Epigram 336

How to do Venice on a budget The Croft pg. 13

Project Elephant launches all-female short film

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est. 1988

The University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

Fortnightly 4th March 2019 Issue 336 Celebrating 30 years

‘This is not an anti-Israel motion’ Fireworks at SU AMM as hour long debate passes West Bank divestment motion

• Annual Member’s Meeting sees renewal of 2016 motion to divest from industries operating out of Israel’s West Bank.

• The debate lasted over an hour and was hotly contested by attendees.

James Cleaver

Online News Editor

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divided Annual Members’ Meeting narrowly voted for Bristol SU to lobby the University to divest from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

The initial motion, which was later amended, aimed ‘to persuade the University against buying the products and services of companies with involvement in settler activity’.

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Proposed by Layla Assam and seconded by Mason Ammar, it called on Bristol to follow the example set by the University of Leeds in the hope that a boycott would make Israel’s occupation of the West Bank less economically viable.

Assam spoke personally of her Palestinian heritage, urging the audience to think about what it would be like to grow up without freedom.

The final results of a secret ballot were 128 in favour of the amended motion, 92 opposed, with 33 abstentions.

In her proposing speech, Assam said she feels ‘grateful and privileged for education and opportunity’ but is ‘ashamed with the fact that my university has links to financial companies that support Israel, that facilitates the apartheid and the ongoing illegal occupation of my people’.

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She called on the members to ‘imagine a world where Palestinians as young as 10 years old are routinely taken from their homes at gunpoint in night-time raids by Israeli soldiers, with more and more illegal settlements being built each day’.

She added: ‘UK universities remain deeply

‘Divesting from Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank’

128for 92against

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complicit with Israel’s apartheid regime through their investment and institutional links, and we as a group of students […] cannot be complacent.’

Nina Freedman, President of the Bristol Jewish Society, spoke in opposition to the motion. While insisting that she was not indifferent to the plight of the Palestinian people, she criticised the proposal for including the word ‘apartheid’ to describe Israel’s conduct.

She claimed it was a ‘gross misuse’ of a term that ‘unnecessarily vilifies Israel and does an injustice to those who suffered in South African apartheid’.

Mason Ammar supported the use of the word ‘apartheid’, arguing that the UN has used it in relation to the occupation and reaffirming that he feels ‘offended by an apartheid regime’.

Continued on pages 4-5 ...

Editorial Well, the Annual Member’s Meeting happened.

It is often said of SU politics, and indeed student politics more generally, that it is either pointless and no one is engaged with it, or that it champions the unattainable issues.

If the Annual Members Meeting is anything to go by, though, it can hardly be said that people do not engage with it. While quoracy was not met for the second time in a row - see page 5 - those who were in attendance were nothing but a lively bunch which suggested that, just maybe, the SU can facilitate active engagement with the University.

Of course, there will then be the debate over whether some of the motions will be effective or not. How much change will lobbying the University to declare a climate emergency or to divest from West Bank really instigate, many will ask. Indeed, there has already been at least one popular Bristruth to this end.

Yet before we even started voting, it was pleasing to see the SU Officers all being held to account over what they had been doing, with some very interesting points raised. Postgraduate Officer.

Shubham Singh, is currently looking into whether or not our degree classifications should be read out at graduation. Currently it is only those who achieve a First-Class degree that will have their classification read out, but should we all be celebrated equally for managing to survive at least three gruelling years regardless of what we graduate with?

As someone who has been critical of the SU throughout his university-life, my first experience of the Annual Member’s Meeting this year was that, while it got extremely heated and a little uncomfortable during the fourth motion, the SU can work for students so long as the students make their voices heard within it and to our elected representatives directly.

Keeping with the theme of liveliness, on page eight is a story about the infamous Andrew Waller who was ever-so-kind in asking us to write about the Vice-Chancellor condemning parties. It followed an article we published about the University condemning The Noise Pages for the time, which lead to its founder contacting us and the University directly calling for them to equally condemn student noise.

This seems to be a tension that will not go away. No matter how much Mr Waller tries, students are unlikely give up having parties and enjoying themselves to alleviate the stress of university before they need to settle down into the big wide world, and neither will The Noise Pages cease to exist any time soon. And in keeping with the division that our country is experiencing, the gulf that exists between students and locals is alive and well, with little sign that much constructive dialogue can take place between the two groups to find a mutually-beneficial solution.

It should, of course, go without saying that we need to be respectful towards our neighbours. Sometimes, it is the little things that add up - when did students ever care, for instance, if our rubbish got blown out of the bin and littlered the street for someone else to clear up? How many of us have actually spoken to our neighbours and know who they are, or do we all just pie them off?

I will never tell anyone not to have a party - at this age, and this ridiculously stressful environment, we need to have a bit of fun.

But day-to-day we can all do more to build good relationships with our neighbours so when we do have a party, it won’t be yet another thing we have done to irritate them.

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

Online Editor: Hannah Worthington Deputy Online Editors: Kate Hutchison & Oliver Cohen Chief Proofreader Ethan Luc

Write for Epigram: Join our writers’ groups on Facebook by searching: Epigram Features Writers 2018/19 Epigram Comment Writers 2018-19 Epigram Science and Tech Writers 2018-19 Epigram Living Writers 2018-19 Epigram Wellbeing Writers 2018/19 Epigram Food Writers 2018/2019 Epigram Travel Writers 2018/19 Epigram Style Writers 2018-19 Epigram Film & TV Writers 2018-19 Epigram Arts Writers 2018-19 Epigram Music Writers 2018/19 Epigram Sport Writers 2018/2019

Sub-editors: Nina Bryant (News), Eleanor Holmes (Features), Phoebe Chase (Comment), Rebecca Scott (Science), Hendrike Rahtz (Living), Anna Hart (Wellbeing), Erin Lawler (Food), Eloisa Griffiths (Travel), Laura Mallinson (Style), Eleanor Gunn (Film & TV), Eleanor Tarr (Arts), Guy Marcham (Music), Kezi James (Puzzles) Managing Director Frankie McNab Director of Communications Tara Lidstone Director of Finance Ben Woods Head of Ads and Sales Joshua Varghese Head of Marketing Ella Swarbrick Epigram is the independent student newspaper of the University of Bristol. The views expressed in this publication are not those of the University or the Students’ Union.

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

Any UoB student can write for us, and no journalistic

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Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

Developments & Clarifications Development Our front page last issue (issue 335) reported that Vet students had been banned from the U2 bus. After the issue had been sent to the printers, Veterinary students received correspondence from Dr. Tom Podesta via the course reps which stated that they were allowed to use the bus.

Clarification Our headline two issues ago (issue 334) read ‘Uni condemns The Noise Pages for privacy breaches’. This was not intended to imply illegality in any form on the part of The Noise Pages or its founder Andrew Waller.

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News

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

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Students fined over £10k in damages to their halls of residence • Freshers pay £10,722.06 in hall damages last acadmic year • Churchill students fined most • SU denounces fines when rent is ‘too high’

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

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reshers living in university-owned accommodation paid in excess of £10,000 in damages to their halls in the last academic year.

Rooms are inspected at least once a term, with the possibility of follow-up checks if there is concern about its state. Fines will be handed out to students who damage their accommodation, or leave it in a condition worse than would be expected from general wear and tear.

Across 11 halls, the University generated £10,722.06 from students wrecking their rooms and social spaces. Just two of these halls - Churchill and Colston Street - together contributed to almost half the total of all the fines.

Students in Churchill, a Stoke Bishop hall with 355 places, inflicted the most damage with fines amounting to £2938.25 - over a quater of the money raised from all the fines.

Last year, a study showed that Churchill had the second highest number of independent school students at 50.9 per cent.

The University fined students at Colston Street £2,292.97. There are just 110 places in this residence, one of the fewest of all the halls.

Just £34.50 was fined in Goldney Hall, Clifton, while Clifton Hill House, was fined £189.75. They have 264 and 226 places respectively.

Manor Hall, which has the least number of students of all three of the Clifton halls at 190, managed to generate £899.30.

Other halls that had been fined include Student Houses (£175.38), 115 Queen’s Road (£185.78), Winkworth House (£572.70), Badock Hall (£707.93), and Durdham Hall (£1,454.75).

The University says that the money generated is used to cover the replacement of damaged or removed items and for repairs and clearning or redecoration costs.

Students must pay the fine within 30 days.

The University said students who miss the deadline would be chased up, but did not say whether there are any disciplinary measures for students who refuse.

SU Living Officer, Vanessa Wilson, slammed the fines as unfair on students. ‘I think it’s unacceptable for the University to be charging hall fines when the quality of accommodation is already substandard. Adding extra costs to

poor quality accommodation is unjustifiable in my opinion, particularly as only 1% of beds are at half of the maximum maintenance loan and high rent has already been linked to extreme stress and poor mental health’, she said.

Vanessa Wilson has been working with Bristol, Cut The Rent! in lobbying the University to reduce the rent prices for halls of residence.

Last Wednesday - 27 January - the group handed the University a petition demanding that 50 per cent of all bedrooms cost 50 per cent of the maximum maintenance loan.

“I think its unacceptable for the University to be charging hall fines when the quality of accomodation is already substandard.’”

Vanessa Wilson, SU LIving Officer

A University spokesperson said: ‘Students living in University of Bristol accommodation can be charged an additional cost if their accommodation is damaged or left in a condition worse than would be expected by general wear and tear. The amount raised is used to cover replacement of damaged or removed items and fixtures, and for repairs and cleaning or redecoration costs. Invoices are due within 30 days of being issued, and if not made in time the student would be chased up for the debt to be paid.’

UCU staff failed to reach threshold as ballot action fails • Only 28,295 responded out of a potential 69,084 responders nationwide • A general meeting is set to be held to dicuss future steps

James Cleaver Online News Editor

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hile the figures for the University of Bristol will not be released due to the ballot being aggregated, only 28,295 staff nationwide responded out of a potential 69,084 responders.

Last month Epigram reported on the 70,000 UCU staff in higher education being balloted on whether they supported strike action or action short of strike action, which could have included a marking and assessment boycott.

The ballot reflected concerns over staff pay, the gender pay gap, excessive workloads and insecure contracts.

In response to the first question, asking whether respondents would be prepared to take industrial strike action, close to 70 per cent of respondents voted ‘Yes’.

An even greater percentage, over 80 per cent, stated their willingness to take ‘industrial action consisting of action short of strike action up to and including marking and assessment

boycott’.

This is the second time UCU staff have failed to reach the 50 per cent threshold after rejecting the pay offer from the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) in June of last year.

In an email to Bristol UCU members, Tracey Hooper, Bristol UCU President, claimed that ‘the vote in the ballot demonstrated a strength of feeling among members that cannot be easily dismissed.’ She went on to affirm the union’s priorities, which include tackling the gender pay gap and making academic roles more secure. A General Meeting will be held on 13 March to discuss how to achieve these objectives.

“The vote in the ballot demonstrated a strength of feeling among members that cannot be easily dismissed’” Tracey Hooper, Bristol UCU President

Out of Unison and Unite, the two other University of Bristol campus unions, only Unite achieved a sufficient turnout, 53 per cent, to legitimise strike action late last year. Secretary of the University of Bristol’s Unite branch, Robert Massie, has previously said that ‘we could not take any action unless other unions achieved a positive vote to take industrial action so we are waiting with interest to hear the UCU result.’

In February and March last year university staff across the country took part in strike action to protest against proposed changes to their pensions by Universities UK (UUK), through the Universities Superannuation Scheme.

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Annual Members Meeting, SU

epigram 04.03.2019

Questions, cheers and raucous jeers: Students pass four motions James Cleaver Online News Editor

Continued from front page...

One successful amendment, proposed by Gidi Ezra, demanded that goods that had been produced through other violations of international law be subject to the same boycotts as those produced in the Israelioccupied West Bank. He alluded to products from Russian-occupied Crimea, Turkishoccupied North Cyprus and Moroccanoccupied Western Sahara.

Opponents to this amendment argued that the University should tackle ‘one issue at a time’ rather than focusing on all injustices.

A second amendment, proposed by Sabrina Miller, called for the University to retain and strengthen links with the ‘worldclass’ universities in ‘Israel proper’. This amendment was rejected, with the opponent starting their speech by saying ‘Israel is a racist apartheid state’.

In an increasingly heated debate, one student accused the motion’s authors of ‘threatening’ the University of Bristol’s Jewish population by deliberately targeting the only Jewish state without holding other nations to the same standard.

In response, Mason Ammar, last year’s Undergraduate Education Officer, insisted that ‘this is about the illegal occupation of

Palestinian land and the Palestinian people.’

Oliver Briscoe, representing Bristol University’s Conservative Association, labelled it as a ‘thinly-veiled anti-Israel motion’, questioning whether it would be counter-productive to peace in the Middle East.

Layla Assam declared that ‘this is not an anti-Israel motion’, and strongly denied that it rejects Israel’s right to exist. She made clear that the motion ‘does not say we want to boycott Israel’ but rather it opposes the persecution of Palestinian people under an Israeli government.

With questions and responses applauded and cheered in equal measure, hecklers threatened with code of conduct warnings, and discipline on the verge of breaking down, the Chair of the Student Council Zoe Backhouse put the matter to a secret ballot.

This came after an initiative to have the motion discussed in greater depth at a forum was rejected.

Due to the intense debate surrounding this subject, the Annual Members’ Meeting was only able to deal with five other motions, four of which passed.

The first, proposed by Maddy McCarthy, called for the SU to lobby the University to declare a climate emergency and become carbon neutral by 2030. It was adopted almost unanimously.

A second proposal, put forward by Elspeth Taylor and seconded by Hannah Rose,

requested that the University change its default search engine to Ecosia. They cited that ‘for approximately every 45 searches carried out on Ecosia, a tree is planted in one of their partner projects around the world’.

Some questioned the effectiveness of Ecosia in its search results compared with Google, but the overwhelming majority of students backed the motion and it successfully passed.

Further successful motions were put forward by Syirah Ami and Sally Patterson to include gender identity in SU by-laws, and by Francesca Gluscevic to improve the supportive networks for care leavers and estranged students by setting up a Network Chair.

The one unsuccessful submission of the evening was an attempt by Sunil Singh to get the Student Union to reiterate their commitment to, and compliance with, the ‘Freedom of Speech Code of Practice 2017/18’.

Speaking against the motion, Luke Tyers argued that the SU shouldn’t provide spaces for people to espouse their ‘dangerous views’.

The Annual Members’ Meeting also offered an opportunity for SU Officers to become accountable to students, and there were presentations on what has already has been achieved, such as a £10,000 Graduation Hardship Fund, and what is to come, including microwaves in the Student Union.

Comment / The AMM showed the uglier side of SU politics Cameron Scheijde co-Editor-in-Chief

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wanky graphics, good visuals, free pizza and the promise of good, hearty debate and student democracy in action. This is what the Student Union’s largest event of the year, the Annual Member’s Meeting (AMM), promised to be. The free pizza was a plenty, the swanky graphics plastered all over the walls, but good hearty debate there was not.

Instead, the AMM descended into a divisive, uncomfortable and irresponsible farce. It had been running smoothly, with chair Zoë Backhouse getting through early motions quickly doing a good impression of someone who knew what she was doing.

However, when it came to the 5th motion on the agenda, it all unravelled.

Following emotive speeches from Layla

Assam, the motion proposer, and Mason Ammar, the seconder, there was division all around. The tone very quickly descended in quality and soon the motion being debated was not campaigning for the University to divest from West Bank industries, but over the validity of Israel itself, the plights of Palestinians, and the moral equivalence of other ‘illegal occupations’.

One amendment was tabled that included other illegal occupations so as to avoid singling Israel out, and it miraculously passed, which means (pending ratification) the SU now has policy to divest from Turkey, Russia and Morocco’s ‘illegal occupations’.

The first question that comes to mind is ‘why is the SU fixating itself on declaring positions on international affairs when there are so many motions that will be more impactful and more important to the vast majority student?’. The event seemed to be an opportunity for grandstanding,

How can the SU claim to represent students when their largest democratic event of the year descends into such farce, division and hate?

on both sides, with Ammar angrily hovering over the mic, urging students to ‘stand up for the people of Palestine’, in rhetoric that verged on threatening.

A member of the Conservative society then piped up, calling the motion ‘thinly veiled anti-Israel policy’ in more divisive and unhelpful tones.

In the end, no one really knew what the motion was asking for. The proposers clearly emphasised that the motion didn’t conflate the Israeli state with the occupation of the West Bank, yet when criticism of Israel began in the meeting, they were the first to nod their heads the jump in agreement. At one stage I leant over to Union Affairs officer, Stanford, and said ‘how is this in any way productive?’. He didn’t answer, but from the faces of those on the Democratic Standards Committee and the full-time officers around me, it was clear what they thought.

The vitriol continued after two

amendments were debated and the main motion came to the ballot.

Following a frenzy of activity, a secret ballot was declared, to the protest of some attendees. The entire meeting was an ugly exhibition of division and conflict. Away from the merits of the individual motion, it was clear that the AMM was not fit for purpose in dealing with issues such as this. Seeing students pitted against each other, sides of the room in polar opposite courts, was enough to make you get up and leave.

Something should be done about AMMs, as the hour-long debate and vote had on the Israeli state / occupation / Turkey / Russia meant that motions that might change the lives of students were left untouched.

How can the SU claim to represent students when their largest democratic event of the year descends into such farce, division and hate?

04.03.2019 epigram

Annual Members Meeting, SU

News 5

Low turnout means no motions are ratified • Second year in a row SU AMM fails to achieve quoracy • Motions passed will now need to be ratified at the next Student Council meeting

Ed Southgate co-Editor in Chief

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ristol SU failed to attract enough students to its Annual Members Meeting (AMM) for any motions to be officially ratified for the second year in a row.

The AMM, heralded as the SU’s ‘biggest democratic event of the year’, operates with a quorate system. It requires 1.5 per cent of Bristol students to attend in order for any votes to automatically become SU policy.

To achieve quorate, they would have needed 390 students to participate. With just 371 attendees, up from last year, they failed to reach this.

It means that none of the four motions passed last night have officially been ratified, so they will be debated and voted on again at the next Student Council meeting.

The next Student Council meeting is June 11. It is not expected that they will

decide against ratifying any votes.

The numbers of attendees are higher than those who voted in the priority ballot which decided the motions that would be debated.

Just 137 voted this year for the motions that they thought would be the most crucial debates, which is slightly down from 189 the previous year.

It will raise questions about the democratic integrity of the SU and its active policies. However, the liveliness of debate from those who did attend the AMM is likely to counter those suggestions and will be used to encourage more students to engage with their SU. Student Affairs Officer, Stan Ford, said: ‘It is promising to see us trending upwards in attendance and the quality of the meeting was far beyond AMM’s in my memory, but I agree that the meeting regularly failing to reach quoracy is frustrating. Bristol SU is making strides with Student Council but still has work to do on all-student engagement and mass democracy, which is why I put forward a motion to review AMM yesterday. As always, all feedback from students on how the meeting could be improved or altered is deeply appreciated.

Last year, all seven motions were passed but the meeting simlarly did not achieve quorate. They were all then ratified by the Student Council.

Lengthy debate leaves seven motions untouched • Slow progress of AMM meants seven motions were undebated • Those motions that were not reached will be heard at Student Council.

Cameron Scheijde co-Editor in Chief

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he hour long debate that followed the Israel-Palestine motion meant that several motions were left undebated when the AMM finished at 9pm.

Chair of the AMM Zoë Backhouse offered her ‘deepest apologies’ to those who didn’t get their motion heard, as only five motions were heard out of the planned thirteen. She said: ‘I normally go by people’s Vote Now cards as a sense that the room wants to vote. There were very few held up throughout any of Motion 5 - particularly compared to other Motions so it felt like students wanted opportunity for more discussion.

Among those that didn’t get the chance to be heard were banning groups running together in Union elections, a motion of no confidence in the NUS President and introducing two dedicated roles in the international students’ committee for EU and Overseas students.

The order of the motions was decided by a popular ballot, but some were disappointed not to have had their motions heard. One such motion was a reform to the way AMMs are run, “I AMM in favour of change”. The motion, proposed by Union affairs officer Stanford, looked to reform

AMMs so that fewer controversial motions were passed without proper scrutinty and representation as the meeting is rarely quorate.

The motion of no confidence in the NUS president Shakira Martin was inspired after it was revealed that the NUS facing a £3million deficit. The motion’s purpose was ‘to oppose the cuts to democracy, representation and campaigns in the NUS. Any attempts to undermine democracy, representation and campaigns go against what NUS is for’.

These motions were left untouched as the heated debate over divesting in the West Bank went well over schedule.

Backhouse told Epigram: ‘There were some fantastic motions last night and I was really regretful many weren’t debated.

Although we finished the first half ahead of time, amendments to Motion 5 and requests for alternative voting meant it took longer than expected.

‘Ultimately, it was a tough one to chair and I wanted everyone to feel their voice was heard. I’m looking forward to the next Student Council where we’ll hear the rest of the motions!’.

Rarely do all motions proposed get debated at AMM. Last year, all seven motions were passed, meaning the ‘protect free speech’ motion was the first motion to be rejected in two years. Others passed last year included ‘denounce Brexit’, which ELA officer Sally Patterson mentioned in her speech of officer accountability, and the controversial motion to prefect transexclusionary radical feminists holding events at the University.

6 News

epigram 04.03.2019

‘Senate McHouseyface’

Students suggest potential new names for Senate House

• Names making the longlist include those centred around Blue Mountain • A shortlist will be opened for popular vote soon

Cameron Scheijde co-Editor-in-Chief

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Epigram / Cameron Scheijde

enate House, no longer the home of the University’s senate but instead a new student hub, is to be renamed.

The University have, for some reason, decided to do this through consultation with students. Here are some of the names suggested.

Four names around the basis of ‘Save Blue Mountain’ made the longlist, including ‘Blue Mountain’, ‘Blue Mountain Club’ and ‘Bring Back Blue Mountain’.

Buzzwords seemed particularly popular.

‘The UoB House of Inclusivity’, for example, or ‘Motivational Area of Diligence House’.

Others seemed to suggest the central University building deserved the SU treatment: ‘SU 2: Electric Boogaloo’ being one suggestion, and ‘SU 2.0’ being another.

One particularly indecisive punter opted for ‘Miscellaneous House’, no doubt drawing on the building’s architectural insignificance.

‘House of Memes’ also made the list, along with ‘The Place with The Games’ and simply ‘House’.

Bristol Uni study finds indirect link between screen time and poor mental health Nina Bryant

Deputy News Editor

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‘Increased sceen time may lead to more time spent alone contributing to mental health problems.’

Blue Mountain club closure delayed Laura Reid

Uni Management Correspondent

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fter three weeks of closing down parties, Blue Mountain has announced they will remain a club after February.

The Blue Mountain will remain open after talks with their new owners ended successfully.

The past few weeks have seen the club putting on several packed nights, many of which sold out, including three closing down parties.

While it may seem that the nights have paid off and that the Stokes Croft venue is no longer under threat, the manager has revealed that its salvation will only last until June.

After 26 years, the nightclub was threatened with redevelopment last year to make way for new housing. Given the timescale of the redevelopment and that it is not currently ready to start, an agreement with the new owners for an extension has been given to the club.

Blue Mountain is expected to remain open now only until the end of the year, but will perhaps close even earlier, around June.

Epigram / James Cleaver

oes increased screen-time lead to poor mental health? Research by the University of Bristol suggests that the link may be more complicated.

A recent longitudinal study carried out by the University of Bristol, funded by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, has found the link between screen time and mental health to be more complex than we might think.

This was the first study to assess the link between screen time and later depression and anxiety by studying a cohort since birth. This is notable because this method enabled the incorporation of other factors which could be linked to mental health.

Their findings showed a weak correlation between screen time and later mental health problems, leading to the conclusion that the link is probably more complicated than previously thought.

Although their findings still do not determine cause when looking at observed depression and anxiety, their study does provide a more in-depth exploration of how screen time may be associated with

mental illness later in life.

‘Their findings showed a weak correlation between screen time and later mental health problems, leading to the conclusion that the link is probably more complicated than previously thought.’

By observing a cohort since birth, researchers were able to tease apart factors that could inflate the strength of such a link, such as the amount of time spent alone. They found that, when accounting for the amount of time spent alone, the link between screen time and mental health was a lot weaker.

This suggests that the link between screen time and mental health may be an indirect one, whereby increased screen time may lead to more time spent alone contributing to mental health problems - or indeed mental illness contributes to isolation - in turn leading to increased screen time.

The researchers speculated that other factors, such as the type of screen-activity, could also contribute. They asserted that the type of screen-based activities - such as online gambling and social media - used by young people today will be different to that of their cohort, providing leads for future research.

Some of the more serious suggestions drew on inspiration from famous Bristol alumni, such as Dorothy Hodgkin or Arthur Mannering Tyndall.

However, it seems the majority of names on the longlist are more light-hearted in nature; ‘Scholar’s Keep’, or ‘Never Underestimate Teamwork House’.

The process for longlisting did involve removing names that were offensive. The University say: ‘a small number of suggested names were removed from the longlist because they are existing brand names, could cause offence or are names of current staff or students. One of the principles of the University’s Naming of Buildings policy is that the names of current staff or students should not be used to name buildings’.

However, most seem to have made the list.

Caroline Boughton, Campus Heart Programme Manager, said of the re-naming: ‘We want students to feel a real sense of belonging in Senate House and take ownership of the building, which is why their involvement in the renaming it is so important. The Bristol SU Living Room, PGR hub and study spaces have transformed the building and now’s the time to give it an identity that matches its new purpose.’

The process for shortlisting begins with consultations now, with 5 names being put to popular vote soon. I can’t wait for my next study session in ‘Cribb’s Cribb’.

04.03.2019 epigram

News 7

Student mental health campaigners host first open forum • The panel event followed a march organised last year • Discussion focused not only on University management budget but also issues faced by international students

Nina Bryant

Deputy News Editor

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‘We were very pleased with how people engaged with the campaign.’

Support Our Services spokesperson

• Work on the store started in March 2018 • Fortunately for Percy Pig lovers, the new store will be much closer to the student community

Hannah Worthington Online Editor

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espite work being well underway since March of 2018, builders are yet to complete the new Marks and Spencer renovation on Whiteladies Road.

The store was meant to be completed initially by the ‘19th July’ 2018. Failing that, managers were given ‘around 10 different dates’ of completion, including 21st February 2019 this week, said Greg

O’Connor the new Clifton Store Manager.

Yet although the ‘new 3000 sq foot convenience format’ looks shiny, and the infrastructure in keeping with the Bristolian brickwork, the foodhall remains bare. All that is in place are pillars - no fridges, no bakery, and certainly no percy pigs.

However, speaking to Greg, Epigram can reveal that the idea of an M&S Foodhall in BS8 does not need to remain the figure of a third year’s imagination. Though delayed, the store is set to launch on the 28th March 2019. That’s over 3 months for third years to enjoy having an M&S close by, and the future for freshers and second years certainly looks brighter.

It looks like the days of travelling to M&S Broadmead to get our Colin the Caterpillars are coming to an end...!

Epigram / Cameron Scheijde

n 20 February, student campaign group Support Our Services (SOS) held their first open forum event inviting students to engage with their campaign.

Following their successful march for mental health last year, engaging 500 to 600 students, the forum set out to clarify and develop the demands, aims and achievements of SOS. Support Our Services aims to campaign for mental health problems requiring all levels of care; services discussed included low tier services such as the Wellbeing Advisors, mid-tier services such as student counseling and higher tier services such as Students’ Health Emotional Regulation Pathway (SHERPA), for students with complex mental health needs.

Their discussion mainly focused on how they can affect change and what this means for their campaign moving forward.

Improving sign posting, reducing stigma

and the question of how to get the University management to shift—with regards to budget—were among the topics addressed.

Also covered, were issues faced by international students and marginalized groups, and the problems associated with the University’s fitness to study policy.

Members of the forum suggested that regular meetings and building a community of campaigners is key to engaging with student opinion. They also expressed keen interest in hearing from the student population as a whole, as well as individual stories.

Further discussed was the need to ensure diversity within the Student Counseling Service, for example counselors specialized in dealing with issues faced by the LGBT+ community, as well as linguistic diversity.

The Fitness to Study policy allows the University to force students into suspension, without discussion and sometimes with very little warning. SOS stated this to be a prominent focus of their campaign due the negative impact this procedure can have on the mental health of affected students.

Reflecting on the forum, SOS said: ‘We have been looking forward to hosting our first open forum, and we were delighted with the result. We felt that it resulted in a great space in which productive discussion took place, and we are very pleased with how people engaged with the campaign.’

Whiteladies M&S store opening in March

Bristol has third lowest acceptance rate for socio-economically disadvantaged white males • The University of Bristol is ranked fifth lowest for acceptance rate of socio-economically disadvantaged white females • White males from lower socioeconomic backgrounds account for just 2.33% of students • Bristol Uni have accepted that they need to attract more students from working class backgrounds

Lucy Downer

Deputy News Editor

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he University of Bristol has one of the lowest percentages of white students from poorer backgrounds in the UK. As a percentage of all student acceptances, white males from lower socio-economic backgrounds account for just 2.33% of students at the University of Bristol, the third lowest in the country. White females from poorer backgrounds also only account for 2.88% students at Bristol, the fifth worst percentage in the UK. Half of universities have fewer than 5% poor white students according to a new report released from the National Education

Opportunities Network (NEON).

The study argues that too few universities have clear targets to recruit white working-class students. It looks at white students from so-called ‘low-participation neighbourhoods’ - areas where few people usually go to university.

The Education Secretary Damian Hinds has warned of communities feeling ‘left

behind’.

White students, from all social backgrounds, are the biggest group going to university – according to figures from UCAS – however, in terms of a proportion of the population, white youngsters are less likely to go to university than Asian or Black teenagers.

University of Bristol spokesperson A University of Bristol spokesperson

‘The University is making real progress in diversifying out student community.’

said: ‘We are firmly committed to making our University into a socially diverse and inclusive community. While we appreciate that there is still significant work to be done, the University is making real progress in diversifying our student community.’

In the last five years there has been a 90 per cent increase in the University’s intake from students attending the lowest performing schools, state school intake increased to 67 per cent in 2018 and our flagship two-grade contextual offer is having transformative impact on the social diversity of our student community.’

Despite these changes the university is still amongst the worst in the UK for its admittance of white students from poorer backgrounds. Bristol have stated that they ‘recognise the need to attract and admit a greater number of students from white working-class backgrounds and have extended our contextual offer to include those who apply from neighborhoods with the lowest progression rates to higher education.’

As reflected in the wider UK picture, it remains to be seen whether the changes made by the university can improve the admission statistics for white students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

epigram 04.03.2019

8 News

Popular student club forced to apologise after ‘hundreds’ blocked from seeing act they paid to see • The event ‘The Blast: Andy C x Dark Nightz’ at Motion became ‘dangrously overcrowded’ • Bad reviews of the venue have been posted online • Refunds cannot be guranteed for those who attended

Will Charley

Comment Editor

oversold ‘health and safety regulations were definitely being breached’. Numerous people have since stated their desire to never return to the club as a result.

A statement put out on behalf of Motion denied that the event was oversold or that overcrowding was an issue.

Motion stated that the site ‘has a licensed capacity of 4000 people across all rooms and several events have ran to this capacity without issues. For this show, The Blast who were the promoter’s of the event, sold just under 3500 advanced tickers and the total number of attendees on the night was 3262 staying well within the legal capacity’.

Motion also insisted that ‘club entry does not guarantee entry to each room during peak hours’, advising all clubbers to enter their desired room well in advance.

Nonetheless, the club recognised that more people desired to see Andy C than anticipated and stated that ‘Motion and The Blast would like to apologise to those affected’, saying it would take on the negative feedback.

Yet, disappointed club-goers who are hoping for a refund should not hold their breath. Motion said that it could not offer refunds as this was up to the discretion of the promoters, The Blast.

Anti-social behaviour is ‘unacceptable’, says Brady • Bristol’s Vice-Chancellor has asserted that the University takes issues of anti-social behaviour ‘very seriously’ • This comes after the founder of The Noise Pages objected to articles written by Epigram

Ed Southgate

co-Editor in Chief

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‘The biggest threat to cohesion is student behaviour’ Andrew Waller, The Noise Pages

Welcoming Professor Brady’s condemnation, he asserted that ‘it’s bad enough that the student body refuses to face up to the impact of anti-social behaviour on the community. But if the university itself loses focus, the chances of progress are slim’.

The Noise Pages is a blog where Mr Walwler complains about student parties after tracking them down late at night. It has become the centre of much ridicule on student pages such as Bristruths.

One post on Bristruths encouraged students hosting a house party to pose as a rattled local to send Mr Waller to an address the other side of town in order to avoid him shutting down theirs.

Another joked to ‘pretend to be a local priest who cannot sleep due to constant sound of orgies, or just pose as an outraged geriatric,’ to spam the inbox.

In October, one anonymous student lamented that the ‘the noise pages guy has been to more parties this year’ than they had.

Some students have sympathised with the page, arguing that Mr Waller ‘just wants a nice life with his fam’.

First Year Law

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n an unseasonably warm day, hundreds of children gathered on College Green instead of attending school to demand more government action to combat climate change.

The age of the protesters ranged widely, with primary, secondary and University-age students all present at the protest. Bristol was one of 53 locations in the UK where these strikes took place, and 70,000 schoolchildren in 270 towns and cities are estimated to have taken part in these protests worldwide.

The crowd eventually moved to block the road adjacent to College Green, making it impossible for traffic to pass through and causing the police to divert all cars, buses and cyclists.

This global protest movement, known either as ‘Youth Strike 4 Climate’ or ‘School Strike for Climate’, was started by student Greta Thunberg in August 2018, when she held a solo protest outside the Swedish Parliament. Today’s nationwide wave of protests mark the first time such strikes have taken place in the UK.

Researchers play dress up with horses to discover why zebras have stripes Imogen Horton News Editor

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esearchers from the University of Bristol, alongside academic from UC Davis, California have suggested that the primary purpose of zebra’s stripes is for avoiding blood-sucking parasites.

To carry out the video analysis, researchers not only studied the behaviour of captive zebras but also domestic horses dressed up as zebras, around flies, in north Somerset.

The study found that horse flies failed to slow down on approach to zebras, or horses in striped coats, which is essential for a successful landing.

Dr Martin How, Royal Society University Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences, suggested that ‘stripes may dazzle flies in some way once they are close enough to see them with their low-resolution eyes.’

Over the past 150 years, many theories have been proposed as to why zebras have their two-tone coat, but scientists are yet to come to an agreement.

Horse flies are a widespread problem for domestic animals and so these new findings are set to have considerable implications for the horse industry.

University of Bristol

ristol’s Vice-Chancellor Hugh Brady has condemned anti-social behaviour as ‘unacceptable’, following demands made by the founder of The Noise Pages.

Responding to Andrew Waller, owner of the notorious blog reporting student parties, Professor Brady said: ‘I appreciate that student noise and parties are a continued frustration to you and your neighbours.’

He added: ‘I can assure you that I do not find anti-social behaviour amongst our students to be acceptable…the university has always, and will continue, to take these issues very seriously.’

Mr Waller wrote to Professor Brady after Epigram published two articles on the University’s condemnation of the potential security risks posed during the blog’s infancy.

Fears were raised when a student house is said to have been burgled two weeks after the address was posted on Mr Waller’s blog.

He no longer publishes the address of the party.

Mr Waller objected that the University spokesperson’s statement did not suggest to students that the University is actively trying to reduce disruption cased to locals.

He assured his residential readers that he responded ‘robustly’ to the articles, and says he is pleased that the University has openly condemned anti-social behaviour.

He said that he has ‘long been sceptical of whether the University of Bristol is as determined to tackle noisy behaviour as it claims to be.

‘The biggest threat to cohesion is student behaviour’, he said on his blog, adding that ‘the behaviour at the core of this discussion is against university rules, students’ tenancy agreements and the law’.

Maggie Sawant

Epigram / Maggie Sawant

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otion, a night club popular amongst University of Bristol students, was forced to issue an apology after an event held last Saturday (23 February) became ‘dangerously overcrowded’, leading to many ticket holders being blocked from entering the main room.

At the event ‘The Blast: Andy C x Dark Nightz’, the promoters intentionally cued their drum and bass headliner, Andy C to play in the main room at the same time as Darkzy, their alternative headline act, performed in the Marble Factory, an adjoining room.

However, ‘hundreds’ of club goers who had already been let into Motion were then blocked by bouncers from entering the area where Andy C was performing in order to

prevent overcrowding, despite many of those blocked having paid upwards of £25 for entry.

One attendee, Georgia Smith, stated that outside the main room, people were ‘pushing and shouting at the bouncers’, with the outside area being ‘dangerously overcrowded’ giving the club a ‘horrible vibe’. Another goer, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that they felt sympathy for the staff present, seeing at least one member of staff knocked off their feet by the large crowds.

Since the event, many of those who were denied entry to the main room despite owning tickets have left negative reviews on Motion’s facebook page.

People were One review written by Kate Balloch stated that she ‘decided to give [Motion] another ‘pushing and go for Andy C’, but ‘clearly the event was shouting at the oversold’, making this her last visit to the bouncers’ club. Another review, written the day after Georgia Smith, the event, stated that Motion was ‘massively overselling events recently’, evident since Event attendee you ‘miss the event that you paid to see’.

Other reviews called the event ‘an absolute joke’, talked of a ‘poorly managed’ and ‘dangerous’ one-way queuing system, whilst one goer stated that the event was so

Protest at College Green demands action on climate change

Features

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

@OllieWJSmith @tomtay10r

Twitter: @EpigramFeatures

Life after university: ‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’ Interview with Joy Molan, co-founder of Quarterlife Magazine I interviewed the founder of Quarterlife Magazine, a publication dedicated to graduate life

Zoë Crowther

Students’ Union Correspondent

I

Credit: Joy Morlan

first came across Quarterlife Magazine on Facebook when a friend shared an article titled ‘Why it is okay not knowing what you want to do after uni.’ I immediately clicked on the link, eager for some reassurance that my own indecisiveness is ‘normal’ and nothing to worry about.

Having set up Quarterlife earlier this year with her colleague and friend Emily Parker, Joy explained the premise behind it: ‘Quarterlife at the moment is an online community. We felt that when we left university there wasn’t really any mainstream publication that was talking about any worries and anxieties that people felt at that time.’

‘Quarterlife’ was a term I was unfamiliar with, and I asked Joy to explain its meaning: ‘Personally, I see it as a moment or period of intense anxiety many 20-somethings face, about what they’ve achieved so far in life, their current situation and what they want for their futures. It’s a time when we reassess what we want and if we are likely to achieve it - still aware of the big dreams we had for our adult selves as kids.’

Joy offered her thoughts on why graduates may feel unprepared for work: ‘You leave the

“I want to show that it’s ok to not know what you want to do and its ok to be trying and failing to get somewhere straight away”

Mandem / Nick Ogiri

“My experience at Bristol was that there was not a huge support network and I think that is what has contributed to the mental health crisis”

away.’

Joy said she also had the experience of wondering how other people could apparently afford to travel straight after graduating, when she felt that she was restricted by a large accumulation of debt.

‘There is a lot of jealousy and envy and that can be hard to admit to yourself. But others have their own set of circumstances that are different to yours - maybe they have worked and saved up, or come from a wealthier background, but ultimately they’re going to have to deal with the same issues later on. We all do things at different stages and that’s fine.’

A large proportion of the articles on the Quarterlife website relate to personal wellbeing, such as ‘Job Rejections are Soulcrushing, but We’re All in This Together.’

Quarterlife’s Instagram survey showed that 49 per cent of quarterlifers experience

a deterioration in their mental health after they leave education.

‘On the one hand, you have more structure at University, you have set goals with grades and dissertations. When you leave university, those goalposts completely change or disappear completely and you kind of have to be happy with knowing when you have done a good job and turn to your own self-belief and self-confidence to give you validation when you’re dealing with challenging situations.

‘On the flipside, my experience at Bristol was that there was not a huge support network and I think that is what has contributed to the mental health crisis that Bristol students are currently facing. It is not like students are getting all the support they need.’

I asked Joy what advice she would give to students who are considering their postuniversity futures: ‘I thought that when I graduated I was going to have loads of money, that my life was going to be improved in so many ways. As a student I was living on the hope of what the future could be like. I think we should be able to sit back and enjoy the messiness of the present and embrace that.

‘I guess it really comes down to making the most of your student experience. You should not compare yourself to other people and you should recognise that it’s a marathon, not a sprint.’

In regards to who can contribute to Quarterlife, Joy said ‘anyone who has a passion for sharing an experience or story from this life stage. We only launched about a month ago now, but as we bring on more writers who have more diverse experiences we can enrich the kind of subjects we can talk about and the range of advice we can give.

‘Our goal for the future is to try and reach as many young people in this life stage as possible and offer them the support we wish we’d had. We found that Instagram is the best medium to reach people in this age group, whereas a few years ago it would have been Facebook.

‘So we are learning as we go, figuring out what works best for us and for our audience, and ultimately helping people have a quarterlife better lived.’

Credit: Unsplash / Harry Kessell

education system and you are on your own in some ways, you are separated from your friends. You have got all these new pressures and stresses, but all the role models you are looking up to are usually quite far along in their journey already, and are not that relatable.

‘With Quarterlife we want to spotlight people who are a few years down the line, still in their twenties but doing cool stuff.

We want to create a bit of a network where people can share how they are feeling, and share their ideas and learning. Ultimately we want it to be almost like a big sister or a big brother. Our mission is really to create a resource we wish we’d had at that time, straight out of uni in what we call the “lost year.”’

During her time at the University of Bristol, Joy was online founder and editor of That’s What She Said, the Feminist Society’s magazine, as well as writing for Epigram. I asked how her own experience of leaving University inspired Quarterlife: ‘Towards the end of second year you start to get a bit anxious because lots of your friends will be applying to these grad schemes and internships, especially if they are going for traditional career paths. That can make you feel like “I am on the backfoot and I have not even left uni yet!”

‘That helped me get my act together a bit…

I emailed about 25 different ad agencies in London and heard nothing back. Eventually, I got one response which gave me work experience and I was able to make some contacts.

‘But it was really tough and I think it dawned on me that your degree isn’t your passport to your future necessarily. It definitely helps but there’s other things you need as well. It can be pretty shocking to realise that you are not – to put it bluntly – as special as you think you are... I had to push for more internships and more opportunities.

A lot of my friends felt as well that this was a really demoralising time.’

Since Quarterlife is based on Joy and Emily’s own experiences, the content is primarily art-based, as well as exploring the possibilities of start-up ventures and entering careers which are not necessarily deemed ‘traditional.’

Joy’s emphasis on how young people tend to compare themselves to others was of particular interest to me: ‘Do you think that it has become easier for people to feel inadequate among the huge pool of accomplished students?’

She responded: ‘We are always so critical of our own progress, and social media definitely accentuates that.’

I agreed, relating my own experience of social media showcasing friends travelling across the world, while I sit in the library agonising over my own lack of adventurousness.

‘That is how I felt as well! At the click of a button, you can see everybody else’s life that seems so much better than yours - they seem to be progressing faster than you but actually everybody is feeling the same way.

‘I want Quarterlife to be a bit of an antidote to all of that, to show it’s ok to not know what you want to do, and it’s ok to be trying and failing to get somewhere straight

10 Features

04.03.2019

epigram

Histories of Bristol: City of smugglers Morgan Williams Second Year, History

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ristol from as early as the 13th century provides a captivating case study for the illicit trading economy of Britain’s coastline. It held an opportunistic and entrepreneurial spirit unmatched throughout the country because of merchants who used increasingly illegitimate tactics in order to deliver their cargo. Whilst this is not a story of the romanticised pirate culture, the inherent corruption and trickery will make you shake in your boots. Only a summary for the context of Bristol’s smuggling can be gleaned by focusing on wine, because methods of smuggling became as sophisticated as the tax it was trying to dodge.

Fundamentally Bristol had all the right tools at its disposal to become a great port city. ‘Bristol’ as a word literally means place by the bridge. One of the earliest known facts about the town is its bridge, still situated today in the city centre. The city’s early development and funding came through this, as a bridge allowed markets to be placed in surrounding areas for travellers. Many of these are still functioning today such as St. Nicholas’ market which helps to maintain Bristol’s compelling connection with the past.

Merchants would have also benefited geographically as the port is situated on the River Avon next to the junction between

the Severn Estuary and the channel. This allowed ships to have access to trade routes including Wales, Ireland, France, Iceland and later the Iberian coast. Unlike other places in England, Bristol merchants owned the ships that they were sailing, whilst ports such as London harboured ships owned by other countries like Italy. If we see merchants at this time like a modern day entrepreneur, the success of their ships was based on navigating and exploring the ocean for trade.

One of the key imports into Bristol around the 15th century was wine from Bordeaux, taking up around half of trade. Although it was seen as a signifier of status, the drinking culture was completely different.

Alcohol was generally thought to be safer than water, and so an average person would consume around 8 pints of beer or ale a day, and the upper class would drink around 2 pints of wine. Whilst it maintained a crucial role within society, relations between the British and French monarchies put its supply at risk. The end of the Hundred Years’ War in 1453 meant that Bordeaux was now occupied by the French who were unwilling to allow any merchants to export their wine.

Bristol traders took this as an opportunity to diversify their trade, and started to develop links with the Iberian coast.

The sale of wine around this time had relatively low import taxes, meaning it would not have been worth it for merchants to smuggle the goods in. However, as shown by research from Simon, wine taxes went from 2.5% to 44% literally overnight. Although the crown could theoretically implement these changes to increase revenue, it actually pushed merchants to turn to illicit methods in order to survive. One of the key aspects of this smuggling was the inherent corruption of ports. ‘Customs officials’ had to both record

Smugglers by George Morland / Wikimedia Commons

As part of a regular series Epigram Features explores Bristol’s darker past with an insight into a time when trade was strong and smuggling was rife

“Bristol’s illicit trade increased as it became the second most important port in the country”

and supervise trade to maintain the crowns revenue. The two main adjudicators were the ‘collectors’ and ‘controllers’ which oversaw the complicated tax system. However, the officers usually had low pay and gained their position through patronage, rather than skill or desire. Bribes rapidly became commonplace, acting almost as a pseudo tax.

Reports by the crown show that whilst they knew about this problem, nothing could really be done to stem the cause: officials working for the state with a conflict of interests. Customs officers were banned by law from being involved in international trade, yet could engage in domestic trade.

Building a business relationship with a merchant-smuggler meant that officials were more likely to turn a blind eye to certain goods

being transported, such as Anthony Stanback who became a vintner and bought John Smyth’s, a known smuggler, stock of wine.

Not only did this allow smugglers to become increasingly bolder, they were protected by officials. Cases show officers helping to hide and regain illicit cargo, even helping them in court if they had a case against them.

These practices were common across Britain, and Bristol’s illicit trade increased as it became the second most important port in the country. Historians research into this area has been tentative though because of the limited quantifiable evidence for the amount of smuggling. The ‘customs accounts’ provide a large amount of data about the amount of trade that was occurring, through records of all the ships that entered and left the Bristol port and their cargo. However, estimates can only be made as to how reliable this realistically is, due to the level of corruption and trading with contraband.

Whilst the illusive nature of this topic has shrouded conceptions of what it was like to be a merchant-smuggler, comparisons can easily be made to modern day. Bristol has gained a reputation for being alternative, and the merchants of the time were no exception forging both new trade routes and methods to evade tax. Whilst in more recent times the Bristol port has gained attention due to its role within the transatlantic slave trade, study of its transition from the medieval period into its prominent position highlights its rich past beyond this. The city was shaped by the economy that was brought from this shipping, either legal or illegal, and remnants can still be seen in the built environment. The longstanding nature of the markets, roads and records from this time are a testament to the influence that Bristol’s merchant smugglers had.

‘Our Future, Our Choice’ With the coundown to Brexit nearing ever-closer, Amy Heley explains why she took part in a Parliament takeover

Amy Heley

Green Society Co-President

“March 29 is fast approaching, yet our members of parliament have consistently failed to come up with a clear and coherent plan that protects our futures”

A ‘People’s Vote’ remains the only option out of the Brexit deadlock. Furthermore, those who were 16 and 17 during the referendum in 2016 were denied a voice in their future. Now that they are of voting age, it is only fair that they now have a say on the final deal. We also have a better idea of what ‘Brexit’ really means now. What was promised in 2016 cannot be delivered, so with that in mind, it is vital that the proposed

Twitter / @OFOCBrexit Epigram / Tom Penney

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ur MPs have yet again failed to sort out this Brexit mess. Now more than ever, young people must stand up for our futures because unfortunately, those in power aren’t doing it for us. That is why Our Future, Our Choice organised our biggest lobby day ever to get hundreds of young people, including lots of Bristol students, to come down to the Houses of Parliament to tell their MP that the only way out of this mess is a People’s Vote. Bristol Students participated in the Parliament Takeover as part of the wider Breaking Down Brexit campaign at Bristol SU. Nobody could predict that we’d still be in this mess with barely 1 month to go until the Brexit date. March 29 is fast approaching, yet our members of parliament have consistently failed to come up with a clear and coherent plan that protects our futures.

Theresa May is deliberately running down the Brexit clock, so that she can use the

threat of a disastrous ‘No Deal’ to force MPs to vote for her deal.

In the last couple of weeks, nine labour MPs and three Conservative MPs quit their respective parties with the majority forming a new parliamentary group, Honda announced the closing of their Swindon plant which threatens thousands of jobs and Theresa May went back to Brussels yet again for more hopeless ‘negotiations’.

Amongst the chaos, for the 75 per cent of young people that voted remain in 2016, one thing remains clear: the best deal for young people, for the environment, and for workers and migrant rights is the one we have now, as full members of the European Union. These are just some of the reasons why we desperately need a ‘People’s Vote’ on the final Brexit deal.

On February 27, myself and other students from Bristol joined hundreds of other young people from across the UK in a Parliament Takeover. It is your democratic right to walk into the Houses of Parliament and ask to see your MP. Anyone can fill out a Green slip at reception in Central lobby, and your MP has a duty to come down and meet you.

This little-known rule is perfect for speaking to your MP and forcing them to answer the tough questions about Brexit. We also attended a Parliament takeover in November where we had vital conversations with MPs and exercised our democratic right.

deal goes back to the people to decide the direction of our country. Considering all this- we now have no other option but to SHOW UP! We have exhausted all other options: we must now go into Parliament and lobby our MPs ourselves.

There will be another opportunity for people to be involved on Saturday March 23 with the ‘Put it To The People March’. Make sure you are on the right side of history.

epigram

Features 11

04.03.2019

Interfaith week: ‘It proved how easy it is to meet and learn from people who follow different faiths’

Sabrina Miller First Year, English

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rom Monday, 18 Febuary to Sunday, 24 February, Bristol Students’ Union hosted its very own Interfaith week. The week brought students from all different faiths, as well as students of no faith, together. The societies involved in orchestrating these amazing events were: JSOC (Jewish Society), ISOC (Islam Society) CU (Christian Union), Hindu Society, Sikh Society, Zen Society, and KCSOC (Krishna Consciousness Society). I want to take this opportunity to personally and publicly thank Khadija Meghrawi from ISOC who spearheaded this whole campaign. In my opinion this unique and very special week was such an important display of unity, cooperation and tolerance.

I found this week especially valuable, because for me this was the first-time I had met people from so many different faiths. From the ages of 11-18 I attended a Jewish school, which meant that nearly all of my friends were Jewish, almost all of my religious education had been exclusively Jewish, and I hadn’t really had the chance to meet people who weren’t Jewish. As someone who has a huge interest

in theology, I yearned to learn more about different religions, their practices and their beliefs. Interfaith week created the perfect environment for this to happen. It proved how easy it is to meet and learn from people from other faiths, whilst remaining resolute in your own beliefs.

The week kicked off with an inclusive vegan Friday night dinner hosted by JSOC and cooked by the JSOC committee. Whether people just turned up for the three-course meal or because they were fans of the hit television series, there were over 50 people in attendance, a great start to this incredible week. On the following Friday, students also had the opportunity to experience Jummah, Friday prayer, a traditional Muslim practice.

On Sunday, many had the chance to partake in a zen walk, a form of walking meditation.

These events gave people the chance to experience other religious practices.

On Monday evening, all were invited to participate in a quiz where people from different faiths had to work together and test their religious knowledge. Whilst it was all fun and games, it highlighted to me, my limited knowledge when it comes to so many other faiths. Ignoring the fact that I embarrassingly got one of the Jewish questions wrong - so much for 7 years-worth of Jewish education - I struggled to answer pretty much all of the questions that were about other faiths. This really highlighted to me how much more there is to learn about faith and G-d beyond the limited perspective offered by Judaism.

The event on Tuesday night,

Bristol SU

A reflection on how Bristol SU’s Interfaith week brought students together in respectful and enlightening dialogue

‘Misconceptions in Faith’, was perhaps one of the more important events of the whole week. This event allowed different faiths to address the horrendous, prejudiced stereotypes that are often associated with their religion. During a time where there is a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and general hostility towards minorities and religious groups, this event provided many with a much-needed education. It highlighted the importance of education, and the dangers of ignorance.

On Wednesday, in a huge show of unity, all the different faith societies worked together to collect food for Bristol Refugee Rights.

By focusing on the positive messages of religion, the principles of giving and charity, all the societies were able to seamlessly work together to make the world a better place, whilst also spreading a message of love and kindness.

On the Thursday a ‘Where’s the Proof

“It is important to stress that we, as young, educated women have an obligation to vote in our country’s elections”

Event’ was held, where five societies brought in external speakers to try and prove G-d’s existence. This is a question almost all religious people have at some point grappled with. Whilst it was interesting to hear these experts attempt to tackle some of the most complex philosophical questions, it also provided just another great opportunity to learn about the ways different religious groups tackled the same questions.

Overall the week was a huge success. It really helped unite people who otherwise would never have met each other. It created a space for religious people to discuss the similarities of their religious beliefs as well as their differences. It was striking to me how similar a lot of the religions are and how most are grounded in the same principles of love and kindness. This week allowed different faiths a chance to get together, to learn and to try and make the world a better place.

What are the SU elections and why are they important?

Soon we will all have the chance to decide who will represent us within the SU. But how does it all work?

Ellie Brown

Second Year, Politics & Sociology

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Epigram / Will Charley

“Turnout for Bristol’s student union elections remains relatively high compared with others”

students choose their representatives.

First, there is the voting system. The SU uses Single Transferable Vote, which is mainly important when there are more than two candidates competing for a role. In this system, 1st preferences alone are only considered in the first round – the candidate with the least of these is eliminated. If there are more than two, 2nd preferences are added to their voting total in the second round,

Epigram / Kate Hutchinson

acebook notifications from people you have never met. Purple cards asking you to ‘nominate a friend’ piled up on tables around campus. Emails from the SU with undertones of desperation: ‘one week left to nominate yourself!’ ‘why not throw your hat into the ring?’

Sound familiar? Welcome to election season at Bristol SU. ‘But we had that in October?’ I hear you say. Well, elections here happen twice a year, and the March ones are the biggest. Not only will next year’s sabbatical officers be elected, but also the chairs of various networks, most course reps, faculty reps, and student trustees. In short, all the most important roles are up for grabs.

But how are we to decide who gets them?

The process is simple. Nominations close on the February 28, after which the candidates for the biggest roles - everything except for course reps - are invited to a mandatory ‘Academy’ where they’ll learn how to write a manifesto and prepare their campaign. Campaigning starts a bit later, at 9am 11 March , and lasts for three days, with voting closing at 9pm on 14 March. However, dig a bit deeper and you will find that there are many factors which will influence how

and so on until one candidate remains.

The influence of this system is debatable, as last year only two of the six roles had more than two candidates, and in these races ultimately the candidate with the most first preferences won. Yet it still has the potential to be decisive.

Second, there are the ways in which voters can get to know candidates. This can be done through looking at manifestos, or shortened versions on posters around campus. Student media will also play a role; last year both Epigram and The Tab interviewed those seeking sabbatical roles, though according to Union affairs officer Stanford, only SU media products are required to be neutral – these include Epigram, Burst Radio, UBTV and Inter:Mission. Candidates for non-sabbatical roles do not tend to be interviewed, most likely because they are unpaid and part time. Yet it is only course reps who are actually barred from spending money on their campaigns; they are urged by the SU to ‘get creative’ although stickers are banned. Another way of getting to know potential sabbatical officers is if all the candidates for a role agree to take part in a hustings, though last year this was limited to the sport and student development role.

Clearly, there are many ways students can get involved in the elections. The bigger question is, will they? Turnout for Bristol’s student union elections remains relatively high compared with others, with the 2017 elections seeing a record turnout. There was also an unexpectedly high attendance at student council in Autumn 2018, meaning

that motions passed at previous sessions could finally be ratified, as enough people were voting on them. From this, it would be easy to be optimistic about high levels of engagement with the upcoming elections, however, though progress has been made, disillusionment with elections and the SU in general remains. On the popular Facebook page Bristruths, positive posts about the SU tend to be the exception not the rule, with some posts attacking candidates for caring only about their CV and not fully representing the views of student voters.

Overall, the picture seems to be mixed, as other surveys show Bristol SU is improving and external organisations have designated it a ‘quality SU’.

How does this relate to high engagement in elections? It may seem obvious, but the more people who vote, the likelier that candidates will represent student views, and the more aware students will be of the work it does.

Student democracy does not completely depend on these elections, as seen by the referendum on the new halls model last year which changed SU policy. Officers are also required to implement the policies voted for in student council, meaning that there are opportunities for student input all year round. Given the responsibilities that elected positions entail, such as gaining funding to put on events for networks, representing students on staff-student committees, and holding the university to account, it is important that students are involved in choosing the right people to take on these roles which are so vital to student life.

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

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

Bristol must do more to integrate international students

First Year, Philosophy

D

espite having a British passport and the thickest RP accent you will have ever heard, I am classified as an international student.

This does not seem too bad at first: an extra nine thousand pounds a year is a pain but annoyingly, not that unfair. It makes logical sense that a local student who is born and raised in the UK should have a greater priority to education than an expat who has grown up in Singapore.

It is a subsidization of the local, not a tax on the foreign. Besides the main reason why I decided not to study in Singapore was that I viewed British higher education to be the best in the world- and some part of me wanted to immerse myself in the culture, ideals, and way of life that influenced the former Colony of Singapore to be what it is today.

However, when I arrived, a certain foul word stank in the air.

It began with B and ended with exit. I saw its effects immediately with my poor mum.

A wife to a British citizen and a mother to a British Citizen, she’d lived in London for

close to two decades and had indefinite leave to remain (or permanent residency) and desperately wanted to return to London as a family.

Seeing her right to remain revoked was only the start of it. The hassle was worse.

A bureaucratic and bogged down visa application system rejected her desire to renew her right to remain and did not allow her to appeal. Only a ‘chumocracy’ with the British High Commissioner in Singapore eventually allowed her to come and live in the UK with her husband. Still, being singled out in immigration and told to wait three hours while border security verified her paperwork was less than fun for her.

Still, I did not lose hope. Universities are all about progress, knowledge, and the sharing of ideas. Surely, they would be more welcoming to us and our different views on life and culture.

Initially, I found that to be the case. By and large, students themselves were a lot more open and a great deal less judgemental than any other group. The University even pitched in, organising a series of gatherings of overseas students to meet up and get to know each other while sightseeing in Bristol.

However, I soon learnt that these meetups were a symptom of a problem that I believe is unintentional and unconscious.

There seems to be a lot of natural segregation amongst foreign students, particularly if English is not their first language. For example, in Clifton Hill House alone, most of

Epigram/ Will Charley

Bristol University needs to work on getting international students to interact with home students Euan Merrilees

“There seems to be a lot of natural segregation among foreign students”

the East Asian students were put on the same hall as me. They are a tight-knit group that I have only ever heard speaking Mandarin. C floor, (or ‘Si’ floor as we joke) is home to most Spanish students, who are again very close.

It may be that when you leave people be, they naturally tend towards homogenous communities and things that are familiar.

However, I believe that the University must make a greater effort to properly integrate overseas students with local ones.

Not only would bridging this divide make foreign students feel more welcome, but it would also increase the chances of foreign students staying in the UK. According to the Higher Education Policy Institute, international students contribute £20 billion a year to the economy, ten times what the government sacrifices for them.

The PM’s long-held policy to count foreign students in immigration numbers for reducing, seems counterintuitive, as you have the best and the brightest of other nations coming to enrich the country’s brain and wallet. In 2017, 58 current world leaders had studied in the UK, the most in the world. This has dropped to 57 as of 2018, still only one behind that

of the USA. Then one may look at the University of Edinburgh’s desire to have 50:50 international to local student body as a good thing.

However, this is an example of positive discrimination, an absolute no in my book.

Accepting an application for the sake of filling quotas is not only unfair but damaging in the long run. In an ideal world, we accept and hire those who are the best for that position.

Positive discrimination will only widen the gap between international students and local ones.

Besides, considering that tuition is free if you are Scottish, Edinburgh has an incentive to choose international over local. This is not healthy and can breed resentment.

Nonetheless, something needs to be done so that international students at university do not spend their years only mixing with other internationals.

Ending the unconscious ‘them and us’ mentality would not only make universities far richer, both intellectually and monetarily, but it would also have the same effect on the country if applied on a national level.

Internationals have so much to offer, if only they were given the chance.

It is time we acknowledge that Triangle clubs are absolutely awful Clubbing in The Triangle is no fun: we are lucky that Blue Mountain was saved Will Charley Comment Editor

I

Fundamentally, they are all unique nights out, not one that can simply be repeated.

Triangle clubs and those who go to them are predictable, depressing and grotty in equal measure, and it still amazes me that many students make sober plans to end up at one of these clubs on a night out.

‘Dodgy’ clubs may be an exercise in faking being edgy, but at least these clubbers are being something.

Those who go to Gravity and co are the Braindead-Brian’s of this University.

Blue Mountain may have conned large numbers of students, but at least they are staying open, right?

Epigram/ Will Charley

n light of recent discussions about the changing and threatened Bristol nightlife scene- namely, the closing and reopening of Blue Mountain- I think there is a pressing issue that has not been addressed. Fundamentally, clubs such as Blue Mountain, Lakota and even Motion offer genuinely entertaining nights out and are each unique and individualistic places to go. The same cannot be said for all clubs in Bristol.

For me, it is the club hub of ‘The Triangle’ that I wish had been shutting.

These clubs- Gravity, Lola Lo’s and Lizard

Lounge, to name a few- are identifiable only in their total uniformity and universal awfulness.

No matter which triangle club you are in, the night is always the same. The club is unpleasantly overfilled, a twentysomethingyear old ‘DJ’ is seemingly playing Mr Brightside on repeat and there is a third-year student with blue VK stains down his shirt acting like he is back at school.

Yes, clubs such as Blue Mountain have their faults. You might find a student entirely dressed in vintage clothing and a signet ring, or perhaps you will find those who, frankly, would not pass any sort of test, let alone a drugs one. But by comparison to The Triangle, they are far better.

They do not play cheesy pop songs, the same songs that school discos played ten years ago. They do not have thirty-year olds, students and under-age Bristolians all mixing together in a hideous, sweaty mess.

Comment 13

epigram 04.03.2019

Hardly peaking: Blue Mountain’s recent ‘closing’ parties have been a huge success- and a huge ploy Blue Mountain’s ‘imminent closure’ was a commercial trick that took advantage of students- but who can blame them?

George Ruskin

First Year, French and German

Epigram / James Cleaver

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e had a teacher at school who, three years in a row, announced his retirement. He basked in everyone’s gratitude, scooped up his leaving gifts and left to the fanfare of a staff leaving party. Come September, there he would be, ready to do it all again come June. Blue Mountain is scamming Bristol in a similar way.

Walking anywhere near Badock at the time of Blue Mountain’s first closing announcement, one could hear the wails of the wavey-garmed masses; the term ‘Bristol institution’ was being thrown around by those who had lived here for less than a term.

Suddenly, the long-awaited announcement: BlowPop - Blue Mountain Closing Party tickets on sale now. Rasping Sloanes frenziedly rushed to their Macs to buy what was promised to be a piece of Bristolian history akin to Banksy’s Park Street piece or Brenda’s reaction to the snap general election.

Those lucky enough to secure an illustrious ticket then set about curating a fittingly respectful outfit for this momentous occasion – pieces were sourced from kilo sales, Depop

and certain Stoke-Bishop approved charity shops. This happened three-times over.

Each time, tickets sold out rapidly, and those available through resale groups were at a vastly inflated prices. But after 26 years as a Stokes Croft raving institution, people were willing to do all they could to be there, fuelled by the emotional blackmail of the club’s social media: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we officially announce the closure of our beloved nightclub at the end of February 2019.’

Well here we are in late February, three ‘last-ever’ Blue Mountain closing parties later and the club is to stay open indefinitely.

Citing new ownership, the club is ‘ecstatic’ to announce its renewed future once again, immediately touting for venue hire, hours after its biblically miraculous resurrection.

This all seems like far too a fairy-tale ending for Bristol’s most unashamedly grimy nightclub.

This is undoubtedly excellent news for the vibrant nightlife culture of both Stokes Croft and Bristol, and in the tempestuous unpredictability of an area mid-gentrification, the fates of businesses and buildings do change.

Nevertheless, this whole situation seems to have worked suspiciously serendipitously for the club and its owners, and the fact that this eleventh-hour announcement was made just days before its supposed closure makes the whole situation seem like an exercise in racketeering impressionable freshers.

Furthermore, the outrage in local media about gentrification ‘ripping out the cultural heart of Bristol and destroying one of the things it is most associated with in the process’ (Bristol Live) was excellent free advertising for Blue Mountain and its ticket-

sales.

All statements from the club were issued through its Facebook page, and many names that I recognised piled into the comments of both, to share in the agony and ecstasy of the respective statements.

As things stand, Blue Mountain’s future seems very rosy: stacks of money from the three closing nights; venue-hire bookings until July and a newly-cemented citywide reputation – as much a player in the quintessence of Bristol as the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Wallace and Gromit.

In early December, at the time of the closing announcement, I overheard a conversation at a U1 bus-stop between a pair of Fulham dwellers discussing just how

“The whole situation seems like an exercise in racketeering impressionable freshers”

incredible it would be ‘to be there raving as it literally collapsed around us – the people who broke Blue Mountain.’

With this quasi-cult-following of Bristol students, it must have been all too easy to take them for this ride over the past few months.

This zealous desire to be at the grungy beating heart of Bristol’s nightlife culture – as far away from Lola Lo’s as humanly possible – powered students to hand over heaps of money almost charitably to Blue Mountain.

I was unsurprised to read that Lakota had also begun suggesting that its days were numbered, hoping, I imagine, to play a similar number on credulous Stoke Bishopers. Let’s be honest, in their position, who would not have taken advantage of this easy revenue stream?

I certainly would.

The National Student Suvey is more dangerous than just tuition fee hikes The NSS continues a trend of commercialisation in which everything can be ranked, numbered and listed. No more.

Scarlett Sherriff

Fourth Year, French and Spanish

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“A cult of perfectionism that means everything has to be ranked and measured”

Epigram/Will Charley

he National Student Survey (NSS) email arrived in my inbox and I felt momentarily repulsed, and then just laughed.

They addressed me like it was an honour.

They even used my name, ‘Dear Miss Sherriff, I am writing to invite you to take part in the National Student Survey’, but final years I implore you, let’s not fall for their slippery, slimy tricks.

One of the emails’ vapid sentences read: ‘You have the unique opportunity to Have Your Say about your higher education experience. Your honest feedback with be used to make real change for fellow students and help prospective students decide what and where to study’.

The real change they are talking about is the commercialisation of education.

The survey’s been taking place since 2005 but in 2017 the Teaching Excellence Framework (they have now renamed it to The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework) - which is a government

initiative to rate universities as gold, silver and bronze- said they would use it as part of their ranking system.

Of course, they would argue that it is to hold universities to account.

To do so, they use nausea-inducing jargon like, ‘this is so we can raise standards’, but one thing has happened since 2017 and that is the upping of tuition fees across the Russel Group, from £9,000 to £9,250 per year.

Theresa May froze fees in October 2017, but in time they are expected to rise with inflation.

In 2016/2017, Zoe Backhouse, who worked for Bristol SU as Undergraduate Education Officer fronted the campaign at UoB to boycott the NSS. Since then, it has not even been mentioned- if it has, it was quiet.

We all need to get back to boycotting it, because this is about more than fees, it is about more than cringey surveys that make you look around for a sick bucket, it is about a cult of perfectionism that means everything

has to be ranked and measured.

Seventeen-year-olds increasingly base their decision about where to apply on a number, or more insidiously on where their helicopter parents tell them is ‘the best’.

Now as finalists we are told to ‘rank’ our experiences.

This assumes that everything is supposed to be perfect, that you always have to have the best and easiest time for something to be worthwhile. This is nonsensical, because one of the first truisms we were all taught is, ‘learn from your mistakes’. No-one gets better if they do not get it wrong sometimes.

This fits in perfectly with the current state of global, especially US, corporate culture.

Businesses have always loved a wellmanicured finished product. It is no surprise that Google’s careers website says, ‘All Googlers have access to excellent healthcare choices’... ‘many of our offices are equipped with fitness [centres] and classes to save you time and keep you fit’.

We are deluded if we think they are doing this out of the generosity of their hearts. They want employees to look good, and they want them to use their time ‘productively’ as much as possible. Profit is profit after all. In 2017 and 2018 Google parent company Alphabet ranked number one in Forbe’s Global 2000 list of the World’s Best Employers. Like the National Student Survey, this list assumes experiences can be ranked numerically.

Forbes thinks there are ways you can classify the best employer, seemingly a place with gyms, high salaries and weird-

very cringey- playful staff areas to inspire ‘creativity’.

What if an employer does not want the pressure to be creative all the time, what if they want to get the hell out of work and sit with their headphones and some thoughtdeafening music for a while? I for one cannot imagine being creative in an environment of dizzying bright colours and permanently smiling co-workers.

It is obviously not a catch-all solution, but corporations want it to be.

They would love to find a perfectly methodical, perfectly organised, even perfectly creative robot, that can always be productive and is emotionless, to do their work.

University is increasingly corporate‘employability’ is a buzzword we have all seen.

Universities are having to gear us up for that world because we are paying, and we need jobs. Let us not forget that critical thinking does not have a place at big businesses, whistle blowers must often stay anonymous after all.

Numerical rankings can be useful in some ways, to give a broad idea of where an institution lies in the grand scheme of things, but they should not be used to give prizes to tax-avoiding employers, and they should not be used to justify tuition fee rises.

Not only does the National Student Survey potentially help our purses to break, it continues a trend in which we are automatons who consume and are consumed.

Boycott the NSS and not just because it is corny.

14 Comment

04.03.2019 epigram

No career plans, no problem: why it’s okay not to know what you’re doing after university Not knowing what to do after university is fine. Now is the time to experiment and find out what you really like Maddie Harden

First Year, Spanish and Italian

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o what do you want to do after university? It is question we all get asked, but many of us still struggle to

personal enrichment.

Ultimately, once we start working, we do not stop until we retire, so we might as well make the most of the short period of time during which we have no responsibilities.

Despite what some may suggest, earning a degree is hard work, and not only do we deserve a well-earned break, but we most likely need one too.

At the end of the day, just because someone has known from a young age that they want to be in a certain profession does not mean

that they are any better than someone who has taken time to reach the same decision, and gone to lengths to ensure that it is the best path for them.

Even those who are still deciding are building up a skill set that will make them more equipped to deal with whatever is thrown at them later on in life. It is also likely they will potentially have enjoyed the journey to get there much more than those who never strayed from the same path.

“It is more likely to guarantee higher job satisfaction in the future”

Epigram/Will Charley

answer.

In an age where we are made to make lifechanging decisions from such a young age, answering this question with ‘I don’t know’ is still often a met with a frown. But what is wrong not knowing? If anything, it is more likely to guarantee higher job satisfaction in the future.

For instance, university is the perfect place to experiment. We have three or four years to join societies and find out what works. It is an opportunity to discover what we do and do not enjoy without it looking bad on our CV or impacting our careers. Not only does it allow us to work out which environments we work best in, it also helps to point out which skills or traits may need improving before we are thrown into the workplace.

Furthermore, by not having any particular vocation in mind, when it comes to selecting modules, we are free to choose the ones that we will enjoy and are good at, rather than the

ones we feel obliged to do. In doing so, we develop a more varied skill set and knowledge base, rather than focusing on one particular pathway and limiting options coming out of university. It also means we do not approach our degree with an ‘I only need to achieve this level’ attitude, and rather an ‘I’m not sure what I’m going to need so I’ll try for the best result that I can’, instantly boosting your chances with employers on the other side.

It is also important to consider how limited knowledge of jobs may be, with regard to what jobs exist that we may have never heard of before.

It is possible that if we focus on one particular vocation then we may miss a job that is better suited to us. Society is constantly shifting and changing, and new jobs are always coming into circulation that did not exist two years ago. With technology always increasing, not only does it create jobs, but also makes others jobs redundant, and so it is important to keep our skill sets varied and adaptable in an ever shifting workplace.

There is often a misconception that those who take gap years are work shy and lacking in ambition. However, often a post-university gap year is a perfect way to transition from university life to professional life, whilst also providing an opportunity to fill any gaps in your CV. There is nothing wrong with taking a year to do what makes you happy.

Our entire education is geared towards making us employable and making our CVs look promising, so why not spend a year enjoying experiences that have no consequences or pressure but are simply for

Departments must cut bureaucracy and arbitrary rules to relieve unnecessary third year stress An easy way for the University to reduce final year stress would be to cut down on harsh bureaucratic rules, and add a little empathy instead Jack Price-Darbyshire

Third Year, Politics and Philosophy

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department. However just because this is how they treat everyone, does not make it just.

Therefore, although to some it may seem like a small point, I feel one easy way SPAIS could help alleviate a lot of unnecessary stress is to be more understanding with students and their assessments.

This is because I feel blindly following rules, rather than being empathetic to specific situations results in a feeling that the department lacks concern for you as an individual.

Some may disagree with this and feel a punishment is fair for going over the word count and for an accidental late submission.

However again, while this may be the case,

“The staff at SPAIS seem more concerned with following the rules than on the actual quality of your work”

I feel that the punishments are far too severe and enforced with too strict a cut-off point.

Ultimately, I see no reason why more leeway could not be given without causing any real controversy.

Simply creating an appeal process where students can be heard and can justify their case would, I believe, make students feel a lot better, as at least they would be heard.

Especially when the alternative is being passed around a bureaucracy that seems disinterested in hearing your concerns at every level – only leaving you in an ultimately avoidable and stressful situation where you feel helpless and unimportant to the department.

Epigram/Will Charley

hat I have found to be one of the most unnecessary stresses in my time at university has been the pointless strictness of rules and severeness of punishments surrounding assignments. This may be something specific to the Sociology, Politics and International Studies Department (SPAIS), but I feel although obviously not of the biggest of stresses, it is one that is over the top and easily and uncontroversially rectifiable.

For instance, when it comes to word count, a person only has to go a single word over on an essay to lose five whole marks.

Word counts exist for obvious reasons but such a strict cut off point that results in one extra word losing you half a grade seems unjustifiable. Therefore, it would make far more sense to give a ten per cent lee-way and cut out the needless stress of desperately trying to cut down the last few words to hit a rigid word count.

Late submissions also face losing you ten

marks if they are up to 24 hours late. This is an understandable punishment when it is simply the case that you did not do your essay in time. However, what is I feel unfair, is that the department provides no flexibility regarding accidental late submissions.

By third year of course you should know to check your email to make sure your essay has been received. However, on the off chance there is a cock up in the submission of your essay, and you do not check, then a simple admin error will take you whole assignment down a grade.

This of course is arguably your own fault and should result in some punishment, but ten marks for not checking an email seems unjustifiable. Especially when it can mean the difference in a grade, and can cause a lot of unnecessary stress.

What adds to this is the fact the staff at SPAIS seem more concerned with overzealously following these rules than on the actual quality of your work.

In my experience I have been unable to find any way of appealing any of these issues and instead have been bashed about by bureaucracy. What is very annoying is that even if you can provide evidence that you have not modified your essay since before the deadline you still face the same punishment.

Of course, I am not suggesting there should be no deadlines or unlimited words counts, just some understanding and flexibility when there are good reasons to be.

The problem is SPAIS is excessively rigid and deceives itself that this is fair - it is how they deal universally with students in their

Science & Tech Medical Special

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

Follow our Instagram/Twitter @episcitech

Are gut bacteria linked to my mental health?

Recent research reveals that our microbiome may influence our mental health, providing a new route for mental health treatments.

Hannah Cahill Fourth Year, Biochemistry

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“...after ‘doping’ herself with an elite cyclists’ faecal sample, her athleticism improved markedly”

Flickr / AJC1

he human body is home to over 100 trillion bacteria, good and bad, collectively termed the microbiome.

While this has been recognized for decades, over the past 10 years our understanding of the microbiome has grown, and we are beginning to realise its profound impact on human health; scientists are even beginning to refer to it as a distinct organ.

A healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in our gut is essential for normal bodily functions, however this can be disrupted by antibiotic use, early life infections and diet, among many other things. While it is unsurprising that the composition of your microbiota has shown strong links to gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances, obesity and inflammation, there is an emerging consensus that our microbiome could be playing a role in our mental health too.

The gut-brain axis refers to the communication between the brain, the cells lining the gut, and the microbiome inside the gut. Through hormonal, neuronal and immuno-signalling, these three distinct cell types can regulate and interact with each other. The brain controls the guts movements and secretion of various hormones – some of which have been found to affect microbial gene expression. Meanwhile, the microbiota can communicate to the brain by producing or contributing to the production of the neurotransmitter’s serotonin, noradrenaline

and dopamine. It may be surprising that these household name neurochemicals are in our gut too, but in fact 95% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the glands of the gut. Studies of germ-free mice found that they had less than half the serotonin levels of normal controls, indicating the microbiome was contributing to its normal production.

Germ-free animal studies have been a useful tool in understanding the effects of the microbiome. It was the finding that germ-free mice had an increased stress response that initiated research into links between the microbiome and mental health.

This high-stress state could be reversed by colonising the mouse’s gut with normal microbiota, indicating the lack of germs was to blame. These mice had reduced synaptic plasticity – the proposed mechanism of learning and memory. Additionally, studies using probiotics (supplements containing beneficial bacteria) found they reduced anxiety- and OCD-like behaviour in mice.

More recently, human studies have presented promising results too. Many human psychiatric and neurological disorders occur alongside GI dysfunction.

While it was thought that the microbiome was playing a role in these GI disturbances, it’s now proposed that they are contributing to the primary disorder too. A study using probiotics containing Bifidobacterium longum found that human subjects had reduced responses to negative stimuli and a lower depression score than the placebo control group. This probiotic has also been shown to reduce reports of sadness and aggressive thoughts. Out of the clinic, E. coli outbreaks in Germany and Canada correlated to increased anxiety and depression in the affected populations, indicating the imbalance of gut microbiota caused by the infections could be contributing to these

mood disorders.

While it may be unnerving to think of the organisms living in your gut being able to control your brain, it’s important not to get scared. Having a healthy relationship with our microbiome is the best way to prevent an attack from within. Probiotics and prebiotics (supplements containing food for beneficial bacteria) have shown promise in maintaining a healthy microbiota balance. And while it is unlikely that these supplements will replace current treatments for mood disorders like anxiety and depression, it may be that they could complement therapeutics to improve their efficacy. Perhaps most beneficial, especially for the general population, is a balanced diet rich in probiotic fermented foods and prebiotic high-fibre foods, however for those less squeamish, there is an emerging trend of faecal transplants to improve your microbiome composition.

Yep, you heard right. Faecal transplants.

One microbiologist researching cyclists stool samples claims that after ‘doping’

herself with an elite cyclists’ faecal sample, her athleticism improved markedly. Given how little we really understand about our microbiome, this is definitely not recommended practice, however some pharmaceutical companies are looking into developing ‘artificial poop’ to circumvent the current safety issues. Watch this space…

The past decade has shone a light on this hugely important new organ we have all been obliviously harbouring; now the focus is on truly understanding it. The Human Microbiome Project was launched in 2008, aiming to provide genomic and metabolic data of our complete microbiome.

Like the Human Genome Project, it is likely that this will provide more questions than answers, however understanding of our microbiome may be of greater use as, unlike our genes, it is easily modifiable. With more understanding of the intimate links between our microbiome and mental health we may be able to improve the often-inadequate treatments of these complex disorders.

How may Brexit impact medicine in the UK? the government to be more ‘transparent about stockpiles, particularly for things that are already in short supply or need refrigeration, such as insulin’. Then in January 2019, The Guardian found that patients have been taking it upon themselves to stockpile medicines.

Why is this happening? If we were to leave the EU on the 29th March without a deal a worst-case scenario would be that borders, for at least the short term, are going to become stricter and this could cause delays of medical supplies coming in to the UK. This would obviously not be good for patients with long-term conditions. The reporting of governmental stockpiling has created fear among those who rely heavily on specific medicine. Theresa May herself, who is diabetic, has recognised the importance of getting a deal when leaving the EU for those very reasons.

What will stockpiling mean? The act

Whilst the Leave campaign may have claimed that leaving the EU would give £350m per week to the NHS, what is the reality of Brexit to medicine in the UK? Josie Roberts Online Living Editor

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e have all heard rumours of the stockpiling of medical supplies, doctor exoduses and unprecedented nurse shortages.

Whilst there are many reasons why these things are happening… which bits are to do with Brexit? With the 29th March creeping closer and closer, it’s so important, regardless of whether you voted to remain or leave the EU, that we look at the impact that Brexit and a nodeal Brexit could have on medicine in the UK.

“...the number of EU nationals registering as nurses in England has dropped by 92% since the referendum”

Staffing crisis It has been reported by Health Business UK that the number of EU nationals registering as nurses in England has dropped by 92 per cent since the referendum. Furthermore, the British Medical Association (BMA) did a survey of over 1,500 EU doctors working in the UK and found that less than a quarter have ‘faith in the Prime Minister’s commitment to protect their rights in

Flickr / TeaMeister

Stockpiling of medical supplies The current government is looking to stockpile medicine. It was reported back in July 2018 that the UK is preparing to stockpile blood and medical supplies in a case of a no-deal Brexit. The Royal College of Physicians have also asked

of stockpiling is one way in which the government thinks it will save us from the border disruption and delay. Leaving the EU under the current government means leaving the Customs Union meaning that pharmaceutical companies’ supply chain will change. This stockpiling will cost us a lot of money. In August 2018 The Guardian reported estimates of £2 billion for six weeks’ worth of vital medicines to be stockpiled.

the event of a no-deal Brexit’. They also found that over a third are making plans to move abroad following Brexit.

Why is this happening? In the BMA’s findings, they listed that the top four reasons to leave the UK are all Brexit related. They listed the following as reasons: - The UK’s decision to leave the EU - The current negative attitude toward EU workers in the UK - Uncertainty of personal immigration status in the future - The way the UK government treats EU workers What will the staffing crisis mean for the NHS? As we are all aware, there is already a staffing crisis in the NHS and Brexit seems to be exacerbating the situation. This shortage will most definitely have negative effects for patient care. Longer wait times and less beds for patients and further pressure on remaining staff to cover rota gaps are all real consequences of a no-deal Brexit.

The issue of Brexit in relation to medicine and our NHS has raised so many questions. Brexit is a turning point in our history, but we are still unsure of what the outcomes will be. What we do know is that come the 29th March 2019, it will be a new era for the NHS and medicine in the UK.

epigram

Science and Tech Medical Special 16

04.03.2019

Rise of the STIs? The rate of STI diagnosis remains highest in young adults, calling for increased awareness and better sex education in schools.

Bethany Harris

Science and Tech Editor

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1. Condoms A recent study conducted by YouGov revealed that 47 per cent of sexually active young adults do not use a condom when sleeping with someone new, with one in ten stating that they had never used protection, despite it being one of the easiest forms of contraception.

Negative attitudes towards condom use play a role in this, with the majority of young people stating that condoms reduce intimacy and sexual pleasure. Others stated that they perceive carrying condoms to be a sign of promiscuity.

Whilst previous sexual health campaigns have focussed on the ‘danger’ of unprotected

2. STIs aren’t ‘scary’ anymore Despite the high rate of STI diagnosis in young adults, only 29 per cent of 16-24year olds use condoms for STI protection, compared to 58 per cent to avoid pregnancy.

This stems from the modern opinion that nonHIV STIs just aren’t that scary, due to the ease with which the majority of infections can be treated by a quick course of antibiotics. For example, chlamydia, the most common STI, can be treated as simply and quickly as by two tablets of azithromycin.

However, whilst education has focussed on raising awareness of the health risks that STIs can cause if left untreated, such as infertility, research shows that the seriousness of the infection, does not influence behaviour. In other words, despite understanding the harm STIs may cause, young people are still just as likely to put themselves at risk as if they did not understand the harm.

The same can be said for HIV, whereby fear of health consequences may not be the main factor influencing behaviour. Statistically, HIV is more common amongst populations of homosexual males, African Americans and Latinos. However, this does not mean that individuals who do not fall into one of these groups are not at risk. Studies show that in many cases, heterosexual

Flickr / Jenny Koske

ver the last decade, there has been little yearly fluctuation in the number of new diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK population. Despite this, the rate of diagnosis is still highest amongst young people (16-24-year olds) and this number has the potential to increase, according to recent data.

STIs are incredibly common yet are often seen as a taboo in modern society. Recent statistics have shown that in England, one in four young people are diagnosed with an STI every minute. Of this, the most frequent are chlamydia and gonorrhoea, in which young people account for 63 per cent and 37 per cent of diagnoses respectively.

But why are young people so at risk?

sex, evidence suggests that this method of education is ineffective and can lead to fear around sex or defensive behaviour. Sex education must therefore take a positive approach, emphasising that safe sex can be enjoyable sex and can be incorporated into the sexual routine. Exploring ways to enhance sexual pleasure is a good place to start, with research focussing on thinner condoms and new materials such as graphene that may improve sensation.

Whatever the method, this positive approach seeks to change the way that young people think, motivating them to ‘want’ to use protection, as opposed to feeling that they should.

“47% of sexually active young adults do not use a condom when sleeping with someone new, with one in ten stating that they had never used protection...”

individuals underestimate the risk of HIV and consequently do not use protection when having sex with new partners. The decision to use a condom is therefore more likely to be influenced by the perceived risk of contraction, rather than by the severity of the consequences.

3. Film and television The 2017, the YouGov Freuds Survey revealed that the way in which sex is portrayed in the media, in particular film and television, may have an influence on ‘condom culture’ in the UK. The survey asked young adults how often, if at all, they see people using condoms in a sex scene. The resulting data showed that 72 per cent of young adults rarely/never see a condom used.

Interestingly, 67 per cent of young people

would be more inclined to use a condom if they had more of a presence in television and film, emphasising the power that the industry has in shaping our culture. This highlights the need for more accurate reflections of sex in the media.

It’s not our fault…

Over the last few decades sex education has placed a significant emphasis on contraception and the prevention of teenage pregnancy. Whilst this has been effective in reducing the number of teenage pregnancies in the UK, it has left teens unaware and uninformed about the risks of STIs. For the rate of diagnosis to decrease, time must be invested into educating young adults of the risks of STIs and the importance of condom use as prevention.

What’s new in science? Cancer screening and hip replacements!

Bethan Howe reports on Bristol research into the ‘shelf-life’ of knee and hip replacements.

With over 11,000 men dying from prostate cancer in the UK every year, it would be reasonable to assume that the introduction of a screening test allowing early detection of the disease would offer a life-saving tool.

However, the PSA test appears to be coming up short according to results from a trial funded by Cancer Research UK at the University of Bristol.

The PSA test measures the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. It’s typical to have a small amount of PSA in the blood but a raised level may indicate prostate cancer. The test sounds like an ideal diagnostic assessment for the disease but the CAP trial highlighted major floors with the technique. After an average of ten years follow up, the same percentage of men dying from prostate cancer was found in the screened versus the non-screened group – PSA screening did not lead to any additional lives saved.

The key issue with the test is that many men with raised PSA levels didn’t have prostate cancer whilst others with normal levels did have prostate cancer. Thus, some aggressive and lethal cancers could be missed when relying on the test alone. Additionally, the problem of over diagnosis occurs whereby clinically insignificant cancers that are unlikely to have spread or caused harm are detected, leading to unnecessary anxiety and side-effects of treatment.

Cancer Research UK is funding work that will follow the men for a further five years to determine whether there is any longer-term benefit on reducing prostate cancer deaths. For now though, the trial illustrates that more accurate tools to identify aggressive prostate cancers are required.

Knee and hip replacements are two of the most common and successful operations performed in the NHS, with over two million being performed in the UK since 2003. Despite this, patients and clinicians have not had a generalisable answer as to how long these replacements will last.

Recent research conducted by the Musculoskeletal Research Unit at the University of Bristol has changed this, providing data showing that eight out of ten knee replacements and six out of ten hip replacements will still be in place after 25 years. Reports of over 340,000 people who had had hip replacements across various countries including the UK, Australia, and Sweden were followed up for either 15, 20, or 25 years. It was found that 89 per cent lasted 15 years, 70 per cent lasted 20 years and 28 per cent lasted 25 years.

Cases of over 450,000 people with total knee replacements (TKR), and over 15,000 people with unicondylar or partial knee replacements (UKR) were followed up. 93 per cent of TKRs and 77 per cent of UKRs were found to last 15 years, 90 per cent of TKRs and 72 per cent of UKRs were found to last 20 years and 82 per cent of TKRs and 70 per cent of UKRs were seen to last 25 years. This is vital information as although replacements are highly effective, ultimately, they will fail due to factors such as infection, fracture, normal wear and tear or reaction to wear particles. This means patients often require revision surgery which can result in poorer functioning and is more expensive. Therefore, in deciding whether and when surgery should be conducted, knowing how long the replacements will last is extremely significant.

Unsplash / Drew Hays

Harriet Gallegos sheds light on the results of prostrate cancer screening trials.

Flickr / Cindy Funk

Wellbeing Living Food Style Travel Issue 9 / 4th March 2019

Wellbeing //

How the SU Living Room benefits student wellbeing Travel //

The year after the year abroad

Living // 40 days and 40 nights without Netflix

Food // Eating Disorder Awareness Week: How my recovery helped me discover a new love for food

epigram / The Croft 04.03.2019

Editor Jasmine Burke

Deputy-Editor Luke Unger

Online Editor Marina Afzal-Khan Epigram Wellbeing

@EpigramWB

@epigramwellbeing

Final year and no idea...

5 Things to bear in mind if you don’t know what you’re doing after you graduate

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f you’re scared about not knowing what you’re going to do after you graduate, you’re in luck. As it turns out, fear can be great.

That blood-pumping, adrenaline soaring physiological reaction that happens when you’re scared isn’t that different to the way your body reacts to excitement. It may be that you need to start reshaping the way you react to the feelings that you get when considering life after university. The fact that your future could take you absolutely anywhere and you have no idea where it is yet, it’s a scary situation, sure, but you have to admit it’s also an incredibly exciting one.

Remember: being scared is normal and it is powerful. The best things often happen when you feel the least comfortable. Learning to embrace the fear you’re feeling and channel it into excitement is the first step in changing your outlook during your final year.

2: THERE IS MORE THAN ONE PATH IN LIFE This is a pivotal moment in many of our lives – it’s the point where we decide whether to follow the same path as everyone around us, or if we are going to create one for ourselves.

Comparing yourself to other people is unhelpful in most situations but when it comes to figuring out what you’re going to do at this crucial point in life, it is especially important that you try to just focus on yourself.

to-day challenges of being a student, then taking small steps forward will get you further than trying to leap ahead and finding yourself feeling worse than when you started.

Instead of laying out your entire life ahead of you and trying to plan every moment in advance, try instead to consider whatever you find manageable. This will be different for every individual, and if you’re going through a particularly hard time right now, this could involve just taking every day as it comes.

Remember: The future can be overwhelming. Try to start considering more manageable portions of it, perhaps even just one day at a time.

4: STOP FEELING GUILTY FOR WANTING TO FOCUS ON BEING A STUDENT Do you feel like you only have one term left and you’d rather spend that focusing on being a student rather than planning what’s coming next?

But you still feel that niggling guilt that you should be putting more time aside to think ahead? It might be time to put an end to feeling guilty and just embrace student life.

”

1: FEAR IS A GREAT THING

Remember being scared is normal and it is powerful. The best things often happen when you feel least comfortable

”

3. Rise above it Unsplash/ Tyler Nix

”

If you already have to deal with a mental health issue on top of the day-

Remember that not getting on with your housemates does not mean that you have to become isolated. Text your mates from outside your house and have coffee with them, go for walks, see plays, go for drinks.

There is so much to do not only within the university bubble but also in Bristol in general. I even got myself a job and joined a gym to keep myself busy and away from the negativities of my house. You will be surprised by how many people will understand and relate to what you’re going through.

Epoigram/ Jasmine Burke

Unsplash/ raw pixel

When considering something as complex as your future, the endless possibilities can leave you feeling dizzy. Mapping out the next few years, or even months is always a daunting task. While it’s a good idea to know your goals if you have them, trying to organise your life to specific deadlines is often counterproductive, leaving you so overwhelmed that you end up unable to make a single decision. This is especially relevant if you are struggling with poor mental health, and can have drastic impacts on your wellbeing.

My initial reaction to falling out with the people that I lived with was to hide. To go home every weekend. Have headphones in at all times so they did not speak to me. To creep into the house so I did not have to have a conversation with them. But you have to remember that it is your house too! You are perfectly entitled to be there. You are allowed to use the kitchen as much as you want. You should feel comfortable in your house too. So next time you want to hide, tell yourself that it is your house too and you have as much right to be here as my fellow housemates.

Remember: You’re only a student for a limited amount of time. Don’t feel guilty if that’s your main focus at the moment.

Remember: Everyone’s individual path is remarkably different.

Looking over your shoulder at your peers’ journeys probably isn’t going to help you find your own way.

”

1. Don’t hide yourself away

Even if you just want to focus on your social life or a hobby, then the same also applies. You only have so much time and energy, and if you think that obsessing over plans after graduation is going to mean spreading yourself too thinly, then perhaps you should balance it out a bit more and cut yourself a bit more slack.

Your path in life is also not set in stone by the degree you’ve chosen.

Just because you may hear the same types of jobs cropping up time and time again in careers talks in your department, doesn’t mean that they are the only opportunities that exist. It is entirely possible that your dream job is something you’ve never even heard of before, and you’ll come across it in your own time.

3: TAKE EVERY DAY AS IT COMES

I

t’s that time of the year when it suddenly dawns on you that you do not actually know the people you’ve decided to live with. At least, you thought you did month into the term in the rush to find a house. Below I discuss some of the ways that I made sure my wellbeing came first when I realised that I did not get on with the people I lived with.

2. Make sure you have friends outside of your house and keep busy.

It might be that you just want to focus on your academic work right now, and simply don’t feel like there’s enough time to add writing CVs or personal statements to your already never-ending to-do list. Fair enough, applications are extremely time-consuming. You can lose days at a time, especially if you have to travel anywhere for interviews.

Your path in life is not set in stone by the degree you’ve chosen

NIghtmare housemates? How to cope when it’s all gone wrong

5: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO WORK OUT You are in no way expected to land your dream job straight away. Give yourself the time and the space to figure out what’s right for you without rushing into something out of panic. The opportunity that you are going to end up taking might not have even been advertised yet, so don’t worry if nothing has caught your eye so far.

Remember: Everything is going to be just fine. Be prepared to step out of your comfort zone, don’t compare yourself to others, and go at your own pace and you will end up exactly where you’re meant to be.

Sophie McDonald Fourth Year, Biology

Don’t let your housemates get the better of you. As my mum has always told me: rise above it. Don’t retaliate with pettiness. There is a reason that ‘kill them with kindness’ is such a well-known expression.

You do not have to go on their level. For me, the people I lived with made me feel worthless by ganging up against me through having a separate group chat (I have now been told). It was a horrible experience. However, do not let them win. Just rise above it until the time comes when you can move out and begin again. And also, for practicality, when the time comes for your student landlord to take advantage of you and say that you owe them £500 in redecoration charges, you are going to have to be able to have some contact with them to sort that out.

Whilst falling out with my housemates brought me a lot of grief and was a horrible time, I got through it. I kept myself busy, tried not to lose myself and made sure they did not win. As soon as I posted my key through the door of last year’s house, I unfriended and deleted all of them on social media and it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. No one should be made to feel like that: unwanted, alone and uncomfortable in their own house. But it is temporary, contracts don’t last forever and you won’t be stuck there for too long. I now have the loveliest housemates who I am very lucky to have.

Josie Roberts Online Livinf Editor

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04.03.2019 epigram / The Croft

How the SU Living Room benefits student well-being

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pened in early December on the fourth floor of Senate House, the Living Room was intended as a social hub where students could escape from the pressure of intense study. Available for student use between 8am and 10pm on weekdays, you can find me there nearly every day seeking respite amidst assignment stress.

where students wrote pledges concerning mental health in order to break the stigma surrounding the topic. I hope that the SU continues to host these events. It offers students the choice to use the space on their own terms, but also brings an SU presence into the heart of campus which didn’t exist before.

A happy medium has been achieved where many people spend time there with friends, but it also feels perfectly acceptable to sit alone. Catch up on emails, speak on the phone with family or friends from home, read a book or a magazine. It should be recognised that having some personal space can often be as important to one’s mental wellbeing as sharing time with others. The Living Room, at quieter times, has an atmosphere where if you choose to take a nap, no-one would blink an eye.

The Living Room has coincided with the implementation of a wellbeing strategy which allowed students to feed into the decision making process, and there is also a wider initiative to transform the rest of Senate House into a student hub.

Students have even been given the opportunity to rename the building themselves: a rather risky choice on the part of the University, with ‘I Am the Senate’ and ‘Senate McHousey Face’ among the favourites.

Epigram / Zoe crowther

One of the most psychologically damaging aspects of university life is the feeling of anonymity. It is easy to feel like a number among thousands of others, with no agency in shaping the campus experience.

Going some way to reduce this feeling, the SU Living Room feels a lot more personalised than the characterless ASS library café or the beautiful yet antiquated Wills and Queens buildings.

used, it doesn’t matter - we have been brought together in this space to relax, converse and enjoy some truly ‘free’ time.

There was always the risk that students would abuse the space by leaving litter, spilling drinks or creating excessive noise in large groups.

Over two months after its opening, it is apparent that this has not been the case and that students have continued to use it in the way it was intended.

By placing trust in students, a stronger relationship between the University institution and the student body can be established. This mutual relationship can only be of benefit to mental health.

” It provides a unique space for both the communal and the individual, with different zones catering for different interests. If you want to have fun, you can have a go at retro computer games, or challenge friends to table football or ping pong. If you want to relax, there are shelves lined with books and deep sofas which are practically impossible to sit on without fully reclining. On many occasions, I have met with people there specifically with the intention of playing table tennis. If it is already being

By placing trust in students, a stronger relationship between the University institution and the student body can be established

”

Speaking to Epigram in December, Stanford, Union Affairs Officer said ‘It’s a lot about starting to bring the SU into the centre of campus.’ With the SU regularly hosting events in the space, this has been partially achieved. Efforts have been made to engage students with campaigns and conversations relating to mental health, including a ‘Time to Talk’ day

Photoshop and mental health

Unsplash / Georgia de Lotz

Whilst sitting at the dinner table, I leaned over and noticed my friend re-touching the photo using an app that she had downloaded. The app called Peachy, offers a range of features including: ‘reshape’ which essentially is code for ‘make you thinner’, ‘retouch’, which edits your face and ‘tall’ which unsurprisingly makes you taller. After doing some research I found hundreds of similar apps all available at the press of a button. Almost all of them were free, but none cost much more than £5.

After calling my friend out at the dinner table, a discussion ensued. Is Photoshop really that bad? Are features like ‘retouch’ any worse than using makeup? Are features like ‘reshape’ any worse than misrepresenting your body in front of a camera by twisting it in a variety of unnatural shapes and poses? My answer to this question was firm and clear; photoshop is always worse.

I believe Photoshop is a uniquely dangerous and powerful tool.

Photoshop has unbelievably damaging effects on people’s body image and self-esteem. It idealises images that no fitness regime, or beauty treatment will ever come close to achieving. Photoshop normalises inhuman standards of beauty. This is dangerous because it means that people will damage their bodies and their minds striving for this literally unattainable and impossible goal.

That, in my opinion, is where the key difference lies. You may spend

hours twisting your body to achieve a ‘perfect picture’, but at least it is still your body. At least if you work at it, this image is somewhat achievable because it is not a digitalised, imagined creation, it is still you.

Similarly, makeup is rooted in truth. Whilst you can conceal and contour your face, apply a plethora of different colours to your eyelids, eyelashes and eyebrows, it is still your face! Contrastingly, apps on Photoshop allow you to digitally flatten your nose or whiten your skin.

They can do things to your face that you can never re-create without plastic surgery. They distort reality and force you to disguise yourself behind some socially constructed standard of beauty. There is not an ounce of reality in Photoshop and it yet again sets impossible standards.

”

W

hilst away over Christmas, my friend and I decided we would have a photoshoot and secure a holiday picture for our respective Instagrams’. After spending an hour carefully applying makeup and 30 minutes performing in front of the camera, contorting our bodies in various flattering poses, we eventually both settled on the perfect picture.

Photoshop idealises images that no fitness regime, or beauty treatment will ever come close to achieving.

”

I believe that when friends photoshop their pictures this is far more damaging for your mental health then when magazines do it. I think it is pretty common knowledge nowadays that magazines airbrush pretty much all of their images, and therefore when looking at the front of a magazine I tend to be pretty self-aware that it is all fake. When I’m scrolling through Instagram and looking at pictures of friend’s, I don’t have that same guard up. I trust my friends and maybe I’m being naïve, but I tend to assume that they don’t Photoshop their photos. My friends are real and tangible and therefore what they present online is far more attainable than what Gigi or Bella Hadid posts. Therefore if my friends are also posting distorted images of themselves online, my expectations of what normal people look like changes and inevitably makes me question myself.

I believe Photoshop is a horrendous and destructive tool that needs to stop. We should be proud of our beautiful bodies, beautiful faces and our beautiful photographs.

Sabrina Miller First Year, English Literature

Jokes aside, it is sometimes these simplest of things which can improve our overall sense of wellbeing. The convenience of free tea and coffee offered in the Living Room, as well as gorgeous views of the city from above, can bring elements of joy to a long and studious day.

These latest developments show that the University and the SU are moving in the right direction, towards greater consideration of student needs and investment in alternative mechanisms to improve mental health. That being said, there is a still a long way to go, and this is a perfect example of how voicing your concerns and ideas for improvements on campus can result in the creation of spaces which can make university

Zoë Crowther Students’ Union Correspondent

Introducing BeatThis Together: the new eating disorder group It can be hard starting a new society at university; the student population is incredibly large and getting the word out seems near impossible at times. Therefore, it is important that we bring to light the societies that are doing amazing things to combat different problems faced on our University campus. I spoke to Tori Freedman, position in society about Beat This Together – the new Eating Disorder support group for University of Bristol students.

The society began in November as a result of multiple discussions about eating disorders that Tori had with a close friend. “We felt ashamed and rather judged for our eating disorders, [and] I realised something was wrong with society’s perception of eating disorders and mental health”.

Despite being a mental illness, eating disorders are still commonly misrepresented as a ‘choice’ made by teenagers that want to lose a few pounds. While many of us know that this is not the case, it still leads to many people – whether they are experiencing these disorders or are in recovery – hiding this big part of themselves out of a fear of judgement. Tori is extremely determined to change this perception, noting that “Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental health diseases and I strongly believe this is linked to the blame culture around it. People do not CHOOSE to have eating disorders, and this needs to be recognised and accepted.” Tori’s hope is that by openly talking about eating disorders, the support group will have a chance to make a real difference, “bringing eating disorders out of the shadows and shining light on these less than glamorous mental health diseases.”

Find the whole interview online...

Jasmine Burke Wellbeing Editor

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04.03.2019 epigram / The Croft

Has race affected my wellbeing at Bristol?

Wellbeing Editor Jasmine Burke discusses her experience as a black student at Bristol and whether that has had an impact on her wellbeing

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

My education experience has been far from simple; counting this university, I have moved schools a total of 6 times and this includes a variety of schools ranging from private, state and briefly convent (yes, my head teacher was a nun). Therefore, on arriving in Bristol, I did not experience as much of a ‘culture shock’ as I know some people experienced. In my private primary school, I was one of 4 black people and 6 people of colour in a year of thirty students. When you are 5 years old you honestly could not care less what race you are in comparison to your friends and, so, growing up in that environment I became accustomed to not noticing the lack of cultural diversity around me.

Growing up I was more aware of it but again, due to my earlier education, it has never seemed like an issue to me – that is, until someone draws attention to it.

”

Can I sit here and say that my race has influenced my well-bing at Bristol University? Yes. And often. It lies in the smaller things

”

One of the most distinct memories that I have of first year is being sat in a random flat for pre-drinks and overhearing two people – one of which was a friend of mine – say ‘yeah, but racist jokes aren’t that bad’.

I made eye contact with another friend as it was said and she watched, waiting for me to respond. However, I couldn’t. Why? Because I was the only non-white person in the room and I did not fancy educating people that I barely knew on why I did not think that ‘racist jokes are alright.’

During this situation, I was met with an odd sense of discomfort that I had not experienced particularly often. I did not want to stay around for the racist jokes that followed but I also did not want to make a scene by leaving. Essentially, I just wanted a hole to swallow me up in the ground.

Over the last few years, I have experienced many subtler microaggressions than the one above. Be that listening to people around me put on fake African/Caribbean accents and finding them hilarious or being the only black person in a seminar during a discussion of race and feeling like a token that I never asked to be.

It is a really weird and foreign experience for me because growing up I tried hard to not let my race affect me. However, I feel like, despite attending two majority white private schools, it is only now that it has begun to feel like an actual issue. For me, experiencing ‘otherness’ lies in the smallest things. Be that having a (straight, white) friend rant to me about how less privileged they are when it comes to the job market because of their education (try facing a state school education and institutionalised racism) or hearing guys at pres describe their ideal girls and every description being eurocentric. I would love to say that these things do not and should not bother me, but 3 years of frequent tiny little incidents eventually start to weigh on you.

I feel like a lot of my issues affecting my wellbeing at university have come from feeling like I do not have a place. I have spent a lot of my life feeling ‘not white enough’ for my white friends and ‘not black enough’ for my black friends and, while I finally found my place in my life in London, coming to university I had to do the same thing all over again and I did not succeed.

Over the summer, I read Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book, ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’ and it put something into words that I had not been able to voice before. When it comes to a lot of race-related issues – especially ones on campus – I find myself desensitised because I no longer have the energy to explain something that I have had to deal with my whole life. As much as I would love to speak up for every racerelated issue that comes up at university, it is exhausting, it is not always my place (I am one black person with one unique experience of being black – I never want to feel like I am putting words into other people’s mouths) and, honestly, a lot of the time it seems pointless. I am more than happy to discuss race with my friends who genuinely want to learn, but – as much as I would love to help change people’s opinions and fight for a personal cause – I feel emotionally and physically drained when it comes to explaining issues to those who I know will not listen and do not care.

With this, I am left with an added layer of guilt: how can I expect any sort of change to happen if I’m not willing to fight for it?

This mental battle has definitely had an impact on the way I pick my units. I find myself actively avoiding literature units that involve talks of slavery or texts with racial mistreatment because, in a room full of majority white people, I do not want to be reminded of my own ‘otherness’.

I cannot think of anything more uncomfortable than sitting in a room discussing slavery and being the only person being able to speak out about the fact that it is in my lineage.

”

R

ecently, Epigram published an article about how black students are twenty per cent less likely to get an offer for Bristol than their white counterparts. Honestly, the statistic itself came as no shock to me, but I was particularly interested by a line in the article noting that ‘[BME students] were also more likely to suffer from mental health conditions due to microaggressions or direct racism’. It is no secret that my wellbeing has been less than perfect throughout my university experience, but recently I had been talking to my friends from home about what my position as a black student at the university had to do with it. Now, with the emergence of this article, it seems as good a time as ever to discuss it.

I feel emotionally and physically drained when it comes to explaining issues to those who I know will not listen and do not care

”

Obviously, like I mentioned earlier, I am only one black person and I cannot comment on a whole race’s experience. The same way that I know there are probably many other ethnicities and ‘minority’ groups that feel that their position has impacted their experience too, but I do not feel qualified to speak on their behalf. However, can I sit here and say that my race has influenced my wellbeing at Bristol University? Yes. And often it lies in the smaller things.

I would love to end this article with a list of things that could be done to help, but honestly I do not have a concrete answer. Creating a more diverse and inclusive environment definitely takes time and I do believe that eventually this university and many others will make this happen with both its staff and its students. However, in the meantime I suppose all I can recommend is that people be mindful of eachother. Also, if you can relate to this feeling of not belonging - regardless of your race or situation - feel free to send me a message or contact me through the Epigram Wellbeing writers’ group.

Jasmine Burke Wellbeing Editor

epigram / The Croft

Editor Hope Riley

Deputy Editor Imogen Rogers

04.03.2019

Online Editor Josie Roberts

Epigram Living Writers 2018-19

First Year: expectation vs. reality

Rebecca Pugh debunks the myths of first year, taking us through the realities of her time at Bristol

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ou’re told by everyone; teachers, family, and even strangers on the street that ‘university is a massive change.’ You maybe smile, nod and politely agree whilst internally and oh-so-naively not believing them. Then you have the moment.

Mine was on the second night of freshers’ week, frantically googling ‘how to defrost chicken quick’. This was followed by the classic accompaniments such as ‘can eating pink chicken kill you?’ and realising I hadn’t quite realised what I was signing up for. This moment may present itself in a multitude of other ways, such as seeing your home friends for the first time since leaving home and realising you have little in common anymore or becoming ill and missing a fully stocked medicine cabinet.

Like it or not, going to university is a massive change, and whilst I may still only be halfway through my first year, here are a few of my thoughts on the experiences I’ve observed so far: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

similar feelings of disappointment and loneliness whilst struggling to adjust to a new life. The guarantees from friends and family that you will have the time of your life doesn’t help.

Settling in, learning an appropriate work-life balance and lowering my expectations has significantly helped me so far and hopefully many others as they work out where they belong in the vast machine that is the University of Bristol.

Living away from home, possibly for the first time, is a daunting yet alluring concept for many, including myself, and as a result my brief experience with adulting has massively increased my appreciation for my parents. Surviving is hard.

Living off mouldy bread and ankle deep in the clothes you used to be nagged to pick up begins to lose its charm somewhat quickly. Most frighteningly, you begin to find yourself echoing your parents ‘words of wisdom’ you thought you’d successfully blocked out for 18 years.

The true test is going home for Christmas. Whilst at first nostalgically lovely to be taken care of, many may quickly

With a new M&S coming to Whiteladies Road, an all-out supermarket war seems to be on the horizon. Expect to be dodging free-range eggs and flung frozen pizzas as you make your way for your weekly shop. Indeed, you may have to adjust your normal route to avoid the armies of employees duelling with baguettes in the street, rallying behind their store mottos; ‘Every little helps!’ ‘Live well for less,’ and perhaps most poetically: ‘Big on quality, Lidl on price’.

However, despite this sad display of own-brand violence, students will now have the option to reassess their current supermarket.

Here is a list of pros and cons to help you decide what best suits you.

Sainsbury’s

Pros: They’re everywhere around Bristol. You literally can’t escape them. In fact, rumour has it the company has put in a bid to rename Senate House Sainsbury’s.

Nectar Card points/ vouchers. Spend £40 on your next shop and get a small tub of kale ice cream? Yes, please.

Cons: They attract everyone you know. Fancy a hungover trip to pick up a smoothie and some paracetamol? Don’t bother, unless you want to see 6 of your course mates, your ex and your entire extended family.

Tesco

Pros: Only Expresses, so open late enough to buy alcohol.

Cons: Only Expresses so all pretty expensive. Also, often rowdy at night (see above).

Buying your meal deal from there doesn’t really fit with your whole individual ‘boycott Tesco’ ethos (Sainsbury’s is fine though).

”

Friends that haven’t gone to university show no signs of this pride in deliberately living like savages in the pursuit of being relatable

Epigram / Rebecca Pugh

”

Instagram / @eagersavage

”

Perhaps one of my most clear revelations since beginning in September is that being a student is more than just something to select for your ‘occupation’. It is ideal. People who likely receive significant monthly cash injections from mum and dad compete to see who can live most tragically. Someone will tell you: “I ate a tin of mayonnaise for breakfast #studentlife”, as if you’re not truly ‘doing university’ if you don’t indulge in habits likely to give you scurvy.

Friends that haven’t gone to university show no signs of this pride in deliberately living like savages in the pursuit of being relatable. I now too find myself wearing and idolising the wavy garms that 6 months ago I would have laughed at. I could spin this as an aspect of my personal growth and experimenting with the boundaries of the aesthetic, but it just doesn’t cut it when my mum laughs at my baggy trousers when I come home.

Of course, what first-year review is complete without a critical piece of Freshers. Far too many expectations are placed on a single week. You go to gimmicky club nights with people you met less than a week ago and also hear how your friend at Edinburgh Universtiy claims she’s found her ‘sisters for life’. In fact, the main feeling I took away from the week was one of absolute tiredness, falling asleep in lectures and then rushing home from welcome week activities to take a nap.

Whilst I’m sure some would disagree, Freshers, and indeed my first year at University, have been largely overhyped. Trying to maintain connections with those at home whilst also making new ones was exhausting and frankly painful. Many people express

Battle of the supermarkets

Thoughts quickly find themselves returning to how long until you can go back

”

find themselves feeling irked and later deeply annoyed at the remembrance of concepts such as ‘curfew’ and ‘doing the washing up’. Thoughts quickly find themselves returning to how long until you can go back.

More seriously, University has undoubtedly offered me a series of firsts I never would have experienced otherwise. At the risk of sounding like a John Lewis Christmas advert, living in a city I’ve made friends with people from a broad range of perspectives I never would have come into contact with otherwise.

It would be easy to say ‘until coming to Bristol I never smashed 5 Jaegerbombs in 10 minutes before’ (which you definitely shouldn’t do), but perhaps more interesting is the wealth of experiences each person can provide you with. The diversity of styles, lexicons and ideas from all around the world come into play in a way that would have never entered my contemplation.

The world appears bigger to me, purely through realising its sheer accessibility. At first, this felt overwhelming and isolating, the awareness you are a small fish in a pond bigger than you ever could have realised. But, there is something to be said for the opportunity and freedom to change. Whilst never considering myself sheltered before, living in a city is more draining, but more immensely exciting than I ever could have imagined.

Rebecca Pugh Law, First Year

Aldi/Lidl

Pros: Cheap as chips (as long as those chips are frozen).

Knock-off own brand names. Why not treat yourself to an oblong bar? Or better yet pour yourself a refreshing glass of Lambrucini.

Cons: The checkout speeds. No time is wasted here. Aldi and Lidl maintain their company policy of only hiring individuals who feel personally insulted by all food, to maintain its efficiency in keeping down low prices.

High likelihood you’ll contract ‘Aldi Fever’: an insatiable urge to buy everything in the store. What was once meant to be a shop to save money has turned into a culinary rampage. You validate your £25 spend on biscuits knowing it would have been £100 in Waitrose.

A trek to get to. If you’re not lucky enough to have a mate who has a car in Bristol expect to enjoy the oh-so-timely Bristol public transport in order to reach your frozen food nirvana.

Waitrose

Pros: A place to be seen. Oh darling! Back at Waitrose again? I know!

Those prosecco flavoured custard creams are divine!

Waitrose coffee. In all seriousness, if you haven’t already got the card yet get one. As long as you have a keep cup and buy a banana, your additional coffee comes to a total of 14p altogether! Mint.

The Queen’s Road Waitrose for some reason always has at least one carefully groomed doggo outside.

Cons: Well spenny. One weekly shop is more than likely to take you into your overdraft.

M&S

Pros: The new kid on the block. Who knows what crazy shenanigans M&S are going to get up to???

Percy Pigs. Yeahhhh baby.

Sell everything. Need a suit for work? No worries! Some new underwear and socks? Here you go! Some dad jeans which are too embarrassing to be ironic? No bother!

Cons: The younger brother of Waitrose in terms of ‘boujiness’. While both went to Eton however, M&S, like many Bristol students, didn’t get accepted into Oxbridge.

It hasn’t opened yet so I can’t get Percy Pigs.

Luke Unger

Deputy Wellbing Editor

6

04.03.2019 epigram / The Croft

Living your best life

Post-Valentine blues got you down? Third year student Olivia Gabriel tells us how to live our best lives and enjoy being a single girl at university

B

eing single at uni is quite often overwhelming and you can feel pressured to find that special someone to spend your time with. However, it truly is a really exciting opportunity to make the most of the city you’re in, especially if you’ve moved away from home for uni, as well as giving you quality time to spend with your friends and yourself.

Communicate freely

Girls really should be lifting each other up and encouraging you to be the best version of yourself, and bonding over failed dates or success stories can be a great way to figure out what you are looking for and how to make sure you are not settling. Friends are a great support system, make sure you talk to them if you feel low and console them too if they have problems. A problem shared is a problem halved and celebrating your personal achievements with others can be really rewarding.

Epigram / Olivia Gabriel

For some being single at uni is a deliberate choice that they made before joining to make sure that there was nothing or no one holding them back from experiencing everything that is on offer, whereas for others they may have become single throughout their time at uni and it can be difficult to adapt to the lifestyle change.

Regardless of your situation, it is important to enjoy the time on your own that you do have, and whilst it is completely normal to want to find a new partner, being single can be just as rewarding as sharing your life with someone. I’ve come up with six ways to make the most of your time being single at Bristol: Try some fun and new activities with your girlfriends

Not having a significant other to worry about can free up both your time and finances to spend time with your friends doing various activities. Bristol has so much on offer, and with good transport links it is hardly difficult to find a wide range of activities to do, whether you have a big or small budget. On sunny afternoons like the ones we’ve had recently, walks around Ashton Court are a great way to spend the day with your friends before ending up in the pub for a bottle of wine and a natter.

Enjoy meeting new people

At uni, arguably the easiest way to meet new people is on a night out. When single, you have the freedom to explore relationships in any way you please. There can be pressure to hook up with people, or you can feel judged if you do but in actual fact as long as you are taking care of yourself and doing exactly what you want, a night out is a great way to enjoy yourself with friends or people you meet. Avoiding pressure and staying safe are two rules that shouldn’t be forgotten when on a night out.

Take care of yourself

TLC is very important and taking pride in your health and appearance can make you feel so much better in yourself.

There is no reason to not feel like a 10/10, self-confidence is attractive and its little things that can give you a boost. Going to the gym, eating healthily and making sure that you are getting enough sleep are all essential to boosting your mood.

Making self-love a group activity can make it more enjoyable, pamper nights with the girls or group gym sessions can be so much fun and you’ll feel more inclined to do it if you’ve committed to other people.

Live your best life

Whilst it is of course possible to live your best life whilst you’re in a relationship, the level of freedom and lack of responsibility just isn’t the same. Making mistakes and learning from them is all part of the experience and should be embraced rather than rejected. You only live once, and you regret the things you don’t do, not the things you do, so make the most of everything that is on offer and try saying yes to everything you can. It can be super exciting to live life just for yourself and it won’t last forever. Single life is the perfect time to fall in love with yourself before committing to someone else.

Join a society

Joining a society is a fab way to explore an existing interest, or even develop new ones. Being part of a group is great for increasing self-confidence and morale and fills your week with commitments and uses up your otherwise free time. It can also offer up potential love interests, meeting people who you have things in common with is a great opportunity for future dates or at the very least a friendship.

Olivia Gabriel Childhood Studies, Third Year

40 days and 40 nights without Netflix?

Second year Psychology student Zorsia Gontar explains that this year she is ditching the traditional Lent diet in favour of a digital detox- no social media or Netflix for the duration !

I

grew up in a Catholic family and when I was little, I took most of religious occasions pretty seriously, however with lent I really struggled with the idea of giving up something that I enjoyed for the entire 40 days. For a couple of years, I tried giving up sweets, but I never lasted that long. It didn’t mean that I was unable to give up things at all – at age 12 I became a vegetarian after seeing ‘cavallo’ written on a menu during a trip to Italy, which my horse loving soul could not bear. The fact that my family was very much against my new diet was probably why I went through with it – I simply enjoyed doing these little things to make my family go slightly mad.

Epigram / Laila Freeman

”

”

Now, although I don’t think about it that much, I generally like the idea of lent and trying to abstain from certain habits, as I think it can be good for both your mental and physical health. So this year, I’ve decided rather than focusing on food-based goals I am going to give up using Netflix and YouTube and limit my social media time to a minimum for at least the duration of lent. Instead I am going to read more books.

There are a few reasons why I thought it was a good idea. Firstly, I recently realised how much of my free time being on the internet consumes – time I could be using to do things that are valuable.

It just becomes an automatic thing to do every time I’m tired or frustrated or even just bored – I lie in bed with my laptop and watch terribly cheesy rom-coms or something equally easy to digest. It’s understandable why they become everyone’s number one choice when feeling low, but also, they can just be so incredibly cringy and unrealistic that recently they don’t give me much pleasure at all.

”

Yes, it is about sacrifice, but with the ultimate goal of being kind to oneself

of reading may be beneficial. Binge watching on Netflix tends to be a very isolating activity, because it’s just so addictive you often end up not leaving your room for hours – and isolation is one of the worst things you can do when struggling mentally.

With books it’s different, because on average we may read for an hour or two, but probably not eight. It requires more thinking and imagination, and that is tiring. Also, on a nice day you can take your book outside to read in nature and sunshine, which as we all know, it is the ultimate happiness booster!

On the other hand, the books that I keep buying frantically in charity shops are slowly piling up and collecting dust on the shelf. Yet I hardly ever reach for them when I have time to spare or I need to unwind.

My addiction to the screen makes me read so much less than I used to. When I do try to read, and I sit down, tea in hand, and open a book I quickly become distracted and look at my phone.

This year I have been struggling with my mental health quite a lot, so I hope that swapping by curbing my internet addiction with the pleasure

Binge watching on Netflix tends to be a very isolating activity

”

Overall, I think that lent is a great idea for anyone, whether you are religious or not. Yes, it is about sacrifice, but with the ultimate goal of being kind to oneself. After all, we are only given one go at this life (unless you believe otherwise), and we only have one mind and one health, so we really should try and take better care of it.

Giving up something for the whole 40 days may sound very daunting at first, but once you change one habit it becomes quite easy to stick with it. And even if you feel like you absolutely won’t last so long without sweets/ meat/ alcohol/ coffee/ cigarettes/ plastic packaging or indeed Netflix, try at least for a little bit – you may find that choosing a healthier alternative to those things may be beneficial.

And who knows – maybe after this years’ Lent, I will never want to go on Netflix ever again!

Zorsia Gontar Psychology, Second Year

Editor Laila Freeman @lunchingwithlaila

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Olivia Critoph

Nicole Abou-Abdallah

Epigram Food 2018-19

@epigram_food

Avoid the topping clichés this Pancake Day! Whetheryouobservelentornot,thereisnocontestingthatPancakeDayisoneofthebestdaysoftheyear.

GeorginaScottpresentsherguidetothebestpancaketoppings

T

not to be disregarded this Tuesday.

he University of Bristol, known as a beacon for the edgy and alternative, has a certain reputation to uphold when it comes to influencing the latest trends and fads. Our nonconformist approach to student life does not just stop with our clothing and attitude, but we are the millennials leading from the front when it comes to the creation of culinary trends. This Pancake Day we challenge you to uphold our innovatory prestige by switching up your topping clichés and experimenting with the following alternatives to add an imaginative twist to your Pancake Day stacks.

We encourage you to open your mind and tastebuds to an endless wealth of savoury fillings. For example, this palatable combination of bacon and cheese is straightforward and simple but will transform your pancake stack into a sophisticated, worthy plate of brilliance. Allow the sweetness of your pancakes to compliment the subtle salty bacon, as the familiar warmth of melted cheese brings the dish harmoniously together. What better way to start your Shrove Tuesday than with bacon and cheese?

Tip: Make your bacon extra crispy and do not be afraid to add maple syrup.

1) Baileys

Instagram / @beerdbristol

Tip: For the authentic boozy pancake experience substitute some milk for Baileys in your batter and add Nutella for a truly premium mix!

If you are on a tight budget (like most of us are), and an (at least) £11 pancake topping does not really appeal to you then this next one is for you.

5) Get Fishy!

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Yes, this wholehearted, warming liquor we all know as ‘Baileys’ is not one to shy away from this Pancake Day. Rather than adding the basic Sainsbury’s or Tesco’s double cream, a splash or two of Baileys will not only start your day off with a bit of a kick, but its delicate blend of Irish whiskey and fresh dairy cream will revivify your tastebuds. Allow this luxuriously smooth topping to soak into your fluffy pancakes giving them a velvety texture while its hints of vanilla and cocoa provide an irresistible sweetness. Let’s face it, alcohol at breakfast is no stranger to University students, so why not indulge in this sumptuous combination this Shrove Tuesday?

If you happen to be cooking fish for your Tuesday evening meal, seafood pancakes can definitely be an inventive way to say you have participated in this grand tradition with style.

While any fish will do, we highly recommend salmon as your choice, hot or cold it acts as a rich but light topping and can be delicately paired with anything from cream cheese to pesto. Serve this flavoursome dish to your flatmates at dinnertime and watch their impressed faces as they indulge in your alternative pancake creation.

Conventionally used as a sandwich filler, the fruity sweetness of the jam contrasting with the beloved saltiness of peanut butter yields a flavoursome plate of absolute satisfaction. The elegant amalgamation of the two spreads is perhaps one of America’s greatest creations, and should not be easily dismissed as a go-to topping. Two hefty dollops of the classic spreads will be enough to elevate your buttery pancakes to the next level!

Tip: Use a crunchy peanut butter to give your pancakes that extra texture!

3) Stewed Apple and Cinnamon

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Fruit on pancakes is perhaps not considered an ‘alternative’ topping, but simply adding a bit of spice will give you a unique fusion of flavours.

With this seasonal composition of apple and cinnamon get ready to be transported back to autumnal Bristol scenes, as the cinnamon slowly caramelises the stewed apples its delectable aroma will diffuse through your apartment. The warm delicately spiced apples cascading over your pancakes is a match made in heaven and it will charmingly fulfil your pancake needs like no other topping.

We guarantee it will be worth that extra effort and it is also a great option for you veggies and vegans. And let us remember, although it makes very few appearances in our diet, cinnamon has some serious health benefits with it’s many medicinal properties and is certainly a healthy alternative to sugar.

Tip: Add a drizzle of maple syrup for additional sweetness.

2) Peanut Butter Jelly 4) Cheese and Bacon Utilise the ingredients you already have lying around the apartment to create this American inspired (and more affordable) pancake masterpiece!

Thinking that pancake toppings have to be sweet is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions of our modern world. The often forgotten about, pushed aside and laughed at savoury pancake is

Tip: Add a squirt of lemon for a more zesty plate.

Epigram / Laila Freeman Instagram / @crumbykitchen

For those looking for some more healthy alternatives out there, keep reading!

Now that you are drooling with excitement for this year’s Pancake Day, eagerly ready with your alternative toppings, it is to be remembered that clichés are clichés for a reason. There is no denying that the classic combination of Nutella and strawberries is not sublime, but let your pancakes be a canvas for your imagination and the topping possibilities are endless! Remember to tag Epigram Food in any of your artistic pancake creations (@ epigram_food).

Georgina Scott

First Year Psychology

8

epigram / The Croft 04/03/19

Avoid the topping clichés this Pancake Day! Whetheryouobservelentornot,thereisnocontestingthatPancakeDayisoneofthebestdaysoftheyear.

GeorginaScottpresentsherguidetothebestpancaketoppings

T

not to be disregarded this Tuesday.

he University of Bristol, known as a beacon for the edgy and alternative, has a certain reputation to uphold when it comes to influencing the latest trends and fads. Our nonconformist approach to student life does not just stop with our clothing and attitude, but we are the millennials leading from the front when it comes to the creation of culinary trends. This Pancake Day we challenge you to uphold our innovatory prestige by switching up your topping clichés and experimenting with the following alternatives to add an imaginative twist to your Pancake Day stacks.

We encourage you to open your mind and tastebuds to an endless wealth of savoury fillings. For example, this palatable combination of bacon and cheese is straightforward and simple but will transform your pancake stack into a sophisticated, worthy plate of brilliance. Allow the sweetness of your pancakes to compliment the subtle salty bacon, as the familiar warmth of melted cheese brings the dish harmoniously together. What better way to start your Shrove Tuesday than with bacon and cheese?

Tip: Make your bacon extra crispy and do not be afraid to add maple syrup.

1) Baileys

Instagram / @beerdbristol

Tip: For the authentic boozy pancake experience substitute some milk for Baileys in your batter and add Nutella for a truly premium mix!

If you are on a tight budget (like most of us are), and an (at least) £11 pancake topping does not really appeal to you then this next one is for you.

5) Get Fishy!

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Yes, this wholehearted, warming liquor we all know as ‘Baileys’ is not one to shy away from this Pancake Day. Rather than adding the basic Sainsbury’s or Tesco’s double cream, a splash or two of Baileys will not only start your day off with a bit of a kick, but its delicate blend of Irish whiskey and fresh dairy cream will revivify your tastebuds. Allow this luxuriously smooth topping to soak into your fluffy pancakes giving them a velvety texture while its hints of vanilla and cocoa provide an irresistible sweetness. Let’s face it, alcohol at breakfast is no stranger to University students, so why not indulge in this sumptuous combination this Shrove Tuesday?

If you happen to be cooking fish for your Tuesday evening meal, seafood pancakes can definitely be an inventive way to say you have participated in this grand tradition with style.

While any fish will do, we highly recommend salmon as your choice, hot or cold it acts as a rich but light topping and can be delicately paired with anything from cream cheese to pesto. Serve this flavoursome dish to your flatmates at dinnertime and watch their impressed faces as they indulge in your alternative pancake creation.

Conventionally used as a sandwich filler, the fruity sweetness of the jam contrasting with the beloved saltiness of peanut butter yields a flavoursome plate of absolute satisfaction. The elegant amalgamation of the two spreads is perhaps one of America’s greatest creations, and should not be easily dismissed as a go-to topping. Two hefty dollops of the classic spreads will be enough to elevate your buttery pancakes to the next level!

Tip: Use a crunchy peanut butter to give your pancakes that extra texture!

3) Stewed Apple and Cinnamon

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Fruit on pancakes is perhaps not considered an ‘alternative’ topping, but simply adding a bit of spice will give you a unique fusion of flavours.

With this seasonal composition of apple and cinnamon get ready to be transported back to autumnal Bristol scenes, as the cinnamon slowly caramelises the stewed apples its delectable aroma will diffuse through your apartment. The warm delicately spiced apples cascading over your pancakes is a match made in heaven and it will charmingly fulfil your pancake needs like no other topping.

We guarantee it will be worth that extra effort and it is also a great option for you veggies and vegans. And let us remember, although it makes very few appearances in our diet, cinnamon has some serious health benefits with it’s many medicinal properties and is certainly a healthy alternative to sugar.

Tip: Add a drizzle of maple syrup for additional sweetness.

2) Peanut Butter Jelly 4) Cheese and Bacon Utilise the ingredients you already have lying around the apartment to create this American inspired (and more affordable) pancake masterpiece!

Thinking that pancake toppings have to be sweet is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions of our modern world. The often forgotten about, pushed aside and laughed at savoury pancake is

Tip: Add a squirt of lemon for a more zesty plate.

Epigram / Laila Freeman Instagram / @crumbykitchen

For those looking for some more healthy alternatives out there, keep reading!

Now that you are drooling with excitement for this year’s Pancake Day, eagerly ready with your alternative toppings, it is to be remembered that clichés are clichés for a reason. There is no denying that the classic combination of Nutella and strawberries is not sublime, but let your pancakes be a canvas for your imagination and the topping possibilities are endless! Remember to tag Epigram Food in any of your artistic pancake creations (@ epigram_food).

Georgina Scott

First Year Psychology

04/03/19 epigram / The Croft

9

Len’s Lent: Experiences of going vegan LenyaAristotelous reflectsonherpastobservationsofLentandwhysheislookingforwardtothisyear

A

s a member of the Greek orthodox church I have undergone the ritual of Lent for many years. To me, Lent is a time to appreciate everything that we have by giving up things we take for granted.

Epigram / Laila Freeman

During secondary school, my observation of lent started off quite small: giving up small treats such as sweets, crisps or chocolate. For someone who loves a good snack, this was indeed a struggle. However, as I got older I realised that I really wanted to challenge myself beyond abstaining from my favourite snacks and so, for the past 3 years, I have adopted an entirely vegan diet during Lent. As someone who typically eats a lot of meat this has proved no small feet but this only makes the sense of satisfaction at the end even better.

Whilst still living at home, going vegan was initially quite challenging and I came to realise just how integral meat, milk and cheese

ingredient lists for non-vegan friendly ingredients, but my housemates came to my aid and suggested some vegan recipes for me to try. This included vegan enchiladas which were surprisingly enjoyable for someone who loves meat. Three of them also went vegan alongside me - although did later admit to cheating when I was not around! Although an improvement, second year was still far from a healthy balanced diet for me, consisting of a lot of carbs and not much of anything else. That is, of course, not to say that you cannot have a balanced vegan diet; rather to say that I personally did not.

This year, as lent approaches I aim to be able to cook a variety of balanced, healthy vegan meals and ensure that I get all the nutrients I need. I look forward to the challenge of giving up my favourite foods and to being reminded to appreciate just some of the things I take for granted on a daily basis.

were to mine and my family’s diets. However, my parents and brother becoming vegan too made it easier for me and meant that I could rely on them when it came to meal times.

Epigram /Laila Freeman

Epigram / Imogen Rogers Instagram / @dailycheesedelight

Moving to university made this sufficiently harder. Adapting to cooking for yourself in first year is a shock to the best of us, and come Lent I found myself having to adapt for a second time, in order to cater to my entirely new diet. I came to realise that for a non-vegan who eats animal products a number of times on a daily basis, trying to find a variety of vegan meals proved extremely challenging. So many things that I had not considered actually contained at least one animal product. My first year of university was definitely the hardest. During Lent my meals were very boring and the same throughout. I was not very adventurous and Linda McCartney vegan sausages and hash brown wraps soon became my equivalent to a gourmet meal.

Suffice to say my first year at university attempting to be vegan was not a healthy one. Part of this was due to getting fed up of having to check every ingredient on the packet so resorting to the same meal each day. Despite this, I did also learn to identify the best vegan friendly snacks available - top tip: salt and vinegar and BBQ Pringles are vegan. You can also buy vegan rocky roads and Pinkman’s Bakery do some great vegan cakes! On the split side, vegan cheese...not so great.

Second year of university however proved slightly better - not only was I more accustomed to both cooking for myself and to scanning

Lenya Aristotelous Third Year Physiological Science

Recipe: Chocolate Oreo Fridge Cake DeputyFoodEditor,OliviaCritoph,sharesherrecipeforanOreofridgecake:amustforanychocolatefan. sure the digestive crumbs are really fine and that there are no chunks.

This no bake cake is super easyto make and even easier to binge on. It is best stored in the fridge, but let’s be real, it will be gone long before you have to think about where to store it.

3) Crush most of your Oreos (save around 9 or 10) and add to the mixture. The oreos need to be crushed, but not as finely as the digestives. Stir all your ingredients together thoroughly.

Ingredients

Method 1) Melt half of your chocolate, butter and 2 tbsp of golden syrup over a pan of boiling water in a heat-proof bowl. Stir the mixture continuously to make sure the chocolate does not burn.

2) Once everything has melted, stir in the crushed digestives, making

Epigram / Olivia Critoph

- 400g Dark Chocolate - 100g Butter - 3 tbsp Golden Syrup - 125g Crushed Digestive Buscuit - 1 packet of oreos

4) Line a 20cm square baking tin with silver foil, or non-stick paper, and spread the mixture evenly. As it is quite dry, make sure to pack it down tightly to the edges of the tin, to make sure it all sticks together. Then put in the fridge for about 30mins.

5) Once the cake has been in the fridge for 30mins, melt the second half of your chocolate and the final tablespoon of golden syrup together (in the same way as earlier). Once smooth, pour it over the top of the cake.

6) Roughly break up your remaining Oreos into chunks, and scatter on the top of the cake. Then leave in the fridge for another 2 hours, before cutting the cake into squares.

Olivia Critoph Deputy Food Editor

Editor India Harrison-Peppe

Deputy Editor Jemima Carr-Jones

@e2style

Online Editor Ruby Gleeson

@epigramstyle

epigram / The Croft 04.03.2019

Epigram Style 2018/19

Feminism, fashion and Christian Dior Annelise Moses discusses the groundbreaking impact of Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ collection, and how it paved a change for feminism in fashion.

I

n light of the new ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ exhibition that opened at the beginning of February this year at London’s V&A Museum, it would be interesting to cast our minds back to the iconic, French designer’s most groundbreaking collection.

On the 12th February 1947, not even two years after World War II had ended, Christian Dior unveiled his Corolle collection - later dubbed the ‘New Look’ following then editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, Carmel Snow’s, exclamatory remarks upon the reveal. The ‘New Look’ can be seen as both a reaction to the austerity of the war years, but also as ushering in a decade of fetishised femininity. During the war, fashion trends were about practicality; dresses got shorter due to fabric rationing, the bikini made its debut and clothes adopted a more masculine edge. The Corolle collection was everything that these austere fashion trends were not; using excessive and luxurious fabrics, the Bar suit - the main feature of the new collection - sought to emphasise the unique aspects of the female body.

The ‘New Look’ is well known for its cinched-in waists, anklelength skirts and rounded-shoulders that ‘accentuated the waist, the volume of the hips, I emphasised the bust’, in the words of Christian Dior himself. In the fashion world, and indeed much of the wider Western world, this celebration of the female body was well-received.

The 1950s were an era in which women returned to their traditional role as homemaker and housekeeper, and the post-war economic recovery facilitated an increasingly affluent and consumerist society.

Dior’s ‘New Look’ exemplified this very moment in history.

However, as progressive forces increasingly gained a voice in Western societies, arguing against the conformity and consensus of their predecessors to unjust state institutions, Dior’s ‘New Look’ suffered criticism. The late 1950s and 1960s saw the birth of secondwave feminism, said to have been prompted by the publication of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex in 1949.

Other key items in the collection have remained pervasive in the world of fashion; this season has seen wide belts and suits gaining popular appeal, simulating the tight waists of the ‘New Look’. So, perhaps in a time where feminism is in its third phase, the celebration of the female body by the ‘New Look’ has regained its popular appeal that it first received in the 1950s.

Second-wave feminism drew attention to the societal beliefs of the woman that restricted her role to certain places and spaces, largely the home and the family, and by consequence resulted in several legal and de facto inequalities between man and woman. The ‘New Look’ received critique from the emerging movement for women’s liberation in the United States, with women picketing fashion shows with placards brandishing the slogan ‘Burn Mr Dior’; for such women, the tight waists and emphasised busts of the ‘New Look’ were a demonstration of the objectification of women that they deplored.

Whatever the controversy, the Dior ‘New Look’ has had a longstanding impact on the fashion trends we witness today. The key features of the Corolle collection have been reinvented, reimagined and modernised, and can be seen in the fashion trends of many societies. Even as of the recent SS19 fashion weeks, the knife-tight pleats that were a prominent feature of the Bar suit’s ankle-length skirts can be witnessed on the catwalks of Roland Mouret and Givenchy.

This exhibition has been curated at the V&A by Oriole Cullen, after being transferred from Paris’s Musee des Arts Decoratifs. It is a must see for all interested in fashion, story or those merely looking for an aesthetically-pleasing day out in London. The exhibition is running from February 2nd to July 14th.

Other key items in the collection have remained pervasive in the world of fashion; this season has seen wide belts and suits gaining popular appeal, simulating the tight waists of the “New Look”. So perhaps in a

Annelise Moses, Second Year History

How to Wear Utility Clothing Online Editor, Ruby Gleeson, advises us on how to style utility wear- think boilersuits, overalls and cargo pants.

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ndrogynous, utility clothing has undergone a recent surge in the world of fashion- practicality is finally in again. Utilitarian clothing - think boilersuits, overalls and cargo pants- have made a comeback, with designers offsetting their traditionally military association with shades of white, pinks and blue. This colour palette is far removed from the traditional khakis and browns so often associated with utility wear, which makes it the perfect new trend to enter into Spring/Summer 19.

Utility clothing was first introduced in Britain in 1942, for economic aid during the war as well as a method to conserve materials. During the war, utility wear made up 85 percent of the clothing industry in order to preserve fabric, marked with a CC41 tag to demonstrate its garment construction. Utility shoes had to be chunky and solid, whilst utility dresses were limited to only two pocked and six seams in the skirt- extra embroidery or decoration was not allowed.

So why has utility wear suddenly had its re-calling? Well, not only is it functional and durable, it can also be stylish too. Sustainability is an incredibly important issue in the fashion industry, and the popularity of work wear marks a conscious change in what we buy; durability and quality over fast fashion.

A baby pink all-in-one? This might sound impossible to wear, but this suit is a far cry from the baby-gro image you might imagine. The structured, tailored detailing combines playfulness with a mature silhouette.

CAT Footwear have recently redesigned their brand from functional ‘dad-trainers’ to creating more options for a younger crowd. Their ‘Re-powered’ capsule collection showcases 90’s style chunky trainers for both men and women- describing itself as ‘bold, nostalgic and authentic’. Although they are pricey, you can rest assured that these shoes are an investment piece that will see you through the years- they promise to be designed to endure ‘cement construction’, after all.

To sport the trend, think neutral shades, cinched waists and crisp, comfortable fabrics that are long-lasting and great quality. Team boxy, pocketed skirts with flowing white shirts- or go for a full-on boilersuit if you’re feeling brave!

Ruby Gleeson, Online Editor

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04.03.2019 The Croft / epigram

A Hairstyle to raise heartbeats 2nd Year English student, Isabelle McMinn, offers the second of two tutorials in Epigram Style. This Heart Braid is anything BUT half-hearted. Get stuck in with a tutorial that’s bound to make you look lovely.

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air might be one of those things that you can’t be bothered to take the time to fuss over. Though we know with deadlines looming and the dreaded Easter Holidays emerging on the horizon, that hair might be the last of your priorities, we see the value in taking time out and sometimes going to extra lengths to make yourself feel good. If your cortisol levels are high and you need something to distract you from the stresses of dayto-day life, then maybe hazarding a try at this hairstyle is the thing for you. With minimal effort and a maximum result, it just might be

the kind of activity that you’re looking for to reach that level of zen that you’ve been aspiring towards but can never quite manage to achieve. This cute hairstyle is much easier to do than it looks. It can be done on lots of different lengths and textures of hair. If you’re confident enough at small Dutch-braiding and can keep them neat enough to show the pattern, then it should only take 8-10 minutes.

Heart Braids

a) Image Credit/ Isabelle McMinn

1. Choose where you want the heart and create a T-parting. Make sure that the bottom of the part is where you want the centre of the design to be.

2. Begin on one side of the parting and start plaiting with a very small amount of hair as close to the parting as you can. b)

3. Follow the curved heart shape as shown, turning a full 180 degrees. The turn is done by taking smaller amounts of hair from the inside curve than the outside.

4. Still, try to keep the plait flat onto the side of the head. If this fails, then you can take a hairpin and hide it within the plait, so it is invisible, but still holding the design in place.

d) c)

5. Continue Dutch-Braiding until you are in line with where you began, then plait normally for a couple more inches and secure with a hair tye.

5. Once you have done the same on the other side of the T-parting, join the two ends with a small hair elastic and you are done! d)

6. To add some extra detail, use a coloured band or some ribbon wrapped around the end.

If you’ve seen this article and fancy sending in a tutorial of your own, then send your contributions to @ EpigramStyle on Instagram or join our Facebook Group.

We are currently looking for video submissions, so if you have a project in mind, then don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can help you make it happen!

Look at last week’s issue and you’ve got two cute and easy plait styles! If you wear them out anytime soon, then take a snap and send it into Epigram Style, we’d love to see the results – happy styling!

Isabelle McMinn, 2nd Year English Student

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How to do (or how not to do) Venice on a budget Venice is renowned for for being a beautiful city full of culture, and here Jemima Stafford gives her top tips for visiting on a student budget

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re-conceptions of Venice usually concern notions of romance, ornate design, beautiful sunsets reflected in the multitudes of canals that slice the city into segments, and, typically, expense. I had always viewed Venice as being out of my reach as a city-break destination whilst being a student. However, with £20 return flights coming out of Bristol Airport when flying with budget airlines this January, it was too good an opportunity to miss. Wringing my hands whilst wandering spiritlessly around campus, having not really had a break over Christmas because of exams, gloomily waiting for results to be announced, the sight of cheap flights on Kayak was simply irresistible.

In the main area of San Marco, and anywhere around the

Instead of investing in a cheesy gondola ride, you can get the same views of the Grand Canal for a fraction of the price (and without the same tourist emblem burnt onto your being like a high-visibility jacket) by hopping on a water-bus. On our second day we travelled to Borano, one of the many islands around Venice that are well-worth the visit. Out the window of the water-bus you look onto the vastness of the Adriatic, and on the other side the sun glints off the Alps - the perfect view for fostering that post-exam feeling of personal insignificance and perspective. Morano is the island populated solely by glass-making factories, and Borano is its more attractive sister-island, filled with multi-coloured buildings that make

up a photographer’s delight – although both are worth a visit, and with the all inclusive bus-ticket a multi-stop trip makes sense.

With Venice’s rich art history, the Peggy Guggenheim collection is one of the best galleries to visit, with the heiress herself inhabiting the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni (where the collection is housed) for three decades. With a student ID, you’ll be forking out 10 euros, but it’s worth the cost. The collection itself holds works by some of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, from Picasso to Braque and Mondrian, and with casts by artists such as Ernst being nestled in the sculpture garden. If you’re more into the older masterpieces, check out The Accademia, where Paolo and Carpaccio are on offer.

Unsplash/ rickpsd

After being sufficiently ripped off by Ryanair (watch out – they’ve changed their baggage allowance policy) and then ripped off by the Venetian water-bus system (27 euros for an open return bus to the airport) we arrived at our Air BnB hostel, a delightfully pink building slowly crumbling into the surrounding canals. Hostels can be cheap, but depending on location Air BnB can be cheaper – and a hostel Air BnB is the winning combo for a budget. Quintessentially Venetian, the floral tapestry-style wallpaper adorned with gold leaf set the romantic background for a not-so romantic reality of rickety, half-functioning furniture and an oven that didn’t work in its entirety. You get what you pay for.

Ponte di Rialto, you’re unlikely to find a cup of tea for less than 7 euros. It’s also easy to imagine a trip to Venice quickly becoming a nightmare in summer, with narrow streets being borderline claustrophobic even without the millions of tourists. For meals out, it’s better to wander outwards from the San Marco centre. We had dinner at Bar Puppa, a tiny ramshackle bar/restaurant populated by locals where you can grab a huge plate of pasta, any alcoholic drink, and post-dinner coffees for 15 euros. In Campo Santa Margherita food and drinks are cheaper and more authentic than elsewhere, and Venice Jazz Club is one bar that stays open late in the otherwise generally low-key and early-night vibe of the out-oftourist season. There is no large supermarket in the centre of Venice, the closest one being on the mainland – we packed our Lidl supplies into an extra bag and bought it with us, defeating the need to spend loads on lunches and breakfasts out.

When telling friends and family I was off to Venice, but only for three days, the response I mostly received was, “don’t worry, you can do everything in Venice in a day”. What was meant by this I am unsure. Can you put an expiration date on the permanent state of enjoyment that comes from wandering around a beautiful Italian city, where the streets are, in themselves, an outdoor art gallery? You can do Venice cheaply, if you time the flights right, and avoid the usual tourist-trap locations and traditions. On the other hand, when you’re paying 7 euros for a cup of tea, three days might be the magic number if you’re trying to stay on-budget.

Jemima Stafford Second Year, English

Epigram

Venice Photo Album

/ Jemima Epigram /

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Epigram / Jemima Stafford

Epigram / Jemima Stafford

epigram / The Croft 04.03.2019

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Spotlight on... Copenhagen How to do Copenhagen - an overview Thinking of heading to Copenhagen? Benjamin Salmon gives us his top tips for making the most of your visit

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n the 1952 film music Hans Christian Andersen, Danny Kane sang ‘Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen!’ – and with good reason. Copenhagen is nothing short of a beautiful, bustling and altogether cool city. Typically stylish Scandinavian design coexists happily next to the brooding cosiness of a traditional Danish pub. But if you want to experience the Copenhagen lifestyle the right way, there are a few tips, tricks and even some rules of this charming place that need to be known. Here’s a few of them.

Worship the bicycle

Search Out Hygge With no literal translation, hygge (pronounced ‘hoo-ga’) is the latest trend taking over Britain’s middle class. Essentially, it is the warm feeling of cosiness and contentment one often feels in different settings. The Copenhagen pub scene fulfils this mysterious adjective to the fullest with a whole array of warm and friendly bars just waiting for your custom. Be prepared to splash out - drinks are pretty expensive at anywhere between £4-8. That being said, all that matters is that you’ll be guaranteed that hygge feeling. Some favourites include Kalaset, Bar Farfar, Café Halvvejen and Granola. If you’re less picky about where you drink, the bars along Gothersgade tend to be fun and cheap (well, this is Copenhagen, so nothing is ever truly cheap.)

Be tempted by Danish design

– once a cinema, now a massive store selling the newest designs.

Enjoy the environment All you woke environmentalists in Bristol would love what the Danes do. Copenhagen is set to be the world’s first carbon-neutral capital by 2025 with electric busses, clean harbours and of course the wide use of cycling all contributing. It is also Danish law to recycle, with heavy fines for those that don’t. Littering is almost unheard of, which, apart from being good for the natural environment of the city (Copenhagen has many large parks with much flora and fauna), it is genuinely a pleasure to walk around town and not be depressed by the influence of human waste. If you’re really trusting in Copenhagen’s cleanliness, I’m sure you’d have no problem going for an open-water swim in the frigidly cold harbour as boats pass by - do as the locals do and all.

Take in the view One thing the guidebooks don’t really tell you about is the vast array of viewpoints and towers people can visit.

Danish law states that buildings over a certain height are forbidden from being erected in the city centre, meaning the tallest towers are actually still the church spires and clocktowers that existed before the modern skyscraper was developed.

Many of these towers have beautiful views all across the historic city and are very cheap to climb up. The best views are from the top of the Round Tower and the iconic spiral tower at the top of the Church of Our Saviour, and both only £3 to summit.

Prepare for the weather It is no secret that Denmark is a cold place, but in reality, winter here is pretty consistent: it rains, a lot. It’s rather safe to say that winter is not the best time to visit. However, once Easter rolls around, the city changes and the warm weather brings out the best in Copenhagen. A lack of open container laws means people sit by the canals swigging beer and wine straight from the bottle while the sun shines down on the city. Most of the best attractions, including the famously kitsch but ultimately hygge theme park Tivoli Gardens, open their doors for the summer season and street parties pop up left, right and centre. Copenhagen is also an incredibly safe city, so the risk of crime at these events is quite minimal.

Of course, there is so much more to Copenhagen than the stuff I have listed here, but I hope this rundown provides something of an insider’s guide for those looking to visit. I guess you’ll have to go there to find out more!

Benjamin Salmon Second year, Politics

Unsplash / anton_keratkevich

Talk to anyone with even a smidgen of knowledge about interior design, and they will tell you it’s the Scandis, and especially the Danes, who do it best. Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Egg Chair and famously ubiquitous Ant Chair are the stars of the show, popping up all over the world. But it is in Copenhagen where Danish design is really let loose and any visit to the city is incomplete without visiting some of the shops, even if they are a little out of a student’s price range. Visit Hay for simple, yet incredibly stylish home furnishings. Try Illums Bolighus a whole department store full to the brim with homeware and interior design goods. Finally, check out Normann Copenhagen

Xander Brett discusses our obsession with Copenhagen and all things hygge

Epigram / Benjamin Salmon

Everyone cycles. I really do mean everyone. Two thirds of Copenhagen residents bike into work every day – and with good reason. The whole place is flat as a pancake, the roads are in top condition and good cycle lanes are actually a thing here.

No matter how long your visit to Copenhagen, renting a bike is a must and less daunting than you think it might be. Unlike in London or Bristol, cyclists here are a valued part of city life and going around the old centre on a sunny day is unbeatable and pretty simple. Make sure to look right at a crossing though! When walking as a pedestrian around town, just don’t tread in front of an oncoming cyclist, save you feel the wrath of an angry Dane – someone you definitely would not like to come across.

Copenhagen: Denmark’s ‘National Town’ In recent years the Danish concept of hygge (loosely translated as ‘cosiness’) has exploded in the UK. Unsurprisingly, there has been an unprecedented influx of British tourists to Denmark and Copenhagen is now constantly replenished with a stream of hygge-lovers. Copenhagen is not only Scandinavia’s most hyggeligt city, but a perfect scale model of Scandinavian society as a whole. The first time I visited Copenhagen it was my eighteenth birthday. I was walking home from dinner with my family when we came across the prime minister giving an interview. Afterwards, he came over to wish me a happy birthday.

It was a spontaneous and relaxed event.

Copenhagen has both smart hotels and rustic bars; both world-class museums and a lawless drug-quarter. But, without a class system, and with an almost unnoticeably small wealth gap, each strand of the city fits effortlessly into a unified whole.

Government departments, museums, palaces and tower blocks all sit comfortably alongside one other. Private schools are nonexistent, state schools are of an exceptionally high standard and there is no clearly defined business district.

With a population of just over 600,000, to the average British tourist, Copenhagen rarely feels like a capital city. Most residents commute by bike and the wide boulevards common to many European capitals are rare. Moreover, while most capitals have a focal point for national occasions, Copenhagen has no clearly defined point of reference. Rather than being a monumental centre of power, therefore, Copenhagen is to Danes a sort of ‘national town’. Amalienborg Palace, the royal family’s workplace, surrounds a cobbled square, while Christiansborg Palace, housing the parliament, prime minister’s office and supreme court, is nestled among multi-coloured canal houses. Last time I was in Copenhagen I went to Amalienborg to watch the arrival of President Macron on a state visit; there was inevitably a large crowd, the event interrupted programming on national television and there were military processions systemic of such occasions.

But, in a typically Danish setting, we were permitted to get up close to Macron and the royal family as they passed, making the event feel equally intimate and sincere.

When I told my Swedish friend about bumping into the prime minister, she was unimpressed. Such events are, after all, symptomatic of pan-Scandinavian liberalism. However, she did admit that Sweden was slightly stricter when it came to national security (as her mother experienced first-hand working for their prime minister) because Sweden has experienced security problems in the past. Denmark has not experienced such problems so, she said, it could afford to keep security loose.

This is true. But I wonder if at least some explanation of Danish nonchalance lies also with Copenhagen’s provincial atmosphere.

Stockholm has clearly defined centres of power and wellestablished districts. As Copenhagen has neither, it balances leadership and citizenship effectively, creating a city that is both a dignified setting for national ceremonies, and one in which the prime minister stops by for a chat.

Xander Brett First Year, French and History of Art

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04.03.2019 epigram / The Croft

The year after the year abroad

An anonymous contributor dicusses the difficulties of settling back in after a year abroad So, the year abroad is over. You come back to Bristol, to your comfort zone, where there are still plenty of friends who have stayed on either to do a masters or to work, and there are also those returning from their own year abroad. And you are meant to slip back in, seamlessly, to the easy routine of first and second year - some play, but probably quite a lot of work, and most of all a sense of ease that you are in the right place - at least geographically.

whilst friendships can’t always be measured in this way, and not everyone feels the need to message and call every week to maintain a friendship, the year abroad does reveal who you want to stay in touch with and in whom you want to invest your time: after all, it is very precious.

And so, returning from the year abroad, it can be difficult to ease back into friendship groups. A group dynamic might have changed,

Compared to the emotional rollercoaster of last year – forgive the cliché, but it really does describe the ups and downs of the year abroad – it is true that I know my way around Bristol and the university and I know what to expect, more or less, in terms of studying and socialising a lot better than this time last year.

The workload is higher but this was always to be expected and feels like a natural progression. Most of my friends are still in the city, I know the lecturers and I can place my order in a restaurant without worrying about pronunciation or conjugating a verb correctly.

friends themselves have changed over the year, perhaps there are new members in the group. Most importantly, you have almost certainly changed during the whirlwind of the year abroad. At worst, this means you feel like you’ve lost touch with the group and you no longer feel as at ease as you used to. And it is this feeling of loss – whether recoverable or not – which is frustrating and even saddening as final year begins to slip away. Alongside this, balancing new friendships and relationships you have brought back with you from your year abroad can make the return feel overwhelming, just when you thought the hard part was over.

A lot of life can happen during one year, both for you, on your exciting, glamorous, Instagrammable year abroad, and back home, where things tick along nicely, but where change happens gradually which you can ultimately grow to feel out of step with.

I think it is important to accept that you can’t keep abreast with everything and everyone, both at home and abroad. Friendships go through phases and realising how I can best invest my limited time left at university has been a difficult but gradual process for me. If anything, being abroad and then coming back and the difficulties this has led to have been a learning curve for me, as I gradually realise who I am and what really makes me happy.

But, in reality, the transition back into life in Bristol has been a lot more unstable than I had ever expected. Although everyone talks about the year abroad as if it is the part of your life where you will have to adapt and come to terms with a new lifestyle and new people the most, coming back afterwards is not necessarily a walk in the park either.

Epigram

Relationships change and the distance you experience whilst abroad can feel like a test of friendship. Did we stay in touch regularly enough? Did we Skype as much as we should have? And

But I don’t regret having been away for a year abroad at all; I learnt so much and had some memorable experiences which have caused positive changes in my life. And I am so grateful that I have some wonderful friendships now, back in Bristol, and I hope to hold onto them for a long time. We have both matured and this has led to a strengthening rather than a distancing between us.

Epigram

More than just pasties: why Cornwall should be your next long weekend destination Joe Gorecki ruminates on his time on the UK’s most picturesque coastline

Before I went to Cornwall, most of my friends expressed surprise that I had never been before. I am a final year languages student: I’ve done a fair bit of travelling but I had never made it down to the duchy, the site which seemed to be the basis for many nostalgic childhood holidays and has inspired a renewed tourism due to its setting for the BBC’s Poldark (as the merchandise in souvenir shops will show).

The train from Bristol to Truro, and then from Truro to Falmouth, takes nearly four hours but doesn’t feel anywhere near that long as you admire the constantly changing landscapes.

After rendezvousing with my friend, the first thing we did when we arrived in Falmouth was to head to the town’s stunning Gyllyngvase Beach, its name reminding you of the distinct Cornish language which so many places in Cornwall take their names from.

It was the sheer intensity of the landscapes, so unlike most of the rest of the UK, which made me soon realise how much I had been missing out on. The wide dunes of the beach, with their hardy rugged sand topped with thick, black seaweed, form a large cove with greenery either side atop the cliffs. As you look

The town of Falmouth itself has its own quirky charm and chill outlook, but despite the similarities, it is more than just a Bristol-on-Sea. It still retains the identity of a Cornish seaside town, but with a thriving cultural scene which seems to be in large part due to a growing student population (which has also helped to make the area more accessible with public transport).

The town is full of hidden gems like Jam Records, a café and record shop selling an incredibly well-curated selection of vinyl than consists of more than just Cornwall’s greatest musical export, Aphex Twin. Beneath the main shop there is an incredibly cosy vintage living room space inviting you to listen to the owner’s current recommendations. There’s also Beerwolf Books, a rustic old pub with adjoining bookshop (an underrated combo).

Falmouth is also great in its food and drink offerings, with the seafood, of course, to definitely be recommended. Avoid the locallydetested Rick Stein outlet and opt for an independent place to fully

enjoy the fresh catches.

Off-season is definitely the time to go if you can. On the day after I arrived, we decided to take the train east to the St. Austell brewery who make the ubiquitous Tribute ale and Korev lager. The brewery was so quiet that we had a tour to ourselves and, when they learned we weren’t driving, they were all the more willing to give us free samples.

Epigram / Joe Gorecki

The opportunity finally came because of a Great Western Railway sale I spotted during a moment of procrastination in the midst of stressful January essays. I had been wanting to visit Cornwall for some time to go and visit a graduated friend who had moved back home near Falmouth and so I decided I would use the stubbornly inexplicable January reading week to go and see what I had been missing out on.

out to sea you get the faint feeling of being watched as on the left-hand side, perched high above is the imposing Tudor Pendennis Castle.

On my last day, we decided to take the extremely winding walk down following the impressive creek to Mylor Harbour from the village of Mylor Bridge, 15 minutes from Falmouth. Unfortunately, Mylor is more difficult to get to on public transport but the views alone are definitely worth the perseverance.

While we were having brunch at a beach café looking out onto the harbour, I knew that I would have to come back and explore more of Cornwall’s peaceful landscapes while I can still make the easy trip from Bristol (and which can hopefully be timed with another GWR sale).

Joe Gorecki

Deputy Music Editor

Bristol SU Sponsored Content

TOP 5 REASONS TO VOTE You’ve probably heard something about the elections which are taking place 12-14 March. Nominations for all the positions are now closed, and it’s time to get voting. Why should you vote? Here are 5 reasons…

It only takes 5 minutes

We’ll stop pestering you

It’s true, it really doesn’t take long to vote. You could vote between lectures, as procrastination whilst you’re studying, or from the comfort of your own home.

There’s no particular place to be as it’s done online. So there’s really no excuse!

Once you’ve voted for all the positions you can we’ll stop emailing you about it. Simple.

Get the candidate you want The people you are voting for will be representing you and your views to the university for the next year. That’s pretty important, so you might as well vote for a candidate whose policies you agree with.

Everyone has someone to vote for Whether you’re interested in the sabbatical officer who leads the union, or who represents your course, we’ll be electing hundreds of students. At least one of the positions will directly affect you so even if you only vote for that one role, it’s worth doing.

Your vote will make a difference These reps are usually only in post for just one year. That means that they can only focus on a few key things. You want to make sure that the reps who are voted in are the ones who are going to focus on the issues that are most important to you. It could make a big difference to your time at university.

Voting is open 12-14 March Find out more and vote at bristolsu.org.uk/elections #SUYesYou

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WHAT'S ON University Mental Health Day: sofa self care Thursday 7 March, 12-2pm, Bristol SU Living Room

Join Bristol SU and Off The Record on University Mental Health Day for a pop-up version of an OTR hub. Join the creative drop-in, chat to volunteers and find out about different techniques to look after your mental health.

This is the launch of a partnership between Bristol SU and Off The Record, ahead of a number of sessions they’ll be delivering during the summer exam period.

Bristol Darts Varsity 2019 Tuesday 5 March, 7:30pm, Anson Rooms

Richmond Lectures: Glyn Ford, Wednesday 6 March, 6pm, Anson Rooms

Bristol vs Exeter. This is the final game of the SUDL season and could be the title deciding match. Prepare yourself for the biggest night of the year: American football has the Super Bowl, football has the World Cup, Darts has VARSITY.

Join former MEP Glyn Ford for a free talk titled "Talking to North Korea". Mr Ford is also the Director of Track2Asia, an NGO specialised in track II relations between the EU and Asia. He has travelled to the DPRK for over 40 times and he is author of the book Talking to North Korea.

Folding the Future: How Origami is Transforming Engineering Monday 11 March, 6:30pm, Wills Memorial Building Part of the Best of Bristol lecture series.

In this talk we will explore how origami is transforming science and engineering, and reveal some of the elegant underlying principles of origami.

David Starkey: A Monarchy of Misfits Tuesday 12 March, 6:30pm, Anson Rooms

Can Mathematics Improve your Baking? Thursday 14 March, 7:30pm, Orchard Heights

This talk traces the radically shifting marriage customs of the British monarchy, from the laxity of the Middle Ages, through the stringencies of the Hanoverians, to the house of Windsor and its sometimes contorted adaptations to the realities of modern family life.

Part of the Best of Bristol lecture series.

How can we describe ‘even distribution’ mathematically and can we find a mathematical process which simulates the baker’s technique? And finally, how could these ideas connect to current research in dynamical systems?

Hal Cruttenden: Chubster, Friday 15 March, 7pm, Anson Rooms

St Patrick's Day Weekend, 16/17 March, Balloon Bar

Hal's literally filled our screens recently on Have I Got News For You, The Apprentice: You're Fired, Bake Off: Extra Slice, and Live at the Apollo. His daughters chose the title of his new stand-up show. He's now on a diet.

What better way to celebrate St Patrick's Day than watching the Six Nations with a Guinness? The Balloon Bar will be hosting so you can do that all weekend.

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Film & TV

epigram 04.03.2019

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

Photo by Clement Jochem, Water (dir. Elli Purse)

Project Elephant releases first short film Water with all-female cast and crew

Elli Purse is the founder of the sub-company of InFilm and the director of its first short Leah Martindale Third Year, Film & TV

‘

A surreal take on the feeling of finally feeling ok.’ On February 1, Water, the first project of InFilm’s flagship group Project Elephant (derived from ‘the elephant in the room’), debuted online. The group’s intention is to be a creative and inclusive space for women, femmes, and unrepresented genders to produce cinema in an industry in which we are regularly the elephants in the room. I spoke to writer and director Elli Purse about her involvement in the film, the project, and the necessity for these spaces in a patronisingly patriarchal industry.

Purse currently serves as the Secretary for InFilm Society - organising meetings and agendas, booking rooms, and ‘general soc sec things’. Alongside this role, and her third year studies in Film & Innovation (MA), Purse is the founder of Project Elephant, and while she ran it last term, the project is now headed up by InFilm Social Secretary and Water Assistant Director Maddie Bowers.

On her aims with Water, Elli outlined a creative process spanning three years. In first year, after struggles with personal and mental health problems, Purse wrote a poem. After a stint on medication which left her ‘high as fuck’, Purse nearly dropped out of university (a loss which alternate universe Bristol University is feeling keenly) but realised that in feeling something again she had a duty to channel this, and to do things. These feelings all culminated in a poem, which she knew she must make into a film. Hence the tagline, on ‘the feeling of finally feeling ok’. The film is a surreal and visceral take of which I suggest multiple viewings. Purse clarified for me that the trance-like state is designed to inspire introspection and wandering minds, and I am not losing my capabilities for attention in my now advanced age of 21. The audience are invited to empathise with the situation

of feeling like you are emerging from an unnatural neutrality, and the subsequent rush of sensory information that can feel almost like drowning.

Monaya Abel’s cinematography is measured and artistic, with a distinct style evidenced in all her works, utilising visual depth, aesthetic texture, and an excellent command and understanding of light. Becky Orton was new to me as an editor, and did not disappoint. With slow, purposeful transitions, and an affinity for the slow fade, her work reminded me of classic Hollywood editing, as though she has experimented with physical film itself and not just digital codes and bars on a screen. The film allows a self-reflective state, ‘five minutes of directed thought time’, which while effective can make the film feel lacking on first viewing.

After the bulk of my first experience with the film came from within my own head, it felt dishonest to praise its direction or substance.

However, upon rewatching, it is clear this sensation is a guided meditation in film form, with a purposeful detachment.

This effect is achieved massively by the deeply talented Paula Rüßmann’s sound direction. The slow, soft, watery audio juxtaposing suddenly with harsh traffic sounds and occasional white noise is an audio-assault that takes time to get used to, creating the exact atmosphere of being wrenched from a safe but soulless static into the heaving throng of real life.

Rüßmann was an unknown factor to me prior to the film, highlighting the necessity for Project Elephant. Purse told me how in 2017 only 11 per cent of the top 100 films were directed by women, with women’s largest presence behind the scenes being producers (25 per cent), and smallest composers (3 per cent). Purse characterised this simply as ‘insane’, stating we ‘shouldn’t have so few women’s narratives’, and that much of her experience of women in film ‘on placements and industry is [sic] filling quotas’. On realising oftentimes they were the only woman in the room, Purse’s company realised these companies were simply scoring ‘woke-points’. ‘Why would we need other women? We’ve got you,’ Purse mimicked.

“It is clear this sensation is a guided meditation in film form, with a purposeful detachment”

“Purse hopes the company will be bigger next year - hopefully growing into a regular femme filmmaking voice”

Once, a member of Project Elephant worked on a ‘lovely’ set, who had tried hard to have more women and had achieved a near 50/50 split, and yet still many of the major roles (director, writer, DOP, and head of sound) were all men. It is undeniably hard to find women in the film industry, and especially hard to build confidence in the women you have. Purse theorised that women find it easier to make things and have equal say amongst other women, which then allows you to go into a room full of men with confidence and experience behind you and show what you can do.

Asking Purse to summarise her aims for the sub-company, she described it as ‘just a thing!’, characterising her happy-go-lucky and all-inclusive attitude to the group. The group aim to make three films this year (including Water) and then hopefully pass the baton to next year’s committee, one which will contain equally talented and dedicated women as InFilm are lucky enough to have this year. Purse hopes the company will be bigger next year - hopefully growing into a regular femme filmmaking voice. While the crew was confirmedly all-women, of course the nature of filmmaking process must be reliant on the labours and belongings of men.

InFilm Production Manager Clement Jochem helped deliver equipment and kit, as well as taking behind the scenes photos. As Purse says, there are limits to how far you can be

independent when so many of the committee are men, most of the equipment is owned by men, and the go-ahead in a collaborative company must go through men.

Water is the first episode in a fourpart series on the elements, with Jochem producing the rest of them, and the aim of the projects is to work together as an artistic collective. While this is not under the Project Elephant umbrella, the crew is likely to stay the same. As Purse says: ‘Now we’ve found them, the creatives are there! But we don’t wanna only make women-only films.’

There are equally talented men. This is just about getting a foot in the door, and more elephants in the room. My final question to Purse was ‘How could someone be a part of Project Elephant?’ The simple answer is, they could email infilmbristol@gmail.com and say Project Elephant in the title. It’s that easy! Pitch your ideas in the email if you have any, as they are especially keen on producing new and exciting content.

They’re currently looking for crew for ‘Lost in the Supermarket’ - this term’s final Project Elephant creation - so if you are a woman, femme, or someone of an underrepresented gender with an interest in cinema, send them an email and Maddie will get back to you. If not, I highly recommend still joining InFilm, since, as the Project Elephant women have proven, there can never be too much talent in a room.

The 4% Challenge is a pledge launched at Sundance 2019

by Time’s Up and Annenburg Inclusion Initiative for those in the industry to work with at least one female director on a feature film in the next 18 months

04.03.2019

epigram

Film & TV 35

When analysing gender equality in film, is the Bechdel Test really the best?

The metric is 34 years old and limited in what it recognises as feminist - is it still relevant today?

Caitlin Danaher Third Year, English

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he boring paradigm of flat female characters shown in relation to complex and compelling male characters seems to have existed since the dawn of time. A 2017 survey by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that, of 120 films surveyed, only 31 per cent of named characters were female, and only 27 per cent had a female protagonist or co-protagonist. Alison Bechdel took this rampant gender inequality to task in her 1985 comic The Rule, in which the character stated that she would only watch a film if it satisfied three conditions: (1) the film must feature at least two named women, who (2) must have a back and forth conversation, which (3) must be about anything other than a man. The punchline being that as a result she hadn’t seen a film for six years.

To pass the Bechdel Test, the conversation could be as groundbreaking as discussing an alien invasion, or something as trivial as sandwich fillings. Indeed, Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) manages to pass the test by

the skin of its teeth through two women’s conversation about the toilet. Of this year’s Oscar ‘Best Picture’ nominees, only Green Book (2018) fails the Bechdel Test. Films such as The Favourite (2018) and Black Panther (2018) pass with flying colours as we see exciting, funny and powerful leading actresses such as Olivia Colman, Lupita Nyong’o and Letitia Wright taking centre screen. Yet the fact that The Favourite is still deemed ‘refreshing’ for portraying an all-female driven story is perhaps a disappointing indicator of the minimal progress film has made towards true gender equality since Bechdel made her comic over three decades ago.

As the 2017 Oscars show, failing the Bechdel Test doesn’t necessarily identify a ‘bad film’, as both Moonlight (2016) and La La Land (2016), the two biggest winners at the awards, did not pass the test. Indeed, the test was never intended as a means of evaluating a film’s quality. Many critically lauded films fail the test, including The Godfather (1972), Toy Story 1 (1995) and 2 (1999), and The Social Network (2010). Instead, the Bechdel Test illuminates the passive and uninteresting characters written for women in film. The test is undoubtedly limited and fails to indicate the feminist capacity of a given film. Cinderella (1950), in which the protagonist is saved from her miserable

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

existence by a charming prince, manages to pass the test through a conversation involving the gendered stereotype of cleaning. Just because the women can’t talk about men doesn’t prevent writers from drawing upon other tired clichés, such as clothes, makeup and shoes - unless of course the film is The Devil Wears Prada (2006), in which the blue sweater discussion is iconic and must never be slandered. Contrastingly, Sandra Bullock’s role as a medical-engineercum-astronaut in Gravity (2013) fails to pass the test despite subverting a whole host of gendered stereotypes. Additionally, conversations about men aren’t necessarily ‘anti-feminist’, as evidenced through the cultural phenomenon of Sex and the City (1998-2004) which revolutionised depictions

of women and their sexuality on television when it first aired in 1998. The question is how else should we judge the gender-balance of films we’re watching? Is the film presented through a women’s perspective? Or are we unwittingly partaking in the voyeuristic objectification of women under the male gaze? Tied up in questions of gender balance are intersectional questions of race, class and sexuality. Are we seeing a wide range of female perspectives or merely those of white, cis-het, middle-class women? Perhaps we should focus on what’s happening behind the camera. Is the film directed or produced by a woman? What about the cinematographers, sound or editing team?

In Regina King’s acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, she called for all producers to ensure they hire 50 per cent women for any projects they work on. Once again, the Oscars feature no women in their ‘Best Director’ category. In these disappointing times, King’s speech and the continuing Time’s Up movement create hope that we might see a transformed awards landscape in 2020 that adequately recognises female contributions to film. As for the Bechdel Test, hopefully it will become increasingly irrelevant with films striving to feature named female characters who are as multifaceted, dynamic and entertaining to watch as their male equivalents.

Feminist Icons For International Women’s Day (March 8), our writers have picked key works for female pioneers in film First Year, English

Often hailed as the foundation of the feminist manifesto within film, Thelma & Louise remains one of Davis’ finest performances. What starts as an innocent road trip escalates into crime-committing, cop-fleeing chaos. As half of the iconic duo, her performance encapsulates Thelma’s arc from ‘sedate’ housewife to alarmingly confident robber. Emerging from her entrapping marriage, she is thrust into independence, subverting the constructed gender roles of a male-dominated genre. Like her character, Davis has the ability to diminish her male co-stars, dominating over their 2D characters. With a mix of relatable fear, enviable authority and sharp comedy, alongside an equally thrilling Sarandon, it’s no surprise it’s an enduring classic.

Frances Ha / Pine District Pictures

Thelma & Louise (1991) Chosen by Sophy Leys Johnston

Natalie Kalmus

‘Patch is the kind of guy who buys a black leather couch and is like, “I love it.”’ Introducing Frances Ha(lladay): spiky, awkward and ‘too tall to marry’.

Greta Gerwig’s character is an antiheroine of epic proportions. ‘Dumped’ by her best friend Sophie, Frances is left to her own comically inefficient devices. Flying to Paris with a credit card she received through the mail, moving in with ‘artists’ Benji and Lev, and working a summer job at her old college (at the age of 27): funny and sad in equal measure, Frances Ha is a film about growing up, and shrinking back down again. ‘I’m not messy, I’m busy.’ ‘Gloriously funny and stunningly relatable, Frances Ha is the ultimate celebration of confusion, jealousy, and the busy, messy lives we lead.

Agnès Varda

Various Technicolour (1934-49) Chosen by Leah Martindale

Ulysse (1983) Chosen by Siavash Minoukadeh

While cinema’s feminist icons are often recognised as the actresses, directors, and characters who shape our viewing, little is spoken of the figures who paved the way for women’s place behind the camera.

Kalmus is shamefully unknown, despite her credits as ‘color supervisor’ on nearly every Technicolor film from 1934-49. Her dedicated work ensured the success of the sets, costumes, and lighting synonymous with Technicolor. Kalmus also wrote guides and critiques which became cornerstones for cinematic colouration. While she was not always popular—director Allan Dwan notably called her a ‘bitch’—that is arguably the price women had to pay for being unapologetically good at their craft. I’d happily be a bitch if it gave me the talent, brassballs, and artistic eye of colour’s unsung hero.

A career as prolific as Agnès Varda’s can be difficult to navigate but Ulysse, her 1983 short film, is a good starting point. As with many of Varda’s films, it looks at how fact and fiction interact.

The premise is simple: Varda returns to a photo she took of two men thirty years ago to see what has changed. Characteristically, Varda does not avoid self-examination and her role as storyteller is also questioned. Her female gaze of male nudes demonstrates how radical Varda’s vision is, a breath of fresh air in a heavily male cinema establishment.

She balances theoretical questions with emotional moments, with her subjects and herself reflecting their memory of youth. Ulysse captures what makes Varda’s films so enduring, showing both a serious interrogation of filmmaking without losing warmth.

First Year, Liberal Arts

Thelma & Louise / MGM

Third Year, Film & TV

Lynne Ramsay

You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Getty Images / Chris Jackson

First Year, English

Frances Ha (2012) Chosen by Daisy Game

Chosen by Ewan Marmo-Bissell Second Year, History

Last year, Ramsay directed one of the most visceral, violent films I have ever seen, and yet every scene has an inherent beauty despite the story’s bleak outlook on the world. You Were Never Really Here is a psychedelic, tumultuous journey through a depressing underbelly of sin and oddly detached violence. You feel every slash and pummel but, as a viewer, are often removed from the violence itself.

Snubbed entirely from the awards season, You Were Never Really Here is a masterpiece exemplifying Ramsay’s genius, finding that dichotomy between beauty and relentless horror. It’s terrible to watch at times, out of fear as to what lays around the corner or through the door. It’s her finest work, and the hardest to watch.

Getty Images / Jeff Kravitz

Greta Gerwig

Getty Images / Frazer Harrison

Geena Davis

Viola Davis

Doubt (2008) Chosen by Ella Alalade Third Year, Ancient History

It’s hard to find a role where Viola Davis doesn’t excel. She received her first Oscar nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for her role in Doubt. An actress with incredible range, she brings plenty to the role of a dismissive mother, whose son has an inappropriate relationship with a priest. In her first scene, reserved and aware of the situation, she is protective of her son to the Principal Nun (Streep).

Davis, in her posture and tone of voice, portrays the uncertainty and defensiveness but also the willingness to be ignorant. In the last moments, we see her more emotional while discussing the abuse from his school and Father, as the son may be gay.

Davis captivates with her facial expressions and mannerisms to tell the story of her character in only a few minutes. A scene with such emotion is rare.

The full versions of the articles about our Feminist Icons are available on the Epigram website!

epigram 04.03.2019

36 Film & TV The trope has allowed filmmakers to deprive us of truly engaging women onscreen Felicity Gardner Second Year, Physics

A

‘strong female character’ has become a catch-all term. In action and thrillers she is the leather clad bad-ass or the femme fatale; in dramas she is any character in a traditionally male role or a woman with some autonomy. The badass might have a rank or recommendation proving their worth, yet often they will still have to show their strength before the audience believes it. Think of Agent Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): though clearly a highly respected officer, we still need to see her punching one of the recruits before we accept her as competent.

These badass characters are intended to be a rebellion against traditional gender roles, yet they have become characters that shame other women who don’t rebel. They fall into traps of wanting them to ‘man up’ and suggest that, because they are not like other girls, they are stronger or better. The idea that rejecting femininity makes you strong creates an antithesis in which other, more feminine, characters are presented as weak. These characters also often don’t rebel as successfully as you might think at first glance. Throughout the movie they regularly follow the orders of others and rarely make their own choices in key moments. At the climax of the movie, despite having proven they are far more able than most protagonists, they often step back and let the male hero take the lead. Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) in The Lego Movie (2014) is a prime example.

Even after the reveal that the incompetent Emmett (Chris Pratt) is not destined to save

“We don’t need characters who rebel against femininity, but rather characters who rebel against roles that would usually be assigned them, that aren’t merely there to support the protagonist”

the day, he is still the one to face off against Lord Business.

Female characters also get excused for excessive violence as they are automatically assumed to be less threatening - they display traits of toxic masculinity to prove they are far from feminine. In Captain America, for example, Agent Carter frustratedly shoots Captain America while he’s holding a prototype shield. In Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Emily Blunt’s character, Rita, kills the protagonist - out of necessity, it should be said - multiple times with unnecessary levels of violence. Being a strong character rarely seem to go hand in hand with being a kind, or good character, with a character having to be hard to be strong. James Cameron criticised Wonder Woman (2017) comparing the titular character to his own female protagonist, Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), in an interview with the Guardian. He says Sarah Connor was ‘strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit.’ He says characters like her are needed as half the audience is female, but surely there should be diversity in the way strength is portrayed?

Patty Jenkins replied to this interview on Instagram saying: ‘If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren’t free to be multidimensional […] we haven’t come very far have we.’

The femme fatale heroine started as a villain trope, but with evolving views on female sexuality the character type has become a heroine, so it’s unsurprising that they are often morally ambiguous. The badass is also usually single minded and violent, and the concept places being kind and good in conflict with being strong. This again comes from the idea that strong women and classic femininity are conflicting, with kindness often being seen as maternal. In

Edge of Tomorrow / Warner Bros. Pictures

The ‘strong female character’ paradox

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Aliens (1986) however kindness doesn’t detract from the character’s strength. In fact, it does the opposite. It begs the question: why are kind, strong female characters so rare, especially when many are framed as heroes? This is why Wonder Woman is so refreshing. The film makes it clear she wants to protect the little guy rather than just defeat the baddie, but it’s executed in a way which doesn’t conflict with her strength.

Previously, female characters were not prominent in films, instead being mostly used as a plot device or to develop the main character. As such, these characters, unlike real people, displayed little to no autonomy.

Nowadays, whenever a female character acts of their own volition, it’s seen as remarkable.

We shouldn’t consider them remarkable; instead we should expect this level of autonomy as the minimum and praise any character who resembles actual women. A large problem with strong female characters is that even if the character is underdeveloped, falls into the traps of the trope, or is just plain boring they are usually still praised for inclusion. There is such a clamour to include strong women that the more important task of having multidimensional characters falls by the wayside. This can be seen in Mary Sue characters especially, with the writers

so afraid for their characters to be criticised as ‘weak’ that they remain unflawed, uninteresting, unrealistic, and unlikable.

Strong female characters are overpraised.

It should not be the case that just because a character can shoot a gun, they are a good character. We should praise characters who are developed and multifaceted. The bar for a character being strong is so low that if Sherlock Holmes was gender-bent, they’d be labelled as this ‘strong female character’.

It is a term applicable to far too many characters to be a good metric for whether a character is worthwhile. We don’t need characters who rebel against femininity, but rather characters who rebel against roles that would usually be assigned them, that aren’t merely there to support the protagonist.

We need characters who show that femininity and strength are not mutually exclusive, like Honey in Big Hero 6 (2014), and characters who show you do not need to be unemotional to be strong, like Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008).

We also need characters who are morally ambiguous, Atomic Blonde (2017), and more masculine - without criticizing others for not being - and any other type of strong female character. We don’t need what strong female characters are becoming: a lazy, toxic trope that is used in place of using a realistic character.

An all-female writing team deliver Netflix a comedy series with more layers than expected Maddy Raven First Year, Theatre & Film

N

adia Vulvokov, played by Emmy nominated actress and producer, Natasha Lyonne, is a wonderfully loud mouthed, brash and intelligent software programmer native to New York. Russian Doll follows her through multiple deaths on the night of her 36th birthday, where she discovers her deaths are linked to those of Alan Zaveri (Barnett), a young man who possibly struggles with OCD. Both of them are having a difficult night, to say the least.

What is pleasing about Russian Doll is not only its presentation of a loudmouthed, opinionated female protagonist, but its attention to detail and ‘Easter Eggs’ – rather, clever writing. Nothing is left to chance.

Loose ends are tied up with a neat bow, and I am unsure if another season revolving around Nadia and Alan would work, as their story has entered a new, happier chapter.

However, I don’t think I would have a

problem with seeing a similar format again.

Even the title of the show, Russian Doll, is a nod to Nadia’s surname and heritage, and to her status as a ‘russian doll’: when she dies once, she will die again, and there seems to be no end. Rather than punishing Nadia for her lifestyle, which consists of promiscuity, copious drugs and alcohol, to the point where friends call her the ‘cockroach’ because ironically nothing can kill her. We see that instead, similar to the computer games she programs, she is ‘glitching’. She cannot level up, or move forward, because she hasn’t confronted something from her past.

Mental health has become a prominent theme and topic of discussion in media, and it’s always interesting to see how writers see it affecting the offspring of those suffering from mental health problems. Nadia lives in a whacky, colourful world, almost like a video game: there are obstacles she must pass so she does not die, and as she makes it further and further away from the apartment where her birthday party is, it’s as if she is learning how to complete the level of a video game, tackling treacherous staircases, trap doors, disappearing cats and other, darker deaths. She always wakes up looking at herself in a mirror, as does Alan, and mirrors

“What is pleasing about Russian Doll is not only its presentation of a loudmouthed, opinionated female protagonist, but its attention to detail and ‘Easter Eggs’ – rather, clever writing”

Courtesy of Netflix

Confront your demons with Russian Doll

constantly appear in the story of Nadia’s life.

It’s not just Nadia’s issues which are addressed: Alan’s mental health problems are examined too. Rather than feeling trapped by his multiple deaths, he views this as an opportunity to get the worst day of his life finally right. He feels like he is not in control of his life, and if only he can better himself, then everything will fall into place. This is a step forward in the mental health conversation for men. Neither Nadia or Alan are bad people, but bad things are happening to them: the universe has decided that they need to face themselves in order to move forward, and it’s going to kill them over and over, until they do so. Not only is

this almost personal - perhaps a way for the writers to address our desire for perfection in this age of social media - but it also opens up a channel for conversation. We need to talk to each other about how we feel, and what’s hurting us, rather than bottling it up and refusing to acknowledge. A regimented routine, substance abuse and other coping mechanisms are exactly that: coping mechanisms. They don’t get to the root of the problem. Nadia and Alan are lucky that the universe is seemingly on their side, pushing them to confront themselves. But it’s up to them to save each other from destruction.

It’s up to us to look after ourselves and the people around us.

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Arts

epigram 04.03.2019

@epigramarts

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

@epigramarts

For the love of women This ain’t your average chick Angela Carter - The Bloody Chamber, 1979

of March, we asked students to share their drawings which appreciate the female form

- Yasmin Inkersole, Second Year English

Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid’s Tale, 1985

Epigram / India Vecqueray

Anne Sexton Transformations, 1967

Epigram / Amber-Rose Cooper

- Gruff Kennedy, Second Year English

Epigram / Anna Dowson

Jackson is one of the undisputed masters of the new American Gothic, and this particular novel perfectly demonstrates why. A shifting and unsettling fable of provincial isolation and taut domestic tragedy, which plays expertly with the reader’s expectations throughout, coupled with a powerful and moving message of sisterhood and solidarity.

Epigram / Amber-Rose Cooper

Shirley Jackson - We Have Always Lived in the Castle, 1985

Epigram / Bryony Chellew

- Ellie Brown, Second Year Politics & Sociology

Epigram / India Vecqueray

Narrated by the female victim of an oppressive patriarchal regime, this haunting book shows what happens when misogynistic ideas are taken to their logical end. It serves as a grim reminder of why we can’t take the gains of the feminist movement for granted’

Epigram / Anna Dowson

Epigram / Anna Dowson

This collection of short stories is inspired by classical fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, taking these well-known stories down a much darker path. Carter writes with impeccable style and vivid imagery in this fascinating collection, a must read for lovers of dark fantasy!

To celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th

In a series of dark, witty and often twisted poetic retellings, Anne Sexton sheds light on the patriarchal undertones which continue to crop up in our favourite fairy-tales.

- Imogen Howse, Second Year English

Penelope Skinner Fucked, 2008

Epigram / Luke Unger

Epigram / India Vecqueray

- Gabi Spiro, Deputy Arts Editor

Epigram / India Vecqueray

Fucked chronicles F’s defining mornings after. Skinner’s sharp and vulnerable writing about womanhood and sex strike close to home, and ask why women are continually defined by their sexual experiences.

04.03.2019 epigram

Arts 39

‘Going off on one’ with Rob Auton Not a poet, not a comic; Deputy Arts Editor, Anna Trafford, chats to the irreverent Yorkshireman about rubbish gigs, writing tips and the joys of spoken word Anna Trafford Epigram Arts Deputy Editor

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Youtube / Russell Howard

What kind of thing do you usually do for dates?

‘I am going to speak about things I’ve heard people saying, things I wished I’d heard people saying, I imagine what it might be like if certain things could talk to each other, and just the value of having a mouth and a tongue [...]. Just trying to come to terms with that fact and that’s exactly what I’ve done with all my other shows. [It’s] me trying to turn the detective’s lamp on me, shining it in my eyes and saying, ‘What do you feel about this?’ Putting a word in the middle of the spider diagram and just going off on one really.’

Busy smashing what he calls the ‘stigma [...] of corduroy jackets and people sat in silence’ attached to poetry, Rob Auton’s show is the one to watch if you want to discover what spoken word is really all about. If you’ve failed to be convinced by poetry performances or comedy nights in the past, it’s worth giving Auton’s brand of ‘going off on one’ a go.

Return of the Arty Dates AT: I found the pottery course on Wriggle and thought it would be the perfect present for Abby’s 21st, given that she’s a prolific pot painter. The deal also included unlimited cups of tea which really clinched the deal.

It’s always a bonus to get out of the uni bubble, too.

department but it was a fun activity even so. I’d say that the studio vibes were more friendly than romantic so if you want to woo your date then maybe this isn’t the one.

Any final comments?

AT: I love that you get to make something that you can take away as a memento of the date. Plus my Japanese peace lily is going to look really cute in its new pot.

What would you rate it out of 10 as a date destination? Explain your score.

AM: 8/10 - Making and then painting a pot is actually surprisingly therapeutic!

Doing something creative was a nice change, and the set up meant I could stare lovingly into her eyes. Although at points it was mega stressful and we didn’t have time for chit chat. It was also ideal that it lasted for 2 weeks - we couldn’t get enough!

Why did you choose pottery painting for your date?

AT: 6/10 - I was gutted to find out that I have very little talent in the pot making

“the set up meant I could stare lovingly into her eyes...”

Since finishing their pottery course, Abby and Anna’s pots have taken pride of place in their student house. The pair are now on the hunt for their next wholesome date activity.

Epigram / Anna Trafford

AM: Usually we go to the pub for a quick drink when our schedules align.

Pub trips are ideal as they’re quite informal (ideal for a Bristol student), and the date can therefore last for as long (or short) as you want it to. I quite like a romantic walk too, usually ending up in a pub...

AM: If you’re looking for something meditative yet slightly challenging and want to get in touch with your creative side, this is perfect for you! The classes are also held in Stokes Croft so there’s lots of cool drink opportunities if the date’s going particularly well.

Epigram / Anna Trafford

Deputy Arts Editor, Anna Trafford, and her lucky housemate, Abby MacGregor, took a pottery course at Tara Clerkin Pottery. They made their clay creations in week one, before returning the next week for a spot of pot painting.

“with a spoken word event I would say you never know what’s going to happen”

advertising, I found, is that it’s almost the perfect job for someone who considers themselves to be a creative person but at the end of the day it is still a business and it’s about problem-solving for clients’.

He started channelling some of his frustrations and unused ideas into notebooks and one day his boss asked whether he’d like to perform some of what he’d written at a fireworks party. The event ignited his passion and he started trying to find as many open mic nights as he could, soon becoming involved in running London-based spoken word night, ‘Bang Said the Gun’.

After one night, someone came up to him and asked whether he’d like to perform at an alternative comedy event. Rob recalls his hesitation. ‘I was like ‘can I just do exactly the same? I don’t have to change it do I for it to be comedy?’ And he was like ‘no, you can just do that’.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing from the start. He recalls, ‘some of the gigs went well and some were awful but it’s all a learning experience isn’t it and it’s exactly the same now. It’s just a case of trying to get better and never going into a gig thinking ‘this is going to be great’. Like when I did a gig at Raise the Bar I thought, ‘ok this looks like a nice bunch of people’. But even then it’s not a given that it’s going to go well. You only need to phrase something wrong and you can completely throw the audience.’

Don’t be fooled by this apparent modesty though; Auton’s been performing since 2007 - long enough to have learnt a fair few tricks about his craft. He doesn’t hesitate when I ask his advice for aspiring writers and performers: ‘If you have an idea for a line or a poem or something like that, just get it down there and then in the moment.

Don’t wait until you’ve got a minute later on because it won’t have the same life to it as when you first thought of it. I think that is something that I’ve learnt. Once you have that initial idea it flows out of you more freely than if you were trying to think ‘oh yeah, it was about that’.

Auton’s usual tactic is to choose a single topic, like hair, the colour yellow, the sky or, as with his current show, talking, and to see where it takes him. He explains,

Twitter / Rob Auton

ob Auton has had the audience in stitches with his stand-up on Russell Howard’s Comedy Hour and commanded the stage with his poetry at Bristol’s spoken word night, Raise the Bar, yet calls himself neither a comic nor a poet. He identifies as ‘just a writer really - a writer and performer of what I do’.

His reluctance to be defined as either comic or poet could seem frustratingly noncommittal, but if you ever have the pleasure of seeing Auton perform, you’ll see that neither term does his unpredictable blend of poetry and stand-up justice. Undefined segues between the two modes, delivered with characteristic deadpan irreverence and in his booming Yorkshire accent, keep the audience on their toes.

For Auton, unpredictability is an integral aspect of spoken word performance. He muses, ‘the vast amount of live performance that you see on TV is either music or live comedy. I heard someone in the street saying the other day, ‘I like laughing but I don’t find comedy funny’ and I think quite a lot people feel like that. Whereas with a spoken word event I would say you never know what’s going to happen. Anything goes and it’s just people trying to express themselves’.

He adds, ‘I just think that the best thing about spoken word nights and poetry nights is that it’s a real rollercoaster of emotions a lot of the time. It’s just not monotone and it’s a safe space where you can get exposed to people’s lives. When I go to open mic nights it’s just so interesting to get an insight into the way that people are living.

To have, say, 40 people do that in one night, you come away just full of enthusiasm for life.’ Watching headliner Travis Alabanza at Raise the Bar, he says was ‘a real education’, which is what he wants from spoken word. ‘I just want to get exposed to as many different people as I can. I think that’s really healthy’.

Auton stumbled into performing by chance. After an art foundation course and graphic design degree, he started off in advertising, but quickly grew disillusioned due to the limitations it posed on his creativity. He reflects, ‘the thing is about

epigram 04.03.2019

40 Arts

Sex, guns and ‘All That Jazz’ MTB’s raucous production of Chicago is met with a standing-ovation George Ruskin

First Year, French and German

M

“Every cast member brought their own unique brand of twenties Chicagoan sleaze to the performance, rendering favouritism impossible”

MTB / Laura Travis

TB’s resplendent production of Chicago blows away the February cobwebs, bringing the razzle dazzle in spades to the Winston Theatre. Supported by a hyperactive audience – the likes of which I have never seen on an opening night – the cast trip the light fantastic, missing not a beat, step or cue.

Every number is flawlessly choreographed and executed, and the lack of visible firstnight nerves and slip-ups is testament to an extremely polished cast. The opening iconic number ‘And All That Jazz’ introduces our beaming, catty ensemble for the first time.

Throughout, it was mesmerising to watch

MTB / Laura Travis

their visceral facial expressions, and their musical and balletic professionalism kept the frenzied audience screaming for more.

It was clear that creative autonomy had been granted to every cast-member and their ad lib comedic cameos incited howls of laughter from the stalls. A personal highlight is the rancorous ‘Cellblock Tango’ featuring my favourite line ‘some guys just can’t handle their arsenic.’ Six cat-suited inmates recount their versions of events in truly mellifluous style, aided in their yarnspinning by the superb dancing of the male ensemble.

As we met our principal cast throughout the first half, whenever I thought I had found my favourite character, a new personality would belt-out their own incredible opening number. The truth is that every cast member brought their own unique brand of twenties Chicagoan sleaze to the performance, rendering favouritism impossible.

Matriarchal Matron “Mama” Morton (Lowri Howell) dominates the stage in her scenes, and the twisted maternal pride of her murderess detainees is fascinating to witness. Billy Flynn (Harry Nicholson), hotshot lawyer and paradigm of 1920s avarice, is extremely well received as he joined a line of showgirls, bewaistcoated, in his rip-roaring number ‘All I Care About.’ The arrival of the alluring Mary Sunshine (Ali Manclark), a character blown in from Little Britain, steals the show, as – ginger wig and all – she belts out her aria, reaching impressive vocal highs. The previously lowkey Amos (Ben White) comes into his own throughout, evoking audible sympathy from the audience with the ruefully self-

pitying ‘Mr Cellophane’ – the real victim of the zeitgeist of cantankerous greed and egocentricity, personified by the pitiable silence to which he departed, especially in comparison to the brash exit numbers of his co-stars.

Chicago’s prima donnae, Roxie (Adèle Carr) and Velma (Charlotte Bartholomew), undeniably steal the show with their conceited characterisation, bitchy putdowns and catty competitiveness. Roxie truly was the name on the audience’s lips by the end, and she is deserving of her name in lights. Their duet ‘My Own Best Friend’ knocked it out of the park. They are

sensational throughout, which is a difficult brief for two characters who cannot be too hyperbolic, and their stamina to retain such levels of extra is an example to all actors.

The standing-ovation that Chicago received tells you far more about this performance than I ever could. The director, Luke Silverman, described this as a “passion project” for him, and this is immediately discernible through the intricacy and energy in every scene, in every expressive facial veneer, and in every flamboyant movement. Chicago is the energetic, optimistic phenomenon for which this time of year cries out.

Leonardo da Vinci draws a crowd An Art Historian’s take on Bristol Museum’s blockbuster exhibition Miranda Smith

Third Year, History of Art

T

“The minute detail makes them works of art within their own right”

the lines of the limbs are often blurred with several options for the positioning of the parts before he decided upon the final pose.

His preparations for an equestrian portrait also consist of this.

The botanical studies were originally drawings for ‘Leda and the Swan’, but he was also planning a treatise of the structure of plants and trees. The detail of the sketches is considerably more than necessary for just a preparatory sketch.

His vivid imagination is evident not only in his interest in engineering and the invention of mechanical instruments but also by his illustrations of imagined creatures. Some of these drawings date to his time working as court artist in France where, as well as painted canvases, he created designs for costumes and stage sets.

Towards the end of his life, the artist became obsessed with death, drawing images of a cataclysmic storm devastating the earth, linking to his realisation of the impermanence of life. These images acted as a summary of his career – the attempt to get out onto paper the forces of the universe.

The second room of the exhibition is anti-climatic, with the museum attempting to thematically link his drawings to modern pieces. There is a particular focus on ideals of beauty. In my opinion they are taking too political a stance, removing the

focus from his study of the world around him and bringing it more towards a lack of inclusivity. There are more relevant questions regarding whether viewers value sketches less than completed paintings, and whether or not we should celebrate our failures - the majority of da Vinci’s paintings were never completed, or were abandoned.

Whatever impact this second room has is lost as the viewer is left disappointed by the changing focus. It seems to insinuate that da Vinci is just an ordinary man - that many others have focused on movement, on the tools of humanity, and on the human form - rather than maintaining the focus on his genius.

‘Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing’ is open until the 6th May, free for students on Wednesdays

Twitter / bristolmuseum

Twitter / bristolmuseum

he exhibition at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery houses some of Leonardo da Vinci’s five hundred drawings, which are currently on exhibition around the country in a joint spectacle celebrating five hundred years since the artist’s death. They are ordinarily kept at Windsor Castle in storage where light cannot damage the works. After the closing of the regional shows, all five hundred of the drawings will be displayed together at the Queen’s Gallery in London.

The opening text of the exhibition explains that Da Vinci drew not only to prepare for his painted canvases, but also to record the world around him, to pursue his scientific speculations and to make visible the workings of his imagination.

His drawings range from anatomical illustrations for a proposed treatise, to botanical studies and images of fantastical beings. Though several of them were made for specific paintings, the minute detail makes them works of art within their own right.

His anatomical drawings are renowned for their accuracy – he measured the proportions of real life models, both living and dead, and performed dissections to gain insight into the workings of bones, muscles and tendons. His sketches are accompanied by scribbled notes detailing the mechanisms of the human figure. The drawings were working papers meant solely for his own study, never intended to be exhibited as they are. His final campaign was relating the workings of the heart, where drawings of each ventricle and the various arteries that join to them are present alongside text explaining the purpose of each.

He also compiled studies of animals, particularly cats, and supposed that, ‘Of flexion and extension - the lion is prince of this animal species because of the flexibility of its spine.’ This focus on movement is most apparent in preparatory sketches as

Music

epigram 04.03.2019

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

epigram_music

epigram_music

‘...We never would’ve dreamed of sold-out shows’ In conversation with Fur James Hall chats with Brighton four-piece Fur about worldwide success, their recent tour, and their image.

James Hall Second Year, Law

T

he middle of the last century was a wonderful time for music.

Sweethearts swooned to the dulcet tones of suave crooners, silky harmonies mingled mid-air, and everybody bopped to the high-energy jangle-pop that came to define the era. Over fifty years later, little has changed.

Fur graced the Rough Trade stage riding high upon a sepia-tinged wave of hype, the product of millions of streams worldwide and several sold-out shows on this, their first UK tour. Immediately, the Brighton fourpiece set about making themselves at home.

From the first infectious lilt of ‘Him and Her’ to the last emphatic croon of ‘Angel Eyes’, the residual and tender warmth of Valentine’s Day two days prior manifested itself in the band’s music, taking the chill out of a cold February evening.

Lead singer Murray so enchanted the crowd with lyrical tales of heartbreak and romance, that when the band broke out into Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, total strangers had taken to swaying together, arms clasped around shoulders.

But if the gig thus far had been a dreamy, romantic waltz, what followed was akin to speed dating. By the time Fur had finished, they’d been joined on stage by fellow nostalgia-pioneers Honey Moon, in a raucous display of indie rock that spilled out into the audience.

When finally it was time to leave the stage, the sharp stab of a cymbal echoed out into the crowd, pulling everybody back into reality, and back to the modern world. Had it been a dream? I couldn’t say, but one thing was certain, it had been a hell of a ride.

Before the gig, I was lucky enough to grab an interview with the band: Murray (vocals, rhythm guitar), Flynn (drums), Harry (lead guitar), Tav (bass), and Josh (keys, percussion).

Fur’s debut, eponymous EP came out last month

Epigram / James Hall

How are you finding the tour so far? Has anything stood out as a real highlight?

Tav: ‘Fucking gruelling! Nah not really.’

Murray: It’s been a short one, so none of us has really hit the wall that most bands get of genuine tiredness. But it’s been really good - it’s our first headline tour and we’ve soldout three shows. In terms of a highlight...

All: London.

Murray: London was our Valentine’s show, and it was really really lovely. There was a great atmosphere in the venue. We noticed a real buzz, which was great since it’s outside Brighton.

You’ve spoken before about the influence indie rock bands such as The Strokes and The Cribs have had on you. How does that translate into the nostalgic, mid-century style you’ve become associated with?

Murray: Both of those bands have it anyway. They’re influenced by fifties and sixties culture and music, so it sort of goes hand in hand.

Flynn: It’s the modern production.

Murray: Yeah, we’re more a band of modern production, with sixties undertones in the songwriting.

Tav: We didn’t want it to be too on the nose.

Not a pastiche. It’s more the influence rather than wanting to copy it outright.

‘...we’re more a band of modern production, with sixties undertones in the songwriting.’

It’s just over a year since you released ‘If You Know That I’m Lonely’, and since then you’ve

attracted millions of listeners online.

How does it feel to know your music is striking a chord with people all over the planet?

Harry: It’s given us opportunities to do things we never thought imaginable.

Flynn: You never start out expecting to be big in a place like Indonesia. You think, “I wanna be big in Brighton” and you wanna grow from there.

Murray: It’s very weird to be getting fan art.

I’d be very interested to know at what point other bands start getting that. We’ve had a few fan accounts which is very surreal.

Josh: I think the first one was called ‘Murray’s Lush Locks’.

Tav: Yeah that one was strange, it’s died down now, but there’s a few more.

Murray: If you’re reading, bring it back.

What’s the dream for the next five years?

Murray: To be able to afford rent.

Tav: To not be working a fucking coffee job.

Murray: Yeah, we said to be able to pay our rent and go on Soccer AM, put a volley in the top bins. You can never really imagine the things you’ll be doing but once you’re at the point where you’re doing them, they feel normal to you. Two years ago we never would’ve dreamed of sold-out shows. It was unfathomable, but now it’s the new normal.

You’ve got to take each opportunity as it comes.

Harry: In five years’ time it would be nice to still be doing it, and not be like a vicar or something.

Flynn: We already hate each other, we won’t

last another five years.

MuRray: We’d love to be able to get to the point where we’re doing arenas...

Tav: (laughing) Oh shut up.

Murray: Big venues. That’s another thing that’s hard to put your finger on because it relies on the music, and that hasn’t even been written yet. But the dream is to take it to that next level.

How did your image develop?

Harry: Very organic.

Tav: It’s definitely got a Brighton influence to it. Moving there has shown us all sorts of art and people dressing well, but the early days were more mis-matched.

Murray: As soon as we started working with our friend Ed [Zorab, director of ‘If You Know That I’m Lonely’ music video.] we all pulled together and discussed what we wanted to look like, and how we wanted the music to be reflected in our visual style.

Flynn: We never really sat down one day and decided.

Murray: Plus turtlenecks are great for winter in Brighton.

If any of you could have written any song in history, what would it be?

Josh: ‘I Don’t Want to Get Over You’ by The Magnetic Fields Tav: ‘When the Sun Hits’ by Slowdive Harry: ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ by Jeff Buckley Flynn: ‘Perfect Miracle’ by Spiritualized Murray: ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by The Kinks

Want to write or take photos for Epigram Music? Get in touch!

Email us: music.epigram@gmail.com Join our Facebook group: Epigram Music Writers 2018/19

epigram 04.03.2019

Music 42 Review/ Jacob Collier @ Trinity Centre Alexander Modell

Third Year, Mathematics

‘You have to have faith in your imperfections’ In conversation with Queen Zee Epigram recently spoke to pop-punk band Queen Zee for a conversation on influences, punk politics, and Lady Gaga Will Snelling Second Year, English

Q

W

hile many artists like to start their shows with a bombastic entrance, Jacob Collier does something very different: he turns to his favourite instrument of all, the human voice. Not his however but that of the audience, a sea of dedicated fans. After sprinting on stage, exuding an abundance of energy, he instructs sections of the audience to sing different notes of a particular chord, forming a bed of harmonic colour.

For most musicians this would be a complete disaster, but luckily for Collier his fans mostly comprise of music nerds who geek out at his extravagant arrangements, incredibly syncopated rhythms and audacious harmonies.

Collier rose to fame at the age of 17 after posting self-filmed, multi-tracked jazz vocal arrangements of classic standards including ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ and ‘Oh, What A Beautiful Morning’. Off the back of these, legendary producer Quincy Jones signed Collier to his record label, Qwest, where his first album In the Room earned him two Grammy awards.

With the audience excited, he and his three-piece multi-talented, multiinstrumentalist band jump straight into ‘With The Love In My Heart’ from Djesse: Volume 1, the first of an ambibous proposed four-volume, 40-track project.

At once, Collier does what he does best: switching from instrument to instrument and driving massive grooves. He’s not scared to change up his sonic palate frequently - a fast paced bass-driven groove will morph into an ethereal acoustic landscape and change right back before you’ve even had the chance to realise it. You are kept on your toes constantly.

When the four on-stage musicians are not enough to recreate the arrangements that Collier creates in the studio, he cues the audience to provide backing vocals or additional percussion, at one point creating ‘We Will Rock You’-style claps and thuds and at another engaging the audience in a spontaneous clap-battle, feeding on the musical talents of his audience to create a sea of syncopated clapping similar to Steve Reich’s classic ‘Clapping Music’ or Spanish flamenco.

At the very end of the show Collier began his encore by dimming the lights and having the entire audience sit on the floor, before sitting down with his band and playing a fully-acoustic rendition of ‘In My Room’, switching between bass ukulele and melodica and passing various instruments around his band.

The evening created a sense of awe as the audience gazed at the pure talent and musicianship of an artist who is still in his early twenties. An artist sure to reach even greater heights.

ueen Zee are not your typical macho rock band, nor are they purveyors of sanitised, commercial pop-punk; instead, they just do what feels good. That’s why their new album veers from squalid, depressive grunge to hand-clapping verses that reference Steely Dan without missing a beat. It makes for an endlessly exciting listen when stale uniformity can characterise so much rock music today.

This is one of the first shows on your headline tour; how are you feeling about it?

Pumped? nervous?

A bit tired already! What happens is you have the energy for the first show, then the second, third shows wipe you out, then you get back on the horse.

You’ve had lots of love from Iggy Pop and Liam Gallagher, and your new album was the Radio One album of the weekend. Do you feel overwhelmed by all this sudden attention?

On the one hand, yeah, I’m a huge Iggy Pop fan, I’ve got ‘Fun House’ on 12”, my mum’s always playing it, it was one of those households. But on the other hand, I’m not really that bothered; you do it for yourself, and if no one liked it, if Liam Gallagher came out and said it was a load of crap, it wouldn’t bother me. But the compliments, yeah I’ll take it!

You self released your debut album on your label, Sasstone Records; what drove the decision to take the album release into your own hands rather than going through another label?

For the entire existence of Queen Zee, we’ve done it for ourselves; even from when we started, we practised in Jay’s bedroom in his parents’ house. For the first year and a half, we’ve done all the artwork, the tour, everything, so why would we give that up?

It’s allowed us to grow organically, so when we do take up one of the offers we’ve had from labels, we’re in a really good place to say ‘this is what Queen Zee is’.

There is definitely a uniqueness to Queen Zee; you’re clearly part of but also distinct from the crop of punk artists that are gaining popularity at the moment.

It’s interesting that there definitely seems to be an appetite for this type of music at the moment, which seems bizarre when you look at pop music and how tame a lot of it is, but there seems to be an opposite world to all that with Idles having a number three album.

And you see the same energy in trap shows and EDM. I think a lot of the punk scene is so bland, it really irritates me. I love Idles because I love the chaos. But there are a lot of bands around them that are so boring, and I just think, how could you start a punk band and be boring? It’s the one thing that you’re not allowed to be! So we wanna be the opposite of anything like that.

You clearly have an aggressive punk sound, but it is balanced by loads of infectious melodies and choruses. Was pop music a big influence on your songwriting style?

[Our sound] is hard for us to describe, because as soon as you use ‘pop’ and ‘punk’ in the same sentence, people go like “oh, like Blink-182?” Not that I have anything against them, I love them… but I think its more punk-

‘We’re almost accidentally political and I feel that lots of our LGBTQ+ politics come from just being queer.’

pop that pop-punk. I grew up obsessed with Kylie and Madonna and Gaga, and a punk scene that was very, very aggro: Black Flag, guys taking their tops off and beating each other up. I kinda sat in the middle of that; I wasn’t aggro enough to be a true punk or clean enough or pretty enough to go and be a drag queen… So Queen Zee’s always sat in the middle, and that’s where I think you get the melody and aggression. Someone said it was like The Stooges covering the Scissor Sisters.

That’s a great description. The album has a very live, in-the-moment energy to it; how did you avoid losing your visceral live energy in the recording process?

It’s really hard! You have to have faith in your imperfections. We went into the studio in the last session we did, and we weren’t allowed to do more than one take.

We practised a few times, but once the mic was on, it was like: “Ok, here we go.” Our last single ‘Medicine’ is actually just a demo that we just cleaned up, and it sounds great!

I’d rather hear a record that had a few imperfections but real energy and vibe than something overproduced and sanitised. We relate to music because of the catharsis it brings, its aggression, sadness, happiness, joy or whatever… and I think it’s hard to get that from perfect music. When someone’s voice is literally breaking up as they scream, it’s a beautiful thing.

Your single, ‘Victim Age’, is pretty explicitly political in how it denounces rightwing politicians who portray themselves as anti-establishment; do you think as musicians you have a responsibility to be political?

No, and I like it when a lot of bands aren’t, because I want my artists to be artists, I want them to make great music first. The thing is that we live in such a weird world, the guy from the Celebrity Apprentice is President of the United States, so if that’s not feeding into your psyche I don’t know what’s going on.

So we’re almost accidentally political,

and I feel that lots of our LGBTQ+ politics come from just being queer; I would love it if, with our songs about transgender people, it was thought of as a non-issue, if people thought, of course, I agree with this, but they don’t, and while we have this platform, of course, we’re gonna scream it from the rooftops.

But mostly we just try to write a good song. Like Rage Against the Machine have that [political message], but let’s be honest, they’re also a bit cheesy; we get it you’re not a capitalist!

I watched Laura Jane Grace as a trans woman, walk onto the main stage of Reading and Leeds, and think, that’s amazing… that was enough. And if you go back and look at artists like Pete Burns, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, just existing, being artists and out in the open, is enough.

You’re currently on a headline tour; do you feel that headlining requires a different kind of performance compared to being a support act?

It’s weird; on the one hand, I really enjoy supporting because you feel like you’re part of another band’s story, and I’ve always been really honoured just to be there… watching Marmozets pushing into new territory, that was quite influential… the tour with Dream Wife blew my mind, so the pressure there is to do them justice.

On a headline show, you’ve got to do yourself justice which is obviously quite intense! At the same time, you can let your hair down a bit more. And Queen Zee shows always have quite a fun vibe.

What’s next for Queen Zee? We were totally consumed with the first album, and now the ball’s rolling, it sort of feels like the machine is running itself.

We’ll be writing loads; I want there to be more music out by the end of the year.

We reckon we’ve got three or four albums worth of songs right now. The next thing is how do we take this to the next level. But the honest answer is I don’t know!

04.03.2019 epigram

Music 43

Review/ Slum Village x Abstract Orchestra @ Trinity Centre

Playlist: International Women’s Day

Epigram / Bethany Marris

Hip-hop veterans Slum Village joined forces with the big-band Abstract Orchestra for a night to remember Bethany Marris Online Music Editor

T

he membership-makeup of Slum Village differs significantly from that of their breakthrough in 1998, where they opened for A Tribe Called Quest on the group’s farewell tour. Back then, Slum Village were a rap trio, comprised of J Dilla, Baatin and T3. In 2001, Dilla decided to go solo, and whilst it would be wrong to say Dilla’s influence and skill was ‘replaced’, T3 recruited Elzhi to fill the gap. Despite being released after the first membership shake up, 2002’s Trinity proved a moderate success.

However, 2004 saw the departure of Baatin, and Slum Village became two. Illa J, J Dilla’s younger sibling, stepped forward to fill his late big brother’s shoes. The changes did not stop with Illa J, though, and three have once again become two. The latest front-man recruit of Young RJ, joining T3, now carries the flame and performs the rhymes of all those who preceded him.

Slum Village’s story is one of tragedy and confusion, with the deaths of both Dilla and Baatin occurring following their departure from the group. Even so, the pair took to the stage of Bristol’s Trinity Centre with youthful zeal, showing no signs of a tainted history.

It just so happened that the opening night of their tour with Abstract Orchestra, in Bristol, fell on what would’ve been J Dilla’s birthday; and tributes were duly made in abundance.

Despite an opening set from Bristol-

1

‘The pair’s tangible and contagious enthusiasm was what made the night particularly special.’

based K-Ners, only when Abstract Orchestra were due to come on did the crowd cluster in anticipation. The group performed half an hour of their seamless, acclaimed hiphop renditions; with tracks from Dilla’s seminal record ‘Donuts’ dominating the set list. Moreover, the live instrumentals of the tracks played were blissfully elevated by the group’s vocalist Anna Uhuru.

Sandwiched between AO and Slum Village’s set was an interlude from the duo’s resident DJ, Nick Wels. Almost regardless of their skill, a live DJ during the interval is always a nice touch. Through the mixing of hip-hop classics such as Common’s ‘The Light’, Wels’ set was fantastically received, and proved the perfect segway into the final set of the evening.

From the moment they sauntered on stage, T3 and Young RJ’s capacity to effortlessly

bounce bars back-and-forth manifested. The vast majority of tracks played, including ‘Fall in Love’ and ‘Selfish’, were of course produced when Young RJ had a behind-thescenes role, yet this was irrelevant. In fact, it was Slum Village’s older material such as ‘Get dis Money’ that enthralled the crowd the most. Above all, however, the pair’s tangible and contagious enthusiasm was what made the night particularly special.

Whilst holding grand reputations in their field, both rappers come across refreshingly unpretentious, and their palpable fervour for their trade truly lit up the room.

The show was closed collaboratively, with a packed stage and of course, one last mighty birthday-ode to Dilla. It would’ve been nice to have seen a little more of both acts performing together, although all in all the night provided very little to fault.

Review/ White Denim @ O2 Academy ‘Utterly bombastic, facemelting and enthralling’: White Denim brought it all to the O2 Academy Guy Marcham Music Subeditor

White Denim are certainly one insanely talented band. Since 2008, the Texan natives have proved to be one of rock music’s finest exports, crafting a sound reminiscent of The Black Keys on acid.

Their mix of razor-sharp ‘70s pop rock with frantic King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard-esque ‘wah wah infused abandon’ is an absolute joy to feast your ears on. Live, they turn into an even greater beast. Pure masters of their craft.

However, White Denim are a band not for the faint hearted. Their exuberant and pulsating dose of rock ‘n’ roll will leave bodies aching from dance and faces melted by glorious guitar solos. Something I can certainly confess to, having been treated

Flickr / Alessio Michelini

to an onslaught - in a tremendous way - of high octane riffing and frenetic jams. It’s testament to their raucous live show that only minutes into their set, bassist Steve Terebecki had to switch guitars for snapping one of his strings.

The band kicked off proceedings with the Steely Dan inspired ‘Backseat Driver’

‘A live environment is where they truly come alive.’

from their latest record released last year, entitled Performance. From then on, the band raced through song after song, effortlessly transitioning as if each track rolled into the next.

It was hard for the audience to even catch their breath amongst a barrage of shape shifting guitar compositions, darting between fuzz infused gnarls and intricate psychedelic solos. But, this is the thing that makes White Denim such a tantalising live act. An ecstatic rock ‘n’ roll fist to the face.

Stand out moments from their set came from the stomping blues influenced strut of ‘Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)’ as well as the mind bending and sprawling hypnotic ‘Anvil Everything’. Such tracks represented the band’s ability to switch between slices of catchy pop rock delights, warped psychedelic wanderings and no holds barred rock behemoths. A skill that cannot be said for many current rock bands.

White Denim may be good on record, but within a live environment they truly come alive. An utterly bombastic, facemelting and enthralling treat. I couldn’t recommend them enough.

2 3 4 5 6 7

Time Snoh Aalegra Despite her work with Vince Staples, Vic Mensa and Drake, the indulgent, smokey notes and elegant production of Swedish born artist Snoh Aalegra [pictured] unfortunately remain relatively unacknowledged Ghosts Ibeyi Beautifully unique and atmospheric, ‘Ghosts’ is truly characteristic of multilingual French twins LisaKaindé and Naomi Diaz’s work Realla TOKiMONSTA Formally known as Jennifer Lee, American producer-DJ TOKiMONSTA was the first female artist to be signed to the Brainfeeder label. ‘Realla’ exploits Lee’s sensitive yet futuristic style.

Dark Sunglasses Chrissie Hynde More than three decades into her career, The Pretenders frontwoman released her first solo album, Stockholm; defiant and insightful, ‘Dark Sunglasses’ is one of its highlights.

LUVU4LYF PINS The opening track to their debut EP, LUVU4LYF was the first we heard of PINS; its opening blend of stubborn drums and poised bassline set a moody scene before a spry change of pace for the titular lyrics.

Claudion Helena Deland With layered harmonies and an immense and imposing throbbbing of electronic beats, Helena Deland creates an atypically atmospheric synth-pop groove.

Seventeen Sharon Van Etten From Van Etten’s latest album Remind Me Tomorrow, ‘Seventeen’ is written as a knowing message to her seventeen-year-old self, capturing carefree teenage existence from an adult perspective with a thrashing chorus.

Photo credit: Flickr / Rene Passet

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Ed Southgate

co-Editor-in-Chief

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eterinary students have been banned from taking the U2 bus to their Langford campus because there are ‘too many’ vets, despite the service being introduced specifically for them.

In an email seen by Epigram, the Veterinary School’s Manager, Dr. Tom Podesta, complained to Vet students that the volume of them using the service is ‘causing problems for other users Illustration: Scheijde Cameron and the general public who are struggling to get a seat in the morning’.

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Puzzles

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

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

Finish the Vine Crossword

Brain Teasers

Across: Down: 2. Why you always ___ (5)

3. I can’t believe you’ve ____ (4. 4) 5. Salt ___ (3) 9. Hurricane Katrina? More like hurricane ___ (8) 10. I got one question for you _____ (4, 3, 5) 11. My name is ___ (4) 13. Cash me ____ how ‘bout that (7) 14. You almost made me drop my ____ (9) 16. It’s _____ my dudes (9)

1. Damn ____ (6) 2. That was ______ (9) 4. She’s acting like she’s the queen and we’re the ______ (5, 6) 6. The floor is ___ (4) 7. Look at all those ____ (8) 8. Whats’ 9+10? ___ (6, 3) 12. I’m in me mum’s ___ (3) 15. I smell like ___ (4)

Solutions will be posted online at: epigram.org.uk/tag/puzzles facebook.com/epigrampaper If you would like to join the Puzzles Team, email editor@epigram.org.uk

46 Sport

epigram 04.03.2019

RTHM: raising mental health awareness Bristol and Imperial Boat Clubs speak about their campaign to raise awareness around mental health in sport

Charlotte Greenwood Deputy Sport Editor

I

n recent years, campaigning for the acknowledgment and recognition of Mental Health issues has become central to life at the University of Bristol.

The endorsement of support and the increase in available services has been widely felt by the students who study here, providing a platform for those suffering to speak out and find support.

Whilst this work has been advantageous for many, the awareness of mental health issues in sport specifically is perhaps in

need of more recognition. University sport, at competitive and social levels, can involve a lifestyle that acts as a coping mechanism or often, in extreme cases, an environment that brings mental health concerns to the forefront – providing various difficulties for students who participate in these societies.

Two clubs have come together after the death of student-rower, René Zamudio in January 2017, who learnt to row as an undergrad at the University of Bristol, before continuing at Imperial College London. Tommy Nicholson, club captain of the University of Bristol Boat Club, and Jack Walsh, club captain of Imperial Boat Club, have worked hard to raise the profile of Mental Health awareness. The pair have established RTHM, Rowing Together for Healthy Minds, with the ambition to acknowledge the importance of athletes’ mental well-being in rowing.

RTHM aims to educate athletes and

“RTHM aims to educate athletes and coaches about the symptoms of depression and other disorders”

Epigram / Tommy Nicholson

coaches about the symptoms of depression and other disorders, with the hope that this could help someone like René to reach out in the future.

Since starting this project in the summer of 2018, by October they had already established an official partnership with the charity MIND. In the following two months, RTHM managed to become affiliated with over 100 boat clubs across the country – all committing to starting the conversation around mental health in sport. For these clubs to show their support and spread the message, the duo have worked with studentled group Rival Kit to produce a distinct racing top to be worn by each clubs athletes at rowing events across the country. Since production, over 3,000 tech tops have been sold, producing an impressive £2,000 for the charity in just less than one month.

Speaking to co-founder Tommy about the rapid success of the campaign, they initially predicted that only ‘10-20 university rowing clubs would want to get involved and that we’d sell around 200 tops.’ Commenting on the extent of the campaign, Tommy said; ‘We never expected this response from the rowing community and it is obvious that this is a topic that our community feels very strongly about, especially given the high intensity and commitment required for success.’

With the RTHM outreach beginning with university rowing clubs, the brand has now caught the attention of the British Rowing Institution, along with multiple distinguished Olympic ambassadors of the sport. Their work with British Rowing now aims to incorporate mental health training as part of the national coaching qualification. As well as hoping to establish a well-being ambassador at each of the affiliated clubs, the pair are in plans to design and distribute a helpful poster to

their affiliated clubs, providing methods to address athlete’s mental health, that can be displayed in the training setting.

Equally, RTHM’s outreach is set to increase with the current production of a promotional video and a short informative documentary set to be produced in the next few weeks.

This footage will involve honest discussions from various athletes, coaches and sufferers of mental health disorders, adding to the ambition for awareness of the pressures that can occur within and beyond the sporting environment.

Co-founder Jack, spoke of RTHM’s campaign as one with ‘the primary aim of making mental health an easier conversation for people who are struggling alone’ commenting that ‘selling the tech tops has been an effective means of spreading our campaign throughout the UK and we’re now looking to promote and educate through some exciting projects coming soon!’

With rowing’s bi-annual BUCS event being held on the Gloucester rowing course, co-hosted by the University of Bristol this weekend, athletes from over 100 clubs are set to descend on the water, wearing the RTHM racing tops in solidarity. Athletes will be showing their support for members of their rowing community like René, who have lost their lives due to the struggles posed by mental health.

The work done by Tommy and Jack, as well as the unwavering support of athletes, coaches and professionals across the rowing circuit is impressive to say the least. The conversation around mental well-being in the sport, at university and beyond, has begun.

If you’d like to get involved or show your support, you can get in touch by emailing rthm.ukmind@gmail.com or via social media: @rthm_uk.

Wolves scavenge FA Cup win against Ivan Cavaleiro bagged the game’s only goal, ensuring that Wolverhampton Wanderers advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals

Barney Stone

Deputy Online Sport Editor

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a sweet volley, only for it to be blocked.

Wolves hung on to secure their first quarter-final berth since 2003, and will now face Manchester United at Molineux.

Meanwhile, the Robins must set this disappointment aside and recalibrate their sights towards securing promotion to the Premier League. Accumulating 17 shots at goal in the second half, City certainly deserve praise for their ability to create chances. I’m sure this will put them in good stead as they continue their push towards the footballing promised land.

For any romanticists pleading for a cup upset this weekend, the remaining fifth

“Accumulating 17 shots at goal in the second half, City certainly deserve praise for their ability to create chances”

round ties failed to deliver. Manchester City comfortably navigated past Newport County, whilst Watford, Brighton and Crystal Palace all brushed off lower league opposition.

Perhaps the greatest ‘shock’ was Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge; however, given the home side’s wretched form, and now dwindling support for ‘Sarri-ball’, it should not come as too much of a surprise. Championship representatives Millwall and Swansea City complete the line-up for the quarter-finals.

The quarter-finals will be played from 1518 March. For the winners of each tie, a day out at Wembley awaits.

Flickr/ Phil

oming in to Sunday’s fixture, Bristol City had amassed nine successive wins and were looking rampant at Ashton Gate. Having breached the hallowed playoff places, City were provided with a timely opportunity to test their Premier League credentials. However, Wolves offered stern opposition; Championship winners in 2017-2018, and now cruising in the top flight, Nuno Espírito Santo’s men were surely relishing a continuation of their cup run. This promised to be a mouth-watering contest.

To the contrary, shots on goal were a precious commodity during a lackluster first half. Indeed, it wasn’t until the 28th minute that Wolves decided to flex their Premier League muscle and notch up the opening goal. Conor Coady’s protracted cross field pass unleashed Matt Doherty, who bundled past his opponent to whip in a cross to Cavaleiro; the Portuguese forward proceeded to drill the ball past a despairing Fielding.

Doherty, who received heaps of praise from Nuno Espirito Santo in his post-match interview, appeared to have been studying

Messi’s textbook. The Irishmen was at the centre of numerous attacking opportunities for the visitors, and represented a constant thorn in Bristol City’s side. On one occasion, he received a one-two first from Dendonker on the edge of the box, then again with Jimenez, before bursting into the box and smashing the post.

By half time, Wolves appeared to be in control. Bristol City offered precious little going forward, and were in dire need of a tactical reconsideration at the break. For any home fans yearning for a substitution, Lee Johnson duly obliged them; Marlon Pack and Matt Taylor were introduced to good effect. City’s Brownhill provided early second half impetus, weaving into the box, before delivering a cross which Taylor failed to convert.

However, despite Bristol City’s improvement, Wolves were still creating the better of the chances and looked in control. Moutinho struck the bar from a free kick, whilst Gibbs-White failed to bury an opportunity when one-on-one against Fielding.

With the game still at 1-0, Bristol City pressed for an equalizer and made Wolves endure a nervy climax. A sharp header from Taylor forced Ruddy into action, whilst the home side bombarded Wolves’ box from corners; goal mouth scrambles were certainly in abundance. In added time, Bristol City threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Wolves’ goal; Fielding, up for the final few seconds, even managed to connect with

Sport 47

04.03.2019 epigram

Semi-final awaits for UBAFC first team Bristol 1s triumphed over Loughborough 2s in a dramatic penalty shoot-out to set up a BUCS Trophy semi-final

Freddie Keighley Online Sport Editor

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UBAFC

oughborough led for much of the match after recovering from Anton Beleanu’s well taken opener. A rare miss from the penalty spot by Bertie Lloyd deep into the second half might have convinced the Coombe Dingle faithful that it wasn’t to be Bristol’s day.

However, another penalty was awarded to the home team late on and Cam McEwan made no mistake from the spot to level the scores and Bristol to extra time for the second successive cup game.

Jasper Harlington slotted early in the first half of extra time but Loughborough displayed their spirit to once again pull level and send the game to penalties.

In a remarkably lengthy shoot-out, the responsibility fell to Gabriel Smith on Bristol’s tenth penalty to put the tie to bed.

The defender kept his nerve to flummox the goalkeeper and nestle the ball in the corner of the net in unconventional style, much to his side’s delight.

The quarter-final victory sets up a meeting with Bath 2s March 6 after their 1-0 victory over East London 1s. However, the 1s cannot afford to let another fantastic cup run take their attention away from the

league title race. Southampton 1s remain the only opposition standing in their way as they look to claim the Western 1A. Elsewhere, a successful season is drawing to a close for the other UBAFC sides.

The 5s wrapped up the league with games to spare, with Nathan Winner’s men imperious in the Western 5B over the course of the season.

The 3s are in the driving seat in the Western 3A despite a recent setback against UWE 2s in which Al Harlington and Ryane Tully scored in a 5-2 defeat. The result marks only the second time this season that manager Aaron Farr’s side have dropped points.

After a fantastic 3-1 victory over title rivals Cardiff 4s, the 4s are one game

“The quarterfinal victory sets up a meeting with Bath 2s on March 6”

away from lifting the Western 4B. James Tippett’s penalty capped off a brilliant team performance which earned a crucial three points.

A ‘cup final’ against University of South Wales 4s on 13 March is all that separates the 4s from the league title.

The 2s have had a mixed campaign, with their quest for the league title ending before Christmas but a fantastic run has set up a Western Conference Cup semi-final with league leaders Plymouth Marjon 1s.

‘We have been building momentum for the cup run’, said captain Jonny Willis. ‘It is top of our agenda to finish a promising season with silverware for our veterans Alex Hunt and Sam Rattigan.’

Finally, the first season of the newly

formed 6s has been a successful one likely to result in a second place finish in the Western 7A. Unfortunately, South Gloucestershire and Stroud College 1s edged them 3-1 before Christmas to top the division with a 100% record, but the former development squad should be proud of their first term in BUCS competition.

6s boss Lucas Wengler is optimistic for the future: ‘While promotion was our objective for the season, we were beaten to it by a better side. I have full confidence that the 6s play at a higher level than this league and expect promotion next year!’

UBAFC has already had a very positive season, but the remaining league run-ins and cup clashes could prove that the best is yet to come.

UBWFC: challenging ignorant stereotypes The continued success of Bristol’s women’s football teams should serve to tackle the gender imbalance in the game

India Gay

Second Year, History

O

“The recent triumphs enjoyed by all UBWFC teams are part of the wider successes for women’s football in the previous months”

genders, it has been a highly male dominated sport for years and so such a radical change will take time to be accepted.

Nonetheless, there are now more opportunities at both at a grassroots and elite level for women and in all manner of roles which is compelling evidence of the traditional structure gradually changing to accommodate women.

To further acknowledge the work gone into promoting women in football, FIFA have launched a ‘Legends Assemble’ Campaign readying for the Women World Cup France 2019. It shows 23 strong FIFA Legends such as Alex Scott, Michael Essein, Gilberto Silva and Nadine Kessler as superhero alter egos in order to increase match attendances, TV viewership and engagement and to also

influence a new generation to play women’s football. The #DareToShine movement is aimed at inspiring women and girls to push boundaries and to succeed in all areas of life, much like the FIFA squad of 23 who have all had to overcome obstacles in the face of adversity.

To find out more about the FIFA Legends Campaign search #DareToShine on social media In light of recent events, it appears to be vital for women to engage in football where they can, and University is a great place for this to happen. In doing so, women all around the world are working to challenge the inaccurate stereotype of the sport as a ‘man’s game’ and UBWFC are proud to be a supporting member of this very movement.

UBWFC

ver the last few games, all teams have showcased their talent, all securing wins on the majority of games. The 1s have maintained their winning streak by winning all 3 of their games. They have also been battling in the cup and played University of East London on the 20th winning 2-1 therefore progressing into the semi-finals.

The 2s also started off strong with a win against Aberystwyth and battling hard in their other games despite multiple injuries and changes to the squad. Although the 3s have only been able to play one match so far due to bad weather, they too have shown their undeniable talent and determination to do well in the league.

Development also played their sixth game this season against Steps FC, and despite their excellent play they were just short of the win they deserved with a 1-1 draw.

Hopefully the remainder of the season will continue to be a success for all four teams highlighting the determination and skill of UBWFC. The recent triumphs enjoyed by all UBWFC teams are part of the wider successes for women’s football in the previous months.

As we all know, football is assumed to be a male sport; however, recent campaigns

and changes in attitude are beginning to highlight it as one that should be open and judgement-free for both genders.

However, despite university female football success, it’s clear that this is not always shared generally within the sport.

Alex Scott was recently criticised for her punditry, irrespective of the fact that she has 140 caps in 13 years for England, played for Arsenal since aged 8 and was awarded an MBE in 2017 for her services to football.

In an interview for BT Sport, Rachel Brown-Finnis, who has 82 caps for England, and has played for Liverpool and Everton among other teams, discussed the idea of women commentating on football. Brown disregards the idea of tokenism with female footballers and commentators alike, she states that all women involved in the sport at an elite level should fulfil the job in a professional capacity and should not simply be employed to avoid the sexist criticism.

Similarly she wants the same precedent to be set for men, where all those employed have played at the level (or higher) that they are commenting on.

Rachel is a BT Sport analyst and, as a goalkeeper, was able to offer excellent insight despite the fact she has never played in the Premier League. Finnis said that there is so much criticism towards women in sport, especially punditry, due to a ‘generational issue’. She goes on to say that ‘traditionally how people have consumed football is by watching men play and talk about the game’ and so it is a ‘default reaction’ to be surprised to hear a women analysing or playing.

Unfortunately football appears to have been left behind when it comes to sports being inclusive and encouraging for all

Sport

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

Varsity Darts: Bristol aim for Exeter victory Epigram / Ed Hanton Epigram/ Freddie Keighley Epigram / BUDC

The final game of the season could be the stage for Bristol University Darts Club to win the inaugural Southern University Darts League title

Freddie Keighley Online Sport Editor

P

rovided they beat Cardiff in the penultimate league match of the academic year, a varsity victory over local rivals Exeter will secure the championship for Bristol.

The pivotal showdown in the Anson Rooms on Tuesday 5 March is the team’s biggest night since Rob Angel led them to a historic victory over UWE at Walkabout in November 2017.

The evening at the Students’ Union promises to be a fantastic spectacle, with a crowd of up to 500 people, announcing by professional MC John Fowler and live coverage by UBTV. Club president Henry Malby was in a reflective mood ahead of a famous night and the possibility of leading his team to the Target UDUK Big Weekender - hosted this year at The University of Newcastle - as

southern champions: ‘Capitalising on great foundations from ex-president Rob Angel, darts has exceeded my wildest dreams at Bristol. Just being a founding member of the SUDL was enough, but now we’re within reach of greatness.

Everyone in the squad can be proud of what we’ve achieved.

‘Our star man at the oche, Anthony Crilly, has crushed every man who dared face him.

Therefore, in our sporting nature, we’ve declared him ineligible for the Exeter game.’

Malby added, ‘the numerous hours on the boards have put us where we are, but it is our ethos and the fans that keep us grounded.

‘I look forward to seeing you all there for what could be the greatest night of our lives.’

To put the title within their grasp, Bristol have bounced back well after a heavy 9-2 defeat in Swansea in the first game of the season.

Subsequent away days brought a 7-2 victory over Cardiff and a 9-2 drubbing of Exeter, while the loss against Swansea was avenged with an 8-3 triumph on home turf on 16 February featuring a monstrous 120 checkout by Billy Clift.

There have been many notable performances over the season, but Brandon Arthur record of winning every game he has played is particularly remarkable.

Elsewhere, Bertie Lloyd landed the first 180 ever in the SUDL and Henry Malby leads the way in the Captains’ Cup - competed for by each club president.

Bristol will take on Exeter in seven singles games including the Captains’ Cup, three doubles matches and two triples contests, with each format a best of 3 tie.

Ahead of the clash, club vice president Bertie Lloyd said ‘Exeter were a formidable opposition in the away fixture, so we will have to be on our game to produce a strong performance in front of our fans.

Tickets for the event can be bought via the Bristol SU website. For those looking to play darts in the future, the club meets on Tuesdays at 8-10pm at Allstars Sports Bar. The evenings are free, sociable and open to those of all abilities.

In the meantime, Bristol’s darts players await the chance to etch their names into the history books.

Meet the team:

“Bristol’s darts players await the chance to etch their names into the history books”

Name: Henry ‘The Finisher’ Malby Walk-on song: ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ Stevie Wonder Career 180s: Lost count Highest checkout: 126 Name: Brandon ‘The Artorious’ Arthur

Walk-on song: ‘The Game’ - Motorhead Career 180s: Too many to recall Highest checkout: 170 Name: Nicolas ‘DartAgnan’ Garraud Walk-on song: ‘Sweet Caroline’ - Neil Diamond Career 180s: 0 Highest checkout: 70 Name: Tom ‘The Skipper’ Sigs Walk-on song: ‘Chelsea Dagger’ - The Fratellis Career 180s: 0 Highest checkout: 108 Name: Andy ‘The Heatwave’ Hodding Walk-on song: Hawaii Five-0 Career 180s: A few Highest checkout: 127 Name: Bertie ‘The Tree’ Lloyd Walk-on song: ‘You’re Beautiful’ - James Blunt Career 180s: 9+10 Highest checkout: 130 Name: Billy ‘The Brummy’ Clift Walk-on song: ‘Red Right Hand’ - Arctic Monkeys Career 180s: 3

Review: Fantastic ‘Fit and Fabulous’ at the SU Claire Hargreaves

Fourth year, French and German

B

ristol SU’s ‘Fit and Fabulous’ programme offers a range of exercise classes for female staff and students at the university. Unbeatable value for money and a diverse range of classes makes it hard to understand why you would fork out for the university gym membership.

All classes are based at the Richmond Building in one of the various dance studios, activity rooms and the swimming pool. Competitively priced at £24.99 for the whole academic year, you can go to as many classes as you like per week provided that you sign up on the SU website 48 hours

in advance of the class. This means that for the most popular classes, you have to be on the ball to avoid missing out. Despite this, the membership package is very well-priced for the number of classes you can attend – up to 17 a week, if you’re feeling active – and it pays for itself within a few sessions’ time.

The range of classes offered is refreshing and varied, from Boxercise to Barre Fit, with the more traditional yoga and Pilates in the mix, too. A big fan favourite is AfroCaribbean Fitness on Monday evenings with a feel-good playlist and a high-quality instructor.

One of the other most appealing aspects of ‘Fit and Fab’ is the inclusive ethos of the programme; most classes are set at beginner-

“It gets women together and empowers them and creates a real sense of community”

level, and the atmosphere is welcoming and friendly rather than exclusive. That said, the Dance Fit class on Tuesdays should be avoided if tricky choreography is not your thing!

Masters student Anna Young, a regular attendee of Fit and Fab classes, praised the programme, saying that ‘it gets women together and empowers them and creates a real sense of community. For people trying to get active and do exercise, it’s a lot less intimidating than the gym’.

Classes are mostly scheduled at convenient times, but there is, unfortunately,

a lack of classes at the weekend. Also, the rooms can feel a bit crowded at some of the busier sessions, especially for cardio classes when moving about and up and down is almost inevitable.

For students based in Clifton, it would be difficult to find an excuse not to attend Fit and Fab classes, but it could be inconvenient for students living in Redland, Cotham, and the city centre. Overall, though, Fit and Fab provides excellent value-for-money fitness classes for those who want to get active on a casual basis in a non-intimidating environment.

Part of an Intramural team? Want to stay updated with league tables, results and fixtures? Then head over to the Epigram website’s special ‘Intramural’ section.