Osqledaren #2 2021/2022 POWER

INFO

Editor in Chief Carl Housten Responsible Distributor Carl Housten Layout Benjamin Javitz, Carl Housten, Roisin Callaghan, Vendela Hamberg, Victoria Rohrer Cover Page Carl Housten Print Norra Skåne Offset Paper Pages: 100g Amber graphic Cover: 250g Multiart Silk

About Osqledaren Osqledaren has since 1959 been the magazine of the KTH Student Union.

Published quarterly with 10 000 copies per issue, the magazine is distributed to Student Union members. Our mission is to overlook, inform, and review the happenings within THS and KTH.

OSQLEDAREN

Contributions Do you want to contribute to the magazine?

Buying adspace in Osqledaren Contact the Editor in Chief or go to: osqledaren.se/annonsera

Email us at osqledaren@ths.kth.se The editorial staff has the right to refuse submitted material at any time.

Adress Osqledaren Tekniska Högskolans Studentkår 114 28 Stockholm

Contact osqledaren@ths.kth.se Individual editorial staff member: [firstname.lastname]@osqledaren.se

Osqledaren continues reporting during periods between magazine releases: online at osqledaren.se.

Statements appearing in the magazine should be, unless otherwise indicated, regarded purely as the opinions of Osqledaren.

/osqledaren

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@osqledaren

Produced with love  in Nymble at KTH Valhallavägen

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LEDARE

Är man stark måste man vara snäll TEXT EDITOR IN CHIEF, CARL HOUSTEN ILLUSTRATION CORNELIA THANE

Kåren är en intresseorganisation av betydande storlek. Med 10 000 medlemmar och en omsättning på 40 miljoner påverkar vi studenters liv dagligen.

Därför måste man utöva sin makt ansvarsfullt.

När man engagerar sig ideellt är det lätt att glömma bort hur mycket inflytande man har. Ofta är man förtroendevald i korta intervall, och resultatet från ens engagemang kanske inte syns tills efter man tagit examen. Ändå är det vi gör viktigt.

Man ska få lära sig av sina misstag. För många, sitter man för första gången i en styrelse. Eller har ekonomiskt ansvar för första gången. Det är naturligt att allt inte går perfekt, och att man tar med sig lärdomar från det. Därför är det viktigt att vara snälla mot varandra, hjälpas åt och att vara förstående för misstag. Ändå, är det inte alltid i längden det snällaste att vara just snäll. För att lära sig och utvecklas behöver man få kritik och konstruktiv feedback. Och man måste vara mottaglig för det. Klappar man varann bara på axlarna så kommer man ingen vart.

Även mot sig själv måste man vara förlåtande, och någonstans begränsa sitt engagemang. För att det ska vara hållbart. För ens egen skull, och för att det är det ansvarsfulla att göra gentemot organisationen. Det gynnar ingen att man bränner ut sig. Jag ser allt för många ideellt engagerade bränna ut sig. Inte minst eldsjälar som håller mindre föreningar vid liv, eller ordföringar som har på tok för mycket press på sig. Därför är jag tacksam att ett av kårens mål i årets verksamhetsplan arbetar mot just detta. Men det finns alltid mer man kan göra.

Förtroendevaldas styrka kommer från just förtroendet de har fått. Pengarna man förvaltar är inte ens egna. Det får man också komma ihåg när man engagerar sig, man har medlemmar i ryggen som tror på ens förmåga och bär faktiskt ett ansvar gentemot dem.

Min avsikt är inte att skrämma bort dig från att engagera dig.

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Det är superkul! Tvärtom - jag vill påminna om vikten i det vi gör.

Och att det inte alltid är kul.

På sektionen påverkar man i huvudsak studietiden för andra man känner, eller kommer att få lära känna. Däremot på kåren centralt finns det så många fler perspektiv att ta till sig för allt man gör. Det finns anställda, och så många eldsjälar som får hela maskineriet att fungera.

I det här numret kommer du få läsa mer om makt. Reflektioner kring vem som har makt på THS. Granskningar av makthavare på KTH, och vem som har makt över din studietid. En lustfylld krönika om makt i sängen. Och mycket mer.

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EXAMENSRINGAR

EXAMENSRINGAR Hos oss köper du KTH originalringar Vi har tillverkat examensringar i mer än 100 år. I vår verkstad gör erfarna guldsmeder din ring på gammeldags hantverkssätt.

Nu finns också prover på alla KTHs examensringar i kårexpeditionen i Nymble!

Vi bjuder på gravyren!

Sandberg Nybrogatan 9, Stockholm 08-679 90 20, www.examensring.com mån-fred 10-18, lördag 10-16

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SAMHÄLLE

Is COP26 Copping Our Futures? 7 New Aliens Act - Detrimental to International Competence 12 Power Techniques 14 Dress to Impress 16

KULTUR

What is Speciesism? 19 The Need for Leaders 22 OL Goes: Stockholm Film Festival 👏Meme Review👏 25

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OL GRÄVER

Kraftkällan som delar mer än atomkärnor 27 Snåla Ceremonier 31 Cracks in the Walls 32

UNDERHÅLLNING Därför strypsex 37 OL Matchmaking 39 Color With OL! 40

PÅ CAMPUS

Student Power 43 Årets Lärare 2021 46 The Power of Diversity 47 Ny ordförande för Unga Forskare 48 Träffa Kårstyrelsen! 49 Vem har makten på Kåren? 50 OSQLEDAREN #2

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Är man stark

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ÄrCOP26 Is man stark Copping OUR FUTURES?

Is COP26 Copping Our Futures?

TEXT GUNNAR ÅKERLIND PHOTO FILIP ZAWADKA

The effects of climate change are already felt by many and the science behind it has been clear for long, yet emissions are increasing steadily. Change is needed, agreements need to be made and organisation is of the utmost importance. As the question is global, we look towards the UN and the recent COP26.

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A Tale of Coin Tosses and Private Jets COP26; The 26th UN climate change conference in Glasgow ended after two weeks of media gold on November 13th. With the purpose of bringing “...parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change” the event brought the countries of the world together to collectively work towards solving the issue of climate change and keeping the commencing disasters minimal.

Or rather, that would be the scenario in an ideal world.

Shrouded in controversy and claims of empty words, the sincerity of the politicians’ efforts seems like symbolic theater.

For example, when attending such a masquerade of the elites, what could be a better mode of transport than a private jet?

Another source of heated critique is probably the most iconic picture of the event. An assembly of G20-leaders together threw coins into a fountain “ensuring return to Rome” like any other tourists, creating a theater-like scene during what should have been the most serious event of our time. So very representative of the event

Is COP26 Copping OUR FUTURES?

as a whole. But before dwelling further on COP26, we take a look into the annals of history and chronicle the landmarks leading up to our current situation.

The science on climate change has been clear for long, but just how long? As early as 1859, John Tyndall connected carbon dioxide with the ability to keep heat in the earth's atmosphere. In 1896, the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius published a paper describing a connection between changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and changed global temperature. Albeit not on the level of modern understanding, these very early insights prove the fact of climate change not being a novel matter to science. The theories were further developed in 1938 by Guy Callendar and in 1956, Gilbert N. Plass published The Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climate Change, which connected the observed increase in global temperature with increases in atmospheric carbon.

With understanding of the implications of increased CO2 emissions, the matter became a political one. The landmarks turned significant in the 90s with the Kyoto Protocol being signed by a total of 192 parties. It had the promising intent of guiding society

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to a sustainable future. The road towards sustainability was concretely established in terms of commitment periods during which all parties would decrease their emissions, bit by bit.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement was signed by 196 parties (compared to the 192 parties of the Kyoto Protocol). With more concrete goals than the Kyoto Protocol, the global increase in mean temperature was to be kept at a minimum 1.5°C or 2.0°C compared to pre-industrial levels. These temperature thresholds were set as the limits between manageable consequences, and ones much worse. A realistic goal it seemed, with promises strengthened by the agreement’s status as a legally binding treaty. I personally remember feeling hope at the time. As I mentioned in my previous article Our Impending Futures, while growing up I was plagued by anxiety attacks over climate change and this seemingly significant political milestone became a long awaited source of respite for me.

Finally, there was a light among the dark environmental developments. As so many nations world wide joined in effort to stop the approaching disasters, surely we would soon be seeing changes for the better?

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So what really happened after the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement? We look once again to the present. To put it shortly: there was change, but not for the better.

Emissions have not decreased, but in fact increased continuously since the Kyoto Protocol, only decreasing briefly along with the stock market fiasco of 2008/2009 and the shutdowns of the Corona Pandemic quarantines. As the effects so long prophesied now start to shape our immediate realities, and as the trajectory hardly seems to be changing, one begins to wonder: Since these agreements have been made, why has not sufficient action been taken? Hints as to the underlying reasons can be found among two recent scandals.

Is COP26 Copping OUR FUTURES?

consideration for ecological interests or long-term sustainability. Here in Sweden, one can find a similar example by looking up north. Our Swedish forests are often branded as foundations for “green industry,” but the reality is much more complex, with the negative aspects of the forest industry much less well known than its growing role as a “sustainable resource”. The immense potential for removing carbon from the atmosphere by letting forests grow freely is often overlooked in favor of

Giorgos Kallis gives a more detailed explanation of why in his book Degrowth: “We need to extract, produce and consume less, and we need to do everything differently. Growth economies collapse without growth.”

Given that the capitalist model in its very foundation depends on growth to not collapse, the statement made by Kallis is axiomatic for all capitalist societies. Capitalist economies grow by either increasing the pool of resources and labor which it exploits or by increasing the circulation of money. Money cannot circulate with infinite speed and therefore, the width of resources exploited must be expanded. The problem following this reasoning should be obvious: Capitalism’s need for infinite expansion cannot be covered by a limited world.

One need not look far to find very concrete examples: The seas now yield far, far less fish than they once used to due to constantly increasing overexploitation. The Amazon rainforest is being cleared without

What all these countries have in common is their large economic dependency on and massive investments into the fossil industries, investments that will go to waste if they deviate from their polluting path. To quote Carbon Lock-In, a study of the role of pre-existing fossil infrastructure in regards to climate politics and societal adaptation: “The current global energy system is the largest network of infrastructure ever built, reflecting tens of trillions of dollars of assets and two centuries of technological evolution.”

The science on sustainability points to a certain systemic culprit. Or to be more precise: the very system in itself. A leaked report by the IPCC states that “... the growth model of capitalism is unsustainable.”

“Phrases like ‘the need for urgent and accelerated mitigation actions at all scales …’ should be eliminated from the report.”

"We need to do everything differently"

the economic interests of the landowners.

We turn to another recent scandal for clues about why there has been no change for the better. According to the BBC, leaked documents reveal that several countries lobbied to change the terminology in the IPCC report. With great economic interests in the fossil industries, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia are among the many who all sought to eliminate the explicit condemnation of fossil fuels, with a perfect example by the Saudi Oil Ministry:

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If the decision is left only to the capitalist market, these investments will do nothing but increase, as the incentives are much greater to preserve and profit from them. It seems that the governments of fossil-reliant countries will not work towards the urgently necessary sustainability adaptations, rather, they are an integral part of the inertia in the opposite direction. So, if global politics will not work to solve our dire problem, the question should perhaps be how to incentivise it.

On that fateful day in August 2018, when Greta first sat down outside the Swedish parliament, a new wave of climate activism began. One that would sweep across the world and take the issue of climate change to greater heights of recognition and, what’s more important, engagement. The day when Greta Thunberg sat down in front of parliament and the climate strikes began. On September 20th in 2019, the movement reached its peak with a whopping four million participants world wide. Numbers that truly could bring a change. But what can be done by only protesting? Given the continued increase in emissions worldwide and the inertia of political change, the environmental movements need to

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work more broadly. The chairman of SSU (Swedish Social Democratic Youth League), Lisa Nåbo, recently criticized the protests for being an ineffective means of generating change: “The solution I see is that one instead heads into politics and takes the state power.”

She further states that if a fifth of all protesters joined the party, they alone would have the power to dictate party policies.

Of course, this still presumes that the party (and others aligned) has a significant share of votes in the parliament), but the point is clear. Solely protesting without directly influencing institutions is an unrealistic way to produce change. An angry individual (or ten thousand for that matter) makes no difference for a company or a politician, unless they act upon their anger. With the copious sums of money invested in the fossil industries and given the time needed for already built infrastructure to return profit, many of the investors behind fossil fuel are unlikely to give up their locked in fortunes for “the greater good”.

With the unsatisfactory results by political (minimal) action, the movements working against climate change have broadened, the most famous contemporary example probably being Extinction Rebellion, or XR for short. Not only marching in the streets, XR has taken the struggle one step further by actions of civil disobedience. Actively blocking highly trafficked streets works to both directly stop emissions and to make a symbolic statement about the need for changing the way we live. XR has grown immensely in the last years, even causing enough commotion in the UK to be faced by military and police. Other, smaller organisations have taken direct action even further. While still remaining non-violent against people, acts of industrial sabotage or actively blocking highly emitting processes have become far more common in many parts of the world. Changing America reports that at least 41 cases of eco-sabotage in Washington were being investigated by the FBI in 2020. In Germany, the organisation Ende Gelände uses civil disobedience (just like XR), but directed towards stopping coal-mining in Germany, with several large successes. From Greta to eco-sabotage, the global action against climate change has both broadened and grown immensely in recent years. As the

Is COP26 Copping OUR FUTURES?

issue only grows more urgent, it is unlikely to stop.

As you’ve reached the end of this article, you‘ve gained a both deeper and broader understanding of the global situation (or so I hope at least), but the outside world has remained the same. The crisis grows larger by the hour. The flames, both metaphorical and real, grow higher, broader and more intense. Climate refugees, just like the spiraling threat of natural disasters, are no longer ominous predictions of the future, but facts of the present. The world needs an immediate change of path, but despite the science, the activism and increasing global awareness, the action taken is so very, very far from sufficient. As a major obstacle to a sustainable society, fossil capital is the enemy of all who wish to live in a world not on fire. To bring it down, engagement needs to become broader both in terms of means and the size of the masses. You, dear reader, are one potential weight on the right side of the scale. Engage yourself, inspire those around you, study the paths to change and strive for sustainability.

For lest we fight harder now, the struggles of the future will be so much worse.

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NEW ALIENS ACT

New Aliens Act - Detrimental to International Competence TEXT PHD CHAPTER CHAIRMAN, MOHAMMAD ABUASBEH PHOTO CARL HOUSTEN

INSÄNDARE In Sweden there are today around 17,000 doctoral students, of which 23% are non EU/EEA citizens. Here at KTH, out of 1600 doctoral students, 40% are non EU/EEA- citizens.

When choosing where to pursue a PhD, many factors play in - in addition to seeking a high quality education and research environment, potential doctoral students also consider financial and social stability.

Just as you would if you chose to pursue a non academic career. A PhD is a longterm commitment, and most doctoral students will be in their late 20s or 30s, an age where planning to settle down or start a family is not unusual.

What has been unique about Sweden is that it has provided a balance between having a high-quality education and research environment, and stability for its international doctoral students - the latter in the form of the ability to obtain permanent residency. This gave Sweden a competitive edge to attract doctoral students for the majority, this was a decisive factor.

Doctoral education is not cheap and Sweden has invested tens of billions. Sweden desperately needs doctoral graduates both in academia and in the industry, hence, it is

in Sweden's interest that many of its international PhD graduates remain in Sweden; something that the Swedish Parliament, as recently as December 2020, acknowledged in its Research and Innovation proposition (Prop. 2020/21:60). This has long been a wish and it finally seems that the trend of international doctoral students leaving Sweden has been broken. A recent study by UKÄ (Universitetskanslersämbetet) shows that since 2014, there has been an increase in foreign doctoral students choosing to stay after graduation.

The shift in 2014 occured after a lengthy process, lead by student organizations (like SFS and THS), the trade unions like SULF, and others. The Swedish migration legislation was changed such that doctoral students were given the same access to obtaining permanent residency as if they had chosen a non-academic career. This was done to improve not only the conditions for doctoral students, but also to increase Sweden's attractiveness as an innovative nation. This decision was also aimed at increasing the number

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of international doctoral graduates who remain in Sweden - and it worked!

The new Aliens Act During the spring of 2021, the parliament voted to replace the temporary law of the Aliens Act (2005:716). Here, the new requirement is that the applicant, in order to obtain permanent residency, must be able to support themselves financially - however, this has in practice turned out to mean that the applicant must have an employment for at least the 18 upcoming months from the date that the Swedish Migration Agency makes their decision about a case.

Depending on how long it takes to assess an application, it can result in very different outcomes. This has very serious implications for doctoral students.

As a doctoral student, you qualify to apply for permanent residence when you have had a doctoral studies residence permit for four years - hence, usually you will have less than 12 months left of your studies - and the university can of course not grant you an employment contract long enough. But even after graduation, it is unlikely that you will land a permanent position immediately. For those who continue in academia, they are often employed with short term contracts which are often renewed from project to project. This might even be the case if you leave academia and you are no better off than if you had stayed.

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The previous minister of migration, Morgan Johansson, said that it is the universities’ responsibility to provide longer contracts for doctoral students if they want them to obtain permanent residency. His reply indicated that he lacks the knowledge of how academia works. The new migration law makes it practically impossible for a doctoral student to obtain permanent residency. This has major consequences on both the individuals currently in Sweden, but also risks “brain drain” in the form of highly qualified researchers leaving Sweden at unprecedented rates - in fields Sweden desperately needs in order to maintain and improve Sweden’s position as a knowledge and innovation hub. Given they are a very small minority of less than 1% of total immigrants, it is clear that the implications of this law on doctoral students and researchers were not considered when the law was passed and implemented. There-

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fore, an exemption from the new financial requirements for doctoral students and researchers is urgently needed.

Since early August, the KTH PhD Chapter has been working diligently on this issue together with KTH management, the Swedish national union of students SFS, and its doctoral students committee SFS-DK, the trade unions SULF (Sveriges universitetslärare och forskare), Fackförbundet ST, and the umbrella organizations SACO (Sveriges akademikers centralorganisation) and TCO (Tjänstemännens centralorganisation). The chapter even co-started a grass root campaign, formed by doctoral students in Sweden demanding an exemption, which was expressed in their joint petition and statement sent to politicians.

Furthermore, The Confederation of Swedish Enterprises (Svenskt näringsliv),

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (Kungliga Ingenjörsvetenskapsakademin) and The Young Academy of Sweden (Sveriges Unga Akademi) have all joined the call to demand an exemption for doctoral students and researchers from the new permanent residence requirements in more recent articles in Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet.

This means that not only is there an increasing sector-wide consensus on the urgent need for an exemption, but also virtually every labour market organization (high and low level) representing both employees and employers are united in this call. This is not something we see every day, in fact, it is hard to recall any other issue where there has been such a strong, united opposition from actors that otherwise quite naturally often hold conflicting views of policies.

While KTH through SUHF (Sveriges universitets- och högskoleförbund) has initially raised the issue in SUHF, which resulted in two statements to the government, the most recent of which addressing all issues in detail, asking for exemption. (2021-1207, Dnr SU-850-0064-21) We, in the PhD Chapter at KTH, cannot help but wonder why the KTH management has not addressed the issue further.

Given that the President of KTH sees it as the core mission to promote internationalization at KTH, we cannot help but wonder why KTH is not taking a more active role in this. Stockholm University, Lund University, Göteborg University, Umeå University, Luleå Technical University, Chalmers University of Technology, Karolinska Institute and the Research Institute in Gävle have all taken a stance.

The trade unions, the business community, the research funders, the student organizations and the federation of Swedish universities have all gathered behind a call for introducing an exemption for doctoral students and other early career researchers. It is astonishing that we have not received a better response from the Minister of Migration. Now a new Minister of Migration, Anders Ygeman, has taken over.

So let us all work together to bring his attention to the topic, because an exemption is needed and it is needed quickly!

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Techniques to Gain Power

Techniques to Gain Power TEXT ISABEL DAHLGREN ILLUSTRATION VENDELA HAMBERG

How do adults gain power? This question has puzzled sociologists for decades, who’ve tried to pin down the most common means to suppress others. Yet, it turns out that their ideas might have practical implications for normal people too.

As children, we used brute force to gain power. If I wanted to influence someone else’s behaviour, I’d threaten to take their toys. However, it'd be foolish to use brute force to gain power in the adult world.

In the movie Mean Girls, the Plastics aren’t powerful because of their physical strength. Instead, they have a set of ingenious tricks to exercise power. Although most of us sense when someone is being excluded from a group or treated unjustly, we don't really have the lingo to discuss what's going on. This makes these techniques ever more effective.

Sociologists have spent much time identifying common methods to gain power. In the 1970s, Norwegian pro-

fessor of social psychology Berit Ås articulated a framework for suppression techniques. These are techniques used to oppress others, or to put it bluntly, to stay in power. Although Ås' goal was to understand how men discriminate women, her ideas are applicable to other contexts too. Whenever someone is being mean, chances are they’re drawing on one of these techniques. Right after the exam period, I thought it'd be fun to delve into the world of sociology and learn more about Ås’ ideas. Which are these techniques, and in which situations are they used?

The first technique is making someone invisible. This means that the oppressor

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doesn't pay attention to a person or their views. For example, suppose that A and B run into some friends of A. If A and his friends go on talking about their plans for the upcoming weekend, B is made invisible. We’ve all been in B’s position, smiling awkwardly and unsure about what to say. Now assume that B proposes that they go grab a beer. If no one pays attention to their view, meaning that they neither say 'yes' nor 'no', B is made invisible again.

The second technique is ridiculing someone. That is, the oppressor will mock the other person to humiliate them or downplay their views. The oppressor will typically use stereotypes about a person's gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation to produce a comical effect. For example, a Chinese friend of mine was once asked: ‘Do you see anything in the first place?' when she announced that she needed glasses. According to Ås' model, a lot of dark humour involves ridiculing. In the case where men oppress women, it's also common to compare the woman with a child. For instance, he may call her 'honey' or 'baby'.

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The third technique is withholding information. This either means deliberately not informing someone or obscuring the decision-process. For example, a class may have its own Facebook group to communicate about upcoming events.

According to Ås, whoever doesn't have Facebook is being subject to this master suppression technique. Another common instance of this technique is when people make decisions in a private setting. For example, two girls may decide on a structure for their group project while chatting in the locker room in the gym, excluding the third group member.

The fourth technique is double punishment. This means you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Whatever you do, you'll be punished for it. Most cases of double punishment occur when there are unrealistic expectations on someone. For example, women are expected to occupy just the right amount of space. But it's nearly impossible to strike that balance; in reality, most women are perceived either as meek or bossy. Similarly, many students want to be high-achieving and participate in all social activities. They fear seeming too nerdy or too unambitious.

Techniques to Gain Power

The final technique is blaming and shaming. By blaming and shaming, Ås means blaming and shaming a person when it's not justified. In some instances, it's apparent who's responsible, and that they're entirely responsible. If they're blamed, it wouldn't count as a master suppression technique. The quintessential example of blaming and shaming is the failed group project, where the group hasn't delivered due to faulty collaboration. Normally, the leader will place the blame on someone, although they couldn't be deemed fully responsible. Note that blaming and shaming also occurs on a societal scale. Politicians like blaming and shaming someone else, either a group or another party, to excuse themselves.

While reading about Ås' theory, I was struck by the abundance of master suppression techniques. In particular, I realised that I'd been exercising a good number of master suppression techniques myself. I recalled when I was out with a friend, bumping into an acquaintance from high school. We chatted about the weather, our studies and old classmates.

Yet, I never introduced my other friend. I surely didn't mean to 'oppress' her - it all

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just happened so quickly. When coming up with examples for this text, I also realised that I wouldn't count these examples as 'oppression'. Is all dark humour oppressive? In truth, everyone exercises master suppression techniques inadvertently. However, one should be alarmed if one uses these techniques too frequently, and especially if it's conscious.

Now we’ve covered all five master suppression techniques: making invisible, ridiculing, withholding information, double punishment and blaming and shaming. Although Ås used this framework to wrap her mind around men's oppression of women, it also describes oppression in other contexts. As 'oppression' sounds needlessly theoretical to a non-sociologist like me, I just like to think of her theory as a manual in being kind. Having these techniques in the back of our minds, we might act differently. I guess Ås’ theory is of interest to both sociologists and normal people, but for different reasons.

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Dress to IMPRESS

Dress to Impress TEXT AYANA MUSAEV PHOTO VICTORIA ROHRER

The impressions you make with your appearance is an interesting topic to put forward. Many students that graduate from KTH end up in influential positions in their respective workspaces, and even if they don’t, they find themselves in impactful environments. Dressing for power makes parts of your life easier; instead of trying to get attention and establish authority with rhetorics, let your style speak for you instead.

The European cut of the blazer will seem to prevail as the piece of clothing that gives off authoritative vibes in our modern age. Even if the work setting here in Scandinavia has evolved to a rather casual business setting in most places, is it possible to get the professional aura by curating your outfits accordingly.

We will share some tips on how to elevate your style and wardrobe in a way that empowers you. If you know that a piece of clothing you own is more ethically manufactured than for example something bought from Shein, or even better: if you have bought something second hand, well it could bring a special kind of joy to you. This can be seen as a sustainable way of looking at clothes, but there is actually more to it which involves class and privilege. Everyone should have the privilege to still be able to practice a hobby (fashion in this case) and not be seen as a worse person if they aren’t as sustainable in comparison to others that have more money.

Something that is useful for most people is the equation of ‘cost per wear’: the cost of the clothing piece is divided by the amount of times worn. This could amount

to some pieces initially being pricier and more sustainable, being cheaper than the cheaper alternative to it. The cheaper one presumably being made in worse quality, hence resulting in that you only wear it half as many times as the one with higher quality.

For getting the empowerment the superficial way is there a term called ‘Power dressing’ that is coined for dressing in an androgynous way to receive authority in professional settings. An important part of it lies in accessories. Hence you can achieve allure and get a powerful upgrade on a simple shape or outfit by combining different both masculine and feminine elements.

Dressing after your body type is another powerful tool. When followed, it is not thought about, but when dismissed, is the biggest authoritarian turn off. This is a point that is often brought up in ‘the French girl’ fashion guides, but is just as applicable for all genders. When things fit together well, we see the whole person as harmonious, and many of us associate harmony with put-togetherness, which is a given signal for authority. Other things that the fashion guides focus on is the lack of showing off of the brands’ logos, but rather focusing on the material and shape.

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This goes back to the importance of long living materials which you can enjoy and be proud of for an extended period of time. Maybe even please different versions of yourself as well, if you chose the clothing piece wisely. Some of us change up our styles throughout the years more than others, especially between the transitioning years from teenager to adult. So being mindful when buying clothing really pays off.

Only after empirically studying peoples’ styles out on the street did I and Victoria come to the agreement: the tipping point to when an outfit expressed power was when there were details which caught our attention. Which most accessories do. Other things that made us interested in an outfit were the assembly of different qualities and shapes, and how some people who had clearly given their clothing some extra thought were able to radiate harmony.

We asked a few students on the street: 1.Thoughts when assembling the outfits?

2.Thoughts of what your clothes are expressing about you?

3.Favorite way of getting new clothes?

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Dress to IMPRESS

Linnea, architecture, year 3

Lochlan, chemical engineering, year 1

Klara, technical preparatory year

1. It should be comfortable in the first place. If it is for a special occasion, such as for presentations and interviews, there is extra care put in the outfits to be pretty and fresh.

2. Utilising the clothes to get the desired amount of attention you would want that day. Would rather be overdressed than underdressed for the days you want attention and wearing plain (often black) clothes for when you want to blend in.

3. Physical boutiques and buying pieces you’ve checked in for a while to make sure you will wear them for long. Often picking timeless pieces to be on the safe side.

1. Weather and matching. Using a capsule wardrobe makes it easier to get a rotation of outfits to wear.

2. Vibe of being laid back, in contrast to wearing tight jeans, and it makes it easier to find new friends with a similar vibe.

3. Only second hand since a year back. It’s cheaper and more fun.

1. Comfortable, fits for the situation, choosing a color palette and picking colors according to the mood that day.

2. Social power heightens if you to some degree are fitting yourself to your environment. My outfits are personalized but still adaptable enough.

3. Second hand for sweaters (harder to get the right size on other things) and buying basics from Weekday as they last for a long time.

Sara, master in vehicle engineering, year 5 1. Going mostly for black and clean outfits, since that fits the most.

2. Normal, not sticking out in a crowd.

3. Borrowing clothes from friends. Buying clothes more for the base wardrobe, so as to not get tired of them, and these from the usual popular stores.

Mahdi, chemical engineering, year 1 1. Picking non-smelling clothes, making sure they fit together and fitting the occasion.

2. Odd combinations in cut and utility but same color (black) give off a vibe of being basic but with an unexpected twist when you look closer.

3. Online, mostly from Zalando.

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KULTUR

What is Speciesism?

What is Speciesism?

TEXT FILIP ZAWADKA PHOTO JO-ANNE MCARTHUR / WE ANIMALS MEDIA

Only 200 years ago owning another person wasn't something frowned upon and nearly 100 years ago women didn’t have the right to vote. Today we take those things for granted, but for the majority of civilized human history, they were unheard of.

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We like to believe that when facing wrongdoing, we would have been on the right side of history, but this is statistically very improbable. The truth is that most of us form our moral compass on what is socially acceptable, but unfortunately this leaves out the possibility that we currently are participating in something horrific. Something we don’t think about, but future generations will be ashamed of. On the bright side, this also means that we have a possibility to rethink all of our moral values, and be a part of the change instead of the problem. In this article, I will try to examine our relationship with non-human animals.

WHAT IS SPECIESISM?

seems silly in this scenario, even imagining that the baby was mentally impaired, never being able to reach the intelligence of the adult.

Moreover, that same intelligence could be used as a parameter to prove that, in fact, we have an even bigger obligation not to mistreat other animals. Higher understanding of the world means higher moral agency. Moral agency is the ability to make moral decisions based on the notions of right or wrong. Babies, mentally impaired and non-human animals don’t have moral agency, and thus cannot be held respon-

The common understanding of the word animal isn’t connected to humans at all. Somehow, when we think of animals we have a clear idea of a varied group of species that ranges from ones that are as different from us as one could imagine, to ones that share with us nearly all the traits. We have a shared perception that there is a trait that separates us from the rest, taking us far apart from this group and even making the word animal a derogatory term in some contexts. This differentiation often makes it not immoral to mistreat the rest of the animals.

To argue that the mistreatment of non-human animals is not immoral and is in fact justified, there needs to be a trait that distinguishes us from them. The understanding is that it is intelligence that makes humans the superior species. If that is the trait, we would need to consider whether it is moral to kill a human if its intelligence was lower than that of a non-human animal. Furthermore, if we were to meet with a different species with proportionally higher intelligence than ours, we most probably wouldn’t find their justification to kill us based on our lower intelligence very fair. Philosopher, Peter Singer, argues that one's moral right not to be subjected to pain should be solely based on one's capacity for suffering. We have an intuitive understanding of this concept when it comes to humans.

When provided with a scenario in which we would have to subject a baby or an adult to a certain amount of pain, we would implicitly choose the adult, knowing that he most probably has a higher tolerance for suffering. The argument of intelligence

sible for their actions. We would not justify the morality of our behavior towards other humans based on what a baby does, and similarly, it would not be valid to justify killing pigs based on the actions of lions.

Although intelligence is the trait I focused on, many others can be used in its place, like having fur or not, standing on two legs, creativity, abstract thinking. We then need to think whether this characteristic is actually significant moral justification, or

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just an afterthought with the purpose of distinguishing one group from the other.

We understand that, for humans, using an arbitrary distinction like skin color or sexual orientation to justify mistreatment is a form of discrimination and is unacceptable. Similarly, we could use this rule for the rest of the animals. Speciesism is a form of discrimination towards a different group based solely on them belonging to a particular species. An example of that would be valuing the life of a dog higher than a pig or a cow. Discrimination towards a given species instead of the other is arbitrary and culture-based. Some countries value the life of a given animal higher than the others. For example, in some cultures cows are believed to be holy, whereas in others eating dogs is appropriate. This double standard can be easily perceived by this simple scenario: Imagine having a family pet that has had a good and happy life, but died of old age with no suffering whatsoever. The sheer idea of eating its flesh would repel most people, meanwhile unless you decide not to eat meat, there is no logical reason as to why it shouldn’t be done.

The good news is that no one is speciesist to the core, the same way as no one is racist or homophobic. We are just capable of doing things that actually are speciesist, whether we know about them or not. This does not mean that we need to give each life the same value. The common argument against the notion of speciesism is the desert island scenario, in which a person would need to kill an animal to survive. Valuing one life higher than the other does not imply speciesism, in the same way as valuing the life of a younger person higher than an older person in this scenario does not imply ageism. On the other hand, valuing sensory pleasures or convenience of one being over the life or suffering of the other is speciesist and this is in actuality where the most of the suffering comes from. I would encourage applying this framework to every decision that we make, trying to fully understand the process, and change our behavior if we cannot defend it. This does not mean that we will be ever perfect and completely cut ourselves from causing any suffering, but there are practical ways in which we could drastically decrease them.

KULTUR

THE NEED FOR LEADERS

The Need for Leaders TEXT DAVID FERNANDEZ BONET ILLUSTRATION KAROLINA SHI

Irresistibly, you get lost in wonder, for the starry night could not be more charming. Shining stars are scattered in the sky like prominent figures are scattered in history. It seems like great people are necessary to achieve great feats. But is it so? Do we really need leaders?

Great thinkers, creative artists, bold leaders. Leaders like Cleopatra, who ruled Egypt and influenced Roman politics like no other. Leaders like Napoleon, whose military brilliance was feared by many, and made France the dominant European power. Leaders like Jesus, who long after dead has more followers than any influencer could ever dream of.

The animal kingdom has a strong opinion on this topic. From the smallest ant to the biggest elephant, social animals have hierarchies that define their lifestyle. For example, a typical ant colony is structured into workers, warriors and the queen and its mating partners. However, is it a good idea to compare human society to the animal kingdom? The ant colony structure sounds oddly familiar. It is curiously

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described using words like queen and warrior, which will surely remind the reader of human medieval hierarchy. Rest assured, the royalty had no such things as “mating partners”. A sophisticated word was used instead, the nobility. The previous comparison shows that it is important to remember that we are nothing but animals. Furthermore, social animals by

KULTUR

nature, as Aristotle once said. While it is true that humanity can develop a highly complex social structure, its complexness should not distract us from the fact that it is hierarchical. Just like regular social animals.

This recurrent pattern in nature supports the statement that leaders are necessary.

But necessary for what? Survival, if our observations are purely based in nature.

Nonetheless, when survival is already assured, leadership can accomplish more.

For instance, the pyramids, landing on the moon or finding the Covid-19 vaccine are examples of how cooperation enabled great feats. And such cooperation would not be possible without leaders. It seems like the bigger the project, the greater the necessity for structure, cooperation and leadership. In fact, the so-called Dunbar's number suggests how many social relationships humans can have. Far from being a specific number, it simply shows that human beings are socially limited. In other words, a thousand Facebook friends are not a thousand real friends. However, humans seem to ignore such a limit when it comes to society building. Dunbar’s number can easily be surpassed by a small city, not to mention an entire country. But is this cooperation between humans achieved by the means of leadership?

THE NEED FOR LEADERS

rests among the pillars of dignity, liberty and equality. As it turns out, equality is a fundamental value in our society that ought to guide our moral compass and influence our decisions. Because of it, horizontal organizational structures (HOS) seem to be desirable and leaders unnecessary. HOS are structures with no clear leader, where everyone holds a similar rank and can make their own decisions. In short, where everyone is equal. It sounds like a utopia to reach, a dream that one must pursue. But I wonder if the reason why it sounds like a dream is that it is too good to be true.

It is time to wake up and feel the tough ground of reality. We are not equal. Everyone is different. Character traits, skills, personal views, experiences. Each of them makes us who we are and in many ways, makes us unique. HOS are an interesting concept, but they are not widespread across the globe because they do not work. Our differences are the underlying reason why we need social structure. Take, for example, children and their parents. It is not hard to imagine how a HOS structure would go wrong in this scenario. Because parents are fully developed adults and have years of experience, they will make good leaders for a three-year-old.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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However, the opposite case is likely to result in food poisoning due to candy consumption.

The parents’ example is not isolated.

There are plenty of times when the skilful and charismatic will have an easier time when trying to achieve ambitious goals that require cooperation. There are born leaders like Cleopatra, Jesus or Napoleon.

Still, if Napoleon was asked to cook an excellent Christmas dinner, he would not be a fit leader, as his military prowess would only prove useful to stab the turkey. As such, leaders are ever-changing and are entirely dependent on the task at hand.

Consequently, a leader is not an individual in itself, it is a role.

In conclusion, social hierarchies are found all over the animal kingdom and human beings are not an exception. Leaders are necessary for survival, but when survival is secured, leaders enable greater feats. Although equality is a desirable ideal, it often fails to work when applied to organizational structures. HOS are not widespread because our uniqueness requires leadership.

Finally, leaders are not to be confused with individuals, as a leader is a role that can change depending on the goal to achieve.

Next time you raise your sight into a dark night, remember that the sky would not be the sky without its stars.

KULTUR

OL Goes: Stockholm Film Festival

OL Goes: Stockholm Film Festival TEXT ANNA BARYSHEVA PHOTO STOCKHOLM FILM FESTIVAL

“Every time I go to a movie, it’s magic, no matter what the movie’s about” - Steven Allan Spielberg Stockholms filmfestival is an annual film festival held in the second part of November. It was launched in 1990 with “Wild at Heart” by David Lynch. Its main idea was to organize a film festival based in Stockholm, which would focus on introducing young, unknown directors and highlighting innovative exciting films that would not otherwise be popular among the Swedish audience. With time, the Stockholm International Film Festival has established itself as one of northern Europe's leading film festivals. By now, it is the only festival in the entire Nordic region that has been given specialized competitive status by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations).

Film festivals emerged much later than cinematography, much later after it became a phenomenon of mass culture. Whether coincidently or not, this happened in the thirties in states that were relatively closed from the outside world: in Italy (Venice) and in the USSR (Moscow). However, the role of such film festivals was not limited to just politics and over time they acquired enormous domestic and international cultural significance.

Film festivals are resistant to commercial pressures, they give an opportunity to express new and sometimes provocative ideas. By raising independent opinions, it is a chance to be heard by a wide audience

and draw attention to important problems.

In turn for the general public, it is a unique opportunity to learn what happens behind the scenes in the film industry, as well as to use it as a great source of information. Usually, film festivals set up engaging seminars, filmmaking masterclasses, and meetings with actors and directors to make the film experience richer. Most film festivals attract attention to multicultural creative films mostly made by unestablished directors and thus it has traditionally been the place where filmmakers go to spot new talent This year, Stockholm Film Festival took place for the 32nd time and screened 100 films from 48 countries. Red Carpet screenings and Face2Face-conversations and workshops with filmmakers and actors were an essential part of the festival this year. It opened with "Parallel Mothers" by Pedro Almodóvar and ended with "Belfast" directed by Kenneth Branagh who won the Audience Award. It was also the most-watched film of this year in the theatres. ”Rhino" by the previously imprisoned Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov was awarded the prestigious Bronze Horse for Best Film. After five years in a Russian prison, he finally completed the project that received widespread public recognition.

This was the first time I attended a film festival and I am already looking forward to visiting the next one. I could talk for hours about films presented at the festival but, unfortunately, it is impossible. However, for those who are interested in upcoming film events and would like to stay tuned, I would recommend checking the following website for more information: stockholmfilmfestival.se

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MEME REVIEW

👏Meme Review👏 JURY AYANA MUSAEV, CARL HOUSTEN & VENDELA HAMBERG

Vi har fått in era bästa memes.

KTH - vi har ett resultat.

Bidrag från Ossian Ahlqvist

Bidrag från Ossian Ahlqvist

Fin julklapp till ettan!

4/5 toast

Hehe, den var kul 5/5 toast

🍞🍞🍞🍞

🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞

Bidrag från Linus Östlund

Bidrag från Bäska Tankar,

Hohohoho!

Roligt och målgruppsinriktat.

Tydlig kommunikation och verklighetsförankrat.

Det här är så sant!

Nickar instämmande men ger inga skratt 3/5 toast

🍞🍞🍞

4/5 toast

🍞🍞🍞🍞

Bidrag från Bäska Tårar

Bidrag från Kevin Wenström

Hits too close to home

Gammalt format, lite roligt Fina färger

3/5 toast

3/5 räkor

🍞🍞🍞

🦐🦐🦐

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OL GRÄVER

OL GRÄVER

Kraftkällan som delar mer än atomkärnor

Kraftkällan som delar mer än atomkärnor TEXT ALEXANDRA ANDERSSON FOTO CARL HOUSTEN, AMANDA ANDRÉN, R1

När man tar hissen 25 meter ner i berget vid Q-huset uppenbarar sig resterna av ett ofta bortglömt kulturarv. Här byggdes R1, Sveriges första kärnreaktor, på 50-talet, med tro på atomkraften som framtidens energislag. Men optimismen ersattes med skepticism, och efter sexton år klöv R1 sin sista urankärna. I sviterna av dagens höga elpriser och den aktuella energiomställningen är kärnkraftens vara eller icke vara återigen på agendan, och kanske kan historien om R1 och Sveriges intåg i atomåldern säga något även om nutiden?

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OL GRÄVER

“Grävande journalistik” får en ytterst bokstavlig betydelse när man står i en hiss som säkras med gallergrindar innan färden 25 meter ner börjar. I bergrummet under Drottning Kristinas väg 51 ligger R1, ett ofta bortglömt kulturarv, vars historia kanske även kan säga något om nutiden.

Medan markeringar på hissväggen uppmärksammar oss på hur många meter ner vi befinner oss börjar Leif Handberg, lektor i medieteknik på KTH och föreståndare för KTH R1, berätta hur det kom sig att berget under Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan blev plats för en experimentell kärnreaktor.

-Det var efter atombomberna under andra världskriget som USA började bygga kärnkraftverk. Då satte man sig i Sverige med representanter från militären, kraftproducenter och kraftkonsumenter och funderade på vad man skulle göra åt det här nya. Skulle Sverige också bygga atombomber? Utveckla skydd mot dem?

Skulle man bygga kärnkraftverk? Det som alla var överens om var att man behövde forska.

Så i november 1945 inrättade Sverige Atomkommittén. I den satt bland annat Hannes Alfvén, professor i fysik på KTH och sedemera nobelpristagare år 1970.

Kommitténs syfte var att utreda hur man skulle forska på atomkraftens fredliga användning. Knappt ett år efter kommitténs inrättande beslutade man att staten skulle leda Sveriges utveckling av atomkraft, och 1947 startades AB Atomenergi. Bolaget var majoritetsägt av svenska staten, men även kommersiella aktörer ingick.

-De fick i uppdrag att i första hand forska och sedan i ett eventuellt andra steg göra kommersiella reaktoranläggningar, förklarar Leif.

Kriget hade gjort Sveriges beroende av omvärlden påtagligt, och i samband med att man började forska lades grunden till Den svenska linjen, ett betänkande år 1956.

Mot bakgrund i krigets konsekvenser var politikerna överens om att man måste eftersträva självförsörjning inom energi, samt att behålla politisk neutralitet. Den svenska linjen innebar att man skulle utnyttja de svenska, ej anrikade uranfyndigheterna för att utvinna energi och därmed bli energimässigt oberoende. Därtill skulle restprodukterna i form av plutonium kunna användas för kärnvapenproduktion.

KRAFTKÄLLAN SOM DELAR MER ÄN ATOMER

Backa bandet sex år, till 1950. Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan har valts ut när Sverige ska inträda i atomåldern, så man spränger sig 25 meter ner i berget vid nuvarande Q-huset, och börjar bygga. Klockan 18.59 den 13 juli 1954 startas forskningsreaktorn R1.1 Då var effekten 300 kW, men mot slutet av 60-talet uppgick den till 1 MW, att jämföra med dagens kommersiella kärnreaktorer som har en effekt på ungefär 1 GW. -Bränslet i den här reaktorn var 3 ton uran i 126 stycken 3 meter långa stavar, säger Leif.

Det råder ingen tvekan om att energifrågan är komplex

en gång stod finns nu bara ett knappt fyra meter djupt hål, men de svartvita fotografierna från 50- och 60-talet ger inblickar i en svunnen tid. Ett par meter ifrån själva reaktorn hade flera av forskarna sina kontor.

-Man ville vara nära reaktorn. Nu kan man ju ha sensorer som mäter saker kontinuerligt, men så var det inte då. Då kunde man ha ett experiment som höll på i 72 timmar och då fick man gå ner en gång i kvarten och läsa av sitt instrument, säger Leif.

Idag känns det främmande, för att inte säga skrämmande; att befinna sig ett tiotal meter från en arbetande kärnreaktor. Man var dock mån om säkerheten i R1. Högst upp i kontoret satt strålskyddsgruppen, som inför varje experiment kontrollerade strålskyddet och gav direktiv åt de som befann sig i byggnaden. Ett par gånger per år stängdes reaktorn av, det tunga vattnet pumpades ur och uranstavarna lyftes upp med en kran och flyttades till ett närliggande schakt. Då kunde man inspektera reaktortanken efter sprickor, korrosion och annat, innan bränslet lyftes tillbaka.

-Man hade också regelbundna hälsokontroller hos de som jobbade här och hade man minsta förändringar i blodvärden eller liknande väntade tre månader på ytan, förklarar Leif. Man hade heller aldrig några allvarliga incidenter med strålningen eller något annat. Isåfall har man lyckats mörka det otroligt väl.

Men det som från början sågs på med optimism och framtidstro, tog snart en ny skepnad. I slutet av 50-talet började allmänheten diskutera farorna med kärnkraft, strålning och inte minst atomvapen.

När man startade R1 hade dock den svenska uranbrytningen inte kommit igång ännu, utan istället fick Sverige låna uran från Frankrike. Utöver bränslet finns i en kärnreaktor en så kallad moderator, vilken styr hur många neutroner som är fria och kan fortsätta kedjereaktionen i verket.

-Moderatorn här var tungt vatten, där det finns en extra neutron i vätekärnorna, så kallat deuterium, berättar Leif.

Han visar oss runt i reaktorhallen. Att det en gång pågick avancerad kärnfysisk forskning här är svårt att förstå. Där reaktorn

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-Till slut fattades beslut i Sveriges riksdag 1968 att Sverige inte ska ha atomvapen och då behövdes inte längre delar av den forskning man hade ägnat sig åt här, konstaterar Leif.

I kombination med frågan kring lämpligheten i att ha en kärnreaktor mitt i Stockholm och det faktum att AB Atomenergi hade verksamhet på andra platser, exempelvis Studsvik 10 mil söderut, föranledde riksdagsbeslutet att man år 1970 stängde av R1. Sveriges första kärnreaktor blev Sveriges första nedstängda kärnreaktor.

– Det fanns de som försökte bevara reak-

OL GRÄVER

torn, för oavsett vad man tycker om det så är den en del av vårt kulturarv som är betald med svenska folkets skattepengar.

Men efter folkomröstningen om kärnkraft 1980 var ämnet väldigt infekterat och då var det ingen som ville ha ett monument över reaktorforskning, säger Leif.

Hannes Alfvén, professorn som satt i Atomkommittén som på 50-talet lade grunden för utvecklingen av svensk kärnkraft, var en av kärnkraftsmotståndarna. Som politisk aktiv i Centerpartiet på 70-talet sägs han ha varit central i att påverka partiets negativa inställning till kärnkraften, vilken ledde till stora framgångar i valet 1973. Alfvéns politiska karriär fortsatte sedan i Miljöpartiet, som grundades år 1981 med bakgrund i folkomröstningen om kärnkraft 1980. Omröstningen hölls indirekt till följd av kärnkraftsolyckan i Harrisburg 1979. År 1986 fick kärnkraftsmotståndarna ytterligare gehör, när Tjernobylolyckan inträffade. Den socialdemokratiska regeringen under ledning av Ingvar Carlsson införde den 1 januari 1987 en lagändring med paragrafen: “Ingen får utarbeta konstruktionsritningar, beräkna kostnader, beställa utrustning eller vidta andra sådana förberedande åtgärder i syfte att inom landet uppföra en kärnkraftsreaktor.”. Lagen kallades cyniskt för Tankeförbudet och kritikerna menade att den innebar att all forskning och utveckling inom kärnkraftsområdet avstannade, samt att lagen inte kunde betraktas som demokratisk. Efter ett riksdagsbeslut år 2006 togs paragrafen bort.

Forskningen i R1 gav framför allt ökad förståelse för hur neutroner uppträder under olika förhållanden och hur man kan styra dem. Reaktorn hade också ett annat, mer okänt, användningsområde, berättar Leif: -När reaktorn var igång tog man fram radioaktiva preparat som man skickade till sjukhus för strålbehandling av cancer. För vissa svåra hjärntumörer behöver man en mycket stark strålkälla. Vid en reaktorerna i Studsvik byggdes till och med en strålbehandlingsstation i anslutning till reaktorn.

-Det är en intressant diskussion, fortsätter han, för att behandla cancer tycker alla är bra, men det hade man inte kunnat göra

KRAFTKÄLLAN SOM DELAR MER ÄN ATOMER

om inte andra samtidigt hade velat bygga bomber. Det är inte forskningen i sig som är ond eller god, utan det beror på vad vi väljer att göra med resultatet.

Idag är frågan om kärnkraft återigen på agendan. Av Ringhals fyra kärnreaktorer stängdes en 2019, och en 2020. 2020 stod kärnkraften för 30 procent av den svenska elproduktionen, att jämföra med 40 procent 2019. Under samma period ökade andelen vattenkraft från 39 till 45 procent, och vindkraften gick från 11 till 17 procent.

Sommaren 2019 kom nyheten att brödproducenten Pågen hindras från att expandera sin verksamhet i Malmö, då man inte kan säkerställa att det finns tillräckligt med el.

“Jag hade aldrig väntat mig att få ett sådant besked i ett välutvecklat i land. Strömbrist är något man hör talas om i u-länder. Det är inget som ska hindra ett företag från att expandera i ett i-land”, sa Pågens vd Anders Carlson Jerndahl då, och debatten tog fart.

Den 6 december i år var elpriset före skatt i södra Sverige och södra Mellansverige 6,49 kr/kWh mellan klockan 16-17; en ökning med 2775 procent jämfört med samma tidpunkt året innan. De främsta orsakerna angavs som kyla i kombination med låg vindkraftsproduktion och höga bränslepriser. Ena sidan för tesen att Sverige har elbrist och att en del av lösningen är kärnkraft. Andra sidan menar att Sverige inte alls har elbrist, och att mer kärnkraft inte är ett alternativ. Sverige är nettoexportör av el; 16 procent av all producerad el exporteras,

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men även om vi har energiöverskott utslaget på ett år kan det råda effektbrist under perioder eller i elområden, och på grund av kapacitetsbrist kan all el inte överföras effektivt mellan områdena. Sveriges import av el ökade med 30 procent från 2019 till 20209, och importen kommer exempelvis från Polen, vars elproduktion till stor del är fossil.

Polen ska avveckla sina kolkraftverk till 2049, och ersätta dem med vindkraft, solenergi och kärnkraft. Grannlandet Tyskland har protesterat mot Polens planer, och har själva målsättningen att fasa ut kärnkraften till 2022. 16 år senare ska de avveckla kolkraften, i enlighet med EU:s linje, som är att fossil energi ska ersättas med förnybar, dit kärnkraften inte hör på grund av det radioaktiva avfallet.14 FN:s ekonomiska kommission för Europa (UNECE) har utrett mängden koldioxidutsläpp olika energikällor ger upphov till under livscykeln, och fann att kärnkraft har lägst koldioxidavtryck. UNECE skriver i sin rapport från november 2021 att kärnkraft ger 5,1-6,4 g CO2/ kWh, vindkraft 7,8-21 g CO2/ kWh och kolkraft 753-1059 g CO2/kWh. På klimattoppmötet COP26 anförde Internationella energirådet (IEA) att kärnkraft tillsammans med förnybara energikällor behövs om världen ska kunna nå nettonollutsläpp. FN:s klimatpanel IPCC:s rapport från 2018 säger att kärnkraften måste expanderas för att möjliggöra att klara 1,5°C-målet till 2100.

Det råder ingen tvekan om att energifrågan är komplex, sett ur både ett vetenskapligt, ekonomiskt och politiskt perspektiv. Den kraftkälla som på 50- och 60-talet sågs som framtiden, delar inte längre enbart atomkärnor, utan också uppfattningen hos forskare, politiker och samhällen. När KTH R1 byggdes var det med ambitionen att lära sig om ett kraftfullt fenomen för att kunna bli energimässigt oberoende. Hade energiläget i Sverige idag varit annorlunda om samma mål som på 50-talet låg till grund för dagens energipolitik? Och vilken roll kan de nedstängda reaktorerna egentligen tillskrivas när elpriserna når rekordhöga nivåer? Kärnkraftens vara eller icke vara i Sverige tycks ha blivit frågan som kan komma att definiera både energiomställningen och det politiska styret.

OL GRÄVER

SNÅLA CEREMONIER

Snåla Ceremonier TEXT CARL HOUSTEN ILLUSTRATION REBECKA INGRAM

Guldet blir till sand. Diplomeringen blir utan bubbel.

Och snittar.

KTHs ceremonier har skett digitalt under pandemin. Nu vill KTH dra ner på kostnaderna kring dessa.

THS Fanborg har lämnat sina åsikter om allt detta skriftligen till beslutsinstanserna.

Mottagning i Stadshuset Nya studenter kommer numera välkomnas på Borggården istället för Blå Hallen i Stadshuset.

Promoveringen Ceremonin för att upphöja professorer till doktorer. Den flyttas nu från Konserthuset till Stadshuset, vilket gör tillställningen mindre unik och högtidlig.

“Let's put it into motion I'ma give you a promotion”

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Diplomeringen KTH har beslutat att utdelningen av examensdiplom kommer att ske tre gånger per år under 2022 och 2023. Därför att “Många alumner uttryckte tydliga önskningar om att vänta med sitt deltagande till ceremonin kunde genomföras på plats i Stadshuset.” (från beslutsdokumentet). Därav är det fler som vill delta i dessa ceremonier kommande åren.

För att hålla kostnaderna nere har KTH därför beslutat att dra in det efterföljande minglet i Gyllene Salen med bubbel och snittar. Allt detta är en trend, under början av 2000-talet arrangerade KTH en banquett för alla diplomander.

Istället för att kunna skåla med kurskamrater efter en avslutad ceremoni körs man ut.

Cracks in the Walls TEXT BENJAMIN JAVITZ

ILLUSTRATION ROISIN CALLAGHAN

OL GRÄVER

CRACKS IN THE WALLS

Imagine moving to a new country, starting a new life, trying to find community, stability and comfort. A new home. International students living in KTH Accommodation Björksätra had that dream at their fingertips when they arrived in Stockholm in August. The location wasn’t ideal, the laundry doubled as the common area and the furniture was sparse but they made it work. Most of them were happy with ‘Björk’, as they called it, when they started noticing the cracks in the walls, the floors, the ceiling.

But their dream was suddenly over: at the end of September, 185 students were evacuated and no one that had to move out has since returned to Björk. We talked to 4 students and KTH Accommodation to find out what happened.

Adam, Sofia, Laura and Philipp (names changed for anonymity) were excited when they first got an offer from KTH Accommodation. “I was happy about Björksätra because basically I was not expecting that KTH would offer me anything.”, said Adam. For many international students, this is the complicated reality. Those who do not receive an offer from KTH either go through SSSB if they managed to register early enough or are left with the notorious Stockholm housing market - writing dozens of applications through Facebook or Blocket, dodging scammers that demand their passport number or a WesternUnion transfer before the first viewing or seriously considering an offer for a bed in a strange lady’s hallway for 4000 SEK. Compared to this, an offer for an apartment with a private bathroom and kitchenette in Björksätra for 4900 SEK seems much more reasonable and most students were actually really happy with their rooms.

The 10 buildings that KTH Accommodation rents from Studentbostadsfonden, the company that owns them, are located between Bredäng and Sätra station and about 45 minutes from KTH campus.

Laura said, “Yeah, it's really far from everything. When I arrived, I didn't expect that there weren't even corridors. It was just the apartment and you were outside, so it was a cold environment and atmosphere. I didn’t have a toilet lid when I arrived, but we went to IKEA and we left it really nice, I liked it a lot. There were cracks in the walls and the ceiling - I was kind of afraid but my sister is an architect and my father is an engineer, so my parents were like, you'll be fine.”

When we visited Björksätra, Philipp told us, “I think building number 26 was the

worst one. There were cracks in every room and on every wall. In my room there are some too, but they’re pretty insignificant.. there’s one there, one there, some more here [pointing at the ceiling]. But if you go to the laundry in 26, the floor looks like it basically split into parts, just from the vibrations of the washing machines.” He thinks that the cracks must have been there before: “These cracks didn’t appear at once, it had to be a gradual process. They either knew about the issue and chose to ignore it or they were just lazy with the safety checks.” We then went to have a look at the laundry room in 26. Big cracks on the walls and the floor, one where parts of the floor had moved at least 1 cm up or down.

Philipp also said that to him the buildings didn’t seem to be built very solidly. He can hear and feel the washing machines in his building even though he’s on the first floor and 6 apartments away from the laundr When the number of international students arriving at KTH dropped massively in 2020, the buildings were rarely used, which might explain that the issues weren’t recognized sooner. KTH Accommodation explained to us that Studentbostadsfonden as the property owner inspected the buildings in spring and that they did not receive information about the cracks until new students moved in in August. Studentbostadsfonden had actually continuously assured KTH that cracks could appear in the buildings as “a natural way for the material to act” and that they would have no effect on the structure of the buildings.

We asked Adam when the first complaints were made: “I think in the middle of August, maybe from building 24. I heard people complaining about it, but it was like, OK, a few complaints, but nothing happened.”

Then in September, the inspections started.

“We knew that something was going on when there were subsequent controls.

People started to get annoyed with all the safety checks.”, said Philipp. And being annoyed was justified to say the least: “They just started coming and going randomly to

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apartments and they sent emails like ‘OK, maybe today there will be someone checking your room. Please leave the carpets out so that they can look at the floor.’ And for a couple of weeks we just received these emails and people that were investigating.”, added Sofia.

And while the recurring inspections showed that the responsible companies, Studentbostadsfonden and KTH Accommodation, were reacting to the situation, transparency was not one of their strong suits. Adam observed, “They said nothing. They just came in, they were talking in Swedish to each other, taking photos of the rooms, but they said nothing.” The students’ only source of information during September was the emails they got - which sometimes ended up in their spam folder.

When the full inspection was announced in the last week of September, many of the students weren’t sure what was going to happen. Laura complained, “The message we got was really random: it was on a Thursday night and it said ‘Tomorrow you need to leave.’ We were going on a trip on the weekend and we were like, what are we supposed to do now? And we got the email in the spam folder, so we didn't really trust it at all. We were like, what's happening? It wasn't from KTH either, it was from another company. KTH then sent us another email so we trusted it eventually, but we didn't even know where we were going.

They just said ‘You will be moved to a hotel and you will need to go on a bus on Friday.

Tomorrow.’ But we didn't even know the location of the hotel. Should we go on a bus without knowing where we are going?”

While 70% of the Björksätra residents were evacuated, some stayed behind.

We talked to Philipp, who described the atmosphere: “It gets dark so early now, it feels much emptier than before. The atmosphere is sadder, it doesn’t feel like people are actually living here anymore. Only about 20% of the people stayed. So there’s a lot of these empty buildings that no one lives in anymore.”

OL GRÄVER

This had an effect not only on the atmosphere in Björk, but also the safety. People don’t want to leave anything outside their rooms anymore. Several bikes have been stolen since it got so quiet at Björk. Philipp later told us that this sort of thing happens quite often now that most of Björk is empty.

More recently, Sofia told us about a breakin in the mailbox room. KTH Accommodation responded by increasing security checks from once to twice daily - and telling students not to leave any valuables in their rooms.

Meanwhile, 185 students were moved to Mornington Hotel in Bromma on the 1st and 2nd of October: “When I got to the hotel they told me ‘OK, this is your hotel room for a week’ and then they extended it for a week and then for two weeks. And then until the end of October. By the end of October it was sure that I needed to move again and from the 1st of November I got the second contract which is still for a hotel. I got it until the end of my exchange. But in Bromma it was always like ‘OK, we extend it for a few days. OK, we'll extend it again’“, explained Adam.

CRACKS IN THE WALLS

wasn't ideal for staying there for months.

Should we move all of our stuff to this hotel?

Or should we leave it in Björksätra? I had to go back to Björksätra to do my laundry.

Finally I decided that I won't even move to Bromma, I would just stay in Björksätra. I could keep my key, I kept all my stuff there.

I just kept living in Björksätra. You can write it, I don't care. It's a hard topic, but I felt like that was the best option because we were in the middle of the semester. If there would be a proper laundry, a proper way to store and prepare your food in a kitchen, I would be confident to move there”.

“Tomorrow you need to leave. You will be moved to a hotel and you will need to go on a bus on Friday.

Tomorrow.”

Laura added: “They said on Thursday ‘Next Wednesday you will know for sure what's happening’. I think it was on Monday that they decided that we couldn't come back, but they didn't say where we were going to go, but they started sending messages randomly to people like ‘You are selected. You will move to that place. You either do that or you have nothing’. It was really stressful. I couldn't do anything because instead of working I was checking my email. We didn't know what was going to happen on Thursday. On Tuesday at 9:00 o'clock in the evening, we didn't know anything. So what are we going to do? Tomorrow at 12 we need to leave this hotel. What do we need to do? It was stressful because of the uncertainty that we had.”

Adam made a decision: “There was no laundry or other essential things, so it

And for the people who did stay in Bromma, it was not the living situation they were hoping for: “Some people got a room without any kitchen and some others got a nice room for four people with a kitchen while some people even got rooms without windows. I have a friend who spent the whole month in a room without any windows and without a kitchen“, commented Sofia. Laura added, “They told us that we would have 100 SEK per day for food expenses, but we haven't received that yet. And it's been like a month.” We recently learned that

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Studentbostadsfonden had promised to pay for this compensation, but they have not yet done so. KTH Accommodation instead decided to deduct 100 SEK per day from the students’ rent for January.

KTH Accommodation also told us that out of the 185 evacuated students, “105 were offered a student room with standard facilities within four to nine days.” In response to our questions, KTH was however quick to make clear that “the responsibility of securing replacement housing formally falls on the owners (Studentbostadsfonden) of the evacuated property”, not on them.

When we talked to students, it was clear that although they had eventually adapted to the new situation, they didn’t feel like KTH was being transparent enough with them. We asked them if anyone ever came to them in person.

“No”, complained Adam. Laura added, “No, just when I went to the reception (KTH Entré) to ask them why they're not taking care of our emotions.“ Adam explained, “I don't think they were trying to be transparent. I think they tried to be as fast as they could. They tried to handle the situation as good as they could. I think they did their best. But it wasn't easy for them because of this situation in Björksätra where they didn't do any checks before we moved in. They put themselves in a really hard situation and there was just not enough accommodation in other places to move us.” In fact, when Adam first arrived in Björksätra in August, there was mold all over the walls in his room.

“That was the first sign that they didn't do any checks. It was dirty and there was mold everywhere. The reason

was that the tenant before me didn't turn off the heating but closed the windows, so for months the heating was at maximum.

If KTH would’ve checked the building and the rooms, that wouldn't have happened.

But I think they didn't. They didn't check it, and that's why that was the situation.”

We then talked more about the emotional side of things. “I felt kind of alone at that time. I wanted to make them aware that

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for us it wasn't easy. I felt that they weren't empathizing with us. The way they were acting was really cold: ‘Check your email.’, ‘Do this.’ – can you please understand that it's not easy for me? I had some friends that were really stressed and crying“, explained Laura. “At the end you need to put everyone in the same place in the hotel. OK, so do that, but don't stress the people and don't say ‘OK, maybe you will know something tomorrow.’ – ‘Oh no, maybe in two days.’

– ‘Oh no,

maybe in a month.’

It was really stressful for us to know that someone had received an offer for accommodation, but I haven’t. When am I going to receive something?

I'm checking the mail all the time, why don’t you just wait, make a decision and then notify everyone? I would have preferred them saying ‘OK, you will stay here for two weeks. All of you, until that day, and then we'll let you know what's happening and move everyone at the same time.’ I mean, I can understand that it was easier for them. Because they are losing a lot of money. I can understand that, but still. I think it would be better for our mental health than their money.”

CRACKS IN THE WALLS

room is super small. We don't really have wardrobes to put our clothes in, so I have to live out of my bags basically.”

Adam thinks that he and the other students still living in the hotel won’t get offered any other accommodation: “We are just here for one semester or just for a few more months. So we are going to

“I just kept living in Björksätra. You can write it, I don't care.

It's a hard topic, but I felt like that was the best option.”

The 46 students that were still living in the hotel in Bromma were then moved to the Elite Arcadia Hotel, right next to KTH. “It's a four star

hotel. It's a really old hotel I think, so the state of the room is not that good, but it's still really nice. The main problem is the kitchen: we have one fridge, 2 times 2 stoves and no oven. So for me it's basically impossible to cook there. I need to buy microwave foods because there's always someone doing their cooking and I don't like sharing my stuff with others, they might take my food. Yeah, there are tense situations”, reported Adam. “And the

have the rooms until the middle of January or the end of December.” They are now paying 4800 SEK in rent, 100 SEK less than what they paid for their apartments in Björksätra, and received a total of 14 free lunch tickets for Nymble Restaurang. KTH Accommodation has also told us that any of the students that end up staying at KTH during spring will be prioritized for new accommodation as soon as it becomes available.

Björksätra had always been planned as temporary housing and KTH had been preparing to phase out their contracts

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with Studentbostadsfonden by the end of this year. When security concerns arose in December, KTH Accommodation decided that tenants had to move out by the end of January.

For the exchange students that only came to KTH for one semester, the Björksätra crisis is almost over.

They go back to their home universities and can leave all of this behind in Stockholm. For the students still living in Björk, it has become very quiet - a place they don’t enjoy as much as before, but a place they can live with. The housing situation in Stockholm remains as it was - extremely difficult, precarious, stressful and demanding for everyone, especially exchange students that just want to enjoy a semester abroad and focus on their studies. That, however, becomes impossible when you have to worry about where you’re going to sleep next week.

KTH Accommodation reacted quickly to what happened in Björksätra and found solutions for a majority of the affected students.

But what their response accomplished in terms of speed and effective action, it lacked in transparency and consideration of the psychological implications of removing people from their home. Studentbostadsfonden, and by extension KTH Accommodation, are responsible for this situation by not checking the buildings before it was too late. KTH Accommodation made matters worse by not being transparent enough throughout the process. Perhaps the students that we spoke to would've appreciated their hard work if they had been.The Björksätra crisis might only be a symptom of the bigger mess that is the Stockholm housing market - but for these students, it disrupted their time here far more than any weird-looking lady and her hallway-bedroom could have.

UNDERHÅLLNING

UNDERHÅLLNING

Därför strypsex

Därför strypsex

TEXT SAMUEL MOLIN OCH LAURA NILSSON ILLUSRATION REBECKA INGRAM

Fem fingrar i ett självsäkert grepp. Känslan av att vara påväg mot något mörkt.

Andnöden. Varför är strypsex så sexigt? Sex kan både vara himmelskt och ett helvete, intimt och porrskadat. För den ene är det gråtrunken i tentaperioden.

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UNDERHÅLLNING

Enligt riksorganisationen för sexuell upplysning, RFSU, är exempel på sex att hångla, onanera, kyssas, smeka eller bli smekt, pussas, sexchatta och så mycket mer. Allt som man blir upphetsad eller kåt av, helt enkelt.

DÄRFÖR STRYPSEX

Rabbla upp maktordningen och dissekera barndomen hur mycket du vill, men fetischen klibbar sig fast.

Tusenmiljarderskronorfrågan är därför går det att vara feminist och att gilla strypsex? Frågan är i klass med “kan en hemmafru vara feminist?”; om en feminism gör vad hen vill; eller kämpar mot könsordningen. Essensen av feminism är äganderätten av sin egna kropp och liv. Att fritt bejaka sin identitet och uttryck. För vissa är det håriga armhålor, för andra är det strypsex.

Porr är inte sex. Att konsumera porr är som att dricka saltvatten för att släcka törsten. Ju mer man dricker, desto törstigare blir man. Likt heroin behöver injektionen blir mer och mer potent, blir porren grövre och grövre - den sätter dig i dödsspiralen. Strypsexets väg in i sängkammaren är den av nyfikenhetens. Gillar jag det eller tanken av det? Är strypsex verkligen något för mig? Eller är det pojkvännens frustande och stönande som väcker lusten i mig? Det kan slarvigt sägas att vårt medvetande är summan av informationen vi matar den; att världen spänns upp av tankarna som projiceras på den. Den franska och jättedöda sociologen Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) myntade begreppet “hyperverklighet”. Vi lever våra liv genom telefonerna och därav skapas vår verklighetsuppfattning för och genom dom. För gillar jag det eller tanken av det? Är strypsex verkligen något för mig? Vad gillar jag egentligen?

Men en industri finns för vinsten. Vad är då vinsten med porren? 41% av porrscener innehåller ass-to-mouth, ett segment där mannen gröper penisen ur kvinnans anus för att därefter föra den in i hennes mun.

Slutklämmen på porren är, som oftast, att mannen spraymålar kvinnans ansikte med sin säd. Handlingen är lika makaber som förekommande. 2 av 3 män i åldrarna 1624 konsumerar porr dagligen. Och den globala porrindustrin omsätter 6 000 miljoner dollar årligen.

Money talks and sex sells.

OSQLEDAREN #2

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UNDERHÅLLNING

OL Matchmaking

OL Matchmaking

Looking for a romance, or just a friend? We've got your back!

Send a text to 072-148 63 08, and it will be forwarded to our anonymous authors. Don't forget to include the code! You can submit your own personal (kontaktannons) with the same phone number.

000 Är du en händig 90-talist som kan bidra med nya perspektiv? Då söker jag dig. Själv är jag en trevlig tjej på 23 år med lång aura och lättsam attityd. Jag ser gärna att vi tar ett glas tillsammans för att prata om drömdestinationen.

001 I’m a guy who is soon 23 earth spins.

I can’t choose only one favorite color because I really like the gray scale. It would be nice to enjoy different kinds of fun activities with a girl who has an eye for art. I rock dark wavy hair and when asked my friends say that I look nice.

002 En 24-årig kvinna söker en riktig karl i ålder 25-35 som bor inom en 30 minuters SL radie från universitets tunnelbana. Det är av största vikt att du har en stor… säng. Minst 140cm bred, annars får det vara. Såvida du inte är riktigt rik. Då går den an med 120cm. Själv är jag en riktigt partypingla med en smått seriös sida. Är fett wifey och älskar bubbel. Vill du skåla med mig?

003 Passionerad Kårordförande och Fysiker på 9 KTH-terminer söker inte kontakt med dig som vill fråga om hur du blir medlem, vad för möjligheter som finns för din volleybollintresserade kusin eller om restaurangens öppettider. Mina intressen sträcker sig inte till alkoholutbud eller ekonomi, och jag längtar ej heller efter att höra gnäll om dagens ungdom. Vill du däremot diskutera kårdemokrati, ha stöd i din roll som engagerad eller funderar över vad DU kan göra för att utveckla din kår, sektion eller kårförening så vill jag gärna ta en fika eller en promenad!

OSQLEDAREN #3

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THS FUTURE

-Your Future Career Starts Here Apply now!

bit.ly/Future2122

Color with OL! ILLUSTRATION REBECKA INGRAM

OSQLEDAREN #2

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PÅ CAMPUS

PÅ CAMPUS

YOUR INFLUENCE AS A STUDENT

Your Influence as a Student TEXT ADAM SÄRNELL ILLUSTRATION VENDELA HAMBERG PHOTO OL ARCHIVE

What do you do when a teacher ignores your emails? Where is the power located at KTH? And how much influence do KTH students feel that they have over their education? Osqledaren went out to ask these questions and you answered them.

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PÅ CAMPUS

The power dynamics at a large university can be difficult to comprehend since there are so many institutions, roles, associations and other things to keep track of. There is a web of information flows and decision processes that may seem very distant to the ordinary student. In order to get a sense of an average KTH student’s view on this topic we decided to conduct a survey. But before diving into the results, let’s have a brief walkthrough of the organizational structures of KTH and THS and how they are related.

YOUR INFLUENCE AS A STUDENT

above – directly to the programme responsibles.

So what does the ordinary student make of all this? The survey was answered by 138 students, either online or when approached on campus, where 63% responded that they are or have been involved in either their chapter, THS, or both, and 11% of the respondents were international students. The two open-ended questions were deliberately posed in a way that would require the students to think for a bit instead of giving them alternatives to choose from, and the free-form responses were then coded and grouped into larger categories. A consequence of open-ended questions is that respondents are able to fit multiple answers into their response, which means some of the categories have overlaps that will be pointed out where it's needed.

KTH is a public university consisting of five schools that answers to the president of KTH (sv; rektor) – currently Sigbritt Karlsson – and the university board that both are, to simplify, partially appointed by the Swedish government. Each school has a number of departments (sv; instutitioner) that are divided into different divisions (sv; avdelningar) but most importantly: each school offers a selection of programmes to students. Each program has a program director (sv; programansvarig) – subordinate to the head of school (sv; skolchef). They are responsible for the teachers and the courses offered in the program. When it comes to quality assurance of education and research there exists a faculty council (sv; fakultetsråd) consisting of 13 members. A majority of them are KTH professors elected by their fellow teachers and researchers, and three of the members are student representatives from THS.

When it comes to student influence, 47,4% of respondents answered that they feel like they have little or no influence over their education. Meanwhile, 35% experience a moderate amount of influence and 16,6% feel like they have much influence. When asked how much they actually utilize this perceived influence, the “moderate” and “much” alternatives dropped by roughly 3 percentage points each, while the amount that responded “little” went from 37,2% to 25,5% and the “none at all” alternative grew from 10,2% to 25,5%.

THS is the student union at KTH. By law, Swedish student unions need to be democratic and the university is required to take their opinion into account when making decisions. In practice, all members of THS are able to vote on which people they want to represent them at different roles in the organization and in their respective chapters (sv; sektioner). The different chapters then have representatives in the union council that decides how the union will operate. Quality assurance, and communication related to it, occur at different levels between THS and KTH. For example, the idea is that course responsible students are appointed to communicate with the course responsible teacher, while each chapter’s study council communicates at one step

What would you do if a course responsible doesn’t respond to your emails?

28,9% would contact the programme director (28,9%). Amongst these 39 responses, 14 stated they would also consider contacting either the study council, course responsible students or THS, and four mentioned also contacting the student counselor. A similar answer, accounting for 7,4% of the responses, was to “contact their boss” without specifying any particular position.

The boss in this case is the programme director and it is indeed a correct alternative to contact them if this ever happens to you.

You can also always turn to the course responsible students and your chapter’s student council, which 17% responded (27% if you include the overlap mentioned above).

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Contacting other KTH people (11,1%), e.g. a student counselor, teaching assistant or “other teacher”, was also a common response. The last categories include trying to reach the programme director through other means (18,5%) and looking for support from other students (5,2%) – either on campus or in the Facebook group Legends of Tâmorrow. Finally, 11,9% of students answered that they would give up, whereof two wrote that they would simply cry.

Where is power located at KTH? For the final question, the wide variety of responses have been condensed into five categories (13 responses were excluded due to being vague or out of scope).

While 15,2% answered that they don’t know where the power at KTH lies, the ones answering that it’s “spread out” and the different response constellations that contained overlaps got their own category at 14,4%. However, most responses were pretty concise and many students responded with specific roles at various levels in the organisations. The single most frequent answer was KTH’s president (mentioned in 18,4% of the responses) which together with the slightly broader response “KTH management” and its related roles make the largest category at 29,6%. Many students answered professors in general and responsibles at various levels in each school (23,2%): programme directors, course responsibles, head of school and examiners. Last but not least, 17,6% of respondents believe that the power at KTH lies with the students and THS. Did you expect these results?

Do you feel represented or not? Do you have your own opinion?

We’d love to hear from you! Send us an email at osqledaren@ths.se to get in touch if you have anything to share. Here's to hoping this article has provided some insights for you, and, leads to interesting discussions in the future!

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Årets Lärare 2021

Årets Lärare 2021 TEXT & FOTO CARL HOUSTEN

Årets Lärare är ett pris som delas ut varje år av THS. Alla studenter har haft möjlighet att nominera och har i år valt Mattias Wiggberg. Vi träffade honom för att prata om hans undervisning - och vad priset betyder för honom.

Mattias bor på Kungsholmen med sin fru och två barn. Kappsegling, fotografering och familjeliv fyller dagarna utanför KTH. För intervjun valde han kaffe över glögg.

Han disputerade i datavetenskapens didaktik vid Uppsala universitet och läste parallellt till företagsekonom. Kurser i Sydney, Buenos Aires och Tokyo samt studier vid Karlstad, Södertörn och KTH utgjorde en bred grundutbildning. Idag undervisar han vid Industriell ekonomi på kursen Aspekter på samhällets digitalisering, handleder kandidat- och examensarbeten samt bedriver uppdragsutbildning.

Just nu forskar han kring hur AI påverkar arbetsprocesser och affärsmodeller. Mattias är intresserad av skärningen mellan datateknik, organisation och samhälle och har precis tryckt iväg en ansökan för att studera hur samhällskontraktet påverkas av automatisering.

Vad betyder det för dig att få det här priset?

-Det är det finaste pedagogiska priset man kan få på KTH, för att det kommer från studenterna. För mig som har som enda prioritet att få studenternas resa att bli så bra som möjligt, är det ofattbart stort.

Jätteroligt. Det blir också ett kvitto på att min undervisning faktiskt fungerar. Med utmärkelsen i ryggen är det lättare att få gehör för att utveckla kurser utifrån mina perspektiv. Jag hoppas också att det kan vara bra för kåren då jag och tidigare pristagares uppskattade undervisning kan få mer genomslag. Så ja, det är jättehedrande.

“Att få till förändring på KTH - det är svårt, man är en liten kugga i ett stort maskineri.”

Vart har du lärt dig om didaktik?

-Jag kommer från en lärarfamilj, och har

själv jobbat med utbildning och kunskap, operativt och strategiskt, i hela mitt professionella liv. När jag undervisar vill jag att tiden tillsammans med studenterna ska bli så bra som möjligt, så att de i slutänden ska kunna bidra till samhället på det sätt de önskar. Det jag bidrar med är att skapa den struktur och miljö som behövs för att lära sig mycket Han tar ofta in internationella experter att föreläsa.

-Även om jag kan mina ämnen väl så finns det ofta någon som är än mer specialiserad, eller som jobbar med frågorna på ett aktuellt sätt just nu. Genom att blanda föreläsare och material från den internationella forskningsscenen ämnena mer djup och liv.

Vad tror du skiljer din undervisning åt från andra?

-Att studentens upplevelse och kunskapsresa är i fokus är nog självklart för många lärare. Jag är mån om att låta precis detta vara vägledande för allt jag gör på kurserna. Genom att mäta och be om löpande feedback - ofta efter varje tillfälle - kan jag anpassa kurser medan de genomförs.

Tillsammans med studenterna så tar vi gemensamt ansvar för att tiden används så bra vi kan.

“Studenter är måna om sin utbildning. Man vill bidra, och gör det.”

När han arbetade som stabschef på CSC-skolan (numera EECS), såg han att det ibland var svårt för studenternas påverkansarbete att få riktig effekt. Frågor återkom igen och igen för att organisationen inte lyckades ta till sig feedbacken. Han startade då veckovisa möten med studentrepresentanter och arbetade sedan med alla parter för att korta vägarna till påverkan.

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“Det var något som inte stämde då problem inom utbildningen återkom, vi kan inte ha ett system som frågar efter feedback och sedan inte löser det. Jag såg det som mitt jobb att faktiskt hjälpa till där.”

Hur har distansundervisning påverkat din undervisning?

-Det förbättrade min undervisning. 2D-formatet är betydligt mer avslöjande. Jag måste tänka till som lärare. Det sätter högre press på mig - på ett bra sätt. Vi mäter data hela tiden och ser att nöjdheten och resultaten blivit högre. Möjligheten att bedriva bra undervisning har ökat. Det är lättare att få med hela gruppen. Föreläsningarna spelas in och kan ses i efterhand. Studenterna kan vara med från där de är, även om det har andra åtaganden. Det är lättare att bjuda in internationella experter.

I din intervju med KTH beskrev du dig själv som en 'curator', vill du utveckla på det?

-Jag har koll på ämnet, vad som är viktigt och vilken nivå vi behöver nå. Det finns många bra kollegor, på campus och i mitt internationella nätverk som sedan är experter på de olika delarna. Jag designar sedan en gemensam resa genom kursmaterialet på samma vis som en curator presenterar konst. Mer som en dirigent än som en ensam föreläsare. Vetenskap och konst, du vet.

Du nöjer dig inte?

-Nej, det tror jag aldrig att man ska göra.

PÅ CAMPUS

The Power OF DIVERSITY

The Power of Diversity TEXT ANASTASIA ANGELI PHOTO THS ARMADA

What is Diversity? Why do you keep hearing this term more and more often lately? Or maybe it is just me being biased and assuming that everyone hears the same things as I do.

Diversity management is one of the initiatives that embodies the European Commission’s long-term commitment for diverse workplaces and inclusive societies. Sweden also has a Diversity Charter, with active members in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm. During THS Armada fair (who has Diversity as one of their core values) a panel has been hosted, the aim of which was to open up a discussion about diversity in work environments. We were lucky to have a varied combination of people on the panel, who could represent different aspects of diversity and provide their personal opinion, looking at questions from different angles.

So, who were the panelists?

There have been studies, proving that the more diverse a team is, the more likely it is to perform better than the non-diverse team, which also requires inclusive leadership. Harvard study showed that if a team matches the ethnic diversity of their audience, they are 152% more likely to perform financially better. This McKinsey study proves the same tendency.

How can diversity be embedded as a part of education?

It is important that KTH gives the tools to create inclusive environments. It could be done through putting together teams that are as diverse as possible as it results in those teams being more innovative. Another suggestion was to have a compulsory Diversity course as a part of KTH education.

In addition to the evaluations at the end of the course (that could target diversity and inclusion aspects of student life), it is useful to set up an agreement in the beginning of the course, on how people in the team want to treat each other.

What do you think about Swedish language requirements for many vacancies in Sweden and what could be done in that regard to include internationals?

From left to right, Norma Cueto Celis - Head of event and logistics, Bright at KTH, Greg Fernando - Founder of New to Sweden, Gabriella Wiiala - Chairman of Diversity Charter Sweden, Anastasia Angeli - Head of Diversity at THS Armada (moderator), Maria Johansson - Project manager of the Swedish foundation of Human Rights, Roh Petas - Gender equality, diversity and equal conditions strategist at KTH Equality Office and Amina Bensabra - JML coordinator at Malvina.

From a general discussion of the topic we have quickly moved to more specific questions.

There was an opportunity for students to ask questions to the panelists, a few of which we have discussed more in focus. I will share the key points.

What is the value of having different perspectives in a team in education or a workplace?

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Companies should be encouraged to reduce their language requirements, e.g. instead of «Native Swedish» to «can communicate in Swedish», and «can pick up Swedish». Employers need to be more open-minded about people who they want to recruit - not always language is required.

It was a valuable opportunity to talk and exchange knowledge about how to do things in terms of diversity and inclusion.

It is great to know that the KTH Equality Office is actively working towards D&I and is willing to listen, discuss and act in that direction. But I want to highlight that it is also on you, a person reading this article, to be proactive, make demands and ask for more content related to diversity and inclusion.

PÅ CAMPUS

NY ORDFÖRANDE FÖR UNGA FORSKARE

Ny ordförande för Unga Forskare TEXT CARL HOUSTEN FOTO IGEM

Unga Forskare är ett ideellt ungdomsförbund med ca 5500 medlemmar och 45 medlemsföreningar, därbland kemisektionen. Deras syfte att främja ungas intresse för naturvetenskap, teknik och matematik, samt deras roll i samhället.

UF har en bred verksamhet med allt från läger till tävlingar, stipendier och inspirerande seminarier. Vi har pratat med deras nyvalda förbundsordförande, som läser tredje året bioteknik på KTH.

-I projektet ansvarade jag för den samhälleliga kontakten, att se till att vår forskning var relevant för samhället och kommunicerades på ett bra sätt.

Vi bedrev också ett eget forskningsprojekt, där vi undersökte bakteriofager för att se om vi kunde förbättra fagterapi som alternativ till antibiotika.

Vi forskade på dess DNAsekvens för att se om man kunde styra fagern för att bättre kunna tillämpa den inom sjukvård. Ett väldigt kul och spännande projekt!

Stella Axelsson har engagerat sig hos Unga Forskare i tre års tid, där hon fått göra allt från att vara huvudansvarig för uttagningsprocessen för forsknings-SM till att projektleda hela Utställningen Unga Forskare, ett projekt som mynnar ut i SM:et.

Hon beskriver hennes alla engagemang hos dem som både roliga och utmanande!

Vad har du för mål som ny förbundsordförande?

-Jag vill få fler att veta om verksamheten och att fler ska få chansen att delta! Jag vill uppmana alla unga att engagera sig hos oss - det är coolt och kul att forska.

Hur började ditt engagemang i Unga Forskare?

-Innan trean på gymnasiet deltog jag i Karolinska Institutets sommarforskarskola, som ledde till att jag sedan deltog i Utställningen Unga Forskare. Där studerade jag kopplingen mellan två intracellulära proteiner i Natural Killer cells, en slags vita blodceller.

Har du engagerat dig på sektionen?

-Ja! Jag har varit aktiv i Kemisektionens nämnd Musikaliska Direktoriet, först med ansvar för dans och numera som vice ordförande.

Hon beskriver även att hon nyligen blivit scout, där hon varit på sin första hajk! Och att hon arbetar som labbasse.

Vill du berätta mer om din egen forskning?

-Jag deltog i tävlingen IGEM, där man bygger upp ett eget forskningsprojekt som ska vara integrerat i samhället och lösa ett samhällsproblem. Vårt projekt mynnade ut i en konstutställning med tema syntetisk biologi. Vi hade 42 utställare i KTH:s gamla reaktorhall, R1. Vinnaren var en låt inspirerad av genterapi, “Triple Helix Feeling”.

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Varför ska man engagera sig i Unga Forskare?

-Det är väldigt utvecklande! Kul att få testa på sina vingar och lära sig allt möjligt. Arbetsleda grupper, planera event. Inspireras och motiveras i sin forskning. Alla erfarenheter är värdefulla och något man borde prova på!

Vill du också engagera dig i Unga Forskare?

Gå in på ungaforskare.se/engagera-dig

PÅ CAMPUS

Träffa Kårstyrelsen!

Träffa Kårstyrelsen!

TEXT & FOTO CARL HOUSTEN BILDREDIGERING THS KOMMUNIKATÖR, LINNEA LINDELL

Kårstyrelsen är de som bestämmer mest i Kåren.

Men vilka är de?

Teo Elmfeldt, började 2017 på Teknisk Fysik Första engagemang på sektionen: -Regissör på Fysiksektionens nØllespex Mål för året: -Tillgängliggöra kårens centrala arbete, samt reformera Kårfullmäktige Favoritknop -Dubbelt halvslag om egen part

Adam Caspary, började 2018 på Informationsteknik Häftigaste engagemang på sektionen -Att vara en av två huvudansvariga för sektionens mottagning Mål för året -Att åstadkomma långvariga (helst positiva) förändringar inom kåren Favoridryck -Minttu. Helst båtminttu

Klara Cider, började basåret 2016, går nu Teknisk Fysik Mest givande engagemang på kåren -Directeur för Promenadorquestern och med Baletten Paletten Mål för året: -Att värna om kårföreningarna Favoritcider: -Inte päroncider, det påminner mig för mycket om mina föräldrar

Filip Axelsson, började 2016 på Teknisk Fysik Häftigaste engagemang på kåren -Studentrepresentant då programmet Teknisk Matematik togs fram Mål för året -Göra kåren lättare att förstå Favoritstyrdokument -PM för Påverkansarbete

Adrian Södergren, började 2014 på Teknisk Kemi Roligaste engagemang på sektionen -Alla spex jag varit med i!

Mål för året -Utveckla THS lite och knyta nya vänskapsband på vägen Favorit-spexföreställning -Krexet VI: Illdådet eller en sista droppe sanning

Vendela Folke, började 2017 på Arkitektur Roligaste engagemang på sektionen -Ordförande för Arkitektsektionens jubileumssångbokskommitée Mål för året Ta fram en plan för kårens långsiktiga finansiering och förvaltning Favoritceremoni -KTHs Diplomering, när de som tagit exam en firas i Stadshuset med pompa och ståt

Ossian Ahlkvist, började 2017 på Samhällsbyggnad Första engagemang på sektionen -Företagsansvarig i balkommitéen på S Mål för året -Öka THS närvaro i den nationella studentsfären Favoritband: -Sum 41

Oscar Stenström, började 2016 på Design och produktframtagning Första engagemang på sektionen -Orkester i jubelspexet Mål för året -Att fler ska hitta till kåren!

Favorit-dancemove Lock turn (jazz)

Vi presenterar dem kort, från vänster till höger

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PÅ CAMPUS

VEM HAR MAKTEN PÅ KÅREN?

Vem har makten på Kåren?

TEXT THS ORDFÖRANDE & VICE ORDFÖRANDE, TEO OCH VENDELA FOTO CARL HOUSTEN

Hej, Teo & Vendela här igen!

Vi tror att för många så kanske svaret på rubrikens fråga är just att det är vi två som har makten, och i många situationer är det faktiskt så. Vårt uppdrag och mandat innebär att vi lättare kan genomföra förändring, driva saker vi tycker är viktiga och hjälpa andra med en överblick. Att vi prioriterar, eller inte prioriterar, någonting gör skillnad. Men det ger långt ifrån hela bilden av hur makten på THS ser ut och fördelas.

Först och främst: THS är, liksom alla studentkårer, demokratiskt uppbyggt. Den yttersta makten ligger hos alla våra medlemmar, alltså hos dig. Dels i formella val och omröstningar, men också i vad du väljer att engagera dig i.

Demokratisk makt Det är du som röstar i sektionsval, val till kårfullmäktige, eller val i kårföreningen du väljer att engagera dig i. På så sätt är du med och bestämmer vilka som får makt.

På sektionsmöten eller årsmöten röstar du i frågor som är större, och kan delta i diskussion och framtagning av förslag. Det är de besluten som sedan ska styra allt som händer. I kåren centralt kanske besluten är lite längre bort. Ungefär såhär: • • •

•

Du är med och väljer Kårfullmäktige Kårfullmäktige sätter verksamhetsplan och väljer Kårstyrelsen.

Kårstyrelsen styr verksamheten, men det är också de som anställer kanslichef som ansvarar för all anställd personal. Och förstås, väljer Kårledningen, de studenter som jobbar heltid ett år på Kåren.

Kårledningen får ansvar för att utifrån verksamhetsplanen, styrelseuppdrag, och egen övertygelse leda stora delar av kårens centrala verksamhet och samordna det lokala.

Men visst blev det väldigt abstrakt nu?

Det känns kanske inte så nära just dig? Tur att det finns andra vägar till inflytande och makt!

Din makt att påverka Om du vill förändra eller påverka något på kåren är det mest effektiva sättet att nå inflytande och därmed makt att engagera dig operativt. Hör av dig till dem som arbetar med eller har inflytande över området och boka ett möte. Visst finns det ett värde i att kunna gnälla bland kompisgänget eller anonymt i internetgrupper, men det är sällan därifrån faktisk förändring sker. Istället handlar det om att kavla upp ärmarna, sätta sig in i ett ämne och därefter agera konstruktivt.

En bra start kanske är det lokala, i sektionen eller kårföreningen. Teo började sitt engagemang genom att fråga hur han kunde hjälpa till med planeringen av en vårbal, och blev ansvarig över serveringen.

Sedan såg han att studienämnden inte syntes så mycket, trots att det de gör är bland det absolut viktigaste i sektionen, och tog en förtroendepost utifrån frågeställningen hur kan vi nå ut bättre? Och hittade sitt kall inom styrelsen med att styra upp vem som har tillgång till vad, och hur. Vendela funderade mycket på hur kan vi göra mottagningen roligare och minska dötiden mellan aktiviteterna, och sökte sig därför till lekledare i mottagningen. Något som blev en språngbräda för ett övergripande ansvar över Arkitektursektionens mottagning, och även till ansvar över en jubileumssångbok för att kunna dela hennes kärlek till de studentikosa sångerna.

Så för att återgå till dig, kära medlem och läsare: Känns det som att sektionen är alltför beroende av engångsplast vid fester och annat stohej? Eller att nog

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måste det finnas ett bättre sätt för studienämnden att nå ut med sitt arbete? Kanske har du en idé för att få ännu fler att känna sig välkomna i studentlivets härliga värld? Våga försöka göra något åt saken!

Det kan kännas läskigt och svårt, men i slutändan är det just på grund av alla som tar på sig sådana utmaningar som vi kommer framåt!

Om du sedan vill lyfta blicken och få en genomslagskraft över hela kåren, eller helt enkelt känner att du inte vet hur du kan börja engagera dig, då finns vi här i Nymble och hjälper dig på vägen. Svaret blir kanske en fråga: Finns det något du vill göra för att förbättra detta? Men det viktiga är att du vet att vår dörr står metaforiskt öppen. Skicka ett mail! Om du hamnat fel så leder vi det gärna vidare, om du hamnat rätt kanske nästa steg är en fika inne på kårledningskontoret i Nymble. Vi finns här för dig!

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Osqledaren #2 2021/2022 POWER