#268

ISSUE 268, DEC. 2021

INSIDE : IMPACT INVESTIGATES SEXUAL ASSAULT AND MISOGYNY AT UON AND MORE...

Cover:

Photograph by Finn Mckenzie Model is Ellesha Blower Page Design by Chiara Crompton

See Pages 8-9

FOOD -

Food: A Future Frontier - 34 Mini News Stories - 6-7

Impact Investigates: Sexual Assault, Misogyny and Harassment at UoN - 8-9 UoN Takes a Tumble: Why is Nottingham Falling in the League Tables? - 10-11

Diversity at Dinner Time: Nottingham’s Best Independent International Food Shops - 35

TRAVEL

Movie Marathons to Saint Moritz: Which Kind of Student Christmas Holiday-er Are You? - 36

Impact At The Labour Conference: Fringes, Factions and First Impressions - 12-13 Impact at the Tory Party Conference: Can Boris Get On With The Job of Levelling Up his BuildBack-Better Britain? - 14

ARTS -

Authors you should be Reading this Winter - 38 Poem: Pleadings - 39

Catholicism and Controversy: Is UoN Censorship Fuelling ‘Snowflake’ Stereotypes? - 16-17

MUSIC -

Holly Humberstone On Her New EP And How Nottingham Has Shaped Her As An Artist - 40-41

Becoming an Ethical Bystander: What Would You Do? - 18-19

Phoneless Clubs: Is Phone-Time Ruining our FunTime? - 42-43

Running from the Track - 20-21

FILM & TV -

Student Loan Repayment Changes Show Government’s Disregard for Low-Income Students - 22 Are Hookups Bad for your Mental Health? - 23 Nottingham, Nottingham! It’s a Hell of a Town! - 24

The Americanisation of British TV: Are we Diluting our Culture? - 44-45

GAMING -

League of Ladies : Interviewing the Women Working in the Gaming Industry - 46-47 The Console War: PlayStation vs Xbox - 48

STYLE

Round and Round: The Catastrophic Consequences of the Fashion Cycle - 26 Buying and Selling as a Student: Depop or Vinted? - 27

PHOTOSHOOT: Power Through Dance - 28-31

Technology in Sport: Killing the Fun? - 50-51 Forgetting the Dangers of Contact Sport - 52-53 Speaking with Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes: The Original Jamaican Bobsled Team Captain - 54-55

SCIENCE

REVIEWS -

Our World in 2050: A Dystopian Future - 33

Impact Reviews Recommends: The Classics - 56-57

‘The Best Years of Our Lives’: Long-term Implications of The Student Experience - 32

IMPACT

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t’s at this time of year that the value of one’s family and friends is often clearest to us. As nights become shorter, weather colder and exams nearer, a compassionate embrace from a loved one seems always to disappear our most persistent anxieties. Loved ones are so frequently our warmest and most sincere form of protection.

This Christmas, Impact draws our attention to the women and girls we love. In the wake of recent events, it is now more than ever before that we must extend the greatest consideration to our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and girlfriends.

In particular, we must think hard about how we can create a society safer and more inclusive for them. We must act to protect and empower them, just as they have always for us.

This issue, our second of the academic year, is intended as our effort to keep women’s safety and equality at the forefront of the national consciousness. Our hope is that this time round, after the women of Nottingham have experienced the cruellest manifestations of misogyny, these discussions will outlive the flurry of insincere ‘feminism’ spouted by those in Westminster.

In 1992, an Impact newspaper headline article detailed the despicable sexual harassment of a female student on Nottingham’s university campus. Over nineteen years later, conditions for women in Nottingham remain difficult, as an Impact investigation reveals the horrifying extent of sexual harassment and violence toward women within our university community.

Toward the same mission, Impact’s Features asks what you would do if you suspected a female friend of yours was in potential danger in a nightclub, and Amrit Virdi warns women of the potential dangers of going phoneless on a night out – even if there are some benefits. In Entertainment, Gemma Cockrell speaks to Holly Humberstone, a powerful female voice in music, while Daria Paterek tells the stories of those women in the gaming industry who have not been so lucky.

Themes of care and action are also explored in Lifestyle. Adam Goriparthi and Abbie Rodger detail the potential consequences of the not-so-healthy student lifestyle, suggesting a course of self-care through moderation. Alice Nott and Aleyna Adamson give us stark warnings for our planet if serious action is not taken to combat the effects of anthropogenic climate change.

Impact Sport catch up with Jamaican bobsled team captain Tal Stokes in an exclusive interview covering topics ranging from Hollywood movie stardom to always being the underdog. Daniel Evans asks if technology in sport is ruining the magic, before Cora-Laine Moynihan dives into the evidence connecting contact sports and dementia.

Finally, for over the holiday season, Entertainment’s Rose Hitchens shares the authors you should be reading next to the fire this winter, and Impact Reviews recommends some movie classics for when all the energy you can muster gets you on the couch and in front of the TV. Wherever you are this Christmas, and whoever you are with, we hope here at Impact that the break gives you the much-needed time to reflect on a turbulent, but nonetheless exciting, first term. We hope that those of you who didn’t get to see your loved ones last year get to remedy that this time round, and your New Years’ celebrations are suitably uninhibited.

Have a great Christmas and remember to take care of yourself and those you love.

Aidan Hall, Print Editor

Instagram @impactmagazineuon https://www.instagram.com/impactmagazineuon/ Twitter @impactmagazine https://twitter.com/impactmagazine Facebook @impactnottingham https://www.facebook.com/ImpactNottingham TikTok @impactmagazine https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdKXpcVJ/ LinkedIn – Impact Magazine https://www.linkedin.com/company/impact-magazine_2 Did you know Impact also has a Podcast section?

Check it out at https://impactnottingham.com/section/podcasts/

NEWS

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By Monica Mancini

IMPACT

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Backlog of UoN medicine applications after Covid A-Level ‘fiasco’

Notts PCC Caroline Henry secures £1.1 million to make streets safer for women Newly elected Notts Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Caroline Henry has secured more than £1 million in Home Office funding to improve street safety for women in Worksop and Sutton-in-Ashfield. The funding will be targeted at new CCTV cameras, better street lighting and environmental improvement work, as well as additional policing enforcement.

The Commissioner is working closely with Notts Police and local authorities to prioritise women’s safety, listening carefully to the views of locals and focus groups on their concerns. Henry welcomed the new funding and said, “I promised to speak up for Nottinghamshire - at the highest possible level - and secure every penny I can to improve the safety of our county.” She added, “This funding is proof that the Government is taking note and really values the way we solve problems here.”

Nationally, the Government is allocating £25 million to PCCs across England and Wales to tackle street safety and reduce violence against women in public spaces.

Earlier this year, Henry also secured £432k for safety improvements in Lenton. However, many women insist this funding doesn’t go far enough, as safety concerns on campus continue to rise.

By Lauren McGaun

Since the A-level grades ‘fiasco’ back in 2020, it has been significantly more difficult to receive university offers for competitive courses such as medicine and dentistry.

Due to the algorithm which downgraded 40% of Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) by one or more grades, and then the Government’s U-turn back to awarding the original CAGs, more students met entry requirements than universities had the space or resources for. As a result, many students were forced to defer or, having now met the requirements for more prestigious courses, decided to reapply, increasing the strain on the 2021 applicant pool.

Several universities, including UoN, proposed the Department of Education’s (DfE) ‘Medical and Dental School Student Incentivised Transfer Scheme’, which involved place holders being offered £10,000 in grant to defer their place at the medical school.

This all comes despite the Royal College of GPs estimating that the UK needs 20% more undergraduate medical places to serve the growing population. Currently, the number of medical places offered are capped by the government due to the cost of training a doctor and limited placements. As the 2022 cohort starts the application process for universities, UoN may face the same competitive squeeze again, having to select applicants from an overcrowded field.

By Anna Boyne

NEWS Notts researchers watch plants ‘drink’ water in ground-breaking discovery In a scientific first, UoN researchers have found a way to observe how water is absorbed and circulated inside plants. The study, led by Dr Kevin Webb of the Faculty of Engineering, could be instrumental in the future development of drought and flood resistant crops, and it is particularly pertinent given current problems in feeding the world’s population caused by climate change.

Previously, the inability to study water uptake in plants was a major obstacle for researchers trying to understand more about the movement of fluids in plant cells. Dr Webb, however, applied a new technique: “To observe water uptake in living plants without damaging them”, he said “we have applied a sensitive, laser-based, optical microscopy technique to see water movement inside living roots non-invasively, which has never been done before.”

Researchers are now looking at replicating the same processes for human cells, which could lead to a greater understanding of diseases in humans which involve fluid movement – such as cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma. The team are also currently looking to commercialise this research, which, if successful, will open up further opportunities within this field.

By Rory Beveridge

Government plans mean students will pay back university loan earlier Before coming to the University of Nottingham this year, around 95.8% of students took a necessary and legally binding step: taking out student finance. Originally, the repayment threshold, the minimum income a graduate must earn for loan repayments to be taken, was £28,295 a year. With median starting salaries for University of Nottingham graduates being £24,000-£26,000, the average graduate probably would not have to make any loan repayments in their first year of work.

Under current Government plans, however, there will be a cut to this repayment income threshold to only £23,000 a year, meaning those on lower incomes after graduation will also be expected to start paying back their loans.

Those already above the repayment threshold would be expected to pay an additional £386 a year.

This move would mean over 70% of Nottingham students would now have to start repaying their loans within one year of graduating. While some feel this would help reduce the £160 billion national student debt burden by enabling more students to repay their loans, others feel it would have a disproportionate impact on poorer graduates.

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Broadgate Park assaults: Two attacks in two weeks Freshers have been left anxious as Broadgate Park (BGP) accommodation saw two separate incidents of assault within two weeks of one another in late September this year. The first assault occurred on a bus returning to BGP. Witness accounts report a male setting off a Rape Alarm on the upper deck, irritating those present. After a student requested him to stop, the male who had been setting off the alarm ‘lashed out’, resulting in serious facial injuries. CCTV footage from the bus and Ocean Nightclub is being reviewed to obtain clear images of the person responsible.

The second assault took place on the BGP site itself.

The student concerned was asked by a female if he had a lighter. When he said he did not have one, he was then punched by an unknown male. The student was subsequently admitted to Queen’s Medical Centre with a fractured jaw. The Police have been contacted and are currently investigating the incident.

Speaking to Impact, one student living at BGP said: “Whilst I feel safe at Broadgate most of the time, the recent assaults have exposed the vulnerability of students in halls.” They added, “Management could be doing a lot more to reassure students and increase security measures.” Conversely, another student continued to think that it “seems quite safe as long as you’re sensible”, and the assaults that have taken place are merely “unavoidable anomalies”.

By Natasha Saxton

Florence Boot Hall to undergo multi-million pound makeover In September of this year, work began on the £15 million refurbishment of Florence Boot Hall, the first entirely female hall of residence at the University. Named after the successful philanthropist and businesswoman, the investment in Florence Boot is set to be the start of the regeneration of all University of Nottingham accommodation.

This 200-bed residence will be completed and ready to welcome students for the 2022/23 academic year with entirely refurbished and updated interiors. LED lights, air source heat pumps and triple glazed windows will be fitted to ensure the accommodation is eco-friendly.

The project manager and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Todd Landman, stated that: “The newly refurbished halls will offer our students accessible, comfortable, digitally enabled and modernised accommodation that also embraces the history and tradition of the hall.”

By Arabella Mitchell

By Sarina Rivlin-Sanders

Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

Impact Investigates: Sexual Assault, Misogyny and Harassment at UoN In light of recent spiking incidents, Impact have collaborated with NSTV and URN to conduct a universitywide survey shedding light on female safety concerns at the University of Nottingham.

90% of female students who experienced sexual assault or harassment decided not to report it Impact’s Investigations Team found that over half of the female students surveyed (321 women) had experienced sexual assault or harassment during their time at the University. Of these, over 90% (291 women) chose not to report the incidence.

Emily Garton, the University of Nottingham Students’ Union Women’s** Officer, told Impact that a new, inclusive and effective reporting process, known as Report and Support, had been promoted via a number of channels. These included “welfare training, emails, the website, the My Nottingham App, the screen outside the Portland Building, social media, and so on”.

Despite this, 83% of students said they did not know about the process. Furthermore, only 5.4% of female students said they would consult a personal tutor or UoN staff member for support, with 81.7% saying they would confide in friends, instead. This raises concerns, therefore, that the issue lies not simply in promoting the reporting system further, but in encouraging women to come forward in the first place.

One female student said she was “scared to report in case there [were] consequences for me or people find out”. Another wrote that if she “reported the incidents nobody would believe me” as the perpetrator was “a confident and popular student that was well liked in my halls”.

It seems that, rather than simply promoting the reporting process, the University needs to convince its female students that they will not be punished for speaking up. Devising an inclusive and sensitive reporting process for victims is a step in the right direction, but it will remain nothing more than a token measure if female students are too frightened of the repercussions to use it.

When asked for comment, Claire Thompson, the University’s Associate Director of Student Wellbeing said: “Everyone in our community should feel safe at all times from any form of abuse. We educate our staff and students on the standards of behaviour we expect and promote safety and awareness initiatives such as Let’s be Clear on Consent to protect our community against sexual misconduct.

Students who have experienced sexual harassment and violence are encouraged to report through the University’s Report and Support system, via the website or university app. Students seeking advice about sexual violence are offered a meeting with a Sexual Violence Liaison Officer who has specialist, accredited training to support students making a disclosure (resources linked at the bottom of the article).”

After Nottingham city centre, student halls found to be the second most prevalent location for sexual assault and harassment Impact’s recent survey has also shown that, whilst the most incidences of sexual assault and harassment have taken place off-campus, the location with the second highest rate of these disturbing experiences is student halls. A total of 167 female students reported knowing of someone who had suffered sexual assault or harassment within University of Nottingham Halls and a further 64 women commented that they themselves were personally targeted.

One female respondent expressed their concerns over the lack of support from halls’ security and staff: “When living in halls, someone reported that they’d been spiked to the health and safety officers, but it was never taken any further by those staff members, and no extra help was given after just acknowledging the situation.”

The experiences of this individual are not an isolated experience, however. Another female respondent told Impact: “The abuser of my friend (and several other girls) was left to roam free. No repercussions despite being reported to university staff. This occurred in catered halls.” With 236 of the female survey respondents calling for increased security on campus, clearly more needs to be done to ensure the safety of UoN’s women, not only on nights out in the city, but in the very halls they return home to afterward.

NEWS

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85% of male students surveyed at UoN do not feel that there is an overall misogynistic culture at the University Sports facilities are the location most women feel unsafe in on campus, survey finds 136 of the women Impact surveyed reported feeling unsafe at the University’s sporting facilities. One female student said: “I play a male dominated sport and I feel misogyny is pervasive in UoN sport…The attitude towards women in non-conventional sports is poor and sportswomen are not treated equally or taken as seriously as male counterparts.”

In response to these concerns, Emily Garton, UoN SU’s Women’s* Officer told Impact that they have been “planning a campaign to raise awareness for misogyny in sport” and a motion was passed unanimously last term ensuring that “Welfare training would include information regarding Public Sexual Harassment”.

There are further plans to make such training mandatory for all sports team members.

Despite this, one female respondent said: “It’s so frequent among the boys who play sports, I’m not sure how it would be taken seriously”. With over 50% of the women who answered this question expressing discomfort in UoN sport facilities, it is clear that the University needs to recognise this as a priority and take action accordingly.

The majority of men surveyed do not feel there is a misogynistic culture at the University of Nottingham. Despite this, 71.4% of men responded that they knew someone at the University who had made sexist or misogynistic jokes and a further 63.5% knew of someone who had made jokes involving sexual abuse of women, such as rape jokes.

These figures would indicate that most men feel the issue of misogyny is contained in isolated incidents, but the women surveyed had a more sceptical response. In fact, over half of the women surveyed felt there was an overall misogynistic culture at the University of Nottingham.

Furthermore, 55% of male respondents felt disconcerted about the way other men were speaking about women, whilst almost one third of men felt unable to call out the problematic behaviour of others. When asked why this was, one respondent expressed fears about the “social stigma around speaking up against ‘lad culture’ and the fear of being seen as less of a ‘man’, exclusion from groups, being labelled a ‘pussy’, ‘simp’, or a ‘homosexual’.” Another male respondent concerningly reported feeling unable to call out sexist behaviour as “it was a lecturer during a whole cohort lecture.”

When asked what changes they would like to see, both the women and men surveyed drew attention to the same few problem areas: greater education, attitude changes, environmental changes (such as better lighting on campus), increased security and reporting procedure changes.

With respondents demanding these reforms be backed by the University of Nottingham, the Students’ Union and the Nottingham Community (e.g., the Council and Police) collectively, it would be fair to infer that students are calling for a multifaceted response.

With this survey and the recent spiking incidents pushing the problem of women’s safety in Nottingham to the forefront, it is time female students were provided with a proactive plan outlining systemic change. Are we waiting for something truly terrible to happen before anything concrete is done? No one wants to hear the words “we told you so”. Let’s hope those in power take heed now and never have to hear them.

**When this article uses the term women, men, male or female, it references all individuals self-identifying with these genders. **The survey received a total of 826 responses, 615 of whom identified as female and 211 as male.

Further resources and support: University of Nottingham Sexual Violence Liaison Officer (SVLO) Service: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/currentstudents/healthyu/sexual-violenceliaison-officer-service/sexual-violence-liaison-service.aspx Report and Support: https://reportandsupport.nottingham.ac.uk/ Let’s Be Clear on Consent: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/currentstudents/ healthyu/lets-be-clear-on-consent.aspx

By Impact Investigations Team Illustration by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

UoN Takes a Tumble: Why is Nottingham Falling in the League Tables?

According to recent university league tables, the University of Nottingham has taken a sharp nosedive. Impact’s Campus News Editor, India Campbell, delves into the extent of this decline and some of the reasons behind it.

Just this summer, the University of Nottingham was placed in 52nd place by The Guardian in a league of higher education institutions in the UK. This is down from 38th the year before, 18th in 2020, and 17th in 2019. Fairing slightly better in The Complete University Guide, a website that compiles a university league table based on ten measures including spending in academic services, research intensity and research quality, Nottingham is the 24th best British university this year. This is down again, however, from 20th, 19th and 17th the years preceding. Evidently, something is going wrong in Notts. This, then, begs the question: What has caused this fall from grace? Why is the University of Nottingham plummeting in the rankings?

NEWS

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The ‘Which? University Student Survey’ contacted more than 11,000 undergraduates with questions regarding how they would describe their university experience against a certain set of characteristics, such as having a ‘diverse local nightlife’ and ‘varied union activities’.

In terms of ‘nightlife’, ‘union activities’ and ‘sport’, the University of Nottingham scored high, with ratings of 77% and above. This was recognised when the University was named ‘Sports University of the Year’ for 2021 by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. Furthermore, the University scored relatively well for ‘creativity’ and ‘political’, according to Which?. In terms of research power, the University is also not struggling, ranking 8th in the UK in the most recent ‘Research Excellence Framework’. It is, therefore, not in these areas that the University seems to be suffering.

Looking at the numbers from The Complete University Guide, Nottingham has held steady in terms of entry standards, research quality and degree completion for a number of years now. The downfall seems to be in academic services spending and student-staff ratio, where the University ranks 50th and 43rd respectively. The lowest ranking the University received was in student satisfaction, where it placed a shocking 108th in the country. Although there is no evidence from the data itself to suggest these results are linked, it seems fair to assume that lower student-staff ratios, and less spending on academic resources, is likely to have negatively impacted student satisfaction.

This is especially notable considering students are paying more for university than ever before.

Of course, the effects of Covid-19 last year had a huge impact on Nottingham’s rankings this year. With the move to online learning, the past academic year was undeniably chaotic. Many students were left feeling disappointed with the University for its handling of the situation, in particular the quality of teaching and support during isolation. But every university had to navigate the trials of the pandemic, so why did Nottingham specifically suffer so much in 2020 and 2021 rankings?

Thinking back to the 2020/21 academic year quickly provides a credible answer. In October 2020, Nottingham had the highest Covid-19 infection rate in England, and the University went into a tailspin. It was a national scandal when students in on-campus catered accommodation took to social media to share the food (or lack thereof) University catering provided during their isolation periods. Students were told food packages would be sent to their door, but for many, this was not the case. Meals could be hours late, or sometimes never arrived at all.

Many students were subsequently forced to ask those not isolating to bring them food and pass it through their windows, paying extra on top of what they were already forking out to live in catered halls. During this time, the BBC released a story on Nottingham students who were isolating in Derby Hall, comparing their experience to living in ‘a prison’.

Unreliable food delivery was combined with heavy-handed security to create living conditions so dire that many even broke Covid-19 restrictions and risked large fines to go back home.

The pandemic, as previously stated, also led the University to move teaching online. Unquestionably, the initial move to online teaching was always going to be difficult; however, as the months wore on, many students grew tired of the new teaching format. Particularly dissatisfied were those whose courses consisted entirely of lectures, such as psychology. These students had no seminars or other forms of contact hours throughout the entirety of online teaching. In an Impact article written earlier this year, Psychology student Gemma Cockrell explained she had not only “missed out on the University experience”, but found it “much harder to engage online”, especially as she reaches her final year. A year in which she feels she “needs to be surrounded by the best facilities and resources to succeed”. The fact that many courses were entirely online throughout the 20-21 academic year, and some students still access much of their teaching online even this year, is very likely a significant contributor to the plummet in student satisfaction. This is especially true of those currently in second year, whose only university experience has been through a computer screen until now.

Clearly, the University is experiencing an unprecedented knock to its reputation, and for good reason. Nottingham must reassess its priorities and address this shocking plunge in student satisfaction. Only then can Nottingham retain its place among not only the best universities in the UK, but the world.

By India Rose Campbell Photography by Rian Patel Page Design by Chiara Crompton

IMPACT

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Impact At The Labour Conference: Fringes, Factions and First Impressions Impact’s Head of Lifestyle and Chair of UoN Labour, Alice Nott, travelled to Brighton back in September to witness firsthand the trials and tribulations of Labour’s 2021 party conference.

NEWS

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The annual Labour Conference took place at the end of September, with delegates and members from all sides of the Party flocking to Brighton for five days. It was a who’s who of left-wing political figures and, with it being the first in-person get together in two years, there was certainly much to discuss.

The constitutional changes on how the next leader of the party would be elected dominated the first days of the conference, with many unsure if Keir Starmer would be able to pass the rule changes in the face of the left faction and some union resistance. The new National Campaigns Coordinator and the MP for Birmingham Ladywood, Shabana Mahmood, took this opportunity to make her mark on the conference stage. Mahmood told the conference that they should “get off Twitter” and into the communities, making a case for “bridge-building politics”. This was perhaps in response to the recent Twitter storm caused by alleged transphobia from Labour MPs such as Rosie Duffield. Mahmood spoke in favour of increasing the threshold for the open selection trigger ballots process from one third of local parties and one third of affiliates to 50% of both.

This was after trigger ballots disproportionately affected women and ethnic minorities in the last election. Mahmood also spoke of her regret at spending the summer of 2019 preoccupied with her potential ousting from the Party, preventing her from campaigning more widely. The rule changes were eventually all passed, with Unison endorsing the changes in a last-minute shift from their previous position of abstention.

During the conference, David Evans was also approved as Starmer’s pick for General Secretary. Evans’ appointment followed some opposition as he has been described by some as a “factional figure”, who had not been in Party management as long as other candidates. Evans then went on to give a speech about his intolerance for bullying, making reference to the experiences of his disabled brother.

The conference stage was not the only place impressions were made, however. One noticeable absentee was Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham. Instead, Burnham, the internet-styled ‘King of the North’, had to make his mark in the fringe events that ran alongside the main part of the conference. The Guardian reported that all the events Burnham addressed often saw the room packed. This perhaps explains his exclusion from the conference platform, as Starmer’s team did not want the sometimes outspoken Mayor overshadowing the leader’s first opportunity to speak in public.

In that first impression – and what an impression at 90 minutes long and over 7,000 words in total – Starmer took the opportunity to set out his vision. Beginning with a focus on his upbringing, Starmer spoke of his experience visiting his mother in the intensive care unit and the dedication of the NHS staff. Recalling his father, a toolmaker, Starmer took a jibe at the Prime Minister, suggesting that Stanley Johnson could also be considered a kind of “toolmaker”.

Starmer then went on to talk about his time as Director of Public Prosecutions. Introduced by Baroness Lawrence, mother to the late Stephen Lawrence, Starmer talked about his experience prosecuting Jane Clough’s killer and his eventual friendship with her parents. Starmer made commitments to speeding up the process of prosecuting violence against women and tougher sentences for the perpetrators. Other policy commitments, such as a ‘Green New Deal’ and increased funding for the NHS, were also laid out. Education was an area on which Starmer focused a significant amount of time, alluding back to the New Labour government.

Luke Pollard, Shadow Environment Secretary under both Corbyn and Starmer, tweeted that Labour was “back in business”. Alistair Campbell, former Director of Communications under Blair, tweeted his relief at “the Party hearing a Leader actually defend the record of a Labour government”. That is not to say, however, that the response was wholly positive. Hecklers in the audience were heard voicing their dismay at the direction Starmer’s policies seemed to be taking, with his lack of commitment to a £15 an hour minimum wage and suggestion that he would break pledges made in last year’s leadership election to get into government. Owen Jones wrote in The Guardian that: “The Starmer leadership’s only trick is to kick the left. They have nothing to say, no compelling answers to the crises afflicting and defining Britain in 2021. They have no future; and alas, so long as it remains under their management, neither does the Labour Party.”

Despite the criticism, polling seems to suggest the speech was received well. An Opinium poll conducted by Sky News suggests Starmer’s maiden speech as leader outperformed both his predecessor and Boris Johnson’s first conference speech as Prime Minister. However, a YouGov poll suggested that this performance did not lead to a corresponding jump in the polls. As the UK begins to switch its priorities post pandemic, attention will now be on whether Keir Starmer can live up to expectations, resuscitating the party from years of defeat.

By Alice Nott Illustration by Harris Raphael Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

Impact at the Tory Party Conference: Can Boris Get On With The Job of Levelling Up his Build-Back-Better Britain?

Peter Keenan reports on the Conservative Party Conference, noting that the event solidified Johnson’s cult of personality through boisterous and excitable slogans. He also reports that Johnson doubled down on fiscal conservatism and clarified the Tory’s line on Brexit negotiation.

If one thing is to be taken from the Conservative conference weekend, it is that the Conservative Party are utterly committed to selling their ‘Levelling Up’ agenda. The Prime Minister’s conference speech mentioned the phrase twelve times and a whole ministerial position has been assigned for the job. That minister (for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities), Michael Gove, attempted to sum up the scheme when he said during his speech: “You shouldn’t have to leave the places you love to enjoy the future you crave.” It seems we shall have to wait until the white paper for a better view of how exactly this is to be achieved.

Clear to the observer too was that Boris Johnson is an immensely popular front man. Ever the optimist, his keynote speech was filled with quips and humour such as ‘Build back burger’, a reference to the lifting of the 20-year ban on British beef imports into America.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak also took to the stage and seemingly took a page out of Mr Johnson’s book, with a very upbeat speech enthusiastic for the future. Sunak announced an expansion of the Kickstart scheme, with a pledge to create 2,000 ‘elite’ AI scholarships for disadvantaged youths. Alongside this, Mr. Sunak made his stance on public finance clear: excessive borrowing is “economically irresponsible”, and “immoral” and this is why a tax rise is necessary at a time when debt is at a level almost exceeding GDP. This fiscal conservatism was accompanied by an equally conservative approach to big name projects. That is, unlike before the pandemic, there was no announcement of any big new schemes from the Treasury. Instead, there was an admission that the pandemic had been extremely costly and that it would have to be paid for.

Although there was nothing like the division and tension seen at the Labour Conference, there were a few voices that raised concern about the appropriate way to pay for money spent during the Coronavirus pandemic amongst both senior and younger MPs. MP for Bishop Auckland, Dehenna Davison, for example, told the BBC that she felt a national insurance increase “was completely the wrong approach”. Conservative MP Huw Merriman felt that it was unfair on younger generations to pay increased national insurance contributions when it would be the older, generally more financially secure generation, that will be using the service earlier.

In the wake of the Sarah Everard murder, Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed that there would be an inquiry into the Met to provide answers for the systematic failures which helped facilitate this horrendous incident. Although, it is worth noting that there have been calls for a greater inquiry amidst concerns that this first one will not be a fully independent review. Additionally, the Home Secretary announced that she will be introducing a Domestic Abuse Strategy later on this year, alongside an expansion of drug testing upon arrest in England and Wales. The only new policy announced by Boris Johnson was one spearheaded by the new Secretary for Education, Nadhim Zahawi: “a levelling-up premium of up to £3,000 to send the best maths and science teachers to places that need them most.”

However, this new policy drew some criticism from Labour when they claimed it was an old and previously scrapped policy being reintroduced as new. Zahawi defended it as a useful policy to entice teachers into those science-based subjects where there has always been a shortage of staff.

On the matter of foreign policy, Lord Frost (Brexit Minister) said that the UK will not budge if Brexit talks concerning the border with Northern Ireland break down, even if the “EU retaliated with tariffs or other barriers to trade flow”. The Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, took a swipe at Labour members for voting against AUKUS, explaining that the deal is an opportunity that will create “hundreds of skilled jobs”, make “Britain safer” and draw closer ties with Britain’s natural allies.

She also celebrated the fact that 68 deals had already been done, with countries around the world following Britain’s exit from the EU. Almost all of these, however, are ‘rollover’ deals, effectively resigning on the same terms as when Britain was a member of the EU. The general mood at the Conservative Party Conference this year suggests that Johnson’s party is very keen to move on out of the pandemic and kick start their slogan-full agenda of ‘Levelling Up’, ‘Building Back Better’ and ‘Getting On With The Job’. Whether the Tory Government will be able to deliver on these accelerationist (although rather modest) promises is a judgement that must be made in a number of months’ time. What is certain, however, is that implementing these policies will prove significantly harder than devising catchy slogans for them.

By Peter Keenan Illustration by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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By Lucy Barber

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Impact’s Amy Evans reflects on the University of Nottingham’s treatment of Father David Palmer and argues it is representative of a larger issue of censorship and intolerance on university campuses.

Earlier this academic year, the University of Nottingham refused to acknowledge the appointment of Catholic Chaplain Father David Palmer following concerns over the manner in which he had expressed his religious beliefs online. Despite the University’s U-turn on the decision, the fact that his position was ever questioned as a result of his speech raises major concerns about the state of religious tolerance, and the tolerance of others’ views more generally, on campus.

The specific comments made by Mr. Palmer regarded abortion and euthanasia, two points of particular importance in the Catholic faith. Using Twitter, Father David Palmer expressed his belief that euthanasia is “to kill the vulnerable”, while in a later tweet, as part of a criticism of US President Joe Biden, he referred to abortion as the “slaughter of babies”. A number of days later, the University officially refused to accept Father Palmer as the University’s Catholic Chaplain, citing the manner in which he expressed his religious opinions as the reason.

The Times reported that Father David Palmer was asked by the University to use more inclusive terminology when voicing his views online, yet he regarded this as “unacceptable policing of religious belief” and refused to make changes. Indeed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that euthanasia constitutes “a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person” and abortion as equivalent to infanticide, an “abominable” crime.

Contrary to the University’s claims, Father David Palmer did not divulge from Catholic teaching in opinion or language. His choice of words was synonymous with central Catholic authority, and his decision to use social media to talk about his beliefs seems in tandem with the Catholic teaching of “[preaching] the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ”. How can the University expect a Catholic Chaplain to preach anything else but the core tenets of the Catholic religion?

Further, as a community of religious, racial and socioeconomic plurality, the University of Nottingham prides itself on inclusivity. According to the University’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy, which all students and staff are expected to abide by, it is “a community where everyone can contribute and be appreciated for who they are”. And yet, where is the evidence of such tolerance toward Father Palmer?

Do the University’s actions, then, constitute unjustified censorship of the Catholic faith? What is for sure is that the University of Nottingham risks contributing to growing concerns regarding censorship and a homogenisation of political discourse on university campuses. Parliaments’ Joint Committee on Human Rights reported that, too often, controversial debates or non-mainstream views are shut down at university, rather than allowing students to confront such differences in opinion. The Committee, which is chaired by Harriet Harman, raised concerns that in a similar fashion, safe-space policies on campuses are “problematic” because they “often lead to the marginalisation of minority groups’ views”.

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Although, indeed, the Catholic faith is not one of a minority, Father David Palmer’s failed appointment is not the first incident whereby the University has seemed to censor Catholic belief on campus. Back in 2019, Nottingham midwifery student Julia Rynkiewicz was suspended from her hospital placements for almost four months due to her involvement in the prolife ‘Nottingham Students for Life’ society. The Students’ Union even got involved when they denied the group affiliation until the society threatened to take legal action.

The University stated that they “support the rights of all students to bodily autonomy and access to safe, legal abortion services, which is the position in Law”, failing to comment on their failure to allow Julia to speak freely about her faith without unfair repercussion. Clearly, the introduction of the ‘Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill’, requiring universities to defend free speech and “to help stamp out unlawful silencing” , by the Government is necessary and most welcome. This legislation extends to both the University of Nottingham and the Students’ Union, and they should do well to heed it.

Exposure to others’ opinions sparks debate, and this should always be welcomed and never avoided. Our cognitive and spiritual development is reliant on our ability to access platforms where we may freely debate our conflicting opinions. Listening to views that do not align with our own does not mean that we are agreeing with these beliefs, but rather that we are learning from them. We are expanding our awareness and coming into our own. To develop our moral compass, we must first be exposed to opinions with which we disagree. We must speak up for what we believe in and out against what we believe is harmful. Most importantly, we must educate those who are unfamiliar with our perspectives and listen as others seek to educate us. Any conflict of opinion is an opportunity to grow; how else are we to learn what we do and do not agree with?

I disagree with Father David Palmer’s opinions on abortion and euthanasia. I am pro-choice. I do not, however, resent his use of social media to express his religious belief. In fact, I welcome it. By refusing to allow those with differing beliefs to speak freely in multi-faith settings, we are fulfilling the snowflake stereotype; “easily offended and lacking resilience”.

As the ‘Covid-19 Generation’, we are anything but.

To borrow the words of Ann Furedi, former CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (‘BPAS’), we should “let Catholic students decide individually if they want [Father David Palmer’s] counsel”. After all, we are encouraged to explore divergent opinions within our university studies. This case should be no different.

By Amy Evans Photography by Rian Patel and Megan Wilde Illustration by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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Becoming an Ethical Bystander:

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Impact’s Cora-Laine asks us all to think carefully about the decisions we make on nights out: decisions that could end up saving a friend from a really dangerous or negative experience.

I want you to imagine yourself at a house party, right before everyone heads off to the city for a night of dancing, drinking and rendezvousing with attractive strangers.

Empty bottles are scattered everywhere. Half-full cups are scattered everywhere. Pizza boxes are scattered everywhere. Some drinks have been spilled, and some guy has already drunk himself to sleep on the sofa – the typical threadbare sofa you’d expect to find in a student house. A couple of girls are chatting by the stairs, leaning in so close that their breath almost mingles. One tangles a loose hair around her finger as she laughs at whatever the other says. The music is too loud and some song you don’t recognise is playing, but it’s okay, because Mr. Brightside was on earlier and everyone knows that one.

Now, you find yourself heading to the door where your friend – let’s call her Jessica – has just arrived. Jessica isn’t that much of a party person, but she doesn’t mind the odd drink or two. Today, she’s not in the mood for it though, and her sunken face tells you that she’s upset. Yet, there stands Tom and Sarah – these are your other two friends – already on the verge of being drunk, barely managing to keep the grins off their faces and using the wall to balance.

They’re pushing a neon pink-coloured drink into Jessica’s hand and encouraging her to ‘down it’, like they are with theirs. Reluctantly, she gives in, sipping the liquid you can all but assume is mixed from the different bottles of alcohol lining the kitchen. You join them. She sips that drink the rest of the night, never having another.

Jump forward three hours. Music is booming in your ears.

Bodies are crashing into you. You’re pumping your fist to the beat as your feet slam into the ground with each jump.

Tom’s there. Sarah’s there. But Jessica isn’t. So, you go to look for her. First, you try the bar. You can’t see the blonde/ brunette/redhead (whatever colour her hair is) bobbing around. It’s not too crowded there. Most of the clubbers are down on the dance floor, except for just a handful. Two of whom are the girls from earlier, the two who were sat on the stairs. A guy hovers behind one so you can’t see her clearly, but the other… her face is fully visible to you, and it is showing discomfort. Complete disgust. Outrage. The two girls are visibly distressed, while the guy just stands there, hands up and laughing. Enter bar right: a couple of his mates are coming over. The girls’ faces are crying out for help. What do you do?

Five, ten, fifteen minutes – whatever amount of time you spend there – later, you continue your search for Jessica.

This time heading towards the toilets. The queue for the women’s is long, full of faces and people you don’t recognise. You scan the entire line, hoping to see Jessica.

But, again, she’s not there. You turn to go to the club entrance, but across the corridor, slumped against the wall, is that guy from the sofa and a girl with her head in the crook of his neck. He’s awake now, just about. As you get closer, you see his eyes are rolling, and he’s using the wall for support, hardly managing to stand upright on his own.

The girl doesn’t notice. She keeps her lips to his body and her hands travelling south. What do you do?

More time passes and you’re now outside. The bouncers control the queue, shooing away students who are too drunk, and patrolling the entrance like it’s their den.

Cigarette smoke wafts through the air. Then finally, you see Jessica. She’s kneeled over on the side of the road, vomiting bright green onto the grey path. Her hands press into the concrete, her hair slips in and out of the sick. Her body starts swaying before she falls forward. What do you do?

An investigation by the BBC found that, between 2015-19, there were 2,650 reports of drink spiking in England and Wales, of which 72% of victims were women. Between March 2016 and March 2017, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that, since the age of 16, 20% of women and 4% of men had experienced some type of sexual assault, equivalent to 3.4 million female and 631,000 male victims. Nights out are meant to be fun and memorable in the best way. Something to look forward to all week and revel in during the moment.

They’re not supposed to be traumatic or distressing.

Sexual harassment, abuse and spiking are very real things.

Unfortunately, they can happen at any time; before, during or after what should simply be a carefree, enjoyable night out. All too often, students will witness their friends falling victim to these exact events, without realising or taking steps to intervene.

This is why, as a student community, we need to become ethical bystanders. People that protect each other from negative experiences. People who choose to influence a situation positively before the very worst happens. So, what would you do? Would you go to the aid of someone you didn’t know who looked distressed? Would you look after a friend that has gotten themself into a bad state? Would you intervene when you see someone being harassed or experiencing unwanted sexual advances?

What would you do?

By Cora-Laine Moynihan Illustration by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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Running From the Track

Edward Farley recalls the school-time experiences that left him feeling disillusioned by organised sport. He urges others who may have faced similar difficulties in school to give sport another chance within the context of a more inclusive and welcoming university environment.

It was the walk through Freshers’ Fair that pushed these uncomfortable feelings to the forefront of my mind.

All those sporting societies lined up, one after the other, each promising care, fun, and, above all, teamwork, friendship and comradery. All these promises may well be true, but I was too scared to even approach them, all because of those same unshakeable feelings...

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Feelings that were no one’s fault, of course. Not the societies, not the sports themselves, and certainly not mine. As a second year student, who only really stepped onto campus for the first time this year, it’s painful to recall myself wandering around the sports hall fearfully.

Four years have passed since I left ‘high school’ and, for four years, I have been running from a psychological sports injury that still hasn’t cleared up. An injury that flared up once more that day as I walked through Freshers’ Fair.

This feeling was five years in the making, though. A younger, innocent me lined up for P.E., my stomach turning, bolting, jolting. In the changing room, I remember the smell of Lynx spray and damp. Years of water soaked into the door mat, seeping under the changing room tiles. I would arrive, already sweating a little bit, partly due to nervousness, but also because I already had my PE kit underneath my uniform. If I didn’t get dressed beforehand, I would be inside the changing room for too long. I would have to take off my clothes, find my kit and listen to ‘the chosen ones’, the real sportsmen performing their warmups. I would be greeted with insults and laughter about my body, my personality, the way I unzipped my bag. If I had my uniform on already, it avoided the risk of being picked apart, x-rayed, exhibited. It saved me feeling like I was nothing more than a mound of flesh on a lazy Susan, rotating around as people laughed, pointed and stared.

The only thing left in my bag would be my trainers. After putting them on, I would push my school shoes as far as I could underneath the bench, one time even tying them together. This was so they would be easier to find at the end of the lesson after my classmates hid them; it prevented me from having to look for each individual shoe.

Is this a place where I was meant to feel safe? It reached the point where the fear became too much. I pleaded with my teacher to let me get changed in the toilets, instead. It was easier to get changed next to a toilet paper dispenser or an old loo brush than it was next to my peers. It was easier for my teacher to hide me away than address the problem. After all, he must have been sick of hearing my complaints and receiving desperate emails. Huddled in the leaky, damp stall, I berated myself: why me? I would look at some of the others in my group and selfishly ask: why are they not bullied? Why do I deserve it? Why are they not being pummelled with insults (or the occasional hockey ball)? Why aren’t they helping me? Why won’t they even talk to me?

Since these formative moments, whenever I enter any sports setting, I’ve felt this way. I’m overcome with the same urge to find somewhere safe to shelter; mentally, I’m still hiding in those toilets. In the time since it happened, the individuals who treated me badly most likely haven’t spared me a thought. So, why am I still unable to stop asking myself these questions? Why did I feel that same sense of dread fill me as I walked through Freshers’ fair? Would the sports teams here do the same thing to me? Would they hurt me the way my classmates did?

Of course not.

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Seeing stalls of happy faces, people of all sizes, heights and genders all harmoniously blended together, I realised how my relationship with sports could have been. Perhaps, if I was privy to such an inviting atmosphere earlier on, before the damage was done and the scars ran so deep, it might have been different. I was reminded just how paralysing those fears were to me. These sports societies seemed like places of genuine safety and community. Places that stood for all the things I’d craved as a young boy in P.E. class. And yet, I could hardly bring myself to face them.

There are so many sports I would love to try but, even at 20, it’s a hurdle I fear I can’t overcome. There is a much larger conversation at play here. A conversation we seldom talk about, either as boys or men. It is the fact that the masculine, testosterone-filled pitches of the past leave lasting effects and scars that we don’t care to think about, at least not until they come back to greet us later in life. It’s a sad thought to reconcile, that perhaps there were other individuals there that day in Freshers, also unable to overcome past wounds, battling the same experiences that I had. Individuals who walked up to those stalls, only to walk away again. The conversation surrounding bullying and toxic masculinity in sport is one that must be had. Urgently. The experiences children have in P.E. class at school can impact their outlook on their bodies and abilities all the way to University and beyond. I hope the young boys of today are being taught to treat those who don’t fit the typical ‘athletic’ mould with more kindness. Their actions have a lasting impact, more lasting than they could ever imagine.

But for those, like me, who are already carrying these scars, it’s time for us to ask ourselves: how can progress be made if we don’t process the issues in our past?

I am still embarking on this personal journey. After leaving the fair, and writing this article, I found myself feeling hopeful, amused even. I realised that, this time around, sport wouldn’t inflict me with the pain that it had in the past.

I was comforted by the thought that these sports teams are governed by a Students’ Union, holding them accountable.

University sport really does feel like a safer space.

To any readers who share sentiments like mine, I ask you not to be discouraged. Yes, it’s incredibly hard to recover from past traumas, but it’s not impossible. The route to recovery is found by looking forward, by remaining hopeful of the better experiences that are sure to come. My own personal recovery involves me reclaiming my past through writing, but it’s up to you how you process your own traumas.

Just remember that if there’s a ghost that still haunts you, you are not alone.

University is meant to be a space to try new things, to create new memories, and sports is an important outlet for that.

Joining a sports society provides an invaluable opportunity to find new friends and pursue new experiences. Experiences which should not be hampered by the fears and insecurities of the past.

Good luck on your own personal journey. I hope you lay to rest any painful memories and make some amazing new ones. By opening up about that young boy terrified of P.E. lessons and huddled in a toilet cubicle, I’m hoping I’ll start to make peace with mine.

By Edward Farley Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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Student Loan Repayment Changes Show Government’s Disregard for Low-Income Students Impact’s Hannah Lowe makes the case that lowering the student loan repayment threshold spells educational and economic disaster for those without the cash to weather the change.

Government ministers are currently debating lowering the student loan repayment threshold from £27,000 to £23,000, meaning that students will now likely have to repay more of their student loan sooner after graduation. This is a government attempt to save Treasury money being spent on the student finance system.

However, it is difficult to fathom how this can be deemed as an appropriate way to go about doing so as the plans will clearly hit students from lower income backgrounds the hardest.

The potential threshold change is extremely disheartening, especially following over a year of online teaching at ‘Zoom University’ that left many, including myself, feeling as though they didn’t get their money’s worth. Additionally, as we all know, most universities refused to lower tuition fees, making the student loan change even more of a spit in the face.

Now, with the average graduate salary estimated to be between £21,000-£26,000, most employed graduates will have to immediately start repaying their student loan upon landing their first job. If saving up and getting on the property ladder wasn’t hard enough, this change will make it near impossible.

Hypothetically, a student with the highest maintenance loan and a salary of £24,000/year will have to pay £90 more annually, equating to about 17.1% of their earnings being taxed. Add to this the fact that, even at this rate, they are unlikely to ever pay off their entire loan. This is immensely unfair and demonstrates how the education system is designed only for students from high-income backgrounds.

Soon, it seems, with elitism rife in government, higher education will become financially inaccessible for those from lower-income backgrounds.

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Such a policy also sheds light on the failed policies that have marketised universities. As Jo Grad, General Secretary of the University and College Union, said: “Loading more debt onto students is not the way to deal with the failed marketisation of higher education.” Adding, “it is a regressive move that will hit lower earners hardest.”

Revealingly, The Independent reported that the proportion of lower-income pupils entering university has stagnated – with just a 0.1% rise in the past year – while the proportion of higher-income pupils has risen by 1%. This demonstrates that the education system is already proving unsuccessful in minimising the access gap between lower and higher-income students. The General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said it was “worrying” to see that the university access gap has widened, making the decision to reduce the threshold utterly baffling. This potential legislation will discourage many prospective workingclass students from coming to university as they recognise they are disproportionately affected by these changes.

This increased gap between lower-income and higher-income students may also create a more extreme North-South economic divide. Analysis by the Office for Students (OfS) shows that the communities with the lowest level of access to higher education are those from industrial towns and cities of the North of England and the Midlands. The report states that 55% of young people in London go into higher education but only 40% in the North-East.

This then raises concerns that the threshold lowering is pushing lower-income people away from attending university, meaning the North-South divide may grow even greater.

Clearly, this policy makes for seriously damaging consequences for many students across the country. It’s time for the government to take heed and change course.

By Hannah Lowe Illustration by Monica Mancini Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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A few one night stands are nothing more than harmless fun, right? Not always, one Nottingham student argues, as they share their views on casual sex at university and the potentially damaging effects they can have on one’s mental health.

Let’s face it, whilst at university, many of us will have casual sex. For many students, hook-ups are just part of the university experience. In film and television, having casual sex in your younger years is glorified and sought after. The idea of having sex with lots of people at university is so ingrained in how we view the student experience that many people end relationships before heading off to university so they can ‘experiment’. Hook-ups are often seen as thrilling, fulfilling and liberating.

However, the reality of having multiple casual hookups can sometimes be a lot less glamorous (and a lot more problematic) than what it’s presented to be.

My own experience of hook-up culture is one that mostly fits with the latter description. I found it all too easy to get swept up in the idea that it was ‘exciting’ and what I was ‘meant to be doing’. I broke up with my boyfriend in first year, deciding to explore new relationships and preferring to be single whilst completing my degree. What followed was an extremely mixed bag of experiences. They ranged from drunken sex that I can barely remember, to sex with friends, to sex with someone I thought I was in love with, and even sex that sat in the grey area of consent.

Whilst I believe that it’s important to have a variety of encounters in order to fully understand yourself sexually, I also believe that the normalisation of hook-ups allows a lot of abnormal sexual behaviours to be swept under the carpet. The effect casual sex can have on your mental health is also rarely talked about. Hook-ups can result in feelings of shame, embarrassment, remorse or lack of selfawareness (all of which I have fallen victim to at least once). This may be because having a lot of sex is seen as something to be praised. As a sign that you’re having a good time.

I, like all too many others, have used sex as a form of validation in the past. This can be a particularly slippery slope in the university environment, where the line between normal human interaction and sex is often blurred. It can leave you wondering whether someone is showing you genuine interest, or just trying to achieve an easy shag.

It’s easy to forget to take care of yourself. It’s easy to forget that casual sex can impact your self-esteem. In Psychology Today, Dr Susan Whitbourne explored the negative effects casual sex can have on students’ mental health via a study of 3,900 undergraduates on 30 university campuses across the US. Her research found that people who engaged in frequent hook-ups had greater psychological distress. Participants having casual sex were said to have “lower levels of selfesteem, life satisfaction, and happiness”, as well as higher scores of depression and anxiety.

It is, however, hard to decipher the cause-andeffect relationship between poor mental health and casual sex. It’s a bit like asking: what came first, the chicken or the egg? And, there are a myriad of other factors that stretch and contort a student’s mental well-being. All I can say is that we all need to take more care of ourselves when it comes to hookups: we know how to practice safe sex physically, but the lines have become more and more blurred when it comes to practicing safe sex mentally.

By Anonymous Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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Nottingham, Nottingham!

It’s a Hell of a Town!

Shivani Hindocha provides every Nottingham student with a comprehensive list of ‘gripes’ which they are likely to encounter during their time at UoN. From hiking up hills to sidestepping CPOs, this is the ultimate Nottingham burn book.

Welcome to Nottingham - the city of Robin Hood and the birthplace of HP Sauce.

Welcome to Nottingham - you’ll find absolutely no parking and encounter CPOs at every Lenton turn.

Having reached my third year, I’ve been here long enough to rack up an extensive list of the most annoying things plaguing students living in Nottingham. If none of these have ever ground your gears, you must have the patience of a saint. And let me say, as someone who does not, I am incredibly jealous.

So, parking. Allow me to start by giving you some context: I’m lazy.

Unfortunately, both the city and the University do not accommodate for this. Practically every parking spot requires you to have a permit, or to pay.

This means you either have to walk (as I said before, I’m lazy), park miles away and then walk, fork out for public transport, or fork out even more to park in a space which is vaguely close to your desired destination.

If, by some miracle, you do stumble across a free space, I can guarantee you it will be very tight, especially in Lenton. Since I cannot parallel park (well, not in under 20 minutes anyway), these tight Lenton parking spaces are not an option for me. And, not to be too presumptuous, but I would guess this is probably the case for the majority of you, too, so I suggest you invest in some comfortable walking shoes ASAP. For those of you who are blessed enough to be skilled at parallel parking, congratulations on being elite. It must be so nice to be you.

In addition to being lazy, I am very unfit (I blame it on Long Covid), so don’t even get me started on the hills: the great Derby Road Hill, in particular.

Steep hills are my number one enemy. If you ever catch me on campus looking concerningly out of breath, it’s all because of those damn hills.

Placing Cripps Health Centre at the top of, perhaps, the most gigantic hill was a particularly clever move from the University. That way, if I ever pass out from the hike, I can be sure that someone will provide me with medical assistance at the top in record time.

Another complaint of mine is the location of the Sports Village (yes, despite my complaints I have caved to the peer pressure and spent my life’s savings on a David Ross gym membership - don’t seem so shocked...).

But why, oh why, is it so obscenely far from everything? The last thing anyone needs after a workout is a 60 minute walk home. In fact, why did I even bother to buy a gym membership in the first place when the trek there is a whole workout in itself?

Now, don’t even get me started on the CPOs (Community Protection Officers, if you’re lucky enough not to know). If you haven’t had an encounter with the CPOs, or seen them snooping around Lenton, then you’re obviously not having enough fun. The CPOs work for the council to enforce car permits, investigate noise complaints, prevent littering and keep tabs on every students’ move (rumour has it).

Good luck to any broke students having to pay one of their fines! Let’s hope you’ve got a healthy side hustle running because your maintenance loan almost definitely won’t cover it. But on a more serious side note, come on people, it’s 2021 - why on earth are you still littering? I’d rather not have a McDonald’s bag stuck to my shoe, I’m most definitely not ‘lovin’ it’.

Of course, I cannot end this article without mentioning the fantastic work of Student Services! If you manage to get a reply from them, and they’re able to solve your problem within one working month, I have to ask: how does it feel to be God’s favourite? I’ve lost count of the amount of hours I’ve spent queuing at Student Services, or emailing them trying to sort timetabling problems. I’m beginning to think that having a bad experience with Student Services is a prerequisite for graduating.

But, despite my many complaints, I can’t help but admit how much I love being a student in Nottingham. If we ignore the extortionate prices at the Sainsbury’s Local, then living in Lenton and being a 3-minute walk from your mate’s house is rather wonderful.. even if you have to invest in walking poles and an inhaler in order to get there.

By Shivani Hindocha Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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By Gemma Cockrell

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Round and Round: The Catastrophic Consequences of the Fashion Cycle Zoya Gulshin walks the reader through the fivephase cycle of modern day fashion. From a style’s introduction all the way to its obsolescence, giving you the reasons why you shouldn’t get swept up in all the latest trends.

The root of the word cyclical - ‘cycle’ - describes how events occur in regular, circular intervals. Cyclical trends are apparent in everyday life, from the changing of seasons, days of the week and even the economy. Fashion, in fact, is no different. Trends and fads are renowned for their cyclical nature. With fashion of the past making a comeback, we’re able to observe cyclical fashion in action. Up until just a few years ago, skinny jeans were prominent - you just couldn’t escape them. And now? Baggy jeans have replaced the slim fit, and clothing stores have tucked away the skinny jeans to make room for the flares. The re-emergence of older trends gives us something to bond over with the earlier generations. It’s definitely nice to have something new to talk about with your mum, instead of the regular “how is university?” chat.

Unlike the seasons, however, fashion follows a five-phase cycle: introduction, increase, peak, decline and, the scary-sounding, obsolescence.

With introduction, we see a new style emerging. ‘New style’ doesn’t necessarily mean completely new, it’s usually an old item with a modern twist. Take the choker for example – popular back in the 90’s and co-opted by the alternative population who were aiming for a grungier look. At this stage of the cycle, the style is stocked at low quantities and sold at high prices.

Then comes the increase stage and the style is now officially a trend. More people, especially those with influence, begin to wear and show off this ‘new’ style, thereby increasing consumer demand.

This in turn leads to increased production, stock and purchasing of the trend.

In the peak phase, it becomes almost impossible to avoid this popular fashion trend. Almost all retailers, regardless of their customer base, will have noticed the popularity of the item and will stock it to maximise profit. This is commonly achieved via mass production, making the trend cheap and easily accessible.

The penultimate phase of the cycle, decline, occurs when the trend has oversaturated the industry. Because everyone and their mums have now adopted the latest style, it becomes harder for one to express themselves via their fashion. This in turn leads to reduced interest and less sales, leading to the final stage: obsolescence.

Here, the trend is dismissed as outdated, and newer styles have emerged. Once this stage has capitulated, the cycle just starts again. Usually, fashion revolves around a 20-30-year period, but with the inundation of fast-fashion, it is thought that the lifespan of cycles will decrease dramatically.

However much we want to be unique, most of us feel safe blending in, and it is this very mindset that fuels the cycle of fashion. When the latest trend emerges, it’s easier to go on a shopping spree than to think about the practicalities and implications of our choices.

‘What is the longevity of this item?’, ‘Am I getting my money’s worth in terms of cost per wear?’, ‘What are the environmental impacts of this kind of fashion?’ are all questions thrust to the back of our minds, ever perpetuating the fashion cycle.

And such behaviour has real world effects. In 2014, an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste was created from the fashion industry, much of which can be traced back to fast fashion. It is estimated that textile waste will increase by 60% between 20152030. The fashion cycle is fuelling an unsustainable and damaging practice, all because of our avid drive for the latest trends.

In response, today the fashion industry is seeing a high interest in vintage clothing. People are choosing thrift and secondhand shops over those on the high street in attempts to find unique-but-notso-unique gems that are just unattainable in Primark. Buying from these kinds of outlets is an effective strategy for any individual to counter the cyclical fast-fashion trends. So, next time you’re in the city and you’re looking for some new garms, think of popping into Soul and Flare or Cow. You might end up picking something that you not only look good in, but feel good about wearing, too.

By Zoya Gulshin Illustrations by Gemma Cockrell Page Design by Ciara Lurshay

STYLE

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Buying and Selling as a Student: Depop or Vinted?

Anna Boyne explores the merits and drawbacks of the two largest online second hand clothes venders: Depop and Vinted. She explains why dabbling in both will leave your wardrobe looking good and your bank account looking even better.

Whether you’re on a budget or looking to make more eco-conscious decisions, thanks to online platforms like Depop and Vinted, shopping second hand has never been easier. The two titans of the online secondhand clothes market come with their appeals and pitfalls alike. So, how do you decide which to use?

First off, Depop’s Instagram-style explore page and shop profiles are particularly appealing to Gen-Z buyers and sellers. Out of all online second-hand apps, Depop is probably the closest experience to that of a fast fashion website, with its reputation for vintage and on-trend items.

However, Depop can often fall short of expectations. Drop-shipping Depop sellers often bulk buy cheap clothes and resell them at inflated prices by branding them as the desirable ‘#vintage’ or ‘#y2k’. Not only does this unwantedly flood the explore page of buyers looking for genuine items, but it also trips up those looking to purchase more consciously, as they are still unwittingly contributing to the fast fashion industry.

Vinted, on the other hand, tends to attract those of a slightly older demographic looking to buy or sell more ordinary second-hand items, usually resulting in cheaper prices. Vinted is attracting buyers who’ve become disillusioned with the gentrification of Depop. Many find price inflation has made Depop economically inaccessible, so have turned to Vinted instead. Nonetheless, Vinted often takes a bit more work to find good quality and stylish steals. If Depop is the online equivalent of a specialised vintage or curated second-hand shop, Vinted could be comparable to a charity shop.

When considering which app to buy or sell from, the platforms’ policies are a big influencing factor. 10% of a seller’s earnings are automatically taken by Depop, and on top of postage and packaging and haggled prices, profit margins can be significantly reduced. Conversely, Vinted makes its revenue through a ‘buyer protection fee’- a form of insurance paid by the buyer, so the seller gets exactly the money they sold their item for. While the buyer ends up paying slightly more than an item is listed for, this policy also gives them the flexibility to choose which type of postage they’d like.

Vinted’s ‘holiday mode’ enables buyers and sellers to avoid awkward or angry interactions. Sellers can pause trading if they are temporarily unable to send their items, which could be particularly useful to students whose clothes might be split between home and university.

A lack of a feature like this on Depop can lead to misunderstandings and delayed postage times. Just have a look at the infamous @depopdrama on Instagram for endless examples of the weird and sometimes plain rude encounters buyers and sellers face. That’s not to say that Vinted users don’t also face awkward interactions, but they do seem few and far between.

Even though Vinted has 45 million global users, significantly more than Depop’s 30 million, the latter is still Gen Z’s preferred second-hand platform. Many find, therefore, that items on Depop are tailored to the younger generation, making it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for.

But why not use both apps and tailor your experience accordingly? If you’re looking to buy or sell with ease, maximise profits, minimise costs, find unique vintage items or even just more everyday pieces, get to know your app demographic and become a savvy online shopper.

By Anna Boyne Illustrations by Gemma Cockrell Page Design by Ciara Lurshay

IMPACT

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Power Through Dance A photoshoot celebrating UON’s female dancers.

Amy, Emily, Alice and Tess from NU Dance (Ballet) (Dancing Ballet)

PHOTOSHOOT

Ángela and Madeleine from Latin, Ballroom and Salsa Society (Ballroom)

Ellesha, Kaj and Charlyne from Belly Dance Society

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IMPACT

Madeleine from from Latin, Ballroom and Salsa Society (Salsa)

PHOTOSHOOT

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Kaj from Belly Dance Society With thanks to NU Dance, Belly Dance Society and Latin, Ballroom and Salsa Society’.

Photography and Editing by Finn Mckenzie Choreography by Rian Patel and Niamh Robinson Page Design by Chiara Crompton

IMPACT

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‘The Best Years of Our Lives’: Long-term Implications of The Student Experience Impact’s Adam Goriparthi and Abbie Rodger explore a typical student’s week of binge drinking, social smoking and partying, asking the question: how much do these habits really affect your mental and physical health?

The student lifestyle can be an intense one for your body excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption is simply the norm.

For many, these substances enhance the experience (I can’t imagine walking into Ocean sober). But this raises a question: does the long-term impact of the student lifestyle outweigh the benefits?

Club nights, bar crawls, house parties – the nights-out that the pandemic didn’t allow us to have. A checkbox on the student experience, right? Surprisingly, up to 58% of students engage in ‘hazardous’ drinking habits and 70% reportedly binge drink weekly (typically characterised by consuming 4-5 drinks over 2 hours). Most of us will probably ease up post-uni, yet some binge drinkers are more likely to experience subsequent alcohol dependence and abuse. Alcohol abuse can have drastic effects including: a compromised immunity, greater risk of cancer and damage to the heart and liver.

Alcohol also partners well with poor mental health. It can increase feelings of anxiety and depression. When mood pathways in the brain are altered by alcohol, a disruption/ inhibition of neurotransmitter activity can temporarily trigger negative feelings. When maintained long-term, we develop a dependency on alcohol to overcome these feelings (or at least to distract ourselves), and this becomes a vicious cycle.

Why is this relevant? Well, drinking at university is fundamentally for getting very drunk. Some students don’t want to drink, but how are they supposed to belong if they don’t meet the expectations placed on them by peers and society? Indeed, students that don’t drink may find themselves worse off – often excluded from predominantly alcohol-fuelled events. The student experience can sometimes forget about teetotallers, as your sobriety is suddenly a determinant of your personal value.

Naturally, there are social disadvantages to remaining sober, but your drinking choices really shouldn’t lessen your student experience. Remember: university is supposed to be enjoyable.

Only you can decide what ‘enjoyable’ means to you and whether your idea of enjoyment involves alcohol, or not.

Now to another important issue: To vape or not to vape - that is the question.

E-cigarette popularity has skyrocketed over the last decade.

You can hardly walk to the shops without being engulfed in a menthol-flavoured, nicotine-fuelled cloud. They are marketed as healthier, newer, cooler alternatives to smoking cigarettes. They are trendy, but how much healthier than smoking are they really?

Cigarette tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 toxins such as carbon monoxide, cyanide and tar, which are major contributors to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. In an ideal world, e-cigarettes would deliver the addictive nicotine, without the smoke. The disappointing reality, however, is that the vapours released still contain chemicals which are known to cause respiratory and cardiovascular damage. To date, no long-term toxicological studies have taken place in humans. Without this, it is simply impossible to say with certainty that e-cigarettes are safer.

But what’s fueling this move toward the cigarette’s cloudier cousin? Pres, Uber, club, smoking break, back to the club – three times a week. That’s normal, right? Smoking is sociable, it connects us in a moment’s respite, away from the thumping mayhem of the dancefloor. Being at university normalises this culture; so, is uni to blame for your unhealthy habit? And does it become an addiction when the need for that familiar energetic feeling seeps into everyday life?

Pointing the finger aside, for many of us, university is our first time living alone. And for that reason, it’s okay to want to relish in our newfound independence and experiment in a safe environment.

Ultimately, there are various aspects of ‘wellness’ to consider, and when one area becomes dysfunctional, it usually tips the delicate balance. Alcohol, smoking and vaping should not be ostracised – in fact we are allowed to enjoy them – all whilst remembering that university is just one short chapter in our lives. By adopting an ‘everything in moderation’ mindset, we can make sure to both enjoy ourselves and care for ourselves. We can learn to look out for our bodies and minds, both during university and beyond.

By Adam Goriparthi and Abbie Rodger Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton

SCIENCE

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Our World in 2050: A Dystopian Future Aleyna Adamson writes an emotive piece set in the future, a future which has been ravaged by climate change. Dystopian and haunting, it warns of what could be to come if we don’t take drastic action to address global warming now.

I picked my daughter up from school today.

She asked me, “Mummy, the teacher told us about polar bears today. She showed us pictures of them on big bits of ice. We all thought she was being very silly. Doesn’t she know it’s too hot for ice?” I explained that, when I was her age, the polar bears lived on big ice sheets in the Arctic. I can still remember watching them struggle as the ice began to melt.

Scientists warned us in the 2020s that climate change was worsening. No one listened. Fuel companies promised us they would ‘change’.

They didn’t change. The billionaires hoarded their money. They didn’t help us. Climate protests got larger and became more frequent.

Still, no one listened. When I was in university, they told us one degree hotter would be all it took before there was no turning back. They were right.

On the drive home from school, we stop at the supermarket. We had been warned to expect another hurricane. Britain never used to get hurricanes. We were always known for our rainy weather, but never this much. This rain lasted for weeks and caused unimaginable floods. Many of the houses on our street are still recovering.

Most of the store shelves are empty, as usual. The rise in sea levels flooded most of our farmland, and it’s nearly impossible to transport food overseas now since mainland countries are experiencing famines.

We just need to grab the essentials. I managed to find a bag of flour, some potatoes and some beans. Even flour supplies are dwindling. The temperature keeps rising, and it’s getting too hot to grow wheat.

There are barely any fruits and vegetables.

The bees died off around a decade ago.

Fortunately, we have our vegetable garden in the greenhouse at home, where we can grow a few crops that don’t rely on bee pollination.

These will have to do for now. I can only pray it’s enough to survive the hurricane.

On the drive home, I tell my daughter what outside used to look like. How everything was so bright and green. I wish she could have seen it. All I have are pictures now.

When we arrive home, a drop of rain hits my forehead. I look up to the sky. Its hue is more brown than blue nowadays, darkened by years of air pollution.

The city’s heavy smog from decades of burning fossil fuels can be seen from miles away. I remember people hated wearing masks during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now they are essential in the city. You don’t want to breathe in the smog. It will damage your lungs, and there’s not enough medicine to help anymore if you get sick.

I haul the sand bags out of the garage.

The army promised to bring us more but never did. Only the very rich can afford to buy them new, so we just have to make do. I shove the bags under every door and window, preparing for the hurricane to come.

The roads pass through dry barren land, scorched by the heat. Every summer, we suffer from terrible wildfires. Farmland, typical of the British countryside, no longer exists. It became far too dangerous and expensive to raise livestock with the constant fires wiping out entire herds.

Every time, I feel less and less confident that they will work. The rain keeps getting heavier and the floods keep getting worse.

We can’t keep this up forever… It’s only a matter of time.

By Aleyna Adamson Collage by Alice Nott Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

Food: A Future Frontier Decades from now, what will our diet look like and how will climate change impact our access to food? Impact’s Head of Lifestyle, Alice Nott, writes a dystopian creative piece, her predictions for what the future holds very bleak indeed.

You drive down the M42 after finally dropping your sister home. She’s been living with you since the floods in March. You didn’t really want her to go back, you’re sure she’ll be flooded again, and you’re not sure how much warning you’ll have next time. But her heart was set. Still, you plan on building an extension just in case; her house won’t be worth anything and she’ll need somewhere to live.

You don’t make a habit of driving - the price of fuel means it’s reserved for special occasions - but you needed space to think, and the peace of the motorway offered a change from the overcrowded city.

As you pass by a big house, you see a cow, grazing in the field. This is a rare sighting. You haven’t seen a cow in years, the herding flu had led to nearly all farm animals dying from natural and unnatural causes. After coronavirus, no one wanted to risk another pandemic. The only cows to survive were isolated in the Shetland Islands, the sea acting as a barrier between humans and any diseases the livestock might be carrying.

You think back to all the times you had longed to see a highland cow up close. Now, you had one right in front of your very eyes, nestled against the scenic hillside of The Wrekin. And yet, you feel oddly underwhelmed, a little unnerved even. Watching the beast chew on the cud felt dystopian, like a scene from a previous lifetime. Where was the familiar rumble of the industrial lawn mowers?

You know you don’t suffer like those in the South of Europe, America, Africa and Asia, though.

Climate famines haven’t touched Britain yet, but still, you can’t help but despair. Everything feels like a ticking time bomb; the Government putting out one fire, only to be immediately engulfed in another.

The National Food Service has been keeping the country fed since 2028. The rations are enough to get by, but late winter and spring always bring a few too many helpings of lentils and buckwheat. You’re thankful that the British climate allows both to be grown here at least.

Genetically modified crops have become a dietary staple.

You miss your old favourites, though. You try to maintain some normality by stocking up the cupboards with reserves for special occasions. Tomato pasta sauce, once a budget must, is now almost impossible to find in the shops, unless you’re lucky enough to have a really good harvest. You were never green fingered, but everyone is a gardener nowadays.

The garden patio at home became pointless. The intensity of the heatwaves prevented you from enjoying the summer weather, and the UV rays became far too dangerous for sunbathing or outdoor games. So, you reluctantly dug it up one day, your mind wandering nostalgically to the old green lawn where your dog used to play. Tragically, herding fever didn’t even spare man’s best friend.

Tending to the crops gives you something to focus on, aside from the constant news reports of water wars and daily atrocities. That reminds you, you need to check on the water levels in the basement. Without at least twenty full canisters, you won’t make it through to the end of the month.

It’s not all bad though: communal meals are put on by the Ministry for Quality of Life twice a week. At first, you went to save on your tokens, but as time went on, you genuinely started to enjoy it. Even the most nauseating of conversations bring a welcome break to the futility of day-to-day life.

You start to grow tired. Like a reflex, you think of stopping at the next service station to grab a coffee. Old habits really do die hard. Coffee is now as precious as caviar, reserved only for occasions when it’s imperative to impress. Climate change left the coffee plant hills drier than a bone.

It’s okay though, you still have the dried rose hips you and your sister picked. You can have them with the carrot soup you made a few nights ago when you get home.

You dream that night. Your dreams are filled with lavish dinners and delicious banquets, so vivid, you can almost taste them. Gripping the duvet tightly, your subconscious wills you not to wake up yet. Begging you to evade the realities of daily life, just a little longer...

By Alice Nott Illustration by Christina Giallombardo Page Design by Chiara Crompton

FOOD

Diversity at Dinner Time: Nottingham’s Best Independent International Food Shops Growing up in an Italian household, I never experimented much with cuisine other than Mediterranean. So, when I came to Nottingham and discovered a plethora of alternative and international food shops, it really opened my horizons. Since then, I have started to cook more dishes from Asia, and I’ve tried a lot of different things such as ayran and a Turkish bread called simit.

Sure, you can find vegetables and spices in your normal supermarkets like Tesco or Lidl, but the selection of authentic ingredients and foods you can find at international food shops is often larger and at lower prices. By visiting these shops, you’re also supporting smaller businesses that were impacted the most during lockdown.

One cuisine I really enjoy cooking is Korean food, and Oriental Mart is the perfect place to get all your ingredients. Located right in the centre of Hockley near the Lace Market Tram stop, here you can buy authentic frozen, fresh and dried foods from not only Korea but China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan to name a few. You can also snack on signature food from East Asia such as mochi and pocky, as well as get fresh kimchi - a staple in Korean cuisine.

Just down the road, there’s also the Murat Food Centre in Sneinton: an international food market that especially caters to Turkish, Polish, Indian and Pakistani food. There you can get fresh fruit and veg and a wide selection of meat (including halal). If you’re a chilli lover then this is the place to go – I’ve never seen so many chillies in one place! I’m still working on improving my spice tolerance, but I really enjoy adding some heat to my dishes. At Murat, you can even get some fresh Turkish bread and baklava. It’s only a short walk from the Lace Market Tram stop too, so it’s very accessible to get to and bring your shopping home from.

The Kaya Food Market in Radford is a great place to visit for Eastern European cuisine. They also have a wide selection of produce from so many other different countries, including everywhere from Iran to Turkey. The selection of specialised spices is a lot better than Sainsbury’s or Tesco, and there’s loads of veg at low prices too. If you’re interested in cooking South Asian food, Mogal Express in Radford is a great place to visit. They have a wide range of foods, including lots of spices and the biggest onions I’ve ever seen! It’s a great place to get some ingredients for a dahl or masala dosa.

With the fantastic selection of international food shops in Nottingham, it’s been great to try out new cuisines, and I’m looking forward to going home and introducing the dishes I’ve learnt to my family. It’s very different from the fusion BritishItalian food we’re used to cooking and, although my parents are a bit fussy, I know my brother will love to try all these new foods. Perhaps, just as it did for me, a visit to a couple of these shops will make for a fantastic new diversity in your cooking.

By Christina Giallombardo Photography by Megan Wilde Page Design by Chiara Crompton

Christina Giallombardo tells us all about the best international supermarkets in Nottingham and how they can really make a difference when it comes to trying new and exciting dishes.

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TRAVEL

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Movie Marathons to Saint Moritz: Which Kind of Student Christmas Holiday-er Are You? Anoushka takes us through some of the classic holiday activities of different Nottingham students. From the Xmas movie sofa sloth, to the Surrey seasoned skier, whatever your holiday looks like, prepare for some playful ridiculing to be headed your way.

The Movie-Marathoner Holiday

The Christmas Holidays. Unless your name is Scrooge, you love them. Especially if you’re an exhausted student who has been working hard for 12 strenuous weeks. After putting up with horrid hall meals, or the endless joy that is the student kitchen, many relish the opportunity to return home for the Christmas holidays. But which kind of student holiday-er are you?

Have you maxed out an entire term’s worth of student loan on endless takeaways and nights out, leaving you with absolutely no money to go out? Your holiday will be spent wrapped up in a blanket, a cup of hot chocolate in hand, huddled in front of the TV. If you want to make your holiday really old school, why not treat yourself to a spot of trusty Freeview TV and see what films the BBC and Channel 4 are playing? You can rest assured that there will be back-to-back reruns of Christmas classics such as Home Alone and Nativity. Christmas is also the perfect time to binge watch all eight Harry Potter films. After all, when will you next find the time to do absolutely nothing but dedicate an entire day to a movie marathon? My point exactly.You better start early though, you’ve got 20 long hours ahead of you.

The Skiing Holiday The more fortunate among us have the privilege to spend their Christmas being greeted by powdery white snow in locations such as Courchevel, Verbier and Saint Moritz. This jet set crowd rushes off to their homes in Surrey or Kensington, only to head straight to Heathrow airport (heaven forbid they were forced to frequent the likes of Gatwick or Luton), destined for the Alps. Their holiday consists of waking up and eating croissants, before they hit the slopes in a competition of ‘who is the best off-piste skier?’. Before dinner, you will catch them posting on Instagram whilst reclining in their outdoor jacuzzi, a glass of Champagne (not Prosecco) in hand, just before they slip off to dinner at a Michelin-star restaurant.

The Christmas Market Holiday There is so much to do in the UK during Christmas, from carolling to Christmas markets and other events. The Edinburgh Christmas Market never fails to have hundreds of arts and crafts stores in which you can find the perfect present for a loved one, or enjoy a cup of mulled wine.

After all, would it really be Christmas without this famous alcoholic concoction? Would it even be Christmas without London’s Winter Wonderland? The Germanic Christmas fairground takes place every year in Hyde Park and is enjoyed by many. From wandering around the overpriced food stalls to shrieking on the exhilarating roller coasters, there truly is something for everyone.

The Holiday in the Sun Perhaps, however, you are fed up with British weather (fair enough, to be honest) and have been lucky enough to galavant off somewhere hot this Christmas. Instead of enjoying the snow, you enjoy the sun, sea and sand, returning home with a glowing tan that is the envy of all your pasty-looking friends. You replace a warm cup of mulled wine with an icy Pina Colada, perfect for cooling you down after a hard day spent baking yourself in the sun. Do us all a favour though, just try to limit the endless Snapchat stories of you tanning on the beach, would you?

By Anoushka Monzon Ladas Page Design by Chiara Crompton

ENTERTAINMENT

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By Ciara Lurshay

IMPACT

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Rose Hitchens shares five m ust-read n ovels she believes we should all curl up on the sofa with at this wintery time of year.

The grey, gloomy days of winter are the perfect excuse to stay inside, wrap yourself up in a blanket with a hot drink and indulge in a good, hearty book. As the chilly weather starts to take over, starting a new book is a superb way to give yourself a break from your screen and catch up on some classics. Whether you’re looking to distract yourself from the cold, fill in the downtime between university lectures, or simply increase your brainpower, here are the books you should be reading this winter.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath has been raved about for years and years by bibliophiles across the literary world. And yes, while it may seem cliché to include it on this list, I promise that it is deserving of every piece of praise that comes its way. It really is an essential novel to have in your arsenal. This semi-autobiographical account is the only novel ever published by American author Sylvia Plath and chronicles the life of protagonist Esther Greenwood as she slowly descends into mental illness. Haunting and harrowing, the book’s raw insight into the realities of mental illness and the grapple with your own self identity have so much detail poured across every page that its status as a piece of classic literature is so well deserved. The Bell Jar is not just a must-read book simply because it is a classic, but because its subject matter was so ahead of its time and creates one of the most gritty and realistic looks at mental illness that no other book, in my view, has quite managed to match.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens A new release this year, Where The Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens has completely taken over the literature world as the hottest book of 2021. After getting tired of hearing my friends rave about this book, I finally decided to give it a read. I can assure you, I was not disappointed. Set deep in the marshes of North Carolina, the novel follows Kya Clark as she slowly loses all those around her and is forced to raise herself, isolated from society. When a murder is suddenly committed, Kya becomes the main suspect, the plot following her reintroduction into a society she had left behind years before. Murder-mystery, love and heartbreak all unify in this unique coming-of-age novel which has already become a modern classic and is set to be adapted into a movie in 2022. With its distinctive and original plot, Where the Crawdads Sing appeals to a wide range of readers. So, if you’re keen to impress your friends by flexing on your knowledge of new and popular literature, pick up a copy and start reading!

Emma by Jane Austen This list would not be complete without including at least one classic book to get you through the winter season. My personal favourite classic happens to be Jane Austen’s Emma, which I feel is an easy read for anyone who is looking for an introduction to classic literature. Set in the fictional town of Highbury, the novel follows Emma, a quick-witted young woman who meddles in the love lives of those around her, all whilst attempting to evade marriage herself.

Despite being published over two hundred years ago, Emma is an amazingly hilarious and astute commentary of marriage which was way ahead of its time. Jane Austen had such a talent for creating strong, well rounded and complex female characters, and Emma is no exception to this.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’ve definitely heard of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It has been praised for inventing and popularising the ‘Dark Academia’ aesthetic and has been popping up all over social media due to its gripping and noteworthy plot. Published in 1994, The Secret History follows a group of classics students attending an elite arts college in Vermont.

This tale ties together murder, mystery, love and Ancient Greek references aplenty, to the background of some of the most beautiful descriptions of the autumn-winter seasons you’ll ever read. In short, this is a modern-classic which contains everything you could possibly want from a murder-mystery novel.

Misery by Stephen King Stephen King is one of those authors whose work you have to read at least once in your life. As the ‘King of Horror’ he’s written some of the classics, including IT, Carrie and The Shining, all of which have been turned into highly successful movie adaptations. If you’ve committed the sin of not yet having read any Stephen King, his 1987 classic Misery is the perfect thriller for this winter season. The plot follows author Paul Sheldon as he awakens seriously injured following a vicious car crash. The twist? He’s been kidnapped by his self-proclaimed ‘biggest fan’, who won’t allow him to leave. This is the perfect read for anyone looking for a thriller that will grip you from start to end. Trust me, once you pick up this iconic novel, you won’t be able to put it down.

By Rose Hitchens Page Design by Chiara Crompton

ARTS

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Pleadings One word.

And a wince was tattoo’d on the back of his head.

It sandpapered his throat, A genocide of his hope.

The iron lung he needed to breathe filling with lead.

His skin was an over-inflated arm band.

And the thought was the pop that cut the family holiday short.

The fingers on his temples were shaken bee hives, Full body acupuncture with rusted army knives.

And his eyelids were the tombstones for a man buried alive.

His necklace the corset which suffocated the bride And his voice was an air horn with no gas inside.

His ribs were sharpened and sank the Titanic And his mind was the panic of a mother who hadn’t taught her daughter about traffic.

His tongue was a corpse in the deserts’ canteen And his nipples were 2ps in a 10p machine.

His chest hairs the twigs a chick had fallen through And around his neck a mood ring, too tight and always blue.

And his blinks were mis-programmed traffic lights Outside an old people’s home And his insides were the trenches.

His belt was a rope used by the Ku Klux Klan And his words were a teenager assaulting his mother.

His tears were those of a guilty man Because he knew he couldn’t put the fault on another.

By George Cream

Illustration by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

Holly Humberstone

On Her New EP And How Nottingham Has Shaped Her As An Artist

Rising music star and East Midlands local sat down with Impact’s Gemma Cockrell to speak about her love of song-writing, working with Matty Healy from The 1975 and her connection with the city of Nottingham.

Holly Humberstone started releasing music a mere two months before the start of the pandemic, and suddenly, she rose to immense fame without having ever even performed a live show. Now, just over a year after her debut EP Falling Asleep At The Wheel was released, she has delivered her second EP The Walls Are Way Too Thin.

“Opening back up after lockdown, it’s been so bizarre,” Humberstone admits. “Finally getting to do shows – I did my first ever headliners this summer! It’s been lovely to meet people, and be able to thank them for listening to my music. It’s weird, I’ve been releasing all of this music during lockdown. I haven’t had the chance to see that these people actually exist in real life, but I haven’t really ever known any different! I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot, but I’m so grateful that I can finally do shows.”

At the time of interview, Holly was looking forward to the release of her second EP The Walls Are Way Too Thin at the beginning of November. “I feel like Falling Asleep At The Wheel was a time capsule for things that happened at school with the friends I grew up with. But I started writing The Walls Are Way Too Thin when I moved to London, in a time when I felt like everything was changing and nothing was familiar anymore. London is huge, but I moved into a little room on a whim with people I didn’t know, in an area I had no clue about. I felt lonely and isolated; I had nothing homely to grasp onto. I was a bit lost and I didn’t know who I was.”

MUSIC

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Whilst the title of the EP represents how Humberstone was feeling internally during this period of time, it simultaneously holds a much more literal meaning as well. “I confined myself to that room that I moved to and I was hearing all of these things going on outside. It was literal – I had such a lack of privacy because the walls were paper thin, but it was also metaphorical because it summed up what I was going through at the time,” she explains.

“I think the phrase just summed up the whole EP for me. It’s honest, genuine and 100% me,” Humberstone neatly summarises the project.

“I feel connected to it because all of it is about experiences that I’ve been through. I wasn’t writing about anything crazy – everyone has had these same experiences, so it’s universal, and hopefully people can connect to it and relate to what I was going through.”

Humberstone hails from the town of Grantham, located on the border between Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, a mere thirty minutes away from the city centre of Nottingham. “In Grantham, I didn’t have many friends who wanted to do music,” she reflects. “My school didn’t see it as a realistic career path. Coming home and writing songs was such a crucial part of my mental well-being, where I could forget about everything and just focus on music.”

Whilst her hometown of Grantham did influence her, she cites the city of Nottingham as the place that truly shaped her as both an artist and songwriter.

“Nottingham is a really special place to me. I get inspired by going out in Nottingham with my friends and hearing about what they’re going through. I wrote most of my first EP with Rob [Milton],” (who is a Nottingham-based producer), “either at home or in his basement in Nottingham, away from London and in my own familiar territory.”

Rob became a regular collaborator of Humberstone’s, returning to write The Walls Are Way Too Thin alongside her, as well as producing the EP. “When I moved to London, Rob also moved,” she explains. “For the second EP, we invited new people to write with us. Writing is my favourite part of the job. We worked with Matty Healy from The 1975 on the track Please Don’t Leave Just Yet – he is literally the coolest person in the world! I can’t deny or confirm, but there might be more tunes coming your way that were written with Matty,” she teases.

In terms of her favourite song on the six-track project, Humberstone has no difficulty in deciding that it’s “definitely a song called Scarlett,” despite assuring me that “all of them feel like they are [her] kids!” At the time of our conversation, Scarlett had not yet been heard by the world, but it ended up being released in September as a single ahead of the full EP. Interestingly, the song was not written from Humberstone’s own perspective. Instead, it was from the perspective of her friend Scarlett.

“Scarlett is written about my best friend,” she confirms, “who had been broken up with by a guy who was stringing her along and wasn’t giving her any closure or explanation. She was still attached to him, but then a few months on, she realised that she was better than that. The song is a bit of an ‘eff you’ to him!” She laughs.

In the lead up to the release of The Walls Are Way Too Thin, Humberstone embarked on a UK tour throughout October and November, including a show at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms on 10th November. Her new EP, The Walls Are Way Too Thin, is out now.

By Gemma Cockrell Photographs courtesy of Chuff Media Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

Phoneless Clubs: Is Phone-Time Ruining our Fun-Time?

From providing us with instant access to communication, to being a trusty digital companion archiving the best moments of our lives, mobile phones have become a thing of wonder which we seemingly cannot live without. But does phone-time ruin our fun-time, and could there be a future where we spend whole nights out without them?

Waking up to a slew of drunken snaps on your story is a feeling many of us have experienced. Whether it’s you, singing your heart out to the cheesiest pop hits, or just documenting your drunken antics more generally, it can be mortifyingly embarrassing.

As you rush to delete it, you realise that hundreds of people have seen it already – don’t worry, I know the feeling all too well. Phones can be a menace on a night out: the random photobombers in the back of your pictures, a list of random people added on social media, the brutal bank-destroying reality of Apple Pay and contactless payments. How can this one small device be a source of so much havoc sometimes?

Although the concept may be hard to imagine in our Gen-Z technology-dependent societies, phoneless clubs can be, and are, a pretty successful invention. London nightclub fabric recently announced a no-photo and no-video policy, following FOLD nightclub doing the same in 2018. And the concept isn’t new. Clubs in Germany took the lead on the trend, with one of the first clubs to ban phones being Berghain in Berlin, which opened in 2006. A lot of clubs in Germany implemented this policy to downplay the scandalous parties taking place behind closed doors – the risk of a respectable figure losing their dignity and reputation after a wild night was solved by banning phones altogether. Eradicating the possibility of any photographic evidence, whilst adding to the mystery and intrigue of these exclusive clubs, seemed like a pretty smart sales strategy.

The reasoning behind phoneless events has taken on a whole new meaning this year, however. Living in the moment, especially after being in lockdown for eighteen months straight, has taken on a whole new appeal. We all know the temptation to document your night out in a club with drunken videos and photos, or to record your favourite songs at a gig in sheer excitement that you’re finally hearing them live. But realistically, if you’re living a moment through a phone screen, are you really living it at all?

MUSIC

The ‘phoneless’ concept has also been trialled in the live music and comedy events’ industries. Tech company Yondr puts every audience member’s phone under lock and key, with A-listers such as Dave Chappelle, Jack White and Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) taking advantage of this by encouraging the crowd to be ‘present’ with them. It’s not unusual to hear artists begging for the sea of phones shining in their faces to be put away, either. In fact, it’s something I’ve heard myself at gigs, namely from Matty Healy, frontman of The 1975, who pleaded with concert-goers to ‘’live in the moment’’.

But what are some of the genuine benefits of phoneless events and club nights? After speaking with my friends, and reflecting on my own experiences, I’ve compiled a few collective issues which can be attributed to our phones. The first, and perhaps most problematic, has to be drunk texting. An embarrassing text to someone on your recent messages, or worse, someone you shouldn’t be messaging at all, is much too easy when you’re carried away in the moment and under the influence of alcohol. What’s arguably even worse is the unavoidable regret when you realise what you’ve done the next day. Let’s not forget about the dreadful photos and videos of you that people will have stored on their phones, either. Let’s be honest, you almost definitely don’t look your best – just a hot, sweaty mess - so it’s a sobering reality knowing that these moments are immortalised on someone’s camera roll, forevermore.

Alongside avoiding the ridiculously long Snapchat stories I mentioned earlier, these are the reasons why my peers and I would, in an ideal world, perhaps like our phones confiscated from us on the occasional night out. If not just for our sakes, for the good of everyone else online forced to witness our antics.

Having your phone taken away from you at an event, but still having access to it when you leave, could be the best solution to this, therefore. Going out without a phone in this day and age can simply be unsafe and impractical. We live in a world of Uber, cashless bars and, sadly, a pretty dangerous society, especially for women. Not having a phone to hand when out and about at night could cause real complications, especially if you found yourself in a vulnerable position.

Aside from this, attending an event without access to your phone does ruin the fun just a bit, in my opinion. These are meant to be the best years of our lives, and I, for one, would love to look back on them in time to come. Whilst I appreciate that being on your phone the whole night can disconnect you from living in the present moment, using your device in moderation definitely has its benefits. It would be extremely hard to rid our brains of the compulsion to photograph certain moments and share them. Perhaps, most simply, because of the nature of today’s society: photo sharing apps such as Instagram and Snapchat have normalised the construction of online personas who present their followers with a ‘highlight reel’ of their lives.

I would love nothing more than to live in the moment on a night out, dancing with my friends and snapping just a few well-lit, perfectly posed pictures to document the event. But we live in precarious times, and safety, especially in a big city such as Nottingham, should be our main concern. Unfortunately, therefore, having a phone is an absolute necessity. So, keep a phone with you for safety, but resist the urge to use it every few minutes. In my humble opinion, I think this balance provides the perfect formula for a really great night out.

By Amrit Virdi Photography by Alessio Lala Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

Are we losing the essence of British culture through the Americanisation of our TV shows? And if so, how?

As Impact’s Tylah Mamford explains, the answers to these questions are not as simple as first thought.

FILM AND TV

What is British TV? In truth, there are countless shows that form the backbone of British television viewing. Who hasn’t, at some point, hunkered down on an evening to watch The Great British Bake Off, Strictly Come Dancing or The Apprentice with family? How about classic soap operas like Coronation Street, EastEnders or Emmerdale? No? What about Downton Abbey, Sherlock or even Gogglebox? Undoubtedly, these shows radiate ‘Britishness’, and many are still in production, meaning there is a constant stream of British TV to be enjoyed. It seems, then, the argument that British TV is being ‘lost’ can’t be true. So, why do we still feel like we are losing the ‘Britishness’ in British TV? The answer perhaps comes from what we (as students), and others our age, gravitate towards viewing. Despite the aforementioned British programmes successes, the younger generation does not always choose to watch them. As a student, how often do you sit down on an evening to watch Coronation Street? Excuse me if I’m wrong, but I’d say for the majority of us, not very often. The craziness of student life doesn’t always suit the TV schedule, so instead we lean towards streaming services like Netflix or Disney+ for our TV fix out of ease, convenience and, perhaps, habit? Whatever it is that makes us use such services, herein lies the issue of TV becoming Americanised.

The most popular shows on these platforms, such as Modern Family, Friends, Stranger Things or Grey’s Anatomy, are all American. Despite all being great shows, it’s here where we start to see the erasure of British entertainment culture. When generations are growing up watching these shows, it’s no wonder we see British TV becoming increasingly Americanised. I’m sure many of us recall growing up with Disney Channel TV shows (now on Disney+) which made us think ‘high school’ (or secondary school, if we’re being British) was going to be very different than it ended up being. The reason for this? The simple fact is that our British school system is very different from the American school system (though nobody told us this when we were watching High School Musical!).

Now obviously, I’m not suggesting American-based shows should become more British; that would be totally unnecessary and beside the point. The real issue we now face is this: the ‘Sex Education issue’ - the problem whereby a British-based TV show still manages to exude American culture.

Undeniably, Sex Education is a highly entertaining and important show for many, myself included. However, the ‘Britishness’ of this British show is highly questionable.

Do you relate to Moordale Secondary? If you attended a British secondary school, do you honestly think your secondary school experience is mirrored in the show? The lockers lining the halls, the Letterman-style jackets worn

by Jackson Marchetti and the lack of uniform generate an extremely American setting which, again, creates a predominantly unrealistic expectation for viewers the same way High School Musical did. The show’s creators Laurie Nunn (writer) and Ben Taylor (series director) have called the American feel of Moordale a “deliberate creative callback”, giving it a nostalgic “John Hughes” feel on purpose. As a stylistic choice, this certainly makes the show visually appealing and marketable to international audiences. However, actions like this simply chip away at genuine British culture until all we’re left with is a highlystylised, fictional version.

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Looking back, there have been popular shows that seem to depict a more ‘accurate’ portrayal of British culture.

The BBC’s various shows: The Story of Tracy Beaker, Tracy Beaker Returns and The Dumping Ground were prime examples of British TV shows geared towards the younger generation. Shows like these were not as obviously Americanised, and therefore, highlighted British culture over American stylisation. This being said, it is clear that such stories don’t, and can’t, apply to everyone in Britain. Not everyone would be able to relate to Tracy Beaker, but the essence of these shows is what is lacking in today’s TV landscape.

I’m not simply calling for more British TV shows, as we’ve already noted that they are being produced in a strong and steady stream. Instead, we need to see an influx of shows targeted to the younger generations that celebrate British culture – realistically. British TV must learn to strike a balance between gritty realism and the more stylised American shows (which are, perhaps, more enjoyable to watch). This will be an extremely difficult balance to strike, but it is exactly what the British TV landscape requires at this moment. We need shows that people living in Britain can truly relate to which are still just as enjoyable as their American counterparts. Otherwise, there is a real fear that British culture will be lost to further generations bingewatching American shows, instead.

Real changes also need to be applied to viewing platforms if we genuinely want to see British TV becoming as popular as American shows. According to Ofcom, 42% of adults consider online video services to be their main medium for watching TV and film. It would seem beneficial, therefore, for more British shows to be released on streaming services, rather than broadcast TV, to target the younger audiences.

Once more then: are we losing the essence of British culture through the Americanisation of our TV shows?

The answer is two-pronged, split by generation. For the older generations: no, we are not. Plenty of traditional British shows are still thriving to this day which embrace real ‘Britishness’. However, for the younger generations: perhaps, yes. Generations growing up with Netflix and Disney+ are less exposed to British culture being reflected on TV, and this is where we risk losing the essence of Britishness in exchange for American influences. As displayed above, there must be an influx of British TV shows to celebrate British culture and change this trajectory. Rapidly.

By Tylah Mofford Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

League of Ladies : Interviewing the Women Working in the Gaming Industry

GAMING

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The gaming industry is an infamously male-dominated workplace. Impact’s Gaming Editor, Daria Paterek, interviews six women from various corners of the industry to find out their experiences of working in such an environment.

“I am an art director for a start-up. My current role is to build the visual identity for the games we produce. Part of why I love the industry is that I do not have an ‘average day’. Everything changes so dramatically. There are so many aspects of my job that I enjoy. I remember sitting in the tube and seeing someone play a game I worked on. You want to go over and say, ‘I made that’, but of course you don’t. Later in my career, it was rewarding to bring people into the industry and see them grow.”

Riana - Art Director at TreesPlease “Unfortunately, I have experienced misogyny, though not at my current studio. At a previous job, I worked as a Project Manager and found myself contributing heavily to the design of multiple titles. I did not receive credit, and I was one of two women in the company who had done a lot but had little to show for it. I now take full ownership and pride in my ideas. I feel empowered and my voice is amplified at my current studio. It has made such a huge difference in my confidence and mental health. I am a Producer of Art and Design, and my team seems grateful that I have an in-depth understanding of their disciplines.”

Jodie - Producer at Sumo Digital “I am a 3D artist and a generalist.I do everything from modelling and texturing to making scenes.

I work for a small company that does multiple simultaneous projects, and I am currently the only artist on this particular project, so I do everything! I am very new to this job, but I am glad I can make my own decisions. I also enjoy actually playing the things I create.”

Niki - 3D Artist at The Gang “A big part of why I joined WINGS is that I wanted to make a visible difference. You don’t have to be a massive advocate to make a change, but joining WINGS enables me to have a directly positive impact. We want to create standards of acceptance and excellence. I am constantly learning from the team, and it is amazing how much expertise is on the table. It feels like we are making massive movements despite being such a small team. I feel like I am changing the industry for the better.”

Corina - Communications Manager at WINGS “A game investor once pressured me to look at his penis during contract negotiations for an eSports psychologist role. I tried to contact all the big wigs in gaming about what I experienced. I created a group chat and asked them: ‘What are you going to do at the top to make this industry safer for female professionals and female consumers?’ They left the group chat shortly after.”

Anonymous “The most frustrating moments for me as a female engineer were when my peers would not respect my domain knowledge or authority as a lead. I would have to argue and prove my knowledge. It sometimes took them more than an hour to solve a problem that should have taken five minutes if the developer had just listened to me. My feedback would be easily disregarded without proper reason by my tech leads, and I would have to stand my ground and make them listen to me. All this resistance motivated me to be prepared for an argument and grow my knowledge as an engineer.”

Mahum - Software Development Engineer in Test at Unity Technology.

By Daria Paterek Illustration by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

The Console War: PlayStation vs Xbox As the perennial Microsoft vs Sony/Xbox vs PlayStation competition enters its next stage with the release of another console from both companies, Impact’s James Warrell looks at the successes and failures of both consoles, and what this means for the outcome of the ‘Console War’.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X are the latest consoles produced by Sony and Microsoft, respectively. Each generation of consoles brings major technological updates, including better graphics, lower loading times and the capability to play bigger and better games. With both consoles performing very similarly (from a technical perspective) and matching each other with a £449 price tag, who is currently winning the console war?

Early reports on sales numbers demonstrate PlayStation seems to have achieved an early lead over Xbox. Veronica Rogers, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Head of Business Operations, stated: “We are thrilled to announce that as of July 18th, 2021, we have sold more than 10 million PlayStation 5 consoles globally.” On the other hand, industry experts hypothesise that the Xbox S/X had sold 6.5 million units by June 2021, and sale rates suggest that by the end of 2021, sales numbers between the two consoles will likely be neck and neck. Either way, the sales of both consoles are staggering, outselling any of their predecessors.

While neither console had a particularly inspired initial set of launch games, PlayStation’s first year featured far more exclusive games than Xbox. In 2021, massive titles such as Crash Bandicoot 4, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Deathloop were released to the PS5.

In comparison, Xbox’s biggest game releases will be Halo and Forza, both coming in 2022. This is, perhaps, the most prominent reason for the initial gap in sales, as Xbox had fewer launches and console exclusives. Additionally, both companies had a different number of units available at launch.

PlayStation anticipated more sales, and thus had more units, while Xbox had less to sell.

So, can there be any real winner at the moment? Both companies are suffering from shortages in semiconductor microchips which are essential in the production of both consoles. This shortage has resulted in PlayStation and Xbox underperforming in sales. With that being said, I cannot help but feel there is a winner in this so-called console war, namely: Sony. With PlayStation’s everexpanding exclusive line-up only getting better and better, the PS5 continues to be a hot commodity. The PlayStation Showcase announced titles such as Marvel’s Spiderman 2, Wolverine, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Horizon Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarök. Contrastingly, Xbox’s line-up remains relatively bare-boned.

With the sales of PS5 increasing, it is more likely that the gap will expand. It seems clear to all involved, with the launch of the PS5, that Sony has established a hegemony over gaming that will be hard to challenge. But Xbox will certainly not fall too far behind, with their emphasis on affordable gaming and Xbox Game Pass, which offers far more high-profile games than the PS Plus subscription service.

By James Warrell Illustration and Page Design by Philippa Stazicker

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By E. Rain

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IMPACT

TECHNOLOGY IN SPORT:

SPORTS

The introduction of technology into the officiating of sports has garnered mixed receptions. Impact’s Daniel Evans invites us to look at how technology, by improving officiation methods, has bettered the experience of sports spectators rather than worsened it.

The joy gained from watching drama unfold, be it on the football field, the tennis court, or the rugby pitch, is beyond compare.

The thrill of a late goal, the saving of match points or the satisfaction of a well worked try are among the greatest sources of entertainment out there. There is also the agony of watching the team or player you support fall at the very last hurdle, or the anticipation of waiting for past glories to return. Is technology ruining these things? Has it sanitised sport to the point where stadiums are quiet and enjoyment is a distant memory?

Obviously not. In rugby and tennis, the use of TMO and Hawkeye are widely supported and in the case of tennis, drama has even been added as audiences eagerly await the outcome of a line challenge. It is in football that most of the controversies seem to be concentrated, with haphazard and inconsistent decision making raising the hackles of many fans, players, and pundits. Technology in general is a mixed blessing, although in sport it certainly has the capability to improve. Implementation is no simple thing, however, and when it is done incorrectly, it has the potential to do more harm than good.

In the case of Hawkeye in tennis and TMO in rugby, the impacts have been overwhelmingly positive. Hawkeye first saw widespread introduction into tennis in 2006. It involves ten ultramotion high-speed cameras working at 340 frames per second.

This data is then combined with calculations that factor in ball compression and spin to provide a prediction that is accurate to within around 3 mm. The accuracy of Hawkeye is high, being able to capture things that the human eye cannot, and it is supported by most of the tennis world. More recently, there has been a move to phase out human linespeople altogether. This is perhaps contentious, with traditionalists favouring a human touch.

However, it is this writer’s view that the true drama of tennis happens between the players. The complete phasing out of linespeople would not cause harm to the sport as a whole and in many ways, it would streamline it, with players no longer having an excuse to waste time with outbursts. Drama is found in such controversies, but it should not be the goal of sporting bodies to artificially induce disputes, particularly not by stonewalling the introduction of changes that could benefit the game.

TMO in rugby is similarly popular among its fans and players.

Rugby has far fewer grey areas in its rules than football, meaning it is easier to use a video system to check decisions.

Furthermore, rugby refereeing has a far greater degree of transparency, with the spectators being able to hear the voices of those carrying out the checks, increasing the sense of accountability. The widespread roll out of TMO in men’s rugby has happened over the last five to six years, and it has been met with little opposition due to the competency with which it is used. Checks do not typically take long, and decisions rarely unjustly alter the course of a match. The current main issue is that it is not used within the women’s game – although this in itself is an endorsement for TMO, as the issue is that it isn’t used, not that it is.

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The altogether more divisive face of technology in sport is certainly VAR in football. It is a fairly recent addition, especially when compared to Hawkeye and TMO, and it is perhaps for this reason that there have been so many issues. Football fans do tend to be ultraconservative when it comes to changes in the game; nevertheless, many were willing to give VAR the benefit of the doubt while kinks were ironed out. After two full seasons with it, however, opposition has only grown, with highly subjective opinions being enforced as law in one game and then ignored in the next. On many occasions, penalties and red cards have been given for the slightest contact, or even non-contact: decisions that have game and league altering consequences. Only recently, Leicester City had a goal ruled out because their forward, Harvey Barnes, was supposedly obstructing the keeper, a decision that seemingly only VAR could rationalise as he was not in the goalkeeper’s line of sight.

The use of goal-line technology and VAR for offside rulings is less controversial, as these are absolutes. A player is either onside or they aren’t, and the use of goal-line technology is undoubtedly positive due to its objectivity and accuracy. The issue with VAR is that it is being used too much. Referees on the pitch must make up their own minds for grey areas in the rules, while VAR should be restricted to where its use will yield a clear and obvious decision. The Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has called for VAR to be added to the women’s game, stating that its lack of introduction turns female footballers into ‘second class citizens’. This is not necessarily an endorsement of VAR but justified anger at the continuing inequality between how the women’s and men’s game are treated. A roll out in the women’s game could increase the test area, either confirming or denying its viability. While VAR is controversial, fans are still celebrating goals, the game still moves on as it has, and you will even hear new VAR-related chants being hurled across the terraces. Whilst it has not destroyed football, something needs to be done to keep the emotions of football pure; waiting for five minutes while an unheard referee checks a decision in a cubicle is not good for the game.

Has technology improved sport? Overall, I would say it has.

Greater accuracy in decision making and the successful, while often unequal, roll out in tennis and rugby is undoubtedly positive where done. Its implementation in football has been rockier but has been more successful elsewhere in Europe, such as in the German Bundesliga, showing that it is workable.

Fans still cheer, stadiums are still full, and this is unlikely to change as a result of technology.

By Daniel Evans Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

FORGETTING THE DANGERS OF CONTACT SPORTS

Are those who play contact sports suitably aware of the dangers to their long term mental health? Is the evidence linking head injuries and dementia definitive? Impact’s Cora-Laine Moynihan answers these questions and more in her exploration of a topic often forgotten about.

It’s the seventh round of your fight. You’re full of adrenaline, your hands are sweating, and saliva’s overflowing from your gum shield.

Then, it goes awry. The opposition connects their glove with your head, again and again and again. And you just wait it out, defending until an opportunity opens for you.

It’s a free kick and you sure as hell aren’t letting that ball pass your team’s wall. The opposition take their kick and your feet come off the ground. The ball is heading your way and you’re there to meet it, colliding against it with your skull.

It’s almost half-time and you’re so close to the try-line, the ball’s in the air flying down just in front of you. There is no stopping you until you catch that pass and two arms wrap around your thighs, sending you sideways to the ground where your head greets the grass first.

SPORTS

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You’re told it’s an inevitable consequence of contact sports.

Headaches. Injuries. Dizziness The loss of memories here and there. Perhaps even dementia fifteen years down the line. A risk you knowingly took. But how can it be a known risk when even the people researching dementia are not one hundred percent sure about the link between contact sports and this condition?

According to the conclusions of a research roundtable by Alzheimer’s Society, while the link between head injuries acquired during contact sports and dementia risk seems excruciatingly obvious, “there is actually little research evidence in this area, with relatively few studies and many unknowns.” So, assuming that heading a ball or getting a punch to the face instantly guides your athletic career into the grasp of dementia symptoms is a bit of a jump.

However, the minimal evidence that does exist linking the two happens to present a solid case. To shorten the distance between our two subjects, let’s start with the available research on how head injuries have presented a link with dementia in later life. A population-based observational cohort study conducted in Denmark, found that people over the age of fifty showed an increased risk of dementia over a period of ten years after sustaining a traumatic brain or head injury. And this further increased with the number and severity of injuries. From a data cohort of 2,794,852 people, 132,093 had at least one head injury during the period of 1977 – 2013, and of those, 126,734 individuals had dementia during 1999 – 2013. A similar study was conducted in Sweden, to which a similar connection between head injuries and dementia risk was made.

With these suggestions, it’s easy to conclude that contact sports where head injuries are a regular occurrence increase the risk of dementia for the athletes taking part in them. Yet, the findings of two studies cannot be generalised to every head injury, every person and every contact sport that exists. So, studies like that conducted by the University of Glasgow in 2019, become all the more valuable in improving our knowledge of this relationship.

The Glasgow researchers conducting the retrospective epidemiologic analysis published their findings in The New England Journal of Medicine. They suggested that mortality from neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Motor Neurone disease, was higher among former Scottish professional football players than among matched controls, ultimately implying that their involvement in a contact sport had heightened the risk.

But it is not just in football that cases of dementia are occurring. Steve Thompson, an England Rugby World Cup winner, has been calling for action to cut the risks of brain injury in sport after stating he doesn’t remember playing in the World Cup final in 2003, let alone winning it, due to developing dementia. After sustaining head injury after head injury while playing rugby, he has been encouraging the Government to protect athletes from long-term brain injuries. He also welcomed a report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of MPs calling for a coherent UK-wide minimum concussion protocol.

With the recommendation that the Government should adopt a similar protocol to Scotland’s Sports Concussion Guidance to protect the country’s athletes, it raises questions about how universities can better protect their own players on a smaller scale.

Across the University of Nottingham, there are at least thirty-five different contact sport societies, within which students have most likely experienced head injuries – many who may not have received the correct treatment, or taken time out to recover. And, without a doubt, the longterm repercussions of the injury would be at the back of many students’ minds. As detailed above by the numerous studies, there is a suggested link between contact sport and risk of dementia. Though not one hundred percent certain, it does exist, and students could be at risk.

Education, research and care. Those are the areas the University of Nottingham can target to create a sustainable plan for protecting students. Awareness campaigns could ensure that students engaging in sports are fully aware of the risks they face. Funding more studies into the relationship between contact sports and dementia could further increase our knowledge of the link and assist in preventing it. And finally, rather than scrap contact sports altogether out of fear of head injuries and dementia, the University should follow suit from the Government. They should implement a compulsory protocol to accompany the existing Concussion Clinic at David Ross Sports Village, ensuring students take the time to recover and get the best treatment they can after receiving a head injury.

With greater knowledge and better responses, perhaps we will be able to reduce the risk of more athletes facing dementia in the future.

By Cora-Laine Moynihan Illustration and Page Design

by Chiara Crompton

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IMPACT

SPEAKING WITH DUDLEY ‘TAL’ STOKES: THE ORIGINAL JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM CAPTAIN The Jamaican bobsleigh team captured the hearts of the world with their valiant performance in the 1988 Winter Olympics where, despite crashing out, the unlikely competitors carried their bobsleigh heroically over the finish line. Impact caught up with Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes, team captain of Jamaica’s first foray into winter sports, to discuss the legacy of the team.

Stokes had enjoyed quite the career before venturing into the Olympics, having spent time in the military and regularly competing in their football team. “I was a helicopter pilot in the army,” he said, “something I needed a lot of coordination for.” Always having a competitive mindset in both sport and his career, Stokes was soon handpicked for the bobsleigh team by Ken Barnes, father of England football legend John Barnes.

On how the bobsleigh team came to be formed, Stokes laughed: “like all good stories, this one started over a few rum and Cokes, but we turned it into a reality!” After recruiting other people to complete the four-man team – including Dudley’s brother Mark, only drafted lastminute following an injury – they practiced for months, despite having inadequate facilities.

“Many people in Jamaica thought we were wasting our time,” Stokes said, “and that the money should be used elsewhere for sports we were perceived as having a chance of winning a medal in”. At the Olympics, Jamaica specialises in athletics, winning 86 of their 87 medals in the discipline. Before 1988, it had never even contemplated entering the Winter Olympics, where no tropical nation has ever won a medal to date.

Despite the valiant effort from the underdogs at the Games in Calgary, Stokes was disappointed that his team failed to finish and seriously believed they could compete for a medal. Two further Olympics followed for Stokes, with his highest position coming with the four-man team at Lillehammer in 1994, finishing above countries such as the USA and France that had much larger financial backing.

SPORTS

Whilst preparing for their mesmerising performance in Lillehammer, the team were faced with another challenge that neither Dudley, nor his teammates, would have anticipated the magnitude of: the release of the Hollywood sensation, Cool Runnings. The film became an instant pop-culture revelation, amassing over $150 million at the Box Office.

But for Dudley, the film didn’t have the same impact as it had on the rest of the world. When asked how he felt about the film on its release, he said: “I didn’t like it one bit to begin with.”

Dudley felt the plot, very much romanticised for the big screen, had swayed too far from the original story and hadn’t represented the sacrifices made by himself and his teammates. Stokes explained how on the birth of his daughter, he had spent a matter of seconds in the delivery room before jumping in a taxi and travelling to one of the team’s many training camps.

Dudley did later admit that he now finds the film rather charming and said he understands that the message behind Cool Runnings represents something much bigger than what he and his teammates achieved. Teaching people that anyone, from anywhere, can achieve a dream is something that Dudley felt very proud to be a part of.

Since Stokes’ retirement from the sport, spreading the message conveyed in Cool Runnings, and nurturing the new generation of Jamaican athletes, has become a priority. A regular public speaker, Dudley has taken a keen interest in sports science and speaks strongly about the protection and care of young athletes’ mental health.

Over the past few years, the world of sport has rightly awoken to the issues of modern society and has begun its offensive against racial and social discrimination.

Dudley spoke in great depth about his endeavour to use his platform to contribute to these causes. Having experienced barriers in his own journey to the Olympics, Stokes has now become a mentor to younger Jamaican athletes looking to reach the peak of Winter Olympic sport.

So, can we ever expect a sequel to Cool Runnings? A film that perhaps follows the next inspirational story of a Caribbean-born Winter Olympian? For Stokes, “not in the short-term”.

There is still a general belief that breaking the status quo of traditional winter sports would be a monumental occasion, and one that is far from becoming a reality. But if anyone is to inspire the next generation of successful athletes, it would be Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes.

If you do happen to find yourself watching Cool Runnings in the near future, take a moment to familiarise yourself with the real men in the bobsleigh. It may just make you fall in love with the story all over again.

By Matthew Cotter and Josh Collins Illustrations and Page Design by Chiara Crompton

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Impact Reviews Recommends The Classics The Wizard of Oz (1939) Describing American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s The Wizard of Oz as timeless would not be strictly accurate.

The use of painted backdrops and smokeand-mirrors effects exposes this film’s 82 years. Despite many newer, shinier versions that have threatened to overthrow it, the film remains the most beloved adaptation of Baum’s novel, thanks to the surprisingly grounded and universal narrative that lies beneath the technicolor fairytale. Starting the film as a child, the story sees Dorothy leave Kansas for the first time and learn to be smart, kind and courageous, without the security of her home. By the end of the film, she comes of age, having found her way in a world that’s both familiar and foreign - as we all eventually do.

By Amelia Gibbs

Sunset Boulevard (1950) When Sunset Boulevard was initially released, it received rave reviews from critics, and is still to this day, an excellent film.

Centring around struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) and ageing silent movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), it brilliantly critiques Hollywood’s more sordid elements.

The character of Desmond, who lives her secluded life in the shadow of her former success, shows what happened to Golden Age actresses when they got older.

Desmond’s delusion and madness intensifies throughout the film as opportunities for work dry up, culminating in a violent finale. The fact that Swanson herself was a former movie star who’d fallen out of favour makes this great film even more convincing.

By Rory Beveridge

Psycho (1960)

Goodfellas (1990)

Whenever anybody refers to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho the first thought that undoubtedly comes to mind is the infamous shower scene: a knife, a murder, a crazed killer- everything needed for a classic horror.

However, that only scratches the surface of what is arguably the greatest horror film of all time. For me, Psycho has always been so memorable, because of how Hitchcock builds such tension, all the way from the film’s deceptively ordinary beginning to its shocking conclusion. Classic films such as Psycho live as proof that you don’t need blood, bones, and creepy clowns to make an audience shiver in their shoes. All you need is a gothic motel, thematic music, a shower.... plus Norman Bates and his dear old Mum.

30 years since Goodfellas hit cinemas, the thrill of watching it still remains the same.

With long one-shot scenes, switching narrators and freeze frames, Scorsese directs without restraint, upending what a gangster film can be. The three central performances are incredible, with Liotta guiding you through this fascinating universe, De Niro as a chilling psychopath and Pesci running away with every scene.

The soundtrack is just perfect, each scene illuminated by the music. A cocaine hit of a film, it seduces you with the excitement of mob life, before you crash down into the stark reality of murder and moral corruption.

You can watch it again and again, each time amazed by something new.

By Hannah Walton-Hughes

David Bowie, Low (1977) The product of an attempted escape to Germany, away from his controlling cocaine binges, Low is the first album in Bowie’s ‘Berlin Trilogy’, a collaboration with ambient music pioneer Brian Eno. Painting a Blade Runner-esque dystopia, vocalless soundscapes dominate the album, evoking both synthetic joy and impending doom.

Sound and Vision and A New Career in a New Town are feel-good highlights, never failing to bring me out in a boogie. The album’s instrumental side B is bookended by two monumental centrepieces: Warazawa begins with chimes of hopeful despair, and Subterraneans is punctuated by prophetic hums and a trepidatious saxophone, both crescendoing with apocalyptic, unintelligible Bowie vocals.

Low’s haunting moments still feel impactful, and the concept album stands out amongst Bowie’s impeccable catalogue.

By Tim Ovenden

The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses (1989) Despite mixed reviews following its initial release, The Stone Roses soon went on to be recognised as one of the greatest albums of the 80s and beyond. The fourpiece from Manchester combined the ‘jangle pop’ of the 1960s with influences from R&B to create a powerful and eradefining debut. Each song is rife with samples from a range of genres; Fools Gold uses James Brown’s Funky Drummer beat, one of the most sampled of all time, and Elizabeth My Dear pays homage to Simon and Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair.

The Stone Roses is not only a technically and musically strong album, but one which influenced many bands to come by paying tribute to those which had come before.

By Katie Hardy

By Rose Hitchen

Pulp Fiction (1994) Pulp Fiction is a movie where nothing and everything happens. The film explores a series of incidents between members of the LA underworld. I watched Pulp Fiction to understand why everyone was so obsessed with Tarantino’s comedic thriller.

The non-linear storyline and the seemingly irrelevant conversations between most of the characters did nothing but confuse me for three quarters of the movie, and just what the heck is in that briefcase?! And yet, what I think this movie does best is leave its audience feeling intrigued. The movie is interwoven with so much mystery - the viewer can create as many conspiracies as they please to explain the plotless storylines. Despite its dark themes, I highly recommend giving Pulp Fiction a watch.

By Christina Giallombardo

Blink 182, Enema of the State (1999) Blink 182’s Enema of the State has managed to remain an essential album for any music lover to have in their arsenal.

Released in 1999, the album is driven by mischievous and vulgar lyrical content that rebelled against the pop culture boundaries of the millennium. Unpolished, adenoidal vocals are fused together with upbeat, bouncy guitar riffs to create this seamless amalgamation of punk-pop. Its immature and lewd lyrics might have had critics rolling their eyes, but its devil-may-care approach to real life situations is exactly what makes it a classic. In short, Enema of the State perfectly tackles the awkward, anxietyinducing period of transition between teenager and adult in a light-hearted, yet realistic way that no album has done since.

By Rose Hitchens

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Editor-in-Chief: Niamh Robinson Print Editor: Aidan Hall Online Editor: Melina Williams Deputy Online Editors: Rosie Pinder & Nieve ODonnell External Manager: Isabelle Raikes Internal Manager: Abi Kara-Fernandes Social Media Assistant: Georgia Honey Welfare Officer: Harriet Bray Artistic Director: Chiara Crompton Head of Illustrations: Ciara Lurshay Head of Images: Rian Patel Head of News: Lauren McGaun News Editor: Safa Shahid Campus News Editor: India Rose Campbell Head of Features: Jasmin Lemarie Features Editor: Anna Friel Comment Editor: Lucinda Dodd Head of Entertainment: Cora-Laine Moynihan Arts Editor: Fatima Bobboyi Film and TV Editor: Tylah Mofford Music Editor: Gemma Cockrell Gaming Editor: Daria Paterek Head of Lifestyle: Alice Nott Style Editor: Kiah Tooke Travel Editor: Anna Stacey Food Editor: Aleyna Adamson Science Editor: Christina Giallombardo Head of Sport: Matthew Cotter Sports Editor: Josh Collins Head of Reviews: Amrit Virdi Reviews Editor: Alex Watkin Head of Podcasts: Charlotte Smith Podcast Editor: Hannah Penny Investigation Team: Niamh Robinson, Madeleine Collier, Emily Vivian, Lauren Mcgaun, Alice Nott, Gareth Holmes, Hannah Walton-Hughes, Jasmin Lemarie, India Rose Campbell, Natasha Saxton, Lana Christon, Tessa Williams, Faith Millington, Sarina Rivlin-Sanders, Rebecca Starkie, Olivia Conroy, Lauren Bryant, Niamh Budd

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