Exeposé Issue 636, 2 March 2015

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Racism alleged in fishy football incident

2 March 2015 • Issue 636 • Twitter: @Exepose • www.facebook.com/Exepose • Free

EUAFC are embroiled in a police investigation involving allegations of racism after an incident in Neptune Fish and Chip bar.

On Monday 23 February, the police, in conjunction with the Athletics Union, hosted a meeting with the University Football Club in connection to the incident in Neptune on Wednesday 4 February. No one was cautioned or charged at the meeting.

The incident (reported in issue

Comment

Sass with David Tennant & Uni ski lifts: meet the Sabb-elects

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635, printed on Monday 16 February) involved a group of EUAFC members, where a table was upturned. Additional allegations have been made that there were racial elements to the incident.

The police said: “We had a report that chairs were thrown through the shop into the kitchen area. Staff were terri�ied. The group moved onto Timepiece where police units caught up with them.”

Inspector Tanya Youngs told Exeposé: “I can con�irm the police are investigating an incident in the Neptune’s Fish and Chip bar. The purpose

Features

Hannah Butler News Editor

Photo: Edwin Yeung

Emily Leahy News Editor

Flasher terrifies students

of the meeting with members of the Club was to establish who was present at that incident and was fully supported by the University’s Athletic Union.

The investigation is now progressing and as the individuals involved have yet to be interviewed, I am unable to make any further comment at this stage.”

Andy Higham, AU President, did not respond to requests for comment.

When asked about the incident three weeks ago, Higham replied: “Unfortunately I can’t help, as I don’t know anything about any incident at all.”

This is not the �irst time EUAFC

The bully on the inside: powerful honesty on mental health

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have been called into question regarding their conduct. A special Exeposé report published in September found the club in breach of the Athletics Union’s code of conduct. This included “doing anything which is likely to intimidate” and encouraging others to become “unduly intoxicated.”

Following the investigation, the University cancelled the annual football Varsity match. However, all committee members have remained in their positions.

The allegations come amid the...

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STUDENTS have spoken of their shock after a man indecently exposed himself to them through the windows of their homes – with two similar incidents this term prompting suggestions that an exhibitionist is targeting young Exeter residents.

At around 2am on 14 January, two second year undergraduates had returned to their Rosebery Road property after a society social when they heard something thrown against a ground �loor window.

Looking out, the students saw a man “standing with his trousers by his ankles masturbating outside on the street.”

The students described the man as around 35-40 years old, bald, with glasses and a “beer belly.” He was dressed in jeans and a black zip-up hooded top.

“When we looked out he was looking right at us and smiling,” they told Exeposé. “He was holding a torch - maybe from his phone - to light up his privates so that we could see.”

“It was horri�ic,” they said, explaining that they quickly ran to lock the doors as the man “did look pretty threatening.”

“We closed all the curtains and called our housemate to tell her not to come home and to stay at her friend’s as we didn’t want her...

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Music From boys to Men’s Needs: The Cribs interviewed

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University news from beyond Exeter

Student protesters Football racism suspended in Cairo anger at Stirling

Thailand students jailed for treason

TWO students have been suspended from Misr University, Cairo, for “insulting the University” and taking part in protests two years ago.

One of the students, Mostafa Taw�ik, will not be allowed to attend the University until 4 March. The other student involved, Wa�iq Nabil, is planning to sue the University after being threatened with expulsion.

Both students are accused of participating in protests against “road safety negligence” two years ago, following the death of a fellow student, Antoun Sameh, in a road accident outside the University in December 2012.

Taw�ik commented: “I know the University is targeting me, so I do not participate in anything. I usually attend my lectures and leave.”

FOUR Stirling University football teams have caused widespread controversy after painting their faces black to watch the African Cup of Nations.

The so-called ‘blacking up’ of the football teams angered many fellow students, who are calling for a full university enquiry into the incident. Campaigners sent what they felt were highly offensive images to the Daily Record, including one of ten footballers dressed up as Mario Balotelli.

One student said: “It is only through public pressure they will open the inquiry up to examine a dangerous culture of racism at Stirling sports teams,” and criticized the University for not disciplining the students.

Durham protest for King’s to remove freeze on halls rent Archbishop image

A COURT in Thailand has sentenced two students to jail for �ive years for insulting the monarchy in a university play. The play was declared to defy Thailand’s rigid lese-majeste law, making it illegal to disrespect or challenge the royal family.

Patiwat Saraiyaem, 23, and Pornthip Mankong, 26, were charged over the play ‘The Wolf Bride,’ which was about the military suppression of a student protest in 1973. They will serve a �ive year prison sentence, a reduction from the normal 15 year sentence for breaking the lese-majeste law.

The case has provoked opposition, with 40 students surrounding the court, with some raising a three�inger salute as a sign of opposition to the junta.

UK unis violating consumer laws?

Scots lose out to European students

DURHAM students are organising a protest calling for a freeze on soaring accommodation costs, after being hit with a 20 per cent increase over the past three years.

The University recently informed students that college accommodation fees would increase by eight per cent for the next academic year.

In December the Students Union launched a petition against the increase, which has since been removed.

Now the ‘Durham Students for University Reform’ have organised a ‘day of action’ in response to the “general shock” at the University.

Undergraduate Harry Cross, cochair of the DSUR, said “Rising accommodation fees create a two-tier university experience determined by a student’s ability to afford living in college.”

THE image of former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey will reportedly be removed from a building at King’s College London, after objections from LGBT campaigns.

King’s alumnus Lord Carey has featured alongside other notable alumni including Desmond Tutu on the side of a building at the campus entrance for several years.

Campaigners raised concerns due to the Archbishop’s long record of opposing gay rights and his opposition of the Same Sex Marriage bill in the House of Lords.

He was criticised in 2012, after an apparent comparison between opponents of equal marriage and Jews during the Holocaust.

According to Roar News reports, KCL principal Ed Byrne has agreed to ‘refresh’ the area’s design and remove the image.

Campaigner Ben Hunt said: “the scheme is an attempt to be more inclusive of different identities around King’s.”

BRITISH universities are being unfair to students and may be violating consumer law, according to a new report by consumer magazine Which?.

The report emphasises how universities often change the content of their courses after students have enrolled.

This is seen as a potential violation of the 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation (UTCC), as it makes it dif�icult for students to know what they are paying for.

According to a consumer lawyer, only �ive per cent of universities are meeting Which? criteria for good practice, with York Uni performing best.

SCOTTISH students are losing out to EU students on places at top universities, attracted by the SNP’s promise of a ‘free’ degree.

The number of Scots accepted at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee Universities has fallen over the past two years.

Over the same period, the number of successful applicants from Europe has increased, as EU anti-discriminatory policy has resulted in students bene�iting from the SNP’s policy of abolishing fees.

Controversially, students in the rest of the UK pay fees of up to £9,000 a year as EU law does not prevent different charges being applied within the UK.

Stories contributed by: Anna Lively and Charlie Dowden, News Team

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Funding page for student protesters AN online funding page has been set up to support the �irst students to be suspended from a British university over political activity.

Two University of Birmingham students were suspended from their course for nine months in July 2014, losing their student loans as a result.

The suspension was given for participating in a peaceful occupation in November 2013 which supported a number of demands including the promotion of a living wage for campus staff, which has since been achieved.

The gofundme.com page is raising money in support of the student movement. Over £1000 has been raised so far.

Exeter’s outlook for the week ahead

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Councillor blames students for noise and vandalism

EXEPOSÉ

Hannah Butler News Editor

AN Exeter councillor has called for the University to tackle student behaviour, blaming students for recent complaints by local residents.

Cllr Keith Owen told Exeposé that he and other residents have experienced late night noise in recent weeks.

However, the St James councillor stressed that noise was not his only complaint. “A resident of Thornton Hill has had considerable damage caused to his car parked outside his house,” he stated, adding that this could “cost thousands of pounds to repair.”

The resident reportedly saw “what he believes were University students running over the top of his car,” who “ran off towards the University” when he emerged from his house.

Earlier this week, Cllr. Owen told Express and Echo that noise “has been getting worse over recent weeks.” Citing “racket from a group of students who were shouting and chanting,” he added: “This is very disappointing af-

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ter the warnings given by the University to their students following last autumn’s Freshers’ Week disturbances.”

Exeposé asked Cllr. Owen whether he could con�irm that students were to blame. “At this stage we cannot prove the culprits were university students,” he stated, “but everything points that way and nobody has suggested to me that they were not students.”

A University spokesperson commented they were “sorry to hear about these incidents.”

We cannot prove the culprits were university students but everything points that way Councillor Keith Owen

“We have not been provided with any further information as yet to prove that these disturbances were caused by students. However, we always take complaints seriously and we can take action if students are identi�ied as the cause of anti-social behaviour.”

Global warming: not man-made?

Emily Marsay News Team

A TEAM of climate scientists, including the University’s own Professor Mat Collins, are working on dispelling one of the ‘myths’ that surround the debate on climate change: that global warming is not caused by mankind, but occurs naturally.

Such myths stem from the fact that there is a current slow-down in the rate of global surface warming, despite ongoing increases in the emissions of greenhouse gases. Researchers have been working on �inding potential causes for this.

The Earth has internal variability - natural variations in regional climate - and there is evidence that this has played a signi�icant role in the ‘slow-down.’ But also that slow-down events similar to the current one have occurred many times before - the paper released shows how short-term trends can be variable as a result of

intrinsic climate �luctuations.

However, Professor Collins, coauthor of the report from Exeter’s mathematics department, reminds that “the fact that the world is warming as a result of human emissions of greenhouse gases is not in doubt.”

The research assesses whether internal variability has the potential to offset the expected global surface warming rate (0.2 degrees Celsius per decade) associated with human in�luences. However, the study also shows that if the extended global cooling occurs due to heat being taken up by the sub-surface ocean, this heat can be released rapidly, leading to a period of accelerated global warming.

In terms of whether our manmade warming will be offset by up to another 15 years by the slow-down, or whether we are currently experiencing a hiatus before things worsen considerably, the research suggests that only time will tell.

Photo: www.geograph.co.uk

“We are aware that a minority of students can cause disruption with street noise/chanting,” they continued. “Damage to vehicles can lead to criminal prosecution, which may, in turn, lead to a criminal record.

“We would encourage all our students to be mindful of noise levels, particularly in the evenings.”

A Guild spokesperson said: “We haven’t met with Cllr Owen about this speci�ic matter but will be doing so in the next few weeks.

“Whilst we have no de�initive evidence as to who caused this particular incident, there are patterns of activity and movement that correlate with people moving to and from campus, as well as people in clearly identi�iable University clothing.”

Stressing that such problems were caused by “a minority of students,” they added: “The Guild remains committed to working with the community to emphasise the enormously positive contribution students make.”

£1.3k loss takes the gloss off RAG headline event Gemma Joyce Editor

ACCORDING to stats revealed during a review meeting, RAG made a loss of £1,334.67 in last month’s headline ‘Le Cirque Sombre’ event. The loss marks a signi�icant drop since last year’s ‘Prohibition Ball’ which saw £5,000 raised for charity, with organisers blaming the two SSB events.

Le Cirque Sombre included fairground rides, live music and circus acts in various venues on campus but only sold 368 tickets compared to last year’s count at an excess of 500.

RAG did so well considering the competition from the SSBs this year Third year student Alex Hawkes and Harry Calvin Williams, RAG Presidents, said: “Unfortunately, after our promotional campaign had been set in stone, not one but two SSBs captured the attention of the student body shortly before our tickets went on sale. This cut into our expected ticket sales heavily.

“However, this did not deter a team of very dedicated and talented

individuals who, despite facing the prospect of a loss-making event, resolved to make it a successful and unforgettable night. It is important to remember that whilst fundraising is at the heart of what we do it is not RAG’s sole objective. ” They stressed that the event was still considered a success and was important for RAG’s reputation, but it was questionable whether a similar event would happen in the future.

A third year attendee said: “It was fun, and there were some great attractions like the ride outside, but maybe a little underwhelming. They did so well though considering the competition from the SSBs this year and RAG should be proud of themselves.”

RAG currently has over 60 people signed up for trips to both Mount Kilimanjaro and Macchu Pichu, and expect to topple last years �igure of £100,000 raised during the Kilimanjaro climb. Events like Jailbreak, the most recent leaving last Friday with 156 participants, a charity sky-dive and RockSolid are also expected to contribute signi�icantly to RAG’s fundraising total for the year.

The loss made at ‘Le Cirque Sombre’ was fully covered by the society’s contingency allowances and no charity money was lost as a result.

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Diversity celebrated at Exeter Sarah Gough Arts Editor

EXETER Diversity Week begins today, with events running every day until Friday 6 March. Organised by the International Students’ Council (ISC), Diversity Week is in its �ifth year and aims to celebrate all the cultures represented at Exeter.

Throughout Monday 2 March a Diversity Fair will take place on Forum Street whilst Forum Exploration Lab 1 will host a Model United Nations on Tuesday 3 March.

The Forum Auditorium will stage the �inal round of Diversity Week’s Talent Hunt competition on Wednesday 4 March, showcasing student performers. A free screening of Selma will also take place there on Thursday 5 March, with free popcorn available.

You can experience the cultural diversity at the uni no matter what country you are from Iris Ho, event organiser

The Diversity Ball will conclude the week’s events on Friday 6 March.

Held in the Great Hall, it is one of the largest formal balls organised entirely by students.

Iris Ho, organiser of Diversity Week, commented: “You can experience the cultural diversity at university through joining Diversity Week’s events organised by the ISC, no matter what country you are from. Grab the opportunity to meet new people!”

More information on all the events can be found on Diversity Week’s Facebook page.

É

Diversity Week 2015: Mon,2 March Diversity Fair, Forum Street Tues 3 March Model United Nations , Forum Exploration Lab 1 Weds 4 March Talent Hunt Finale, Forum Auditorium Thurs 5 March Movie Night (Selma), Forum Auditiorium Fri 6 March Diversity Ball, Great Hall

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NEWS

NEWS 1-7

COMMENT FEATURES LIFESTYLE 12-15 19-21 8-11

EUAFC accused of racist abuse

the University’s code of conduct CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ...national news of Chelsea fans - which may lead to disciplinary acpushing a black man, Souleymane tion being taken.”

Sylla, off a Paris Métro train and taking part in racist chanting in the French capital.

The University of Stirling foot- The purpose of the ball team also attracted national at- meeting with members tention when a �ilm emerged of Uni- of the Uni fooball team versity footballers “blacked up” after was to establish who was watching the African Cup of Nations.

Speaking of EUAFC’s alleged ac- present at that incident tions, a spokesperson for Exeter Uni- and was fully supported versity said: “We are unable to com- by the University’s AU ment on individual cases while an Inspector Tanya Youngs investigation is ongoing. We conduct EUAFC have not responded to our own investigations when students are alleged to have breached requests for comment.

MUSIC 22-25

SCREEN 26-27

BOOKS 28-29

ARTS 32-33

GAMES & TECH

34-35

SPORT 36-40

2 MARCH 2015 |

EXEPOSÉ

ArtSoc create mural at Exeter Court

Photo: Chloe Parkin

Emily Leahy News Editor

Photo: Edwin Yeung

ON Thursday 19 February and Friday 20 February, ten Exeter students created a mural wall in the waiting room of Exeter Combined Court.

At the start of the year Exeter Court invited the Art Society to paint a mural dedicated to vulnerable witnesses.

The users of the room often include children or young adults. The aim was to make the room less sterile, and a more cheerful, comfortable place to be whilst witnesses wait to give evidence.

When asked about the project, Chloe Parkin, President of ArtSoc said: “The only brief we were given was the suggestion of Devon and Cornwall landmarks, including a quiz

of unfamiliar places for young witnesses to locate.”

Parkin added: “Everyone who came and contributed to the mural thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and the staff were happy to have a positive source of excitement in the building. When we were �inished, the room felt completely different. We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to make this positive change.”

Exeter in “most Googled” Penryn hosts list for US students Queer Studies

conference

Beatrice Wood News Team

Theodore Stone News Team

Photo: Edwin Yeung

EXETER has been ranked the 20th most searched city by US students looking to study abroad.

The report, released on 11 February, reveals that Exeter is the 20th most searched city by US students in the world. London is number one, with Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and Warwick also in the top 20.

The most popular term among the searches made by US students relating to international study was ‘Universities of London.’ Five London university colleges were in the top 10, including King’s College, University College, the London School of Economics, Imperial College and the University of the Arts.

Harry Walker, Head of Google Education Industry, stated: “There is no doubt that London and the UK are the biggest magnets for US students seeking to study abroad.”

The study, released to coincide with Boris Johnson’s visit to New

York on 11 February, reinforces the importance of the capital, with many London universities having added ‘London’ to their titles in recent years.

Other European cities to reach the top �ive include Paris, Barcelona and Berlin. Regarding subject searches made by US students looking to study in London, business and �inance came �irst, followed by fashion.

A Google analysis showed that of the most searched-for UK universities by all users for 2014, the Open Uni-

versity made it to third place, beating the LSE, UCL, Oxford and Cambridge.

Dr Shaun Curtis, Director of International Exeter, commented: “We are delighted that Exeter features in this ranking.

“We are engaging heavily in the United States to attract the best students from that country to experience life at one of the UK’s top universities.

We are privileged to host over 200 American students at our campuses in Devon and Cornwall.”

ON 7 March, the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus will host the inaugural conference for academic LBGTQ+ studies.

The conference, entitled “Marginal Perceptions: Queer Voices In and Beyond Conventional Disciplines,” will be the �irst of its kind in the South West, and will feature focus points from multiple disciplines, including English Literature, Geography and the Social Sciences.

Local and national LBGTQ+ groups will be running stands during the event.

The conference is aimed to bring together students for a day of presentations, debate and discussion on various Queer Studies, in order to encourage increased discourse between

students and academics at both early and highly developmental stages within their academic careers. A �ilm screening is also planned.

It is hoped that the event will be of particular interest to students who wish to become professional academics.

However, the conference will also welcome undergraduate, Masters and PhD students who wish to learn more about Queer Studies. Members of the local community are also allowed to attend.

Formal papers will be the primary focus of the conference, but the conference will also be welcomeing of submissions within the realms of other media, such as photography or picture-based artwork, presentations, or creative writing, in order to grant it a wider focus.

EXEPOSÉ

Over £450 to reveal Sir Steve’s costs There are a wide variety of costs associated with supporting the vice-chancellor A University spokesperson

Despite not being able to reveal Smith’s claims, in a comment piece written in the last edition of Exeposé, a University representative claimed: “We �ind ourselves living through an era of austerity, where every penny spent is scrutinised and questioned…

You may be heartened to know that this is also the case at Exeter [and] is a commitment led by the vice-chancellor.”

The article continues: “I can assure you that every claim is comprehensively checked, to ensure that our strict policy is adhered to,” arguing that it was important that claims could stand “up to scrutiny.”

The University have since been asked for partial costs, including expenses on Smith’s house and interna-

Refugee Week comes to Exeter Maria Gomez News Team

THE Exeter City of Sanctuary - a nonpro�it organisation raising awareness for refugees and asylum seekers in the local area - is organising a Refugee Week from 9 to 13 March at the University of Exeter.

The week will focus on the issues faced by asylum seekers and refugees, including �leeing war-torn countries, human traf�icking, and how the Exeter community can help. The events have been planned with the help of some societies from the University.

Be the Change has organised a craft activity for Monday 9 March, to encourage people to contribute to a book of people’s journeys to Exeter.

Exeter University British Red Cross will be in charge of Tuesday’s events, which include a talk with Senior Red Cross Refugee Services and Support in Emergencies Personnel, as well as Senior Police Of�icers from

Devon & Cornwall, who have been involved in Anti-Human Traf�icking operations in the South West.

Wednesday will revolve around the three Ds: Discrimination, Degradation and Destitution, with the National Coordinator of City of Sanctuary Tiffy Allen speaking about the experiences of refugees in the UK, and what the Exeter Community can do to help them.

Thursday will be focused on Amnesty International’s national campaign on refugees, while Friday will offer the opportunity to interact with the Exeter Refugee Community and bust some of the myths on refugees and asylum seekers.

Matt Bate, VP Activities, said: “Following the recent Student Idea to create Exeter as the �irst University of Sanctuary, Refugee Week will be an important time for students to consider the issues faced by asylum seekers and refugees who are often �leeing from dangerous and frightening situations.”

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tional �lights.

Last month, City University’s vicechancellor’s expenses were revealed, showing that he claimed for �ive star hotels, upmarket restaurants and £1,600 on taxis. The University also spent £620 on a new doorbell as part of a £200,000 renovation of his house.

Smith is set to participate in an all student talk between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on 28 April in the Alumni Auditorium. Students will have the chance to question the vice chancellor on topics of their choice.

É

January: Exeposé investigates the expenses of the University’s top ten earners. Smith’s costs are not included in these figures Feb 3-4: Exeposé issues fresh requests for this information Feb 16:

A University representative writes in Exeposé: “every penny spent is scrutinised and questioned” - including the vicechancellor’s costs

Photo: ei.britishcouncil.org

THE University claim they cannot reveal Sir Steve Smith’s full ‘costs,’ because researching the information would total over £450.

Last month, Exeposé reported the expenses of the ten highest earners at the University, but since the vice-chancellor’s costs are dealt with separately, they were not disclosed.

Fresh requests for information regarding this year and last were sent on 3 and 4 February, but the University only formally replied to the Freedom of Information (FOI) request 19 days later, to cite the £450 limit as an exemption to the request. The limit for FOI response times is 28 days.

A University spokesperson said: “There are a wide variety of costs associated with supporting the vicechancellor in undertaking his role in leading the University. In order to collate this information it is estimated that it would take signi�icant time and would take us over the £450 fees limit, as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

“In accordance with section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,

we are therefore not obliged to provide the information, and given the signi�icant time it would take us we are unable to provide the information.”

Photo: thisiswestcountry.co.uk

Harrison Jones Editor

NEWS

www.exepose.com

Feb 23:

Exeposé’s request for information is refused, as calculating Sir Steve’s costs would exceed the £450 FOI limit

Flasher in multiple incidents CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ...walking alone,” they explained. “We checked again and he was still there.

He was still until he saw us looking out and started masturbating again with the light on himself.” Shortly afterwards, the students called the police, who sent a patrol to the area.

“It did surprise us,” they said. “Exeter is such a lovely, quiet area and the fact that this guy targeted us makes us feel slightly vulnerable.

“We did not expect anything like this and we are much more careful walking home - for all we know he could have followed us home.”

He was holding a torch to light up his privates so that we could see Second year student

A second incident occurred on Sunday 22 February, at around 11pm.

Speaking to Exeposé, a second year International Relations student described hearing a knock on the back door whilst in the kitchen of her Culverland Road property.

“The door is glass and looks straight onto the living room and the

kitchen,” said the student. “I was expecting to see one of my housemates but instead there was a big middle aged man holding his trousers down.”

Once again, the man appeared to be around 35-years-old, and either bald or with very short hair, with “quite a round face.” He was wearing a navy blue cap with a yellow logo, a navy blue bomber jacket and dark jeans with a brown belt.

“I don’t know how long he was standing there before he knocked,” the student said. However, explaining that the man “had to jump the wall to get into our garden,” she added: “He de�initely knew I was there.

“He wasn’t doing anything apart from standing there with his trousers down,” she said, adding that the man did not appear to be trying to break into the house, but stared straight at her whilst exposing himself. “As soon as I saw him I ran to get my housemates and I saw him turn away immediately,” she continued.

The student called the police, who searched the area. Shortly afterwards she posted on Facebook to warn others that there was an “exhibitionist” in the city, advising students to “call the police straight away” if they experi-

enced a similar incident.

“I never thought someone would risk climbing into a stranger’s garden only to exhibit themselves,” she told Exeposé. Speculating that the man could be “deranged,” she added that the fact two incidents have occurred “makes me think he would do it again.”

He saw us looking out and started masturbating again Second year student

A University spokesperson commented: “We are pleased these unpleasant and upsetting incidents have been brought to our attention.

“We will be following up with the police to understand what action they plan to take and will be in contact with the students concerned to offer any support and advice we can to them.”

Kate Hawkins, VP Welfare and Diversity, commented: “The students involved in these incidents have done the right thing in contacting the police.

“The Students’ Guild Advice Unit is available to offer support to any students experiencing distressing incidents.”

EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS • EXPERIENCE NEW CULTURES • ENHANCE YOUR EMPLOYABILITY • FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

where will a

degree at Exeter take

Study Abroad...

Studying abroad next year?

The International Office is running drop-in sessions every Wednesday between 2pm – 4pm until 25 March 2015.

Come along to the Career Zone in the Forum and ask any questions.

www.exeter.ac.uk/international/studyabroad

EXEPOSÉ

Students to vote on proposed music cuts Giorgi Mamuzelos News Team

EXETER students plan to lobby the University to reduce cuts to the music service, as it announces overall cuts worth £10 million.

A Student Idea on the Guild website shows that, as of 25 March, over half of voters ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ that cuts should be reduced. In an explanation of the poll, its initiator writes, “I am not suggesting that cuts not be made, but to at least reduce the cuts so to not overly affect the experience students in music societies receive.”

There are no academic degree programmes in music at Exeter: the University decided to discontinue its music department back in 2004, ultimately closing in 2006. However, it

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maintains a music of�ice, which aims to “promote music to all staff and students.”

Through the Music Learning Programme, students can apply for up to 12 hours of music tuition spread throughout the academic year. Additionally, ExTunes, “the umbrella organisation for music at Exeter,” comprises over 30 music societies.

The idea’s creator claims “prospective students consider the culture and societies of the University greatly in their choice,” and with the impact of the cuts, “they might want to go elsewhere which offers better music services.”

He concludes, “It would be ridiculous to take away something which affects so many people, unless you want a cultureless, musicless wasteland.”

Matt Bate, VP Activities, comment-

ed: “as the University faces a challenging period of �inancial adjustment, I am �ighting hard to preserve the range of activities, facilities and society grants currently available to student musicians.”

A University spokesperson said: “We are currently undertaking a review of our professional structure in order to ensure it is investing in the right areas. No decisions regarding any future changes have been made as yet.

“Both the Guild Executive and Sabb Of�icers are heavily involved in these discussions, and ensure that the student voice is well represented in budget discussions. Student satisfaction and the student experience a priority- we would therefore not be seeking to make any savings in areas that students value the most.”

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Photo: Ekaterina Vasileva

Female scientists ‘Top Sleeping rough Trumps’ for school pupils for YMCA Susannah Keogh News Team

TWO Exeter students have created a game to determine the best female scientist of all time.

Free to download for secondary school pupils, it’s creators, Hannah Wakeford and Simon Clark hope it will raise the pro�ile of women in science and stimulate an interest in the subject.

In the game scientists are compared against different criteria, such as innovation with 32 of the most celebrated names in maths, natural sciences, physics, chemistry and biology featuring.

With International Women’s Day on the horizon, which celebrates the social, political and economic

Photo: University of Exeter

We hope that it will bring these wonderful scientists into a more prominent position in our minds Simon Clark

achievements of women worldwide, Wakeford and Clark released the game to coincide with the event. This year’s theme is “Equality for women is progress for all.” The university is running a 41 Women campaign, where each day in March an inspirational woman who is linked to the university will be featured on the university homepage.

Fitting with the ethos of International Women’s Day, Clark a postgraduate Mathematics student, added: “We have tried to show the multitude of areas across the sciences in which women have had an incredible impact. As well as echoing the very ethos of International Women’s Day, we hope that it will also bring these wonderful scientists into a more prominent position in our minds.”

Debut novel for English lecturer Joseph Benson News Team

A senior English lecturer at the University has released his debut novel, titled Apples and Prayers..

Delving into the Tudor era, Dr Andy Brown portrays a rural arcadia’s traditions and rituals shattered by religious persecution and rebellion.

Set in 16th Century Devon, the novel follows Morgan Sweet, a servant girl whose life is as deeply rooted in the apple orchards of Buckland as her piety in Catholicism.

Dr Brown said, “The novel is

about the loss of a way of life, and how we identify with a place, using cider making rituals and the eventual neglect of the orchard as one of the many ways that rural life changes beyond recognition.”

It’s the �irst time that this has been written from the point of view of a servent, and their everyday life Dr Andy Brown, English lecturer

With the ascension of Edward VI in 1547 came destruction of this pastoral scene. Economic turbulence resulted in the in�lation of wheat prices.

Dr Brown added: “The book begins with an almost idyllic Devon, a pastoral view of life, and then gets progressively bloodier and crueller.

It’s the �irst time that this has been written from the point of view of a servant, and their everyday life, observing both the religious and agricultural calendar.”

The novel, published by Dean Street Press is available as an ebook.

Rachel Gelormini Online News Editor

Exeter RAG is offering students the chance to sleep rough as part of a ‘Sleep Easy’ challenge.

The event is raising money for Exeter’s YMCA, which houses and provides services for young people aged 16-29.

Taking place from 24-25 March, participants will “experience what it is like to be homeless” by sleeping outside the Great Hall overnight.

Participants have been set a target of raising £50 each. According to organisers, if 100 participants successfully reach this target the event will raise enough for a young person to live at the YMCA for nine months.

The RAG event will take place in conjunction with YMCA’s own ‘Sleep Easy’ challenge in Exeter Guild Hall Shopping centre on 14 March.

Hundreds of people are expected to take part in the event in the city, with a target to beat last year’s total of £25,000.

Participants at the Guild Hall shopping centre will be treated to live music and entertainment, before attempting to sleep.

Labour MP for Exeter, Ben Bradshaw will also be taking up the challenge in the city centre. He said of the event: “Exeter YMCA does a great

É

job providing safe and secure accommodation to young people who �ind themselves homeless and give them help and support to move on into independent living. But they are also facing funding problems because of this government’s cuts. I wanted to help raise them some much needed money and help draw attention to our growing homelessness problem.”

I wanted to help raise them some much needed money and help draw attention to our growing homeless problem Ben Bradshaw, Exeter MP

Matt Bate, VP Activities, said: “The RAG and YMCA sleep out event is a great opportunity for students to gain understanding and raise awareness of the challenges faced by homeless young people and to address a very local issue.”

Rhiannon Willetts and Sophoe Leer, the event’s organisers, said: “We are really excited to he able to support YMCA Exeter by hosting the RAG Sleepeasy.

“It’s the perfect opportunity to get a group of friends together for a big sleepover and make a real difference to the lives of young people in Exeter!”

- YMCA Exeter provides over 70 young people with safe and secure accomodation - It costs £5,000 to provide accommodation for one homeless person for 9 months

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“The number of students registered to vote is at an all time low” EXETER has its problems: the queue in Costa, the steepness of its hills and the price of a burger and pint in the Ram going up by 50p. But one thing that no one talks about is Exeter’s problem with democracy. The number of students registered to vote is at an all-time low. You would think that as we approach a general election there would be an upsurge in voter registration, but sadly not.

Harming students only results in a few noisy protestors outside Parliament Students have historically been attacked left right and centre from all political parties. First tuition fees, brought

in by Labour and then wacked up to £9,000 (bargain!) by our friend Clegg, then EMA was cut, and now there is the prospect of losing your bene�its if you are under the age of 21. There is one simple reason they can do this: we don’t vote. No one can touch pensioners. If a party leader does, they can say goodbye to the keys to number 10 and their political career. But harming students only results in a few noisy protestors outside Parliament.

Jobs and higher education are going to be major issues at the general election. We as students have to make our voice heard, it’s our future at stake after all. Many people argue that voting does not make a difference, in safe seats around the country that may be the case. Here in Exeter though nothing could be further from the truth. The current MP Ben Bradshaw has a majority of 2,700. We are a student body of 19,000 and we have the potential to determine this election. 42 per cent of us voted in the SABB elections. Not to

belittle the work they do, but this election is 100 times more important.

We have the potential to determine the election A recent study showed that around 80 per cent of students plan to vote.

That’s great, but unless there is a massive upsurge in registration most of those people will be left disappointed come 7 May, when they are turned away from the polling station.

What saddens me most though is the lack of effort and energy the University is putting in to do something about this. Politics Society did do a big push last term but it is only with the Uni’s support we can really get close to achieving the kind of numbers we ought to. Why not spend a little less time trying to sue your own student newspaper, and a little more time making sure students’ voices are heard?

The deadlines loom

Cartoon: Emily McIndoe

Exeter students in their homes (page 1) certainly makes for scary reading, particularly given that Devon County Council are continuing to only light our streets partially at night. Hopefully the individual will be prevented from causing any further trouble.

Meanwhile, the University have conveniently been unable to answer our latest enquiries into Steve Smith’s expenses (page 5). The rhetoric of transparency and “scrutinising every penny” looks mighty odd when the University can’t even keep track of their own vice-chancellor’s spending for less than £450. The hypocrisy becomes more laughable by the week. That’d be if our tuition fees were funny, of course. *** Elsewhere, in this our penultimate edition as editors, we have light-hearted interviews with the new Sabb team (page 11) and the Cribs’ Ross Jarman (page 22). There’s an honest, full blooded take on mental health which is well worth �ive minutes of your time (page 12). The ever-present issue - which our investigation �inds affects large numbers of us - is tackled full on in this �irst hand account.

Meanwhile, John Chilvers has written an insightful piece on students registering on the electoral register (page 8). This is an issue which we’re restricted on reporting about because of the legal availability of the �igures, but we have seen them and they’re shocking John’s advice is sound: it’s worth taking the time to sign up.

Look out for our �inal issue in two weeks - we promise not to get too soppy with our goodbyes.

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Trouble on the streets

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EDITORIAL

WELL, well, well… here we go again.

Another horrendous own goal from EUAFC has seen them embroiled in a racism scandal, complete with a police investigation and some unhappy local staff just trying to serve some �ish (not eels, so far as we can tell).

But frankly, this isn’t a laughing matter and nor is it something that can be brushed under the carpet. This is a serious, topical and disheartening issue which we should not have to be talking about. Details are scarce, courtesy of a characteristically silent University and AU, but clearly members of the football team went to Neptune Fish bar and caused trouble - some of which was of an allegedly racist nature - before continuing to Timepiece where the police caught up with them.

The recent incidents involving Chelsea fans and even Stirling University (page 2) could easily be brushed off as isolated, but the fact that individuals at our University have been caught up in a similar scenario is a worrying return to more unsavoury times. That’s not to suggest racism in Britain is necessarily on the rise, just that this is not a time for complacency.

In fairness, this appears to have been the result of one individual’s actions. Like a naughty little boy, he’s let himself down, let his club down and worst of all he’s let his university down.

Some might try and pin the blame on us for that, but we haven’t set out to trash the football club’s reputation, it’s merely our duty to report truth - and if that is a side effect, then so be it.

On an equally troubling note, reports of an ‘exhibitionist’ preying on

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“My heart bleeds green for the Uni’s ‘challenging’ eco aims” Joshua Rotchelle

AS of last fortnight, we got some shocking news: turns out, the University of Exeter �inds being green a little bit tricky. Dif�icult enough that they felt the need to voice this, telling everyone that it was a ‘challenge.’ Gee whiz, glad you cleared that up. It’s always telling when someone talks about something being a ‘challenge,’ isn’t it?

Where to cut excess spending? How much were those �irst class train tickets again?

From this you can instantly gather two things: one, the Uni is hedging its bets, so if they can’t meet their targets, they can always point back to this and say “b-but we said it was reeeally hard!” and two, that they are lazy enough to spend their time whining about how hard they have it instead of rising to the task.

Yeah, I’ll remember that tactic for

my next essay; no better way to help my situation than write ahead to my lecturer about how tough the question is, so when my submission is shite I have justi�ication to whine about it!

To be fair, as Kermit reminds us, it isn’t easy being green, and students are known to be serial whiners on the subject, forever waving �lowers and hugging trees. However, gone are the days when the suits can just grumble about “them ef�in’ hippies” and then light up another cigar rolled from endangered lilies and panda ears.

The fact is, the times they are achangin’, and even discounting the masses who endlessly bitch about “saving the planet, man!” there is a whole bucket-load of reasons to embrace the green movement, with both short - and long-term bene�its. With this in mind, there’s really no excuse for the Uni to not be doing its best in this department, and even less reason for them to moan under the workload.

Holland Hall types will at this point doubtlessly be snif�ing with derision at this article, asking such questions as “where will the money come from?” A valid point - money makes the world go round, as inspirationally

>>In-house experts labelled the University’s carbon footprint targets ‘challenging’ at the same time as we dropped 23 places in the ‘Green League’

sung by, err, G-Unit.

However, the Uni wouldn’t have targets that it couldn’t attain. The simple fact is, if they’re aiming to graduate their green growth from grunge to gale-force gains, then it’s doable, even if it is a ‘challenge.’ So this money obviously has to be present somewhere.

I won’t lie, I’m no economist, so I

couldn’t tell you where exactly. That said, in my uneducated opinion, maybe it’d be a good start to cut unnecessary spending elsewhere. How much were those �irst-class train tickets again, heads of staff?

It’s true that the Uni’s not doing nothing. There are green initiatives creeping their way through the

port — but this week FemSoc couldn’t even recognise its own hypocrisy.

I should stress that this article is not meant as an attack on the people who spoke out about their experiences but on the decision to segregate taken at the session. Speaking out about sexual experiences was brave, and it was an important decision to run the session. But it’s exactly for these reasons why segregating the room on the basis of gender was so disturbing. If the broader goal was to raise greater awareness about what is appropriate sexual conduct, then it’s vital that men and women can participate in this discussion openly, learn from each other, and facilitate an honest dialogue. Yes, women need to tackle these issues head on, but nothing is going to change if the discussion is one-sided.

Discussing sex can be uncomfortable and I accept that in cases it may even be a harrowing experience, but the only way that good sexual awareness is going to increase on campus is if this discussion takes place amongst everyone. A room full of nodding heads, of conformity - one that is not prepared to take into account the views of a large percentage of our student population - is not a good thing for university life and does not help foster good sexual awareness. Allowing a forum to explore different ideas, perhaps even troubling ones, is the only way to a more informed populous and better sexual conduct.

Megan Pallagrass FemSoc VP

“FemSoc shouldn’t have made boys leave their talk” Clara Collam

IT’S 2015, but when at this week’s University of Exeter Feminist Society discussion the committee actively asked men to leave the room on the basis of their gender, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that. It was without a doubt the most illiberal thing I have witnessed while at university.

I should point out that I’m a supporter of FemSoc and believe they had very good intentions. This week’s topic was sexual education, awareness and female sexuality, which is all too often ignored. But this particular decision was shockingly misguided.

My main objection is that it was self-defeating in terms of raising sexual awareness. How can you facilitate a discussion on good sexual conduct when you’ve asked members of the audience to leave? The only way people learn what practices are unacceptable is if they’re explained through the process. Men should be encouraged to hear the female perspective and attempt to learn from it, not be shunned away.

Not only that, but I believe the actions taken by the Feminist Society reinforced the frustrating stereotype that feminism is ‘anti-men’ and exclusive. This idea is a huge hindrance to the feminist cause. Exclusivity is something that FemSoc’s own website

states it actively tries to avoid.

Also, the audience weren’t asked to express their own preferences. Despite the decision having already been stated on Facebook, the announcement in the meeting was still met with audible gasps and confusion.

Above all, condemning the decision is clanging illiberalism. FemSoc should champion the liberal ideal of open inclusive discussion, even if it is confrontational, disruptive and awkwardly honest.

Women need to tackle these issues head on, but nothing will change if debate is one-sided The decision was not only damaging to its goal of increasing sexual awareness but also incredibly hypocritical. In an attempt to create a safe environment the discussion was in fact closed down to a signi�icant portion of the audience. Men may not be able to identify with female sexuality, but that doesn’t mean they can’t contribute positively to a discussion on sexuality, sex education and awareness, which is why the decision taken was incredibly disturbing. In this way FemSoc were no better than religious fanatics who segregate on the basis of gender. You can preach gender equality — it’s a noble goal and one I sup-

red tape, and some progress is being made. But that’s the problem: ‘some.’

‘Some’ is not enough. ‘Some’ is what you get when you put in less than 100 per cent, and as we’ve seen, the University clearly has the resources, so there are no excuses for slacking.

No half measures, Exeter. Get it done, and stop whining.

Too many man: FemSoc bites back

THE decision to ask male students to leave was made democratically as a whole society in one of our discussion meetings earlier in the term. I suggested the idea of having a ‘self-identifying women only’ space for one of the sessions, which was met with unanimous agreement and encouragement from our members (of all genders). That we would be asking the men to leave was made very clear in the event description on Facebook, which was readily available to anybody who wanted to access it. I visited members of Guild Staff to check that my actions didn’t violate any of their inclusivity polices, and was assured that it didn’t.

Although I feel that it’s important for men to get used to women talking about sex, I believe their participation should stop there. Men have dominated discourses about female bodies for too long. Women are given so little space to talk about their sexuality, and are often shamed for doing so to the extent that they become afraid of their own bodies. The discussion we had after asking the men to leave was

intended as a safe space for women to talk about sex without shame. The atmosphere we created was a room �illed with laughter and open discussion of subjects that I am con�ident would not have been brought up if there had been men present.

Men have dominated discourse about female bodies for too long Whilst I accept that segregation reinforces the idea of harmful gender binaries, not allowing room for women-only spaces at this stage of the feminist movement is putting the cart before the horse.

It was a talk about women, for women, where we could all explore what it meant to have our sexuality so often dismissed as unnatural or unimportant. I don’t see why it would have been helpful or constructive for the women to have men participate in that discussion.

Any man claiming to be feminist would willingly accept that sometimes the best thing they can do to help the movement is to leave the conversation.

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Inappropriately long before they start, Exeposé Comment corner your newly-elected soonto-be-Sabbs to chat about delusions of grandeur, unlimited budgets and zombies on campus LAURA-JANE TILEY KATIE O’CONNOR BETHAN JONES NAOMI ARMSTRONG Guild President

VP Activities

VP Education

VP Welfare & Diversity

JACK BRISTOW AU President

Photos: Edwin Yeung

It’s Blind Date, you’re up to introduce yourself in a way that would make Cilla blush - go!

I’m Laura-Jane aka LJT. Originally from Bucks, I’m a third year English student at Exeter. Fun fact: I was once inadvertently sassy to David Tennant. Come find me on campus to hear the whole story.

What is your favourite night out in Exeter and why?

To this day, it’s still Saturday Lemmy. It’s been the same since first year and it will probably remain that way till I die. Now that you can finish it off with chips at The Grove, it’s pretty much the perfect night.

Which halls were you in during your first year?

Birks Grange self-catered. Cheeky secret though - I often paid for catered dinner because I was such a bad cook.

What was your most memorable (read embarrassing) moment of campaign week?

On the Wednesday morning I poured boiling hot tea all down myself as I was furiously trying to explain my manifesto points to an unsuspecting student. I’m pretty sure they were scalded too – it was not my finest moment.

What song would you have playing as you walk onstage at a high profile Guild event?

‘Shake It Off ’ – always down for Tay Tay. What’s your worst habit?

Fringe fiddling. Apparently I flatten my fringe in awkward situations and apparently that’s annoying. Apparently.

‘‘

I was once sassy to David Tennant It’s a zombie apocalypse on campus what’s your survival strategy?

I’d push the zombies down Forum Hill and then race to the top of the Physics Building. There’s no way any zombies are going to follow me up there.

It’s Blind Date, you’re up to introduce yourself in a way that would make Cilla blush - go!

I’m Katie, a third year Drama student, from the faraway land of the Midlands.

I once serenaded Alan Carr to ABBA’s ‘Waterloo’ live on Radio 2.

What is your favourite night out in Exeter and why?

Timepiece on a Friday. Follow that with a Firehouse pizza and you’re living the dream.

Which halls were you in during your first year?

New Lafrowda

‘‘

Me the PM? I’d make glitter compulsory What was your most memorable (read embarrassing) moment of campaign week?

My most memorable moment of SABB week was probably on the Wednesday, which was an open day. I spoke to a lovely guy for about 20 minutes about my policies and how to vote for me, before he revealed he wasn’t actually a student...

Exeter first, next the nation. What would be your first move as prime minister?

My first move as Prime Minister would be to make glitter compulsory. It makes everything better.

What song would you have playing as you walk onstage at a high profile Guild event?

It’d have to be something by Britney Spears. I can’t decide on one song, she’s a pop princess in my eyes so any song would do.

It’s a zombie apocalypse on campus what’s your survival strategy?

I’d hide in the Marketplace, put up all the glass shutters and hope there was enough food in there to last.

‘‘

I’d get ski lifts built around uni It’s Blind Date, you’re up to introduce yourself in a way that would make Cilla blush - go!

Hey I’m Bethan, and I’m a Maths student. I play three instruments and I sing. I’m waiting to be discovered as the next Taylor Swift but until then I’m here solving equations.

What is your favourite night out in Exeter and why?

Probably one of the Arena nights, not cheesys though. I always have a good laugh there with the old VKs. Which halls were you in during your first year?

Duryard, may as well have been another city altogether.

What was your most memorable (read embarrassing) moment of campaign week?

I mean the whole week was pretty memorable, I was wondering around dressed as a bee all day everyday, not going to forget that any time soon!

What song would you have playing as you walk onstage at a high profile Guild event?

Something by Queen B herself, maybe an oldie like ‘Crazy in Love’.

What’s your worst habit?

Being five minutes late to everything, no matter when I leave. Never more than five, but it still drives people mad.

It’s a zombie apocalypse on campus what’s your survival strategy?

Arm the Sabb army to protect our students, as we were hired to do.

Your budget is multiplied by ten - how would you overspend to improve the University?

Would that cover ski lifts around uni?

Might increase lecture attendance…

It’s Blind Date, you’re up to introduce yourself in a way that would make Cilla blush - go!

I’m Naomi, a third year Psychology student, from St.Albans. I really like carrots, so much so that I once started to turn orange from eating so many. I also wrote a poem about them.

What is your favourite night out in Exeter and why?

I love Arena. Cheesys used to be the all time fave, but I’m more Monday now.

Even the smell doesn’t put me off.

Which halls were you in during your first year?

I doubt you’ve heard of it - Opal. It’s now called Mansion 1.

What was your most memorable (read embarrassing) moment of campaign week?

As soon as I put that tin foil-covered box on my head, I knew I’d lost all dignity. From there on it was all pretty embarrassing. I soon got over it, because the more embarrassing you look, the more people remember you... I think.

What song would you have playing as you walk onstage at a high profile Guild event?

Macklemore - ‘Can’t Hold Us’. Mostly because I can rap the whole thing. Not sure rapping on stage would be appropriate for a high profile Guild event...

‘‘

I really like carrots, I wrote a poem about it It’s a zombie apocalypse on campus what’s your survival strategy?

Run away from them up Cardiac Hill.

They’ll realize it’s not worth it, and won’t get any further than Birks.

Your budget is multiplied by ten - how would you overspend to improve the University?

Free massages for everyone. Whenever, wherever. They’re great for stress relief and relaxation. (And free carrots).

It’s Blind Date, you’re up to introduce yourself in a way that would make Cilla blush - go!

My name’s Jack, I’m a History and Politics student, I’m 20 years old, openly gay and from Birmingham. My main hobby is triathlon, though I can also play the guitar (I used to be grade 8!). I have a thing for foreign language films and cheesy pop music.

What is your favourite night out in Exeter and why?

My favourite night out is Timepiece Wednesday, for obvious reasons. I’ll happily stick to middle floor though, I prefer the music and I’m just not edgy enough for Top Top. Which halls were you in during your first year?

Duryard (the back of beyond)

‘‘

I bite my nails - I don’t even own clippers What was your most memorable (read embarrassing) moment of campaign week?

I got kissed by a very drunk guy in Timepiece on the Wednesday. I was completely sober at the time as well. I might not have minded if he was a better kisser but he pretty much forced his tongue down my throat!

What song would you have playing as you walk onstage at a high profile Guild event?

Taylor Swift - ‘Long Live’.

What’s your worst habit?

Probably biting my fingernails. I don’t actually own nail clippers.

It’s a zombie apocalypse on campus what’s your survival strategy?

I got a Bivouac badge when I was in Scouts so I’d probably head to Dartmoor and camp out there. I’m not sure what I’ll do for food though... probably loot a load of canned stuff from the Market Place.

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The bully on the inside Emma Thomas, Features Editor, investigates the stigma of mental illness

LIKE many, I spent a good portion of the Christmas ‘holidays’ printing off a deluge of articles in an impendingJanuary-exam panic. Cannily using my parents’ computer for the task one day, I stumbled across a folder from ten years ago marked “Emma’s stuff.” Curious, I took a look, expecting cringeworthy photographs, perhaps a short story blatantly ripping off Jacqueline Wilson. Instead, I was surprised to �ind a document named: “THIS IS WHY YOU RUINED MY CHILDHOOD.”

When describing mental illnesses like anxiety, I’ve resorted to the metaphor of ‘being bullied from inside your own mind’ It was a long, rambling letter – one that I never intended to be sent. “I hate it when you dip my head in the dirt and make me run into the brambles! But most of all I hate it when you make me make myself sick! You ruined my childhood, you really did!!!” The ‘letter’ was disturbing, but the recounted experiences of bullying – a childhood experience many encounter – were not what struck me most. The letter, recited in its erratic language and poor gram-

mar, could just as easily be applied to other experiences that many people contend with on a daily basis.

When describing what it feels like to have mental illnesses like anxiety disorder, I’ve resorted to the metaphor of the bully to illustrate my point. “It’s like being bullied from inside your own mind,” I opine, to varying levels of success. This may sound melodramatic. But as much as I’ve tried, explaining my experiences of mental illnesses honestly but without being emotive is nigh on impossible, because mental illnesses are emotional.

16-20 February saw Exeter host its Mental Health Awareness Week, and 11-17 May will see the worldwide movement. Here, through talking rationally about mental illness, activists attempt to positively educate others about the causes and effects sufferers experience. So, to gauge the breadth and attitudes towards mental illness, I created and incessantly shared a survey. 100 people, many of whom are Exeter students, but also students of other universities and professionals, have completed this survey.

We’ve all heard the one-in-fourpeople-experience-depression statistic, but this questionnaire made it clear just how widespread and complex mental illness is. Indeed, a staggering 72 per cent of respondents said

they had experienced mental illness, and 88 per cent said that someone close to them had.

Relentless intrusive thoughts feel as though they penetrate the psyche The bullying metaphor may be �lawed, but it does hold some signi�icance for the experience of OCD. Relentless intrusive thoughts feel as though they penetrate the psyche uncontrollably, forcing compulsive actions that can seem as inexorable as the bully that made eight year-old me ram my �ingers down my throat.

Of course, everyone experiences mental illness differently. Of survey respondents who said they had experienced a mental illness, the most common were depression and anxiety with 61 and 58 individuals respectively. However, 19 had experienced eating disorders, and others had encountered schizophrenia, stress, bi-polar, psychosis, personality disorder and post-traumatic stress.

I ‘developed’ OCD aged ten, around the time my grandfather died of cancer. Unfortunately, for me, the obses-

sive side of things manifests in intrusive thoughts that take my feelings of worry and twists them into ones of maliciousness that couldn’t be further from how I really feel. So, my brain becomes riddled with thoughts of “you want X person to get cancer,” which I would �ight with continuously. It was unbearably distressing. I was okay with thinking negatively about myself, but not about others.

Every moment became an internal argument with ‘myself’ in the style of the letter written two years prior. It was intensely upsetting, and compulsive behaviour took over even basic tasks. I felt contagious: washed my arms up to the elbows until they bled, touched everything eight times, had to complete every action without a single intrusive thought, an impossible feat.

Going to sleep required a minute-long mental routine in which I asserted that I wanted everyone in the world to be safe, healthy, and, most importantly, alive. If a single intrusive thought interrupted, I had to begin again. This would take hours. It felt as though if I didn’t do those things it meant the intrusive thoughts were my true feelings, a disturbing prospect.

I ‘got over’ OCD by hugging a heartshaped pillow and mentally repeating The Black Eyed Peas’ lyric “shut up, just shut up, shut up” to drown out

the intrusive thoughts. Not exactly a wholesome recovery. But at ten I didn’t even know OCD existed; I worried I’d just morphed into a terrible person. Doctors and peers were apathetic. This is why support for children with mental illnesses is paramount: if the empathy and proper treatment is available to young sufferers, they might be able to deal with symptoms if they recur, as mine did in Sixth Form alongside depression and again last summer. Similar cycles developed. It got to the point where I spent 15 hours a day in my room revising and battling with intrusive thoughts from the moment of waking up to going to sleep.

Even then, every dream was anxietyridden. Thankfully, I eventually saw a doctor who (at last!) was incredibly helpful.

Only one person of 83 said they would rate uni wellbeing services at the highest choice of “complete support” It’s not a matter of instant recovery, I de�initely still have anxiety, but now, something as minor as being able to scroll through a JSTOR article with-

EXEPOSÉ out compulsion is such a relief.

However, it took some time to feel able to speak about these dif�iculties at all. This is not uncommon – of the 95 people surveyed 50 felt uncomfortable talking about their experiences.

The fact that 40 people did is positive.

That’s how it should be. But for many, it’s too daunting. Mental health still is not talked about as openly as physical health. Perhaps this is partially because mental illnesses are not always as visually manifest. In fact, the symptoms are intensely physical. Anxiety causes stomach cramps, sleep deprivation, headaches and panic attacks.

But many sufferers become remarkably adept at hiding their symptoms in public – I frequently hear the “but you always seem so happy!” response.

It’s odd that this aspect of ‘invisible illness’ is enough to make some disregard mental illnesses entirely.

People refer to themselves as “a bit OCD” because they prefer their pens in colour order. We wouldn’t make the same jokes about a physical illness, referring to feeling a bit shaky on a hangover as being a bit such-and-such illness, because it’s offensive. So why are these ‘jokes’ made about mental illnesses that caused over 5,700 people to commit suicide in 2010? It is sadly unsurprising that in our survey, 58 of 88 respondents said they had experienced stigma. Answerers recounted being told to “get over” their struggles, to being discouraged from telling others because “it’s private.” I distinctly remember a former GP commenting, “you don’t seem that bad.”

67 out of 95 people said they actually felt held back in daily life. Unfortunately, only one person of 83 said that they would rate uni wellbeing services at the highest choice of “complete support,” the most popular choices being ratings of two or three, closer to “no support.” Mind Your Head Society called this “very sad,” and whilst pointing out our Uni’s efforts to improve services, noted a need to “investigate ways in which they can increase funding.” Voice urged students to contact them for support if they are stuggling.

A recent Buzzfeed article titled ‘Should You Take a Mental Health Day?’ might indicate the problem with ambivalent attitudes. The quiz

Do you think people are offered enough information about mental illness?

Yes No I don’t know

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consisted of questions such as “which dog speaks to your soul?” and “what show are you currently bingeing on Net�lix?” Granted, if you’re looking for web-based support, you’re probably better off searching for Mind.org or MoodGYM rather than Buzzfeed. But these questions propagate exactly the kind of trivialising attitude towards mental illness that create so many problems for suffers and those that don’t know if they need help.

The article made mental illness seem like an excuse. Sadly, it is not an extreme or unique example As one commenter pointed out, more accurate questions would have been: “Does it take longer than 15 minutes to convince yourself it’s worth getting out of bed in the morning?” or “does the thought of having to go back to do it all over again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, make you question the very idea of existence itself?” Perhaps even actually suggesting sources for professional help might have been constructive. Instead, the article made mental illness seem like an excuse. Sadly, it is not an extreme or unique example – it is an everyday part of our culture that is actively preventing progress.

Our survey shows that there are a huge number of people who have experienced mental health issues and have their own stories to tell. Each needs to be told – in an article, to a counsellor, a diary or even in a letter that never gets sent. The most undisputed answer to our survey was to the question: “do you think people are offered enough information about mental illness?” 94 per cent of people said “no.” So let’s keep this dialogue going, continuing to challenge lazy trivialisations and caricatures and encouraging ourselves to become increasingly honest and informed about mental illness.

For wellbeing support, call Exeter Voice on 01392 724000 or Mind on 0300 123 3393.

72%

Have experienced a mental illness

67%

Felt they have been held back by mental illness

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Katie Costello argues that Arts students should repopulate Mars YES, you read it right, there really is a planned trip to Mars. The mission, dubbed ‘Mars One,’ will see 40 earthlings given a one-way ticket to the red planet. And how shall we select which of our citizens should partake in this other-worldly exploration? Why, through a reality TV show of course!

The Dutch company behind the scheme claim it really will go ahead – funding permitting – with the �irst ships setting off in 2025. On the shortlist for tickets are �ive Britons, including astrophysics students from Birmingham, Durham and Oxford. But surely you could learn the basics on the job. There must be other degrees necessary for becoming an extra-terrestrial pioneer.

As one of an ever-growing number of Arts students slowly realising how useless their degree really is, this news came to me as just another reason why I should have thought more carefully before turning my nose up at STEM subjects. Fair enough, my knowledge of Plato and Aristotle probably wouldn’t help all that much if there was an engine failure at 40,000 feet, but perhaps political thought would be pretty useful once we touched down on our new homeland. Politics and Philosophy give crucial insights into human behaviour and society’s structure. The senior ranks of the military will agree with Machiavelli that it is better to be feared than loved if they want to prevent mutinies and secure obedience from their subordinates.

Surely we will need some form of order when we set up our new civilisation – who better to organise it than a Politics student?

Ok, so maybe Politics and Philosophy have some slight practical application. What about the arts? English and Drama can’t be all that useful, can they?

Well, I suppose that depends on what you see as the real purpose of exploration. If it is simply to have some form of presence on an interstellar

body, then maybe culture isn’t top of your list of necessities. In my opinion, though, it’s the arts which make us human. We create things for the sake of creating them, fashioning beautiful paintings, or music, or poetry, distinguishing us from the animals. A good wordsmith, such as Brockes or Wordsworth, can make a being as common as a �ly into a majestic examination of humanity and religion - just think what they could say about an entirely new planet. The most memorable parts of the Apollo space missions aren’t the formulae to make a rocket �ly, or the coordinates they had to set off from. What sticks in the mind are iconic photographs of our blue-green planet from space and the quotable lines from Neil Armstrong and the like.

We remember the culture the moon landing produced, and we’re human because of it.

Fine, so now we’re taking a good chunk of the humanities and arts as well as people with useful quali�ications like the engineers and the doctors. Surely you don’t need anyone else, I mean - what use could a History degree really be?

My knowledge of Plato and Aristotle probably wouldn’t help if there was an engine failure at 40,000 feet Historians might not be the most useful candidates, but their knowledge of mistakes from the past could help with re�ining the politics of the new outer space state. Social scientists are already dealing with that, you say? Ah, but historians have another unique skill – have you seen how much they’re supposed to read? A typical History student may not have the most time consuming of timetables, but the books they’re – ahem – ‘supposed’ to read will �ill up all those hours which

look like they should be reserved for Net�lix. They’ve got to absorb and condense vast quantities of information, as well as retaining a fair amount of it for the occasional exam. How would that not be useful when we set up base on Mars? What’s the betting we’ll just be setting up the arti�icial oxygen generator when we realise we’ve forgotten the password – then we’ll need those historians’ memory to remind us of our mother’s maiden name or the street we grew up on.

The rocket’s getting pretty crowded now, but I presume you’re going to say the colony is in need of linguists too.

No, actually – weren’t you listening earlier? The project is Dutch, meaning that the standard of English will be higher than it is in my essays, written in a sleep-deprived fuzz at three in the morning. Linguists can stay at home, but the problem is they’ll probably be the ones that want to come. This mission is a one-way ticket, remember?

Most people might have the odd niggling doubt about leaving their family and friends, and the whole of humanity forever. Linguists are more likely to seize this. They’ll be eager to jump ship and discover a whole new culture.

A trip to Mars would de�initely outdo their friend’s year abroad in Cadiz.

Granted, sciences and maths are probably the most useful subjects when it comes to interstellar travel, but if you want a real civilisation, you’ve got to value the arts and humanities!

In Germany, many Arts degrees are seen as relatively useless, and to take a subject such as History to degree level would severely limit your employment options. But these subjects inform us about humanity, they help us appreciate culture and make us better people. So even if a bachelor of arts means your application for Mars One might be rejected this time, once the colony is established, you’ll be needed for that cultural insight three years at Exeter has given you.

Sex: An education 14

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Lauren Buchan shares her thoughts on the subject of Sex Ed in primary schools, drawing on some young personal experience “SO what happens if a guy does ejaculate inside you?” “Well... Then you’re pregnant.” The previous question was asked by yours truly, at the age of 15, and answered by a friend. Near the end of senior school, still completely naive and unaware of the biological logistics of sex. And no, I didn’t go to a Catholic school either, many people have had the same experience.

Or rather, lack of experience. Aside from a single condom lesson (which I refused to touch because it was just weird and slimy) and one lesson in Year Seven on erections, the subject remained a mystery to me up until I read Fifty Shades of Grey. Obviously, I was not stupid enough to think that BDSM constituted normal sex, but the release of such material does reveal that we are living in an age of nontaboo sex.

Sex pervades everything, especially in the media, who are obsessed with prying into and unveiling the private sexual lives of celebrities. Do we really want our children to turn to such material to learn the facts as I did with Fifty Shades?

The subject remained a mystery to me up until I read Fifty Shades By law, state secondary schools have to provide education on HIV, AIDs, and other sexually transmitted diseases, and usually favour the menstrual cycle and puberty versus masturbation and pornography. It’s almost laughable: we are taught so much about the body changing during puberty, yet the fact those changes are there to make us ready for sex itself - the climax of puberty (if you will pardon the pun) - is just skimmed over. Similarly, it’s as if sex educators skip straight to STDs to warn us that the outcome of sex is just bad, but miss the fact that unless children know enough about sex and what is safe and unsafe, they are still at risk of contracting them in their ignorance.

At the end of this painful process, in which both children and teachers want to shrivel up and die and the classroom is �illed with giggles and laddish comments, very little impression is made - except that sex is embarrassing and no one likes it. Leaving children with a confused

perception of what sex actually is and might mean to them in relationships. It is this taboo environment in schools that is to blame for so much exposure to porn from the age of nine, and the younger age of teenage pregnancy. Educators need to realise that no matter how hard they pretend, sex isn’t hiding anywhere in the real world - it’s proud and on display, wearing crotchless underwear for all to see, throwing out unrealistic ideas into the crowd of ignorant and naive children.

There is the argument that “They are just children! Let them be innocent for a little while longer.” However, being innocent in the 21st Century is more of a hindrance than a help. As much as we would like to cover our children’s eyes and wait for the right moment, we can’t pin down ‘the right moment’ anymore. We don’t choose when our children have sex - that decision remains up to them. And because sex is everywhere we look, children are having sex younger and younger.

The exposure is already there, so even if we choose not to educate young children, they’ll get a very different kind of education elsewhere.

The facts will be told the wrong way.

After all, sex is pleasure-focused, so suddenly they’ll be rushing into sex at the age of twelve and end up pregnant because nobody told them they shouldn’t.

By ushering sex into a shameful corner in education, sex becomes something that we shouldn’t talk about; and because of this we giggle and squirm during a condom lesson that is actually vital.

However, it may be that society itself is still hankering after the hush-hush days of sex, when it existed only behind closed doors, when porn wasn’t splashed all over the Internet, but only in magazines under teen-

agers’ beds. The older generations we trust to teach us about sex are still quite scared of it, because they are unwilling to face the fact that it is creeping up on us everywhere.

By ushering sex into a shameful corner in education, sex becomes something we shouldn’t talk about Primary schools have no of�icial obligation to teach sex education in schools, yet what about a moral obligation? Education is about preparing our children for the future, and sex is going to be a huge part of that future, teaching them how to recognise a healthy relationship from a malicious one.

If adults act like chil-

dren themselves, squirming over the subject and desperately juggling the responsibility of sex education between themselves, then how do we expect children to act? This Victorian attitude towards sex being not seen or heard clashes with our invading sexualised culture, and it’s time that we welcomed the subject with open arms and changed its perception in society.

If we act like it doesn’t exist, we are worsening the already negative image of sex that is displayed in porn - we are suggesting that it isn’t worth talking about. I’m not suggesting that sex is the meaning of life, but it’s pretty up there in impor-

tance. Children aren’t just learning about the physicality of sex during sex education, they are being taught about emotional respect for one another’s bodies. The subject of sex should be breached and talked about with parents and teachers. If a nineyear-old watches porn then feels like they can’t approach anyone with how it affects them, who knows what damage that could do to their personal development?

If we act like it doesn’t exist we are worsening the already negative image of sex To be open with children about sex is to encourage them to be open with adults too. Children are extremely perceptive – they see more than we think they do, and it’s a slight insult to them to suggest that they cannot handle the big bad world we live in. They’re already seeing and judging it, so why aren’t we using our biggest tool - education - to change that perception into one that better re�lects society?

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Exeposé Features rounds up the news with a humorous twist

Farage’s nationality Twatitus found in wristbands under scrutiny Eamonn Crowe Lifestyle Editor

Sophie Harrison Online Books Editor AN explosive undercover report by the Daily Fail has exeposed that UKIP leader Nigel Farage has been harbouring a deep, dark secret. 50-year-old Mr Farage, who claims to hail from that most quintessential of British counties - Kent - is in fact French.

The news will come as an embarassing blow to the party A descendent of the Huguenot dynasty, it is claimed that Mr Farage has been living in such fear of his true routes resurfacing, he went as far as to stop using the hair-dye his wife purchased from him, as it was from L’Oreal. He decided that the risk wasn’t worth it.

The news will come as an embarrassing blow to the party that has been on an unprecedented a s -

cendency in recent months. In addition to having UKIP’s �irst elected MP, and being invited to partake in a TV debate, Farage was last week ranked �ifth in an Express and Echo poll, “Best of British.” Nigel was pipped to the post only by Yorkshire puddings, Paddington Bear, pies and unborn baby Cambridge.

It is rumoured that Mr Farage contacted the �ilm producers of the new Paddington Bear feature, asking to replace Hugh Bonneville as Mr Brown.

An anonymous source in the UKIP headquarters relayed some of the conversation: “he rang them on Thursday, and I think he used the Express and Echo list as his main line of argument.

He said: “But Lord Grantham only ranked in at 17! Even the dog scored higher than him. The dying dog… Nigel has yet to hear back from the producers.”

An unnamed member of the Students’ Guild has disclosed that an anonymous donation to Pieminister on Friday was made by none other than Mr Farage, in a seeming attempt to further atts to boost his party’s position in the polls.

“Nothing says you’re British quite like a pie!” Nigel boomed in his local pub last Wednesday, as he chomped on a Cornish pasty.

“Have you ever actually visited Pieminister, Mr Farage?” one of his constituents asked him tentatively.

“Me? No, that would make me look like George and his Byron Burger, wouldn’t it?” Farage snapped. The constituent was not granted a right of reply.

A RECENT study conducted by the University of Exeter has found that wearing festival wristbands for long periods of time after festivals have �inished can result in life-long, debilitating illnesses. The study, which was conducted in conjunction with the campaign group PAFG (People Against Festival Goers) took place over two weeks, using a sample of 500 middle class white males from the speci�ic social group largely referred to in youth culture as “festival douches.”

Each festival wristband was swabbed and scanned for germs that have known links to the life-long condition, Twatitus. On average, the male study subjects were wearing three festival wristbands each, and the length of time for which they had been wearing them ranged from six months, to three years. Professor Jack Glastonbury, who oversaw the project, told Exeposé that he decided to conduct the study after noticing “a growing trend in af�luent young white males wearing festival wristbands as a signi�ier of which festivals both in the UK and abroad that they have attended,” as well as seeing “an increase in the belief that the number of wristbands worn is indicative of

the wearer’s social status.”

The study was originally sched-

Each festival wristband was swabbed and scanned uled to last just two days, but the process was complicated by the sample group’s lack of willingness to participate. In fact, nine in every ten test subjects refused to remove the bands from their wrists, claiming that they needed them as proof of the numerous festivals they have attended. One test subject, Montgomery Jones, known as “Monty” to his friends, told Exeposé “I was very unhappy that they asked me to take off my festival wristbands.

I didn’t even take them off when my mum married my step-dad… the wristbands really are a part of me. I signed up to this study as a way of partially funding my planned trip to Benicassim ‘15, but I had

no idea it would involve me having to physically remove my wristbands. The experience was traumatic to say the least.”

The results were conclusive and found that the prolonged wearing of festival wristbands after the event has �inished does not only leave wearers susceptible to Twatitus, but also other diseases, such as Bellendrio and PidgeSyndrome. However, Montgomery, along with several other of the study’s participants, claims that he is unfazed by the �indings, commenting that “[He will] wear these wristbands until my dying day, or at least until Dad tells me it’s against his company’s dress code.”

Librarian Top Trumps style game sweeps across campus Emily Harris IT is a phenomenon that has been sweeping the Forum library for sometime now, and this conversation overheard just other day truly encapsulates the gravitas of this fad: “Mate have you got a Natasha Bayliss?”

“No man, but I do have four Phil Longbottoms.”

“That’s a bit shit.”

I am reiterating the same conversation we’ve heard a thousand times.

Librarian card swapping is becoming an obsession of many Exeter students who reside to the library so often, they feel an intense connection to their subject librarians of choice. Speak-

ing to a reclusive English student, she stammered: “I’ve been trying to get hold of a Diane Workman for days.

Literally days.” After asking why the Workman card seemed of such value to her, the student laughed, shook her head, and retreated backwards into a dark corner.

Many students confessed to desiring the Lee Snook card Many students confessed to desiring the Lee Snook card – beholding the power to sneak. Ann Dinan was less of a popular choice as her noise ratings were high – always creating a bit of

a din. Rosie Sellwood also seemed a sought after card, with high wood cutting levels and ability to “make books get bitchez.” All this card speak, less Yu-Gi-Oh!, more yu-gi-no – am I right?

My advice is – don’t get involved.

The game doesn’t seem to make sense and the uninspiring inventor of the competitive swapping sport only seems to have the capacity to give each librarian powers based on their last name. Plus, the in-game lingo is ridiculous. Being a sport of the library, vocalising the lingo is literally impossible. Many students still seek the elusive card of subject librarian leader, Caroline Gale – wielding the power to cause a storm. Someone carved into bookshelf 824.1 “will swap 4 Overyz for Gale – plz.”

Why live anywhere else?

Picturehouse Apartments Exeter’s finest student residence ph@collegiate-ac.com www.collegiate-ac.com 01392 690 202

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Eamonn Crowe & Jack Wardlaw lifestyle@exepose.com

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Tweets of the week The best of the Lifestyle Twitterati’s musings and wit this week Tweet us @ExeposeLStyle Rachel Heys @rachheys No matter what time of year, being in bed means being naked. I don’t know what it is. Pjs are just constricting fabric leg traps #realtalk Amy Hopkins @tiob_amy To show how bad I am at getting up in the morning - I have 12 alarms set for Friday, a day where I have no lectures.

Rory @MrRozzaB Always take your card on nights out cause otherwise you wake up in the morning think you’ve lost it cancel it and then find it on your shelf Catrin Hughes @cathughes “I feel like it means something profound but i’m not quite sure what” my degree, basically Sam Morris @justsammorris I wish an actual fashion designer had stormed Kanye’s show and said ‘Kanye should respect artistry.’ lol.

Harry Mccarthy @harrymccarthy Office hours are a very damp affair this morning. Please tell me all about your essays as I drip miserably in the corner.

Becca Hoare @BeccaHoare So hard to tell these days whether people are wearing shit clothes to be edgy, or they are just wearing shit clothes Sarah Gough @sarahgoughy The one where Joey ACTUALLY gets an STI #rejectedfriendsepisodes Isobel Grace @isobelgrace08 Dreamt I was at the oscars last night. Told kimmy k she was less culturally significant than a tea spoon #somuchsass #butwhatdoesitmean?

The best Exe I ever had As we long for summer term (yes, we’re looking that far already) Tessa Boyd lists the best places to take visiting friends and family is about as quaint, cosy and quintessentially English as it sounds. While it’s perfect for afternoon scones, I’d argue it’s the breakfast that takes the cake, guaranteed to keep everyone happy with options ranging from the lowly ‘Monk’s Choice’ of marmalade on toast, to the good old Full English.

WE’VE all been there; you’ve got guests trekking their way across the country to visit for the weekend, whether you like it or not. You can’t be expected to sacri�ice that lone can of Heinz beans left in the back of your cupboard (or that tin of tuna that might, one day, �inally get eaten) so eating out it is. Whilst Exeter is blessed with a plethora of eatery-options, don’t worry about trawling Trip Advisor attempting to come to a decisionhere’s a fool proof guide to impressing friends and family with some of the best, most iconic places to eat out in Exeter.

Costa, Starbucks and Café Nero too mainstream for your hipster, organic friends?

For Breakfast - Tea on The Green Imagine every possible egg-related breakfast you can. Double it. Now throw in a front-row view of Exeter's best-known landmark, and you have yourself a winning combination. Tea on The Green

For Brunch/Lunch - Boston Tea Party Ideally located for a quick, tasty, midshop lunch - Boston is the home of honest, nutritious food, and particularly fancy latté art. Second only to Tea on the Green on the brunch front, Boston Tea Party also offers a whole host of mains, from burgers and toasties to butternut

squash mac and cheese and roasted sweet potato cous cous. The unexpectedly huge seating space upstairs will impress guests too, especially if you manage to nab a couple of the vintage chester�ields in the corner.

For Coffee and Cake - Exploding Bakery Space is de�initely limited in this wee little cafe tucked in a corner by Central Station, but the Exploding Bakery is about as wholesome as it gets. While it offers a relatively limited lunch-time range of homemade soups (rustic hunk of soda bread included), savory croissants and tortillas, it’s the coffee and cake that it’s really famed for. Costa, Starbucks and Café Nero too mainstream for your hipster, organic friends? The Exploding Bakery’s cappuccino and carrot cake is where it’s at.

For the Pub (and pizza) Experience - The Old Firehouse This is an article about student-recommended eateries in Exeter - did you really think The Old Firehouse wouldn’t make the list? Home of many a society social, and the famous Firehouse Challenge of an entire pizza (and a bottle

of red wine, depending on who you talk to), the Firehouse is an Exeter student staple, and rightly so. Treat friends and family alike to a pint of west country cider and make them jealous of the fact your local pub is such a Harry-Potter-esque haven of twinkling-fairy lights, live music and constant buzz.

You can’t be expected to sacri�ice that lone can of Heinz beans left in the back of your cupboard For the Fancy Dinner - Thai Jasmine Bae is visiting for the weekend; the Firehouse has been done one too many times, and even with Valentines over and done you’re thinking about pulling all the stops out. Allow me to recommend the humble Thai Jasmine. A little on the pricey end for student-eateries, but oh-so-worth it for the delicate lemongrass curry, the oozing deep fried vegetables, and the soup so fragrant, it’s genuinely like drinking perfume (which I mean in a good way).

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What’s that coming over the hill, is it a local?

Katie Russell and Josh Mines tackle Exeter’s great unknown... yes, we mean ‘the locals’ THEY travel in packs, they’re loud and (worst of all) they wear heels on a night out. Every Saturday, students scurry to the Lemmy for safety to avoid mingling with these scary creatures, even though the Lemmy is effectively a year nine disco with alcohol. But what is it about locals that we �ind so repulsive? True, they have been known to give us devil stares when we are drunk, but there is surely more to them than that. So let’s try to put an end to this West Side Story-style rift.

We can’t really tarnish all locals with the same brush. Every Thursday my friends and I go to a pub, where we are greeted by the same locals – one of whom is a bit of a nutter and is always yelling at us for stealing her bins (we didn’t). But most of the people in the pub are absolutely lovely – even if their taste of music on the jukebox is rather, shall we say, unique.

I think that we are so scared of the locals because they remind us that there’s a world outside the Exeter bubble. That is, there’s a world where people don’t wear sports stash to their lectures and where chunder charts are no longer a part of daily life. It’s scary to think of the world ‘out there,’ away from what we know and love. Maybe that’s part of the reason we stay away from locals like they’re the �lu. We don’t want to

accept that there’s a world beyond Forum Hill.

Really, we are being harsh to the locals by looking at them like they’re the dirty pint in ring of �ire when we bump into them at Arena on a Friday night. Surely we are way more annoying for them than they are for us? Even though the nutter at my Thursday pub is, well, a nutter, that doesn’t change the fact that some students did steal her bins! Plus, can you imagine how annoying it must be to hear a student party that sounds really fun going on until 3am, but not be invited to it?

Instead of hating locals, maybe we should be apologising for being typical ‘yoofs’ and loudly singing on the way home due to happiness brought on by sambuca shots and cheesy chips.

When you actually talk to a local (god forbid!) you realise that they’re just normal people – like older versions of us. So let’s wave our white �lags and stop this turf war over Exeter High Street.

Having said that, it is still ok to laugh when a local falls in their �ive-inch heels.

LOCALS. The very word is enough to turn up the nose of any seasoned Holland Hall resident, vodka lime in hand, admiring the dazzling lights of a Monday night at Mozzers. So entrenched is this stereotype, so deeply rooted is the student prejudice for the Devonians who live in Exeter that few dare give them any chance at all. Come Saturday nights, the streets of our city are deserted of University goers. The dance �loor of Arena, usually host to all manner of students during the week becomes little more than a jäger soaked no-man’s-land, a sad memory of the night out that could have been.

I have visited local pubs and I’ve lived to tell the tale. I’d even go as far as to say that local nights may just be the best times you’ll have in Exeter, and that you’d be missing out by sticking to your cosy, bourgeois student bars.

There was an animalistic element to their gyrations For one, by writing off ‘anything local,’ one runs the risk of ignoring the vast array of Exeter’s �ine and varied history. The Ship Inn for ex-

ample, a lesser known pub found close to the Cathedral, was said to be Francis Drake’s haunt whilst he lived in Exeter. So get cultured you philistine!

In a local Exeter pub, I once had a chat with a bloke at the bar about the Lacanian mirror stage. It was enlightening. A friend of mine actually learnt to play the ukulele from a toothless maniac in Walkabout on a Saturday. Kids, the moral of the story is that we shouldn’t assume the worst from people just because they’re from Devon.

Which brings me to a topic that strikes fear into the hearts of students everywhere - local nights out.

It can seem a frightening prospect, but they’re often great.

On one occasion when I visited Mosaic at a weekend, the average age of the revellers in there was probably around 40-50, and there were more cougars present than in the big cats enclosure at Paignton zoo. But I’d be damned if I ever see anyone party as hard as I saw those people party that night. There was an animalistic, emancipated element to their gyrations that you’d never hope to see in the pretentious realms of Wednesday Timepiece. There were no judgements, no inhibitions, no standards, and for that, people of Exeter, I salute you.

Josh Mines

Hey Nickie, you’re so wise Katie Russell

Nickie Shobeiry, our Lifestyle Agony Aunt, is here to solve all of your uni problems (well, sort of) Study Space Stupor 1) Dear Nickie, I hate that there are never any study spaces on campus! Day after day, I trawl through the Forum searching every �loor of the library and it is almost impossible to �ind a space. I also cannot stand people who set up camp and then leave for the entire day, wasting precious space! Do you have any tips for how I can �ind a place to study on campus, or maybe how I can teach a lesson to the library deserters?

T.G. Oh, my dear T.G.,

How horri�ic are the troubles that ail Exeter students! Alas, you’re still learning, and aren’t �it to teach

library-deserters a lesson. As your advisor, I’m obligated to tell you what goes around comes around.

I’m also obligated to discourage arson. However, I can encourage you to pack up your satchel, don your puffer jacket and think outside the Forumshaped box. Explore the campus, T.G.! Get your money’s worth! There’s a little hidden spot I go to that’s secluded and comfortable. It is your quest to �ind it. I’ll be the one with the halo and angel wings, taking up all the seats and giving you a disgusted stare.

Let the games begin!

Nickie XOXO

Spot of Shame 2) Last week, I was truly horri�ied to �ind myself ending up on the Spotted in the Forum Facebook page. It was a picture of me asleep in a forum auditorium lecture. My whole family saw it on Facebook and now they’re convinced that I don’t actually do any work at uni, but I promise that I only fell asleep because I was so tired from being up working all night! How can I prove to my family that I am a workaholic and not a lazy student?

K.B.

I’d say ‘sit down,’ but I assume you already are, you lazy arse. It’s time

to stop lying to yourself and everyone around you. You fell asleep in the lecture because it was the afternoon, which means you’d had at least two pints (because you’ve got no self-control), and kept chanting “hair of the dog.” On top of that, you sort of hate your subject. You thought you’d get away with napping, but forgot that your fellow students have third eyes (the iPhone kind, not the enlightened kind). Embrace these facts. Eventually, everyone telling you you’re a moron will break you, and you’ll get a First so you can rub it in their faces. Which is the only reason anyone ever gets a First.

Nickie XOXO

Send in your dilemmas to Nickie at lifestyle@exepose.com

EXEPOSÉ

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Become an X Pro at Instagram

Emily Kerr takes us through some of her tips for mastering the art of instagramming life in Exeter

Social media is inescapeable nowadays. You know how it goes: if you didn’t Instagram it, it didn’t happen. In order to prove that you live an exciting and interesting life you’ve got to document every meal, outing and out�it so everyone can see and drool enviously over your photos. Here are some top tips to make the most out of your Instagram pro�ile.

1. Find an un-finished eatery. Does the back wall need painting? Can you get splinters from the un-sanded table? Are the menus written in chalk instead of being printed off? Perfect. It all adds to the rustic vibes. This is an individual café, not one of those run-of-the-mill chains. Add a sly X-Pro filter for added effect but make sure to hashtag #nofilter to make the experience all the more authentic. Also, the more obscure the restaurant type, the better. No one wants to see you instagramming Pizza Express, so try to think outside the pizza-shaped box.

ith is eft w liss l e r ’ u b all yo ion # clear #inspirat te s d u clo liot onalquo n the i T.S. E “Whe nshine” - #inspirat r u s e m the #sum

3. It’s all about the angle. Don’t be afraid to stand on your chair to take that all important bird’s eye view photo. After all, nobody looks at life from this perspective, so it’s impressive that you’ve even thought to do so. Just make sure you don’t include the entire teacup or piece of cake - some of the elements have to be left to the imagination.

e

ffe day #co l of the a e m a t t is n r rta ba st impo trade # The mo #artisan #fair t #ar

Went exp lori place, the ng and found this c ute little L falafel is s o dreamy ebanese #restaura ! #urban nt #leban #explorin ese #no�i g lter #hidd engem

2. Make sure you aren’t sitting on a conventional seat. Old church pew, beer barrel, deck chair – the less comfy, the better. Back pain and bottom agony won’t come across in the photo, especially with the added filter.

Casual b rea made # kfast #breakfas health # t #angle healt s #h #postiti vevibes hyliving #feelin ome#vegan ggood #lookin ggood

4. Don’t delve in. Can you really appreciate a coffee when you know you’ve spoilt the Insta-worthy pattern on the top? I didn’t think so. That carrot cake doesn’t look as appetising with a bite taken out of it. Wait until you’re sure everything’s well documented before you enjoy the experience, after all, the taste won’t last as long as the photo. Reeling in those likes will be the cherry on top of your extortionately priced cake.

LIFESTYLE

Written in the stars

21

Lucien Fulcher, our resident astrologist, rubs his crystal ball(s) to predict what’s in store for Lifestyle readers this week...

Pisces (Feb 19 – Mar 20) It is rarely advisable to visit an abattoir, even less so on a first date. What were you thinking?

Do please consult another human being before taking prospective lovers out for a ‘relaxed drink.’

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 19) As an Aries, you have a tendency to impale things on your proud and mighty ram horns, but do please ask permission first as they may not initially take kindly to it.

Taurus (Apr 20 – May 20) There is a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows.

Under the canopy of luscious woodbine, next to the musk roses and the eglantines your fairy queen.

Gemini (May 21 – Jun 20) Your duplicitous geministic side will be agitated this week by the crossing of Saturn through your ruling quadrant, but keep well hydrated and exercised and you will avoid confrontation.

Cancer (Jun 21 – Jul 22) Suckle at the warm and welcoming teat of happiness whilst you can, before it is wrenched out of your mouth by the unforgiving and gnarled claw of destiny. Lucky microstate: San Marino.

Leo (Jul 23 – Aug 22) It is not often that you feel perplexity, but prepare yourself for a week of perplexion, most likely brought about by a new course of medication, or even an unexpected delivery on Thursday.

Virgo (Aug 23 – Sep 22) Sometimes you feel blue and as though things can’t get any worse. Don’t worry though, everyone feels that way from time to time, and most of us pull through. Re-

member to eat wisely.

Libra (Sep 23 – Oct 22) Your stars indicate that this week you will meet someone reassuring for the first time, someone bedazzling, and someone who leaves you incandescent with rage. Lucky S Club member: Jo. Scorpio (Oct 23 – Nov 21) However wonderful others may feel, it is your job to remind them of the room they have for improvement. Leave inspiring post-it notes around for housemates with your kind suggestions.

Sagittarius (Nov 22 – Dec 21) Sagittarians are famously poor makers of coffee, love, rope, conversation, clothes and amends, a trait which will be exacerbated this week by the alignment of Jupiter and Mercury.

Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 19) The disastrous withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan in the late 19th Century, under the whimperingly incompetent Elphinstone Bey, should serve as a lesson for you in the coming weeks.

Aquarius (Jan 20 – Feb 18) Mars glowering threateningly in your celestial quarter may make you quite gloomy this week, but have no fear as it will have become much more welcoming

by Sunday.

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MUSIC

NEWS 1-7

COMMENT FEATURES LIFESTYLE 12-15 19-21 8-11

MUSIC Monday 2 March This Is The Kit Colston Hall, Bristol Tuesday 3 March Kim Churchill Exchange, Bristol Wednesday 4 March Goodbye Chanel Start the Bus, Bristol Wednesday 4 March Joan Armastrading Colston Hall, Bristol Thursday 5 March The Cut Ups Cavern

You’ve just released your latest single ‘Burning for No One.’ Has the reception to this been positive?

It’s been great because the band hasn’t been on tour and we’ve been off the radar for a little while. We’ve had a change of setup and are with a different label so it took a bit of time switching things around. We’d been with the old label since we started really, so ten years. First of all we put this teaser track up: ‘An Ivory Hand.’ It was great because it immediately got loads

Thursday 5 March W.O.W : tUnE-yArDs Southbank Centre, London

Sunday 8 March Nothing But Thieves Cavern Friday 13 March Craig Charles Phoenix Sunday 15 March Gretchen Peters Phoenix

Spotlight

Craig Charles @ Exeter Phoenix, 15.3.15 “I’ll show you my robot, you show me yours, the biggest one wins, on Robot Wars!”

BOOKS 28-29

ARTS 32-33

GAMES & TECH

34-35

SPORT 36-40

2 MARCH 2015 |

EXEPOSÉ

MUSIC EDITORS

Kate Burgess & Tristan Gatward music@exepose.com LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE Exeposé Music

Naomi Darling talks to Ross Jarman of indie-rock trio The Cribs before their show at Thekla

Thursday 5 March Anathema Exeter Catherdral

Friday 6 March QUIRK: Magic Hatstand Cavern

SCREEN 26-27

Cribbed, for your pleasure

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of views and plays. We were just happy that people still cared about the band. ‘Burning for No One’ has had a really good reaction too. Even playing live they’ve been going down really well. Our full tour sold out in an hour so it’s really nice to see that the Cribs fans are still there. All our fans have been around for so long and they seem to have grown with the band.

We’ve never been a band who relied on radio play and that’s why the fans still care.

What can we expect from the rest of the album For all my Sisters?

The new record is mainly classic Cribs sound. For the �irst couple of records you could say they captured the band’s sound. Johnny was in the band in one record and the last record was quite abrasive whereas this one is probably the most pop record we’ve done. When I say pop, we’re not like a lot of the stuff you hear in the charts.

It’s like our version of pop. Pop melodies played by a bunch of punk rock guys.

Who are your main in�luences?

I grew up really enjoying The Beatles.

Gary and Ryan were really into 90’s Grunge. They �irst got into Nirvana as teenagers. We liked bands like Sonic Youth. American 90’s stuff was prob-

ably a big in�luence on the band. Then there was daft stuff like the Bee Gees which is where I think our pop sound comes from. There were bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols too.

I say pop, we’re not like a lot of the stuff you hear in the charts How do you go about writing an album or individual songs?

For the �irst three records, because we all lived in the same place in Wake�ield, we’d all just get together in the practice room and write stuff like that. Nowadays we all live so far apart.

Gary’s on the West coast of America, Ryan’s on the East coast and I’m still in England.

What happens more is that someone will bring an idea in. But fundamentally, since the band started we would all write together in one rehearsal and that’s the way we’ve always done it. With us being brothers it’s really easy to work with each other and explain things. If you’re in a band with some friends, sometimes you offend them. When you’re brothers you can just be brutal. And that’s exactly how this writing process has been as well. It’s been written in Portland and Wake�ield and then it was recorded in New York- it’s nice to have that change of scenery rather than doing everything in one place.

What is your favourite place or festival to play live?

We’ve always loved doing Leeds and Reading. That’s the festival we grew up going to.

Gary and Ryan used to go to Reading as kids then the �irst time I went to a festival was the �irst Leeds year.

There was one year when the band on before us ran over so we went on late because we were headlining the second stage. What hap-

pened was we also ran over so all our equipment got unplugged because of the noise curfew. We kept playing and the whole audience �inished the songs which was pretty cool.

There was also a time in Glasgow when the venue got closed because the toilets �looded. There were loads of disappointed fans so Alex from Franz Ferdinand said why don’t you just go to the pub round the corner and set all your gear up in there. It was the most bonkers gig we’ve ever done. It was really dangerous and they had to keep stopping the gig so Alex suggested everyone sat down like a school assembly. Occasionally people would get so excited they’d get on their feet and have to be dragged back down. These shows have been great as well.

What’s your favourite song to play live?

Right now it’s the new stuff.

All the other stuff we’ve already played loads. After recording we only got to grips with playing the new stuff about ten days ago. Ivory Hand is really good fun. Pink Snow as well which is on the record is great.

With the older songs I really like playing ‘Be Safe’ because it gives us a bit of respite in the set. But we don’t really play those songs now because we’ve got so many that we don’t like to play them all on one tour. Next tour when it’s a bit easier to do video stuff we’ll probably play ‘Be Safe.’

Johnny Marr used to be in the band. Would you say the band has changed since he left?

I wouldn’t say it’s really changed.

When Johnny joine we already had our own setup.

I sometimes missed him on tour on the last record. Now I’m used to things

being back to how they were before.

I think In the Belly of the Brazen Bull, the record directly after Johnny had a different style because it was more abrasive and heavy. The record with Johnny had two guitarists whereas with this record we’re back to just one.

I feel like the record this time is more like our sound before Johnny was in the band.

Do you think it’s harder or easier for young bands to make it in the music business now compared to when you �irst started?

Music’s so easy to record nowadays.

With the internet record labels are becoming less and less important. When we �irst started you had to save up to use a studio and you’d have to buy equipment. I’d say to people don’t listen to negative comments or reviews.

With us we’ve always been in our own little bubble: just three boys making records. Some acts get too �ixated on what people write and it can really affect the way that you write music and it changes the band. I’d say to stick to the original ideals of your band and why you started it. Just accept that not everyone is going to like it. The other thing is that we’ve always owned our own van. That way you can just go and do any gig anywhere. If you have a luxury, have your own van!

What do you have planned for the rest of the year?

Well, the new album’s out on 23 March. Hopefully we’ll be back on the festival circuit playing well-known festivals this year. We’re doing US touring and Coachella in America, which is basically just like Glastonbury. We’re also doing South by Southwest. Hopefully later on in the year we’ll be doing a UK tour. So we’re just back on the road.

EXEPOSÉ

MUSIC

www.exepose.com

23

Old New Borrowed Blue This issue of Exeposé Hello again.

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From Watford to Wisconsin

Ciaran Willis, Screen Editor, talks to folk trio The Staves at Exeter Pheonix

IT’S Valentine’s Day. But I’m not sat at home, counting all the cards I’ve received, as you may expect. Instead I’m sitting in a dressing room in the Exeter Phoenix, accompanied by The Staves; three sisters from Watford who play lusciously beautiful folk music.

It isn’t what you’d call glamorous, though. The walls are a tacky red, and the room is cluttered with instruments and assorted junk. In one corner, as Camilla happily points out, there’s an extremely scummy sink. It’s impressively caked in dirt.

We admire it for a while.

Sitting opposite me are Emily and Camilla Staveley-Taylor; two out of three Staves. We’re talking about how rubbish our Valentine’s Days have been.

One of the band bought Camilla a rose, as she’s been “moaning about having nothing.” Mostly though they’ve “just been stuck in a van.” Oh, the romance of touring life. “We’ve had very little romance. How about you?” Emily asks. Moving on. After a couple of minutes of chit-chat, Jess, the third member of The Staves, comes in. I ask them about their tour.

It sounds like it’s going well. The band seem genuinely excited to play their new material, and I ask how the audiences are reacting to their new songs, this more electric incarnation of The Staves. “You always wonder if someone is going to be disappointed,” Camilla says. But, “everyone’s reacted in a very nice way…

We try and keep the set balanced, with enough intimate stuff and big sounds.” So no one’s walked out yet, I joke. “No one’s walked out,” Camilla replies. “No one’s thrown shit,” Jess adds, reassuringly.

Jokes aside, this new album has

obviously been a labour of love. “This album means a lot to us. I feel like we learnt a lot making it. We went deep,” Camilla says in a profound sarcastic voice. “It adds an extra level of caring. Really, really caring about this batch of new songs.”

And their sound has progressed.

The Staves’ �irst album, Dead & Born & Grown, saw them showcase their incredible three-part harmonies - with just the bare minimum of instrumentation obfuscating their achingly lovely, Joni Mitchell-esque vocals. They tell me later on in the interview that their favourite band ever is The Beatles – the masters of harmony – and you can see the in�luence.

This new album has obviously been a labour of love Their new single, ‘Black and White,’ adds heavier drums, and a more electronic soundscape. The new album was recorded in Wisconsin in Justin Vernon’s (of Bon Iver) studio over the course of about a year. So now “they’re using a lot more electric guitars and synths, and strings and horns, and a lot more percussion. It was a really cool natural development,” says Jess. Camilla adds: “We had loads of fun layering the shit out of our vocals, and having a Stave choir.” A Stave choir. Sounds cool.

But they weren’t so taken with the cold weather. “It’s really fucking cold up there,” Camilla says. “And you end up kind of just getting cabin fever … you go out for a cigarette and your hands go numb and freeze and

you get a smoking claw.” She demonstrates her ‘smoking claw,’ proffering a mangled hand.

Listening to the new songs you can hear the Bon Iver in�luence which has �iltered through, especially the symphony of electric soundscapes of his second album. Jess agrees. Naturally, as it’s recorded in the same studio, you get some of the same sounds. “Not that this stuff is anything like Bon Iver,” Camilla interjects. “No it’s better than Bon Iver!” Jess ripostes, tongue-in-cheek (to some laughter). I say I’m de�initely going to quote her on that.

I decide to unspool ten years in time, and ask the girls about how the band began. Did they all sing at home? They always sang together, Jess says - at home, or in school plays. But “we were always a bit shy, I think, to just take it out of the kitchen and do it in an actual public place.” They really began playing at the local pub in Watford, one summer, around ten years ago. It progressed from there. Did their parents take them to these nights, I wonder?

This causes a little bit of debate. Jess thinks they did. Emily is unsure. “They were in stumbling distance of home,” Camilla assures me.

Stumbling distance?

“Well you start early in Watford, to get through it,” Jess says. “You kind of have to,” Camilla adds.

Do they play music at home together, say at Christmas? Take their work home with them – so to speak? “It’s always down to me to play all the carols on the piano, and I actually can’t play any carols, except the �irst chords of ‘When Shepherds Watch Their Flocks’” Jess says. (All

the girls then join in for an impromptu, halting rendition, of ‘When Shepherds Watch’). Anyway, Jess goes on, “then we’re just like: right let’s have another sherry and watch Father Ted.” Sounds good to me.

I decide to do an of�beat ‘If I Was’ round, based on the title of the new album. So, next question: If I was an animal what would I be? “Is this what you’d want to be or what you would be?” Camilla asks earnestly.

Perhaps under the impression that this line of questioning has been thought through. Either, I say. “This may not go in the paper.” I mention.

“No mate, this is gold,” she assures me. Jess would like to be a puma she says (although Emily suggests that she’d be a sloth). Jess eventually decides she’d probably be a pig. A micro-pig maybe. They’re cute. And smart. Camilla would be a cat since she’s “lazy and hostile to people I don’t like.” Meanwhile, Emily would be a lizard. I never found out why.

As we wrap up the interview we’re cut short just as Emily is suggesting ‘Moon River’ as her favourite Valentine’s track. “We’re all the same, her answer can be our answer,” Jess says, jokingly. This gets a delightfully sarcastic response from Camilla: “Yeah if there’s one thing you can take from this interview it’s that we’re all the same person.” No, The Staves are very different. But it’s this sisterly mix of harmony and contrast – the beautiful voices and banter – that work so well.

Before I leave Jess says: “Have you seen the sink?!” I’ve seen it I assure her. It isn’t very pleasant.

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Bor- rowed

Micmac – The Snowman Theme (Remix) An actual human person

24

MUSIC

NEWS 1-7

COMMENT FEATURES LIFESTYLE 12-15 19-21 8-11

MUSIC 22-25

SCREEN 26-27

BOOKS 28-29

ARTS 32-33

GAMES & TECH

34-35

SPORT 36-40

2 MARCH 2015 |

EXEPOSÉ

>> Photo Credit: Chris Filsell

Introducing: Delmer Darion

Tristan Gatward, Music Editor, talks with Exeter’s new alternative electronica out�it Delmer Darion about sampling, scuba divers in �ire-planes and their debut release of last Saturday, ‘All Over Again, All Over Again’ MEET Oliver Jack [left] and Tom Lenton [right], alias Delmer Darion. By day, they are, respectively, an Architecture undergraduate at Bath and an English Literature undergraduate at Exeter.

By night, however, they become one of the South West’s most exciting musical prospects. Now, with the album out, the customary interview in McDonald’s and press shots with small stallion balloons were in order.

What led you to making the album?

TL: Well we’ve been making music together since we were probably thirteen and just cycled through different attempts at projects.

OJ: We’ve already had about three albums that just heated out.

TL: But this is the culmination of everything we’ve done since coming to University, and been able to put something cohesive together.

How did you go about sampling?

TL: For me at least I think there are two levels to this, �irst in terms of practicality. It’s sad to admit, but sampling in a lot of ways is easier. Not in the sense that you’re cutting corners, but in that it opens up a lot of new doors. You’ve taken all these things that already have a very nice timbre and acoustic quality, and you’re working with that rather than having to battle against your lack of equipment and funding.

If you can sample part of a beat that someone’s recorded with much better equipment somewhere else, you can get a much better mix in the end. But I think more artistically, it allows you to have a conversation with things from the past in different genres and styles.

It’s very postmodern in that sense. Our �irst single, ‘Paris Street,’ has quite a lot of samples from Kamiko Kasai’s version of ‘Butter�ly’ by Herbie Hancock,

for example, and so becomes quite a direct conversation with that song.

OJ: The backing vocals actually quote some of the lyrics from it, and the middle chorus section has scattered fragments of vocals, which is Emily [Burns] recording different lines from the songs. In terms of the album as a whole, I would write some of the songs and Tom would write others, and we do tend to write in quite different ways. We ended up with �ive songs each roughly, which came about by using samples differently. We also ended up sampling our own songs, so a lot of the pieces on the record will feature samples of bits we cut from earlier tracks, to keep recognisable themes running throughout.

How was the writing process, with one in Bath and one in Exeter?

It’s a break-up album, that knows it’s a breakup album and is about it being a break-up album TL: The album’s a pretty even spread in individual writing from the start of University. Essentially we write the chorus of songs individually – I think that’s true of everything other than the introduction, ‘When All The World Came Back.’ We very consciously put one distinctive synth in every song afterwards, so the introduction has at least one identi�iable sample or feature from every song afterwards.

OJ: I think it’s a really nice way of writing. You can get to a point with a song and stall and think you can’t �inish it, but then if I send it over to Tom… TL: It’s quite a good way to kill each other’s darlings, we both have our

habits where the other has to say ‘no.’

What are each of your darlings?

OJ: Your miserable lyrics.

TL: Yeah, I wrote the vocal parts.

OJ: Apart from one word, I wrote one.

TL: I think I have quite melodramatic tendencies, and need to reign it in a little at times, and have some grace.

OJ: I don’t have any darlings.

TL: Your darling is writing things too long. I had to quite brutally cut ‘Sparrows in the Gutter;’ there was a whole section in the middle that had to go.

OJ: The last few weeks have been the hardest bit. Tom’s been mixing and mastering it in Exeter’s studios which I haven’t been able to come down for, so a lot of it is Tom spending a day on the record and sending it over. The wait is so tense. The worst of which was ‘Beat 54,’ which was probably my favourite song I’d ever produced. It was perfect, and then I got a message from Tom saying something like “look, I’ve added all these samples to it, one of which is about an orgasm.”

Is there a theme to the album?

TL: It’d be a lie to say that every song from the outset was trying to engage with a particular theme. It comes back again to one of us writing the chorus line to each song and everything coming out through that.

OJ: It’s de�initely come about through the process of making it rather than setting out to make it.

TL: In terms of lyrical content, it’s all fairly cohesive from the same points at the same time. The best way we agreed to describe it was that it’s a break-up album. But it’s not quite that overt. I think it’s quite self-re�lective about the fact that it’s a break-up album. It’s a break-up album that knows it’s a break-up album and is about it

being a break-up album. We’ve got a lot of references throughout, though, like the �irst few lines of ‘Waste’ paraphrase a beautiful poem at the end of Nabokov’s Lolita. I mean it’s being addressed to a twelve year old from the perspective of a paedophile, but aside from that it’s a beautiful piece.

OJ: You didn’t tell me it was about that.

We’re not looking to make any money out of it How are you going about releasing the album?

OJ: We’re not looking for anything really. It’ll be on Bandcamp in a kind of ‘pay what you want’ set-up.

TL: Worked for In Rainbows. I think that was the �irst ‘pay what you want’ album. And I think it went on to be their best selling record. Trust Radiohead to be the pioneers of everything.

But we’d just like people to download it and listen, and give it a chance. We’re not looking to make any money out of it. It’s been such a massive life ambition to do this, and it’s been a year and a half in the making, and we’re so proud of it now.

OJ: Three months ago we didn’t even have a name.

What does your name mean?

OJ: It’s a reference to the Paul Thomas Anderson �ilm Magnolia. Delmer Darion is the name of the character at the beginning who gets accidentally picked up by the �ire-plane. He’s scuba diving and gets sucked up into the plane and dropped out with water over the burning forest, and is found dead in a scuba diving costume at the top of a tree. There are a really strange

series of coincidences and events. The artwork as well references a lot of the songs and the lyrics, and then there’s the �ire-plane, burning out the forest �ire in the back, as a semi-ode to Delmer Darion.

What have you got planned next?

OJ: We’ve got some rather bigger video ideas. We’d like to properly �ilm a video. We’ve tried to make a �ilm before, but didn’t have a camera for ages.

TL: We had a whole concept planned out this summer, but had a few problems. Such as not having an actor… or a car… or a camera.

OJ: And we needed to be on a beach.

TL: Yeah, we needed to be in Norfolk.

OJ: We’d like to do a proper video, but I don’t know if that’ll be related to this album or entirely separate. I’ve also started a hand-drawn stop animation, which is taking its time. When it’s done we’ll probably be on album four.

TL: Eventually, the goal is to work towards another album. And we’re being quite ambitious with the kind of things we’d want to do on it.

OJ: Like we said, it’s not that this album came about by accident but it wasn’t quite as structured at the start. We’ve learnt so much through recording this album. Next time I think we could say “we’re making an album,” and it’d be an entirely different process, and could be really interesting.

TL: Good way to sell an album isn’t it?

“The next one will be good.”

Download ‘All Over Again, All Over Again,’ on Bandcamp now, via the QR Code.

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The start of dispelling the ‘no good music in Exeter’ myth: Exeposé Music review the University’s latest releases Delmer Darion All Over Again, All Over Again 28 February 2015

year and a half to create, the album sits solid, sturdy and sedimentary, revealing new aspects and layers on each listen.

Carefully thought out, complex and intelligent

“THE change has been sudden, swift, and dramatic,” echoes a solitary sample on ‘Beat 54’ of Delmer Darion’s debut – a description that differs vastly from the creative process of the carefully thought out, complex and intelligent All Over Again, All Over Again.

Comprised of Oliver Jack and Exeter undergrad Tom Lenton, also featuring guest vocals from Abbey Road signee Emily Burns, Delmer Darion’s debut is a thickly layered, multi-instrumental extravanganza. Taking over a Bloom Acoustic EP 16 December 2014

BLOOM are fast becoming familiar faces on the Exeter scene, impressing audiences with their blend of the poignant and the energetic. In the absence of a full band release (scheduled for recording in late February), Bloom’s Acoustic EP may seem like an appetiser; like all good appetisers, however, it both whets the appetite and stands on its own delicious terms. The EP shows Bloom to be a band both in control of their sound yet aware of the subtleties of texture.

Far from a collection of shambolic strum-alongs that do unintended damage to the originals, the songs explore the acoustic medium thoughtfully, bene�itting from a warm, clean and natural recording.

Opening track ‘Collide’ immediately nods towards the pensive, autumnal sounds of American Football with a twinkling lead riff and delicate

Starter track ‘When All The World Came Back’ forges a compilation of dystopic Americana radio samples and static with mellow bells, creating a haunting and melodic amalgamation. Hysteric laughter and bloodcurdling screams interrupt the chilling warnings of ‘emotional disturbances,’ creating something that sounds like a hybrid of the ward in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and a Sylvia Plath dream – beautiful but damn twisted.

‘Paris Street’ features Emily Burns’ soft vocals and soothing harmonies, set to simple and heart-wrenching lyrics. ‘I loved you more than I could say/ And it gets harder every day,’ set to rousing layered chord progressions of soft acoustics, mellow synths and

harmonics. Contemplative the beginning may be, Bloom waste no time in picking things up, introducing thicker chords, a steady cajón beat and gently powerful vocals which sit just on top of the texture. Rory Mitchell and Sam Bowen share vocals duties and make the most of this partnership, rising above obvious sad-boy whispering.

‘Collide’ isn’t intended to be an anthem, however, and like ‘Under Your Skin’ revels in an ambiguous albeit often uplifting emotionality.

Standout track ‘I Slipped Down’ subtly recalls the sounds of ‘90s shoegaze by playing around with harmonic tension and chord structure. Bloom are careful to avoid writing simple throwbacks, though, and bring Tame Impala to mind just as much as they do Ride.

It’s as though you are hearing Flegel’s raw, unedited thoughts Final track ‘Plans,’ the longest on the EP, bene�its from the �lourishes of piano, and whilst it perhaps loses some of its structural tightness in its acoustic form, it’s a moving and energetic closer, featuring tempo shifts and clever wordplay such as “it’s a time for change, a time to change our ways.” It almost sounds as if Keaton Henson was given a backing band and a couple of strong cups of coffee.

breakbeat percussion.

The works of artists such as SBTRKT and Mount Kimbie come to mind on ‘Monaco/Korea,’ driven by a dissonant and somewhat discordant melody of bells and vibraphone.

Strongly reminiscent of Indonesian Gamelan music, the melody meshes with atmospheric synths and acoustics, gradually building into a soaring and harmonious climax. The in�luence of multi-instrumentalists such as BinkBeats is clear in the track’s form, seen particularly on the live version, which shows the pair building ’Monaco/Korea’ from scratch.

This climax is aptly followed by a hearty collage of the sixties, on ‘Beat 54.’ Smooth, sexy vocals, velvety Beach Boy-esque radio-jingle harmonies, and ecstatic samples detailing the ‘total-body orgasm’ effects of narcotics pair beautifully with laid-back, wavy, mellow and synthetic synths and a hearty, soulful bassline.

The album rocks itself out of a purple haze and into a sudden, grunge-in�lected 90’s nightmare on Caswell. The sinister electronic tones

In sum, this is a worthwhile debut that does justice to one of Exeter’s brightest bands. If this isn’t even the ‘real thing’, Bloom have got a lot more praise to look forward to.

of the �irst half of the track are swallowed up by the sudden introduction of a chunky, down-tuned riff that wouldn’t sit amiss in Tom Morello’s notebook. Building into a heavy Audioslave-esque mammoth jam, the album’s sinister feel is perpetuated in this ominous outburst.

Delmer Darion’s debut is thickly layered, multi-instrumental extravaganza After shaking you awake with a cold bucket of overdrive and hard rock, Delmer Darion attempt to coerce you back into deep, dreamy sleep with the lullaby of ‘Good Morning, I Love You,’ the feel of which is reminiscent of the

GEORGE KONTOU

Semi-Toned Semi-Toned 12 February 2015

JOE STEWART

“Drive in Saturday have certifiable BNOC status on campus.”

“Whilst I believe Drive in Saturday thrive in a live setting, their talent and strengths as musicians and songwriters is certainly evident in their debut EP.” Head over to Exeposé Online to check out Claudia Harrington’s review of Drive in Saturday’s self-titled debut EP!

soft instrumentalism of Olafur Arnalds and the track Petrichor from Keaton Henson’s Romantic Works.

The inclusion of such a clear variety of in�luences says a lot about Delmer Darion. Partially produced by Tom in Exeter’s own Kay House studios, the album is incredibly well-crafted for a debut of young musicians. It is stamped all over with the signs of two thoughtful, well-listened and intellectual young guys. At times, it feels �ilmic and cinematic, whilst other moments re�lect the gritty D.I.Y basement-recorded reality of this very low budget work. The fusion of such varying styles does not, however, take away from the coherence of ‘All Over Again…’ The album title might suggest a repetition, but it is far more a reworking, as Delmer Darion show the unique and ever-changing possibilities of sampling and create their own, unique marriage of styles.

SEMI-TONED has an incredibly tight, glossy, eponymous EP available. I’m partial to a capella, but my feelings are mixed. On one hand, it’s immaculate for a student creation, in performance and production. On the other, and this is quite subjective, it’s too clean, and a little too close to overproduced. Much of a capella’s charm is its live thrill, and while recording inevitably affects that, these songs shimmer when I want to, sometimes, hear some �lat, or some vulnerability.

It’s too clean, and a little close to overproduced Subjectivity aside, comparing these songs to those from Glee wouldn’t be inaccurate: They’re excellently composed, I’ll say it again,

though parts of the EP are perhaps a bit safe. I imagine many would say the standout here is ‘No Church In The Wild,’ the most complex and jaunting track, but I’m inclined to suggest ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack,’ an unexpected Radiohead cover. One doesn’t usually spring for songs utilizing ‘60s Disney musicality to describe emotional death, but (thankfully) here we are. This rendition’s production brings to mind Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide and Seek,’ and the edited inhale that opens it tone sets the haunting, inorganic, yet very human song, achieving much the same as the original track in different ways. It also lets the lead’s voice warble to death at the end, backed by a chorus bordering on robotic, which was a risky and, I will say, successful note to end on.

An incredibly tight, glossy, eponymous EP I’m a proponent of supporting these kinds of acts, so give Semi-Toned a listen when you can, and consider shelling out for a copy. I can’t honestly say I’ll be listening to this EP on repeat, but I can say ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ will be revisited shortly—and I’d be surprised if you didn’t �ind something you latched on to in here.

DEREK DASHIELL

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biopic 87th Oscar winners Danny revealed Boyle’s latest project on the life of the Apple founder has been dealt a bIIlow A week Di Caprio ago, the announces winners his of resigthe Annual awards werehe nation fromAcademy the role. The actor says andaway there were fewinisannounced, taking a period from acting results that many would regard as nitely. surprising.

Birdmandrops was a out big defi Di Caprio winner in the main categories, awards for Original ofbagging Jobs biopic Screenplay, Best Danny Boyle’s Cinematography, latest project on the life Alejandro González ofDirector the Appleforfounder has been dealt a Iñárritu and ofannounces course the blow Di Caprio hisbiggest resignaprize, Picture.

In terms ofis tion fromBest the role.

The actor says he visualaawards, Grand taking period The away fromBudapest acting inHotel was also successful, equaldefi nitely. ling Birdman’s awards tally. Meanwhile, Eddie Redmayne continued his awards run by winning Best Actor in a Lead Role, and J K Simmons repeated his BAFTA success by netting the Best Supporting Actor plaudits. Finally, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress went to Julianne Moore and Patricia Arquette respectively.

Steven Spielberg to direct Indiana Jones Stop the press! Though he seems the obvious choice to direct a new movie with Indie, a script hasn’t even been written, with sources saying Spielberg will only take the job if he likes what he’s shown. Plus, considering the last film Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls was a total disaster in the eyes of fans, many may feel that Spielberg will feel reluctant to tarnish his own legacy even more.

Oh, and Chris Pratt is rumoured to be cast in the role as the adventurous archeologist. How fun.

Razzies 2015 - the best of the worst Forget the Oscars, the Razzies 2015 - the awards recognising the worst film making acheivements have also been announced recently. Big winners included Michael Bay’s Transformers movie, which earned Bay his second worst director Razzie. Kirk Cameron and Cameron Diaz took the worst actor and actress prizes, with their respective films Saving Christmas and Sex Tape also ‘triumphing’ in numerous categories.

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Yvette Stimson talks about her love for Finnish �ilm and why you should give it a watch

A FINNISH movie might not be your �irst choice when planning a movie night. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that Finland even has a �ilm industry. But �ilms have been shown there since 1896, just one year after the �irst screening in France, and Finland has been producing movies since around 1918. The Finns even had a New Wave in the 1960s similar to the movement in France at the time. Since the 1980s and 1990s the country has produced around 15-20 new feature �ilms a year.

If you have seen a Finnish �ilm, it was probably directed by one of the Kaurismäki brothers, Aki and Mika, who have together been responsible for 20 per cent of the total output of Finland’s �ilm industry since the 1980s.

Aki Kaurismäki is the �ilmmaker that kick started my obsession with

Finnish �ilm. He was introduced to me by my father and step mother (who is from Finland) through his 1988 movie Ariel. It remains one of my favourite �ilms and is probably my favourite of his movies. It is a part of his Proletariat Trilogy (along with Shadows in Paradise and Match Factory Girl) and follows the story of Taisto, an unemployed coal miner who ends up being framed for a crime he didn’t commit. It is a romance story of sorts, but mostly it is a tale of working class struggle.

This class narrative is something Kaurismäki focuses on in most of his �ilms. Much of his work has also been described as representing ‘Finnishness’ and so is incredibly important to Finnish national identity. His Finland Trilogy is made up of Drifting Clouds, The Man Without a Past, and Lights in the Dusk. His �ilmmaking is quite diverse however, including literary adaptations as well as road movies, comedies, documentaries and short �ilms.

Aki Kaurismäki has more international recognition than

his brother. In 2002 The Man without a Past won the Grand Prix and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language �ilm.

The most recognised Kaurismäki �ilms are probably his Leningrad Cowboys movies which were screened worldwide, and 2011’s Le Havre which was �ilmed and is set in France.

I think Aki Kaurismäki and the Finnish �ilm industry deserve a bit more recognition If this hasn’t piqued your interest in Finnish �ilmmaking then just google “Aki Kaurismäki does the twist at Cannes.” As well as a long and diverse �ilmography made up of many incredible movies Aki Kaurismäki has a reputation for heavy drinking and darkly witty interview responses. I think Aki Kaurismäki and the Finnish �ilm industry deserve a bit more recognition.

Why don’t you try Leningrad Cowboys and see if you agree?

If you’re going to San Frantokyo

Ruth Bailey reviews Disney’s culture-crossing and Oscar-winning animation Big Hero 6 Cast: Jamie Chung, T J Miller Director: Don Hall, Chris Williams 2015, 105 minutes

WHO knew that a balloon could be so durable? Baymax can squeeze through windows and do karate, all the while remaining in�lated. Well, there was one minor issue, but a roll of stickytape quickly �ixed that. It is this piece of minutiae that made Big Hero 6 so entertaining: you could say goodbye to logic and just settle down for the adventure.

It is Disney, but I was perturbed by the villain Set in the �ictional town of San Frantokyo, some years in the future,

Big Hero 6 tells the story of Hiro, a young scientist who takes over the construction of his brother’s project, Baymax. Together with his friends Honey-Lemon, Go Go, Wasabi and Fred (these names just demonstrate how much fun this �ilm is!), they set out to defeat the terrifying maskedvillain and his stolen microbots.

Baymax is one of the most charming characters since Toothless When I saw that the �ilm was rated PG I was surprised – it is Disney after all - but I have to say that I was perturbed by the villain, drifting on a black cloud of robots wearing a Matrix-style coat and a haunting, yellow-eyed mask. Thank goodness then for Baymax who, even when in ‘�ight

mode’, is still totally innocuous.

Baymax is one of the most charming characters since Toothless (from How to Train Your Dragon) and he prevents the sometimes sinister nature of the �ilm from taking hold.

The plot itself is fairly shallow, but happily this meant that the focus was on the quirky characters that made the �ilm such a hit.

The ending was, however, unsatisfactory. Without saying too much, the resolution seems too unrelated to the characters to whom so much screen-time has been dedicated. I am gutted to say that this marrs an otherwise outstanding �ilm for me, but putting that out of mind, it is a jolly and endearing story.

“We’ll always have Paris” EXEPOSÉ

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Ben Londesborough looks at the romantic �ilm through the ages, and �inds that love is still alive IT’S just different. Long gone are the days of the effortlessly cool leading man delivering the smoothest of lines to his beautiful female counterpart. But just like Humphrey Bogart said to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca: “We’ll always have Paris.”

These classic Hollywood romances have left us with fond memories, and great expectations. Some of the successors have lived up to this Golden Age: Woody Allen bumbling his way through a relationship with Diane Keaton in the brilliant Annie Hall, and the ‘friends falling in love’ storyline, that we are all now so familiar with, established in the superb When Harry Met Sally. These �ilms, amongst others, are classics; the �ilms that started and

de�ined the cliches. However, from the early 90s, the archetypal rom-com began its reign and romantic cinema gained an unwelcome stereotype.

Even so, decent modern romances do exist - you just have to ignore the mushy, sleepover fodder of The Notebook and Dear John.

These types of �ilms are responsible for the conveyed image of romantic cinema, being hugely over the top and frothing with sentimentality making them somewhat insufferable. Still, there are a few modern gems, both rom-coms and not, that are worth seeking out to keep the romance alive.

One of the most popular rom-coms

of the past decade (and my favourite) has been (500) Days of Summer. The story is a classic boy-meets-girl narrative edited cleverly into an engaging, non-chronological, of�beat �ilm.

Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are individually good, but they share a vital chemistry that is crucial to romantic cinema.

If you’re looking for more serious romance, Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy is arguably one of the greatest series of

modern romance �ilms - if not the greatest ever. The series follows Jesse and Celine, played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, whose relationship begins with a conversation on a train. The trilogy documents their experiences together, and apart, over the 18 years after their �irst meeting, in a genuinely thought-provoking manner.

Decent modern romances do exist, you just have to ignore the mushy sleepover fodder Brokeback Mountain is another example of a beautifully crafted story.

The �ilm follows two married men who reluctantly fall in love with each other against the backdrop of 1960s pastoral America, subtly creating a relationship that will stay with you long after the credits.

Our natural yearning for love means that romance cinema will always live on. Whilst modern romantic cinema is different and often con�lated with a stereotype, there are brilliant romantic �ilms out there. Whether old or new, infused with comedy or drama, some of these �ilms can and will remind you of how good the genre can be.

Everybody get down, this is a second Raid

Nicholas Porter reviews Gareth Evans’ high octane sequel to the brutally violent Indonesian hit The Raid 2 Director: Gareth Evans Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian 2014, 150 minutes

THE �irst Raid �ilm is, in my opinion, an action masterpiece. What’s remarkable about it, apart from the action itself (which is absolutely stunning), is its approach to storytelling: namely, the meaningful stakes, clear objectives and blistering narrative momentum.

It de�iantly avoids irritating Hollywood crutches such as sacri�icing clarity for scale, mistaking obscurity for intrigue and not being able to hold the goddamn camera still.

The second Raid, however, seems to fall into the same narrative pit-

I’m not entirely certain that’s a bad thing: the action in this �ilm is next-level stuff.

Every single gunshot, slit throat, car crash and broken bone is choreographed, shot and edited with almost preternatural precision. Moreover, the �ights display a sense of evolution; they never get stale or repetitive.

Gareth Evans might not be on

top of his game in the narrative department, but he more than makes up for it with his visual storytelling. The action is so good I am actually recommending the �ilm on that alone, plot problems be damned.

Yet they’re never drawn together into one coherent story. It’s all double-crosses and political machinations, and characters hiding motiva-

tions, and at one point a homeless guy getting railed by a prostitute wearing a strap-on…OK that last one’s not really relevant, but whatever.

Rama, our friendly neighbourhood protagonist, is all but shunted to the side so other characters can be explored, which would be alright if they didn’t keep dragging him back just so he could �ight someone.

So, why the hell am I recommending this? Well, that’s where the “interesting” part comes in.

Like with the �irst �ilm, the story’s successes and failures are never mentioned whenever the �ilm enters public conversation. What are talking points are the absolutely incredible �ight scenes. And

50 Shades - Sam Taylor’s tour de force of sado-masochism has been beaten by critics, and, after a spanking from audiences, the money-making orgy is starting to abate : taking (and loving) 73 per cent less money last weekend.

Oscars out�its - Lady Gaga went for the 19th century dish-washer look in red rubber gloves whilst Rita Ora appeared to have left most of her dress at home, Emma Stone wore a green Ellie Saab number, rather well. Super.

Emma Watson and Prince Harry - the former Harry Potter star is Screen royalty, and though she has dismissed the gossip, there are whispers she’s been dating this Harry fella. We hope he knows he’d be marrying royalty.

Eddie Redmayne - we’re running out of superlatives to use about this beautiful man - he won the Best Actor Oscar last weekend and we here at Screen hope it signals an era of what we like to call Red-mania.

Redmayne

falls that the �irst so deftly avoided.

I do have to give the �ilm props for upping the scale and not simply repeating the structure of the �irst, and there’s a lot of good stuff in here: multiple plotlines built on a solid foundation of drama and characterbased con�lict.

Every single car crash and broken bone is directed with almost preternatural precision

So ludicrously entertaining it makes you forget any and all other grievances The Raid 2 is one of those rare �ilms that is so ludicrously entertaining it makes you forget any and all other grievances. A man literally gets killed with a baseball, for crying out loud. Go catch it on Net�lix.

What’s hot and what’s not in this week’s news?

Saving Christmas - the �ilm starring, directed and written by Kirk Cameron did great at the awards this week; it was the Razzies, but that’s surely better than nothing right? Ho, ho, no.

Red Stripe

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Jeremy Brown discusses the portrayal of mental health in literature, and the power books can have insight into the theme of loneliness.

The ability of literature to help people through their illnesses has led to a new book-prescription service called ‘bibliotherapy.’ Suffering from PTSD? Try The Perks of Being a Wall�lower. Feeling depressed? H is For Hawk is the novel for you. Although it may seem reductive, bibliotherapy is said to work — if used with more traditional forms of support.

relax. It’s worth remembering that JK Rowling went through some dark times herself. The Dementors, for example, are clearly symbolic of her experiences with depression - “every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you.”

I’m not saying books are a wonder cure - the Patronus Charm of mental health issues - but I am certain that they can help if used in conjunction with talking therapies and medical support. We all have problems, big or small, and sometimes we need to �ind ourselves in the pages of a sympathetic book to realise it.

Hopefully, in ten years’ time, popular literature will have completely broken its silence on the subject; until then, I hope this list offers some interesting new novels to try out.

The Guardian has recently investigated the issue with pioneering writers like Jennifer Niven, who wrote candidly about depression in her popular novel All the Bright Places. This book focuses on two youths: Finch, who is contemplating suicide, and Violet, who is still distraught after her sister’s death. Her work has been compared to the out-

put of John Green, who has (so far) only scratched the surface of mental health issues in Looking for Alaska.

Niven agrees that books can trigger sensitive issues, but argues it is always worth it simply to let readers know that “they’re not alone.”

She is not the only writer who touches upon these themes, of course. Mention ‘mental health’ and ‘literature’ in the same sentence, and Sylvia Plath’s powerful novel The Bell Jar immediately jumps to mind.

It may not be a particularly cheerful read, but it opens up a debate on the subject, and that’s what counts.

And Plath’s poetry is arguably even better at showing the ubiquity of depression and anxiety. “Is there no way out of the mind?” she asks.

Alternatively, Emily Dickinson’s exceptional poetry gives an incredible

About depression...

I Was Here Gayle Forman

About depression...

It’s Kind of a Funny Story Ned Vizzini

About bipolar disorder...

The Silver Linings Playbook Matthew Quick

About feeling like an outsider...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon

Biography about depression...

The Fry Chronicles Stephen Fry

Daniel Wood

white American, who recalls from the South of France the events of the previous few months in Paris. As his �iancée travels Spain, he begins an intense but ultimately tragic love affair with an impassioned Italian barman, Giovanni.

too real in other senses. David struggles to not only free himself from the trappings of the past and the scrutiny of a heterosexual society, but also to understand the fears and mentality which prevents him from embracing his true nature. Baldwin’s other great struggle in life was race, where through the civil rights movement he became friends with �igures such as Malcom X; sexuality was for him inextricably twinned with race as another issue of rights.

Whilst none of the characters in Giovanni’s Room are black (a feature his following novels would avoid), Baldwin nonetheless deals with homosexuality within the novel as a

matter of freedom, just as he might with race. It is the struggle of David to understand his sexuality and to embrace freedom, set in the heady and ‘dangerous’ bohemian life of Paris, that makes this novel special.

As David admits, “nothing is more unbearable, once one has it, than freedom.”

Ultimately, Baldwin’s writing is human, as all great literature should be, and therefore does not require a reader to be gay in order for it to be accessed and empathised with.

Rather, the novel’s strength is in illuminating the individual pain and confusion that can arise, and of course did and does for count-

less nameless individuals, from having to live in such a misunderstood and frequently despised state of con�lict.

I’VE always been a �irm believer in the power of literature. Throughout history, books have taught equality, inspired debate, and even encouraged revolution; but among your Marx and Wollstonecraft, your Brontë and Orwell, lies another type of book: one that comforts us.

In our stressful modern society, perhaps more than ever, many young adults are crying out for characters who tell us that we aren’t alone. At its best, a good book can make you feel as if a voice is talking solely to you, or (in the words of Alan Bennett), “as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.”

Although anxiety and depression are slowly inching into the public spotlight (at long last), these stigmatised topics still seem to be missing from modern novels. Are authors

worried they might get something wrong? Or, even worse, do they fear that they might trigger further problems for readers?

Many young adults are crying out for characters who tell us that we aren’t alone

Bibliotherapy: a new book-prescription service There is also a place for comfort reading in our lives. Getting lost in a welcoming landscape, like Hogwarts, is surely the most enjoyable way to

Jeremy’s picks: books about mental health...

Giovanni’s Room James Baldwin

WHEN once questioned about having been born poor, black and homosexual, James Baldwin exclaimed that he believed he had ‘hit the jackpot.’ Giovanni’s Room, Baldwin’s second novel, deals with the third part of his own identity, and is Baldwin’s �irst explicit attempt at expressing homosexual desire and relationships as well as being distinguished as one of the critical texts in American LGBT literature.

The novel tells of David, a young

Baldwin deals with homosexuality as a matter of freedom Even in Paris, which Baldwin portrays as a city where it is possible to conduct such an affair, the constraints of the taboo are still all

The fiction of recipe books EXEPOSÉ

www.exepose.com

Emma Pudge considers how the role of food writers is changing in a culture increasingly dominated by lifestyle blogging and personal branding

IT’S not often we consider cookbooks as literature. We think of recipe books, at worst, as instruction manuals – a hybrid of DIY guides and mathematic formulae – or at best, culinary companions with thick spines like rolling pins and pages �luttery and �lour marked like sheets of pâte feuilletée.

Either way, they are functional, informative, and most de�initely, non-�iction.

Until recently that is.

Blogging and social media platforms are exploding, oozing, dripping, relishing in a new breed of writing: food �iction.

For these writers, food becomes a way of narrating life.

Each kitchen creation – be it a mug of vegan hot cocoa made with cashew milk and coconut palm sugar, a salad of heritage tomatoes and creamy home-churned burrata, a stack of wafer-thin salted butter crepes, or a crate of plums – crimson, cardinal and scarlet - become stanzas in an epic poem of one’s life as it appears on a plate. These writers are not only concerned with telling us how to nourish our bodies, they’re about showing us how to nourish our lives.

Beatrice Peltre’s La Tartine Gourmand is seasoned with the perfect subtitle “Recipes for an inspired life” because it not only promises a collection of wholesome, simple or

Joshua Rotchelle Models - A Comprehensive Guide to Attracting Women Mark Manson

SELF-HELP books in the romance category can be riddled with problematic associations. For many men, to be seen reaching for such works is often seen as unmanly - guys should all instinctively know how to pull, and any who don’t are all basementdwellers who are never going to have any success with the ladies anyway, right? It’s true that this view isn’t universal, but it’s big enough to be a problem.

It is books like Models - A Compre-

re�ined sugar free culinary delights, but gestures to a wholesome and simple way of living.

The depth of �lavour is not found in the riz-au-lait’s cardamon pod, or the grating of truf�le in the butternut squash macaroni cheese, but in the

deliciousness of the author’s anecdotes about family (her daughter Lulu’s verdict of each dish is what compels me to try it myself), travel, ancestry, agriculture, mindfulness, philosophy - life.

Exploding, oozing, dripping, relishing in a new breed of writing And most of us know in our impulsive purchase of Ella Woodward’s Deliciously Ella, we’re unlikely to

hensive Guide to Attracting Women which re�lect how much of a shame this fact is. I guarantee there will be a few people giggling as they read this, and that’s irritating, because this book is not what often springs to mind when thinking about self-help books in the pick-up guide category.

Guys should instinctively know how to pull It’s true, some of these books are questionable in their usefulness.

Some earn the ire of the Finger of Feminism, while others are guilty instead of being a series of childish one-liners to be awkwardly spewed

�ind ourselves baking “glazed chilli and beetroot brownies,” or throwing together “poppy-seed crusted squash with a sweet tahini dressing” when our appetite betrays us, but there is every chance of �inding ourselves fawning over pictures of

“acai berry and baobab” breakfast bowls, “creamy cashew nut cheese” or “roasted maple sprouts with hazelnuts.” And that’s because these recipes offer more than just ideas on what to cook: they conjure a fairytale world in which time is abundant, the domestic environment is serene and uninterrupted, where sinful temptations do not present themselves, money is unimportant, health is logic, daily life is decadent, and pleasure always comes �irst.

A world where one can wake up to only think of breakfast, is one free from the very real pressures

at confused women in bars.

In Models, however, Mark Manson is not messing about. His honest words are straight from the get-your-shit-together school of self-help, and offer practical advice that is very applicable to real life. His prose also has a knack for being very psychologically helpful; much of the book is devoted to assisting men with con�idence issues and other such problems from a rational perspective, to get back in the saddle.

Depending on your view, there could be gripes: for example, Manson does not attempt to act as a moral compass, and issues such as whether cheating is right or wrong is largely left to the reader. On the other hand, if I wanted such advice, I’d have read

of relationships, �inances, studies, career prospects, politics, and emotions. And so �licking through these cookbooks, imagining what it would be like to wake up to make porridge served with strawberries stewed in lemongrass and lime, becomes a form of escapism.

The introductions and biographies bamboozle us with promises of vitality, boundless energy, clear thinking, rejuvenation, freedom from the physical twangs of hunger or indigestion or aches or fatigue, and so we can’t help but read on.

But the question remains: “Does it make sense to buy recipe books and perhaps never make even a �ifth of the recipes featured?”

I’d argue yes. These food writers are masters of creative writing, and what they write is beautiful, compelling food �iction.

Promises of vitality, boundless energy, clear thinking, rejuvenation So long as people love to sit down with a book to escape, to fantasise, to imagine, to dream, to indulge in make-believe to dream, there is a place for cookbooks on our shelves.

the Bible or something. Other problems are harder to sidestep: this book was written by an American, and some sections advocate actions which would be perfectly acceptable Stateside, but here would be a cringe-worthy faux pas. That said, such dif�iculties are not hard to spot and avoid, so it’s a minor issue.

A boost when it comes to help with the womenfolk An excellent read, then. I suppose at this point, I should start saying the book changed my life, but I won’t. It’s called self-help, not Joshua-help, so if you yourself think you could use

BOOKS

29

Condensed Classics Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes (1959) ‘It’s your body and your brain - and your life, even though you weren’t able to make much use of it. I don’t have the right to take it away from you. Nobody does. Who’s to say that my light is better than your darkness?’

Daniel Keyes’ novel quickly became a sci-fi classic for its unflinchingly private look at the issues of tampering with inherent traits and abilities. It is told entirely in diary entries written

by Charlie Gordon, a bakery worker with an IQ of 68 who attends classes for ‘retarded adults’ in an attempt to become smarter. This leads to him being recommended for a series of experiments which have previously only been tested on Algernon, a mouse who has developed a seemingly infinite capacity to learn and solve new problems.

After the treatment Charlie soon sees his IQ skyrocket, drastically and suddenly changing his relationships and understanding of the world. But his words revealing how he and Algernon cope with the long-term effects of the treatment raise major questions about the ethics of such rapid development, be it scientific or personal.

CARMEN PADDOCK

a boost when it comes to help with the womenfolk then give it a go - especially if you’re experiencing some post-Valentines Day blues.

APPLICATIONS OPEN FEB 23 - MAR 9 Join the #PinkArmy @ExeWelcomeTeam

- Gain skills and experience to make your CV stand out from the crowd - Make a difference to new students and the University community - Experience the rush of Freshers' Week in a unique way - Enjoy the rewarding feeling of helping others - Make new friends and irreplaceable memories

For more information, email welcometeam@exeterguild.com

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Get your skates on, and get ahead of the pack!

Wouldn’t it be great to get that Exeter Award in the bag before summer?

If you are leaving the University this year it will help you get ahead of the 300,000 other graduates entering the job market. On the other hand, if you are a returning student, wouldn’t it be great to sign up for the Exeter Leaders Award?

Staff are waiting to mark your Exeter Award application form, and Interview Experience sessions are available to book now.

…the rest is down to you.

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32

ARTS

ARTS

NEWS 1-7

COMMENT FEATURES LIFESTYLE 12-15 19-21 8-11

Art A Walk and a Workshop @ Phoenix 10 Feb - 15 March Stuart Low @ Phoenix 10 - 14 March

Comedy Alexei Sayle @ Phoenix 9 March

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Is Pacman the next Picasso?

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MUSIC 22-25

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Harry Shepherd, Online Games Editor, and Joshua Rotchelle debate the question on the arts world’s lips as the likes of PacMan and Tetris are exhibited WHERE we stand on whether video games have a place in museums comes down to where we stand on the question ‘can video games be art?’

I’m not here to lecture you, but I �ind it troubling that this remains a question at all.

Games developers simply have a different array of tools at their disposal For many, gaming constitutes ‘just a bit of fun,’ but this works to undermine the medium as a mere pastime that’s devoid of value; a view grossly unfair to the hundreds of thousands of fantastic developers working across the globe creating innovative and beautiful content. If we were to

compare video games with our preconceived notions of the ‘�ine art’ of painted canvases, classical music and art-house cinema perhaps, then games developers simply have a different array of tools at their disposal to tell a story and engage their subject. Museums like the Smithsonian and the TATE are right to recognise this.

But why in this case are we still asking the question ‘can games be art?’ The answer is the distortion of the full picture of the gaming medium in the media. Television advertising and social media saturate our eyes and ears with the latest bland, brown military shooter to come out on any given week on television and social media, and the uninitiated will naturally assume that this is all that gaming is.

But Call of Duty is not the entirety of gaming in the same way that 50 Shades of Grey doesn’t constitute the full landscape of cinema.

all, perhaps art is an expression of an artist’s self, and any viewer interaction taints that... or maybe not? But the overwhelming question, the real elephant in the room, is this: who the fuck cares?

From the �irst rendering of a blocky, jerky Pong all those years ago to very recently, video games as a form of media have been exempt from ‘art’ discussions. When you go through a few rounds of Call of Duty, nobody sits and debates whether the lighting and arti�icial shaders depict the same �ine-tuned panache as Fifa ‘15.. And really, isn’t this for the best?

It’s a terrible thing to have your favourite media corrupted by “art” discussions. You can’t go enjoying them anymore: it’s not ‘cool’ to do so. With

art comes fashions. “Have you heard about the new impressionist movement of modern strategy games?”

Sounds dumb, but people do it with paintings now, and if video games go the same direction as the rest of ‘art’, that’s where they’ll end up.

I personally can’t see why video games can’t exist in the happy place that resides outside intellectualism, alongside such amiable neighbours as card games. When you play a few rounds of Irish Snap, nobody ever gets all snide over how you’re “not really exploring the new post-modern wave of Snapping, are you?” Of course you’re not. You’re doing that most forgotten and arcane of things: having fun. But when it’s visual art or books or whatever, you can have the ‘wrong

This is the medium that in many ways sums up the age we live in Moreover, popular depictions of gamers themselves are unhelpful; gamers are portrayed as lazily wasting their lives away. Beyond that, gamers are also seen as guilty of dangerously reproducing violent acts possible in games in the outside world. Is this not somewhat reminiscent of the dangers novels were purported to pose, especially to women, in the 18th century?

Video games also present a variety of barriers to entry for potential new gamers, for instance the ability of using a console controller, or getting to grips with reams of �igures and information in stat/info heavy games. This is precisely why it is so important for video games to be recognised in museums, as not all people are con�ident enough to fully access every genre of gaming.

Whether it amounts to launching yourself in at the deep end and purchasing your own console or checking out a video game related exhibit in a museum, we should all be play ing our part in challenging and shaping the way in which we collectively see video games. After all, this is the medium that in many ways sums up the age we live in.

HARRY SHEPHERD

Xpression Presents: Union Road 4 February, 5:30pm

Theatre Macbeth @ Northcott 2-7 March

IT’S a storm of a question, and it’s gaining momentum fast, debated in internet forums and across the world, and only intensifying at their recent inclusion in galleries: are video games ‘art’?

Infinity Pool @ Bike Shed 3-7 March Milked @ Bike Shed 10-14 March G & S Society’s HMS Pinafore @ Northcott 11-14 March

The real elephant in the room is this: who the fuck cares?

A whole bunch of questions lead into this debate. What makes a given piece of anything, from a mark in the mud to the Mona Lisa, ‘art’? Can video games be classed as ‘visual’ art, or are they instead ‘interactive’? Does interactive art even count as art? After

kind’ of fun, to the point that gaminghas to be a ‘guilty pleasure.’

Even putting that aside, what are the bene�its of having your medium of choice ‘arted’? Video games already have their own awards, their own discussion forums, their own this-that-and-every-other-thing.

If people start considering games as art, the only thing that’ll come out of it is an increased snob factor.

So in summary, why do people want to take a great form of entertainment and transform it in a way that people will be able to look down their nose at me more often, simply because I enjoy it? Yeah, forgive me for being less than convinced.

JOSHUA ROTCHELLE

EXEPOSÉ

Crowd go Cuckoo for EUTCo www.exepose.com

Bethany Pratt reviews EUTCo’s production of Ken Kesey’s classic novel EUTCo’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Northcott Theatre 8 Feb 2015

TO be completely honest, I can’t say that I found EUTCo’s production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest particularly enjoyable, but that is entirely to the company’s credit. In bringing Ken Kesey’s novel to the stage, directors Devon Cairns and Lucy Green have stayed very true to its dark and disturbing atmosphere, creating a play that is both mesmerising and chilling.

The play centres on the power struggles at the heart of a 1960s psychiatric hospital, as Randle McMurphy, an arrogant and rebellious newcomer, takes on the terrifying Nurse Ratched and her regime of bullying and abuse.

Both Ieuan Coombs (McMurphy) and Emily Patrick (Ratched) were �lawless in their roles, keeping up convincing American accents throughout.

Coombs in particular was very believable, and somehow managed to make the relentlessly obnoxious McMurphy seem strangely endearing, and

Emily Kerr

Exeter Revue’s Stand Up Saturday Grove Diner 23 February 2015

AS a newbie to student stand up, I was excited to see what the Exeter Revue had to offer at their Saturday performance. Host Ricky Freelove was a natural compere and ensured the evening ran smoothly in spite of a few technical hiccups. He also provided well-thought-out short jokes, which strung the evening together and settled the audience in nicely.

I’d entered a meeting for ‘pornaholics anonymous’ The night was full of funeral �lower arrangements, T-shirt slogans, personal adverts, and porn. It’s hard to believe that the term phallogocentrism wasn’t coined that very evening.

Freud would’ve had a �ield day, with penises often coming up as a topic of

Arts in the news

at times even vulnerable, to the audience.

Of course, they were supported by an excellent cast who brought the patients and nurses to life, stutters, delusions and all - including one commendable actor with the unenviable role of spending the entire play in a vegetative trance. Their warmth and humour infused a cold and clinical set, creating much-needed relief from the harder-hitting scenes. For example, I learned quickly to dread the moments when the lights would dip and in the beam of a single spotlight, Chief Bowden (Harry Bowley) would come forward to offer his profound observations.

These small moments of tension added to the overall atmosphere of unease.

This unnerving feeling was built up very cleverly,

conversation. At points it was dif�icult not to think I’d entered a meeting for ‘pornaholics anonymous.’ Female comedians often get criticised for making their humour gender-speci�ic and I would argue that a few of Saturday’s acts managed to successfully enact the stereotype of the ‘pre-pubescent boy.’ In my opinion, the jokes were much more entertaining when comedians focused on their comedic, not physical, assets.

Jack Edwards kicked off the evening with the subtle Tshirt slogan of ‘Will suck dick for free drinks’ and highly praised The Grove’s speciality, the coke �loat.

He also made fun of the need for a great photo of himself for Facebook purposes.

The classic stand-up joke was delivered from Jack Smail, who arose from his chair in an amusingly exaggerated fashion. Oli Gilford began in moving

Staff at the National Gallery strike over privatisation

with many scenes that could have been loud and overblown being instead quiet, restrained moments that were no less intense for this. This meant revelations came as actual shocks, and the real horrors of the ward were exposed more thoughtfully and unsettlingly in the silence in which they were revealed.

So perhaps I misspoke when I said I didn’t enjoy this production overall.

True, it is a harrowing and dif�icult story. But it is one that was handled with remarkable sensitivity and talent

by EUTCo.

ARTS

33

Artistic Licence This week, a sculpture of Pete Doherty crucified has been revealed in St Marelybone Church in London.

We wanted to know which musician would you crucify (in the name of art), and why.

This is dark, Arts.

“Bring Me The Horizon, they literally asked for it” EMILY KERR “Robin Thicke. It’s ok, he knows he wants it” EMMA THOMAS “Beyoncé, because it would be the final step in her never ending egotistical quest to achieve divinity” EAMONN CROWE “Rita Ora, I will never let her down” EMILY LEAHY the mic stand because it made him look overweight and incorporated technical problems into his routine in a humorously awkward manner.

Oscar Dent started with a grrrreeatt joke about Tony the tiger and ended on advising the audience not to take his advice. Sarah Gough produced a tightly-packed and smooth perfor-

mance with no sign of any Jihad. Jonny Ainslie wittily demonstrated the extent of his rhyming prowess – although Sam, Pam, Dan, Stan, Fran don’t quite

Two Cézanne paintings discovered on the back of sketches

prove that you can rhyme - perhaps don’t get into slam poetry, Jonny.

Many of the acts jokingly presented themselves to the single market. It turns out stand up is the new Tinder.

One of whom was Darren Walsh, who utilised his Irish charm to warm up the audience, although I feel the idea of turning your dick into a superhero isn’t the best – he’d only cock things up. Marco Roberts rounded up the evening with a con�ident delivery of his jokes and took porn to a new level, actions and all. The highlight of his performance was when he ventured into the realm of audience interaction and produced many a laugh in patronising an unfortunate guest.

Overall, the night was enjoyable and moments of improvisation with the audience and between comedians proved to be the best. I have to praise the students for their delivery and comic timing, it was just unfortunate that the content was a little repetitive.

I would highly recommend following their progress as these plucky students further grapple with and thrive in the eccentric world of stand-up comedy.

Recent figures show Britain is falling out of love with art galleries

“Chris Brown, he’s a dick” MEG LAWRENCE “Taio Cruz - this shall be the last time you throw your hands up in the air” CALLUM MCLEAN “Bob the Builder. You’ll need more than a talking cement mixer to fix this one, Bob. Plus he’d probably appreciate the craftsmanship.”

WILL CAFFERKY “Mr Blobby because Mr Blobby” CIARAN WIILLIS

JMW Turner tops the recent poll of the nation’s favourite artists

34

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Josh Creek & Adam Smith games@exepose.com

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Out of The Order: 1886

It’s pistols at dawn for Ready At Dawn, but this feels too Georgian Jack England

The Order: 1886 Ready At Dawn PlayStation 4 Out Now

THE ORDER: 1886 (which from now on I will refer to as just The Order, because I think adding arbitrary Victorian years to video game titles is stupid), is Ready at Dawn’s newest release for PlayStation 4, sending the player to an alternate London �illed with teslacoil powered weapons, King Arthur and werewolves. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, The Order can’t quite bring itself to deliver.

Let’s start with the good. The Order looks gorgeous and it really does push the limits of the home console.

Each character model is individually designed and I didn’t see two people who looked the same. Sometimes I was more interested in the environ-

ment around me and the scenery than the impending doom ahead of me.

Ready at Dawn deserve major praise for this, because as an up-and-coming development team they have released a game that looks even more beautiful than The Last of Us, and if aesthetics and graphics are your heroin, you’ll want to pick this up right away.

Each location is varied enough as well, so that you still feel like you’re in a steam-punk London each time, but that you’re not just repeating the same textures and areas over and over. Don’t worry about frame-rate drops either though, as I didn’t experience any!

The Order is less like a full video game and more like a visual demo.

shooters like Gears of War and Mass Effect, and although I’m personally adverse to those games, The Order does the format well. The weapons are smooth and �luid and a lot of fun to use, although nothing revolutionary.

The AI is pretty good too, keeping you invested in the world as long as they can until they need to restart their programming and act a little out of place, but this happens in nearly every game and you can’t expect Ready at Dawn to make the perfect game �irst time - especially as this is their �irst time developing for PlayStation 4 rather than PSP or Wii.

Now the bad. The Order is less like a full video game and more like a visual demo. There are a lot of reports that the game itself can be completed in �ive hours, which I do believe is possible, as I was able to complete it in seven going casually and enjoying myself. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with short games, but for £50 it’s not worth it and it does annoy me a little that publishers think that it’s fair to release a game so short for so much money.

The majority of the game is comprised of cut scenes too, or at least it felt so, and although I usually don’t mind it, in retrospect it’s remarkable

there are so many. It felt like about 80 per cent of the game.

The Order isn’t terrible, but it isn’t amazing either. If you really want to go and get it and have the money to spare, I won’t stop you. If you’d rather wait for a sale and pick it up then, I’d probably say that’s the better option.

It’s de�initely a game that was needed though, as it does show the graphical power of PlayStation 4 and does make you think how incredible and immersive up-coming games could get.

It’s also a good start for what I hope to become a series, because if a sequel to The Order were released and it was a bit longer and took the story a little bit further, I’d de�initely pick it up.

Overall, it’s a gorgeous game with pretty good gameplay that pushes the limits of home consoles, but it is a little on the short side. Maybe this is the standard for 1886, but it’s 2015, and this game needs to act like it.

To Rome Total War: Attila with love Gameplay-wise, The Order plays like any other standard third-person

David Stone is hun-gry to start developing a creative assembly Total War: Attila Creative Assembly PC Out Now

LIKE many fans of the Total War franchise, I greeted the news that the latest instalment in Creative Arts’ illustrious series would be Total War: Attila with a mixture of excitement and extreme trepidation. TW: Attila is, for all intents and purposes, a remake of the classic 2005 Barbarian Invasion expansion for the �irst Rome: Total War, widely regarded as one of the best in the series, and a personal favourite.

But while the �irst Rome was a genrede�ining classic, Rome II was not exactly the triumphant remake we were all hoping for.

It’s Barbarian Invasion all over again, and it’s magni�icent Given that it’s taken two years of extensive patching and modding to turn Rome II into the decent title it is today, I wasn’t exactly �illed with con�idence that CA and Sega could do one of my favourite games justice, and combined with a £29.99 price tag for what

looked like an expansion pack, I was initially hesitant to commit. I took the plunge, however, and thankfully my fears were entirely unfounded. TW: Attila is the game that Rome II wishes it could have been.

Playing the Roman Grand Campaign of Total War: Attila is like waking up to �ind yourself being mugged, except that somebody has already kicked you in the ribs and stolen your wallet; a survival-horror in RTS form.

The year is 395; Rome is beset on all fronts, her armies are scattered, under-strength and spread too thin along a border so porous it may as well not exist, the Emperor is an inexperienced 16 year-old, and the coffers

are running dry. The game makes it explicitly clear that this is a situation you cannot magically win, your initial objective is just “Survive” and the game rapidly becomes a feat of damage limitation. Do you send all your legions to the frontier and risk internal collapse, or sacri�ice a few front-line provinces in order to stop the entirety of Spain rebelling? Just where do you draw the line? It’s Barbarian Invasion all over again, and it’s magni�icent.

What is abundantly clear from the moment you start this game is that CA devs have actually gone away and listened to the concerns of their fans and �ixed a number of issues that fans had with TW: Rome II - provincial settle-

ments can now be built with defences, and the much-missed family tree system has been re-instated and bolstered by the authority/loyalty system from TW: Shogun II. Of course, not everything is �lawless. Path-�inding, always the bane of the Total War series, is much better but still not perfect, and naval battles are still a race to get your units ashore as quickly as possible. Technically, however, this game feels like the natural succession from Shogun II that Rome II should have been. Total War: Attila is a true return to form for the series and may well go on to be new classic alongside its ancestor.

EXEPOSÉ

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35

VSCO Cam - the photographers’ Instagram

Sinéad Buckingham says this app pulls the focus from �ilters to photos Presets) aim to recreate the effects of different �ilm cameras, without sacri�icing the sharpness of the original image, offering a more authentic look. Its editing tools are sophisticated enough to maximise the beauty of the lighting and composition, yet remain simple and accessible.

A move away from the heavily contrasted ‘Valencia’ images of Costa Lattés accompanied by a sea of hashtags Once you have edited your photo, you can upload it onto a sleek and minimalistic-looking user pro�ile (or Grid).

However, VSCO Cam’s creators did not intend for the grid to become a replica of an Instagram pro�ile and thus features such as likes and comments are not possible. Instead, what arises is a more personal and selective pro�ile whereby you have to manually search for users to follow, instead of being able to import friends from Facebook, like on Instragram, encouraging you to be more thoughtful with who you follow. However, many VSCO Cam users are still keen to show off the fruits of their editing labour and thus the app has the feature to share your images on other social networking sites (though bizarrely only one at a time) and tag it with #vscocam. Thus, Insta-

Puzzle Corner

Answers:

Across: 7 Whodunnit, 8 Eel, 9 Greed, 10 Plateau, 11 Safaris, 13 Notch, 15 Solve, 17 Invoice, 20 Mystery, 23 Clues, 24 Lot, 25 Eradicate.

THE now immensely popular photo editing app Instagram, �irst released in 2010, was once a new and exciting platform for those passionate about good quality photography to share snapshots of their life with other likeminded photographers. Its range of colourful �ilters had the ability to grant even the most mundane objects a fresh lease of life and with some tactical hashtagging and �iddling of the brightness, contrast and a cheeky vignette, the boring was made interesting.

However, as Instagram evolved it

seemingly placed less focus on photo quality and more on social interaction. The most recent features such as tagging friends and the potential to upload short videos only reaf�irm this.

The �ilters became stale, overused and were not updated frequently enough.

Alas, what was once an exclusive sanctuary for the sharing of high quality images became something akin to Facebook and Twitter. Now everyone has Instagram and users are more concerned with the crafting of a witty caption, complete with the most appropriate emojis, than with the photo itself.

Enter VSCO Cam - short for Visual Supply Company.

Although the app has been around for 18 months or so now (and has not dropped out of the top 15 in the App Store’s Photography and Video category since its launch), it is only more recently that it has really come into its own. VSCO Cam is quite obviously designed by photographers for photographers; its �ilters (or

Down: 1 Powerful, 2 Murder, 3 Snip, 4 Attain, 5 Gene, 6 Sleuth, 7 Wages, 12 Ski, 14 Tribunal, 15 Simple, 16 Exeter, 18 Victim, 19 Ensue, 21 Site, 22 Year.

VSCO Cam Visual Supply Company www.vsco.co

Sudoku #10 by Crosbie and Crossword #73 by Alfred

gram boasts an ever-growing corner full of beautiful, professional and very real-looking photos.

Many VSCO Cam users are still keen to show off the fruits of their editing labour VSCO Cam is fast emerging as the premier photo editing app and the app of choice for those tired of the oversatured Instagram. A welcome return to photo editing for its own sake and a move away from the heavily contrasted ‘Valencia’ images of Costa Lattés accompanied by a sea of hashtags (#likeforlike, #followforfollow, etc.) that typically populate Instagram, VSCO Cam is �illing a gap in the market and moving forward the art of high quality photography editing and sharing.

Across: 7) I hunt down (anagram) - type of story about a 2 20 (9) 8) Electric �ish?

(3) 9) Avarice (a motive in a 7 Across?)

(5) 10) Flat highland (7) 11) Expeditions fair ass (anagram) (7) 13) Mark (5) 15) Resolve (a 7 Across?) (5) 17) Bill (for goods) (7) 20)Enigma (solved by a 6 in a 7 Across?) (7) 23) Pieces of evidence (for a 6 in a 7 Across?) (5) 24) Great amount (3) 25) Destroy (9)

Photo: Sinéad Buckingham

Down: 1) Mighty (8) 2) Homicide - a feature of any good 7 Across! (6) 3) Cut (4) 4) Reach (a goal) (6) 5) Unit of DNA (4) 6) Detective (in a 7 Across?) (6) 7) Income (5) 12) Go down the piste (3) 14) Court of justice - unlit bar (anagram) (8) 15) Easy - like a bad 7 Across? (6) 16) You might be here - SW English city (6) 18) Casualty (of a 2 in a 7 Across?)

(6) 19) Follow on (5) 21) Location (4) 22) Period of time - 365 days (4)

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“The biggest World Cup to date” NEWS 1-7

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Photo: Tom Haigh

Photo: Sports Recruitment International

With three games set to be hosted in Exeter this Autumn, Alexander Roberts, Sports Team, chatted to Alan Gilpin, Head of the Rugby World Cup, about his memories of university, expanding the sport, and his plans for Japan 2019

2015 is set to be an auspicious year for rugby. Not only is there this year’s World Cup to look forward to, but with the rebranding of the international rugby board and continued development and growth of the sport across the globe, rugby is set to reach truly great heights in coming months.

In light of this, an opportunity to sit down with Alan Gilpin, the Head of the Rugby World Cup and a man at the heart of these exciting changes was, to quote the tagline for the World Cup, too big to miss.

Be focused, know what part of the sport you want to get into, and know what your skill set is From the outset, Gilpin srtuck me as a man with an unrivalled passion for rugby; and his interesting career path, from marketing to hospitality to director of a major sporting event, has certainly been an interesting one. Graduating from Exeter in 1994 with a degree in Law, he remembers his time at the University fondly. “I played a lot of sport here, rugby and basketball in particular,” he tells me,

describing how university developed his passion for sport as well as the team building and goal focus he still uses in his career.

His advice for anyone interested in getting into a similar career is simple: “Be focused, know what part of the sports business you want to get into and know what your skill set is. Whether that’s law, marketing or economics there’s a place in the sports industry for different skills.”

A specialist area of expertise is key, he tells me, but once you get into the business more opportunities develop. His own career started in specialist law before getting opportunities to move into ticketing and corporate work. “Find a way in,” he says, remembering his own success in the Olympics before moving into the Rugby World Cup, “and once you’re in, you’ll have an opportunity to spread your wings.” Gilpin is keen on making it clear that, while performance, training and sport science obviously makes up the majority of the sporting world, people with the “passion for [sport] and the right focus and skills” can have an important part to play.

The conversation then moved on to rugby and more speci�ically the World Cup, a topic which Gilpin

unsurprisingly shows not only great passion for, but also focus and determination. On the subject of the recent name change of the International Rugby Board to World Rugby, he makes clear that it was to do with brand. “The rationale for the change is one of moving from an organisation that is seen with in the sport and externally as a regulator to an organisation that is seen as an inspirer.” He states “the emphasis is on growth and inspiration, and after 120 years acting as a law �irm, it’s now time for it to act like a marketing �irm.” Gilpin believes that this year’s World Cup will be a catalyst for major positive changes for the game, noting the success of the Women’s World Cup in Paris last year in inspiring more women to join the sport.

Gilpin believes that this World Cup will be a catalyst for major positive changes With regards to this year’s event Gilpin makes no bones about why it’s too big to miss. “It’s going to be the biggest event of the year” he says un-

equivocally, “certainly the biggest in Europe since London 2012.”

He also believes that the UK will respond well to the event, with a population not only already enamoured by rugby but that turns out in large numbers for major events. As the record breaking ticket sales show, this is “on every level and every measure, the biggest World Cup to date.” He is also enthusiastic about how bringing the sport across the country to cities like Exeter will bene�it the sport and the local population. “There are games being played from the North East to South West and it’s going to be reaching a lot of people,” he tells me, and those people are going to get behind the event. The University will be doing its bit, by playing host to Tonga, and Alan is con�ident that the facilities here will stand them in good stead. There can be no doubt that this World Cup is set to be a very big deal both for rugby in particular and sport in general.

However, Gilpin is also focused on the future of the World Cup, especially the next world cup in 2019 in Japan, which provide some unique opportunities for sport as well as some challenges. “For rugby as a sport and the World Cup as an event, it was time to break out of the mould

of the traditional rugby strongholds and Japan was the number one candidate to be that �irst new territory.”

The sport itself is not Japan’s most popular but he argues that “rugby is going through a good and solid growth period in Japan,” noting the success of the national team as well as their addition to the Super Rugby competition next year. The emphasis for Japan is, as he puts it, on growing the sport from the ground up, and the brand of the World Cup is already being used effectively in that regard.

It was time to break out of the mould of the traditional rugby strongholds and Japan was the number one candidate The future of rugby is looking bright and with the drive and focus Alan showed during our interview it is not hard to see why. With a dedication and passion for the sport and the focus on how to continue making the great game bigger, the future of Rugby’s biggest event and the game as a whole looks set to take off to new heights under his stewardship.

EUVC 1s win five set thriller EXEPOSÉ

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V���������

Freddie Turner

Online Sport Editor EUVC 1s UCL

3 2

EUVC men’s 1s quali�ied for their �irst ever BUCS Premier quarter �inal with a hard fought 3-2 home victory over UCL. Heading into the game, both sides were level on points and aware that a win would secure fourth place and a quarter �inal berth. The game got off to an even start. However, Exeter gradually gained the upper hand, with Captain Jarvis Lam in particular coming to the fore. He mixed a combination of deft touches and powerful slams to take the �irst set away from the visitors, EUVC eventually won it 25-15.

The second set began in much the same fashion with a now con�ident Exeter bossing the early exchanges and racing into a 12-8 lead. However, UCL began to �ind their feet and forced Exeter into making more mistakes.

Despite some powerful blocking from Giedrius Kartanovic, UCL fought back and the score went to 22-22. Under pressure the visitors shone through to win 25-23 and level the match.

Exeter responded magnanimously in the third set, regaining their early momentum. Libero Bert Wozniak scrambled superbly providing the

37

perfect defence, which allowed both Lam and Nikita Polishchuk to provide a plethora of winners. Much to the fans delight Exeter won the third 25-17.

Then perhaps surprisingly, EUVC rang the changes, as some of their squad members entered the fray and their successful starters took a breather. This was to the detriment of their momentum, as UCL gained sustained dominance for the �irst time in the game. Sloppy mistakes meant UCL eventually took the set 25-16 and took the game into a decider.

Exeter gradually gained the upper hand Exeter’s strongest line up returned to the court and appeared galvanised after their rest. Ivan Minkov showed fantastic judgement with his setting at the net, which allowed the hitters to exploit UCL’s defence. Oozing con�idence Exeter added extra intensity to each point ultimately leading to a 15-8 victory, which they ecstatically celebrated.

The win marks a superb debut season for EUVC in the BUCS Premier South, in which they have �inished fourth. They will now face a tricky away quarter �inal against BUCS Premier North champions Northumbria. who remain unbeaten this season.

Demons end season on a high

>> EUVC Captain Jarvis Lam leaps to play a powerful slam. Photo: Edwin Yeung

A������� F�������

Lewis Gregory Sports Team

Exeter Demons UWE Bullets

18 0

THE Exeter Demons missed out on the BUCS Division One playoffs, but ended the season with a historic win against the UWE Bullets on 22 Feburary. Both teams were already eliminated from the playoffs after the Swansea Titans wrapped up the division title the previous week, defeating the Demons 25-16 in a down-to-the-wire, scrappy game that really could have gone either way.

However, there was a great amount of pride on the line despite there being no playoff place at stake, with both teams �ighting to take second place in the division. The Demons, who hadn’t defeated the Bullets since

the 2011/12 season, were looking to take revenge on a 62-6 pasting from last year and seal up the best season in the club’s history. The Bullets, who in previous years have consistently made playoff appearances, were out to prove that they were better than their record suggested.

On a cold, windy, rainy and very muddy Sunday afternoon at Duckes Meadows the two teams took to the �ield for the �inal game of the season.

After two stalled �irst drives, the Exeter defence began a dominating assault on the UWE backs as Kean Harris forced the ball loose on their second drive and veteran Safety Connor Sealy put the Demons on the board �irst by returning the fumble to the house. Harris would go on to �inish the day with two sacks and tackles in the double digits, but after a failed PAT attempt, the Demons were 6-0 up early on.

The Bullets appeared to have a very limited arsenal, attempting much

the same play over and over throughout the game. Failing to spark any sort of a run game, Exeter’s aggressive defensive line regularly found itself in the UWE back�ield as Kieran Francis, Mattias Cruz, Josef Habsburg and Jack Howley-Mummery all combined for double digit tackles as the Bullets struggled to get off the ground.

Things only went from bad to worse for the visiting Bullets in the second half The miserable weather continued to play its part as both teams traded possessions until �inally the UWE punter scrambled to recover his own fumbled snap, giving Exeter the ball on the 10 yard line. Two punishing runs from Othniel Lewis and Alex Briggs �i-

nally set up the third down touchdown conversion as third year senior Briggs snuck it in from the one. A failed two point conversion put the Demons up 12-0 at the half.

Things only went from bad to worse for the visiting Bullets in the second half, as the Demons’ ever dominant defence continued to pile on the pressure, and found themselves moving backwards more than forwards.

Described as playing ‘the game of his life’ by club President Matt Parish, �irst year rookie outside linebacker Andrew Scho�ield had more than just a small part to play in this, as he frequently bombarded the Bullets back�ield twice, sacking the quarterback in a single drive and once taking down the ball carrier on the reverse for a devastating loss. Scho�ield �inished a fantastic day with two sacks and more than �ive tackles.

The �inal play of the game put the icing on the cake for Exeter. In his last

game in charge Demons Head Coach Damon Kirby dialled up Exeter’s most Photo: tagrugby.org famous play from his infamous single wing formation, and third year veteran Michael Reece squeezed up the middle on the wedge. When the game was all but over, Reece broke from the mass of blockers and would-be tacklers, and sprinted to the end zone to provide the perfect ending for coaches and seniors alike.

Unfortunately, with the new league structure, the Demons miss the Division One playoffs despite their most successful season (six wins, two defeats) in their six year history, and say goodbye to another crop of highly talented seniors.

After the game Kirby, announced his retirement, after �ive years with the club and a long and distinguished Britball career. The Demons and everyone at Exeposé Sport wish him all the best in his retirement.

Ladies triumph but men suff 38

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M��’� H����� V������

Harrison Jones Editor

EUMHC Loughborough

1 (3) 1 (5)

EUMHC 1s were cruelly denied a place in the BUCS Championship semi-�inal after losing their Varsity against Loughborough on penalty �licks.

Exeter had led for most of the game but Jonty Grif�iths sealed the high quality encounter with Loughborough’s �ifth successful stroke, after the match had �inished 1-1.

800 fans in a boisterous mood watched the club’s showpiece event under �loodlights at the water-based astro, on a day that saw the Ladies 1s and Men’s 2s reach semi-�inals.

Cup-holders Loughborough had chosen to �lick �irst in the shoot out and after �ive unsaveable strokes, Exeter’s England Under-21 international Matt Richards thundered against the woodwork to give Loughborough the advantage. It proved to be the fateful moment, the visitors scoring their remaining two penalties to set up a tie with Birmingham.

Exeter had opened the scoring on 24 minutes via a diving Ali Williams, who sent the home crowd into delirium following great work

by Captain Ed Fleet. Having won the ball in his own half, Fleet beat two men before cutting inside and feeding Williams, whose de�lection crept past a stranded Ollie Quinn to take the lead.

With various junior internationals on display, the lively opening exchanges were just about shaded by the home side, with Mark Loughrey hitting the post from a short corner inside ten minutes.

The game had few clear goal scoring opportunities, but the technical ability on display was clear with Exeter’s defence looking composed and Richards showing �lashes of brilliance. There were half chances for both sides with Luke Taylor going close from a Loughborough short corner and Tom Le Lievre shooting

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2 MARCH 2015 |

EXEPOSÉ

narrowly wide from a tight angle, but Exeter looked comfortable when the interval arrived.

Loughborough were reinvigorated in the second half and Exeter’s number one Mark Philpott was twice called into action to deny Robbie Shepherdson’s reverse stick shot superbly, before stopping Taylor from another corner minutes later.

Then came the break through, as Adam Clark latched onto a loose ball and �ired into Philpott’s top corner on the half volley. Exeter battled on and the home crowd thought they had found a winner with �ive minutes to go, but the ball had been lifted in the D before Tom Whitworth’s strike and his goal was disallowed.

The closing stages proved tense for Exeter, who survived intense pressure and a late goal mouth scare before the �inal whistle and subsequent �licks consigned them to a four year winless streak in varsities.

Loughborough are a quality out�it and if you let them they’re always going to punish you Ed Fleet, EUMHC 1s Captain Speaking after the game, Director of Hockey Chris McInroy saw the positives, commenting: “I am proud of the way the guys played, it’s been a hard season for us and that was a good �ight.

“The boys fought well and I thought we could hold on for 1-0. We hit the post and one of their �licks was fairly ordinary, but that’s the deciding line - that’s sport.”

Captain Ed Fleet added: “It’s a really disappointing result, we gave away a weak goal but the boys probably deserved more. Loughborough are a quality out�it and if you let them back in the game, they’re always going to punish you.

“But I’m proud of the lads and how they performed and everyone who came down to support us at this amazing event, it’s fully appreciated by everyone.”

Elsewhere for EUMHC & EULHC

•

MUSIC 22-25

EUMHC 2s beat EUMHC 3s 2-0 to secure a semi-final tie against Cambridge 1s in the BUCS Trophy EULHC 2s lost 3-0 to Cambridge 1s in the BUCS Trophy quarter-finals.

>> Clockwise from top right: the EUMHC boys celebrate Ali William’s opener, Meg Crowson scores spectacularly to give EULHC a 3-0 lead, EUMH

W����’� H����� V������

Emmott Leigh Sports Team

EULHC Nottingham

4 1

A COMPOSED and professional performance gave EULHC 1s a 4-1 win over Nottingham in their �irst ever Hockey Varsity �ixture last Wednesday, securing a BUCS semi-�inal appearance in what was a fantastic day for the club.

With around 350 fans in attendance for the 3pm pushback, anticipation was rife as the ladies went toe to toe with a strong Nottingham side that �inished 4th in the BUCS Premier North Division. Buoyed by their

home support, The Green Army took control of the match early on, setting up a few half-chances before Nottingham could settle. The defence held �irm for the opening ten minutes, but the visitors’ errant passing was giving Exeter a lot of opportunities.

Soon, the ladies were ahead, the goal being scored by Hannah Grif�iths. It was a great �inish from the Welsh International, who rounded the keeper with ease to send the crowd into raptures. This lead only then looked likely to increase, with Exeter continuing to press high. The girls were passing the ball with real con�idence, and Captain Kathryn Lane came close with a speculative �lick across goal. However, the home side were soon two goals to the good,

as a rebounded shot fell into the path of Ness Sharman, who took delight in scoring the simple tap-in from close range.

The girls were passing the ball with real con�idence At this point, Nottingham started to feel their way into the game, becoming dogged in chasing tackles, harrying players and forcing mistakes. Soon, they began to create some opportunities of their own.

One penalty corner looked promising, but none of their chances were converted, as Exeter continued to hold �irm in defence, whilst also pos-

fer Varsity heartbreak EXEPOSÉ

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39

The best of BUCS Selected results from BUCS matches played on 25 February Badminton Women’s 2s Winchester

5 3

Lacrosse Men’s 1s Leeds Beckett

10 7

Women’s 1s Birmingham

13 9

Women’s 2s Warwick

18 4

Squash Women’s 1s Birmingham

0 4

Hockey Men’s 4s Bournemouth

4 0

Women’s 3s Plymouth

3 0

Tennis

HC’s Alex Manton-Jones holds off a Loughborough challenge. Photos: Edwin Yeung & Daniil Orlov

-ing a serious threat at the other end.

Captain Lane soon found herself in trouble, a rash challenge leading to a green card and a corner to the opposition side. However, the resulting strike went wide and Exeter retained their two-goal lead heading into the break.

Half-time oranges consumed, the girls continued to dominate after the break. They pushed early and Lane saw another close effort go wide.

Some excellent defending from Izzy Grigg denied Nottingham on the line, as the home side continued to miss opportunities, with both Clare Poole and Meg Crowson going close. Crowson, however, was soon rewarded for her persistence, as a quick counter attack was �inished off in stylish fashion with a �ine shot into the

top of the net. Exeter were now 3-0 ahead and �irmly in the ascendency.

Grif�iths got her second of the afternoon, calmly rounding the keeper to widen the gap to four Nottingham were no pushovers, however, and continued to threaten.

Goalkeeper Ella Jackson saved well to set Exeter on the counter and the scoreboard was soon �lashing again, as Grif�iths got her second of the afternoon, calmly rounding the keeper again in a one-on-one situation to widen the gap to four.

Now well ahead and with the

game as good as secured, the girls were turning on the �lair, Crowson in particular with some excellent dribbling and �licks. Even though Exeter were well ahead, Nottingham continued to challenge aggressively and eventually managed to bundle the ball in from a penalty corner for a consolation goal, despite the best efforts of Jackson and Grigg on the line.

The visitors did not manage to capitalise on this momentum, however, and it was Exeter’s Sharman who came closest to grabbing another goal in the latter stages.

The whistle blew with the girls winning their �irst ever Varsity 4-1 to set up a BUCS semi-�inal �ixture against Loughborough, in what has been an immensely successful season for the 1s.

Speaking after the match, EULHC 1s Captain Kathryn Lane was delighted by her side’s performance: “All the girls played really well today and I’m really proud of them.” Hannah Grif�iths was rightly named as Woman of the Match after two superbly taken goals and an excellent all round performance.

BUCS Women’s Hockey Semi-Finals • • •

Exeter 1s vs Loughborough 1s Birmingham 1s vs Cardiff 1s/Durham 1s Fixtures to be played on 11 March

Men’s 1s Stirling

4 8

Men’s 3s Men’s 4s

8 4

Women’s 1s Leeds Beckett

4 8

Volleyball Men’s 1s UCL

3 2

Rugby Union Men’s 3s Bath

50 26

Men’s 4s Bath

15 5

Men’s 6s University of St Mark & St John

36 12

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SPORT EDITOR

James Beeson sport@exepose.com

EULHC win Hockey Varsity

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<< FULL VARSITY REPORTS PAGES 38 & 39: • EULHC 4-1 Nottingham • 800+ watch as Men’s lose on penalty flicks • EUMHC 2s through to Trophy semi-final • EULHC 2s crash out to Cambridge >> The Exeter girls celebrate winning their first ever Varsity. From left to right: Frankie Maffei, Bobbie Burkin and Hannah Griffiths. Photo: Edwin Yeung

In this issue of Exeposé Sport...

Interviewed: Head of Rugby World Cup Page 36

Demons end season with 18-0 win For the latest BUCS Page 37 content go online