Chaucer, Pärt makes the perfect companion.

It took me a while to accept that I just couldn’t work effectively listening to music with lyrics; as much as I love Hatful of Hollow, Morrissey questioning ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ was just a distraction from my from my GCSE Chemistry notes.

Enter Brian Eno’s sixth studio album, Ambient 1: Music For Airports, onto my iPod and into my life forevermore – to this day, it’s still my go-to for revision or essay writing. Eno describes the album as ‘ignorable as it is interesting’ that would ‘induce calm and a space to think.’ What more could you need to study to?

The tracks are titled as they appear on a vinyl copy of the album - the first two tracks, ‘1/1’ and ‘2/1’ are on side one, and the other two tracks, ‘1/2’ and ‘2/2’ are on side two. The album is 48 minutes long - each side lasts roughly 25 minutes. As such, the album can even help you plan out your study sessions.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system in which you work for 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break. So, you can listen to two tracks, press pause and take a break, and then get back to the next two tracks and your revision. Abit of Eno is as good of an incentive to get back to work as any. Give it a go.

Charlie Gearon Film Editor

Alexia Kirov Music Editor

within a deteriorating relationship. Bite voices thoughts almost too inconsistent to be coherent – Shiner initially asserts her autonomy - ‘I’m not submissive like I always was,’ before seemingly coming full circle for the basis of the irritatingly catchy chorus: ‘I could be your someone, you could be my somebody.’

The next two new releases which appear on the track list seem to capture the essence of the story that I think You Are Someone Else is trying to tell. ‘Heartbroken’ largely does what it says on the tin, but with a tragic twist – as it describes feeling ‘heartbroken’ before a relationship has even ended. Shiner’s sharp lyrics juxtapose the infuriatingly bland partner they describe - ‘you think everything sucks/I really couldn’t give two fucks’ - in a prime example of the quintet’s capacity to take objectively gloomy subject matter and twist it into an absolute, 100% certified bop™.

And hey – if someone has to go through this kind of emotional turmoil, at least I’m dancing to it.

“

Album Review: Fickle Friends You Are Someone Else

If you were only going to listen to one track from You Are Someone Else, I would recommend it be ‘Paris’ – wait for the relaxed yet euphoric drop about half-way through, and thank me later.

The following track shows the other side of this experience. ‘In My Head’ acts almost as a two-minute interval, we need a rest from all the bopping, which outlines the difficult feelings that sticking with a waning relationship can inspire.

Shiner’s low register glides through two verses of chilled, wistful musings over mellow, minimalistic synth sounds to allow her introspective lyrics the full spotlight. ‘In My Head’ is like nothing Fickle Friends have made before - I know this because I can’t bloody dance to it. Though things I can’t dance to would ordinarily fill me with rage,

Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left It would be hyperbole to call Nick Drake’s debut album, Five Leaves Left, perfect revision music, but it certainly comes incredibly close. Described by an Uncut reviewer in 2000 as ‘cool and shady amid the celebratory sunshine of the sixties’, the overall impression is of a pervading calm and beauty with little of the melancholy that can be seen in his later works.

An accomplished fusion of folk and jazz, tracks like ‘River Man’ and ‘Saturday Sun’ accomplish the tricky feat of remaining far enough in the background to enhance revision while maintaining enough character to be enjoyable, cut through with snappier deviations from the languid mood, such as ‘Cello Song’. This album will surelykeep you from drifting away while you’re reading that page of seminar reading for the nth time.

Nick Drake’s exceptional instrumentation especially his beautiful guitar work - and soaring melodies are the perfect formula to soothe a mind addled by, in my case, Old English epic poetry, but they should work no matter what you study.

The Telegraph’s Mick Brown explains that, ‘in the years since his death, Drake has come to personify a particular idea of ill-starred romanticism.’

Gruff Kennedy First Year, English

Shiner’s poignant words console me: ‘They told me that you’d know when you know/I’m alone in my head, my alarm isn’t set.’ Though it seems reductive to try and explain an entire record in two minutes, this track does it pretty damn well.

After springing seamlessly back to the bouncy vibes we all expect of a Fickle Friends record with ‘Rotation’ and ‘Hello Hello’, we move onto ‘Paris’ - a song which remains firm in its position as my personal favourite despite being one of the oldest on the album. Though I’m a little disappointed that none of the new releases managed to top this one, which appeared on the band’s 2015 Velvet EP, I’m still pleased that it made album cut. If you were only going to listen to one track from You Are Someone Else, I would recommend it be ‘Paris’ – wait for the relaxed yet euphoric drop about half-way through, and thank me later.

You Are Someone Else takes its title from the next track – ‘Brooklyn’ – which is a song about holding onto a relationship that you know deep down isn’t going to end well. Shiner’s punchy lyrics return with full force – ‘it’s something I can’t define, you are not mine’ – set to yet another catchy melody line you’ll be humming all day. The album tails off with two newer, slightly more experimental midtempo songs ‘She’ and ‘Useless’, which develop the band’s characteristically dreamy sound into something altogether more subtle and down-toearth.

Having watched Fickle Friends grow from their 45-minute set at The Louisiana in 2016 to their sell-out night at Thekla late last year, it does feel as though You Are Someone Else presents a good culmination of their career so far, while avoiding the classic debut album ‘random-jumble-of-alldiscography’ pitfall by sticking to an identifiable theme and painting a complete picture.

It’ll be interesting to see how some of the newer, more mature releases, thinking of ‘In My Head’ in particular, will be presented live as the band tour the record this Autumn, playing Bristol’s SWX on the 18th of October.

Yussef Kamaal: Black Focus I’ll be honest: this record is not just a revision accompaniment for me, but its versatility is its beauty. I’ve plugged Black Focus in to bear sweltering national express buses; in full consciousness, I have grappled with its intricate neo-jazz interpretations, and I’ve continually flushed its sound into the background of my everyday tasks. Why? It’s difficult to explain quickly.

An almost entirely instrumental album, Black Focus inputs an unmistaken stamp on the jazzfunk genre, cultivating basslines which revolve your insides above complex percussion which scream drumming-expertise; while jumping analogue keys dominate and guide the tracks’ emulation of jazz-improv. It unpretentiously embeds soul/hip-hop influences to the groove.

The album can be played at any volume: its sophisticated dealings in tempo and instrumental progressions mean that whether you’re battling literature or preparing for a date with relaxation, Black Focus can be your soundtrack. Obviously, I’d be more pissed off that the pair is no longer collaborating if the record didn’t deliver as perfectly as it does. For me, concentration could eternally ensue from this track-listening, and I’m convinced it could for anyone else who knows what’s good.

Kate Hutchison Deputy Music Editor

Epigram 26.03.2018

Puzzles

@EpigramPuzzles

Editor: Joselyn Joanes puzzles@epigram.org.uk

Solutions will be posted online at www.epigram.org.uk and on social media.

The Omnipuzzle AIM: Obtain a word from the clues 1. Split the clues into groups based on a clue’s title 2. Use the groups to decide which clues are solvable 3. You need to be able to travel from the start arrow to the end arrow using clue boxes which are solvable 4. Each clue will give you a letter or letters

Word ladder

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

Can you get from top to bottom, changing only one letter from one rung to the next?

If you need any help, contact the editor by email or through social media

Word grid Word links

Just a phrase

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

Find the word which can come before each of the three or four words given, in each case giving a common two-word phrase. E.g. LIFE line, LIFE time, LIFE less.

18= Average 24 = Good 30= Excellent

Find the two. three, four or five letters that can suffix the word on the left or prefix the word on the right, in each case giving a real word.

E.g. HE-AR-MY.

EAR ANY CON HEAD HAND

STICK OVER WARE WORK DOWN

1. Drop, Date, Ward 2. Arm, Fighter, Place 3. Body, Clockwise, Social 4. Lock, Line, Pan 5. Front, Finger, Hand

Killer sudoku Sudoku rules apply and all the numbers in a cage must add to the number in the top left corner of the cage.

Quick crossword Across 1. Danish Capital (10) 6. Sign (4) 9. Mg (9) 14. Faulty item (3) 15. Asian country (5) 16. A pig’s sound (4) 18. Planet (7) 19. Fix in place (7) 20. Request (4) 24. Tree (6) 26. Egyptian goddess (4) 27. White powder(4) 28. Sadness(6) 30. Attain a goal (7) 31. Passageway (5)

Down 1. Country (8) 2. Heathen (5) 3. Sulky (6) 4. Opposite of yes (2) 5. Connective (3) 7. Mendelevium (2) 8. Saint and roman priest 10. Short for Exabyte (2) 11. Flower (9) 12. Rage (3) 13. Floor covering (3) 17. Hunger games character (7) 20. Secret plan (4) 21. Not here (7) 22. Let (5) 23. Boy’s name (5) 25. Winged Insect (5) 29. Place of metal extraction (3)

Follow us on Twtter @EpigramPuzzles If you would like to join the Puzzle Team email puzzles@epigram.org.uk

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26.03.2018

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Epigram

UBAFC 2s hold league champions to draw Freddie Keighley Second Year, History UBAFC Journalist

Southampton went into the match having already won the league and earned promotion to the Western 1A, while mid-table Bristol were playing to avenge their 2-0 loss at Southampton’s Wide Lane Sports Ground earlier this season.

The players and the Coombe Dingle faithful were kept waiting in the rain by the referee taking an age to change into his kit, but eventually the game began in a cagey manner.

Lone striker Vincent Onuegbu held the ball up well and looked to feed wide men Will Gale and John Clarke on multiple occasions.

Bristol’s first attempt on goal saw in-form midfielder Matt Hinks play a delightful diagonal ball in behind the Southampton defence to Clarke, but the latter pulled his shot wide.

Gale delivered a cross from the right which was cleared for a corner, but this came to nothing during a period where Southampton grew into the game and began to create the chances you’d expect from a table-topping side.

A good chance for the away team saw a forward release a powerful effort which hit the post and cannoned off goalkeeper Sam Rattigan’s back for a corner. From the set piece a defender headed narrowly wide.

with the coach also reminding certain disgruntled Southampton players that you’re allowed five substitutions in Western 2A league games.

The coach also reminding certain disgruntled players that you’re allowed five substitutions in Western 2A league games

Harlington made an instant impact, taking on and beating two defenders before being hacked down in the box to earn Bristol a penalty. Fuller aimed for the top right corner, just as the Southampton striker had, finding it

with even more power in what was an exquisite penalty to level the scoreline.

Hinks continued to shift the ball with ease as Bristol pushed for a second, while Oli Smiles contributed well in picking up and pinging the ball from the midfield.

Smith, rampaging from left back, earned a free kick in a threatening area, but this was fired into the wall by Harlington. Soon after, Williams saw his header from a corner saved.

Smiles, in space in the final third, opted to shoot, releasing a venomous effort from thirty yards which cannoned off the crossbar. Selwood poked the ball into the back of the net after it fell to him, but this was ruled out for offside.

A succession of corners for Bristol failed to produce a goal, and it was the away side that took the lead late on.

A counter-attack saw a Southampton winger carry the ball with a surging run before finding his teammate with an incisive pass; the forward finished with a well-placed effort.

However, at the death, captain Lord levelled with the final kick of the game.

An effort on goal by man of the match Smiles deflected to Lord in the box, the ball was fired over the line and emphatic celebrations followed.

Bristol 2s end the season in mid-table, but can be happy to have produced a battling performance which got a point out of a Southampton 1s side which has dominated the Western 2A.

Epigram / Freddie Keighley

“

Mid-table Bristol were playing to avenge their 2-0 loss at Southampton’s Wide Lane Sports Ground

However, Bristol’s defence weathered the storm for the time being, with defenders Sam Dermott and Gabriel Smith tackling well. Shortly after, a Southampton free kick was met at the back post, but again this chance flew wide.

Clarke, playing with great flair on the left wing, delivered a fantastic cross which was almost met by fellow winger Gale, but the home side failed to capitalise on this chance.

At the other end of the pitch, Bristol blocked shots and cleared corners well. However, full back Lord was very unfortunate to concede a penalty for a foul in the box just before half time. Rattigan dived the correct way but there was no stopping the effort from twelve yards which nestled in the topmost of bins.

A half time substitution for Bristol saw Onuegbu replaced by Toby Fuller as the home side looked to switch things up in their search for an equaliser. The first chance of the second half saw Gale fire wide with a volley at the back post after a curling delivery.

Fortunately, Ryan Williams wasn’t hurt after a clash of heads and a brief injury scare, with the centre half fit to continue. A second change for Bristol saw attacking midfielder Cameron Hooley make way for Connor Selwood on the hour mark.

Southampton had the ball in the back of the net after a powerful delivery from the left was met well with a header at the near post, but this was ruled out for offside and the scoreline remained 1-0.

A double change for Bristol saw Dermott and Gale replaced by Connor Smith and Al Harlington,

Bristol 2s faced a tough test for the final game of the BUCS season, against Southampton 1s who had already won the league

‘A tax on our loyalty’: Robins on price hike Pete Hanley First Year, History

Flickr / Blogdroed

3pm on Saturday 10th February, 22,000 loyal Bristol City fans make their fortnightly voyage to Ashton Gate; just over 90 minutes later, the Robins fans have seen their side blow a three goal lead to draw against relegation candidates Sunderland. Three days later, and about five miles north of Ashton Gate, the Bristol Rovers faithful are treated to a five goal thriller in which the Gas come out 3-2 winners against Rochdale. The highs and lows of being a football fan are what make us love the game. However, when the cost of supporting your team gets too high, it is not unreasonable to expect supporters’ unequivocal loyalty to waver.

In response to increased season ticket prices at Ashton Gate next season, City fans have penned an open letter to the club claiming that the changes constituted a ‘tax on our loyalty’. In the letter, fans urge that the club does not increase season ticket prices any higher than the retail price index; furthermore, they demand that existing season ticket holders have until 1st June (as opposed to the current deadline of March 26th) to renew their current seat. They emphasise the importance of low season ticket prices to keeping a wide

range of age groups attending matches, and also focus on the importance of integrating disabled supporters into the matchday experience.

On examining the Robin’s season ticket prices for the 2018/19 season against the current seasons prices, it seems that the City fans dismay is not unwarranted. Whilst an adult season ticket in the Lansdown Stand Centre would cost £531 this season, the same seat next season would cost a fan £599.

Compare this 13% increase in ticket prices to the RPI (which since the start of last season has not topped over 4%) and the Robins supporters have a point. Similarly, whilst under-12 and under-19 prices have been frozen, an under 22 ticket in the popular South Stand has increased from £117 this season, to £150 next season. Compare this to Rovers, where an adult season ticket in the enormously vocal North Terrace costs £260, and a real disparity begins to emerge.

Advocates of the increased prices at Ashton Gate would point towards the Robins’ performances this season, in which Premier League status remains a chief goal. They would argue that the gulf in quality between Championship City and League One Rovers justifies the difference in the two clubs’ pricing structures. However, this is where the issue of support arises. As an Evertonian, I would happily pay a considerable sum for a Toffees season

A single match ticket from Bristol City away at Wrexham in 2004, ticket prices have considerably increased since then

ticket. And whilst I recognise that Kevin De Bruyne may make for better viewing than Tom Davies, I would not be willing to pay the extra sum for a season ticket at the Etihad over one at Goodison Park; the quality of the football played is irrelevant to true fans of any club, who only care about their side and their results. To raise prices against this loyal support can amount to extortion.

And when the accounts of a Premier League club such as Everton are analysed, there is no clear case for further price increases. According to the Guardian, 2015/16 gate receipts at Goodison Park amounted to £18 million. In contrast, TV licensing bought the club £83 million in revenue.

To those who believe that ticket prices are key to maintaining the spending power of English football abroad,

then finding that gate receipts form a relatively insignificant amount of revenue for a club should rebut this.

Celtic legend Jock Stein once said that ‘football without the fans is nothing’. If the average fan is further hit by ticket prices, and clubs continue to alienate themselves from their traditional (often working class) fanbases, then Stein’s statement could ring true in the English game.

Epigram

Fun in the sun: Varsity Preview Felix Rusby Deputy Editor

glamour girls, wild pirates, or animal onesies, you can decide how to style your team and will receive points for your efforts. Teams will also need to produce a joker card, something that each team can use to increase their points on one of the challenges in the competition. Teams will then go head to head competing over the various wet and dry obstacles around the

course. Music and food will be provided throughout, rounding off what should be a really exhilarating event.

These are just two of a plethora of exciting Varsity matches and competitions that are coming to campus this year. With the promise of summer, these activities will be a great chance for students to beat the exam blues and enjoy Bristol at its best.

47 Congratulations to our cup winners!

Men’s Hockey Bristol 2s 3-2 Swansea Men’s Lacrosse Bristol 2s 14-5 Aberystwyth Women’s Football Bristol 1s 6-1 Swansea Men’s Water Polo Bristol 2s 9-8 Plymouth Other results March 14th Netball Bristol 1s 42-37 Bath UWE 3s 49-22 Bristol 6s

Twitter / Bristol Uni Sport

With the Beast from the East defeated and slain, the countdown to summer begins. Cast your eyes into the future, if you strain hard enough you can just make out the distant image of warm days full of sun, sport and fun. Yes, it’s the promise of summer! Throw off your puffer jackets and embrace shorts, tshirts and tans, because there are some exciting events lined up for all you summer sports fans.

This year Varsity is back and bigger than ever before. Ahead of the renewed Bristol vs UWE rivalry, Epigram has taken the time to preview two exciting events for all those eager to get out and catch some rays.

First up, it’s the Varsity colour run.

After the success of last year’s event, the colour run is back! Originally scheduled to take place on the 3rd of March, the event has since been pushed back to April the 22nd, due to poor weather.

Quite frankly this seems a good change, rather than trekking through the cold we can expect the event to be warm and sun kissed.

Unlike conventional races this is a non-competitive event, one that should be great fun for runners and nonrunners alike. Participants are provided with a snazzy #BristolVarsity colour run t-shirt and a pair of rather fetching sunglasses

and are set off round the 3 km course.

This year, for the first time, the run is being held at Coombe Dingle and will feature both the main run- 3 loops of the best bits of Coombe, as well as a junior run, which will be a 1km route. Also, excitingly a new schools partnership has been introduced this year, that will see students, staff, alumni and community fundraisers all getting involved together. With all this, the colour run is set to be an irresistible Varsity classic.

If that doesn’t already set your heart racing in anticipation, then this next event is sure to raise your pulse. Set to headline this years Varsity series, it’s Total Varsity Wipeout! Described as ‘It’s A Knockout’ meets ‘Total Wipeout’, the competition is set to be the first ever Varsity event of its kind in the UK. On the 25th of April teams of 8 to 12 participants will meet at Coombe Dingle to face off over 12 giant inflatables filling the size of a football pitch. With both students and staff set to go head to head, what better opportunity do you have to avenge that poor mark you received for your last essay, or to finally answer that pressing question: how would your lecturers do competing over giant inflatable obstacles? Well, the answer awaits!

So how is this event going to work?

All teams must come up with a fancydress theme, whether it’s beach boys,

26.03.2018

Join our Fantasy Football League: Epidivisie

Who doesn’t love being covered in paint whilst running around Coombe Dingle?

Year of rebuilding for Bristol Cuda Rory Macnair Second Year, French and Spanish

Bristol’s tired, rookie defenders. Despite the referees seemingly throwing away the rulebook, Bristol simply weren’t good enough on the day and Oxford came away deserving winners, 28-0.

Putting the league aside, Bristol went into Varsity with a great deal of self-belief. With some changes to the playbook and a few weeks rest, the Barracuda were ready to show their true selves. Bristol’s defence impressed in the first half and kept UWE’s raved-about offence to zero points.

Interceptions from rookie Zac Gibbons and veteran Phil Madubeko gave Bristol a lot to cheer about. Bristol conceded two touchdowns in the third quarter but the offence finally responded, with Jim Powell Cullingford throwing an incredible 70-yard touchdown to James Cook. Bristol had brought itself back into the mix and although they conceded another score to UWE, some magic from Coach McDowell’s playbook

saw Cuda president, defensive back turned wide receiver Marcus Kenmir receive a 10-yard touchdown from Powell-Cullingford. The 2018 edition of Friday Night Lights turned out to be one of the closest on record and while Bristol kept it close, some late turnovers allowed UWE to wind down the clock, finishing victors 20-14.

The Barracudas’ final match of the season saw them return to league action to take on the Bath Spa Bulldogs.

Both the rookie and the veterans impressed in the league finale, with Jim Powell-Cullingford throwing, receiving and running in touchdowns to secure a decisive victory.Cornerback Zac Gibbons recorded his second interception of the season while receivers Jonah Edmonds and Sam Leale-Green recorded notable touchdown receptions.

Veteran running back Henry Watson ran all over Bath Spa’s defence putting up 60 yards as well as a two-point conversion.

Bristol finished their season with a 37-0 victory.

While the league season ended with a frustrating 2-4 record, Bristol produced one of its best varsity performances in its history and the team’s rookies put on an excellent display throughout the year. Both rookies and veterans alike will be working hard over the summer and are sure to come back stronger for an exciting 18/19 season. Until then the Bristol Barracuda remain active in the local community with the Ignit10n charity event, Festival of Sport, and a community Flag Football League in the summer term. For information on that or any other Barracuda events follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/ cudafootball.

Epigram / Ed Lunnon

With key players graduating and a reshuffle of the 2A South West division, the Bristol Barracuda American Football Team were set for a difficult year. Having ended last season with a 4-2 record, losing a tight game against Brunel in the playoffs, the 2018 season was sure to be a test with a roster populated predominantly by rookies.

Bristol faced a difficult start to the season, going up against two big names in the division, the Oxford Brookes Panthers and the Gloucestershire Gladiators.

With no veteran quarterback to lead the team, former Cuda wide receiver Jim Powell-Cullingford stepped into the role and impressed, scoring a rushing touchdown on his first drive of the year. Unfortunately from that point on, the offence stagnated and while the Cuda defense showed its notorious resilience from the previous year, two big-yardage plays gave Oxford Brookes a 13-7 victory.

Bristol then travelled to Gloucestershire to face what would undoubtedly be its toughest test in the league calendar. While an interception and a fumble returned for a touchdown

by Bristol’s Tom Grant gave the team hope, Gloucestershire marched down the field with relative ease, putting up multiple scores from their running back and highly touted place-kicker. With no experience in the backfield, Bristol’s rookie running back duo of Hugh Parker and George Barnes had a tough time against a stubborn Gloucestershire defensive line. Bristol fell to its second loss of the season, 7-33.

Determined not to fall to 0-3, Bristol visited the Bournemouth Bobcats and

showed an impetus that had been lacking in the first two matches. Despite giving up a touchdown early in the game, quarterback Powell-Cullingford drove the Bristol offence down the field, throwing touchdowns to rookie receivers Jonah Edmonds and James Cook as well as one to second year full back Rory Macnair to close out the game. Powell-Cullingford put on an outstanding performance, throwing for 152 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Bristol finally put a dash in the win column, going home victors 20-6.

Bouncing off such an encouraging result, Bristol now went up against the new faces of the division, the Southampton Stags. With snowy conditions and a big audience at Cuda Beach, Coombe Dingle, this matchup would really put this young Bristol team to the test. The Cuda defence shone in the early stages, with rookie safety Alex Hull picking off Southampton’s quarterback just as the away side began to gain momentum. The offence and defence both struggled in the cold conditions, however, with Southampton’s physical running back breaking away for a long touchdown run. The defence did an incredible job keeping Southampton to seven points with rookie linebacker Karim Allaouat laying three sacks on the Southampton quarterback over the course of the match. The Cuda offence just could not create anything late on, with a fumble bringing the game to a close, 7-0 Southampton.

Bristol would have to come back from this disappointing result after Christmas and travel to face the Oxford Lancers. The Barracuda travelled with a small squad and yet again the offence failed to produce. While second year cornerback Ed Lunnon got an interception early in the game, Oxford’s offence impressed throughout against

Bristol Barracuda had a difficult start to the season, after the graduation of some key players and a divison reshuffle

Epigram

26.03.2018

Sport

@epigramsport Editor: Nicky Withers

Online Editor: Ben McCall-Myers

Deputy Editors: Tim Godfrey Twiss & Felix Rusby

sport@epigram.org.uk

Four brilliant reasons to give bouldering a bash Tim Godfrey Twiss Deputy Editor

Cardiff 1s 78-64 Bristol 1s Men’s Rugby Gloucestershire 1s Bristol 2s

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Keep up to date with what’s happening on Twitter at @epigramsport

We all know about running away from your problems, but have you tried climbing away from them? on weekdays, and the best thing is that when you get there it won’t be called off. There is no anxious checking of the weather beforehand like a deranged meteorologist or any danger that your opponent has had a big one the night before and is therefore unable to attend (insentient walls of plastic are good like that). You can essentially go bouldering as much or as little as you want at practically any time.

2: Cost As far as membership goes, joining TCA as a student is around the same price as most BUCS clubs.

It cost me £20 for a month of limitless climbing at two locations: Undercover Rock and Bristol Climbing Academy.

Obviously, this is more expensive than many clubs throughout a year but there is no limit to the amount of bouldering you can do, unlike most other memberships. The gear for bouldering is comparatively cheap – shoes cost £3 a pop to hire and £28 for a pair from Decathlon and that is all you need to boulder, in fact you don’t necessarily need the shoes to begin with. Bouldering is very much other climbing’s cheaper younger brother, who is always sniffing around the reduced section is Sainsbury’s or drinking Crown Lager rather than San Miguel. You do not need harnesses, rope, belays, helmets or carabiners – you just need yourself and a wall.

3: Health Benefits As with any sport, there are health benefits. With bouldering you become immensely strong. Not the type of strong where you can lift up a small hatchback but the type of strong where you can lift yourself off the ground with one arm whilst only gripping a small nub on the wall. If you love calisthenics, then you will love bouldering. Alongside

this strength your balance and flexibility also dramatically improve, because your core is so crucial to bouldering. This balance and flexibility can benefit you in almost any other sport, so bouldering is great for those looking to stay in shape for their main sport. It is also one of those sports where you don’t realise you’re getting fit because it isn’t painful or exhausting – you never want to give it a miss like you would with a run or a gym session.

4: Fun Bouldering is fun in a number of different ways. First of all, it’s satisfying - each different climb offers different problems and therefore different solutions.

Imagine bouldering as large-scale puzzle solving but one of the pieces is your own body. You can spend hours trying to figure out how to

get up a certain climb and when you finally crack it through a new foothold, or a new reach, it is hugely rewarding: you have conquered your goal, before moving to a tricker climb where the battle starts again.

There is no anxious checking of the weather beforehand like a derangd meteorologist

Also, climbers as a rule of thumb are lovely. Climbers are the type of people to lend you 40p for the bus or tell their parents that it was them who smashed the window with a football to let you off the hook.

Interested in writing for Epigram Sport? Head over to the Epigram Sport Writers 2017/18 group on Facebook for more information, or drop us an email!

Consequently, the environment of bouldering is super friendly and welcoming, especially compared to a testosterone-fuelled gym. It’s easy to have a chat to people and pick up tips from more experienced climbers.

Everyone understands that people climb at different levels and there is no stigma about climbing the easiest routes. Bouldering is also ideal as a precursor to climbing.

It teaches you the same technique without having to splash out on the pricey equipment, so when you are ready to start messing about with ropes and knots you are already a handy climber.

There are more than these four main reasons, but I will leave it up to you to go explore what they are.

As I said, this article is intended to persuade you to try something new, not necessarily bouldering, but as you’ve made to the end of this article: live a little and cheat on your normal activity – have a wild f ling with bouldering.

Epigram / Tim Godfrey Twiss

To fill you in if you aren’t aware, bouldering is the name for climbing up rocks without rope. This means the rocks (climbing walls) are typically never higher than 3m and the style is more power-based than endurance-based – easy for anyone to get into and start straight away. So why bouldering?

I have chosen bouldering simply because it’s a sport I have taken up in the last month from scratch in an intramural-being-cancelledinduced rage. So here are four reasons you should try bouldering: 1: Reliability In Bristol there are several places to boulder: there is Undercover Rock, The Climbing Academy, Redpoint and Bloc, all of which have bouldering areas of different sizes and styles. The Climbing Academy is purely for bouldering so it’s the sort of ‘bouldering mecca’ in Bristol, but any of the locations are perfect for beginners – it simply depends which one is easiest to get to. Each location also has extensive opening hours, normally from 9am – 10pm

Men’s Basketball

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The anti-UWE chants fade into the night air and a forlorn tumbleweed passes through Bunker

BUCS results Wednesday 14th March

Flickr / Bookis Smuin

The Easter break marks the end of most BUCS sports at Bristol University: the VS’s sit untouched on their fluorescent shelves, the anti-UWE chants fade into the night air and a forlorn tumbleweed passes through Bunker (/Analogue/Gravity - the jokes have been done, you get the idea). More importantly than the economic decline of the Triangle, there is a dramatic decrease in team sport as we head towards the exam period, which makes complete sense academically, but it is still a bit annoying if you are craving that sweet rush of endorphins and adrenaline. Even non-BUCS sports hit a sharp decline with the end of Intramural sports and a cut down in society activity – it’s a sad time to love sport at university.

But rather than mourn for those cold February evenings on Coombe Dingle’s 3G or create a shrine to the Sports Hall, I propose that now is the perfect opportunity to start a new sport. With the end of BUCS, comes the freedom to try something new.

In this article I will try to sell you the prospect of bouldering, but it is also intended to promote any new sport you have been curious about, because now is the perfect time to do it. Answer those questions you have about things you have only ever seen others do: Does diving hurt? Is frisbee as easy as it looks?

Will I look like a dickhead doing parkour? Can you kayak in the pond on College Green? Is golf as terrible as it looks? Probably, but give it a bash anyway.

There’s no need to feel guilty about checking out bouldering whilst BUCS is away, you were on a break!