Epigram 356

Derren Brown tells all on his magic time at Badock

Much ado about Shakespeare!

Not Netflixed out? The best sport TV streaming now!

The Bristol alumni and world-renowned illusionist gives us a little insight into his experience at the university and its halls!

Epigram Arts share their shortlist of The Bard's greatest works - from star-crossed lovers to tyrannical kings!

Icarus (2018), Hillsborough (2012) and Free Solo (2018) - Epigram Sport gives you the low-down on the best sporting documentaries available.

Page 9

Page 21

Page 30

epigram est. 1988

The University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper Fortnightly | 23 March 2021 | Issue 356

From rally to riot!

How Sunday's Kill the Bill protest went from peaceful demonstration to violent rampage. Read more on page four...

www.epigram.org.uk

EpigramPaper

@EpigramPaper

@epigrampaper_

Editorial

Co-Editor-in-Chief Co-Editor-in-Chief Deputy Editor Deputy Digital Editor The Croft Editor

editor@epigram.org.uk

Robin Connolly Teddy Coward Georgiana Scott Siavash Minoukadeh Orin Carlin

Write for Epigram: ‘I hope the actions of a minority don't undermine the wider cause' I had written this editorial before. Rather foolishly, at 4pm on Sunday. In any editorial capacity, you aim to be as prepared as possible. In truth, the crowds and violence were far bigger than I had anticipated. Little did I know that by 8pm, Bristol would be the focus of the leading nationals.

It seems not a week goes by without a pressing issue beckoning people to break the rules of lockdown, calling them out for a political cause in the face of a deadly virus. This week was no exception, except, rather obviously, for the violence that ensued.

I hope the violence that had no purpose, which Epigram reported, doesn't detract from the wider issues at stake. Sadly, I think it will.

As is often the case with such events, it will be the actions of a minority that have served to undermine the efforts of the wider cause: opposing a bill that would increase sentencing for protests.

The actions of some have only served to enhance the narrative the government needs to introduce a bill that could lead to up to ten years imprisonment for damaging memorials – something Bristol knows a thing or two about.

Bristol has long-been at the forefront of political protest. From the St. Paul’s riots of the 1980s to the events that toppled the statue of Edward Colston last summer.

The city’s students play an active role in such protests too.

Sunday night’s protests, though, with its lack of intention other than to cause harm, especially from around 9pm onwards, does not fall into the same category and there will be no use in the harm for harm’s sake approach.

It shouldn’t be forgotten, however, that thousands had gathered and marched across the city in a demonstration of strength beforehand. Among this were groups

like Extinction Rebellion, who have a strong presence in the city of Bristol and will regard this bill as an existential threat to their operations.

It should also be remembered that the bill has, rather painfully, coincided with a nation’s soul-searching, following the death of Sarah Everard, and the issue of gender-based violence and harassment it has raised.

Such an issue undoubtedly shows the necessity for police and government priorities to be questioned – yet injuring police officers isn't the solution.

I’m aware of my male perspective on this matter. It's fair to say, though, this horrific incident has reignited a conversation around male violence and protection for women. Admittedly, I’ve been struck by some of the testimonies from female friends and loved ones. ‘I know I can’t go out after 4pm because it gets dark,’ ‘always be available for a call,’ are just some of the lessons I’ve been told.

As a student platform, Epigram has a role to play in calling out such disreputable behaviour on campus. We too have a recent history in reporting on the matter.

Our former Online Editor, Hannah Price, established the #RevoltAgainstSexualAssault campaign in 2017; last year’s Co-Editor-inChief, Imogen Horton, and our present Deputy Editor, Georgiana Scott, uncovered the often uncomfortable world of sugar dating among students; and, more recently, Freya Scott-Turner, shed light on the misogyny experienced by female teaching staff that has occurred through online learning.

These aspects could quite easily be viewed in a descending order of importance. In reality, one thing leads to another. If we don’t call out misogyny and early forms of abuse, we can end up with more harmful acts.

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.

Printed by: Newsquest Media Group, 4th Floor, Queens House, 55/56 Lincolns Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ

Each section of the newspaper has a Facebook group where editors post commissions.

You can also join our Creatives group where we commission artwork, poetry and illustration.

For more information email: getinvolved.epigram@ gmail.com

Subeditors Chief Proofreader Joe Marshall News Megan Evans Features Flossie Palmer Opinion Flossie Palmer Film&TV Layla Nathan Arts Stephanie Kelly Music Lauren Paddison SciTech Sarah Dalton Puzzles ‘Susan Doku' Sport James Dowden Correspondents and Contributers Climate Correspondent Billy Stockwell BAME Correspondent Tia Bahia SU Correspondent Eve Bentley-Hussey Investigations Correspondents Joe Green, Guy Taylor, Holly Beaumont, Lily Farrant Features Collumnist Fergal Maguire Opinion Collumnist Lowri Lewis Arts Critic Bamidele Madamidola Business Team Managing Director Edward Fraser Deputy Director Maggie Knox Head of Marketing Olivia Tapper Head of Finance Maduka Karunatilaka Head of Ads and Sales Joshua Ang Head of Alumni Anthony Duncalf

Clarifications & Corrections Epigram strives to be as accurate and impartial on student news as possible. However, should you wish to raise any editorial, commercial or legal issues please email editor@epigram.org.uk with the problem, addressed to the Editors-in-Chief.

Please be sure to include the issue number and article headline if the article was in print, or the URL if the article was online. We endeavour to correct any inaccuracies as soon as they are raised with us.

News

Editor Filiz Gurer Digital Editor Emilie Robinson Deputy Editor Eve Bentley-Hussey

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

IFemSoc Virtual Vigil for Sarah Everard disrupted by ‘Zoom-bombing’ incidents

Megan Evans News Subeditor

Content Warning: This article contains news content relating to the recent Sarah Everard case and other cases of violence against women.

FemSoc and Bristol Students’ Union have issued statements condemning the behaviour of those who attempted to disrupt the online vigil by ‘Zoom-bombing.’

The online vigil, hosted by the University’s Intersectional Feminist Society to promote a safe space of solidarity and promote participation

I

London.

Whilst the event was organised to provide a safe space to allow for people to share feelings and thoughts, it was interrupted by people who joined the online vigil and ‘Zoom-bombed’ it, making offensive remarks.

Following the event, Bristol IFemSoc have said they are working with the Students’ Union and the University to investigate disruption from so-called ‘Zoom-bombers,’ who disrupted the vigil.

In a statement, Bristol IFemSoc said: ‘Disrespect and ‘Zoom-bombing’ will never be tolerated, especially in such a poignant and important event, and we are working with the University of Bristol to make sure those responsible are held to account promptly. This is yet another example of spaces for women and oppressed minorities being made unsafe by the actions of a few violent individuals.’

IFemSoc also encourages anyone with information regarding these individuals to contact them.

Speaking to Epigram, organisers of the vigil elaborated that ‘the

‘The Zoom-bombing incident only further highlights that male violence against women is not taken seriously by our society’ in online activism, was attended by approximately 60 people.

The vigil was organised in memory of Sarah Everard, who disappeared while walking home in south

Zoom-bombing incident only further highlights that male violence against women is not taken seriously by our society.

‘The University and SU are sup-

Instagram / bristolfemsoc

• The event was held to provide a safe space for people to share their thoughts and feelings • IFemSoc and Bristol SU have since condemned the actions of those who interrupted the event

porting us fully in finding those who were responsible, and we think it is important not to brush off their actions as merely a joke or a prank.

This was a violent act against a space for our grief and solidarity; there are many other perceived jokes or comments that have very real effects on the safety of women and oppressed genders.’

They also stressed that ‘we do not want the conversation to be derailed by these individuals, and we also wanted to note that many men and allies attended the event peacefully

and wanted to learn. This is what we would rather highlight from the event.’

The online event had begun with a two minute silence for Everard and was followed by a discussion on issues surrounding violence against women. The vigil was then broken into breakout rooms to engage in several acts of ‘virtual activism.’ This included the writing and signing of three letters: to local MPs, to the London Metropolitan Police, and the University of Bristol.

The letter to MPs (of students’

home addresses) implores opposition to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which may place limitations on right to protest, amendments to the Sexual Exploitation Bill, and austerity measures that may make women more vulnerable to domestic violence.

Templates for the letters are available through the vigil’s Facebook event page.

Students who have been affected by the incidents of the last few weeks are advised to contact the University’s Student Support Services.

Bristol Uni and SU call for ‘culture change’ in joint statement following the death of Sarah Everard Epigram News Team Content Warning: This article contains news content relating to cases of violence against women. ristol University PVC for Student Experience, Professor Sarah Purdy, and all Bristol SU Officers have issued a joint statement to remind students of available support following the death of Sarah Everard.

The statement was sent to all students and begins by describing how

B

‘the sad and shocking news of the death of Sarah Everard highlights the vital importance of the safety and wellbeing of women and people of historically oppressed genders.

‘The University of Bristol and Bristol Students’ Union are tackling gender-based harassment and violence together,’ it adds, ‘and will continue this critical work to ensure all students feel as safe as possible wherever they are, both on and around campus.’

Sarah Everard, 33, was a marketing executive who disappeared after

she walked home from a friend’s flat in Clapham, south London, on the evening of 3 March. A serving Metropolitan Police Officer, Wayne Couzens, 48, is now due to stand trial in autumn for kidnapping and murdering her.

The case has reignited a national conversation around gender-based violence and harassment.

The joint statement from Bristol Uni and the SU adds: ‘Public sexual harassment and sexual violence at UK universities and across our society is a serious issue.

‘We have a robust and confidential system in place to help students report incidents and to support anyone impacted by these recent events.’

It also points out the support services that are available for students during a period that ‘may be a very distressing time for our students who have experienced gender-based violence or sexual assault.’

Anyone who experiences or observes ‘unacceptable behaviour by others’ have been urged to use the online ‘Report and Support’ tool and been reminded there will be no pen-

alty for breaking COVID regulations in the event of needing to take action.

Any reports made against other students can also be investigated as part of the university’s Disciplinary regulations, the statement explains, recognising that whilst reporting such incidents to the police is encouraged, ‘you may choose not to or feel unable to do this.’

The statement concludes by condemning the behaviour of some vigil attendees who had interrupted the online event which took place.

4 News

epigram 23.03.2021

‘Kill the Bill' protest against Crime Bill ends in violence and injuries • A peaceful protest against the government's proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill escalated into violence into the night • 20 police officers are believed to have been injured and seven arrests were made on Monday Epigram / Filiz Gurer

Siavash Minoukadeh

O

Epigram / Georgiana Scott

n Sunday 21 March, around 3,000 Bristolians turned out to protest the Police, Crime,Sentencing and Courts Bill on College Green.

The demonstration, termed #KillTheBill, which had been shared by local activist groups, beganas a peaceful demonstration, but later turned violent as both police officers and protestors wereinjured and police property damaged or destroyed.

The Bill was introduced in Parliament last week and would in effect criminalise most protests and increase the sentences which can be handed out for those who damage statues or occupypublic space.

It had been intended to counter the protest strategies used by movements such as ExtinctionRebellion (XR) and Black Lives Matter (BLM).

Avon & Somerset Police had warned the public against attending the demonstration, warningthat to do so would be in breach of COVID-19 legislation and could pose a public health risk.

However, at the beginning of the demonstration,

the police presence was light and officers didnot make any attempt to disperse those who had gathered.

Among those at College Green was Mya-Rose Craig, AKA ‘Birdgirl,' 19, an environmental campaigner with anhonorary degree from Bristol Uni-

tosacrifice ... rights should be protested.’

The protest, one of the largest in the city since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, moved down towards the City Centre, passing outside New Bridewell Police Station

Mya-Rose Craig told Epigram: ‘I’m here today because I think protesting is a democratic right that we all deserve’ versity, who told Epigram: ‘I’m here today because I thinkprotesting is a democratic right that we all deserve to be able to do and in my opinion it’sauthoritarian and criminal that they are trying to make protests punishable by ten years in prisoncompared to things like rape or sexual assault.’

Jason Palmer, Bristol SU’s Equality, Liberation and Access Officer was also at the protest. He told Epigram: there’s a fundamental right to protest that’ s under threat and any attempt

before turningtowards Broadmead and reaching Castle Park at around 4pm.

The majority of the demonstrators left, heading home or toward Castle Park.

A smaller number,around a tenth of the original group, headed back towards New Bridewell Police Station, wherethe violence was to occur.

Officers, vans and a small number of police horses were lined up outside the entrance to thestation and initially remained relatively passive.

Tensions rose from around 5pm with moreofficers in riot gear arriving alongside police dogs.

Demonstrators could be seen being hit with batons and pepper-sprayed, with a number leaving with bloodied faces, whilst police officers were being hit with missiles including glass bottles, canisters and water balloons.

Fireworks were also launched at officers.

Events took a further turn towards violence at around 7pm with a nearby police van having itstyres

Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said: ‘How will what they did yesterday lessen the likelihood of this bill going through?’ deflated, windows smashed and then set alight. A number of other police vehicles werealso damaged.

Protestors attempted to get into the police station by smashing windows on the ground and firstfloor, reached by climbing across the

while, told Sky News that whilst he had ‘major concerns’ withthe bill, he was ‘furious’ with the protestors and condemned the ‘political illiteracy of these thugs.'

‘How will what they did yesterday lessen the likelihood of this bill go-

neighbouring car park.

Police reinforcements continued to arrive throughout the night, with riot police, dog units androadblocks all used to contain the remaining protestors into a kettle.

Avon & Somerset Police requested support from neighbouring forces.

ing through?’ he asked. ‘What they have done will just be put in the evidence bag of those who want the bill to gothrough.’

It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the Bill’s passage, which had been delayed until later in the year earlier in the week.

Epigram / Filiz Gurer

Deputy Digital Editor

Speaking to the media onMonday morning, Chief Constable Andy Marsh revealed that 20 officers were believed to have been injured and 12 police vehicles are believed to have been damaged.

Marsh also revealed that seven arrests were made during the event.

Avon & Somerset policehave announced they are continuing to track down those involved and have released photographs of those present to try and find them.

The unrest garnered widespread attention from local and national politicians in all parties.

Thangam Debbonaire, the Bristol West Labour MP, said the events ‘will distress most people,including anyone who believes in defending the right to peaceful democratic protest’ whilst theHome Secretary, Priti Patel, described the unrest as ‘unacceptable scenes’.

Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees, mean-

News 5

epigram 23.03.2021

Bristol University conducts investigation into Professor David Miller following government criticism geted’ within that time.

Zionism is broadly defined as a movement for the development and protection of the state of Israel.

Following Professor Miller’s original comments, Bristol JSoc President Edward Isaacs told Epigram: ‘In his accusations, Professor Miller seems to believe that the fact I have been born a Jew makes me responsible for all acts by the state of Israel.

‘Professor Miller’s call to end Zi-

Jewish students.’

In the written statement, Lord Parkinson explained on behalf of the government that universities are responsible for managing their own affairs under the law, though said ‘the government considers Professor Miller’s views to be ill-founded and wholly reprehensible, and wholeheartedly rejects them.’

An open letter from over 350 academics, however, was also addressed

academic and student in the country should be deeply concerned about this coordinated attack on academic freedom.

The investigation is being carried out in accordance with the University's internal process

Teddy Coward Co-Editor-in-Chief

Twitter / Bristol JSoc

T

he University of Bristol has confirmed it is holding an investigation into the conduct of one of its senior lecturers, Professor David Miller, following controversial comments he made during an online event last month.

The decision follows weeks of attention surrounding the sociology lecturer’s words on Saturday 13 February, in which called for an ‘end’ to Zionism ‘as a functioning ideology of the world’ and claimed there was an ‘attempt by Israelis to impose their will all over the world.’

Professor Miller, who had been suspended by the Labour Party before eventually quitting last year, after claiming its leader Sir Keir

onism equates to a call to end Jewish self-determination and emancipation and begs the question: what does he wish to happen to these Zionists?’

Following the incident, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie

Both Professor Miller’s comments and the University’s handling of the matter have been raised in Parliament Starmer had been in receipt of ‘Zionist money’, also said during the online conference that he had been ‘attacked and complained about’ by Bristol’s JSoc and the Union of Jewish Students (UJS).

When initially contacted for comment, Professor Miller doubled-down on his comments and claimed that ‘Bristol’s JSoc, like all JSocs, operates under the auspices of the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), an Israel lobby group.’

Both Bristol JSoc and UJS have said Jewish students at the University ‘have endured weeks of harassment and abuse’ following the incident and that ‘the University has failed to protect Jewish students, who have been singled out and tar-

van der Zyl, had also written a letter to Bristol University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Hugh Brady, stating Professor Miller’s ‘rants would not look out of place on the pages of Der Stürmer’, a Nazi tabloid.

Both Professor Miller’s comments and the University’s handling of the matter have been raised in Parliament, and were described by Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg as ‘deeply wicked.’

The government has also responded to them in a written question, stating it ‘considers that the University of Bristol could do more to make its condemnation of that conduct clear to current and future students and to show its commitment to creating a welcoming environment for

to Professor Hugh Brady in support of Professor Miller and called on Bristol University to ‘uphold the integrity of academic debate.’

The letter, signed by professors such as Noam Chomsky, claims there have been ‘unrelenting and concerted efforts to publicly vilify’ Professor Miller.

The group who launched the letter, Support David Miller, have said they are ‘appalled to learn’ about the launch of an investigation into Professor Miller and state that ‘every

people hold very different views on the issues raised.

‘The University has offered support to both students and staff who

The University released a statement earlier this week, saying: ‘We are aware of concerns about comments made by David Miller, Professor of Political Sociology and member of our School for Policy Studies, and that a written question has also been raised in Parliament regarding Professor Miller’s comments, and the principles of freedom of speech at the University of Bristol.

‘We recognise that this matter has caused deep concern for some members of our community, and also that

have been affected by it.

‘We can confirm that the University has already initiated an investigation into this matter.

‘The investigation is being carried out in accordance with the University's internal process and, as we have explained in a previous statement, that process is confidential.

‘In particular, it is not appropriate for the University to make any comment on this matter while the investigation we have referred to is underway.

‘Our freedom of speech policy underlines the vital importance of the right of staff and students, as members of a free and democratic society, to speak openly without fear of censorship or limitation, provided that this right is exercised responsibly, within the law, and with respect for others who may have differing views.

‘The University’s clear and consistently held position is that bullying, harassment, and discrimination are never acceptable.

We remain committed to providing a positive experience for all our students and staff, including by providing a welcoming environment for Jewish students, and to fostering good relations and an inclusive University community.’

Twitter / Support David Miller

• The investigation is being carried out in line with UoB's internal procedure • Bristol JSoc state that the University's decision to investigate has ‘come too late' • ‘Support David Miller' have requested a meeting with the Uni on the matter

6 News

epigram 23.03.2021

• The campaign aims to address the experience of international students by seeking compensation • The SU's Town Hall event last week established its campaign plan Megan Evans & Eve Bentley-Hussey

News Subeditor and Deputy News Editor

T

he University of Bristol has become one of 21 universities along with 11 Core UK Cities including Bristol outside of London calling for a radical new vision to work together to help the UK prosper post-Covid.

The University of Bristol Students’ Union last week launched its Fee Justice Campaign to gain financial compensation for all students at University in the academic year 2020/21.

Bristol SU has launched the campaign for a 30 per cent fee reduction for all university students in education this academic year.

In this campaign, the SU are aiming to work with the University to call on the government to provide compensation, rather than demand it from the university itself, so as not to risk university staff jobs and worsen the student experience.

So far, they have hosted a virtual Town Hall Meeting on 19 March, in which they established their strategy henceforth and answered questions from students.

Speaking to Epigram, Undergraduate Education Officer David Ion states that the SU hopes to get the University ‘to publicly recognise that students have lost out on education this year,’ and receive their help in lobbying the government for fee reductions.

In a statement, SU officers have said: ‘This year the promise of “blended learning” has been far from the reality. We’re calling for compensation on tuition fees for the experience received this academic year by the “Class of Covid”.

‘Students really appreciate the immense effort of staff to put their teaching online. Our campaign is not trying to undermine the work staff continue to put into students’ education, but is in recognition of the blatant fact that Covid has impacted students’ educational experience.

‘Students feel that the university experience sold to them over summer has been far from the reality.

‘There has been extensive student criticism of astronomically high fees and so far the University has failed to engage with this conversation meaningfully.

‘There are very valid fears that the cost of blanket tuition fee reimbursements could lead to mass redundancies and a diminished student experience, which we want to avoid at all costs. Justice on fees must be backed by a government bail-out of higher education.’

Another focus of the campaign is fee reductions for international students. This includes lobbying the University to reverse its decision to continue to raise international tuition fees, which are due to rise again.

In their statement, SU Officers iter-

In their statement, SU Officers iterate that ‘international students have been particularly badly hit, some having travelled across the globe to be in Bristol for no reason, and some not even making it to Bristol the entirety of this academic year.’

At the Town Hall event, the SU officers stressed the importance of student participation to raise awareness and put pressure on the Government.

Draft letters to MPs will be made for students to send to their local representatives.

The SU will be lobbying the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as well as the university and Government. The CMA is a regulator that stands up for consumers, and the fee-based system of higher education means that students arguably be considered consumers.

ate that ‘international students have been particularly badly hit, some having travelled across the globe to be in Bristol for no reason, and some not even making it to Bristol the entirety of this academic year.’

‘Having to pay up to £38,000 a year with fees set to rise again in 2021/22 seems wholly unjustified given the circumstances,’ it adds.

In addition to this, International Students’ Officer Roy Kiruri has co-written and signed a letter to the Russell Group asking for action on fees, and has also submitted a peti-

Bristol SU

Compensation for the ‘Class of Covid': Bristol SU launches its Fee Justice Campaign

tion to Parliament asking for a reduction of international fees and a government bailout of higher education in light of the pandemic.

He told Epigram that this campaign is particularly necessary given the University’s decision to increase tuition fees for international students this year despite a reduction in the resources available to them.

Roy claims the SU have based their campaign from consultations and meetings with students from all six faculties.

The SU’s campaign encourages collective action from students to take part in activity at both a local and national level. Upcoming events are due to include a ‘Week of Action’ coordinated with other SUs across the country (19-23 April).

The campaign hopes to prove that the current system of tuition fees is ‘unworkable’ and ‘broken.’

On this point, David Ion states: ‘The commercialisation of Higher Education is based on false premises.

It views education as a commodity that can be bought and sold. But if it can be bought and sold then it can be refunded too. Obviously, it fails students due to the massive amounts of debt. But this pandemic also shows there are massive downsides for universities.

‘The whole idea that education is

a commodity that can be bought and sold is fundamentally flawed, and this pandemic is laying it bare.’

In their launch statement, the SU states: ‘Ultimately, the pandemic has proven that the fee-based system of funding universities is broken, and higher education should be free. Fee justice for this year is the first step on that road.

‘Students this year are united against excessive fees for a severely impacted educational experience – it’s time we organise collective action to make our voice heard.’

In a statement commenting on the launch of the SU's new campaign, Professor Sarah Purdy, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience, said: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic has caused serious disruption to student life and has posed an unprecedented challenge for the university sector.

‘We understand our students’ concerns and are committed to working closely with Bristol SU, with whom we have been having very constructive and open discussions.

‘Our ability to offer in-person teaching remains subject to the government’s evolving Covid-19 guidance and safety restrictions. Despite the challenging circumstances, we remain committed to delivering the same high-quality learning out-

comes for our students this year.

Our staff have worked intensively to adapt their teaching to incorporate online provision, and to provide students with a high-quality learning experience.

‘The University has invested considerably in its response to the pandemic. This includes transforming our digital capacity and making campus Covid-secure to keep students and staff. We have also introduced a Coronavirus Impact Fund to support students who are experiencing financial hardship as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.

‘We encourage students who are having difficulty continuing with their learning, perhaps because of illness, caring responsibilities or lack of access to IT, to make this known to the University using our existing extenuating circumstances process.

‘For all these reasons, we do not plan to offer blanket tuition fee refunds. However, in line with the guidance given to students by the Office for Students, we will continue to consider students’ concerns on a case-by-case basis through our established procedures. We will also be working closely with our Student Union, Universities UK and the Russell Group to ensure our students’ views are clearly communicated to the government.’

News 7

epigram 23.03.2021

Bristol City Council grants planning permission for new University library vices) and the Theatre Collection at Bristol University said: ‘Collections are relatively hidden within non public facing buildings and so the potential value to the city is fundamentally unrealised.

‘The vision is to create cultur-

access to an inspiring programme of high quality events and exhibitions.

‘Crucially the freely accessible events and facilities will increase access to our significant cultural collections for local residents, schools and colleges. This will support our work

• The New Library due to open in 2026 is set to house 420,000 books and 70,000 journals • The Council vote of approval followed a previous Council meeting on 26 February, which had deferred the decision.

Filiz Gurer News Editor

I

n a Council meeting on 17 March, Bristol Councillors on the City Council’s Development Control Committee voted six to four in favour of the University’s planning application for the new library.

The vote last week followed a previous Council meeting on 26 February, which had deferred the decision until a later date.

Prior to the vote, Councillors heard presentations from Professor Judith Squires, the University of Bristol’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, and Jo Elsworth, Director of

library will play an important civic and educational role and provide an architecturally significant new building for the city, along with improved external public spaces.

Cllr’s at the meeting were presented again with the site development plans for the new library, with explanations of some amendments designed to address concerns expressed at the last meeting regarding potential traffic impact.

The proposed building has previously been called a ‘Marmite’ project. Dissatisfaction with its size and appearance was expressed in the meeting again last week, with the building being described variously as ‘overbearing, ugly and intrusive’ and ‘a big, ugly block.’

A Councillor who voted in favour of the application however stated, ‘It is imposing, but it is imposing for all the right reasons.’

Other Councillors expressed that they felt the proposal is an opportunity for a much needed library facility for students and at the same time a building that will serve the citizens of Bristol, by providing public access to cultural collections and events.

The new library space, originally planned to be completed in 2023 2024, is now due to be complete in

The new library set to be complete in 2026, is due to create 2,000 new study spaces for students at the University of Bristol UoB’s Cultural Collections.

The new library will be built on the site of The Hawthorns, at the corner of Elton Road and Woodland Road.

The University has stated that the

2026.

It is set to create 2,000 new study spaces and house approximately 420,000 books and 70,000 journals.

The upper floors will be open to

staff and students for study and research whilst the ground floor will be open to everyone, with access to exhibition galleries, events spaces, a programme of new public art commissions and a café.

The publicly accessible ground floor will also be home to the University’s Centre for Cultural Collections which will unite the University’s two world-class collections, the Theatre Collection (an accredited museum and archive service) and the Special Collections, under one roof for the first time.

In the Council's meeting Councillors discussed the merits and demerits of the proposed project, in respect of heritage and design aspects, and traffic issues.

Speaking at the committee meeting, Jo Elsworth, director of cultural collections (library ser-

al capital, to democratize access to these collections enabling them to be used for education, enjoyment and inspiration for learning, for free for everyone.

‘Our application represents a once in a generation opportunity to open up these remarkable collections to the city and provide transformative learning opportunities for people of all ages from Bristol and beyond for decades to come.’

At the meeting Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Judith Squires said: ‘This new University library will become a landmark cultural destination for Bristol, offering free public

with the city’s schools to provide alternative entry routes into university for local students.

‘By incorporating a new civic square the proposals will deliver an enriched public space. The square will make the surrounding streets safer for all, while offering a new public realm for university staff and students, and local residents and visitors alike. A strong research University with global standing is of huge benefit to the city, and a world class library, as set out in these proposals, is of vital importance to the University’s future. Libraries are the beating heart of a university campus.’

Grant Associates

Hawkins Brown

‘This new University library will become a landmark cultural destination for Bristol offering free public access to an inspiring programme of high quality events and exhibitions'

8 News

epigram 23.03.2021

‘If you are struggling or need a helping hand – please get in touch,’ says PVC Sarah Purdy • The University is urging students who may need help to reach out for support • Peer-to-peer support groups also operate to support students' wellbeing needs Teddy Coward

Co-Editor-in-Chief

P

rofessor Sarah Purdy, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience, has urged students to reach out to University Wellbeing services and ask for help if they need it, as pressures of the national lockdown continue and coursework deadlines approach.

‘Some students may feel they don’t want to be a burden on our services,’ said Professor Purdy. ‘While the stresses of the pandemic mean we are busier than usual, we will always find time for students in need of help. So if you are struggling or need a helping hand – please get in touch.’

The University has a range of services and resources on offer to meet students’ needs, including self-help resources, face-to-face specialist support, therapeutic groups, online support communities and several student-led groups.

‘Not everybody who is having a tough time will need or want counselling,’ explained Professor Purdy.

‘Many will find solace in the company provided by our 350 societies, enjoy a mutually beneficial conversation through an app like TalkCampus or find new ways to tackle stress through our online resources. Whatever their needs, our advisors can guide them to the services they need.’

Meanwhile, those in University accommodation can contact a Residential Life advisor for advice and to be referred to other services.

The University has made a number of changes to its mental health and wellbeing services over the past few years.

These changes have continued since the University implemented an institution-wide mental health and wellbeing strategy in 2018, following a number of high-profile cases regarding student wellbeing.

Between 2016 and 2020, there were 14 reported student deaths at Bristol University.

In response to some of the mental health challenges faced by students, a number of peer-to-peer support

A number of peer-to-peer support networks have also been established, to provide additional help from trained volunteers Since then, the University says it has added more resources and attempted to make it easier for students to seek help via a single request form.

Alison Golden-Wright, Director of Student Health and Inclusion, said: ‘We want students to easily find the service that they need – the best way to do this is to fill in the online Request Support form; or phone on the 24/7 number for more information.

‘We aim to contact students within three working days of submitting a form.

‘Students often think they will wait weeks or months for counselling but the average wait to see a counsellor is about seven working days, well below the national average.’

networks have also been established, to provide additional help from trained student volunteers.

Fergus Ustianowski, a Physics student and co-founder of Zero Suicides England, told Epigram he believes Bristol University’s Wellbeing service ‘is really good.'

‘However,’ he added, ‘they can never give everyone, all 26,000 of us, exactly the support we need.

‘Especially during the pandemic, lots of students are struggling and this isn’t the fault of the Uni. For students who are struggling but unable to make the jump to apply for full support or think that it wouldn’t be the right help for them then I would recommend getting involved with some of the peer support groups.’

George Cole, meanwhile, founder

of PROJECT:TALK, one of the peer support groups, has said: ‘It’s clear that the University recognises the need for an environment that supports students’ mental health and for resources for students to use should they need.

‘There are a very wide variety of support services offered to students, and it is clear that the University is keen to portray an image that adequate provision is offered.

‘We do need to be careful with the narrative that “support is inadequate" as this will make people think “what’s the point in coming forwards if I won’t get the help I need?"

‘We also need to be careful not to encourage students to seek help without meeting this with adequate provision when they do, as this will lead to frustration and a negative image of the support available.’

The University is also holding some workshops on issues surrounding mental health over the coming weeks, which it encourages students to sign up to.

Events can be booked on the university's wellbeing page: http://www. bristol.ac.uk/students/support/wellbeing/self-help/living-well/ .

Society sanctioned by SU after preventing transgender women from attending women-only events • The Society has been disciplined

by Bristol SU after they found it to be in breach of the set-out code of conduct • The Women Talk Back! Society has written to Education Minister Gavin Williamson about the incident Molly Pipe SU Correspondent

F

eminist society, Women Talk Back! has been disciplined

by Bristol SU for not allowing transgender women to attend events.

The society, which says it is ‘open to all women, regardless of student status, income or background,’ ran a series of women-only talks and

discussions about male violence towards females.

However, they denied access to transgender women, saying that the

ten to Education Minister Gavin Williamson about the incident, calling on him to combat ‘silencing and censoring.’

The society president has now been banned from her position by the SU presence of males would make some attendees afraid to speak openly about their experiences.

The SU’s complaints panel decided to apply sanctions to the group, finding it in breach of the code of conduct.

Society president Raquel Rosario-Sánchez, a PhD student, has been banned from her position by the SU and will not be allowed to hold union leadership posts for two years.

The SU has required the committee members to complete an equality, diversity and inclusion course.

In response, the society has writ-

The statement also outlines how the society makes use of single-sex exceptions from the Equality Act 2010 in its meetings.

Last year, a student reportedly filed a complaint against the society after a trans woman was shut out from a campus meeting on ‘women’s boundaries’ in law, culture and society.

In a separate statement, the society said that the topics of their meetings, which often concern male violence, can be ‘a challenging endeavour for some of the women attending.

‘Our attendees have repeatedly

stressed how important it is that we protect their rights to privacy, safety and dignity when discussing such sensitive matters.’

Ms Rosario-Sánchez, 30, also told The Telegraph: ‘Women have a right to single-sex spaces when we are talking about sensitive matters. We want to use that law so any woman can have a space to talk and be respected and believed.

‘The definition of ‘women’ in the Bristol SU bylaws is “All who self define as women, including (if they wish) those with complex gender identities that include ‘woman’, and those who experience oppression as women.”

‘Bristol SU investigated the conduct of one of our affiliated groups – The Women Talk Back! Society - following a complaint on their decision

A student reportedly filed a complaint against the society after a trans woman was shut out from a campus meeting ‘There is this climate where people think they have a right to censor and silence the free speech of others. It’s happening to us and so many students, but universities are becoming weaker and weaker.’

A Bristol SU spokesperson said:

not to allow a trans student into one of their events.

‘The behaviour was found to be in breach of the Bristol SU Code of Conduct, and the complaints panel decided that it is appropriate to apply sanctions to the group.’

Features

Editor Jack Charters Digital Editor Noa Blane Damelin Deputy Editor Freddie Grover

Twitter: @EpigramFeatures

Derren Brown talks University of Bristol, hypnotism and life in lockdown

of my interests are quite solitary. I think that was something born out of my time at Bristol because I was very much doing my own weird thing for a long time.’

Brown attended the University of Bristol from 1991-94 as a Law and Deputy Editor German undergraduate and it was from his Wills Hall bedroom that he itting in his London home, first delved into the world of hypnoDerren Brown could not sis. Intrigued by its allure of power seem further from his onand control, he stole books from lostage self. He’s reserved, wears cal Bristol shops that contained hypa humble cable knit sweater and nosis scripts. self-effacingly jokes about his To practice his newfound pow‘eggy-head’ sandwiched between his ers, Brown used his classmates as headphones. The only trace of his guinea pigs. He recruited a group of spine-chilling alter-ego is the room suggestible student volunteers that filled with macabre curiosities. would visit his room to be lulled into Every piece of Edwardian furnitrance-like states. ture has an item of animal taxiderBy the end of his first year, he my on it. An odd-looking puppet was quite literally turning water into is pinned to the wall, white stone wine. To the bemusement of univerbusts of Greek philosophers litter sity bar staff, he the ceiling-high impress bookshelves, two Not only did Brown act like could stuffed peacocks a circus ringmaster, but he his friends by getting them stand proudly dressed like one too drunk on water. behind him and a One friend enjoyed Bailey’s showers large portrait of David Bowie, which for days he said.

Brown painted himself, observes the ‘Magic became my whole identiweird and wonderful chaos. ty – I was an excruciating attention After his tour ‘Showman’ was seeker! For one stunt, I got the head postponed in May, painting celebrity of the Badock JCR to hallucinate caricatures has been one of Brown’s a rhinoceros. I was just mucking many lockdown pastimes. ‘I think I around for my own amusement, but am just constitutionally suited to it it was really wild because he could [lockdown]. I’m fortunate that most

The world renowned illusionist gives an insight into his surreal university experience Georgiana Scott

S

feel and touch this rhino. He also felt it was his job to hide it somewhere safe, so his friends would try to talk to him and all he was thinking was “fuck, I’ve got to hide this rhino” and of course, they had no idea what he was on about.’

Averse to Bristol’s clubbing scene, he would frequent Boston Tea Party on Park Street and eat alone at fancy restaurants wearing a large, black cape. Brown, however, revealed the fun and games were just a symptom of his chronic insecurity. At the time, he was challenging his Christianity, questioning his sexuality and started attending gay conversion therapy.

Epigram / Georgiana Scott

Christopher Andreou

and continued to mask his vulnerabilities with close-up magic, hypnotism and an eccentric, over-the-top personality. He has convinced people to commit murder, persuaded them to admit to murders they didn’t commit, predicted lottery numbers and – in perhaps his most student-relevant achievement – developed the ghost train at Thorpe Park.

Now in his 50s, what does the future hold for Brown? Well, he is paying more attention than ever to the things he genuinely enjoys and he is escaping the things he does not. ‘I found TV quite tiresome, so I imagine I will do less of that. I’m passionate about painting, writing, photography and reading and enjoy touring but I’ve got this thing now where I get injured during live shows! I’ll do some weird movement like throw my shoulder back without thinking about it and after doing that a hundred times you’re suddenly cancelling shows – so that’s happening, which is really weird.’

His main piece of advice for university students is to be less goal-oriented. ‘You can spend your ‘I wasn’t dealing with it well and I life climbing a ladder and only to redidn’t know where it was all going. alise you had it up against the wrong It fed into quite an insecure, weird wall. Instead, you should be like a bubble that was around me of needfrog on a lily pad. You soak up the ing to, I guess, control situations. sun, then when And if you’re insecure about ‘You get good at dazzling you get bored, what’s going on, people with what's on the you hop to another lily pad. on the inside, outside because it deflects It doesn't have you get very attention from the inside' to be this thing good at dazzling where you are people with deferring everything into the future. what’s on the outside, because it deI never thought beyond whether flects people’s attention.’ what I was doing in the moment was After graduating, he stayed in engaging and interesting and fun.

Bristol for another ten years living And that's never changed.’ in a small apartment (with a parrot)

10 Features

epigram 23.03.2021

Opening a business during a pandemic: Bristol’s newest Turkish café

Epigram / Holly Beaumont

Epigram / Holly Beaumont

The couple divulged that they did not expect to receive the response that they have had and have copious plans for the future.

‘We have tonnes of ideas. We will definitely have people dine in,’ said Kerem.

‘It’s going to be a coffee house slash bakery with tables and we are thinking of introducing a Turkish breakfast and maybe sandwiches’, said Ece. Despite only being open for a matter of months, the café has garnered lots of support for an enterprise so new, amassing almost 700 followers on their Instagram account, @bakeawaybristol. tion work, they don’t want to meet ‘So far it has been more than we you in person, It’s just such a long ever expected,’ said Kerem. process,’ said Ece. ‘People seem to love our food beAlthough when I asked if they had cause we aren’t cutting anything any regrets about their timing, they from the cost, we are just giving our couldn’t say no quick enough. best. We aren’t ‘We think it’s been “There is a risk in trying to get the best time for us to everything. If you do things cheaply, start a business,’ said Ece. what you love it doesn't we are getting everything best ‘We had lots of peofeel like working” quality,’ he conple saying to us “this tinued. is such a hard time to The café is situated on Chandos open a business,” “it’s so risky” but Road and its baked-goods and hot we didn’t really see that,’ she contindrinks are certainly worth a visit. ued.

If there’s one thing the owners ‘Of course, there is risk in want you to know, however, it's: everything, but if you do what you ‘be open to Turkish food and give it love, it doesn’t feel like working,’ your best shot.’ said Kerem.

The trials of going it alone during COVID-19 Holly Beaumont Investigations Editor

H

usband and wife, Ece and Kerem, embarked on an uncertain journey when they moved from Istanbul to Bristol

amidst the pandemic to open their new café, Bake-Away.

Their risk seemed two-fold – both with the unpredictability of the pandemic and a fear about how their customers would respond to their Turkish pastries and coffee.

‘At the beginning, people were being a bit sceptical towards the Turkish food and mainly ordering croissants and what they knew,’ said Ece.

‘But then once people started trying it, we now get the best response from the Turkish stuff’, she continued.

‘We thought people might go for the Turkish buns or bagels and we thought “if we sell a couple of them then great,” but people are actually demanding those things instead of the croissants and pain au chocs,’ said Kerem.

I asked the pair about how the pandemic has affected their business.

‘Getting people to know us because people are wearing masks,’ said Kerem.

‘Just even a smile makes things better for everyone but with the masks, you can’t really do that’.

‘And for suppliers and construc-

Is it time for a reckoning on the future of university exams?

Are physcial exams an archaic method of assessment? Are they still fit for purpose?

Seb Topan

Second Year Law & Feature Writer

Epigram / Will Charley

C

OVID-19 has rocked education to its core – most notably exams. University students across the country have been physically unable to take their seats in the hall to sit end of term exams.

Instead, online Exam Replacement Coursework (ERCs) and Timed Open Book Assessments (TOBAs) have replaced exams – removing the stress of having to commit the content to memory and giving students significantly more time to complete the assessment.

This shift from paper to screen raises some bigger questions about the future of exams. Is sitting in exam halls now outdated and ultimately pointless? Are the new online exams more suitable and less stressful? Is now the time for a reform of the exam system?

‘It’s certainly less stressful, there’s no doubt about that,’ second-year Economics student, Tom, told me.

When asked if he would want it to go

back to the usual system of sit-down exams, Tom revealed ‘Definitely! Sit down-exam are more equal than online exams. Online exams favour those who are quick enough to type rather than write and favours people who are used to taking really nice notes.'

It seems many students would like

to strike a balance between the benefits of online exams and the benefits of sit-down exams.

‘Perhaps not a complete reform.

They could do it half and half, or change it according to the subject and what would be beneficial,’ said second-year Zoology student Anna.

‘I think it could be beneficial along-

side the current form of assessment because it’s quite key for students to have better consolidated knowledge of their subject.’

Highlighting the benefits of online exams, Anna stated: ‘They’re far less stressful, I’m performing much better and I feel I’m much more able to show my potential.’

Second-year Law student Joe agrees: ‘A good alternative could be a 24-hour TOBA, as that’s harder than what we have this year, but obviously a lot easier than returning to exam hall assessments.’

Asked about the long-term future of exams, second-year Law student Olivia is worried about adjusting to the normal system of sit-down exams next academic year, after two consecutive years of online exams.

‘I appreciate that we’ve had it a lot easier than previous years that sat their exams in the hall, but we’ve adapted our learning to TOBA – it would be difficult to readjust.’

The move to online exams from sit-down exams creates uncertainty over next year and has wider ramifications. As second-year Law student Jade stated: ‘I want to make my choices knowing whether the exams will be closed book/open book because if they are closed book, normal exams I think most of us will reconsider our option choices.’

A lot rests on the University’s decision as to the future of exams. Is there is need for exam reform? This certainly will be no easy task, but a task where students and academic staff alike should definitely have a say.

epigram 23.03.2021

Features 11

Flickr / bantersnaps

The challenges surrounding my identity as a first-generation university student

economic ignorance did make me derstanding of literature and various feel jealous. arts deepened, my ability to relate to It also provoked a lot of confumy working-class family and have sion. Was I truly able to relate to this points of shared interest to bond girl in some way, despite feeling so over weakened. I want to be able to opposed to her socioeconomically? bring up Woolf or Tennyson, Eliot This feeling mirrored the one I felt or Plath at home and have a family Second Year, English at home with my member rear their head in interest. or as long as I can remem‘I hold no resentment – parents.

There were I went to school, it is a privilege to have ber, my experience in edueven moments in found myself cation has brought upon me a foot in so many walks my teenage years surrounded by a lot of questions surrounding where of life' where my mothpeople from midin my world I most ‘fit in.’ Growing er would accuse dle-class families up in the London Borough of Camme of being ‘ashamed’ of my backwho seemed to have almost inherden, and going to a state secondary ground because I wanted to excel ited their cultural capital in a way I school that closely contained workbeyond it by having interests that had to build from school curriculum ing and middle-class communities, didn’t align with hers. It bothers me and personal endeavour alone, only I have continuously found myself that our society’s cultural dichotomy to return home to my council flat being forced to question whether of high and low education caused where it felt like my budding culturmy interest in academia, and subsefamilial rifts at a time of my self-acal interests had to be compartmenquent high academic achievement, tualisation, the remnants of which talised if I wanted was at odds with ‘The contrast between stick with me as I enter into adultto speak with my my working-class hood. family. background. cultural assimilation and I attempted to understand myself In my English Being at the economic dissonance was in this liminal space between beclass, I was being ‘top of my class’ something that I always longing via birth versus belonging considered as on in a lot of subfelt hyperaware of' via the social mobility my parents equal academic jects and being were not afforded. It is not that there wavelength as a the first person was any lack of love or support at girl whose mother in my family to home – I extend eternal gratitude to had published feminist books I had go to university, as I came of age my family for all the encouragement seen in the Tate Modern, a girl who I it often felt like the divide between they gave me. remember arguing in one lesson that my family and home life, and social I came to the conclusion that if I £1 million was not actually a lot to and school life was exponentially pursued a path toward further edulive on in London. As someone who increasing to the point of no repair. cation, I was to commit to a constant qualified for free school meals, their I felt that as my interest and un-

Grappling with feelings of alienation and displacement during study Ellie Spenceley

F

que to me. feeling of alienation between my It has never really been the state working-class family and my richer - private school divide that left me peers. I felt as though I could ‘pass’ with feelings of envy, but rather the as middle class and people often told fact that individuals of higher class me they assumed as much – but the at university seem to have a sense of contrast between cultural assimilatheir identity that is less fragmented tion and economic dissonance was than mine. something that I always felt hyperSpreading myself thin in order to aware of. connect with the various different I was told once at an early age that people in my life is something that is I ‘act’ middle class, and can be if I second nature to me now. I hold no choose to be. It seems like this perpersonal resentment – indeed, one formative identity never quite went could argue that it is a privilege in away, and I still feel it manifesting in itself to be able to have a foot in so my second year at university. many different My feelings walks of life. of displacement ‘There is a way to go I find it inas an academic before we stop seeing the teresting how working-class my teenager were working-class academic as different an anomaly' journey to the only amplified Zoom seminar by my transimay have been from peers of more tion to university and the addition heightened privilege. of the ‘first-generation student’ laMy constant need to acclimatise bel. My first year was crammed with has however caused me to feel an the realisation that there were peoinstitutional and societal discontent ple even more privileged than my towards the systems that force me to middle-class school friends, people constantly ‘choose a side.’ Whilst I who had country estates to rival my am grateful for the rise of social mocouncil estate, trust funds that meant bility schemes, societies like the 93% they never had to nervously check Club, outreach programmes that entheir mobile banking with dimmed courage university application from screen lighting on a night out before areas of low-attainment, I still do buying drinks, collective memories think there is a way to go before we of private and boarding school cusstop seeing the working-class acatoms that still seem Harry Potter-es-

12 Features

epigram 23.03.2020

The struggles faced by LGBTQ+ students in lockdown National lockdowns pose further personal challenges for LGBTQ+ students Alice Clarke

Second Year History & Feature Writer

Epigram / University of Bristol

Epigram / Ellie Brown

A

fter twelve months in and out of lockdown, many students will be thinking back to a time just a year ago when the night could be spent in the club rather than in bed by 8pm. Needless to say, the past year has had an immeasurable impact on everyone, some of which we are still yet to see.

However, certain groups have felt the impact of the pandemic disproportionately. The queer community feel negativity and push back specific to their lived experience; this perhaps has only been heightened during the pandemic. How have LGBTQ+ students been impacted by lockdown, is this specific to the queer community and what needs to change?

Lockdown has limited ease of access to support, affirmative spaces, and queer peers - all can be vital to LGBTQ+ students. Being disconnected from the LGBTQ+ community is difficult and isolating. This, for many students, has been paired with the toll of having to live in toxic, unsafe, or even dangerous home environments during lockdown. Many students have returned home whilst some have stayed in their student house; the pressure of being confined in a house where one feels unable to be themselves has dangerous implications on many levels. Laia Bécares, one of the researchers behind UCL and Sussex University’s ‘Queerantine’ study, has noted how many queer people have ‘had to go back into the closet and live with people who either didn’t know their sexual orientation or gender iden-

tity, or were not supportive of it.’ to ‘get back into the closet’ in order The detrimental impact of lock- to feel safe during the pandemic. down on mental health is clear, esThe visceral impact of new, enpecially within the queer community. forced isolation can be even more The LGBTQ+ community faces spe- dangerous and urgent for many cific pressures due to their identity members of the LGBT+ community. and this inevitaThe ultimate imbly takes a toll There has been a 35 per pact of lockdown on mental health. has enforced an cent uptake in Bristol Next even more physThis is not just the experience Link services during the ical and tangipandemic of the individuble difficulty in al, but that of a the steps to get collective. The impact on the men- help when in an unsafe household, tal health of LGBTQ+ people is not an already difficult process, made being recorded or measured by the harder by curfews and restrictions on government. Yet it is very visible; is contact. Abuse can range from vera criticism central to ‘Queerantine’s bal to physical and be the result of findings. Members of the LGBTQ+ homophobia, transphobia or domescommunity have felt they tic abuse. It's important to note that have had the LGBT Foundation considers the dismissal of one's gender identity or sexual orientation a form of abuse.

The main provider of domestic abuse services in Bristol, Next Link, has reported a 35 per cent increase in uptake for their services during the pandemic. A public health expert looking at domestic abuse during lockdown for Bristol City Council has said that they know ‘anecdotally’ that there are a high number of LGBTQ+ people ac-

cessing support services during lock- up and include LGBTQ+ experiencdown, particularly by men. Domestic es, noting how important it is that abusers are not just partners, they ‘everybody’ can be affected - this can be parents, family, or members should not just be the responsibility of queer charities alone. of one's household.

Marten Payne, Chair of the Bristol A student at Bristol who wishes to remain anonymous has said how, for SU Trans Students’ Network, has spothem, ‘lockdown has brought good ken about how he has experienced and bad things.’ On a more positive the isolating impact of lockdown note, they were able to experiment firsthand. Noting lack of in-person with their gender expression as go- contact, he told me how ‘it's hard ing out was not an option. They said to tell how people are feeling withthis has given them time to feel ‘more out seeing them in person’ - this is confident and less worried about how a personal worry for those in the network. Marten others will perLGBTQ+ students must explained: ceive me.’

Yet, as many deal with unsupportive ‘often, LGBT have seen, lock- family or dangerous home people who may feel isolated in down has negaenvironments life anyway partively impacted ticularly struggle them in other ways. Accessibility to therapy as an in lockdown. As well as losing access international student was restrict- to inclusive physical spaces and suped once they had to travel home for portive people, many must deal with lockdown; with limited numbers of unsupportive family or dangerous LGBTQ+ friendly therapists in their home environments. These can be incountry, they had a long wait to be credibly damaging to LGBT people's able to return to the UK and access physical and mental wellbeing.’

Marten told me the Trans Network therapy which had been long awaited. Naturally, this ordeal meant they is a welcoming community, accessifelt their academic performance has ble despite lockdown through Facebeen ‘affected’; an experience un- book and Discord; he urges anyone doubtedly felt my many LGBTQ+ who needs it to not, ‘be afraid to seek support.’ What is important for the students.

Galop is a UK based LGBTQ+ an- LGBTQ+ community now and with ti-violence charity. They have ob- the lifting of lockdown insight, is served since the beginning of the highlighting support, lines of comlockdown up to twice the weekly munication and positives that can be demand for their support line and held onto. For Bristol students; the have noted how young queer people LGBT+ network, Trans Network and are even more likely to be affected. LGBTQ+ Soc can offer positivity, afLeni Morris, from the charity, thinks firmation and a respite from feelings understanding surrounding domestic of isolation and a community to join abuse and violence needs to open if you are struggling alone.

Opinion

Editor Fiorenza Dell'Anna Digital Editor Jack Crockford Deputy Editor Edward Crowson

Twitter: @EpigramOpinion

The conversation surrounding women's safety must continue

Its a shame we're talking about the violence of Sunday and not the genuine concerns of the policing bill Following the events of Sunday, we should be focussing on the bill at hand rather than mob violence Joeseph Marshall Chief Proofreader

I

Epigram / Teddy Coward

Social media allows space for reflection and progress to be made regarding women's rights Esia Forysth First Year, English

F

ollowing the disappearance and death of Sarah Everard, a social media storm surrounding consent, sexual harassment and male accountability has been whipped up.

We see the pattern of media frenzy surrounding a many major world movements. Posts are shared, messages of solidarity, statistics and outrage whirl around the virtual globe as thousands of well-meaning individuals jump on the social justice bandwagon. However, we soon see this wagon begin to falter and fall.

Wheel by wheel, momentum is lost as life predictably gets in the way.

As is the case with all the other tragedies, however, Sarah deserves more. More than a short, sharp quote about injustice and a fleeting ‘like’ of support. The posts that we have seen so far have made one thing clear; women have been robbed of their right to feel safe.

We are faced with a culture in which harassment is accepted as an inevitable inconvenience, forcing women to take responsibility for

their own safety. For women of all ages, when alone in darkness, there is a constant worry of having to make excuses, to run, hide, or scout for potential aid. But it is in daylight that casual intimidation becomes the threat, a blasé sense of entitlement to women’s bodies that results in whistles from moving vehicles and lewd comments across the street.

But it is not enough for victims alone to consider the events with such gravity. It is the onlookers and perpetrators who must have their eyes opened to the significance Sarah's of compromising beginning someone’s safety. space for This is what Sarah’s storm is beginning to achieve as it creates a space for reflection. Thousands of women are coming to terms with some of their most damaging experiences. Others are just now realising the sinister injustice of moments they dismissed as simply unpleasant.

Through this scope of collective support, powerful changes have begun; we have seen men look at their own behaviours and question their passivity in moments where they could have spoken or acted.

These posts are creating a microcosm of honesty - an environment in which those who have faced trauma feel more comfortable to come forward with their stories. For those

who have knowingly taken part in acts of harassment or assault, the space is one that becomes uncomfortable; a reminder that they cannot dismiss their actions.

A legacy of female-constructed progress that has been evolving from centuries of struggle is being catalysed by Sarah. The awareness raised has placed the campaign for women’s safety on a platform that it had only ever aspired to reach.

In Bristol, the invisibility of this virtual discussion has been translated into tangible action. Individustorm is als braved police to create a fines to attend a reflection beautiful candlelit vigil for Sarah Everard. Men and women stood in small groups, silently supporting one another in their grief, anger and hope. As a city that prides itself on inclusivity, I hold faith that the movement will be no passing phase.

It has held resolve far longer than the online popularity of past campaigns and its protests have never been limited to cyber surges of support.

Though the media attention may fade, action has already begun. Each discourse, each whisper; they build upon one another. Each time a man speaks out, or a woman shares, the wheels begin to turn and, once again, the momentum of this vital conversation picks up.

n the last year, Bristol has now twice found itself at the forefront of the national news with regard to protests and social issues.

The toppling of the Colston statue last June ignited conversation across the UK on how Britons ought to protest, and the compatibility of civil disobedience in a democratic state.

On Sunday night, the Kill the Bill protest descended into riots in the city centre, in scenes described by police chiefs as “the worst violence in Bristol for many, many years”.

Much of the Bristol student community attended the peaceful protests earlier in the day, which was in response to the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that would set more stringent conditions on protests. Many of us oppose it because of the nature of those conditions, but also because of the principles that this element of the bill represents. The UK is a liberal democracy, not an authoritarian democracy. For a prime minister who prides himself on his libertarian instincts, this proposed law should surely stand in contrast to Boris Johnson’s values as well.

But the conversation in the headlines today isn’t about the bill, or the significant peaceful support demonstrated by the protest: it’s about the violence. Pictures of police vans burning, videos of fireworks amongst the crowd, statements by the likes of Priti Patel focusing not on the bill but instead the “thuggery” of rioters are now in focus. It’s unsurprising that it’s being talked about, given the rarity of such riots in Bristol, but its detracting effect from what we really should be talking about is a shame.

Those who support the bill will now frame all who oppose it and protested on Sunday as anarchic

far-left ‘thugs’, intent on undermining law and order. This framing may then convince those previously on-the-fence that the bill is indeed necessary to curtail protest rights, ignoring the predominantly peaceful nature of public assembly in the UK. On the other side, those who don’t explicitly condemn the rioters, but rather claim the violence was an ‘inevitable’ response of the proposed legislation do not help. Normalising violence as a response, as a part and parcel of what happens when we don’t like proposed law changes isn’t right. Furthermore, it encourages those with more authoritarian views to paint all of us who protest as complicit. It should go without saying that violence from the police is also unequivocally condemnable.

It is noteworthy to consider the events of Sunday night within the context of the last year. There has been a sharp erosion of trust from wider society in the police force which will have worsened in the eyes of some following Sunday. This has all followed the Black Lives Matter protests of last summer, and more recently the police reaction to the vigils for Sarah Everard in London.

In the 2019 general election, dwindling police numbers were a source of criticism of the Conservative government, with both parties pledging to increase police numbers as the public saw crime then as the third most important issue in the country.

Compare this with the sentiment today, where slogans along the lines of ‘defund the police’ are commonplace, and the difference is stark.

In this light, the violence following the Kill the Bill protest is part of a sequence of events in which society’s relationship with the police is seriously deteriorating. How we build these relations in a manner sensitive to problems of gender, race and other issues should be in the headlines.

How this bill obstructs that process should be in the headlines. Instead, not only will the bill likely pass through Parliament, but the spotlight is firmly on the violence, away from the real conversation.

14 Opinion

epigram 23.03.2021

The current university admissions system is failing students The New Bristolian: Why it’s frustrating that the admissions cap motion wasn’t passed at the AMM Lowri Lewis

Unsplash/ Syd Wachs

Opinion Columnist

In the light of the pandemic and recent news of secret waiting lists, it is clear the admissions system needs revamping Rachel Carr Second Year, History

R

ecent headlines have hinted at ‘secret university waiting lists’ amid growing concerns with grade inflation. If true, this would merely be the most recent in a series of scandals surrounding the treatment of students in higher education during the pandemic. But even if it’s not, it’s time to re-evaluate the fairness of the university admissions system, and put students’ interests at the centre of the decision-making process.

Top universities are accused of increasing their undergraduate recruitment by reaching out to a secret list of students individually and assuring them a place regardless of their grades, so long as places remain.

This means that prospective students aren’t as likely to accept an offer from a less popular institution, leaving themselves precariously placed if that university later decides there is no longer a place available for them – all while ensuring the university is protected from a decline in student numbers (and, of course, tuition fees). The University of Cambridge has even introduced an over-subscription clause to allow it to withdraw offers in the event that too

groups and student organisations. many candidates qualify.

Recently, a motion proposed by At best, universities are hedging James Fishwick (Chair of the Univertheir bets. At worst, they are exploitsity of Bristol Widening Participaing an increasingly anxious group of tion Network) to cap private school students. admissions to reflect the national We only need to cast our minds average of private school students back half a year to the A-Level rewas rejected by Student’s Union sults debacle, when the government members. However, the fact that was criticised for its algorithm modthis kind of positive discrimination eration process and forced into a is being discussed within the UniU-turn. versity indicates progress, as does Guaranteeing places to the statethe existence of the Network and school students whose generated groups like the 93% Club which try grades fell short of their conditions to redress the issue of access to unifor admission would have been a versity, something which is clearly reasonable university response. That a growing concern amongst Bristol so many universities chose not to students. shows their unpreparedness for a Universities might view ‘secret time when reliance on their current waiting lists’ as making sense in a grade-dependent admissions system self-serving cawould inevitably The pandemic has exacpacity; they backfire. offer the opporThe pandemic erbated the pre-existing has exacerbated issues of barriers to access tunity to protect their own the pre-existing to higher education interests.

But issues of barriit’s an unethical ers to access to and shady practice, and it definitely higher education that have been disdoesn’t prioritise students. We need cussed for years. The University of these debacles to lead to a revoluBristol has been making undeniable tionised admissions system, where a progress on this front, as can be seen larger emphasis on personal stateby the fact that state school intake ments, interviews, submitted work, rose from 64.7 per cent in 2016 to and access arrangements would 71.3 per cent in 2021. This seems a mean admissions are based on more quietly positive statistic, until you individual talent, rather than on the consider how many years it would luck of superior teaching that’s imtake to reach the national average of plicit in the current grading system.

90.2 per cent.

The pandemic has already altered I would argue against pessimism the running of many institutions and in light of the sluggish and yet debusinesses. It may well catalyse the termined progress of the last few modernisation of university admisyears. But, it is fair to expect any sions too. real change to come from grassroots

T

he proportion of private school students at the University of Bristol is five times the amount in the general population. They are not five times as deserving, or five times as intelligent as those of us from state schools. So why are we okay with the fact that admissions data suggests they are?

The rejection of the motion to introduce an admissions cap for private school students at the AMM this week is a demonstration of the worrying belief amongst students here that the admissions process that got us here is impartial.

But admissions to Bristol University aren’t exactly the result of a meritocracy.

You need only look at the disparity in offer rates between BAME and white students, for example, to know that they are anything but fair.

The irony of the fact that those arguing against the admissions cap did so because of what they considered to be discriminatory practice would be laughable if it wasn’t so alarming.

There is some truth to their argument - it did manage to convince the student population to vote against the cap, after all, so it can’t have been founded entirely on lies.

The financial situation we are born into is indeed completely out of our control.

Students that went to private school will readily admit that for them, this lottery of birth resulted in them being given an advantage when it came to their education. The idea that this is immoral, however, is something that not even some state school students are ready to admit yet.

Whether private schools should be allowed to exist is a whole different debate, but seeing as most of us are willing to accept the status quo on this matter, it’s unsurprising that this motion wasn’t passed.

If it is acceptable that some receive a better education than others,

it is logical that this unfair advantage will follow them to University.

During the AMM itself, it became clear that some Bristol students are more than willing to accept the status quo - the argument was put forward that since this is a systemic issue, it’s not our University’s responsibility to solve it. It’s more than disappointing to know that we’re still at a point where people genuinely believe that institutions as large as the University of Bristol shouldn’t do anything towards fighting systemic issues.

One perk of this motion’s failure to pass is that state school students are going to remain well prepared for what might otherwise be a shocking realisation about our chances of getting into certain areas of work upon graduation.

If 36 per cent of our peers at University went to private school, it won’t be such a surprise that 44 per cent of British politicians did, too.

University is a microcosm of our elitist society, where state school students like myself know that to aim for our dream job is to aim for disappointment.

Knowing that a majority of students at the University of Bristol do not think that radical change needs to be made is more than disappointing. Especially considering that those that voted were made aware by the motion proposer that the University of Bristol’s widening participation schemes, in place for the past 13 years, have failed to prevent us from being 113 out of 116 Universities for social inclusion in 2020.

We must accept, of course, that this is what Bristol students want.

That any change in the chances of state school applicants getting into this University will have to be at a snail’s pace.

The student that proposed the motion admitted that part of his intention was simply to start a conversation. In this way, something has certainly been achieved.

The admissions cap would have been the first of its kind. And this will not be the last we hear about it.

Opinion 15

epigram 23.03.2021

Rebuttal Corner University students may be Remote internships moralistic but it is for all are better than the right reasons nothing but will not offer the same opportunities

A rebuttal to our writer Molly Downham's piece on the advantages of remote internships Susanna Chilver

Second Year, Politics with QRM

I

have dreamed for years of my time as a career woman in the Big Smoke. Pret coffee in one hand, work phone in the other, I picture myself boarding the Tube to work, sitting next to like-minded young professionals all on our way to ‘the top’ (all to the tune of KT Tunstall’s ‘Suddenly I See’, à la Devil Wears Prada). An internship has always seemed like the necessary stepping-stone to making this a reality, so what of them now that we live in these ‘unprecedented times’?

In four short months, it will be proven whether or not Johnson’s 21st of June road map comes true and whether or not summer internships will be in person or remote. In the case of the latter, is it worth it?

Remote working will be a huge setback in terms of grasping how an actual office operates. For those of us who haven’t yet had any professional experience, sitting in front of a computer screen every day, five days a week, while completing work that we have little real knowledge about may well be a continuation of the lacklustre motivation that has been guiding us through university recently.

Obviously, internships should only be pursued if you have a genuine curiosity about that career so, in theory, the work will be enjoyable whether in person or remote. Then again, we all picked our degrees because they were subjects we found interesting, and look at our student satisfaction ratings now. Remote internships will be offering the challenging, professional work without the exciting complement of new, glamorous surroundings.

Following that, there is going to be a severely reduced opportunity to engage in all-important networking.

Networking plays a greater role in some professions than others. For creative arts students in particular, it is often a case of not what you know, but ‘who you know.' There is no one to run errands for or to assist on an edit with or to suggest subjects or images to if you are sat in your bedroom staring at your laptop. There are no events to organise, influential conversations to have or opportunities to volunteer if your daily commute is to your kitchen and back.

There is no mingling to be done in a socially distanced universe.

Remote internships are yet another product of our contemporary culture of hyper-productivity. Despite a complete lack of economic security, thousands dying of COVID-19, no legal socialising and a widespread mental health crisis, students are still expected to find a productive and career-focused way to spend their longest break from studying.

In a normal year, internships provide a dynamic and exciting change to student life. This year, they are likely to provide a continuation of the problems already being faced by students. That being said, it is difficult to find a solution; the world must keep turning and we must act as though there is light at the end of the Covid tunnel. Remote internships, in this regard, are a lot better than nothing.

The glamorous vision I have of working in the City might not quite correspond with the reality of my first foray into the workplace this summer - I remind myself that Anne Hathaway’s reality didn’t match her expectations for working at Runway in The Devil Wears Prada either. But whether my upcoming internship is in person or remote, I hope societal expectations change and that there is less pressure to be constantly high performing on students.

Moreover, this year will highlight that those who manage to secure remote internship can still have something to put on their CV, whereas those who do not can actually relax as they are not missing out on anything too special.

Alice Proctor

Students are moralistic because they feel the older generation failed them and they want to fight for the next Isobel Turner

Epicartoon: ‘Student with a cause'

national issues such as racism, cliwarnings’ before having to deal with mate breakdown and equality. This even the tamest material.’ shows the admirable way in which It almost goes without saying that students unite to fight for the greatmaterial that could be deemed as er good and for the lives of future ‘tame’ to one person could have had generations. Moreover, many stua large personal impact on someone dents are simply conscious of the else. It is important to recognise that fact that the generations before us everyone has had different experihave failed us, so the students of ences, so it is ignorant to deem any Second Year, Liberal Arts today have no choice but to try and material as ‘tame’ as this is a subjecmake things right. tive term based on personal experire university students beThe climate crisis is also a signifence. It is practically impossible for coming too moralistic? It icant problem faced by young peosomeone of an older generation to is undeniable that, in the ple today that was ironically caused write of the experiences of students last few years it has become comby the generations that came before today as, to put it simply, they just mon in the media to paint young us. In 2020, thousands of people have not experienced it. people’s morals in a negative light supported Greta Thunberg at a cliIt is also believed that while stuand to call them the ‘snowflake mate strike in Bristol. Greta told the dents in the past have campaigned generation’ - a derogatory term for crowds that the governments were for idealism, they are now camyoung people who are viewed as not acting like children, so they had to paigning from a place of self-pity. being resilient enough and being too be the ‘adults in the room.’ These However, students’ mental health easily offended. words ring true to many young has gotten significantly worse over However, it is important to note people who see Greta’s resilience the past few decades, and while I am the overwhelming issues that curand activism as an example to folsure that using rent students low. mental health are facing when Students unite to fight for One thing appears to be crystal as an argument questioning their the greater good and future would clear in all of this; the students incite morality. There generations of today feel that they have been further criticism appears to be failed by the work of previous gendue to the soan underlying erations as well as the action of the cietal stigma surrounding it, this attitude that students are addresscurrent governments. Students are merely reinforces my argument. The ing issues from a point of privilege therefore not becoming more or issues that students face today canand that they are sheltered from the even too moralistic, they are simply not be compared or fully understood outside world. This misconception doing all they by someone who could not be more misplaced, as can to create a has not experieven though students are younger enced being a Young people are being the better society and receiving education, this does for themselves student in our not mean that they have not faced or ‘adults in the room' as well as for current society. are not facing struggles in their lives the future genMany of whether those struggles be in their erations. Thus the arguments personal lives or whether they come it is vital that students continue to against students and their morality in the form of a societal oppression. protest for what they believe and are built on a false premise. Students Commentators like Dominic Sandhope for a day that they will be are not campaigning from self-pity, brook have long since argued that taken seriously rather than simply to the contrary, they are involved students are ‘so frightened of being being dismissed as snowflakes. in campaigning against many interoffended that they require ‘trigger

A

16 Opinion

epigram 23.03.2021

Staggered Online fatigue is beginning returns should to take its toll on students re-open the fees debate promised, and staggered returns to in-person teaching demonstrate the Empty promises of inherent unfairness of this system blended learning when everyone is still paying the have left students same fees. sceptical of staggered In most cases, when goods or serreturns without a fee vices are promised but not delivered, the buyer receives a refund. Why is it reduction then, that when students are promTheo Kent ised in-person teaching, and receive Second Year, English little or none, compensation is out of rom Monday 8 March, some the question?

Blended learning was promised students have been part of a limited return to in-person by the University to entice those teaching while the vast majority of who might be hesitant to study in us have not. The disparity between the 2020-21 academic year. Clearly, courses in this sense sets an unpleas- it was a quick-fix to offset the reant precedent that some courses are duction in both international and worth more than others. According domestic student revenue caused by to the University website, the intro- the pandemic. The University has duction of the staggered reopening behaved like a business by using an has only applied to a small number ostensibly catchy buzz-word to atof students, with the remainder of the tract student customers. And yet, this student body continuing to struggle business-like behaviour disappears at with online-only courses. It is only the mention of reimbursement.

The introducright that students tion of a stagbegin to return to The University has gered return to university, but a staggered return behaved like a business in-person teaching is deeply surely reopens the by using an ostensibly problematic.

In debate of fee recatchy buzz-word to a system where ductions. attract student customers we’re told that The phrase any degree from ‘blended learning’ may send a shiver down the spine any University is worth the same for many students. The University amount in financial terms, the dishas relentlessly clung to the phrase, parity in face-to-face learning in our which for many of us has become own University clearly represents a mythical and illusory. Similar to the failure to act proportionately alonginfamous ‘strong and stable’ slogan side the Covid crisis.

Of course, medical students must of Theresa May’s general election effort, ‘blended learning’ for many of experience practical work, and the us, represents a blatant misinterpre- same applies to drama students and tation of the truth. Because of this, chemists as these courses have a parthe University is dangerously close to ticular emphasis on practical expelosing all credibility and trustworthi- rience. However, that doesn’t mean that all other subjects don’t need ness amongst the student body.

In an email sent by the University in-person teaching.

To further the frustration, the many to all students on 31 July last year, the approach to blended learning students that remain in online-only was plainly laid out: ‘Your lecturers teaching are being kept in the dark have designed a blend of in-person about when they might be able to and online classes to support your return. All the while, unoccupied learning and provide you with the university and private accommodahigh-quality education that we offer.’ tion fees are continuing for the most For many, this promise would be bent part and many continue to struggle under lockdown restrictions. A more and broken.

Rightly, both students and Univer- decisive, if not transparent approach sity staff have refrained from in-per- is needed by the University manageson teaching in order to prevent the ment. Many students do not expect spread of Coronavirus. However, to return to lectures and seminars the fact remains that blended learn- this academic year, while others are ing has been repeatedly, and falsely already there, all for the same fees.

Epigram / Molly Pipe

F

Student living is now dictated by relentless online fatigue Theano Dimopoulou

Second Year, Psychology in Education mong the many challenges and struggles that students have begun to face as a result of the pandemic is the rising phenomenon of ‘online fatigue.’ Coined as ‘online fatigue’ by some, and ‘Zoom fatigue’ by others, both terms signify the exhaustion that those working from home and students learning remotely are experiencing after a year of working, researching, and partying via video call. With the increased use of social media, Zoom, Teams, Word, Excel and Blackboard Collaborate, online fatigue appears to be inevitable. There are countless reasons why this adversely affects students in universities.

Online work and video calls have dramatically reduced our mobility.

Little to no change in environment and minimal physical movement while working will eventually have physical and psychological after-effects. The university workload combined with extracurricular activities can be overwhelming at the best of times, but when it is all being done virtually, students are finding they need to take the extra step to ensure

A

they are staying active in some ca- your classmates for that collaborative presentation, send emails to your pacity.

Procrastination is also a huge ob- professors, or scroll through social stacle for students who are adjust- media to take a break.

Because of virtual classes, many ing to being in an environment with minimal change. Staying at home are beginning to notice the challengall day and having no need to get es of deciphering nonverbal cues, ready because you cannot even go to which only adds to the stress brought class inevitably takes its toll on your on by video chats. In face-to-face motivation. If the minute you wake conversations, body language, tone up, you know you won’t leave your of voice, movement and facial exhouse, it’s more than likely you will pressions allows us to better underpostpone or completely ignore your stand the speaker and comprehend assignments. All these postponed as- the meaning behind their words. In signments will eventually pile up and online lectures, individuals have to add on to the exhaustion. This cycle work far harder to interpret those explains why university students feel cues, thus adding to pre-existing less motivated to do anything related cognitive load.

For most students, long periods to work or university.

Another component of the ‘on- of lectures and seminars are already very tiring, and line fatigue’ that students are ex- Students find themselves paying attention staring at a screen for to the lecturers’ periencing comes non-verbal cues, from the proalmost the entire day the presentation longed and uninterrupted time spent in front of and trying to take notes can get overscreens. It is safe to say we've all whelming very quickly.

These are only some of the reasons been told to not stare at screens all the time because it will affect our why online or Zoom fatigue is a very eyesight and our eyes will start hurt- real experience that is starting to afing. But is this still true now that the fect students. Universities should pay only way to communicate with our more attention to the impact of these university, our friends and our pro- new challenges on the mental and fessors is through a screen? Students physical well-being of students. In find themselves looking at a lap- doing so, students’ productivity will top, a phone or a tablet for almost eventually improve instead of conthe entire day. And, most of this is tinuing to work through complete unavoidable. You need to talk with burnout.

Film&TV

Editor Maddy Raven Digital Editor Katya Spiers Deputy Editor Sam Vickers

Twitter: @Epigramculture

The female biopics to check out today Tilly shares which female-centered biopics we should be watching Tilly Long

Third Year, English Literature

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

T

he depiction on film of the short life and dramatic death of Saint Joan is as old as the medium itself. The master illusionist George Méliès directed Jeanne d.Arc in 1900, but La passion de Jeanne d’Arc, made in the dying days of silent cinema is still regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. Shot mostly in close up, the expectation is that the viewer knows the narrative and therefore the images can concentrate on the actor’s facial expressions to describe her shocking predicament.

At the trial, Joan is questioned then tortured by her persecutors to recant the visions that led her to believe that God had instructed her to drive the English from France, during the 100-year-war.

Renée Jeanne Falconetti’s central performance is breathtaking in its fearlessness. Her face alone conveys the duplicity of her captors and the acceptance of her fate.

Frida (2002) Filming the life of the Mexican

painter Frida Kahlo was always going to be a major task.

In her 47 years, she managed to mix with the Parisian art elite during the 1930s, maintaining an open marriage to the famed muralist Diego Rivera, whilst remaining dedicated to her Marxist bohemian ideals.

She had numerous lovers that included both Leon Trotsky and Josephine Baker. Inevitably, trying to capture this free spirit on film can sometimes feel like a series of surreal encounters stitched together by the thinnest of threads. It is Salma Hayek’s impassioned performance that keeps you watching and marvelling at a life lived to its fullest.

Marie Antoinette (2006) A true ambassador of visual pastry, director Sophia Coppola drenches the Versailles court of Marie Antoinette with copious amounts of bright pink and rock music. She reimagines 18th century France with a Siouxsie and the Banshees style twist; ‘Hong Kong Garden’ plays as Kirsten Dunst attends a masquerade.

Her unfairly dismissed portrayal of Marie Antoinette as a pop star of sorts actually presents the young queen just as we now recognise her: through popular culture references such as the quip she didn’t actually say – ‘let them eat cake.'

This creative update renders the lavish and empty lives of aristocrats simultaneously comic and bland.

Jackie (2016) Unforgivably snubbed by the Academy, Pablo Larraín’s Jackie focalises Jackie Kennedy’s days immediately following the assassination of her husband, John F. Kennedy, in 1963.

A certain mystique shrouds political figures both of this era and in general, yet Natalie Portman brings monumental levels of emotional depth to the woman, treading a messy line between guilt and grief. Haunting cinematography accompanied by Mica Levi’s booming score will make you completely forget this is a biographical story, as it expertly obscures the distinctions between cinema and reality.

What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)

remembered most for its graphic domestic violence at the hands of her husband Ike. Seeking solace in Buddhist mantras and eventually retaining her stage name after her divorce, Tina’s solo career culminates in long-awaited freedom.

constructing a linear narrative, which succeeds in both showcasing a typically unrepresented culture as well as capturing the universal joys and struggles of youth.

Persepolis (2007)

Julia Roberts gives an Oscarwinning performance of a true story surrounding one hard-working, single mum at the centre of a water contamination scandal.

The film opens with Roberts donning a neck brace that almost looks couture, having just lost her case in which she tried and failed to sue a doctor for hitting her car. She plays the role with equal amounts of sincerity and unyielding passion.

Moments of despair in which she all but begs her lawyer to give her a job are at odds with her numerous and impeccable one-liners. The woman captured on screen becomes one entirely complex and unapologetic.

A different breed of innovative, animated imagination, Persepolis is an outstanding feat by director Marjane Satrapi, who recounts her own experience of coming of age during the Iranian Revolution.

Covering the effects which the oppressive regime and consequential alienation had on children like her, the film often utilises humour as a coping mechanism, which carries its audience through moments of depression and tragedy.

The black and white animation is at times abstract and surreal, conjuring emotions as opposed to

In a never-ending list of biopic musicals chronicling the growth of American musicians, from Barbara Streisand’s Funny Girl (1968) to the more recent portrayal of Judy Garland by Renée Zellweger in 2019, (with a special shout out to Cate Blanchett’s incredible performance as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There (2007)) What’s Love Got to Do with It undoubtedly stands out.

In a performance which gained Angela Bassett an Oscar nomination in 1993, this adaptation of Tina Turner’s autobiography is perhaps Celluloid Films

Erin Brokovich (2000)

Moxie! is a cliché but fun intro to feminism I'm angry and I want to scream - this is Moxie!'s motto Ellie Spenceley Second Year, English Literature

M

oxie! (2021) brings the warm charm of Amy Poehler (that Parks and Rec (2009) fans will know and love) together with a modern homage to the ‘Riot Grrrl’ movement, and it is as delightfully energetic and heart-warming as it sounds. While the feminism it explores is no doubt entry-level to many of us, and at times feels cringeworthily on the nose, the film nevertheless proves itself to be a wholesome comingof-age exploration of consent, rape culture, and female solidarity. It is beautiful to consider how the film’s younger target audience could be

galvanised and inspired as feminists.

A lyric from Riot Grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill’s song, ‘Rebel Girl’ – ‘that girl, she holds her head up so high’ – aptly describes the film’s momentum, as main character Vivian (Hadley Robinson) and new girl at the school, Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Peña) propel a feminist movement in their school against the sexist conventions that have been accepted as the norm. Most girls will be familiar with the dress code debate and Moxie! touches on this relatable question with the girls staging a ‘tank top revolt’ after a girl is sent home for wearing one the previous day.

Despite its contemporary edge, the film feels nostalgic in its presentation of teenage

more tokenism than true diversity, and an unwillingness to address these factors directly. An example of this is when new girl Lucy is harassed by school sports champion, Mitchell (Patrick Schwarzenegger), for speaking out against the English reading list that is packed with white, male authors. He attacks her for refusing to back down and for holding her own against him, and we are led to view this solely as an attack on her womanhood - but there is also definitely a thinly-veiled racism within his spite that is never addressed, too.

‘I’m angry and I want to scream’ – one girl says at the film’s climax as striking truths are revealed in a moment of collaborative female empowerment – and scream she Paper Kite Productions

girls first encountering feminist rhetoric and embracing it with full force - and moxie! The Girl Power in the film is coated is cliché in the best possible way, executed with good intention, and used to promote the necessity of fighting back against the status quo.

While it is clear that the film wants to be inclu- sive, it does feel lacking in intersectionality at times, w i t h

does, with everyone else following in her footsteps. The writing may not be perfect at times, but Moxie! does a beautiful job of validating and encouraging the silent scream of women enraged as they come to terms with the injustices their society condones.

Poehler has never been silent about women having a right to be loud, and while watching I thought back to an episode of Parks and Rec that even without context provides poetic empowerment in the line ‘I am a goddess, a glorious female warrior.

Queen of all that I survey. Enemies of fairness and equality, hear my womanly roar.’ It is always wonderful to be able to blatantly see artistic consistency without it seeming inauthentic in any way, and Moxie! fits perfectly into Amy Poehler’s brand of comforting and urgent feminism that is always fun to watch.

18 Film&TV

epigram 23.03.2021

There's a new student film festival in town We've been stuck at home for the last year... it's super hard to make connections and art Maddy Raven Film & TV Editor

T

here’s a new student film festival on the scene – and its name is a pun, so I’m already sold.

I sat down with the creators of MinuteMade (via the wonders of Facebook call) to hear about their festival, and how you can get involved.

Marta Macedo, a third-year film student, is one of the organisers and explained that MinuteMade is a new 60-second film festival, open exclusively to students enrolled at a Bristol university – this could be the University of Bristol, UWE, or Screenology.

It may look super niche, but this pool of students is huge because there are three universities that all have renowned film courses. There are about 50,000 students in Bristol, and there’s plenty of film students in there. And, Frank Kauer, another organiser of the festival, adds that you don’t have to be a film student: just a student at one of these universities who loves film and is actively making work.

The group wanted to give people

something to do in lockdown. 'We’ve been stuck at home for the last year and especially for people who are creative, it’s been super hard to make connections and art,' says Marta, 'so we wanted to create a platform exactly for that.'

So far, Jin Choi (another quarter of the creative team!) tells me that they have two judges confirmed for the festival – David Thomson, a critic based in San Francisco who has written numerous books, and served on the selection committee for the New York Film Festival and scripted the documentary The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988)– and Paul Unwin, who is an alumnus of the University of Bristol, and a co-writer on Casualty (1986-). You may also know him as the director of the original TV show Shameless (2004-13).

The organisers are trying to reach more judges at the moment, focusing on Bristol-based

alumni and Bristol-based professionals. It feels only right that Bristol students should be judged by Bristol creatives, as this is such a unique place to study film and create art.

The festival itself will be an opportunity for filmmakers themselves to receive professional feedback, ask questions, and hear career advice.

And, Marta tells me, they have created an award dedicated to ‘Fresh Filmmakers' – first and second years, to encourage them to start making work. ‘Getting your work seen as early as possible is something I regret not doing,' adds Marta, ‘I sat around for two years waiting for third year when I could’ve been using that time

in first year when very little mattered the prompt is “lost” – so, it’s up to the prospective filmmakers to make to start making content.'

The festival’s long submission pe- a 60-second-long film with this riod started on Monday the 8th and prompt in mind. You can submit a film for each runs until 31 May. There will MinuteMade's submission prompt – the be a two-week period started on 8 March, next prompts will include judging period and ends on 31 May 'isolation', 'culand a screening ture' and 'conof the winning nection.' four films on 12 June.

But, Jin stresses, ‘we don’t acThe team will put the winning films up on their website a few days cept submissions not related to the before the ceremony, and of course, a prompts!'

To submit your film, head to the shortlist of the films that didn’t win.

To get involved, Frank explained MinuteMade festival website and fill to me that the festival is prompt- out the short consent form, and then based. From 8 March until the 28th, click on the Film Freeway button to submit your films there. It costs £1 per entry, but there is a discount if you are a member of Film Freeway already. You can submit as many times as you’d like.

The organisers have been talking to various equipment rental companies around Bristol and are hoping to secure vouchers for equipment to give as prizes – though nothing is confirmed as of yet.

Epigram will hopefully be attending the final screening to see which films win, but in the meantime, get filming, and head to their Instagram and website to hear more.

Read the full article on the Epigram website!

How watching films together saved my long-distance relationship Watching Netflix together in this way means that I get a chunk of normality Alice O'Rorke Second Year, English Literature

I

t is well-known that long-distance relationships are challenging. They require communication, trust, patience and, in my case, regular FaceTime calls so that we can remind ourselves what the other looks like. The time apart, as difficult as it can be, is always worth that less frequent time together.

However, after two lockdowns of separation, the third lockdown announcement came as very frustrating to my boyfriend and I. We all dread the mundanity of life in lockdown, it’s true. This lockdown, the mundanity has been increased by the glum weather around us. My freezing university house, with its single glazed windows and E rated insulation, has made getting up and doing things (particularly Boris’ recommended daily exercise) a real struggle. But, when you are doing absolutely noth-

ing in your days other than pretending to do university work and eating, the material to talk about during those FaceTime calls runs a little dry And that is where Netflix has come very much in handy. My boyfriend and I, throughout this lockdown, and a little in the previous ones too, have worked our way through multiple films and series together. We have watched The Witcher (2019-), which was very addictive due to the intense cliff-hangers and lingering intrigue between each episode. We also completed the gorgeous six-episode dark-comedy Back to Life (2019), Tiger King (2020), something which I thoroughly enjoyed but never would have watched by myself, and The Breakfast Club (1985), one of my favourite films which I got to introduce to my boyfriend. We are now watching The Last Kingdom (2015-), and I am excited by the fact there are four seasons for us to look forward to; I’m sure this will fill lots of time before we can venture back into pub gardens together.

I find that this way of watching Netflix pushes me somewhat out of my standard “comfort zone” of

Netflix screening. Typically, when by myself, I often resort to trashy rom-coms and easy series (most recently, I’m ashamed to announce, I got hooked on Are You the One? (2014), which I binge-watched in three days).Therefore, with our different tastes, I’ve been viewing more of Netflix’s options than I otherwise would ever see.

One way to do this is to use the Chrome extension ‘Teleparty’ – previously known as Netflix Party. In this, you can link up and watch the same show with loved ones, whilst commenting throughout. This is also great in that the number of watchers is not limited to two, making it great for friends and families.

Although this sounds like a great way of watching Netflix t o -

gether, my boyfriend and I instead watch our Netflix together by FaceTiming on our phones and watching on our laptops. In this way, we can see each other’s faces and view the genuine reactions of the other, as you would in real life, which makes it seem much more organic.

We mute ourselves whilst watching, but then unmute if we have anything we want to comment or react on. We have a little chat before and a little chat afterwards (catching up on our days but not having to go into everything we’ve eaten).

My housemates frequently come into my room, so he’s able to catch up a little bit with them too. Watching a series together prevents me from

Netflix, Universal Pictures, Two Brothers Pictures

binge-watching it on Tuesday afternoon instead of working; the commitment of watching it with someone else keeps me and my procrastination in line. We space it out, which makes it so much more tantalising when we so watch an episode; the cliffhangers linger in my mind between episodes, making the anticipation all the greater.

A big part of our time together, and of our relationship, has always been chilling out, watching some TV with a cup of tea and having a cuddle.

Therefore, watching Netflix together in this way means that I get a chunk of normality injected into my week, in an otherwise pretty abnormal situation. We watch an episode around every other day, which means that I really feel like I’m spending a good amount of time with him. Although we are obviously not really together, this feels like the most natural way of spending time apart.

Therefore, to any long-distanced couple out there, I would thoroughly recommend using Netflix as a way to spend time with one another for the remainder of this lockdown.

Film&TV 19

epigram 23.03.2021

Epigram heads to Watersprite Film Festival Frustratingly, it seems that there really is no fixed blueprint for the perfect film review Samuel Vickers Film & TV Deputy Editor

I

’ve often wondered what makes a great film review. It’s immediately obvious when you read one, but rather more difficult to define the qualities of a good review.

Naturally, clear communication and insight are vital, but there is surely something beyond these elements that distinguishes the very best in film criticism.

On 5 March, I attended a masterclass run by the Watersprite Film Festival to find an answer to my question. Discussing their methodology for film criticism and the importance of diverse representation, the impressive team of panellists included Sydney Levine, creator of the first film database, FilmFinders, that would go on to become IMDb; leading UK film critic and podcaster (Girls on Film), Anna Smith; and correspondent reviewer, Alin Tasciyan – as well as a wealth of others.

In my quest to answer this question of what makes a great film review, I intend to compare (and contrast) some key questions, and the answers

given by these experts in their field, and hopefully draw some conclusion about the nature of this criticism.

The discussion kicked off with an evaluation of the appeal of film criticism, and so I too will begin here.

Firstly, we must consider the contemporary landscape for this kind of criticism. Due to the veritable sea of content instantly available, it can be difficult to discern what’s worth watching and what isn’t. In this way, according to Heather Dempsey (freelance critic and social media manager of Girls on Film), film criticism helps us not only to identify and celebrate the very best achievements in filmmaking (as awards shows do), but also to interrogate them and their cultural and artistic significance.

Neena Porter, film critic and writer on new media, argues that it is an accessible and universal format for debate, that everyone unwittingly engages in walking out of the cinema.

This is a very prudent argument, given the thousands of Twitter threads devoted to amateur film analysis.

Sydney Levine points out that most professional criticism handles films that resonate with the author, and so it is a medium that allows a reader to appreciate the emotional impact of a film, and ideally even indulge in it vicariously.

This does raise an important further question about the impact of

social media. Anyone and everyone is a critic nowadays, whether that be of film, or of culture in general. But if film criticism is valuable because it helps us to identify the best out of a multitude of films to watch, do we now perhaps need ‘criticism criticism’ to help us identify whom, out of a sea of critics, to read? Surely not – as Neena Porter points out, most of us are aware that informal, online reviewing is a bit of a gamble and take it with a pinch of salt.

She goes on to say that social media is actually an excellent environment for young people to cultivate a genuine artistic interest in film – even if what’s on Twitter isn’t as refined as Mark Kermode writers in The Observer, that’s the platform that young people will actually read actively. For youth engagement, the impact of social media has been indispensable. Alin Tasciyan, however, points out that this kind of criticism can be divisive and ultimately narrows the public taste, as viral becomes a more coveted compliment than thoughtful.

We may draw a line between amateur and professional film criticism, but are there further divisions? Hedda Archbold (film agent and producer of Girls on Film) would argue that there are, citing one staggering statistic about diversity in the industry: only 4.7 per cent of reviews

of the top films of 2017 were written by women of colour. Giving a voice to a wider cross-section of the population was one of the founding principles of the Girls on Film podcast, which releases episodes from a female perspective every month.

Heather Dempsey maintains that a limited critical establishment limits the breadth of films that we engage with, because the films that resonate with the critical elite are more restricted. I was intrigued to hear about how more diverse representation in film criticism could be the best way forward for minority filmmakers to break into the industry – if there are more writers who can engage with their work in a serious and intimate way, this can only be good for promoting that same diversity in mainstream cinema.

Even something as seemingly trivial as switching up the order of the cast list can have a profound effect on one’s perception of a film (e.g.

'When Harry Met Sally, (1989) starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal').

This was just one of Anna Smith’s suggestions to help overcome established, but antiquated traditions in this line of reviewing.

Finally, the panel came to ponder whether there is a formula for writing a film review and, if so, what is it? Anna Smith posits that the film should dictate the structure of a re-

view and there is no single set formula, only a few ubiquitous elements (hook the reader, be economic with words etc.). Heather Dempsey prudently observes that one must always consider the readers’ expectations and the format – for example, a review for the radio must have more description to help a reader visualise the film, than a print review with pictures.

Frustratingly, it seems there really is no fixed blueprint for a great film review. Above all else, the panellists agreed that the single uniting aspect of great reviews was to write about films that make the greatest emotional impression on you. And this seems like a good place to start.

Of the myriad nuggets of wisdom, perhaps the most enduring, sagacious piece of advice I heard was from Alin Tasciyan: 'Never write an article for free. Never sell your soul for free.'

Expect a bill, Epigram!

Watersprite Film Festival

Female directors tiple storylines were embedded in the plot. But somehow, I cared for each and every one of those people. It’s definitely one of my top 10 favourite films of all time. Ava DuVernay should be so proud of herself for creating such a moving masterpiece.

First Year, Religion & Theology

The Farewell follows a Chinese-American family who learns that their grandmother has terminal cancer. Out of compassion and tradition, they choose not to tell her despite the passionate protests from the protagonist, Billi.

The Farewell is perfect for people who are seeking a character-driv-

and the two of them quickly begin an illicit relationship.

This film evoked two conflicting feelings within me - mesmerisation and discomfort. I partially wanted to be in Jenny’s shoes, as she wore beautiful dresses and received expensive gifts, but at the same time, David’s older age and smooth-talking ways left me with an underlying feeling of repulsion. Lone Scherfig was good at creating this air of mystery around David and I was constantly wondering what his motivation was. I think this is a key reason as to why the film was so good - the viewer is asking questions that they’re waiting for the film to answer.

Fi

s lm

é

and Day Pic tur

e

Selma depicts the voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery led by Martin Luther King in 1965.

Everything about this film was absolutely spot on - the camera angles, the colour scheme, the screenwriting… I genuinely could not find a single flaw. There were a lot of characters in this film, and therefore mul-

The Farewell (2019)

ch

Night

Selma (2014)

Pa th

The original film that inspired the Broadway musical, Waitress follows Jenna who gets pregnant with her abusive husband’s baby. Too scared to divorce him, Jenna keeps the baby a secret and plans on running away, but in the meantime begins an affair with her gynaecologist who shows her how to be happy for the first time in years.

Waitress definitely has its own unique style - whilst being set in reality, fantastical elements are scattered throughout it giving the film a wholly whimsical atmosphere. Adrienne Shelly balanced humour, drama and quirkiness perfectly so that Waitress was not only hilarious but also deeply moving. Unfortunately,

s

Waitress (2007)

en film. The plot is not very action-packed at all, but the focus on the experiences of the family members makes for a heartfelt and relatable film. The story was actually based on the real-life experience of director and writer, Lulu Wang. I feel that this added a lot of depth and ‘realness’ to the movie which made it very emotional to watch.

An Education (2009) An Education follows Jenny, a 1960s schoolgirl who has big dreams of attending Oxford University. That is until she meets David, an older man whose life seems to be enriched by culture. Jenny is in awe of David

C BB

Adrienne Shelly did not live to see the success of this film, but she has left an amazing legacy in this movie’s critical acclaim and message of empowerment.

Big Be a

In an industry dominated by men, a female director is a rare sight Lily Morris

Arts

Editor Anjuli Vadera Digital Editor Dulcie Godfrey Deputy Editor Katie Chalk

Twitter: @EpigramCulture

National Shakespeare Week is now hot on our heels, which tends to spark debate over whether the Bard’s works are really ‘full of sound and fury’ or are in fact ‘empty vessels [that] make the loudest sound’ Francesca Joyce, Second Year, English Literature

A

h, Shakespeare. He is undoubtedly one of the most famous writers in the world and certainly one of the most important writers in English History, producing a prolific number of plays and a significant collection of poetic works. His influence spreads across national borders, artistic genres and his stories and voice have infiltrated the psyches of countless other artists, writers and politicians.

Shakespeare has become so iconic these days that often we take for granted that not all his work is good. There is certainly an argument to be made against him. Does Shakespeare represent all that is cultured in our society, or is he emblematic of an overrated cult?

Many would argue that Shakespeare can’t possibly be overrated.

From his fertile brain there grew the timeless tale of Romeo and Juliet! However, Will’s venerated genius takes a hit once you discover that he snatched his star-crossed lovers from a narrative poem, written 35 years before, titled ‘Romeus and Juliet’ - yes, it was a rip-off.

The sheer number of Shakespeare specialists that you encounter at undergraduate level really does give the feeling that you’ve entered a ‘cult’ of Shakespeare. You hear mutterings about the iambic pentameter of the three witches; frogs and baboon’s blood gain a hallowed significance here. Unsurprisingly, it seems that Renaissance English Literature seems to be a thinly-veiled synonym for Shakespeare, Shakespeare and more Shakespeare.

Is it that Shakespeare’s contemporaries paled in the shadow of titans like Hamlet and Macbeth, or is the Shakespeare cow being milked to excess whilst everything else is

deliberately ignored? Perhaps it is more that Shakespearean domination has stunted the growth of our interest in the many other Auteurs within ‘classic’ English literature.

Equally, the problem doesn’t lie solely in a Shakespeare-centric culture but should be blamed on the overwhelming hordes of homogeneous Western literature that don’t deserve to hog the limelight.

Shakespeare’s cultural currency must therefore be derived from his lyrical craftsmanship, his ability to wrought stories into something immortal. It’s true that he has wormed his way into our words. Phrases coined by him might be just the thing when you have ‘not slept one wink’ thanks to the thin walls of your uni house or when you say ‘it’s all Greek to me’ to your friend studying Classics after they try to explain their degree to you.

It’s no secret that Shakespeare’s language is ambrosial, but is this enough to save him from the damning verdict of overrated? Scoring another point is his comedy, still as fresh as the moment the ink was drying on the first manuscript.

For the high-brow courtly humour, we might need to break out a Cambridge Handbook to get a chuckle from it, but a lot of the insults and dirty jokes are cackle-worthy because the punchlines are timeless, and admittedly we all love a bit of repetitive humour.

And, to address the fact of his shall we say, ‘borrowing' from other sources for his stories: the annoying truth is that most literature is recycled to some degree. If Shakespeare is to be incriminated for this, he’s bringing everyone else down with him. After all, my termly rewatch contender, 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), is a recycling of Shakespeare’s recycling (The Taming of the Shrew).

It must be said that Shakespeare’s enduring status isn’t built on staleness, a verdict that struck me when I went to a Macbeth production set to The Rolling Stones.

Ultimately, it’s impossible to see where our culture ends and Shakespeare begins. A final musing on this would be how our culture could look if we eased the Bard’s grip on us. Infinitely duller, one would expect. Don't write Shakespeare off as an ‘upstart crow’ just yet — his pedestal in our culture is deserved.

Epigram / Siavash Minoukadeh

Shakespeare: cultural icon or emblematic of an overrated cult?

epigram 23.03.2020

Art Spotlight

Arts 21

Tessa Grimshaw,

Third Year, English Literature Like what you see? have a look at Tessa's art instagram @ miozzoart If you would like to showcase your art please send your work to the Facebook Arts Writers Group 2020/21

The Tempest

Hailed as a stunning climax to the career of England's favourite dramatist, The Tempest is a play praising the glories of reconciliation and forgiveness. Some believe that Prospero's final speeches signify Shakespeare's personal adieu from the stage.

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

Macbeth Each time I read this whirlwind tale of murder, betrayal, and lusty ambition, I find an even greater appreciation for Shakespeare's unsurpassed ability to tell a riveting story with transcendent poetic imagery. In our modern history of tragic theatre, Macbeth has no equal.

Romeo and Juliet Celebrated for the radiance of its lyric poetry, Romeo and Juliet

was tremendously popular from its first performance. The sweet whispers shared by young Tudor lovers throughout the realm were often referred to as ‘naught but pure Romeo and Juliet.'

Much Ado About Nothing The happy conclusion of Much Ado About Nothing is the reason we classify the play as a comedy.

However, the true humour in the drama is left to the remarkable collection of supporting characters who dazzle us with wit and confound us with absurdity.

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

very Shakespeare fan has his or her own shortlist of the Bard's greatest works.

Although each play is a treasure that I have enjoyed more than once, I have whittled down my list of favourites to the following five.

Since its first recorded production, Hamlet has engrossed playgoers, thrilled readers, and challenged even the most gifted actors.

No other single work of fiction has produced more commonly used expressions. If you are sure in your heart of hearts that every dog will have his day, you are echoing the philosopher-prince.

Photo courtesy of Waterstones

Sha kespea re's Finest Works E

Hamlet

BOOK

CORNER

22 Arts

epigram 23.03.2020

Bristol student poetry showcase Ginny Darke

Alice O'Rorke

Third Year, English

Second Year, English Literature Finger Painting Each generation chooses to paint its fingertips Smears of acrylic Generational shades of blue, Green, Yellow, Spread onto the paper of society like a child’s finger-painting With no rhyme or regulation Just passionate impressions of the moment; Marking fleeting ideas and Movements.

Each generation chooses its colour With a precision, an accuracy; Impulses of the heart lead to Oranges, Reds, Purples, To print upon this sheet of culture, Covering past imprints, And replacing past fingerprints With new Fingerprints.

Artwork courtesy of Tessa, Grimshaw

Each generation builds up the canvas, Hiding past marks of regret, Marks that now repulse them, Combinations of colours that have turned Murky, Moulding, Brown To create a three-dimensional Movement Of passionate moments; Legacies on the page.

Cells like a Petal Cells resembling petals spread across the expanse of her cheeks.

They appear pristine, polished and poreless, Yet upon closer inspection a collection Of small indentations are hinted at, peaks and troughs on the skin surface, imprints from frowning, smiling, yawning, berating, Evidence of past vexations Creating veins of readable intimacy.

They state that the skin she embodies is not in fact the flawless perfection She thinks the world craves, she fixates on the textured surface, berates her experiences and Sees herself as imperfect.

She desires to hide these fictional imperfections that carve out the map of her existence; she hires pixies, pretty, dainty, dishonest creatures who fill the nooks in her skin, Who pull, prod, pluck and cover her features, who hide The readable veins of intimacy.

One alteration at a time, they section her into society’s box of beauty, She deems this as a necessity, the utmost propriety an acceptable punishment For the natural grooves on her skin’s surface That she deems deplorable, So that the world can see her as pristine, polished, poreless, A palette of cells to be worked and moulded.

Yet in her pixie-fixed state she truly hides away Her natural side, her true self, and chides her desire to escape her box And fire the dishonest pixies that pull and tug and pinch her petal-cells.

She craves to free the veiny truths that reveal The emotions she has capsuled, the paths she has crossed, the people She has escaped; She longs to bathe her body, to nourish the petals that pave her cheeks And embrace the peaks and Troughs; She dreams of treasuring The emotions, the paths, the people who engraved themselves on the veiny Expanse of her cheeks and marked their existence, She longs to reject the resistance within her.

She craves to reveal the truth of her face.

Lunela Take a small piece a slither of a half and think yourself a whole Remind me again would you of the certainty of the ocean waves Remind me to want the same fate of a truant randy The evidence will be found with the melody the malady of air.

Minuet pain (hit me with those Achilles feels) to be blunted with rice paper skin Still wet as a mop and drooping off my eyelids

After it will be too late one hand is boxing and i suppose the other one is watching if it could.i wish that it could.

168 days later and it goes onwards. and tell me what the girl next door does. no one seems keen to tell me. i saw her only last week standing on her roof a second chimney. and im going to allow you a couple more minutes. did you see the role shift there he morphed into something so different there. your flesh is dented there like flax.

Fourth Month I unhinged the parlour door.

My feet cold and bare on the green which has been obliterated by the boots of babies and toddlers who were here, only last week. You ask after me, to my mother, my mother asks after me and I choose not to reply.

You will not find me here but I hope you are doing okay.

I saw a picture of you on my phone, in a dream, lying half flanked on the floor of an underpass (you are not okay and I will still choose to ignore it).

The brown beneath my toes is hardening and locking me into place and I cannot wait to grow out.

My toes are extending miles into the ground to you.

Music

Editor Subeditor Digital Editor Deputy Editor

Twitter: @EpigramCulture Spotify: epigram_music

Lucas Arthur Lauren Paddison Greg Evans Flora Pick

In conversation with Alice Poppleton: Bristol music graduate 2015 Music Subeditor

T

he day after the first meeting with Bristol music students as part of the launch of a new project, Thinking Music, the initiative’s founder, Alice Poppleton, speaks with Epigram about her new community music project and the steps she has taken to get there.

Completing her undergraduate BA in music at Bristol from 2012–2015, Poppleton has gone on to study at both the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD), the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), and the Open Academy as a professional violinist. It is so often the case with arts’ graduates that their work and study follows a non-linear path, often driven by different projects and opportunities. Poppleton fully adopts this path, subscribing to a portfolio career made up of ‘a tapestry of rich things’ in the form of opportunities that have been sought and taken up.

Reflecting on her time at Bristol, which was filled with a lot of music making and performing, Poppleton remarks on the things that she cherished most not so much as the ‘big events’ but the small interactions with friends and the general buzz of university life which is filled with so many life-lasting moments: ‘It’s the laughing in the theatre bar, sneaking off to Waitrose for cookies before a lecture, dancing in the Brass Pig, and the community element of that.’

With music societies playing such a vital role in the social and musical lives of music students past and present, Poppleton relays her love of lecturer-run ensembles and student-led music groups. Being part of and performing with the university Symphony Orchestra and leading a Mahler Symphony in her final year, along with putting on a production of Dido and Aeneas with BOPS, are among her fondest memories. Other highlights include music society tours to Budapest and Kraków, and ‘the balls as well, we should mention the balls!’

Poppleton applied for postgraduate study and was accepted to complete a two-year long performance

After graduating from RAM, Poppleton also started instrumental teaching at Wimbledon High School.

She reflects on this balance – ‘I have a mixture of very stable things and very irregular, exotic things. Teaching is a piece of guaranteed income which also gives me routine

and stability which makes me feel safe. And then I have the completely new things that fill my diary as well – I’ve really learnt, both before the pandemic and now, that having something that’s constant is really important to then help me dare to

The overarching theme when asked about career moves and steps into the industry from Poppleton have been: ‘people love each other, and they want to push each other along. So, find the people who want to support you, and who care about

of Arts in Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music. Here, she was first introduced to community music, which led to her involvement in the Belsize Baroque orchestra - one of the leading amateur baroque orchestras, comprising professionals, students and top amateur perform-

take on new things.’

The different parts of a creative tapestry career are important not only for stability, but for staying energised about each component.

Poppleton assures that ‘if I did any one part of my career full-time, I wouldn’t be as good at it as if I have

you and your career. Because we do something that’s vocational, people are invested in you. That’s why it has to be genuine relationships for me.’ In pursuit of this genuineness that has carried her thus far, Poppleton reflects that ‘the power of saying “thank you, I really liked what you did” is maybe what’s kept me moving forward.’

Poppleton’s proudest venture doesn’t manifest itself in one concert, one project, one degree or one job – ‘I’m most proud of these amazing relationships that I’ve fostered and the fact that I get to work with these amazing people and then call them friends as well.’ Her appreciation goes a long way and is testament to the ‘environment of support, honesty, openness, creativeness, collaborative-ness and wanting the best

‘Find the people who want to support you, and who care about your career ... People are invested in you.'

Courtesy of: Alice Poppleton

Epigram speaks with Alice Poppleton, the first in a series of conversations with music graduates Lauren Paddison

local music service, Salisbury Area Young Musicians – ‘I went from picking a violin up in my local music service every Saturday to leading symphony orchestras’, powerfully summing up how profound community music can be in the lives of its attendees.

diploma at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. The step was a big one, and Poppleton recognises ‘it’s quite a daunting moment leaving university, and people get quite anxious about it whereas I thought, “I’ll just see what happens.”’

When making big decisions Poppleton reinforces that it is important to check-in with yourself about how you feel about opportunities that arise. She reflects on being a part of Marnaves Summer Baroque course taken just before starting at RWCMD which went on to shape a passion that lasts to this day: ‘I reacted very instinctively to every opportunity, and just kept following them’.

The baroque violin led Poppleton to study a one-year intensive Master

‘I reacted very instinctively to every opportunity, and just kept following them.' ers and project, Hold the Drama, which delivers immersive shows for children using high-quality live music to tell stories that explore issues around mental health. She says of these ventures - ‘the big things in my life are overlapping connections.

It has always been about the people, and the fit, and where I can feel I can flourish.’

a mixture. I’m sure of that. But doing things like the creative music makes me feel like I'm using and stretching different parts of my personality, and my musical identity as well.’

‘Definitely yes’, was the answer to whether Poppleton felt supported in music in childhood, ‘but not in any way advertently.’ Also prominent in her memory is the support from her

for each other.’

For the first time Poppleton addresses the pandemic and reflects on the last twelve months of varying levels of national lockdown. The tone is, however, immediately positive as she addresses the ‘void’ of time that the pandemic has brought to so many working people who have been forced to stay at home.

Poppleton reflects that ‘in a lot of ways the pandemic has been the void; I had this void of time.’ Stress falls on her final remark about the void and about ‘having things you know will help’.

It is hard not to feel warmed by the infectious optimism of Poppleton’s further advice on dealing with the struggles of lockdown – ‘if you are facing the void, set yourself useful challenges; courses you’ve seen, books you’ve always wanted to read, people you’ve always wanted to get in touch with.’ Turning every challenge into an opportunity is something we have all had to learn throughout the pandemic, and Poppleton is testament to the success of this ethos.

Community music has become a key component in Poppleton’s musical identity, and she takes the time to return to some of those significant moments when her music has impacted the lives of others – ‘when you’re locking eyes with someone and you’re trying to work out what music is going to make them come alive. That is, for me, ground-breaking. The fact I’ve gone into a hospital and been a baby’s first ever music, or you play to a child who hasn’t ever left hospital, and won’t ever leave hospital, and you sit next to the parent and the child and you actually try and make the music to make their eyes move more or make their hand twitch. And you literally sit there and improvise until it happens – that’s just something else.’

A new community music initiative headed by Poppleton, Thinking Music, which sees Bristol University’s Music Department pair with a primary school in Wiltshire to boost music as a creative learning tool as well as an expressive outlet. The project seeks to introduce new ways in which music can supplement core curriculum whilst also filling a gap left in the little arts funding allocated to the rural primary school.

To find out more and read the unabridged article, visit Epigram's website.

24 Music

epigram 23.03.2021

Bristol's best summer music events Second Year Politics and IR

After the year we’ve all had, hearing news of the potential return to normality by 21 June has been music to everyone’s ears. Although great uncertainty remains as to whether this will be the case, it’s good to be optimistic and finally have things to look forward to. Here are Epigram’s picks of the most exciting music events planned in Bristol this summer.

Lakota Summer of Love Day Party Saturday 26 June – Sunday 27 June All things going well, Lakota looks to bring ravers together for the first open-air day party of 2021. At a supposedly much larger and secret location, the day festival will offer 9 hours of partying, with music spanning from drum and bass to disco. Having spent a year indoors, what better way to kickstart your summer than accompanied by one of the city’s most celebrated clubs and a massive selection of DJs?

Motion Summer Garden Party Saturday 26 June The first Saturday back was always going to be a big one and with both Lakota and Motion holding massive events, it looks to be a belter. To celebrate restrictions being lifted, Motion will take the party outdoors for an entire day of music, with an impressive line-up promised.

Fortunately, for those who can’t wait for so long to get back into Bristol’s biggest and most famous club, Motion plans to reopen, after over a year of closure, on 16 April, promising an exciting set of seated, open-air shows in the meantime.

St Paul’s Carnival Saturday 3 July Despite a lack of confirmation that St Paul’s Carnival will take place, organisers are hoping the event will be able to go ahead later this year. The carnival, which celebrates Caribbean music, culture and dance is a massive part of the Bristol calendar and welcomes over 100,000 people to our streets each year.

Bristol Harbour Friday 16 July – Sunday 18 July Bristol Harbour Festival looks set to make its return this summer. Alongside other cultural activities, the fes-

tival aims to showcase the diversity in Bristol’s music scene, with stages all around the city – from Thekla to the Lloyds Amphitheatre. Attendees can expect music of a wide range of genres, from reggae and disco to techno and pop. Best of all, it’s free to attend!

Motion Crucast Summer Shutdown Saturday 31 July Back in Bristol for the first time in nearly two years, the full Crucast team will provide 10 hours of high-energy drum and bass and bassline at Motion.

With huge names like Skepsis, Darkzy and Bou, ravers look set to be in for a real treat.

Sunder 2021 Saturday 7 August With 11 acts across 2 different stages, Sunder showcases up-and-coming bands from both Bristol itself and across the rest of the UK. The event, held at The Exchange, will feature a mix of genres including indie, neosoul, grunge and much more.

Love Saves the Day Festival Saturday 4 September – Sunday 5 September Organisers have confirmed that one

Epigram / Lucy O'Neill

Our recommendations for the upcoming festival season Josh Templeman

of Bristol’s largest festivals is set to take place this year and is to be held in a new location. Usually held in Eastville Park, this year’s event will unfold in a location that remains unnamed. The line-up also remains unconfirmed but based on past years, attendees can be sure to expect some massive names across various genres.

Tokyo World Festival Saturday 18 September – Sunday 19 September Taking place in Eastville Park, Tokyo World is one of Bristol’s most iconic festivals. Although the line-up

remains unannounced, organisers have promised something big. Previous years have seen the festival host some of the biggest names in the electronic music and UK hip hop scene.

Dot To Dot Festival Saturday 25 September Dot To Dot, one of Bristol’s most popular day music festivals, has been confirmed to return in September, taking place across various venues within the city. From rapper Sam Wise to alternative rock band Sports Team, the festival is sure to offer something for everyone.

A series of short documentaries, created

by Save Bristol Nightlife, delivers suprisingly poinant messages Lucas Arthur Music Editor

E

very venue tells a story. In so many bars across the city, you can trace it along the walls and shelves – the photos of infamous faces, posters of past events, memorabilia and souvenirs from all corners of the earth. In a newly created series of short documentaries, shot and edited by members of Save Bristol Nightlife, venue owners share their stories of working in hospitality, before and after the pandemic set in. Their monologues, set to intimate shots of the empty venues, provide a sobering account of the unseen costs of lockdown.

‘You’re thinking, “is it working?"

We get six people in. The government funding’s gone, and you’re left struggling on your own.’ Patsy has run The Beaufort, a cosy pub in the heart

of Montpellier, for over 37 years. At full capacity, it seats no more than twenty people, crammed in beside the jukebox. With social-distancing in place, The Beauford can barely accommodate six. She spreads photos and newspaper clippings across a table, showing a fraction of those people who found joy in her pub across the years. ‘Small pubs won’t survive at all… you’ll have to leave it to the bigger pubs.'

It's clear the UK’s one-size-fitsall approach to restrictions allowed many to fall through the gaps. The 10pm curfew, imposed at the end of September, faced widespread opposition from late-night venues for depriving them of their most profitable business hours. In one video, owners of The Queen’s Shilling, one of the city’s oldest gay clubs, reveal their venue lost over £12,000 in a fiveweek period of curtailed hours, as the camera pans to a fridge stocked full of expired drinks.

In another, Elmer, of Elmer’s Arms, speaks gravely, recalling the mounting costs of successive lockdowns: ‘it’s been brutal. All of a sudden, we’re closed again. The wastage was bigger – the wastage on the third

lockdown was bigger again. We cancelled above 50 events last year. You just didn’t know which way to turn.'

Even for those who own their premises, unburdened by rent payments, the costs of maintaining a wet bar through such uncertain times appears greater than if the venues had remained closed all along.

For owners and punters alike, the cost to mental welbeing is one that may never fully emerge. ‘[Pubs] are a place where people come and work out their frustrations and stresses, and leave them behind,’ says Tom, landlord at The Plough, Easton.

‘What’s been lost is connection.’

Perhaps the most pertinent message from these films is the extent to which the city’s venues are ingrained within the communities they serve.

The damage to the mental wellbeing of the owners, owing to losses, stress and uncertainty, is referenced in every video. But observing these vast, empty spaces, in community hubs like Trinity Centre and Eastville Social Club, leads one to wonder how those who frequented such places are coping in isolation. All the videos can be viewed on ‘Save Bristol Nightlife's' YouTube page.

SaveBristolNightlife / Colin Moody

The personal cost of Bristol’s nightlife shutdown

Music 25

epigram 23.03.2021

Big fish in a small pond: in conversation with Drug Store Romeos Second Year English Literature

A

s I sit down to talk to Drug Store Romeos, it feels like catching up with old friends. Stepping into Sarah, Jonny and Charlie’s glittery dreamscape, we talk embarrassing band names, personal growth and goldfish.

Borrowing their band name from a line hidden in Tennesee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the band’s journey feels equally as proportional to a play. ‘It’s like a club’, Sarah explains, ‘it seems like all our generation studied that play — we all seem to know it.’ We scramble to piece together our foggy memories of GCSE English; mainly death and madness.

Johnny laughs ‘yeah, maybe don’t read the play, and definitely don’t take on the messages!’ Charlie recalls a ‘month of concentrated time trying to come up with a band name — we had a big blackboard and a bunch of names written down’. Among these were ‘The Vivids’, ‘The Sunset Gang’ (‘I still like that!’), ‘The Voidz’ (‘but Julian Casablancas stole that one’), ‘Velvet 100’ (‘that was actually a good one! Oh well, it’s too late now’) and ‘Nude’ (‘but in all caps’). Sarah interrupts, ‘No! It was supposed to be The Nude Colour Scheme!’ — a trivial argument only comprehensible to great friends ensues.

Despite trying on an excess of titles, the trio stand firm in their identity, wearing their searing intelligence confidently. Their lyrics stitch together a patchwork quilt of

poetic sentiments: ‘Frame of Reference’ opens ‘I’m the best course, eat me last’; ‘Jim, Let’s Play’ quips ‘I’m elastic plastic.’ Sarah often uses ‘that cut up word technique’, pastiching interesting phrases from magazines.

‘Gemini communicator’, the echoing outro of ‘Jim Let's Play’, came from a ‘cut up word sheet’ that particularly resonated with the band. ‘Sarah is pretty into astrology,’ Charlie

small English town with family. She shares a story of two hills; watching over one hilltop from the other — ‘it was like a microcosm of a tiny little ant hill, with dogs running up and down and people sitting and picnicking, and I think that was quite inspiring.’ Charlie adds his own existential musings — ‘I live with twelve other people that I had only known for about a month before lockdown

to create a moment like that.’ Taking influence from these grand and intimate moments, the band gestures to new music that we can expect ‘pretty soon actually.'

Space and sound seem almost relative for Drug Store Romeos. Unashamedly following the cliché of small town kids making it in the big city, the band inevitably moved from their sleepy hometown to London.

explains; ‘I’m not sure if we are, but it helps a lot of people navigate their lives. Navigating life is pretty much the hardest thing to do, so I like the idea of getting help based on planetary cycles.’ As Sarah croons ‘living in a technicolour dream’, she self-consciously typifies their sound; a vision of throbbing colours.

Even in conversation the band remains impressively profound.

We discuss finding inspiration in a standstill world, and Sarah ruminates on being locked-down in a

— a lot of the songs I wrote over lockdown were inspired by situations with the new people that I was living with and the music they showed me.’

A housemate’s birthday party particularly resonates: ‘it was like three in the morning, and we’d had an energetic, fun night — but then this song came on that was a lot slower in groove, still dancey but a lot softer — and I saw this moment between a couple, they were looking at each other and the groove kind of influenced their body. It made me want

‘We needed to get out of little Fleet’, Sarah admits, ‘even though we love it and we owe it much.' She pauses, reaching for another poignant simile: ‘we needed to be a goldfish in a pond. Y’know like how you can get a massive goldfish if it goes into its real environment.' Charlie nods, obviously familiar with Sarah’s allegories ‘yeah, we’re trying to be big goldfish basically.' ‘Big, weird goldfish,' Sarah concludes.

Considering the band’s evolving sound, it seems bound to their

Courtesy of: Drug Store Romeos

Epigram speaks to the emerging new wave three-piece Mia Smith

Editors' Picks

Nubiyan Twist Freedom Fables

Sheppard Kaleidoscope Eyes

Weyes Blood Titanic Rising

changing geography. Charlie thinks back to Fleet: ‘we had this small rehearsal room — well, it was actually Jonny's dad's old study — but it was just a small little rectangle room. I think when we'd write songs in there, we were very much writing them for that room — they felt small, suburban and confined. But now that I've moved to London, even though I’m still in a small rectangle room, I think I’m definitely writing songs for bigger spaces.’ Jonny manages to find familiarity in their changing location: ‘now we're all living in London — but it’s interesting because in Fleet we lived in a sort of 10-minute triangle away from each other, and now we live in a sort of half an hour London transport triangle away from each other.’ ‘An obtuse triangle,' Sarah laughs. She alludes to a selfgrowth that goes hand-in-hand with evolving sound: ‘I don't feel like our sound has changed because of the place I live in and what's around me — I feel like it's changed within me, because I'm somewhere new’.

But beneath this refined wiseness lies a playfulness, preserved from Charlie and Jonny meeting through a mutual friend on the school playground. Sarah later wormed her way in through conviction and a college bulletin board: ‘they posted that they wanted a bassist and I said yes. I didn't play the bass. I’d never picked up a bass — I just kind of fluked it. I went and bought a really cheap bass, turned up and pretended I knew what I was doing.’ It is this boldness that continues to pay off for the trio, and if their magnificent oeuvre of just four songs is anything to go off, these goldfish will only continue to grow bigger and better.

Danny L Harle Harlecore

Greg Evans Flora Pick Lucas Arthur Lauren Paddison Digital Editor Deputy Music Editor Music Editior Subeditor The blue skied neo-soul of The Australian pop band that Two years on from its origi- Harlecore is the first album Nuybian Twist provides a brought us ‘Geronimo’ brings nal release, Natalie Mering’s you are likely to encounter to welcome escape from the the same energy, dynamism, fourth studio album still feels come complete with a virtual damp monotony of the Eng- and young dominance in ground-breaking.

Saturat- rave tie-in. Marrying recent lish springtime - ironic, given their third release, ‘Kaleid- ed with knowing influences, hyperpop trends, with which that the 10-piece originally scope Eyes'. It is hard not ranging from lavish 70s ex- he had involvement in the anhail from Leeds. The group to feel the sun on your skin perimentalism to contem- tecedent PC music label, with a integrates strutting afrobe- when listening, and the suck- porary electronica, the pro- taste for bombastic 90s Euroat and samba rhythms into er that I am for synth-driv- duction feels both futuristic pean hardcore, Danny L Harle it’s own brand of London en, exultant pop anthems, I and timeless. ‘Movies’ is an creates an immersive soundensemble jazz, emboldened could not ignore this album out-of-body experience, a scape that is at once grating by a range of guest features as belt-out-in-the-car materi- soundscape that floods the and sickeningly glossy. Aided from within and beyond the al. Reminiscing the deep blues consciousness – rich but or- by legendary producer HuMo, genre. Freedom Fables is an of the Aussie coastline that ganic in its ability to consume Harlecore, with its pounding exciting, fast-flowing mix was my home and lifestyle the listener. With lyrics pul- insistence on extremity, highof diverse influences, ex- a year ago, I am both over- sating with nostalgic longing, lights the capacity for brilpertly arranged into a single, come and eased by lyrics like Titanic Rising still feels like a liance in a genre all too ofhugely enjoyable project. ‘we had a damned good run.’ feat of contemporary music. ten relegated to joke territory.

Discover all of our recommedations on our Spotify @Epigram_Music

SciTech

Editor Julia Riopelle Digital Editor Edward Deacon Deputy Editor Delhi Kalwan

Twitter: @EpigramSciTech

A student’s guide to Bitcoin: to buy or not to buy?

Ned breaks down cryptocurrency with a student’s guide to Bitcoin Ned Piggott Second Year, Ancient History

A

lot of students have never heard of Bitcoin, but can it be a quick way to make money without having to leave your bedroom? Sat in bed with a warm tea and a pack of digestives one afternoon, as per Boris’ instructions, I went down the Bitcoin rabbit hole.

Looking at its increase in price, I almost choked on my tea. If I had invested £100 exactly one year ago, I would have made £391 in profit today.

One student at the University of Bristol revealed that they had made a profit of almost £40,000, having invested £200 in 2015. Scan the dinosaur barcode below to see how much you could have made by investing in Bitcoin at various times.

digital wallets on a phone or computer, and there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins created. This means that as time goes on, they become increasingly valuable.

the news, and the media presented it as very scary and unstable, but so are a lot of other investments in the stock market.’

Other possible risks include:

Like a cake, Bitcoin can be split up into smaller bits Bitcoin essentially has two potential uses: as a store of value, like a digital gold, or as a currency. Like a cake, Bitcoin can be split up into smaller bits, the smallest being a Satoshi, which is one millionth of a single Bitcoin. At the time of writing, the market cap (total value of all bitcoins) is over 1 trillion dollars, which exceeds the money supply of Russia’s entire ruble currency.

What are the risks?

A common strategy for Bitcoin investors is to buy when the price is low and ‘hodl’ (hold) for several years until it is worth more in the

•

• •

•

Security risks, such as hacking bitcoin exchanges (Bitcoin itself is almost impossible to hack, but not the websites it is bought on).

Fraud risks, such as email scams.

Storage risks. This could include forgetting your password or losing the item you store bitcoin on, such as a USB drive.

The rise and the fall. As with any investment, if it goes shooting up, it can come crashing down.

long term, holding on to it even through bad days. It is important to keep in mind that being human, we can never know when the best time to buy or sell is, and Bitcoin is known to be incredibly volatile.

When interviewing a student at the University of Bristol about their preconceptions of cryptocurrency, they said: ‘I had heard of Bitcoin in

Separating the bullish from the bearish To be bullish about a stock means you expect prices to rise; being bearish means that you expect prices to recede. The battle between the bullish and the bearish is ongoing.

The Winklevoss twins, known for their early involvement in Facebook, are big proponents of Bitcoin. In Au-

gust 2020, Tyler Winklevoss wrote an article called ‘The case for $500k Bitcoin’, based largely on the logic that Bitcoin had begun to eat away at gold’s dominance as a long-term store of value. With cash continuing to flow out of the gold market and into Bitcoin, this prediction is currently looking sound.

On the other hand, Mark Frauenfelder experienced the worst case of ‘I forgot my password’ that I have ever heard of. After having invested $100 in 2016, Frauenfelder forgot

pressed North Koreans and drug lords. However, in 2018 he relented and admitted that he had helped his daughter to buy two bitcoins.

So, should students buy Bitcoin?

I am personally not going to buy Bitcoin right now. I hope its price will decrease so I can invest a small amount of money that it wouldn’t hurt to lose. Regardless of what people on Reddit forums predict about Bitcoin ‘shooting for the moon’, I think it's best not to ‘yeet my student loan onto the stock market because

There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins so as time goes on, they become more valuable Unsplash / Nick Chong

So, what is Bitcoin?

Launched in 2009, Bitcoin is the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency, which just means a form of electronic cash. It uses a new kind of technology called the blockchain so that it can be exchanged without the need for intermediaries like banks to verify exchanges. Bitcoins, essentially computer files, can be stored on

Epigram / Sarah Dalton

[Bitcoin] has the potential to rapidly shake up not just the investing world, but the way we pay for

his pin and password, which eventually cost him $30,000. Big mistake.

The boss of JP Morgan Financial services, Jamie Dimon, said in 2017 that Bitcoin was a fraud, and would ultimately be only fit for use by re-

YOLO.’ However, no matter what you choose, I recommend doing some research into this new technology. It has the potential to rapidly shake up not just the investing world, but the way we pay for things too.

SciTech 27

epigram 23.03.2021

COVID Corner

The B.1.1.7 variant has been found to be between 30 and 100 per cent more deadly Edward Deacon SciTech Digital Editor

T

he B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19, first detected in Kent, has been found to be between 30 and 100 per cent more deadly than previous strains.

Epidemiologists from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter have found the strain has a higher mortality rate for adults diagnosed com-

Epi g Jul ram ia R / iop el

le

pared to other strains.

227 deaths were recorded in a sample of 54,906 patients (0.41 per cent) with the B.1.1.7 variant compared to 141 with a sample of the same number of similarly matched patients with previous strains (0.26 per cent).

Lead author Dr Robert Challen explains that despite death from COVID-19 being a ‘rare event, the B.1.1.7 variant raises the risk.'

‘Coupled with its ability to spread rapidly' he adds, ‘this makes B.1.1.7 a threat that should be taken seriously.

The higher transmissibility of the strain meant a greater number of people previously considered low risk were hospitalised after infection.

The B.1.1.7 variant was first detected in Kent in September 2020.

Dr Leon Danon, senior author and Associate Professor in Infectious Disease Modelling from the University of Bristol, noted: ‘we focussed our analysis on cases that occurred between November 2020 and January 2021, when both the old variants and the new variant were present in the UK.

‘This meant we were able to maximise the number of “matches" and reduce the impact of other biases.

Subsequent analyses have confirmed our results.’

Expressing some concern about the rate at which the virus appears to be able to mutate, Dr Danon said: ‘there is a real concern that other variants will arise with resistance to rapidly rolled out vaccines.

‘Monitoring for new variants as they arise, measuring their characteristics and acting appropriately needs to be a key part of the public health response in the future.’

Fortunately, the mutation present in the B.1.1.7 variant ‘happened in part of the genome covered by routine testing’, explains Dr Ellen Brooks Pollock - Senior Lecturer in Infectious Disease Mathematical Modelling. However, ‘future mutations could arise and spread unchecked.’

The B.1.1.7 variant has been detected in over 50 countries, highlighting its global importance. The recent study provides invaluable information to governments and health organisations.

Epigram / Julia Riopelle

Kent Covid-19 variant has a much higher mortality rate, study finds

A new study seeks to better understand the effects of long COVID Alejandro Ortega Third Year, Physics

A

systematic study involving the University of Bristol aims to better understand how to treat long COVID, which affects around 10 per cent of those who get the virus.

Based on the discrepancy between the government’s lockdown roadmap and vaccination strategy, it seems there will be a five-month period where there are no legal restrictions, yet young people are not yet fully immunised against COVID-19.

In some senses, that is not much to worry about. The probability of a young person dying after catching COVID-19 is extremely low.

But while the direct risks from COVID-19 are well understood, we have a lot less data on the long-term

ID has been hard to collect. One apeffects - known as long COVID. A proach has been to encourage people recent ONS (Office for National Stato self-report COVID-19 symptoms tistics) survey suggests 17 per cent on the ‘ZOE’ app. But the range of of those aged 17-24 still have symppeople who have downloaded the toms one month after testing posiZOE app are not necessarily repretive for COVID-19. sentative of the whole population, so Long COVID symptoms can range the data is likely inconclusive. from a painless discolouration of the The recently launched study intoes, to debilitating ‘brain fog' and volving the University of Bristol fatigue that make the smallest of aims to take a more systematic apchores utterly exhausting. proach. In 1990 and 1991, University Even for those who survive it, researchers recruited COVID-19 can be An ONS survey 14,000 expectant life-changing. mothers for a project There is still an suggests 17 per cent called ‘children of awful lot we just of those aged 17-24 the 90s’. These mothdon’t understand still have symptoms ers were selected to about long COVID. 1 month after testing be representative of Why do some people get it, while the positive for COVID-19 the wider population. majority of those These same participants will now infected feel no long-term effects? help contribute to our understandWhat is the best way to diagnose ing of long COVID, with the aim long COVID? And once diagnosed, of treating the long-term effects of what are the best ways to treat it?

COVID-19 much more effectively.

Up until now, data on long COV-

Epigram / Julia Riopelle

Long COVID - who gets it and how can we treat it?

28 SciTech

epigram 23.03.2021

Bristol researchers pioneer novel gene therapies it is harmless, the immune system recognises AAV as a potentially threatening virus because chemical markers in its genome activate specialised immune receptor proteins.

These receptors trigger inflammation and signal to white blood cells PhD, Physics to destroy the virus.

When gene therapy is adminisrofessor Andrew Dick, tered at high doses, the immune who specialises in gene system can go into overdrive. Retherapies for eye diseassearchers were motivated by recent es, led the Bristol team in their reclinical trials where an aggressive search alongside others in Europe immune response to a gene therapy and the US, including Harvard became deadly. In 2019, a clinical University. Through animal trials, trial of gene therapy for myotubuthe researchers found that ‘cloaklar myopathy, a rare genetic condiing’ gene therapy drugs from the tion causing muscle weakness, was immune system could make them halted after an adverse reaction safer and more effective. caused the deaths of two infants.

Gene therapy is a revolutionary Cloaking gene therapies to treatment which targets genetic evade the immune system disorders at their source; mutaThe researchers hypothesised tions of the cell genome, which that as well as therapeutic genes, makes the proteins they synthethey could modify the AAV genome sise defective. Clinicians can force with DNA that would neutralise the cells to make the correct protein receptor proteins, thereby blocking by infecting them with a harmless the immune response. The body can virus called adeno-associated virus already do this to an extent. DNA (AAV). The genome of the AAV is sequences which inmodified to conhibit these receptors tain a copy of the Gene therapy is an target gene withexciting and advanced are found in cell chromosomes and out the mutation treatment for eye can be released if the and when it enters disorders immune system gets the cell, this gene out of control. replaces the defecBy adding synthetic copies of this tive one.

DNA sequence to the AAV genome Like organ transplants, successin the laboratory, the team successful gene therapy means overridfully inhibited the inflammation ing the body’s instinct to destroy of human cells infected with AAV. foreign genetic material. Though

New research could eliminate side-effects from treatment of genetic disorders Katherine Skipper

P

Epigram / Julia Riopelle

After this discovery, they moved to test it in animal trials.

These trials measured the immune response of the eye to AAV with and without the anti-inflammatory DNA sequence. The eye is a natural target of gene therapy because it is isolated from the rest of the body, and because the risks of blindness mean inflammation of the eye is naturally suppressed.

Initial tests were performed on mice. The presence of immune receptor inhibitors in the AAV genome reduced inflammation and white blood cell numbers in the

retina. The modification also led to earlier, longer and more effective spread of the AAV gene therapy throughout the retina tissue.

Similar results were found in pigs, whose eyes are structurally similar to humans.

Adaptable gene therapies Encouraged by this, the researchers moved to a clinically relevant model; healthy macaques were treated with an AAV vector modified to deliver a gene encoding the protein Aflibercept, which is used to treat blindness.

At this point they also changed

the delivery of the drug. Instead of administering the injection to the retina, it was now delivered directly into the eyeball. The former causes a lower immune response, but it is riskier and thus only suitable for the most serious cases. The goal of this research is a technique which can be adopted to treat a wide range of diseases, so the researchers wanted to know whether delivery to the eyeball would still be effective.

This is an abridged article. To read the full version, visit our website epigram.org.uk

University of Bristol pairs with media industry heavyweights to reveal their carbon footprint Nyse Vicente

Second Year, French and Russian

A

collaboration between computer science researchers from the University of Bristol and major media companies, including ITV and BBC, could help to hold the industry accountable and manage their carbon impacts.

The 12-month pilot phase, facilitated by sustainability experts, Carnstone, will see the University of Bristol researchers working with sustainability and technology teams.

Companies like ITV, BBC, Dentsu Aegis, RELX, Schibsted, Sky and TalkTalk are working with Bristol Uni-

offering digital products and services. The calculator covers digital video streaming, advertising services, business intelligence and publishing.

There are plans to create modules covering gaming and music streaming next.

‘When we started in 2019, there was some uncertainty about whether it would even be possible to create a web tool for the digital media industry. Today, we not only have a working tool, but we have an en-

Unsplash / K Mitch Hodge

UoB, BBC and ITV are set to reveal where carbon emissions should be reduced

versity to map the ‘carbon hotspots’ of digital media content and streaming services. These are areas where carbon emissions are unusually high and could be reduced accordingly, to decrease their contribution to global warming.

Recent years have seen a surge in companies setting ‘Net Zero’ targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. DIMPACT, an online carbon calculator, was born out of this. It is now available for any company

With climate change being an increasing concern, DIMPACT will allow companies to understand their carbon impacts gaged group of companies and big plans for the future,’ said Christian Toennesen, Senior Partner at Carnstone, DIMPACT's initiator and product manager.

With the climate crisis being an increasing concern, DIMPACT will allow companies to understand their downstream carbon impacts, which will enable more informed decision-making to reduce the overall carbon footprint of digital services.

Thanks to its promising outlook, DIMPACT has been awarded a major research commercialisation grant by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council.

‘This is a great opportunity to leverage our existing research strengths to help create a ground-breaking tool with real-world applications', said Dr Dan Schien from the University of Bristol's Department of Computer Science. ‘We expect this technology to go far. Internationalisation, forecasting, validation and increasing the scope are the focus areas that will drive the next phase of development,’ he added.

Following a successful kick-off in 2019, the DIMPACT project partners have started developing the underlying model and initiated user experience research.

Puzzles

Editor Fergus Ustianowski

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

Epigram Quiz of the Week 1. Which learning style is due to return after Easter break?

2. How many students were elected into positions in the recent SU elections?

Cell Blocks Credit: Patrick Sullivan, Puzzles Digital Editor

Divide the grid into square or rectangular blocks so that each block drawn on contains only one number. Each block must contain the number of cells indicated by the number inside it.

3. What is the name of the upcoming David Attenborough series supported by Bristol research?

4. Which former Labour leader spoke at Bristol SU's Climate Emergency Day of Action?

5. Who is running to be the next Avon & Somerset Police & Crime Commissioner, having previously been Bristol's first Black female Lord Mayor?

Common Formula

epigram.org.uk/2020/10/24/ sudoku-infinite/

6 9

CaCO3

H2O2

1 5 2 7

Quiz Answers

Don't peek!

Green Party

BBC

Try our infinite sudoku with varying levels of difficulty by visiting:

NaOCl

8 1 5 2 7 2

8 5 1 4

6 4 3

7 6 3

Blended learning 35 Life in Colour Ed Milliband Cllr Cleo Lake

Credit: Fergus Ustianowski, Puzzles Editor

NaCl

4

Each row, column and box of 9 have the numbers 1-9 only occuring once.

Difficulty: Very Hard

NaHCO3

Solutions will be posted online at: epigram.org.uk/tag/puzzles facebook.com/epigrampaper

4

If you would like to submit ideas for Puzzles, email epigram.puzzles@gmail.com

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Sudoku

Each of these chemical formulae are in fact common household products. Which ones do you recognise?

Credit: Fergus Ustianowski,

30 Sport

epigram 23.03.2021

Top sporting documentaries to see out lockdown

Star rating (****)

IMDb

Icarus (2018)

Charlie Wilbraham

Second Year Politics and International Relations

W

e’re finally on the home stretch (hopefully), and after a year of being stuck indoors you’ve probably rinsed all streaming services of their content. For that reason, Epigram Sport is providing a definitive guide to what are widely seen as the best sports documentaries since 2010, as well as where you can find them.

Diego Maradona (2019) When I learned of Diego’s passing, my thoughts immediately went to this film and the portrayal of his legendary, yet infamous spell at Napoli. The filmmaker – Oscar winning director of Amy, Asif Kapadia – effortlessly paints this picture using solely archive footage without talking heads or a voice over. The result is two hours of rich storytelling presenting the duality of Diego, the working-class boy from a shanty town near Buenos Aires, and Maradona, the icon of modern football whose actions on and off the field created a god-like aura – a figure to be worshipped rather than a man to be understood. If this sounds like your cup of tea, Diego Maradona is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

Star rating (*****)

Free Solo (2018) One that many will have seen but is worth mentioning nonetheless, as this Oscar-winning documentary is

just as nerve-shredding and intimate on re-watch. Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin capture the blunt and unassuming yet truly inspirational climber Alex Honnold on his quest to fulfil a lifelong obsession and climb Yosemite’s 3,000 feet high ‘El Capitan’. As the name suggests, however, he is doing it in the ‘Free Solo’ style of climbing – alone and without ropes, harnesses, or any other protective equipment. The husband-and-wife team of filmmakers are friends with Honnold, and so provide us with an honest and emotionally charged look at a true athletic wonder. If you aren't put off by the heights, you can find Free Solo on Disney Plus.

Star rating (****)

which everyone seemed to be watching and discussing Netflix and ESPN’s Emmy-winning docuseries The Last Dance. Director Jason Hehir's series focuses on Michael Jordan’s final season of a legendary time with the Chicago Bulls in which they won six NBA Championships in eight years with Jordan as MVP for all six.

It draws on brilliant access-all-areas footage of one of the most iconic sports teams to ever exist. An incredible 10-part drama, it encapsulates the chaotic storm of emotion, athleticism, fandom, and hyper-commercialisation that characterises elite American sports. If you haven't already seen the series, or fancy rewatching, you can find it on Netflix.

Star rating (***)

Hillsborough (2012)

Pele (2021)

Originally created by Daniel Gordon as part of ESPN’s excellent 30 for 30 documentary series, the film was only aired in the UK following the 2016 inquest which exonerated Liverpool fans of blame on the day of Hillsborough.

The footage is shocking and emotional, presented alongside interviews from those affected, including survivors, victim’s families and even police who were there on the day – themselves victims of arrogant and inept leadership. Hillsborough is an important watch with contemporary relevance to be found in the examination of leadership blaming a less powerful group for their mistakes, whilst a sensationalist media happily perpetuates untruths. Hillsborough is one of the most accessible of these documentaries and is available all over the internet.

Directed by David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas, this new documentary covers the life of a figure once seen as more global than football itself.

It follows the well-worn story of his rise at Santos and iconic escapades in the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups.

More intruiging, however, is the examination of Pele’s indifference during Brazil’s military dictatorship, as well as questions over how secure his legacy is. Especially given that, to many modern fans, he exists solely within folklore. Like The Last Dance, this one can also be found on Netflix.

Star rating (***)

Six Dreams (2018) Spanish-made documentary Six Dreams is a series that chronicles a La Liga season through the eyes of six people involved. Directed by David Cabrera, Jordi Call and Justin Webster, recognisable figures such as Saúl Ñíguez and Iñaki Williams give us insight into the players’ lives.

Elswhere, lesser-known individuals like the President of SD Eibar, Amaia Gorostiza, offer a look into the inner workings of one of football’s great leagues. The docuseries, now filming a second season (involving ex-Gunner, Santi Cazorla), offers a more personal and less stale experience than the similar All or Nothing. You can find Six Dreams on Amazon Prime.

Star rating (*****)

The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats its Young (2014) Directors Annika Iltis and Timothy James Kane tell the warm and comforting tale of the Tennessee footrace that measures approximately 100 miles in length. It depicts the course’s various quirks and obstacles inspired by the attempted escape of MLK’s assassin nearby, along with the man who created and oversees the event: Gary “Lazarus Lake" Cantrell. The documentary contemplates the value of the suffering that endurance athletes subject themselves to, as well as the human connections which are formed through it. This film is easily accessible via YouTube.

Star rating (****) We hope these recommendations help you to see out the remainder of lockdown, however long that is...

Star rating (*****)

The Last Dance (2020) One of the only good things to come out of 2020 was the period in

IMDb

Tired of binging The Office for the third lockdown in a row?

Try our recommended sports documentaries!

What begins as a cyclist obsessive (Director, Bryan Fogel) seeing how far he can push his body with PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs) turns into a worldwide headline. The film takes a shocking turn as he stumbles into becoming the confidant and supporter of renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov – whistle-blower for the Russian Olympic doping scandal. What follows is a conspiracy drama captured as it happened, with the pair dodging Putin’s goons as they attempt to expose the truth. A wonderful and compassionately made documentary, as much a life-affirming tale of unlikely friendship as it is a thrilling sports drama.

Available on both Prime and Netflix, chances are you will be watching this one soon enough!

Sport 31

epigram 23.03.2021

The combat sports profiles continue with the unique sport of kickboxing James Dowden Deputy Sports Editor

Epigram continues to investigate the world of combat sports at the University of Bristol. This time, it is the turn of Kickboxing's Club Captain, Alex Allen.

What is kickboxing?

Kickboxing is a combat sport based around kicking and punching technique – a bit like a mix of karate and boxing. It is really good for self-defence, general fitness or as a contact competitive sport.

What position do you hold within the club?

Club Captain.

What is the weekly schedule like for kickboxing?

We run eight sessions a week, each an hour long. There is the opportunity to train every day except Thursdays, with sessions available for both beginners and more advanced members. Most of our members tend to train twice a week.

Who are your coaches and what are they like?

We have some amazing coaches in kickboxing but our two main ones are Dan and Sami. Both hold current or previous world championship titles in kickboxing!

How is the social side of kickboxing?

When lockdowns have eased, we still managed to maintain our social side of the club with activities such as organised sports and a family scheme where members can meet up in groups of six. We still want to give everyone a chance to meet new people in the club.

What would your dream season be?

The kickboxing competitive season starts in second term. Each competition we go to has both beginner and advanced categories so we’d love to get as many members to compete in these categories as we can. We start with some in the U.K. and then in March time, head to the biggest kickboxing competition in the world in Dublin called the Irish Open. The dream would be to have our members, both beginners and advanced coming home with Irish Open trophies.

University of Bristol Kickboxing

Combat sports profile: Kickboxing

Sporting nostalgia corner: Socials Epigram / Alice Proctor

get to talk to. As is often the case, just go bowling without worrying an impossible task that has only bepeople relax when they have had a about how you were going to fit in come more difficult as people get pint or several, meaning that they fi- around the rule of six? With so many tired of technology.

The fatigue of an entire year of nally get the courage to approach the regulations in place, the mingling serious-lookprovided by online learning and virtual quizzes There is more to sports ing fifth year these sorts of has made the prospect of electronic socials than stumbling medic. Incisocials has socials a little unwelcoming. It has accross your teammates in dentally, they been severely started to feel more like a chore than the highlight of the week. usually turn reduced. the smoking area Everyone used to look forward out to be a There’s also right laugh once they have had a bit the thrill of fancy dress socials that to Wednesday evenings because to drink (probably). many of us have missed this year. it meant seeing your mates, now Socials also allow you to create a Waiting in anticipation to see how Wednesday evening just means stronger bond with teammates you your costume compares to the efforts watching lectures and preparing for already know. Sure, you might be of your teammates has unfortunately Thursday's seminars. Even if you didn't enjoy clubbing, socials were good friends with them at training, been consigned to better days. but do you really know them outside Regardless of the circumstances, an opportunity to mix up your week.

This may sound like a miserable of your sport? Socials are just the in-person socials allow people to occasion to strengthen these friend- feel like they truly belong to a team. take on the current situation, howreally missing about socials? ever it is more There is something incredibly spe- ships off the pitch. Many a night out There will unto demonstrate In-person socials allow be cial about sports socials. To start with, ends with teammates munching on doubtedly just how much they are the only time it is accept- some takeaway in someone's flat, or people this year club members to feel like we are missing able to find yourself in Gravity. Yes, even just outside in a random part of feeling that the they truly belong our socials. I connection with this does mean that I am shunning Bristol (provided it isn't raining). miss them, you Even so, so- their club could BED Mondays. miss them, everyone misses them. cials don’t albe a lot stronger, even if it can't realThere is, of Let's be honest, a Zoom Whilst sitting inside a pub with ways have to ly be helped. course, more social cannot hold a candle revolve around As we have all had to discover friends remains a distant hope, we to them than to a live, in-person social alcohol and this year, virtual interaction is no can now dare to dream that beer stumbling clubbing. Who replacement for the real thing. Let’s gardens will welcome us back soon. across your teammates in the teeming mass that remembers when the whole club used be honest, a Zoom social cannot hold With restrictions on numbers and to be able to rock up at a bang-aver- a candle to a live, in-person social. households still set to be in place, sois the smoking area.

Socials are an opportunity to bond age restaurant and still have an in- This is not to criticise Social Secre- cials are unlikely to take on the same with teammates and other society credible time, alcohol or not? Who re- taries one bit, yet, as good a job as form as before, but at least it will be members who you might not usually members when the entire team could they have done, they were faced with better than Zoom.

Remember when Wednesdays used to mean more than just a hump day?

Eddie McAteer Sports Editor

S

ports socials can take lots of different forms; more often than not they involve drinking, but they can also be a meal out, an arts and craft session or a trip to a bowling alley. Whatever form they used to take, however, is likely illegal at the moment, but what are we all

Sport Twitter: @EpigramSport

Editor Digital Editor Deputy Editor Match Day Reporter

Eddie McAteer Daniel Dyson James Dowden Charlotte Carver

The only professional football team paying their men and women players equally: In conversation with Lewes FC’s Karen Dobres Epigram speaks to a club that is leading in gender equality James Dowden Deputy Sports Editor

Courtesy of: Karen Dobres

D

own of the south coast of England there is a football club like no other. Based in Sussex, Lewes FC are a pioneer in gender equality and are the only professional football team to pay both their men and women players the same. Former Bristol alumna Karen Dobres is currently a Director at the club and spoke to Deputy Sports Editor James Dowden to reveal more about this fascinating and unique club.

At the time of the interview Dobres is busy preparing for a huge crunch league fixture, but sport wasn’t something that was such a huge part of Dobres’ life. Growing up in north-west London, sport was not immediately on the horizon. ‘Football and sport weren't on my radar which is even worse because it’s like I didn’t have the opportunity.’ With the FA ban on women’s football still in force up until as late as the 1970s, football was consequently not readily available or accessible for young girls.

Dobres then came to Bristol where she studied English Literature. Away from academics she was treasurer of the Afro-Caribbean society and editor of a student magazine called Length & Breadth. She was also at Goldney Hall in first year and moved out to live in Clifton near the Suspension Bridge in her final years.

Looking back on her time at Bristol, Dobres reminisces: ‘I loved being at Bristol, what can I say?’

Dobres’ involvement with the club came after she moved to the town.

In 2017 it was formally announced that Lewes FC would offer equal pay - but it wasn’t just equality in terms of playing budget. ‘It wasn’t just equal pay but equal budgets, equal marketing, equal resources, same amount of coaching, same amount of everything – so equal value.’

At first the club faced criticism due to the fact that at the time when this world-leading policy of equality

was being adopted there was a clear difference in the respective attendances between the men and women’s teams. At the time the women were averaging 120 through the turnstiles every week whilst the men were averaging around 250. Fast forward two years, and thanks in no small part to the tireless work and dedication of Dobres, the women’s attendances had quadrupled to almost being on a par with that of the men.

‘I decided to dedicate myself to it 100%,’ Dobres says. It was a challenging prospect but through communication and dialogue with various women’s groups, including The Women’s Institute, feminists societies and other groups, she persuaded them to come to games.

Once they came they often ended up staying.

Lewes were also unique in their ‘To win the award was amazing. approach to welcoming all fans, esWe had an interview with seven pecially female people up in fans. The club London but When you are really trying we’d never implemented a to change things and push thought we’d variety of innoculture forward you’re win. It was vative initiatives including bringjust brilliant always getting pushback ing in prosecco and again it on tap in the was that recclubhouse bar as well as offering finognition because when you are realger nail painting in the red and black ly trying to change things and push of the team to help create a sense of culture forward you’re always getcommunity and welcome. ting pushback. You’re always getting So game-changing was this apnegativity. So, when you’re working proach that Lewes won an award really hard it’s amazing to get that from UN Women UK in recognition external affirmation from someone for their work in the field of gender like UN Women.’ equality. Dobres highlights this as Having already been a club with her best moment with the club, esa trailblazing legacy, the future appecially as they never thought they’d pears bright for Lewes FC and the be in with a chance of winning. aim is very much of expansion and

progression. Chiefly amongst these tactics to success is a promotion to the Women’s Super League, which is the highest level of women’s football in England. ‘If we do get there with the women I think that people will have to look because our platform will be bigger and we’ll have really achieved something.’

The real aim however is something even bigger and Dobres’ final words are full of hope and inspiration. ‘We want to expand. We want to take over the world! In fact, we want to be the most owned club in the world and at the moment we’re on 1,600 owners but Barcelona’s on 150,000.

We’ve got a way to go. If we can do that we don’t have to keep worrying about sponsors because we’ll have that money coming in through that revenue.’