Editorial

Dear Reader, Thank you for picking up this edition of Impact!

The end of the academic year can be a strange time - especially if you’re graduating and are unsure of exactly what’s to come.

It’s also been a strange year - seeing the changing of monarchs, two prime ministers and the cost of living crisis. It’s a weird time to be a student. The investigation into students turning to sex work to make ends meet - by Alice Bennett and Hannah Bentley - underlines the financial difficulties many students have faced this past year. Lottie Murray’s article explores the possibilities of ChatGPT and how it will affect the future of education.

And Izzy Rodney’s article on eco-anxiety examines a new type of depression many of our generation are experiencing.

Graduating into a turbulent economy - unsure if AI or the climate crisis will disrupt your career - can feel unsettling.

But I hope this edition can give you some cause for optimism too. Our interview on the career success of UoN alumni sport journalist Charlie Eccleshare reveals how exciting grad life can be. If you need some escapism, our entertainment section provides film and TV recommendations, reasons to visit art galleries and interviews with the artists playing Nottingham’s Splendour Festival. This is the 2022-23 Impact committee’s last edition so I want to thank all our committee members for their creativity, dedication and ingenuity. Thanks to Tylah, our Head of Online, for keeping Impact’s digital profile high, and to Alex, our Print Editor, for the innovations he has brought to the print editions. I am so grateful for what Impact has brought to my university experience and it’s been an honour to edit it.

So, goodbye from us and all the best to the 2023-24 incoming committee.

- Lucinda Dodd, Editor-in-Chief

the Little Black Dress, Drag and Defying Gender Norms ~ Vivika Sahajpal

28 SCIENCE/ Eco-Anxiety: Do you have it and what to do about it? ~ Izzy Rodney

Entertainment:

29 ARTS/ Why Visit Art Galleries? ~ Natalie Howarth

30 MUSIC/ Splendour 2023: Interviews with the Artists

Playing at Nottingham’s Summer Music Festival

33 FILM & TV/ Masculin Féminin: Youth on Film in the 60s ~ Victoria Mileson

34 GAMING/ Gaming: a New Era of Socialisation ~ Will Stead

Reviews: 35 Critics’ Recommendations

Sport: 40 Interview with Tottenham Hotspur Journalist and Impact Alumni Charlie Eccleshare ~ Rhys Thomas 42 Impact’s Favourite Sporting Moments of the

Uk Students Want Universities To Open Up On Student Suicides

Following the suicide of University of Exeter student Harry Armstrong Evans, The Tab conducted a survey which revealed that 88% of student across the United Kingdom want their university to be more transparent about student suicides.

After the death of their son, Harry’s parents Alice and Rupert Armstrong Evans began a campaign which asks universities to change how they deal with student suicides. It became known as ‘Harry’s Law’. The proposed bill asks universities to be more transparent regarding student mental health. Harry’s parents are pushing institutions to publish ‘annual student suicide rate’ and present current and future students with all mental health support available at their institution. When it comes to mental health at the University of Nottingham (UoN), many students have voiced that they are unsatisfied with the mental health support available. Back in September 2022, Impact found that some students had been left waiting up to 4 months for counselling. A University mental health league table, produced by the charity Humen, has ranked UoN 73 out of 80 for mental health support.

- Lottie Murray

NOTTINGHAM RESIDENTS ANGERED BY NEW ‘LIME’ ELECTRIC BIKEs

Local Nottingham residents have criticised the new electric bikes available to be rented around the city, with fears that inconsiderate users are blocking streets when parking.

The e-bikes, brought into the city by bike hire operator company ‘Lime’, have resulted in concerns amongst locals, who fear the bikes being left on pavements will cause obstructions for those with disabilities. Sarah Gayton, the street access campaigns co-ordinator for The National Federation of the Blind of the UK argues, “these bikes cause dangers to people who can trip over them and also block access for people in wheelchairs.”

The new bikes add to the ongoing tensions between residents and students. Local resident, Mr Coope, stated: “To dump them like this is wrong. The majority of people that use these and the scooters I think are students, so I get why they’re like that after a night out. I do not mind the idea of the bikes as long as people are responsible with them.”

Lime has attempted to reassure residents. The company has said they recognise the importance of keeping pavements accessible for everyone, and provide guidance on how to properly park the bikes and have stated that irresponsible bike users will be issued with a fine.

- Laura Scaife

Su Fail To Get Enough Votes For Referendums To Pass

This spring, the Students’ Union held five referendums. Only one received the 950 required votes to pass.

The only referendum to pass was ‘Solidarity with Palestine’. 955 people took part in the vote. Of those who participated, 574 people voted ‘yes’, meaning the SU implemented the policy.

The referendum questions which didn’t attract enough votes to pass were:

What do you want the relationship between the University of Nottingham Students’ Union and the National Union of students to be?

Should the Students’ Union implement the motion ‘Right to Protest?’

Should the Students’ Union implement the motion ‘Urine testing kits and drink testing strips for date rape drugs should be avaliable at UoNSU and UoN to introduce a support and report system for spiking?

Should the Students’ Union implement the motion ‘Combating Islamophobia and Supporting Muslim Students’?

Further information about the vote counts can be found on the UoNSU website.

- Ben Mellor

Rival Protest Groups Clash Outside Nottingham Hotel

Clashes have taken place between anti-immigration protesters and counter demonstrators outside two Long Eaton hotels.

In April, anti-immigration protesters associated with ‘Patriotic Alternative’ demonstrated in the centre of Long Eaton. Leaflets advertising the protest claimed local residents “were never asked if they wanted hundreds of migrants to be pushed onto their community”.

This followed an earlier protest outside the Novotel, where protesters asked ‘for women and children to be protected’. A counter protest, organised by ‘Open Nottingham’, happened at the same time and attracted larger numbers of people. The Novotel was taken over by the Home Office in October. A Best Western in Long Eaton has also been housing asylum seekers for over two years.

President of Student Action for Refugees (STAR) Nottingham, Millie Adams, told Impact that “Nottingham has historically been a new home for people fleeing conflict or persecution, and has welcomed refugees who contribute to the city’s diverse communities.”

- Kit Sinclair