ISSUE 269, MAR. 2022 INSIDE IMPACT:INVESTIGATESSTALKINGINNOTTINGHAM,YOURDEGREESTEREOTYPEANDMORE...
Aries Aries. Every year, one sign is out to cause problems, and this year, it’s you. With Mars moving into your sign in May, you’re feeling ultra-competitive, and everyone’s going to know about it. Somebody sat in your favourite seat in Hallward? Not a problem. You’ll throw them off with your own bare hands. Difficult sports match on the cards? Hardly an issue. You’ll steal the sports kits of all your opponents, forcing them to play naked or concede. Some deep introspection may be beneficial in 2022. Perhaps a daily campus lakeside meditation… before 6 am, however, to minimise the risk of anyone coming into contact with you. Taurus Oh Taurus, 2022 just isn’t your year, is it? With Venus in retrograde in Capricorn, your relationships and finances are looking a tad ropey. No more Portland Spar and Sainsbury’s Local trips for you. In fact, just cut clubbing out altogether. New romances are off the cards, so your religious Ocean Friday appearances are just getting a bit embarrassing. Try your hand at consulting or join the committee of Matchmaking Soc instead. If you can’t help your own bank account and love life until 2023, why not help everyone around you get rich and find The One?! That should make you feel better. Gemini Geminis, 2022 is all about communication for you. Mercury turns retrograde after heading into Aquarius which means if you don’t make your intentions unambiguously clear, you’re looking at total chaos. Uninterested in that flatmate making hopeful advances? Time for a clear rebuttal. “It’s not you, it’s me” won’t cut it anymore. Instead, feign a longlost lover or commit to a life of solitude. The same message applies to all areas of your life. Flatmates leaving their dishes in the sink? Smash them Greek wedding-style and see how seriously they take you now. 2022 is a year of grand gestures for you. Cancer Cancers, you are oftentimes characterised as over-emotional and somewhat unpredictable. In 2022, however, Saturn’s pairing with Aquarius means your nonconformist, maverick attitude serves you well. As other signs remain risk-averse, patiently queuing for their Boots meal deal of choice, you’ll saunter to the front of the line, seizing the last herby chicken wrap before it’s gone. No more will you succumb to the British affliction of over-apologising either. Social norms mean nothing to you as you violently elbow people on the Hopper Bus in your pursuit of the backseat. You profit as others slave to
Between a global pandemic and war in Europe, the state of the world right now is nothing short of terrifying. But for some of you, it’s not all bad. In fact, a few of you have rather positive years ahead. Impact’s Editor-in-Chief, Niamh Robinson, provides you with your very own 2022 UoN-relevant horoscopes, based on genuine cosmological happenings over the next year. Be warned, however, for some of you it’s still looking pretty bleak.
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Contents1014 20 27 30 46 50 News 6-7 Mini News Stories 8-9 UoN’s Illegal ‘Study Drugs’ Trade on the Rise 10-12 Impact Investigates: One woman’s story of stalking, harassment and failure by the system Features 14-15 Imposter Syndrome, Mockery and Misconceptions: The Experiences Of A Northern Working-Class Student at UoN 16 “Ultimately, Someone Else’s Well Being is Reliant, at Least Partially, on You”: An Insight into the Life of a Young Carer 17 Debate Night: Should Private Schools Be Abolished? 18-19 The Right Way to Think about Poverty Means Only One Thing: We Must Give Free Money to All 20-21 Suits, Seduction and Saturday Nights: UoN in the Sixties 22-23 ‘You Are What You Study’ - What Your Degrees Say About You 24 UoNSU Education Officer Provides A Students’ Guide to the Strikes Lifestyle 26 A National Food Service: The Healthcare of the Future 27 Vegan Stereotypes: Are they Harming the Movement? 28-29 Denial of Healthcare, Education and Dignity: Life as a Modern Gypsy Roma Traveller 30-31 Climate Change: How can You Choose Hope? 32 Fashioning Class: How Clothing Has Been Used to Impose Class 33-36 Photoshoot: In-Situ Entertainment 38-39 The BBC’s Rickie Haywood-Williams: Navigating the Entertainment Industry as an Extrovert 40 Impact’s Arts Editor Chooses her Top Three Social Justice Art Installations of 2021 41 Poem: How to be Successful 42 Nepotism and Networking: Are Connections Crucial to make it on the Big Screen? 43 Does a High Budget Mean High Quality? The Truth Behind Excessive Music Budgets 44-45 My Gaming Family: How Video Games Brought my Siblings Together 46-47 Talking with The Wombats: New Music, TikTok Fame and Rock City Nights 48 Musicians Making an Impact: Using Music to Tackle Class and Economic Inequality Sport 50-51 ‘It’s a Rich Man’s World’: Have You Got to be Loaded to Drive in Formula 1?’ 52-53 Most Outrageous Stories from UoN’s Sports Society Socials 54-55 Pay to Play?: The Extortionate Hidden Costs of UoN Sport 56-57 Reviews: Impact Reviews Recommends Page Design by Rian Patel
IMPACT he threat of terrorism, the global financial crash, the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine – modern life is played out against a backdrop of repeated international crisis, each one supposedly more ‘unprecedented’ than the last. It seems that at all times humanity is reeling from some incident of purported world-shattering proportion. Submerged, as we are, in 24-hour media coverage that travels from Luhansk to London in seconds, we are inundated with news of such crises and find ourselves consumed by Wethem.donot, however, have to feel downtrodden or powerless in the face of these events.
Aspiring to act in this space, Impact’s 269th issue asks to what extent wealth and high income gives some individuals and groups unfair privilege in society. In News, Daisy Torrington and Jasmin Lemarie chart the rise of study drug use amongst students, and ask if it is unfair that they provide an academic advantage to those that can afford them.
In the shadow of crisis, our actions and ideas not only retain their meaning, but take on a renewed importance, and at Impact we hope this issue serves to highlight this. Enjoy the read, and we’ll catch up with you next time in our last edition of the year. Aidan Hall Print Editor
Did you know Impact also has a Podcast section! Check it out at https://impactnottingham.com/section/podcasts/
In Features, Felix Hawes and Poppy Read-Pitt debate the role of money in Britain’s education system by giving opposing views on a contentious question: should private schools be abolished?
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In Entertainment, Orla Newstead discusses the prevalence of nepotism in the film and TV industry, while Lifestyle’s Emily Campbell asks if a National Food Service is the best way to remove low income and the high cost of living as barriers to a healthy diet.
In Sport, Gemma Cockrell talks with Nottingham student and GB3 driver, Alex Fores, about the professional repercussions for a competitor if they lack the adequate funding, before Kit Sinclair investigates the exorbitant costs of UoN sport. This edition of Impact magazine also draws attention to how art in all its forms can contribute to our fight for a fairer society. In Entertainment, Fatima Bobboyi shares her favourite art installations that contribute to social criticism, while Amrit Virdi explores how musicians have used both their lyrics and their platforms to engage in similar critiques. Finally, Impact Reviews give us their thoughts on some films and performances that engage with class, race and inequality.
For, there is a whole arena in which our political action can make a real difference. A sphere where our actions can liberate our own political energies while also contributing to an effort of wider liberation of those living under conditions of disadvantage. That arena is one where we fight for social justice and a fairer economy with radical and progressive ideas. This is the space where students have found themselves since the middle of the twentieth century – it is our home turf, so let’s make use of it.
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The news follows Impact’s damning investigation into women’s safety. Our survey found that, of the 321 female-identifying students who had experienced sexual assault or harrassment whilst at the University of Nottingham, over 90% decided not to report it.
By Lauren McGaun
Nottinghamshire power cuts after police discover huge cannabis farm
The report, which surveyed 4,000 staff, found that 52% of those who experienced sexual violence did not report it to their boss. The UCU says this is part of a vicious cycle in which universities refuse to acknowledge the extent of sexual violence or take action. Staff at the start of their careers are reported to be the most vulnerable, due to their insecure contracts and fear of speaking out. According to the findings, non-permanent staff were 1.3 times more likely to experience direct sexual violence than those in permanent positions.
More than 300 cannabis plants were seized by police officers from an industrial unit in Plumtree Road, Harworth, on Friday 21st January. The warehouse being used to grow the cannabis farm was extracting so much power that tens of thousands of pounds worth of electricity was bypassing the meter. This energy surge then resulted in the rest of the estate experiencing power cuts, according to the Nottinghamshire APolice.further 30 cannabis plants were also discovered the same day in a house in Bawtry Road, Harworth. The cannabis was found to be growing in a garage, as well as in two other rooms which were in the process of being renovated. Sergeant Simon Johnson stated: “We are extremely pleased to have taken a large amount of cannabis out of circulation and away from our streets.”
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“Institutional failure” says UCU as sexual violence found to be endemic at UK universities One in ten University staff members say they have experienced sexual violence in the past five years, according to a recent UCU report.
A further 100 cannabis plants were also seized by officers on January 23rd at an address on Ryemere Close, in Eastwood, and a 27-yearold man was arrested on suspicion of cannabis cultivation and abstracting electricity without authority. As a police investigation continues, Police Sergeant James Rimmington said: “Drugs wreck lives and their use and supply have a negative impact upon communities.”
By India Rose Campbell
UCU’s General Secretary Jo Grady said: “The report’s findings reveal shocking levels of institutional failure and reflect a culture in which protecting the reputation of a university comes before delivering justice for survivors.”
Nottingham awardwinscollaborativeuniversities’misogynyresearchTheTimesHigherEducation
For a number of years, the government has tried to encourage the nation to have a more balanced diet. In recent campaigns, such as the New Better Health Campaign, parents have been encouraged to make better food choices for their children using the new NHS food scanner app. Initiatives like this aim to prevent weight-related conditions, such as type two diabetes, developing in future gen erations by deterring consumers from buying unhealthy products.
Professor Louise Mullany, a sociolinguist at UoN, and Doctor Loretta Trickett, a criminologist at NTU, have won The Times Higher Education ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community Award’ for their research into Nottinghamshire Police’s misogyny hate crime policy. Their research evaluated the success of Nottinghamshire Police’s decision to make misogyny a recognised hate crime. The policy was introduced in April 2016 and was the first of its kind in the country. Mullany and Trickett found that misogynistic hate crime is highly prevalent in Nottinghamshire. Of those who responded to a survey, 93.7% said they had experienced or witnessed street harassment in the Theircounty.research also found that the policy received clear support from the public, including victims, and that many thought this hate crime status for misogyny should be rolled out nationally. Respondents were also in favour of educational strategies to change negative attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate hate crimes, particularly campaigns that “actively and positively engage boys and men”. The judges of The Times Higher Education awards pointed to a number of positive outcomes of the research and said it had become “the ‘go to’ resource in law and policing”. Other police forces have since implemented similar policies, and a retired Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police said that Mullany and Trickett’s research “has been compelling in making the difference”. By Ellie Ames Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton UoN researchers take on fat and sugar in the culinary industry
Resident anger continues to grow over Nottingham E-Scooters Local Nottingham residents have been expressing increasing frustration and anger over the presence of rentable E-scooters in the city. Commonplace in Nottingham ever since their trial period commenced on the 27th of October 2020, with ten collection and drop-off points on University Park campus alone, the scooters have become a staple for Nottingham Instudents.early
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University of Nottingham researchers at the Food Innovation Centre, based on the Sutton Bonnington Campus, are targeting the roots of the food and drink industry. Through the creation of informational fact sheets, they are providing advice on how to make products healthier. The researchers are giving guidance to manufacturers in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire on how to decrease and replace saturated fats in their products. Their focus outlines ways to create healthier produce from the start, by using cost-effective replace ments for ‘bad fats’. This scheme, rather than targeting consumers, attempts to change the ingredients in the products being put on store Providingshelves. the scheme is successful, they hope to roll out their fact sheets to manufacturers across the country. If so, this initiative has the potential to change the products on offer at our local supermarkets. By Emily Campbell
Professor Matt Brooks has helped to develop a critical new brain scanner. Brooks, a University of Nottingham physicist, said he is honoured to have received a Physical Science and Engineering Laureate award from the New York Academy of Science worth £100,000 in prize Currentmoney.brain scanners are extremely heavy, often inhibiting the wearer’s movement and engagement in everyday activities. However, Brooks’ new scanner allows participants to move their head freely and impinges far less on normal life. The scanner is designed to measure magnetic fields generated by electrical current flow within the brain, exterior of the participant’s head and scalp surface. Researchers will then be able to reconstruct the fields mathematically and gauge what the brain is doing at any given moment. It will be particularly beneficial when testing participants with conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinsons, other movement disorders and mental health problems. Researchers have described the scanner as ‘revolutionary’ in brain imaging. The invention is capable of identifying the areas of the brain responsible for everyday activities, such as drinking tea, nodding and even playing bat and ball. It is officially being ‘installed’ in clinical settings, and collaborations with the UK charity Young Epilepsy and Toronto-based Sick Kids are in process. Professor Nicholas B. Dirks, CEO of the New York Academy, commended these “scientific solutions benefitting millions”. By Hannah Walton-Hughes
UoN’s Professor Brooks awarded £100,000 for ‘revolutionary’ brain scanner
January this year, the Nottingham Post reported on the experience of a resident in Lenton who was nearly knocked down by a rider on the pavement. The resident stated: “They are just a complete nuisance and I do not understand what improvements have been made to make them safer.” Additionally, on local discussion forum NextDoor, a post criticising the E-scooter trial garnered over 600 replies – many of which shared this same Despitesentiment.this, the trial has been extended until November 2022, meaning they will continue to be used for at least the rest of the year. In addition, Superpedestrian, the company which runs WIND/LINK, have said they are investing in AI technology to automatically impede E-scooters being driven unsafely. Policy Director Jean Andrews said: “LINK is the only e-scooter available today with the technological capacity to run the ‘Pedestrian Defence’ system.” It remains to be seen whether this investment will quell anger at the scheme. By Ben Mellor
Impact news reporters Daisy Torrington and Jasmin Lemarie investigate the increased use of ‘study drugs’acrossUKuniversitiesandspecificallyatthe University of Nottingham.
“beatingoutof[his]chestand[hewas]havingpalpitations”.
UoN’s illegal ‘study drugs’ trade on the rise
Ostensibly, study drugs make you work harder, at least whilst under the influence. T his b egs t he ques tion: do they provide an unfair advantage over those who choose not to use them or cannot access them? Of those who responded to an Impact questionnaire*, one third said they thought the use of such cognition enhancers did provide an unfair advantage. Of these respondents, two thirds had never taken them and did not know of anyone else who had used them either. By contrast, of those who had taken study drugs or knew of someone else who had, 71% felt that they did not provide an unfair adv antage The most common of those used are Modafinil, Ritalin and Adderall. Although it is not against the law to take these drugs, it is illegal to distribute or sell them, meaning students are forced to purchase them on the dark web or from local dealers. So, what’s it like to take a study drug? Impact spoke to John (not his real name), a current Nottingham second year student who has taken Modafinil in the past. Upon using the drug, John said he experienced “increased memory and increased focus”. He claimed that Modafinil gave him a period of “a few hours when [he] had a significantly heightened attention span and could focus on reading and coursework”. However, even after John had completed his intended workload, he reported that “some of the side effects like insomnia and dehydration lasted for around 18 hours”. Throughout this time, he found that his In recent years, there has been a reported increase in the number of university students using cognition enhancers, commonly known as ‘study drugs’. These are drugs used by students to increase attention span and concentration during stressful periods, such as coursework and exam seasons. heartbeat was continuously increasing until it felt like it was
Furthermore, John’s heightened focus did not diminish until long after he had completed his assignments and he found himself “constantly moving around having to try to find something to do”, such as cleaning his room or getting extra reading done for his course.Another anonymous respondent, who observed the effects study drugs had on a friend, said that the main negative reaction experienced was hyper-activeness and shaking, similar to what may be felt after consuming excessive amounts of caffeine.
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*The survey had 18 respondents. By Daisy Torrington and Jasmin Lemarie Photography and Page Design by Rian Patel
An online survey published last year found that 19 percent of students across 54 British Universities had used cognition enhancers. This suggests that, whilst study drug-users are not in the majority, usage is continuing to increase as students struggle to face the pressures that university brings.
Universities are wanting to tackle the problem, with some experts like British educator Sir Anthony Seldon calling for Vice-Chancellors to make study drugs “as unacceptable as performance enhancing drugs are in competitive sport”. Seldon believes that these drugs give some students an unfair advantage and will create an environment that pressurises other students into taking them.
A student who spoke to The Times, said: “There is a total misconception: people think it somehow is going to improve their memory and they can write a fantastic essay. That’s not the case. You are the same person. You are just awake and can concentrate better. It’s not improving anything about you.”
Given rising study drug use, we might also ask why stu dents feel the need to take these cognitive enhancers. Many blame an unrealistic university workload which forces individuals to turn to stimulants. When we spoke to John about why he had started taking Modafinil, he made reference to the complexity of the work he had been assigned. John had started taking Modafinil in first year when the step up from A-Level work started to become more noticeable and the academic level of his readings became increasingly difficult.
On the topic, John explained that although Modafinil undeniably increased his attention span and allowed him to get a lot of work done in one go, he did not think that it increased the quality of the work he produced. For this reason, John believed that study drugs do not provide an unfair advantage to the individ uals who take them. Indeed, 66% of all respondents felt that study drug users did not have an unfair advantage over non-users.
In a Times article last year, students at Oxford, Notting ham, Edinburgh and the London School of Economics were noted as being able to obtain study drugs for as little as £2 per pill, finding it a cheaper alternative to buying a cup of coffee from Starbucks. The drugs most commonly used, Modafinil and Ritalin, are available at pharmacies on a prescription only basis; however, it is possible to buy them online without proof of a prescription. Ritalin is used to treat ADHD and has been proven to help students with this disorder complete work in school to deadlines. It can make people without ADHD feel energetic and focused, but there hasn’t been any conclusive research as to wheth er the drug helps people learn or remember information. Modafinil is used to aid people with sleeping disorders and, whilst it hasn’t been tested for long term side-effects, there have been rare reports of psychosis and mania. John took Modafinil initially to be able to focus on a set text that he had to read. He had been trying to get into the book for weeks but struggled to focus due to its complexity. However, after using the drug, John said that he managed to “read the entire course book, made notes on it and did extra reading around the book because [his] mind was so awake”. Despite this, John still struggled with a degree of difficulty and con fusion regarding his course, even after taking Modaf inil. He did not think that the use of the stimulant had increased his understanding or ability; it was only use ful for “needing to get work done and out of the way”.
However, universities banning these drugs may only make students want to obtain them even more, increasing the dangers for those who do use them. It would create an underground market for these drugs and, as there would be no regulation on the ingredients, students would be more at risk of adverse side effects. Perhaps, an approach of education and increased mental health support may be more effective in preventing more students turning to study drugs in the future.
Photography by Alessio Lala and Megan Wilde
“They are waiting for someone to be killed”: One woman’s story of byharassmentstalking,andfailurethesystem 10 IMPACT
According to Scotland Yard, stalking incidents increased by 300 percent between April 2020 and February 2021. Freedom of information requests by Impact revealed an increase of over 57% in stalking incidents reported to Nottinghamshire police between March 2020 and December 2021, with a peak of a 136% increase in October 2020. Nearly 82% of these stalking offences were directed against women. Rachel HormanBrown, a lawyer and chair of stalking advocacy charity Paladin said in an interview with the BBC that lockdowns had made victims easier to stalk as people were confined to their homes. Despite this, a BBC freedom of information request found that arrests had risen at half the rate of offences between 2019 and 2020. Many believe UK stalking laws provide insufficient protection to victims. The University of Nottingham’s Pro Bono society told Impact: “the law on stalking is in a similar position to the law on domestic abuse about twenty years ago – it needs developing.” With stalking only being introduced as a specific offence in 2012, as an annex to the 1997 Protection from Harassment Order, it is still not formally defined in UK legislature. Instead, it is characterised through potential acts such as “watching” and “spying” on a person, or “interfering with property”, which police apply on a case-by-case basis. This raises questions about the law’s efficacy. If the responsibility for deciding when a case constitutes stalking falls to the officers in charge, this creates room for varied responses across the force. Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs), new civil orders created to tackle stalking in 2020, seem like a step in the right direction. However, leading stalking authority the Suzy Lamplugh Trust states that their effectiveness is limited if officers do not feel a case meets the ambiguous stalking
Chief Inspector English stressed the importance of ensuring “victims are listened to and are kept up to date with progress in cases”. She also recognised the “impact stalking and harassment offences have on victims and… their friends and family”, concluding with this message for anyone affected: “We will treat them sensitively and professionally and will do everything we can to gather all of the evidence and take action.” Despite these assurances, Jane and Emma’s cases have both been closed, even though the stalking is ongoing. Jane says she feels “terrified, let down and alone”.
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As soon as the stalking began, Jane and Emma both made police reports. However, an investigation concluded that no further action could be taken due to insufficient evidence. An appeal to a local MP led to a case review which resulted in the same outcome. Throughout these six months, Jane kept detailed records of all potential evidence as advised by police. This included voicemails, emails, Ring Doorbell footage and CCTV. The latter, she tells us, even captured the perpetrator damaging her property, however police said the footage was too unclear to press charges. Impact contacted Nottinghamshire police for comment, receiving the following response from Chief Inspector Amy English: “Officers carried out a full investigation including CCTV enquiries, speaking to witnesses and interviewing a suspect”. Police “arrested a 35-year-old man in relation to these offences” but there was “insufficient evidence to progress the case to court”.
One early January morning, a post on a local Nottingham forum caught the attention of our Impact team. “My daughter and I are suffering from stalking and harassment”, it read, the author of the post a woman in her forties who we’ll refer to as Jane. The comments were filledw ithwell-meaning shows of support: some providing practical advice such as “speak to your local Women’s Aid”, others suggesting deterrents such as sleeping with the television on or investing in cameras.Impactmade contact with Jane and asked her if any of these measures had been successful. Worryingly, she said they had not, and alleged that it was discrimination within Nottinghamshire police and inadequate legal protection for victims that had resulted in a failure to resolve her case.
“Jane has a disability and English is her second language, so this added further access barriers when reporting her case to Nottinghamshire police” Jane and her daughter Emma (names changed for anonymity) live in fear of Emma’s ex-partner After a relationship breakdown, Emma moved out of the home soJanegopropertyvoicemailsharassment.bothsixtheysharedduetodomesticviolence.SpeakingwithJanemonthson,shetoldusthatthismanwassubjectingherselfandEmmatointimidation,stalkingandSincethebreakup,hehasleftcountlessandthreateningmessages,damagedprivateandtriedtointerceptherdaughteratwork.“Iwithoutshoweringforawholeweekduetoanxiety,”toldus.“I’mlosingmyhairandmyappetiteisbad.”Janestatedthatshehardlyleavesthe house, terrified that he may be hiding in her garden, something she knows he has done before. Jane has a disability and English is her second language, so this added further access barriers when reporting her case to Nottinghamshire police. She believes these factors led police to treat her as a burden.
Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Paddy Tipping, attempted to confront these systemic issues. Mr Tipping allocated over £80,000 to several local charities combatting stalking in 2019. This enabled the pilot of a Nottinghamshire ‘Stalking Advocacy Service’ by local charities Women’s Aid and Equation, allowing non-domestic stalking victims in Nottingham to access the same kind of support as domestic abuse victims. Impact spoke with Mr Tipping, who told us that the “education of young men” was crucial in tackling issues of “male violence” like stalking. He stressed the need for stalking to “move up the agenda” and stop being viewed as a “frivolous issue” due to the potential for “very serious consequences”. During his tenure, Mr Tipping believed gender-based violence was best tackled by allocating funding to third sector organisations. Rather than expecting already over-tasked police forces to provide specialist support, he believes funding external organisations provides the “best dividend for police money”. He also raised concerns about police being “behind the curve” when it comes to online stalking. He told us that some of the station computers were decades old, and officers did not have sufficient technological proficiency to support victims. Online stalking is particularly hard to combat, as perpetrators can create fake accounts and anonymous profiles, preventing their identification.
Impact also spoke with representatives of Juno Women’s Aid, the Nottingham-based charity tasked with running the first stalking advocacy service for victims of nondomestic stalking. This service provides everything from bespoke safety plans to guidance navigating both the criminal and civil courts. Their representatives told us that stalking cases can be long-running and complicated, and the police are overwhelmed. They currently have one non-domestic violence stalking advocate but stated that it would require hundreds of staff to provide support for every case. A petition calling for more stalking advocacy services across the country recently received over 100,000 signatures and was debated in UK Parliament. Currently, it appears to be a postcode lottery as to whether you can receive local support, particularly for non-domestic victims.
Impact have now directed Jane to Juno Women’s Aid non-domestic stalking helpline, but evidently, police should be taking a more victim-led approach. The current process - requiring victims to gather evidence over time to build a case against their stalker - is traumatic and ineffective. Capturing irrefutable evidence of your stalker in the act is near impossible, especially when police consider offences in isolation rather than as part of a larger pattern of behaviour. Stalking laws must change.
Support and resources: You can take action if you are being stalked and call the police on their non-emergency number 101. If you are in immediate danger, however, always call Juno999.
Change cannot come soonWrittenenough.byNiamh Robinson Research team comprised of: Niamh Robinson, Laura Scaife, Ellie Ames, Hannah Walton-Hughes, Lauren McGaun, Poppy Read-Pitt, Emily Vivian, Natasha Saxton, Faith Millington, Tessa Williams, Lana Christon and Sarina Rivlin-Sanders.
Women’s Aid Stalking Advocacy Service helpline: 0115 947 6490 Juno Women’s Aid 24-hour helpline: 0808 800 0340 Equation’s Helpline for men: 0115 960 5556 as though they [the police] are waiting for someone to be killed before they do anything. How much evidence do they need?”
First, legally defining stalking is crucial if case outcomes are not to be left to the discretion of individual officers. Secondly, greater government funding is needed for more stalking advocates, particularly to support individuals who may be further disadvantaged by a disability or language barrier. As Mr Tipping said, it is time stalking was pushed up the police agenda and taken more seriously as a precursor to violence. For women like Jane and Emma, forced to live in a state of hypervigilance and failed by a system better at protecting perpetrators than victims, the future is unknown and frightening.
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Jane told us she wants practical help, but the services Nottinghamshire police signposted her to either only aided domestic victims or just offered emotional support.
Whilst sufficient evidence is vital in the prosecution of any crime, providing evidence can be particularly problematic in stalking cases. This is because stalking offences are defined by the accumulation of small acts like persistent calling and messaging, acts which may not seem menacing when considered in isolation. However, these small acts can escalate and become a precursor to violence. As Jane said: “It’s as though they [the police] are waiting for someone to be killed before they do anything. How much evidence do they need? It could end with a dead body somewhere.” Furthermore, UK law currently provides greater protection for those facing domestic stalking or harassment than those facing stalking or harassment from a non-domestic contact. In Jane’s case, this could mean she was entitled to less protection than her daughter under UK law, as Emma’s case would be considered domestic, and Jane’s would not. Furthermore, pursuing a civil case outside of the criminal courts is hugely costly, with one individual telling Impact that it cost several thousands of pounds for her family to be granted an injunction against a stalker. Outside of the criminal courts, therefore, legal settlements are not a feasible financial option for many Formervictims.
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When we moved to Northumberland, I saw it as one big adventure. Little did I know, it would be my first time encountering people with a different accent to myself and my first experience of feeling different to others. This change led me to acquire two different accents: one more Northumbrian accent at school, and one more Yorkshirebased accent at home (to the amusement of my mum).
TheMisconceptions:MockerySyndrome,andExperiencesOfANorthernWorking-ClassStudentatUoN
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writes about her experience of coming to university, where her identity as a northern, working-class student left her, at times, feeling alienated and misunderstood.
Imposter
Growing up in the north, I moved around a little bit. At eight, I moved from Kirkburton, Huddersfield (where I had lived all my life so far) up to Ashington, Northumberland, where my mum is from originally. Aged eleven or twelve, we once again moved closer to where I was born and put down roots in Leeds.
Moving again, back to Leeds, meant yet another change.
Impact’s Deputy Online Editor Nieve O’Donnell
Photography by Sergio Lopez Page Design by Chiara Crompton
After my GCSEs and A-Levels, there was an expectation that I would do well at university. Most of my family couldn’t relate to the feelings of imposter syndrome I found myself experiencing, feelings which persisted both in the lead up to university and even after I’d settled in. In sixth form, I was one of a few students who managed to secure a place at Oxford, but in all honesty, I was relieved to head to Nottingham instead. Even with Nottingham possessing a less elitist reputation than Oxford, I still experienced people reacting to the audible differences between my accent and Mosttheirs.ofthe students at UoN are from the south, or at least not as far north as myself. So, although my Yorkshire accent is perceived as comparatively posh at home in Leeds, it seems this wasn’t the case on coming to Nottingham. It was immediately pointed out, and this only further exacerbated my feelings of imposter syndrome. So much so that my insecurities over sounding different even began to seep into my work environment. In seminars, I knew my thoughts were valid, but I found myself too scared and nervous to share my ideas for fear of my accent being judged, or simply misunderstood.
The great thing about university, though, is that it is a level playing field. At Nottingham, the University puts on events and panels to showcase certain industries. There are multiple welfare networks, and they’re always advertising opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds or minority ethnicities.
I didn’t fully understand the extent of the privileges experienced by certain private school students until coming to university. It felt somewhat inconceivable that most people in your year would have support from parents in applying to university, as potentially they themselves may even have attended, or more help with their personal statements. Some workingclass kids cannot even afford to attend open days, and some have no one to tell them what admissions teams are looking for in personal statements.
And I know I am not alone in these feelings; others have had similar experiences. Aoifke-Madeline, currently studying English at Durham University and from North Yorkshire (not far from myself), wrote that she would “sit in a room and count the amount of people who went to private schools versus the amount of people who went to state schools”, an experience she described as “jarring” and “one she’d never encountered before”. I have found myself in similar situations and know that this feeling of being out of place is one only my friends from home can really relate to.
Interestingly, I realised that the friends I have made at university are mostly from similar backgrounds to myself. I just don’t move within social circles comprised of wealthier students, perhaps due to our different upbringings naturally resulting in different opportunities and different interests (I don’t ski, for example, so rarely encounter those who do). Another reason for this may simply be my hesitancy about interacting with these kinds of people. On occasion, although this has happened very rarely, I have experienced people misunderstanding me, or making jokes about the North, and this only further reinforced my feelings of alienation. s of alienation. At Nottingham, in the cohort of 2018-19, 7% of students came from Yorkshire and the Humber, 2% from Wales, 7% from the North West and 2% from the North. In comparison, 27% of students came from the South East and 20% from Greater London. This clearly shows that the university cohort is not representative of the population as a whole, evidencing a wider classism problem. I’m now worried that my background could pose a disadvantage within my graduate job hunt due to misconceptions that people with northern accents aren’t as intelligent or as easy to understand. There is much more work that needs to be done within both universities, and across wider society, regarding socioeconomic status and access into certain industries.
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Most of my school year did not go to university, and I was in the minority in wanting to do so. Being an English student, literature is very important to me, and some of my favourite writers came from workingclass backgrounds and offered unique perspectives on class divides. It makes little sense, therefore, that many working-class students feel that University is not an option for them, just because their parents didn’t go. These students deserve an education that empowers and includes them, instead of one that belittles and excludes them.
‘Futures’ took us to open days and even paid for a trip to London for Oxbridge applicants; we spent the day listening to tutors and having mock interviews with Oxbridge graduates. Unfortunately, this program no longer runs, meaning many will miss out on this amazing opportunity.
Even if you may be confronted by people with different accents to yourself, or people with misconceptions about working-class areas and families, university provides every student with the springboard to achieve great things. More than anything, it is a chance to prove that where you come from does not define where you will go. By Nieve O’Donnell
Largely, I was concerned that other students without such strong regional distinctions in their accents would be condescending. Further to this, many of the students I encountered had far more experience in public speaking than I did, especially to large groups. My schooling experience didn’t lend itself to public speaking opportunities, at least not until I decided to run for Head Girl in sixth form which enabled me to practice. Since then, however, my university experience has provided me with lots of opportunities to develop this skill, such as running for society roles, giving presentations and even just speaking with other students. I’ve since realised that many tutors are themselves from a variety of backgrounds, and most of the students I know are far more interested in your thoughts and your experiences than the associations your accent might have.
I sought help from both the TeachFirst ‘Futures’ program and the Social Mobility Foundation which I was lucky enough to be offered a place on. The Social Mobility Foundation provided me with a mentor who was working at a law firm and had studied English at Durham University. They also offered a personal statement service and provided me with work experience at the Ministry of Justice, which I wouldn’t have even thought of applying for.
young carer to her mum. Assuming these responsibilities from a young age, Anna courageously shares her personal story. I was about 18 when I realised that I’d grown up as a young carer. I was looking at something online when I happened upon the definition, paused for a second, and thought: hold on, wasn’t that me? I had never quite made the connection that I came under the label. It seems obvious to me now, but when you grow up with a sick family member, you really don’t know any different. My mum was diagnosed with a brain tumour just after I turned one, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) not long after that. It started out slowly. I remember making sure that the dishwasher was emptied and stacked when I was little and getting tall enough to start doing the washing up in the sink. When Mum would go into hospital for weeks at a time, my dad would often try to be with her in the evenings, so my brothers and I would cook for each other I think I must have been about 10 years old when I was able to make dinner by myself, though still not strong enough to pick up the pans full of Thefood.brand names of the many pills that I’d bring to my mum every day are burned into my memory Slowly, the MS weakened her At first, it was a case of me writing things for her when she could no longer hold a pen properly Then, it was giving her a supportive arm to get out of bed or up from a chair and making sure she had her stick. Eventually, it was pushing her wheelchair. Still, it took a long time for me to realise that not everyone had these responsibilities. I remember my brother complaining in the car once that none of his friends at school had all the chores we did. My dad responded that he knew we had more duties than other children, but our situation was different, and we had to help out. From the back seat, my mind was racing: this isn’t normal for someone my age? The hardest thing, though, was all the emotions that came with it. Deep down, you don’t mind doing all that work, but you do mind the feeling of helplessness as you hold your mother whilst she has a seizure. The fear of knowing that all this was beyond your control, and that the person you love more than anyone else in the world is hurting. What’s worse, they’re hurting even more with guilt that you must do this for them. You want them to know that you don’t care, and that you’d carry on doing this for the rest of your life if it meant that they were still with you, but the guilt remains.
Mum died when I was 13, and suddenly, I had more grief than I knew what to do with. I felt very alone. I was, and still am, deeply independent and not really used to being looked after. People used to joke that I could survive a nuclear attack because I was so self-sufficient. This means, though, I still have huge fears of relying on other people.
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The truth of the matter is, being a young carer is unbelievably taxing and many do far more than I did. You are forced to mature much quicker than your peers and the carefree nature of childhood is tarnished. Ultimately, someone else’s wellbeing is reliant, at least partially, on you.
“Ultimately, someone else’s wellbeing is reliant, at least partially, on you”: An insight into the life of a young carer
Inadeeplymovingandhonestpiece, Impact’s Anna Friel reflectsonherexperiencesasa
By Anna IllustrationFrieland Page Design by Chiara Crompton
“What school did you go to?” “Was that state or private?” “Well, I think private schools should be..”
PittRead-Poppy
Furthermore, post-abolition, what happens to the schools? Who attends the schools with better facilities? What happens to the thousands of people employed by these institutions, such as teachers, grounds people, accountants and matrons? Would the state have to fund boarding facilities to look after children whose parents work in the armed forces? That’s an extra cost for the taxpayer. It may be valid in principle (although, this is not clear), but in notprivateabolishingpractice,schoolsistheanswer.
Private education in modern Britain comes down to the idea of paying to receive a higher quality of education than others. I question why, in a country that supposedly prides itself on diversity and access to equal opportunities, we allow this system to operate, a system that limits access to the highest quality of education to those who are able to afford it? This is my main gripe with private education, as I believe money (in many cases a large sum of money, with the average private school fee - not including boarding schools - being £13,700 a year) should not be the deciding factor in the quality of education one is able to receive.
Page Design by Katie Wint Photography by Max Harries No, private schools should not be abolished. Firstly, abolition would not achieve the level of equality that its proponents say it would. If private schools were abolished, already overcrowded state schools would be faced with an influx of pupils, causing a decrease in funding per pupil meaning a deterioration of the quality of education nationwide. Secondly, under the current system, private school parents are paying for the state education of other children, increasing the funding available for others. A better position would be to abolish private schools by making them unnecessary. Extra funding for state schools, via higher taxation or other means, would be more effective. Abolition worsens the standards of education for all. Private schools also bring the country many other benefits. They attract international families in a competitive global market, meaning more income for the country. To maintain the charity status given to them by the government, private schools also currently allow state school children to use their facilities for free. Additionally, private schools maintain historic buildings and world-renowned cathedral choirs that would otherwise have to be funded by the state. Surely it is better these are paid for by the private sector than by everyone else?
Thus goes the classic conversation with our fellow students. But should there really be schools that people can pay for?
Poppy Read-Pitt and Felix Hawes go head to head on the question: should private schools be abolished?
I am also of the opinion that the way our education system operates now, with its mix of private and state education, is a large contributor to social inequality in this country. A good education is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important tools a person can have in their arsenal, and it’s no secret that the better this education is perceived to be, the better opportunities one is afforded. For example, it should come as no surprise that there is a disproportionate representation of privately educated individuals at the top of many powerful institutions. At time of writing, 60% of Johnson’s current cabinet were privately educated, while the Social Mobility Commission identified that: “Britain’s most influential people are over 5 times more likely to have been to a fee-paying school than the general population. Just 7% of British people are privately educated, compared to two-fifths (39%) of those in top positions.”
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Debate Night: Should Abolished?SchoolsPrivateBe
HawesFelix
Private schools are an instrument used for the consolidation of an unequal British socio-political system. By attaching a price tag to high quality education, you are pricing workingclass students out of obtaining the same opportunities as their wealthier peers and ensuring that the top institutions remain undiversified. This is one reason (of many) that I believe we should abolish UK private schools and redistribute their resources to create a stronger national education system, one that would ensure no child is left behind.
But won’t the poor just waste this money on alcohol, drugs, gambling, and other habits that made them poor in the first place? Evidence suggests they will not. In 2009 the London-based charity, Broadway, decided to give fifteen rough sleepers £3,000, no strings attached. Just a year later, eleven had roofs over their heads, some had paid for cooking and gardening classes, while others had taken time to visit family and make plans for the future. Rather than waste the money on fast food and cheap beer, the men were taking constructive steps toward sustainable personal development. Evidently, when given money with no conditions nor instructions, it seems those most in need use it wisely.
The Right Way To Think FreeOnlyPovertyAboutMeansOneThing:WeMustGiveMoneyToAll
Before and after the harvest, the researchers asked the farmers to do an IQ test. They found that the farmers scored much lower on the test before the harvest compared to after it. To be exact, fourteen points lower – comparable to losing a night’s sleep or the effects of alcoholism.
In 2019, 9.2 million Britons were living in absolute low income poverty. 6% of parents in Britain cannot even afford to keep their own house warm in winter, a figure likely higher today given the skyrocketing cost of living. The same report showed that 1.7 million children in the UK are considered materially deprived, meaning they lack the ability to access key goods or services such as outdoor space to play safely, or even fresh fruit or vegetables to eat. Problems like this need solutions proportionate to their magnitude. Thus, we need a radical solution.
“Some people can’t manage money very well. Some people can’t manage their lives very well,” is how one member at the 2021 Conservative Party Conference defended impending cuts to Universal Credit by the government to some of the poorest families in Britain. Whether he knew it or not, this man was echoing an idea of such impressive ubiquity, it is pretty much the received wisdom. That is: some people are just really bad with money, so no matter how much of it you give them, they will always stay poor. As Margaret Thatcher put it, poverty is fundamentally a “personality defect”. But what if it’s not? In 2013, four American psychologists travelled to India to carry out an experiment with sugar cane farmers. These farmers collect roughly 60% of their annual income all at once, immediately following the harvest. This means they are relatively poor one part of the year and rich the other.
The idea of a state-provided unconditional income is many centuries old, being first formulated in philosopher Thomas More’s Utopia, published in 1516. According to Aidan Hall, however, twenty-first century social science tells us that the argument for such a policy is stronger than ever.
What to take from this, then? People think and behave differently under conditions of scarcity. Only those who are secure can take the long view, while the panic-stricken are riveted to the immediate foreground. Under a ‘scarcity mentality’, long-term thinking is severely restricted. The focus of those in severe material scarcity (the poor) is thus limited to the short-term. Where am I sleeping tonight? Will I have enough to eat this week? As George Orwell wrote while in poverty in the 1920s, “poverty annihilates the future.” This is all to say that the poor are not poor because they make bad decisions. Rather, they make bad decisions because they are in a position in which anyone would do so, namely, poverty. For this reason, in the words of Dutch author Rutger Bregman: “poverty isn’t a lack of character; it’s a lack of cash.”
How, then, can this new way of looking at poverty help this situation? The answer: Universal Basic Income (UBI). The idea behind UBI is a simple one: everyone should be guaranteed a minimum amount of money to pay for basic needs, such as food and shelter, no matter what they spend their time doing, no strings attached. Now, hear me out on this one. This may sound like something from a utopian novel, or the notebook of a radical communist, but it’s simply the logical corollary of the right way to think about poverty. If being poor is fundamentally a lack of cash, then what is needed to fight poverty is the free provision of, well, cash. As Charles Kenny, a fellow at the Centre for Global Development, wrote: “The big reason poor people are poor is because they don’t have enough money… [so it] shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that giving them money is a great way to reduce that problem.”
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Clearly, it is time we shift our perspective. Poverty is not a moral or personality failure, it is a societal one, and policy must change to reflect this fact - now. We must scrap means tested benefits and get cash into hands. To be sure, Universal Basic Income is not a shortcut to the immediate and permanent eradication of poverty in Britain. What it is, however, is a policy with serious economic and moral rationale. Just as the NHS provides something for everyone, so should the welfare state – delivering real social security for all. By Aidan Hall Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton
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enoughpeoplegivingsurelyButfree money will cause everyone to quit their jobs? Again, there is no evidence for this. During the first UBI experiment ever conducted in Winnipeg, Canada between 1974 and 1978, it was recorded that those receiving cash grants did not quit their jobs, and those who worked a little less were new mothers and students, who stayed in school longer. In a more recent study, University of Chicago economist Ioana Marinescu published a wide-ranging review of various types of unconditional cash programmes, mostly in the US and Canada. What she found was in almost all cases the reductions in employment are, at most, modest. In the case of a dividend given to the Eastern Band of Cherokees (where members got about $4,000 to $6,000 a year) there was no effect on work at all. “Our fears that people will quit their jobs en masse if provided with cash for free”, Marinescu concluded, “is false and misguided”. Okay, I hear you say, this all sounds nice but won’t it be far too expensive? Well actually, (and I think you get the gist by now) it wouldn’t be. It is important to note that poverty is already a huge fiscal drain for the government. Remember the thirteen homeless men from earlier? Between police expenses, court costs, and social services, they racked up a bill estimated at £400,000 per year. On the larger scale, a 2008 study found that child poverty alone in England cost the government a whopping £25 billion a year. In fact, according to these researchers, given the sheer scale of such expenses, any policy that eliminated poverty could largely pay for itself. In addition, given that UBI does not require means testing, or the implementation of any other slow and expensive bureaucratic methods currently used in our welfare system, administrative costs would be cut dramatically. The cost of getting those 13 men off the streets using free cash handouts? Just £50,000 per year. UBI is not only an effective way to tackle poverty but a relatively cheap one at that. Even if academics writing in the Journal of Poverty are wrong when they argue that rich nations like the US and the UK have the ability to finance UBI projects, if the last two years have shown us anything it is that, when push comes to shove, ‘fiscal responsibility’ and similar ideas are just rubbish. Theresa is right: there is no such thing as a magic money tree. But there is such a thing as a huge, responsible, well-researched and morally justified increase in government spending.
Phillip reveals the students had very specific tastes: “Hugh Stew men tended to favour FB [Florence Boot] women, Cripps men fa voured FN [Florence Nightingale] women.” They also inform me that for a shared room – which was the norm at the time – you paid £5.60 a week. “It’s amazing to think that in those same buildings you are now in, an entirely different scenario is being played out, and it involves no cabbage and bean stew,” Phillip says. Both indulged in the social side of university – reminiscing on trips to the beloved Savoy, drinking at the Priory in Wollaton and relaxing in the JCR. “The youth wing of the political party was called Young Conservatives, but that was just a wife-finding agency. If you wanted to find a nice young gal, she was a Conservative,” Phillip tells me. They remember how on weekends students would take their date to the ‘Saturday Hop’ – a ballroom dancing event in Portland. “Then you would go down into the basement to The Buttery” – which Phil lips explains was the bar in Portland. I tell him how I suspect this is now Mooch, and he replies: “Mooch? That’s awful. Disgusting.”
Impact’s Lucinda Dodd caught up with Phillip and Jill Meadowcroft, a couple who met at the University of Nottingham, to get the lowdown on courting, partying and fashion in 1960s Nottingham. “We’ve got to admit to you, she went in looking for a husband, and I went in looking for a wife. We met on the first day in the coffee bar in Portland,” Phillip Meadowcroft revealed about him and his wife, Jill Meadowcroft. Both started their degrees in 1962. Jill studied Maths and Physics whilst Phillip read Industrial Economics. “You had to get a gown in your first week,” he continued. “You queued up in Trent – there was a big business in second hand gowns. I was in the queue and I had seen Jill, who I met the day before. And when I got to the front of the queue, I bought two gowns, one for me and one for her.” “It was my chat-up line” he laughs, “not for free though, she had to pay me for it!”
UoN in the sixties
“After my mother met Phillip, she apparently said to my father, ‘that’s the one she’ll marry’,” Jill remembers. Phillip stayed in Hugh Stew art; Jill in Florence Boot. They fill me in on how men and women had separate halls with mixing forbidden. When asked how this rule was policed, Jill says “Not very well!” with Phillip adding: “The authorities were a bit naïve in terms of the raging hormones of late teenagers!”
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Suits, Seduction and Saturday Nights:
Both recall the tense political climate that overhung their time at Nottingham: “The one thing which everybody will remember”, Jill says, “was the assassination of Kennedy. It happened on the night of one of the University balls. We were all dressed up, ready to go off dancing, and then suddenly we got the news that Kennedy had been shot.” Their time at university also overlapped with a peak in the Cold War. Within their first few weeks, the Cuban Missile Crisis took place: “It was quite scary to be away from home and to have this threat of somebody dropping a bomb,” Jill remembers.
“We were all dressed up, ready to go off dancing, and then suddenly we got the news that Kennedy had been shot”
As well as ‘Saturday Hops’, they disclosed that 21st birthday parties were important occasions. Phillip remembers sharing his own with two friends at the British Legion Hall in Beeston. He recalls how everybody who attended had to drink a yard of ale: “Nobody was known to be hurt in this affair, but quite a lot of us had rather wet fronts!” Catering at these parties consisted of sausage rolls and pork pies: “Nothing poncey, but we thought that was the bee’s knees!” He laughs: “I reckon if you lot saw how we lived you would just weep. You would think it was so unglamorous, so boring!”
Phillip recalls his entrance interview: “I got an offer at Nottingham notwithstanding that at my interview, the lecturer said ‘your school doesn’t think you’ll benefit from a university degree!’” He continues: “That same lecturer became my personal tutor and I knew him for the rest of his life.” And it isn’t just interviews that are no longer the mainstay at Nottingham. Filling me in on campus fashion at the time, Phillip shared that most men wore suits: “You wouldn’t go to a lecture wearing a T-shirt and jeans!”
As we end the interview, they tell me they still meetup with their friends from Nottingham and that they will all be visiting this sum mer. Phillip proudly declares: “I am one of the few who hasn’t got a gong or an honour, they all did very well. We’ve got knighthoods, professors, MBEs and OBEs. We do enjoy each other’s company.”
During their time at Nottingham, grades were released publicly on a noticeboard in Trent. Phillip admits the fear he felt when waiting for his marks, as he wasn’t the most “illustrious” student: “I remember seeing I got an Upper Second. Not only did I not believe it – but my friends didn’t either!” Discussing the results with his tutor, he remembers him saying: “It was a surprise to us, but looking at your papers we had no choice!”
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I asked Jill what it was like to be a woman on campus, Phillip jokingly answers for her: “Frightening!” But she goes on to explain: “I had been at an all girl’s school and I believed in ‘girl power’ because that was the way the school taught us, that women can do whatever they like and women are capable. I can’t remember feeling intimidated at any time.”
By Lucinda Dodd Photography courtesy of Phillip and Jill Meadowcroft Page design by Anupam Sharma
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You probably have blue or pink hair. And a nose ring. You’ve taken every module under the sun in the hopes it would help you decide what to do with your life, but now you’re even more confused than before. You think men and capitalism are the root of all evil. Creative writing Wow, childhood hit you hard, huh? You’re too lazy to do an actual English degree and have tricked yourself into believing your degree will be of any use in the job market.
English and classics
Economics
‘You WhatareYou Study’
You probably got in through clearing, but the study abroad option means you try to pass your degree off as Yunconventionalandimpressive.ouspendmoretimewatching
You’ll spend three years doing a degree, only to end up in IT support telling people to turn it on and off again.
We asked our writers to come up with the most savage degree stereotypes that they could.
Snowflakes proceed with caution…
American studies
Netflix a nd l ooking a t Donald Trump memes than actually writingessays. Business studies Religiously watching The Apprentice and informing everyone of what you would have done better is the sole source of your self-esteem. You’re the kind of person who uses daddy’s trust fund to finance the Uni ski trip and has one defining goal in life: owning a Tesla. Chemistry You signed up thinking you’d be the next Walter White, when really you’re a glorified mixologist. Sadly, you’re only leaving uni with the ability to draw shapes.
English You overthink everything sayyou and do, love the sound of your own voice and claim to adore Dickens and Austen whilst actually StepheniepreferringMeyer
Criminology
You picked this degree because you love watching true crime documentaries. You will not accept the fact that you aren’t the next Eleanor Neale. Computer Science
What YourSaysDegreeAboutYOU
You didn’t get into medicine, but you do know that “mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.” Somehow, you’re now paying 9k a year to take a hopper bus to Derby everyday when you could learn the same amount by watching Grey’s Anatomy.
You read one Percy Jackson book when you were 15 and now think you can make a career out of fan fiction. Medical Physiology and Therapeutics
Your name is Henry and although you live in Guildford, you tell everyone you’re from South London. Your favourite film is ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ which you’ve seen at least five times. Nothing annoys you more than when people ask: “Why can’t we print more money?” Geography You’re most likely from the Home Counties and had no idea what else to study, but you like David Attenborough and colouring in. Liberal Arts
Illustrations by Philippa Stazicker Page design by Anupam Sharma
You think you are capable of singlehandedly saving the NHS by telling people to eat pears instead of gummy bears. You espouse that your body is a temple by day, but are the first to suggest Maccies after a night out. Definitely a glass half full (of celery juice) kind of person. Pharmacy
Frequenting Stealth Saturdays and binge watching Breaking Bad doesn’t quite satisfy your curiosity for drugs, so you had to study the stuff. Quickly realised that you are now going to spend 4 years accumulating life saving knowledge… and depression. Philosophy You believe Marx never uttered anything wrong in his life and think dying your hair pink is the best way to project your radical communist sympathies. Modern Languages
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No one actually liked languages at school, so let’s be honest: you picked this degree just to brag that you spent your 20s living abroad, didn’t you? English and French
Medicine You claim your life’s calling is saving lives, but really, you just love hearing about how smart you are whenever you say what you study. You regularly remind your non-medic friends how much work you have compared to them and have a concerning case of messiah complex. Music
YoushortalongguyeitherYou’reawithhairorgirlwithhair.wanted to be a live musician but are going to end up a music teacher at a primary school.
Natural sciences You probably couldn’t pick which A-level you wanted to do at degree level so you decided to do all of them. You get unreasonably annoyed when people assume you’re studying environmentalism. andNutritionDietetics
The degree for anyone still unsure if they want to be unemployed in Britain. Or France. Psychology You’re most probably a girl, and you didn’t know what else to do at university so chose psychology in the hopes it would help you understand yourself more than anything. Your career plans most likely have nothing to do with psychology. Politics You’re dyedleftistparentsconservativewitheitherprobablymostaboyrichoragirlwithhairanda
History You didn’t know what you wanted to do at uni so you thought learning irrelevantabout things that have been and gone was your calling. Your personality trait is how much weekly reading you have but never do because you spend your maintenance loan on VKs and ‘a well-deserved break’ at Crisis.
nose piercing. You claim to live by the rule that ‘politics shouldn’t be discussed at the dinner table’, but only because you’ll discuss them at every other given moment of the day and have nothing left to say come dinnertime. Physics and Philosophy You spend your time in deep confusion. One side of your degree is telling you how the world works, the other disagrees. Product Design You probably wanted to do mechanical engineering first but got scared. Very likely to be the most colourful in the engineering department. Maths You took counting too seriously in school and now it’s all you can do.
What are the demands? In any industrial action, the ultimate demand is for management to negotiate with staff and find solutions which work for everyone. The UCU tabled a proposal to solve the pensions problem, improving the valuation method to avoid the ‘artificially manufactured deficit’. They’re also demanding an end to casual contracts, limits on working hours, a national pay rise, and time-specific plans to close the ethnicity, gender, and disability pay gaps.
UoN Students’ Unions Education Officer, Chris Taylor, gives you all the information you need on the ongoing strike action by the University and College Union. Recently, you’ve probably seen or heard about ‘the strikes’. The latest episode in a 4-year dispute has seen hundreds of lecturers, support staff, and academics at UoN withholding their labour in protest. Striking staff are members of the University and College Union (UCU), a body which represents academic and support staff, seeking to protect and improve working conditions. On the other side of the dispute is Universities UK (UUK), who advocate for university managements nationwide.
By Chris Taylor Page Design by Chiara Crompton
Is striking the best option? Strikes are the most effective way for staff to be heard and listened to by management. They’ve raised concerns privately to negotiate improvements to their conditions, but without disrupting university business, they are ignored and dismissed.
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Speaking to the Tab, UoN lecturer Dean Blackburn said “We do not want to strike. We lose our pay by doing so, and we want to be on campus doing the work that we love. But we have little choice.”
To learn more or get involved with supporting the strikes, take a look at the Instagram accounts @uonsu_education and @studentsolidarityuon
Striking reminds management that it’s staff who provide education, pastoral support, and community for the 36,000+ students here. Without students and staff, universities are just empty buildings. Throughout history, workers have used strikes to force employers into fair wages and liveable working conditions. Sick pay, parental leave, and even the weekend itself have all been won through collective strike action. Staff don’t strike lightly, weighing up disrupting teaching against the fight which will ultimately improve students’ learning environment.
There are two key elements: an ongoing pensions dispute, and the Four Fights on Casualisation, Workload, Pay, and Pay Equality.
A StrikesGuideStudents’tothe
The reality of working in universities is very different to the wellrespected and supported community of academics that you might expect. The conditions that staff face make higher education a very difficult place to work.
So, what are the strikes about?
Staff who lead undergraduate teaching often have casual, hourlyrate contracts: with no pay over holidays, limited access to sick pay, and many unpaid hours marking work. On top of this, UUK recently approved proposals to cut pension pay-outs by up to 35%. This is the latest in a sustained series of devaluations, based on predictions of international markets using what the UCU call ‘dubious criteria’.
What is UoNSU’s stance? We stand in solidarity with the UCU because staff working conditions are our learning conditions. Exhausted, demoralised, underpaid, and unsupported staff are not equipped to provide the high-quality teaching they’re desperate to give and that we deserve. We have difficulty finding time to meet tutors and lecturers, and staff are expected to rush marking or work for free. Our education is already being disrupted. We sympathise with people upset about lost learning but encourage you to direct this at university management who create these conditions. As an SU, we fight for the best experience of our members, so we support the UCU to improve the environment on campus. We love our staff, and want to build a community where students and staff alike can thrive and learn.
Over the last decade, pay in higher education has fallen by nearly 20% in real terms, but workloads have only increased. The UCU say they’re at breaking point with 4 out of 5 staff struggling to keep up with demand and 86% seeking support for mental health. This is compounded for many at UoN who face a gender pay gap of 14.8%, an ethnicity pay gap of 8.2%, as well as a disability pay gap of 9% across higher education.
25LIFESTYLE
It is vital to remember, in fact, that wellbeing and food are intimately connected, meaning that providing the latter could be one of the greatest ways to improve the NHS. Plus, it could be rolled out using the same model.
Nearly double the amount of people sought Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance in April 2021 in comparison to March 2020. Given this, and the rapidly rising cost of living in recent years, there is extra rationale for a National Food Service now more than ever, as we currently find ourselves in a similar situation to before the creation of the NHS. As well as the rising food prices, most of the cheapest food options remain the unhealthiest.
Some will argue food poverty is less important than healthcare. Although this may be true, food is still an essential part of living a healthy life. Those who have not experienced food poverty may argue that the government has implemented enough provisions, an example of such free school meals. However, these initiatives are not sufficient to address the problem. This was evidenced in the free school meal bags given to children by the government during the pandemic as part of the drive to address food poverty by charities and celebrities such as Marcus Rashford’s #EndChildFoodPoverty. Despite their good work, these campaigns cannot help all 8.4 million people in the UK that are struggling to finance food just as the charitable hospitals before the NHS could not treat all the sick.
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In Britain, we all have access to free health care, wherever and whenever we need it, thanks to the NHS. But what about access to free food? Emily Campbell explores the rationale behind the idea of a ‘National Food Service’.
The NHS enables healthcare access for those who could not otherwise afford it. This is not to say that the NHS is a perfect solution, however. Today, it is overstretched and understaffed, due in large part to underfunding and increasing demand from an ageing population. Despite this, in comparison to waiting times in American hospitals, the NHS still fairs better. Not to mention, a diagnosis that might bankrupt a family overseas can be treated for free here. Many of those reading this will, most likely, have never had to pay for their healthcare and, for this, we can thank the NHS. Set up in 1948, it continues to provide healthcare, free at the point of use. The same is not true, however, for food and with inflation now caus ing food poverty levels to grow rapidly, the question arises: is it time for a National Food Service?
Doncaster, one of the most deprived areas of the UK, is experiencing the highest rates of child obesity due to the price imbalance between fresh produce and fast food. This will only create future problems for the NHS, as diet-related diseases continue to increase the pressure on their services. A National Food Service could provide food prescription packages for low income families, containing fresh nutritious foods and meals. Rather than relying on the intervention of charities, would it not be better to implement a country-wide food service, modelled like the NHS, to help people live in a fair and equitable way? Not to mention, such a service would contribute to supporting the NHS by providing balanced nutrition and healthier lifestyles for Unfortunately,all. sourcing the funding for a service like this would be challenging. Redistribution of public funding and possible increases in taxes would be needed, both of which would likely be met with backlash from politicians and the public alike. Perhaps, then, we need to focus on bringing together the efforts of the government, manufacturers and charities in collaboration to establish such a National Food Service. This way, we could create a solution for all. ByEmilyCampbell Photography by Finn Mckenzie Page Design by Rian Patel
A National Food Service: The Healthcare of the Future
To many, vegans are seen as pretentious, angry and unfunny hippies. Stereotypically, vegans are also white, rich and rife with bigotry. Ironically, this is in stark contrast to the origins of plant-based diets in amongst the poor societies of Ancient India and the Mediterranean. Even today, the reality is that veganism is a philosophy which promotes ‘the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment.’ However, there persists a perception that the lifestyle is classist, inaccessible and even racist. So, where does this stereotype come from?
Groups such as PETA have used shock-tactics, such as slaughterhouse footage, to create moral outrage. Despite new campaigns by the Vegan Society, like Veganuary and ‘Plate up for the Planet’, the public still associates veganism with these notorious protests. Slogans such as ‘Stuff Veganuary and do what you canuary’ are overshadowed by vegan ‘influencers’ who continue to preach that veganism is all-or-nothing. Vegan influencers, like James Aspey, use highly extremist language in their campaigns, an example of such the comparison of animal husbandry to the horrors of slavery, rape, and the Holocaust. Unsurprisingly, this has caused many to turn away from the movement. Are vegan stereotypes harming the movement?
27FOOD
By Daria Paterek Photography by Finn Mckenzie Page Design by Rian Patel “Slogans such as ‘Stuff Veganuary and do what you can-uary’ are overshadowed by vegan ‘influencers’ who continue to preach that veganism is all-or-nothing”
Aspey, who has 200k followers, caused outrage with his remark that “one day our consumption of animals will be known as the longest-lasting Holocaust.” Slogans like ‘End the Animal Holocaust, Abolish Animal Slavery’ can often overshadow more positive slogans such as ‘One World. Many Lives. Our Choice.’ Influencers like this feed into the stereotype of veganism as a white, middle-class diet and deter those who may be considering plant-based living. While not all vegan influencers are like this, with channels such as SoVegan providing healthier, more moderate views, it is the aggressive and controversial individuals that garner the most Theattention.key for veganism to succeed is intersectionality, but how can a movement succeed whilst also being so hostile? There are growing discussions about the accessibility of lowincome veganism, alongside the need to highlight cultural foods that are vegan and aid those who feel isolated when trying to go plant-based. Hopefully, this could be the beginning of veganism becoming more mainstream, as the wider vegan community starts to confront their inner bias and question their methods of activism. This more diverse and accepting approach has led to 580,000 people joining the Veganuary campaign in 2021, alongside a further 23,481 joining the Vegan Society’s ‘Plate Up for the Planet’ week. As more people become disillusioned with the state of food production, it is important that positive initiatives like these allow wider audiences to be Beingreached.‘vegan’ may still be associated by some with privilege and prejudice, but it doesn’t need to be. It is only through continually mainstream.challengingquestioningcontroversialinfluencers,likeAspey,anddivisivetacticsthatveganismcanreachthe
With the rise of ‘vegan influencers’ on social media, veganism is constantly in the headlines. Such publicity has fuelled gross stereotypes. Is this halting the progress of the movement in fighting climate change and protecting animal rights? Daria Paterek gives us her thoughts.
Alice Nott sat down with Nathalie and Richard Bennett from GypsyLife to the prejudice the GRT community experience in Britain to thisday.
discuss
The Public Disservice faced by Gypsy, Roma, Travellers
and discrimination
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During the interview, it became evident that the inaccessibility of services – services which many of us take for granted - is a problem all too often faced by the GRT community. Nathalie explained that her identity as a ‘Romani Gypsy’ had been used as justification to refuse antenatal care when she was having her first child on the grounds that “Gypsies don’t pay tax”. The prevalence of this prejudice has led to a situation whereby GRT mothers are six times more likely to experience the death of a child than the general population: a truly shocking statistic. This alleged discrimination continues into emergency healthcare, with Nathalie and Richard informing me that “known GRT” is marked with a red flag on ambulance service records over “apparent safety concerns”. This means these residences will not be attended by the ambulance service if they do not have a police escort. This can waste precious time in the event of an emergency, and with ambulance delays already becoming more common, this is disproportionately putting the community at risk.
These two allegations of major failings sit alongside the difficulty GRT communities experience in accessing primary care services, such as GPs, due to having no fixed abode. It is unsurprising, therefore, that a Parliamentary report in 2019 placed GRT life expectancy as 10-12 years shorter than that of the general does not just exist in healthcare, it also exists in education. As Nathalie and Richard highlighted, educational services have clearly been inadequate at including the GRT community. Figures from 2017 show that GRT children have the lowest attainment of any ethnic group in the UK; Richard identifies one of the key causes of this being changes to school funding models, which are now based on pupil attainment. This perhaps goes some way towards explaining why exclusion rates for GRT children are 17%, compared to just under 6% for the wider school population. Some people have blamed the GRT community’s supposed cultural ambivalence to education for the lack of attainment. However, with a school system that is three times more likely to exclude GRT students than their peers, the argument can be made that it is first the culture within public services that needs to change. In 2013, the Traveller Education Service was withdrawn. This had allowed 150,000 GRT children to remain in education. This is in contrast to the current situation, whereby 2,500 children in Nottinghamshire County are ‘lost’ to the education system, meaning they are not only out of education, but the local council cannot locate them. Richard points out: “these children will have often not even moved.”
Discrimination against the GRT community dates back to Henry VIII’s Egyptians Act, and with many schools not covering GRT communities’ histories and cultural practices (or when doing so, often only in negative light), it is hardly surprising Friends Families Travellers report: “many young people feel that their culture and way of life is not recognised or affirmed within the education system.”
As Nathalie puts it: “education is the key to not ending up in the criminal justice system, to being able to afford and buy a proper home, to being able to do training so that you can work legally and pay your taxes and to establish yourself as part of the wider community.”
Thispopulation.discrimination
It is difficult not to look at the current state of GRT exclusion in the UK and feel dismayed. This is a problem that the government seems unwilling to address. In fact, many have highlighted the Government's new Policing Bill as capable of worsening this already concerning situation for GRT, with it making trespassing a criminal rather than civil offence. With Traveller sites having been closed in large parts of the UK, many are forced to trespass to maintain their way of life. To conclude on a brighter note, however, I wanted to make reference to some of the amazing work Richard and Nathalie are doing to champion sustainability and selfsufficiency within the community. In fact, Richard explained that the site on which they live is providing an example of how to live greenly, with an impressively low carbon output and renewable energy at the heart of everything they do. With much of the media attention received by the GRT community being negatively skewed, it feels incredibly important to report on some of the wonderful initiatives the Bennetts, and many others like them, are leading. It serves as a reminder that we are all capable of making a positive Asdifference.students, we are in a unique position. We can usher in new attitudes and shape how public services and attitudes will look going forward. It is high time we leave these ignorant stereotypes behind and create a truly accepting Britain. Integration and cohesion are not one sided; it takes all of society to work together: Traveller and non-Traveller.
I write this in the wake of Holocaust Remembrance Day. When talking of the Holocaust, many use the statistic of 6 million Jews having been murdered by the Nazis. However, 11 million people perished in total, of which one million were GRT. This reflected about 25-50% of the GRT population in Europe at the time. Richard, whose own grandmother survived Auschwitz, conveyed dismay at the school system’s failure to acknowledge the Romani people’s suffering when teaching students about the Holocaust. He emphasised the desperate need for greater recognition and more comprehensive coverage of their loss.
Photograph courtesy of Nathalie and Richard Bennet Page Design by Chiara Crompton
Racism against GRT is routinely trivialised and accepted in society, with 91% of GRT reporting having experienced discrimination and 71% having reported facing a hate crime. It is arguable there needs to be a reckoning with British society's undercurrent of prejudice.
When I first planned to write about the treatment of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities, I thought I would take a broad historical view, tracing the issues of the past and concluding with their situation today. However, as I spoke with Richard and Nathalie Bennett of GypsyLife, one thing became clear: the issues for GRT communities were not just historic but painfully persistent in the present.
29TRAVEL
The climate crisis is more than an environmental disaster. The devastation that’s being inflicted on our planet is also a cause of widespread mental turmoil. Given that their research fixated on the issue, it is climate scientists that are particularly vulnerable to this epidemic of climate depression and anxiety. How can we expect scientists to also be experts in detachment, able to separate themselves from the personal aspect of this issue? How can they choose hope after uncovering the extent of the potential damage we’re inflicting on the planet?
“The car lobby, the infrastructure building lobby, the fossil fuel
Climate Change: How Can You Choose Hope?
The impact of climate change offers a bleak outlook for the future. Anna Boyne and Lucy Woodward sat down with climate scientists Amy Wright, Professor Greg Marsden and Dr Sofie Sjögersten to gain an insight into how climate change affects those studying it.
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Sharing the voices of those on the frontline of climate research is an important way to look for answers to these questions; they are the ones experiencing the real highs and lows of this work. Amy Wright, a PhD student at Anglia Ruskin University, told Impact: “Before I started my Environmental Science Research Masters, I remember being so excited about the potential my research and believing that it could be game-changing if it Amyworked.”Wright’s work investigated the efficacy of Iron Oxides for aiding carbon storage in soils, which could be an effective way to sequester harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. And after a year of research, the science was clear. It worked. However, in the face of the devastation of climate change, she was faced with the realisation that it wouldn’t be enough. felt so disheartened when I realised that, even though technique could aid the movement as an effective solution, it’d still be insignificant in the scale of the damage we’re causing,” said Wright. It’s no wonder, then, that climate scientists are experiencing mental health challenges. Investing their time, finances and emotional strength to find solutions for an issue they deeply care about carries a meaningful weight to it. Yet, everyday the magnitude of the problem keeps growing, and little being done to reverse it. Prof. Greg Marsden, an expert Transport Governance, is researching a better future for the UK’s transport systems. He told Impact: “I went to the Scottish Climate Strike discussion at COP26 and cried at the level worry our young people are feeling and their despair lack of action. I don’t think these conversations are happening enough – I think far too many people don’t get that this is an Theemergency.”continual feeling of fighting a losing battle is prevalent amongst climate scientists and must be a difficult thing shake off. Especially when months, years, or even decades of research that holds potential for enormous positive change is ignored and disregarded by policymakers and governments. One of countless examples of this is global travel. Marsden explained that: “Globally, more movement is leading to more CO2 emissions. However, policymakers are struggling to move away from a world where travelling more was as a right and an unquestionable good for society to a world which sees climate as a constraint.”
31SCIENCE
Dr Sjögersten tries to see the magnificence of scientific discoveries despite the often-worrying results. If work becomes overwhelming, however, she will usually turn to her network of peers and colleagues. “I think it is really important to have a We all have a role to play in tackling global warming, and climate scientists are an integral part of this. It should be our responsibility to listen to their professional advice, especially when the evidence points to a crisis, and we’d rather pretend everything will resolve itself. It is unsurprising that so many climate scientists are experiencing feelings of depression and demoralisation. From speaking to scientists from a range of fields of study and stages in their career, it is clear we must acknowledge the science, support further research and look after the wellbeing of those carrying out the work our children’s futures depend on.
Prof. Marsden shared a similar outlook on distinguishing between job roles. “I’ve not made the decision to be a politician or civil servant, so I have to recognise their worlds and try to exert my influence in a different way,” he explained. The weight of personal responsibility tends to lead to a desire to take on too many roles, but this mentality of doing what you’re best suited to seems to be an effective method for avoiding burnout.
In Europe, the Industrial Revolution set the stage for members of the lower classes to rise to nobility, challenging such strict rules. Since having money (old or new) meant you could buy expensive clothes and jewellery to show off your wealth, the new bourgeoisie wanted to wear these richer colours.
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FASHIONING CLASS:
One of the first things you notice about someone is their clothes. In fact, the way someone dresses can tell you a lot about them, from their culture to their economic status. Clothes are even capable of waging social warfare and gaining leverage to exploit others, particularly in 13th century Europe. In the Middle Ages, it became a way to cement a social hierarchy and the class divides in society. The creation of classes helps cause economic inequality; outward signs of someone’s class allowing for discrimination and those at the bottom having less. Later, Sumptuary Laws (laws imposed to restrict what someone could purchase) were popularised by the English, who spread these practices across Europe and other cultures through imperialism. In Shakespearian times, the nobility was expected to wear extravagant clothing and were the only class allowed to wear ermine fur and silk garments. By contrast, the peasants wore wool or linen and were only permitted to wear specific colours like beige and brown. In Medieval China, only the emperor was allowed to wear yellow robes. In Japan, the colour of your kimono, its weave, the way it was worn and the adornments, could tell you someone’s class.
By Christina Giallombardo Illustrations by Olivia Mayne Page design by Monica Mancini
In terms of colour, historically, purple has been synonymous with wealth, even being associated with Roman Emperors. So much so that Elizabeth I actually banned everyone but the royal family from wearing the colour! This was due to the dye being extremely expensive, with half a kilogram of wool costing more than most people’s yearly earnings. From the famous frills and pale faces of Elizabethan times, to carrying a Hermès bag in the 21st century, the clothes you wear reflect your social standing. The aspiration to look ‘rich’, and the restrictions imposed on wearing certain articles of clothing, have led to labels being attached to fashion. What we choose to wear immediately opens us up to scrutinization from passers-by, and people’s judgements are rooted in classism. But if you feel confident, who cares what they say anyway?
Impact’s Christina Giambollardo explores the “Classist History of Clothes” from Mediaeval Sumptuary Laws to the Hermes Bags of the 21st century
How Clothing Has Been toThroughoutUsedHistoryImposeClass
“The way someone dresses could Tell you a loT abouT Them ”
“The colour purple has become synonymous wiTh wealTh and nobiliTy”
‘inPhotoshoot:Situ’ 33PHOTOSHOOTWewere curious to explore the relationships and contrasts between what we wear and the settings we occupy at university...
Photography and Editing by Finn ChoreographyMckenzie by Rian Patel and Niamh Robinson Page Design by Chiara ModelsCromptonareSahar Alwatani and Aidan Boulton
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37ENTERTAINMENT
“I think there’s a common theme in the entertainment industry: many people in this world are actually quite under-conident. People featuring on, let’s say, Jazz Hands, who come across all-singing, all-dancing, can actually be quite introvertedand I’m one of those people. I’m the sort of person that, when out and about at a party for example, can be quite sociable. But day to day, I’m quite an introverted person. I wouldn’t say shy necessarily, but the best way to put it would be I’m an extroverted introvert. Whereas, my co-host and good friend, Melvin Odoom, is out and out a loud, really bubbly person; though sometimes he can be quite grumpy as well. He’s just more of an extroverted person in general.”
toughpowerfulreallyandthingtonavigate”
Williams:Navigating the Entertainment Industry as an Extroverted Introvert
“Public perception can be a
“First and foremost, I loved music. I wanted to do something with music. And then I was like, well, I can’t sing. I’m not a great actor. But how can I still be in that world and still make a living using my love for music? Plus, I just love the entertainment industry so much. Presenting was the next best thing.” Surely it must take quite a bit of confidence to present such a wide and varied range of content?
After completing a BTEC in Journalism and travelling the world presenting for MTV, Rickie Haywood-Williams found himself working on BBC Radio 1’s the Live Lounge. Impact’s Head of Entertainment, Córa-Laine Moynihan, sat down to an interview with Rickie where they spoke about what it is like to work in the entertainment industry, particularly as someone who identifies as an ‘extroverted introvert’. So, what first drew you to entertainment? And what made you want to work as a producer and DJ specifically?
As a fellow extroverted introvert, I can definitely relate to you on this. I assumed that it’s mainly confident people [in the entertainment industry], but it’s reassuring to hear you say that it could be anyone.
The BBC’s Rickie Haywood
“There are more introverts than you’d expect. Personally, I don’t mind big crowds. But when a crowd is really small and intimate, I’m not so good with those. If I stood in front of a crowd I knew - for example, at my brother’s wedding for a best man speech - I would get so nervous. And yet, put me on stage at Glastonbury, or at a festival with a microphone introducing a big artist, and that is the ultimate buzz. Or even when I’m up on stage DJing to a huge crowd - I love that. I love that so much. Some aspects of the job appeal to me more than others. But ultimately, you get used to it, and you find coping mechanisms to ensure you’re cool with the bits you’re not as comfortable with.”
For some time after this, we spoke about Rickie’s career journey: from his passion for radio, inspired by people from “yesteryear” such as Trevor Nelson and the Dream Team, to his mum wanting him to work on Blue Peter, and then finally, his landing of a role at MTV. We even delved into his documentary work, where he presented My Weapon is A Dog and Cannabis: Britain’s Secret Farms. “I went through a stage at MTV when I thought to myself: ‘I don’t just want to be known as someone that does a bit of radio and some light-hearted TV. I really want to do something that’s gritty and quite informative.’ If anyone is thinking about getting into documentary making, it’s a great thing to do, but just do it on something that you are 100% passionate about, because you spend so much time immersed in it, that if there’s even a tiny bit of you that isn’t really feeling it, it would be utterly horrible. Luckily, I did it on things that I thought were really interesting.”
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You’ve pointed out some of these already, but in gaining all these experiences and pursuing this career path, did you ever face any challenges or barriers?
“Day to day, i’m quite introvertedanperson”
Looking back on this time, and any other challenges you have faced during your career, do you have any tips for students wanting to break into the industry?
“The BBC work experience was an amazing opportunity, and [the wait] made me appreciate it more. It happened when I believed that I was emotionally and mentally ready for it. Mature enough to handle the situations that come with this job.”
“Just say yes to everything. Something will always come out of it. Stop saying no to opportunities; good things happen when you open your mind and say yes. You might not do something to the level that you were hoping, but you can still do your best, and something good might just come out of it.”
By Córa-Laine Moynihan Illistration by Ciara Lurshay Page design by Gemma Cockrell
Any advice for those hoping to go into the industry?
“When I was in university, I couldn’t see how you jumped from university to the radio or TV. I just couldn’t see how it was possible. It felt like such a big chasm. But I’m now here, and the advice I would give is: no journey is the same. This is really important. Everybody’s journey into entertainment is completely different. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.”
39MUSIC
“A lot of people also commented: ‘You guys normally do stuff together. Why is Melvin getting loads of work and you’re not?’. They didn’t realise that I didn’t want to do that kind of thing anymore. It wasn’t that I couldn’t get work, more that I just didn’t want to go in that direction. Public perception can be a really powerful and tough thing to navigate.”
Rickie then spoke of some old friends who would juggle placements alongside studying and moved straight into the industry upon graduation. He also detailed his own path – one he said was slower. He worked at CBBC, KISS FM and various other radio stations on placements. Then, when nothing came of those, he worked in a pawn shop for about a year, before receiving a week’s work experience at the BBC. It was this that opened the door for the rest of his career, around 5 years after graduating.
“There was a period of time when we were getting booked for double-act stuff only, which we loved. However, as with anything, we got to an impasse in our kind of duality, or situation, and I was looking towards one direction, Melvin another. We decided that if something came up that we both liked, we would still work together. But we wanted to do other stuff separately. The road Melvin went down (TV, game shows, etc.) wasn’t the route I wanted to pursue because, like I said, I’m an extroverted introvert. I wanted to do more focused stuff. Work more on things specific to my interests and less on simply just ‘entertaining’. I know that, at the time, this was a hard ask for the team looking after us. It was harder to find me work like that because they were so used to us only doing the entertainment stuff.”
Impact’s Arts Editor Chooses Her Top Three Social Justice Art Installations of 2021
I remember once reading a statement by a homeless person stating that the worst part about his situation, even over the unimaginable challenges of sleeping rough, was his sense of dehumanisation. He argued that, in their determination to avoid making contact with him, people acted as though he didn’t even exist. When I saw Luke Jerram’s sculpture titled the “Invisible Homeless”, therefore, this was the first thought that crossed my mind.
The “Mothers of Gynaecology” monument is a statue of three black slaves, Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey, who were all victims of the American ‘Father of Modern Gynaecology.’, J. Marion Sims. Sims used the three girls as test subjects, subjecting them to horrendous experimental operations without anaesthetic or consent. The amazing black female artist and activist Michelle Browder erected the statue from steel and metal objects in honour of the memory and sacrifice of these women. By Fatima Bobboyi Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton
Amal the Puppet
First seeing Amal the (animatronic) Puppet on TV, my initial thoughts were that she was obscenely large. After looking her up and reading about her purpose, however, I realised that her staggering size could not do justice to the power of her message. ‘Amal’ means ‘Hope’ in Arabic, and as “Little Amal”, who is over 11-foot-tall, embarked on the trek of nearly 5000 miles to raise awareness for the plight of refugees and displaced children, she undoubtedly brought a feeling of hope to all those who saw her.
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The sculpture is a life-size glass instalment, outlining a blanketed figure laying on pieces of cardboard. Jerram’s sculpture captures the heart-wrenching impact of this social problem, both on homeless people, who become completely dehumanised, and on the passers, who are gradually being desensitised to those in need.
Art can both entertain and inform, providing a mirror through which to look at society. Fatima Bobboyi shares her choice of three art installations from 2021 which stood out for their messages of social injustice and call for a more equitable world. Invisible Homeless
Mothers of Gynaecology
‘ut In the Work Every day.’
To ask for acknowledgement is not to ask for validation
How to be Amelia Brookes’ powerful poem responds to a ‘career guru’ who claims they have identified three ‘quick and easy’ tips for sure-fire success. successful
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But unlike those ‘who have it made’, we can’t receive our rewards in praise We find a way, and another To live, and every day they say‘Start Creating Better Goals.’
By Amelia Brookes Page design by Ciara Lurshay How to be successful
It’s been five years, and two have disappeared in a growing storm The world is overheating, they say, but never found a way to keep us warm As our places trade, my mother holds me as the sun comes up ‘I love you, be brave, never feel as if you aren’t enough’ They treat us like we aren’t enough the way that we get paid If applause could provide for us it would be caviar for days
It’s haunting us since September, and haunting us far after Three ghosts in the form of expectations, to provide and smile more and move faster ‘Stop Looking for Validation.’
To be seen for what we are in the face of the decline of a generation I wonder what people would claim we took from them if the world would give A different definition of Success- Living despite not having the funds to live.
Christmas clearly isn’t one, from all that I’ve been told They’re celebrations for the young, and stresses for the old
This being said, many celebrities rise to stardom without the help of nepotism. Theo James must be seen as one of the University of Nottingham’s most successful film alumni, and his fame is particularly impressive considering he broke into Hollywood without any familial connections. After graduating in 2007, James attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and quickly began to gain impressive roles within television and film. His television debut was in A Passionate Woman (2010) opposite the brilliant Billie Piper. He then went on to star in Downton Abbey, but his predominant breakthrough role was starring as the love interest in the film series Divergent (2014). It must be said that seeing such success from a University of Nottingham alumnus lends hope that others may be capable of achieving similar Hollywood heights.
It is a fact that nepotism exists in the film and TV industry. So many of the familiar faces we see on screen are there because of their contacts. Take Gwyneth Paltrow, the daughter of director and producer Bruce Paltrow and Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner, as an example. Many of us may not recognise her famous parents, but it is undeniable that she is in the privileged position that she is largely due to their fame and influence. Let us just look for a moment at her acting debut, where she starred in the 1989 film High, directed by Bruce Paltrow himself. After this, she went on to act in the film Duets (2000), also directed by her father.
This begs the question: whilst Apatow’s career was undoubtedly kickstarted by family connections, at what point has she done enough to be credited a success in her own right? Furthermore, despite the advantages that come with having celebrity connections, there are also some undeniable challenges.
Ultimately, these few examples prove that having connections in Hollywood is very advantageous for aspiring stars.
However, many celebrities have risen to their current status on their own merit, and this should inspire confidence in those young hopefuls yearning to appear on the big screen in the future. Fame may not be out of their grasp just yet.
By Orla Newstead Page design and picture editing by Monica Mancini Photography by Max Harries “AT WHAT POINT HAS SHE DONE ENOUGH TO BE CREDITED A SUCCESS IN HER OWN RIGHT?”
On the other hand, it is important to acknowledge that an actor or producer who has benefited from industry connection or family privilege is not necessarily untalented. In fact, it may well be their early exposure to the film industry that helped them cultivate the skills needed to break into the business. For example, the daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, Maude Apatow, has been cast in several of her father’s films and is now one of the lead roles in the TV show Euphoria. Apatow is undeniably a talented actor, and Euphoria has been widely successful – garnering a huge audience and gaining numerous award nominations.
Nepotism crucialArenetworking:andconnectionstomake it on the big screen?
Problems can arise for these individuals as they attempt to establish themselves independently from their families. Some celebrities live wholly under the shadow of their more successful parents, an example of such actor Colin Hanks, who remains in the shadow of his father, Tom Hanks, despite pursuing his own acting career. Colin Hanks has seen success in films such as the newer Jumanji franchise and King Kong (2005). However, as a result of having such a film legend for a father (with two Academy Awards, numerous Emmys, several Golden Globes and a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tom Hanks’ name…), it’s fair to say Colin Hanks’ career has struggled to gain the credit it deserves.
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What embodies the American Dream more than rising to Hollywood stardom? So many have yearned for the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood lifestyle: an exciting career, extravagant award ceremonies and countless adoring fans. But the problem with this dream is that it assumes everybody, regardless of their background, can achieve their goals. How realistic is this? How much of the success of Hollywood stars is achieved through existing contacts in the business?
By Alice Bennett Page Design by Rian Patel
Action films and staggeringly large budgets are basically synonymous at this point. But does pumping millions into a movie ensure its success? Not necessarily, argues Alice Bennett.
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The Truth Behind Excessive Movie Budgets
Thespent.poor reception of On Stranger Tides only further proved that Captain Jack Sparrow could not carry an entire film franchise on his own, so spending such a massive proportion of the budget on Depp’s salary seemed even more unnecessary. As the first film of the series without Keira Knightly or Orlando Bloom, we also lose some of the story and charm, replacing this with overly long action sequences which lack the sense of adventure curated in earlier movies. From the mediocre visuals to the boring mermaid love story, the film is utterly uninspiring and completely deserves its 33% Rotten Tomatoes score. But just as a high budget doesn’t always mean success, a low budget doesn’t always mean failure. For another beloved series, this was just the case…at first. The first Star Wars film had a budget of $11 million, which is fairly low for a high-concept, ambitious sci-fi epic. Now, however, the film has spawned into one of the most successful franchises of all time. In addition to its effective worldbuilding and likeable characters, its charm lies in its lack of resources. A lower budget resulted in a rustic aesthetic to match the barren, sandy wasteland of Tatooine, an unexpected visual for a scifi film. Whether the success, and ever-increasing budgets, of the more recent Star Wars films have altered this charm is another discussion entirely… Nevertheless, this proves that action films do not need an excessive budget to be good and have a huge cultural impact. So many of the most iconic movies ever were made on a low budget, including the likes of DirtyDancing, The Terminator and even Oscar-winners like Moonlight. For many, these are more memorable than big-budget blockbusters like Avatar. Ultimately, the answer is clear: a high budget cannot guarantee high quality, and vice versa.
Does a High Budget Mean High Quality?
First things first, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides had a budget of $410 million: the highest movie budget ever. Did we need another Pirates of the Caribbean movie? No. Did it warrant being the most expensive film ever made? Absolutely not. If watching Johnny Depp perform Captain Jack Sparrow getting drunk and running around for a couple of hours is your thing, this multimillion dollar film is a winner. But for most viewers, this instalment was the downfall of a once-beloved franchise. The filming locationsincluding Hawaii and Puerto Rico – certainly contributed a fair bit to the extortionate price tag, and considering $55.5 million (13.5%) of the budget went to Depp’s salary, and a presumably significant amount also went towards Judi Dench’s (extremely random) cameo, we can begin to see why the budget was so high. Personally, seeing Depp getting off with dear Dame Judi just didn’t cut it. I would say it’s difficult to argue that this film represents money well
When my younger brother started becoming interested in gaming, aged just six years old, I knew I had a new partner in crime. He would often watch me playing free games on games. com, occasionally joining in for co-op games such as Fireboy & Watergirl. But his love for gaming hadn’t completely taken hold just yet. It was after my family began paying regular visits to our cousins, who owned the PlayStation 2 (PS2), that his interest really took off. The PS2 was the console that truly shaped my gaming journey too, so it holds real value for me (despite this, however, I have now betrayed my roots and invested in an Xbox Series S… oops). The game we played with our cousins was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and we absolutely did not take it seriously. Instead, we did what every hardcore gamer has done at some point: we whipped out a piece of paper and a pen, went straight on Google and jotted down all the cheat codes. Completing the main story? Nope. Using cheat codes to make people attack each other with golf clubs? Yes, please!
Impact’s Gaming Editor, Daria Paterek, reflects on how the world of gaming has brought her and her younger brothers together, forming between them a closer and more intimate familial relationship. I was not one of the lucky gamers. The ones who grew up with gamer parents, playing on classic consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Instead, I grew up in a family that did not (and still does not) understand gaming. In order to become the gamer that I am now, however, my gaming journey had to start somewhere. Interestingly, I can’t pinpoint the exact moment that I fell in love with gaming. Was it The Sims franchise? Random free games online? I’m not sure. But this article isn’t just about me. It’s also about my two younger brothers and their enthusiasm for gaming; an enthusiasm I like to take some credit for.
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My Gaming Family: How Video Games Brought My Siblings Together
Watching my little brother play Plants Vs Zombies was an endearing and nostalgic experience… until he started crying when he couldn’t beat a specific level. Amateur.
Purchasing the Xbox Game Pass was one of the best decisions I have made gaming-wise. Not only did this give me access to older titles I had always wanted to play, such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas, it allowed me to play games from my childhood with my younger brother.
Fast forward to 2022: my Switch is no longer mine and he has practically stolen it from me. The Switch that I paid for! Expensive games that I paid for. Insurance that I still pay for. And due to university and work commitments, he plays it much more than I do, not always giving me my console when I request it. The first game he played was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and he immediately fell in love with the irresistible cuteness and aesthetic (as we all did). He later started playing Mario games, a decision thatfuelledhisloveforallthingsMariofromthispointon.Onething led to another and, before we knew it, he had a Mario birthday cake for his 6th birthday and showers ofAnimalCrossing themed gifts for Christmas. His love for gaming had truly been ignited.
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“My favourite game series is FIFA because I like football and it’s similar to real life.
My youngest brother was born when I was 13. Since there was a big age difference between us, I always felt more like his ‘second mum’ than his older sister. This meant that I spent a lot of time babysitting. In his toddler years, babysitting meant playing with toys or suffering through numerous hours of Paw Patrol This all changed after I treated myself to a Nintendo Switch for Christmas 2020, having never owned a Nintendo console before. As my brother and I naturally spent a lot of time together, he would occasionally watch me play. After some time, he asked to play by himself.
I remember when we used to play Buzz! on the PlayStation 2” exclaims my 13-year-old brother, Dominik. Naturally, my brother and I soon wanted our own PS2. After some ferocious money saving, I bought a second-hand one for £20. And what was the first game we played on it you may ask? Grand Theft Auto 3. Yes, my 13-year-old self and seven-year-old brother played a game centred on crime, drugs and gang war fare. But don’t worry, we weren’t great gamers back then, and we stopped playing about 30 minutes in (when the timed quests became too hard for us)... thankfully. My middle brother’s love for gaming catalysed when he was gifted a PlayStation 4 (PS4), which he still plays daily. Both of us have made some great memories on it: from beating Grand Theft Auto 5 and Uncharted 4 together, to numerous fights when he would not allow me to play. Fast-forward to 2022, he mainly plays FIFA 22, and we still fight because he keeps hogging the PS4 and not letting me finish God of War
Have my brothers and I built the foundation for the love of gaming in our family? Probably. But I think that the greatest thing gaming did for us was bring us together. Despite the petty fights and competitive arguments, gaming was always something that was ours, and something that I truly believe strengthened our sibling bond. By Daria Paterek Photography by Daria Paterek Page Design by Katie Wint
Talking with The Wombats: New Music, TikTok Fame and Rock City Nights Out
“It’s a journey of acceptance” is how Haggis summarises the band’s new project. “Putting your arm around the little demons in your head and saying: ‘We’re here together, neither of us are going anywhere, so let’s make the best of this and try to communicate as much as possible.’ Through that, we’ll be able to find some tranquillity and peace and move on into the world, and be a better partner, friend, neighbour, member of society. Maybe find some kind of inner peace and happiness,” he expands. “The pandemic accentuated the introspective nature of The Wombats lyrically. There was nowhere else to run, no distractions there to use to avoid those difficult conversations. This album is almost like therapy for us.” Notedly, the pandemic not only influenced the topics explored in their lyrics, but it also shaped how they recorded the album, with the three band members residing in three different countries. “Fortunately, we wrote half of the album before the pandemic, so we had some really good demos and a solid idea of what we were doing in terms of structure of the songs. I think if we hadn’t had that, it would have been really hard to do the album.” Arranging the album via the internet, Haggis admitted that the band “probably couldn’t have made this album 10 years ago”.
In fact, Haggis told me, he believes that this unconventional method ultimately shaped the album positively: “It gave us a chance to really focus on our individual parts which we’d agree beforehand over Zoom in the morning. Not being able to see each other and have a joke and have dinner together was a shame, but on a musical level we’ve done this for 18 years now. We know each other really well and we trust each other, so we were never in doubt that we’d be able to achieve it. It led to the album being even richer sonically, and it sounds different because of the situation. You can’t help but be influenced by what’s happening around you – all of those things play a role in the sound of an album, and the fact that we were across different countries has added to it.”
The lead single Method to the Madness was recorded before the pandemic, and it marked a distinct change in direction for the band. “We were listening to some ambient, lo-fi, electronic stuff and we decided to make something a bit more chilled. Tord is constantly recording sounds on his phone, which he turned into the opening beat. By the afternoon, our energy levels were up, so we started making this big kick-off at the end, and suddenly we had this, The Prodigy and Radiohead outro. It felt like such a departure to anything we’d done before. We knew it had to be
With their fifth album ‘Fix Yourself, Not the World’ going straight to Number 1 on the UK’s Official Albums Chart, Impact’s Music Editor, Gemma Cockrell, spoke to drummer Dan Haggis from The Wombats about the process of recording the album, the band’s unexpected TikTok fame and their upcoming touring plans.
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The band isn’t making a stop at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena this time round, but Haggis speaks highly of the city, particularly his fond memories of Rock City – or, in some cases, his lack of memory. “It’s always such a fun gig there, it’s such a welcoming venue. I’ve been on a few nights out there that, to be honest, I can’t really remember. But I know I had a good time!” - wrapping the interview up with a statement that all Nottingham students can definitely relate to.
the first song we put out, even though it might not be a conventional single.” The album closer, FixYourself,Then the World (Reach Beyond Your Fingers), is also unlike anything that the band have released previously. “It’s just the three of us jamming on the piano for a minute and a half. It’s more of an outro than a song, really. We realised we had captured something there, so we put it on the Ialbum.”didn’twant to shift the focus away from all of the exciting things that The Wombats have in the pipeline, but it felt impossible not to mention the impact that TikTok had on the band last year when a remixed version of Greek Tragedy went viral. “It was pretty mad! Our manager said: ‘This remix of Greek Tragedy from 2015 is kicking off on TikTok and we were like ‘What’s TikTok?’” he laughs. “He started showing us some of the videos. Over time, it just kept getting shared. I suppose for us, it was surreal, and it reinforces the lottery element of doing music. Here’s a song that was released six years ago, and all of a sudden, despite the fact that we hadn’t done anything, it started to live a new life on this social media platform. It was nice that people were discovering our music without us doing anything, since we couldn’t do any gigs, and it was nice to feel like the music was still getting out there to new people, even though we weren’t on tour.”
Following their intimate record store tour in January, they are now looking forward to a run of headline arena shows in April. “Playing the songs live is the final piece of the jigsaw, because we get to see people’s reactions and the songs come to life.”
The Wombats’ fifth studio album, ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’, is out now, and the band will be touring the UK throughout April and May.
With the mention of gigs, the remainder of our conversation focused on The Wombats’ touring plans for this year.
By Gemma Cockrell Photography courtesy of Pomona PR Page Design by Gemma Cockrell
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For decades, it was common to turn on the radio and hear singers or rappers flaunting their wealth and lavish lifestyles. Today, however, we are hearing so-called ‘woke’ music more and more often, especially in the indie genre. For example, UK Number 1 holder Sam Fender has been open and honest about his childhood, discussing how he contemplated selling drugs to help his mother make ends meet. His hit single Seventeen Going Under, which gained huge success thanks to TikTok, depicts just this, specifically in the heart-breaking bridge: “I see my mother // The DWP see a number // She cries on the floor encumbered // I’m seventeen going under.” His words clearly resonated with listeners, as the song amassed over 51 million Spotify streams. The Newcastle born singer-songwriter has also worked closely with charities seeking to curb inequality. In fact, he started a petition which pressurised multiple regions in the North-East to make their homelessness helplines non-chargeable. Gaining 16,500 signatures, Fender helped to lower access barriers for those in the greatest need of support.
Musicians Making an Impact: Using music to tackle class and economic inequality
With the huge audiences they attract, musicians have a key role to play in addressing and engaging with the social and political issues of our day. With more and more artists using their platforms in political ways, is class consciousness in the music industry on the rise? Amrit Virdi details those artists that are tackling issues of race, class and inequality through both their lyricism and their charity work.
More recently, Leeds based band Yard Act released their debut album ‘The Overload’ in January, and the political tone of the album depicted working-class life in both a relatable and humorous way. The lead single, Fixer Upper, tells the tale of someone who worked hard to live an ordinary lifestyle, with lyrics such as “Two homes and a rover, comes from hard graft // I’m not minted, I earnt it.” The northern twang heard in the voices of the band further adds to their authenticity. It’s of no doubt that their accents resonate with many listeners, helping them feel represented. UK rap and grime are also known for tackling issues of inequality, evidenced in rapper Dave’s performance of his song Black at the 2020 BritAwards. The rapper went so far as to call PM Boris Johnson racist, as well as referencing Grenfell, the treatment of Meghan Markle and other topical issues onstage. The hard-hitting lyrics, with lines such as “poverty made me a beast, I battled the law in the streets // we all struggled, but your struggle ain’t a struggle like me”, spoke to many listeners. So much so that the song peaked at number 15 on the iTunes chart after the performance, having originally debuted at number 98. UK rap artists have also participated in charity work, an example of such the rapper Stormzy who launched the ‘Stormzy Scholarship’. Providing full financial support for black students to study at the University of Cambridge every year, it encouraged 50% more black students to apply for Oxbridge in 2020 compared to figures recorded in 2017. It is encouraging, therefore, to see those with platforms making their voices heard and actively working to have an impact beyond just their song writing. We are seeing the music industry making a difference and raising awareness of issues surrounding race, class and economic inequality. By Amrit Virdi Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton
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‘It’s a Rich Man’s World’: Have You Got To Be Loaded To Drive in Formula 1? 50 IMPACT
By Gemma Cockrell Photography courtesy of Alex Fores Page design by Gemma Cockrell “I’m lucky to have got to where I am with all the financial barriers”
Alex mentions that instead of driver academies, sponsors are the most important factor for drivers who need financial support early on in their careers. “I’m lucky to have got to where I am with all the financial barriers, but there’s no chance that I’d be where I am now without getting a sponsor as soon as I got out of karts and into cars. This is pretty much unheard of, because in the lower series, the sponsors aren’t getting much exposure out of it. For most of the drivers who I’m racing against now, sponsors aren’t that pivotal because they’ve all got the family money. I’m not bitter, but that’s just the way it is!” he laughs.
As Lewis Hamilton stated in the first episode of the latest season of Netflix series Formula 1: Drive To Survive, “cash is king.” Hamilton is one of the very few Formula 1 drivers to originate from a somewhat humbler upbringing, attributing much of his monumental success to the hardships and adversities that he had to overcome throughout his youth. He was signed to the McLaren Young Driver Programme at 13 years old.
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Everyone knows that money plays a huge role within Formula 1. Less known, however, is its role in the lower racing divisions and how finance acts as a barrier to development. Speaking with third year University of Nottingham student and GB3 racer, Alex Fores, Impact’s Gemma Cockrell ex plores how a lack of money can limit young racers’ progression towards motor racing at the highest level.Theconversation
Fellow racer, Esteban Ocon, is one of the only other current Formula 1 drivers to have experienced financial struggles. His family lived in a caravan for a few years to fund his racing career, and he has acknowledged that he was very lucky to get noticed by driver academies because, otherwise, his career would never have taken off.
“The sport simply becomes a business, propelled by profit rather than passion”
surrounding ‘pay drivers’ in Formula 1 has been ongoing for years now. These are drivers who bring with them their own personal sponsorship and family funding, to finance the team’s operations. For a Formula 1 team such as Haas, who were known to be struggling financially, it was a dream to successfully sign Nikita Mazepin, the son of billionaire businessman Dmitry Mazepin, for the 2021 season. Notedly, Mazepin only finished fifth in the Formula 2 championship last year but was still chosen to represent Haas in the Formula 1. All the while, the drivers who came second and fourth were left without a seat in this top division. It’s undeniable that Haas’ decision was clearly driven by money rather than talent, and it’s important to remember that this is just one example, there being many teams who have done the same thing in recent years. “Motorsport is very different to any other sport,” in Alex’s opinion. “It’s just the way the sport is. It’s ‘pay drivers’ the whole way through [the feeder series] until Formula 1. It’s just the nature of motorsport turning into a business more than a sport. Obviously, it’s a sport on-track, but everything off-track is business.” This raises something that many people, even the most avid motorsport fans, might not realise: drivers who race in the feeder series do not earn money for participating, and instead, have to pay the team for their seat in the sport. “You can’t get out on track without having lots of money behind you. I don’t think it’s fair,” Alex comments. “Compared to any other sport, for example football, you get semi-professionals who are still getting paid a good wage to do something they love, but motorsport isn’t really a profession for most people who do it.”
The financial backing of young driver programmes was crucial to enabling both Hamilton and Ocon to progress to the highest levels of motorsport. However, as Alex highlights, getting noticed by driver academies isn’t as easy for today’s young racers. “Driver academies are getting rarer and rarer nowadays and more cutthroat too. They are good, and loads of people have come through them who wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, but nowadays you’ve got to have spent loads of money to get yourself to the position where academies will take you seriously. They do help you to get training, provide financial help and make you more marketable for sponsors, but there are doors that you have to unlock first before you even reach that door.”
Besides the drivers, motor racing wouldn’t be possible without its spectators, so it’s important to consider how the moneyoriented nature of the sport could affect the fans too. If a sport’s operations revolve entirely around money, the sport simply becomes a business, propelled by profit rather than passion. “The fans aren’t seeing the best drivers currently, so they’re missing out, and then the drivers are missing out on opportunities themselves as well. There’s a lot that should be changed, I think,” Alex continues.
So, the ultimate question is, do you have to be a multi-millionaire to climb the ladder in motorsport? In Alex’s opinion: “Yes, you do. That’s a very short and simple answer! There’s no other way around it. You need to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, and to have that as disposable income from your family, you need to be a multi-millionaire. There’s no two ways about it, the answer is yes.”
An important component of any university sporting society, the socials and after fixture nights out are as important to some as the matches themselves. The perfect time to celebrate a victory and bond with teammates, before inevitably finishing with a line of taxis heading into town. There have been many stories of these alcohol-fuelled events, many that would shock even the most experienced of partygoers. These pre-Crisis rituals have graced Nottingham for years and left us wondering: what are the best anecdotes university socials have to offer? That’s why Impact have collected the most unbelievable tales of socials past and present, anonymously submitted by students. We have selected a few of our favourites for your enjoyment…
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OutrageousMostStoriesfromUoNSport’sSocietySocials
“I managed to persuade the driver of a street sweeper car to a 100m sprint… took an easy win that day.”
“Two teams racing to finish a can of wet cat food, I feel bad but we took about 3 bites before dumping the rest in the bin and claiming a strong victory.”
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“I was a young fresher with a lot to learn. My first away game was to Northumbria, and it certainly was a BIG introduction to university sport. Due to communication and logistical issues which seem so commonplace in BUCS games, we had the awkward situation of sharing a changing room with the opposing team. This wasn’t an is sue before the game as we managed to avoid crossing paths. However, after the final whistle blew everyone found themselves walking back to the same sweaty, crowded place to change and shower - what could go wrong? Now, while we had just enjoyed a MASSIVE win on the pitch, it’s fair to say the Northumbria boys enjoyed an even BIGGER win off the pitch. As we all rushed to get into the showers, all was revealed. Never have I ever seen the things I saw that day … 7-inch floppies seemed to be the Northumbria team’s average, with highs of 9, maybe even 10. To this day I’ve never felt the same about my manhood, or have I felt comfortable in a shower. I was left a broken young man, with nothing but unanswered
“I had to carry an egg with me around the club as a forfeit for losing a game at our social. It just so happened the club queue that day was the most jampacked, disorderly, lawless crowd of people I had ever seen. Long story short, the queue surged forward, I got slammed into the person in front and my egg was cracked in the process. It was extra unpleasant, however, because it actually cracked all down my bra - meaning I spent the rest of the night with scrambled egg cleavage and the most horrific smelling stench following me around - a stench which only got worse as the night went on. Needless to say, I didn’t pull that night.”
“Our social sec, who thinks he’s the shit, was bragging to all the freshers about how someone of his stature finds pub golf such a breeze. It was particularly iconic, therefore, when he ended up violently throwing up in the porch of Bierkeller, in full view of everyone in attendance. He’s never bragged again since.”
By Sam Collins Photography courtesy of DRSV Page Design by Chiara Crompton
And we just had to include this one…
“It was the beginning of a big sporting weekend and I kicked it off with a Friday night Ocean social in which I managed to get completely blackout. I woke up the next morning with so little time to get to the matches that I didn’t realise I had two gigantic hickeys on both sides of my neck. Let’s just say I play a sport where your neck is very much on show and it had to be my coach who pointed them out. After this was my sports Christmas dinner and, despite about 15 layers of concealer, Dracula’s work could not be undone, and those bad boys were on view all night.”
“From my memory, a particularly rowdy social had culminated in me tripping over in front of a bouncer at Stealth. I found out the next day, however, that I’d actually absolutely stacked it in front of an entire line of Stealth bouncers, taking out all the barriers with me and leaving a trail of carnage in my wake… It must have been extra impressive though, as they still let me in.”
BUCSquestions.”initiation
https://reportandsupport.nottingham.ac.uk/UoNstudentsunion@nottingham.ac.ukComplaintshttps://www.bucs.org.uk/report-an-initiation.htmlreportingcanbesenttotheSUvia‘ReportandSupport’page
If you have found yourself affected by any negative experiences within UoN sport, please see some of the following links for support. The UoN Report and Support web page enables you to informally seek advice from a member of the welfare team, discuss your options for further action or report activities anonymously to the University. Please also see a link to the BUCS ‘initiation reporting’ page and the Student Union email address, the latter allowing you to report to the University directly if you would prefer.
It has long been known that universitylevel sport is an expensive business. Nottingham has been investing heavily in its sports facilities in recent years, most obviously with the construction of the £40 million David Ross Sports Village (DRSV). Which means, of course, somebody has to foot the bill.
Pay to Play? TheHiddenExtortionateCostsofUoNSport
In 2021, for the second time in three years, the University of Nottingham was named The Times’ Sports University of the Year. It was an honour the University undoubtedly deserved, and it reflects the continuation of a legacy of sporting excellence that has produced the likes of Deng Yaping, four time Olympic goldmedallist in table tennis, and Brian Moore, World Rugby Player of the Year. Following the 2021 award, Vice-Chancellor Shearer West commented that it “position[ed] us at the forefront of sport in UK universities”, and that “our approach to sport ensures that everyone can realise their potential.” But is this really true? Can it really be said that sport at our university is accessible to everyone?
For many, sport and university go hand in hand. The famous Wednesday afternoon fixtures are a true staple of the British university experience. But does everyone have the same access to sport at university? Or are financial barriers seriously restricting who can play? Kit Sinclair assesses the cost of sport at the University of Nottingham.
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“The base cost of participating in most sports is over £200”
“If you’re willing to cast your net a bit wider and try out some less mainstream sports, you can make some significant savings”
By Kit Sinclair Photography by Finn McKenzie Illustration and Page Design by Chiara Crompton
Now, if all these prices are making your brow a little sweaty, there are options. An Aikido membership, for example, is just £5 for the year and £1 per session; whilst floorball is £15 for the year. If you’re willing to cast your net a bit wider and try out some less mainstream sports, you can make some significant savings. For some sports, scholarships are available for those students who show particular promise. Nottingham’s top level rowing scholarship (which includes financial support towards training and competition expenses, a gym membership, physiotherapy and more) has a very generous equivalent value of £12,000. Which, by the way, begs the question: just how much are non-scholarship students shelling out to be part of the team? If you don’t qualify for a scholarship, the Just Play scheme offers a solution. For £3 a session (or free with a sport and fitness membership), you can try out many of the sports Nottingham offers without committing to membership.
There are a few sports for which the £229 David Ross membership is not required - triathlon, polo, powerlifting and snooker being some. Even Nottingham’s famed ice hockey team doesn’t require a gym membership. But there is more to the prices than meets the eye here, too. One former ice hockey player at Nottingham told Impact that, although they didn’t have to pay for a gym membership or starter kit, “we did eventually all need our own stuff (which costs a lot).” Beyond the obvious costs of kit, sessions, insurance and entering games, there are other hidden expenses that may not be obvious to students before joining. “The main hidden cost was transport; as hockey finished at 1am, the safest option was an Uber, which could cost up to £20.” As it is with ice hockey, it is so often these extra hidden expenses which can catch students out. An athletics membership, for example, is £40 for the year but, in order to train and compete, you’ll need to pay an extra £110 a year for a track pass, plus extras for attending BUCS competitions. Many societies will require you to buy their kit, a full set of which could cost you anywhere between £50-100. Even if it’s not obligatory, a student who wasn’t wearing the kit would be immediately marked out from their peers, putting those without sufficient finances in an awkward and potentially embarrassing position.
It’s also true that becoming a member of any of Nottingham’s competitive teams requires a significant time commitment. Some teams expect attendance at training four or five times a week, plus time spent at the gym outside of training sessions, as well as spending weekends away at competitions. That’s before we mention socials! For students that rely on a part-time job to financially support their studies, this level of commitment is difficult to manage.
As a former member of Nottingham’s Karate society told Impact: “It was definitely worth it! I trained 4 times a week for 2 hours, and it was much cheaper than clubs I’d gone to before uni. I didn’t ever have to sacrifice things because of the fees.”
Without addressing these financial barriers at a wider level, Nottingham is going to continue to shut out talented potential athletes from their top teams. Perhaps it is time to consider the cost of sport at our university, so all Nottingham students, no matter their financial circumstances, can truly “realise their potential”.
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The fact remains, however, that if you’re a low income student and you want to play competitively in any of Nottingham’s top sports teams, it’s going to cost you a significant - and potentially unmanageable - amount of money. “I thought it was outrageous that people had to pay gym membership,” says our former ice hockey player. “I understand why some of the prices are so high as insurance and coaching is expensive, but also the lack of subsidies for people who weren’t county-level athletes and just wanted to have fun was really poor.”
Of course, being an athlete at the UK’s top sports university has its benefits: skills, friendship, health benefits and even the potential opportunity for progression into sport as a career. For some, those benefits justify the costs.
A year’s David Ross sports membership costs at least £209, but this ‘Early Bird’ offer is only available until the 4th of October each year, at which point the price rises to £229. This is likely to catch out new students, who may not realise they want a sports membership before the deadline for the early offer. The large majority of sports groups require that any member has a DRSV membership in order to join, meaning that the base cost of participating in most sports is over £200. That’s before adding on membership of specific sports societies, kit, equipment hire, coaching, session fees - the list goes on. So, how much are those individual memberships? The answer depends on a number of factors: what type of sport it is, how experienced you are and whether you want to play competitively. According to prices listed on the Students Union website, the average cost of the cheapest membership is around £36. There’s a huge variation contained within that average though. The lowest basic membership starts at £5, whilst the most expensive one will cost you a whopping £125! Even your gender makes a difference - the membership fees for ladies and men’s teams of the same sport can vary by nearly £35. If you want to play competitively, those membership fees can leap up significantly. Whilst for some sports, the difference between a ‘social’ (non-competitive) membership and a ‘performance’ (competitive) membership is a matter of £10, for others it is much more significant. For women’s hockey, a social membership is £30, whereas being on the 1st team will set you back £320 (and it’s a similar story for men’s hockey). Men’s rugby is £50 for a social membership and £130 for a competitive membership.
OpenRecommendsReviewsImpactWater(2021)
By Beatrice Oladeji Fish Tank (2009) A high rise of council flats could be seen, through a certain lens, as a mass of fish tanks stacked high and wide. Each individual fish is trapped without the means to escape their four walls but is never without hope. This central metaphor binds filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s stunning character study of the violent 15-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis). The film’s gorgeous, boxy, 4:3 aspect ratio further symbolises the teenager’s economic captivity. The only hope Arnold displays is that Mia’s talent for breakdancing will free her from this cycle of deprivation. And the raw authenticity of Fish Tank’s lead performance is not just an act: teen-pregnant, non-actor Katie Jarvis was spotted arguing at a train station by the film’s casting director and subsequently hired. An uncomfortable yet essential watch. By Tim Ovenden Billy Elliot (2000)
Waitress (2015) Sara Bareilles’ musical Waitress is more than its animated score. Jenna’s (Lucie Jones) reluctant acceptance of motherhood is painfully honest, and her affair with married gynaecologist, Dr Pomatter (David Hunter), fails to distract from her abusive marriage. Yet, it is this inherent vulnerability of Jenna that makes Waitress so powerful. Together, the employees of ‘Joe’s Pie Diner’ support one another through a messy human existence, while Jenna chases economic liberation from her husband, Earl (Peter Hannah), by entering the ‘Springfield National Pie Contest’. From Becky’s (Merisha Wallace) inner conflict to Dawn’s (Ashley Roberts) self-discovery, we experience the characters’ emotional turmoil as though it is our own. By the time Jenna bakes her ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ pie, we have each contributed both laughter and a pinch of tears to those three staple ingredients: ‘’sugar, butter and flour’’.
Caleb Azuma-Nelson’s novel Open Water tells the touching story of two young black creatives attempting to navigate their way to success in London. Although the reader never learns the name of the narrator, by the end of the novel one finds it does not matter – for it’s his story that leaves an impact. Reading such an emotionally driven novel, told from the perspective of a black male, felt particularly meaningful. This, as well as the second-person narrative, effectively positions the reader at the centre of all the protagonist’s most vulnerable and intimate moments. As you delve into the beautiful romantic poetry and well-crafted cultural references, you soon realise that the novel isn’t just about the blossoming relationship between two lovers. It is, in fact, a critical social commentary addressing the harsh realities of being young and black in Britain.
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At risk of sounding cliche, Billy Elliot is a classic working-class British film. Set against the backdrop of the turbulent miners’ strikes of 1984 in County Durham, the film follows the journey of elevenyear-old Billy. Coming from a workingclass family background, Billy’s passion for ballet takes him all the way to an audition at the Royal Ballet School. Billy’s character challenges the idea that ballet is an exclusively feminine sport, contradicting the supposition that working-class individuals should not have aspirations stretching beyond their hometowns. Billy Elliot presents the diversity within workingclass life. It is an honest portrayal of the struggles faced by a new generation, a generation keen to explore paths distinctly different to the ones taken by their parents.
By Emily Campbell
By Amy Evans
Parasite (2019)
By Hannah Walton-Hughes
Normal People (2020) The BBC and Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney’s hit novel Normal People perfectly captures the emotional intensity of first love and the importance of identity. The relationship between Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) effortlessly communicates the struggles of navigating teenage relationships through to adulthood. The beauty and contradictions of sex may be the most obvious on-screen theme, but the twelve episodes evolve to tackle important subjects of emotional vulnerability, social status and entitlement. Both characters strive to overcome individual insecurity and accept that they are ready for, and are worthy of, love. Together, their sporadic, but nonetheless all-consuming, relationship is relatable, honest and captivating; an exemplary representation of two people bonded by shared experience but restricted by timing and personal circumstance. By Niamh Budd Illustrations by Ciara Lurshay Page Design by Chiara Crompton
It doesn’t take a lot of digging to recognise that the 2019 triumph Parasite presents a cutting criticism of class antagonisms in modern society. Established Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s black comedy follows the Kims, a working-class family who fold pizza boxes for a living, as they con the extravagantly wealthy Park family into hiring them under false credentials. Although the main narrative presents a criticism of economic inequality, Joon-ho goes beyond the plot to make his argument. The enormous and increasing wealth-gap in Seoul is represented through set design, costuming, lighting and cinematography. Through these mediums, he masterfully juxtaposes two families that would be near identical would it not be for their opposite positioning on the ‘spectrum of class’. By Amelia Gibbs
Downton Abbey (2010 –2015)
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DowntonAbbey epitomises the vast chasm in class, status and wealth that existed between the upper and working classes in early nineteenth century England. The series demonstrates inequality by taking the characters on a journey through key events in British history, from the First World War to the Suffragette movement. During a discussion on the tragic sinking of the Titanic, the estate butler, Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), comments that “most of the ladies were taken off in time’’. In response, the family patriarch, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), remarks: ‘’You mean the ladies in first class? God help the poor devils below decks.’’ In this short interaction, the writers perfectly portray the social structures of this time which positioned the working-classes as dispensable. Nevertheless, throughout the series, the boundaries are blurred between the upper and working-classes. From Ladies and Maids to Lords and Butlers, friendships and romances develop in unlikely places.
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Scorpio Seductive Scorpios, 2022 brings all sorts of good things for you. With Pluto in retrograde for around five months, you’ll be forced into a deep reflection. Perhaps you’ll solve the mystery of your ever-growing overdraft by considering the copious number of takeaway coffees you’re consuming or realise wearing a North Face puffer every single day isn’t the avant-garde fashion statement you think it is. Either way, only good can come from this. By October time, the sun will shine on your sign, making you utterly irresistible to all who you encounter. Use this power wisely, perhaps seducing your lecturers into bumping that 65 to a 70. Sagittarius Sags, you’re certainly known for your adventurous attitude and rollercoaster emotions, and 2022 will be no different. Your ruler Jupiter has a turbulent year in store, enjoying its ability to evoke both pensive spirituality and whimsical mischief. Come late November, the sun’s partnership with your sign should induce altruistic feelings and a desire to do good in the world. A sensible place to start may be cleaning out that mouldy food cupboard or fridge shelf, and maybe even taking your clothes out the washing machine before they start to smell. Your fellow students will thank you unreservedly, and charity starts at home after all.
By Niamh Robinson Illustrations and Page Design by Chiara Crompton
Leo Dear Leos. Your attention-seeking this year will make Kanye look modest by comparison. With Neptune at home in Pisces all year, this is a time for dreams and aspirations. All the World’s a Stage as you dominate the Portland piano with ‘Chopsticks’ renditions and commandeer Sheaves Karaoke with caterwauls of ‘Mr Brightside’. But maybe just check the audience is enjoying your exhibitions as much as you are. Your vivaciousness is your greatest asset but joining Nottingham New Theatre or Musicality might be a productive expenditure of your creative energy which doesn’t drive your friends to contemplate violence.
Virgo Virgos. Rational, sense-driven Virgos. It’s time for you to have a bit more fun. Now, that’s not the astrological world calling you boring per se, but unpredictable Uranus is escorted by Taurus in 2022, which is cosmological code for: stop spending every evening watching Peaky Blinders in your pyjamas. We’re not talking crazed risk taking here, but maybe step outside your comfort zone every once in a while. How much harm could one Crisis night do you really? You don’t even have to take off the pyjamas if you claim to be there in costume. Just spare it some thought at least. Libra Lovely Libras, your universal nicety makes you popular, but it’s okay to follow your own interests too. Steady Saturn has a temperamental bond with Aquarius in 2022, meaning it’s time to start prioritising your own needs. How often are you in the mood for a party, but your friends demand a quiet night in? Publicly posting ‘Party at mine!’ with your address on Buy and Sell will show you just how quickly you can replace these doom merchants with lots of new friends. Leave the people pleasing in 2021 and live solely for your own whims and fancies.
Capricorn Capricorns, ambitious and goal-focused, 2022 will test your studiousness like never before. Your home planet Saturn is partnered with Aquarius this year, meaning there’s no better time to tackle new obstacles and accomplish great things. Workaholics that you are, your minds can be put to good use solving some of campus’s greatest mysteries. Such questions include: will Student Services ever provide someone with a straightforward answer to their question? Or is Beeston Hall really comprised of repurposed shipping containers? And why is there a suspicious underground tunnel linking Portland with Trent building? If anyone can find the answers to such perennial questions, you can Capricorn. Aquarius Aquarius, the oddity of the zodiac signs, you’ll get no less quirky in 2022 that’s for sure. Beware: your ruler Uranus pairs up with measured Taurus this year, meaning you’ll encounter some real resistance when pursuing your impulses. This could come in the form of a harrowing hangover after a particularly rowdy Pryzm Monday or an awkward encounter after a miscalculated drunk text. Your spontaneity is your superpower but prepare for it to land you in a few sticky situations this year. Stick to Tinder hook-ups if you’re looking for a love interest. Anything closer to home is likely to end in a messy Nottsfessional post. Pisces Gentle Pisces let’s just cut straight to it. Things don’t look good from late June onwards. As Neptune’s retrograde cycle begins, lasting the rest of the year, you’re going to be facing nothing but indecisiveness, procrastination and hesitation. It’s time to start planning ahead. File for a raft of ECs now and flog all possessions which could be conceived as a distraction. This includes all but one outfit, any foodstuffs excepting dry rice cakes and every non-educational poster. Go full Steve Jobs in reducing your risk of decision fatigue. Your life may be dull as dishwater, but you’ve no other hope.
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