Style

“a highly regarded colleague”

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Last week, ESPN reported that at least one Yorkshire player referred to player eem afi as a “P**I”, telling other people “don t tal to him afi , he s a i”, as ing “is that your uncle ” when they saw bearded Asian men and saying “does your dad own those ” in reference to corner shops, reducing afi to tears. Cric eter ary allance has since admitted to using the slur. illis is passionate about e uality

The panel upheld seven of afi s allegations against the club, citing insufficient evidence of the remaining claims. It also said Ballance should not face disciplinary action, nor any other staff or player at the club, and did not accept that afi was offended by the comments at any point.

The panel also decided that afi himself should have been disciplined when referring to a player from Zimbabwe as ‘Zimbo’ — despite this being a nonoffensive term more similar to ‘Aussie’ or ‘Kiwi’.

However, YCCC has refused to publish the full report, citing legal reasons. But another member of the panel, Mesba Ahmed, told The Telegraph that the panel members had done “as good a job as we possibly could have done” before reaching a conclusion.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted last Tuesday: “‘P**i’ is not banter. Heads should roll at Yorkshire CCC”. Several sponsors have withdrawn from the club over the past week, and Yorkshire has been banned from hosting international Test matches on its home ground.

A Durham University spokesperson told Palatinate: “Stephen Willis’ membership of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club Board as an unpaid Non-Executive Director was undertaken in a personal and voluntary capacity.

“He resigned from his post because he was not convinced that all those charged with the responsibility of delivering important recommendations to improve equality, diversity and inclusion at the club shared his sense of urgency to take action.

“Durham University has no comment to make on the matter. We believe everybody has the right to work and live in a safe, respectful and inclusive environment.

“Stephen Willis is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion in and outside the workplace and it is integral to his values. He is a highly regarded colleague of the utmost integrity.”

Cuts could see pensions slashed by 35%

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Staff also backed strike action in a second ballot regarding the nion s four fights rising workloads, staff casualisation, workplace inequalities and pay issues.

The ballot results give the Union a six-month mandate to strike, meaning staff could walk out at any point before the end of April 2022.

Staff at Durham University previously went on strike

(Tim ac er) in 2018, 2019 and early 2020 over similar greivances. rady proposed an initial two days of action to reflect the nion s two campaigns the first day will be focused on the four fights, and the second on the pensions dispute. 29 universities, including Oxford and Newcastle did not meet the 50% turn-out threshold legally required for union ballots. The Union proposes that these branches participate in the days of action, but staff will not go on strike.

Before escalating action next term, rady proposes launching reballots with a longer voting window with the hope of addressing low turn-out levels at some branches.

She stated: “I believe in UCU members’ ability to do this, get even better ballot results next time, and translate them into a serious victory that reverses the decade-long trend of underinvestment in staff in this sector”.

News Locals plan River Wear clean-up

Orlando Bell

News eporter

A member of the Durham community has organised a clean-up of the River Wear in order to ensure the continued health and smooth flow of the river. The clean-up will occur between Prebends Bridge, located next to St. Cuthbert’s, and Penny Ferry Bridge, down by the Radisson Blu Hotel.

This from-the-water litter pick is scheduled to take place on the 17th of November, in time to clean the river before Durham hosts the famous Lumiere Festival, which begins on November 18th.

( ames Tillotson)

The organiser is also hoping to run on-the-morning clean ups during the festival. The initiative has the full support of the Durham City Parish Council, the Durham Cathedral Security, Durham Regatta, and Durham Schools Rowing Club. Fourhundred Durham residents have also offered their volunteer support to the initiative as well as the Radisson and Marriott Hotels offering refreshments for the volunteers. The initiative is still seeking further volunteer support to be in the boats to collect and collate the litter recovered.

Maintaining the proper order and cleanliness of the river is vital to many of the activities that take place on the river. pecifically, the organisers are pleased to have the support and active assistance of the Durham Amateur Rowing Club (DARC) as if the weirs fail due to neglect and floating debris accumulating, rowing, and other activities, would not be safe to go ahead.

The organisation are also advocating for more lifebuoys on the popular walking stretches of the river that are so popular with students. Concerns regarding student safety and the river have been raised many times before.

In 2014-15 three University students tragically died in the River Wear across an eighteen month period. A 57-year old man also died in the river in August 2018. Cold-water temperatures, currents, and the river’s proximity to many of Durham’s nightlife venues poses a particular danger.

From Chianti with love

A series on the experiences of Durham students abroad

Rob Polya

One afternoon I found myself lost on the side of a dusty, nameless road somewhere in the outskirts of Rome. How I got there I don’t quite remember. I was rather thirsty and tired, but was helped by a lady in khaki tracksuits and another with a bou uet of flowers in her hands, shouting “bless you, bless you!” after me as I boarded a bus.

This kind of religious hue that so often seeped into conversation would set the tone for many interactions I’d have with the Italians I was with. They were razor-tongued, cynical people, yet absolutely adamant in the existence of od. “ hat do you mean, you don’t believe in od ... you funny nglishman...” they’d mutter to my co-worker.

Even the chef with the jaded dagger tattoo on his thigh, who was, at the same time, able to coax incredulous stories into credibility and categorically deny the existence of the mafia, ealously believed in the existence of Christ. Just as fervently as he believed that the entire commune of aiole was run by communists, and that his salads would go for 50 euros a piece in the best central London hotels…

There was, even amid the mid-service sweat and cigarette-smoke, an element of inescapable sentimentalism that at times bordered on indulgence. While many of my co-workers missed their Sicilian homeland, singing along to the folksongs of their forebears and deriding the unrefined accents of their Tuscan peers, countless tourists seemed irresistibly captivated by the idea of Tuscany.

Even I was prone to this. One night, while a raucous erman wedding illuminated the night, I was looking at the moon, thinking about the noble and tragic refrain of Dante’s exile… until the urgencies of the job at hand beckoned me back to practicality.

As with most things, constant exposure always came withthe risk of acquiescence, whereas for the guests, the place always offered a kind of painless enchantment to them.

While guests found only the dis-reality of la bella vita, the Italians themselves seemed fedup. “I’ve been saving up for three years, I’m going to say goodbye to my son and daughter, and not leave a trace behind”, the chef grumbled one night. “I’m never coming back to Italy. I don’t know where I will die, but I know it won’t be here.”

Around late-September, it became necessary to take more care when walking in the dark of the morning. Wild-boar roamed the woods and were notoriously dangerous. I once planned to wal to aiole to travel to iena. “You’re crazy”, the head-waiter exclaimed to me as we were getting ready for bed.

“The wild-boar will kill you if they want to…I walked from here to aiole before sunrise I’ll never do it again…I heard a really loud rustle and grunt right behind me, I nearly sh*t myself...I knew a guy in Albania who was killed by one”.

Sometimes I wondered whether the chef himself posed a greater threat than any wildboar could! In any case, he was a certainly a character One night, he sidled up to me and said “join me and D--- in the garden there are some Dutch girls who want to f*ck!” I politely declined.

He stuffed a speaker into his back pocket, winked and waddled off. The chef had some questionable views about women, but was routinely engulfed by service and solitude. What absent love he so often claimed to be looking for, so often simply vanished into his work and his words.