Issue 678 1 15 01 2018 by Exeposé

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ISSUE 678 15 JAN 2018 exepose.com @Exepose

THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987

Extra NUS delegate accepts post

New Year, Old Problem: Homelessness in Exeter

Alex Wingrave Senior Reporter

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Photo: Tash Ebbutt them from the county amidst fears that homelessness in Devon would reach record highs. This is an action that would not necessarily be the most beneficial action for the homeless people themselves. However, it is not just Devon that is having these problems - rough sleeping nationally has greatly risen as well, with the numbers sleeping homeless rising from 2,181 in 2011 to 4,134 in 2016.

HE University of Exeter Students’ Guild has confirmed that the fifth elected position as NUS Delegate has gone to Malaka Shwaikh, who came fifth in the October elections, in lieu of a further election to fulfil this post. The Guild has said that this was because the total number of delegates had only been confirmed after polls had closed. The Students’ Guild has been granted seven delegates to the 2018 National Union of Students (NUS) Conference, which is an increase on the six places allocated to the Guild for the 2016-17 period. Whilst this information was published in the Delegate Entitlement statement on the NUS website on 6 October 2017, only six of the seven available places were allocated during the October elections which opened on the 16th of that month. One position was allocated to Guild President Shades, one allocated to FXU, and four positions were filled by elected candidates: Jack Morewood, Kat Karamani, Bryony Loveless and Peter Gillibrand. Morewood, who was elected as delegate in the October election, commented on the absence of a fifth elected position in October as a “gross display of ineptitude” and stated that it “raises questions about the competency of the Change team for managing elections”. He told Exeposé: “Had this error not been discovered, Exeter would have missed out on the experience, knowledge and contributions of an additional delegate.

Natalie Keffler News Editor

N August 2017, an ITV report stated that the city of Exeter had the second highest number of rough sleepers outside of London, with 600 people facing homelessness in Exeter per year. It has become a huge problem that is being frequently commented on by those that live here, particularly due to how

SCREEN

small a city Exeter is. It was recorded to have a population of 129,800 in October 2017, being rather small to have such a big proportion of homeless people, being just under 0.5 per cent of the population. It is increasingly noticeable at this time of year due to the temperatures dropping, and the town centre having become busier with Christmas shoppers, and now the January sales. The ITV report showed that there has been a huge rise in the

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Yay or Nay? PAGe 25

number of people sleeping rough in Exeter, suggesting that the problem is not at all on its way to being solved, despite the council putting measures in place to change this. These efforts have included Exeter City Council spending almost £5,000 buying homeless people one-way tickets out of the city, in an attempt to reunite them with families they may have in different parts of the country. It has also been argued that this was merely an attempt to remove

SPORT

Woah, We’re Halfway There: Mid-Season BUCS Review PAGe 30-31

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Editors Print: Owain Evans & Emma Bessent Deputy: Tash Ebbutt & Graham Moore Online: Phoebe Davis & Ollie Lund editors@exepose.com News Editors Print: Megan Davies & Natalie Keffler Online: Nicky Avasthi & Ruby Bosanquet news@exepose.com Comment Editors Print: Alicia Rees & Malcolm Wong Online: Harry Bunting & Hannah Weiss comment@exepose.com Features Editors Print: James Angove & Isabel Taylor Online: Matthew Phillips & Daphne Bugler features@exepose.com Lifestyle Editors Print: Lauren Geall & Barbara Balogun Online: Bethan Gilson & Melissa Barker lifestyle@exepose.com Arts + Lit Editors Print: Mubanga Mweemba & Maddie Davies Online: Ellie Cook & Emily Garbutt artsandlit@exepose.com Music Editors Print: Alex Brammer & Maddy Parker Online: Chloë Edwards & George Stamp music@exepose.com Screen Editors Print: Ben Faulkner & Fenton Christmas Online: Johnny Chern & Molly Gilroy screen@exepose.com Science Editors Print: Luke Smith Online: Ayesha Tandon & Rhys Davies sciandtech@exepose.com Sport Editors Print: Dorothea Christmann & Wil Jones Online: Michael Jones & Kieran Jackson sport@exepose.com Photographers Christy Chin & Léa Esteban photography@exepose.com Copy Editors George Pope, Jaysim Hanspal and Eloise Hardy Proofers

Harry Bunting, Fenton Christmas, Johnny Chern, Chris Connor, Maddy Parker, Alex Brammer, Emily Garbutt, Natalie Keffler, Megan Davies, Ben Faulkner, Graham Moore, Ayesha Tandon, Nicky Avasthi, Evanna Francoise and Phoebe Davis.

@ exepose facebook.com/exepose issuu.com/exepose Advertising Kate Watkins kate.watkins@exeterguild.com (01392) 722607 The opinions expressed in Exeposé are not necessarily those of the Exeposé Editors nor the University of Exeter Students’ Guild. While every care is taken to ensure that the information in this publication is correct and accurate, the Publisher can accept no liability for any consequential loss or damage, however caused, arising as a result of using the information printed. The Publisher cannot accept liability for any loss or damage to artwork or material submitted. The contents of this, unless stated otherwise, are copyright of the Publisher. Reproduction in any form requires the prior consent of the Publisher.

NEWS

Editorial Welcome back to Exeter and a happy New Year to all of our readers! Congratulations to those of you who’ve made it through exam week; we’ve got an issue packed full of exciting content to distract you from worrying about results and ease your transition back in to term-time patterns. Arts + Lit have a particularly exciting feature this issue; on pages 18 and 19, they have presented a fantastic set of four short stories which look at the fraught emotions, tensions and reliefs so often experienced at the turning over of the year. Each of our four writers has produced a unique and touching insight into experiences we don't often feel able to talk about with anyone but our nearest and dearest. As the January blues kick in for many of us, this spirit of opening up becomes ever more essential for maintaining good mental health. The Students' Guild and Athletic Union are encouraging people to both open up and listen more as part of their Mental Health Month, which News have taken a look at on page 4. Comment have also included a special column from Jim Balshaw, current AU president and Sport have created a guide to the free events being run by the AU accross campus. Lifestyle have also produced a less sporty series of tips on how to counteract post-exam feelings of burnout on page 15. Talking about the things which make us a little uncomfortable is the best way to start sources solutions to those issues. On page 11, Features are analysing the social impact of those who practice toxic masculinity and refute attempts at political correctness - whether this is done as a conscious

effort or not - on male identity and social relations. If you need an extra push to commit to a few greener - albeit a little tardy - New Year's resolutions, Science have plenty of motivation for you as they look at depletion of the planet's water resources (page 27), the evidence behind climate change theories (page 28) and light pollution (page 29). We're still looking back at 2017 in Screen as we take a look back at the best British drama to have graced our screens in the year gone by (page 24), and Star Wars fans and critics battle it out on page 25. Music are feeling reminiscent as they look back on the highs and lows of the past twelve months (page 20). From their fashion forecast on page 14 to confessing their own New Year's resolutions on page 16, Lifestyle are all about looking forward to filling in the blank slate of 2018. Music are excited about the upcoming months, too, as they hype up the most anticipated releases of the year on page 21. Comment want you to leave it in 2017 on page 6 as they discuss some of the most counter-productive resolutions and suggest some more planet, wallet and wellbeing friendly options. As a student newspaper whose editorial team changes every academic year, we’re all about exciting new starts. We’ve already begun organising our elections for 18/19, so keep an eye on our Facebook page for soon-to-bereleased information on how to stand for a committee position. From senior editors to social secs, there’s a role for everyone (literally, there are over 50 of us!) and we’d love to see what you want to bring to Exeposé.

Exeter students world's second most engaged volunteers PAGE 4 Image: Pixabay

COMMENT New term's resolutions: promises easier to keep PAGE 7

Image:Pixabay

FEATURES Politics, schmolitics: a satirical look back at 2017 PAGE 12

Image: Flickr

SCIENCE How does the human race continue to evolve? PAGE 27 Image: Giuseppe Donatiello

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There are even more great articl es on the Exeposé website. From a look at the icy Exmouth Christmas swim to musing about the future of Fever, you can find it all at www.exepose.com

Worldwide university news White nationalist taxed to speak at uni

LAWSUIT has been filed against the University of Cincinnati after it set the security bill for a proposed Richard Spencer talk at $11,000. An attorney for Cameron Padgett, the Spencer supporter who is bringing the suit, described the cost as “a speech tax”. Spencer is a notable white nationalist, and led the torch-wielding marchers at the University of Virginia in August. He has since had several requests to speak at universities turned down. When he spoke at the University of Florida in October, more than $500,000 was spent on security, and the state’s governor declared a state of emergency. A spokesperson for the University of Cincinnati said that they stand by the principle of free speech, but that, as an external speaker, “he must pay a fee to rent university space. This includes a security fee.”

Images: Vas Panagiotopoulos/Wikimedia Commons (left), Adrian Pingston/Wikimedia Commons (right)

Students allege sexual misconduct

HE President of Concordia University, in Montreal, has promised that it will “treat seriously” allegations of sexual misconduct in its English department, after allegations against unnamed faculty members.. The allegations come from a blog post by a former creative writing student, which mentioned harassment and inappropriate dating of students by professors. It also referenced a generally abusive climate within the creative writing programme. The novelist Heather O’Neill, another former student, agreed with the allegations, claiming that she had been harassed by a 50 year old professor. In a message, the University’s president stated that he is “personally committed to these and other efforts to continue building a safe and secure environment at the university, an environment free from sexual violence and harassment.”

Fire in historic Bristol University building

N Saturday 6 January a fire started at the University of Bristol’s Fry Building, with firefighters being called to put out flames that quickly spread across the Grade II enlisted historic building. Luckily, there were no casualties, however the fire did cause significant damage to the top floor and the roof. The investigation into how the fire began concluded it must have been started accidentally by refurbishment works that were being carried out on the roof on the Saturday. However, due to the sheer damage caused by the fire, it will be impossible to identify exactly where the fire started. Due to the renovations taking place no staff or students were on site, however it is still early days to tell what this fire means for the refurbishments that were occurring.

Edinburgh's new VC criticised in survey

HE new vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh has been heavily criticised by staff members of the University of Hong Kong, where he currently holds the vice-chancellor post. Anonymous academics' comments in the survey include: “I have witnessed six [Hong Kong University vice-chancellors] and he is the worst. It is unfortunate for HKU to have him in the first place, but fortunately, he decides to step down early, as if he continues, HKU will continue to go nowhere. Edinburgh, you have been warned" and "HKU will be saved soon, and GOOD LUCK to Edinburgh University", the Guardian reports. 78% strongly disagreed that the vice-chancellor “effectively protected academic freedom”, and nearly 80% said they strongly disagreed that he “understands the needs of the students and the staff ”. He is to start at Edinburgh in February.

Stories by Owain Evans, Editor, Natalie Keffler and Megan Davies, News Editors

News

NEWS EDITORS:

Natalie Keffler Megan Davies

Homelessness in Exeter - an increasing problem

CONTINUED FROM FRONT A new law is coming into effect in April 2018, named The Homelessness Reduction Act, which will offer help earlier to those in desperate need, however it will require those that are facing the possibility of homelessness to take an active part in helping to resolve their issue by maintaining their current accommodation, or trying to and find somewhere new to live. This will in theory help to rehouse those that are homeless, offering them financial support whilst helping them get work so they can become self-sufficient. Councillor Emma Morse, Exeter City Council’s Lead Councillor for People, has said of the situation in Exeter that “as a local authority we are 100 per cent committed to tackling homelessness. The common perception of homelessness is rough sleeping, as this is the most visible form of homelessness, but it accounts for only 5 per cent of those who don’t have a real home. Street dependent people are just the tip of the

iceberg when it comes to homelessness. Many people think being homeless will never happen to them, but the reality is it can and it often does.”

We are 100% committed to tackling homelessness Councillor Emma Morse

It can however be difficult for those homeless or facing the possibility of homelessness to take an active role in helping themselves. St Petrock’s charity stated that “sometimes in order to mask their feelings of depression and isolation, people who are homeless will turn to alcohol and drugs, but they are not unique in this, they are simply more visible by definition of not having a home”. This can then make it harder for them to be able to get back on their feet again. There are already multiple charities in Exeter doing lots of work to assist the homeless, one of the main ones be-

University pilots visa scheme for masters’ students

Lauren Geall Lifestyle Editor

HE University of Exeter has recently been selected to take part in a Home Office pilot scheme which helps to streamline the Masters application process for international students looking to study in the UK. Run by the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) department, the pilot simplifies the UK’s points-based visa system for overseas students. The scheme applies to postgraduate Masters degrees lasting no longer than 13 months, which includes most taught programmes such as MA and MSc degrees. As a result, the Universities chosen are given responsibility for eligibility checks, meaning fewer documents have to be submitted as part of the application process. The scheme also aims to provide greater support for students who would like to switch to a work visa in order to accept a graduate role, by allowing them to remain in the UK six months after the completion of their course. Eligibility is not restricted to specific countries or nationalities. Ian Blenkharn, Director of Education and Student Support at the University of Exeter explained how the scheme would benefit Exeter students.

“We have students from 130 different countries across our campuses in Devon and Cornwall and our participation in the Tier 4 visa pilot will enable us to provide a more streamlined and student-friendly route through the immigration process.” Exeter was one of 23 Universities invited to join the scheme, including other Russell Group names such as Cardiff, Durham and Southampton. All were selected because their visa refusal rates are consistently the lowest in their area or region. The Students’ Guild said: “We are incredibly proud and supportive of the visa pilot scheme here at the Guild as it will help reflect our core values of support and inclusivity for all our student members, current and prospective. We look forward to giving our international, postgraduate students more opportunities to study, work and enjoy the student experience here at Exeter” The expansion of the scheme comes at a time when the number of students applying for visas has increased by 8 percent in the past year, as shown by Home Office statistics, with a 9 per cent increase in the number of students applying to Russell Group Universities. The Universities selected will be able to apply the pilot to their upcoming 2018/19 intake.

ing St Petrock’s, a charity that has been helping homeless people in Exeter for over 22 years, with 304 individuals using their services last year, and 160 individuals being supported by this charity into accommodation. Gill from this charity stated “it’s an important aspect to our work that we try to breakdown negative stereotypes of people who are homeless as they are not a homogeneous group as often portrayed in media channels. They are individuals just like the rest of us all with their own personal story - who have often fallen into homelessness, often, as a result of a series of unfortunate events, such as death of a loved one, job loss and relationship breakdown over which they have no control.” However, St Petrock’s have noticed a 38 per cen increase in the number of people arriving at their centre; nine years ago, they would see around 35 people a day, however now they are likely to see anything from 50-60 individuals in a morning session, with it getting as high as 70 last year. There are arguably several reasons as to why this increase has

occurred, with one notable one being a reduction in tenancy support; over the last seven years Devon County Council has faced a reduction of £4,000,000 in funding, money that was vital to enable people sustain their tenancies. Also, due to cuts, focus has shifted from early intervention services that were in place to stop people becoming homeless, to crisis services only there in emergencies. Therefore homeless sleepers often have to be in serious trouble to receive any help, and often this can come too late, with many having developed alcoholism, drug addiction, or a mental health problem by the time they get any support. Exeter Community Initiatives are also a valuable charity that students get involved in, working closely alongside St Petrock’s, training volunteer mentors and matching them with clients to offer support to those struggling with budgeting, running a home and finding work. They also support vulnerable families, and help develop peoples’ life skills to improve their future prospects. The charity Just Love Exeter are also doing

excellent work within the community that you can get involved with such as working with the homeless on a Saturday morning. Local coordinator Anna said: “The main aim is to treat them as a person not a problem, to just spend time chatting to them, learning a bit of their story, about who they are.” She also reminds us that “homeless tourism exists - the homeless move to places where they know they will be looked after well. Exeter is one of those places, which is an encouragement. However, it is also still a big problem. Therefore, as well as Saturday mornings we want to start engaging with Exeter Council about this.” Consequently, it is important to continue to support the charities already in place helping the homeless, but also question if there is more we can do on an individual basis, whether that is writing to local MPs, buying a Big Issue or helping out at a homeless shelter – as long as we do something to combat Exeter’s, and hopefully eventually the rest of England’s homeless crisis.

NUS Conference Confusion CONTINUED FROM FRONT “Given that information about delegate entitlement is readily available and sent to the Guild annually, this was not an easy mistake to make. It is vital students are able to trust the election process and this completely undermines it. In a statement on his Facebook page, he said: “I’ve spoken to many students about this already, and they tell me they would have been encouraged to stand had they known more delegate places been available”. In regards to offering the position to the fifth-placed candidate, Morewood added: “The Guild therefore needs to open applications for a sixth delegate, and it would not be fair to simply append someone to the delegation. Given that election rules state that results released on @ExeterVote are final, I will not tolerate any bending of the rules here.” A Students’ Guild spokesperson said: “Although the estimated delegate numbers are released prior to the start of the NUS Delegate Elections, this year’s additional delegate allocation whilst in line with our expectations of student numbers could not be confirmed until all institutions had made their numbers available due to the finite number of delegate positions available

at the conference, which happened after polls closed”. “To avoid candidate disappointment we only elect the minimum number of guaranteed delegates, preferring to add to the conference delegation than remove individuals from it. When a delegate position becomes vacant, either through withdrawal, illness or additional allocations we use the established precedent of continuing to work down the results of the original election until the position is filled, as has been done in previous years.” In relation to the allocation of a delegate to FXU, Morewood also stated: “FXU also had their delegate entitlement doubled in 2017 to and in light of this, comments offered by the then-President of the Students’ Guild to voters in [Student] Idea 763 are factually incorrect and I assess that they misled voters. Idea 763 sought to take back the delegate Exeter transfers to FXU each year and he stated that FXU students would not otherwise be able to run for conference, when with their increased delegation size they could. I’ve therefore filed a complaint about this and anticipate a new vote being opened on this Student Idea.” A Guild Spokesperson said: “The FXU deligation size is solely determined on the Falmouth University Student numbers, where as the Guild’s Is al-

located using numbers for Exeter and Cornwall campuses. The growth of the FXU delegation is due to the growth of Falmouth University and we continue to offer a place in the Exeter delegation to FXU to ensure Exeter students regardless of campus are represented fairly and accurately on a national platform”.

Image: NUS Press Team

15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

NEWS

Suspicion of murder in Mount Pleasant

MAN was found dead in a property on Mount Pleasant Road on Friday 12 January, with a 44 year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder. Police were notified of a dead body at 05:50am that morning. At time of printing, the man had yet to be formally identified. DevonLive reports that the family living in a flat on the top floor had to be helped out of the property by the fire service so as to avoid crossing the crime scene below. Exeposé is not aware of the property being a student house. For more updates, consult Exeposé’s online coverage at www.exepose.com.

Mixed reception for Mental Health Month Megan Davies News Editor

TUDENTS have raised concerns to Exeposé about the Students’ Guild’s mental health month campaign, as it has emerged that the Guild has deleted four songs from a mental health-themed playlist. Meanwhile, Student Minds have trained more than 500 Exeter students to spot mental health issues and to help anyone suffering with finding support.

Are we supposed to feel joyful or wallow further?

Second-year Drama student

Megan Davies, News Editor

10,000 participants reached by research

EN thousand PEOPLE have taken part in the Exeter 10,000 project, donating their blood and urine samples to be used anonymously in health research. The milestone was reached on the 3 January 2018. The majority of participants also agree to be contacted again if they match the requirements of future research studies. This database can now be used for for testing upon more specific research hypotheses. The project even saved the life of one participant, Roy Hodgins (71) who found out from his GP that screen results from his blood and urine samples collected by the project seemed irregular. After further testing Hodgins was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. Theo Cox Dodgson, News Team

Nicola Dandridge to visit Exeter

HE new Chief Executive of the National Office for Students, Nicola Dandridge, has been invited to Exeter to be introduced to the Guild and for focus groups to contribute to the Guild’s submission of the OfS consultation. In December, a set of “engaged member[s] of the students Guild” were invited to a focus group regarding the new direction for the OfS, hosted by Dandridge on 17 of January 2018. The OfS is a new regulator and authority over the Higher Education sector, to come into force in April of this year— with its exact aims and focus to be decided in part by student consultation. Dandridge was appointed Chief Executive last July, and last Wednesday (10 January) described proposed regulations on Vice-Chancellor renumeration as “insufficient.” The Students’ Guild said it was “excited to welcome Nicola Dandridge on campus to meet and get to know our engaged students and elected representatives” and that they were “pleased that time is being taken to consult the students at the University of Exeter and for putting the student voice at the centre of the national conversation.”

Edd Church, News Team

The playlist originally contained ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’, which has strong connotations with 9/11 and the Iraq war; ‘Back to Black’, which discusses substance abuse; Imagine Dragons’ ‘Demons’; and Britney Spears’ ‘Everytime’, the music video of which shows the singer committing suicide. It still includes the Lord Huron song ‘The Night We Met’, which is used heavily in the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why. Its tone has also been questioned. A

second-year Drama student said: “A playlist created in support of Mental Health awareness month? Brilliant idea. Said playlist including songs which reference suicide or drug use? Absolutely not. For me, this isn’t a case of a lapse in judgement, it’s pure laziness on behalf of the Guild. Whoever created and/or authorised this playlist should have had the common sense to check what each song was about. The overall tone of the playlist is also dubious. Spice Girls juxtaposed with Lana del Rey? Saying there’s mixed messages is an understatement. Are we supposed to feel joyful when listening or wallow further? Do let me know when the Guild works out which one it is.” A Guild spokesperson said: “The Mental Health campaign is focused on raising awareness of everyone’s mental health, through student-led activity, sports, and games. The Spotify playlist was created to provoke thought and discussion by highlighting the spectrum of issues that musicians tackled in their work and have the potential affect all of our mental health. The purpose of the campaign is to get students talking about mental health and given the very personal nature of the topic we expected a diverse range of views in the dis-

cussion, both positive and negative. We’re delighted to see so many people engaged with the project.” “Student groups and AU Clubs were co-creators of events for the campaign, with our VP Welfare and Diversity spearheading the campaign as a whole. It’s great to see student involvement in the organisation of such an important campaign that affects us all in one way or another.” A second-year History student said that: they had “a problem with the way the Guild advertises this playlist. The Twitter interaction is a display of romanticising poor mental health. No doubt it was written with good intentions, but its descriptions of depression and other conditions as a ‘rollercoaster’ which maintains the stigma, and solidifies mental health in a position inferior to physical health.” A second-year English student said: “As someone with a mental illness, I appreciate the campaign’s attempts to connect and support students,” adding: “It’s a personal issue, and whilst Guild support is wonderful, I think it’s incredibly difficult to offer this blanket support for all students with mental illness, as each person experiences it so uniquely.”

The campaign is joint betweent the Guild and AU, including events such as Meet the Guide Dogs, sports taster sessions, and free exercise classes. It is an extension of the AU’s #SportSomethingSaySomething campaign. Jim Balshaw, AU President, said: “Taking part in sport and getting active is a great way to relieve stress and take a break from study and can help you feel refreshed. “We will also take the opportunity this month to promote the wellbeing services available to students. The University, AU, and Guild provide a wide variety of options to help with any issue at any level including workshops, online self-help, medical services and support groups.”

and offer social support for those who have progressed beyond the rehabilitative care provided by the NHS. Alexander Cowley, a second-year PhD student, stated that “it is inspiring to see the commitment and warmth displayed by our members and the volunteers who join us for sessions week-in week-out and to see the marked improvement in members’ motor function as the months and years pass.” In Penryn, the University’s Islamic Society has been collecting food and clothing for the local community. As well as this, they have led a split sample donation for bone marrow at Exeter’s Penryn Campus, and have volunteered at the Penryn Memory Café. This is an FXU student-led volunteering project where members of the community, who have dementia, meet up each week and complete activities alongside students. Lydia Allegratto, the volunteering officer for Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union is involved with the Beach Clean Project, which picks up litter on Cornwall’s beaches. Allegretto said: “I love knowing what I’m doing is worthwhile and making a difference.” As well as this, students in Penryn have completed yard work at the Flicka Foundation Donkey Sanctuary and put on a carol service with the donkeys to raise funds for the sanctuary. Sasha Pinto, a second-year zoology student stated: “Watching the recovery of the donkeys both physically and mentally, often from shy and timid to cheeky and confident while helping the full-time staff at the foundation is so satisfying.”

Orlagh Fallon Senior Reporter

Suggestions have been made that Sidwell Street, close to many student residents, has been plagued by problems since an anti-social behaviour order banned drinking in central parts of the city. The bus shelter, across the road from the cinema, on Sidwell Street was sealed off and five police cars, a police van and two ambulances attended the scene. The victim, aged in his 40s, did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, however police are treating it as an act of wounding with intent. Police are still hunting for the two men involved in the stabbing, aged between 20 and 30, and have appealed for any information which could help them in their investigation to be brought forward.

If you or a friend need mental health support, you can contact: Wellbeing Services: 01392 724381 or exeter.ac.uk/wellbeing Guild Advice Unit: exeterguild.org/advice Samaritans: 116 123

Volunteers second most engaged Man stabbed outside Odeon

Jaimie Hampton Senior Reporter

NIVERSITY of Exeter students have been named the second most proactive volunteers in the world. A study conducted by LinkedIn showed that students, from Exeter and Cornwall, completed a total of 34,000 hours of volunteering in 2017. Volunteering activities ranged from visiting care homes to fundraising for local foundations.

I love knowing what I’m doing is making a difference

Lydia Allegratto, FXU volunteering officer

One member of the student volunteering community is Hattie Hayes, a second-year Psychology student and member of ActiviTeas. Hayes organises social activities with local elderly residents who may be lonely or isolated. Hayes stated: “I wanted to get to know some of the locals better and give something back to the community. I also wanted to be involved with a project that works with people who might experience loneliness or isolation.” Another volunteering group is the Homeless Action project. Students prepare food and drinks for Exeter’s homeless community, providing them with company and care each week. Additionally, the student-run Action After Stroke project provides a supportive environment for stroke patients at the gym on St Luke’s campus. Students connect patients

MAN suffered serious stab wounds to his face and back after he was stabbed outside the entrance to the Odeon cinema on Sidwell Street. The victim, who was on crutches, was attacked by two men. The incident apparently left the pavement “soaked with blood” after the man suffered wounds to his back and face as police were called to the scene at 6pm on Friday 22 December. A local resident witnessed an altercation between street drinkers prior to the incident and mentioned that this sort of behaviour had become a regular occurrence in this area of the city centre.

Image: Des Blenkinsopp

Exeter Student Volunteering Include it in your Exeter Award You can count your volunteer time with ESV towards the 35 hours needed for the Exeter Award, the University’s employability skills programme for undergraduate and masters students. The Exeter Award is free, flexible, and you will: • Learn how to sell yourself to employers • Enhance your CV Students who complete the Exeter Award are more likely to get a graduate level job within six months of graduating.

www.exeter.ac.uk/exeteraward

2017ESE030

The Exeter Award is sponsored by

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03/05/2017 14:56

15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

Comment

Sport something, say something Jim Balshaw AU President

ENTAL Health Month is a joint campaign being run in collaboration by the Athletic Union and Students’ Guild, as an extension of the ‘Sport Something Say Something’ Campaign’ which began in September 2017. By working together, we have created more than 120 events throughout January which all students can attend. This includes open sport sessions, free fitness classes, animals on campus, charity fundraisers, and so much more – I would like to encourage all students to take part. January can be a difficult month for students, with exams and deadlines early on, followed immediately by the start of Term 2. Taking part in sport and getting active is a great way to relieve stress and take a break from study and can help you feel refreshed. This month we are also promoting the wellbeing services available across the University. It is important that students know what support is available to them, and that they have the confidence to seek help if needed. It can be very difficult to open up to someone about issues you may be facing, because often they can be very personal and hard to convey, but keeping things locked up can be damaging.

Taking part in sport and getting active is a great way to relieve stress The Guild and University work hard to ensure students feel safe and comfortable when talking about such sensitive issues, so the University, AU, and Guild provide a wide variety of options to help with any issue at any level including: workshops, online self-help, medical services and support groups. All of these services can be found on the wellbeing page of the University website, or on the Guild’s Wellbeing Information Directory. I know that some students may not be aware of these services, and as a result they may have not found they best support, or not sought support at all. By helping to promote the services to students, we hope we can make a difference in people’s lives, whether it’s overcoming a minor difficulty or an ongoing one. As well as all the events, more than 500 students have received training from Student Minds in how they can spot if they or those

COMMENT EDITORS: Alicia Rees Malcolm Wong

That’s so 2017

Shiwangi Singh Contributor

ITH every new year comes a wave of new year resolutions. It is an opportunity discard everything we do not like about ourselves and embrace new lifestyles. However, there is a reason most new year resolutions fail or worse, do not even make it to the end of January. This can be attributed to the fact that change does not happen overnight or that human beings tend to set unrealistic goals. Perseverance and hard work is what brings about change, qualities that are lacking in today’s generation. The current trend is to expect results without putting in effort and when we do not get what we want, we simply blame the system. We live in an era of shortcuts but there are no shortcuts around hard work. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t an easier path. My life-hack to making the whole ‘New Year New Me’ proces achievable is rather than developing new good habits just leave behind old bad ones. I feel that getting rid of a bad habit is equal

to developing a dozen of good habits. First off, skip the gym and cut the junk. Hitting the gym is by far the most ambitious and poorly executed new year resolution. Millions of people get a yearlong membership at their local gym. After the first month, they are more likely to travel to a new country then visit the gym. It is time to learn from the mistakes humanity has made, year after year. Just stop eating junk food instead. There are thousands of delicious and healthy recipes available online. Add a couple of fruits and a bowl of spinach to your diet and you are good to go. You will feel the difference within a week. Don’t be a couch potato! Everyone watches television. It is an impor-

tant media outlet which keeps us in sync with the world but too much of anything is bad. Mindless consumption of pointless entertainment makes our mind dull. People who watch more than two hours of television a day are less likely to be physically active and more likely to be suffering from loneliness. As Ravi Zacharias correctly said, “Television has been the single greatest shaper of emptiness” Start reading the newspaper instead and limit your time watching television to thirty minutes. Scary I know but pack in your pack of smokes. To put things into perspective just imagine a scenario where you live or die at the mercy of a coin toss. I would certainly not to be taking those odds specially if it was about staying alive. I do not even need to make a case for why you should stop smoking. You already know what needs to be done. If you are hooked on nicotine then you can always try the nicotine patches and gums or start vaping. While both these alternatives are problematic in their own sense, they are definitely safer than smoking.

Finally, you and plastic need to break up. The world we live in is in dire need of saving. Today, plastic is one of the prime pollutants. The biggest problem is that a plastic bottle takes around 500 years to decompose, whilst a plastic bag can take up to a thousand years. You can make a significant difference by using paper or cloth bags every time you go grocery shopping. Carry your own bottle to university or work. The world becomes a better place with every plastic bottle you choose not to buy. This change in lifestyle is more for the planet and less for yourself. It is high time we became environmentally conscious.

The world becomes a better place with every plastic bottle you choose not to buy So, to reiterate, New Years doesn’t have to be about becoming a chameleon and compltely changing who you are. By simply stopping some negative habits, you can become the best version of you without taking on a tonne of extra stresses. At the end of the day, we all just want to live our best life right?

Photo: Evan Amos

around them are struggling with mental health issues, and then how to recommend the best support services to them. We would like to create a ‘Student Peer Sport Support Group’ as an additional option for students to seek support. Our Mental Health Information Support Cards, which contain contact details for various wellbeing services, are available at a number of locations across the University. We will also be continuing our ‘Athlete’s Story’ video series, which involves AU club members speaking about their experiences and how sport has helped them through them. So far both of these have been really well received, especially within the sporting community at the University, and I’m hoping that these will inspire people from across the University to not be afraid to talk about their mental health. Mental Health difficulties can affect anyone, anywhere, at any time, and no one situation is the same. It’s important that you seek the support you, or someone you know, may need. Follow ‘Exeter AU President’ or ‘Exeter Students Guild’ on social media for more information on everything going on throughout January and beyond!

Pre-fresh problems Graham Moore Deputy Editor

HEN I’m drowning in the depths of revision, ploughing through the endless reams of seminar reading, or just sitting like some academically-inclined zombie - staring into space and pointedly pretending that dissertations are something that happens to other people - there is but one thing that can return a smile to my face. Surely, what could be better for my productivity during these weeks of exams, deadlines, and tension? What else could aid my concentration, what could bolster my fraying sanity, better than having a whole bunch of prefresh hovering over my shoulder, like the spectres of questionable UCAS choices past? Indeed, I cannot think of a better time for the University to hold campus tours. Much like last week’s Guide Dogs visit, the presence of these innocent visi-

tors is sure to have a positive impact on students’ wellbeing. That said, unlike the Guide Dogs these prefresh are not so well-trained - at least, I assume this is why many an offer-holder turns up with their entire extended family in tow. It certainly couldn’t be because their parents don’t trust them to make adequate decisions. Surely, at this time when their children are moving towards a period of greater independence in their lives, these parents wouldn’t have come along to try and influence their choices. No - there must be another reason that I’ve spent half my morning being stared at critically by a succession of middle-aged people. If I wanted to be judged by bored family members, I wouldn’t have left the Christmas holidays in such a hurry - suffice to say that having someone else’s mum judging me for procrastinating too is not what

I signed up for. Of course, the sudden feeling that I should be looking like a good example of an ‘Exeter student’ as these tours go by is a welcome distraction from my coursework. What is an Exeter student supposed to look like? Sports stash, blonde hair, armed with several litres of fancylooking homemade smoothies? One can only hope that these visitors have set their sights on a future involving daydrinking, questionable woolly-jumper choices, and over-caffeination I’m led to wonder how many offer-holders have rapidly become offer-decliners after seeing the veritable mess that is my term-time self. Realism, perhaps, is the word of the day - and it goes both ways. Seeing so many hopeful faces reminds me of a time when I too was full of enthusiasm and academic promise. Oh, how times change.

COMMENT

Gym bunnies exam season at a successful sporting university is quite a tough time to start a bodybuilding career.

George Pitchford Contributor

OR those of us committed enough to sustain gym attendance all year round, January represents an overwhelming army of seasonal athletes, commonly known as the ‘New Year New Me’ crowd, or more succinctly, ‘The Resolutioners’. Regardless of nomenclature, we’ll look down at these novices and silently critique their lifting form or running style almost subconsciously. But this probably shouldn’t be the case. Gym culture is something that’s consistently under fire from a variety of ethical standpoints. For something deemed a leisure activity, it contains far too many aggressive grunts and subconscious hierarchies. The Church of Iron can be quite the amphitheatre, especially here at Exeter. Which makes 2018’s newbies ever the more impressive. With being shredded becoming even more of a fad thanks to social media (we’ll leave that can of worms for another time),

Those who do make it through the first month will be quickly rewarded Sure, it’s annoying to have your gym packed to the rafters for two weeks and there’s justified anger at those who feed the university only then to make use of it just for the first year of the month. The NHS thinks that 88 per cent of people fail New Years resolutions, leaving a measly one in ten people still hard at it at the gym come summertime. Quite frankly, we’re content with sharing our gym with that added 12 per cent, we’ve all been through the mill at the beginning and the difficulty doesn’t last too long. The small fraction of those who do make it through the first month will be quickly rewarded. They’ll soon be experienc-

ing the magical time in one’s gym career where muscles seem to grow just by picking up a couple of weights off the floor. The ‘noob gains’ one experiences in their first six months of training are the cornucopia of physical activity. It’s what

keeps you coming back four times a week and breaking into oven-baked chicken breast when all of your friends are enjoying their second round of garlic bread. It’s easy for us to be jealous of someone who can slap an extra 5kg on to the bar week

Picture: pixabay

New term, new me Megan Davies News Editor

IKE many people, I’ve gone through a variety of versions of resolutions: New Year’s resolutions, resolutions made at the start of the academic year (“I’ll do all of my maths homework”, thought an optimistic 17 year-old me), even thinking I was above resolutions. After some experimenting, I’ve found that the best resolutions for me are the ones I make termly. A clunky attempt at a name for them might be ‘New Term’s resolutions’. So what’s stopping me from making New Year’s resolutions like everyone else? Well, a year is a very long time to plan ahead for. It’s hard to know what I’ll be striving for in a year’s time. As a second-year student, I know, on a superficial level, that in a year I’ll be approaching graduation and close to entering “the real world”. At university, our lives are constantly evolving, we are learning every day, and it’s completely normal for our pri-

orities to change. Admittedly, I’ve never been great at planning ahead, so others might be better at finding New Year’s resolutions that will still be relevant to them in a year’s time. I personally find that my priorities have changed considerably since my first year. New Year’s resolutions wouldn’t necessarily be relevant by autumn… and that’s if you’ve even managed to keep them. In short, one-term resolutions are a lot easier to keep. For example, this term, I’ve decided to make an effort to cook my own meals, a couple of days a week, and bring leftovers to campus instead of relying on Pieminister and Pret for nourishment. It’d be hard to resolve to do this all year, however: what I can achieve while at home, in Exeter, studying, working, or travelling, will differ. I’m very aware that this is in no way an innovative idea. For example,

Virginia Woolf ’s oft-quoted New Year’s diary entry reads: “Here are my resolutions for the next 3 months; the next lap of the year.” Her resolutions are almost as exemplary: “To be free

incredible legacy of literary works). Termly resolutions have meant that I have been able to be more specific in what I wanted to work on. If I don’t respect them, that’s okay: I can get to the root of the problem and change what I do before getting to the end of the year and realising that I had forgotten my resolutions before February had started, and I hadn’t worked on what I wanted to work on. And sure, there are big dreams that don’t happen in just twelve weeks. However, twelve months isn’t necessarily a realistic amount of time either: Picture: Imama Lavi what if you need several & kindly with myself, not goading it years to achieve them? Rather, a short to parties: to sit rather privately read- term can help improve something ing in the studio,” for instance, is a specific and get us closer to long-term good way to live your life. And while goals. Woolf ’s death may make her a someAnd if you don’t manage to what questionable role model, she may achieve your termly resolutions, that’s have been onto something with the okay: you wouldn’t have achieved your resolutions (not to mention with her New Year’s resolutions either.

after week, and it’s from here on we know that this guy is now a full-time gym bro, just with a bit less experience than us. I guess it’s like learning to drive. I’ve only had my full licence for three years, meaning every time I see the big red L I’ll give them space and remain patient even if there’s been several opportunities for them to pull out already. You simply respect them because you were quite recently in their shoes. But I’d probably give up being patient if I realised that that learner was going to throw in the towel in a couple of weeks time. So for me the problem lies in the retention. Citing the gym as a New Year’s resolution should be greeted with confidence and respect, but it’s not a challenge that should be taken up lightly. Routines are difficult to change just due to a change in the date, and anyone coming in half heartedly will quickly be doomed to this year’s pile of fallen comrades.

Tell me your secrets, ask me your questions Agony McAuntface Resident Agony Aunt I met this guy over Christmas and he is PERFECT. However, he’s volunteering in India for three months, what should I do? If in doubt, shit out. That is, so to speak, if you have real concerns that you’re not serious enough to commit to three months apart, it’s better to save yourself some heartbreak. If you think you can see it through, babe you have my blessing. I’ve definitely failed my exams. Ever heard of a sneaky thing called August resits? Of course, that’s not ideal. Also, you may surprise yourself. It’s not over until the exam results sing. I’d like to join the uni gym but I’ve heard it’s really intimidating. When’s the best time to go? As I have been to said gym three times total, I may not be the best one to ask. However, everyone in the gym is there for the same reason. No matter how sweaty you are, no one will judge.

8 COMMENT

Heroes of the hall Olivia Denton Contributor

OT all heroes wear capes some wear tabards. I trust I am not alone in singing the praises of the invigilators that accompany us in the exam halls, the watchful knights of our exam halls that truly shine twice a year when students all around the world emit rays of extreme stress. The glory of invigilation is most strongly demonstrated by the head invigilator, usually named Sheila. As we quake in our squeaky chairs, Sheila takes centre stage. She grasps the microphone and in that beautiful moment Sheila isn’t just an invigilator, she is an artist. Sheila’s voice bounds across the exam hall, she knows her lines well, and delivers each line with the sharp-

ness of a blade: this is Sheila’s moment and we are entranced. Below Sheila in the invigilator power structure, are the “invigilator babes”, or in less censored terms: the rebels. These are those that work against the power of Big Brother with small acts of cheeky kindness. These rebels are those with whom you steal a sneaky smile and an unspoken wish of good luck passes between you.

When we need extra sheets of paper, we need extra sheets now! There’s something effortlessly comforting about their cardigans and the way they silently weave a web between rows of students. The most absurd thing is that their main duty is identity confirmation, as if anyone is insane enough to be in this torture chamber

voluntarily? I wonder whether Sheila really yearns for a mobile to go off ? I recall one incident when the chimes of doom rang from one poor soul’s bag in an exam last year. A look of pure fear tinged exhilaration took possession of one brave invigilator’s face. I can only assume the University source the exam invigilators from MI6, due to the secret-servant swiftness with which they flung the shameful bag out of the hall. Despite the secret service being an acceptable place to source Exeter’s flourescent-tabard squad, it would be more appropriate to bring in the Wimbledon Tennis ball gang to aid them in their training for the 2018 tournament. When we need extra sheets of paper to write on, we need extra sheets now! During my final A-level exam, I once spent two agonising minutes waiting for an exam invigilator to source ex-

tra paper. With each dawdling plod of because we are trying to bring these Sheila’s plimsolls, my chances for exam demigods down to our mortal level glory were at risk of being swatted through comedy. Nevertheless, there down! I asked Sheila if I was allowed is something enchanting about their extra time for this delay; presence because they Sheila shot me a look become your minias if I had sugmascots for the gested shaving exam, observher cat and ing our pain making the and in turn, fur into almost bean bags. sharing in Exam it. When invigilaall is said tors repand done, r e s e n t although law, and invigilators the rules so can be a bit perhaps that prickly round is why we dread the edges like a Picture: pixabay them so much. Maycactus, they are a rebe we joke about their spected life form in the individual quirks and characteristics desolate desert that is the exam hall.

VEGETABLE CORNER ROCKET

BEETROOT

Courgette

Lauren Geall Lifestyle Editor

Daphne Bugler Online Features Editor

James Angove Features Editor

HEN it comes to the humble salad, it’s not rare to hear a subtle sneer of derision. The truth is that as a society, we’ve condemned the salad as not only the choice of the bland but of the simple, the dull. And I’m not saying I’m an innocent bystander to this reaction. I too have turned my nose up at the prospect of a salad over a baguette in Pret. But no more will I ridicule the salad. Add a bit of rocket into the mix, and we’re talking about something else entirely. With a name which demands attention, rocket gives any salad a whole new dimension. Unexpectedly spicy and fresh, there is no problem that a handful of rocket can’t solve. Need a pick me up? Rocket. Hungover and trying to find a food you can stomach? Rocket. Looking for something to make your plate of food look slightly less beige? Rocket. I know what you’re thinking – how can a green leaf make such a difference? But the truth is, it’s the small details which make the biggest change. By adding rocket to any dish, you’ve unlocked a whole other realm of flavour. And that’s what makes rocket so great: not only does it provide you with some well-needed vitamins, but it’s so versatile you could pair it with just about anything. After discovering this king of the salad leaves, you may just start walking around with extra supplies just in case someone dares to present you with a bland salad again.

Picture: pxhere

VERLOOKED and underappreciated since they were given the awful sounding name ‘beta vulgaris’ in Latin, the humble beetroot is all too often forgotten. When you think of vegetables it doesn’t always spring to mind, but the immaculate purple root vegetable is one of the most versatile and delicious out there. Beets can not only be prepared in numerous ways, through boiling or roasting, but can also be eaten raw in salads. The root part of a beet has one of the most unique colours in the vegetable family, and has been adopted into cuisines in Eastern Europe and Asia due to the many health benefits they possess. Interestingly, beetroot is made of 88% water, but is an excellent source of folate and manganese. Beets have been used for medicinal purposes as well, notably for their role in reducing the amount of some fancy sounding chemicals in our bodies, which can lead to cardiovascular disease if they are found too prominently. The dark colour has been utilised for centuries as a dye, firstly being adopted in the 19th century to enhance the colour of wines, and now being found in most food colourings. Whilst this all sounds great, and beets are one of the most delectable vegetables out there, don’t go too crazy. In the First World War food shortages led to many people eating far too many of these purple beauties, which leads to something called ‘mangelwurzel disease’. Just keep this in mind, but don’t let it stop you indulging.

Picture: veganbaking.net

AIS oui, la courgette. A vegetable that takes itself seriously. In fact, so seriously that it insists on a French pronunciation. A cucumber with substance, the courgette’s gallic tones tell you straight away that this is a vegetable built for cooking. It can be fried, steamed, stuffed, baked and (for you weirdos out there) included in cakes. However the versatility of said veg does not stop there. It extends to its very naming as the courgette possesses a number of alter-egos: the zucchini and the marrow. The former is typically accompanied by a sunny American inflection, full of optimism. Conversations about zucchinis take place in bright and airy kitchens on the liberal coasts, in between talk of the latest musicals and (incorrect) assurances that green smoothies aren’t actually that bad. The marrow, however, could not be more contrasting. Defined as a fully-grown, matured courgette, the marrow is just that. It is mature. It is spending your weekends pottering round the allotment. It is grey clouds and greyer hairs. It is Antiques Roadshow on series link. The marrow is the preserve of those who make their own preserve. The veg has recently attempted a rebrand for the health-conscious and the sadists among us, as “courgetti”. The thin strips of courgette attempt the impossible task of replacing pasta, but the trend is trash and frivolous. I advise that the courgette stick to the serious business of cuisine – after all, who doesn’t love a good ratatouille?

Picture: Pixabay

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15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

Features

FEATURES EDITORS: James Angove Isabel Taylor

Remembering Grenfell

Image: Michael Bueker

Six months after a blaze tore through the housing block, Deepa Lalwani reflects on the tragedy

T has been over half a year since the disaster at Grenfell Tower. The fire - at a public housing block in the centre of North Kensington, London led directly to 71 deaths, and countless physical and mental injuries. For many, the immediate aftermath was a time of solidarity and support: the community response was unprecedented, with thousands of volunteers stepping up to provide donations of food, clothing and other essentials to the victims. To others, however, the necessity for such a strong community reaction came as a result of the failure of local authority, the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council, to supply adequate support to the victims – hence why just four days after the fire, the council was relieved of responsibility by the government. Shortly after the fire, criticism also fell on the government itself. The opposition between Labour and the Conservatives within Kensington became increasingly tense following newly elected Labour MP Emma Dent Coad’s statement that the fire would have been “entirely preventable” had the Conservative-led council listened to residents’ concerns about building standards for social housing. In addition, Prime Minister Theresa May was criticised by both locals and the press after she refused to meet with survivors of the fire on 15 June due to security reasons. This appeared in sharp contrast to Jeremy Corbyn’s actions as he publically visited and spoke to survivors and volunteers at a nearby community centre on the same day. After failing to increase the Conservative majority in the election the week before, additional scrutiny fell on May - her every move on Grenfell came to be viewed as

damning evidence of her incapacity to lead. Furthermore, as highlighted by the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg, May’s approach appeared to lack the “empathy” that is crucial when dealing with a disaster such as this. Criticism of the government was also linked to the wealth disparity in Kensington and Chelsea. The borough is renowned for being one of the richest in the country, yet the area which Grenfell Tower is situated was in the top ten percent of the most deprived areas in England, and was home to a large proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Interviews with locals in the days following the fire revealed that the Grenfell residents were mostly working-class people of colour and the inadequate aid created a damning indictment of the government’s ability to help those in need. The tragedy also raised significant questions about the building regulations and refurbishments that allowed the fire to spread so devastatingly in the first place.

Inadequate aid created a damning indictment of the government’s ability to help those in need Six months on, questions about the causes and reactions to the Grenfell Tower fire are still being asked. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry, ordered by Theresa May, has been underway since late June and aims to examine the regulations and safety measures in place at the time, as well as the immediate responses of the local council, the Fire Brigade and the government. Yet the inquiry itself has been under scrutiny

Image: Gary Knight

since the very beginning: just after it was announced, a petition that has now been signed by over 48,000 people argued that a public inquest is needed rather than an inquiry, in order to be “truly independent from government, not set up and controlled by government.” Moreover, throughout July there were many calls for the chairman of the inquiry, retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, to resign with Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad with several of the affected families’ lawyers suggesting that he lacked “credibility” for the job. Specific concern was expressed for a ruling that Moore-Bick made in 2014, when a London tenant was moved to Milton Keynes, 50 miles away from her home. Moreover, worries about the specificity of the inquiry were also expressed by the Labour Party. In a letter to Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn called for a “two-part inquiry, with the first part looking at the specific issues around Grenfell and reporting back quickly, and the second part looking at the national issues”, a statement that he later reiterated in mid-July. Yet despite these concerns, Moore-Bick continues to serve as chairman for the inquiry, and the inquiry’s official website holds little information as to what progress has been made. Instead, it seems that the ongoing Scotland Yard investigation of the corporate negligence surrounding Grenfell Tower’s lack of fire safety precautions may prove more useful for those seeking justice against the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, the group responsible for the Grenfell refurbishments. However, even this could be held up by financial restraints – just a few days ago, Scotland Yard announced that the force will be asking the Home Office for £38 million to help pay for an investigation that has already proved extremely complex and time-consuming. Whilst it appears that the inquiry and investigations are making slow progress, the more pressing worry is rehousing those affected. Theresa May’s pledge that victims would be rehoused within three weeks of the fire has failed spectacularly. The targets are continually changing, with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea stating in July, that rehousing would happen “as quickly as possible”, but even now, many families are still in temporary accommodation. In November, a report titled “After Grenfell”

Image: Natalie Oxford released by Kensington MP Dent Coad examined the vast inequality within Kensington and Chelsea and depicted the Grenfell fire itself as a result of “years of poor political decision-making and financial mismanagement”, a sentiment echoed by Jeremy Corbyn’s statement last month that condemned the government’s failure to rehouse those affected by the fire. In an interview with The Guardian, Mark Simms, the director of the Rugby Portobello Trust, highlighted the mistrust that survivors have for both local and national government: the authorities’ lack of honesty on timescale is “more insulting than a lack of housing”.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has been underway since late June Health officials are also expressing fears that the instability with rehousing could lead to more mental health problems and trauma for survivors, particularly as some victims are unwilling to use the NHS due to the government’s lack of clarity about their immigration statuses. Last week, an opinion piece by Natasha Elcock, survivor of the fire and a member of the support group Grenfell United, detailed her experience of the impact that the disaster had on inhabitants of the tower and those surrounding it. In particular, she described how although “there have been some offers of mental health support, we need more: every family should have an assigned mental health worker.” Whether in regards to the social consequences of the fire or the legal and political controversies that came with it, it is clear that six months on, Grenfell

has impacted the country at large and especially those closest to it. With the recent memorial service at St. Paul’s Cathedral held on 14 December, the overall message remains one of hope and solidarity. In the days following the fire, the sense of a community united in mourning at churches, community centres and sports halls was strongly felt throughout west London. Nevertheless, given the timing of the fire – a week after a divided British general election, the election of a Labour MP to the Kensington seat for the first time since 1974, and in a period rife with anti-immigration rhetoric in a post-Brexit country – it is unsurprising that calls for justice have become more desperate and angry after the rehousing delays and the government’s decision to carry on with the inquiry as planned. Looking to the coming months, it seems as if those affected by Grenfell are still at the hands of a government unwilling to listen to them; disillusionment with the government is now, more than ever before, tied to a belief that the establishment simply does not care about those living in social housing. Although the council’s recent purchasing of 300 homes for Grenfell survivors shows that efforts are being made to deal with the public’s concerns, many say that not enough change has been made in the past six months. Whilst the government seems to have stopped directly addressing Grenfell, and the tragedy has long fallen out of the news headlines, the impact of the tower should not be understated. Most importantly though, for those who still see the charred remains every day and for those who dream of returning to a home, it should not be forgotten.

FEATURES

Time to rethink?

Harry Bunting, Online Comment Editor, calls on us all to re-examine our notions of masculinity

HIS will not be remembered as a year of good men. Then again, you couldn’t really award that title to any year in the entirety of history, at least not when it comes to treating women as, you know, people. Nevertheless, last year was particularly notable as the Weinstein scandal prompted what is, ideally, the beginning of a purge of all abhorrent men in positions of power; abhorrent men everywhere, in fact. It was a year in which the spotlight was shone on the destructive power of male privilege, a light which will hopefully endure. Of course, women are very aware of the destructive power of male privilege, having been faced with the brunt of it for their entire lives. Men are aware of it too, it’s just that now they’re being held accountable.

A spotlight was shone on the destructive power of male privilege

The crimes of men that were made public last year – and those that remain unreported – are saddening and infuriating, but there is a glimmer of hope in the possibility that we’re witnessing the beginning of the end of this culture of toxic masculinity. With any luck, last year's events signal to us that the media industry is changing, society is changing, and perhaps most crucially, masculinity is changing. I want to make it clear that this article is not going to be me claiming the title of The One Good Man and lecturing fellow blokes on how to achieve my superhuman levels of sensitivity and understanding, because I, like all other men, can do better. I can call out any sexist jokes I hear rather than awkwardly laughing them off, I can take ownership of – and responsibility for – my emotional shortcomings, I can start aiming more accurately when I go to the toilet. Equally, I’m not going to speak for women’s

experience, because a straight white male explaining how women feel is not exactly what feminism needs. What I am going to do is try and examine what the future holds for masculinity, and how, if it goes in the right direction, we can all lead happier lives. We've already seen how the Weinstein scandal made us confront the predatory capabilities of men, particularly men in power, but the focus on toxic power has also brought male vulnerability to the public eye. Particularly notable was Terry Crews' sharing of his experience of sexual assault. “This whole thing with Harvey Weinstein is giving me PTSD. Why? Because this kind of thing happened to ME,” tweeted Crews, detailing how in 2016 a male executive groped his genitals in front of his wife. Crews spoke about how he considered retaliating, but decided against it because “240 lbs. Black Man stomps out Hollywood Honcho” would be the headline the next day. And he’s right: if powerful organisations have been covering up sexual assault against women for years, then they'd think nothing more of doing the same and discrediting a black man in the process. Terry Crews is, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me saying this, massive. He could accidentally crush me underneath his shoe and he wouldn’t even notice, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be vulnerable, or a victim. Equating physical attributes with emotional sensibilities is part of what needs to be left behind as we move forward with our ideas about gender. Gender roles have thus far given us the ridiculous conclusion that the people with vaginas have all of the feelings, and the people with penises have all the jobs in construction. There are those willing to defend these sorts of binaries until their dying day, and if it’s a man rather than a woman doing all this defending then that death is three times more likely to be a suicide. It would be greatly beneficial if men were comfortable expressing their feelings, their doubts, their loves, their anxieties, their passions, their favourite Chris in the MCU,

their fears, their aspirations – anything that they have been told from birth they should keep bottled up. Men are fed all sorts of damaging rubbish throughout their lives: boys don’t cry, 'don’t be a pussy', 'man up'. This is, of course, all incredibly stupid. I’m not the first person to say this and I won’t be the last. But the fact that I’m not breaking any new ground in saying that is exactly why I’m optimistic about the future of men. We are now quite used to being told that it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to express yourself, it’s okay to not be a stoic lumberjack with rippling muscles and a really good fantasy football team. It’s encouraging to see generations of boys being shown that they’re allowed to be emotionally expressive, and that they should see every other person as an emotionally expressive individual, not as a commodity or a competitor. Another example of this positive change is the backlash Lewis Hamilton received at the end of last year for telling his nephew that boys don’t wear dresses. Hamilton posted a video on Instagram saying “I’m so sad right now. Look at my nephew,” as he filmed said nephew wearing a pink dress and happily waving a wand. “Boys don’t wear princess dresses,” Hamilton sagely concluded. His comments were met with much criticism, forcing him to delete the post and issue a half-hearted apology. The sheer number of people willing to defend a boy’s choice to wear a dress is uplifting and probably wouldn't have been seen in previous years. Of course, in an ideal world, Hamilton would never have said those things, but sadly he did and members of the LGBTQ+ community expressed how damaging and long-lasting remarks like Hamilton’s can be. Despite this, it is positive that the video was so heavily condemned. These examples from 2017 of prominent public figures like Crews being praised for encouraging expression and Lewis Hamilton being condemned for restricting expression is what’s needed to help shift masculinity away

from being the dangerous tool it has been for so long.

I see little use for the words 'masculinity' and 'femininity' in the near future Honestly, I see little use for the words "masculinity" and "femininity" in the near future anyway. They suggest a certain set of characteristics for the gender they correspond to which is, as with much of gendered language, limiting. Especially considering the fact that male and female are not the only genders. In describing a non-binary person as masculine or feminine, surely we're holding them to the same damaging duality that they are avoiding by identifying as non-binary? But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the people who make jokes about identifying as helicopters are right, despite the fact that refusing to partake in the fabricated construction of gender is very different to claiming to be a Transformer. As for those who say that transgender people are unnatural, it seems that for a person to live a completely "natural" life, by their standards, they would have to either be Amish or abandoned in the forest at birth - and even Amish people have hats! Show me a tree that grows hats. They aren't "natural". But those that say these things aren't right. The proliferation of people with openly non-heteronormative identities and/or sexualities is only going to increase, so if we have to keep the word 'masculinity' around a little longer, let's at least embrace the change its currently undergoing. However, where there’s social change, there’s resistance to social change. Much of the resistance against shifting ideals of masculinity comes from the alt-right. Here’s a crash course for those of you who aren’t familiar with the alt-right, consisting of things they love and hate. Love: white

people, bad haircuts. Hate: minorities, gay people, transgender people, women. Much of their ethos is concerned with being anti-political correctness and promoting traditional gender roles under the guise of intellectualism, meaning they’ve adopted an arsenal of terms such as “beta” (an inferior male), “cuck” (an insult deriving from the word cuckold), and “snowflake” (an easily offended, whiny person). All of which are words designed to emasculate. The altright and movements like it are becoming worryingly prevalent around Europe and America. Their relentless attacks on “PC culture” seem to stem in part from their inability to cope with changing ideals of the male, and this insecurity manifests itself in hatred and sometimes violence. In order to be successful in rethinking masculinity, we need to ensure that the repressive, hateful voices are silenced, and the sympathetic, loving voices are amplified. I know I said this isn’t a lecture, but I am going to give some advice to my fellow men out there who made it all the way to the bottom of this article: express yourself; tell your friends you love them; cry at a movie; cry at a song; cry at a dog; ask your friends if they’re okay; tell your friends you’re not okay; wear makeup; don’t wear makeup; wear a dress; don’t wear a dress; wear TWO dresses; eat a load of chips; wear two dresses whilst crying about finishing your chips; respect women (not in a meme way, do it properly); respect men; respect nonbinary people; do ballet; play football; eat some more chips; have a laugh; give up on ballet; have a bath; cry because you’re bad at ballet; buy things for people; buy things for yourself; buy things for your dog; but most importantly, be nice. 2017 taught us that we desperately need to get rid of toxic masculinity, and now is the time. We have to be better because humanity deserves it, because we deserve it ourselves. We can be better. So let’s toss out the old masculinity and bring in a shiny new one characterised by sensitivity, empathy, and love.

Image: Max Pixel

Image: Ludovisi Collection/Marie-Lan Nguyen

FEATURES

15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

Two world leaders celebrate the New Year, as imagined by Isabel Taylor, Features Editor

Image: UK Home Office (top) and Russell Watkins (bottom)

Banter at the ballot box

In the era of Donald Trump, former businessman turned President, it’s worthwhile turning our gaze to other, less powerful politicians with colourful pasts. From Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger to Ilona Staller, who served in the Italian Parliament whilst still producing porn, politics has always featured a wide variety of people from diverse backgrounds. Sol Campbell When ex-England international footballer Sol Campbell retired in 2011, convention indicated that an unsuccessful spell managing in the lower leagues, perhaps at Swindon Town, before becoming a pundit who appeared on Match of the Day four or five times a year, was likely to follow. Yet, the divisive Campbell confounded expectations with a foray into British politics, with dreams of becoming a Conservative politician. Early on, from his protests that Labour’s proposed mansion tax was unaffordable, in spite of his estimated 34 million pound worth, to a disturbing photograph campaign in which he ‘whited up’ as part of Generation Black Vote, there were a few missteps. In an age where the line between celebrity and politician is blurred, however, Sol was not perturbed. In 2015 he believed his moment had come and he threw his name into the hat for London mayor, declaring ‘I have got so much to offer’. Sadly for Sol, it had not; he failed to make the Conservative Party’s shortlist. Nevertheless, for a man of Sol’s tenacity

this was not the beginning of the end, rather the end of the beginning. From his powerful argument that Brexit will be the saviour of English football, to rumours he may stand as a candidate for the Conservative Party in 2022, there can be little doubt that we are witnessing the birth of a politician destined for greatness. Ollie Lund, Online Editor Sonia Gandhi In a country like India where foreigners visit and vanish with large helpings of curry and heatstroke, it’s surprising that Sonia Gandhi (née Maino), an Italian born Caucasian woman, was a leading figure in the tumultuous world of Indian politics for two decades. Born and raised in rural Italy, Sonia fell in love with cheery student Rajiv Gandhi, the son of India’s only woman Prime Minister – and uprooted herself from the desolate Italian mountains to the bustling capital of India. Living in a family where the matriarch was Prime Minister was difficult for a country girl, especially when said matriarch was assassinated and Sonia’s young husband was voted in as Prime

Minister. The family thrived however, until Rajiv too was assassinated in a bomb blast, leaving Sonia with two young children in a foreign country, beginning to be overrun by ill feeling towards her. Yet with no experience in politics, or even a university education, Sonia took the reins of the dying Congress Party of India, which was beginning to be decimated by right wing Hindu nationalists, and managed to win two consequent general elections – yet stepping aside from being PM as she gave the position to a Sikh, Manmohan Singh. Despite this, and even after forty years of being Indian and twenty years in Indian politics, she is forever greeted by sexist and xenophobic remarks from both parties, for her foreign-ness, her accent and her status as a widow who dared to step out. Sonia’s story is strange, not purely because she was an Italian country girl that worked in a restaurant, who then controlled the political ladder in a foreign country, but because she had done it for the love of her deceased husband. Neha Shaji

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura started off his career as a professional wrestler, after a stint in the US Navy. In a career spanning from 1975 to 1986, Ventura was finally inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004, just after finishing his term as the 38th Governor of Minnesota and Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. In what is an unusual career change, Ventura also starred in films such as Predator and The Running Man with fellow body-builder and politician Arnie himself. Following a prestigious career, during which he introduced many reforms in Minnesota, Ventura decided not to seek re-election in 2002. However he is still politically active, starring in his own show on RT America. In a turn of events, very much like his career, Ventura features in public service announcements condemning steroids and their missuse. It sure looks like he’d rather pump money into Minnesota than pump his muscles in the gym. Peter Gillibrand

Actually only one of these Trump tweets is fake, can you guess which? (Hint: it's the first one.)

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plan yourself a happy new year

new year CREATIVE WRITING special

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LIFESTYLE EDITORS Barbara Balogun Lauren Geall

ARTS + LIT EDITORS Mubanga Mweemba Maddie Davies

MUSIC EDITORS Alex Brammer Maddy Parker

SCREEN EDITORS Ben Faulkner Fenton Christmas

STUDY BREAK Puzzles by Alfred and Tash 15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÃ&#x2030;

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On the Calendar for 2018 We're already sending out our social save-the-dates...

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T’S inevitable: Christmas is over and those deadlines that you’ve been trying in vain to ignore have finally caught up with you. However, before you totally resign yourself to permanent residency in the library, it’s important to remember that there is a life outside of deadlines. As a small reminder of that, here’s a handpicked, but in no way exhaustive, selection of events to brighten your academic year and use as a hard-earned reward for all your procrastination work. THEATRE If spending an evening being theatrically entertained is your kind of thing, then there’s many opportunities this term: from Shotgun’s Little Shop of Horrors (15-18January), EUTCO’s A Clockwork Orange (17-20 January), to Footlights’ annual musical Singin’ In The Rain (24-27 January), there’s plenty of theatre to see (and more to be confirmed in third term too). HIJACKED Hold It Down and Thick as Thieves are returning for the fifth time to Exeter’s Double Locks this May (date yet to be confirmed). If previous years are anything to go by, Exeter’s very own “annual nomadic dance music experience” is the perfect opportunity to let loose post-exams. You can pre-register for tickets now online, and there are many related events in the run-up to the festival itself, including an unmissable launch party with artists Fort Romeau and Willow at the Phoenix on 13 January.

ENCHANTED GARDEN BALL What’s not to love more than dressing up and partying in a field filled with fairground rides, silent discos, live music and alcohol? Arguably Exeter’s most Instagrammable event ever, the EGB is a highlight of every academic year. Tickets for this event on 2 June are yet to be released and it’s shrouded in mystery. However, be vigilant when tickets do go live, as this popular event was sold out in just under a few hours last year, but it’s well worth the rush. GRADUATION WEEK Finally, for all those final-years who sadly have to say goodbye to Exeter, Graduation Week will be held from the 16-20 July. With many events, ceremonies, and the Graduate Ball, this is a final chance to celebrate all your achievements alongside your nearest and dearest, before venturing into the horrifying reality of the Adult World. Last year’s ball had a masquerade theme with a fairground, casino, retro arcade, live music and a silent disco, so it will be interesting to see what’s planned for this year. Ellen Mitchell

2018 Fashion Forecast

ITH New Year sales coming to their end, thoughts in every shopping trip easily turn to grabbing the last of the bargains that can carry you through the seasons to come.

TRANSPARENT TROUSERS, PLASTIC IS MAKING ITS MARK

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Whilst most of us don’t have the budget to be waitlisted for the new Chanel, it’s worthwhile looking to big designers, for how the trends will trickle down and mellow out into wearable looks from high street shops.

Katie Baker analyses 2018's fashion trends

In the sarcasm dripped words of Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestly: ‘ Florals for spring? Ground breaking’, but Fashion Week proved they are here to stay, this time with back to basics bright colours and distinct lack of subtlety from Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga and of course Dolce and Gabbana. Bold choices continue with busy art prints from Prada, Calvin Klein, Versace and Dior. Something that seems a little more reserved for those who frequent red carpets and are able to get away with is a rise in plastics. You heard me correctly. From transparent trousers from Balmain to see through hats and shoes from Chanel, plastic is making its mark. If loud prints aren’t really your thing,

get ready to invest in some cute underwear because the sheer light and airy trend seems to be going absolutely nowhere- with barely there floaty looks from Alexander McQueen and Dior. As for colour, 2017 was all about “millennial pink” and it seems that 2018 is not too much of a step away - all about lavender, with the shade in its variations appearing on the catwalk repeatedly - through Valentino, Michael Kors, Tom Ford and many more.

FRINGE IS SET TO BECOME LESS OF A DETAIL Flapper-esque fringe has never gone away completely, but even so it’s back in a big way, Hayden William

with entire fringe dresses Paco Rabanne and looks from Balmain and Chanel it's set to become less of a detail and more of a whole feature look. Ultimately though, it's all just speculation. Fashion is ever unpredictable. Who’d have ever thought that bum bags would have ever made a reappearance?! Or that chokers would turn from our memories of Justine Littlewood to everyday attire?! As much as we try to guess, half the trends come down to waiting to see what a Kardashian steps out in and makes it acceptable for the rest of us to wearyou’re best off buying whatever you feel most confident in and hoping you make it take off.

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EDITORS: Barbara Balogun & Lauren Geall

A happy new year?

15 JAN 2018 |

Char Srahan uncovers the secret to avoiding the January blues

T last! Tesco’s opening hours are back to normality, the empty mulled wine bottles have stopped multiplying and you’ve just about cracked what day it is again. And breathe, you can stop fretting about familial comments on your ripped jeans for another year and the cat can no longer cause anarchy with those wretched baubles. But, as the New Year emails slow and the Christmas lights are re-tangled, the beginning of 2018 might feel bittersweet. Deadlines loom and exam pressures mount, and for many, relaxation feels like a distant memory. If, like me, you’re feeling nervy about what’s to come, taking action to make sure the New Year is indeed a happy one is a good place to start. As stress rears its ugly head again, don’t let self-care fall to the wayside: it certainly isn’t selfish. January can sometimes be tinged with a feeling of burnout – but it doesn’t have to be this way. To start the New Year on a good footing, take some time for yourself, regardless of your inevitably hectic January schedule. By set-

tling apart a time for recharging doing something you genuinely enjoy, without seeing it as a reward to be earned, you can work to keep your head above water. Whether it’s pounding the pavements, or just pacing yourself through a Peaky Blinders marathon, schedule a time for rest in your diary. The more you grind yourself down in pursuit of grades or smashing out those New Year’s resolutions, the worse you’ll feel when February finally rolls around. Don’t punish yourself, prioritise yourself. It’ll pay off in the long run.

DON'T PUNISH YOURSELF, PRIORITISE YOURSELF 2017 was a good’un for further opening up the conversation around mental health, and for plugging the whole idea of mindfulness. As proven by science, one of the ways to manage

Time to plan

your mental health is to get some sleep (Mum et al., 2018). Even if you’re a night owl through and through, scrapping those ZZZs will do nothing for your mood and productivity. By regulating your sleep pattern, making a proper effort to wind down and writing out what’s bugging you before you hit the sack, you can make a tangible difference to your wellbeing. The Internet is rife with sleep rituals, with yoga and journalling coming out top for bringing about a restful sleep. Heed the advice of the experts, because getting enough sleep really can change the game. By not sweating the small stuff, your New Year can be golden. Give up overthinking, and try to avoid setting far out (or damn well unrealistic) resolutions this year. Granted, big goals and aims can be motivating, but setting the bar too high can set you back – or at the very least, knock you down through feelings of failure. You’re the boss of how happy your New Year is, so invest in the things you love, rest up and set manageable expectations.

Isabel Stuart gives us her top picks for the best 2018 planners

EW year, new you? Or have you already found yourself breaking your 2018 resolutions? In order to set goals and actually stick to them, it's time to turn your good intentions into actual plans. Planners are designed to help you make the most of every day and achieve your yearly goals, no matter how big or small. So, if you want to try and make 2018 one of your best years yet, keep reading to find the perfect planner for you. The best planner for: The Goal Setter Kikki K 2018 A6 Weekly Diary If you have high ambitions for 2018, this weekly diary will guarantee that you succeed. It includes pages to plan your yearly goals, as well as quarterly goals to keep you on track. There are even tips for effective goal setting and inspiring quotes to keep you motivated. The weekly

pages encourage you to set top priorities and to do lists, and include space for you to fill in your goals for the week. Additionally, there are pages dedicated to reflection at the end of each month, helping you to learn from the months mistakes and progress further with the next month. The best planner for: On the Go Fox + Star Iconic A6 Monthly Planner This cute and compact planner is ideal for anyone who likes to make plans on the go and doesn't want too many boxes to fill. It is small and light enough to be taken anywhere, and contains 12 monthly layouts to keep you organised wherever you are. The monthly layout is ideal for jotting down quick notes, appointments, and reminders, so that you never forget anything.

The best planner for: Mindfulness The Happiness Planner (Jan – Dec 2018) We can often lose focus on our own happiness when life’s stresses get in the way, and our mental health seems to take secondary importance to more pressing priorities. The Happiness Planner helps you to prioritise personal growth over productivity by encouraging positive thinking, mindfulness and gratitude. If this year you want focus on yourself and set goals that maximize your happiness, this is the perfect planner for you. The best planner for: Daily Plans Moleskine 12-Month Daily Planner The classic Moleskine planner is designed for those who like to plan out every day in perfect detail. The format of one day per page gives you plenty of space to write down everything

you need to remember, and more. The timeless black leather design and high-quality materials ensure this is a planner that will stand the test of time and that you will enjoy using all year round. The best planner for: The All-Rounder CEO of My Own Life Planner The CEO of My Own Life planner lets you plan every aspect of your life in one place. Designed for the true all-rounder, every page focuses on four key areas of your life: career, family, health and personal. There is plenty of room for goalsetting, as the opening pages are dedicated to long term goals and ‘master plans’. However, the planner also encourages gratitude and mindfulness, providing space to note down something you are thankful for each day and memories to cherish.

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EDITORS: Barbara Balogun & Lauren Geall

lifestyle

Time for a fresh start

15 JAN 2018 |

Charley Cross gives us her tips for starting off the term on the right foot

HE start of a term is always met with an impending sense of dread. I count down the days to the return to university like some awful version of the advent calendar I was enjoying just this time last month, and then make up for the lack of daily chocolate by dipping into the selection box. I’m determined to not feel like I’m fire-fighting in my last ever term, and I began this endeavour by starting a fresh planner for 2018. Whether you believe in the integrity of New Year’s resolutions or not, there’s no denying that the start of a new term, with different modules and a different schedule, holds a great amount of potential for making a few changes in order to make your life easier. For academic matters, I’ve put my class and deadline timetable in my planner and across my online calendar. This way I can ensure that there’s no way I can forget them, and doing

something as simple as this is surprisingly effective in getting your brain back into gear. Little things like organising a pencil case for exams, or even just buying new stationery (hello, fresh pens!) create the illusion of productivity that you can use to coax yourself into university mode again.

LITTLE REMINDERS ARE PERHAPS THE BEST WAY TO GET YOURSELF BACK INTO THE SWING OF IT ALL If, like me, you’ve enjoyed the pleasure of having work to do over the Christmas break, you probably don’t need to do much more to encourage yourself to work when the looming deadlines are motivation enough. There are a

few things I’m trialling to not make myself hate doing work, though. I’m trying to keep myself sane with simple things, like making cups of tea or lighting candles for when I’m studying, and ensuring I do actually take breaks. I don’t advise a three-hour dive into YouTube, but spending ten minutes to flick through social media or think about what to cook for dinner isn’t going to destroy your efforts. It’ll keep you human! Speaking of dinner, I’m not one for planning my meals, but I can recommend making food in batches to save time. Even if it’s just one spare portion that disappears into the depths of the freezer, you might find yourself with a particularly busy evening where having food that’s ready in ten minutes or less is a blessing. I always see cooking time as a welcome break as it lets me concentrate on something else other than studying, but you might find that the convenience of having dinner done and dusted is

better for your mindset. Overall, I would just find what works for you. I like my planner organised in different colours for class, societies and even social events like drinks. That might seem too pedantic, but I’m also the person that puts ‘wash hair’ on my to do list just so I can feel I’ve accomplished more that day when I tick it off! I’m assigning specific days of the week to spend a few hours on my dissertation rather than a detailed timetable, because I don’t want to force myself to work. The fact that it’s there though will make me bear it in mind, and little reminders like these are perhaps the best things I can recommend to get yourself back into the swing of it all. Not too much scary commitment, but enough to provide that essential motivation. Oh, and schedule in coffee and cake breaks with friends too – that’s the most potent motivation of all.

New Year, new us

Our Lifestyle team share some of their resolutions for 2018 LAUREN GEALL

HEN it comes to resolutions, I’m not one for going all out. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the whole ‘new year, new me’ mantra; it’s great to work on yourself to an extent, but you can take it too far. That’s why, this year I’ve decided to try a small lifestyle change in 2018, by giving up paper coffee cups. With an Exeter KeepCup in hand and discounts being offered left, right and centre, is there any better time to give up coffee cups for the reusable alternative? This is my aim for 2018: no Keep Cup, no coffee (or hot beverage of choice). It might save me a few pennies too.

MELISSA BARKER

BETHAN GILSON

O watch the news every day – Pretty sure with this resolution I’m a strong contender for the 'most boring student of the year’ award (and we’re only a month into 2018!) But I think it’s important to remain clued up on what’s going on in the world, and watching the news every evening whilst I eat my dinner seems a easy enough way to do so. Next is to stick to my budget – No Beth, you really don’t need those shoes. Finally, to be more present – as an obsessive planner, I find it difficult to remain completely in the moment. This year (through practising mindfulness) I’m going to attempt to stop living in the future and enjoy things in their momentary bliss.

O make more time for myself – Uni is stressful and at times, relentless. But getting caught up in a web of this never helps. So I’m trying to take a few hours out for myself; have a bath, read a book, just get totally away from work. I’m hoping this will actually make working time itself more productive. Next up is to be more mindful of what I’m eating – for me, healthy isn’t just about cutting anything bad out of my diet, but keeping things balanced and being mindful, meaning that mid-dissertation chocolate craving can be relieved without guilt. As part of this I’m also trying to be more explorative in my meals – no more pesto pasta over here!

BARBARA BALOGUN

TOP procrastinating as much – no, the new season of HTGAWM on Netflix is not a good excuse for you to forget about the four deadlines you have for 18 January. I also want to read more – being an International Relations student I have realised that with the amount of reading I have to do during the term, I have lost the will and the envy to read anything when I have a break or time on my hands. But, new year new me, huh? Finally, read the news – when I was still home I used to watch the news on TV; however, since I’ve gone to uni have realised that I have put myself in a situation where I am way less informed and that needs to change: Twitter shouldn’t be my first place of information.

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AULD LANG SYNE BY NEHA SHAJI

OMEWHERE, beneath the gauze of layers wrapped round and round her soul, Clarissa has a steady centre. She doesn’t always know what it is, what it means, only that no matter who she is, it thrums inside of her like a heartbeat. She was not alone in the stifling, fake New Year’s party, where the only novelties from how it had been back in Britain were the beads of sweat on everyone’s lip, and the quick, darting foreigners in suits and turbans. 1946 was over, the war had shuddered into a closed fistula in time, and British India was welcoming in 1947 with an extravagant governmental bash.

SHE CAN SMELL THE TENSION - SHE CAN SMELL HOW FALSE IT IS Clarissa is a shy girl, navigating the strangeness of her new husband’s work environment, not quite sure she belongs here. She can smell the tension, after all – she can smell how false it is, this grasping of hands and singing of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ when she had read in the papers how some of these politicians with their skin darkened by blood and genetics had had their faces ground into the dust by men like her husband. ‘Auld Lang Syne’, Clarissa thinks, running her fingers across the rim of a glass. “It’s okay, Clarissa,” Jack tells her. “Just mix around, see – there’s the new Viceroy, that’s his wife, and –“ He looks at her a minute, considering. She could smell the old whisky on his breath, and the fervent tension in his fingers. India would soon slip from those fingers, and then they would be empty. Jack was afraid, and frightened men when drunk made Clarissa shudder. She doesn’t feel too capable of keeping someone else steady, let alone a man her family pushed her into marriage with only two weeks ago. He was her cousin. She envisions, macabrely under the smoky Indian stars, babies with lobster fingers. She keeps retreating to corners of the room. Too much ill feeling. Centuries old. She understands nothing, 1946 passing into 1947 is just like 1945 passing into 1946, for her. Clarissa’s never really believed in love at first sight, so she’s not exactly sure why she suddenly feels both steady and gloriously adrift when a man, very obviously Indian, very obviously beautiful, smiles at her. Fifteen minutes later they are somehow kissing in a broom closet in the house, and beneath her hands the planes of his face are devastatingly unfamiliar. As they step out carefully, he adjusts his head covering and smiles at her, that smile that is like being home. But India is not home, she understands all too well, especially not a fractured

India being passed to a new generation. And she is not behaving like she would have done at home, clambering into a broom closet with a stranger, a foreigner. “Hello Clarissa,” he says softly. He touches her hand. “Yes, the District Officer’s wife. Blue eyes, black circles, you have not been sleeping well. You are unhappy?” “I am not unhappy now,” she tells him. This is nonsense, she understands, and if her mother could see her now, she would have an immediate cardiac arrest. She thinks of Jack seeing her now, and smothers a crazed giggle. Five minutes to the New Year, she looks at her pocket watch. Jack would have to miss his kiss, but he wouldn’t miss it too much – he knows. She’s seen the way he looked at the Viceroy’s wife. “You should be,” The man shrugs, a smirk under his moustache. “You’ll be off on a boat in a few months, madame, and never look back at this country again. You should be deeply unhappy.” “Not really.” Clarissa shrugs, and she could hear the voices from the garden rising. It was almost 1947. “What’s your name?” “You wouldn’t have asked, had you not been new.” The Indian rolls his eyes. “We’re all the same, really. And you won’t see us, after this year, so you don’t even need to know.” “But what is it?” “You don’t need to know. But maybe you need to know that I’m a servant. At Viceroy House.” He grins, and looks at her as if he expects the predictable, uncharacteristic stagger Clarissa gave. It was an accident, she thinks, she only reacted like that because she was afraid of what Jack would think, what Jack would do. Yes, that was it. She looked at the beautiful servant, and saw only disdain in his eyes. “Are all of us the same, madam, or is it you all that are the same?” He asks her, none too gently, not expecting an answer. “Happy New Year,” he tells her as the clock started striking down, accompanied by feverish, excitable screams from the garden. “But nobody’s changed. Our entire country is getting a new beginning, but nobody’s changed.” Clarissa holds her hands out, as ‘Auld Lang Syne’ starts from the garden. Beneath the layers that surround her soul, her self sparks: this man is beautiful. No matter who he is. She thinks it is an epiphany, this bolt of common sense that she puts on a pedestal. But her hands remain stretched out, his eyebrows still raised. “We’re not really old acquaintances,” he explains. “As much as we pretend we are. Too much history, to be mere acquaintances.”

GOODBYE, BLACK COFFEE BY RYAN ALLEN

E sat alone, window seat at the diner, waiting for his order and for the man who called him the day before. He played with the stuff on the table in front of him; the sugar packets, the coffee-stirring spoon, the little laminated menu that sat in a box in the center. Lately, he found himself fiddling with things constantly. A skinny woman, old enough to be his mother, walked up to him holding a mug and a prepackaged BLT sandwich. The blonde hair tied up behind her head reminded Sam of fresh straw. She spoke with a thick southern accent. “A black coffee and a BLT. For you, Samuel.” “Thank you, Delores.” Sam reached into his pocket for a five-dollar bill. “Oh no, Sam. You don’t have to do that. It’s on the house.” He hesitated for a moment, before smiling back at her. “Thank you.” “Anytime.” Sam met Delores when he was in high school, when he was dating her daughter, Marianne. Even after the two broke up, Sam kept frequenting Delores’s Diner, and she always gave him one extra pancake on his stack. Back then, she smiled whenever he came in, and they always shared the local gossip - his from the school, her from the adults. Now, she looked at him with the same sad eyes that one might give to a stray dog in the suburbs. He couldn’t blame her though. Times change and all. He ate his sandwich. The diner was quiet, but not so quiet that anyone would listen in. Good. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw the front door open. Black leather jacket, more ‘cool dad’ than biker. Is this the guy? he thought. As if to answer, the song on the jukebox behind him starts playing an old Johnny Cash tune as soon as he entered. Sam couldn’t help but smirk a little at that. “You seem older than I expected,” said Sam as the man sat down opposite. “How old were you expectin’, kid?” He had a voice like a country singer too, a low southern grumble. Sam assumed he hadn’t shaved in a good week; coarse, salt-and-pepper stubble ran down his neck to the collar of his shirt. “My age. Maybe just a bit older.” A quiet chuckle. “Well, you got me. What can I say? If you want it done good, you don’t want some teenager doing it for ya.” Sam just sipped at his coffee. Patronizing, he thought, but seems to be trustworthy. He asked: “You have it all ready?” The man sighed. “Before I give it to ya – and I know you’ve already thought about it, yada yada – but I got to say anyway: you sure about all this?”

Sam looked over his shoulder at Delores, wiping the counter. His eyes met hers, hers his. He turned back. Goodbye, black coffee. Goodbye, Delores. “Yeah, I’m positive.” Sam finally answered. After a moment of staring, the man said: “Well, alright then. Here it is.” He ruffled through a bag at his feet and pulled out a small card, passing it to Sam. It had his face, but a different name, a different age. “And you destroyed all other ID?” he said. “Yes.” “Bank cards?” “Yes.” “Starbucks membership, whatever?” “All gone. Cut up into little strips and in separate trash cans, just like you said in the email.” “Good. And nobody knows what you’re doing? Where you’re going?” “Can we just leave?” The man furrowed his brow. “Watch your mouth, kid. You’re paying me for this, remember?” Sam sighed. “As far as anyone here knows, I never existed in the first place. Ok?” “Good.” Delores approached with her coffee pot, a nervous touch to her steps. She spoke to Sam, but her eyes not once left the man in the leather jacket. “You ok there, Sam? You enjoying your coffee?” The man looked at Sam with eyes that said “handle it”. “It’s good,” he replied. “Thank you, Delores.” “That’s good, that’s good…” She paused for a moment. “This man a friend of yours?” Sam hesitated. “Yeah, uh, he is, yeah.” Smiling politely, Delores nodded and headed back behind the counter. Sam took the last sip of this coffee, and said: “Can we just leave now?” The man nodded, and Sam stood, grabbing a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and tucking it under the mug on the table. Goodbye, Delores, he thought, one last time. Goodbye, black coffee. Outside, a van pulled up, old, beaten, paint worn with time. A logo for a fake, traditionallooking plumbing company on the side. The man in the driver’s seat looked ahead, wore sunglasses, said nothing. Ahead lay only a long, empty road. The man watched as he got in the passenger seat. “Happy new year, Andrew.” “Huh?” the kid replied, before looking back at his new ID and laughing to himself. The kid in the car, once Sam but now Andrew, looked back at him. “I hope so,” he said, and he closed the door. The man in the leather jacket stood back as the car began its drive down the road, dust billowing up in its wake.

A NEW YEAR FOR NEW VOICES A

NEW YEAR, NEW ME BY LINDSAY WARNER

DELLE Valens knew that she was a damned good Traveller but that didn’t mean she liked it when she had to enter a new Host. Her eyes flashed open and she gasped, shoving the duvet away and vomiting into a pile of clothes beside the bed. When she was done, she wiped her mouth and groaned, clutching her head and panting as she waited for the dizziness from the Transfer to subside. “Soph, you okay?” Adelle jolted at the sound of her Host’s name. Though she had studied Sophie extensively, she still felt an inkling of panic at assuming her life for the next 24 hours on her reconnaissance mission. Her trained gaze had just begun to log potential exits and weapons when an infant burst into the room. Adelle recognised her immediately as Jasmine, Sophie’s six-yearold sister. “Ewww,” Jasmine squealed, squeezing her nose closed. “Muuuum, Sophie’s been sick on the floor again!” Adelle’s heart pounded at the sound of loudening footsteps, but her fear lessened when she saw the teasing grins on the parents’ faces when they appeared in the doorway moments later. “Rough night?” the mother asked, nose wrinkling. “Little bit, yeah,” Adelle replied. Sophie’s voice was scratchy, raspy, nothing like Adelle’s own lilting tones. Talking felt like she was trying to fly a spaceship after years out of commission. The mother nodded slowly. “Well, I want that mess cleaned up and you in the shower. Lunch is nearly done and we’ll start whether you’re there or not.” Adelle groaned again. Sophie was much prettier in person than in Adelle’s file, despite how dishevelled she currently looked. She wore a sequinned, black mini dress, presumably leftover from last night, and her make-up had smudged around her wide hazel eyes. Her olive complexion was paler than usual, and her shoulder-length, brown hair was knotted at the back. When Adelle scowled at the mess that confronted her, the mess scowled back. Not knowing what else to do, she set about completing the tasks that the mother had set. It was only half an hour later that Adelle breezed into the dining room, where Sophie’s family had just begun to serve themselves their food. According to Adelle’s research, Sophie’s family always had a massive lunch to bring in the new year. It didn’t disappoint. “Nice of you to finally join us, Sophie,” the mother greeted her. Adelle grunted, unsure how to reply to her teasing. Adelle had been disgusted by Sophie’s state. Why wasn’t her mother? Shaking her head, Adelle grabbed a plate and began piling on roast lamb, potatoes, veg-

etables and gravy. “Where did you end up going for your New Year’s Eve party?” the father asked, shoving a whole potato into his mouth. “Jonathan!” the mother scolded, slapping his arm and giggling. The father shrugged, turning back to Adelle as he awaited her answer. “Nowhere special,” she muttered, pushing food around her plate. The father chuckled. “Yes, that’s exactly what our unwanted house guest said as he legged it out the door this morning.” The father waggled his eyebrows, and it took Adelle a second to understand that he was referring to this unknown man as a sexual partner of Sophie’s. Adelle knew that Sophie wasn’t in a relationship (those that were could never be Hosts – too risky) so she assumed it was a one-night stand. The realisation must have shown on her face, because both parents erupted into laughter. Adelle tried to ignore her revulsion as she mentally chanted her mission objective over and over. Learn about human values, customs and holidays. Any information is useful information. Know your enemy. Stealing her resolve, Adelle gritted her teeth. “Could we not talk about this, please?” “So long as you’re being safe, I’m happy that you’re happy,” the mother said, ignoring Adelle’s request. “You never know what diseases are out there.” “Diseases?” Adelle repeated, making a mental note. “Maggie, please, not at the table.” The mother sighed. “I’m just saying, dear.” “You are not angry? That I consumed too much alcohol and brought a stranger home to have sexual relations with?” Adelle couldn’t wrap her mind around such disrespectful behaviour. On her planet, she would have been jailed for such actions, for such loss of control. Humans were an utter mystery to her. The parents chuckled. “Some warning would’ve been nice but it’s pretty normal for people your age, honey,” the mother replied. “And it’s hardly the first time you’ve done this.” “New year, new me?” Adelle tried out the phrase she’d come across in her research, and was surprised when the parents laughed at her pledge. “Sure thing, sweetie.” Adelle recognised the father’s tone as sarcasm and frowned. Was reinvention a joke to them? The family continued bantering amongst themselves while Adelle observed, fascinated. Her mission thus far suggested that humans’ main priorities were alcohol, sex and family, so these would be the first points of attack. The humans were in for one hell of a New Year.

NO SNOW FALLS HERE BY CHRIS BROWN

P in the high, dry peaks of the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range is where you’d find the world’s most pristine water. But that was long ago, when the rainfall turned into curving streams, when the snowmelt turned into a clear blue lake. Now, no snow falls here, and there is neither a lake, nor water. It has been that way for years.

THE WORRIES OF DROUGHT STARTED TO ESCALATE The Eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range is in the South of California, in the Great Basin, where winding foothills lead to flat, barren valleys and inland lakes. I grew up in Bodie, a small mining settlement located next to a forgotten stretch of desert near the crossroads of Highway 395. The year is 1913. I am living with Grandpa Eckle in the house he built on the edge of Lake Owen. That year, there was very little rainfall, and worries of a drought started to escalate. Grandpa Eckle was a steamship captain and often he would take me out on his steamer and we would sail across Lake Owen and go to Angel Falls. Angel Falls was a waterfall on Rokeby Island, which is where we would go in high summer. I still recall Angel Falls like it was yesterday; the transparency of the water, how the water sparkled in the sunlight, and how it froze in mid-air. Grandpa Eckle inherited the steamer from an old army buddy of his, and the minute he got the chance he quit his job in the mines and practically jumped aboard. He seemed to enjoy the new job a lot. All he had to do was load the ore onto the steamer and unload it once they reached the debarkation bay on Rokeby Island’s shore. Then, the ore was put in a cable lift that took it to the smelters. It sounds complicated but it really was not, manual jobs never are. After a short spell, he got promoted to the rank of captain and began steering the steamer. He named it the S.S Hilda, after his wife. I got the impression that the steamer was built to the same dimensions as the Titanic, but I cannot be completely sure. It looked like a miniature model of the Titanic-- it had a gigantic rudder, two tall steam engines, a kiln to burn coal, and a poop deck. I used to pretend to be a pirate. I used to duck below the deck to avoid getting blasted by the cannon fire from rival ships. I also used to play Cowboys and Indians, but I was

always the Apache. My friend Tommy always wanted to be the cowboy so I just let him be the cowboy. I carried the bow and arrow. As a young boy, I dreamed about the mountains. I wanted to live up there for two reasons: to escape the heat, and to see what was over the mountains. Most nights, I dreamed that I was some kind of bird gliding over all the land. I would become airborne, like a condor, and I could feel the temperature of the air getting cooler and cooler on my wings the higher I flew, and as I got closer to the snowy peaks, the air would thin out as I flew even higher above the clouds, which casted shadows over the great basin below. Then I could feel the sun’s warmth - and I would be up like a shot. I would not fall asleep again before morning. I told Grandpa Eckle about the dream I had and he took me out of school one day to go to Rokeby Island, that was my first voyage on the S.S. Hilda. I remember that day well. When we were just about to set sail, some teenage runaways climbed inside one of the canoes that was tied to the side of the steamer. They had on bright orange jumpsuits. I did not say a thing to Grandpa Eckle about them. Soon after that, more folks wanted to board the S.S. Hilda. All kinds of folks came aboard– from hitchhikers to tobacco growers. For twenty years, Grandpa Eckle steered the S.S. Hilda. They were the happiest years of my life, but that was long ago. Now, I’ve stayed in this house for so long, I dread to start over. They’d have to bulldoze the house to move me out. Heck, any day now they will be coming round to nail an eviction notice on my front door. But no matter- I’ve lived here my entire life, I’ve seen what plenty looks like, and I won’t move from my porch. I would not go out there - who knows what is beyond the mountains. It is definitely not water.

LAKE OWEN TURNED TO STEAM - IT LOOKS LIKE A BIG DUST BOWL No snow falls here. It melts before it reaches the top of the mountain. Lake Owen turned to steam– it looks like a big dust bowl. Sometimes, I can see Grandpa Eckle appear like a ghost over the old mountain lake. On these occasions, I have to force myself to stop remembering, and I look up at the great blue sky, which is always cloudless and sunny, and wait for rain.

music

The alternative Grammys

George Stamp, Online Music Editor, awards the most underrated and overrated music of 2017

WORST ALBUMS Lil Pump – Lil Pump You have to feel bad for him. If you ever need a reminder not to use Xanax or any other prescription medication as a party drug, then this album is for you. Ed Sheeran – Divide This album is pure, undiluted beige. The most insulting thing about this album is just how painfully dull it is. If you thought ‘Shape of You’ and ‘Galway Girl’ were difficult to sit through in their countless radio plays, wait until you hear the rest of it. XXXTENTACION – 17 Psychopathic Soundcloud rapper XXXTENTACION released a truly terrible debut album this year. X attempts some ham-fisted social commentary on race, drug addiction and mental illness. This culminates in a melodramatic and frustrating project from one of the most problematic pop culture figures of our time. The Chainsmokers – Memories… Do Not Open The Chainsmokers deliver an album of base, boring, EDM trite in an overly-sentimental collection of tracks that is an insult to EDM and pop music as a whole. Eminem – Revival Despite his obvious talent and icon status, Eminem’s latest release is an incoherent mess. In our reviewer, Elliott Burr’s words: “It’s like talking with someone who is probably clever and interesting, but who has no idea how conversation works”. Let’s just hope that Eminem hasn’t lost it for good.

TOP 10 EPs Injury Reserve – Drive It Like It’s Stolen The Arizona hip-hop trio deliver a superb follow-up EP to their incredible 2016 album, Floss. This EP takes a more lowkey approach but still manages to maintain their wit and unique style. Nonetheless, Injury Reserve’s penchant for aggression does not disappear completely, with tracks such as ‘Boom X3' providing a gritty release of energy.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - The French Press EP The Melbourne-based five-piece released an impressive indie rock EP in 2017 with The French Press EP. The project showcases simplistic but endearing production, with watery guitars and a driving rhythm section that keeps the band in lockstep. In a year saturated with underground indie/rock releases, this EP shines through.

Kamasi Washington – Harmony of Difference West-coast jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington dropped a fantastic follow-up EP to 2015’s The Epic, one of the most ambitious contemporary jazz projects ever recorded. A much shorter endeavour than its three-disc parent album, Harmony of Difference delivers all of Washington’s bombastic space-age jazz arrangement in a much neater package.

Burial – Rodent + Subtemple The two short EPs that UK electronic producer Burial has released this year are shining examples of what this guy can accomplish. One, a sample-heavy old-school garage beat with a remix from label boss Kode9, the other, two gritty, atmospheric works of ambient brilliance. Burial holds his position as one of the most idiosyncratic producers of our time.

David Bowie – No Plan Bowie’s final posthumous release (we think), No Plan is a shining reminder of Bowie’s raw creativity. Aside from ‘Lazarus’, the EP consists of three previously unheard tracks that further explore Bowie’s jazz-infused balladry as found in his other final recordings. This is a welcome addition to Bowie’s parting gifts to the world.

Tom Misch – Reverie Unsurprisingly, given the title, this EP can only be described as "dreamy". Misch's catchy guitar riffs are complemented by his effortless vocals, and these combined make for a very relaxing listen. The cohesiveness of this EP and his smooth, jazzy sound both bode well for his full album coming in 2018.

Rina Sawayama – RINA A true rising star, Rina Sawayama released a stellar EP in 2017 that fuses futuristic PC Musicesque production with the early 2000s pop. RINA strikes an incredible balance between spectacular songwriting and 00s nostalgia in this eight-track masterpiece of pop prowess.

Dave – Game Over Dave has been making waves in the UK rap scene in recent years, and his Game Over EP is a consolidation of his talent and ambition. Seven tracks of quickfire wordplay and glitchy, synthetic beats, this project is a sign of promising things to come from the young rapper.

Steve Lacy – Steve Lacy’s Demo Steve Lacy has played a large part in some very significant releases in recent years, from working with The Internet to producing ‘Pride’ from Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. This EP is Lacy’s first foray into solo music. Recorded entirely on iPhone GarageBand, Lacy has carved out a uniquely inspiring project from limited resources.

Deem Spencer – We Think We Alone Deem Spencer has been making waves in the wake of a post-Blonde era of experimental hiphop and RnB. A rapper with the lo-fi sensibilities of Bandcamp songwriters such as (Sandy) Alex G, We Think We Alone is a collection of strange, noisy, but deeply personal tracks exploring the death of Spencer’s grandfather. Not an artist to overlook.

TOP 10 SINGLES

1. Calvin Harris – Slide ft. Frank Ocean & Migos 2. BROCKHAMPTON – GUMMY 3. Maggie Rogers – Alaska 4. Kendrick Lamar – The Heart Part IV 5. N.E.R.D – Lemon ft. Rihanna 6. Car Seat Headrest – War Is Coming (If You Want It) 7. Drake - Passionfruit 8. King Krule – Czech One 9. Radiohead – I Promise 10. Arcade Fire – Everything Now

HONORARY MENTIONS Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked At Me This album might not be included in our Top 50, but let it be said that this is hands-down one of the best albums of the year. The songs are brutally honest, detailing songwriter Phil Elverum’s struggle with the loss of his wife, Genevieve. The album is so candid in its discussion of death that it feels like listening to a close friend empty their feelings out to you. As such, it feels callous to rank it arbitrarily in a Top 50. Listening to this album is a unique and deeply saddening experience, but one we would recommend to you in a heartbeat.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory As much as we enjoy Vince’s music, and as fun as some of the big singles off this project were, the album rode a wave of hype that it couldn’t live up to. Most of the project feels distracted and unfinished, even though there’s some stellar production at work and a few killer features. We know you can do better, Vince.

BIGGEST SURPRISE Harry Styles – Harry Styles Let’s be frank. No one expected a former 1D member’s solo album to be a critical success. After Niall Horan’s attempt at being a wholesome singer/songwriter and Zayn Malik’s Top 40 appeal, Harry Styles’ bombastic, classic rock influenced debut was certainly a curveball and, for many, one that paid off.

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EDITORS: Alex Brammer and Maddy Parker

music

15 JAN 2018

New music for the new year

Chris Connor describes the five albums he's excited for in 2018

Manic Street Preachers – Resistance Is Futile This is one of my highlights for 2018 – their uptempo 2014 record Futurology dabbled with a surprising mix of genres and showed that there’s life in the Manics yet. Futurology stands as one of their most impressive albums since the 90s, and shows real diversity to the band’s sound when you compare it to 2013’s Rewind The Film. The lead single off their new effort, 'International Blue', is strong enough to suggest that the record is a future fan favourite. Arctic Monkeys – LP #6 This is one of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2018. AM stripped away the band’s previous hard-edged sound, replacing it with slick electronics and a patchwork of influences ranging from Dr. Dre to Black Sabbath. The main reason for the hype surrounding this album is that it’s the longest fans have had to wait between albums; the main thing Arctic Monkeys fans have had to gorge on since 2013 has been The Last Shadow Puppets’ sophomore album. However, whilst AM was widely adored, it’s had a mixed reception from fans, so the hype for a potential return to form is reaching critical mass.

Franz Ferdinand– Always Ascending This will be the Glaswegian group’s first studio album in five years, coming off the back of their bizarre collab with US group Sparks FFS. The lead single and title track appear to find the band in a similarly experimental form, with synths aplenty and a more glamrock feel. They’re not far from the sound of the most recent Killers record. Franz Ferdinand have never been one to conform to type and have had a string of a hit records. However, it remains to be seen whether they can hit the heights of their first two releases – but they seem to be keen to give it a go.

Florence and the Machine – LP #4 Much like Arctic Monkeys, this should be a crowd-pleaser. There have been rapturous responses to all three previous efforts by Florence Welch and co., with How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful being a particular favourite of mine, including gems like 'What Kind Of Man', 'Ship To Wreck', and 'Queen Of Peace' standing out. Hopefully this album will allow the band to continue to show off the uniqueness of Welch’s vocals and a wealth of influences. Gorillaz– LP #6 You might think Damon Albarn’s side project with artist Jamie Hewlett would take

another break following 2017’s Humanz, perhaps allowing Blur to move to the forefront, but this doesn’t appear to be the case. Hewlett confirmed in a recent interview with publisher TASCHEN that they’d like to have the followup ready for a 2018 release. While Humanz had some strong tracks (especially 'We Got The Power', 'Andromeda' and bonus track 'The Apprentice'), it at times felt overstuffed with features. Hopefully the next album will strip back the collaborators and aim to make something more in keeping with the group’s first two records, especially fan favourite Demon Days.

Other Upcoming Albums The 1975 - Music for Cars Craig David - The Time is Now Fall Out Boy - Mania Kylie Minogue - LP #14 Jack White - Boarding House Reach MGMT - Little Dark Age Muse - LP #8 Nils Frahm - All Melody Tom Misch - Geography Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin Vampire Weekend - LP #4

Winter wallowing

Exeposé Music Writers debate the perks of downbeat and upbeat music

HE ‘Post New Year Glam Wallow’. It’s inevitable. No longer is the dark walk or drive home comforting, with festive lights guiding your path to a nice cuppa and a mince pie. Instead, it is probably windy, rainy and downright gloomy. And so, the winter wallow begins. Some might say January would be the perfect month to brighten up such a treacherous journey home, with a positive playlist, inspiring all those New Year’s Resolutions (which you probably won’t remember to actually write down, let alone complete) to be achieved. And yet, what your January soul needs is cruel, sombre, cathartic comfort. The University of Berlin studied more than 700 people’s music listening habits and concluded "sad music elicits an entire range of ‘sublime’ emotions that include wonder, transcendence and peacefulness". Clearly, we should embrace this period of wallowing, by lighting a candle and having a playlist filled with the dulcet tones of Rufus Wainwright’s ‘Dinner at Eight’, The Cure’s ‘Letter to Elise’ and The Red House Painter’s ‘Void’. The beauty of the ‘wallow’ is its many sub-genres that compose it: the ‘dear god I am stressed’ mood, cured by listening to Morrissey’s ‘Dear God Please Help Me', the ‘I was alone drinking wine on New Year’ mood, remedied with Mitski’s ‘I Want You’ and the ‘I am screwed for my fu-

ture and a ball of anxiety’ kind of mood comforted by a little bit Keaton Henson. And as a side note, in a league of its own, I fully recommend a wallow session to Otis Redding’s ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’. Whilst wallowing may be inevitable, such suffering does not h a v e to be alone. Indeed, hold a wallow party, fully equipped with a comforting playlist including a few dozen repetitions of ‘I Know it’s Over’ and a tub of ice cream...I’m pretty sure that’s the right way to start 2018. Molly Gilroy, Online Screen Editor

OOK, I get it. The joy of mince pies and presents has worn off, you’re bombarded with people declaring it’s time for change, and you feel just a bit saggy all round. Nothing seems more appealing than loosing yourself in Lana Del Ray’s latest offering and crying until March. However, I am here to promote the exact opposite. Not in a preppy sorority way which is somewhat, dare I say it, American, but promotion it shall be. January is a new beginning, whether we welcome the new year, or are dragged in to it

kicking and screaming, so it makes sense to accompany the fresh start with some upbeat tunes. Before we know it, nights will be getting lighter, the weather will be warmer and legs will become bare, so it’s high time to shrug off winter hibernation and save The Smiths for emergencies only. It sounds like a bitter pill to swallow, especially with so many of us feeling swamped with deadlines before term has even started, but wallowing can sometimes only hold you back. As a January baby, maybe I’m biased, but the first month doesn’t need to be all doom and gloom. Revisit the old bangers that always get you pumped up, my personal favourites are 'It’s Raining Men' and 'Golddigger'. I’m yet to find anything as motivational as Kanye West telling me about his Baby Mama troubles. Make your morning climb onto campus slightly easier with a bit of 'Ain’t No Mountain High Enough' from Diana Ross and forget that dodgy Christmas fling with the ineffable 'New Rules' courtesy of Dua Lipa. A bit of self pity here and there is good for the soul, especially when your soundtrack amplifies those feelings but maybe this January it’s time to give Celine and Whitney a rest and try something new. You might prefer it. Alicia Rees, Comment Editor

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EDITORS: Alex Brammer and Maddy Parker

music

Misogyny in music

15 JAN 2018

Olivia Denton examines the effects of sexism within the music industry

AST month saw the launch of the Stop 2018 campaign, which calls for the end of “bullying, misogyny, sexual harassment, assault and rape in the music industry”. Misogyny is undeniably a problem within the industry, but how does this translate into the music we hear every day? At the time of writing this, if you checked the Spotify charts, you wouldn’t see a woman’s name until you reach Camila Cabello with 'Havana' at number five. Of the top 50 mostplayed tracks in the UK, I counted only 13 songs (26%) that even featured a female artist. Of the 13, many were multiple-entries - Camila Cabello, Dua Lipa, and Rita Ora all appeared twice. Although I do admire their work, what strikes me about these female chart contenders is that all three are exceptionally conventional, young beauties. Furthermore, if you compare all-male bands to all-female bands (or the rather agonisingly named ‘girlbands’), the all-male bands that are embedded into the national psyche (think Radiohead, the Beatles), are almost deified for their exceptional talent, yet they look very ordinary. Put simply, their aesthetic is secondary and their art comes first. It’s embedded into girl band history that successes

such as The Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, even Little Mix are cherry picked by the (usually male) bigshots in the music industry and pushed together to create an aesthetically pleasing, well-balanced look; if they can sing… that’s a nice bonus. I spoke to a young artist, Sasha, who has been touring and performing in the UK for nearly five years. She said that “branding is completely integral to the success of the artist, more so than the music” and stated that “male artists get away with a lot more… men in the industry have that ‘mysterious’ image where they don’t have to show their face, whereas for a fe-

male that’s harder to get away with.” Over Christmas, while listening to Kanye’s tour de force 'Monster', I told my mum how much I like Nicki Minaj’s solo verse, to which she responded “but she looks so strange?” And herein lies the problem. I don’t think my mum would have questioned my enjoyment of Jay-Z or Bon Iver’s music because of how they looked, she probably wouldn’t even register it. I think the core of the problem lies in the fact that we have societal expectations for what a woman should sound and look like, and we have fewer of these barriers and judgements when regarding men. Perhaps this is because the money and power in the industry lies with huge

Introduction to pop punk

Image: Christopher Macsurak

Alex Wingrave gives a run-down of the best pop punk albums

RAB your skateboard and tell your parents they just don’t understand you, because it’s time to dive in the most angsty genre of them all, pop punk. Maybe I should have grown out of it by now, but something about catchy power chord riffs and nasal lamentations about heartbreak continue to draw me in – so here are some of the most important and influential albums of the genre.

POP PUNK'S ROOTS LIE IN THE PUNK SCENE OF THE 1980S Pop punk’s roots clearly lie in the punk scene of the 1980s, with major bands drawing influence from the simple but hard-hitting music of the Ramones, Misfits, the Clash and others. Green Day infused these influences with infective catchiness on 1994’s Dookie, which was a huge mainstream success for the band, and alongside the Offspring’s Smash, it brought punk back into the public eye. Songs like ‘Basket Case’ and ‘When I Come Around’ became hits as singer Billie Joe Armstrong captured the apathy and anxiety of youth. Green Day have since transcended the genre and become household names, but their music always incorporates the fast and fun instrumentals which made them famous.

The other recognisable titan of pop punk is Blink-182, whose 1997 album Enema of the State has long represented the height of the genre’s popularity. By employing polished production and ear-worm choruses, the band put pop punk onto the charts and spawned hundreds of copycats. Signified by juvenile lyrics, Tom DeLonge’s nasal voice, and Travis Barker’s inventive drumming, Enema is not a serious piece of music, but it is insanely fun, and the singles ‘All the Small Things’ and ‘What’s My Age Again’ will continue to define the carefree feeling of many people’s teenage years, including mine. Among the bands that found success after Blink-182’s rise are Canadian group Sum 41, who helped feed the genre’s popularity throughout the 2000s. The band brought pop punk together with influences from rap and metal to create a unique sound, showcased on 2001’s All Killer No Filler. Though it doesn’t quite live up to the aspirations of its title, the sound of breakout hit ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘In Too Deep’ show the versatility that the band offer to an often stale genre. Though not achieving the heights of blink-182 or Green Day, Sum 41 and similar mid-tier acts like Simple Plan and New Found Glory continue to tour their music around the world today. In the late 2000s, the genre got a boost from bands who had grown up listening to its

originators. With Riot! in 2007, Paramore were catapulted into the limelight, spearheaded by the charismatic Hayley Williams and armed with the iconic banger ‘Misery Business’. Like their contemporaries Fall Out Boy and All Time Low, however, the group have left their angsty roots behind to explore new musical avenues. The move has brought them arena tours and even greater critical and commercial success, but is indicative of the loss of interest in a once popular genre.

A LOSS OF INTEREST IN A ONCE POPULAR GENRE Today, pop punk has certainly fallen from the limelight and many would consider it a dead genre; however, it does retain a thriving fanbase. The past decade has seen a wave of bands such as the Story So Far and the Wonder Years producing a darker, more complex breed of pop punk. The Welsh group Neck Deep saw their 2017 release The Peace and the Panic hit number 4 on UK and US charts. As an album it incorporates metal, alternative and pop influences, and produced the radio hit ‘In Bloom’. It’s possible that pop punk has a strong future, perhaps by looking to groups from the UK like Neck Deep to lead it in new and interesting directions.

record labels, dominated by a male hierarchy of authority. When the bosses are men surrounded by more men, we have a male-dominated industry.

THE BOSSES ARE MEN SURROUNDED BY MORE MEN I don’t think we should disregard a piece of music because a man wrote or performed it. I’m simply asking for gender to be disregarded in music - it shouldn’t matter. In order for that goal to be achieved, we need to acknowledge that misogyny does exist in the music world and that, for whatever reason, we find ourselves making a distinction between the way we view female performers and the way we view male performers. In the wake of the Weinstein crisis it is vital that we acknowledge and begin to question ourselves because, ultimately, music is the most uniting thing in the world. It brings people together, it can incite political change, and I hope that the industry will one day be a place where gender is irrelevant and music is everything.

REMEMBER THIS? PINK FLOYD The Final Cut 1983 The Final Cut, the final Pink Floyd album featuring the iconic line-up of Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright, is often ignored or considered at best a side note to The Wall, a curious document of Waters’ break up with the band. Yet, behind this reputation, is one of the most tragically overlooked classics in rock history. An indictment of Thatcherism and the hypocrisy of warmongering leaders, this is a richly textured concept album focusing on a broken Britain in a broken world; aggressive, sardonic and beautiful all at once. Lyrically, the band has never been more poignant as when describing a veteran, now a teacher, stating that behind his cruel ‘sarcasm, desperate memories lie’. Musically too, moments like Waters’ agonising scream seguing into Raphael Ravenscroft’s soaring sax solo in ‘The Gunner’s Dream’, or Gilmour’s blistering guitar work on the furious ‘Not Now John’ are worthy of the praise heaped upon any of Floyd’s most acclaimed works. Whilst some people will claim that the album is unbalanced in Waters’ favour, it is this sense of a tumultuous tug of war between the band members that gives it its edge, echoing the unstable political ground it is reflecting. It is a truly unsettling, moving and sweepingly cinematic piece of work, with an unstable but always earnest heart.

David Conway

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15-18 JANUARY 2018 @ EXETE R PHOENIX

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screen

The state of play Fenton Christmas, Screen Editor, explores the quality of British drama last year

HE quality of dramatic television in the country has been, for the most part, dismal. There have been far too many dull, average dramas that plod along through predictable plots and stock characters. In the age of streaming the endless amounts of great American shows, British drama is lagging far, far behind. 2017 had the potential to change this, and whilst some delivered, some most certainly did not. ITV seems to work within a bubble of superiority, as if the producers have spent their evenings watching too many Danish murder mysteries and attempt to recreate them (poorly) rather than invent their own dramatic identity. The endless conveyor belt of Vera, Endeavour, and Midsomer Murders episodes to name just three keep churning out these unoriginal and uninspired copies of shows we have seen a million times. ITV did attempt to approach some difficult and serious topics in the third series of Broadchurch and new thriller Liar. Whilst the former did so with care - albeit generically, the latter seemed to strike at the heart of a real issue. This could have been a really powerful and interesting drama, but the

show threw away its intrigue midway through the series and became nothing more than an average revenge drama – a real shame. Channel Four made some headway, with Electric Dreams providing something different from the norm without being exceptionally good. The State provided a fascinating, if not overly dramatic look at the world of religious extremism, whilst the excellent Catastrophe continues to take much of the burden in terms of outstanding work. There is certainly yet to be anything in the nature of the excellent Utopia, that is for sure. The BBC however, certainly struck back against the wave of criticism of their dramatic output from recent years. With a lack of Doctor Who or Sherlock falling flat on its face, it forced them to produce some truly stunning work. Happy Valley and Line of Duty are both examples of the

unbelievable potential this country has to produce incredible dramas. The second series of The Missing was perhaps the most gripping British drama of the last decade and one can only hope that there is another series soon. Tom Hardy was electric in the sometimes clumsy but no less impressive Taboo from the start of the year ,and even more so in the outstanding Peaky Blinders which is without doubt the best British drama right now. And, of course, one must not forget the staggering achievement of Blue Planet II, a wondrous exploration of the vast unknown of the oceans – and who doesn’t love a bit of David Attenborough? I am certainly not calling for Game of Thrones levels of production within British drama - that is not going to happen - but for the amount of great talent in this country in terms

of directors, writers, and actors, it can aim a lot higher. Too many of the truly great shows this country produces are only a handful of episodes long; The Night Manager for example was only three. But the future is looking good already for this year. McMafia, which started on New Year’s Day, has been a fascinating and tense thriller for Sunday nights, whilst the return of Inside No. 9 on BBC Two has shown how to make a revamped comedy series that is not just ridiculously cheap and unfunny (looking at you Upstart Crow). Doctor Who returns later this year with a female lead and a new showrunner, hopefully in time to save the beloved show from collapsing in on itself under Steven Moffat. The obvious limitations in British drama production compared to America are understandable as to the difference in quality, and of course not everything made can be great. However, with so many other options in terms of content consumption out there, the four main British channels have to do more to hold our attention, rather than simply accept their fate and fade away into irrelevance.

And the Oscar goes to... Netflix

Harry Caton asks if the Academy should change its stance on Netflix films

ITH the advent of streaming services, the Academy’s reliance on cinema-screenings for awards qualification faces a crisis of legitimacy. It’s a bizarre kind of crisis: not so much a new problem, as a glaring indicator of an old one. The Oscars have long relied on artificiality to create their mystique; the requirement of these screenings is only a part of this. The shortcomings of the meritocracy denoted in ‘Best [category]’, and the implied elitism of the Academy itself, are highlighted by accessible home-streaming platforms. It’s only in direct contrast to the (literal) staginess of Academy tradition that Netflix’s rise could represent such a challenge. Perhaps the most gaping hole in the Academy’s cinema mystique is that issue of meritocracy. Simply put, the system doesn’t work that way; rarely do films released theatrically outside of the September-to-December window win Best Picture. The last film to do so was The Hurt Locker, released in June 2009, and before that Crash, released in May 2005. There’s a pretty clear sense of an awards season, then, rather than year-long free-for-all contention. Furthermore, the large costs of awards cam-

paigning, of which these late screenings are a part (averaging $5 million per film), dent any pretence of earned prestige. Streaming seems antithetical to this. Streaming services may still engage in campaigning, but the movies come out for the entire public, shirking the tactical drip-feed release approach that favours a certain period of build-up. The playing-field is more even, the movies not simply fresh in select voters’ minds upon voting-time. The Oscars’ cinema circuit necessarily requires a rigmarole of closed convention, over open criticism. This split between public and Academy spurs the next issue: awards-qualifying release methods already favour the few, over the movie-going public. The limitedrelease notion of placing a movie into a few screenings, in a couple of cinemas, has been repeatedly stretched to its logical extreme. The run need only be seven days; certainly not enough time for a film to be received by a wider audience. In this case that’s not even

necessary, as producers would only care for reception by, again, voters. Far from encouraging cinema-going, the model encourages limited-viewing elitism. Netflix, alternatively, offers a different approach; where cinema prices seem to rise further and further out of people’s pockets, these films are available to be seen by most everyone with an account, at a fraction of the price of multiple films. The reverence of the cinema within Academy tradition is itself deeply ironic. Having separated themselves from the plebeian public, Academy members are not expected to even attend cinema screenings of the films they both advocate for nomination and vote for. The core is one of hypocrisy; awards screeners are sent out for members to (optionally) watch, before the final voting process. Rather than drag themselves to the screenings so valorised in tradition, they need only open the movie on

their TV or computer - the two mediums seen as so beneath cinema in the rejection of Netflix. Maybe the Academy deserves the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it is a genuine oversight, and one that can be changed in time. But looking to a similarly patricianly voting institution, the Cannes Film Festival, and their booing (admittedly, a Cannes tradition) of Netflix’s Okja, the reticence of the film establishment to question their biases is obvious. More than anything else, streaming represents a challenge to the elitist tradition of the Academy. Awards qualification should at least attempt to represent the cultural products of the societies in which they are formed, rather than what has been decided from on high. The burgeoning popularity of Netflix (and other similar streaming services) places it in the zeitgeist; yet the popular model which it uses is arbitrarily excluded, by an alreadyarbitrary organisation. The medium of cinema holds an allure in voters’ minds, but not a practical purpose. Consequently, it is time for the Academy to adapt - to question the worth of ignoring other expressions of a medium that the awards exist to celebrate.

exhibit

15 JAN 2018

EDITORS: Fenton Christmas and Ben Faulkner

screen

Who has the high ground?

Exeposé Screen writers clash sabers over the latest Star Wars instalment

What’s the hype?

T is rare to start a negative review with a list of things that I liked about the film. But when it comes to the latest instalment in the Star Wars franchise, The Last Jedi, I find myself unable to be wholly positive or negative; it divided the critics, it divided the viewers, and it certainly divided me. But here goes (spoilers ahead): I liked that it continued the trend started in 2016’s Rogue One of having a more diverse cast. Female characters were developed in a way that the franchise has rarely given them space to previously, the boring and ultimately insignificant Snoke was done away with in a rare moment of brilliance, and the revelation of Rey’s parentage opens up the universe and gives it a less dynastic feel, which can only be a good thing going forwards.

THE FILM WAS PLAGUED BY INCONSITENCIES OF TONE

Now that the good has been briefly dealt with, let’s move onto the bad. First of all, the film was plagued by inconsistencies of tone. Before you call me a whiner criticising the film for having “too many jokes”, it is not the number of jokes that is the issue, but rather their placement and quality. Comedic timing is an art, and the jokes and visual gags that were littered through The Last Jedi simply came at the wrong time (such as in the throne room showdown where Snoke hits Rey in the head

with a sheathed lightsaber), and they often detract from the narrative. The extended ‘your mama’ routine in the otherwise strong opening of the film felt very Marvel-esque, a problem that recurrs throughout. A lot has been said about the long and rather dull subplot involving Finn and Rose’s quest to find a “master code-breaker” on Canto Bight, so I won’t wade too deeply into those waters. What I will say is that it felt very much like a distraction, and Lupita Nyong’o is bafflingly underused; her character Maz could have brought in both to solve this problem and stand in for Benicio del Toro’s poor character who speaks in tired aphorisms. While he is an attempt to bring more grey areas into the “good vs evil” struggle that lies at Star Wars’ core, this felt too on the nose and he could have been omitted in my opinion.

YODA’S APPEARANCE IS OVER THE TOP To me, the worst offence of this film came in the form of Princess-come-General Leia flying through space like some kind of arthritic Superman after the bridge of her ship is blown up. This is a confirmation after many years of fan speculation that the character is indeed force-sensitive, and some members in the audience cheered when this happened. Far from making me cheer, this struck me as a totally bizarre and completely jarring moment that made little narrative sense, other than incapacitating Leia for dramatic effect. After this the character does little, and Fisher feels underused - a word I’ve used before. Subtlety and suggestion were thrown out of the window in favour of crowd-pleasing nonsense here, and again with the appearance of Yoda’s Force Ghost about halfway through the film. While the excellent scene in The Force Awakens when Rey discovers the lightsaber has whispers of past characters that sent shivers down my spine, Yoda’s appearance here is over the top and did little to excite me. I respect that Rian Johnson went into making The Last Jedi wanting to tear up the Star Wars rulebook, and he pulled this off in some ways. But it takes more than a desire to shake things up to make a good, mouldbreaking film, and the tonal imbalances, plot discrepancies, bloated run-time and squandering of Carrie Fisher’s considerable talents in her last ever performance, for me, make this latest entry in the franchise a disappointing missed opportunity to do something truly special.

George Pope, Copy Editor

OOK, I get why people might not like The Last Jedi. But they’re wrong. Star Wars is a cultural tradition, and daring to be radical will of course be seen as blasphemy by some. But Star Wars is meant to be radical. It deserves its juggernaut role in pop culture because in 1976 it took cinema and thrust it forward, and The Last Jedi only continues this.

EPISODE 8 FELT NEW AND BRAVE

In a trailer, Luke Skywalker says “This is not going to go the way you think”. He is talking to Rey, but might as well be talking to the rest of us. Set just after The Force Awakens (almost a remake of A New Hope), The Last Jedi seemingly breaks the rules of Star Wars whilst at the same time sticking to them and honouring them - not with a fanboy piety, but with a deft boldness. Episode 8 felt new and brave. It’s characters were more human (or alien), and its story went to extreme and exciting places. The direction is superb. Whilst the pacing of The Force Awakens was praised as being lightspeed-quick, The Last Jedi drags at times and speeds up at others. Yet it is wrong to think this is a fault. The pacing allows time to think and consider the multitude of events that Rian Johnson packs in. The tone balances danger with humour, in the way George Lucas pursued in the original trilogy. The excess of humour has been criticised, but Star Wars needs it. Those labelling it as “Marvel-esque,” forget that Lucas based Star Wars off comic books (his making of Star Wars came because he could not get the rights to adapt Flash Gordon comics into a film). I’d point you to Han Solo’s “We’re doing fine. How’re you?” in a moment of peril on the Death Star in A New Hope, or his “Don’t get cocky, kid!”. The much-despised casino subplot is necessary for a number of reasons. Firstly, it expands the universe - taking us to new places, showing new practices, new ways of life, and develops the characters involved. The subplot shows the importance of the Resistance, and demonstrates to us why it is needed politically. Most crucially, the fact that it goes nowhere reminds us that the “good guys” don’t always succeed. The resistance are fighting against the odds, and often encounter failure. The fact that what Finn and Rose think is a brave mission ends up doing more harm than good is crucial in reminding us of this. Within the subplot, the talk about arms dealing takes the politics of the galaxy close to real-world happenings. But this has always been what Star Wars is about: Lucas based the Emperor on Richard Nixon after all. The discussion this allows to be held on morality (“Good and evil: they’re just made

In Defence of up words”, says Benicio del Toro’s spacebandit) is one previous Star Wars films would shy away from. The conflict felt by both Rey and Kylo Ren brings nuance to a previously morally-simplistic series. The film offers the most detailed and interesting view on the Force. The Force is used in congruence with how it’s explained in the original trilogy (and what happens with Luke certainly does make sense).

IT BRINGS NUANCE TO A PREVIOUSLY MORALLYSIMPLISTIC SERIES

Yoda’s appearance as a Force Ghost really gives you an understanding of why the film is called The Last Jedi. Where the original trilogy and prequels had almost conflicting views on what the Jedi is, this new trilogy seems to be giving a fairer explanation. The Jedi focus on the Light side of the Force, while the Sith harness the Dark side. Luke’s dissatisfaction with the religious dogma of the Jedi is surprisingly shared by Yoda, who now sees the Order as a failure which has not brought balance, but rather disrupted it. The film’s brave decision to include this twist may have angered some, but makes total sense. The infamous scene with Leia floating through space, though making sense, was poorly executed. But that relatively minor flaw being my biggest criticism of the film says a lot. Johnny Chern, Online Screen Editor

study break

| 15 JAN 2018

exhibit

STUDY BREAK CROSSWORD # 106

SUDOKU # 46

Across

Down

Public - general (6)

Structure of wedge shapes (4)

Many times (5)

10 Parrot - fashion - the bray (anagram)

(2,5)

Exile (7)

Large tropical fish -am tan (anagram)

Nun bib (anagram) small ear (of corn)

riddle me this

(6)

Track and field sportsperson (7)

11 Compose into a play (9)

See 7

12 Dead heat (3)

7/6 20n city, the next 126 19 host (for 5s

13 State (6)

countries) in 2018 (4,5)

15 Rue (6)

18 Label (3)

13 A very short interval -in tome

20 Oceanic country (9)

23 Extinct elephant (7)

14 Rhetoric (7)

24 Aroma - smell (5)

16 Launch (a new product, say) (4,3)

25 Of a light grey colour (4)

17 Avoid - shun (6)

26 Riches (6)

19 5 Down’s sports (5)

22 Twisted to one side (4)

1. which is the most curious letter?

Paved road (6)

(anagram) (2,4)

Spanish wine (5)

2. you buy me to eat but never eat me, what am i? 3. what ends everything always? 4. The maker doesn’t wANT IT, THE BUYER DOESNT USE IT AND THE USER DOESNT KNOW IT? WHAT AM I?

ANSWERS

5. WHAT HAS A BED BUT DOES NOT SLEEP AND CAN RUN BUT CANNOT WALK?

5. A river 6. A plant Riddle me this: 1. The letter Y 2. Cutlery 3. The letter G 4. A coffin

6. YOU BURY ME WHEN I’M ALIVE AND YOU DIG ME UP WHEN I’M DEAD? WHAT AM I?

21 Rioja, 22 Awry. Street, 13 No time, 14 Oratory, 16 Roll out, 17 Eschew, 19 Games, Down: 2 Outcast, 3 Manta, 4 Nubbin, 5 Athlete, 7/6 Gold Coast, 8 Odour, 25 Ashy, 26 Wealth. Tie, 13 Nation, 15 Regret, 18 Tag, 20 Australia, 23 Mammoth, 24 Across: 1 Common, 5 Arch, 9 Often, 10 By heart, 11 Dramatise, 12

15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

Science

SCIENCE EDITOR:

New year, new humanity?

NEW year tends to hail a new philosophical question contemplating human life on Earth, and 2018 is no exception. With New Year’s resolutions to better ourselves, the pertinent question is whether humans are evolving - are mutations making humans better adapted to life on this planet? The conventional counter-argument to this is that the vastly-improved healthcare of the 21st century has wiped out natural selection for human populations, leaving evolution with no mechanism to act by. This is because ‘selection pressures’ have been decreased in force since the introduction of such technologies; for example, children born between 22 and 34 weeks’ gestation today have six per cent greater chance of survival than their counterparts born in 1997, decreasing the event of a baby born with low weight dying due to hypothermia. Similarly, children born with birth weights significantly higher - which once posed difficulty during labour benefit from safer surgical procedures,

Luke Smith

Elinor Jones delves into how humans continue to evolve

so are more likely to survive due to the removal of such a selection pressure. Nonetheless, thanks to our increased knowledge of the human genome (aka our DNA), reams of data have been collected and interpreted over the last few decades, allowing more objectivity into a sometimes subjective debate based on hypotheses. We can now study our development on a molecular level, and any changes to the base pairs of our genomes can be observed, and mutations spotted; it is these mutations in genes that lead to new characteristics, or phenotypes, which, depending on the selection pressure, can make an organism more or less well-adapted to their environment, or have no effect at all. For example, the mutation of one of the nucleotides within your genome could lead to a new protein product that decreases your susceptibil-

ity to Alzheimer’s disease, and when the selection pressure that is old age, or factors increasing the likelihood of developing dementia occur, those with this mutation are more likely to survive.

There are new mutations that show we are changing Whilst not completely fulfilling the criteria of Darwinian evolution due to the onset of Dementia typically occurring after person’s reproductive years, the ‘Grandmother Hypothesis’ suggests that if an individ-

ual survives for longer, they are more likely to contribute to the wellbeing of their grandchildren, increasing the potential for their genes to be passed on by their grandchildren to future generations, thus increasing the frequency of the version of the gene in the population. Such a mutation has been observed in a large genetic study led by Hakhamanesh Mostafavi and his team at Columbia University. Investigating mutation of the APOE gene, which has strong association with Alzheimer’s, Mostafavi saw that this mutation was occurring with reduced prevalence with increased age, rarely being seen in women over the age of 70 years, as a result of the higher rate of mortality in those carrying the harmful mutation. Without the mutation, there is a potential

survival edge resulting in the increased chance of living longer, as well as ensuring the inheritance of the beneficial allele - this is called fitness. Another study, by Joseph Pickrell at the New York Genome Center, incorporated genome data from both US and UK gene banks, this time looking at a nicotine receptor which increases the difficulty of quitting smoking, and the prevalence of early death. In participants who smoked in the 1950s, and died prematurely, the nicotine receptor mutation was of higher frequency than that found in younger generations, suggestive of the selection pressure that was the change in trend of smoking habits; the allele would have been selected against and decreased in frequency, decreasing the likelihood it is inherited. Whilst humans may not be evolving rapidly with shiny new phenotypes in front of our eyes, more subtle selection pressures - such as old age, and changes in trends such as smoking habits - mean that greater fitness is getting closer.

The waters of Mars

Graham Moore, Deputy Editor, considers a new reason for the disappearance of the planet’s water

HERE has long been a fixation on the presence of water on Mars. Widely hailed as the most important component for the production of life, Martian water reserves are largely seen in the form of ice, below the planet's surface and at the poles. The nature of water on Mars is vital not only to those who search for native Martian life, but also to those who dream of joining Matt Damon and his potatoes in an eventual Martian colonisation. Despite clear evidence that the planet's surface used to be home to substantial amounts of water, the current surface environment is dry, and typically sub-freezing, raising the question - what happened to all the water? Previous research had suggested the majority of Mars' water was either locked away in sub-surface ice or had been lost to space as a result of the planet's collapsing magnetic field, whereupon it may have been swept away by high-intensity solar winds.

However, a research team from the University of Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences has proposed that Mars' water reacted with the planet's surface geology, by which it was then absorbed. Furthermore, this process would have led to increased oxidation of the surface rock, rendering the surface further uninhabitable.

People have never tested the theory of water being absorbed The team, led by NERC Research Fellow Dr Jon Wade, applied modelling methods - previously used to analyse terrestrial rock compositions - to calculate the amount of water which could have been removed from the surface via reactions with Mars' surface. The study assessed a variety of factors, including rock temperatures, sub-surface pressure,

and general planetary conditions. They found that Martian basalt, for example, was able to hold approximately 25 per cent more water than that on Earth, and so Martian surface water was drawn into the planet's interior. "People have never tested the theory of water being absorbed as a result of simple rock reactions," said Dr Wade. "There are pockets of evidence that together, leads us to believe that a different reaction is needed to oxidise the Martian mantle. For instance, Martian meteorites are chemically reduced compared to the surface rocks,

and compositionally look very different. One reason for this, and why Mars lost all of its water, could be in its minerology." The study of Martian water is also highly conducive to our understanding of the Earth's own geological history, aiding analysis of the specific conditions which have enabled life on our own planet. Not only is Mars considerably smaller than Earth, it also has a markedly different temperature profile, and a higher iron content in its silicate mantle. These many subtle distinctions, visible through comparison with the new study, indicate both how Earth became ideal for life and Mars has come to present difficulty. Said Wade: "The Earth's current system of plate tectonics prevents drastic changes in surface water levels, with wet rocks efficiently dehydrating before they enter the Earth's relatively dry mantle. But

neither early Earth nor Mars had this system of recycling water. On Mars, water reacting with the freshly erupted lavas that form its basaltic crust resulted in a sponge-like effect. The planet's water then reacted with the rocks to form a variety of water bearing minerals. This water-rock reaction changed the rock mineralogy and caused the planetary surface to dry and become inhospitable to life. These answers will help us to understand how much of a role rock chemistry determines a planet's future fate." The study concludes that planetary composition is the key factor to be considered when analysing future habitability. The team hope that their findings will aid further study of our solar systems other inner planets, such as Venus; meanwhile, consideration of specific geological makeup also gives researchers a whole new angle through which to consider whether planets are likely to be capable of maintaining life.

SCIENCE

15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

From heatwaves to hurricanes Ayesha Tandon, Online Science Editor, goes through the evidence for climate change

HAT is ‘climate change’? Fact or fiction? Emergency or exaggeration? And can it really be responsible for the weird weather that we’ve seen over the past year? Climate change is a large-scale, longterm shift in the planet's weather patterns, including rainfall, sea level, and average temperature. In scientific circles, the fact that human activity is affecting the climate is undisputed; 97 per cent of scientists who have published papers on climate change believe not only that the planet is heating up, but that this warming is most likely due to human activity. Sadly though, there are those who disagree… cue Donald Trump (well, I had to mention him at some point!). Any of Trump’s tweets about climate change would do well to prove my point here, but for now let’s just look at his most recent one… "In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year's Eve on record. Perhaps

MUST have been around the tender age of four or five years old when I first visited the Natural History Museum and came face to face with the terrifying beast that is the T. Rex, towering above me at four metres high. One might think a child that young would have started crying, or perhaps start running away from it as fast as they could, but I was quite different. Apparently, I stood staring at it for over an hour, totally captivated by the awesomeness that such an animal had once existed and had roamed the furthest corners of our beloved planet earth. This is exactly what natural history museums set out to do: they attempt to inspire us with awe and wonder at the beauty and raw wild spirit that the natural world represents. Their museum collections and specimens are increasingly involved with world-changing science, as they begin to yield their age-old secrets about origins and behaviours that were once impossible to decipher, but are now possible with the rise of modern technology. Yet museums are places created by people, for people. This leaves the natural world open to the invasion of human ideas, traits, and behaviours more than the preservation of nature itself. Questions about what looks beautiful to the

we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. Bundle up!" As beautifully demonstrated by the so-called leader of the free world, a big point of confusion (or ignorance), amongst climate change deniers lies in the difference between ‘climate’ and ‘weather’. Whilst weather concerns day-to-day fluctuations in temperature, rainfall etc, climate refers to a long-term trend over years, or even decades. A huge problem in getting across the message of climate change is that it isn’t a sudden process, and so there are no immediate consequences to your actions. This makes it all too easy to pretend

that nothing is happening. What we really need to make people sit up and take notice are extreme weather events - occasions in which the weather behaves statistically differently from the average weather in that location. And we are getting just that. 2017 has seen tornadoes, heat waves, flooding and droughts from America to Australia! Here are just a few examples… Severe drought across Somalia have brought with them the risk of famine, to the extent that the World Health Organisation have released an official health warning There have been six major hurricanes this year – most notably Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas in August and caused an enormous 1.2m of rainfall! More bad news for America, as wildfires decimated over 245,000 acres of land in California in October This year has been the third hottest year since records began. In fact, if

you discount the ‘El Nino’ years, during which the planet naturally heats up, 2017 has been the hottest year yet!

Climate change isn't a sudden process, making it all too easy to pretend that nothing is happening at all So were they caused by climate change? If you were to show a climate scientist a photograph of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey and ask "Did climate change definitely cause this?", they would have to answer "No". There is no way of pointing at a specific weather event and saying "THIS event was due to climate change", because every weather event is the culmination of hundreds of different factors. Whilst some scientists use Hurricane Harvey as conclusive proof of climate change affecting our weather, others say that the effect of global warming on this event was minimal, and were furious that the media reporting on Harvey so quickly jumped

Unnatural history?

on climate change bandwagon. All extreme weather events will have lots of contributing factors, which may or may not include climate change. Extreme event attribution basically tells us how much of an impact climate change had on the event – i.e. increasing the probability of the event happening, or worsening its effects. For example, we can say that the increase in droughts this year is much more likely to be caused by climate change than the increase in tornadoes. Carbon Brief ’s study suggests that 63 per cent of all extreme weather events so far were made worse by climate change. Heatwaves account for 46 per cent of these events, droughts for 21 per cent, and heavy rainfall/flooding for 14 per cent. If there is anything to be gained from these catastrophic events, it’s the shock factor that may finally have finally broken through to some of the climate change sceptics. Whilst it is easy to ignore a scientist with a chart, it is a lot harder to explain away a hurricane sweeping past your front door!

Gabriel Yeap discusses curation methods for natural history museums human eye versus what is an amazing creation of nature (or God, depending on your beliefs) often directs what goes on display, and what gets left in the storeroom.

Museums are created by people, for people, and this leads to an invasion of human ideas within exhibits Can museums really represent the absolute reality of these species? Well, there are strong reasons to suggest that there is a bias in the story of natural history told by our museums. Firstly, museums are a lot more likely to exhibit larger species rather than smaller ones. Imagine the big blue whale or the enormous fossil of ‘Dippy’ being replaced by a butterfly, or a Labrador duck (that is as good a name as you’ll get for a species of duck that went extinct around 1870). You immediately lose the sense of wonder that museums set out to inspire in the general public, but there is a fine line between inspiration and education. Just because a specimen oozes presence doesn’t mean it’s packed full of useful and interesting facts that you would not have already known. In fact, large species represent a minute

portion of global diversity. For example, invertebrate species - animals without a backbone - are often smaller (and squishier) than verterbrates, yet outnumber them by more than 20 to one. However less than 10 percent of exhibits actually focus on them. This New Year, the theme of the fireworks in London was about celebrating gender equality, but does this now have to apply to the inanimate animals on display? Well, the fact is that male specimens are thoroughly over-represented. There are good reasons for this, as investigated by Rebecca Machin - curator of Natural Science at the Leeds Museum Discovery Centre - in her case study of natural history galleries. This is partly due

to hunters and collectors in eras gone by being more inclined to acquire animals with big horns, antlers, tusks or showy plumage. It was seen as a bigger achievement when one overcame and preserved larger and more impressive beasts, and these tended to be males. Lastly, museums tend to err towards modesty, and what is acceptable with their specimens. This is why they shy away from exhibits such as creepycrawlies or mammals in jars, preserved in fluid rather than the methods used in taxidermy. After all, they do have good reasons to do so, as visitors find these more disturb-

ing and cruel, which defeats the point that museums are trying to achieve. For example, there is a cat preserved in a tank full of liquid displayed in the Grant Museum of Zoology in UCL, which (unsuprisingly) receives considerable criticism. Furthermore, most mammal species actually have a bone in their penis. Despite this, it is very rare to see an exhibit specimen that accurately displays this, perhaps due to the presumed prudishness of curators (given the fact that children of very young age visit!). Ultimately, museums are not only a product of their own history, but are also a product of the societies they are built in. This could be a good thing, for the next young boy or girl that visits our exhibits may be the one that saves our coral reefs, our rainforests, or ensures that cats stay out of jars and forever in our hearts. However, our perspective of natural history has to change if we are to truly understand the heart of nature itself.

SCIENCE

15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

The science of luck

Luke Smith, Science Editor, reveals how to turn the odds in your favour this year

OOD or bad, luck is part of everyday life. Whether it’s the exam question that focused on the one little thing you didn’t revise, that serendipitous encounter where you bumped into an old friend, or the traffic lights turning green just as you approach, most things that happen to us are down to chance. But if you, like me, want a little bit more control over what happens to you on a day to day basis, science has a lot to say. Of course, nothing here will stop a flying space rock wiping us out at any moment, but there are many situations where a change in attitude can turn the odds in your favour. The first thing to understand is that our brains have evolved to apply regular patterns to an otherwise uncertain world. These simplifications help us navigate through some of the more common problems we face, but aren’t ideal when dealing with probability. Take a game of coin toss as an example, the chance of each outcome, heads or tails, is 50 percent; yet, if you got five heads in a row you would likely have a biased feeling towards tails being the next outcome. Six heads in a row would surely have less than a 1.6 per cent chance of happening, right? Well, yes, if you set out with that goal, but otherwise the odds are reset to 50 per cent with each coin toss and you’re guilty of falling prey to the Gambler’s fallacy – the mindset that previous independent events can influence later, unrelated ones

– and scientists have found evidence that our brains may be predisposed towards this sort of thinking. A recent paper from PNAS has shown that neurons pay particular attention to these 50/50 outcomes, preferring ones that alternate. The authors suggest that this is the brains way of creating order from events that seem incredibly improbable; a biological means of predicting that things should surely return to normal.

Luck only exists in the mind, but that doesn't mean we can't use it to our advantage But who cares? After all, most of us don’t live life on a coin toss, yet this biological flaw has larger ramifications on your luck, particularly if you’re winning or losing. A study from two years ago displayed that people who’ve experienced two subsequent losses at the betting table have a 40 per cent chance of winning the next, whilst the probability goes up to 57 per cent when someone has instead won two bets in a row. The behavior of the participants tended to be the deciding factor, with people on a losing streak generally taking higher risk bets under the assumption that their luck will surely turn; whilst someone who was winning made safer bets under the assumption that their chances will surely regress to the mean.

What should be clear is that neither group is ‘luckier’ at any particular time, it’s simply the placement of their bets, moulded by their interpretation of past events, that affects the outcome. So my advice to you is to be rational in this respect. Think about your actual chances of winning, and remember that the universe owes you nothing… Be that as it may, I think we’re all looking for something more solid when it comes to luck. This dates far back into human history, with the notorious lucky charm that is the rabbit’s foot coming from the ancient belief that their previous ‘owners’ (aka rabbits) were imbued with good fortune from living underground with the Celtic gods. We laugh at lucky charms, whether they be four leaf clovers or horseshoes, but a study from 2010 shows that we should be less skeptical. Comparing the ability of volunteers at anagram tests, the researchers found that participants who were allowed to keep hold of a lucky charm from home outperformed individuals who had them taken away. They specifically observed that the luckycharm-holding-subjects appeared more confident in their abilities, and thereby

spent a longer amount of time with the problems. The channeling of ‘lucky energy’ seen here is the same logic used when people wear lucky pants. And no, I didn’t make this up, with a survey carried out by Wink slots showing that over 400 of their customers make use of ‘magic’ pants. But is this an odd idea? I think we all hold opinions on how clothes affect the way we work. Some may feel more capable of finishing an essay when wrapped up in their dressing gown, whilst others would state that they have to be ‘dressed up’ in order to get anything done at all. I’m of the latter group, but I haven’t looked for any sort of study to back up this point of view, and I don’t intend to either. What’s important is that I believe it. Basically, when it comes to your own superstitions, you have to work it, make it, own it. So the picture you should be getting at this point is that luck isn’t a ‘thing’. It doesn’t exist in any tangible or solid way - we simply think it into existence. A study carried out by Richard Wiseman and colleagues at the University of Hertfordshire attempted to find out how our attitude towards luck affects

our lives. Participants were told to count the number of pictures on a newspaper given to them. However, little did they know that there were two advantageous announcements buried within, the first of which stating “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper” and the second, more exciting direction “Tell the experimenter that you've seen this and win £150”. It was found that a higher number of people who identified as ‘lucky’ spotted the two messages, and Wiseman has suggested that this comes from their more relaxed attitude, allowing them to have a wider perspective on the task at hand and making them more likely to spot these prospects. Conversely, those who identified as 'unlucky' appeared less at ease when carrying out the task, focusing on small details, and thereby missing the messages altogether. Harking back to the classic exam advice given to us time and time again, the message here is to stay calm and read the paper properly. Like everything I’ve discussed so far, this is a simple message. Yet the reason why these common words of advice have followed us throughout our lives is that they have been shown to work. It’s just a simple matter of probability: a confident, relaxed and open mind is far more likely to bump into new opportunities. To know which of these to take, all we need is a healthy bit of scepticism for both rational and superstitious ideas, and we're sure to have a lucky year.

The dark side of artificial light

N 1994 there was an earthquake that led to a power outage in Los Angeles. A lot of anxious residents called local emergency services to report seeing a strange ‘giant, silvery cloud’ in the dark sky. Little did they realise it was in fact the Milky Way, which they weren't usually able to see due to the cloud of excessive artificial light above them.

Light polution can increase your chances of developing cancer and having a heart attack According to a study in 2016, 80% of the world's population live under an artificially illuminated sky, with this figure rising to 99% for those of us in the US and Europe. Artificial lights have allowed us to blur nature's idea of night and day, offering us more time to work and take part in recreational activities - yet

Penny Dinh warns us of the dangers of light pollution

our excessive use of artificial light is now recognised as a source of pollution. As illustrated, light pollution significantly affects humans’ experience of night time, interfering with how we view and ponder the night sky. However, the aesthetic cost to our lives is by far the least negative aspect of light pollution on the world, with the visual loss of celestial bodies in the sky having a very serious effect on animals who rely on them for navigation. If you have seen Planet Earth II, you might remember the scene where baby sea turtles were meant to follow the moon to the sea, but instead ended up going in the wrong direction due to nearby light pollution. Celestial bodies also act as visual cues for migratory animals, especially birds, with unnecessary light causing some of them to fly towards the wrong direction and potentially collide into dangerous objects. In addition to this, day and night length is used by a lot of bird species to estimate

the time of year, and confusion caused by artificial light can lead them to miss their ideal mating season. Light pollution directly affects human health as well. This is mediated by several light-dependent endocrine and neurobiological mechanisms controlling physiological and behavioural processes. For example, the secretion of melatonin, a hormone naturally released by the pineal gland in the dark, is reduced by excessive exposure to light in the late hours of the day. This can cause sleep disorders, impacting our daytime performance and alertness. Melatonin also regulates the body’s level of oestrogen and growth hormones, with interference of these molecules by artificial light being linked to some types of cancer. An additional function of

melatonin is reducing activity of the sympathetic

nervous system, which reduces norepinephrine turnover in the heart and LDL cholesterol uptake, and thereby minimises the risk of heart diseases. So on top of potentially giving you a death sized

tumour, light pollution can also increase your chances of having a heart attack. Given the serious impact of light pollution on both human and animal life, it is high time we did something about this issue. And believe it or not, you can help too! The most obvious solution would be to start turning unnecessary lights off, especially outdoor lighting - if you have your outdoor light on for a sense of security, that’s most likely unnecessary, for there is very little evidence for lights actually reducing crime rates. If you happen to be a little forgetful, motion sensing lights could be a great option for reducing your photon footprint (trust me, it will catch on...). You can also help by sharing what you know with your friends and family, who are most likely not even aware of this problem. Basically, our lives can be so easily improved by shedding some light on the matter at hand, so why not do it?

15 JAN 2017 | EXEPOSÉ

SPORT

THE ATHLETIC UNION

Exeposé Sport checks in with six Athletic Union clubs to see how

NETBALL

CYCLING

MEN'S RUGBY

What have been the club’s best results and What have been the club’s best results and What have been the club’s best results and stand-out moments so far? stand-out moments so far? stand-out moments so far?

UNC has had an incredible start to the season, with the 1s and 3s teams at the very top of their league tables, and no team at the bottom of their table. The 4s, captained by Sam Cadwell, pushed through to success in their final game of term one, beating Southampton 2s away by one goal in an incredibly close game. The 6s, led by captain Josee LePage – having lost by one goal to Bournemouth 2s in their first game of term – went on to beat them at home in December, with a 4-goal margin this time, cementing their position ahead of them in the table! EUNC 1s are currently top of their league, too.

EUNC has had an incredible start to the season INDIA CRAWLEY, EUNC CLUB CAPTAIN

At the beginning of term Denise Ellis was introduced to EUNC's coaching staff, taking on the role of Director of Netball and first team coach. Denise has vast experience in netball coaching, previously working with England Netball and currently the head coach at Exeter Netball Club and the U21s National Performance League. Her presence has been a source of inspiration and her expertise is invaluable for all the girls in the club. Moreover, this term has seen the introduction of a new committee position to EUNC – the Welfare Officer. The Welfare team are a great avenue for girls to discuss any issues they may be having, not necessarily related to netball, in a judgment-free space and with optional anonymity, which we felt was vital to the continued success of the club. We look forward to the continued success of this venture, and hopefully it is helping lots of girls in managing their studies and extra-curricular activities.

Who have been the star performers in the club?

HRISTINA Shaw, GK and 1s team captain, has been selected for the Wales Senior Squad as well as the U21 Wales squad. She also competed in Netball Europe and is currently trialling for the World Cup qualifiers and Commonwealth games. 1s players Hannah Blackman (GS), Maisie Sharp (GD/WD), Amy Omakobia (GD) and Shaw have been selected for the Team Bath U21 Academy; fresher Emily Porter (GK/GD) has also been selected for the U19s NPL squad. On top of this, four girls have been invited to the first round of English Universities trials: Kat Arthur (GA), Mia Broomhall (WA), Betsy Creak (GS) and Annie Webb (WA). This is a huge achievement and we are wishing the girls the absolute best of luck!

What is the club looking forward to in 2018?

UR Varsity is on 7 February - a highly anticipated game against Gloucester 1s - and tickets can be found on our Facebook page. We're also teaming up with UNICEF on 20 January for a ‘Bring A Boy’ Charity tournament to see if all the boys’ claims that they could easily play netball are well-founded or not!

E'VE had multiple wins this last term. Max Stedman was victorious in the General Classification at the Tour of Quanzhou Bay, winning the second stage as well. Alumni Emma Cockcroft and Jacob Loftus teamed up with current members Frederik Scheske and Stedman to win the Red Bull Timelaps 25 hour race in the mixed category - and finished second overall. Alex Fanshawe won the Redruth round of the SW cyclocross league, Rachel Manning dominated the Haibike Enduro at the Forest of Dean, and Alumna Crystal Lane placed 3rd at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in September to cap a really successful term for the club. We also had two members - Matt Welch and Joe Barnwell star in a YouTube video that's worth checking out; you can find it by searching for ' More Tea Vicar? // Teign Valley MTB'.

T'S been a very successful and promising start to the season across the board and the club has produced some outstanding results. The 1s have perfor med extremely well; we got some good results on the road last ter m including Loughborough and Durham as well as maintaining a 100% record at Topsham. The top end of the SuperRugby is very congested so every game is a must win and we are looking forward to some big fixtures in ter m two, including the Varsity at Sandy Park in Febr uary. The 2s have perfor med well in a very competitive league and getting good results against Swansea and USW and producing one of the perfor mances of the season so far at home against Cardiff 1s. The Freshers' 1s (3s) have had some remarkable wins - notably a 97-0 win against KCL.

11 clubmen have been selected for the England Students squad

How is the club doing in terms of the wider membership. Any good socials?

JOE HUGHES , EURFC CLUB CAPTAIN

ANTASTIC; whilst membership is about what we'd expect, participation is really high, as our members are having such a great time in the club. We're running loads of great value trips, and lots and lots of fantastic training sessions and rides. Socials have been record breaking for the cycling club, we're struggling to fit into certain venues!

Our 4s, skippered fantastically by Conor Murray, have had a promising first half of the season and return in January to continue their cup run. Sitting only third in the league, two points behind the leaders, the boys know that every point counts and need to ensure their key men are fit to continue their fine vein of form. The men’s 5s have performed well so far coming from behind to grind out a 12-7 victory over a strong Southampton side. Cam Price’s boys will be looking to finish the season strong with several home games. We are extremely happy with the performances of our other fresher teams (Fresh 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s!). The fresher 2s compete in the same league as the men’s 4ths and racked up an outLOUIS CASH , EUCC CLUB CAPTAIN standing 88-5 win away at Winchester! The club has lots planned for this year, from spin classes to organising our own events - races in Exeter, over at Westpoint. How is the club doing in terms of the wider These will serve as a great way to give back to the sport, but also membership? to help our newer members give racing a go in an easy, fun, and cheap way! But above all the season properly starts in February, and we've got so many members with so much VERALL, the club is the strongest it has ever been both potential, including (but not on and off the pitch. We signed up over 150 freshers at the limited to) Max Stedman, start of the year, giving us a total membership of around 300 Alex Fanshawe, Frederik boys. We have also combined fully with the Women’s teams now Scheske, Tasha Reddy, who are performing excellently so far and we are proud to come Max Moyles, Ben together. It is a privilege to be involved and honour to be part Strain, Rachel Manof a club that is a home for everyone. One of our aims for this ning, Joe Barnwell, year was to increase the level of exposure that the lower fresher Matt Welch, Tom teams get, and we have achieved that with six fresher teams all Nancarrow, and Dahaving regular training and games. vid Creber. All will be looking to take What is the club looking forward to in 2018? home some wins in the following months. StedITH cup competitions drawing in and the BUCS secman has a lot of potential, ond half of BUCS games, there are some exciting times and we are expecting many more ahead. We have at least 4 teams that could potentially top their successes on an international level from him after leagues which is incredible. On 14 February we take on Bath at his victory in China. Sandy Park in our Varsity, and tickets - costing £10 and including travel - will be available soon!

Max Stedman is destined for huge results in the future

SPORT

MID-SEASON REVIEW

w the season has gone so far, and what to look forward to in 2018

ATHLETICS

KARATE

LACROSSE

HIS term we held our winter Varsity and competed in two cross-country leagues, one of which was our first time in the league. We had some great performances with our girls' and boys' teams both finishing in the top three. At our Varsity we had many athletes winning multiple events, putting us in a good position for the upcoming BUCS fixtures. On top of this, second-year Fian Sweeney received her Irish vest and ran in the European cross-country championships, where her team finished 7th, and in the Antrim International crosscountry. Similarly, firstyear Rebekah Nixon received her Northern Ireland vest running in the Antrim International cross-country finishing 5th U20 to cap a successful term for the club.

How is the club doing in terms of the wider membership?

HE club’s stand out moment this term has to be the South West Regional Championships. Unlike other competitions, this is open to any person practicing karate no matter their age, so the standard is really high. Within this tournament we won an amazing 11 medals, with most of the competitors having never competed before. We also retained the gold and silver medals for women’s kumite, and won gold in the team kata. It was a fantastic event, and a true reflection of all the work that has gone into creating a strong squad this year.

HE women’s 1s were always going to have a difficult time in recreating the success of last season where they reached the BUCS final, especially since several key senior players graduated last year. However, despite this – and with an influx of new talent – both the men’s and women’s 1s have quarter finals in the Premiership tournament coming up later in the term, with the women, having reached the final in 2018, looking to achieve this once again.

It’s been a great season for the club so far, and looking even better for this term

Who have been the star performers in the club?

HE star performer has to be Charlie Knight. Whilst both Harry Theron and Charlie have both won four medals each across all competitions thus far, this term has just seen Charlie grow so much as a karateka. He is the main student instructor for the club and has helped to develop some great talent this term whilst also excelling personally. Charlie was also one of the members of our team kata that won Gold at BUCS last year, and is determined to repeat this success – which I hope the team will achieve under his leadership!

HIS year the club has a larger membership than the previ- How is the club doing in terms of the wider ous two years. We have more training, races and socials membership. Any good socials? with a larger variety of all of these to suit everyone in the club. With athletics covering so many different events and specialties it is hard to get everyone training together, but this year we HIS has been the best year for the club so far in terms of have tried to improve that by adding a circuits session where members. We have seen a massive surge in membership, everyone can get involved, from beginners to high performers which has helped us to create a great atmosphere within the across all events. club, and it has helped us to create an even bigger competition squad which is fantastic! We’ve had a variety of great socials the last term. The social highlight had to be our ‘come as What is the club looking forward to in 2018? over your belt colour’ social, which was a roaring success and saw some alumni come down especially for it too! HIS term we have two of our three BUCS fixtures for the term, BUCS indoors and BUCS cross country. We are What is the club looking forward to in 2018? hoping for some great performances, particularly from the girls cross country team where we are fielding a strong team. We also have out second varsity match of the year which we are hoping HIS next ter m is the most important in the club’s calento field a strong team for, as well as giving lots of people the dar. First of all, we have Mixed Martial Arts Week which chance to try out new events and compete for the first time. is from 21-27 January. We will be encouraging everyone at the University to participate during the week, in which all the Martial Arts sessions for the week will be free. We’re hoping to culminate the week with a Varsity on the Saturday so watch this space on that. On 3 Febr uary we have Jamaal Otto coming to teach a kumite workshop. Jamaal is hoping to compete at Tokyo 2020 and is a phenomenal fighter. He has won BUCS every year and also has 13 English titles. This will be a great PENNY OLIVER , EUAC CLUB CAPTAIN opportunity to train with a potential Olympian and learn some vital kumite tips. We are also hosting the AU Olympics where teams from Finally, over the 17-18 Febr uary we have BUCS, where we across the university can enter to compete against each other in are hoping to not only achieve but also exceed last year’s sucsports games as part of the university's mental health month. cess of two gold medals. We have a variety of fantastic fighters More information on this event will be out in the next few and those who excel at kata competing, so it will be great to weeks. see how well they do.

HORACE HAYWARD , EULC CLUB CAPTAIN

The strength in depth of the club is shown by the fact that the women’s 2s have already secured first place in their league, with the 3s battling it out for second place against Bristol 2s. The women’s 4s are also currently placed second in their league, something all the more impressive when one considers that this is made up of other universities’ first and second teams.

Who have been the star performers in the club?

We have had two of our girls receive their national vests

S a club, we’re lucky to attract some international talent each year, and special mention must be made of Diego Larraz Ramirez of the Men’s 1s, and Katie Jackson and Isobel Woods of the Women’s 1s. Diego has won a place in the Spanish national squad, with a view to playing in the Lacrosse World Cup this summer in Israel, and Katie and Isobel are in the England and Wales Senior squads respectively.

What is the club looking forward to in 2018?

WAY from the competitive playing side of things, we have some exciting events coming up this term. As part of the ongoing mental health month, we are hosting a free mixed lacrosse taster tournament at 6pm on 25 January, on the sand astro, where all are welcome to come and try their hand at lacrosse. As well as this, we are also aiming to host a 24-hour game of indoor lacrosse in order to raise money for charity, which also has the added excitement of potentially achieving a world record for the longest non-stop game of indoor lacrosse.

Sport

15 JAN 2018 | EXEPOSÉ

SPORT EDITORS:

Dorothea Christmann Wil Jones

Green Army marches on Mid-season review inside

Mental Health Awareness Month

Exeposé Sport takes a look at what’s on offer over the next fortnight for the Athletic Union’s #SportSomethingSaySomething campaign Club

Session

Date

Time

Location

Women’s Football Triathlon Athletics Canoe Cheerleading & Gymnastics Climbing Club Badminton Karate Riding Women’s Football Women’s Rugby Trampolining Surf Korfball Caving Jiu Jitsu MMA Week Ultimate Frisbee Athletic Union Table Tennis Russell Seal Fitness Centre Women’s Cricket Swimming Rugby League Archery

Fitness & Wellbeing Swim Session Track Session Pool Training Session Open Session Wellbeing & Mindfulness Taster Session Stress Buster Meet The Horses Pitch Up & Play Taster Session Refresher Session Mindfulness Session Taster Session Beginner Taster Trip Taster Session Taster Session Mental Health Training Taster Session Blitz Taster Session Taster Session Taster Session Have-A-Go Session

15/1/18 15/1/18 15/1/18 15/1/18 15/1/18 17/1/18 17/1/18 17/1/18 18/1/18 18/1/18 18/1/18 19/1/18 19/1/18 19/1/18 20/1/18 21/1/18 22/1/18 22/1/18 22/1/18 24/1/18 25/1/18 25/1/18 26/1/18 28/1/18

7:30-8:30 11:00-12:00 17:00-18:00 20:00-22:00 20:00-22:00 16:00 10:00-12:00 14:00-16:00 14:00 17:00-19:00 17:00-19:00 17:00-20:00 18:00-19:00 19:00-20:00 11:00-17:00 20:00-22:00 13:00-15:00 `15:00-17:00 19:00-20:00 16:00-17:00 9:30-11:30 21:00-22:30 17:00-19:00 14:00-16:00

A&V Conference Room Athletics Exeter Arena, EX4 8NT St. Luke’s Campus Pool St. Luke’s Upper Sports Hall Quay Climbing Centre Sports Hall, Sports Park Studio 2, Sports Park Rollestone, Pennsylvia Rd Sand Astro Rubber Crumb St Luke’s Sports Hall Amory B105 Covered Courts, Sports Park Meet Outside Peter Chalk Studio 3, Sports Park Rubber Crumb Training Room, Sports Park Studio 3, Sports Park Sports Park Indoor Cricket Centre Pyramids Pool Rubber Crumb Studio 3, Sports Park

s d fd d d s d f s d f s d f s d f s d f s d f s d f a d s f s d f s d f