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

Thursday 10th March 2022 | No. 850

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Durham students flee • Students in Ukraine and Russia escape hours after invasion • Fear for friends and family left stranded at home as war rages

Laetitia Eichinger and Waseem Mohamed News Editors Eight Durham students have now returned home from their year abroad in Russia after the University instructed them to leave.

The decision came hours before the Foreign Office advised against all travel to the country. Meanwhile, one student who returned home to Kyiv for a visa application was told Russian soldiers are “right behind you” as she escaped Ukraine, surrounded by shelling.

Durham students from Russia and Ukraine have been shaken by the experiences of family and friends at home.

“I haven’t been off my phone, with trying to contact my family, reading every single article, watching every single video. I cannot not think about everything. It’s been very hard for me to concentrate and have time to write my dissertation.”

Another student described how they were woken up by a phone call from a friend early one morning: “He was like ‘wake up, because I have some bad news for you. They’re bombing everywhere. They’re bombing my city, your city, they’re bombing all the cities. It’s a full-on invasion.’”

Others worried that they may not be able to afford to continue their studies. One Ukrainian student said: “If the conflict lasts a few more months, I’m not sure if I will be able to pay for university in April because my family have the accounts and they need to pay for their own needs.”

Several protests and demonstrations also took place over the last week as students stood in solidarity with Ukraine. Numerous charity events run by students raised funds for those impacted by the war.

One protester said: “Protests help to get people together and show us that we are not alone with our news and calls to our families, that there are people supporting us and ready to talk or just give a hug.”

In a statement, the University said it was “considering the wider implications of this worsening conflict” on activities, and that “any decision to end existing activities or links would be taken as a stance against the deplorable actions of the Russian government.”

Protesters gathered in Market Square last week to express their anger over the war in Ukraine, and stand in solidarity with students most impacted (Adeline Zhao)

‘I could see the smoke and the scattering of orange through the window: it was very, very close to us’ Waseem Mohamed News Editor Alyona Fedulova, a third-year Collingwood student reading French and Arabic, was visiting her native Ukraine to sort out a work visa, receive a booster shot and visit her grandparents, whom she hadn’t seen for over a year. She arrived in Kyiv on 23rd February, and described how hours later, “I could see the smoke and the scattering of orange from the window” of her apartment in Obolon: “it was very, very close to us”. The war had begun.

“It was very scary. The scariest

part was hearing civilians trying to flee Kyiv and avoiding the debris from missiles, the missiles itself, thinking how can we even live with those memories? Most of the time we were running on adrenaline because we were just trying to leave the warzone — you just leave your emotions behind.”

Along with her aunt and two younger cousins, Fedulova got into their car and started her escape. “We just left. We were fleeing, we didn’t know where we were going. As we were fleeing we heard countries were welcoming refugees, there were no border restrictions and

you could come with animals.”

Fedulova faced an additional challenge: she was determined to save her pet cat and newborn kittens. “They’re still drinking their mum’s milk, and my cat as well is so susceptible to stress ... she was so dehydrated and it affected her kidneys. It definitely made it challenging but I could not imagine leaving the country without my cats. It was a hard decision to make”.

As Fedulova tried to leave Kyiv, scenes of long traffic jams were being shown on the news, as thousands aimed to leave at once.

Fedulova was caught up in those queues. “The traffic was 40km long.

You could get hit by debris from missiles or get shot, it’s a huge risk”.

Fedulova’s family spent the night in an underground bomb shelter, then packed everything and left.

In the bomb shelter, “everyone was pretty scared; every time I went upstairs for a connection to update my loved ones, I heard an explosion and the floor shook, and I just ran straight back down again.” Alyona managed to get hold of her friends in Durham, who posted on social media to ask for help on her escape.

Continued on Page 4

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Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

Editorial Inside 850 News pages 1-7 Satire page 8 Comment pages 9-11 Profile pages 12-13 Scitech pages 14-16 Politics pages 17-19 Puzzles page 20

Palstrology page 21 Sport pages 22-24

Indigo

Editorial page 2 Visual Arts page 3 Features page 4 Books pages 5 Travel pages 6-7

No glory in war (Rosie Bromiley)

A

s I popped home last weekend, my grandma treated me with a warm hug and some classic Ukrainian jokes. Stories about Moisha misbehaving in Odessa, sailors in Mariupol, synagogues in Donetsk.

The people of Ukraine have faced immense suffering before. Both sides of my family fled from the Cossack pogroms at the end of the 19th century.

In the early 1930s, Stalin engineered the mass starvation of four million Ukrainians.

Then, less than a decade later, the remaining Jews were singled out and murdered

by Nazis. It was the bloody, horrific, 20th century: the stuff of grandparents’ tales and secondary school textbooks.

But history had ended, Europe had found peace, and we are taught growing up that the world is so interconnected now that a major power would never launch an invasion.

Ukraine may have had political rollercoasters, but Russians and Ukrainians are ethnic cousins and brothers.

For Russians, the language is mutually intelligible, and they admire the distinct vibrant Ukrainian national feeling.

Now conscripted Russian teenagers are being sent to murder their own. Ukrainians bravely defend their cities, but both at home, and in the whole expat community, the feeling is shock and horror. If there’s

one thing every family agrees on, it’s a deep-seated fear and hatred of war.

But journalists in Russia who call the war a war can now get 15 years in prison.

One Russian student, at a protest outside the library, carried a piece of cardboard saying, “At home, I would be arrested for holding this”. He had asked beforehand whether we needed police permission to gather and speak outside the library, scared of breaking the law.

If there’s one thing every family agrees on, it’s a deepseated fear and hatred of war.

It brings a chilling realisation that our casual putting together of a student newspaper, freely making harsh judgements on politicians and University executives, is something we take for granted far too often.

Ukrainians battle not only for their nation, but for truth over lies.

Meanwhile, Putin pushes on.

More people are slaughtered for no reason, for a ‘liberation’ nobody asked for.

In the 1980s, thousands of Ukrainians and Russians fought on the same side in an equally pointless war in Afghanistan. Nobody at home was allowed to know about the war, but everybody knew, as gradually more sons mysteriously disappeared.

Even us knowing about the war is a reflection of our privilege. Our access to open, truthful information, without undue state influence, is a right my friends in Russia, who have now disappeared off Facebook, are no longer afforded.

In this small city, we like living in a bubble. A set schedule of club nights and lectures, everywhere accessible by foot, polite nods around town, cobbled streets and beautiful walks.

Every year, a new generation of graduates faces a return to the real world. For some it is a relief or an escape, for some a great loss.

But what we face now feels so much scarier. The security structures in place throughout our lifetimes have been shaken and our idea of liberal internationalism bringing world piece has been well and truly shattered.

Film & TV page 8 Creative Writing page 9 Food & Drink pages 10-11 Music page 12 Style page 13 Interview page 14 Stage page 15 *** This is my last edition as Editor. A huge thank you to my Palatinate heroes, who have made it all worth it from the start: Tash, Tim, Toby, Imogen, and now Poppy. The Palatinate team has almost doubled in the last few years, with the content now more professional than ever. The team remains incredible and unbreakable, so no matter who may want to attack this paper or journalistic freedom, I know the future is bright.

Max Kendix Editor-in-Chief

Follow Durham’s ‘Stop the War in Ukraine’ Facebook page for updates on how to support the people of Ukraine locally.

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 Editor 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 photography@palatinate.org.uk Illustration Editors Verity Laycock, Adeline Zhao, Rosie Bromiley, Victoria Cheng & Anna Kuptsova illustration@palatinate.org.uk Social Media Officers Felicity Hartley, Georgia Heath & Hannah Davies businessdirector@palatinate.org.uk Advertising Sophie Ritson advertising@palatinate.org.uk Head of Alumni Relations Elena Liciu alumni@palatinate.org.uk Finance Officer Sophie Garnett finance@palatinate.org.uk

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PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

News

Vice-Chancellor’s pay up to £290,000 Majority of Durham

Sam Lake and Waseem Mohamed Investigations Editor and News Editor

The salary of Durham University’s Vice-Chancellor has increased by £17,000, to £290,000 in 2021. The salary has increased far beyond the rate of inflation over the last five years.

The pay increase took the previous Vice-Chancellor’s total remuneration to £342,000, nearly 13 times the median total pay of all staff when including casual and agency workers – in 2020 it was about 11.5 times higher.

The UCU have previously advocated for a 10:1 maximum pay differential, which would see the highest paid member of staff earning no more than ten times the earnings of the University’s lowest paid.

The salary is well above average for UK Vice-Chancellors, who the received an average remuneration of £269,000 last year. It is, however, lower than some Russell Group rivals across the UK, with the heads of Imperial, LSE and Exeter receiving a total remuneration of over £500,000.

The revelation comes amidst

growing concerns amongst teaching staff over pay, pensions and working conditions, highlighted by the UCU strikes that ended last Wednesday, and which will resume from the 21st of this month.

In addition to the ViceChancellor’s pay rise, the amount paid out to “key management personnel”, which includes the Vice-Chancellor as well as “those persons having authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling” has increased to £3,007,000 from £2,939,000 in 2020, a rise of £68,000.

This is despite the overall number of these personnel remaining at its 2020 level of 16, meaning an average rise of £4,250 each.

In November, Office for Students Chief Executive Nicola Dandridge said about national Vice-Chancellor salaries: “Leading a university is a complex and difficult role that requires great flexibility, knowledge and experience, and it is right that those who excel in these roles should be properly rewarded.

“However, where there are

instances of an imbalance in pay at universities, it is important that this information is freely available and open to scrutiny.”

The number of Durham University staff on six-figure wage packets has also increased, from 76 to 79 staff.

Previous Vice-Chancellor Stuart Corbridge repeatedly came under fire throughout his six years in office over increases in pay and expenses claims. He was the first Vice-Chancellor in the county to restore his salary to pre-Covid levels and was revealed to have spent nearly £25,000 on Business and Premium Economy return flights under expenses claims over three years.

In their 2021 Annual Report, the University says that “Competitive salary packages are essential to attract and retain outstanding staff in senior leadership roles.”

Decisions on the Vice-Chancellor’s salary are made by the University Remuneration Committee, “taking account of the achievement of strategic goals, the institution’s national and international rankings and performance against key performance metrics.”

Confusion as UCU announces strikes that fall outside Durham term time Elizabeth McBride News Editor

Last week the University and College Union (UCU) announced another five days of strike action, beginning on Monday 21st March with the aim to impact ”well over a million students” in the UK after “employers forced through pension cuts and refused to negotiate meaningfully over pay and working conditions”.

This has sparked confusion among members of Durham UCU as the dates announced by the central Union fall outside termtime, so would likely have minimal

impact on Durham students.

In an email to members, they said that they hoped the action would “ensure that the disruption continues across the sector until the end of term” and that action had been coordinated “to ensure that branches are taking action during term time.”

The UCU say they have called this further action, yet members of the Durham UCU, as well as the branch itself have raised concern about the lack of communication in determining strike dates.

Concerning the action, the Durham UCU branch said on Twitter: “This process underlines

just how important it is that branches are listened to and heard clearly in decision-making over strike action.”

One Durham lecturer said: “I’m disrupting my own research and nothing else. I’ll have REF outputs next time if there is one. The University will not care.”

Palatinate understands that Durham UCU itself was not aware that the dates would be outside of the University’s term until after they were announced and that plans for how teaching staff would observe the strike are not finalised, however picketing open days is an option.

students are not Oxbridge rejects Data obtained by Palatinate reveals that on average, only 43% of the new undergraduate cohort were rejected from Oxbridge.

Waseem Mohamed News Editor

‘Oxbridge reject’ is perhaps one of Durham’s most oft-repeated stereotypes. Due to Durham’s relatively high rankings in the UK university league tables, coupled with its college system and traditional quirks that replicate that of Oxford and Cambridge, for those not quite lucky enough to get an offer at either of the world’s two most famous universities, Durham is seen by many as the natural second-best alternative.

However, the perception that Durham is overrun with ‘Oxbridge rejects’ appears somewhat unwarranted.

Data obtained by Palatinate revealed that over the past 5 years on average, only 43.27% of students who are accepted into Durham each year had ever been rejected from Oxbridge, the equivalent of 2075 rejects per average cohort.

These figures were calculated by taking the number of student who firmed their offer to study at Durham following an Oxbridge rejection, and dividing this by the total number of undergraduates accepted by Durham each year.

The figures show that the proportion of students admitted who had previously been rejected

by Oxbridge admitted has been increasing almost annually.

In 2016/17, only 39.84% of those accepted into Durham were Oxbridge rejects, but by 2020/21 this figure had risen to 46.40%, despite the number of students being accepted that year being higher than normal due to grade inflation.

Palatinate spoke to several students, both Oxbridge rejects and

non-rejects, about what they made of these statistics.

Emerson Shams, a non-applicant to Oxbridge, said that “I find it surprising that most students also didn’t [apply to Oxbridge], as the majority of people I encountered in first year [...] had. People would ask ‘Are you an Oxbridge reject?’, and it was really weird that I wasn’t”.

Georgie Brooks-Ward, a student at John Snow College who did not apply to Oxbridge, said that “I just thought it was a given that everyone who comes to Durham applied to Oxbridge. But, I quite like the fact that a lot of people do apply to Oxbridge because it makes me feel like I’m at a better university”.

Neha Nambiar, a law student at Van Mildert College who was rejected from Oxbridge admitted that her experience was “not really a big deal to me, because law is really competitive”. She did note however that in her native Singapore, some people do pay attention to the stereotype: “Even back home [...] my dad would say that Durham is an Oxbridge reject university”.

Pavat Pichetsin, who was also a reject from Oxbridge, believes that these statistics “represents how the Durham demographic is changing based on what my friends are saying. Some did not apply outright to Oxbridge because they self evaluated themselves and didn’t believe they would get in. Others from more competitive course would apply to Oxbridge”.

The figures will likely be a surprise to many students, especially given the sometimes used term “Doxbridge”. Durham shares many similarities with Oxbridge universities such as a college system and gowned formals, however in reality most students at Durham were accepted having not even applied to Oxbridge. Palatinate are currently working with UCAS to compare Durham’s Oxbridge reject rates to other Russell Group universities. for an online article.

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Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

News

‘Spend a moment looking into the sky. This Continued from front People pulled through: “it was incredibly important because when you are driving ... I had a very unstable internet connection so I really relied on my friends to find accommodation, to find people who could host us, they were also updating me on the waiting time at customs so they could tell me what direction I should be heading.”

Fedulova’s family eventually drove to the Moldovan border, driving through “forests and villages” to avoid using the main routes. She described seeing “aircraft in the distance, military vehicles, tanks, people standing at military checkpoints with guns, searching our cars.

“Once, we were driving past a military checkpoint and surprisingly didn’t get stopped and searched ... they said ‘there are Russian troops behind you’. That’s how close it was”. At the border,

Alyona got lucky. They waited at the last checkpoint for just an hour or so: others have had to wait for days. Her family now join the nearly two million refugees from Ukraine, staying in Romania’s capital, Bucharest.

“I hope that Ukraine will win this war”, says Alyona, “and that we overcome this injustice. I really want to come back to my country.

I have so much pride in my friends who are still there volunteering, and fighting.

“I fear for the world. I don’t think people understand that this is not just a Ukraine issue. Russia has bombed Ukrainian nuclear reactors, the environmental repercussion might impact all of Europe and Russia.

“I really hope one day, we can live in a peaceful world, because no child, no person, no animal, deserves to go through this. It doesn’t matter where, whatever region or country”.

‘I check the lists of people that died in case my parents are on it’ Laetitia Eichinger News Editor Students from Russia and Ukraine are in a horribly unique situation: not only do they worry about families at home, but it is also their home five months of the year at University, and permanently after it. Many are seeing their own towns being bombed on television.

For one student, they did not belive what was happening until they were sent “photos of family and friends hiding in Ukrainian bunkers”.

Sleeping has become impossible, as another described: “I’m just scrolling and reading news all the time because usually the bombs go off during the night, so I’m staying up until five or six reading everything, then going to sleep for a few hours, then waking up again.”

This was a sentiment shared by others: “I sleep with the news on, because it is the first thing I need to watch when I wake up. I check lists of people that died, because, God forbid, my parents’ names may be on that list.”

Daryna’s family are on the front line. “I cannot stop thinking about it as my father and my brother are currently in the territorial defence defending my home city, Kyiv. My mum and aunt volunteer when they can go out of the bomb shelter.”

For another student, there is an odd comfort in knowing their country had stayed strong.

“For the first few days I was feeling helpless and couldn’t eat, sleep and study. But now I feel better

because I know that my country will not surrender and our soldiers will do the best they can to defend us.”

For others, there is an immediate financial concern about the war and the future of their time at Durham.

One Russian student said: “I am not feeling very confident about the future of the Russian economy. The exchange rate of the rouble to the pound has changed a lot.

“This means my parents won’t be able to afford for me to go here anymore, which would ruin my future as I’ve been studying in the UK since year six, meaning I won’t have any qualifications to get a job in Russia.”

But students all emphasised that they were moved by people’s kindness and willingness to help.

“One of my friends, who is a student in Durham, is from Moldova, and he’s messaged me saying he has an empty two-bedroom apartment in the capital if anyone I know needs it.

“I messaged someone I know to see if she was okay, and she said that she’s in the capital of Moldova looking for an apartment. I was like wow, that’s such a coincidence!

“The fact that people are messaging, saying how are you, do you need connections, I’m so grateful to everyone. I feel so much support from everyone.”

Another said that when it became too dangerous to move around within Ukraine, their family decided to stay put and help people: “Right now, people all over Ukraine are united and have a fighting spirit. Everyone is helping in any way they can.”

(Huw Thomas) Durham Castle lit up in the Ukrainian national colours last week, marking one of several acts of solidarity across

Durham told me to leave Russia,

By Mark Jones in Tallinn In Tallinn, now, the sea frets are wafting through the alleyways, along the tumbling cobblestones and up around the Livonian towers. It is calm here; and proUkrainian. I am drinking a latte on the house, courtesy of a dashing young waiter, overlooking the old square, where children wave Ukrainian flags and men shout ‘glory to Ukraine!’. An influencer tosses her hair in the falling snow near a gutter, while some poor boy erodes his thumb on a camera button. Tallin is a peaceful, tranquil little city.

A hopeless contrast to the Russian stifle. When we received our iron advice to leave, half of us were already three sheets to the wind. I refused to make a decision not-sober, so booked a train ticket the next morning, which did nothing to suppress my nausea and overwhelming desire for a cigarette. Armed with two EpiPens and an antique pocket-edition

Petrarch, I set off once more.

The last time I did the TransSiberian, the British embassy had been called, and I, without my knowledge or permission, had been briefly declared missing (in reality, I had not bought a Russian SIM). Apparently even Interpol had opened a case profile on me, and Russian police were due to question another student in Tomsk about my last sighting.

In the meantime, I was quite content looking out onto that grand conveyor belt of birch trees, and, while completing my compulsory quarantine, I saw the words ‘pasta’ and ‘freedom’ imprinted onto the snow-clad stadium, which made me both hungry and eleutheromaniacal.

There was, this time, the chance of Estonia closing its Eastern border, in which case I would have to arise to a challenge that I had not yet dared to envisage.

I shared a compartment on the train with a Ukrainian and a Russian, both colleagues from

the same paint company who seemed more concerned with number-crunching and bonuses than anything else. I joked that Top Gear may be the best show in the world, to which the Ukrainian replied ‘no, the best show in the world is the one in Donbass!’. He then brought out a small bust of Stalin, and started to stroke its head. We were drunk at this point.

Soon after, he projectile vomited his Doshirak noodles over the door and floor, gargling what looked like vodka and spitting it out to disinfect it. He was good company, however, especially at Perm, when we bumped into a few soldiers.

In Moscow, policemen armed with Kalashnikovs swarmed the railway stations. Underground, while the carriages screamed and sighed in the darkness, too many furrowed glances could be seen ricocheting off the walls and coming to rest on the empty tracks. It is worth mentioning that the extent of the invasion shocked the Russians just as much as it

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PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

News

war teaches us that a clear sky is a privilege’ ‘I want to believe that my country will be free and I will cherish that hope’

By Anonymous in Durham Before anything is said about me and my country, I have to stress that whatever I have experienced since the beginning of the war, cannot be compared with the suffering of the Ukrainian people. They are the main victims of this crime.

This war is absurd cruelty and madness. Streets that look like my home city are bombed every day. People of my age are killing Ukrainians and dying for a vulgar fantasy. This war has no justification and it has to be stopped.

The city I have spent my first 18 years in has never been a truly European place. Taxi drivers were rude, police were glum and endless streets with 1980s Soviet living blocks were overtly dirty.

But beneath the grey surface, the city had everything that a decent western city is supposed to have, and more.

Teenagers buying from in massmarket western brands, mums driving their kids to schools in Volkswagens, and an open cultural sphere, from Disney movies to music lectures and creative perfomances. My home city was a living being with some difficult

Durham, including flying the Ukrainian flag in Market Square (Huw Thomas)

and here’s how I did did the rest of the world. Though there were also those who believed in the existence of the ‘Ukrainian fascists’, and those who lost sleep over their family living across what was, to them, merely a technicality on a map.

The company of an inspiriting babushka on the way north reassured me greatly, and filled me with more reckless resolve than I would otherwise admit. We spoke of Siberia, music and flowers, and she took great delight in showing me photos of her dacha (summer house), daughter and dog, in that order. During the sluggish crawl west I got acquainted with a Swiss travel photographer, and a 74-yearold smoking Saint-Petersburg surgeon. Despite it being well past our bedtime at 2:30am, we took great pleasure in examining some of the contents of a cabinet of confiscated items at Narva, on the Russo-Estonian border: a samogon (moonshine) distiller, a bladed knuckleduster, an AK-74, and a pair of ‘Frozen’-themed socks.

(Adeline Zhao)

characters and pretty miserable weather, but it always had its charm.

Now I witness how the city I have been raised in is being destroyed.

No bombs reach the roof of my house. No tanks squash trees in the park on my street. The essence of my city that I loved and valued is being taken away. It looks like Putin’s mastermind plan to restore the ‘greatness’ of Soviet times has pretty much worked.

Most of my city’s businesses and organisations are still somehow alive but signs of the upcoming fall are starting to reach the everyday citizen.

Corner shops are rationing sugar, artists are fleeing the country because over death threats, independent radio and TV is being banned. This crisis will wash away the city of small bars and fancy bookshops that I love.

The place that attracted so many young people for its opportunities is now turning into a swamp. And

I’m not talking about the end of Ikea, Nike, or McDonalds. My whole generation’s dreams have faded. Our future is sacrificed for an absurd cause that we had no chance to have a say on.

The Russian government has been a bunch of criminals and thugs for as long as I remember myself. They have been beating up protesters, taking over businesses, jailing political activists and journalists.

But they have always been ultimately rational. What they were doing has always made sense: it would benefit them, they would profit, at the expense of the country.

On 24th February, a date seared into the collective mind of Russia’s young, even this familiar world order collapsed.

We have been left with an irrational and chaotic present, with no clear future. The country I knew may well not exist anymore and what is emerging is scaring me to bits. I want to believe that my country will be free and that a day will come when we will remember these days with sorrow, but be proud again for the place we were born in. And I will forever cherish this hope.

holding up cardboard signs with slogans such as ‘Stop the War in Ukraine’ and ‘Putin Stop the War’, mostly written in yellow and blue.

Daryna Tryndiuk told Palatinate that attending protests was a way to show solidarity with Ukraine, spread awareness, and share the ways people could help.

“Protests help to get people together and show us that we are not alone with our news and calls to our families, that there are people supporting us and ready to talk or just give a hug.”

For Yasemin Senai, “the war in Ukraine is an inhumane act by the autocratic state of Russia and needs to be rebutted internationally.

It’s not just a Ukrainian issue — it’s everybody’s problem. And the sooner people realise that, the fewer civilian lives will be lost.” Tanya Loyko shared a Ukrainian saying: “We all fight on our fronts. This protest is us fighting and showing Putin that Ukraine has support all over the world, even in Durham.

“I do not wish anybody what my country is going through. I put a candle for the soldiers, civilians and kids that die every day.”

The protest organisers shared the many ways that Durham students can help Ukraine.

“Let Ukrainians know that they have support. Don’t ask them how

they are, because we really do not know the answer to that question.”

They said to show solidarity through “financial or material donations, writing to their local MPs requesting to help Ukraine, and turning up to protests to raise awareness.” They cautioned people against donating money to fake charity accounts and reminded them to check the reliability of the source before making donations.

The students have organised a collection point for material help at St. Nicholas’ Church on Market Square. The donated items will be transported to the larger collection points in Edinburgh and London, where they would be delivered help refugees located at the Ukrainian borders with Poland, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.

Daryna urged the University to provide welfare support to everyone. “They have contacted us to get welfare support if needed. But not only Ukrainians need welfare support.”

Tanya shared a heartbreaking message that the war against Ukraine has taught her.

“You have to appreciate how lucky you are. Spend a spare minute just by looking up into the sky, into the stars, because what this war teaches us is that a clear sky is a privilege.”

The country I knew before may not exist and what is emerging is scaring me

Students protest invasion and urge refugee support

By Tiffany Chan News Reporter Upset and angry, and draped in their national colours, Ukraine’s international students in Durham huddled beneath umbrellas last Monday to protest Putin’s war againt Ukraine. Hundreds attended the demonstration in solidarity as speakers told harrowing stories of what their families were experiencing at home. Durham students Tanya Loyko, Yasemin Senai, and Daryna Tryndiuk led the protest in Market Square on Monday, which drew in over 150 demonstrators.

The previous Friday, a day after Russia invaded Ukraine, students in Durham’s Russian Speaking Society had organised a protest outside the Bill Bryson Library. Ukrainians, Russians and Belarussians stepped up to share how their lives had been transformed by the invasion to a hundred-strong crowd.

Some described receiving calls and messages from their family and friends in the early hours of the morning, to say that the war had begun and they were either participating in the resistance or joining those fleeing across the border.

During the protest organisers and supporters alike could be seen

6

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

News

Durham estates plan pared back during pandemic Sam Lake and Elizabeth McBride Investigations Editor and News Editor Amongst the plethora of projects proposed in Durham University’s ten-year strategy, announced in 2017, was the “Estate Masterplan”.

The plan lays out several goals, notably including the development of “four to six new colleges” and a pledge to have over half of students living in college accommodation by 2027.

However, the financial squeeze of the pandemic has meant that the University is “needing to review” its strategy and the “existing plans and timescales for developments and refurbishments.”

Two new offices were pencilled in to open in London and New York in 2021 to enable “better engagement with partners, alumni and potential funders”, but only the London opening has materialised.

The new Elvet Riverside home for the Business School — meant to have been completed in 2021 to help it “break into the top 20 in Europe” according to the University’s roadmap to 2027 — is still awaiting planning permission.

Elvet Riverside was also due to see the redevelopment of its Arts and Humanities facilities this year. No such developments are at present listed under the University’s current projects.

As for the new colleges, only one of at least four has been completed — South. Despite identifying the Leazes Road site (currently home to both the College of St Hild and St Bede and the School of Education)

as an area of developmental potential, no concrete plans have been announced for the construction of colleges either there or elsewhere.

The University do, however, “anticipate that the current users of the Leazes Road site will begin to vacate their buildings in Summer 2022.”

It is stated in their 2021 Annual Report that “The initial plans will be reassessed [...] to align with changing priorities in response to the impact of the pandemic.” They have also recently acquired Boldon House, a site in Pity Me. The University aims to have over 50% of its student cohort living in college accommodation by 2027. If the provision of accommodation does not keep pace with the proposed growth in the student population over the same period — 21,500 by 2027 — the University will be unable to deliver on this aim.

In the 2020/21 academic year student numbers had already reached 20,268, an increase of over 2,000 on the 2016/17 figure.

Furthermore, information uncovered by a Palatinate Freedom of Information Request shows that the proportion of students living in college accommodation has been on a downwards trend since the 2016/17 academic year.

In the case of undergraduates, the percentage of those living in college accommodation has fallen from 43% in 2016/17 to 35% in 2020/21.

The percentage of postgraduate students living in accommodation provided by their college has fallen

from 39% to 20% over the same period.

The proportion of students living in college accommodation has been on a downwards trend

This comes amidst soaring student rental prices and local concerns over Durham becoming “saturated” by an ever-growing student population.

Palatinate spoke to local stakeholders about their views on the delayed expansion.

Gilesgate Residents Association said: “Residents deeply regret the current failure of the university to achieve the aim of 50% of students living in college. To ensure a balanced community, it is estimated that no more than 30% of students should live out.

“Students are not having the full opportunity of being a part of a community because in many areas, there really is no community left for them to belong to and enjoy.”

The City of Durham Trust raised concern about “unsuitable and

unnecessary schemes for new PBSAs” such as plans to replace the Apollo Bingo Hall in Gilesgate created “on the basis of utterly spurious projections of recent trends and assertions about ‘need’”.

“The local community don’t want it, nor do the local Councillors or the MP [...] It will not help meet the 50% living-in aspiration, so it will be surplus to need.”

The Secretary of St Nicholas Community Forum raised concern about Durham continuing to meet their student number targets, while failing to meet their college accommodation goals.

“Thirty years ago, most of the houses in the city had families living in them. Now residents and Durham students live among neglected neighbourhoods owned by absent landlords.

“The constant expansion of the university has led to the emptying out of the established healthy balanced communities we once had not that long ago.

“It is high time that the University took meaningful responsibility for the impact of its continued growth, by providing affordable and attractive accommodation on its own estate, and at a minimum, meeting the targets it aspires to.”

In response. a Durham University spokesperson said, “The University Strategy, 2017-2027, was approved by University Council in 2016. “As with all strategies, it is continually reviewed, updated and refreshed. Plans inevitably evolve due to an ever-changing external environment and our response to it.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many, if not all, major organisations to re-assess their priorities, operations and forward planning. Recent years have also seen significant changes to building constraints and major increases in construction costs.

“As a result we will be reviewing a number of proposed new capital projects.

However, we remain committed to the overarching objective of the University Strategy: to enhance the standing of Durham as a worldleading university and to promote our engagement with the city and the community.

“Our overall student number target of a maximum of 21,500 is unchanged. Our student intake for 2020 and 2021 was higher than anticipated due to unexpected shifts in the grading of A-levels and other Level 3 qualifications.

We were transparent about this throughout and have worked with staff, students and external partners to ensure the best possible experience for our students, and balanced and thriving communities in Durham City.

“We are monitoring our undergraduate intake for 2022/23 very carefully, in what we expect will be a more settled environment, and anticipate our student population returning to a maximum of 21,500 over time, as the larger intakes of 2020 and 2021 progress to graduation.

“We have an ongoing aspiration to provide Universityaccommodation to a higher percentage of our students.”

Durham student turned away from medal in 1940s “because he was black” Sam Lake Investigations Editor Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded in 1827, it was central to the city’s colonial image as the “Athens of Africa”.

The first western-style university to be established in Sub-Saharan Africa, its raison d’être was the provision of training for “Africans as schoolmasters, catechists and clergymen.”

There is little left to the structure of the College’s old home to hint at its prestigious past. But then appearances can be deceiving- both William Broughton Davies and Africanus Horton, Sierra Leone’s first ever medical doctors, began their academic careers here before going on to receive their medical training in London in the 1850s.

Two decades later, in 1876, Fourah Bay College became affiliated to Durham University, the genesis of a partnership that would last nearly a hundred years. It was this partnership that led a young man by the name of Charles Harding to move to the north-east of England in the late 1940s.

The new climate, and the new country, didn’t faze him. Like Davies and Horton before him, it was in medicine that Harding made his mark. After taking exams in London, he excelled at King’s College in Newcastle, then the

home of Durham’s medical school, which later went on to play a crucial role in the founding of Newcastle University in the 1960s.

In 1946 Harding won the Sir Thomas Oliver Prize, awarded for exceptional work on physiology dealing with food and nutrition. He also claims to have won a gold award for medicine, which recognised Harding as top of his class.

The gold award entitled him to both a gold medal and a £25 cash prize. Class prizes, i.e. medals, were awarded by the college council.

But Harding — now a professor —and his family claim that he never received the gold medal.

As one of the only black students attending the University at the time, Harding was up against a society that was often either reluctant or downright opposed to the recognition of the merit of its minority groups.

Speaking to Palatinate, Prof.

Harding’s stepdaughter, Georgiana, said that he was called to receive his medal three times, but on the first two occasions he was “turned away […] because he was black.” No one would believe that someone with such an English name could be a black man from Sierra Leone.

“The last time someone was sent to escort him to the dean’s office” so that he would be seen, but this time he was simply told that his case would be dealt with later on.

Harding says it never was.

Now 98, Harding is living back in his native Sierra Leone. He has had a long and illustrious career that took him first to further study in Belfast before returning to West Africa, where his wife, Marjorie, tells me he worked as an examiner for the West African College of Surgeons. She went on to say that he later worked in South Africa as it emerged from the Apartheid years, before retiring in the late ‘90s.

Despite his career success, what happened with the medal is something that his stepdaughter says has always weighed on him.

He is “never bitter” about what happened, Georgiana explained.

“The value he places on education and the belief he has that it is the only thing that can never be taken away. But from having to be smuggled into buildings from which he was barred, to sitting through lectures in which he was told that the black brain was inferior, what happened with the medal has become a symbol of the injustices he faced.”

Prof. Harding has not contacted the University to seek the medal up to this point — he didn’t believe he would get anywhere with it, and didn’t necessarily want to relive the trauma that he had experienced in his youth.

It was Georgiana who finally convinced him to come forward;

“guess I have inherited his stubbornness”, she says.

Durham University commented on the case, saying: “We are working to build an environment at Durham University where equality, diversity and inclusivity is valued and difference celebrated and where everyone feels comfortable

to be themselves, to belong and to flourish. We have explored this matter and have not yet been able to find any record of it. If anyone has any information that can help our exploration, we would be glad to hear from them directly and will look into it carefully.”

(Georgiana Lisk)

7

PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

Concerns over proposed changes to Durham constituency boundaries

Waseem Mohamed News Editor

County Durham residents are being urged to participate in the second round of public consultation regarding proposed changes to the parliamentary constituency boundaries, which are due to be finalised in 2023.

The Boundary Commission for England opened the second round of consultations this month, running until the 4th of April.

As part of the proposed changes, the City of Durham constituency will be subject to radical boundary changes.

Areas such as Bowburn and Coxhoe to the south of the constituency, as well as Brandon and Deerness to the west would no longer be part of the City of Durham constitiuency and instead be merged into neighbouring ones.

Meanwhile Hetton, Houghton and Copt Hill, which are currently part of the Houghton and Sunderland South constituency, would be brought into the new City of Durham constituency.

The Boundary Commission for England released public comments about the proposed boundary changes. Many of those concerning the new City of Durham constituency plans were negative in tone.

The principal concerns expressed were that areas would be placed in constituencies with which they had little historic or economic ties, and accusations that the boundaries will benefit

certain political parties.

One resident from the Elvet and Gilesgate ward in the heart of the City of Durham constituency, claimed that the proposed changes amounted to “clear gerrymandering”. They claimed that “cutting across the Western part of the wider metropolitan area” is “an attempt to consolidate all safe Labour seats into a single constituency and create new potential Tory constituencies”.

A local in the Brandon ward, who would now fall under the proposed Bishop Auckland constituency, said “I lived throughout my life in County Durham... there is no logical justification for this proposal. Brandon is situated only 5 miles from Durham City Centre...

Brandon has no relationship whatsoever with the Bishop Auckland constituency”.

Meanwhile, residents in Hetton and Houghton wards, which are currently part of the local authority of Sunderland rather than County Durham, expressed mixed feelings about being merged into the City of Durham constituency.

Some residents pointed out that their postcodes were “already a Durham postcode” meaning they “would welcome going back to County Durham” constituencies.

However others were keen to notice that the coalfield communities in the area would be partitioned between the new constituencies, with one resident saying that would be “detrimental to residents in this area and fracture the coalfield wards”.

Current

Proposed

(Boundary Comission for England)

News International intake to hit 39% by 2026 Waseem Mohamed News Editor

Durham University has recommitted to plans to increase the proportion of its intake made up by international students to 39% by the 2026/27 academic year, a significant increase from the current 30% figure. The target has been part of the University strategy since 2017.

In its annual report, the University said, “We have ambitious objectives in terms of internationalisation, building on [...] a fast changing national and international landscape”.

To meet the target, Durham will be “refreshing our international recruitment strategy, with a focus on diversification in terms of markets, programs and recruitment channels”.

The University wants to “attract the highest quality international candidates for academic vacancies”, and “develop our global community of alumni”.

The targets come after Durham was named “as one of the world’s most international universities” by Times Higher Education.

The University's financial report revealed that full-time non-EU international students' provide roughly 42% of the University’s tuition fee income.

In 2021, the University earned £101.9m in tuition fees from international students and £121.6m in fees from home and EU students.

There were 15,051 students with home or EU fee status at Durham, compared to only 5,217 students with international fee status.

8

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

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

How to avoid being forced into taking a free copy of Palatinate If you are reading this, you have already failed. But don't worry, we're here to help losers like you.

You looked into the desperate eyes of a Palatinate distributor, who’s been standing freezing their arse off out in the cold Durham weather for the last hour, and gave into your overwhelming sense of pity. It's okay, you're just feeble. We can help you be better.

This is your definitive guide to ensuring that next time, you leave that poor Politics editor to ice over on the SU bridge, and you will be free from the burden of reading articles like this ever again.

First tip: ditch your empathy.

When it comes to avoiding a copy of the newspaper, any

Hatfield students boycott Russian caviar in support with Ukraine One student from the College told Palatinate, "I think I speak for the community when I say the whole thing just really isn't on. I've also made the difficult personal decision to swear off Grey Goose"

Q

TREVS

Dear Aunty Violet, Two of my closest friends in Durham have recently got in a relationship, and I seem to be a third wheel all the time! They keep hinting at me to find a date so that we can double up but I’m still afraid of putting myself out there.

Dear lonely reader, I’m sorry that you’re struggling to find love. It’s so difficult in Durham because there are always happy couples: lingering around beneath the cathedral or taking cute pics at the Old Gardens. They’re always lurking, ready to ambush you with awful displays of PDA. I’m sure your friends are just as bad as the rest of them!

My advice is: talk to your friends and announce your displeasure at their behaviour — it’s very unfair for them to be pressuring you into dating. Remember you are enough and feel free to join the DU AntiPDA Committee if you need more friends.

Alternatively, PalTV is currently looking for participants for their new PalatiDates...

feelings of sympathy for your fellow man are weakness, and you need to kill them now.

Every other Thursday when print comes out, this is no longer Durham – it’s the jungle.

You need to protect yourself by shutting down all your human emotion, it’s the only way.

Second tip: develop a need for speed. They can’t give you a paper if you pass them so quickly they don’t even see you.

If you haven’t already been struck by a freak flash of lightening and developed superhuman speed, firstly – lame – and secondly, its time to hit the gym.

Remember when you bought that membership at the start of the year? Well it's time to make your gym card more than just a

decoration for your wallet.

A few sessions on the treadmill and you’ll already be far quicker than any of us losers that spend our time writing articles about SU elections in the TLC. Third tip: dress like you’re cool. All of us nerds who write for the paper are, quite frankly, petrified of anybody who looks cool enough to have even attended DUCFS or who has more than five friends they can call on to go for a drink with.

Try stealing someone’s DU sport stash, or intimidate us by talking about how you somehow actually enjoying going to Babylon. You’ll have us cowering away in seconds, searching for another puny recluse to offload our copies to.

Good luck and happy dodging!

SU voting levels somehow lower than turnout for 2020's cancelled Glastonbury Festival In a miraculous turn of events, Durham Students' Union presidential election voting turnout failed to outnumber the number of confused would-be attendees who turned up in Glastonbury for the cancelled festival.

A spokesperson for the

Q

STEVO

Dear Aunty Violet, Every time I visit the Billy B, I can never find a spot to sit. It feels like the entire population of Durham is in the library, I find it nervewracking going through that revolving door and not knowing whether I’ll be able to find a seat. I miss the booking system!

Dearest student, It's crazy how busy the Science Site is at the moment, it feels as if everyone has crawled out of the woodwork.

From what I understand, the booking system was scrapped as part of Durham University’s new plan to whittle out the late-risers, also known as the ‘Survival of the Earliest’ procedure. Due to students having lie-ins for half of their degree on average, the University has taken urgent measures to rectify student lethargy .

If you’d like the honour of having a seat in the renowned Billy B, I suggest arriving at 7:55am, fighting through the hoards of crowds and jumping into the closest chair. Good luck, I’ll be rooting for you.

Festival said "there were only four of us there that year. And a dog."

The SU confirmed that the turnout amongst student voters was somehow -15% this year, but was an improvement on engagement in previous years.

Palatinate Satire Study reveals people Elite private schools to in student politics start stapling Durham offer letters to below are "really weird"

Chief scientist Sir Patrick Goodchat reveals that a combination of self-delusion and insecurity leads to this toxic result. "Basically, something went wrong along the way, and they became shit blokes, or blokettes."

He recommended more productive outlets for these neurotic types: "I'd try something more along the lines of corporate law or student theatre."

A* standard homework Eton and Westminster have led the charge in a divisive attempt to kindle Oxbridge ambition among slacking students.

A spokesperson said attending Durham University instead of Oxbridge "is like shopping in Lidl instead of Waitrose.

"It's like using Head & Shoulders shampoo instead of Molton Brown. It's like - uhhh being poor. Scary stuff."

Durham students can't cook, clean or maintain relationships, but are insistent that they are well-rounded people because they can play the trumpet This phenomenon of shared dellusion is believed to have spread in many forms, infecting most of the those at the University.

For example, some students have been caught thinking they can star in the next BAFTAnominated drama, because their college drama society play got quite a good review from The Bubble.

One researcher told us that "it's important to remember that your life is nothing to brag

about. We all know you're on your fifth night in a row of takeaway, and your bedroom floor looks like a gang attacked it by firing multiple rounds of their t-shirt guns at it."

They added: "Also, stop telling everyone your A-Level results. No one cares" Perhaps most disturbingly, one student even thought they could be SU President just by becoming friends with a posse of bigots, but thankfully they sank back into irrelevancy.

Ask From the Aunty Archives Violet

Have a problem for Aunty Violet?

The "rowdyism" of Hatfield students dominated the front page of Palatinate edition 217 (10th September 1967).

Students from the College were reprimanded by police for a "Saturday night fracas" following two rugby match wins. The team had been "generously entertained" in Darlington before returning to the College bar to celebrate, culminating in a scene involving "throwing beer about".

When approached for comment the College Senior Man noted that the SRC Handbook described Hatfield is a "college for hearties".

Comment 9

PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

Is the present day the worst time in recent history to be a student?

Jemima Myles

M

any current students are yet to experience a term at university unaffected by misfortuneſ such as world conflict, strikes, and a pandemic.

However, whether or not now is the worst time to be a student may be a pointless debate. After all, students have been affected by various hardships for as long as universities have existed, and will continue to complain about the difficulties impacting them for as long as the said difficulties prevail.

There have incredibly tense times for students in recent history, in geo and socio-political terms, which complicated student life in ways unimaginable to us presently. For example, students were driven to rioting in the 1960s against old-fashioned course structures and inadequate facilities; and more widely, oppression, racism and discrimination in the establishment.

More recently, students in 2010 protested against planned spending cuts to further education, and an increased cap to tuition fees.

Certainly, the weight of the world feels against students nowadays. Our experiences

Now is the time to make up for the moments impacted

have been characterised by a doubtlessly decreased quality of education and social life due to the pandemic, on top of strikes, as well as the current immense anxiety of major conflict. We can at least appreciate, however, that we live in an age where our experiences of university could continue in many ways through the pandemic (often albeit online, and to a fairly limited extent) and not be halted in their entirety.

The real difficulty seems to be, in the pandemic years and post-pandemic years to come, that we do not necessarily even attend university with the promise of the dream graduate job that makes it all worthwhile in the end. This is a sentiment eerily familiar to that of young graduates when the financial crisis shocked the world in 2008.

Unemployment among young graduates in the U.K. rose from 11.1% in December 2008 to 14% in December 2009, and all the while salaries were decreasing. In 2020, the job market almost returned to exactly that of its depraved state in 2008. The unemployment rate for young graduates rose up to 13.6%, a close second to the year after the financial crisis.

Arguably, by the time Covid-19 struck the world, the job market for graduates had not yet returned to a healthier state than pre-crash by any means. As ever, though, employment remained

considerably more friendly to graduates than non-graduates; for young non-graduates unemployment sat notably more unflatteringly at 28.7%.

What comes after university is certainly a driving motivator for many of us in becoming students in the first place, but our years of academic enrichment are not just a means to an end.

The extracurricular and social sides to university are just as important, if not more so, to substantial numbers of students.

The tragic impact the pandemic had on these aspects of university have been quite incessantly discussed.

Nonetheless, now is the time to make up for the moments impacted by misfortunate circumstances throughout our student life.

Although it is definitely a suboptimal time to be a student, and probably an even worse time to be a graduate, at least we now know (to an extent) what to expect. The 2008 cohort of graduates did not have the pleasure and privilege of preparation.

Moreover, the current generation of university-aspiring adolescents may not have the opportunity to even attempt to achieve their ambitions, thanks to new requirements set to be introduced by the Department for Education.

University fees have almost tripled in past 13 years; in 2009,

There may never be a perfect time to be a student

fees were capped at £3,225 per year to take account of inflation after the crash. With this, the burden of student loan debt has therefore more than quadrupled in England, from 2008 to 2020; these statistics speak for themselves.

Despite current prospects for graduates being rather bleak, and many facets of university life in the past few years having been adversely affected, being a student is still worthwhile.

As time goes on, the current misfortunes affecting student life will hopefully dissipate. It is more probable, however, that they will change and evolve, much as they have done so in the past.

There may never be a perfect time to be a student, only ebbs and flows in the hardships affecting student life.

(Heather Mount)

Horrible histories: why past students had it worse Hadrian Lam

T

he pandemic has certainly caused great disruptions to our daily lives as students.

It radically changed the lives of millions of people across the globe. Together with the saddening Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the continuation of academic staff strikes with questionable effectiveness, students' studies have been greatly affected. As a result of the combination of these events, the current period of time is sometimes compared to the most destructive period in modern history – World War II. Most of us who have experienced the pandemic did not live through WWII. If one looks into university life during WWII in greater detail, it will become clear that life as a student during WWII was substantially more difficult.

Firstly, the mortality rate during WWII was significantly higher than that in the modernday UK. Under the imposition of the The National Service (Armed Forces) Act, all males aged between 18 to 41, except for the unfit and those who were in key industries (studying was not one if you were wondering), were legally required to be conscripted.

Over the course of the war’s six dreadful years, 7.8% of the British army (383,000 out of the 4,000,000) lost their lives, many of which were young men of university age. Especially during a time when most of the student population were male, much of the student population would have been conscripted to fight, with a very real chance of dying.

Humanities students like myself would likely be conscripted first and possibly die first. Being a science student was in some ways better, as you could be recruited by the government to conduct military experimentations and research, but this would take you away

from your studies.

You would not have been safe as a civilian either as prior to the Battle of Britain, you would have been in constant fear of being bombed by the Luftwaffe (mainly those in the south-east). More than 70,000 civilians died during WWII. On the other hand, the death rate of Covid-19 in the UK is currently only 0.86%, and young people such as students have a much lesser chance to be seriously ill from Covid-19. According to my personal experience, you would only have to endure the symptoms for a day or two before being good to go.

Secondly, there was no ‘silver bullet’ to end WWII. Casualties would only cease when one side surrenders, leading to the end of the war. Even with the invention of the atomic bombs that stopped the Japanese, casualties were simultaneous with the dropping of the bombs and its consequential aftermath. It was only due to the surrender of the Axis powers in 1945, after six long

years, that conscripts were able to return to normal lives and stop having to sacrifice their lives.

During the pandemic, however, it took only one year for pharmaceutical companies across the world to come up with a number of Covid-19 vaccines for us to adapt and be able to co-exist with the virus.

Even if the pandemic lasts for years, we would possibly not have to fear for our lives, as long as we get vaccinated.

Lastly, the pandemic occurred in a time when our lives are much more flexible due to advancement of communication technology.

During WWII, UCL had to physically move to Aberystwyth due to the Blitz, in order to continue to provide education.

During the pandemic, when physical contact was prohibited, students could easily attend lecture and seminars through Zoom or Teams. Similarly, Durham

RAF conscripts had to take military training at University College while undertaking their academic degrees in their remaining time, without resources such as online recordings or Powerpoints that we possess during the pandemic.

The situation was even more difficult for international students during WWII as it would have taken them months to travel back to where they came from.

Chinese Egyptologist Xia Nai, who was completing his Egyptology doctorate degree at UCL at the time, was unable to defend his doctoral thesis due to being needed back in his country. If this were to happen in the modern day, Dr Xia could probably have defended his thesis without much delay through video conferences.

It was, therefore, logistically much more difficult for students to study during WWII compared to studying during the pandemic.

10

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

Comment

Mental health:

Dealing with the ups and downs of university life Charlotte Wilkinson

B

eing a student is tough.

The narrative around university life makes it seem like it’s all about nights outs, skiving off lectures, and ready meals. Although for some this might by true, for many circumstances are more difficult.

The student lifestyle doesn’t exactly lend itself to prioritising mental health. Hangxiety after a Wiff Waff Monday is tough enough, but if you're already feeling low, lack of sleep and the depressive effects of excessive alcohol can compound issues. On top of this, the seemingly endless deadlines and the pressure to perform can quickly get too much.

Although some days it might seem like the University is making life as tough as possible, there is a wide-range of support available to students, through colleges, subject faculties and Universitywide services. Welfare drop-ins and one-on-one appointments are a good place to start. Departments can offer extensions or further disability support when needed.

On the face of it the University has plentiful resources in place for students who are struggling, but there seems to be a problem in ensuring that those who could most benefit from this provision are actually accessing it.

People struggling with their mental health can feel a whole range of different emotions and often it’s hard, if not impossible to pinpoint the reason why. It often creeps up on you slowly as you go about your weekly routine.

Feeling low or struggling with your mental health can begin to manifest through everyday practices until it becomes allconsuming and feels impossible to break the cycle and get help.

Despite the fact we’re repeatedly told that everyone has bad days, and that there’s no weakness in showing emotion, opening up about your mental health is hard. People struggling tend to isolate themselves and try to deal with it alone; often talking themselves out of getting help, not quite realising that this only makes it harder in the long-term.

When it feels like everyone else is having fun, the overwhelming fear of judgement and the idea that no one else will quite understand what you’re going through can become incredibly isolating.

As summative season reaches

its peak, student mental health is under addtional strain. There is often be a competitive environment surrounding work that can quickly become toxic. Who can stay the longest at the library? Who has put themselves under the most stress?

Who has got it the worst?

The culture of working yourself into the ground has meant that taking time off and prioritising one’s mental health is often seen as slacking and lazy. This is neither healthy nor productive and although no student consciously wants to perpetuate a part of this culture, it becomes almost impossible not to internalise negative perceptions around academic work.

Endless deadlines and the pressure to perform can quickly get too much The transition to university is difficult for many. After being under the watchful eye of teachers for most of our adolescence, university can feel like a faceless institution.

Managing a big workload alone can be a challenge even for the most driven students.

Universities needs to promote healthier everyday practices for all students to incorporate into their daily lives, not just those struggling with their mental health. This includes maintaining a healthy work-life balance, getting involved in the interests outside of academia and actually just enjoying being a student.

Disability support and one-onone sessions can be helpful for those who have managed to identify that they need mental health support. Yet, this misses a cohort of students who are still struggling day-to-day but don't feel their issues have become acute enough to access specific mental health resources.

The University needs to be aware of the impacts that this time of year can have on students.

Student mental health has become increasingly topical over the course of the pandemic. Nevertheless, as we move back into 'normal' life, this priority shouldn’t change.

Student mental health is important regardless of whether there’s a pandemic, its summative season or just the day after a big night out.

(Jonny Gios via Unsplash)

State-ing the obvious Addressing Durham’s elitist reputation Sophie Garnett

I

f Durham proportionately represented the UK population, only 7% of you reading this should have been educated at a fee-paying school. Yet, by simply taking a stroll around the TLC or listening in on a conversation in Market Place Tesco, you can conclude with ease that the University is not remotely representative of the UK population. in this respect.

Durham boasts an Instagram dedicated spotting to spotting ‘rahs’ clad in Schöffels and tweed. Was it really any surprise when figures showed that Durham has the lowest percentage of state-educated students of any UK Russell Group University? Did many jaws drop when it was revealed that only 61.6% of Durham students attended state schools?

I think it is necessary to demonstrate exactly why Durham doesn’t offer an enticing university experience to those of us who weren’t educated surrounded by matrons, grand architecture, or Latin dictionaries. Durham provides the perfect extension of boarding school; catered colleges with three meals a day available to be consumed in grand dining halls perfectly mirrors.

From my experience, comprehensive school couldn’t have been more at odds with this; lunch was the only meal eaten at school and it was consumed in a glorified corridor on bright red and yellow tables before we were bundled out of the gates at 14.45 sharp. Imagine my surprise when I first stepped into Castle Great Hall.

Of course, I am skirting around the obvious larger issues of formals, akin I imagine to house dinners, and the colleges themselves, a largescale interpretation of boarding houses.

The unique culture of Durham is a world away from that of the

underfunded state education system, with student life punctuated by a Year 11 prom and a crowded Sixth-Form common room if you’re lucky. And so, is it any surprise that the niche traditions of Durham, attract privatelyeducated students, but deter students from state schools?

If a prospective student asked me if Durham is elitist, I would have no choice but to reply ‘yes’

Unless you have managed to evade the TikTok algorithm, you will have witnessed how poorly, albeit accurately, Durham is represented. On a platform used by many prospective students as an unofficial form of research, simply searching #Durham confronts you with videos of students clad in polo quarter zips, the “I’m very lucky I went to a nice school” sound and intensive documentation of whitetie events.

To add even more fuel to the fire, Durham has been the subject of many an embarrassing story in national media outlets. Rod Liddle’s comments last December painted Durham University as intolerant and backwards while Lauren White’s report on prejudice towards Northern accents in 2020 demonstrated the myopic biases of many Durham students themselves. Unsurprisingly then, students who differ from the

typical Durham ‘rah’ personna cut their losses and choose a university that don't boast a plethora of classist scandals and an inability to adequately discipline those who perpetuate them.

This all begs the question: what steps can Durham take to reform its image and appear more inviting to state school students? In truth, I have little hope for any policy Durham has the capacity or desire to implement. Despite forming an Access and Admissions subcommittee of the Senate in 2018, Durham is admitting fewer state school students than proportionally before this was created.

At a more practical level, the University has undoubtedly invested in access events and opportunities for prospective students.

The Supported Progression programme, a Durhamspecific programme that runs alongside Sutton Trust summer schools, allows state-educated students to spend time at Durham, working towards a reduced offer.

The admissions team themselves have acknowledged the need for further work on acceptance and inclusion in their Access and Participation Plan '2020/21 to 2024/25', promising to create an environment ‘in which any individual or group can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued’.

But I propose the question: how much difference can these policies make when Durham’s reputation is clouded in elitism and a lack of acceptance? Perhaps more meaningful and personalised outreach into schools to fight against the Durham stereotype could be beneficial.

If a prospective student asked me if Durham is elitist, I would have no choice but to reply ‘yes’.

The financial, cultural, and social privilege demanded at Durham is evident from the outset, and until the University takes active steps to reform its image, the number of state-school applicants will continue to languish.

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PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

Comment

‘It is with a heavy heart that I must announce ... celebs are at it again’ Is there too much pressure on ill-informed A-listers to comment on complex geo-political crises?

Will Brown

(Image: Got Credit via Creative Commons)

Higher Education: limited to the rich and privileged?

Ellie Rylance

T

he Government has outlined plans that would prevent prospective students from accessing student loans for university if they failed their Maths and English GCSEs or did not get two A levels at Grade E. This has been met with considerable backlash amid concerns that it will limit access to higher education to those who are wealthy.

The wealth attainment gap is well documented. Speaking to The Guardian, Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said that: “children from the lowest fifth of family income backgrounds are five times more likely to leave school without passing GCSE English and Maths than those from the highest fifth of incomes.”

Statistics obtained by The Guardian reflect this, 29% of pupils in England do not achieve a grade 4 in GCSE English and Maths, and this rises to 48% among disadvantaged households. While it is important to note that only 8% of English 18-year-olds accepted onto university courses did not achieve a grade 4 in English and Maths in 2020, these measures would disproportionately target disadvantaged students who rely on student loans to access higher education.

Additionally, the attainment gap between pupils on free school meals and those not on free school meals is continuing to widen. The Guardian reported in 2021 that while those on free school meals “received double the rate of top trades gained in 2019. But the gap between them and those not on free school meals increased from eight percentage points to 12%.

Additionally, The Times wrote that in 2021, three in ten GCSE results were top grades, but this was twice

as high (61%) at private schools and even higher (68%) at selective state schools.

There is a misconception that GCSE’s are an accurate reflective of a student’s academic ability or their ability to thrive in a university environment. As a recent article in Vice sought to demonstrate this is not always the case. The article spoke to current and former GCSE students who had failed their Maths and English GCSEs: Tom Neilson, 31, said: “I failed my Maths GCSE three times and went on to get a first in Music Managament.” Aviah Sarah Day, 34, said: “I was homeless during my GCSEs and got an E in Maths. I went on to do a PhD and now work as a University Lecturer”. Cheryl Fyfield, 26 said: “I failed my Maths and English GCSE because I was in hospital during my exams. I’m now a student nurse. It’s terrifying to know I wouldn’t be able to get a loan to do my nursing training because of this”.

Denying student loans on the basis of grades will disproportionately restrict students from disadvantaged backgrounds

What contributions to scholarship would be sacrificed if other students like Neilson, Day or Fyfield were denied the opportunity to attend university due to a lack of student loans?

This also introduces another key issue; students with extenuating circumstances.

Those with special circumstances can apply for special

consideration, but AQA states that in these cases ‘a small percentage’ is added to the raw mark. Would this ‘small percentage’ be enough to make any significant difference for a student in the position Fyfield found herself in?

It is clear that denying student loans on the basis of grades will disproportionately restrict students from disadvantaged backgrounds and students with extenuating circumstances from being able to access university education.

Alistair Jarvis CBE, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “Government should expand opportunity, not constrain it.

Placing a cap on aspiration by reducing the number of places for people to study at university is bad for individuals, the economy and society.”

This comes at a time when the number of 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged areas pursuing higher education has risen to 28%, compared with just 18% in 2013.

The Department of Education said that the measures are designed to restrict the growth of “poor-quality, low-cost courses” and because the Government hopes to incentivise more young people to pursue apprenticeships.

ButisitrightfortheGovernment to disproportionately restrict the options of those from disadvantaged backgrounds or who may have had extenuating circumstances? It also risks creating a two-tier system of education based on wealth with students that are from a wealthier background will be more likely to be able to attend university regardless of failing grades. Thus, you could have two students with the same grades, one of whom is able to attend university because they can afford to do so without a student loan, and another who is unable to attend because they cannot afford to do so without a student loan.

A

now eight-year-old tweet reads “It is with a heavy heart that I must announce that the celebs are at it again”.

It is a tweet that, recently, I’ve seen reposted more often that I’d like.

Fresh off the back of voicing their opinions on the pandemic, celebrities are now turning their gazes towards the invasion of Ukraine – providing all of us with a fresh opportunity to remind ourselves just how divorced they can become from the ‘real world’.

Social media is a strange environment. There is a prevailing notion that if you’re silent about something, then you don’t care. Cue the inevitable barrage of thoughts and prayers from celebrities and influencers after every crisis. Some seem genuinely compassionate and offer help, some feel superficial and forced, and others are in shockingly poor taste.

This is not to say that celebrities can’t respond to situations like Ukraine’s invasion. Miley Cyrus’ statement, drawing on her time in Kyiv to film her music video, is evidently sincere. Neil Gaiman shared a thread of organisations that his followers could donate to.

Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his concern and admiration for the Klitschko brothers - former boxers and friends of his. I don’t doubt that these responses would have emerged regardless of any expectation put upon them.

But there are plenty of responses that come across as insincere. On viewing yet another Instagram story containing little more than broken heart emojis and flags, I can’t help but wonder if they are issued out of a sense of obligation, rather than because they genuine concern.

There is undoubtedly pressure on celebrities. I’ve seen plenty of people complaining that celebrities aren’t making enough of a statement about Ukraine in comparison to previous crises. Whilst this might be a valid criticism in situations like #MeToo, such should not apply to complex geo-political events such as that in Ukraine. They aren’t any more informed about the crisis than we are, and they shouldn’t feel obliged to make statements about it. There are plenty of situations in which being a bystander is problematic – social media is not one of them.

However, I don’t think it was pressure to respond that prompted

some of the more tone-deaf takes on the Ukraine crisis. Insincerity is one thing, but there are several celebrity responses that are in very poor taste.

Attempting to merge the still-relevant Wordle to the invasion, Andy Cohen chose the word ‘peace’ as a first guess and shared it on Instagram. Fresh off the back of Season 1 of Peacemaker, John Cena wished he could “summon the powers of a real life #Peacemaker” (the sponsored hashtag was a nice touch).

The beacon of poor celebrity takes, however was AnnaLynne McCord’s poetry. Two minutes and twenty seconds of impassioned tone-deaf verse that suggests that if she had been able to exact her motherly abilities on Vladimir Putin then the invasion of Ukraine would never have occurred.

It’s been derided and unfavourably compared to Gal Gadot’s infamous, early pandemic, rendition of Imagine, which was as lacking in taste as it was in musicality.

This is a time to be listening to those in Ukraine, not those tweeting from Californian mansions Is there too much pressure for celebrities to respond to crises? I think so. But there’s something deeper at the heart of these responses to the invasion, and that’s the way our culture treats celebrities with an aura of superiority. It becomes a whole lot easier to think that your poetry will be received sincerely if everything else in your life gives you the impression that you’re above the regular public. I think there’s an argument to be made that many celebrities might have avoided the somewhat insincere calls of solidarity if there was no pressure.

However, I don’t think it was the expectation to respond that motivated McCord or Cena to promote his television show, because nobody was expecting such blatantly problematic offerings.

It’s why I was impressed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, arguably a more informed figure due to his stint as the Governor of California, refusing requests for an interview and reminding people that he was not a foreign policy expert and had no place speaking on the situation in Ukraine.

It’s a model that celebrities ought to take on board. This is a time to be listening to those in Ukraine, not those tweeting from Californian mansions.

Sometimes, it’s okay to just step back.

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Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

Profile Joining the real world Thomas Hennessy talks to Dr Philip Rushbrook, governor of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan de Cunha, about cultural change, cabbage trees and local democracy.

W

hen Napoleon first beheld the island of St Helena, the site of his second and final exile, it is said that the emperor contemplated it in dead silence.

This has defined its place in our imaginations since: the rocky prison where Bonaparte spent the remainder of his life, shivering and slowly succumbing to illness.

This dot of Britain lost in the blue immensity of the South Atlantic between Angola and Brazil has been inhabited by thousands for more than two hundred years since.

I spoke with Dr Philip Rushbrook, the governor of the constellation of British islands, which also includes Ascension Island and Tristan de Cunha, about its conservation initiatives and unique society.

At present, St Helena is characterised by a communitarian ethos; people wave at each other when their cars pass, the social life in the island’s capital is concentrated on their single answer to a nightclub and most employment in is in fisheries or agriculture. It is also not privy to the hyper-digitised nature of the developed world.

“People don’t use internet in the same way as say the UK, people do not go online very frequently and when you do it, it’s slow and it’s quite difficult to complete tasks.

So, the result is that internet is not really permeating.”

The bank of St. Helena does not have international financial transaction arrangements through Visa or MasterCard.

So, Rushbrook explains, “there are no credit cards”. This detachment from the wider world is part of the attraction to modern tourists, seeking their own rendition of Napoleon’s exile.

However, this could be about to change.

In 2002, St Helena had a referendum about whether or not to build an airport, that would cut the time to travel from South Africa from five days by ship, to just hours by aircraft. This divided opinion on the island about its future.

“There was the traditionalist position where you’d like the island to be pretty remote, off-grid from the rest of the world. And there was the younger population saying, we’ve got to join the real world.”

Under Rushbrook’s tenure, he aims to chart a course with this sentiment in mind.

St Helena will no longer have limited access to the internet when it hooks up to Google’s Equiano cable, and the airport opened in 2016: with Rushbrook the first governor to arrive by air.

“It’s going to change some of the way we do things, but then again, if we don’t do it, we’ll just live in the past. And you have to prepare the island for the next generation. We cannot just live in the past.’”

Although Rushbrook believes that it won’t simply become an anonymous outpost of the world economy, “I think the Saints are a very proud island community. I think they will do their utmost sort of keep the culture that they want. It has a pretty good chance of keeping its distinctive, Saint way of life and culture, I can’t see vast hordes of

I don’t have some divine right to make my own decisions

people coming to migrate to the island”.

Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan de Cunha are sustained

by British foreign aid.

I asked Rushbrook how the internet cable may change the economic situation of the island.

“I think in the long term you’d like to have all the overseas territories be self-sustaining, but the reality is, I think the given the remoteness, St Helena is never going to be a place where you’d manufacture things because the cost of shipping goods in, manufacturing them and shipping them out, erodes any sort of competitive advantage you may have.

“So for the island to go forward, I think we have to recognize it’s going to be supported by the UK with some sort of granted aid for the foreseeable future.

“But the key thing is that the more industry or the more business you can develop from your island, the more flexibility the island has in doing things it wants to do.

“So, the course will be to utilise the cable as much as possible. Look at other overseas territories, they’ve got offshore type of businesses.

I suspect that some sort of businesses would find it convenient to come to St Helena, as it’s got UKstyle laws and appraoch to life, and is on GMT time.”

Tourism is also set to expand with the greater connectivity. This

is unsurprising: the world class diving opportunities in the twinkling waters around St Helena and hiking atop jagged clifftops rearing out of the Atlantic are unique experiences.

Despite such attractions, Rushbrook recognises “we’ll never be a mass market. There are no golden beaches on St Helena, there are no rolling plains or wildebeests.

You’re going to get your niche visitors.

“The biggest successful area so far before Covid-19 was dive tourism. Divers seem to be quite intrepid in where they wish to go to, so that area was growing quite nicely as a source of income, and before Covid-19, £4-5million a year was being brought in through tourism.

“That may not sound a lot, but for an island of four and a half thousand people that is about a tenth of new public expenditure.

“So reinstituting dive tourism, cultural tourism for Napoleon, and some of the military heritage on the island, bringing in ‘getting away from it all’ tourism.

People have talked about creating wellbeing centres and that sort of thing here.

There will be a steady increase in visitors to the island who come for one reason or another, from which we’ll get another contribution to the economy.”

It is certainly a different adventure destination to keep your eye on, if you can.

Conservation has long been central to this delicate necklace of island groups. Charles Darwin prompted the first ever example of terraforming by suggesting that plants from across the British empire be utilised to seed a cloud forest atop Ascension Island. To this day, the formerly arid peaks are crowned with lush forest.

“Thanks to the isolation of all the three islands, there are a number of unique species or subspecies of plants and insects that developed.

I think there’s around three or four hundred unique species, mostly insects and some plants on St Helena.”

These include the striking cabbage tree and St Helenian plover. “The key thing there driving protection is to maintain that diversity and not allow the loss of animal species.”

(Orinta Gerikaite)

As Rushbrook seeks to open the island to the world, he also aims to ensure that its natural heritage is

You have to prepare the island for the next generation.

We cannot just live in the past

preserved even during this fateful chapter in its story. The island is one of the last vestiges of the British

Empire and is the second oldest overseas territory after Bermuda.

Rushbrook holds the position of governor, the position that held sway over the island since it was an East India Company outpost.

I asked Rushbrook if he ever felt that his role as the appointed head of a government on an island on the other side of the world ever felt antiquated, or neo-colonial.

“Most of the day-to-day decisions are taken by locally elected politicians and instituted by the local public administration. I don’t have some divine right to make my own decisions. All my decisions just like in any other public service are traditionally reviewable. So, in that sense, I’m not sort of an omnipotent potentate we may have had in the past.

Today we seek a very much collaborative form of administration in all our overseas territories.”

That this form of local democracy flowers in the edifice of East India Company autocracy shows that change has visited St Helena before, just as it comes now.

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

13

Profile

Crispin Blunt: “Right around the world, people like me are criminalised, lynched, oppressed, and in some countries get the death sentence”

Ethan Sanitt speaks to the Durham alumnus and MP about his time at University, the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Partygate

C

rispin Blunt’s history of political activism makes for interesting reading.

Yes, Blunt, a Conservative backbencher and Durham alumnus, has consistently defended Boris Johnson over Partygate. Yes, Blunt’s been passionately (and perhaps predictably) supportive of the government’s response to the pandemic.

But so too has Blunt supported the liberalisation of drugs, ever since he was alerted to how “catastrophic” the drug policy was when he served as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons between 2010 and 2012.

“Sitting behind the idea of prohibition is the politicians’ misguided belief that drugs are bad — which is obviously correct in most cases – so they are banned”, he tells me. “That’s the safe moral position to be … and we have watched the carnage then take place right across the world ever since.”

Most recently, Blunt has strayed from the Conservative line by criticising the Government over their record on trans rights. I ask about his thoughts on this.

“Understanding [transgender people] — unless you’ve had a trans person close to you…”, Blunt trails off reflectively.

“One of the focuses I wanted to give to my post-ministerial career was global LGBT rights”, he continues.

“The UK got itself into the best position in the world on LGBT issues. We had the most advanced action plan ... there was this massive consultation on the reform of the Gender Recognition Act.” But now, Blunt says, “You’ve got this toxic culture war around the [transgender] issue.”

There’s “wildly exaggerated data about the potential threat that trans people — particularly trans women — could pose to women”, he continues. “It’s taken the eye off the ball on global LGBT rights. Right around the world people like me are criminalised, lynched, oppressed, and in some countries get the death sentence.”

Blunt then turns to what the UK should avoid. “What we don’t want is to have to go in front of a medical panel to tell us what we know already — a bunch of people who don’t know us who then have to decide whether what we feel is legitimate. It just puts us way

behind.”

“If you wrestled with your gender and your identity, you pretty much know. And it’s those judgements that need to be supported, and people need proper counselling and proper support from the health service.”

You’re running a war.

It’s an operational situation, and the centre is Downing Street It’s difficult to interview a Conservative MP and not have the conversation turn to the government response to Covid-19, so eventually we address the elephant in the breakout room.

“Overall, now, it looks as though we’ve done pretty well”, Blunt starts.

“The economic measures [that the government has passed] appear to have been a terrific success.” He gives the vaccination rollout and the furlough scheme as examples.

“The administration behind the deployment of the vaccine programme has seen our country through a tough phase.”

To lose a Prime Minister over this would seem to be a strategic misjudgement of quite spectacular proportions

So how does Blunt reconcile this apparent success with Britain’s high Covid-19 death toll?

“Sadly, I went to a funeral a couple Image Credit: UK Parliament

of days ago for a friend who died of a heart attack, age sixty-three. He’s gone down as a Covid death.”

Blunt has clearly considered my point before, and he launches into an analysis of how the UK records Covid-19 deaths.

“I just wonder how many of the 150,000 are people who died with, rather than of, and whether our system, being rather punctilious, has overscored the number of people who have died of Covid”, he says.

Blunt brings up the data from some other countries. “I don’t trust the figures coming out of places like Iran, and China … so international comparisons are quite tough”.

Blunt then turns to the impact of Covid -19 restrictions.

“The measures taken to contain Covid, particularly when we didn’t have a vaccine programme, were … really tough, difficult measures”, he says, especially “when people were dying in significant numbers at the earlier stage [of the pandemic] and people were not able to be at the bedside of their relatives.”

“You can understand why Partygate has suddenly taken on a life of its own, because it speaks to

real experience”.

So has Partygate changed Blunt’s view of Boris Johnson?

At this, Blunt launches into a defence of the Prime Minister’s actions. “You’re running a war. It’s an operational situation, and the centre is Downing Street. That garden is used all the time and it’s part of the workspace.”

“You also have Dominic Cummings, who was the Prime

Minster’s chief advisor - for whom I had twice as many emails coming in complaining about his trip to Barnard Castle than I’ve had about Boris Johnson’s parties, I might add – who Boris backed and stood behind who has decided to go on this kamikaze mission against him.”

Blunt’s defense of the Prime Minister’s actions is unsurprising – he’s consistently taken this line and he’s published a similar defense of Johnson on his website - but his claim about Dominic Cummings’s adventure to Barnard Castle is striking. So is Blunt suggesting that there was greater public outrage at Cummings’s trip than there has been over Partygate?

“That’s my feeling”, he responds.

“This is plainly an area where those in charge don’t appear to have abided by the rules that they set for everyone else, except …” Blunt sighs.

“You’re trying to run Number Ten, these people are working sixteen hours a day with each other the whole time.” “What do you expect their civil service leaders to do to encourage them?”

“We’ll see what happens, but to lose a Prime Minister over this would seem to be a strategic misjudgement of quite spectacular proportions.”

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Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

SciTech

Durham takes the leads in largest Universe simulation

Leo Li In a recent collaborative effort to create the most comprehensive representation of our Universe, Prof. Carlos Frenk, Prof. Adrian Jenkins and Dr. John Helly from the Department of Physics at Durham University co-hosted the international SIBELIUS-DARK project.

A part of the SIBELIUS (Simulations Beyond The Local Universe) megaproject, SIBELIUSDARK simulated the cosmic structure out to a distance of 600 million lightyears from the Milky Way, enveloping all of the Local Group galaxies.

The Local Group is the galaxy group in which our home, the Milky Way, sits. It stretches 10 million lightyears across — well enveloped by the SIBELIUS-DARK simulations — and is shaped like a dumbbell.

On one end spirals our lovely Milky Way, and on the other the Andromeda Galaxy, with which we are bounded on a collision course.

Unimaginably, an expanse as enormous as the Local Group is but a tiny tail of the Virgo Supercluster,

Excellent agreement with observed empirical data

(Geralt, Pixabay)

which in itself is but a lobe of the Laniakea Supercluster — teasing us with near-infinite regression, mocking our microscopic insignificance. Hence our strive to recreate the celestials dwelling high above us, to map the dark unknown.

SIBELIUS-DARK was inspired by, but exceeded, its many predecessors.

Researchers fully realised the importance of constraining initial conditions of cosmic formation in order to truly probe into the microscopic and evolutionary properties of local galaxies. One major constraint, for example, is that our Universe is dominated by cold dark matter.

Whereas previous simulations either made use of only individual local objects or treated the galactic volume as a whole but only within a limited radius, SIBELIUSDARK achieved a balance in exhaustiveness and extensiveness, by covering a larger region at a higher resolution.

SIBELIUS-DARK utilised the BORG (Bayesian Origin Reconstruction from Galaxies) Algorithm, which is a fullyprobabilistic programme that reproduced the Universe’s matter

distribution by feeding enough statistical initial conditions. By imposing critical cosmological constraints — redshifts and comoving distances — and a ‘loose’ set of criteria on the Local Group — namely the separations, relative velocities and orientations of other galaxies to the Milk Way — 60000 low-resolution simulations were sifted down to 2309. A ‘stricter’ set of criteria were then imposed onto the nine most representative candidates from the 2309, re-simulated at much higher resolution for a thousand more time, sifting it down to a mere three used at last for SIBERIUS-DARK. This simulative algorithm was performed using the SWIFT (SPH With Inter-dependent Fine-grained Tasking) code on the supercomputers at Durham University. SWIFT is another programme specialised in simulating forces due to gravity and fluids, which in this research, took several weeks to run (at a grand total of 3.5 million CPU hours).

There are two remarkable results from the simulation. First, the number of halos with masses higher than the theoretical cut-off mass is higher than expected. Though not impossible, the probability of the local volume habiting four halos (namely Perseus, Hercules-A, Hercules-B and Norma) is around one out of a hundred. Second, the existence of a ‘Local Hole’, an underdensity of galaxies in our neighbourhood. This could turn out to be a challenge for when we try to interpret cosmic expansion data from measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background, though it isn’t so severe as to pose any danger to our current standard model of cosmology.

Apart from these two surprises or anomalies, SIBELIUS-DARK

SIBELIUSDARK simulated the cosmic structure out to a distance of 600 million lightyears

succeeds in representing the spatial distribution and characteristic features of nearby galaxies in excellent agreements with observed empirical data.

Yet our ambitions don’t stop here. SIBELIUS-DARK is a cradle of possibilities left unexplored, just like our Universe full of unseen matters. Researchers have warned against overinterpretation of currently obtained results, noting their imperfection. But the absence of perfection means potential.

We are set on re-simulations with advanced hydrodynamics and refinements on model reconstructions. With passion and curiosity, someday we might just see our Universe as clearly and dearly as our Earth’s blue sky.

A Galactic Glossary

Cameron McAllister Dark Matter: a form of matter predicted by scientists that interacts gravitationally, but not with light. Most scientists believe there is much more dark matter in the universe than 'normal' matter.

Dark Matter Halo: an inferred dark matter structure thought to surround and permeate both individual galaxies and clusters of galaxies, helping to keep them stable.

Cold Dark Matter: one of many hypothetical types of dark matter (considered the leading candidate).

Would consist of some sort of exotic particle that moves slower than the speed of light (hence, cold).

Cosmic Microwave Background: the CMB is 'relic radiation' from the early Universe, effectively what remains of the thermal energy of the Big Bang, but now spread out across the entire Universe (at a rather chilly -270°C).

Covid-19 conspiracists less likely to follow guidelines Michael Elderfield The first cases of Covid-19 are believed to have emerged in China between the period of early October to mid-November 2019. First thought by many to be a trivial issue that could be contained and eradicated within the space of months, the Covid-19 virus spread at an unprecedented rate. We still find ourselves in the midst of one of its strains.

Countries dealt with the pandemic in varying ways and with equally varying results.

New Zealand opted for extensive border closures for non-citizens and self-isolation periods for those who returned from abroad.

Other countries such as the UK are often rightly criticised for the introduction of restrictions that were either too mild or implemented too late. Other factors, such as the spread of Covid-19 conspiracy theories,

have greatly damaged the public’s trust in governments around the world, thereby also affecting their compliance with regulations.

A recent study from the Behavioural Science MSc cohort of Durham University’s Department of Psychology found that those in the UK public who were less likely to comply with Covid-19 restrictions had more concern over their personal liberties and the economy than the severity of the virus itself.

In a sample of 368 people, it was found through studies of risk perception that those who believed in any of a range of conspiracy theories that have formulated through the pandemic, ranging from the whole ordeal being an elaborate hoax to those that inexplicably link the spread of the virus with the unfortunate simultaneous introduction of 5G towers, were less likely to adhere to encouraged behaviours.

These people instead were less likely to comply with handwashing,

social distancing, and stay-at-home measures. A reason many people believe in these theories follows the ‘major event-major cause’ heuristic; a person is influenced to believe a conspiracy theory to a greater extent if it offers a more proportional explanation to the event.

The propensity for an individual to believe in conspiracy theories has also been associated with narcissism, and it has been shown that someone who has a higher likelihood of believing a conspiracy theory is more likely to endorse said theory if they think they are in the minority. On the other hand, recent research has also shown that fears of illness and risk to personal health have promoted an increased willingness to comply with regulations.

These newfound patterns could prove invaluable in the development of communication strategies from authority. To return to how New Zealand handled the pandemic,

Professor Michael Baker, one of New Zealand’s top epidemiologists, claimed the officials of New Zealand did an “absolutely remarkable job” of implementing the country’s lockdown. This was done by tapping into the minds and hearts of the public, successfully encouraging them to stay home for almost six weeks.

Other world leaders did not communicate so effectively. During a press briefing on 23rd April 2020, then US President Donald Trump made a statement that was interpreted by many to be an encouragement to inject bleach or disinfectant as a viable method of killing the coronavirus within the body. The risk of this event actually occurring caused Reckitt, the parent company of the Dettol and Lysol cleaning brands, to issue a public statement iterating that their products should be used in the body “under no circumstances”.

With the recent announcement that the UK government are

scrapping all legal requirements introduced through the pandemic, believers in conspiracy theories can breathe a sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that they have once again thwarted ‘the man’ and averted Orwellian society.

(Mika Baumeister, Unsplash)

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Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

SciTech

An age-old problem: when does the brain deteroriate?

Eve Kirman For students like us (and anyone really), the uncontrollable passage of time and the inevitability of getting old is never a fond prospect. To put it simply, people don’t want to be old and face all the inescapable challenges that ageing brings.

What springs to mind for most people is the greater risk of disease, increased likelihood of memory loss, unwanted body changes and the prospect of loneliness. However, recently, one of these factors has been found to be prevalent much later into the ageing process than first thought.

It was originally believed by scientists that acting less and less impulsively was a marker for the beginning of cognitive deterioration, ultimately meaning that the brain was starting to slow down. As impulsivity starts to decline when individuals reach their early twenties, it was thus thought by researchers at the time that the brain steadily declines from this age. This would mean many of the undergraduates and almost all postgraduate students studying in Durham right now would have already peaked in terms

of cerebral ability — a depressing notion in the least.

A few weeks ago, scientists working in Heidelberg University’s Psychology Department have concluded that cognition doesn’t actually start to slow until after we turn sixty years old. With further implication that the brain, if kept stimulated, can retain full capability for an entire person’s lifespan.

Individuals around the age of thirty had the best mental processing

The findings, detailed in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, were based on data from over 1.1 million participants from the ages of 10 to 80. This huge participant number can be attributed to Project Implicit: an online collaboration

by Harvard University that collects data on implicit biases that people might hold. Participants of the project were told to categorise

words into positive and negative groups as well as placing images into different racial categories.

The purpose of this was to gauge the extent of a person’s association between the two fields. However, instead of looking at the racial bias the test was designed to reveal, this study analysed the data from the project in terms of each participants accuracy and speed of response in the context of their age.

From looking at this data, akin to previous studies, it was shown that average time to produce a correct response increased after the age of twenty. Thus, showing the human brain to peak at this age. However, what’s different with this particular study is that the researchers believed this figure to be warped by reasons unrelated to cognitive speed.

Instead, the scientists argued that this is only the case as caution becomes more prevalent in individuals and reaction time slows after the age of twenty.

Therefore, steps were taken to analyse the data in a way that allowed these researchers to see each individual’s level of caution and motor ability when choosing their answers. It was after this machine learning technique that they could show data that led them to their overall conclusions. In particular, they

(Robina Weermeijer, Unsplash) found participants between the ages of fourteen and sixteen were quickest in their responses while individuals around the age of thirty had the best mental processing ability. Furthermore, crucially, it was deciphered that participants made less and less mistakes as they aged — up until the age of sixty.

The head researcher, Mischa von Krause, told U.S. News and World Report of how these findings disprove previous ideas detailing that the “research now shows that this slowing [in response time] is not due to a reduction in cognitive speed”. For clarity in the differences between previous studies findings, Von Krause told the magazine that the slower reactions can be explained “by the fact that people

become more cautious in their decisions with increasing age, i.e., they try to avoid mistakes,” while “at the same time […] the motor processes […] slow down with increasing age.”

It is thought that these findings, while significant in their own right, hold significance also in the broader context of psychology.

Psychologist Dr Hartshorne of Boston College told The Guardian that this machine learning technique of reviewing data could urge psychologists to review other previous findings that were based purely on response times. Thus, while we can be certain that we’ll all age with time, we perhaps cannot be completely certain of the psychology underlying our ageing.

optimistic about the company’s scientific development: in 2019 he predicted that the device would be implanted into a human skull by 2020.

Even more worrying is the fact that Neuralink is far from alone in its barbaric research practices.

Despite growth in alternative approaches to scientific research and an increase in public concern, in the US alone over a thousand facilities test on animals, from dogs and cats to primates, with over 30% of the experiments involving moderate to severe suffering.

It has been revealed that in the UK 2.9 million tests involving living animals were carried out in 2020, with 53% of these undertaken simply for ‘basic research’ in universities.

Close to home, a recent study has revealed that in 2018 researchers at Newcastle University subjected two monkeys to gruelling strength training for thirteen weeks to study the impact that weightlifting could have on the human brain. Despite only weighing approximately 6 to 6.5 kilograms themselves, the animals were forced to pull a load weighing up to 6.5 kilograms 50 times; this would be comparable to a human performing 50 single arm pull-ups in 20 minutes. While the necessity of such a study is unclear, it does illuminate the ways in which British scientists still remorselessly push animals to their limits.

The use of animals in experiments is not only cruel,

but very often fruitless and unproductive. Animals are not affected by many of the diseases that humans are, including some cancers, Parkinson’s disease, multiple varieties of heart disease, as well as many mental health conditions.

During experiments, very often the symptoms of these illnesses must be simulated in the animal for the test to be able to take place. As such, in the US, although animal testing costs the taxpayer 14 billion dollars, over 98% of drugs developed in these experiments are never made available to the public.

Despite this, as we have seen with the testing of Musk’s implant, animals are increasingly being used in experimentation that isn’t even for medical purposes. The European Union has estimated that only 20% of animal experiments are regulatory requirements.

We need to be questioning the direction science is heading in; in the case of Neuralink, the decision to test on animals is one that comes out of laziness, for validated non-animal methods are available that are often cheaper, quicker, and in many cases more accurate.

The recent criticism of Musk’s company has highlighted that whether you are the richest man in the world or a researcher at a UK university, more needs to be done with regards to the practice of humane scientific research that achieves results without animal suffering.

Neuralink: are we throwing away animal's lives?

Gracie Linthwaite When Time Magazine made billionaire Elon Musk its person of the year for 2021, they described him as a man of extremes: both clown and genius, edge lord and visionary, industrialist and showman. From founding SpaceX to the most valuable car company in the world, Tesla, it is clear that whether you like him or not, Elon Musk has influence.

As such, the news that Neuralink Corporation, co-founded by Musk, has implanted a device into a monkey’s skull in an attempt to make it play video games with its mind is particularly concerning.

Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has filed a complaint with the USDA against the research for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. On the private app Clubhouse, Musk is reported to have described his company’s endeavour as “pretty cool” — a comment which affirms Time’s description of him as a clown. It is clear to anyone with a sliver of empathy that such fatuous experimentation is not cool, it’s downright cruel.

Unfortunately, such tests are not the only time the company has utilised animal experimentation.

Technology hoped to be able to

create a “Fitbit for your skull with tiny wires” has been tested through implantation into the skulls of pigs. These procedures have involved removing a piece of the animal’s skull and implanting the device, which is then left inside the brain for about two months to track neural signals from the brain to the snout.

Although the company assures that such tests will contribute to research into spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s and dementia, scientists such as the PCRM are dubious about their necessity.

Furthermore, Musk has been over-

The use of animals in experiments is not only cruel, but very often fruitless and unproductive.

Following reports of deadly brain experiments on 23 monkeys, it is not surprising that The Physicians Committee for

(Pavan Prasad, Pixabay)

16

PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

SciTech

“It’s unlikely Einstein would have got funding” SciTech Editor Caitlin Painter speaks to mathematician Dr Tom Crawford about the success of his YouTube channel Tom Rocks Maths and why we should be doing more to protect pure maths “It seems like an interesting way to start your Oxford interview,” says Tom Crawford, explaining that candidates often begin proceedings by identifying themselves as huge fans of his YouTube channel.

Crawford regularly interviews applicants for the Early Career Teaching and Outreach Fellow at St Edmund Hall, but in addition to his role as an Oxford tutor, Crawford is a maths communicator with a channel, Tom Rocks Maths, with 100,000 subscribers.

His lifelong love of maths led him to study it at university, and then launched him into the world of science communication, where his entertaining and engaging videos on all things maths have over six million views.

“The whole odd mix of […] doing this extremely formal and potentially life-changing interview, and it starts with a discussion about YouTube videos.

It’s quite a funny thing to think about.”

Crawford shouldn’t understate his YouTube videos. The breadth of maths they cover, whilst catering for non-maths audiences just as much as passionate mathematicians, is highly impressive. He has shaken up the world of maths communication, and the more videos he creates, the more inspiration he provides.

He tells me that people frequently comment on his videos that they hate maths.

“For some reason, they’ve got this mindset that they do, but […] you’ve just watched some dude do maths for an hour! Clearly you would’ve just stopped watching if you actually hated it. So hopefully it’s slowly starting to change their opinions, which is ultimately what I’m trying to do.”

His channel includes a huge variety of videos, from his ‘Equations Stripped’ series, where he removes a layer of clothing each time he ‘strips back’ part of an equation, to videos giving help for GCSE maths exams.

More recently, Crawford has created content about the Oxford maths admissions process, through which he hopes to demystify the process.

Featuring fellow YouTuber Mike Boyd, he provides tips on how to improve performance in both the admissions test and the interview.

These videos will be watched by many embarking on the admissions process, and Crawford hopes they will be beneficial to those from schools that provide less support with the process.

“They're clearly very good mathematicians, but they just have no experience at all of explaining what they're doing out loud in an interview setting.

“It's such a shame, because […] you can see the disparity between those students that have minimal support from their school — it’s not their schools fault.”

Durham students, don’t worry — we didn’t spend the whole time

You can see the disparity between those students that have minimal support from their school

talking about Oxford admissions.

But in the wake of new statistics showing that Durham has the lowest state school intake of any UK university, it’s important to keep highlighting the disparity that exists between state and privately educated students, regardless of the university.

“At my school I had no idea how any of this worked,” Crawford says. That didn’t stop him from succeeding. He completed his degree at Oxford and followed it by a PhD in fluid dynamics at Cambridge.

As Crawford recounts his journey to starting a PhD, I can’t help but smile. His radiant passion for maths is infectious, making me, in the final year of a maths degree, wish I was immediately pursuing the subject further.

Crawford’s reason for studying maths has an uncanny resemblance to my own, and most other maths students I’ve met.

“I don’t ever remember having to think about what I was going to study […] It was just like, “Oh, I’m doing maths”, and there was not even a second thought about it.”

It’s a decision that, for Crawford and me, at least, never actually needs to be decided.

“It’s just always felt like it made the most sense to me out of all the subjects I’ve studied. Just patterns, numbers, equations. It’s kind of how my brain works, I think.”

The age-old panic of what to do after graduating is faced by finalists each year. In that position myself, I was curious to find out the career aspirations of a younger Crawford, given one of his current jobs is a maths communicator, which falls into the relatively niche world of science communication.

“If you'd asked 18-year-old me what I was going to do, there was the usual, 'Oh, maybe I'll go into banking and earn lots of money working in the city'.”

“I remember learning about a position called an actuary. It’s often the career that’s thrown around people that are good at maths. I did an internship in the summer of my third year with some actuaries and I just really didn’t like it, it’s really boring.”

His life now certainly isn’t boring: “It’s cliché, but I actually couldn’t think of anything else I’d rather do. I just love making videos, doing talks and being able to pass on my enthusiasm for maths to others.”

“I didn’t realise you could be mathematician, […] I only found out what a PhD was during my second year of uni. I initially had no clue because no one in my family had been to university.”

It was during his PhD, however, that Crawford began questioning whether being a full-time researching mathematician was the route for him.

“For me it’s too niche. It’s too much focusing on one thing and doing the same thing for four years.” It seemed like his plan to get paid to do maths was evaporating,

but fortunately, an opportunity arose at the BBC to make science radio with the Naked Scientists, one of the world’s most popular science shows.

His placement with the show was when everything switched for Crawford — “maybe my career lies in science communication!”

Following this, he created the persona of the ‘Naked Mathematician’, and his YouTube channel was born.

In the four years since he created his channel, Crawford has amassed a huge video back catalogue. In addition to his videos giving exam help and stripping back maths’ most important equations, his channel features some of the most popular and noted names in maths.

From speaking to science presenter Hannah Fry to interviewing Fields Medal winner Michael Atiyah, the work of Crawford is all about raising the profile of maths and the best mathematicians.

Part of his wider work promoting maths involves supporting the Protect Pure Maths campaign, set up in light of some UK universities reducing, or defunding altogether, their pure maths departments.

To put it briefly, pure maths is the branch of maths exploring what seems like very abstract ideas that have no practical use.

Humans are curious by nature, and pure mathematicians often spend their whole lives researching topics they are simply curious about.

In contrast, applied maths applies the techniques learnt from pure maths to real-life problems. In Crawford’s words, however, “it’s quite hard to draw the line between applied and pure [maths]”.

The defunding of pure maths within universities is in line with the lack of governmental support and funding for research within it. “I think it hints at this underlying […] trend that you’re seeing in science funding, in general, that everything should have an immediate impact.”

Crawford’s PhD was looking into where river water goes when it enters the ocean, and his research can be used to target which parts of the ocean we should focus on cleaning up to have the biggest environmental impact — an application of maths that has clear relevance to current global issues.

He was funded through the Research Council (“taxpayer money, technically”), and says that a lot of applied maths funding is industry-based, but has noticed that some of his students are struggling to find PhD research funding in pure areas.

“I think it’s incredibly damaging, because the applied maths stuff doesn’t work without the building blocks that come from pure maths […] and we’ll reach a point where applied

It's cliché, but I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do

mathematicians are stuck.”

“You can’t immediately see [pure maths’] use, but [it] almost always becomes incredibly important.” Crawford tells me his favourite example of this comes from looking at Einstein’s work on relativity. “Most people have heard of it, which shows just how far reaching it is as a theory. But for the first hundred years or so, it had no practical use.”

Then the development of GPS came along. If you get maps up on your phone, it would say “you’re in this six mile radius circle without the relativity correction [needed to correct for the speed the GPS satellites move at]”. This was only realised many years after Einstein’s initial discovery, and in the current climate of research needing an immediate impact, Crawford tells me that “it’s unlikely Einstein would have got funding for his work”.

Crawford’s digression into the work of Einstein felt like I was watching my own private YouTube video, with his enthusiasm unable to help but manifest itself into everything he says — the Protect Pure Maths campaign must be honoured to have his support.

As an applied mathematician who has come to understand the importance of pure maths throughout the course of my degree, I can certainly back Crawford and the entire team at the Protect Pure Maths campaign.

Hopefully reading this means you also understand the huge value pure maths adds to society, and if you’re not yet convinced, check out Tom Rocks Maths on YouTube, where one of his videos will undoubtedly leave you reveling in the awe and importance of maths.

PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

17

Politics

Student

Durham: declare a climate emergency As students prepare to protest on Sunday, Connie Doxat assesses the need for Durham University to listen to calls from students and join others in declaring a climate and ecological emergency.

B

ack on 1st May 2019, the UK made headlines across the world by declaring an environmental and climate emergency. The move was extraordinary for two reasons: not only did it show an uncharacteristic glimmer of bipartisanship from the British Parliament (at the time bogged in Brexit deadlock), but it also became the first Parliament in the world to ever declare such a thing.

The impact of this decision was immense, and it set off a wave of heightened environmental consciousness in political corridors across the globe. Portugal, Canada, and France had all followed suit within a matter of weeks, and by the end of the month Pope Francis had joined their ranks.

Three years on, a total of 21 countries have declared climate emergencies, which though still a small minority, marks a crucial global acknowledgement of the severity for the environmental crisis we face. The declarations did not stop within the political realm, and many businesses, NGOs, and educational institutions have also now made similar moves.

All of this may stir within a refreshing sense of optimism, for valid reason — climate declarations are, after all, undeniably a step in the right direction. This flicker of hope, however, may be soon extinguished upon knowledge that Durham University remains yet to join the 38 other UK universities that have transgressed previous environmental apathy and declared a climate emergency.

Proof of the value in climate declarations has been indicated by the support 13,000 respected climate scientists, global politicians, and environmental activists have expressed over the move. From the UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Greta Thunberg, calls to accept the state of environmental emergency ring loud and clear. Within the Durham University community, the Students’ Union voted back in 2019 in favour of making such declarations.

Upcoming ECO DU protest

Durham University could honourably expose itself to scrutiny from its students, staff, and wider community

Over time, the need for Durham University to declare an emergency is only going to grow stronger, and the University should take up the reigns of emergency now before too late. Many Durham students are unhappy with its stance — as an upcoming protest this Sunday will demonstrate. The protest, starting at the Students’ Union at 13:30, is at its core demanding that Durham declares a climate and ecological emergency immediately.

It also hopes to push the University to commit to net-zero by 2035, to cut

all ties with businesses (i.e. its main bank, Barclays) that are divested in fossil fuels, and to publish a white paper open to external review outlining its pathway to net-zero.

The protest encourages all students who feel the same to join, and alongside the surprisingly cathartic experience of shouting and waving colourfully-painted placards, there’ll also be speeches and music related to the subject.

Durham University called to action Perhaps the University’s reasoning for inaction lies in the idea that declaring an emergency is merely hot air, and that actions come before words. The logic in this assumption, however, is partly flawed as it overlooks a key value of making a public declaration: accountability.

Accountability isn’t simply a case of blame-game, and it can act to place constructive pressure on universities like Durham to actually achieve their environmental targets. By sending out the message that it acknowledges the severity of the crisis, the University could honourably expose itself to scrutiny from its students, staff, and wider community towards its

commitment to the climate and ecological crises.

Previous declarations have also proved to be fruitful facilitators in stimulating further environmental commitment. In light of its own declaration in 2019, the UK Parliament established a legally-binding target to netzero by 2050, thus making itself accountable in not only a public, but also a legal sense. Scaling this down to a university level, declarations have also been followed by action, such as the University of Exeter, which published an impressive and comprehensive white paper outlining its pathway to netzero in direct conjunction with its declaration.

Durham’s position as a university further expounds the need to make such declarations.

Universities are uniquely situated, with great influence over the politics, economy, and society around them on both a local and national level. When a university accepts we have an emergency on our hands, it is thus taking on its civic role by encouraging ripples of change far and wide. What’s more, the fundamental purpose of a university to educate and generally shape a better tomorrow is inextricable to environmental narratives. As institutions with

(Images: Flo Wright)

immense capital and research power, universities should thus be expected to provide fertile ground for facilitating debate and progress in the environmental field.

Durham also has its own unique opportunity to reignite discussions about the role of universities in leading environmental change.

Since Bristol University was the first to commit to a climate emergency in April 2019, 36 of the 37 universities that followed suit swiftly did so within a year. If Durham steps forward now, some three years later, it will demonstrate that the act of declaring climate and ecological emergencies was not just part of a wave of eco-hysteria, but rather a powerful move towards a more sustainable future. Perhaps the chance that it could also be one of the few 14 other (out of some 126) universities to have declared both a climate and ecological emergency may tempt it to do so. It will therefore be interesting to see if Durham chooses to act on the calls of its students made at Sunday’s protest.

It seems that if Durham wants to become ‘one of the most sustainable universities in the UK’ (as claimed in its Environmental Sustainability Vision), then officially expressing an acknowledgement for the gravity of the crisis we now face would be a good place to start.

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

18

Politics

Domestic

The rotten core of Britain’s, and Durham’s, colonial collections

By John Cartin As symbolic gestures go, the repatriation of a bronze cockerel could hardly be more priapic.

The decision by Jesus College of Cambridge to return a Benin Bronze, given by the parent of a student in 1905, was returned in October to the royal court of Benin, and prompted much discussion.

This impressive action takes place a mere six years since university students protested about its provenance and voted for it to be returned, and a staggeringly brief two years since the university announced they would return it. The BBC article detailing the statement of intent of return in 2019 pertinently observed, “no specific date has been given for the return of the statue, nor any details of how it will be done.”

Recently, the connections of universities and public institutions to slavery and the financial legacies of philanthropists linked with the Atlantic slave trade have been examined—but we should not lose sight of the other legacies of Britain’s history that remain with us today. Country houses owned by the National Trust, rich and vivid exhibitions of culture and history

in our museums; quiet underlying admissions of involvement in colonialism and cultural looting are now making their way to the forefront of public moral reflection.

Likewise, UK universities and cultural institutions seem to be making the sudden discovery that their valuable and expansive collections of artefacts did not mysteriously appear out of thin air. While these collections have provided valuable contributions to the understanding and knowledge of the regions they were looted from, the undeniable fact remains that they were taken with little regard or consideration for those nations and cultures.

The immense scale of these collections is barely comprehensible. In 2001 the British Museum had around eight million objects—and was then burnished with an additional six million from Wendorf Collection consisting of Egyptian and Sudanese objects.

Durham’s combined digitally categorised collections come in at just over 51,000 objects.

These collections are often the dedicated study of academics throughout their life, and still, thousands upon thousands of objects remain unobserved. The only larger collection of Egyptian objects in the world belongs to

the Cairo Museum, which does not hold them all on-site. This collection has provided inspiration and awe to any person lucky enough to step into the Egypt halls as a child, but the price of this joy and inspiration comes at a high cost.

Is it better to let these artefacts sit stale, in the dark, or to let a people that have longed for their return love them in the light of day?

The most egregious act of cultural vandalism lies within the British Museum, an act that puts the entire country to shame.

The Ethiopian tabots, altar tablets on which copies of the

Ten Commandments are scribed, are held in a back room of the museum with a strict policy never to display them. The importance of these tablets to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church cannot be overstated; they are considered the literal dwelling place of God on Earth itself. Looted—for there really is no other word—in 1868, generations of devout Ethiopians have died without the return of these incredibly important religious artefacts. The claim that these artefacts are locked up in the British Museum because of recognition of their sanctity is laughable, as the tablets may only be viewed by Orthodox Priests.

With no cultural value to their staying here, and study forbidden, it is an act of extreme callousness to hold them here.

Durham’s role in this should not be overlooked. The Arts Council of England lists the Durham University Library and Durham University Oriental Museum as ‘Designated Collections’—of such significance and note to be singled out. Specifically mentioned are the Chinese and Egyptian collections; both obtained from British collectors decades on. The language used to describe these collections and the method of their arrival is always curiously neutral: objects

are ‘accumulated’ or ‘amassed’.

The Sudan Archive, founded the year after Sudanese independence, also has designated status from the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council, and contains a wealth of documents about colonial governance of the region.

In Britain, they are awkward memories of a half-suppressed, half-forgotten time; in Sudan, they can offer a picture of oppression and the formation of the state. The University should rouse itself to the difficult task of acknowledging where it is, and quickly move to what it can do to rectify the errors of the past.

Arguments are often made about the instability of states to which these objects might be returned. Perhaps they would not be as meticulously cared for, and their lifespans reduced. They would, however, be at home, in cultures that often have gaping holes cut through them from a history of theft. The nature of life is impermanence—the Mona Lisa will eventually fade to nothing due to light damage and the Elgin marbles crumble to dust. Is it better to let these artefacts sit stale, in the dark, as so many of these treasures do, or to let a people and a culture that have longed for their return love them in the light of day?

Regulating a new world: the Online Safety Bill,, ‘Metaverse’ and freedom of speech Bill

By Harry Hook “Stay in the real world.” This was the advice offered to Mark Zuckerberg by the Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Nadine Dorries, as she announced plans to make social media companies criminally liable for the harmful content posted on their platforms.

The Government’s Online Safety Bill aims to protect users from both illegal and “legal but harmful” content on social media.

This has been loosely defined as content that can cause physical or psychological harm. This bill, not yet passed by Parliament, originally gave companies a two-year grace period before being penalised. Ms Dorries recently made headlines by truncating that period to just six months.

The Online Safety Bill is a wideranging piece of legislation with severe penalties for noncompliance.

The maximum fine is set at either £18million or 10% of annual global turnover, whichever figure is higher. The latter would constitute a severe penalty, considering Facebook turned over $20billion in the third quarter of 2021 alone.

The platforms themselves will be responsible for cleaning up

their content while Ofcom, the UK’s independent regulator for broadcasting, will be responsible for delivering penalties.

Some have questioned if this is the best way to regulate social media. The “legal but harmful” clause has been hotly contested by MPs who are concerned this law will be used to curtail freedom of speech. David Davis called this Bill a “censor’s charter,” arguing that it will give Silicon Valley too much power to discriminately remove content that they find undesirable.

Wide-ranging piece of legislation with severe penalties for noncompliance

The Government’s definition is indeed wide-ranging and imprecise, covering activity that can range from “online bullying and abuse, to advocacy of self-

harm, to spreading disinformation and misinformation.” In response to these fears, Ms Dorries has accepted she “has to walk a very tight tightrope” between freedom of expression and the protection against harm.

MP John Nicolson finds the powers provided to Ms Dorries under this Bill “chilling” and “worrisome,” his chief concern being the Secretary of State’s ability to manipulate Ofcom’s code of conduct to reflect government policy, bestowing huge amounts of power onto an office that previously held little authority.

The Bill does include some freedom of speech protections— for example, journalistic content is exempt from its provisions.

However, this may raise more questions than it answers. For example, who precisely can be defined as a journalist? Would this category include political activists?

And why should journalists enjoy a greater degree of freedom of speech than regular laypeople?

This new legislation comes amid a perfect storm of anti-social media sentiment. This partly stems from the whistle-blower Frances Haugen’s revelations that Facebook ignored internal research suggesting Instagram was harmful

to teenage girls and commonly used algorithms increased incidents of hate and misinformation.

Furthermore, the tragic deaths of MPs Jo Cox and David Ames have shown that online hate can spill over into real-world violence. These two factors are compounded by a general fervour around fake news that has not faded since the 2016 US general election.

While Meta (previously Facebook) claim that their new name better reflects their future vision, it would be fair to question whether they are instead attempting to distance themselves from their troublesome past. Either way, Ms Dorries is motivated to “lift the lid” on their harmful algorithms, making them fully accountable to the UK Government after a prolonged period of

Mark Zuckerberg (Anthony Quintano via Flickr)

unregulated activity.

Ultimately, social media and the ‘metaverse’ is the new political battleground. It is the primary source of our news and entertainment, and the UK Government are right to prioritise dominating this policy area instead of deferring to social media companies and allowing them to self-regulate. There are worrisome provisions in the Online Safety Bill—its impact on comprehensive freedom of speech front and centre. However, the Government is in the right to take a dynamic approach against social media companies who would otherwise prioritise profit over user welfare.

19

PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

International

Politics

Biden picks Jackson

US Supreme Court is set for its first African-American female Justice

By Joe Rossiter Politics Editor On Friday 25th February, President Joe Biden officially nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, fulfilling his campaign commitment to add the first black woman to the bench. If confirmed, Jackson will replace retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer — nominated by Bill Clinton in 1994 — but would do little to dilute the Court’s conservative majority.

Raised in Miami, Florida, Jackson’s parents were initially public school teachers before her father became chief attorney for the Miami-Dade County School Board and her mother a principal.

She attended Harvard University before progressing to Harvard Law School, which, with Yale Law School, was attended by eight of the nine current Justices.

After graduating in 1996, Jackson performed a series of clerkships, including for Justice Breyer, whom she is set to replace, from 1999 to 2000. The period before her first judicial appointment also includes two years spent as a federal public defender, which the White House has stressed would make her the first Supreme Court Justice with such experience. Not since Thurgood Marshall, the Court’s first African-American Justice, has the bench seen an individual with such extensive experience as a defence lawyer.

Like Marshall, Jackson has experience with social justice issues. While at university, her uncle was sentenced to life in prison for a non-violent drug offence on the basis of the ‘three strikes’ law. Jackson persuaded a law firm to take the case pro bono, eventually leading to then-President Barack Obama commuting the sentence. Biden’s nominee understands the law in more than simply the abstract.

Jackson also has a track record of bipartisan Senate support. She has been confirmed to three different positions by the chamber: unanimously to Vice-Chair of the US Sentencing Commission in 2009, by unanimous voice vote to the DC district court in 2012 and most recently to the DC appellate court in 2021.

That most recent appointment was key in so many reporting Jackson as the favourite to replace Breyer. She was confirmed by a narrow margin (53 to 44) but crucially with three Republican votes. Senators Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski all supported Jackson’s elevation to the position vacated by Merrick Garland on his move to the Department of Justice. Garland’s 2016 Supreme Court nomination was famously throttled by then-Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, leading to the ultimate confirmation

of Neil Gorsuch, laying the foundations for the current 6-3 conservative majority on the Court. If Democrats feel some poetic justice, it is limited.

Most importantly, it seems as though Jackson will be confirmed without much obstruction from Republicans, however any bipartisan cooperation will be limited. Within hours of Jackson’s nomination, Graham tweeted that it was a sign that the ‘radical Left has won President Biden over yet again’. The Senator has spoken highly of Michelle Childs, another figure believed to have been on Biden’s shortlist. Childs also secured the endorsement of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, hugely influential in Biden’s turning point South Carolina primary victory in 2020, but ultimately lost out to Jackson.

Biden’s nominee understands the law in more than simply the abstract

President Xi looks down as the world stares at Ukraine

(Verity Laycock)

By Owen Winn

Biden’s pick should prevail in any confirmation vote, with 50 Democratic Senators presumably convinced in advance of her nomination, however the fragility of that majority has rarely been clearer. It was reported last month that Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico had suffered a stroke, though is expected to make a full recovery and will have some weeks before a final vote is called on Jackson.

This fine margin is the reason for the increasing calls over recent years for Breyer to retire and allow the Democratic president to nominate his successor.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg resisted such calls when Democrats last held Congress and the White House under Obama, leading to her replacement by Amy Coney Barrett just days before the 2020 presidential election and the current conservative majority that looks to be safe for a generation.

As it stands, Jackson will become the Supreme Court’s first African-American female Justice, whether along a party line or bipartisan vote. Undoubtedly a historic milestone, it will provide short-term positivity for Biden, giving his base a much-needed tangible result. However, it will do little to change the ideological composition of the Court, which will seemingly long outlast the Biden presidency.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in full swing, the response

by NATO has seemingly had little effect on Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

NATO’s reaction to the conflict has been restricted to severe economic sanctions and aid, which have failed to reverse the Russian advance.

Although the sanctions will likely still have a major effect on Russia’s mentality, they have also brought into question whether or not Putin’s invasion and the NATO response has emboldened President Xi Jinping to follow suit and prepare an invasion of Taiwan.

The long alliance between Russia and China appears to have had little effect on China’s reaction to the conflict, with the Chinese state acting diplomatically in its response to the crisis. At the UN Security Council, China abstained from the vote to unanimously condemn Russian aggression, which has been seen by many as a NATO victory.

However, China does appear more than willing to help Russia survive their economic sanctions.

The two nations recently agreed a trade deal for wheat despite Russia’s aggression, a deal that will help to keep a consistent flow of capital to help fund the Russian war machine.

Despite their political attempts to remove themselves from the situation in Ukraine, many in the West see the conflict as the precursor to military action in China.

Republican congressman Scott Perry attacked the response of NATO and the Biden administration, arguing that if they continue with these weaker attempts at de-

escalation that it leaves “the door wide open for China’s regressions”, adding that it is “just a matter of timing” until China exploits NATO’s perceived inaction on Ukraine.

Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, has said “we still hope that the parties concerned will not shut the door to peace and engage in dialogue and consultation”. The Chinese government are keen on portraying themselves as committed to peace, and the perfectly positions international arbiters, having had good historic relations with both Ukraine and Russia, and speaking to leaders of both countries even after the invasion, Meanwhile, eight Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace last week, a possible sign that the country has a newfound confidence to flex its military muscle as the world is distracted by Russia.

President Xi has shown himself to be extremely committed to the reunification of China, with Taiwan being part of the irredentist narrative continually pushed by the Chinese Communist Party.

Earlier this year Xi gave a speech in the Great Hall of the People regarding the CCP’s stance on Taiwan. “Taiwan’s independence separatism is the biggest obstacle to achieving the reunification of the motherland, and the most serious hidden danger to national rejuvenation”. Xi added to this rhetoric with the rather ominous words, “the historical task of the complete reunification must be fulfilled, and will definitely be fulfilled.”

Xi has consistently stated that

he is committed to a peaceful reunification of China and Taiwan, but this peaceful unification appears to be a mere pipe dream. Polling conducted by the Jamestown Institute in Taiwan has shown that at least two-thirds of the population support the current relationship with China, with less than a third supporting any form of unification.

As of now, it appears unlikely

Taiwan is part of the irredentist narrative continually pushed by the Chinese Communist Party

that Taiwan will throw itself into the arms of the Chinese state willingly. With tensions rising consistently over the last year, the lack of direct military engagement

by NATO and the wider international community after the Russian invasion of Ukraine could present the CCP with an opportunity to take up arms against Taiwan. The near future could possibly see a completion of the historical task of reunification that President Xi Jinping is so heavily bent upon.

20

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

Puzzles Chess Puzzle 850 Black to checkmate in 2

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

Sudoku 850

7 5 9 4 8

9

8

8 4 5

1

7 5 9

2 3 9 5

4 6 3

6

4 5 7

Maths Maze 3

(Nicole Wu)

Spot the Difference Can you spot all 10 differences in this Easterthemed bunny tea party scene?

7

cube it

×6

×4

× 4/3

+13

1/7

square root

square it

×13

add the digits

-5

cube it

?

5

?

Arrow Word 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.

2

9 4 6

7 3 2 1 5 2 4 1 2 8 9 3 1 6 4 7 4 5 6 1 2 3 2 2 7 4 6

7 3 6 5

Baked sweet treat

↓

Smoothing tool

↓

Saintly image

↓

Beak or invoice

→

Doghouses

Main part of a church

Greek god of love

Mix (food)

↓

↓

↓

→ Pasta parcel

Come to terms with

Official information of value

Crustacean

↓

↓

↓

→ Remove from public view

→

Drive backwards

Meat from a calf

Capitale d’Italia

Achieve through effort

↓

↓

↓

→

Basque sport

→ Prefix for part-fish humans

→ Travel time prediction (inits)

Acquire knowledge

→

→

21

PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

Palstrology Anna Johns taps into her mystic side to reveal what the stars have planned for the week ahead...

Aquarius

Taurus

Leo

Scorpio

You’re unstoppable this week. Things are picking up in your academic life and obstacles seem small and insignificant. If there was ever a week to make your Thursday 9am, this is the one.

You’ve been riding a high, but this week will bring you back down to Earth. That summative won’t write itself and your overdraft won’t magically disappear either. Call your mum and hope that she doesn’t say I told you so.

No one’s there for their friends quite like you are, Leo. But stop to think if you’re getting back as much as you give. Friends don’t let friends walk back from Jimmy’s alone.

You can’t save everyone, Capricorn, no matter how much you might want to. As a friend navigates romantic troubles, it’s best to bite your tongue.

They have to learn to stay away from rugby boys on their own.

Pisces

Gemini

Virgo

Sagittarius

23rd Aug – 22nd Sep

22nd Nov - 21st Dec

Venus in Sagittarius means the time has come to retreat and focus on selflove. No ex can satisfy you quite like a bottle of Echo Falls and series two of Love is Blind will.

As your ruler Mercury heads into Pisces, now’s the time to take charge.

Stop letting things slide. Tell your flatmate it’s about time they bought the loo roll.

This week brings a shock to your love life, but remember things are rarely as big as they seem. It’s unlikely Hugo from Economics was your soulmate anyway.

For the greater good of Durham, stay home this week Sagittarius. Beware night outs this month hold one drunk text too many. Remember that nothing good happens after 2am.

Aries

Cancer

Libra

Capricorn

As Mars enters Aries, passions run high. Redownload Tinder (even though you said you never would).

Completing college bingo has never looked so achievable.

You’re gripped by wanderlust this week as something calls you to explore. Big things wait in Gilesgate Tesco.

You’re nearing end of term burnout but a change in the weather brings peace and prosperity. Hold off booking your panic train home. For now, at least.

This week brings curiosity and you will feel drawn to try new things. Pick up a hobby. Learn to cook something that isn’t pesto pasta.

20th Jan – 18th Feb

19th Feb – 20th Mar

21st Mar – 19th Apr

24th Oct - 21st Nov

23rd Jul – 22nd Aug

20th Apr – 20th May

21st May – 21th Jun

23rd Sep – 23rd Oct

22nd Jun – 22nd Jul

22nd Dec - 19th Jan

(Images: Nicole Wu)

PalatiDates

Bryant from St Aidan’s and Jamie from St Chad’s meet for a blind date at Spags, but conversation takes a divisive turn Jamie on Bryant

Bryant on Jamie

What were your first impressions?

What were your first impressions?

He looked pretty cute, maybe a bit aloof, laid back, dressed in a casual hoodie.

What did you talk about?

A range of topics ... where we’re from, what life in our respective colleges is like, our bad study habits, and random things we do.

He must think I’m some kind of alcoholic

What was the most awkward moment?

Probably when my tongue slipped and I seemed to have an overly positive reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

How would they describe you?

Hopefully not a bad conversation partner, but a bit weird and awkward at times?

How would you describe them?

Charismatic, friendly – all around a cool guy, but we just didn’t have a connection.

If they were a Durham night out, which would they be?

Jimmy’s – reliably entertaining.

Marks out of 10 7

He was a little nervous at first and quite awkward.

What did you talk about?

It was one-sided to be honest but he talked about his hobbies a lot. I wish he had asked me about myself more.

What was the most awkward moment?

When he started talking about school shootings it got a bit uncomfortable.

(IIllustration: Adeline Zhao)

How would they describe you?

I think he must think I’m some kind of alcoholic haha.

How would you describe them?

Very eccentric, reserved, definitely fond of his simulators.

If they were a Durham night out, which would they be and why?

He probably would prefer to stay at home.

Marks out of 10 5

22

Sport

It’s never too late to try

Emerson Shams Although I didn’t end up joining until my third year of four, karate was something I had always wanted to learn. Yet a few aspects had put me off. I had never done it before, I was not in shape at all, sport was never something I really enjoyed, I knew no one who did it and I had recently realised I was transgender.

After finding out Durham had a karate team, I decided to reach out. It turns out a lot of members start late. One of the current brown belts (one level below black) started karate in their undergraduate and is now finishing a PhD. Unlucky timing meant that I started during Covid-19. Our Sensei ran online lessons for us a couple times a week, and this helped me get into it without the stress of being in the dojo.

The only downside was that I couldn’t grade online, so it was a year before I got my first coloured belt.

When I finally did begin in person, the stress of being both a newbie and a finalist was gone.

This really helped my learning.

The team is really good for allowing everyone to progress at their own place and we focus much more about our health, both body and mind.

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

Sports and spectators: a Durham culture clash Oliver Jervis Floodlit Cup matches are where college heroes are made. The electrified atmosphere and pseudo-tribal spirit invoked by these occasions is something we should all experience during our precious time in Durham. However, events this term suggest that this environment is being increasingly sanitised and scrutinised.

Spectators from Hatfield were banned from men’s rugby Floodlit Cup games for the remainder of this academic year, and there’s an investigation from the University and FA into the outlandish antics of Van Mildert students during their recent men’s football Floodlit semifinal against Collingwood. A culture clash appears to be forming, namely between the standards expected by the University and the spectators of these traditional sporting occasions.

When reading the emails

provided by the college offices of both Castle and Hatfield, for example, one forms the impression that the main reason for these games taking place is the performance of the teams in question. Yet, I am sure that I am not alone in believing that if the last two years have taught us anything, it is that fans ensure that these games have any degree of relevance. We have already had enough taken away from us over the past few years, does further deprivation benefit anyone?

Of course, urinating on the Maiden Castle Crumb sideline is not something to report with pride, nor is the incitement of hostilities between two groups of supporters.

Moreover, chants referring to sexual abuse and paedophilia have no place in civilised society. That should be clear to everyone.

But the importance of these events to students is something that should also be contemplated by college offices and Experience Durham when they discuss such

wide-ranging banning orders in order to satisfy their vision for the University. To amputate this collegiate experience so swiftly is to act with undue regard towards the context and culture in which these games occur.

On the other hand, it is easy to recognise where the ‘higher-ups’ are coming from. The university bubble is not a place that would naturally coincide with British sports culture. Additionally, some antics and chants are simply primitive remnants of a bygone era.

Certain aspects of 80s ‘hooliganism’ have managed to trickle their way through to this decade. For example, the chaos surrounding the Euros final at Wembley last year provides evidence for this claim . A level of adaptation is most definitely needed. So, where should the correct balance lie?

A certain degree of misconduct is unacceptable on the side of any pitch. Nonetheless, it ought to be expected that some form of unruly (Joe Harston)

You don’t have to be the best to get involved I found integrating into the social side of the karate team was just as easy as starting the lessons. Most our socials end up at Wetherspoons for a late-night bite, and then everyone is off to bed.

The largest challenges I’ve faced since starting karate haven’t had anything to do with Durham University Karate Club (DUKC). It would be remiss of me not to complain about the complete lack of plus size options for martial art uniforms, which is a Gi for karate. All the uniforms correspond to height! I had to buy the largest one they make (for people who are six-foot) and take it to a tailor.

The other issue I’ve had has been with people being very confused by me wearing DU stash. I get stares from people who are confused about how as a larger person, I play a sport and am healthy.

A year and half on from the beginning, I got the Gi and I have the DU stash. Does that make me good at karate? Not really. But I’ll get there.

Most importantly, I enjoy it. You don’t need to be good to enjoy your hobbies. Sport is a good way to get active and have fun, so long as you’re in the right environment. You don’t have to be the best to get involved.

behaviour will arise, regardless of whether the match is linked to a university. There will be swearing, questionable chants will occur, and alcohol will almost certainly be present. Some may not like this, and it may appear intimidating to novel spectators.

However, it is not done to deter anyone from enjoying the sport.

Instead, it is merely a facet of British culture. It is a way in which a collective group of individuals, all with a common interest, can experience being together in an excitable fashion. No one should be prevented from watching a game of their choosing due to another spectator; yet an excessive sanitisation will do nothing but damage the occasion.

We can see this harm being incurred at a higher level. One may point to the Premier League as the clearest example. Following the Taylor Report and the imposition of the Premier League in 1992, the new age mixture of commercialisation and supporter safety has arguably led to a decline in true community support for several elite level clubs.

Instead of drinking a pint on the terraces for mere tuppence, the typical Premier League supporter is expected to treat these events as a lavish day out, through the consumption of a gourmet meal in the stands alongside plush £100plus seats.

Is this what is desired by the University chiefs? I do not believe for a second that this is the case.

The presence of the university bubble inevitably means that some form of compromise must be created, but the deconstruction of such a historic event and its culture is unnecessary.

Let students enjoy their pints and banter, so long as it is done reasonably. Furthermore, please be lenient with spectators, as students are crying out for experiences like this. Only intervene when the balance has been broken, because proportionality is everything in this culture clash.

Trevs fight back to win dramatic Floodlit semi-final Joe Harston We’ve not been starved of drama so far in the men’s football Floodlit Cup so far, and this 2-2 cracker between Trevelyan and John Snow followed suit. Despite John Snow dominating play in normal time, it is Trevs who will face Collingwood in the final after a dramatic penalty shootout.

It took Snow less than five minutes to open the scoring. A corner from the right swung deep into the box and centre-back James Young finished like an experienced striker. His emphatic volley was unstoppable from close range.

John Snow seemed to have a tight grip on the game — the opening goal allowed them to play with confidence rather than complacency.

That’s not to say that Trevelyan weren’t causing trouble. Both Alex Baptist and Jamie Lunnon forced Snow keeper Alexander Lean into a couple of somewhat routine saves in the opening stages.

Trevs almost found their equaliser after a long ball caught out Young at the back. Baptist was quickest to capitalise on the error, but he sent his effort wide.

It took Snow less than five minutes to open the scoring Just before the 30-minute mark, Snow doubled their lead after a period of sustained pressure.

Watson saved from distance, but the rebound was stopped dead by Louis Peters on the edge of the box.

With one composed swing of his foot, he placed it into the opposite corner. Peters’ classy finish took his side into the break two goals to the good.

Snow started the second half on the front foot, although they did very little to trouble the rigid

opposition defence. Trevs’ attack soon settled into the half and had begun causing Snow a multitude of issues by the hour mark.

One of these saw Young caught in possession by Lunnon. The Snow defender, who looked to be the last man, had no issues in bringing Lunnon to ground, before the opportunistic attacker found his way into the box. Did he deny a goal scoring opportunity?

It seemed so, yet the referee was lenient. Just a booking was given.

Up the other end, Snow continued with chipping away with half chances. After 75 minutes, there was finally a Trevs breakthrough. Baptist’s venomous effort stung the gloves of Lean, causing the rebound to fall kindly to a grateful Harry Senior, who rifled the loose ball into the net.

Trevs had 15 minutes to find an equaliser.

Snow still seemed the most likely victors. They held a lot of possession in the opposition half as they looked to restore their twogoal cushion.

Yet it was Trevs whose attacks continued with increasing danger.

Lean did well to keep hold of a cross from the right and with five minutes till the final whistle, watchful Snow fans hoped they’d seen the last of the late onslaught.

However, a moment of magic from Baptist completed a magnificent comeback. Dancing through Snow’s midfield, he found himself approaching the 18-yard box from the left. Surrounded by defenders, he unleashed a strike of sheer brilliance into the far-top corner to take the tie to penalties.

Each penalty was well taken; the majority of which were arrowed into the top left corner. With 9 penalties taken, there was a need for one more hero. Trevs keeper Watson magnificently saved Snow’s fifth and final penalty, as his strong right hand tipped it onto the crossbar.

So now the men’s football Floodlit Cup finalists 2021/22 have been decided, and Trevs will take on Collingwood in what is bound to be an extremely exciting affair.

23

PALATINATE | Thursday 10th March 2022

Sport

Beth Hepple: Durham Women FC ‘more than capable of stepping up to the WSL’

Sport talks childhood inspirations and the future of women’s football Abi Curran and George Simms Founded in 2014, Durham Women FC have played 199 games in their short history. Midfielder Beth Hepple has appeared in 194 of those – playing in all of the club’s first 82 games. Since joining the newly established club at just 17, the Sunderland-born 25-year-old has become engrained in the fabric of Durham Women.

Hepple is also the club’s record goalscorer, and has been the Wildcats’ top scorer in six of their eight seasons. Now, Crystal Palace striker Molly Sharpe is the only other Durham player to have scored ten or more goals in a season, managing it in 2019/20. Hepple has done it six times. Whilst it’s hard to find assist statistics for the FA Women’s Championship, her setpiece prowess likely puts her at the top of the club’s creativity stats too.

Her Football Hub named Hepple the FA Women’s Championship Player of the Year 2021. They also ranked her fourth in a list of the greatest FA Women’s Championship players of all time, behind only 2021 Ballon D’Or nominee Fran Kirby, Arsenal and England forward Beth Mead and England legend Sue Smith. In terms of longevity, consistency, and impact, no-one would complain if they saw Hepple at the top of that list. She’s twice been awarded the North East Football Writers’ Women’s Player of the Year.

By any metric, Beth Hepple is a modern footballing icon in the North East. Palatinate spent an hour with the Wildcats’ midfield maestro, chatting inspirations, Durham Women’s progression and the future of women’s football.

Beth Hepple always knew she wanted to be a professional footballer: “I was always very energetic when I was really young.

I was quite naughty and one of the things they used to tell my mum and dad was that they needed to burn more energy with us. They used to take me outside just to play football. That’s where it all started. I went to a local coaching group and I was the only girl there, but I loved it.

“I was mad about Thierry Henry.

He was in his prime when I was very young, so I always used to buzz off watching how he played. I loved David Beckham as well. That’s why I’m always number seven, because I loved Beckham when I was younger.

Who didn’t?”

Of course, Beckham was one of the finest free kick takers of his generation, so it’s clear what inspired Hepple to become a set piece specialist herself. Her freekicks have been tearing up the women’s game. The first-choice corner, freekick and penalty taker for the Wildcats, Maiden Castle waits with bated breath every time Hepple stands over a dead ball.

“If you look at set piece

specialists, they tend to be quite small - they don’t want to be in the box heading the ball because they’ve got no chance! Growing up, I’ve always had that in my locker and I’ve worked hard at it. Especially in women’s football, there’s such a high percentage of goals scored (via set pieces). I try to practise once or twice a week in training.”

Hepple’s most memorable set piece was perhaps her last-minute equaliser against Manchester United in this season’s Conti Cup. “That whole night sticks in my mind with a packed-out crowd at Maiden Castle, obviously playing against a huge club like Man Utd. Some of their players are world class, so to be able to go toe to toe with them, that really does stick in my mind.”

Alongside Sarah Wilson and Ellie Christon, Hepple has seen Durham Women go from strength to strength since 2014.

“The home crowds we get are some of the best in the league. To say we’re not affiliated to a men’s club is amazing. The whole setup is amazing; from the kids coming through, to the RTC setup. It’s been a dramatic change from 2014. There are numerous players that have been here for years on end, and that core team has stuck together.

“Durham doesn’t really have another football team, so that’s always helped. Year-on-year you see more people coming, you build up

more core supporters, and people now will not miss a game. It’s been immense to see the club go from stride to stride.”

“Hopefully, over time it will just keep building momentum - we need to keep winning to keep bringing people back. It’s all about the warm, friendly, family atmosphere - there’s not many men’s games you go to where it’s that family friendly. It’s really unique that we offer that, and it’s a big part of the club.”

I don’t think we’ve ever been outplayed Hepple tells us that the same goes for the atmosphere inside the dressing room, “I’ve made friends for life from football. I think that’s why you play, it’s the whole social side of it. We don’t have any bad eggs. You can have a great player, but if they’re not a good person then I don’t think they’d ever fit in with our team.”

Of course, it hasn’t all gone Durham’s way this season. Hoping for promotion to the WSL, the pendulum hasn’t quite swung the Wildcats’ way, but Hepple is confident that next season will be more fruitful:

“This year it was our intention to be promoted, obviously we’ve fallen short. We haven’t really got much to play for now. I think that can sometimes be a good thing - we don’t really have any pressure on us. We’ve just got to try and finish as high as we possibly can up the table.

We know what we can do as a team, and we’ve just got to try and build for next year now. Trying to build some momentum for next year that’s the goal.

“We’ve played against the likes of Man Utd, Man City, Leicester in the Conti Cup – we were the only Championship side. Hand on my heart, I don’t think we’ve ever been outplayed. That suggests to me that with the players that we’ve got, we are more than capable of stepping up. It’s testament to our league really - it’s more competitive than the top league.

“We train a lot, we have brilliant support from the University – look at the facilities we have and the kids we have coming through. This year’s been a big learning curve for everyone, but that will only help us push on next year.”

Off the pitch, Hepple spends her days working at a pub and hotel owned by her partner’s family.

Between her work at the pub, training for Durham most days, and looking after her two dogs, Teddy and Harley, Hepple says that “there’s no time for excitement”. Her dogs are clearly a big part of her life,

and you see her eyes light up when asked about them: “My dogs are my life really. I honestly think dogs are better than humans sometimes, you can relate to dogs more than humans – they make life better.”

Football is clearly Hepple’s life, and she has plenty of ideas about how to take the women’s game from strength to strength: “They need to keep growing the infrastructure of women’s football.

It’s obviously great when you see the women playing at the men’s stadiums as a one-off, but it’s really important that we fill the smaller grounds, trying to get people to come out and watch, trying to get kids to be interested. You see the likes of Spain - they’ve got such a different culture and outlook on women and women’s sport. It’s a lot more open-minded. For it to properly change in this country, there’s got to be a culture shift.”

At just 25, Beth Hepple would be first in the queue for a statue outside Maiden Castle. It’s impossible to imagine the club without her.

Hepple embodies the combination of hard work and genuine quality which has got Durham Women to where it is without the support of a men’s team. Goalscorer, creator, set piece specialist, and a Wildcat through and through, no-one would be surprised to see Durham playing at the Beth Hepple Stadium in 50 years’ time.

Beth Hepple (Durham Women FC)

Beth Hepple (Durham Women FC)

24

Sport

Thursday 10th March 2022 | PALATINATE

“I don’t think we’ve ever been outplayed” Sport talks to Durham Women star and record scorer Beth Hepple

“Let students enjoy their pints and banter” Oliver Jervis discusses recent spectator bans at Floodlit Cup games

Mildert fan ban for ‘paedophile’ chants

Principals slam students amid wave of Floodlit chaos George Simms Spectators have been banned from all Van Mildert College football games whilst a University investigation takes place into crowd conduct at the men’s football Floodlit Cup semi-final against Collingwood. The moves comes after a spectator ban given to Hatfield and Castle College men’s rugby spectators just a month ago for “unacceptable behaviour”.

An email sent to all Mildert students by College Principal Tom Mole reported that “Van Mildert supporters repeatedly shouted ‘paedophile’, and sung chants referring to sexual abuse.” There have also been reports of drinks cans being thrown onto the pitch during the game. The email explained that “A University investigation will now begin into this incident, led by me with support from specialist investigators at the Student Conduct Office. We will gather statements, interview witnesses, and make recommendations.”

The University are set to put in place “additional monitoring and checks on unacceptable behaviour of spectators” for all College sports matches this term, including on excessive alcohol consumption, The incidents were initially reported by the referee for the tie to the local FA, who have begun their own disciplinary process. This is likely to result in a fine for Van Mildert Association Football Club (VMAFC), and the email to Mildert students suggested that “our college has been brought into disrepute with the sport’s governing body.”

VMAFC’s President, Robert Duffin, told Palatinate the club is “unreservedly condemns the behaviour reported by the referee”, adding, “We are fully cooperating with the FA and the Durham University investigation. We will also be sending a written apology to the referee.”

A fan told Palatinate that similar chants regarding sexual abuse and paedophilia saw the other men’s football Floodlit semi-final, between Trevelyan and John Snow, stopped on multiple occasions. The John Snow captain reportedly told the

The North East Football Writers’ Players of the Year 2020 and 2021, Beth Hepple and Sarah Robson, celebrating scoring against Watford (Durham Women FC) spectators to “stop it with anything sexual”. The University’s Pro-ViceChancellor asked college principals to send an email to students to “remind them of the kind of behaviour expected from spectators at college sports matches”.

A University spokesperson told Palatinate, “We believe everyone has the right to work, study and enjoy their leisure time in an environment that is respectful.

“We will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour like this within our University community and we will continue to take swift and decisive action where behaviour falls below the standard we would expect.”

Football

Robson bags award Durham Women’s Northern Irish international Sarah Robson has won North East Football Writers’ Women’s Player of the Year 2021.

Football

Hardy debut in Blackburn win January signing Rio Hardy scored her first goal with Durham Women in a 2-1 win against rivals Blackburn Rovers LFC on Sunday.

Cheerleading

Phoenix Cheer win championship

The combined Snow and Stephenson cheerleading squad won Durham’s College Comp to become Intercollegiate Champions.

Varsity

York win 77-40

32 Durham college teams headed to York to compete in 16 sports.

Durham highlights included wins in mixed volleyball, mixed hockey, mixed tennis, men’s football, badminton and netball.

Futsal

Ultimate Frisbee

Durham men’s futsal first team are in pole position for the second division title after beating York 12-2 on Sunday.

Durham’s Ultimate Frisbee Mixed Indoor first team placed third in Division 2 Nationals in Nottingham last weekend.

Men’s futsal one win from promotion

Mixed 1s place 3rd at Indoor Nationals