IMPACT ISSUE #232
DRUGS, ADDICTION, ABUSE INVESTIGATING SEX WORK IN NOTTINGHAM
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: HALL FOOD HORROR STORIES FRESHERS’ WEEK GONE WRONG STUDENT DRUG CULTURE: THE SCIENCE NOTTINGHAM’S BEST VENUES ADAM GEMILI SHARES HIS STORY
SEPTEMBER 2014 WWW.IMPACTNOTTINGHAM.COM
WELCOME
INSIDE
EDITORIAL Welcome to the University of Nottingham, and welcome to a new year with Impact – your award-winning student magazine. I hope this issue will serve you well during these first few weeks – whether it fuels conversations, distracts you from a horrific hangover, or finds a use during more desperate times… like when the flat runs out of toilet paper. There must be an Impact drinking game waiting to be invented too. There’s a lot to look out for in this issue. As well as investigating sex work in Nottingham and hall food on campus, we’ve examined the science behind UoN students’ most used drugs, compiled a list of the best places in Nottingham for film and music, and conducted an exclusive interview with Commonwealth Games champion Adam Gemili. Once you’ve wrapped your head around all that, be sure to check out our website – www.impactnottingham.com. It’s updated daily with the latest news, reviews and features from all of our sections. And if you’re interested in joining us – whether that’s as a budding investigative journalist, critic, photographer, PR innovator, or as part of a whole host of other sections - we’d love to hear from you.
SARAH DEAR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ON THE COVER
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NEWS INVESTIGATION
DRUGS, ADDICTION, ABUSE
Impact went undercover to investigate sex work in Nottingham
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THE HORROR OF HALL FOOD
Catered students share their worst mealtime experiences
12 COMMENT
IS SUMMER TOO LONG?
Impact Comment debates the length of the summer break
14 FEATURES
“I’M AMAZED I DIDN’T END UP GETTING MUGGED” When Freshers’ Week goes wrong
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28 TRAVEL
A NOTTINGHAM STUDENT IN BRAZIL
GAMING
TREADING THE SAINTLY PATH
Should you game with a moral compass?
Ending your year abroad with the World Cup
35 SCIENCE
FILM
NOTTINGHAM FILM CULTURE
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MUSIC
LITTLE BLACK BOOK
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THE ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT / GIG GUIDEBOOK
Nottingham’s hottest music nights and best venues
FOOD
The best cocktail bars in Nottingham
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Everywhere that’s worth knowing in Nottingham's film scene
WHAT ARE YOU ON?
Impact investigates the science behind UoN students’ favourite drugs
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ARTS
71
WHAT’S ON YOUR SHELF?
Impact dissects the student bookshelf
44 STYLE
BOLD IS THE NEW BLACK
The best of the high street’s urban prints
SPORTS
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"I STILL NOW, TO THIS DAY, WON’T EVER FULLY COMPREHEND HOW I MADE IT"
Commonwealth champion Adam Gemili shares his story
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MASSAGES AND METHADONE INVESTIGATING THE LIVES OF SEX WORKERS IN NOTTINGHAM
AN INNOCUOUS BUILDING IN THE HEART OF BUSTLING NOTTINGHAM LIFE, LOVEHURTS* DOES NOT DRAW THE ATTENTION OF MANY WHO WALK PAST IT. HOWEVER, FOLLOWING THE CLOSURE OF THE OSBORNE ROAD BROTHEL IN RADFORD – THE FIRST SUCH CLOSURE IN THE EAST MIDLANDS AREA – THE LOVEHURTS* BUILDING HAS COME UNDER AN INCREASING AMOUNT OF SCRUTINY BY THOSE WHO ARE AWARE OF THE RUMOURS SURROUNDING IT. IMPACT INVESTIGATES. WORDS BY LOUISA CHENCINER AND PRIYA THETHI IMAGES BY ‘PODOBOQ’, ‘MOLLYBOB’, ALEX TORRES AND CHRIS GOLDBERG VIA FLICKR
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The business is registered as a beauty salon, established over two decades ago, and the atmosphere inside is very much one of cleanliness and calm. Having phoned ahead to check availability, Impact’s source was informed that the parlour operates short working hours, and later it was clarified that this was to keep away potentially drunk and unruly customers, further adding to the impression of respectability. Once inside, you are greeted with tasteful décor, smooth jazz radio and a smiling receptionist, Jen*, who asks you to sign into a visitor’s book. The same receptionist leads you downstairs, asking whether you want a shower before your massage and informing you of the £15 “cover charge”, with additional charges of up to £60 for “other stuff”.
"A GERMAN GUY WOULD PAY GIRLS £400 A NIGHT TO LET HIM BEAT THEM WITH CHAINS” There is no security in sight, and a question from Impact’s source about whether this was the usual practice prompted laughter. Quickly, the preconceived notion of a seedy, male-dominated atmosphere had disappeared, and despite glimpses through doorways of clientele getting dressed, casual observers could be forgiven for assuming Lovehurts* is in fact just a massage parlour. This, however, is not the case. Speaking to Jen – who at this point, had taken on the role of masseuse – Impact’s source found that she was genuinely surprised that he had come in only for a massage. Dressed in lingerie, she kept up a chatty rapport, asking about university, jobs and hobbies. She was also responsive to questions about her own job at Lovehurts*. Having grown up in Nottingham, she’d known about Lovehurts* well before she began working there four years ago. Now, despite paying only tips, the job is well-paid enough for her to not be working anywhere else. Nevertheless, she did not see it as a permanent career, instead using it as a way to pay for college before moving onto a teaching career. More significantly, the establishment is said to be known to the police, who are believed to visit frequently, according to Jen*, to “ask whether there are illegal immigrants”. Otherwise, Lovehurts* seems to have defied all popular expectations, and indeed the statistics, by not appearing to be male-dominated or rife with drug use.
“POTENTIAL CLIENTS HAD KNOCKED ON THE WRONG DOOR LOOKING FOR MASSAGE OR SEXUAL SERVICES” In any case, negotiations between the police and such establishments tend to be largely invisible to the public eye. A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police told Impact that periodic visits had been made to the Osborne Road premises since 2007, following several instances of contact with the landlord and tenants, and a number of informal complaints from local residents. The most common complaint was that “potential clients had knocked on the wrong door looking for massage or sexual services”.
Furthermore, the Osborne Road brothel had been implicated in human trafficking, with police releasing a statement that the women found were mainly of Chinese origin. When Impact contacted Nottinghamshire Police to ask what had happened to these women, it was told that their case had been passed into the hands of the UK Border Agency.
LAWS IN THE UK: DISJOINTED AND COMPLEX The steps taken by the police in the case of the Osborne Road brothel were the “usual practice” for cases of this nature, based on local agreements with the Nottingham City Council and the UK Border Agency. These agreements are, in turn, compliant with the UK’s current legislation on prostitution. However, spread over five different acts straddling half a century, the law can be disjointed and complex. The key pieces of legislation are the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and the Sexual Offences Act 2003; the former states that it is an offence to cause or incite prostitution for gain, and the latter prohibits running a brothel and loitering or soliciting on the street.
"WE PUNISH THE WOMEN FAR MORE THAN THE MEN WHO CONTROL THEM” Notably, the sale of sex is not illegal in itself, but the illegality of most of the activities surrounding it means that it effectively is. There have been many critics of the UK’s partial criminalisation of prostitution and as a result the laws on sex work have been brought to the forefront of national politics. Shifting the Burden (2014), the first cross parliamentary report on prostitution published in twenty years, found that only 7% of its respondents felt that the current prostitution laws safeguarded the most vulnerable. “We punish the women far more than the men who control them” says Hind Ibrahim, a London human rights lawyer practicing at Tuckers, the largest criminal defence firm in the country. Elaborating, she told Impact how the justice system can feel like “a spinning wheel” for those involved, with a police force driven by targets and an overall lack of funding.
A COMPLEX WEB OF PERSONALITIES AND ABUSES This lack of resources can have especially detrimental consequences in a profession where some studies estimate 90% of street workers use drugs. “There were times when the probation officer wouldn’t turn up to provide the girl with the methadone [commonly used in the treatment of heroin dependency] she needed to stay clean”, says Ibrahim. A 2004 study conducted by University of Nottingham academics in conjunction with charity POW Nottingham confirmed the grim reality of drug abuse amongst many of the city’s street sex workers. They found that 51% of sex workers reported daily drug use, of these, 35% reported using crack, and 32% used heroin.
“SHE WAS GENUINELY SURPRISED THAT HE HAD COME IN ONLY FOR A MASSAGE” “Drugs offer escapism”, says Ibrahim of many of her street sex worker clients. Childhood sex abuse and trauma led to sex workers being “riddled with issues and problems”, often leading to their arrival in
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places where they had no support system, job or money. The situation is substantially worse for sex workers who operate on the street. Here, they are far more vulnerable to both arrest and violence than those working from home, or from an established brothel.
"THE SALE OF SEX IS NOT ILLEGAL IN ITSELF" In collaboration with the University of Nottingham Enactus Green light project, POW Nottingham published Hello, I’m here: The True Stories of Nottingham’s Prostitutes in 2012. A collection of stories from Nottingham’s male and female sex workers, the book reveals some of the worst realities of the industry in urban England. One story is told by a girl who came home from school aged 14, to find her mother dead from a heroin overdose. Her own heroin addiction took over, and she soon entered into a world where “Jamaicans would hide [cocaine and heroin] in Kinder eggs in graveyards” and she had offers from characters such as a “German guy who would pay girls £400 a night to let him beat them with chains”.
"WE PUNISH THE WOMEN FAR MORE THAN THE MEN WHO CONTROL THEM” With such an elaborate network of personalities and abuses, the charitable sector has an essential role in operating alongside the police, as was the case with the Osborne Road brothel before its closure. Charities are able to build relationships with vulnerable women in a way that the police force cannot. POW Nottingham is one such organisation, founded in 1990 by women from Nottingham’s sex worker industry who had volunteered to undergo
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"DRUGS, ADDICTION AND ABUSE ARE CENTRAL TO THE LIVES OF MANY SEX WORKERS" training, as researchers, assessing the health and intervention needs of Nottingham’s sex workers. It now has over 1500 women registered on its system, and works to build a rapport with women in a non-judgmental environment. A consultant gynaecologist based in Nottingham, who wished to remain anonymous, described how “in twenty five years of practice, a woman has never disclosed to me that she works in the sex industry”. A POW Nottingham report (2004) describes how it has broken institutional boundaries in a way in which ‘mainstream’ health services have failed to, as demonstrated by the use of POW sexual health services by 97% of respondents. Other professionals have a role to play, Ibrahim told Impact how she became “a mum, social worker and teacher” as well as a legal representative to some of her clients.
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ANOTHER MODEL Shifting The Burden is a report which aims to “consolidate existing statutes into a single Act of Parliament”, whether it will provide a neat piece of legislation or will truly change the landscape of the criminal justice system for sex workers remains to be seen. The report suggests the adoption of the “Nordic model”, which involves the criminalisation of the act of buying sex, so that clients, not sex workers, would face the consequences of their ‘crime’. However Ibrahim argues that “the law is simply reorganising issues, whether criminalising selling or buying sex, these issues still remain”. In this context, the argument that the Nordic model will help to reduce gender inequality loses its force. This is especially true if law enforcement, despite changes in legislation, continues to marginalise sex workers, as has been argued by Scandinavian academics Skilbrei and Holmström.
Ultimately, the issue of legislation on the matter could be seen in terms of two competing models, as put forward by a European Parliament report on sexual exploitation and prostitution: the law can either be a means of preserving gender inequalities, or a form of work that should be regulated like any other.
“DRUGS OFFER ESCAPISM” The decision rests on our society’s interpretation of morality, and some research argues that prostitution has been engineered into an excessively moral issue, which ignores the realities of running a business with estimated revenue of around $186 billion per year worldwide. It remains, however, that drugs, addiction and abuse are central to the lives of many sex workers, and that investment in welfare services is therefore central to supporting women, whether they wish to leave the profession or not. As for Jen of Lovehurts*, for now, she will probably not. Of student age and working towards a white-collar career, she is free of the traps which plague so many in her profession. When questioned by Impact’s source as to why she does what she does, she simply said: “Everyone’s got to pay the bills somehow”.
*Names changed to protect confidentiality
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‘‘MY THROAT STARTED TO CLOSE’’ IMPACT INVESTIGATES FOOD IN CATERED HALLS WORDS BY YASEMIN CRAGGS MERSINOGLU AND JACOB BENTLEY IMAGES BY MATT BUCK VIA FLICKR
IN THE PAST ACADEMIC YEAR, 2013-2014, THERE HAVE BEEN ALLEGATIONS OF SERIOUS ALLERGIC REACTIONS AS A RESULT OF UNLABELLED DISHES, ANIMAL PARTS AND INSECTS BEING FOUND IN FOOD, AND OVERALL COMPLAINTS OF POOR QUALITY MEALS DIRECTED TOWARDS THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM’S 14 CATERED HALLS. IMPACT NEWS CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF 120 STUDENTS ACROSS THESE HALLS TO INVESTIGATE STUDENTS’ ALLEGATIONS OF CATERING MALPRACTICE. ALL HALLS WERE GIVEN THE RIGHT TO RESPOND AND MANY CHOSE TO FORWARD THE CLAIMS TO THE UNIVERSITY’S CATERING SERVICES DIRECTOR, WHO IMPACT ALSO SPOKE TO ABOUT OTHER RELATED ISSUES. HORROR STORIES More than 50% of survey participants reported that they’d had a bad experience with catered food or knew someone who had. Many complained about a lack of provision for a wide range of allergies, including nuts, cheese, fish and cream, spanning eight different University halls. Respondents from four catered halls informed Impact about the mislabelling of dishes marked with a nut free symbol - a blue circle. Impact has also been made aware of incidents leading to students suffering allergic reactions following incorrect use of a colour coding system, which is designed to inform students about the contents of each dish available.
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A student from Lenton and Wortley, who wished to remain anonymous, told Impact: ‘‘I was lucky that I didn't have a reaction, but the people serving the food didn't know the ingredients, and pretended the dishes were fine when in fact they didn't know. Also, they did make a nut free symbol (blue circle) and put it next to certain dishes, but they put it next to a pesto dish, which of course sends the completely wrong message. I complained several times, which I think is why the symbol was introduced, but these are not always 100% accurate. Nut free food at formals, like desserts, were not provided for, even when asked. I had a really hard time coping this year’’.
“MORE THAN 50% OF SURVEY PARTICIPANTS REPORTED THAT THEY’D HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH CATERED FOOD OR KNEW SOMEONE WHO HAD” Lorna Hatch suffered an allergic reaction and had to go to hospital after eating a meal that was not marked with a warning and told Impact: ‘‘The colour coding system said the nut roast didn’t have any nuts. I looked it up online, and saw that lots of nut roast recipes were without actual nuts so I thought it would be okay. I had a tiny nibble and got the reaction. My throat started to close, I had swollen lips and tongue, stomach cramps, throwing up, rash etc. I had to go to A and E’’. Lorna confirmed that her Hall Manager recorded the account of the incident and arranged a meeting between the head chef and herself. “Before meeting me they made a poster saying a student 'misread the menu'… what a fucking joke. I sat down with her and the head chef from our halls. He said that there was a dot saying it had nuts. It’s annoyed me because we both know he has just changed the menu, it's easily done as he makes them. I was insulted and annoyed that they had made the poster because, firstly, it wasn’t even necessary to say a student 'misread the menu', it could have just said there had been an incident, and also
more importantly it wasn’t true. They were clearly just trying to cover their backs. They said they would take the poster down, but never did”. Lorna continued: “The week after that they still didn’t have the dot system on the menus and, to make matters worse, one of the nights they served beef satay and didn’t say it contained nuts! It could have been fatal, not everyone knows satay is peanut sauce and when I questioned them on it, the staff serving didn’t even know anything - they should have a basic idea of what they are serving’’. Catering Services Director, Jonathan Hamblett, maintained that nut allergen signage is clearly marked in halls and emphasised that cases involving allergic reactions were not widespread, telling Impact: “Of the 2.52m meals served to students in catered halls in 2013/14 there were 3 allergy related incidents – all involving choices made by students with access to clear signage. This is a low incident rate of 0.0001%, when set against a recognised rate of 0.11% across hospitality generally (IOH)’’. When questioned about changes to catered halls for September 2014, he stated that halls will adhere to newly implemented EU legislation, meaning that the halls “will see nut allergy information removed from menu boards and into folders alongside 13 other notable allergens’’. Impact has also been informed of meals being served containing animal parts and insects in a variety of halls. Ten Cavendish residents from 201314 confirmed that: ‘‘There were four incidents this year in which people found bugs (including insects, three mealworms, one spider and one snail) in their food which was disgustingly unacceptable. The issue was clearly not addressed as it was recurring’’.
“ONLY 16% OF STUDENTS RESPONDED POSITIVELY WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF HALL FOOD” 9
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Tushara Rose, a first year student from Lenton & Wortley, revealed that Furthermore, Impact can reveal that the share of 2013/14 she discovered a meat-like substance, resembling an ear, in an unopened accommodation fees that went towards meals was £1944.32 per person. yoghurt. This is broken down as £744.00 for meal cards (where up to £5.10 could be spent on lunch every weekday) and £1200.32 each for hall food. ‘‘I found a hideous, floating mass in one of the yoghurts that resembled a human ear. It was definitely a meat product of some description”, said Hamblett, confirmed to Impact that Catering Services “work to daily Tushara. average all-inclusive budgets (including food, staff, equipment, crockery theft, power etc.)… broken down as:
“I HAD A TINY NIBBLE AND MY THROAT STARTED TO CLOSE”
‘‘When opening the yoghurt I expected it to be toffee-coloured and lumpless, as usual. Instead what I saw was the yoghurt discoloured, pink, with a large floating thing inside. I, at first, thought it was a strawberry, until I realised that it was something meaty and the discolouration caused by blood. It instantly put me off my meal (breakfast), I showed it to the rest of the table, resulting in all of us leaving our meals unfinished”. “I took the yoghurt to one of the catering staff and showed them the bleeding, meaty mass floating in the yoghurt. Firstly, they tried to act as though it wasn't a big deal, telling me that it must just be mould from the lid of the yoghurt not being closed properly. When I pointed out it was clearly meat, the man looked slightly alarmed and invited the chef over. The two of them looked quite disgusted at the yoghurt, but resolved that they would only complain to the company if it happened again’’. Only 16% of students responded positively when asked about the quality of hall food and many stated their understanding of problems that may arise as part of catering en masse for hall residents. 46% responded negatively about the quality of the food, with a first year student from Cripps Hall describing the food served as ‘‘diabolical,” and “incredibly bad quality’’. Three students (and their friends) resorted to buying ready meals to eat instead of hall dinners and three students from different halls claimed to have lost weight as a result of not being able to eat the food served at meal times. One student said: ’’Whenever I went home, my friends and family told me that I looked unwell because I'd lost a lot of weight and was surviving on biscuits and noodles as a result of no longer being able to bring myself to eat the food’’.
“I FOUND A HIDEOUS, FLOATING MASS IN ONE OF THE YOGHURTS THAT RESEMBLED A HUMAN EAR” However, Jonathan Hamblett told Impact: ‘‘the nutritional value of the halls evening menus is limited only by the individuals choices’’. Additionally, students surveyed by Impact revealed that, despite the convenience of being provided with daily meals, 50% of survey respondents said that they would not choose to live in catered halls again, with only 39% of students saying that they would. 11% did not know.
Halls Breakfast: £1.33 Halls Evening Meal: £4.28’’ Without knowing these details, the views of respondents in the Impact survey were split between whether catered halls are value for money or not; 43% felt they are value for money but 48% felt they are not.
COMPLAINTS Results from the Impact survey showed only 19% of students in catered halls complained to staff or their hall about catered food, in spite of the many negative comments. 45% in Impact’s survey described breakfast as ‘Average’, the score with the highest proportion. Only 6% of respondents said it was ‘Very Good’, less than the 7% who thought the food was ‘Very Poor’. Dinner fared even worse than breakfast - 42% rated dinner as ‘Average’, 37% described it as ‘Poor’ and only 1% labelled it as ‘Very Good’.
‘‘I HAD A REALLY HARD TIME COPING THIS YEAR’’ 70% of students claimed that there was a significant gap in quality between food served daily and meals served at hall formals. A second year student from Lenton and Wortley stated: ‘‘Formals are much better and it just shows nice food can be produced in large volumes when they try’’. In relation to complaints, Hamblett commented: ‘‘Against 1.9m term time meals served in halls during the last academic year, we had 46 comments through the acc-feedback system. Each is tracked, investigated and responded to on an individual basis typically by the lead manager. Undocumented discussions at local level rarely escalate’’. Despite this, a first year student from Cavendish claimed: ‘‘Our complaints were taken note of but nothing was actually done to prevent such measures in future’’. Almost a quarter of survey respondents had complained and received different responses from hall catering staff. Complaints included contamination of nuts, ill-prepared packed dinners, lack of Saturday breakfasts in exam period, hair in food, undercooked meat, poor quality of food, small portion size and bugs. At least four students did not receive a reply from staff, two received on the spot apologies, three people were offered alternative dinner options and seven people felt adequate changes were not made after their complaints. Jonathan Hamblett, Catering Services Director, spoke on behalf of his department and the UoN’s catered halls Survey conducted in July 2014
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DEBATE
IS SUMMER TOO LONG? AS EXAM SEASON DREW TO A CLOSE, STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY EAGERLY ANTICIPATED THE ARRIVAL OF THEIR SUMMER. THE LIBRARY HAD TAKEN ITS TOLL, SLEEPING PATTERNS HAD GONE ASTRAY, AND THE ONLY WISH OF STUDENTS WAS OF A CHANCE TO LET THEIR ACADEMIC BOOKS COLLECT DUST BEFORE THE START OF A BRAND NEW SEMESTER. BUT IS THE SUMMER BREAK TOO LONG?
NO
BY LAUREN KARMEL
University students are blessed with two and a half months off. The summer break can be a real chance to stand out from everyone else, and allow you to accomplish new things. Getting a summer job, going travelling, and volunteer work can earn you skills you just don’t pick up in the world of academia; earning yourself a charming curriculum vitae. Finding work in the current economic climate is not easy, but once you find a job, it teaches invaluable skills. Summer camps for children actively seek to employ university students. These camps allow you to meet new people, build social skills and confidence, and above all, create a really rewarding experience and close bond with the children you encounter.
“AS MUCH AS WE ALL LOVE HALLWARD LIBRARY, THE MOMENT FOR US TO BREAK FREE IS EAGERLY ANTICIPATED” As a law student, the academic year is incredibly stressful. There is not much time to pursue other hobbies, and as much as we all love Hallward library, the moment for us to break free is eagerly anticipated. The summer break allows us to pursue activities that we otherwise would not get a chance to – like obtaining crucial work experience, or volunteering abroad. If giving up work doesn’t appeal to you, a trip to one of the University of Nottingham’s summer schools in south-east Asia may be just the thing to do. You’ll get a chance to deepen your knowledge of another subject, whilst soaking up the culture of places you may otherwise never get to see. Activities like these build you as a person: they broaden your horizons, and shape your viewpoints and opinions in a way a piece of coursework just couldn’t.
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YES
IMAGE BY WILLIAM MURPHY VIA FLICKR BY TOM WATCHORN
While those in the yes category are always at risk of in some way being branded traitorous for wanting a slightly shorter summer period, there are numerous benefits to a shorter holiday and really the only arguments to the contrary can be boiled down to the human need to have more of what they see as a good thing, regardless of the degree to which it actually is beneficial to us.
“IT IS EASY TO SLIP INTO A STATE OF AVOIDING WORK” The simple fact is, shorter breaks result in better productivity, and shorter holidays reduce the very real issue of Summer Learning Loss, which on average sets people back education-wise the equivalent time that they are breaking for. Reasonably, most people relax from any sort of extracurricular studies after the exam period, before the academic year has officially ended, and from then on it is easy to slip into a state of avoiding work. The reality is that most of us need to keep on some form of an industrious roll at all times or risk falling into an awkward, quicksandesque slump (no work and all play makes us sloth-like, evidently). The longer the free time we’re subjected to, the more likely one is going to get out of a prolific rhythm of working that will take a few weeks to return to when all the lounging about is done. The last point is, perhaps, a legitimate counter - the free months are probably the perfect time to fund future trips from pub to bar to club (at least for about a month). However, only just over half of students have any form of part time job, so for 43% of students the additional time is of little productive use.
“WE SHOULDN’T CRAM AND WASTE ALL THE NOVELTIES OF LIFE SO EARLY ON” Another common argument for needing such excessive time is to experience foreign places and cultures, to volunteer, to do charity work etc. But, you know what, you can actually do those things at any point in your life, and forcing them into such a relatively early stage is restrictive and reductive. The average student has got decades ahead of them, the argument that they won’t have time later to do interesting things is nothing more than preemptive excuses. Simply, we shouldn’t cram and waste all the novelties of life so early on. Also, we should have shorter summers.
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DOES SCHOOL PREPARE YOU FOR FRESHERS? UNIVERSITY, THE CULMINATION OF 14 YEARS OF SCHOOLING, IS A RIGOROUS EXPERIENCE. WE ENTER UNIVERSITY AT THE PINNACLE OF OUR ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL CAPABILITIES, READY FOR THE TASK AHEAD. BUT HOW READY ARE WE REALLY? WORDS BY LOUISA CHENCINER AND PRIYA THETHI IMAGE BY LOUISA CHENCINER Academically, we face a massive shift from spoon-feeding to selfmotivation, which impacts on the way we treat learning at university; most freshers happily take the advice they are given to treat first year as a “doss”. No serious exams means no need for serious learning, surely? This, however, misses the point about what studying at university is supposed to be: an opportunity for students to personally make the most of the resources and time they’ve been given.
“STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO ARRIVE MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY AND ACADEMICALLY PREPARED” Not only does the exam-focused learning in schools affect how you learn at university, but also what you know when you get there. Researchers from the University of East Anglia found that freshers across five universities had forgotten basic biology knowledge highly relevant to their bioscience degrees. The assumption that school will have provided you with a solid knowledge base is therefore unfounded. For students who are highly self-motivated, as they are expected to be, catching up should be relatively painless. For freshers, however, who are used to a school environment of personalised pastoral care, this leaves ample opportunities to fall through the cracks. A study by University of Hull researchers tracked freshers through their first semester, finding that they experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression. For many students, this stemmed from a feeling of lacking focus and motivation. It’s should therefore not be a surprise that students are described as an “important and relatively neglected group” in research published by Oxford University in the Journal of Public Health Medicine. In this study, it was described how students scored significantly lower than their peers in eight health parameters. The greatest difference was seen in the ability to cope, with the main sources of this distress rooted in study or work problems and money. PSHE is meant to provide some guidance in case of such eventualities. For those that don’t remember the leaden significance of these letters, sporadically announced by teachers in form time, these lessons are
supposed to deliver ‘Personal, Social, Health and Economic’ education to pupils. It’s a broad, bulky subject which arguably constitutes the fundamentals to dealing with life beyond school. However, there are concerns: Not Yet Good Enough, a report published by Ofsted last year, found that the delivery of PSHE was simply not adequate in 40% of 50 primary and secondary schools visited. Significantly, personal finance education was seen to be by far the least effective element of PSHE education in primary schools, with only about half of schools viewing these elements as less than effective. It is surely no coincidence that money is a key source of student worries. Arguably even more important are the concerns articulated by inspectors regarding the absence of “high-quality, age-appropriate SRE [sex and relationships education]”. Impact spoke to secondary school students about their sex education experiences. One of these students described “circle time”; another, how “the nurse came in and told us what an orgasm felt like”. These are discrepancies and voids in PSHE education which are having long-term effects on how well students are prepared for relationships, particularly those at university. This is most clearly demonstrated by the recent recommendations by the Cambridge Women’s campaign officer for freshers at the University to be given mandatory sexual ‘consent classes’.
“WE FACE A MASSIVE SHIFT FROM SPOON-FEEDING TO SELF-MOTIVATION” A consistent and coherently delivered education programme is essential when addressing these issues, especially one that includes PSHE. It is concerning, therefore, that the Department of Education still speaks in contradictions on PSHE, boldly classing it as “non-statutory” whilst simultaneously declaring that it is an “important and necessary part of all pupils’ education”. For students to be able to arrive at university mentally, emotionally and academically prepared is pretty much as important and necessary a condition as can be. At the moment, however? School prepares us for some things, but university? No chance.
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THE DARK SIDE OF FRESHERS’ WEEK BOOZE, BLACKOUTS AND BRAIN BLEEDS: IMPACT INVESTIGATES WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FRESHERS’ WEEK GOES WRONG WORDS BY NATASHA GREGSON IMAGES BY DAVE C & ZACH PETERSON VIA FLICKR AND ANDREAS BILLMAN
FRESHERS’ WEEK, FOR MANY STUDENTS, IS A TIME OF FREEDOM AND THEIR FIRST TASTE OF LIVING INDEPENDENTLY AWAY FROM HOME. THE FIRST WEEK OF A STUDENT’S UNIVERSITY LIFE IS TYPICALLY SYNONYMOUS WITH NIGHTS OUT; BUT FOR SOME, THIS HEDONISTIC TIME CAN TURN SOUR, AS A TOXIC COMBINATION OF BINGE DRINKING AND LACK OF EXPERIENCE CAN LEAD TO THE WEEK FROM HELL. “There were a few nights where I genuinely do not remember a thing. I can’t even recall them now”, admits Peter White*, when discussing his Freshers’ Week experience. Peter is not alone, come September many new students will find themselves in similar situations due to excessive drinking. A recent Impact survey found that 33% of students did something they regretted during Freshers’ Week whilst under the influence of alcohol, and for Peter his lack of memory when intoxicated led to him feeling regretful. “When you wake up in your bed and you’re still laid in your clothes and covered in mud, you’re like ‘how on earth did this happen?’” he tells Impact, adding: “In hindsight it was a bit stupid really”.
A CULTURE OF EXCESS This September, thousands of students will be heading to Nottingham ready for their Freshers’ Week, but with 55% of current UoN students believing that Freshers’ Week is too focused on binge drinking, it does raise the question, just how dangerous is the culture of excess that surrounds the week? One student highlighted that the duration of Freshers’ club nights can lead to more excessive drinking. “There is too much focus on binge drinking and clubbing. 7pm starts at clubs for these nights is a joke, yet they insist you go this early. With pre-drinks as well it means you are drinking for 8+ hours straight. It's expensive, tiring and not overly great to be honest”.
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Angharad Smith, Coordinator of the Week One programme, responded, highlighting that club nights are just one of many options available during Freshers’ Week. "As the Week One team we work hard to provide a range of different events for people. There are a whole range of events available for all students to get involved with, from movie nights, silent discos and hypnotism to ice skating, comedy nights and even a ghost walk!
“I DEFINITELY WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SO STUPID, LET ALONE DOWNING VODKA OUT OF THE BOTTLE” She adds: “There will be some students who want to drink and go clubbing - they are adults after all - so we don't ignore that, but it is far from the only thing we do. There's plenty of choice in the programme". For those like Peter who do choose to participate in the alcohol-related events, just what is the expense of it all? He tells Impact that his average Freshers’ night out cost “at least about £40-£50 a night, maybe more”. But for some students the true cost of Freshers’ Week is not coming out of their wallet.
MEDICAL EMERGENCIES One student who knows all too well about the dangers of binge drinking is Grant Rodgers*, whose drinking led to him being hospitalised during his first term of university. “I definitely regret it because of how serious it became”, Grant tells Impact. When asked if he would be more cautious if revisiting that night, he responds: “I definitely wouldn’t have been so stupid, let alone downing vodka out of the bottle”. While Grant’s experience of binge drinking may seem extreme, Impact’s survey found that over 5% of students received medical attention for alcohol related injuries during their Freshers’ Week. One student’s first trip to Mooch ended in disaster when the emergency services had to be called due to an excessive drinking session by one member of their group. They tell Impact: “When no one was particularly looking or paying attention, one girl in our group downed half a bottle of Pimms (straight!) and a quarter of a bottle of vodka that she’d snuck in from halls. I spent the next two hours looking after her. She peed herself twice. I ended up having to call paramedics”.
DANGEROUS SITUATIONS Binge drinking can have a serious effect on one’s health. From alcohol poisoning to liver damage, the effect of Freshers’ Week on students’
bodies can be immense. But it’s not just their health that’s being harmed during a binge drinking session, as consuming copious amounts of alcohol can result in a loss of self-awareness, therefore leading to dangerous situations. “I had too much to drink and was mugged. I was found by a passer-by who rang an ambulance. I had sustained a brain bleed”, is the harrowing tale of binge drinking from one UoN student. Another told Impact: “I have a friend who got second degree burns on her shoulder from being pushed by someone drunk into a BBQ”. Frieda James* is part of the 29% of students surveyed who admit to putting themselves in danger during Freshers’ Week due to their alcohol consumption. She tells Impact: “I think I probably did it [blacked out] for 3 out of the 5 nights of Freshers’”. “I won’t lie, I’m kind of amazed I didn’t end up getting mugged during Freshers' Week”, she adds. “I got lost by myself. My friends and I ended up splitting up. Two of us went to go and get cash and the rest of us went somewhere else. I got split up from the person I was getting cash with, and I ended up getting lost and just wandering round the city that I’ve never been in before. It wasn’t exactly the nice part of Nottingham”. Ironically, the alcohol that put her in that situation also prevented her from recognising the danger of her predicament. “I should have felt unsafe much sooner. It was only really when I realised that I had no idea where I was and I only had a few people’s numbers because I’d just met them. That’s when I got quite worried”. Peter’s drinking also altered his perception of danger during his Freshers’ Week: “I don’t feel like I was in any danger but I suppose not having been able to remember what went off, I can’t really comment. I could have done anything really”.
“29% OF STUDENTS ADMITTED TO PUTTING THEMSELVES IN DANGER DURING FRESHERS’ WEEK DUE TO THEIR ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION” “I didn’t feel threatened in Freshers’ Week”, says Claire Walker*, adding: “but you do have to put your trust in strangers looking after you to some extent”. “Our team of 110 trained reps work extremely hard all week to ensure a safe and welcoming environment, providing a crucial system of support
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for Freshers’”, says Angharad, adding: “For many first years, starting University is a very daunting experience and the reps are there to take some of this pressure off. We are the only University to provide free buses both to and from the clubs to ensure maximum protection and safety to vulnerable first years. Our advice would always be to avoid being pressured by others and to do what you want to do”.
LACK OF EXPERIENCE With Freshers’ Week being many students’ first time living away from home, a sense of new-found freedom and a lack of experience can lead to dangerous behaviour.
Freshers’ Week can be dangerous, but it can also be great, so long as a little caution is present. For the majority of students, Freshers' Week is an enjoyable experience. “I’ve got some fairly ugly photos but aside from that there are no horror stories”, Claire tells Impact.
“I’M KIND OF AMAZED I DIDN’T END UP GETTING MUGGED DURING FRESHERS' WEEK” “Freshers’ Week is good as it gets people to know each other and find people that they’re probably going to be friends with for the rest of their lives”, says Peter. “I’d definitely drink less because it’s Freshers’ Week, pace yourself and enjoy it”.
“I think a lot of people haven’t had access to drink and haven’t really experienced being drunk properly”, says Peter. “When you’re getting egged on by your friends and you’ve just got your student loan you feel like you can keep on going continuously. I think that a lot of people aren’t “Don’t just end up getting smashed and then feeling ill, going out, getting used to it and it can have some serious consequences”. smashed, feeling ill and continuously getting drunk until the end of the week. You end up feeling completely disgusting and that you’ll never get Frieda agrees, telling Impact that the problem with Freshers’ Week is as over your hangover”, he adds. follows: “People don’t know their limits, and they find out what they are in Freshers’ Week. In some ways it’s good that they find them out, but at Chloe emphasises that Freshers’ Week should be a time free of pressure, the same time that’s how people get into trouble”. That trouble could be advising those new to UoN this September: “If you do feel that you are of a medical nature, or even a lawful one, with 7% of students revealing being pressured to drink then let your Week One reps know, they are that they committed a criminal act during Freshers’ Week. really friendly and well trained, or email me at the Students' Union and we'll make sure that it gets sorted. We want people to have a great time at Uni and we don't want excessive alcohol or pressure spoiling that for you".
“I ENJOYED IT. IT WAS GOOD… I COULDN’T DO IT AGAIN THOUGH”
“It would be made better if certain people could actually handle drink before, or at least experience getting drunk before they actually come to university, because I don’t think that they understand actually how much they’re drinking”, Peter adds. Chloe Averill, the SU’s Welfare Officer tells Impact: "Being away from home and wanting to make new friends, some people can end up doing things that they wouldn't ordinarily do, and that they then go on to regret. It is hard to realise it at the time but you need to be aware of your limits so that you don’t put yourself in any danger whilst drinking. Try and be aware of where the peer pressure is coming from and don’t be afraid to say a polite but firm “no thanks” if you’re not comfortable with doing something”.
It’s a one-time opportunity - living and socialising with a group of people you’ve never met before whilst sharing the common experience of embarking on a new chapter of your life. Freshers’ Week undoubtedly has its drawbacks but, as long as care is taken towards personal safety and students are aware of the dangers of binge drinking, it may just be one of the best weeks of your life. “I enjoyed it. It was good”, Frieda says of her Freshers’ Week. “I couldn’t do it again though”.
*All names have been changed. Survey conducted in July 2014
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“PEOPLE WERE DECLARING THEIR LOVE FOR SOMEONE THEY HAD LITERALLY JUST MET”
IMPACT INVESTIGATES SEX, RELATIONSHIPS AND CHEATING DURING FRESHERS’ WEEK
IMAGE BY GORDON ANTHONY MCGOWAN VIA FLICKR WORDS BY CHARLOTTE MCINTYRE, NATASHA GREGSON AND ABBY ROSS
Thanks to the likes of films such as American Pie, many students are coming to university with the impression that Freshers’ Week is all sex, sex, sex. Impact explores some of the main areas of Freshers’ sex lives to
“A friend of mine cheated on his partner on the first night of Freshers’ Week, mainly due to peer pressure”, one student tells Impact. This is not uncommon - Impact found that an astonishing 41% of students have, or know of someone who has, cheated on a partner during Freshers’ Week.
find out what’s really going on behind closed doors. Just like your family, you can’t choose your flatmates. Freshers' Week will present you with a whole range of different people; those who are quiet, those who never shut up about their gap yah, and those that are very open about their sex life. And so, while Freshers’ Week is considered to be the best week of your life, you may end up having your dirty laundry aired.
With 78% of Nottingham students believing that it is difficult to begin university life in a relationship, it’s not surprising that many students in a relationship are prone to being unfaithful. “There are so many opportunities to cheat and, seeing as most people are off their faces on most nights out, they’re probably not in the best mind to stay loyal”, one student admitted.
“I OFTEN FEEL THE NEED TO LIE ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF SEXUAL PARTNERS I HAVE HAD”
“I know of a few couples who split up after one or both moved to university - I think the distance, the amount of new people you meet and perhaps the changes you go through as a person at university contribute to the difficulty”, adds another student.
With sex being a hot topic of conversation during Week One, 29% of UoN students surveyed have admitted to lying about the number of sexual partners they have had while they have been at University. Whether it’s that one night stand you badly want to forget or that Inbetweeners moment that you decided definitely counts, many students conceal the truth about their sexual experiences. However, it isn’t quite as simple as ‘the more the merrier’ when it comes to fresher pressure. One student, Beth Thompson*, even admits: “I often feel the need to lie about the amount of sexual partners I have had and say less”. A recent Impact survey of 234 students revealed that 31% of University of Nottingham students hadn’t had sex when they arrived at university. And for some, their first time is memorable for the wrong reasons. Hannah Churchill* tells the story of her flatmate’s first sexual encounter: “I know a guy who lost his virginity to a girl… and then she threw up afterwards. Not a great experience!”. It’s clear that sex is on the agenda for many Freshers. But for those in a long distance relationship who are trying to stay faithful, the temptation to cheat can be overwhelming.
While Freshers’ Week has a seemingly negative impact on relationships, for some students it can bring about the start of new ones. Impact’s survey revealed that 44% of Nottingham students know someone who started a relationship during Freshers’ Week. It’s not startling, especially given the excitement that surrounds Freshers’ Week and the whirlwind of meeting and living with strangers. “I thought it was so weird that people were declaring their love for someone they had literally just met. Of course, the majority of these 'relationships' failed, but some are still together which is quite cute”, one student tells Impact. Whether you and your partner from home have grown apart or you’ve fallen head over heels in love with someone you’ve known a week, living away from home with people you have only just met can have a huge impact on your sex life. Freshers’ Week marks the start of your life as a student, with many saying it will be the best week of your life. The freedom and alcohol that Freshers’ Week brings can have a huge impact on the decisions students make, leaving some attempting to avoid the embarrassment of the walk of shame, while others are starting a relationship or having to end one.
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IMPACT MEETS ED BARKER, A UON GRADUATE AND EX POLITICAL SPEECH WRITER WHO HAS TURNED HIS BACK ON PARLIAMENT TO PURSUE A CAREER AS A JAZZ MUSICIAN. WORDS BY ABBY ROSS IMAGES BY ‘NAPAFLOMA-PHOTOGRAPHE’ VIA FLICKR AND ED BARKER / NICK ROBERTS
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YOU STUDIED LAW HERE AT UON, WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO GO INTO POLITICS?
Well for me, politics is almost an extension of Law. When you’re doing Law a lot of the time you’re reading texts of judgements by the law lords, by the judge and the court of appeal, who are constrained in what they do by what the law is and the law is made in parliament. So a natural extension of Law for me was going right to the very heart of where laws are made in the first place; I was just fascinated by the process.
AT ANY POINT DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT STUDYING A MUSIC BASED DEGREE INSTEAD?
I did, I remember battling with what the right choice was, my choices were Law, Economics or Music. But I realised with music that if I wanted to get good at it I just needed to listen to it, work really hard at it, get into the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and learn from people that were better than me. But when I went to university to study Law I remember thinking for the first 3 months that I had made the wrong decision, not because Ed’s album is out on the 22nd September and can be law wasn’t brilliant, but because I felt like I’d let the music go. However, purchased from his website www.edbarker.co.uk because music was just the passion that I didn’t study formally, it made me work harder at it. But, I always knew that I wanted to be a musician. Even when I elected to do Law at Nottingham, I still knew I wanted to be WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING IN PARLIAMENT? a musician. When I worked with Patrick Mercer I just remember thinking I was just so lucky, one minute I’d be writing a speech to be delivered in the House of WERE YOU STILL ABLE TO FIND TIME TO PLAY MUSIC AS WELL Commons and the next I’d be welcoming in someone who’d just returned AS STUDY FOR YOUR LAW DEGREE AT UNIVERSITY? from Afghanistan as a bomb disposal expert and I would just be chatting Yeah, Law was an intense degree, I remember I even had my favourite to him over a coffee. It was that diversity and meeting different people seat in Hallward, it was on the second floor, as you turn right and it was that I just found quite special really. one of the booths near the window, I always sat there. But I still found time to do it, I even had time to go to London and Leeds for music SO TELL US ABOUT YOUR DECISION TO LEAVE WESTMINSTER lessons. I think you can do more than one thing - I’ve been doing it my TO PURSUE A CAREER IN JAZZ MUSIC? whole life. I’ve been doing the politics and the music together for the I worked in the House of Commons ever since I moved to London. It was past 7 years, I even set up a jazz band in parliament with some MPs. I feel great, I loved doing it, but music has just been getting really busy over doing more than one thing enhances you. the last couple of years, especially since I toured with George Michael in 2012 which put me on the map. Then once I began putting the album WERE YOU PART OF ANY MUSIC SOCIETIES OR BANDS WHILE together and getting ready to release that and releasing a single in the states, things have just been getting busier and busier. That was great, YOU WERE AT UON? I ran the UoN Jazz band in my second year and I was in Moonlighters Big but it didn’t leave me much time to devote to the politics, so I decided to Band. I also set up a little jazz trio with a couple of guys from Nottingham leave. But it also coincided with the fact that Patrick Mercer, the MP I was working for, actually left anyway. and we actually toured Paris in 2005 in the summer holidays. We played at various functions around Nottingham and loads of Students’ Union balls and hall formals – most of my playing was done on campus, jam YOUR SINGLE ‘WHEN YOU SMILE’ HAS BEEN HUGELY sessions in The Ark (now The Den) and arranging jazz evenings in my SUCCESSFUL IN THE STATES, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE halls, Sherwood. BROKEN INTO THE US CHARTS?
SO HOW LONG AFTER GRADUATING FROM NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY DID YOU START WORKING IN PARLIAMENT AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO THIS?
I graduated in the summer of 2006 and for almost a year I set up a website that sold poker chips. But I decided by January 2007 that I wanted to have a job in parliament because my main concern was just getting to London; I knew that the best musicians and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra were there. So I got my first full time job in the House of Commons in May 2007 and that was for Dominic Grieve who was then the Shadow Attorney General. I was working for Conservative party’s Law Advisor, so he was looking for a law graduate and luckily he chose me.
When my single made number one in the American Independent Charts it felt very surreal. You never sit there and write something expecting it to be a hit, and of all the tunes that was the one I least expected to be a hit, it’s the one I spent less time on, maybe it reflects natural musical emotions rather than being more considered.
AND FINALLY, ANY ADVICE TO STUDENTS?
My advice to students is this - you can do more than one thing at the same time! If you really care enough about a particular sport or hobby and want to succeed at it, a full time degree course or even a full time job can still leave you with enough time to train and practice. It's hard and sometimes stressful but in the end, I assure you it's worth it.
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THE YEAR THAT STUDENT FEMINISM FOUGHT BACK IMPACT INVESTIGATES THE RECENT SURGE IN FEMINIST SOCIETIES AT UNIVERSITIES WORDS BY CHARLOTTE MCINTYRE IMAGES BY UON FEMINISTS ON FACEBOOK
During the previous academic year there has been one word that, unless you've spent the entire year studying in the library (which is pretty unlikely), you will not have been able to avoid. The f-word. Feminist societies have sprung up throughout British universities proving that it would be amongst students where feminism would really make its mark. Students at the Universities of Westminster, Durham, Liverpool, Gloucestershire, Central Lancashire and King’s College London have each founded feminist societies in the last two years. These societies did not fade into the background or find themselves unable to campaign for change. They have become a huge presence across university campuses prioritising what they feel is the need to tackle sexism on campus. A strong feminist presence at universities is not a totally new concept and despite the formation of various feminist societies prior to 2013, including Southampton University Feminist Society formed around four years ago, 2013 remains the year feminism exploded across universities. The University of Nottingham has not escaped this trend and UoN Feminists, established in September 2013, has now reached over 400 members. 20
UoN Feminists launched with its first campaign “I need feminism because…” over the course of three days at the Freshers’ Fair last year. The responses to the campaign were posted on their Facebook page, including “I need feminism because…I own books that distinguish between ‘scholars’ and ‘women scholars’” and “ “I need feminism because…men still whistle at me! I’m not a dog!”. With 286 photos, not only including students but lecturers too, UoN Feminists certainly made an impact and the campaign received an excellent response.
“FEMINIST SOCIETIES HAVE BECOME A HUGE PRESENCE ACROSS UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES” The feminist movement has previously been accused of failing to recognise that not every feminist is white, middle-classed and cisgendered. Intersectional feminism, the view that there is no one-sizefits-all type of feminism, has become the new f-buzzword and can be found throughout feminist societies. King's College London's Intersectional Feminist Society has over 500 members and proves that today's feminist societies are not letting previous ideas of what feminism should and shouldn't stand for dictate their campaigns. “The idea of intersectional feminism is rising”, Seona Deuchar, Communications Manager for UoN Feminists tells Impact. “Our society holds this as a core principle and we aim to build a much more sustainable wave of feminism which includes everyone and fights all oppression”.
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It is clear that 2013 was the year of the student feminist. What remains a mystery is what triggered such a rise in feminism across universities. Seona Deuchar attributes the rise in student feminism to the overall rise in social activism and tells Impact: “Personally I think that campaigns around all sort of issues such as oppression of women, racism and ableism are on the rise and feminism is part of that”. Seona continues to tell Impact that she feels the surge in student feminism was in some ways inevitable:“A campaign gains traction and it snowballs...a surge in student activism was always going to happen”. This third wave of feminism has not been limited to universities. From the ‘Everyday Sexism Campaign’ to ‘No More Page 3’, feminism has made a comeback from beyond lecture theatres, and it is these high-profile campaigns which may have contributed to the rise in feminist societies. Across a large number of universities, feminist societies have gained momentum and this has undoubtedly been a result of social media. Facebook and Twitter have breathed a new lease of life into student activism and feminism is no exception. Campaigns such as ‘No More Page 3’ owe their success to their large online presence and feminist societies have taken note. Social media has meant that ideas and campaigns can be shared within seconds and feminist societies have been using this to their advantage. UoN Feminists also set up a their own Nottingham-focused Everyday Sexism Twitter account, which allows students at UoN to share their experiences of sexism on and around campus using the hashtag #nottssexism. The Twitter account currently has almost 400 followers.
“SOCIAL MEDIA HAS MEANT THAT IDEAS AND CAMPAIGNS CAN BE SHARED WITHIN SECONDS” Despite all of the success that feminist societies have experienced within the last year, the movement has not been without its critics. An article recently published by Durham's independent student newspaper, Palatinate, criticised feminism for being outdated and unnecessary. This is not an isolated incident and last year, the head of York's feminist society faced verbal abuse and harassment as well as a
counter-movement calling themselves Men's Rights Activists. UoN Feminists has also faced problems throughout its first year as a society. Seona Deuchar tells Impact: “Like any feminist group we have faced difficulties, you always will. In a patriarchal society any challenges to the status quo will face difficulties”. One campaign in particular is surrounded by controversy both inside and outside university campuses: ‘No More Page 3’. Earlier in the year topless newspapers including both The Sun and The Daily Star were banned at the University of Nottingham’s Students’ Union’s shops and both the campaign and reaction to the banning were not solely positive. “Of course there was backlash when the SU joined us on our stance”, UoN Feminists tells Impact. “No More Page 3 is a controversial campaign and there are many misconceptions around it”. The backlash centred on the idea that refusing to sell any newspaper, regardless of the reason, is censorship. “Backlash occurred because people mistook the campaign as an infringement of free speech”, UoN Feminists informs Impact. Despite the somewhat negative response Seona Deuchar assures Impact that the backlash has sizzled out. “There were some reactionary anti-censorship campaigns and personal affronts, both of which have since died down”. “We've had to constantly remind people that we, as a society, are not anti-sex work and we do not encourage censorship”, she adds. “We want fair representation for women in our media, and when The Sun and other papers like it agree to fairly represent all genders, we will consider our fight won”. The big question concerning the recent surge in student feminist societies remains. Will student feminism continue to campaign and have a lasting impact or fade into the background like many other student activist groups have in the past? The successes of the many feminist societies all over the country seem to outweigh the backlash, but only time will tell whether feminist societies are here to stay.
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INFOGRAPHIC
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO’S THE VAINEST OF THEM ALL? WE ASKED YOU HOW VAIN YOU ARE HERE ARE THE RESULTS
58% SPEND MORE TIME GETTING READY FOR A NIGHT OUT THAN THEY DO IN THE DAYTIME.
41% WOULD REFUSE TO WEAR NOTHING BUT TRACKSUITS FOR A YEAR - EVEN IF IT MEANT YOU’D BE GUARANTEED A FIRST CLASS DEGREE.
INFOGRAPHIC BY HARRY DINSDALE 47% ADMIT TO EDITING PICTURES BEFORE POSTING THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
IMPACTSTAGRAM
1 like impactman #nofilter
34% OF YOU HAVE TAKEN A SELFIE IN THE PAST WEEK.
19% NEVER PUT CONSIDERATION INTO WHAT THEY WEAR TO LECTURES. 22
12% JUST ROLL OUT OF BED AND PUT THE FIRST THING THEY FIND ON WHEN GETTING READY FOR A DAY ON CAMPUS.
80% OF YOU WOULD RATHER HAVE AN EXTRA TEN MINUTES IN BED THAN AN EXTRA TEN MINUTES GETTING READY.
39% OF YOU TRY TO MAKE YOUR LIFE LOOK MORE GLAMOROUS THAN IT IS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
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WHAT NOT TO DO
AT UNIVERSITY
SEE HOW MANY YOU CHECK OFF…
B I N G O
GET KICKED OUT OF OCEAN BEFORE BAYWATCH COMES ON
NOT MAKE IT THROUGH PRE-DRINKS
HAVE 4 OR MORE TAKEAWAYS IN ONE WEEK
PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER BEFORE AN EXAM
START AN ESSAY THE DAY BEFORE IT’S DUE IN
THROW UP IN A LECTURE AFTER A BIG NIGHT OUT
SLEEP WITH ONE OF YOUR FLAT MATES
MISS YOUR FIRST LECTURE OF TERM
TAKE UP MORE ROOM THAN NECESSARY IN THE LIBRARY
FALL ASLEEP IN A LECTURE
WALK AROUND THE COMMUNAL KITCHEN BAREFOOT
PRETEND THAT YOU HAVE DONE THE READING
BLOW ALL YOUR STUDENT LOAN IN FRESHERS’ WEEK
LINE UP EMPTY VODKA BOTTLES ON YOUR WINDOW
GO TO UNI WEARING A ONESIE
EAT FROM THE DODGY BURGER VAN OUTSIDE ROCK CITY
GET YOUR CARD OUT AT THE BAR
START ANY SENTENCE WITH ‘ON MY GAP YAH…’
INSTAGRAM PICTURES OF CAMPUS
FRATERNISING WITH THE ENEMY... TRENT STUDENTS
IF YOU CHECKED OFF…
1-5 - Well done. You’ve survived, keeping your dignity partially in tact. 6-10 - Careful, you’re treading into dangerous territory. Then again, Uni is probably the only time of your life where it’s acceptable to show up hungover (and quite possibly still drunk). 11-15 - Well, you’re certainly making the most of Uni. But seriously, down another jägerbomb and then pull yourself together. 15 or more - It’s going to be a miracle if you survive 3 years! 23
TRAVEL WORDS BY CAITLIN KELLY IMAGES BY HARRY DINSDALE
SOCIAL MEDIA: CHANGING THE FACE OF TRAVEL
THERE IS A NEW OBSESSION SWEEPING THE GLOBE. ONLINE PHOTO SHARING SITES SUCH AS INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK AND TUMBLR, HAVE ENGULFED THE WORLD OF TRAVEL, PULLING IT INTO A NEW ERA OF ESCAPISM AND SOCIAL INTERACTION. FROM BEACH SELFIES TO MONTAGES OF EXOTIC COCKTAILS AND IMMENSE SUNSETS, THE ART OF TRAVEL HAS PERHAPS BEEN CHANGED FOREVER, WITH THE BIRTH OF A NEW BREED OF TOURIST; SNAPPING, FILTERING, CROPPING AND SHARING THEIR HOLIDAYS WITH HUNDREDS OF FOLLOWERS.
Travel experiences have been recorded for centuries, with journals and diaries dating back to the Greek empire, but today’s technologically savvy society has added a whole new layer to the concept of recording travel. As more and more cafés, hotels and even tour coaches invest in free Wi-Fi, photos can be uploaded to social media sites faster than ever before. The practice of uploading our holiday images when we return home is quickly fading, with a growing trend of sharing photos instantaneously, each day we’re abroad. Such trends have been enabled by the emergence of the smartphone, meaning that for many, the days of using a camera with a memory card are becoming obsolete.
“THE TRAVEL SECTOR HAS NOT ESCAPED THE RISE OF THE SELF-TAKEN PHOTO” Not only has a fashion for documenting our lives erupted over the past decade, but we have been encouraged to present them in a rather distorted way; adding colours to sunsets that never appeared, cropping landscapes to sizes that barely do them justice and using hashtags we don’t even understand. The trend of editing the colour, sharpness and saturation of our images goes further than just simple default filters installed on Instagram. There are now numerous apps to edit our photos even further, such as VSCOcam and Afterlight. Such apps have developed an online culture whereby each user tries to outdo one another through their photos. The ‘selfie’, too, has exploded in popularity, especially since the famous Ellen DeGeneres Oscar selfie, which is now reportedly worth up to one billion dollars. The travel sector has not escaped the rise of the self-taken photo, with tourists snapping away next to iconic world monuments, on airplanes and whilst doing extreme sports. Away from our personal accounts, the most popular travel pages appear to be those showcasing fine dining at expensive holiday resorts, crystal white beaches and infinity pools in Asian metropolises. Worryingly, these 24
accounts frequently favour wealth, being owned by users who can afford to travel to exclusive locations. Perhaps the most extreme case of this is the notorious Rich kids of Instagram account, which documents a variety of wealthy teenagers flying on private jets to elite destinations such as the Maldives, St Barths and California, as well as showcasing luxury yachts and Louis Vuitton hand luggage. Yet, while such accounts hide the societal issues the ordinary tourist might encounter on holiday, such as street beggars, ocean pollution and migrants in painfully low-wage jobs, social media does celebrate world beauty and encourages adventure, open mindedness and self-discovery. Most students today have travelled further than their parents ever had when they were a similar age, and while much of this has been facilitated by developments in transportation and disposable incomes, images of online friends in far flung destinations certainly generates a level of social pressure on students to travel.
“THE DAYS OF USING A CAMERA WITH A MEMORY CHIP ARE BECOMING OBSOLETE” Social media may not only influence our behaviour on holiday and how we present trips to our contacts, but also where we go. The traditional travel agent is dying, with online do-it-yourself sites taking their place, and it seems that social media has become a useful marketing tool for many tour operators. Yet the fear here is that certain destinations dominating photo-sharing sites will boom, leaving locations seen as less ‘cool’ or less photogenic, yet no less rich in culture and adventure in reality, to decline in popularity. The boom in silky images of travel destinations has, unsurprisingly, descended most heavily on the world’s tourist hotspots. But it has served
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to over-amplify their magnificence, and hide crushing social problems. By searching Paris on Tumblr or Instagram, you’ll discover seemingly gorgeous and romantic, pastel tinted images of the Eiffel tower, Arc de Triomphe and various manicured gardens. However, the city has a crippling homelessness problem, widespread pollution and a shocking level of suburban poverty. Yet these issues are omitted from most visual representation. However, there are various sites and users that champion unique images of culture, sharing photos of local people, ordinary sidestreets and understated landscapes. These do not champion wealth or westernization, but reveal the raw landscapes where often the most insightful travel experiences are to be found. The National Geographic website allows any user to create a profile and upload world images. It has a community of users who frequently post photos of traditional scenes, intrepid travel and unusual nature-human juxtapositions. The site encourages such images, through asking users to categorize their uploads into groups such as adventure, people, architecture or nature. Yet the social aspect is not lost, as other users can leave comments or add your photos to their favourites. Despite this, the prevailing theme for travel images on social media continues to be one of luxury, generic beach scenes and the notorious selfie at various tourist hotspots. There are now calls for a revolution in the way we represent the destinations we visit. This asks us to venture off the beaten track to seek images with more insight and profundity, that are greater representations of the country we’re visiting as a whole, and to end the worshipping of luxury travel, through favoring images of honest experiences, tradition and diversity.
STUDENT VIEWS
“It depends on why the person is visiting the place. If it’s beautiful, it’s ok to document locations online. Instagram celebrates beauty and people enjoy seeing it, so I don’t think it matters too much”. SEB, ENGINEERING STUDENT
“Sometimes you go on holiday, and you’re so focussed on what the trip is going to look like to your social contacts, that you fail to fully experience that holiday in the moment. You only take photos of beautiful things, and then edit these to look even more beautiful, so perceptions of travel and the world in general, become even more blurred”. EMILY, MANAGEMENT STUDENT
“I think that people upload pictures of pretty sunsets and beaches to get likes on Facebook and Instagram. The photos are physically blurred by filters, and only give a small snippet of what the country being visited is actually like. They might make people want to travel but not to do charity or humanitarian work, and often when people travel, they stay in a western bubble in posh hotels and visit tourist attractions, so they don’t see the reality of that country”. OLLIE, FRENCH STUDENT 25
TRAVEL
SUSTAINABLE CITIES A NEW WORLD FOCUS
WORDS BY JOANNA HILL IMAGES BY JERRY WONG, ‘MARK A’, MATT LEHRER, DAVID ALMEIDA AND JAMIE HENDERSON VIA FLICKR
Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urbanised areas, with numbers growing all the time. A city’s biggest concern must now be that their growth is sustainable. This requires balancing the economic, social and environmental interests of a city; sustainability is not just about reducing CO2 emissions, but also about ensuring a strong economy and a good quality of life for future generations. The main question therefore is whether enough is being done. Despite global press coverage about the constant problem of climate change, overcrowded cities and failing economies, it appears that cities around SINGAPORE also leads the way in sustainability, winning awards for the world are actually implementing innovative schemes to improve their its Intelligent Transport System, which uses technology to reduce sustainability. Impact investigated the techniques of four cities around congestion, for example by sending real time traffic reports to taxis the world to build a more sustainable future... via GPS. They also have a hugely successful water purification project, NEWater. This scheme takes treated used water and purifies it further using advanced membrane technologies and ultra-violet disinfection, making it completely safe to drink. This is especially important in Singapore, a city with a history of water shortages. In terms of waste management, the city focuses on using recycled materials when constructing new buildings and they have four waste-to-energy incinerators, reducing waste volume by 90%.
LIMA stands out in particular for the work they’ve done to become sustainable, through finding innovative ways to cope with a population of almost 10 million people. By implementing a new Metro line that travels above the city’s traffic, people living in the most northern and southern districts can now have quick access into the city centre, reducing commuter journeys and tackling motor vehicle congestion. There is also a simple yet innovative proposal for a pedestrian bridge that will link Miraflores and Barranco, two of the busiest districts in Lima, allowing them to benefit from each other. It will also have a number of dual functions including an amphitheatre, garden, sculptures and viewpoints, helping to improve the quality of life of residents.
NEW YORK has implemented a scheme that aims for a third of all taxis to be electric by 2020. There are also rules that 20% of all new off-street parking must now be ‘charger ready’, promoting the use of electric cars in The City That Never Sleeps. In terms of sustainable housing, NYC has recently held an architectural competition to design new housing in small spacing with multi-purpose functions. The result has been that innovative ideas will now be put in place to provide affordable housing for New Yorkers, promoting creativity at the same time.
“A SCHEME THAT AIMS FOR A THIRD OF ALL TAXIS TO BE ELECTRIC BY 2020” In COPENHAGEN the city has worked hard to ensure sustainability, winning the award for European Green Capital 2014. The most noticeable feature in this city is their bike lanes; the creation of bike ‘highways’ has allowed almost 50% of commuters to travel to work more efficiently. Copenhagen has also promoted public transport by integrating bikes, trains and buses, allowing one ticket for all types of transport and for bikes to be taken on the trains. The city aims to be carbon neutral by 2025 and has a significant amount of wind power production in the harbour. It also uses a district cooling system that sends seawater in pipes under the buildings to cool them in the summer, reducing the need for air conditioning. 26
These four cities are taking big steps to try and provide for future populations, but there are still plenty of others that need to follow their lead. For example, Phoenix, in Arizona is said by some to be the ‘least sustainable city in the world.’ Located in the middle of a desert that is slowly becoming drier due to climate change, it suffers from drought and water shortages, high CO2 levels and a population that is politically quite anti-green. Cities such as Phoenix will soon have a critical lack of housing and resources, leading to poverty and a reduction in quality of life, and must now follow the examples of Lima, Singapore, Copenhagen and New York; finding alternative energy and water supplies and innovative housing and transport solutions that will support future generations.
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SPOTLIGHT ON: WESTERN SAHARA WORDS BY CAITLIN KELLY IMAGES BY UNITED NATIONS PHOTO AND ‘WESTERN SAHARA’ VIA FLICKR
The Western Sahara region has been a hotbed of conflict for over 50 years. Yet it is perhaps one of the least understood disputes in the world. A Spanish colony until 1975, the territory has since been claimed by Morocco, Mauritania and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The native Sahrawi people wish for an independent and autonomous state of their own, but with that goal has come a bitter struggle for freedom, involving sacrifice, survival and bloodshed. The Western Sahara region lies on the tip of Northwest Africa’s coast, bordered by Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. Here, the Sahrawi people have been campaigning for liberation of the territory for decades.
“ABOVE ALL, BOTH SIDES MUST COME TO A PEACEFUL AGREEMENT ON HOW TO LIVE BESIDE ONE ANOTHER IN HARMONY” Geographically, much of the Western Sahara is arid, barren and flat, with rolling sand dunes and a few small mountains. Temperatures remain consistently high and water sources are scarce, making agricultural activity challenging. In 1973, the Polisario front formed. This is a national liberation movement, attempting to obtain independence for the Sahrawis. The UN recognizes the Polisario as the sole representatives of these people. In 1975, Spain ended its colonial rule, leaving Mauritania and Morocco in control of the territory. Yet in 1978 Mauritania renounced any claims over the region.
control, to generate repatriation of refugees and to organize a free and fair referendum. The mission also asked for the release of prisoners of war, and in 2003, the Polisario freed 300 Moroccan prisoners. Yet the question of who was eligible to vote was highly disputed. The Polisario wanted Moroccans that had begun to inhabit the Western Sahara after 1975, to be excluded, while the Moroccans wished for Sahrawi people living in Northern Morocco to be included. Following much difficulty, the referendum stalled in 1996. After the year 2000, a number of talks took place to further peace efforts. The UN’s Baker Plan gained agreements on the release of more prisoners of war and new types of autonomy agreements were suggested, yet no compromise was reached. In November 2005, a process of talks on granting autonomy to the Western Sahara was announced by the Moroccan King. Still, there are accusations of human rights violations from international organisations, for both sides, and there are also calls for the UN to monitor the conduct of authorities more closely. There remains a long way to go for the Western Sahara. Refugees need more sustainable sources of food and nutrition, landmines must be removed, and better communication links are needed. Yet above all, both sides must come to a peaceful agreement on how to live beside one another in harmony.
“THE SAHRAWI PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CAMPAIGNING FOR LIBERATION OF THE TERRITORY FOR DECADES”
By 1979, Morocco had annexed the Western Sahara and over 200,000 Pockets of hope do exist; the Sahrawi people host their own film festival, people were forced to flee to refugee camps in Algeria, relying on international aid and carrying stories of awful oppression. Many Sahrawis and cultural expression through art and graffiti is gaining momentum. have now been contained for so long, that their children have yet to But the ongoing trouble in surrounding areas makes it increasingly experience life outside a refugee camp. difficult to resolve conflicts in the Western Sahara. The Sahel region Today, Morocco controls at least two thirds of the Western Sahara region; (south of Western Sahara) is extremely unstable, with trafficking and kidnapping rife, while political unrest in Mali also fuels insecurity. with the Sahrawis cut off from their homeland by the Moroccan wall or the ‘Berm’, which is a 2,700 km long structure, surrounded by land mines. On one side is a Moroccan occupied area; on the other is a small Polisario Negotiations for peace continue, yet the political situation remains tense, with many left in refugee camps, simply waiting for freedom, while others controlled Free Zone. are sacrificing their own lives for the future liberation of the Western Sahara state. Headway was made in 1991, with the creation of the UN mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. This aimed to keep the conflict under 27
TRAVEL
A NOTTINGHAM
STUDENT IN BRAZIL WORDS BY JOANNA HILL IMAGES BY MARIO ROBERTO DURAN ORTIZ VIA WIKIMEDIA & SOPHIE MARSHALL
BRAZIL: THE 5TH LARGEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, A NATION WITH ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING MAJOR ECONOMIES, AND THE HOST OF THE 2014 WORLD CUP. BUT WHAT’S IT ACTUALLY LIKE LIVING THERE? AND WHAT WAS THE WORLD CUP REALLY LIKE? IMPACT TRAVEL INTERVIEWED SOPHIE MARSHALL, A FOURTH YEAR PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH STUDENT WHO HAS JUST SPENT A YEAR IN SOUTH AMERICA, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BRAZILIAN CULTURE AND SOCIETY, THE FEELINGS BEFORE THE WORLD CUP, AND WHETHER THIS EVER-GROWING NATION WILL BE PREPARED FOR THE OLYMPICS IN 2016. SOPHIE, WHAT WAS IT LIKE LIVING IN BRAZIL DURING THE WORLD CUP THIS SUMMER?
In Belo Horizonte there were mixed feelings among the locals in the build up to the Cup. Whilst some people showed excitement and anticipation for the event, many others were angry and frustrated with FIFA and with the Brazilian government due to the changes being made in the host cities. The prices of public transport went up and a lot of infrastructure that had been promised had yet to be completed or even started. Therefore, when mentioning the Cup, the atmosphere was a little hostile. Although adverts on TV were very pro-World Cup, the news channels showed the truth about just how behind Brazil was in the preparations of the stadiums. The news also told stories such as the eviction of the homeless from streets near stadiums and the deaths of various workmen building the new stadiums. This angered the locals more.
“THE STADIUM HAD MILITARY POLICE LINING THE PERIMETER” WHAT WERE YOUR BRAZILIAN FRIENDS’ OPINIONS ABOUT THE WORLD CUP?
At Uni the majority of my friends were annoyed and disappointed with how behind the preparations were. There were various street protests from the History and Politics department demonstrating their disapproval of the increased prices of public transport. My friends were angry at the disorganisation during the build-up, but once the Cup started many of them were really keen on watching all of the games and getting involved in the celebrations with all the foreigners in the streets; proof that the Brazilians love a good party! My neighbour was a local 28
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middle-aged woman and she was a World Cup fanatic from start to end. During the build-up she would talk to me excitedly about the games that she couldn’t wait to see and her Brazilian flags were hanging from her windows for weeks before the first game.
“THE BRAZILIANS LOVE A GOOD PARTY” DID YOU GET TO GO TO ANY MATCHES?
I went to one match in the stadium and the others I watched in bars with friends and locals. The match I went to was England v Costa Rica. England was, unfortunately, already out of the tournament so the atmosphere wasn’t quite as animated as I’d hoped for. The opposition chanted ‘eliminated’ at us and the England team, but this was just usual football banter between fans. The stadium had military police lining the perimeter and also positioned in the stands to prevent fights from breaking out, and this was the same in all stadiums all over Brazil for every game that was played.
WHAT HAD BEEN DONE IN PREPARATION FOR THE WORLD CUP?
In Belo Horizonte a new metro bus system was installed during the buildup and came into use within days before the cup started. It was a good system and the metro buses had their own lane, however this meant that all normal buses that used to use this free lane now had to merge with the cars in the normal stream of traffic. This caused huge traffic jam issues for all vehicles apart from the metro bus, angering the locals and visitors using the normal roads. The stadium in Belo Horizonte was already in good tact and needed very few alterations to make it safer or better for the cup but in other cities many alterations had to be done to ensure the stadiums complied with FIFA’s safety regulations and in some cases a whole new stadium had to be built.
HOW DO YOU THINK THE OLYMPICS WILL BE IN 2016? WILL BRAZIL BE READY?
I think the Olympics will be an entertaining and successful event just like the World Cup turned out to be, but I think Brazil will again have to deal with a similar amount of pressure and protest as dealt with this time around. Brazil is still a developing country, and despite having a strong and growing economy, it still struggles with preparing for such immense, global events and this is something we have to remember. I think locals will again show their anger as prices increase, and will blame the government for agreeing to take on such a huge task, but hopefully the country will make a profit from these two events and the population will eventually benefit from this, allowing the stress and disagreement that is currently spread throughout the country and the government to subside.
WHAT WAS YOUR OVERALL EXPERIENCE IN BRAZIL? WOULD YOU GO BACK?
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience in Brazil. The people are really outgoing and friendly and are willing to help with anything you need. The way of life is much more relaxed compared to what I am used to back home and the climate was perfect for me because I love the sun! Brazil, like any country, has its negative factors - including the level of crime in the big cities. But you just have to keep this in mind, whether you are a local or a visitor, and make sure to be extra careful in not making yourself an obvious target. However, having the opportunity to be there during the World Cup was incredible and the atmosphere on game days was amazing; especially in the city centre where huge crowds of locals and tourists gathered in the streets to watch the games and celebrate like the Brazilians know how. I’d love to go back some time in the future to explore more of South America and visit my friends in Belo Horizonte.
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WORDS BY CAITLIN KELLY
TRAVEL
10 WEIRD AND WACKY PLACES TO VISIT AROUND THE WORLD
FORGET YOUR AVERAGE SANDY BEACH OR CITY MUSEUM, THE WORLD WE LIVE IN HAS SOME INCREDIBLY WEIRD AND WACKY PLACES FOR THE INTREPID TRAVELLER TO VISIT. SOME HAVE BECOME GLOBAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS, WHILE OTHERS ARE QUITE UNKNOWN AND RELATIVELY UNSPOILT. WHATEVER THEIR STATUS, SUCH LOCATIONS ARE SURE TO MAKE FOR SOME INTERESTING TRAVEL STORIES
‘SOUPSTANCE’ VIA FLICKR
‘STEFAN L’ VIA FLICKR
‘HORSHMOLOGY’ VIA FLICKR
‘BEYOND MAGAZINE’ VIA FLICKR
‘IAN CARVELL’ VIA FLICKR
‘吴张帆’ VIA FLICKR
ALEJANDRO DE LA CRUZ VIA FLICKR
‘JULIENBZH35’ VIA WIKIMEDIA
‘JULIEGOMOLL’ VIA FLICKR
‘JED’ VIA WIKIMEDIA
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1. Carhenge, Nebraska – Described as a quirky version of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, this US replica is composed of 38 abandoned cars that have been spray painted grey to gain a close resemblance to the iconic English monument. Carhenge has stood for 27 years and also acts as a tribute to the classic American automobile. 2. Lake Hillier, Australia – Located in Western Australia, this unique lake is famous for its bright pink colour. To this day scientists are still unsure of what causes such a distinctive shade, although many suggest it could be due to an unusual type of bacteria living in the salt crusts. The lake is pretty much untouched providing a remarkably natural experience for visitors.
3. Yunessun spa resort, Japan - Since Yunessun isn’t your average spa, visitors can bathe in their favourite beverages, including wine, green tea and coffee. Giant wine bottles and tea pots cascade such liquids into pools where visitors relax and sip drinks. The resort even offers chocolate bathing on Valentine’s Day.
4. Tunnel of love, Ukraine - Deep in a Ukrainian forest, near the settlement of Klevan, lies a railway with gorgeous green trees branching over to create a natural tunnel effect. It is said that if you make a wish in this enchanted location, it will come true, making it a popular spot for loved up couples.
5. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia - Known as the largest mirror in the world, these salt flats are located in Southern Bolivia, and with rainfall they give the illusion of infinity. The sky reflects onto the shiny salt flats and the landscape looks like it goes on forever. The area has been described as one of the most magical places on earth.
6. Red Beach, China - Located in the Liaohe River Delta, Red Beach has acquired its name from a type of seaweed that grows in its soils. Visitors can walk over the beach on a raised bridge, although much of it is protected and thus forbids human entry. The area has also been called the ‘home of the cranes’ due to its large population of crowned cranes.
7. Island of Dolls, Mexico - Perhaps one of the scariest tourist attractions in the world, the Island of Dolls, near Mexico City, was supposedly dedicated to the soul of a little girl who died there in the 1950s. Hundreds of dolls have been hung from trees apparently trying to protect the island from further evil. This mysterious island is definitely not for the faint hearted.
8. Varosha ghost town, Cyprus - Varosha was abandoned after the Turkish invasion in 1974. From afar it looks like a bustling town with occupied tower blocks and hotels, yet in reality, it is completely uninhabited. Once a top tourist destination, the whole area now looks like it has been frozen in time.
9. Toilet Seat Museum, Texas - This barmy collection contains over 1,000 decorated toilet seats. Owned by an artist, the museum is located in a private garage and admission is free. It is small, intimate and full of fascinating toilet-themed history.
10. Sea of stars, Maldives - Bioluminescent phytoplankton glow blue when put under stress on this beach in the Maldives, creating a stunning midnight sky effect. The scene was deemed so breathtaking that it was even featured in Ang Lee’s 2012 movie Life of Pi.
SCIENCE
SCIENCE BEHIND THE MOVIES
EVER WONDERED WHETHER THE SCI-FI FILMS ARE ACCURATE OR IF THERE WAS A CHANCE OF SUCH EVENTS EVER HAPPENING? IMPACT SCIENCE LOOKS BEHIND SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE FILMS TO EXPLORE THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE MOVIES. INCEPTION An intriguing element of Christopher Nolan’s direction is that, whichever concept he chooses to base a film around, he attacks it from a very human perspective. In the case of Inception and also somewhat in Memento (his first major picture) the narrative is such that the viewer often forgets that what they are watching is essentially a science fiction film. With Inception, the core idea is lucid dreaming. During this state, the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming whilst remaining asleep. Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are ‘extractors’, who specialise in corporate espionage, and use military technology in an attempt to plant an idea into the target’s mind. They do this using a fictional device called a Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous Device.
"IT HAS BEEN POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE POINT AT WHICH DREAMING OCCURS DURING A SLEEP CYCLE" Thanks to the miracle of modern day medical technology, it has been possible to determine the point at which dreaming occurs during a sleep cycle. The point of visual submersion begins at a stage known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM). In Inception, dream cycles are portrayed as the first and only stage of sleep. There are actually three other stages before REM (N1, N2 and slow-wave), but this is a forgivable error seeing as the director just wants to capture the drama of the situation. 32
WORDS BY STEPHEN KENNY / IMAGE BY ERIC MAY VIA FLICKR Several critics have analysed the entire film as an allegory, comparing the similarity of dreams to the experience of watching a film. This has been supported by neurological evidence reported in Science in 2004. This report was based on an experiment where participants were shown the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The experiment found that the same areas of the brain that are activated during sleep were also activated while watching the film. This includes the visual cortex, the fusiform gyrus (related to face/word recognition and colour processing) and areas related to touch processing. Another similarity between dreaming and movie-watching was also found: the prefrontal cortex, which deals with logic and self-awareness, was switched off during both states. Whilst Nolan concentrates on the emotional aspects of dreams and what their purpose is, modern evidence suggests that dreams are involved in information process and memory storage. Experiments by researchers in brain and cognitive science, such as Mathew Wilson, showed that the brain often appears to playback activity patterns from that day. This opposes the view of Sigmund Freud, who hypothesised that dreams mostly portray repressed desires. The film appears to make a point about what is currently known about the science of dreams, but also the uncertainties. What will be interesting to see in later work will be the subjective contribution to these genuine experiences and how they appear to create the worlds so dazzlingly produced by Christopher Nolan.
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DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
WORDS BY SINTHUJA VIYASAR IMAGE BY ‘TAMBAKU THE JAGUAR’ VIA FLICKR
They say that if you give a monkey a typewriter it will eventually re-write Shakespeare’s entire works. If this is true, give a genetically modified ape weapons and surely you can expect an army. The Planet of the Apes series turns the tables on human experimentation and an ape army is formed ready to fight against the human race.
the latter as violent, whilst nature shows the opposite to be the case. The bonobo is thought to be the more peaceful of the pair, although this switch in behaviour in the film can be accounted for by Caesar’s upbringing steeped in human contact and Koba’s abuse at the hands of scientists.
"THE FILM SUCCEEDED IN PORTRAYING NATURE’S GRITTY AND DEATHLY REALITY"
The film succeeded in portraying nature’s gritty and deathly reality, but it also shows the apes’ ability to empathise and appease, raising the importance of morality not only in humans, but other species too. Dr Frans de Waal, a leading expert in primatology, has carried out extensive research into the behaviour of primates. His research has revealed that we share our traits of morality, empathy and self-awareness with primates, and that these traits have defined our evolution.
Computer graphics have drastically improved since the birth of the film series’ in the 60s, and the latest addition to the saga has used this advance in technology to portray the ape community highly accurately, from habitat to behaviour. In nature, alpha males are established within groups and aggression is rife, and both such features are integral to the plot of this film. Throw in the genetic modification of the apes by the human-generated virus and the creators have balanced nature and artificial nurture rather well. To mirror the behavioural difference between the levels of social hierarchy amongst ape communities, the apes are seen in the film to be bowing to their leader, synonymous with the shrouding and grovelling displayed in nature in the presence of the alpha male. Conflict is, as expected, commonplace within all species, especially when physical displays of strength are strongly intertwined with breeding, survival and community status. But what Planet of the Apes introduces is inter-species conflict, a rare sight in reality when both sides are of equal threat to the other. Another discord with reality is the unexpected behaviour within ape species, particularly between Caesar, who is a chimpanzee, and Koba, who is a bonobo. The film portrays the former as empathetic and
"WE SHARE OUR TRAITS OF MORALITY, EMPATHY AND SELF-AWARENESS WITH PRIMATES" But rather than the rise of the primate being a hypothetical turning point in evolution, the film seems to be more of a commentary on human nature itself, projecting the conflicts and instability of the modern word upon two different species. The humanisation of the apes draws attention away from any aim by the film to suggest that primates could potentially draw social balance with humans, and instead portrays a kind of hybrid species created by humans themselves, to be like themselves. And with survival at the forefront of both sides, reconciliation soon looks a distant dream as fear snowballs into warfare.
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SCIENCE
STUDENTS STUDYING SCIENCE ABROAD
WORDS BY JOANNE BLUNT IMAGES BY DANIE VAN DER MERWE AND ERIC SALOR VIA FLICKR
Studying abroad can seem like a daunting experience. There is a whole new culture (and possibly a language) to adopt on top of the usual stress of passing exams. However, the number of students choosing to learn overseas is rising year on year – over 75% in the last decade. The most popular destination is currently the USA.
“Three years later I’m still excited about studying abroad in Nottingham. As I started meeting more students and getting involved with societies it became much more apparent I hadn’t really blended in with British culture. English in the States is not English in England and I still slip up and combined with my accent it’s a laugh for all”, he shares.
“THE WAY OF LIFE OUT HERE REALLY SUITS ME, AND EVERY AMERICAN GENUINELY LOVES A BRITISH ACCENT”
When asked about facilities here compared to those in the US, he adds: “It seems, at least in my field, the subscriptions to journals are much more limited here than what I had access to in the States. Libraries in the States are becoming increasingly digital, technology savvy, and a collaborative work environment. Although it sounds like the renovation to the George Green Library will follow a similar trend”.
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), with its growing reputation as the best research University in the world, is able to attract a truly international intake, boasting scholars and students from all five continents. The US education system can seem particularly attractive to science students as broader science can be studied before choosing a specialism. Impact spoke to Jenny Hughes, a British student currently studying in the US. “America really suited my way of learning as I can combine lots of areas of my subject (Biology) into my degree. The choice and flexibility is amazing and totally beyond what I could find in the UK”, says Jenny. “Also, the facilities are so extensive and constantly modernised which means we truly are learning about cutting edge science. It was a very expensive decision but the way of life out here really suits me, and every American genuinely loves a British accent”, she adds. Next down on the list of most popular countries for international students is the UK. Joseph Heil did the opposite of Jenny and came to complete his PHD in Mechanical engineering here, at the University of Nottingham from the USA. “After completing my masters in the US, I got a call from an engineer at Boeing, whom I had worked closely with on my research, asking if I was interested in doing a PhD in Nottingham to continue my work on carbon fibre recycling. I flew to Nottingham for a visit and interview and was instantly impressed with the people and facilities”, Joseph recalls. 34
Of course, there are many opportunities to study abroad outside of the USA and the UK. Neil Pittaway studied Biomedical Technology at Cape Town University, South Africa and enjoyed the experience so much that he now lives there permanently. “I was offered the opportunity and decided it would be a great way for me to differentiate myself from the other graduates when applying for jobs. It was a great experience getting exposure to another way of teaching”. Neil comments: “The UK concentrates on teaching where to get the information. South Africa teaches the current knowledge and expects you to know that information. In that sense the UK requires you to know less but explore and experiment more. If you’re offered the chance to study abroad then it is something I would definitely recommend”.
“IF YOU’RE OFFERED THE CHANCE TO STUDY ABROAD THEN IT IS SOMETHING I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND” The growth in science students studying abroad looks as though it is not only spurred on by an increased competitiveness in the jobs market but also by great experiences and a desire for teaching and culture tailored to you. However, whether the sacrifices of friends and home comforts are worth it is for each student to decide.
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WHAT ARE YOU ON? IMPACT INVESTIGATES THE SCIENCE BEHIND UON STUDENTS’ FAVOURITE DRUGS
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NICOTINE
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R ESU CANNABIS
TYPE OF DRUG: Second most common legal drug behind alcohol. Nicotine in tobacco smoke can reach the brain within 20 seconds, leading to dependence. ADDICTIVENESS: 2.82 SIDE EFFECTS: Heart disease, miscarriage, lung and mouth cancer. Over 114,000 people die a year due to disease caused by smoking. PERCENTAGE OF UON STUDENTS WHO’VE TAKEN IT: N/A
AV E
S AD T N
EH
MDMA
TYPE OF DRUG: MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-Nmethylamphetamine; for all the chemists out there), also known as ecstasy, is a stimulant and psychedelic drug which diminishes anxiety and has been dubbed as a “club-drug” due to its psychoactive properties such as making noises and colours more intense. ADDICTIVENESS: 1.09 SIDE EFFECTS: Memory problems, confusion, depression, overheating, dehydration. PERCENTAGE OF UON STUDENTS WHO’VE TAKEN IT: 43%
THE MOST C O MM
UND TO BE D S FO U
PL
COCAINE
TYPE OF DRUG: The Class A stimulant drug, including powder, freebase and crack cocaine, is snorted or injected and helps to increase the users confidence. ADDICTIVENESS: 2.82 SIDE EFFECTS: Risk of over stimulating heart and nervous system, damaged cartilage in the nose, high blood pressure and very high risk of dependence. PERCENTAGE OF UON STUDENTS WHO’VE TAKEN IT: 32%
A IN BT
G
P
EO
SI O N AL L Y
A
NI
HT
OUT.
OF
OR
OCCA
79 %
EF
ID
D
SA
HEROIN
TYPE OF DRUG: The Class A drug is a depressant that is smoked, injected or snorted, inducing relaxation and intense euphoria. As tolerance builds up quickly to the drug, dosage is increased leading to it becoming very addictive. ADDICTIVENESS: 2.89 SIDE EFFECTS: Sweating, shaking, risk of disease transmission from sharing needles. A major risk is overdosing due to it being mixed with other substances. PERCENTAGE OF UON STUDENTS WHO’VE TAKEN IT: 2%
AD
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LAUGHING GAS
TYPE OF DRUG: Nitrous Oxide is a gas mainly used in surgery as it has anaesthetic and analgesic effects. It is inhaled to give euphoric and relaxed feelings which have led to it being named laughing gas. ADDICTIVENESS: low SIDE EFFECTS: Hallucinations, lack of oxygen PERCENTAGE OF UON STUDENTS WHO’VE TAKEN IT: 34%
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WORDS BY JESSICA HEWITT-DEAN ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ALEX MAWBY SUREVY CONDUCTED IN MARCH 2014
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FOOD THE BOILERMAKER You will never forget the first time that you discover the depths behind The Boilermaker's mysterious, hidden exterior - one which will undoubtedly impress your visiting friends. You will be issued with a menu as soon as you are seated, which offers bottled beers, ciders, wines, champagnes and a list of their must-try cocktails. Choose from such creative concoctions like the unique twist on an old favourite, 'The Not-Quite Right Russian' (Araku rum, espresso, maple syrup and almond milk), or 'Cinema Paradiso' (Disaronno, sweet cinema popcorn, cranberry juice, lemon juice and ginger tea). Their cocktails include weird and wonderful ingredients which are sure to go down a treat. This bar offers a comfortable, fun and laid back drinking experience with prices that won’t burn a hole in your wallet. This quirky bar is a must-see for every student. Tel: 0115 958 7528 Address: 36b Carlton Street, Hockley, Nottingham, NG1 1NN
TURTLE BAY
LITTLE BLACK BOOK: COCKTAILS THIS YEAR, IN EVERY ISSUE OF THE MAGAZINE, IMPACT FOOD WILL BE PROFILING A NUMBER OF NOTTINGHAM FOOD AND DRINK ADDRESSES SO YOU KNOW WHERE TO TURN NEXT TIME YOU’RE PLANNING AN EVENING OUT. THIS ISSUE, WE’RE CRAVING COCKTAILS. BE SURE TO CONSULT THIS PAGE BEFORE ORGANISING YOUR FIRST CATCHUP OR GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU DRINKS OF THE NEW UNIVERSITY YEAR. WORDS BY HEATHER CORSER AND LAUREN WILSON IMAGE BY DANIEL GIES VIA FLICKR
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Turtle Bay offers a perfectly chilled drinking experience, with the opportunity of dining, too! The colourful decor, upbeat music, and pictures of Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff are sure to fool any visitor into thinking that they are beneath the Caribbean sun, even on those cool autumn nights. Enjoy a wonderful array of summer cocktails, from the more exotic ‘Reggae Rum Punch’ (126 proof Wray & Nephew, strawberry liqueur, fresh lime, orange juice and pineapple juice) and 'Jammin'' (White rum, apricot liqueur, fresh mint, ginger, lime, apple juice and apricot jam), to a classic 'Strawberry Daiquiri'. You will not be disappointed with any visit to Turtle Bay, especially with their student friendly 2-4-1 cocktail happy hours - 12pm-7pm and 10pm-close every day. Tel: 0115 947 5600 Address: The Cornerhouse, Nottingham, NG1 4DB, England
ROCKET AT SALTWATER The quirky and individual interior of the Rocket at Saltwater Bar and Restaurant overlooks the roof tops of Nottingham, making it one of the most unique and stunning spaces in the area. It has an extensive drinks menu, offering an array of rum, whiskey & bourbon, vodka, tequila and brandy cocktails among a list of house favourites including a 'Pina Colada' or Impact Food's personal favourite - the 'Passion Crush' (42 Below passion fruit vodka, fresh passion fruit, lime and soda). There are a variety of offers to take advantage of - on Thursdays enjoy a 2-4-1 on beers, spirits, wines, cocktails and pizzas , or grab yourself a tasty treat with the 2-4-1 student deal on large pizzas Mon-Thurs 12pm- 9pm. Tel: 0115 924 266 Address: The Corner House, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4DB
PITCHER AND PIANO The recently refurbished Pitcher and Piano Bar is housed inside a beautiful Grade II-listed church in the heart of Lace Market. Its stunning stained glass windows, brick archways and gorgeous new interior provide a traditional yet stylish drinking or dining environment. Sample any of their classic, house or champagne cocktails, or even one of their Mad Hatters - a colossal cocktail served in a top hat, perfect as a six person sharer. Pitcher and Piano also offer a wide range of bottled beers and ales including Goose Island Honker's Ale, Bira Moretti, Modelo Especial and Meantime Pale Ale or Vedett Blond, Brooklyn, Lowenbrau, Red Stripe (and more) on draught. Enjoy any House Cocktail for £5 Monday-Friday, 5pm - 8pm. That’s an offer not to be missed! Tel: 0115 958 6081 Address: The Unitarian Church, High Pavement, Nottingham, NG1 1HN
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RAPID RECIPE WORDS BY HEATHER CORSER AND LAUREN WILSON IMAGE BY ‘ALICIA’ VIA FLICKR
YOU’VE JUST GOT BACK FROM YET ANOTHER INTRODUCTORY LECTURE OR REFRESHER TALK, LAST NIGHT’S MIXERS HAVEN’T QUITE LEFT YOUR SYSTEM AND YOUR HOUSEMATES ARE PESTERING YOU TO LEAVE FOR ANOTHER PRE DRINKS IN AN HOUR. THAT LEAVES LESS THAN 30 MINUTES TO FEED YOURSELF – BUT ON WHAT?
INSTRUCTIONS
PENNE ALLA VODKA
4. Add the tin of chopped tomatoes to the onion and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes on a medium heat.
Cook and eat this simple yet original recipe in less than half an hour and get a head-start at the pre-drinking game, if you so desire. This recipe also uses four ingredients from our essentials list, it really couldn’t be easier! The pasta dish also lends itself to a house-dinner or for 3am leftovers (the recipe serves 4), so why not start the socialising earlier?
INGREDIENTS ½ large onion 1 tbsp olive oil 175 ml milk 500g penne pasta tin of chopped tomatoes 75ml vodka 2 tbsp butter or spread parmesan cheese (optional) salt and pepper
1. Put two pans, one medium and one large, onto the heat. Boil the kettle for the pasta water to speed up the process. Heat the oil in the large pan and transfer the boiled water to the medium. 2. Finely chop the onion and then add to the large pan. Cook gently for 10 minutes, stir occasionally, the onion should begin to caramelise. 3. Cook the pasta in the large pan for 6-7 minutes until al dente. Drain.
5. Combine a small amount of the tomato sauce with the milk and then tip the mixture into the sauce; this will prevent curdling. Season well. 6. Tip the drained pasta back into the medium pan, pour over the vodka and add the butter. Turn the pasta in the vodka and butter before transferring it to the tomato sauce pan. 7. Toss the pasta in the tomato sauce and divide between bowls. Serve with parmesan if you wish. That’s it! Dinner is done, now for the shower…. Variation: You could also add cooked bacon or chicken breast to this dish, but factor in the longer cooking time required for the meats. Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson. 37
STYLE
STYLED AND DIRECTED BY: TARA BELL AND SHOPE DELANO | ASSISTED BY: AMRIT SANTOS | MAKE-UP: EVIE SAMUELS PHOTOGRAPHER: CALLUM MCLARTY | MODELS: OLLIE FORD, JESSICA LOWE, ANTONY CAMPBELL AND JACK SIM 38
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Last Days of Summer
JESS TOP: MISSGUIDED £12.99 SHORTS: MISSGUIDED £16.99 SHOES: ASOS £38 OLLIE TOP: FOREVER 21 £14.99 SKIRT: ASOS – £21.99 SHOES: DESIRE CLOTHING - £25 JACK SHIRT: BURTON £20 TROUSERS: TOPMAN £15 SHOES: NEXT £30 ANTHONY SHIRT: RALPH LAUREN - £60 TROUSERS: FRENCH CONNECTION - £55 SHOES: CLARKS £40
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BOLD BEAUTY
REVIVE YOUR MAKEUP ROUTINE WITH THESE TWISTS ON CLASSIC DAY AND NIGHT TIME LOOKS For a dramatic but subtle evening look draw focus to the eyes while leaving the skin looking flawless and matte with a slight glow.
For a simple but modern daytime look, use a pop of colour on the lips for a look that is fun but requires minimal effort.
1. Apply a foundation to clean moisturised/ primed skin. We used Clinique Stay Matte foundation which is great for creating a flawless shine free base. 2. Next, apply a concealer that is one or two shades lighter than your skin tone, under the eyes and bled outwards and into the centre of the face. This gives the complexion a fresh and lifted appearance whilst combating any under-eye darkness. 3. Next, we used Body Shop Smokey Eye Palette to create a soft golden base. Apply a light sheer shimmery tone to the lids and inside corners of the eyes and use a darker golden colour to define the sockets. The take either a dark black eyeliner/ shadow, we used the Maybeline Gel liner, to create a dramatic winged eyeliner look. Add a mascara and false eyelashes. 4. For the lips, use a nude lipstick, gloss, liner, or even create your own custom shade by mixing colours. In this case, we used a concealer to create a neural base, then lightly dabbed on some Bobbi Brown Creamy lip Colour in the shade ‘Chocolate’. 5. Finally, to slightly contour the face, we used the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick. Using the darker colours in the hollows of the cheeks, and the lighter shades on the bridge of the nose and cheeks, we added dimension to the matte base.
1. Apply a foundation to clean primed/ moisturised skin. We chose the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra. Apply this only to areas of the skin where it is needed. 2. Use a concealer under the eye area to cover up any dark circles and brighten the face. We used the Bobbi Brown Creamy concealer. 3. This look requires that eyes remain neutral, so use a colour two shades darker than your skin tone in the sockets of your eyelids to define them. Add one coat of mascara. Remember, the aim is to make eyes pop without looking like they have anything on them! 4. To create a bold lip be brave and choose a bright colour. For this look we used the Sleek Pout Paint in orange. These high pigmented glossy colours are great for creating a dramatic lip. If you need help evening out the shape of your lips, use a lip liner in a similar shade and line the lips before adding the main colour. 5. Finally, we used the Bobbi Brown shimmer Brick to highlight the cheekbones and bridge of the nose, creating a simple but playful look, perfect for the daytime.
STYLED AND DIRECTED BY: TARA BELL AND SHOPE DELANO | PHOTOGRAPHER: SHOPE DELANO | MAKEUP: EVIE SAMUELS | MODELS: ZOE SELVEY AND EVIE SAMUELS
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ARE CELEBRITIES THE NEW SUPERMODELS? WORDS BY TARA BELL AND SHOPE DELANO
There was once a time when even the least fashion-conscious person could name the biggest supermodels without the blink of an eye. A time when the public felt they were all on a first-name basis with Naomi, Kate, Claudia and Cindy. These supermodels were household names; not only did they dominate the catwalks of world-renowned designers, but they were featured in magazine editorials, front covers, advertisements, television shows and movies. However, in the last few decades, it appears as though the reign of the supermodel has diminished. Actresses and singers have both replaced and become the ‘supermodels’ of our generation - leading Impact Style to investigate just how far celebrities have commercialized the fashion industry.
“MODELS BECAME THE MILLION DOLLAR FACES OF THE CONSUMER INDUSTRIES”
models in generations to come just weren’t offered the same jobs as the originals, and they didn’t possess the same status. Whereas beauty brands like Revlon and L’Oreal were once championed by supermodels including Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer, they now favour a different type of face. Emma Stone, Jessica Alba and Olivia Wilde have all modelled for Revlon, whereas celebrities from around the world, such as Beyoncé, Eva Longoria, Freida Pinto and Cheryl Cole have all been involved with with L’Oreal. These actresses and singers, much like the supermodels of the 80s and 90s, have million dollar brand endorsements and advertising campaigns under their belts for both beauty brands and fashion designers, as well as gracing the covers of top fashion magazines, in particular, the style bible Vogue.
Two decades ago, in 1994, American Vogue hosted a number of models as their cover stars, including Cindy Crawford and Kirsty Hume. Now the The 80s marked the birth of the supermodel, when models who had magazine tells an entirely different story. In the last three years there has formerly only been involved in traditional fashion-based avenues, only been one model on the cover of American Vogue: Kate Upton. In such as catwalks and editorials, became the million dollar faces of the 2014, there have been no models so far, with women like Lena Dunham, consumer industries. Through securing lucrative deals with cosmetic Rihanna, Emma Stone and Blake Lively securing the cover. The world giants such as Estee Lauder and Revlon, as well as products and erupted when the infamous April 2014 cover of American Vogue featured brands such as Pepsi, they became instantly recognizable to the public. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West looking loved up in wedding attire. However, by the 1990s, the supermodel was truly born. Top models of the However, despite outspoken critics, such as actress Sarah Michelle Gellar time such as Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista, who claimed she had cancelled her vogue subscriptions over the cover, closely followed by Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer and Kate Moss, April’s issue still received considerable success and high sales. became increasingly prominent in the media, making and marketing their name as a brand in itself. Perhaps it’s as simple as this: celebrity sells. The fashion industry revolves around money. Brands want to sell their products, and it is clear that However, by the mid-90s, the era of the supermodel was coming to an celebrities - whether you love them or hate them - generate interest end, with various actresses, pop singers and entertainers replacing these and bring success to whichever brand they promote or publication models, securing top advertising campaigns and magazine front covers. they feature in. Flick through the pages of any fashion magazine and Many attribute this to the increasingly high prices demanded by the you’ll probably see more celebrities in there than models. For example, supers at the time, driven by their sense of self-importance. Either way, Victoria Beckham has collaborated with both Marc Jacobs and Armani 42
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over recent years, and Madonna has similarly featured in ad campaigns for both Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana. Whether it’s Rihanna for Balmain, Lindsay Lohan for Miu Mius, Keira Knightley for Chanel, or Jennifer Lawrence for Dior, celebrities’ faces are everywhere. They occupy the biggest billboards, most prestigious front covers and front highprofile advertising campaigns: territory that was formerly reserved for the supermodel elite. With celebrities as a clear preference, the models of this generation have limited exposure to the wider public, and are merely known to a small circle of those who are interested in the fashion industry. Though model of the moment Cara Delevingne has come close to supermodel success in recent years, its is arguably largely on account of her status as an ‘it’ girl rather than her merit as a model: it is her aristocratic heritage, host of celebrity friends such as Rita Ora and Rihanna, and her late night party antics which have been meticulously documented by the media. It seems that brands are not to be blamed, since celebrity endorsements can prove to be the most lucrative in terms of sales. Chanel’s endorsement deal with Nicole Kidman in 2004 resulted in a sudden increase in business by almost 16% without any other changes to the fragrance, branding or advertising campaign. In an industry that’s becoming more competitive by the second, this new path can perhaps be considered as the next logical step in the evolution of the industry.
be tragic for campaigns if they surface. Sarah Jessica Parker for Gap in 2004/5 resulted in a decline of sales, as her fashion-obsessed city girl vibe didn’t coincide with Gap’s relaxed, care-free image. Alternatively, the original Delevingne, Kate Moss, was caught in images that suggested the British model was using illegal drugs. It reportedly led to backlash for Chanel, as well her being dropped from a $7 million per year contract with H&M.
“IN THE LAST THREE YEARS THERE HAS ONLY BEEN ONE MODEL ON THE COVER OF AMERICAN VOGUE” Although celebrities can be a way to humanize a brand, it seems that the fashion industry is slowly losing its creative integrity and the process of casting faces is becoming somewhat of a popularity contest. Whilst ‘it girls’ can be worthwhile, the baggage and potential risk associated with them can be detrimental to a brand or magazine. The line between celebrities and models is one that should be more clearly defined, and the era of supermodels, who are known solely for the modelling abilities, needs to return.
“PERHAPS IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THIS: CELEBRITY SELLS” Models were formerly seen as blank canvases that can be poked, prodded, and transformed to fit the style and message of a particular magazine cover or designer collection. However, celebrities already have elaborate canvases, and can come come with skeletons which can 43
STYLE
AIMEE PLAYSUIT:NEW LOOK - £28 BOOTS: NEW LOOK - £35 BELT: H&M - £5 JO JUMPSUIT: INGÉNUE LONDON - £110 BOOTS: PRIMARK - £20
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URBAN PRINTS
MAKEUP: EVIE SAMUELS | STYLED AND DIRECTED: SHOPE DELANO AND TARA BELL | PHOTOGRAPHER: CALLUM MCLARTY
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STYLE
FRESHERS FASHION ESSENTIALS MAKE SURE TO START YOUR YEAR IN STYLE WITH OUR PICKS OF THE ULTIMATE STUDENT ACCESSORIES
LEATHER MOCCASINS WITH TASSELS ZARA MEN, £69.99, ZARA.COM
NEON YELLOW PENCIL CASE JOHN LEWIS, £17, JOHNLEWIS.COM
NAIL VARNISH HIGHLIGHTERS THE PRESENT FINDER, £6.99 PRESENTFINDER.COM
ORANGE IPAD CASE ASOS, £12, ASOS.COM
BLUE WATCH OLIVIA BURTON, £75, OLIVIABURTON.COM ACRYLIC 5 DRAWER BOX MUJI, 24.95, MUJI.COM
BLACK BOWLING BAG ZARA MEN, £49.99, ZARA.COM
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IMAGES BY BEN TYNEGATE, CALLUM MCLARTY, NICO ENDERS AND ANDREAS BILLMAN
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GET INVOLVED THIS YEAR..
HIGHLIGHTS OF IMPACT IMAGES TEAM 2013/14
FACEBOOK/IMPACTMAGIMAGES OR EMAIL US: IMAGES@IMPACTNOTTINGHAM.COM
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GAMING
TIME TO MOVE ONTO THE NEXT GENERATION? WITH THE RELEASE OF THE NEW GENERATION OF CONSOLES, MANY STUDENTS ARE RAIDING THEIR PIGGY BANKS, OR MORE LIKELY THEIR OVERDRAFTS, TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ENOUGH TUCKED AWAY TO AFFORD A BRAND NEW XBOX ONE OR A WII U. HOWEVER, SHOULD WE REALLY BE CONSIDERING BUYING THESE EXPENSIVE PIECES OF KIT WHEN THERE'S STILL LIFE IN THE OLD GENERATION? ROB AND TOM DISCUSS WHY YOU SHOULD - OR SHOULDN'T - SPLASH THE CASH. IMAGES BY JONAS NILSSON VIA FLICKR AND MICROSOFT
FOR
WORDS BY ROB PRIEST
I understand that this may be a controversial stance amongst those students who game regularly but I feel that with a bit of clarification, people might start to see the sense in splashing out the - frankly quite pricey - amount to buy themselves an Xbox One or Playstation 4.
“THIS NEW GENERATION IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL” Firstly, the hardware alone promises so much. In comparison to the old generation of consoles, with your Wii’s and what-have-yous, this new generation is much more powerful; capable of handling better graphics, fluid animations and higher-quality games as a result. You can see the obvious difference in the recent re-release of The Last of Us for the PS4; the whole game is polished up (not that it needed polishing as it was already a great game) and if you were to put a screenshot of both the PS3 and PS4 side by side, the clarity and the attention to the smallest details is evident. Every pore and wrinkle on the characters’ faces stands out and if this can be the norm one day then I don’t see any reason not to take that step up.
“EVERY PORE AND WRINKLE ON THE CHARACTERS’ FACES STANDS OUT” In addition, there are a lot of interesting games that are in the works for the new consoles exclusively such as Hyrule Warriors, Super Smash Bros Wii U and LittleBigPlanet 3. I’m not trying to say that you should rush out and buy everything based solely on the strength of the upcoming games list but bear in mind that there will come a time when the overwhelming flood of quirky, cool and interesting games released for the new 50
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MAGAZINE generation will outweigh the costs of the machines, which seems to be the main concern for many students. The multimedia aspects on the new consoles is also a divisive issue - I mean, consoles are only for gaming, right? We shouldn’t be defiling these sacred boxes of interactive entertainment with filth such as music playing capabilities and Netflix. Or maybe we should. I don’t see why the new generation can’t take into account the needs of the majority; the people who want to have a centralised database of music, films, TV and gaming. Gamers tend to have a stereotype of only caring about games, which is quite untrue. Many people would relish the opportunity to have everything on one platform and by God they do now. So really it’s pretty simple: it is definitely worth considering buying into the new generation of consoles.
AGAINST
WORDS BY TOM WELSHMAN
In my mind there are three key reasons against students purchasing the latest consoles; either an Xbox One or a PlayStation 4. These consist of the huge (and quite cheap) backlog of games from past generations, future games due for release on the last generation of consoles, and the idea that university students may find the newer innovations superfluous.
“THERE ARE SO MANY HIDDEN GEMS AND GAMES YOU’VE FORGOTTEN YOU MISSED FROM THIS GENERATION” Firstly, one simply cannot ignore the incredible backlog of games dating from 2005 which were released for last generation’s machines. These range from independent legends like Trials HD, to unforgettable adventures like Skyrim, to game-changing genre-definers like Gears of War. For many, these defined our teenage years and also helped to shape the games industry as a whole. They are a highly attractive on a student budget when compared to the £40-50 new releases. There are so many hidden gems and games you’ve forgotten you missed from this generation, it’s more than worth sticking around. Secondly, it must be remembered that exciting new games set for release in 2014-15 are not just coming to the most recent consoles but also those of the last generation, and at a lower price too. Destiny, the widely anticipated role-playing shooter from acclaimed developers Bungie, will be coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It is perhaps the biggest game of the year and owners of the aforementioned consoles are certainly not going to miss out on the fun. It is joined by Alien: Isolation, Far Cry 4 and FIFA 15 to name just a few. Students can, if they wish, stay up to date with the hottest titles without having to make the inescapably expensive jump across consoles. Thirdly, there’s the matter of ‘integrated media features’ which continues producers’ somewhat bemusing crusade to tie together all of your devices and subscriptions. Call me old fashioned but a gaming console is for gaming. Students have Netflix on their laptop and music on their iPod; does the convenience of having it all in one place really outweigh the cost of making it so? If you truly can’t live without this multi-media element, the Xbox 360 and PS3 had essentially the same capabilities built in at the end of their life cycle. So either buy one of those at a fraction of the new consoles’ price or, if you already have one, avoid the upgrade altogether!
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GAMING
SURVIVAL OF THE GAME-EST WORDS BY ADAM BATCHELOR IMAGES BY ‘ANDREAS’ AND ‘ANDREW BECRAFT’ VIA FLICKR
You kids today, with your Nathan Pearces and your Aiden Drakes. Back in my day we had colourful video game mascots like purple dragons and bears with birds in their backpacks, nothing like these grizzly, middleaged men you have today. Of course, ‘my day’ was when I was seven, and quite frankly I’m not sure that the first PlayStation was able to show enough stubble on a man for him to be considered ‘grizzly’. Plenty has changed since that magical year of 1999 and since that time, hundreds of video game icons have fallen victim to the winds of change, but a few have survived it all. Here are the stories of a few of the more well-known franchises that have stood the test of time.
METAL GEAR SERIES In light of that rousing introduction about colourful video game mascots, here is a franchise that stars mostly grizzly, middle-aged men. The first entry in the series, Metal Gear, was released on the MSX2 home computer system in 1987 to mixed reviews. Nevertheless, Metal Gear received not one but two sequels on the Nintendo Entertainment System and MSX2 respectively, both released in 1990. All three games star Solid Snake, member of a Special Forces unit called FOXHOUND. His mission: to disable the Metal Gear (a walking tank with nuclear capabilities) and neutralise the terrorist unit in charge. True to the 80s action stereotype, the bad guy in all three games is Snake’s mentor and father, Big Boss. More on him later.
"MGS IS RENOWNED FOR ITS CINEMATIC CUT SCENES" Fast forward eight years, the swathes of home entertainment systems have been reduced to the Sega Dreamcast, the Nintendo 64 and the home of our next game, Sony’s PlayStation. Into the world came the game changer for the franchise: Metal Gear Solid (MGS). MGS is renowned for its cinematic cut scenes, excellent approach to stealth gameplay, and mechanics which are innovative even by today’s lofty standards. 52
One of the game’s most famous moments requires the player to move their controller from slot 1 to slot 2 in order to bypass one boss’ psychic powers.
"MANY FANS WERE FURIOUS THAT THEY’D BEEN DECEIVED" In the wake of such a successful title, the pressure was on Konami to deliver again. And at E3 in 2001, they dropped a beautiful 10 minute trailer for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, showing Snake getting into all kinds of espionage action, this time on a cargo boat. However, when MGS 2 dropped later that year, fans were surprised to discover that they had only been shown the game’s opening hours. The bulk of the game actually takes place on an offshore decontamination facility called Big Shell and stars a pretty-boy rookie called Raiden. Many fans were furious that they’d been deceived, but Konami’s title still went on to gain incredibly high ratings from reviewers. The third game in the MGS series, Snake Eater, introduces players to another new protagonist. This time, the man in the limelight is none other than Snake’s father, Big Boss. This game serves to show the origin of the Metal Gear series, showing both Big Boss’s rise as a legendary soldier and how he becomes so disillusioned with the US Government. Released on PS3 in 2008, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots sees the conclusion of Solid Snake’s story. MGS 4 received some complaints from fans and reviewers regarding the length and frequency of its cut scenes but generally most people were more than happy with the way Solid Snake’s story ended. The success of the Metal Gear Solid series prompted a number of spin-offs based in various other genres. For example, in 2005 Konami released a turn based strategy game on the PlayStation Portable called Metal Gear Ac!d. This game employs the use of trading cards to control Snake’s movements, with each card used or discarded in order to move
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Snake by a few spaces. Unfortunately, the game didn’t sell very well due to low sales of PSP consoles, but it performed well enough to warrant a sequel, which was released in 2006. More recently, Platinum Games (of Bayonetta fame) developed hack ‘n’ slash action game Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, starring everybody’s favourite cyborg ninja, Raiden. Big Boss’s story continues later this year in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, set to release on PS4 and Xbox One.
TOMB RAIDER SERIES Tomb Raider has always been one of those series that pretty much does what it says on the box. You raid tombs, you find artefacts, you save the world from a terrifying demon set on wiping out the human race. Yep, sounds right. The first Tomb Raider was developed by Core Design and released on PlayStation consoles in 1996. The action adventure game follows experienced archaeologist Lara Croft as she races against rival treasure hunters to collect the pieces of a legendary Atlantean artefact, the Scion. The PlayStation title contains heavy platforming elements, requiring the player to utilise Lara’s athleticism to navigate the temples found in game.
"THE TWIST ENDING BROUGHT LARA BACK FROM WHAT WAS THOUGHT TO BE A FATAL ACCIDENT" The second and third Tomb Raider games were largely similar to the first, the only differences being the inclusion of levels in more modern environments, such as the streets of Venice in Tomb Raider II and a Nevada prison in Tomb Raider III. The series became huge, and the pressure to write good games became so high that the writers made the highly controversial decision to kill Lara off at the end of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. However, the success of Revelations prompted Core Design to make a follow up game, Tomb Raider: Chronicles. This focused on Lara’s adventures before her death but the twist ending brought
Lara back from what was thought to be a fatal accident, meaning the developers could carry on making new games. The sixth entry in the Tomb Raider series, Angel of Darkness contained a lot of changes. For one, the majority of the game took place in inner-city Paris, instead of temples or tombs. Angel of Darkness also includes a stamina meter that is depleted while Lara is climbing. Critics and fans hated it, and it received the worst reviews of the series to date. Following the poor ratings of Angel of Darkness, series publisher Eidos dropped Core Design from the Tomb Raider project and instead hired Crystal Dynamics. They rebooted the series in 2006 with Tomb Raider: Legend. The game was praised for returning to the series’ adventuring roots, as well as bringing the franchise into the 21st century. A year after the release of Legend, Crystal Dynamics released a remake of the original Tomb Raider called Tomb Raider: Anniversary; essentially the original game with a new engine. A year after that came Tomb Raider: Underworld, the conclusion to a loose trilogy consisting of Underworld and its two predecessors. The game wrapped up the Legend trilogy quite nicely, although there were two DLCs exclusive to the Xbox 360 that tied up loose ends that many fans on other consoles missed out on altogether. In 2010, Crystal Dynamics announced a spin-off series starring Lara that wouldn’t be using the Tomb Raider title. Later that year, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was released. Guardian of Light went down well with fans and critics alike, and a 4-player sequel called Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is due to be released on PC, Xbox One and PS4 this winter. Three years later, the game was rebooted again: Tomb Raider, a game focusing on the story of Lara’s origin. It’s a much grittier affair than previous instalments in the series, and paints Ms Croft as a much more human character than players have seen before. Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced at E3 earlier in June and is expected to be released late next year.
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GAMING
GOOD GIRLS AND BAD BOYS MORALITY IN VIDEO GAMES
IMAGE BY ‘ADVENTURES OF KM&G MORRIS’ VIA FLICKR
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IMPACT
MAGAZINE times that I can count. My question is: what is the difference between GOOD AND EVIL. ONE OF THOSE LEGENDARY me on a game where I can choose my own moral compass and a game NEVER-ENDING BATTLES, MUCH LIKE TRYING where the same choice is given but it’s heavily implied you should be TO WATCH TWELVE HOURS OF TOWIE WITHOUT bad? The answer is one that I can’t really give. But still, blowing stuff up is WANTING TO MOVE FAR FAR AWAY AND NEVER SEE fun. Just not when you’re meant to be the good guy. ANOTHER HUMAN EVER AGAIN. WHEN IT COMES “THE GAME ENDED UP BASICALLY PORTRAYING ME TO THE BATTLE OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL IN VIDEO AS A PSYCHOPATH” GAMES, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, YOU HAVE YOUR WORDS BY DARIO GOODWIN STEREOTYPICAL SQUARE-JAWED HERO FIGHTING For me, the game that comes to mind whenever people talk about moral AGAINST A DARK AND DEMONIC VILLAIN. BUT WHAT choices in video games is Bioshock, which I'm pretty sure was the first game I played that presented me with the classic ‘dial M for good’ style IF THAT VILLAIN IS YOU? ROB AND DARIO TALK ‘moral choice’ that's endemic in video games. For those who haven't ABOUT THEIR THOUGHTS ON MORALITY CHOICES played, it's a literal kick-the-puppy simulator – you choose between AND HOW THIS AFFECTS NOT ONLY OUR GAMING killing a little zombie girl for more money or de-zombifying said girl for less money. EXPERIENCES BUT HOW IT REFLECTS ON US AS PEOPLE.
“I STILL FIND MYSELF TREADING THE SAINTLY PATH” WORDS BY ROB PRIEST Let’s face it: being a massive prick is difficult to do in real life without destroying all your relationships and being universally reviled. Luckily for us, in video games the consequences are only virtual. Who cares if you dropped that infant off the cliff? You can always turn off your computer or Playstation and go outside. Maybe pretend to your friends and family that you’re not secretly Satan wearing a suspiciously-well-fitting human suit. But that’s where I’m wrong (at least in my case). I find it bloody well impossible to be a bad guy; no matter how hard I try, something in the back of my head screams ‘Rob, come on now, that old lady only wants to go about her day without any trouble. You can’t just set fire to her and laugh maniacally’.
"YES, I UNDERSTAND I CAN KILL PEOPLE, RUN THEM OVER AND ALL THAT JAZZ" Maybe it was the way I was trained by games to behave. I always associated being good with getting lots of love and adoration and, most importantly, all of the rewards. But with the rise of games where you are given that all-important choice between burning down an orphanage or giving every orphan in said orphanage a Christmas present and a lollipop, the rewards become less black and white. You can still get rewards for being evil; just look at Fallout 3, where you can literally nuke a town full of people just looking for a safe haven in the apocalyptic wastes of America. And for this heinous crime, you get loads of money and a swanky penthouse suite in some old guy’s hotel/tower block. Now while the temptation is there, I still find myself treading the saintly path in games such as this, purely because I couldn’t live with the virtual me for doing something which goes against my real-life personality. I realise it’s just a game; I realise all these people are just pixels 1s and 0s, if we’re being honest. But to do evil even in this world would mean separating my own inclinations to do the right thing from the freedom to do whatever I want in-game. Yes, I understand I can kill people, run them over and all that jazz. I can always turn off the game and load up a previous saved game. But even with this option, I find it hard.
"SUBCONSCIOUSLY I WANT TO FIND MY CHARACTER ATTRACTIVE"
For those that have played, I guarantee that at least once, you tried killing the girl and anyone who happened to be in the room with you shrieked and hit you with nearby objects because, yes, the animation that played really was that bad. The game did a tremendous job of making me feel like a bad guy for ‘harvesting’ the little sisters and followed this up with an ending that basically portrayed me as a psychopath, but weirdly the game itself never really punished or praised me for the choices I made – resources wise, I ended up about the same no matter what I did. Half the time, the biggest thing that sways me is the inevitable red eyes and chronic bitch face that gets stuck on your character if you choose the ‘bad’ decisions, something that was taken to a memorable high point in Mass Effect 2’s desperate science babble that the positive vibes and mellow music of the paragon choices would heal you (and give you a mad good facial), but being down-in-the-evil-dumps would somehow cause red light to shine out of cracks in your face. It's a shame that Dr Chakwas couldn't then recommend medical marijuana – if this isn't an appropriate use of it I don't know what would be - but it's a cheery lesson nonetheless. Wounded or scarred? Cheer up, Mr Grumpy Gills, or a pyrotechnics department will take up residence in your face. I've always hated that idea – probably because subconsciously I want to find my character attractive – but also because I really hate the idea of evil being something that makes you look different from the ubermensch good guys. I mean, I get that video games don't do subtlety and that gameplay-wise it's useful to have enemies that are both dehumanised and can be easily differentiated from people that you're not meant to shoot, but it's just such a standard, boring, lazy choice. You don't need a good plot or a good reason to shoot at something if that something has ravines of red light pouring out of their face; god, look at them. Their cheeks are practically caving in from all the evil. Picking the good options, by contrast, usually reward me with the skin of an airbrushed cover girl, but don't usually go the full hog and start giving me angel wings and a halo, so I can avoid all that obvious marker stuff and just pretend that my character happens to be the heir to a skincare and cosmetics fortune. So that's how I make my “moral choices” in a lot of games: I pick the option that rewards me with a facepack.
However, in games like Grand Theft Auto, where you are already a ‘bad guy’, I find it easy to dick about without a second thought. I’ve driven my schoolbus through crowds of children and blown up the rozzers more 55
FILM & TV
CINEMAS SHOWCASE
The mother of all multiplexes, showcasing 12 screens, presents the latest in blockbuster entertainment, all exhibited by the best in projection equipment. With free and easy parking, unlike Nottingham’s other cinemas, the Showcase is the hub of a surrounding area of restaurants, a bowling alley and a casino. While potentially a little tricky to find first time despite being the closest to University Park campus, the trip will be worthwhile in the comfortable, open and engrossing atmosphere. Location: Redfield Way, NG7 2UW (0.8miles from UP Campus) Student tickets: £7.75
SAVOY A student favourite, the Savoy cinema flaunts the cheapest tickets and most convenient location of the four major theatres. Resembling a classically vaudeville decor, the Savoy may be the least modernised of Nottingham’s four major cinemas, but its old yet robust infrastructure only adds to the cinematic experience. Showing the latest blockbusters and sometimes re-releases, the Savoy is only a walk or quick bus ride from any of the campuses or accommodations. Location: 233 Derby Rd, NG7 1QN (1.4 miles from UP Campus) Student tickets: £4.25
CINEWORLD Bragging the only IMAX screen in the city, Cineworld also possesses the privilege of being located in the centre of Nottingham. Embedded within and the vibrant heart of The Cornerhouse entertainment complex, this cinema allows you to experience the vast range of food and theatre culture around it, in addition to the latest blockbuster releases, selected indie titles and Event Cinema within.
NOTTINGHAM FILM CULTURE BOASTING A MISCELLANY OF ALL THINGS FILM, NOTTINGHAM IS A CITY WHICH HOSTS A VARIETY OF SCREEN RELATED ENTERTAINMENT. WHETHER YOU LOVE TO WATCH, DISCUSS, OR MAKE MOVIES YOURSELF, IMPACT FILM AND TV HAVE YOU COVERED FOR THE YEAR AHEAD WITH ALL THE KNOWHOW TO ENSURE YOU’RE UP TO DATE WITH WHAT THIS CITY HAS TO OFFER, AS WE BRING YOU A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF NOTTINGHAM’S EXTENSIVE FILM CULTURE. WORDS BY TOM WATCHORN AND BHARAT SAMRA IMAGE BY BARTOSCH SALMANSKI VIA FLICKR
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Location: The Corner House, 29 Forman St, NG1 4AA (2.7 miles from UP Campus) Student tickets: £7.20
BROADWAY CINEMA Broadway Cinema is arguably the cultural epicentre of Nottingham, at least in terms of film. Showered with praise by any Nottingham native, film screening is only one of the too-numerous-to-be-listedhere features and events to be found within the glass-fronted local landmark. An independent cinema, Broadway also shows indie movies and foreign language films in addition to the many major releases, making this the most inclusive cinema experience on offer in Nottingham. Location: 14-18 Broad St, NG1 3AL (3.7 miles from UP Campus) Student tickets: £6
SCREEN 22 Now primarily used for private hire, Screen 22 is the self-proclaimed “smallest cinema in the world”, with a seating capacity of (you guessed it) just 22. This cinema can be found thirty seconds away from Broadway, and with an uncertain future in terms of ownership and operation, make use of this unique cultural monument while you still can. Location: 25 Broad St, NG1 3AP, (3.7 miles from UP Campus)
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MAGAZINE
AT THE UNIVERSITY THE SILVER SCREEN
The self-described mainstream film society of the university, The Silver Screen shows recent and popular flicks on a regular basis in the Hallward Library Screening Room, in addition to holding quiz nights and group trips to the cinema for major releases. For more info, email tsscreen@gmail.com.
DARK CELLULOID Like The Silver Screen, Dark Cell shows films in the Hallward Library Screening Room. However, Dark Cell shows classic, cult, foreign, arthouse, indie and other such exceptional, fringe and hard-to-find movies. For more info, email darkcelluloid@gmail.com.
CFMSOC Though primarily a course society, the Culture, Film and Media Society cater to all interested in developing their academic skills in a social setting, and host events related to widening members’ cultural breadth of understanding and appreciating media and film, particularly in Nottingham.
NUTS Nottingham University’s Television Station boasts quality equipment, software and training in filmic production and culture. Split into four sections (News and Features, Culture, Entertainment and Sport), NUTS offers students of any ability the opportunity to get involved with hands-on experience in dozens of different roles. To find out more, visit NUTS at the fresher’s fair, or go to www.nutsonline.org
FILMMAKING SOCIETY The university’s Filmmaking Society aims to provide amateur filmmakers an informal and social environment using professional equipment to enhance the technical and creative abilities of its members, as well as the opportunity to create their own ideas and stories, from script to screen. To get involved, email filmmakingsoc@hotmail.com
IMPACT FILM & TV If you love talking and writing about film and television, then maybe Impact is the right page for you. We publish news, reviews, previews and more via our section of the Impact website, in addition to this printed magazine. No previous experience is required. If you’re interested, pop by our office on the C Floor of the Portland Building, or just drop us an email at film@impactnottingham.com to find out more.
EVENTS
MAYHEM FILM FESTIVAL Arguably the biggest event in the Nottingham film calendar, the genre festival Mayhem is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Be set for days of advanced previews, special events and guests AND the odd classics screened (last year witnessed the infamous Don’t Look Now screened in a church, with director Nicolas Roeg in attendance). We’ll be there, will you?
BEESTON FILM FESTIVAL This January, over the weekend starting the 24th at Dagfa House, will mark Beeston’s first film festival. Little has been publicised at this point, but we do know it’ll be exhibiting independent films in all genres. So for a nice mix of local and international work, it’s probably going to be worth checking out.
FILM CLUBS Generally congregating and screening at Broadway Cinema, Nottingham has an abundance of film clubs, most of which interact and combine to create nights of exciting and singular entertainment. Kino Klubb, Kneel Before Zod, and the most recent addition Watergate Cinematek, cover everything from cult and schlock to concert films and to the American New Wave.
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FILM & TV
“WATCH EVERY KIND OF MOVIE…”
TALKING WITH WATERGATE CINEMATEK WORDS BY TOM WATCHORN | IMAGE BY NOTOWN PRODUCTIONS
CONTINUING OUR COVERAGE OF NOTTINGHAM’S WHAT DO WE HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO FROM YOU IN THE COMING MONTHS? EXTENSIVE FILM CULTURE, IMPACT FILM & TV Charles: We’re definitely planning on screening Paul Schrader’s movie TURNS TO WATERGATE CINEMATEK, THE LATEST Hardcore (1979). It’s a great, underseen, seedy movie - pretty divisive too. It turns the vigilante film on its head - the person George C. Scott is trying OF NOTTINGHAM’S PLETHORA OF FILM CLUBS WHICH BURST INTO LIFE BACK IN JULY. WE SPOKE to save doesn’t need saving. Christina: And the other is Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue. It’s a film TO FREELANCE FILM CRITIC AND AUTHOR OF THE about the death throes of the counterculture, and Linda Manz plays this androgynous little punk girl who goes around yelling, “Disco sucks! Kill all BETAMAX REVOLT BLOG, CHRISTINA NEWLAND, hippies!” It’s a crazy, twisted movie. AND HER HUSBAND AND FILMMAKER CHARLES NEWLAND, TO FIND OUT MORE… FIRST UP, WHAT EXACTLY IS WATERGATE CINEMATEK?
Christina: Watergate Cinematek is a film club, specifically interested in 70s Hollywood. Only not Jaws or The Godfather; that’s the basic stuff. It’s not organised with any military precision. It’s just the two of us, with a love for these whacked-out 70s movies that no one really watches anymore. I’m 23 and a lot of people my age, and even a bit younger, seem to think that anything from before 1980 is basically forgotten, which is frustrating. So we want to try to remedy that. These movies still have things to tell us.
“NOW, EVERYBODY THINKS THEY CAN BE A FILM CRITIC” WHY THE HOLLYWOOD NEW WAVE IN PARTICULAR?
Christina: I’ve always had an academic interest in the cultural and political climate of America in the 70s. You can guess from our name. Never before, or since, was American culture so rich and complex and revolutionary. Also, so many of the movies from that period are megafamous, but just as many fell through the cracks. Charles: It’s also politically charged in a way that American movies hadn’t been before, whether they were right or left-wing. Regardless of whether you personally agree with their politics, they were always interesting…
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“THESE MOVIES STILL HAVE THINGS TO TELL US”
DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR OPINION ON THE LOCAL FILM CULTURE IN NOTTINGHAM?
Charles: You wouldn’t want a better city to run film programming or seasons; everyone at Broadway Cinema and Amy at Screen 22 have been so helpful in getting movies shown. People are really supportive here. They go above and beyond to help you out.
CHRISTINA, AS BOTH AN ACADEMIC AND JOURNALISTIC WRITER ON THE SUBJECT, WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE CHANGING NATURE OF FILM CRITICISM? IS IT A DYING ART?
Christina: Well, it’s definitely been discussed a lot lately; film criticism exists on funny, uncertain ground, like most journalism. It’s not easy, but it’s something you persist with if you really love it. Being a freelance critic isn’t too different from being a struggling artist these days. I don’t think film criticism is a dying art. As long as well-written, thoughtful, passionate pieces are written, shared, and discussed, it can’t die. And there are some great critics around. I’d really encourage people to read Reverse Shot, Sight & Sound and Film Comment. Criticism used to have a great deal more respect and cultural currency than it does now. People like Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris were taken as seriously as philosophers or literary critics. Now, everybody thinks they can be a film critic.
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MAGAZINE
“SOME ARE SEMINAL,
OTHERS A BIT WEIRDER” CHRISTINA AND CHARLES’ KEY HOLLYWOOD NEW WAVE RECOMMENDATIONS: • • • • • • • • • •
DO YOU EVER GET THE URGE TO CREATE SOMETHING CINEMATIC YOURSELF?
Christina: No, not really. Filmmakers and critics have a symbiotic, often antagonistic relationship. Filmmakers sometimes resent criticism, and one of the nastier ideas is that film critics are all bitter, or are just failed filmmakers. I have zero technical prowess or interest. I’m interested in exploring, defending, and making a legacy for cinema through writing. I’ve never really seen it any differently.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ANY WOULD-BE CRITICS?
Christina: Watch every kind of movie from every background, particularly the ones you aren’t too knowledgeable about. Read everything. Other criticism, academic stuff, history, fiction. Cinema doesn’t exist in a vacuum; other arts inspire and feed into it.
AND CHARLES, AS A FILMMAKER YOURSELF, HOW DO YOU WORK IN REGARDS TO THE RELATIVELY LOW KEY BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY, AND THE EVEN LOWER KEY LOCAL NOTTS SCENE?
Charles: We prefer a guerrilla approach to filmmaking. By and large, we’ve chosen to work completely outside of the system. But we’ve had our films shown at the BFI Southbank, Berlinale, and Gothenberg Film Festivals — amongst others. I’m currently in pre-production for my first feature film.
“CINEMA DOESN’T EXIST IN A VACUUM; OTHER ARTS INSPIRE AND FEED INTO IT”
APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) BLOW OUT (1981) BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974) DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) FINGERS (1978) HARLAN COUNTY, USA (1976) THE LAST DETAIL (1973) MEAN STREETS (1973) NASHVILLE (1975) SORCERER (1977)
DO YOU SEE IT AS IMPORTANT FOR YOUNGER GENERATIONS TO MAINTAIN A WIDE DIET OF DISPARATE FILMS FROM THROUGHOUT HISTORY, OR SHOULD ONE KEEP FOCUS PREDOMINANTLY ON THE FUTURE OF THE ART? Christina: You’ve got to know your history to be invested in the future of the art. I’m not saying be backwards-looking. There are great movies coming out every year, I just despair a little bit about young audiences. They’ve become so accustomed to this smash-bang style of editing that classical editing is unbearably dull for them. It’s….hard to get younger people to want to watch films that move at the pace of Casablanca, or even Breathless, for that matter. Charles: It’s good to have both sides. All art is self-referential; everything new borrows from what came before.
TO END ON A HOPEFULLY INSPIRING NOTE, ARE THERE ANY QUOTES FROM FILMMAKERS THAT PARTICULARLY RESONATE WITH YOU?
Christina: Not a filmmaker, but Richard Yates: “The movies were wonderful because they took you out of yourself, and at the same time they gave you a sense of being whole. Things of the world might serve to remind you at every turn that your life was snarled and perilously incomplete, that terror would never be far from possession of your heart, but those perceptions would nearly always vanish, if only for a while, in the cool and nicely scented darkness of any movie house, anywhere”.
ANY ADVICE FOR WANNABE FILMMAKERS?
Charles: My advice to student filmmakers is don’t worry about funding. Just get whatever cameras you can get hold of, get some friends, and make a film.
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FILM & TV enjoy, presumably sitting on the couch watching the Simpson family doing the same. Then, in an unpredictable instant, pop culture changed. The rapid commercialisation of computers and the Internet in the 2000s displaced television as the primary source of pop culture. As Western civilisation began experiencing the world through technology differently, so did the Simpsons, just not as successfully. The Simpsons used to be "with it", but then what “it” was changed, and now the TV show is struggling to adapt. No longer united by the small screen, the five family members became distant and revelled in their individual devices. For example, Lisa’s MyPod and Mapple Computers saw an increased presence on screen, as well as Homer's treadmill which was used for streaming the Lost parody Stranded, in secret from Marge.
"THEN, IN AN UNPREDICTABLE INSTANT, POP CULTURE CHANGED" The Simpsons' deviation from the relatable family unit meant losing its essence as a family sitcom. The TV family no longer exists in the real world, and thus in an understandable bid to remain relevant, the series suffered a drastic tonal shift, now referencing the modern human condition, so reliant on the Internet instead of the dominant medium of television in the 1990s. Additionally, during the 90s, overtly self-referential humour was relatively revolutionary. The Internet’s advent permitted consumers to begin easily making their own satirical jokes, through short animated series, meme culture and then through YouTube, none of which require the average 9 month process of making an episode as The Simpsons does.
THE SIMPSONS AND THE POP CULTURE PARADOX
WORDS BY BHARAT SAMRA IMAGE BY ‘DUNCAN C’ VIA FLICKR
The pinnacle of popular culture, an epitome of pastiche and parody, or just a funny cartoon about an American family with bright yellow skin. Whatever you want to call The Simpsons, the series has had an incontestably colossal cultural impact over its 27-year run. But, as the credits rolled on the 20th Century, with such longevity came criticisms of declining quality. The generally accepted view today, from critics and fans alike, is epitomised by TV critic Ian Jones: showrunner Mike Scully (seasons 9-12) has turned The Simpsons into a “tired” glut of “stupid antics and one note gags”. These reductive criticisms ignore the foundation of The Simpsons as postmodern programming. A paradigm more apt is that the series, as a form of pop culture so reliant on referencing other forms of pop culture, has struggled to adapt to the monumental shift in popular culture itself. The Simpsons were created as a TV family to coincide with television's dominance as the epicentre of pop culture in the middleclass US household in the late 20th Century. TV brought people together, it delivered news and entertainment the entire family could 60
Thus, when television was no longer the primary provider of pop culture, the references in newly broadcast episodes were outdated and not as influential, having been made available months before by someone in their bedroom with a camera, computer and Internet connection. Seeking topical relevance, The Simpsons has become overly reliant on creating spoofs, with the personality of the characters themselves being overshadowed by the uncharacteristic parodies of Inception, The Dark Knight and, most awkwardly, The Harlem Shake meme. Parody had previously assisted the story, as did the intertextual intelligence of Pulp Fiction in "22 Short Films About Springfield" - you didn't have to know what The Simpsons was referencing to enjoy it. Parody was allusive and secondary to America's TV family and the rest of the Springfieldians, allowing memorable stories about its characters to be told. Even as a lifelong Simpsons devotee, disputing its decline is admittedly difficult. Nevertheless, to dismiss the series entirely is unfair, as there seems to be a conditioned association that the old Simpsons series brought us better quality episodes and new releases are poor. However, it's not as yellow and purple as that, as we've witnessed glimpses of golden-age glory in recent seasons, such as last season’s LEGO pastiche. Popular culture moulded The Simpsons into success, but paradoxically also caused its decline. Hopefully, with its 26th season scheduled to start from September 28th, the show can overcome pop culture’s burdening impact, and instead make itself the centrepiece of pop culture once more.
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B R E A K
MAGAZINE
TEST YOUR FILM AND TV EXPERTISE IN THE FIRST OF OUR TOPICAL GAME CHALLENGES, A CROSSWORD COVERING ALL MANNER OF TRIVIA RELATED TO 2013/2014 RELEASES, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE.
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SPEND YOUR SEMESTER IN CINEMATIC STYLE WITH IMPACT’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE COMING MONTHS: The Equalizer
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Released: September 26th Director: Antoine Fuqua Synopsis: Based on the 1980s TV series, The Equalizer follows Robert McCall’s (Denzel Washington) return from retirement as an officer to help the unjustly victimised, namely a young prostitute (Chloë Grace Moretz).
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ACROSS 1. The warmest colour of Ruin and Jasmine (4) 3. ____ Thomas, Dean Koontz character who hit the big screen in 2013 (3) 5. Takei or Cho? (4) 8. The Dallas Buyers Club assisted the sufferers of this (4) 9. Palo ____, 2013 film based on James Franco story collection (4) 10. They rose in 2011 and they dawned this summer (4) 12. Short lived 2013 series by comedy legend Christopher Guest, Family ____ (4) 13. Monsters vs. Robots in the Pacific ____ (3) 14. Game of Thrones landmass (5) 16. Legendary Japanese monster which rampaged again this year (6) 17. Muhammad Ali's Greatest ____, 2013 TV movie about the boxer facing the US government (5) 20. Mia Wasikowska’s Stoker character (5) 22. Upcoming bat-related TV series (6) 23. Recent Razzie-nominated Regal biopic (5) 25. Mr Anderson, creator of The Grand Budapest Hotel (3) 26. ____ Along (2014), car crash cop comedy (4) 28. Iconic sci-fi villain who made another return in 2013 (4) 30. 2014 TT doc about the Dunlop brothers (4)
34 31. 2013 New Zealand locale for Jane Campion’s top TV (4) 32. Type of ‘tec in McConaughey-starrer (4) 33. Hardy, Hanks or Cruise (3) 34. Archer’s agency (4) DOWN 1. World War Z Pitt (4) 2. Frank at the head of a structurally unsound Netflix House (9) 4. Lea, ground-breaking comic who plays Big Boo in Orange is the New Black (7) 5. Chiwetel Ejiofor was one for over a decade (5) 6. The Butler Daniels (3) 7. Sherlock ____ (6) 11. The scrambled end of Breaking Bad (6) 15. Family guy seen in the west (4) 17. Days of ____ Past (6) 18. ____ of the Galaxy, Marvels newest franchise (9) 19. It rises in Miyazaki’s last (4) 21. Inspector Henckels in The Grand Budapest Hotel, ____ Norton (6) 22. Fast-food chain owner with a dubious side business (7) 24. Upcoming Jay-Z produced musical (5) 27. Nic Cage's least favourite animal (4) 29. That woman in that Spike Jonze film (3)
Released: October 3rd Director: Jeff Baena Synopsis: Zach is distraught when his girlfriend Beth dies. His enthusiasm upon her resurrection is short-lived as she returns hungry for humans. Zombie comedy starring Aubrey Plaza and Dane DeHaan.
Interstellar
Released: November 7th Director: Christopher Nolan Synopsis: Explorers embark on a voyage through a newly discovered wormhole to exceed the potential of human space travel. Sci-fi adventure with Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain.
The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies
Released: December 12th Director: Peter Jackson Synopsis: The conclusion to the second epic Middle-earth trilogy, this probably three hour film will wrap up the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Dwarves and others after awakening the dragon Smaug. The titular battle will ensue in order to claim The Lonely Mountain.
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Across: 1) Blue 3) Odd 5) Sulu 8) AIDS 9) Alto 10) Apes 12) Tree 13) Rim 14) Essos 16) Gojira 17) Fight 20) Gotham 22) India 23) Diana 25) Wes 26) Ride 28) Khan 30) Road 31) Lake 32) True 33) Tom 34) ISIS Down: 1) Brad 2) Underwood 4) DeLaria 5) Slave 6) Lee 7) Holmes 11) Felina 15) Seth 17) Future 18) Guardians 19) Wind 21) Edward 22) Gustavo 24) Annie 27) Bees 29) Her
MUSIC
STEALTH
Acting as a vibrant hub to Nottingham's electronic music scene, Stealth is host to several of the top nights in the city. Distinguished by being a sizable nightclub, line-ups for nights can include both big name electronic artists as well as up and coming DJ's. Detonate, one of the most popular and long-standing nights ensures Drum and Bass, Dubstep and Hip-Hop remain a prominent part of the Nottingham scene. Past highlights have included sets from the likes of Boddika and Bonobo. BassLaced, running since 2010, runs a similar line to Detonate by pulling the focus on to bass music. Past line-ups have included artists ranging from Dubstep DJs such as Skream to the old legends like David Roddigan. Alongside Detonate stands Dollop - one of the club's most in demand and spoken of nights. DJ booking preferences are notably different; running for 9 years now it stands as a well established night in the city. DJs featured are not tied to one specific genre, past big names having included the likes of both Four Tet and Joy Orb ison. Other nights more closely aligned to Dollop include Zleep, aiming to focus line-ups purely on House and Techno. Past highlights have included Ben UFO and SBTRKT.
808
Hailing from Manchester, 808 aims to infuse the best of American House and Techno with European. It would therefore follow that bookings aren't too restrictive; New York House being included as much as Detroit and Chicago. Holding up 'no more normal' as their slogan, a more communal approach is taken to partying. Highlights have included sets from rising star Move D as well as Detroit youngster Jay Daniel. Even Ben Pearce, in his rising days, has done a set there.
MIMM
An art collective and record label, set up by DJ Nathaniel Coltrane; Mimm stands as a central part of the Nottingham creative scene. Getting its name by forming an acronym out of 'Music Is My Motive', Mimm pushes boundaries and shows what is capable with enough drive. Running for 3 years now, the store hosts various events around the city, most recently when 6music's worldwide music pioneer, Gilles Peterson, visited Nottingham. The store itself is located in the heart of Hockley.
THE BRICKWORKS
One of Nottingham's newer venues, The Brickworks appeared on the scene in September 2013 with a series of parties at the start of the academic year. Situated in the intimacy of an old warehouse space, The Brickworks can be difficult to find, but without doubt setting the venue apart from the crowd. Now it primarily hosts one-off events, most recently a Detonate after party including Boddika and Zed Bias. Other nights at the venue are frequently hosted by the likes of Faded and CMYK.
WIGFLEX
Founded in 2006 by Spam Chop and a group of like-minded DJ's, Wigflex is a home grown label which has evolved, developed and strengthened over the last few years. With its nights located both in Stealth and spread around the city, Wigflex is an embedded part of the city's nightlife. Club nights are notable for bringing in cutting edge techno from international artists such as Marcel Dettmann. 62
THE ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT
NOTTINGHAM COMPETES AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE NATIONAL STAGE IN TERMS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC. THE CITY'S ENVIRONMENT NURTURES CREATIVITY AS WELL ATTRACTING SOME OF THE MOST RENOWNED NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DJS. IMPACT OFFERS A GUIDE ON WHERE YOU NEED TO BE.
WORDS BY IAN FILLINGHAM
IMPACT
MAGAZINE
THE RESCUE ROOMS
The Rescue Rooms is made up of three venues. The first, a 450 capacity space which can boast that huge artists have played on their cosy stage 'before they were famous'. With the likes of Bloc Party, The Libertines and The Happy Mondays all having rocked up on their stage their bragging can be backed up. The second stage, the Red Room, hosts a more intimate stage, a starting point for local artists and favourite spot for big names' after parties. The third, a cosy downstairs bar, is the home of Monday night's Acoustic Rooms and a ridiculously cheap happy hour.
BODEGA
Bodega has a pocket sized stage familiar to less renowned touring artists. The venue also holds some brilliant nights including Itchy Feet, a night dedicated to DJs, soul, and jiving, and Gold Teeth for everyone's inner Jay Z.
ROCK CITY
One of Nottingham's largest venue and home to Nottingham Uni's biggest student night, Crisis, you're bound to end up here countless times throughout your degree. Humongous names grace their sweaty stage at a (sort of) affordable price. When the venue first opened in the 80s the first gig was supposed to be Iron Maiden - how’s that for a claim? With every genre of music having their moment in the limelight, you’re sure to find something for you.
JAM CAFE
This cosy little venue has a hat trick of things in its favour; it hosts a line up of amazing, unheard-of artists every night, there is a plethora of whiskeys to choose from, and the food is delicious. It’s not frowned upon to rock up to this venue alone - as it is crammed with music lovers all in the same boat. If you find yourself with time to kill in Nottingham’s town centre head to Jam Cafe for a welcoming ‘locals’ vibe.
THE GLEE CLUB
GIG GUIDEBOOK
A GUIDE TO ALL OF THE MUSIC VENUES YOU ARE LIKELY TO VISIT THROUGHOUT YOUR DEGREE, WHEN YOU ARE NOT IN THE LIBRARY (OF COURSE). WHETHER YOU’RE ONE OF THE FIRST TO SEE A UPCOMING BAND OR ONE OF THE LAST TO SEE A LEGEND, THESE VENUES WILL SERVE AS THE HOME FOR YOUR MUSIC TALES. YOU WILL BECOME A LOCAL IN NO TIME.
The home of Nottingham’s comedy nights also doubles up as a music venue. Glee Club’s array of talent may not be consistent in genre, with comedy to classical music, but it is consistently entertaining. The Glee Club are especially proud of their Folk Nights, an evening not to be missed!
THE MAZE
The Maze is best known for supporting local Nottingham artists, with Jake Bugg, Dog Is Dead and Saint Raymond all playing their early gigs there. The venue dabbles in a range of entertainment, including underground club nights, alternative live bands, theatre, poetry and comedy. It would be very hard to not be able to find a night that suits your musical palate with club nights ranging from reggae to folk, from metal to house. Make sure you do your research before venturing out to The Maze as their nights are slightly more particular. No one wants to end up at Batronic, The Maze’s heavy metal night and request ‘All The Single Ladies’ to the DJ.
WORDS BY DAISY FOSTER
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MUSIC
NOTTINGHAM’S FLAG BEARERS
INDIANA
Nottingham electronic-songwriter Indiana has had a year of shooting to success, most well known for her breakthrough single 'Solo Dancing'. Her debut album No Romeo is out now.
WHAT'S BEEN COMING OUT OF NOTTINGHAM'S SCENE SO FAR (MOST FAMOUSLY JAKE BUGG) HAS ALL BEEN PRETTY GUITAR BASED, WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING DIFFERENT?
It’s pretty cool. For me, being in Nottingham, I hear both ends of the spectrum. There are electronic artists that haven't yet broken through and I can see I have similarities with them. But yeah, it's cool to be an up-and-coming electronic artist.
YOUR SONGS AREN’T CLASSIC GIRL/BOY LOVE SONGS, WHERE DO THE LYRICS COME FROM?
When I first started out I think I wrote girl/boy stuff. But I found it tedious and boring and it wasn't very challenging. The more I challenged myself and wanted to be more intelligent I found I started to take on roles and wanted to push boundaries lyrically - so that the boundaries I push in my music are mirrored in the lyrics. I just find it more interesting for me, as well as hopefully for the listener.
DJS LIKE ZANE LOWE HAVE BEEN BACKING YOU. HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK MAINSTREAM RADIO AIRPLAY HAS BEEN?
Massively, yeah, I think to get on to Radio 1's playlists is a massive stepping stone to reaching a wider audience. But a lot of listeners get their music from places like Spotify and Soundcloud so you know there's still a massive audience out there that I need to reach. There's also a lot of radio stations out there that are just as important as Radio 1, I just think that - for up-and-coming artists - Radio 1 is the starting point for them and then you can progress to Capital. When you're new and you want to get your music heard, things like BBC introducing and the late shows are massively important - it's kind of the only way really to get any other stations and get to a wider audience.
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WORDS BY IAN FILLINGHAM
SLEAFORD MODS
The Nottingham duo’s eternally pissed off attitude seems to smack people in the face and demand their attention. It’s no surprise that their recently released album Divide and Exit is causing quite a stir.
WHY SLEAFORD 'MODS'? WOULD YOU CALL YOURSELVES MODS? Andrew Fearn: Well he [Jason] used to be a bit of a mod - a fringe mod, he's got a little bit of an insight to mod culture, but he's not exactly a mod, and I'm not a mod at all. The mod reference there is the mod sensibility, the mod sense of progression in some ways, because being a mod was all about being quite aggressive about things in some ways.
COMING OUT OF NOTTINGHAM TOOK YOU 8 YEARS, A LOT GUITAR ACTS CAME OUT QUICKER, SO WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU?
Jason Williamson: Hard work, yeah. I mean once you get a formula, obviously as a musician it's like: this works. It's then trying to engage that with getting somewhere with it, but for me, and eventually when I met Andrew, I was convinced that it was something that was credible.
SO IT'S ALL ABOUT PERSISTENCE?
JW: Persistence, persistence, and if you are persistent then you will learn. And you will always bump into people that will help you to learn and give you advice, and most of the time it will be free. But it's all about persistence and self belief, really. And I know they're cheesy words but people talk about positivity and all that bullshit.
DO YOU THINK GUITAR BANDS GOT IN YOUR WAY TRYING TO GET OUT OF NOTTINGHAM?
JW: Yeah, being in the shadow of Oasis and Britpop and all that bullshit didn't help. I mean I come from that, I love that, but when I got in to this I got into Hip Hop and saw the value in that. When I took stuff from that and made it my own there was no stopping and I was convinced that what I was doing was right. Then when I met Andrew I was off.
WORDS BY IAN FILLINGHAM
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INTRODUCING
AUTOBAHN
Characterised by brooding vocals and discordant guitar playing, Autobahn are starting to make a name for themselves. The Leeds fivepiece have recently released an EP on Tough Love.
YOU'VE HAD YOUR EP OUT WHICH SET UP QUITE A DISTINCTIVE SOUND - IS THAT WHAT WE CAN EXPECT MORE OF?
Craig Johnson: Well, we're currently writing our album now and it sounds a lot noisier, it's a Gothy driven sound, but it will be quite noisy. Probably a bit more experimental, probably a bit more dynamic. It is more back to what the first EP was like, more like a second album really, already.
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOUR SOUND GETS PIGEONHOLED?
CJ: It's always going to happen... It doesn't make any difference, the music we like is so diverse, it just happens to be the music we do get pushed on to... Gavin Cobb: Luckily, we like the bands anyway. CJ: Exactly. Everyone always looks back at the past and it's just a reference point more than anything I think, but yeah it happens, it's not the end of the world.
WHO WOULD YOU SAY YOUR INFLUENCES ARE?
CJ: It varies, I listen to anything, I love 80s pop music and I love really noisy stuff like The Jesus and Mary Chain. I love M.I.A. So the influences are very broad there; I think we’re influenced by anything that we like the sound of. I mean, I listen to a lot of punk, we all listen to a lot of punk. That's probably the one thing we all listen to quite a lot of.
SO MUCH OF PUNK IS ABOUT THE INTENSITY OF A LIVE SHOW, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU GUYS ARE ALWAYS AIMING FOR?
CJ: Yeah definitely, I think that's the key, very raw, very real, it's nice to have that intensity. I've kept away from watching Fat White Family for so long because of the hype and then I watched them at Glastonbury and the intensity of their set was just unreal. I like stuff like that, it keeps an audience... GC: Gets a little bit dangerous. WORDS BY IAN FILLINGHAM
NOAH
After touring to a slightly different audience than usual - one made up of Primary school children, Noah have been busy recording an EP. The soulful duo are renowned in the Nottingham music scene for their flawless harmonies, and spoke to Impact about their busy summer.
HOW DID YOU TWO GET TOGETHER AND START MAKING MUSIC?
We are childhood friends that grew up together and have been writing music together for just over 2 years now.
WORD HAS SPREAD THAT YOU ARE RELEASING AN EP SOON. WHAT SORT OF SOUNDS CAN WE EXPECT AND DO YOU KNOW WHEN IT WILL BE OUT?
The EP has just been finished so we are super excited for that, it has been a long time coming. It’s a mash-up of Rootsy Folk, tribal, pop vibes. We are so excited to get it out there, so be sure to grab it when it comes out!
WHICH MUSICAL INFLUENCES WOULD YOU SAY SHAPED THE SOUND OF YOUR EP?
We were brought up on a lot of Motown music so probably Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Sounds of Blackness. We are influenced by so many different sounds and artists that we probably couldn't pick one, but to play a gig with Stevie would be crazy!
HOW WAS YOUR SCHOOL TOUR GIG AND HOW DID THE RECEPTION OF CHILDREN DIFFER FROM YOUR PREVIOUS AUDIENCES?
The School Tour was amazing, we had a great time with Nusic (a Nottingham music platform for new artists) and Joel Baker (a local artist) and co. The reception was cool. It's really important to go into schools and similar environments and inspire young people - to explain that there is life beyond school. We wanted to encourage them that after they finish education they can do what they want, but also explain that they have to apply themselves and focus. They differed a lot from other audiences because school kids are so brutal, unpredictable and totally honest. Thankfully, we had a great response and really enjoyed it!
WORDS BY DAISY FOSTER
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MUSIC
WHERE WERE YOU
THIS SUMMER? COMPILED BY THE IMPACT MUSIC TEAM IMAGE BY EDWARD SIMPSON VIA FLICKR
OPEN'ER FESTIVAL
Where: Gdynia, Poland. Why: I was passing through Poland on my Interrail trip and didn't need a better excuse to see Foals. Pros: The Black Keys couldn't have summed it up better - "Open'er has 10 times the energy of Glastonbury". And the beer was half the price. Cons: Gdynia is in the middle of nowhere, I'd recommend going by night train.
FESTIVAL DE INTERNACIONAL DE BENICASSIM (FIB)
Where: Benicassim, Spain. Why: I’ve been to enough festivals knee deep in mud so I wanted somewhere with guaranteed weather. Did I mention Kasabian were headlining? Pros: The beach was within walking distance and the music finished so much later than English festivals. Cons: We had our first experience of theft, but I guess that can happen at any music festival.
BEACONS FESTIVAL
Where: Skipton, England. Why: There aren’t many good value festivals left in England, so with Beacons offering an amazing mix of bands and DJ’s for under £100 it was hard to say no. Pros: Situated in the Yorkshire Dales, festival scenery doesn’t come much more beautiful. Cons: Situated in the Yorkshire Dales, weather can get pretty bad pack waterproof everything and a good tent.
HELLFEST OPEN AIR
Where: Clisson, France. Why: There are very few metal music festivals that can boast a line up like this, every year it has gods headlining. It was Iron Maiden, Aerosmith and Black Sabbath, and how can you compete with that? Pros: The atmosphere is insane and the line up is unbelievable without fail. Cons: Drinks are ridiculously expensive, its not like Eastern European festivals where you can pick up a pint for a euro.
GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL
Where: Somerset, England. Why: Even the acts on the smallest stage are brilliant, they’re better than half the headliners at other music festivals. Pros: Every show felt iconic, like you were taking part in musical history. Cons: You don’t know whether to pack flip flops or wellies, the weather is so unpredictable.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM’S FESTIVAL GOERS TREKKED THROUGH MUDDY FIELDS, SLOGGED ENORMOUS RUCKSACKS AND WADED THROUGH ARMIES OF PEOPLE. THEY EXPLORED UNHEARD OF REALMS OF EUROPE IN ORDER BRING YOU THE BEST AND WORST OF OUR CONTINENT’S SUMMER FESTIVALS.
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COLOURS OF OSTRAVA
Where: Ostrava, Czech Republic. Why: The National, MGMT, John Newman, Jamie Woon, Hidden Orchestra. It’s like they stole my iPod when picking the line up, absolutely amazing. Pros: Ostrava is a beautiful city with rainbow houses. I would have never planned to go there but I’m glad I did. Cons: Czech people get to gigs a lot earlier than I thought to, so I ended up at the back of every crowd.
BERLIN FESTIVAL
Where: Berlin, Germany. Why: Unreal lineup situated in the best city in the world. Pros: You’re in the heart of Berlin, you don’t have to eat horrible festival food and you use a real toilet. Cons: It isn’t a huge festival so there isn’t a jam-packed line-up, but who is complaining when Jessie Ware, Bombay Bicycle Club, Warpaint and Chase and Status are playing on the same tiny stage.
DIMENSIONS FESTIVAL
Where: Pula, Croatia. Why: The world’s best DJs, your mates and a beach. What more could you ask for? Pros: The parties - on beaches, in castles, on boats - go on for every minute of the day. It’s ridiculous. Cons: Camping spaces go quickly - be warned.
IBIZA ROCKS
Where: San Antonio, Ibiza. Why: Ibiza is just unbelievable, the atmosphere is electric. I would have stayed all summer if I could have. Pros: Ibiza Rocks has a night for everyone’s music taste from the 1975 to Fat Boy Slim. There is literally something for everyone, I think thats why there is such a mixture of people there. Cons: Drinks are a silly price, even water is extortionate.
SZIGET FESTIVAL
Where: Budapest, Hungary. Why: I never planned on spending so much time in Budapest but fell in love with city and stayed for half of my summer. It was just a great bonus that I got to go to Sziget. Pros: The festival tickets are considerably cheaper than England, the line-up was pretty decent and you can buy a bottle of wine at the local shop (to take in to the festival) for 60p. Cons: The lineup was great but there wasn’t a particular genre. I don’t think anyone could love the entire line up but it had a few for everyone’s musical tastes.
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MUSIC
NOTTINGHAM ON RECORD Nottingham has recently been selected as the logical next location for a record store by Rough Trade (feeling proud?). Impact offers a review of the city's main record providers if anyone's feeling a little bit thrown aback by the whole thing.
ROUGH TRADE
Rough Trade Records got going back in 1976 when Geoff Travis opened a store on Ladbroke Grove, West London, shortly after spawning the independent record label of the same name. Rough Trade has now turned Travis into a punk culture icon, having signed bands from The Buzzcocks to The Libertines. Since starting, the stores have been living proof that the record store model isn't dead, with the successful opening of Rough Trade East on Brick Lane as well as the more recent opening of a store in New York. This autumn, Rough Trade plans to take a step out of London and open a store in Nottingham. Yes… London, New York, Nottingham. Rough Trade's twitter account has said: “We're going to give it our best to make the city proud. Arguably, it'll be our finest store, yet.”
THE MUSIC EXCHANGE
The Music Exchange is a small record shop on Stoney Street in the heart of Hockley, run as a non-profit enterprise whose proceeds go to the homeless charity Framework. It is well loved by the locals, and frequented by a range of people from obsessive vinyl collectors to curious browsers. The shop's stock almost entirely consists of new pressings of vinyl, mostly leaving the second-hand selling to other shops in the area. So if you're looking for a bargain treasure hunt, you'll be better off searching 68
IMAGE BY ‘JOHN A-P’ VIA FLICKR WORDS BY IAN FILLINGHAM, JAMES H ELSEY AND BRADLEY FINNEY elsewhere. Despite this, the shop has a rich diversity of music with genres ranging from black metal to techno, and a very healthy 'local' section, as the shop prides itself on heavily supporting Nottingham's music scene. As such, you can often catch one of the many gigs that they put on around town, such as Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds or Howling Bells. There's definitely more to the Music Exchange than just a place to expand your record collection: it's a vital organ of the city's creative community.
GROOVE CITY
Whilst Groove City Records in no way comes close to the astounding variety and quality of discs available at the sort-of local Langley Mill records (well worth the 20 minute train ride to the other side of Eastwood for serious dorks), it provides a compact version of the same experience much closer to home. Tucked away just inside the Angel Row end of the dicey-looking West End Arcade, this old fashioned independently run record shop has a surprisingly large selection for such a small store front. They cover pretty much all the major genres and stock some genuine classics (I found a first run copy of Rumours and Black Grape's first album on my first visit) and there's even a handful of vintage turntables for anyone looking to get started on their collection. They also buy used records at reasonable prices, with two friendly and helpful guys running the place who both seem to know their stuff, so if you’re in the market for some classics go check it out.
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THE REVOLUTION WILL BE LIVE WORDS BY IAN FILLINGHAM IMAGE BY HARRY DINSDALE
In 2013, Thom Yorke famously dubbed Spotify as 'the last desperate fart of a dying corpse'. So if the cash isn't heading there, where is it? Records and cassettes have made a surprising return in the last decade with more and more people starting to buy them, but they undoubtedly remain a niche product; compared to digital, their overall market share is tiny. To phrase it differently, a lot of cash is heading nowhere, especially now online pirating and streaming services have become some of the biggest music providers. Gig prices have steadily risen over the last 20 years and, whether entirely due to enraged music labels or not, there's a clear correlation between the rise in music streaming/pirating and the rise in gig prices. In 1990, the legendary Stone Roses concert on Glasgow Green cost just £12.00 a ticket (£23.80 accounting for inflation). This was a time when the band were at the peak of both their fame and popularity. Yet after the band reunited their 2013 show in Finsbury Park cost £55.00- over double the Glasgow date.
“A LOT OF CASH IS HEADING NOWHERE” Not only is the shift to live music seen by taking a very rough look at 'music economics', but also by looking at bands' approaches to their careers. In the last year Fat White Family have launched their music career on the basis of, above all else, being an insane live band (with regular nudity, shit smearing etc.). Slightly older bands such as The Orwells have recently, unintentionally, released a very mediocre second
album. Despite this, there is a general consensus amongst the music press that with them ‘it's a live thing’, and they were acclaimed as one of the best live acts of 2014.
“IN 1990, THE LEGENDARY STONE ROSES CONCERT ON GLASGOW GREEN COST JUST £12.00 A TICKET” It would be naïve to suggest that it is a new thing for acts that approach their career with a focus on live performances.The days when Nick Cave ate light-bulbs and Iggy Pop smeared peanut butter on open wounds probably broke the wall on that one. But the evolving role of 'the gig' adds an element of change, and pressure, to the performance itself. Perhaps most importantly, a broad look has got to be taken at the changes happening in the dynamics of the music industry. From a pessimistic perspective, this may mean prices continue to rise at rates well above inflation as the big labels struggle to support themselves and acts signed to them become show monkeys being relentlessly toured. Alternatively, thinking in great optimism, streaming and music piracy leads to the complete collapse of every single label and the music scene undergoes a period of grassroots rejuvenation. Whatever the consequences will be, in the words of Gil-Scott Heron, 'the revolution will be no re-run brothers; the revolution will be live'. 69
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MAGAZINE Even now, if you ask many art critics and even some artists themselves, the overwhelming opinion is that women simply aren’t as good as men when it comes to art. Critically acclaimed German artist Georg Baselitz, in an interview last year with German newspaper Der Spiegel, even went so far as to say “women don’t paint very well. It’s a fact. [They] simply don’t pass the market test”.
“MALE ACADEMICS WERE SUSPICIOUS AND CONDESCENDING TO THE FEMALE ARTIST” Is this actually true? According to The Guardian statistics on the male/ female split in degree courses, the percentage of female undergraduates doing creative arts and design degrees is 61.7%. The fact that the overwhelming number of places on art degree courses are given to women surely suggests that women are creatively as good as their male counterparts.
WOMEN (OR LACK OF)
IN ART
WORDS BY EMMA LAWTON IMAGE BY SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA ‘SELF-PORTRAIT AT THE EASEL’ 1556
If you google “famous artists”, the top 5 results are Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Da Vinci and Warhol. That these are all deservedly great and famous artists you can’t deny. But where are the women? At a push you may have heard of Georgia O’Keeffe or Tracey Emin. But why is it that history has us remember a list of long dead white men at the drop of a paintbrush but to find even a mention of a female artist requires long and arduous research? Are women simply just not good at art? And what impact has this lack of female representation in the art world had on us today? It’s an undeniable fact that women have been kept out of the art community for decades. Even those who did manage to break through the gates such as Sofonisba Anguissola, a leading painter in the Italian Renaissance, or Victorine Meurent, an independent artist long before being one of Manet’s muses, were met with hostility and degrading slander at the very least. Male academics were suspicious and condescending to the female artist. Women could not possibly paint. They did not have the mental or emotional capacity.
To be accepted on to one of these art courses is no easy feat. It involves a rigorous interview process including not only a standard interview; applicants are also required to produce a portfolio of work to be submitted and critiqued by the faculty staff. As so many women are passing the scrutiny and critique of the university interview to gain these places on creative arts and design degrees, I think it’s clear that Baselitz may have been a little too hasty in his judgement on women as artists. Though there isn’t quite the same open misogyny towards women as there used to be, it is still undeniable that women have to work twice as hard to get noticed. This is seen no more clearly than in this year’s shortlist for the Turner Prize, one of the most prestigious art prizes in the world. The shortlist of four includes only one woman, Ciara Phillips, who is running against James Richard, Duncan Campbell and Tris Vanna-Michell for the coveted prize. This seeming lack of equality in the recognition of female artists is just one of the negative impacts that the lack of female representation has had on our modern art culture. The mountain still left to climb by the female artist is illuminated no more clearly than by the recent decision of the Mall Gallery this summer to remove the portrait of Ms Ruby May, Standing by Leena McCall from the Society of Women Artists’ 153rd annual exhibition. The outstanding reasons given for the removal of McCall’s portrait were that the painting was deemed “pornographic” and “disgusting”, amongst other incredibly derogatory terms. The ‘pornographic’ and ‘disgusting’ element of McCall’s portrait, the management (incidentally composed entirely of women!) claimed, was the presence of a triangle of pubic hair. Apparently, it would seem the presence of pubic hair in any form of art is pornographic and in need of immediate removal. Clearly they failed to note the thousands of portraits and art pieces in the world which scandalously show such a thing. The complete irony of this situation is that McCall’s nude portrait was replaced by another nude which was deemed to be “more appropriate”. From this dire situation it would appear as though there is no hope for the future female artist. That the impact of the hundreds of years of lack of representation as artists has been too greatly negative. But I don’t think it’s quite as doom and gloom as that. Artist Annie Kevans is currently working on a collection of portraits of the lost great female artists. Hopefully her collection will shed some light on the great artists that history has forgotten.
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THE MUST HAVE STUDENT BOOKSHELF YOU HAVE ONE IN EVERY STUDENT ROOM. WHERE POSTERS EXPRESS INTERESTS AND FAMILY PHOTOS SHOW FOND MEMORIES OF HOME, YOUR BOOKSHELF REPRESENTS YOU. YOU’LL LIKELY USE IT FOR STORAGE OF PENS, STEREO SYSTEMS AND DVDS, BUT THOSE BOOKS YOU BROUGHT ALL THAT WAY HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE. THEREFORE LET IMPACT ARTS BREAK DOWN THE MUST-HAVES OF ANY STUDENT SHELF. WORDS BY JAMES HAMILTON
TOAST! (AGAIN)
An Introduction To Your Chosen
SUBJECT NEW EXPANDED EDITION: MORE WORDS! LESS PICTURES! MORE EXPENSIVE! HEAVIER! RARELY USED! A. PROFESSOR
THE COOKBOOK
THE COURSEBOOK
This is a must-have for non-catered 1st years and newly housed 2nd years. It is most likely to be given to you as a present from your parents - probably due to an underlying fear that, because they have cooked for you most of your life, when you actually have to touch a stove you’ll catch fire. Sadly, cookbooks will be used frequently for a week until you realise following a recipe is much too difficult, and it will stand idle as you stock up on pasta and takeout menus.
We all know what we are talking about here. This is the book that you have been told above all else you MUST buy. It is likely also to be the moment in which you spend upwards of £30 on a single book, and a proud sense of achievement fills you as you recognise yourself as a university student. However, this is only until you realise that you might as well be carrying bricks to lectures and that in your entire lifetime you will only ever use around 5% of the book. Not that you would ever sell it. You did splash the cash after all!
E.g. The Student Cookbook, Nosh For Students.
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E.g. Anything that contains the words ‘Anthology’, ’Gray’s’, or ‘The Complete Works’.
IMPACT
MAGAZINE
Classic
THE CLASSIC This becomes an icon on your bookshelf, much like that Head Boy’s badge or cross-country running medal. People will wander into your room, peruse and likely attempt to guess your subject. So when they run their fingers across that piece of classic literature you swell with pride and cement yourself in place of intellectual honour. Until the person turns around asks you any plot point. You clearly haven’t read it. Has anyone?! E.g. 1984, Wuthering Heights, Ulysses, To Kill A Mockingbird.
vampires THE TRASH FICTION This will be simple fiction. You may think it elaborate, but you are kidding yourself. But when you are swarmed by textbooks and coursework deadlines you need to switch off your mind and fade into bliss with a book which will numb the brain. You promise you will read something new and elaborate but end up returning to the warm hug of the teen fiction that still holds onto you. E.g. Any Harry Potter, Twilight or Hunger Games.
IMPACT Where would student life be without the University magazine, which for you is IMPACT! Filled with hard hitting news to interviews to creative outlooks, Impact is where all your Nottingham news is centred. When you have struggled through Freshers’ flu, sit back and enjoy it as it takes its rightful place in finishing the must have collection of your student bookshelf. 73
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THE CELEBRITY STAGE WORDS BY JAMES HAMILTON IMAGE BY JUANMA MARCOS VIA FLICKR
A recent trend sweeping the nation over the past 2 years is that of the celebrity involvement on the stage. This fad presents, ironically, an apparent reversal of classic actors 50 years beforehand. When looking at names such as Patrick Stewart, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, they began their illustrious careers with foundations built within the theatre, specifically the Royal Shakespeare Company. They inevitably gained further audiences and wider profiles as a result of film and television franchises but they were rooted heavily on the stage before this point. Now large named celebrities establish themselves as key players outside the theatre, and then, when firmly popular within society, transition to the stage. So, where did it all begin? For many students the first big name which will come to mind is David Tennant, renowned for his portrayal of Doctor Who. After his role as the Doctor, his further theatre productions of Hamlet (2008), Much Ado about Nothing (2011) and most recently Richard II (2013) exploded amongst the public; the latter even being used as the RSC’s springboard into National Theatre Live. But how much credit did Tennant himself take from this? In an interview with Channel 4, Tennant stated: “I love doing these plays. It’s quite a selfish motivation. I don’t come because I want to proselytise about Shakespeare”. This quotation highlights an actor driven to perform, but an underlying sense comes across in a personal gain for him. And with a large fanbase behind them, it can seriously drive a production forward.
"‘CELEBRITY’ IS BECOMING A BUZZWORD THAT GRANTS ANYONE A RIGHT TO PERFORM"
Perhaps a different way of looking at this is through the recognition of the theatrical community as a whole, a good example being the Olivier awards 2014. When taking the four main acting categories (Best Actor/ Actress and Supporting) only three out of the sixteen nominations appear to have recognisably successful film/television careers. This however, is slightly nullified when looking at Best Actor where half of the nominations were large scale names (Jude Law and Tom Hiddleston respectively). Whilst highlighting an elite minority of theatre, this does show that lesser known names are being recognised for their performance, not overshadowed by other celebrity involvement. The media have an unbiased freedom to comment on these plays, and when seeing that none of the four winners in each category were hugely well known, it that makes a big statement on the discussion.
"THE PUBLIC IS CLEARLY BEING SWAYED BY MEDIA EXPOSURE TO THEATRE" Whilst we can’t ignore this media attention, when looking at views of the public the story being told is widely contrasting. In a poll taken by Impact readers, 100% stated that they felt theatre productions were overshadowed as a result of celebrity involvement. But rather ironically 96% went on to state that they would personally go and see a show because of celebrity casting. The public, or more specifically the student public, is clearly being swayed by media exposure to theatre, and although it encourages them to see productions, it also highlights a darker motive in publicising such performances.
In many ways this topic is something of a double-edged sword. On one hand, having a celebrity star clearly results in a certain focus being drawn to them which blurs out the lesser known actors they perform alongside; David Tennant, however, was merely a spark within a much larger even though they may be playing minor or secondary roles. On the other catalyst. Celebrity involvement appears to have grown exponentially over side, celebrity casting brings people to the theatre, and is particularly the past years. From recognised actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch, instrumental for younger generations. Undeniably, celebrities are a huge to TV personalities like Stephen Fry, even pop stardom, with the reveal of bonus in attracting publicity and the polls show a fraction of that view. Ronan Keating’s stage debut in Once. ‘Celebrity’ is becoming a buzzword It’s not a crime to be famous, but something seems to be wrong when that grants anyone a right to perform, meaning shows enter the public celebrities not recognised for their acting prowess can turn their hands to limelight regardless of reviews. Whilst being famous should not naturally the stage and get away with it. exclude them from performance, it does at times now feel that the West End is dominated by shows which are brought into the limelight for, arguably, all the wrong reasons. 74
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CLASSICS VS RE-WRITES WORDS BY JAMES HAMILTON
WORDS BY EMMA LAWTON
WE ALL KNOW OF THE GREAT LITERARY CLASSICS; JANE EYRE, WAR AND PEACE, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, INVARIABLY LONG AND BASED IN THE HISTORICAL PAST, THESE CLASSICAL STORIES HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME FOR A REASON. BUT A RECENT TREND HAS SEEN MODERN DAY AUTHORS TAKING THESE CLASSICS HEAD ON, RE-WRITING THEIR TIMELESS STORIES INTO MORE MODERN DAY SETTINGS. IS THIS BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE GREAT CLASSIC OR AN INGENIOUS WAY OF GETTING MORE PEOPLE TO READ THESE STORIES? In many ways this argument boils down to whether reworking is necessary. Books are composed to reflect their writers, whether that is due to societal pressures or alignments to political or religious standpoints. Every writer has a motivation in writing a story and by separating those factors I think you find a much greater sense of loss in the modernisation of literary classics. What this issue presents is what writers currently perceive of student readership. It feels as though writers are intentionally dumbing down texts to fit a generation which they have highly underrated. Writers like Trollope misjudge student society in thinking that there is gap in literature which can be filled with updated classic literature. Yes, it is a generation defined by technology but this does not mean that if originally a character sends a letter that must consequently be adapted to e-mail.
"IT FEELS AS THOUGH WRITERS ARE INTENTIONALLY DUMBING DOWN TEXTS TO FIT A GENERATION WHICH THEY HAVE HIGHLY UNDERRATED" Another issue with reworking stories is that it shows a much darker aspect of writers running out of true imagination. Yes, performance has license to update texts. Plays need to portray a sense of reimagination, otherwise they would result in stagnation. It’s when it comes to modernising entire streams of language that you begin to dig a hole with no bottom. I do not doubt that what writers such as Trollope have used certain creativity and without reading each text side by side it would be hard to comment specifically on the significance of modernising texts such as Sense and Sensibility. But where do you stop? In 100 years time when the shape of the world has shifted do we go on to rework Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter? I doubt the literary community would be so forward with the idea and therefore I must lean on the side of retaining original classic literature.
War and Peace, Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice. All great classics we should have read, we want to say we have read, but invariably we haven’t. Yet these are classics for a reason; their storylines, lovable roguish characters and effortless detail are the reason they have survived the centuries as our most loved books. Surely something needs to be done about getting more people to read them outside the classroom. Enter the re-written classic.
“WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN GETTING MORE PEOPLE TO READ BOTH MODERN AND CLASSIC BOOKS?” The notion of the re-written classic is a simple one. A modern author takes the storyline, characters and places of a classic book, such as Pride and Prejudice, and re-writes the timeless classic in a modern day setting with modern day prose. An outrage? But classics are classics for a reason. They are long, written in old, complicated prose that the only slightly interested modern day reader will have trouble understanding. The fact is, though the stories and characters are timeless, the way these classics are written is not. Joanne Trollope, who launched The Austen Project this year with her re-written modernisation of Sense and Sensibility said in an interview that “Jane Austen’s preoccupations are timeless… I could immediately see that her characters and her narrative would translate absolutely seamlessly to 2013.” And translate seamlessly they have. And what’s more, once readers have read the modern version of the classic, many are finding themselves returning to the original and, now having a proper grasp of the story and characters, enjoying the original. What could be better than getting more people to read both modern and classic books?
IMAGE BY JORGE MEJIA PERALTA VIA FLICKR 75
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20 YEARS, 10 SECONDS:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ADAM GEMILI
2013 U23 EUROPEAN 100M CHAMPION AND TEAM GB SPRINTER ADAM GEMILI SPOKE TO IMPACT ABOUT HIS PAST, THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF BRITISH ATHLETICS BEFORE WINNING HIS COMMONWEALTH SILVER AND EUROPEAN GOLD MEDAL THIS SUMMER… WORDS BY DAN ZEQIRI IMAGE BY ‘GET DOWN’ VIA FLICKR 76
WE’LL START WITH AN OBVIOUS TOPIC: LONDON 2012. AS AN EXPERIENCE IT MUST HAVE BEEN SURREAL, EXHILARATING AND LIFE-CHANGING. IS THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR FROM THAT SUMMER STILL REVERBERATING AND HOW SUCCESSFUL HAVE WE BEEN AS A COUNTRY IN ESTABLISHING THAT MUCH TALKED ABOUT ‘LEGACY’? London 2012, for me, was the greatest experience I have ever witnessed. I learnt so much from competing and have memories that will stay with me forever. I believe as a country the legacy is still there, with the numbers of young children participating increasing yearly.
IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE THOSE GAMES THAT YOU WERE STILL A PART-TIME AMATEUR. LOGIC SUGGESTS THAT NOBODY SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROGRESS THAT RAPIDLY. AT WHAT POINT DID IT DAWN ON YOU THAT YOU HAD ‘MADE IT’? Well for me that whole year was kind of a blur because so much happened to me. I was very naïve in the sport and I think that played to my advantage as I wasn't expected to do much and didn't realise the scale of everything. I still now, to this day, won’t ever fully comprehend how I made it. But as soon as I crossed the line after my heat I took a step back and really appreciated everything that was going on.
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IT’S WELL DOCUMENTED THAT YOU PLAYED YOUTH FOOTBALL FOR CHELSEA, READING AND DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE. I’VE HEARD IT SAID OF VARIOUS SPORTSMEN, FROM THEO WALCOTT TO TIGER WOODS, IF THEY WEREN’T ‘X, Y OR Z’ THEN THEY’D BE A SPRINTER. THAT’S PRETTY UNLIKELY THOUGH ISN’T IT? Running is pretty much the rawest form of sport out there and everyone can run. However, it’s not as easy as people think, especially other sports stars. As a footballer you may play against slower players and it makes you think that you are rapid, however, it’s not always the case. The training you go through, the work you put in for just 10 seconds of effort in a race that can be won or lost down the thousandths, it’s not like anything anyone has experienced before and not as easy to do as many may think.
YOU’VE JUST FINISHED YOUR SECOND YEAR AT UNIVERSITY. WHAT ARE YOU READING AND WHERE? I am studying Sports and Exercise Science at the University of East London which I really enjoy. It relates a lot to what I'm doing when I'm sprinting, I’m learning about how my body moves and the mechanics behind it.
I CAN’T IMAGINE IT’S A SIMPLE TASK TO BALANCE BOTH AREAS OF YOUR LIFE. DOES THE UNIVERSITY OFFER YOU ANY HELP? It can be extremely difficult to balance training with being a full-time student, and every week I'm split between University in London and training in Loughborough. But along with my Uni and my coach, we make it work.
“I HAVE MEMORIES THAT WILL STAY WITH ME FOREVER” NOT ONLY DO YOU NEED BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND SPORT, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO BALANCE SPORT AND A SOCIAL LIFE. ‘SACRIFICE’ IS A WORD THAT’S USED A LOT. HOW HAVE YOU FOUND STRIKING THIS BALANCE? Social life really does take a back seat if you want to be successful. You miss out on a lot of things such as the ‘student lifestyle’. I don't go out drinking or partying as it won’t benefit my running in any way and could potentially hinder it. I have to eat extremely healthily and try and get an adequate amount of sleep every night. It can be tough, but I just ask myself what I would rather be doing. And that is motivation enough.
THERE APPEARS TO BE AN OUTSTANDING CROP OF YOUNG BRITISH SPRINTERS EMERGING, THE LIKES OF JAMES DASAOLU AND CHIJINDU UJAH BEING GOOD EXAMPLES. WHAT’S BEEN THE KEY TO THIS SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTION LINE?
THIS SEEMS TO FLY IN THE FACE OF WHAT MOST OF US SEE AND READ ABOUT A LACK OF INVESTMENT AND FACILITIES IN THIS COUNTRY. WHERE CAN WE IMPROVE ON THOSE FRONTS? Compared to many other sporting facilities athletics can usually get shunted down the pecking order. I think in terms of elite facilities there are very few centres in the country where people can train, hence why I travel to Loughborough every week, however I think more emphasis needs to be put on getting younger children to participate and get motivated. So if anything, more improvements should be made in providing those opportunities.
"I STILL NOW, TO THIS DAY, WON’T EVER FULLY COMPREHEND HOW I MADE IT" AS BRITISH SPRINTERS, YOU COMPETE AGAINST EACH OTHER, WHILST SIMULTANEOUSLY, EACH OF YOU ARE PART OF ‘TEAM GB’. IS THERE ANY CONTRADICTION TO BE FOUND THERE? DOES IT HARBOUR AN ATMOSPHERE OF COMPETITIVE TENSION? In track and field ultimately you compete for yourself and therefore always want to win whatever race you are in. However, you do see the sprinters that you compete and train with every week and they become your friends. You are happy when they succeed and are there when they fail, which really emphasises the team aspect of the sport. Rivalries will always occur but these are healthy as they make sure you push yourself to be the best you can be.
YOU’VE JUST ANCHORED THE 4X100M TEAM TO VICTORY AT THE EUROPEAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS. YOU SEEM TO BE THE MEMBER OF THE TEAM WHO IS TASKED WITH TALKING TO THE MEDIA ABOUT A VARIETY OF ISSUES. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE ACQUIRING ADDED RESPONSIBILITY ALL THE TIME? As a sprinter a lot of the media attention can be focused on you. I don’t see it as myself who is taking the responsibility, I’m just someone who gives his opinion and as I am relativity young I can maybe best relate to younger viewers about their involvement.
FINALLY, IF A CENTRE-BACK OR FLY HALF CAME AND ASKED YOU FOR ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO GIVE THEM AN EXTRA YARD OF PACE, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM?
To get quicker, there are a variety of things that have to be done. You have to look at mechanics, diet and training programs. Mechanically, the thing to focus on when sprinting is to relax as much as you can as relaxed muscles are long fast muscles. Also to get as much knee lift as you can, as movement is done through the air, not on the ground. Maybe doing some high knee drills focusing on arm movement, bringing knees high and dorsiflexion of the foot will help.
There’s great emerging talent coming from Britain which is awesome to see and to be a part of. I think sprinters in this country have now realised that to be able to challenge the likes of Jamaica and America we need to step our game up and improve, and that’s exactly what we are seeing.
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WORDS BY MATT MCGLADRIGAN IMAGE BY BEN TYNEGATE
WHAT’S ON YOUR DOORSTEP? CAPITAL FM ARENA WHAT’S ON OFFER?
Think you’d enjoy a sport where fighting and brutally smashing people into plexiglass are allowed? Where large, angry North Americans fly up and down a sheet of ice, shooting frozen rubber at goals at 100mph and then some? Where cheesy pop (and some rock) music is played in between the game every few minutes? Then get down to the country’s finest venue to watch the Nottingham Panthers, Elite League, Playoff and Cup Champions of last season, play some ‘hockey sur glace’. What other entertainment can you expect then? The Panthers get the largest crowds in the UK, with an average of around 5000 fans attending each contest, so there’s always an electric atmosphere inside the Capital FM Arena on game night. Young cohorts of the National Ice Centre’s skating schools take to the ice in period breaks to show off their skills. Plus, music is a large part of the experience too, with the home team’s introduction to the ice built up by a stirring video montage on the million-pound scoreboard and some pumping beats. It’s a perfect evening’s entertainment for any group of students. The ‘no-draw’ rule is another exciting asset of the game. If the score is level after 60 minutes of play, five minutes of sudden-death overtime are played and if no one scores during that, we go to a nerve-racking penalty shootout. So there always has to be a winner. Over on the other side of the complex, there’s another Olympic-size rink set up if you fancy honing your own skating skills and becoming the next Torvill and/or Dean. Speed and synchronised skating are also on the programme in Nottingham if you’re really good. The arena boasts a large shop too, selling a range of hockey equipment, jerseys and even NHL snapbacks (if you can pull that off).
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The student rate of £13 or £14 a ticket for the high-octane, high-intensity action is excellent value for money. You’ll be at the arena for around two and half hours including the breaks in between periods and the clock 78
being stopped every time the whistle is blown during the game. If you really want to shell out, you can sit in the ‘centre ice’ blocks for £18.50. Food and drink are where it goes somewhat downhill. Pints are around £3.70 each. Pasties, the only hot food they seem to sell around the arena concourse, are £3.30. Or, incredibly generously, you can combine the two for the absolute bargain of £6.70. So I’d suggest eating beforehand, perhaps taking advantage of the better offer at Pizza Express in Hockley. Here, if you show your match ticket, you receive the offer of buying one pizza and getting another for £2.50. Soft drinks are also extortionate inside the arena. If your own pre-game skate sounds appealing, it’s just a fiver for students to take to the ice.
TRAVEL
The impressive Capital FM Arena stands right in the heart of Nottingham, so is extremely easy to reach by any public transport. If you’re fortunate enough to have a car, parking can be a little awkward. But don’t pay the ridiculous prices in the ‘proper’ car parks: there are avenues near the Subway next to the arena which are £3 to park in. Also, there is plenty of residential parking a few roads behind these avenues, just minutes’ walk away. So, take advantage of the fact that you’re living, as a student, in the city that currently boasts the most electric, powerful ice hockey side in the UK and enjoy an exciting evening of chanting, trying desperately to follow where the puck is and clapping along to Depeche Mode’s Just Can’t Get Enough.
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WORDS BY JONO HOYER IMAGE BY DUNCAN HARRIS VIA FLICKR
WHAT’S ON YOUR DOORSTEP? TRENT BRIDGE After three years at Uni it’s always a welcome surprise when I stumble across something new, something that I have so much enthusiasm for, especially when it happens to be one of the biggest sporting venues in the country. I’m not going to begin to claim to be a massive cricket fan, nor do I know a great deal about the sport so I was slightly apprehensive prior to attending Trent Bridge for the first time. To be honest, my initial expectation of a cricket match was a group of old men sat reading newspapers applauding every time a boundary was hit. In fact, it came as something of a shock to see such a diverse group of people all completely immersed in the game. Head of Marketing and Communications, Michael Temple, attributed this to the club’s ‘underlying commitment towards even those who are not hard-core cricket fans’, stating that there was ‘something for everybody’. This seems to be reflected through the almost comical chart music after every over or six which goes towards making it a lighter-hearted affair. The fans do still maintain that same enthusiasm and passion for the game which is evident through the atmosphere, which gives a really positive vibe but with none of the hooliganism that football is sometimes marred by. Furthermore, the stewards and staff provide a brilliant level of hospitality which goes towards explaining how the ground has achieved the Best Spectator Experience award for the past five years. When you’re lucky enough to have the elusive British sun beating down on you, with the speed and excitement of the game of T20, you’re in for a real sporting memory.
Unfortunately, student prices do not apply to food and drink. A pint is roughly £3.60 and a burger is £3.50, but this is the going rate at the average sports ground. A standard season ticket as a student (which allows you to watch all domestic games and enter the Pavilion where the players walk out of prior to match day) is a mere £34 for all the cricket you could wish to feast your eyes on over the summer. The ability to walk around the Pavilion and bump into the likes of Stuart Broad prior to the match is something of a treat.
TRAVEL
The only downside to the whole experience is how to get there. Be aware that parking can be a nightmare and the walk is a trek. A useful tip would be to get a number 36, Y36 or 24 bus (there are several others) to the bus station and either catch another short bus journey to the ground or take a 25 minute walk past some of the other great sporting venues in the city (you may notice a football stadium or two). So what can Trent Bridge offer you? The cheapest student tickets for any cricket ground in England’s top league, a brilliant spectator experience, access to more than 80% of a historic sporting venue and one of the best days out for you and your mates that Nottingham has to offer. What are you waiting for?
COST
So, here come the two big questions as a student. How much will a pint and a ticket set you back? Surprisingly little! In fact, if you were to go and see an international match, such as the Ashes, and are lucky enough to be under 21, you can get a ticket for around £20 which is a whopping £60 saving from the over 21’s price of £80. This is particularly exciting as Trent Bridge will host next year’s fourth Ashes Test from Thursday 6 August 2015. 79
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WHAT’S AT YOUR UNI? SKYDIVING IMPACT CAUGHT UP WITH TOM SHORTEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF UON SKYDIVING, TO TALK FREEFALL, FEAR AND FIRST STEPS…
WORDS BY JOHN MASTRINI IMAGE BY DANA FRIEDLANDER VIA FLICKR
WHAT’S SKYDIVING ALL ABOUT? IS IT AS SIMPLE AS JUMPING OUT OF A PLANE?
school we jump with has trained many new skydivers with challenging obstacles: from a double leg amputee (now British freestyle champion) It is a common misconception that skydivers just jump out of planes, wait to a blind man. So no excuses, get in touch and we’ll make a skydiver out for a bit and then pull their parachute to save their lives. In fact, there is a of you no problem. lot more to freefall than meets the eye: skydiving is a mass-participation sport with countless disciplines. Skydivers are not just daredevils looking I’M GUESSING FREEFALL ISN’T FREE FOR ALL. HOW to come face-to-face with death. We are enthusiastic athletes looking to EXPENSIVE IS IT? HOW FAR DO YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL TO share our love of freefall, parachutes and a good party.
PARTICIPATE?
Once you become a qualified skydiver each jump will cost you just £16 when bought from the club. Right now is the cheapest you’ll ever be able to skydive for. The weekend training course is the first step towards qualification. It costs £175 and includes two jumps. The club’s home WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO HURTLE TOWARDS THE EARTH AT dropzone is only a 20-minute drive from campus. We have a large car pool and finding a lift on a sunny weekend is never an issue. The club TERMINAL VELOCITY? often meet other Uni clubs at other drop-zones around the country. Amazing. A lot of people worry that it will feel like a rollercoaster and make your insides turn, but actually, the feeling of ‘falling’ only lasts for a few moments when you first exit the plane. Once you reach terminal you WHAT’S THE SOCIAL SIDE OF THE CLUB LIKE? no longer accelerate and it becomes rather peaceful. (Honestly!) Skydivers know how to party, that’s a fact. The club organise socials most weeks, both for those who want to party and those who just want a quiet pint after a long day’s jumping. UoN Skydiving is a large group DO YOU NEED TO HAVE PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE TO JOIN? of friends who have all met through the club, and we love to see new WHAT KINDS OF TRAINING AND SAFETY PROCEDURES ARE people getting involved. ‘Welcoming and supportive’ is our mantra THERE? from members dreaming of their first jump to those who have over 500 Nearly all of our members have never skydived before joining the club. skydives, everyone is supported and encouraged towards their next goal When we book you onto our weekend training courses, you’ll spend in the sport. There’s no place for ego or feelings of superiority. Anyone Saturday being taught everything you need for your first solo skydive. Our who makes the commitment to experience this amazing sport is one of dropzone has some of the world’s most highly qualified instructors who us. Come and join us to see what you’ve been missing out on. are all about keeping you safe. There really is no better place to learn. Come Sunday it’s green light, head up, feet out, and jump!
"A LOOSE SCREW SOMEWHERE MIGHT HELP"
HOW CAN UON STUDENTS GET INVOLVED?
WHAT SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO SKYDIVE SUCCESSFULLY? MENTAL TOUGHNESS MUST GO WITHOUT SAYING, BUT HOW FIT MUST YOU BE PHYSICALLY?
The right attitude is vital. Being open to new experiences, a love for the outdoors and perhaps a loose screw somewhere might help. In terms of being physically fit, skydiving is for just about everybody. The parachute 80
Come and meet us at our Freshers Fair stall. If you fail to roll out of bed for that, visit our website - UoNSkydiving.co.uk - and follow the links to join. We have talks planned for the week after Freshers where you can sign up to the training weekends, meet the team and ask any questions. If you manage to miss those, email us on team@uonskydiving.com. I can promise you one thing, you’ll never forget it.
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WHAT’S AT YOUR UNI? MOTORSPORT IMPACT TALKS TO UON MOTORSPORT MEDIA OFFICER LOUIS NICHOLSON ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY’S RACING SCENE.
MOTORSPORT IS AN UMBRELLA TERM. WHAT MOTORSPORTS DO YOU OFFER?
We offer mainly karting as hands-on motorsport, both in terms of an internal club championship that takes place over each term and the BUKC (British Universities Karting Championship) which is an interuniversity competition in more powerful karts. Both are on offer for club members, however BUKC have certain requirements (you have to do a test day at least, or have experience with club 100 karts) and also there are only a couple of teams we field for each race. Other than karting, there are opportunities to do other activities such as off-roading in Land Rovers and quad-biking, both of which have been run successfully in the last few years.
“THE ADRENALINE RUSH IS ALMOST UNMATCHED FOR THE PRICE” WHAT DOES MOTORSPORT GIVE YOU THAT OTHER SPORTS CAN'T?
Motorsport gives you the opportunity to race against people of similar skill to you with the thrill of wheel-to-wheel racing always present in our races. Whether it be in our club championship races where there are multiple ‘finals’ which are split on pace or (if you're lucky and talented enough) in the BUKC where there is a really high level of competition. As well as this, the adrenaline rush from guiding a kart at 40mph round some very challenging tracks is almost unmatched for the price.
WORDS BY DAN ZEQIRI IMAGE BY CAJETAN BARRETTO VIA FLICKR
IS PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE NECESSARY TO JOIN?
Previous experience is definitely not necessary, I myself had very little karting experience when I joined and have had a blast. The club championships are especially fun in this regard, as you can clearly see your progression as you get more accustomed to karting from no experience.
WHAT COMPETITIONS DO YOU COMPETE IN?
The main competition we compete in is BUKC. This is a Club 100 karting series that is inter-university. It's a highly competitive series in extremely quick karts, as a result it’s a lot of fun to do regardless of skill level. There will be test days running in the first term, which is a perfect way of testing out the karts.
F1 DRIVERS ARE RENOWNED AS INTERNATIONAL PLAYBOYS. WHAT'S THE SOCIAL SCENE LIKE?
‘International playboys’ may be a term that is lost on this generation of F1 drivers sadly! However, we usually run pub meet-ups or other low-key social events, often after our other karting events. This is a good way of getting to know the people you've been racing on track in a more laidback environment.
ASIDE FROM THE £5 JOINING FEE, ARE THERE ANY OTHER COSTS? MANY ASSUME IT'S QUITE AN EXPENSIVE HOBBY.
There are other costs to race in karting - usually it's around £30 per race. Whilst this sounds like a lot, this usually gets you around half an hour of karting, and in this sport anything approaching £1/minute is good value. As well as this we offer other activities, all of which are around the same price. However, we're also wanting to expand to more sociable activities like watching the weekend's motorsport (F1, MotoGP, etc.) together, which would be a very low cost event. 81
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SPORTS EDITORIAL 2014 has been a year of many memorable moments in sport. The World Cup in Brazil must surely stand as the centerpiece - we were treated to an unpredictable and chaotic tournament, itself reflective of the haphazard nature in which the event was organised by host nation Brazil. Germany’s victory was a triumph of the collective over the individual, though history may not view them as one of the truly great world champions. Many will look back with regret at England’s disappointing campaign.
“WE FULLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO GET INVOLVED WITH NOTTINGHAM’S SPORTING SCENE.” In truth, it hasn’t been a very good year for British sport at the highest level. The new year brought confirmation of a 5-0 Ashes defeat and Andy Murray has thus far failed to add to his Grand Slam tally. In the rugby, England narrowly missed out on the Six Nations and were defeated comfortably in a Test Series away in New Zealand. One story of a positive hue has been the success achieved by all of the home nations at the Commonwealth games. English sprinter Adam Gemili won two silver medals and you can read our exclusive interview with him in this issue. European Golf has also enjoyed a year littered with silverware, with Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy enjoying splendid seasons, which has boded well for the 2014 Ryder Cup.
WORDS BY JOHN MASTRINI & DAN ZEQIRI IMAGE BY NICO ENDERS
But if you’re simply into sport and want to write about it, then you have the chance to contribute your very own commentary, analysis and insight in print, online and on social media with Impact Sport. Regardless of previous journalistic experience, come along to our weekly meetings in our Portland Building office where we discuss what has happened in the world of sport and which events we will cover on campus and around the world. Last year we doubled our online content, increased our social media engagement and brought students every moment of the Varsity Series in what was a successful year for Uni, beating Trent on the last ball in the cricket decider and winning eight events to seven overall. UoN also secured yet another top 10 finish in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) rankings. We have a laid-back atmosphere where any UoN student keen on sports writing is welcome to join whenever they want and to write as much as they want. We have had pieces ranging from American football to Zumba so the content possibilities are limitless. It is the perfect opportunity and platform for budding sports journalists to develop their skills and showcase their work.
“WE HAVE HAD PIECES RANGING FROM AMERICAN FOOTBALL TO ZUMBA”
Whether these events have inspired you as a fresher to try out new things with the cluster of clubs at UoN or if you missed that chance for the past few years, we fully encourage you to get involved with Nottingham’s sporting scene.
Sound like your kind of gig? Join our Facebook group and look out for our stall at the Freshers Fair for more information on how to get involved. Alternatively, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter to keep up with sports news from Nottingham.
If you’re into watching sport, grace the ground of one of the world’s oldest professional football clubs at Notts County’s Meadow Lane, catch the cricket at Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge or visit the Capital FM Arena to eye up the ice hockey.
Check out our website and email us if you have any queries too. We look forward to hearing your ideas and reading your articles.
If you’re into playing competitively, sign up for teams at Freshers’ Fair, or if you just want to exercise with friends then be sure to make use of the university’s green spaces and fitness facilities. 82
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