Palatinate 795

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Thursday 4th May 2017 | No. 795

Comment offers a field guide for surviving exam season

General Election poll Politics gauges student interest, involvement and intentnions

Facing up to it Five Durham SU groups nominated for national awards Hugo Harris News Editor

Tom Harwood, above, ran on a campaign of “re-legitimising” the NUS

Durham’s Tom Harwood finishes third in NUS presidential election

(NUS)

Harwood was beaten by former NUS vice-president Shakira Martin, who was elected with 402 votes Eugene Smith Deputy News Editor Durham University undergraduate Tom Harwood finished third in this year’s National Union of Students (NUS) presidential election, losing out to the incumbent Malia Bouattia in second place and former NUS vice-president Shakira Martin, who won by a landslide.

Running on a platform of “relegitimising” the student organisation, and despite gaining the support of delegates from universities such as the University of Manchester, Mr Harwood secured just 35

votes from Conference’s 1,200 student representatives, compared to Ms Bouattia’s 272 and Ms Martin’s 402.

Ms Martin, a 28-year-old former student at Lewisham College who describes herself as a “black, working class single mother,” said in her victory speech: “Today students voted for an NUS that’s taken seriously in the sector, by government and society.

“Students voted for an NUS with fun and energy that brings the fire back to their campus. Students were fed up of hearing about change, and voted to see some impact for a change.” In the end, the slate of

candidates for NUS positions associated with Martin won five out of six positions it ran for on the NUS National Executive Committee at April’s conference in Brighton.

These results are a blow for incumbent president Ms Bouattia, who won the presidency last year but has always been mired in accusations of anti-Semitism following allegations she had described the University of Birmingham as a “Zionist outpost” in 2011.

During the campaign, one Bouattia supporter had called Martin “the standard-bearer of the Blairite right”. Martin, who had said she was undecided about who she would

vote for in the upcoming general election, was unfazed by this accusation: “I’m pragmatic, my policies focus on getting the best deal for students – so I am Shakira,” she said. “I’m centre, I’m up, I’m down, I’ll be wherever I need to be to get the best deal for students. I’m property of no one but my membership of 7 million, which I’m excited to represent”.

Last week’s presidential result was also a disappointing outcome for Mr Harwood, who launched his presidential campaign in March this year after his election as a Durham NUS Conference delegate Continued on page 4

In a new wave of success for Durham Students’ Union (DSU), five of its groups have been nominated for awards at the National Societies Awards. The awards will handed out on Friday 19 May at Nottingham Students’ Union.

Durham University Charity Kommittee (DUCK), Durham InterCollegiate Christian Union (DICCU), Durham LGBT+ Association, Durham Instep Society, and Durham University Assassin’s Society have all been nominated respectively.

Both DICCU and DUCK have been nominated for the Best Society Event award. DICCU were nominated for Story, their weeklong event aimed at promoting faith within the Durham University community.

The Durham University Charity Fashion Show, nominated in the same category, raised over £75,000 for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) over the course of two evenings in February. The IRC provides essential, life-saving humanitarian supplies to conflict-affected civilian populations inside Syria.

The DSU’s LGBT+ Association has been nominated for both the Welfare and Inclusivity Award and also the Best Campaigning Society.

Durham Instep Society have been nominated for Best Arts and Performance Society after putting on a number of performances this year.

Durham University Assassin’s Society has been shortlisted for Best Hobby and Interest Society.

Activities Officer, Kara-Jane Senior said of the nominations: “I’m absolutely delighted that five of our student groups have been shortlisted for the National Societies Awards. These groups have worked hard this year to build communities and give students’ amazing experiences, and I am so proud of them!”

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Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

Editorial

www.palatinate.org.uk

Representation is our priority As Durham finally begins to down the last dregs of winter, and open itself up to the transient glory of summer, one can be sure that something else is lingering in the shadows.

Dare I even mention the topic of exams? I know of at least one house in Durham that has banned all mention of the topic, and this strikes me as a very sensible plan.

It is something that we have recently initiated in our own house, and I have already had to accept appropiate forfeits for indiscrete uses of the word.

Much like the name ‘Voldemort’, exams, in an ideal world, would be forced from all decent conversation.

Alas, for the moment at least, exams loom with the certainty of only death and taxes. Comment (page 5) has produced a vital field guide to surviving exam season.

It stresses the importance of mindfulness to help you remain present, factoring in time to rest, and planning your days. These are the kind of things which we are reminded of every year at this time for good reason.

It’s certainly only natural to feel stressed and anxious, and I am reminded of James Baldwin’s wonderful quote on reading, “It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

Yet communication is another way to do this. Talk to people,

talk to your friends or family, or anyone you can trust, if things aren’t going great. Because heaven knows, we have all been there and will be again.

I think it was Julian Barnes who made the brilliant observation that the greatest mistake we ever make is comparing the inside of our own lives with the outside of everyone else’s.

It feels more than a month and a half ago that I was putting together my application for Editor-In-Chief.

Frantically hacking away at my laptop as the deadline lurched ever closer, I was fuelled only by one too many (read: eight) cups of green tea.

Yet, I do not want my vision for the newspaper to go forgotten.

Many of my friends tell me that Palatinate fails to represent them, and this is something I desperately want to change.

Palatinate as a newspaper must speak for all students, and foster an inclusive atmosphere that means no-one feels themselves to be neglected in these pages.

We need to work harder at being a newspaper that represents everyone. Often have I heard the retort that writing for us is only for those students who want to be journalists. If I do nothing else in this editorial, I want to reassure you that this should never be the case.

So what can we do that makes Palatinate more representative of the student body? In this and future editions, Comment will be

introducing a ‘Student Spotlight’ section (page 5). This week it involves students talking in no more than around two hundred words on the topics of voting and opportunities for student writing.

In future editions, however, we hope to expand upon this, allowing for a greater range of opinions on Durham-based issues, and increasing the diversity of views within the paper.

In this edition, the Sports features a compelling interview with boxer Lennox Lewis.

Described as the best boxer of all time by Mohammed Ali and retiring the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Lewis will be talking on Anthony Joshua’s victory over Wladimir Klitschko. This is certainly worth a read on page 14.

Best of luck with the rest of term!

Adam Cunnane

Inside 795 News pages 3-4 Comment pages 5-6 Politics pages 7-8 SciTech page 8 Sport pages 14-16

indigo

Features page 9 Music page 10 Film & TV pages 11 Stage page 12 Food & Drink 13 Clarifications and corrections • We would like to apologise unreservedly to anyone who was offended by any of the material printed in the Indigo editorial of issue 794 (dated 9th March 2017).

The views represented in the editorial were those of the Indigo Editor, and not of Palatinate’s editorial board or its writers. We acknowledge the way in which its tone could cause offence. We apologise profusely.

Follow us on social media www.facebook.com/ palatinate Follow us on Twitter @PalatinateUK

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

COMMENT: Is the media becoming terror’s unwitting associate?

SPORT: Bobbleheads, Brawls and Babe Ruth – Five reasons to get into baseball in 2017

FASHION: Van Mildert 2017 Fashion Show Review

FILM & TV: Review – Doctor Who, ‘Pilot’

“If we stop calling terrorism ‘terrorism’, it simply becomes murder,” Nick Connor argues.

George Bond looks ahead to the MLB in London, exploring five reasons why American’s pastime should no longer be overlooked in the UK.

“A work of art”, Anna Gibbs writes.

Ellie Scorah reviews the Time Lord’s return to our screens.

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

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Ryan Gould & Adam Cunnane editor@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Editors Ellie Scorah & Anna Tatham deputy.editor@palatinate.org.uk News Editors Emma Pinckard & Hugo Harris news@palatinate.org.uk News Features Editor Ben Sladden news.features@palatinate.org.uk Deputy News Editors Sophie Gregory, Eugene Smith & Reece Moore deputy.news@palatinate.org.uk Politics Editor Kate McIntosh politics@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Politics Editor Eloise Carey & Cameron McIntosh Profile Editors Jack Reed & Charlie Taylor-Kroll profile@palatinate.org.uk Science and Technology Editor Luke Andrews & Tommy Pallett scitech@palatinate.org.uk Comment Editor Tania Chakraborti comment@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Comment Editor Emily Smith & Danny Walker Sport Editor Nick Friend sport@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Sport Editors James Martland, Ollie Godden & Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero Chief College Sport Correspondent George Bond Indigo Editor Yongchang Chin indigo@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Indigo Editor Olivia Howcroft deputy.indigo@palatinate.org.uk Features Editor Sophie Paterson feature@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Features Editor Matthew Chalmers Food & Drink Editor Divya Shastri food@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Food & Drink Editor Robbie Tominey-Nevado Travel Editor Harriet Willis travel@palatinate.org.uk Fashion Editor Victor Schagerlund fashion@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Fashion Editor Emma Denison Film and Television Editor Simon Fearn film@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Film and Television Editor Olivia Ballantine-Smith Stage Editor Alison Gamble stage@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Stage Editor Christye McKinney deputy.stage@palatinate.org.uk Music Editor Beth Madden music@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Music Editor Tom Watling Creative Writing Editor Anna Gibbs creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk Books Editors Aaron Bell & Tamsin Bracher books@palatinate.org.uk Visual Arts Editor Lolita Gendler visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Visual Arts Editor Lucy Sara-Kelly Chief Sub-Editor Ollie Mair sub-editing@palatinate.org.uk Sub-Editors Harriet Cunningham, Jack Heeney, Inka Karna, Grace Long,Violet Nicholson, Angelos Sofocleous Web Editor John Morris Photography Editor Max Luan photography@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Photography Editor Rob Hardyman & Will Michaels Illustrations Editor Faye Chua illustration@palatinate.org.uk Deputy Illustrations Editors Katie Butler & Akansha Mahesh-Naraindas Digital Coordinators Craig Bateman & Elizabeth Watson

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PALATINATE | Thursday 4th May 2017

News

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Durham ranked 6th in Complete University Guide Emma Pinckard News Editor

DURHAM UNIVERSITY

Durham University has been ranked sixth in the UK by the Complete University Guide in results published last week.

While Cambridge and Oxford retained their first and second place rankings, LSE and Imperial each fell one place allowing St Andrews to rise to third. In sixth place, Durham University ranked above UCL, Warwick, Lancaster, and Loughborough, who complete the top ten.

The Complete University Guide Rankings take several criteria into account, including entry standards, research quality and intensity, spending on academic services and faculties, and the ratio of students to staff. The guide also compares the universities in relation to graduate prospects, degree completion, good honours awarded, and student satisfaction. The assessment across these areas gave Durham University a strong score of 920 – higher than last year’s 916.

Durham University was also highly positioned in the individual subject rankings, seeing Sports Science rise to fifth, Physics to fourth, Archaeology and History to sec-

1st Cambridge 2nd Oxford 3rd St Andrews ••••••••••••••••••

6th Durham

ond, and Music and Education rise to first place along with English, which maintained its position for the fifth year in a row. In total, over thirty different departments at the University ranked in the UK top 10.

Professor Stuart Corbridge, Vice-Chancellor, said: “Durham has been ranked in the Complete University Guide’s top ten UK universities for the past ten consecutive years and we are pleased to have

maintained our overall position of sixth this year.

“Over 90% of our subjects are ranked in the UK top ten, with three subjects; English, Music and Education achieving first position.

This demonstrates our sustained level of success in what has been a challenging time for the UK Higher Education sector.”

He continued: “There is always more we can do to improve

and we have recently developed an ambitious ten-year University Strategy with the goal of delivering world-leading and world-changing research; education that is challenging, difficult, enabling and transformative; and a wider student experience to rival the best in the world. As part of the strategy we will be investing in a number of areas, including new student teaching and sport facilities.”

‘Waste Not Want Not’ scheme gives food to the homeless Sophie Gregory Deputy News Editor A new scheme aims to redistribute uneaten food from colleges and the YUM cafes in order to tackle food poverty in Durham, bursting the ‘Durham bubble’ by engaging with the wider County Durham community.

Run by Castle JCR and Hild Bede SRC, the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ project collects leftover food on a Friday afternoon and takes it to the DSU to be given to local homeless people and people suffering from food poverty, who will be contacted through local charities.

Students will later given access to the food in order to counter problems of food poverty among students. Currently, the team are focusing on delivering to students and forming relationships with charities to aid their distribution to the wider community.

As Fraser Desforges-Medhurst, the Castle JCR President and one of the founders of the project, commented: “it is not just local Durham residents that use food banks - some students are forced to due to their financial situation.

“I imagine this extreme student poverty will become increasingly common as tuition fees rise, private rents go up and University

bursary provision is reduced unless meaningful action is taken by the University and/or the government.

“I also think that it has some relevance to University expansion, because as the University grows we will need to be more attentive to our impact on the community and do more to benefit the city and county more widely, which this project does.”

A trial run at the end of second term served over 100 people with packaged sandwiches and soup.

According to Ben Gilbey, another convenor of the project, there are approximately 10-15 homeless people within Durham City Centre itself.

The problem of homelessness is, however, not confined only to the City Centre and the project plans to use local charities such as the Salvation Army in order to contact those in need.

Though there are awareness weeks that try to avoid wastage from colleges, all food that is wasted is simply disposed of.

‘Waste Not Want Not’ aims to be able to reduce this wastage by communicating with the colleges and University in order to be able to distribute hot meals for those less advantaged and also to help students who might be struggling.

Emma Thomson, who also

► Ben Gilby and Emma Thomson (Waste Not Want Not)

“

It is not just local Durham residents that use food banks – some students are forced to due to their financial situation

”

helped to found and run the project, told Palatinate: “Food waste and food poverty are both huge issues in Durham, and we hope to make some contribution to reducing the prevalence and severity of the issues.

“This is just an incredibly easy way for people to get involved with reducing food waste and helping the environment, and if anyone wants to get involved either through making use of the waste

food or by volunteering, then that would be hugely appreciated!”

The team will be giving out the food at 6pm every Friday for the rest of this term outside of the Students’ Union.

They can also be found on Facebook, here: https://www.facebook.com/wastenotwantnotDurham/

“

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Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

News

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University to spend £260,000 to improve reputation of Durham Business School Reece Moore Deputy News Editor Durham University has decided to make a big push to improve the reputation of its business school.

This push comes in the form of an improved media and promotion campaign, and an investment of around £260,000.

The Business School has 3,564 students, with more than half coming from outside the UK and EU, encompassing 111 different nationalities.

Professor Tim Clark, Pro-ViceChancellor of Durham University, told Palatinate that “Durham University Business School is a triple accredited, highly ranked, full service, university-based business school”, and is looking to become one of the

world’s best business schools in the next few years.

There will be “effective national and international promotion of the [Business School’s] impressive and impactful research,” claimed Professor Clark.

He continued to explain that it will have the ultimate aim of “supporting the further success of the School, its students and their future career choices and attracting high-calibre academics, students, businesses, partners and other key stakeholders in these challenging times for higher education.”

PR Weekly reported that the University is actively searching for a PR firm to assist in this endeavour.

The £260,000 is how much the contract with the PR firm will be worth, and it will be the chosen firm’s

responsibility to ensure that the targets are achieved.

PR Weekly claims the firm will be tasked with “producing two articles each month based on research by the School, as well as devising a yearly PR plan and at least half a dozen spin-off

▲ Durham Business School (Durham University)

specific comms strategies over the course of a year.”

By 2021, which is the end year of the contract, Professor Clark hopes Durham University can become “a recognised Top 20 European Business School.”

“I’m very proud to have pushed the conversation to address some of the deep structural failings of the NUS” Continued from front page by a significant margin last December. Harwood’s manifesto had delineated plans to create a more inclusive NUS. Specific policies included the introduction of a one member one vote system in all NUS elections and a call to raise the threshold at which Further Education students have to pay back fees to £26,500 – the UK average wage.

These policies co-existed with some satirical pledges from Harwood, including the aim to defeat ISIS using NUS boycotts.

The third-placed candidate told Palatinate: “I’m very proud to have pushed the conversation to address some of the deep structural failings of the NUS. “My candidacy clearly has had a big impact on this election and I’m delighted that our new president has taken on board so many of the concerns my campaign raised.

“I believe that we have the chance now to start moving in the right direction and I look forward to working with Shakira over the next year.”

The NUS presidency has long been a coveted position for aspiring politicians and activists. Previous presidents include the former Home and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, ex-Home Secretary Charles Clarke, and the writer, broadcaster and Labour politician Trevor Phillips.

Harwood was defeated by Shakira Martin

(NUS Connect)

Landlord agrees to pay compensation to Durham students A Durham landlord has agreed to repay former student tenants their deposit and an additional 150 per cent in compensation (Luke Andrews writes).

The Durham University students claimed that their landlord had breached the tenancy agreement by failing to protect their deposits within 30 days of receipt, Durham Magistrates’ Court heard.

They claimed compensation for this,

which had to be between one to three times the amount of the original deposit.

The landlord objected to the claim and requested compensation in cleaning charges.

Judge Coulthard told the court that if a tenancy agreement is breached, a sum of between one and three times the amount of the original deposit must be payed in compensation.

The case was closed with a consent

order endorsed by the court and agreed by both parties stating that the landlord should pay back the amount of the deposit and 1.5 times that amount in compensation.

The case was brought by Ben Jones, fourth-year physicist, 22, Adam Richardson, 22, fourth-year mathematician, Nick Denton, 21, masters Theology student, and three others.

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PALATINATE | Thursday 4th May 2017

Comment

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Does Durham really offer “good value for money”?

Edoardo Lanfranchi Before the end of Michaelmas term, in an interview published in Palatinate, Vice-Chancellor Stuart Corbridge made a very proud statement about Durham offering “good value for money” and a “world-class student experience and education” to its students.

He then justified the upcoming expansionary plans and the transition from Queen’s to Durham campus – all envisaged in the ambitious ‘Estate Masterplan’ approved by the University last year – as aiming to enhance these strengths.

According to Professor Corbridge, improved education, an improved student and college experience, and a more international environment are the main goals the University policies are pursuing – and what he says sounds very sensible.

But unfortunately, the reality looks quite different.

The main issue with Professor Corbridge’s claim becomes clear when placed in the context of the limited contact hours afforded to courses in Social Sciences and Humanities. Many students would simply like more.

As a Course Rep in three different departments, I have run surveys, collected feedback and talked to various members of staff; the vast majority seemingly agree that more contact hours would mean improved learning outcomes.

Having tutorials once a week

“

Tutorials are what make the difference ... So why not have more?

”

instead of once a fortnight, for a start, and having longer lectures to give expert lecturers the chance to actually talk about their research and not just rush through some generic slides that all look a bit alike. Wouldn’t that be a true world-class education?

Independent reading, of course, is a major part of our degree – but contact hours are what we are

Photograph: Will Michaels going to university for in the first place; tutorials are what make the difference in the best universities. So why not have more?

Most people to whom I have posed this question – including senior professors – looked up to the sky, rolled their eyes and said something along the lines of ‘sure, weekly tutorials would be better, but that’s not going to happen, is it?’

Some modules are taught by tutors who are PhD students. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and many are outstanding at what they do.

But, primarily, they are researchers, and to teach they need training and guidelines, alongside constant support and internal communication.

Personally, I could name at least two departments where that does not happen at all, or at least not sufficiently, and the problem seems to be more widespread than that. Why can’t the lecturers that actually teach the modules have a more active role in tutorials?

This, too, I asked in meetings, and the answer was that mostly, they lack the time to do so. They are required to produce a certain number of publications, attend meetings, keep the bureau-

cratic machine operational, and end up with little time to teach.

But enough on academics; what about the ‘world-class student experience’ and collegiate system that make Durham such a special place in which to study?

Can we really be so certain that such a rapid increase in the number of students on Durham campus will improve student and college experience, as professor Corbridge has suggested?

Roughly 2,300 students will be coming over from Queen’s Campus in the next two years, and the University is likely to take up to 4,000 more students before 2027, with many fearing that the city will be overcrowded.

Thus, concerns about the increasing town-gown divide, the restrictions on the use of college facilities and the risk of a hike in renting prices seem to be well-grounded.

In fact, the two main DSU presidential candidates, Megan Croll and Harry Cross, both campaigned for the safeguard of student experience and affordability with regards to the Estate Masterplan.

If college life and student experience are at risk, and if the ‘bubble’ that seperates students from

the local community in Durham might get even thicker, shouldn’t we be more cautious about increasing the number of students?

We all spend at least £9,000 on tuition fees every year, and most

“

We all spend at least £9,000 on tuition fees...And most of us don’t really know where that money goes.

”

of us don’t really know where that money goes. If we lack the budget to pay for more contact hours in Humanities and Social Sciences because the University is prioritising other cost items, Professor Corbridge (who earns £231,000 a year) should be very clear about it.

If there is a tradeoff between

the size of the University on one hand, and its unique student life and the strength of its community on the other, there should be more serious debate on the matter.

Of course, what I am referring to is not unusual at all in the UK nor in most western countries.

Universities and their ranking systems work this way; teaching is widely sacrificed to boost research output and private investments.

But we should at least be transparent about it.

Durham does not yet offer adequate ‘value for money’ to all students; it needs to spend a copious amount of money on things like ‘artwork’ or continuous expansion because, unfortunately, this is how universities work in 2017.

And the Vice-Chancellor going on about ‘value for money’ while pretending the above issues don’t exist will not ameliorate the situation.

Have a different opinion? Email your response to comment@palatinate.org.uk

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Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

Comment

www.palatinate.org.uk

Facing down the tiger

A field guide to surviving exam season in colleges and in the Students’ Union. There’s a lot of stuff going on, which will help to: a) get you out of the tunnel vision of exam season . b) demonstrate that there is more to life than these few essays you’ll churn out in the exam hall.

6. Share things.

Quite apart from the fact that there are few more reassuring phrases than “I haven’t done enough revision either”, the act of articulating a problem makes it easier to deal with.

Speak to friends, your welfare team or the University counselling services if you need to.

Remember that the danger, such as it is, stops at the exam. A limited amount of stress can be helpful, but keep it in proportion.

Exams aren’t going to kill you; don’t let them eat you whole.

Tom Henderson Imagine a tiger. A consummate predator, incredibly camouflaged, you know, there might be one about.

Imagine you then pass a particularly dark tangle of greenery and something moves. Naturally, you tense up, ready to escape.

We can imagine the threat, and our bodies respond accordingly; muscles tighten, we make ourselves smaller and our minds contract to focus on running very fast in the opposite direction. It’s a very handy response for escaping an imminent, gory death.

Durham doesn’t have many tigers wandering around, but many of us will find this primal response is triggered anyway.

Through our GCSEs and A-Levels and many assessments since, we’ve been taught that exams are important; each new round is “the most important set of tests you will ever do”. We believe that what we write on a piece of paper over the course of an hour or two will dictate the course of the rest of our lives.

Whether or not this is true is irrelevant: we have absorbed the warnings. We have internalised the sense of danger of a failed exam, even if we’re not sure precisely what that danger is.

That is today’s tiger, and it provokes pretty much the same response as the four-legged variety.

Unfortunately, we can’t escape the danger of failing an exam by running away from it. Our instincts are out of date.

They’re designed for a short dash away from predators, not long hours in the library.

“

Exams aren’t going to kill you.

”

Tom Henderson is on the welfare team at the College of St Hild and St Bede.

Illustration: Charlotte Way Trying to keep them up for months on end is exhausting, leaving us in no condition to do any work at all. We need, therefore, to fight our flight reflexes.

There are many ways to do this.

These are some of my favourites: 1. Mindfulness and meditation are one option.

They can help you identify tension you hadn’t noticed and release it. Mindfulness allows you to concentrate on the present moment, rather than the terrifying hypothetical future.

If you’re not a sitting down kind of person, a similar presence of mind can be achieved through sport or music or cooking. Or reading a mildly diverting Palatinate article on wellbeing (or even writing a Palatinate article on wellbeing).

Anything all-consuming will do; something to concentrate the mind and draw it away from the cataclysmic fantasia it’s busy composing about the exams’ aftermath.

Put that tiger to sleep.

2. Speaking of sleep: rest is important.

40-hour caffeinated stints in the

library are all very well, but not all that useful for any more than your own martyred bragging rights.

Get enough sleep, take breaks and walk around the outside of the Bill Bryson to make your reflective learning even more reflective.

3. Plan your revision and time.

This doesn’t have to be too complex, but it’s a good tool for reducing your cognitive load.

Instead of trying to remember what you were going to revise next, you can remember complex formulae or Dryden quotes.

4. Stand up straight. Really.

According to a 2010 study on ‘Power Posing’, posture can affect the production of hormones in the body. So much so that a powerful body position will actually make you feel better.

More importantly, being hunched over and smaller than you are will make you feel worse.

This is particularly easy; give it a go on the way back from the library, if nothing else.

5. Keep an eye out for the Work Smart (née Stress Less) campaign

Student Spotlight: 2016/2017

Student opinions on significant Durham events Vote Vote Vote “Something I’ve noticed this academic year is that students seem to be engaging more in the voting processes which determine who make big decisions on our behalf. There’s been increased participation in JCR elections within my own college, and in university-wide elections for DSU and NUS representatives. It’s a really positive trend to see students becoming more active in the processes which shape present and future university experiences. Hopefully this trend will be translated on a national level, and there will be an increased voter turnout for 18-24 year olds in the upcoming general election (remember to register to vote!!!)”

Ella Capel-Smith, St Cuthbert’s Society

More opportunities for student writing “Over the last three years at Durham, a wide range of platforms have emerged for students to express themselves creatively. This year Qasim Salam, Jazzy Price and Fergus Neville launched Buttered Toast, a theatre company for student writing. Previously the only avenue for student playwrights was to submit a polished, full-length piece to the (slightly intimidating) Durham Drama Festival – now they have a place to experiment, making the student writing scene more playful and diverse. Even the perennial problem of the lack of studio space for student artists may have been solved by Empty Shop’s new North Road TESTT Space. Uniting student and local artists in its numerous studio spaces, last week they hosted their first exhibition on queer art. As I leave Durham, student-led creative arts have never been in ruder health. May they continue to improve!”

Simon Fearn, Van Mildert College

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PALATINATE | Thursday 4th May 2017

Politics

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Durham expects Conservative GE victory

“

Only 3 per cent said they were not registered to vote

Where Durham plans to vote

“

A moderate resurgence may not be on the cards

How Durham plans to vote

us believe a Conservative victory is just around the corner. Despite 44 per cent of the 387 people who responded (nearly 1 in 40 Durham students) pledging their allegiance to Labour, more people said they didn’t know who would win than those who predicted a Labour ma-

What we predict will happen

“

Despite such low youth engagement across the country, in Durham, half of the students we polled are interested in the upcoming election. About a quarter (26 per cent) said they are stressed, and a further 22 per cent said they are excited about the upcoming election.

Our EU poll found that 67 per cent of Durham students voted to

will be bolstering Durham MP Roberta Blackman-Wood’s current majority.

A further 22 per cent said they will vote Conservative, and 18 per cent claimed to be supporting the Liberal Democrats. Given the 17 per cent who told us they fa-

voured Farron’s party all the way back in December 2016, a moderate resurgence may not be on the cards. At least not in Durham.

We’re largely unified by prediction of what Parliament will look like come 9th June.

An impressive 88 per cent of

jority. No wonder nearly half (47 per cent) told us they were pessimistic about the election outcome.

The slightly strong Labour support amongst the 18-25 age group could well prop up the party’s vote, with leader Jeremy Corbyn

“

88 per cent think a Conservative victory is just around the corner

“

As yet another general election looms, at Palatinate Politics we’ve been polling Durham students to see what we make of it all. As it turns out, we’re a surprisingly engaged bunch. Only 3 per cent of the 387 students who responded said that they were not registered to vote, compared to 55 per cent of 18-to-25 year olds nationally.

remain – so will that be reflected in how Durham votes come June?

A substantial minority, 44 per cent, said they’ll be voting Labour.

But, with only 18 per cent registered to vote in Durham, it seems unlikely that those voters

“

Kate McIntosh Politics Editor

particularly targetting the younger age group.

Below, an article from the DUCA makes the case for the Conservatives, followed by an excerpt of an online article arguing against another Conservative government.

The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming election is 22nd May. You can register easily by following by scanning the QR code.

8

Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

www.palatinate.org.uk

Where to cast your vote Polls point to defeat for Le Pen Rhodri Sheldrake Davies

With the next General Election set for 8th June, students across the country are faced with the issue not only of how to vote, but also where to vote.

Any UK student is eligible to register to vote both at home and at university.

Though at first it seems natural to vote in the place that feels most like home (just don’t tell the parents where you chose!), it’s important to remember that, with 2017 already being called ‘the year where tactical voting could really take off’, students’ choice of where to vote may prove more critical than ever before.

The UK operates a first-past-thepost, winner takes all system, in which party candidates compete to get the greatest number of votes.

This means that any votes which don’t go to the winning candidate in each constituency are all-but irrelevant. This, in turn, means that, in closer electoral contests, each vote has a higher chance of being the de-

cider.

The contest here in Durham is set to be two-horse race between the Conservatives, currently polling 30 per cent and Labour (who’ve held the seat since 1935), polling at around 40 per cent.

Hence, a 10 per cent swing would be needed to oust current MP Roberta Blackman-Woods, making it one of the ‘safer’ constituencies in the UK. However, a well-focused campaign from Theresa May’s Brexit-touting Tory party may well prompt a much tighter race in Durham yet, with neighbouring Hartlepool already projected to turn away from Labour for the first time in its history. For anyone looking to keep Labour in, or the Tories out, voting in Durham should not be off the cards quite yet.

On the other hand, those hoping for a #LibDemfightback or a sudden resurgence of nationalism, probably ought to give Durham a miss, with minor parties in the area polling a mere 30% between them, even despite the region’s nine Liberal Democrat Councillors.

Cameron McIntosh Deputy Politics Editor President Le Pen or President Macron? That is the choice facing millions of French voters this week. For the first time since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958, the Socialist and Republican parties have failed to reach the final round of voting. Left in the battle for the Élysée Palace are two candidates with antithetical visions of France’s future.

The second round is a contest between ideals. Protectionism versus liberalism, patriotism versus internationalism, isolationism versus integration. While Marine Le Pen’s campaign has appealed to working-class discontent through anti-immigrant rhetoric, her opponent has presented a liberal, pro-market project, in what could signal a revival of European centrism.

Macron is the clear favourite to defeat the ex-FN leader, with eliminated candidates promptly endorsing the 39-year-old founder of En Marche!

For Marine Le Pen this will be famil-

iar. The so called ‘Republican Front’ of 2002 saw her father lose by the biggest landslide in French presidential history. Her efforts to reach the top of French politics appear to be headed for similar disappointment.

The surge in value of the Euro was testament to market confidence in a Macron victory, after he secured 23.8 per cent of the first-round votes. In a break with convention, the President of the European Commission, JeanClaude Juncker, declared his support for the investment banker-turned-politician. An unsurprising acknowledgement, given Le Pen’s ardent hostility

to the European project. The deeply unpopular incumbent François Hollande has also endorsed him.

If the polls are to be believed, Marine Le Pen’s presidential race appears to have ran its course. What’s more, she looks set to lose to a candidate who epitomises everything she vehemently opposes: a pro-European liberal who believes in a tolerant, internationalist and outward-looking France. Macron is undoubtedly the establishment candidate, but in a world of Trump and Brexit, the revival of centre-ground politics is perhaps more welcome than ever.

Macron’s former opponents have endorsed him

(Blandine Le Cain via Flickr)

MPs face Scientific Select Committee Jack Eardley The Voice of the Future presents a unique opportunity to turn the tables on MPs and ask them questions at a select committee style event. The annual meeting invites members of a broad range of scientific disciplines - including representation from Durham University - to question MPs and Government advisors about science based policy. Questions this year ranged from general topics including Brexit, higher education, and research funding, right down to more specific issues including university start-ups,

graphene technology, and the Trump Presidency’s worrying obsession with “alternative facts”.

This year’s event featured the Shadow Secretary for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation Chi Onwurah; Government Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Mark Walport; Government Minister for Universities, Science, and Research and Innovation Jo Johnson and the Science and Technology Select Committee.

The answers given were focussed and informative but with occasional reminders that we were in Westminster when contentious political issues found their way into the session. Chi

Onwurah scolded the Chancellor’s unravelling budget just as Philip Hammond was in the commons chamber over the road, reversing his position on changes to National Insurance.

Answering research funding concerns, Jo Johnson emphasised the government’s increased investment in research and development (R&D), marking the greatest increase in real terms spending in 40 years. Brexit cast a shadow over much of the event with many questions targeting its potential negative impact on the scientific community; many of these fears were however quenched by the Minister. The final question to Johnson re-

quested an explanation of the positive impacts of Brexit on British science.

This appeared more challenging, and although Jo Johnson’s reply stressed the opportunities Brexit presented for international collaboration, it was difficult to grasp his point knowing that the European Union places no restrictions or inhibitions on such collaboration anyway.

Chi Onwurah confirmed her support for freedom of movement and the benefits it provides the scientific community. She spoke personally and passionately about the importance of encouraging girls to achieve in and enjoy mathematics, and the

need to increase mathematical fluency throughout the country.

The event reassured those attending that at a time when noises coming from politicians around the globe can often sound meaningless or foolish, scientists and experts are still valued by democracy and government. Voice of the Future was helpful in demonstrating how important research and development are to government policy and that there is still a need for scientists to join the ranks of politicians.

I would encourage other Durham students with an interest in scientific policy and the broader societal impact of their work to attend in the future.

Durham student campaigns at London Science March Luke Andrews SciTech Editor A final-year Physics student shared her experiences as a marshall at the event with Palatinate.

The march was organised to highlight the contribution of science to society, and to encourage policies for further scientific research. It coincided with Earth Day, and was part of a global movement.

Anuradha Damale, 22, donned

a high-visibility jacket and walked with the approximately 8,000 marchers from the Science Museum to Parliament Square. Once they arrived at the square, Dr Jon Butterworth, a professor of Physics at University College London, Andrew Steele, Science is Vital Chair, and Dr Suze Kundu, biochemist at the University of Surrey, gave speeches.

There was also a minute’s silence to remember the victims of the Westminster attack.

She was motivated to join the

event because she felt the issues it represented had been overlooked.

“As a physics undergraduate, Science Policy Masters [offer holder] and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) advocate, I think it was a no brainer,” she said.

“We live in a technology driven world and technology comes from scientific knowledge – it’s time that leaders and politicians put their politics aside and realise that science doesn’t have a political agenda.”

London Science March

(Anuradha Damale)

9

PALATINATE | Thursday 4th May 2017

Features

www.palatinate.org.uk

Does ‘no-news’ mean good news?

Imogen Bole

T

he modern press is a funny thing. One minute it’s trying to shock us, then scare, frighten, threaten, intimidate, persuade, appease, and any other word for influence you can think of.

In a concerningly short amount of time, we’ve read provocative headlines and appalling scandals - from England leaving the EU to our former Prime Minister allegedly molesting dead livestock.

The next week, there’s a feature on Prince George starting nursery - but we’re clearly too busy worrying to read it. Good thing it’s mostly pictures.

There are two types of news: the serious news ( the things you are ashamed of not knowing at dinner parties), and, the trivial news - the ‘no-news’. And it’s in defence of Prince George’s photo shoot that I am writing.

This ‘no-news’ is made up of all the non-essential tidbits that fill in the gaps in conversation with that friend-of-a-friend. You know that one who you don’t really get on with, but with whom

you’re infrequently thrust together at gatherings, and forced to make light conversation with.

You know you have to say something, but can’t realistically mount an inquiry into their political persuasion, or family life - or simply don’t care enough to ask. So, Brangelina it is.

The wonderful (yes, wonderful) thing about Brangelina or Piers Morgan or Katie Price, is that our opinion of them is almost always unanimous. Whereas, people’s opinions of Jeremy Corbyn or Hillary Clinton definitely divide us.

Consider a scenario in which a group of friends meet for their weekly poker night. A few hours into the game, the alcohol starts to kick in, tensions are high now.

Our feelings on figures like Piers Morgan and Kim Kardashian can unite many of us

“

Mark’s gone all-in, Sarah’s spilt her wine over her cards and Ter-

“

A bit more ‘nonews’ might do us some good amidst all the chaos.

The wonderful thing about Brangelina is that our opinion of them is almost always unanimous.

ry is certain they left the backdoor unlocked. Amidst all this, a conversation about Thatcher sparks up and a debate ensues.

All of a sudden, Mark’s lost everything, Sarah’s hurled her glass

at the wall and Terry’s gone home to rip the back door off.

Perhaps mildly hyperbolic… but I think I’ve made my point: serious news is divisive. I’m not saying that it isn’t also a good thing (of course it is), but simply that a bit more ‘no-news’ might do us some good amidst all the chaos.

For example, consider the same scenario, but the conversation now revolves around mocking the Kardashians. It would more likely unite them, would it not? How could it not?

In the same way that cracker jokes are intentionally designed to be rubbish, trivial news is designed to be superficial enough not to be controversial. Just think about how we all slouch around the table at Christmas, united against those pitiful punch lines.

Have you ever felt closer to your

“

(Top: The Cable Show via Flickr, bottom: Eva Rinaldi via Flickr)

family (even the ones you don’t like) than when you hear that

“

“

“

Trivial news is designed to be superficial enough not to be controversial.

rancorous ‘Uuuuuuh…’ at the big reveal? I thought not.

If you’re still not convinced, I had a look at the ‘Most Popular’ section on the BBC website. And, right on cue, at number two - af-

ter ‘Trump Defiant After Healthcare Ban’ - was ‘The Man Taught to Have Sex By Lesbians’. Now, I don’t know about you, but, out of all the articles on the BBC’s website, that one doesn’t cover particularly pressing issues and yet, clearly, sometimes we need a respite from reality. Further down the list were articles on Douglas Carswell and the Belarus riots, so at least there’s a balance.

All I mean to say is that, whilst we’ve got Donald Trump running the States, Theresa May activating Article 50, Scotland wanting a second referendum, reports of Russian intervention in American politics, and military action being taken against the so-called Islamic State in Syria, would it be so bad if we spent a little longer relishing Piers Morgan’s hiatus from Twitter for Comic Relief ?

10

Music

www.palatinate.org.uk

Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

Live in Durham: Empty Shop Bethany Madden Music Editor Palatinate Music sat down with Carlo Viglianisi, an artist and photographer who founded Empty Shop alongside Nick Malyan back in 2010.

How did Empty Shop, and the gigs in particular, start?

It’s evolved quite a bit in its time.

We had our 8th birthday recently. It’s crazy and mildly terrifying. It started out with visual arts and we just put on an exhibition and that was it - there was no plan. I was using a literal empty shop as a photography studio.

It snowballed from there really.

We just used empty shops in that kind of pop-up model and moved about a bit. Then about a year in we got this building and this was semi-permanent; we took it for 3 years, initially thinking that we would never actually be here for 3 years. And then 3 years came and we thought if we were going to stick around then it would be a shame to lose the building. Up until that point it was mostly just gallery

space, but we were starting to get a lot of requests from musicians.

It was fine saying that artists had a space to hang work, but musicians also wanted somewhere to play. At that point, we decided to broaden it out into a cultural venue and just let that room be used for anything and everything. We started running events at night and it got picked up quite quickly by musicians. A lot of live music started to happen here on a regular basis. And I would say now 4 ½ years in since we made that shift, it’s among one of the more popular uses of the space.

So it evolved quite naturally really. Durham doesn’t have a music venue. This is a nice little space. It’s definitely a small venue but it suits Durham perfectly.

I suppose it is quite a natural progression. Once you give people a creative space people will gravitate towards it.

How do you see Empty Shop’s live performances evolving in the future?

Live gigs are probably the biggest output that we have at the moment. I think that it will just get stronger and stronger, especially as it becomes more visible in that way. As we start

to say this is a performance venue and push that more rather than just labelling it as a catch all. The more people who come and think “Oh, this is great. I want my band to play here”, the better. It’s starting to get a really nice reputation in the North East for being somewhere that really interesting gigs happen.

And that’s amazing because it’s very collaborative. We don’t really programme much here, we just facilitate others in doing that. Lots of promoters use it and lots of other people use it.

You do seem to have quite a wide variety of music on here. You hold jazz nights but then you also have punk bands on. So that mostly comes from other people contacting you?

It’s a bit of a mix but for the most part yes. To put it into context, last year we held almost 200 events. So realistically we just support people to put those on. We provide the space, we provide the ambience and support them where it’s needed.

When it comes to the gigs there is such a huge variety. That isn’t all us, there are a number of different people that put on different genres.

Collaboration is a huge part of what

Empty Shop’s about and it has been from the get-go. We work with people; together we prosper. We’re a non-profit organisation. It’s very DIY and grassroots, it’s all about that kind of open source mentality.

Saying that, we do have our own gig series and we co-promote the jazz stuff. But, again, one of the few things that we do help with is in collaboration with the jazz co-op in Newcastle. We put on our own gigs about 6 times a year, they’re called Seagull and Circle. They’re usually held here, and it just allows us to play with that space in the same way that other people can. It’s great helping other people and watching them do so many amazing things.

But then every now again we want to do our own shows too. Although, thinking about it, at least 3 of those have been in collaboration with other promoters as well. We’re just inherently drawn towards working with people.

Something I notice with a lot of North East bands is that they have a very DIY attitude towards making music. Do you feel like a part of that DIY scene?

Yeah, I feel like we’re twinned with that DIY music scene. We’ve always

described ourselves as DIY in terms of arts. We’re a DIY arts organisation and there’s a lot of crossover in that mentality, in that attitude and way of thinking. The reason we did it was almost in response to the art scene at that time which seemed very hierarchical and not very accessible. What we wanted to do was make it super accessible by just providing people with a space.

Everyone mucks in and turns it into an art gallery, so it was quite DIY in that sense. Pretty early on, at the first Empty Shop, we met a lad who came in and asked for a gig, who’s part of a collective in Durham who are very DIY. So within a few months we made a connection with them and have worked alongside them since. They’re called the Equestrian Collective. They have an incredible output so they bring loads of amazing and international bands through.

In Durham, where there’s no visible contemporary culture, to have this amazing line up of bands who come through, and coming to Durham as their North East stop, instead of Newcastle. It’s become a bit of a destination.

The full version of the interview is at www.palatinate.org.uk.

No worries for Jeff Rosenstock Jonathan Murden

W

ith his band Bomb the Music Industry playing their last show in 2014, and with him getting married last year, it would’ve been reasonable for Jeff Rosenstock to take a short break from music.

He responds to this query with characteristic frankness; “Nah. I’ve been on tour more with the solo band than I ever have before, and when I’m not on tour, I’ve been

working on music almost constantly, whether it’s writing my own shit, doing Antarctigo Vespucci stuff [another of his bands] or producing records. That all came as kind of a surprise to me ... I got lucky.”

This energy and creativity makes sense when you take a quick glance through his discography. Rosenstock has had at least one new album every year since 2000, except 2003.

A self-described control freak, most of his music was written alone first, “just cause I wanna hear how it will sound before we do the real thing… But playing with the guys

in my band and producing other people’s stuff has helped me get away from the bad parts of that.”

The creativity that comes through collaboration shows all through his music, right up to his latest release, WORRY. In both his collaborations and his solo work, Rosenstock has demonstrated himself to be a master of upbeat records with angst ridden lyrics.

“I was probably always drawn to those songs as a depressed kid so that’s in my DNA.” Yet, on this album Rosenstock turns his eye towards

more political themes.

“I was trying to write more love songs to be honest...but the things that occupied my thoughts at most times were the things that were breaking my heart - racist police brutality, gentrification, the corporatization of humanity, blah blah blah.”

Even with this overt politicism, Rosenstock has lost none of the essential humanity that makes his music so comforting.

“Since I was thinking about all this shit as I was getting married, I was drawn to the momentum of the

world being at odds with love.”

And when more and more people feel powerless and abandoned by those supposed to represent them – in the media and in the Government – this humanising of the issues is more important than ever.

WORRY. was released in October of last year. Jeff Rosenstock plays at the Durham Students’ Union on 20th May, with Spook School, Doe, and Bad Moves. There will be a food bank collection there.

Photograph via Facebook

11

PALATINATE | Thursday 4th May 2017

Film & TV

www.palatinate.org.uk

“The ultimate trial by fire”: Prasanna Sellathurai vs. The Inevitable The student film-maker had to contend with on-set disasters and editing all-nighters to bring his bold directorial debut to the screen.

Simon Fearn

T

he idea of a ‘passion project’ is perhaps overused, but it is certainly applicable to Prassana Sellathurai’s short film The Inevitable. Spawned from Durham Student Film’s (DSF) Three Week Film competition, Sellathurai made “a monster of a film.”

Sellathurai is now looking to enter The Inevitable into a film festival, but the film-making process was almost debilitating. Thankfully, like all the best Hollywood heroes, he triumphed against adversity to create a striking and daring feat of cinema.

Sellathurai is a wiry ball of energy, a budding screen-writer who caught the bug poring over Hollywood scripts in California with a family friend. Last Michaelmas, however, he was at something of a loose end.

Due to ill health he’d been forced to take a year out before retaking second year. “I kind of felt abandoned,” he says. “I was in Durham and I had nothing to do.”

Over the summer he’d penned an action comedy called Samurai Joe about “a group of samurais who try to kill a former member who abandons them for a Durham University Chemistry degree.” He sent the script to DSF president Hugh Memess and eagerly awaited the exec’s feedback.

Their verdict was that the film was hilarious, but astoundingly impractical. This isn’t entirely surprising: the third act featured a samurai fight in the Bill Bryson library.

Sellathurai then got a call from Gregor Petriković who he’d worked alongside for The Box: a previous Three Week Film that Sellathurai co-wrote and starred in. This year the theme was “superheroes” and Petriković had a group of 30, no script, and time was running out.

Sellathurai agreed to help, but early script workshops were going nowhere. “My brain was kind of spinning,” Sellathurai remembers.

“Someone would suggest something and it didn’t feel right.”

Finally: the eureka moment. After advising his team to sleep on it, “I walked back home and by the time I got to Gilesgate I knew the entire plot of The Inevitable.

“I put some chicken nuggets in the oven, and then sat down and wrote the whole of The Inevitable. I gave it to my housemates to read and halfway through they said “what’s that burning smell?”

The Inevitable follows loner student Lucy (Bianca Skrinyár) who

can see the future repercussions of each of her actions. It’s a stylish noir that owes a debt to both the fluid camera work of Damien Chazelle and the tone of Marvel’s Jessica Jones.

Sellathurai thankfully fared better with the script than he did with the chicken nuggets, but there was still a mountain to climb. He was a firsttime director with little knowledge of film-making tech, and his short featured characters being ploughed down by cars, brutally beaten and seeing into the future.

Having assembled a crack cast and crew (“they’re all control freaks and passionate about their niches”), Sellathuria was ready to go.

“The first day was awful,” groans

“

I was editing down to the bone and Hugh [Memess] was telling me I had to screen my film now.

”

Sellathurai. “We did eight takes of the bit where Geno [Epton Naughton] comes up and knocks on the door. Eight takes is ridiculous!” Storyboarding mishaps led to the leading man juggling his shopping and a phone call while attempting to knock on Lucy’s door.

It was a long and tiring shoot, but far from a failure. The team achieved some stylish camerawork, with shots floating through walls and drifting along the grotty carpets of student accommodation. “The footage was slick and exactly how I saw it in my head,” Sellathurai says.

“The second day was the worst day,” he continues. A misunderstanding at John’s bar meant the team lost their location at the last minute. Sellathurai found himself desperately trying to find a bar to film in, all the time keeping track of cast, crew and equipment.

Sellathurai’s Facebook posts to his team at this period have a distinct flavour of desperation. His all-caps “CRISIS” and “DON’T PANIC” do little to reassure, but thankfully these

were shortly followed by “COLLINGWOOD BAR 3PM”.

To make matters worse, at this point friend and crew-member Mehzeb Chowdhury told Sellathurai he “needed to relax more because someone in the crew had said they wanted to move groups. We were taking it way too seriously and it wasn’t fun.

“In that moment I just broke and cried on set. Mehzeb was like, “ah crap, I broke the director!”’ Sellathurai was duly fixed, however, wrapping the film’s arresting opening scene in just five minutes just as their DSU room booking expired.

Finally, it was time to shoot the climactic fight scene, which for Sellathurai is the weakest part of the film – “it’s kind of passable in a world where you believe that people can get knocked out in one punch.”

“The Inevitable took five days to shoot and it was very painful,” Sellathurai concludes. “It was frustrating and I was very upset.” Unfortunately, editing the film wouldn’t be any easier.

Sellathurai had given himself three days, but quickly realised that this was nowhere near enough time.

Several all-nighters ensued. “I hadn’t slept or eaten in three days and I hit around 49kg,” he recalls. “That’s very bad!”

Like all of the film-making process, the screening was a whirlwind of stress and drama. “I was editing down to the bone and Hugh was telling me that I had to screen my film now. I clicked export and I was running with my laptop. The rain was hitting the keys and I could see on the screen that the film wouldn’t be ready for another day.”

The screening was an incred-

“

I hadn’t slept or eaten in three days and I hit around 49kg.

”

ible disappointment. All Sellathurai could do was screen a rushed cut of the film that wouldn’t buffer properly – “I essentially showed the audience a series of pictures as they

Photograph: Jiahe Max Luan

heard the film.”

It took three months for Sellathurai to edit The Inevitable, but thankfully his harrowing film-making experience yielded incredible results and now he couldn’t be more proud of it.

“When you watch a film like Nocturnal Animals you can tell that there’s someone thinking about everything,” Sellathurai explains. “You could write an essay about Amy Adams’ paper cut. The Inevitable was kind of similar: it’s obviously cared about.”

Sellathurai took a risk with his trippy and ambitious noir and it paid off. Though he has a huge respect for DSF and the members he worked with, Sellathurai is glad to have defied the norm. “The compla-

cency in DSF is that we’ll do an ironic comedy, so I said let’s do something really bold. My film stands out as it’s so much more memorable.”

It is extraordinary to find such a committed student film-maker with such a passion for cinema (most of Sellathurai’s points are illustrated with film references). On the evidence of The Inevitable Sellathurai might just make it big, hopefully minus the weight loss and sleepless nights.

“Learning to make films this way is the ultimate trial by fire,” sums up Sellathurai. “I wouldn’t recommend it, but I learnt so much about filmmaking!”

12

Stage

www.palatinate.org.uk

Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

Gender-swapping in theatre: Is it worth the effort?

F

rom modern adaptations to improvisation, from promenade to immersive theatre, plays are constantly pushing the boundaries for original ideas in an industry where new arrivals are jostling for attention. Some innovations, can be riotously successful.

Gender-swapping in theatre is nothing new. Sarah Bernhardt, for example, played Hamlet in Paris as early as the 1890s, whilst Castle Theatre Company even tried its hand at it last year with Virginia Woolf’s famous transgender text, Orlando. Sometimes, however – and particularly with Shakespeare – flogging and dead horses come to mind, with the gender swap seemingly nothing more than an affectation, a timid effort towards a progressive USP. Not so for the Pleasance Theatre’s Posh, where a play charged with boorish masculinity was performed by an all-female cast.

Posh, written by Laura Wade, recently resurfaced on the big screen as The Riot Club, featuring famous faces such as Sam Claflin and Max Iron, about the debauched romps of ten Oxford students, parodying the infamous former club of many of our country’s MPs. The misogynistic, racist, elitist, and entitled attitude that permeates the play is best summed up with the joke: ‘How do you make an Eton mess? Tell him he’s got into Bristol!’

As a fan of the film and used to an all-male cast, I initially did not know what to expect with Pleasance’s Posh.

Would the actresses have short hair and shoulder pads, husky voices and a smattering of stubble? Or would they gender swap the characters

instead, therefore changing the entire dynamic and message of the play?

In fact, it was none of the above.

The actresses did play male parts, complete with the crude laddishness, however, they were dressed more androgynously than masculine.

There was still a nod to the feminine in their dress, even if not in their actions and words. The actresses wore the Riot Club tails, the matching

“

Gender-swapping can often seem contrived, or just an easy way to get good headlines

“

Florianne Humphrey

uniforms lending both to the sense of impenetrable exclusivity and comedic ridiculousness. The suits, however, were cinched in at the waist and tight-fitting on the trousers so that, whether curvy or skinny, tall or short, there was no doubt as to the womanly figures beneath the distinctively masculine outfits. The shoes, although gender neutral black boots, had a heel on them, and the actresses with long hair wore it loose and styled. Androgyny is more gender fluid than cross-dressing – these actresses were not conforming to any particular gender structures, but melding them all together as if to say ‘your club can’t be that gender exclusive if we’re wearing

your tails and still managing to look powerfully feminine.’

The music, too, was a nod to androgyny. Whilst the characters rioted to the Sex Pistol’s ‘God Save the Queen’ after a rousing rendition of the National Anthem, the musical thread was songs from all-girl rock band The Runaways. Like the actresses on stage, The Runaways wore androgynous clothes, where their tight leather jeans and ragged hair were either a symbol of their effeminate masculinity or masculine femininity. With rock itself a maledominated genre, the betweenscenes head banging perfectly encapsulated the wild, raucous club dinner and the nature of the casting itself. And, of course, the artwork, often ignored but just as important, did not shy away from bright pink letters and a purple lipstick kiss, whilst retaining a spiky, punkish font. This, along with the music, the casting, and the clothing, was traditional femininity cut with a sharper edge and with the volume turned right up.

It is great that gender swapping is now in vogue in theatre, and that we are realising that gender, as feminist critic Judith Butler theorised, is just a construct. However, it can sometimes seem contrived, or just an easy way to get good headlines.

Not that everything has to have a meaning. As Oscar Wilde said, art can be ‘for art’s sake’ – but having a man prance around on stage in a dress for pure entertainment value undermines the decision, and will remain as superficial as the costume if it does nothing to enhance the meaning of the play. Making Romeo wear women’s clothes and Juliet wear men’s clothes does not do much by way of impact, but casting both roles as women would be far more significant.

Photograph by Pleasance Theatre via Twitter

In Posh, gender swapping was handled intelligently and sensitively, with care and an obvious great deal of thought. Gender, throughout the play, was not an issue, as even the crude jokes about the prostitute ‘doing’ all ten of them at once under the table lost the masculine power when they were formed by the mouth of a woman with a cascading mane of hair. The focus was realigned, which allowed the true message to come through: Posh, as the name suggests, is not about gender, but about class. The words were certainly masculine, but the character’s ignorance and snobbery came not from biological or even constructed gender but from class hierarchy.

At the end of the play, coming full circle, an ex-Riot Club member turned MP was offering both a job and a better lawyer to one of the Oxford students who had almost

killed a pub landlord. Both wearing the most androgynous clothes of the whole play, blazers, chinos, and shirts, the conversation was not about the sexist, traditionally masculine behaviour of the Riot Club dinner but how this is eventually reduced to make way for a more subtle, insidious form of control: politics.

‘People like us don’t make mistakes,’ said the MP, ensuring that even the Oxford student’s criminal behaviour was but a cog in the wheel of his eventual political success.

Gender is a player but, as politicians like May and Clinton prove, the more threatening element of corruption, which perhaps has more of a stronghold on our society, is class and politics.

(Darren Bell via Twitter)

PALATINATE | Thursday 4th May 2017

Food & Drink

13 www.palatinate.org.uk

Andalusia: how conquest created food

Robbie Tominey-Nevado Deputy Food and Drink Editor

A

fter Ferdinand and Isabella completed the Conquest of Spain in 1492, few would have considered the immense influence that Arabic cuisine would continue to have some 525 years later in Al-Andalus. Al-Andalus being modern-day Andalusia, the southernmost province in Spain.

Despite vicious and discriminatory treatment throughout the following centuries as a result of the Spanish Inquisition, Muslim and Jewish minority communities introduced the spices and colours of North African and Middle-Eastern cooking to the traditional Mediterranean diet of Andalusia. This has resulted

in a fusion that is a fine testament to the tolerant times in Al-Andalus when Christian, Muslim, and Jewish people lived alongside one another in relative harmony, before the oppressive first years of Catholic rule in Spain.

Hallmarks of this mixture of traditions include the addition of spices such as cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to many vegetable dishes, as well as the introduction of dried fruits (raisins, sultanas, and prunes) and nuts (such as pine nuts and almonds) to meat or fish.

Everywhere you look in Andalusia, whether it be in Granada, Córdoba, Sevilla, or elsewhere, there will be examples of this fusion visible in the architecture, music, dancing, and, of course, the food of the area. Perhaps the perfect example of this blend of food culture, however, comes in the

form of picada, a pounded paste of fried garlic and bread, hard-boiled egg yolks, toasted pine nuts/almonds, and olive oil.

This is not to say that the province’s culinary successes are limited only to these examples. One cannot mention Andalusia without some nod to gazpacho or salmorejo, the two subtly different cold tomato soups, or some of the best sherries in the world from Jerez. Lest we forget, the finest jamones ibericos de bellota and excellent fish and sea-food by the coasts.

If all this were not enough to get you booking your flights to Andalusia right this instant, it must be noted that Granada is one of the few cities in Spain to still nourish the classic tapas tradition of offering a free plate of food when you buy a drink!

pm.

The event was catered by Zen Durham, a local Thai restaurant that is highly regarded in the area.

Many of the chefs at Zen are of Thai origin and have been specially trained in Thai cuisine.

The food served included dishes like Thai Green Curry, Satay Gai, Ka Nom Pang Na Moo (breaded minced pork that has been deep fried), sweet and sour fish, Kaa Moo (spare ribs in honey sauce), Pad Thai, and a traditional Thai desert Khanom Mo Kaeng Thua (custard with mung beans).

It was clear that the food was a hit, with the Pad Thai disappear-

ing quickly along with the Satay, stir-fried vegetables and Khai Luk Koey (sweet and sour fried boiled eggs).

As for student feedback regarding the food, the overall consensus was that it was delicious, with one attendee calling it “satisfying and incredibly yummy.”

When asking the Thai members of the society, I did discover that the food served was less spicy than traditional Thai food, but this allowed more people to it.

Overall, the event served as a way to bring a little slice of Thai culture to Durham and share it with as many people as possible.

It is not only the food that is beautiful in Andalusia Photograph by Nick Kenrick via flickr

A celebration of Thai culture at Durham Thai Society’s “Thai Night” 2017

Divya Shastri Food and Drink Editor

D

urham’s Thai Society’s ‘Thai Night” is a celebration of Thai culture by showcasing its different aspects.

The 2017 event consisted of many festivities such as traditional Thai games that are played at temple fairs, traditional Thai cuisine, and performances such as Thai dances and Thai boxing.

There were about one hundred and fifty attendees at the event that lasted between 6:30 and 10

“Satisfying and incredibly yummy” food was on offer

Photograph: Jiahe Max Luan

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Sport Sport

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Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

“I never really felt the punches” With Anthony Joshua now a global superstar after his remarkable Wembley triumph,

Nick Friend speaks to Lennox Lewis, the last British heavyweight to transcend his sport, on the makings of a great fighter, the Klitschko era and the future Sport Editor Just as Wladimir Klitschko reminded a rapturous Wembley crowd, during a magnanimous and classy speech after an epic battle for the ages, boxing was a sport made in Britain.

And so, as the Ukrainian graciously accepted defeat, there was something of a ceremonial handover about proceedings as the grandmaster handed over to his apprentice on a remarkable night of boxing.

Two giants from two different eras proving that with a bit of humility and a touch of grace, entertainment can be struck without press conference fights, without sick inhumane threats and without the gimmicky trash-talk that often overshadows the main event.

And as Anthony Joshua went from burgeoning young hope to national treasure, it was fitting that he should do so in front of 90,000 adoring fans. All were spellbound by the heart that accompanied the unparalleled wild power of the most exciting heavyweight of the last decade – a man with the boxing world at his feet and the capability to transcend his minority sport into mainstream British culture.

On this night of all nights, with two Olympic gold medallists providing a rip-roaring slugfest, coupled with bucket-loads of class and respect for opponent and sport alike, it was appropriate that this changing of the guard should take place just yards from the eyes of Lennox Claudius Lewis CBE, the man who was king – the last Brit to preside over the heavyweight division.

Lewis, the last undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, remains the greatest boxer to be born on these shores. Like Joshua, from his mammoth stature he dominated the division with similar panache.

Joshua hailed him as an ‘inspiration’ in the midst of his emotional – albeit adrenalin-fuelled – victory speech. Although Lewis represented Canada in winning gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he was born in London and returned to Britain after turning professional. In the words of the great George Foreman, Lewis is ‘no doubt, the best heavyweight of all time’.

Lewis, however, disagrees. Typically respectful, he states simply, “I consider Ali the best ever. He changed everything in the heavyweight division. At his best, there was no one better.”

Lewis’s admiration for his idol is no surprise. He considered Muhammad Ali to be a father figure to him, their relationship seeing Lewis act-

ing as a pallbearer at the great fighter’s funeral. Yet, for all his humility and rejection of Foreman’s tribute, the facts don’t lie – the career of Lennox Lewis stacks up alongside the greats of any sport.

Having moved to Canada as a twelve-year-old and flourished as a key member of his school’s basketball and football teams, it was the individuality of boxing that led ‘The Lion’ to choose the ring over his alternatives.

“On team sports, you can have a great season and in the championship game a teammate can drop the ball or miss a shot and it’s all over. I liked boxing because I didn’t have to rely on others to win – only myself.

“If you’re gifted with all of the physical aspects, then [a great boxer] is someone who is committed to learning the art of boxing, who is willing to sacrifice to achieve his or her goals. Life has a way of weeding out those who aren’t prepared to stay fully committed and focused on their goals, someone who is willing to learn in any way possible – from other people’s mistakes, or from your own, you must be open to learning. Someone who is disciplined enough to stay focused inside and outside of the ring on all of the things necessary to reach their goals and better themselves.”

In Lewis’s answers, the similarities to Joshua – a fellow gold medallist – are palpable. The steely cold win-at-all-costs professionalism that both share is equalled by the gentlemanly graciousness with which both supreme athletes speak – a trait so lacking in modern boxing. There is no egotism in either character, just an understanding of

“

“

Nick Friend

In boxing, either you retire it or it will retire you

the singlemindedness required to flourish in the brutal world of the heavyweight division.

“I knew I was good and I could win some trophies,” Lewis readily acknowledges of his early career.

“Then I realized I was very good.

From that point, I wanted to be the best and prove it by fighting the best.”

On whether he enjoyed the feeling of knocking out his opponents,

Lewis hung up his gloves as only the third heavyweight boxer to suffer no unavenged defeats Photograph by nickon via Flickr

Lewis is as philosophical as he is pragmatic. Ultimately, he admits with the hard-headedness of an undisputed and highly respected champion, “It’s just part of the sport.

It means the fight is over and there’s no more work that night. Of course, I’m also happy to have the victory and put on a good show for my fans but if the knockout comes then great. If it doesn’t, that’s fine too as long as I get the win.”

Such was his focus in the ring, Lewis maintains that “I never really felt the punches as I fought. I was so focused on my fight game that it’s like I didn’t notice them.”

After turning professional following his Olympic success, Lewis would fight on forty-four occasions.

He would emerge victorious from all but three, avenging defeats – to Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall, while defeating Evander Holyfield in a rematch after the pair drew after an epic twelve-round encounter.

A mark of Lewis as a man is his respect for those with whom he shared the ring. Holyfield, he calls his “toughest competitor”, lauding him as “a true warrior and I’m now happy just to call him a friend.”

Yet, it is equally telling that this companionship does not extend to all his rivals. Despite the magnitude of huge names disposed of in an illustrious professional career, it is the rematch victory over Rahman that provided Lewis with the most satisfaction. Having claimed a fifth round knockout over Lewis in South Africa – a defeat Lewis labels as “a fluke” and the result of a failure to acclimatise to the altitude of the South African arena – Rahman taunted Lewis, with a US Federal Court hearing required to grant the

rematch.

Among his forty-one victims, Lewis saw off Frank Bruno, Ray Mercer – in his “toughest fight”, Shannon Briggs and Mike Tyson, before signing off his professional career with a sixth-round stoppage of Vitali Klitschko in a haphazardly arranged bout. Despite a rematch clause in the contract with Klitschko, Lewis opted not to redefend his titles, in doing so, retiring alongside Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano as the only heavyweight champions to suffer no unavenged defeats.

“Father Time waits on no one,” he explains. “I made a decision early on in my career about my goals in the professional ranks and when I would retire. In boxing, either you retire it or it will retire you. I’ve seen too many greats who fought too long and lost to people they never would have in their younger days. By the time I fought Tyson, I was already talking retirement. After many years of trying, the thought of finally fighting Tyson was the only thing I really wanted but it always looked like it wasn’t going to happen for one reason or another. When I was in a position to make it happen, I did.

“After the Tyson fight, HBO talked me into a two-fight deal which included my final fight against Vitali Klitschko. It was a tough fight and took some time to make the proper adjustments but when I did, I could feel him getting weaker as I got to him more and more. I felt it was only a matter of time before I could get him out but they stopped the fight on the massive cut he had. I considered a rematch, but my mindset was already that this was my last fight.

“Besides, I had just given him what he said was his toughest fight

ever on ten days’ notice, and in my worst shape. No one had touched him like that before or since. So, I can only imagine what would happen with me in tip-top shape. The thought of another training camp and all of the things that surround a promotion like that just didn’t excite me anymore so I did what I knew I should have done and retired.”

His retirement, however, left the heavyweight division without a frontrunner, devoid of the razzmatazz of the previous era, with Holyfield and Tyson also hanging up their gloves. In the words of Lewis, the product provided by his successors was “dismal.”

“It’s starting to get a pulse again after ten years of domination by Klitschko against mediocre opponents, you’re now starting to see life and excitement back in the division because the playing field has been levelled out.

“The Kiltschkos rose at a time where it was just perfect timing for them, the old guard like myself, Holyfield and Tyson were at the end of our careers and the new talent wasn’t experienced enough to give them a real run for their money, so you had this gap in the division that they filled. I call it the Klitschko gap.

It’s not their fault – you can only fight who’s in front of you, but it definitely put the division to sleep.

“Now with Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Deontay Wilder, the division has a heartbeat again. The heavyweights used to rule the boxing world. It still has a long way to go before it’s gets back to those days, but at least it’s getting interesting again.”

PALATINATE | Thursday 4th May 2017

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Sport

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Palatinates hit jackpot on Easter medal hunt

George Bond Deputy Sport Editor

Team Durham have continued their 2016-17 success, adding yet more championships to a record BUCS medal haul.

Following their March success, the Palatinates were in action across a range of sports over the Easter period, with outstanding performances across the board.

Futsal

For the fourth year in a row, Durham have a representative in the BUCS Futsal Finals.

The Women’s 2s powered their way through the Super 8s, culminating in an 11-7 semi-final defeat of Loughborough 2s.

They will now take on Stirling 1s in the Trophy final, taking place at the Copper Box in London on Wednesday 10th May. For the Men, it was not quite to be, going down to a strong Bath side in

the Super 8s semi-finals.

Golf

Golf’s individual tour, the Order of Merit, came to its conclusion over Easter, with competitors ranked by their four highest scores from a possible nine events.

Durham’s James Glenn showed exceptional consistency, being the only participant to compete in at least eight events, out of 249 entrants.

Glenn’s four highest scores gave him 425 points overall, enough to claim the prestigious honour of being ranked the second-best student golfer in the UK, behind only St. Andrews’ Matthew Myers.

Steven Molumby also made it into the top 10, placing a highly commendable ninth in a field utterly dominated by Scottish universities, who accounted for 16 of the top 20.

Hockey

Durham Men’s Hockey had dispatched all before them in the National League Northern Conference,

producing an astonishing run of 18 wins from 18.

This qualified the team for the end of season play-offs alongside Premier League side Canterbury, Western Conference winners Bath and Sevenoaks, champions of the Eastern Conference.

The round robin tournament was contested over two weekends in April, to decide which side would compete in the 2017-18 Premier League, England Hockey’s top tier.

Unfortunately, Durham finished bottom of the standings, going down 4-1 to heavy favourites Canterbury and losing narrowly 3-2 to Sevenoaks, before their fate was sealed with a 2-2 draw against Bath.

Nevertheless, this remains a hugely successful season for the team, with the only 100% regular season winning record in all four divisions of the National Hockey League.

Rugby

At the BUCS Rugby 7s in Leeds, DUWRFC produced a sensational per-

formance to claim a silver medal.

Durham beat Northumbria, Loughborough, Cardiff Met and Hartpury College on their way to the final, where they came up just short against Edinburgh.

For the Men, victories over Nottingham, Cardiff and Exeter set up a semi-final with Loughborough, who eventually ran out 35-7 winners.

Sailing

Durham’s sailors are BUCS Yachting Championships winners for the first time ever.

The team came up against Britain’s best in the three-day event at the Solent on the south coast, but put in a commanding performance to run out eventual victors.

Having taken the lead on the second-day, Durham never relinquished control of top spot, and are now national sailing champions.

Women’s Football

Durham Women FC remain atop Women’s Super League 2’s Spring

James Glenn in action over the Easter period. He claimed the title of second-best student golfer in the UK with 425 points overall.

Series, a one-off competition created to bridge the gap between seasons, as the WSL gears up to switch from summer to winter.

The team, who finished fourth in WSL 2 in 2016, are two points clear of second-placed Doncaster Rovers Belles at the time of going to print, although the Belles have a game in hand.

The Belles, two-time league champions and with six FA Cups in their trophy cupboard, handed Durham their sole defeat, emerging 2-1 winners on April 16th at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Durham bounced back with a 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, to add to wins over Millwall, Sheffield and Oxford United, as well as a 1-1 draw at Watford.

The team now face London Bees at New Ferens Park, before rounding off the Spring Series with trips to both Everton and Aston Villa.

Regular WSL 2 play will restart in September.

Photograph: Twitter (@BUCSsport)

Sport

Thursday 4th May 2017 | PALATINATE

Lennox Lewis CBE Exclusive Interview Sport speak to the former undisputed heavyweight world champion about life as a boxer and a career spent at the very top of the sport (page 14)

Team Durham Easter roundup George Bond looks back on another successful month for the Palatinates (page 15)

Durham tennis serve up quadruple success James Martland Deputy Sport Editor

England’s Mark Wood disturbs Ed Pollock’s middle stump during Durham MCCU’s defeat to Durham CCC

(Alison Sutherland)

MCCU draw positives from preseason county fixtures Ollie Godden Deputy Sport Editor Durham MCCU returned from a successful two-week preseason in Barbados at the end of March to the more familiar territory of English soil to begin their three first-class warm up matches, a real test of the new recruits in the side.

The first match saw them take a trip down to Bristol’s County Ground to face Gloucestershire, last year’s winners of the Royal One Day Cup. Having won the toss, captain Joe Cooke opted to field, a move he may have regretted 20 overs later when the hosts were motoring along at 100 without loss after 20 overs.

Durham did brilliantly to reign the county side back in, however.

It was Alex McGrath who did the real damage, claiming 4 of the 5 wickets to fall in the first innings.

A century from Will Tavare and half centuries from Chris Dent and George Haskins meant Durham were trailing by 405 after Gloucestershire’s declaration.

Durham were in trouble after their first six overs, finding themselves 14-2 with the cheap dismissals of Will Fraine and last year’s captain Jack Clarke.

The middle order of Ed Pollock, Jason Marshall and James McCollum did well to steady the ship despite periods off for rain, with the former scoring a well-made half century.

Marshall batted well for his 38, stroking 5 fours and a 6 in the process and the pair saw out day two.

On the final day, McCollum and Cooke scored impressively, McCollum claiming a half century of his own.

The match was called on the falling of Matt Jahanfar, with a draw to boot. A superb effort from the boys, 9 of whom were making their first class debut.

After only a couple of days rest, Durham headed back down south again to face Essex. Ryan Ten Doeschate won the toss and opted to bat.

Durham made a fantastic start, rattling Essex at 21-2.

The hosts recovered well though and found their feet. Essex finished their innings on 333. Owen and Abri-

haj Singh were the pick of the bowlers, claiming three wickers each.

Durham’s first innings was dotted with starts and non-scores. Fraine and Pollock were the only top order batsmen to reach double figures, while bottom order batsmen Daryl Williams and Singh salvaged some respect scoring 32 and 44 respectively. A Jamie Porter-led bowling attack skittled Durham for 187.

Essex came out aggressively for their second innings. Nick Browne made 113 off 120 and a flurry of scores left Durham needing impossible 507 in the final 30 overs.

Durham held firm however, an opening stand of 44 between Fraine and Clarke, followed by some healthy contributions from Pollock and Marshall meant Durham finished on 1242 at the close of play, a second well deserved draw for the MCCU side.

The final first class game took a short journey to the Riverside Emirates to face a Durham side who boasted the likes of Mark Wood and Graham Onions.

Losing the toss, MCCU were put into field and were made to pay for some lacklustre bowling.

Durham declared on 404, having lost just the 5 wickets.

In response, MCCU managed just 158, with Pollock, Williams and Ben Graves the only batsmen to reach double figures. Onions claimed four wickets from his 16 overs, with an impressive economy of 1.31.

Their misery was compounded as MCCU old boy Cam Steel and Keaton Jennings put on 150 for the first wicket of their second innings. The top six all contributed to Durham’s final score of 270, leaving MCCU an unlikely target of 522.

They fell short of their target, however, with Cooke the only batsman to offer real resistance.

Nonetheless, the defeat capped what had been a strong pre-season for MCCU, holding their own against some strong championship outfits, and captain Cooke commented that he was “proud” of the effort put in by the players.

“It’s terrific to now see us play well in these kinds of tough games after all the preparation. The Essex game especially proved the talent in the squad and I’m really looking forward to starting the season now.”

Having won all four major team championships already this season, Durham’s tennis players approached the individual events full of confidence.

However, it is still fair to say that the university performed well above expectation. Durham once again picked up first place in all four major events as well as collecting two runners up and two third placed positions.

Despite successes across the board, the men’s singles competition was a particular highlight as Durham managed to come third, second and first, with Michel Dornbusch, also a winner in the men’s doubles, beating PhD student Kiril Sinitsyn in the final.

Dornbusch, who began the singles tournament as the number one seed, put in a highly impressive display throughout as he completed the whole tournament without dropping a set, comfortably winning the final 6-1, 6-2.

The performance from Durham in the women’s tournaments was also equally impressive. Postgraduate Simona Parajova managed two first place finishes, winning the doubles tournament with Durham’s Sarah Lee who also claimed third place in the singles tournament, as well as the individual competition, beating the pre-tournament favourite in a three-set final.

Parajova emphasised her delight at winning the Singles tournament, particularly as she had already lost to her final opponent twice in the past.

“I am very happy that we had such an incredible season and won everything. Coming into the tournament I knew I had to play my best tennis to win it. In the final I played Maia Lumsden from Stirling, a girl I had lost to twice previously. I knew her game already and I knew what I had to do to win. The atmosphere at the final was amazing, and I am super happy that friends from Durham stayed to watch final. They really keep me going especially when I was set and 1-3 down.”