The Chronicle - Summer 2021

TheChronicle SUMMER 2021

Contents Philosophy and ethics

Parents vs Doctors - Who is really in charge? - By Phoebe

Arts and literature

The Editors

Photos and artwork - By Romilly and Mia

Developing a Wellbeing Tooklit - By Molly Lockdown and online school - By Ellen Antisemitism in the media - By Jessica Should the Korowai tribe fear westernisation or better yet should we fear westernising them? - By Romilly How I view the meaning of life - By Isabella The truth about Solitude - By Alvina

Under appreciation of The Arts in Schools - By Tiggy The Mysterious Visitor - By Bessy The Maze - By Faith Read everyday with me - By Cyra

Culture

Science and medicine

Is tradition really important in literature? - By Madeleine

Zoonotic pandemics and the influence of animal exploitation on disease - By Aimée Defying Gravity: The EMDrive and Science - By Audrey This could be why you are a picky eater - By Christy The Ethics of Placebo-Controlled Trials - By Myrtle Space colonisation - By Morganne New Organ Discovered - By Doxa To what extent can organoids be used to develop our understanding of and treatments for cancer and genetic disorders? An investigation into Glioblastoma Multiforme and Cystic Fibrosis - By Faye

Is the unauthorised absence of a child in school the parents’ fault? - By Michaela Why should you get a dog? - By Freiya A dog is for life, not just for lockdown - By Chloe The effect that celebrities have on teens - by Lily How the fashion industry has controlled women and manipulated the female form throughout history - By Mia Franco’s Dictatorship - By Marnie The Anatomy of the New York Pizza slice - By Lucy A very brief History of April Fools and some of the Greatest Pranks of All Time - By Ruby

Law

Influences of Black Culture in Mainstream Fashion - By Oreoluwa

Does anyone have the right to decide to issue a death penalty? - By Romilly How reliable are eyewitness testimonies? - By Valentine How are the Governments Responsible for Violent Crime in Latin America? - By Lucy Should young people in France (16-18) have the right to vote? - By Freya Holding the Conservative Party Accountable for Section 28 - By Emily Government by decree Covid 19 and the Constitution - By Georgia

Acknowledgements

I’m so excited for this year’s edition of The Chronicle!

For the eighth edition we decided to take a contemporary, modernistic and sleek approach with bold splashes of colour. We felt this complimented the range of talents and individuality each MSJ girl showcased in their articles and poems. I have really enjoyed working with girls across the school to collate their articles, take pictures and most importantly I have loved giving a voice to girls who wanted to share their passions and views.

To produce a publishable article is a challenge for anyone and takes immense time and dedication.

This year has not been easy, and I would like to thank all girls who contributed for maintaining a positive approach and attitude.

Our thanks, of course, goes to Dr Jones for co-ordinating the whole project and ensuring a smooth production process from start to finish. We are sure that you will enjoy reading this as much as we have enjoyed editing it.

The Chronicle is an annual publication that is compiled and managed by one or more Senior School students, who take on the role of editor. The publication showcases the interests, concerns and creative talents of our pupils, who write on a topic that is important to them.

Sheila Mwende This year’s edition of the Chronicle was an amazing project to be part of. I want to thank all the writers and editors for making this edition possible.

2021

The Editors

If anything, this strengthened our resolve to ensure that this year’s edition is as lively, relevant and well-supported as previous ones.

Our students have a wide range of interests and in order to showcase these to maximum effect, we have decided for the first time that these would be presented in themed sections. Despite lockdowns and school closures, pupils have risen admirably to the occasion to produce inspired articles on an array of matters about which they feel passionate or have a personal interest.

Lola

Georgia Welcome to this year’s edition of the Chronicle. It has without doubt been an editorial challenge as we have had to adapt to global circumstances.

Whilst some of our meetings have been able to take place in person, at times not only have we been in different parts of the UK but scattered across the globe. Due to the vastly different time zones this has led to some interesting exchanges between both the editorial team and our contributors!

Parents vs doctors

Who is really in charge?

By Phoebe

The issue of who should have the final say when it comes to medical decisions is very complex and can range from case to case, I hope that upon reading this, you can appreciate both sides of the argument and make up your mind without ignorance.

It is a choice between trained professionals and the people that know the patient the best.

It is certainly a difficult choice, and this is a topic that has sparked much interest around the world.

Take the case of Charlie Guard: after being diagnosed with a rare genetic condition with no known cure, his prognosis was bleak. There were two options: the doctors wanted to let him die with dignity, his parents were fighting to give him an experimental treatment. But who had the final decision?

Ultimately, the parents know their child the best. They know if they are mentally strong and can handle difficult situations. The parents know how their decisions are going to affect their child’s school life, their social life, their home life. But doctors, on the other hand, know more about the condition, about related cases, they have contact with other specialists.

Of course, the best-case would be where parents and doctors agree, but sometimes that can’t happen, and legal action has to be taken for a decision to be made in the best interests of the child.

Whatever the final outcome, the parents have to deal with that burden, whether medical costs, the time they have to take to care for the child, the travelling to different hospitals, the pain and grief if the child doesn’t make it. Parents also may want to consider the effect of the decision on family life, for example other children that would have to come to terms with the loss or have time taken away with them as the parents battle to keep their other child alive; they would have to sacrifice a lot. In this case, the parents may want to choose against the best outcome to ensure the whole family is cared for. However, doctors only want the best outcome for the child who is ill; although they may consider this to be where the child is free of pain, has a long lifespan, is able to have meaningful relationships, or is able to play and enjoy life. Sometimes, they may decide that it is in the best interests of the child to let the child die.

So, clearly well-being is not straightforward. There are many situations where parents may disagree with doctors: they may refuse physiotherapy for their child that they see as distressing. They may base their decisions on a religious stance: for example, Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed blood transfusions as blood is seen as sacred and a representation of life.

Parents also have an emotional connection to their child which can taint how they react, they can make rash decisions, or try to hold onto their child for too long and put them through pain. Although they may feel empathy, this connection is not something that the doctor has. Doctors are used to making decisions under pressure and can handle emotionally charged situations. In addition, parents may not completely understand the severity of the illness, they could be in denial, leading to a false sense of hope. This may lead them to want to hold on, when in fact it would be kinder to let their child die peacefully. In these circumstances, all of the doctor’s attention can be put onto the patient’s palliative care – that is making them and their family comfortable towards the end. Here, the family can receive guidance, they can begin the grieving process in a safe setting with lots of support, and most importantly the patient can be well looked after and be as happy and comfortable as possible.

When doctors find they have a disagreement with the child’s guardians, they need to develop an approach called the ‘zone of parental discretion’; this is accepting the treatment option that the parents want, as long as it is good enough, rather than pushing for the best possible treatment. There is also the ‘parental autonomy doctrine law’ which is similar, but it states that parents have a right to make decisions about their child, free from governmental intervention, unless the child’s heath is jeopardised by those decisions. Essentially, they both help the doctors to understand when to take things to court and obtain further legal advice, and when they don’t.

Referring again to the Charlie Guard case, his parents wanted to put him forward for a treatment called NBT (Nucleoside Bypass Therapy) which is a non-invasive treatment and is added to food. The treatment was available in the US and his parents raised £1.3 million to fund it. Doctors around the world came to the conclusion that Charlie’s life support should be switched off. This decision was refuted by his parents, so the case went to the UK High Court which ruled in the Great Ormond Street Hospital’s favour. Again, Charlies parents appealed against the decision, so both the Supreme Court and the European Court also came to the same conclusion.

On the 28th July 2017, Charlie’s life support was turned off and he passed away – his life had sparked interest all over the world including the likes of Donald Trump and the Pope, and led to more questions to be asked about when other situations like this occur, what is to be done?

This is certainly no easy topic. It is very personal to each situation and should definitely be looked at on a case-bycase basis. After reading this, I hope that you are better equipped at understanding the difficulty in other people’s situations and how each unique case may reach very different conclusions.

Developing a Wellbeing Tooklit

By Molly

Lockdown is something that we have all become familiar with, including the lonely and isolating feelings that come alongside being at home.

In the short term, being active also helps to raise endorphins that make you feel good, and this makes it key to the wellbeing toolkit.

These feelings are something that are common to everyone; there are more people struggling at the moment than not. By coming together as a society and understanding what we can do to help ourselves we can change this. Being around our friends and family is often something that people in today’s society use as a coping mechanism. Whilst this is currently not possible for most of us, we can work on developing a mental health toolkit to help us when things get tough. It is okay be experiencing more challenging feelings during this time, but it is important to understand and recognise when you may need to reach out for further support.

If coping with day-to-day life is becoming more difficult, you are losing interest in hobbies or activities or are finding it harder to complete daily tasks like eating or sleeping, it is important to reach out for further support. Whilst these types of feelings are expected during difficult times, you should still ask for help. Malvern St James has loads of resources that are available for everyone, starting with Form Tutors all the way up to the Head of Pastoral Care. All members of staff are here to listen to you and to help you however they can. If seeking support through school is something that you do not feel able to do, there are online websites, hotlines, or text services that can also offer you support. These can be found on MSJ Buzz’s Instagram page. Some other resources are BEAT UK, specifically for eating disorders; Childline (08001111); Samaritans (44 116 123) and Mind (020 8519 2122).

‘The five ways to Well-being’ is a beneficial technique for coping and dealing with challenges that people may face. You can achieve this by ‘noticing’ the small things that bring you joy. ‘Giving’ to someone in need, for example taking time out of your day to send a message to that friend who might be having a rough time. ‘Learning’ something new, which can be anything that takes your interest, like a new meal to cook or a new exercise. ‘Connecting’ with friends and family online - this could be a videocall or just sending them a text. Finally, being ‘active’. Going on a walk or doing a workout is also important for mental well-being.

Finally, you should never forget that you are not alone, no matter how isolating being in lockdown might feel. Everyone needs everyone at the moment, so be kind, as you don’t know what someone is fighting on the inside. So, I ask you to reach out and ask for help when needed, and try and find the positives, however small they may be.

Our January mocks had to be moved two weeks later which meant two weeks more of revision from home in the middle of an already dreary month.

However, the teachers have been brilliant during online school. I can vividly remember on the Saturday before mocks messaging one of my teachers and she replied within an hour of me sending the message, I don’t think everyone has had this dedication from their teachers that we have had. All my teachers have boosted our morale in the depths of it all, reassuring us when things haven’t always been amazing. However, it hasn’t all been bad; I can safely say last summer as a 17-year-old was a highlight of this year with the ability to get a tan between lessons and seeing people relaxing in the park made it feel like normality.

LOCKDOWN & ONLINE SCHOOL It is now a year since ‘normality’ and I have been reflecting on the year in which online school has been a massive part. When thinking about the lowest point of this year, I think the uncertainty has added to a lot of our feelings of stress.

By Ellen

I have become a walker which is something I never thought I would say but my energy levels during online school were so high, my mum would ask ‘have you been on your walk today?’ They have now become something which is part of my routine and have helped me to cope with the stresses and strains which have come with this year. Most importantly, seeing people on my daily walk became my social life; when it was snowing an elderly lady said hello and we had a mini conversation that put a smile on my face. I think a lot of us have missed the little interactions which come with being face to face with a person. The moment where someone smiles at you or the mini conversation with people you wouldn’t always talk to.

I think losing confidence has been a factor which we maybe wouldn’t have predicted. Being away from people and groups of people has meant many of us build up these interactions in our head. We have been able to hide behind the ‘camera off’ function but this has developed into a loss of confidence. I started to notice on my daily walk that I felt less able to smile at people who I walked past, and I noticed a decline in people smiling at me which left me with a slightly saddened feeling, so when someone gives a big smile it becomes even more important.

These barriers which have been created through social distancing have created a lack of connection between people which I think has been one of the hardest side effects of lockdown. My godmother took her grandson to a garden centre. In the car on the way there, they chatted and he gurgled and responded enthusiastically but on arrival she had to put her face mask on. Immediately, she noticed him slump into his buggy seat, becoming sombre and strangely quiet. I never realised how important facial expressions are.

Moreover, there has been a definite slippage in my appearance and dress. The extra time in bed has been greatly appreciated but I wouldn’t call my outfits pyjamas but very close to that level of casualness. I think this could have affected my productivity levels as we don’t feel as prepared to conquer the day when in a hoodie and joggers. I am excited to start wearing suits again…as crazy as that sounds!

I’m looking forward to going back to school!

Have you ever thought about how the characters you see on TV or screen are visually portrayed and constructed? Do we need to be more aware of possible negative stereotyping in the movies or entertainment we consume?

Firstly, look at the much-loved Harry Potter franchise which currently has been under a lot of scrutiny in the media. The goblins in Harry Potter have hooked noses, are greedy creatures and run the wizarding economy. All these features can be seen as representing the racial stereotype that is associated with Jews and reflects the antisemitic stereotype that Jewish people are greedy and avaricious.

You would think a company like Disney would be innocent of secreting antisemitism in their films, however many of their villains have stereotypical Jewish features and personality traits. In 1933, the big bad wolf from Disney’s ‘Three Little Pigs’ cartoon was characterised to resemble a Jewish door-to-door salesman, who were common at the time. This character is the villain in the story and making them Jewish is not a coincidence.

The film ‘Tangled’ is another example of coding villains as Jewish where Mother Gothel is the main villain. To begin, ‘Gothel’ is a Jewish surname but there is a much darker way that antisemitism is subtly put into her character. However, first I need to go over some of the backstory.

Antisemitism in the media

By Jessica The blood libel is an antisemitic canard which falsely accuses Jews of murdering non-Jewish children in order to use their blood as part of religious rituals. It exists to paint Jewish people as dangerous predators. Any narrative where a Jewish character eats, kills or kidnaps non-Jewish children, is also an example of Blood Libel. Some examples of this are the stories ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and ‘Hansel and Gretel’.

Think about the plot of ‘Tangled’; Mother Gothel kidnaps a blonde child and uses her in a ritual to prevent aging.

References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel https://www.heyalma.com/are-the-goblins-in-j-krowlings-harry-potter-anti-semitic/ https://rosinalippi.com/weblog/shorter-works-essays/ teaching-children-how-to-discriminate-what-welearn-from-the-big-bad-wolf/

In the future, Disney and modern authors should rethink how they portray their villains as these are only a small number of the many examples which exist in their films and narratives, most of which are aimed at children. Children may subconsciously absorb that villains automatically have stereotypical Jewish qualities, perhaps causing the recent upsurge in antisemitic behaviour. I have drawn on examples where these stereotypes exist, but these narratives should be enjoyed in the innocence, one hopes, in which they were written.

Should the Korowai tribe fear westernisation or better yet should we fear westernising them?

By Romilly

I recently came across an article about the Korowai tribe of south-eastern Papua, I read it eagerly and was fascinated to learn about the way of life they lead, shocked to find that there were those who still resided deep in the rainforest who have little clue of the outside westernised world we all live in.

some point, sugary drinks such as CocaCola were introduced, and modern radio gave them a medium to listen to global music.

It got me thinking, should I even be able to read such in-depth profiles of these indigenous people written by reporters who have delved into the depths of the rainforest to find their story? Should I be able to see pictures of these people, especially ones of them drinking from Coke cans or wearing football shirts? In short, is our natural curiosity and ambition to see all of our world putting the Korowai tribe at risk of extinction? Should we fear westernising them?

The Korowai are an indigenous people who were unaware of the outside world until 1974 when a group of intrepid anthropologists embarked on a journey to study them. Prior to that they had never seen, what they refer to as laleo which translates into ‘ghost demon’ in reference to the white skin tones of those they met. Since then, they have come into contact with laleo time and time again. Reporters and tourist groups have become common place in recent years following on from the Dutch missionaries who built settlements in the 1980s in the hopes of converting the tribe to Christianity. With each of these visits a little more of their culture has been chipped away.

In 1987 they were encouraged to move out of their remarkable tree-top homes and into villages to live in brick-walled and corrugatediron-rooved homes. By the end of the 1990s the first Christian converts were baptised and at

References https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/sleeping-with-cannibals-128958913/

With each of these visits a little more of their culture has been chipped away.

I thought it was fascinating to read about their perspectives, specifically their beliefs in witchcraft which are still very strong. It’s the only logical explanation surrounding ‘mysterious‘ deaths – which to us would be death by disease. This raises a moral issue: this indigenous group of people have little knowledge of diseases and therefore many die before they reach middle age. The illnesses they suffer from are curable ones which we in the West have studied and perfected the remedies for over decades. This poses the question: is it right to allow hundreds of people to die from easily treatable, diseases just to shield them from cultural erosion?

I think the Korowai tribe serve as a beautiful example of what we as a species are capable of when stripped back to our primal roots. It is sad to think that their traditions could be lost in a few generations, as more are exposed to western ways and are drawn out of the rainforest, losing their connection to a way of life cultivated over thousands of years.

I suppose my internal battle is over the fact that I feel there’s a strong beauty in the knowledge that these people live as they did 10,000 years ago. Things are constantly changing in our world.

We definitely don’t do things as we did 10,000 years ago, and I think we should ask ourselves: if the Korowai tribe didn’t ask to be westernised is it right to continue to do so?

How I view “the meaning of life”

By Isabella

What got me thinking about this? I have been interested in philosophical questions and ideas for a long time and I started to think a lot more about them. I would often think about the meaning of life at night when I couldn’t sleep.

I was confused about what my purpose was and if my life had a deeper meaning to it. I wanted to write down my ideas and rather than just have a jumbled mess in my head, I wanted something that I could look it. I never want to offend anyone about how they view their own life, so I hope it doesn’t come across that way.

Religion and why I’m talking about it?

I will be talking about Christianity in this section as that is the religion I have grown up around.

I thought it was important to talk about religion in this section because it is something that a lot of people follow, and this affects their life choices and how they view their lives. Do I believe God exists? I don’t really have a definite

answer to this question, as we can never be sure, but here are some of my thoughts: if there are so many religions linking and hinting at the idea of a higher power and this has remained a belief for such a long time, maybe God does exist.

But if he does exist, why is there so much suffering? I don’t think I can put my trust into a higher power when people who are genuinely good have to go through such awful things. I also don’t know if I can believe that, if I don’t believe in God then, bad things will happen to me later on in the afterlife, if there is one. It feels like an ultimatum, choosing between two things to not suffer later on. I want to live my life with as much freedom as I possibly can and I feel that if I follow the bible and God, then I do not get to do that, but this is simply how I feel and do not wish to offend anyone.

I really wish that I could believe in a higher power because I feel that it would provide me a sense of relief knowing that there is someone who will unconditionally love me and help me through my stress, but I can’t.

The universe I often think of the universe as never ending and that it is infinite but somewhere in space the universe has to come to an end. If it does end then it must be contained inside of something, like how our solar system is inside a galaxy. It makes me feel very claustrophobic knowing that I am so small inside of such a huge place and yet, even the universe has to come to an end so where does that place me inside the grand scheme of things? I feel small and insignificant, and this is one of the things that really got me thinking about the meaning of my own life. Do I really have a need for being here or do I literally just exist? The thought of just being here on earth along with the rest of the population inside a galaxy, inside a universe, makes me feel frightened and invisible.

The universe itself will not last forever as we know it, there will come a time where the universe ceases to sustain life or be able to create new life. I found a very interesting video exploring how the universe will come to an end as we know it and I think it watching it will help to get a better idea of where I’m coming from.

I feel small and insignificant, and this is one of the things that really got me thinking about the meaning of my own life.

A viewpoint of someone else that I resonated with I found this article of someone else talking about the meaning of life I wanted to look for another opinion on the meaning of life and found this one that I really understood and agreed with. A section of it was talking about what our purpose is and I really agreed with what it had to say. The idea I got from it was that, if we have a specific purpose then we would not be free to do whatever we wanted to do or achieve. For example, if we were told that our purpose was to become an actress or actor then we would not be free to pick what we wanted to spend our life doing. If we got told that we had to be an actress and that is our sole reason for living, then we would feel trapped and operate like a machine, but because we don’t have the need for a purpose, we can choose to be something else like a lawyer or an artist. This is the idea that I got from the article. It opened my eyes and helped me realize that if I did have a purpose, I wouldn’t be able to live freely and would have to do what was expected of me.

In society we are constantly told that we need to have a purpose otherwise we are meaningless and unwanted.

”

Conclusion Having thought about my own views and working through them to be able to see them down on paper has helped me to come to terms with them and provided me with a sense of relief. I think it was really beneficial to take a look at someone else’s work and think about what other people have thought. It has helped me to see that the question itself is flawed because we don’t need to have a “purpose” or “meaning” to our lives, and it makes me feel very stuck if I think of my life like that. If something has a meaning then it also needs to have a purpose, but this cannot be used in our daily lives as we live without knowing our purpose and this lets us believe we mean something different. By this I mean that we get to live how we see fit and we get to choose the meaning of our own life without being told our purpose. Although the thought of the universe is scary and unknown, I have to go on with my life without being affected by it and it doesn’t need to have anything to do with how I live my life. The same goes for religion, I don’t have to believe in it but because everyone is allowed to decide what they can and can’t believe in, for the most part, I don’t need to rely on it. Writing about this has helped me change the way I look at my life and what is important to me. My beliefs have changed when looking more in depth in the topic and I think this is a good thing. There is never a right or wrong answer to this question as we are all allowed to interpret it for ourselves. For me, the meaning of life is a flawed question, I simply don’t know, but I do know what I want for my own life and there is meaning in that.

The Truth about Solitude

By Alvina

I could make my own stories, live them in my mind as if they were real lives.

As the rampant COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe, many countries suffer from largescale lockdowns and curfews. Social distancing has negatively affected the human interaction. People stay at home, limiting the connection with friends and family and losing the sense of togetherness, which may cause the feeling of loneliness. Many people might focus on the negative consequences associated with being alone, namely, negative thoughts, isolation and boredom.

However, although the well-known psychologist Freud once linked it with anxiety and phobia, solitude does not necessarily mean loneliness. Loneliness represents a negative emotion, and most people would like to avoid it. However, from another perspective solitude indicates a positive state of reduced social engagement and increased freedom to choose one’s mental and physical activities. As a matter of fact, solitude is an essential ingredient for our well-being as its advantages far outweigh its disadvantages. Therefore, I will focus on the pros associated with solitude.

First of all, the most prominent advantage for solitude is freedom. This benefit might seem obvious, but it is way more complex than we thought. In 2003, Dr Maria Dimoa-Cookson divided freedom into ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ freedom, in which the former means the freedom of enjoying what one likes to do, and the latter means the freedom of escaping from restrictions imposed by others. For instance, our experience of viewing artworks in an exhibition alters when we have the company of another person. Our subjectivity would be influenced by even the slightest interaction with that person. As a result, we start becoming conscious not only what we are viewing, but also of ourselves as the viewers.

Solitude can reduce the demands of concerning ourselves in others’ thoughts and actions, giving us the choice of what we truly love without external influences and enjoying our own time.

In addition, solitude can spark our creativity and imagination. According to a study conducted by an Antarctic research team in 1991, involving a 3-week field research with some members experiencing almost a complete isolation while another group of 9 members worked together, the members in solitude were found to be more involved within the environment.

They made comments such as “I could make my own stories, live them in my mind as if they were real lives”, “More vivid daydreams” and “While watching a movie..., I may become so involved that I forget about myself and my surroundings...”. Accordingly, solitude is particularly similar to mindfulness, facilitating the inner workings of emotional and mental processes, which activates our creative mind and boosts imaginative involvement.

Last, but not least, solitude enhances one’s empathy. Researchers from Harvard found that we are less able to tune into the perspectives of others when we are surrounded by many people and thus spending a great amount of time alone allows us to empathise with others sincerely.

Psychotherapist and author A. Morin reported that a “we vs them” mentality is easily developed when we spend time with a particular circle of friends or co-workers. She believed that solitude is the key way of developing more compassion for people who do not fit into our ‘inner circle’. Hence, having a “me time” improves the capacity of placing oneself in another’s position, promoting the level of empathy.

To summarise, as social animals, we do need to spend time maintaining connections with others in our society and it is normal to fear loneliness.

However, seeking some solitude in our hectic life provides us a great chance to free ourselves, build creativity and generate more empathy towards others.

References https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/03/thevirtues-of-isolation/521100/ http://belmont.bme.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/ sites/377/2019/06/4.-Solitude-An-Exploration-of-Benefitsof-Being-Alone.pdf https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180928-the-surprisingtruth-about-loneliness https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2017/08/05/7science-backed-reasons-you-should-spend-more-timealone/?sh=7378905b1b7e

By Romilly

artwork

By Mia

As a student who wants to pursue the Arts as a career, I am very grateful to be going to a school that offers Drama and Theatre studies, as well as Music, in both GCSE and A Level.

Nonetheless, in recent years, Arts and culture has been ‘systematically removed from UK education systems’ (The Guardian, 2015) It was found that the UK’s cultural and creative successes, in the form of, British fashion, publishing, craft, design, film, video games, theatre, dance and popular and classical music, contribute to almost £77 billion, or 5% of the economy in the UK, which is a huge amount (Warwick University Report, 2015).

The BBC created a survey in 2018 where over 1,200 schools participated; more than 40% of them were secondary schools. From this, it was found that ‘nine in every ten said they had cut back on lesson time, staff or facilities in at least one creative Arts subject.’ This was done so that concentration could be focused more on the ‘core academic’ subjects (BBC, 2018). However, an article from Science Daily shows that ‘students who take music courses score significantly better on Maths, Science and English exams than their non-musical peers’ (Journal of Educational Psychology, 2019).

Music and Maths, or Music and Science go hand in hand as subjects, so why is this art form being taken away from our education systems?

Scientists use music in their work to discover and create; for example, in recent years a group of Canadian astrophysicists translated the orbits of the exoplanet, TRAPPIST-1 system, into audio. This proves that there is a relationship between these two subjects, and that music can open up a side of the brain that can make scientific discoveries. There are many successful musicians who have gained PhDs in physics, genetics and/or biology, such as Greg Graffin from Bad Religion and Mira Aroyo from Ladytron (The Washington Post, 2017).

Although Music may be able to help with science discoveries, performing and studying Drama and Theatre Studies can lead to selfdiscovery and finding confidence. Research shows that Drama Training can reduce anxiety and increase confidence, which ultimately improves a student’s learning capability (ResearchGate Article, 2010). When a student is scared to ask questions or has anxiety over raising their hand, so much space is being taken up in their head during the lesson. This is extremely common, and does not help with their learning, as too much concentration is going towards the decision of whether or not to ask a question, rather than focussing on the teacher. This is known as ‘Social anxiety’, which is when children are ‘excessively self-conscious’

making it hard for them to participate in lessons, or ‘Selective mutism’, which is where children have a ‘hard time speaking in some settings’, for example in lessons, talking to teachers or when trying to ask questions (Child Mind Institute, 2021). If students had Theatre Studies or Drama in their timetable from Years 7-9, they would have a natural self-assurance; therefore they could raise their hand without thinking twice.

I can openly say that studying Drama from Years 7 to 12 has increased my confidence levels, and that I now rarely have that sense of unease when speaking out in a lesson or when asking a question. Emily Blunt, an awardwinning actress, is an example of someone who used Drama to increase her confidence.

From the age of seven to fourteen, Emily had a stutter, and struggled to hold conversations with her peers because of this. However, ‘one of her junior high teachers encouraged’ her to audition for the school play by using different accents and voices, in order for her to get the words out without the stutter (theMuse, 2019).

This introduced her to the world of acting and becoming a character, which made her exceed with her confidence levels, leading her towards the successful career that she has now.

In an industry that is forever changing, it is becoming harder and harder for students to get a start in acting and performance, as they are either guided towards the more ‘academic’ subjects or are not given the opportunity to choose the ‘Arts’ subjects. The world of acting is such a competitive one, and finding information about Drama Schools, conservatoires and universities is harder than doing so for other subjects such as Science or Geography. I searched the UCAS website for ‘Drama Schools’ – I was given 7 providers.

However, when I searched ‘Geography’ I was given 89, and ‘Science’ had 256 providers. This shows the lack of recognition and information on Drama and Performance Schools, as there are far more than 7 in the country.

It is evident that this mixture of the under appreciation of Arts in schools, and the lack of support for students who want to pursue a career in the Arts, all goes towards this scarcity of resources available. I believe that if the Arts were given the chance to become ‘core’ subjects in our education systems, rather than dying ones, there would be so much more information available, more advice on where to start your career or further your education, and fewer students left in the dark about where to go and what to do after finishing A Levels.

References Brown. M, 2015. Arts and culture being ‘systematically removed from UK education system’. The Guardian. Available at: <https:// www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/17/ arts-and-culture-systematically-removedfrom-uk-education-system> Ehmke. R, 2021. Anxiety in the Classroom. Child Mind Institute. Available at: <https://childmind. org/article/classroom-anxiety-in-children/> Guarino. B, 2017. Five famous musicians who are also science stars. .Available at: <https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/speakingof-science/wp/2017/05/24/five-famousmusicians-who-are-also-science-stars/> Guhn. M, Emerson, S and Gouzouasis. P, 2019. Music students do better in school than non-musical peers. ScienceDaily.

Available at: <https://www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2019/06/190624111504.htm> Jeffreys, B., 2018. Creative subjects being squeezed, schools tell BBC. BBC News.

Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ education-42862996> Mcliesh. G, 2010. Drama training as a way of increasing confidence levels and reducing anxiety levels in L2 learning.

Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/299852101_Drama_training_as_a_ way_of_increasing_confidence_levels_and_ reducing_anxiety_levels_in_L2_learning> Scottberg, E, 2019. 9 Famous People Who Will Inspire You to Never Give Up. The Muse.

Available at: <https://www.themuse.com/ advice/9-famous-people-who-will-inspireyou-to-never-give-up> Thrift. N, 2015. Warwick.ac.uk. Available at: <https://warwick.ac.uk/research/ warwickcommission/futureculture/finalreport/ warwick_commission_final_report.pdf>

Under appreciation of

The

Arts in Schools

By Tiggy

We watched from the street as he went in, A mysterious visitor in a long brown coat, We watched as he walked around the shop, A mysterious visitor in a long brown coat.

He wore a black hat, his pale skin like a vampire, This mysterious visitor in the long brown coat, And blue eyes that pierced you like a shard of ice,

The Mysterious Visitor

By Bessy

This mysterious visitor in the long brown coat.

As if testing the ground, he slowly stepped, This mysterious visitor in the long brown coat, He spoke with a deep, slow, disguised voice, This mysterious visitor in the long brown coat.

He was not interested in the Queen Victoria sculpture, The mysterious visitor in the long brown coat, But then he went to a tray in the far corner, The mysterious visitor in the long brown coat.

He lifted the gold ring, eyebrows raised, This mysterious visitor in the long brown coat, He spoke quietly to the shopkeepers, The mysterious visitor in the long brown coat.

He left, like a bat he swooped down the street, The mysterious visitor in the long brown coat, For stealing, their shop shut - Perhaps by The mysterious visitor in the long brown coat?

The Maze

By Faith

He was a city kind of boy: Unseen, scrawny like a twig.

Sneaky most times, tricking you like an illusion.

Running out of the problems, Dodging them like bullets.

Going this way and there, not to be stopped Running like a starved dog, chasing for food.

Even in the school days he ran in circles, Like planes doing loop-de-loops, For him, the city kid, He’d be locked in his room, scattering like a rat, Trying with might to get out.

Caged like a tiger in the circus, Roaring but instead meowing, pleading for help to get out.

He wanted to run, Run out of the city.

He never saw the real world, Locked in the maze of skyscrapers.

He was the outcast, the one born to stand out.

All he wanted to do was feel the air on his face, But people said that he was the runt, The weasel, the rat.

But he was the one standing out-side the maze, Leaving you in the prison.

About my poem I wanted to show that the child wanted to get out of the city (what he thought was a maze, a prison) and go to the countryside (what he thought was freedom).

I wanted to show that he had a rough life as a city boy living sometimes on the streets. When he got welcomed into a home he would try and scamper out of the home to try and leave the city. In the end, he says the people who find the city as a real home are wrong. The only real home you will find is outside the walls of the cars, people, buildings. I tried to give the idea that he is always running, what I mean by this is that he is always seeking a new way to escape.

I only wrote two stanzas as the first one is about describing a bit about the way he acts and a bit on how he looks, the second stanza is about how he is the one who wants the change. I did not give any words describing his appearance really, except for ‘scrawny like a twig’ and ‘the weasel the rat’.

I did that as I think there are people like this in the world and you can imagine him from how the acts.

For my whole life, I’ve loved and appreciated reading. Storytime for most children brings excitement and elation and I suppose I never grew out of that stage. I let my nourishing addiction grow. However, for many people as their days become full of important tasks and work from school, the idea of putting your mind to a book seems tedious and energy demanding.

Instead, they crash in front of the TV as it is the obvious way to go about relaxing. In fact, sitting immersed in a book during break or lunch for a mere 10 minutes is enough to make people turn heads or judge you because reading is so ‘boring’.

Again, I’m not sure where in life that idea came about, and nor will I ever. So, I’m asking if you are willing to put aside 10 minutes of your day to read with me. Maybe you’ll rediscover the magic in books - the whole lives to live and characters to meet that, regrettably, have been ignored for too long.

But, if you aren’t yet convinced, there are more benefits to reading that you should be aware of and here are some. Due to the mental stimulation of reading, studies have shown that it can slow the advancement of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and improve memory, as it keeps the brain active and involved. Furthermore, reading can greatly reduce stress, by engaging the reader in a way that television is simply unable to do. When reading, it is almost impossible to focus on anything other than what’s happening in the book before you, as you process every word and let the world into your mind to fabricate into a whole new place entirely. This can also improve inner peace and tranquillity, especially reading texts on self-love or spiritual guidance (it’s worth a shot)- reading is truly medicine for the mind.

Not only is reading good for the soul, but it can improve your vocabulary and wider knowledge. I’ve commonly seen people annotate their books or place colourful tabs on page after page and have often considered doing the same. There are some quotes or lines that can perfectly capture emotions through language and teach such invaluable lessons that you simply can’t find in movies, and although I don’t expect a new reader to understand my wild enthusiasm over the wisdom that books possess, I do urge that you give it a small chance. Lastly, reading can lead to stronger analytical thinking skills and improved concentration. Having to pick up every detail and take note of small descriptions constantly puts your attentiveness to the test, which you may find makes small daily obstacles easier.

But its daunting to pick up a book or even a magazine and dedicate yourself to it, so I’m offering you an easy way to start- read for just ten minutes with me, whether it’s before school, bed or somewhere in between. I promise you’ll realise the power, grace and momentous effect of books and question how you ever went without them.

Read everyday with me

By Cyra

By Madeleine

“In English writing we seldom speak of tradition, though we occasionally apply its name in deploring its absence.” The poet T.S. Eliot opened with this phrase in his essay ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’, written in 1919.

He is famous for his contribution to the genre of modernism in literature, as well as being seen as a catalyst for literary change, not to mention a pioneer of literary exploration into the human psyche. It is the third line of his ‘Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ which many associate with the beginnings of a new era of artistic expression. Why would someone so significant in founding a new purpose for literature be so concerned with emphasising the importance of tradition?

Is tradition really that important in literature? The answer may be right under our noses. In fact, it may even be in the same essay.

He uses allusion to counter our, as he puts it, “tendency to insist, when we praise a poet, upon those aspects of his work in which he least resembles anyone else.” It is my opinion, however, that for any artist of any art to be respected in his respective art, a consciousness of the past must be held. It is this consciousness which enables the artist to progress forward, and to project his or her ideas into new forms.

A good example of this consciousness is Virginia Woolf and her essay ‘Modern Fiction’. The simplest way of summarising this piece is to imagine four pages of rather disparaging remarks about the authors Arnold Bennett, H. G. Wells, and John Galsworthy - and then some praise for James Joyce whose novel ‘Ulysses’, in Woolf’s opinion, “suggest[s] how much of life is excluded or ignored.” Without her recognition of this trio’s seemingly “two-dimensional characters”, Woolf may never have been inclined to write using free indirect discourse, suddenly allowing for much greater expression of human consciousness and desire.

Without this exploration into the fundamental faults of these somewhat “traditional” authors, their “traditional” plot structures and their “traditional” characters, Woolf may never have developed into the avant-garde writer we know and appreciate today. The same can be said for Eliot, who frequently made clear his appreciation for classics like Spenser’s ‘Prothalamion’ and Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’.

Joyce, too, is no exception. His traditional Irish-Catholic upbringing was undeniably the basis for his vast intellect, and subsequently much of his work, including ‘Ulysses’, is underscored with religious imagery and references. It can therefore be concluded that, though tradition is often abandoned, and even more often rightfully so, in literature, recognition and consciousness of it is vital in order for progression to take place. Perhaps it would be appropriate to end with a Robert Graves quote which I feel assists in accepting this conclusion. He claimed that “there is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.” This reaffirms the fact that though we may feel that we know more than dead writers, we cannot fail to acknowledge that they are that which we know.

Is tradition really important in literature?

“No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone.”

Another thing which T.S. Eliot, along with many other of his modernist contemporaries, is famous for, is his relentless use of allusion. Almost all lines of what is indubitably his most famous poem, ‘The Waste Land’, are wriggling (not to quote Prufrock again) with references to texts both ancient and modern. Perhaps we would not even consider Eliot to be so profound a poet had he not so often proved the extent of his intellectualism through these allusions.

I shall offer an example: with Eliot first impressions are always key. In the opening line of ‘The Waste Land’ he writes “April is the cruellest month.” Immediately a sort of juxtaposition is sensed here – what makes April cruel, when it is often the month associated with spring and new life? Of course, if you had even minimal knowledge of fourteenth-century literature, you would recognise that this is an allusion to ‘The Canterbury Tales’. Eliot lines ‘The Waste Land’ in direct opposition to Chaucer’s “Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote”, in an attempt to prove that modern-day folk do not possess the willingness to live fulfilled lives, but rather long for winters which allow them to hide melancholically.

Zoonotic pandemics and the influence of animal exploitation on disease

By Aimée Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, are any diseases that pass between animals and humans due to excessive handling and can involve a myriad of infectious pathogens including viruses, bacteria, protoctists and prions (proteins that can transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein). In colloquial terms the word ‘pandemic’ is used to allude to a large-scale epidemic of a pathogen that spreads without difficulty (and potentially rapidly) between individuals and across global territories such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes a zoonotic pandemic a large-scale epidemic of a pathogen originating from animals that passes to humans. In this essay I will explore the nature of zoonotic pandemics, a notable disease where animals or animal use, agriculture or exploitation appeared to be the source and attempt to suggest a potential solution to prevent future zoonotic pandemics from coming to fruition.

Circumstances in which we intentionally make use of animals for benefit such as for food (farming, hunting), trading, transport, entertainment, and the obtaining of various byproducts for clothing, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, are all situations in which it becomes much simpler for pathogens to pass between species.

But how does this happen?

One example (the influenza virus) can pass between species due to its genome (the complete set of genes or genetic material present) segmenting and its genetic code changing. This means an avian strain could undergo just one change to its genetic code that allows it to bind to human cells. Some contact with animals is unavoidable or unintentional and not all diseases can be attributed to our direct contact with animals.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a type of virus called a retrovirus, which can infect humans and eventually lead to the development of AIDS. The first confirmed case of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was found in a blood sample from a patient who lived in what is now part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, taken in 1959.

However, it was only in the 1980s that HIV and AIDS was officially identified and named. This was due in part, to several cases of rare diseases including cancers and lung infections in New York and California in 1981 which spread, leading to the conclusion that an unknown infectious disease caused the epidemic of these unusual cancers. It is for this reason that many attribute the HIV/ AIDS outbreak to America in 1981, even though HIV is most probably thought to have originated in the Congo from an immunodeficiency virus in non-human primates in Central and West Africa.

The most accepted theories of how the AIDS-causing viruses HIV-1 and HIV-2 became present in humans, attribute it to the hunting, butchering and consumption of chimpanzees (as SIVcpz) and sooty mangabey monkeys (as SIVsmm) respectively. Hunting of these animals was prevalent enough at the time to have brought humans into more frequent contact not just with SIV-infected animal fluids, but also other HIV-infected humans through the communities and secondary livelihoods that are associated with hunting. It is postulated that hunters exposed cuts and wounds directly to SIV particularly when butchering the animals. This then resulted in an outbreak of sufficient magnitude to one day result in a global pandemic that has claimed many millions of lives.

There is always discussion of a ‘patient zero’ regarding outbreaks, suggesting they all start linearly from one original case. Once a zoonotic virus mutates and takes a hold in humans, there can be many isolated events/cases before the right human factors occur that lead to an epidemic. There are four main groups of HIV strains (M, N, O and P), each with a slightly different genetic make-up which suggests every time SIV passed from a chimpanzee to a human, it produced a slightly different strain due to its developing in a slightly different way within the human body.

This supports the hunter theory because it explains why there is more than one strain of HIV-1.

A small decrease in the consumption of meat could also reduce the prevalence of zoonotic disease.

Many of the world’s deadliest outbreaks of the past 120 years have had some link to animals, and of those many are directly linked to farming, yet we are not seeing our governments willing to ask whether these could be prevented, or the risk at least greatly mitigated by moving to alternative farming systems. “It is estimated that, globally, about one billion cases of human illness and millions of deaths occur every year from zoonoses,” said Amanda Fine and Aili Kang from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in an article published on Medium.com. “Some 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases that are reported globally are zoonoses and of the more than 30 new human pathogens detected in the last three decades, 75 percent have originated in animals.”

HIV/AIDS, Ebola and other diseases that are less related to intensive farming and more with culture and lifestyle in less developed parts of the world; the need for bushmeat or urbanisation and habitat encroachment mean infected animals are consumed routinely.

Humans in these areas also come into contact more with mosquitos, mice, rats, and other disease vectors.

We cannot expect change of these factors immediately from the individuals themselves or even from a sociopolitical level (the education and steps required to make these changes are interwoven with many other social and political issues). With that said, we must remain cautious that pathogens have and may again emerge from these environments especially where farming is exerting other pressures such as deforestation and habitat destruction (bringing human populations in closer contact with environments more favourable for such vectors). These populations must be supplied with adequate resources to deal with and control these smaller, localised epidemics before they can spread out of these areas and become pandemics.

So, what can we do to prevent this? The WHO, FAO and OIE all say that “increasing demand for animal protein” is one of the main risk factors in the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Therefore, Governments and health authorities must work with the farming industry (and the farmers themselves) to move away from intensive factory-farmed and battery farmed food production and shift towards sustainable, local community-based food systems.

Existing technologies should be developed, or new ones pioneered, to bring safe plant and animal agriculture to environments where bushmeat is currently the only option for families. Tighter regulations for the use of antibiotics and synthetic feed should be enforced to prevent the build-up of antibiotic resistance in the food chain.

References “Origin of HIV & AIDS”. Avert.org. https://www.avert.org/ professionals/history-hiv-aids/origin#footnote5_aa1k1e2 https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/zoonotic-diseases.html https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet

To conclude, a change must be made otherwise it will be not ‘if’ but ‘when’ the next pandemic will occur. Zoonotic diseases with the potential to cause pandemics will only get worse or more frequent if we continue with the same systems we have in place now.

We must act together. We must act now. This is how we can prevent the next global pandemic.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3234451/ Impact of Plant Diseases on Human Health Al-Sadi AM - Int J Nutr Pharmacol Neurol Dis (ijnpnd.com)

Defying Gravity: The EMDrive and Science

By Audrey

In 2001, a British scientist Roger Shawyer proposed the idea of an EMDrive, a rocket engine that defies the Law of Conservation of Momentum.

For years, scientists have been developing rocket engines for space exploration. All of them require propellants in variations of forms to produce a propulsion force, hence obeying Newton’s Third Law of Motion: a force will always cause another force of equal magnitude and opposite direction. As the engines eject propellants backwards, the aircrafts are pushed forwards by the thrust of an equal force. Large amounts of propellants, fuel and oxidiser for chemical reactions, are therefore necessary which leads to an issue: the fuel has to lift its own weight in addition to the aircraft itself, meaning that extra fuel is needed. This can go into a cycle where more fuel is needed for the extra weight, which in turn adds to the total aircraft weight, meaning more fuel is needed. This is usually avoided to a greater extent by precise calculations of the propellant to mass ratio, but Shawyer developed another solution.

The EM Driver works by generating microwave radiation inside a metal chamber - a closed system. Radiation reflects upon the chamber walls, creating an internal radiation field from which momentum is extracted and manipulated as a forward thrust to push the aircraft - without any propellants.

This idea was revolutionary yet rejected by most scientists, because it was not limited by Newton’s Third Law. As propellants are not needed, there is no opposite force to balance out the thrust, which means that the thrust was “created” with no reaction force. A force cannot be created, according to the Law of Conservation of Momentum, one of the fundamental laws of physics.

The EM Driver clearly violates this law.

Its principles, as Shawyer explained, means that particle motion inside a closed system can create an external force that affects the system. This is like someone trying to drive a car by “pushing on the windshields” Space Time quoted. Clearly Shawyer’s engine is against basic common sense, neither the concept nor the data was accepted by the time it was published.

The engine, however, attracted worldwide attention - scientists from different countries tried to replicate the results. Astonishingly, several have succeeded. In 2014, a team of scientists from China (Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an) experimented with a model to produce a thrust of 720mN capable of lifting a weight of 72 grams on earth. One year later, an American scientist Guido Fetta built an EMDrive based on Shawyer’s model and sent it to NASA for testing. The experiment was carried out in the 50th Joint Propulsion Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, and it gave a positive result of 1 Newton per megawatt. The same experiment was

repeated in vacuum, done by NASA at Johnson Space Centre in 2015, in order to rule out other influencing factors and anomalies. A force of 10 nN was observed.

The scientific reason behind this impossible engine has remained unknown since it was published. Many theories were made trying to explain this repeatable yet inexplicable result.

Aside from the most common claim of systematic errors, there are various explanations, including uneven radiation pressure, vacuum energy and photon leakage. Some relatively new (and not yet tested) hypotheses were also used to explain it, including quantum mechanics and the pilot wave theory derived from it. None could fully explain the phenomenon.

However, the EMDrive cannot be put into application to power antigravitational aircrafts or provide free energy and unfortunately, it might not be able to do so even by the time science can explain it without amendments, because it is highly inefficient. Taking the data from the Joint Propulsion Conference: 1 Megawatt of electricity can provide a thrust of 1 Newton. Putting the data into perspective, it means that all the electricity from the US grid, generated in a year, can only lift 1000 adults (of 100kg).

It might seem sufficient but aircrafts for space research, carrying astronomers and large pieces of equipment, would most certainly exceed that. The EMDrive is simply impractical.

Having said that, the significance of EMDrive should not be neglected. The EMDrive is potentially the first device to successfully defy gravity; most obviously, it means that space travel can be done much more easily. If fuel was not needed, launching an aircraft would be much less difficult and long distance travelling could be achieved without the concern of running out of fuel. If the EMDrive can be used in aerospace, space travelling would be revolutionised.

The EMDrive might remind you of the discovery of quantum physics, or many other previously new concepts, when they were first proposed. Pioneers are

often critically challenged for their discoveries, because they tend to be against common sense, for example, when Edward Jenner suggested using cowpox scabs to make smallpox vaccinations; when Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina concluded that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) cause ozone depletion and when Max Planck proposed the equation for blackbody radiation. Whenever a groundbreaking theory is published, criticism always follows. To a certain extent this can be reasoned because science is about discovery of the truth, indeed scientific discoveries should be able to withstand criticism to avoid potentially fatal flaws. The discovery of CFCs* itself was a good example but does this mean that new concepts should be challenged just because they go against commonsense? Certainly not.

Just as the wave-particle duality theorem**, the principles behind the EM Driver could appear inexplicable but true as they are simply not yet understood. Despite the unexplained phenomenon, the fact that different pieces of data from independent scientists have shown positive results is undeniable. The EMDrive could be the threshold of a new area of physics; potentially the reason why we could not explain its behaviours is that we do not know enough about the related field - similar to blackbody radiation, which cannot be explained without the discovery of quantum physics and thus remained unexplained until the 1900s.

The EM Driver works by generating microwave radiation inside a metal chamber - a closed system.

Indeed it could be nothing more than systematic errors; but equally it could be the foundations for future science and establish new branches of physics yet to be explored. This possibility is purely the reason why the EMDrive should not be ridiculed as nonsense. In the words of Neil Armstrong, any new, bizarre discoveries could be the next “giant leap for mankind”.

* CFCs were thought to be the perfect chemical since they were first synthesised in 1928, until Rowland and Molina discovered its fatal flaw that they deplete the ozone layer. ** The concept in quantum physics that all matter and light has properties of both particles and waves under different conditions, which was against the classical understanding of either one.

References https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a24745/ science-behind-em-drive/ https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nasa-validatesimpossible-space-drive https://vimeo.com/501195339

To me the meaning of the EMDrive exceeds its function; because, not only does it defy gravity, it defies dogma.

It tells us that absurd ideas can come true with an open mind and rigorous experiments, because this defines science. Science defies impossibilities: we make them into reality.

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nasa-validates-emdriveroger-shawyer-says-aerospace-industry-needs-watchout-1499141 https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/evaluatingnasas-futuristic-em-drive/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1918/planck/ biographical/

This could be why you are a

‘picky eater’

By Christy Sitting at the dinner table, staring down at a plateful of broccoli, you put one in your mouth and start chewing and a horrible bitter taste starts to flood your mouth. You desperately want to spit it out, but your parents are sitting across the dinner table waiting for you to finish all of your vegetables. I believe some of you will have experienced this. You could be a “supertaster” and there is a biological explanation to this.

The TAS2R38 gene is responsible for the response to bitter chemicals, for example phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and 6-n-propylthiouracial (PROP) (Boxer and Garneau, 2015).

TAS2R38 has three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

SNP is a single base pair change in the genome and is the most common form of genetic polymorphism. According to Ismail and Essawi (2021) genetic polymorphism is the inheritance of a trait controlled by a single genetic locus (a specific, fixed part of the chromosome, where a gene is located) with two alleles (variants of the gene), in which the least common allele has a frequency of at least 1%. To simplify, genetic polymorphism is a more common mutation (any change in a DNA sequence that is not normal), which is found in at least 1% of the population. Polymorphism occurs via mutations. A mutation is formed, either randomly or by external agents like radiation. It is then passed on to the offspring. This repeats over generations until at least 1% of the population has got that mutation, which will then be a polymorphism instead.

As there are three SNPs present in the TAS2R38 gene, it resulted in eight possible haplotypes, which is a combination of alleles of closely linked loci that are found in a single chromosome and tend to be inherited together (Morris, 2003).

The 2 most common haplotypes are PAV and AVI, the dominant and recessive gene respectively. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each pair has one chromosome from our mother and the other one from our father. To display the dominant phenotype, which is the ability to taste PTC and PROP, one must have at least one copy of the dominant haplotype, PAV. Heterozygotes, people with PAV and AVI, are sensitive to bitter taste. Homozygote dominant, who has two copies of PAV, are even more sensitive to bitter taste. Thus, they are called “supertasters”. A “non-taster” is a homozygote recessive individual, who has two copies of AVI, won’t be able to taste PTC and PROP. AAI and AAV are rare haplotypes and individuals with these are reported to have intermediate sensitivity to bitterness (Kim et al., 2003; Bufe et al., 2005; Mennella et al., 2010; Garneau et al., 2014). PAI and PVI are extremely rare haplotypes. The last two haplotypes are AVV and PVV, which are only found in diseased-base populations (Boxer and Garneau, 2015).

Your diplotype, which is a combination of two haplotypes (Young Owl, Mai and Kersting, 2007), one from your mother and one from your father, can be a pair of any of the 8 haplotypes. Therefore, it allows each of us to possess a range of sensitivity to bitter taste.

Our sensitivity to taste is also dependent on the amount of fungiform papillae (FP) we have. FPs are broad, flat structures that house taste buds. In a circular area with a 6mm diameter, “supertasters” will have an average of 35 FPs; average tasters will range from 15-35; and “non-taster” will have less than 15 FPs (Burkhart and Perkins, 2018).

The percentage varies around each population and studies have shown that around 25% of people are “supertasters”, 50% are average tasters, and 25% are “non-taster”. Women and people from Asia, Africa and South America are more likely to be supertasters (BBC Science & Nature, 2014).

From an evolution point of view, sensitivity to bitterness is very important.

It helped to warn our ancestors away from toxic plants, for example strychnine, causing them to spit it out immediately. In the TAS2R gene group, there are other receptors that specialise in sensing other bitter compounds, like glucopyranosides. When glucopyranosides are metabolised, it releases toxic cyanide; 1 mg per 1 kg body weight is lethal (Reinberger, 2006).

Hence, this polymorphism increased the survival chances of the human species in the past. Yet nowadays, it significantly affects nutritional choices, which could harm us.

References BBC Science & Nature (2014) Science of supertasters, Bbc.co.uk. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/science/ humanbody/body/articles/senses/supertaster.shtml (Accessed: 1 January 2021).

Boxer, E. E. and Garneau, N. L. (2015) ‘Rare haplotypes of the gene TAS2R38 confer bitter taste sensitivity in humans’, SpringerPlus, 4(1). doi: 10.1186/s40064-015-1277-z.

Bufe, B. et al. (2005) ‘The Molecular Basis of Individual Differences in Phenylthiocarbamide and Propylthiouracil Bitterness Perception’, Current Biology, 15(4). doi: 10.1016/j. cub.2005.01.047.

Burkhart, N. W. and Perkins, C. (2018) Are You A Supertaster?, Dentalcare.com. Available at: https://www. dentalcare.com/en-us/professional-education/cecourses/ce455/introduction (Accessed: 1 January 2021).

Garneau, N. L. et al. (2014) ‘Crowdsourcing taste research: genetic and phenotypic predictors of bitter taste perception as a model’, Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 8(33). doi: 10.3389/fnint.2014.00033.

Graziose, M. M. (2016) ‘Why Do We Choose Certain Foods?’, The American Biology Teacher, 78(1). doi: 10.2307/26410996.

Chemical molecules related to PTC and PROP are found in cruciferous vegetables, which includes broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale and other green leafy vegetables.

“Supertasters” would find these vegetables extremely bitter. Studies have found that “supertasters” have lower intakes of vegetables (Graziose, 2016). This could put them at risk of developing obesity, which could then lead to cardiovascular disease and cancer. On the other hand, taste sensitivity could bring health benefits to “supertasters”. PTC is also found in alcohol thus, “supertasters” are more likely to dislike alcohol as they find it tastes bitter. Studies have also found that “supertasters” find cigarettes bitter and would reject them (Boxer and Garneau, 2015). Most “supertasters” have dense FPs, therefore more taste buds, so they would be more sensitive to fatty and sweet foods thus some might dislike high fat foods, for instance fast food, and food high in sugar. However, some might choose to eat sweet food to compensate for the bitter taste they find in vegetables.

Even though your genes might be the reason why you hate some vegetables, it isn’t a reason for you to eat an unhealthy diet. If you keep eating vegetables, you could overcome re their bitterness. The mix of proteins in your saliva changes, so they will taste less bitter.

Ismail, S. and Essawi, M. (2012) ‘Genetic polymorphism studies in humans’, Middle East Journal of Medical Genetics, 1(2). doi: 10.1097/01.mxe.0000415225.85003.47.

Kim, U. et al. (2003) ‘Positional Cloning of the Human Quantitative Trait Locus Underlying Taste Sensitivity to Phenylthiocarbamide’, Science, 299(5610). Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3833660 (Accessed: 31 December 2020).

Mennella, J. A. et al. (2010) ‘Psychophysical Dissection of Genotype Effects on Human Bitter Perception’, Chemical Senses, 36(2). doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjq106.

Morris, C. G. (ed.) (2003) ‘haplotype’, in Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology. Available at: http://search. credoreference.com/content/entry/apdst/haplotype/0.

Reinberger, S. (2006) ‘BITTER COULD BE BETTER’, Scientific American Mind, 17(3). Available at: https://www.jstor.org/ stable/pdf/24939491 (Accessed: 31 December 2020).

Young Owl, M., Mai, L. L. and Kersting, M. P. (2007) ‘diplotype’, in Cambridge Dictionary of Human Biology and Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Available at: http://search.credoreference.com/content/ entry/cuphbe/diplotype/0.

The placebo effect is widely known as a clever method of drug testing; however, this may not be true under the surface. The greatest question within these drug trials is, what are the ethics around giving people a placebo and therefore providing false hope? For example, leukaemia drugs are still being developed and 50% of the participants of the trial are potentially being denied life-saving treatment, without knowing. They are being led to believe that they have been treated with a developed drug that could cure their cancer and save their life. So, how can this ethical dilemma be combatted?

The

Ethics

of

placebo-controlled

trials

By Myrtle

PCTs are only ethically justifiable if the trial does not entail life-saving treatment.

”

Randomised, placebo-controlled trials (PCTs) are widely considered to be the most thorough and rigorous method of evaluating the efficacy of treatment.

To be ethical, clinical research requires balancing rigorous science with the protection of humans. Most people accept the use of placebo controls in trials for conditions with no effective treatment. However, PCTs raise ethical concerns when a proven effective treatment exists, since randomising subjects to a placebo exposes them to the potential harms of non-treatment (like with leukaemia drugs). The choice of a PCT method over other designs, such as activecontrolled superiority or non-inferiority trials, therefore, requires ethical justification.

The most obvious solution would be to stop the use of placebos, but this would affect the accuracy and efficacy of the PCT, as the patients would suffer the risks and maybe false recovery of the underdeveloped and undertested drug. The other solution might be reducing the percentage of patients taking placebos, for example bringing it down to 25%. However, this would also affect the accuracy of the trial and still be denying patients treatment. There is obviously the solution of informing participants whether they are on the placebo treatment, however this completely defeats the point of placebo-controlled trials in the first place.

Ethical analysis and international ethical guidance permit the use of placebo controls in randomised trials when scientifically indicated in four cases: 1- when there is no proven effective treatment for the condition under study; 2- when withholding treatment poses negligible risks to participants; 3- when there are compelling methodological reasons for using a placebo, and withholding treatment does not present a risk of serious harm to participants; and, more controversially, 4- when there are compelling methodical reasons for using a placebo, and the research is intended to develop interventions that can be implemented in the population that the trial participants are from, and the trial does not require participants to have treatment they would otherwise receive.

PCTs are only ethically justifiable if the trial does not entail life-saving treatment. If, however, the trial is a vital treatment intervention, then there is no real answer as to how they should be organised and whether the proportion of participants on a placebo treatment should be reduced or whether the placebo effect could be replaced by another development study method.

Space colonisation Do humans even deserve a new planet and the opportunity to start over, or are we just being selfish potentially destroying another planet that does not belong to us, in order to maintain human life which is inherently destructive?

By Morganne

Space colonisation is the hypothetical possibility of habitation and exploitation of the natural resources from another planet. Currently, the building of a space colony would present huge technological and economic challenges, however, in the future we may overcome these challenges and will then be faced with the decision on what to do upon discovering an inhabitable planet.

The main argument for space colonisation is the long-term survival of the human race, threatened due to the events of natural and human-made disasters. It is certain that at some point in the future our planet Earth will inevitably become uninhabitable. It is questionable as to whether humans will still be alive at this point. However, if they are or if the occasion arises in which we find another planet capable of sustaining human life, would it be right for us as humans to colonise that planet?

The colonisation of another planet would temporarily solve many problems for humans, for example pollution and overpopulation. By establishing a permanent settlement on another planet, human culture could continue even if disaster struck on our home planet. However, this argument inflates the view of human significance and human worth; why should our species be put above the rest, especially as we are the ones that ruined our own planet. What is to say that we will not make those same mistakes again, which will ultimately lead us do destroy yet another planet that does not belong to us. Instead of fixing the problems we have created on our own planet, humans would just be brushing it aside, and starting a new life on a pollution free planet with its own lifeforms and ecosystems for humans to disrupt and potentially harm.

Probably the strongest ethical argument against colonising another planet would be the potential harm we would bring

to any indigenous life forms that might already be living there. Being more intelligent creatures does not give us the right to assume that a planet is ours to take. Our own planet suffers from extinction and if humans were to travel to another planet, they would surely damage the wildlife and nature.

The human necessities and luxuries we desire would damage the natural surroundings and would disturb the planet’s food chain.

I believe that the colonisation of another planet in the cosmos to ensure human-survival would be immoral. The inevitable damage and disruption we would cause to the ecosystems and to the natural order of life would be selfish and wrong. Humans should not have the right to take a planet and claim it as their own. A planet that has its own eco systems and the resources needed to sustain life has the potential to evolve over time, as our own planet has done, producing more intelligent forms of life.

Figure 1 A

B

C

D

By Doxa

Would you believe me if I told you that there is an organ in the human body which was previously overlooked and has not been discovered even in the age of some of the best medical technology in 2020? A search for a new cancer treatment has accidentally led to the discovery of a pair of tube-like structures which show similar imaging characteristics to the known major salivary glands. They sit in the dorsal wall of the nasopharynx where the nasal cavity and the throat meet.

“People have three paired major glands and roughly 1000 minor glands spread throughout the aerodigestive tract submucosa…as far as we knew, the only salivary or mucous glands in the nasopharynx are microscopically small…” said Wouter Vogel, a radiation oncologist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. (CNN, 21 October 2020) While there is a matter of debate about whether this pair of glands are a completely new organ or could be considered as part of the salivary organ system, the team from the Netherlands published an article in the journal, “Radiotherapy & Oncology” explaining and proving how the glands are a potential new organ and how this discovery is relevant to future clinical implications, especially for patients with head and neck cancer.

Figure 1 Projection on PSMA PET/CT. An overview of the bilateral PSMA-positive area on PSMA PET/CT with different angles: coronal (slide B), axial (slide C) and sagittal (slide D). Blue arrows on all slides are pointing towards the newly discovered glands while slide A clearly shows other major salivary glands with orange signal on CT. The previously overlooked glands were first suspected through the position emission tomography/computed tomography with prostate-specific membrane antigen ligands (PSMA PET/CT) of a prostate cancer patient, see Figure 1 (Radiotherapy & Oncology, 2020). The scientists explained that the glands have not been noticed even after centuries of medical research as the area where the glands are located can only be visualised using nasal endoscopy. Since the team was so surprised with what they found on the scan, they looked into the head and neck of a further 100 patients (99 male, 1 female) with prostate or urethral gland cancer. The results showed that they all demonstrated a clearly demarcated bilateral PSMA-positive area on PSMA PET/CT.

According to the projection (see Figure 1), the unknown structure in the nasopharynx is visible as PSMA-positive tissue (see arrow shown in Figure 1). The glands extended from the skull downwards along the posterolateral pharyngeal wall, on the pharyngeal side of the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle, with a PSMA-positive mass predominantly overlaying the torus tubarius. The structure showed similar imaging characteristics to the known major salivary glands which were projected as orange signal on reference CT (Figure 1). Furthermore, the total tracer uptake in the area of interest determined by visual comparison was on average similar to the uptake in the sublingual glands which were one of the three major salivary glands.

In addition, morphological and histological characteristics of the glands were assessed in 2 human cadaver study (1 male, 1 female) to prove the glands are a potential new organ. The accepted definition of an organ is that it consists of more than one kind of tissue, with definite shape and structure, and performs specific tasks. (Human anatomy, 1991) The dissected area (see pictures A, B, C in Figure 2) is predominantly made up of mucous gland tissue, with multiple macroscopically visible draining

Figure 2

Figure 3

duct openings in the dorsolateral pharyngeal wall, predominantly near the torus tubarius. Also, by observing the interactive 3D-reconstruction of histological slide (see Figure 3), the glandular tissue is shown in yellow (acini) and light blue (ducts), it demonstrates the relation of the undiscovered glands to the underlying torus tubarius cartilage (dark blue) and muscle (pink).

For these reasons, the team named the glands “tubarial glands” and confirmed the presence of a defined structure containing acini and draining ducts.

(Figure 2) Anatomy of the torus tubarius area and annotated graphical overview.

(Figure 3) The interactive 3D-reconstruction of histological slide which shows the region of the torus tubarius with overlying gland, in its anatomical setting (left) and as 3D-histology reconstruction (right).

Clinical relevance in oncology is very important in this study because it may help scientists develop future clinical implications, especially for patients with head and neck cancer. Before the study was held, the scientists hypothesised that the glands could contain a large number of seromucous acini, with a

radiotherapy in this study, the location and configuration of the newly detected bilateral gland areas were retrospectively defined as additional OARs. Therefore, doctors ensure they avoid the area during RT for head and neck cancer patients to minimise toxicity and to improve their quality of life.

Despite requiring much more research to classify the tubarial glands, for example examining more women and healthier patients, I believe this discovery was a big success in the medical field. This is because it opens an opportunity for head and neck patients to experience less side effects which will benefit their overall quality of life after treatment.

physiological role for nasopharynx or oropharynx lubrication and swallowing.

This is highly relevant to oncology because radiotherapy (RT) is used to treat cancer, however, high exposure of radiation to salivary glands during treatment for head and neck cancer or brain metastasis cause damage such as interstitial fibrosis and acinar atrophy.

Affected patients can result in function loss with xerostomia and dysphagia, they may also experience impaired food intake, digestion and speech problems as well as increased risk of caries and oral infection.

For this reason, major salivary glands are regarded as organs-at-risk (OAR), hence, doctors usually try to avoid and spare them when possible. However, since no one knows about these newly discovered glands, they are always exposed to radiation, therefore patients will still experience side effects after radiotherapy.

With the discovery of tubarial glands and the 723 patients who had undergone

References Katie Hunt and Kristen Rogers, C., 2020. Scientists discover possible new organ in the human throat. [online] CNN. Available at: <https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/health/new-organ-throat-scn-wellness/index.html> [Accessed 17 November 2020].

Valstar, M., de Bakker, B., Steenbakkers, R., de Jong, K., Smit, L., Klein Nulent, T., van Es, R., Hofland, I., de Keizer, B., Jasperse, B., Balm, A., van der Schaaf, A., Langendijk, J., Smeele, L. and Vogel, W., 2020. The tubarial salivary glands: A potential new organ at risk for radiotherapy. Radiotherapy and Oncology,.

To what extent can organoids be used to develop our understanding of and treatments for cancer and genetic disorders?

An investigation into Glioblastoma Multiforme and Cystic Fibrosis

By Faye Despite the fact that the organoid field of research began decades ago, there has, in the last decade, been a substantial surge in the number of publications involving threedimensional stem cell-cultured structures known as organoids. As a consequence of this accelerating research, the potential applications of organoids in the medical fields of cancer and genetic disorders especially are increasing rapidly. Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), is the most common (accounting for 20% of all intracranial tumours) and most aggressive primary glial neoplasm in humans; understanding of the mechanisms of its development are limited and the prognosis is poor, thus there is a particular need for new methods to develop new knowledge of and therapeutics for the cancer. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a common genetic disorder, occurring in every 2500 to 3500 Caucasian newborns; although our understanding of its development is much more advanced than that of GBM, there remain still areas where advancement is needed and effective treatments for CF are few. Organoids provide promising solutions to these problems and through the investigation of their use in GBM and cystic fibrosis

CF research specifically, I will analyse the extent to which organoids can be used in both understanding cancer and genetic disorders and in developing therapeutics.

An organoid is a three-dimensional (3D) cell culture, derived exclusively from primary tissue, embryonic stem cells, or induced pluripotent stem cells, capable of self-renewal and self-organization, and exhibiting similar organ functionality as the tissue of origin; in this way, organoids are effectively organs grown in a dish. The production of such cellular structures is, however, by no means a new biological principle. Indeed, since the early 20th century, researchers have aimed to model organogenesis in cell cultures and today’s methods of 3D organoid culturing stem from early work with tissue fragments and collagen matrices.

GBM has a poor prognosis, with a median survival of 14 to 15 months after diagnosis and, although rare (it has a global incidence of less than 10 per 100,000 people), the cancer is a critical public health issue. Currently, very little is known about the aetiology of brain neoplasms and these cancers are usually incurable, with few effective

treatments. There are a number of factors responsible for this lack of understanding, namely the limited extent to which current cerebral models recapitulate the microenvironmental fidelity of the human brain. Thus, cancer models which accurately represent the cytoarchitecture and microenvironment of cerebral tissue are essential in developing our understanding of the nature and mechanisms of neoplastic diseases of the brain such as GBM. Tumour stem cells derived directly from primary glioblastomas (patientderived Glioblastoma organoids) have the potential to provide such model, as they recapitulate the genotype and in vivo biology of human glioblastomas to a greater extent than current models.

In this way, cerebral organoids have significant potential in GBM research, and cancer more broadly; indeed, they are being used: to provide models for tumorigenesis, which, in conjunction with time-lapse microscopic imaging, enable observation and improved understanding of tumour development and progression, as platforms for testing the role of tumour suppressors and oncogenes through CRISPR technology, and for modelling therapeutic interventions.

Of particular interest from a treatment perspective is the use of patient-derived cerebral organoids to personalise GBM therapy – through the identification of genetic variants responsible for tumorigenesis, treatment can be tailored to the individual patient, thus providing a potential solution to the current treatment barrier that is heterogeneity.

For instance, a 2018 study displayed how Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) cell immunotherapy (which targets particularly the EGFRvIII mutation - the most common variant of the EGFR gene observed in human tumours– and is largely ineffective in other variants), can be used in conjunction with patientderived organoids to identify and treat patients with specific mutations. In this way, organoids have the potential to develop therapeutics for GBM and other cancers by providing a platform to test personalized therapeutics based on individual patient tumour characteristics, Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disease which is characterised by the accumulation of thick, sticky mucus, leading to chronic airway infections and biliary cirrhosis, with variable phenotypes. Cystic fibrosis is common, occurring in every 2500 to 3500 Caucasian new-borns, but this proportion varies significantly depending on ethnicity. Compared with GBM, the mechanism of cystic fibrosis development is understood to a much greater extent: a mutation in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Protein (CTFR) gene disrupts the function of chloride channels in cells, subsequently resulting in the production of mucus that is unusually viscous; however, there remain still aspects of CF development which are yet to be understood. There is currently no cure for CF.

Of particular interest from a treatment perspective is the use of patient-derived cerebral organoids to personalise GBM therapy

Organoids have a number of applications in CF research, particular in the development of therapeutics.

They have significant potential in drug screening and subsequent optimization of individual treatments: through the generation of rectal organoids from CF patients, individual drug response can be observed, enabling personalisation of CFTR modulator therapy. Moreover, organoids can be used to overcome the treatment barrier that is CFTR mutation heterogeneity, by developing new, personalised therapeutics, such as gene therapy.

Forskolin-induced swelling of airway intestinal organoids can be used to identify clinically distinct subgroups in CF patients in vitro and for effective drug screening. Indeed, in the Netherlands, such personalized swelling tests on rectal organoids enables formal prescription of the drug Orkambi® for CF patients with rare CF variants.

This technology has also been used in the development of gene therapy.

In 2013, Schwank and his team used CRISPR/Cas9 mediated homologous recombination to correct the F508 del allele, the most common CFTR mutation, in adult intestinal organoids derived from paediatric cystic fibrosis patients. The team demonstrated that CFTR function can be restored by CRISPR/Cas9 editing through forskolin exposure to the organoids before and proceeding the genomic editing; swelling was only observed in the edited allele, indicating that functionality can be repaired in mutated CFTR proteins through genomic editing. Such work indicates that the correction of diseasecausing mutations may have potential therapeutic benefit for CF patients through restored CFTR mutations, thus creating a future avenue for treatments.

However, there are, of course, limitations to the use of organoid models, namely the extent to which they recapitulate the in vivo situation. For instance, pancreatic and intestinal organoids lack many essential components of the living digestive tract, including the nervous, vascular and lymphatic systems, all of which play critical roles in the organisation of the tract.

Nevertheless, these limitations are minor when weighed up against the advantages of organoid modelling systems over the mouse and simple cell models used in GBM and CF research at present. In addition, the possibility of secondary, undesired mutational events which may have adverse effects on patients, has been a major limitation of CRISPR/Cas9 technology and has hindered its clinical use.

Human life and the many diseases which corrupt it are very much threedimensional. As such, studying the biological processes at the basis of life using flat two-dimensional cells attached to plastic will only take science so far and to advance 3D medicine we must use 3D models. Organoids have the potential to bridge the gap between these simple cells and whole animals and, thus, to shed light on diseases such as cancer, which kills 1 in 3 people and genetic disorders, which confine millions to a life of incurable suffering. By enabling us to study patients in greater detail without physically studying the patients themselves, organoids are the future of medical research.

Is the unauthorised absence of a child in school the parents’ fault?

There are many acceptable reasons why a child may be absent from school, such as illness or medical appointments, which are authorised absences, but there are still too many children absent from school for unauthorised reasons.

A child is identified as a persistent absentee if they miss 10% or more of their possible sessions and in 2017-2018 the unauthorised rate of absence in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools increased from 1.3% to 1.4%. This is the highest rate since consistent data became available in 2006/2007. Section 576 Education Act 1996 defines a ‘parent’ of a child is either a biological parent or any person who has parental responsibility for the child.

Due to this, surely it is the parents who are responsible, but first, what are some of the reasons a child may have for an unauthorised absence?

The first and most obvious reason for a pupil’s absence from school is the child being taken on a holiday during the school term. The highest unauthorised rate of absence is in the summer term, mainly due to parents taking the opportunity to use school days to reduce the cost of their holiday. Many families may see this as an innocent trip, but if it happens repeatedly, it can cause a huge build-up of unauthorised absences.

Some pupils who live with a single, ill parent become a young carer. Although an increasing amount of children have gained support from charities to deal with this, many children are still caring for a loved one with no additional support. According to the Children’s Society, young carers typically attain significantly lower GSCE grades and carers aged 16 to 18 are twice as likely to not be in education, employment or training.

Bullying may be another factor and may lead to a child skipping school or not attending a lesson their bully is in. The child could have unknowingly become sucked into a toxic relationship and become negatively influenced by other children about attending school. Likewise, struggling in class can be extremely demoralising for students and often leaves them wondering whether attending school is actually worth it. If a child has a specific learning difficulty, dyslexia for example, they may go unnoticed and miss school to avoid the hardship of struggling in class and always being behind.

Sometimes just the factor of getting to school and the distances that need to be travelled are enough for children to miss school, especially when the parents need to accompany them. Children living far away experience the issue of not having an early enough bus, for example, or even no mode of transport being available.

By Michaela

Legally, the parent has a duty and responsibility to ensure a child of the compulsory school age of five to eighteen in England recieves a school eduation

A more unusual factor is children moving areas frequently due to parents’ jobs or moving to a new house. When a child is regularly placed in an unknown building with hundreds of new faces it can seem extremely daunting. So, the obvious option is to simply skip school, because they feel there is no point in attending or making an effort.

According to law, the parent has an obligation to ensure a child of compulsory school age receives a suitable education.

Even so, is it the parent’s fault if their child has unauthorised absences? On the one side, it is because children can be very clever at hiding their absenteeism. For example, a child may leave home and return in their school uniform, whilst having skipped the whole school day. Once a child is under the influence of others who do not see the value of education, a parent’s role is undermined. Peer pressure cannot be controlled by parents. Also, bullying within the school environment can be difficult to spot and any learning difficulties can be hard to identify, often because children are clever at hiding these difficulties.

However, parents often impact their child’s unauthorised absences. Parents decide when holidays are taken and, whether this is to visit family or home country or simply for a relaxing break; the absence is classed as unauthorised. Parents choose not to listen to schools about logged unauthorised absences and their beliefs about the value of education. Even though it is a difficult decision for parents, they decide to move areas and therefore schools. Overall, it is the parents’ responsibility to ensure their child can access school.

Legally, the parent has a duty and responsibility to ensure a child of the compulsory school age of five to eighteen in England receives a school education, but after giving it some thought, do you think it is the parents’ fault?

Why should you get a dog?

By Freiya Dogs, as most people know, originate from wolves and over the thousands of years due to domestication have become less hostile, to the extent where they are now classed as companions of mankind. They are thought to have evolved specifically from the grey wolf, but now as of last year, there are 195 different dog breeds, which shows the drastic change they have undertaken.

Now, onto the topic of this article: “Why should you get a dog”. Well, firstly, dogs have been scientifically proven to: help decrease stress levels, increase self-esteem, lower your blood pressure and increase levels of serotonin and dopamine. In addition to this, having a dog means that you go outside and take them on a walk, run or hike (depending on what you prefer). This is beneficial because dogs love the outdoors, and it helps you reach your daily exercise requirements for a healthy lifestyle.

Another advantage of having a dog is that they have been proven to improve your mental health. An American survey commissioned by HABRI and Mars Petcare showed that 80% of pet owners say their pet makes them feel less lonely and 54% say their pet helps them connect with other people.

The fact that dogs make people feel less lonely is good because loneliness can cause mental health issues, such as depression, and that also means dogs will have helped many people through the pandemic lockdown, where people were and still are feeling extra cut off from society.

Furthermore, a fact that might seem quite obvious is that dogs are cute. This, having been researched by Konrad Lorenz, is believed to trigger a caregiver response known as “infant schema” in humans. Being a caregiver to dogs is beneficial because it secures a routine, which will just help your life in general be organised.

To conclude, I believe that if you have the proper facilities to look after a dog, then you should get one, due to the high range of benefits as well as just pure happiness that they create. There are so many different types, and they will improve your life.

References https://www.rd.com/article/how-many-dog-breeds-in-the-world/ https://www.britannica.com/animal/dog https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/well-being/pets-and-mental-health/ https://habri.org/research/mental-health/social-isolation/ https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/loneliness/about-loneliness/ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0058248 https://www.pnas.org/content/106/22/9115 https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51153/10-benefits-being-dog-owner https://work.chron.com/advantages-being-animal-caretaker-6434.html https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200926145210.htm https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/mood-boosting-power-of-dogs.htm

A dog is for life, not just for lockdown

By Chloe

We are a nation of animal lovers, but a lot of people don’t have the time to look after a pet. When coronavirus hit the UK and a lockdown was announced, it became the perfect time to buy a puppy as everyone was at home and had lots of free time that needed filling.

There are many benefits to having a dog, such as having a companion to reduce loneliness and improve mental health, both of which were significantly on the rise during lockdown. Just looking at a dog can raise your levels of serotonin and dopamine, improving your mood which can also affect the people around you. Dogs can also increase the amount of exercise done by a person as most dogs need between 30 minutes and 2 hours of exercise a day. All these combined, show why so many people wanted to buy puppies.

Between March and August last year, Google searches for ‘buy a puppy’ were up over 166%. Prices for some of the most popular breeds increased by up to 322.2% with prices reaching around £2,900 for a Cavapoo puppy that in 2019 cost around £900. This forced all breeders and sellers to increase their prices to avoid their puppies going to bad homes or being bought to sell on at higher prices.

Unfortunately, there could be huge, long-lasting effects on both the puppy and its owners.

From the age of about 8 months, a puppy is in its ‘teenage phase’. This is one of the most important parts of a dog’s life as it is when they start to explore more and become more independent. For many lockdown puppies this stage of their life would have started in lockdown, where exercise and socialisation were minimal. In some cases, the puppy may not have ever met other people, dogs or other animals due to the lockdown, which can lead to behavioural and social issues as they grow up. An example of this is Robbie, a Jack Russell-Poodle cross that was surrendered to the RSPCA at eight months old. In his six months of being at his new home, Robbie hadn’t met anyone apart from his owners. This will sadly be the case for many dogs which can result in all kinds of behavioural and social problems for dogs and their owners. Many lockdown puppies will also have separation anxiety. This is because the puppy will be used to its owner being at home all the time.

When it comes to the time the owner has to return to work, the puppy will be lonely and think it has been abandoned. Separation anxiety can lead to destructive behaviour, excessive vocalisation and sometimes trembling. For some owners, this is when they have to give the dog up or try to sell it as they know it is not fair for the dog to live like that.

References https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-55719338 https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media-centre/2020/august/the-covid-19puppy-boom-one-in-four-admit-impulse-buying-a-pandemic-puppy/

The effect that have on

Many of you, will have a celebrity that you look up to, but have you ever wondered what influences us to behave the way we do or look a certain way? One of the answers to these questions may revolve around the influence we absorb from celebrities. A celebrity is an iconic figure, or group, who has achieved success in one or multiple aspects of their lives. As a result, these individuals are surrounded by publicity and fame.

For better or worse, celebrities have a powerful impact on how teens view themselves and how they see the world. In fact, it’s easy to underestimate how much celebrities influence teenage attitudes and behaviour. Celebrities can have a positive influence on teenagers, and they can serve as role models. But famous singers, actors, and other celebrities can also provide unhealthy examples. Celebrity influence on body image and substance use is often detrimental to teen mental health. Therefore, teenagers need guidance on how to interpret celebrities’ influence. One of the key negative factors of celebrities influencing teens, is body image. Research shows that teen body image is shaped by many things. This includes, friends and family, where the teenager lives and their cultural background. However, celebrity images also have a profound impact on their body image. A recent survey indicated that 80% of teen girls compare themselves to the images of celebrities that they see. This can make them feel dissatisfied with the way they look.

By Lily

Another negative factor of celebrities influencing teens are eating disorders. Because body dissatisfaction is linked to mental health challenges, including eating disorders, depression and low-self-esteem and studies found that young women who consume media outlets with so many images of an unrealistic “thin ideal”, are more likely to exhibit symptoms of disordered eating. In addition, the Girl Scouts Research institute, found that nearly half of girls aged 13 to 17, wish they were as skinny as the models in fashion magazines. Celebrities play into this trend, when they document their extreme diets or use language that can be triggering for those with eating disorders. The use of photoshop, has been greatly overused by celebrities to edit their body to make it look more “ideal” or skinnier.

However, on the other hand, there can be some positive factors. Firstly, some celebrities influence the body-image discussion for the better. For example, the singer Dua Lipa called out a photoshopped image of herself on Twitter. She noted that one photo showed her with “perfect” skin while the other was real.

“Remember, flaws are ok,” she tweeted.

Other celebrities, including Rihanna, Beyonce and Jennifer Lawrence, have spoken out against the ideals of beauty, promoted by the entertainment and fashion industries.

Rihanna said this a few years ago: “You shouldn’t be pressured into trying to be thin by the fashion industry, because they only want models that are like human mannequins. You must remember that it’s not practical or possible for an everyday woman to look like that. It’s not realistic and it’s not healthy.”

Another positive factor is that celebrities can raise awareness and reduce the stigma. Many celebrities are open about their struggles with addiction and mental health. As a result, they help to reduce stigma. For example, before reportedly entering rehab after an apparent drug overdose earlier this summer, Demi Lovato released a song about relapse entitled “Sober.” Consequently, the song inspired young people around the world, to open up about their mental health.

References https://www.ncgs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Beauty-RedefinedGirls-and-Body-Image-Survey.pdf https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/empowering-teens/ celebrities-influence/#:~:text=Celebrities%20can%20have%20a%20 positive,detrimental%20to%20teen%20mental%20health

To conclude, I think that although there are a few positives from this situation, I don’t think that the use of photoshop, mean comments and promoting false body image will stop because the world has become so obsessed with social media. It is in most people’s daily routine to scroll on Instagram or to check their feed on Twitter just for entertainment. They don’t realise that there is more to a picture than they know. I think that having celebrities influence teens can be for the better but only up to a point. Photoshopping pictures to make the subject look skinnier or having plastic surgery only encourages more teens, especially girls, to follow in their footsteps then it is for the worse.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jul/23/socialmedia-and-celebrity-culture-harming-young-people https://www.informationmania.in/the-celebrity-influence-onteens-of-today/

How the fashion industry has controlled women and manipulated the female form throughout history

By Mia The modern-day fashion industry is notorious or being problematic for many different reasons; from excessive carbon footprints to creating harmful, unattainable beauty standards and expectations. The industry itself is cyclical, with new styles falling in and out of popularity each season. This consistent movement of what clothes are considered to be ‘trendy’ can feel impossible to track and keep up with, which in itself is inherently detrimental.

But the desirable shape of a woman’s body changes just as quickly and women have found themselves caught up in these cycles; wanted one moment and discarded the next. Although we may wish otherwise, women cannot simply mould their shape to fit the new ‘beautiful’ every time the fashion industry changes its mind. For centuries women have been, and still are, willing to go to extreme lengths to be aesthetically acceptable to society.

The source of this problematic treatment of women’s physiques begins in the 1500s with the invention of the infamous corset.

The 16th Century showed a significant shift in the structure of clothing as it became a case of moulding the body to fit the clothes, rather than creating the clothes to fit the body, as with the previous medieval and renaissance fashion. In England, Elizabeth I was an extremely powerful inspiration for her female subjects with her intensely structured appearance.

The women of her court and the upper class were determined to replicate her severely elaborate style and body shape.

Women even went so far as to draw veins onto their skin, bleach their hair and even blacken their teeth to liken themselves to the extravagantly wealthy queen. Unfortunately, a simple corset and some questionable cosmetics were the very beginning of the immense strain Elizabethan women went through every day to achieve such an angular dramatic body shape. Elizabeth’s figure was altered and shaped so extremely that the human body that lay beneath was practically invisible. The torso of the woman became a harsh triangular shape and to achieve this, women would wear not one but two corset garments. The first, a metal corset which extended well below the waistline, tapering into a point. Over this a stomacher was worn which was essentially a stiffened strip of fabric which extended from the bust to the waist. As if that wasn’t uncomfortable or restrictive enough, women would also wear what was known as a farthingale: a large metal hoop worn around the waist, over which the skirt would be draped; in addition heavily padded sleeves and a wire veil or collar were worn. The wardrobe of an Elizabethan woman was highly complex, inspired by a Queen trying to create the impression of power and wealth in order to counteract the misogynistic opinion of a Queen being less capable than a King.

By the reign of Queen Victoria women were seemingly more liberated, but were in fact still putting their bodies under immense pressure. This was driven by a desire to appeal to men as opposed to seeming powerful and capable. In the early Victorian era, the desirable shape of a woman was the hourglass, a shape which has found its position as favoured figure many times throughout the centuries, as it is closely associated with fertility and femininity and therefore perceived as attractive to men.

Women would use a much simpler corset to achieve a more curvaceous, ‘natural’ appearing figure in contrast to the angular Elizabethan shape. The women of Queen Victoria’s time appeared far more liberated than their Elizabethan predecessors, however, their wardrobe was highly damaging. The corset was pulled tightly to make the waist smaller and subsequently accentuate other features such as the hips.

This would make breathing difficult for women which resulted in frequent fainting, unfortunately perpetuating the infuriatingly accepted opinion that women were far too over emotional and ill-equipped to handle any form of mildly stressful situation, The corset not only constricted internal organs, it also greatly restricted a woman’s physical movement, which in itself was used as a way to control upper-class women, conveniently limiting their involvement in little other than sitting and looking pretty.

By the late 1800s the world changed its mind again and the new best shape for a woman was an ‘S’ shape.

This was not naturally achievable for any woman, but society dictated this is what was required to be beautiful and so to attract a man’s interest, women began to wear yet another shaped corset, which straightened their back with a bustle to further accentuate the shape.

Not more than thirty years later, the standards were once again changed drastically. The roaring twenties were a huge advancement for the liberation of women in fashion, with loosely fitting flapper dresses and the exposure of the ankle and shin no longer regarded as scandalous. The trendy body which now overtook society was one of boyish straightness, the antithesis of the voluptuous curvaceous shapes women were physically harming themselves to achieve not more than a few decades earlier.

The women of Queen Victoria’s time appeared far more liberated than their Elizabethan predecessors.

”

The iconic knee-length flapper dresses were designed to hide a woman’s bust and hips and instead create a box-like figure with shoulder, waist, hips and legs all aligned. There was no intense structured garment used to change the figure of the woman but one cannot help but wonder what about those women who naturally fitted into the hourglass shape, or any shape for that matter that wasn’t the new trend? They simply had to do what they could and wait until they were once again in fashion.

Although we may be past the days of bustles and farthingales, this cycling of body fashion is still prevalent in our contemporary society, continually perpetuated by the industry’s advertisements and guilt trip techniques.

A woman’s feeling that the body that keeps her alive is in some way out of place, unwanted or something to be ashamed of can drive women to unnecessarily extreme methods. Today we see some willing to undergo major surgery or starve or harm themselves just to fit an out of reach standard that is consistently changing. We may look upon the era of the fainting woman in her corset with horror, but in reality, women face the same struggles their predecessors faced so many years ago, desperately trying to be accepted no matter what the cost. How much longer will women have to jump to such brutal actions every time the fashion industry snaps its fingers?

References https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/29138/1/29138_ Fillmer_2010_thesis.pdf https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/clothing-inelizabethan-england

After overthrowing the Spanish democratic republic during the Spanish Civil War, a general and leader of the Nationalist forces, Francisco Franco, rose to power in 1939.

This period would be known as ‘Francoist Spain’. The Francoist dictatorship originally took a form closely related to the idea of fascism, which, put simply, is a government where one dictator has total control of a country and anyone who disputes the dictator’s beliefs, would often have to worry about their individual rights. This was made obvious as soon as the Francoists took control, immediately imprisoning or executing Spaniards found guilty of upholding the values promoted by the Republic.

These may have involved regional autonomy, liberal or social democracy, free elections and women’s rights. It was estimated that more than 200,000 Spaniards died in the first years of the dictatorship as a result of political persecution, hunger and disease related to the recent conflict, the Spanish Civil War. The end of the Spanish Civil War brought a ‘state of emergency’ status where Franco ruled with more power than any other Spanish leader before or since, where, consulting with his cabinet for legislation was not often required. According to Stanley G. Payne, co-author of the book ‘Franco: A Personal and Political Biography’, “this has made him both the most widely praised and the most extensively and vehemently vituperated personality in Spain”.

Not only did Franco hold multiple military tribunals where thousands were executed or imprisoned, but he also outlawed unions and all religions except for Catholicism, banned the Catalan and Basque languages and established a vast network of secret police. This certainly enforced his power over Spain. Another idea that was strongly introduced during the rule of Franco was Spanish nationalism.

Now, people would say that this theory promoted unitary national identity by repressing Spain’s cultural diversity. For example, bullfighting and flamenco were supported as national traditions and those that weren’t considered as ‘Spanish’ were repressed under Franco’s watch, showing how influential his actions were in the altering the Spanish culture and the civilisation that we still recognise today. However, one of the most prominent concepts initiated by Franco was the influence of Roman Catholicism. The regime favoured very conservative Roman Catholicism and it played “a central role in policing the country’s citizens”.

Some official jobs now required a “good behaviour” statement by a priest, the authorities encouraged condemnations in the workplace and it was only through silence that people associated with the Republic, could be somewhat protected from imprisonment or unemployment. The traditional views of the catholic church ensured civil marriages that had taken place in the Republic were declared invalid unless validated by the church.

Divorce, contraception and abortions were forbidden and children had to be given Christian names. Francoism declared strong consecration to militarism, hypermasculinity and a very stereotypical role of women, suggesting that “a woman was to be loving to her parents and brothers, faithful to her husband and reside with her family”.

Another concept strongly encouraged

by Franco and aligned with his way of leadership was propaganda. During the dictatorship, this restricted the position of women in society to family care and motherhood. In addition, women could not become judges, testify in trial or become university professors.

During the 1950s, about halfway through Franco’s rule, some of the extreme fascist regimes were relaxed. Reforms were implemented to a new variety of economists. A conversion from being openly totalitarian and using severe repression to an authoritarian system with limited pluralism took place, resulting in Spain joining the United Nations in 1955. After almost 40 gruelling years of this dictatorship, Franco died in 1975 after restoring the monarchy and making King Juan Carlos I his successor who would lead the Spanish transition to democracy. In Spain and elsewhere, the legacy of Franco remains controversial with some claiming that he “guaranteed the maintenance and traditional values in Europe” and others ensuring that statues of Franco and other public Francoist symbols were removed.

FRANCO’S DICTATORSHIP

BY MARNIE

References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francoist_Spain https://examples.yourdictionary.com/fascismexamples-in-history.html https://uwpress.wisc.edu/blog/?p=4420 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hcccworldhistory2/chapter/francos-spain/

The mozzarella oozes on top of the fruity and vibrant tomato sauce; my taste buds tingle with hints of tang; it complements the creamy cheese. Freshness from the basil creates the perfect flavour bomb as the base of the pizza hits the drooling mouth, crisp and tender. The satisfying sound of ‘crunch’ immediately hits all the sensors. It is the perfect slice.

Ten hungry people were in front of me waiting for this masterpiece.

The Anatomy of the New York Pizza slice

By Lucy

I take you to the nightlife streets of New York’s Soho, where shops are small, cosy and the lighting is dim in the shop windows. It was the week before Christmas and there were predictions of snowstorms on the way, so it was cold. Hands and feet numb, I could not wait to eat. Inside the hot spot, Prince Street Pizza, people are all together cosy and content which seems odd looking back, we were so close together!

My goal when I reached the States in the city of wonder before the pandemic broke out was to find the perfect pizza slice and boy did I find it, but it was not that simple. I spent hours doing my research on the internet, reading reviews, finding locations determining how to get to each pizzeria; I narrowed my selection down to two other pizza places, the iconic one Joe’s Pizza notably known for being in Spider-Man. This pizza was too cheesy for my liking, but Scarr’s Pizza was a close competitor to Prince Street Pizza, using freshly milled flour and locally sourced ingredients. It was delicious, but I liked the atmosphere and the experience waiting for my pizza outside in Soho.

Food brings people together and the pizza is originally from Naples, Italy. The circle shapes unity as each slice spreads happiness to people’s faces as they taste the flavour. However, the New York Slice originates

back to 1905 when America’s first pizzeria, Lombardi’s opened, situated in the Little Italy neighbourhood in Manhattan where they sold slices for five cents.

Pizza can be found anywhere in the world, from the deep-dish pizza in Chicago, which has thicker dough, to Strasbourg and their version of a pizza called a ‘flam’ which only consists of a topping of white European cheese.

But it is not just a pizza slice, it’s more than that. Personally, I feel it needs to have an equal ratio of tomato, cheese, and a crunchy base. According to Bon Appetit magazine, Neapolitan pizza uses high moisture mozzarella cheese which soaks into the tomato sauce, affecting the purpose of tasting each individual component of pizza.

There are three components, dough, cheese and tomato sauce which are crucial to the ‘perfect’ slice.

The dough, personally for me, needs to be fluffy but crisp on the bottom to create a satisfying bite. In a New York style pizza, people use low protein and high protein flour to create a more versatile dough.

The sauce is simple with a strong tomato flavour. Less sugar content is key here because it will affect the purpose of the savoury delight.

The cheese, preferably low moisture mozzarella because it will not drip when you are walking and ultimately, this practicality is the purpose of the New York slice.

The New York slice is different because it is meant to be eaten ‘on the go’ in the city that never sleeps. Perfect for active, busy people, so while I was eating this pizza in the squashed soho pizza place, I found my perfect slice.

A very brief History of April Fools’ and some of the greatest pranks of all time

By Ruby

April Fools’ Day is celebrated annually on the 1st of April in many countries.

On this day it is customary to try and ‘fool’ someone by pulling a prank on them. Although the exact origins of the day are unknown, some historians speculate that this celebration dates back as far as 1582.

There are many different types of April Fools’ pranks, ranging from the classic fake spider on a table to far more elaborate tricks orchestrated by big organisations with a large audience. In this article I will take you through some of my personal favourite April Fools’ jokes throughout the years.

On April 1st 1906, news was announced of a giant wave moving South along the Arkansas river, whilst at the same time, millions of frogs would be migrating North along the river. Many residents gathered on the banks of the river to see this incredible phenomenon.

However, after a few hours, they realised it was just a joke.

Another early April Fools’ prank took place in 1934, when a photo of German pilot Erich Kocher supposedly flying through the air by his own lung power was published in international newspapers. The best part of this prank was that the newspapers publishing the image were not even aware that the information was false, and that the image came from an April Fools’ edition of a German magazine, so it managed to fool not only the people reading it, but also the publishers. Naturally, the ruse was later debunked.

Possibly one of the most infamous April Fools’ of all time is the ‘Swiss Spaghetti Harvest’ prank of 1957. Broadcast by the BBC current affairs programme ‘Panorama’, this ridiculously titled documentary featured a family in Switzerland harvesting a ‘Spaghetti Tree’. Although this sounds completely mad to us, when such a widely known organisation such as the BBC puts out news, people are inclined to believe it.

That day, the BBC reportedly received many phone calls from people wanting to buy the spaghetti after seeing the programme, as well as a number of angrier phone calls after it had been revealed as a hoax.

An example of perhaps a slightly more concerning prank would be the eruption of Mount Edgecumbe in Alaska in 1974.

Local residents awoke that morning to black smoke rising from the volcano that had been dormant for over 400 years. Naturally, the people were very worried until it was revealed that the black smoke was being emitted from 70 burning tyres, placed in the crater by 50-year-old Oliver Bickar that morning, as an April Fool. A prank like this involved meticulous planning, with 3 years spent waiting for the correct conditions and 2 helicopters being involved.

Possibly one of the most infamous April Fools’ of all time is the ‘Swiss Spaghetti Harvest’ prank of 1957.

On April 1st, 1989, the founder of the Virgin Atlantic Airline and very rich man Richard Branson, flew what appeared to be a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) over the county of Surrey, in the hope of fooling the public. This was successful; Surrey police received multiple concerned calls over the course of the day. Branson was lucky that no accidents were caused because of his stunt, as many people stopped their cars in the middle of the road to look up at the sky and see what was going on.

In April of 1998, the newsletter named ‘New Mexicans for Science and Reason’ stated that the value of Pi (π) was in fact, changing from 3.14… to 3.0. Leonard Lee Lawson, who ‘passed the bill’ to change the value, said, “I think that the mathematicians are being irrational, and it is time for them to admit it.”

Unfortunately, as this story made its way around different groups of people, all the deliberate hoax hints managed to be deleted. This prank, unsurprisingly, upset a lot of mathematicians and physicists, but it was quite funny.

An April Fools’ that may be more wellknown to people nowadays is the flying penguins featured in the BBC’s ‘Miracle of Evolution’ film trailer shown on April 1st, 2008. Supported by articles written

by The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror, saying how great the film was, the prank was extremely successful in fooling the public. The ‘trailer’ was well-made and used camera tricks and animation to make it appear as if the penguins were actually flying.

A year later, in 2009, a video was released by the Swiss Tourism Board on April 1st. This video supposedly showed and explained how the Swiss kept their mountains so clean. The video is fronted

by Franz Huser, Founder of the ‘Mountain Cleaners’, a group of people who would go up the Alps daily and scrub the rocks to clean off bird droppings. Despite the obvious comedy of the video, many people genuinely believed in the Swiss Mountain Cleaners.

The video gathered so much attention that later that year, an actual mountain cleaning course was offered for people who wanted to help clean the mountains.

The evolution of April Fools’ pranks is clear when you look at the types of pranks pulled over the years. Starting from jokes fooling only small communities to creating nationwide confusion at the prospect of flying penguins, certainly the scale of these jokes has increased massively thanks to new technology and the internet. This only leads us to look forward to what may be planned for April 1st this year; who will be fooled this time?

Maybe you will fall victim to an April Fool this year, or maybe you’ll even plan a prank of your own.

Influences of Black Culture in Mainstream Fashion

By Oreoluwa

So, why do we often credit white celebrities for trending fashions rather than their black counterparts who are mostly to thank for these trends?

”

Logo-mania, sneaker culture, and oversized clothing are all fashion trends that have become prevalent in recent years. Aside from the fact that all these trends are timeless, they all have one major similarity - their roots in Black culture.

Oversized streetwear is a style that has been adopted by many teenagers and young adults around the world in recent years. People tend to look up celebrities such as Billie Eilish, Bella Hadid, and Kylie Jenner for inspiration. There is no doubt that these women do have a stellar sense of style, however, it is important to note that these styles have been a part of black rap and R&B culture for years before these celebrities started to adopt them.

Perfect examples of these include leading female artists in the late 80s and early 90s.

When MC Lyte joined the rap scene in the late 80s, she proved that she was able to fit in with her male counterparts, in not only music but style as well, as she donned styles such as loose-fitting jeans and tracksuits just to name a few. Another street style trailblazer was leading lady, Aaliyah.

She frequently sported androgynous looks such as low-rise baggy jeans with crop tops and wind breakers. These women were creating their own style, and in turn would hugely influence fashion for years to come.

The Y2K fashion movement, which has recently become more popular, was another movement which the black community pioneered. When thinking about Y2K fashion, most people attribute its popularity to celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and the Olsen twins. While they did popularize the aesthetic to certain demographics, they failed to recognize the influences of black culture in their style.

Missy Elliott, Janet Jackson, and the women of Destiny’s Child are just some of the legendary pioneers of the Y2K aesthetic. The aesthetic was often linked to the rise in technology during this year, which Janet Jackson constantly took into account when creating her various looks. Her technological-inspired outfits revolutionized this aesthetic, notably in her music video for “Scream”, which featured metallics, leather clothing, bold makeup, and its space-inspired theme.

References http://9-magazine.com/artsandculture/black-influence-on-fashion/ https://www.unpublishedzine.com/fashion-beauty-1/the-rise-ofy2k-style-influence-of-the-00s-on-fashion-today https://www.essence.com/fashion/2000s-fashion-trends-madepopular-by-black-culture/#525666 https://www.34st.com/article/2021/03/y2k-2000s-fashion-blackculture-destinys-child-juicy-couture-missy-elliot

On the other hand, girl groups such as Destiny’s Child were embracing other parts of the Y2K aesthetic such as low-waisted jeans, bright neon colors, and a myriad of bling.

So, why do we often credit white celebrities for trending fashions rather than their black counterparts who are mostly to thank for these trends? This is a case of whitewashing, which is not only a problem in fashion but other sectors such as hairstyles and slang used in everyday life. In the western world specifically, black people are often called “unprofessional” or “ghetto” for sporting these looks, causing them to attempt to hide their culture and heritage by perming their natural hair or dressing more like their white equivalents, so as to not further become victims of ridicule and bullying. Yet, whenever white people decide to wear these looks they are seen as “fashion-forward” and “trendy”, causing these styles to be seen as more socially acceptable.

A prime example of this is the hairstyle known as box-braids. Box-braids originated in Africa, dating as far back as 3500 B.C. and have since been used as a protective styling for black people’s hair.

Until non-black celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Nikita Dragun started wearing these braids, black people were mocked and shamed for merely protecting their natural hair. It has even gone as far as changing the name of these styles are people started to call these braids “boxer braids”. This has obviously caused anger in black community as our culture has started to be erased.

In conclusion, black people have heavily influenced mainstream fashion trends and movements, such as Y2K, without receiving appropriate praise for their contributions.

In turn, this caused the white-washing and appropriation of culture. Although it may not seem like a big deal to the general population of non-black people, it has hurt generations and generations of black people everywhere and began the erasure of our culture. Hopefully, in the near future, black people will receive proper recognition for their innovations and not be seen in a negative light for simply expressing themselves.

https://www.thenonstandardproject.com/writing/the-blackorigins-of-y2k-fashion https://www.thefashionlaw.com/is-racism-stifling-creativityin-the-fashion-industry/ https://www.ebony.com/style/history-box-braids/ https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/non-black-minoritiesappropriation_l_5d974be7e4b0f5bf797372ba

Does anyone have the right to decide to issue a death penalty?

By Romilly

Capital punishment is a controversial issue, viewed negatively through the eyes of many people, on the grounds of human and moral rights, yet others may agree to the death of certain criminals who have committed heinous crimes, and are therefore deemed to lose their right to live.

The UK abolished the death penalty in 1964 and for the purpose of this argument I am using data from the US, where the death penalty remains legal in 28 states.

The death penalty (known as capital punishment in the UK) is used in the USA on criminals found guilty of horrendous capital crimes, such as rape, murder, arson and serial killings, and allows an option for juries to vote to deliver this punishment to criminals who are deemed to be beyond the point of rehabilitation. Not only does the death penalty provide what is deemed to be an equal sentence to the crime committed, it also provides justice to a victim’s family and reassurance to the rest of the society.

In the event that a convict is deemed to be beyond rehabilitation, or will never be fit for release, a US jury can vote to issue the death penalty, whereupon convicts are referred to as being on “Death Row”. By January 2020, over 2,620 prisoners in the US were living on Death Row: 53 of them women. It costs the US Government more to implement the death penalty than offer a life in prison.

It is argued by some that the death penalty provides a respectful outcome to the convicted individual. From hanging, to firing squads, to use of the often errorprone electric chair, the death penalty in the US has now evolved into what some regard as an effective and humane process, although it is not without problems. An experienced doctor delivers a lethal injection of medication which causes the victim’s heart to stop beating, and ultimately they stop breathing, although this process has been known not to work, as past victims have survived the event for several hours.

In any circumstance, the death penalty must be used with extreme caution and due diligence. In 1944, a 14-year-old black boy, George Stinney, was wrongly accused of murdering two white girls, both younger than him. He was convicted in less than 10 minutes in a one-day trial. Stinney had supposedly confessed to the crime although there was no record of his confession. Stinney was denied an appeal and was later electrocuted. In 2005, The Supreme Court ruled out the execution of anyone under the age of 18, however, miscarriages of justice still happen, and in other countries the execution of children still takes place.

Since 1970, the US has sentenced over 7,800 defendants to the death penalty and executed 1,516, yet during this time, 160 people have been exonerated and released from Death Row, after being initially convicted of capital crime. Although it is not known how many people have been wrongly executed, there are many recent examples of potential innocence.

And consider this; witnesses, prosecutors, and jurors can all make mistakes.

When this is paired with flaws in the justice system, it is inevitable that innocent people will be convicted of crimes that they did not commit. Where the death penalty is used such mistakes can never be put right. Are those who have issued a death penalty, based on inaccurate evidence that is then carried out, then guilty of murder themselves?

Following years of litigation over the death penalty in the US, in 2020 the number of people executed by lethal injection has dwindled to 15.

Is that 15 too many?

Who has the absolute right to decide that those 15 people were completely and utterly beyond any kind of character transformation, or redemption?

Can anyone ever really know enough about another person’s mitigating circumstances to make that decision?

Can the taking of another person’s life against their will ever be regarded as humane?

Ultimately, does anybody have the right to decide whether another person should live or die?

Sources: Wikipedia.com; cnn.com, usafacts.com

The primary focus of the cognitive interview is to make the witnesses of a situation aware of all the events that happened.

Also, a study has found that victims and witnesses are better at identifying criminals in US lineups than UK lineups.

US lineups show 6 pictures of suspects simultaneously, whilst UK lineups show 15 second videos of 9 suspects one after another. Not only were witnesses more accurate in identifying from the US lineup, they were also more confident with their choice.

In conclusion, eyewitness testimony may not be the most reliable source out there when a crime happens, but it can also play a big role in identifying the suspect. To help reduce the number of misidentifications, different methods can be used to improve the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the cognitive interview and maybe changing how to present a lineup.

How Reliable are Eyewitness Testimonies?

If someone said they witnessed a murder, you would believe them, right?

It would be even more convincing if they provided plenty of detailed information. It has been proven that eyewitness testimony is the most trusted form of evidence among jurors, even more convincing than DNA. However, these testimonies could be wrong.

Although eyewitnesses frequently play a critical role in criminal investigations, there is a good reason to suspect that their testimony may not be reliable. The importance of this issue is highlighted by the Innocence Project who claim that 72% of convictions overturned by DNA testing involved eyewitness testimony that was not accurate. There are many reasons why eyewitness testimony may not be dependable, and I will tell you about some of them.

Firstly, post-event discussion might alter or contaminate the memory of an event. There is the conformity effect: when co-witnesses discuss what they saw from their different points of view, witnesses may remember something that they didn’t see, but acquired knowledge of during the discussion.

This could alter the memory of the event. Also, each time an eyewitness is interviewed there is the possibility that comments from the interviewer will become incorporated into their recollection of events.

The level of anxiety of the witness also affects the memory of an event.

People often become anxious when in stressful situations. Accuracy of recollection will be reduced if the anxiety is too high, or too low. One reason why anxiety may reduce accuracy is the weapon focus effect – the view that a weapon in a criminal’s hand distracts attention from other features and therefore reduces the accuracy of identification. A criticism of the weapon focus effect, however, comes from Pickel, who proposed surprise rather than anxiety reduces accuracy. To test this, she arranged for participants to watch a thief enter a hairdressing salon carrying high threat, or high surprise items. Identification was least accurate in the high surprise conditions, a raw chicken, rather than high threat, scissors.

The last two points highlighted the fallibility of eyewitness testimony, but some research has also looked at ways in which accuracy can be improved.

The cognitive interview is a procedure designed for use in police interviews that involve witnesses. Well, what is the cognitive interview? It is a method of interviewing eyewitnesses and victims about what they remember from a crime scene. Using four retrievals: mental reinstatement of original context, report everything, change order and change perspective.

By Valentine

References https://innocenceproject.org/ https://www.psychologicalscience.org/teaching/myth-eyewitness-testimony-is-the-best-kind-of-evidence.html https://www.verywellmind.com/can-you-trust-eyewitnesstestimony-4579757

How are the

Governments Responsible for

Violent Crime

By Lucy

in Latin America?

I want you to ask yourselves: Where I live, right now, how many people are murdered each year?

You might perhaps think 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000.

However, there are 652 million people on this planet who live in a region where at least 146,000 lose their lives to the hands of others each year. This is a region that holds only 8% of the world’s population, yet suffers from a third of the world’s homicides.

This place is Latin America. Today, I shall be telling you how violence has ravaged this region, how it is feared that corruption has become so ingrained in the living blood of these societies, thus consuming and corrupting the senior authorities and the political system.

Long-established issues of widespread corruption in the political system and a climate of insecurity created by organised crime has significantly exacerbated issues of poverty, unemployment and gender violence. The instability has allowed criminal organisations to flourish and maintain more control over certain areas than the police and military. 19-year-old Juanita Cortez from La Entrada, Honduras, confessed: ‘I was 9 years old when I first killed someone. My heart was telling me not to do it, but my gut told me that my life would be over if I didn’t pull the trigger.’ This region is plagued by a seemingly incurable violent lifestyle. To quote the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, ‘Latin America is part of the world which has been for many years condemned to the system of power where intimidation had more strength than the vote’.

On 15th August 2019, the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice, situated in Bogotá, Colombia, found the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, guilty of the crimes of corruption. The regime of Maduro had consistently violated and abused the human rights and dignity of the country’s citizens, plundered its natural resources, and driven a once-prosperous nation into economic ruin with Maduro’s authoritarian rule and disastrous economic policies.

Maduro’s thugs have reportedly engaged in killings and physical abuse, detained political opponents and severely interfered with the exercise of freedom of expression, all in a brutal effort to retain power.

This is a nation brought to its knees by corruption, shattered by violence, and therefore destroyed by economic collapse, the worst collapse outside a war zone in decades. After the scandalous acts carried out by the Venezuelan Government, this country has become a place where only 55% of the population eat three meals a day, a society where thousands of police officers and military officials have been killing hundreds of people from low-income backgrounds, and an environment so hostile to sustainable human life that 4.5 million people have felt compelled to leave. Maduro’s implementation of illegal detention centres, where innocent citizens are reported to have been abused and stripped of their jobs on release, thus increasing the unemployment rate and therefore the violent crime rate to the point where the number of homicides is a shocking 60 per 100,000 people.

However, because corruption is so deeply ingrained in these societies, since a reported 95% of police officers, and the majority of senior political officials are affiliated with illegal drug organisations, change seems almost impossible.

Senior officials have allowed the region to be governed by violence, meaning the people live in fear, where they feel so destroyed by economic collapse and unjust political actions that they feel almost compelled to act violently for survival. This is the result of the government allowing violence to linger in the presence of power. They have created that 9-year-old girl standing in the corner, trembling, with a gun poised in her hand, with no choice but to shoot. This is what the Governments have allowed to happen.

References https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/maps-and-graphics/2020/02/28/gang-killings-violence-El-Salvador https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/04/25/latin-america-is-the-worlds-most-violent-region-a-new-report-investigates-why/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/715019/homicide-rates-in-latin-america/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/947781/homicide-rates-latin-america-caribbean-country/ https://www.businessinsider.com/latin-america-is-the-worlds-most-violent-region-crime-2019-9?r=US&IR=T

Should young people in France (16-18) have the right to vote?

Many young people today, under the age of eighteen, would argue that they should be given the right to vote.

By Freya

This certainly sparks an interesting debate. What has led our society to create this age as the cut-off point for expressing political opinion, or is there more reasoning behind it that we initially see? (don’t initially see?)

Firstly, it is clear that one of the main arguments against the vote for young people is their maturity. It is possible that some people will think of this privilege as a joke and not take it seriously, therefore leading to a waste of a vote and an opportunity to improve their country and future. I think this is a very important factor to take into account. With the right education and information, young people will be able to make the best and well-rounded decisions for themselves. In contrast, since 2007 in Australia, 16-year-olds have been allowed to vote in all elections.

The Australian government has said they believe that young people are mature enough and interested enough to participate.

Sadly, according to statistics, their participation did not affect the turnout as they did not represent a large group, which is another important factor to consider.

Furthermore, it is very important to think about the influence of social media and what young people watch or hear on the internet as children. Many celebrities or influencers have their jobs by selling products or encouraging people to try something and, therefore, can be very persuasive. Sadly, more and more young people have access to social media where these celebrities can easily take advantage of their naivety.

Although social media is not the only problem, many websites or TV shows can lie and change the information, so it becomes a challenge for young people to find and understand the correct information. This is becoming an increasing problem because it is difficult to verify that everything is true on the internet and to find sources behind people’s claims. Once again, I think it requires a certain maturity to be able to decipher between fake and reliable news and to know where to get accurate information, not just from what’s posted on social media.

However, there is also a risk of influence from young people’s parents, especially as that is the opinion they grow up with.

Young people form their own opinions as they grow up and have different experiences.

Finally, many young people do not feel motivated to participate or engage with politics. I think it is true that young people are not encouraged. According to an article where young people gave their opinions on the matter, a 16-year-old boy from France, said that politicians use long and complicated words, so he struggles to understand what they are really saying, therefore, he finds it boring to listen to and is not interested in politics. Furthermore, I also read that the youth age group is only a very small part of the political world; therefore, many suggest that politicians don’t care about young people’s opinions because they won’t bring a big change in the votes. This clearly leaves young people frustrated and feeling unheard, which leads to less and less people wanting to participate, creating a rather vicious cycle.

This debate has been going on for a very long time. I read that schools in France have set up more courses and lessons for young people to help them understand politics. I think this is very important because they can learn and talk about it, especially since a lot of people are easily influenced by their parents and social media. It is important that they make up their own mind, and therefore, with the right education to improve their understanding, young people between 16 and 17 should be able to have the vote.

Section 28 was a law passed by the conservative government in 1988, as part of the Local Government Act, which prevented schools and councils from “promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. It followed the English release of the Danish children’s book ‘Jenny lives with Eric and Martin’,

by Susanne Bösche, which depicts five-year-old Jenny, living with her father Martin and his boyfriend Eric, going about their daily lives. It aimed to introduce children of different family groupings to their own but was quickly classified as ‘homosexual propaganda’ by the UK press, leading to its politicisation. After a range of newspapers reported on a copy of the book in the library of a school run by the Inner London Education Authority, controlled by the Labour party. Although the authority had not approved the book for younger children and it had been placed in the library for teachers, the availability of the book was condemned by the then Secretary of State for Education, Kenneth Baker. The book quickly became a weapon used by anti ‘gay propaganda’ campaigners in the series of events leading up to the introduction of Section 28. Shortly after Margaret Thatcher’s election for a third term in office, she made a speech stating, “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay”. Less than two months later, conservative backbencher David Wilshire introduced Section 28.

Section 28 wasn’t abolished until November 2003, when Tony Blair was prime minister. After being in place for 15 years, the effects of Section 28 on a generation of children were substantial. For example, low self-esteem and self-destructive behaviour are now far more common in the LGBTQ+ community than outside it. Homophobic bullying ran riot as teachers feared they could not speak out against the physically and mentally harmful actions. Children and teenagers who suffered such abuse from classmates now report struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse later in life, along with depression, body-image disorders and suicidal thoughts.

The debate as to whether the Conservative party can be forgiven for their actions still remains poignant today. Their continual lack of funding for vital mental health services and LGBTQ+ related healthcare shows they are not seeking to demonstrate any regret.

Despite David Cameron’s apology in 2009, we still see homophobia rife in the tory party. During general election campaigning in 2017, Theresa May came under great pressure to apologise for her support of Section 28. When our current prime minister has likened gay marriage to bestiality, can we truly believe they are sorry? Until we see real change to fix homophobia and transphobia in the tory party, and support for services to help the effects of Section 28, we must hold the Conservatives accountable.

References https://www.lgbthealth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ Shadows-of-Section-28-Event-Report-Final.pdf https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/cacc0b40-c3a4-473b-86cc11863c0b3f30 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Lives_with_Eric_and_Martin https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/in-living-memory--jenny-lives-witheric-and-martin/z7b68xs https://www.tes.com/news/jenny-still-outcast-after-20-years http://homopromos.org/1988_eric-lives-martin.html https://notchesblog.com/2014/06/17/thatcher-and-homosexualitywaiting-for-section-28/ https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/13 84014531S28Background.pdf https://www.attitude.co.uk/article/how-section-28s-painful-legacyis-still-being-felt-three-decades-on/18009/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-lgbtrights-gay-commons-vote-same-sex-marriage-gay-adoption-timfarron-a7702326.html https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-record-sexisthomophobic-and-racist-comments-bumboys-piccaninnies-20196?r=US&IR=T

By Emily

Holding the Conservative Party Accountable for SECTION 28

Government by decree

Covid 19 and the Constitution

BY GEORGIA As we enter our third lockdown, facing numerous travel restrictions, social distancing and reduced social contact, it is important to consider how such measures were put in place and what legal implications they have.

Since March 2020, British people have been facing the most significant interference with their personal freedom ever experienced - a level of coercion unheard of even during world wars and far worse pandemics.

The government had three acts at its disposal to impose such restrictions: the Coronavirus Act 2020, the Public Health Control of Disease Act 1989 (part 2a, amended 2008) and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Critically, only the first two of these was utilised.

The Coronavirus Act confers the power to prevent events, gatherings and the movement of ill people, however the Act does not allow for control over the movement of healthy people. Pushed through all stages in each House of Parliament in a single day, ministers were authorised to make regulations to deal with ‘events or situations which threaten serious damage to human welfare including those which cause loss of life or illness’.

The Public Health Control of Diseases Act authorises the Secretary of State to make regulations ‘for the purpose of preventing, protecting against, controlling or providing a public health response to the incidence or spread of infection or contamination’. Its purpose is to give magistrates powers to quarantine, those thought to be infected as well as potentially contaminated areas. Even though personal liberties of specific people could only be curtailed, this is the act that was used to introduce the general lockdown, closure orders and two metre social distancing.

The regulatory power is so wide here that anything was justified in hindering the transmission of the disease. However, as Lord Denning frequently emphasises, it is a basic constitutional principle that general words are not to be read as authorising an infringement of fundamental rights.

The way in which both these Acts were exploited went against everything behavioural scientists advised, whereby citizens should be treated as rational beings, capable of making decisions and taking personal risk. The government instead was driven by public panic and a demand for action.

The avoidance of parliamentary scrutiny in the imposition of these life-changing measures was achieved by the government in several ways. Firstly, the Coronavirus Act was not used to introduce the lockdown, instead the Public Health Control of Diseases Act was. This is because the government did not think it would be able to get it through Parliament without further debate and amendments. In fact, the lockdown was not scrutinised until May, by which point it had already had a severe impact on citizens and the economy. Another blatant avoidance of parliamentary scrutiny occurred as the Civil Contingencies Act was ignored, even though it was designed for emergencies and could have authorised ministers to do by regulation anything Parliament can do by statute. Therefore, it would have conferred the power to confine healthy people, unlike both the Acts government chose to use. However, the government did not wish to undergo the stringent parliamentary control and scrutiny that this Act requires, such as a reapproval of its terms every 30 days. Moreover, the announcements made on 23 March had no legal basis and the government had no power to impose these orders even on the widest view of the legislation. Statutory regulations were only made three days later.

Whilst this does not seem like a long time afterwards, it crucially meant that there was no opportunity to debate the regulations before the Easter recess in Parliament.

The long-term implications of such restrictions, apart from the obvious social and economic impacts, are worrying. We see a subconscious decline in freedom. After lockdown, government approval ratings were some of the highest they had been for a long time. People had voluntarily surrendered their liberty out of fear of an external threat. This obsession with security has led to us to giving up a lot of our personal freedoms. Whilst we might not be heading towards a totalitarian state quite yet, it is important to note that this is normally how such forms of government are created, not through the domination of a state by a despot. Furthermore, fear in the population was deliberately provoked through frequent press conferences that made alarming statements misrepresenting events. Exceptional statistics and tragedies implied the virus does not discriminate however we know that it affects older generations the worst.

To conclude, during the pandemic, the British state has exercised coercive powers over its citizens on a scale never previously attempted.

All of this has been authorised by ministerial decree with minimal to no parliamentary involvement under acts which do not authorise the measures imposed. We have to remember that the principles upon which we are governed matter far more than the way in which we deal with any crisis.

2 METRES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Y8

Y10

Bessy

Romilly

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Faith

Freiya

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Isabella ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Myrtle ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Jessica ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Morganne ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Oreoluwa

Y11

Y12

Y13

Lucy

Audrey

Georgia

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Valentine

Doxa

Molly

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Lily

Christy

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Michaela

Tiggy

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Phoebe

Romilly

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Marnie

Chloe

Romilly

Madeleine ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Faye ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Emily ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Lucy Freya ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Ellen Alvina Ruby ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Mia

Aimée ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

Cyra ACADEMIC SCHOLAR

In loving memory of

Neil Vaughn Never failed to make us smile