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Palatinate www.palatinate.org.uk | FREE

Thursday 25th February 2016 | No. 782

Sugar Daddies

Books interview Tim,

Comment looks at the latest way to stretch your student loan

Twitter famous DJ librarian

University backtracks on Durham Grant Scheme Emma Pinckard Deputy News Editor Durham University has reversed its decision to reduce the value of the Durham Grant Scheme, instead resolving to keep the bursary at its current amount of £2,000.

The Durham Grant provides a non-repayable sum of £2,000 per year to undergraduates whose household income is less than £25,000. The bursary acts as a subsidy to accommodation costs if the students are living in College, and a bank transfer if living out.

The University had planned to decrease the value of the grant to £1,800 for 2016 applicants after talks with the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). The University released a statement over its decision, stating that the OFFA “encouraged the University to move its financial commitment away from bursary support to widening participation activity such as the University’s supported progression scheme.”

However, the University said they “took note of the subsequent Government announcement that the Student Loan Company will no longer offer maintenance grants but will provide higher value student loans instead.

“As a consequence, the University decided to maintain the value of the Durham Grant scheme bursary for 2016 entrants at £2,000.”

Kamila Godzinska, Publicity Officer for the Durham University Conservative Association, was “delighted” at the news, claiming that the “colossal accommodation fees mean that students now have to pay over £1,500 more than the maximum student loan provides them with.

“This seriously affects people from low-income backgrounds, who in some cases simply could not pay the remainder of the fees.

Continued on page 5...

Alice Dee, current JCR President at St Aidan’s College, was elected President of Durham SU

Photograph: Ryan Gould

Turnout up by 2.4% to 20.4% in Student Officer elections Ryan Gould News Editor According to statistics released

by Durham Students’ Union, voter turnout in the Student Officer elections for the 2016/17 academic year increased by 2.4% to 20.4%.

In last year’s elections, where Millie Tanner was elected President, 3,540 students (18%) cast their votes before polls closed.

At the results announcement last Friday, current Durham SU President, Millie Tanner, remarked that it was an “interesting election

period” which wasn’t “without election controversy.”

Congratulating the ten candidates that ran across five positions, Tanner said: “Win or lose, you’ve all done excellently.”

In the elections, Alice Dee, who is currently JCR President at St Aidan’s College, received 1,819 votes to be elected President. Jade Azim, who also ran for President, received 1,159 votes.

Following the announcement of the result, Dee said: “Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this campaign. It hasn’t been the best ten days of my life, but thank you

to Jade who has given me a run for my money.”

Dee told Palatinate: “I was quite apprehensive about campaigning—I’ve never done a campaign before. I don’t really like putting myself out there for judgement, which is literally what an election is. It was quite nerve-wracking; I was lucky I had a lot of people to support me. My friends were amazing, supporting me both physically and emotionally.”

Responding to questions about media coverage of the election, Dee remarked: “Obviously there have been ups-and-downs in the

media about [the election], which I guess you could argue ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’

“I think it was great that the media was interested enough to cover the elections. I thought it was a shame that some of the things that were quoted in the interviews weren’t really realistic with regards to what I’d said, or that they didn’t focus on the main parts of my campaign.

“Someone said to me that ‘no publicity is bad publicity,’ so I guess you could take it that way,” Dee said.

Continued on page 4...

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Editorial My two cents In my final year here at Durham moments pass by that make me pause and think, ‘Oh, this is the last time I’ll ever do that’. A week ago I voted in my last Durham Students’ Union election.

So what. No one really cares about the Students’ Union anyway, do they?

Since coming to university I have existed only on the outskirts of student politics. I care about accommodation fees and I care about divestment. But who has time for that when there’s so much else to be done? Through Palatinate I can aid some of the current issues but I don’t have the time to join in with student political campaigns as well.

I always saw myself as representative of the majority of students. I’ll mumble and complain about the ineffectiveness of the Students’ Union. I’ll get angry and share articles on Facebook about the ever increasing fees... but when the consultation meeting takes place it will coincide with another meeting and I just won’t go.

In this position I alleviate my guilt in the fact that I can vote for someone who will represent me and put in all the work I’m just not quite passionate enough myself to do.

Despite feeling somewhat disillusioned with a college I don’t have much to do with any more, and a Students’ Union that I feel

www.palatinate.org.uk has underperformed every year I have been here, I vote because if I don’t there is no hope of these bodies becoming what I want them to be.

Only 20.4% of us voted in the Students’ Union elections. That’s just about 1 in 5. We’ll never know what the other 4 think or why they didn’t vote. But if they’re also disillusioned and not sure what the Students’ Union does for them then this was an election with an candidate who agreed with them, offering an antidote to a Union that in my time here has often been criticised as ineffective and unable to function alongside the JCR system.

Regardless of my own preferences, I have a lot of respect for every candidate that did run for having the passion to do so and wish all the successful officers the best of luck.

An effective Students’ Union is the simplest means by which to get in the way of the University when they try to make changes that we aren’t happy with. The Union won’t change the world but without them the University gets free reign over our education and our finances. Our front page story on the backtracking of the University in cutting the Durham Grant is a prime example of how the University operates.

We need a Union that can stand up and stop these changes and by voting, we stengthen their voices

because their voices are our voices.

This is my two cents on a debate about student politics that featured in the Comment section online last week. If you haven’t read the articles I strongly recommend that you do.

Maybe you genuinely don’t care what the Students’ Union or JCRs do. Maybe it is all about organising the best nights out. But if you have ever felt the university is doing you or someone else an injustice (and there are plenty of examples of this) then I believe you should reconsider.

In this weeks edition we’ve got some more dreaded student politics; an article in the Politics section from DU Labour Club, launching their Action from Access Plan, which seeks to enhance the accessibility of Durham University to state educated students.

It’s not all political drama though. Sport have interviewed Gemma Collis, Durham graduate and competitor at the Paralympic Games in London, and an inspiration for following your dreams.

Alex Cupples

Thursday 25th February 2016 | PALATINATE

Inside 782

Editorial Board

News pages 3-8

Editors-in-Chief Alex Cupples and Josh Smith editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editor Sandy Thin deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editors Ryan Gould and Charlie Taylor-Kroll news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor Holly Bancroft news.features@palatinate.org.uk Deputy News Editors Mirriam Brittenden and Emma Pinckard deputy.news@palatinate.org.uk Politics Editor Rob Littleton politics@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Politics Editor Mason Boycott-Owen deputy.politics@palatinate.org.uk Profile Editors Will Fremont-Barnes and Oliver Mawhinney profile@palatinate.org.uk Science and Technology Editor Bruno Martin scitech@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editor Dan Fox comment@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Comment Editor Adam Cunnane deputy.comment@palatinate.org.uk Sport Editor Kieran Moriarty sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors Charles Richardson, Matt Roberts and Kishan Vaghela deputy.sport@palatinate.org.uk Indigo Editor Ellen Finch indigo@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Indigo Editor Yongchang Chin deputy.indigo@palatinate.org.uk Features Editor Isabelle Culkin feature@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Features Editor Cristina Cusenza deputy.features@palatinate.org.uk Food and Drink Editors Charlotte Payne and Ariadne Vu food@palatinate.org.uk Travel Editor Laura Glenister travel@palatinate.org.uk Fashion Editor Sally Hargave fashion@palatinate.org.uk Film and Television Editor Rory McInnes-Gibbons film@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Film and Television Editor Hugo Camps-Harris deputy.film@palatinate.org.uk Stage Editors Sofya Grebenkina and Simon Fearn stage@palatinate.org.uk Music Editors Jacqueline Duan and Will Throp music@palatinate.org.uk Creative Writing Editor Sarah Fletcher creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk Books Editors Hannah Griffiths and Ellie Scorah books@palatinate.org.uk Visual Arts Editor Jane Simpkiss visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk Chief Sub-Editor Marianna Mukhametzyanova sub-editing@palatinate.org.uk Sub-Editors Sarah Boreham, Ollie Mair, Ciara Murphy, Maddy Winnard and Becky Wilson Online Editor Kat Hind online.editor@palatinate.org.uk Web Editor John Morris Photography Editor Grace Tseng photography@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Photography Editor Verity Rimmer Illustrations Editor Kenzo Ishida illustration@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Illustrations Editors Faye Chua and Olivia Howcroft Events and Publicity Officer Morgan Hayden-Kent Advertising Officer Sian Round advertising@palatinate.org.uk Social Media Officer Beth-Ellen Hewitt

Politics pages 10-11 SciTech page 12 Comment pages 13-16 Profile page 17 Sport pages 18-20

indigo

Editorial page 2 Features page 3

Books pages 4-5 Visual Arts page 6 Fashion page 7

Stage pages 8-9

Food & Drink page 10 Travel page 11 Music pages 12-13 Film & TV page 14

Creative Writing page 15

Letter to the editor(s)!

Disagree with something we’ve published? Want to put your views forward on a specific article? Think we’ve made a mistake? Send us a letter at editor@palatinate.org.uk and we will print it in the next edition, due Thursday 10th March.

The best of Palatinate Online www.palatinate.org.uk

Comment: Student politics: capturing the shitegeist

Comment: Student politics: a reply

Film & TV: Don’t Tell The Bride It’s All Over

Stage: ComedyFest Review: “Overwhelming variety”

“No offence but student politics is a steaming cesspit of self-righteousness: angry twenty-somethings doused in a generous helping of zero fun.”

A student’s reply to Comment’s most controversial article of the term: “But I am sure the litany of spoilt brats will continue shouting into the void of their own insignifcance.”

A look back at some of BBC3’s hallmark shows and why we should be mourning the loss of Don’t Tell The Bride the most, brought to you by Durham’s TV guru.

Stage welcomes Durham’s comedy event of the year, including performances from The Oxford Review and Cambridge Footlights, as well as our very own The Durham Revue.

Palatinate is published by Durham Students’ Union on a fortnightly basis during term and is editorially independent. All contributors and editors are full-time students at Durham University. Send letters to: Editor, Palatinate, Durham Students’ Union, Dunelm House, New Elvet, Durham, DH1 3AN. Alternatively, send an e-mail to editor@palatinate.org.uk

PALATINATE | Thursday 25th February 2016

Union President’s Column

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News

News

@PalatinateNews

Personalise my timetabling!

Recently we have been out around Durham City and Queen’s Campus asking students to ‘Raise their Voices’ about timetabling. We spoke to around 100 students in the course of a week and loads of conversations about timetabling. It is clearly a massive issue for our students and lots of you were pretty frustrated about the current timetabling processes.

Some students said they were happy with the help they received from their Departments and the straightforwardness of the timetabling process; but a greater number talked about difficulties with module clashes, restricted choices and a lack of clarity on timetabling.

Unsurprisingly, students on Combined Degrees reported greater dissatisfaction with the complexity of the current timetabling systems. It’s really concerning to hear that our students are being let down by the lack of a simple provision – standardised, personalised timetables.

This is not acceptable and we are working with students and the University to improve it across departments and faculties. Students are crying out for change and this should be standard as it is in many comparable universities in the UK.

Ben Frost, our Academic Affairs Officer, is taking a keen interest in this issue and will be speaking at the University’s Education Committee to raise the issue and push for a solution.

We are committed to learning more about our students and we think the best way to do this is by talking face-toface about issues that are important to you. We’ll be more active around the University and Colleges and over the coming months, our Officers and Engagement staff (Jemma and Mike) will be out and about asking you to ‘Raise Your Voice’ on issues that are important to Durham students. See you around!

Millie Tanner

Durham Students’ Union President

Fire and Ice festival takes over Market Square last weekend

Photograph: Peter Swan

Turnout up by 2.4% in Durham SU Officer Elections

St Chad’s appoints Dr Masson as Principle

Junior doctors: Low morale as Hunt enforces contract

Photograph: Ryan Gould

Photograph: Durham University

Photograph: Venus Loi

Turn to pages 4 to read more

News in brief

Turn to page 5 to read more

Turn to page 8 to read more

VC JOINS OTHER UNIVERSITY LEADERS TO SUPPORT STAYING IN THE EU

INVESTIGATION INTO THE MENTAL HEALTH OF DURHAM STUDENTS BEGINS

CHRISTIAN UNION HOLD THEIR “BIGGEST” MISSION WEEK EVENT IN RECENT YEARS

Professor Stuart Corbridge has joined a long list of University leaders in signing a letter, published by The Sunday Times, showing support for the UK to stay in the UK. The letter reads, “We urge the British public to consider the vital role the EU plays in supporting our world-class university.

The mental heath research group at the Wolfson Research Institute in Durham has begun investigating the mental heath and wellbeing of students at Durham. The study, which is lead by Dr. Helen Stain, will require students to assist in the study by filling out an online survey. The organizers hope that the study will go national in the future.

Last week Christian Union held what has been regarded as one of their “biggest” action weeks in recent years. The “Story” initiative took place between the 15th and the 19th February. The week event included lunchtime and evenings talks. A story café marquee was also set up during the day.

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Thursday 25th February 2016 | PALATINATE

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Durham SU Officer Elections

Meet your elected Student Officers for 2016/17

Photographs: Ryan Gould

son with the best policies, the person who is going to best represent students. I don’t feel like bringing people’s personalities into it is the right way to show that.

“I was personally very intimidated running against three very,

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The number of votes cast in the election of Academic Affairs Officer

I was personally very intimidated running against three very good candidates who all ran incredibly good campaigns.

Talking to Palatinate following the results, Whiting said: “The election period was much harder than I thought it was going to be.

“You have a vision of what you think it’s going to be like, but actually it’s very exhausting: you’re waking up early, going to bed late, talking to people all the time.

“There are definitely times when you want to give up if you can’t see the finish line. It’s been a difficult ten days.”

Whiting stated that it was “unfortunate that, occasionally, [coverage of the elections] became quite personal.

“Everyone wants the most qualified person to be elected—the per-

very good candidates who all ran incredibly good campaigns. I feel even more grateful that I was elected considering how well [the other candidates] campaigned,” Whiting said.

In the elections for Activities Officer and Communities Officer, Kara-Jane Senior and Jo Gower both successfully ran unopposed.

Senior, who will continue in her role as Activities Officer next year, told Palatinate: “Obviously I didn’t have the stiff competition that I had last year, so it has been a bit different for me.

“I was probably more nervous

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for all of the other candidates, though, of course, there is that little part of you that thinks maybe RON (re-open nominations) will get it.”

Senior said that while she hadn’t been involved in “running a massive campaign,” she was “unaware as to some of the stuff that went on, just being in the office and actually working.

“I think people have to be careful when they are campaigning since they get so passionate about it.”

Speaking to Palatinate, Gower said: “I’m so excited about it—I’m really, really pleased. I’m really pleased with the team that was elected, they’re all lovely people and I’m really excited to work with them.

“I’m glad that people didn’t listen to what publications had to say, and went with who they thought was the best candidate, because that’s what is important.”

Highlighting the considerably low voting turnout in the elections,

15,982

The number of students who did not vote Gower said: “It’s positive there has been an increase, but I’m hoping to get it to be much higher.

“This increase shows that people are beginning to think of the Union as being a little more rel-

evant this year, but obviously because it’s only by 0.3%, we’ve got a long way to go. We can really work on this for next year.”

Durham Students’ Union statistics show that turnout was the highest at St Chad’s, where 261 out of 605 students (43.14%) voted.

43.14%

Percentage of students who voted at St Chad’s Other colleges with respectively high turnouts were St Aidan’s (37.1%), Trevelyan (32.57%), and Collingwood (29.24%).

Colleges with the lowest turnout included Ustinov (5.52%), Stephenson College (5.68%), John Snow (5.79%), Van Mildert (11.09%), Josephine Butler (11.32%), and Hatfield (13.09%).

Statistically, St Aidan’s College (where Alice Dee is JCR President)

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Continued from front page...

Elsewhere, Lisa Whiting successfully fought off opposition from three other candidates to be elected Academic Affairs Officer for 2016/17. Thanking people for their support, Whiting said that she had “no idea [she] would be running alongside three other incredible people.”

By round four of the counting process, Whiting received 1,382 votes. Whiting’s closest opposition, Guilia Montefiore, received 1,035.

I saw how hard Anoushka worked and I spent all of Friday telling myself I’d lost.

outvoted St Cuthbert’s Society (where Jade Azim ran for President), with 36.63% of students voting at Aidan’s compared to 22.89% at Cuth’s.

In last year’s election, where Millie Tanner (of St Cuthbert’s Society) ran for President, voting turnout at Cuth’s stood at 42.5%.

In the election for Development Officer, the result was separated by just 27 votes. Adam Jarvis received 1,193 votes by round two, narrowly beating rival Anoushka Twining, who received 1,166 votes, to the post.

27

The number of votes separating Adam Jarvis and Anoushka Twining Adam told Palatinate: “I really wasn’t expecting to win—I saw how hard Anoushka worked and I spent all of Friday telling myself I’d lost.

“I want to say a massive thanks to her for being amazing competition; she really made me step up my game and I’m really gutted we can’t work together next year.

“The campaign was a lot harder than I expected it to be. It was a massive shock from going from a college election where everyone knows you to working so hard just to get my name out there, but thankfully it seemed to work.”

Adam said.

PALATINATE | Thursday 25th February 2016

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Durham Grant to be kept at £2,000 for 2016 applicants Continued from front page...

“The University’s decision not to lower the Durham Grant will hopefully stop such students from crossing Durham off as a plausible university option,” Godzinska said.

The decision comes after the University increased College accommodation fees to over £7,000 for a standard, catered room for the 2016/17 academic year.

The rise in fees prompted protest amongst students, and resulted in the ‘Funeral for Accessible Education’, organized by Trevelyan College Left Society, in December last year.

In June, George Osborne revealed plans to scrap the maintenance grant, which offered students with a household income of less than £25,000 the amount of £3,387 a year, in favour of loans.

He told the House of Commons that, from the 2016/17 academic year, “we will replace maintenance grants with loans for new students—loans that only have to be paid back once they earn over £21,000 a year”, and which will be available to the value of £8,200.

Jasmine Simms, Executive Member of the Durham Left Activists (formerly known as Trevelyan College Left Society) labeled the Chancellor’s decision “despicable”, and “symptomatic of an ideological attack being carried out by our government against accessible public

Palatine Centre

higher education and against the working classes.”

She continued to argue that while the group are “pleased” by the University’s reversal of their decision to lower the Durham Grant, “even with the Durham Grant kept at this rate, bursarial

support is still particularly weak at Durham University when compared with other universities.

“Poor bursary provision, increases in international fees, and the already extortionate and unjustifiable high costs of College accommodation are all having severe

the brilliant legacy of the late Joe Cassidy and leading the college into what promises to be an exciting new period of opportunity.”

Jonathan Blackie, Chair of Governors at the St Chad’s, said: “Margaret brings exceptional skills to the position, she understands the collegiate nature of the university and her appointment has been widely welcomed by both staff and students.”

Isaac Abrahams, a second-year History and Politics student at St Chad’s, told Palatinate: “It’s safe to say that all of the College was really happy with the announcement of Dr Masson as our next principle.

“She’s an incredibly respected and popular figure in College, and embodies what we, as a community, are all about.

“I think people are confident that she’ll continue doing the great work she’s already done and see

her as the perfect person to lead Chad’s in the long-term,” Isaac said.

First-year Politics and Philosophy student, Craig Bateman, said: “I am pleased that Dr Mason has been appointed as Principals of St Chad’s College to follow in the footsteps of the much beloved Papa Joe. “Although I didn’t get the opportunity to meet him in person, I am aware of his emphasis on inclusive diversity and social justice.

“These are two values which I am sure Dr Mason will do everything to champion and promote.”

Evie Griffiths, a first-year Archaeology student, said: “Everyone was really pleased that Dr Masson was selected.

“There were lots of congratulations posters up around the College, and Dr Masson was really touched with all of the celebrations.”

Photograph: Durham University

and negative effects on accessibility. These effects can be seen in the extremely undiverse student body.”

She concluded with the claim that the University “has further to go before it comes anywhere close to meeting an acceptable threshold

for accessibility and/or diversity.

DLA will continue to escalate our campaigns until this is no longer the case.”

This attitude was reiterated by Jade Azim, Co-Chair of Durham University Labour Club, who questioned how the decrease could have been in consideration, and claimed that whilst the DULC is “relieved” at the result, the University “has no real plan for mitigating the effects of the maintenance grant cuts.”

“The grant was reduced by a staggering £1,000 last year. This, alongside the vast increase in accommodation fees, is going to be devastating for lower and middleincome students and may have a detrimental impact on the already woeful record of the University.”

Azim also argued that “we cannot accept the ordinary justifications of budgetary constraints when we are the third highest spenders on artwork and the Vice Chancellor’s pay is hidden in the mist”, highlighting the recent controversy over the fact that Durham University has spent £2.6 million on artwork between 2010 and 2015.

On behalf of the DULC she concluded, “we cannot offer our gratitude—only a belligerent sigh of relief. We must campaign for the full restoration of the Durham Grant instead.”

St Chad’s appoints new Principle

Ryan Gould News Editor St Chad’s Collge has appointed Dr Margaret Masson as its new Principle, following the death of Rev Dr Joe Cassidy last March.

Dr Masson, who was previously Deputy Principle and Senior Tutor, had been Acting Principle since Dr Cassidy’s death.

Born in Scotland and raised in Zambia, Dr Masson studied at the University of Aberdeen before completing a PhD at Durham in 1988.

Dr Masson has previously taught in the United States, but returned to Durham in 1992 to become a lecturer in the Department of English Studies.

“I am delighted to be appointed to this role,” Dr Masson said.

“I look forward to building on

St Chad’s College

Photograph: Durham University

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Thursday 25th February 2016 | PALATINATE

Durham Union Society hold controversial debate on the anonymity of the accused

Charlie Taylor-Kroll News Editor

The Director of Counselling attended the debate due to its potentially distressing nature of sexual assault.

Mark Fenhalls QC, Chairman of the Bar Association of England and Wales, and Verity Adams, nonpracticing barrister and researcher in international and criminal law, proposed the motion that those accused of rape should remain anonymous.

David Banks, media law consultant and journalist for The Independent, The Guardian and New Statesman, was the only opposing speaker.

The fourth and final speaker had to withdraw at the last moment due to illness.

Both the proposers and the opposition were respectful in their presentation of the topic, with Mark Fenhalls QC prefacing his speech by explaining that the overall purpose was to get the audience “thinking about these issues.”

The speakers proposing the motion accepted that any trauma experienced by the accused does

not in any way equate to the level of that of the victim, but suggested that the welfare of everybody in these cases should be considered as being accused does not equate to being guilty.

The proposition also argued

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The debate as a whole was well handled considering the controversy of the issue

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The Durham Union Society (DUS) held a controversial debate on the subject of the anonymity of the accused in cases of rape and sexual assault.

The Friday Night Debate, entitled: “This house believes that the accused should remain anonymous” saw the arguments put for and against whether those who are accused of rape and sexual assault should be granted anonymity during their trials.

Current President of the DUS, Emily Beighton, originally proposed this debate in her manifesto before being elected.

At the time, DUS officers criticised her proposal, due to her friendship with former DUS Secretary Louis Richardson, who was charged with sexual assault in May 2014.

Mr. Richardson was acquitted of all charges on the 12th January 2016.

During a General Committee meeting last Wednesday, many DUS officers were reportedly concerned and upset that a debate on this topic was taking place.

Some members of the committee reportedly pointed out that holding a debate on the theme of criminal anonymity was inappropriate due to Beighton’s friendship with Richardson.

There was also concern among the members of the meeting that there would be a risk that names of victims might emerge inadvertently when questions were opened up to the floor.

Despite the fact that individuals are granted lifelong anonymity under the law and that identifying them is a criminal offence, many DUS officers suggested this debate posed too great a risk of breach of confidentiality, which as a consequence would cause irreversible trauma and distress.

Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, the Director of Counseling at Durham University was also present at the debate, and made herself known in case anyone in the audience was distressed by what was said during the debate.

Beighton also reminded attendees that it is a criminal offence to mention any names of any victims

that proper police investigation is the most appropriate means to en-

courage people to come forward who are involved in a certain case, as opposed to using media coverage for this purpose.

Separately, Castle’s student publication, Floreat Castellum, published a comment article supporting the motion that the accused should remain anonymous.

Its author, Sarah Westlake, wrote: “Why on earth are we naming the charged before the conviction? The victim is quite rightly protected, but why isn’t the accused? If proven innocent, they are in fact a victim of a careless and life destroying story.

“Let’s face it, Louis Richardson’s identity as an innocent and hardworking young man has been corrupted and made dirty, and he is just one of the many who has been falsely accused and forever tainted.”

Opposing the motion, David Banks argued that anonymity would hinder the ability to gath-

Photograph: Peter Bonnett er witnesses, as the case would not be made public enough for others who might have important evidence to come forward.

This point was also mentioned by a DUS member when questions were open to the floor.

Banks also argued that providing the accused with the same anonymity rights as the victims indicated that the upset experienced by the victims and the accused was of an equivalent status.

The outcome of the debate was in support of the motion.

Second-year Business student, Harry Smart, who attended the debate, told Palatinate: “The debate as a whole was well handled considering the controversy of the issue and under the circumstances that have surrounded the University over the last year.

“In regards to the outcome it was it seemed like a majority of the Society members vote in favour of the motion.”

PALATINATE | Thursday 25rth February 2016

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Durham Amnesty Campaign to protect the Human Rights Act

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awareness of the importance of the right to marriage by leafleting and with a wedding day photo campaign.

The events are part of the collective action of a number of universities including the University of Sheffield, Edinburgh and Cambridge, who are collaborating by focusing on different rights, and spreading awareness across the UK. The response from students, Rainford told Palatinate, has been “largely positive.”

She said: “Although there are certainly a lot of cases where people have been unaware what’s going on or don’t understand the issue, once it is explained they agree it’s a very important fight.

“More than anything, we really want people to engage in the discussion and learn more about it.”

We are drawing attention to the rights we enjoy in this country, asking people not to take them for granted

Photograph: Frida Torkelsen

The nationwide petition is calling on the Justice Secretary Michael Gove to ‘Save the Human Rights Act” and has already attracted over 90,000 people.

The organisation behind the Save the Human Rights Act campaign said on their website that

the Human Rights Act “places public authorities, like hospitals and social services, under an obligation to respect people’s family and private lives, including their relationships.”

Campaigning has also taken a

number of creative forms; including a ‘wheel of misfortune’ game on the science site where many people got to take part by being randomly allocated an unfair punishment for their crimes.

On Valentine’s Day DUAI raised

even further by April 2019.

HMIC has inspected and reviewed every police force in the country, with 24 being rated ‘good’ and a further 18 ‘requiring improvement’.

Durham Constabulary had previously excelled in HMIC’s police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) assessment of 2015.

The force was ranked outstanding in effectiveness and efficiency, and ‘good’ in legitimacy in the assessment.

As a result, the force in Durham was ranked the “best in the country” in October by HMIC. Part of the reason for this high ranking is the introduction of a number of innovative schemes to reduce people reoffending.

Such schemes include officers

being encouraged to look at the causes of repeat offending and remove those with addictions from the ‘cycle of crime’.

The Constabulary also work with fire and ambulance services to provide paramedic cover for more rural areas, which is part of their ‘checkpoint’ scheme.

In reaction to the news that Durham Police force has been ranked “outstanding,” Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner said: “My colleagues in Durham Constabulary are professional, extremely hard working and are highly motivated to serve the public.”

Durham Chief Constable Mike Barton also said: “It is their continued professionalism and dedication which has put the force in

a fantastic position for the future.”

Durham Police Federation chair, Andy Jackson, added: “My colleagues are extremely hardworking and are highly motivated to serve the public.”

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Durham University Amnesty International (DUAI) has been campaigning across Durham to protect the Human Rights Act (HRA), which the current Conservative Government wants to repeal.

Milly Rainford, President of DUAI, told Palatinate: “We are trying to show that the Human Rights Act is a vital piece of legislation.

“Our Human Rights Act has had a problematic past in the UK as the general public has never fully embraced it, largely due to dubious media reports and politicians’ false representations of its effects.

“Certain right wing publications have created a narrative of the Human Rights Act as the Criminals’ and Terrorists’ Rights Act, an idea which we hope to address by highlighting the ways in which we can all turn to our fundamental rights for protection.”

Rainford also pointed to what the action of DUAI intended to achieve.

She said: “We are drawing attention to the rights we enjoy in this country, asking people not to take them for granted and remind them that they are worth fighting

for.”

The group has organised several events as part of the campaign in recent weeks, such as writing letters to MPs and signing the ‘Save the Act’ petition (which can be found at www.savetheact. uk).

“

Miriam Brittenden Deputy News Editor

...we really want people to engage in the discussion...

Durham Police only ‘outstanding’ force in the country

Durham Constabulary is the only police force in England and Wales to achieve an ‘outstanding’ rating from the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

The current HMIC inspection also highlights Durham’s innovative methods of preventing crime and anti-social behavior.

This ranking is achieved despite Durham being the ninth smallest force in the UK, with a £22 million cut in funding expected between 2010-2019.

Between 2010 and 2015, the force has lost nearly 300 officers, with this number expected to fall

“

My colleagues are extremely hardworking and are highly motivated to serve the public.

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Charlie Taylor-Kroll News Editor

Photograph: Pippa Cole

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News

Thursday 25th February 2016 | PALATINATE

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Low morale amongst North East medics as Hunt enforces contract

posing the new contract.

This decision came after the British Medical Association had refused to negotiate on the key issue of whether Saturday should become part of a junior doctor’s normal working week. The mood amongst junior doctors in the regions in and around Durham is far from happy.

When speaking to Palatinate Sandip Nandhra, a junior doctor who has worked at the University Hospital of North Durham and Sunderland Royal Hospital, said: “I think everyone is pretty angry. We’re disappointed they’ve taken what we call the ‘nuclear’ option without actually listening to the people at the coal face”.

The new contract will change what constitutes as unsocial hours, with regular hours now constituting till 5pm on Saturdays. Sandip explained it saying, “They are suggesting that normal hours are reclassified. The issue we have with that is that is that a lot of us work long hours. I could work the same 8 to 8 shifts that I work regularly but I won’t get topped up.

“Basically doing what we are doing now for less money. They say that we will get a pay rise but it’s nothing like the increase we would have got under the previous contract.”

This is all part of Jeremy Hunt’s plan to deliver better care at the weekends following research showing that patients are more likely to die if they are admitted on Saturdays or Sundays.

A study published in September’s British Medical Journal showed that Saturday had a 10% higher risk of death and Sundays

thing for students to understand is that the new contract is penalising those in less than full-time training.”

In the new contract you have to work 1 in 4 Saturdays to get extra pay. However, this leaves out those who will still work some Saturdays but just not every 1 in 4. This is particularly harsh on those who have a child and whose partners also work Saturdays.

“It is penalising parents and women. There is a big human rights issue, questions on fairness.

The contract doesn’t really address that.”

However, there are still those who would point to the 11% rise in pay and question the anger expressed by junior doctors. It is important to note that this increase is built in to offset losses from other changes in the contract, such as lower earning for working evenings and weekends.

For example, those doctors who are assigned ‘non-resident on call’ shifts do get better pay but for this often have to stay on site in hospital accommodation, away from family and friends.

There are clearly lots of issues that could be debated, but in the wake of Jeremy Hunt’s announcement of 11th February junior doctors seem to have no choice but to accept the contract.

Speaking to Purple Radio on the new development, Caolán Duffy, another Durham University medical student, said: “To be honest I do feel a certain sense of disappointment at how he’s handled the situation.

“The large consensus in the medical student community, and

“

Illustration: Olivia Howcroft

....unless there is a drastic change in the government’s attitude towards preserving our healthcare system.

in the medical field as a whole, is that Jeremy Hunt has been completely unprofessional and possibly incompetent in the way he’s handled this whole situation, but I do disagree with the personal scape-goating of Jeremy Hunt.”

Jeremy Hunt must have had cabinet approval to impose the contract. As Sandip said to Palatinate, “Jeremy Hunt made that decision but so did the rest of the Tory government.”

This is true, yet interestingly the government says that 90% of the terms in the revised contract were agreed upon by the British Medical Association. The situation is causing many junior doctors to despair.

Fred Barker, when speaking to Palatinate, said: “The more doc-

tors who are overworked, underpaid and undervalued within the NHS, the less the once-rewarding career will be something worth holding on to in the UK. I, like most medical students, am a passionate lover of everything the NHS stands for, but unless there is a drastic change in the government’s attitude towards preserving our healthcare system, even junior doctors could lose faith in it”.

So what’s next and can anything be done? There is talk in legal circles that this sort of contract imposition is legally questionable, an avenue the British Medical Association may choose to pursue, particularly as BMA sources said that junior doctors attending meetings this week have told the union they think the contract will prove unworkable for many of them.

Whatever is planned, the dispute doesn’t seem to be over yet.

“It’s a long and draining process ahead. There’s a lot of uncertainty.” – Sandip Nandhra.

“

It’s a long process ahead and a draining process ahead.

“

In August 2016 a new junior doctors contract will be put in place.

It is the culmination of years of fraught negotiation between government ministers and doctors and is set to impact the lives of junior doctors unequivocally for the worse.

Over the more recent months the dispute has made national news headlines as strikes and protests have impacted operations at hospitals across England.

On the 12th of January, in the first strike by hospital medics in 40 years, up to 38,000 junior doctors walked out over the new contract being offered by the government. Following this, on the 10th of February junior doctors came out on a second 24 hour-strike to which ministers responded by im-

15% compared with Wednesdays.

However these statistics may not show the full picture. Patients admitted at the weekends do tend to be more ill than those admitted on weekdays, although the researchers did try to account for this in their findings.

More importantly though, because of the way this new contract defines ‘normal’ time, a junior doctor could work Monday to Saturday on the trot and not receive any compensatory rest. Spreading doctors more thinly and giving them less rest could have huge safety implications.

Therefore, although the contract is trying to increase patients well-being it may unintentionally lead to more medical slip-ups.

This concern is particularly relevant following the recent analysis by the Press Association which found that in the past four years more than 1,000 NHS patients in England have suffered from serious medical errors that should never have occured.

There has been concern shown by some of the national press that the contract will spur more doctors to move abroad. Marcus Cassop Thompson, a Durham University medical student, told Palatinate: “Everyone knows doctors will leave and I think this will be a secondary crisis that arises from recent events.

“I often see an irony in the fact that the conservatives supposedly value market discipline, but when doctor’s leave for Australia or elsewhere they cry about loyalty. This seems like a contradiction.”

Fred Barker, another Durham University medical student, added, “Under the new contract, incentive for students to start their careers in the UK will likely fall to a point where we are annually losing hundreds of doctors to other countries.”

Although going abroad does seem like a very real option for many doctors, Marcus said “I just can’t accept moving away from the UK as a solution. The future of the NHS is right inside a political arena that seems to be changing at a rapid pace.

“Up to now I think the junior doctors have composed themselves well, and people really did seem to side with and have more faith in their doctors than the government.” The North East medics who went on strike earlier this month said they’d had fantastic support from the public.

Sandip, in his interview with Palatinate, stressed that “the big

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Holly Bancroft News Features Editor

Local medics speak to Palatinate about the Junior doctors dispute

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Politics

www.palatinate.org.uk

Thursday 25th February 2016 | PALATINATE

Candidates Batten Down the Hatches Ahead of ‘Super Tuesday’

Olivia Ryan It has been a turbulent few weeks in the U.S. Presidential campaign, with no signs of slowing down. Since the Iowa caucuses, the Republican field has been whittled down to six, and Hillary Clinton is looking nervous after Bernie Sanders won 60% of the vote in the February 9th New Hampshire primaries.

Those primaries served victories to Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Governor John Kasich. Importantly for his campaign, Jeb Bush came out just ahead of fellow Floridian Marco Rubio, who suffered a setback during the February 6th Republican debate.

Governor Chris Christie, who has now suspended his campaign, dealt a harsh blow when he told the audience to look out for Rubio’s “canned lines” and then interrupted with “there it is everybody, the 25-second memorized speech!” at an opportune moment Unfortunately for his debate performance – and his performance in the primary – Mr. Rubio played straight into Christie’s accusations by repeating a similar line about President Obama four times that night. It was a successful attack by Christie

when “Robo Rubio,” whose poll numbers had been steadily rising, ended fifth.

For the Democrats, Clinton suffered a harsh blow from a state that historically has supported the Clintons: it was New Hampshire in 1992 that got Bill on a steady track to the nomination. In 2008, Hillary revived her campaign by winning New Hampshire after losing to Barack Obama and John Edwards in Iowa. In exit polls, 91% of voters who cared most about honesty and trustworthiness voted for Sanders and 5% for Clinton, continuing a trend from the Iowa contest. However, 69% of voters said they wanted someone with experience in politics to win the nomination, a group that narrowly favoured Mrs. Clinton.

The South Carolina Republican Primary and the Nevada Democratic Caucus was held on February 20th, and despite his slip-ups in New Hampshire, Rubio has gotten the endorsement of South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, which should bolster his numbers. Jeb Bush is finally starting to look solid after a good performance at the February 13th debate, and has called upon his brother, former President George W. Bush, in a last-ditch effort to bring himself up

in the polls. Trump, despite looking increasingly red-faced and full of air in debates, is still polling at 36%, with Cruz in second with 19%. Moderate John Kasich is not expected to do as well in a very conservative, southern state, but a poor result in this state will not be the end of his campaign. On the other side, Nevada is a state that Clinton “should” win, but polls show that it will be a tight race.

The next major event in the 2016 elections is Super Tuesday on March 1st. This is one day where more delegates can be won than on any other single day of the primary calendar. It encompasses a more diverse demographic, important for the Clinton campaign since she polls much higher among black and minority voters.

Because it includes so many states and varieties, it is generally noted as a candidates test for national electability (though it does not ensure the nomination: Hillary won 12 states to Obama’s 11 in 2008).

Through March 8th, 11 other states will hold either a primary or a caucus – the chance to win over 300 delegates for each party. Sanders should be particularly worried, as Clinton seems to appeal more to minority and southern voters.

doctors’ main concern, it seems to overlook the fact that these doctors have spent thousands of pounds and many years of training just so they can save people’s lives.

If anything were to jeopardise their ability to do that then naturally they will react as they have done. The idea that there is a shadowy cabal of junior doctors using this as an excuse to line their pockets is somewhat far-fetched.

Similarly his parting remarks consisted of “I hope that junior doctors will notice today that although I have taken the decision to move ahead with a new contract, I could have moved ahead with any version of that contract I

Should a politician’s private life matter?

‘Super Tuesday’ beckons

Photograph: Benmil222

Photograph: DonkeyHotey via Flickr

It remains to be seen if and when Donald Trump’s campaign will falter, though cracks are beginning to show in debates – audiences are becoming less shy about booing when he interrupts other candidates and many were unimpressed with his use of expletives in describing other candidates. It’s probably safe to expect Ben Carson to suspend his campaign soon.

Kasich is hoping to win in the north-

eastern states – he is not wasting his time or money campaigning by campaigning in states where he is considered too moderate to win – and Ted Cruz might continue to do well among these southern states.

If she does well on Super Tuesday, Clinton is a shoe-in for the nomination. The Republican side is much less clear. As it has been so far in this election, anything can happen.

wanted” – the political equivalent of ‘well, at least it isn’t raining’.

When Paul Nuttall of UKIP said that the brightest and best of other countries like Bulgaria should stay at home and build an economically prosperous nation, I doubt he

would have thought that this sentiment would also refer to the UK. Yet, possibly to the delight of some UKIP members, at least the Tories are making the UK less attractive to workers from other nations wishing to practice in the

Bloody Emigrants: A Medical Mass Exodus

Bloody emigrants eh? What can only be described as a swarm of doctors have recently applied for documents enabling them to work abroad on the day that Jeremy Hunt MP announced the forced implementation of their new contracts. It saw an increase of over 1000 per cent, from the lowly 26 per day in the run up to his announcement.

When the government invests so much in the training of doctors in the UK, one would have thought keeping them in the country to save the lives of British people would be a top priority. Sadly Mr Hunt seems to be moving against the grain of common sense in this regard.

Over the last few months we have seen a civilised debate, with coherent and compelling arguments against the tabled new contract. We have seen organised strikes without violence and the intentions of those on strike were made clear as acting in the best interest of their patients.

Though many have their doubts about the sincerity of those arguments, citing money as the

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Flocks of doctors migrate to the southern hemisphere

“

Mason Boycott-Owen Deputy Politics Editor

In reaction to this Jeremy Hunt responded with a certain lack of empathy, as he was oddly absent from the debate in Parliament – attended instead by junior health minister Ben Gummar, who evidently had more of a free schedule than Mr Hunt.

Jeremy Hunt could bear the brunt of the next cabinet reshuffle

Photograph: Ted Eytan via Flickr

11

PALATINATE | Thursday 25th February 2016 UK. It is a novel way to tackle immigration by making your country so unattractive that no one would want to work there, Mr Cameron has to be given some credit for that.

As flocks of doctors migrate to the southern hemisphere to countries such as Australia, the Labour Party may well be saddened, as those hundreds of votes could have made all the difference in the next general election. Yet although the electorate ostensibly cares about the NHS, they did not quite care enough to persuade them

to vote Labour who themselves placed the preservation of the institution at the top of their agenda.

It is easy to talk of doctors as just another profession, and in a way they are: they have working hours, they have a wage, they provide a service. The difference being is that their service they provide is saving people’s lives. If a government hinders their ability to do so by force then every junior doctor is within their right to go somewhere where they can save lives unimpeded.

In simplistic terms, when peo-

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Politics

ple want to leave your country you know there is there is something wrong. When a government is seen not to care and a government is seen not to listen, and shows no shame in doing so, there is also a problem.

When the government’s own health secretary does not turn up to debate the idea in parliament it shows a contempt for those involved. And although Mr Hunt has enjoyed a largely controversy-free tenure as health secretary, he like so many doctors may be moving to another job soon.

This does have implications for students, including those at Durham. How many doctors-to-be training in Durham and the UK, or wishing to do so in the future, are uneasy about the reshaped path they now have?

Whether they choose to avoid joining the NHS or even a career in medicine altogether is a real possibility and not one that anyone can be proud of. When the Conservative Party seemingly has a monopoly on ‘aspiration’, this has left student medics far less to aspire for.

There should this be personalized application information and assistance, a key recommendation from the Sutton Trust.

With a campaign demanding transparency over accommodation fees. We demand an open review into where our fees are going and why prices went up with zero percent inflation. We are not satisfied with the answers given. Durham will have some of the most expensive accommodation outside London, and it is both an embarrassment for the University and an impediment for poorer students who face both a cut to the Durham Grant and the total abolishment of the Maintenance Grant.

With the mitigation of Durham Grant cuts. We understand that the University has suffered budget setbacks, and this in turn led to a reduction in the £3000 Durham Grant awarded to the lowest-income individuals in the

University by a staggering £1000 so as to mitigate losses to the nexttier grant. However, this coupled with accommodation fee rises has the potential to discourage future awardees. As stated above, the University must make funding and financial aid better publicised, raising awareness of the emergency loans available, if it cannot reverse the grant cuts altogether.

In the long-term, the University must look to investing in the Grant system to restore the highest back to £3000.

Lobbying to prevent rising tuition fees. We are aware of the Government’s plans to uncap tuition fees in the near future, with the recent Browne Review suggesting an increase to £10,000.

We are also aware that the Russell Group spoke in favour of this move. We call on the University to oppose this move in its entirety.

Should Durham be given the op-

It is easier for doctors than for many to pack-up shop and emigrate. They by and large have a high level of income and guarantee of a job elsewhere.

But what if this were to happen to another profession with a lower income and a lack of job security abroad? What are their options? If marginalising workers is to become a trend, coupled with a possible passing of the Trade Union bill limiting strike action, then many in the UK will have very rational worries.

Action for Access: Enhancing State School Participation at Durham

Durham has an access problem.

Just 63% of Durham’s student body are state-educated, compared to 93% of the wider population. And things stand to get worse. With the government’s recent abolishing of the maintenance grant, Durham having cut its own grant, and the rise in accommodation costs, the likely implications for Durham’s future intakes are bleak. The University is at a crossroads.

DULC believes the University is not doing enough to mitigate for this, and is in fact making the situation considerably worse given its recent rises and cuts. We believe the University’s disappointing record with working class access has a lot to do with an image problem that Durham consistently fails to challenge and is now exacerbating. This is why today we launch our Action for Access Plan in Palatinate.

The plan both looks to the short and long term. The University, in the long term, should be aiming for a 70:30 ratio of state-school students to private. In the short term, it should pursue a mitigation plan to inject investment into preventing poorer students losing out due to Maintenance Grant withdrawal and rising accommodation costs. The Action for Access plan intends to achieve these goals in various ways.

By publicizing the ACORN system. Prestigious universities use the ACORN postcode system in order to flag up applications from disadvantaged backgrounds. It categorises applicants into bands for housing. The lower bands automatically get prioritised with regards to interviews and conditions for acceptance. Few people know that top universities use this. While the University does mention this in a FAQ, they should publicise better that it uses this

portunity to raise tuition fees, we call on it to refuse it even if other universities accept it.

Covering Open Day Costs.

Durham offers to cover the cost of Post-Offer Open Days, which cost £39, for recipients of the 16-19 Bursary. We believe this criteria Just 63% of Durham’s is too narrow as schools set their own criteria for these bursaries. student body are We ask the University to extend state-educated covering costs to any applicant eligible for the Durham Grant, and to advertise more widely.

Regular consultations with low-income students. We ask that the Vice Chancellor and other cumstances are taken into considsenior staff hold at least yearly eration. meetings with students from lowWith a campaign for betincome backgrounds in order to ter awareness of financial aid. gauge their opinions and experiWhile there is a page devoted to ences. this on the website, we believe Reserved Spaces on Board of these should be emphasized in any Trustees. There should be one literature produced by the Univerreserved space for a disadvansity, and targeted at state schools. taged student benefitting from either Durham Grant on the Board of Trustees. This will allow for a perspective that may not have been offered before. This will be publicised during the election and low-income students should be encouraged to stand.

These measures, along with others not listed here, should have the goal of not only alleviating the implications of Maintenance Grant cuts and other government and University-led initiatives, but improving the overall record of the University. The long-term goal for the University should be a 70:30 target for state-school students.

We note that this isn’t that ambitious a figure. The University must start to reflect society as a whole.

In order to gather support for this and to demand change, the Labour Club, along with any allies that choose to join us, will be in and around campus seeking your support. We have a full and comprehensive list to complete our plan, and will be holding a petition that we intend to use to demand its imRising fees pose challenges for state applicantsPhotograph: Gordon Griffiths via Wikimedia Commons plementation. system to sixth forms and colleges, and make disadvantaged students aware that their exceptional cir-

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DU Labour Club

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SciTech

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Thursday 25th February 2016| PALATINATE

Is nuclear fusion the way forward?

Tom Mander Burning fossil fuels is still a hot topic—no surprises there. “Be carbon free by… Cut emissions by… Keep the temperature rise under…” The rhetoric, like the pollution, lingers. How-

ever, recent developments in physics research centres worldwide offer new solutions and new hopes. China and Germany have grabbed headlines over the last few months with groundbreaking results in nuclear fusion: a highly efficient and powerful form of energy production. Could

this finally be the 21st century’s answer to Climate Change?

In December 2015, Germany announced that it had maintained a cloud of hydrogen plasma (very hot, ionized gas) for around 0.25 seconds.

It’s difficult to believe that such a brief period is so significant for the future of energy production, but it has catapulted nuclear fusion into the race for an alternative to fossil fuels. Now, researchers at the Institute for Physical Science in Hefei, China, claim they have held a cloud at 50 million kelvin for 102 seconds.

What do these numbers come down to, and what makes this source of energy so exciting?

Nuclear fusion is the process of combining atoms’ nuclei together at high temperature to form heavier elements and energy—a lot of energy.

Compared to the energy released in burning coal, nuclear fusion’s results are gargantuan and this is what makes it so appealing to a population which is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. The main setback is providing the massive initial burst of energy required to initiate a fusion reaction. This is how the Sun makes energy, so nothing short of stellar temperatures are needed. Once started, however, nuclear fusion can become self-sustaining.

Be aware, this isn’t what happens

in nuclear power stations already; that’s nuclear fission. Fission works by breaking down heavy elements into smaller elements and energy, but it produces nuclear waste which is dangerous to handle and expensive to deal with. Germany is currently passing laws to dispose of waste left behind from fission, which has become a controversial topic in German politics. Maybe this is why they are captivated by the glamorous Cinderella of nuclear fusion energy and not its ugly step-sister.

And what does the future hold after the clock strikes midnight? ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) are the international conglomerate spearheading this development and they are not afraid to tackle the problem head on.

Massive funding into more nuclear reactors —most notably Cadarache, a 15 billion euro research facility in Provence, France— indicate that this could be a profitable venture.

With ITER spread from Kyoto to California in seven countries and significant backing from the EU, there is no doubt that it is being taken seriously.

Perhaps surprisingly, this technology has been around since the 1950s. An enormous torus with a strong magnetic field, called a tokamak, is used to maintain the plasma: this was first achieved in the 1960s

Soviet Union. The game hasn’t really changed, but the players are far further than they used to be. When ITER finish their tokamak it will be the largest ever made, able to create temperatures ten times as hot as the Sun’s core.

As with all new advancements, the experimental stages can be slow and arduous, and fusion is no exception. Cadarache won’t switch on for another four years and fusion is not predicted until 2027. Moreover, China’s EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) in Hefei only made it to about half the expected temperature needed. Germany are even further behind experimenting with another device called a stellarator, which could hold plasma for five times longer than a tokamak. So far it is the realm of theory.

Fusion offers no immediate solutions. The promise of unlimited power harnessed to quench humanity’s thirst for energy is still a glow on the horizon, with many practical barriers to overcome. Nevertheless, the glow is growing and new results fuel the excitement felt by so many about the future of sustainable fusion. Maybe the most exciting part is, in an increasingly divided world, the way the collective international effort has come together to solve one of the planet’s plights.

Chemistry: it is radical A day in the life of a chemistry researcher

Bryony Hockin

What do scientists do all day? Well, you can ask one but they will probably be too busy to tell you. Here is my effort to unravel some of the mysteries of scientific research. As a fourth year I work in the Chemistry department on a research project that no one else has ever studied before: like a miniature PhD but with no pay. I work mostly in organic synthesis, which is the bit of chemistry that most people are familiar with —lots of bubbling flasks and smoking test tubes—, with a bit of physical chemistry, which is more like maths with lots of graphs. My day to day mostly involves repeating the same reaction over and over again until it works.

I am trying to make some new organic compounds called stable radicals that are similar to existing ones, but much more difficult to make— hence the endless repetition. They

are interesting because, unlike the existing ones, these have a “functional handle”: a part of the molecule that is very reactive. I’ve spent the last eight weeks constructing the “functional handle” and now I’m trying to react it with various different chemicals to make new types of stable radical. It’s harder than it sounds.

Making a chemical is actually straightforward; normally a chemical reaction takes about a day or two, with a few different steps (boiling, stirring, mixing in new chemicals, etc.) to give you the substance that you want. However, the tricky and time-consuming part is purifying the chemical afterwards! In order to be of any use, a chemical has to be almost 100% pure, and this is very difficult. The purifying steps often take weeks and involve processes like growing tiny crystals of the solid chemical from a solution of it; if you’ve ever tried one of those Grow Your Own Crystals sets you’ll know

how long that takes!

Ultimately the goal of my research is to obtain results that I can publish in a scientific journal; I’m working on this right now and, believe me, it’s tricky. As well as actually making the compound I need, I have to repeat making it to prove that it’s possible, and take dozens of different measurements of its properties to make abolutely sure that it is what I think it is.

Once all this is done and polished into a final article (which is only a few pages long), it will be submitted for peer review; this is essentially where other academics poke at your work with sticks while humming and hawing over whether all of your theories are watertight. If it gets accepted into the journal it will be published — in several months, or even up to a year. Repeat this process for several more years and eventually you’ll gain enough letters after your name to become a professor.

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Comment Experience

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Thursday 25th February 2016| PALATINATE

Experience: Christian unity in Durham Bryony Parkinson reflects on life as a Christian at Durham University Bryony Parkinson

Before I started university I was presented with a tonne of well-meaning, if paradoxical, advice from friends and family on How To Be A Christian At University. For some, it was a matter of survival. I was warned of the evils of hedonistic student culture; with any luck, I would be able to escape with a shred of my faith intact. On the other hand, I was urged to avoid the “Christian Bubble”, to shun the “holy huddle” which I could potentially get sucked into. To be honest, well-intentioned though this advice was, I feel I have not been in any danger of falling into either of those categories.

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I love that Durham is a place where people are tolerant and accepting of a variety of views

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Church is definitely one of the key facets of being a Christian in Durham. Durham is blessed to have a variety of churches to choose from, and it was quite a difficult decision to pick just one to commit to. All of them are so welcoming and God-focused.

One of the things I love about being a Christian is the readymade family you have all over the world: church is not a building - it’s a community. It is not a ‘museum for saints’- it is a ‘hospital for the broken’ , and it is where I find total love and acceptance.

The Christian Union (CU) is another major aspect of practising my faith at Uni (I know it sounds like I’m stuck in the Bubble, but bear with me). I love how inclusive the

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CU is - it doesnt matter which church you go to, whether

Church is not a “museum of saints” - it is a “hospital of the broken”

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you’ve been a Christian for ten years or ten days, or whether you’re a third year Theology student at John’s or a first year studying Anthropology at Collingwood (yours truly). The CU is an amazing picture of what unity in the church should look like. And I love the way they love. From Text-a-Toastie to Club Mission the CU pulls out all the stops to show God’s love to every student in Durham. The main question I get asked is definitely “why does the CU always have free food?” I suppose it does seem quite suspicious, but I’ve come to realise that it’s not a trap or a clever marketing strategy to lure people to events before trying to shove Jesus down their throats with a cheese toastie, like some kind of medicine.

Everyone who I’ve met just wants to bless the people around them and share the story of Jesus’ amazing sacrifice openly and honestly. My faith has grown so much from being surrounded by people my own age with such a passion for God. Outside of church and the CU, I’ve found most people to be open to the fact that I am a Christian, and happy for me to share my faith with them. I love that Durham is a place where people are tolerant and accepting of a variety of views, and I’ve appreciated the discussions I’ve had with some of my friends.

This week, in the build up to ‘Story’, I’ve been wearing a jumper advertising it (yes,

CU has stash too). I’ve been really challenged by this: it’s

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Durham isn’t a place of all decadent hedonism, but nor is it a place where I can just hide behind church doors

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one thing to confess to a small group of friends that you are, in fact, a follower of Jesus. It’s

quite another to walk around town publicizing that fact to all and sundry - it feels as though I have a neon sign above my head announcing “I’m a Christian!” But it’s been fantastic, and some great conversations have come out it.

So overall, I’ve found being a Christian in Durham great.

I’ve decided that Durham isn’t a place of all decadent hedonism (what a relief), but nor is it a place where I can just hide behind church doors. I’m grateful for all my Christian friends for encouraging me and helping me to grow, and I’m also grateful for my nonChristian friends for challenging me and being so supportive when I try and explain my beliefs to them (thanks

guys). Most of all, coming here has made me consider not just how to be a Christian at Durham, but why I am still a Christian at all. And the answer that I’ve found so far is because God is still God here in Durham; He’s still with me and He’s still revealing His love to me. I know that even if I’d found being a Christian in Durham really difficult, those things would still be true. And that’s the best bit of all.

Illustration: Kenzo Ishida

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National Comment

Sugar daddies: a positive alternative to student loans?

Zoë Boothby

Seeking Arrangements, the world’s most popular ‘Sugar Daddies’ website, apparently now has 250,000 UK students as members. This 40 per cent hike in predominately young women signing up as ‘sugar babies’ has been attributed to the tripling of tuition fees from 2011. Many have asked the question of whether or not becoming a sugar baby is an acceptable way to fund one’s education. Yet, when people have been paid upwards of £200 to go for a drink with someone, it is easy to see why this lifestyle attracts so many. If an individual is willing to offer such a sum for a platonic activity, and someone is tempted, why should they not be at liberty to accept?

The phenomenon of sugar

daddies is nothing new, but technology has only helped to facilitate the craze: it has never been easier to find that someone special (read: rich) to accommodate for that jetset lifestyle you crave. Yet, it is not just girls getting in on the action; the increase in successful, independent middle-aged women has meant that Sugar Mummies have also been on the rise. As usual, however, the media’s judgment of sugar babies is more often aimed at young women than men, and any moral analysis of the implications of such relationships look almost exclusively at sugar daddies and their partners.

Of course, these websites should absolutely not be a substitute for adequate student finance. No student should be forced to become financially dependent on one of these sites. Should this be the case, this would only serve to highlight the failure of the state

to support its young people.

However, it seems unlikely that there is any definitive correlation between economic insecurity and association with the sugar daddy world: the UK universities with the highest participation in such dating apps include Cambridge, Bristol and St. Andrews, whose student populations are amongst the most privileged in the country.

Seeking Arrangements have reported that 56% of its sugar babies come from middle and upper-class families.

This is perhaps more of an issue in the United States, where Seeking Arrangements have created spin-off projects such as ‘Sugar Baby University’, which encourages Sugar Daddies to act as ‘benefactors’ and aid in tuition payments. However, the exchanges are more often luxurious than functional, where sugar babies are gifted designer clothes, visits to fancy restaurants or five-star

holidays . Whilst there are certainly patriarchal dimensions to an older man gifting a young woman a ‘weekly allowance’, it is the woman’s prerogative to decide to accept such payments as a means of supporting herself.

It seems important to maintain the distinction with prostitution: these relationships are not necessarily sexual, and the nature of such can be any number of things. Young women who sign up for these websites can state on their profiles if they are unwilling to engage in sexual activities, and many men are more interested in companionship: many sugar babies have been asked to simply keep a recent divorcee or widower company.

There are several safety issues which arise when considering any website of this kind, and it needs to be ensured that they are regulated and entirely safe for use. Because of the na-

ture of the sites, I do think that companies should be making more of a concerted effort to monitor online activity and conversations to ensure that no sugar baby is coerced into anything they don’t want to do.

The websites do advise users on safety issues, and encourage them to report any inappropriate behavior, but, as with all forms of social media, this could be done more emphatically.

Ultimately, this is an issue of choice: a lot of people who oppose the online sugar daddy trend seem to neglect the fact that it is the young women themselves who choose to sign up. Permitting that the website promotes safe and consensual arrangements between people, and as long as the sugar baby dictates the terms of the relationship, why should there be any issue? It does seem an attractive alternative to student loans.

Labour should pay attention to prisons Whilst Gove is attempting to rescue our prison system, Lord Falconer is missing in action Adam Cunnane

Fun quiz question for you. Who is the Shadow Justice Minister? I could (but won’t) offer a generous prize to the winner, such is my surety that very few people would be able to tell me his name. Prior to writing this article, I certainly couldn’t. And this seems to me quite odd; how is this person slipping under the radar?

Go on then; our Shadow Justice Minister is Lord Falconer.

Sure to score zero points on a future episode of Pointless that asks you to name Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet. Indeed, whilst Michael Gove is attempting to rescue our prison system from the quicksand of government apathy and narrow-mindedness in which it has become mired, it seems that Lord Falconer is missing in action.

A quick Google search and use of autocomplete (hardly a

bastion of impartiality, I know), suggests that Lord Falconer has been struggling to make this role his own. Gove, unlike Falconer, has begun to create an association between himself and justice within the popular consciousness: the fifth most common search for his name links him to the Ministry of Justice.

As Gove is burning down the city, and seeking to replace it with a new, more efficient system, Lord Falconer is fiddling as it burns. His criticisms of Gove’s recent policies have been apathetic and lazy. Yet to understand them, we perhaps first need to understand what Gove is proposing. As I mentioned in a previous article (19th November 2015), 46% of prisoners will reoffend before a year is out. Cameron thus argued in a recent speech to the Policy Exchange that “people’s life chances are most absent” within prisons. To combat this, Gove intends to introduce “reform prisons” that will al-

low new initiatives, seeking to bring down reoffending rates.

Moreover, for younger prisoners, YOIs (Young Offenders Institutions) will be replaced with secure academies that will put greater focus on education, as opposed to punishment.

This reorientation of purpose, by giving prisoners something to work towards, will hopefully liberate them from the vicious cycle of reoffending.

Gove thankfully does not intend to stop there. Cameron has informed us that there is a minimum of one suicide and “almost 600 incidents of selfharm” within prisons every week. With 49% of prisoners suffering from mental health problems, Gove will aim to remove those who are seriously ill, whilst governors will be encouraged to work with the NHS to better meet the needs of mentally ill prisoners. Thus, Gove has identified the main problems within our prison system, and his wide-ranging reforms will surely increase

the the potential of prisoners to make the most of their life upon release.

But…hold the front door.

Drifting in and out of the shadows, Lord Falconer has eventually come forward with some constructive criticisms. This should be good. What flaw has he unearthed within Gove’s plans, which will see the whole edifice come crumbling down?

I knew those Tories were too good to be true; they only pretend to care, right? Yet, Falconer’s official announcement about the reforms was petty and uninteresting. Though he did condemn overcrowding, which was constructive in a sense, he tried to imbue the reforms with a sense of scepticism. He argued that “we have heard similar promises before [from the coalition]” and, given that the previous government failed to deliver a “rehabilitation revolution”, it is unlikely that this government will do so. However, this seems to me like a logical fallacy; we cannot

conflate the policies of Chris Grayling, the former Justice Minister, with those of Michael Gove. They are clearly diametrically opposed, and Lord Falconer knows this. Gove’s desire to reform contrasts totally with anything advocated by his predecessor. What’s more, this argument merely serves to blur the very important issues that Gove has been raising.

Lord Falconer needs to gain authority in his new role quickly.

Gary Copson and Laura Bates in recent articles have suggested the importance of dealing with prison literacy and the neglect of domestic and sexual violence services within prisons.

Areas such as the enfranchisement of prisoners or prison drug problems are something else Falconer could be focussing on. If Labour is perhaps destined to slowly fade away, I would urge them, and Falconer, in the words of Dylan Thomas, not to go gentle into the good night. Go down fighting.

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Thursday 25th February 2016| PALATINATE

Discrimination at UK Universities Lynn Ng argues for a rethink on how we view ethnic discrimination

Lynn Ng

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, has publicly announced his disdain for the obvious ethnic and racial discrimination at elite UK universities. Following this, new laws that require universities to publish the breakdown of their intake by ethnic make-up will be put in place soon.

This is indeed a firm step forward, as requiring universities to make such data public will alert the public to the severe underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in elite institutions. There is a danger, however, of falling into old traps, as it is likely that we will conflate the presence of such laws with actual racial justice.

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You have to be non-British to truly understand the presence of such stereotypes in the lives of those who regularly encounter it

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I argue that the new laws appear to be somewhat revolutionary, if you like, but that we may end up doing little for the chances of ethnic minorities of attaining an elite education.

History has shown us time and again that the world is increasingly dominated by corporations: many a time even the state finds itself in a subordinate position compared to private firms and pro-capitalist pressures.

The fact that Oxford has not hesitated to show their disapproval of the new law perhaps reflects wider racism in the UK education system, as much as we might not want to admit it. For their 2014 intake, Oxford only took in 27 black students out of a total intake of more than 2500 students. This sentence itself sends shock waves: for an in-

stitution considered as Britain’s epitome of elite education to display such a plain unwillingness to admit black students ultimately contributes to a harmful promotion of undesirable stereotypes about particular groups of people.

It seems to me that the new law is inadequate in the sense that it does not do justice to the complexity of ethnic discrimination at UK universities, and this includes our very own Durham. International students from beyond the European Union may very well fit into the criteria of ethnic minorities, and those of Asian and Chinese ancestry in particular form the largest group. As a Singaporean in Durham, I do get the sense that stereotypes of Asians are at play here, as many tend to associate us with hard work and good grades, contrary to popular portrayals of black people.

I do not wish to ascribe blame to anyone here, but the fact is that in a place like Durham, you have to be non-British to truly understand the presence of such stereotypes in the lives of those who regularly encounter it. Many fellow students laugh it off, saying their comments are harmless jokes, and I agree to the extent that every society has its own “harmless jokes” about other people not like them. But on the other hand, such jokes do a good job of reflecting a society’s general attitude towards minorities and where they ought to stand in their mental hierarchy.

To me it seems that, for both asian and black students at least, both are being racialised but in different ways. The former in a “good” way that gains them higher chances of a place at elite schools, and the latter in a more detrimental way that reduces their chances at upward social mobility.

The new law in my opinion may not work well for black people, and I hate to say this, but I will not be surprised if most people look at a university’s breakdown, feel satisfied with the huge presence of Asians and somehow ignore those of African, Caribbean or related ancestries with darker skin. Ethnic discrimination in universities is not simply a matter of categorising minorities as discriminated by the British system, for within the “minorities” category there are clearly plenty of nuances as well.

In this sense, the new law is very much like Obama’s presidency in the United States: full of promise

and hope for a post-racial future, but ultimately failing to achieve its intended target. The law may very well continue to subscribe to a cultural hierarchy of ethnicities such that certain ethnicities like the Chinese may be favoured over Africans, something that is ever so common in the US for example.

It is not as simple as forcing schools to disclose the ethnic break-

“

Discrimination is not simply a matter of categorising minorities as discriminated by the British system

”

down of their intake, for it is very easy to use an absolute increase in the intake of minorities to produce an illusion of impartiality. Oxford defends itself by saying that it has already had a 15% increase in intake of ethnic minorities year on year.

However, if the original number of minorities accepted was not great, this percentage only sounds like a significant improvement without actually being one (eg. 15% increase on 27 black students is rather insignificant). The mode of presentation of the breakdown is also important as numbers can be misleading.

More helpful would be if the new laws actually made it compulsory for universities to align their intake such that minorities are given a proportionate representation.

Despite all this, the new law should be interpreted with optimism as it does pledge some promise at reducing ethnic discrimination, no matter how incremental. It may fall into old traps as it pretends to do justice to ethnic minorities, but at least there is such a measure

in place and a new platform for minorities to speak up for themselves.

Furthermore, the above trends do not just apply to Durham and other UK institutions, but the global order itself. Such structures of ethnic discrimination are internalized in almost every aspect of social life in many countries, and looking at the Ivy League in the US, it is apparent that ethnic discrimination does not just proliferate here.

The UK may not have that serious a case of discrimination as to have produced a spate of black shootings, but what elite schools are doing is simply a non-violent method of the same type of discrimination. In this regard, the new laws are baby steps in this marathon.

Illustration: Kenzo Ishida

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How a Durham bookshop owner helped to lead Jeremy Corbyn to Labour Leader Oliver Mawhinney Profile Editor It was the political blockbuster of the summer: how Jeremy Corbyn, a socialist outsider, emerged victorious as the leader of the Labour Party.

It was a monumental effort which traversed rallies, demonstrations and meeting rooms across the country. However, Ben Sellers is in a better place than most to assert the importance of social media to Corbyn’s campaign, which on average reached three to four million people a week.

Sellers, who has ran the radical, independent People’s Bookshop in Saddler Street since 2011, was one of the social media organisers who underpinned Corbyn’s campaign.

Sellers, who only rejoined the Labour Party in 2008 while working for the Trade Union Congress (TUC), says: “I always had this sense that there was this untapped resource, and around the same time I started doing some campaigning with the TUC around social media. I was also meeting quite regularly with people like John McDonnell.

“Starting to understand social me-

dia as a campaign tool, the Labour left involvement came together under the Red Labour project. I came together with a few people, and we started to do some campaigning which was targeted inside the party but also looking outside, to try and attract people back to the party”.

Through the Red Labour project, Sellers, alongside an ilk of fellow committed activists, built a reputation for extensive campaigning. This led to long-time ally of Corbyn, John McDonnell, reaching out to Sellers following the decision that Corbyn would run for leader.

“He immedietly got on the phone to us and said ‘I know about the things you’ve done with Red Labour.

Is there any chance you could drop things for a week and help get Jeremy on the ballot?”

Sellers concedes: “A lot of us weren’t all that conviced that Jeremy would agree to do it and be the leadership candidate needed.”

However, he rejoices in the obtainment of 35 nominations from MPs, which ensured that Corbyn got onto the ballot for the vote, and his eventual victory: “I’m not claiming that other parts of the campaigns weren’t impor-

tant. But without social media, I don’t think there is any way that we would have got Jeremy on the ballot, because of the direct contact people had with those MPs. During the campaign itself, social media was able to have a reach far wider than anything we would have done if we relied on the traditional campaign.

“It would have taken us right to the end of the campaign to get to where we got in a week, thanks to social media. Social media just accelerates things so much so that you can get to your end point so much quicker than if you relied on traditional campaigning methods.

Corbyn did not simply just win.

He achieved one of the most comprehensive and convincing landslides in the history of Labour Party elections.

I subsequently ask Sellers why people perceived their social media campaign as more inspiring than that of the other candidates. ““All the other campaigns were quite corporate looking, Andy Burnham was particularly - it was pretty grey and I think he could have been a lot bolder. He was probably the closest in terms of his politics, but their social media was incredibly safe and they

polices that don’t coincide with one’s own convictions. And what about leaving the party, which he did in 2001, saying he ‘wanted to devote more time to politics’? No regrets apparently, apart from in his constituency, Chesterfield. Now with more time on his hands he’s able to reach a greater audience.

Was his decision to leave linked to the Blairite reforms of the party?

And did he see it coming?

He claims not for the former, though I sense this may be a little white lie. But he knew the changes were coming: “Since Kinnock, it was clear that they were trying to change the party”. Clearly not for the better, from Benn’s point of view.

Asked about the changes to the party (and the more general shift to the Right in politics) he lays the blame firmly at the door of Regan and Thatcher who “set out to destroy the union movement”, a movement to which Benn is strongly attached, supporting miners’ strikes in the Eighties.

Is he surprised, then, about the Gate Gorumet strikes, which caused BA’s crisis over the summer? Not in the slightest, and although he “can’t condone wildcat action”, he says this with a twinkle in his eye which suggests amused satisfaction.

Why weren’t Labour on the union’s side? He affirms, lighting his pipe, that Labour are “a Thatcherite government, supporting the market and not the person.”

Gate Gourmet workers were merely defending themselves from BA job- and wage- cutting through direct action because the government isn’t doing it through mediation and legislation.

At the mention of direct action I took the opportunity to bring up the war, asking what he made of the public response to the Iraq invasion.

“It shows how powerful people can be when they unite as a movement to challenge government”, he says.

I push the issue further, suggesting that it didn’t really make a difference and so surely was a wasted effort.

Apparently not at all: “These things take time”, he says. “How long did it take for women to get the vote?

How long for racial equality in US and the end of apartheid in South Africa?”

What the protests have done, says Benn, is set a precedent. While these social changes don’t happen overnight, the government wouldn’t dare further harming its chances of re-election by going to war in Iran, for example.

Does he think we have a moral

didn’t want to start debates.

“The campaign wasn’t just about the debates. It was all about trying to get people to join as supporters, or full members, and to make people vote. That side of it wasn’t as exciting - we had a campaign that reminded people to register and those things had to be done everyday. You sometimes felt like you were just churning them out”. The campaign was also responsible for permeating one of the slogans of the summer: #jezwecan which penetrated the twitterpshere like wildfire (much like our very own #readpalatinate). Sellers laughs: “It was a joke actually. We put out a message with #jezwecan and it just took off, it wasn’t intended to be the campaign slogan. We actually said we wanted something which wasn’t like Obama’s campaign. When this guy who was a councillor who ended up not supporting Corbyn sent it to us as a private message we put it up straightaway with credit to him and he texted us about five minutes later saying, “Please don’t put my name to it, I haven’t decided how to vote yet!”

“I suppose that even though the slogan was a bit cheesy, it showed that we could do this. People said

Corbyn was this complete outsider, but we were actually starting to make progress, so the slogan took on more importance as we went on in the campaign.”

Sellers now acts as Social Media Coordinator for the Jeremy Corbyn for PM campaign, and his presence is pertinent as we near 200 hundred days of Corbyn’s leadership: “We expected it to be really difficult, but it is still a shock, particularly the hostility from the press. There have also been more problems within the party than people anticipated.”

However, Sellers concludes by painting a more positive, albeit uncertain future for the Corbyn-led Labour Party: “There have been some significant victories.

“We won’t survive unless we are very positively bold about policies that people relate to and are interested in. I’ve seen some positive signs since Christmas that we are beginning to change the debate. If we want to win in 2020 we must build a huge campaign. Drawing on the campaigns by Obama and Bernie Sanders, it has to be this huge social movement. It won’t be like a traditional campaign, it has to be really ambitious.”

From the archive October 2005: Palatinate interviews Tony Benn Chris Beal The prospect of interviewing one of the British Left’s most venerated figures is, I must admit, somewhat daunting.

A man known for his radical ideas and combative, pro-union stance was, I thought, likely to leave no holds barred even when being interviewed by this young journalist wannabee. Surely, at eighty, he must have mellowed and prefer casual chitchat to political rumblings?

Apparently not. Not a word of unsubstantiated diatribe nor a moment of dullness to be found. Benn was more on the ball than anyone you’ll see on the front bench of either main party.

I was left in no doubt as to the man’s breath of political knowledge.

When asked whether he regretted not joining a more radical Leftist party (as opposed to remaining a radical voice in the Labour Party), he proceeded to name at least fifteen different socialist parties, before opining that “there are an awful lot of socialist parties and not a great deal of socialists.” Quite.

Compromise and consensus, he feel, are important qualities in any party, even when one must accept

duty to stay in Iraq, now we’ve devastated their economy and infrastructure? Categorically no, says Benn: “We should leave the rebuilding of Iraq to those who aren’t intent on exploiting the country, namely the Iraqis. It’s not a moral issue for the US, though. It’s all about oil, and always has been. Everything is. When I heard about them going to the moon again [new plans for the US moon missions were unveiled that day], I though there must be oil there!”

Benn is similarly pragmatic about the role of the UN in the conflict.

When I suggest that they should have played a stronger role, he agrees, but swiftly defends the organisation, again, using a historical frame of reference to make his point: “Of course they should have been more involved but I think you could say that the UN is where our Parliament was two hundred years ago; a long way to go. As I said earlier these things take time.”

He describes himself as “a bit of a world Parliament man”, so perhaps this what he envisages. We discuss the Security council; namely the obsolete presence of the UK and France. India and China are the big players now, Benn notes, and he predicts similar developments for African nations in the near future.

There is certainlty an element of controversy to Benn. Famously born 2nd Viscount Stansgate, a lord, (he fought to permit a Bill allowing Lords to revoke their status and serve in the Commons), he tells me that the monarchy and Parliament itself is antiquated. We need a Republic simply because it is a better mechanism for preventing concentration of power in the hands of one person.

And when I ask his opinion on anti-terror legislation, his disgust and indignation is not forced; if anything, it is toned down: “They’re just taking away our civil liberties”, he exclaims.

He goes on to voice his pleasure at the recent Lords’ decision to defend the right of Brian Haw to protest against the Iraq war on Parliament Square.

Before I left, I asked Benn for tips on any up-and-coming MPs who may take on his mantle as the radical voice within the Labour Party: “One politician doesn’t make any difference, it’s about social movements, about people uniting on common issues and making a stand”.

On being a household name, Benn said, “Oh, I’ve done nothing special.”

Famous, outspoken, humble… modest too, it seems.

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Thursday 25th February 2016 | PALATINATE

Gemma Collis : the inspirationa

In 2012, Durham University student Gemma Collis overcame her b don Paralympic Games. Now on the Road to Rio and with Matt Roberts Deputy Sport Editor

Aged seven, Gemma Collis sat mesmerised watching Cathy Freeman win gold at her home Games. “If I ever get there, I’ll get a tattoo to commemorate the achievement,” she told her dad.

While many people wouldn’t flinch at the thought of getting inked, for the needle-phobic Gemma it would be a significant challenge and a mark of just how much sport means to her.

From a young age, Gemma was obssessed with sport and naturally gifted. Growing up in Buckinghamshire, she figure-skated at a national level, played county level hockey and was district 100m champion and double county champion in the triple jump by the age of 15.

However in 2008, while competing for her school in an athletics Championships, Gemma’s life changed forever.

After experiencing severe pain in her ankle after a jump, Gemma was unable to walk unaided.

Little did she know, her trip to the doctor the next day would mark the beginning of two years laden with misdiagnoses, excruciating pain and a series of unsuccessful treatments.

Eventually, Gemma was told that she had a rare condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome).

RSD is a chronic neuro-inflammatory disorder that occurs when the nervous system and the immune system malfunction as they respond to tissue damage from trauma.

In Gemma’s case, this was caused by the injury to her ankle and she experiences altered sensation and extreme pain in her right leg.

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I woke up in the most intense and breath-taking pain I’d ever been in.

I was lying there, crying for hours.

“Even to touch my leg with a feather is painful,” Gemma explains.

“It sounds ridiculous but at the time I couldn’t even get a sock on that foot.”

“Everything I was doing in my life was based around not touching that leg. The syndrome is rated as the most painful thing you can experience, even more painful than childbirth.”

For 16-year-old Gemma, such a diagnosis surely signalled a bleak future. For most people, being told you will spend the rest of your life on crutches or in a wheelchair would be a big deal. For the previously athletic and active Gemma, it was heartbreaking.

Initially, doctors considered Gemma a good candidate for treatment due to her age. But as she explains, “Nothing worked – we tried treatment after treatment and were always disappointed.

“The last thing I had was a small back operation. A chemical was put on one of the nerves in my back, with the intention of burning through it so that the nerve signals couldn’t get to my brain and the idea was that it would stop the pain.

“I woke up in the most intense and breath-taking pain I had ever been in. I was lying there, crying for hours.

My dad was with me and I remember holding his hand and saying ‘I can’t do this anymore’. I’d never felt so utterly hopeless. That was the last chance saloon and it hadn’t worked.

“It took me a really long time to get over that. I felt like everything had been taken away from me. I could no longer do what I was passionate about. I’d lost my identity and confidence.”

It was at this juncture that Gemma’s life began to change again, for the better, in the form of three separate moments of inspiration.

The first came from her father, a constant positive influence on her life. “He’s always said you have to think about a sphere of influence; to only worry about things you can change. That’s very much his attitude to life.”

Gemma decided to find ways of getting involved with sport and began volunteering and coaching.

It was through a volunteer programme that she discovered disability sport. While working at the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships, Gemma flicked through the tournament programme and was astonished to find that an Australian competitor had her condition.

“Straightaway, I decided to get back into sport. I got myself down to the local wheelchair basketball club and absolutely loved it. Crashing into

people at top speed and being aggressive was perfect, exactly what I needed. It helped me get my confidence back again, I began to feel like the old Gemma.”

The provider of the final piece of motivation which would ultimately propel Gemma to international competition was Steve Brown, the GB wheelchair rugby captain.

His insight that it took the loss of two thirds of his body to make the most of his remaining third, struck a chord with Gemma who had to learn to live with what she couldn’t rise above.

“Ever since I’d got my disability I’d been thinking about what I couldn’t

do because of my leg, rather than thinking about the fact that I still had my left leg, my arms and the rest of my body.

“That one thing Steve said changed my life to a certain extent. It changed how I looked at my disability and, to this day, it inspires me.”

Suddenly, the dream of going to a Games was reignited. Gemma could see the possibility of becoming an elite athlete in spite of her disability.

Just nine months after first playing wheelchair basketball, Gemma was representing Wales and had her sights set on representing Great Britain. It was a fast rise and it wouldn’t be her last.

“It wasn’t until I came to Durham in 2011 that I discovered wheelchair fencing.

“I was playing basketball and this man came over and introduced himself as László Jakab, the GB Wheelchair Fencing coach, and asked if I wanted to try the sport. I was initially hesitant as I knew that the chairs were static and I honestly thought it was going to be tactical, boring and slow. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s so, so fast.

“The only thing in sport that moves faster than the tip of a fencing sword is a bullet and you really do notice that in wheelchair fencing, probably more so than in able-bodied fencing

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PALATINATE | Thursday 25th February 2016

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al story of a disabilty conquered

battle with adversity to compete as a wheelchair fencer at the Lonh her law degree on hold, Gemma tells her moving story felt in a long time.

“I could barely believe it! I pretty much hopped round my room dancing. It was a massive high. It meant that I was going to fulfil that lifetime goal of going to a Games. It was absolutely amazing.

“Competing in London was an incredible experience. I had all my family and friends there. I could feel the ground shake when I scored a hit.

“There were all these people cheering for me. I had no idea who they were, they probably didn’t know who I was, but I was in the British team so they wanted me to win!

“In the public areas, people would bombard me for autographs. It was surreal. I hadn’t prepared an autograph, the first one I did was just my signature with ‘Epée’ underneath and it’s stayed that way ever since.”

They say it rains the hardest on people who deserve the sun. When it comes to Gemma Collis, that saying is particularly poignant. Despite having had more than her fair share of bad luck, Gemma was to experience even more in 2013.

“At the start of the year, I had a large period out with a back injury and, before it healed, I got seriously ill. Basically, my stomach stopped working properly. Just taking a sip of

water was excruciating and within seven days of first feeling pain, I was admitted to hospital.

“I was unable to eat or drink anything, it was getting dangerous and I was losing a lot of weight. I was in hospital for two and a bit months.

Essentially, my nerves have malfunctioned and now, when my stomach is stretched or touched by food and drink, it’s incredibly painful.

“I had to have a feeding tube inserted directly into my stomach to get adequate fluid and nutrition.

When I eventually came out of hospital, I had to be connected to my food pump for sixteen hours in order to get even two thirds of the calories I needed for the day.

“At that point, I thought I’d be lucky to be fencing within twelve months.

I’d lost three-and-a-half stone and I just couldn’t see how I was going to fence with a tube. For starters, if it got knocked out, I’d be in serious trouble and it would be a medical emergency.

“I just spent time on the sofa recuperating. But towards the end of the year I fancied picking up a sword again. So I thought I’d go and hit a target.

“If I’m honest, it’s not my favourite part of training because it doesn’t fight back and can be quite monotonous. I expected to last five minutes but three hours later I was still sat there hitting the target. I was loving it!”

Since then, Gemma, who still uses the gastro tube for nutrition and hydration, has competed regularly and well in qualification.

In May 2014 she won her first World Cup medal and she backed that up with another one in October of the same year.

We are speaking just days after Gemma has returned from a Rio 2016 qualifying event in Hungary, where she finished fifth.

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The only thing in sport that moves faster than the tip of a fencing sword is a bullet.

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because of the set distance. I love the fact that’s it’s like a physical game of chess. Not only have you got to be physically faster and technically better than your opponent, you’ve also got to outwit them and think a few steps ahead.”

If Gemma’s rise in basketball had been fast, her rise in fencing was meteoric. Within three months she was in the GB senior team and ten months after picking up a sword for the first time she was competing in London at the 2012 Paralympic Games as part of the women’s Team Epée.

Her achievements in the sport are made all the more impressive by the fact that her arm length is one of the shortest on the international circuit, putting her at a significant physical disadvantage.

“I never imagined that things would progress so quickly. But, because I go into everything full throttle, I decided that I was going to be the best at fencing and do everything I could to make that happen. I spent every night training at the Salle with László.”

After winning a domestic event in Nottingham, Gemma received an email to confirm that she had been picked for the Games. After years of suffering, it was the happiest she had

“It wasn’t my best ever result but I was behind three Chinese fencers, who are the standard bearers in our sport. Finishing above the likes of Yu Chui Yee, the seven-time Paralympic champion, means I would rank it on a par with my World Cup medals.”

With February 2016 marking the eighteenth month of the gruelling Rio qualification process, Gemma,

who is completely unfunded following UK Sport’s cuts after London 2012, is currently ninth in the standings and on the cusp of making her second consecutive Paralympics.

“There are two competitions left to try and guarantee a spot but it will be June or July before I know for sure.

I’ll be sad if I don’t make it but looking back on everything that’s happened over the last four years, I think I should be proud of where I am.”

With female fencers typically medalling in their early thirties, Gemma, at just 23, has time on her side.

On winning the BBC North East Sportsperson of the Year award, Gemma said she was “surprised” and “honoured” to have won, having been nominated alongside people who had done some “absolutely incredible things.”

It was hard not to smile at this typically modest answer. In the face of cruel hardship, Gemma has fought to live the dream she believed in and she’s worthy of our respect and admiration.

Talking to her, it’s impossible not to be inspired by Gemma’s positivity and strength. This is someone who doesn’t see her disability as an impenetrable barrier, but as a hurdle to overcome.

The next obstacle to topple? Her fear of needles, having still not got that tattoo she promised her dad all those years ago.

Sport

Gemma Collis Interview

Thursday 25th February 2016 | PALATINATE

Palatinate Sport chats to London 2012 Paralympian Gemma Collis who discusses her serious injury and illness, as well as her fortuitous introduction to fencing and her quest to compete at Rio 2016.

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Griffiths leaps for glory in DU Gymnasts’ finest hour Kieran Moriarty Sport Editor

Gemma Collis competed as part of the women’s Team Epee trio that finished in 8th place at London 2012 Photograph: Gemma Collis

Durham colleges look to make it three in a row against York Kieran Moriarty Sport Editor

urham A selection of Durham’s best college sports teams will be travelling to York on Sunday 28th February to defend the university’s title in the Durham vs York College Varsity.

Competing across 13 different sports in A and B fixtures, every Durham college will field at least one sports team to face a team from a York college.

The Palatinates will be looking to maintain their unbeaten record in this competition after winning the previous two encounters, the latter being a comprehensive 60-36 victory over their York rivals.

The proceedings commence at 10am with a glut of fixtures across a variety of sports. Collingwood and Mary’s play Halifax and Langwith respectively, while the amalgamated team of Castle and Cuthbert’s

will be looking to get Durham’s day off to a winning start in the B Women’s 7s Rugby fixture.

At the same time, Women’s Football kicks off with Premiership title contenders Grey A and Josephine Butler A in action against Alcuin and Vanbrugh.

As the morning progresses, B fixtures will be played in Basketball, Squash, Hockey and Men’s Rugby, offering fans quite the range of sports to spectate upon.

However by midday, the big A Team clashes appear in the timetable, beginning with Derwent vs Ustinov in Men’s Basketball and another alliance act, as ‘Milbut’ take on another York college in the Women’s 7s Rugby.

After lunch, the headline fixtures come thick and fast. Grey A will be looking to overcome James in Netball, while Collingwood will be looking to do likewise on the squash court in their A fixture.

In the Men’s Rugby, Aidan’s A

will hope to emulate the incredible performance of Collingwood, who thrashed James 65-9 in this fixture last year.

At the same time, Castle A will represent Durham in the Men’s Football A fixture against Halifax, coinciding with Hatfield’s encounter with Goodricke in the Mixed Hockey A Game.

In the late afternoon fixtures, the contest will surely be determined by the outcomes of the A fixtures in Hockey, Badminton and Volleyball.

However, as last year proved, the Varsity might not be settled on the pitch but instead on the oche.

Last year, it was Josephine Butler who sealed Durham’s Varsity victory, with their winning darts doubles against Langwith.

This time around, the responsibility of rounding the day off and potentially bringing the title home falls upon Castle A and Trevelyan A, with both matches beginning at 6pm.

Each year, the Durham vs York

college Varsity has expanded and become even better.

The event at Maiden Castle in 2015 was a resounding success and York will have a lot to do as hosts to reproduce the raucous carnival-esque atmosphere.

The Varsity is an excellent opportunity for college sport players to sample the life of a university sports athlete; representing the Palatinates against a rival institution.

Here’s hoping that Durham’s college teams can make it a hat-trick of victories.

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Durham University Gymnastics Club have been literally jumping with joy on account of their recent success.

Competing at the BUCS Gymnastics Championships on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th February, the Palatinates’ 22-man team had some notably high overall place finishes in both the men and women’s group, which meant they took some silverware home with them.

The Championships’ format saw athletes compete across a variety of grades and routines.

In the men’s division, Matthew Griffiths was the standout performer in the Grade 3 tier which had over 35 competitors.

Griffiths won 1st place on vault and 2nd on floor.

The combination of these exemplary displays saw him take a welldeserved 2nd place overall on the day for his tier, while also bringing home some silverware.

In the women’s team, Billie Mackenzie finished as Durham’s highest ranked female athlete, competing in the Grade 2 tier with over 70 competitors.

Strong performances in the other disciplines ensured that she secured a 4th place overall in her tier.

Libby Rose, another gymnast who excelled in the Grade 2 division, finished close behind Mackenzie in 6th place overall and with an impressive 3rd placing on vault.

In the Grade 3 tier, four was the magic number for Yolande Barker.

In the floor and vault events, Barker finished 4th, resulting in her eventual 4th place finish overall.

Overall, Jennifer Crawford, Emily Ward and Yolande Baker all finished in the top 20 within their tier to round off.

The results at the BUCS Gymnastics Championships demonstrated the growing strength of Team Durham Gymnastics.

Competing in tough groups and against extremely talented athletes, the Palatinates showed that they have the skill to compete.