Epigram Issue 344

Trading clothes Inside...

Musical decade

Election debate

MeWe is the new student-led sustainable ‘not-new’ fashion brand

The best albums of the 2010s as chosen by our student writers

A student viewpoint on how the Remain alliance has affected Bristol West

The Croft page 15

page 26-27

page 13

epigram

Fortnightly November 25 2019

est. 1988

Issue 344

The University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

‘Washed out’: a burst pipe on Whiteladies caused by heavy downfall led to University buildings closing for a morning and teaching cancelled, page 6

Students ‘successful’ in court against landlord Principality Holdings ordered to return thousands to the former Bristol students after a deposit dispute Imogen Horton

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Maggie Sawant SU Correspondent

A

group of former Bristol University students have come out as the ‘essentially successful’ party after being ‘forced’

into court by their Landlord over deposit disputes. Prior to the case reaching court, the students, who had lived at Flat 2, 57 Queens Road, had been asked to pay £1356.64 from their £3000 deposit for damage during their tenancy. The students did not agree with the figures presented

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by Principality Holdings, who are appealing the court’s decision, and asked that the Deposit Protection Service adjudication service be used.

When this was refused, the students were left with, as the judge concluded, ‘no choice but to bring a claim’.

The court ordered the Kit Breach,

EpigramPaper

Director of Principality Holdings, to return £1785.80, plus any interest accrued on the deposit, to the students.

Deputy District Judge Cannings ruled that the ‘tenants [were] essentially the successful party, even if not in full’, continuing ‘the landlord has effectively lost this

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litigation’. Mr Breach’s conduct which was ‘very poor in certain regards and unacceptable in others’ was also noted. Judge Cannings concluded that he had essentially ‘forced the claimant and her fellow tenants to seek the money through the court’.

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Continued on page 3...

Editorial

epigram 25.11.2019

21 things I’ve learnt at the age of 21

I

we all know in which context I mean this. Leave the paramedic calls in the bygone days of 18th birthday parties rather than collapsing on the Triangle.

11. Have a proper skincare routine. Top tips: wear SPF everyday, even in in Winter, exfoliate either chemically or physically once a week and don’t forget to moisturise!

12. It’s okay to moan sometimes - especially about the small things. Use your rant as a way of saying goodbye to those issues.

13. If you want your deposit back, don’t use blu tack – it really does mark the wall.

14. Photograph everything when you first move in.

15. Uni is the perfect time to try new things, like writing for Epigram (this is not an ad).

16. In a shared flat or house, just do your fair share of the jobs it makes everyone’s life easier. Help clean, tidy and take out the bins. Just because you didn’t have to do it at home doesn’t mean you’re excused from it at university too.

17. Getting a First is not the be all and end all.

18. There’s no point pretending to be something you’re not.

19. It’s okay to not give everyone in your life 100 per cent of your energy, all the time. If someone is too draining or isn’t acting respectfully, it’s okay to leave a message on read. University is busy and it’s hard enough to just keep up with work, societies and maintain some semblance of a social life. Do yourself a favour and get rid of that drama.

20. Equally, recognise and apologise when you’ve hurt someone else or you’re in the wrong. Backing down in an argument or apologising for something you maybe shouldn’t have said doesn’t make you weak.

Don’t make excuses how you’ve behaved and instead realise that it’s so much easier to just apologise, even for something little, rather than dragging things out.

21.

The most important thing is to make sure you know how to make yourself happy, before anyone else.

Don’t underestimate the importance of taking time out for self-care.

S

trikes have disrupted everyday life for over three weeks at the University of Bristol.

National action at 61 universities started on 22 February with a two day walkout. It is so far planned to continue until 16 March with five days of action in total.

This is the result of a pensions dispute between the University and College Union and Universities UK. The strikes are in response to proposed changes by UUK which could leave a typical member of staff £10,000 worse off for every year in retirement.

Additional action short of striking began on 22 February. It involves

staff working to only to contract and refusing to undertake voluntary duties. This may continue until 19 June.

Dependant on whether a solution is found, the action could last longer or finish sooner than planned.

An Epigram survey taken at the beginning of February revealed 80 per cent of students supported the strike action, although many were angry about the lack of communication from the university and questioned whether students would receive compensation for the teaching hours lost.

Despite a petition set up by Bristol students that demands compensation for strike action - at the time of writing the petition had 4901 signatures -

Fortnightly 12th March 2018 Issue 325 Winner of Best Publication and Best Use of Digital Media 2017

University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

Epigram / Evy Tang

Strike action hits the University of Bristol Nikki Peach and Alex Boulton News Editor and Co-Editor in Chief Strikes have disrupted normal life at the University of Bristol for over three weeks, making the campus seem the ‘ghost-town’ that several protesters endeavoured to create.

National action at 61 universities started on the 22nd February with a two-day walkout

Comment

Epigram and LGBT+

society’s collaborative spread on bisexuality Pages 10 - 11

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and is planned to continue until the 16th March with five days of action.

This is the result of a pensions dispute between the University and College Union (UCU) and Universities UK (UUK). The strikes are in response to proposed changes by UUK which could leave a typical member of staff £10,000 worse off every year in retirement.

On strike days, participating staff members do not attend scheduled teaching, consultation hours, assessments, reply to

emails, or mark work.

Action short of a strike also began on the 22nd February. It is a continuous action and sees UCU members work to contract but not undertake voluntary duties such as covering for absent colleagues. This action may continue until June 19th.

Depending on whether a solution is found, the action could last longer or finish sooner than planned.

An Epigram survey conducted at the

Style

Travel

Lottie Moore interviews Treasure, Stokes Croft boutique charity shop

Salsa, solo travel,

Epigram / Nick Bloom

Printed by: Iliffe Print Cambridge Ltd. Winship Road, Milton Cambridge, CB24 6PP

Issue 325, released 12 March 2018, covered the most recent UCU strikes affecting students and staff at UoB

E2

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.

Digital Editor Tom Taylor Deputy Digital Editor Bethany Marris epionlineeditor@gmail.com

From the archives: ‘Strike action hits the University of Bristol’

Unsplash / Peter Hershey

’ m writing this in the slightly hungover aftermath of my 21st birthday, thinking what I’ve actually learnt in the 21 years of being alive. In the words of my childhood idol, Taylor Swift, ‘I thought I’d share some lessons I’ve learned because it’s 2019 and sharing is caring’.

1.

Think ahead: food prep is a lifesaver at busy times.

2.

It’s impossible to be perfect.

I’ve been trying to learn to ‘love’ how I look ‘naturally’. That said I still use copious amounts of fake tan, apologies to my housemates who now have to live with an orange shower.

3.

Read before the seminar.

4. Look forward, not back.

Cheesy I know, but it helps to remember what amazing things you have to come, whether it’s Christmas, holidays or just the time off that the strikes will give you.

5.

It’s never too early to save.

6.

Student houses are always cold. I don’t know what it is, but even with heating on I feel like I’m making a trip to the North Pole.

7. ...then again heating really isn’t something worth arguing over.

8. When someone says it’s casual, don’t believe them.

9.

It’s completely normal to fail. I don’t think this was something I’d ever really experienced until I got my A-Level results, and if I’m being honest it came as a shock. Losing my place at both my firm and insurance universities, I really thought that going through clearing was the end of the world. Even getting lower marks than I’d wanted at uni, I saw as a failure, but you have to mess up sometimes to be able to learn from your mistakes.

10. Know your limits. I think

Imogen Horton Patrick Sullivan Will Charley

Co-Editor-in-Chief Co-Editor-in-Chief Deputy Editor

Film

International Women’s Day: Ellen

Narcos: ¡Vamos a

Kemp looks at female directors

Latinoamérica!

who have revolutionalised cinema

Pages 28 - 29

Page 26 EpigramPaper

beginning of February revealed 80% of students supported the strike action, although many questioned whether students would receive compensation for the teaching hours lost.

The University of Bristol has been a hotbed of action in the past weeks. From occupations and marches to pickets and lecture disruption, read all about it in our guide to the strike action so far.

Continued on page 3...

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the University say they ‘do not plan to provide financial reimbursement for any specific missed teaching sessions due to industrial action.

‘Tuition fees relate to your education as a whole, including the other services and facilities that you receive as a student, and not to individual teaching sessions.’

A few student respondents disagreed entirely with the action.

‘Completely unacceptable. I pay £9000 a year for tuition, not to subsidise tutors to go on strike.’

Another stressed that the strikes were ‘very disruptive to student learning’.

Nikki Peach & Alex Boulton

Rosa Stevens Claudia Dupé Imogen Elliott

Director of Comms Olivia Tapper

Head of Finance Edward Fraser

Head of Ad & Sales Ben Bridgway

Head of Marketing Rory Hosty

Business Assistants

Ethan Luc Charlotte Jones May Garland Maduka Karunatilaka Tom Stone

News

Editor Deputy Editor Digital Editor Investigations Correspondent SU Correspondent

Maddy Russell Benjamin Salmon Olivia Beatson Isaac Haigh Maggie Sawant

Got a story for the newsteam? Email newsteam.epigram@gmail.com

‘It was incredibly daunting having to go to court’

Imogen Horton Co-Editor in Chief

Maggie Sawant SU Correspondent

Continued from front page...

No costs were awarded to Principality Holdings, however the tenants’ court fees, travel costs and loss of earnings were to be reimbursed by the company. Georgina Gamman, the lead tenant, has told Epigram that ‘the whole process was extremely frustrating’, but is ‘satisfied in that we weren’t subject to any of Principality Holding’s costs as the judge found we were not liable for them but they had to pay ours as the judge found we were not left any option but to go to court’.

‘We tried on numerous occasions to communicate with the company and negotiate the charges which we felt were unfair. However,

throughout the process further charges were introduced which we felt were an attempt to get us to back down and accept the initial offer from Principality Holdings.

It was incredibly daunting having to go to court, relying only on our understanding of what we believed to be right and fair rather than any kind of formal legal advice and going up against a large and established firm.

‘This was exacerbated by the sheer volume of evidence provided

by Principality Holdings and their significant bill of additional costs of over £8,000 which they were trying to recover from us.’

The former Geography student also noted that ‘the whole situation could’ve been resolved much more quickly had the Deposit Protection service’s Dispute Resolution service been used’. Judge Cannings determined that Mr Breach, who according to Companies House is also a Director at Hawksworth Securities PLC, had shown a ‘wilful refusal to use the system’ and had ‘no intention of taking part in the adjudication scheme’ leaving the ‘tenants no choice but to bring a claim’.

When questioned as to why the DPS adjudication scheme had not been used, Mr Breach replied that

he ‘does not trust’ the scheme and had heard ‘bad stories’ about the adjudication processes of other DPS schemes also. The tenants say that they are still ‘surprised’ at costs they had to pay for damage, including ‘full costs for new replacement mattresses and over £240 for the replacement of a window pane - which was still unfixed when we went to court.’

In many cases costs were awarded to the Principality Holdings, however for a significant number of items the original costs claimed were ruled ‘not reasonable.’ The judge made the point that ‘letting properties to students leads to more wear and tear’ and that this should be expected by landlords.

For half an hour of labour to remove two Sellotape strips, £9 was claimed, a cost Judge Cannings reduced to £1.50, for five minutes’ labour. Principality Holdings also claimed £77.88 for the removal of Blu Tac stains left by the tenants.

This was reduced by almost 50 per cent, allowing the Landlord to claim only £41.84 for two hours labour and materials. Talking about what students should watch out for, Miss Gamman has said that she and the other tenants were ‘totally unaware that tenants can in fact be charged for works which are simply quoted as

opposed to completed.

‘It’s not a process I’d advise any other students to go through and would say please read all contracts thoroughly, check online reviews, check the company’s reputation with the University Accommodation Office, complete your inventories as thoroughly as you are able (with as much photographic evidence as possible!) and read up on how your deposit protection scheme works.

‘But, most importantly, if you are subject to charges you don’t agree with absolutely do stand up for

“

The outcome emphasised both landlords and tenants should take comprehensive photographic records at the start and the end of the tenancy

“

• Students recall ‘frustrating’ legal process after part of deposit withheld by Principality Holdings • Judge ruled some costs ‘not reasonable’ and ordered the company to reimburse its former tenants - as well as paying for their court fees

what you think is right.’

In a statement, Kit Breach of Principality Holdings told Epigram: ‘We are grateful for the vast majority of tenants over the years willingly repaying Principality Holdings for damage or cleaning.

Many have also been kind in posting online complementary reviews on the accommodation they enjoyed

and the service they received with Principality.

‘As someone who has represented both tenants and landlords in dilapidations disputes, I was saddened that this case was pressed to court by the tenants after they offered only £284.06, compared to the court judgement in Principality’s favour of £1,154.68. We are content that for the overwhelming majority, the judge found that the tenants had breached the tenancy agreement and the costs the landlord spent putting it right that it sought to recover from the tenants, were correct. It would have saved much effort and distress to both sides had the tenants fairly offered to repay at the level of the judgement, which was close to what they had been offered, and far from what they said was all they should pay.

‘Amongst other things, the tenants had said that their mattress stains should be acceptable to the next tenants, which was dismissed by the court. It was saddening that one aspect of the judgment reflects that if landlords want to be sure of recovery of damage costs during a tenancy, they should not delay seeking recovery, even if they are considering settling at the end of the tenancy without recovering the cost out of good will and kindness. This is not helpful to good relations between landlords and tenants. The outcome emphasised that to avoid misunderstandings both landlords and tenants should take comprehensive photographic records at the start and the end of the tenancy, that damage is not “fair wear and tear”, and deductions for “betterment” should remain grounded in material facts rather than hypothetical assumptions.’

George Bemrose, Bristol SU Student Living Officer, has encouraged students struggling with tenancy issues to get involved with their annual housing campaign ‘My Rents, My Rights’.

‘This will be launched in November and will give students the tools to make informed decisions on choosing housing and what their rights as tenants are. I’d recommend that all students make use of this advice.

‘We also have a lettings service, which is the highest rated for students in Bristol and only works with reputable landlords and properties.’

epigram 25.11.2019

4 News

Students in Hong Kong urged to return home Benjamin Salmon Deputy News Editor

B

ristol students currently on exchange in Hong Kong have been urged to return

to monitor security advice from our insurers and the FCO and will provide ongoing support to students if they wish to stay in Hong Kong.

‘Flights are being booked for students who wish to return and staff will work with them to identify options for the rest of their year to ensure there is no detrimental impact on their studies as a result.

‘Our priority is to ensure the safety

and wellbeing of all students and travelling staff.’

It is not yet confirmed whether or not students will return to their Hong Kong universities after the Christmas break, though it is widely expected they will not.

Ella Kennedy, a third-year law student studying at the University of Hong Kong, told Epigram: ‘I think they’ve [the University of Bristol]

handled it well.

‘I know a lot of unis … who have essentially given students no choice - they just tell them to come home.

‘I do understand why because on the news it seems crazy here, but you really can’t understand what it’s like unless you’re actually here, and I know a lot of students, myself included, still feel very safe.

‘So, I think it’s good that Bristol

Flickr / Jonathan van Smit

home.

The University have guaranteed flights home to students who wish to come back to the UK through their insurance policies, though there is no mandatory repatriation effort yet.

Recent protests have been focused in and around major universities in Hong Kong.

Bristol’s new stance specifically affects 15 students studying at University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the City University of Hong Kong.

Speaking to Epigram, the University said: ‘We will continue

Student areas among worst for air pollution in Bristol • Air pollution in Bristol at its worst in student-heavy areas • Mayor says report is a warning to improve air quality

Isaac Haigh

Investigations Correspondent

S

tudents are some of the most at-risk of poor health effects due to air pollution in Bristol.

A study from UK100 and King’s College London has shown that some of the worst areas in Bristol for air pollution are areas popular with students.

These areas include the City Centre, Cotham, Clifton Down, Hotwells, Harbourside and Clifton wards.

The research found that each week air pollution is responsible for five people dying prematurely in Bristol, amounting up to 260 a year.

Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, told the Telegraph: ‘We have a moral,

ecological and legal duty to clean up the air we breathe.

‘This research emphasises how vital it is that we act quickly to improve health and save lives in Bristol.’

For children with asthma, they are 4.4 per cent more likely to be admitted to hospital on days with high NO2 concentrations, a common air pollutant from diesel and older cars.

It is estimated an extra five children a day are hospitalised due to asthma on days with high air pollution.

For adults the figures are slightly lower with the increase in hospitalisation from high NO2 levels being 1.5 per cent and an additional 4 adults admitted to hospital a day on days with high air pollution.

Joe Farrington-Douglas, Head of Policy and External Affairs at Asthma UK, said: ‘Filthy air stunts the growth of children’s lungs and this study is yet more damning evidence of the harm it can cause people with

asthma.

‘Air pollution is a trigger for more than three million people with asthma, leaving them struggling to breathe and putting them at risk of a life-threatening asthma attack.

‘It’s unacceptable that poisonous air is causing premature deaths.’

Epigram previously reported that in early November, Bristol City Council voted to ban all diesel cars from the city centre between 7am and 3pm in order to reduce the NO2 levels to legal requirements.

The current levels are 1.2 times over the legal limit and are assumed to increase as Bristol’s population increases. The research also showed that cutting air pollution by one fifth would decrease lung cancer cases by 6 per cent.

The study combined data from NO2 levels and PM2.5 levels, the latter of which primarily comes from the burning of house wood and coal fires, which is largely dying out.

has given us the choice.’

Ms Kennedy also stressed her support for the protests: ‘I’m behind them. Sure, it’s frustrating not being able to move around the city if public transport is closed or whatever, but compared to what they are fighting for its so totally trivial.

‘I have felt conflicted with regards to some of the really violent/ disruptive conduct of the protestors… but I spoke to some protestors yesterday and they explained that the reason they don’t publicly condemn that kind of behaviour is because it’s more important for the protestors to be united.

‘I think as a foreign student I can’t even begin to fully understand what it means for the Hongkongers out there fighting every day.’

The ongoing protests in Hong Kong initially started in spring 2019 in response to a controversial bill that would have extradited criminals to mainland China for trial.

They have since morphed into a greater movement against the perceived encroachment of China into Hong Kong society.

Temple Quarter Campus delayed until 2023 • Construction on the Temple Quarter Campus has been delayed until 2023 • Campus was initially supposed to be completed in 2022

Maddy Russell News Editor

T

he University have announced that the new campus development next to Temple Meads station will now open in September 2023, rather than the initially planned date of 2022.

The development is expected to cost the University £300 million and will include a new digital innovation centre, a business school and residential accommodation for around 1,000 students.

A spokesperson for the University of Bristol told Bristol Live that although it had been hoped that September 2022 would be the completion date for the project, no specific date had ever been set in stone.

The spokesperson went on to say: ‘We look forward to working with our city-region to increase our research, innovation and teaching impact and

are encouraged by the remarkable levels of support we have seen from funders and partners for the concept of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus.

‘We expect the next phase of site preparation work to begin soon and have released the invitation to tender for the main construction contract.’

The proposed design of residential accommodation blocks at the sight has already caused controversy amongst local campaigners who had branded it as ‘ugly’ and expressed concern that it would affect visitors’

“

No specific date had ever been set in stone

“

• University says Bristol students could come home • They will be given the opportunity to study abroad in different cities

first impressions of the city.

Last month, Epigram reported that Historic England, an arcitechtural campaign group, was upset about the proposals.

The plans to build the campus was approved last month by Bristol City Council.

25.11.2019 epigram

News 5

A third of young people still not registered to vote

Benjamin Salmon Deputy News Editor

O

nly 66 per cent of 18 and 19-year-olds are currently registered to vote for the upcoming General Election held on Thursday 12 December, according to findings from the Electoral Commission.

For 20 to 24-year olds, the figure is marginally higher, at 68 per cent.

This comes in stark contrast to over-65s, of whom 94 per cent are registered.

The deadline for registrations this election is on Thursday 24 November at 5pm Anyone who attempts to register

after this date will not be eligible to vote in the General Election.

Students can register at both their term-time address and their home address, and the Commission is urging students who are worried to do just this.

The Electoral Commission is also working with the National Union of Students (NUS) to increase political and electoral literacy among voters.

Craig Westwood, Director of Communication, Policy and Research at the Electoral Commission, said: ‘For some young people this will be their first opportunity to participate in an election, but it’s important they don’t miss the chance.

‘Our research shows that young people are less likely to be registered to vote.

‘It only takes five minutes to register to vote online – time that you might otherwise spend waiting for the kettle to boil or for a gym class to start.

‘So if you want to make sure your

voice is heard, go online and register now.’

Anyone who is 18 years or older on polling day and is a British citizen or a Commonwealth or Irish citizen living in the UK can vote in General Elections in Britain.

The Electoral Commission was set up in 2000 by the New Labour government to regulate electoral procedures in the UK and help build

“

It only takes five minutes to register to vote online

“

• Senior figures warn of low youth turnout • Over-65 registration rates­at 30 per cent above youth • Irish and Commonwealth citizens resident in Britain are eligible to register to vote

up trust in the UK’s democratic processes.

Students who want to register to vote will likely be in the Bristol West or Bristol North-West constituencies.

Conservatives and Brexit Party put forward last minute candidates for Bristol West • Tories and Brexit Party submit Bristol candidates hours before deadline • Students crucial to election

Patrick Sullivan Co-Editor-in-Chief

T

he Conservative Party and the Brexit Party waited until the penultimate day before unveiling their MP candidates for Bristol West ahead of the upcoming election.

Two new Bristol West candidates, Suria Aujla and Neil Robert Hipkiss, have been announced by the Conservative Party and Brexit Party respectively right at the deadline for candidates to hand in their nomination papers.

Candidates looking to run in next month’s general election had until 4pm on 14 November to announce their campaign, and the Bristol West constituency saw these two new names emerge on 13 November.

The Conservative announcement

came the same day Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Bristol to support Conservative Bristol candidates, telling Bristol 24/7 ‘this is a crucial area for us and we will be fighting flat out for every seat’.

Suria Aujla is a councillor from Bridgwater, Somerset, while Hipkiss has lived in Bristol since he was 25.

They will now campaign against current Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire and the Green Party candidate, Carla Denyer, for the seat ahead of the vote on 12 December.

The University of Bristol student population will play a crucial role in deciding both Bristol West, where the main campus is, and Bristol North West, where the Stoke Bishop halls are situated.

On 7 November Liberal Democrat candidate James Cox stepped aside for Denyer as part of the Remain Alliance agreement.

Students have until 26 November to register to vote here in Bristol or to submit a postal vote back in their home constituency.

Bristol West LibDem election candidate withdraws as part of Remain alliance

Patrick Sullivan Co-Editor-in-Chief

Liberal Democrats / James Cox

U

where Molly Scott Cato was elected as a Green MEP in May 2019.

“

I am proud to play my part in a movement that is looking beyond party politics

“

niversity of Bristol student, James Cox, has withdrawn his candidacy to become a Liberal Democrat MP for the Bristol West constituency as part of a cross-party agreement, meaning only Labour, the Green Party, the Conservative Party and the Brexit Party are on the ballot for the constituency.

The Liberal Democrat’s decision is part of their pledge to the national Unite to Remain alliance, led by LibDem MP Heidi Allen, along with Plaid Cymru, The Green Party, The Independent Group for Change and various anti-Brexit independents.

The campaign seeks to stop the UK leaving the European Union by standing aside in key parliamentary seats.

The main beneficiary in Bristol West is The Green Party, who can now target the seat in a constituency

Hours before the deadline for nominations, the Conservative Party and the Brexit Party put forward their respective candidates for the seat -

see story above right.

Bristol West has previously been a Liberal Democrat seat, with Stephen Williams elected MP twice in 2005 and 2010.

It is one of 60 seats in which parties from the Unite to Remain alliance will be standing aside in the hope that a new parliament can deliver a People’s Vote or support the Liberal Democrat policy of revoking Article 50.

While technically still registered as a University of Bristol student until January, James Cox completed

his Master’s degree in Public Policy earlier this year and continues to advocate student issues locally, including mental health in his role as founder and director of campaign group Zero Suicide Bristol.

In a statement on his withdrawal, he said: ‘I first got into politics because I wanted to change it.

‘After the EU Referendum, I was a founding member of Paddy Ashdown’s More United because I believe in the realignment of progressive politics in this country to

defeat the Tories and other illiberal forces.

‘We as a party have vowed to do what we can to fix our broken politics.

‘I am proud to play my part in a movement that is looking beyond party politics and putting the country first.

‘Whilst I am not fighting this election, I will continue to work to stop Brexit and build a brighter

“

Whilst I am not fighting this election, I will continue to work to stop Brexit

“

• LibDems drop candidate as part of Unite to Remain pact • Deal improves the Green party’s Carla Denyer chance of taking the seat from Labour • Greens need to overcome a 35,000+ Labour majority

future for the people of Bristol.

Students can register to vote in the general election in Bristol as well as their home constituency, but must choose one in which to cast their vote.

Ladbrokes betting have given the Green Party a 2/1 chance of winning Bristol West from Thangam Debbonaire, the Labour incumbent.

However, they will have to overcome a 37,336 vote Labour majority.

epigram 25.11.2019

6 News: In Pictures

Uni buildings closed following severe floods

Maddy Russell News Editor

Epigram / Isaac Haigh

Epigram / Isaac Haigh

Epigram / Isaac Haigh

Epigram / IHendrike Rahtz

O

n 6 November multiple University buildings were closed following a burst pipe, which lead to severe floods on the bottom of Whiteladies Road.

Buildings closed included Senate House, Queens, the ASSL, Biomedical Science, the old Maths Building, Physics Building, Life Sciences, NSQI and the Chemistry Building. In an email to students the University confirmed that the closure was due to water supply issues and concerns over student safety.

All buildings were closed until midday and students attending teaching were asked to leave the premisis immediately.

The burst pipe resulted in significant flooding along the bottom of Whiteladies and some students complained that they struggled to make it home due to the disruption caused by the water.

The floods also resulted in significant travel disruption along the A4018, as cars and buses struggled to pass.

In a statement Bristol Water appologised for the disruption caused.

New Channel 4 office ready for Bristol opening Patrick Sullivan Co-Editor-in-Chief

Channel 4 / Sinead Rocks

C

hannel 4’s new Bristol-based creative hub in Finzel’s Reach, City Centre has now been fitted and will open before Christmas. The decision to partially move operations to Bristol is part of the company’s ‘All the UK’ strategy to redistribute work away from London.

The offices will be situated in the new Finzel’s Reach development, the Bristol creative hub is on track to open before Christmas.

When the three sites are fully operational, they will provide 300 new creative jobs to the regions, including key decision makers.

Channel 4 have pledged to increase their spend on creative content outside of London from 35 per cent to 50 per cent by 2035. The increase is worth up to £250m.

25.11.2019 epigram

News 7

Man falls through ceiling at Lakota • Ambulances were called after a man fell through the ceiling at Lakota • Music was turned off for 55 minuets whilst the man was treated and taken to hospital

Olivia Beatson Digital News Editor

A

member of staff is believed to have been injured after falling through the ceiling mid-way through Lakota’s Bonfire Night event.

Videos on posted on Twitter appear to show an individual having fallen through the ceiling and onto the dance floor during Lakota’s Shutdown Bonfire Night: Kanine - Unleashed Tour ft. Simula & T>I event.

Epigram has learned from attendees that the upstairs area, from which the man is thought to have fallen, had been closed to clubbers before the beginning of the night.

According to one witness, the man was given gas and air whilst being

attended to by paramedics.

Some attendees have also claimed that their phones were taken to prevent recordings of the accident.

However, this has not been confirmed

by Lakota.

Talking to Epigram one individual commented on the events being allowed to continue, saying: ‘I was quite surprised as I was worried more roof would fall down.’

In a statement, a representative from Lakota said: ‘We can confirm that a member of our staff was involved in an accident last night at the club.

‘That member of staff is not in hospital and is recovering at home.

‘A small area of the club had been closed off - with barriers - to all members of the public and all staff.

However, during the evening one member of staff accessed the space and unfortunately fell.

‘Whilst we dealt with our injured member of staff, the club was put on standby for 55mins with music off and lights on and the garden and outdoor area opened up for access.’

Only seven per cent of students feel optimistic about the future of the UK • One-fifth of students ‘hate’ the thought of the country’s future • Only nine percent of students either ‘like’ or ‘love’ Brexit

Benjamin Salmon Deputy News Editor

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survey of over 35,000 students from across the UK has revealed that young people are increasingly worried about the future of the country.

The data, compiled by Dig In, a student deals company, found that, when asked about their optimism for the country’s future, one-fifth (20 per cent) of students said they ‘hate’ the thought of the country’s immediate future, while a further 33 per cent ‘dislike’ it.

These figures represent a marked decline from last year’s optimism figures insofar as the number

of students who said they were optimistic about the country’s future has fallen from 27 per cent to only seven percent.

One of the main sources of frustration comes from Brexit with nearly two-thirds of students saying they either ‘hate’ (38 per cent) or ‘dislike’ (24 per cent) that Britain is leaving the European Union.

Only nine percent said they either ‘like’ or ‘love’ Brexit.

Students are also worried about the state of the country’s political leadership. 84 per cent said they distrust Boris Johnson while 76 per cent distrust Jeremy Corbyn. 66 per cent also believe Jo Swinson and the Liberal Democrats could break their promise to revoke Article 50.

However, Brexit is not at the top of the list of issues students feel politicians should be focusing on.

According to 53 per cent of those surveyed, combatting climate change should become the most important policy priority for political leaders

while 21 per cent believed it should be improving healthcare.

Only 17 per cent said Brexit should be the top priority of the day.

Speaking about the findings, Dig In CEO Chris Platt said: ‘These findings are hard to hear - our student community is clearly concerned about its future.

‘Much has been said in the past about the split of leavers vs remainers being heavily weighted by age, but this large-scale poll shows just how opposed to Brexit these young people - the potential future leaders of this country - feel.

‘My hope is that their thoughts, feelings and future outcomes are carefully considered by whichever government is in power in their near future.’

With the election coming up in December, students will be weighing up their their hopes for the It remains to be seen whether this pessimism will have an effect at the ballot box.

‘Humiliating’ initiations putting students off joining Uni sports teams • In a recent survey two thirds of students reported that they were put off joining a societies because of initiation practices • BUCS are launching an anonymous whistleblowing website for students who have experiences ‘harmful’ initiations

Maddy Russell News Editor

Epigram

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tudents interested in pursuing university sport are being put off by the prospect of ‘humiliating’ initiation rituals, a poll

by The Times has found.

A snap poll for The Times held on the Student Room, found that around two thirds of UK university students claimed to have been put off joining university sports teams and clubs by the prospect of initiation ceremonies.

Last year an investigation by the Bristol Tab found that rugby freshers at the University of Bristol had been forced to eat raw chicken livers as part of a mandatory initiation ritual.

Three students were believed to have fallen ill as a result of consuming

the chicken and members of the UBRFC committee were subsequently removed from their posts.

Whilst many students were hesitant to report their experiences of initiation ceremonies, one third year student told Epigram that during a freshers initiation in 2017 they had been forced to run naked laps around Hiatt Baker and Wills Hall.

Another student reported that during a sports initiation this year they had been encouraged into drink shots of vodka and tabasco sauce and

then been asked to complete push ups in the rain.

In response to complaints about incidents of ‘degrading’ and ‘dangerous’ initiations, British Universities and Collages Sports (BUCS) announced that it was planning to launch a whistleblowing website. From January 2020 it is hoped that students will be able to report any ‘harmful’ initiation behaviour to BUCS, who will pass over the details of any incidents to the University.

In a statement, Vince Mayne, the Chief Executive of BUCS, said: ‘From January the report button will allow students to tip us off if a harmful initiation has taken place or is coming up. We will contact the host university and they will investigate it.

‘They will hopefully kill it off, or if it has already taken place, they must report back to us what action they have taken. If we think they have been too lenient we can take action ourselves. It will be completely

anonymous.’

Universities UK, an umbrella group from hundreds of UK institutions including Bristol, said that the new guidelines it had issued in September placed the responsibility for cracking down on harmful society initiation practices with university leadership.

It stressed that universities must have prevention policies in place to ensure that ‘proportionate disciplinary processes and sanctions are in place’ and that clear reporting systems are advertised.

The University and Bristol SU have existing policies against initiations in recent years. Amy Brook, SU Sport and Student Development Officer, said: ‘Initiations are prohibited in the Bristol SU code of conduct and we advise our student groups on how to run events and socials which are safe and inclusive, and provide a good night out for all members.

‘We have over 400 different student groups and work hard to make these as accessible as possible.

If any students feel as if there are barriers to joining different clubs we’d encourage them to get in touch with us to discuss this further.’

8 News

epigram 25.11.2019

Bristol Cut the Rent secure a £100,000 increase in accomodation bursary

Bristol Cut the Rent

• 2020/21 accommodation bursaries will be increased to £300,000 • Cost of rooms will only be raised inline wth inflation, no higher • Next years srudents will be able to pay rent monthly

Olivia Beatson Digital News Editor

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Boris visits Bristol Maddy Russell n the 14th of November Prime Minister Boris Jonhson spent the day in Bristol as part of his campaign trail arrround much of the South West.

During hist tour of the city Mr Johnson is beleived to have visited BBC Bristol and met owners of the local Bristol Port Company in Avonmouth. The PM was also accussed, by some of his critics. of not engaging enough with local Bristolians during his visit.

Bristol Live reported that the PM’s campaign team were late to a planned event in the city centre, after getting stuck in Bristol’s rush hour traffic.

Speaking to journalists Johnson commented that he ‘understood people’s frustrations with the traffic’.

O

Olivia Beatson niversity of Bristol researchers uncovered evidence of an association between generalised anxiety disorder at age 18 and harmful drinking three years later, thanks to the long-term health study Children of the 90s. The study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence strengthens the evidence for a relationship between anxiety and later alcohol use as the researchers accounted for other factors such as adolescent smoking and cannabis use, and parental anxiety and alcohol use. Using questionnaire and clinical interview data from more than 2000 participants, they found generalised anxiety disorder at age 18 was linked to frequent drinking and harmful drinking at age 18.

Generalised anxiety disorder continued to be associated with harmful drinking at age 21. Maddy Dyer, PhD student at the University of Bristol, commented: ‘Our most important finding was that the relationship between generalised anxiety disorder and harmful drinking at age 18 persists into early adulthood.

Helping adolescents to develop positive strategies for coping with anxiety, instead of drinking alcohol, may reduce the risk of future harmful drinking.

However, we cannot determine if the relationship is causal, because we used an observational study design.’

U

have made such a difference to living in university halls. Rent strikes work, and this is shown by successful strikes at UCL, Sussex, and now our own university.

‘We look forward to continuing to work with the University and support the SU as the rent prices for the next academic year are negotiated in February.’

Wills Memorial tours raise £38,000 for charity

Bristol Veterinary School offers free vaccines to dogs and cats

Ellie Brown Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity, has received £38,000 in donations from tours of the University’s Wills Memorial Building. Rated 5 stars on TripAdvisor, tours are given to members of the public in exchange for a charitable donation, and have proven popular in the 19 years since they first began. Visitors are shown parts of the building familiar to University students, such as the Great Hall, as well as those further afield, including the tower where the Great George Bell is rung. A representative of the Grand Appeal said that they ‘couldn’t be more thankful for the University’s support’ which is ‘helping us give families across the South West a place to stay, when they need it most.’

Olivia Beatson free vaccination programme in Lawrence Weston has been started by a student-led organisation from the Bristol Veterinary School. The Bristol Paws Project aims to help owners and pets that may not otherwise be able to afford veterinary treatments. The

vaccination drive took place at Ambition Lawrence Weston on 6 of November.

The Bristol Paws Project, who funded the vaccinations, worked in partnership with local charity, Bristol Animal Rescue Centre, as well as some clinicians from Langford Vets who volunteer in their spare time. Vet students and clinicians carried out health checks on the animals and vaccinated them if they were found to be healthy. There were three canine stations and one feline station, which was manned by some of the clinic team from Bristol A.R.C.

nk

Olivia Beatson ristol’s first ever ‘Pup Up Cafe: Dachshund Edition’ is coming on the 17th November. The event is at The Prince Street Social and will provide much needed dog therapy to attendees.

The event includes opportunities to mingle with up to 50 dachshunds per session, meet their owners and take pictures with the sausage dogs. You have an hour to hang out with them and can enjoy the ball pit while having some cuddles.If you have your own dachshund, you can bring them along too for unlimited puppuccinos!

Another topic agreed upon by both parties was more compensation for students suffering with unresolved maintenance issues, with £23,000 worth of compensation for students in New Bridewell facing water and cladding problems.

Student Ruth Day, Bristol Cut the Rent, told Epigram: ‘We’re really proud at Bristol, Cut the Rent to

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Pup-Up Dachshund café coming to Bristol

Bristol study shows evidence of link between teenage anxiety and drinking

£300,000.The University agreed to only raise the prices of rooms in line with inflation for 2019/2020.

Bristol, Cut the Rent was given a detailed table of how and where student rent is spent.

In 2020/21 the University will trial a new system in halls where students can opt to pay rent monthly instead of in three large chunks.

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News in Brief

meetings between the strikers, the University, and Bristol SU. ‘Rent strikes work, and this is shown by successful strikes at UCL, Sussex, and now our own University’ - Ruth Day, Bristol, Cut the Rent. Actions agreed included: In 2020/21 the University will increase the accommodation bursary pot from £200,000 to

ist

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ut the Rent released a joint statement with the University of Bristol detailing changes that will occur this academic year and next academic year in relation to student housing.

The movement organised months of rent strike in University halls, protesting the high cost of living and the quality provided in halls of residence.

In the statement given today, the several actions were agreed after six

Wh

Megabus breaks down on Queen’s Road Ellie Brown

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Megabus heading to South Gloucester was left blocking a lane of traffic on the evening of Wednesday November 13. The bus had become stuck while trying to make the turn onto University Road, leaving it at a ninety degree angle to the main road. Passengers reportedly abandoned the coach and emergency crew were spotted later that evening attempting to fix the problem, which was leading to delays and heavy traffic.

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New Bristol study finds smoking increases risk of depression and schizophrenia Georgiana Scott new study published today by the University of Bristol’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group has found smoking tobacco increases your risk of being diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, and vice versa. Senior Research Associate, Dr Robyn Wootton who is leading the study, commented: ‘Individuals with mental illness are often overlooked in our efforts to reduce smoking prevalence, leading to health inequalities.Our work shows that we should be making every effort to prevent smoking initiation and encourage smoking cessation because of the consequences to mental health as well as physical health.’

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Special Collections puts out call for 2019 General Election literature

Ellie Brown The University’s Special Collections have encouraged people to send them campaign material they receive, rather than throw it away, in a bid for contributions to their collection of political material. ‘Election addresses, manifestos, and related publicity from any constituency’ are all being sought by the department. According to archivists, contributions will help scholars understand the 2019 election and enable future generations to learn about the UK’s political history. The election archive is the largest of its kind in the UK, covering every seat and dating back as far as 1892. It has been described as being ‘of national and international importance.’ Information on how to send in material is available on the Collections website.

Features Twitter: @EpigramFeatures

Editor: Robin Connolly @robinnlcc Deputy Editor: Jack Charters Digital Editor: Oliver Cohen Investigations Editor: Georgiana Scott @GeorgianaScott7

Epigram / Patrick Sullivan

From gown to town: the students making a difference in Bristol’s communities

Digital Editor

T

he only encounter some university students have with local Bristolians is when they receive a knock at the door asking them to keep the noise down.

Students may have chosen to call Bristol their home, yet it is too easy to stay in familiar, heavily student populated areas such as Clifton, Redland and Stokes Croft.

Across the country, it seems as though the relationship between ‘town’ and ‘gown’ is becoming more fractured as students and locals clash over issues such as noise, gentrification and anti-social behaviour.

Below the surface, however, many students are working hard to give back to the communities they joined when they arrived in Bristol for the first time. The work they do helps mend the faltering relationship between students and the local communities that they are part of.

Nina, a University of Bristol psychology student, told me about a group she works for called The Black Dog Project. The group goes into different schools and youth groups to run sessions educating young people about their mental health. Nina explains how the Project has ‘completed a series of interactive school talks

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Interaction between students and local people is not always constructive or positive

Joselyn, originally from London, is the President of Bristol Hub and studies Maths and Computer Science.

Bristol Hub is a student led organisation which ‘helps students learn about and tackle social problems and create positive social change, especially in their local community.’

The group runs a scheme called LinkAges in which students are paired with an elderly resident of a care home in order to get to know them and share experiences.

‘We are essentially trying to tackle the issue of social isolation amongst the elderly and get students out of the University bubble’, Joselyn explains.

Joselyn told me that ‘local community groups and care homes have been really supportive and really open to having lots of students’ and that ‘all our projects are based around what Bristol wants and what Bristol needs’.

‘For example, Bristol has a really high percentage of private schools compared to other places in the UK and so we have a tutoring program to help combat income inequality’.

Students often find that when they engage in community volunteering, they see a different side to Bristol.

Shauna is a second-year English student from South Wales. She works for a charity called Jacari which goes into schools and tutors children who are struggling with their English language development. The students are often refugees who arrived at school with limited or no English language skills.

When asked whether she felt there was a divide between students and local people, Shauna said ‘I thought there would be a divide – I thought it would just be me watching and not getting involved but it hasn’t been like that’.

‘We do kids events where you take the whole family and it’s nice to spend time with people you wouldn’t

“

It it is too easy to stay in familiar, heavily student populated areas such as Clifton, Redland and Stokes Croft normally spend time with’.

University societies Phab and Pit Stop work with young people with disabilities in Bristol. Student-led Phab runs a fortnightly youth group at the Elmgrove Centre near Redland

Station.

Each meeting, between 30 and 45 young people, with and without disabilities, come together to enjoy activities such as sports nights, quizzes and pancake making. Kate, who works for the charity, explains that ‘the people who own the Elmgrove Centre were so delighted that we wanted to hold it at their hall’.

‘The parents of external members who come every week seem to be really thrilled with that we’re doing and always tell us how much their

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Students find that when they engage in community volunteering they see a different side to Bristol

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Tom Taylor

about social media and peer pressure’.

‘We have had a hugely positive response from schools’, Nina said, ‘they enjoy the fact that it isn’t just the teachers talking to the children about mental health, it is young people they can relate to.’

Volunteering for charities and projects can be a rewarding way for students to encounter and engage with people from outside the University.

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How student projects are building bridges between the University and local people

kids really love coming along’.

Phab are keen to integrate further into the community and are discussing potential ways to involve non-student volunteers as well.

Suzie arrived in Bristol four years ago from Coventry to study German and Italian. She joined a student run organisation called Pit Stop which provides day trips for young people with disabilities in and around Bristol.

‘The last trip we did was to Cribbs Causeway where we went bowling and went to the cinema’, Suzie told me. ‘At Christmas we have a tradition of going to the pantomime at the Hippodrome which is a really nice trip’.

The response from parents ‘has

been really positive’. ‘We had a pub quiz last night and one of the parents came along and he stood up and spoke about how much it has benefited his son who had previously been very shy, but with us he had come out of his shell and was meeting lots of new people’.

There is real desire from students to integrate more into their wider communities. Volunteers are eager to work with more local organisations and charities in order to amplify the work that they are doing.

Jonty founded Bristol University Food Bank with a friend last summer.

The group collects food donated by students and gives it to the Trussell Trust Food bank. Recently, they began a scheme in collaboration with café chain Pret a Manger whereby volunteers would deliver Pret sandwiches to a homeless charity in College Green.

Jonty hopes to find other charitable groups within Bristol to donate the food they collect to. He told me that ‘one of the best things about the food bank is that students begin to understand the lives of people they walk past every day and have no interaction with.’

Interaction between students and local people is not always constructive or positive. There are serious concerns on both sides of the divide about how the other is perceived.

However, it is important to remember that many students are working hard to prevent and mend this fragmentation and their efforts should not go unnoticed.

10 Features

epigram 25.11.2019

First Year, English

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pon googling the University’s fees and funding page, any member of the public could find a wealth of information about the bursaries that University of Bristol offers to students. What is often less publicised however, are the countless other funding schemes which exist under the radar, and yet change the lives of hundreds of University of Bristol students on a daily basis. Having been placed on the Future Scholarship Programme myself and talking to others on similar schemes, it has become clear that despite the large variety in types of scholarships, schemes and programmes offered to support students, many students in need of support simply do not know how to seek them out.

One of the schemes that seems to be the least known to the students who need it most is the Financial Assistance Fund (FAF), which is available for any UK home student who applies for it. It is aimed at students

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Many students in need of support simply do not know how to seek them out

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Sarah Dalton

experiencing financial emergencies or whose circumstances are not taken into account by student maintenance loans and bursaries. For many students this is accessed through referral by a personal tutor, and therefore the fund is not widely known about, despite the impact it can have.

An anonymous fifth year student who has been in receipt of the fund on two occasions noted how, in first year, their loan only covered three quarters of their rent and they worked part-time to make up the difference.

However, upon hitting their overdraft

and struggling to balance long work hours alongside their degree, the student reached out to their personal tutor and was made aware of the fund.

When asked why few people do the same, the student suggested that ‘the stubbornness and the student stereotype has an effect on the reluctance to seek support.’

‘The general student population revel in the illusion of financial dif-

ficulty when they’re simply reluctant to ask their parents for money, and therefore it’s difficult to distinguish yourself as beyond that stage.’

In addition to stereotypes among students, the fifth year drew particular attention to the university’s lack of proactive awareness, as ‘there’s only limited money they’ve put in [to the fund] and they’re worried they’ll be inundated with applications.’ The student explained that ‘I had to be on the absolute brink for anyone to tell me about FAF.’ This suggests that there may be other students who are suffering in silence, not because help is unavailable, but because there is not an awareness of the support available or the necessity of asking for it. It seems that on some occasions, students don’t even realise they are eligible for what assistance is out there. In addition to this, the existence of other programmes such as the Futures Scholarship and Sanctuary Scholarship showcase the large variety of ways in which financial support can profoundly affect a student’s life.

The Futures Scholarship programme, new this year, is for students from low socio-economic and financially disadvantaged backgrounds.

The programme, coordinated by Laura Frude, offers its 50+ students an initial bursary of £2000, as well

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The general student population revel in the illusion of financial difficulty

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The lesser known financial assistance funds available to students and how to access them

as an additional £2500 to be spent on career opportunities such as internships and placements and specific guidance from the careers service.

This not only removes some of the financial burdens placed on these students, but additionally helps to break the cycle of children from financially disadvantaged backgrounds going on to work in lower-paid jobs or potentially lacking career opportunities.

The Sanctuary Scholarship, by contrast, aims to help students from forced migration backgrounds (e.g. asylum seekers or refugees) who face additional barriers in accessing higher education and employment.

For those not eligible for UK student maintenance loans and other funding, the scholarship, established in

2016, covers all their tuition fees and maintenance costs.

For one second year History student, this programme is the reason they cam attend university. ‘My mother came to the UK to escape human trafficking, and for a while we were relying on charities and churches, so it wasn’t about being at university, it wasn’t even about having enough to eat, it was just about being’ they explained. ‘When I applied at Bristol I hadn’t been granted asylum to the UK yet, so for me, the scholarship is what allows me to go to university. Bristol was the only university that offered this support, without having to jump through impossible loopholes.’

It is not difficult to see the impact of these schemes. For me, the Fu-

tures Scholarship programme was a relief, after hours sat with my Bristol acceptance email and calculator in hand, working out how to manage weekly living costs from my own savings. Yet for others, these

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Financial support can profoundly affect a student’s life

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Epigram/ Robin Connolly

Funds in place to help students struggling financially

financial schemes have been an access to education itself. The schemes and funds highlighted here are only a few examples of the many existing forms of financial assistance which are largely unknown.

In a statement, Student Funding Officer Jon Lightfoot said: ‘The Student Funding Office administer a hardship fund to potentially assist undergraduate and postgraduate students who believe that they will face financial difficulties during any academic year. We actively promote the Financial Assistance Fund, however not every student will see these messages or think that the fund is for them. If students are unsure whether they can apply, they should read the information about the Financial Assistance Fund on the Student Funding Office’s A-Z search facility. Or alternatively, students can contact the Student Funding Office’s Advice Team for further guidance about the Fund. Applications are means tested, so whilst there is no guarantee of an award, it is important that students are aware of the existence of the discretionary fund as a possible avenue of support.’

If you are financially struggling, or think you may be eligible for specific support, please contact the University’s fees and funding office or your personal tutor for more information.

Graduate teaching jobs that have potential to change lives How ARK Charity is fighting to change the face of teaching to ensure equality in education

Beatrice Palmer First Year, English

‘M

y teacher makes words rise from the page into sky-scrapers, turns phrases into cities sprawling far beyond the margin, my teacher makes her own curriculum as she teaches.’

Education in the UK is far from fair, however charities like Ark teacher training are working to ensure that privilege is not a golden ticket to having the potential and power to succeed in life. By the time they reach

primary school, disadvantaged children are around a year behind their more privileged peers; this disadvantage continues to grow until children from less fortunate backgrounds are 18 months behind by the time they are ready to sit their GCSE exams.

The words quoted above are taken from a poem by a pupil called Zareen from Ark Globe Academy in London.

Zareen is now in her second year studying human social and political science at Cambridge. Around 6.5 per cent of children are educated at private schools in the UK, however at the University of Bristol alone, private school students make up a nearly 40 per cent of the student body and in 2018 only 11.9 per cent of Bristol

students came from low-participation neighbourhoods. Educational inequality in the UK is one of the biggest social issues we face today.

Whilst it’s true that universities such as Bristol do have measures in place to help disadvantaged students get to and achieve at university, Ark does not think this is enough. It’s estimated that around 30 per cent of children are living in poverty in the UK and the effects of this often last a lifetime. Ark is creating a network of schools where every child receives both an excellent education and the opportunities they deserve in life. Ark was founded on the belief that this cycle of inequality can be broken, and that all pupils can realise their

potential if they are given a positive introduction to education. As such, it’s network of schools in some of the UK’s biggest areas of disadvantage puts pupils at the heart of everything.

The first school was opened in 2006, and the network has grown to 37 schools which also works with partner schools across the regions. 52 per cent of Ark secondary students are disadvantaged, i.e. they have been eligible for free school meals, a measure of economic deprivation, this is nearly double the national average of 27 per cent. Students going to Ark secondaries are less likely to have achieved the expected standard at primary school, so they enter secondary school behind their peers.

Despite this, Ark’s schools are achieving strong results, especially for the progress that students make.

For example, the proportion of disadvantaged students passing English & maths GCSEs - 59 per cent - is over a third higher than the national average, 43 per cent. Ark gives graduates the opportunity to change lives and make a difference from day one.

Trainees have said becoming a teacher has meant they have ‘not stopped smiling’ and are ‘learning every day’.

Teaching needs to stop becoming the back-up choice of students or the frowned-upon career path. All children have a right to a great education which enables them, like Zareen, to realise their potential.

Features 11

25.11.2019 epigram

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Despite being a newly fledged UoB graduate when tasked with the web development of Graze, Edd Read was not going in blind. From coding lessons with his Grandad to setting up his own web design company, he was already armed with years of programming and website building experience.

With technology at the core of Graze and instrumental to its success, Edd commented; ‘it had been a really exciting start-up for the first 5/6 years, really similar fun-minded people, but bit out of control at times.’

I was curious as to whether amid all the ‘fun’, the original co-founding team had preserved their friendship - it is certainly not uncommon for relationships to crack under the pressure of business. Edd vocalised, ‘we had an amazing relationship, there were lots of strong opinions and we would have arguments, but we always managed to keep it that at the end of the day we would be friends and it would never get personal.’

Having revolutionised the food industry through technology, he is now doing the same in the education sector with his latest venture, a tech-based childcare company - ‘Tiney.co’, where he is ‘hoping to make more of a social impact.’

So, what advice does the once Hiatt Baker resident have for students aspiring to follow in his footsteps? ‘Talk to people about your idea! I don’t like it when people hide their idea away and think that they need to keep it confidential,’ ‘get loads of thoughts and build on it.’

How does a PhD project go onto be one of Bristol’s largest and most exciting tech companies, being a company worth over a billion dollars and therefore making it one of a small group of British unicorns (company with a value over $1B).

They are known for their innovative haptic technology that gives the users the sensation of touch in mid-air with no physical interaction.

We talk to Ultraleap, formerly known as Ultrahaptics about their technology, their story and the business environment in Bristol that has lead to their success. From the early days as an accelerated start-up with help from the university, which was also the site of the initial technology research, to the modern future and the outlook for the digital sector.

They try to give us the all-important perspective; how it will change when touch becomes an integral part of our interaction with the digital world.

Oliver Cohen

Features Digital Editor

Paul Lindley Community, people and relationships are ‘the only thing that’s important’ according to Paul Lindley, Bristol alumni and founder of Ella’s Kitchen. He is now chair of the Mayor of London’s Child Obesity Taskforce, sits on the Board of Toast Ales and is a trustee of Sesame Workshop, amongst other charity work, child welfare campaigning and social enterprise.

Paul lists his most inspirational entrepreneurs: Sophie Maxwell She’s just created this absolutely brilliant social business.’

It’s called the Really NEET Project and it helps disadvantaged young people in educational settings. As Paul says, ‘she’s reframing, rethinking education - what education means.’

Tristram Stuart On the founder of Toast Ale, Paul says, ‘he has ability to create a brand that’s trusted, that’s different,’ a ‘product that people love’ that ‘is about changing the world.’ The strapline for toast is ‘Here’s to Change’. As Paul highlights, ‘it’s changing the way businesses is done,’ and ‘the way food waste is.’

Joan Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett Founders of Sesame Workshop, who are ‘90 years old now, Lloyd is still on the board. I work with him.’

‘In 50 years, there’s been 182 Sesame Workshop board meetings and he’s been at 181 of them. Most incredibly humble people, they have changed the prospects of life for millions and millions of children by this idea.’

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Features Investigations Correspondent

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Global Entrepreneurship Week: Entrepreneurs made in Bristol

Robin Connolly Features Editor

#Bristmas: the city’s best festive events

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er Ending Story (1985) and The Prinbe hosted by presenter Emma Britton cess Bride (1987). and will feature an array of perforThere are, of course, a multitude of mances from musicians. things to do a little closer to campus The lights in the including many society and decentre and at Cabot partmental Christmas Circus are already on and winter balls. display, so why not Many societies will take a walk around be organising fun and have a look at events so make them? sure to check out the Plenty of restauSU what’s on page rants and bars will also to stay up to date as be introducing special they are posted. themed items onto their BBC Radio Bristol’s Christmenus across the commas Celebration, in aid of BBC ing months, presenting ob Children in Need, will also a good opportunity to /R am r g i be taking place in the Anson warm yourselves up and Ep Rooms at the Student Union socialise with your mates on 17 December. The event will afterwards. nn oll

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ristol’s Christmas Market takes place in Broadmead and has an array of wonderful food and unique gifts available – I even spotted a stall selling wooden ties! This is running from 8 November until 23 December, so you’ve got plenty of time to pop down and have a look around. The Harbourside Christmas Market will be running from 23 November and will feature lots of fab local makers and street food options to explore.

There’s some special themed

There’s lots happening in Millennium Square across November and December to go and see, including the return of the popular Spiegeltent, which will include a special screening of Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and an interactive light show called Submerge, as well as the return of the warm and cosy Après Ski Bar. Roller skating sessions, organised by BUMP, will also be taking place.

If you are looking to get your ice skates on and give it a try, Cribbs Causeway has created Winter Wonderland at the Mall this year with lots of things to explore.

If you are staying in the city over the Christmas holiday period, Bristol Museum is hosting two festive screenings on 29 December: The Nev-

Co

Film and TV Digital Editor

screenings and shows taking place over the coming months. Some top picks include Moomins and the Winter Wonderland (2017), at Cube Cinema on Saturday 14 December, and Will Ferrell’s Elf (2003) as well as classic It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) will both be screened at Watershed in December.

The Alma Tavern Theatre is putting on a Christmas Comedy Cabaret event, 16-17 December, and performances of Charles Dickens’ classic ghost tale A Christmas Carol on 10–14 December. Bristol Old Vic are running their own A Christmas Carol show from 28 November until 12 January as well as a dance-theatre piece called Boing!, from 29 November – 5 January, which looks fun.

in

Be sure not to miss these exciting Christmas events Laura Aish

epigram 25.11.2019

12 Features

Healthy Minds

How exercise can support student mental health

Second Year, History

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ince its genesis in 2016, the Healthy Minds programme has done nothing but grow, both in terms of the finance available for it and the support it has received.

Over 400 students have now been through the programme. The average improvement in wellbeing is reported by the University to be at 30 pecent over the course of the 12 week programme, a figure that is worked out according to the same criteria the NHS use to determine success of mental health treatments.

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Healthy minds provided her with skills that are always going to help

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Robin Connolly

I caught up with Charlotte Jones, who joined the scheme two years ago after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety during her third year of University.

Charlotte has gone on to be a mentor with, and advocate for, the programme. She explained how she ‘hated sport growing up’, due to struggling with asthma, but through healthy minds realised ‘it does help

you, sort of, live a normal life.’ ‘You know, we’re built to move around.’

The programme is run by the University’s Sport Exercise and Health Department (SEH) and encourages

the use of sport and exercise facilities - free during the programme and including the pool, gym, social sports and exercise classes - to help combat issues with mental health. The stu-

“

Improvement in wellbeing is reported by to be at 30 percent over the 12 week programme

“

Catching up with Charlotte Jones, who successfully completed the Healthy Minds programme

dent receives support from a mentor, as well as regular meetings to track their progress throughout their time on the programme.

Charlotte’s mentor from the programme, Peter Burrows, has sung her praises, stating that ‘Charlotte is a standout example of everything that is good about the scheme. I feel really privileged to be a part of her journey

and would assert that all her successes have come directly from her own hard work, bravery and commitment.’

Interested to hear more about the relationship between mentor and student, Charlotte explained to me how they’re not trained counsellors, but are very good at making your exercise schedule fit in with you. She explained that for her, Peter made completely sure he wasn’t doing anything to stress her or cause anxiety, as sports facilities can often be daunting places, ‘If you’ve never used the gym before, and there’s all these machines and it can literally be like – I have no idea what I’m doing!’

Charlotte revealed to me that not only did Healthy Minds help her while she was on the programme, but that she has kept up exercising ever since, including running as well as branching into new, more adventurous realms including climbing and even doing some surfing in the summer. ‘It’s definitely given me a lot more confidence with all the other sports, which is nice. I’ll play with my work colleagues and stuff now and not feel as weird.’

As someone who has gone through the scheme and worked with it since, Charlotte is knows Healthy Minds inside and out. She expressed to me that there are ways that the programme could be developed, perhaps through a way of easing students out. ‘I was quite lucky, I got to stay around the people who were helping me,’ but she contemplated that it might be difficult if you left the scheme unsure of what to do next. She suggested a shared support group for those who have been through it, so people can stay in contact and motivate one another post-programme.

This aside, Charlotte was very positive about the programme, and em-

phasised that Healthy Minds provided her with ‘skills I’m always able to come back to, that are always going to help,’ even suggesting that it was the exercise that helped get her off her medication.

It seems to me that the Healthy Minds Programme has a lot of potential to help people and is exploring new avenues for recovery.

If you or anyone you know needs help with issues surround mental health, or think they may be eligible for the Healthy Minds programme, contact the Student Wellbeing Service on: student-wellbeing@bristol.ac.uk or +44 (0)117 428 4300.

Charlotte’s advice:

•

•

•

• •

Do not be afraid to seek support and try new things if one thing isn’t helping. For example, medication can help many people but wasn’t the solution for me.

Try and get into a routine.

I found the lack of routine associated with university in general to catalyse my depression, and only set on the road to recovery when the gym helped establish a regular routine. Try and spend nine to five in University, even if it’s just the library – sometimes it’s better to treat it as a full-time job.

Be honest with your doctors and counsellors and the University so they can accommodate you with things like extenuating circumstances and extensions.

Be careful with alcohol and caffeine consumption.

Always, always talk to someone - whether it’s your department, counsellor, a family member or housemate.

Looking back on 50 years of university strikes Examining the methods and outcomes of the University’s tumultuous history of strikes

Anna Webb

First Year, Anthropology

E

arlier this month it was announced that several members of staff at the University of Bristol, along with approximately 59 other institutions, will be involved in eight days of strike action taking place from Monday 25 November to Wednesday 4 December. However, this is not the first, nor will likely be the last, industrial action that staff and students have taken part in throughout the history of the University. There are several examples in

recent years.

Bristol, Cut the Rent have organised a series of notable rent strikes throughout recent years, including this year, 2018, 2017 and 2016. This year alone they managed to secure a deal worth £300k in rent cuts, bursary increases and compensation - a testament to their perseverance.

In terms of more physical strikes, in 2018, members of the University and College Union (UCU) - the same union that is striking this year - took action on fourteen different days over a four-week period with the longest stretch being five full days. During this time, some students of the university stood in solidarity with staff members by occupying the top floor of Senate House. These students, who were members of the Student-Staff

Solidarity Group, demanded that the Vice Chancellor endorse the strike and issue no deductions in pay in consequence of the industrial action.

However, 2018 was not the first time that University of Bristol Students used Senate House as a backdrop for industrial action. 50 years prior, in 1968, students staged a eleven-day sit in at Senate House.

From 5 to 16 December 1968, students refused to leave the building and issued a number of demands including greater student representation on University bodies, as well as allowing all students in Bristol - including ones studying at local polytechnic colleges - to use the newly opened facilities at the Student Union Building.

Over the course of the protest, over

600 of the 7000 current students took part and eight of those students were subsequently banned from the building and received court summons.

After the student body voted to end the occupation, a committee was created to discuss reforms, which ended with students being given full membership to a number of disputed University committees.

While they were not entirely successful with their demands, their act of protest shook the administration and was the starting point of continuous reforms throughout the following years and decades. This resulted in the more student focussed Student’s Union that we have today.

This act of protest was revolutionary at the time and had come after months of student demonstrations

that year across the whole country and parts of Europe.

They were protesting the rigid hierarchy at universities and corporations and culminated in both the events at Senate House as well as the largest general strike of the 20th century, where over seven million French workers took industrial action.

The events of 1968 took student protest to a new level. As well as inspiring students in 2018, they also acted as a precursor for now over fifty years of student and staff strikes that have allowed members of all sections of the University of Bristol community - and also from all who are involved in higher education nationwide - to make their voices heard and ensure their needs and desires are listened to.

Opinion

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The Unite to Remain Alliance highlights cracks in the British political system

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ib Dem candiate James Cox has stood aside to allow Carla Denyer from the Green Party a stronger chance of winning the Bristol West seat. The Unite to Remain alliance is starting to show the cracks in the British political party system. In our democratic system, during a general election we vote for a candidate to represent our local area in Parliament. In fact, there is nothing in the rulebook that says we need political parties – they are just a group of Parliamentary candidates that agree on similar political principles. This seems obvious, but in the past few years, Britain has become a single-policy government and nation.

There is one question on everyone’s mind: Leave or Remain?

With smaller parties such as the Greens still attempting to cling onto

“

Britain has become a single-policy government and nation

parties with the same view on Brexit an opportunity to work together towards one overarching goal, before fulfilling their now secondary motives.

Labour have reacted badly to this news. Debbonaire, the current Bristol West MP claims the voters of Bristol West ‘already know that [their Remain MP is] me’. Somehow, despite Labour's shaky stance on Brexit during the European Parliament elections earlier this year, some Labour MPs still argue that they are

the party that remainers should be voting for. Despite Labour's desperate claims it is evident that the Lib Dems, Greens and Plaid Cymru don't see Labour as a legitimate remain party.

This Alliance, however bold, still may not work. If the remain alliance is hoping to attract the student vote this may prove futile. With 70 per cent of students registered at home many Bristol West students will just vote Lib Dem in their home

constituency instead, where there is more chance of swing. Many die hard Lib Dem voters devasted by the remain alliance have threatened to spoil their ballot. They argue that this ‘attack on democracy’ means that if they cannot vote Lib Dem, they will not vote at all. This massive backfire will undermine efforts from the Lib Dems to ensure a true remain MP is elected especially in constituencies like Bristol West where Labour have

a large majority and the battle to win the seat will be fought with passion.

This Unite to Remain Alliance is a big step forward in the fight against the two-party system, and, despite Tory threats of a ‘technicolour coalition of chaos’, we, the voters, are much more likely to have our views noticed by the bigger parties if we use our vote to tell them what we actually care about.

Register to vote before 26 November.

Epigram / Fergus Ustianowski

First Year, English

their foundational principles, and not become a single-policy party, it is difficult to gain votes in a time where people continue to forget that the December general election is not in fact a second referendum but is a general election like any other. In this seemingly one-policy election, the Unite to Remain alliance gives

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The Remain Alliance is a progressive change by party leaders Emily Herbert

14 Opinion

epigram 25.11.2019

Students must support the UCU strikes First Year, History

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he University and College Union (UCU) has announced eight days of strike action across 60 UK universities, running from November 25 to December 4. Yesterday (November 5) UCU members supported strike action for two disputes, the first on pensions and the second on pay and working conditions.

For many Bristol University students this will mean losing up to eight days of contact hours. This follows the strike period in 2018 which saw 545,000 teaching hours lost across the UK. Jo Grady, general secretary of the UCU said: ‘It is incredibly frustrating that we had to ballot members again, but universities only have themselves to blame after failing to address falling real-terms pay and for refusing to deal with casualisation, workloads and the rising cost of USS pensions.’

Under new proposals, staff face significant financial losses, typically ‘paying around £40,000 more into their pension – but receiving nearly £200,000 less in retirement.’ This comes at the same time the UCU revealed that ‘a part-time lecturer contracted and paid for 10 hours and bringing in £187 a week […] will have an hourly rate of £18.70. However,

if she is in fact working 20 hours a week (which is the median from our survey) she will be paid a real hourly rate of £9.35.’

It is critical that students support university staff in the face of degradation of their workers’ rights, but also in the wider political and economic landscape of a marketised education system. Unlike in 2018, this strike seems to have a more radical atmosphere; strike action is not just challenging the terms of pensions and pay, but the structural inequality that exists in a marketised education system that disproportionately affects women, disabled people and people of colour. This strike addresses pay-gaps, casualisation of work and equality within the workplace.

This seems particularly important given Bristol University’s record on

accessibility.

Marketisation of higher education has its roots in 1980s Thatcherism, yet the greatest acceleration of privatisation came from the Tory-led coalition government of 2010, who, as part of austerity, pushed for the outsourcing of work within public services. By removing public funding, and massively increasing the student fee cap from £3000 to £9000 in 2012, the coalition government cemented the privatisation of higher education.

What we are experiencing now are the effects of these policies. The outsourcing of higher education services has led to universities being run as businesses, rather than democratic public institutions. League tables, removal of caps on student intake and graduate-employment statistics have created unhealthy

market competition between universities. Austerity has pushed economic risk and responsibility onto workers - university staff are having their rights eroded in the name of profit. Perhaps most noticeably in Bristol’s lecture theatres, staff-student ratios have declined dramatically. As a student, I can pretty confidently say that not one member of university staff knows me by name. Many university employees’ careers involve a string of low-paid, often zero-hour contract roles, which frustratingly lead to lack of interaction with students. With increasing numbers of students to provide for, and no real increase in staffing levels, the UCU state that many workers now feel at breaking point. This environment within Bristol seems so far removed from what I expected before arriving

Student-Staff Solidarity Campaign

Pensions, pay and the marketisation of higher education are all issues Greg Evans

here. My university halls of residence explicitly refer to me as ‘customer’ – this just doesn’t sit right with me. Higher education has become less about educating students, and more about university workers providing a service for consumers.

I stand in solidarity with university staff who are pushed to provide increasingly demanding workloads for an increasing number of equally disillusioned students. More so than in 2018, the proposed strikes are a grassroots rally against a neo-liberal education system that is failing under austerity. Jo Grady, UCU’s general secretary as of February 2019, is an exciting person to have at the helm. Born into a striking miner’s family in the 1980s, a firstgeneration university student and a leading expert in trade unions; hers was a grassroots election campaign that represented all sectors. The UCU strike is an opportunity for us to support university staff: withdrawal of labour remains the most effective way to effect change within employment. It is also an opportunity for us to push the UCU to investigate racial inequality and ableism within the higher education system. It is essential that we stand by staff to protect employment in higher education, to fight for the future of universities and to unite behind workers in the face of austerity and neo-liberal policy. There is a feeling of change in the air. Solidarity with the UCU strike. See you on the picket.

Black Friday: The crux of consumerism MSc, Migration and Mobility

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lack Friday is the pinnacle of reckless consumerism.

It is a day constructed by brands to induce feelings of materialistic necessity to encourage hyper-spending through extreme discounts. It is a stark reminder of the ramifications that excessive materialism has on the rights of individuals at the bottom of the supply chain, weighed down by the greed of the Global North. Black Friday originated from the US as a National holiday built solely to motivate shopping the day after Thanksgiving. This annual consumer shopping frenzy is generated via significant sales and discounts put on by nearly all major retailers.

Traditionally it was viewed as a day where customers would flock to their

closest shops to make purchases.

Some argue that, positively, this kept the high street alive. However, the transition of Black Friday purchases being made predominantly online has nulled this viewpoint. Public awareness of the major social and environmental impacts generated by contemporary buying culture has risen. Through organisations such as Fashion Revolution, the importance of knowing where your clothing comes from has been thrown into the spotlight. Movements such as #WhoMadeMyClothes forces consumers to recognise their own complicity in this cycle of worker’s rights abuse. However, any progression made through these campaigns seems to be forgotten when Black Friday comes around. In 2018, £1.49 billion was spent over Black Friday Weekend in the UK with the average UK shopper planning to spend £234 in total. These figures were even more shocking in the US, with American shoppers spending

upwards of £6.46 billion on Cyber Monday alone making it the highest e-commerce sales day in American history. The film The True Cost (2016) features scenes of frenzied American shoppers on Black Friday scrambling to grab all the goods they can carry.

These images resemble apocalypticstyle mania. It is both saddening and angering to realise how hypnotised the public is by major discounts. In 2018 The Guardian published an article that read, 'preparation is key' with all the major discounts to look out for and where to find the best bargain. Black Friday is portrayed as a race to accumulate the most goods at the cheapest price. The Black Friday scramble taps into a major issue in the industry of careless overproduction.

The discount weekend is an excuse for brands to rid themselves of their stockpiles.

I question how many of the goods sold over the weekend are actually masses of stockpiled items, or are in fact new and so demand an increase

in production for that weekend.

Globalisation is the catalyst for this crisis development. With extensive trans-border trade and production leading to an internationally competitive environment that demands rapid production of quality products at low prices. Global supply

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Workers’ rights have been rendered collateral damage of contemporary consumerist culture

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Black Friday is too damaging to be justified Lucy Siers

chains are a key component of this phenomenon. The composition of these chains enables multinational enterprises to attain cheap labour and resources regardless of geographical location.

However, the rapid evolution of global supply chains meant that the countries targeted by multinational enterprises were not structurally or legally prepared to withstand the new influx of industry.

These countries at the centre of the manufacturing stage of the chain have insufficient labour standards to protect vulnerable workers from exposure to corporate rights violations. Black Friday exemplifies the production pressures that exacerbate these precarious working environments. Consumer pressure leads to the evasion of national and international regulations so that products are manufactured as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Workers rights have been rendered collateral damage of contemporary consumerist culture. The consumer and business mind-set has to be recalibrated to place the safety and well-being of the labour force as the central focus. By partaking in the Black Friday buying-frenzy, we are all complicit to the abuses existing deep in the supply chain. Black Friday is symbolic of everything wrong with today’s consumer culture and must be recognised as such.

Opinion 15

25.11.2019 epigram

Respect those that chose to wear poppies

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/ sh pla

Courtesy of James Cox

now. As a person of colour who lived for 16 years in Singapore, a place where soldiers of many races and nationalities fought together in 1942 to defend the island against fascist Japan, I find this claim disgusting, insulting, and disrespectful to those who died.

Under the orders of Colonel Tsuji Masanobu, up to 50,000 e t h n i c Chinese were Vi slaughtered in cto ria the Sook Ching Tro nina massacre, meaning ‘purge through cleansing’.

British soldiers that eventually surrendered to the Japanese were subjected to horrific POW conditions, building the ‘Death Railway’ in Myanmar (then Burma). Indian POWs, who refused to join the Japanese ‘Indian National Army’, were killed or subject to human experimentation.

The claim that the poppy only signifies respect and remembrance for white people or white soldiers is a paradigm demonstration of ignorance. One needs only to look on the British Legion website and see how it honours the 1.4 million Indian troops that fought during WW1 Uns

hy does a flower once used to make opium have so much meaning?

The poppy’s meaning comes from the fields of Flanders and France that were soaked in blood. Up to 40 million people died in the First World War. From their death, grew new life. Poppies bloomed in those fields, vibrant and red. Some could say that a similar rebirth happened after the Second World War. Since then we’ve seen a long peace. No modern war has ever come close to the kind of destruction seen in WW2.

Such a period of peace has not been documented before in human history since the Romans.

The poppy is a potent symbol to so many people. It represents

Epigram / Alice Proctor

Opinion Sub-editor

remembrance and hope for a peaceful future. By wearing it you remember and respect the past tragedies, and the dead. We should respect those who wear a poppy; it may mean a great deal to them. At the same time, we should respect people who, for whatever reason, choose not to wear a poppy. Perhaps you have your reservations about past colonial wars and disagree with recent British military action, or maybe it just doesn’t suit the outfit. Again, these positions should be respected.

However, if you would follow a recent trend of showing such a brazen act of utter disrespect by shaming people for wearing the poppy, you’d be demonstrating keen arrogance and frank historical ignorance. Recently I heard the claim that if you’re a person of colour then you shouldn’t support the British Legion because of its alleged racist heritage. I didn’t realise that remembering those who died in past wars was racist. I guess it is

or how it celebrates the legendary Nepali Gurkhas, many of whom have won Victoria Crosses, Britain’s highest military honour. The Khadi poppy was recently created to honour those specifically from South Asia who fought alongside Britain in the World Wars.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the start of the battle to liberate Western Europe from fascism.

It also marks the 75th anniversary of the battles of Kohima and Imphal, fought by British 14th Army in India – aptly nicknamed the ‘Forgotten Army’. The Forgotten Army was made up of Indian, British, and African troops, all fighting to defend India from Japanese invasion.

Those crucial battles saw the fate of India thrown into balance, and were only won by the determination, cooperation and sacrifice of those who fought with the multi-racial 14th army. I am under no illusions about Britain’s shameful colonial past. I am not ignorant to the colonial atrocities Britain is responsible for.

I also don’t approve of a lot of the military conflicts that Britain has recently involved itself in. However, the historical truth of many things is very complex. Stating careless absolutes and generalizations such

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The poppy represents remembrance and hope for a peaceful future

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The symbol of the poppy honours all who have died in service Euan Merrilees

as ‘Churchill was a war hero,’ or ‘Churchill was a white supremacist,’ does an injustice to the past. History, the whole of history, needs to be remembered. That is why we wear the poppy.

Not only white British soldiers are honoured by the poppy, but all those who have died in wars, including civilians. This is the meaning behind it. To remember and respect the dead, and to learn from history so we may never fall into such a destructive conflict again.

On 10 June 1944, the Nazi 2nd SS Division massacred 624 French civilians in the village of Oradoursur-Glane. The ruins of this village have been preserved. It stands as martyrdom for thousand upon thousands of other martyrs created by a world at war.

Outside stands a sign: SouviensToi. Remember.

It's about time that students started putting more faith in interfaith

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here are many problems that students of faith face on campus. With issues of racism, diet and religious holidays it can be tough balancing the hedonistic student lifestyle with many of the values religious students were raised with.

However, despite the struggles, being a student of faith has given me the chance to find a community of like-minded people. Working as interfaith representative of the Jewish

have been organised, posters have been shared on Facebook and plans have been made. Yet the turn out to such events is shockingly low.

As an Interfaith Officer and someone involved in planning many of the events for Interfaith Week, this is incredibly frustrating. The lack of engagement is disappointing - especially at a time when dialogue between those with different beliefs is becoming increasingly important.

In a world that is so polarised and so focused on putting up walls between people, we all need to make an effort to engage with those who are different to us. Interfaith Week is the perfect opportunity to do this yet very few people are willing to put

in the time and effort to make interfaith week a success.

All of us – students of all faiths, and of no faiths – need to put aside our preconceptions and our opinions of those who have different beliefs to us. It is not hard to do this. It is as simple as turning up to do some volunteering with the Sikh society. Or coming to a coffee morning hosted at the Multifaith Chaplaincy for some free food and a conversation with someone whom we wouldn’t have met otherwise.

Bristol Interfaith Forum

Second Year, English

society has given me the opportunity to help students face, confront and overcome many of the issues I faced as a religious student and has helped me strengthen the community I was so grateful to find.

This week (10-17 November) is National Interfaith Week and for me and so many religious students, this week is invaluable and helps make religious students feel like they have a place in the student community.

Interfaith week is a week dedicated to encouraging students of all faiths and no faith to meet, to talk, to find common ground, to realise there are others facing similar issues to them, to make new friends, to do some volunteering and socialise. Events

Bristol Interfaith Forum

Everyone needs to put more energy into interfaith Shoshana Cohen

Or coming to see a film about the history of Christian-Muslim relations in Africa and learning something interesting. Or taking some time out for ourselves and coming to a meditation. It is the chance to make new friends, to gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of certain issues, to become a more educated and considerate person.

I understand that, as students, we have many demands on our time.

Essays due, homework sheets to hand in, reading to complete. And social lives on top of that. But if we could all just make, as a priority, a little bit of time, if we could all just invest an hour here and there, to make an effort to befriend those who are different and who can show us a new way in which to view the world, ultimately it is us who will benefit the most.

On now until Mon 4 May 2020

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Free entry for students and 16-25s on Wednesdays.

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as a society still have this idea that only men work in these fields, but it’s really not the case. The reason we are here is to show that for our business, as long as you’ve got the skills, you are more than welcome.”

Women attending the event also seemed quite satisfied. The students were from a variety of universities and courses. A thirdyear aerospace engineering student shared: ‘It is really useful because this year Rolls Royce didn’t make it to our university, so it was great to come here and find Rolls Royce and GKN – these are my two favourite companies’. She also highlighted that aerospace engineering, at least at her University, is male-dominated, with girls making up about 10% of her course. However, she was very positive about it: ‘I feel like we can go into companies dominated my men and we…can be a changing point.’

A second-year mechanical engineering student came looking for a placement for her year in industry.

Although not all the companies had opportunities specific to what she wanted, she was glad she could talk to the companies she had been already considering. She commented that she doesn’t really consider gender imbalance in her subject an issue. ‘I kind of expected females to be a minority in my degree. I don’t really notice it that much, but it does seem to be getting better.’

A computer science student had a different outlook; ‘It’s weird,’ she said, ‘because when I did computer science in high school I was the only girl in the class. I thought the University would be different but actually it’s not at all, and I’m one of the five girls in my year’. She found the event very useful and inspiring.

‘It’s good that there are there are

Flickr / AJC1

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cience, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields are thriving at the moment. Core STEM employment has increased six times the UK’s overall employment rate. However, although the percentage of women in this workforce is growing, it is still only about 20 percent.

STEM Women is set on improving the numbers. By organising careers fairs, they give girls who are still at university or have recently graduated an opportunity to connect with the employers in the field. The first event happened last year in London and was oversubscribed. Later that year they were held all around the UK. On 13 November such an event was held here at Bristol. The list of employers attending included Welsh Water, GKN Aerospace, and the Ministry of Defence.

The employers were very enthusiastic about attending

STEM Women and said it was very professionally set up. Sophie Chadwick, STEM Women Events Manager commented: ‘They know the value of diversity. As soon as they hear about the event, they are really interested, they really want to support it. Hundreds and hundreds of women attended our events this autumn, and employers want to meet these women and see what they can offer. And students are just as enthusiastic.’

Charlotte, a GKN representative emphasized the importance of inclusion and diversity. She says: ‘It’s the balance of not only women but also different cultures, different ethnicities. She highlighted that there should be a breadth of opportunities for people of all backgrounds and levels to get involved.

Karolina, who represented Edwards, emphasized that STEM fields are not reserved for men: “Unfortunately, we

Epigram / Anastasia Guskaya

Epigram reports on a careers event geared towards women and addressing the gender imbalance in the UK’s STEM workforce

Epigram / Anastasia Guskaya

STEM Women careers fair comes to Bristol

these kinds of events, because at least you don’t feel alone. There is some sort of empowerment.’

A second-year civil engineering student shared an appreciation for these kinds of events and the companies who recruit from a diverse background. She felt as though things are ‘on the right track’ though she pointed out that although her course’ gender ratio is 50:50, when it comes to working in industry, there are many more men than women.

All in all, Bristol STEM Women Careers Event was a success. The way gender imbalances in STEM are perceived varies, and everyone has different experiences. However, most of us would agree that it is important to empower people to follow their aspirations and make sure opportunities are available to everyone; this event provided young women with that exact message.

Discovering our strange, smart ancestors

First Year, Biology

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e know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about the ocean floor; and yet, evolutionarily speaking, the latter is our home. At some point in evolutionary time, we shared a close family with the forebearers of the octopus. This would have been some strange creature with light sensitive impressions instead of eyes, without even a spine. Then, nearly 400 million years ago, our distant ancestors crawled, flopping and seal-like onto the wet, empty sands, as we left our aquatic cousins behind.

Other Minds explores these distant members of humanity’s strange extended family. Godfrey-Smith

have stories of escape attempts.

Octopuses, unlike mice and even cats, seem to have a distinct awareness that they are in captivity, so are maybe even more sentient many other animals – or perhaps they are simply a lot more interested in being devious. However, it is difficult to hold eye contact with an octopus and not be left with the strange sense of recognition, as if you are being perceived in a special way, while a cat or dog only looks at you blankly. And yet, their

Epigra m/E sme H

Lucy Catterall

reveals that, despite our separation, cephalopods – a group of animals including squid, octopuses and cuttlefish – are astonishingly clever.

Octopuses are charming, crafty and utterly alien in their intelligence.

Unlike humans, they do not have a centralised nervous system. Instead, their brains are spread throughout their body, which is why tentacles wriggle seemingly without the octopus willing them to. They even move and respond to temperature after being separated from the body.

The most startling aspect of the book is how it challenges theories about our own intelligence. It was previously thought that humanity’s social behaviour and the difficulties of raising weak offspring were reasons for our intelligence.

However, octopuses are not particularly social, not usually monogamous, and yet have very sharp minds. It is not rare for an aquarium that houses octopuses to

ley ed

evolution was so separate from ours that meeting an octopus is perhaps as close as we will ever get to meeting an intelligent alien.

Godfrey-Smith’s stories of his own encounters with wild cephalopods are entertaining too. The takehome message of all these stories

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Sea animals are just as charming and unique in temperament as a dog or a cat

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Peter Godfrey-Smith’s 2016 book Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness spotlights octopus intelligence

is that, although often neglected by the general population, sea animals are just as charming and unique in temperament as a dog or a cat might be. He talks about accepting the offered tentacle of an octopus and being toured around an enclosure, like being led by a particularly strange undersea child.

Godfrey-Smith also mentions a cuttlefish, a usually friendly animal, that became aggravated upon seeing

him and chased him around the reef.

Nothing could quell the cuttlefish’s rage and eventually he had to employ a strategic retreat. Other cuttlefish ignored him, which is strange considering he is at least ten times the size of a cuttlefish, and logically should inspire if not fear then at least interest.

Godfrey-Smith tried stopping in front of it; the cuttlefish continued to swim towards him, until, when it was a yard away, it shot him a look of pure displeasure and he slunk away.

The book is very engagingly written. Even without any scientific education, it is easy to understand and approach topics at a beginner’s level. Godfrey-Smith clearly has a great breadth of knowledge – every chapter introduces surprising new ideas that reveal themselves like uncovering diamonds.

It will surely induce an enduring soft spot for the slimy, squishy, boneless charmers which zoom around the coral reefs and sea floors all over the world’s oceans. It is absolutely a recommended read.

18 SciTech

epigram 25.11.2019

Could yoga, tai chi and mindfulness reduce the risk of inflammatory disease?

Second Year, Cellular and Molecular Medicine

for challenges. It’s when stress becomes chronic or severe that it can negatively impact mental health and increase the risk of developing an inflammation-related disease. But how exactly do our bodies translate this stress into inflammation?

It’s all to do with a protein complex called NF-kB, which is key in controlling the expression of

inflammatory genes. When we are stressed, the sympathetic nervous system is stimulated to produce NFkB, which then converts this stress into inflammation by ‘switching on’ genes that code for inflammatory molecules, called cytokines. It follows that stress-reducing activities, which lower NF-kB activity, may not only improve mental health but reduce the risk of inflammatory disease as well.

One study looked at the effect of mindfulness in breast cancer survivor patients. After practicing two hours of yoga a week for a total of six weeks, participants showed lower levels of NF-kB and other inflammatory molecules. They reported decreased stress, fatigue and depression. Other studies have shown that activities ranging from mindfulness to Qigong can alleviate the symptoms of a variety of inflammatory diseases including irritable bowel disease as well as reducing blood pressure.

The extent to which mind-body interventions reduce the risk of inflammatory-related diseases is uncertain, with some studies giving conflicting results. Indeed, it is hard to tease apart the effect of activities like yoga from other major lifestyle changes and interventions such as a balanced diet and more generally, increased activity levels.

Scientists are continuing to

explore the molecular changes which underpin the benefits of mind-body

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The extent to which mind-body interventions reduce the risk of inflammatoryrelated diseases is uncertain, with some studies giving conflicting results

interventions and the role they have in inflammation.

Nonetheless, studies have shown a clear overall pattern that mind-body therapies may reduce risks of inflammatory disease.

So, whether you feel the urge to take up tai chi or just want to dust off that yoga mat, it may well be worth it!

In the lab at UoB Decrease in primary school children’s activity levels

Isobel O’Loughlin

Multidisciplinary researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter have created a revolutionary cancer diagnosis tool. The prototype is a ‘smart needle’ that uses light to detect lymphoma- a common type of cancer. Light is scattered differently from diseased tissue compared to healthy tissue, so lymphoma can be detected within seconds. This technology means that future diagnoses can be made much faster and less invasively than with the current surgical biopsies.

A University of Bristol study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, has found that children’s physical activity levels decrease dramatically by the time they finish primary school. It was observed that, whilst 61 percent of Year 1 pupils did enough exercise, this fell to only 41 percent of pupils by Year 6. As obesity figures double from 10 percent to 20 percent between these age ranges, these findings have important implications for preventing childhood obesity.

Isobel O’Loughlin

Flickr / freestorkcs.org

A novel pacemaker has been created by researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Bath. Most pacemakers produce an artificial heartbeat with a regular rhythm.

The new pacemaker mimics a phenomenon called respiratory sinus arrhythmia, the natural variation of heart rate with breathing patterns. using silicon brain circuits to respond to bodily signals. In rat studies, it has been found to be more efficient in reversing heart failure in than conventional pacemakers.

Smart needle uses light to diagnose cancer

Isobel O’Loughlin

Flickr / Rosmarie Voegtli

New bionic pacemaker reponds to breathing patterns

University of Bristol

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oday, it is well known that psychological stress can have a physical impact on the body, triggering or aggravating conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Yet, the idea that the mind plays a role in physical illness and healing is not new.

Recognition of this ‘mindbody phenomenon’ dates back to

Ancient Greek medicine, which embraced the ‘healthy mind, healthy body’ concept. Modern research now suggests that mind-body practices like yoga and tai chi can reduce the risk of inflammatory disease.

Inflammation is a vital part of the body’s response to harm and is characterised by heat, pain, redness, swelling, and loss of function. Acute inflammation is short term and plays a crucial role in protecting our bodies from infection and healing wounds.

W i t h o u t inflammation we would struggle to heal a cut or fight freshers’ flu when it inevitably hits.

However, not all inflammation is protective.

Chronic or a b n o r m a l inflammation can be harmful and has been linked to a range of diseases including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Research suggests that stress can trigger inflammation. Persistent social and academic pressures mean students tend to be all too familiar with stress, but stress isn’t always an enemy; sometimes it can push us to work hard and prepare

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The health benefits of activities like yoga, tai chi and quigong could be farther-reaching than we think Jade Bruce

25.11.2019 epigram

SciTech 19

Second Year, Mathematics

I

t has been known for decades that smoking can affect our physical health; now a recent paper by the University of Bristol, in association with Bristol’s MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU) and the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), has suggested that there could be an increased risk of depression and schizophrenia associated with prolonged smoking.

Published in the Psychological Medicine journal on 6 November 2019, the study used data from over 450,000 people obtained from the UK Biobank in order to formulate its hypothesis.

Dr Robyn Wootton, lead author of the paper and Senior Research Associate at the University, spoke to Epigram about the study, noting that ‘smoking is much more common amongst individuals with mental illness. In the UK, around 45 percent of individuals with schizophrenia smoke, around 30 percent of individuals with depression smoke

and only 15 percent of the general population does’ Though many studies have suggested a link between smoking and mental illness, it has historically not been clear in what direction the cause-and-effect relationship could be, if any exists at all.

To combat this, the researchers in the study used a technique called Mendelian Randomisation (MR) to reduce the chance of other variables such as alcohol consumption affecting the results. Dr Wootton stated that ‘the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol are a world leading centre for the method’, which utilises ‘genetic variants that predispose some individuals to smoke more and others to smoke less. These genetic variants are specific to smoking and therefore… we can look at the effect of smoking independent of other behaviours.’

The study combined MR with a novel method of measuring the duration and severity of smoking habits in order to better demonstrate the link between sustained smoking and mental illness. The study analysed this ‘lifetime smoking’ measure, comparing it to those in the UK Biobank data with depression and schizophrenia. It also utilised MR in the other direction, comparing those with genetic links to mental illness with those in the data that smoked.

‘We are the first to apply new genetic variants for smoking to understand the link between smoking and mental health using this method,’ said Dr Wootton.

The results ‘provided strong evidence that higher lifetime smoking increases risk of both schizophrenia… and depression’. Conversely, the study also found some evidence of a ‘consistent but smaller effect of higher genetic liability’ for schizophrenia and depression on sustained smoking.

Dr Wootton states that ‘The latter direction could be explained by many reasons’ such as self-medication, where a mental illness might cause a person to smoke in the hopes of mitigating their symptoms. An alternative is misattribution, where the ability of smoking to banish nicotine withdrawal symptoms is seen as a mental health benefit, and

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This study shows that smoking also has detrimental effects on mental health

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New research efforts look into potential cause-and-effect relationships between smoking and mental illness Izzy Bromfield

thus to cease smoking would be detrimental to mental health. Selfmedication is the ‘most common hypothesis but actually a lot of growing evidence suggests it might in fact be misattribution.’

The results of this study have

Flickr / Norlando Pobre

Bristol-led study suggests smoking could increase risk of mental illness

important implications in future policy-making: ‘For individuals without mental illness, of course we already know that they should not take up smoking because of the detrimental effects on physical health. But this study shows that smoking also has detrimental effects on mental health, further stressing the importance that individuals should not smoke.’

For those with depression or schizophrenia, the study also suggests a benefit to quitting. Dr Wootton adds that, ‘for individuals already suffering with a mental illness, it is a commonly held belief that smoking is a form of ‘self-medication’ and therefore individuals with mental

health problems are often not helped to quit as much as they should be.’

The study adds weight to the theory that, far from improving symptoms, smoking is ‘exacerbating mental illness’ in those with mental health problems.

Going forward, Dr Wootton states that the department ‘hope[s] to understand more about the pathways that underpin the effect of smoking on mental health. We think it could be due to nicotine leading to dysregulation of pathways in the brain that are also involved in mental illness, but we would like to explore this in more detail so that we can understand how best to intervene and prevent mental illness.’

It has been a fruitful past few months for Rosa Biotech; the biosensing company won both a prestigious prize and substantial investment money Vilhelmiina Haavisto .

SciTech Editor

R

osa Biotech, a University of Bristol spin-out company incorporated earlier this year, recently clinched £760,000 in funding and won the Royal Society of Chemistry Emerging Technologies prize in the health category. ‘The team have been really stoked with our achievements,’ Rosa Biotech CEO Dr Andy Boyce told Epigram. ‘We are a small company with just four full-time employees, so everyone contributes and therefore everyone gets to enjoy the fruits of our successes.’

The company works in biosensing: the ability for machines to mimic the complex and versatile olfactory system that mammals,

such as ourselves, use to smell.

This approach is a departure from traditional biosensors that can only detect one kind of molecule, and is achieved through designing barrelshaped proteins on a computer.

Rosa Biotech was established to refine the research of Professor Woolfson’s group from the School of Chemistry and Bristol BioDesign Institute, the University’s specialist research institute for synthetic biology. Their sensing platform has potential applications in fields such as medicine and biotechnology, where the detection of different chemicals is of major importance for daily tasks.

Professor Woolfson explained that ‘by recording patterns for healthy and diseased samples, [the team] hopes to build sensors for early-stage diagnosis of disease.’

The barrel-shaped proteins change colour when exposed to substances such as ‘bodily fluids that may show signs of disease’, Professor Woolfson explained. The proteins are arranged into arrays and loaded with different dyes. The colour changes that occur in response to the sample that is

University of Bristol Press office

An amazing autumn for Rosa Biotech

tested create distinct patterns for different substances. These are in turn interpreted by machine learning algorithms to determine what the sample might be.

Dr Boyce noted that the technology is the result of ‘many years of bluesky (curiosity-driven) research’ in the Woolfson lab. ‘Initially,’ he recounted, ‘they were just pushing the limits

of what could be made by protein design.’ Professor Woolfson asserted that these custom-designed proteins are ‘much simpler, easier to make and easier to handle’ than the real proteins of the mammalian olfactory system.

The opportunity for the research efforts to go commercial came from a ‘serendipitous conversation’

between Professor Woolfson and a pharmaceutical company scientist, who had identified a particular sensing challenge that they had.

Within two years, which Dr Boyce remarks is very rapid, the fully formed spin-out company was up and running. Dr Boyce outlined Rosa Biotech’s main goals for 2020. These include continuing to improve their ‘core sensing technology’, as well as delivering on pilot industry projects and ‘honing in on specific diseases’ to demonstrate the technology’s potential for diagnostic use.

Rosa Biotech’s work drew the attention of local business angels – investors who provide capital for start-ups – including Bristol-based company Ziylo’s founders. This attention resulted in the team closing a £760,000 founding investment – one of the largest of any University of Bristol spin-out. Rosa Biotech is based at the Unit DX biosciences hub near Temple Meads, where many other start-ups, including Ziylo which was sold to diabetes healthcare giant Novo Nordisk for $800 million in 2018, had their start.

Film & TV

epigram 25.11.2019

Editor: Leah Martindale Deputy Editor: Louie Bell

Digital Editor: Laura Aish Deputy Digital: Tom Goulde

Debate: Can cinema be apolitical?

Leah Martindale Film and TV Editor

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Paramount IMDb /

rankly, I’m unsure how much I agree with this stance.

Politics is imbued intrinsically in all of my favourite cinematic pieces, from the overt to the surreal. Despite this, I refuse to believe that all films are political, as there are some films that to me simply do not deserve this accolade.

There are films that are so far from what we recognise as art, or cinema, that to me they can hardly be seen as political if they aren’t even films.

Of course, there are many films which are made to be political. From the American political KKK promopiece The Birth of a Nation (1915) to the British immigrant romance Last Resort (2000), cinema has been used throughout history to propagate political agendas. However, it feels fallacious to pretend every film ever made has a political agenda.

There are nine Fast and Furious films, including Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and apparently another - Fast and Furious 9 (due for release in 2020) - just wrapped. The basic premise of The Fast and the Furious (2001) follows the late Paul Walker as police officer Brian O’Conner who wages an internal struggle between his love for the law and his newfound obsession with street racing. Basically lifechanging politics, right…?

Of course, there are political stances to be taken on the film: O’Conner is a white American police officer, a position of debatable m o r a l standing according to many.

The film centres around a h o b b y that is destroying t h e

Cinema & politics: In graphics

Films like Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004) may appear on the surface to have some inklings of political level nous, with a plot centred around media moguls and code-cracking - even if that code is baby-talk - but truly barely hit the marks of basic filmmaking practices.

When we argue the basic political foundation of cinema, we cannot pretend that the true bottom-ofthe-barrel pieces of ‘art’ permeating cinema history deserve to be ascribed political bases.

When there are films actively attempting to make political statements, and directors - like my personal favourite, Spike Lee - who have made waves in politics through their cinema, I am of the personal opinion that not all films are political.

When people are putting vast efforts into making their films make points, statements, changes to the world, it feels offensive to me to cast everything in the same light.

Lots of films have political implications, and politics is near impossible to extract from a whole hoard of films. Just as every action we do has a butterfly effect that changes our personal futures and political presents, every film we see is in some way influenced by the politics of its production - but that doesn’t make them political. And that’s okay.

Ellie Brown

News Sub-Editor

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The strike, which lasted for five weeks, changed the face of animation: many top animators left the company and set up their own companies, with iconic results.

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I refuse to believe that all films are political, as there are some films that, to me, simply do not deserve this accolade

Cinema cannot be apolitical

Both Republicans, Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger were in office from 1967-75 and 2003-11, respectively.

This is how many wins Aaron Sorkin’s White House political drama The West Wing (1999-2006) won in its first year. It holds the record for the most wins by a TV show in its first season.

J a n e F o n da has been arrested four Fridays in a row this month, protesting the US government’s climate inaction. However, she was also arrested once in 1970. It was claimed that she was smuggling drugs into the country, though it was later found that these mysterious ‘pills’ were actually just vitamins.

ree Solo (2018), documentary.

Love Actually (2003), romantic comedy.

The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014), fantasy and action adventure. What do these films and genres have in common?

Answer: not many people would call them political.

It’s easy to see why. Politics, referring to the activities of elected bodies in remote places like Westminster or the SU, is not that compelling a topic for these genres.

Free Solo, is interesting because it focuses on the ambitious personal undertaking of a climber – something that, unlike politics, isn’t constantly part of the news cycle.

Love Actually is similarly constrained by its genre. Though it does feature a Prime Minister, the film is more invested in his relationship with Natalie, the tea lady, over his ability to run the country. After all, she, rather than economic or strategic concerns, is the reason the PM finally stands up to the U.S.!

And, finally, The Hobbit, like many fantasy and action-adventure films, entertains its audience by being an escape from normal life; we are transported to a different universe Middle Earth - and follow the quest of a few rogue characters. About as far from the dull processes of governing elections as you can get.

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Films play a political role in social life which also cannot be ignored

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Cinema can be apolitical

planet one car at a time - an issue impossible to ignore in today’s political climate - if you’ll pardon the pun. The representation of women in the films is shoddy, to put it lightly, with objectification rife.

It seems you can assign politics to anything. Is Clueless (1995) a commentary on gender and class intersections in late 20th Century America? Or, more honestly, is it a fun adaptation of the 1815 novel Emma with sex, fashion, and a ‘totally buggin’ vernacular to boot.

If we are just willing to ascribe politics to anything, then there is no point in political cinema. There are films that barely scrape the bar as films, let alone political films. Troll 2 (1990), Sharknado (2013), Sex Lives of the Potato Men (2004)... there are countless films considered such genuine tripe that they are hardly worth watching.

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If the world feels dominated by politics at the moment, two of our writers ask whether cinema can ever be truly free of politics

However, I don’t think this is the whole story.

According to both academics and favourite internet source Wiktionary, politics can also mean ‘social relationships that involve power or authority.’ Think of the terms ‘office politics’ or ‘sexual politics’ and you’ll know what I mean. Politics permeates every aspect of our lives, whether we know it or not.

Because of this, the above films can be understood as portraying politics.

Most clearly, this shown explicitly as conflict and its resolution between characters, such as the struggle over Smaug’s gold in The Hobbit.

However, explicit conflict between characters does not need to exist for

there to be power relations between them. Take Love Actually, for example.

It’s no coincidence that Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister is a straight, white man from a certainly highly educated background; these characteristics have given him the advantages needed to gain the ultimate position of power in the country. Meanwhile, Natalie the tea lady is the one who takes on the domestic and emotional division of labour.

Likewise, in Free Solo, the ability of Alex to climb wild areas in the U.S. also depends on a particular socio-economic context and the balance of power this entails. Alex makes enough money to live from his talents, yet these depend on an entire industry of sponsorship deals, widespread social media usage, and a capitalist economy which allows Alex to meet other basic needs.

As well as portraying politics onscreen, films play a political role in social life which also cannot be ignored. Films do not have to be explicitly linked to political parties or social movements to do this; even movies in the above genres, which are supposedly neutral, have some impact on power relations.

While not every viewer of Free Solo will go and climb a mountain, or of The Hobbit start pointless wars over money, or even of Love Actually immediately confess their love to their best friend’s partner, the choice of subjects encourages viewers not to question political orthodoxies which make up the societies that they live in.

As well as this, film-making can affect and is affected by politics in both senses of the word. For example, the making of The Hobbit films led to new labour laws in New Zealand which affected the ability of workers on films to unionise. The #MeToo scandal prompted a widespread shift in attitudes to gender relations.

Finally, in the UK the consumption of films is regulated by only a few laws; this contrasts with more politically repressive states where the balance of power depends on these activities being highly regulated.

For these reasons, films cannot avoid being political. Arguing that films can be apolitical ignores these links and may perpetuate existing configurations of power. Their subjects always have a political dimension and film-making is affected by, and has a role in shaping its political context.

Read the full articles on the Epigram website!

25.11.2019

epigram

Film & TV 21

Caitlin Price Chief Proofreader

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or Ken Loach, story and politics are inseparable. In his own words, ‘[if] you make films about people’s lives, I think politics is essential. It is the essence of drama, the essence of conflict’. Those who work with Loach describe him as quiet, reserved and reflective. However, there clearly resides within Loach a deep outrage at social injustices; an outrage that permeates his work.

At the core of many of his film and television productions is the truth about Britain and it is a truth that is no less real for being unseen by the vast majority of Britons. In a recent BBC interview about Loach’s new release Sorry We Missed You (2019) the interviewer, Stephen Sackur, accuses Loach of being a polemicist whose film work presents a bleak, depressing world.

Loach responds with ‘[i]t’s your world. It’s the world you live in. It’s the world that passes you by every

time you come into the BBC.’ Loach certainly knows when to speak up and what to say.

Loach’s work has often provided a voice for the voiceless. The influential televised Wednesday Plays (19641970) revolutionised the on-screen presentation of the working class.

Working class actors were hired for working class roles and issues were brought to the fore that otherwise weren’t being discussed, never mind given air time.

Up the Junction (1965) featured a backstreet abortion scene and Cathy Come Home (1966) followed the story of a young couple who became homeless and eventually had their children taken away from them by the local authority. In 1967 abortion was legalised in the UK and, although Loach’s role in this result can’t be quantified, he brought the issue into the front rooms of Britain.

Loach saw his Wednesday Plays as ‘continuations of the news’ that they followed and he used a ‘drama documentary’ style to indicate that they were grounded in reality. In the devastating scene where Cathy’s (Carol White) children are taken away by the local authority in a train station, the people in the background are commuters, not extras, meaning the shock on their faces is genuine.

The unorthodox approach to producing television dramas may have been controversial for some, but it undoubtedly brought an effective realist edge to a drama grounded in truth. Cathy may have been a fabrication but her story was not.

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Loach’s work has often provided a voice for the voiceless

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Ken Loach has been bringing working-class stories to the centre of British cinema for decades

IMDb / Sixteen Films

Political storytellers: Ken Loach

Loach followed up the success of his Wednesday Plays with the critically acclaimed feature film Kes (1969), based on Barry Hine’s 1968 book A Kestrel for a Knave. The film follows the working-class boy Billy Caspar (David Bradley) who is written off by those around him, including

his own mother, as a ‘hopeless case’.

However, Billy finds his first friend in Kes - a hawk that he raises and trains – and, through his relationship with the bird, Billy grows in confidence.

Loach is the master of placing the underrepresented on screen and giving them a voice.

In 2006 the Daily Mail described The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006), winner of the Palme D’Or, as a ‘pro-IRA film’ in an article entitled ‘Why does Ken Loach loathe his country so much?’. Loach’s films are uncompromising in revealing systems of oppression both within nations and across nations. He holds a mirror up to the world around him and sometimes the results can be hard to look at.

Loach’s two most recent works I,

Daniel Blake (2016) and Sorry We Missed You (2019) - have been two of his best and most timely pieces.

At 83, Loach is still producing astoundingly important pieces. Both films are claustrophobic stories of mounting hardships but they also contain love, family and simple human connection. I, Daniel Blake examines the Kafkaesque Universal Credit system and Sorry We Missed You examines the exploitative gig economy.

Politics is not abstract; it influences our lives and the lives of those around us and, therefore, its effects are always visible – we just have to choose to look at them.

Read the full articles on the Epigram website!

Editors’ Picks IMDb / Basilisk Films

IMDb / Columbia Pictures

IMDb / Focus Features

IMDb / BBC

IMDb / Universal Pictures

With an election just around the corner, our editors pick their favourite political films

Leah Martindale Editor

Louie Bell Deputy Editor

Laura Aish Digital Editor

Tom Goulde Deputy Digital Editor

Siavash Minoukadeh Entertainment Sub-Editor

Do The Right Thing (1989)

In The Loop (2009)

Milk (2008)

The Interview (2014)

The Garden (1990)

My favourite film, Do the Right Thing is an explosive, inherently politicised wild ride in beautiful colour for an equal-part harrowing and hilarious two hours. The film’s message was so effective that in 1989 New York Mayor Ed Koch was ousted. Over three decades, Spike Lee’s stance on films such as Green Book (2018) serves as a benchmark for liberal African-American sociopolitical attitudes. Lee found concerns that the film’s content would incite black viewers to rioting ‘outrageous, egregious and, I think, racist’, and encapsulated the controversy surrounding the film.

A film about a government Press Officer trying to piece together the shrapnel of one failed BBC interview wouldn’t immediately jump out, but Armando Iannucci’s In The Loop proves comedically brilliant and fascinatingly poignant. Starring Peter Capaldi as the infamous spindoctor Malcolm Tucker, the noteperfect satirisation of the road to the Iraq war makes us laugh until it hurts and in doing so brings home the ridiculous nature of the system that British politics has come to embody. However, with an election approaching, I wonder if a film like this could be made anymore.

Milk was directed by filmmaker Gus Van Sant, also known for Good Will Hunting (1998) and Last Days (2005), and is a biopic about politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

During the 1970s he became the first openly gay elected official in California. Milk is portrayed masterfully by Sean Penn, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor, with James Franco and Emile Hirsch also starring. The film is definitely well-worth a watch to learn more about Milk’s work and life, and the extraordinary story of a man who was such an inspiration to so many people.

In this highly charged political atmosphere, everyone deserves to have a good laugh from time to time. I’m not going to pretend this is the best film ever made, but the stupidity of it all will have you creasing. The premise is simple: James Franco, with the help of Seth Rogen backstage, are famous for interviewing celebrities and land an interview with Kim Jong-Un. They fly to North Korea and it begins to get farcical. Franco and Rogen, as always, have great chemistry; it is ridiculous, hilarious and gives you a chance to unwind and forget about all the tension there is in the world.

This experimental Derek Jarman film isn’t explicitly political but given his status as a prominent AIDS patient, he uses The Garden to make a radical critique of the heterosexual, homophobic and capitalist Britain of Margaret Thatcher. Featuring a leather-clad Judas advertising credit cards and Jesus being played by a gay couple, Jarman is unafraid to provoke. A skilled director, his experimental, lyrical style is gorgeous to watch.

Helped by the divine Tilda Swinton, we never lose the raw emotion and mesmerising beauty that makes The Garden so compelling.

22 Film & TV

25.11.2019

epigram

IMDb / Mammoth Screen

How TV shines an honest light on British politics

MA Comparative Literatures and Cultures

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unday 10 November saw the final episode of the BBC’s new WW2 drama World on Fire (2019) take to the screens of family televisions and unlicensed catch-up devices across the country.

Although scorned by some for harbouring historical inaccuracies, for many, strong performances from household names such as Sean Bean, Helen Hunt and Lesley Manville have earned it its place as a Sundayevening staple of the living room broadcasting schedule.

As with any dramatisation of History, it has its faults and merits.

However, what is important about WOF, what sets it apart from other WW2 dramas, is its divergence from the usual, regurgitated wartime narrative, its illumination of commonly suppressed historical realities and its representation of demographic groups who are moreoften-than-not left unrepresented.

We begin, as the series opens, with a brief but nonetheless important depiction of Poland’s capital city Warsaw in the days leading up to the initial shells of Nazi invasion: September, 1939. For many of us Brits, the mention of Warsaw in history conjures up a plethora of disturbing, yet wholly accurate, images: poverty, violence and the

ghettoisation of the city’s Jewish population during the Holocaust.

Bolstered in the UK and US by photos in History textbooks and films such as Polanski’s 2002 biopic The Pianist, Warsaw exists in our consciousness as one of the most criminally targeted victims of the Nazi mission, and so it should.

What is commendable from the BBC, though it may sound strange, is their humanising representation of German soldiers. By this, I do not refer to high-ranking Nazi officers but to the common Soldat: the young men conscripted to fight for their country and Führer without question.

Too often are young men who fought for Germany under the black swastika painted with the same sweeping brush of Nazi malevolence when, in reality, many low-rank soldiers were not fully aware of the broader picture of their military task.

Our initial impression of Klaus (Bruno Alexander), a teenage German soldier, is through a photograph attached to a letter sent home to Berlin. From the photo, there is little to distinguish him from any other Nazi soldier: he is dressed in military uniform with a helmet covering half of his face and a stern expression hanging just below. However, we suddenly cut from the photograph to a close-up shot of the materialised Klaus, sitting in a Warsaw pub. On meeting him, the façade is dropped and we are introduced to a young, doe-eyed boy, unsure of himself, glancing innocently over to Kasia behind the bar. This juxtaposition of Klaus the soldier and Klaus the human drives into the scene a commonly overlooked vulnerability.

He is surrounded by comrades but

visibly feels nonetheless isolated.

As the scene progresses, it’s clear that Klaus is not an evil Nazi, but a nervous young boy, self-labelled as ‘clumsy,’ who misses his family.

This is a commendable humanistic approach from the BBC. Another vital element that is often omitted from the telling of WW2 narratives is the vast efforts made by the colonies of Western allied powers such as France and Britain.

In 1939, at the beginning of the war, Western empires spanned the globe with Britain claiming approximately 503 million external colonial subjects worldwide and France 72 million - predominantly in Western Africa. WOF brings to light these efforts through the portrayal of two Senegalese troops who join forces with the British after being separated

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What it does is recognise the courageous efforts of a demographic whose bravery and needless sacrifice is far-toooften side-lined

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When our own history lessons gloss over the horrors of our nation’s past, BBC’s World on Fire (2019) is a refreshingly honest retrospection Joe Harris

from their unit at Ypres.

With 180,000 men fighting on behalf of France and, within that, 40,000 deployed to Europe, Senegal played a tremendous role in the war. At the time, imperialism and its polarising ruler-native doctrine was still rife, as encapsulated in episode six by Harry’s snobbish mother who labels Demba, a Senegalese soldier, ‘a savage.’ Demba and his men face friction throughout the series with British soldiers starting fights with, and refusing to accommodate, them.

‘Can’t we just leave ‘em here?...’ asks Blake Harrison’s character Sergeant Raddings: ‘they’re not even ours,’ encapsulating the colonial commodification of African soldiers.

Harry, an officer, channels the BBC’s chosen voice, replying that he won’t tolerate the talk of ‘men who are fighting on our side as though they are disposable.’ With several moments akin to this, the pushing of this point is, to a degree, laboured and possibly untidy, but it is nonetheless imperative and can only be praised as what it does is recognise the courageous efforts of a demographic whose bravery and needless sacrifice is far-too-often side-lined.

However, the thing that is perhaps most surprising about WOF, as a BBC production, is its standpoint on Britain’s famous wartime prime minister Winston Churchill. The debate surrounding Churchill is one that has been returned to time and time again. As a nation, we idolise him, synonymise him with national pride. And yes, it would be naïve to deny that the PM played a significant role in the war victory. However, what the facts ultimately seem to tell us is that Churchill was a great strategist, yes, a strong leader, but that he was also, in many ways, a deplorable human being.

In the mainstream media, with films such as the 2018 blockbuster Darkest Hour exploding into cinemas across the country, fluttering people’s inner Union Jacks, the Churchill as a great leader narrative is one that is overplayed, with little to no attention being shone on his darker, more heinous side: the one of wicked colonial crimes and white supremacism, the one that in 1937

labelled Hitler’s patriotic movements as ‘admirable’. On this basis, as one of the furthest stretching channels in the UK, it is extraordinary to see the BBC take such a clear standpoint against the grain in beginning to expose this ulterior character albeit in a generally indirect way with Sean Bean’s morally reliable character Douglas claiming to ‘have [his] differences with Mr Churchill.’

The most striking exposure of the prime minister in WOF, however, is the moment that a German doctor, hired to euthanise disabled children, recites, in defence, to Helen Hunt’s character Nancy: ‘“The multiplication of the feebleminded is a very terrible danger to the race.” You know who said that, Miss Campbell? Winston Churchill.’

A real quote from Churchill to Asquith in 1910, the BBC use this to draw parallels between Nazi ideology and Churchill’s own beliefs. This is not to say that Churchill and Hitler should be equated, but it is a step in the right direction to drag into the spotlight a different side to one of our most prolific national icons so that we can make a more well-rounded judgment before worshipping with one eye closed.

In short, when the BAFTAs arrive again in May next year, World on Fire may not be winning every award there is to win. It’s not perfect, but it is certainly watchable, and this is all that is needed to communicate its applaudable illuminations and representations of historic realities that have too often been pushed down into the mud.

Read the full article on the Epigram website!

MY RENT

MY RIGHTS

We believe that house hunting should be an exciting and stress free experience. However, it’s also important that you go in armed with the knowledge to make sure that you aren’t pressured into renting the wrong house for you!

As part of My Rent My Rights we’re encouraging you to wait before rushing into signing a contract and to check out all of our tools to make sure you’re as informed as possible!

The campaign aims to get you thinking about the more technical side of renting: what to look out for in viewings, tenancy agreements and guarantors. We want to make sure you're aware of these things and we want to make sure that you get a fair deal.

Some of you might already be thinking about your house for next year, but there's no rush. Here are the key dates to look out for over the next few weeks: Wednesday 4 December - Housing Fair Thursday 5 December - Bristol SU Lettings Housing Release Make sure you check out our house hunting guide and viewing checklist to support you with any property viewings that you might have booked and decisions that you are making.

Find out more at bristolsu.org.uk/myrentmyrights

Housing advice fair 2019 Wednesday 4 December, 11am - 3pm , Anson Rooms Staff from Bristol SU Lettings and the Accommodation Office will be on hand to answer your individual queries such as deposit protection, bills, living in the community, how to deal with problem landlords, what to do if you don't have a guarantor and more!

There will be a presentation held every half hour with essential information about your search, for example how, where, when to look and addressing the questions you need to consider in order to find the right place.

In addition to Bristol SU Lettings there will be stalls from a number of other agencies and housing suppliers to give you an idea of what is available on the market.

Arts What’s On

epigram 25.11.2019

@epigramarts

This powerful and moving exhibition features artists from across the globe whose works highlight the experiences of women - the struggles, triumphs, and ongoing fight for liberation. It’s running until Sunday 15 December and is free for all. Visit the Arnofili website for a list of content and trigger warnings.

A Christmas Carol at Bristol Old Vic After a hugely successful run last year, Tom Morris’ magical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic returns to Bristol Old Vic, running from 28 November until 12 January. A Christmas Carol is the perfect show to see in the lead-up to Christmas and with tickets starting at £7.50, it’s one not to be missed.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year at M Shed The world-renowned exhibition from the Natural History Museum comes to Bristol from the 23 November until May 2020! The exhibition offers the most impressive photography of our natural world and presents the stories behind these images during a time of environmental crisis. M Shed is offering free entry for students and 16-25 year olds every Wednesday.

Rife: Twenty-One Stories From Britain’s Youth at Waterstones Taking place on the 26 November at Waterstones in Broadmead, this thought-provoking event aims to give young people a voice in today’s challenging society. It features powerful and passionate essays from writers under the age of 24 based in Bristol and beyond, and commits to its intention to encourage young people to join the discussion by offering free entry to all under 24s.

Livi Player Imogen Howse Will Maddrell Serafina Lee

Reclaim the Night: a photo series Syirah Ami

Third Year Aerospace Engineering

Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance at the Arnofili

Editor Deputy Editor Digital Editor Deputy Digital Editor

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he Reclaim photo series aims to showcase different women from LGBT+, BME, migrant backgrounds to bring personal stories to the forefront of Reclaim.

Because, in reality, different women are empowered differently.

They experience things differently.

They challenge misogyny differently. And personal experiences matter just as much as statistics.

Reclaim is a celebration of women’s liberation and bodily autonomy. It started as a protest against sexual harassment, especially at night, which is where the term ‘Reclaim The Night’ came from. But modern Reclaim movements have grown to be more inclusive. Gendered violence relates to a bigger culture of misogyny, which manifests in many circles. Whether it’s from women constantly being silenced, or people making sexist ‘jokes’, it’s a problem that sometimes goes under the radar.

Reclaim Month ended yesterday - 24 November - with the Reclaim The Night march, organised by the Bristol SU Women’s Network. Women and allies march together to take a stand against gendered violence and misogyny. It’s a yearly show of solidarity - perhaps the one night where women can feel safe, walking among friends.

Aisling’s Story ‘I want our safety. But safety doesn’t encapsulate what I truly mean. I would like to feel whole again, unburdened by fear, not a visitor in my own body - like there is someone sitting in the space where my soul should be. I want not to expect the worst of a night out and be pleasantly surprised when I am only groped once. My fear is such a waste of time. I do not want it.’

Daisy’s Story ‘90 years since Virginia Woolf fought for a room of our own. The criticism of her financial biases aside, as a woman in the arts I feel indebted to Virginia Woolf’s idiosyncratic thought whenever I write.’

Syirah’s story ‘Growing up in a conservative Muslim household, the ‘ideal Muslim woman’ was always based on purity and complacency. But my Muslim icons are strong and proud, like LGBT+ activist Blair Imani or Sisters

In Islam. It took years to consolidate my bisexual identity with my Muslim background and apply feminism to Islam (and vice versa). It’s difficult to participate in Western feminism and be Muslim, or in Muslim spaces and be a feminist. But I’m reclaiming my identity above the preconceptions of a Muslim woman; because none of those is fully me.’

Hillary’s Story ‘Reclaiming the power to assert myself is all about the ability to hold power and authority in spaces where I am trivialised, dismissed and silenced. Asserting myself is about being able to own my voice, own my identity as a black woman and own my truth, and not conform to the form of myself that is palatable to what society wants me to be. I am empowered to be the boldest, more confident version of myself.’

Gail’s Story ‘I first came into the world of alternative music when I was about 14 years old. Ever since then, it’s been a massive part of my life. Being a regular gig attendee and dipping my foot into the industry has made me realise how male-dominated the metal world is, with women still being overshadowed in almost every sector within it, not only at live events but also behind the scenes.

My goal would be to see more powerful women be given the voice they deserve - there’s too many talented individuals out there that need to be recognised and celebrated.’

Ayo’s Story ‘Language is power... so we need to actively challenge and change language that has been used to oppress women. I think that remembering the history and meaning that words carry is crucial so that our generation and future ones can reclaim and change the narrative around derogatory language. Language is one of the core ways that we communicate with each other, so challenging the origin of stereotypes and associations is really important for achieving change.’

Arts 25

25.11.2019 epigram

Discovering new art: the rise of podcasts Photo Courtesy of Cem Gurhan

Deputy Arts Editor

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podcast Directionally Challenged made me realise the full potential of this art form. It’s a podcast, at its core, about human life and human relationships, with topics ranging from technological addictions, to dealing with anxiety, to the ways fashion operates in our everyday lives. It’s charming, informative and moving, and the episodes cover both the topics we all love discussing with our friends on a daily basis, as

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The ability to perpetually discover new art can surely only signify an expansion of culture

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ur notion of what constitutes art is constantly evolving: what we consider as art nowadays differs significantly from what would have been accepted as art in earlier centuries. People are asking questions ranging from ‘are video games cinematography?’ to ‘is fanfiction literature?’, musings reflective of our more varied and inclusive understanding of art. This is something many people view as a loss or even as a reduction of culture, but in many ways, the ability to perpetually discover new art can surely only signify an expansion of culture – something which seems to me a triumph more than anything else.

Personally, my most recent discovery of ‘new art’ is podcasts. I appreciate that I may be a little late to this party - Ofcom estimates that around 7.1 million people in the UK now listen to podcasts each week but Candice King and Kayla Ewell’s

well as the ones we may be a little more hesitant to bring up at times.

King and Ewell, best friends and co-stars from The Vampire Diaries, are refreshingly relatable as hosts. Their authenticity not only makes their stories all the more entertaining and creates a better connection with their audience, but it also inspires raw, revelatory, and deeply engaging conversations with their various guests, leaving their listeners feeling empowered, moved, or inspired to make a change.

One episode which affected me in all of these ways was the one entitled ‘The Art of Elysium.’ During this hour, the hosts interviewed Jennifer Howell, the founder of a volunteer

organisation which brings art and community together to support individuals in the midst of personal crises. In addition to sharing deeply affecting tales, such as a story of an amateur musician bringing joy to children suffering from terminal illnesses, Howell also discusses the power of art as something we can always share and always give. She talks about how many people believe that when they don’t have the financial stability to make monetary donations to charities, there is nothing else they can do. ‘The Art of Elysium’ however thrives on the idea that your creativity is enough, even prioritising art as the best thing you can give.

This conversation made me reflect

upon how the very podcast I was listening to and hearing these ideas through is an art form in itself.

Considering this through a more traditional lens, perhaps in comparison to a literary work or even a television series, I could say the podcast has a distinctive narratorial style, and, over the course of two seasons, has a progressive story arc. If you look at podcasts as art in a more abstract sense however, it’s enough to say that it’s a work of creativity, a place

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It thrives on the idea that your creativity is enough

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Is it time we re-evaluate our definition of ‘art’?

Imogen Howse

of expression, and a project which was founded on human imagination.

Directionally Challenged reminded me that art, as cliche as it sounds, is often found in the eye of the beholder.

Art always has been and always will be a key component of culture, and, as such, is subject to change over time. Although some people lament these changes, I’d argue that they present an opportunity - for discovery, creativity, and to consider ‘art’ in new and exciting ways.

Book Corner

Second Year English

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et in occupied France, Anthony Doerr’s wartime novel tells the stories of Marie-Laure, a blind girl living in Paris with her father, and Werner, a German orphan whose impressive scientific knowledge attracts the attention of the Hitler Youth. Whilst both children struggle to understand their surroundings, they become linked through the power of radio, music, and a highly valuable jewel.

This moving tale conveys the value of connection in a time when the outside world is unknown in both its barbarity and obscurity, and thus blindness is experienced by all.

Sara Espinosa Rastoll First Year English

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ife of Pi tells the story of Pi Patel, a young Indian boy who is stranded on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra and a Bengal tiger. He continuously reflects upon the greatest questions that haunt our society, and I found myself contemplating these polemical topics along with Pi himself. The text is not only thought-provoking but also flooded with rich descriptions of almost magical landscapes, making the reader doubt the realism of the events. I’d definitely recommend this one if what you’re looking for is a touch of puzzling philosophy amidst the monotony of routine.

Saskia Arthur Third Year English

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his is Sally Rooney’s classic tale of boy meets girl: we follow protagonists Connell and Marianne through their on-off relationship from teenage years all the way to university and beyond.

However, this story far surpasses your typical coming-of-age novel.

Rooney’s dialogue is so nuanced and her writing so honest that you can’t help but feel she has offered a glimpse into our own normal relationships and laid our frailties bare. This is a deeply moving yet accessible story which examines the way people try to understand each other, and themselves, through love.

Imogen Howse Deputy Arts Editor

B

ased on the often forgotten historical tragedy of the ‘Wilhelm Gustloff’ during World War II, Salt To The Sea follows the perspectives of four people whose lives converge in a moving fight for freedom and survival. Although each character’s voice is so distinct, Sepetys weaves them together seamlessly with her lyrical writing style, creating a story filled with tension, tragedy, emotion and hope. At its heart, it’s a story of how humanity transcends boundaries: whether these be nationalities, cultures, or sides of the war, it reminds us that we’re all human at the end of the day.

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

Phoebe Rose

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

Epigram Arts’ regular feature: your go-to for our top book recommendations

Emma Kaufman

First Year Classical Studies

T

he sequel to a groundbreaking feminist classic, The Testaments continues this nightmarish story with three new points of view, presenting the fearsome Gilead in ways you never would have expected from Atwood.

The novel has a really modern feel, with ideas reflective of the impact of the #MeToo era, and offers readers the answers to the questions that may have left you unsettled or confused at the end of the first book. Although the ending is quite disappointing after a long build-up of action, The Testaments is definitely still worth the read for Atwood’s gripping style.

Music

epigram 25.11.2019

@EpigramMusic epigram_music

Editor Deputy Editor Digital Editor Deputy Digital Editor

Francesca Frankis Guy Marcham Joe Boyd Will Snelling

Epigram Music’s top 10 albums of the decade

1 Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly, 2015

By Daisy Lacey, Fourth Year, Comparative Literatures and Cultures

Unlike Frank Ocean’s sun-laced debut Channel Orange, Blonde encapsulates every back-endish sentiment of the autumnal transition.

Released in the close of August 2016, Frank’s sophomore record offers a sonic depiction of the changing of the seasons; an articulation of transition.

Infusing the record with a sense of metamorphosis, the artist reflects on meaningless flings, lengthy romances and platonic love. Frank paints the freedoms of youth, whilst synthesis-

ing bleak periods of loneliness on ‘Self-Control’ and the myriad societal expectations that come with

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A sonic depiction of the changing of seasons

adulthood through ‘Seigfried’.

Blonde captures moments of emptiness, hope, and sensuality in one woefully relatable offering.

In pitching

ture whilst warning that institutional change is imminent, necessary and long overdue. Although the Grammy slipped his grasp, the rapper’s third record stands as a universally acclaimed project; an album for a generation and a masterpiece of its time.

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An album for a generation and a masterpiece of its time

By Bethany Marris, Deputy Digital Editor Blonde as a decade-defining album, Frank’s meticulous production can’t go unacknowledged. From the moment in which day becomes ‘Night(s)’ through a calculated mid-record beat-shift, to those instances where periods of instrumental melancholy seamlessly bleed into electronic chaos, Blonde’s production is faultless.

Pioneering in arrangement and lyricism, there’s little doubt that this genre-spanning project has earned a top-spot in the musical cannons of R&B, Hip-Hop and Neo-Soul alike.

3

Aphex Twin - Syro, 2014

As if Aphex Twin didn’t need to prove himself anymore after his first six acclaimed works, he then went and released Syro in 2014; a phenomenal album that deserves every last drop of the cult status it’s reaped in over the years.

Swerving in and out of normalities, Syro perfectly captures a moment of immaculate electric chaos layered onto the backdrop of a thoughtful ambient self-discovery.

The crushing hi-hats of first track ‘minipops 67’ run heavy throughout the record and evolve into wacky arpeggiated rhythms as the album breezily runs on.

Just when you think you

By Francesca Frankis, Music Editor

can’t keep up, Aphex Twin does what he does best and chimes in with gleaming, satisfying melodies like with ‘Produk 29 [101]’.

‘180db_[130]’ is another stand

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Immaculate electric chaos layered onto the backdrop of a thoughtful, ambient self-discovery

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Frank Ocean - Blonde, 2016

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2

nation most evidently on tracks such as ‘Hood Politics’, ‘Institutionalised’ and ‘King Kunta’. Furthermore, whilst exposing societal ’demons’ Kendrick simultaneously tackles personal demons. Through ’U’, he sketches a bleak, drunken profile of the artist mourning the complexities of love; navigating the complexities of fame.

TPAB is symbolically rich. From its luxurious, jazzy foundation to references to Malcom X and interludes of protest, Kendrick celebrates Black cul-

“

T

hree years after his reputation-affirming sophomore record Good Kid M.A.A.D. City, Kendrick Lamar dropped To Pimp A Butterfly. With every track laced with political consciousness, TPAB exhibits the artist talent as both a skilled MC and an accomplished wordsmith.

A testament to the messages espoused by the record, ‘Alright’ quickly assumed it’s place as the soundtrack for the modern day Black Lives Matter Movement. Kendrick offers hope in a social, cultural and political climate still geared against the uplift of African Americans. The artist metaphorically grapples with racial discrimi-

out track; thumping kick beats give way to freaky synths that squeeze their way out of some

kind of electronic existential crisis.

Whilst Syro isn’t for the fainthearted, it offers up moments of profound tranquility nestled in between Aphex Twin’s celebrated unruly computerised movements.

The significance of final track ‘aisatsana [102]’ cannot be understated; a gentle and poignant piano arrangement, quietly finding resolution in the disorder of the entire work.

It isn’t until listening to the whole album cover to cover and finishing it on this note that it finally all makes sense.

Aphex Twin’s Syro is an indisputable classic that propels sound beyond any limits of time, place or genre.

Music 27

25.11.2019 epigram

4 David Bowie - Blackstar, 2016

By Sophie Brown, PhD Chemistry

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anuary 2017 saw the release of the 25th and final studio album, Blackstar, from music icon Da-

6

Bon Iver - Bon Iver, 2011

By Dylan Morley, Third Year History

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n a prolific decade for indie-folk music, Bon Iver’s self-titled 2011 r e l e a s e stands out distinctly from the crowd. A follow-up to the early success of For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver catapulted Justin Vernon and co into the spotlight, transgressing their fringe persona.

Vernon- the founder, frontman and principle creative contributor- entic-

8

vid Bowie on his 69th birthday. A few days later Bowie tragically died.

In his death lies the true profundity of the album. Blackstar was Bowie’s parting gift - a devastating masterpiece of a life laid out on a musical canvas, crafted by a man battling a cancer diagnosis and facing the magnitude of his own mortality. ‘Lazarus’ is the pinnacle of the album, with its solemn orchestration acting as a self-crafted eulogy. Bowie leaves his legacy eternally laced with ethereal mystery and enigmatic beauty.

es and intrigues his listeners in equal measure throughout this finely balanced conception. Bon Iver takes its listener on a surreal and abstract journey; from the disconcerting chaos of ‘Hinnom, TX’ to the lyric-less tranquillity of ‘Lisbon, OH’. Vernon combines his innate vocal talents with his technical studio mastery to create a timeless classic.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010

By Bethany Marris, Deputy Digital Editor

T

here are few albums as audacious as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, yet there are few artists as audacious as Kanye West. As the naughties became history, Kanye guided Hip-Hop into the new decade with a release that captured the contemporary cultural and political landscape of America in vivid colour, simultaneously offering a futuristic trajectory of 2010’s Rap. Pink Friday was ready to drop, Bon Iver were largely unheard of and Rihanna’s hair was garishly red. Aphex Twin’s sound was exotic, Taylor Swift was completely offended and Kanye was gloating a monopoly on US music that still belonged to Jay Z. Twisted Fantasy sketches the continued subordination of African Americans in Obama’s progressive America. The artist re-constructs himself as ‘Malcom West’; he assumes the responsibility of amplifying racial injustice to the youth of

the day, whilst paying homage to the revolutionary discourse of Gill Scott Heron as he duties the activist’s words with closing the album.

Of course, if there’s one thing that doesn’t need stroking, it’s Kanye’s ego. Yet it’s difficult to contest this album’s right to occupy a chart-topping space in the lengthy list of records that have defined the last ten years.

Enlisting Rick Ross’s dirty husk to juxtapose decadence with lyrical filth on ‘Devil In A New Dress’, Pusha T’s pronounced hiss to amplify the mood of disgust on ‘So Appalled’ and Nicki Minaj’s ferocious lyrical prowess on ‘Monster’, there’s a sense that each track was tailored for these A-Listers from conception.

Paradoxically laced with anger, vulgarity, affection and admiration, ca vo My Beautiful Dark TwistO in Gav ed Fantasy is nothing less than a testament to Kanye’s curation, production and ambition.

5 Sufjan Stevens

Carrie & Lowell, 2015

By Paul Ray, First Year Spanish and Philosophy

Y

ou might think that an album centred around the death of an estranged parent would be crushingly sad, and Carrie & Lowell does have a formidable reputation as one of the decade’s most potent tearjerkers. But to pigeonhole Sufjan Stevens’ seventh album as a Sad Death Album good for crying to and little else would be doing it a massive disservice. With its emotional range, spiritual undertones and flashes of light and beau-

7

ty amidst the grief, Carrie & Lowell is a revelatory album that continues giving after countless listens.

Paring down the orchestral maximalism of previous efforts down to intricate guitar fingerpicking and hushed vocals, Carrie & Lowell possesses an intimate, quiet intensity which was unparalleled this decade.

Carrie & Lowell is one of those rare

albums that cuts to the very heart of the human condition, without needing to sermonise or make grand pronouncements about the meaning of life.

Beyoncé Lemonade, 2016

By Gruff Kennedy, Third Year English his is a tremendous portrait of the tumult of emotions surrounding marital infidelity, a tribute to female solidarity, and an excellent pop album in its own right.

Beyoncé is one of the most powerful women in the world, not to mention one of the greatest pop artists in history, and she knows it - so her pain and her rage come through full force. The lyrics are blistering, the beats are hard, and the influences are dizzying. Beyonce rockets and veers between strength and vulnerability in an eerily accurate portrait of the emotional confusion that the violent breakup of a relationship always inspires. Beyonce quotes Warsan Shire, mimics Pipilotti Rist, samples Malcolm X, pays tribute to her mother, her daughter and HOV’s grandmother-- and, miraculously, the album remains razor-sharp, never incoherent.

This is indisputably her best album.

T

9

King Krule

6 Feet Beneath the Moon, 2013

By Tom Taylor, Digital Editor Feet Beneath the Moon is the gritty debut album of singer and musician - Archy Marshall, performing under the name King Krule.

It quickly gained critical acclaim, effortlessly mixing stripped back jazz with Marshall’s grungy, dark vocals.

It’s Archy at his best: drawing you

6 10

Courtney Barnett

Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit, 2015

By Lucas Arthur, First Year, Geography ew artists are as good at storytelling as Courtney Barnett. Sometimes I Sit weaves lucid tales of road trips, house hunts, lane swimming and sleepless nights together with wit

F

and infectious charm. Barnett perfectly balances humour and exposition.

Nestled in each song is a compelling and emotive vignette of modern life.

The mood shifts from playful, to pensive, to macabre sometimes all within the same song. Musically, too, the album delivered. The tunes are tight, pulling in elements of garage rock, country ballads, folk and psychedelia, and bounce along with infectious energy. Independent of one another, the music and lyrics might not have been so profound, but their pairing on this album makes for something both poignant and masterful..

in with tender vocal moments before reverting back to the gritty realism which defines King Krule. The distinctiveness of his voice, which I first heard on Mount Kimbie’s 2017 album Love What Survives, is almost a genre within itself – instantly recognisable no matter the context. It’s worth considering, also, that the album was released on his 19th birthday. Six Feet Beneath the Moon is an album of celestial proportions – a dark and brooding jazz behemoth.

epigram 25.11.2019

28 Music

‘People will be surprised how they feel when they just stare at the sea’: In conversation with Erland Cooper

Deputy Music Editor

Ian Cheek Press

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Sule Skerry illuminating the majesty of the sea and the waves that crash against the islands ragged edges. The third piece in Cooper’s awe-inspiring trilogy is expected to land next year.

Cooper grew up and lived on the island of Orkney till the age of 18.

He now writes from his home in

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Escapism in nature, landscape or the sea is the one true reset - its just flatlines me

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omeone asked me what’s the best thing about Orkney and what’s the worst.

I can probably answer both in just one sentence – it’s a rock surrounded by the North Sea’. This rock is the setting for Erland Cooper’s subtle myriad of classical compositions, ambient drones and transcendent electronica.

What Cooper himself describes as a ‘little bit of gentle music with feathers and birds.’ An ambitious project to capture the essence of the Scottish Island through the medium of music.

I speak to Cooper on a sodden and miserable morning in early November. With the rain lashing on the side of my window – I am suddenly transported to an entirely different realm.

A comforting and blissful form of escapism, sound tracked by Cooper’s soothing Scottish voice and his idyllic portraits of the island he grew up in. I ask him to describe the island of Orkney to me which he does so as if writing a twee novel – an emotive way with words for a man who chooses instrumental compositions to convey his thoughts and feelings.

‘It’s the sky, it’s the light, it’s the colours that dominate, the air feels different, the longitude, the latitude, its proximity to Scandinavia, the community, culture, its independent – just does its own thing.

It’s local and clings on. It feels relatively unchanged – farming and fishing are still major industries.

‘There are loads of Neolithic sites.

It’s got the most gorgeous, beautiful coastline where you can spot seabirds, gannets and seals in abundance. The wildlife is just incredible. I think it’s the big sky and the colour or the different colours that are incredible to me. It feels like nowhere else on Earth.’

Cooper is currently in the middle of releasing the third and final set in his trilogy of solo albums surrounding the island of Orkney. A project which is based on a poem by George Mackay Brown, in which the poet focuses on the majesty of the sea, air and land.

Cooper’s trilogy of albums plans to follow suit – with 2018’s Solan Goose focusing on the air and this year’s

London, a bustling city landscape a million miles from the isolated island and its surrounding terrain. ‘I keep writing these records about Orkney because I miss it. I enjoy the city, but I like to take from the city what I can before it takes everything from me.

‘To do that, I need to escape, I need to disconnect. I do that in my head, but I also do that physically by getting a wee ferry home.’

Cooper carefully confides that ‘escapism in nature, landscape or the sea is the one true reset – it just flatlines me.’

For Cooper, the act of transporting yourself back to a simpler time, that of your childhood self where ‘you thought less about other things and had a very singular

focus’ – is somewhat therapeutic.

‘To unwind and disconnect from the pace of connectivity. People are finding out for themselves how important it is to disconnect to reconnect […] people will be surprised how they feel when they just stare at the sea. It will feel like a connection.’

I ask Cooper about his childhood on the island and how it must have been for child surrounding yourself with pristine beaches, rock faces and the sense of freedom that coincides with natural open space.

Yet for Cooper, the island was something of a prison that he wrestled with in his younger years – eager to break free and explore the wider world.

‘You’ve got to remember that the grass is always greener.

‘It wasn’t till 18 when I left and went to New York City – it blew my mind […] as a kid you can’t wait to leave because you don’t have all the things all the kids in films, books and on TV have. From bowling al-

leys to big cinemas. You want to escape.’ Now, Orkney holds a special place in Cooper’s heart – a unique upbringing that Cooper wouldn’t swap for the world. ‘The older I get the more fondly I want to return.’

Cooper spoke frankly about his desire to escape Orkney in his younger days, yet it was on the island that his love for music truly blossomed.

Cooper recounts a funny anecdote about his desire to play music and use it as a creative outlet while living there. ‘My father was the deputy head of the school, so I used to steal his key to break into the school to use the music room. I was literally figuring out how to play guitar, piano, tapes machines, recorders, computer, midi. I was breaking into the school to do that. I realise how mad this is now but that’s the truth of it. I didn’t know anyone who was interested in the same thing. I then got caught – my dad said, “why didn’t you just ask?” – a bloody good point.’

Cooper has changed very little from his 14-year-old self – still just as addicted to carving out new soundscapes and playing with new instruments and recording techniques from electronic flickers to lush classical strings. ‘It’s so funny because I use cassettes now instead of Ableton Live, I use continuous ambient tape loops. I don’t use a computer, I just use these four tracks. I realised that was what I was doing aged 14 – I was using cassettes and making recordings. Doing that now, it pulls me back to being a kid again.’

Cooper is clearly blessed with an inquisitive mind from sneaking into the school’s music room at an early age and to now ‘capturing field recordings’ of Orkney, whether they be interviews with oral historians, fisherman or the weather and the voices of the birds and sea.’

This inquisitive mind is central to Cooper’s musical compositions – capturing an essence of Orkney – the wildlife, natural scenery and livelihood of those who call it home. With an upcoming tour starting this month – Cooper seems just

“

Folk just seem to kind of want to be tranported to a different place - and that place is Orkney at the moment

“

Naturalist and ambient composer, Erland Cooper, speaks to Epigram Music about Orkney and the therapuetic power of the outside world Guy Marcham

as excited now as to when he first unlocked the door to the school music room with his stolen set of keys.

‘Folks seem to kind of want to be transported to a different place – and that place is Orkney at the moment.’

Cooper speaks gleefully about playing unique venues across Britain - ‘I like to play unusual spaces.’ ‘We played a wetland centre and just as we sat down to play ‘Solan Goose’ these geese flew overhead. It was quite surreal.’

Cooper’s wide-eyed love for the outside world is clear. I ask if he would describe himself as at one with nature to which he chuckles. ‘Someone called me nature boy – “nature bird boy conductor”. Call me what you want.’

It would be silly to pigeonhole Cooper as only concerned with nature. His music extends far further than just capturing the essence of Orkney and its bucolic terrain but too encompasses a sense of memory, escapism, exploration and meditation.

‘The voyeur in me is intrigued about exploring – going elsewhere.’

Puzzles Cryptic Crossword Credit: Conor Cullen, Fourth year Engineering Mathematics

Editor Subeditor

Kezi James Fergus Ustianowski

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

1.

3.

6.

7.

11.

13.

15.

16.

Across

Dull as a bard in revolt (4).

Opera singer selecting from inspirational tools (4).

Asian country with Los Angeles operating system? (4).

Expanding a collapsed ridge vent (9).

Otherworldly wayward is thee, with utmost certainty (8).

Blend with a mutilated garnet tie (9).

Magic stick crafted in New Zealand (4).

Sleep on revolutionary cooking utensil (3).

Down 2. Determined to find restless tree soul (8).

3. Public sale of Australian mixed tonic (7).

4. Sweet courses of reversed emphasis (8).

5. Arranging a bark feast for a delicious meal (9).

8. Fruit for the day (4).

9. Some unsearchable curve (4).

10. Drink for a kingly uprising (5).

12. Digit from Northumberland (5).

13. Insert the alp mint being served (7).

14. Travelling with a broken oar and a Chinese dynasty (7).

Continuing puzzle This will be a running puzzle where every week the previous weeks answer will help you solve this puzzle. Every week the puzzle shall be put up online if a week is missed.

Credit: Fergus Ustianowski, Puzzles Subeditor

Which city in the USA, which is also famous for a type of music, is at one end of the route equal to last weeks sum?

Word Sudoku

Fill the empty squraes with the letters EDUCATION so that each letter appears once in each row, column and box. The rules are the same as normal sudoku but with 9 different letters instead of numbers.

Futoshiki

N

Fill the empty squares with the number 1-5, so that each number appears once in each row and column. The arrows on the grid show whether a number is bigger than or less than its neighbour.

2

TO E I

1 3

D

D E T

AN COU

D C

C UN UA C D I I T

A TD C

Solutions will be posted online at: epigram.org.uk/tag/puzzles facebook.com/epigrampaper If you would like to submit ideas for Puzzles, email epigram.puzzles@gmail.com

WHAT'S ON Bristol SU Living Room 1st Birthday Party

Monday 2 December, 12-2pm, Bristol SU Living Room Join us to celebrate the Bristol SU Living Room's first birthday! It's had a big impact on student life so join us for a cup of tea and some cake.

Since it first opened the Living Room has hosted over 250 events by 70 student groups and over 5000 attendees. www.bristolsu.org.uk/bristolsulivingroom

FEMx: The English Collective of Prostitutes, Monday 25 November, 7pm, Queens Building

Food for Thought: Ask a Muslim, Wednesday 27 November, 2pm, Bristol SU Living Room

Play: Bristol SU Sports Night Wednesday 27 November, 10pm, Gravity

The Feminist Society, Trans, LGBT+ and Women’s Network are collaborating to bring the English Collective of Prostitutes - the largest union of sex workers in the country, campaigning since 1975. Hear from ECP on life as a sex worker and the decriminalisation of prostitution.

As part of the national campaign against Islamophobia, we would like to invite you to the SU living room and grab a FREE hot chocolate or brownie in exchange for a chat with one of our Muslim students about Islam, Islamophobia or unconscious bias. Please bring your own mug!

Get to Gravity for another classic Sports Night! Come as a team or meet your mates there for another unforgettable Wednesday night. £1 from each ticket sale goes back to your club, helping you to afford transport, kits and more.

Best of South West Showcase, Sunday 1 December, 6:30pm, Anson Rooms

Housing Advice Fair, Wednesday 4 December, 11am-3pm, Anson Rooms

The biggest A Cappella inter-regional event of the year is back! We are returning with an even bigger, even more spectacular showcase with the 17 hottest groups from the South West coming together for one night only.

Meet staff from Bristol SU Lettings and the Accommodation Office to answer individual queries on things like deposit protection, living in the community how to deal with problem landlords and more.

You'll also be able to meet a range of accommodation providers.

Pop-up Plant Surgery, Wednesday 4 December, 1-3pm, Balloon Bar If you need help and advice with your house/office plants come and meet with the experts from the Botanic and University Gardens to diagnose problems, identify plants and advise on the next course of action to keep your plants healthy. Bring your plant or a photo of it.

Ardal O'Hanlon: The Showing Off Must Go On, Friday 6 December, 7:30pm, Anson Rooms Ardal O’Hanlon, star of Death in Paradise, Father Ted, and My Hero (BBC), continues to tour his acclaimed stand-up shows worldwide. Because he loves it. And it’s a compulsion. And the world is a funny place.

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

Sport 31

25.11.2019 epigram

How much do injuries affect university life?

It has been no easy task sticking to my pledge

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thing; it is hard having to set aside around an hour per day to complete the runs and the appropriate warmup routines.

To my pleasant surprise, however, the runs themselves haven’t been too bad, especially when the weather holds up. Even a heavy downpour is still manageable, as while you need to endure the initial soaking, you can’t really get any more wet

after that, so it’s only a matter of perseverance. Perhaps, it is my choice of scenic route around Harbourside, or my decision to listen to music, but whatever it is, I find that the running can be quite enjoyable. It is even sometimes therapeutic, and I would certainly recommend it. Sure, you can feel out of breath towards the end of the run, but there is no better feeling than the euphoria after completing a run you didn’t think you could manage. Likewise, achieving a personal best for your favoured route feels incredible, not to mention the other benefits to both your physical and mental health.

At the start, running was going great for me. I had managed to get into some sort of routine and had

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I find that running can be quite enjoyable, even sometimes therapeutic

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Epigram / Daniel Rodrigues

Epigram / Daniel Rodrigues

F

or those who haven’t heard of Movember, it’s a campaign aimed at raising awareness and funds for men’s health, particularly for testicular cancer, prostrate cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. I decided to commit to the campaign’s mental health branch, as, whilst I am in a good place now, I have not always been this way, suffering from severe Anorexia Nervosa a mere two years ago. This condition is typically only presented as affecting young girls, however, it also emasculates and isolates men who are struggling at the time they most need support.

I was thankfully able to overcome my eating disorder with appropriate support from friends, family, and medical professionals, hence finding myself more determined and motivated than ever before to give back to this vital cause that resonates so greatly with myself.

So what have I pledged to do during the campaign? Well, apart from growing a moustache, I pledged to run 100km over one month. I’m by no means a competent runner, and so I knew from the outset that this would be a difficult commitment. But, I also saw the benefit of trying in order to engage with a different demographic of sponsors. I can honestly say that it has been no easy task sticking to my pledge, especially when juggling an Industrial Placement and other commitments. Time management has perhaps been the most difficult

mustered the strength and endurance to cover five miles a day, taking me halfway to my target distance within the first week alone. However, this progress was not to last, as I managed to injure my leg at the end of the week, so had to stop running until I recovered. This was no easy decision,

as it was effectively going back on a promise that I had made to all my sponsors and myself. However, as in all fundraising activities, your health is the most important thing, and the intention behind the actions carry far greater worth and value than the

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Only together can we change the face of men’s health forever

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Third Year, Engineering Design

actual accomplishments.

I’m happy to say that the time off is helping my leg recover, and while I hope to meet my target, I will not hold myself accountable if prioritising my own wellbeing and health prevents me from achieving this.

At the time of writing, I am halfway through the campaign with a somewhat thick moustache. 60km has been covered by running, with £400 raised and, hopefully, a wide audience reached. Movember is a great campaign for such a great cause, so I’d strongly encourage you to take part in any way you can. Whether it be donating, taking part, sharing a post, or even just personally reflecting on these issues, only together can we change the face of men’s health forever.

Team of the week: Women’s Football 1s It is the first season for our 1s in the Southern Prem and we were up against the top team in the table. It was a tightly matched game and every player put in a good shift. We stuck to this season’s theme of dramatic comebacks and last minute goals, to beat Cardiff Met and achieve the top spot. A special shout out must go to defender and woman of the match, Nancy Gilmartin, who claimed a goal and an assist. Also to forward, Sophie Price, for bagging the winning goal two minutes before the final whistle.

Some injuries can drastically change how we live our daily lives, so how do people manage to cope with university life after injury?

Eddie McAteer Student Sport Correspondent

W

e’ve all been there; you’re running late to your lecture because you fancied a cup of tea and a snack or you ran into someone you hadn’t seen in a while. It happens to the best of us. But, imagine how much harder it would be to arrive on time if you were on crutches. Or, if you couldn’t remember the way to your lecture because you were concussed.

Contact sports such as rugby, American football or football, to name but a few, are the main culprits for injuries due to their nature, and many of the injuries obtained playing these sports can lead to long lay off periods.

The longer the injury period, the worse people generally feel, as you would expect. From talking to people I know, this is down to a variety of reasons; some said that the inability to play the sport they love made them feel down, whereas others said that they were stressed about their exams and it was hard to cope with the workload as

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I felt it was necessary to suspend my studies for my wellbeing

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What are you most proud of for doing this month? For Daniel, it was choosing to get involved with Movember Daniel Rodrigues

a result of their injury. One of the less obvious injuries that can severely impact your university life is concussion. In recent years there has been a heightened awareness of this injury, especially in rugby union, but it is still not fully understood by everybody because it cannot be seen like a broken leg can.

A severe concussion can be one of the most difficult injuries to cope with at university because it can cause regular loss of focus and an inability to work.

John, 20, said that his repeatedly serious concussions left him feeling like he needed to suspend his studies as a result of their severity. In order to take care of his health, this is exactly what he did, and he is now in first year for the second time and has stopped playing rugby. When you take into consideration how concussion manifests itself, you would never expect it to be as acute as John’s was, but it really can be.

He said: ‘My concussions impacted my mental health quite severely. My focus and ability to work suffered and I

was depressed, so I felt it was necessary to suspend my studies for my wellbeing.’

Injuries can also affect your social life whilst at university, as it isn’t so easy to go out to your favourite club night if you are on crutches or have your arm in a sling. Sometimes, you come back from a night with an injury just because

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Use the support systems, talk to your friends and family and find some way to exercise

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Movember: ‘I pledged to run 100km in one month’

of the nature of the club; they aren’t the best place for the walking wounded to be in the first place.

In addition to the sometimes physical side to socialising, there is also the question of drinking. Lots of university students enjoy drinking but this can impact recovery from injuries considerably. Alcohol affects your muscles’ ability to recover and increases swelling. Furthermore, it affects your senses which, on a night out, can cause you to do more damage to yourself.

More than one in ten visits to A&E are related to alcohol, and if you’re already injured this can dramatically set back your recovery. However, choosing not to go out as much can lead to feelings of isolation, and if you don’t feel able to go out due to injury you might feel like you aren’t socialising enough with your friends. Moreover, playing sport in a team or individually has so many benefits with regards to your physical and mental wellbeing. Not being able to join in with your mates, or play the sport you love, can be a really tough thing to go through.

We all love our sports and accept that injuries are part of the package; some of us get more than our fair share, but the majority of sportspeople have experienced injuries in some shape or form. What is important is that we utilise the support that is available to us. The University has its own sports medicine clinic that can provide physical support such as physio, osteopathy and acupuncture. For any mental health issues that arise from the injury the University also has wellbeing services that can provide support.

For people struggling with injury at the moment, or those that might in the future, use the support systems available and talk to your friends and family about how it is making you feel. Also, try and find some way to exercise to stay in shape and feel those endorphins again.

Names have been changed in this article to protect anonymity.

Sport

Editor Digital Editor Student Sport Correspondent

India Gay Tymoteusz Suszczyński Edward McAteer

UBWFC

University of Bristol / This Girl Can

Flying the rainbow flag for LGBT equality in sport

SciTech and Sports Subeditor

R

esearch conducted by Stonewall recently reported that four out of ten LGBTQ+ people do not think sport is welcoming. This is heart-breaking, as one of the best things about sport is how it brings people together.

This November, many societies at the University are taking part in this campaign of visibility to challenge this perception and make sport inclusive and accessible.

In 2016, the National Union for Students (NUS) produced a

report called Out in Sport: LGBT Students’ Experiences of Sport. It noted the positive and negative LGBT experiences within university sport and explored the barriers to participation. The report revealed that while nearly two thirds of LGBT students who participate in team sport are open about their sexual orientation to their teammates, over 46.8 per cent of LGBT students who do not participate in sport find the culture around it alienating or unwelcoming. The Rainbow Laces campaign is aiming to change this.

Huge amounts of LGBTQ+ people who do participate in university sport have had overwhelmingly positive experiences, and many students feel that their sexual orientation has had no effect on the way they are treated in their sports clubs. It is also true that being out with others and having a shared experience can be something that brings people together within a team. However, not everyone is out or open in their sport.

While some say this is because they

do not think their sexual orientation is relevant, it is also true that in some cases a culture of casual homophobia can intimidate students into hiding their sexual orientation. 20 per cent of respondents from the NUS report who were not out in their sport said they were worried that if people knew, it might result in homophobic or transphobic verbal or physical abuse.

This might come as a surprise to many sportspeople at the University, as the overwhelming majority of students see themselves as LGBTQ+ allies and would only ever be welcoming and supportive if someone came out in their team. This figure therefore highlights a really important element of the Rainbow Laces campaign. Not only does it show teams will not stand for homophobic behaviour or language, but it also shows an understanding that sometimes it is hard for an LGBTQ+ person to assume support and acceptance within a sports team.

Stonewall have been running the ‘Come Out Active’ campaign annually

since 2013. UBWFC Equality, Diversity and Charity secretary, Liv Goodwin, is proud to promote the rainbow lace campaign in the club. ‘In 2017, 11 per cent of LGBT people said they’d

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Many students feel that their sexual orientation has had no effect on the way they are treated in their sports clubs

“

As part of a nationwide campaign, headed

by Stonewall, many sports societies at the University of Bristol are wearing and selling rainbow laces to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community Esme Hedley

been discriminated against while exercising or taking part in group sport in the past year, and this figure rises to 28 per cent relating to trans people specifically (Stonewall survey).

It’s time for that to change.’ She also states that ‘not only does sportspeople buying and wearing rainbow laces mean money goes towards the great work Stonewall are doing, but it also shows commitment to a future of safe and welcoming sport.’

At the Women’s Football Club, all of the competing teams will be wearing

rainbow laces in the upcoming matches ‘to show loud and clear that discrimination has no place in the beautiful game’.

A statement from the University of Bristol Women’s Rugby team reveals why they too have decided to wear the rainbow laces. ‘The message of this campaign is very important to us as a club. We are an inclusive club in which we encourage everyone to be their true, authentic self.’ Equality, Diversity and Charity offer, Emily Smith, said the club ‘stands in unison with all LGBTQ+ people across all communities, including our own. We hope that by wearing the laces across the country, wherever we play, we will encourage other communities to embrace these qualities of diversity and equality.’ UBWRFC also made sure to state that they hope the campaign ‘can further encourage people outside of the club to celebrate their differences too’.

This campaign is part of Come Out Active week, which runs from 23 – 30 November.