The Badger 9th Edition (2nd March 2020)

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2nd March 2020

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Official free fortnightly newspaper by and for Sussex students · Printed on recycled paper

News

Unvaccinated students cause highest spike in mump cases in over a decade

UCU Strikes & Femicide in Mexico 3

Public Health England are reporting the highest rate of mumps cases in the UK due to an increasing number of unvaccinated students.

Joel Renouf-Cooke News Print Sub-Editor Students are driving the highest number of mumps outbreaks in a decade, a report

by Public Health England has confirmed. In 2019 alone there were 5,042 lab-confirmed cases of the virus compared to 1,066 cases in 2018 – an increase of almost 400% – with just under half of the cases in young adults aged between 17 and 21.

The virus, which can cause painful swelling in the neck and groin as well as a fever, can spread easily between person to person and can thrive in a university environment where halls of residence, clubs with student nights and libraries are all be hotbeds for

transmission.

According to PHE, nearly half of the confirmed cases of mumps in 2019 are from people who never received the MMR vaccine. These people, referred to as “Wakefield cohorts” – after the disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield, one of the first to suggest a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism – were children who were born in the late 90s and early 2000s and who are now old enough to attend college and university.

The increase in mumps is also reported to be parallel with an increase in confirmed cases of measles – after a World Health Organisation (WHO) report stated that just three years after eliminating

U.S. Air Force

Interview: John Grant Jude Whiley-Morton Arts Online Editor It isn’t often I get to meet real poets. I have met poets, of course. If you study at Sussex it’s likely you’ll have found yourself watching an individual in a [insert preference] beret/ cape/ wedding dress, preaching to an audience

Comment

India Protests & Abolish Private Schools? 10

Features

GOV.UK the disease the UK is no longer ‘measles-free’.

Statistics from NHS UK show that over 25,000 students who are unvaccinated started university in autumn of last year. The trend in mumps cases looks set to continue in 2020, with 546 confirmed cases in January alone, compared to 191 in the same period last year.

Mumps is a viral infection that used to be common in children before the introduction of the MMR vaccine. It is most recognisable by the painful swelling of the glands at the side of the face, giving a person with mumps a distinctive “hamster face” appearance. Other symptoms include headaches, joint pain and fever, which may develop a few days before the swelling.

The spread of the virus appears to be a national issue with universities across

the UK reporting increasing frequency of outbreaks. An article in the University of East Anglia (UEA) student newspaper Concrete, stated in 2018 that “The University Medical Service (UMS) [had] sent a warning to students after having more than 18 confirmed cases of mumps at UEA in the last few months.”

And University of Cambridge newspaper Varsity published an article last year stating that ‘Homerton students [had been] warned by their nurse that “there are cases of Mumps appearing in the Cambridge Student population”.’

Dr Vanessa Saliba, Consultant Epidemiologist at Public Health England (PHE), said: “The best protection against mumps and its complications is to have two doses of the of the MMR vaccine.”

Continued on Page 3...

Being Black and Queer in Brighton

Arts

14

A Poorly Written Play Festival & This Is Us 18

Travel & Culture North Korean Defectors & Ski Culture 25

Science & Tech Video Games & ‘Eye’ Teach

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I have worked animals conservation in the in the which enables work understanding can onlycanbe only a Words: Emma Phillips www.laylaandrews.com Read the interview on Page 20...

AT R ITSI T S T FO FO AR CC UU SS

Sports

29

TheBadger Badger 5thFebruary March 2018 The 2018 2018 The 5th Badger 5th February

Wilder vs Fury & Sussex Mohawks 31

Editor-in-Chief Chris Ahjem badger@sussexstudent.com Print Production Editor Billie-Jean Johnson Online Production Editor Rory Hinshelwood Print Production Sub-Editors Isabelle Marsh Belén Mateos Gutiérrez Marketing Manager Alex Valeri The News Team Becca Bashford Joel Renouf Georgia-May Keetch Venice Hancock badger-news@sussexstudent. com The Comment Team Rebecca Spencer Louis Johnson Issy Anthony Joseph Pearce badger-opinion@sussexstudent. com The Features Team Arianna Lee Sonaili Vasta Olly Williams badgerfeatureseditor@gmail. com The Arts Team Lucy Peters Jude Whiley Morton badger-arts@sussexstudent.com The Books Team Jasmine Smith Eric Barrell thebadger.bookseditor@gmail. com The Music Team Léo de Riedmatten Kajal Dave thebadger.musiceditor@gmail. com The Film & Television Team Michael Humphreys Jack Parker thebadger.film@gmail.com The Theatre Team Jessica Hake thebadger-theatre@gmail.com The Artist Focus Team Grace Sowerby Alexander Evangelou thebadger.street@gmail.com The Travel & Culture Team Joshua Talbot Mehek Shahzad Vanessa Hung badger.travelculture@gmail.com The Sports Team Jonny Garwood Charlie Batten thebadger.sport@gmail.com The Science & Technology Team Ayaah Eldakal Sereena Kang thebadger.science@gmail.com Events and Publicity Elisei Sergevnin Proof Readers Elizabeth Richardson Elizabeth Strange Joe Kleinschmidt

Editorial

Chris Ahjem Editor-in-Chief

This edition comes out just after LGBTQ+ History Month and Sussex’s own Pride event so I just wanted to start my editorial by recommending the incredible TV series Pose which you can watch on BBC iPlayer. It covers the lives of the New York ballroom scene in the 1980s/90s and boasts the largest transgender cast ever seen on TV. In this edition, the Features Section includes a heartfelt article about the struggle black queer people feel in a predominantly white Brighton that often forces them to choose between these aspects of their identity.

Read more about it on Page 17.

Whilst our Comment Section highlights the issue of not feeling queer enough to be accepted in queer spaces on Page 11.

Beyond these vital topics, our newspaper covers loads more fascinating and informative subjects.

Our News Section covers news far and wide as it does fantastically every edition.

We have pieces on the UCU Strikes and the teach outs on campus (Page 3), globally the ceasefire in Afghanistan (Page 5) and the femicide protests in Mexico (Page 6) and nationally the spike in mumps cases due to unvaccinated students which you can find on our Front Page.

Whilst, our Comment Section features a piece on the sexualisation of women in the Pretty Little Thing adverts (Page 11), the Indian protests against the citizenship amendment bill (Page 12) and The Big Debate is about if we should abolish private schooling (Page 10).

The Features Section includes the aforementioned piece about the lack of black and queer spaces in Brighton as well as pieces on the stigma around HIV (Page 16) and on the UCU Strikes (Page 17-18).

The Arts Section sees Music interviewing John Grant (Page 20), Film & TV discusses Brigitte Bardot’s

influence on French cinema and the diverse TV show This Is Us (Page 19). Books covers books based in Brighton and the importance of literature about mental health (Page 18) and Theatre previews The Poorly Written Play Festival put on by SUDs and starring Josh and Jess from The Badger.

Our Travel & Culture section covers the fearmongering regarding Coronavirus (Page 27) and how to budget at university (Page 25).

Meanwhile our Science & Technology Section discusses the milk hypothesis and introduces a new section, ‘Eye’ Teach (Page 29).

And finally, our Sports Section highlights the Manchester City situation (Page 31) and the Wilder vs Fury fight (Page 32) .

This March includes International Women’s Day on Sunday March 8. There will, of course, be a variety of fascinating events happening in relation to this all over campus and in Brighton.

Sussex Fem Soc are hosting a celebration with guest photographer and activist Eliza Hatch in the ACCA on March 6 from 6-9pm. Tickets are £3 with proceeds going to RISE, a local domestic abuse charity. Find out more on Facebook.

Whilst Sussex Pink Week takes place from March 2-7 with a variety of events including a Life Drawing event by ArtSoc, Glitter Nips at Patterns and a Booby Pub Quiz in Room 76. Find out more on the @ sussexpinkweek Instagram.

Then with the help of our Arts Print Editor Lucy Peters, I’ve compiled a quick list of the best female directed films that came out last years and some that are set for release in 2020: Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019) Honey Boy (Alma Har’el, 2019) Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020) Respect (Liesl Tommy, 2020) The Eternals (Chloé Zhao, 2020)

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Follow The Badger online @thebadgersussex @thebadgernews @thebadgerarts @thebadgerpaper www.thebadgeronline.com The Badger stands with UCU Striking Staff Our Four Fights

2. WORKLOAD 35 HOUR WORKING WEEK as a basis for our contracts

1. PAY

+ 3% +

RPI PLUS 3% (a total of 5.2% as at December 2019) or minimum of £3,349

A NEW APPROACH TO WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT Adoption of the Health and Safety Executive's Stress Management Standards, or equivalent

£10/HOUR FOR IN-HOUSE STAFF and Foundation Living Wage for contractors LOCAL ACTION PLANS to reduce work-related stress and ill health

3. EQUALITY CLOSE THE GENDER AND ETHNIC PAY GAPS with time-specific agreements with specific actions

4. CASUALISATION

= A FULL EQUAL PAY AUDIT covering all protected characteristics, to be shared with the campus trade unions

A PAYMENT TO ALL STAFF in recognition of the unpaid hours we have worked

£

A framework to eliminate precarious employment.

Institutions will create action plans with commitments to:

END ZERO-HOURS CONTRACTS

TAKE OUTSOURCED STAFF BACK IN HOUSE on specific timescales

END WORKER ARRANGEMENTS FOR TEACHING STAFF in favour of proper employee contracts

REVIEW THE USE OF HOURLY PAID LECTURERS in post-92 universities

FRACTIONAL CONTRACTS Transfer more hourly-paid staff to fractional contracts

IMPROVE JOB SECURITY and create more open-ended contracts for researchers

POSTGRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS Give them guaranteed hours and proper employee contracts, linked to the national pay spine

If you hadn’t noticed already, many of our lecturers are striking for the third time in three years. The flyer art above highlights exactly why they are striking and why we, the students, should support them.

Do you want your local business or student relevant venture to reach a campus full of students?

Contact us at badgermarketing. sussex@gmail.com for prices, advert sizes and more info

News

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Support the Strikes, attend a Teach-out!

3

Beyond being a significant way to express your solidarity with striking staff, teach-outs are also a great opportunity to experience an alternative kind of learning.

Becca Bashford News Editor As the current wave of UCU strikes continue, students might want to turn to Teach-outs as an alternative method of learning during the period of cancelled classes.

What is a Teach-out?

Teach-outs are social events, talks, or workshops that relate to the strike. They are community-organised learning environments that seek to foster critical reflection, conversation, and solidarity among all participants as a part of the university community.

Teach-out events do not replicate teaching or research events that would have happened during the strike; rather they are community events that arise from the strike

and the issues surrounding strike action.

The format of teach-out events can include workshops, readings (such as poetry readings for instance), screenings, music, social activities.

Beyond being a significant way to express your solidarity with striking staff, teach-outs are also a great opportunity to experience an alternative kind of learning.

The teach-outs offer students and staff a chance to explore some of the most complicated issues which surround the strikes in a collaborative, accessible, and open manner.

The Badger spoke to the Sussex Strike Events team and asked them why teach-outs are so important. They said: “The teach outs are a model for what education in a university should be. They are

free, accessible and produced collaboratively by students and staff.

The topics are inspired by social struggles and political issues locally and globally, historically and presently. They are vibrant and engaging forums and open to all!”

A member of the student strike solidarity group said: “Teach-outs during the strike period are an incredibly collaborative experience of political learning and one of my favourite times to be at the university. They are an alternative space of what the university could be outside of rigid assessment structures for both students and staff.”

But what about crossing the picket?

Teach-out events are held in Falmer House or the Meeting House, or on the main picket line at the entrance to campus.

If you’re worried about crossing the picket line, don’t worry!

Both are “neutral zones”, so you are not crossing the picket by entering these buildings. The same applies to the Student Union building.

Students, staff, and faculty can also propose their own teach-out event.

Email sussexstrikes@gmail. com for more information.

TEACH-OUT TIMETABLE MONDAY 2 MARCH Forest Defenders on the Front Line 10-12 am, Debating Chamber, Mary Menton, SSRP, Claudelice Santos, Brazilian forest defender, Fran Lambrick, Not1More Alison’s Fun Time Good Time Writing Workshop 12-1, Debating Chamber, Alison Rumfitt TUESDAY 3 MARCH Colonial Lives of Property 10-1. Debating Chamber, Melanie Richter-Montpetit and Gurminder Bhambra (Dep’t of IR) Bhangra Beats at the Picket!

1.30. Main Picket (Falmer House Crossing) Bal Sokhi-Bulley & co (TBC) WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH Session on Free Speech 10-12. Debating Chamber, Gurminder Bhambra & Alice Corble THURSDAY 5 MARCH Solidarity from the U.S Labour Movement 2-4, Main Picket, Jacob Remes (NYU’s Gallatin School), Anne-Marie Angelo (History/American Studies) MONDAY 9 MARCH Sorry We Missed You Film Screening, 9-11, Debating Chamber Rap, Racism, and Criminalisation 11-1, Debating Chamber, Baljit Bains (Sussex), Yusef Bakali (Brighton), Malcolm James (Sussex), Lambros Fatsi (Brighton)

Unvaccinated students cause spike in mump cases Joel Renouf-Cooke News Print Sub-Editor Continued from Front Page...

Dr Saliba went on to stress the importance of the vaccine not being exclusively for children, stating: “We encourage all students and young people who may have missed out on their MMR vaccine in the past to contact their GP practice and get up to date as soon as possible[…] It’s never too late to catch up.”

Dr Saliba’s message was echoed by the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock who said: “The rise in mumps cases is alarming and yet another example of the long-term damage caused by anti-vax information. Science proves that vaccines are the best form of defence against a host of po-

tentially deadly diseases and are safer and more effective than ever before. Those who claim otherwise are risking people’s lives.

He went on to outline the Government health strategy, claiming: “Our Vaccine Strategy will soon be published outlining how we will increase uptake, limit the spread of vaccine misinformation and ensure every child receives two doses of their MMR vaccination.”

Anti-Vaccination or vaccine hesitancy, is a belief that has existed almost since the invention of vaccinations themselves, dating back to the late 1700s when religious arguments against vaccination – or inoculation as it was called back then – were advancing.

In a 1772 sermon entitled “The Dangerous and Sinful Practice of Inoculation”, the English theologian Reverend Edmund Massey argued that diseases

are sent by God to punish sin and that any attempt to prevent smallpox via inoculation is a “diabolical operation”.

Although arguments against vaccinations have largely moved away from religious reasoning; almost 250 years later there still exist fringe groups that believe a range of anti-vaccination conspiracies such as the infamous ‘Wakefield papers’, however such theories have been largely debunked by modern science and a vast number of children’s health charities who stress the importance of vaccination in child health and safety.

The vaccine is free on the NHS to all adults and children who are not up to date with their two doses.

More information about the vaccine and how you can get it is available on the NHS website or can be obtained by contacting your GP.

Puppers for Fair Pay & Conditions: Pets Against Precarity & Pension Raids, 1pm, Main Picket, Pet owners - bring your pets to the picket!

TUESDAY 10 MARCH Are we friends? Doing Friendships in Hostile Envionment(s) 10-11, Debating Chamber, Bal Sokhi-Bulley (School of Law, Politics and Sociology), Sara Jane Bailes (School of English) WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH Prevent: Universities and the Trojan Horse Affair 10-11.30, Debating Chamber, Gurminder Bhambra and Naaz Rashid Resisting Prevent 12-1. Main Picket, Malcolm James and Ilyas Nagdee THURSDAY 12 MARCH Inclusive and Activist Education 10-11. Debating Chamber, Kirsty Chan, Roxane Lavachy &, Conor Gray.

Staff facilitators: Alice Corble Vice Chancellor’s Pay 11-12. Debating Chamber, Louise Morley and Professor Rebecca Boden Compensation as a student demand 12-1, Debating Chamber, Anna Stavrianakis and Connor Moylett FRIDAY 13 MARCH The Biopolitics, Necropolitics, and Bare Life of Worker Protest 9-12. Debating Chamber, Patta Scott-Villiers, Alex Shankland A conversation about intersectional Horror 12-1. Debating Chamber, Pam Thurschwell (English), Dolores Tierney

The Badger 2nd March 2020

News

4

Irish General Election: What happens now?

Meagan McGlynn Staff Writer Discussions into how the 33rd Dáil Éireann (Irish House of Parliament) is to be formed are set to continue for several more weeks, after Sinn Féin’s unforeseen surge in seats has left none of the main parties with an overall majority.

Despite winning the election in terms of the popular vote, securing almost twenty-five per cent of the electorate’s first preferences, Sinn Féin only ran forty-two candidates, thirtyseven of which earned a seat in the next parliament. With 160 seats in the Dáil, the next government needs to consist of at least eighty TDs (Teachta Dála, member of the Irish Parliament) in order to hold a majority, ideally more to ensure stability. The other two main parties in Ireland, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, won thirty-five and thirty-eight seats respectively, meaning a coalition with two or more parties will need to be formed in order to establish a government. This numbers game is proving to be more difficult than anticipated, and

is complicated by the leaders of both centre-right parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, refusing to discuss the possibility of going into government with the left-wing Sinn Féin. However, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has expressed her party’s preference is to form a government with other, smaller, like minded parties, excluding the two parties who, between them, have been in government in Ireland over the past two decades. Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTÉ, McDonald said, “Sinn Féin wants to form a government of change and our objective is a government that builds homes, cuts rents and freezes them, reduces the pension age to 65, gives workers and families a break, and advances Irish unity.”

The Irish General Election 2020 truly was an election of change, with forty-eight of the 160 members of the incoming Dáil being elected for the first time. Fine Gael, the outgoing party in government, has accepted defeat after losing twelve of their TDs, with party

leader and outgoing Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar saying his party is willing to step back to see if Sinn Féin can form a government of their own.

“We were defeated in this election, there is no point in trying to dress that up in any way,” he said to RTÉ.

“It may have been a tight finish, but we were defeated so that means that people are saying to us that Fine Gael should go into opposition and we are absolutely willing to do that.”

It could be said that Ireland was somewhat blindsided

by Sinn Féin’s overwhelming victory. Of the 993,405 votes cast in the election, 276,711 were first preference votes for a Sinn Féin candidate (Irish Times, 2020).

This follows an intense electoral campaign with healthcare and housing at the forefront.

However, due to most constituencies only having one Sinn Féin candidate, if any at all, their votes which were surplus of their quota, of which there were 88,350 nationally, were re-allocated to second and lower preference candidates of Sinn Féin voters.

This certainly aided smaller

parties, such as the Green Party, Social Democrats and People Before Profit, and also helped the outgoing opposition party Fianna Fáil, who, despite receiving less votes, ended up with the most Dáil seats, at thirty-seven.

“

Sinn Féin wants to form a government of change and our objective is a government that ... advances Irish unity.

These numbers do not seem to have helped leader Micheál Martin hugely, however, as he failed to gather enough votes to become Taoiseach when votes were cast as the new Dáil resumed last Thursday, February 20th.

In addition to the leaders of the top three parties, Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, and Mary Lou McDonald going for Taoiseach, the leader of the Green Party, Eamon Ryan, also put himself forward. No candidate, however, earned enough votes to be deemed elected, and so another election will be held when the

Dáil resumes on Thursday, March 5th In the meantime, Leo Varadkar travelled to Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, to give his resignation as Taoiseach, as he is required to do so by the Constitution following his failure to be re-elected.

He will remain Taoiseach in a caretaking capacity until his successor is elected, or he himself is re-elected, as losing the first time around does not disqualify him from putting himself forward again when they next hold elections for Taoiseach.

This first round of elections has made history however, in that it is the first time a woman - that is, Mary Lou McDonald – has received the highest number of ‘Tá’, or ‘Yes’ votes. It was still outnumbered by the ‘Níl’, or ‘No’ votes, and so she was not elected, but all signs are pointing towards a new and very different political scene within Ireland. As discussions into Government formation and elections for the new leader of the country continue, only time will tell who will be leading Ireland into the next five years.

BBC License fee scrapped in favour of subscription service Jasmine Crowhurst Staff Writer The BBC is a national institution owned by the British public, with the licence fee allowing the BBC’s UK services to be independent and free from commercial advertising.

However, the government has announced they are committed to reviewing alternative models for the cooperation’s funding.

This change will endure a scale- back on the number of television and radio channels available, including the sale of the majority of its radio stations, and reducing the amount of online content.

Glenn Carstenns-Peters

The BBC announced just weeks earlier that the licence fee would increase in price from 1 April 2020 from £154.50 to £157.70 per year.

The corporation also faced additional backlash after they announced plans to scrap free licences from those aged over 75, so that from 1 June 2020, those who do not receive Pension Credit will need to pay for their licence in full.

The licence fee has been a method of funding the BBC dating back to 1923, in the popularity growth of Radio.

Currently, the standard Licence fee costs £154.50 a year, and pays for the operations of the

BBC via TV, Radio and Online.

By purchasing a TV licence, you support the creation of BBC programmes and services.

The income from the licence fee means all licence payers can enjoy a wide choice of BBC programmes and services, all free at the point of use and available on a wide range of devices and platforms. This includes Nine national TV channels, 10 pan UK, six national and 40 local Radio Stations, The BBC website, BBC iPlayer, BBC sounds (including podcasts) and a wide range of other apps and services like BBC Bitesize, CBeebies, BBC Three, Food, News, Sport and Weather.

The government has suggested that they would introduce a subscription style service, instead of the one-off yearly payment, sparking backlash from both the general public, broadcasters, and journalists alike. BBC chairman Sir David Clementi declared that putting the broadcaster’s services behind a paywall and competing on a commercial basis would lessen the BBC’s ability to ‘bring the country together’ and would weaken the country as a whole.

In his speech in Salford, he said: “The BBC is a great national

asset; a diminished BBC is a weakened United Kingdom.

Sitting behind a paywall, it would no longer be the place that brings the country together for the Strictly final, or Gavin & Stacey on Christmas Day, or the Armistice Anniversary or Holocaust Memorial. Nor would it be the place that all could turn to celebrate live important moments we enjoy as a nation: Royal weddings or jubilees, or Olympic successes.”

He also warned that ‘’it would be very unlikely to continue the level of properly curated programmes for children, or indeed the brilliant Bitesize education services”. He went on to suggest that cuts to the output of children’s programmes could potentially mean the end of devoted children’s favourites such as the CBBC and CBeebies channels.

David Dimbleby, Former Question Time Host, said that “The BBC is under threat in a way it has never been before.’’ He also commented: “The pernicious route they [the Government] are using is to say the licence fee is wrong or unfair.

“It is a way of damaging and undermining the BBC that

is dangerous and should be resisted forcefully if public broadcasting is to survive.

“Anything that chips away at what we believe to be a good democratic process is dangerous and has to be fought against’’ Public responses to the change of the BBC’s funding were largely met with praise on social media, with many favouring the idea of having a more active choice to pay for the service, rather than a licence feel ‘imposed’ upon them.

However, others disagreed on the drawbacks that the service many have. TV is essential for elderly people and those isolated for other reasons. These people benefit from the large depth of content the BBC is able to offer due to the current licencing structure. A subscription service may disadvantage an older demographic, who may struggle to pay for a subscription channel.

Others argued that a funding model based on subscriptions would be largely destructive to the BBC’s purpose as an accountable public broadcaster, and by reforming it to a Netflix style model that serves only its subscribers, would largely undermine the core values that the BBC stands upon.

News

The Badger 2nd March 2020

‘‘Reduction of violence’’ in Afghanistan

Venice Hancock News Sub-Editor On Friday February 14, Mike Pompeo, United States Secretary of State, Zalmay Khalilzad, Afghan-American diplomat in charge of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban, Scott Miller, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan and Ashraf Ghani, Afghan president were all gathered at the Munich Conference on security.

They were there to pass the terms of an agreement reached a few days earlier in Doha.

This agreement is made up of three separate steps. Firstly, all parties involved will seriously observe a ceasing of hostilities during a period of seven days.

Officially, both the American military and the Taliban have agreed to observe what they are referring to as a “reduction of violence”. The Afghan military has also pledged to limit its operations during this time.

This agreement began during the week of February 17, and if successful, could entail a visit from U.S. president Donald Trump to Kabul. However, U.S Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has stated that he is unsure about when the truce between the United States and the Taliban could begin.

The next step, according to the agreement reached Munich, is if the seven day period has gone well, all parties will be invited to a formal signing of the agreement. The third step will mark the start of a ten day period dedicated to discussions within Afghan circles.

President Ghani has been designated to lead these talks in the hopes of bringing about a comprehensive and inclusive dialogue between various parties within Afghanistan.

While these negotiations have taken place amidst continued attacks in Afghanistan, after eighteen years of conflict in the country, this reduction of

violence could be a decisive step towards peace. The peace talks have been going on since 2018 between the United States, the Afghan government and the Taliban, the main insurgent group in the region. This ceasefire comes as a positive step in discussions. However, some critics have suggested that the ceasefire would only be an opportunity for the Taliban to take advantage of the situation, to go back on their word and gain ground in the country while continuing military operations.

In the last three months of 2019, we saw violence in Afghanistan increase and witnessed a record number of attacks perpetrated by the Taliban and other forces opposing the government. This occurred despite peace talks going on for two years.

Peace in Afghanistan has been a long term goal for the United States. The country’s involvement in Afghanistan

Students show support for striking university staff Catharina Sofie Staff Writer Despite the heavy rain last Thursday, students assembled on campus to march towards Sussex House, protesting against the University management’s refusal to meet the demands of the union.

From this Thursday on, members of the union will go on strike at 74 universities in the UK to force the Universities to negotiate better working conditions for their staff.

The protest was organised by students and took place last Thursday, one week before the nationwide start of the strikes.

However, ‘Sussex support the Strike’ has announced further protests in solidarity with the striking staff as they begin this week.

While not all staff are striking, many students will be affected by the strikes by missing 14 days of classes. A protester explains that despite the disruption, they ‘…support the lecturers in striking, and want the strikes to end by the management taking their demands seriously.’

At Sussex, the strikes stem from a dispute between the Union (UCU) which represents some staff and the University management.

The UCU is demanding the management to solve two overarching problems. The first concerns interlinked issues over the rising number of insecure employment contracts, the reduction of payment over the last decade, the gender pay gap (of nearly 15%) and the amount of workload. The second problem concerns the changes

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in the staff’s pension scheme that were made in 2011. These changes have made staff pay more for their pensions while losing tens of thousands of pounds in retirement.

‘Sussex support the strikes’ is a group of students who are calling all students to protest and support the strikes of their lecturers and other university staff. They argue that ‘Staff working conditions are students learning conditions.’ As it stands, strikes are set to continue as university management and UCU have failed to come to an agreement over the ‘four fights’.

The Badger will be following the strike action closely throughout the following weeks – so stay tuned for more information.

started during the Cold War at the time of the Soviet occupation and has dragged on through the War on Terror and into this new decade. Under Reagan, the United States backed Afghan insurgents known as the mujahideen in order to combat communist forces in the region.

When the Soviets retreated from the country after nine years of conflict, political instability took over the structure of the country while the United States left behind a well trained and well armed network of jihadists, a part of which was Osama Bin Laden. After many years of civil war, the Taliban, allied with Al Qaeda, took over Afghanistan.

After 9/11, Al Qaeda, and thus, the Taliban became the United States’ biggest enemy and target, and the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001.

Under President Obama, the world witnessed a surge in American troops being sent to the country and the assassination of Bin Laden. The

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war continues today under President Trump and the Taliban still have a firm grip on Afghanistan, perpetrating many attacks against the civilian population.

If the peace talks manage to accomplish a shift towards actual peace in the country, we could expect a rise in counterterrorism and intelligence measures deployed by the United States and a decline in the number of troops engaged in group operations.

However, some have speculated that if the United States were to remove a large number of their troops too hastily, the Taliban would only regain the power and terrain that they had lost.

This would obviously be a very counterproductive outcome and is one of the reasons why the United States are still in Afghanistan in 2020.

Hopefully this agreement represents the first step on the road to a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan.

Nazi graffiti at Brighton Uni Joel Renouf-Cooke News Print Sub-Editor The appearance of a number of swastikas in Brighton University has sparked shock and discomfort among students.

The symbol, adopted by the Nazi’s in the 1920s as a symbol for its despotic and racist regime, was spotted by a student in one of the university’s computer rooms.

The student, who wishes to remain anonymous and is hereafter referred to as “Mary”, described the encounter as follows: “I was in the computer room with a friend and we just spotted them on the pinboard, I just remember feeling very confused and shocked, like who would draw something like that?”

Mary went on to describe how she alerted a member of staff, “I told a technician about what

we’d seen, and they said they’d paint over it.”

The appearance of the symbols comes just days after Britain formally left the European Union, with some suggesting that it is a sign of the rising far-right sentiment that has swept the country in the years since the UK voted to leave the EU. According to Home Office figures, reported hate crimes have more than doubled since 2013, with a spike, it says, since 2016.

Responding to the graffiti, a University of Brighton spokesperson, said: “Hate crime in any form will not be tolerated at the University of Brighton and we will never hesitate to take action. As soon as this unacceptable incident was brought to our attention it was reported to the police and swift action taken to remove the graffiti.”

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News Georgia-May Keetch News Online Sub-Editor In the first major cabinet reshuffle since winning a landslide election victory back in December last year, Boris Johnson's government is one of the youngest in history. The PM has also kept a strong representation of ‘leave’ campaigners at the table.

However, there was a lot of speculation ahead of the reshuffle about how diverse the new cabinet would be, with concerns about BAME and women in particular being chosen for the high-profile positions.

So, who is in what job and what are they bringing to the table? Here at The Badger, we have got you covered.

Rishi Sunak- Chancellor of the Exchequer Originally from Southampton, Rishi Sunak was appointed following the resignation of Sajid Javid during a cabinet reshuffle in 2020. Sunak previously served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Javid from July 2019 to February 2020, and has been the MP for Richmond

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Meet Boris Johnson’s new cabinet

since the 2015 general election.

After graduating from both Oxford University and Stanford University, he started working at the investment bank Goldman Sachs. He is probably better known now for representing the Conservatives in both the BBC and ITV seven-way way election debate.

Looking at his previous voting record, his key votes include voting against investigations into the Iraq war, he has consistently voted for reducing the rate of corporation tax and has never voted on equal LGBTQ+ rights; specifically allowing marriage between two people of the same sex as he voted against both.

Sunak was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer on 13 February 2020 as part of a cabinet reshuffle, after the resignation of his predecessor Sajid Javid on the same day. Javid had resigned after being asked

by Prime Minister Johnson to dismiss his parliamentary aides.

His new budget will take place on 11 March 2020, the date that it was due to be

delivered by his predecessor.

Oliver Dowden - Culture Secretary The 41-year old MP for Hertsmere has been flagged as a rising star in the Conservative ranks and replaces Nicky Morgan as Culture Secretary.

Since last summer, he has been a minister in the Cabinet Office – playing a key role working with No 10 in implementing government policy.

Before becoming an MP, the Cambridge-educated law graduate worked in public relations and cut his teeth in the Conservative Research Department.

He then worked as an adviser to David Cameron, becoming his deputy chief of staff in Downing Street.

He subsequently received a CBE for his services.

His voting record shows that he has voted for reforming the NHS so GPs buy services on behalf of their patients, he has voted for fewer MPs in the commons and against a wholly elected House of Lords.

Suella Braverman - Attorney

General As the new appointed Attorney General, the Fareham MP has been a Member of Parliament since 2015 and was a prominent leave campaigner before the Brexit referendum, 55% of votes in her constituency were for leaving. She was Chair of the European Research Group, a pro-Leave group of Conservative MPs, until her promotion to ministerial office; when she was replaced as chair by Jacob Rees-Mogg. Following the 2017 general election, Braverman was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the ministers of the Treasury. Again, her voting record is very similar to Rishi Sunaks, they differ slightly as she has consistently voted for LGBTQ+ rights and equal marriage, but differ in that she voted for a reduction in spending on welfare benefits and higher taxes on alcoholic drinks.

George Eustice- Environment Minister Eustice has been the MP for Camborne and Redruth since 2010 following a career in PR.

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Under David Cameron, he was appointed the Parliamentary under-secretary of state for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

He has been criticised in the past for signing a letter calling for tougher regulation of the press on the grounds that he had previously been the subject of negative media coverage. On 13 February 2020, Eustice was appointed as the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs replacing Theresa Villiers.

His appointment was viewed as a disappointment to environmental campaigners due to his record on climate change votes. Eustice called the post his “dream job”.

On 3 May 2016, he voted not to reduce the permitted carbon dioxide emission rate of new homes, and against setting a decarbonisation target for the UK within six months of June 2016.

However, he voted to reform the energy market with regard to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, securing supply, affordability for consumers and increasing generation from renewable sources.

Protests against femicide crisis in Mexico intensify Joel Renouf-Cooke News Print Sub-Editor People outraged at the femicide crisis in Mexico City have taken to the streets to express their anger. The most recent wave of unrest began after the naked body of seven-year-old Fatima Cecilia Aldrighett Anton was found on the outskirts of Mexico City in a plastic bag.

It happened just days after 25-year-old Ingred Escamilla’s body was also found in Mexico’s capital, skinned and mutilated.

Activists gathered outside Mexico’s Presidential Palace earlier this month, accusing the Government of not doing enough to address the rising violence against women, which has increased to its highest level in 30 years.

In a press release responding to the recent violence, Mexico president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered vague condolence to the families of the deceased, but distanced himself from the protesters outside the palace, referring to them as a “feminist collective” and saying that: “They oppose the moral regeneration we’re promoting.

I respect their views but don’t share them. I believe we have to moralise the country, purify

public life and strengthen cultural, moral and spiritual values.”

Responding to criticism regarding the inadequacy of his actions to stop the crisis he said: “I’m not going to give up my lifelong beliefs because they came and protested. We’re going to struggle to achieve a material change, a spiritual change.”

Daily indignancies against women such as harassment on public transport, groping and violent attacks have become commonplace in Mexico with a burgeoning women’s rights movement forming to combat the crisis which many are now rightly calling a human rights catastrophe.

These groups, calling for real action against increasing violent behaviour against women are protesting online, in the streets and are calling for a national women’s strike on 9 March in conjunction with International Women’s Day. In spite of the oppressive environment which women in Mexico are increasingly having to contend with, grassroots feminist activism is on the rise with many women becoming more ready to speak out against

the structural misogyny within Mexico and the inept responses of many of the politicians and police officers whose job it is to defend them in society, and who have seemed, in recent years, to offer all too lacklustre measures to stem the violence.

Many officials have tended in the past to be more concerned with controlling burgeoning feminist movements than the actual crimes against women.

Much of the recent outrage has been directed at President Lopez Obrador who has been accused of “dragging his feet” when it comes to his attitude towards femicide in Mexico.

When asked about the federal prosecutor’s proposal to get rid of the concept of femicide from the criminal code he responded by saying the issue “has been manipulated by the media”.

He also seemed to get frustrated by the idea that the murders of female citizens could take attention away from his pet project of raffling off the presidential aeroplane, saying: “I don’t want femicides to overshadow the lottery.”

Women’s rights groups have criticised the wholly inadequate way in which Lopez Obrador has responded to the crisis; treating the deaths as a political

and public relations issue rather than a crisis claiming the lives of women.

“The message he’s sending women is: I don’t care,” said Maricruz Ocampo, an activist in the state of Querétaro.

“They’ve all had the same attitude toward the problem,” she said. “This is a Mexican problem, not a women’s issue.”

Recent violence in the Capital has been especially grisly.

Ingrid Escamilla, a 25-year-old woman, was brutally murdered by her husband then her corpse was skinned and disembowelled.

A sensationalist newspaper then fuelled anger and unrest by publishing images of the body on its front page.

Lopez Obrador responded to questions about the femicides by blaming a breakdown of moral and family values within the home as well as “neoliberal” policies over the last three decades. He also sought to shift the blame away from his administration onto his predecessors despite the fact that he has been heavily involved in the governing of Mexico City since 2000.

Twitter users were quick to respond to López Obrador’s apparent lack of empathy and willingness to address a matter

that many would see as a national emergency.

Alejandro Juarez wrote: “In Mexico they are killing women.

Ingrid Escamilla was one more among thousands and thousands. But our President cares more about his popularity and that’s why he downplays femicide. But that cannot be hidden, even if they promote hashtags to praise him. (#JusticeForIngrid)” Lopez Obrador came to power promising widespread change and social reform but despite leading the National Regeneration Movement, a left-leaning, social democratic party, he has been accused of promoting conservative ideologies and ignoring his electoral base.

Janneth Moreno Argüelles, a representative within the Mexican lower-congressional House, had this to say of the President and his response to the crimes committed against women: “[These are] the words of a man who is unscathed by the dreadful consequences his government is causing.

“A man who is totally indifferent to the safety of women and children and the health and well-being of Mexicans.”

News

The Badger 2nd March 2020

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News Where You Aren’t

Georgia-May Keetch, News Sub-Editor, reviews some of the big stories from across the country Glasgow - Heading in a new direction Children aged 11 and under will no longer be taught to head footballs during their training in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The new football association guidelines for coaches also puts limits on how much heading older children should do. It follows Glasgow University research that showed former footballers were three and a half times more likely to die from brain diseases. The guidance, which will not yet apply in Wales, will affect training only as the Football Association of Wales said its guidance for coaches on children heading the ball was currently under review with the findings being made available later this year. The University of Glasgow study, published in October last year, found that former professional footballers were more likely to die of degenerative brain disease - and five times more likely to die from Parkinson’s disease.

There was no evidence in the study that linked incidences of the disease with heading the ball, but the FA said the new guidance had been issued to “mitigate against any potential risks”.

Birmingham- What the Duck!

Thieves left behind an unusual piece of evidence after stealing from a shop in Birmingham- ducks. West Midlands Police’s response unit said two men had taken a duck into a store on Lozells Road in the city on Saturday. They were chased out after committing a theft, police said, but left their feathered friend behind. In the social media post, the force said: “Policing is a strange thing at times.” The response unit said the bird had been taken into the care of the RSPCA.

Bristol - Smooth Criminal Elis Tarling, a 21 year-old mechanic, used his court appearance as a photo opportunity for a modelling career after appearing in court for carrying a knuckle duster at a retail park in Bristol. He revelled in the press attention and certainly seemed ready for his 15 minutes of fame, adopting an array of poses, pouting and smiling for the camera. Donning a pair of blue jeans, and sporting a black t-shirt and North Face jacket, he confidently flaunted his assets as he turned the walk of shame into his own personal catwalk.

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Tayside - Over my (non) dead body!

Tayside

Glasgow

A man was shocked to find his own grave at a cemetery, despite being very much alive. Alan Hattel said he was worried by the fact nobody had phoned him in three or four months, and couldn’t figure out why. Alan, 75, a retired welder from Forfar, Tayside, said: ‘My phone hasn’t rung for three or four months. I’ve been confused by it all but now I know why nobody has been calling. ‘I don’t even want to be buried – I plan to be cremated.’ He says it was done without his knowledge and the whole thing was ‘like something out of Only Fools and Horses’. He blames his ex-wife for putting the gravestone there, though admits he cannot be certain.

London - UFJoe Joe Pasquale, most known for winning ‘Im a celeb’ in 2004 came out and said that he ran to his local police station after seeing an “alien spaceship” land on a field next to the M4 motorway. The TV funny man said his extra-terrestrial experience, in which he spotted the craft land on a field along the M4 motorway, left him believing there Birmingham are little green men living closer to Earth than most people think. “It was before the days of mobile phones with cameras, so London the UFO society said you Bristol had to draw it and take it to a police station. “I got home, painted it and ran to my local police station at 4am.

“The policeman said to me: ‘Are you kidding? I’ve just finished my shift, go away!’”

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MASTERS O P E N D AY Saturday 7 March 2020 1pm-5pm University of Sussex Campus Discuss courses. Meet faculty. Continue your studies at Sussex.

Our Masters Open Day provides an excellent opportunity to find out which of our 200 plus Masters courses is right for you. Are you looking to challenge yourself, deepen your knowledge, enhance your career prospects or take a new direction in life? Make your future with a Masters at Sussex.

With generous scholarships and Government loans, Masters study could be more affordable than you think.

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Comment

The Badger 2nd March 2020

THE BIG DEBATE

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The Big Debate is a regular Badger feature which brings the spirit of competitive debating to the printed page. Two writers tackle a contentious topic, representing polarised views. They might not agree with what they write - on this page, they represent a viewpoint, not an individual. This week, they discuss whether private schools should be abolished.

Yes Will Day Staff Writer

T

heresa May said in 2016, “I want Britain to be a place where advantage is based on merit not privilege”. Inspiring, yet utterly hollow words.

“Britain, the great meritocracy”. I’d love to have seen the briefing for this speech.

“Right Theresa, I know we’re doing nothing to act on what you’re about to say but I promise if you stare into the camera, they will believe you” (See the hypnotoad from Futurama).

A society based on meritocracy would mean that it is solely hard work and ability that brings success (social class bears no advantage). I expect that those who believe that Britain is a Meritocracy also believe in the tooth fairy. Yes, I know Alan Sugar and Susan Boyle did it but let’s not pretend it’s the norm. For every SuBo there are thousands who can’t achieve their goals, stuck in a failing education system which is so desperately underfunded that many schools can’t afford to teach for a full five days.

We live in a nation where the privileged have always had a clear advantage.

To truly level the playing field, we must begin by making fundamental changes to our education system. One in sixteen pupils attend private school and one in seven teachers are employed at private schools. Meaning private school pupils receive twice as much access to support.

One in six pounds of all school expenditure nation-wide is invested in private schools by rich parents for this small section of elite youth.

So, what makes these pupils so deserving of their educational superiority? Are they born with a staggeringly high IQ? No. Can they move objects with their minds? No. What then, you cry? A stench of privilege passed down from rich parents. Or more likely rich grandparents whose privately educated children have become rich parents, more likely still rich great-grandparents whose pri- you get my point. Just 7% of the country are privately educated yet it seems like so many more. That’s because in positions of power and wealth there is a staggering overrepresentation of the privately educated. The Sutton Trusts report “Elitist Britain 2019” highlights this inequality.

The report notes that “65% of senior judges, 57% of members of the House of Lords, 59% of civil service permanent secretaries and 52% of Foreign Office diplomats come from a private school background”. As of Boris Johnson’s latest reshuffle, which he boasted would “truly reflect modern Britain”, 65% of all Cabinet Ministers attended private school. In the media the trend continues: 43% of the

top one hundred influential news editors and broadcasters and 44% of newspaper columnists received a private education.

Any failing actors reading this, don’t feel down about the constant rejection.

Remember it’s not your fault; it’s your parents. Had they been rich enough to send you to Eton you’d probably have an Oscar by now; Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, Damian Lewis, just a few who have attended the college.

This overrepresentation makes the notion that Britain is a meritocracy laughable. Clearly Britain’s capitalist system favours those born into privilege. It’s time to make hard work and application the measures of success, not the size of your parent’s wallet.

I’m not trying to imply that all those who attend fee-paying schools don’t apply themselves, of course they do, yet studies from the University of Cambridge show students with the same A-level results from state schools perform better at university than their privately educated peers.

A top private education provides more than just grades, you gain a sense of entitlement, a mind-set that you are better than the rest, you are the right candidate.

No Bogdan Gherasim

W

e have come to live in a society where so-called ‘equality’ has become a reason to evade our destiny.

Ideas of an ‘equal society’ means that if someone has the privilege to have a better education, to a broader range of opportunities, to a better job, then that means inequality, discrimination, and even injustice. Nowadays, the concept of ‘equality’ has become so exaggerated that it seeks to camouflage the fact that all human beings are unique, everyone has different values, strengths, background and purposes. Thus, we must have the chance to choose what is best for each of us.

The debate as to whether private schools are ethical has become increasingly intense in the last decades, even though private education is extremely important in society. For instance, in the United States, 25 percent of the nation’s schools are private with approximate-

Should private schools be abolished?

Besides, there’s always the CEO position at Daddy’s company if things go tits up.

To see the benefits of abolishing private education we need look no further than Finland. Finnish officials acknowledged that their education system was perpetuating inequality and recognized the detrimental impact it was having on their nation. In the 1970’s the Finnish government made radical changes to their education system which saw the abolition of private schooling. Today, the Finnish education system is widely regarded as one of the world’s best.

Not all those privately educated are bad people, most of them are perfectly palatable; some of them even acknowledge their own privilege.

Yet, these institutions do have a tendency to churn out an exceptional volume of megalomaniac narcissists. The kind of narcissist who goes on Question Time attacking diversity in a shameless attempt to stay relevant as their singing and acting careers fail (Laurence Fox).

The kind of narcissist so desperate to cling onto power that they call a referendum they can’t possibly lose (David Cameron). The kind of narcissist who oversees a campaign of hate, xenophobia and lies before fulfilling a lifelong ambition of becoming Prime Minister (the idiot in charge of our country in 2020).

ly 10 percent of all students attending them. Likewise, in Germany, the percentage of parents who opted for private education in 2016 exceeded 9 per cent.

State schools were created to educate the masses, in a raw fashion. The need for better education and the emergence of different specializations led to the foundation of further private schools.

This occurred in democratic, modern nations in order to develop society and to provide a broader range of possibilities. Since then, the private school is positioned as being of better quality than the public option, an improvement to the quality of education for the nation.

Everywhere in the world, private schools produce intellectuals, scholars, leaders and so forth. But because a society cannot be made up of only intellectuals, high-quality education has always been made very expensive and much harder to reach. And anyway, handicrafts and trades are also fundamental to society. Many private school systems offer a unique alternative as non-traditional pedagogies, such as the Waldorf Pedagogy, Montessori, or Step-by-Step. These schools provide a broader perspective of life. The children, who are raised in such pedagogies, learn various disciplines in a more nuanced form than in the public systems. Being Waldorf-raised myself, I

can acknowledge the importance of such alternative private school systems for the development of the individual and for the society as a whole. The teachers emphasize the importance of intellect, as well as the spirit and soul.

The development of every component of a human being is essential for his fulfillment and for a harmonious relation with all that surrounds his being. Unfortunately, this unique perspective of educating a human being does not exist in the public system and therefore this discrepancy, in my opinion, is noticeable in pupils.

But this is the purpose anyway… It is perfectly natural to have different approaches to education for different types of people. So, what if you cannot afford a private education for your child? Everything happens for a reason, and everyone has their path to follow. Instead of struggling to afford a private school, think if this is really the best option for your child. A diploma doesn’t show your true values, but your hard work and perseverance do.

My argument is that, why would we want to live in communism, where there is no private school system at all? Perhaps, that would be a great place for those who fight for absolute ‘equality’ and think that they are treated unfairly by society because they have to work harder to achieve what others have by destiny. But just because some people cannot afford or benefit from something doesn’t make it wrong. There should be different kinds of opportunities for different types of people. Some families have more benefits than others, some have to work harder to achieve success, and that is how it has always been from the beginnings of humanity.

I heard that if you want to become a lawyer, a doctor or a political figure, and you don’t have the opportunity to attend a high-quality private school, then you are doomed to fail. This is in my opinion the excuse of lazy people, which are better at making judgements than at working towards their dreams. As Dale Carnegie said, “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all”. It doesn’t matter at all what your background is, it matters what you actually do to reach your dream.

Stop complaining that you were not born into a family that cannot afford private schooling, and instead, think about what kind of education you will be able to provide your own children and start working on that. Not all of us should be able to afford a private education, because not all of us have the same path to follow. We are not equal, we are different and different alternatives should exist for each of us.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Comment 11 My Queer Fear: The complexity of gay clubbing Stella Cooper Gaydar activated, I am more than spoilt for choice when it comes to queer clubbing and socialising in Brighton. I’m sure many of you feel other cities seem grey, mundane and, most strikingly, straight in comparison.

As Europe’s gay capital, you would think that it’s impossible for Brighton to be unfriendly.

However, this paradox has shown itself to me on numerous occasions. As a queer female identifying person, I feel I must share what has led to humiliation and disappointment in the community.

If you belong to the LGBTQ+ community, you may be fully aware of the sub-labels within the labels; it’s no longer specific enough to be Lesbian, or Bi for example. The commonality in such a vast community is to fall under ‘butch’ or ‘femme’. Oh no!

My bad, are you actually a ‘soft femme’ or a ‘stone butch’ ?

If not, it must mean you’re some kind of ‘baby dyke’ or another stereotype. I often ignore these labels due to their rigidity. What happens if I’m just me-just Stella?

Believe it or not, some womxn (a term we use to include trans women) don’t want the buzzcut, or the undercut, or even the nose ring. Shock horror, we all have our own unique styles that needn’t be decided by sexuality.

Often, I’ve contemplated having my hair short again, but why should I feel this will make me ‘more gay’?

I don’t want to call out anyone who feels associated to any of the labels or appearances mentioned, since they can be entirely helpful to express identity within the community for many womxn.

I have met and dated womxn who are very comfortable associating themselves with stereotypes. However, I am getting bored of being thrown into boxes. If the physical criteria is not met, I automatically don’t fit in.

Yet, surely, being an ‘outsider’ is what Brighton embraces.

On Valentine’s evening, feeling liberated and lax, a group of friends and I headed to a specifically LGBTQ+ event which had a majority of lesbian attendees. It was a great example of the diversity of events on

offer in the city to advocate that ‘love is love.’

Having absorbed the tensely curious atmosphere, I needed a break from the dance floor.

When trying to get out of the crowd, there was a large force on my back, and the next moment I was falling towards the floor.

Picking myself back up again, I turned around to a laughing group of tom-boyish girls all wearing caps, sniggering at me. I was loudly told that I’d knocked one of their ‘femme’ friends.

Apparently this justified their aggression.

Just to reiterate, I had come here to relax and feel like I was in a welcoming environment.

The result couldn’t have been more ironic.

Sadly, this experience in an LGBTQ+ space is not new. Queer female identifying friends of mine speak of how in Brighton, they are called ‘straight’ every time they enter a gay club or event.

The last thing to expect in any gay club is to be physically or verbally assaulted.

Perhaps it’s a far stretch to call this discrimination, but it’s frustrating that as one of

the most liberal cities in the world, Brighton has a filter of who ‘looks queer’. When I get a comment such as, “you look gay/straight”, I am led to wonder what has come about to inform that decision.

Often when gay clubs get accused of being too straight, the judgement isn’t being assessed by who is LGBTQ+, but who looks LGBTQ+.

I feel, in particular, that lesbian labels can indirectly objectify womxn to being ‘out’ or ‘straight.’ It’s as though some of us are not allowed to be queer in the very spaces we want to experiment in freely.

Where up to 15% of Brighton’s population are LGBTQ+ (which is over four times the number in Greater London), it has added a certain promiscuous image to everyone in the community.

Polyamory is the norm.

A passing comment made about me, from a lesbian to an exgirlfriend, emphasised this: “She’s a queer, first year student!

Isn’t that a massive red flag for you?”

The logic of these comments is hard to fathom in the community. I simply don’t fall

into the right camp for most lesbians. Age, sexuality and image are all potentials for criticism between LGBTQ+ womxn.

I’m more comfortable at less specific gay clubbing events, where there’s a balance of LGBTQ+ and straight people. It’s more likely in these situations to be asked for your preference, rather than it be decided for you.

Shockingly the more lesbian the event is, the more marginalised I feel when I’m just trying to socialise with other womxn.

I want to call on the lesbian community in particular; break your cliques and classifications. Whether the city is conscious or not of existing hostility, the name and shame culture of labels degrades womxn and contributes to a heteronormative culture.

No one should have to feel aligned to a ‘masc’ or ‘femme’ image if it’s not their preference.

Non-binary identification is excluded from this narrative, when it should be embraced.

Brighton has an expanding plethora of opportunities for queer womxn, don’t let the labels bring you down.

Are we becoming immune to over-sexualisation?

Roxanna Wright

From a young age, we are taught the progression of female equality, from the Suffragettes to Fourth Wave Feminism. While some would argue that we have largely achieved equality, it remains clear huge problems remain. To what extent are women treated equally, and with respect, today?

Pretty Little Thing, a major online retailer for young women in the UK, released an advertisement for their new clothing range, however it was shortly banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after its initial release on 29 October 2019, for being ‘overly sexualised’. The clothes advertised seemed to have a theme of ‘as minimal coverage as possible’ through the outfits of bras, shorts, see-through tops and underwear. Shots of the model with her legs open and holding neon bars were repeated throughout. This sexualised representation of women in the advert demonstrates a ageold stereotype that women are sexual objects, suggesting we never lost these archaic ideologies.

However, when I first watched

this advert, I wasn’t immediately offended by the portrayal of my gender. I didn’t instantly feel disgusted that women are represented in this extremely sexualised manner. I wasn’t even surprised by the lack of material on the models, even though it was shown in the build up to winter.

This is the real issue Pretty Little Thing’s advert uncovers.

It shows how oblivious and ignorant audiences have been towards objectification of women in the present. The UK curriculum avoids current problems with sexism. Instead, schools focus on the hardship women endured in the past, to create the impression that women today have achieved equality and are respected.

Girls have been programmed throughout their life to believe

viewpoints of women have drastically improved as they are no longer stuck in the 1950’s ideal of being the perfect housewife, and more women are in science and Parliament than ever before.

Yet, it shouldn’t distract us from the harsh reality that women are still objectified today.

Instead, girls look upon these models, and their outfits, in awe. A crippling feeling of desire washes over thousands of female viewers, wishing to look like these airbrushed, photo-shopped models, who have often undergone cosmetic surgery, and with high-quality makeup so expensive that the cost of it would probably cover my accommodation. And while I have the knowledge that these images aren’t a reflection of reality, the feeling of insecurity was still present after I watched

Pretty Little Thing

this advertisement. Girls as young as thirteen, who are uneducated in the production of advertisement and modelling photos, are having these images of objectified women shoved into their faces before they know any better, causing the insecurities to start at a young age.

The male gaze is absorbed throughout the entire advertisement. It is interesting how Pretty Little Thing used this in their advertisement, considering their exclusively female target audience.

Does the feeling of being objectified persuade women to buy clothes? Is it because we know our value is often held in relation to how we look to men?

It is fascinating to see that Pretty Little Thing believe representing women as pieces of meat is a better advertising style instead of promoting women in a less sexualised way.

Pretty Little Thing defended their advertisement by stating that it “celebrates all women” and promotes body diversity, however, there was only one model used in the entire advert.

This makes it very difficult to side with Pretty Little Thing as one woman cannot really

celebrate “all women”.

On top of that, Pretty Little Thing defended their advert by saying it was to “promote a positive and healthy body image that was inclusive and empowered women”.

This is also challenging to see as empowering, as the healthy body image they believe they are promoting is a size 6/8 woman, whereas the average size woman in the UK is currently a size 16. The body that they are promoting is one which requires a meticulous diet, a vigorous work out routine, and a naturally fast metabolism. And the world wonders why millions of girls endure extreme diets, undergo plastic surgery and face insecurities.

“Female empowerment” is just a disguise for women’s bodies to be objectified in the media.

We probably all come across images of women sexualised and objectified on a daily basis, except we don’t even notice anymore. Seeing a woman half naked on Instagram or on a front page of a newspaper is no more shocking than seeing Donald Trump’s name in the top headlines. It is highly unlikely for this historical convention to end, but maybe this is a start.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Comment

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Hindutva bloodshed: Not my India Saumya Jain Staff Writer The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was introduced by the Central Government in the Parliament of India by the Home Minister Amit Shah on the 9 December, 2019. This bill was aimed at amending the Citizenship Act of 1955 to grant easier access for Indian citizenship.

This applies to people escaping religious persecution who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Those who identify as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians escaping such persecution from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan are among those affected by this law. The CAB was passed within two days making this an official act that every state had to abide by.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) also aims to relax the requirement of residence in India for citizenship by naturalization, from 11 years to 5 years for migrants covered under it.

This act also does not give any specifications about the religious Muslim minorities from these countries or the Rohingya, Sri Lankan Tamil and the Nepali refugees who have been in India fleeing religious persecution.

The CAA is to be implemented alongside the National Register of Citizens (NRC). This states that citizens need to show a specific set of documentation before they are entered on to this register. The register also aims to help the individuals who are coming in through to the CAA to gain citizenship, easier.

The implementation of this register has been carried out in the north-east state of India, Assam. The final draft of the NRC was released on the 31st of August 2019, leaving out almost 19 lakh citizens. This caused the first wave of protests against the two proposals to erupt. Despite the errors in the first round of drafting the registry in Assam, the Home Minister emphasised

the necessity for a nationwide implementation of the registry.

The National Register of Citizens, when coupled with the Citizenship Amendment Act, will be one of the first steps toward making India an only Hindu state. This is something the right-wing Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) have stated multiple times as being a part of their political agenda.

Following this, on 15 December, 2019, protests broke out against these Acts at the Jamia Islamia University of Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University.

These protests deemed the acts unconstitutional; they were directly opposed to Article 14 of the Indian Penal Code. This states that “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”

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Use of brute force has not slowed down the citizens of India who continue to protest

The students were met with brute force from the paramilitary forces who have now been recorded on video. They are seen entering the university library using batons to hit students who were not even a part of these protests. This pushed the overnight momentum to get citizens out on the streets and demonstrate their disagreement with the government.

A huge amount of people will be rendered stateless overnight if these Acts are implemented nationwide. Not only are these discriminatory towards Muslims living in India but also to every marginalised community who do not have access to the specific set of documents. Lack of such documentation is due to several reasons, including natural disasters.

Following the violence in Jamia Islamia University, the citizens of Delhi came out in the cold of night and called an in-

Bishkek

definite sit-in at Shaheen Bagh.

They blocked a major highway in Delhi, with the protests being led by Muslim women making sure there is no way the ruling government can ignore them, again.

Shaheen Bagh has moved beyond just condemning police brutality concerning Jamia Islamia. It has become a sign of resistance against the ruling government, which is failing to provide for its citizens. First and foremost, the rising costs of commodities, increasing unemployment and poverty, and the disregard for the safety of women living in the country.

Several campaigning ministers during elections in Delhi have used hate speech in enticing their camps to oppose Shaheen Bagh.

Namely, the chant “Desh ke gaddaro ko, goli maaro...”. This means, “shoot the people who are protesting against the country.” Such hatred is shown to have an effect when a Hindu nationalist open fired at Shaheen Bagh, while the police took no steps to prevent him from doing so.

He was confronted by a Kashmiri student trying to mediate and control the situation.

This incident itself took place on the death-day of Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated

by Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Godse. Godse had ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organisation believing in Hindu supremacy that is also linked with the ruling BJP. This isn’t the first-time insurgents have faced violence under the guise of nationalism.

On 5 January, 2020, more than 50 masked people armed with rods, sticks and acid attacked the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. This injured more than 39 students and teachers.

Eyewitnesses and students have linked these people to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) the youth wing of the BJP. They stated they are behind the organisation of these attacks on the university.

Various state governments have come out against these Acts and stated they will not be implementing CAA or NRC. The crackdown through use of brute force has not slowed down the citizens of India who continue to protest with the odds stacked against their favour. Despite the ongoing protests, the ruling government still plans to implement a nationwide NRC and further implement the CAA no matter how discriminatory the act may be.

Comment Lights out! Existence unplugged Louis Johnson Comment Sub-Editor It was Wednesday, 8pm. I’d spent most of my day attempting to construct a new tune on my laptop, after a short break I returned to my desk. I’d begun to make some headway, it felt like after a few more hours of graft my masterpiece would be complete. Alas, my prediction was not to materialise.

Out of the corner of my eye I began to notice a flicker from across the road. The flicker continued for around thirty second, yet my focus remained un-waivered. Eerily though, along with my music, the light began to amplify.

Suddenly, my speakers became synchronised with the flicker, along with my monitor.

Flashing in my face for a few scary seconds, I considered the possibility that my laptop had decided it had had enough of my monotonous melodies and was about to pack it in.

Thankfully my laptop stayed on, but my speaker and monitor, along with everything else in my house connected to the mains, had died. I noticed my

laptop was on 1% and swiftly saved my project. I quickly clocked that there were no streetlights on, neither were any of my neighbour’s lights!

A power cut! My instant feeling, oddly, was excitement.

I often wondered what life would be like without technology. It was unlikely though that I was about to experience this to its full extent.

We received a text soon after the outage informing us that the technicians would be over shortly to fix the problem. Our power was said to be up and running between 10 and 11pm, I breathed a sigh of relief in the solace that I would soon be able to return to working on my music.

With 20% left on my phone, I decided that I’d reap the remaining benefits of being so deeply connected to the outside world. With no power, I could no longer use the oven or the hob, neither could I see what I was doing without draining my phone battery by using my torchlight.

I lit a candle and began to slowly panic. What was I to eat that would fill my oversized stomach substantially enough without use of an oven or hob?

Naturally, I ordered a pizza from the Deliveroo, a much-overused privilege, and problem, of mine.

I quickly set about informing my friends of my impending disappearance. I sent a few updates and after drifting off into the depths of social media slowly realised something. In the context of such limited battery life, I was completely wasting my time. In fact, even without this context, scrolling through social media is still a complete waste of time.

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Interconnectedness may be causing us more anxiety than it can overcome.

Of course, I had always known this, but the power cut had given me another perspective.

Though I had always known that our obsession with, and reliance on, social media was nothing but toxic. What I was looking forward to most was the inability of people to contact me.

It appears that, though phones may mean we can reach out to people more, our interconnectedness may be

causing us more anxiety than it can overcome. For me at least, once my phone had died and I laid it beside my bed on charge, anticipatingly, I felt a massive weight off my chest.

We all have many responsibilities, and we all need our time away from them. Yet, it seems to me that phones, along with the reach of most devices, have extended our responsibilities into times which they are not needed.

I am not saying that I want to run away from all my responsibilities, but as an anxious guy who often can’t sleep I naturally, and automatically, grab my phone. This is not natural though. I have countless unopened messages, emails and inboxes. Communicating through our devices has always seemed to me unnatural, I never seem to read things right and I will re-read important personal messages over and over.

My anxieties will misconstrue the meaning of anything that isn’t face-to-face. It was, therefore, a final respite for me to have no phone.

I slept incredibly early and woke up at 5am with no

The Badger 2nd March 2020

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concept of time I went to my parent’s bedroom. They told me the time and read out the text from our energy provider: “we have managed to restore power to all houses in the area, bar one”. The remaining house was, of course, mine.

I spent the rest of the morning wondering when our power would return. The novelty had soon worn off and I was looking forward to being able to cook again. Luckily, I had no responsibilities for the coming day, yet, if I had, I would have been unable to do much.

I am, unfortunately, completely reliant on my phone to access money, to travel, to work out my university schedule, and my work schedule. Though being able to use my phone would improve my prospects for the coming day, I hold that our overuse of telecommunication is unhealthy.

My power returned that day at 1pm, I was able to return to my music. Though I was happy I could now communicate with my friends and family once more, the ominous anxiety that plagues over me along with the presence of my phone continued.

Changing the climate of denial

Leo Hodges Climate change is undeniably an imminent threat, yet there are still doubts threatening this consensus. A mass of empirical evidence provides the subject with all the ammunition it needs to force multilateral organisations, state governments and us, as individuals, to change.

Predictions exemplify how immediate the threat is: increased temperatures have already accelerated heat related deaths; year on year crop yields have fallen; forest fires have increased in fervency and number; disease has spread at an accelerated rate due to an increase in temperature or intensified precipitation.

Flooding, coastal erosion and competition for drinking water caused by climate change exacerbate the deadly impact climate change possesses.

Hence, climate change has been replaced by ‘climate crisis.’

Evidence can be found far and wide, however proving climate change is real is not the aim here, instead this article shall explain the insidious nature and danger that climate change deniers present.

Climate crisis extends into

the realm of socio-political problems.

Environmental degradation cannot be separated from the capitalist culture that has bred exploitation of natural resources for profit. This ‘profit by any means’ mindset has become entrenched into Western policy, and subsequently that of rising international powers, who have then set unrealistic precedents for the Global South to follow.

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The crisis will only become harder to deny

The Global South strives for greater economic strength, however, they are being forbidden from using the same exploitative systems that permitted Western growth in the name of climate crisis. This subject is complex, and solutions are even more complex, yet what is less complex is the reasoning behind, and danger of, climate change deniers.

Climate change deniers are so devoted to their misguided beliefs that they claim any form of empirical evidence must be ‘fake news.’ In this sense deniers can be equated to conspiracy theorists. To this community of

conspiracy theorist’s, climate change is a political weapon used by the ‘elite’ to control the masses.

This frustration towards an ‘elite’ has been misdirected.

Though there is an economic elite who may be the driving force of an unequal economy, there is a difference between the economic elite and the academic elite. This academic elite should be listened to, whereas the former’s power can be overturned and, in fact, are the ones who benefit from the destruction of our climate.

If climate change deniers had their way there would be no incentive for corporations or governments to expand the emerging green markets, the profit would not be worth the upheaval of the current economic system. In some cases, the elite, perpetuates climate change scepticism.

For example, Donald Trump’s reversal on climate policy, his MAGA campaign slogan and devotion to take America back to the ‘good old days’ appeals to many, it is inherently comforting to be full of positive nostalgia.

Nevertheless, the era they wish to return to included vast exploitation of workers, as well

as natural resources.

This lazy, rose-tinted view of the past aggravates the climate crisis. However, one aspect of the denier’s anti-establishment view can be spun into a positive.

They argue it is the people who can bring down the elite, which is true, the power is in our hands, we have the influence to enact real, powerful change. But as a people we have been lazy, and climate change deniers are the epitome of our collective laziness.

Through claiming science is a weapon of the elite to control the people, deniers appeal to our narcissism. The denier is an enlightened being, they do not follow the sheep of the masses. They are one of a few extraordinary people who can see beyond the lies. This egotistical aspect of climate change deniers bolsters their beliefs against the negative attention they attract, instead ‘cancel culture’ helps them thrive.

They seem to shout ‘People want to shut me up, therefore I MUST be correct!’ They seek a higher status, which they achieve through outrage and an exploitation of cancel culture, in turn this further deepens their

beliefs that they are one of the few real geniuses left. Their confidence grows alongside the increasing absurdity of their claims.

Climate change deniers, therefore, are scared, lazy and narcissistic. They cannot comprehend their mortality and their insignificance on the world, for which I cannot blame them. However, they use this fear to heighten their selfishness, whereas we accept our mortality and do what we can, while we can.

Everyone is an amalgamation of the above traits, as well as many others. However, most of us recognise the dangers of these traits and do our best to combat them, whereas the deniers lean into them, going as far to be consumed by them.

The crisis will only become harder to deny, and luckily most of the population sees climate deniers for the paranoid narcissists that they are. In some ways, they help reaffirm the scientific position on climate change, and spur greater innovation to combat the deadly effects it has produced. The power is in our hands, and it is our duty to use this power to educate, innovate and change.

Features

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Voices from the Pickets

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Print Production Editor Billie-Jean Johnson interviews the people out on the UCU picket lines, to find the answers to the questions you’ve been asking. All images by @sammivegan

now and for future generations of students too.

Pensions - its easy to look at pensions and think its just pensions, but its not.

The strikes on campus are hard to miss, and for many students they may be their first ever engagement with with political action. There are many misconceptions surrounding the reasons the UCU is on strike, so here we’ve collected a selection of reasons people have given for taking their places on the Sussex picket lines. While I went to the pickets to show my solidarity,, I found the voices of my peers and teachers far more eloquent than myself in expressing their thoughts on the strikes. So I asked them to answer the questions which students want answered.

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It’s about the smaller issues, the more specific issues of precarious workers and fair pay and fair pensions, but it’s also about a bigger idea of ‘what is education’?

Things like gender come into that, race comes into that, so if you for example come to work late because you have children, and you’ve spent time caring [for them], then that is going to have an impact for the rest of your life in terms of your pension. So it really is an equalities issue, and I think that’s really important to get across.

Why should students support the staff?

I think the working conditions, and the pensions, and the pay gap that are happening within this university and within the 60 universities that are striking, and indeed in every university across the country are symptomatic of the state of play in this country and in the world at large at the moment.

I think to try and divide these issues and to think that they don’t affect us as students is missing the point, it’s missing the bigger picture, this is not about just one thing.

If staff could strike against capitalism, they would do so. Union laws prevent them from doing it. These strikes are about specific things but they’re also about much larger issues.

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To try and divide staff and students along lines of educators and educated is a lie - we are all in this together

Personally, I’m a PHD student - this is the sector that I’m going to be working in most probably, if I can get a job, and I’m seeing the conditions that my friends are working in at the moment, and that my educators are working in it’s really shocking, and it’s scary.

- MFM Lecturer I think to try and divide staff and students along lines of educators and educated is a lie - we are all in this together, and I think that we should really take a look around at the world and see how it exists within the university - the university is not separate from the world.

What would you say to students who are worried about being harassed on picket lines, for instance if they live on campus?

I would say that it’s a real shame that students feel like that. This is a soft picket - no one is going to stop you going into campus. We recognise how nebulous campus is as a space - people live here, people go to the health centre here, people go to student support here.

It’s difficult, but I would say that strikes are supposed to be destructive, they are supposed to stop campus functioning as normal, to put pressure

on management. And I would say that if you want the pickets to go away, the best thing to do is to get out in numbers, support the strike, to put pressure on negotiators so negotiations go better and the strike can be over faster.

- Kat, PhD student Why are you out here, and why is it good to see student support? Does it give you hope for the future of the movement?

I’m out here because I really, really believe in higher education. I came into this because I feel really passionately about it. It’s about the smaller issues, the more specific issues of precarious workers and fair pay and fair pensions, but it’s also about a bigger idea of ‘what is education’?. That’s why it’s so fantastic to have student support, that idea that we’re fighting for something that’s really valuable for

What do you think the importance is of student engagement with the strikes? What does it mean to you to see the amount of students turning out on the picket lines?

I’m nearing retirement age, I will get a pension, but a lot of people here, colleagues and students to come in 20 years or 25 years time, we don’t know.

And if we don’t protect rights now, with the erosion of rights that we’ve seen, there will be problems in the future.

So I’m here, not so much in my own interest, but for those of the future because we’ve got to hold the ground now, we’ve got to push back, and we’ve got to do that together, and it’s fantastic to see the turnout we’ve had. To see the number of young people, students, graduate students, and staff out together. Its the only way we’re going to make a difference.

- IDS Lecturer

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Features

Why are you supporting staff in the strikes?

I’m out here supporting lecturers on strike today because not only are their working conditions our learning conditions, not standing up means I would be complicit in the actions the university administration is taking against them such as the casualisation of work, or the abuse of contracts, or laying off of staff, or underpaying them.

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them out. There were successes, we got them to agree not to do that, but then there was a period in which employers and unions set up a task force basically to figure out how to make the pension scheme sustainable. Recommendations came out, and ultimately the employers didn’t put the kind of

so much energy out here, is that that’s combined with recognition of other key problems in the sector.

Recognition of a fight over pay and conditions, and its not so much about pay for people who have permanent jobs here, as it is about the fact that people are increasingly on insecure

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- Val, BA student Why are you out striking, and how do these issues affect you?

I’m a fixed term contract for 4 months, I’ve been working here for 16 years and I’m still on a fixed contract. I’ve actually been in talks with HR, the union and our management on behalf of language tutors like me for over a year now, and our management is obstructive and will not let us have a permantent contract because they are saying that its not going to give them enough flexibility. So their flexibility is our financial instability.

- English Language Tutor Why is it necessary to have this strike, given the strikes which took place in 2018?

We were out here two years ago over attempts by our employers to get rid of defined benefit pension - basically to make our pensions be at the whims of the market, without promising to pay

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I think striking is the ultimate and most dignified form of peaceful protest, and it has the added advantage of being effective

And all of that doubles down and makes worse already existing inequalitiesl along the lines of gender and race and disability. So those issues combined with overall workloads, basically just the crunch on peoples working conditions which people feel incredibly acutely, which students then feel as the people working for them just don’t have the time and don’t have the energy. Those are the things we’re trying to change.

I’m here, not so much in my own interest, but for those of the future because we’ve got to hold the ground now, we’ve got to push back, and we’ve got to do that together

And I can’t feel like I’m being complicit in that, and so I’m out here supporting them to try and make a change and get the university administration to actually listen to them. To get them to improve working conditions, and to actually negotiate for fairer pensions that work for [the workers].

that’s not the case for teaching, but for other staff in some cases). So basically just a lack of care in how people are employed.

- English Literature Lecturer How does a picket help in the strike? pressure on the pension scheme to enforce that.

That’s part of why we’re out here, because now they’re asking us to pay more and more to keep the benefits that we have. The other reason, and really the reason why I think there’s

contracts.

That’s a trend, which means that people who are teaching and doing work in all aspects of the university, not just teaching, are increasingly working for hourly pay, in some universities on zero hour contracts, (here

There was a long period where strikes were something people seemed to forget in trade unionism. Its just a basic form of communication in one way, you could argue, its a way of showing that you’re withdrawing your labour.

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I’m out here supporting lecturers on strike today because not only are their working conditions our learning conditions, not standing up means I would be complicit in the actions the university administration is taking against [the workers]

I think striking is the ultimate and most dignified form of peaceful protest, and it has the added advantage of being effective. A picket is just a way of expressing and showing that it’s happening literally. Historically , it’s also a way of discouraging fellow employees from going into work, and appealing to them to join the strike to make it more effective.

- MFM Lecturer

Features

The Badger 2nd March 2020

HIV: Facts and Fiction

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Print Production Editor Billie-Jean Johnson discusses the lasting legacies of HIV and AIDS in the current age

A

lmost 40 years on from the initial outbreaks of HIV throughout the Western world. Almost 40 years from the first news stories which told of the ‘gay disease’. HIV and AIDS have been mobilised as a tool of homophobia since its emergence in America in the 1980s. At the time, the disease was a problem largely ignored by politicians and those in positions of power because it was seen to be solely affecting the gay community.

In fact, AIDS was initially named GRID, which stood for Gay Related Immune Disease. Given this, its easy to see how the homophobic stereotypes surrounding the contraction of HIV and AIDS was allowed to continue, especially when the medical community was endorsing it. It was only when a study found that almost half of people who had been found to have HIV and AIDS were not homosexual that the name was changed to AIDS. The damage, however, was done.

In actuality, HIV emerged in the 1920s, in Africa. Let’s go to the science for a minute: there are two strains of HIV (HIV-1 and HIV-2), which both originated when two different strains of SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) transferred to humans. Studies have concluded that the first case of SIV to HIV transmission in humans was in 1920, and the first case of verified HIV in a human was in 1959, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Being HIV positive is still equated to being unclean. It also means being dead. That’s what we are still being taught

HIV (or Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infects and destroys the cells of the immune system, leaving sufferers highly susceptible to ‘opportunistic infections’, which are known as such because they attack weakened immune systems. AIDS is not guaranteed to develop in HIV sufferers. AIDS, which stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is a term used to refer to the advanced stages of HIV when more than 20 opportunistic diseases occur in the sufferer.

HIV can be transferred between people via unprotected sexual transmission, transfusion of contaminated blood, sharing contaminated or sharp instruments, and mother to child transmission during pregnancy.

There is no denying that the spread of HIV and AIDS in the 1980s did disproportionately affect the LGBT+ community, with widespread deaths in the community from the disease.

There are plenty of writings about the way the community was ravaged by the disease, Larry Kramer’s play (since turned into a movie) The Normal Heart is a great example. Others

include Kushner’s Angels in America, and Eileen Myles’s Chelsea Girls. Even worse, a large reason that the disease was allowed to spread so far and fast was the reluctance of the political community to acknowledge the issue and work to fight against it.

In the UK, the first advert which was produced about AIDS was the “don’t die of ignorance” campaign. To call the advert doom and gloom would be an understatement. The footage featured a hammer striking a chisel, carving the word AIDS into what is finally revealed to be a large tombstone.

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Even now, AIDS is often the punchline

The BBC featured this article as one of the key reasons methods of combating the spread of HIV. The advert has widely been hailed as a success, with the shock and fear it inspired being seen as an effective tool. But this advert also painted AIDS as a death sentence, rather than something treatable.

While the advert has been praised, a more critical look has been given to the advert from the queer perspective. In the film Pride (2014), for instance, the main character is shown watching the advert with his family with discomfort, as his brother comments that AIDS must stand for ‘anally injected death serum’. The comment comes from a clearly homophobic character, but the casual statement is not one that was uncommon. AIDS was seen as a punishment. The right outcome for living such a deviant lifestyle.

Writer Matthew Cheney described his experiences of growing up with the view of AIDS as bound to homosexuality. He wrote: “To have come to an awareness of the world, as I did, in the 1980s and early 1990s was to come to a consciousness

of AIDS as a death sentence, and to link both sex and sexuality to that death sentence.

The first awareness of homosexuals that I had was an awareness of people with AIDS. They were on the TV news at night.

(My father laughed at them.)”

As a queer young person, I can testify that there is sparse sexual education provided especially about homosexual sex, one of the only things most people grow up ‘knowing’ about is AIDS. Being HIV positive is still equated to being unclean. It also means being dead.

That’s what we are still being taught.

Even now, AIDS is often the punchline. Kids shout ‘ew AIDS’ when touching each other, I once heard a friend comment that they’d rather die of AIDS than do something. The casual joke is not referring to a horrific disease that can affect everyone. It has a clear homophobic targeting.

HIV and AIDS are not a thing of the past. While they’re often viewed in the Western context of a disease of the 80s, the truth of the matter is that AIDS is still a huge killer worldwide.

However, while AIDS is no laughing matter, we are in a position with modern medicine where the condition no longer needs to be seen as a death sentence.

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AIDS was initially named GRID, which stood for Gay Related Immune Disease. Given this, its easy to see how the homophobic stereotypes surrounding the contraction of HIV and AIDS was allowed to continue

Those living with HIV can treat the condition with antiretroviral therapy (ART), which may be one or more medicine, which also works to prevent the risk of transmission by 96%. Preventative medication has been developed known as PrEP (Pre-

Exposure Prophylaxis), and for the small effort of taking a pill those who think they might be at risk of contracting HIV can be protected from protracting the disease.

PrEP has been rolled out on the NHS in Scotland, but in England it can only be obtained as part of the trials being run by the NHS. Why this drug has not been made more widely available on the NHS in England seems like a strange missed opportunity, especially given its success rates. In 2015 two separate studies, one UK study and one French study, found an 86% decrease in new HIV transmissions in those taking PrEP. We might ask why PrEP and PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, which can be taken in the 72 hours after HIV contraction to attempt to stop infection) is so limited in its availability everywhere. One of the answers, of course, is money. Another is pure misunderstanding.

“

The perpetuation of the stereotype of the ‘gay disease’ has massively damaged understandings of HIV and AIDS, as well as the prevention and treatment of HIV

The misconceptions of AIDS which continue to stem from the old stereotype have furthered the issues with access to treatment all around the world. The stigma surrounding homosexuality can make people less likely to come forwards to take the drug, while women often fail to understand their own risk of contracting HIV. In fact, WHO Africa found that women aged 15-24 were twice as likely to be at risk of contracting HIV than their male peers.

According to the WHO, at the end of 2018 62% of all people living with HIV had access to antiretroviral therapies.

However they also estimate that 8.1 million people living with HIV did not know they had HIV in 2018. While the campaigns to end the ignorance around HIV have been somewhat successful, they have also succeeded in cementing the stigma surrounding HIV. The fact is, the perpetuation of the stereotype of the ‘gay disease’ has massively damaged understandings of HIV and AIDS, as well as the prevention and treatment of HIV. While HIV isn’t necessarily a killer, we can’t deny that ignorance has been.

With the spread of coronavirus, and the concurrent rise of asian-phobic and racist attacks against Asian people, it is vital we not ignore the legacies of a disease spurred on by stereotypes and reactions of violence and hatred.

We have seen the horrors of what it’s done before, and we can’t afford to see it happen again.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Features

Being Black and Queer in Brighton: Mutually Exclusive Events

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Writer Amera Johnson discusses how Brighton’s predominantly white surroundings make it hard to find spaces and events in which one can express their black and queer identities simultaneously without it being an ‘either-or’.

A

s a black person, attending a PWI (Predominantly White Institution) is an automatically alienating experience. As a black queer woman, it’s even harder to find spaces - social and mental – where I can parade these important facets of my identity. This is a particular experience felt by many queer people from ethnic minority backgrounds in PWIs, the feeling of either-or, that you must choose one marginalised category and stick with it, as there are not enough people in this niche demographic of black/brown and queer.

Brighton is known to be a very accepting and LGBTQ+ friendly town.

Homophobia and transphobia are still rife everywhere, as with any place in this world, but one of the more ‘protected’ queer spaces here is Revenge Club.

The caricaturisation of black bodies - of black movement, of black language and of black culture is a social epidemic that has been found prevalent in white, cis-male, gay communities. The coopting of AAVE (African American Vernacular English) terms like “shade”, “yass”, “wig”, “tea”, “drag” and so on that were in fact created by black queer folk in NYC, is one example of this. You may also find some white gays on stan Twitter performing digital blackface through meme gifs, or clearly imitating stereotypes of black women in videos for views (see: Landon Romano).

For these reasons, therefore, being a black/brown person in these spaces can feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I just want to enjoy myself without receiving a “yass queen”, or being told that sometimes a *white gay* person feels like a “black woman on the inside”.

It often feels like my black woman-ness is a spectacle to be marvelled at.

This is not even to mention the hyper sexualisation that all queer people of colour, but especially black gay men are subjected to. On apps like Grindr,

or in nightclub spaces like Revenge, black gay men are either highly fetishised or completely disregarded - this polarisation evident in Grindr profiles that say “looking for BBC” or going to gay clubs and not getting any attention unless to ask if their white friend is single. These frequent microaggressions and benevolent racism from white folk that occur under the guise of our existence in a colour-blind, post-racial society since events like the emancipation of slaves and the civil rights movement, makes ‘queer’ spaces feel exclusive and inaccessible for many black queers, and these experiences are overwhelming and uncomfortable.

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For us queer folk of colour sometimes it feels like we have to pick and choose different aspects of our identity to expose in different social environments

Where predominantly white queer spaces can feel unsafe and unaccommodating for ethnic minority queers, black and brown cis-het spaces can feel equally as alienating. One of these main spaces is family and the home. Homophobia and transphobia are not limited to families of colour, but specifically, with ethnic and immigrant parents, the likelihood and reality for most queer POC is that they will not accept you for who you are. A lot of BAME parents practice religions which, due to white supremacy and colonialism, prohibit same-sex relations. Even with changes in legislation in countries such as India, the stigma around homosexuality continues to linger with the legacy of the British Empire.

This is not to say all ethnic minority families are unaccepting, but that the likelihood is still high and many queer folk end up repressing this side of

Sussex LGBTQ+Soc their personality so as not to ostracise themselves from the heterosexual black/brown community. Therefore, as you can see, for us queer folk of colour sometimes it feels like we may have to pick and choose different aspects of our identity to expose in different social environments.

My experience of studying at the University of Sussex over the past three years has been disillusioning.

I came here believing in the rhetoric of inclusivity and diversity that this institution claims to adopt only to realise it was just that: rhetoric.

Attempts to truly decolonise this PWI have proven inadequate, as only last year was the policy in the School of English on saying the n-word changed.

And after I saw that a lecturer kept their job after arguably making publicly transphobic comments, I realised the University’s ideas were performative.

This perhaps suggests that the idea of a decolonised PWI is impossible; a paradox, and when institutions like this University are small-scale replicas of the society we live in, it shows that the de-imperialisation of the entire world is unobtainable whilst white supremacist patriarchy continues to hold power over dominant ideology and hegemony.

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Pose - FX

Sometimes I just want to enjoy myself without receiving a “yass queen”, or being told that sometimes a *white gay* person feels like a “black woman on the inside”. It often feels like my black woman-ness is a spectacle to be marvelled at.

Even with the on-going UCU strikes, the University’s cavalier attitude towards issues of inequality that also affect teachers, such as the BAME and gender pay gap, has become evident with their failure to improve on these issues. There are obvious overarching structures working against marginalised folk here originating from the top-down; when executive

decisions are made by the University board and Vice-Chancellor Adam Tickell, people further down the hierarchy have little control over these detrimental aspects of their work-life and wellbeing.

A black gay friend of mine who graduated from Sussex last year recounted to me an experience he had in first year: “The first LGBTQ+ coffee and board games morning I went to in first year….I discovered a door next to the LGBTQ+ society room that said “black students room” which ended up being a cupboard. That was foreshadowing my time at Sussex/in Brighton”. This pretty much sums the experience of being black and queer or brown and queer not just in a PWI, but also in a predominantly white world.

You are probably wondering: why haven’t I started a black queer society at Sussex myself? Because I don’t want to. It’s as simple as that. It shouldn’t be my responsibility. I look at it this way: if institutional and systemic racism in schools didn’t exist; more black and brown students would not feel discouraged to apply to reputable universities; more students of colour would exist at places like Sussex, and possibly one of these students would

Pelumi Asu - @lilitthx feel interested in setting a queer POC society up. It’s unfair that black queer people don’t have the privilege of coming to university and finding a society already in existence that caters to their identity.

Where London has events such as pxssypalace, Lick Events, Queer Bruk and many more that cater specifically to queer people of colour, I feel that it is harder in Brighton to find places in which I can take up space, places made for people like me, by people like me.

I can only hope that changes in the future.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Arts • Books

Books set in Brighton you need to read

Jasmine Smith Books Co-Editor For many of us, our time at university will result in a lifelong love for the popular seaside town we’ve come to call home.

Today, Brighton is defined by its diverse, quirky, community. It’s become a place booming with art, culture, and intellectual thought. Due to this, it may not come as a surprise that many writers over the decades have chosen the vibrant city to set their works in. From 1950s love stories to fantastical adventures and violent thrillers, Brighton has been brought to life through literature in innumerable ways.

Here is a small selection of those fictionalised depictions of Brighton, just as eclectic as the city itself, that we’re sure you’ll love.

Brighton RockGraham Greene (1938) Published in 1938, with subsequent popular film adaptations in 1947 and 2010, Brighton Rock is arguably the most famous novel set in Brighton. Its iconic title is inspired by the popular seaside confectionery, alongside acting as a metaphor for the novels problematic antagonist, Pinkie

Brown. Pinkie is a seventeenyear-old psychopath and known gang leader in Brighton’s seedy criminal underworld. It’s Pinkie’s lack of remorse and inability to sympathise that shapes the rest of the narrative; caught up in his crimes Pinkie believes he can escape retribution.

His egotism and naivety make him unprepared for the world around him, and those that seek vengeance for his wrong-doings.

The High Dive - Jonathan Lee (2015 ) Set across a background of political turmoil, The High Dive addresses Margaret Thatcher’s reluctance to resolve the Irish problem. Thatcher’s indifference

to the pressing political problem came to a head in 1984.

Checked into the Grand Hotel, Brighton, the infamous 1980s Prime Minister became the target of an IRA assassination attempt. The failed bomb plot and Thatcher’s unwavering resilience following the attempt is the basis for Lee’s critically acclaimed third novel. Lee brings history to life through his representation of a period in history where political divisions ran deep across the country and its people.

The Death of Bunny MunroNick Cave (2009) Best known for his influence in the music industry, Nick Cave’s transition into the literary world is just as fruitful and lyrical. The Death of Bunny Munro is his second publication, following his 1989 debut, And the Ass Saw the Angel. The suicide of his wife leaves promiscuous ladies-man Bunny Munro at a loss. Deciding to embark on a road trip with his young son, their travels soon become intertwined with an approaching serial killer heading towards the city. A poignant and heartfelt story about the relationship between father and son, and the anxieties

surrounding life and death.

The Brightonomicon- Robert Rankin (2005) Brightonomicon takes place across a fictionalised fantasy version of Brighton. The early noughties sci-fi novel chronicles the quest to solve the Brighton zodiac and keep ultimate power out of the hands of an evil world dictator.

Brightonomicon is probably the most out-there and unusual take on literature set in Brighton. The out of this world adventure brings Brighton to life in an unfamiliar and strange context, making the city we know and love all the more exciting for it.

My Policeman, Bethan Roberts (2012) My Policeman is a queer love

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story set in 1950s Brighton.

Marion is besotted with Tom the moment she meets him, convinced she can make their marriage work she sets out to be the perfect wife. Things later become complicated when Tom meets Patrick Howard.

Patrik is a grieving museum curator who becomes captivated by Tom after seeing him in the Brighton Museum.

Soon Tom is introduced to a world he never knew existed away from his matrimonial home. In a time when being married to Marion is the safest option, Marion and Patrick find themselves reluctantly sharing their beloved.

As the narrative unfolds we are shown how this undesired, complex situation takes its toll on all three characters; an eternal sense of limbo looming over them until they can’t bear it any longer.

Brighton is a place of boundless possibility, rooted in a deep history, and immersed in its own unique culture; it has countless stories to tell.

Despite the differences in these novels, each has managed to capture Brighton’s diverse and distinctive atmosphere flawlessly. I have no doubt writers will be turning to our beloved seaside town for inspiration for decades to come.

The importance of books about Mental Health Eric Barrell Books Co-Editor Over the past week, hundreds of readers have donated copies of Brighton-based author Matt Haig’s inspiring 2015 book Reasons to Stay Alive to two prominent UK booksellers.

Twitter users and bookshop patrons started this campaign in the wake of Caroline Flack’s tragic death on February 15th.

Haig’s book is being given out to anyone who feels they need it. Many have felt that reading about Haig’s personal experience of going through severe depression and his advice for coping with it has saved their lives.

Reasons to Stay Alive is unique in its ability to deliver a touching memoir of Haig’s experience of a major depressive episode in his mid-20s, whilst also giving sound advice on caring for one’s mental health. The book is particularly touching to those experiencing or who have experienced a mental health crisis. Haig’s prose gives language to extremely difficult experiences that might otherwise be hard to convey. It

is very heartening, after reading about his traumatic experiences in his darkest moments, to read about the steps he took towards recovery and how he continues to take care of his mental health through exercise, literature and spending time with loved ones. Haig also makes it clear that everyone’s experiences are different and found that although in his recovery simple healthy living methods seemed to work better, he is not antimental health medication.

Another book that gives a very touching and humorous exploration of mental health is Ruby Elliot’s It’s All Absolutely Fine. Elliot is an illustrator who has shared her experiences of depression, eating disorders and bipolar disorder on her popular Tumblr account Rubyetc. Her book explores these themes, incorporating many of her popular online illustrations and many new ones exclusive to the book to give a touch of humour and visual representation of many issues which are often difficult to articulate. Elliot intersperses these images with short stories about times in her life when she faced significant

mental health challenges. Like Haig, her book is part-memoir, part-advice, with humour being a dominant theme. Some of the illustrations and stories are very heart-wrenching, and others very funny. Overall, it is a whimsical and fascinating portrayal of mental health that is enthusing and helpful for both avid readers and those who prefer illustrations alike.

For those who are less keen on memoirs and prefer the more self-help side of things, Dr

Kristen Neff’s Self Compassion is a very important and useful book to read in a time when everyone, no matter their mental state, is being bombarded by images of comparison and criticism over tiny things on social media.

The book explores many wellresearched psychological techniques for honing the practice of self-compassion. Dr Neff is critical of the focus on self-esteem, arguing instead that recognising our mistakes and toxic behaviours and forgiving ourselves for them is more beneficial to our mental wellbeing than focusing so much on positive-thinking style selfesteem exercises. It’s a thoughtprovoking read; and one that is recommended for those who desire a more psychoanalyticyet still easily accessible and readable- approach to understanding mental health.

Awareness of mental health conditions is becoming more prevalent and stigma is lessening. There are many self-help books and memoirs of people’s experiences with mental illness on the market.

It’s important to bear in mind that everyone’s experience with

mental health is different, and self-help books have a somewhat controversial reputation as being full of positive thinking bunkum. Memoirs, on the other hand, provide an insight into the authentic lived experience of mental illness but may be limited in providing more scientifically-based advice. Both can be effective in allowing those experiencing mental illness to find the language and ideas to articulate their struggles and better understand how to deal with them.

In a time where mental health funding has been greatly cut all over the country, many are turning to other sources to try to seek help. That is why books are so important for helping people in difficult times, as has been shown with the recent campaign of donating copies of Matt Haig’s memoir. The campaign’s success shows that literature can be such an effective tool at helping people to understand and articulate these difficult issues.

If you or anyone you know is struggling or in a crisis, you can contact Samaritans on 116 123 or via email: jo@samaritans.org

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Arts • Film & Television Gurpreet Raulia Staff Writer It’s hard to find shows that aren’t susceptible to tokenism.

Historically, television has had ethnic characters written into them by white writers, perpetuating several stereotypes and inaccuracies.

People of colour have become misconstrued or appropriated by this industry, and their stories have been done unjustly, often being thrown in for the sake of diversity.

What we deserve is a show that portrays people of colour as complete human beings, who receive the same recognition as the average white person would and does. A strong contender for this category is Dan Fogelman’s hit drama This Is Us. This Is Us is simply raw, honest and real. Fogelman and his crew of diverse writers do justice to important stories

First place in writing race: This is Us which break the boundaries that television and film have established.

The 2016 TV series has set itself apart from other television dramas with three staffer black writers. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t a likely occurrence across popular television. Color of Change, an organisation striving to increase black representation in the media, in their ‘Race in the Writers Room’ report, found that across 18 networks in 2016-2017, ‘twothirds of shows had no black writers at all, and another 17% of shows had just one black writer.’

So for This Is Us to have three regular black writers, and many others contributors, is a major step in the right direction for this industry.

These writers, such as Kay Oyugen and Jas Waters have contributed to an emotional and moving character story of Randall Pearson (Sterling

K Brown), an abandoned and adopted black man who suffers with anxiety and panic disorder. Him and his family tackle issues such as parental loss, displacement, sexuality and identity conflicts and more.

These characters have been applauded for their portrayal as real people who experience more in life than just racism and allows them to exist within their individual personhoods. Many shows have placed black people and other ethnic minorities as characters within the white man’s world but this show gives black characters their own realities.

The show doesn’t play on stereotypes or loosely attach certain cultural tropes to their characters. Instead, real writers write real stories. Following Randall from his birth to his adult life, we see young Randall define himself as black after being adopted into a white

community. We see him tackle his displacement, his desire to understand his heritage and when he is traced back to his birth father, we delve into a world of deep jazz, poetry inspired by Langston Hughes and the buzzing black lifestyle of 70s Pittsburgh. After Cynthia Ervo was the only black woman, and POC, nominated for leading actress in the 2020 Oscars, many were angered that the only recognised black narrative is that of the slave. Therefore, This Is Us has been celebrated

beautiful and sexy lady’. She became estranged from her excolleagues, friends and family after she was domestically abused by her boyfriend.

Throughout those three years, none of her friends had called or reached her. None of her four sisters, nor a private detective they hired, could contact her, even when their father died in 2004. Shocking, right?

What is the takeaway of this film? To me, it is more of a reflection on our unconscious presuppositions. We all tend to project loneliness and sadness onto an image of the elderly, eliminating the possibilities of a young woman being alienated in a metropolis. Then these kinds of presuppositions guide us to jump to a conclusion, without

any in depth understanding or reasonable logical thinking.

Often, presuppositions are derived from stereotypes, a shallow yet persuasive idea, an oversimplification of one’s character, a mindset that are based on how society portrays certain images. Presuppositions become a shortcut for people perceiving and interpreting information when everything is oversimplified in a way that no other options could be considered as the truth.

What is the drawback of false assumptions? It does not only oversimplify one’s character, but instead blindfolds us to drill in the details. We look and stop at the tip of an iceberg, while the submerged part is completely hidden.

Joyce’s

former colleagues and friends often described her as a middle class well educated woman. In fact, she did not come from a wealthy family and was dropout from Fulham Gilliatt School for Girls without attaining any qualification. No GCSE at all.

Sometimes we thought we know someone quite well but in fact the assumptions fill all the gaps of our understanding. It could be shallow, incomplete and even inaccurate.

Plus, assumptions never fail to give us surprises. In the interview, one of her former boyfriends kept saying he loved Joyce affectionately. In fact, the film reveals that he did not marry Vincent because he did not want “tinted children”.

Thought provoking, huh?

Dream of a life; The danger of presupposition

Veronica Wong Nok Kwan Staff Writer

The remains of Joyce Vincent were discovered in 2006, 3 years after her death at home when she was wrapping Christmas gifts and watching television. Due to advanced decomposition, there were merely skeletal remains on the carpet, no other traces were found. The cause of her death remains a mystery.

If you read this depressing news, what assumption will pop up? An old lady living alone who desperately needed some love and care? Or a young, beautiful and popular woman? I am sure that most of us would have chosen the former, but in fact the truth is that the victim was actually a 38-year old ‘bubbly,

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for its honest and contemporary portrayal of black heritage.

There’s little else to say without spoling the entire plot, but what I can say is that This Is Us is an example of the talent of people of colour within the media industry. The show sets itself apart from others through its sensitivity and rawness.

Partnered with a sensational score by American-Indian Siddhartha Khosla, the series achieves storytelling that has you in tears and laughter, and is worth the watch.

Whats On; The Invisible Man Dir. Leigh Wannel

The infamous horror story gets a dramatic retelling with Cecilia (Elizabeth Moss) trying to escape her abusive ex who is ‘The Invisible Man’.

Better Call Saul Season 5

The Breaking Bad prequel continues to live up to its’ predecessor with Saul, Mike and Gus continuing their evolution into their infamous characters.

Onward

Dir. Dan Scanlon

Pixar’s newest has Chris Pratt and Tom Holland on a quest to see their dad for the last time.

The 60s icon which helped put French cinema on the map

Ella Rawson Staff Writer

Le Mépris (Contempt in English), is a French film produced in 1963 and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. For lovers of classic film, this is one to see. Based on Il disprezzo, a novel written

by Alberto Moravia, the film portrays the deterioration of Camille and Paul’s relationship and it is through this transition from love to contempt which makes the film iconic. In his use of the narrow temporal frame of minutes and seconds, Godard centres on the important but fleeting moments that mark this transition.

This film depicts the cruel reality of so many relationships.

What Le Mépris lacks in action,

it makes up for in its romantic storytelling.

Through the stunning beauty of the actors, the poetics of its screenplay and its breath-taking scenery, this film proves its credentials as an aesthetic masterpiece.

One should not expect much from the plot but should focus on the enticing and tumultuous conversation between the actors, and how this speaks to one’s own experience.

Camille, the protagonist, is played by Brigitte Bardot, an iconic figure in French film known for her extravagant beauty.

Camille and her husband Paul, played by Michel Piccoli, live in Rome where Paul works as a writer in the cinematographic industry. The fall of Camille and Paul’s love

parallels Godard’s fears of the death of cinema. Godard later described this iconic film as the only ‘classic’ movie he has made,

in the Cahier du Cinema in 1985.

What makes this film so special is the way it embraced technical experimentation. Its use of novel camera work and shifting modes of narration were ahead of its time: switching from fast paced and direct conversation to heartfelt monologues, then from a stream of consciousness touching on philosophical issues to a long shot of Capri island and the sea accompanied by the soundtrack composed by Georges Delerue. Each scene is simple in character, slow even, as Godard emphasises the poetic relation between the temporal and the visual. The French film, set in Italy, is imbued with the essence of Hollywood, and switches thematically between American, German, French and

Italian influences.

This film is absorbed by the notion of beauty, the viewer is directed to watch, to admire, to engage in this aesthetic pleasure.

This extends to the viewers relationship with Camille, she is portrayed sensually, even sexually, but not necessarily in a diminishing way. I believe the film glorifies her beauty and body; embodying the femme fatale.

If you are deciding whether to watch Le Mépris, it may be helpful to know that these classics; La Parisienne, Cinema Paradiso and It Started in Naples are of similar esteem to it. However, I recommend not having expectation for Le Mépris and just watching and seeing what one feels.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Arts • Music

John Grant: The Greatest Motherf*cker?

Jude Whiley-Morton Arts Online Editor It isn’t often I get to meet real poets. I have met poets, of course. If you study at Sussex it’s likely you’ll have found yourself watching an individual in a [insert preference] beret/ cape/ wedding dress, preaching to an audience about [insert preference beatniks/ Brexit / c*nts. However, when I’ve been in these rooms, struggling to find the meaning, I tend to ask myself a question: am I listening to a poet, or another wannabe?

I ask myself this question because it’s rare that I’m taken by the words. To find oneself hanging on the last line, wanting to hear the next, finding images flicker in your head… it means you’re listening to a poet.

Self-identification is not quite enough. This is why I was excited to meet John Grant, because he doesn’t call himself a poet, and would question my use of the term.

His albums Queen of Denmark and Pale Green Ghosts are art pieces, and display the kind of selfdeprecating wit now taken by artists such as Father John Misty and Kurt Vile. Add his constant struggle with depression and estrangement from his parents, his work is truly that of substance, dealing with issues such as his sexuality, religion and relationships, he writes from an accessible perspective that speaks to the estranged.

We meet on campus, conveniently. John is playing a small gig in the Attenborough

Centre, a preamble to a tour scheduled for later this year. I meet his assistant, who takes me through the chambers and corridors backstage and leads me through to John.

He stands up to greet me, seemingly wearied. In a blue cheque shirt and jeans, bearded, there is something of the lumberjack about him or Iceland, as he lives there.

We shake hands and he asks me to sit down. He takes to the sofa and lies on his back, legs crossed and hanging over the arm. I sit with my recorder and notepad.

“You can be my therapist.”

He says, half joking. I’d expected nothing less. I ask him why he seems tired.

“I overdid it last night.” He says. There was a woman in the audience, “my favourite singer in the whole world.”

John was trying to impress her.

In the corner of the room is a face mask with a respirator attached. It looks like something from the apocalypse. It’s a steamer, he tells me.

“I like to push myself.” He says. The significance of this will not reach me till the evening. He hits some high note and sustains it for an inhuman length. As I listen, all I can think of is the respirator.

John had a tumultuous upbringing.

His sexuality contradicted the beliefs of his parents, orthodox Methodists, and so for his studies he travelled to Germany. Considering his upbringing, I suggest how freeing this must have been for John.

“No.” He says. “It was exactly the opposite… I thought I was gonna get away from all the things that were bothering me in The States.

I thought I was gonna get away from myself, I thought it was gonna be easy for me in terms of, of being gay, that it would be more welcoming, but it wasn’t. I wasn’t ready for German society.”

This surprises me. I’d assumed that Germany held some subculture that John could have found. I’d assumed, in researching his education, that this was what he had found. But Germany offered John only a language he loved, some friends, and little else.

This said, John seems to have gained the cultural knowledge you’d expect of a year abroad.

He speaks five languages now.

He’s astute in the differences between nations.

“American children are brought up to be polite, German children are brought up to be right…

It’s weird ‘cause British children are also polite, but they’re taught to think.

And you’re unflappable.” He says. He meanders through discussions of various states.

He has been to Russia and speaks the language, I ask him about Russia, if it’s scary to be there as a gay man.

“

We rise up through the chambers all together.

The piano fades and we enter an empty auditorium where a few stray people mull about.

“Russians are wonderful people… but the things you see in documentaries [showing the persecution of homosexuals] that does exist. It is true, just like it’s true that in America you can be killed at any moment for doing anything… someone can just pull out a gun and shoot you in the head… and we think that’s normal. That’s the definition of insanity.”

It’s obvious that John struggles to feel safe anywhere.

The abuse he faced at the hands of others in youth appears to permeate his life now. His home, in Iceland, seems to be a safe space. I suggest Brighton could be too. I ask him whether gay pride is a movement he’s involved in, knowing that he has struggled to come to terms with his sexuality.

“Not really… you know it’s funny because I didn’t really want to talk about my sexuality.

It was something that was constantly forced on me.”

“From when you were young?” I say, worried I’m prying.

“Yes. I just wanted to interact like another human…

When I was young, and I couldn’t conceive of sex yet…

Everybody knew what I was, and it was bad, and I was being punished for it and taken to task for it. It was everywhere I went. I couldn’t hide. Even when I went to Germany.”

Homophobia is everywhere.

“It was the same thing. If you had decades of people reacting to you in that way… of all different classes or cultures or countries; you finally go, ‘I must be something horrible’.”

His lyrics reflect this. The alienation in John’s work manifests itself in confusion.

He certainly seems like one with much love for others. His lyrics attempt to help others while pointing out the world’s hypocrisies. Don’t you pay them f**kers as they say no never mind/ they don’t give two sh*ts about you/ it’s the blind leading the blind.

His sense of confusion with Being persists, too, and his understanding of his dissociation is distinctly American. I don’t know that much about guns/ but I feel like I’ve been shot by one/ I am ashamed cause I don’t know myself right now/ and I am 43.

His attitude, however, is not one of defeat. Rather, it is one of resilience. He speaks of learning to love himself.

“I don’t give a f*ck what you are. You deserve to love yourself and… feel compassion for other people… and live a life where you feel comfortable in your own skin.” He pauses.

“Within bounds. I don’t feel you should be comfortable if you’re out there murdering people.”

That’s fair enough.

We go on talking about this.

John mentions that there’s a certain apathy among people now, in regards to people with ill morals. People who are apathetic to Trump, or not in support of certain movements such as Black Lives Matter. He had a person comment on an Instagram post recently, an anti-fascist post, telling him to chill out. He despairs. He says something like, how stupid are people… then he trails off.

Of course they’re stupid. He shows me his phone. He’s a fan of Instagram and uses it to post what he finds beautiful.

The columns are full of colour, books covers, illustrations and scenes. It’s at once a travelogue and a manifesto, though he uses very few words. His account is also absent of his face. He does not seem self-absorbed, though perhaps his Instagram is like that of many other fifty year olds. I ask him whether social media would have offered anything as a young man.

“It’s not accurate to say that I think it’s negative… I do feel like we need more reading, more interaction and going out into the world.

As someone with a history of addiction and low-self esteem and trauma and all that crap… I think there are a lot of good things [in social media].

There are great connections that are made.

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But there’s also a grotesque self-absorption… the me me me me me thing.”

As an artist, I realise that there’s another dimension to social media. John’s albums have been met with five star reviews, but social media permits the interaction of artistic and personal opinion.

Prejudice seeps through to one’s reception of an album and I wonder whether John gets attacked, if he even reads people’s response to his works.

“People write, ‘I can’t believe I had to wait three years for this sh*t.” I ask whether he prefers critics or the Youtube commenters.

“I don’t search for reviews, but sometimes you can’t get away from it. As a rule, I think you should ignore both good and bad. It’s subjective.

People have different tastes.

We all hear a song on the radio and say ‘what the f*ck is that crap?’” For a moment we fret over various songs we hate, various reasons for the decline of civilisation.

We produce a small theory explaining why the music industry is failing, then I realise, John could very well be making music people hate, I could just be a devotee.

We could be inside an echo chamber. I ask him if he ever makes music that no one (emphatically, I say, no one) likes? He starts.

“Usually,” he laughs, “when I think it’s good. Someone’s gonna thing it’s good too.”

I believe this. We’ve been speaking for an hour and a half. I’ve lost track, but at some point John declared the therapy session over, and sat up to talk to me.

Eventually John’s assistant enters and calls him for soundcheck. We rise up through the chambers all together. The piano fades and we enter an empty auditorium where a few stray people mull about. The lights on the stage change. A floodlight switches to a spotlight so that John and I stand in relative shade.

I marvel at the piano, a finely tuned Steinway Grand.

Adjacent to it is a little box, something far too technical.

It’s a synth, I think.

Later in the show it makes alien noises. It’s hard to see how it compliments the piano, but it does. When the show starts, the theatre changes into a lonely little planet populated by John Grant alone. His songs are its language.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Arts • Theatre

21

The Poorly-Written Play Festival

Theatre editor Jessica Hake introduces the brand new SUDS play that shall be performed from the 6-8 of March in the Debating Chamber, Falmer House Jessica Hake Theatre Editor This semester is host to numerous events: strikes, exams and plays! Last week saw The Book Club hit the Debating Chamber in Falmer House and was met with great success. The next play; however, is The PoorlyWritten Play Festival, which shall be performed from the 6 to the 8 of March.

After success of the play’s pub quiz on the 18 February, where the audience and characters got to interact for the very first time, there is a sense of excitement in the air for what is to follow next!

I was lucky enough this week to gain an insight to the The Poorly-Written Play Festival, getting to know the cast, crew and the very intense characters that will be gracing the Debating Chamber in the not too distant future. I thought it was only fair to give them a chance to introduce themselves to you, enjoy!

Loman Dexterhaven - Tom O’Reilly Hello, I am the artistic director for this deserving, yet impecunious theatre company. My vision, intelligence and shoulders will carry this organisation to great heights.

The Poorly-Written Play Festival is just one of the numerous theatrical visions I hold; however, I will be creating ‘actual’ theatre very soon. My modern interpretation of Taming of the Shrew blew the theatre critics of Staffordshire away.

I am very much the leader of this group of underachieving nitwits; however, my guidance knows no bounds. With my knowledge, charm and natural good looks, there is no way I shall fail. I am Loman Dexterhaven and I have the X-factor.

a challenge, yet the voice it has given to oppressed minorities and toilers in obscurity has been such a refreshing change from the upper class playwriting drivel I am used to. Overall, Loman has outdone himself and I couldn’t be more proud.

Lady Bracknell - Liz Scott I am the Lady Bracknell and it is solely due to my financial support of this theatre company that The Poorly-Written Play Festival is able to go ahead. It is in memory of my late husband, darling Branford who adored theatre, no matter how awful. We met due to my friend, well actually a second cousin, who was friends with Branford’s brother’s niece who told Branford’s cook, who was actually related to my friend due to a shared great-grandmother - oh sorry, I was not aware there was a word count for these biographies. Branford adored the theatre and, in his memory, I constructed this play festival for him with these thespians. There. The end.

Hedda - Jess Hake I am the literary manager for this theatre company. Thanks to Loman’s guidance this operation has managed such greatness which would have been impossible without his help.

How he stays so lovely despite stupid costume designers, idiotic technicians and annoying benefactors is beyond me. I support the company by evaluating the propositioned plays and then making suggestions to the rest of the team about how these plays and projects may be produced. The PoorlyWritten Play Festival has been

Stella - Rachel Nielsen As the costumer for this company, I am in charge of the literal aesthetic of our plays. In comparison to literary nerds who fangirl over out of date professors and superior artistic directors, I am probably the best judge of plays due to my hands on experience. My approach to style ensures that whichever play is chosen shall shine under my careful curation. Being a costumer is so much more than patterns and fabrics and colours. It is about being able to make plays, no matter how poorly-written, dazzle audiences by blowing them away with the universal symbols of fashion. To summarise, I am basically the most important person here.

Eugene - Josh Talbot Loman said we were meant to write a bit about what we do in this theatre company and how we are feeling about The Poorly-Written Play Festival in these biographies? To clarify, I am the technical director

and I direct the technical aspects in this theatre company.

I have very few feelings about The Poorly-Written Play Festival, it is just my job. I am hoping that there are no requests for tornadoes, floods or fires in the plays selected, as I have a very limited technical director’s budget and do not want to have to cut corners. Yup. That’s me. Eugene.

Stranger - William Greene He is a stranger. We genuinely have no idea what he’s doing here, he just turned up and wanted his picture taken.

We felt bad turning him away, so here he is.

Director - Immie Burt It is a genuine shock that this is the first play Immie Burt has directed given the professional approach she has taken. Her sense of attack and unorthodox directing skills have crystallized her status as a noteworthy director, possibly one of the best of our times. Her many epiphanies and lamppost pictures have acted as a guide to the cast of The Poorly-Written Play Festival. Burt’s intense focus on characterization has even resulted in members of the cast occasionally unable to distinguish themselves from the characters they play. I see an Oliver award in her future.

Producer A - Tom Chester After success in film, Chester came back to theatre to truly find himself as an artist.

As well as being an understudy, Chester has proven to be highly skilled in the formation of colour coded spreadsheets.

Granted, his actions have resulted in the Nokia ringtone haunting every cast member until they turn deaf - yet his success and enthusiasm as a producer puts it all into perspective. I am not sure how the cast of The Poorly-Written Play Festival shall remember him but no matter what, it shall be fondly. From his intense participation of ‘WOO HAH’ to his convincing portrayal of Stella as an understudy, is there anything this man cannot do?

Producer 1 - Catherine Kerr In her roles as assistant director and movement director, Kerr has channeled her innate artistic energy into everyone - resulting in really intense warm-ups and sensational movement on a par with russian ballet. Kerr has made an impact on every single member of The Poorly-Written Festival Play predominantly by how to eat creme eggs. Her lasting mark in this play shall be in the form of ‘WOO HAH’, something that has been etched onto the tablet of the cast’s mind for eternity.

ATR T I S T F HE ARTISTS ATR T I S T F HE ARTISTS O

Layla Andrews is an expressionist and abstract portrait artist. Who, I do not create art as a backdrop. For me, a painting is a statement and at the age of 15, painted a large scale expressionist portrait of Nelson thereby bold expressionist techniques, and rich colour is imperative in Mandela, which the South African Embassy acquired. Since then, ensuring my work has some form of loud impact. she has had many exhibitions and continues to produce work and commissions for artists, companies charities worldwide. change theI’m feelhappy of pieces?

Andrews is an expressionist andand abstract portrait artist. and Who, I Does dountil nothumour art as a backdrop.

Foryour me, a Recently painting I’ve is a been statement andinto texture Icreate find an outcome, with. getting Bethan Gorvett is a brightonLayla illustration student specialising in collage, character Arguably, industries like politics and art can be seen as elitist and thereby bold expressionist techniques, and rich colour is imperative in at the age of 15, painted a large scale expressionist portrait of Nelson exploring creating digital screen-printing textures, as I love the effect of screen printing design and digital imagery. Exploring nostalgia as a locus for her creativity, her exclusive, something I have always desperately tried to avoid.

Humour Which artists do you draw inspiration from? ensuring my work has some form of loud impact.

Mandela, which the South African Embassy acquired.

Since then, but hate the process. work looks towards the psychedelic imagery of the 60s and 70s to create a heady I take inspiration from events, ideas, socialtoinjustices political she has had many exhibitions andnaked continues produce or work and is subjective but still universal to some extent, so I feel it enables a counter cultural smorgasbord drenched in saturated tones, bodies and headaches, rather than other artist’s works.

My favourite artist has to Does workshumour accessibility. hope itregarding provides peoplework? with some commissions for artists, companies and charities worldwide. What’re change the feel of your pieces? your plans for the I future your Have intrigue you gotand any flowers. be Ralph Steadman though; his expressionist and violent brushwork connection to a piece.

I am lucky that I have very humorous matesand who Arguably, upcoming projects?industries like politics and art can be seen as elitist combined with political andfrom? social critiques is just wickedprovide much exclusive, something I have always desperately avoid.really Humour Which artists dovery you smart draw inspiration I’m not sure yet, finalmy yearwork of uniwith has been soinspiration. intense and full ontried that Ito haven’t had time Tell me about yourself he is a genius.

I take inspiration from events, ideas, social injustices or political is subjective but still universal to some extent, so I feel it enables a to think about my plans after uni. Ideally I’d gain some work experience or an internship My names Bethan Gorvett, I’m born and raised in Brighton and always loved art from a What animals are you drawn to and why? headaches, rather than other artist’s works.

My favourite artist has to works accessibility.

I hope it provides people with some intrigue and with a design studio or something similar however I’m happy working anywhere to make young age which I think began with making cards for family members for any occasion and important is colour your work?

Animals are important me so I do often beHow Ralph Steadman though;tohis expressionist and violent brushwork connection to to asuper piece.

Ido amartlucky that I generally, have very humorous matesinclude who money whilst continuing always on to the side until an opportunity hopefully arises. my dyslexia allowing my brain to work better creatively. them in my work.

I have worked with animals for conservation inshow the Colour and violent, expressive brush strokes are integral to my pieces; combined with very smart political and social critiques is just wickedprovide my work muchasinspiration.

I will hopefully become morewith decisive the end of uni approaches and our final is finished. My courses illustration and graphics final degree show will be shown in the What inspires your collages?he is a genius. animals are you drawn to and universityWhat of Brighton’s Grand Pavilion Campus fromwhy?

29 May until 7 June 2020 and will be I would say nostalgia is the biggest inspiration for my collages, along with exploring different How important is colour to your work?

Animals are super important to me generally, so I do often include showing some amazingly creative work from all final year. moments in history.

Colour and violent, expressive brush strokes are integral to my pieces; them in my work. I have worked with animals for conservation in the What first interested you in collages?

Although I’ve always loved physical paper collaging, I’m not sure what inspired my initial love collage. My friend’s cousin called Jasmin Ward first inspired me to try digital collage as I noticed some call prints in my friend’s house. Other artists who inspire me include Peter Blake and Kate Gibb.

Can you explain your creative process?

Although I’m three years into uni I’m still unsure what creative moment means! I begin researching and exploring themes and ideas such as a specific era or moment in history and the visual language that goes with this. I’ll then either print physically to play around with composition or use digital software to experiment with styles, composition, colour

U I o an le b fa

Is A as it m m w

Words: Alex Evangelou, Bethan Gorvett Bethans art can be found at: @beffy_g Contact her at: bethang123@outlook.com

Want your work featured?

Want your work featured?

C

T FO C U S O F B R I G H TO N T FO C U S O F B R I G H TO N

US for years, so that is an aspect of my life which is always imperative.

I recently had an exhibition at the WWF headquarters; if there is an opportunity for me to combine my artistic passion with my love for animals, then I am on that. In the past two years I have created a colUS for years, so that is an aspect my life which always imperative. lection of abstract Crocodiles, theof‘Havana Club’, iswhich were inspired Ibyrecently had an exhibition at the WWF headquarters; if therebeis my an a trip to Cuba. These have been really popular and might opportunity for me to combine my artistic passion with my love for favourite body of work. animals, then I am on that. In the past two years I have created a collection abstract Is your of work ever Crocodiles, political? the ‘Havana Club’, which were inspired by a trip to Cuba.

These been really and might be my A vast majority of my workhave is political.

I ampopular managing a history degree favourite body of work. as well as an art career, which was a difficult decision for me. I thought it would be impractical to try to accomplish both; but as so many of Is your work ever political? my pieces are political, the degree helps by fuelling ideas, which in turn A vast majority my work is political.

I amI managing a history degree make me createofsome interesting pieces. think choosing a subject as well as an art career, which was a difficult decision for me.

I thought which enables your work depth and understanding can only be a it would be impractical to try to accomplish both; but as so many of my pieces are political, the degree helps by fuelling ideas, which in turn make me create some interesting pieces. I think choosing a subject which enables your work depth and understanding can only be a

TheBadger Badger5th 5thFebruary March 2018 The 2018

The Badger 2nd March 2020

TheBadger Badger5th 5thFebruary March 2018 The 2018

positive addition to your art. We live in a world whereby, the internet has enabled further awareness and accessibility to globalised problems, which is fantastic yet, it can be frustrating not to feel you have a platform to air your views or try to contribute positively. Art has enabled me positive addition to your art.ItWe in a world that platform of expression. haslive allowed me to whereby, combine the my internet love for has enabled further awareness and accessibility to globalised problems, political study with my love for creating art. which is fantastic yet, it can be frustrating not to feel you have a platform to air does youritviews orbe tryselected to contribute positively.

Art competition? has enabled me How feel to for Liberty London’s that platform of expression.

It has allowed me to combine my2018 love has for Being selected as a finalist for Liberty Open Call design talent political study with my love for creating art. been so great! My work selected was a painting of a lobster smoking a ciggie, which I painted years ago; people seem to get it, which is cool.

How does feel toshop, be selected for the Liberty London’stocompetition?

Liberty is ait great so having opportunity work for/with Being selected as a finalist for Liberty Open Call design talent 2018 has them would be dreamy. been so great! My work selected was a painting of a lobster smoking a ciggie, which to get it, which is cool.

Words: EmmaI painted Phillipsyears ago; people seem www.laylaandrews.com Liberty is a great shop, so having the opportunity to work for/with them would be dreamy.

Words: Emma Phillips

Contact us at: thebadger.street@gmail.com Contact us at: thebadger.street@gmail.com

www.laylaandrews.com

Puzzles

The Badger 2nd March 2020

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The Badger 2nd March 2020

Travel & Culture 25 Escaping North Korea Travel and Culture writer Charlotte Brill shines a light on the dark stories of defectors who flee North Korea.

Charlotte Brill Unimaginable. This is one of the few words that can sum up the experience of North Koreans who defect from the land of ‘Our Great Leader’ through China. North Korean defector and human rights activist Yeon-mi Park was only 17 when she escaped in 2007.

This was only the start of a long, perilous and heartwrenching journey. While fearfully living in secret, she witnessed the death of her father, but there could be no funeral.

Instead, she had to hold in her emotions and stealthily hide his body in the dead of night; something no person, especially someone so young, should ever have to do. If you think this is enough hardship for one person, you are unfortunately mistaken. Not only was she trafficked for two years, she was also separated from her older sister for seven years, without any way of knowing if she was even still alive.

Yeon-Mi’s case is not unique or isolated. Stories like hers are in abundance and each account is as harrowing as the next.

Most North Korean defectors left in the 1990s during the great famine that killed over one million people. ‘’Hunger means death in North Korea… it was the only option for us’’, Yeon-Mi said at a TED talk in 2019. Even in these dire times, they believe their country is the best in the world because

Gage Skidmore they have little-to-no knowledge of the ‘outside world’.

Since then, underground markets have grown, where they can access foreign goods, such as USBs with illegal information or films on. These outside influences insight new motivations to escape by raising awareness of the freedom they are denied, creating a new generation of North Korean refugees.

Defectors cannot simply reach South Korea via the direct border, through the Demilitarised zone (DMZ), because it is heavily guarded and near impossible to penetrate.

You may remember the viral video of a North Korean solider miraculously making it across this border, but not before being shot several times by his fellow North Korean soldiers.

Most defectors escape via the Tumen or Amrok rivers into, and through China, to a third country where they can reach a South Korean embassy. Simple as it seems, North Koreans

are illegal immigrants in China and are routinely detained and repatriated to a gruelling fate.

They must meticulously hide their identities and hope their presence remains concealed from Chinese authority.

Bribes and Brokers are frequently used by North Korean refugees to facilitate their escape. Given the incredible risk, brokers often have a vested interest when they ‘help’ people into China, especially when it comes to women. Brokers commonly have ties to illegal trafficking rings and trick these desperate and vulnerable women into them, commoditising them. Women are routinely tricked into illegal ‘sex-cam’ operations where they must perform humiliating live pornographic acts. These women have not truly escaped. They have merely been transferred from one repressive situation to another, more demeaning alternative. If not to the sex-cam operation, they are countlessly

sold as illegal brides to Chinese men at distressingly low prices.

The acceptance and naturalisation of such occurrences is a poignant testament of how lowly North Korean women are regarded in China.

Sex-trafficking undeniably causes deep mental scarring for the women dehumanised and sold, but the issues do not stop with them. These women, whether through rape or eventually consensual sex, have children who must bear the heavy weight of their mothers’ history before they are even old enough to truly understand or sympathise with it. The lives and futures of these children are automatically fraught with precarity as they live on the periphery of society, often unable to obtain legal citizenship. As if they had not already been dealt such a poor hand in life, many of these children also experience the abandonment or repatriation of their mother, never to see them again.

Even if defectors survive the treacherous journey and reach South Korea, their ordeal is not entirely over. After years of separation from the rest of the world, defectors suffer from a severe education gap, and in order to assimilate and be granted citizenship they must complete a government mandated re-education programme. For someone who has gone through extensive trauma and is so behind this can be extremely overwhelming. Although they are all Korean, they also face

discrimination for being born on the ‘wrong’ side of the river, a prejudice deep rooted since the brutality of the Korean War. Consequently, it is common for defectors to suffer from anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). They are, in part, failed by certain aspects South Korean sociality which does not give them the community ethos they need to be nourished and supported in this comparatively alien world.

This is truly an under-represented humanitarian crisis, but with the looming threat of North Korea’s nuclear weaponry, political backlash is out of the question for the world’s state leaders. The number of North Korean refugees speaking out about their stories is rising, and it is these people who we can help and protect.

At a Ted Talk, now settled defector, Hyeonseo Lee highlighted the importance of this by explaining how they (successful escapees) can ‘’act as a bridge between the people inside North Korea and the outside world’’ by keeping in contact with their families and by sending them information and small amounts of money.

In this way, they can begin to develop North Korea and improve the lives of those inside, albeit only marginally, from the outside. They are also success stories which can potentially give those suffering in China hope and inspiration to continue their fight for freedom and justice.

Budgeting: a step by step guide Cloe Grampa

Some helpful tips on how to stay on budget whilst at university and in life in general

Being a student is pretty tough, especially when money is tight, and everything is so expensive.

I have been a student for the past 4 years and I am now pretty comfortable to say that I’ve got hand on budgeting.

My first advice is to forget about the 50/30/20 rule – 50% goes on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on savings – and how it is going to save you lots of money because let’s be honest such a rule only applies if you have a decent income and your primary needs such as rent and food aren’t too expensive. Living in Brighton is extremely pricey, so it is totally understandable that you end up every month living

Pictures of Money off canned beans and porridge because you have no more money to afford food. However, there is a way to be able to live kind of comfortably and it starts with being financially aware.

Step One: look at those bank statements and check out how much you spend and on what.

Other than fixed expenses such as rent, bills and transport, how much do you spend on food, coffees, drinks, nights out, shopping and so on?

I know it is a quite lengthy process and it might lead to shedding a few tears because realising you actually spent £100 pounds on a night out is never a nice feeling. However, being aware of where your money is going is very helpful to start realising how you are living your life.

Step Two: what are the most important to you? I always found budgeting advices pretty useless, until I listened to a podcast that encourages giving meaning to your money. I started paying attention on how spending money was making me feel, there were times that

I would go on a shopping spree and spend so much money and although I really liked what I bought it made me feel pretty awful afterwards. What are the things that cost money that definitely make you feel good?

Is buying fresh food something that makes you feel incredible?

Is going to a coffee shop and get a cup of coffee everyday something that always makes you feel calmer and happier?

Keep asking yourself these questions until you find the things you spend money on that don’t make you feel good and start cutting them off.

Step Three: Once you have done your maths and found what expenses are unnecessary it is time to make the actual budget. Pick a number in which you know you can comfortably

live in but that doesn’t allow you to overspend on stuff that don’t bring any benefits to your life. Once you have got your monthly budget it is time to cut it down in a weekly one.

So, let’s say that after my fixed expenses I don’t want to spend more than £150 a month, which means that I will have more or less £40 a week to spend.

Having in mind a weekly budget I am much more aware on how I want to spend that money.

Bonus: Try transferring money on the card you use (or withdraw it) weekly so that once you hit 0 you know you need to wait the following Monday to start spending again. Being able to visualise how much spending money you have is quite important in making budgeting work.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Travel & Culture 26 A slippery slope for ski culture?

Ski holidays may be fun but with their high costs and environmental impact, what does the future hold?

Alana Harris Staff Writer With youth ski culture being centred around adventurous and audacious après skiing, it can seem like the slopes have become the new ocean beach, but in reality, is ski and snowboard culture snowploughing to a halt?

When you’re sat at home over the winter period, aimlessly scrolling through social media and you come across posts of snow-covered mountains, lively on-piste bars and ski lift selfies, it can easily feel as though everyone apart from you is out enjoying a mountain holiday.

However, the number of annual skiers and snowboarders is actually in decline, and it seems to be younger age groups who’re passing on snow sports.

Ski Weekends conducted a survey which found that two thirds of people who ski are aged between 43 and 65 and in another study completed by Ski Club, 16-24 year olds made up only 5% of the demographic of

Alana Harris those who participate in snow sport holidays. This begs the question, why are millennials reluctant to hit the slopes?

Without a doubt it’s easy to point to cost as perhaps one of the biggest factors deterring young people from snow sports.

Younger generations have a lot to think about when it comes to finance, we have monumental student loans building up as the years go by, rent and housing seems to constantly be on the rise, less and less jobs are becoming available and pints aren’t

getting any cheaper either.

It’s no secret that ski holidays don’t come cheap, having to fork out for a lift pass, accommodation, flights and all of the clothing and equipment unsurprisingly racks up a hefty bill, which many are unwilling to pay. If you’ve already got rent, bills, transport and food costs to think about its no shock that young people are shunning the slopes and leaning towards more affordable summer holiday trips instead.

Another element putting young people off could be the environmental impact skiing can have. With generations becoming more eco-conscious than ever, skiers are being criticised for destroying the very environment they love. Ski resorts can lead to disturbance of wildlife, deforestation and high water usage, as well as being an extremely energy intensive operation which relies on fossil fuels and a huge amount of electricity. Operating a single ski lift for a month requires around the same energy required to

power 3.8 households for a year.

As well as this, maintaining the slopes means groomers are used nightly which run on diesel, producing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate emissions. It’s no surprise that an age guided by the words of Greta Thunberg aren’t impressed by such issues.

Ski resorts are however trying to do their part in becoming greener. Renewable energy resources are being invested in through the use of solar panels, wind turbines and small hydro turbines. Better forest management is in force in order to work towards greater protection of wildlife and improve the natural habitat, and greater waste management and composting programmes are being explored.

So apart from going greener, what else are ski resorts doing to lure millennials to the resorts? Mainly they’re using music. It’s no secret that piste bars go out of their way to cater for younger tourists with DJs, live bands and lots of alcohol. We’ve all either seen or been the one

The planet in meltdown

dancing precariously on the top of a slippery wooden table, pint in hand. But now resorts are going a step further with an increase of snow festivals, there are now numerous big-budget Snowsports music festivals like Snowboxx, Tomorrowland Winter and Snowboming, all helping to attract younger tourists with big names like Stormzy, The Prodigy, Annie Mac, Andy C and countless others.

You can definitely see where ski resorts are going with the snow festival initiative, music festivals are an incredibly popular commodity for younger audiences and millions flock to them over the summer so it seems plausible to combine them with the mountains to get more young people interested in snow sports. But you have to question the fact that the approach doesn’t really eradicate the issues of both cost and environmental impact. Only time will tell whether future generations will continue to say no to skiing or whether they’ll find a way to embrace it.

Are the recent record temperatures in Antarctica just another statistic or a very worrying wake up call?

Amy Holden At the start of February, scientists discovered two of the highest temperatures ever recorded on the Antarctic peninsula and a neighbouring island- 18.3C and 20.75C respectively. These readings, although stressed by scientists to not be part of a long-term set, highlight the ever-growing issue of global warming- while the effects are magnified in Antarctica, they will span the world.

Over the last 50 years, the temperatures in Antarctica have increased by nearly 3C, with around 87% glaciers experiencing retreat, as a direct result of global warming. To gain perspective on the issue, it is important to note that 90% of the world’s freshwater is held in Antarctica, emphasising just how intimidating these new readings can appear.

Looking at a single glacier, aptly titled the ‘Doomsday Glacier’, the Thwaites Glacier alone is the size of Great Britain, and has enough volume to increase sea levels by more than 1/2m should it melt. Considering that parts

Ronald Woan

of London could be underwater with a 2m increase, the melting of the glaciers is an issue that should be well-documented to prevent further melting.

Closer to home, an increase in temperatures of 4C would see much of Sussex underwater, including Brighton seafront and much of places such as Eastbourne and Newhaven According to the BBC, there are a number of scenarios that can occur in the future regarding this issue: the bestcase scenario is that action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which would only see a 2C increase in July temperatures 1900-2100. The worst however, is a 6C increase by 2100, should greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate.

It is not only the rise in sea levels that can occur as a result of global warming however, as it will also change many weather patterns both in the UK and globally. For example, at a national level, it is believed by the Met Office that heavy rain spells will continue to increase, as well as warm spells.

These can mean that changes to agriculture will have to occur (crop types may have to change and water may become scarcer), as well as heatwaves impacting certain groups, such as the elderly. Globally, these will also be the impacts however, in some countries, such as Bangladesh, the increase in floods will put communities at even greater risk, and some

countries may experience heat at temperatures unsafe for humans. The impacts of climate change are ‘stress multipliers’, as they increase the severity of existing issues, making them harder to resolve.

However, it is not all lost yet.

Climate change is at the front of the minds of many, and many countries are starting to act. EU countries for example, have targets to reduce their emissions by 40% by 2030, and if it fully enacts its current policies, it could be set to exceed this.

The UK has a somewhat unique position due to Brexit, meaning that its place in the EU Emission Trading Scheme is questioned however, 1990-2018 their emissions decreased by 44%. Across the Atlantic however, the US could experience an increase in emissions the size of California, if Trump continues with his plans to silence climate science and relax vehicle efficiency standards (to name but a few).

Antarctica really is one of the best places in the world to judge climate change, given its landscape and lack of disturbance. By consequence, research is being done in this area in the field of climate

change to deeply probe the impacts. One example of this is the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, a $50 million UK-US project, the biggest and most complex science project in the history of Antarctica. While the impacts can be seen across the world, it is here that the impacts are explicit, and soon it is believed we may be having iceless summers if current trends continue, creating secondary impacts on factors including wildlife and biodiversity across the world.

The distance to Antarctica from us means that it is easy to ignore the issues happening there however, similar to how no one country owns Antarctica, no one country can fix the climate change issue. It is a global issue that doesn’t discriminate in its impacts, and one that, should the impacts go too far, may be hard to return from (if not impossible).

Research highlights that we are reaching the peak of the issue, and therefore, it is important solutions and preventative methods are being put in place now, rather than simply dealing with the impacts as and when they arise.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Travel & Culture 27

Daytrippers’ Spotlight: Seven Sisters

Shannon Whyte As we edge towards the beginning of Spring and with emerging deadlines making time for self-care even more important, it seems like the perfect time to get out and explore the outskirts of Brighton (like you’ve probably been telling yourself you would do since you started uni).

Having lived in Brighton for almost two years, I can say there is plenty to do without having to take yourself too far from the quirks and comforts of the town, but sometimes it can be refreshing to take a little trip with your pals and try something new. Recently, on one of the rare sunny days that blessed us amidst the storms, my flatmate and I decided it was about time we made the most of the area we live in so we hopped on a bus towards the Seven Sisters Cliffs that run between Seaford and Eastbourne in the South Downs National Park. If you study at the University of Sussex, it’s likely that you’ve ventured into the South Downs between lectures for a bit of a wander or to escape the bubble of campus at the weekend, but these chalk cliffs and blue

Shannon Whyte waters are well worth the extra journey.

We got the Coaster 12X bus from Sea Life Centre [stop K] (just outside Patterns) and headed towards Seven Sisters Park Centre. The journey was nice and easy, taking us just under an hour. As students, we’re always looking for a cheap, fun way to spend the day and as this bus route falls in the ‘green zone’, you can travel all the way there and back with a 24hr networkSAVER mobile ticket, costing just £3.75 for students.

There is an information centre and a quaint café right

by the Seven Sisters Park Centre bus stop if you want to start your day off with a little treat. We decided to head straight towards the cliffs and begin the walk, kitted out with snacks for along the way.

There are a number of routes you can take that vary in time and difficulty, but as we didn’t really have much of a plan we just followed a footpath from the bus stop, across the green and towards the coast which ended up working perfectly.

We walked up over the top of the cliffs, stopping a couple of times to admire the view or

take a water break. The scenery was beautiful and it felt so good be fully immersed in nature for a while. Once we’d walked over the seven cliffs, we reached Birling Gap. Here there was a National Trust Information Centre, complete with toilets and a café, where we stopped for a well-deserved coffee break and a bite to eat (vegan options available).

Once refuelled, we climbed the steps down onto the beach - be sure not to miss this part when you make the journey!

From the shore, full of rock pools and interesting looking stones from the cliff falls, you get an entirely different perspective of the scale of the cliffs and a chance to dip your toes in the water before making the journey back along the cliffs to the Seven Sisters Park Centre again.

Overall, the trip took us the full day, leaving home around 9am and arriving back around 6pm. We spent plenty of time sat on the rocks chatting or exploring, so it could definitely be done in less time if you’re looking for a shorter trip. Also, if you’re not much of a walker, there are plenty of places to simply sit and enjoy a change of scenery. On the way back we spotted a cosy pub called

The Cuckmere Inn, which the bus home conveniently stops at or is just a short walk from the Park Centre. We’re already planning our next trip back when the weather brightens up, aiming to do the full walk across the cliffs and back again before ending the day admiring the view in the pub garden with a nice pint and some pub grub.

If you’re looking to get away from uni stress or escape city life for a while, it’s definitely worth making the journey there at some point throughout your uni experience.

Shannon Whyte

Discrimination surge in Coronavirus fearmongering The outbreak of a virus is scary but there is an ugly pandemic rising in its shadow Cloe Grampa

The Coronavirus, also known as the Covid-19 virus, is a type of virus similar to the flu.

Symptoms include fever and cough that might escalate to severe pneumonia causing breathing difficulties. Those most at risk are the elderly, and those who are affected by long-term conditions that weaken the immune system.

The virus was first identified in Wuhan, China. There has been a lot of information and statistics regarding the mortality rate of the virus.

However, it’s important to remember that the numbers could be misleading and therefore it is still early to establish the mortality rate.

One of the most dangerous symptoms that has become synonymous with the virus is how it has polarised how East Asians are viewed in the UK. Due to the hysteria surrounding the virus and

Pixabay Elora J. Martinez

the worry that has been caused, the finger of blame has been wrongly pointed at people of this heritage. Racism and mistrust towards Asian people has peaked, and in many universities around the UK this student population have expressed their concern regarding their safety because of targeted attacks that include harassment and assault.

Many Chinese people are used to wearing face masks to protect themselves from pollution and sickness.

However, according to The

Guardian, some Chinese immigrants have said that wearing a face mask is turning them into targets of abuse and attacks. Most recently, Thai worker Pawat Silawattakun was assaulted in London by two teenagers who used the virus as an excuse to snatch his earphones and subsequently punch him.

Racism and hostility towards Asian people has been almost normalised by the amount of hysteria surrounding the virus, with some newspapers saying that spreading of the

virus is a pandemic, a term that here has been misused.

For instance, the virus is far from being a pandemic since it is not spreading in all the 195 countries on the World Health Organization’s list.

It is important to double check all the facts regarding the virus to avoid being swept away from the public hysteria that results in greater damage to East Asian communities.

We are aware that a Sussex student has been tested for the Covid-19, with negative results, as such campus is safe, and no one should feel at risk.

Sussex is the proud home of over 2,000 Chinese students and in a recent email the ViceChancellor said: “It is vital at a time of worry and concern that we all are unstinting in our support for them in our words and our behaviours. Any prejudicial behaviours by any member of the University will be treated seriously and I would encourage you to challenge

any such behaviour or, if you don’t feel able to, report it to someone who can. I’ve met with the Chinese Students & Scholars Association to reassure them of our absolute support and to listen to their experiences since the outbreak began.”

It is normal to be concerned and take precautions, but in situations like this, the best thing to do is to be there for each other and not get carried away by what the media tells us, since it’s still too early to understand the risk posed by the virus. Most importantly, it’s important to not use this outbreak to reinforce stigmas rooted in racism.

If you’re a student who has felt discriminated against in a racially focused incident, the Students Union has tools for you to use as part of their zero tolerance policy. Use their online to report a case or call their Racial Harassment forum on +447888999114 for support.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Travel & Culture 28 The popcorn chicken pizza: Cultural Bite This week we try out some Asian cuisine with masterpiece or monstrosity? these simple student-friendly Vietnamese rolls.

Joshua Talbot T&C Editor

Are you a compulsive consumer? Do you like take away? In this situation it might be best to have some self restraint...

Now and then promotional deals seem too good to miss.

The illusive gold Yorkie Bar hasn’t quite made me stray from my trusty, slightly controversial, raisin and biscuit favourite but I have been close to a last-minute compulsive switch at the check-out. I did succumb to temptation when it came to fast food giants KFC and Pizza Hut’s novelty offering, however.

The two take-away heavy weights, after a successful collaboration last year, joined forces from February 2 – 16 and created the Popcorn Chicken Pizza. Curious about whether this was a monstrosity or masterpiece and, partly just because I wanted to say that I had tried it, in a spur of the moment move, I clicked order and thirty nerve-racking minutes later, it arrived at my door.

What myself and plenty of the take-out addict student populous were faced with, was a 12’ pizza- seemingly harmless

sitting there in its box. What was lurking in the darkness, however was something more experimental than Frankenstien’s monster and, in conclusion, it wasn’t much tastier than I imagine rotting zombie flesh to be too.

In reality, this joint venture was nothing more than a clever marketing ploy.

Whilst the two companies both seemingly operate independently of each other, they are in fact owned by the same parent company- Yum! Brands, along with Taco Bell and WingStreet.

Haven fallen victim to this charade, there was little to do but tuck in. As a disclaimer, Pizza Hut isn’t my go-to pizza takeaway by any means; I much prefer a Dominoes when I’m not given any better authentic Neapolitan alternatives- V.I.P Pizza is a no-brainer for Brightonians!

I tried to not let this prejudice get the better of me, however, and went full steam ahead into whatever it was that was in front of me.

If you like KFC, it might be that you get the side of gravy for your chips when you get your box meal or banquet. If you like chips and gravy this is obviously fine, but it is definitely a

marmite combination. What you are given in the box when you order a popcorn chicken pizza, however, is something more objectively undesirable- a gravy base.

The rest was really just totally unremarkable.

The other toppings- sweetcorn, chicken and mozzarella- bogged down by the soggy stuffy abomination that made you wonder why you were at least £10 poorer for the inconvenience.

Personally, I usually finish a large pizza in one sitting, only persuaded to do otherwise in order to make my money stretch a little further. I couldn’t even contemplate polishing this pizza off; I had to leave it for a couple of hours until I had forgotten about just how bad it actually was.

Without the hyperbole, to put it into perspective, myself and my housemate who made the joint decision give it a go concluded that it was just fine.

Bearable but not enjoyable and so, if you are considering a punt at one of the clever marketing mergers that these companies will inevitably pedal out again sometime soon, ask yourself whether it is really worth the money just to say that you have had one because, really, judging by this, it won’t be worth much else.

Charity shop ‘till you drop Joshua Talbot T&C Editor

Living in Brighton isn’t a cheap student experience by any means but the answer to affordable living could be on your doorstep- so long as you have enough patience.

Charity shopping is the often-stigmatised solution to your expensive consumerist cravings; if you don’t want to hear it, more fool you.

When you want to go on a shopping spree, naturally, your first port of call would be a shopping centre. In Brighton, you have Churchill Square which, as they go, isn’t too bad. The trouble with all of the stores in this pristine palace of trendy outlets is that, before you know it, you’ll be £100 poorer and, whilst you may have some nice clothes as a payoff, you can’t help but feel a bit robbed when

you’re scraping the pennies together for a can of beans at the end of the month.

The rough-aroundthe-edges charity shop experience isn’t the instantaneous hit of feelgood that you might get as you overt your eyes, tap the card machine and strut out of Urban Outfitters but, if you put in the leg work and ignore the items that would have probably been better off in the bin you’ll find that diamond in the rough and feel all the better for it.

In Brighton, especially in student areas like London Road, you’re spoilt for charity shop choice but whilst there will be bargains to be had, thrift shopping is a game of strategy. You have to consider how many likeminded students are going to be on that patch. It might pay to take a trip to another

bargain hub like George Street in Hove. Only a short train ride away, a charity cop isn’t guaranteed but you might find that you have more luck than in other student saturated areas.

What if I like buying new?

That’s fine but, with fast fashion on the rise, consider the impact that your Boohoo binges have on the environment. It might be nice to have a wardrobe update every month but there are sustainable ways of achieving it and it might just be that charity shopping is the ecofriendliest solution.

Of course, if you still need persuading, all proceeds go to charity so, if you are now stood at the checkout of your favourite Highstreet store and find that you are consumed by guilt - I’m sorry but it’s for the good of the planet and your bank account.

Pelikan

Cooking Asian food can be very complicated but this dish is very easy to make! The Vietnamese rice paper rolls are packed with bright and fresh flavours, made with crunchy vegetables, chewy noodles and herbs in the rice paper, and served with a peanut dipping sauce or a traditional Nuoc Cham sauce.

What you’ll need ( for 8 rice rolls): For the rice paper rolls:

8 pieces rice paper 8 peeled prawns 60 g rice vermicelli 4 sprigs mint leaves 4 sprigs coriander leaves 4 sprigs basil leaves, optional 1 stick carrot, cut into matchsticks 1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks 1 romaine lettuce

For the peanut sauce:

1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 garlic clove, minced 1 1/2 tbsp smooth peanut butter 3 tbsp hoisin sauce 3 tbsp water Red chilli, minced to garnish

For the dipping sauce Nuoc Cham:

2 tbsp sugar 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice 1 tbsp fish sauce 4 tbsp hot water 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 red chili, finely sliced

Step-by-step:

Firstly, place the shrimp in a shallow pan to fry them. Add some salt to give flavour.

Soak and boil the rice vermicelli in hot water. Once it is boiled, drain a place it in cold water and it is ready to use.

Then, cut the carrots and cucumbers into matchsticks.

Submerge the rice paper fully into the water for five seconds just before wrapping. Remove and pat dry.

The fun part! Choose a piece of lettuce that fits the diameter of the rice paper. Place the carrot, cucumber and rice vermicelli on it. Put the vegetable, prawns and the basil, coriander, and mint on the rice paper, slightly off-centered towards you, and leave about one inch clear from the side.

Roll everything up tightly. To do so, gently pull up the bottom of the roll and roll over the filling. Then, roll and use your hands to tuck the filling in as you go. It’s basically like you’re rolling a burrito!

It’s time for the dipping sauce. Saute the garlic with the vegetable oil and add the remaining ingredients.

If you want to spice it up, the traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce, Nuoc Cham would be a great shout! All you need to do is to mix the water, sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce until the sugar dissolved. Then add the minced garlic and finely chopped chili. Lastly, it is ready to serve and enjoy the very authentic meal!

Vanessa Hung T&C Online Editor

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Science & Technology

29

How Calcium fell into the ‘Milk Hypothesis’

Shari Addington With an increase in health awareness alongside the rise of social media many influencers have begun endorsing their own tips and tricks to support healthier lifestyles.

Yet, it is important to hold in mind that ultimately nutrition is not based on personal opinion, but instead determined from scientific evidence.

Moreover, what doctors recommend or advise against is constantly amended due to new nutritional research. However, personally I encourage individuals to take on an executive role in monitoring their own health and to pursue mindful eating habits, as accurate nutritional information is not always at the forefront of the media.

The milk myth?

A quick google search will provide a plethora of reasons as to why dairy (namely milk) is an essential source of nutrition and in the west milk consumption is historically high; worldwide cow milk being the most popular. Milk is a great source of many nutrients including, protein, calcium, magnesium, vitamins, phosphorous and iodine.

In people that do not consume meat e.g. vegetarians, dairy can be a main source of protein. Additionally, it is a cheaper source of protein than meat and thus preferred economical by many.

The catch phrase “ milk, is good for your bones” is one many will be familiar with as it’s a common slogan for many dairy companies, referring to the fact the milk is high in calcium. Calcium is an irrefutable mineral essential for life. Osteoporosis, one of the consequences of calcium deficiency, progressively causes your bones to weaken and become fragile, as a result of calcium being leached from the bones following an inadequate amount of calcium and vitamin D consumption.

Hence, for decades dairy companies have endorsed the notion that consuming cow’s milk will help strengthen your bones and prevent against calcium deficiency and its resulting conditions.

If you were to walk into your GP and found to be calcium deficient (as I previously was) most likely you will be advised to increase the amount of dairy you consume. However, the scientific evidence to support this claim is contradictory, as a correlation between greater milk consumption and bone strength is not always found.

For instance, in a longitudinal

study conducted in 1997 by Harvard University, the milk consumption and degree of bone fractures in 77,000 female nurses were tracked for a decade and researchers concluded that there was no statistically significant difference between those who drank more milk weekly and bone strength.

Likewise, research has shown that the excess consumption of cow’s milk may be detrimental to health, the most impacting study being that conducted

by Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute in 2014, which associated the over consumption of cow’s milk with an increase in fractures and early deaths.

One of the biggest arguments against the consumption of cow’s milk is the theory stating that it leaches calcium from your bones, resulting in an overall net loss of calcium from the body.

It has been hypothesised this is because cow milk contains lactic acid, and so in order to neutralize the excess acidity calcium is used. However, this notion is theoretical, and many foods are acid-forming when digested.

The cons of milk..

Another argument against cow’s milk consumption is that many insist that it contains a percentage of pus or hormones.

Due to the domesticated nature of cows in the dairy industry, it is very common for herds of cows to contract mastitis (udder infections), which results in pus leaking into milk.

The farming industry however states that the rules and regulations require milk batches to undergo several tests before being cleared for consumption, one being a somatic cell test, which will indicate whether the cow is infected and help to determine the milk quality.

However, depending on your country of residence what is le-

gally classified as unfit for consumption varies, in the UK milk can contain up to 400,000,000 somatic cells before it is classified as undrinkable.

Moreover, legally use of hormones or antibiotics in dairy cows also varies globally, in some countries to increase milk production cows may be given rBGH, a synthetically made hormone, but this is banned in Canada, the EU and many other countries. Despite the ban, this doesn’t prevent the import of milk containing rBGH and thus may still be sold and purchased in any country. This hormone acts to increase the growth factor IGF-1 that when produced excessively has been linked to several cancers.

To add to this most milk is not free – range (up to 20% of milk in the UK comes from cows that never see grass) i.e. cows are kept indoors permanently and even brands that claim to be free range under the ‘Free Range Pasture Promise’ may still be kept in a shed for 6 months.

Besides being highly unethical, like any mammal dairy cows can become overly stressed and consequently produce milk abundant with stress hormones.

What is the mainstream bias..

Personally, I find it peculiar that studies showing a negative correlation between milk consumption and health are quickly critiqued for the flaws in their experimental design and their lack of replicability, stating that more research is required before any assumptions should be made.

Yet the same is not stated for the reverse. Whilst it is logical to assume consuming cows’ milk, which is high in essential nutrients, should correspond with increased health benefits, surely more concrete research is required before the idea is so heavily endorsed.

Without feeding into conspiracy theories, it is correct

Introducing...

to state that the dairy industry spends a lot of money on “encouraging” the population to drink milk. In Britain the industry invests millions of pounds into advertising and promoting dairy products, for example in 2012 £124.2 million was spent on such schemes. These funds are used to provide propaganda incentives in schools, termed educational materials, getting children hooked on milk from a young age. For instance, DairyCo funds the ‘Food – A Fact of Life’ project acting to install the idea that dairy is a fundamental component of a healthy diet.

Likewise, the European School Milk Scheme gifts school grants so that young children can have free milk at school. According to such programmes, the aim is to “to encourage children to consume dairy products and develop a lasting habit of doing so”.

Take from this what you will, but it is quite evident that the dairy industry is a lucrative one indeed!

A final say!

When it comes to foods essential for your health, the same nutrients found in dairy can be consumed from other food groups, therefore making it not a vital dietary component. Obtaining adequate amounts of dietary calcium is imperative for health and I wouldn’t recommend removing dairy from your diet if you are not committed to replacing the nutrients with alternatives sources, as that would be more harmful than over consuming it.

Likewise, if you are someone who thoroughly enjoys dairy products then as long as you consume them in moderation as part of a well-balanced diet then there are several benefits.

The only advice I would give, is to find a good source of dairy from a reputable brand, so that you know the implications of what you’re putting into your body.

CallyL

‘Eye’ Teach Ayah El-Dakal Science & Tech Editor

Following the recent return of various childhood diseases, I thought it would be appropriate to begin my ‘Eye’ Teach series with an informative piece on vaccination.

If you have heard of ‘pox parties’ then the concept of immunisation shouldn’t be too foreign. These are gatherings of usually children, when one kid gets chicken pox, in hopes that other kids will get it too.

Initially, when we are exposed to a pathogen a system in our body responsible for our protection, will release immediate nonspecific cells.

Most of the time, these cells are the ones which give us the fevers, the rashes and the overall inflammation. This first line of defence isn’t all bad, and we need it in our everyday lives to protect us from a lot of things we come in contact with.

However, the immunity our bodies has to wait for is the ‘adaptive immune system’ which usually takes about 4-7 days to enter our circulation.

These are popularly known as B cells and T cells which give us a more precise defence. They personalise the killing of our unwelcome pathogens and on top this remember how they do it - these cells are then known as memory cells. If a secondary encounter takes place, the ‘faff’ of symptoms won’t take place, increasing our chances of survival. This is why people who have had chicken pox before are safer around those who have it.

Vaccines have completely revolutionised modern healthcare setting up the fundamental concept that prevention is better than cure, especially because sometimes there is no treatment. The phenomenon of memory cells is exploited by vaccines as they contain weakened strains of a pathogen which mimic the ‘remembering’ effect of the adaptive immune system without actually causing the disease. This pretty much means that most of the time if we ever encounter that virus or bacteria again, our body’s will kill it before it has the chance to make us sick.

This is just the first of many EyeTeach columns that I will write to hopefully shed some light on the common misconceptions in Science and Technology.

Have an idea you want us to explain? Email us at thebadger.science@gmail.com

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Science & Technology

The strange world of viruses and bacteria

Joe Kleinschmidt With the outbreak of the Coronavirus epidemic, information and misinformation about avoiding infectious diseases has been widely circulated on and offline. Even from apparently reputable sources, a surprising amount of advice does not hold up to research.

In this article, we examine some of the myths and realities of catching a cold, flu, or even the novel 2019 Coronavirus, as well assome of the more interesting facts about the world of microorganisms around us.

How do viruses and bacteria spread?

Contracting a viral or bacterial infection is remarkably difficult - a special set of circumstances must be present. Your skin normally presents a totally impermeable barrier for viruses and other microorganisms. In order to enter your body, a microorganism must come into contact with theareas of the body where living cells are exposed to external material. In an uninjured person, this is usually the digestive tract, the respiratory tract, or the eyes.

Coronavirus is usually contracted via the lungs. Therefore, the virus must be present in the air in theform of tiny microscopic droplets which are normally produced when a person sneezes or coughs.

Adam Ali Awan Humanity have been finding new ways to stimulate their minds in a manner that is both the most entertaining and rewarding for centuries.

From the gladiatorial rings in ancient Rome to high stakes gambling in modern casinos.

However, it seems as though there is one industry that has managed to crack the code and hack into the minds of many. The videogame industry has been one of the fastest growing industries of all time, every year more money is pumped into the production of games and consoles.

The first ever video game constructed by William Higinbotham, a physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratories instrumentation group, was “pong” but at the time known as “tennis for two”.

A simple two player game in which a ball is deflected by each player end to end of the screen with the objective being to not miss the ball. This

The typical range from which a person could be infected is 6 to 10 feet (2 – 3 metres). The WHO has also stated that unless a person is showing symptoms, such as cough and diarrhoea, they are unlikely to be infectious.

Each morsel of food you eat contains millions of bacteria and viruses. But to enter the digestive tract, a virus or bacterium must pass through the stomach – where a highly acidic environment will usually cause death or inactivation.

Furthermore, most of the bacteria and viruses in the environment are harmless.

After surviving the stomach, a virus or bacterium would still need to pass through the mucus lining of the intestines, and enter directly into a cell, avoiding destruction by the mucus itself and immune cells. Ultimately, this means that contracting the novel Coronavirus by ingesting food is unlikely.

However, new evidence has suggested that faeces from an infected person can release viral particles. As with food consumption, kissing is actually a relatively safe when it comes to infection from a loved one with a cold or flu – as confirmed, for example, in a bizarre study from 1984, which found that the common cold (caused by Rhinovirus) only infected one out of thirteen people exposed through contact with their partner’s mouth.

Unfortunately, many diseases caused by consumption of con-

taminated foods do not result from live bacteria or viruses, but rather toxins produced by bacteria, such as Botulinum toxin.

These toxins, usually produced by bacteria in food which has been left in warm, wet conditions for prolonged periods, often cannot be inactivated by cooking, or stomach acid. Many cases of such food poisoning have been reported amongst students consuming leftover unrefrigerated food.

game was engineered to entice people to the rather dull exhibitions within his lab.

This simple game very quickly became the most popular exhibit in the lab with people standing in large queues just to play a few rounds of the game. The question this poses is, why? Why would such a simple game gain the traction of so many people? Yes, at the time this technology may not have seemed simple to build but in actuality the reason as to why this game gathered crowds of people is the fact that no matter your age, creed, gender or physical ability anyone could play this game. It brought a sense of community and competition within people that you usually wouldn’t see compete with one another.

Humans are inherently competitive, this perhaps stems from the necessity for competition back when the human race would need to compete for food, shelter and other needs vital to

our survival. In addition, many companies and individuals realised that a market can be derived from this psychological need to stimulate the brain in the most convenient way possible. As games such as Tetris and Snake made their ways onto mobile phones people could play games on the go. Ever making it easier to gain stimulation and while stimulating your mind is a good thing, the gaming industry has reached such a point now wherein you cannot walk anywhere without seeing advertisements for the latest game. Video games have begun to be forced into our everyday lives whether we like it or not and this has a psychological effect on all of us.

The player base in world’s most popular games is ever growing, with the variety in target audiences ever growing from young teenagers to those middle aged and even beyond.

Most youths are growing up playing videogames and due to being at an important stage in their lives, these games will affect their brain chemistry and

How does the novel coronavirus epidemic compare to other epidemics?

The fact that new viruses and bacteria can evolve at any time is often forgotten. The collapse of many major civilisations, such as the Roman Empire, has been attributed to the evolution of new microorganisms and subsequent depopulation of cities.

The Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 has been estimated to have killed 50 to 100 million people, and infected approximately one quarter of the world’s population, despite the major advances made in public health over the preceding decades.

But all recent viral epidemics, including the SARS epidemic a decade ago, have been safely contained through simple measures such as quarantining and enhanced hygiene measures. The spread of new epidemic diseases has been mainly confined to countries with poor public health infrastructure.

Could the novel Coronavirus evolve to become more dangerous?

A virus or bacterium which has a high mortality rate tends to have a low transmission rate, because patients become ill quickly and cannot spread the disease. Therefore, there is a balance between infectiousness and morbidity (the degree to which the microorganism causes disease). This tends to limit the outbreak of any infectious disease.

What conditions will inactivate a virus or bacterium?

While some viruses and microorganisms can survive harsh conditions, most – including coronavirus – are quite fragile.

At normal body temperatures, a recent study found that levels of active viral particles of the SARS-Coronavirus (which is highly similar to the 2019 novel Coronavirus) were undetectable following one hour incubation at a pH of 3 (a lower pH indicates higher acidity). The acidity of the stomach is usually stronger than this. Similarly, 15 minutes of heating at 75° C was extremely effective at inactivating the virus.

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external surfaces and remain infectious, but the maximum length of time the virus may survive in the environment is estimated at a few hours. This means that this is unlikely to be the main route of transmission, and secondly, goods exported from China or other countries with cases of Coronavirus will not contain active viral particles.

Does handwashing kill bacteria and viruses?

Although soap itself does little to kill bacteria or viruses, it does help to remove the vast majority of present on hands and lowers the odds of contracting an infection after touching your eyes.

How long can infectious bacteria and viruses like the novel Coronavirus survive outside human bodies?

There is debate over the extent to which the novel 2019 Coronavirus can persist on

Can some bacteria and viruses survive more extreme environments?

Some more unusual bacteria and viruses appear to be extremely tough. In particular, particles known as endospores, which are dormant versions of bacteria which can reactivate to form a living bacterium, can survive very severe environments, and remain active for tens of millions of years. Likewise, spores of the Bacillus strain have been shown to be viable after heating up to 420° C. Some have even suggested that these microorganisms may have been able to survive a journey into outer space on a meteorite leaving Earth, potentially allowing life to have colonised other planets.

influence their thought processing. This can be supported by an article written by Amy Shirong Lu in 2012 in which she stated that “story immersion” (the sense that we are not just playing the game but experiencing it ourselves) is very influential in psychological behavioural changes of the youth. The article concluded that story immersion has high possibility of affecting the behavioural changes (whether that be for good or bad) and self-determination theory. Games in the modern age work off a reward system, constantly rewarding playing to provide a constant flow of dopamine and keep the player returning to the game. In real life this is clearly not the case, there is not an instant reward system in place that constantly feeds one’s ego with virtual medals and trophies. Consequently, this takes many children away from real life and forms very real addictions. So much so that the W.H.O has labelled “gaming disorder” as a child to “disorders due to addiction”. One can po-

tentially even throw huge tantrums and even become violent when a parent or partner decides to take away their videogame possessions, mimicking potential symptoms of someone suffering from severe substance abuse.

It can be concluded that in moderation gaming can have both a positive and negative impact on the mental state of an individual such as an increase in cognitive behavioural function as well as focus on particular tasks whether real life or in game. The competitive nature that most games possess can be quite beneficial while also being detrimental should one become obsessed, narcissistic, a sore loser and taken away from the world.

I believe as a community we must be mindful of what is around us and what we indulge our time playing. Being aware that while we can benefit from playing videogames, it can also distract us from what we need to accomplish and take us away from real life.

The Psychology of Videogames

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Sport 31 19th Seeded Sussex Mohawks, come home with the gold!

Tatenda Mombo Who are the Sussex Mohawks you ask? Only one of the most successful sports societies on campus and historically one of the best University Ultimate Frisbee teams in the country!

Who on the weekend of Feb 15/16 2020, added yet another trophy to their cabinet, a Men’s Division One Indoor championship. That’s top of the food chain!

If you are just hearing about Ultimate Frisbee for the first time, avoid the temptation to just write it off as ‘something you do in the park with your dog’.

It is a lot closer to your typical high action, fast paced team sports like football, basketball, or netball than it is to your dog’s exercise routine, it just happens to be a sport played with a flying disc rather than a ball, but make no mistake, you will see bodies flying through the air, throws that you didn’t even think were possible and catches that will leave you in awe at the wonders of the human body.

Now that we are all up to

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speed, let me tell you about the season Sussex had, that culminated in winning it all!

The indoor season started in October with regionals, where the top two teams from the South East qualify for Division One Nationals, the teams placed third to fifth, qualify for Division Two Nationals, and every other team ends their season there with nothing but what if’s and ah wells to show for it.

Sussex, having dominated the region for the best part of 2 decades, are always heavy favourites to qualify and win the region.

This year was no different, beating Oxford 6-2 in a pretty routine final game. Oxford then went on to lose again to Surrey in a 2 v 3 game meaning it was Sussex and Surrey representing the South East in Division One nationals. The seedings for Nationals are determined by your region’s final placings at last year’s competition, where Sussex finished 19th out of a possible 20th. The general consensus within the Ultimate community was this was too low

for Sussex, but predictions had the Mohawks placing no higher than 14th this year.

The boys, celebrated with their patented “boys, boys, boys” chant

Fast forward to Friday, February 14, the eve of the big tournament, the Sussex Mohawks have arrived at their air BnB in droves, some by car, some by plane some by train.

The hair clippers buzz into life, and the final tournament preparations begin. Shaving mohawks into our hair has a multitude of purposes.

Primarily it is a show of unity and solidarity, and secondly it provides an intimidating aura for the opposition we are about to go to war with! We have one final strategic conversation and an early night, for the games are about to begin tomorrow.

We made our way to the venue, the Orian sport centre, and started the day with a comfortable 6-4 win over Warwick. The 2nd game of the day was a disappointing 5-4

UEFA clamp down on Manchester City

Robert Barrie

The Aguero moment. The 100 point season. The Kompany rocket to seal the title.

Manchester City have given football lovers some of the most poetic and beautiful moments in English league history.

Amassing 10 major trophies, only one less than Chelsea, demonstrates their imperious stature as one of the, if not the, heavyweight of the last decade. Drawing comparisons to Arsenal’s “invincibles” is no easy feat, but being the first side to accumulate 100 points in a single season is a stat one can’t shy away from. In addition to this, a plethora of records tumbled as current manager Pep Guardiola’s side bulldozed the league in two consecutive years.

It is fair to say, however, the Cityzens were not used to this success. Not laden with riches, the club were, truthfully, a “midtable team”. This changed in 2008 when Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, owner of the Abu Dhabi United Group, completed a takeover of the club.

Injected with a huge inflow of funds, the squad was gradually overhauled and the quality change in just a few years was apparent. So apparent that in 2012 the club ended their 40 year trophy drought and won the Premier League title; there-

by breaking the seven year vicelike grip of Manchester United and Chelsea on the trophy. Few questions were raised at the time at the validity of this success under then boss Roberto Mancini. Three years later and City, under the guidance of new manager Pep Guardiola, were romping the league. This success, in effect, being only made possible by new acquisitions made by the manager in the form of £300 million reinforcements; was spent in his first summer alone. It was only then that watchful eyes from other clubs began to question the legality of such spending, and if it indeed broke Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

Implemented in 2011 by UEFA, these set of laws, put simply, prevented clubs from spending more than they earned. It also ensured that continual large spending would not occur over multiple seasons as there would be a prearranged budget range depending on the tier of football.

Sponsorship revenue of City, one of many factors contributing to a club’s profit, was found to have been over-stated in accounts submitted to UEFA. In addition to this, break-even values too were found to be incorrect. Occurring in the years 2012-2016, this casts major doubt over the validity of the

second title they won in 2013/14 season. Only time, and further investigations, will unravel the mystery of which senior club official, or indeed officials, thought they could succeed in such high-stake infraction. It is safe to assume that then managers, Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, knew nothing of what unlawful activity was occurring behind the scenes. And it is unfortunate that that the fallout of such misguided ventures will fall at the feet of current manager Guardiola. He must surely be as infuriated as the fans as the resulting sanctions imposed by UEFA are, if upheld, a catastrophe for the club.

Banned from the Champions League for the next two seasons (although not the current tournament) and a fine of £25 million were the punishments handed to them. The fine is of minimal worry to the club but the penalty that will hurt most is the lack of Champions League football. Having won two Champions League trophies at Barcelona, it was common knowledge that Guardiola was brought in to lead City to a first European trophy, and with that propel them into the upper echelons of Europe’s elite. Despite leading the team to two consecutive Premier League titles, the most prestigious prize in club football has, to date, eluded the former

Sussex Mohawks loss to Edinburgh, followed by a shock 10-7 loss to Liverpool John Moore’s. After disappointing results in the pools, we were left knowing that a defeat to Loughborough in the following game would spell the end of our title contentions.

Halfway through the game we found ourselves 7-3 down, and in a come to Jesus moment, the defence rallied to generate turnovers and convert those into scores 4 times in a row, to finish the game 7-7 and most importantly, a chance to still win it all. The rest of the Saturday consisted of comfortable wins over Swansea and UWE, 9-3 and 9-4 respectively.

On Sunday, the first game of the day was a quarter final, and a rematch against Loughborough, which Sussex won 6-5, the semi-final was an 8-6 victory against UCL to set up a Final against Durham. A closely contested game, until 2nd year standout Jack Halkyard, made a goal saving play, getting a fully horizontal layout block and erasing what would otherwise have been a guaranteed goal for Durham, Sussex rode that momentum to a 7-4 victory!

The boys, celebrated with their patented “boys, boys, boys” chant, collected the trophy and medals, and made their way to spoons to celebrate in a big way!

Bayern boss. The Spaniard himself said he would be deemed a failure if he left the club without the Champions League.

This ban therefore has huge implications for the club. Only two players (both reserve keepers) at City have won the Champions League before and surely the current players shall now be questioning their position.

De Bruyne, Ederson, Sterling and Aguero (to name a few) are far too talented to not be playing in Europe. City have already stated they will appeal the ban and, if successful, expect it to be reduced to one season. The financial implications of missing Champions League football too are significant. Liverpool earned approximately £150 million from winning the tournament last year. City now have a queue of tasks this season due to the naivety of senior board members in that regrettable 4 year period.

The first task is to convince their world class manager and players to stay for a potential two years of barren European football.

Next, is to launch their appeal against UEFA. A glimmer of hope is the fact that the investigation against them was sanctioned by UEFA, judged by UEFA and punished by UEFA. The club will aim to seek an independent enquiry due to the feeling they have been specifically targeted; rightfully or wrongfully, a view which has been shared around the football community it must be

said. Their last task, however, is to win the Champions League this season. Many a football pundit has questioned as to why Manchester City weren’t banned from this current tournament but the club will not rest on their laurels. Lifting the trophy in Istanbul in May would be the ultimate mockery of UEFA and that will be at the forefront of the minds of both City and UEFA’s. The powers that be at UEFA will silently be hoping for an early exit for City against Real Madrid.

City’s next problem is that the Premier League are keeping a close eye on the verdict of this saga. The FFP rules in England are, effectively, identical to UEFA’s. A mirroring of outcome could see a points deduction and potential relegation to League Two. The points deduction, worryingly from City’s point of view, could also be applied to their title winning 2013/14 season meaning that that season will become void (it is improbable that Liverpool, finishing in second place, would be handed the title by default).

Manchester City are far too big for such a revelation to initiate self-implosion of the club.

It is alarming and humiliating however, to the squad, staff and fans that this saga was completely of the club’s own doing.

Validating outside claims of cheating has left the club exposed, furious, embarrassed and left their future in doubt.

The Badger 2nd March 2020

Sport 32 Champions League Round of 16: Preview Sacha Thomas The Champions League returned this week with the last 16 knockout stage. Football fans have been blessed with some very even matchups, with most games tough to predict. As the matches currently lie after the first leg, reigning champions Liverpool are 1-0 down to Atletico Madrid, while Borussia Dortmund defeated PSG 2-1 at home. Atalanta defeated Valencia 4-1 and RB Leipzig defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 away.

Liverpool are currently 1-0 down on aggregate (failing to get an away goal in the process) but it is hard to see Atletico Madrid as favourites in this tie. LFC are the defending champions and have not yet lost a Premier League game in this current campaign.

As much as the atmosphere at Metropolitano Stadium contributed to Atletico’s victory, the atmosphere at Anfield will make it difficult for them to get a result in the reverse-fixture.

Liverpool managed to hold La Liga champions Barcelona to a 4-0 defeat at Anfield last May. However, this will be one of Liverpool’s toughest matches

this season: Atletico are notorious for their defensive capabilities and Simeone has never lost a two-legged Champions League tie to a team which has not included Cristiano Ronaldo.

After their victory at home, Borussia Dortmund must travel away to PSG. PSG, the stronger side on paper, have an attack led by Neymar and Mbappe, the world’s two most expensive players, but Dortmund have Erling Haaland arguably the competition’s strongest player this season. While only 19, Haaland has scored 10 goals in the Champions League (more than entire teams such as Atletico Madrid), including both goals against PSG in the first game.

Valencia started as favourites against Atalanta but after their 4-1 defeat they are squarely on the backfoot and will struggle to advance to the next round. The only saving grace is that Valencia managed to get an away goal but they will have to hold Atalanta goalless at home in order to get a result.

Bayern Munich have impressed during the Champions League so far, winning all 6 of their

group stage games. Bayern have already faced an English club in Tottenham Hotspur, in which they easily defeated them 7-2 and then again 3-1. Chelsea on the other hand struggled to get into the Round of 16 and it seems that Bayern are the clear favourites to win this matchup.

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[Madrid] have the support of their fans, whereas City’s fans have never seemed to take to the Champions League

RB Leipzig go into the Round of 16 facing Tottenham Hotspur, having won 1-0 in the first fixture. This fixture is tough to call as Leipzig have the more complete team, with Spurs being hampered by injuries to their two primary attackers Harry Kane and Heung Min Son. Yet Jose Mourinho is a tactical mastermind when it comes to two-legged games and he will have a plan to get past Leipzig.

Juventus vs. Lyon appears to be the most mismatched game in the Round of 16 as Juventus have a far-stronger team, made up of players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be able to pass on his experience of winning

Wilder vs Fury: The Return Roxxy Wright The second fight between Tyson Fury, “The Gypsy King”, and Deontay Wilder, “The Bronze Bomber”, finally happened and it did not disappoint!

Talk of the Wilder versus Fury match had been on people’s lips since their first fight on the 27 September 2018, in which the two undefeated heavy weight boxers were given a split-decision draw result.

In the first fight, Wilder threw 430 punches but only landed 71 (16.5%). Whereas Fury threw less punches with the count of 327 but landed more with the count of 84 (25.7%). Yet, Wilder threw a considerably higher amount of powerful punches, 182 punches, to Fury, 104 punches. Fury won 8 rounds out of the twelve. But in the 9th and 12th round, Fury was knocked down, yet miraculously stood back up to face his toughest component yet.

The result of the fight caused a lot of controversy between the boxers themselves; Wilder said “I think with the two knockdowns I definitely won the fight”, Tyson Fury said “I was on the ground twice but I truly believe I won that fight, and I think everyone in here did too.” Opinions and arguments also sparked

from boxing fans all over the world. Popular sporting Youtuber Brian Davis, more famously known as ‘True Geordie’, shared his thoughts in his recent video ‘Wilder vs Fury 2- the Geordie Preview’; “Fury was robbed, in my opinion, he had that decision even with two knockdowns”.

Between the first match in late 2018, and the second match in early 2020, both heavyweight boxers gained weight. Tyson Fury gained 16.5 pounds, weighing in at 273 pounds. Wilder gained a similar amount of 18.5 pounds, weighing him as 231 pounds, his heaviest weight yet.

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This is a hard fight to call [be]cause they are each others kryptonite, they’re perfectly balanced to counter each other

Before the second match, Furys boxing record was 30 fights, 29 wins, 20 wins by knockout, 1 draw (with Wilder). Wilder however had a much more intimidating record of 43 matches, 42 wins, 41 wins by knockout, 1 draw (with Fury). In their first and second fight, Wilder put his title of the WBC heavyweight champion on the line, and Fury defended his title of the Lineal

World Heavyweight champion.

Betbull’s odds for the second match between the Bronze Bomber and the Gypsy King were: 11/8 on Wilder to win by knockout. 5/1 on Fury to win by knockout. True Geordie, who has been following their journey, states that “this is a hard fight to call [be]cause they are each other’s kryptonite”, “they’re perfectly balanced to counter each other”, which was evident in both their first and second fight.

The long-awaited and much anticipated second fight between the Gypsy King and the Bronze Bomber finally came to the UK screens in the early hours of Sunday 23rd February 2020. The second fight, however, took a completely different turn to the first one.

Wilder threw 141 punches, yet only landed 31 (22%). Fury, on the other hand, truly avenged the split-decision draw of the last fight by throwing 267 punches and landing 82 (30.7%).

Out of the 82 punches landed

by Fury, 52 of them were powerful. Whereas, Wilder, a boxer renowned for his one punch knockout, only landed 18 powerful punches on Fury.

Shock and applause filled the Las Vegas stadium early in the fight as the Bronze Bomber got

5 Champions Leagues to his teammates.

Barcelona should be favourites to defeat Napoli but they too have struggled with injury problems this season, in regard to losing Luis Suarez.

Napoli have a fearsome home record in the Champions League and will look to exploit any mental weakness Barcelona have after letting a lead slip in their last two Champions League campaigns.

Out of the 8 ties, the most exciting will be between reigning Premier League champions, Manchester City, and Real Madrid, who won 3 Champions Leagues in a row between 2016-8. City have recently been banned from the competition for two years, meaning they have a greater desire to win this matchup.

In terms of team depth, City

seem to be stronger, yet Real Madrid have something which Man City lack: experience.

Madrid have won a record number of 13 Champions Leagues while City have never even been to the final.

The Madrid players know what it takes to win this competition and they have the support of their fans, whereas City’s fans have never seemed to take to the Champions League. In this contest between Guardiola and Zidane Real Madrid will likely manage to come out on top in a very close game.

The first leg of Chelsea vs.

Bayern Munich and Napoli vs.

Barcelona will take place on February 25, while Lyon vs.

Juventus and Real Madrid vs.

Manchester City will occur the next day on February 26. All second-leg games are between March 10 - 18.

Higor Douglas knocked down, with less than 40 seconds left in the third round, after taking a brutal right-hand to the head. Fury raised his fists in celebration as Wilder jumped back quickly to his feet, in almost disbelief.

Fury didn’t stop there as 1 minute and 10 seconds into the fifth round, Wilder got knocked down from a body shot. “Deontay does not look stable on his feet right now” said a BT commentator after Fury scored his second knockdown of the match.

In the sixth round, with less than 20 seconds left, Fury pressed Wilder into the ropes and seemed to lick the blood off his component’s neck. In the lead up of the fight, Fury said he wanted to “taste blood” which he certainly followed through with.

Then 1 minute and 39 seconds into the 7th round, Wilder’s corner threw in the towel and Fury took victory, keeping his record as an undefeated heavyweight boxer. The Gypsy King remained the Lineal Heavyweight Champion and took Wilder’s title of the WBC Heavyweight Champion of the World. In spirit of his victory, Fury broke out in rendition of “American Pie”, and the whole arena sung with him.

Wilder was clearly disappointed with his team and after his defeat he said, “The best

man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel and I was ready to go out on my shield.”

Wilder was then taken to hospital to have his injuries seen to. In the post-fight Press Conference, Fury said “can’t wait for the next fight, the rematch, hopefully, if he wants it.” So maybe these two heavyweight boxers will fight again.

But it goes without saying that Tyson Fury’s journey is one of the greatest in boxing. From his 31-month break from the sport, in which he went from 260 pounds to 400 pounds.

Then battling issues with mental health, alcoholism and drug addiction, to now be named the undefeated WBC heavyweight champion, after defeating Deontay Wilder less than 2 years later, is incredible.

Layton Dudley