Osqledaren #2 2022/2023 CONNECTIONS

About Osqledaren

Osqledaren has since 1959 been the magazine of THS, the student union at KTH.

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

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.

Subscription

You do not want to get a physical copy of Osqledaren sent to your mailbox? Send an email to unsubscribe@osqledaren.se with your full name and address and the subject “Unsubscribe”.

You expected a copy of Osqledaren but didn’t receive it? Check that your address in Ladok is up to date and that it is a valid Swedish address. If you still didn’t get Osqledaren at home, you can pick up your copy in Nymble or read Osqledaren digitally, at issuu.com/osqledaren.

Contributions

Do you want to contribute to our next magazine? Write an insändare and email us at osqledaren@ths.kth.se

The editorial staff has the right to refuse submitted material at any time.

Buying adspace in Osqledaren

Contact our ad agency! FörbundsMedia AB ricard.sjoberg@fbmedia.se osqledaren.se/annonsera

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

/osqledaren @osqledaren

Adress Osqledaren Tekniska Högskolans Studentkår 114 28 Stockholm

Produced with love  in Nymble at KTH Valhallavägen

See English below

TEXT CHEFREDAKTÖR | EDITOR IN CHIEF, BENJAMIN JAVITZ

I was quite positively surprised when I started going through the results of our Reader’s Survey - 154 of you answered and gave us tips, suggestions and ideas. Most of all we could estimate, for the first time since 2018, how many of you actually read Osqledaren. While it is obvious that students who actually read OL are overrepresented in our numbers (and we did try to counteract this by advertising the survey in Nymble and the THS newsletter), only 10% of the respondents said they never read OL at all. Over 50% of you say that they read at least one article fully and 85% would miss OL at least a little bit if it disappeared.

When I stumbled across the comment above however, I had to think about a response. To me, having most articles in OL in English meant adding accessibility for international students, not losing Swedish readers. In this and in countless other situations on campus and at THS it becomes obvious that the question of Swedish vs. English, national vs. international is anything but solved. Let’s keep going with numbers here: more than one third of new students this year are international; KTH currently has 30-40% international students; and over 70% of KTH students are already studying in English or are in a program that will include a master taught in English (based on KTHs yearly report)!

I (as an international student myself, who can read and write and understand Swed ish nonetheless) could obviously react to this with “Well, you all understand English, right? Why not just have all arti cles in English then?”. But it’s way more complicated than that. Is it actually clear and obvious that THS (and that means not only THS Central, but the chapters, the restaurant, the bookstore, all of “One THS”) wants to integrate international stu dents as much as possible?

There is no ment on internationalization at THS. Yes, some things like summons have to be made available in English. Yes, THS is

the student union for ALL students at KTH, which implies that everything we do is to benefit both national and international students. But no, there is no "clear plan on how chapters and THS Central can better include international students" (THS Operational Plan 2019).

What does reality look like then? Unlike some of you, my best friends in Stockholm haven’t been with me since high schooltheir names are rather Google Translate and DeepL. I lost count of how many times I’ve clicked on a British flag, I know exactly where to look for “This page in English”, some of the first Swedish words I learned were "Senaste Canvas-aviseringarna", and my muscle-memory naturally scrolls a bit further down everywhere, suspecting that I’ll find, as always, “English below”.

And when none of the information you need is in a language you fully, easily and comfortably understand, you have to ask. You have to push and keep pushing and be as annoying as you can, until you get what you think you deserve, right? “Hey, I know you really want to enjoy this, but I’m gonna make you speak a different language now”,

I find myself demanding of other guests next to me at a gasque, even though that feels like the most uncomfortable and rude thing I could ever do to another human being. When people get a bit tipsy, that gets even harder. And even though “we” like to laugh it off and make jokes about it and suddenly start speaking German or Portuguese to make our Swedish friends realize, it’s really difficult. The same exhausted sigh, the same resignation about the fact that “we” will never truly be a part of the real Swedish student life unless we become fluent in this new and complicated language.

Where do we even go from here? There is not and there will never be a perfect solution, unless we all agree to speak the same language, to use the same language, one that we all speak - so again, everything in English? No. There would be a lot of students, and rightly so, that feel ignored. Students that feel just as awkward speaking English as I do with my broken Swedish. At the same time, traditions are often built on language, and it is not a solution to translate every song, event or joke either. And if we’re really being honest, that’s never going to happen anyway. The best way forward then is to be compassionate, to listen to each other and communicate, to understand each other’s experience.

want there to be a dialogue, a debate about the ways and languages we use to connect - in the form of articles here, but I also want to encourage you to connect to each other! Talk to your international classmates about their experience, ask you Swedish classmates for advice and tips, ask them to take you to chapter events, encourage (or demand!) your teacher to give information about your exam in a language everyone understands. And if that means saying everything twice like the safety instructions on the plane I took to see my family over Christmas, so be it. Right?

“I can't understand why most of the articles are in English. I am completely uninterested in reading articles written by Swedes studying at a Swedish university if they are not in Swedish.“

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 11-18, lördag 11-16

SAMHÄLLE

Att hitta hem i en ny stad 6 The Importance of Diverse Connections 10 Help! I’m Talking to My Cat! 11 E-connection: Smartphones vs. LaLaLand 12

KULTUR

Kärnreaktorn som blev en operascen 14 Does my toaster work in the freezer? 18 Tips for Learning Swedish 20 Förvänta dig (o)rättvisa 21 A Nobel Sense of Humour 22

OL GRÄVER

Armada: Behind the Scenes 24 How Green is Armada? 28

UNDERHÅLLNING

Swedish Student Life: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly 30 Alcoholic Boy Scouts 34 Handling It 36 The Comic Page 37

PÅ CAMPUS

Carl-Mikael Zetterling är årets lärare 38 Hej! Vad gör ni egentligen? /Osqledaren 42 I Thought Swedes Spoke English!? 46 KTH har fått en ny rektor – nu börjar arbetet på riktigt! 47 The New Speqtrum 48 NymbLAN is back! 49 The Mixed Group Dilemma 50

SAMHÄLLE

Att hitta hem i en ny stad

TEXT LINA LÖFSTRAND ILLUSTRATION MY ANDERSSON

Det är en lång, stundtals ensam resa från vilsen student i en helt ny stad till officiell stockholmare, och jag vet inte hur många av oss nyinflyttade som känner att vi är där ännu. Under jakten på nya vänner, ensam i en ny stad, träffar man en massa spännande människor och lär sig otroligt mycket, både skolrelaterat material och saker man inte visste om sig själv.

Kvällen innan min första dag på KTH låg jag sömnlös i min nya, halvt möblerade studentlägenhet, för nervös för att kunna slappna av och fixerad vid en enda tanke:

Just nu, i det här ögonblicket, känner du exakt noll personer i den här staden. Imorgon är den första dagen på de kommande fem åren och om du inte träffar några vänner imorgon kommer de åren bli väldigt ensamma.

Jag flyttade till Stockholm hela fyra dagar innan uppropet på KTH, så det var med osäkra steg jag klev upp ur tunnelbanan en varm måndag i augusti 2020, på jakt efter mottagare och rätt adress för uppropet. Fram tills att jag började på högskolan hade jag, bortsett från ett halvår av utlandsstudier, spenderat det mesta av mitt liv i min hemstad Gävle. Med 100 000 invånare, bussar som går var tionde minut som bäst och ett par gånger om dagen som värst, där du alltid ser en bekant eller en bekant till en bekant när du är på stan, hade jag mycket att lära om Stockholm.

Vi hann ta oss igenom mottagningen och ett par veckor till innan allt stängde ner igen till följd av pandemin. Min vision gick snabbt från “nu ska jag gå på föreläsning och träffa nya vänner från klassen” till “jag ska gå på föreläsning och titta på mina klasskompisar på avstånd på grund av avspärrningarna i föreläsningssalarna” till “jag sitter hemma på zoom och försöker bonda med personer vars ansikten jag aldrig sett…hjälp de pratar om breakout rooms, dags att hoppa ur föreläsningen”. Med andra ord: det gick inte riktigt lika felfritt som jag hade föreställt mig. Men jag gav mig inte.

En stor omställning med högskolan och livet i storstaden var att det plötsligt var helt upp till mig vad jag gjorde härnäst. Ingen tvingade mig att gå på mina föreläsningar, engagera mig i saker eller försöka lära känna människor runt omkring mig, utan ansvaret låg på mig och bara mig. Så jag försökte ta det som en chans att ta mig ur min komfortzon. På KTH finns massor av möjligheter och aktiviteter om man vill och vågar, och jag provade på flera saker som jag tidigare hade låtit bli på grund av obefogade rädslor. Att vara ensam i en ny stad utan att känna någon visade sig vara ett perfekt tillfälle att ge nya saker en chans, och även om det är läskigt att hamna i oväntade situationer så ångrar man det sällan, enligt min erfarenhet.

I min jakt på vänner i min nya stad försökte jag vara modig. Jag gick på alla aktiviteter och fester jag blev bjuden på, alltid med en klump i halsen på vägen dit, oftast med ett leende på läpparna på vägen hem. Jag låtsades vara orädd och social, tvingade mig själv att prata med nya människor och delta i aktiviteter, och för varje gång blev det lite mindre läskigt. Jag försökte även vara kreativ, så jag laddade ner en app för att träffa vänner och provade det i några månader. Jag träffade en hel del trevliga människor den vägen och jag lärde mig var man äter den godaste brunchen, upptäckte nya uteställen och en kväll fann jag mig själv på en liten konsert på en folkhögskola jag inte ens hade hört talas om innan. Sakta men säkert blev fler och fler ansikten bekanta, och med det växte också mitt självförtroende.

En av mina stora rädslor när jag kom till Stockholm var att stockholmarna skulle leva upp till de fördomar jag hade; att de skulle vara ointresserade av att lära känna mig, att de skulle vara dömande och överlägsna, lite finare och lite bättre än vi nykomlingar. Det visade sig att jag inte kunde ha mer fel, och hittills har de varit mer öppna och inbjudande än genomsnittet i min hemstad. De flesta är glada att hjälpa till när jag undrar något, de är intresserade av vad jag har att säga och även om förvånansvärt många tror att Gäv-

förstår fortfarande inte alla deras referenser, och jag delar inte alla deras livserfarenheter, men jag är glad att få vara med.

Oavsett om man flyttade ett par mil eller från andra änden av landet är vi nog många som delar dessa erfarenheter. Min lokala mataffär har fler pastasorter än jag någonsin sett någon annanstans, och den tid det tar att åka till en närliggande stad hemma tar mig knappt till mina vänner på andra sidan stan här. Här har alla mycket mer bråttom än hemma, och vem visste att det fanns så många olika typer av kollektivtrafik? Efter att ha blivit rättad otaliga gånger har jag äntligen lärt mig att pendeln, tvärbanan, spårvagnen, roslagsbanan och så vidare är olika saker, som faktiskt inte alla faller under samlingstermen “tunnelbanan” som jag använt hela mitt liv. Och på tal om hemma – några månader efter min flytt insåg jag att medan jag åker “hem” när jag åker till Gävle, så åker jag också “hem” när jag åker tillbaka till Stockholm.

Att flytta hit har varit bland det mest utvecklande jag gjort, och när jag ser tillbaka på den jag var innan och i början när jag precis flyttat hit blir det tydligt att jag har vuxit. Då jag bor själv har jag dels fått lära mig ansvaret som kommer med det, och bland de största omställningarna är att jag hela tiden måste söka mig utanför lägen-

hemma var det aldrig något jag funderade över, men sedan flytten har jag insett att jag är mer taggad på att gå ut och träffa människor när jag har en tom lägenhet att komma hem till, jämfört med en mamma att småprata med. Det har varit bra för mig att öva på att ta initiativ, att tvinga mig själv att bjuda in mig själv till saker och att ta kontakt med så många nya människor. Tack vare tunnelbanan har jag också vant mig vid stora folkmassor, det faktum att jag faktiskt klarat mig så här långt har gjort mig mer självsäker och även om det tog ett bra tag så har jag faktiskt blivit skaplig på att hitta. Det känns fortfarande fel när vänner och familj, som alltid brukade ha bättre koll än mig när vi besökte Stockholm, kommer på besök och det är jag som får guida dem.

När det gäller Gävle kommer det förstås alltid vara ett av de ställen som räknas som “hemma”. Innan jag flyttade sa min pappa att jag får göra vad jag vill i Stockholm så länge jag inte börjar prata stockholmska, så det sitter fortfarande långt inne att använda ord som “tuben”, “vaska” och för att inte tala om det fruktansvärda “ostbågar”. När jag en gång gjorde ett försök att ta med några stockholmsvänner hem hann vi knappt kliva av tåget innan jag möttes av uttalanden som “wow, jag trodde vi skulle kliva av mitt ute i ingenstans” och “åh vilken frisk luft, nu känns det att man är på landet”. Jag kommer aldrig

när man bara är hemma ett par gånger per år får man förstås en lite annan syn på sin hemstad. Plötsligt stör det mig lite mer att bussarna går så sällan (och alltid är sena dessutom) och att det inte finns lika mycket att se och göra, men samtidigt är det en lättnad att kunna ta sig från ena sidan stan till den andra på max en halvtimme, och det är komiskt att jag fortfarande alltid ser någon bekant på stan. Jag kommer dessutom alltid vara väldigt insatt i julbockens öde varje år.

Jag har hört från flera av mina stockholmsvänner att det känns väldigt avlägset för dem att flytta till en ny stad, både för att det känns skrämmande och för att de har allt de behöver här. Och jag förstår dem, för det är inte riktigt samma sak att flytta från en mindre stad som att flytta från huvudstaden. Det finns absolut en del personer som flyttar för flyttandets skull, för att få vara på egen hand, börja om på nytt på en ny plats och prova på att klara sig själv, men många flyttar för att de helt enkelt inte har så mycket val. Det var inte oväntat att jag sökte mig utanför Gävle efter studenten, utan det var planerat sedan många år tillbaka även om det tog ett tag att lista ut exakt vart jag skulle ta vägen. Vi har en högskola där med, och den är riktigt bra inom vissa områden, men det fanns inget där som riktigt passade mig, och det insåg jag tidigt. Många av mina vänner bor kvar

ga pluggar på högskolan, och de trivs hur bra som helst. Men jag, och flera av mina andra vänner som också flyttade, hade mål vi inte riktigt kunde uppnå genom att stanna kvar. Dels vill jag se mer än bara Gävle i mitt liv, och dels fanns det inte på kartan att låta rädslan för att flytta hindra mig från att försöka uppnå de målen.

Vissa saker kommer jag och mina nyfunna stockholmsvänner nog aldrig komma överens om, men det visar sig att vi har allt det viktigaste gemensamt. Oavsett om man är uppvuxen i Gävle, Stockholm, djupaste Norrland eller sydligaste Skåne så är vi alla i grunden väldigt lika, och det är inte varifrån man kommer som spelar roll när det gäller vänskap. Det tog mig månader och ett par olika kompisgäng att hitta mina människor, och det är en process som fortfarande pågår. Den där tiden innan man hittar rätt, när man flyter omkring utan någon särskild riktning, den är jobbig. När man inte riktigt passar in ordentligt någonstans, och undrar om man alltid kommer känna sig lika vilsen, och det verkar vara så lätt för alla andra. Det är obekvämt att fortsätta bjuda in sig själv och hoppas att det så småningom kommer kännas rätt, men om man fortsätter försöka så löser det sig oftast. Det kan ta tid, men jag tror att man till sist hamnar precis där man ska vara.

The Importance of Diverse Connections

I can easily envision a future spent with people just like myself. It’s a safe, comfortable one where I don’t have to grow as a person or step out of my comfort zone. Everywhere I turn, my views are reaffirmed, and with every day and every conversation, I am a little more secure about the fact that I know everything I need to know. Why would I need to challenge myself?

I used to believe that one day, I’d finally know everything. I’ve since realized that that’s not my goal anymore, and I don’t think it should be yours either. Obviously we should always strive to learn, but we also need to be open to changing the opinions we already have. And who better to teach us, and challenge us, than other human beings?

The first time I voted, I thought I was sure about my views. This past election, my vote had changed. I thought my views on things like taxes and welfare were fixed, until I took a politics class with people from all over the world and suddenly, nothing was certain anymore. The insight I got from an argentinian classmate, my roommate from Hong Kong, and my amer ican teacher, I wouldn’t trade for anything. Even meeting people from other parts of Sweden, from other com munities or interests, is a learning expe rience. It doesn’t always have to be serious either; from different people, I’ve learned

to like new music, I’ve joined hobbies I wouldn’t otherwise have encountered, and I’ve tried some interesting food combinations, not all of them successful. And I’m grateful for all of it.

Here at KTH, I’ve had the privilege of meeting a lot of international students, and at one point, I was one myself. It’s interesting having seen both sides of it, and I’ve noticed that in many cases, it’s hard to make that connection between Swedish and foreign students. It’s easy for us Swedes to stay in the comfort of our own chapters, not feeling a need to reach out for new connections. The chances of ever encountering each other is often left to the international students, who are in a new environment and who don’t really have a choice but to try and engage with new people. I’ve loved how open minded my international friends here are, how much they want to learn about my country and how much they’ve shared with me about theirs, and I’ve had a look at Stockholm and

I think a big problem right now is that us humans are so focused on ourselves and our surroundings that we don’t really see the people around us. We look to ourselves and people like us, and we view a lot of things as black or white; I am right and you are wrong, this is good and that is bad. I think many of us are guilty of forgetting to see other perspectives, of not considering that we might not be right all of the time. And it’s easy to be scared of new things, of foreign concepts and ideas, because it implies that we need to work on ourselves, that we have to think and reflect, maybe even change.

But it is so important to connect with people different from you. It widens your perspective and I really believe that it makes you a more open-minded and accepting person. It brings you out of your bubble and allows you to see the whole world, not just your own corner of it. Of course it’s nice to have people around you who you have a lot in common with, I agree with that. But you might be surprised at how much you can relate to that stranger who, at first glance, might be your complete opposite. You might find life-long friends out there, if you only dare to see them and know them.

What are the odds that I am right about everything I believe? Who says that my views are necessarily the right ones? And how am I supposed to change and grow if I never challenge them?

TEXT LINA LÖFSTRAND ILLUSTRATION MÉLINE PARENT

Help! I’m talking to my cat!

“Don’t you think it’s weird that we talk to animals?” a friend asked me this past October, while we were playing with the cats at Java Whiskers, Stockholm’s very own cat café. We were both on the floor, frolicking with a rambunctious gray kitten, and our group was spread all throughout the room engaged in similar activities. We had all met last year, in the Stockholm Cat Club, and while we all shared similar feelings for the feline companions, our motivations ranged from missing our pets back home, to not being able to adopt a pet in Sweden due to renting agreements or seeking companionship. The question took me by surprise. Having had pets for most of my life, not talking to them seemed inconceivable. So why do we like talking to animals? Is it something we picked up on with the adoption of social media, or is this an old familiar behavior pattern?

Did you see that video of the cat trying different recipes on TikTok? Or the video of Larry, the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom at 10 Downing Street chasing a fox? Social media is full of heartwarming, tear-jerking and funny videos about pets. We share short videos of animals behaving funny or in what we perceive to be human-like behavior to

our friends all the time. The very first pet video posted on Youtube, titled “Pajamas and Nick Drake”, was uploaded in 2005, by one of the original founders of the platform, and featured a cat playing with a rope. However, surprisingly the first cat video ever recorded is attributed to Thomas Edison. Yes, that Thomas Edison! Created in 1984 for the kinetoscope, a motion picture device invented by Edison himself, the video featured kittens in boxing gloves fighting in a mini boxing ring and was 20 seconds long.

The tendency to attribute human-like behavior to animals is not new. Mark Twain, Stephen King, T.S Elliot, Patricia Highsmith, Doris Lessing, Ernst Hemingway, and Karl

Lagerfeld are only a few famous names who dedicated books to or wrote about their life with their furry companions. Charlotte Brontë herself wrote an entire essay in French contrasting the dispositions of cats to those of humans. Tom & Jerry was my favorite cartoon as a child, I have fond memories of my grandmother reading The Aristocats to me, and Garfield and Puss in Boots are characters loved by children and adults worldwide.

Attributing human-like behavior to animals is called anthropomorphism and is more common than we think. Projecting human specific qualities onto objects is a universal way for people to perceive the world around, making it easier to connect and empathize. Anthropomorphism is also an excellent stress and anxiety outlet. Pet-directed speech is again surprisingly similar to baby and infant-directed talk and a medical study analyzing dog-directed rhetoric found that the human speakers used the same tonality in talking to both younger and older dogs, suggesting that the speech patterns examined were only an attempt to try and facilitate interactions with non-verbal listeners.

But the most important question remains: can animals understand us back? Despite not being able to determine exactly how much Coco, Fido or Lassie understand from what you are saying, scientists have demonstrated that dogs, cats, monkeys, and even dolphins are in fact capable of understanding some basic spoken language, even if they cannot respond. Maybe pets are the purr-fect conversational partners because they cannot answer back?

All humans have this evolutionary need to connect to other creatures. While in the past animals were used to fill primitive survival needs, today we outsource our food from supermarkets and keep pets for entertainment, company and connection.

TEXT & IMAGE DIANA CRISTINA CULINCU

E-connection: Smartphones vs. LaLaLand

Today, smartphones are indissociable from us and you surely can’t live without it (Him? Her?) for an entire month. It is indeed useful in order to e-communicate with friends, to spend time on TikTok... But how does it impact our connection with other humans being?

When smartphones were first sold, it was a revolution to be able to talk to loved ones far away via apps. At this moment, we were all just impressed by this new way of connecting with friends. From secondary school to university, I remember always having a smartphone and using it for homeworks or talking all evening with friends that I would see the next day. Their usefulness is beyond doubt today, it is very rare to meet someone with an old phone without internet connection. We feel that it allows us to connect with others, but don’t we get it wrong?

When I’m lost in Stockholm, I use Google Maps. When I’m searching for a recipe, I check Google. Asking something to people around me does not even cross my mind when I have my smartphone. I am

not even sure if we outsource “not bothering people in their personal life” by using Google Maps. I think it is just a very comfortable reflex (for younger generations). Having personal contact with someone is always an effort for everyone: we prefer to ask a robotic device instead of a real person. With smartphones, all our lives are timed, they seem foreseeable and there is no space and no need for improvisation: my train arrives in 2 minutes, says my app, I am running not to miss it. And if I didn’t have apps?... Maybe I will miss this pendeltåg and catch the look on a person's face instead. I will see him/her the next day and start a conversation with someone who might be different from the people I know. What could life be like if we were communicating much more with strangers in real life? Could we have more unfore-

seeable things in our lives without this constant use of the internet and smartphones? Just missing my train might create opportunities I can’t even imagine and change my life a little bit, surely for the best.

But no, we have our smartphone, our apps that time our lives and in the subway everyone is on their smartphone or listening to some music: we never meet strangers.

We are talking about strangers in a kind of idealising way of seeing life, right. Life cannot be like the musical play LaLaLand all day, I guess - dancing with strangers on vehicles during a boring traffic jam, meeting by chance the cutest guy who plays jazz dangerously well - I wish it was. But how is it going with our friends? Mostly, we are less on our smartphones when we are with friends, which is good. Yet sometimes, this addiction goes beyond and we can stare at our smartphones even if there are people around that are not strangers, maybe even loved ones to us. I saw so many couples and friends in restaurants waiting for their meal, both scrolling on Instagram or Tiktok, watching other people's lives while their own lives were continuing without them on board. It is the typical image of smart-

TEXT MÉLINE PARENT ILLUSTRATION TINgYU SU

phones as a small, but impenetrable wall between us and others.

I tried. Really. I spent a month without a smartphone (only with a little Nokia with mechanical keys). And it was AN EVENT. The fact that I decided to stop using smartphones was already a rather reflective process to me, but it was probably an even bigger deal for people around me. “Why do you do that? What’s the purpose? How can we contact you now?” That was when I understood the extent of the phenomenon. We are all such prisoners of this smartphone that even trying to stop is out of norm. I had a phone but not a smartphone. We are so used to Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Snapchat that we never communicate anymore via SMS. We should be aware of drugs, we know the risk of cannabis, tobacco, sugar, alcohol, especially in Sweden. But there is one drug that everyone is on and nobody seems to care about: smartphones. We can’t even pass one day without it, if the battery accidentally dies while we are outside we are lost and search for a charger as quick as possible; maybe even go straight home.

One thing I learned during this period with my Nokia was how time-consuming smartphones are. We often say or hear that we have no time: work, studies, children, activities, friends,... But then again, today, we averagely use our smartphones between 3-4 hours a day (depending on the generation, the country, the gender, and if you live in the city or in the countryside). Imagine having 4 hours more each day or an extra 28 hours in a week - it is like having 2 working days more each week. That’s huge. You could accomplish so many things in this time. But we choose not to do it. How easy is life when you can spend your time on TikTok instead of facing your deep loneliness?

I let my smartphone back into my life because it was way easier when I arrived in Stockholm and I needed to know when my trains were going. I've been here for 4 months now. I know the time for my buses and pendeltåg, I have all my friends’ numbers. I could simply use my Nokia again but I still have my smartphone. Am I still searching for excuses to keep this web link? I feel like a fly that has given up and is indulged

in this spiderweb: “at least, I’m still alive, I’m just trapped. Is being imprisoned really a bad thing when you choose it?“

…Did we really choose it ?...

If you catch me in the pendeltåg, don’t hesitate to talk to me. Let’s talk to strangers, let’s change the path of our lives in the tiny common actions. Let’s LaLaLand our lives.

Should we try to come back to real life together? Should we go buy a Nokia together? Should we try to ditch smartphones for some time? Or forever?

KULTUR

Kärnreaktorn som blev en operascen

TEXT ALEXANDRA ANDERSSON ILLUSTRATION TINgYU SU FOTO MARTIN HELLSTRÖM

I december förvandlades Sveriges första kärnreaktor 25 meter under KTH till scenen för operan “The Tale of the Great Computing Machine”. Osqledaren var där för att höra mer om arbetet bakom uppsättningen och för att få uppleva en föreställning som kombinerar den klassiska operakonsten med ny teknik på en helt unik plats.

Det är ett år sedan jag senast var i KTH R1. Då var här tyst och mörkt, men när jag tar hissen 25 meter ner i reaktorhallen den här gången sjuder det av liv och rörelse där. I de provisoriska logerna bättras sminket på, i ett rum hörs sångarna öva och jag och producenten Terese Lindström från Vadstena-Akademien blir nästan omkullsprungna av Åsa & Carl Unander-Scharin som gör några sista avstämningar. De har skrivit librettot ihop med Nils Spangenberg, komponerat musiken, gjort koreografierna och regisserat operan “The Tale of the Great Computing Machine”. Ikväll är det genrep.

Librettot är baserat på Hannes Alfvéns skönlitterära bok “Sagan om den stora datamaskinen”, som utkom första gången år 1966. Allt började med att jubileet för Hannes Alfvéns Nobelpris närmade sig: – Våren 2019 hade man på KTH börjat prata om att 2020 var det 50 år sedan Hannes Alfvén fick Nobelpriset, berättar Leif Handberg. Han är föreståndare för KTH R1 och initiativtagare till operan. Det var i samband med det stundande jubileet som han fick höra talas om den ofullbordade operan. I efterordet till nyutgåvan av “Sagan om den stora datamaskinen” har Alfvén skrivit om hur hans bok planerades att bli opera redan år 1968.

– Karl-Birger Blomdahl ville göra opera på den, så han började skriva ett libretto. Men mitt i processen fick han en hjärtinfarkt som han inte överlevde. Så det blev aldrig någon opera.

Men 54 år senare blir operan äntligen verklighet, och trots att Alfvéns bok har många år på nacken kommer den helt rätt i tiden. “Sagan om den stora datamaskinen” handlar om hur datorn tar över och springer om människan:

– Han är ganska pricksäker i sina förutsägelser kring vad som kommer hända med smartphones och AI, även om han inte använder de begreppen. När man läser vet man inte om berättaren är människa eller en – som vi skulle säga idag – AI, och det är den enda karaktären, berättar Leif och beskriver hur Carl och Åsa har omvandlat den speciella boken till en opera:

– Vi har fem sångare som gestaltar mänskligheten, så de har namn efter vår atmosfär – Argon, Hydrogenii, Oxygeni och Nitritio – samt Carbon, som är viktigt för organiskt liv. Och så har vi berättarrösten Computa – datorsystemet – som finns överallt. Dels inne i vår orgel, och Computa gestaltas också av vår dansare och mot slutet har vi robotar som spelar på instrument som då också är den här karaktären.

I operan deltar utöver sångare och musiker nämligen två robotar av typen YuMi som har lånats från KTH:s strategiska partner ABB:

– Man kan tro att det är en robot med två armar och inget huvud, fast det är egentligen två enarmade robotar som sitter ihop, förklarar Leif. Antingen har den två vänsterarmar eller två högerarmar, så den är inte symmetrisk. Det är en kollaborativ robot, så den kan arbeta nära en människa.

– Men med två vänster- eller högerarmar behöver man tänka ut ett rörelsemönster på ett annat sätt. En student från data – Elsa Benzinger – har varit med och programmerat den utifrån Åsas instruktioner, förklarar Leif och gestikulerar med armarna för att illustrera skillnaderna mellan en vanlig industrirobot och en koreograferad operarobot.

– Robotarna är jätteduktiga för när de väl har “lärt sig” gör de på exakt samma sätt hela tiden. Mot slutet spelar de på de instrument som människorna spelar på i början.

Leif, Terese och jag sitter uppe på deras kontor medan ett musikrep pågår nere i reaktorhallen. När Leif fick höra talas om den ofullbordade operan hörde han direkt av sig till Carl och Åsa, och de föreslog att de skulle fråga om Vadstena-Akademien ville medverka, och så var de igång. Totalt är det ungefär 35 personer som arbetar med uppsättningen.

– Ett av våra syften är att göra mycket nyskriven musik för att utveckla operakonsten, och då passade det här väldigt bra, säger Terese. Det här är både nyskrivet och ny teknik och en helt annan spellokal än vi är vana vid. Det är både utveckling och kompetenshöjning för oss.

Och visst är det något speciellt med lokalen.

– Själva salen där nere är ju som en kyrksal, med sin akustik, beskriver Terese.

– Att det är inne på KTH, i världens ballaste reaktorhall dit man ska åka ner en massa meter under jorden, gör att det blir coolt på ett annat sätt, utbrister Nora som just har slagit sig ner vid bordet där vi sitter. Hon är musiker och spelar stråkinstrumentet lirone i föreställningen.

– Det är något kittlande med historien; att här forskade sig Sverige in i atomåldern på 50-60-talet, säger Leif. Men det är också en märklig stor lokal 25 meter ner i ett berg, och bara det gör att den väcker en del funderingar. Och också det att det är en plats från början byggd för experiment och utforskande. När operakonsten föddes på 1600-talet låg operan på framkant inom konstnärlig utveckling, men sedan kan jag tycka att man fastnade i de stora klassikerna. Men det här är ett sätt att ta tillbaka den utforskande delen, nu när vi tar in så mycket teknik.

Att opera skulle vara svårare att ta till sig än annan kultur tror varken Terese, Nora eller John Erik Eleby, som också han har tillkommit vid bordet. Han är en av sångarna och har rollen som Carbon i operan.

– Det är en fördom att det skulle vara svårt, menar han. Det är bara att gå dit och ta till sig det man får och sedan kanske man inte gillar det, men så är det ju med allt.

– Jag tror att många som går på opera har bestämt sig innan för att här är något speciellt som man inte förstår, och så tänker man för mycket istället för att bara känna efter, säger Terese.

– Om man går på fotboll och inte kan spelets regler, kan man njuta av det ändå? Svårare än så är det inte, lägger Nora till.

När Nora och John Erik fick frågan om att medverka i operan var det givet för dem att tacka ja.

– Jag som jobbar på opera brukar inte kunna komma därifrån, men så lyckades jag bli fri för att kunna få göra det här, berättar John Erik. På Kungliga Operan jobbar man som i en operafabrik, där man levererar föreställningar, alltid med samma typ av inramning. Här skapas allt från grunden, verket är nytt och inget har gjorts förut.

Nora håller med om att det här är annorlunda mot det de brukar medverka i: – Jag spelar ett instrument som är mer för renässans- och barockmusik normalt sett, så det är så otroligt unikt att kunna prata med kompositören överhuvudtaget. De brukar vara stendöda.

Alla är överens om att den största utmaningen med projektet är all teknik: – Det är många komponenter, säger Leif. Hur gör vi om det är någon grej som inte fungerar? I vilket läge ska vi gå in och bryta?

– Vi är väldigt analoga i Vadstena-Akademien, med mycket tidstrogen opera med tidstrogna instrument, förklarar Terese. Här är det avancerade system, men där har vi jätteduktiga scenmästare, programmerare och ett helt gäng på den tekniska sidan.

Det är några timmar kvar till genrepet och bara ett par dagar kvar till premiären den första december.

– Ja, hur gick det här till? I år försvann ju till exempel månaden oktober bara, säger Leif och Terese instämmer. I slutet på september hade vi gott om tid och full koll, och sedan plötsligt var det november och ingen fattade vad som hade hänt.

Men trots det är stämningen i R1 lugn och avslappnad.

– Det känns jättebra, säger John Erik.

– Ja, det kommer bli jättefint, säger Nora.

– Jag kan gå ut om ni vill säga något annat, avslutar Leif med ett leende.

Ett par dagar senare är Osqledaren återigen på plats i R1, som har förvandlats till en fulländad operascen sedan jag sist var här. “The Tale of the Great Computing Machine” lockar en bred publik; bland de hundra personerna i publiken finns alltifrån unga till familjer till äldre par. När lamporna släcks riktas blickarna mot scenen på andra sidan om reaktorgropen och den dystopiska berättelsen om kapplöpningen mellan människan och datorn tar sin början.

Att vi är i en före detta kärnreaktor blir vi påminda om direkt. Operan inleds med att kranen som användes när reaktorn byggdes och demonterades, och för att lyfta upp uranstavarna ur reaktorn vid inspektioner, nu skapar en dramatisk inledning när någonting sakta viras upp ur reaktorgropen. Rummen där forskarna hade sina kontor har förvandlats till kulisser och det är ifrån dessa dörrar som sångarna gör entré.

Via sången, dansen och musiken berättas historien om Computa och människorna. Domedagskänslan är nära, men vid ett par tillfällen lockar oväntade repliker publiken till skratt. Det händer någonting hela tiden; projektioner på väggar och golv får publiken att flytta uppmärksamheten runt om i lokalen, belysningen är effektfull och den självspelande Skandiaorgeln överraskar. Samtidigt ekar historiens vingslag i salen, i en mäktig kontrast till den moderna operan som laborerar med integreringen av teknik i konsten. Allt avslutas med de dansande robotarna, ett unikt inslag som fångar själva essensen i den första operan någonsin i Sveriges första kärnreaktor.

–Vi har ju ett 200-årsjubileum som närmar sig med stormsteg. Det är bara fem år bort så det måste börja planeras nu, sa Leif när jag ett par dagar tidigare frågade honom om vi kan vänta oss att få se liknande saker här i framtiden. Efter den här operan ser jag fram emot att få se vilken ytterligare potential som döljer sig 25 meter ner under marken på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan.

Does my toaster work in the freezer?

TEXT AYAN ALLWAN PHOTO MY ANDERSSON ILLUSTRATIONS WHAT-IF.XKCD.COM

Randall doodled and studied physics in college, and worked at NASA before and after graduation. He later chose to focus full time on his stick-figure webcomic XKCD, which primarily made up his blog at the time. The ambiance in his publisher’s office in christmas-clad Gamla Stan was cozy, cut up saffron buns and coffee laid on the table, and Munroe tells us Stockholm is actually further north than the capital of Alaska! What else is there to find out from this man?

Do you want to tell us a little bit about “What If?” for anyone that hasn’t seen it? I didn't really set out trying to answer people's questions. But since I was doing comics that are about math and science topics online, people would just ask me to settle arguments they were having about science things. It would be like, could you catch a ball that was thrown at 90% of the speed of light? Or, if Superman flew really fast, would he create a shockwave that did this or that? I'd drop everything else I was working on and spend like 8 hours coming up with an answer for them. And then I started thinking, if I'm spending this much

time trying to figure these questions out, maybe other people would like to see the answers too. So I just put up a note on my site saying “You can send me questions!”, and started posting and putting together the first “What If?” book.

When did you think, oh, that actually works, people are excited about this? There's a program at MIT where people who are interested in a certain topic can come and teach a class to high school students, and I decided to teach a class on energy. Energy is a weird concept, and I thought that it would be fun to try to explain to high schoolers. I found that the parts that were more like the normal physics lecture made me sympathize with my own professors. They would try to work through subjects with students who weren't necessarily interested or excited about it. Toward the end I thought, let's just try applying this to some real life questions. What if there was a fly that was made of antimatter and a fly that was made of matter, and they collided in this room? How far away would you have to be to survive? And suddenly everyone perks up, all of them were interested!

I remember having these boring introductory classes when I started university - and then reading “What If?” and going through the same process that you might have during your research: 50 tabs and 27 PDFs open on my laptop, suddenly realizing it’s 3am! Why do you think that was so much more exciting than my university classes?

I think there's something inherently satisfying about having a puzzle and realizing you have the tools to solve it. I don't know why that is. There are lots of questions that everyday life doesn't give us the tools to answer. Like, if the moon collided with the Earth, what would it be like? You can sort of guess at it, but I feel like it opens up a lot of the world when you have these tools that let you find answers that you can't get through ordinary experience.

Do you think there's a way to combine our education with humor and absurd questions?

I think so. Teaching is really hard and I don't know what the right answer is for getting every kid interested in something or whether that is even a goal that makes

Ever wondered how many bananas it takes to power a house? How many fireflies to match the brightness of the sun? Author, cartoonist, and engineer Randall Munroe was in Stockholm for his book “What If? 2”, a collection of some of the many intriguing viewer-submitted questions he answers on his blog “What If?”. Osqledaren interviewed him right before his book signing.

sense. The way I go into it is just to try to share things I find interesting and say, if you like this stuff, here's what I've learned, here's what I've found. But you can't apply the same tone and the same material everywhere. A lot of the time what is funny or what is a useful reference for people varies depending on if people grew up watching the same TV show or like the same kinds of jokes as you. If you're writing a textbook that's going to be used by everyone, you have to sometimes pare it down to the more dry, abstract stuff, in order to make it accessible. Sort of like the emergency exit signs. You don't want to make them too fancy, right?

We talked to some physics students at KTH who said that some of their professors end their lectures with your XKCD comics. What do you think about that? It always intimidates me a little bit. I remember when I was doing my comics at the very beginning, and I would do a comic about professor so and so's algorithm. And someone would say, hey, I'm actually taking a class from this professor, and they used your comic in their slides! And I'm like, “oh, no, did I get the math right? I was just doing that for my friends, not for the actual experts!” I've had to learn to adjust. The people who know way more about it than me are also going to read it. So I have to be really careful to get things right.

Does that show anything about their teaching? They think they need something more to entertain the students? I don't know. There's just something really satisfying about finding a way to explain ideas in a different context, in a way that captures all of its subtleties. One of my favorites was when I was trying to explain

how fast the space station goes in orbit. If you stood at one end of an (American) football pitch and the ISS was going overhead, and just as it passed you fired a rifle across toward the other end - the space station would cross the whole field before the bullet made it 10% of the way. I was talking with Colonel Chris Hadfield, who was the commander of the ISS, and he mentioned that he uses that to explain to people how fast the space station goes. That was the highest honor I've ever had, an astronaut using my analogy to explain space!

Do you remember ever sitting in boring lectures and thinking, what if..?

Yeah, for example I would need to figure out some number, like the mass of the moon. I could only use the material I had with me, which would be my textbook. And so I was sitting there being like, “OK, how can I figure this out?” And I would sort of forget about the original thing at

some point and just continue to work on that until class ended and then be like, oh, I should have paid attention, I completely tuned out for 45 minutes.

Do you think that it gets harder to come up with absurd questions, now that we have phones and we can just look up the mass of the moon?

I remember when phones first started having contact lists, and suddenly you didn't have to memorize phone numbers anymore. That was about when I first got a phone. People said that our brains are atrophying because we're not learning people's phone numbers anymore. And I was like, no, I can now use that space for something else! And I still feel that way. It doesn't stop you from going down rabbit holes of trying to figure things out. I'll still have questions that I think will be easy to google - and then they’re not.

Do you ever come across these crazy hypothetical questions in your day to day? Do you think about putting your toaster in the freezer when you're having breakfast?

I think part of what's really fun with doing “What If?” is that I don't come up with the questions. It's hard to come up with them in the same way it's hard to come up with an idea for a chair design. A lot of the questions that I answer in “What If? 2” come from little kids. Those are actually better in general, because kids are curious about stuff that I assume I understand already. I think that adults, when they ask questions, try to make sure they don't look foolish or like they don’t know what they're talking about. They want to ask good, sophisticated questions. They're reluctant to ask the really simple ones. Sometimes those are really hard to answer. That makes them the best questions.

Tips for Learning Swedish

Can KTH help? KTH has a number of resources for helping students start learning Swedish. The Language and communication department offers language classes to international and exchange students all year round: “Introduction to Swedish Language and Culture” is a non-credit non-fee class starting every autumn semester. Other different level credit-bearing “Swedish courses for international students” are also available for enrollment every semester.

Are you a person who learns bet ter through dialogue rather than through traditional learning methods, or are you already familiar with the basics but need more practice? If so, those already familiar with the basics can benefit from attending a language café to improve their conversational and comprehension skills. For this purpose, KTH Library organizes KTH’s very own Language Café, every day during lunch hours. This year, Wednesdays are all about Swedish, but the full schedule is available on their web page.

The Tandem Language Partner initiative from KTH is also an excellent way of meeting people and exchanging knowledge and cultural experiences. How does it work? The initiative encourages and pairs up people who are interested in learning or practicing each other’s respective native tongues. The upside is that once paired up,

all the details regarding meetings are up to the partners, so everybody can convene at their own leisure.

What about resources outside of KTH?

If you already have a personal number, SFI is also a good choice. Swedish for Immigrants (or Svenskundervisning för invandrare in Swedish) is the national free-of-charge Swedish language course, organized by each municipality. The pro-

by Vuxenutbildningscentrum and are subject to availability.

For more customizable learning options, Folkuniversitet offers paid Swedish language classes. There is an array of options to pick from, from the time of the day and study intensity to tailor-made classes for specific language skills.

What about informal learning methods? Learning a language through immersion in the culture is always the best option. There is plenty of Swedish media accessible and easy to understand even for newcomers, from special radio stations and news outlets, like SVT’s “Nyheter på lätt svenska”, to music and Youtube.

educational background.

New students can apply by visiting the Adult Education Center located at Rosenlundsgatan 52 in Södermalm, for Stockholm-based residents, or other respective centers for each district.

Similar to SFI, SIFA is also a free Swedish language class organized by the municipality, oriented more towards professional Swedish in different areas or intensive language learning. Applications are handled

If you want to meet people from outside of the academic world, there are plenty of groups doing just that. The Meetup group “Prata svenska med svenskar (Internationella Bekantskaper)” organizes conversational meetings every Monday evening at amazing museums around the city, where everybody tries to speak in Swedish, no matter the level, and there are plenty of Swedish people to practice with who are joining as well.

No matter which method you pick, you already made the most important step: moving to Sweden. Välkommen och lycka till!

TEXT DIANA CRISTINA CULINCU ILLUSTRATION MY ANDERSSON

You made it! You’re in Sweden! And now that you’re here, you’d like to learn more about the culture and language. But starting is never easy, especially while being surrounded by so many other internationals in a new country you’re just getting the hang of. Below are some suggestions on helping you get started on your Swedish immersion journey.

Förvänta dig (o)rättvisa

OSCAR STENSTRÖM ILLUSTRATION

Orättvisor - ett resultat av att kostymnissar vid makten är okunniga. Den värsta orättvisan jag kan komma på är nog att champagne inte längre kommer kunna bryggas i Champagne, på grund av klimatförändringar. Tjorvigt värre. Näst värsta kanske är krig, eller massutvandring. Men dessa orättvisor går att tackla om vi lägger förväntningarna rätt.

Om du också får en dålig känsla i magen av framtidens orättvisa tillgång till franskt finbubbel – hör gärna av dig. Detta rykande heta inlägg i Osqledaren är baserat på (min) magkänsla om orättvisor som uppkommer då politiker och andra makthavare (läs: “kostymnissar”) inte kan sin skit. Och när det görs prioriteringar baserat på just magkänsla.

Jag sysslar med energi och klimat, så första tankeställaren blir såklart: vadå ingen champagne? Det nyanserade svaret verkar vara att temperaturhöjningar gynnar champagneproduktionen på kort sikt, men på lång sikt så kan druvodlingarna behöva flytta till norra England, där det är något svalare. Helt orimligt. Tänk på de framtida bubbelkonsumenterna! Tänk på barnen!

Vidare har kanske du som smart läsare tänkt på denna miss: kostymnissarna gick till val med klimatpolitik som var helt insnöad på kärnkraftsfrågan. Med lösningar som på sin höjd kan tackla utsläpp från el- och värmeproduktion, motsvarande ungefär åtta procent av Sveriges utsläpp. Resten då? Kärnkraft har givetvis synergier med andra sektorer som minskar sina utsläpp, men en enskild insats räcker bara så långt. Det här är att vara oinsatt, och att föra politik baserat på magkänsla. Resulta-

handlar inte alla orättvisor om energi och klimat, men jag har lärt mig från mitt jobb på KTH Climate Action Centre att mån-

ga orättvisor gör det, och dessutom fler än man kan tro. Invandring, anställningsgrad, utbildning, ekonomisk tillväxt, jämställdhet… Oavsett vilken rättvisa du söker – om det nu är rätten till CSN, champagne från Frankrike eller ökad jämställdhet mellan könen globalt, så är energi och klimat centrala.

Tillbaka till barnen. De unga, eller Gen Z, har en tuff framtid framför sig. På ForskarFredag, en forskningsmässa för unga som anordnades i september, träffade jag många av dessa, och flera kände för det första att klimatkrisen ballar ur, och för det andra att de inte kan påverka detta. Och med all rätt: energi- och klimatkriser är kopplade till ogripbara problem såsom resursbrist, massutvandring, naturkatastrofer, krig. Det är rätt onajs.

Att förhindra dessa saker tycker jag själv är rätt. Och rättvist. Det kan även vara lätt. Speciellt då all kunskap för att bromsa kli matförändringar finns: det handlar bara om implementering. Jag pratade med Agnes Olsson från lobbyorganisationen Promenadorquestern och med Baletten Paletten, som höll med om saken: speciellt kostymnissar måste börja prioritera och föra politik baserat på kunskap. Inte på magkänsla.

Det är ungefär här som titeln “Förvänta dig (o)rättvisa” blir relevant. Vad menas då med en “förväntning”? Det kan vara en passiv förutsägelse: du tror dig ha en up pfattning om vad som kommer att hända,

och sedan händer detta, eller inte. Det kan också vara en aktiv uppmaning: du kommunicerar att du vill ha något på ett visst sätt.

Du får förstås ha båda typerna av dessa förväntningar i din vardag, men på vilket sätt vi sprider och delar våra förväntningar gör alltså skillnad. Jag tror att rättvisa kan uppnås om kostymnissarna, våra beslutsfattare och politiker, får höra att vi förväntar oss att deras prioriteringar baseras på kunskap. Läs det där en gång till. Och Agnes tror detsamma. Några fler?

Ja, många fler. Och många politiker har faktiskt visat intresse för att lyssna. På jobbet anordnar vi en eventserie – Climate Politics in Action – där studenter och politiker bjuds in för att diskutera lösningar för

A Nobel Sense of Humour

TEXT SARA KATZER PHOTOS SARA KATZER & NOBEL PRIZE OUTREACH

PHOTO: ANNA SVANBERG. © NOBEL PRIZE OUTREACH

Since starting my Master’s at KTH I have been working part time as digital ambassador and content creator for the Swedish Institute. A couple weeks ago the Instagram account I help lead got a very interesting DM from none-other than the Nobel Prize Organisation. Intrigued, I opened the message to find out that they were inviting the ambassadors to participate in one of their Nobel Prize events.

This is how on the 9th of December I found myself sitting in the fourth row (first row behind the VIPs) at the Waterfront Congress Centre in Stockholm listening to Nobel Prize Winners, CEOs and Olympic Medallists at the Nobel Week Dialogue 2022. It was definitely one of those pinchme moments.

It was a whole-day event, conference style, and the Nobel Prize Organisation made sure the guests felt special spoiling us with coffee, freebies, lunch and of course the incredible speeches and discussions as the focus point.

Despite the daunting topics such as “What is life?” (direct quote), the presentations were succinct, fascinating, clear and full of witty jokes. The rich array of scientists, researchers, writers displayed their miraculous intellect in short five minute presentations which themes were expanded in the discussion panels that followed. Each speaker’s words were accompanied by simple, easy-to-understand and some-

happened at the Nobel Week Dialogue 2022? Here is a distilled version of some of the formal antics and gabble that occurred at this rather prestigious public event.

times humorous slides. My personal favourite being the film still of WALL-E as the UC Berkley Professor, Stuart J. Russell, gave a talk about ‘Living with artificial intelligence’.

The diversity of topics and specialisations gave a whole lot of food for thought. A talk that will not be easily forgotten was of Benjamin List and Birgit R Skarstein’s where they discussed “What matters?” in life. Benjamin List, Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry, shared his heart-wrenching story of his families’ survival of the Thailand tsunami some years prior. His change of perspective on life after that experience was truly insightful. It wasn’t the fame, fortune and career success that he was thinking about when sucked under the dark body of water, but family and val ue of life.

Birgit R Skarstein’s, 3 times Paralympi an, competitive rower and cross-country skier, shared the story of her life-altering accident at 19 years old that left her wheelchair-bound. Her re alisation of life’s fragility as she was writing her will at that young age changed her mindset completely. It was truly inspiring to watch Birgit express, in such a positive way, her shift towards grati tude and resilience.

This positivity and zeal, I found, was one of the main common traits of all the ora tors that day. No matter the scientific field, profession or background, all the speak ers were incredibly optimis tic, energetic and inspiring.

Another common ground to this unique group was that they all had unwaver ing confidence in the aware

ness that no one REALLY knows anything. Every once in a while a world-famous, Nobel Prize winner, scientist would boldly state that due to the human condition they actually have no clue how the world works. Personally, I found that pretty fantastic. Some might find going down that spiral of thoughts terrifying but in this context it was great to see the humbleness of these great minds.

The day passed quickly with laughter, tears and educational reflection. If I were to pinpoint one thought from this vision-filled day, I would say that there is value in finding perspective. Seeing the alternative in situations good and bad, professional and personal will always be of great value and help find those joyful moments big and small that life offers.

What

OL gRÄVER

Armada Behind the Scenes

2022 marks the first fully physical Armada since the pandemic - and that's fantastic. While a lot of the fancy TV screens and VR goggles, goodiebags at the fair, the samba dancers and magicians during the banquet can be explained by just saying "Ah, it's the companies, they just have money to throw at this thing," two things did really impress me: the amount of carpet and how the students behind Armada made it all come together.

TEXT & PHOTOS BENJAMIN JAVITZ

It’s the Saturday before Armada, the beginning of Construction Weekend, around 16:00. I meet Project Manager Filip in the KTH library. He’s been planning this for almost a year - he is one of the 12 members of the THS management team who work full-time on their positions.

“Right now it's going well. We had a bit of a rough start this morning. When we got here, no one had access to the library because they forgot to enable that access for everyone. So we had to call security. They sent a guard over and he let us in and could give access to one person in our team. For some reason all of our accesses started working, so now we're in the library working hard.”

I ask him how he feels about carpet: “It's very tedious, very time consuming work. But it's fun seeing it. Once you start putting them all down and it's starting to come into place, it's really fun to see.”

One of the most ambitious and impressive elements of the fair is that the team places small squares of carpet throughout KTH library and Nymble. Dark grey for the space every booth has, coloured carpet for the different themed rooms - this takes up more than half of the construction! Why? “Uhm, for a good fair experience. It also helps a lot with sound! This is way more customizable than rollout carpet: the way the layout is this year is not the way it was in 2019 when we had the last physical fair.”

I ask Filip if he thinks they are on schedule: “I would say we're ahead of schedule. The plan was to finish by midday tomorrow. Four more hours and then heading home,so I think we'll make good progress. I don't think we'll finish today, at least not here in the library, but we have a date tomorrow as well. So yeah, I would say we're ahead!”

“What’s planned for tomorrow and Monday?” - “Tomorrow is basically only carpeting. Then we will start with decorations. And then on Monday we are getting all the deliveries. Once the companies start coming and start pointing out mistakes, we'll have to fix them.”

It seems like everyone here in the library is really motivated. Filip says he is proud of his whole team: “Everyone is doing a really good job! For example Cecilia and the lunch team in the kitchen are doing a great job providing food and drinks for everyone. We had a really good lunch and then they came over with some cinnamon buns for fika!”

Next I talk to Jeffrey, he’s one of the Heads of Career Fair and part of the Project Group with 20 members. “We had some small obstacles which we managed to fix. I think the people here are working hard. We're doing a good job together! I am happy with the progress” - “How are your feelings about the carpet though?”“It's like a love-hate relationship. They look really nice when we finish them like you can see over there. Yeah, but they're really annoying. Individually they're really hard and annoying to peel off the tape we use [to fix them to the floor]. Hurts my nails.”

I asked him how the rest of the plan is going: “There were some problems with the maps that we had. They weren't to scale, they were wrong.” - “Maps for the library that you got from KTH?” - “Exactly. But we fixed it. We found space somehow.”

Still very impressed I was on my way out of the library when I ran into Leonard, next year’s Project Manager for Armada: “It's a very complex planning procedure: first you have all the companies that have to fit and then you have the electricity for all the

companies, which is different electricity for all and then different booth sizes for different companies. So it's a complex process. I think that's why it was a bit of chaos in the beginning. But we sorted it out!” - “And how do you feel about carpets?” - “Well, I love this weekend, but I’m a bit biased too! Talk to Nicolas here!”

Nicolas is a host, one of the over 160 students that help to create Armada this year. “The companies will have their arranged places, but it's also a big thing to make sure the fire exits are clear. We had to keep track of some geometry in such a way that there is a 1.2 meter gap [between companies], for instance to run to the emergency exit. I’m getting a bit tired, but if I am together with my teammates then I'm perfectly fine with carpeting!”

Back to Leo: “How does it feel to be here and experience the construction as the Project Manager for next year?” - “Well, I'm super excited. I think I'm the only person here who didn't have to be here. I'm weird in this way because I like this! I think it's fun to work together and see everything come together. I think that's fun! And of course, to spot the things that we can improve for next year.”

Jump to Monday. The Armada team has been working hard - and all of the carpets and decorations in both Nymble and the library are finished, it’s quite impressive. On the day before the fair however, I wake up to 30cm snow outside and a warning from SL and the police not to go outside. Armada expected a large number of companies to arrive with their equipment, ready to set up screens, LED walls, furniture, games and giveaways - what does the snow chaos mean for them?

In the Armada office in Nymble I meet with

Mambo, he is Head of Logistics & Fair and has an overview of what’s going on: “It's a bit crazy.. it has snowed a lot which has led our transport solution to be late, that’s not really good. They have started arriving now so at least some companies can start building their booth.” - “Are you still on time for tomorrow?” - “I would say we are on time but I hope that many companies come today and not tomorrow. I think it will be hectic with all the snow and everything. But apart from the snow everything else looks exactly as we had planned.”

“In such a big project there are so many people involved! Information might not get to everyone at the time that it’s supposed to. For instance the radios aren’t working right now, so it’s harder to get information to the people in the library.”

I ask him how the rest of the team is doing. Have a lot of them stayed home because of the snow? “Well, today it’s mostly the companies that build their own stuff, so we don’t need as many other people here.” Is everyone still excited? “Yeah! I’m still excited, but in problem solving mode. When everything goes well tomorrow I’ll be so happy - and I hope the students enjoy the fair because we’ve spent so much time preparing it!”

Walking around Nymble I can see what Mambo was talking about. The first companies in Nya Matsalen are setting up

their furniture, but overall the atmosphere is calm. I search for more members of the project team to see how they are doing and stumble upon Jessica and Cecilia in the loading dock behind Nymble.

“I’m the Head of Logistics for this year’s Armada. Making sure everything gets here: tools, carpet, etc.” - “And I’m Cecilia, Head of Service”. I ask them both what their stress level is: “7 out of 10”, says Jessica. “Yeah, 6 I think”, agrees Cecilia. “That doesn’t sound too bad!” - “No. It was very stressful on Friday - but after the construction weekend we can see that things are coming together.”

As the Head of Service, Cecilia is responsible for all the food for both the team and companies. “You’re always worried about having too many leftovers or not enough food - but it turned out well. We had burgers with keno salads. Mashed potatoes with meatballs, vegan of course, and peas. Some chili sin carne that turned out a bit weird. But people ate it, so it’s all okay!”“And what are you doing tomorrow?” - “I will be here at 6 to prepare breakfast for the whole team! Food for 200 people, again. And then it’s just managing the company lounge and checking the lunches we provide.”

I ask Jessica what she thinks is the most challenging thing she does as Head of

Logistics - and the most fun thing! “The most challenging thing.. I planned ahead for many things, but there’s still so much that doesn’t go as smooth as you think. It’s also my first time [at Armada], so I think I’ve missed a lot. But the most fun part of being here is when you’re with your team members - everything instantly feels better and easier! That’s the best part.”

With most things still on schedule despite the snow outside I leave Nymble for the day. It’s Monday evening, and tomorrow Nymble and the KTH Library will open their doors to thousands of students for Armada 2022.

I arrive an hour before opening and find Filip, the Project Manager. Suit, green tie, Armada pin on his chest and a radio cable professionally dangling from his ear. He seems proud of what him and his team have accomplished. “I’m feeling good! We had a few things that still needed to be finished, but I trust my team, they know what they’re supposed to do. A lot of companies are also still arriving to the check-in desk and finishing their booths.” - “How many companies actually arrived yesterday?” - “65 out of 145 came yesterday… so the majority is coming today. Which is going to be quite hectic, but we’ll see. I’m very excited - I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, so it’s fun to see it finally happening.”

How green is Armada?

TEXT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF BENJAMIN JAVITZ ILLUSTRATION ROISIN CALLAgHAN

What did you think when you first saw Armada's logo? Are they pirates? Do they build yachts? Sustainable cruise company? Armada is green, at least in the logo - and "sustainability is one of Armada's core values", according to their website. I wanted to look closer.

"There are people that join Armada because of the cruise," says Leonard Hökby, Armada's next Project Manager. He will work full-time for the entire year to organize Armada 2023. And what he means is the "Armada cruise", a yearly thank-you event for 150 of Armada's Project and Organization Team & Hosts that takes them on an overnight cruise extravaganza.

Looking at Armada's sustainability website, you'd be forgiven to think that they would not work tirelessly on saving the last 27 leftover lunchboxes and reusing all of their carpet, but then go on a stinking oil-tanker. And indeed, it's not that blackand-white.

"I understand it sounds contradicting but we don't want to greenwash either, we have been transparent and I'm pushing a lot in transparency. I'll be soon working on a sustainability report which will be published internally and externally," replies Ajay, Head of Sustainability at Armada 2022, when I ask him about the cruise.

And he sends over 2021’s entire emission calculation along with his answers to prove his transparency.

In 2021, Armada paid to "climate compensate for all caused carbon dioxide emissions", 50 tons of CO2 in total. "THS Armada 2021 emitted 43 tonnes of CO2-emissions and will compensate for that and even more." (armada.nu/sustainability). I take a closer look at the Excel file Ajay sent - and find my suspicions confirmed when I can't find a single row related to either cruise or banquet. "All caused emissions" - are banquet and cruise not part of Armada, even though the logo with the cute green ship is transparently shown all over at least one of the two? "The climate compensation was only done for the fair and other office activities throughout the year [2021], the banquet and cruise was excluded," says Ajay.

Sure, that seems reasonable. I ask if going on a cruise in the first place is also a reasonable thing to do, considering emissions of about 20 tons of CO2 (assuming a trip of 500km, 150 participants and 250gCO2/ passenger-km, based on data from klimatsmartsemester.se). "It's a difficult thing to put reasonable or not in regards to a cruise, but we believe that we are working [on sustainability] in most areas this year [2022], had dialogues with our suppliers and made crucial choices to improve environmentally.

We looked for alternatives for the cruise. I understand and I agree that it is contradicting when doing an activity like a cruise which impacts the environment. But, in the next year there will be better alternative options which are sustainable and also intriguing for everyone involved in Armada. We in Armada will continuously evaluate our process and work towards better Sustainability & Diversity."

I ask Leonard the same thing: "We need to do something as a thank-you event - then the question is what we could otherwise do? These cruises are well-packaged for exactly what we want to do, they are quite affordable. Next year we won’t include the cruise in our recruitment marketing, until we’ve actually evaluated alternatives and made an educated decision." So - is there going to be a cruise next year? "We have to evaluate that very carefully and evaluate alternatives. The Heads of HR and Sustainability as well as the Project Manager need to work together to make a balanced decision."

In the future, organizing the Armada cruise could become more difficult either way: the Union Board (KS) recently added a new section to the "Delegationsordning" that specifies that "All journeys made with means of transport with high emissions, such as aircraft and ferries, must always be approved by a supervisor who is not participating. [..] for elected officials [which includes the Project Manager of Armada and it's group], that is the Union Presidium."

UNDERHÅLLNINg

Swedish Student Life: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The general public is composed of a variety of social groups and more often than not popular culture has shown that the smaller these groups are the more odd they might seem. University students are no exception to that phenomenon. Bearing that in mind, there must be a smorgasbord of university traditions across the globe that to the average outsider might either seem incredibly fun or very confusing.

TEXT ALCINA MUNENE PERSSON ILLUSTRATION ANNA PAVLIASHVILI

For most of us, we have been subjected to the traditions of American students and their football games, hazing and sororities. Through popular culture, we have gotten to witness the good, the bad and the ugly that university could offer. In that same vein, Swedish student life has just as much to offer, so let’s map it out for those of you who are unfamiliar with the traditions or are simply wondering about the how and the why?

Let’s rewind the timeline a bit before diving into the more university specific traditions and look back at high school. Most people experience some kind of ceremony prior to graduating high school, and that ceremony is likely to have been a formal one amongst teachers, classmates and family. Here in Sweden, we do have a similar approach, but with a little more spice to it. Every single graduating high school class amasses enough funds to pay for their very own flak, a big truck with a bed floor big enough to fit a whole class. Prior to boarding their flaks with their pristine white clothing, each class runs out of the school building to then be driven around in these trucks as they splash cheap beer at each other and at passersby, which is done by those with less decorum.

As a possible continuum of graduating high school, transitioning into university brings new and even more exciting traditions. Your first ever taste of student life would most likely be your own programme’s welcoming reception (mottagning). Right off the bat, nØllan (new students) are welcomed into the rich reddish-brown brick scen-

ery, adorned by bright green foliage that identifies KTH on a sunny summer’s day. In the middle of this view each student gets to meet representatives from their programs that are either wearing their boilersuits (colloquially known as ovve) or tailcoats (frack). These ovvar and frack look different depending on which university and which major you’ve chosen. For example, KTH’s Chemistry chapter has yellow boilersuits while the Mechanical Engineering chapter wears a frack with the chapter logo sewn onto the back.

Following the reception, each student has now gotten the time to settle in, connect with their new classmates, and can now revel in the unexpected reward that is the “academic quarter”. Your time table might say you start at 8.00, but you in fact start 8.15. While its exact implementation date is unknown, it is theorised that the concept originated from students not possessing their own pocket watches. Henceforth, in the big and old student cities such as Uppsala and Lund, church bells would ring each hour and students had 15 minutes to make their way to their lectures.

By now, most university students would be familiar with their school environment and looking to get involved in their chapter. Each chapter has its committees, but to name the principal ones we have spexet, klubbmästeriet, and festmästeriet. Each year, every chapter arranges its own spex, an interactive play and musical created and performed by students twice, usually over a weekend, with the intent of it being comedic. As a spectator, you’re encouraged to interject whenever and ask for the crew to repeat a certain scene or even maybe reenact the entire scene in a new way. Tru-

ly, the sky’s the limit and the actors will try their hardest to fulfil audience requests and give you a good time!

While you are waiting to experience a spex performance, you might entertain yourself with the weekly chapter pubs organised by each chapter’s klubbmästeri. Every chapter has its dedicated day when they hold their pubs at their chapter’s homebase, e.g the Media chapter has their pubs on Thursdays at META. Usually, pubs have a different theme each week, and start right at the end of the school day, at 17.00 o’clock and run at least til midnight. Oftentimes students are only able to attend their own chapter’s pubs, but there are a few times each year such as nØllepubrundan and Valborgspubrundan where you can attend all of the chapter pubs across campus on the same evening.

Participating in these events requires some energy, speaking from my own experiences, but they’re a great opportunity to try out each chapter’s signature drink that goes hand in hand with the associated programme. It’s also the perfect time to collect each chapter’s patches, which you can then sew onto your frack or ovve and customise it as you please. Speaking of patches, they can be collected during pubs or most events on campus and they are a fun and memorable way to showcase your engagement in campus life. But beware, make sure you sew your patches on your garments properly or they can be taken from you, after all they are a hot commodity!

Other social events that lie somewhere in the middle of

the frequency scale between a spex and a pub are gasques and finsittningar. Out of the two aforementioned events, the latter is the more formal with regards to dress code and both of these events are paid events, the former being cheaper than the latter. In general, a finsittning adopts a black tie dress code, while gasquer have a more liberal dress code based on the theme decided upon by the chapter’s festmästeri. Every gasque and finsittning has two sångledare (hosts), that guide the guests through the evening letting you know when it is time for the food to be served or when to sing. They also organise small games that engage those participating. One big characteristic of these two events is singing, everyone at each table will sing while waiting for the food or punsch (alcoholic liqueur) to be served to you, and you would stop singing once you have received your serving.

While a lot of the songs are shared between chapters, they are also characterised by the chapters themselves that also have their own songs which identify the chapter’s traditions and history. You might think these events are only about eating and drinking, but fret not! During a gasque or finsittning you can perform a gyckel, an impromptu or planned sketch, or a singing act that should last a few minutes. How many people perform is completely up to you to decide and some even choose to send in videos of their gyckel if they don’t wish to perform it live. Lastly, whenever the guests want the

hosts to continue the activities of the evening they can start a tempo at their respective tables, this entails banging on your table, almost like a drum roll, and finishing it with “Tempo!”.

So far most of the traditions mentioned have been chapter-specific, but KTH has a lot to offer outside of such limitations. Each year, under the cool breeze and sunshine of a spring’s weekend day in May, around 50 teams made up of a dozen students or so, try their luck at rowing their DIY raft along a track at Smedsuddsbadet in Rålambshovsparken. Squvalp is more than just a raft race, after all, it would not be a student event if it wasn’t yet another occasion for students to drink and party.

The preparations for the event start as early as January when students are in charge of getting together an eligible team, sketching the raft they wish to submit, and awaiting the response that will let them know if they have been selected for the showcase. Squvalp also has its near cousin which takes place on land and that is none other than Quarnevalen, northern Europe’s biggest student event that takes place every three years. The main attraction is the Quarnevaltåget, an ensemble of up to 100 crews parading across downtown Stockholm in May and the event is said to pull over 400 000 spectators. The event hasn’t taken place since 2020, due to the pandemic so students can look

forward to the coming Spring of 2023 and getting to witness the grandeur of an event that has been held since the 1910s.

While the aforementioned events are mainly organised by KTH’s student union, there’s another event, Kravallen, organised by students from the Industrial Engineering and Management chapter at KTH. In the year of 2016 two students from the chapter, Douglas Lundholm and Joakim Larsson, chose to bring over the idea from Linköpings University’s Utekravellen. Kravallen is a one-day festival held in Maskinparken near the M building and offers music, food trucks, and good vibes. Whilst not mandatory, you are more than welcome to bring your own ovve or frack if you wish or maybe want to honour the origin of the word “kravall”, which stands for mandatory boilersuit. Like the previous events, this one will be taking place in May 2023. So fellow students, you have a lot to look forward to next year!

If you have made it this far, then I am pleased to let you know that you’re completed your very own crash course on Swedish student life. While traditions might differ a bit across the country, their essence is preserved. Now that you have read all about them, I can only encourage you to go and experience them first hand, after all they all contribute to great memories.

Alcoholic Boy Scouts

TEXT & IMAGE ROISIN CALLAgHAN

I was witnessing what felt like a circus, everyone was dressed in different colourful overalls and bouncing around in unison at the ripe hour of 9am. What kind of caffeine filled fever dream had I just stumbled into?

The first few weeks on campus are a constant heavy stream of new information coming from every direction. On top of trying to understand how canvas works, where classes are and remembering all of your classmates' new names, you're thrown head first into this seemingly bizarre student life. Wondering why people walk around looking angry and shouting while wearing sunglasses or why a helicopter just landed in Ugglevikskällan. Why are there hundreds of students in high-vis vests or strange little hats? Who are these people who dress like bumblebees in their strange little bus? Why is everyone always dancing? Did they seriously just do a blood oath onstage?

Everyone is so secretive about their own chapter and everything seems to be an ancient tradition. The only supposed solution is to turn to the internet in an attempt to answer some questions but it only leads to more. No one wants to publicly discuss their traditions or the origin behind them. The only way to try to decipher the glimpses into other chapters while walking around campus is to try to pry it out of those who know.

Time goes by and the reception has finally come to an end, two weeks of chaos and fun. Almost forgetting what a full night's sleep feels like, and being well rested seems like a distant memory. It all comes to an end with the nØllegasque, watching the

mottagare take to the stage to showcase what they’ve been up to behind the scenes. The reception seems like one big crazy blur. Next they take a classmate who's been ‘kidnapped’ and bring them onstage as some sort of supposed tradition. Recalling the events on the subway home makes it feel like some sort of fever dream. Maybe this is the end of the shenanigans, remembering that you came to KTH to actually get a degree, not to take part in some sort of cultish summer camp as it's been thus far. At least now there will be no more people chasing you down on the metro for not wearing the chapters’ nØlle symbol at all times.

Flashforward a few weeks and the semester is now well underway, making new friends and attending chapter events. The faces once behind the sunglasses are now just another person in the endless queue for the U building microwaves. You start going to your chapter hall more and meeting new people, eager to talk to those who know more about the chapter. Over time the feelings of intimidation by all these traditions has evolved into curiosity. You attend gasques, start learning the songs, buy an overall and begin to let go and give in. Although attending the first gasque may have set off warning bells in the ‘is this a scene from a horror movie’ sort of way, it begins to grow on you, forgetting that you’re in a room with people dressed identically while reciting the same songs. The

feeling of singing chapters songs together with all your friends begins to bring a sense of pride.

Unlike actual boy scouts who get rewarded with patches for helping others and bringing value to society, you just got one for having a drink with an electric current through it. Last week you and your friend took two different shots and tried to mix them together, back and forth between your mouths, somehow without puking instantly. From nØllepubrundan there’s a vague memory of repeatedly getting hit over the head with a large hammer, all in the name of another patch for your overalls. As masochistic as it sounds from an outside perspective, it’s fun doing these things, enjoying the reaction from friends back home or from others asking where different new patches came from.

Every new patch to put on your overall is a rush of excitement, even if when the time comes to sew it on it feels like a near impossible task. Mom isn’t here to sew them all on, which means it’s time to learn for yourself. After releasing superglue isn't a lasting solution (as much as some people claim it to be) you give in and spend 45 minutes trying to sew the first patch only to realise the leg is now sewn shut. A plastic sandwich bag of patches grows until you finally watch a youtube tutorial and master the once impossible craft, getting excited every time there’s an event where you can wear an overall and earn more.

Applications for the next reception open and you remember the videos from the nØllegasque and how much fun it looked like the mottagare were all having. Submitting the application was a real full circle moment, you are going to be a fadder for the next reception. Eager to welcome brand new students into this exciting new student life, thinking back to your first day and reminiscing on how much has changed.

After a successful completion of your first year, the student life once described to friends back home as ‘alcoholic boy scouts’ is now just daily activities with friends. Evolving into one of those people who somehow can last an entire reception of

working 24/7 while still being full of energy. You just spent a night in Osqvik partying with 100 other students with absolutely no sleep, all wearing the same matching overalls and dancing without thought every time one of the chapters’ songs came on. Last week you went to a gasque and sang all of the songs, something you can now do effortlessly, regardless of your sobriety or lack thereof. Next month you're going to get up at 9am and catch the pendeltag to Södertorn, there you will

meet bus loads of students from colleges all over Stockholm. The sea of overalls will flow from bar to bar all day until finally completing the pilgrimage, ending at KTH over 15 hours later. None of these traditions that once caused such confusion and thoughts of extremism are even things to be considered anymore. The point of no return may be a distant blur but at least you’re now officially an alcoholic boy scout.

Unlike actual boy scouts who get rewarded with patches for helping others and bringing value to society, you just got one for having a drink with an electric current through it.

Handling It

TEXT DAVID FERNANDEZ BONET ILLUSTRATION MY ANDERSSON

People are wrong. They go on with their busy life, thinking the world revolves around them. They have strong opinions, which they believe to be facts. This list of “facts” goes on and on, including: the sky being blue, tomatoes being vegetables or IKEA mugs not being sentient. Well, they are just wrong! As a matter of fact, the sky has many colors, tomatoes are obviously fruits and IKEA mugs are unmistakably sentient. And I am one of them.

plained… the accident happened. My careless owner grabbed me by the handle, stated that I was too hot and proceeded to drop me. I have always been aware of my attractiveness, but I never expected that being too hot would be a problem. But it was: a deafening sound, my insides spilled all over the table and… my handle was no longer attached to me. It was amputated by the cruel laws of physics combined with the stupidness of my fellow human.

While I was at home I was happy and busting with life. The smell of meatballs being cooked to perfection, as much furniture as one could dream of and the joy of observing clients getting lost amidst the IKEA classic chaos. However, happiness does not last forever. The great Purchasing Day came. Indeed, I was bought for the frivolous amount of 10kr. Outrageous as that might be for a sentient mug, I was prepared for the times to come. I knew my mission in life was to be enslaved by humankind, forced to serve blazing hot liquids to caffeine addicted monkeys. Nonetheless, there was one thing that I was not prepared for. Clumsiness.

I was dropped. Shattered. Gravity got the best of me. No matter how good a mug I was, no matter how diligently I served coffee daily, no matter how little I com-

They left me in a hidden cupboard with complete disregard to my broken status, never to be used again. I shared space with other outcasts. It was a pathetic view: a toaster that could not toast, a slow cooker that was too slow and me, a mug with no handle. The days were grim at the cupboard, the darkness was constantly looming around and the silence was so loud that was impossible not to hear it. Inside me, the urge to become useful started to grow. Even though I hated the fact that an IKEA mug was supposed to serve coffee after coffee, enslaved, I was suddenly catching myself dreaming. Dreaming about pouring a hot beverage, dreaming about making someone happy. But broken I laid, in a dark, dark, cupboard.

Right before losing my sanity, the cupboard’s doors were held wide open. A beam of light blinded me, and after recovering, I could see a little human. She was directly

gazing at me, a mischievous smile on her lips. I did not smile back. Armed with glue and a permanent marker, she invited me to the operating room. I can’t say she was the best surgeon, I can’t say it was painless, but I can say she fixed me. Once again, my handle and I were one. The little girl seemed proud of herself, and as the worthy artist she was, she decided to imprint her signature on me. Apparently, her signature was “World’s Greatest Dad”. I thought that was a weird name for a little girl, but as they say, to each their own. I was fixed.

From that day on, my services are required regularly. Not by the little girl, but by a smiling human with a prominent moustache. The tickling is quite pleasant. Unlike my cupboard time, the days are now packed with warmth and joy, with music and sound, and I could not be happier to be a part of it. I am part of a greater whole, and that gives me certainty. Certainty that if I am ever too hot again, if I am ever broken, I will be fixed. I was wrong: IKEA mugs do not serve humans, nor humans serve IKEA mugs. We handle it together.

The Comic Page™

ILLUSTRATION LUDVIg KALINOWSKI

Majbrasan

Traditioner

*aka Valborgsmässoafton

PÅ CAMPUS

Carl-Mikael Zetterling är årets lärare

Varje år delar THS ut ett pris till årets lärare – en person som har lyckats extra bra med sin undervisning, framröstad av KTH:s studenter. I år har priset tilldelats Carl-Mikael Zetterling, avdelningschef på Elektronik och Inbyggda system och kursansvarig och examinator i fem olika kurser. Osqledaren åkte till Kista för att prata mer om priset och hans undervisning.

TEXT CELESTE HOLM FOTO STUDIO SLAKTHUSET & ANASTASIA ANgELI

kommer göra att de klarar kursen. Var tycker du att föreläsarens ansvar slutar och studentens ansvar börjar när det gäller att

mina föreläsningar, men brukar säga att det inte är av föreläsningarna ni lär er kursen. Det räcker inte att sitta på föreläsningarna, utan du måste räkna talen

sagt att ja, föreläsningarna är i sal, men eftersom jag vet att inspelningar är värdefulla så kommer jag spela in varenda föreläsning.

– Vi har inga pandemirestriktioner längre, men om du är sjuk ska du ju stanna hemma. Och nu har vi inga ursäkter, nu har vi Zoom och du kan titta på föreläsningen hemma om du bara är lite sjuk. Eller om ditt schema krockar, så att du måste vara inne vid Valhallavägen – ja, Zoom. Genom att allting spelas in och streamas så kan de följa kursen trots schemakrockar.

– En del av mina kollegor säger att de har slutat spela in efter pandemin, eftersom de vill ha studenterna i klassrummet. Då är min motfråga till det: varför ska du bestämma när, var och hur studenterna ska lära sig? Det kan väl de få bestämma. Och därför kör jag i klassrummet för de som vill ställa frågor, Zoom för de som är sjuka eller har schemakrockar, och jag spelar in för de som vill höra det en gång till.

nollekompisar från 87, några av dem i alla fall. De jobbar ju här i Kista, de flesta av dem är på Ericsson. En torsdag i månaden träffas vi och lunchar någonstans.

Vi är mellan fyra och åtta som kommer, men det är lite olika vilka som kommer varje gång, så det tycker jag är kul. Men det är ju ganska tydligt att vi fick ut mycket av det här, för vi pluggade ju tillsammans i tentaveckorna.

– Vi pluggade också ofta två och två när det gällde att förbereda labbar, till exempel. Och det uppmuntrar jag mina studenter till också. Ja, inlämningsuppgifterna ska lämnas in individuellt, men gör dem tillsammans! De får bonus om de lämnar in uppgifterna i tid, men det måste inte vara korrekt – det är inte det jag kollar på. Jag gör det för att de ska göra övningsuppgifter under kursens gång.

– Om jag kan vägleda studenterna till att studera kontinuerligt så vet jag att det

– Men efter pandemin så vet jag att inspelningar är värda väldigt mycket för en del studenter. Inte alla, men en del. En del skiter i inspelningarna, men en del kommer och säger att "vid tredje genomlyssningen, så förstod jag!”

– Jag kan ju inte föreläsa tre gånger, men jag kan spela in samtidigt som jag föreläser. Om jag inte håller på och redigerar inspelningen så tar det ingen extra tid för mig. Så även nu efter pandemin så har jag

När Carl-Mikael beskriver hur han lägger upp och håller i sina föreläsningar på plats låter det ungefär som det varje student önskar sig. Han visar sina presentationsslides på projektorskärmen och antecknar på dem när han föreläser, använder pekare och visar var han är (istället för att bara mala på...), men lägger också upp dem i förväg på Canvas så att man läsa igenom dem om man vill. Föreläsningen streamas på Zoom och spelas in och läggs upp på Canvas kort efteråt. För de kurser för vilka han redan haft en kursomgång i föregående period får studenterna tillgång till förra periodens inspelningar och kan titta på dem i förväg om de vill.

– När de har tittat kanske de inser att "ja men det här fattar jag, jag behöver inte åka dit idag".

När vi diskuterar alla former som Carl-Mikael försöker göra sina föreläsningar tillgängliga på känns det så långt bort ifrån de föreläsare jag själv har stött på som oroar sig över närvaro på deras föreläsningar.

Om jag kan vägleda studenterna till att studera kontinuerligt så vet jag att det kommer göra att de klarar kursen.

– Jag gör vad jag kan för att de ska lära sig, säger han som att det är det mest självklara som finns.

Tyckte du att dina kurser funkade lika bra digitalt som på campus?

– Jag skulle inte säga att det funkade väldigt bra på Zoom. Det är ju en kompromiss för de som sitter i Zoom när alla andra sitter i klassrummet. Det är ju en anledning till varför många av mina kollegor säger "det är ju inte lika bra för de som sitter hemma". Och det har jag aldrig sagt. Men det är bättre än ingenting. Man vet den kompromissen när man sätter sig hemma istället för att gå dit. Det borde studenter får välja; det är därför jag kör med alla alternativ. Så länge det inte är någon stor extra grej så gör jag det. Jag måste ju se till att alla möjligheter finns för studenterna att lära sig om de vill.

Vad tror du det är som gör att studenter tycker om din undervisning?

– Någonstans kommer det nog fram att jag tycker elektronik är så kul att jag bygger

Hej, THS! Vad gör ni egentligen? /Osqledaren

TEXT OSQLEDAREN & THS MANAgEMENT TEAM

Do you know what the management team at THS is actually doing every day? 12 students work full-time in Nymble for a year, and their salary is partly paid by you! To make their work more transparent, we will start asking them tough questions in every future edition of Osqledaren.

Several positions in the management team are handed over in January: Studiemiljöansvarig | Head of Student Welfare, Evenemangschef | Event Manager, Head of THS International, Projektledare för | Project Manager for THS Armada & Projektledare för | Project Manager for SNNC. THS also gets a new Chef för utbildningsinflytande | Head of Educational Affairs. Get to know the newbies below before we ask all the current members of the team what they are up to!

1. What did you study before joining KL?

2. What are you most excited about?

3. What is the most important thing you want to achieve during your time in KL?

Head of THS International 2023

Luna Mansour international@ths.kth.se

1. I have a background in Landscape Architecture, and I was studying my masters degree in Environmental Engineering & Sustainable Infrastructure!

2. The International Reception in Fall, which is the biggest reception on campus where we get to welcome ~2000 students from all

4. Why did you apply for your position?

5. What's wrong with THS, what has to change?

over the world! It's super exciting but also heartwarming to see so much diversity in one place, and contributing to it.

3. The inclusion & integration of international students in all aspects of Swedish student life!

to do more for the international community. My main motive was not just to give back, but to also work on improving the representation of international students at KTH and ensuring the sustainability of THS International.

4. Before applying for KL, I was a part of both the International Reception and THS MAIN, which gave me a good glimpse into life in the management team. With the past year being an extremely rewarding experience, especially during my time as Project Manager of the International Reception, I felt a strong urge

2. The big night! I am looking forward to the whole party and making sure it is amazing.

3. I want to make an SNNC that is as close to students as it is to companies. I want students to be a part of it and have fun, but also make it so the night is memorable for all.

4. I really enjoy the concept of SNNC and an afterparty made for students by students.

I felt I could do a good job and really wanted the chance to do it. 5.

5. From the perspective of the subgroups in THS International, I believe we require a structural change with the delegation of tasks amongst the leaders of each subgroup. This is something I'm keen on improving, not just for the sake of better dissipation of knowledge; but also to avoid burnout amongst the students. 1.

1. Civilingenjör och Lärare

2. To work with topics that are meaningful and important to me as well as getting to do it with driven colleagues in KL.

3. I want to contribute to making it possible to resume work with issues that had to be paused during the time my position had a vacancy. The day-to-day work with education as a student representative is so important to make sure KTH evolves in a direction that benefits students and their education.

4. After my years of commitments within my chapter I still think the work is fun and important, and I have been thinking about KL for a

long time so the step to apply was not a big one.

5. Within my area of THS I believe it is a problem that we in a few schools have a missing link in our chain of student influence in education. We need to find students who fill the important position as Skolrådsordförande.

Projektledare för | Project Manager for THS Armada 2023

Leonard Hökby armada@ths.kth.se

1. Transport and Geoinformation technology. Basically data that has to do with maps and locations and analysis on that kind of data

2. To create a team of over 200 students

Evenemangschef | Event Manager 2023

David Schalin event@ths.kth.se

1. I'm studying the Civil Engineer in Computer Science programme, I'm currently doing my bachelors degree there.

that can together build Scandinavia's largest career fair and have a lot of fun in the process!

3. Great connections between students and employers and to leave THS Armada stronger than I found it

4. When I started KTH through OPEN in 2018 I had no idea what I wanted to do. Through Armada I found that out. This makes Armada one of the most important things at

2. The TentaPubs. The biggest events we host where thousands of students gather to celebrate that the exams are over.

3. I want to make bigger and better events for all the students at KTH. I want to leave the event group stronger than I found it.

4. During the years I have worked with the event operations at THS, I have seen it as fun, rewarding and very educational. That's why I

1. What is your biggest challenge right now?

2. What's the best thing about being in KL?

3. Swedish and International students - how well integrated are they?

Kårordförande Union President Cornelia Haag ordf@ths.kth.se

1. Prioritising! I get a lot of things I am supposed to do and a big variety but I only have so many hours. It can therefore be very hard to have to prioritise and say no to people.

2. The people I get to work with. Most of all I enjoy the company of KL, the staff and

Vice kårordförande Union Vice President Karl Arthursson vordf@ths.kth.se

1. The half year report and the economic prognosis for the rest of this fiscal year.

2. Working and leading the group! It is a lot of fun to be a part of KL and being able to support the rest of the management team in their work. I have learned a lot and gained

för | Editor-in-chief for

1. Balancing work on OL#2 with starting up a lot of other stuff: one group is working on a new or updated version of our website, another is developing our social media and we are recruiting web reporters at the same time!

KTH for students' futures, and that's why I love to work with it.

5. Being such a big organisation including everything from chapters and spectacles to a restaurant with many full time employees, we are very good at putting up obstacles for each other. We need better, more solution oriented, communication and culture.

sought the post as event manager to be able to contribute to developing the event operations even more.

5. That's a good question, ask me again in June.

3. Individual spicy question!

4. What can students ask you about?

students but one of the thing i find the most enjoyable and rewarding is to lead KL and be a part of their work and growth.

3. It depends on where in the organisation we look and what we compare it to. Overall I would say that they are not integrated enough, however there have been a lot of improvements and we are continuing to spread awareness and getting better. There are some parts of THS that are very well integrated though which gives me a lot of hope and that, I think, we can all view as an inspiration.

new perspectives, and it is very rewarding to see how everyone else developes and matures in their roles.

3. Barely. There are quite a few events and activities for the international students, but it is mostly separated from the rest of the student life at KTH. I want the international students to be able to take part in Swedish student culture, but it is not an easy task to make it more international while still retaining the essence of Swedish student life. I think it has to be something that the international

2. I've gone from seeing KL as colleagues to seeing them as friends as well. I also love learning, and there is enough to learn about THS and KTH to fill at least 5 years!

3.

4. Is a physical magazine actually necessary? Maybe. Osqledaren has been an independent part of THS for almost 60 years - and it is extremely important for THS, creating

4. Would THS have as many members if we didn't have SSSB? The easy answer is no. I think a lot of our members come from the fact that they can get accommodations from SSSB, but that is also what we are here to do. THS exists to make all parts of student life better, from your education to your social life.

5. Basically everything. I probably won't have an answer to everything but I will know who you can ask if I'm not able to answer.

students are a part of finding a solution for.

4. When is lunch at Nymble Restaurang finally getting cheaper for students? We want the lunch to be affordable and of high quality. That is not very easy and one way forward could be to differentiate the price for THS members more than we do today.

5. THS economy, how KL works, the union board. You can also ask me who might have an answer to your question, and I can probably point you in the right direction.

transparency and investigating problems. Slowly shifting ressources from the paper magazine requires a replacement, and we're working on that. But it's a long process.

5. Publishing, writing, journalism, THS and OL history, and how to join Osqledaren or get your own articles (insändare) published! Also: anything that's wrong with THS

Chefredaktör

Osqledaren Benjamin Javitz osqledaren@ths.kth.se

Studiemiljöansvarig | Head of Student Welfare Amanda Mungdee studiemiljo@ths.kth.se

1. Finding a successor. Except that, it's to get a foot into FUNKA. We don't have a student representative in those forums and we don't get any invitations for the meetings that "FUNKA-gruppen" has (THS can still book separe meetings, but not be on their meetings to influence their work that impacts students).

2. You will grow. Grow as person, co-worker, friend and in knowledge.

3. Unfortunately not as much as it could be. In my role I work alot with this, so I'm hopeful that it's going to be better. KTH is slow when it comes to structural changes, but I've seen some changes in a positive direction just in one year.

4. Why do you think there was so little interest to apply for your position? I think there are many factors to this: my position is new, no one knew how this position would evolve, and just weeks before application date KF decided to make this position permanent. But also the ones I've talked to think that you have to have a ton of experience, but the truth is that everyone in the management

team is unqualified, we're all students, and you will learn most of it during your mandate period.

5. JML, studerandeskyddsombud (Student safety representative), guidance and practical support in case of discrimination, FUNKA, student health, physical study environment, student welfare, support and guidance in cases of incidents (bullying, violence, conflicts with teachers or other student incidents). Other things that might regard prerequisite for studies

Chef för utbildningsinflytande | Head of Educational Affairs Filip Axelsson utbildning@ths.kth.se

1. THS usually has two Heads of Educational affairs but during 2022 we had a vacancy. I have had to make tough priorities for what to focus on. The big challenge right now is picking up the dropped threads and getting back to fully representing the students of KTH.

2. Since you don't have to study at the same

time as your position, you can really focus on the work you do and have the time to really have an impact. You learn a lot and really feel like you make a difference!

3. Coming to Sweden from a different country is always going to be challenging and I am very proud of the work both KTH and especially THS is doing to welcome them. But actually integrating those students is much harder and there is still a lot that needs to be done to get there.

4. Anonymous exams - what's taking so long? We were among the first to start dis-

cussing anonymous examination, yet KTH is one of the last universities that has not implemented it – that says a lot about how KTH works! The real issue is convincing KTH that this issue should be a priority. If they realised that, then it would be trivial to implement.

5. The different ways you as a student can affect KTH and make the education better for everyone. You can ask us what kinds of questions are current at KTH right now and how the education will work in the future. And there is plenty of juicy gossip as well!

Studiesocialt ansvarig | Head of Student Social Activities Emil Blocksjö studiesocialt@ths.kth.se

1. A lot of stuff is going on regarding the chapter halls at the moment. Chapter halls are getting new terms of agreement from KTH and the serving permits are also getting updated. One of my major tasks is to be there for the chapters and it's difficult to have time for that when all of these things are going on.

2. The best thing about being a part of KL is the colleagues and the people I meet in my

work. All of us in KL have a lot of experience from their student life, so we all bring a lot to the table. All of my colleagues are extremely competent in their area and I'm proud to be a part of the team!

3. Swedish and international students' integration is a tough topic. KTH, THS central and the chapters are doing a lot and are trying their best to improve the integration of international students but it's not as easy as it seems. I'm proud of the work we're doing, but in the end I think it comes down to individual mindset. Luckily changes can happen fast and we're getting better and I hope we keep improving with time!

Evenemangschef | Event Manager Petri Suoranta event@ths.kth.se

1. I would say managing the timeline for every internal and external event together with the day-to-day work and finishing up all of my projects at the same time.

2. The best thing about KL internally has been all the memories created with all the co-

workers in KL. In my role, it's creating all the amazing events together with Programgruppen [NKM, RN & Platoon DJs].

3. I would say it is good but can be better. I have made sure that everyone is welcome and made sure that programgruppen is so too. We have international students who work with us and we have English translation for all of our events.

4. Are there too many alcohol-focused events at THS? I would not say that. The goal is not to make people drunk, but to create

4. How's the chapter hall move going? The first part of this process is to move Dekis. We got a suggestion for the new Dekis which is under investigation. Regarding the move itself my predecessor Hanna started collecting data and it is clear that some chapters want to move, some want to stay and some don't care. Right now my work consists of continuing her work to present to the Union Council. In my opinion transparency towards all members is the most important part of the work I'm doing.

5. Premises, Chapter halls, Security, How to arrange events on Campus, Student life, Student culture, Spexes, Sustainability and Pubs

an envoirement where people can relax and let loose (which we all know can be needed sometimes). We always make sure people that don't drink alcohol feel welcome and we always have alcohol-free variants of the whole drink supply. There are a lot of events which I don't arrange that are alcohol free, organized by other union associations and KL.

5. How to arrange events in Nymble that involve alcohol, renting event equipment (wardrobes, tents, etc.) & information about my subgroups NKM, RN and Platoon

Näringslivschef | Head of Business Relations Erik Nordlöf naringsliv@ths.kth.se

1. Coordinating all of the fairs happening this spring and balancing their different interests. There are a lot of different parties involved and they dont always see eye to

eye. My job is to make sure everyone ends up content.

2. Being part of an awesome group of people that truly loves student life.

3. My subgroup, THS Future, consists of a good mix of Swedish and international students. None of our operations need to be conducted in Swedish which really helps international students fit in and be comfortable.

4. Should THS serve companies or stu-

dents? THS’s first and foremost priority should always be the students. However, prioritizing the needs of companies can be very beneficial in the long run. Having a good relationship with companies will bring in more money that can be reinvested into student activities, and also ease the transition from studies to working.

5. THS Future, Advice about business relations, fairs and events in Nymble

Head of THS International Gabriel Pinheiro international@ths.kth.se

1. Wrapping up an intense year in a nice little package that can be understood by my successor. And also making sure that she will have no issue in picking up projects that I had to leave part way.

2. The energy in the office and the fun memories you create. It's way more than a year of work, it is an intense year of self-development.

3. Not as much as they should be. International student integration is one of the forefronts of my job and making sure International students feel welcome is a hard job. It is a 2 way street, that luckily has gotten easier to handle, but I believe that the work has just begun and started to make some improvements.

4. Are international students overrepresented at THS? I would say no. While we are around 30% of all students at KTH, only a handful of international students are representatives in their chapters, or at THS Central - less than 30%. This might be for many reasons, and a huge part of my work has been

trying to find a way for more International students to join such positions. It's not an easy task, and we have seen more and more improvement through the years, but it's an ongoing work that really brings value to the KTH Community.

5. "The International Reception, THS MAIN, THS Sports, Friskvårdsbidrag (the Sports grants for chapters and associations) and in general the life of international students. You can also ask me what it feels like to be an International Student and what to expect when you go on exchange."

Mottagningssamordnare Reception Coordinator Filippa Larsson mottagning@ths.kth.se

1. If I'm being perfectly honest: juggling my own expectations on my work with others' expectations along with the need to prioritise and plan tasks, making sure that nothing important falls between the cracks.

2. All the amazing people you get the op-

portunity to meet! Everyone from my colleagues in KL and THS, to chapter representatives and KTH staff.

3. It's hard to say in definite terms, but I'm not pleased with the level of integration between Swedish and International students as it is right now. A lot of work needs to happen in this area, and THS plays a central part in that.

4. Are two weeks of reception too long or too short? There are pros and cons with really any length of reception, and there's no real

way to find a "perfect" duration -- especially since our new students all have different preconditions for participation in the reception. That said, I think the two weeks we currently have serves us well, but I don't believe in taking things for a given just because they've always been that way.

5. The reception: what it looks like currently, what it looks like at other universities and what I think it could look like!

Projektledare för |

Project Manager for SNNC 2023

Gabriel Pinheiro

snnc@ths.kth.se

1. Getting all the information from a position that migrates around 4 unions. Also, making sure to be ready to recruit and structure a team of people that will work for a full year for one amazing night.

2. Meeting all the amazing co-workers and having the support and help whenever you need it.

3. SNNC is run primarily in English and by an International Student this year. I would say that the integration is strong mostly because we are motivated by a common goal. It also feels like an event that celebrates such an internationally renowned prize should focus a lot on being more open to International Students.

4. Are students going to (indirectly) pay for a party they can't attend? Mostly no. SNNC is an event that aims to go +/- 0. Our objective is to reach out to companies and sponsors so we can make the party happen with as little member money as possible, and there is also a plan to make the guest list as inclusive as possible. We might have to close down parts of the building in order to prepare for the event in the late stages, but we will just make it closer to the event day.

Projektledare för |

Project Manager for THS Armada

Filip Rydén armada@ths.kth.se

1. Getting all the money from the companies and handing over to my successor.

2. All the beautiful and amazing co-workers you have!

3. Pretty well! In Armada we have students from all chapters and nationalities which is why Armada has English as our organisational language.

4. How sustainable is Armada's teambuilding? Sustainability has multiple angles

and in Armada we try to find a good balance between all of them. Sometimes we have to sacrifice a bit from one to increase the other one, but we always try to find the best balance and compensate in other areas should we sacrifice too much of one.

5. Fairs, Armada

I thought Swedes

English?!

TEXT OSQLEDAREN ILLUSTRATION TINgYU SU

During the first meeting that we had with everyone that would be involved in the spex, we were told that there were some international students that would join us this year, and so the presentation slides that were presented would have to be retold in English as well. However, from my perspective they handled it very poorly and sometimes would not bother translating all of the content or even translate at all. And people in the room would laugh when it was poorly translated. From my perspective I found it quite annoying since I knew that if I only knew English I would feel excluded and very confused, since most of the information that was presented was important information regarding how the workflow and the overall year of the spex would look like, and if I only knew English I would not have the same information as someone who knew Swedish, because the people presenting had not prepared well enough and because they had not considered people who didn't know Swedish.

- METAspexet (computer science & media technology)

For my first year it felt like my chapter didn't even know that the English language existed, all posts and event advertisements were always through Swedish. The only way to know what was happening in the school was to put the newsletter email through google translate and hope for the best. As a result I never got the chance to meet many people in my chapter, never mind even actually making friends which was an isolating experience. I was really eager to be involved in my chapter but I felt completely shut out. My impression is that international students feel too temporary to make the time investment for them, even though many of us are here for our entire masters and often stay in Sweden after graduation too.

- Anonymous Chapter

environment as the name suggests, some Swedish students would often talk between themselves in Swedish while working. This made it difficult at times as not all of the instructions or work related discussions could be understood by everyone. Often people would ask me questions in swedish even if I had just explained a task through english. Even on a basic level it made it difficult to try to socialise, especially while working at events like a gasque where you spend hours in the kitchen and just want to make conversation to pass the time.

- THS International Reception

associations. A reason for that is possibly that at least Main and IntRec are directed towards international Master students. It would be interesting to be part of THS in other contexts or to take more advantage of chapter activities, but those seem to be more closed off. I am not worried about language barriers (so far Swedes have been very open to switch to English), but more about the barriers that occur when people have known each other from Bachelor studies or are more "acquainted with the customs"; this sometimes leaves you with exchange students who will leave in 3 months.

- Osqledaren, THS MAIN &

International Reception

only though.

- Malvina

We asked our editorial about the experiences they've had in different THS associations and chapters. Are meetings in Swedish? Are they hard to join because everyone already knows each other from their bachelors? Here's what they had to say.

spoke

Nu börjar arbetet på riktigt!

TEXT CHEF FÖR UTBILDNINgSINFLYTANDE, FILIP AXELSSON

Vid det här laget har nog de flesta hört att KTH fått en ny rektor, Anders Söderholm. Studentinflytande handlar om att smida medan järnet är varmt och varmare än såhär kan inte järnet bli! Frågan på allas läppar: Vad vill studenterna att Anders ska ta tag i först?

Den första frågan vi måste ställa oss är vad en rektor ens gör. Det är nämligen så att man som rektor är begränsad i sitt handlingsutrymme. På ett så pass stort lärosäte som KTH är så finns det en myriad olika grupper vars intressen måste balanseras.

Hur kommer förändringar påverka studenterna, fakulteten, den administrativa personalen och, i KTH:s fall, även hela Sverige som kunskapsnation? Det finns förstås inga självklara svar på den frågan.

I vissa fall är det inte ens lämpligt att det är rektor som tar beslutet. En rektor som går in och detaljstyr personers arbete blir väldigt snabbt opopulär. Förtroende är kapitalet som en rektor använder för att påverka verksamheten och det kapitalet måste försiktigt förvaltas om man vill vara framgångsrik.

Men när en fråga ska ligga på rektorns bord – fyfan vad den kan få fart! Ibland behöver någon peka med hela handen och

1Arbeta för breddad rekrytering och breddat deltagande Som universitet ska KTH finnas till för och locka alla, oavsett bakgrund, kön och etnicitet. Breddad rekrytering och breddat deltagande ska vara en självklarhet som genomsyrar hela verksamheten – nu och för alltid.

Utveckla studiemiljön och campusen KTH ska satsa på välfungerande studieplatser anpassade efter studenters förutsättningar. Lärosätet ska fortsätta utveckla sina kreativa och experimentella miljöer. En naturlig del av det är att skapa levande campus där alla trivs, både i studierna och i det sociala.

Förbättra lärosätets kommunikation till sina studenter THS har länge kritiserat KTH för brister i kommunikationen till sina studenter och just nu pågår fantastiska arbeten med att göra informationen mer lättillgänglig. Frågan måste dock alltid hållas aktuell och vi önskar att KTH fortsätter prioritera den.

Få lärarna att känna ett akademiskt medborgarskap Något som alltid varit sant är att KTH:s största tillgång är sin fakultet. Tråkigt nog finns det en stark individkultur på KTH som leder till att lärare inte lär sig av varandra eller tar gemensamt ansvar för lärosätets utveckling och verksamhet, speciellt inom utbildning. KTH:s lärare måste känna ett akademiskt medborgarskap där alla hjälps åt – för utbildningen, för forskningen och för lärosätets utveckling.

vi har stora förhoppningar på att Anders kommer vara den som vågar. Den som ser KTH:s problem och hockeytacklar dem head-on.

Under rektorsinstallationen andra december så gav THS Kårordförande Cornelia över en önskelista till Anders med det som vi studenter vill se att han åstadkommer under sin mandatperiod och vad som ska genomsyra KTH när han leder lärosätet.

5Gör framtidens utbildning till dagens utbildning De senaste åren har KTH drivit ett massivt projekt för att skapa framtidens utbildning och det momentum som vi nu byggt upp måste fortsätta för att förverkliga visionerna. KTH:s undervisning och examination ska vara förankrad i de problem som våra studenter kommer möta i arbetslivet och akademin. Det innebär mångfald i examination och ett studentaktivt lärande.

6Värna det unika studentlivet på KTH För många är studentlivet på KTH inte bara kul, utan en förutsättning för att klara utbildningen. Det är i studentlivet där vänskaper som tar en igenom tuffa perioder skapas. Inte för att tala om de fantastiska kompetenser som KTH:s studenter bygger upp i sina engagemang. Värna det unika studentlivet på KTH, det är guld värt!

7Gör anonym examination till en självklarhet KTH var ett av de första lärosäten där anonym examination diskuterades – ändå är vi bland de sista där namnet på svarsbladet riskerar att påverka ens resultat. Vi har redan gjort utredningarna, systemen finns redan på plats – allt som behövs just nu är handling. Anders, är det inte dags för ett beslut i frågan?

The New Speqtrum

TEXT CELESTE HOLM PHOTO MÉLINE PARENT

Meline (she/her)

From: France.

Studies: Exchange student in physics & chemistry for material sciences.

Role in the board: Board member, meaning a little bit of everything! Will also be in charge of the instagram page.

Fun fact about me: I participated for 1 year in a huge LGBT feminist activism movement in France called "Collages Féminicides Paris". One night the police caught us and we went to the French Interior Ministry with the policemen because it was the nearest place for them to go. It was really fun, because as a normal citizen you're not allowed into this kind of building. It’s really interesting how, by doing activism, you can visit places you wouldn’t see otherwise.

Toto (they/them)

From: Stockholm.

Studies: Computer science, third year. Role in the board: Treasurer.

Biggest LGBTQ+ role model: Sophie Wil-

son, transwoman and creator of the ARM processor in the 80s. Doesn’t work on it anymore, but she basically revolutionised computing!

Ioannis (he/him)

From: Greece. Studies: Masters in Machine Learning, second year Role in the board: President

Get to know Speqtrum through the words of Meline (M) and Toto (T): What is Spectrum’s most important role?

M: In my opinion, Speqtrum is really important for representation. There are so many LGBTQ+ people in Sweden and in the world, but if we don't meet each other, we just feel alone. And it was my feeling when I arrived in Stockholm: where are LGBTQ+ people?! Am I alone?! But no! There are some, we just have to meet! This is the most important role of Speqtrum for me: allow people to meet.

T: Creating a space for queer people!

Why does THS need an association like speqtrum?

M: The goal of associations, and of THS, is to allow students to live their student life the best they can. This means also for minorities to have a safe place for themself. Speqtrum has totally this role in KTH for LGBTQ+ people! We are arriving guys, don't worry anymore ;)

T: The world is becoming more and more accepting and open to queer people, but at the same time it’s regressing. Speqtrum is a space by and for us where we’re always welcome, no matter what.

What are your plans and hopes for the coming year?

M: For the coming year, I hope that Speqtrum will become an important association in THS and that we will be able to help LGBT students to meet.

T: We have events and recurring meetups and hangouts planned for the year! Stay tuned!!

What is your vision for Speqtrum?

M: My vision for Speqtrum is a safe place for people to spend great time together!

T: My vision is that Speqtrum becomes a hub at KTH for queer social activity where people can connect and find each other organically.

What is the biggest challenge Speqtrum will face in the coming year?

M: The biggest challenge will be to build back the Speqtrum association to do something huuuge for LBGT people. If you are interested in helping, contact us!

T: Being seen and growing our members and network. Speqtrum came reallyyy close to shutting down after the pandemic, so we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again

How do I join Speqtrum?

https://speqtrumths.se/join/?lang=en

Speqtrum is the LgBTQ+ society at THS. They aim to provide a nonheteronormative and non-cisnormative safe space, where all sexual and romantic orientations and gender identities are equally accepted and respected. In other words, Speqtrum is for everyone! After being dormant for about a year, the group elected a new board in November – get to know them with us!

Left to right: Méline, Ioannis (president), Lokesh; Not pictured: Toto

What is NymbLAN? It is a LAN-party organized in Nymble, by students for students. Video games will of course be a big part of it, but we also want those of you who don't like gaming to feel welcome. That is why we will also give some spotlight to board games, role playing, karaoke and much more. There is truly something for everyone so don't hesitate before buying your ticket! It’s going to be epic!

A LAN-party is an event where people bring their own computers, both desktops and laptops, to the same location to play different video games together. For NymbLAN we will host the LAN in Nya Matsalen and provide the possibility to sleep over. The event lasts for almost two days and there will be tons of activities during the entire weekend.

THS central is organizing this along with our subgroups, union associations and chapters. Together we are a diverse group with tons of different expertise which en-

ables us to bring crazy amounts of fun to this awesome weekend. Tournaments will be organized in League of Legends, Counter Strike, Magic the Gathering, Minecraft, Super Smash Bros, Starcraft 2 and Beatsaber VR. We will also host activities such as tabletop role-playing games, board games and chess. Here are some answers to the most common questions we have gotten about NymbLAN so far!

Will there be alcohol at the event? No, there won’t be any alcohol at the event. NymbLAN proudly presents a safe environment free from alcohol and drugs where everyone is welcome as they are. There will be soda, snacks, smaller meals and energy drinks available!

I don’t have a computer, can I still come? Yes, there are different tickets. One computer ticket and one hang-out ticket. The computer ticket allows you to bring your computer and you will get a place to set it up and enjoy every game while the hang-

out ticket is enough to take part in all the other activities without a computer! There will be plenty of activities such as karaoke, board games, tabletop role-playing games and places for hanging out and bringing your own switch etc. It’s a perfect opportunity to see what a LAN-party is and to try out things you have never tried or seen before.

The event will take place in Nymble between 17th of February - 19th of February and will last for about 40 hours.

If you have any questions or if you are interested in helping out, contact studiesocialt@ths.kth.se or naringsliv@ths.kth.se

TEXT & ILLUSTRATION STUDIESOCIALT ANSVARIg | HEAD OF STUDENT SOCIAL ACTIVITIES, EMIL BLOCKSJÖ & NÄRINgSLIVSCHEF | HEAD OF BUSINESS RELATIONS, ERIK NORDLÖF

The Mixed group Dilemma

TEXT & ILLUSTRATION SARA KATZER

Canvas creates a group for your assignment. You show up excited to make new Swedish friends but as the introductions begin the group realises that most of the members are Swedish. The conversation spirals into more and more Swedish interjections and eventually the Swedish students find their own conversations in their language. Have you experienced this before? How did you handle it? OL interviewed some of our fellow students.

It turns out that in Master programmes this situation happens more often than not on our KTH campus, as international students mix with the Swedish natives. Sometimes the proportion between Swedish and non-Swedish speakers are imbalanced, says Darta (Latvia). They switch between languages without bad intention because usually the Swedish students don’t see it as an exclusion of internationals. Celeste (Belgium) points out that often, conversations that are held in Swedish amongst students in mixed groups are personal. Looking at his previous university experience, Celeste says KTH is incomparably better in the students’ efforts linguistic inclusion. The lack of conversation in En glish might be simply relat ed to the level of fluency.

Whenever Swedish stu dents start to get into their own bubble amongst a mixed group, Darta tends to point it out. Not every one is brave enough to do so, though. Marianna

(Poland) says it’s natural that people want to speak their native language. She usually asks her Swedish-speaking friends for context when this happens. Kristoffer (Iceland) says Swedish students seem willing to change back to English in their conversations when asked, because they want to practice their spoken English skills. Kristoffer reminisces on a Swedish Gasque he attended. The songs there were in Swedish, however the entertainment was all in English, which is considerate of the mixed group attending such an event.

Norwegian students are in the unique position of understanding Swedish (to some extent) but still should be theoretically considered international, because of the language differences. Aurora (Norway) doesn’t notice the transition between English and Swedish. Some Norwegian students start speaking Swedish unconsciously, confirms Aurora. For the case of Norwegian students, they adapt to the situation.

Some view the language switch as a learning opportunity. Raygo (Hong Kong) finds that the Swedish students encourage him to speak Swedish, a language he is now learning. He finds the mix works well and he does not intervene if the conversation switches to Swedish.

The problem of a linguistic barrier is not a one-sided blame on Swedish students “not trying”. Max (Sweden) says that when he sees that someone is more comfortable speaking English (even if they understand a bit of Swedish) then he switches the language. Swedish students seem to all evaluate what language to speak depending on the surrounding group. This is not to

say that there are no situa tions where someone feels excluded, but it definitely shines a light on the fact that there must be a mu tual effort to entertain a conversation in a chosen language.

Nevertheless, teachers switching to Swedish when speaking to a mixed group is a recurring theme. Students agree it is irritating, when some tutors tend to say single (but key) words in Swedish during their classes, leaving the international students lost. It is found to be uncomfortable to keep questioning and putting extra effort into getting information that is supposed to be given in English.

Reflecting on the thoughts expressed by this handful of KTH students, you can definitely tell that mixed group conversations are on the minds of both “sides”. It takes some courage to put yourself out there speaking a second language, especially in front of peers with the same mother tongue. That is totally understandable and agreed on by both Swedish and international students.

However, one thing that has been brought up by all interview partners, is that English-taught courses should be fully taught in English. It seems that tutors and teachers at KTH are not always aware that it is not necessarily appreciated if they start speaking Swedish. It should also be disclaimed that luckily there are many that have consciously stuck to English no matter the situation, still, there is always room for improvement.

group projects are stressful enough, but being in an international-mixed group brings even more challenges. We talked with international students at KTH about their experience working with Swedish students and vice versa. Here is what they told us.

THOMAGRÖN®

Betong med 50 % lägre CO2-avtryck

THOMAGRÖN är en serie unika betongprodukter med minskat CO2-avtryck, upp till 50 %. Dessa produkter ger högre rankning i flera miljöklassningssystem. Läs mer på vår hemsida. Vi finns här för alla företag som vill vara med och bygga ett hållbart samhälle. Är det dags att börja använda THOMAGRÖN?

Specialisterna på betong

thomasconcretegroup.com