Palatinate 851 by Palatinate

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Thursday 16th June 2022 | No. 851

Sport rounds up the season for Durham Women

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Politics Predicts returns

Racism, elitism and intimidation Students claim ‘abysmal’ culture in Team Durham club • Players felt unable to raise complaints • Club execs say welfare support insufficient Elizabeth McBride, George Simms and Poppy Askham Students have described a culture of bullying, bigotry and elitism within a Team Durham club. Players and student exec members claim that an institutional lack of accountability and transparency within both the club and the wider Team Durham structure has facilitated harmful practices. Current and former members of the club told Palatinate that they felt they had “no avenue for complaint” regarding incidents of discriminatory behaviours and potential misconduct involving senior members of staff. One student claimed they experienced sustained racist abuse whilst playing for the club, including a coach describing their behaviour during a training session as “so Asian.” Another team member repeatedly shouted “coronavirus” at them during training with no intervention from coaches or other players. The student went on to write their final year dissertation on their experiences of bigotry whilst at the club, but says no member of staff contacted them to investigate the allegations raised in the coursework after it was submitted to Durham University. The student is also currently creating an art installation based on their experience of exclusion within Team Durham. They explained that they felt

they were “not in a position of power so it was super difficult to make a formal complaint” and that they feared being “severely bullied” if they spoke out following experiences of exclusion in their first year at the club. Jeremy Cook, Pro-ViceChancellor (Colleges and Student Experience) told Palatinate, “We have clear policies and procedures by which students can make complaints, and in this case we encourage the students concerned to report them via these routes, so that we can investigate properly and, where appropriate, take swift and decisive action.” “We have a range of support and help for students wishing to make a complaint, including through colleges, departments and the Counselling Service.” However, students told Palatinate they were put off from raising complaints due to intimidatory behaviours or that they were not aware of the appropriate routes through which to do so. Multiple students stated that they felt unable to raise concerns relating to claims in the sporting community of sexual misconduct carried out by a member of staff prior to their employment by Durham University. Current and former student exec members explained to Palatinate that some of Team Durham’s staff members “felt like a gang of cronies” and that they are “very

tight at the top”. One former player said they felt threatened after contacting the team’s social media account to express concerns about a coach’s inappropriate behaviour and students’ treatment within the club. “That instantaneous reaction was not very friendly. It was so confrontational, it was ‘meet with me in private’ [...] it wasn’t a ‘oh, we really want to investigate find out what’s going on’. It wasn’t, ‘do you know something that we don’t?’” Palatinate has seen emails in which, after refusing to meet privately with senior Team Durham staff to discuss the comments made, the student was threatened with referral to the University Student Misconduct Office. They were later blocked from staff and club social media accounts, and took the decision to leave the club entirely. Other concerns about this coach’s conduct became redundant as complainees “didn’t necessarily know who to talk with.” One former Team Durham exec member had worries about the lack of a straightforward complaints procedure: “You have to essentially take a chance, depending on how in the know you are, on what member of staff to email within Team Durham. Explicitly there is no welfare structure.” Continued on page 3

Durham Polling survey. The survey recorded 12 instances of mould, 6 of pests, 12 of water discolouration, 23 of broken appliances, and 15 of unclean facilities across different colleges. University College and Trevelyan College received the largest number of complaints, with seven members of each college experiencing at least one problem.

102 students from eleven colleges participated in the selfselecting survey, which members of all colleges were invited to participate in. 36 respondents said that they had experienced at least one problem with their college accomodation. Students from University College, St Mary’s College, and St Cuthbert’s Society have recounted

Post-exam entertainment returns: the Compass Charity Fashion Show raised money in aid of St Cuthbert’s Hospice. (Lizzie Crowther)

Unsanitary living conditions in college accommodation Laetitia Eichinger News Editor Palatinate has obtained accounts from students who have experienced problems with mould, pests and water discolouration whilst living in college accommodation, with over a third of students experiencing at least one problem according to a

their experiences with mould and damp in college rooms in conversation with Palatinate. A student who lived in University College’s Moatside Court accommodation last academic year (2020/2021) experienced a “horrific amount of mould” that infested their entire accommodation block. “I genuinely feel unwell remembering the severity of it. The

heating was turned down when spring came into bloom, along with the mould in the accommodation. I began coughing constantly and felt very unwell despite being Covid-19 negative. A pattern began to emerge: the more time I spent outside of my accommodation, the less frequently I had sickness bouts.” Continued on page 4

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Editorial Inside 851

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9-11

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13-15

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16-18

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22-24

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Indigo (Rosie Bromiley)

Three harmless words

eflecting on his career in his 2010 memoir, former Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote: “Three harmless words. I look at those words as I write them, and feel like shaking my head til it drops off my shoulders. You idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop.” There are many three words to which Blair could have been referring - ‘the Iraq war’, or perhaps ‘Higher Education marketisation’. Yet it was these three: ‘Freedom of Information’, that brought on this outpouring of self-flagellation. In the decades since the Blair govenrment passed the FoI Act, it has become one of the most powerful weapons in a journalist’s armoury. In the past year, Palatinate’s editors have used the Act to expose the doubling of the attainment gap at Durham University during the pandemic and to reveal the fact that just 54 students followed Covid-19 testing advice. The team’s original investigations and creative use of data are some of the core strengths and represent the cornerstone of our endeavours to hold the University to account wherever necessary. But much to our frustration, this edition holds relatively few examples of FoI-obtained data, due to the recent intensification of the stonewalling attitude of the University’s Orwellian-sounding ‘Information Governance Unit’. Our team is well-versed in the Unit’s frustrating practices. All too frequently FoIs are sent back with the rejection note “information not held”, only for the information to miraculously turn up after a tedious appeal process, but be blocked for yet another reason. The Unit has also long opted to withhold information, without fail, for the statutory maximum time period once a request has been submitted.

Just recently the department adopted a new tactic: aggregation. It means that the Unit considers our editors to be “working in concert” and as a result their requests for information can be treated as though they have come from one person. With public bodies legally allowed to reject similar requests after 18 hours of time is taken to fulfill them, this is deeply troubling. The timer only resets once a quarter, potentially devastating for a fortnightly newspaper. The problems with this approach are boundless, perhaps the most nonsensical being that any student can write for Palatinate. Would the University’s Unit reject any student request if it was suspected to be for Palatinate? What counts as similar? Who draws these distinctions? The answer, it seems, is the Unit itself. The Unit has rejected our attempts to raise these objections, defending its position by arguing that only thematically similar requests are aggregated. This argument falls apart when the breadth of the categorisations is considered. As a result of the University’s new aggregation tactic we are currently unable to request information relating to: “demographic information about the make-up of student body and staff”, “staff/ student misconduct” and most vague of all, “financial information”. These seem deliberately blunt, broad and myopic groupings. With such huge fields for investigation closed off, the scope of our journalistic endeavours is severely hampered. We are left with limited avenues in which to fight this. It will take 20 working days for the University’s Unit to even acknowledge emails appealing their aggregation decisions, while a plea to meet with the department’s officers has been unsuccessful to date. Moreover, referring concerns up

the chain would likely result in a protracted battle. OpenDemocracy recently reported that individuals raising complaints to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the body tasked with holding public bodies to account over FoI protocol, face wait times of up to a year. Responding to our attempts to appeal aggregation decisions, the Unit explained that in the last year “a large volume of FOIA requests has been submitted to the Public Authority”, leaving the Unit overloaded. It is clear that the Information Governance Unit is overstretched, but why should the under-resourcing of the department be used as justification for effectively blocking the capacity for students to report? Surely the question is one of understaffing and under-funding, not of wilfully restricting the student voice? The frustrations of the Palatinate newsroom are a microcosm for the much larger concerns of the wider journalistic community. Earlier this year, OpenDemocracy wrote an open letter warning that the FoI system is being undermined by obstructive behaviours of government departments and the under-resourcing of the ICO office. This comes a year after the “Clearing House” revelation that exposed a government blacklist for handling FoI requests from journalists. It is clear that something needs to change. Too much power is given to public bodies to interpret the law and too few resources are granted to the ICO to hold obstructive bodies accountable. In the short term, we put our faith in the power of the patient and at times, dogged, perseverance of journalists, both student and professional, to keep with the story and overcome the legislative

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shortcomings. The investigations in this edition, carried out largely without the aid of FoIs, are testament to the resourceful minds and tenacity of our editors and their reporters. But to ensure true freedom of information, a radical re-evaluation is needed both within Durham University’s Information Unit and in the statute book. I’d like to take the opportunity, with these, the final words I write as Palatinate Editor-in-Chief, to thank the friends and family members who have been both my sounding boards and support over the last six months. I’d also like to recognise the wonderful colleagues, mentors and friends I have been fortunate enough to gather during my time at the paper, especially Toby and Max who have both taught me so much. My thanks, too to Joe - I leave content in the knowledge Palatinate is in safe hands. Poppy Askham Editor-in-Chief

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

Editors-in-Chief Poppy Askham & Joe Rossiter editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editors Harrison Newsham & Patrick Stephens News Editors Laetitia Eichinger, Elizabeth McBride & Waseem Mohamed news@palatinate.org.uk News Reporters Emily Doughty, Daniel Hodgson, Emily Lipscombe, Louisa Barlow, Sarah Matthews & Tiffany Chan Investigations Editors Lilith Foster-Collins, Frank Kelly & Sam Lake investigations@palatinate.org.uk Satire Editors Ben Lycett & Hannah Williams satire@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editors Elle Fitzgerald-Tesh & Anna Noble comment@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Comment Editors George Pickthorn & Miriam Shelley Profile Editors Ethan Sanitt & Tom Hennessy profile@palatinate.org.uk Science & Technology Editors Cameron McAllister, Caitlin Painter & Will Brown scitech@palatinate.org.uk Politics Editors Maddy Burt & Madeleine Ballay politics@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Politics Editors Eli Rasmussen & Mikhail Korneev Puzzles Editors Thomas Simpson, Hugo Bush & Katie Smith puzzles@palatinate.org.uk Sport Editors George Simms & Abi Curran sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors Harvey Stevens & Mary Atkinson Sport reporters Maddie Parker & Joe Harston Indigo Editors Honor Douglas & Samuel Lopes indigo@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Indigo Editor Nicole Wu Features Editors Isobel Tighe & Miriam Mitchell features@palatinate.org.uk Creative Writing Editors Millie Stott & Ella Al-Khalil Coyle creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk Stage Editors Ben Smart & Saniya Saraf stage@palatinate.org.uk Visual Arts Editors Christian Bland & Cameron Beech visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk Books Editors Imogen Marchant & Ruhee Parelkar books@palatinate.org.uk Style Editors Grace Jessop & Anna Johns fashion@palatinate.org.uk Food & Drink Editors Nia Kile & Emerson Shams food@palatinate.org.uk Travel Editors Gracie Linthwaite & Holly Downes travel@palatinate.org.uk Film & TV Editors Charlotte Grimwade & Grace Marshall film@palatinate.org.uk Music Editor Annabelle Bulag music@palatinate.org.uk Interview Editor Josie Lockwood & Lara Moamar indigo.interview@palatinate.org.uk Photography Editors Lainey Lin, Adeline Zhao & Thomas Tomlinson photography@palatinate.org.uk Illustration Editors Verity Laycock, Adeline Zhao, Rosie Bromiley, Victoria Cheng & Anna Kuptsova illustration@palatinate.org.uk Social Media Officers Felicity Hartley, Georgia Heath & Hannah Davies businessdirector@palatinate.org.uk Advertising Officer Sophie Ritson advertising@palatinate.org.uk Head of Alumni Relations Elena Liciu alumni@palatinate.org.uk Finance Officer Sophie Garnett

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

News

“I don’t feel comfortable going into Maiden Castle anymore” Pro-Vice Chancellor Jeremy Cooke also told Palatinate: “Right across Durham University we are working to build an environment that is respectful and where people feel comfortable to be themselves and to flourish”. “We want all our students to have an inspiring experience at Durham and we take the views and, where they occur, concerns of students very seriously. “Sport has the potential to inspire extraordinary achievements and bring people together. Our sport operations, under Team Durham, are designed to support and enable this, across the three streams of performance, participation and wider community. “We have the highest student sport participation rate of any UK university, and this underpins our performance and community programmes. “Student leaders are very important to the successful running of university sport and we offer a range of mentoring and leadership development support to students in such roles. “Additionally, Team Durham staff are given comprehensive training in supporting students and work closely with colleagues in specialist services to ensure the very best support for student athletes.”

Continued from front The student went on to note that while there is a position specifically for welfare on the Team Durham Vice-President Committee, the position is split between welfare and outdoor sport. They felt that “that committee has had zero contact, zero responsibility this whole year”. Members have claimed they felt unable to make complaints that would be taken seriously – partially due to the lack of a clear procedure to do so. However, Palatinate has also seen emails in which senior members of staff insisted on meeting privately to discuss problems, despite students raising concerns about transparency and asking for staff attendance at general meetings to discuss issues . One student was concerned that “if you did complain you’re always going to need more proof than what you have, because they’re very very skittish about recording in Team Durham”. Several members of the club’s executive committee also alleged that a culture of “elitism” existed between teams and that this was, in many cases, enabled by the behaviour of a senior coach. Students described an attitude of “first team first, then the club”, in which the interests of the most talented players were prioritised at the expense of others. One former member of the club’s executive committee explained that the culture of the club had been “obliterated by how [a senior member of staff] has refused to allow proper club integration”, through “special treatment” for certain players. A member, who was supposed to be in charge of organising coaching for the second and third teams, told another player that he “did not care about any team other than the first team. I’m here to try and win and that’s it.”

“First team first, then the club” Members of the club executive committee claim that the first team were granted access to higher-quality equipment, accommodation, transport and training opportunities, and that more advanced members were not compelled to pay subs by coaches despite benefitting from the majority of club expenditure. In regards to subs, a former member of a lower ranking team said “there’s not that much communication in how this money is exactly spent”. When a club meeting was called, a staff member described the financial problems raised as not appropriate for a public meeting. The staff member in question later did not attend. According to students, attempts to raise concerns about the elitism

Maiden Castle (Adeline Zhao) within the club “fell on deaf ears”. One student posed a question about the issue of elitism within Team Durham at a public meeting, and was later informed by a member of staff that a senior colleague was “not happy” with the student. Several students described a culture in which students who did not toe the line were gossiped about, blocked on social media and intimidated by staff members. A former exec member explained, “I’d find myself getting complained about and hearing I’d been gossiped about in the Maiden Castle offices by a full-grown, middle-aged man”. This exec member also claims that the potential for staff to refer them to the Student Misconduct Office was “strongly hinted at”. “I don’t really feel comfortable walking into Maiden Castle anymore”, they explained. “It’s a building that I used to spend full weekends in, trying to do my job to the best of my ability and trying to get better at my sport in, [but now I’m] walking in and I’m dreading who I’m going to meet.” Multiple students have left the club this year. A former member claimed: “At the end of the day for some people in the club it was just trying to play the sport that they really loved playing and they weren’t able to, or they were scared out of the club, or they were harassed out of the club, or they were pressured out of the club.” The ex-player went on to explain: “It got to the point where my mental state was so weak I’ve had to literally take a break from the sport for a prolonged period of time.”

I was not in a postition of power, so it was super difficult to make a formal complaint

The lack of accountability, felt most acutely at moments in which students sought to lodge serious complaints, also impacted the wider culture of the club. Students said that they felt staff’s lack of respect for students, poor communication from senior members of staff and insufficient welfare structures within Team Durham further exacerbated the issues they experienced whilst playing for the club. Describing the attitude of a coach at the club, one member of the student executive committee said, “it was [their] way or the highway”. Members of the club executive committee, who had been elected into their roles by their team mates expressed frustration about the lack of trust between staff and students, and the limited decisionmaking powers they were afforded within their roles. One student told Palatinate, “there’s basically no point in having student presidents” because staff members “can override and veto the decisions that are made” with little consequence. A former exec member said that they believed their club coach would purposely ignore and bypass them. They claimed that this led to them “putting in time that didn’t matter.” Students across multiple sports likened senior exec positions, such as President and Club Captain, to “a full-time job”. They explained that the roles disproportionately impacted their academic performance and mental health, with five-to-ten person student executive committees expected to serve anything up to 200 members. In their guidance for the recent

round of exec elections, Team Durham have encouraged all clubs to have a Welfare Officer on the execs. A current exec member said: “It feels like they’re trying to put the burden of responsibility on us even more, and wash their hands of any need for them to pull their weight welfare-wise. They can claim they’re doing their bit but really they’re just getting us to do the jobs they don’t want to do.” The exec member also told Palatinate: “There was never a chance to shut off, people have no respect for your boundaries. We’re treated like staff by our members and like children by Team Durham staff.” “You feel such a great level of responsibility to represent your club, and everything that comes with it. “I felt like I had to work harder and harder just to keep everyone happy and that if anything went wrong with the club, it was my fault. “Trying to juggle the club, my exams and a dissertation was virtually impossible.” Members were left with a feeling of helplessness – especially those who held positions of responsibility. Another former Team Durham exec member said: “It just all added up. And there’s no welfare in Team Durham to help with that.” “It really really got in the way. If you try to sleep it gets in the way of sleep as well. Because you get into conversations in your head about what I could have done differently? How could I have done this differently?” “Because what were you going to do? Who were you going to complain to?”

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

News

“I did not feel comfortable using the hot tap

Continued from front “On moving out day, I discovered that my mattress protector and entire mattress were covered in mould. I wanted to vomit. I wasn’t alone and at least 20 other people in my accommodation had discovered the same nasty surprise. My nextdoor neighbour pressed the wall that we shared, and it literally bounced back with a quiet squelch.” The student described the “whole place” as a “health hazard.” Those experiencing these problems, the student says, made “running jokes about it whilst ignoring the increasingly obvious health and safety concerns.” They do not believe that the college were fully aware of the severity of the issue, explaining that porters were “horrified” upon discovering the “invasive” mould. The student also explained that those living in Moatside Court would sometimes be without hot water for “days” and that fuses in the kitchenetttes would often blow, leading to food spoilage: “Such events became monthly occurrences, traditions if you will.” Another University College student, living in a partially underground part of the Castle last academic year, described similar experiences with a black mould infestation in their bed. They said, “I’m asthmatic and I’d have a cough I couldn’t shake [...] when I spent long periods of time in my room. When I removed my mattress topper, I found [...] black mould.” Both students said that they had since become aware that the college disposed of and replaced a large number of mattresses after their cohort had moved out. The second student recounted how a sewage pipe burst in the hallway outside their room, leaking “faeces and urine” all over the floor:

“We couldn’t use our showers or toilets for several days until it was fixed, and the stink was horrendous. College installed an automatic air freshener above the doorway to our hallway.”

My next-door neighbour pressed the wall that we shared, and it literally bounced back with a quiet squelch The student praised college administrators, describing how they “sorted issues as they came up” and were “absolutely lovely.” They believe, however, that the college are limited in how well they can deal with problems by the central University: “Maybe instead of endlessly building new colleges [central management] should focus on improving and maintaining the ones that already exist.” Another University College student said that the floor directly outside their room is “damp and cracked” because they live opposite the shower room and water often pools in the hallway outside. The student said that, after reporting the problem twice, they were offered alternative accommodation in a different block. They say that they were told to return to their original room after a few weeks, but have not noticed “any difference” since returning. One St Mary’s student recalled how a “good quarter of the wall” next to their bed was “green” with mould. The college gave the student a dehumidifier, which they said “did nothing” to help. Two other St Mary’s students

with mould in their rooms said that, whilst college “cleaned” and “wiped” the infested surfaces, neither felt that the underlying problems were adequately addressed. One said that they were informed that a “structural issue with the gutters” was to blame, but that they did not see this addressed. The other described being given only a “sheet with tips on how to avoid mould” as a solution, despite knowing of three cases of mould on their corridor. A student from St Cuthbert’s Society said that there is mould in “multiple rooms and bathrooms” at the college’s Bailey site and claims that some people “got sick” from it. “College came and bleached most of it and just told us to move any furniture away from the walls [...] College understands and try to do everything quickly, but I think a lot of it is a problem with old buildings prone to these problems and not enough funding allocated to permanently fix them.” The student added that several houses at the Bailey site are plagued by frequent hot water and heating outages, which can last “up to a few days”, meaning that students sometimes shower in other houses. Accommodation charges for a standard uncatered college room with shared bathroom are rising to £5,811 for 39 weeks in the academic year 2022/2023. Catering prices are also rising from £2,394 this year to £2,490 next year. When asked about value for money, the St Cuthbert’s Society student said that Durham college accommodation comes with a “false narrative of grandeur that sells at a high price” despite all its problems. One student, who lived in Hatfield main site accommodation last year, recounted how their hot tap dispensed “dirty yellow water” for most of his time there. “Every time I ran hot water, it

Recap: University accommodation plans Elizabeth McBride News Editor Hild Bede freshers will be housed over two sites next year, as the Leazes Road will be partially closed for refurbishment. Some new students will be accommodated in New Kepier Court, which will be shared with Castle students, while the rest will be housed in Ernest Place: a private accommodation block in Gilesgate, located a 25 minute walk away from the main site. All accommodation for freshers will be self-catered, rather than catered as Hild Bede accomodation usually is. For returning students who want to live in college accommodation, the College of St Hild and St Bede is planning to make some rooms available at Ernest Place and New Kepier Court. These residences are managed by private sector providers, however the college say that they will “support students living there

with regular support drop-ins, and other onsite activities as well as providing contact in our offices at the Riverside site.” A group of Hild Bede students started an Instagram account called “bleedhildbede” in which they laid out their concerns that possible closure of social spaces such as the bar, common room, and sports facilities would have on the college experience. All current facilities will still be available until the end of Easter term 2022. The University claims that they are “working on plans to ensure all members of Hild Bede can still access a range of facilities on site while much needed improvements and additions are made to our College accommodation.” They say that they expect to provide some core facilities on site next year, anticipating that these will include the Joachim Room and Gym. Durham say that they have University Executive agreement there will be no redundancies across teams as a direct result of the planned relocation and

development work of the college. The University claims that “the aim of the College is to ensure that everything from sports and societies, to formals and events continues, with an alternative approach being adopted where needed.” As part of the 2017-2027 ‘University Strategy’ Durham stated that they were planning to invest “heavily” in refurbishing their existing Colleges and establishing four to six new Colleges. However, the University has claimed that the pandemic has meant that Durham is “needing to review” its strategy and the “existing plans and timescales for developments and refurbishments.” Only one of at least four planned new colleges has been completed – South. The College of St Hild and St Bede on the Leazes Road site was originally identified as an area of developmental potential. However, no concrete plans have been anounced for the construction of colleges there.

“They would swarm me would intermittently spit out yellow and brown water between spurts of clear. I reported this, with a porter coming to check it out. They said it was because the boiler had an issue which had been fixed.” The student reported the problem in Epiphany term but there was no improvement before they moved out of college. They said “I did not feel comfortable using the hot tap because I did not know if the water was safe... I never drank the water without filtering it first.” Palatinate also learned of pest infestations in college accommodation, specifically at Hatfield College, St John’s College, Stephenson College, St Mary’s College, and Van Mildert College. A Hatfield student also living in main site accommodation experienced an “extremely annoying” infestation of ladybirds in their college room: “They would swarm me when I slept, and they are so loud when they fly that it would wake me up.”

The student said that the ladybirds found a way into the room even when windows were kept shut and described how they were difficult and unpleasant to kill, producing a “nasty smell.” The student emphasised their “frustration”, having reported the issue to their college through official channels twice, saying that they never received a response. Similarly, a St John’s student recalled “having to remove upwards of ten ladybirds a day” from around the window in their room. The student reported the issue to their college, who sealed the gaps in the window. This only solved the problem “for a few days”, and after complaining again, the student was informed that pest control would not be sent out as the council did not consider ladybirds a pest. The student sealed the window with blu tack themselves, which largely solved the problem but left the window impossible to open. A student from Stephenson College described feeling so “overwhelmed” by a fly infestation

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

News

because I did not know if the water was safe” Analysis: number of students living in colleges unlikely to increase as prices rise

Hatfield College (Thomas Tomlinson)

Laetitia Eichinger News Editor College accommodation costs continue to follow a seemingly never-ending upward trend. Next academic year, the cost of a standard 39-week lease for a catered college room will surpass the £8000 mark for the first time ever, rising to £8301. This marks an increase of 4.1% from this year’s costs. The government, however, is only increasing student maintenance support by 2.3%, which amounts to a real cut of 7% when inflation is accounted for. This comes amidst simultaneously soaring private rental prices for student properties in Durham City. Palatinate found direct evidence of several homes that were being advertised for significantly higher amounts of rent for the 2022/2023 academic year than for this academic year. One Claypath home let by Bill Free Homes was advertised for £145 pppw, up from £130 pppw this year. Palatinate’s data showed that, at the peak of housing rush season, there were only 15 houses on the market costing less than £80 pppw. The University published its medium-term development plan, or ‘ten-year strategy’, in 2017. It notably featured an “Estate Masterplan”, the most significant goal of which is the development of “four to six new colleges” by 2027. This expansion will, the University hopes, enable more than half of students to live in

college accommodation by the same year. However, a Palatinate Freedom of Information request previously uncovered that the percentage of students living in college accommodation has actually been on a steady downwards trajectory since the 2016/2017 academic year. The percentage of undergraduate students living in college accommodation fell from 43% to 35% over this time period. Palatinate has also been able to report on the concerns of local residents over Durham becoming “saturated” by a student body which has rapidly expanded particularly in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which meant that larger numbers of students than ever before qualified to study at Durham. The Gilesgate Residents Association explained that, “To ensure a balanced community, it is estimated that no more than 30% of students should live out.” “Residents deeply regret the current failure of the University to achieve the aim of 50% of students living in college.” Whilst the University “reviews” its strategy and the “existing plans and timescales for developments and refurbishments” in light of the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and as college accommodation prices continue to rise, it appears unlikely that there will be any significant increase in the number of students living in college accommodation.

when I slept. They were so loud it would wake me up.” in their college room that they felt they had no choice but to return home during term time. “There were already a lot of dead flies in my room when I arrived. It got worse, and there was a constant noise of buzzing.” Upon reporting the issue, the student’s college said that pest control could not find a cause. When the student later complained again, they were offered a spare college room to stay in. They found this “frustrating” since the majority of their belongings were left in their old room, and so frequent trips back were necessary. The student was told that nothing could be done and that the issue would endure due to the forest next to Stephenson. A St Mary’s student also complained of an “unpleasant” infestation of bugs in their room and bathroom facilities. They said that the college have “taken action to try and remove the bugs” but that the response was delayed at times. Jeremy Cook, Pro-ViceChancellor (Colleges and Student Experience), told Palatinate: “We

are investing £120m over a tenyear refurbishment programme to improve the quality of our college accommodation.” He added that “We would encourage any student who observes a defect in the University estate to report this, to their college or department.” Cook acknowledged that “costs of living, particularly energy and food, are rising rapidly,” though said that “increases in college fees for 2022/2023 [are] significantly lower than the Retail Price Index (RPI) rate of inflation.” In fully catered colleges, he added that “fees also provide students with 21 hot meals a week – at a cost of £83 per week for this service for 2022/2023.” For students in financial difficulty, Cook highlighted “a number of support systems. These include the Durham Grant, which is available to home undergraduates from low-income families, and an accommodation bursary available to first-year students from lowincome families.”

Moatside Court contains the majority of University College’s first year rooms (Thomas Tomlinson)

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

News Durham Police’s 999 call response time third worst

City’s oldest pub fighting to reinstate outside seating

Daniel Hodgson News Reporter

The oldest pub in Durham City has launched a call for public support to regain its outdoor seating area. The Dun Cow, located on Old Elvet, previously occupied two parking spaces outside its premises to house an outside seating area. However, a decision made by Durham County Council and Highways England in April led to the removal of the barriers cordoning off the seating area, making it unusable for the business. In a post on Facebook, the owners of the pub, Bill Sanders and Jill Carey, asked for their customers’ support, saying that “The Dun Cow need your help to get these spaces back, so everyone has a safe place to come and enjoy the sun and sometimes with family and friends. “These spaces were not only important to the pub but many of our lovely customers sat and enjoyed socialising here and in turn supporting a small business who has, like many others struggled throughout these past few years. In June 2021, The Dun Cow was granted permission to serve customers outside in the summer, after intervention from Durham MP Mary Foy. Ms Foy argued that it should be allowed since there was reduced traffic in the Old Elvet area due to the building works on Elvet Bridge, which were eventually completed last October. The owners of the pub had previously hoped to negotiate

New figures released by the Home Office reveal that Durham Police answered just 41% of 999 calls within the official target of ten seconds on average, between November 2021 and April 2022. Only one UK police force, Avon and Somerset, met the national target of answering 90% of calls within ten seconds. In contrast, Durham fell far below the UK average of 71%, with only two police forces performing worse in meeting the target. This is the first time that detailed national statistics have been published showing how quickly police forces pick up 999 calls, although they do not account for how long it takes a police officer to get to the scene of an incident from the time of a call. A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary said: “We are taking steps to improve our performance: installing a new telephone system which will go live early next year; bringing in an extra 12 call handlers on top of our normal recruitment; exploring new technologies which will enhance our call handling ability and trying to reduce inappropriate use of 999. “We are confident these measures will further improve performance over the coming year. We have also invested additional resources into our response teams to improve the total time between the initial phone call coming in and a police officer reaching the scene to deal with the emergency.”

Emily Doughty News Reporter

with the Council to renew the agreement on an annual basis, saying that the outside area provided a “lifeline” for them as a business.

The Dun Cow need your help to get these spaces back Last year, Durham University Hockey Club started a fundraiser for the business called ‘Mission Save The Dun Cow’. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the pub had been unable to reopen as it had no outside seating space when restrictions were first lifted. The campaign raised awareness of the issue – leading to Ms Foy’s intervention – as well as over £12,000 being raised for the business. Durham County Council’s strategic traffic manager David Lewin said: “During the coronavirus pandemic, we adopted a flexible approach to accommodate requests for pavement space to support social distancing requirements and the reopening of the hospitality industry.

“In order to allocate a safe area for temporary outside seating and address the loss of indoor space at The Dun Cow Inn during the pandemic, on-street pay and display parking spaces in front of the premises were temporarily suspended. This was done with the understanding that, once restrictions were relaxed and indoor space could be used again, the temporary measures would be

Exterior of the Dun Cow Pub on Old Elvet (Elizabeth McBride)

Hassockfield update: Palace Green protest Laetitia Eichinger News Editor

(Thomas Tomlinson)

Over 500 people attended a national demonstration on Palace Green against Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre last month. Local campaign groups continue to hold monthly demonstrations outside the centre itself. Most recently protesters blocked the road to prevent the transfer of a female detainee into the centre. Protesters shouted “set her free, set her free” as a van transporting the woman arrived outside the centre. The NoToHassockfield campaign group later wrote of their hope that “the woman inside the van could hear and understand [their] chants of love and support, calling for her release and freedom.” Derwentside IRC, located on the site formerly known as Hassockfield has been in operation since December 2021 and has capacity to detain 84 women awaiting deportation from the UK. The movement against the centre is rooted in human rights concerns. Dr Helen Groom from the NoToHassockfield campaign, a retired GP with experience counselling detained refugees, previously told Palatinate that up to 80% of women detained are

removed. This was communicated to the owner of The Dun Cow Inn in advance. “We understand the difficulties faced by businesses following the pandemic, however, as society is now living with Covid and restrictions have been removed, Old Elvet is once again very busy and demand for parking in Durham City has returned to prepandemic levels.”

victims of human rights atrocities. Human rights lawyer and activist Margaret Owen OBE spoke at the Palace Green protest, describing the UK’s immigration detention system as “utterly unlawful” and in violation of “international human rights and humanitarian laws”, calling the practice of detention comparable to “torture”. “These women need to be looked after, cared for with compassion, gentleness, and given access to specialist services to help them manage the trauma from their experiences fleeing violence to get here.” City of Durham MP Mary Foy also spoke against the centre at the demonstration, saying that she stands “fundamentally opposed to the detention of vulnerable refugees.” She echoed human rights activists, arguing that “asylum claims should be resolved in the community without the trauma of detention.” Palatinate contacted the Home Office for comment and were sent a fact sheet that states that immigration detention makes a “limited but essential contribution to tackling illegal immigration” in the UK. It also says that the Home Office “take the welfare and safety of people in our care very seriously.”

Liam Gallagher namesake jailed for Fab’s attack Waseem Mohamed News Editor

A man has been handed a ninemonth jail term after admitting two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and one count of common assault, following an incident outside Fabio’s bar on Saddler Street last year. Liam Gallagher was ejected from the bar shortly after 10pm on 8th August due to drunken behaviour, before he approached three students. He said that one “must be gay” if he was entering the bar. Gallagher also appeared to make misogynistic remarks towards the female students during the attack. Gallagher later threw punches, with two of the three students requiring hospital treatment. The male student suffered “extensive” damage to two of his front teeth, while one of the female students suffered from a cut face, black eye and concussion. The other female student was not injured. When interviewed, Gallagher initially denied hitting a woman, saying that he was first punched by the male student and so acted in retaliation.

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

News

University’s rising accommodation prices outpace Durham Grant financial support Elizabeth McBride and Waseem Mohamed News Editors While the cost of living and Durham’s accommodation prices have risen steadily over the past ten years, the University’s main financial support programme has reduced in value. In 2012/2013 the Durham Grant paid for 35% of the rent of a standard catered room for a year, but for 2021/2022 it fell to 20% of the annual rent of a standard catered room. While the University raises accommodation prices in accordance with RPI (the Retail Price Index) this is not the case for the Durham Grant scheme. The financial eligibility for the maximum award – a combined household income of under £25,000 – has also not changed in

the last decade despite inflation. In 2017/2018 Durham capped the total financial support a student can receive to £2000. This made the Grant redundant for students who are already receiving a bursary under the Supported Progression scheme, which seeks to work with underrepresented groups to encourage them to apply to Durham and other universities. Durham has recently announced that it will undertake a “review” of the money awarded by the Durham Grant scheme in response to concerns from Durham’s Students’ Union about rising accommodation costs. Declan Merrington, Durham Students’ Union Postgraduate Academic Officer, expressed worry over rising costs after accommodation prices rose again earlier this year stating: “I was lucky enough to have received

In 2012/2013, the full Durham Grant would have covered 53% of the annual cost of a standard catered room, but the full 2021/2022 Grant would only cover 25% of the cost of the same college room.

The amount of funding granted through the Student Support Fund scheme has declined annually since 2017/2018 on a per applicant basis. The fund is for emergency support – where a student’s financial plan has been compromised for reasons beyond their control. *The amounts granted in 2020/2021 were affected by Covid-19, giving an unreliable average figure. a generous bursary which took the form of money off my accommodation in my first year. The next year after my cohort’s Supported Progression bursary was cut. (…) If it weren’t for the bursary I would not have been at Durham.” He continued to explain that “being unable to participate in college because of the high costs would have undermined the whole point of choosing Durham specifically.” In addition, the Student Support Fund scheme – which offers financial help to students who unexpectedly find themselves in hardship – has been branded “tedious and embarassing” by Durham’s Working Class Students’ Association (WCSA), who have questioned how clearly the scheme is signposted to students. In terms of applicants, the

2019/2020 academic year saw the highest number of applications to the SSF at 163 students, while the 2020/2021 year saw the lowest number at 101. However, in 2020/2021 the scheme was significantly reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This caused the majority of students to return home and the establishment of a temporary Covid-19 recovery fund to specifically support students placed under financial hardship because of the pandemic. 400 students received grants worth £500 and 43 graduates were given £1,000 for career development. A representative of Durham’s WCSA stated that “the best course of action would be for colleges in freshers’ week to be really pushing the SSF and destigmatising the conversation regarding students needing financial help.”

A Durham University spokesperson told Palatinate: “We acknowledge that costs of living, particularly energy and food, are rising rapidly, but we have kept increases in college fees for 2022/2023 significantly lower than the Retail Price Index (RPI) rate of inflation. “In the case of fully catered colleges, fees also provide students with 21 hot meals a week – at a cost of £83 per week for this service for 2022/2023. “If students are experiencing financial difficulties, they can access a number of support systems. “These include the Durham Grant, which is available to home undergraduates from low-income families, and an accommodation bursary available to first-year students from low-income families.”

From the Archives Exactly 57 years ago, on 16th June 1965, Carole Millington’s editorial focused on university final exams, and whether these truly counted for much. For Palatinate edition 194, Millington argued that “the work that goes into taking finals is usually soon forgotten and rarely actively utilised,” unless the graduate pursued a career in teaching. The results, a “piece of paper which sums up in one or two numbers the academic value of its owner,” must have some meaning, given the fate of those who leave university without receving it. Despite all that may be at stake, Millington argues that “if the Beatles merit MBEs for their vocal chords... then students ought to be well on the way to glorious, many-lettered careers.”

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Despatch from overseas

Ellie Tomlinson on her disrupted year abroad, life in Riga, Latvia and experiencing Russian outside Russia Following a particularly unsuccessful placement in Russia, I had come to terms with the fact that my year abroad had reached a premature end. I had resigned myself to the idea of another term of online teaching and a serious lack of cultural exposure. That was until the Russian department was able to secure some places at a Russian language school in Riga. As a former Soviet state, Latvia has obvious links with the Russian language and culture, and although speaking Russian can be quite taboo in certain social circumstances, it is clearly much easier to practice day to day than it would be in the UK! With a much less complicated visa process and direct flights from most British airports it was a breeze getting to Latvia compared to the rigmarole we endured on our way into Russia. Having never ventured into the Baltics or much of Eastern Europe at that, I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with beautiful architecture and centuries of rich history. The city offers a plethora of affordable museums which allow for a deep dive into the German founders of the largest of the Baltic cities and offer more information about life under Soviet occupation. Riga as a city boasts a large number of higher educational institutions which means you don’t

have to look far to find great international student communities. Despite being a capital city, Riga is far from large, which means that it is very much walkable and even from the deep Moscow District suburb it won’t take much longer than 45 minutes to reach the heart of the city.

I had resigned myself to the idea of another term of online learning

This does however mean that after only a couple of weeks you will have exhausted most of Riga’s main attractions and will likely be looking further afield for things to do to fill the long summer evenings. Thankfully Riga is well connected if not by train, then definitely by land and air. As the most central of the Baltic countries, reaching Lith-

uania or Estonia isn’t difficult at all and the cities make for the perfect weekend excursions. Riga airport even has a direct flight to Tbilisi in Georgia which allowed for an idyllic break surrounded by delicious cuisine and cheap wine. Despite also having a difficult history with their neighbours to the north, Georgia has very effectively distanced themselves from their Soviet past whilst retaining more of the Russian language. Having just submitted an EU membership application, the Georgian people clearly have Europe on their mind which made for a welcoming atmosphere and left me wondering why we don’t hear of more British tourists venturing across the Black Sea for their holidays. A weekend away in the Caucasus mountains under the sun was a welcome change from the rain and sea breeze in Latvia and offered a sense of eagerness to explore more of Georgia. Despite all of the positives Latvia has to offer and all of the great things I have been able to experience in such a short amount of time, living in Riga has been far from easy. Not being familiar with the local language has left us subject to a great deal of intolerance. Being forced to converse in Russian or English has highlighted the deep-rooted sense of divide between the two sectors of society: those who speak Latvian and those who speak Russian. The

Riga, Latvia

Tblisi, Georgia

native Russian speakers being outweighed almost twice over by those who speak Latvian and Soviet occupation being still very prominent in cultural memory makes for an interesting dynamic. The marginalisation of Russian speaking Latvians has only been strengthened following the war in Ukraine but is definitely not a modern phenomenon and seems

to have been legitimised by the government’s decision to transition away from offering educational institutions taught in the Russian language. Although studying here has been an overwhelmingly positive experience, it has made me think more about the links between language and identity within society.

Images: Ellie Tomlinson

Comment 9

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

Are ball prices creating a two-tier system for students? Waseem Mohamed

or the first time since 2019, students are able to enjoy an Easter term without Covid-19 restrictions, and that means one thing – summer balls are back. Colleges and societies alike are going all out to entice students to part with their cash in exchange for a night (or more) of fancy meals and entertainment. Except 2022 is being marred by a cost-ofliving crisis that most students have never faced before, so the rising prices of balls are under close scrutiny. One swoop of Durfess explains the general mood – for many, balls are simply too expensive. College balls in particular have been attacked over their prices, most of which are set at around £70 or more per ticket. Josephine Butler College has received a disproportionate number of comments about the price of its summer ball (£75 for JCR members), which is perhaps understandable given its reputation of being the college for “working-class” students. However, I feel that all colleges must be held accountable for their extortionate ball prices given the current economic climate. In some ways, I am

The process of seeking financial support is longwinded

appreciative of the difficult decisions that college ball committees have to make, but I do believe that the prices that they set must be questioned. Some organisers suggest that the prices are genuinely the lowest that they can be, given the spiralling costs of venue hire, meals and so forth. However, how does this explain how some societies able to charge much less for their summer balls, (e.g. the People of Colour Association ball only cost £28) or include more for the price of a college ball? Likewise, JCRs are keen to promote the financial support colleges and the University offer to students who may struggle to otherwise afford the price of a ball ticket. But from personal experience, the process of seeking financial support is long-winded, confusing, and exhausting – for most it is simply not a visible, nor viable option. The questions over ball prices, therefore, raise a wider debate about how much we value university entertainment. Despite the outcry over prices, every college ball will sell out this year, meaning that there are evidently enough students around who will tolerate the price for the sake of enjoying a night with their mates. Personally, as a first year who knows that there will be plenty more opportunities to attend at least one college ball, I am happy give this year’s balls

a miss and spend the money on cheaper forms of entertainment. However, many finalists reading this may argue that, since they have yet to experience a proper ball free from pandemic-related restrictions, the prices are worth it given how this may be the only chance to experience this “quintessential” part of Durham life. Preferences aside, I fear that ball prices could create another fault line within the student body and produce a two-tier system – one group who can afford to go to balls, and the other group who cannot. So can the price of college balls be reduced and made more accessible? I believe that, if ball organisers are a bit thriftier with their choices, that some savings can be made in spite of the looming cost-of-living crisis. Transparency over costs is an obvious first step – people should be made more aware of how their ticket price is used. Butler leads the way having published a breakdown of their ball price, revealing that 63% of the price of their ball has gone towards the venue alone. This leads to another suggestion; given that some societies are capable of charging less for balls, college ball committees must consider using alternative venues, or at least think of ways of trimming costs elsewhere, without detracting from the overall experience (must we need

Colleges must do more to simplify their support

a fairground outside at every ball for example?). Longer-term, there must be an overhaul of the financial support system for students struggling to participate in university events. The current system is fragmented and perhaps stigmatising, so colleges (and the University) must do more to simplify their support offerings and provide financial aid more swiftly. Finally, colleges should promote alternative events that can bring their communities together for a much better price. College days, for example, are priced far cheaper than balls (free for JCR members at some colleges) and can provide a similar experience to what balls can offer. If the prices of balls are going to stay expensive, we cannot pressure students into thinking that missing out on them is the “end-all” for their university experience – other forms of entertainment are available.

(Elle Fitzgerald)

"Awarding an honorary degree seems unnecessary" Becks Fleet

few weeks ago, Taylor Swift’s name was in the news once again. Usually, this would be because she’s releasing new music, or has been dragged into some tedious celebrity drama, but not this time. Instead, she was seen donning a graduation cap and gown as she was awarded a doctorate by New York University. “Wow!”, you think, “It must’ve been so difficult for Dr. Swift to sustain a successful music career while pursuing a doctorate," and you’re right that, if that was the case, it would be an impressive feat. However, this was no ordinary degree, it was an honorary degree. Essentially, honorary degrees are intended as an award, like a Grammy or an Oscar; it’s an acknowledgement of her achievements, not the

completion of an actual doctoral degree. In reality, she did no studying, submitted no lastminute summatives and panicked over no exams; instead, she was awarded the degree based on her achievements in entertainment. Honorary degrees are a common sight at universities; many celebrities and public figures, from Benjamin Franklin and Paul McCartney to Pitbull and Kermit the Frog (yes, really), have been awarded honorary degrees, sometimes even multiple from different universities. For example, Durham University has awarded a number of honorary degrees to accomplished people associated with the University, such as Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards. Honorary degrees generally come with a catch: they aren’t considered equal to a standard degree. It would be frowned upon for Taylor Swift to start insisting people refer to her as ‘Dr. Swift’, or for Paul McCartney to put “Doctor of Music, awarded by Yale University” on his CV. However,

this is not enshrined into law, and some honorary degree recipients – such as Maya Angelou – adopted the ‘Dr.’ prefix anyway. Does the existence of these degrees – which are technically equal to actual, non-honorary degrees (although they’re inferior in practice) – devalue the idea of a university education? It’s hard to say. The idea of a rich-and-famous public figure – in many cases, a public figure who never attended university at all – being awarded a degree they didn’t work for on the same stage as hard-working students, who spent years of their lives working towards the degree, could come across as slightly insulting. Why bother going through years of education and accumulating thousands of pounds worth of debt when the rich and privileged are offered that same degree as an award, without any of the hard work? At the same time, it’s clear how universities could benefit by awarding such degrees, especially to well-known figures in fields such as music. It is certainly possible

that some Taylor Swift fans, who may be considering attending university, but haven’t decided on where to attend, may now decide to apply to NYU thanks to Taylor Swift giving it publicity it may not have otherwise received. However, if those potential students believe that Swift actually studied at NYU (which is not the case), and are applying to the university on that basis, is this really fair to their rivals? Some news coverage seems to blur the line between a standard degree and an honorary one, and you’d be forgiven for not realising the difference. Broadly speaking, the idea of awarding honorary degrees seems, from an outsider’s perspective, mostly unnecessary. Yes, many of the recipients of these degrees are very accomplished people who deserve recognition, but there are better ways to do this. Surely a Grammy award is more appropriate to honour a musician, or an Oscar more appropriate for an actor, than an honorary degree from a

university they never attended? And beyond the slight possibility of more students applying at a certain university, why would these institutions offer such degrees and risk the devaluation of them? There are some rumours and theories online that universities offer honorary degrees in exchange for financial donations, but I couldn’t find any actual evidence of this. In reality, the awarding of honorary degrees seems to have little effect on the value of a degree. Degrees from universities such as Yale, Oxford and Harvard are still considered some of the most prestigious and valuable in the world, despite the fact that those universities have awarded thousands of honorary degrees to people who never actually studied there. At the end of the day, to some of those NYU students graduating alongside Taylor Swift, the opportunity to see her might have been one of their Wildest Dreams. Just save the ‘Dr.’ for the actual graduates!

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Comment

In-person exams: Don't return to an outdated system Florence Clifford

he Covid-19 pandemic has massively transformed our understanding of the world, from conceptions of disease and social responsibility to technology and the workplace. It feels incredibly bizarre to me that after two years of adapting to circumstances and finding solutions that often worked better than those used before the pandemic, that we should just immediately abandon everything we’ve learned and go back to how things were before. Employers across the world have learned that working from home is often more productive, efficient, and better for employees’ mental health and work-life balance than commuting, often for hours, and sitting in an office all day. Similarly, many universities, responding to positive feedback from students, are moving to hybrid models of learning, involving more coursework, and transitioning away from the traditional in-person, closed-book exam. Obviously, the development of online exams is an ongoing process, and there’s much to be done. But it’s a concept that has — and should — revolutionise our understanding of learning and how to assess it. I have yet to speak to someone who prefers the format of inperson exams. Across the board, students feel that open-book, online exams are a much better indicator of how intelligent someone may be, or how well they’ve learned the material. Open-book exams allow students to best show off their knowledge and application of what they’ve learned over the year, rather than punishing those students who may be brilliant at their subject, but struggle with memorising long quotes or detailed formulae, or with the intense pressure of an exam hall. Online exams provide a much less stressful environment, allowing students to work in a place and at a pace which suits them, and to take breaks throughout the day. The format is much more reflective of life as a graduate: in a real job, how often are employees forced to sit down with no notes or other material, and to complete a task against the clock? For a highly specific degree like medicine, it makes sense to know information off the top of your head: no-one wants a surgeon on the operating table to be quickly flicking through a textbook to figure out what they’re doing. But while closed-book exams may be the answer for some subjects, most careers that

traditional university students will go into, without doing a conversion course or further education elsewhere, will not require such a rigid, outdated reliance on memorising facts from a textbook, and being able to regurgitate them on paper in an exam hall. GCSEs are often criticised for rewarding pure memory rather than creativity or actual intelligence; one of the refreshing things about university is that it makes you actually learn and apply your knowledge, rather than just quoting facts and statistics in a regurgitated answer.

Clinging on to outdated traditions University administrators may complain about academic integrity, but that has already been compromised because of the disparity between year groups and universities. At Durham, subjects like Russian and Maths have been examined in-person this year, putting these students at a disadvantage compared to the rest of their cohort, doing exams online elsewhere. As Durham didn’t offer mock exams, it’s probably a safe assumption that their grades overall will suffer. Employers, now adjusting to the online exam format, will naturally discriminate against students with worse grades. It makes much more sense to standardise the format across the country, to avoid further disadvantaging students already going into an over-competitive, oversaturated job market. Furthermore, lots of students will not have done an in-person, closed-book exam since their GCSEs. This is the case for me: if my exams move back in person next year, I will be completing my final year exams, that will determine my entire degree, in a format which I have not had any experience of since the age of sixteen. At a university which is weathering numerous accusations of failing to care about its students, from exorbitant price increases to lack of mental health support, it would be nice to see the administration combating these very genuine complaints by supporting students in at least one area. Universities like Durham are often stuck in their ways, rooted in the past and clinging on to outdated traditions. The pandemic has proven that traditions like the old exam format are nigh-on obsolete. As the rest of the world moves on and adapts, finding innovative solutions, it’s time that higher education did the same. Online exams should be here to stay.

J Hoanfull via Pixabay

The Jubilee's ill-timed pomp

Our priorities as a country are wrong if people are living in cold homes while they bow to the monarch Oliver Jervis

icture yourself keeping the same job for 70 years straight. One would expect some sort of recognition for such an achievement, would they not? Albeit one of the most secure roles in the country, it is reasonable to accept that Her Majesty’s historically long stay on the throne ought to be regarded with some form of acknowledgment. Moreover, who would refuse four days off work? As students, we may not truly feel the relief bank holidays confer just yet; however, after the last two years of torrential turmoil, it must be a divine luxury to finally put your feet up and enjoy some Pimm’s in the beating sun. Nevertheless, there is a darker side to this occasion, a side which shows so starkly the warped, topheavy illusion hanging over this nation. As we all know, a cost-ofliving crisis exists at present. For many, this is a living nightmare with no apparent cause for celebration. The questions being asked by those struggling only relate to food costs, energy bills and fuel prices. They do not care whether the Sussexes are in attendance for the Jubilee, nor do pompous military processions on a Thursday morning in June provide welcome relief. It would be like attempting to cure a case of the flu by burning a £50 note in someone’s face for these occasions to act as such a remedy. On the other hand, it is important not to be blinded by one’s own opinion. There are many benefits to the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. For example, these events are the perfect excuse to show unity in these consistently perilous times. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been

more than obvious that societal fissures previously lurking in the undercurrent of our communities have come to the foreground. Look towards Ukraine, cast your eyes on the US and remind yourselves of the issues in Afghanistan and Myanmar. There are frightening problems currently bubbling across our planet; So, perhaps it is not the worst thing in the world to use this historic anniversary as a vehicle to catalyse some form of cohesive spirit. From another perspective — one consisting of a more patriotic nature — this occasion is one in which we can celebrate the unique elements of our nation. Queen Elizabeth II has now reigned for an unparalleled period of time. No matter your view on the monarchy as an institution, it cannot be denied that we are presently living through a significant event in the history of the United Kingdom. That should not justify the figures currently being floated regarding the expense of these events, but to ignore such a landmark moment would be peculiar given our comparatively niche constitutional structure.

The wealth gap is growing constantly

Nonetheless, such benefits ought not to detract from the central issue here. For those currently struggling to make ends meet or see a light at the end of the financial tunnel, these events are insulting to the utmost and a far cry from the remedies large swathes of the country need at the moment. People do not want to see privileged humans with superior titles riding in golden

carriages and soldiers marching in silly hats; they want food on their table, three times a day; they want heating in their homes when it is needed; most of all, they want the same opportunities to live as anyone else. Perhaps Paddington Bear was onto something when he opted to steal the Queen’s tea, especially seen as Her Majesty already had a nice marmalade sandwich to munch on.

Perhaps Paddington Bear was onto something when he opted to steal the Queen's tea Thus, these decadent, pompous Palace-based celebrations are both an ill-timed and expensive remnant of a bygone feudal era not relevant to the 21st century. Such events may have been acceptable to the eyes of the watching public ten years ago, but in this moment the relief they provide is criminally minimal. Additionally, their pomp and practice are strongly indicative of the rife division present in this country. The wealth gap is growing constantly like some odd, selfinflicted ulcer, whilst there are those starving on our streets or freezing in their homes. Although this occasion is intended to be a symbol of unity and a showing of community across the nation, it appears to be no more than the perpetuation of demeaning idolatry and a self-congratulatory pat on the back for the monarchy. A crown means nothing when your people cannot even afford the television licence to see it.

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Comment

We must preserve the Civil Service fast stream

Its loss would devastate our governance Amber VallarinoLaw

Strike Action at Durham University (Thomas Tomlinson)

We must fight for tuition fee rebates Students and staff have been treated poorly while the University has profited: it is now time to resist Niall Hignett

ahs of Durham, picture the scene: you just splashed out £10,000 on a ski trip. The ski company promised you 10 days of the Swiss Alps. Then, they break the skis, and fail to buy replacements; your ten days turns to eight. Would your mother tolerate such a failure to deliver services paid for? Or, would her inner Karen be unleashed? For those of us more, well, grounded, imagine you spent a fiver on cheesy chips from Paddy's and they forgot the cheese... In the 2021/22 Academic year alone, there have been 18 days of strike action, 13 during teaching time and five during the Easter break. This equates to 11.8% of the teaching days in Durham’s academic year. Financially speaking, this amounts to £1093.18 in tuition fees for Durham students paying the standard £9,250 in tuition. International students often pay more than triple that – I’ll let you do that eye-watering maths. Earlier in the month, students orchestrated an open letter, calling on management to start listening to staff to improve our learning and teaching conditions. Signed by over 1130 students, the letter raised a number of concerns about the current working conditions at the University, including the recent revealtion that Durham ranks 140 out of 161 in Higher Education gender pay gaps, with the mean hourly wage of women being a whopping 28.3% lower than men's. The Vice-Chancellor, Karen O’Brien’s, response somewhat missed the mark in addressing these concerns and instead adopted a self-congratulatory tone, outlining the competitiveness of the “wider benefits structure”.

In what is the equivalent of a stranger on the street asking you to thank them for not mugging you, the Vice-Chancellor also applauds management’s success in calling off a marking boycott, ensuring students would graduate last minute by finally listening to their staff (somewhat, anyway). Why we would want anything more than the bare minimum appears lost on them. Of course, though, we should fall to our knees and bow to the mighty managerial team for being our saviours and ensuring there won’t be any more disruption to teaching (until October anyway, when the plaster used to seal a machete wound will most likely disintegrate).

In our marketised structure of education, students are ultimately customers

Though, broken clocks are often right at least twice a day. Professor O’Brien suggests that students who are dissatisfied with their courses should raise complaints about the issues they have experienced at Durham due to management’s failure to address the shoddy conditions they subject their staff to. I would agree. In our marketised structure of education, students are ultimately customers. As the Government implemented austerity measures,

they cut overall funding to UK Universities. This saw the tripling of tuition fees as universities started to self-fund and acted like businesses (even if there was no profit to be made). This hasn’t stopped universities from running off a surplus. Durham University operates on a £54 million surplus as of 2021. You may then ask how you are missing teaching time and staff are being treated unfairly. If there is no financial hole, what is the justification? In short, none. The argument that the University simply cannot afford to pay staff and functionally run your degree is a bare faced lie, and perhaps worse an attempt by management to gaslight us into being sympathetic towards the universities position, Professor Karen O’Brien has apparently been taking notes from Downing Street. I would urge you not to take the bait. Students keep the university not just a float but in a massive surplus. The large intake of students, with more students per staff member than previously, means this is incredibly unlikely to change. Therefore, you have paid money to an institution that has not delivered the service. Taking Professor O’Brien’s advice, we must make our grievance known and work towards securing tuition fee rebates. This is not anti-union. Many believe asking for tuition fee rebates undermines union activity. I think it does the exact opposite. Universities operate as businesses. Their choice to ignore the demands of staff is because it remains financially viable. If each time staff voted for industrial action, the university was forced to issue rebates, they would be caught in a fiscal catch- 22 and would be more inclined to act. So, if the University can afford it, and there’s no damage to staff, what is stopping you? You can take Ms O’Brien’s advice by filling out the form. Those who signed the letter will receive email instructions on how to do so.

Civil Service fast stream is the Government’s flagship graduate programme, aiming to produce bright and adaptable future leaders. Consistently ranked in the top ten of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, the fast stream offers three to four year intensive placement schemes which provide an insight into the inner workings of various government departments. Graduates interested in fields ranging from diplomacy to finance, human resources to project delivery, and education to defence policy are likely to benefit from the wide variety of schemes on offer, with the opportunity for multiple rotations between different departments. Completing the scheme results in promotion to ‘Grade 7’ of the Civil Service, and successful fast streamers can enjoy a minimum salary of £28,000. Advantages reaped by both graduates and the Government are manifold. Excellent career prospects for graduates and troupes of forward-thinking individuals capable of driving policy and reform on behalf of the public are considerable merits which make the scheme a remarkable asset to the UK government. Newlyreleased Cabinet plans to pause the fast-track recruitment process for at least a year, therefore, seem illconceived. Supposedly, the decision is part of the Government’s plan to slash up to 91,000 Civil Service jobs in the hopes of making a £3.75 billion annual saving. However, considering that the programme costs the Government approximately £41m a year – a mere fraction of the £3.75 billion the policy aims to save – one cannot help but wonder why the fast stream programme is specifically being targeted. Jacob Rees-Mogg claims that such reductions in numbers are necessary to ensure efficient spending of the taxpayers' money. Still, with years of unprecedented disruption caused by Covid-19 and Brexit, surely a fully-staffed Civil Service is just what the Government needs. A massive backlog of paper applications at the DVLA has left motorists waiting over six weeks to receive driving licenses. Those needing new passports find themselves in a similar situation. Recently urged to launch a recruitment drive for additional staff to alleviate the backlog of state pension payments, the Department for Work and Pensions is among the other departments facing similar heavy workloads and staffing crises. A reduced Civil Service and a non-existent fast stream, therefore,

risk decimating the services the public depends on. Although departmental efficiency has been criticised over the last decade, a reduction in bureaucracy does not necessitate the suspension of the very scheme that could make the Civil Service more efficient. Indeed, if the workforce is on its knees now, pausing the fast stream would only exacerbate the situation further.

Curtailing the opportunities available to graduates is not the answer

Curtailing the opportunities available to graduates is not the answer to the Government's funding crisis at a time when employment prospects have already been hit hard by the pandemic. The fast stream is one of the most inclusive UK graduate schemes. Its discontinuation would mean the disappearance of opportunities such as the Summer Diversity Internship Programme, which gives university students from underrepresented backgrounds the chance to experience life as civil servants. While the fast stream receives over 30,000 applications a year, only an estimated 1,000 are chosen, making the programme highly selective and its future civil servants ‘the best of the best’. Fast-streamers, therefore, provide invaluable support to the Civil Service, assuming demanding responsibilities from the outset of their careers, including managing the Government’s death management policy, performing secretarial duties for ministerial meetings, and supporting the Prime Minister in delivering the Government’s top domestic and economic priorities. To view the fast stream’s graduates as resources which can be easily dispensed to generate short-term financial benefit is to ignore the excellent value for money such graduates provide. The suspension of the Civil Service's fast stream programme is a significant oversight which ignores the immense value derived from the scheme. The programme represents a fraction of the Government's targets for annual savings, yet it is of immeasurable value to both graduates and those they serve. Scrapping the scheme would only generate small financial benefits at the expense of careers and opportunities, as well as work which is fundamental to Government function.

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Profile

Philosophy’s answers to love Profile Editor Thomas Hennessy asks philosopher Simon May why the Protestant Reformation may be relevant to our love lives I came across May’s book Love: A History, quite by chance in a charity book shop. I was immediately intrigued by why a history was even necessary – surely there is nothing more universal and natural than love? The pages of May’s book, laden with millennia of Western philosophy suggest otherwise. It is an ever-shifting phenomenon that has been understood very differently by each age. The musings of modern luminaries like Cardi B are only the latest iteration in a line that goes back to the Hebrew prophets in understanding love. Characterising the emotion (he says that he does not aim at a classical philosophical definition in the sense of necessary and sufficient conditions) and discerning the supreme object of love is the task that Simon May has set himself. He spoke to Profile about this undertaking. Besides this herculean labour, May teaches philosophy at King’s College London, and has published books about his family’s experience in the Holocaust, Nietzsche’s ethics and ‘The Power of Cute’.

Love arguably resembles nothing more than the Holy Spirit at work in the world I began by asking May for his definition of love shorn of the frightening philosophical jargon that peppers the topic. For him, it is “our rapturous or joyful response to a promise of groundedness in the world… but specifically in a world that we supremely value. So, it involves some kind of understanding of, or striving towards, an ideal world. That ideal world could be, as it’s been in one prominent religious tradition, Christian. It could be a world beyond this one, or it could be a fictional world of some other kind. So, it’s not necessarily the world immediately around us”. In support of this idea, May will often recall literary examples, like Odysseus’ homecoming to Ithaca or Abraham being called by God to Canaan. I challenged him on the merits of this approach over that of science, after all, we are often told that oxytocin, the so-called ‘lovehormone’ is responsible for much of the sensation of being in love. May replied that all the neuroscientific

investigations we can pursue, their findings are of limited value useless unless one can discern “What is it that we’re actually studying, that prior question about what one counts as love is one that I think philosophy and its expressions in literature give us a privileged insight into them, because they ask those kinds of questions”. Love, in a dominant view of it in the West today, is conceived to be unconditional, disinterested and perpetual, something that is accessible to everyone. For May, this idea “owes Christianity a tremendous amount. I would say it’s not even a uniformly Christian assumption - Christianity is a very complex religion and it’s had several views of love. I ascribed this sort of straightforward unqualified view that love is unconditional, for example to the secularization of Christianity, particularly to Protestantism as it developed in the 17th century… Leaders of the Protestant Reformation, such as Luther, claimed that humans can become gods through love, which is a very hubristic thing to say; but it is accompanied by a very powerful doctrine of modesty, which is that we are merely channels for divine love, in virtue of divine grace, divine love gets channelled through human beings, assuming that we have the right faith and virtues. However, when you get rid of the theological framework of the idea that human beings cannot genuinely love except through divine grace you arrogate that conception of unconditional love to human love. Then you get what happens when late Protestant view of love is secularized”. Having never considered that my own feelings of love were indebted to the Reformation, I was intrigued by how May thought his ideas corresponded to real romances. For him, recognition that relationships are not unconditional can only be beneficial: “I think a generally truthful stance can only be conducive to the health of relationships”. For him his work will have an impact by encouraging partners to “be truthful about their motives and truthful to each other. But the therapeutic effect is not my primary motive. My primary motive is to figure out or try to figure out what love is”. Ultimately, what he analyses has less to do with the physical reality of love, than the philosophical framework that this occurs within. Infatuation and friendship are perfectly natural, but the idea “that your love for that person is not in any way conditional on that person comes from this divine picture”. Perhaps the Reformation is more relevant to

our dalliances after all. In deducing that love is no star to every wandering bark, and freely alters where alteration finds, I asked May whether he ever felt uncomfortable refuting something that is not just commonly held but is oft regarded as the animating force within their lives. “No. I don’t. It is the role of a philosopher to just say what they think and to follow through the implications of what they think. I mean, that’s what we need to do. So actually, to some degree I relish it”. Following on from this, I asked him how much the Beatle’s maxim ‘All you need is love’ stands up philosophical onslaught: “The interesting thing is how that view came into being, why it came into being. I think it is because love is the most fundamental way in which we become, as I say, grounded in the world”. As a universal force capable of inspiring powerful acts of devotion

Our rapturous or joyful response to a promise of groundedness in the world

and creativity, love arguably resembles nothing more than the Holy Spirit at work in the world. May “certainly think(s) that love has elements of a religion, I argue that in my first volume [of two on the philosophy of love]. I think love has elements of a religion, because our secular understanding of it in the West… is itself derived from a deeply religious sphere”. Whether a remnant of Christianity, a sickness to be expunged from your psyche in the case of the Stoics or simply a chemical concoction, love is something that we will all mediate on, agonise over and be driven to greater inspiration as humanity has for millennia. May’s contribution to answering the eternal question of ‘what is love’ can only heighten our consciousness of the human condition.

Anna Kuptsova

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

SciTech

Evaluating the Durham STEM experience: reflections of a graduating biology student Michelle Leung My university experience was definitely not what I thought it would be like. Describing my three-year biology course as 'heavily affected' would be an understatement. After all, multiple strikes and a pandemic did reduce the amount of 'normal' teaching time that I received to about a year. However, the few months of 'normality' that I did experience in my first and final years studying biology at Durham were nothing short of fun. We had lecturers that were passionate about their fields and it translated into their teaching (as demonstrated through a catchy stem cell cell-fate song that really should be published). The labs that I did get to do were incredibly rewarding and allowed me to utilise knowledge, visualise concepts, and prove theories. Coming from a relatively small state school, I was simply over the moon to be able to use test tubes that weren't chipped and pipettes that weren't leaky, let alone higherend equipment. Most importantly, with the course designed to encourage cross-linking between different modules and extra literature, I was able to develop a more holistic way of thinking when approaching any topic. Covid-19 forced us to halt our studies during Epiphany term in my first year. The unfortunate events we faced were uncontrollable, so I have to admit that the department did try very hard to make this peculiar time a lot more easy and enjoyable. They set up a rather well-run onlinelearning platform and we all adapted to learning through Zoom. However, it would be dishonest to not mention the sheer disappointment that I felt when the promised practicals-filled second year turned into a series of weird (and rather saddening) online 'labs' that involved watching experiments conducted through a screen, and one time a lecturer whipping up dubious concoctions in his home office. During such a difficult time, I found that the staff were easy to reach out to. They worked with my college to figure out the best plan for me after my parents passed away and have provided me with constant support since. Many of my peers facing troubles also found that the department was understanding

and accommodating towards their tough and sometimes last-minute situations. But I'll be honest, I think I would've appreciated it even more if they regularly updated the module handbooks, because an unexpected lecture series on Covid-19 was heavily triggering – trying not to have a mental breakdown every time really was a psychological workout. Surprisingly, the pandemic also brought about unexpected opportunities: I've been working with the Insect Neuro Lab within the department since the summer of 2020. Through this, I was able to practice some wet lab techniques that I missed out on and make connections with collaborators in Germany. Though I won't be continuing in this field, I've gained valuable research experience and made friends with many people that I otherwise wouldn't have met.

I was simply over the moon to use test tubes that weren't chipped

It's funny to think that before university, I was set on becoming some sort of evolutionary biologist. Now, I am pursuing the field of immuno-oncology, and have secured a postgraduate opportunity in London. Excitingly, I will still be able to use the concepts of evolution to explore cancer tumour progression and the corresponding immune response – a crossover I definitely didn't see coming. Many of my peers are in the same position, looking to further their studies through a master's or doctorate course. Their destinations include universities in the UK and in various other countries such as Germany and Sweden. Perhaps we're all desperately trying to lengthen our time being students because we feel like we've been robbed of a ‘proper’ university experience. Despite popular belief, not all of

us are seeking a future career in academia. The department, and the science faculty, regularly promote jobs and opportunities in other sectors. For example, biology graduates have gone into pharmaceuticals, civil services, medicine, law, and even film-making. They have provided us with a plethora of information and support since we were freshers, reassuring us that there is no ‘correct’ or ‘expected’ career path, and

(Anna Pycock)

I'm glad and proud to say that I've made it to the end

that the skills we've gained throughout the course will be useful in any sector. To say the least, my university experience was… different. I didn't get to live out my lab-coat dreams. Instead, I got to watch many hours of lectures with typo-filled captions. But I'm glad and proud to say that I've made it to the end. Only the best-adapted will survive – so that's something, right?

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

SciTech

Fighting cancer with bacteria

Promising new immunotherapy technique

Becca Sealey Could common everyday bacteria be the key to fighting cancer? A Caltech research team lead by Professor Mikhail Shapiro think it could. Using ultrasoundcontrolled bacteria they have managed to create a way of effectively killing cancerous cells without harming healthy tissues. This may prove to be a potential alternative to the often painful and arduous treatments currently in place such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. So how does this work? The technique uses E. coli bacteria, which are injected into the body to kill cancerous cells. Bacteria destroy cells in two ways; either by multiplying and surrounding the cells tightly until they burst and die or by releasing toxins which destroy the cells. The idea is to apply this to specifically tumour cells and avoid the healthy ones. But first things first - wouldn’t the immune system kick in and kill our bacteria before it has a chance to work? Actually no! Tumours are highly immunosuppressive, meaning that the immune system is weakened in their vicinity. This is a very favourable condition for our cancer killing bacteria. Once injected into the body the bacteria begin to kill tumour cells and, as a knock-on effect, the presence of the bacteria will stimulate the immune system

to attack the tumour, while the working bacteria are protected safely in the immunosuppressive tumour core. This is called immunotherapy, the treatment of disease by the stimulation of the body’s own immune system.

This is a remarkable step forward in oncology This is actually not a new idea; using pathogens to kill cancerous cells has been an active area of research for many decades. It actually began in the 1890s when William Coley, the ‘father of immunotherapy’, noticed that a patient with an inoperable neck tumour actually went into remission after he developed a skin infection. The new breakthrough that Shapiro and his team have made here comes in how we control the bacteria once they are inside the body. Bacteria are rapidly dividing and rapidly spreading pathogens, so how can we be sure that they will not spread through the body and damage our healthy cells instead

of the tumour? How can we be sure this will not make us ill? The bacteria Shapiro’s team are working with have been engineered so that they are dormant until they are warmed to temperatures of around 42 degrees Celsius (around five degrees warmer than body temperature). These engineered bacteria are then injected into the body and are allowed to circulate. A beam of focused ultrasound is pointed at the tumour which heats the area to the correct temperature. This activates the bacteria solely within that area and allows them to start destroying the tumour without the risk of damaging healthy tissue. Testing done by the research team have found that patients would need to be treated with ultrasound rays for approximately an hour per session, with sessions occurring every few days for the duration of the treatment to allow the treatment to work the most efficiently. Shapiro’s team tested this method on a series of mice. Out of the ten tested, six of the mice showed bacterial activation via the focused ultrasound rays. Of those six mice, five showed significant slowing in tumour growth and one mouse even showed the tumour disappearing altogether (although it was noted that this was not a typical result and that other factors may be involved). Overall though it was found that the endpoint tumour volume of the mice treated with this technique was much

(NCI, Unsplash)

smaller than the endpoint of the tumours in the control mice who did not receive the treatment. This shows very promising results. It could in time be developed into an alternative to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which are very harsh and unpleasant treatments for patients. This form of immunotherapy could be used as a method of slowing or delaying tumour growth while other methods, such as surgery, remove it altogether. Alternatively, it could potentially be used to destroy tumours directly. However, this kind of application in humans is potentially years away. Animal trials may have been successful, but trials

in humans have not begun yet and although we can hope the results of the treatment on humans are the same, we cannot be sure. There have been many cases of medicine which is successful in animal trials being ineffective in humans. In any case, this is a remarkable step forward in oncology. Hopefully, we could soon see this approved by the agency which approves new medicines and medical practice in the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Shapiro’s new immunotherapy method could be an effective and gentler treatment, giving patients all over the world relief.

actions can prevent the spread of disease (e.g. how washing hands kills germs). Contrast New Zealand’s approach to that of the UK, where the Boris Johnson-led government took a far more “controlling” approach to its Covid-19 messaging. Campaigns such as the use of posters showing Covid-19 patients and asking people if they had the followed rules dominated the government’s strategy, but this arguably was a detriment to the pandemic response as the UK struggled to enforce social distancing as the pandemic dragged on. The outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic speak for themselves – New Zealand is credited as having one of the best responses to the pandemic; the UK is ranked as having one of the worst. The implications of this study are potentially huge in terms of planning for future pandemics and general crises. In almost every previous pandemic ranging from SARS to Ebola, a key lesson that public health experts want us to learn is that fostering trust is essential to ensure people are motivated to follow public health guidance. Messaging is therefore critical in encouraging people to trust health authorities, especially if the required response to the pandemic results in a substantial rupture

in an individual’s life (such as social distancing and wearing face masks). While previous inquiries into pandemics accept that any messaging is important, this study provides extra detail on how messages should be constructed to achieve the goal of supressing a pandemic – something which will become more critical if the future holds more global diseases. And it is not just pandemics where “autonomous-supportive” messaging could be beneficial. In all crises that require people to undertake behavioural change, individuals need reassurance that their actions will have a positive impact on the situation. Take the environmental crisis for example – while there are plenty of campaigns and messages out there about what individual actions people can take to reduce their carbon footprint (ranging from recycling to having fewer children), there is still potential for the messaging to better follow the “autonomous-supportive” tone promoted by the study, where people are told more clearly about how their actions can make a difference. In situations where it may be easy to despair at the crisis and think that nothing can be done to resolve it, proper messaging can help alleviate those feelings and promote hope and trust – and now we have a guide on what type of message works best.

Durham research: optimising public health messaging Waseem Mohamed In any crisis, messaging matters. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, ordinary citizens have navigated a plethora of public health messages, as authorities encourage people to alter their behaviours to contain the spread of disease. At times, this messaging can feel overwhelming and confusing, with governments and health bodies themselves having to make tough decisions on the tone through which these messages should be delivered to us. Recent research led by Durham University suggests that there is an optimal way to convey public health messages. Over 25,000 people from across 89 countries were surveyed about their motivations to follow public health messaging, with the study concluding that people were less likely to defy health guidance if it were delivered in an “autonomysupportive” tone, rather than a “controlling” tone. In other words, people are more likely to follow the rules during a pandemic if the messaging around the crisis is more positive in nature, where the messaging focuses on the proactive ways in which individuals can help stop disease from spreading. According to the study, in places where “controlling” messaging is used, people will be motivated to follow the rules, but only out

of fear of having “guilt and social punishment” if they are seen to be breaking such rules. Hence, using “controlling” messaging is not sustainable long-term, since people are not made fully aware of how their actions are actually helping to prevent illness. Eventually, people give up on altering their behaviours to supress the pandemic, as they lose hope in the effectiveness of their actions. “Autonomy-supportive”, by contrast messaging emphasises how individual agency and ownership of behaviour can have a positive impact on reducing a pandemic’s severity, with people feeling more inclined to engage with the messaging. Hence, over a longer time period, people subject

to the “autonomy-supportive” messaging are much less likely to defy the rules, as they are given an optimistic outlook of how the pandemic can end. This means that they become more enthusiastic about protecting one another from illness. New Zealand provides an ideal case study of how an “autonomy-supportive” approach to messaging can result in better health outcomes. Led by Jacinda Ardern, the government elected to use a more optimistic and upbeat tone to their Covid-19 messaging, spotlighting how individual actions can help save lives. Messaging focused on the “dos” rather than “don’ts”, with the government also being proactive in explaining how individuals’

(Phil Hearing, Unsplash)

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

SciTech

Photographing Sagittarius A*: first images of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole Leo Li Three years ago, the world gasped at the first direct image of a black hole in awed amazement. It was like staring into the eye of a celestial being – a surreal, fiery ring of hot gas surrounding a pitch-black, bottomless singularity. We named it Messier 87*, a supermassive black hole with a mass 6.5 billion times that of our Sun, staring back at us from 50 million lightyears away. However, what was truly astounding and historical was our ability to directly image what, decades ago, was thought to be a mathematical abstraction and a cosmological impossibility. Messier 87*’s image was taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). It blatantly derives its name from the boundary of a black hole, at which not even light could escape due to the eater’s prodigious gravity. Contrary to its name which suggests a singular supertelescope, EHT is actually an array of still sizeable radiotelescopes spread across the globe at 8 sites. More than 60 institutions in over 20 countries work collaboratively to crosscorrelate and analyse obtained data on supercomputers. With as little artistic embellishment and as much truthful naturalism possible, the world in 2019 got to see Messier 87* in all its staggering strangeness. As if falling down this rabbit hole did not satisfy astronomers’ curiosity, the EHT took the

Sagittarius A* is less impressive than Messier 87* – it is about 4.2 million times the mass of our Sun

first picture of our friendly neighbourhood Sagittarius A*, the supermassive blackhole sitting in the centre of our galaxy. At first glance, Sagittarius A* is less impressive than Messier 87* – it is about 4.2 million times the mass of our Sun, making it a thousand times less massive – a dwarf compared to the distant giant. However, Sagittarius A* is a mere 26,000 lightyears away from our even more dwarfish planet; it is also the centre around which our solar system spirals. The image of Sagittarius A* is strikingly similar to that of Messier 87*, despite their disparity in mass and distance. Yet, its picture appears a bit blurrier – at least according to the staff at the EHT – there are three primary bulges with more severely bleeding edges, as if the white-hot, gaseous accretion disk can’t contain itself from spreading out. In fact, since gases in all black hole accretion disks move at similar speeds, it takes only days for the gases’ patterns and brightness to change for Sagittarius A*. For the same exposure time, Messier 87* gave a more precise and definite result – Sagittarius A* essentially blinked a few times under burst mode. Now one may ask: why do we need two, let alone many more to come, very similar images of black holes? – why do we choose to fall in the

same rabbit hole twice? See, as we never step in the same river twice, all rabbit/black holes differ by a bit, and that bit of difference opens up a whole new world of astronomical possibilities. First, we get to compare and contrast (every examiner’s favourite phrase) how the mass of a black hole affects the behaviours of hot gases rotating around them – especially for Doppler boosted beams, moving towards us at lightspeed, which constitute the bright bulges in the images taken; and how different black holes dictate the formation and evolution of the galaxy it is at the centre or a part of. Second, it is a confirmation that what looms in the shadow at the pit of the Milky Way is indeed our much beloved and expected supermassive black hole, instead of some arbitrary ‘compact object’ otherwise uncertainly conjectured, leaving no doubt that Sir Penrose & Co.’s Nobel Prize was well-deserved. Third, it is a tribute to the common father of all modern black hole scholars, Albert Einstein, who in his seminal General Relativity first predicted the mathematical existence of singularities in curved spacetime. Karl Schwarzschild then gave black hole its name and legitimacy. If, say, Einstein rings, due to gravitational lensing, are General Relativity’s engagement ring to black holes, then the recently procured images are the wedding ring that marry our forebears’ theoretical fancies to reality.

Sagittarius A* is a mere 26,000 lightyears away

The EHT is still a work in progress and forever will be. With four more observatory sites under planning and construction, the extent and precision to which upcoming imaging of black holes will be possible are unimaginable. Also unimaginable are the imminent challenges and uncertainties, which will test the limits of our instrumentation, the human ingenuity, and our truth-driven passion for collaboration every second. But until then – see you

(EHT Collaboration)

Bi-ology: the science of bisexuality and bi-erasure Eve Kirman Throughout recorded history it has been known that some people, and animals, are attracted to more than one gender. Specific labels that refer to this attraction, however, are relatively new. In fact, it wasn’t until the latter years of the 1970s that the term ‘bisexual’ was used in the context of which we use it today. Bisexuality can be defined as the romantic or sexual attraction to multiple genders – it is important that this definition is used rather than one that would reinforce a gender binary as I believe this is an outdated view. In a recent annual survey (2020) by the Office for National Statistics, it was found that one in ten young women in the UK identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or other. Specifically, this is 11.4% of the female population that are aged 16-24. This is a large increase when compared to the 2014 survey that found only 3.1% of young women to identify in this way. These findings indicate a growing openness among

young people in regard to their sexual orientation. This could be attributed to an ever-increasing comfortable environment provided for young people by the likes of media representation and visibility. Pride events, such as Gay Pride – which normally takes place around about now in June, are grounded in the celebration and promotion of equality, visibility and selfaffirmation within the LGBTQ+ community. However, for biidentifying individuals like myself, part of this celebration involves demonstrating or even proving that our identity is valid. This is due to the existence of bi-erasure in society. Bisexual erasure is the historical and current tendency to ignore or falsify instances of bisexuality. As an extreme, it is the disbelief in bisexuality entirely. It is often founded on the misunderstanding that bisexual people are confused and unable to ‘choose a side’. Specifically, that bisexual men are ‘really just closeted homosexuals’ and that bisexual women are just ‘looking for attention’. Dr Feinstein, an associate professor of psychology in Chicago, told Health

that “for some people, it’s hard to get their heads around this idea that sexual orientation doesn’t have to be either-or, that it’s not only being attracted to people of the same gender or of people of another gender, but that you could be attracted to more than one different type of person.” As a biology student, I have often wondered about what drives the relationship between science and sexuality. However, this notion may not be entirely progressive for the LGBTQ+ community. A study from 2019 by Andrea Ganna, a geneticist at MIT and Harvard, looked at the genetic basis of human sexuality in around 500,000 individuals via genomewide association. It concluded there is no specific ‘gay gene’, however there are five regions of the human genome that could be attributed to same-sex attraction. This, helpfully, propagates the narrative that is often misunderstood by some that sexuality is not a choice. Sadly, however, some science has fed into this narrative – with studies looking to try and prove that bi people exist rather than a biochemical or genetic

In a recent annual survey by the Office for National Statistics, it was found that one in 10 young women in the UK identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or other

justification for the difference between individuals. A 2020 study by Jabbour et al. titled “Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men” faced controversy for fundamentally “proving” the existence of bisexuality in men. While the science behind this study is valid, I believe that the rationale for the paper was rooted in bi-erasure. For example, the first line reads “there has long been scepticism among both scientists and laypersons that male bisexual orientation exists” – which is obviously deeply harmful to men who identify in this way. The bottom line is that it is absurd to have to have scientists prove your own identify for you. That being said, there is good that more research into bisexuality can do for the queer community. Despite the science behind sexuality still being somewhat of a question mark, by better understanding it we can better understand the way in which it shapes people’s lives. All in all, sexuality is always something that should be celebrated, and thus current science should be looking to empower individuals rather than question them.

Politics

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Student

The Oxford Union that made Boris Oliver Jervis

What next for Durham’s historic high streets? Waseem Mohamed City of Durham and Labour MP Mary Foy has launched the High Streets Survey, inviting visitors and locals to Durham to discuss the future of the city centre. It is part of the local party’s ‘Healthier High Streets Campaign’, which in consultation with residents and businesses will outline a strategy that will pressure both Durham County Council and the national Government to invest in improving the historic city centre. Foy’s initiative is one of many being undertaken by Labour’s MPs, with the central party launching their own independent commission called “Rebuilding Our High Streets”. Labour’s drive to position itself at the helm of the investigation of the problems facing high streets could not have been timelier. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were growing fears that the UK high street was entering a period of decline. A combination of the rise of online shopping, falling personal incomes, rising operating costs and oversaturation of the retail market has put off many people from visiting their city centres – and then Covid-19 hit. The restrictions which led to temporary closures of nonessential retail outlets have proved to be a hammer-blow to many retailers, with Labour claiming that “nearly 180,000 retail jobs were lost” during the first year of the pandemic. Some of Durham City’s historical features include the Market Hall and Tavern (the birthplace of the Durham Miner’s Union in 1869), and it has also welcomed more recent developments including the Prince Bishops Place shopping centre on High Street (built in 1999), and the Walkergate development. Durham’s history

(Trevor Littlewood /Wikimedia Commons)

The survey highlights just how passionate people are about the state of Durham’s high street

and unique position as the location of both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the UK’s oldest universities would suggest that the high street here would see a healthy level of footfall, as both tourists and students descend into the city centre for their shopping needs. But Durham’s high street has not been immune to the problems that other cities have endured. A walk down Silver Street, supposedly named as it was the place where a mint producing Durham’s coins was located, reveals the scale of the issue. The street is the location of several unoccupied retail outlets, and triggered a debate between retail experts who were optimistic of a recovery and local historians who were dejected at the sight of the historic street back in January this year. Now, the debate has gained a political angle with the involvement of Mary Foy’s high street survey, highlighting just how passionate people are about the state of Durham’s high street. Whether Foy’s and Labour’s commissions into the high street will result in a meaningful impact on their future prospects remains to be seen. It will likely take several months for the results of these surveys to be published, while in the meantime the Conservative Government would have made progress on its landmark Levelling Up agenda. Investing in high streets has recently become a priority for the Prime Minister, who announced last month that he would grant more powers to local leaders to decide how to revitalise their high streets. The future of the high street therefore appears to have emerged as another facet of the domestic political agenda, with both Labour and the Conservatives battling to present the best strategy to preserve bricks and mortar retail.

When it comes to Boris Johnson, his defining characteristics can all be found in the hair. That blond, radical piece of fluff is riddled with contradiction in a pompous, comic fashion. But the question here is, where did the Prime Minister develop this set routine everyone now knows so well? What sort of influence has it had on present-day politics in the United Kingdom? Moreover, is there any risk that such a crop of politicians could once again spring up from this notorious institution? It must have been quite peculiar to have studied at Oxford during the 1980s. According to every newspaper article on the topic, it seems a future cabinet minister was certain to be present in each college bar. Nevertheless, the reality is that this ambitious group was far smaller in size than the disproportionate effect they have had, and all honed the skills that now preside over our daily lives in the musty debating chamber of the Oxford Union. This institution was designed to excite debate between the talented undergraduates of that medieval university; However, by the 1980s it had become something closer to a public schoolboy’s idealised version of Parliament, with clever comedic quips overcoming meticulous argument, and churlish political battles taking precedence over one’s studies. In retrospect, such a place seems as if it was built for an ambitious character like Johnson. In the words of Michael Heseltine, ‘Becoming Union President (was) the first step to becoming Prime Minister’. One glance at its alumni list from the 1980s is sufficient to reveal the mighty influence this institution has had over the political class. Figures of the age such as William Hague, Michael Gove, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt all passed through its doors. Others, like David Cameron, instead lurked in the Bullingdon shadows. The Johnson-Oxford Union story is perhaps the prime example of the Union’s effect over UK politics. His determination to become its president is a telling tale. After becoming its secretary in 1983, Johnson attempted to make the next step, and engaged in a (now rather symbolic) presidential election battle with Neil Sherlock. The future Prime Minister opted for a rigidly Conservative approach, and ultimately lost out to Sherlock, whose campaign focused on Johnson’s typically entitled incompetence.

However, he was not to be beaten at this game again. Utilising his well-crafted and notorious oratorical skills, Mr Johnson succeeded at the second attempt and became president on the back of a centrist campaign, which proved to be an effective veil for his personal right-wing beliefs. Through such an experience, Boris learnt the value of deploying shameless populism to gain votes. This lesson would serve him well when the Brexit debacle came around. Nonetheless, it is not only this tale of presidential pursuit that reveals all about how the governance of this country for the last decade or so has been shaped by a small crop of Oxonians. The elitist culture instilled into the Union’s members has pervaded British politics from its higher echelons. As aforementioned, the chambers of this institution proved to be fertile ground for the development of a political set of characters, who merely took politics seriously so long as it satisfied their status and kept them in with the right bunch. Many felt that they were entitled to power, and the sentiment has lingered ever since. The Johnson we see today, with his clownish antics and comedic stuttering, was formed in that society. The mock sincerity, the bumbling speeches, and the ragged, stooge-filled cabinet governing us today were more than evident in the 1980s Union. So, is there a risk that a fresh crop of such ruling class politicians could arise once more from these ancient hallways? Fortunately, the present state of the Union appears to be highly sanitised. It is not without controversy, but which organisation of such calibre is? Financial trouble and the growing need for diversity have both played their part in tempering this former Conservative party foetus from its perpetuation of elitist politics. Yet, the ripples of its history continue to wash over Parliament and beyond.

Such a place seems as if it was built for an ambitious character like Johnson

(Number 10 via Flickr)

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

Politics

Domestic

Surviving but on the way out? Johnson survives confidence vote Benjamin Etheridge After several arduous months of speculation over letters, procedures, and potential future leaders, it all happened in a flash. Following Sir Graham Brady’s announcement on Monday morning that the key threshold of 54 letters had been met the day flew by, with cabinet ministers quick to peddle the government line that the Prime Minister “got the big calls right”, while several particularly bold MPs publicly voiced their intentions to vote against Mr Johnson. Following that evening’s vote, we now know where the parliamentary Conservative party stands – 59% of members voted in favour, while just over 2 fifths stated no confidence. At face level, this appears to be a successful outcome for the Prime

211 Conservative MPs, under 60%, voted confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership

infighting within the party. The success of this remains to be seen but it would not be unreasonable to be sceptical of this aim, particularly following a rebellion far larger than most expected. When considering recent successful confidence votes within the Tory party, Johnson

If an MP has rebelled once they are more likely to do so again, often by defying the party whip on certain key issues

has fared worse than both Mrs Thatcher and Mrs May, neither of whom fought the next election as PM (though notably, the former’s verdict took place under a different voting system). It seems, under current leadership, the Conservative party is irreversibly fractured – but why

have we seen a rebellion of this scale? It would be a limited analysis to conclude that every vote of no confidence has stemmed from a discontent with the so-called ‘Partygate’ scandal alone, though a significant number will have done (or more probably from a moral dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister’s character and misleading of the House). While not an organised cabal, other dissidents will likely be a cross-section of the party’s breadth - from traditional conservatives frustrated with the high tax post-pandemic agenda under the Johnson premiership to parliamentarians unhappy with current domestic and international policies. A significant proportion of the party are in seats predicted to be marginal votes at the next general election, so many MPs (such as those in the ‘2019-er’ cohort) will view new leadership as a major electoral asset. What then is next for the PM? Interestingly Mr Johnson now finds himself in a position where he commands the confidence of the Government but not of Parliament (assuming the opposition benches would all vote against him). This may introduce challenges to the Government’s legislative agenda over the months to come, particularly regarding more contentious items such as the Public Order Bill and the privatisation of Channel 4.

Looking at precedent in previous parliaments, if an MP has rebelled once they are more likely to do so again, often by defying the party whip on certain key issues. Further,

The Result 211 Votes for 148 Votes against many backbenchers will now view Johnson’s days as numbered, and thus will no longer be seeking to curry favour to gain a position in his government. The next electoral tests for the Conservatives, by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton, are imminent and will be challenges to win again. If these seats are lost, as most pollsters predict, they will cause warning bells to ring for members in marginal seats – these constituencies respectively represent typical red and blue wall seats at risk of being lost to Labour and the Liberal Democrats in 2024. Potential election defeats are not the only cause for unease within

Minister – his position is secure and, according to the rules of the 1922 committee, cannot be challenged again for another 12 months. Indeed, soon after the result was announced he resoundingly declared this was a “convincing” and “decisive” vote, allowing the Government to “move on” - Number 10 will be hoping to put to rest an uneasy period of closed-door

the party; the Privileges Committee investigation into the Prime Minister is ongoing, an unnamed MP is facing allegations of sexual assault, and potential challengers to Johnson (for instance Jeremy Hunt) are emerging. Any possible charge issued by Durham Police to Keir Starmer is unlikely to foster greater unity in the Conservative party for long – the divisions run too deep for that now. As if this weren’t enough to give the PM cause for unease, rumours are circulating of the possibility of rule changes in the 1922 committee, meaning any prior certainty of an untouchable year in Downing Street is far from set in stone. Undeniable challenges lie ahead

Johnsonianism seems to be fixated on the selfpreservation of Boris Johnson

for the Conservative party and the months to come will likely see the Government acting reactively to each of these. So, despite his best wishes, Johnsonianism does not seem to entail an agenda which delivers on the “people’s priorities”, but rather is fixated on the selfpreservation of Boris Johnson himself.

(Tom Robinson via Wikimedia Commons)

Politics predicts: Everything in moderation A defining approach of the Johnson government is reactionary populism. That is not to diminish the decisions being made by said government, but numerous political choices are made in response to public outcry or internal pressure. The somewhat controversial Rwanda refugee scheme and the U-turn over an energy windfall tax were not brought about because of strategic government planning, but rather as impulsive responses to fickle public opinion. Both these decisions are either shocking or appeasing depending on where you stand. Mr Johnson’s government seems fixated on generating this polarised response, abandoning political norms, and jerking away from the centre ground. Yet there is significant hope that Parliament will return to

the drab politics of consensus. Jeremy Hunt, for all his austerity baggage, appears to be eyeing the premiership. Should he become leader then the Tory Party will adopt far more calculating and pragmatic colours. It may not even require a change at the top; many MPs within the party are already calling for a return to traditional Tory favouring of low taxes. The prevailing wind is for a moderation of the party. Cynically, Johnson is likely to jump on that bandwagon: he is a far greater opportunist than ideologue. ‘Thatcherism’, for all its flaws, represents dogmatism and a refusal to compromise. ‘Johnsonism’ may well become a byword for desperate survivalism and political flippancy if it is even remembered at all.

Cameron Frazer

Should Jeremy Hunt become leader, then the Tory Party will adopt far more calculating and pragmatic

Among the prospective candidates for the Conservative leadership, Tom Tugendhat stands perhaps closest to Hunt on the political spectrum. As Chair of the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, Tugendhat has repeatedly criticised the government on a number of issues, most notably the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. The veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan gave the clearest indication yet that he was positioning himself for the leadership leadership when he publicly criticised Conservative colleague Tobias Ellwood. In a call for the Government to “better maximise our Brexit fortunes,” Ellwood called for the UK to rejoin the EU’s Single Market. This would mirror the so-called ‘Norway model’ of soft Brexit pushed by some Remain-voting MPs during the withdrawal process.

Tweeting in response, Tugendhat argued that “Tobias is wrong,” because Single Market membership “puts the EU in charge”. The signal to his party’s powerful Brexit wing will not gave gone unnoticed, and puts a clear challenge to Hunt. In the battle for the centre, the kingmakers may once again be the Conservatives’ Brexiteer wing. Whether they like it or not, the moderates must cater to a Conservative party now accustomed to resting on its past achievements: rarely does Johnson resist a PMQs reference to the vaccine rollout or Brexit. Tugendhat seems to have recognised this reality; Hunt may stand as the current favourite from this wing of the party, but he will undoubtedly have stiff competition.

Joe Rossiter

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

International

Politics

Roe v. Wade: America’s eternal battleground As the US Supreme Court stands ready to overturn 50 years of precedent on abortion rights, how much does the legal history tell us about what lies ahead? Maddy Burt and Joe Rossiter Nearly five decades on, Roe v. Wade continues to dominate the American consciousness. The original ruling favoured the protection of a woman’s right to have an abortion without a high amount of restriction from the government. This ruling continues to face political pressure and opposition. An investigation into the original case and subsequent landmarks offers a glimpse of the rocky path that lies ahead for securing abortion rights in the US.

Jane Roe In 1970, Norma McCorvey, known by the legal pseudonym ‘Jane Roe’, sought an abortion after falling pregnant with her third child. At the time in Texas, where McCorvey resided, it was illegal to seek a medical abortion unless the life of the mother was in danger. Her attorneys, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, filed a lawsuit on the grounds that Texas’s law on abortion was unconstitutional as it did not uphold the Fourteenth Amendment’s ‘right to privacy’ from the government. The lawsuit followed that, in denying a woman abortion rights, her right to privacy was compromised by the state who were exerting excessive restriction on the woman’s body. Wedding and Coffee brought the case against the district attorney Henry Wade, on behalf of McCorvey as well as other women in Texas. The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, made up of a three-judge panel, ruled in favour of McCorvey, and the ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court. In January 1973, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in McCorvey’s favour that the Fourteenth Amendment allowed the right for a pregnant woman to have an abortion without state interference. This was found to be implicit in the language of the Due Process Clause: “Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” However, this was not without restriction. In order to achieve a delicate balance between protecting the woman’s privacy as well as the prenatal life of the foetus, the Court used a trimester framework to establish the level of government control over the abortion. In the initial twelve weeks, or first trimester, the right to privacy overrode the right to protect the foetus, and was a matter between the child bearer and doctor. In the second trimester, the state could ‘regulate procedures’ along the

lines of health regulations. By the third trimester, all abortion besides that in which the mother’s life was in danger was prohibited.

Narrow survival The future of Roe was thrown into doubt in 1992 when the landmark case Planned Parenthood v. Casey was considered by the Court. Contained in the suit was a challenge against five provisions of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act 1982, which included requirements for a waiting period before a procedure could be performed, notifying a patient’s spouse and consent of parents where a minor was concerned. Split 5-4, the opinion of the Supreme Court was authored jointly by three Justices: Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy and David Souter. In that opinion, the “central principle” of the Roe decision was upheld, but significant adjustments were made and all but one of the provisions in the Pennsylvania law were ruled constitutional; only spousal notice was struck down. Protected was Roe’s status under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protected a woman’s right to choose because of the right to privacy guaranteed by it, but the framework for balancing this with the state’s interest was overturned. This was because, though the authors of the opinion may have doubted Roe’s

The rules of the Court, along with those of American politics, have changed

Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons justification, they concluded that stare decisis, the judicial doctrine of precedent’s supremacy, required the upholding of the argument that a foetus could not be constitutionally protected before viability, the time after which it could survive outside the womb. The trimester model was replaced by one of “undue burden”, where any unnecessary obstacle obstructing the exercise of the right would be unconstitutional. Without doubt, Casey gave the states greater ability to regulate access to abortion. The minority were strongly in favour of overturning the Roe precedent entirely; Justice Scalia called the 1973 decision “plainly wrong”, thenChief Justice Rehnquist talked of the “error of Roe”. However, what is striking in the Casey decision, given the situation today, is the presence of moderate Republicans. Jeffrey Toobin points out that in Roe, five Republican-appointed Justices were in the 7-2 majority, while in Casey, every Justice in the majority was appointed by a Republican president. Thirty years on, the rules of the Court, along with those of American politics, have changed.

The End? In May this year, a draft Supreme Court opinion was leaked to Politico in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation. At issue is a 2018 Mississippi law which bans most abortion procedures after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, rejected by lower courts on the basis of the undue burden and viability measures from Casey. In the leaked opinion, Justice Samuel Alito argues that stare decisis does not “compel unending adherence to Roe’s abuse of judicial authority”, proposing that the decision was “egregiously wrong from the start,” with “exceptionally weak” reasoning. If adopted by the majority, it would overrule both Roe and Casey, representing a landmark curtailing of individual rights in America. After the publication of the draft, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a statement confirming the authenticity of the document, but criticising its release, saying that it was a “betrayal of the confidences of the Court.” An opinion leaking before its formal passing down is highly unusual in the history of

the Court, and an investigation is underway within the institution to determine its source. Whatever the motivations of the opinion’s release into the public domain, the Dobbs decision in its current form would be a moment in Supreme Court history as significant as any other. In the last century, landmark cases were invariably notable for their extension of rights: Brown v. Board of Education overturning the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine, Obergefell v. Hodges ruling same-sex marriage constitutional, Roe itself removing myriad restrictive state abortion laws. Dobbs would do the opposite, potentially marking the beginning of an era which could be as significant as that of the Warren Court. Earl Warren served as the Court’s Chief Justice between 1953 and 1969, leading a liberal golden age which included decisions in Brown, Miranda v. Arizona and Reynolds v. Sims. The Roberts Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, with Amy Coney Barrett’s 2020 confirmation clearly emboldening Justices to challenge long-held precedent. Nine states still have statutes overruled by Roe which would come back into force were the Dobbs decision to remain as written, while 13 state legislatures have passed ‘trigger laws’ in anticipation of an abortion rights restriction. Texas, for example, has had an abortion ban in place since September 2021 which heavily limits care available for patients.

Uncertain times ahead Of course, the Dobbs decision is not final; it represents a first draft from a Justice notorious for his uncompromising conservatism, though he is writing for a majority. Of whom that majority consists is unclear, but the conservatives can now easily overcome Roberts’s often cautious behaviour. The Chief Justice is more concerned than his colleagues with the public profile of the Court, and has been known to side with liberals to seek compromise on contentious issues. The debate around abortion points to wider fractures in American society. If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, the matter of abortion would fall into state hands. The result? Increasingly divided states of America.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey A 5-4 majority replaces the trimester standard with the “undue burden” and viability 1973

2022 1992

Roe v. Wade Abortion rights affirmed 7-2

Dobbs v. Jackson Alito’s draft opinion would overrule Roe

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

Palstrology Harriet Castle, the clairvoyant of Claypath, analyses the skies to offer some much-needed end-of-term wisdom Aquarius

Taurus

Leo

Scorpio

The upcoming Strawberry Moon promises new beginnings, now is the time to set your intentions. “I will stop kissing mediocre men in Klute.”

Stop being so tight with your wallet and let that friend’s coffee from Michaelmas go. Mummy and Daddy have your five intercontinental holidays this summer covered.

It’s ball season and your time to shine. That is, if you call spending £14 on a double shining. Sink further into your overdraft, your trust fund, no, sorry, the stars permit it!

A philosophical breakthrough is incoming as Mercury, the ruler of communication, enters Taurus. Maybe you are the problem. Stop terrorizing your housemates with passive aggressive texts.

Pisces

Gemini

Virgo

Sagittarius

21st May – 21th Jun

23rd Aug – 22nd Sep

Coming out of Mercury retrograde, your communication has been lacking and your emotions have been unbearable. Swap a college bar crawl with a café crawl. Your therapist and liver will thank me later.

You’ve been in your element during Gemini season but prepare for an almighty humbling. Best to schedule in a bottomless brunch for when exam results are released.

Burnout has had you by the throat this year, so take advantage of Venus entering Taurus, your fellow Earth sign, and seek tranquility. Or dive nicely into self destruction. Apply to be a Frep and look forward to wishing you were never born.

You’re about to learn a hard lesson. No amount of generational wealth or tax evasion can make a rugby boy bearable. With the full moon in Sagittarius, celebrate yourself and, please, leave Jimmies alone.

Aries

Cancer

Libra

23rd Sep – 23rd Oct

Capricorn

22nd Jun – 22nd Jul Post-exam futility has been hitting you hard, but the approaching Cancer season promises stability. Leave the Durham bubble for a while, remind yourself that shortening words like ‘platty jubes’ isn’t socially acceptable.

The new moon at the end of June prompts introspection and questions about your future. Don’t fret, statistically one university has to accept your panic master’s application.

The Summer Solstice awaits, promising long days, nights of pleasure and regrettable decisions. Get a head start in the action. Apply for that JCR role and watch your social life melt away.

20th Jan – 18th Feb

19th Feb – 20th Mar

21st Mar – 19th Apr Your fiery ambition is revitalized by the full moon in Sagittarius, shame you couldn’t use that during exams. Download Hinge instead of Tinder and secure yourself a spot amongst the 70%. You’re certainly not leaving Durham with any academic achievement.

20th Apr – 20th May

24th Oct - 21st Nov

23rd Jul – 22nd Aug

22nd Nov - 21st Dec

22nd Dec - 19th Jan

(Images: Nicole Wu)

PalatiDates

This edition’s date is between Emerson from Hatfield and Andreia from St Mary’s. Can they bond over Cdramas, karate and pole dancing at Thai River? Andreia on Emerson Emerson on Andreia What were your first impressions? She was really cute and nice.

What did you talk about?

I think we really bonded when we started talking about our respective sports. She does pole dancing and I do karate.

How would they describe you?

I hope as funny and interesting. Maybe also a bit annoying and talkative.

How would you describe them?

What were your first impressions?

She’s just so kind

My first impression was that he had really great style and awesome nails.

He had really great style

What did you talk about?

Turns out we both like C-dramas (Chinese dramas), so we had a chat about the shows we both liked.

How would they describe you?

Soft spoken, a little closed off and smiley!

How would you describe them?

Passionate and soft spoken.

Very enthusiastic and easy to talk to. Friendly.

Which Durham college would you place them in and why?

St Mary’s, because she’s just so kind.

University College. The history vibes.

If you could change one thing about the experience, what would it be?

Marks out of 10

I wish I had realised she was a vegan before I made a joke about hunting for my own food. 9

I would be open about myself and speak a little more. 7

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Puzzles Retrograde Chess Puzzles

In a legal game there is only one place the white king could be, can you figure it out?

Puzzle Editors: Katie Smith, Hugo Bush & Thomas Simpson For online versions, answers and more puzzles, head to www.palatinate.org.uk/category/puzzles @palatinatepuzzles

Sudoku 851

8 6

4 3

6 2 1

9 6

2 9

6 1 3

8 5

8 5 1

Sentence Sleuth

6 4 3

7 1

8 3

Arrow Word

Successful fashion designer, Al, wanted to put on another fashion show, without the drama. Inevitably, he couldn’t actually find an available model. Aware of fast approaching deadlines, he turned to the local pet shop. Who needs models when you can hire 8 small rodents for half the price (if you ignore every pet ownership protocol or adoption rule)? First down the catwalk was a guinea pig in a summery floral dress (fit to size for the small mammal). A skater-boy style ferret was next, in an edgy, green and black punk look. But a hand stitched, blue ballgown worn by Bonnie the rabbit stole the show. But, as Al knew only too well, it always tends to spoil the mood when the model poos on the catwalk.

Synonym Twist Scarlet Velour Yellow rain Jet wood tarte Posh baguette Adhesive caramel dessert Fir fruit topsy-turvy

1 9

4 6

5 6 2

Six classic cakes have been swapped out for synonyms. Can you decipher them to save the tea party?

6 2 3

Find the 5 US States in this tale of some fashionable furry friends.

4 9 1

3 1

9 2

7 8 4

9 2

4 7

An arrow word works the same as a normal crossword, except that the clues are written in the boxes. Each answer appears in a straight line next to each clue, in the direction indicated by the nearby arrow. Impressive shot, to gamers

Follows ‘fantastic’

Dull pain

Style of fencing

Minecraft hissing menace

Like the Iliad

Big cat or sports brand

Four of them make a chain

Bounced stones on water

Disputed European state

Opposite of ‘mayor’

Acts of access

Large bodies of water Unappealing sounding fruit

Approaching, near

Pays respect to

Richard Branson brand

Summer star sign Collectable 90s disc

Pull up, as on a ship

Nasal residue

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Palatinate Satire

Satire Editors: Benjamin Lycett & Hannah Williams For more satire, visit www.palatinate.org.uk/category/satire

The complete guide to communicating with a Durham University Student™ Max Davies So you've just purchased your very own Durham University Student. The family excitedly gather around as you take it out of its box and introduce it to its new home. After looking around for a little while and checking your fridge for avocados, it approaches you and says: “Don’t you just hate it when you are speed walking to your next leccy-t but there are too many silly fresh walking two abreast on church street so you miss the lecture and have to go to the Billy B to catch up but somebody is typing too loudly on level 4 so you spend the whole time writing a Durfess about it but it gets rejected because you suffer from a chronic case of bad chat?” This sentence may seem overwhelming at first. You might even be tempted to scream and throw the Student or yourself out of the nearest window. But with a little bit of practice, you will soon get the hang of this exotic dialect and come to realise that, for the most part, the Durham Student communicates using only a few

TREVS

set phrases, and rarely do they say anything of importance. The first thing you need to know when trying to understand your Durham Student is their peculiar habit of changing words adding ‘y’ to the first few letters of of a word and shortening the rest to their first letter. It is believed that the practice originated from the misguided attempt to abbreviate the ‘Bill Bryson’ library to the ‘Billy B’. Unfortunately, both contain the exact same number of syllables and so it is unclear what exactly this lexical curiosity accomplishes. While this seems strange to us, this linguistic quirk greatly excites the typical Durham Student, so you might wish to give it a go occasionally to improve the happiness of your Student. Aside from their love of the abreevy-a, the Durham Student has other expressions it relies on to communicate with others of its species in its ‘Bubble’ (the collective noun for Durham University Students). The first are known as bibliothecam affinis or

CASTLE

Dear Violet, When I suggest to my housemates that we should clean up for the deposit, they keep saying that the deposit came out of the bank ages ago and it’s not worth the time and effort. The place is disgusting and there is mould in the fridge — please help me confront them!

Dear Violet, My boyfriend insists on sitting at a table for one at ball despite me and my friends asking him to do otherwise and it’s not even a signup option. Whenever I ask him why, he just says “I’m a lone wolf, baby” — what should I do?

Dearest reader, You should know by now, the deposit is a myth and was never to be returned after you first stepped foot in the house and touched the wall leaving your bacteria and fingerprints on its already crumbling, black mould ridden surface. That being said, it really is not right to be adding to the filth and you should absolutely sit and have a stern word with your housemates. Give them a couple of facts about the numbers of rats in Viaduct or conditions in which cockroaches thrive — you’ll see just how fast they run to the closest antibacterial spray.

Poor unfortunate reader, This is very silly behaviour and my immediate suggestion is to get yourself a more mature boyfriend, as a fullygrown adult, one should be well-acquainted to sharing and being able to deal with authority. Really the most obvious way of dealing with the issue would be to not engage and let him try to sign up by himself, I’ve heard sitting alone watched by security on the doorstep to the venue can be just as fun. It’s definitely not worth ruining your night and indeed your summer by trying to convince someone with such terrible logic.

‘library-related’ topics. These include (but are not limited to) the observation that Level 4 of the library is reserved for quiet study, and the common anxiety that one may make too much noise on said level. This could expose the Durham Student to the ridicule of an angry Durfess poster (with Durfess being the anonymous online message board on which many DU Students spend a disproportionate amount of their time responding to polls about their favourite type of pesto). Pointing out that the water fountains in the library are slow is another sure way to win the trust of any DU Student, as is mentioning the fear evoked by revolving doors. Distressingly, the Bill Bryson Library constitutes a large proportion of what your Student is likely to talk about. However, for the more loquacious DU Student it's worth having a couple more conversation topics prepped. Colleges have been distilled down into a few broad stereotypes (collegium terminorum) which your DUS will reflexively repeat upon

Ask Aunty Violet Have a problem for Aunty Violet? Fill out the form via the QR code!

mention of their names. The stereotypes are as follows: Castle = posh; Hatfield = posh and mean; Collingwood = sporty; Hilde Bede = far away; St. John’s = Christian; Aida/ en’s = who?; others = forgotten. Those few DU Students capable of relating these descriptions to elements of popular culture such as television shows or film franchises are heralded as wise sages by the DU community, with their efforts being rewarded by hundreds of likes on Durfess and responses such as ‘this is so me’, or the more playful ‘did you write this?’. Finally, a quick note on the nightlife of the Durham University Student. Durham is a small city with few amenities outside of a library and three or four nightclubs. For this reason, your DU Student is likely to spend most of its time either reading or intoxicated (and sometimes both). For the most part a drunk DU Student should not be an issue, just try to keep it away from fried food, traffic cones and trees through which it might try to jump. It is recommended that

certain words are avoided around them, however, sober or otherwise. For example, the innocent question ‘Jimmy's?’ tends to cause over-excitement in the Durham Student and can see you drawn into a labyrinth of drinking games which will restrict variously the hand with which you can drink, the people to whom you can talk, and your ability to use proper nouns. To avoid these affects it is best to spell out words such as ‘J-I-MM-Y-S’ while in earshot of your Student. So there you have it, a comprehensive guide to communicating with your brandnew Durham University Student. It can be a steep learning curve at first, but in choosing to adopt one you have made the noble decision to give a home to a vulnerable species which would surely die if forced to fend for itself away from its Bubble.*

Finalist's fizzing flop

Bargain ballin'

Student left horrified at friend's choice of champagne to spray on them post-exams. "I was at least expecting a mid-shelf Tattinger".

BeFake exposed Student spends 24/7 on artisan coffee shops so they can have a cute Be Real”

Durham Regatta winners praised for innovative technique In an interview following a resounding victory, the winners attributed their win to "hard work, perseverence, and the fact we stuck a petrol motor on the back of the boat. Don't know what those losers were doing rowing, this isn't the 1800s."

Man's identity crisis: whole personality centred on football With no football for two months, doctors decided to put him into a medically induced coma, to be woken once he's able to watch Rotherham vs Luton again.

*Please note, Durham University Students are non-returnable. A student is for three years, not just for Christmas. We are not responsible if your Student decides to prolong your suffering with a masters degree. Good luck.

“Ball tickets reasonably priced at £300, one of your organs and a sacrificed newborn”the much anticipated ball will be themed “James Bond in the Admiral Casino in the Middle Ages” 90% of tickets remain so be quick to grab a place! Or avoid disappointment by not going!

Appeal for Satire Editors-in-Chief plead in vain for more Satire content, only to be told that Ben Lycett spent the night at John Snow ball and is still asleep. Lycett messaged the group at 1:27pm saying "Sorry I just woke up", later sending content but describing himself as "too hungover to proof read... sorry if they're crap."

Finalist in denial about leaving Durham says "graduation is a hoax" The soon-to-be graduate said summer term "will not and cannot end." When asked what job they had lined up in the event of term ending, they said "ew get off my back, you sound like my mum."

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

Sport

Sunderland are back in the Championship: so what’s next? Oliver Jervis It may sound rather cliché, but the Stadium of Light is shining once more after four frustrating years of depressed gloom. Their convincing victory over habitual party poopers Wycombe Wanderers in the League One Play-Off Final secured their long-awaited return to England’s second tier. So, what can we expect from the Black Cats in the notoriously competitive Championship, and what will they need to take the mighty step up to the Premier League after their prolonged period in the wilderness of the EFL? Firstly, it is expedient to address what has led to the club’s recent revival. Following Kyril LouisDreyfus’s successful takeover in February 2021, the Wearside club has had a resurrection of sorts. It seemed for a long while that all was lost for the boys in red and white, and the prospect of a return to the second tier was merely a distant dream. However, under Dreyfus and co.’s leadership, a strongly balanced squad has been established, with marquee loan signings such as Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts highlighting the club’s lofty ambitions. There has seemingly been no neglect of the Academy of Light either, with the spine of the team being largely constructed upon several homegrown talents such as stand-out performers Elliott Embleton and Anthony Patterson, both of whom started the crucial

game at Wembley. Thus, a fresh, Sunderlandfocused culture is evidently being instilled, one which may serve the club well if they are to successfully reach towards the promised land of the Premier League. Alongside this, the club’s infrastructure suggests that they are more than ready to make the leap of faith up the second-tier rankings. You will not have to go too far to discover the quality of Black Cats’ academy, with the Under 18s playing in their age category’s Premier League. Such a foundation indicates quite starkly the club’s consistent strength in depth. Aside from their internal structure, Sunderland’s fans are famous for their vastness of support. The club managed to sell almost 45,000 tickets for the PlayOff Final, and their average home attendance for the 2021-22 League One season topped the charts with over 30,000 spectators per game. The club are also rich in resources and, after the recent release of heavy wage-hitting figures such as Aiden McGeady and Will Grigg, it would be apt to expect the side to splash the cash this summer on constructing a squad capable of challenging any Championship eleven. However, it is essential to remember that all that glitters is not gold. Although the club have an evidently strong support, this does not entitle anyone to success, as the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, and Portsmouth discovered

over the course of last season. Moreover, aimless investment is a virus which has struck the Wearside club time and time again in recent years. With the temptations of the Championship and the prospect of Premier League television rights money in the headlights, the Black Cats would do well to evade this cardinal sin with conscious vigour. From a purely on-the-pitch perspective, the pressures of Championship football have been the downfall of many a side. The transition to this level is one that is rigorous, tiring and challenging. One need only cast their eyes on the examples of Rotherham, Bolton, Wigan,

sport are being ripped apart by the bottomless cheque of the Saudi investors. The winner of the series, Charl Schwartzel, picked up the biggest individual prize ever handed out a golf event, bagging $4 million for his victory. Not too shabby. Dustin Johnson, the highest ranked player to have signed up for the competition, is believed to have signed a contract in the region of $125 million. It is unsurprising, therefore, that these players have signed up. Those who are now a part of the Saudi arm of golf have been thrusted in front of the media in the previous weeks, and the overwhelming reasoning for signing up has indeed been because of the paycheque. Lee Westwood explained his decision to join by saying “if anyone comes along and gives any of us a chance of a pay rise then you have to seriously consider it don’t you.” There’s no problem with this; it’s honest. The problem comes when players like Graeme McDowell, who has become somewhat of a posterboy for the tournament, come out and try to explain and defend the regime and their involvement in the sport. In a press conference, the Northern Irishman said “we all agree up here that the Khashoggi situation was reprehensible,” then a matter of sentences later: “if Saudi Arabia want to use the game

of golf as a way for them to get to where they want to be and they have the resources to accelerate that experience then we’re proud to help them on that journey.” It’s the boldest and clearest example of sportswashing we’ve seen in years. It beggars belief. What journey is McDowell proud to help them towards? It seems unlikely that the families of the 81 imprisoned civilians who were executed in March of this year alone would be supporting this ‘journey’. The victims of the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen, the LGBT civilians imprisoned and the women who are routinely discriminated against in Saudi Arabia probably don’t subscribe to the journey either. Mickelson said in March: “we know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all this why would I even consider it?” Well, he considered it. And joined them. These players are now an extension of the Saudi regime. By representing them on their tour they are the pawns for the Saudi branch of sportswashing. McDowell, amongst others, has tried to reassert to the press that they are “not politicians”. It’s true, but they are now certainly political actors. What has to be questioned, though, is if it is likely to be a

Barnsley and Charlton. Each one of these sides has the pedigree to consolidate their position at this level; however, they are unwillingly caught in some peculiar footballing purgatory as they yo-yo between divisions. This is another pothole for the Black Cats to avoid whilst on their prowl. Performances on the pitch obviously matter more than anything. Yet, such pessimism should not dim the hopes of the Sunderland faithful. Their recent success is a fantastic and welcome cause for celebration. Everything is finally looking up for the Netflix superstars, and no opposition supporter will see the

North East side’s supporters crying on television any longer. Instead, hopeful smiles ought to be gleaming from their faces. The recent examples of Leeds and Nottingham Forest, who both fell by the wayside in the third tier before ascending gracefully back to the Premier League, will offer deserved reassurance. They are more than capable of reaching the summit once more and, although strong consolidation would most likely be expected and desired on Wearside next season, there are subtle hints that Rome is finally being rebuilt.

successful venture by the Saudis. The first event wasn’t televised on mainstream television, and it only attracted a peak of 94,000 viewers during the first round on the YouTube live stream. The press reaction has been overwhelmingly critical and there are no world ranking points available for the players. The event has been an expensive

vehicle to promote the Saudis as western-facing and tolerant, but by doing so it has tarnished the reputation of the players involved and thrusted the sport into its biggest crisis ever. The longer it continues the more scrutiny it is going to get, and the success of Saudi Arabia’s latest venture into elite sports remains to be seen.

(Ronnie Macdonald via Flickr)

Saudi-backed LIV Golf series could destroy the sport

Harvey Stevens Sportswashing is a term which has become increasingly prominent in the public consciousness in the past few years. As Saudi Arabia has pumped billions of dollars into Western sports with the goal of improving their blood-stained reputation, criticism has ensued. With the hosting of blockbuster boxing fights, huge investment into F1 and the recent takeover of Newcastle United, it’s hard to find any elite sports which haven’t been funded at some point by the Saudis. Now, their investment in elite golf has spiraled the sport into a civil war. The brand-new LIV Golf series kicked off in Hertfordshire this week with elite names such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood having signed up. Their involvement with the tournament has led to their expulsion from the established PGA Tour to which they have all belonged for the majority of their careers. The new series poses two main problems. The obvious sportswashing allegations have attracted a significant amount of media attention and criticism. But it also threatens the integrity of the sport of golf as a whole. Much like the proposed European Super League in football last year, the established methods of competition in the

LIV Golf CEO and former World No1 Greg Norman (Steven Newton)

PALATINATE | Thursday 16th June 2022

Sport

Durham Women FC: reaching adulthood George Simms How should we assess Durham Women’s season? 6th in the FA Women’s Championship is the Wildcats’ lowest finish since 2015, and 28 goals conceded is their highest since 2015 too. Yet they were top with eight games played, second at Christmas, and third as recently as three games from the end of the season. Crowds have grown exponentially and the Wildcats are building a dependable and dedicated support base both home and away after their second season at Maiden Castle. October’s sell-out thriller against Manchester United Women saw the club smash their all-time attendance record, and their league attendance record fell against both Liverpool and Sunderland. A football club’s identity is forged by its history, by the memories and moments which define it. If a human year equates to seven dog years, a Durham Women year is about two human years by my calculations. Having just finished their ninth season, the Wildcats are entering adulthood. Since their formation, the club have looked around the world in wide-eyed wonder. Their every move has been met with fulsome praise and all have been in agreement that they definitely couldn’t do the same at that age. Constant progression up the league table has been matched by blind optimism off it – the belief that the sky is the limit, that the only way is up. The 2021/22 season breaks a trend of steady progress for the Wildcats going back as far as 2017’s Spring Series. 5th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd…. 6th was not the plan. Lee Sanders’s plucky upstarts are

supposed to constantly push on, astonishing fans and oppositions alike with their overperformance despite limited resources and no men’s team to fall back on. Adulthood is a scary prospect, and one that bears down on you at an alarming rate. The decision to

The 2021/22 season breaks a trend of progress going back as far as 2015

move to a full-time training regime will see the club lose some of its key figures, with Abby Holmes and Nicki Gears already moving across the Wear to Sunderland, but it is a step the club needed to take to continue their growth. As every good teenager does, Durham will make, and have made, mistakes. There will inevitably be growing pains, but it is time for Durham to have those fundamental, formative experiences which separate adolescent from adult. Despite technically losing on penalties, that 2-2 Conti Cup clash with United will go down as the season’s highlight for the 1,468 fans who were there. The club needs moments like Beth Hepple’s late equaliser under the lights to continue discovering who they are both on and off the pitch. A fanbase and club identity are built on The Big Moments. They

morph into a mythology which warms the terraces on freezing December afternoons and is passed throughout generations. Durham also need moments like the 1-0 loss to Coventry and the 3-3 draw with Watford. Club culture is a favourite buzz-phrase of the sports writing industry. Noone can quite define it, but they are sure that Real Madrid’s is excellent, and Manchester United’s is utterly hopeless. To my mind, a club’s identity is built on the big moments, but its culture is developed in these seemingly insignificant ties. The Wildcats need to find a way to win when nothing is going their way. Lee Sanders can spend as long as he wants drilling tactical systems into his side, but it is only through experience that his young club and players will really learn. To get out of this division, a practically perfect season is required. Durham can only hope to do that by learning how to win in all conditions. You would have to be mad or blind to call Beth Hepple a problem for the Wildcats, but an overreliance on their star player has been obvious since the club’s inception. Durham’s record appearance-maker, creator and goalscorer, Hepple had another exceptional season, with ten goals and eight assists. 2021/22 was Hepple’s seventh double-digit goalscoring haul in all competitions in nine seasons, with only one other Wildcat having managed it even once (Molly Sharpe in 2019/20). This season, if Hepple was closed down in openplay, or the set-pieces didn’t quite go Durham’s way, then they often looked toothless going forward. January signing Rio Hardy looked to provide a potential answer, but injuries and a cup-tie meant she often struggled for consistent game time. Bridget Galloway is brilliant on her day, but often looks isolated

and short on ideas. Having missed only five of Durham Women’s games since their inception, it is impossible to say what the club would look like without Hepple, but an injury could be catastrophic for the side’s progress. They need creative reinforcements. At the back, 28 goals conceded in the league was nearly double last season’s total and the club’s highest since the 2015 WSL 2. Given the basically unchanged backline from one season to another, this appears to be a consequence of other teams improving as they move to full-time training and full-blown professionalism. Now Durham have announced they are making this step, it looks hopeful that Maiden Castle can become a fortress once more. Clearly planning for the move to full-time training well in advance, signings like Hardy from Coventry and goalkeeper Naoisha McAloon from Peamont United will form the

The Wildcats need to find a way to win when nothing is going their way

foundations of the club in years to come. With so much movement expected over the summer, making predictions for next season would

be a pointless task, but this season made it clear that the club needed to go full-time to keep up with the Aggie Beevor-Joneses. And so, adulthood awaits for UK women’s football’s golden child. They are going full-time and sooner or later will be forced to shed their identity as the plucky underdogs. Some disappointing performances on the pitch this season were outweighed by the positives off it, with the club’s fanbase, reputation and identity continuing to flourish. The regression can be largely blamed on improvements elsewhere in the league, but that excuse has now flown out of the window and down the M1. I hope that when most of us look back at this season in a decade, we will remember the United draw, the Tyne-Wear derby win on the penultimate day, or the Watford comeback. If the move to fulltime training goes as hoped and leads to professionalism and the resumption of the Sanders law of perpetual upwards motion, then it will be remembered as a teenage blip in a glorious rise to the top. If the move goes awry, then this could become the norm for Durham Women – a mid-table Championship side swaying between false hope of promotion and inevitable relegation scares. For a side who have built their identity as the continually improving underdog, as the model for both economic and on-field efficiency, this would be catastrophic. Anyone who’s been through it (and I have it on good authority that that’s most of us) will tell you that the transition to adulthood is never easy, and the Golden Child rarely becomes the Consummate Adult. With their toes over the precipice of this monumental change, the Wildcats must keep their balance or risk losing their identity.

The road to the Women’s Cricket Championship final Beth Hepple (Durham Women FC)

Abi Curran Durham University Women’s Cricket (DUWCC) UCCE squad are through to the BUCS Women’s Championship final after beating Exeter in a thrilling semi-final on the South West coast. The squad will travel to Kibworth on Wednesday 22nd June where they will face a familiar Loughborough side in an effort to gain the all-important title of 2022 BUCS Champions. Now Durham are no strangers to success at the wicket. The Racecourse is steeped in sporting and cricketing history, from Ian Botham seeing out his career with Durham County to the early glimpses of Andrew Strauss and Nasser Hussain. However, more recently, DUWCC’s triumphs in their new palatinate kit tell a narrative which is just as charming. The club are used to big games and this year’s final becomes all the more important as Durham have taken a silver medal home in every year of the Championship since 2017.

A bronze medal finish at the Indoor Championship finals has given the team even more determination to claim the title this summer. And DUWCC are by no means going into the final blind, having faced their opponents Loughborough twice already in the outdoor league. The East Midlands side have come out on top both home and away this season but perhaps the neutral ground of Kibworth, just south of Leicestershire, will yield a more fruitful result for Durham’s hopeful eleven. UCCE Captain Emily Naylor knows how capable her side are against their biggest rivals in the BUCS Championship: “We need that belief that we’re not playing the name we’re playing the team and we are good enough to beat them. We have both in our indoor and one of our outdoor games got them out for low totals so if we can do that we’d be looking to chase it down.” The team will be looking to emulate their emphatic win against Exeter in the semi-finals.

Exeter opted to give Durham the bat first and a convincing score of 240 was set in the first innings. Though there was still work to be done, a wicket on the second ball from Emilia Rossi and a stunning catch from Naylor at mid-off set the tone that Durham meant business. Exeter were bowled out for 194, the team in palatinate winning by 46 runs. With all eyes now on the final, the skipper reflects on the elation that got them there in the semi: “It always takes that one moment to think ‘oh we can do this’ and when Rossi got that wicket on the second ball, I mean it was quite a good catch too, I think that just showed to everyone that we can do this. You could tell everyone was up for it, they came in for hugs not high fives.” Club Captain Hannah Poole also testified for the catch and the celebrations, “Naylor caught the first and last wickets from mid-off, so it felt really nice and cyclical. We were all just absolutely overjoyed and of course ended up going for a celebratory swim in the sea in our kit.”

Alongside Durham’s success on the field, their journey becomes all the more impressive when considering the challenges that the club has faced this year.

DUWCC do not receive any funding from the ECB or Team Durham

A recent change in the running of the university cricket programme from MCC to the ECB means that DUWCC do not currently receive any funding from the ECB or Team Durham. DUWCC have themselves to thank for their on-field triumphs this season – a testament to the talent and dedication of the squad who have been training together since September 2021. It has been a truly memorable

season for DUWCC to say the least, one that will not be forgotten in a hurry. In her third and final year, Poole celebrates just some of her personal highlights: “Mia Rogers has been a great addition to the team, scoring a century on debut and consistently batting so well, really a player to watch over the next few years, both for the university and Sunrisers. “Rosie (Pembroke) took a match winning fifer against Exeter too – big contribution there! Rossi has been bowling so well, putting early pressure on the opening batters and picking up wickets. “And also a shoutout to Emily Batey (next year’s on-field captain) who broke her fingers in the second match but has come to practically every training and match to support the squad.” As a collective, Naylor is also proud of how much fun the team has had over the course of the last season. Naylor said: “We’re usually in really high spirits, cracking jokes and having a good time, performing to our best. Generally, the attitude around the team, people doing what they have to do for them team has been great this year.”

Sport

Thursday 16th June 2022 | PALATINATE

“It has been a memorable season for DUWCC to say the least” Abi Curran details the Women’s Cricket 1XI’s journey to the Championship final

“There are subtle hints that Rome is being rebuilt” Oliver Jervis discusses Sunderland’s promotion to the Championship

Durham Women FC shift to full-time training model

The Wildcats take the next step on the road to professionalism George Simms

Durham Women FC have announced that they will be adopting a fulltime training model ahead of the 2022/23 season. In recent years, the club have operated using a hybrid model, but are going full-time in a bid to continue their development after a disappointing FA WSL Championship season, finishing sixth. They are also currently recruiting numerous new full-time staffing roles in order to support the firstteam playing squad and the new Barclays FA WSL Academy squad. The Wildcats are scheduled to return to training at Maiden Castle in early July. There will likely be significant movement both in and out of the club this summer in response to the new model. Defensive stalwart Abby Holmes has already moved to Sunderland Ladies alongside Nicki Gears, but the club have confirmed that a number of players have already committed to the club for the upcoming season. The shift to full-time training is viewed by the club as the natural next step on the road to professionalism. Within the Championship this season, six of the eleven teams were either fully professional or train fulltime, including four of the five teams which finished above Durham in the final standings. Manager Lee Sanders commented that “This is a hugely positive step and the natural one for the club to take as we look to build on the successes we have had in recent seasons. “It’s the right thing to do for the players and our staff and gives the younger players at the club the knowledge that this is something they can pursue as a career at Durham. “Naturally, there will be some player movement as a consequence of the decision - not everyone can train during the day - and we of course will thank those players for their time spent at the club. “However, we are excited about new players who will come in and be announced in due course - as well as the promotion of young players from within the club pathway.” Club captain Sarah Wilson added: “It’s incredible and so exciting for the club. There has been so much work gone into making this happen, and I am very grateful to have the opportunity. It’s something that I’ve

DUWCC UCCE 2021/22 (DUWCC) dreamed of being able to do since I first started playing when I was eight years old. “Personally I didn’t think I would ever get the chance so it’s an opportunity that I’m going to grab with both hands. Of course, the downside is that there will be some movement. This is the nature of the game and that’s football. But the direction this club is moving in is something to be very excited about, especially for our younger players coming through.”

Powerlifting

Durham alumna becomes national Bench Press Champion Karanjeet Kaur Bains became the All England Bench Press Champion 2022 in the under 69kg Senior Women’s class. The Durham alumna (2015-2019) benched 95kg at her second attempt to lift the title. Bains is also the first British Sikh female to represent Team GB.

Football

Durham City AFC win first game in three years Durham City AFC finished the Northern League Division Two season with a much-needed 1-0 win over Washington FC. Brandon Turnbull’s 75th-minute penalty gave the beleagured club their first win since 9th April 2019.

Beach Volleyball

Durham dominate BUCS Beach Volleyball Championships Pairs from Durham won both the BUCS Beach Volleyball Championship and Trophy on Sandbanks beach in Bournemouth last week. Both the men’s and women’s teams also won the BUCS Volleyball Super League 2022.

Hockey

Cricket

Durham is set to host its first international hockey tournament from 25-28 August 2022 at Maiden Castle. The tournament is part of the EuroHockey Women’s Championship qualifiers.

Durham pace bowler Matty Potts took 4-13 on his England test debut to help England to a first-test win over New Zealand at Lord’s. The Sunderland-born 23-year-old dismissed both Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell.

Durham to host first international hockey tournament

Sunderland-born Potts shines on England test debut

Men’s Rugby

Palatinates dominate BUCS season awards Durham men’s 1XV captain Fred Davies was named BUCS Super Rugby Player of the Season 2021/22, beating out teammate Harry Craven. The award is voted for by all the coaches in the division. Davies became the BUCS Super Rugby all-time try scorer after scoring 24 tries this season. He has signed a professional contract with Bristol Bears upon graduation, where he will join up with former Durham teammate Fitz Harding. Davies was also named Team Durham Sportsman of the Year. Scrum-half Craven, who recently signed a professional contract with Wasps, was also nominated for the Fan’s Player of the Season award, having scored 15 BUCS Super Rugby tries, jointsecond behind Davies.

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