Palatinate
Durham’s student newspaper since 1948
Thursday 21st January 2021 | No. 835
Comment offers an insight into international students’ pandemic experiences
www.palatinate.org.uk | FREE
Features explore the life of a student house during lockdown
Report on SU claims its strongest critics are opposed to “protecting minority voices” Max Kendix and Martha McHardy Deputy Editor and News Editor A report commissioned by Durham Students’ Union has claimed that the students most dissatisfied with the SU are opposed to “protecting minority voices and creating spaces in which they thrive”.
85% of South and John Snow colleges privately owned
Concluding that “general trust levels [in the SU] are low” amongst students, the report found that only 26% of respondents agreed there is “room for debate and discourse at Durham SU”. Under half agreed that “students from all backgrounds are welcome” at the organisation. Finding a positive correlation in survey responses between students satisfied with the SU
and those supporting minority inclusion, the report concluded there was “minimal support” of minority voices “among students who are dissatisfied with the SU for ensuring minority voices are heard in debates”. The ‘Democracy Review’, which carried out and analysed a mass survey of Durham students as well as several focus groups, cost the SU £7,000 in a contract
campaign rules violations, and all these votes were subsequently deleted, including second and third preferences. During the election process, concerns were raised about the treatment of some candidates on social media. This prompted several representatives from a campaign supporting RON to sign a letter apologising “to Continued on page 6
10 students suspended for Covid-19 breaches Patrick Stephens News Editor
Tim Sigsworth and Luke Payne Editor-in Chief and Investigations Editor Private companies own 85% of the newly-built South and John Snow college accomodation at Mount Oswald, a Palatinate investigation has revealed. Documents available on Companies House show that Equitix, an infrastructure development firm with £6.5bn of worldwide assets, and Campus Living Villages, an Australian trust which is one of the world’s largest providers of student housing, are the ultimate owners of 63.75% and 21.25% of Mount Oswald Colleges LLP, respectively. The remaining 15% of this consortium, which exists “to finance, design, build and manage” the facilities at the site until 2071, is owned by Durham University via a holding company, Durham Mount Oswald Limited. Previously, a set of Q&As on the University’s website were available which outlined its Continued on page 4
with private consultancy firm MiraGold. It follows a £2,000 “democracy health check” last summer carried out by the same company. This democracy review comes after elections were held last February for several positions, in which 58% of total votes cast were for Re-Open Nominations (RON). The SU subsequently decided to disqualify RON for
▲ The Cathedral after snowfall in Durham last week (Imogen Usherwood)
Durham students have paid £4,288 in fines to colleges, and served a total of 531 hours of community service, after serious or repeat breaches of Covid-19 regulations last term. A further £6,300 of suspended fines were issued. 10 students were excluded “for set periods of time”, with another six facing “action restricting their access to the Wider Student Experience”. As of 20th December, the University’s Community Response Team (CRT), which patrols Durham every day in term time between 9.30 p.m. and 3.30 a.m., had visited properties 75 times. The University reported that the CRT had received “positive responses from students” around three quarters of the time while on patrol. Students saw 432 warnings issued to Colleges for low-level breaches. 186 “amber warnings” for more serious breaches were issued. Jeremy Cook, Pro-ViceChancellor (Colleges and Student Experience) at Durham University, said: “The vast Continued on page 5
Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
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Editorial
Inside 835 News pages 3-6 Comment pages 7-9 Profile pages 10-11 SciTech pages 12-14 Politics pages 15-17 Puzzles page 18 PalatiDates page 18 Sport pages 19-21
indigo
Palatinate marches on
O
ne year ago, Tom Mitchell wrote his first editorial as Palatinate’s Editor-in-Chief, and the first editorial of a new decade. The paper, he wrote, had “the entirety of the Roaring Twenties ahead of us”. “Perhaps, come 2030, a future Editor-in-Chief of Palatinate (currently still at primary school) will find themselves pompously harking back to the halcyon days of 2020 and wondering how it all changed so quickly.” With the hindsight provided by the Whimpering Twenties’ first 12 months, it is a good job Tom didn’t take a graduate job in fortune telling. Things have changed far quicker than anyone could possibly have imagined. This time last year, our Editorial Board met together every fortnight to plan our content for the next print edition, heading to The Swan for a few pints afterwards. The next weekend, we’d lay up in our office in the SU. We’d meticulously check our pages, again and again and again, well into the small hours. We’d send the pages to the printers. We’d distribute in person. We’d do it all again two weeks later. Our financial situation was secure, and coronavirus was something in China which no one really knew, or cared, very much about. 12 months on, and here we are. We don’t meet in person, only over Zoom. We lay up on our own computers. We’ve been unable to distribute in person. And to start this term, because most students
aren’t actually in Durham, we aren’t going to print.
Things have changed far quicker than anyone could possibly have imagined
Of fundamental importance is that our financial situation remains insecure, with no commitment yet from the SU to provide our usual print funds next year. In spite of this short and incredibly stressful space of time, we have achieved a hell of a lot during it: a voice for the issues that matter to you, our readers; a redesigned website; a reinvigorated social media presence; an aesthetic print edition with bespoke illustrations and photographs by Durham students; a record one million online article views, doubling our previous annual best; a fully-fundraised print budget for this academic year following its withdrawal by the SU in September; and a continued place for students to gain unrivalled experience and skills for future careers. This would not have been possible without the support of our student volunteers, our alumni, our friends – who know who they are – and you. But now is not the time to give ourselves a proverbial pat on the back. Our situation, without action, lies precariously balanced and as my two terms as Editorin-Chief commence, there is still much to be done. This term, you can expect to see
increased advertising in print and online as we look towards a dual funding model of advertisements and donations to secure a sustainable financial future. Our newly appointed advertising and financial teams will pioneer the implementation of this, while our alumni can anticipate stronger bonds between themselves and Palatinate through our soon-to-be inaugurated alumni association. If you want to support the continuation of student journalism in Durham, please consider donating to our Friends of Palatinate Appeal. However much or however little you can spare, whether on a one-off or recurring basis, we cannot tell you how much it is appreciated. Please click here. In the three weeks between New Years’ Day and today, the members of our Editorial Board each attempted to run, walk, cycle or otherwise move 83.5km to celebrate our 74th year as a print newspaper. Our Comment Editors, Cerys and Harrison, led the way for much of it, but the winners are yet to be confirmed. This edition, 835, is stacked with fantastic content and was an absolute dream to lay up thanks to the hard work of our new subediting team led by Ishita and Naomi. We’ve introduced three new sections, the first of which, a cartoon, is above this editorial, Puzzles, unsurprisingly, offers a range of conundrums for you to enjoy, and is a brilliant way to procrastinate. If you’re looking for love during
Editorial page 2 Books page 3 Features pages 4-5 Interview page 6 Stage page 7 Food & Drink pages 8-9 Music page 10 Film & TV page 11 Travel pages 12-13 Fashion page 14 Visual Arts page 15 Creative Writing page 16
Letters to the Editor Disagree with something we’ve published? Want to put your views forward on an issue? Think we’ve made a mistake?
Send us a letter at editor@ palatinate.org.uk and we will publish it in the next edition.
lockdown, PalatiDates can set you up with a Zoom blind date, provided you agree to answer questions about it and have them published! Please click here. In spite of all the challenges, it is going to be nothing short of a pleasure to steer Palatinate towards the future and follow in the footsteps of some journalistic titans. Laying up the first edition of our 74th year of print alongside Tash, my wonderful fellow Editor-in-Chief, and the rest of the Editorial Board has been an absolute pleasure. So here’s to Palatinate, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed making it. Tim Sigsworth Editor-in-Chief
Palatinate is published by Durham Students’ Union on a fortnightly basis during term and is editorially independent. All contributors and editors are full-time students at Durham University. Send letters to: Editor, Palatinate, Durham Students’ Union, Dunelm House, New Elvet, Durham, DH1 3AN. Alternatively, send an e-mail to editor@palatinate.org.uk
Palatinate Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Tash Mosheim & Tim Sigsworth editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editors Toby Donegan-Cross & Max Kendix deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editors Martha McHardy & Patrick Stephens news@palatinate.org.uk News Reporters Kiara Davies, Keziah Smith, Richard Waters, Poppy Askham, Orlando Bell, Isabel C. Davis, Josh Hurn & Jess Jones Investigations Editors Luke Payne, Heather Rydings & Katie Tobin investigations@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editors Cerys Edwards & Harrison Newsham comment@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Comment Editors Abigail Brierley & Ellie Fitzgerald-Tesh Profile Editors Will Entwistle, Isabella Green & Izzy Harris profile@palatinate.org.uk Science & Technology Editors Ewan Jones, Faye Saulsbury & Elise Garcon scitech@palatinate.org.uk Politics Editors Sophie Farmer & Aisha Sembhi politics@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Politics Editors Anna Shepherd & Lilith Foster-Collins Sport Editors Matt Styles & Luke Power sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors Ben Fleming & James Reid Indigo Editors Hugo Millard & Millicent Machell indigo@palatinate.org.uk Features Editors Elle Woods-Marshall, Immy Higgins & Aadira Parakkat features@palatinate.org.uk Creative Writing Editor Jemima Gurney creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk Stage Editors Charlie Barnett & Issy Flower stage@palatinate.org.uk Visual Arts Editors Emma Tucker & Carys Stallard visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk Books Editors Sol Noya & Millie Vickerstaff books@palatinate.org.uk Fashion Editors Emily Potts & Erin Waks fashion@palatinate.org.uk Food & Drink Editors Meghna Amin & Constance Lam food@palatinate.org.uk Travel Editors Gracie Linthwaite & Emma Johnson travel@palatinate.org.uk Film & TV Editor Madeleine Rosie Strom & Alex Rigotti film@palatinate.org.uk Music Editors Katherine Pittalis & Martha Lily Dean music@palatinate.org.uk Interview Editors Claudia Jacob & Aimee Dickinson indigo.interview@palatinate.org.uk Podcast Editors Milly Minter & Yoyo Reimann podcast@palatinate.org.uk Chief Sub Editors Ishita Srivastava & Naomi RescorlaBrown chief.sub@palatinate.org.uk Sub Editors Chloe Waugh, Isobel Tighe, Mikey Canty, RJ Batkhuu & Susie Bradley Photography Editor Mark Norton photography@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Photography Editors Beatrice Law, James Tillotson & Adeline Zhao Illustration Editors Amber Conway, Verity Laycock & Samantha Fulton illustration@palatinate.org.uk Social Media Officers Sophie Dove & Theo Burman social.media@palatinate.org.uk Finance Officer Sophie Garnett finance@palatinate.org.uk Advertising Officers Alex Cowan, Amana Moore & Kate Pesenti advertising@palatinate.org.uk
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PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
News
Durham leads research into Game of Thrones wolves Seun Twins
Joshua Hurn News Reporter
Welcome to 2021… and welcome to Lockdown Three. Whilst the world continues this battle with Covid-19, our concern for the well being of students also continues. The government has implored us to stay at home and protect the NHS as the various vaccines are rolled out. Although we can find some hope in the mass vaccination regime, the higher education sector is still mired in uncertainty. We are in a national lockdown; students have been told to stay at home, where we can. So what happens next? Well, our new normal seems to have become stranger. Staying at home means studying, revising and doing exams at home too and the toll it is taking is noticeable to say the least. I want to again thank all the student leaders and volunteers who have donated their time and energy to preserving some remanence of a positive student experience. As the unsung heroes of this pandemic, they are very rarely congratulated or even acknowledged for the work they put in. The government continues to announce disappointing U-turns and insubstantial advice from our ministers and regulators has created this limbo of anxiety. I want students to know that we as an SU have nothing and are determined to protect and support you as we weather, what seems to be, a perpetual storm. The student mental health crisis has been exacerbated by the pandemic and on principle alone, the SU must lead the charge against uncompromising private landlords and PBSA’s; advocate for a compassionate and inclusive safety net policy; and demand the University commit to accommodating students during this pandemic. It is also important to note that the Democracy Review, Culture Commission, Decolonising Durham and ‘To PG or not to PG’ are campaigns that students also care about. These campaigns have not been forgotten. As always, my DM’s and emails are always open (su.president@ durham.ac.uk) and the SU advice service is here for you. We are still on this journey but know that we are on it together. Stay safe and take care x Seun
Durham University is leading the way in analysing the DNA of the infamous dire wolves,
Durham Students’ Union President
popularised by Game of Thrones. The University is leading an international team, made up of scientists from countries such as Australia, to map the history of the animals. The team is made up of 49 scientists from nine
different countries. The research is being funded by a number of institutions, including the Marie Curie COFUND, the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council. Scientists from the University of Oxford are also aiding research. The dire wolf is one of the most famous prehistoric carnivores from what is today North America. Known scientifically as Canis dirus, meaning ’fearsome dog’, they preyed on large mammals like bison. The team suggests the dire wolves’ stark evolutionary divergence from grey wolves places them in an entirely different genus – Aenocyon dirus (‘terrible wolf’). This was first proposed by palaeontologist John Campbell Merriam over 100 years ago. Dire wolves previously inhabited North America until (Durham University)
around 13,000 years ago when they subsequently went extinct. Little is known about their evolution and the exact events around their extinction and this is something the project is hoping to uncover. The study has so far proved that the wolves split from other members of their species six million years ago and now only slightly resemble today’s wolves. This discounts previous research which hinted that they were close relatives of grey wolves today. The team sequenced the ancient DNA of five dire wolf subfossils from several states in the USA including Idaho. Many of the fossils were around 50,000 years old. Research has thus far proved that dire wolves failed to interbreed with other species of wolf, hinting that they were ill equipped to evolve fast enough to deal with changing conditions towards the end of the ice age.
Crocodile porn ‘Zoom bombing’ attack disrupts Trevs JCR meeting Poppy Askham and Max Kendix News Reporter and Deputy Editor A Trevelyan College Junior Common Room (JCR) meeting was hijacked on 17th January by two ‘zoom bombers’ who shared explicit images and made racist comments. Two individuals disrupted the college’s first virtual JCR meeting during questions for the Services Officer. The anonymous callers made racist comments, loud and disruptive noises, and used Zoom’s screen-sharing function to display pornographic images of a naked woman teasing a crocodile with her foot. The attackers were promptly removed from the Zoom call and the meeting continued. It is currently unknown whether or not the hijackers were members of Durham University. The college’s JCR Executive has launched an investigation into the incident. Trevelyan College’s JCR President Alistair Stark, JCR Chair Georgia Fordham and JCR Welfare Officer Delilah Ferry-Swainson condemned the attempt to disrupt the JCR’s democratic processes: “We are deeply sorry for any offense that this incident may have caused and for not being able to provide a safe environment for our meetings to
take place in. “Whether or not these individuals are members of the Durham community, the comments made are reflective of hostile behaviour experienced by minority groups both within the University and wider society”, they wrote in a statement. “This behaviour must be challenged and called out.” The incident comes soon after a similar ‘Zoom bombing’ attack on an LGBT+ virtual event hosted by St Mary’s College, in which
anonymous callers shouted homophobic and racist slurs at participants and shared explicit images. The college is investigating ways to prevent future attacks. “Online events are a necessity in these times and the ability for us to continue to host them in a safe way should not be disrupted”, the JCR representatives explained. James Adamson, Assistant Welfare Officer, was about to deliver a hust for Welfare Officer when the incident occurred:
(Venus Loi) “I think it was incredibly disrespectful to the candidate husting and other dedicated members of the JCR. I don’t understand what goes through someone’s head to think that that’s at all funny.” If any students have been affected in any way by this distressing incident, they are encouraged to contact Trevelyan College’s Welfare Team (trevelyan.welfare@durham. ac.uk) or attend their daily dropin sessions.
Thursday 21st January 2021| PALATINATE
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News
“Yet another example of the dangers of running the University as a for-profit institution”
Continued from front minority stake, though not the specific percentages owned by Equitix and Campus Living Villages. These were taken down upon the completion of construction and when asked by Palatinate, a University spokesperson did not explain why this had been done. The consortium constructed and has ownership of all buildings at Mount Oswald except for ‘The Hub’, a central building with recreational facilities which a Freedom of Information request submitted to the University by Palatinate showed to be under its direct ownership. Durham purchased the land at the site for an undisclosed fee in 2014 and received £20m from the consortium in 2018 for a 53-year lease. A University press release from September 2018 described how Equitix “will oversee all aspects of the development in a management services capacity” and that Campus Living Villages “will deliver the day-to-day management of the facilities”. As was suggested by their absence from the University’s staff directory, porters and cleaning staff at South and John Snow are employed by Campus Living Villages. This was confirmed by a University spokesperson when asked by Palatinate, who also emphasised that, “All staff at John Snow College and South College operate in a manner consistent with that of other Durham University Colleges.” “At Queen’s Campus, buildings occupied by John Snow College and Stephenson College were owned by Durham University,” the spokesperson noted. “Porters and cleaning staff were employed by a third party. Catering staff were employed by Durham University.” “Services provided by third parties are undertaken under an agreement, performance of which is monitored by the University to ensure consistency of provision and quality of services to students across all colleges.” Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for Decommercialise Durham, a student group seeking to limit the extent of commercialisation at Durham, stated: “In short we are furious. It comes as absolutely no surprise to us that private companies are involved in this way and it is a condemnation of the path that the University has chosen to follow.
“We are absolutely not in favour of this privatisation. It is yet another example of the dangers of running the University as a for-profit institution.” The St. Cuthbert’s Society branch of Durham Students’ Union’s Ripped Off campaign concurred, remarking that, “Students should always be the priority in their accommodation, in the same way that any resident in their own house should be the priority within their place of residence. “We worry that this will be undermined since the students’ own University is not the sole, or even majority, owner of their accommodation.” The unprecedented reliance on privatisation revealed by these findings raises questions about the financial model enabling the University’s expansion plans, the motives behind it, its implications for the Durham student experience, and whether privatisation of colleges is to become the University’s modus operandi moving forwards. As part of its ten-year ‘Estate Masterplan’, the University is seeking to “house 50-55% of students in College-affiliated accommodation”, “establish four to six new Colleges“ and increase the “proportion of nonUK students studying at Durham to 39%” – up from 22% in 2017 – by 2027. If the financial model for South and John Snow is replicated for these new colleges, any profits generated from accommodation fees will pour into the pockets of private firms for many decades to come.
The University did not answer a question from Palatinate on whether students’ accommodation fees are to be distributed among the consortium
The institutionalisation of ‘living in’ as part of the undergraduate application process means that college accommodation can ensure consistent profits for private sector stakeholders. Incorporated in November 2017, Mount Oswald Colleges LLP originally consisted of Durham University, Campus Living Villages and Interserve Developments, another infrastructure development firm. Although it still built the accommodation, Interserve was replaced as a member of the consortium by Equitix in August 2018 after its investors became
“spooked by the 50-year length of the contract [to operate the facilities] and worried about the firm getting stuck in an unprofitable position.” Equitix’s stake in the consortium, the largest of the three at 63.75%, is immediately owned by Equitix V Primary Infrastructure (Durham) LP, a holding company which, via a chain of three other UK-registered companies, is owned by Equitix Holdings Limited, also registered in the UK. Campus Living Villages’ 21.5% slice of the consortium is registered to a company called Campus Living Villages (Durham) Member UK Limited, the ultimate parent company of which is Campus Living Trust UK – an Australian-registered trust which is the ultimate owner of all of Campus Living Villages’ UK businesses. Thus far, the consortium’s operations have been predominantly financed by a £90.2m index-linked bonds loan from The Prudential Assurance Company which is due on 29 February 2064. This accounts for all of the long-term liabilities listed in Mount Oswald Colleges LLP’s 2018-19 accounts. Despite its stake in the consortium only being 15%, Durham University is supposedly a minority member in name only. The same accounts declare that “in the Designated Members’ opinion there is no ultimate controlling party”, and the University remains the owner of the leased land on which the accommodation is built. In its statement to Palatinate, a spokesperson for the University sought to stress that, “Student representatives, including JCR Presidents and Durham Students’ Union Presidents, have been fully involved throughout the project, including at the competitive tender, planning and construction phases. “Students and their representatives continue to be fully involved in the life and operation of John Snow College and South College.” However, these points do not discount any potential implications pertaining to the level of control the University has over two of its colleges as a result of the lease’s considerable length and their ownership by a consortium in which the University has only a minority share.The highly geared financing model used to fund the construction of the colleges, moreover, suggests that the
University is not in the position to fund its plans to build new colleges on its own. In its response to Palatinate’s investigation, Durham University did not rule out replicating the financial model used as part of the Mount Oswald development in future projects, with its spokesperson saying, “Existing College refurbishments and maintenance programmes are funded by Durham University. No final commercial decisions regarding possible future College developments have yet been taken.”
Durham did not rule out replicating the financial model used as part of the Mount Oswald development in future projects
Likewise, a spokesperson for Campus Living Villages stated that the company “would always consider new student accommodation projects with our partner institutions.” Equitix did not respond to Palatinate’s request for comment. Importantly, the entrance of private capital into the naturally monopolistic market of college accommodation risks the subordination of students’ interests to those of profit and loss. This is the concern of Decommercialise Durham, who commented, “Simply put, the unique Durham experience is at
(Sophie Draper) risk. “Not only this, but many students already struggle to pay their comparatively high accommodation fees. We would want to know if any of students’ fees have been given to these private companies and, if so, what benefits the students receive for this money and why the University feels it is acceptable to hide this from the student body. “We pay for high quality accommodation and a supportive community, not to subsidise a private company.” The University did not answer a question from Palatinate on whether, and how much of, students’ accommodation fees have been, or are to be, distributed between the consortium’s members. A spokesperson for Cuth’s Ripped Off concluded by saying: “As an ultimate end, Ripped Off sees this as a move further into a profit-motivated university experience and life which ultimately hinder attempts to lower already extortionate accommodation fees. “These high accommodation fees are something we see as detrimental to not only the student experience, but we know to be detrimental to individuals within colleges and the wider local community. “Which is why we work and will continue to work to lower these accommodation costs to make them affordable and fairer, something we cannot see these private companies wanting to move towards.”
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
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News
Durham achieves top Eurocampus award, admits further action is needed Richard Waters News Reporter Durham University has achieved the highest ‘Platinum’ award in the EcoCampus scheme for the first time. It has, however, pledged to work with the Carbon Trust to go further in creating a sustainable campus. EcoCampus is a scheme that helps universities to manage their environmental impacts. Having enrolled in early 2020, Durham University has taken just a year to gain their platinum certification. The University uses energy from a mixture of sustainable sources on-campus, including solar panels and ground-source heat pumps, and electricity generated through off-shore wind farms. Gas for heating, however, still comes from conventional sources. Crucially, the University has stopped investing in fossil fuel extraction. This follows wider moves in UK Universities to divest from fossil fuel, with Cambridge
announcing in 2020 that direct and indirect investments in fossil fuels would end by 2030. Staff and students can bid for University funding for projects that reduce CO2. These initiatives have received £670,000 since 2011 and cut 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. David Loudon, Director of Estates and Facilities said: “Durham is a beautiful place to live, work and study and we’re working hard to keep it that way. So we’re very proud to have achieved the top Platinum award for EcoCampus”.
leading UK universities - inlcuding Cambridge and Newcastle – in setting net-zero CO2 emissions targets. Their future plan instead includes cutting single-use plastics and delivering a new
Sustainable Travel Plan. On-campus sustainability initiatives are complemented by Durham’s research. In May 2020, the University was named among the world’s top universities for
“Durham is a beautiful place to live, work and study and we’re working hard to keep it that way”
Durham University has pledged to work with the Carbon Trust to go further. Business travel, for example, is still the third largest source of C02 emissions from the University, making up 12% of total emissions. Durham University has not joined other
College bar revenues plummet as lockdown bites
Luke Payne Investigations Editor College bars across Durham City counted the cost of lockdown last year as revenues fell by over £500,000 compared with the last academic year and year-on-year profits fell by £60,000. All college bars closed as a result of government Covid-19 restrictions from March 2020 for the remainder of the 2019/20 academic year. Amongst the worst hit was University College’s bar, The Undie, who’s revenue fell by £126,500 compared with the previous academic year. Profits were badly hit at St. Cuthbert’s Society bar, which went from a profit of £12,000 to a loss of over £13,000. Josephine Butler, St Mary’s and Trevelyan College bars also saw substantial drops in profitability. A few colleges have bucked the trend, most notably Hild Bede College bar, which went from a £12,500 loss to a £8,000 profit. Grey College bar’s revenues appear to have been barely affected by the lockdown. Ustinov bar’s losses fell by
its contribution to a number of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. (Durham University)
£22,000 between 2018/19 and 2019/20 but the bar has been haemorrhaging money, having lost over £150,000 over the past two years. College bars in more usual times served as a communal gathering point at the heart of college social life. The distinct character of each bar not only earned the endearment of each college’s students but also attracted crowds from other
colleges partaking in the everpopular bar crawls. Easter Term played host to many balls and college days that coincided with the end of examinations and considerably boosted bar revenues. But the exodus of students and the implementation of the first lockdown restrictions prevented this last academic year. Government restrictions in the wake of the first wave of Covid-19
resulted in the closure of almost all hospitality venues across the UK. Sales from pubs and bars across the UK fell by £53.2bn in the 12 months to September 2020 compared with the previous year according to a report by UK Hospitality and CGA. This substantial loss of income has resulted in concerns for the future of many hospitality venues. (Beatrice Law)
Colleges use Covid-19 fines for good causes Continued from front majority of students have continued to respond to Covid-19 restrictions as responsible citizens. “However, where behaviour falls below the standard we would expect, we have clearly outlined to students, staff and the wider community that we will take swift and decisive action. “We have introduced the Managing Covid-19 Breaches Procedure, which uses a graded ‘yellow, amber, red’ response system in line with our NonAcademic Misconduct Procedure. Fines of between £100 and £500 have been made available to Colleges as sanctions for breaches graded ‘amber’. “We have monitored all sanctions issued across all the Colleges for breaches both in College and out in the wider community throughout Term 1 and this will continue. “Funds collected through fines are used to benefit good causes as determined by individual Colleges.”
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Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
News
Assembly panned by SU democracy review
Continued from front everyone that has been made to feel unsafe and received abuse” as a result of the campaign. The report suggests that the SU should “take comfort” that only a minority of respondents to their survey disagreed with minority inclusion. Around 5% disagreed that measures should be taken “to ensure that minority voices are heard in debates”, with the same proportion agreeing that “political institutions should make an effort to include people from a wide variety of backgrounds when they make a decision”. Yash Raju, Durham People of Colour Association (DPOCA) Vice-President, told Palatinate that the SU’s conclusions were “unsurprising, especially given the events of last year’s election and the conduct that was displayed by certain opponents of the SU.
“Obviously not to paint with broad strokes, but it’s clear that minority inclusion and safety was sacrificed for the sake of supposedly making a point about democracy.” One student involved in the review took issue with the interpretation offered by the report, telling Palatinate: “while the data shows there was a fairly significant correlation between people who opposed minority spaces and voting RON, the reverse is not true; not all RON voters can be represented by this considering how many people said they did support minority spaces and voices in the SU”. Around 40% of respondents chose to provide written feedback during the survey. According to the report, the majority of responses “were extremely negative experiences based on the disqualification of RON”, often raising concerns that the voting system used for the election “was not properly utilised when RON
was eliminated”. Some expressed a “general lack of trust in anyone connected to the SU”, with others writing “strongly worded responses calling for the de-funding of the organisation”. A few students believed the RON campaign to be “intrinsically racist”. The report also found that “respondents who identified most strongly with their JCRs were more likely to support the protection of minority voices”, which it noted was as a positive step SU Assembly, the central student representative body, is strongly criticised in the report: “The dysfunction of Assembly is one of the reasons people feel so disconnected from the SU’s democracy [...] its value is limited by a lack of understanding of its structure. In a statement published on Durham SU’s website, Opportunities Officer, Anna Marshall outlined some
Online only versus in-person: how subjects compare Patrick Stephens News Editor An investigation by Palatinate has revealed the differences between departments in terms of the proportion of undergraduate students selecting “online only”. Students were able to request that their teaching be entirely online for Michaelmas Term. Covid-19 restrictions have made it difficult for some international students to enter or leave the UK, while other students may be shielding with relatives or concerned about safety at university.
The Business School had the highest proportion of students opting for online only. 57% of Accounting students have done so, with 49% for Management and Marketing and 32% for Economics and Finance.
3% of Geography and Engineering students studied online only
The Faculty of Social Sciences and Health had the largest disparity. 41% of students in the Education department have opted to study entirely online. In contrast, 19% of law students have opted to study online, while
only 3% of Geography students have done so. There is significant variation between the sciences, with 16% of Computer Science students compared to only 4% for Chemistry and Earth Sciences, and 3% for Engineering. There is also significant discrepancy between colleges. Most colleges had roughly 15% of students studying online only. South and Collingwood Colleges have the lowest proportion of students online, with 9%. John Snow and George Stephenson Colleges have the highest percentage, with 19% and 18% respectively.
(Milly Wang)
proposals from the democracy review, including creating a “less binary voting system”, and formalising the role of students leaders within the SU, including Association Presidents and Chair of JCR President’s Committee. The statement makes no reference to last year’s SU elections. Other suggestions from the report include a “complete
overhaul of the communications strategy”, a “direct democracy model” and radical changes to Assembly. There are not expected to be significant changes before fresh student elections in late February. The nominations for the sabbatical officer roles, as well as SU trustees, are now open. (Amana Moore)
News Online
Will Durham be implementing a ‘no detriment’ policy this year?
Amazon takes down Durham students’ theses being sold online
Durham UCU votes against strike action over in-person teaching
Durham researchers lead report calling on universities to be ‘bolder in their use of contextual data’
UKRI announce second round of extensions for PhD students
Parish Council warns of increased police presence if students break lockdown
From top right clockwise: Katie Tobin, Maddie Flisher, Beatrice Law, Mark Norton, Tim Packer, Amana Moore
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
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Comment
Being international during the pandemic Sol Noya Carreno If being a university student during Covid-19 has been anxiety-inducing, making one feel alternately forgotten and scapegoated, being an international student has been even worse. Upon going some way to finding a solution that seemingly works for British students, it feels like the University and Government see it as if the problem has been solved for everyone. For context, the logistics of a trip home for me, in precedented times, are usually something like this: at the beginning of each academic year, I confirm the dates when term begins and ends and choose travel dates. I observe ticket prices and, usually about six to nine weeks before I have to fly, I buy a ticket. However, when regulations change so often and
Though the postal service is being offered to home students, international students can’t get books posted to our addresses. Add to this the cost of houses in Durham that we are told not to return to, where most of my belongings and resources are. Furthermore, with a five-hour time difference, I can only access
half of my lecturers’ working days. This is mild compared to fellow students whose time differences can be even worse – at least I get to work in the morning, even if some of my seminars are at 4 or 5 a.m. As far as I can remember, the time difference issue has only been explicitly addressed by the University in terms of online exams and recording lectures. While it’s good that we get a 24hour window, a noon-to-noon window is arguably better and easier to make use of than a 5 a.m. to 5 a.m. one. I would be remiss not to talk about the impact that coronavirus has had on my, and fellow international students’, mental health. Being stuck in a different time zone than most of your friends is a profoundly isolating experience – even if they’re locked down in Durham, they can go for a run together, and they’ll be able to see each other when lockdowns are lifted. Looking
for a job or an MA from outside England with no clarity on when I can return is profoundly stressful, more so when I take into account the need for a visa if I am to stay. To get a graduate visa to remain in the UK, I have to be back by 6th April before the advised return date. Considering a return to the UK, though, is deciding whether it is worth making the trip back if it means being locked down, potentially by yourself, and far away from family with no certainty of when you may return. I know handling a pandemic is incredibly difficult. I have no intention of dismissing the work that has been done to address students’ concerns. But I do wish to express the profound neglect that international students have felt, and continue to feel, throughout this pandemic. Our particular concerns are rarely mentioned, let alone addressed. I hope the rest of 2021 marks a change on this.
The Thursday-night theatrics have clearly irked the nerves of Keir Starmer who tweeted, “clapping isn’t enough. They need to be paid properly and given the respect they deserve.” His deputy, Angela Rayner, evidently has even less faith in the mental calibre of her opposition, opting for the more caveman-esque “Claps = good. Pay rise = better.” ‘Dishy Rishi’ has stepped up, rewarding over a million NHS staff with a salary rise, despite
all-encompassing public sector pay freezes. Yet this is where the Chancellor’s magic mula tree stops giving, and healthcare workers rightfully feel shortchanged. Ultimately, the nation’s round of applause is not the real issue at hand. It opens doors for dialogue and debate, and the baton is now in our hands to wring Westminster into action. As asinine anti-vaxxers proliferate prosaic misinformation, it is
increasingly important for us to take pride in our NHS, and a weekly whoop for its workers does next to no harm. A winter lockdown is a harbinger of much doom and gloom. A weekly chat with your elderly neighbour may be the only social contact she has all week. At a time when Britain is dismally divided on most topics, remaining unanimously united in one is worth its weight in gold. (Amber Conway)
become ever more confusing, and when the University’s decisions are communicated to us with extremely short notice, it makes this process all but impossible. We were told, over and over, that we would be okay if we went home for Christmas. I scrambled to obtain a flight during the travel window, and I was lucky enough to find a seat. I booked a round trip, as did most of the international students I know who went home as this significantly saves money and time. Four days before term began, we received an email stating that all teaching would go online for Epiphany and to stay where we were. I have never met an international student who books their flights four days or less before term begins. Additionally, there’s the cost of flying in terms of feeling anxious about the risk it poses to those we may come into contact with and to ourselves. International students also pay twice the amount of university
fees that UK students do, usually with less access to loans or financial aid. Those studying labbased subjects pay over £20,000 a year for tuition alone. When expected to study from outside of the UK, we are arguably paying double the fees for even less of what UK students get in return. The average broadband speed in Peru, where I’m from, is significantly lower than the UK’s. With a lack of digitised resources, international students have few options to access Durham’s library resources.
volunteers to heroic homeschoolers. This will come as welcome news to my uncle who has bizarrely been entrusted with the tuition of my youngest cousin this month, despite boasting a grand total of one GCSE. The pandemic has meant tough decisions for Boris Johnson – the most difficult, I’m sure, being his resolution that the NHS should be rewarded for their last 72 years of service with a good old round of applause. Criticism has been cutting: healthcare workers and the public make accusations of patronising performance and vacuous virtue signalling. The country’s cheers had undoubtedly political undertones from the start. Whilst clapping at Kensington allowed a gratifying glimpse of the Cambridge clan, the assembly of camera crews outside Downing Street has raised not only eyebrows but also a crucial question: is “Clap for Carers” no more than a sentimental display of amateur dramatics, designed to distract us from the thornier heart of the problem? In stark comparison with the UK’s 2020 median full-time salary of £31,461, the sub-£20,000 wage for an NHS nurse is measly, and a weekly ovation seems unlikely to rectify this wrong. Upon news of the rebrand, Twitter has ruptured, with incensed users boycotting the applause to share the hashtag “ThunderclapForCarers”.
Forgotten and scapegoated
Clap for Heroes fosters unity in divided times Charlotte Way Whilst 2020 witnessed the world disintegrate into distancing and dread, the pandemic proved to be peculiarised by paradox, and the weekly “Clap for Carers” soon emerged as the epitome of community spirit. From 26th March, the nation’s salute for the NHS saw my street at home unite with a cacophony of pots and pans – ironically the most contact we’ve had with our next-door neighbour since my father ran over her cat back in 2007. Ten months down the line, we find ourselves once again hollering for our healthcare workers: a now quasi-religious ritual for which we have only to thank “Clap for Carers” founder, Annemarie Plas. I can’t help but notice the irony that it took the get-up-and-go of a Dutch national to bolster the Brits into beating the drum for our beloved NHS. In true ‘New year, new me’ style, the celebratory clap has returned this January revamped, with the aim of recouping that quintessentially British esprit de corps. Morale boosts are all in the marketing. The newly named “Clap for Heroes” claims to celebrate all coronavirus champions, from valiant
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Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
Comment
The unreported crisis of unreported news Joseph Lorenzo
What makes something ‘newsworthy’? And what happens when you’ve got too much ‘newsworthy’ news? Since the Covid-19 crisis began dominating our screens and news feeds, editors have been struggling to contend with the answers to these questions. It’s New Year’s Day 2020: the new decade brings with it fresh beginnings and possibilities. Regardless of which side of the debate you were on, Brexit looks like it’s getting done, and Boris Johnson has just tweeted that 2020 “is going to be a fantastic year for Britain”! Flash forward to less than three months later, and I’m sitting in my bedroom alone reminiscing about the divisions and drama of the Brexit years, which now seem more comforting compared to what we have now. But there has to be something said of this – the fact that all we hear, read and watch is now ostensibly dominated by Covid-19. I can’t even walk my own dog without being infiltrated by chat from joggers concerning the latest tier we’ve been put into, or by gossip at the park café about the freshest vaccination distribution strategy we’ll be undertaking. Indeed, at the time of writing, only six of the last 20 Palatinate Comment articles manage without mention of the pandemic. “Just bring back
Brexit,” I think to myself, “at least I could sit on a bench back then.” Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the pandemic is, of course, a news story of intense public relevance and that it is imperative to ensure people are up to date with the latest goings-on – but has this begun to overbear our newsfeeds just a bit too much? Stories that, in otherwise ‘normal’ times, would be of real consequence just can’t survive in a news environment intent on capturing every new coronavirus development and analysing every word Boris says at his press conference lectern. After all, it took the genuine likelihood of a no-deal Brexit, as well as an actual full-blown attempted coup in America, to knock Covid-19 off the front page. There are undoubtedly important stories being neglected in lieu of the current crisis. And yes, it is important to ensure the general public is fully informed about the latest restrictions and that broadcasters and broadsheets alike dispel any vaccine misinformation; however, covering the pandemic absolutely prevents other pressing issues from being given their own spotlight.
which people make their own political judgments and choices. But this also isn’t a new problem suddenly exposed by the pandemic. Every day editors and reporters have to decide what is newsworthy and what is not. In some ways, this is the fundamental flaw of journalism – by selecting what you cover, you are setting an agenda, and playing an essential role in initiating topics for the public to talk about, suffocating others as you do so. Indeed, the news agenda is a deeply powerful political tool. It’s become a tool, however, that politicians now realise they can manipulate for their own
advantage. In 2008, Vladimir Putin patiently waited until the world concentrated its attention on the Beijing Olympics to launch a military intervention into disputed regions of Georgia. Six years later, this time during the Sochi Olympics, Putin intervened in Crimea. Likewise, the entire Trump administration appears more like a master class in distraction with the sheer number of scandals emanating from the President seemingly serving only to confuse and befuddle the average onlooker. Note as well how more bombs were dropped by America on Kosovo on the day of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre
than on any other day during that conflict. What news is covered, therefore, is of vital importance. Politicians know that, with calculated timing, they can avoid intense scrutiny and escape condemnation. In this way, news coverage seems closer to being an art form than an exact science. Deciding what warrants additional coverage is an inherently subjective process and there are very few, if any, effective solutions. The decline in local news outlets certainly doesn’t help. However, this may also be an issue that all of us now have to take responsibility for and combat ourselves. (Thomas Charters via Unsplash)
The news agenda is a deeply powerful tool
What news stories an editor chooses to publish undoubtedly primes certain issues over others. And this plays an instrumental role in setting the conditions by
HIV and blood donors: science or discrimination? Krystian Jonski On 3rd November 2020, Public Health England released its statistics for HIV diagnoses in 2019. It showed that, among the men who have sex with men – MSM – community, there were around 1,700 new detections, compared to 1,600 among heterosexuals. Not only are rates at their lowest since 2000, but it’s the first time the numbers have been so close to each other. This is great news, but it begs a question. If these figures are so similar, then why do MSM have to wait three months to donate blood from the last time they had anal sex when heterosexuals don’t? It is hard not to feel discriminated against when, cup of tea in hand, you mull over this data. You can be in a monogamous, HIV-negative, relationship but still forbidden from donating based on falling
under a far too generalised MSM umbrella. The rules laid out are obviously not dictated solely by the stats, but by the people who so meticulously number crunch over them. I struggle to accept that lurking somewhere in the decision making isn’t the, at the very least subconscious, prejudice from an epidemical past we have long since made leaps and strides away from
It is hard not to feel discriminated against
The 80s saw the inception of the HIV/AIDS epidemic at a time when safe sex wasn’t as widely practiced, let alone taught. The initial predominance of HIV/ AIDS within the gay community provided the world with a perfectly unwitting minority scapegoat, where terms like ‘GRID’ and ‘gay cancer’ are still fresh wounds among those who were alive at the time. In 2016, the numbers of MSM
against heterosexual people testing positive for HIV was 2810 versus 2354, yet MSM still had to wait a whole year from last having sex before being able to donate. Simply because the numbers may have turned a leaf for the new millennium does not mean that the harmful misgivings followed suit. Beside a probing pre-donation questionnaire, all blood donations have samples sent for computer analysis – better not to put your recipient’s life in the hands of the first-time donor who thinks they are O- after asking their mum ten years back. These tests happen to screen for a petri dish selection of blood transmissible diseases, and a HIV detection – which is at minimum 99.8% accurate – at this stage leads to the prevention of a possible contamination catastrophe. Surely if these methods are so rigorous, we shouldn’t have to worry about anyone donating and the rules are conclusively discriminatory. As fanciful an
idea as this may be, it transpires that from the time of infection, HIV can take up to 12 weeks to be detectable in the blood. A threemonth waiting period from last having sex no longer seems a remotely far-fetched idea, quite the opposite, but it doesn’t begin to explain why before 2017 MSM had to wait four times that long.
HIV can take up to 12 weeks to be detectable
Perhaps the final piece of the puzzle lies in HIV transmission rates by route. In blood transfusions this is at a huge 90%, whereas receptive anal lies at 0.5% and 0.1% for vaginal. I can neither believe nor reasonably see a scientific explanation as to why only MSM are targeted by the three-month rule, when heterosexual people are also more than capable of performing anal sex. However, an end is in sight. From this summer, donations
are going to finally stop being catered to broad brush stroke demographics and instead toward the individual; rather than being prodded for your orientation, you will simply be asked if you participate in anal. Further, providing you’re in a minimum of three months monogamous relationship, you will be able to donate regardless of the sex you are having. This may not absolve the past decade’s inconsistent and often anger-inducing rules, but it’s important to welcome positive change. Not being able to answer the call that the country needs more blood, while understanding that you are safe and capable of doing so, may have been a disheartening journey, but the destination to a far more equal and destigmatising set of rules is finally in sight. GOT AN IDEA FOR AN OPINION PIECE?
Send your thoughts to comment@palatinate.org.uk
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
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Comment
Debate: is it justified to return to Durham? For: students are still paying but have recieved almost nothing William Costley Over the Christmas break, the government told students to remain at home until at least mid-February, despite offering no financial support for paying rent and student loans, and not offering to reduce university fees despite a significant reduction in the quality and quantity of our overall education. With regards to forming trust and establishing a robust level of support with a group of the population that do not receive any major income, the government’s demand that students remain at home during the latest lockdown appears to be extremely unfair and out of touch.
The fact there is little financial support for students makes it hard for politicians to expect them to remain at home whilst paying rent for a property they have been told not to go back to. Whilst receiving no indication something will change regarding university fees, students are expected to carry on as if this was a regular academic year. We are meant to behave as if we aren’t listening to pre-recorded lectures. We are meant to accept that Zoom calls are a satisfactory substitute for face to face contact hours. We are expected to sit by and watch much of the working population receive 80% of their salary for hours not worked whilst we continue to pay the same amount for access to a library we cannot study in.
It is understandable why our university experience is the way it currently is; that all our learning must move online and we must limit our presence on campus. However, what is not understandable is why students are expected to carry on paying the same charges for services and accommodation we no longer have the same access to. Therefore, it is not wrong if a student decides to return to University during the current lockdown. The University library remains open and accessible to students already in Durham, yet students who are not there have no way of accessing content unavailable online. Students may find it better studying and working at their term-time accommodation or in library
spaces. Since this will not be the case for most, there will be an inevitable disparity of academic results between a vast array of students. Despite promises of a safety net for all students, there has been little detail on this from the University.
The well-being and future of students is a non-issue
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that hindsight is no longer a benefit, nor an excuse. Those in charge have had a long time to prepare for every contingency possible. The University and government have not provided any financial relief to help students manage the costs
of staying home this term; and I haven’t even mentioned the costs to mental health. A few ideas to assist us spring to mind. Perhaps writing off the repayment of this year’s fees? If people are already using their maintenance grants to pay for accommodation we are told not to go back to, then what is stopping the government from waiving those payments? The fact there isn’t even a drop in the interest rate on loans, despite drops in the national interest rate, is a telling sign. The well-being and future of students is a nonissue, our small burden to bare, as long as they get their money. With such dire support students already have, they cannot be blamed for wanting to go back somewhere they can at least gain something positive from.
Against: with help from our landlords, students shouldn’t return Anonymous
It’s never a good start to the month when, upon opening your online banking, you find yourself kneedeep into your overdraft. Already. Cue a strange mixture of dread and anger, hardened only by the mocking ‘STURENTS’ transaction reference – like an impudent thief leaving a note chastising you for your foolishness. I’m sure I’m not alone in such a scenario which, this term, has gained a resonance of an altogether different sort. Now banned from returning to Durham by the University and national lockdown restrictions, it appears most of us will be paying rent for houses we will not be returning to until April. Except this doesn’t seem to be the case at all. From what my limited attempt at sleuthing has uncovered, an alarming number of students are unperturbed by current restrictions and have instead returned to their privately rented accommodation. In the majority of cases, this is irresponsible and needlessly reckless. To put it crudely, those returning can be split into two groups: those for whom going back is a necessity, and those who have returned by choice. Students may fall into the former category for any number of reasons, perhaps the most common of which is the allure of improved working conditions. Where this is a genuine concern, for instance where a student’s home address has no wifi connection, returning
to private housing is acceptable; quality of online education must not be dependent upon socio-economic circumstance. However, this is entirely separate to the latter category. If it is insistent upon preventing students’ return, the University must do more to support our online learning. The free postal loans service for finalists is a great start, but provisions for first and second years (as well as international students) is severely lacking. Arguably the main reason compelling us to return is rent. After accommodation fees
were scrapped for those living in colleges, we are left with an almost anomalous circumstance: two sets of students, separated in most instances by only a year, being treated entirely separately – and with great personal cost. This is where student housing proprietors must exercise some responsibility. If rent fees for those in private accommodation are waived for this term, students will not return to Durham. It is not a complex situation. Yes, landlords may be out of pocket for a few months – but aren’t we all a little worse off after the pandemic? Surely this is a
necessary measure to protect the local community while softening the usually sour relationship between students and estate agents? It was heartening to see City of Durham MP Mary Foy expressing this concern in an open letter to both PurposeBuild Student Accommodation providers and landlords, as well as with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson in the Commons. I am hopeful such an agreement will be reached, but my personal experience of the Durham student property scene offers only grim predictions. In the absence of clear
decision-making, we students must instead set the standard of behaviour. Let’s face it: we’ve all broken lockdown rules, whether that’s forgetting to wear a mask or standing too close to the person ahead in the queue for Market Square Tesco. But actively travelling (in most cases) across the country to return to Durham simply isn’t justified. Writing in The Sunday Times two weeks ago, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty stated that public behaviour hasn’t changed as necessary to halt the spread of the new variant. It seems this message is particularly pertinent for students and young people. Perhaps, as members of a demographic less susceptible to the worst effects of the virus, we can afford such a nonchalant and dis missive approachto restrictions. However, each unnecessary breach of regulations equates to thousands of infections when multiplied across the country. We need to accept our collective responsibility in the national effort to control the virus. Even just typing that sentence makes me feel like a lame parody of one of Boris’ press conferences. But the simple fact is that the fewer of us who return to Durham, the lower the induced infection rate and the quicker we can get back to whatever ‘normal’ will be. While I’m confident most of us will adhere to this sentiment, it would appear only fair if private landlords and accomodation providers shoulder an equitable share of the financial burden.
(Samantha Fulton)
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Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
Profile
“Social mobility is both a personal and professional passion” Lee Elliot Major OBE on how universities could be doing more to combat inequalities
(Lee Elliot Major) Isabella Green Profile Editor Lee Elliot Major is a Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, the first of his field in Britain – and possibly the world. In his published works, Major highlights class inequalities and their impact on young people’s education; Major’s most recent book, What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Social Mobility?, discusses the Covid-19 pandemic and how it is making social divides even more distinct. Major was born into a West London working-class family and was the first to go to university. He explains that, for him, “social mobility is both a personal and professional passion.” One of the things driving Major is the knowledge that in the current day “someone from my sort of background probably would find it even harder to get on in life than I did a generation ago.” “If you looked at me when I was age 15, I would have been a statistic that would convince you that my prospects were not very good. I was living on my own. My mum and dad had split up, I had essentially dropped out of school. I flunked my exams and had to go back and retake my A-levels.” Major reflects on what helped
him recover from that position. “For me personally, education was transformative. I think it was certain people in my life that encouraged me and gave me support. At all of those junctions in your life, if you have someone who believes in you and supports you, I think you’ve got a chance. The problem is that many young, talented people fall by the wayside at those key transition points. And if you don’t progress at those points then that can put your life back quite a lot.” “If you’re living in a house with cramped conditions, no internet, possibly with people disrupting you – that’s hard. For me, that was really difficult. When I was that age, I didn’t have a stable home. Stability is really important at that age.”
“Even then, in the early 90s, we were talking about those issues”
As a self-confessed “eternal student”, Major went on to do a PhD in theoretical physics and a Master’s in journalism, before moving to London to work as an education journalist. He jokes, “In those days, you could just about get a flat in London by doing freelance jobs and you could just about get a job in journalism if
you didn’t know anyone in that world. Now, it’s just much harder for someone like me.” In Major’s work as an education journalist, he found that the issue of social mobility was pervasive, although “the term wasn’t even used at that point. It was really about social equity and class gaps. I did loads of reports about the lack of access to prestigious institutions. Even then, in the early 90s, we were talking about those issues.” Major explains how this enabled him to transition back into academia. “There was always a bit of me that wanted to go into these issues in more depth and that’s when this post – Professor of Social Mobility – came up. We think I’m the first in the world. What I’ve found is that the subject of social mobility and the demand for my expertise has gone up exponentially over the last couple of years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, because we’ve done a lot of research around widening inequalities. It’s a topic that will probably become even more mainstream over the next few years.” Arguably one of the defining moments of 2020 for many young people was A-Level results day, in which students were awarded a grade determined by an algorithm based on a school’s expected performance. Although this decision was soon reversed and replaced with teacher predicted grades, the initial chaos ultimately brought issues of social inequality and educational access to light. Major describes a session in parliament for the House of Commons Education Committee before results day: “The thing that I was pushing for was clarity as soon as possible. It was all a bit of a mess really. Because I’m a professor of sociology, my angle is always: how is this fair for people from disadvantaged backgrounds? I’m not sure if those questions were asked as much as they could have been. To be fair to the government and schools, all of this was unprecedented. We were all having to improvise to some extent – but my view was that we needed clarity much earlier on. And that’s the same message that I’m giving out at the moment for next year’s exams. I’m proposing a few things that the government has at least acknowledged.” One of Major’s suggestions is that exam boards could flag students who have suffered
particularly extreme learning loss because of the pandemic. “There might be some sort of asterisk or star alongside your A-level grade. This would be for a minority of cases where the teachers felt that the candidate had suffered a significant learning loss during the year. The education secretary acknowledged that proposal and said that they were looking into it. It’s good as an expert when you propose something and it actually sticks!” He points out, however, that teacher assessments are not much fairer to working-class students than the algorithm. “Teachers – for all their good intentions – are more likely to under-predict those students from poorer backgrounds, particularly when you look at A-levels. Among higher preforming students, you consistently see this underprediction for students from poorer backgrounds.” Major adds, “I hope this summer will not be the debacle of last summer. I worry particularly about the current A-level students, because they’re the ones who suffered huge learning loss. In many ways, last year’s students just caught the beginning of the pandemic. For this group coming through, it’s even more challenging.”
“I hope this summer will not be the debacle of last summer”
Last year, Durham University faced criticism after a number of incidents recorded exposed a culture of social exclusion among its students. Major argues that, while the debates around university access are really important, equally as important “is what happens to students when they’re at the university. What support are we providing both pastorally and academically for students from all backgrounds? And I think that’s going to become a big issue for universities over the years as we see the Covid generation coming through. We’re going to need to give them more support on campus. I’m not sure if some of the more prestigious universities are as geared up for that as they could be.” Major admits that he doesn’t know many university programmes aimed at combatting social exclusion of which he could confidently say, ‘Yes, every
university should be doing this.’ “All I can say is that there is increasing evidence that if you don’t come from a certain background in places like Durham, Exeter, and other prestigious universities then you can feel excluded in all sorts of ways. That’s as important for the clubs, the societies, and the social environment as the academic environment. I know that universities do think about this but they could do much more to make everything that we do inclusive, like how we do our lectures; with the blended approach that many universities are developing because of Covid, we need to think about how we can utilise that to ensure that no one is left behind because of their background.” “I think institutions need to look at themselves from a social mobility perspective. It’s also about the diversity of the workforce and who you employ and the culture of the organisations. It’s not just about enrolling a few more workingclass students – it’s how we look at the culture of our institution and making sure our own employees are from a diverse range of backgrounds. It has to be a full approach.” Major is careful to add a caveat to this, acknowledging that universities can only do so much: “I do think that highly selective universities can be more radical but you have to put it into context. Inequalities outside the education system are growing. If you’re serious about social mobility, as a politician, you have to address those profound inequalities in society. Official access targets for highly selective institutions like Durham are incredibly ambitious – they’re trying to get the institutions to reflect the bounds of society more generally. I did a report on this and we found that on current progress rates it will take at least 100 years to get to a student population that reflects wider society. You need to address inequalities outside of the education system first.” What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Social Mobility? by Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin is available for purchase. To read the full interview, visit our website at palatinate.org.uk
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
11
Profile
“You literally have the entire universe to talk about” Profile speaks to astrophysisicist Dr Becky Smethurst about YouTube, research and science communication
Izzy Harris Profile Editor Dr Becky Smethurst is an Oxford Astrophysicist, star of the Dr Becky YouTube Channel, author and Durham Alumna. Her research focuses on the coevolution of galaxies with their black holes and on YouTube she talks more generally about physics and being a scientist. Becky spoke with Profile after her appearance on the Christmas special of University challenge where she competed as part of the Durham team. Speaking to Becky over zoom, it quickly became apparent that she was the most enthusiastic astrophysicist I have ever met (although admittedly there is not a long list). She also displays this enthusiasm in the 120 videos on her channel. Explaining where this comes from, she says, “I was just one of those kids who always wanted space books and telescopes for Christmas. I’ve never got tired of talking about it to anybody that was really interested in it as well. There is so much to talk about. You literally have the entire universe to talk about – there’s so much out there.”
“It’s nice to talk about exoplanets for a while”
Becky explains how her channel helps her as a researcher, “with research you focus on one very specific thing and you can get very bogged down in that. I study how black holes grow and that’s all I think about all-day everyday, it’s nice to then talk about exoplanets for a while or, to say ‘let’s talk about Saturn or how the universe will end.’ It’s a bit different and fun as well.” Becky first contributed to a YouTube channel whilst working at the University of Nottingham. She enjoyed this so much that she set up her own channel when she moved to Oxford. She describes it as a creative outlet. The peoples’ reactions is what keeps her going, especially when people comment that they have been inspired to pursue scientific study. She thinks this impact is very important and feels a sense of responsibility to the public as a researcher. “You are funded by taxpayers to do this research, so giving back to taxpayers by explaining what you are doing is obviously so important.” The Dr Becky channel helps her to achieve this openness in science, with a subscribed audience of
191,000 interested in her videos. She makes a real effort to interact with her subscribers; she always tries to be present in her comments sections when videos are uploaded. Becky especially endeavours to answer science questions. She also does live question and answer sessions on Twitter and Instagram and recently did a live book signing on YouTube. It is also evident that Becky feels the impact that she has on people’s interest in science personally, as the other day she received an email from a fan who had written about her in their UCAS statement. “I remember writing mine, so I thought, how did I end up in someone else’s?” It’s one thing to have enthusiasm for science and want to communicate it to the wider public, but quite another to film, star in, and edit a video about physics every week. Becky revealed the work that goes into making a video for her channel, saying, “I have to be really careful with my time because obviously my day job is research.” She clarified her process, asserting “It’s coming up with an idea and researching the bits you are not sure on, for example, double checking a fact. I don’t really tend to write a script; I like the way that my videos are quite free formed and it’s clear we are just having a chat. Then obviously it’s the filming.” She went on, “It’s also the washing my hair and doing my makeup which takes ages!” Becky hates editing, which was a surprise to me as her videos are very well put together; they always include graphics overlaid with images. Becky stated that she mainly dislikes the editing process as she has to do it herself. She also described her YouTube channel as her hobby, saying that depending on how long the video is, it can take her five to ten hours a week to make one.
“I have some great memories observing near-earth asteroids with telescopes on the roof of the physics building”
YouTube is not the only way that Becky communicates with the public about science. In September 2019 her book Space: 10 Things You Should Know was published; in this she attempts to explain the fundamentals of the universe accessibly in ten essays. Choosing ten topics to focus on was difficult, but, at the end of the day, she wrote about the things
she saw as most interesting, adding that “black holes are obviously at the top of that list.” She explained that she chose the things that fascinated her when she was starting out in her education as an astrophysicist. She called these “big burning questions.” For example, whether aliens exist, the size of the universe and what was before the Big Bang. Becky also gives public talks to a range of different audiences, from schools to astronomy societies to festival goers and was recently awarded the Caroline Hershell Prize for Lectureship in 2020. I asked Becky about what she felt allowed her to connect with such a wide audience. She answered, “From what people tell me, it’s my enthusiasm that shines through the most.”
“You will know if you are a Donkey or a Shrek and I am a full on Donkey!”
She explained how it’s important to stick your personal style in science communication, saying “You will know if you are a Donkey or a Shrek and I am a full on Donkey! But I have colleagues that are much more of a Shrek who are fantastic, they are much calmer and reserved, people love that too. It’s about who you learn from and their style.” As a researcher, much of Becky’s job isn’t focussed on science communication but on analysing data and studying black holes. Becky’s favourite video that she has made for her channel is titled ‘A Day in the Life of an Oxford Astrophysicist’, which summarises how she works. In April, she updated this video to show a lockdown ‘day in the life.’ In our interview Becky explained further how Covid-19 has impacted her work, saying “Astrophysicists are really just working with data a lot of the time. Whether this is data taken from telescopes or from simulations that we have run ourselves on our computers, you can carry on at home.” However, she emphasised a fear that there might be a ”data dearth” in the future due to closures of observatories and telescopes during 2020 and 2021. Becky will be working a week of night shifts from home as she is having to do an observing trip to the Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma remotely.
Overall though, Becky was optimistic about the use of archival data and adaptations by the research community, “We are trucking on!” While lockdown may be having a limiting impact on astrophysics research, there are developments underway that are helping to make it better and more inclusive at the same time. The Women in STEM movement attempts to enable a greater number of women to enter into scientific fields. I asked Becky about her opinions on this movement, as a successful woman in STEM herself. “The Women in STEM movement is fantastic, we can only benefit from evening out gender and racial biases across science, society and in everything. We will all benefit from having more diverse voices in the room. “As more technology is designed for humanity, you want that to be designed not just for the white man.” Although she has not felt held back by her gender, that doesnt mean that oppression doesn’t exist elsewhere.
“We can only benefit from evening out gender and racial biases across science”
Becky went on to illustrate why she feels that astrophysics is a welcoming field, describing astronomy as “the science of the sky which is available to everyone in the world. It is often the most affluent areas which are the ones that don’t have a view of the sky because of light pollution. I think it is one of those things that, because it is available to everyone, people
approach the field as a collaborative, worldwide kind of thing. I have always felt that it was very welcoming. It is a fantastic field to work in and I am having a great time. I would convince anyone who is considering it to give it a go.”
In University Challenge “the lights are on you, Paxman is staring at you and you forget everything”
As a Durham alumna, Becky talked fondly of her time at the University. “I have some great memories observing near-earth asteroids with telescopes on the roof of the physics building and also observing the sun with telescopes that have a special filter where they have built the new physics building now.” Becky attended St Aidan’s College, which she proudly described as the “King of the Hill”, adding that you get very fit on the stairs and that the bar has the best view in Durham. She was Social Rep for the JCR and organised the summer ball in her third year. She recalled fun times in Klute, Jimmy Allens and on the Prince Bishops boat, as well as eating lots of cake in the cafes in town! As an alumna, Becky was asked to be on the Christmas Special University Challenge team. She described the experience, saying, “It was pretty scary, the lights are on you, Paxman is staring at you and you forget everything you ever thought you knew. It’s weird, your brain does weird things in the studio. For a lot of the questions, I only heard like the first half of the question and I got so hung up on certain things that I didn’t hear the clue that I might have actually got the answer with! But yes, proudest moment of my life was getting frozen in about 2 seconds.” In the future, Becky hopes to continue with her research and hopefully to go on to become a professor. She intends to keep making videos on her YouTube channel and could not give comment on future books. If you are interested in accessing Becky’s channel it can be found on YouTube by searching for Dr Becky and her book is currently available in all major book stores or to purchase online. (Angel Li)
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Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
Science & Technology
Embryo freezing is revolutionary for those who can’t conceive Caitlin Painter In October 1992, an embryo was frozen by an anonymous couple. It remained frozen for over 27 years until thawed by the National Embryo Donation Centre (NEDC) in Knoxville, Tennessee, and transferred into the uterus of a woman unable to conceive naturally. Born in October 2020, Molly Gibson is believed to hold the record for the longest frozen embryo to result in a birth.
The embryo remained frozen for over 27 years until thawed
Embryo freezing has been practised since the early 1980s, but it was initially unclear how long they could be frozen. The typical duration is 10 years, but as proven by Molly Gibson, decadesold embryos can still lead to successful births. The majority of stored embryos that can be ‘adopted’ have been donated by individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilisation (IVF), after a successful implantation. IVF is a popular technique available to help people with fertility problems become pregnant. After hormone treatments, a woman’s eggs are collected and fertilised, and the highest quality embryos can then be implanted, with unused ones typically frozen for further IVF attempts.
As proven by Molly Gibson, decades-old embryos can lead to successful births
A standard freezing process involves replacing water in the cells with a cryoprotectant, and then freezing the embryo extremely quickly to temperatures around -200°C (known as vitrification) to prevent ice crystals forming. However, IVF creates a surplus of embryos, and the parent(s) have the decision of what becomes of them. Many choose to discard them. Some are donated for research and training purposes, whilst others are stored for embryo ‘adoptions’. Dr Fiona MacCallum of the
University of Warwick believes that “the term ‘embryo adoption’ is misleading”, arguing that viewing embryo donations akin to adoptions could shift the public perspective of embryos more towards “personhood’ status”.
Dr Fiona MacCallum believes the term ‘embryo adoption’ is misleading This could have a great impact on stem cell research, where embryos are frequently used and subsequently destroyed. With this attitude, there is the possibility that embryos could undergo pre-implantation genetic screening. This is currently applied to check an embryo for specific genetic conditions, but could be misused to determine the future characteristics of the child.
It is illegal in the UK to select the sex of embryos for nonmedical purposes
Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act of 2008, it is illegal in the UK to select the sex of embryos for non-medical purposes, whether during IVF with a person’s own embryos or adopting them. It is common, however, for prospective parents to choose donated embryos of the same ethnicity as themselves, as well as from donor parents they share features with. It was only after they had chosen their desired embryos that Molly Gibson’s parents discovered when they had been frozen.
Embryo freezing is the most effective way to preserve fertility, more than freezing eggs
For parents who are unable to conceive, embryo donations provide the opportunity of experiencing pregnancy and birth, with a 75% success rate of donated embryos surviving thawing and transferring. Of these embryos, 25 to 30% are implanted successfully, according to the NEDC.
Embryo freezing is also used by women about to undergo cancer treatments that may result in infertility, but who want a child afterwards. The UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryonic Authority evidences that embryo freezing is the most effective way for women to preserve fertility, more so than freezing eggs. Hence some women choose to freeze their fertilised eggs to increase their chances of a successful pregnancy later in life.
Older mothers are at a much greater risk of complications during pregnancy Women may choose to postpone pregnancy until they feel more secure in their job and personal life, and having the means to do this has significantly increased women’s reproductive freedom. A woman’s fertility decreases naturally with age, however, the advances in fertility treatments mean it’s increasingly common for older women to become pregnant. Despite this, older mothers are at a much greater risk of complications during pregnancy,
prompting the discussion of whether those who otherwise would not be able to conceive and safely carry a baby should, just because it is scientifically viable. Conversely, reproductive rights defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) state that everyone has the right to “decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so”. For most cases, there is a 10year limit on freezing embryos, leaving people with a difficult decision once this time is up: destroying their embryos or beginning fertility treatment.
For most cases, there is a 10 year limit on freezing embryos
For some, 10 years later is still too soon to have a child. If we know embryos can survive for at least 27 years, why is this arbitrary limit still imposed? Does it really increase women’s reproductive freedom as much as we think? Despite this, fertility
treatments are life-changing, and the law rightly allows infertile couples and individuals the chance of having a family with their own or donated embryos. These treatments also provide the chance for same-sex couples to have children through means other than adopting, by using donated embryos or donated eggs/sperm. In December 2020, a 61-year-old gave birth to her own granddaughter by acting as a surrogate for her son and his husband.
A 61-year-old gave birth to her own granddaughter by acting as surrogate
The scientific advancements made during the last 40 years regarding fertility treatments have given many parents the chance of having a child. The record-breaking case of Molly Gibson has highlighted the prevalence and importance of these treatments being a possibility in today’s society, meaning embryo ‘adoption’ could become much more popular. (Amber Conway)
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PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
SciTech
Science says cutting out meat and dairy might save your life Harrison Newsham Comment Editor I have been lucky to have grown up with access to good food. I learnt how to cook and from an early age understood basic nutrition. My parents cooked fresh most nights and this habit passed onto me as I began to fend for myself at university. I feel very privileged to have experienced this. Nevertheless, when I started at Durham in September 2019, I changed my dietary journey, feeling strongly that vegetarianism was the right step for me.
When I started at Durham in September 2019, I changed my dietary journey Summertime 2020 gave me much time to reconsider my diet again, and the impact it has on the world around me. Eventually, I felt a moral urge to go vegan. When I gained that next level of independence, moving into private accommodation in my second year, I began this transition. Though I became vegan primarily for moral and environmental reasons, it came to my attention that there is much evidence that going vegan is better for an individual’s health than the average British diet. Now, I am no medical expert, but doing a bit of digging did shock me: the standard, ‘balanced’ diet that I grew up with isn’t as healthy as it’s presented on our screens, in our shops, and advertisements.
as if cutting out dairy settled my stomach more. Of course, correlation doesn’t equal causation, but the fact that around 70% of the world’s population are to some degree lactose intolerant is food for thought.
Firstly, I’ll address the health benefits I have experienced personally since going vegan. I have again been very privileged to have generally been in good health all my life. However, I used to experience really bad indigestion, bloating and heartburn almost every time I ate a meal. This was really uncomfortable and at times painful, packets of Rennie’s were my only cure. However, after following a plant-based diet for several weeks, I began to realise this feeling disappearing. It appeared
It’s hard to judge from a single person who has experienced generally good health throughout his life. It is only sensible to consider a bigger sample and more pressing health issues. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diabetes, kill 41 million people annually, 71% of deaths globally, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). More and more nutritional experts are concluding that diet, more specifically our heavily animalproduct-based diet, is a major cause of this staggering figure. Dairy products contain saturated
The standard, ‘balanced’ diet I grew up with isn’t as healthy as it’s presented on our screens
(Sophie Draper)
70% of the world’s population are to some degree lactose intolerant
fats, and the fat in meat is known as ruminant trans-fat. WHO recommends we significantly reduce our consumption of these fats, since they are major causes of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. As we eat more and more animal products, these fats begin to build up on our muscle cells and prevent sugars and carbohydrates from crossing the cell membrane. Therefore, the sugars remain in our bloodstreams. This build-up of fat leads to insulin resistance, causing diabetes, and of course cardiovascular diseases, as blood vessels become more clogged.
Fats build up on our muscle cells and prevent sugars from crossing the cell membrane
Furthermore, studies, such as one undertaken in 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, have concluded that processed and
red meats are carcinogenic, because of the chemicals that are produced during the cooking process. Eating a plant-based diet avoids all this. Since all nutrients essential for human health (other than B12, which can be easily supplemented) can be found in plant products, cutting out meat and dairy is a persuasive way to end this deadly epidemic of NCDs.
Cutting out meat and dairy is a persuasive way to end this deadly epidemic of NCDs
Plant-based diets are also closely linked to longevity. People who live in so-called ‘Blue Zone’ areas, the places in the world with the highest numbers of centenarians, follow a 95 to 100% plant-based diet. Furthermore, many pro athletes are turning to vegan diets, reporting faster recovery after exercise, more energy and weight loss. Serena Williams, David Haye, Lewis Hamilton,
and Germany’s strongest man in 2011, Patrik Baboumian, all follow a vegan diet. Of course, veganism is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. You can be an unhealthy vegan, and the lifestyle can make you seriously ill if you forget certain nutrients.
Of course, veganism is not a get-out-of-jail-free card Moreover, there are other essential pillars of good health, including regular exercise, social interaction, and sleep. However, despite enjoying the foods I grew up with, veganism, as it becomes more accessible for the average person, whilst not the be-all and end-all, is undoubtedly a step in a positive direction towards a much healthier lifestyle. GOT AN IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE? WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
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Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
SciTech
“It starts with a problem”: in conversation with EcoDU Elise Garcon speaks with members of the EcoDU exec about environmentalism, student action, and their society as a whole
Elise Garcon Science and Technology Co-Editor First of all, can you give me an overview of how the society works?
on behalf of one of the societies. Everyone was so passionate and excited to be there. It was honestly such an amazing experience. Could you encapsulate EcoDU’s main aim in one sentence?
motivation to keep that up.
Éloïse: Yeah, and that’s where the sense of community is very important in EcoDU. We all support each other.
Éloïse Jenninger: An inclusive group of students that aims to lobby to make Durham University more sustainable, though several projects both with academics and the student body as a whole.
Aadira: I think what’s important is remembering issues are structural, and one person can only do so much. From the start, EcoDU has really been focused on changing structures and systems, rather than putting so much pressure on the individual.
Pascal: We’ve spent a lot of time talking to members of the sustainable development goals group. They are more influential as they speak to the University Executive Committee. Even if we can’t directly reach them, we can support the staff who are on these committees, who can make larger policy decisions.
Aadira: We’re starting a journal that will be coming out by the end of January. It’s called The Echo, and our first issue will be talking about why the university hasn’t declared a climate emergency. We’ll also do a deep dive into SU: really, we’re trying to improve how much information students have on how decisions are made in the university.
Aadira Parakkat: Just the spirit! I wasn’t part of EcoDU when the strikes were happening, but I attended and gave a speech
Pascal: I think a lot of environmental action students can take is already established, so a lot of the time it’s finding the
Éloïse: We want to ‘rewild’ the unused areas of Durham University: by working with
Phoebe Abruzzese
to inhibit the first pair’s activity, therefore working to turn themselves off, and restarting the feedback cycle.
Pascal Tchen: People come to us with problems they have in college or in their Department. It was the case last year where we had one big meeting, and 40 people arrived with their complaints about what they didn’t think was working in the University. This turned out really well - it kickstarted a lot of big projects, and that’s how we organised it into subgroups. It starts with a problem. You helped organise climate strikes across campus last year. Could you tell me some highlights from this?
Pascal: One of the highlights for me was that there were so many other groups there: around 17 other societies! It was very cool to get everyone involved and have a coordinated effort.
Leading on from that, how are you holding the university accountable and lobbying for top-down change?
What can students do?
Apart from liaising with the university exec, what are you doing to change these systems?
What other projects do you have in the works?
ecology professors we want to increase biodiversity and manage invasive species in these plots. Currently we’re looking for funding- so it’s still at the planning stage, but it’s going really well Pascal: We’re also trying to increase the amount of sustainability teaching in university degrees. This was started last year by Fiona Bruce, who wrote an entire sustainability module. It’s been difficult adapting it, but it’s turning out to be a case by case basis of looking at different courses and speaking to lecturers.
“An inclusive group of students that lobbies to make Durham University more sustainable”
What, personally, made you want to get involved in environmental action and EcoDU in particular? Pascal: For me, I’ve always been interested in environmentalism. My parents taught me to think about life in an environmental way. The tone with which EcoDU works attracted me a lot, and I
just kept coming back.
Aadira: So have I! As a kid, a couple of friends and I made a group, calling ourselves “Green vs Grey”. We pretended to be superheroes and plant trees: that’s where it started. The climate strike also inspired me. Éloïse: It was similar for me. It’s always been my philosophy to cause the least harm as I possibly can. EcoDU attracted me the most as there was both action and it’s also a great community.
My last question is what can students do now to get involved with EcoDU? Éloïse: They can like our Facebook page, sign up to the newsletter, and come to one of our meetings. It’s very welcoming, and you don’t have to come to more than one if you don’t want to! They can hop on a project, or create their own. GOT AN IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE? WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
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Night owl or early bird? It could be down to your DNA
Finding yourself late to bed and late to rise? Maybe it’s because of your genes – a genetic research team from UC Santa Cruz have discovered a gene mutation that causes a ‘night owl’ pattern of sleeping by altering internal mechanisms that maintain the circadian rhythm, or internal ‘biological clock’.
A gene mutation causes a ‘night owl’ pattern of sleeping
Biochemically, the particular gene interacts with compounds responsible for the regulation of the cyclical rhythms that govern much of our behavior, dubbed ‘clock proteins’ by Carrie Partch, UC Santa Cruz biochemistry professor, and head of the lab that made this discovery. The clock protein that these gene impacts, cryptochrome, is part of a feedback loop with three other proteins. Two of the clock proteins, CLOCK and BMAL1, form a multiprotein complex that activates the other two, cryptochrome and period, which then also join to form a complex
Cryptochrome is part of a feedback loop with three other proteins
As this feedback loop is the principal mechanism of the circadian rhythm, any alteration to the four component proteins can massively alter the length of the cycle, and therefore how late an individual is compelled to stay up at night, or how much time they spend sleeping in during the morning. With this genetic mutation, the cryptochrome protein causes a shortening of the protein’s tail, making it bind to the CLOCK: BMAL1 complex more tightly than in an individual without the mutated gene variant, stretching out the length of the 24-hour clock each day, resulting in delayed sleep phase disorder. As there is a distinct section of the cryptochrome protein missing, Partch says we should be looking for a drug the same shape as the missing chunk to bond to the fill the pocket of the clock’s
complex it usually binds with in order to treat the disorder. As most of the mutations shown to alter the biological clock are very rare, genetics researchers are very excited about this discovery, as it is found in approximately one in every 75 people of European decent, suggesting it may be partially responsible for the 9% of the population that call themselves as night owls.
It is found in approximately one in 75 people of European decent
However, it’s difficult to say exactly how much it contributed to the onset of the disorder, as there is no data specifying how often this mutation is involved in delayed sleep phase disorder, as Partch says sleep behavior is complex, meaning staying up late often doesn’t boil down to one root cause, but rather a multitude of co-interacting reasons. Conversely, a gene found by the same Santa Cruz research lab early in 2020 showed that certain gene mutations can cause people to become extreme ‘morning larks’, getting up early
and going to bed early (for example, singer Dolly Parton, who wakes up at an astonishing 3 a.m. in the morning), by affecting a molecular switch mechanism, and shortening the timing of the internal clock.
Mutations can cause people to become extreme ‘morning larks’ Despite the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ proverb, waking up late
(Verity Laycock) will not necessarily stop you from becoming healthy, wealthy or wise. As Matthew Walker emphasizes in his renowned book ‘Why We Sleep’, whether you’re a morning lark or a night owl doesn’t necessarily impact your health – so long as you’re getting enough sleep overall. So, no matter whether you think you have the cryptochrome protein gene mutation or not, just make sure you’re getting a full 8 hours in, and you should turn out okay!
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
15
Politics
Should students be refunded for lost education? Maddie Clark With theatres currently closed, the best political satire available for UK citizens is the well-known farce called ‘Our Government: Lockdown Part 3’. Whilst Primary and Secondary schools take centre stage, university students have landed the meagre role of understudy. University students have been neglected and vilified since the beginning of the pandemic. While GCSE and A-level exams have been cancelled due to disruption of online learning, Russell Group Universities have ripped the no detriment policy, from undergraduates’ feet. When schools were re-opened last term, face-to-face teaching for most undergraduate subjects remained faceless. Now, in what is hopefully the third
and final act, students have been loosely advised in a small section on the Gov.uk website to “remain where they are wherever possible and start their term online”. It is of no surprise that aggravated students are demanding compensation. The enriched education experience that gives universities such an appeal has been lost. In Durham’s annual report in 2020, it laid out its
overarching aims for the next seven years, including providing students with a “wider experience that is as good as any in the world”. Students paid tuition fees with this expectation in mind. As Christopher McFarland, an associate solicitor explained to The Guardian: “university students are essentially consumers who have entered a contract with their institutions.” They paid for a service - the standard set by past precedent. Like any other business, if students do not receive the service they were advertised, under contract and consumer law, they must be compensated. The impact of Covid-19 has essentially reduced university education to the same online experience offered by the Open University. The only difference is traditional university costs £9,250 relative to Open University’s £6,250 annual fee. Without the attraction of a full university experience, what justifies u n i v e r sities (UK Prime Minister, charging this Creative Commons)
additional £3,000? Universities should be more transparent regarding exactly what our £9,000 is being spent on. It cannot be denied that the education students are receiving is by no means of the same high standard as previous years. Courses that involve a substantial practical element have been the most adversely hit. Many students, speculating a quick and easy return and in a hurry to get home for Christmas, left their textbooks at Durham. Students trapped at home are left waiting in long queues to access online books that the university is slowly making available. Furthermore, the majority of students rely on long-term debt loans to fund their university education. Even with these loans, students struggle to make ends meet. New research by Student Beans in 2019 revealed 36% of students have at least one parttime job. These jobs tend to be in the service sector, specifically bars and restaurants, all of which are now closed, putting an
The vaccine efforts that could spark fresh Chinese confidence
Joshua Guillen For some time before the fierce tide of coronavirus inundated the world, the global North had already been suspicious of the growing economic and developmental initiative of China. Through sustained growth often superior to that of Western nations, Beijing has succeeded in reaffirming its global prominence since the end of the Cold War. Its symbolic prowess was confirmed in spectacle and fervent pride when, following close to two-decades of strong economic performance, it played host to the 2008 Olympic Games. Despite debates over its impact, it was undoubtedly viewed by the Chinese as a reaffirmation of its soft power, confirming a return from sleeping giant status. So sure were they of this multi- fronted success that, following the Olympics, their apparent ‘self-confidence turned into over-confidence’. In some respects, this analysis is applicable to the current race to vaccinate. It is through this scope, then, that the approach of vaccination development in China can be viewed. Already seething over its damaged worldwide reputation for
its handling of coronavirus, Beijing had struggled to reorientate itself in light of accusatory sentiments shared among the international community. Further compounded by faltering domestic feedback, it would seem that the Chinese government is now keener than ever to reinstate its authority as a principal commander of the world. A rapid vaccination programme could be the desired medium to ensure a reputational recuperation of sorts. Empowered by the baying call of soft power, a vaccine distribution could present Beijing with significant leverage,
and a chance to extract more international solidarity for its agenda. Any chance of a steadfast campaign of vaccine development and distribution is hardly obstacle-free. The rollout of the Chinese vaccine has been greeted with scepticism, even among its friendliest partners. Added to recent findings that the vaccine has had inflated effectiveness, scepticism is growing regarding its potency as a force to suppress the flow of coronavirus among a given population. This presents a severe threat to any ambition Beijing may
be harbouring through its vaccine roll-out. Encapsulated here, though, is the breakneck speed from which Western and Chinese efforts have engineered potential remedies of Covid-19. Despite concerns regarding its efficacy, China has still managed to broker deals with countries spanning five continents, demonstrating the diplomatic initiative that is at the heart of the vaccine operation. Western ingenuity has also enabled the first doses of its vaccines to be introduced around the global North, reflecting the remarkably rapid progress made in only a matter of months. It appears that the ability to forge an advantage from a vaccine isn’t solely exclusive to China, with the US also intent on making its Operation Warp Speed a success after a tumultuous 2020. It is therefore of vital importance that vaccine programmes are egalitarian and just. Because, if the West veers to restrictive nationalism, it gifts China space to grow its authoritarian influence over those neglected by Western efforts. This would be a reproach that world democracy could illafford to permit.
(Marco Verch, Creative Commons)
even greater financial strain on students. Considering the benefits forgone this academic year, it is understandable that a petition circulating online seeks to reduce university fees from £9,250 to £3,000. This drastic fall in tuition fees would have grave consequences for the universities’ income, which may only exacerbate the situation and worsen teaching standards. Whilst compensation of this size may not be feasible, it is evident that something needs to be done to offset the disadvantaged position students are in. Durham has already taken a step in the right direction, offering a Covid-19 Recovery Fund for students adversely impacted from the pandemic. However, it does not address the anxiety students face taking their exams this year without a no-detriment policy. If financial compensation for tuition fees is not a possibility, universities and the government need to work together to find alternative ways to support students.
From the Editors
Sophie Farmer Politics Editor
Ding! The [insert your chosen news outlet here] app has sent you an update notification reading ‘Capitol riots,’ ‘Covid-19 rates going up,’ ‘ministers failing’ — you turn off your phone and would rather go on your state-imposed exercise than read anymore… However, let us not lose touch with the thrill of breaking news, events so unforeseen — Politics fanatic or not. In 835, we have honed in on the crux of what Politics stands for. Is China using the Covid-19 vaccine as a diplomacy tool? Are we witnessing passive politics by choosing to stop using products made by Uighur Muslims in forced labour camps? Was the uproar in Washington a form of Trumpian propaganda? Where is the democracy when it comes to decision affecting university students? Our contributors have assessed the world’s current affairs against a political backdrop to bring you the best of 2021 thus far.
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Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
16
Politics
Trump’s social media ban: constitutional but problematic Anna Noble As a politician, Trump’s use of social media was historic and unfiltered. However, after peddling a baseless conspiracy and inciting a domestic terrorist attack, platforms that built his presidency dramatically marked the end of this Trump era by ‘silencing’ him. Trump has been permanently banned from Twitter, Snapchat and Reddit, amongst others, and, for at least the rest of his presidency, from Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Whilst the First Amendment argument is moot, banning Trump on social media is troubling
These bans were attacked by some conservatives who argued the action was “Orwellian” and an assault on the First Amendment. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted “We are living Orwell’s 1984 … Free-speech no longer exists in America”. This argument is inaccurate and does more to suggest that those making it have never read
Orwell or indeed the Constitution. The text of the First Amendment states that “Congress” and therefore the government “shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech”. The clause makes no reference to decisions made by private companies. Furthermore, analogies have been made between Trump’s Twitter ban and the 2018 case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission. In this case a Christian bakery refused to make a wedding case for a gay couple, citing their religious beliefs. The Supreme Court ruled that they were entitled to refuse service. Whilst the facts differ, the principle is similar. Private businesses have the right to refuse service to whomever they want. This is what social media platforms have done. It should also be noted that when a person joins Twitter or other social media companies, they agree to their terms and conditions and therefore to abide by their rules on content. If any person (regardless of their political allegiance) falls short of this, they face penalties and may find their accounts suspended. Whilst the First Amendment
argument is moot, banning Trump on social media is troubling.
Should such a small group of people be able to control public discourse?
Angela Merkel described Trump’s Twitter ban as problematic. Permanently removing Trump and other conservatives at the discretion of a handful of people from social media platforms alters what is discussed in public. This gives rise to a valid question: should such a small group of people should be able to control public discourse? The danger of this is that discourse is inevitably swayed by the political biases of social media executives. How far could that extend? Under the gay
(Mike Licht, Flickr)
wedding cake analogy, would there be anything stopping them one day blocking all of those they disagreed with politically, regardless of whether users followed the rules on content? Facebook have previously been accused of manipulating their ‘Trending Topics’ features to promote certain stories.
Banning Trump may have been used as a distraction
How far could this go? There is a case to be made that social media companies should face greater scrutiny and accountability due to their unique role in facilitating public discussion. As a final point, social media banning Trump and other conservatives for inciting violence through their rhetoric may also have been used as a
distraction from the role social media companies played in the Capitol insurrection. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in an Instagram Live published following last week’s events, pointed out that recommendations for Facebook groups have served to radicalise users by pushing white supremist groups and those promoting QAnon conspiracies. Twitter has also been accused of not doing enough to effectively fact-check those peddling conspiracy theories about the election and Joe Biden.
Trump’s First Amendment rights remain untouched
Trump undoubtably deserved to be kicked off Twitter: for years he has used the platform to condone white supremacy, racist attacks and to peddle downright lies. Even with this action, his First Amendment rights remain untouched. However, his banning reaffirms the power of social media in controlling the political discourse and attempts to distract from the blame social media companies should face following the insurrection at the Capitol.
....Or propaganda for his enemies?
Madeleine Burt Whilst much of the world expressed concern and horror at the angry mob of Trump supporters storming the United States Capitol last week, a few governments seized the opportunity to denounce the US and assert their own superiority. For governments in Moscow, Beijing and Tehran, the chaotic events broadcast live across the world served as a perfect political propaganda opportunity. The videos of protestors waving Trump and Confederate flags whilst storming a building that is supposedly the seat of American democracy serve as a powerful political weapon.
The Capital riots “shows above all how fragile and vulnerable Western democracy is”
These autocratic states, each of which are regular recipients of US criticism, condemned the US on grounds of hypocrisy, and referenced the events as an indicator of the weakness of Western democracies. They
used the images as a means of bolstering their own regimes. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani commented on a speech on state broadcast television: “What we saw in the United States yesterday evening and today shows above all how fragile and vulnerable Western democracy is”. In particular, he criticised Trump and the rise of populism in the US.
“It is clear that American democracy is limping on both feet”
Iran has recently seen protests around the oneyear anniversary of the assassination of General Soleimani, with Rouhani continuing to promote antiAmerican rhetoric. Russia was equally strong in condemning the US and used the events as ammunition against democracy. In a post on Facebook, the chair of the foreign affairs committee of Russia’s upper house of parliament Konstantin Kosachyov commented that “it is clear that American democracy is limping on both feet”, whilst saying that there
were grounds for Trump’s claims of electoral fraud. Kosachyov went on to say “America no longer charts the course of history and so has lost all
right to set it. And, even more so, to impose it on others.” There was a continual mirroring of this criticism directed against America in language previously employed by the US against these same states. This was exemplified by China, with the words of its foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. She said that “We hope that the American people can enjoy peace, stability and security as soon as possible,” offering the same rhetoric of concern for the welfare of American citizens that is often heard in reaction to China’s treatment of its people. Beijing used the events in Washington to criticise America’s backing of the Hong Kong protests and to justify their continual suppression of protestors. China questioned how the US could support the storming of the legislature in Hong Kong, but not allow it in America itself. The comparison was invalid, as in Hong Kong the protestors were advocating a fair democratic process, whereas Trump supporters were denying this. The Chinese social media platform Weibo saw
#TrumpSupportersStormCapitol trending at over 500 million views and 54,000 posts.
China questioned how America could support the storming
The state-owned tabloid Global Times posted pictures of the riots in America alongside the protests in Hong Kong, accompanied by quotes from US officials endorsing the protests in Hong Kong but condemning the events in Washington. This comes at a time of recent continued arrests of protestors in Hong Kong, and will certainly serve as a justification against any reform towards democracy. The events on Capitol Hill will not be easily forgotten nor swept away. The nature of social media and the shocking images that circulated worldwide guarantee that. Another outcome from a riot that led to Donald Trump being impeached for a historic second time is the opportunity it will continue to grant to autocratic regimes to proclaim their state’s own superiority over America, both on an international and a national stage.
(CSIS, Flickr)
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
17
Politics
The pointlessness of passive politics Samuel Rackind Passive politics is pointless. It is rather futile to continue denouncing the Chinese government for their activities in Xinjiang. Ultimately, they control the region, and thus, out of all other state and non-state actors, have the most control over the flow of
information in and out of it. This covers any attempt to accuse China of genocide
(Jamiejohndavies, Creative Commons)
(and many other heinous crimes) in a legitimate cloud of doubtful dust that cannot settle. Unfortunately, in this age of misinformation it can be very hard to establish anything as fact if so many people claim otherwise: a speck of doubt will always remain. This is exactly the defence China hides behind in international fora. That, and their ability to force political outcomes their way thanks to sheer strength. However, by our Western standards of what constitutes valid information, the question of whether anything reprehensible is happening in Xinjiang is history: the salient question is how do we stop it.
The salient question is how do we stop it
With that out of the way, let’s
look at how this can be done. If we consider the fact that the persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang by the Chinese government is reaching (and may well have already reached) a level of severity comparable to the Holocaust, it is ridiculous – mindboggling – that our response is so bland.
Should our response be to go to war with China?
While my knowledge of the Allied response to the Holocaust is limited, what is certain is that the Allies went to war with Germany, and subsequently freed Jewish people held in camps. There are, of course, many intricacies to this sweeping statement and to what really happened, but it is not an outlandish claim to make.
Should our response be to go to war with China? In an ideal world, the short answer is yes. The long answer is that it is despicable to sit here and watch this go by. Whatever we do, it must be serious and meaningful. It cannot merely be lip service. The tragedy taking place before our very own eyes merits such a reaction. If (probably when) this goes down in history as a genocide, then we want to be on the right side of history.
We want to be on the right side of history
Passive responses to this tragedy, such as not buying products made by Uighur Muslims in forced labour camps, are farcical. Is this really how the West will have championed their ideals of liberty across the world and
helped the vulnerable? Let’s say that boycotting all products coming from these camps were to put the labour camps to a halt. Ok, now what? The Uighurs will not be freed. Very little will change. A more credible alternative would be that officials in Beijing will find other ways of dealing with them, which already exist and are already in practise. Forced labour camps are only a part of the story. Unfortunately, international politics is never as simple as just waging war with any state that commits atrocities, and I recognise that. There are many impracticalities associated with just pulling the trigger. That is the rational and pragmatic side of this author. But his human side struggles to stand by while innocent people are being subjected to atrocious treatment, especially when he is Jewish.
2020, refugees and Covid-19: an interwoven tragedy Anna Shepherd Deputy Politics Editor The biggest problem Covid-19 has presented to refugee communities is not fear of the disease itself but a lasting grief over all its social effects. This may be surprising but, according to Jan Egeland, writing for Al Jazeera, the number of Covid-19 infections and fatalities in 2020 in refugee communities pales in comparison to the virus’ socio-economic ramifications in those same communities around the world. Earlier in this pandemic, it was said that the death toll of refugees due to Covid-19 could be monumental. The fears were totally legitimate: a 2020 UNHCR report on the early stages of the pandemic recognised that
health safeguards such as hand washing and social distancing are hampered in refugee communities by a lack of suitable facilities and overcrowded living areas. It even reported that sometimes entire families had to rely on a single face mask.
Fatalities in refugee camps have been far less than expected
Yet, despite these grave concerns, fatalities in refugee camps have been far less than expected. As of December 2020, only 32,000 refugees worldwide had been registered as having the virus, out of 26 million. Indeed, in the largest refugee settlement camp in Bangladesh, only 356 Rohingya refugees had contracted the virus from the 860,000 there.
The statistics on the official number of refugees that have succumbed to Covid-19 are not clear: testing is unreliable. Despite this, even if mushroomed to 10 times their current estimates, these figures would still be proportionately less than virus-stricken countries such as the USA and UK. Paradoxically, instead of health, it seems to be within the socioeconomic contours of refugee communities that the effects of Covid-19 have been expressed most profoundly. Lockdowns in camps are often stricter, with social integration limited by lack of work and the focus on prevention. This has meant many people have been unable to work and the UNHCR is concerned that these dire conditions could lead to negative coping mechanisms from families such as child marriages, and women resorting to ‘survival sex’ to support themselves.
The world’s refugees are existing in a bleak liminality between food insecurity and starvation
Research from the Norwegian Refugee Council across 14 countries found that 77% of respondents had lost their jobs or income since the beginning of the pandemic. Many of the worlds’ refugees are existing in a bleak liminality between food insecurity and (DFID- UK Department for International Development, Creative Commons)
starvation. This is strikingly apparent in South Sudan where, as a result of years of civil war, over half of its population need urgent food assistance and 40% of the population is internally displaced.
Border closures have been used to stop asylum seekers
In the midst of this, the country’s economy, which relies on oil exports, was hit by a spiralling fall in prices last year. Meanwhile, in October 2020 almost 500,000 refugees in Uganda did not have enough to eat due to reduced food aid and Covid-19 restrictions. Recent analysis showed that more than 91,000 people in 13 refugee settlements in Uganda were experiencing extreme levels of hunger. In April last year the World Food Programme announced a 30% reduction to food rations and cash transfers to more than 1.4 million refugees who had fled violence in South Sudan, DRC and Burundi, which coincided with the start of the pandemic. In a projection for April to July 2021, a UN-backed report has said it expects that approximately 7.24 million people would ‘face either a state of official food crisis, or worsening acute food insecurity.’ Additionally, border control has been a performative agent in dictating immigration laws for a long time now but this has gained further poignancy in the Covid-19 pandemic. As we have seen in the UK this week, borders have been closed
to halt the spread of the virus and they have also, through 2020, been closed to stop an influx of asylum seekers. At the peak of the first wave of Covid-19, 168 countries had, to some degree, closed off their borders. 90 countries made no exceptions for refugees. Although 111 countries did relax these restrictions to some degree for refugees, new asylum applications dropped by a third in the same period as 2019 while similarly the number of refugees returning home dropped by 22%. Further, the UNHCR reported that resettlement travel for refugees in the first six months of 2020 was half that of 2019.
Hopefully, the generosity of some will be replicated around the world
Clearly, this may have helped prevent escalated numbers of deaths of refugees and asylumseekers from Covid-19 due to lack of mobility, but this has caused those with little to have even less support and access to basic nutrition. As the world grapples to contain the virus amidst vaccination rollout, in the 90 countries currently developing vaccinations only 5157%, according to the UNHCR, have pledged to include refugees. Jordan has said that anyone within its territory, native or not, can receive a free vaccine. Hopefully, this generosity will be replicated around the world, allowing pragmatic and urgent socio-economic relief to reach refugee communities.
18
Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
Puzzles
Puzzle Editors Harry Jenkins and Thomas Simpson
For online versions, answers and more puzzles, head to
www.palatinate.org.uk/category/puzzles
Wordsearch
Crossword No. 1, set by Phlox
Across:
Cryptic Clues
Down:
1. Queen has smug air with earl, creating 1. Unprofessional doctor apparently doesn’t call back? (5) problems (9) 2. Use multiple parts of Dante to create 6. Young woman in city with speed (5) present (9) 9. Stakes a new fixed return (5) 10. Musical theme in new movie title lacks 3. Girl is drinking mostly from a river (11) 4. Comforts about confusing files (7) energy (9) 5. Senator holds argument to become firm 11. Man’s understanding (3) (7) 12. In cafe, flute plays to no avail (11) 6. Soldier returns from Asian country (3) 14. Informs on key idiots starting 7. Islands in the stream at sundown (5) resistance (7) 15. Wandering over domain with Charlie 8. Protective hats contain hair (9) 13. Hides in river, awfully foul, a long time (7) (11) 17. Scout roughly around work of sea 14. Celebrated rodent crushed pig (9) creature (7) 19. Bulbs broken with excellent English 16. Wild animal eats organ of saviour (9) 18. One choking over trifles (7) decorations (7) 20. Largely rotund Italian without a cook 19. Poet for festive occasions (7) 21. Judge shortens vacation and turns to do with food (11) 22. Bird has its winds clipped in road (3) around (5) 23. Roam freely around university for love 24. Masses of chaotic people loot in (5) alternate places (3, 6) 26. Bogart perhaps timeless Hollywood 25. Rock drill without tip (3) star (5) 27. Place to eat lots of Cheddar? (5) 28. Essence in less common turn of recorder (9)
Across:
1. _ the Venerable, has college (half) named after him (5, 4) 6. Classics: 10th letter of the Greek alphabet (5) 9. Durham’s is ‘Her foundations are upon the holy hills’ (5) 10. Department of Engineering building (9) 11. What people do on Palatinalps (3) 12. High ranking subject at Durham (11) 14. English: V. S. _ , Trinidad and Tobago-born British writer (7) 15. English: Lewis Carroll’s real surname (7) 17. Basic, normal (7) 19. Monk’s haircut (7) 20. Open space between Durham Cathedral and Castle (name elements swapped: 5, 6) 22. Palatinate is an example of this (3) 24. There are lots of these in the Billy B (9) 26. You might find one under Elvet Bridge (5) 27. Chemistry: an organic compound containing an oxygen atom connected to two carbon atoms (5) 28. Physics: Durham alumnus, co-discoverer of the kaon subatomic particle (9)
Down:
1. Geography: Eastern Greek island (5) 2. Instinctive thought (9) 3. Current Chancellor of Durham (6, 5) 4. Philosophy students might consider this sort of question (7) 5. Where most Durham students are from (7) 6. MLAC: Japanese fish (3) 7. Popular student meal with pasta (5) 8. Irritation (9) 13. Building for Fundamental Physics, noted for its unusual architecture (5, 6) 14. Possible to steer a ship through (9) 16. Out of the colleges, Josephine Butler is this (9) 18. Someone who does an activity, like sport or theatre, for pleasure not money (7) 19. Rarely seen in Durham city centre, though common on other roads (7) 21. Theology: Old Testament figure, father of Methuselah (5) 23. Mathematics: 18th century Swiss mathematician (5) 25. 3 Down’s title (3)
Zebra Puzzle
There are five people who live in five colleges on the Bailey, each with a different sport, pet and drink. 1. The English student goes to Chad’s. 2. The Physicist keeps dogs. 3. The Biologist drinks champagne. 4. St John’s is just to the north of Cuth’s. 5. The John’s student drinks wine. 6. The rugby player keeps birds. 7. The Castle student plays football. 8. The student in the centre college drinks vodka. 9. The Musician lives in northernmost college. 10. The fencer has a neighbour who keeps cats. 11. The kayaker drinks beer. 12. The student who keeps horses lives next to the footballer. 13. The historian swims. 14. The Musician lives next to Hatfield. 15. The fencer has a neighbour who drinks cider. Who keeps the fish?
Find all 17 colleges in this grid!
Wordwheel
How many words including the central letter can you find? Try to find at least 25, including the nine-letter word!
PalatiDates: “She is elegant but wild”
Cameron on Millie
Castle student Cameron met Millie, who is also at Castle, for a Zoom blind date
What were your first impressions of your date? The date was incredible. Anyone who knows me, knows that although confident in a lot of walks of life, when it comes to love, relationships and dating, I’m very shy; hence opting to go on a Palatidate. What a match I got! A beautiful mutual friend who I am not going to lie I had quite a serious crush on for a while. What did you talk about? Everything from Neolithic burial structures to the morality of modern day billionaires If your date was a Durham night out, which would they be? Not a Durham club, but a College ball. Probably June Ball. She is elegant but wild. How do you think your date would describe you? A quiet individual, who prefers to listen over talking. Not your archetypal Durham boy. Middle of the road looks but a huge heart. Any awkward moments? The dreaded Zoom buffering, resulting in retelling about a minute’s worth of story. Would you meet up in person? Interested in a PalatiDate? Find Totally!! a form on our social media or Marks out of 10? email the PalatiDates team at 10 palatidates@palatinate.org.uk
Millie on Cameron
What were your first impressions of your date? Very nice, I already knew him. What did you talk about? Archaeology and rowing. If your date was a Durham night out, which would they be? A night in the Undie. How do you think your date would describe you? Bubbly, loud and funny. Any awkward moments? We already knew eachother so it was slightly awkward as we were now in a date situation. The date got cut off when my housemate hit her head in the kitchen and needed assistance! Other than that it was chill. Would you meet up in person? ... Marks out of 10? (Samantha Fulton) 6
19
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
Sport
“The belief is there that we can get promoted”: Durham full-back Ellie Christon speaks to Palatinate Sport speaks to the Durham player and Team Durham coach about promotion hopes, coaching, and dressing room tunes
Luke Power and James Reid Sport Editor and Deputy Sport Editor “I don’t think the FA want Durham to be promoted if I’m being honest because it’s not great for marketing. People don’t really know who we are. The teams that have gone up have been big badges with lots of money. But that makes it more desirable to get there. To prove people wrong.” These are the spirited words of Ellie Christon. They’re not the only words said in our 46-minute interview – coronavirus hasn’t made us all that socially awkward – but they do best encapsulate the lion-hearted determination of Durham Women, the underdog club aiming for the stars that Christon has been with for seven years. “We’ve come such a long way since the league started in 2014, but the sense of what it means to be a Durham player is still really present. That’s what makes it so emotional when we win. But this season does feel different. We’re winning when we’re not playing well and we’ve got more to give. The belief is there that we can get promoted.” That belief is valid. At the time of writing, Durham sit second and are unbeaten in the league. In February, they host a crunch clash against league leaders Leicester on what could be a historybending day. Win that, and they have a real shot of earning a maiden promotion to the Super League.
“I don’t think the FA want Durham to be promoted”
After Durham play, it’s a ritual for us Palatinate Sport Editors to assemble in our group chat and discuss the game. If you were mischievous enough to hack into that chat, you’d find abundant praise for Christon. Having started all of this season’s games bar one, the full-back is a key part of this promotion push. Her journey began when her mother saw a newspaper advert by a local team asking for players to join. Perhaps Norton and Stockton Ancients sound more like a club for hardened football veterans than for eightyear-olds, but that didn’t stop her “banging in goals for fun” as a forward. Eventually she’d busted the net enough to earn stints in Middlesbrough and America, and by the age of 16 she had progressed sufficiently to claim a seat in the dressing room at
Sunderland. She reflects on those days fondly. “It was a really good experience as a 16-year-old being in a team that was fighting for the Premier League, which was then the second tier. We won the title for three consecutive years. There were some really good players there: I got to play with Demi Stokes for a bit, Jordan Nobbs, and I crossed paths with other players who have gone on to big things.” There are wisps of feeling about the might-have-been. “My dream was always to play for England when I was growing up. I was lucky enough to get to international camps, but I never fulfilled my potential at that age. It was so competitive and I probably wasn’t psychologically strong enough. I was just playing within myself. “At Sunderland, I was gaining experience on the pitch, but I reached a point in my career where I thought ‘I need to be playing regularly now.’” Newly formed Durham Women presented an opportunity, and Christon grabbed it with as many hands as she could. Departing an established side like Sunderland was a bold choice, but that leap of faith has paid off. You could call Christon’s career something of a footballing safari: taking risks, embracing the experience fully, and getting up close to some of the most breathtaking names in the game’s DNA. “I always look back to Lucy Bronze as my footballing inspiration. I was lucky enough to play with her when we were at university in Leeds; she was in her third year and I was in my first year. You could tell she was going to go on to great things. She epitomises what I want to be as a right-back. She’s influential going forward and defensively and that’s what I try to be on match day.” The stylistic influence is clear. Christon’s game is a well-rounded one; while she can be depended on to put out a fire at the back, she also enjoys taking on opposition players, overlapping the winger, and whipping a ball into the box – usually a dangerous one.
“I always look back to Lucy Bronze as my footballing inspiration”
Yet it seems the glee of attacking is a privilege reserved for only the athletic among us! When asked for advice on how to improve my own blundering ventures at right-
Christon has been a mainstay for the Wildcats since joining in 2014 (George Ledger/Durham Women FC)
back, Christon doesn’t hesitate to set my priorities straight. “Your most important job is to defend. Attacking takes a lot of endurance.” Not that it’s a problem for Christon; endurance is her middle name. Well, not literally – but she is a strength and conditioning coach with Team Durham, and she manages the Durham University Women’s first team, who she guided to second in the league last season. Working towards a UEFA B Licence, coaching is a string in her bow that helps her approach the game uniquely.
“The speed and intensity of that division is a step up”
“I’ve always been inquisitive, asking questions of my coaches. I became dead interested in understanding how it was helping me, and I saw the improvement in my own physicality and performance. I’m always analysing sessions, watching to see how coaches deliver them, and I apply the stuff I pick up. I’m grateful to Durham for letting me have my dual career.” As the University are paired with Durham Women, Christon’s work schedule is effectively “built around football”, but the same can’t be said for every parttime player. Indeed, Christon highlights the sacrifices players in the Championship make.
The original calendar for January had Durham down for three away games at Lewes, West Ham and Crystal Palace in the space of a week. That’s an epic round trip of 1,591 miles, assuming players would return home for work on the days in between. Fortunately, the calendar-makers relented, extending the timeframe to 11 days, but the point stands. “It’s outrageous. Full-time players would have time to recover, but when you’re supposed to be getting up at 6 a.m. for work, you’re crawling by the end of the week!” And so, our conversation reached its speculative climax: what if a close-knit, part-time side like Durham wrote the fairy tale and got promoted? Do players abandon their other careers and turn professional for less pay, knowing relegation could rip up the script after a year or two? Do Durham ditch their strategy of recruiting local talent and splash the cash on a Portuguese megastar? Christon can’t know for sure; she isn’t some wizened fortune teller peering at us from behind an enchanted crystal ball. And she’s right to refrain from making outlandish predictions. Instead, she point to the club’s strengths as a sign of their potential. “Lee [Sanders] is different to any other manager I’ve worked
with. He’s really good at what he does: recruiting, securing sponsorships and partners, building this club. And Steph Libbey, the Head Coach, is UEFA A Licensed. She’s given us a real boost. With our coaches, it’s a small team but it works for us.
“I’ve always been inquisitive asking questions of my coaches”
“We’re receptive to change and are used to new players coming in because of the University and recruitment system. New people come in every year. “I think we are as good as the teams that are 7th or 8th in the Super League. We beat Manchester United at home in the year they went up. We beat Liverpool this year. Obviously, we’d have to set up a lot differently and have a deeper depth of squad to make sure everyone stays fit. The speed and intensity of that division is a step up. But we do fancy ourselves.” Whatever happens this season, at least we know Durham have got a funky soundtrack for the journey. Of the dressing room anthems regularly boomed out by DJ-defender Becky Salicki, surely ‘I Love To Boogie’ by T. Rex has to take the crown. One can only hope Durham will be boogieing come May.
20
Thursday 21st January 2021 | PALATINATE
Sport Sport
“Phil Taylor said to me ‘you need to be on TV’”: in conversation with pro darts referee Kirk Bevins Matt Styles speaks to one of only four PDC referees about his career, college darts, and how to improve your darts game
Matt Styles Sport Editor From Countdown champion to disillusioned maths teacher, to officiating Phil Taylor’s last ever match in a World Championship final, PDC caller Kirk Bevins is now living the dream. He tells Palatinate, “when I was a kid there were two jobs that I wanted to be: a darts referee or a maths teacher. Maths was my only passion and those were the things I could do that involves those things.” And indeed after leaving university he secured a one-year teaching contract as a maths teacher, but considered himself more of a disciplinarian. He enjoyed teaching the top sets but not the vast majority who he knew ‘didn’t want to be there’. “I couldn’t be dealing with writing names on the board, signing planners and giving detentions. I thought no.” He swiftly moved into actuary while looking into the possibility of darts calling. He was eventually offered a lucrative position at Aviva, but decided to quit and nosedive into the colourful world of professional darts when it came a-calling.
“Everything I do I like to be the best I can at”
“It’s not all about money”, he reflects, “it’s about life enjoyment and I really, really wanted to be a darts referee. It’s a hobby, and now I’ve got the best view in the house of world-class darts, so that’s the path I chose.” With just four callers on the PDC circuit, however, there are no easy nor conventional routes in. Bevins, aware of this, jumped at the chance when he and 31 other members of an online darts forum were given the thumbs up to score a behind-closed-doors pro tour voluntarily, free-ofcharge. Although the occasional tip from players was scant recompense for the costs of admin, hotels and petrol, Bevins knew that calling games for the world’s top 128 players was an invaluable experience. Instead of the players scoring themselves, as they would ordinarily, up stepped Kirk and his team of darting aficionados to officiate the big guns, whom Bevins impressed with his sharp arithmetic. “Phil Taylor said to me ‘you need to be on TV’. I said to him ‘you’re the man to get me there’,
The former Countdown winner now uses his maths skills to help up with the world’s best players (Kirk Bevins)
Bevins uses his love of maths to keep up with the world’s best darts players (Kirk Bevins)
so he went off and had a word with Tommy Cox who asked me to do it on TV as a marker, and by that time the Countdown thing had got around and I knew the TV cameras don’t bother me, so I thought I’d become a marker.” It was two months after that that Bruce Spendley, legendary PDC referee, announced his retirement. Kirk was then swiftly asked if he wanted to be upgraded to a referee, which he gleefully accepted. A trial in Blackpool on Sky Sports shortly followed – a game between Kim Huybrechts and Terry Jenkins – then just like that he was in.
“Darts is easy to play but hard to master”
As much as Bevins is assured in his maths ability he concedes the pressures of following in the footsteps of a great like Spendley. Beyond the scoring, he stresses the additional pressures of entertaining a crowd and not making a mistake. But seven years later Bevins is now fully at ease on the stage and a familiar face on the circuit. He has developed his own cachet, particularly his 171s which he loves to “give it large for”. His fans call him ‘The Kirkulator’, which encapsulates his ostensible imperviousness to mistakes and miscalculations. “When I first started it was
difficult because Spendley was a legend of the game; I felt I had to prove myself and that takes years. You’ve got to be unique and shout a different 180 to everyone else, you have to have different tones and change your voice depending on the situation. I think I’d be a good actor – it’s all about your voice and how you sound, and commentators will get excited even if they’re not. “So yes there’s pressure, but everything I do I like to be the best I can at, so I pressure myself more than anything. For me, I don’t want to make mistakes because I’ll feel rubbish in myself and players won’t trust me. It would cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, so you just have to trust your ability and trust the maths.” It’s easy to forget that there’s more to the job than arithmetic, though. As a licensed referee Bevins is responsible for controlling the stage and consulting constantly with the off-stage referee: looking out for persistent gamesmanship such as swearing, over-celebrating, throwing too quickly or taking darts too slowly. Behind the jump-cuts, beerswilling and raucous atmosphere, it is easy to forget it is a game underpinned by etiquette. While he loves his role and enforcing these rules, part of him misses the pandemonium of inter-
college darts – the venomous jeering, booing, and whistling in your opponent’s ears – an environment in which he immersed himself while at York University. Bevins is glad to hear of its enduring popularity at university, even if scoring happens on apps today and not internally or on chalkboards. While the mores and norms of college sport have no place in professional settings, obviously, he looks back fondly on the times when “everyone’s on top of you making a lot of noise. It’s just good banter.” Despite a glistening college career he confesses to having ‘dartitis’ nowadays – every darts player’s worst nightmare – but having seen first-hand from professionals he’s able to impart some wisdom on how players can improve their game, stressing the importance of muscle memory and, crucially, sheer confidence.
“Everyone’s on top of you making a lot of noise. It’s just good banter”
“Every player’s different, and there are many techniques you can do to help yourself. Van den Bergh takes deep breaths to calm down. Rob Cross steps back and kicks the oche three or four times when on a double. Peter Wright will sometimes change
the weight size of his darts, and he’s the only player I know that can do that.” “Darts is easy to play but hard to master. It’s a mental game – just try not to let pressure get on you. Get to the board early and have a good hour pounding the double 20s.” With darts there is so much more than meets the eye, yet perennially it suffers disparaging treatment, dismissed as a pub game or nothing more than pantomime by virtue of the ridiculous hairstyles, theatricality and drinking culture associated with it. Many have even questioned its status as a sport, but Bevins is right to defend it in the wake of such claims. “It’s officially a sport so I can’t describe it as anything else. You need to practise a lot to get really good at it and anyone who plays for an hour will know your muscles begin to hurt. It’s seems like a simple thing to throw from seven feet and three quarters but it’s definitely a sport.”
“I’d love to stay in darts. It’s a dream so why get rid of it”
“I recommended darts to Rachel Riley, but she says no because it hasn’t got a ball involved, but it’s truly unique and exciting. It’s also fine margins: you can miss a double 10 for the match by a millimetre and that’s the difference between £100k and £50k. It’s so tense watching it, you don’t know who’s going to hold their nerve; the slight shake will have an effect and you never know who’s going to win.” While Bevins lamented the artificial crowd noise and lack of fans at the World Championships this year, it was still a thrilling spectacle nonetheless. Fundamentally Bevins loves the game – the high drama, the energy and unpredictability – which is why he plans on staying in darts for the long haul. “I’d like to stay in darts. Maybe I’ll be a tournament director in thirty years time, I just don’t know. I do spotting for the Pro Tour on the weekend, they have two streaming boards and I tell the cameras where to go, so I could go into that in the future. I don’t know if I’d be a good commentator to be fair, but certainly spotting I could do very well at. But yes I’d love to stay in darts. It’s a dream so why get rid of it.”
PALATINATE | Thursday 21st January 2021
Sport
21
Ellie Christon: “My dream was always to play for England” The Durham full-back speaks on her career and DWFC’s unbeaten start (page 18)
Kirk Bevins interview: the untold story of a darts referee
Matt Syles speaks to darts referee Kirk Bevins on his career in the sport (page 19)
BUCS cancelled for most sports Luke Power Sport Editor
Competitve university sport is set to resume in the 2021/22 academic year following the cancellation of BUCS this week (Matt Styles)
Durham Cricket faces funding crisis Ben Fleming Deputy Sport Editor The last year, at its chaotic and unpredictable worst, has had implications far and wide throughout Durham, with Cricket no exception. BUCS has been cancelled for this academic year, the men’s 1s Hockey seem unlikely to be able to continue their campaign in the Premier Division and college sport, the crown jewel of the Durham sporting scene, is yet to get going. Amongst all of this, Durham University Cricket Club (DUCC) perhaps represent one of Durham’s most affected sporting institutions. Their season, which takes place almost exclusively in Easter term, was cancelled last year with the arrival of the first national lockdown. And, whilst this year’s season seems set to continue, the loss of long-term funding from the MCC and various coronavirus-related restrictions have made it a difficult year so far for the club. Speaking to Palatinate, Social Secretary Kam Hornby has admitted that it has been a difficult time for the club, but
stressed they have taken this year to implement some much needed structural and cultural changes to the club and to promote a “one club mentality”. He admits in the past the club has been a “bit guilty of having the MCCU and ‘the rest’” creating a bit of a divide between the top teams in the club and those lower down. By restructuring the club and rebranding the top team’s 1s and 2s rather than the MCCU squad and the MCCU Devs, Kam and Seb Carty, the social media sec, hope to see “emphasis being placed on performance and training ethic” and a sense of unity throughout the club, something which will hopefully lead to greater results on the pitch come summer. Over the last few months, with few full in-person training sessions and events, DUCC has been keen to look at the bigger picture and responsibilities of Durham sport. Kam recognises the importance of being more than simply a facilitator for sport but also a community that looks after one another. “We have also placed a bigger emphasis on mental health [this year]. We held a mental health seminar with Lewis Baxter, a
mental health campaigner and Durham student. Furthermore, as there is very little to do in terms of in-person training, we’ve tried to focus on making sure the freshers feel as if they’re part of something big, and we’ve made it clear that they can pop up to us as senior members of the squads for a chat regardless of what it’s about.” Combined with making sure socials aren’t toxic and solely drinking-based and holding more events with the Women’s team this year, there is a sense that in this time of great social isolation, the club has become a community and far more than just eleven students taking to the field to bowl or bat. As the club tentatively puts plans in place for a return to action with a full pre-season in the Easter break, they will have to keep an eye on the future and, in particular, funding for next season. As part of ECB restructuring, all six MMCUs have ceased to receive funding, with the decision being made prior to Covid-19. Lew Bedford, the Club President, explained the precarious situation this left the club in.
“Fortunately, the ECB has provided a guaranteed funding round of one year and depending on the success of the programme and the alignment of this programme to the ECB’s higherlevel strategy, we may continue to receive funding from them. If this is not the case, the University will need to think of ways to increase fundraising from an internal perspective and build a level of self-sufficiency so that we can continue to deliver a brilliant experience to all.” Regardless of the outcome, Lew, Kam, Seb and the rest of DUCC are simply keen to return to some sort of cricketing normality come Easter. Plans for full trials and friendlies with Leeds University are currently being discussed and there is a sense of optimism that the season can occur in its entirety this summer. For Lew, the idea of being back “on the road, with the characters and lovely blokes in the dressing rooms” is what it’s all about and hopefully, those times will return soon. For now, at least, one must wait but not ignore the great efforts of the club to create more of a community in this most difficult of times.
British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS), the governing body for university sport in the UK, has announced that the 202021 BUCS League and Knockout season has been cancelled, meaning most universitylevel sports will not be played competitively this academic year. There is one potential exception. Cricket has been chosen to march bravely on; the outdoor Cricket League is still scheduled to run from April this year, with the finals expected to take place in June. It is also hoped that individual sporting events can take place later in the year. These would not take place until at least March, and they would not be a substitute for a regular season. No teams will be promoted or relegated this year.
“To put competition on during this time would risk player welfare and safety”
Unsurprisingly, this decision has been taken due to Covid-19 and the unpredictable nature of nationwide re strictions. A BUCS statement reads: “To put competition on during this time would risk player welfare and safety, and that is not a chance we are willing to take.” “Our aim is to remain flexible and react to the changing situation as quickly as possible.” “Over the last few months, we did all we could to try and make sport happen. We very much recognise the importance of sport, and the part it plays in the physical and mental wellbeing of students, especially at the moment.” Alas, Durham will have to wait another year to dominate the national sporting scene. The University has perennially ranked in the top three since 2012, and until recently teams were looking forward to restarting fixtures in some capacity this term.