Impact Magazine Issue 230

NOTTINGHAM’S BEST KEPT SECRET: INSIDE LENTON’S ART SQUATS

WWW.IMPACTNOTTINGHAM.COM ISSUE 230 | APRIL 2014

“NEVER A DULL MOMENT”

IMPACT SPEAKS TO MADE IN CHELSEA’S PROUDLOCK

“SOME MONTHS I MAKE OVER A GRAND” STUDENT DRUG DEALERS REVEAL ALL

EDITORIAL In this issue Impact investigates the lives of student drug dealers at The University of Nottingham. Among other things, we also interviewed a stripper and spoke to the students making all the cash by taking part in medical trials.

What’s more exciting than selling drugs, being paid to do drugs and taking off all your clothes? We don’t want to give it all away here, so have a read of our Features and Science sections to find out more.

And who says flu isn’t fun…?

If that’s not enough to tickle your fancy, our articles on supervillains, student athletes and our sexy tattoo shoot are pretty great too.

If you want to be a part of our award winning team and write about crazy shit like drugs, sex and pokemon (check out page 39) then you should consider running in the Impact elections on the 29th March. We’ve got a bunch of new positions available, so keep an eye out for more info on our website and if you have any questions feel free to pop into the office or drop us an email at editorinchief@impactnottingham.com Also we know we keep banging on about it, but don’t forget it’s Impact’s 75th birthday this year and the party is finally coming to you. There will be confetti cannons, Impact balloons and party bags at The Forum on the 27th of March. See ya’ll there.

Sadly, this is our penultimate issue. But in case you start feeling withdrawal Antonia Paget and Emily Tripp symptoms before our last issue comes out Editors-in-Chief next term, then don’t forget to check out the website like the 275,000 other people that did last month. #boom

WE WROTE, YOU RESPONDED ‘Graduate’ on ‘Inside Stats: UoN Department Scores Revealed’ “It is like that Gilbert and Sullivan line: “when everyone is somebody, then noone’s anybody!”. What use is a degree from a department where 18 out of every 20 students gets a 2.1 or 1st?”

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‘Timmy’ on ‘Hallward Library: Cracking Under The Strains Of An Increasing Student Population’

‘Barbara Walters’ on ‘Should The University of Nottingham pay the Living Wage?’

“The library is supposed to be functional, most of the new buildings seem to have forgotten this in place of ‘beautiful architecture’”.

“The idea that adopting a living wage will lead to wage inflation is ludicrous – people on minimum wage aren’t paid enough to provide for themselves and their families, paying someone enough money to buy food and pay their bills wouldn’t inspire greed!”.

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CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE

REGULARS

Deadlines and drug deals

4

Lap dancer reveals all:

10

“A Cesspit of drugs”

7

“I was shot in Pakistan”

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Student drug dealers at UoN

Impact investigates drugs in University Halls

Meet the Neighbours

Impact speaks to Lenton residents surrounded by students

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Stripping, feminism and future aspirations UoN lecturers beyond the lecture theatre

Social Media Stalking Are you guilty too?

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Comment Travel Science

16 18 20

Food

26

Style

28

Exposure

34

What’s On

36

Gaming

38

Film & TV

42

Arts

47

Music

50

Sport

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A D N A A A M B D M LASS LIVES C HE T T O RS T E L S N I A FIR CT DELVEST DRUG DE IMPA STUDEN ’S N O OF U

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“It wasn’t like I wanted to deal drugs”, James Pryor* tells Impact. “The opportunity was presented to me and I thought it could be a way to make quite easy money”.

Breaking the law and risking prison time may not be the safest way to make money, but for some students the extra cash is worth the risk. In an Impact survey of over 850 students, 10% admitted to selling illegal drugs. Impact interviews four drug dealers at the University of Nottingham who are defying the law outside of the lecture hall.

THE SUPPLY

James sold MDMA and cannabis during the first two years of his degree: “I got my supply through people doing a similar thing to me but on a bigger scale”, he says. “The bigger weight you buy, the better price you get – and if I thought it was a good price I’d take it”.

Lewis Carville*, who started dealing towards the end of his first year at university, tells Impact: “Initially it was just a way to source what I wanted for myself. That’s why I started buying larger amounts”. Lewis dealt 2C-I, DMT and occasionally MDMA.

“EVERYONE GETS A BIT OF MDMA AND SMOKES WEED IN THEIR FIRST TWO YEARS. THEN IN THIRD YEAR THEY GET PARANOID AND STOP TAKING DRUGS”.

After originally sourcing drugs on SilkRoad, an online drug marketplace, he found contacts closer to Nottingham and continued dealing until the end of his second year: “I realised I would have to keep anything left over at home over the summer, which was too risky. Now I just deal every now and again”.

Millie Johnson* has also been dealing since the end of her first year: “My friend and I grow magic mushrooms”, she reveals. “It’s easy to do once you have all the equipment and the recipe, and you can get everything from your local hardware shop or online”.

Millie bought the equipment legally when she started growing mushrooms, and it only cost her £30 to set everything up. She also sells MDMA, LSD, Valium, Ketamine and Mkat, which she buys off a wholesale contact.

“I think of it as selling the experience”, says Amy Garfield*, who deals hallucinogens such as LSD, Ayahuasca and DMT. “People want MDMA so I sell that too. I also sell Modafinil, which everyone wants now”.

“GROWING MAGIC MUSHROOMS IS EASY TO DO ONCE YOU HAVE ALL THE EQUIPMENT AND THE RECIPE… YOU CAN GET EVERYTHING LOCALLY OR ONLINE”.

THE CUSTOMERS

Each of the student drug dealers told Impact that they predominantly sell to other students: “I sell to a variety of people – from ‘uni lads’ to hippies”, says Millie. “I started selling to my friends and then built a network of customers through them”.

“It wasn’t hard to find customers”, James remarks. “Within my friendship group most people were recreational drug users, and they were interested in getting them from me”.

James used to deal cocaine whilst at university in Leeds, and commented that the drug scene in Nottingham was fairly tame in comparison.

James adds that he thinks there is a general pattern in drug use amongst students at the University of Nottingham. “Everyone gets a bit of MDMA and smokes weed in their first two years. Then in third year they get paranoid and stop taking drugs”.

Lewis mainly deals to his friends or their friends. With 63% of students surveyed by Impact revealing that a friend sorts out their drug supply for them, it’s no wonder student drug dealers build up a network of customers so easily.

Amy tells Impact that she finds her customers through word of mouth: “I deal almost exclusively to students. People are interested because hallucinogens are harder to source”.

She explains how she thinks that hallucinogens are capable of improving people’s lives: “I’m giving people a very good chance of a great experience that they can’t recreate anywhere else. It’s great to hear that people have had really cool experiences, or even sometimes life-changing experiences, depending on the drug”.

Amy’s view that hallucinogens can be beneficial is not uncommon. Millie adds: “I’ve had higher essay marks thanks to ideas that have popped up in my head whilst tripping”.

THE CASH

“Drug dealing can be pretty appealing to students as you can make a huge profit”, Millie reveals.

Considering 70% of students tell Impact that they have taken drugs, profit stacks up for students who are willing to go against the law to provide for their peers.

“Some months I make over a grand”, Millie adds. She explains that through buying an ounce of MDMA for around £400 and then selling it for £30-£40 per gram, she would double her money.

“On average I would earn £400-£500 a month”, says James, adding that the money was the main perk of the job. “It was fucking annoying having to go and meet people at random hours, and getting calls at 5am from people who wanted to keep the party going, when you had to get stuff done the next day”.

For Lewis, who shares with Impact that dealing usually earns him around £300 a month, the extra income allowed him to worry less about money. “My parents pay my rent anyway, so it’s more my friends that limit my expenditure”, he reveals. At times when he would be dealing in larger quantities, Lewis would make a profit of around £400 for selling a few grams of 2C-I.

“I’M GIVING PEOPLE A VERY GOOD CHANCE OF A GREAT EXPERIENCE THAT THEY CAN’T RECREATE ANYWHERE ELSE”.

“I’m not a big time seller”, Amy says. “I don’t have the time or resources to be.

Hallucinogens are a different game”. She earns between £150-£400 per month, and added that she doesn’t deal to make lots of money.

“I deal to keep comfy and give people good experiences”.

THE LAW

“I got caught in town with some MDMA on me, which I was taking to supply”, James reveals, “Luckily it was only a couple of grams”.

According to GOV.UK, if James were to be caught with a large enough amount to legally

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN TYNEGATE | 5

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count as intent to supply, he could have faced up to life in prison or an unlimited fine.

Instead, he was given a general possession charge and a written caution. He tells Impact that this close shave with the police made him stop dealing. “It was a wake up call. But I was never at risk of getting caught for dealing”.

“I’ve never had any problems”, Millie says. She tells Impact that the only drug related incidents she knows of include the raid on The Loft – a venue in Nottingham that was caught hosting a cannabis event – and that some houses with ‘grow rooms’ have been raided.

“I’VE HAD HIGHER ESSAY MARKS THANKS TO IDEAS THAT HAVE POPPED UP IN MY HEAD WHILST TRIPPING”.

Lewis keeps his supply in a locked case. “This type of case is usually used to transport guns.

I keep it locked with a padlock and it’s airtight”, he says. Because of these precautions, Lewis isn’t worried about his drugs being found.

“If you’re not an idiot and you keep to a relatively small scale then it won’t happen to you”, Amy adds.

THE CHEMISTRY

Millie tells Impact that some drugs are often sold as others. She mentions 25i-NBOMe, which has been sold falsely at festivals and in Nottingham. “It was going round as LSD”, she says.

Similar to the recent outbreak of PMA being sold as MDMA, 25i-NBOMe and PMA are cheaper to acquire but can be sold for more if they are mislabeled as the latter. Both drugs are also more toxic than the drugs they are being sold as.

“I don’t know many dealers that use drug testing kits”, Millie adds. “You can usually tell the quality of something by looking at it and tasting it. But that’s if you know what you’re looking for”.

Without a drug testing kit, it is impossible to know for certain what substance you are being

sold. 37% of students surveyed by Impact think that the University of Nottingham’s Students’ Union should introduce amnesty drug testing in order to help protect students, while 32% said they did not have an opinion on the issue. The SU declined to comment because they told Impact that they have not yet researched the issue.

With many incidents of deadly substances being deceptively sold as less harmful drugs, Impact asks whether these student dealers worry about the purity of their supply.

“The way the law is at the moment there isn’t much you can do”, Lewis responds. “I have a drug testing kit which I use when I have to”.

Millie says: “I know the quality of my drugs and would not sell a bad batch if I thought it could cause harm. I tend to try before I buy something too and if I don’t like it then I won’t sell it”.

James was never worried about the purity of his supply whilst dealing: “Not only was I getting a good price, I was also getting good quality as well”.

James contemplates the legal status of these drugs, and argues that criminalising drug use is more detrimental than legalising everything.

He says: “If these drugs were legal you wouldn’t have issues of people dying from contaminated drugs because it would all be pharmaceutical quality”.

THE RESPONSIBILITY

Only 3% of students surveyed by Impact say that taking illegal drugs have led to serious medical consequences. However, with many students mixing substances, sometimes student dealers must make a difficult decision.

“If you can see someone’s too high or too drunk then it isn’t fair to sell to them”, Amy says, “Especially if they’re asking for something like DMT”.

“I’ve never refused to deal to someone”, says Millie. “They choose to take it and I am just supplying it. If they couldn’t get it off me they’d get it off someone else”.

Both Lewis and James sell MDMA, and they both say that they don’t worry about dealing it because it isn’t addictive: “It makes people

6 | SARAH DEAR | ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ALEX MAWBY AND EMILY SHACKLETON

behave better than alcohol does”, says James.

“If I was dealing cocaine then I might have said something, but I didn’t have that problem”.

Lewis says that, since he usually sells to his friends, he doesn’t worry too much: “They know what they’re doing. I’ve never had to look out for them”, he shares. James adds: “I don’t have an issue with giving drugs out”.

“IT WAS FUCKING ANNOYING HAVING TO GO AND MEET PEOPLE AT RANDOM HOURS AND GETTING CALLS AT 5AM”.

THE FUTURE

Dealing drugs has provided these students with a significant extra income, but what will happen at the end of their time at University?

Most of the students tell us that while the industry suits their lifestyle now, they’re unsure whether it would fit into the life of a graduate.

As James says: “At the time I was partying a bit more so it worked. Hopefully by the time I graduate I won’t need to deal to support my lifestyle.”

Amy tells Impact that she will not deal after university, and says that she wants to leave the lifestyle behind after finishing her degree. But Millie hasn’t ruled out the possibility of dealing after University, and says that she will probably continue dealing on the side of a career: “I’ll probably continue on a smaller level every now and then”, she adds.

The financial gain from dealing may have been worth the risks for these students, but it doesn’t seem to be a viable career option in the long term. As Lewis says: “It’s a lot harder to make a real income through selling drugs than people think. I won’t continue dealing unless I’m truly desperate”.

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UNIVERSITY HALLS:

“A CESSPIT OF DRUGS” Living in halls is a time of freedom and experimentation for many, and for some that includes drug use. In a recent Impact survey of 900 students, 18% revealed they have bought drugs on campus and 19% admitted to taking drugs on University grounds.

Katie Jones* is a student at the University of Nottingham and previously lived in Hugh Stewart hall. “Most people I met there either had taken drugs already, or wanted to try them”, she tells Impact. “In first year my drug dealer would drive straight up to the reception in halls and drop off a number of drugs to me, including cannabis, MDMA and ketamine”.

She says campus is an ideal place to experiment.

“IF A CLASS A DRUG IS FOUND THEN STUDENTS FACE IMMEDIATE EXCLUSION AND THE POLICE ARE INFORMED”.

“On a nice day University Park is a really nice place to trip or get stoned. I have gone to lectures stoned or still wired from the weekend.

I’ve also wandered through the Portland building whilst tripping on mushrooms”.

Not everyone who takes drugs on campus has avoided penalties. Dan* and Tom*, who were caught with cannabis in Willoughby in February during an unexpected raid of their rooms, reveal that this hall in particular does not take drug use lightly.

Dan tells Impact: “I woke up and there were three people barging into my room, going through all of my things. Then the following Friday they walked in at eight in the morning and basically told us to leave”.

Dan and Tom were evicted from their halls and were essentially left homeless. “We slept on this person’s floor in another hall for a few days.

We weren’t allowed to do that, but we couldn’t really sleep on the streets”, says Dan. Both Dan and Tom said the Student Advice Centre was unhelpful with the ordeal. “The gave us numbers to homeless shelters, and stuff which would mean squatting with other homeless people”, says Dan. A spokesperson from the Student Advice Centre tells Impact that due to client confidentiality they cannot speak about specific cases, but said in cases of eviction: “We advise students to explore emergency alternative accommodation including staying

with friends or family, returning to their family home, using either third party hall or private rented sector accommodation, and considering hostels, hotels or B&Bs. “We do advise the use of homeless shelters if the student has indicated that none of the other options are suitable.” The Student Advice Centre adds that they also discuss both the financial and the contractual implications of these options with students.

The pair have found another place to live, but said that they have to continue paying their rent for Willoughby as well as their new accommodation. “I’ve got no money now.

Willoughby won’t even give us back our money for breakfast and dinner”, says Dan. Both say that neither are allowed into Willoughby, despite having already paid for the meals. Willoughby Hall told Impact that they are unable to comment on individiual cases.

Neither of their parents know about their situation. Whilst Tom’s bursaries have helped cover paying two rents, Dan says that he has had to apply for extra funds to help his situation. The University was able to give him £110.

The experience also affected the students’ academic studies. Dan says: “I went to all my lectures whilst I was homeless, and I missed an important deadline because I was sorting out where to live”.

“I WENT TO ALL MY LECTURES WHILST I WAS HOMELESS”..

Only 27% of students surveyed think the University fairly punishes students caught with drugs, but Dave Walton, the Compliance and Investigations Manager who informed Tom and Dan of their evictions, told Impact: “When students join halls they are given a briefing by the warden outlining the University’s position on drug use. If a student is found in the possession of cannabis they are given a warning, if a second offence is committed then they are excluded from the halls”.

He added: “If a Class A drug is found then students face immediate exclusion and the police are informed”.

Despite the University’s zero tolerance policy towards drug use on campus, students continue to take drugs and many get away with it unnoticed. But for the students who get caught, the consequences can be life changing.

ABBY ROSS | ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SARAH DEAR | 7

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MEET THE NEIGHBOURS NOTTINGHAM LOCALS AND STUDENTS REVEAL THE REALITIES OF LIVING SIDE BY SIDE With students now making up a fifth of Nottingham’s total population, according to the Complete University Guide, it might be easy to forget that it’s home to other people too. Ever wondered what it’s like for the local Nottingham residents who live next to students on a daily basis? Impact spoke to five residents, who shared with us the positive and negative sides of Lenton life.

“IT’S CHANGED DRAMATICALLY”.

Lenton might be considered the main student population hub, but it’s not always been that way; in the last twenty years the neighbourhood has undergone a transformation. Mr Dayne has lived in Lenton for 23 years and remarked: “There weren’t students on either side of us when we moved in but obviously in the last ten or so years it has changed dramatically”.

Students haven’t just been moving into the area,

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residents have also been moving out. Ms Yuill, 92, tells Impact: “It’s completely changed. It was all young families before”. She refers to the school closures in 2007 and 2008 implemented as the city council had 5,000 spare school slots: “There wasn’t enough school aged children. It’s mostly students now”.

For the locals who remain, their main complaint is the noise that students can make, especially at night. Mr Selmy*, 37, has three young children and admits that student parties can make his life more difficult. “Once the kids get to sleep it’s pretty much fine. It’s the lack of sleep for the parents which is the bigger issue!

“When I went round to ask if they’d turn the music down and they said: ‘Well, what do you expect? You’re living a student area.’ That’s not the best really”.

Some residents feel far more bothered about students’ presence in Lenton. “You want to know about students? I hate them!” Mr Ashford* tells Impact. “Bloody students. They’re up at four

o’clock in the morning having parties, do I look like someone who’s up at four o’clock in the morning having parties?”

“OUR NEIGHBOUR HAD A VENDETTA AGAINST THE HOUSE”.

In some cases, previous tenants can make such a bad impression that resentment remains even once they’ve moved out. Becky*, a second year Sociology student tells Impact: “Our neighbour had a vendetta against the house. She had called the police out on its previous inhabitants countless times so we warned her before our first party.

“We found out the next day that she had called the police in anticipation of the party - before we had made any noise at all!”

However, some residents don’t mind occasional

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disturbances. Ms Patel*, 32, mentions: “At the weekends and when there’s parties it can get pretty loud and noisy, but overall it’s not that bad”. Ms Yuill admits her bad hearing helps with the problem: “They might have the occasional party or something like that, but I don’t usually notice”.

Ella Funge, third year English student and neighbour to a non-student family, admits she feels a bit guilty about the noise from her house: “I do feel bad when I remember they’re there and that we’ve been playing loud music. We’ve not had a confrontation with them, but I still feel bad”.

There are some areas of Lenton that are not completely dominated by students and it’s here where relations between non-students and students can be even worse. Tony Green*, a Nottingham University student who lives near Canning Circus, remarks that the only real interaction he’s had with his neighbours was when he held a house party and got 25 noise complaints for it.

“Residents in the Park are definitely not used to any kind of noise from students which is probably why they made such a fuss. I don’t think it would have been as much of a problem if we lived further in Lenton”.

It’s not just noise which causes problems. Mr Ashford believes that the amount of rubbish left by students on the streets is getting out of control. “They can’t even take the bloody bins in.

You should have seen it a couple of months ago.

The bins are always full of rubbish. We’ve got rats and everything round here because of students”.

Ms Patel also mentions that rubbish is a really big problem: “There’s always a lot of litter and they leave over-filled bins, which is a big problem as sometimes foxes and cats come in,” she explains.

“It can make it quite messy and not very nice.

I’ve also got to be careful when I drive because there’s always a load of broken bottles about”.

Ms Yuill, though, admits that the amount of rubbish is an inevitable part of living in large groups: “If there’s four or five of you, you’re going to have to have more rubbish. That’s fair enough”.

Despite all the noise and rubbish, the majority of residents that we spoke to agreed that they didn’t have a problem with living in a student area. In fact, it even has its advantages. Ms Yuill tells us that it can be quite helpful at times: “Anything I can’t do, I take next door. Taking the tops off jars and that sort of thing”.

Mr Dayne reflects that living in a student area really doesn’t bother him: “We’re tolerant of the students and they’re tolerant of our sort of shambolic existence, living in a student area is of no concern to us honestly”.

Mrs Yuill agrees: “It’s odd how people don’t like young people… everyone, including me, has been one!” *Names have been changed.

CHARLOTTE MCINTYRE | ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY EMILY SHACKLETON AND WILL HAZELL | 9

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“IT’S NOT SEEDY, IT’S WHAT YOU MAKE IT TO BE” LAP DANCER DANNI FROM CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY STRIPPERS REVEALS THE REALITIES OF STRIPPING, FEMINISM AND HER FUTURE ASPIRATIONS.

Danni began dancing in strip clubs at age 21 whilst studying at Loughborough University. It is a job that has helped to fund her undergraduate degree and paid for her masters degree outright. It has also helped to pay for her own art studio in Islington. In an interview with Impact, she revealed what it’s really like taking off her clothes for strangers, how the job is subsidising her career as an artist and her recent input on Channel 4 show Strippers.

HOW DID YOU START OUT AS A STRIPPER? I’ve been a lap dancer on and off for quite some time. I started when I was doing my undergraduate degree at Loughborough. I was on a night out, and I already knew how to pole dance. Someone approached me at the club I was at and said I was really good at it, and I thought I’d try it to earn some extra pennies. They told me to go and audition, so I did and they told me I could come back.

I didn’t know what to expect, especially when I found out that we had to lap dance for the

“I TAKE MY CLOTHES OFF TO TOTAL STRANGERS AND I DANCE FOR A HIGHER PURPOSE”. money. You see on the TV people throwing money at you while dancing round a pole, but that’s not the case - you make your money lap dancing.

WERE YOU OPEN ABOUT THE NATURE OF YOUR WORK? Yes, I’m a pretty straightforward person. I told my mum and dad that I was doing my audition and they said ‘as long as you’re safe and don’t put yourself in danger’. They’ve seen the opportunities it’s given me, so they can’t really complain - it’s paid for my masters at Coventry and got me through university without having to really struggle.

WHAT IS THE MONEY YOU EARN GOING TOWARDS? I’m a practicing artist at the moment. I’m getting my work in as many exhibitions as possible to make a name for myself as an

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artist. At some point, I would like to teach at university level. My artwork ties in nicely with the job that I do - stripping is a catalyst for a lot of my artwork because it’s about feminism.

For me it’s quite an interesting subject. There are a lot of different issues that being a dancer brings up, and are quite interesting to study within art.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES OF BEING A LAP DANCER? DO YOU FIND THAT CUSTOMERS CAN OVERSTEP BOUNDARIES? The clubs I work in are pretty good. They have to have cameras in every single booth.

Management watches you, and security are around to keep an eye on you. I’m actually in a pretty safe environment, more so than if I was in a normal club. Realistically, nothing really happens - the customers can’t touch us and we can’t touch them. It’s as simple as that.

“YOU SEE ON THE TV PEOPLE THROWING MONEY AT YOU WHILE DANCING ROUND A POLE, BUT THAT’S NOT THE CASE”.

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“I’M ACTUALLY IN A PRETTY SAFE ENVIRONMENT, MORE SO THAN IF I WAS IN A NORMAL CLUB”.

“THEY CAN’T TOUCH US AND WE CAN’T TOUCH THEM. IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THAT”.

“[STRIPPING] GOT ME THROUGH UNIVERSITY WITHOUT HAVING TO REALLY STRUGGLE”.

ARE RELATIONSHIPS DIFFICULT FOR YOU? Not really. My boyfriend accepts what I do, and knows that I’ve got higher goals. I’m pretty lucky in that respect though - my ex-boyfriend was pretty jealous. At first it was a novelty for him, but after a while when we got into a more serious relationship he didn’t like it and he tried to make me stop. I think it depends on the guy and their level of insecurity to be honest.

DO YOU FIND STRIPPING EMPOWERING? Yes, because I’ve used it in a positive way and it has allowed me to continue my education.

I find that I get more enjoyment out of being a self-employed dancer. I work where and when I want and I don’t answer to anyone. If a customer is overly rude to me, I don’t have to put up with it and they can be removed by the

“WE DON’T ALL LIKE TO PARTY AND LOTS OF GIRLS USE THE JOB TO HELP THEM WORK TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE”.

door staff. It’s allowed me to become assertive and to realise that if you want something then you have to work for it.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NO MORE PAGE 3 CAMPAIGN? IT’S QUITE A BIG TOPIC ON CAMPUS RIGHT NOW. I think it’s a consenting situation. If girls choose to go topless on a newspaper and they feel that it’s getting them somewhere, then I don’t see an issue there. I take my clothes off to total strangers and I dance for a higher purpose - I don’t feel any immorality about that at all.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE THAT YOU WANTED TO BE INVOLVED WITH THE CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY ‘STRIPPERS’?

The other girl who was in the same episode as me said to the people from Channel 4: “Us girls just like to party and drink and I’m happy going home with £20”. I was absolutely shocked. It portrayed strippers as bad human beings who like to get shit faced and do crack. Being in the media, [Channel 4] have a responsibility to be impartial and not just portray the negative sides

“IF A CUSTOMER IS OVERTLY RUDE TO ME, I DON’T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH IT AND THEY CAN BE REMOVED BY THE DOOR STAFF”. of dancing, so I basically confronted them and said: “I hope you’re not using her as a prime example. We don’t all like to party and lots of girls use the job to help them work towards a better future”. I told them why I dance and what my reasons are, and they asked if I could get involved.

IS THERE ANYTHING PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE INDUSTRY? I find that most people just want to know what I earn, if I do extras and if we all take drugs.

I just want to put forward that my personal experience is that it’s not seedy - it’s a form of entertainment. It’s also what you make it to be and you can use it to support your future goals.

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“I was shot at in Pakistan”.

Meet the UoN academics who are not afraid to venture beyond the lecture theatre.

For many lecturers at the University, teaching is only a tiny part of their schedule. Impact spoke to four of the University’s most intrepid researchers.

Sam Okyere, Sociology Lecturer

“I work with children in Ghana who are involved in informal gold mining”.

WHAT IS YOUR MAIN AREA OF RESEARCH? Human rights, specifically the rights of children. I’m interested in children’s participation in the labour market of prohibited industries; contexts which people would define as child labour. I have carried out research with children in Ghana who are involved in informal gold mining. I felt that the voices of the working children themselves were not represented enough, so I thought it would be useful to talk to a group of children who are affected and see what they think about their participation, and how this compares to policy makers, academics and the general public.

HAS DOING THE RESEARCH AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY? I am originally from Ghana, but actually carrying out this research opened my eyes to a lot of things within the country which I was very oblivious to, underlying my position of privilege in comparison to those I research.

It underlined my own ignorance about the forms of human rights violations that happen to different communities around the world that no one seems to hear about.

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DO YOU HAVE AN ULTIMATE AIM FOR THE PROJECT? Yes I do. I’ve found so many injustices related to the informal mining and I want to explore them further. For example, gold was discovered under a large farming community so all the people were thrown off of their land to make way for the gold mine to be set up there. This led to abject poverty in that area, and in the process, horrible forms of human rights violations took place: people were beaten and dogs were set on some of the people. This sort of thing is very common. I am really interested in examining how situations like this can be avoided.

Andrew Poulter - Archeology Lecturer “I was the first westerner to get an agreement to work in Eastern Europe as an archaeologist”.

bodies and armour, weapons and cultural goods. That was a fantastic site.

I also started another project, on a site called Dobri Dyal, a Roman hilltop fortress. It turned out to be extremely unusual because it had very well preserved fortifications, with a massive gate tower and a curtain wall and also some amazingly upstanding buildings.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PARTICULARLY MEMORABLE STORIES? I had a professional team of students with me when I went to Bulgaria, all from eastern Europe because it was during the Communist period. One Hungarian girl complained to the Lieutenant from the Young Communist League that the food was really bad. He then used the money meant for a group holiday after the project to buy better food, but no one noticed the improvement.

WHAT IS YOUR MAIN AREA OF RESEARCH? My main area of research is investigating the transition between the later Roman Empire and Early Medieval Europe. It all started with a big conference I organised in 1984, and in 1985 I was the first westerner to get an agreement to work in Eastern Europe as an archaeologist.

When some German students asked for the holiday money, he told them it was all gone.

He said “You’ve eaten it. You can nail me to the wall like Jesus Christ and I still can’t give you the money!” The Germans got angry, so the Lieutenant ran out the back and jumped over a barbed wire fence. He got into a car and reversed, with the Germans chasing after him. That was quite amusing.

WHAT HAS YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT BEEN? In 1996 I started a new project which was excavating what should have been a lateRoman village. It finally turned out to be a fortress with beautifully preserved upstanding walls and a lot of environmental evidence with

“PEOPLE WERE BEATEN AND DOGS WERE SET ON SOME OF THE PEOPLE. THIS SORT OF THING IS VERY COMMON”.

FEATURES

Michèle Clarke - Geography Lecturer

“The village leaders came out of their houses and shot at us”.

WHAT’S YOUR MAIN AREA OF RESEARCH? I work on climate impacts on the environment and society, including research on how extreme weather and storminess have changed over the years. I also work on rural energy, food security, ecology and development issues.

WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU LIVED? Most of my academic career has involved working in Asia. I spend a fair bit of time travelling to field sites and meetings across the world each year. I meet a huge range of people from rural villagers, to researchers and students, university vice-chancellors and government employees. My PhD focused on Tibet and Pakistan, and my current research projects are focused in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma (Myanmar), Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Brazil, Nigeria and Uganda.

IS IT STRESSFUL TRAVELLING SO MUCH? I have experienced some fairly hectic and dangerous events - I was once shot at in a tribal area in Pakistan. I was mapping the glacial features around Nanga Parbat with a colleague and we climbed along the mountain ridge towards a village. The tribal

village leaders clearly didn’t want foreigners anywhere near so they came out of their houses and shot at us. It worked, we left rapidly!

Those sorts of odd occasion are few and far between though. While they might seem a big thing at the time, life moves on quickly and it’s better to dwell on the positives associated with visiting new places. The main issue for me working abroad is cumulative sleep deprivation and continuing to work though tiredness without showing it.

DO YOU FEEL YOU’VE MADE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE PLACES YOU’VE VISITED? The bioenergy research I am undertaking looks at trying to bring energy services to poor rural communities to make a measurable difference to people’s lives. That means a lot to me and makes the hard work worthwhile.

Esther Bott - Sociology Lecturer

“I trekked to the Everest Base Camp and interviewed Sherpas”.

WHAT’S YOUR MAIN AREA OF RESEARCH? I look at the effect that tourism has on remote and developing areas, the locals, the landscape, environments, local communities and culture.

WHERE HAS YOUR RESEARCH TAKEN YOU? It’s taken me all over. In 2009 I trekked to the Everest Base Camp and interviewed Sherpas about their experiences, and also their response to mountaineering tourism. That was truly amazing and inspirational. I’ve also explored the impact of tourism in the Wadi Rum district of Jordan and interviewed local people and the tourists to map changes to the area. I did a similar project in Patagonia, Argentina and I’ve just come back from Mexico.

HAS IT AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY? In Mexico I found myself getting involved with a church mission, which was personally very enlightening. They were working within a shanty town and looking at the influence and impact of poverty. Gang violence and drug dealing were also rife there. There are definitely darker aspects to my work - it’s not all about climbing mountains and having fun.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS? I’m working on sex tourism at the moment and working on more niche tourism in the developing world. In October I am almost definitely returning to Nepal to explore child sex trafficking.

“GANG VIOLENCE AND DRUG DEALING WERE RIFE. THERE ARE DEFINITELY DARKER ASPECTS TO MY WORK.”

WILL HAZELL, EYLÜL ÇEKIRGE, RADHIKA CHAND, ABBY ROSS | 13

FEATURES

SOCIAL MEDIA STALKING

ARE YOU GUILTY TOO?

66%

HAVE STALKED THE PROFILE OF AN EX’S NEW LOVER

62%

HAVE STALKED THE PROFILE OF THEIR PARTNER’S EX

20%

SAY THEY ARE ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA STALKING

81%

8%

HAVE READ AN EX’S PRIVATE MESSAGES AFTER THEIR BREAK-UP

HAVE STALKED THE PROFILE OF AN EX

33% HAVE BEEN CAUGHT OUT WHILST STALKING - BY ACCIDENTALLY LIKING POSTS OR ‘FAVOURITING’ OLD TWEETS Like

Comment

Share

45%

HAVE SEARCHED FOR A ONE NIGHT STAND THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

42%

HAVE HAD A BROWSE THROUGH A LECTURER'S FACEBOOK OR TWITTER

35%

OF STUDENTS HAVE SPENT OVER AN HOUR STALKING THE PROFILE OF SOMEONE THEY BARELY KNOW Like

Share

55%

28% HAVE LOGGED IN TO THEIR BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND’S ACCOUNT AND READ THEIR PRIVATE MESSAGES

Comment

HAVE CHANGED THEIR OPINION OF SOMEONE AFTER LOOKING THROUGH THEIR PROFILE Like

Comment

Share

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERINA BOGOEVA | INFOGRAPHIC BY HARRY DINSDALE | 15

COMMENT | DEBATE

SHOULD THE MAINTENANCE LOAN BE INCREASED?

YES

If you look at the GOV.UK website for all student loan know-how you might notice that the maximum maintenance loan available to students outside of London is increasing by a thrilling fifty five pounds.

The lower cost accommodation provided by universities has shot up by 23% since 2009-10.

I’m privileged enough to have parents who can supplement my student loans, but what about people who are not this lucky?

But don’t crack open the bubbly just yet. Even if you are entitled to the full maintenance loan, the increase is below the rate of inflation in the UK, and students already face an estimated shortfall of £7,800 when it comes to funding living and studying outside of London.

According to a report by the Office for Fair Access, a third of new system students receive an institutional bursary, specifically 49% of students from routine/manual socioeconomic backgrounds. However this is only £980 on average, which does not cover that shortfall.

The NUS/Unipol Accommodation Survey 2012/13 described this transition as moving “from the public purse to students”. Despite the fact that we are deemed to be legally independent from our parents, our entitlement to additional grants is tied their salaries. It is either down to ‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ or yourself to make up the shortfall.

Students turn to part-time jobs to fund their degree, a third of whom reported detrimental effects on their studies due to reduced studying time and increased stress. A study carried out by Glasgow University even suggested that the more hours students work, the more detrimental the effect on their mental health.

We’re not talking Student Cribs’ slick houses, Smirnoff, Starbucks and shopping sprees - this is just for getting by.

Enough is enough. It is time the government cut young people some slack and increase the maintenance loan.

The student loan system is opaque and unreliable, but is it stingy? Not necessarily.

Students are potentially entitled to both loans and grants.

been delayed and finding that 45% had been able to ask their parents for funds. Clearly, the ‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ does exist to some extent.

A student with a household income below £25,000, for example, would be entitled to a loan of £3,800, and a non-repayable grant of £3,300 each year. A student with a household income of £43,000 stops being entitled to a grant, but receives a loan of £5,200.

This isn’t always the case: some parents are stretched by debt or a large number of dependents, and some may have estranged themselves from their child. However, a blanket increase in the maintenance loan is not necessarily the answer, especially when plenty of students do have parents happy to help, whose contributions would simply be ‘crowded out’ by extra funds from the government.

Once your household income goes above £43,000, the government assumes that parents give you 1/10th of incremental increases, and deducts your loan accordingly.

When your household income reaches around £60,000, the deductions stop, leaving you with £3,575 - the minimum possible loan. £3,575 seems paltry, given that Raleigh Park, boasting the University’s cheapest halls rent, still costs over £4,000 for 44 weeks. However, the reason for this apparent shortfall is clear: students with low household incomes are entitled to almost double what those on with high household incomes receive, simply because it is assumed that well-off parents will support their children. Is it really the role of the government to pay for people’s education when their parents could pay for it themselves?

Impact has found that this assumption does bear out, surveying students whose loans had

Instead, a tailored service would take into account the reality for many, where their parents are either unable or unwilling to pay.

This could work in conjunction with a more accessible student support service, which would give advice both on alternative finance such as bursaries, and on budgeting and parttime jobs.

Arguing for a larger loan for the sake of independence does very little when it automatically excludes parents from responsibility in contributing, only to replace them with the government. Instead, we should be asking for a more understanding student finance system which would help those in need to help themselves.

16 | LOUISA CHENCINER AND PRIYA THETHI | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JO.SAU AND JAINA VIA FLICKR

NO

COMMENT | COLUMNISTS

UNIVERSITIES AND STUDENTS’ UNIONS SHOULD AVOID EMPTY GESTURE POLITICS This aside, the past year has seen a fair amount of gesture politics on campuses; the most obvious being the election of Edward Snowden as Rector of Glasgow University. This is a meaningful position which involves the representation of students at different levels of the university management, but the chances of the whistleblower fulfilling his duties are positively zero.

The thought process behind the recent decision to pull two newspapers from our campus shops is an understandable one.

Clearly, the limited impact this move has, and the negative reactions it provoked, means it is not the best example of the SU at work. But at least it serves as evidence of a tangible difference being made: a rare use of ‘hard’ power from a body whose activities often are more of the ‘soft’ kind.

Similarly at Bradford, calls are being made to remove Imran Khan of his chancellorship; the legendary Pakistan cricketer having failed to attend a graduation ceremony since 2010. In fact, the university appears to have form, having awarded magician Dynamo an honorary degree last year for “commitment to his home city”. But really, was this anything but a PR exercise?

Students’ Unions, meanwhile, have a tendency to ‘make a stand’ or ‘send a message’ against things: US surveillance, government cuts, trade union strikes, and so on. The point is not that such bodies should refrain from campaigning on wider issues – indeed, the thought of £9,000 tuition fees being implemented without a backlash is ludicrous.

But the truth is that student politics is often at its best when it concentrates on the unglamorous: increased printing credits, fairer library fines, audio recordings of lectures, reasonably priced pints.

My advice to any student politician would be to aim at a precise, modest goal and fight vigourously for it. The Living Wage campaign is one such example; local, tangible, meaningful, and - with King’s and Birmingham recently deciding to pay staff at least £7.65 an hour - highly achievable.

FACEBOOK SELF-AGGRANDISEMENT IS THE ULTIMATE CONFORMISM Mark Zuckerberg’s noble maxim is that Facebook is for “helping you to connect and share with the people in your life”. But behind his lofty desire to enhance global cohesion, Machiavellian forces are at work. Facebook has become a must-have for the social elite, and Zuckerberg knows it.

In a recent seminar, one classmate was unable to join an online group set up to co-ordinate a presentation because he didn’t have Facebook. On announcing this unheard of phenomenon, everyone looked at him with a mix of shock and pity. No doubt our surprise was rooted in the presumption that his life must be so boring that it doesn’t warrant a Facebook profile. This is indicative of Zuckerberg’s lucrative formula: Facebook profile = worthwhile person.

Facebook is a key ingredient for social acceptance at best, and self-aggrandisement at worst. Here everyone is their own celebrity.

People see their friend and photo counts as barometers of self-worth and many people will view their choice of daily activities through

the Facebook lense. A busy profile lends ‘life’ to users. To be considered ‘boring’ is unthinkable. As a result, the gulf between actual life and Facebook life - the one we would like to lead - grows.

But really Facebook just taps into our basic psychological instinct to conform. Zuckerberg tries to be edgy, different and cool: employees at his office famously go about in their freespirited bliss on roller blades. But ironically, they are capitalising on the very opposite of edginess: conformity.

Today, each moment of our lives, good or bad, is forever etched on this colossal database of social validation. We all want to show off, to prove ourselves and validate our existence, and Facebook serves this primal desire. This is what makes it so marketable, not its utility as a communication device. This is the clever trick behind Zuckerberg’s $31 billion - a personal fortune which makes him wealthier than over 60 countries.

IMAGES BY EBONY INYANGETE | ROBERT SMITH AND ROB MOHER | 17

TRAVEL

WHAT KIND OF

TRAVELLER ARE YOU?

Whether you’ve travelled the world or just stayed in an English hostel, you are bound to have come across other travellers who fit into a certain mould. Maybe you met the harem pant clad drifter, the camera wielding happy snapper, or the classic ex-pat?

Impact Travel are here to help you find out what type of traveller you are. Answer our quiz questions to see who you are.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR BEST REASON FOR TRAVELLING?

WHERE WOULD YOU RATHER STAY? A A hostel or couchsurfing. Basically

anywhere that fits your tight schedule.

A You want to see as many places as

possible, even if you only have a limited amount of time. on a sandy beach somewhere.

B Definitely the main sights and some

C Rent a flat or arrange a homestay.

C You would like to see all the sights, but you

Experiencing the local life is essential.

C Not sure. You’ve always been curious about

A See the main sights.

B You wouldn’t turn an down all-inclusive

deal. Who would stay somewhere where breakfast isn’t included anyway?

B You just want to put your feet up and relax

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO DURING YOUR HOLIDAYS?

other less famous places — as long as you don’t get too tired. get lost exploring those intriguing alleys.

particular places.

WHAT’S ON THE MENU?

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR TRIP?

A Always eating on the run - street

A If you know how to buy tube and bus

vendors are varied and produce the best of the local food.

B Stumble across a place to eat and sit down and see what the place is all about.

C You had no idea what it was the first

time you ate it, but it’s now your new comfort food.

tickets you’re good to go.

B You check websites and travel guides first, but don’t want to make any commitments.

C Listen to local music or read up about the place before you go? Or maybe learn a language.

WHICH SOUVENIR WOULD YOU TAKE HOME WITH YOU?

C A local magazine or newspaper.

A I just want to see all these places and

HOW LONG WOULD LIKE TO STAY? A You’ve already booked your next flight onto a different country. You leave in three days time.

tick them off the bucket list.

B You need time away from your busy life.

C The chance to do something towards

my CV, I reckon. A language course or some volunteering perhaps.

HOW DO GET OUT AND ABOUT?

A A keychain or a string bracelet. They’re small enough to get one from every place you visit.

B A T-shirt.

WHICH IS MORE LIKELY TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO TRAVEL?

A You take the tube, two buses, and walk for another 20 minutes.

B A week should do it. Just long enough to get a proper tan to show off at home.

C Four weeks isn’t long enough. In fact, you are considering staying here forever.

YOUR FLIGHT IS NOW CALLING. WHERE ARE YOU GOING? A Vienna, Austria.

B Cab drivers know their way.

B Bangkok, Thailand.

C You used to walk a lot, but then you

C Montreal, Canada.

discovered how to use the city’s bikes system.

MOSTLY As: THE DRIFTER

MOSTLY Bs: THE TOURIST

MOSTLY Cs: THE BACKPACKER

You have no time to waste because you don’t know when the next time will be when you travel again.

Your friends and you have been planning this trip for some time and you just want to have a good time. You don’t hold your selfies back and your timeline will be sizzling with train stations, airports, bars and clubs.

You have been saving for this trip for quite some time.

Your job or studies are very demanding and you just need to get away and relax before going back to everything. The motto is to lay back and enjoy what the place has to offer. But not much walking, you do enough of that already.

You can’t always justify your choice of destination.

You’re looking for something there but you’re not quite sure what that is.

You will have a go at the language, the local films and the bands. When you go back, you’ll inevitably feel somewhat homesick, so you keep listening to those bands and following what that director has been doing. Who knows… you might go back for a short visit next month?

18 | ILLUSTRATIONS BY HOLLY PURCHASE

TRAVEL

CUBA:

CASTRO, CIGARS, AND CUBA LIBRES

“CUBA’S CAPITAL CITY IS SUFFERING, OR CELEBRATING, AN ON-GOING TIME WARP”.

IT

has never been more pressing to visit the Caribbean island of Cuba.

Travellers need to experience the country in its current unique state, before its doors open to capitalism, bulldozers and coca-cola advertisements.

Stepping into Havana was like stepping back into the 1950s. Cuba’s capital city is suffering, or celebrating, an on-going time warp. The crumbling building facades and uneven road surfaces are just some of the very evident pointers that Cuba is a country falling into an undeniable state of disrepair.

Yet the city is wonderful. 1950s Cadillacs cruise the roads, acting as taxis for both tourists and locals. The city is full of life and colour, with every bar playing live Cuban music to the casual drinkers who sit and watch the heat rise from the tarmac. The people are wonderfully laid back and offer you Romeo Y Julieta or Cohiba cigars from one of the local factories. There’s also salsa dancing in the streets and the backstreet bars.

“IT’S NOT JUST GUEVARA’S FACE THAT IS DRAWN ALL OVER HAVANA, THE STREETS ARE ALSO COVERED IN BEAUTIFUL STREET-ART”.

Aside from the vibrancy of Havana, there is a variety things to do and see across Cuba. The country conforms to the necessary checklist for all Caribbean islands; the beaches are perfect. I’m not talking April mornings off the coast of Wales with icy waters and seagulls, I’m talking white sands and shimmering sea that runs into the sky, staying bright until the glorious sunsets.

Cuba’s variety continues when you look at the country’s history. The island still reveres the revolutionary Che Guevara. His picture is plastered everywhere, shops sell postcards of him and there is a museum dedicated to his life. The visitor attraction explains how he helped Castro liberate Cuba from Batista’s dictatorial rule; the leader who allowed the Americans to use Cuba as its ‘playground’ back in the 50s. It’s not just Guevara’s face that is drawn all over Havana, the streets are also covered in beautiful street art.

The country’s crumbling nostalgia continues largely due to the ongoing embargo imposed by the USA, whose frosty relationship resulted from the Cold War’s Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Raul Castro, Cuba’s leader, has begun to allow change. His country is beginning to allow privatisation and trade, although socialism is still prevalent. The ration cards, for example, ensure all people have basic access to food at reduced prices, a Cuban arrangement that celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year.

But the poverty in the country is clear. Now is the time to visit, before Cuba becomes westernised any further.

Experience the country in its current unique state, before its doors open to America. The time to visit has never been more pressing.

SASHA BUTLER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE BUTLER | 19

SCIENCE

PAID MEDICAL TRIALS:

WOULD YOU DO IT? It is perhaps an overused cliché that students will do anything for money, but how far would you be prepared to go? Would you put yourself at risk in a medical trial? Impact Science speak to some of the students who have taken the risk.

W

ith some medical trials offering over £3000, the financial rewards for taking part can be very attractive. Even so, almost one quarter of clinical trials in the UK not completed due to lack of volunteers.

Low risk trials such as giving a blood sample can be a quick and easy way to make a few quid. But if you want to earn serious money you have to be prepared to be put at a much higher risk, and for the trial to take up more of your time.

“I TAKE PART TO SUPPORT MYSELF THROUGH UNIVERSITY”.

Jordan Monaghan, a Biochemistry and Genetics student at The University of Nottingham is prepared to do just that. This summer, she will be taking part in ‘Flucamp’, a trial where young people are held together in quarantine for 10 to 18 days, injected with viruses such as the flu and common cold and are then given drugs to help combat these diseases. When asked about her experience so far, Monaghan told us that signing up was very easy.

“At the clinic they checked that I could tolerate nasal swabs and took alcohol breath tests, and urine and blood samples – nothing intense or scary. I don’t have any worries [about the trial].

It’s just flu at the end of the day, nothing really unknown or serious.

“Everyone that I’ve encountered at Flucamp has been incredibly helpful and informative.

The one thing they emphasise throughout is that you can back out at any time. It’s not as if once you’ve started you have to finish it”.

to be able to feel every single bone in my body and even stranger to feel as if lava was coursing through them.

But should you be worried about side effects in the more unknown trials? In recent years, there has only really been one major safety incident during medical trials: The ‘Elephant Man’ trial in 2006. This trial was testing the antiinflammatory drug TGN1412, and was aptly named after one participant’s head swelled to almost twice its normal size. Other participants experienced organ failure, vomiting and intense pain, and one participant fell into a coma for three weeks and was told by medics he was lucky to be alive.

“It was agony to even sit up in bed and even attempting it resulted in painful convulsions through my entire body. Even the simple act of sitting up, reaching for a glass of water and taking a sip would take up to 10 minutes while you waited for the pain to subside after each stage”.

Civil Engineering student, Robert Parry, has taken part in three medical trials but is concerned by the risks. He told Impact Science: “Whilst I do try and vet the trials I take part in carefully, I’ve found from talking to people who have been on the same trial as me that most don’t really care what the drug is as long as the money is good.

“ONE PARTICIPANT’S HEAD SWELLED TO ALMOST TWICE ITS NORMAL SIZE”.

“After my first trial, I vetted the ones I took part in even closer. It was testing a drug designed to help people who had undertaken chemotherapy. The money offered was in the lower risk scale and the predicted side effects were the same as you’d expect to find on an ordinary box of paracetamol so I signed up.

When asked about his overall experience, he said: “Except for the side effects, the worst part of taking part is remaining in the same place for so long. After more than a few days cabin fever starts to set in and I become very restless.

“It was undoubtedly one of the worst and most painful experiences of my life,” Parry told Impact Science.

“The dosage was a needle directly into the stomach and the side effects started to kick in on the fourth day. It was a strange experience

Since then, Parry has taken part in two more studies, testing different forms or doses of drugs already on the market and has experienced no adverse side effects.

“Also, as it is a hospital ward, they use fluorescent lighting which always gives me headaches after prolonged exposure. After this the only enemies are the snorers who I always seem to get next to me on the ward – and the bad food”.

20 | JOANNE BLUNT | ILLUSTRATION BY ALVARO TAPIA VIA FLICKR | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS STEELE

SCIENCE

“IT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE WORST AND MOST PAINFUL EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE”.

So why do people still choose to take part?

Volunteers, like Monaghan and Parry, said that they take part both for the money and because of the idea that their actions could potentially help others.

Despite this, Parry admits he is still distrustful of the pharmaceutical industry: “If I’m perfectly honest, the only positive I take from clinical trials is the financial gain and a means to support myself through university.

“While I’ll admit that my contribution will help develop treatments for some people, I have a very cynical view of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole and their past track record of pricing many people out life saving treatments”.

Whatever the reasons people may have, and in spite of incidents such as the 2006 debacle, there has been no decrease in the number of people who choose to take part in clinical and medical trials.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have said that since 2004, the number of UK clinical trial applications has remained fairly stable at around 900-1,000 per year.

For many cash-strapped students, the attraction of taking part is likely never to fade away.

“IT FELT LIKE LAVA WAS COURSING THROUGH MY BODY”.

21

SCIENCE

With exam season looming, it’s time to start warming up your brain for the marathon ahead.

But you wouldn’t run a marathon without the correct diet to help you get to the finish line – and the same principle applies to the brain. Give it the correct fuel and the task ahead becomes easier.

Impact Science find out how you can get the best out of your brain.

BOOSTING BRAIN POWER

IMPROVING LONG TERM MEMORY

Staying hydrated can vastly improve overall brain function. A 2012 study showed that undergraduates who took water with them to exams improved their test scores more than those who didn’t. Dehydration causes lack of focus, short term memory loss and reduces the brain’s ability to perform simple arithmetic.

To brush the cobwebs off those first semester lectures, several studies would recommend adding blueberries to your diet. In a trial run by the University of Reading, researchers saw improvements in long term memory as well as spatial and number skills after only three weeks of increased blueberry consumption.

“UNDERGRADUATES WHO TOOK WATER WITH THEM TO EXAMS IMPROVED THEIR TEST SCORES MORE THAN THOSE WHO DIDN’T”.

Simply feeling thirsty has also been shown to decrease brain function by up to 10%. Without water, most of the chemical reactions that take place in the body cannot take place. To keep the body’s water level sufficient for it to function well, it is recommended that women drink around eight small glasses of water per day and men around ten. The most important time to stay hydrated is in the morning as the body has been starved of water while it’s been asleep.

Blueberries contain particularly high levels of flavonoids. Flavonoids reduce the amount of brain cell damaging molecules in your body, thus improving your long term memory. The greatest improvement observed in the study was seen in those who had one cup of fresh blueberries a day. But freezing the blueberries slowly reduces the flavonoid levels over time and cooking them more or less completely destroys them altogether, along with any memory benefits you may hope to gain.

LAST MINUTE CRAMMING? Researchers at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, have found that coffee significantly boosts your memory for up to 24 hours.

Participants were given either a placebo or a 200 milligram caffeine tablet (equivalent to a strong cup of coffee) after being given pictures to memorise.

“ADDING A LITTLE DARK CHOCOLATE TO YOUR DIET COULD HELP GREATLY IMPROVE YOUR FOCUS”.

The following day, those given the caffeine tablet could identify the pictures they saw the previous day much better than those given the placebo.

Not only will coffee keep you awake through those long sessions in Hallward, it’s also helping your brain store all that information – if only for 24 hours.

But you can have too much of a good thing.

Drinking too much caffeine can stop your brain from switching off for that much needed sleep before your exam, when your brain needs to reboot and process all that revision.

NEED TO CONCENTRATE? Even if your memory is pretty good, it’s useless unless you were paying attention during lectures and not doodling, checking Facebook or thinking about whether there were enough chips left in the freezer for tea. But adding a little dark chocolate to your diet could significantly improve your focus.

It contains high levels of magnesium which both gives you energy and soothes your nervous system, calming you down. It also contains a small amount of caffeine to give you a little energy boost, getting your brain ready for work.

The recommended consumption is around half a bar a day. Eating too much results in too much sugar entering the bloodstream which can make you sluggish and inattentive. The darker the chocolate, the more of the good stuff it contains.

22 | JOANNE BLUNT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL Y.GO, VAL’S PHOTOS AND MARC BEN FATMA VIA FLICKR

SCIENCE

I, Robot

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Have you ever wanted someone who you can share your deepest thoughts and feelings with, without ever being judged? Artificial intelligence in films suggests that one day you could.

The 2013 film Her tells the story of a man living in a modern, technological world who falls in love with an operating system. It might seem farfetched, but if an operating system learns how behave like a real human being, developing a personality and a soul, is it so implausible?

A.I. is used every day in facial recognition software, and in the way retailers and websites recommend products by learning from the way you shop. More dynamically, self-driving cars have been developed as well as specialised robots in warehouses and factories. 3D printing has taken off and quantum computing is now being used in space exploration to quickly solve problems that would take a normal computer millions of years.

The upcoming sci-fi film Transcendence is about an A.I. professional who is poisoned and only has a limited amount of time left. His wife uses his mind’s pattern of electrical signals and uploads his consciousness into a computer which allows him to live on, beyond death and beyond the limitations of a human body.

At the moment, it’s only in people’s wildest fantasies that living on as a computer is possible.

Common sense and knowledge of the world around us are hard characteristics for A.I. to emulate. A computer needs these to carry out intelligent activities with ease: speaking, learning, listening, seeing, planning and most importantly, understanding. As humans, we work in a way that algorithms are unable to define, due to the sheer complexity of how our brains work.

“THE MORE WE USE A.I. AND TECHNOLOGY, THE MORE COSTS WILL DECREASE, OUTCOMES WILL IMPROVE AND MORE LIVES WILL BE “QUANTUM COMPUTING IS BEING ENRICHED”.

USED IN SPACE EXPLORATION TO Restoring eyesight with retinal implants, cochlear SOLVE PROBLEMS IN JUST A FEW implants for the deaf, and thought controlled DAYS THAT WOULD TAKE A NORprosthetics and wheelchairs are just a few of MAL COMPUTER TAKE MILLIONS OF the A.I. breakthroughs that are improving the “TECHNOLOGY HAS ADVANCED quality of life for some people. Robot & Frank WITH LIGHTNING SPEED. SOON, YOU (2012) is a touching film where an aging man is YEARS”. a humanoid robot, programmed to be his Even if we could programme a brain, the WON’T NEED TO TAKE YOUR PHONE given caretaker. Just like the robot tour guides being computational power needed would be a OUT OF YOUR POCKET BECAUSE used today in museums, this sort of helpful limitation in itself. But the more we use A.I. and technology, the more costs will decrease, WE’LL ALL HAVE SMART WATCHES, technology may not be so far out of our reach. outcomes will improve and more lives will be SMART RINGS OR GOOGLE GLASS”. The future for A.I. is bright. But we haven’t got enriched. It’s hard to say exactly what the future Artificial intelligence (A.I.) is an exciting and upcoming field. However, using the term ‘intelligent’, especially in reference to technology, is hard to define. This definition is hotly debated, often with controversial conclusions. For robots to be ‘intelligent’ they need to learn, reason, think and use language the way we do. Could this be feasible one day? If yes, that one day will be very far away, but to say no would be limiting.

Technology has advanced with lightning speed.

Smart phones are getting smarter; gone are the days when we couldn’t connect on the go or didn’t have wireless internet. Soon, you won’t need to take your phone out of your pocket because we’ll all have smart watches, smart rings or Google glass.

robots walking among us, so clearly we’re not quite there yet. The well-referenced, futuristic film A.I. (2001), portrays a child-like robot called David who was programmed with the ability to love. However, the ability ‘to love’ is not the only thing computers lack.

holds, but it’s also important to remember that technological advances have always started off as an idea, a dream or fantasy.

PAULA CLERKIN | 23

SCIENCE

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT:

MENDING A BROKEN HEART?

T

oday, 20 million people worldwide suffer from a broken heart. Research here at The University of Nottingham aims to help sufferers by turning stem cells into heart cells. They hope to provide us with more information how we can treat people with heart conditions, looking at more effective drugs and how we could potentially replace the lost or damaged cells with new heart cells grown in the lab.

Our hearts can fail us if we become too old, are prone to a pre-existing genetic condition, or if we have taken drugs to help us overcome other diseases such as cancer.

But how can this stem cell work help those who suffer from these conditions? Stem cells have the ability to be turned into any cell in the

“WE TURN SKIN CELLS INTO STEM CELLS AND TURN THESE STEM CELLS INTO BEATING HEART CELLS”.

body and are mainly present in the very early developmental stages of our lives. As we grow and develop, they evolve and specialise into the many types of cells that make up our body.

But researchers now have the ability to turn our skin cells back into stem cells, which can in turn become new heart cells.

Small batches of skin cells are first taken and grown in the lab to create a larger sample to work with. In order for the skin cells to be turned into heart cells they then need to become unspecialised. This means taking them back to an earlier stage in their life – to a stem cell-like state.

The skin cells taken from the patient can be ‘tricked’ under the right conditions to ‘turn back in time’ and create what is known as an induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPS. These cells then have the ability to then be turned in heart cells. These re-programmed heart cells can be then used to help investigate new drugs or potential transplantation therapies.

Chris Denning, Professor of Stem Cell Biology in the Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, is leading the team here at UoN. He told Impact Science: “We turn skin cells into stem cells and turn these stem cells into beating heart cells.

“IF I COULD DEVELOP A NEW DRUG TO HELP PEOPLES’ HEARTS THEN I WOULD BE A HAPPY PERSON”.

“For me the ultimate goal would be to develop a new drug to help peoples’ hearts. If I could achieve that in my career then I would be a happy person”.

Denning expects new therapeutic drugs to be available in the next five years, but thinks there will be a longer wait for the transplantation of new cells into patients. As that is a much greater challenge, a time scale of ten or twenty years is more likely.

The ongoing research in this area deem it likely that in the future, broken hearts might be able to be mended more easily than we could have imagined.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROMEL VIA FLICKR | FAIZA PEERAN | 25

FOOD

IMPACT FOOD INTERVIEWS

MARCUS WAREING

Marcus Wareing runs a two Michelin star restaurant ‘Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley’ in London. He has worked with celeb chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Pierre Koffmann and just opened a brasserie in London St Pancras. He spoke to Impact Food about cooking on a student budget, making his restaurant less French and why cooking shows are nothing like the reality.

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FOOD YOU COOKED YOUR FAMOUS CUSTARD TART FOR THE QUEEN’S 80TH BIRTHDAY. DID YOU GET TO MEET HER AND HOW DID YOU DECIDE WHAT TO MAKE? Yes I did meet her! The reason why I chose the custard tart was because it was the one thing that captured who I was and my upbringing.

My pastry chef and I developed the mix for the custard tart. All the judges gave me a ten for it and that was one of the few times I felt I came to near perfection!

is now looked upon by the younger generation as a special occasion or a bit stuffy, and it’s very much a formal setting which I think is boring. New York is the best example of perfect fine dining. You can go into a three star Michelin restaurant and feel as comfortable as you would in a pub in London, which is extraordinary. It’s the staff that make that happen.

WILL YOUR NEW STYLE BE MORE APPEALING TO YOUNGER PEOPLE?

WE INTERVIEWED SAT BAINS FOR OUR LAST ISSUE. LAST MONTH YOU BOTH CREATED A MOUNTAIN GOURMET SKI EXPERIENCE WITH HESTON BLUMENTHAL. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? It was a piss up! What we did was go out and do something different. If you love going to Europe, you love skiing, love food and love mixing with chefs, then it’s the dream. It was good fun and I would definitely do it again.

Yes and no. I am appealing to a wider audience, whether that is young, middle aged or old. First of all you have to appeal to the neighbourhood, and then more broadly to the city you’re in. I reckon the perception about this restaurant will be that you need to book six months in advance, but that shouldn’t be the case. You should be able to come and knock on the door and eat straight away to keep up with the increasing trend in the establishment of burger places, street food and vendors.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BEST SIMPLE DISH ON A BUDGET? You have to say pasta as it’s so straightforward. But it’s what you do with it. It’s about how you cook it, the oil you put with it, the seasoning etc. I would want to see some fresh herbs and pot plants in the house, and fresh bread. Also a roast dinner is great. Get potatoes, some other vegetables and meat; its not hard. If all your housemates chip in ten pounds each, you could easily get yourself at least two nice pieces of meat.

DOES THIS DETRACT FROM MICHELIN STAR RESTAURANTS? HOW DO THEY STAND TOGETHER?

WHAT WERE THE FIRST DISHES YOU BEGAN TO MAKE?

I think they are just another offering, but they are not competing with us. They are just another idea and trend. You guys will go out and get that burger and a beer and you won’t be spending much less than what you would at mine on a set lunch. You just wouldn’t know that because you think ‘fine dining’ isn’t affordable given that its got two Michelin stars, and run by a well known chef. Obviously you will get hit if you spend loads of money on expensive wines, but why shouldn’t you be allowed to experience nice restaurants?

One of the first things I ever made was an English breakfast. My mum did a lot of baking so I learnt pastries, and my granny made custard tarts so I learnt that pretty quickly.

SOME CHEFS ARE CRITICISED TODAY FOR TAKING A STEP BACK APPROACH TO COOKING, BY VISITING RESTAURANTS REGULARLY BUT RARELY GETTING INTO THE KITCHEN. DO YOU THINK THIS IS A PROBLEM TODAY?

YOU’RE ABOUT TO REBRAND YOUR NEW RESTAURANT TO MAKE THE SERVICE ‘LESS FRENCH AND MORE AMERICAN’. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS? When I opened this restaurant ten years ago it was called Pétrus, one of my favourite Bordeaux wines. The nature of its name makes it French. During those ten years food has changed massively and that style of food was French driven, as my training is in French style cuisine. It’s a foundation. Naturally you get stamped with that.

What’s changed is London is the way of eating and serving. There is a whole new generation of diners and people who eat in London, and we want to keep up with the times. Fine dining

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON TELEVISION COOKING SHOWS. DO YOU THINK THEY GLAMORISE THE COOKING PROFESSION? TV is very different to cookery. I like Masterchef a lot, but it is staged. It is designed to create the tension of a real kitchen, with judges looking hard and giving comments. But they are full of people who want to be TV stars.

A cookery show is no way to go if you want to be a cook; there is no reality in these sorts of cooking shows. Only a handful of people who have come out of those shows are chefs.

I get up in the morning and do what I do best: I cook, and then run a restaurant. I don’t get up and sit in a office all day. You should get someone else to do that because it’s boring.

With the recession, the key is honesty. People should know exactly who you are and what you’re about. If I have 20 restaurants, great, but I will only ever go and cook in one, and have my name on one. As long as you tell people its fine.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE PEOPLE WANTING TO GO INTO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY? The most important thing is getting an education. If you’re into food, then get into the industry whilst you’re at university.

Modern chefs need qualifications - a bit of accountancy and perhaps an understanding of management. Running a business as a chef is only 20% cookery. Learn the inside outs of computers, the stuff that is common sense to you guys. Cover all the bases. Work hard and drive hard.

IF YOU HAD TO PICK THREE THINGS WHICH WERE ESSENTIAL FOR ANYONE TO HAVE IN THEIR STORE CUPBOARD AT ALL TIMES, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? Defiantely salt and olive oil. And I’d have to say pepper. Salt and pepper are just amazing - boring but essential.

GEORGE HUGHES-DAVIES AND LOUIS FITZHERBERT | 27

STYLE

28 | DRESS H&M £30.00 | PETTICOAT VIVIEN HOLLOWAY £50.00 | SHOES OFFICE £70.00 | NECKLACE DISNEY COUTURE £30.00

STYLE

MODELLED BY SOPHIE JOSCELYNE | STYLING AND DIRECTION BY JESSICA ROSEBLADE AND HARRIET BROWN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALLUM MCLARTY | 29

STYLE

INDELIBLE INK THE RISE OF THE TATTOO

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hese days it seems as if everyone has a tattoo. From Miley’s dream-catcher to Cara’s Leo: celebrities, fashionistas and students alike are adorning themselves in ink. Not only this, but we’re increasingly seeing tattoos gracing the catwalk, like Marc Jacobs covering Edie Campbell with ink like scrawls in his last collection for Louis Vuitton. But fashion is fleeting. While we’re young, keeping up with trends may seem like the most harmless thing in the world.

Permanently inking our personalities onto our skin is the latest expression of this. But what if it’s just a phase?

Students are increasingly taking to fashion in more lasting and extreme ways. While buying Zara’s latest Céline dupe might be one way to indulge in high-fashion’s latest whim, for some a tattoo is seen as no more than the latest accessory. Complete this season’s look with some indelible ink, tattoos are the new black… Right? But more than just a seasonal addition to your wardrobe, tattoos are a permanent imprint both on and of your life.

Coming to university offers opportunities far removed from the worlds of our childhood; personalities evolve and people change.

There’s a constant need both to keep a sense of yourself, but also to keep up with the crowd – fitting in while standing out.

Everyone wants to be edgy these days, and thanks to their origins as symbols of marginality, tattoos are a method of social rebellion, branding yourself as different… just like everyone else?

Inscribing your own personality in order 30 | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN TYNEGATE

“EVERYONE WANTS TO BE EDGY THESE DAYS, AND THANKS TO THEIR ORIGINS AS SYMBOLS OF MARGINALITY, TATTOOS ARE A METHOD OF SOCIAL REBELLION”.

STYLE

“EXPERIENCES ARE SAID TO BE WRITTEN ON THE BODY, A TATTOO IS SIMPLY TAKING CONTROL OF THE SCRIPT”.

to fit in seems almost paradoxical. Once something incredibly subversive, tattoos are no longer taboo, and in some ways could be seen as crossing into mainstream culture. It’s all too easy, while scrolling through Pinterest, or ogling Lady Gaga’s latest inking to find yourself thinking: “I could do that, it’d look great on me”.

In 1995 it was ‘The Rachel’ haircut, now we see the Rih-Rih inspired scripture or an ironic tramp stamp. When something is so permanent and personal, can we really look at it as a trend? Just another way that we follow the crowd?

The overwhelming majority of people nowadays seem to get tattoos as a kind of memorial to the life that they are living at that moment. The heady days of youth imprinted forever on your skin - just think of Samantha Cameron’s dolphin. These are days that we’ll remember forever, and a tattoo is one way to make sure we don’t forget. Self-preservation in the extreme.

Experiences are said to be written on the body, a tattoo is simply taking control of the script, quickly signalling something about yourself to the world - how you are or how you were, self-expression or memorial. There is a common attitude nowadays of using your body as a canvas. As Johnny Depp once said: “My body is my journal and my tattoos are my story”.

Whether tattoos are seen as the latest accessory, or a necessary qualification to signify your social life, there can be no doubt that they act as a form of self-expression and representation. Having a tattoo can place you into a certain category in society, whether you choose to be in that section or not. Alongside the image a of tattoo comes a social stigma, a level of judgement from others that different forms of art or fashion don’t encourage.

As an expression of who you are, is it right that tattoos are judged so harshly? At the time that you get a tattoo, it is who you are, be it a representation of conformity, memorial or preservation.

BODY ILLUSTRATION BY EBONY INYANGETE, BEN TYNEGATE | MODELLED BY JESSICA ROSEBLADE, HARRIET BROWN | 31

STYLE

ICONS IN STYLE

It’s easy to admire someone just for what they wear. But (much as we may say otherwise) there’s more to life than nice clothes, and the celebrities of today can be admired even more for what they represent than for what they wear.

We’re putting the style spotlight on three such women: all beautiful, stylish, talented and inspiring in so many ways.

LUPITA NYONG-O

HANNAH REID

SOLANGE KNOWLES

BY CHANEL BJORK JONSSON

BY BECKY FEARN

BY NATASHA GREGSON

The Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong‘o has, from the start, been a highlight on the red carpet.

The 30 year old actress recently won an Oscar for her debut in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, her first role after graduating from drama school. Accepting her award, Lupita looked flawless in a powder blue Prada gown, and has been widely praised for the fact that she hasn’t abandoned her Kenyan heritage, keeping her Afro hair held back with a delicate hairband.

Feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has praised Lupita’s presence on the red carpet, calling her natural beauty ‘spectacular’ and praising the actress for not conforming to the typical Hollywood aesthetic. Lupita is not an icon solely for her style but also for what she represents, challenging the stereotype of beauty with her dark skin and natural hair.

Amongst her iconic looks are the striking red off-the-shoulder Ralph Lauren cape dress she wore to the Golden Globes Awards, and the ivory silk cut-out Calvin Klein dress she wore to the Critics Choice Awards. Already gracing the pages of Vogue as the face of Miu Miu, we anticipate fashion collaborations and more inspiring outfits from the beautiful Lupita Nyong’o.

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London Grammar’s Hannah Reid is without a doubt entitled to a spot in a list of top style influences. Recently featuring in Miss Vogue, humble and classy would be two words to perfectly describe her look. Her stage style has laid-back, ‘casual-chic’ energy, which, in the age of platforms, bodycon, and glitter is incredibly refreshing and brave. Her wardrobe is awash with Mom jeans, scrunchies and jerseys, reflecting her ethos of staying true to who you are, not conforming to success. Reid recently revealed that she often dresses down to take the attention away from her image and redirect it towards her music, perhaps something others in the music industry should take note of. Reid reminds us that image is not, and will not ever be, everything.

This said, Reid is just as fantastic at rocking dresses, current trends and sparkle when she wants to. Take the time she performed on The Graham Norton Show in a black polo neck and some fabulous deep green velvet skinny trousers. She rocked a show stopping gold midi skirt (along with some high hair and flawless makeup) stateside on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, proving her stage style to be capable of evolving into full-on grown-up glamour when she chooses. And since she’s an ex-UoN student, we love her all the more.

When one has a sister as prolific as Beyoncé, it is not the easiest of feats to step out of your sibling’s shadow and create an individual presence in the media. But with her pedigree for mixing vibrant prints, clashing bold colours and injecting a sense of playfulness into each outfit, Solange Knowles has certainly left behind the title of ‘Queen B’s lil’ sister’ and has proved herself to be a true style chameleon.

It was Solange herself who wrote the lyric ‘I’m not her and never will be’, reflecting the media’s persistent comparison of Solange to her older sister, and her original style has projected the message behind this lyric further onto the fashion world.

Her status as a ‘style icon’ was cemented in 2012 when Vogue documented her style every day for one month. In the style diary, Solange shows how versatile her eye-catching style is. One day she’s wearing a cream blouse and tangerine midi skirt, which quite frankly wouldn’t look out of place in a boardroom, and two days later she’s in a very casual Opening Ceremony dress on her way to the beach. It’s Solange’s touch of the unexpected in a world of safe, mundane dressing that makes her a true style icon.

STYLE

Eye palette in Naked 1 and Naked 3 both £37.00 MAKE-UP BY BECKY FEARN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH DEAR | MODELLED BY AMRIT SANTOS, HARRIET BROWN, GINA SHENOUDA, BECKY FEARN | 33

EXPOSURE NICO ENDERS

MICHAEL N. CHEE 34

EXPOSURE ERINA BOGOEVA

To see more Exposure photography visit: www.impactnottingham.com/exposure Interested in joining our photography team?

Get in touch: images@impactnottingham.com

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WHAT’S ON

A P R I L 01

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03

04

05

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The Wanted Capital FM Arena

Tinie Tempah Capital FM Arena

You Me At Six Capital FM Arena

Atticus Anthems Bodega

Notts Forest v Millwall

Canterbury Bodega

Marc O’Reilly Bodega

Dexters Bodega

07 Matt Berry Rescue Rooms

08 Dancing on Ice Tour 2014 Capital FM Arena

Foreigner Royal Concert Hall

14 Elbow Capital FM Arena

21 Notts County v Crawley Town

28 Things We Do For Love Theatre Royal

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09 Tom’s Midnight Garden Theatre Royal Nottingham

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10

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Daniel O’Donnell Royal Concert Hall

James Walsh Bodega

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The Two Worlds of Charlie F Theatre Royal

Gary Barlow Capital FM Arena

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29 McBusted Capital FM Arena

Nine Black Alps Rock City

30 Philarmonia Orchestra Gala Concert Royal Concert Hall

36 | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBOBOBOBO VIA FLICKR

Indiana Rescue Rooms Notts County v Port Vale

Crookes Bodega

An Evening with Alan Johnson Nottingham Playhouse

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Abstractions Nottingham Contemporary

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Cats Royal Concert Hall

25 The Rifles Rock City

13 Harlem Globetrotters Capital FM Arena

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Notts Forest v Birmingham City

Hit The Deck Festival Rescue Rooms/ Rock City

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Mansfield v Torquay

Not Now Bernard Djanogly Theatre

PAUSE

38 | GAMING

42 | FILM

EGG-CELLENT GAMING, TWITCH PLAYED POKEMON AND GAMING GETS PHYSICAL

SUPERVILLAINS, THE CHANGING FACE OF FILM AND THE CLASSIFIEDS

46 | ARTS

50 | MUSIC

DIGITAL PUBLISHING, SAYING IT LIKE IT IS AND READING RESTRICTIONS

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB INTERVIEW, MEET GEORGE EZRA AND REVIEWS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HAAGS UITBURO VIA FLICKR | 37

PAUSE | GAMING

Since Easter is a time for fun and chocolate we thought we’d bring up the topic of Easter Eggs. Not those delicious ones you get in boxes, but the delicious ones you get in your favourite games. Developers like to slip in little jokes or hidden content that only the eagleeyed and committed will find. So here’s just a few examples of some of the best.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST- SECRET ROOM

The famous American Nintendo gaming magazine, Nintendo Power, once held a competition for readers to get their names into the game The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, on the Super Nintendo. In the end, a guy named Chris Houlihan prevailed – and his secret room could be accessed by speed-running with Pegasus Boots from Kakariko Village through the forest and to Hyrule Castle. If you did this correctly, a screen would pop up with a link in a room full of silver rupees accompanied by the message: “My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, OK?”.

GEARS OF WAR 3 - GIANT GOLDEN CHICKEN

In the Xbox 360 game Gears Of War 3, in one of the first levels when you get to the deck area with the first COG Tag, there are four large cylindrical pipes on the edge of the map. You can walk up to these and press the X button to shout into them. If you manage to shout into all four of them (which really isn’t too hard; there’s no secret boss or challenge to face), a giant, fire-breathing golden chicken will appear. Yeah, you heard us right. Giant. Golden. Chicken. And flames. You can even fight it if you really want to. But caution: it is a bit of a toughie.

BORDERLANDS 2 - MINECRAFT CAVE Pandora, home of the Borderlands games, houses a number of easter eggs that pay homage to all manner of things, from Lord Of The Rings to the infamous ‘Double Rainbow’ meme. This particular easter egg features content from Minecraft, the incredibly popular mining/crafting indie game. It’s hidden deep within the Caustic Caverns in Borderlands 2, behind a wall of Minecraft-style bricks that need to be broken through using melee attacks. Once inside, players will be faced with a barrage of creepers, the deadly exploding enemies from Minecraft’s survival mode.

These hissing, green beasts all have a chance of dropping loot based on the famous indie game, including a gun that fires arrows or a customisation item that gives players Minecraft-style heads! Once the battle is over, players can get to mining the surroundings, which contain plenty of precious ores from Mojang’s game, and one unique to the Borderlands universe.

38 | ANIL PARMAR, ADAM BATCHELOR | PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILLOWGARDENS VIA FLICKR, COMMUNITY MAG, LEATEDS, MR. Z

PAUSE | GAMING

TWITCH PLAYED POKEMON WHAT DID WE LEARN? C

alling itself “an experiment to test the viability of this format, the way people interact with the input system and the way they interact socially with each other”, and hosted by the game streaming website Twitch, Twitch Plays Pokemon (or TPP for short) saw a live stream of a bot playing through Pokemon Red, released in 1999, via the commands typed in by the human players. For example, a person types in ‘down’ and the bot goes down.

The whole thing was set up to test the famous ‘infinite monkey theorum’, which suggests that if infinite monkeys typed on infinite typewriters, eventually you would get the complete works of Shakespeare. Seems simple enough, right?

At first, it was that simple; the stream on its first day attracted only a few viewers. But it quickly spread through word-of-mouth, and after the media picked up on it and it then ballooned into a full-blown social phenomenon.

Over the space of a few days, TPP had gone from a few hundred players to a few thousand and then to tens of thousands.

The Start button was pressed repeatedly, menus were opened, closed, reopened and

items were clicked on endlessly or tossed into the ether, never to be found again. The PC in the Pokemon Center became an instrument of torture as every time it was used, some great misfortune occurred such as releasing lots of Pokemon into the wild or accidentally putting all our Pokemon into the storage system.

Getting stuck on simple puzzles that would have taken a few minutes to solve turned into hours of sheer effort and blind luck. Even the simple act of cutting down a tree took over three hours. In comparison, this action should have taken only a few seconds for a solo player. The old saying “too many cooks spoil the broth” sprung to mind - but in all fairness, the broth was hilarious and a great number of people wanted more cooks.

But the community still managed to complete the game.

Granted, it took them 16 days, 7 hours, 45 minutes and 30 seconds, but they finished. The community could have just given up, stopped the game and moved on. But they didn’t. The culmination of all the human effort was such that it overcame trolls, ledges, caves, faulty AI and the odds themselves.

More interestingly was the fact that it became a bit like a religion. A lone Pidgey became what was to be called Bird Jesus, as it was one of the only Pokemon the gamers had that wasn’t completely useless. The Helix Fossil, picked up near the beginning of the game and accidentally clicked on so many times that it became a running joke, was revived by a character in the game and turned into a useable Pokemon. The community took to calling the newly revived ‘god’ Lord Helix.

There were also ideological differences.

Anarchy was pitted against democracy in the Helix battle against the Dome (the Dome Fossil being the counterpart of the Helix). Fan art of the main character, Red, with Bird Jesus and the Helix Fossil was posted online, and fan fiction detailing the history of the world that had been created… this became commonplace as the TPP train rolled on.

This is all the more amazing when you think that when the stream first started, none of this was even dreamt of. Nobody knew what would happen. It exploded and people joined in, and within the tiny amount of time between starting it and gaining followers at an incredible rate, it became one of the biggest video gaming phenomenons seen to date.

PHOTGRAPHY BY ALEXANDRE BRAULINO, JOHN MARK PARKER, SERAPH973 | ROBERT PRIEST | 39

PAUSE | GAMING IMPACT GAMING INTERVIEWS:

ALEX WEIGHELL Alex Weighell is currently working as a technical director at Crytek UK in Nottingham - a world famous company that has developed games such as the Crysis series and, most recently, Ryse for Xbox One. He studied at The University of Nottingham before he started his career in the games industry, amd has recently started developing independent projects.

But computer science is definitely a good course for the gaming industry. I considered changing the subject but I wasn’t particularly interested in other aspects of the course, so I stuck with Mathematics and took the optional modules. I preferred doing equations instead of writing essays.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR TIME AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM? I studied at the University from 1996 until 2000, and I graduated with a Masters in Mathematics. I lived in Hugh Stewart Hall and was the President of the Hang Gliding society.

WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE TO STUDENTS WHO WANT TO GET INTO GAME DEVELOPMENT?

WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER UNIVERSITY? I applied to a couple of places and I was offered a job at an IT company. Around that time, I also saw an advert in Edge magazine for a programming position at Rare. I was offered both jobs but I took the job at Rare because it seemed more interesting. I worked in Rare’s R+D department for two years and worked on Perfect Dark Zero.

After Microsoft bought out Rare, I moved to Free Radical Design and started as a programmer and then became a Technical Director until they were acquired by Crytek.

At Crytek, I helped in developing the console version of Crysis, Crysis 2 and Crysis 3. I also made a small contribution to Ryse on the Xbox One.

WHAT DO YOU DO AT CRYTEK? I am a Technical Director working on various game projects at Crytek and I’m working on developing the CryEngine. The job is pretty relaxed but it can get very busy near the project deadlines where you have to work long hours. At Crytek, there is a lot of communication with other studios abroad.

There is an office in Austin, Texas and there are studios in Eastern Europe: one in Sofia and one in Budapest.

HOW DID YOUR MATHS DEGREE ALLOW YOU TO WORK IN PROGRAMMING? It was definitely very useful. Mathematics helped because a lot of the technical work is maths-heavy. I was always intrigued by computer science modules and I took them as my optional modules.

When I started at uni, I wasn’t even aware that there was a Computer Science course.

40 | RICHARD LAKUCS

It helps to have done some game development or software development initially. A lot of programmers I have hired have been through agencies but it definitely shows much better motivation and attitude if people do direct applications and aren’t afraid to send a lot of them.

There are also positions other than direct development such as project management, although they tend to be smaller. Another good way to get into the industry is testing.

You need to show interest and perseverance as there are so many opportunities; there are plenty of engines and open source projects to play around with and all the tools you need are free. Currently, Crytek UK are recruiting for various positions so I would definitely urge students to apply and go to their website.

Visit www.crytek.com/career/studios/ overview/nottingham for more information.

PAUSE | GAMING

LET’S GET PHYSICAL We love gaming, and we love the worlds they create. But sometimes they go against that most hallowed of laws: physics. Impact Gaming takes a look at the worst (or best?) examples.

DRAGON BONES ARE MADE FROM POLYSTYRENE (AND GIANTS HAVE THE

TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER SERIES Hit a pipe in a Tony Hawk game and the first thing you’ll do is a grind. But what you will also do is wonder in amazement as you see that the concept of friction doesn’t exist, and grinding will not only maintain your momentum but occasionally increase it. Imagine the surprise of children trying the trick for themselves and finding it wasn’t quite realistic.

ABILITY TO LAUNCH YOU TO THE MOON)

THOSE HUGE JUMPS TO SAFETY If you’re escaping from the police and find yourself hundreds or even thousands of feet in the air, don’t worry, because the Grand Theft Auto games have you sorted. Making huge jumps in GTA, whether that’s on the back of a bike or a car, are pretty safe as long as you LAND your chosen mode of transport perfectly. Of course.

THE DOUBLE JUMP Ah, the famed double jump. It comes in our time of need whenever we are playing a platformer or action game and are inches away from failing to successfully make it to another platform. There are many examples of this though, from the Super Smash Bros. series to the God of War games. Just what ARE they jumping on? You can’t jump on air, although that would be totally awesome.

Don’t try this one at home kids. If you do, get adult supervision, preferably with a camera ready to capture the magic. Oh, and a box of plasters.

Assassin’s Creed does something similar.

Whenever you’ve just scaled a building - a modestly-sized church or a great stonking tower - you can just jump right down to the bottom like a delicate little flower on the gentle breeze. Or a flailing mass of human falling at an incredible rate. Don’t worry though, you’ll be fine. Why? Because there’s a small pile of hay down there, which is more than enough to land in and keep you safe.

Obviously.

You know those big ol’ dragons? The ones that breathe fire, melt pitiful humans and fly majestically through the sky? Well, have no fear because according to Skyrim, their skeletons are incredibly light and brittle. All you have to do is tap them and watch the skeleton fly away as if you just fired it from the world’s biggest cannon. Although of course you have to kill them first and absorb their soul.

On the subject of flying away, Skyrim’s giants have you covered on that one. Just one swing from their clubs and all gravity is negated for the recipient of the blow.

You literally get blasted a million miles into the sky. This actually came from an in-game glitch while the game was under development but the developers found it so funny that it stayed in the game.

So there you go. Clearly all physicists are wrong and everything we ever thought about the world and its mysterious workings is totally bogus.

Thank you game developers of the world for teaching us the truth. We’re off to go do some double jumps.

ANIL PARMAR AND ROBERT PRIEST | 41

PAUSE | FILM & TV

CLASSIFIED JOB LISTINGS With graduation just around the corner, many of you will you be scanning the Wanted Ads for your first job. But if you’re afraid of making your first steps in the real world, why not see how many of these fictional TV jobs you’d be qualified for?

PSYCHIATRIST WANTED

ATTRACTIVE NEW YORK BACHELOR SEEKS FLATMATE

[CLASSIFIED] WANTED

Seattle Radio station seeks neurotic, pedantic, borderline-annoying yet passionate psychiatrist to give advice to troubled citizens live on air. The best candidate would be a licensed psychiatrist with many years of prior experience in dealing with human beings at various points on the ‘frazzled’ scale. Ideally they would be balding, pushing forty, and halfway to being frazzled themselves, with enough of a sense of humour to make hours of dealing with whining average Joes bearable.

You don’t have to have ears of steel to work here, but it helps. Send your applications to KACL Radio…We’re listening.

Italian-American male looking for new flatmate for Manhattan apartment. Preferably female, a non-smoker, understands the mechanics of a good sandwich and non-ugly. Extremely safety conscious (I have already removed shower curtain and bathroom door). Please feel free to come for an interview at the apartment. If you are between the ages of 19-25 and consider yourself to be an attractive to very attractive female, we can talk over dinner. Uncomfortable sharing food. Candidate should also be aware that the apartment does recognise naked Thursdays.

The 21st Century is when everything changes, and you’ve gotta be ready. For those who are, non-governmental intelligence department Torchwood is looking for determined, athletic young people to keep the peace between humankind and aliens. The standout candidate would not be averse to the possibility of sustaining cuts and bruises, more serious injury, or possibly death, whilst in the line of duty, and would basically like the idea of kicking ass on a daily basis. If you are Welsh, female, brunette, have a taste for mortal danger and are wondering what to do with your life, so much the better.

Location: Seattle

Send applications to: baby-deer@yahoo.com

Remuneration: Not enough

PERSON WANTED

o-initiative. Will accept Wanted: Person with zer lacking a pulse. No applications from those or Tammys. , ans vegetarians, Europe Ron

42

Location: Kinda Top-Secret Remuneration: Through the rift

PAUSE | FILM & TV H PARK ELEMENTARY

WANTED: FIFTH GRADE TEACHER AT SOUT We are looking for a new addition to our rado. teaching staff here in South Park, Colo ing teach e rienc expe have ld shou s Candidate nt to children who range from highly dilige The problematic to borderline psychotic. from a cted expe be to are ties following quali strong application: - An ability to ironically commentate on culture

popular

d to - Strong communication skills with regar cters chara al biblic and s figure historical sion

- A history of alcoholism and/or confu regarding one’s sexual identity

III’s - A working knowledge of World War potential prevention

WANTED: SECRETARY FOR RISING AD FIRM

BARMAN NEEDED Job Title: Charlie Worker

Prominent and competitive advertising firm in New York City, looking for young, unmarried secretary available to work for competitive salary. Applicant should be able to make a fine cup of coffee in no time at all. Opportunity for promotion after a long trial period. High heels and pencil skirt are suitable attire for everyday work and applicant should take pride in appearance.

It is important that the applicant aims to please in all aspects of work. Must be prepared to work late nights, or early mornings if superiors require it.

Location : Madison Av. New York

Here at Paddy’s we’re way too busy with our other money making ventures (you may have heard of dicktowel.com, and Lethal Weapon 6 is coming soon) to do some of the most important jobs such as cleaning the toilets, fixing the toilets and other toilet related duties. Also from time to time we may need you to do other tasks for us, such as making clothes in what is no way an illegal sweatshop.

Location: Paddy’s Bar, Philadelphia, PA You must be: prepared to work for nothing, not foreign *Please note: McPoyles need not apply

LUCY O’BOYLE, JULIA LAZENBATT, ALEX NICHOLSON, TOM WATCHORN AND TOM WELSHMAN | 43

PAUSE | FILM & TV

WHICH SUPERVILLAIN ARE YOU? Do you enjoy flying through books to uphold your academic standards?

Celebrating the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we’ve devised the ultimate evil scheme to discover which cinematic supervillain (from the last decade) our readers are like. To find out just how menacing a beast you are, begin below, if you’re not too busy wreaking havoc on Victoria Centre or something.

Are you the boss of your house?

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

Are you kind enough to share your possessions such as your Netflix account and Orange Wednesday code?

Are you the type of monster to allow your phone to run out of battery?

No

Yes

Do you plan ahead?

Yes

Would you describe yourself as something of a clown?

No

Do you manage to meet all of your DEADlines?

No Can you be frighteningly forgetful in tasks such as taking out the bin?

Yes

Have you been known to steal food from your housemates?

No No

No

START HERE 44

Despite your outlandish antics, are you wellrespected outside of your peer group?

Yes

Are you able to go out on a nightly basis and not let it show?

PAUSE | FILM & TV CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE SUPERMAN!

Yes Yes

Will you act humbly when in charge of a situation?

It turns out that you’re not a villain at all, but you’re still pretty super. The ideal citizen and student, you’ll consistently maximise your potential when not protecting innocent civilians of this fair city from the monsters below. You’re from another world when it comes to manners, muscles and modesty, as not even your peers know how heroic you really are underneath.

Keep it real you man/woman of steel.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE LEX LUTHOR! No

Yes

Intelligence and cunning are your weapons of choice. You’re highly organised and aren’t afraid to multitask. Competitive in nature, you always strive to be the best, even at the expense of others. Lack of hair and humility are your only weaknesses.

Yes Are you organised and logical when conducting business?

Yes

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE THE JOKER!

No

Yes

No Do you end up burning through your student loans?

Yes

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE DOCTOR OCTOPUS! No

Yes

No

Yes

An agent of chaos, a lack of order sustains the smile on that face of yours. Your makeup is messy, your coursework is untidy, your bank account is empty, and yet you’re always smiling. Stopping at nothing to do as you please is an admirable trait you inherited from wherever you came from. You manage to make everyone laugh, even when you take things too far, and when people question your motives as delirious, you just respond “Why so serious?”

Though you often act on impulse and go through the motions of the day feeling somewhat robotic, you are still quite simply a genius. You prefer the hands-on approach to learning, though at times you don’t quite utilise your strengths for the good of mankind.

You’re well-respected, strong, serious, great at conducting your finances at the bank, never miss a train, and it’s all down to your passion to grab life by the limbs - all eight of them.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE LOKI! Do you study a handson practical degree, rather than a reserved and theoretical one?

No

Master deception, introspection and an Asgardian connection, you distance yourself perfectly from others to prevent them from knowing your brilliant intentions. Your ability to conceal getting home at 5am despite a 9am seminar is admirable. You are independent, reserved, a conscious thinker and never fail to amuse those watching you. While you keep your intentions pretty low-key to protect your devious intent, you have the talent to externally ooze a vibrant flamboyancy.

BHARAT SAMRA | 45

PAUSE | FILM

THE CHANGING FACE OF FILM CONSUMPTION The not so quiet digital revolution has amplified the accessibility of film to an almost deafening degree. In our lapses of temporary hearing loss, we have been privileged with an unparalleled availability and affordability, whilst blocking out the sounds of our past consumption and interaction with the audiovisual medium. Before the spectacular services of Netflix, Orange Wednesdays and IMDb, we were awed by Blockbuster, uncertain cinematic releases and traditional film criticism.

The irreversible impact of the digital age may make us feel somewhat older than our Facebook profile pictures suggest, but the innovative adjustments the film industry is making to accommodate the consumers helps us feel young again. Our generation has a knack for accepting and adopting new media, although there have been some sentimental losses along the way.

Streaming services such as Netflix have obliterated the tradition of video rental stores like Blockbuster. Vertical Limit on VHS for £3.99 over three days? What a bargain. Of course, now the same film can be streamed for a minimal price, or watched with a simple Google search.

However, though we may be living in the age of plenty, are we almost so spoiled for choice that we no longer consider film to be a privilege?

Then again the sentimentality of traditional digital accessibility to film has been lost, but for £5.99 a month, we can enjoy an almost unlimited catalogue of diverse filmmaking on Netflix. The new media service has introduced many previously undiscovered titles.

The theatrical experience has also seen its fair share of fluctuation. Today, we burst through the glass doors of Cineworld, Savoy or Broadway like a Tarantino protagonist: prepared, motivated and ready for a show. With our discounts, apps and a cheeky Twix up our sleeve, we have total awareness for the experience that we’re yet to experience. We know which film we’re watching, at what time, its plot, and its reception all before we’ve purchased our ticket.

But the lack of mystery and suspense also offers its advantages. We end up not just watching a movie, but watching one we know we want to watch, and predict our reaction to it. Apps and sites devoted to film deliver their users with greater comprehension of cinematic literacy.

Last decade’s general film goer is this decade’s super cinephile.

46 | BHARAT SAMRA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB PEARCE VIA FLICKR

The internet has created a democratic utopia of film criticism and fandom. Through the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and countless other services, consumers have become critics through participatory platforms by commenting, blogging, rating and overall, engaging with film. This was an impossible feat when only “elite” critics could share their thoughts via radio, television and in print. While many still find fault in this cultural development, it has had an undeniably positive effect on how, why, when, where and who can engage with film. This engagement has brought a sense of balance to the paradoxes of finding value in film in today’s digital era.

While we’ve lost certain privileging aspects of the home viewing and theatrical experience of film, we’ve in turn gained efficient, cost-effective services that offer a vast accessibility of content.

It’s difficult to not take watching films for granted when they’re in such plentiful abundance that we couldn’t consume them all in 75 lifetimes.

Nevertheless, it’s important to appreciate the fact we have films in any form we may consume them in, and hope that their quality as a privilege is never diminished by their quantity in output.

PAUSE | ARTS

BRAVE

NEW

WORLD:

THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF DIGITAL PUBLISHING

In the safe confines of an over-insulated English classroom, most students will profess a love for the bound book. But it doesn’t take a genius to notice that outside academia, print publishing is rapidly turning into a relic of the past.

A quick glance at people using Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and iPhones on the morning bus will reveal the countless other options available to consumers who want to satiate their literary cravings. Some of the more radical pundits go as far as claiming that, within the next five years, e-books will drive the 500 year-old printing press industry the way of Blockbuster and the dodo bird: total extinction.

But amid all the talk about new options for readers, people often overlook the new opportunities digital publishing presents to authors. Early incarnations of the digital novel were nothing more than static screens designed to mimic paper, but as technology has evolved, new avenues have been opened that could potentially change how stories are told forever.

Prize. And although you can find a print copy at any major bookseller, House’s grandest ambitions can be found in the digital version available for the Kindle and iPad. In a lecture he gave at The University of Nottingham about digital publishing, House spoke about his background as a visual artist.

“I’ve really missed that,” he says, “Working with people and using space and perceptions...

Doing something like this has given me an opportunity to come back to it a bit”.

Interspersed throughout the digital edition, The Kills are short film segments that intertwine with the novel using visuals, music, narration, and sometimes even actors. “They don’t change the main narrative,” he says of his clips, “but they do inform it. The books work just as books, but the reader has a choice: You can dip into the extra material while you’re reading, or explore it afterwards”.

Richard House is one of the authors that is attempting to harness this potential. His latest “novel” The Kills has received wide critical acclaim and was longlisted for the 2013 Booker

But of course House is just beginning to scratch the surface of what the digital world can offer.

Storytellers now no longer have to tell things in a logical order; they can move back and forth between references or create three dimensional spaces.

“YOU CAN DIP INTO THE EXTRA MATERIAL WHILE YOU’RE READING, OR EXPLORE IT AFTERWARDS”.

But what are the drawbacks of such innovations? “Placing the written word next to a few minutes of film presents a problem within itself”, says House, “because no matter what it is, the film will always win”. Visuals exhibit an immediacy that written words simply cannot replicate. So while it’s certainly possible now to

“THEY DON’T CHANGE THE MAIN NARRATIVE BUT THEY DO INFORM IT”. blend the two mediums together into a cohesive whole, there is a danger of other mediums overshadowing the novel entirely.

Is it possible to consider these additions as part of a novel? As perceptions of what novels are capable of, perhaps it is necessary to redefine our traditional understanding of the novel.

Technology can inform the story a novel tells, but will the day come where the written word itself might become obsolete? And by tapping into the potential of the digital age and evolving how their stories are told, authors could possibly be contributing to their own irrelevance. “I love Moby Dick,” says House, “and people have always envisioned hypertext linking from the novel to articles about whaling...The problem with that it is, I think Melville already talks about whaling rather well”. Could the novel one day become indistinguishable from the rest of the digital landscape?

We love to be told stories, and as long as there people willing to tell them novels will always exist in some form. But by blending all these mediums together, authors should be careful that their story doesn’t devalue itself amid all the sensory overload. Digital publishing should compliment and enhance a novel, but never overshadow it. The story comes first, always.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPYKSTER VIA FLICKR | LOGAN WALMSLEY | 47 38

PAUSE | ARTS NO: “AGE BANDS WOULD BE COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE” Sex and blood are spilling across our pages faster than ever, but it would be futile to impose an age-rating system.

A recent survey of UK children by the National Literacy Trust found books to have declined in popularity, with just a quarter

of children reading outside school. Seen as a mundane element of the school day and a poor substitute for the film-adaptation, the printed word is losing its allure. So if the majority won’t scramble to read The Famous Five, they’ll hardly clamour to buy the comparatively tedious Fifty Shades of Grey. If the younger reader doesn’t read, safeguarding becomes pointless.

“CHILDREN WOULD REMAIN OBLIVIOUS TO THE DARKNESS OF MANKIND, BLIND TO THE ATROCITIES IT’S SPAWNED”.

Given the UK’s dismal literacy rates, age restrictions would serve to aggravate this problem. “As soon as you designate a book for a certain age group” says children’s author Jonny Zucker, “readers outside of this group will be loathe to pick it up”. Potential readers would be alienated, the benefits of reading – particularly improvements to vocabulary, spelling and grammar – lost, and literacy rates further diminished.

In light of the Great War’s centenary, printing presses have been overwhelmed by the volume of topical novels. Given that war is less daffodils and daisies, more bloodshed and battlefields, many of these books would be likely victims of an age-rating system. With history obscured, children would remain oblivious to the darkness of mankind, blind to the atrocities it’s spawned.

And where would the line be drawn? Would history textbooks be declared off-limits too?

Such ‘vigilance’ could only breed ignorance.

“SEX AND BLOOD ARE SPILLING ACROSS OUR PAGES FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE”.

If books were subject to such a measure, surely the suitability of newspapers and magazines would also be called into question. Then we’d no longer be dealing with mere restriction, but with censorship.

A Clockwork Orange

by Anthony Burgess

TOO YOUNG TO READ?

WITH THE HUNGER GAMES CLIMBING BOOK CHARTS AND EROTICA NOVELS LITTERING BOOKSHOP DISPLAY TABLES, YOUNG CHILDREN ARE MORE EXPOSED TO POTENTIALLY EXPLICIT SUBJECTS THAN EVER BEFORE. IS NOW THE TIME TO BRING IN AGE–RATINGS ON BOOKS?

YES: “PARENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT A BOOK CONTAINS BEFORE THEIR CHILDREN READ IT” The main purpose of age ratings on films, video games, and some music albums, is to tailor their content to an appropriate audience. Parents have the right to know what a book contains before their children read it, and an age rating would be a beneficial way of providing information about the type of book it is before opening it.

Age ratings would be a guide rather than a system of policing. Nobody can stop a parent buying a product for their children with a rating higher than their child’s age, but an age rating would give parents a basic understanding of what they are allowing them to read; surely parents would feel comfortable knowing their

48 | TALIA SAMUELSON AND LUCY CASTLE

twelve year old couldn’t take American Psycho out of the library to bring home as a bedtime story.

“WHAT WE READ CAN AFFECT OUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS”.

What we read can affect our thoughts and emotions; age ratings serve to protect children from adult material, which they are not emotionally mature enough to deal with. Films and games fuelled with sex and violence can leave children with a warped view of these areas – surely a book has the capacity to do the same?

For guardians who do care, or even teens who want to shelter themselves from disturbing reads, age ratings would be an effective method of guidance. Today’s society is often immune to explicit content as we are being constantly bombarded with it, but there is no need to let this be the norm if we can prevent it or at least inform readers of its presence.

“PARENTS WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE KNOWING THEIR TWELVE YEAR OLD COULDN’T TAKE ‘AMERICAN PSYCHO’ OUT OF THE LIBRARY TO BRING HOME AS A BEDTIME STORY”.

PAUSE | ARTS

SAY WHAT?!

“The cat’s got your tongue” “Better out than in!” “You’ve got the wrong end of the stick, mate”. Sayings such as these have been around for centuries, but where do they come from? They’re a fixed part of our language and culture, but as the saying goes: “You don’t get something from nothing”.

So what are the stories behind the phrases we use every day?

Impact Arts uncovers the origins of some of our most commonly used sayings and the controversy that surrounds them.

THE UNLIKELY ORIGINS OF SAYINGS “ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE” This everyday saying originates from the poem ‘Paradise Lost’ written by John Milton in the 17th century: “But wherefore all alone? Wherefore with thee, came not all hell broke loose?”.

The poem has very strong biblical themes and focuses on the story of the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, hence the reference to hell.

“ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL” Not surprisingly, our good old friend Shakespeare makes an entrance here. Not only the title of one of his plays, the saying “all’s well that ends well” also makes an appearance in the play itself: “Our wagon is prepared, and time revives us: All’s well that ends well; still the fine’s the crown”.

However, we can’t credit Shakespeare completely for this saying, as it was first recorded in a poem in 1546 written by a poet called John Heywood.

“BREAK A LEG!” Typically said to an actor before they go on stage, “break a leg” originates from the superstition of the theatre. Saying “good luck” was seen as tempting fate, so by instead offering up the worst that could happen, the actors would hopefully have a good performance. But this saying is surrounded by controversy. Some people have claimed that the origins of the phrase arise from the use of a wooden leg that was used to prop up stage curtains. If the audience were so enthralled by the performance they’d seen, they would clap for so long that the wooden leg would break.

“A MAN AFTER HIS OWN HEART” “CUT TO THE CHASE” Back in the days of silent black and white films, often the chase scene was the most exciting part of the show.

So, “cut to the chase” originated from the editing process of cutting down the film to get to the good bits - the chase!

This saying originates from the King James’ Bible, renowned for introducing over 1000 new words into the English language. The saying can be found in Samuel 13:14: “The Lord hath sort him a man after his own heart” and also in Acts 13:22: “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart”.

“RAINING CATS AND DOGS” A particular favourite among the British, this phrase actually originates from the poor drainage systems of buildings in the 17th century. Gutters overflowing were a regular occurrence back then and in those days many rodents and cats would live in the thatched roofs of the houses. So when it rained heavily, the dead carcasses would fall from the roofs.

“WRONG END OF THE STICK” There’s a lot of controversy surrounding this saying and many explanations for its origin are a little unpleasant.

One version for its origin comes from the days of the workhouses or even some say as far back as Roman times, where there were no flushing toilets and so a stick was used to push down the contents of the toilet. You would definitely know about it if you got the wrong end of that stick!

TALIA SAMUELSON AND LUCY CASTLE | 49

PAUSE | MUSIC

INTERVIEW: BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

Impact Music recently spoke to Bombay Bicycle Club after their fourth studio album So Long, See You Tomorrow topped the UK album charts and as they embark on yet another sold out UK tour.

THE ALBUM WENT TO NUMBER ONE, WHAT IMPACT HAS THAT HAD ON YOU AS A BAND? Ed Nash: I don’t think it has changed anything on a day to day basis whatsoever, other than we can say that we’ve had a number one album. It’s not the reason you make music but it’s obviously a very nice thing to have under our belt.

Jack Steadman: We enjoyed it for about a day and now we’ve forgotten about it. That’s how quickly it changes.

SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW IS THE FIRST ALBUM YOU HAVE PRODUCED ON YOUR OWN. DO YOU THINK THE ADDED TIME AND FREEDOM HAD AN EFFECT ON THE SOUND? JS: It meant that there was no rush to get it done. Sometimes that’s how albums end

up with filler tracks as people have time constraints. We had the luxury of being able to wait for the right songs to come. That’s why it took almost two years to make - we weren’t pressured by thinking ‘Oh, we’ve only got the studio for a couple of weeks so let’s make sure we do it quickly’. You end up leaving the studio with regrets that way.

YOU’VE BEEN QUOTED AS SAYING THE NEW RECORD IS AN ‘EVOLUTION AND NOT REVOLUTION’, WAS IT A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO CHANGE UP THE SOUND FROM THE LAST RECORD? JS: No, not at all, a lot of the songs just started off as samples and that’s been the case for a while now. Shuffle from the last album started with just a sample and it’s just that some of the songs have different styles of music on this album. The thing I love about sampling is that it’s not planned, there’s nothing prepared. It’s good to be able to be so spontaneous.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THE SONGWRITING PROCESS FOR SL,SYT? I KNOW YOU WERE ALL OVER THE WORLD VISITING TURKEY, INDIA AND EUROPE. IT’S QUITE OBVIOUS THAT SOME OF THESE PLACES HAVE INFLUENCED MUCH OF THE RECORD. JS: At first it sounded nothing like Bombay Bicycle Club but I found it quite fun trying to make it sound like Bombay Bicycle Club. A lot of the songs start off as things that would probably suit my solo project more; they’re very electronic and I like the challenge of having to make it into something that makes sense for our band.

50 | ADAM KEYWORTH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY HAAGS UITBURO AND IÑAKI ESPEJO-SAAVEDRA VIA FLICKR

PAUSE | MUSIC EN: There are a couple of songs on the album that Jack sent through initially and they are so different from what you hear on the record now. For instance, Overdone was sent to us under the name Hindu Stanye West. It was kind of a hip hop inspired Bollywood tune and we thought it was amazing, but we weren’t sure how we were going to do this as a band.

Then Jack went off and made it happen.

YOU HAVE PLAYED IN NOTTINGHAM A LOT OVER THE YEARS. HOW DOES NOTTINGHAM STAND UP TO OTHER CITIES? JS: I think it’s our seventh time here, we’ve always had a good show at Rock City.

EN: We played at Stealth at the beginning, and then Rescue Rooms supporting Maximo Park. We’ve played here a few times since. We seem to have taken a step up every time so it’s always been exciting to come here.

JS: We were thinking about putting out all the demos. I think people would find it quite interesting to hear the songs in all their stages and get some insight into our creative process, which I think is very unique. I can’t think of any other bands who write in this way.

MELVIN BENN ONCE EARMARKED YOU AS FUTURE FESTIVAL HEADLINERS. DO YOU THINK YOU’RE READY TO MAKE THE STEP UP?

YOU’RE CURRENTLY WELL INTO ANOTHER SOLD OUT UK TOUR JUST AFTER THE RELEASE OF YOUR NEW ALBUM. DO YOU FEEL PRESSURE TO SHAPE THE SETLIST TO INCLUDE YOUR OLDER RECORDS? JS: I think we’ve come up with a setlist that’s very balanced. We’re playing all of the songs off the new album but we still throw in a few from our other albums. We’ve spent a long time constructing this setlist and it hasn’t really changed since the first show.

EN: It was quite difficult to do. The sounds are so dramatically different, especially live, so some of the old songs can sound very thin compared to the new songs.

JS: Depends what kind of festival it is I guess.

I like headlining tents and I’m happy that we’re doing that at Reading and Leeds rather than playing on the main stage. I do feel like we’re a band who need to have a sense of intimacy.

I’d quite happily headline tents for the rest of my life.

EN: If we were to do it now I don’t think it would work. Maybe in a year or two or however long it takes then yes - but not now.

INTRODUCING GEORGE EZRA Impact Music introduces BBC sound of 2014 nominees George Ezra as he comes to the end of his first major UK headline tour.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT COMING 5TH IN THE BBC SOUND OF 2014 COMPETITION? The competition has impacted on me massively. There’s a pressure that’s hard to escape if you come first - coming fifth puts my name in people’s heads and that’s brilliant.

People still have to look for me and decide whether they are interested or not.

WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING ON SUCH A BIG HEADLINE TOUR WITH JUST YOUR GUITAR? The blessing of this tour is that it’s just me and a guitar. I think a lot of people are coming to the shows on the strength of just three songs and it’s a forty minute set so there’s a lot more in there - I’m still having to win

people over. But also there’s room for mistakes, like snapping my string during my first song in Leeds, and that’s fine.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR LAST SINGLE CASSY O’?

I got really fascinated by older records like Rumours which were pop music at the time. I felt that it had been a while since a really good pop album came out so I got really hellbent on trying to write good pop tunes and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s a lot harder than people give credit for. Cassy O’ is one of the newest songs and it came together really easily.

HOW’S THE ALBUM COMING ALONG? I’ve got 19 songs for the album so I’m going

about the crap job of cutting some

out. I’ve recorded quite a few of my

older songs and have given some

of them a new lease of life. Kind

of in a Lou Reed way - taking a

not very happy song and making

it… well, happier!

PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD GILLIGAN | ADAM KEYWORTH | 51

PAUSE | MUSIC

ALBUM REVIEWS Metronomy Love Letters 9/10

Once a small-time, underground bedroom outfit, Metronomy are now the kings of nostalgic, quirky pop.

Their previous album, The English Riviera, had taken a step towards upgrading the band’s sound: adding lo-fi drum machines and tinny, new-wave keyboards to its successors’ relative sparseness. But Love Letters takes a giant leap in that same direction, adding Motown brass and 60s lovelorn psychedelia to the heart-breaking concoction.

The album’s title track and single I’m Aquarius is remarkably British pop. Monstrous harks back to the Metronomy of old: a softly-spoken, outdated synth-led pop song, while Reservoir embodies the

Wild Beasts Present Tense 4/10

Sacrificing their former desire to stand out from the crowd, Present Tense sees Wild Beasts become all too plain. Previous album Smother, although distinctly slicker than its predecessors, was as interesting as an indierock album could get, whilst still showcasing Hayden Thorpe’s impressive falsetto. Sadly, Present Tense does not even begin to match up.

Opening track, Wanderlust, is adequate enough; a mid-album filler in their esteemed past, perhaps. From here, it goes steeply downhill. Pregnant Pause lacks intensity, Daughters drags, and even a superb synth hook in A Simple Beautiful Truth is not enough to stifle the yawns.

A shame, really, from what we have come to know as one of Britain’s most genre-bending groups.

direction in which Metronomy are heading: intricate yet not self-indulgent, repetitive yet wholeheartedly catchy.

The album’s recurring theme of lovesickness is aptly introduced in opener The Upsetter: a slow, thoughtprovoking and painfully beautiful welcome. It’s the best song that Metronomy have written to date, not in that its subject matter is revolutionary or that the acoustic strumming is particularly ground-breaking, but it’s just all so believable.

It is the perfect example of how to write a modern pop album, without losing credibility for the sake of doing so. Mount’s lyrics really hit home this time round, whimpering in album-closer Never Wanted that “it gets better”. I doubt that, but I’d like to see them try.

Alex Neely

Real Estate Atlas 8/10

Music to get nostalgically lost in, or to others, simply dull; Real Estate have always been a divisive band. Is Atlas the album that can break the divide?

Talking Backwards is undoubtedly the album’s standout track. Like much of Real Estate’s music, it feels like it belongs on loop.

But on the whole, the album blurs into a long river of dreamy guitar music. Though notably not changing much from previous albums, this style of music is produced with intent and admirable skill.

Tracks on here vaguely echo artists sprawling from Belle and Sebastian to Wilco to Woods but listening to Atlas, the main thing you hear is the unmistakable sound of Real Estate.

Ian Fillingham

Alex Neely 52 | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARKUS SPIERING VIA FLICKR

Elbow The Take Off And Landing Of Everything 8/10

The “oldest band in Manchester” return to the limelight after eighteen months out. Their sixth studio album The Take Off And Landing Of Everything, discards the bombast and brassy layers of their last two efforts and takes us with them on their journey into the realisation of middle-agedness.

The sharp turn away from the stadium singalongs of Seldom Seen Kid, and Build A Rocket Boys! that bought the band fame, is startling. The decision to leave behind their trademark uplifting grandiosity and replace it with heavier stories of ageing and loss is one that may seem strange considering the last record’s commercial success.

That said, the record is beautifully crafted and arguably the bravest step forward the band have made to date.

Adam Keyworth

PAUSE | MUSIC

GIG REVIEWS Haim, Rock City

The Stranglers, Rock City

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Monday 10 March 2014

Haim’s breathtaking Rock City set sees the luscious Los Angeles trio take the crown away from Jedward as music’s best sibling act.

Este, the bassist, sang and played drums; Alana, the keyboardist and guitarist, sang and played drums; and the lead singer, Danielle, also played guitar and the drums. Mr and Mrs Haim have either got a fantastically musical gene pool or once upon a time they invested their entire family savings into the girls’ instrument lessons.

Despite the replacement of 75-year-old Jet Black by Jim Macaulay due to illness, The Stranglers prove to be at their fluent best during a set that spans the band’s long and impressive career.

The trio played through their numbWWer one debut album, Days Are Gone (with the exception of Running If You Call My Name), alongside a beautifully serene cover of Beyonce’s XO, à la Radio 1 Live Lounge. The girls also treated us to a jam session, which wasn’t so much a jam session as a musical demonstration of their tightness as a group.

The fact that they’re sisters helps, firstly to ensure their musical cohesiveness and secondly to make the audience feel comfortable and safe in the knowledge that they all actually want to be on stage with each other. And this was evident throughout the set.

The jam was also for those who knew the album inside out, bringing an element of surprise to an otherwise potentially predictable hour and a half. The same goes for the exhibition of percussion genius near the close.

The Haim sisters faced each other and went all guns blazing into a drum section that was powerful, rhythmic and irrepressibly exhilarating: an apt tagline for the entire gig, really. Want to experience power, rhythm and exhilaration first hand? Go see Haim live.

Liv Clark and Ishmael Anwuri

Many here had come exclusively for Golden Brown, The Stranglers’ trademark hit. And it certainly didn’t disappoint; taking many of the crowd back to their youthful pasts. In addition, the sweet bassline of Peaches and the scratchy, reggae-influenced Nice N Sleazy are testament to The Stranglers’ long-standing influence on British music, from punk through to ska new-wave.

This is the band’s 40th anniversary tour, and time could be running out. But what The Stranglers have achieved in their career to date is simply outstanding.

Alex Neely

Maximo Park, Rock City Tuesday 11 March 2014

After the release of the new album Too Much Information, Maximo Park came to Rock City as a part of their extensive UK tour. The band played with real style, and lead singer Paul Smith in his trademark suit and trilby was energetic and enthusiastic, clearly still loving what he does after 10 years of the band.

The stand out songs were of course those from the first album, A Certain Trigger, as well as Our Earthly Pleasures. The amazing Apply Some Pressure brought the crowd to life, and the lyrics were chanted back to the band.

Books From Boxes was also pure class. With a two hour set, and amazing on stage presence, Maximo Park are well worth seeing.

Dan Jones

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MONKEYGOD, STARBRIGHT31 AND MAN ALIVE VIA FLICKR | 53

SPORT

H

aving to juggle time commitments at university is part and parcel of the average student life. There is a three-dimensional trade-off between studies, socials and sleep which forces most of us to compromise at least one. But what about the elite student athletes? Impact Sport talks to the University of Nottingham’s own 2014 British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) high-jump champion Isobel Pooley and London 2012 Team GB hockey player Harry Martin.

fixed in terms of which days I just can’t be at University, so having communicated that was a really helpful step because then they don’t expect me to split myself in two”.

Pooley, a third-year Animal Sciences student, made a victorious return from injury last month in the annual BUCS Championships by clearing the bar at a championship record 1.87m. Sidelined by a shin problem for a year with a boot on her foot, she was happy to have regained her fitness so soon.

Naturally, a typical sportsperson’s career wanes as the body gets older, so to have a degree under the belt is a secure investment for the future of a student athlete. They can study what interests them and exploit their youth in training, knowing that they will have a college qualification as a reliable fallback after they retire. It also allows them to pick up valuable life skills along the way.

“It’s great to be back, and to top it off with an equal season’s best and a new championship record was just fantastic,” Pooley tells Impact.

“It obviously wasn’t very easy to sit and watch my fellow competitors going out there and enjoying the crowd, which is something I enjoy so much. I suppose that helps me to embrace the opportunity that I have. It has made me realise the value of having a sound body - if you’re injured then you have no choice but rest”.

No other competitor at the Championships in Sheffield this year came within 17 centimetres of the Hampshire-born sportswoman, who is now setting her sights on the podium in this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“My target is to win a medal, so I reckon that will take a jump of at least 1.90m. To improve my personal best of 1.91m is a definite target - as it is every year - and try to push that to maybe 1.93m-1.94m, in which case I’d compete in the European Championships. To make the final there at a relatively young age of 21 would be quite an achievement, so that’s something I’d aim to do as well”.

“BE PREPARED TO HAVE NOT MUCH FREE TIME. AS LONG AS YOU’RE ORGANISED AND KEEP ON STUFF, YOU CAN STILL HAVE A GOOD TIME”.

Such sporting ambitions are testament to what the University offers for top-level student athletes.

Overall, UoN currently stands in fifth place in the 2013-14 BUCS rankings nationwide. The University also has flexible provisions to ensure that academic performance is not undermined.

“I’ve been really lucky because the University of Nottingham has helped me a lot in terms of juggling studying and training.

“My module convenor, for example, has let me choose the modules that are taught on days that suit me in terms of training. My training’s fairly

54 | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADY KERRY

“IT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. THE HOME SUPPORT WAS UNREAL AND THE ATMOSPHERE FOR EVERY GAME WAS INCREDIBLE”.

“I’ve had to learn to distance myself from the stress that we feel as students when there are exams and coursework deadlines coming up, because it’s that sort of undercurrent that can mess up your training. Then you’re wasting your time doubly because you’re stressed about your exams but you’re trying to train and you’re not really achieving anything”.

Harry Martin, a second-year Economics undergraduate, is another example of someone who has taken on the challenge of balancing a degree with elite competition. Martin was the youngest member of the Great Britain Hockey squad at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and played a part in every match. That team came painfully close to a podium, losing out in the Bronze medal game.

“It was the best experience of my life,” he recalls. “The home support was unreal and the atmosphere for every game was incredible. It was nice that lots of friends and family could come too”.

The call up to the Olympic squad was certainly no wild-card. Martin had already been part of the England Hockey team who earned a fourth place finish at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and made his full GB debut in that year.

Originally from Ipswich, the move to Nottingham saw him swap his home club Old Loughtonians for Beeston Hockey Club, whom he recently helped to the domestic league title.

Of course, a move to university has entailed more than just a change of club. Student lifestyles are notoriously unhealthy and one wonders how compatible this is with regular training and practise. While Martin admits that it is “hard to not get completely drawn into the uni lifestyle,” he outlines some of the necessary sacrifices.

SPORT

STUDENT ATHLETES: DEALING WITH THE PRESSURES OF STUDIES AND SPORTS

“I’VE HAD TO LEARN TO DISTANCE MYSELF FROM THE STRESS WHEN THERE ARE EXAMS AND COURSEWORK DEADLINES COMING UP, BECAUSE THAT CAN MESS UP YOUR TRAINING”.

“I just try to eat as well as I can and stay disciplined when it comes to alcohol and unhealthy food”.

Another feature of student life is scant regard for timetables. For many, it means swathes of free time, but Martin’s schedule is a touch more rigid.

“About two days a week I go down to Bisham Abbey to train with GB,” Martin said, describing a typical working week. “A normal day up here depends on lectures but usually I’ll go to the gym in the morning, lectures in the afternoon then club training for Beeston in the evening”. On balancing this routine with degree work, he told us: “it helps that the university is very supportive”, which appears to be a must for any student wanting to maintain this lifestyle.

“IT MADE ME REALISE THE VALUE OF HAVING A SOUND BODY - IF YOU’RE INJURED THEN YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO REST”.

For many young people the choice between pursuing sporting ambitions as well as higher education might appear to be an either/or decision. Martin insists that both can be done, though he adds that: “it’s got to be what you really want to do and be prepared to have not much free time. As long as you’re organised and keep on stuff, you can still have a good time”.

This year promises to be busy for Martin with the Hockey World Cup coming up. The tournament in Holland runs between 31st May and 15th June, as England’s group pits them against the best sticks of Spain, India, Malaysia, Australia and Belgium.

The support and understanding given by the University to students like Pooley and Martin has been a key factor in enabling them to balance both sides of their lives. Nevertheless, their personal dedication and commitment to making the situation work should not be ignored.

Excellent time management and a willingness to sacrifice short-term pleasure in favour of long-term development appear to be the key to balancing student life with elite athleticism.

Watch the full interview with Isobel Pooley on Impact’s Youtube channel: impactnottingham01

JOHN MASTRINI AND DAN ZEQIRI | 55

SPORT

WHAT’S AT YOUR UNI?

GAELIC FOOTBALL HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE GAELIC FOOTBALL TO SOMEONE NEW TO THE SPORT? TG: It’s probably best described as a fastpaced game with a mix of skills from football, rugby and basketball. It’s 15-a-side, with the aim being to score either a point (above the crossbar and between the posts – like in rugby) or three points (in the goal – like in football). The ball is carried in the hands and can be passed or shot with a kick or a hand pass. Tackling is done with the shoulders and can be very hard hitting.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD GAELIC FOOTBALL PLAYER? CAN ANYONE PLAY? TG: We would welcome anyone. Basic fitness and a good control of the ball are preferred, but we work on these during training so it’s easy to pick up.

MAJORITY OF YOUR MEMBERS IRISH? SD: Only a few had played before; I only started last year but picked it up pretty quickly.

I’m not Irish but my dad used to play when he lived in London. If you have any experience of playing rugby, football or basketball you’d be fine. It’s quite amusing watching people who have never played before come in and be better than some of the lads who have been playing for a while. We have a very wide range of nationalities playing so it’s not just for the Irish out there.

TG: We are a very eclectic mix: there’s Irish, English, Welsh, Italian and Mexican in the squad, amongst others.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE CLUB? WHAT KIND OF STUFF DO YOU GET UP TO SOCIALLY?

SD: What we do expect however is a bit of passion and tough tackling. We like the other team to leave the field knowing they’ve had a tough game, and I like to think we have a reputation of being one of the toughest teams in our league.

SD: The atmosphere is great. Being one of the smaller sports clubs we all know each other and get on really well. There is always room for new players who are welcomed with open arms and we really try to make them feel a part of the team.

HOW MANY SOCIETY MEMBERS PLAYED THE SPORT BEFORE THEY CAME TO UNI? AND ARE THE

TG: Socials do involve the normal Crisis nights, but we’ve tried to expand this year with team meals and other things. During

56 | JONNIE BARNETT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DF ARCHIVES VIA FLICKR

We caught up with President and Vice President Thomas Gavin and Sam Draper to talk tackling, tournaments and Mexicans… the season, we’ll meet in town to watch the top Gaelic matches and there’s usually a fair crowd interested in watching the rugby when it’s on as well.

WHY MIGHT PEOPLE ENJOY GAELIC FOOTBALL MORE THAN FOOTBALL OR RUGBY, FOR EXAMPLE? SD: There are plenty of us who play other sports, but I think Gaelic football offers something different. It is a new challenge for people who may not get into the football or rugby squads and want to try something new. I think if they gave it a go they would be surprised how quickly they pick it up.

TG: Because we’re a relatively small club, I think this makes us more attractive as everyone is friendly with each other and this make training and matches fun, as you’re playing for the success of your friends. We all want to do well and push each other on.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST EVENTS OF THE YEAR FOR THE CLUB? TG : In March we play in the British National Championships, which is a two-day tournament, where we play against unis from all over Britain. After the success in our league this year (we’re unbeaten so far), we’re really hoping to make a big mark at this year’s tournament.

SPORT

WHAT’S ON YOUR DOORSTEP? ONE CALL STADIUM, MANSFIELD TOWN The oldest ground in the football league, Mansfield Town’s Field Mill (or the One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons) provides a chance for students to experience professional football in its truest form.

Bar the odd Rugby League game and a singular Westlife concert, the stadium has been the home of local football in the area since 1861 and has seen its fair share of pints, pies and tears. Whilst trips to Nottingham Forest’s City Ground or Notts County’s Meadow Lane are closer to home, a visit to Field Mill allows sports fans to experience a genuine, provincial footballing atmosphere in a relatively modern arena.

GETTING THERE The ground is about a ten minute walk from Mansfield train station, which in turn is about 40 minutes from Nottingham, allowing time for a couple of drinks on the train. At £4 return, it’s not going to break the bank either. The last train leaves Mansfield at 10:55. Alternatively, if you prefer travelling by road then TrentBarton’s baby pink ‘pronto’ service offers a return from the Victoria Bus Station to Mansfield Bus Station (adjacent to the train station) for £6.40 return. Note that the last bus leaves Mansfield at 10:25 so there’s not much time for a post-

match pint after a mid-week game if you choose to travel this way.

TICKETS Entry to any Mansfield game is a reasonably priced £13 with NUS Card, and with an average attendance of just over 3,000 in a ground that holds 10,000 you’re always assured entry. It’s worth noting that tickets purchased on the day cost £15. If you manage to persuade your parents to go with you (and hopefully pay for the whole trip) then they’ll pay £18.

ATMOSPHERE Three sides of the ground are modern and spacious, with plenty of leg room for the gangly-limbed amongst us. Unfortunately the low home attendance, allied with a lack of a discernible singing section, makes for a quiet atmosphere unless the away fans take it upon themselves to liven up the stadium. The strangest scene is the decrepit fourth stand, which now serves as a glorified advertising hoarding and sits directly in front of a row of terraced houses that resembles Corrie. In short, you’re much more likely to come across an old man with a pie than an ultra.

FOOD AND DRINK About five minutes from the stadium there’s a retail park, with a McDonalds, KFC and Sainsburys if you’re in a rush, but you would be better served to walk another couple of minutes down the main Nottingham Road and head in to The Talbot, a nice local pub with a decent range of beers and inexpensive food.

As is to be expected, it gets busy in the hours before and after a game, but there’s plenty of standing room if you’re just after a drink.

Across the road is a more upmarket wine bar, Il Rosso, if you’re not operating on a typical student budget. Unfortunately we were, so we looked in forlornly through the window. It looked expensive.

There is little point in pretending that a trip to the One Call Stadium will be near the top of most students ‘Nottingham Bucket Lists’, but for those who like the experience of visiting new and different sporting stadia then this really is worth checking out. For less than the price of a night out you can watch an honest game of football in the unsanitised surroundings that you tend to find higher up the footballing pyramid. You certainly won’t see a prawn sandwich in sight here.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER BONNET VIA FLICKR | JONNIE BARNETT | 57

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