Palatinate 849

Palatinate The UK and Ireland’s Best Student Publication, 2021

Thursday 24th February 2022 | No. 849

Indigo reflects on charity fashion shows SU election manifestos examined

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Sport investigates Durham AFC’s new management

Strikes go on as University rejects union pension demands Louisa Barlow News Reporter Durham University has rejected the University and College Union’s pensions proposals this week, setting the stage for further industrial action, including

a possible marking boycott.

The University released a statement on Monday saying it had given the UCU’s proposals “careful considerations” but that national proposals were “the only workable option”.

The following day, the Universities

Durham’s attainment gap doubles in pandemic

Elizabeth McBride News Editor The introduction of online learning has significantly widened the attainment gap between Durham’s most and least privileged, data obtained by Palatinate shows.

Since 2020 Durham’s most privileged students have experienced 10 times the increase in first-class grades compared to the most deprived. The gap widened further in 2021 after the end of the ‘no detriment’ policy.

30.5% of those from England’s most deprived areas – rated a 1 on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) – achieved a first-class degree before the pandemic. Since 2020 this has increased slightly to 31.5%. However, for students from the wealthiest regions (IMD 5), the average of 40% for first-class degrees before the pandemic increased to 50% with the introduction of online teaching and exams.

Before the pandemic, Durham students from England’s wealthiest areas were already 9.5% more likely to get a first-class degree than those from the most deprived. This attainment gap has now almost doubled in size to 18.5%.

For 2021 graduates – who had more of their final grade based on online learning, with second-year

exams also online, a full year of online or ‘blended’ learning, and the removal of 2020’s ‘no detriment’ policy – the divide was exacerbated.

The percentage of students from the most deprived areas achieving a first-class degree rose by one percentage point from 2020 to 2021, while those awarded a first or 2:1 degree dropped from 95% to 91%, and the percentage awarded a 2:2 jumped from 3% to 12% in 2021.

But for students from England’s wealthiest areas, 97% consistently attained a 2:1 or first-class degree in 2020 and 2021, There was also an increase of four percentage points in first-class degrees, and students receiving a 2:2 dropped from 3% in 2020 to 2% in 2021. Before the pandemic, the figure was 4.5%.

A 2021 survey targeted at stateeducated students by The 93% Foundation, found “major concern” about the negative impact of home working for future career prospects and degree results.

Issues such as lacking resources, poor WiFi, no private space and a noisy working environment were highlighted as areas of concern for career prospects and academic achievement. One respondent said, “sharing a laptop with my sibling who is also learning from home makes things very difficult […] I sometimes have to Zoom on my Continued on Page 3

Superannuation Scheme Joint Negotiating Committee voted to officially implement cuts to future pension benefits for university staff nationally.

Universities UK, which represents all the major employers, including Durham, supported the move.

Durham University UCU members will continue strikes Monday to Wednesday next week, focusing on the ‘Four Fights’ of workload, pay, equality and casualisation.

Some departments have granted block extensions on summative deadlines for

(Yijie Jia)

William Galunic knocks down George Means in the final bout of Aggression Sessions.

Re-watch every round with guest commentary on Palatinate TV’s YouTube channel.

students affected by strikes.

Palatinate spoke to several of those present on the picket lines to understand why staff continue to strike.

One staff member accused the University of using intimidation Continued on Page 3

New legal clash over Durham refugees

Laetitia Eichinger News Editor Two new legal challenges are being mounted against a new controversial immigration detention centre for women in County Durham.

National charity Women for Refugee Women and an individual claimant are taking separate legal action against the Home Office over a lack of in-person legal aid offered to detainees in the centre.

This comes after legal action focused on planning permission for the Derwentside site was previously launched by local campaigner Owen Temple.Women for Refugee Women said: “Unlike in other detention centres, where men are detained, women at Derwentside are only able to access legal advice over the phone.”

Gemma Lousley, Policy and Research Coordinator at the charity, previously told Palatinate that “many of the women are survivors of sexual abuse and violence. This can often be very difficult to open up about.” Difficulty in disclosing such experiences can result in delays in release from detention and inaccurate or incomplete legal advice, according to the charity, adding “being denied access to inperson legal advice will exacerbate the difficulties women already face”.

The individual claimant says: “It has been really difficult for me to find legal advice since coming to Derwentside detention centre. I spoke with many employees here about getting a lawyer, but they gave me excuse after excuse, always telling me to come back tomorrow.”

Women for Refugee Women have launched a fundraising campaign to help cover legal costs.

The Home Office were contacted for comment on the allegations.

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Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

Editorial Inside 849 News pages 1-7 Satire page 8 Comment pages 9-11 Profile page 12 Scitech pages 13-15 Politics pages 16-18 Puzzles page 20

Palstrology page 21 Sport pages 22-24

Indigo

Editorial page 2 Features page 3

On the ropes

(Rosie Bromiley)

A

s the end of Epiphany term creeps closer, Durham calendars are brimming with summatives, glitzy balls and a seemingly never-ending stream of charity fashion shows. But one date few students are likely to have circled in their diaries is Wednesday 2nd March, the day votes close for this years’ Durham Students’ Union (DSU) elections.

Crowned the UK’s most unpopular student union in the National Student Survey for two years in a row, DSU perennially struggles to attract both candidates and voters in its elections.

Turnout in elections has failed to climb above 20% for four years. Despite the irresistible promise of an audience with Jackie Weaver for the college with the highest number of voters last year, just 3207 students participated, 13.8% of those eligible.

For contrast, last week’s Aggression Sessions, Durham’s student-run charity fight-night, attracted 1,000 paying ring-side spectators and PalTV’s brilliant live stream of the event racked in more than 3,600 views.

At this point, DSU elections have descended into such a farce that a boxing match would arguably be just as fitting a way to ordain the next set of officers to preside over the great concrete monolith of Dunelm House.

Unfortunately for this flight of fancy, boxing matches, unlike SU elections, traditionally require more than one participant. Of six paid sabbatical roles up for grabs, three are uncontested, the second time this has been the case in two years.

The conclusion of the races for Undergraduate Academic Officer, Postgraduate Academic Officer and Welfare and Liberation Officer are essentially foregone, as the only alternative, re-opening nominations, is essentially defunct.

Disregarding the stigma created by the controversy over the 2020 RON campaign, the new rules mean that should anyone attempt to encourage RON votes without registering themselves as a candidate the entire option would be disqualified and votes transferred.

All this is not to make a personal attack at any of this years’ candidates, nor at the current officers: certain rightwing publications have done more than enough of that in recent months. The problem is not down to individuals — the majority of those that run have a genuine altruistic desire to improve the experiences of their fellow students — it is institutional.

Within a collegiate system, the Students’ Union is inevitably less influential

than in other universities. We also never see the behind the scenes work; most students’ primary interaction with the SU is through quickly binned emails, Fresher’s Fair, or negotiation with the many layers of bureaucracy involved with running a student group.

But even with those disclaimers in place, the upcoming elections are a sombre reflection of the DSU’s failure to break through to those it purports to represent.

The disconnect between the Union and students cannot solely be chalked up to the University’s setup, and instead of addressing the issue DSU has sought to ignore or arguably to make it worse.

Following the RON saga, the DSU launched a ‘democracy review’, the findings of which were nothing short of damning.

Just 4% of students were found to have greater loyalty to the Union than their colleges. In response, a referendum on a new democracy model was planned and then promptly scrapped.

Shortly afterwards yet another set of changes were put forward which, flying in the face of their own report, reduced college representation within the SU. Amidst backlash, these proposals were once again shelved, only to be resurrected in a confusingly worded manner just this term.

And guess what? Once again

Style page 4 Travel page 5 Books pages 6&7 Stage page 8 Creative Writing page 9 Food & Drink page 10 Film & TV pages 11&12 Interview page 13 Visual Arts page 14 Music page 15 the plans were thrown out.

Both the mind-boggling back and forths of the last two years and the depressing state of this year’s elections are clear indicators that the SU is achingly out of touch with students.

Of course, it is too early to say whether my cynicism is entirely merited. Perhaps the combination of recent national media attention on the Union and an unusually controversial candidate will be enough to entice students to the online voting form. But even if this is the case, urgent work needs to be done to repair the relationship between DSU and the student body.

Regrettably should the status quo persist, a students’ union that wins the attention, let alone approval, of the Durham student body seems about as plausible as the presidential wannabes donning silk shorts to square up to each other in the ring.

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

Palatinate Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Max Kendix & Poppy Askham 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 Forster-Collins, Frank Kelly & Sam Lake investigations@palatinate.org.uk Satire Editors Ben Lycett & Hannah Williams satire@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editors Ellie Fitzgerald-Tesh & Anna Noble comment@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Comment Editors George Pickthorn & Miriam Shelley Profile Editor 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 & Joe Rossiter 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 Editors Katya Davisson & Annabelle Bulag music@palatinate.org.uk Interview Editor Stephanie Ormond, Josie Lockwood & Lara Moamar indigo.interview@palatinate.org.uk Photography Editors Lainey Lin, Adeline Zhao, Thomas Tomlinson & Rob Laine 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 Heads of Advertising Thaddeus Dominic, Sophie Ritson Ben Stoneley & Kyra Onyebuchi advertising@palatinate.org.uk Heads of Alumni Relations Elena Liciu & Ben Stoneley alumni@palatinate.org.uk Finance Officer Sophie Garnett finance@palatinate.org.uk

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PALATINATE | Thursday 24 February 2022

Butler tops college academic rankings In the first rankings of their kind at Durham University, Josephine Butler College wins first place, based on 2021 graduate results. Grey college takes last place.

Elizabeth McBride & Max Kendix Investigations Editor & Editor-in-Chief

Josephine Butler College has come out top of Durham’s first academic college rankings system, the Evans Table, developed by Palatinate.

The system awards nine points for a first, four for a 2:1, one for a 2:2, and none for a Third or below.

This number is then divided by the maximum possible score for each to award a college’s annual ‘Evans score’, named after the late former Sunday Times and Palatinate Editor Sir Harold Evans.

The system is based loosely on Oxford’s Norrington Table and Cambridge’s Tompkins Table of college rankings. The differences between colleges at Durham is significantly smaller than at Oxbridge.

This may be for a few reasons: Durham has around half the number of colleges, and correspondingly an average of 270 students graduating per college in 2021, compared to around 100 at Oxford.

Significantly, as teaching at Durham University takes place centrally, not in college, admissions are decided centrally, and only then are offer holders allocated a college, taking into account their application preferences. At Oxbridge, colleges manage the admissions process first.

Palatinate revealed last month that University College has consistently topped applicants’ preferred college, though the majority of students put in an open application, without specifying a college.

Last year, Durham switched from a single preference system for college choice, allowing applicants to rank their preferences instead.

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

College Josephine Butler St John's Hatfield St Chad's University St Cuthbert's Collingwood Hild Bede Trevelyan St Aidan's St Mary's Van Mildert Grey

The rankings below come from data obtained by Palatinate in a Freedom of Information request to Durham University. Following Higher Education Statistics Agency guidelines, the data points (for a college’s annual results for any particular degree classification) sent were rounded to the nearest five.

Results improved dramatically in 2020 and 2021 as the University introduced online exams The true numbers, therefore, will likely differ slightly from these results. Any data points with fewer than two students were rounded to zero, and excluded from these calculations.

John Snow and Stephenson College have been excluded entirely this year: both were previously located at Queen’s Campus in Stockton, where Durham students could study degrees in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health.

The department completed its transition to Newcastle University in August 2018, and due to the differences in degrees offered before 2018, and the phased move to Durham City by both colleges, they proved to be statistical anomalies.

Results improved dramatically in 2020 and 2021 as the University introduced online exams and policies to mitigate against the effects of Covid-19.

But grades have been consistently increasing over time, even without the pandemic’s repercussions.

Palatinate revealed last year that the proportion of first-class Durham degrees awarded to graduates has doubled over the last 10 years. In 2020, 95% of Durham graduates received a 2:1 or a First.

Evans score 76.9 76.4 75.9 75.1 74.8 74.8 74.6 74.1 74.1 73.9 73.7 73.6 72.5

Firsts 51.9% 53.1% 46.3% 48.0% 45.3% 47.3% 47.5% 43.7% 45.8% 45.1% 46.9% 45.9% 45.5%

News

Poorer students worse off in online learning Continued from front my phone with headphones in”.

Others described their lack of resources affecting their experience. One student surveyed described bad WiFi as causing them to “miss crucial parts of online learning” while another said “the WiFi mainly disconnects a lot during Zoom calls. I get a bit anxious about people seeing my bedroom and judging it but there’s nowhere else in the house to sit.”

Another student said, “on Zoom, I could see other students in mansions, while I was trying to do lectures with my phone’s hotspot in a room shared with my sister”.

Some raised concerns about the effect long periods of online learning, at school as well as at university, will have on this trend.

“Broadband poverty, cramped housing, overloaded classes, and a cost of living crisis: the pandemic saw the poorest learners left behind. With 9% of students turning to food banks, many had to work longer hours and spend less time learning to survive. It

is unsurprising that those from poorer backgrounds have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

Universities have tunnel vision, refusing to acknowledge, and try to solve, an ever-widening attainment gap.”

Disadvantaged students find themselves facing an uphill struggle Durham’s 93% Club, a group aiming to support state-educated students, told Palatinate: “These statistics and trends expose an all-too-obvious truth for disadvantaged students at Durham: that the University is failing to react to the academic advantages of wealthier students, with a complete lack of support in trying to bridge this gap.

“As the statistics show, the

Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to remote, online learning has extenuated disadvantages that have only served to benefit wealthier students.

These students typically enjoy greater access to technology, better WiFi connection and a remote learning environment at home more suitable for focused work.

It is no surprise, therefore, that the richest students in Durham had a far greater increase in receiving first-class degrees during the pandemic.

“Disadvantaged students immediately find themselves facing an uphill struggle to be recognised and valued by potential employers if they are competing against wealthier students who already had a headstart.”

A spokesperson said Durham University offers a number of scholarships and bursarie, and that “we aim to attract the brightest and best students with the merit and potential to succeed here, regardless of their background or financial circumstances.”

(Thomas Tomlinson)

Strikers speak out about ‘intimidation’ in 25% Durham ASOS pay cut threat Continued from front tactics against staff to discourage participation in industrial action.

These tactics were described as designed to make “staff feel that by striking we have let students down.”

One email came up repeatedly.

It expressed disappointment in the UCU decision to proceed with strike action “given the impact this will have on students, many of whom may have been impacted by the last round of industrial action and/or the pandemic.”

Durham University told employees in November that they “regularly review and improve our employment benefits and practices to ensure we remain a responsible and attractive employer.” But this sentiment was not shared amongst the striking staff. Earlier this month, Durham threatened a 25% deduction in pay for staff partaking in Action Short of Strike (ASOS), where staff work strictly to their contract and no more. One staff member noted that until now, the University had “taken a fairly amicable tone”, whereas this new

development “marks a significant change.” They went on to say that “these things cannot simply be forgotten or undone. If the threat is withdrawn it is not as though people will just forget.”

Jon Warren, the Durham UCU Vice-President, said that the UCU were “quite surprised” by the announcement.

Some staff acknowledged that students may feel frustrated with the ongoing disputes and this frustration may well translate into anger towards lecturers.

One staff member said they would be unsurprised and understanding of students who “blamed everyone for the mess”, whilst one student urged their cohort to direct “any anger you feel about the situation at the administration and not at the lecturers.”

Others were more optimistic about student support. Warren commented that many students are supportive of staff, particularly once they “understand the issues and engage with us”.

Speaking before Tuesday’s

decision, another staff member was optimistic of a positive outcome, noting that each time industrial action is undertaken, “we have managed to achieve concessions.”

Warren commented of the potential aftermath from the strikes that the UCU “want both disputes settled” and that union members should be “optimistic but realistic” regarding a potential agreement.

With the pensions cut now formalised, the UCU’s proposals seem to be very far from implementation. The urgency in University statements reflects unwillingness to budge on the issue any longer, saying that if the issue was not sorted by April, it “would put an unacceptable financial burden on staff”.

But the UCU is acting resolute about further action, to try and force the hand of universities nationally. When asked about any potential future industrial action if UCU demands are not met, Warren’s words were simple: “Nothing is off the table.”

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Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

News

“Completely and wilfully ignored” Pests and mould in Durham City student accommodation

By Laetitia Eichinger and Patrick Stephens News Editor and Deputy Editor Students have provided Palatinate with testimonies of their experiences of privately renting student accommodation in Durham.

One student, who did not name the landlord or estate agency they were renting from, said that they could hear rats in the walls of their property: “The worst part was when we started to get lots of flies in the house, swarms of them.”

Some students told us that estate agents were frequently slow to respond to issues. In reference to growing mould in their property, again with an unspecified agency or landlord, one tenant said: “We’ve inquired multiple times and nothing has happened”.

Several of the reports have related to houses managed by Frampton and Roebuck.

Some reports related to issues that occurred when students first moved into properties. One Frampton and Roebuck tenant told Palatinate: “When coming into my property for the first time, there were large patches of mould in my room. We complained about this to Frampton and Roebuck, but to no avail. Because of this, I had to request an extension to my stay in college accommodation.

“After weeks of complaining they finally sent someone round to tackle the mould. It’s infuriating to think that if we hadn’t bombarded them about this it would’ve probably just been swept under the carpet.”

Another student stated that their property had not been cleaned before they moved in, and that they experienced health problems after staying only briefly in their property, which contained mould.

“When we got in there I could feel my eyes start to water but I just thought it was a bit of pollen as it was summer.”

They say they then noticed black mould in the property, and became ill soon after. The student explained that Frampton and Roebuck promised throughout the summer to address the mould, but that when they returned in late summer to check, the mould had not been adequately dealt with.

“Between the travel, the hotel [to stay in because the house was not liveable], and the time out of my summer job to visit Durham, it isn’t an exaggeration to say it has cost me over £650.”

Palatinate requested comment from Frampton and Roebuck about the procedures in place for ensuring that properties are sanitary when tenants moved in. The company said: “Due to the nature of student tenancies in Durham, where tenancy contracts are almost always 52 weeks in length, whilst we endeavour to ensure that all properties are professionally cleaned and sanitary in preparation for all tenants to arrive, in the height of the season, there can

Mark Norton

Student accounts claimed that estate agencies did not address problems in properties promptly sometimes be instances where we find that one tenant moves out the day before a new tenant moves in.

“In such instances, property cleans are prioritised depending on the arrival dates and times of those incoming tenants and any necessary repairs are dealt with accordingly. We would never simply not get a property cleaned, but sometimes it is unavoidable that cleaners have to work around tenants over the first few days of the tenancy.

We all had respiratory problems “In terms of reporting issues to our team, we have recently introduced a ‘Report a Repair’ function on our website to improve the process for tenants to highlight concerns, however urgent they may be, but crucially to take photographs and log that they have made a report to us.”

Student also raised issues further on into tenancies. One of the aforementioned students, who reported to Frampton and Roebuck the presence of mould in the property, said: “When we came back in October we thought it had been properly taken care of. They’d stripped the whole kitchen out and redecorated it and told us it was a leak from a kitchen tap.

“Within a week of living at the property, all of us started to experience varying degrees of mental and physical illness. We all had respiratory problems and other issues.

“We then pulled back a sofa in our living room and found the worst black mould growing all over the wall and the walls in the house

were damp to touch. We argued with the agency endlessly, asking them to get reports done, to fix the issue, to give us compensation.

“At this point I feel like agencies in Durham do nothing to protect the welfare of students and I felt my ongoing and very disruptive problems in the house were completely and wilfully ignored.

I’ve found the ordeal incredibly difficult and upsetting.”

Stating that they were unable to break the contract on the grounds of the damp and black mould, the student says they are now double renting, which is “breaking the bank”.

Another student told Palatinate that they had an infestation of pests inside their Frampton and Roebuck property. Council pest control were contacted on recommendation of the estate agency, who attempted to address the problem. The student said that weeks later the problem was still not fully solved, and that the estate agency took a long time to fully address the issue.

Palatinate asked Frampton and Roebuck for comment on these testimonies, and, in particular, whether they believe that they are doing enough to uphold their duty of care towards students. They said: “Whether a reported issue is a routine repair, or the other extreme of a property damaged by flood, for example, all matters are prioritised and resolved as expediently as possible.

“Our team and appointed contractors do more than enough to uphold our duty of care towards students.”

“Whilst issues with mould growth and condensation are certainly not unheard of in student housing, it is true that we have noticed something of an increase in such cases in the last two years, including in properties where there has never been a problem in the past. We believe a possible explanation for this could be to do with the increased amount of

time students are spending in their houses, specifically in bedrooms due to remote/online teaching.

“Understandably, our years of prior knowledge of a property, or the thoughts of the landlord will be of little reassurance or consequence to the tenant who now has visible mould/mildew staining in their bedroom. In such scenarios, our first response is to try and advise on ventilation, inquire about their living habits, and of course find out if there may be any defects or ventilation faults in the property to establish what might be a cause.

We argued with the agency endlessly “It is no coincidence as to why we, our landlords and fellow agents have experienced more examples of mould and moisture complaints over the past 2 years than in all our years in this industry.

“With the introduction in 2018 of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), properties are better insulated, better heated and subject to having working extractors etc, should in theory be better ventilated to cope with the amount of moisture created by the number of occupants. The only factor which has changed in recent years, is that of the time spent indoors by the occupants.

“We are not for one second simply implying that it is therefore 100% the fault of the students themselves, but we have found that is important to work together and look at all factors in order to resolve issues that occur.”

Palatinate also received an account pertaining to a property let by Harringtons. The student said: “The biggest problem was the complaints system. They would make you file a request on an online portal and then they would get back to you quicker or slower depending on how bad the problem was.

“On a Friday evening we noticed an unusual noise like a buzzing or hissing and we couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. In the morning I filed a request on the portal and I tried to call them.

There was just a voicemail saying that they no longer operated an out of hours or emergency line.

“So we had to wait until Monday when I rang them and they reluctantly sent someone to the property. That evening they finally sent a gas engineer round to investigate. As it turns out, we didn’t have a gas leak, but instead a burst water pipe. The point is it could have been much worse and we had no way of contacting them.

It was very stressful.”

Harringtons were contacted for comment, and responded: “We can confirm all repair requests are dealt with in a priority order.

Therefore, urgent repair requests are appeased in a more timely manner than those deemed to be trivial repair requests.

“Unfortunately, our emergency out of hours number was being abused by students under the influence of alcohol especially in the early hours over a weekend.

“We monitored the calls over a number of weeks and found that none of the calls received were actually deemed to be emergencies and were instead reports of broadband issues or they had lost their keys on a night out, neither of which are the fault of Harringtons, yet our staff were experiencing sleepless nights due these calls.

“Harringtons contacted all tenants before the Christmas break providing them with emergency contact details should they require a contractor out of hours, such as a gas engineer should their boiler stop working and the gas network for any gas leaks. Presumably this tenant has not thought to use these contact details when this issue has occurred on a Friday night.

“In addition to the above, all of our tenants are provided with a property pack when they collect their keys at the start of their tenancy which includes all professional certificates for the property. The certificates provided clearly show the name & contact details of the engineers which carried out the works and so our tenants have contractor information from day 1 of their tenancy with our company.

“This report was addressed first thing on Monday morning and was immediately instructed to an external contractor as Harringtons are not qualified gas engineers. We have spoken to the contractors who have confirmed they then attended the property that same day.”

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PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

News

SU candidates: a closer look Waseem Mohamed and Max Kendix News Editor and Editor-in-Chief Durham Students’ Union has released the manifestos of prospective candidates hoping to win a sabbatical role within the SU for the next academic year.

This year’s votes, which opened yesterday and will continue until the 2nd of March, will see a competitive presidential battle with five candidates fighting for the role.

Contrastingly three other sabbatical positions will go uncontested, with Re-Open Nominations (RON) the only dissenting option.

Dan Lonsdale President 2nd year, Sociology Lonsdale’s manifesto includes commitments to increase the working class student intake at Durham, provide free sanitary products in toilets and pushing for adequate lighting to be installed along the riverside. He also wants to lobby the University to publish the report into last term’s Christmas formal at South College. Lonsdale also proposes a commission of “relevant student societies and reps” who will be “keeping us honest and in touch with the student voice”.

However, a lot of Lonsdale’s policies are have already been partially implemented by the University, or considered by the SU. Sanitary towels can be found in some University toilets such as the Bill Bryson Library, the SU has already demanded the release of the South report, and river lighting has previously been rejected in certain areas by local authorities in order to discourage the use of dangerous walkways near rivers at night.

Sophie Corcoran President 1st Year, Business Corcoran says the SU should be spending its money and resources on “affordable housing, to stop wearing masks, better sports and societies and a campus that respects free speech” and “common sense”. She says she will use her contacts to bring in “good speakers and people who would give good career advice”, and take a “nononsense approach”. She also called out candidates who run for SU positions “just to improve their CV or start their political career”, saying she is running because “I’m fed up of these elitist woke Marxists running our students unions.”

While Corcoran’s proposals for the SU stand out, it is questionable if her policies could be implemented.

Corcoran for example wants to remove Covid-19 restrictions such as wearing face masks in buildings, a decision the University makes based on public health advice, and which is likely to have already been made by the start of the presidential term. Corcoran also offers no detail on how she would help students

(Amana Moore)

The Kingsgate Building, home of the Students Union, where candidates will be vying for the sabbatical roles. Results will be revealed on 2nd March. with finding affordable housing.

Campaigning statements on Twitter have also been rebuffed,such as “there will be no white privilege lectures in my SU” (this is not something the SU has done or has revealed plans to do) and plans to make “sports and socs completely free to attend” (sports are overseen by Team Durham, not the SU, and all academic society memberships are currently free, though other societies are not).

Joseph McGarry President Graduate, Maths McGarry’s main priority is to push to reduce the costs of college accommodation. He argues that such high prices mean “second and third years are now priced out of living in their colleges, which encourages erosion of the college culture”. He says “only our Union has the resources to fight this”, and will call for “practical ways to reduce college rent”, such as lobbying colleges to provide reduced catering packages, similar to the scheme in St Cuth’s, where some students can opt in for just 10 of the 21 meals a week.

The two-time Senior Frep promises “to raise representative voices”, and cited examples such as the exclusion of the Working Class Students’ Association (WCSA) in last year’s Accommodation Charging Review group as something he wants to avoid. McGarry wants to consult widely in a push an end the University’s “damaging zero tolerance drug policy”.

Aditya Lathar President 3rd year, Law Lathar’s policies include providing access to Durham’s e-library up to five years after a student graduates, launching a University Press funded by the SU, provide free printing for students in the SU and in JCRs every weekend, and provide e-bikes in all colleges. He

wants to host more events in the SU to increase student engagement (including a Cultural Fest and book re-sell events), and restore trust between the SU and JCRs. Lathar’s policies are ambitious, but many will need broader support and funding from outside the SU to be implemented, especially financing a University Press, e-library access, and college e-bikes, all of which would theoretically be within the University’s remit, not the SU’s. However, some campaign pledges last year, such as a swimming pool at Maiden Castle, have been shelved.

Declan Merrington President MA, Education Merrington says his key priority will be to implement the Culture Commission, the centrepiece of current President Seun Twins’ two terms in office. The final Commission report, however, is yet to be published, despite promises the work would be complete in Michaelmas 2021, and just 86 students submitted testimonies in the initial research phase last academic year.

The Labour Party activist also promises to kickstart the implementation of the SU’s new strategy, while keeping “respectful” relations with JCRs, some of whom have been moving to independence as charities, and many of whom cut ties with the SU following the Re-Open Nominations (RON) controversy in 2020. Merrington vows to work with other officers to evaluate students’ role in the local housing market.

Jack Ballingham Opportunities O. Graduate, IR Ballingham will maintain the SU’s continued opposition to the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, and restarting the “living wage” campaign to challenge the University “on poor pay, conditions

and hours”. He also wants to make it easier to run SU societies, and complete the implementation of the Democracy Review, which has proved controversial, with the latest proposals to change representation struck down in the SU’s Assembly.

Ballingham proposes that the SU uses its commercial activity to enter the housing market and challenge landlords. Ballingham says SUs such as Lancaster already do this, but taking on a role in the notoriously tricky housing market like Durham’s will no doubt be a major challenge.

Blake Liu Opportunities O. 1st year, NA Liu focuses on graduate prospects in his pitch, promising “great reform […] landing you in the world top 100 companies [sic]”, and support for further research in elite universities. It is unclear how Liu intends to achieve his goal, other than emailing students “recommendations of internship or volunteering suitable for the course you are doing”, a service already provided by the University’s Careers Service, and producing “more opportunities for leisure activities”.

In his video pitch for the role, Liu says, “if you like it, go for it. If you don’t like it, it’s fine, don’t worry”.

Laura Curran Welfare Officer MA, Philosophy Laura Curran has set out a five-point plan to promote a positive consent culture, fix student housing, help those with imposter syndrome, provide training on EDI and nights out, and look beyond Covid-19.

Some of Curran’s key polices include calling out bad housing practices by landlords and lobby for a five-year rent freeze. Curran also intends to develop an app to help people get home safely after a night out. She proposes continuing remote counselling provision

and to provide specific resources for those experiencing imposter syndrome.

Joshua Freestone Undergraduate O. 2nd year, P&P Unusually Freestone is not waiting until he graduates to take up this role, but argues this will help him as he understands “the experiences and hardships” that many of his fellow undergraduates are undergoing alongside him.

Freestone says he sees himself as a “delegate”, and as Undergraduate Officer vows to take a collaborative approach, including an “open door policy” where he will listen to any concerns raised by students. He argues “the SU should be visible at the forefront of every student struggle” and will fight hard to promote “positive change” at the University, but does not outline what specific policies he could enact to meet his overarching aims of improving undergraduate representation.

Cynthia Lawson Postgraduate O. MA, Social Reserach Lawson has identified some key issues with postgraduate life at the University, namely the divide “between undergraduates and postgraduates” and enriching student life away from just studying.

Lawson says she will push for Durham to be “more inclusive for all postgraduates who may feel alone in a new city”, such as launching more social events for postgraduates, more integration of postgraduates into colleges, widening access to postgraduate degrees and providing more study spaces. Like many other candidates, Lawson will need to work with several student and University bodies to make her plans work (especially on study spaces) and may struggle to engage postgraduates who are often only on campus for one or two years.

6

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

News

Sixteen bars and clubs sign up to anti-spiking campaign

Tiffany Chan News Reporter Durham University’s college common rooms are currently in the process of developing #DurhamUnite, an anti-spiking campaign, in response to a rise in spiking cases during Michaelmas 2021. The campaign is to be carried out in collaboration with the University and the DSU. In an email sent to all students on the 22nd of February, the campaign leaders explained that #DurhamUnite will urge clubs, pubs and bars to contribute towards the detection and prevention of spiking perpetrators. They suggested “additional CCTV, more staff training, extra door checks, offering cup toppers, etc.”

The campaign will be launched along with partners and licensed premises in Durham, showing “the benefits of multi-agency working

across the city.” Partnering venues will be given a #DurhamUnite logo to display on store fronts to demonstrate their support.

The initiative comes after a report compiled by St Chad’s JCR Vice-President Joe Anson found that 167 cases of suspected spiking had been reported to college JCRs and welfare teams in freshers’ week, the week leading up to it and the weekend after.

Just 82 possible spikings, 25 of which involved injections, were reported to County Durham police between October and December 2021. Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Joy Allen told MPs that the number of reports to police was unlikely to reflect the true number of incidents, explaining that “only 10% of people who have been a victim of spiking feel confident enough to report it in”.

The University-wide email shared the actions taken as part

of the campaign has so far. 16 local licensed premises have agreed to “adopt best practice” regarding safety and protection measures, work with Durham County Council Drug and Recovery Service on a pilot scheme where those potentially affected by spiking can seek testing and support, and expansion of training schemes for those who work in premises such as college bars.

The pilot scheme will add an extra option to existing testing and support available via the Durham Constabulary, or, if sexual violence is suspected, at the Sexual Assault Referral Centre.

Other achievements include the publication of updated information about spiking for the University’s Report &Support tool, the provision of bottle and glass covers for distribution by common rooms to their students, and supported plans to improve CCTV

In addition to this, response rates amongst Arts and Humanities subjects are consistently low.

Respondents are also drawn exclusively from postgraduate taught students, rather than those on research-oriented courses.

He went on to highlight the mixed impact of Covid-19 on students and their learning experience.

On feedback, Merrington commented “essay feedback is the first thing to suffer when staff are in the position where they enter action short of a strike”.

The ongoing UCU dispute has been national, however, and so cannot fully explain Durham’s poor performance regarding student satisfaction relative to the rest of the country.

Although he worries that the PTES might miss problems specific to postgraduate research students, Merrington believes that feedback is an area that can be improved upon across the board.

He would also like to see “a reevaluation of the college system and how it applies to postgraduate experiences”.

In the Senate report on the PTES, the University set out their next steps: “We remain dedicated to providing a sector-leading education to all our students. As in previous years, departments will be provided with their subject-level results and freetext comments (…) These will be supplemented by departmentspecific analysis highlighting strengths and weaknesses,” in order to “complement work related to NSS, where similar patterns were identified.”

They also pledge to “undertake further investigation of the differential responses” The University declined to specifically comment but pointed out their aforementioned next steps and their proposal in the Senate report to undertake further investigation.

They also highlighted the fact that in spite of the pandemic, the University scored higher last year in a number of areas than they did in 2018 and that “The paper was tabled only last month and this work is ongoing”.

in college bars.

The University’s Report & Support tool currently provides exact details about how to detect spiking, how to prevent spiking, and what to do if you suspect you were spiked. The tool then gives students the choice of either reporting an incident anonymously or to report with contact details.

Apart from the JCR-led campaign and the University’s Report & Support tool, the DSU also provides support in the form of a “Night-Cab” scheme which, according to the

University website, “provides a safe and secure way for students to get home or travel to A&E”.

Commenting on the scheme when it launched earlier this academic year, SU Welfare and Liberation Officer, Jonah Graham called on students to involve themselves with the campaign, explaining “#DurhamUnite is led by student voices throughout the colleges so please speak to your Presidents, your Student Support teams, and your SU so we can respond to what is happening in (Thomas Tomlinson)

Postgraduate satisfaction well below national average Sam Lake Investigations Editor A survey has revealed that UKbased Durham postgraduates are significantly less satisfied with their experience than both their international counterparts at the University and UK students attending other British universities.

The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES), carried out by Advance HE, measures student satisfaction in key areas such as teaching, assessment, and resource provision. The survey was suspended for 2020 in light of the pandemic but resumed last year.

Overall satisfaction compared to other UK universities, particularly regarding on-campus resource provision – in which Durham achieved 77% satisfaction compared to a sector-wide average of 66%. But, when the experience of UK-domiciled students – that is, those who treat the UK as their permanent home – is separated, the University finds itself in the bottom quartile in every area surveyed barring dissertations, in which it is still below average.

Singled out as an area of particular weakness is Durham’s provision of assessment and feedback.

Satisfaction with assessment averages out at 61% – 14% below the sector average.

Long waits for feedback and its lack of depth are commonly cited as reasons for dissatisfaction in students’ comments.

Furthermore, of the respondents to the survey, only 250 of the 802 were UK-domiciled students. The response rate amongst international students was much higher, at 552, despite international students making up just under half of the postgraduate taught student body, and about 44% of the total when those on research courses are included.

The University is in the bottom quartile in every area surveyed barring one

Declan Merrington, Durham Student Union’s Postgraduate Academic Officer and presidential candidate in this week’s SU elections spoke to Palatinate about the report. Although critical of the PTES’s flaws, chiefly its “very low response rate”, he said: “It is a complicated affair: the difference between UK and international domiciled students’ experience in Postgraduate Education is stark.”

He gave the University credit for their effort to engage international students as “the cohort that the University is currently targeting,” and invites postgraduates of all backgrounds to access SU support services, “especially the advice centre.”

When asked for his own impression of postgraduate student experience, Merrington was keen to draw attention to the fact that “there is a lot of difference” between individual students based on a variety of factors, amongst them “international status, (…) whether the student went to Durham as an undergraduate or not”, and whether a student is on a taught or research course.

More than 1,400 students pledged to participate in the Durham Night In campaign, boycotting clubs and bars to protest a rise in spiking cases

Klute bouncer under fire over alleged racial slur Frank Kelly and Laetita Eichinger Investigations Editor & News Editor A bouncer at Klute has been criticised for allegedly using a racial slur towards a student. Speaking to Palatinate, the student claimed that the bouncer called them a racial slur and repeatedly told them to “fuck off” outside the entrance to the nightclub.

He kept screaming at me, “don’t you pull the race card”.

Klute has been contacted for comment, but did not respond.

The club does not directly hire bouncers; they are provided by an external security company.

Initially, the bouncer allegedly shouted: “What part of the English language do you not understand?”

to the student when telling the queue to move backwards. The student said that the situation escalated then when the bouncer used the racial slur and the student challenged him on his behaviour.

“Eventually it had attracted enough attention for it to be bad press for them to not let me in, so they eventually let me in after having a calmer conversation with the same bouncer”, the student claimed.

“I said that’s an extremely racially motivated statement and he kept screaming at me, ‘don’t you pull the race card’.”

The student said that the manager then came out and said that “he’s always going to believe his staff over me and he didn’t believe me”.

A witness of the incident claimed to Palatinate that: “For the next maybe 35 minutes [the student] was trying to get hold of different members of staff and I heard them describing what had happened and appealing her case”.

The incident allegedly occurred on Sunday 6th February, less than one month after a bouncer was fired from Klute for blaming students’ own behaviour for widespread spiking around Durham.

7

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

News

Local volunteers rescue man from River Wear

Local campaign launched to tackle anti-social noise

Police have confirmed that a man was rescued from the River Wear near Old Elvet Bridge area in the early hours of Saturday, February 19th. He was spotted by Kieren Stephenson and Zane Williamson, two volunteers for welfare group CitySafe Durham who were patrolling the city at the time.

According to The Northern Echo, Stephenson and Williamson “rushed to the riverside” when they saw a crowd looking over Elvet Bridge, and spotted a man “shoulder-deep” in the water. The pair then grabbed the man and pulled him out of the river, which “was made particularly difficult due to the fast flowing river and high river levels.”

Emergency services were called at 12:20am to reports of a man entering the River Wear from Old Elvet Bridge. The man was taken to hospital by the ambulance service.

Durham University announced a new anti-social noise procedure on 17th February to help local residents report disturbances caused by students Under the new measures any resident of the city will be able to call 101 — the police non-emergency number — and issue a complaint.

Complaints will then be passed on to the University Security Community Response Team (CRT) who will visit the property to encourage residents to reduce noise .

Students are encouraged to keep noise to a minimum between the hours of 23:00 and 07:00.

Inspector Dave Turner, from Durham Constabulary, said: “We understand that noise disturbance can be highly distressing” and “We would urge everyone to be respectful of the area in which they live”.

In case of escalation, the team tasked with handling noise complaints will be equipped with

Tiffany Chan News Reporter

CitySafe is a local organisation that provides “first aid and medical support to the night-time economy

of Durham City Centre” and works closely with licensed premises and police.

New period poverty charity Louisa Barlow News Reporter Durham students have founded a project “run by women for women” which seeks to alleviate issues surrounding period poverty, hygiene, and stigma in the Kumasi region in Ghana.

The project, named Akwannya, hopes that by reducing period poverty in the country, more girls will remain in education.

According to the group 95% of girls in Ghana become absent from school due to menstruation.

Hannah Jonsson, a Durham student and the project’s leader, says Akwannya wants to “support girls in being able to continue their education so they have the same opportunities as others”.

With a goal of £1,000, they hope to fund “stigma-free” workshops delivered by local Ghanian women to teach young girls basic biology and menstrual hygiene form part of the project’s plans.

Sustainability is also important to Akwannya. The team will work to distribute sanitary towels that can be reused for up to ten years.

The group was set up last year, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the project. With less obstacles now in place, the team are looking to raise money for their first pilot project: a series of education talks to fifty Ghanaian schoolgirls who will also receive 2-3 sustainable sanitary towels each. If the team is successful in reaching its fundraising target, the pilot project will kick off next academic term.

County Durham News

Sarah Matthews News Reporter

body-cameras.

Any bodycam footage obtained

by CRT members could be shared with Durham County Council, who may issue a Community Protection Warning (CPW) or Community Protection Notice (CPN).

This comes after years of tension between Durham students and local residents.

Existing initiatives that seek to tackle anti-social noise include the “Shh... 11PM-7AM” campaign, as well as a requirement for students to sign the student pledge when they begin their studies which includes reference to respecting neighbours.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University, Jeremy Cook said, “We encourage our students to be good citizens and considerate neighbours and the vast majority wish to be a positive part of the Durham community.”

He added that “we will support Durham County Council in pursuing cases and taking any necessary actions.”

Holi celebrations set to go ahead at Oriental Museum Tiffany Chan

News Reporter

(St Aidan’s College)

Aidan’s students protestcollective punishment for fire door damage Frank Kelly Investigations Editor Students at St Aidan’s College have sent an open letter objecting to the threat of collective fines for fire door damage.

Students sent an open letter in response to an incident on the 14th January, where fire doors at the college were vandalised.

The open letter sets out a number of reasons why students at the college think that the threat of collective fines for such damage is unjustified. The letter asks, “How can you justify a collective economic punishment despite this violating well-established moral principles of punishment?

The letter questions how the college can justify “the extreme excessiveness of fining hundreds of people for the actions of one, especially when those very same people aided you in giving general information about the event?”.

No fines have been issued presently in relation to damage done to the fire doors.

The principal of St Aidan’s College, Dr Susan Frenk, responded to the open letter, explaining that collective fines have to be issued in cases where those who vandalised the door do not inform the college.

In response to the letter, the principal said, “there is no magic pot of gold, even in the rainbow college, to pay for acts of deliberate destruction.

“In fact the Fire Doors were installed just last term, at significant cost, to protect everyone, mandated by the local Fire Service inspections.

“Until two years ago, a sum was ring-fenced from the residence fees in each college, to pay for unattributable damage where those responsible did not come forward. That has ceased, because it was seen as encouraging a lack of personal responsibility

and penalising innocent students.

Yet without it, we have had to introduce collective payment in the areas where damage is inflicted.”

On October 21st last year, residents of the ‘C curve’ building in Aidan’s College were also threatened with a £200 collective fine.

Fire doors at the end of the corridor were damaged, and the college informed students that, “we will have to distribute the repair costs among all residents and consider further action which could involve a £200 fine for breach of fire safety.”

In response to the damage inflicted to the fire door on the 14th January, Dr Frenk said, “Such behaviour seriously breaches the student pledge sworn by all Durham University students and goes completely against the St Aidan’s culture and ethos of respect and kindness.”

Durham University’s Oriental Museum is reviving its Holi celebrations after two years of the pandemic-restricted activities.

Celebrations will be taking place on Saturday 12 March, 12-5pm.

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, is the Indian Spring Festival.

It is a two-day Hindu festival which originated in India, and celebrates the triumph of good over evil. This year, Holi will start at sundown on the 17th of March and end on the 18th of March.

According to the Oriental Museum, “Holi traditionally involves throwing brightly coloured powders over friends and relatives in a good-natured, and highly visual,

representation of the victory of good over evil.”

Tickets are £2 per person, and are free for children under 2 years old. The price includes two bags of Holi powder, alongside free arts and crafts activities, storytelling events, as well as entry to the Museum on the day.

Visitors “will be able to dance to a mix of Bhangra hits and upbeat pop, while getting covered from head to toe in brightly coloured powders.”

Charlotte Spink, the organiser of the event, advises visitors to wear light-coloured clothes “for maximum effect’, and to ‘be prepared to get messy”.

Spink explained that “Holi 2022 will be a celebration of spring, but also a chance to welcome back all our lovely visitors, community, and student volunteers.”

Premium bowling alley to open in Walkergate Emily Doughty News Reporter

Lane7 are set to open a newbowling alley in Walkergate as part of the Walkergate leisure scheme, at the former site of the Fat Buddha restaurant.

The site will undergo a major internal and extensive transformation before opening to the public later this year, and is expected to create 30 new jobs in the local area when it does open. The company is currently hire to fill positions at the new Durham site.

Lane7, founded by Tim Wilks in Newcastle in 2013, advertises itself as a “really different” bowling experience.

Graeme Smith, Chief Operating

Officer for Lane7 said “I can’t wait to bring our premium modern bowling offering to the historic city of Durham. The chance to open another site in a region that has supported us tremendously over the past decade was a no-brainer.”

Tom Beumont, associate director in the leisure agency at Colliers; “I’m bowled over to strike a deal with Lane7 to become a new anchor tenant at Walkergate, Durham’s prime city centre leisure destination.

“Lane7 will undoubtedly bring new job opportunities and dynamic to the area with their consumerfocused experience which will include bowling, cricket batting cages, darts and arcade games to the area.”

8

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

Palatinate Satire

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

The Bailey Bottom

Exquisite new Durham restaurant shows off greatest student cuisine Hannah Williams The new restaurant, which opened its doors last week, has already gained national recognition including a Michelin award for its “nononsense, deceptively simple dishes” and is set to win the Good Food 2022 award for “unmatched authenticity in fine dining.”

Palatinate have been in to sample its creative, well-crafted tasting menu and share with you what is on offer at this bespoke restaurant, to see what all the rave is about.

To open the evening, you are met with an aperitif of flavourless seltzer, bound to quench your thirst and clear the palate, preparing you for the flavour-packed courses to follow.

Next up is the andcrafted hors d’oeuvre of hungover hummus with blue hue and al dente pasta (with complimentary soy sauce upon request).

With a commitment to providing dishes as they come into season, next on the menu

is the ‘Summative Sashimi with a side of food poisoning.’

A delicate dish, bound to keep you up at night just relishing in its aftertaste.

Following on is the deconstructed beans on smouldered toast, a delightful blend of lukewarm jus and soggy sourdough.

OR Off-the-beaten-track-Bisque of garlic bread (served blistering or cold).

Please note, this is only available on request between 2-4am and guests MUST have been to an unsatisfactory night at Jimmy’s just before hand.

An Artisan Cheese platter for a £15 supplement includes a mini Babybel, stale slither of Cathedral City Extra Mature and locally spourced processed Tesco cheese slice. A meticulous pairing of condiiments is spread across the board,with a quince blend (dollop of home brand ketchup) and a braised garlic

puree (four-day old Paddy's garlic mayo).

If you fancy something sweet the can-I-get-a-refund, mouldy fruit compote is the perfect end to an outstanding taster menu.

The vast array of sides includes ANY rustic potato of your choice including but not limited to eight times fried curly fries (because nothing says sustainable produce like exclusively sourced from the bottom of a college fryer fries), crunchy potato croquet (hash browns left over from college brunch), blanched boiled potatoes (just your bogstandard potato, really), dry chips or, why not try the chef's no-nonsense favourite: utterly uncooked.

In addition to this, the Bailey Bottom are committed to ensuring the perfect wine match for your meal ranging from a bottle of the finest, earthy Isla Negra to the fruity, nerveux of the Dino pinot grigio.Or why not try their nonalcoholic choices ranging from a warm, flat and forgotten diet coke found after a late-night Billy B sesh or an extremely overpriced bottled water,

DURHAM UNI BASICALLY SCRAPPED REPLACED

BY FREELY AVAILABLE PODCASTS

DEBATING SQUAD SENT TO RUSSIA TO PREVENT UKRAINE INVASION

All humanities and social sciences will now be online, with seminars conducted through messaging on reddit threads. Exams will be replaced by the creation of YouTube videos, with the like to dislike ratio determining the grade. Stems subjects will still be offered to some degree, because, well, they're actually difficult.

The Vice-Chancellor decided the only viable course of action was to send these brave undergraduates to sit at the monstrous negotiating table with President Vladimir Putin. Apparently, they are so persuasive they have to be kept in a large soundproof box. If successful, the UN plans on sending them to the polar ice caps to convince themto stop melting.

ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, VOGUE? With current interest in F1 skyrocketing, there was interest to start Durham's own Drag Race Society. There was big uptake at the first watch night where members were asked to show up dressed as their favourite racer. Alas, it seems there had been confusion, as half the room dressed up in some iconic drag Queen outfits. It was no worry for the society though, who watched some Drag Race following the F1.

SNIFFING NEWS With the end of all Covid-19 restriction, Durham University has found new use for their great Covid-sniffing dogs. They have been retrained to sniff milk at Market Square Tesco in bid to eliminate use-by dates. in the next stage of deployment, the dogs will be sent round the Viaduct to sniff for mould.

This may take some time.

(Adeline Zhao)

despite asking for tap!

For a very reasonable £310 per head, this taster menu is quite unparalleled but be sure to book five months ahead as places are filling up quickly.

“The depth of flavour at the Bailey Bottom is absolutely impeccable, you really can’t find sophisticated dishes like this

anywhere else,” says Gordon Ramsay.

Take it from us, it really is a place to whine, a place to dine.

You don't want to miss out.

60% off your first meal with code bottomsup.

Downing Street hosts cautious Covid-19 restrictions party To celebrate today's lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, a gaggle of MPs gathered in No. 10 for yet another party.

Though there we no virus rules for them to break, Boris Johnson wished for the rebellious tone of previous parties to be maintained.

As such, they decided

to put two fingers up to the announcement by enforcing incredibly cautious covid restrictions.

These included social distancing of 10 metres, dress code requiring people to wear one big full body mask and immediate expulsion for anyone who even thinks about coronavirus.

Comment 9

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th Feburary 2022

Are young people to blame for poor financial decisions?

Hollie Bullen

T

V shows about houses have been family staples since they first aired. They created an environment of escapism, allowing the viewer to critique the questionable interior design choices of the owner, without having to actively think after a long day at work. They were an easy watch and relatable to many, with housing and accommodation being high priority for a lot of people.

Location, Location, Location was not an exception.

First airing in 2000, Location, Location, Location follows a new set of buyers each episode as they attempt to find their dream home in their ideal location. However, they aren’t alone in this task.

They are joined by experts Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp, who along with providing personality to the show are available to provide advice and find suitable properties. Allsopp has recently come under fire after suggesting that if young people were to cancel their Netflix subscriptions and gym memberships that they would be able to afford to join the property ladder.

This statement is drenched in hypocrisy. As people have pointed out, Allsopp was able

Wages are stagnant while house prices have increased

to buy her house at the age of 21 with help from her family.

What is important to note, is that her dad is Charles Allsopp, sixth Baron Hindlip, who was a member of the House of Lords.

Sure, she didn’t have a Netflix subscription, but then I’m not related to a Baron. This leaves me to question; how much does she think a Netflix subscription is?

The average house price in the UK is £268,349. A Netflix subscription is £5.99 a month. It would take someone 3,733 years to save this much money from cancelling a Netflix subscription.

Good news for first-time buyers from 1712 BC - they’ve finally saved enough to join the property ladder!

In all seriousness, joining the property ladder has become impossible for first time buyers.

It is hard to save for a deposit when you are spending 30% of your monthly salary renting.

Less than 30% of millennials own a home before the age of 30, compared to 50% of baby boomers.

It’s not hard to see why. Wages are stagnant whilst house prices have increased by 78% since 2000.

According to LSE, the number of rental units owned by private landlords in the UK in 2014 grew by 125% in comparison to 2000.

There are fewer houses available, driving up the market value of those still available.

To paint this as a personal failure of young people is cruel.

They are already climbing a never-ending mountain, there is no need to knock them down a few feet by claiming they could reach the top, if they hadn’t wasted pennies on luxury commodities, especially when you reached the top of the mountain by private jet.

Furthermore, why aren’t young people allowed nice things? Is wanting to stream films such a crime?

In the pandemic, streaming services provided much needed escapism from constant news about death tolls and political infighting. Why should I forgo rewatching Gilmore Girls or watching the newest Netflix original, so I can pretend I might be able to buy a house in the next 10 years.

Exercise is important for physical and mental health. I’m not going to pretend that an outdoor run isn’t free, but it also isn’t the only form of exercise available.

Gym memberships allow people to use weights and machines they otherwise couldn’t afford. Most importantly, they allow access to swimming pools. The ability to swim is lifesaving and it is crucial that people have access to learn and practice this skill.

These little respite moments where we don’t have to produce

Allsop's comments were at best ignorant

labour are important to avoid burnout and make life more bearable.

The current system is stacked against young people and there is little hope from my peers that homeownership is doable, even with well-paying jobs. Allsopp’s comments were at best ignorant, and, at worst, downright hurtful.

I’d dare argue that those of us with no connection to the House of Lords may just have a slightly harder time navigating the market, than those who were able to buy a house 30 years ago, or those whose parents were able to help. What do I know though?

I’m not a presenter of a Channel 4 property show, I’m just a 20-yearold with a Netflix subscription and a bleak outlook on the future of housing.

(Elle Fitzgerald)

Good neighbours: a city bursting at the seams?

John Cartin

A

bout two weeks ago, a man posted on the Facebook page, 'Overheard' about an incident in the early hours of the morning. The man, a local, was incensed at the fact that students had allegedly decided to urinate in a flowerbed in someone’s front garden on his road. Taking it as a source of amusement, several students jokingly tagged their mates, which earned replies about whether this was behaviour they were proud to represent, or what their parents would think.

Eventually, others posted to say that the man had been messaging them privately and harassing them over these comments, and the original post was taken down. And so, another voice raging against the conflict brewing at the heart of this city was quietened, and another step

towards a grim future for Durham was taken.

In the Durham Student Pledge, which I doubt 5% of students care about, or even remember being told about in first year (I didn’t), a phrase appears encouraging students to "be a good and considerate neighbour while living in College or within the wider Durham community". But this is Britain, and most of us follow a pattern with our neighbours: greet them when they move in, and then do everything in your power to make them forget you exist.

Now imagine, what if six people moved into a flat next to yours, with the expressed intent of living it large, forcing all local services to cater for them by sheer weight of numbers and then leaving, so more can come and do the exact same?

Of course, reality’s a little different — it might in fact be seven new people. By 2026/27, the University plans to increase student numbers to 21,500.

However, the University also plans to increase its revenue to £500

million – which is about ten times what their last released financial review showed them raking in.

Given that 59.4% of income in 2020 was tuition fees and education contracts, there’s two options for those at the top of the University hierarchy: try and convince the Government that their services are totally worth £55,500 a year, or round that student number up to a cool 126,000.

Durham is an astonishingly gorgeous city, and one that simply wasn’t created for the numbers it might host in the future.

In a question of competition, modern greed bringing us back to our primordial roots, it is the young who win out in the end; as made clear by the approved demolition of the Apollo Bingo Hall in Gilesgate for more bland, featureless, but lucrative private student accommodation. The hall is close to where I live; it’s surrounded by residential properties and local businesses. Among the concerns raised by the Gilesgate Residents' Association are that local jobs will be lost and that the natural

activities and body clocks of the two dichotomic groups will cause conflict and stress. Less than fifty metres down the road, there’s a patch of empty land slowly collecting refuse and discarded trolleys. This land will not be used.

Students aren't thriving at the expense of locals

It’s difficult to say that even this is for student benefit, as this housing will probably be overpriced and split into unsociable studio apartments.

People living there will be distant from the social life of the city, and the University campus. Students

aren’t thriving at the expense of locals – both groups are eking out a poisoned, miserable existence, put into conflict by a shareholder that genuinely doesn’t care.

Why would it matter to the University if you’re having to commute in from Newcastle for future education? They’ve got your money anyway. The University co-opts the name of the city, but it lost its connection to the place a long time ago; and much like with the clubs in the European Super League, if it could plonk itself elsewhere for that £500 million, it would without a second thought.

What students cannot do is fix the issue, at least directly.

What students can do is be better neighbours – integrate themselves into the community, at least a little. We’re going to have to live with each other, and as any good left-wing theorist will tell you, you might find that you’ve got more in common with your neighbour than your landlord – and maybe, even, your University.

10

Thursday 24th Febraury 2022 | PALATINATE

Comment

Plant-based diets: recognising the costs for students Charlotte Wilkinson

A

lthough Veganuary has come to an end, plantbased diets are becoming more and more popular.

What used to just be thought of as a hippy phase has become increasingly mainstream, with more and more people deciding to cut meat and dairy out of their everyday diets.

The benefits of going vegan, or even just reducing your meat consumption are endless. Not only does it improve personal health, but plant-based diets decrease water use, are better for the environment, and save animal lives.

It seems to be young people who are leading the trend. In 2019, there were 600,000 vegans in the UK (which was double the 2016 statistic) and of this, a huge proportion were aged 15-24. Although these young people should be commended on their choices and efforts, the decision to have a plant-based diet should not be taken lightly.

Veganism comes with a number of added pressures that can make an already busy student life far harder than it needs to be.

Although vegan diets can be cheaper – with plant-based meals costing around 40% less than those that contain meat or fish – they tend to be more timeconsuming. Having a plant-based diet means that you have to be prepared.

Either you have to know where you are going to eat and whether or not there is a vegan option or you have to make one to bring yourself. Coming up with different vegan recipes can be difficult enough; on top of this finding the motivation to cook and prepare them can be hard as a burnt out student.

When you’re a student inevitably balancing deadlines, nights out and various other commitments, planning ahead for lunch or dinner tomorrow can be the last thing on your mind.

Another pressure of a plantbased diet is making sure that you’re still getting all the vitamins you need. Vegans have a higher risk of being deficient in vitamin

B12, iron, and calcium which can result in feelings of weakness and fatigue. This is yet another thing for plant-based students to think about, on top of an already busy university life.

Supplements can also be expensive, and not something that necessarily fits easily into a student budget.

Many young people may therefore just find it easier to eat a diet that does include meat and dairy rather than running the risk of vitamin deficiencies.

As a vegan student, it can be hard to not succumb to the pressure of meat-eating. Many students will still live with others who regularly cook and eat meat, meaning that temptation is never far away.

Post-night out food can also be tricky, after a few drinks it’s hard to hold your ground when your friends are busy devouring donner kebabs and pepperoni pizzas.

With fast-food chains and takeaways having few, if any vegan options, it’s difficult not to feel left out of this post-nightclub ritual.

Even if the thought of eating meat, regardless of how many jägerbombs you’ve had, doesn’t appeal to you, many young people feel socially isolated after going vegan.

Going to restaurants or eating out with friends and family can be difficult, and with being the minority, a vegan diet may not be accounted for.

Vegan students, may therefore choose not to attend certain events that don’t cater to their needs, meaning that they miss out.

If surrounding friends and family don’t share the same opinion, it can be incredibly difficult to keep choosing the plant-based option.

Young people who decide to reduce their meat consumption, whether it’s for Veganuary or for the foreseeable future should be commended.

Student life is busy enough as it is, with balancing a number of different responsibilities going vegan definitely has its drawbacks.

Despite the more negative aspects, students today are six times more likely to not eat meat than their parents were.

This statistic is impressive to say the least. It shows signs of a selfless generation that is willing to take on the pressures of a plant-based diet for the greater good.

(Phil Mosely via Unsplash)

Age-specific travel restrictions: prioritising profits over lives?

Holly Downes

F

rom midnight on Sunday 13th February, the Spanish tourism minister Fernando Valdés announced that all unvaccinated children under the age of 18 can soak up the glories of the Spanish sun with only a negative PCR test. Scrapping the requirement of a doublevaccination when crossing the Spanish borders, the country has taken a courageous plunge to rescue their tourism industry in exchange for an increased risk of Covid-19 rates.

With February half-term marking a time when families escape the UK’s bone-chilling weather and seasonal blues to a paradise of sun, sea, and sand, travel restrictions have prevented many families from fulfilling this dream.

With countries requiring all holidaymakers to be double vaccinated, although children between the ages of 12 and 15 are eligible for vaccination within the UK, they must wait 12 weeks for a second jab, a timeframe which restarts if they become infected with Covid-19 in the meantime.

As this means many children are not fully vaccinated, holiday cancellations abroad have surged as a consequence of these tight restrictions.

So, to avoid further detrimental damage to the tourism industry, Spain’s relaxation of age-specific travel restrictions means parents are no longer burdened with their children’s vaccination statuses.

Moments of déjà-vu of breaking the news of another holiday being cancelled and dealing with children’s tears and tantrums solidly remain in the past, never to be re-experienced. With Jorge Marichal, the president of the Tenerife Hoteliers Association, claiming that "nearly 400 million euros in the Canary Islands" could

be lost if Spain hadn’t altered their travel restrictions, relaxing travel restrictions seems to benefit both parties. Holidaymakers are having the time of their lives. Spain’s tourism industry is steadily picking up. The best of both worlds.

Restoring freedom remains the only approach to getting close to a pre-pandemic world

Yet, we do not live in a utopian society. Relaxing restrictions does not eradicate the problems travel ministers are trying to suppress – the uncontrollable reality of Covid-19. As we all know, within a blink of an eye, one coronavirus case becomes one hundred, another blink and one hundred becomes one million.

With the minister for Spanish trade, industry and tourism, Reyes Maroto, claiming that she is ‘committed to making travel to Spain a safe and easy experience for our visitors’, this very statement confirms such ignorance.

Coronavirus cannot be controlled once it sets off on its expedition through the country, and with coronavirus cases in Spain on a steady increase, measures put in place to reduce its rapid speed remain futile.

We want to ignore the possibility of being infected with coronavirus on holiday, but relaxing restrictions forces us to confront this nightmare of a possibility.

With children being allowed into Spain without double vaccination, as contradictory data fails to support the thesis that children are less likely to spread coronavirus, it remains that one infected child can cause chaos to erupt within the serenity of the Spanish islands. This scenario boils down to the looming question we must all confront – is profit being prioritised over lives? Is Spain’s hope for economic recovery following a 30% to 40% hotel occupancy last summer compared to its pre-pandemic rates of 90% being prioritised over the safety of its visitors?

This question confirms the corruption the coronavirus pandemic has unveiled. It has become a time when a country’s economic status is given leverage over the safety of its visitors, where travel ministers are ironically jeopardising the safety of the very people they rely upon for the booming of the tourism industry. Holidaymakers are the backbone of the industry, yet their safety is being threatened at the expense of profits. One’s safety and a country’s tourism profits should not be compromised at the expense of one another.

Perhaps, this is just a dilemma that naturally arises when learning to live with coronavirus.

The world must get back on its feet if we are to live our lives fully again, and if this can only be achieved by relaxing travel restrictions which prevent holidaymakers from spending money on onetoo-many ice-creams and tourist gimmicks, it must be done.

Restoring freedom remains the only approach to getting close to a pre-pandemic world, and if this comes at the cost of contracting coronavirus in the process, this is a risk many are willing to take.

11

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

Comment

The time is ripe for freedom from masks With local Covid-19 cases numbers dropping and a major donor publicly cutting ties, should Durham University relax its restrictions?

Oliver Jervis

W Does Hatfield College deserve its reputation? (Mark Norton)

Hope for Hatfield: can the College improve its image?

Caitlin James

I

t is no secret that Hatfield College is not the most popular amongst Durham students.

Compared to Slytherin house by Durham celebrity Jack Edwards and branded “probably the most hated college” by Youtuber ThatoneCharlie, it is clear to see that Hatfield has a bad reputation.

The general consensus seems to be that Hatfield, and its students, are posh. However, one night, as I lay awake listening to the chants of the anti-Hatfield brigade outside of the gates, I began to wonder how this reputation came about. After all, Hatfield College was originally established to provide a cheaper alternative to University College, with communal dining instead of private meals delivered by a personal servant.

Moving forward, the University as a whole should be re-evaluating the inclusivity and diversity of its community

The fact that Hatfield was the last college to become co-educational in 1988 certainly does not help its notoriety. Although the change was made only one year after University College, Hatfield seemed to be reluctant to bring women into

college. There are rumours that a ‘week of mourning’ took place after the first female Senior was elected and the slogan “All male Hatfield” was embroidered on the shirts of those in favour of the cause.

It has also been suggested that Hatfield’s affiliation with rugby is somewhat responsible for its bad reputation. Becoming dominant in inter-collegiate tournaments after the Second World War and producing successful rugby union players such as Will Carling has meant that rugby culture, often regarded for boozy socials with grim initiations and general boisterousness, became associated with Hatfield. Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that this culture still remains prominent in college after the rowdiness of the Hatfield crowd at a Rugby match against Castle led to a ban of spectators.

However, I’m not convinced that these are the reasons for Hatfield hatred.

It seems obvious to me that that fundamental issue with Hatfield, and subsequently the cause of its unpopularity, is its lack of diversity and unrepresentativeness of the wider student population. Around 38% of Durham students are nonstate educated, yet that figure is over 50% for Hatfield.

A state-educated first-year student I spoke to recalls feelings of “alienation” in their predominantly privately educated staircase in fresher’s week and would like to see a more representative Hatfield moving forward.

To see if this is a plausible picture for the future, I spoke to the Master of Hatfield, Professor Ann MacLarnon. She agreed, suggesting that she would like all colleges, not only Hatfield, to be mixed communities. MacLarnon explained to me about several strategies that have been put in place to achieve this. The first is the Lioness Scholar scheme, which was established to celebrate 30 years of welcoming women into Hatfield.

This scholarship offers women from non-western countries the opportunity to study a master’s degree at Hatfield without tuition or accommodation fees. Similarly, bursaries are automatically offered to students with a household income below a certain level, refunding the cost of the JCR levy and gown.

Hatfield was the last college to become co-educational

Hatfield incentivises college societies to support novices, increasing inclusivity, and the dress code for a dinner has been changed from ‘black tie’ to ‘smart’, reducing the amount of money a Hatfield student is expected to spend.

MacLarnon places emphasis on the importance of everyone being able to “join in”, and these schemes accomplish that. What’s more, it isn’t only the individual that benefits from them. Making Hatfield a more appealing and accessible place to students from lower income backgrounds and non-western countries enriches the diversity of the existing student population and its culture. It is clear to me that Hatfield will soon outgrow its reputation, and it’s time that the students realise that. Moving forward, the University as a whole should be re-evaluating the inclusivity and diversity of its community, and we should all strive for a representative and welcoming community.

e have all been there. Sat in the lecture hall, mask on and glasses steadily fogging up. It's a classic pandemic-era struggle, but for how much longer?

Concerns regarding the University’s Covid-19 policies are held by many students, especially when the institution’s own LFT system has told you that there is no trace of the virus in your system. That frustration has also been conveyed through alumni specifically big-time donor Mark Hillery’s recent decision to cut financial ties with Durham.

Could this action have a ripple effect on the University’s Covid-19 approach as a result? If so is deregulation the correct step to take, or are we falling for some impatient temptation?

Deregulation is an inevitable outcome and, as it stands, it is the right one to take.

Presently, university reports on current Covid-19 levels in the student population appear to suggest that the Omicron peak is long gone, with positive cases dropping. This, alongside the government’s recent decision to end the compulsory isolation period by the end of February, conveys a strong argument in favour of loosening restrictions across Durham’s collegiate campus.

Finally, that sweet-tasting freedom is in our grasp, and we may enjoy true normality once again. Yet, something feels a bit odd about it all.

For example, many factors appear to be hiding within the underbelly of the government’s change in approach.

The notorious ‘Partygate’ scandal has brought about a policy of dither and deflect by Johnson’s cabinet, and this freeing of the masses may merely be a ploy to get the people onside again.

Such fickle tactics are not beyond the current government; however, this ulterior motive does not seem to be the primary reason behind deregulation.

Moreover, the risk posed by Covid-19 has not simply disappeared overnight. Despite mass vaccinations

across the UK, we are still severely threatened by this virus, and this will not change merely because we want it to. Hospital beds are a finite resource, and students at Durham are not the only ones susceptible to this fearsome disease.

As implied in my latter point, the University not only has a duty of care to its students. It also has a moral obligation to aid the local community whenever it can.

A reversion to normality by Durham’s leadership team may bring about a deadly threat to the permanent populace of the city.

We are not alone in this Covid-19 nightmare, nor should we act like we are.

Another problem requiring weighted observation can be defined in a simple question: How important should one man’s voice be? Mr Hillery has, no doubt, gained deserved respect from Durham and its related institutions for his continued donations to its educational cause.

Nevertheless, it would set a dangerous precedent to abandon Covid-19 protocols simply to cater to one donor, or to suggest that money comes before student safety.

Mr Hillery has also mentioned that deregulating now would be "all too little, too late" in relation to the university’s conduct.

Such a suggestion that Durham’s higher ups ought to have acted earlier provides a cluster of other issues for this topic of discussion. When should they have acted? How should they have acted? Were they in the right place to take such action?

The waves of a pandemic are not stopped with simply one command, and I for one feel that the University should be commended for the majority of the actions it has taken to be responsible in the light of Covid-19.

Yes, the situation has been one plagued by misfortune and missed opportunities, but most of these problems have not derived from the University’s palm.

So, returning to the main question: Are Mr Hillery’s demands realistic or rushed? The timing seems to be ideal for his withdrawal of financial support for the university, with the mask mandate currently under review and the LFT system set to conclude on the 1st of March. Consequently, deregulation is an inevitable outcome and, as it stands, it is the right one to take. Progression from the pandemic needs to be carefully planned and conducted, but the evidence shows that the time is ripe for freedom from the mask.

12

Thursday 24th January 2022 | PALATINATE

Profile

“A fifteen-year career, and I’ve cashed it all in for some coconut cake”

Ethan Sanitt speaks to writer and Guardian columnist Stuart Heritage about his career in journalism, Mission Impossible, and white chocolate coconut bundt cake

K

irsten Dunst.

Angela Basset.

Henry Cavill.

Renée Zellweger.

This is a list of the chosen ones. These Hollywood actors are just a few of the many who are sent a white chocolate bundt cake for Christmas each year, courtesy of Tom Cruise. Graham Norton gets one too.

Then, about a year ago, Stuart Heritage, a Guardian TV and film columnist, launched a campaign to get himself added to the cake list. And, after some lobbying, he achieved the seemingly impossible: last Christmas, he received not one, but two Cruise cakes.

Am I on the cake list?

“I still don’t think he [Cruise] knows he sent me a cake, by the way. I think what happened was a Google Alert went off on an assistant’s computer”, Heritage tells me when I ask about the experience. “He wouldn’t know who I was if I stood in front of him.”

Heritage’s cake-based campaign raised some important questions for me. For one, can all journalists abuse their power to get free dessert, courtesy of Tom Cruise?

If so, does anyone know if Cruise reads Palatinate? Because I too am a (student) journalist who would really like a white chocolate coconut cake. I’ll thank Mister Cruise in advance.

But the main question Cruise’s sponge raised was this: what happens post-cake? After the coconut flakes have settled, then what?

Imagine, for instance, that this year’s Mission Impossible Seven isn’t a cinematic triumph. If Heritage writes the movie a scathing review, is he struck off Cruise’s secret cake list?

“Am I on the list now? Am I on the cake list?”. Heritage seems slightly concerned by the possibility that he could now receive coconut cakes forever.

“I’d like to think that this is just a one-off, and that we’ve reset the

clock on it, and I can say whatever I want,” he continues. “Because I don’t want to be in Tom Cruise’s pocket for the rest of my life, over, basically, something you get from Greggs.”

I don’t want to be in Tom Cruise’s pocket for the rest of my life

I assure Heritage that I would retire from Palatinate for half that. If anyone wants to be Profile Editor next term, I’d probably accept a singular square of shortbread for it.

Email me.

Heritage – understandably seems less enthusiastic to exchange his journalistic career for sugar.

“I probably didn’t have that much credibility anyway,” he says. “But I’ve probably cashed it all in for £50 worth of cake. A fifteen-year career, and I’ve cashed it all in for some coconut cake. I don’t even like coconut that much.”

“It’s like being in the mafia,” he laughs. “It does feel a bit like I owe Tom Cruise a lifetime of servitude.”

Heritage then jokes that the success of his cake campaign may prompt more celebrities to send him gifts. Maybe a car from Will Smith, he suggests.

It does feel a bit like I owe Tom Cruise a lifetime of servitude

But what would happen then?

Would Heritage have to declare, as a strange by-line of each review, which baked goods he’d received and from whom? If other Hollywood actors started mailing Heritage cakes and biscuits, what would he do?

Heritage answers immediately and with uncharacteristic

seriousness: in that situation, “I’d have to resign.” “There’d be one actor in the world who didn’t send me anything and I’d only be able to be honest when writing about them,” he says.

By this point in the discussion, my cake-related confusion seems to have spread. “Oh no. The more you’ve made me think about this, the worse it’s getting,” Heritage says, only half-jokingly.

Realising that cross-examining Heritage about coconut cake may have run its course, the conversation turns to Louis Walsh.

Since X-Factor was cancelled last year, Heritage has written in support of Walsh’s TV judging ability. According to Heritage, Walsh’s “ineffable spirit” was what kept the show afloat.

“The episodes that didn’t feature Louis Walsh were flat-out unwatchable.”

“He [Walsh] didn’t appear to like music,” Heritage says when I ask about the piece. “The song choices that he picked for his contestants were ridiculous.” But, “every time he wasn’t on it, the show got worse.”

Heritage then describes how, after he wrote the column, Walsh contacted him. “I don’t know how he got my phone number. I was at my mum and dad’s house.” “He said: ‘you’re right about everything! I don’t believe it!’”

“He’s sort of – not kept in touch – but every now and then I’ll get a text from Louis Walsh, and it’s weird.”

What would Walsh think of this?

“I don’t think he cares, honestly. He’s got that David Hasselhoff thing, where you don’t know if he’s being very serious – and clueless – or if he’s completely on it.” “I don’t understand him as a person, I can’t figure him out.”

Usually, this sort of Profile would end by referring back to a theme.

Ideally, there’d be an insightful way of tying the different elements

of the article together. Anyway, it turns out that Louis Walsh, coconut cake and Tom Cruise are subjects that cannot easily be linked. I tried.

It’s like being in the mafia

If anything, though, interviewing Heritage taught me that sometimes this happens.

Heritage spoke passionately about the different parts of his work, but he also talked about the unpredict-ability of journalism.

Sometimes, I learned, Louis Walsh will decide to send you a supportive text.

Sometimes, Hollywood actors will respond to journalists’ columns, and, just sometimes, this unpredictability will result in Tom Cruise sending you a coconut cake.

Does that count as a link?

(Image: Emily Heritage)

13

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

SciTech

Burning plasma: are we close to cracking fusion?

Annalise Stockley Scientists in the U.S. have taken us one step closer to safe, sustainable fusion technology. In a paper published in the academic journal Nature at the end of January, they confirmed that they have achieved the ‘burning plasma’ phase of a fusion reaction for the first time in the facility’s history. If cracked, fusion has the potential to be a source of limitless clean energy – something that Earth is in dire need of.

But firstly, what is nuclear fusion and how does it work? Current nuclear reactors are powered by a process called fission, where heavy elements are split into lighter ones.

Despite generating large amounts of energy with limited greenhouse gas emissions, fission produces harmful radioactive by-products and has the potential to cause a nuclear meltdown.

Fusion, however, is a nuclear reaction that harnesses energy emitted when light elements are

A viable source of endless amounts of clean energy

(ITER Org.)

fused together. It is the process that powers every star in the universe, including our Sun. In theory, fusion technology could be a viable source of endless amounts of clean energy, producing little to no greenhouse gases or radioactive materials.

Current fusion reactions work by fusing heavy isotopes of hydrogen, mostly deuterium and tritium, together. Deuterium can be cheaply extracted from sea water and fused with tritium to provide energy. To put this into scale; the deuterium extracted from one litre of seawater produces energy equivalent to the combustion of 300 litres of oil, which can power a home for around three months in winter.

This promise of clean, limitless energy might sound too good to be true. Indeed, there are some big issues yet to overcome if we are to power the planet with fusion technology.

Fusion occurs naturally in the centre of stars, where the immense heat and pressure needed to overcome the innate repulsion between atomic nuclei come easily.

It is extremely difficult to replicate these conditions in a laboratory on Earth. To compensate for the lack of gravitational pressure, temperatures of around 100 million Kelvin are required for fusion to begin - that is approximately six times hotter than the Sun’s core!

To achieve these temperatures, scientists use high energy laser beams to squeeze and heat an extremely dense hydrogen plasma – an electrically charged ionic gas.

In the plasma, electron particles are stripped from their atoms, leaving atomic nuclei which can go on to fuse.

However, with these immense temperatures must also come a huge energy debt. Although scientists have been carrying out reliable fusion experiments for years, producing a state that is economically viable has proven to be more challenging - current experiments require far more energy to sustain than has yet been produced in a single reaction.

This issue has stumped researchers for decades, which is why the recent announcement by scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California is so exciting. By using powerful lasers to heat the hydrogen fuel to 100 million Kelvin and compress it to 100 times the density of lead, NIF have - for the first time ever - created a ‘burning plasma’ state where more energy is emitted from the fuel than was required to initiate the reaction.

Burning plasma occurs when a fusion reaction is itself the primary source of heating in the plasma.

This phase is seen as an important milestone on the road to ignition (the point where a fusion reaction can self-sustain) and scientists are

Until recent years fusion has been seen as somewhat of a pipe dream

confident that this breakthrough will lead researchers to develop new and improved technologies to sustain fusion reactions.

Until recent years fusion has been seen as somewhat of a pipe dream, but advancements like those at NIF mean that people are starting to think seriously about fusion tech as a viable fuel for the future. So, what next?

Governments around the world are collaborating to build a new facility, by far the biggest of its kind, in southeast France - the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). This project is set to cost almost £16bn and is being funded by the likes of the EU, the U.S., China, and Russia.

Unlike NIF, which uses lasers to heat and compress the hydrogen fuel, ITER will be a tokamak reactor.

Tokamaks are thought to be the best hope for fusion power, and work by containing highly pressurised plasma with intense magnetic fields. In June 2021, a tokamak reactor in China sustained a plasma for 101 seconds at 120 million Kelvin, beating the previous record of 20 seconds significantly.

ITER is set to be fired up in 2025, and, when open, will massively expand the scope of current global fusion technology. If ITER is successful, it will eliminate most, if not all, doubts about the science and elicit investment to pursue fusion technology going forward.

There is no doubt that harnessing fusion technology will prove to be a massive feat of both engineering and physics. However, with some of the greatest minds in the world collaborating in the search for sustainable energy, this is certainly an exciting time to be watching the fusion industry grow.

Twitter's right-wing bias: a flaw or something more?

Michael Elderfield Machine learning is the algorithmic process by which a system can adapt based on trends and patterns in data with little intervention from humans. This is done through learning from its previous computations and can be used to analyse huge datasets quickly and accurately.

This branch of artificial intelligence has been applied to various social media outlets to ensure people using the apps are able to receive the content they want from it. For many, this means falling down a rabbit hole of YouTube cat videos or conspiracy theories until late into the night.

However, these algorithms are not always completely harmless, and can often instil and reinforce prejudices.

A recent study commissioned

by Twitter itself found that the algorithm used for the website had an associated bias for those

who received recommended tweets. This bias tended to steer people towards right-leaning content, with six out of seven countries experiencing significant bias towards right-wing media (Germany being the only exception).

Countries which experienced this phenomenon the most strongly was the UK and Canada, with tweets from the UK’s Labour Party being amplified 112%, and those of the Conservative Party 176%. The content recommended was relatively moderate and did not stray to the far-right or far-left in most cases, and it remains to be seen whether the bias is due to more effective communication strategies of certain parties. A blog post by Twitter’s director of software engineering, Rumman Chowdry, and Twitter Researcher, Luca Belli, claimed the findings were “problematic” and further study needed to be done.

The problems of algorithms do not begin and end with Twitter and are not always the mild content

you might expect. Algorithms have been exploited in some cases to present propaganda to the unwary and impressionable. This exact method was on YouTube, with alt-right groups promoting one another’s reactionary content and introducing young audiences to right-wing ideologies, which progressively became more and more extreme with each subsequent video. This has ended in disaster in some cases, such as when a white supremacist, radicalised through YouTube content, killed 51 people in a Mosque in New Zealand.

YouTube continues to allow volatile content to be posted to the site, in an attempt to stay apolitical and avoid accusations of censoring free speech.

Facebook has also been accused in the past of sustaining a bias towards the right, especially during the 2020 US election, when Facebook posts that garnered the most engagement were those of conservative voices such as Ben Shapiro and Franklin Graham.

Facebook denied these claims, asserting that their platform is neutral and right-wing media is simply more “engaging”, touching upon recurring themes that invoke a strong emotional response in listeners, such as “nation, protection, the other, anger, fear”.

This theory appeared to ring true, and left-wing posts made it into the daily Top 25 much less frequently than their right-wing counterparts.

How can bias be prevented? It is possible on Twitter to remove recommended tweets from appearing on your feed. This feature can be accessed via the Settings button, followed by going into the Notifications section. Similar options are in place for YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. This solution is only temporary however, and a deeper look at how machine learning adapts should be explored.

Twitter has stated that they will allow third parties a greater level of access to their data, a move that puts pressure on Facebook and other platforms to follow suit in

an action that could expedite the investigative process. Until the point at which this problem is fixed, it falls upon us to stay fully informed on contemporary topics and ensure those around us do the same.

(Claudio Schwarz, Unsplash)

14

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

SciTech

How to see the Northern Lights in Durham (Victoria Cheng)

Eve Kirman Many people, including myself, have a bucket list. These lists normally include activities or goals to achieve by a certain age, whether that’s to go skydiving, learn a new language, or even run a marathon. Bucket lists involve tasks viewed by most to be particularly challenging yet rewarding. However, one common activity is seemingly easier to accomplish than perhaps most people think — seeing the Northern Lights.

The Northern Lights are a phenomenon thought to have been taking place for thousands of years, with the first suspected record of them being a near 30,000-year-old artwork found on cave walls in France. Furthermore, according to NASA, sightings of the lights have also been traced back as far as the first millennia in both the Chinese and Babylonian empires. These sightings must have been particularly mindblowing for our ancestors given that the scientific basis of the Northern Lights wasn’t resolved until the end of the 20th century.

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, as termed by Galileo, are probably the most extraordinary natural phenomenon that can be seen in the sky. The lights themselves are generated via

The Northern Lights are, unsurprisingly, best seen and most frequently appearing in northern regions. With vice versa being the case for the lesserknown, but equally as magical, Southern Lights. Therefore, going to see the Northern Lights can be a costly process given that the best countries to view them include Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Canada. A week’s retreat to Iceland

to tour the lights could set you back a minimum of £700, and that has no guarantee you’ll even see them. However, recently this hasn’t had to be the case.

Earlier this year the Northern Lights were spotted in the North East of England. The lights, according to the BBC, could be viewed in Northumberland, South Tyneside and Teesside, with onlookers claiming that they were “incredible to see”. There were even some sightings reported much further south, with The Chronicle claiming they were seen in York. This is particularly extraordinary, and as BBC Look North weather presenter, Abbie Dewhurst, acknowledged, the Aurora Borealis is “not something that happens this far south very often”.

So, how can you see them best in the UK? AuroraWatch UK is a geomagnetic activity index created by Lancaster University’s physics department. It produces a reading of the UK's “geomagnetic activity” every hour and uses a formula to estimate the likelihood of an aurora taking place. From this, an alert level is given from green to red, with green meaning “no significant activity” will occur and red signifying that an “aurora [is] likely” anywhere in the UK. In Durham, we should look out for amber alerts, meaning there's a chance the lights will be seen here.

scientists did conform to the antiromantic empiricists they are often misconstrued as. Through in-lab recreations and direct detections, several theories to unravel the physical nature of ball lightning have been proposed.

One of the simplest theories is the Vaporised Silicon Model.

It is conjectured that a lightning bolt’s immense heat vaporises the silicon oxides in the soil it strikes. The oxide bonds with carbon in the soil and leaves pure silicon vapour hanging in the air. Chemical reactions between vapourised silica and

atmospheric oxygen release energy through re-bonding, producing ball lightning’s quintessential shimmer. A direct measurement of ball lightning’s emission spectra by a group of Chinese scientists shows significant peaks at the characteristic wavelengths of silicon and oxygen, proving the theory successful in predicting the composition of ball lightning.

Brazilian scientists have even succeeded at reproducing small semi-permanent orbs using electrical-shocked silicon wafers.

The Solid Electron Core Model rectifies the ‘fluid’ nature proposed

high energy particles from the sun crashing into the Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of 45 million miles per hour. These particles are redirected to the North and South poles via the Earth’s magnetic field, where, at both poles, electrons and protons from the solar wind release energy in the form of light. The colour of light produced depends on which elements are prevalent in the atmosphere, with oxygen creating green and yellow patterns, whilst nitrogen causes blue or red light to be produced.

These are the most extraordinary natural phenomenon

Bewitching: the cursed enigma of ball lightning Leo Li Science is the ultimate mythbuster.

Notwithstanding, the mystery of ball lightning still remains unresolved.

This almost millennial-old enigma confounded Gervase of Canterbury in the 12th century.

Recent interdisciplinary research by physicist Emeritus Professor Brian Tanner and historian Professor Giles Gasper at Durham University uncovered this earliest eyewitness account of ball lightning. Quoting from their translation of Gervase’s Chronicle: "a marvellous sign descended near London. For the densest and darkest cloud appeared in the air growing strongly […] into a spherical shape […] a sort-of fiery globe threw itself down into the river."

It is hard not to romanticise as bewitching a phenomenon as Zeus’ Brimstone. Imagine: a white-hot, brighter-than-daylight, electrifying orb catapulting and whizzing through the air, at last exploding into a fiery, sulphurous mist. Ball lightning’s mythical charisma extends beyond the scientific community, even inspiring Nobel laureate in Literature Mo Yan to symbolise it, in one of his short stories, as an inauspicious phantasmagoria.

This time around, some

(Verity Laycock)

by the Vaporised Silicon Model.

It envisages ball lightning as a concentrically layered sphere with a solid core. A lightning strike induces an outward force which pushes electrons away from a positively charged solid core; balanced by Coulomb attraction, the electrons form a layer around the positive core, enclosing a vacuum permeated by electromagnetic radiations. The outermost core is what instils ball lightning its essence – a plasma envelope. This envelope is a pool of dissociated ions induced by the electron layer. This model prevails against the Vaporised Silicon Model as it also explains why ball lightning could spout sparks and float in rapid motion – the prior due to the fragmentation and dispersion of the positively charged core; the latter as a result of buoyancy, gravitational and electrostatic forces simultaneously acting on the semi-rigid conductive sphere.

However, the model neglects wave interferences and resonances due to higher electromagnetic modes.

The inability to experimentally reproduce lightning balls of higher complexity has stalled the model’s potential to capture the intransigently complicated interior of ball lightning – despite some worth-mentioning recreations using low-complexity systems with high-current, low-voltage discharges.

The Resonant Microwave Cavity

Model, however, fills the holes in the Solid Electron Core Model. It hypothesises ball lightning as a maser-soliton, which is simply a self-maintained wave-packet or -bubble in which microwaves are constantly emitted through stimulations. The physics behind the stimulations are similar to that of the Solid Electron Core Model, only with an extra boundary condition constraining the size of the lightning ball to which it facilitates resonances at microwaves’ wavelengths.

These sort of plasma balls are reproducible even with home microwave ovens, although they are nowhere near the intensity and spatial extent with which Nature’s exultantly shine.

There are plenty more hypotheses, all no less entrancing; they are also no more experimentally or observationally plausible, for now. In Gervase’s age of divine superstition, fear made his contemporaries think that ball lightning – as natural as lightnings in a tempest, albeit more exotic – is a manifestation of God’s wrath. In our age of reason, however, scientists are pushing the research frontier on ball lightning, utilising nanotechnology and advanced plasma physics, to reveal its physical nature – less than mythical, hence all the more beautiful. Just one day, our astute scientific enquiry will alchemise this age-old mystery into a blessing.

15

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

SciTech

Durham research Carbon bootprint, the hidden emissions of the world’s militaries Cameron McAllister SciTech Editor Durham researchers are part of a team that has launched a new platform, The Military Emissions Gap, to shine light on the murky underworld of military emissions.

While the world’s militaries and their supporting industries may account for up to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined emissions of aviation and deforestation, reporting of these emissions — the first step to accountability — remains appallingly inconsistent.

The hope is that by highlighting the paucity of reporting of military emissions, governments will be pressured to end this secrecy and report openly and comprehensively, bringing militaries in line with other highly polluting industries.

Ideally, reporting of military greenhouse gas emissions would take place before the next COP summit, COP27 in 2022, to allow for these emissions to be factored in to plans for keeping global heating below 1.5°C. The UK government spends more on defence (over £50 billion per year) than housing, the environment, and railways combined. Yet, the platform reports that there is “very significant under-reporting” of the UK’s military emissions, with poor data accessibility.

As the UK legally bound to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050

The world’s militaries and their supporting industries may account for up to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions

(Terence Burke)

the current status quo seems unsustainable. All sectors will have to massively reduce their emissions; the Ministry of Defence, likely the largest institutional emitter within government, surely wont be able to keep their emissions shrouded in mystery for much longer.

As the UK and the world’s emissions decrease in the coming decades, stubborn emissions from sectors that have failed to decarbonise as quickly as others will gradually have an even greater share of total emissions.

Traces of this effect can be seen in the fact that residential emissions in the UK, which have fallen only slightly over the last thirty years, have risen from 13% to 19% of the country’s total emissions as emissions from other sectors such as energy supply and business have decreased.

As the current largest emitting sector, transport, is decarbonised — the sale of petrol and diesel cars will be banned after 2030 in the UK — military emissions will threaten the net zero target unless plans are put in place immediately.

The new platform is comanaged by the Conflict and Environment Observatory and the Concrete Impacts project, with Durham’s involvement in the latter led by Dr Oliver Belcher.

The Military Emissions Gap highlights that, due to the voluntary nature of military emissions reporting, many governments refuse to report

these emissions.

It is hoped that making military emissions more transparent will allow them to be properly factored into climate accounting, leading to governments finally committing to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of their defence departments.

Where do military emissions come from? The main contributor tends to be air forces, with aircraft using massive amounts of fossil fuels. Though navies and armies also contribute significantly, and also use massive amounts of fuel.

After all, “fuel is the blood of the military”.

A fighter jet emits around 28 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per mission. For context, official figures show that the average greenhouse gas emissions per capita per year in the UK are about 7 tonnes CO2e. This means each fighter jet mission emits the equivalent greenhouse gas that four people in the UK do over the course of an entire year.

Between September 2014 and January 2019, the RAF performed more than 1,700 air strikes in Iraq and Syria alone. Despite the military defeat of Islamic State in these territories, the UK continues to patrol the skies on an “almost daily basis”. Clearly these numbers add up to a staggering level of emissions, but without proper reporting it’s impossible to get an accurate idea of the true scale.

But aren’t militaries supposed to keep their citizens safe?

The possible effects of climate catastrophe are hard to overstate.

There will be more severe storms, increased drought, rising sea levels, and much more. David

(Nicole Wu)

But aren’t militaries supposed to keep their citizens safe?

Attenborough has called climate change “the biggest threat to security that modern humans have ever faced”.

Climate change is also thought to increase the risk of new conflicts by worsening existing social, economic and environmental factors. Even the US military, whose fuel use along would make it the 47th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world if it were a country, sees climate change as a ‘threat multiplier’, something that exacerbates other threats dangerously.

Still, the world’s militaries prefer to emit secretly, with the implicit agreement that the security they afford their citizens makes them too important to bother reporting or reducing emissions. As the effects of climate change become more apparent that consensus is looking increasingly flimsy.

However, the tide is slowly turning. In June 2021, NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a military alliance that includes the UK) announced that it would set targets “to contribute to the goal of” net zero by 2050.

Hopefully additional pressure from projects like The Military Emissions Gap, along with the increased public awareness they bring, will lead to more ambitious targets that will help keep us safe from the greatest threat that we face: climate change.

How can global cities adapt to a changing world?

James Buckley I was planning on starting this article with a question like ‘how can we adapt cities to help fight climate change?’ but after some research I realised this is far too simplistic. We know how to adapt cities to help fight climate change. However, navigating the complex bureaucracy of achieving those changes is still incredibly difficult. This is where the research of Professor Harriet Bulkeley is vital.

Prof Bulkeley researches how to best influence governments and local authorities to implement climate change actions, analyses current initiatives in-depth to see if the desired changes are happening and advocates for nature-based solutions within urban areas.

Most modern cities in the UK are attempting to factor climate change into their agendas when building infrastructure and public services. These responses

frequently seem fragmented and can lose their way as projects progress. Using the example of how Cambridgeshire attempted to reduce CO2 emissions by 12.5% from 1990-2010 we can explore why this could be the case.

To meet this target local councils had to develop ways to reduce traffic congestion and traffic volume throughout the county. Two principled approaches to do this are to build more public transport infrastructure and to plan for possible traffic congestion when building new housing. However, pressure to build houses from the government has led to 2,800 new houses being built from 2003-2016 which dramatically increased traffic congestion in newly developed rural and market towns.

In addition, Cambridgeshire County Council were reluctant to impose more dramatic traffic reduction measures in the city centre, such as congestion charges and workplace parking levies. This reflects the pressure to ensure economic prosperity in Cambridge and the impetus of trans-national

corporations seeking to relocate into Cambridge.

Research by Prof Bulkeley suggests multi-level governance strategies need to be developed which involve both state and non-state actors so cities can efficiently coordinate low-carbon developments.

In the case of Cambridgeshire, public transport quality was improved to enable workers to commute more easily which helps reduce traffic pollution as a biproduct. Involving more nonstate parties in these decisions would enable climate change to be at the forefront of decisions in the future.

The notion of ‘smart’ cities is a common buzzword used to signify decarbonisation of urban areas.

Prof Bulkeley argues the term smart cities is usually performative and set to paint a vision of a high consumption life with little environmental cost.

Malmö, Sweden is a prime example of a smart city with houses optimised to be energy efficient. Each apartment contains up to 50 sensors which

constantly monitor heat loss and energy efficiency of household appliances, with data being streamed to state-funded iPads in each house.

While this paints an idealistic outlook on the future, unfortunately these measures are not scalable or practical for use in most cities.

Prof Bulkeley recognises that using smart cities to experiment with technology to try and reduce CO2 emissions is vital to scale decarbonation of cities globally.

However, she argues we need to alter our consumerist culture to be able to create low carbon cities in areas with less funding.

To help decarbonise cities Prof Bulkeley has been involved in the NATURVATION project which works to implement naturebased solutions in cities. This is an international project with 80 workers across 14 institutions working across 6 main global cities.

Through this project wetlands have been created in Dublin to attenuate river pollutants, a large park has been created in Athens to improve mental wellbeing,

and small green areas have been constructed in Edinburgh to conserve native butterfly species.

The project works to better understand the pros and cons of nature-based areas of cities to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs of each solution.

For example, building rooftop gardens may increase biodiversity within cities, but if certain species are preferentially impacted it may cause changes across the city ecosystem. This research has enabled individual cities to choose the most nature-based solutions and helps source funding to enact change.

In conclusion, the work of Prof Bulkeley at Durham University has helped further understand urban sustainability and the politics of how global cities adapt to climate change. She has worked to further comprehend and implement nature-based solutions in cities to combat climate change. I hope her work continues to shape climate policy and we get to see a new vision of more sustainable, low carbon cities in the near future.

16

Politics

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

Student

Universities and the ‘free speech’ bill

By April Howard

The blunder-prone Gavin Williamson (left) was succeeded as Education Secretary by Nadhim Zahawi (Image: Kuhlmann/MSC: IAEA Imagebank, via Wikimedia Commons)

The contradictory existence of Durham Students’ Union

By Theo Burman I vaguely remember the student officer elections in my first year, and how annoyed I was at the third years telling me that I simply didn’t understand how the SU worked. Fast forward two years, and the temptation to say the same things they did is very strong. Such is the defence of a uniquely flawed institution.

The SU is a buffer against the interests of the University executive, and as a result it is always destined to be incontent with the policies Durham introduces. Much of the SU’s bandwidth is dedicated to watering down policies that hurt students, and because we don’t see the before and after, students don’t see the positive changes, only the overall negative outcome.

Last year the University’s safety net policy during lockdown was inadequate, and the SU pushed for more concessions, but was still criticised for the final policy still not going far enough. When representing students for an institution with ultimate power that consistently puts profit first, the SU is destined to be a sidelined voice of opposition, always pushing for change against the inevitable University administration.

The core of this problem is that we overestimate the power of the SU in influencing

The SU is a buffer against the interests of the University executive

University decisions, and more pertinently, the strength of the student officers in influencing the SU. Like with most other student unions, the majority of the people working at DSU are unelected staff. Policymaking options are limited, and officers have to be constantly aware of the ever-present authority of the University itself, which pays the bills and the wages.

Every year the same claims come out; the SU isn’t fit for purpose, our officers don’t do anything for us, but at a certain point I wonder if the title of “the UK’s worst student union” is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. We expect the SU to be bad, and are less likely to give it a chance as a result. Nonetheless we’ve seen good use of what power the SU does have this year. Providing information and equipment during the rise in drinks spiking cases and giving support to the student community during the attention after the South College incident are good examples of the SU stepping up where the University fumbled. It should also be noted that this year’s officers spoke out to support students even though it meant being subjected to horrible national coverage. I think that after that, we should think twice about accusing candidates this year about being in it for themselves.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill proposed by then-Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, is currently in its report stage in the House of Commons, meaning after one more reading there, it will move to the House of Lords. The bill has been widely criticised. Two weeks ago, SU officer Jack Ballingham argued in this newspaper that it had the opposite of its intended effect. Adam Habib, head of SOAS in London, slammed the bill, saying he is “horrified that politicians think they can stipulate how academic freedom is enabled” and that “this government has interfered more aggressively in universities than any government since the Thatcher years”.

Habib’s reaction is understandable, as Williamson could be seen as taking quite a heavy hammer to crack a nut. Last February, he presented a proposal to Parliament outlining what he saw as the obstructions to free speech which exist in universities.

He acknowledges that “not every heterodox idea will be good”, which is true, however he risks conflating original but poor ideas with racist, transphobic or queerphobic discourse.

An event which acted as catalyst for this bill was the protest students staged against the attendance of Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely at an LSE debate. The protesting students argued that the humanitarian crisis suffered by the Palestinian people eclipses the right to free speech, and that the LSE’s student union should not have invited this speaker.

Hotovely acts as a representative of Israel and so, to these protestors, she represents a “terrorist state”, which is the phrase they chanted upon her arrival at the university.

Response to these protests was divided, usually between those supporting Palestinian liberation and those who support Israel; concern for freedom of speech was expressed but usually on behalf of the latter group.

Often the freedom of speech debate appears to reveal a deeper rift, that between the ‘woke’ and the anti-woke. Durham University had its own free-speech row over the Rod Liddle controversy at South College; Professor Tim Luckhurst calling to students as they walked out of the event that “at South College, we value freedom of speech”. But many have argued that these students also have a right to express their opinions.

In light of the subjectivity and emotional intensity

of these debates, one could question whether legislation is an overstep in terms of government intervention. The Labour Party went so far as to say that the “free speech bill gives legal protection to hate. The bill will involve the creation of specific roles in universities to ‘champion’ free speech, and one must question whether this role will be one vulnerable to abuse”.

Meanwhile, funding has deliberately been diverted away from ‘lower-earning’ degrees, such as the Arts and Humanities. Many criticised this move, highlighting how the arts’ contribution to culture is an irreplaceable one.

Habib’s institution, SOAS, has suffered from the sharp end of this funding intervention, and its left-wing reputation means it does not come high on the government’s priority list.

This forms part of a larger trend of the government’s approach to the Arts following their backing of the infamous ‘Fatima’ campaign which announced that ballerina Fatima’s “next job could be in cyber (she just doesn’t know it yet)”. For many, this level of intervention is disconcerting.

An advert is one thing, deliberately moving funds to discourage students from whole fields of study is another.

For many, the notion of the government becoming involved in how universities operate is a concerning one.

Whether or not the Bill will become law will determine the extent of this intervention and may permanently alter the academic landscape.

Often the freedom of speech debate appears to reveal a deeper rift, that between the ‘woke’ and the antiwoke

Adam Habib (Eric Beauchemin via Wikimedia Commons)

17

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

Politics

Domestic

Why is the Conservative Party talking about Brexit again?

By Becks Fleet New Year’s Eve marked the second anniversary of the UK’s departure from the EU, the culmination of an exhausting, unsavoury era of British politics. At last, after three years of planning and bickering with Europe, two Prime Ministers and an ever-increasing amount of political division, prolonged conversation on Brexit was finally over… or was it?

The creation of the Minister for Brexit Opportunities, a role taken up by former Leader of the House of Commons and Brexit advocate Jacob Rees-Mogg, suggests otherwise. The role, created during a tumultuous time for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives, could be seen as a way to reward Rees-Mogg for his seemingly unfaltering loyalty to Mr. Johnson.

What does this new ministerial role actually entail? Well, according to most sources, it seems to involve leading the process of reviewing and changing the supposedly “hundreds if not thousands” of EU regulations which still sit within

UK law. Should the review process of this have been completed six years ago, before the referendum was held? Probably, and judging

by Rees-Mogg’s plea to readers of The Sun to “tell me of ANY petty old EU regulation that should be abolished” (their words, not mine), they haven’t even thought about it.

After three years of planning and bickering with Europe, prolonged conversation on Brexit was finally over... or was it?

At last, Brexit will finally be addressed, and the Tories can at long last, in words of Boris, ‘Get Brexit Done’. Some within the

Conservative ranks — specifically Red Wall MPs, whose constituents heavily backed the Leave campaign — have been left unimpressed with how the leadership have kicked the Brexit can down the road and proclaimed its success without actually undertaking the promised cleanse of EU regulation.

The hope from within No. 10 is that this appointment will appease those MPs, and buy Mr. Johnson a little more time in office.

This idea has some hope of working — if nothing else, it could distract MPs and the public from ‘Partygate’ for a few days — but the targeted MPs don’t seem to be falling for it. According to the BBC, a senior Conservative MP, who backed Leave, sees the effort as “naff and desperate”, and asked the question we’ve all been wondering: “What on earth have they been doing for two years?”. Of course, if ReesMogg is able to fulfil the wishes of the Brexiteers in Parliament and across the country, then it could help turn around his and the Tories’ reputations post-’Partygate’.

In the same cabinet reshuffle, Rees-Mogg was replaced in his former role of Leader of the House

of Commons by Mark Spencer, the former Conservative Chief Whip. Spencer has faced a lot of controversy; not only is he being investigated for supposedly telling a former Tory minister that she was sacked because of her “Muslimness”, but he’s also the centre of claims from some MPs that the Whips attempted to blackmail them into supporting the Prime Minister.

Spencer is certainly a divisive choice to lead the Commons — even within his own party — so why has Johnson chosen him, at a time where he is fighting to keep the support of his own MPs? Of course, the answer is only truly known within Number 10, but considering Mark Spencer is a longtime ally of Boris Johnson, and his reputation is in tatters thanks to his actions as Chief Whip, it only made sense from the perspective of the Prime Minister to let Spencer engage in the age-old political tradition of failing upwards.

So, will Brexit ever be truly ‘done’?

Will moving Mark Spencer away from the Chief Whip role help turn around the image of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives? The answer to both

Jacob ReesMogg

(UK Parliament via Wikimedia Commons)

Rule of law: a lack of accountability in the Metropolitan Police Service

By Anna Noble The ‘rule of law’ lies at the foundation of any democracy. It is the rule that all laws apply to every single person in this country regardless of wealth, status, or political power. It is also a rule that seems to be becoming increasingly theoretical.

The government have been accused of breaking the law yet there has been little accountability During his time as Prime Minister, Tony Blair was questioned by the police on multiple occasions between 2006 and 2007, regarding his involvement in the ‘cash for honours’ scandal of the time. While he was never charged or even cautioned, the fact that he was

questioned sent a clear signal — rule of law exists in this country., and the Prime Minister is no exception.

Fast forward 15 years, the rule of law seems to be taking a bit of a battering. The government have been accused of breaking the law yet there has been little accountability.

What is perhaps more stunning is the delay to the Metropolitan Police agreeing eventually to investigate alleged illegal activity.

In the past few months alone, the Met Police has refused to investigate Johnson’s government over alleged unlawful conduct on at least three occasions. In November, the Met refused to investigate the ‘cash for honours’ scandal despite evidence emerging which supported allegations that the Tory Party were systematically handing out peerages to donors who donated more than £3 million

to the party. This seems to directly oppose how the police treated Labour’s 2006 ‘cash for honours’ scandal, where some people were arrested and many politicians, including Blair, were questioned.

The Met have also refused twice (once in early December and again last month) to investigate allegations that Downing Street held parties during the first strict lockdown, before finally conceding to an investigation.

Refusals came not only after serious photographic evidence emerged, but also after Boris Johnson, in a meticulously worded ‘apology’ (protected from being used in evidence against him by parliamentary privilege), admitted to attending the ‘bring your own booze’ garden party in May 2020.

A BYOB invitation rather undermines Johnson’s claim it was a ‘work gathering’. This is a time when the police have been

somewhat heavy-handed in their interpretation of the Covid-19 legislation with the general population, and have been further critcised for their treatment of those at the Sarah Everard vigil.

Their reluctance to investigate the parties until recently is questionable as Met Police officers

In the past year, the Metropolitan Police have been particularly heavyhanded with the general population

are centred around Downing Street. They therefore presumably know who enters, who leaves and at what time. Did they have little knowledge of these parties?

The Met’s handling of recent scandals has been criticised to a point that last month they referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over their

failings to investigate Downing Street parties.

The government scandals and allegations of illegal conduct appear endless. While Johnson was being grilled in the Commons about his alleged partying, the High Court was declaring that the VIP lanes used to offer PPE contracts to people with connections to the Tory Party was unlawful, yet this seems to have been buried, and it is doubtful the government will face any ramifications for breaking the law. A strong opinion piece in the New York Times recently declared that Johnson’s actions, policies and bills “will set Britain, self-professed beacon of democracy, on the road to autocracy”. Johnson has not helped to dispel the sentiment behind the piece in recent weeks, in regard to the principle of rule of law.

Without the proper functioning of ‘rule of law’, which places the government and general population under the same laws, hinders the ability to function as a democracy.

Boris Johnson looks like he will live to tell the tale of this latest scandal.

However, that does not dismiss the precedent being set, nor does it reflect the true dangers, real and to be seen, of a government that does not abide by a ‘rule of law’.

18

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

Politics

International

Focus on António Costa A surprise win for Portugal’s centre-left party

By Noah Khan António Costa, leader of Portugal’s Socialist Party, has won a surprise outright majority in a snap election he called which took place at the end of January, consolidating his power as Prime Minister, a position he has now held since 2015. The victory, which gave the Socialist Party 117 out of 230 parliamentary seats, comes after a tumultuous few years for Costa.

From 2015-2019 he was able to maintain power through an agreement with the more extreme left-wing parties.

However, this fell apart between 2019 and the end of 2021, where he was consistently forced to seek support from the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) in order to push through his legislation. On top of this he has inherited issues stemming from a 2011 79-billion-euro bailout and years of austerity that Portugal experienced after the 2008 financial crisis. Costa even faced a vote of no confidence in 2019, which he narrowly won, over numerous strikes staged mainly by middle class workers who have been hit hard by these austerity measures.

Costa treads a fine line of maintaining some austerity measures as to keep in line with EU budgetary rules without provoking the middle class too much. At of the end of last year, compromise on this economic policy had proven too difficult to achieve with either the leftwing or right-wing parties and, after years of success in finding the middle ground, Costa decided to attempt a consolidation of power through a snap election.

While his performance as Prime Minister has been generally positive — economic growth, decreased unemployment and, until very recently, a relatively good

response to the Covid pandemic — it is not the main reason for Costa’s outright victory last week.

The story is one of a perceived popularity of the right leading to consolidation of power in one party on the left

His Socialist Party was propelled to victory out of a fear of the alternative. Portugal’s economic hardship has led to an increase in popularity for right-wing politics, which the Portuguese media emphasised in the lead up to the election. In a country that only gained democracy in 1974 by overthrowing a highly conservative dictatorship, this was concerning for many.

The result was many left-wing voters abandoning their own parties and rallying around the centre-left Socialist Party. Both this and a higher voter turnout, up 10% from 2019, were where Costa made most of his gains.

The story is one of a perceived popularity of the right leading to consolidation of power in one party on the left.

The performance of Chega, a far-right party led by a man with a conviction for racial discrimination, is especially concerning. They won an alarming 12 seats in the election, up from just one. This performance may encourage PSD, the centre-right party and main opposition to the Socialist Party, to move further to the right in an attempt to capture Chega’s growing voter-base.

- Socialist Party

- Chega

António Costa (CP Comboios de Portugal via Wikimedia Commons)

Beijing Testing times on the world stage and the ski slopes

By Bryn Jones As the XXIV Winter Olympic Games draws to a close, lurking in the shadows are heated diplomatic hostilities between the host nation China and the USA. Has this international tension which has continued throughout the Games overshadowed the sporting achievements of the athletes or has the Olympic spirit united the world for a fortnight in the Chongli mountains?

Ten nations instigated a diplomatic boycott of the Games including the USA, the UK and Japan, in light of systematic human rights abuses and atrocities towards the Uighur population in Xinjiang, Western China.

Since 2018 the BBC has been reporting that there is ‘unmistakable substance of a rapidly expanding network of mass confinement’ of the Uighur people.

In addition to this crackdown in Xinjiang, the Chinese government is continuing its repression of Tibet, greatly reducing the freedoms of those in Hong Kong and maintaining a constant threat of invading Taiwan.

The 2022 Winter Games may have created an opportunity to gloss over Xi Jinping’s actions and policies on the world stage.

Though a diplomatic boycott seems to one a weak response by the US and others.

These nations are conceding to China, just to avoid a contentious athlete boycott. President Macron describes a diplomatic boycott as “symbolic and insignificant” and leads many to question when the appropriate time for a full boycott would be, if not over the past fortnight.

An athlete boycott, however, would have been greatly unfair on the athletes who have spent years preparing for these moments.

For those in attendance, political protests or perceived negative comments have not been an option that would be tolerated.

For Chinese athletes, there is the further complication around protest and speaking out after the sudden disappearance late last year of the Chinese tennis star

Peng Shuai, after sexual assault allegations towards a top Chinese government official.

China has criticised the USA’s diplomatic boycott. China’s Foreign Ministry said that the US “will pay a price for its erroneous actions”.

Could retaliation be seen in six years’ time when the USA hosts the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?

Significant action has also not been taken by multinational corporations — especially the fourteen official sponsors of the Olympic Games, including CocaCola, Visa and Intel.

These companies argue that the Olympics are not political and hold contracts that span multiple Games — not just Beijing. They are reluctant to raise concerns about human rights violations against the Uighur population.

Many global fashion brands that raised such concerns last year consequently faced nationwide boycotts by Chinese consumers.

H&M lost around $74 million in sales in just three months due to a boycott on Xinjiang cotton.

Condemning Chinese government actions could be costly, leading to restricted trading in a potential market of $1.4 billion.

Governments and companies did not face this issue in 2008 when China was a ‘worthy’ Olympic host and was seen as promoting a new chapter in China’s history — a more open and tolerant nation.

Conversely, due to the tighter leadership under Xi Jinping, the 2022 Games have been a showcase for the Communist Party.

As the world wraps up a fortnight of competing in Beijing, are they inadvertently condoning

the actions and policies of the Chinese Communist Party — the athletes of the world (and by association the nations of the world) have stood on the podium at the XXIV Winter Olympic Games rather than stand up against human rights abuses.

However, caution will need to be taken in relationships with China, especially with increasing potential for military conflict with Russia. It has

The athletes of the world will stand up on the podium at the XXIV Winter Olympic Games rather than stand up against human rights abuses complicated the possibility of serious criticism being pointed at China, during the games and in the aftermath.

Jacques Rogge, former IOC president, stated — “Our world today is in need of peace, tolerance and brotherhood. The values of the Olympic Games can deliver these to us”.

It is difficult to determine whether this has been achieved over the past fortnight.

19

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

Being true to myself in “real” Russia

An anonymous gay Durham student reflects on their experiences during their year abroad in Tomsk, Russia

I

t’s safe to say that the media has presented an interesting portrait of Russia in the last few years. This alone is enough to cause any student arriving here some serious anxiety — especially when your grasp of the Russian language is not great. When you are gay and have watched Reggie Yates’s ‘Extreme Russia’ series, this anxiety sizzles that extra bit more.

My attitude on arriving in Russia was to simply expect nothing, to start from zero and let everything surprise me, for better or worse.

I felt like I had just walked into Narnia.

In August 2021 I arrived in Tomsk, a student city wedged in the central-Siberian triangle between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. My plan was to study to study Russian in the city until December and then move onto Moscow for an internship.

As I was driven under the morning sun to the University isolation unit, forty hours behind

on sleep, severely jet lagged without internet, and with just a few broken sentences to exchange with the taxi driver, I realised that I had truly stepped into a new world. At this point, I was under the impression that I had left the freedom to openly express my sexuality behind in the UK. Facing the Siberian weather and stepping into the closet, I felt like I had just walked into Narnia.

My initial self-imposed confinement to the closet was, well, embarrassingly unsuccessful. In fact, it was only two weeks after my arrival that a new Russian friend assumed my inclinations were not heterosexual and took the liberty of introducing me to her gay friend, without asking any questions whatsoever (which probably says quite a lot). Since then I have experienced both firsthand and through others’ stories what it is like to be openly gay in Russia.

Firstly, I want to mention that I have always had one thing here on my side: privilege. As a British student, the University takes extra care to ensure you have the best experience possible, and even if your ‘particularities’ do not fall in line with the norm, they will be happy to overlook them.

The prices out here mean that, as a foreign student, you are not forced into the outskirts of the

city. Quite the opposite — you can go to the nicest bars and restaurants in any Siberian city and spend less than you would on a trip to Starbucks. Here you will meet young, educated people who, thanks to the internet, have reveresed the brainwashing effect of the pervasive oppresive rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community in Russia.

Sadly, as much as in most cases I have not experienced discrimination on the basis of my sexuality here, I cannot say the same for members of our community who call this place home. And, truthfully, as with much else regarding Russia’s current regime, people here feel like there is very little they can do about it.

This is not to say, however, that there is not a flourishing and active LGBTQ+ community here, nor that the vast majority of young Russians are not very progressive. This is a nation that has endured more than a few serious and traumatic upheavals in the last century, so if anybody is strong enough to hold their heads up high and defiant in the face of oppression, it is the Russians.

Unfortunately, my words for this article are limited. Otherwise, I would be inclined to list each possible detail of my time and travels in Russia. I feel that

From the archives

The Palatinate team of June 1969 took it upon themselves to comprehensively appraise and rank the city’s facilities.

Dunelm House claimed the coveted top spot, closely followed by the Maths department, whilst the Archaelogoy department and bus station took the rear.

my experience here has been important — not only for myself, but because I have been so delighted by a place that is more or less forgotten, except in the context of world politics.

Tomsk itself is a beautiful city. In fact, it was designed by architects from St Petersburg, who themselves took inspiration from the design of Venice. It is full of history, art, quirky cafes, bars and restaurants, and beautiful places to walk and enjoy the scenery. In stark contrast from the frosty air of a Siberian winter, the people here are warm, openminded, and interested in the world, especially considering the city’s student population of over 100,000. After just over a month here, I realised that I

simply did not want to leave, and now, luckily, I will be here until mid-May. It is truly the people of this country that make it so special, and I have been fortunate enough to meet and develop friendships with so many of them. There is not a single person, of any sexual orientation, background, or nationality, to whom I would not recommend visiting Russia, ‘real Russia’ (as locals define the infinite continent looming beyond Moscow and St Petersburg). What you will learn from this country and its people will stay with you for the rest of your life.

(Image: Igor Savin)

Thursday24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

Puzzles Chess Puzzle 849 White to checkmate in 2

Sudoku 849

7 5 Sentence Sleuth

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

3

4 9 8

7

8 5 1

1 8 2 8 4 5

6

Find the 5 fruits in these musings of isolation boredom

Isolating creates a whole new level of boredom. What is there left to do once you already have all your books, pans, and Sellotape arranged in size and colour order? Too often have I spent my whole Monday afternoon having a nap. Please get me out of this endless wreck. I wish to leave this monotonous hovel: I’m even considering redoing old jigsaws. The horror of it all. Oh hang on, maybe it’s not too bad. That pottery programme is about to start.

Synonym Twist

Seven classic biscuit names have been swapped out for synonyms. Can you decipher them to save the tea party?

Celebration loops Redhead kernel Whiskey Flan lotion Lucky evader Low roll Gareth Hairless

7

9

9 4 6

2 3 1

2

7 5

6 5 4

8 6

6

9

5 2

1 7

9

3

Quick Quiz

1 9

5 9 8 4 9

7

8

4 5

4

2 6 1 2

6

14 US States don’t contain the letter ‘A’. Can you name them all?

Maths Maze

Arrow Word

2

8

cube it

square it

double it

× 3/2

+5

+4

1/3

square root

Pond amphibian

×6

×11

Aquatic mammal

half it

+3

+11

+(8 ×4)

Large Mediterranean house

Beginning to burn

Martial arts star, Bruce ___

Actor, Jennifer ________

↓

↓

↓

→

Machine part

1/8

-1

cube it

square root

Arrest (slang)

?

?

Happiness, joy

Creative production

↓

→ →

Work hard

↓

→ Scottish Island

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.

→ → →

Many pronged garden tool

↓

21

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

Palstrology The resident space gazer, Emerson Shams, uses his seer abilities to guide you through the thick of summative season Aquarius

Taurus

Leo

23rd Jul – 22nd Aug

Scorpio

20th Apr – 20th May

This is the week to turn off your phone. Don’t trust Insta; it will make more problems than it solves. Instead, go explore the literature section of the Billy B and seek inspiration from a first edition of a classic instead of the discover page.

Confidence will be flowing through you this week. Make the most of it.

Be a bit bolder on your summative analysis (although please, no devil’s advocate arguments). Or alternatively, risk a targetted Tindur.

Beware the lethal combo of a Scorpio moon and impending deadlines (yes, lunar alignment is a perfectly reasonable excuse for procrastination). Take a moment to sit down and work out your schedule to ensure you stay motivated this week.

As the Scorpio moon fades, beware of strong emotions. No one wants to see you crying in the Billy B; sign up to a poetry workshop to help you work through them all.

Virgo

22nd Nov - 21st Dec

20th Jan – 18th Feb

Gemini

Pisces

21st May – 21th Jun

19th Feb – 20th Mar Emotions are running high. Be on guard for others trying to ruin your groove. Why not retreat from humanity and head down to the Billy B basement to get that 3k essay done?

Be prepared. This week will be full of tension. Make sure to do your share of the washing up in your house if you want to avoid an all out fight in the kitchen

JOHN’S

Dear Violet, the first draft of my dissertation is due in five days, but I only finalised my reading list for it yesterday and have currently written 138 words. I’m disappointed to say that I’ve resorted to desperate measures and started trying to bribe my housemates into pretending that I got kidnapped from North Road Spoons. If the plan goes well, I will have until late December to submit my dissertation when I’m found, safe and sound. Please help me sort out this mess!

A

Be prepared to have your mind open, but don’t expect that to help you with your summatives. Admidst an epiphany about a genius new concept for a podcast, don’t be suprised if you forget about your deadlines.

Dearest darling finalist, please do not fret and definitely please do not resort to the lengths of pretending to be a missing person. Really, if you wanted it be believable, you’d choose to be kidnapped on an expedition to Ustinov instead. But that’s besides the point.

Your final year is one of greatness, but also devastating tales of stress and terrible workloads. Try to understand that this time of your life is a pretty bum one, however you’ll probably never be under so much academic stress again and once your diss and exams are over you’ll have a summer of relaxation and partying. That is, until real-life hits again, and a panic masters comes flying your way...

Q

Dear Violet, there is a guy in my seminar class this year who looks gorgeous. He makes all the boring moments worthwhile, and I’ve been excelling in that module because I put so much effort in and just want to see his head nod slightly when I share my interpretations with the group. Recently, he has started coming to seminars without a mask on and the lower half of his face is really unattractive.

To the point where I am now struggling to concentrate for other reasons. How can I sort this situation, Violet?

A

Dear Reader, I’m really glad to hear that you’ve found your motivations to work this year and we all need that extra push sometimes to get stuff done.

However, you shouldn’t feel any pressures to prove yourself to this man, and no partner is good enough if they cannot abide by the simple rules of wearing a mask. I always say, ‘a bad boy is a sad boy and that’s why you should stick with the good un’s’. I hope you can put him out of your mind, and I would maybe suggest that you encourage him to wear a mask: for both your sake and everybody else’s.

Many of your friends are gonna need an ear this week. Be open and kind with them. Maybe it’s time you finally did the nightline training you always said you would.

Ask Aunty Violet

Sagittarius

While your fight or flight response leans towards the former, it may not be the best idea in the world to join the Union this week. Leave debating to the PPE students, why not write a Comment piece instead?

Capricorn

22nd Dec - 19th Jan

23rd Sep – 23rd Oct

The trick to survive this week is selfcare. Treat yourself to some nice aromatic lotion and give yourself a mini facial. With the Storm Eunice blowing on, moisturising is far more important than secondary readings.

MARY’S

Relish the calm that you will have this week. It’s a good week for level headed thinking. Got a large project? Plan it out this week. Use your creativity for good. Head to the Botanical Gardens and write an ode to an exotic cactus or something.

Libra

22nd Jun – 22nd Jul

21st Mar – 19th Apr

Q

23rd Aug – 22nd Sep

Cancer

Aries

24th Oct - 21st Nov

The financial forecast looks bright for you. Splurge on a ticket home or go for a day out. Maybe check out a local museum. Or failing that go wild on Deliveroo.

(Images: Nicole Wu)

PalatiPets Think you have the cutest pet? Email editor@ palatinate.org.uk with three pictures and 100 words explaining why for a chance to be featured in print

Roongji

Have a problem for Aunty Violet?

Fill out the form via the QR code!

7 ½ weeks, 46 days, 1104 hours, 66240 minutes, 3974400 seconds and counting: the amount of time since I have seen my cats. I hope they forgive and understand that Covid ruined my plans to return home and see them.

Cinderella has probably forgotten that one of her servants is missing, like she did in my first year when I did not return for an entire term. However, I’m sure that Rosie will be welcoming when she sees the amount of treats I have bought them and the fact I have secured them a spot in the student newspaper. Wish me luck.

Rebecca

One and a half year old poodle, Roongji is very extroverted and likes socialising, and so our family take him for a stroll every day. In contrast to his calm and cute looks, he has a positive and strong mental strength, so I learnt many things from his personality and behaviour.

Although now I only can see him through video call, I’m still cheered and healed by him a lot.

Our family hope that he lives a long, healthy and happy life .

Yoon

Rosie & Cindie

22

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

Sport

Based in a house near Sydney Who are Zenith SEM?

Continued from back A 1st February statement read, “Zenith does not have to prove themselves to anyone behind an anonymous handle or a keyboard but will not stand for defamatory statement and mistruths about the business and the club. Our track record in our industry is solid, and the club owner has done his due diligence and we’re all just getting on with the job at hand.”

On 16th December 2021, Durham City AFC announced a “new sporting partnership with Zenith Sports and Event Management”.

The club emphasised Zenith’s international reach, calling them “a global sports management group”.

City Chairman Paul Trotter said, “It has been a whirlwind few weeks with meetings taking place across numerous time zones”, and Zenith Vice-President Jeff Johnston was quoted “from his Indianapolis office.”

Zenith do not have a functioning website, and operate entirely through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Their LinkedIn explains that “Zenith now spans the globe, servicing the needs of athletes, coaches, officials, clubs, groups, and national federations. We work across a range of sporting codes, and we deliver a wide range of events (sports, music, community, cultural) from planning to conclusion.

“Zenith Sports and Event Management offers the experience and expertise that gives all of their clients ‘the winning edge’. Our unique services and business strategies deliver total management.”

Zenith’s Founder and President is an Australian football agent called Chris Tanner. Initially a Marketing Manager for a rugby league team, Tanner founded Zenith in the 90s.

Palatinate spoke to Chris Tanner.

Talking about his and his company’s credentials, he said, “35 years in the business: player agents, match agents, marketing, media, sponsorship, management, we do it all. Representatives around the world.”

We presented Tanner with the suggestion that Zenith had never before completed a task of a similar nature to the one given to them at Durham City AFC. His initial reaction was “Absolute rubbish. How did you come up with a baseless question like that?”

We then pressed Tanner for specific examples. He explained that, “Through my work, I have revolutionised the marketing at North Sydney Rugby League, Oran Park Motorsport, Football NSW … new sponsors, record sponsors, record hospitality figures, new event day experiences … all of it.

Community events, club design, international matches … had plenty to boast about. We even had a national FA create a club from a blueprint I created … a bit of a bastard act … but we got over it.”

His LinkedIn explains that the North Sydney Rugby position was from 1989-91, the Oran Park Motorsport job from 1997-99 (Oran Park Raceway was closed and turned into social housing in 2010) and Football NSW between 199295.

The “national FA creating a club from a blueprint I created” refers to the bid to form what became Western Sydney Wanderers over a decade ago. It’s unclear how senior or involved Tanner was in pulling together this bid. His group’s own plan centred around the team playing at the Stadium Australia, also known as the ANZ. Seating over 80,000 people, this would’ve seen the new club spending a lot of money trying to fill

Sydney’s biggest stadium with no established fanbase. Tanner is the only person to have publicly made this accusation and there appears to be no concrete evidence that this “bastard act” ever occurred.

That he still uses this, a failed bid, as an example of Zenith’s success is concerning.

Zenith’s Facebook page suggests that the company is headquartered in Tower 50 of Dubai’s Business Bay. Their LinkedIn reveals that this in fact just a PO Box, which is labelled as the company’s ‘Primary’ location. The company is officially registered to a residential flat in Tanner’s hometown of Dee Why, New South Wales, and LinkedIn has the details of a local PO Box in Dee Why. Tanner heads this ‘global’ firm from his own home.

Discussing this, Tanner said that, “The only registered business addresses (offices) for Zenith are in Dubai and the USA. I hop back and forth between Dubai and Sydney.”

The only registered address for Zenith in the USA is a residential house in Indianapolis, where Zenith VP Jeff Johnston is based.

Zenith is not a registered company in the US according to the records of the state of Indiana and Jeff

Apprentice’ into a supercomputer and asked it to run a football club.

There is a lot of talk of what could be done, and very little about how it will be.

The only obvious change that Zenith have made is the signing of new players. One, Nicholas Ballard, is a former Zenith intern and son of one of Tanner’s family friends. I have nothing against other signings Mounir Bouisri, Gisel Gil and Calvin Payne, but they’re players who’ve been with the club before. As one fan put it to me, they’re the reserve team from last year. This is a step sideways at best.

For all Tanner’s claims, the club are still in dire need of voluntary support after the departure of the entire former committee. He assured me that all vacant positions had been filled, before offering me the Media Manager role at the club after a five-minute conversation.

He’s taken on the role himself after my polite refusal. I remain unconvinced that everything at the club is, as he’s mentioned multiple times, “in great shape”.

Within the 1st February statement, new Club Secretary Lawrence Appleby, who has worked with Bernard previously, said “People who ask questions and seek the facts are the people we want to talk to”. They believe that former committee members and fans are running a “smear campaign” against the club.

Put bluntly, they’re not. They just care about the club. That’s why they’re involved in the first place. That’s why they’ve given up their time and effort to keep it afloat. That’s why they’ve travelled half-an-hour outside Durham every other week to watch their team get battered. Those were the people that really cared about the club, and now, thanks to Zenith, they’re gone. They weren’t taking money out of the club - they were having to put their own, hardearned cash in to keep it going.

Football in England’s tenth tier thrives off community spirit and social atmosphere. If, by some miracle, Zenith keep Durham afloat for a sustained period of time, they will likely have stripped

Johnston does not have a company registered in the state under any other name.

The same goes for Dubai, where Zenith Sports and Event

Durham City AFC is running with only a President, a Manager and a Secretary in this hemisphere Management are also not a registered company and where there is no evidence of a functioning office for Zenith. Palatinate asked Mr Tanner for specific details of his company’s workforce, and he replied, “Why do you need that?

Club owner did his due diligence.

There’s plenty of info out there.”

The only public information on the club’s employees is on their LinkedIn page. There are seven employees listed, spread across

five continents. Except perhaps Vice-President Jeff Johnston, there is no evidence online that any of these employees have any part in the running of Durham City AFC. Johnston is a former labourer and surveyor who has recently begun advertising a line of NFTs on his Instagram page. Tanner claimed that “We have partners and representatives in UK, USA, Ghana, India, Argentina, France, UAE.” Partners and representatives are terms which can mean a lot of things. Zenith announced a partnership with a footballing academy in India, but there is little to suggest that they have active involvement in this academy or contribute to its development. The same goes for their partnership with AliRoyals SurfSoccer in Ghana.

What is clear is that Tanner and Zenith are based some 17,000 kilometres away from Durham, with an 11-hour time difference between the two. Sources close to the club say that no Zenith SEM employee has been to Durham since the takeover, but Tanner said that “Durham is visited regularly”.

Durham City AFC is running with only a President, a Manager, and a Secretary in this hemisphere.

(Ken Fitzpatrick)

Comment The end is nigh for Durham City AFC George Simms In just two months in charge of Durham City AFC, Zenith Sports and Event Management have managed to alienate most of the former committee members, and a lot of the fans, that have kept the club afloat. They have overseen the club’s lowest-ever attendance at a home game and started an array of Twitter scraps with fans and concerned local figures with their bullish media style.

In their 1st February statement, Zenith outlined a 13-point plan for the running of the club. Their tangible aims are a return to New Ferens Park, re-establishment of an academy and the establishment of a training ground. The rest are vague management-speak. “Improving all things on the park” and “Defending the club from attacks and misinformation” are two of my personal favourites.

Zenith’s online communications have a characteristic bravado and ambiguity that you’d expect if you fed every episode of ‘The

out everything that makes the club what it is. It takes very little to keep a club running at this level, but there’s got to be a reason to do it. With upwardly mobile local clubs like Durham Corinthians actually playing in Durham, at New Ferens Park, fans have the option to take their support elsewhere. If just a few more choose to do that, then that really will be the end.

At this point, you really couldn’t blame them.

Since he took over in 2013, Olivier Bernard’s time at Durham City has been defined by poor management and apathy. The appointment of Zenith to turn around the club’s fortunes is no different. It will be easy to point fingers at Zenith’s running of the club, but it shouldn’t be forgotten how and why they’re involved in the first place. Zenith hide behind the claim that Bernard did his due diligence, but this clearly could not be further from the truth.

Fans would surely prefer the club to start again and keep some semblance of its identity, or drift off with dignity, than lose its

history and reputation trying to keep a name alive. Humiliation and misfortune have become part and parcel of being a Durham City AFC fan in the last decade. But at least it was their humiliation and misfortune. At least it was still the fans’ club.

For all the Apprentice supercomputer bravado, Zenith SEM’s social media battles and failure to appreciate the task at hand look set to strip out the weakly beating heart just keeping Durham City AFC from death’s door: the fans.

Durham recently picked up their second point of the season against Easington Colliery. It was played in front of just 27 home and away fans in Willington.

If your team picks up a point but no-one is there to see it, does it really count?

Zenith are both not the global powerhouse that they claim to be, yet also too global for the Citizens by virtue of being on the other side of the world. Rumours of the Citizens’ demise may have been exaggerated, but there really doesn’t appear to be a way out this time.

23

PALATINATE | Thursday 24th February 2022

Sport

‘I’m only here because I was a shit grain trader’

Mary Atkinson and George Simms talk to Durham alumnus and presenter Simon Lazenby about college life, Formula 1 controversies and TV mishaps

F

or Simon Lazenby, Durham is very close to heart. “I knew I was going to go to Durham the moment I arrived at the station — I fell in love with it the moment I stepped off the train”.

He studied Natural Sciences at St Hild and Bede College from 1993– 1996. Talking about his days as a student, Lazenby laughed and said, “it was good fun, but I’m not sure it did my liver too much good!” You and us both, Simon. Perhaps still Durham’s prime selling-point, he waxed lyrical about the benefits of the collegiate system and the “feel” which it brings to Durham. He was certainly an active part of college life, captaining the Hild Bede First XV in a nod to his future days as one of Sky’s leading rugby presenters.

He also quietly mentions his time as a member of the now-banned drinking society ‘The Diced Carrots’.

If you haven’t heard of it, we’ll let Google do the explaining.

A life in front of the camera was definitely not always on the cards for Lazenby. After leaving Durham, he started work as a commodities trader for Cargill. As he explains it, this seems like something of a poorly thought-through decision.

“If I had to do it all again I think I would’ve gone travelling for a few years like some of my friends did.

“One of them, we called him Hamster, went around South America for two years. He met a tribe in the jungles of Peru and ended up marrying the tribe leader’s daughter, so that was interesting.

Anyway, I did six months in Tilbury Docks trading corn, before moving up to Lincolnshire and trading grain. I wasn’t particularly good at it, and I think I ended up walking before I was pushed.

“I remember buying a boat full of grain of a Friday and kind of double exposing myself on the exchange rates before it moved the wrong way. They thought ‘This guy’s not got much talent for trading’, so I had to think, what was I going to do next? I’m only here because I was a shit grain trader.”

This is when Lazenby first tried his hand in the media. He got some work experience with BBC Radio Lincolnshire before going on to shadow two of his future colleagues, and fellow Durham alumni, in Mark Durden-Smith and Gabby Logan.

He’s now been at Sky for 23 years.

“In those days it was very young and dynamic. It was the year before Blair got into power and England had just done well at Euro 96. I started off as a runner, but after about six months I was working in the Rugby department and they gave me an opportunity at

reporting. Then I asked the boss if I could have a go at presenting. It’s sink or swim really. Nowadays it’s a very rigorous process, but in those days it was a bit more like the Wild West!”

Sky was the home of televised rugby at this point. Lazenby would

A damp Friday at Welford Road is nothing like Sunday at Monaco go on to present on the 2005 and 2009 British and Irish Lions tours in New Zealand and South Africa respectively. “I did a competition for rugby journalists at The Stoop (Harlequins’ ground opposite Twickenham). You had to run a kilometre, cycle five kilometres and then take kicks at goal. I ended up kicking all three goals with (then Guardian sportswriter but now US political expert) Martin Pengelly.”

After fifteen years as the face of Sky’s rugby coverage, Lazenby made the switch over the Formula 1. You can’t argue with the justification for his decision: “Put it this way, a damp Friday at Welford Road is nothing like Sunday at Monaco! I love rugby, but I was a little bit saturated by the end. Also, after the 2003 World Cup, rugby went through a very defensive cycle.

“Now it’s getting really exciting and teams are throwing the ball around, but it needs to change structurally to grow the audiences again, whereas Formula 1 is the biggest show in town wherever you go. We were broadcasting sometimes to 30-50,000 on a Saturday afternoon for club rugby, whereas we’re now getting upwards of 2-3 million for F1. The last race of the season got over seven-and-a-half million.”

Lazenby has been at the forefront of F1’s resurgence into the heart of public sporting conscience. He tells us that Sky Sports F1’s viewing figures are up “something like 30 or 40% up year on year this year.

Much younger people are involved, many more women are watching it and we know that from the data we get from Sky. It’s never been more exciting to be involved with F1 than right now’’. Lazenby calls this “the Netflix effect”, thanks to both famous and now infamous Netflix documentary ‘Drive to Survive’.

However, whilst the sport has exploded in popularity, many issues have remained or emerged, particularly at the Abu Dhabi championship finale. This led to the recent removal of Race Director Michael Masi, and the introduction of a VAR-style system intended to make things fairer.

Lazenby weighed in on his thoughts on the season finale and the issues in Formula 1 today — “They’ve got to get better at enforcing the rules, they’ve got to be more consistent. I don’t think it’s the job of one man — Charlie Whiting had Herbie Blash, and Michael Masi had no-one”. These are thoughts which many fans, and debatably even the FIA, who are now turning

the role into an alternating twoman job.

Discussing the two rivals for the F1 title, Lazenby said “I do feel for Lewis Hamilton, because it was his Championship. Safety cars are never fair and they always change the dynamic of the race, but because of the timing of that, and how the rules were wrongly interpreted, which they were, he was denied that other championship.

“It is a shame, I feel for him, but I also don’t want to take anything away from Max. Over the course of the Championship he was the better

Hamilton deserved to win it at the end driver, but then Lewis deserved to win it at the end”.

This is a well-considered stance in an ever more “polarising” debate, which has seen audiences more engaged than ever. After the season-ending controversy, some have been saying that they won’t be watching the start of the season.

Lazenby disagreesn — “They’re lying! Everyone wants to see what happens next.”

Lazenby also criticised the radio access teams had to the race director and race control.

Many of us will have seen the now infamous messages broadcasted from Mercedes’ Team Principal

Left to right, Simon Lazenby, Martin Brundle, and Jenson Button

Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley during the season finale. The removal of such communications are another change the FIA has put in place for the 2022 season.

“The teams would very aggressively lobby race directors — that shouldn’t be allowed. We shouldn’t be having team bosses saying ‘don’t bring out a safety car’ — Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t have a direct mic into the ref, did he?”

However, he had a cautiously optimistic outlook on the season to come, with the new regulations coming into play. “I’m hoping that new regulations do level the playing field a bit, but I have my reservations about that as well. I think we’ll only start to get a clear picture when testing comes to an end.

Lazenby is now coming up to 25 years as one of sport’s leading presenters. He tells us, “The biggest piece of advice I ever got was from (former England rugby player and commentator) Stuart Barnes. He said ‘Remember, you do not have an opinion.’ The best presenters are the ones that aren’t the story, they’re not the headline. They ask the right questions and let the guests be the stars. All you’re there to do is to facilitate lively conversation — but if it ever becomes about me, then I’ve failed. Gary Lineker can get away with it because he won the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup, but at the end of the day, ask the people that know better than you. And try not to take yourself too seriously.”

This is one of the main things we took away. He’s funny, gregarious and has a natural charm and presence that no amount of lessons on presenting could teach.

He finished by telling us one of his favourite presenting stories: “I was doing some overnight cricket with Jimmy Adams, the former captain of the West Indies and the most laid-back man in the world. I was literally just shovelling meat pie and chips into my mouth. I suddenly looked up at the monitor and the cricket wasn’t on there.

It was just me on the screen shovelling pie in my face.

“The director had cut it to air!

There’s always something that goes wrong, but you’ve just got to be able to laugh at yourself if it does. I’m not sure I’d still have a job if the social media age had been around for the start. TV is good fun, but it really has changed beyond belief, you’ve just got to be so careful with what you say, what you do and how you behave. But that’s the way of the world — everyone wants content and everyone’s around to film it all the time. Be careful!”

24

Sport

Thursday 24th February 2022 | PALATINATE

“A damp Friday at Welford Road is nothing like Sunday at Monaco” Sport talks to Durham alumnus and Sky Sports F1 Presenter Simon Lazenby

“Zenith are not the global powerhouse that they claim to be” George Simms discusses what Zenith SEM could mean for Durham City AFC

Resignations, record-low attendances and an eleven-hour time difference Inside Durham City AFC’s new ‘global’ management team

George Simms National League North bottom dwellers Durham City AFC appointed Zenith Sports and Event Management in December 2021 to “conduct immediate repairs” to the club. Zenith, who maintain close to no online presence, have ruffled feathers since they took over de facto management of the Citizens.

Nearly every committee member who was at the club when they took over two months ago has since left, or been pushed out.

Attendance at the club’s last home game was a record-low 27. What is going on at Durham’s oldest football club, and just who are Zenith SEM? Durham City AFC are bottom of the Northern League Division Two, a Step Six league within the National League System.

Step Six is the lowest league within the National League structure, and relegation would see them fall outside of it, into the oblivion of the highly competitive Wearside League.

Given Durham have conceded the most goals of any Step Six side, it is fair to call them the worst team in the National League System.

The Citizens last won a game on 9th April 2019.

They have avoided relegation thanks to Covid-19 and insolvency issues at other clubs, but escape seems impossible this season. They are currently 23 points from safety with 14 games to go. Unless they win at least eight of those 14 games, they’re down.

Durham City AFC were bought by former Newcastle and France U21 defender Olivier Bernard in 2013, for a reported £25,000.

Bernard was Chairman until 2019, and even had multiple stints as caretaker manager. Despite Bernard’s wife Diane Wilson officially owning the club since 2017, it is understood that the Frenchman is still the de facto owner of Durham City AFC. When Bernard took over, he came with grand plans of the club becoming a feeder club to Newcastle United and an academy structure across all age groups. As it stands, the club has been struggling to get 11 men on the field on a weekly basis, let alone have an academy.

Across the four managers that have taken charge so far this season, 60 different players have been registered for Durham City.

The biggest issue for the Citizens is cashflow. Palatinate understands that they are operating on a budget of

close to £0. Bernard refuses to invest anything more in the club, and has done for some time.

Another crucial issue for Durham City is their stadium. They share Hall Lane with Willington AFC, but it is nearly 30 minutes from central Durham and means that only the most die-hard fans of the club are willing to travel to watch them.

Their average home attendance this season is 47, second lowest in the

It’s fair to call Durham the worst team in the National League System league above Newcastle’s University side. Willington average 92 at Hall Lane, nearly double the Citizens.

City used to play at New Ferens Park, which is a 45-minute walk from central Durham, or a fiveminute drive. A dispute between Bernard and the NFP owner saw the club kicked out in 2016. After three seasons sharing Belle Vue with Consett, this is their third season at Hall Lane. A return to New Ferens Park is a priority for all inside and out of the club, including Zenith SEM, but it may cost close to double what the club pays to play at Hall

Lane, something they have already struggled to afford.

Durham City has been kept going by a small band of dedicated volunteers, who have sometimes had to resort to putting their own money into the club to keep it going.

Yet since Zenith SEM were brought into the club, numerous Durham City AFC committee members and volunteers resigned their positions at the club. This includes the kitman of 31 years, the long-time secretary, the chairman, and the media manager.

A former committee member told Palatinate, “[Zenith SEM] soon upset the committee members with the disparaging comments about the club and how it has been run … volunteers ebbed away, unhappy with their conduct.”

In a statement on 1st February, Zenith wrote that, “Other members of this board have done nothing but cause trouble, spread lies, and try to engage in social media wars where the eventual facts have diminished their activity.”

Zenith have made and subsequently deleted accusations against a former club treasurer, as well as former Secretary Fred Usher. In an email to the league, Tanner claimed that “anomalies (were) discovered” and “two of the departed personnel are suspected of misappropriation of funds”.

In a club likely operating with very little money, run by long-time fans on a voluntary basis, Zenith presented no evidence to us that this was true.

Continued on Page 22

Durham City AFC last season (Ken Fitzpatrick via Flickr)

Durham City AFC 2021/22

League Ranking: 21st of 21 Games played: 27 Wins: 0 Draws : 2 Losses: 25 Goals for: 15 Goals against: 139 Biggest loss: Carlisle City 16-1 DCAFC Players registered: 60 Managers: 4 Top Scorer: Harley Clarke (5) Highest home attendance: 61 Lowest home attendance: 27

Fencing

Roma bags gold in Sheffield Durham student Lorenzo Roma won gold in the men’s sabre at the BUCS Individuals Fencing tournament in Sheffield last weekend. The Italian saw off a field of over a hundred to take the title.

Bobsleigh

Consett-born McNeill comes up short in Beijing County Durham-born Mica McNeill, the leading female bobsled pilot in the UK, said something went “disastrously wrong” as she finished 17th in the two-woman bobsleigh event at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Boxing

Aggression Sessions raises highest-ever total Student-led boxing event Aggression Sessions, which took place at Rainton Meadows last Friday, raised £52,000 for mental health charity Papyrus UK and Sport in Action. This is £17,000 higher than the previous record.

Football

Bradley signs Wildcats contract extension Durham Women have extended the contract of American midfielder Dee Bradley. The 25-year-old joined in January 2020 and has become a key member of the first-team squad.

Football

Moors FA Trophy run comes to an end Spennymoor Town’s hopes of silverware this season have come to an end as they lost 2-0 to Dagenham and Redbridge in the fifth round of the FA Trophy.

Dagenham are 10th in the National League.