Lent Issue 2 by The Cambridge Student

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02 February 2017 Vol. 18 Lent Issue 2 www.tcs.cam.ac.uk

Student

Possible lead emerges in Regeni case, one year on

• •

Colleges fly flags for LGBT History Month

Footage of Regeni aired by Egyptian state TV

Matt Gurtler

The Girton student was accused of being a spy

ainbow pride flags are being flown on flagpoles across Cambridge colleges to celebrate the beginning of LGBT History month. Emmanuel College have erected a second flagpole next to the original at the front of the college in order to do so, having initially rejected the proposal and instead offering the compromise of lighting up the chapel in rainbow colours. They will now do this, as well as fly the flag, for the entirety of the month. Emmanuel LGBT+ Officer, Katie Nelson, commented: “It’s extremely important that LGBT+ students feel welcome at university: for many it is the first place they begin to be themselves. “Unambiguous and symbolic gestures such as these are particularly poignant during this uncertain political climate and I hope other colleges follow next year.” Other college reps have taken similar attitudes to the celebrations and pushed for their colleges to fly a flag. Jesus College LGBT+ Officer, Holly Bracewell, was surprised by the positive attitde from college authorities. “It’s fantastic that Jesus are letting us display the flag; we thought we would face some difficulty but the college has been very supportive!” Flag-flying during LGBT History month has caused controversy in recent years, but more colleges are embracing the practice. Peterhouse has flown the pride flag for the first time this year.

Reetika Revathy Subramanian News Editor

ig yellow flags calling for ‘Verità per Giulio” (truth for Giulio) continue to fly a year after Cambridge student Giulio Regeni was found murdered in Egypt on 3 February 2016. The year was marked by stark silences, seared diplomatic ties, political upheaval and people’s protests demanding justice. However, the question as to who killed Regini and why remains. On the eve of the anniversary of Regeni’s disappearance on 24 January 2017, the Egyptian state television aired video footage of Regeni, which was purportedly taken secretly by Mohammed Abdullah, head of an unofficial street vendors union. Abdullah reportedly submitted the video to the police, a few weeks before Regeni’s disappearance, claiming that he suspected him to be a “spy”. Regeni was undertaking research on trade unions in Egypt. “I’m a researcher, and as for myself, I want to research the project, that’s what’s important,” Regeni is heard saying in the heavily edited video. “And what I want for you, the street vendors’ union, is to get money in an official way, according to the project.”

For the Italian prosecutors, this video serves as an initial breakthrough for furthering investigations into the role of the Egyptian state in Regeni’s torture and murder. In the midst of these investigations, students, researchers and activists continue their fight to bring the murderers to justice. Through banners, street vigils, and discussions, protestors are striving tirelessly in the UK and Italy to find out what exactly transpired between the day Regeni went missing and when his mutilated body was found deserted. “I feel very strongly that Giulio Regeni was a member of our community, the University community, but also the local community,” said Liesbeth ten Ham, a spokesperson for Amnesty International (Cambridge City). “We need to stand up for him, show our solidarity with his parents and with other victims of enforced disappearances in Egypt and elsewhere,” she added. The University is leaving no stone unturned with risk assessments for students setting forth on research field trips. “Students undertake a full risk assessment, follow the Foreign Office guidelines on advice to travellers,” said a University spokesperson. For the first time in the college’s history, Peterhouse flew the rainbow flag to mark the start of LGBT History Month on 1 February Image: Will Tilbrook Investigations page 4-5 →

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

News

Editorial Team 02 February 2017

Volume 18 • Lent Issue 2

Editor-in-Chief

Will Tilbrook

Deputy Editors

Lili Bidwell Sophie Dickinson Joanna Taylor

News Editors Deputy News Editors

Reetika Revathy Subramanian Khushali Dodhia Matt Gurtler Prishita Maheshwari-Aplin Abby Watson

Science Editors

Ned Booker

Features Editors

Noella Chye Caithlin Ng

Comment Editors

Matthew Harris Molly Moss Harry Robertson

Interviews Editor

Hannah Brown

Theatre Editors

Joe Richards Gemma Sheehan

Music Editor

Pippa Smith

Fashion & Beauty Editor

Octavia Akoulitchev

Lifestyle Editor

Amiya Nagpal

Food & Drink Editor

Emer O’Hanlon

TV & Film Editor

Eliza Dickinson

Chief Sub Editors

Howard Chae Cait Findlay Dom Waters William Grace

Sub Editors

Beatrice Obe Stevie Hertz Jessie Mathewson Tom Bevan Urvie Periera

Staff Illustrator Directors

BEATRICE OBE

You are my sunflower

The Cambridge Student takes complaints about editorial content seriously. We are committed to abiding by the Independent Press Standards Organisation rules and the Editors’ Code of Practice enforced by IPSO, and by the stipulations of our constitution. Requests for corrections or clarifications should be sent by email to editor@tcs.cam.ac.uk or by post to The Editor, The Cambridge Student, Cambridge University Students’ Union, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX. Letters to the Editor may be published.

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The Cambridge Student • 02 February 2017

News

Anglicising names could reduce bias

A study shows that anglicising foreign-sounding names is of benefit in academia Abby Watson Deputy News Editor A study conducted at the University of Kansas has suggested that anglicising a foreign name might reduce the possibility of bias against foreigners, reports Times Higher Education. The study, entitled ‘“Welcome to the U.S.” but “change your name”? Adopting Anglo names and discrimination’, is authored by PhD student Xian Zhao and Professor Monica Biernat. It will be published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in May 2017. It is described as “a field experiment and a lab experiment” which “investigated how White Americans react to foreigners who present themselves either using original names or Anglo names”.

analysis of the responses revealed that use of the Chinese name led to fewer responses and agreements to meet than use of the anglicised name. There were disparities within the results of the use of the name ‘Alex’, however. The likelihood of an agreement to meet when the name ‘Alex’ was used was only increased among associate professors. These professors were more likely to agree to meet students overall. The authors of the study suggested that associate professors, at the peak of their academic career, might be less worried about the potential impact of graduate students on their careers. They would therefore be less likely to differentiate between requests from

graduate was hired. Accordingly they graduate students. The second test was designed were asked to complete an evaluation to examine how beliefs about on 12 measures. These included adaptation to American culture, overall effectiveness of explanations, Replacing ‘Xian’ with enthusiasm, and levels of interest and ‘Alex’ improved graduate understanding. They were also asked to state whether they would attend training prospects the graduate student’s future lectures and to indicate whether they would multiculturalism impact preferences recommend hiring the graduate. The name preference of the for names. A recording of a lecture by an international graduate student was undergraduates in this test would presented to 185 white undergraduates. reveal their perceptions of how people The lecturer was either referred to as should adapt as they transition into a new culture. The anglicised name Jian or John. Undergraduates were led to believe was preferred among those who were that their evaluations on the graduate’s “high in assimilationist and low in teaching would affect whether the multicultural ideologies”, whereas TULANE PUBLIC RELATIONS

91% Percentage of undergraduates who remembered an anglicised name. compared with 82% for a Chinese name.

In the first study an email from a Chinese student asking for a meeting discussing graduate training was sent to 419 white professors. The names ‘Xian’ and ‘Alex’ were both used. An

the opposite was true for those low in assimilationist and high in multicultural ideologies. Here, someone “assimilationist” in ideology refers to a person who advocates or participates in racial or cultural integration. In contrast, someone high in “multicultural

Advocates of multiculturalism are more likely to prefer original names over anglicised names ideologies” refers to someone who is more tolerant of a society being composed of several different cultural or ethnic groups, which retain much of their particular identity, as opposed to complete cultural assimilation. On a more practical note, respondents were more likely to remember their lecturer’s name if it was anglicised. 91% of undergraduates remembered the anglicised name, whereas 82% remembered the original Chinese name. This possible solution to reducing inadvertent prejudice broadens the scope of research published in the UK by an all-parliamentary group on race and community in December 2012. It showed that women who anglicised their names on job applications had to send half as many job applications before being invited for interview. Another possible solution to this bias, however, is anonoymous application processes.

Breitbart to students: ‘Help build the wall’ Art stolen by Nazis given to Museum Joanna Taylor Deputy Editor Far-right Breitbart journalist Milo Yiannopoulos, who was last year permanently banned from Twitter for inciting the harassment of actress Leslie Jones, has attempted to contact students at Wolfson College to support Trump’s building of a wall between the US and Mexico. The technology editor tried to send an e-mail to Wolfson students with the subject line ‘MILO and Crew Build the Wall’, along with a video taken from the website and the words: “Even Daddy isn’t totally immune from public sector bureaucracy and delays. So we’re giving him a head start!” A screenshot of the e-mail request was obtained by the blog Violet. Milo Yiannopoulos dropped out

Milo Yiannopoulos was a Wolfson student

of Manchester University before studying English at Wolfson College for two years. He was asked to leave in 2010 because, according to him, he spent more time “shagging and drinking” than attending supervisions or submitting essays. Whilst a student, Yiannopoulos wrote biting theatre reviews for The Tab, a profession he intended to pursue before following his interest in writing about techology and commenting on controversial social issues. Yiannopoulos also recently hit headlines after his book deal with Simon & Schuster prompted a number of writers, including feminist Roxane Gay, to boycott the company. His attempt to recruit support amongst Wolfson students was blocked, however, by e-mail monitors.

Matt Gurtler Deputy News Editor A 16th century painting, once stolen by the Nazis, has recently been given to the Fitzwilliam Museum. It has been on display in the museum’s Spanish gallery since 2001, but only on loan. It is now the permanent property of the Fitzwilliam. The painting itself is a panel from a larger altar piece, attributed to the unnamed ‘Master of St Christopher meeting the Devil’, named after this painting. According to legend, St Christopher lived in the third century AD and desired to serve the greatest leader possible. He believed this to be the devil. However, when he saw that the devil cowered before images of the cross, he realised that the devil was not the greatest master possible and

The painting’s permanent residence is now the Fitzwilliam

instead began to serve God. The Nazis acquired the painting when they arrested vocal opponent to Nazism, Karl Motesiczky, in Vienna in 1942. Motesiczky died of Typhus in Auschwitz a year later. After the war, Motesiczky’s mother – who had fled to England with her daughter, Marie-Louise, to escape Hitler’s regime – contacted the Bavarian State Art Collection, who had acquired the painting, to request its return to her family. The painting was the property of the Motesiczky family until 1996, when it was acquired by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Fund. The transfer of the painting to permanent residence in the Fitzwilliam was completed shortly before this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day which was on 27 January.

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Investigations

Calls for justice for Regeni continue “This was a crime that resonated not only across Cambridgeshire, but also Italy and the whole of Europe.”

Reetika Revathy Subramanian News Editor

ne year on, their questions remain unanswered, memories remain painful, but determination remains unhindered. For friends, family, researchers, and activists, unearthing the truth behind POLIS student Giulio Regeni’s murder remains their one-point agenda. Through vigils across Italy and the UK, peace protests, public meetings and signature campaigns, there is increasing pressure on the Egyptian government to undertake a thorough investigation in the murder. “We will continue to campaign until the truth for Giulio Regeni is uncovered through a fair trial, and the perpetrators convicted,” said Liesbeth ten Ham, social media coordinator for Amnesty International (Cambridge City). “Nobody and no parent should go through this and there should be no impunity for heinous crimes like this,” she added. Regeni, who was a PhD student at Girton College, was found murdered by the

A vigil will take place on Friday near Great St Mary’s Church

roadside in Cairo, nine days after he went missing. He had been living there since November 2015, researching trade union activities. The investigations, spanning three countries – Egypt, Italy and UK – are still open. A year later, the details of Regeni’s death remain a mystery, although traces of the truth have started to appear. After their initial claims that Regeni died in a road accident, Egypt’s investigators admitted only recently that they put Regeni under surveillance after they received a complaint from a representative of the street vendors union, who thought him to be a spy. “People in Cambridge were deeply shocked by Giulio’s brutal death. But this was a crime that resonated not only across Cambridgeshire, but also Italy and the whole of Europe,” said Alex Mayer, local MEP, while speaking to the supporters gathered in Market Square to commemorate Human Rights Day in December last year. At Cambridge, students and researchers have come forward in huge numbers seeking justice as well as assurances of

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CAMBRI

‘academic freedom’ while undertaking field research in hostile countries. “Yesterday it was him, today it could be any one of us,” said one student who participated in the cycle vigil on January 25, the day which Regeni went missing. Carrying yellow balloons and banners while calling out to the authorities to step up their investigations, the particpants cycled from Clarkson Road to the University Library. Regeni’s own bicycle, which had a note reading, ‘Giulio Regeni Returning: March 2016’, presumably one that he had left behind, was also ridden through the city before the chapel service in Girton College. The campaign is aimed at speaking on the larger implications of human rights violations and forced disappearances in Egypt over the years. “Hundreds of university staff have been involved in the campaign,” said Waseem Yaqoob, Branch Secretary, University and College Union (Cambridge). “Progress has been made in the investigations since the beginning, but this is not enough,” he added.

COMMENT: Regeni’s death is the tip of the iceberg of Egyptian violence

Liesbeth ten Ham Social Media Coordinator, Amnesty International (Cambridge City)

iulio Regeni was an ordinary person, a PhD student in Cambridge. A year on, not enough progress has been made in the case because there hasn’t been a conviction of those responsible for his disappearance and torture after a fair trial. The Egyptian authorities deny all the allegations and have come up with several accounts of what happened to him, which all lack in credibility. The fact that they have failed to provide vital evidence to the Italian authorities is worrying to say the least. It has been the Italian authorities who have been very outspoken on his case and have even recalled their ambassador. The signs of severe torture on Giulio Regeni’s body are the hallmarks of the Egyptian security forces. It is very important to understand that many, many ordinary Egyptians disappear and are tortured. Amnesty International’s report found that the similarities between his

Many Egyptians disappear and are tortured

injuries and those of Egyptians who died in custody suggests that his death is just the tip of the iceberg, and could be part of a wider pattern of enforced disappearances by NSA and other intelligence agencies across Egypt. The Egyptian authorities are reluctant to allow an independent investigation, which I believe is most crucial. Amnesty is calling on the Egyptian president to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate these serious human rights violations of torture and enforced disappearances and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. Amnesty International in Italy established the Truth for Giulio campaign with the support of his parents. In Cambridge, hundreds have also taken part in protests or signed petitions in support of the campaign. Cambridge City and Cambridge University branches of Amnesty International are working with local trade unions including the University and College Union (UCU), the National Union of Journalists, and with Cambridge University Student Union and Egypt Solidarity Initiative, to continue the campaign for truth for Giulio and justice for Egypt’s disappeared. The UK government has come out with a statement and Daniel Zeichner MP is very supportive of the campaign. The Italian government

has, however, been the most vociferous and I think that is an example all governments should follow. We will continue to campaign until the truth for Giulio Regeni is uncovered through a fair trial, and the perpetrators convicted. Nobody and no parent should go through this and there should be no impunity for heinous crimes like this. We will be writing solidarity cards to Giulio Regeni’s parents, but are also calling on Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek to work with the Italian authorities to find out what happened to Giulio Regeni. We’re organising several meetings as Cambridge City Group, but anybody can write a card or an appeal letter, alone or as part of group of friends. I feel very strongly that Giulio Regeni was a member of our community, the University community, but also the local community. We need to stand up for him, show our solidarity with his parents and with other victims of enforced disappearances in Egypt and elsewhere. We, the ordinary people of Cambridgeshire, need to add our voice to this campaign, not just because he was one of us, but also because it could be any of us. To mark the first anniversary since Regeni’s body was found, a vigil near Great St Mary’s Church has been organised for this Friday.

Clockwise from top: Human Rights Day (De supporting the Truth for Regini campaign; t municipal councillors at the Palazzo Marino

The Cambridge Student • 02 February 2017

Investigations

e as questions remain unanswered

IDGE CITY GROUP VIA FACEBOOK

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL VIA FACEBOOK

INTERVIEW: Waseem Yaqoob, Union Representative of Department of Politics and International Studies Reetika Revathy Subramanian News Editor

COMUNE DI MILANO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

It has been a year since the incident. Do you think enough progress has been made on ground? No, we do not think enough progress has been made on Giulio’s case. The Egyptian government needs to co-operate more fully with the Italian investigatory team and allow a full and serious inquiry with an international component. Progress has been made since the beginning of the investigation, when the Egyptian authorities were being very obstructive: the police officer originally chosen to lead the investigation, for example, was himself a convicted torturer. But this is not enough. Justice has not been done. However, although there has been little progress, an international Truth for Giulio/Justice for Egypt’s Disappeared campaign is well underway and making progress in leveraging pressure against the Egyptian government, both directly and through the Italian – and hopefully in due course, the British – government.

“The Egyptian government needs to cooperate more fully”

In terms of campaigning, what has been the journey so far? What are the main objectives of the campaign, and

AMNESTY INTERNATION CAMBRIDGE CITY GROUP VIA FACEBOOK

ecember 10 2016) Truth for Giulio Regeni rally; CUSU president Amatey Doku the mayor of Milan Giuliano Pisapia with the President of the City council and o, Milan’s city hall; Truth for Giulio Regeni rally in Cambridge in April 2016.

who are the stakeholders involved? As you can see, the stakeholders are numerous: Giulio’s parents, Amnesty Italy, numerous Italian civil society organisations, Amnesty UK, UCU and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Last year, the UCU passed a motion at UCU’s national congress encouraging all UCU branches to work with Amnesty on the campaign. Following this the NUJ signed up to do the same, campaigning both over Giulio’s disappearance and the crackdown on journalists and NGOs in Egypt which report on violations of human rights. There have been several statements in the press claiming that the University is not completely supportive to the probe. They have, however, consistently defended themselves. Why? The Egyptian authorities are the reason for the investigation stalling. We are not parties to the judicial investigation so we cannot speculate on what the University has or hasn’t done. But it is worth bearing in mind that hundreds of University staff have been involved in the campaign, and we hope continue to be so, in collaboration with UCU and Amnesty.

New considerations and boundaries set out for Cambridge students travelling to undertake research Reetika Revathy Subramanian News Editor

t a time when questions related to POLIS student Giulio Regeni’s death continue to remain unanswered, several University students and researchers have been chalking out new boundaries of “risk’” and also ‘“academic freedom”. While some students have chosen to undertake interviews over Skype instead of going to ground zero, others are revisiting their questionnaires to ensure they are not “too intrusive or problematic”. “It is not paranoia, but just that I would want to ensure that I don’t cause any harm to any of my respondents or myself,” said a PhD student from Sidney Sussex College. Another post-graduate student at POLIS added: “It is very important to be aware of the larger socio-political contexts of the places we are working in, and the issues we are engaging with. It is not just a University project; it has much wider implications.” At its end., the University is also leaving no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring complete safety.

“Academics need protection for democracy to flourish”

“All Cambridge students studying abroad are required to undertake a full risk assessment and to follow the Foreign Office guidelines on advice to travellers. Students’ plans are not approved unless they have a robust risk assessment in place,” said a University spokesperson. The fears may be justified considering the alarming statistics of scholars who have fallen prey to these hostilities. According to the New York-based nonprofit, Scholars at Risk (SAR), Regeni’s death is the nineteenth attack on academic freedom recorded in the past three years. Earlier this month, while commenting on this pressing concern of academics and researchers working in hostile conditions, local MEP Alex Mayer said. He explained “Giulio’s murder also raises wider questions about academic freedom. British researchers have long travelled the globe undertaking vital fieldwork in difficult locations where there are unstable governments or where authoritarian regimes are in power.”

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

College Watch

Images: Jessica McHugh

Churchill

Margaret Thatcher’s personal papers for 1986 have gone on display at the Churchill College Archives Centre for the first time. The papers, which amount to 40,000 in total, detail the Westland affair in which the Prime Minister clashed with Defence Minister Michael Heseltine over whether to opt for European or US help in a rescue package for the UK’s last helicopter manufacturer. Both sides used the press against each other until Heseltine resigned and, in 1990, launched a leadership bid against Thatcher. The papers on display include a letter Thatcher wrote, but never sent, to the Minister shortly before his resignation, offering him an ultimatum to drop his opposition or leave office. They also include a warning from Stephen Sherbourne, Political Secretary: “People want Prime Ministers to be in charge and they expect that from you.” The Churchill Archives Centre is also home to 3,000 boxes of Winston Churchill’s papers, as well as some belonging to Ernest Bevin, John Major, Rosalind Franklin, and Neil Kinnock. Joanna Taylor

Pembroke St Edmund’s

The guest speaker at the Master’s Seminar on 1 February 2017 was Pembroke alumni Sir John Chilcot, who spoke about his spearheading of the Inquiry into the Iraq War. Around 100 Pembroke students, academics and guests gathered in the Old Library, on the invitation of Master Chris Smith for the speech. Speaking about the team who chaired the Inquiry, he said: “You wouldn’t get away with anything in that company.” There was “a real sense of personal loyalty” amongst them and “never a single leak”. Much of Chilcot’s speech focussed on lessons learnt. “If you’re going to join a war [...] you really have to get, in the modern world, your own people behind it. You must not rely on political advocacy to the general public.” He also went on to say that “I don’t believe any single minister should be exposed to any [..intelligence...] without a bit of training.” “Deep down, I’m not optimistic”, Chilcot admitted. The Brexit vote “killed off ” a lot of potential publicity for the inquiry. Joanna Taylor

An application for planning permission to demolish offices and build student accommodation for St Edmund’s in their place has been recommended for approval. The scheme proposes the building of more than 243 en-suite rooms, as well as 24 studios in place of the 1970s office block, Mount Pleasant House, which would have to be demolished. The development is at the end of Huntingdon Road. The en-suite rooms will be arranged in groups of eight with shared kitchens and dining areas, which will be on the corners and gables of the accommodation block. The en-suite rooms would be for undergraduates, whereas the studios would be available for academics or postgraduate students. The Cambridge City Council’s planning meeting took place on 1 February 2017 and the final result as to the recommendation being approved is yet to be confirmed. The recommendation report stated that the development would successfully meet a demand for student housing. Abby Watson

King’s

21 pianos will be given by King’s College to local schools and other community groups based on an online application process. The pianos will first be used in a special concert in the famous chapel on Tuesday 21 February. The piece of music to be performed is entitled Nocturne for 21 Pianos. Each of 21 pianists will perform a reworking of Chopin’s Nocturnes. Each piano will be positioned in the centre of the chapel so that together they form a circle. The group of pianists will be made up of students from the University, along with other musicians from areas surrounding Cambridge, such as Saffron Walden. Millers Music have provided all the pianos to celebrate its 160th anniversary. Richard Causton, King’s College fellow in music, has been involved in organising the event. Speaking to Cambridge News, he said: “This is a unique event for King’s College Chapel and the sight and sound of 21 pianos in this wonderful space promises to be really memorable.” Matt Gurtler

The Cambridge Student • 02 February 2017

News

Teaching Excellence Framework welcomed amid CUSU opposition Khushali Dodhia Deputy News Editor

Silver, or Bronze rating in May 2017. The influence of student satisfaction on the award a university receives will be limited, according to Husbands. Earlier this week, CUSU became the 25th student union to support a boycott of the National Student Survey (NSS) by a margin of 35 to 3, due to the impact it could have on TEF2 ratings. In a statement on its website, CUSU asked finalists not to fill out the NSS because it “is directly linked to the Teaching Excellence Framework”. It added: “Alongside looking at employment and retention statistics, the government will use the data from the NSS to allow the University to raise fees, initially in line with inflation. “If the government succeeds then by 2020 students are likely to be paying around £10,000 a year to attend university with no cap in sight.”

Because the NSS requires a 50% response rate to be valid, CUSU is “confident that invalid NSS results will frustrate the implementation of TEF in the future and demonstrate clearly how easily the metrics can be manipulated”. But Professor Husbands told the House of Commons earlier this week that assessors will “not be overweighting the NSS” when calculating the rating an education provider should receive, reported Times Higher Education. Commenting on Cambridge’s decision to participate in TEF2, a University spokesperson told The Cambridge Student: “Cambridge welcomes the government’s desire to recognise teaching excellence, and supports the continued emphasis on a higher education system that embeds principles of diversity, choice and quality.”

he Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has revealed 80% of the UK’s higher education institutions have 80% of signed up to Year Two of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF2). universities 134 out of the UK’s 167 higher have signed education providers, including every English member of the Russell Group, up to TEF2 will take part in the scheme, which will allow certain institutions to increase their fees in line with inflation. According to the HEFCE’s website, a total of 299 universities, colleges, and alternative providers of higher education have chosen to participate in TEF2. 65 of these will receive a provisional award, because they lacked sufficient data to be fully assessed. The vast majority are English, with ANDREW DUNN VIA SIMPLE WIKIPEDIA five Scottish, seven Welsh, and no Northern Irish institutions signing up to the scheme. The TEF Chair Professor Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor at Sheffield Hallam University, said, that he was “delighted that so many institutions have responded to the TEF”. He added, “As chair of the panel, I’m looking forward to engaging with the detailed applications from universities and colleges across the United Kingdom”. Participating higher education providers will now be assessed by a panel comprising academics, students, and employers, who will take into account factors including graduate employment and student retention rates before awarding institutions a Gold, Students could be paying up to £10,000 a year in tuition fees by 2020 with no cap in sight.

Cambridge rough sleeping rate doubled in 2016 Khushali Dodhia Deputy News Editor

he number of people sleeping rough in Cambridge hit a record high last year, according to new figures released by the Government. Statistics from the Department for Communities and Local Government estimate that there were 40 people sleeping on the streets of Cambridge in the autumn of 2016, more than double 2015’s figure of 18, and four times higher than in 2014. The city’s rate of rough sleeping is one of the highest in England, at 0.8 per 1,000 households, compared to the national average of 0.18. The number of rough sleepers across England has increased every year since 2010. Nationally, there were

4,134 people sleeping rough in autumn 2016, a 16% increase compared to the previous year. The figures reveal that six of Cambridge’s rough sleepers were female, but the ages and nationalities are not recorded. Discussing the increase in rough sleepers, Barry Griffiths, from Cambridge’s only emergency accommodation provider Jimmy’s, told Cambridge News: “The pressure brought from such an increase does indeed impact on Jimmy’s in terms of emergency accommodation provision but we continue to move people on into suitable accommodation to try to alleviate the rough sleeping issue. “We don’t believe that there is one particular driver that is resulting in more visible rough sleepers, the shortfall in both affordable and social

Rough sleeping rate one of highest in England

housing plays a part, as does certain social pressures on individuals at the current time.” In December, Cambridge City Council was awarded £390,000 of government funding for the next two financial years to support longstanding rough sleepers. Councillors also approved grants for 2017-18 of over £720,000 for homeless charities and organisations, including the YMCA and the county council. Griffiths said: “I think the City Council, in conjunction with their partners such as ourselves, provide good services across the city to maximise the support to those finding themselves on the streets.” “We are part of a jigsaw of services that work closely together to provide support for those people that need it the most.”

NEWS BULLETIN Flu outbreak closes two wards at Addenbrooke’s hospital The medical director of Cambridge University Hospitals Trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s, is urging patients to stay away from the hospital in all non-emergency cases due to a flu outbreak. Two wards are currently closed and all beds in the hospital are full. The virus is reported to have spread all over the hospital, infecting 59 patients and present even in public areas, such as the concourse. Speaking to Cambridge News, the medical director, Dr Jag Ahluwalia said: “The hospital is full and we’re struggling to cope with demand […] For coughs, colds and flu-like illnesses people are much better off at home, resting and drinking plenty of fluids. We need people to stay away from the hospital and ask themselves – do you need to be here?”

Varsity apologises to JSOC for Jared Kushner comment piece Varsity has been criticised for publishing a comment piece about Jared Kushner, adviser and son-in-law to Donald Trump and a Modern Orthodox Jew, which contains allegedly antisemitic content. The article claims that “Kushner, an Orthodox Jew with strong ties to Israel, is in a position to undo all the progress that has taken place in the Middle East over the last few years”. The article drew ire for its claim that “religion” is one of Kushner’s “conflicts of interest”, with a rebuttal published in Varsity saying: “The notion that anybody’s religion creates a conflict of interest when they serve their country is a direct attack on that religion.” Varsity has since issued an apology to the Cambridge University Jewish Society.

Cambridge is eighth most ‘international’ univeristy

Figures revealed by The Times Higher Education names Cambridge the eighth most ‘international’ university in the world, behind Oxford and the London School of Economics. THE editor, Phil Baty, commented that: “Overall the UK has the highest average proportion of international students (38 per cent) out of the 22 nations that make the list. LSE is the top university on this measure with a staggering 70 per cent of overseas students”. He went on, however, to warn that “changing attitudes and policies towards immigration” could cost both the UK and the US their top spots in the rankings. Around 11% of Cambridge students are from overseas, making up around 1,300 people from over 65 countries.

Worrying increase in use of “study drugs” by students

Studies suggest that stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin, prescribed for ADHD, are being used by 5-34% of students in US universities. Use of these drugs to boost concentration levels has been documented since 1937, but increased misuse is now particularly concerning. Students who engage in the non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NPS) miss more lectures and achieve lower marks. Yet it is not just cause and effect. Dr Amelia Arria explained to Times Higher Education: “NPS is a red flag or marker for other substance use, and perhaps more serious level of substance use involvement that is related to…academic disengagement.”

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

News

The news roundup ANIMALS

SCIENCE

Shop names Cam cat “Customer of the Year” Cambridge cat Valerie has been awarded “Customer of the Year 2016” by pet store Pets at Home, which she visits at opening time each morning. She was given the prestigious title at an awards ceremony where she also received a certificate, a collar, and an engraved name tag.

Valerie the cat was given an engraved name tag

FOOD

STEM women more likely to burn out

Cambridge market wins national award

New research from the University of North Dakota suggests that women working in university STEM departments are more likely to burn out than men, reports Times Higher Education. Professor Daphne Pederson, one of the researchers, told THE that women were more likely to describe their work as “competitive” and “chilly”.

Cambridge’s market has won the “Best Love Your Local Market event” category at the British Market of the Year Award, held last Thursday. High Streets Minister Andrew Percy commended the market for its use of social media: “From their selfie competition to the classic car rally, the promotions at Cambridge market really stood out”.

FOOD & DRINK

Hot Numbers one of Britain’s best cafés

“We have got to be visionary”

Week roundup NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED FROM TCS.CAM.AC.UK EDUCATION

Only 50 black applicants get Cambridge offers UCAS has released its data for the 2016 university entry cycle, revealing only 50 black applicants were offered places at Cambridge. The offer rate for black students was 22.2%, significantly lower than the 34.5% for white applicants. In response to the figures, a university spokesperon said that its admissions were based on “academic considerations alone”.

The number of black applicants who gained Cambridge offers for 2016 entry

POLITICS

STUDENT POLITICS

Up to 1,000 people turned out to protest President Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban” in Cambridge on Monday night, including refugee groups and former Cambridge MP Julian Huppert. Separately, Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz released a statement comdening the ban as “an affront to one of the most fundamental human freedoms”.

CUSU Women’s Campaign criticised the Union Society’s decision to debate the motion “THW Liberalise Prostitution” on Thursday night. In a statement issued before the debate took place, WomCam said that they wanted to express “disappointment with various aspects of this debate” and accused the Union of inviting “controversial” speakers to “draw a wide audience”.

Union debate slammed by WomCam

Cambridge condemns US “Muslim ban” Former MP Julian Huppert attended the protest

40 The number of skeletons architects expect to find on the New Museums site

TRANSPORT

DEVELOPMENT

James Palmer, the Conservative mayoral candidate for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, has suggested that Cambridge should have its own underground rail network. He told Construction News: “We have got to be visionary. […] We’ve got to be serious about getting people in, out and around our city in ways other than car and bus, which have their limitations.”

Archaeologists have uncovered more than 25 skeletons on the University’s New Museum’s site, which is being prepared for a major redevelopment. They said they expect to unearth up to 40 more as they spend the next month on the land, which was home to a friary between 1290 and 1538, before being closed by Henry VIII Site director Craig Cessford said: “It still has the potential for surprises.”

Skeletons discovered on Underground passageways in the city? New Museums site

LUMPI VIA PIXABAY

Hot Numbers has been listed as one of Britain’s 30 best coffeeshops by The Telegraph. The Gwydir Street branch of the independent coffeeshop and roastery was praised for its “sprawling and atmospheric” site. The café’s owner, Simon Fraser, told Cambridge News he was thrilled about the “complete surprise” of appearing on the list.

_EVANTHIA_

HOBBESNBLUE/WIKIMEDIA

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Microsoft forges ahead with holographic headset William Grace

evealed just over two years ago at a Windows 10 event, Microsoft’s HoloLens is a pair of ‘smartglasses’ designed to overlay fully-interactive holographic images onto the user’s field of view, with promised applications in gaming, design, and even virtual tourism. At first glance, this might appear a late entry into an industry already dominated by major rivals Google and Facebook, though upon closer inspection it becomes evident that Microsoft has adopted a different approach to its competitors. While the existing market is saturated with attention-grabbing ‘virtual reality’ headsets which immerse the user in an imaginary world, such as the Oculus Rift, the HoloLens integrates its display with what the wearer can already see via a combiner lens (as used in aircraft heads-up-displays), embedded into a tinted visor. It is hoped by the developers that this process of augmenting, rather than replacing, the user’s vision will lead

Science Why should I care about...

Rhinoceros Poop Ruairi Mackenzie

to the headset becoming a multipurpose productivity device, in theory moving the product away from the somewhat transient sector of novelty entertainment devices occupied by its rivals.

It is hoped the product will move away from the sector of novelty entertainment While 2016 was a big year for augmented reality, with smartphone game Pokémon Go raising its public profile considerably through use of (an albeit limited form of) the technology, it doesn’t appear that the HoloLens has had much of an impact yet. Roger Walkden, the project’s commercial lead, admitted last week that sales of headsets were in the “thousands, not hundreds of thousands”, though he went on to say “that’s fine, that’s all we need”. This isn’t particularly

surprising, however, as Microsoft is currently only offering them to developers for upwards of £2700 – not exactly pocket money prices – and these figures will be sure to increase markedly once the reduced-price commercial release occurs, no doubt helped along by planned integration with the upcoming Project Scorpio games console. This news on Microsoft’s continuing commitment to HoloLens came days after LG and Sony announced that they would no longer be producing 3DTVs, a move taken by Samsung last year, leaving no major manufacturers in the field. If Microsoft is going to be successful in their efforts they are going to have to find a solution to the problem that has claimed Google Glass, led to the decline in 3D cinema, and hampered the take-off of wearable technology: how on Earth do you make a piece of wearable technology that doesn’t make you look like a character straight out of Star Trek? NASA KENNEDY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

tepping in dog poo (or, in Cambridge, quite possibly cowpats) has always been a low point for humanity’s relations with our fellow mammals. New research from the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, however, suggests that our animal friends may be trying to communicate through their faeces, rather than just attempting to ruin your new Adidas trainers. Rather than studying cattle, Courtney Marnewech and colleagues, in a sign of the deep dedication of zoologists, examined the droppings of over 100 wild white rhinos in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. They found that the release of different odours from the rhino dung gave information about the rhino that produced it. Release of the chemical heptanal signalled the age of the rhino, and 2,3-dimethylundecane indicated whether or not females were interested in mating. White rhinos use communal pooping sites called middens, in common with a wide range of other

Female rhino scents in fake poo prompted the male rhinos to make frequent trips back to the poo pile

Buzz Aldrin trying out a Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality headset in Pasadena.

Ned Booker Science Editor

Researchers from Cambridge, China, and Germany have found one of humanity’s earliest ancestors. Humans are vertebrates (we have a backbone) but vertebrates are related to other types of animal. The way the human anus and mouth develop as embryos classifies us as deuterostomes, which is a group of animals including chordata (vertebrates and similar), echinodermata (starfish and similar). The time when a species lived is determined by looking at fossils of that species and dating the rocks and other species present nearby. During the Cambrian period (541-485 million years ago), a huge amount of biological diversification occurred and it is from rocks early in this period that the scientists discovered the millimetre sized fossils of the earliest deuterosome ever seen (which they describe as a ‘bag-like body’ with ‘a prominent mouth’), about 540 million years old.

As we develop, our relationships with our parents are important like those with our siblings. Our relationships with our pets have not been so intensely investigated. A new study published in the Journal of applied Developmental Psychology tries to implement a tool commonly used to measure the quality of humanhuman relationships (Network of Relationships Index, NRI) to those between children and their pets. The team applied this NRI to the relationships between 77 children and their pets. The study states that girls reported greater companionship conflict and disclosure with their pets than boys did, and that dog owners had the most satisfactory relationships. The group also report that the participants got more satisfaction from (and less conflict with) their pets than with their siblings. This is perhaps not surprising: although you may be disappointed that your dog can’t talk, at least it can’t argue with you.

mammals such as antelopes and coyotes. The scientists speculate that these middens probably act as “information centres” for rhinos in the area, allowing dung-dropping

Pencil leads are made of graphite, which is formed from weakly bonded layers of carbon. In 2010 the Nobel Prize was awarded for the isolation (the actual discovery of which took place in 2004) of these layers from each other using an unlikely tool – sticky tape. The individual layers are known as graphene and for the past thirteen years have been predicted to revolutionise areas from photovoltaics to printing powders, but many of these revolutions have failed to occur. Recently a team including Cambridge researchers placed single sheets of graphene onto a superconductor (a material in which the electrons pair up and can conduct electricity without resistance) and saw a different kind of superconductivity (p-wave in this case) in the sheets. This promises to be a potential route to more interesting sheet-like superconductors, although time will tell if this is a promise that graphene can keep.

rhinos to learn more about territorial ownerships and other social information, a bit like a human checking Facebook on the loo. As a final experiment, researchers created artificial versions of scents that signalled either territorial males

Release of heptanal from the rhino poo signalled the age of the rhino or in-the-mood females, and soaked fake poos in these scents. These poos were then inserted into the wild rhino middens and the responses of territorial males to them recorded. Males would become wary and ready for confrontation if presented with the scent of a rival male, and reproductive female scents prompted the rhinos to make frequent trips back to the poo pile in search of a potential partner for mating. The researchers conclude that their findings might explain why such a wide variety of mammals use middens, and suggest that the volatile odours released by the rhinos could have a wide range of applications across mammalian species. Spraying dung on your favourite mug to stop your flatmates nicking is not advised. While you might not care a great deal about it, this research shows why other rhinos care so much about their poop. The scent can tell them whether to expect a fight on their next toilet trip, or whether they’ll find a mate. PIXABAY/CHRISTELS

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Features

The Long Read: #Oscars (TryingNotToBe) So White Noella Chye Features Editor

his year’s Oscar nominations were released last week on the 24th of January, with the greatest number of minority candidates up for Academy awards to date. Six black actors and actresses in four separate films were nominated, alongside six black filmmakers. This comes after the seemingly annual reprise of the #OscarSoWhite Twitter trend, a dig at the Academy’s diversity drought. In the directing category, Barry Jenkins, is up for his work on the hugely-hyped Moonlight, which scored an impressive eight Oscar nominations in total, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and was winner of ‘Best Motion Picture - Drama’ at the 74th Golden Globe Awards. Based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, it “chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami”, according to iMDb. It joins two other black-themed Best Picture nominees, Fences and Hidden Figures, which, together, make up a third of the nine nominated films. Amongst those contending for Best Documentary Feature are Ava DuVernay’s 13th, Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro, and Ezra Edelman’s OJ: Made In America. On the acting side, the six black actors and actresses with nominations are Denzel Washington (Best Actor), Ruth Negga (Best Actress) Mahershala Ali (Best Supporting Actor), Naomie Harris, Octavia Spencer, and Viola Davis (all for Best Supporting Actress). Dev Patel, who hit close to home in his portrayal of incredible mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan in The Man Who Knew Infinity, set in Trinity College, Cambridge, is also in competition for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Lion. In the writing categories, Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, and August Wilson will

contend for Best Original Screenplay, while Moonlight’s editor Joi McMillon, an African-American woman, shares a nomination with Nat Sanders. Finally, Kimberly Steward is up for Best Picture for Manchester By The Sea. African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) President Gil Robertson IV stated, “The African American Film Critics Association is totally thrilled with the record-breaking number of nominations earned this year by actors and other creative artists of colour. AAFCA applauds the Academy’s efforts and we hope that their progress continues to reflect America’s rich diversity.” It certainly is a promising list, especially compared to that in past years: 2016 saw all white actor nominees for the second year in a row. Worse still, films with a black cast or filmmakers were sidelined. Variety.com reports: “Creed was written and directed by the black Ryan Coogler and starred a black man, but the only nominee was a white man. Straight Outta Compton had a great acting ensemble of mostly young, black unknowns, and was directed by the black F. Gary Gray. But the film’s only nomination: for its screenplay, written by two Caucasians.” The evident whitewashing was met with thousands pledging to boycott watching the awards ceremony on television, celebrities Jada Pinkett-Smith and Spike Lee stating publicly that they would not attend, and a flood of tweets labelled #OscarSoWhite on Twitter. The Academy is shaped by its members; the responsibility to increase diversity lies with those who vote for the nominees, and eventually winners. This has not gone unnoticed by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body behind the awards. Rather promisingly, they seem to have made efforts to diversify membership in recent years. The number of invitees has increased consistently, with a record 683 invitations sent in 2016. In comparison, 2015 saw 322 new members, 271 in 2014, and 276 in 2013, with yet BEATRICE OBE

Changing channels: Tr

another spike in the average of 133 for years between 2004 and 2012. In 2015, it also launched a 5-year diversity initiative called A2020, which Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs describes as “a fiveyear plan to study practices at the Academy with the aim of improving the diversity of its own staff and governance while also bringing new voices into the organization. It is also intended to encourage and to push the industry to examine its hiring practices and to begin to make changes.” The responsibility to increase diversity extends yet further. Rashad Robinson, executive director of the online racial injustice organisation Colour Of Change, puts it like this: it begins “with casting directors, studio executives, and financial backers who have a moral responsibility to support projects that tell authentic, compassionate stories that reflect the diversity of our country and to offer opportunities on screen and behind the scenes to Black film professionals, as well as Latino, Asian American, and Native American film professionals, who also remain severely under-recognized and underrepresented in Hollywood”. Diversity in the film industry goes beyond seeing non-white men on the screen. A truly diverse film industry is one where

A diverse film industry accurately represents reality

cinema is an accurate representation of reality, not of what major film production companies, see. Producers are beginning to decide which films get made by asking “What represents reality?” instead of “what will people like to see?” The Academy still faces a lack of Asian American, Native American and Latino representation. Alex Nogales, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, has stated “Latinos are outraged, our actors are not getting the opportunities to work in front of camera, and with few exceptions, in back of camera as well.” Female filmmakers face similar problems: a woman has yet to be nominated in the cinematography category. With regards to the improvements this year, the Twitterverse is still reeling with tweets ridiculing the idea of abolishing #OscarSoWhite because there are some black nominees. We are nowhere near the ideal, which is when minority nominations are so commonplace that the only discussions they spark are about cinematic quality, not what they represent politically. Then, they will truly be on equal footing with white filmmakers, actors and actresses. The Academy Awards will air on 26 February.

2 8 11

Ethical Fashion: Can it ever be aspirational? Interview: Notes at Art After Dark The Rise of Crafty Television

The Thursday Magazine

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Can ethical fashion be aspirational? Ellie Williams

was once a total sucker for fashion. I would peer at the pages of Vogue in awe – utterly entranced by each story adopted by a garment, each breathtaking editorial spun by teams of designers, editors, and photographers. I loved it all. That was, until I heard Lily Cole discussing the fashion industry, and realised just how unethical the clothes industry is. Once revealed to me, I couldn’t turn my back on the notoriously poor worker standards and environmental crimes committed by well-known brands, and yet I found it so difficult to break away from their spell. Don’t get me wrong, I have the upmost respect for Topshop. Their fashion credentials are inspiring, and their designs are gorgeous, but their business model leaves something to be seriously desired. So how do we proceed? There are, of course, countless brands targeted at more ethically conscious audiences – yet such audiences tend to be of the well to do, middleaged variety. Rosalind Jana, of the blog ‘Clothes Cameras and Coffee’ revealed to me vintage and second hand fashion’s potential to be stylish and unique. Never before had I seen someone pose for fashion week in clothes from their grandmother, accessorised with charity shop finds. She discussed other issues in the fashion industry: diversity, the problematics of high street fashion… all the while helping me to see that my love of fashion could be expressed in a far more positive way.

Movements towards sustainable and ethical fashion have been rising steadily in online circles. Major media organisations such as Dazed and ID have been keen to support movements that are diverse and body-positive, giving a platform to people like Hari Nef, Petra Collins and many others who smash the homogeneity of fashion in brave and creative ways. This taps into an increased desire to see a shaken up industry, which has spread to such an extent that even brands like H&M have started to change the way they JASON HARGROVE

advertise their clothes (see their autumn/winter 2016 campaign video). Other brands like Monki, who have long been known for their creativity and positivity, are becoming more and more popular due to their distinct aesthetic and youthful vibe. Their feminist tendencies are refreshing and a definitive part of who they are, not just a gimmicky nod to tick a box. On a more grassroots level, YouTube fashion communities, dedicated to ‘thrifting’ clothes and combining them with high street finds, have been springing up. ToThe9’s and TheLineUP are two channels who do this especially well, reflecting the power of the Internet in giving real people who love clothes a tangible influence in fashion. Of course, there is still the overwhelming problem of homogeneity when it comes to those who model our clothes and a whole host of structural inequalities built into the mainstream fashion industry. When you start to search, however, there is a whole world of positive fashion out there, inspired by a whole host of wonderful people. In mainstream brands, Internet communities, and upcoming fashion ventures, there are seeds of hope that we must support. This type of fashion, I believe, is truly aspirational, and our call for a new breed of fashion is one that will drive the industry further and further from its current destructive path.

Mapping Cambridge through music Pippa Smith Music Editor

ambridge’s contribution to the national music scene over the years is impressive. The classical music scene is flooded with notable Cambridge alumni, which is hardly surprising given the dizzying array of student orchestras, quartets, and jazz bands that play across the city. It seems that many students choose to convert their musical talents into successful professional careers, with countless classical Grammys being nabbed by Cambridge alumni over the years. The city’s (figurative) music hall of fame is filled with numerous unexpected achievements. Leslie Bricusse, a Caius alumnus, wrote hits for Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, and even the score for Dr Doolittle. And to top it all off, he even received an Academy award nomination for his work on that classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

A Caius alumnus wrote hits for Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra and even the Dr Doolittle soundtrack Cambridge graduate Delia Derbyshire, a pioneer of electronic music, mixed the original Doctor Who theme tune to give it its iconic alien feel. She is also famous for her work in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a sound effect unit at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios. Cambridge alumni working at the cutting edge of music are no rare occurences. Peterhouse spurned Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood, who went on to create some of the most iconically different music of their era.

Before this, bands such as Henry Cow and The Soft Boys made smaller, yet not at all insignificant waves for their ingenuity. Henry Cow’s music took inspiration from a myriad of musical genres to create their avant-rock style. Their music divided opinion but was nonetheless critically renowned throughout the 1970s.

Their fierce electronic sound has populated DJ sets ever since In 2004, Hot Chip, formed of Sidney Sussex and Jesus students, released their debut album, and their fierce electronic sound has populated DJ sets ever since. Similarly, the unique combination of classical and dance music saw Jesus band Clean Bandit soar to the top of the charts with their first single, ‘Real Love’. Recent hits ‘Tears’ and ‘Rockabye’ prove this trio are still at the forefront of popular music in the UK and overseas. And let’s not forget, we’ve even managed to win Eurovision! A small, Jesus-based band named The Waves went on to morph into Katrina and the Waves, who found fame with the absolute Cindies banger ‘Walking on Sunshine’. Then, in 1997, the band made a surprise

Cambridge has even managed to win Eurovision comeback with ‘Love Shine a Light’, which took Europe by storm and bagged us the top prize at everyone’s favourite international music competition.

That crowning glory has confirmed Cambridge’s vast and varied attack on the music industry as pretty much second to none. Who knows what new talent we’ll churn out to take the charts by storm in years to come? To listen to the TCS Cambridge in Music playlist, got to our Spotify account: tcsnewspaper ANASTASIA TASKA VIA YOUTUBE

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Absinthe: a drink to shape a nation Joseph Krol

RAFELLI JEAN FRANCOIS

bsinthe is not an ancient drink. Dating back only to the 1790s, it lacks the imposing longevity of either the grape or the grain. Yet, starting around 1840, it quickly became one of the biggest phenomena in French history. For sixty years, it flowed as a green undercurrent beneath most of that country’s art: almost every artist of note either depicted it or partook in it. Van Gogh cut off his ear while drunk on it. Gauguin’s bold strokes are often attributed to it. Toulouse-Lautrec even carried a cane filled with it. Édouard Manet, though not generally thought to be an enthusiastic drinker, started his career with a remarkably confident representation of its effects – ‘The Absinthe Drinker’. Painted around 1859, it depicts an alcoholic Parisian peasant named Collardet in very bleak, dark tones. While the figure himself is somewhat blurred and obscure, the almost luminescent glass beside him remains clear: we are left in no doubt as to what it has wrought. Another incongruity, his almost aristocratic top-hat and cloak suggest the arresting way in which the drink transcended

EDGAR DEGAS

the notion of class. Herein lies the real import of the work. It was thought that absinthe brought a beggar to the level of a nobleman, a nobleman to the level of a beggar, and everyone else looked on both as irretrievable reprobates. Yet for such an evocative work, it was roundly criticised at the time. It is you who have lost your moral sense,’ said Manet’s master. It was simply not a problem people were willing to face. Some twenty years later, Edgar Degas looked on the issue from a different perspective in ‘In A Café’. His powerful context of choice was a bourgeois French café, with two figures present this time: unlike Manet, he separates the class divide into two distinct people. In the centre, one sees the grey-faced Ellen Andrée, in a slightly muddied dress, staring out with a haunting emptiness. Beside her sits a man based on artist Marcellin Desboutin, with unkempt hair, a suspicious appearance and decidedly bohemian clothing. The immediate contrast between the light and the dark of the two characters suggests a feeling that the delicate, once pure woman has been tempted to some darker side; Degas seems hardly to have been a supporter of its effects. Indeed, one feels a certain underhand irony in his choice of an artist as model: while so many of his contemporaries saw the drink as a gateway to a higher level of beauty, ideals

and understanding, our artist remains a sceptic. One critic, George Moore, poignantly noted that ‘the tale is not a pleasant one, but it is a lesson’. Not long after the turn of the twentieth century, the governments of continental Europe successively resorted to banning the drink under immense public pressure. It thus dwindled in popularity throughout the twentieth century, until an enterprising firm noticed in the mid-90s that Britain had never quite got round to prohibiting it. A revival bloomed, and continues to this day. Recently, I had the opportunity to try the drink myself, after a friend of mine revealed that he had some in his room; it remains a wonderful novelty that Cambridge seems full of these people. From what little I remember of the evening, I would merely say that it was really quite a unique experience; it was quite unlike anything I had tried before. Ultimately, it was perhaps a little underwhelming - I did not suddenly lapse into delinquency, nor did I have an immediate bout of artistic inspiration. I thought it a little odd that it could have influenced a nation’s visual culture so profoundly. Yet I am tremendously glad that it did. ÉDOUARD MANET

“Millions of songs a keystroke away”:Defending Spotify Ruairi Mackenzie

he 21st century has been a tumultuous time for the music industry. The rise of digital music consumption has forced the big record labels into more costume changes than David Bowie could manage in an average tour. Whilst the industry has previously withstood changes like the move from vinyl to tape to CD with relative ease, the speed of digital innovation has proved overwhelming, causing physical music sales to plummet (despite the best efforts of hipsters to support artists by buying £24 vinyl records from Sainsbury’s). Which is why the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify, or Tidal are a welcome lifeline for the record oligopoly. The incredible flexibility of these platforms has also proved immensely popular with listeners, now accounting for 19% of music revenue worldwide. This rosy picture is somewhat clouded by the angry red noise coming from some artists, who claim that Spotify is stifling the growth of new musicians and is failing to offset losses in revenue from physical music sales. Should we accept that streaming is the only show in town? Or should fans look elsewhere to support their beloved bands?

0.1p. As well as being how much the ingredients for a chips and cheese at Uncle Frank’s cost, it’s also roughly how much an artist gets paid per stream of their track on Spotify. Ten million streams will get you £10,000. We can therefore roughly estimate that RAY BLK, winner of the BBC Sound of 2017 award, about as successful as an

0.1p – Roughly how much an artist gets paid per stream up and coming artist can be, has earned roughly £6,450 from the 6.45 million streams of her debut album Durt since its release in October. Whilst not by any means a fortune, that’s exactly £6,450 more than Drake earned from the estimated 10 million plus illegal downloads of his album Nothing Was The Same. Inarguably, artists working through the conventional “get noticed, get signed, get photographed throwing up at the Brits, profit” route are having a harder time – the number of musicians signed to major labels in the US fell 80% between 2003 and 2013 – but they would be having a far worse time if streaming had not helped reduce piracy levels from their mid-2000s peak.

Competing against “free” isn’t easy. It’s a dilemma the entire music industry faces, and has seen Hollywood leap into the protective embrace of Netflix, and newspapers implode or rebrand themselves with ad-riddled online personas. Spotify and other streamers are seen by record labels as their saviours from the spread of piracy. In this powerful position, streamers can either get into bed with fat cat record labels – Warner Music Group have expressed their deep interest in “turbo-charging” the number of Spotify listeners paying monthly fees for premium access. If they can use innovations like their immensely popular curated public playlists to make independent music available to a bigger audience, artists that choose not to take the aforementioned conventional route and release music solo,, can flourish. The same statistics which showed a huge loss in label-signed acts also showed a massive increase in independent musicians, and streamers should embrace these new entrants to the music market. Spotify puts millions of songs a keystroke away, but it’s only by resisting the urge to listen to Ed Sheeran’s latest dross for the 679th time this week and trying new music that listeners can make sure Spotify supports the musicians that really need it.

Rafaelli Je

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Bookshelf

Split: a harmful stigma

Sophie Dickinson Deputy Editor

Bronte Cook

aking time for fiction can be incredibly difficult at Cambridge (even if you’re an English student). Facing a book after a day of studying in the library can feel like far too much effort. However, settling down with a good story can be the perfect escape from a stressful life, so before it’s too far into term, put a few of these on your bookshelf to dip into before bed. Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur One for both heartbreak and happiness, this bestselling collection of poetry is a fine example of modern writing. Spanning commentary on everything from abuse to love, this is certainly a heavy read, but it is so delicate and raw, it’s impossible not to be moved. The combination of illustration and words makes this little book a delight to own. On the Road, Jack Kerouac It’s definitely full of young-creative-angst, and its self-aggrandising tone can be hard to see past at first. However, this journey across the states is sun-drenched and sex-filled, and its disregard for punctuation or grammar would make your supervisor blush. If you haven’t read this already, you’ll want to run away to Frisco as soon as you put it down – and if you have, you’ll remember your teenage frustrations and how badly you wanted to be Dean Moriarty.

This journey across the states is sun-drenched and sex-filled, and its disregard for punctuation or grammar would make your supervisor blush Keeping On Keeping On, Alan Bennett This is a huge book: over seven hundred pages long. It’s a perfect way to relax, however, as the nation’s favourite playwright records ten years of his life, from the literati lifestyle to domestic Yorkshire. Unused writing and excerpts from articles are probably more interesting than the (many) days spent at the garden centre, and the occasional descriptions of the Fitz and King’s Parade will allow you to picture his world a little bit clearer. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote Perhaps not the most relaxing read, this true story of the domestic and the criminal colliding is as scandalous now as it was in the sixties. Capote’s years of research gives the novel an intriguingly personal edge, and describes a world as far away from Cambridge academia as possible. The film Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, depicts the process of writing the book, and is an interesting portrait of both the writer and the convicted.

This true story of the domestic and the criminal colliding is as scandalous now as it was in the sixties. Nomad, Alan Partridge (or Steve Coogan) Substantially different to the other recommended classics, the most recent outing for Coogan’s fictional character takes the form of a romp around Norfolk. Utterly hilarious (and definitely not on your college reading list), the trials of this ever-ridiculous radio DJ from Norfolk never fails to entertain. The audiobook (read by the comedian himself) is as much of a gem, although you might find yourself chuckling out loud on the way to lectures. The prequel to this, I, Alan Partridge is just as brilliant.

plit is the latest psychological thriller from Shyamalan, known for his dramatic plot twists and supernatural themes. In Split, Kevin, played by James McAvoy, suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID), hosting 23 different identities and splitting between them during the film. Dennis, one of Kevin’s personalities, kidnaps three girls and holds them hostage. It becomes increasingly clear that the girls’ lives are at risk when they are warned by Kevin that ‘The Beast’, a rumoured 24th personality, is coming. Kevin, through his different personalities, is portrayed as violent, volatile, and someone to fear. DID used to be called ‘multiple personality disorder’, and is a rare mental health disorder in which someone experiences severe changes in their identity. Shyamalan has clearly done his research, using the new diagnostic term ‘dissociative identity disorder’ as opposed to ‘multiple personality disorder’. It is increasingly understood as a post-traumatic psychopathology closely related to severe child abuse that then manifests itself later in life. Kevin was a victim of abuse in his childhood and can be seen to be struggling against himself, recognising the terrible actions of ‘The Beast’ when he has returned to another identity, acknowledging the struggle that those who have DID can often face. However, this accurate depiction only goes so far. Whilst there are some psychosomatic symptoms associated with DID, Split takes them to extremes. One of Kevin’s identities, ‘The Beast’, is shown as a cannibalistic superhuman, with animalistic speed and strength. This dehumanises those who suffer from mental health illnesses, meaning viewers

will find it harder to empathise with Kevin, and distance themselves from those who suffer from DID, contributing to an image of those with mental health problems as scary and different. Kevin, through certain identities such as Dennis and ‘The Beast’, is aggressive and controlling, and the splitting between identities is shown as sinister and dangerous. In actuality, those who suffer from mental health disorders are more likely to be at risk from themselves, or from others, than they are to pose a risk to others. Figures from Time to Change show that 45% of those with severe mental illnesses are victims of crime each year. Also, specifically relating to DID, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among sufferers are high, with one study noting suicidality as a presenting symptom in nearly 70% of those with DID. Whilst this is not a documentary and sensationalism is used to make a film worth watching, film-makers need to take some responsibility for the negative depictions of mental health that they put out. Time to Change have suggested that 90% of those with mental health problems have faced stigma at some point, whether from friends and family, at work, in education or during treatment. Mental health needs to be spoken about, and exposure to characters with mental health disorders in the media in order to break the taboo and stigma surrounding it can be seen as positive. However, these exposures need to be accurate, fair, and lead to a better and more compassionate understanding of mental illness, not fuel dangerous stereotypes that put sufferers at risk.

Cambridge by night Anonymous

e are surrounded by rules continually throughout the day. Although we might ignore some – that library fine, that ‘keep off the grass’ sign, that red light you sped through on your bike – most of us remain law-abiding, rule obeying citizens. But, as Pitch Perfect 2 star Anna Kendrick once uttered in an enigmatic TV interview: ‘I love rules and I love following them... unless the rule is stupid.’ For a more highbrow citation here c.f. Chris Rea’s 2005 hit single ‘Only a fool plays by the rules’. It is with this sentiment in mind that I find myself straddled across the fence of the University’s Botanical Garden at 11pm on a Monday night. I took my tall and calm friend Mick* and my Dutch ‘I don’t give a fuck’ friend Tina*. We took with us some snacks and a warming tipple – taking advantage of a rather excellent samosa and whiskey deal on offer. Once in, we started exploring. Things looked a little eerie at first. The heating lamps in the greenhouses stay on through the night, transmitting an orange glow across parts of the garden. The trees and hedges took on a spooky quality. A particularly tall thicket became reminiscent of the Tri-Wizard maze that saw the end of Robert Pattinson. Undeterred, we ventured deeper into the garden and found magically moonlit benches and clearings where the grass twinkled with frost. Here we set up camp, breaking out the snacks and blankets and having a deep chat. Mick gave a

postmodern critique of the Sidgwick site’s architecture. Tina described her sexual awakening in Magaluf. It was refreshing to break out of the monotony of the work-eat-sleep-prescribed fun-repeat routine of Cambridge life. I am not advocating needless civil disobedience, but simply suggesting that sometimes transgression is good for us. Rules set limits; we can only push limits if we break rules. Nothing new happens if we follow the rules. Nothing new happens if you break into a botanic garden, but sometimes things are symbolic. I’ll leave you, then, with a more extended passage from Chris Rea’s 21st studio album: ‘Stick with me baby/ Try to look cool/ Cos only a fool plays by the rules.’ *Some names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved. NHSAVAGE

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Jade Cuttle: Cambridge’s Next Big Star? Pippa Smith Music Editor

ade Cuttle is a fourth year MMLer who is a keen, poetic singer and songwriter – whenever she catches a break from the demands of studying for a Cambridge degree. Music Editor Pippa Smith sat down with her to hear all about performing at the BBC, filming a music video, creative collaborations, and her inspiration. Tell us about your upcoming live session for BBC Introducing. Nervous? Excited? I’m pretty excited. I performed live on BBC Radio 3 a bit back which was much more daunting, more people to hear if you go wrong, but BBC Introducing is a bit more relaxed. Usually I play both guitar and vocals, but this time I’ve got a guitarist, Max Goodall, who’s keen to come along which takes some of the pressure off.

(director of the hilarious ‘Chip Chap’ series). We wanted to keep with the main motif of water, the chaos of currents, hinting at the emotional turbulence hidden beneath, but with a twist, so we shot the singing in a bathtub. The water was dyed black, sprinkled with petals and blossom plucked from college orchards, which became more sinister with rotting leaves, creeping vines and

JOHANNES HJORTH

Izzy Ryan

on’t get me wrong: Fitzbillies is nice, but it can’t be the only great cake around. It might be the most famous tearoom in Cambridge, but surely there are other places in this huge tourist-oriented town to score some sugary goodness. To start off the term, I embarked on a quest to find the best cake in Cambridge (that hopefully cost less than £5 a slice). Firstly, Afternoon Tease. Tucked away behind Sidney Sussex and Stickybeaks, this cute little tearoom specialises in cakes. We went for carrot cake and chocolate guinness cake. Although my friend Doris thought the second one looked “weird” after the first mouthful she let out an almost obscene moan. They were both ridiculously rich and fresh, with amazing icing. Honestly, these cakes were flawless. It was a little pricey by Cambridge standards average, about £3.50 a slice. Without sounding like I work for them, I really don’t understand why this place isn’t better known. It’s the ultimate feel-good little cafe, with a “great homely vibe”, lovely staff and, most importantly, some bad-ass cake. Next was Bene’ts, which is pretty expensive, but that’s what you expect for King’s Parade. For consistency’s sake we went for carrot cake again, paired with a salted caramel tart, for around £4 each a slice. The Bene’ts carrot cake was a bit more showy, with nuts in the icing, and about five inches tall. But it’s not all about size, and to be honest although it was fancier looking and pricier, it didn’t have anything on Afternoon Tease. Great cake, but not as varied a texture and flavour. It was just a bit plain in comparison. The salted caramel slice was also a bit disappointing. The filling was great but there was a lot of base which made it heavy without the sweetness to compensate. In all, Bene’ts was good, but maybe I was already spoilt by Afternoon Tease. Bene’ts: 7/10, Afternoon Tease: 10/10.

‘The River’ is about the River Cam isn’t it? Do you find most of your songs have a similar writing or inspirational process? What is it? I’ve never written a song where a reflection on their beauty hasn’t crept in. The song we’re working on in the studio currently is called ‘Leaves and Lovers (never lost)’. It’s from the perspective of a tree who’s lost its leaves, stripped back to bare bone, haunted by the memory of warmth like a person may be towards a past lover. And is the end aim to have songwriting and performing be your main living, or are you just testing the waters for now? Yes, I’d love to be able to pursue my creative passions in a professional context. I graduate this year so am desperately trying to do as much as I can to help make this possible before leaving Cambridge – nothing scares me more than the thought of ending up as a faceless cog in some corporate machine.

What else have you got in the pipeline at the moment? Is 2017 going to be an important year do you think? A few more BBC Introducing radio sessions lined up, some focusing on poetry and others’ music, hopefully some festivals too. I’m particularly keen to collaborate with other creative minds like photographers and filmmakers (get in touch!), and so yesterday I was filming a video to The River with Sophia Wigg from CU-TV

Taste Test: Cake

gnarled branches entwining me in this horrible murky bath.

Jade’s BBC Introducing set will broadcast Saturday 4 February 8:30pm, BBC Introducing Radio on 95.9FM/ DAB or on iPlayer.

Escape the Bubble: Ely Sophie Dickinson Deputy Editor

y week four of my first ever term at Cambridge I felt claustrophobic. Wandering through the city was certainly a thrill compared to my tiny hometown, but I yearned for a day to myself, and to be able to reflect on my new life without feeling guilty about not working. Admittedly, I didn’t really know the geography of the south east, and London seemed expensive. But after a cursory Google, I set my heart on Ely. Booking a train online for the following week was almost certainly unnecessary, but recommended if only for the psychological treat of having something to look forward to. At less than four pounds too, even the tightest budget, with a bit of forward planning, could burst the bubble quite easily.Maybe this is something to do with watching The Railway Children too many times as a child, but there seems (at least to me) to be something exciting about being on a train, and watching the city turn into fields. The trip took about half an hour, but was so refreshing – here were normal people, with normal lives, who weren’t going to remind me of the reading I needed to do or the essays that remained unwritten. Allowing myself time just to stare out of the window and think (or, in my case, think wistfully about Bernard Cribbins), was such a luxury. Ely is the perfect size for a wander – a map isn’t necessary, and an afternoon will certainly allow you to see everything. The main attraction is the cathedral – which, even if the £12 entry fee seems too expensive, is lovely simply to gaze at. The charm of Ely, for me, rests in the fact it is relatively lacking in noteworthy places to visit. I sat in a cafe for an hour; browsed the bookshops, and visited the market. Hardly thrilling, but I was finally allowing myself a full day

of relaxing (one that wasn’t a guilty Netflix binge). Late in the afternoon, I was joined by friends who’d cycled the twenty miles to meet me. On a summer day, taking a picnic out into the countryside would be lovely, but we settled for a homely pub and enjoyed the evening. Escaping the bubble to Ely was wonderful in that it gave me an opportunity to explore without guilt. In Cambridge, there is always a library close by, and therefore there’s a sense we should be in it, revising. Whilst you’re out of the bubble, however, there’s a licence to explore as much as possible. A trip to Ely would be thoroughly recommended. GWENDRAITH

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Review: Stuart: A Life Backwards Anunita Chandrasekar

tuart: A Life Backwards is a moving exploration of friendship, resilience, and the moments that irrevocably change a life. Based on the book of the same title, it explores the development of an unlikely friendship between well-meaning, slightly awkward Alexander Masters and irreverent Stuart Shorter, whom Alexander meets whilst doing volunteer work with the homeless in Cambridge and whose biography he begins to write. In Stuart’s own words he is a “Spagger. Victim. Attacker. Addict. Lover. Priest” but also, and more importantly “one of those sorts who is impossible to explain”. The play’s greatest strength lies in the way it makes the latter quality clearer, showing the difficulty of ‘explaining’ a human being, though they may superficially be stereotyped as a ‘victim’, an ‘attacker’, or merely as ‘homeless’. Though much of the publicity surrounding Stuart draws attention to the plight of the homeless in Cambridge, the play’s success hinges on its ability to transcend labels. Ben Leitch is remarkable as Stuart, nailing everything from the tics of Stuart’s muscular dystrophy to his jocular verbosity so well that the original Alexander Maters and Stuart’s mother and sister, who were in the audience watching commented after the show on how faithfully Leitch managed to portray Stuart. Jamie P Robson as Alexander provides the perfect complement to Leitch’s Stuart, self-effacing where Stuart is effusive, methodical where Stuart is intuitive and prescriptive in his view on Stuart’s life, whereas Stuart is more holistic. This leads to some amusing conflicts, including one Stuart points out Alexander has managed to make even the inclusion of joyriding – “Joy. Riding. the name implies fun” – sound boring through his enumeration of its various varieties in legal jargon. Further interactions of this kind provide both comic fodder but also bring the characters into sharper relief, interrogating

Alexander’s motivations for working with the homeless and Stuart’s chequered past. Ultimately however, the compelling chemistry between Robson and Leitch is at its best when it showcases the mutual understanding between Stuart and Alexander, which gives the play its humour as well as its element of poignancy. This combination is most evident in the speech Stuart gives, heard at both the start and the end of the play, attempting to describe himself in three words. Initially, Stuart’s meandering yarn is amusing, but by the end of the play the same speech is striking as it reminds one that, despite everything, Stuart manages to retain a sense of humour and vitality. Director Dan Sanderson navigates the non-linear structure well, making some inspired decisions that ensure the temporal transitions and flashbacks are not jarring and occasionally make use of the more immersive space at Corpus. I was lucky enough to catch a Q&A at the end of the show with the real Alexander, Stuart’s sister, and Barry, the Community Outreach officer at Jimmy’s, which provides sheltered housing for the homeless. I was struck by something Alexander said; Stuart didn’t suffer ‘homelessness’, he suffered from ‘Stuartness’. This sums up one of the things the play attempts to depict: no homeless individual can be defined solely by their homelessness and that usually it is a combination of other, latent issues that cause a person to become homeless. Homelessness is shown to be just the visible manifestation of underlying issues and, as Stuart: A Life Backwards shows, does not efface the individual humanity of Stuart and the many, many others who like him, happen to find themselves living on the streets.

9/10 IMAGE: ELISE LIMON

“A tragedy which will The House of Bernard Florence Instone

he final work of Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca, The House of Bernarda Alba is a play which explores themes of class, gender, and sexual repression. Set for its entirety in the house of formidable matriarch Bernarda (Sabrina Gilby), the play follows the Alba family during the eight-year period of mourning which Bernarda has imposed over her five daughters following the death of her second husband. Lorca notes that the play should resemble a ‘photographic document’, and Daniel Emery’s adaptation certainly stays true to this. The length of each of the three acts is long enough to allow tensions to successfully mount, while simultaneously giving the audience the sense that they are experiencing the chaos which ensues in a series of snapshots. Bernarda’s ominous presence is conveyed from the moment of her first appearance. Carrying a cane, she enters the mourning procession proudly, scolding her daughter Magdalena (Evie Butcher) for crying during the funeral service. Emotionless, her gaze

penetrates the audience, and her authority is felt through her daughters’ collective repetition of her words. The eeriness of the atmosphere is further heightened by the black of her daughters’ veils, which conceal their faces and form a stark contrast against the spotless white walls of the house. From the outset, it is evident that the girls are trapped, in both a physical and psychological sense.

It is evident the girls are trapped, both in a physical and psychological sense The set design accentuates the claustrophobia felt by the girls. High walls impose on the room, casting shadows, and the narrow windows are prison-like in their appearance, highlighting the girls’ inability to escape. Constant references to the heat serve as a reminder of the girls’ difficulty in controlling their sexual frustrations, and as the third act commences, it appears that the walls have

The Cambridge Student • The Thursday Magazine • 02 February 2017

IMAGE: ZHEN ZHEN

Review: Simone’s Speaking Service

Zoe Barnes

ometimes, one cannot help but wonder at the propensity that comedy in Cambridge might have to one day morph into an over bloated beast, in danger of collapsing at any moment under the weight of its own hubris. In this metaphor, therefore, John Tothill must be one of its gallant heroes, ready to slay the monster, or indeed any acid-tongued critic foolish enough to sit on the front row, with his highly competent and intimately realised personal brand of comedy. Five hundred words are simultaneously not enough, and too much, to describe a

It was accessible and uproariously funny

haunt the audience” da Alba Review been moved closer together – the smaller space gives the sense that the girls are truly suffocating under their mother’s control. This is particularly true of Bernarda’s two youngest daughters, Martirio (Emma Corrin), and Adela (Alice Carlill), who can no longer supress their desire for the young and handsome Pepe el Romano, the man expected to marry their older sister Angustias (Xanthe Burdett). As the rivalry over Pepe mounts, Adela becomes more and more determined to free herself from Bernarda’s grip. Her uncontrollable desire is evident in her tone of voice, as she clutches the arm of La Poncia, the housekeeper (Dolores Carbonari) and exclaims that she will do ‘anything to quench this fire which burns between my legs and in my mouth’. She becomes increasingly manic, and this is evident in her appearance: as she returns from one of her secret meetings with Pepe, her eyes wide, the audience can see twigs in her hair and creases in her white dress. Adela is no longer afraid, and by the time Bernarda finds out about her secret meetings, she is so impassioned that she reacts by

snapping her mother’s cane, crushing the symbol of Bernarda’s power with shocking ease.

As the play draws to a close, the sense of the girls being trapped only grows stronger As the play draws to a close, the sense of hysteria only grows stronger. Bernarda, blind to Adela’s state of frenzy, attempts to rid the family of Pepe for once and for all. The unintended consequence of this, however, is a tragedy which will haunt the audience even after the play’s conclusion. Expect to leave the ADC numb in the aftermath of this powerful portrayal of Lorca’s work.

10/10

show that only needs one: Flawless. Tothill performs with a high level of selfawareness, and capitalises on this to create acutely studied characters who not only function as delightful caricatures of society, but also stand up to further scrutiny. The eponymous Simone may be a religious and neglectful mother, but she is also a successful businesswoman, expounding on the joys of “alone time” with a fabulous series of innuendoes and puns. Every character created was worthy of greater exploration and further exposition. It was accessible and uproariously funny, while the careful balancing of absurdity with poignancy, unafraid to shrewdly tackle current affairs without letting them take precedence, it was inventive and brave. Tothill’s comic timing and attention to the finer details of his craft shows a high level of competence, and this means that even passing comments were delivered seamlessly – it is impossible to think of the ‘Salvation People’s militia’ or ‘Firearms themed birthday services for the under sevens’ without grinning and wondering as to the current global social and political climate that give these words their potency.

Personal highlights include the fantastically funny ‘Julian Pringle’. Here, Tothill exceeds himself with his ability to satirise the world of academia in a way that many students will know and recognise, delivering a lecture on the fluctuating populations of hornets over the long 19th century. Conversely, the ending to the show was bizarrely touching and uplifting. Voiceovers, a device to allow for changes in costume, and projections were used sparingly and successfully, and a moment of audience participation injected a further note of dynamism. If I had to reproach the show for one thing, it is that I personally love Cadbury’s Eclairs, and felt that they were the victim of an unwarranted smear campaign at the

Tothill has cemented his place at the pinnacle of Cantabrigian comedy hands of one elderly female character. With this show, Tothill has cemented his place at the pinnacle of Cantabrigian comedy and it has, I am told, sold out. Therefore, instead of beseeching you all to make your way to the Corpus Playrooms to buy a ticket, I ask something a little different, based upon my one regret of the evening... sitting on the front row, notebook nestled in my lap, I didn’t have the nerve to spearhead the standing ovation Tothill deserved. Tonight, I would dearly love it if someone could put that right and show all due respect to the beautiful performance of one of Cambridge’s least pretentious and most talented comedians.

10/10 IMAGE: AMELIA OAKLEY

02 Feburary 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Recipe: Make your own curry sauces Emer O’Hanlon Food and Drink Editor

here’s a general interest right now in making things at home that people traditionally buy in shops, whether it’s pasta or almond milk. Sometimes it’s to save money, and sometimes it’s to avoid those pesky preservatives and unnecessary additives that shop-bought products often contain. Sometimes it’s just for the fun of it – and I say this as the person who makes her own vegetable stock powder. Curry pastes fall between all categories. You end up with a much more intensely-flavoured paste without the extra sugar and other gunk you get in shop-bought products. You’ll also notice as you read the recipes that they’re all essentially very similar, with a few special ingredients in each to give it a unique taste. As a vegetarian, I don’t use shrimp paste or fish sauce in my recipes, but feel free to add some in if you’d like. I also refrain from adding onions or shallots to my paste, preferring to fry that with the vegetables instead. The method for making all these pastes is to blend the ingredients together. That’s it. If you don’t have a blender of some kind, chop the things that need to be chopped very finely, and accept that yours will be a chunkier (though no less tasty) final product. Coat stir-fried vegetables and tofu with the paste before adding coconut milk and cooking on a medium heat for about twenty minutes and voila! You have a delicious Thai curry waiting for you. Easy peasy. Green curry paste The mildest of the curry paste beasts, the green curry is a fragrant mix of coriander, chilli, and the salty umami of the soy sauce (a vegetarian substitute for fish sauce). If you can lay your hands on some Thai sweet basil, substitute ¼ cup of the coriander for it. Ingredients: ½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander 1 stalk lemongrass or 3tbsp freeze-dried 4 cloves garlic 3 inch piece of ginger 0-3 green chillies (finger chillies are the best) 1 cup fresh coriander 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp lime juice A little coconut milk to help blend it into a paste Red curry In many ways this is very similar to the green variation – but this time, it’s hot. It’s the addition of a little tomato that primarily gives this one its colour, but it’s the chilli that gives it a fiery kick. Ingredients: 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 stalk lemongrass or 3tbsp freeze-dried 4 cloves garlic 1 three inch piece ginger 1-3 red chillies 2 tbsp good quality tomato purée, passata, or 1 fresh tomato, blended 2tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp lime juice A handful fresh coriander A little coconut milk to help blend it into a paste A little extra chilli powder or chilli flakes if it isn’t spicy enough

Do yourself a favour, and make this all the time. Your taste buds (and friends) will never stop thanking you for it! Ingredients: 1 tbsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cumin ¼ tsp ground cloves 1 tsp turmeric 1 stalk lemongrass, roughly chopped(if blending; otherwise finely chopped), or 2 tbsp freeze-dried lemongrass 1 three inch piece ginger 4 cloves garlic 1-3 chillies, red or green, or your desired amount chilli flakes ½ cup roasted peanuts ¼ cup soy sauce Juice of two limes EMER O’HANLON

Massamam curry My favourite Thai dish of all time. Massamam curry is an intense flavour experience, from the richness of the roasted nuts to the tanginess of the lime to the fragrance of the clove and ginger.

Interview: Notes at Love Art After Dark Hannah Brown

his Thursday, creative magazine Notes will be collaborating with the Fitzwilliam Museum Society to launch their latest issue at the ‘Love Art After Dark’ event. Between 18:00 and 20:00, Notes will be launching their latest edition in the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Octagon Room, “away from the hustle and bustle” for what Notes’ Events and Publicity Officer, Anju Gaston, calls a “magical” evening. The collaboration will see those who have had something they’ve written published reading their work aloud in the museum – a very special experience as Editor Ronan Marron enthuses, with Anju adding, “often poetry is seen as a very solitary, introspective thing, actually at the launches. Hearing it spoken aloud just reminds you that poetry is to be listened to and shared”. The nature of the collaboration, and the fact that the ‘Love Art After Dark’ edition will be printed in full colour has allowed for more variety in the creative pieces accepted. Ronan explains that this has made it possible to include a lot of “really good art”, which is particularly exciting given the surroundings in the museum. Anju

adds, “I think it’s nice to bring that spoken word together with the visual art.” The Notes team hope that this collaboration will allow them to reach a wider audience and to widen the Notes community which they consider central to the magazine. Anju suggests that “it’s a good way of getting to know people”, explaining, “you can read someone’s work and put a face to a piece that you really like – it’s not such a superficial, small talk thing, their work is right there, a very personal piece of work – it’s a more interesting interaction.” Ronan explains that he is most excited for “the opportunity to share it with a wider group of people, even if they come into the room and listen to one poem and that’s the only poem they listen to this year”. Indeed, with over 150 submissions on the theme ‘Love Art After Dark’ received by the editors in the two weeks leading up to the event, there has already been great interest in the collaboration. Every one of these contributors will receive feedback on their work, which the team emphasises as another

important element to Notes’ special character. Ronan clarifies that this is not intended as judgement: “the feedback we give is peer feedback, it’s not saying we know what we’re doing and we’re in a position of superior judgement”. Rather, they are “very committed to help develop writing”, saying that “Notes isn’t just about making a pretty magazine, it’s also about encouraging creative writing.” But the team make clear that, though submitting work and being involved in the launches can encourage new friendships, develop confidence, and instil pride in creativity, the focus of such efforts should not be how others will receive it. Ronan encourages creators, “being good for someone else to read is only one thing poetry is good for – if it’s doing something for you, it’s doing something good. What’s important is the personal reflective element or the communicative element, that it’s telling someone something’” Anju summarises, “If it makes you feel good, make time for it.” Love Art After Dark will start at 6pm at the Fitzwilliam.

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Upcycling interview: Ben Gould

To Upcycle

Octavia Akoulitchev Fashion Editor

Lily Spicer

he average bike shop produces 40 pounds of wasted chain per month. Ridiculous? Ben Gould certainly thought so and founded LifeCycle Bracelets, a project that recycles bicycle chains into designer jewellery. What inspired you to start LifeCycle? I have always been experimenting with materials and interesting objects. I became especially interested in the parts left over at bicycle repair shops while living in Brooklyn. As I was studying industrial design at Pratt Institute, I was always on the lookout for supplies that I could integrate into my model-making and prototyping, and was amazed to find such a wealth of untapped material at every bike shop! I initially worked with the rubber from bike tire inner tubes; thinking that the bulk of used chain was just too filthy to deal with. But, when I started to manipulate the chains, I discovered a way that they could expand and contract by alternating the direction of each link. The challenge then was to see if I could make them into a continuous loop – which I discovered was not so easy. The alloys that comprise each link are made especially NOT to bend, but with some simple tool building, I developed a method to induce an even bend in every link. The resulting form was naturally appealing as a bracelet. In retrospect, I did not set out to create a bracelet, or a company, or anything in particular. I allowed myself to experiment with a material that fascinated me, and developed my own challenges and conclusions as I went along. The most difficult part of starting any creative exercise is identifying the problem. That gave me the direction I needed to begin solving one problem after another, until I found that I had created something totally original.

What advice would you have for someone wanting to create an upcycled jewellery brand? There has been a wave of upcycled jewellery over the past decade. Looking even farther back in human history, people have reused found objects for ornamentation probably from our very beginning. I would caution an artist starting out not to allow themselves to fall into the same aesthetic of ‘reclaimed’ ‘crafty’ ‘boutique’ just because it seems like the market is fertile. It is very easy to blend in when you’re trying to stand out in the same way as other artists before you. Remember to experiment, create challenges for yourself, and execute everything exquisitely. And some more practical advice: Finding great materials is as valuable as finding great partners. My work with Lifecycle led me to partner with bike shop owners, jewellery stores, online retailers, metal smiths, and electroplaters. I learned a tonne from each of these individuals, and quickly found myself at the center of a community that cared about my product. HOMERO NUNEZ CHAPA

pcycle (verb): to reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. Upcycled jewellery often comprises metal objects that are inherently malleable – copper coins and steel cutlery for example. Of course, these can be recast into any shape of the designer’s choosing. I like to think of this as a kind of happy inversion of the iconoclasm of the English Reformation: simple metal objects are melted down and transformed into items worthy of reverence. Arguably however, there is more fun to be had when the object’s shape is untouched yet is transformed simply by removing its original function. Much like Duchamp’s 20th century Readymades, these objects have simply been stripped of their practical use and re-cast as aesthetic objects to be admired. A brilliant kind of alchemy taking place, which requires not only skilful craftsmanship, but also true imagination and ingenuity of design. I first came across proper upcycled jewellery in the trendy district of Nørrebro, in Copenhagen, where my friends and I spent a happy hour admiring the jewellery and trying to identify their (often cleverly concealed) original parts. Necklaces made from bottle caps and safety pins were being sold for upwards of £50. Yet their value was inarguable: each piece was hand-crafted, entirely unique and genuinely beautiful. The sustainability aspect is also a huge draw, corresponding to the ever-increasing popularity of vintage, second-hand and ‘pre-owned’ fashion. Yet, considering that the raw materials are largely sourced from bins, the profit margin must be enormous. They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure – and it seems upcycling is here to stay.

Do-it-Yourself Cheesy Film Formula Eliza Dickinson Film and TV Editor

hen that horrible grey rainy stage of winter hits, we all need some comfort in our lives. One of the best ways to treat yourself is settling down in your duvet with a hot chocolate and watching a good cheesy film. Luckily for you, TCS has compiled a list of the must-haves for a cheesy movie, so grab your phone, turn on the camera, and create your ‘Extremely Tasteful and Not At All Tacky’ masterpiece. Horrendous Jumpers There’s nothing to make you feel warm inside like the sight of a middle-aged actor suffocating under a thick layer of wool. Whether it’s Colin Firth’s jaunty reindeer number in Bridget Jones’s Diary or Alan Rickman’s chic turtlenecks in Love Actually, this is a trend that lends itself to a winter blockbuster. So swamp your film subject in the largest jumper they own and show your viewers that you’re not afraid to embrace the clichés. An Adorable Child Star To be honest, I’m almost exclusively talking about Macaulay Culkin in his earliest films here. I’m talking Uncle Buck. I’m talking Home Alone. I’m talking Richie Rich. He may only star in ‘Compare the Meerkat’ adverts nowadays, but you could always give his agent a call – you might be able to book him. Other possible contenders include tiny Mara Wilson in Matilda and Jonathan

Lipnicki in Stuart Little. Who cares if they’ve all aged since then? There’s a special little thing called Photoshop. ‘Coming-of-Age’ Plotlines In my honest opinion, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the ultimate film to cheer you up if you’re in need of a bit of a pick-me-up, and has the twin bonuses of being an eighties movie AND a coming-of-age story. Other gems include the ever-relevant Mean Girls and the fantastic Moonrise Kingdom, if you’re in need of a bit of Wes Anderson in MEGAN LEA

your life. So harness your teenage angst and sassy wit and create the perfect (generic) coming-of-age plot. The Underdog We all love a good underdog story. Faced with those people who seem to know every single answer in lectures and supervisions, it’s pretty much always the underdog we identify with the most. Michael Cera is a true talent at playing the underdog, even if he’s basically the same character in every film, so find yourself someone unassuming, who is revealed to be a comedy king. A Spark of Cheesy Romance What cheesy film evening would be complete without Person A and Person B travelling through a convoluted romantic storyline to end up together, just as you always knew they would be? Scrolling through Netflix always uncovers some absolutely dreadful but oh-so-watchable films which fulfil all your wildest romantic dreams – and yours could be one of them! Will it feature an American girl falling in love with a European prince? A high school nerd suddenly being noticed by the school jock, perhaps? Whichever you choose, make sure it’s as dreadful a plotline as it possibly can be. You could follow the lead of a multitude of student filmmakers in Cambridge and beyond, and make something truly ground-breaking. Sometimes, however, a bit of cheese is just what you need.

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Recipes: Quick breakfast bites

John Hughes Art Festival: Illuminate

Emma Pollard

Amiya Nagpal Lifestyle Editor

e all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is also the meal that most of us tend to miss. We just don’t have the time or the energy to cook and eat. I’ve discovered that quick-fix breakfasts can help make my life much easier. I can have a nutritious breakfast on the go or something tasty and comforting to make me smile. Personally, I add a sprinkle of omega super seeds to all the below recipes for an extra kick. Choco-nut Banana Surprise: Take a tortilla wrap and lay it flat on a clean surface. Then get a knife and spread peanut butter of your choice. Then add a layer of chocolate spread over the top. Add one sliced banana. Wrap and go. EMMA POLLARD

Pizza Tortilla: Pre-heat the oven to 220°C. Place two tortilla wraps on top of each other and spread salsa around the edges. You then crack an egg in the middle, sprinkling 1/2 cup shredded cheddar all over. I added fresh basil and cherry tomatoes for flavour but you can add any toppings you want. Bacon is always a nice extra to have. Put the tortillas on a baking tray, and cook for between 6-8 minutes. Take out of oven and then add any other ingredients. Slice and eat. Porridge: The best breakfast I could possibly recommend! For the struggling student, it is cheap and easy to make. It is also very good for you. You can buy cheap 1kg porridge at both Asda and Tesco for 75p. Place 50 g oats into a large microwaveable bowl, adding either 200ml of cold water or milk (depending on taste) and stir. I added some chopped apples and seeds. Do not cover. Cook on full power for about 1 minute 45 seconds (or follow direction on packet). Stir well and leave to stand for 1 minute before serving. Add sugar or salt to your own taste. Optional toppings: sliced apple, seeds, banana, honey. You can pour the porridge into a mason jar.

Retrospective: Bowie’s Blackstar Ben Freeman

ince January 2016, we’ve learned a lot more about Bowie’s final months and years. According to various sources in the BBC’s David Bowie: The Last Five Years, Bowie did not know he was dying until the week of the filming of the ‘Lazarus’ video. Clearly this song is about death and mortality, but we now know the extent to which that could have been written into the song itself. ‘Lazarus’ and the title track ‘Blackstar’ have probably received the most radio airtime since Bowie’s death. They were the songs which had videos, and were the most obviously a meditation on Bowie’s own death. But in the past year spent listening to the album many, many times over, the less well-known tracks on the album emerge as equally powerful compositions compared to ‘Lazarus’ or ‘Blackstar.’ The whole album is beautifully self-referential and rich in literary or cultural references. ‘‘Tis a Pity She Was a Whore’ takes its title from a fifteenth century incestuous tragedy by John Ford, and is a deep, swirling maelstrom of saxophone and drums, a composition which manages to sound both stripped back and opulent at once. ‘Girl Loves Me’ is written in a mixture of Polari – the London slang homosexuals used to communicate in the 50s and 60s – and Nadsat from A Clockwork Orange. As such, it sounds bizarre and nonsensical like some of the great Bowie tracks do – but no longer in that rock ‘n’ roll style of Ziggy. One of the most pleasing elements of the whole album is the transition from ‘Dollar Days’ into ‘I Can’t Give

AIDEN CHAN

Gooey Toast: Toast two slices of cinammon and raisin fruit loaf, and then cover one slice of bread with marshmallow spread and the other with chocolate. Add some strawberries. Wrap and go or eat on the spot.

Everything Away’, and these songs are highlights: a haunting, melodic homage to those English evergreens, and an enigmatic subject grappling with their legacy. The quest to define this legacy and life is the dominant theme across all the songs on this album. Drawing on his own life, music, and culture, Bowie tells us what he is and what he isn’t, shows us where he’s been, and reassures that ultimately, somebody else will take his place. Death surely stalks here. So too does the sense of what will remain after – the concern of the title track. A sombre self-reflection on his career, Bowie is also optimistic about what follows. Always avoiding veneration, constantly reinventing himself, Bowie knew that somebody else would be along to replace him: “Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried: (I’m a blackstar, I’m a starstar, I’m a blackstar).” PETER COXHEAD

met with Amelia Oakley, co-director with Emma Veares of this year’s festival, to talk a bit more about John Hughes, inclusive art, and being creative whilst studying in Cambridge. In its third year now, the John Hughes Art Festival has grown from strength to strength. Amelia tells me of how it came about as a “labour of passion” following the death of the Revd. Dr John Hughes, Dean of Chapel at Jesus College in 2014. The way she talks about it suggests something organic and emotive; the way art often is in a way lots of other things aren’t. The festival “started off as a way to commemorate John Hughes” and has evolved from there to what it is now, a far more structured, formalised weekend of events, something Amelia hopes can keep on moving forward. Although no one on this year’s committee knew the Reverend, and most undergraduates at Jesus that did have since graduated, Amelia is striving to make sure that “the essence of what was there in first year” remains, that the festival is still a “a memorial, borne out of John’s relationship with the College and with art”. The legacy of Hughes is evident in the way she speaks; he fostered “a sense of inclusivity and openness” and the various members of the JHAF team are seeking to get “as many people involved [with the artwork] as possible”. This is reflected in the way the Open Hang gallery takes as many submissions as it can from across the University and beyond, and in the fact that almost all the events across the three days are free to attend.

The festival is still a “memorial, borne out of John’s relationship with the College and with art” In Cambridge, platforms for artwork are less cohesive than perhaps they could be. Often, “it’s not easy to access from the outside unless you know somebody who knows somebody” and JHAF strives to change that with its ethos of openness. There are a few art festivals at other colleges, but there isn’t really an established platform or starting point. The way JHAF is expanding though suggests that perhaps it is the start of something big within the creative community of Cambridge. When there is so much creativity here, “even in places you didn’t think there were” it’s vital to foster it. On trying to navigate fitting in creativity around also doing a Cambridge degree, Amelia says it’s important to put yourself out there, to practise, to talk to other creative people, to experiment, and to mostly have confidence in your own work and abilities. In a place so saturated with deadlines and obligations, the space to create is a wonderful thing: “the pleasure of creativity and art is that you don’t have to do it”. Perhaps that is something to remember, you don’t have to create, and that may be exactly why you might want to. John Hughes Arts Festival ‘Illuminate’ is happening from the 10-12 February at Jesus College, a program of events is available on the website http://jhaf.org.uk/

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Stage management & DIY props

Joe Richards Theatre Editor

ne of the least understood, but most significant roles in the complicated and vast world of Cambridge theatre is that of the stage manager. Set designers build the set, lighting designers rig the lights and publicity designers create the publicity. But what precisely does the stage manager do? I had a chat with Issy Houston, who has stage managed a number of shows at the ADC Theatre, including The Winter’s Tale and Peter Grimes, both complex and technically demanding shows. She told me that the nature of the role differs significantly from show to show, depending on what’s being performed, the venue and the rest of the production team, so no two stage managers will ever be performing exactly the same role – a

BENEDICT FLETT

variety that many stage managers relish. One of the key responsibilities that is consistent across shows is props- the stage manager is ultimately responsible for sourcing or making all of the props that appear on stage. Some shows, Issy tells me, require very specific period items, which need to be sourced. Here, the Grafton Centre is your best friend: “Trips to the Grafton Centre and the myriad of charity shops that you’ll find there are always fruitful, even if you leave with much more than what is on your list.” Other than that, Issy’s next port of call is the internet, and her Amazon Prime membership is always useful for last minute props. EBay is another essential bookmark for any stage manager, as almost anything you need for a show can be found in its labyrinth of goods. Issy’s strangest eBay encounter was with user ‘fisherman500’ who sold her several old, seaweed-covered buoys, but only after some hard bargaining on her part. “And having put a lot of effort into finding the oldest, most decaying buoys, I wasn’t happy to find out that I couldn’t leave them at the ADC and had to keep them in college for a week- needless to say I wasn’t the most popular flatmate.” However, there are some things that you just can’t find on the Internet, no matter how deeply you plumb its depths, and this is where a stage manager’s DIY skills come in. “The first thing you do as a stage manager is to trawl through the script looking for all the props you’ll need’”, Issy explains, “and there’s always room for a bit of creativity, as many things will need to be made from

scratch, like a feast or a photo of a character, where you might want to use an actual picture of the actor.” ‘One essential piece of insider information is that Thursday night is when all the shops put out all of their cardboard boxes, so if you’re on it you can snaffle some to get crafty the weekend before a show.” Issy admits, however, that ‘even my most skilled artistic endeavours can lead to pretty crude and (if I’m honest) shambolic props. I guess they don’t call it stagecraft for nothing!’ On the other hand, some of Issy’s homemade props sound pretty convincing, and all it takes is a bit of a imagination and a trip to the supermarket to be able to knock something together: “one of my favourite props was a tinned peach covered in food dye for one character’s tongue – you can imagine the satisfying thud when it hit the floor!” DANIEL KARAI

Novelty Books

The rise of crafty television

Sophie Dickinson Deputy Editor

Eliza Dickinson Film and TV Editor

ovelty ladybird books for adults were the best sellers this Christmas. Of course, joke storybooks were always going to fare well as socking fillers. For booksellers and publishers, these books are a blessing. Genuinely witty, and universally recognised, the brand spans over thirty titles. Grandparents and The Shed are wry yet accessible; Mindfulness is great for the cynical; Five go on a Strategy Away Day for the disenchanted. It’s easy to dismiss the interest in the lighthearted as a response to an increasingly darker world. However, that seems too convenient. The number of ‘adult colouring books’ bought, for example, fell by as much as 70% this year – there’s not an obvious trend suggesting the public are choosing to deliberately infantilise themselves. Fiction, and publishing, is an industry that does not quite work as other media does. A bestselling book, for example, could sell 3,000 copies in the first week. A hit TV show could easily reach 3 million people- last year, the Great British Bake Off final was watched by 16 million people. Our consumption of print media has to be considered separately, but not dismissed. Our interests are reflected, especially by ‘gift books’- think hygge, or clean eating – in a way that the ever-transient digital sphere cannot. However, these novelty books don’t bite into the serious fiction market. The literary business has always been a fickle one, and the ‘serious’ authors have always appealed to a niche audience. Five go to Brexit, then, should be acknowledged as part of a changing literary market that, refreshingly, is still creative, even at its most commercial.

he list of the top ten most-watched television shows of 2008 is dominated by The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. In a dramatic fall, however, neither made it to the top ten in 2016, with The X Factor failing to even reach the top 40. Instead, nine of the top ten are filled with a show that has grown close to our hearts – The Great British Bake Off, one of the many arts-and-crafts shows that have been devoured by the public over the past year. It seems startling that, just a short while ago in 2010, we were hooked on watching Wagner sing (or, more accurately, shout) a bewildering mashup of ‘Love Shack’ and ‘She Bangs’. In those halcyon days, Jedward were such household names that their debut song easily reached second place in the charts. What has changed, to make us move away, towards the tame domesticity of The Great British Bake Off, Kirstie’s Handmade Britain, and The Great British Sewing Bee? Perhaps the public is simply tired of the constant repetition of tired tropes in The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. Inevitably, every audition episode will contain a dizzying array of terrible performers for the public to mock, followed by one standout figure – perhaps a teenage girl who happens to be a decent opera singer, or a street dance troupe who can bring something vaguely original to their performances. In comparison, Bake Off takes an entirely different approach, replacing the ‘let’s laugh at these people who aren’t very good’ method with one that is inclusive and more welcoming. It could be said that what the Bake Off focuses on is the

spirit of arts and crafts – having fun making something, whether it is good or bad. Obviously, the worst contestant still gets voted off each week, but the only mocking you tend to see is their own self-deprecation, or at a push some gentle ribbing from Paul and Mary. The Sewing Bee is much the same – sure, someone might have accidentally sewn on their buttons on the wrong side of their coat, or made a t-shirt with the front four inches shorter than the back, but nobody is ever cruel to them, and you all walk away happy. We may not be making these things ourselves, but we can identify so strongly with the feeling of disappointment when a cake comes out of the oven flat rather than risen, or that euphoria you feel when something you’ve made turns out perfect. Paul Hollywood may not be there to give you a twinkle-eyed nod of approval, but you can imagine it. BBC VIA YOUTUBE

02 February 2017 • The Thursday Magazine • The Cambridge Student

Do-It-Yourself: Lettering

Dee Dee Lee

Who doesn’t like beautiful handwritten notes? I love receiving them, and now I love writing them too! I started off with calligraphy, but then I got too lazy with all the dipping and the cleaning, so I moved onto lettering, which is more like drawing and less like writing, with simpler, cheaper tools.

Get started Lettering costs you almost nothing. All you need is a marker and paper – I’m sure you can find both in the abyss of your backpack. If you decided to get serious, you can buy brush pens in rainbow colours from art supply stores like Hobbycraft, or on Amazon. My favourite pen is Pentel Touch, the softness of the tip is just right, which makes it easier to control the weight of your strokes. If you’re getting Sharpies, make sure they are brush tipped.

Find inspiration

Find resources

Inspiration is everywhere! If you pay attention, you can see beautiful lettering in shops, on chalkboards, and on cards. The easiest way is to look up ‘hand lettering inspiration’ and you’ll get over a million results. If you use Instagram, check out @letteringleague, @paigefirnbergdesign, @ lissletters, @typexsundry and @bydawnnicole.

Now you’ve got your tools ready and your head full of ideas, it’s time to begin. There are plenty of online how-to videos that are of great help! It’s also a fabulous idea to find some uppercase and lowercase stencils online. There are so many free resources on the Internet that I wouldn’t recommend paying for a workshop to anyone.

Display your work There are so many ways to show off your skills – on notebook covers and envelopes, in cards or your lecture notes (it’ll make revision a tiny bit more enjoyable). I like motivational quotes, so very often I write them down on post-it notes and put them up. You can also write on coffee cups, although this is a little bit tricky because the surface is curved. My teacher friend once commissioned me to create personalised notebooks for her class, so it is possible to turn your hobby into a business too. ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY DEE DEE LEE

Lettering calms and clears my mind because I am so engrossed with what I am doing that I just forget everything. Keep practising and you’ll be well on your way to creating unique and stunning text for any occasion!

The Cambridge Student • 02 February 2017

Features

rends in entertainment

BEATRICE OBE

Old but gold: The rise in remakes? Caithlin Ng Features Editor

ou might have come across a trailer for the remake of Beauty and the Beast by now. It is a familiar scene: dimly lit hallways of a castle, flickering candlelight over the oil painting of a young boy, a horned head emerging from the darkness. It is a scene we have seen on our screens before, but instead of animation, castle walls are now made of stone, and Belle is now Hermione Granger. The fact that one trailer alone has already collected over thirty million views on YouTube is not just a reflection of how anticipated the film is, but also a reflection of how we, as an audience, are becoming increasingly attuned to nostalgia. Nostalgia explains, in part, why 2014’s Maleficent grossed US$758.5 million at the box office, why audiences flocked to watch the two latest films of the Star Wars series. I owned a plastic light saber when I was much younger, and seeing lightsabers make a reappearance brought that memory rushing back. It is a nostalgia specifically targeted at childhood familiarity and the way in which we respond to it from a new perspective; in an age where action films and thrillers can be found aplenty at the cinema, a remake of an old favourite can feel like glimpsing through a window back to a younger, simpler time.

Filmmakers hope, perhaps, that nostalgia will be enough to sparkinterest, and that a new concept will then be enough to tide that interest over into watching the film. This has worked to varying successes: although last year’s Ghostbusters attempted to revamp the classic with a new, all-female cast, it failed to draw in the numbers and was ultimately a box office disappointment; although Maleficent was, in contrast, a box office success, I personally felt that its decision to remodel the titular character into a hero lacked the gloriously evil touch from the original. The success of the latest two Star Wars films, however, is testament to their ability to present a fresh set of faces and plotlines while retaining the heart of the originals. The number of remakes that are in the works, however (Mary Poppins, Aladdin, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for instance), can make them feel more like cash-grabs than genuine attempts to rework a film with heart. How many of these filmmakers genuinely set out with a vision, rather than trying to configure it into something that will sell well? It is a subjective question, and one the lacklustre quality of some films begs. Regardless, the presence of films like the latest two Star Wars suggests that there might still be some value in bringing back the past and reliving a classic. BEATRICE OBE

Are we in the third Golden Age of television? Noella Chye Features Editor

or decades, the purpose of TV was to engage our weary selves, to tune us out after exhausting long days, to help us not to think. It was associated with the masses, who were assumed to want dumb, simple pleasures. TV was loud: with laugh tracks, near-neon opening credits, and disturbingly cheerful jingles, it was unapologetically trashy. Yet today, this has changed. In the countless lists of ‘What To Watch On TV’, certain names never fail to be mentioned, like Stranger Things, Black Mirror, Game of Thrones, Orange Is The New Black, Better Call Saul, Veep, The People vs. OJ Simpson, Atlanta, The Crown etc. Looking at these big names, certain trends become clear. TV producers are harnessing our interests in the power of technology, sci-fi and superheroes, and historical events. Shows like Black Mirror and Westworld cater to the first, while Marvel’s rapidly growing repertoire, including Daredevil, and Jessica Jones, has cashed in on the

TV series are now “high culture”

second. Meanwhile, various parts of history are featured in The People vs. OJ Simpson, Narcos, The Crown, and Making A Murderer, amongst several others. There is also a rise in the number of political dramas: House of Cards, The Good Wife, and two personal favourites, Mr Robot and Designated Survivor, take the stage. The world of comedy has caught on too, with Silicon Valley and Veep, for example, satirising the worlds of tech and American politics respectively. In this way, the television industry has taken on a more active role in our lives. To watch an episode of your favourite show now, you need a greater understanding of current affairs than you would have done in the past. As the New York Times Magazine puts it: “To make sense of an episode of 24, you have to integrate far more information than you would have a few decades ago watching a comparable show. Beneath the violence and the ethnic stereotypes, another trend appears: to keep up with entertainment like 24, you have to pay attention, make inferences, track shifting social relationships.”

The shift in our demands for TV, from medium of escapism to cognitive workout, can be explained by the increasing fragmentation of personal interests. “Previously, the aim was to please all viewers equally. Now the aim is to please relatively few viewers a lot and keep them,” says Brian Petersen, a PhD student at the Department of Media, Cognition and Communication at the University of Copenhagen, to Sciencenordic.com. The dawn of online TV-watching has also had a major role to play. Netflix, Amazon Video, and iTunes have shaped our modern TV-watching culture. We no longer face 10-minute advert breaks. Snack and tea-making have been made part of the pregame routine – once we hit play, we will not be disturbed. This means our focus is on the plot, not on relaxing. It has also ushered in the habit of binge-watching, or as the Huffington Post calls it, “the death of patience”. It is more common to watch all 10 seasons of a show at once, than wait for a new episode week by week. Gone are the days when TV had a prominent role to play in physically

drawing families together. Today, we retire to our laptop screens to catch the latest episode of Game of Thrones, occasionally in the same room as other people, then discuss it at the dinner table or online. Some have called these years the third golden age of TV series. We no longer turn to films for inspiration - it is arguably equally common to explore the dawn of technology through Black Mirror as I, Robot. In some ways, the serial nature of TV shows has an advantage; for example, we can explore issues on a broader scale. This is exactly what Black Mirror does. Petersen says, “With the arrival of the new millennium, TV series have made the transition back into high culture.” “We have bid farewell to the “standardised formats [of] the 1950s and later years”, and come to see greater variety in TV production, which reinstates its place as a narrative art. It is interesting to think about what this says about us. Decades from now, people will turn to our forms of entertainment as research into our times. What will they conclude? It’s certainly an exciting time for the world of television.

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Features

What an Oxbridge A week in the life: A rower rejection really is *As imagined by a rower

Holly Platt-Higgins

laudia Vulliamy recently failed to secure a place at Oxford University to study Classics, and unlike most, she took this as an opportunity to ‘make something funny’. She turned her rejection letter into a piece of abstract art that has since gone viral and been re-tweeted over 50,000 times. People often say that getting rejected from Oxbridge does not matter because ultimately, you are intelligent and hard-working, and you will go on to do great things, but how easy is this to accept this truism? Having been rejected from Cambridge and now being an undergraduate of the University, I think there is a misconception about being rejected from Oxbridge and its importance and effect on a person. For me, being rejected was a personal issue. I knew that it was not really the end of the world and that I had offers from all of my other university choices – which produce equally successful and qualified graduates. But that was not even part of the problem for me. I do not think it would be unreasonable to suggest that people at Cambridge hold themselves to a certain standard, and that a large amount of their identity is rooted in being an academic, high-achieving, and driven person. The same can be said for people who apply here. So, I found it exceptionally difficult to be asked to accept the fact that after having pitched myself and my passion to people who were at the top of their field, they seem not to have been convinced. I did not open my rejection letter and instantly consider the possibility of lost job opportunities or discrepancy in salary from other graduates; none of those statistics seemed to matter. I just felt gutted.

owing in Cambridge certainly has its reputation, and it is not necessarily the most positive one. As a college first team rower, the training can be very intense and slowly but surely, time spent floating up and down the river Cam begins to take over your life... Monday: Everyone else has been at Life until the small hours of the morning, but no, not the rowers. They are subject to an almost permanent drinking ban, as training for one race blends into the next. Taking advantage of an emptier-than-normal river, an alarm set for six should get you to the boathouse just about on time, ready for a difficult water session. Tuesday: If you are lucky enough to have escaped an erg on Monday evening, then Tuesday brings another

early start. Weights and circuits session in the gym. Teams who lift together row together...? Or something like that. Chances are there will be an erg in the evening, maybe seven pm? An annoying enough time to make the decision of when to eat dinner sufficiently hard. Be it a 2x6km or a 30 minute rate 30, you can guarantee the cycle home won’t be easy on your legs. Wednesday: Another early start! The river is busier this morning, full of novices thanks to a green flag, meaning you arrive late to 9am lectures, sweating and panting at the back of the hall, fingers still frozen as you struggle to keep hold of your pen. Thursday: The first lie-in of the week! Even getting up for a 9am feels like bliss, and after a (sober) night in Cindies you feel refreshed and finally ready to fact the day. Nevertheless, you know that the evening holds its horrors in the form of a weekly erg

Thursday: The first lie-in of the week!

test... Another session you won’t be bounding back from. Friday: Another early morning on the water - nearly the weekend! There is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a short outing, ready for the race tomorrow. In the evening everyone meets for crew pasta, and a pep-talk before race-day, you haven’t spent enough time together just yet. Saturday: Waking up nervous for the race, once again early because someone signed you up for the 8:30am division! At least you should be done in time for brunch, despite the eternal faff of rowing making it all last so much longer than anticipated. Sunday: Having not at all recovered from the race yesterday, the crew meet at midday for a long technical paddle to the loch and back (several times...). And so ends the week, ready to start again, and maybe even have a rest day once in a while! CLEMENT CHAN

You pride yourself on being a certain type of person, and are then told that you are not good enough at being that person. Recently, my little sister’s best friend received a rejection and phoned me in tears. She was not crying about the loss of Oxbridge, she was mostly crying about a loss of a sense of self and direction. If you pride yourself on being a certain type of person and are then told, from reliable sources, that you are not good enough at being that person, it is understandably a very challenging moment. I think it is rather apt then that Vulliamy mutilated her letter and made it into art – art as an expression of a sense of self, an act of reclaiming and of rejection, in itself. Although it was meant to be funny and the teenager is delighted with the fact that it has been ‘interpreted as Oxbridge doesn’t determine everything, I like that it’s cheered people up’, I think it is simultaneously an act of self-definition. She took her momentary loss of identity, and turned it into a work of art that people will identify her with for ages to come. Rejection from Oxbridge seems to be handled in the wrong way; family, friends, teachers, and even to some extent, your rejection letter, all tell you it does not matter, and that you will be okay. However, you already know these things, and this is not what you need consolation for. Because Oxbridge is a bastion of education, the whole process, in your attempt to apply, becomes a test of your very being. The forced separation between your ideals your reality – that is the issue. What I am really trying to say is that it is egotistical, it is ballsy to apply and it is embarrassing to get knocked back. There isn’t much more to it.

A testament to the life of Mark Baumer Caithlin Ng Features Editor

ark Baumer seemed more like a character from a film than something belonging to today’s world. Long-haired, large, wiry glasses, an irrepressible spirit of life that glimmered through even still photos – he was the American activist, author, and poet who set out in October of last year to walk across America bare-foot to raise awareness for climate change. Tragically, he was struck by an SUV on Saturday 21 January, while walking along Highway 90 in Walton County. Baumer died at the scene, and with him, one of the most unique and personal forms of expression of recent times. Baumer’s journey to reach the Pacific Ocean from the East Coast was his second attempt; he had first succeeded in reaching the beaches of Los Angeles in 2010, a feat he accomplished in just

81 days. Reminiscent of Forrest Gump’s own coast-to-coast journey across America, Baumer set out for the second time in October, armed with few possessions and a desire to raise donations on behalf of the environmental organisation FANG Collective. Look him up on Google Images, and you will find many of them are of him sitting on the ground, his legs stretched toward the camera and his feet covered in grit and calluses. They were his marks of honour, his personal emblems, physical evidence for his own walk through life. His mission statement on crowdfunding page YouCaring is “Crossing America Barefoot to Save Earth from Climate Change”. It may sound like a grand ideal, but although Baumer admitted that such a great distance was a “lofty goal” on his crowdfunding page, his subsequent statement was revealing of his

Crossing America barefoot to save Earth from climate change

determination to try anyway: “If we are ever going to overcome climate change we all need to do everything we can to stop it.” Everything, for Baumer, was crossing America. Activism can take many forms – more people undertake it by donating money, but effort, regardless of the form it takes, is effort nonetheless. Baumer walked so that we would take on the mantle in our own ways. In a time of uncertainty and divisive politics, seeing a man traverse so bravely in the name of a worthy cause was all the more inspiring. A car accident can feel like a fleeting moment, but the legacy that Baumer left behind will not; the fact that donations on his crowdfunding page have far surpassed his US$10,000 goal to US$25,608 (as of 31st January) is proof of this. “Why stop at 10k” he posted on the page back in October. “I want to reach $100,000,000.”

The Cambridge Student • 02 February 2017

Features

Where we come from: Britain’s history of welcoming refugees Noella Chye Features Editor

e are in the middle of a crisis of morals. In the name of fear, the US issued a ban that bars people from seven countries – Somalia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – from entering the US for 120 days, and perhaps more. Yet they make a fundamental mistake in believing that you can fight fear with fear, and use people as pawns. In order to combat that, both sides need reminders of who these policies affect. We need to keep our goal to keep the motivation to resist, and they need to attach human faces to their actions. The power of stories is burgeoning today. Just this week on Monday 30 January, descendants from immigrants spoke up at the anti-Trump protests on King’s Parade in praise of the UK’s compassion towards their ancestors when they needed a home, which gave their descendants an abode in Cambridge today. Yet they were also in outrage of Theresa May’s negligence to uphold the morals that made them proud to make the UK their home. Their message was heard by 1,000 people present that evening, and many more on social media. The crisis became tangible and closer in a way it was not before. These people’s voices need to be heard, to remind those in power that the choices they make will determine the courses of real people’s lives. On Monday, Said Jalali, one of the speakers, said the same to

Trump: “Engage. Engage with the people you’re banning. Engage with your opposition.” Here is a concrete reminder of five times that Britain has welcomed refugees.

“Journalism was very different then and the press was very positive about migrants. No one made me feel I didn’t belong” It started with the 50,000 French Protestants, or Huguenots, in the 15th to 18th centuries, who were fleeing persecution from the Catholics after the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572. 30,000 Protestants were killed, but thousands of others found a place in Britain, bringing their knowledge of organisational and industrial processes. They began growing vegetables, fruit, and flowers, then supplied them to London and other cities. We see their impact even today: 7 of the 24 founders of the Bank of England were Huguenots. John Holland, who improved microscope design, descended from Huguenots. Then we welcomed 70,000 Jewish refugees in the 1930s and 1940s, escaping the horrors of Kristallnacht. The government terminated its existing visa regulations to allow

10,000 children direct entry, and housed them in foster homes, hotels, and hostels throughout the UK. Also in the 1930s, 4,000 Basque children arrived on a ship called the Habana after evacuation during the Spanish Civil War. They were housed in a temporary camp in Eastleigh, but eventually found foster homes across the country, where they found safety until their return after the Civil War ended. In 1956, the Russians chased some 200,000 people out of Hungary with the threat of the Soviet rule; a tenth of them sought refuge in the UK. The Guardian quotes Peter Farago, who was amongst them, as saying, “People were incredibly friendly,” said Farago. “I think it must be horrible now but journalism was very different then and the press was very positive about migrants. No one made me feel I didn’t belong.”

We need to separate what we have come to believe through fear and the media’s deception, from the facts 60,000 Asians in Uganda were denounced and forced to leave in 1972, when dictator Idi Amin labelled them “bloodsuckers” who were stealing the country’s

wealth. Their entry was met with huge opposition, with the then Conservative government considering housing them on a remote island, and not in the country. Eventually, 28,000 refugees were admitted, who settled mainly in Wembley and Leicester. The total number of lives changed comes up to an approximate 204,000 - and this only includes those listed here. Hundreds of thousands more have not been counted. Today, people from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Cyprus, Iran, Afghanistan, Iran, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia, Turkey, Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Angola, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Kenya, Algeria, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Colombia, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern European countries have sought and found asylum in the UK. One initiative that aims to help get people’s stories heard is iamarefugee. net, which launched on 20th June 2016 for World Refugee Day. Its aim is to “remind the public that those who are given sanctuary give so much back in return [...] to create a positive and balanced debate on refugee issues”. On its website, you’ll find plaques of various striking hues, carrying the names of immigrants and their descendants. Some say that times have changed, that we cannot look back at history for answers. Yet we need to separate what we have come to believe through fear and the media’s deception, from the facts.

International Business Times reports, “The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that migrants accounted for 70% of the increase in Europe’s workforce in the 10 years to 2014. European employers say they need more foreign workers to fill a range of jobs from highly-skilled positions to lower-paid menial positions that native Europeans no longer want to take.” Furthermore, researchers also say immigrants contribute more in taxes than they take in state benefits in the UK. A study by University College London found immigrants to Britain represented a net positive for the quality of public accounts, bringing qualifications that would have cost nearly £7bn pounds in education funding. Immigrants were also less likely to claim benefits than native Britons.” Real people’s lives are at stake; people whose identity extends much further than the fact that they are refugees. By turning them away, not only are we dismissing their humanity, we are making them our scapegoats, as the facts show. Here are four takeaways: look back in history; remember what we are capable of; get the facts straight; seek people’s stories, and stay inspired. Know that in the face of fear, we have a choice: to respond with grace, or to act out. Make a good one.

VoxPop: “Which has been your favourite May Ball, and why?

“Christ’s last year, because you had unlimited food and a lot going on.” Jemina, Christ’s

“Fitz winter ball this year, because of the ferris wheel!” Kane, Fitzwilliam

“Caius last year. It was small, but intimate.” Mark, Caius

“Clare last year, because the music was so diverse. ” Priya, Magdalene

“Jesus, 2016. The College has huge grounds, so it has the space to have a variety of attractions. They also executed the theme really creatively, with different courts and squares having their own unique features from chill igloos to apocalyptic carnival rides, which meant there was something for everyone.” Alyssa, Sidney Sussex

“Sidney last year. It’s the only one I’ve been to!” Tara, Sidney Susssex

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Interviews

“Reclaiming Garbage”: Sustainability and ethics in fashion Hannah Brown Interviews Editor

ashion and beauty that gives a shit” is the tagline of Garbage, a new, student-led magazine launched this term by Ellie Williams, a second-year HSPS student. Its mission is “supporting a breed of fashion which is body positive, diverse, and cares about people, whilst retaining that love and joy that you can find in dressing up”, Ellie explained. Explaining the magazine’s name, Ellie smiles, “We thought it was kind of striking, it fitted in with our fun, youthful aesthetic.” A play on the term ‘garb’ and the idea of fast fashion, their intention is “reclaiming garbage”. Ellie became “really interested” in sustainable and ethical fashion in her mid-teens, but found that there was a lack of resources to learn about the issues in the industry. Garbage aims to fill this gap. The magazine will have “an informative element, pinpointing issues in the fashion industry, investigating the structural aspects of the fashion industry which are problematic”. Education, she emphasizes, is key to making a difference – “the more people that care about it, the more powerful the consumer is to influence what goes into the production of the clothes”. Ellie also highlights upcoming features on the cotton industry, and big brands like Prada.

“The consumer has the power”

She emphasises workers’ rights as being the main issue with the mainstream fashion industry: “I think it’s easy to disassociate yourself from the actual people who are producing the things that you buy.” Ellie uses the Rana Plaza factory collapse to illustrate her point: “That shed light on a lot of the problems which have been going on. There were so many different companies working in that factory and a lot of them tried to dismiss it.” Ellie also discusses issues of diversity in the fashion industry, both in terms of feminism in relation to the workers and representation in modelling. To tackle the diversity issue with models, Garbage aims to focus on the people behind the clothes, doing interviews with the models so that the magazine can be “a platform” for these “really wonderful, interesting people”. Alongside this educational element, there’s a “fun, creative side” to Garbage, “with photoshoots and opinion pieces”. Ellie tells me about a planned ‘charity shop challenge’ in which two teams will be given £15 with which they will create outfits on a theme using only clothing from charity shops. Charity shops are what Ellie considers to be a great starting point for people to become more ethical and sustainable consumers: “I cannot stress enough how wonderful charity shops are – they’re cheap, they’re

good for charity, it’s stopping clothes going to waste.” She also suggests that people look at the section of fashion companies’ websites which discusses legal issues, “trying to be more aware as a shopper, to be more inquisitive”. Cambridge, she hopes, will prove to be a willing audience. She explains, “There’s such a strong feminist scene and there’s a lot of political discourse in Cambridge which would make people engage with what we’re trying to do.” The team will be holding a charity clothes sale on 2 February at Jesus

“Fashion is for everyone”

College, for which they are taking donations. Profits from this will be going to Oxfam and the charity Labour Behind the Label, which Ellie explains “helps to empower those garment workers who are being treated unfairly and to expose what goes into making people’s clothes”. Ellie emphasizes that people shouldn’t “beat themselves up” over these issues, since “fashion is for everyone”. More than anything, the magazine “stems from a deep love of fashion and wanting it to be as positive as possible”. ISOBEL MACAUSLAIN

Talking to SORTEDfood on closing the cooking gap Emer O’Hanlon

ORTEDfood is a YouTube cooking channel, one of the first of its kind. Set up by four friends from school (Jamie, Barry, Mike, and Ben), the first three didn’t have much of an interest in food until they went to university and, left to cook for themselves for the first time, realised that they were eating rubbish. Ben, in training to be a chef, started passing them recipes. They joke that they were each ‘accidentally skilled’ in all the right areas to enable them to set up a YouTube cooking channel. Their enthusiasm, strong friendship and banter-y relationship is something that is equally present on and off-screen. The ‘cooking gap’ is something which Ben is especially keen to bring up. This is the idea that millennials are spending less time cooking their own food than ever before, despite the fact that food is a huge industry. The world’s population as a whole is consuming a huge amount of calories, masses of food is being produced

and bought, and a great deal of time is spent watching cooking shows like The Great British Bake Off and Netflix’s Chef ’s Table. While Ben attributes this cooking gap to the disappearance of basic cooking skills from the National Curriculum, or the rise of convenience apps like Deliveroo, Jamie feels it’s rooted in a risk of failure. Spending £5 on ingredients and having to produce food from them is a scary prospect if it’s your first time. “It’s an easy option to get something off a shelf that fulfils the same job for the same price and there’s no risk attached to it.” Mike explains how his own experience in learning to cook progressed: “When we started SORTED, we didn’t have a massive interest in food, but we just knew that there was a problem and that we needed to learn. It took me a long time to realise that there are only so many techniques that you need to learn to be able to cook nearly all recipes.” When I refer to an anecdote from their website about how they shared

recipes on the back of beer coasters when they began to cook, Barry admits that something of that philosophy has stuck with them. “Over the years, our recipes have changed quite a bit, but we’ve always said, whatever it is that we’re doing, we want to make it the most simple, accessible version of that. That’s not to say that everything is super-duper simple, and we also do some pretty impressive stuff, but we’d like to think that our version of that impressive stuff is still broken down the most simple steps for you to follow. If we can do it, you can do it. It’s always simplifying, but it’s not always simple.” The representation of food on social media is a controversial topic at the moment. SORTEDfood, however, are keen to make the story a positive one, with Jamie saying that they’ve always used social media in a way to help people and educate them about cooking, but they also use it to have conversations with people. Barry points out that this relationship through social media

works both ways. “We’re equally inspired. We’ve got a global audience.” Ultimately, the message you take away from them is a positive one. There can be lots of negativity surrounding the food industry at the moment, but the guys at SORTEDfood don’t buy into all the doom and gloom, and to exercise their influence as responsibly as possible. They see cooking as an

empowering tool, and they simply want to pass on the message that cooking isn’t that hard or time consuming, and that the alternatives are convenient neither on your wallet nor your body. Ben says, “If we can use our influence to convince people to spend their money on cooking their own food rather than on convenience apps, we’d consider it well used.” LOVE FOOD HATE WASTE NZ

The Cambridge Student • 02 February 2017

Interviews

Organiser Christian Silver on Hack Cambridge 2017 Hannah Brown Interviews Editor a game that helped teach kids a Why do you think that there is a limit everybody should learn Physics or of them will also be judging the

hristian Silver, one of the organisers of Hack Cambridge 2017, spoke to TCS on the eve of this year’s Cambridge Hackathon, a twenty-four hour event which began on 28 January in the Corn Exchange. What is a hackathon? A hackathon is basically a combination of an event and a marathon. Over the course of twenty-four hours a person or a team will make something, either software or hardware. They start with nothing at the beginning of the event and at the end of twenty-four hours they’ve made something. It’s that tight concentration of creativity and inventiveness that makes them so cool. What sort of projects do people work on? It’s completely open, work on whatever you want. Last year we had all sorts of crazy hacks created. For example last year one of the big winners was

of girls getting into coding? There are lots of reasons that people might see, I don’t think any single one of them is correct, it’s probably a combination of things. I think there’s definitely an expectation set in high school, and things just propagate from high school. Something’s definitely happening earlier on that’s How many people wanted to get contributing to this. involved? In total we got about 900 applications, Do you think events like this could so we were oversubscribed by about play a role? I think challenges like this certainly three times. can help. Something we’re trying to do How much interest was there from in general is to make it more friendly to novices because we want this to girls? Interest in girls is significantly lower, be an environment where people in terms of applications. I’d say maybe can learn, and where people feel safe 80:20 in terms of applications. In to experiment and meet new and terms of people we’ve sent invitations interesting people. to, it’s looking more like 65:35. So while not as good as it could be, we’re Do you think it’s important for making progress. It’s definitely an people to learn coding, if they otherwise wouldn’t? improvement from last year. I agree with that to an extent. I think particular computer science concept, or somebody used a brain scanner to determine how interested people were when they were reading a document. It just goes right across the spectrum, ranging from more of a jokey project, to things which would be useful in the real world.

English to some extent – everybody should learn coding to some extent as one of those key skills. But for them to be more open to novices, there needs to be more of them, they need to be more frequent as well, only then can they start being pretty valuable. Opening these things up to under 18s is something that people would love to do, but it’s really difficult because of the legal requirements to actually let them in. Making that easier would also probably be a way of breaking down some of those barriers. How is the Hackathon judged if there’s such variety? We try to push down the weight of the prizes, not make them a big deal. So we’ve got nice prizes but nothing that will make people super competitive. Currently we’ve set it up so that the sponsors send mentors, industry professionals who help out hackers who are having problems, but some

Hackathon. This year we’ve got a piece of software to help us judge. It’s called Gavel and it’s made by the people at Hack MIT: it tells you to go to this table and judge this person, then it’ll say go to another table and judge another person, then it will ask you which one you thought was better. It keeps on doing that and eventually it’ll spit out the top six for us. Then we’ll do proper presentations up on the stage and then a panel of four or five judges will decide the overall winners. What are you most worried about for tomorrow? Well last year we had a catastrophic issue with our wifi – it basically didn’t work. You can’t test a thousand devices without having a thousand devices in the room! We’re pretty confident it’s not going to happen this year, but it’s something we’ve got to keep our eye on. We’ve got three priorities: first it’s power, second it’s wifi, then it’s food. Wifi is more important than food! HACK CAMBRIDGE VIA FACEBOOK

Brian Cox talks Churchill, Stewie Griffin, and politics Eliza Dickinson

peaking to Brian Cox is like interacting with the absolute archetype of a Shakespearean actor. Upon asking him a question, he will branch out into stories covering everything from his time growing up in Dundee to his absolute love of the art form of film and theatre. My interview with him about his role as the eponymous character in the upcoming film Churchill was, therefore, an interesting and eyeopening conversation. Churchill largely centres around Winston Churchill’s interactions with the American General Dwight Eisenhower immediately before the D-Day landings, and is written by Alex von Tunzelmann in her debut script. “It’s one of the best scripts I’ve read,” Cox says, “and it was to do with the fact that it was a period of Churchill’s life which until now very little has

“Churchill was by nature sort of an iconoclast”

been known about, even though it was a very famous period”. The connection that Cox feels with Churchill runs deeper than merely playing him on screen. When asked how he has constructed his interpretation of the man, Cox says that “he’s a fascinating figure to me, Churchill, because my home town is Dundee, so he was our MP”. Later in the interview, he tells a ‘famous story’ that his uncle was involved in – when Churchill was ill, he was brought into City Hall in a sedan chair, and “when they got to the top of the stairs, the guys called to the foreguys and they said “how much did he pay you to carry him?” and they said “a quid”, so they shouted back “well I’ll give you two if you drop him!” So that was his popularity.” He has also put a lot of thought into Churchill’s character in preparation for the role. “I think Churchill was by

nature sort of an iconoclast, but he was also very much in the best sense of the word a baby. All babies look like Churchill and Churchill looks like all babies! Even the cigar is almost like thumb-sucking, in a way! “So there’s an element of Churchill that is quite fascinating to me. It’s not in any way pejorative – it’s actually that there’s a kind of open innocence about him, and frustration as well – you know, babies get frustrated because they can’t get anything.” “One of my favourite characters is that little man – what’s he called, in Family Guy?” Everyone in the room chimes in with ‘Stewie’ and laughs at the comparison. “I think Churchill and Stewie have a lot in common, because Stewie has got this sort of rage about him and is quite erudite. And I think Churchill was the same.” Cox goes from laughing about

“Art at its essence is about showing something new”

Churchill’s resemblance to cartoon characters in the interview to holding an ‘address’ in his talk at the Union, showing his political side as he charts his journey through politics from Thatcher to Trump. He is visibly furious, using his Shakespearean oratorical talents to their full potential. He laments the current state of affairs, saying: “what we are currently witnessing is the downfall of the democratic society.” He believes that art should reflect the political situation, as “art at its essence is about showing something new. At its best, it’s not something given to us in the short term, but something shared by everyone, forever.” His confidence in the power of his work suggests that Churchill will definitely be one to watch in the coming year, as his passion and anger at current affairs will almost certainly shine through.

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Comment

British hypocrisy over the Mexican wall: Calais is arguably just as bad Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh

rump has announced that he will be going ahead with his longpromised Mexican border wall. But with all the layers of barbed wire fencing, and security forces at the French border, does the UK not do exactly the same? Are governments getting away with authoritarianism while the eyes of the world are diverted towards America? Are our policies more similar than we would like to believe? President Trump’s plan to build an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall” along the USA’s confine with Mexico has dominated global headlines since it was first announced in June 2015. His rhetoric has both appalled and enthralled large sections of the public, and yet, despite condemnation from so many politicians both within the United States and beyond, last Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order to build his wall. Trump’s executive order has been met with heavy media attention and severe criticism both from people across the globe, as well as from world leaders such as Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, who cancelled a meeting with Trump this coming week over his insistence that

Mexico pay for the wall. However, with all the focus on Trump’s blathering, bellicose, anti-immigration rhetoric, the media appears to have largely ignored a similarly disturbing move by the UK Government; the construction of a barbed-wire fence at the French border to prevent refugees in the Calais jungle from reaching Britain. The anti-immigration rhetoric adopted by the UK Government has been far more subtle and tactful than Trump’s (despite a few notable moments; for example when former PM David Cameron referred to migrants in Calais as a ‘swarm’ and more recently when former UKIP leader Nigel Farage unveiled a poster as part of his Brexit campaign with heavily xenophobic undertones). After all, the wall which Trump has ordered to be built on the USA’s southern border is far more costly and symbolic to many people as a barrier which closes off America to the “dangers of the outside”. However, the barbed-wire fence built at the French border to deter refugees from entering the UK also represents the closing off of our border to the outside world, Trump’s wall is not too dissimilar. Furthermore, whilst the American borderwall was proposed with the intention of keeping out Mexican immigrants from America (almost all of whom are economic

The Calais fence is a refusal to provide aid and assistance.

migrants, seeking a more financially stable future in the United States), the British fence at Calais represents a much more disturbing reality; it refuses entry to Britain to a large number of refugees who are escaping a genuine, destructive war. In a perverse way, Britain’s Calais fence is a much darker refusal to provide aid and assistance to those who need it most in the world. Furthermore, the discussions currently taking place in the Home Office regarding the future of EU citizens in Britain has worryingly similar undertones to Trump’s ban on the citizens from seven majorityMuslim countries from entering the USA, even if they possessed a Green Card. Of course, the British government is not taking these steps in order to eradicate people of a particular faith from our country, which is what Trump appears to be attempting. However, with the increasingly authoritarian and intolerant policies being surreptitiously implemented by the postBrexit Conservative government in Britain one cannot help but wonder quite how different our relationship with the outside world is, albeit concealed behind a mask of British sobriety as opposed to the new US President’s bombastically antagonistic public image.

Trump and Syria: Morality trumps war? Eduardo Baptista

hat politics and morality have never co-existed peacefully is a fact that few people would dispute. Nevertheless, most politicians are expected to maintain a veneer of morality, and are held accountable by the media when they fail to do so. Here, in liberal, left-wing Cambridge, our eyes and ears are often attentive for cases where politicians slip up in their use of language or give morally questionable views. A useful exercise no doubt, but one that is worthless on Trump, whose recent Muslim-majority immigration ban shows that what were once outrageous words will now turn into outrageous laws. Trump’s apparent willingness to realise his campaign promises brings up further considerations, something the liberal media will not be too keen on thinking about. It is easy to focus on Trump’s immorality when one takes on the middle-class mantle of multiculturalism. However, in order to understand the Trump conundrum, I believe there are other perspectives to take into account. There is an elephant in the room regarding Trump’s foreign policy. Like it or not, the future looks brighter

in Syria with Trump rather than Clinton in power. The past few years have been dominated by the war raging in Syria. With Obama and Putin, this conflict was in essence a proxy war, American-backed rebels against Russia-backed government forces, with no winners except perhaps the Islamic State. This modern-day reenactment of the Cold War could be coming to an end. Only last Saturday, Trump and Putin spoke on the phone, both agreeing to tackle terrorism and other issues of mutual concern. This interaction is unsurprising if one considers Trump’s lukewarm position on Russia throughout his campaign, which the liberal media was quick to demonise, going as low as circulating stories about Putin cyber-hacking the US elections. Democrats may have wished for greater hostility towards the Kremlin from their President. But what we all have to realise is that this would only allow the Islamic State to continue operating and growing within the Middle East. If Trump and Putin did reach a compromise in Syria and used their influence on targeting IS and its affiliates, this could spell the end for the wave of terrorism that has led to a rise of right-wing populism in Europe. In today’s globalised

This modern-day reenactment of the Cold War could be coming to an end

age, the European left can no longer remain aloof to this connection between foreign and domestic affairs. Ignoring the Clinton camp’s anti-Russia stance because of Trump’s unacceptable views on women and minorities is morally acceptable but it fails to acknowledge one of the root causes of the refugee crisis that is edging Europe towards Trump on the political spectrum. Some commentators have observed that Trump’s rejection of the previous administration’s stance towards Russia will not last very long. Both Bush and Obama made overtures to the Kremlin in the early stages of their terms, both failed to go further than this. But can any of these presidents be compared to Trump? He seems to be more bigoted, more divisive, but also more decisive than his predecessors. Not that this decisiveness should be seen as a compliment on my part. What I am merely pointing out is that Trump is not scared of the reaction his policies and stances will generate. Only this explains why he responded to the liberal media’s anti-Russia fabrications by threatening to institute some regime of censorship, instead of changing his foreign policy to align with all who think antagonising Russia is what we need.

We’re not in St 100: That isn’t Cait Findlay

tonewall, arguably the biggest and most significant organisation working towards rights for LGBT+ people, released its list of the Top 100 employers in terms of workplace equality earlier this week. Cambridge didn’t make the cut. You might be asking yourself why this is relevant when Cambridge, though it is a place of work (as we know all too well) is hardly a corporate business like the Lloyds Banking Group, or an organisation like the Sussex Police. Other universities, however, are on the list and some, like Cardiff University and De Montfort University, are even quite high up – Cardiff places at number 23, and is one of five universities that come in the top 50. This is clearly a matter for concern, not merely because at Cambridge we have a constant and overwhelming desire to be better than everyone else. Why doesn’t our performance in this list match up to our consistently high rankings in lists that consider education alone? Though we may occasionally be beaten by the ‘Other Place’, we have comfortably placed in at least the top five universities in the UK and the top ten in the world for an incredibly long time. And yet, in Stonewall’s smaller list of ‘Top Education Organisations’, we haven’t come in the top five. Some wonder how Stonewall decides which organisations make the list, given the difficult nature of defining an LGBT+friendly workplace or university. A system called the ‘Global Workplace Equality Index’ measures participating organisations against a number of criteria that include, to quote Stonewall’s study, “global antidiscrimination policies” and “LGBT staff networks”. Over 430 organisations took part in the 2017 Index, which just serves to show how Cambridge could have, and should have, done better. In terms of Cambridge as a workplace, it is difficult to say how employment for LGBT+ people here can improve, since, as

The Cambridge Student • 02 February 2017

FAE

Comment

Debate: Protesting President Trump No: Protests don’t persuade anyone Matthew Harris Comment Editor

tonewall’s Top good enough students, that area is very much off-limits to us. In a recent article for the Tab (yes, really – no one else has covered this yet), a spokesperson was quoted as saying that the University “supports its LGBT staff through an active LGBT+ Staff Network”, and mentioned the events that are put on for LGBT History Month in February. We can’t know exactly how well the University measures up to this beyond the Stonewall rankings themselves, but it is evident that there is room for improvement. Inevitably, any positive change at the level of the University’s employees will trickle down to improve matters at the student level. There is also a slight difficulty that comes with the college system. Each college is independent, to an extent, and so it follows that the level of support for LGBT+ students is not consistent across all the colleges. Peterhouse, for example, has faced criticism for not flying the rainbow flag during LGBT History Month, which may have led to the decision to fly it this year. On a more superficial level, this might mean that some colleges have fewer social events for LGBT+ people, but it may also reflect a general level of ignorance or intolerance, particularly towards transgender people. At this point, it is worth recognising what Cambridge does right, particularly through the efforts of its students. The CUSU LGBT+ network is active and engaged, and the LGBT+ reps at many colleges are driven to organise events that allow us to form a network of friendships across the University. Some colleges have introduced gender-neutral toilets. Most notably, the consent workshops held at the beginning of the year emphasised recognition from the start, and considered the nuances of different sexualities and gender identities. These positive aspects are the foundations upon which we need to build for the next generation of LGBT+ students. This issue is not a question of Cambridge having to be better than everyone else; this is a question of Cambridge having to be better for our own benefit.

he anti-Trump protests taking place around the world are admirable but ultimately useless. We cannot hope to influence Donald Trump or his supporters with protests and rallies. The President was elected on controversial promises and he has kept his word: voters were aware that he would attempt to ban Muslims from the United States; they knew he planned to build a Mexican borderwall; they had heard his promises to attack abortion rights. And they chose him anyway. Will Trump supporters change their minds after seeing the outrage his policies have causes? After all, large numbers of them voted for Trump because they wanted tougher policies against terror; many of them because they disliked Islam. Most of them wanted to see Muslim immigration fall dramatically. These protests will not change their views.

When the left wins, the right tries to learn from its mistakes.

Instead it is more likely that the accusations of fascism and racism will alienate them, however appropriate those labels are. They are not going to stop being prejudiced because liberals are marching on the streets. If anything, the display of support for the other side will only harden their support for Trump. Besides, the President is a man who, as his presidential campaign demonstrated, will weather any amount of criticism. During the election he was condemned by almost every news network, world leader, and A-list celebrity. The media regularly announced the end of his campaign and would laugh at anyone who thought he might win. The same media that mocked Trump’s campaign from the day he announced until the day he won is leading the certainly justified attacks on Trump’s ban. But do we really believe that more of the same anger and derision will help us now? We cannot change society with protests: we must take a leaf out Trump’s book. We

need to start winning bigly. When the Republicans lost the 2012 election, senior members commissioned a study nicknamed the ‘Autopsy Report.’ They looked at where their messaging had gone wrong and how to target voters better and start winning elections. The campaign mechanics they put in place helped Donald Trump get the vote out and target voters most susceptible to his message. When the left wins, the right blames itself and tries to learn from its mistakes. When the right wins, the left blames the darkness of the human soul. It bemoans every -ism it can, instead of crafting a coalition to wrest back power from the other side. The left must play the game of politics if it is going to survive. Winning elections is not as romantic as standing on the picket line, but power allows you to change things for the better, instead of simply shouting from the side-lines. Calling someone a fascist will not stop fascism. Winning an election will. POLITICUS USA

Yes: Protests are essential in politics Harry Robertson Comment Editor

nyone in the centre of town on Monday evening could not have failed to notice the thousandstrong crowd protesting Theresa May’s pathetic response to the US’s bigoted and draconian travel ban, which was only one small part of a much bigger, global demonstration. Protest as a political mechanism, however, is often dismissed. It doesn’t work, people say. What’s the point? And— the crowning glory of all apathetic and conservative responses—don’t you have anything better to do? These people misunderstand what protests are and what they can achieve. They’re not just rabbles of smelly students or fringe leftist loons. And they aren’t the ‘snowflake generation’ attempting to ‘shut down free speech’ or ‘whining’ about decisions which have been made demoratically. Protests are a good thing. Solidarity, for example, is one massively important element of protests. They show

unity and empathy for people who have been unfairly treated, or, with regards to the Muslim refugees and immigrants subject to the latest Executive Order, inhumanely treated. Showing solidarity, and ensuring these people that their plight will not be forgotten and their oppressors will not go unopposed, is invaluable. Protests also bring about unity between different groups of opposition. The Cambridge march was bipartisan and varied in race and sexual identity yet was united in its firm opposition to May’s pallid and toadying response to America’s authoritarianism. Cooperation of this kind, which protests foster, is vital if any government’s worst policies are to be stopped. The catharsis that protesting can bring about should not be underestimated. Oppressed or unjustly treated groups face up to immensely strong, illiberal and bigoted structures of power. Demonstrations offer a vital outlet for frustration and anger at these systems, and stop those emotions from turning into

They show unity and empathy for people who have been unfairly treated.

despondency or disillusionment, as they clearly have for a generation of Trump, UKIP, and FN voters. This connects to another reason protesting is so positive: it entrenches political engagement. It’s highly unlikely that someone will only go to a protest once, and massively increases the chances that person gets more involved in the politics of their community or country. Are there any downsides to that? As for the argument that all protestors do is meet their friends at a march and feel cosy about themselves, just a passing glance at crowd in Cambridge on Monday was enough to invalidate it. Cambridge Defend Education, Refugee Action Group, FemSocs from across the University and Women for Refugee Women are just some of the organisations who were there. The march allowed them to have their voices heard, to raise money, and to spread their messages of unity and anti-authoritarianism wider than they normally could. If this is pathetic and useless whining from the ‘snowflake generation’, give us more of it.

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Comment Editor-in-Chief: Will Tilbrook Founded 1999 Volume 18

Student protests are vital The condemnatory reaction of the University community towards Trump’s Muslim travel ban was not only encouraging in terms of how damning it was, but also because it signifies the level of engagement of students, academics, and the University institutions with developments in the current political climate. The ‘Trump rally’ outside Great St Mary’s church last Monday was attended by up to 1000 people in the late afternoon when many people might consider returning home rather than staying outside in the rain to protest. And on the same day the University Vice-Chancellor saw fit to release a statement on the travel ban and its incompatibility with the University’s values. Whilst there is certainly a debate to be had as to whether the University should release statements

expressing political viewpoints on behalf of the whole institution, as with its clear siding with Remain in the EU referendum, the fact that the Cambridge community has been so active in expressing its outrage and frustration at events happening in another corner of the globe cannot be a bad thing. Rather than typing out our indignation online or speaking out in conversations with one another, taking the decision to go out and make a stand against something that goes against your values is a strong political statement and shows an awareness of the plight of others beyond your own university life. We often write about how it is important to find ways to escape the Cambridge bubble for our own sakes but, whilst this is true, protesting on behalf of others is also vital.

Why Trump thinks he can control the bodies of women Molly Moss Comment Editor

n the words of Atticus Finch: “You never really understand a person until you...climb into his skin and walk around in it”. But tell men that they can’t understand a woman’s experience, and it’s likely that at least some will laugh in your face. After the US elections, I asked my brother why he thought so many women had voted for a man with no regard for their rights. He told me they must have realised there are more important issues at stake, and that the oppression of women is a thing of the past. I was shocked: how could someone related to me trample so heavily on my rights? It is possible, however, to understand (but not excuse) this reaction. The societal pressures, expectations, and bodily experiences of women are far removed from the lives of cis-men. Much in the same way that I, as a white woman, will never live the life of a black person, a man will never – can never – truly understand the lived experience of a woman. Trump’s reinstatement of the Global to talk about Regeni’s murder and demand that investigations continue, Gag Rule, a rule revoked under Obama’s not just because this case hits our own community but because we must set a precedent of holding governments accountable for their human rights abuses. Friday 3 February is the anniversary of the day on which Regeni’s body was found, and a public reading has been organised by Milan’s Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan, highlighting the importance of freedom and free speech.

We musn’t forget Regeni Like you or me, Giulio Regeni was a student at Cambridge when he was tragically killed whilst undertaking research in Egypt. What ought to have been a fruitful academic visit has, owing to his brutal treatment and slowness to comply from the Egyptian authorities, since turned into a major human rights issue which has been at the forefront of Amnesty International’s Cambridge City Group campaign work as well as the branch affiliated with the University. It is absolutely vital that we continue

presidency banning international NGOs from offering abortion services or even information on abortion, was proof (if any was needed) that we still live in a misogynistic society. The rule is cruel: global health efforts are largely contingent on US funding, which they will risk losing if they so much as offer information on abortion. The photo of the bunch of men watching Trump sign away women’s autonomy in developing countries rapidly went viral. The situation screams patriarchy. Try to envisage a group of women axing men’s authority over their sperm: it just wouldn’t happen. So why do some men think they have the right to tell us what we are and are not allowed to do with our reproductive organs? I can only suggest that it’s down to their narcissism. At the end of the day – to powerful men such as these – no one’s needs, views, or opinions matter but their own. Trump, one of the most powerful men in the world, believes women shouldn’t be able to enjoy sex while avoiding pregnancy or STIs. Trump has clearly failed to see (or care) that many pregnant young girls grow up in impoverished families where the access to contraception

and sex education is limited. The rule will hit the LGBT+ community hard: in countries where ‘corrective rape’ is used to supposedly ‘cure’ women of lesbianism, queer women are more likely to become pregnant. Equally, in certain countries, where it is illegal to be gay, LGBT+ people are reliant on US funding. Other struggling communities will be affected. The GGR will inevitably end lives. One thing is sure. Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric is transforming into more than just words. The world is heading dangerously close to dystopian fictions like The Handmaid’s Tale. As millions of people marched against Trump on his first day of Presidency, many were carrying coathangers in fear of returning to a time when women, out of other options, resorted to self-induced abortion. This is a time that we are already re-living. We can’t force men to have to consider abortion. We can’t make them carry an unwanted pregnancy and give birth. They won’t ever live these terrifying experiences. We can, however, get wise to their egotism. We can show them that they can’t speak for us; that they can’t remove our autonomy. We can make them listen. SALOONA.CO

Hipsters: Because our generation’s culture just isn’t as cool as the days of The Beatles

Joanna Taylor Deputy Editor

lthough pronounced dead by Guardian articles in 2014, 2015, and 2016, the hipster is very much alive and is a staple of millennial culture. Being tricky to define, it’s probably easier to spot a hipster than describe one – subtypes vary from Oasis-loving Marlboro Lights smokers to vegan photographer

cactus-keepers to wavy moustachioed King’s freshers – but one thing we can probably all agree on is that they’re (okay, we’re) not very well liked. Even hipsters hate being called hipsters. We’re easy targets of ridicule (the Facebook group Millennials of New York is a good and hilarious, example) and usually derided as pretentious and self-absorbed. In this week’s column I hope to convince you that the hipster is to be celebrated, rather than sneered at, albeit with a couple of major caveats. Every generation has its subcultures and, basically, ours aren’t as cool as our parents’ and grandparents’. Back in the day you could be a punk, hippie, mod, rocker, electro, or whatever, whereas nowadays even though decent music,

films and fashion is still produced, their authenticity is somewhat marred by the artifice of technology. It’s little wonder, then, that millennials love all things retro: where once mainstream culture meant The Beatles, Pink Floyd, or David Bowie, it now means artificial drum beats and club-tailored remixes. The general aesthetic (and I use the word selfconsciously) of the sixties, seventies, eighties, and yes, even the nineties, is alluring to a generation finding its feet in a radically changed pop culture. The hipster is basically the answer to the question: what if I could experience the summer of love without the rampant misogyny? What if I could listen to the gay icons of the eighties safe in the knowledge that they could

legally marry? What if I could adopt a Victorian pipe, monocle and unicycle without fear of widespread cholera? I’m being flippant, but the point is that there’s nothing wrong with choosing the parts of the 20th century that you like, whether it be the polaroid cameras or the dip-dyed hair, and combining it with the stuff that makes now a better time to be alive, like intersectional feminism, growing trans rights, or owning a flatscreen TV. You are allowed to enjoy things. The first caveat I wish to add, however, is that I don’t condone being the type of hipster who is snobbish towards others for never having tried chai tea or thinking that Katy Perry is all right. Where being a hipster becomes a coolness test, or indeed

a test of how ‘so-uncool-it’s-cool’ something is, then you need to take a step back and evaluate. The other major caveat is that hipsterism should never be merged with cultural appropriation. There is a difference between this and borrowing elements of other subcultures and bygone eras. While BME and workingclass people can be hipsters, middleclass white teenagers should be careful about attempting to emulate others. Hipsterism should always be inclusive rather than elitist. For our parents, though, imitation is the highest form of flattery. The elder generations should be proud that we’ve taken up their mantle and nicked their old Smiths’ records, not sneering at the way we’ve interpreted culture.

The Cambridge Student • 02 Feburary 2017

Sport

Cryptic Crossword by Cameron Wallis

Women’s football: Jesus vs Selwynson, 2-5 Lili Bidwell

Across 1. House reports smooth entrance by oscillation. (9) 2. Muffle a joke. (3) 3. Note going either way. (5) 4. Sandwich moves around year. (4) 5. Four headless and six topless men of seductive dispositions. (6) 6. Insensitive snakey collision. (5) 7. Profit from legless alcohol. (3) 8. Fuss from primaries alive, dead or? (3) 9. Don’t start! Cot is bone. (3) 10. Money collides heartlessly (4)

Down 5. River in capitals of Romania, Indonesia and Oman. (3) 6. Executive orders after fifteen rising stars take small parts. (5) 11. Stray and blunder. (3) 12. Burden of responsibility. (9) 13. Gently damaging arrangement of us is in ‘I do’. (9) 14. Abbreviated aristocrat between two bends. (5) 15. Fast food is apple. (3) 16. Conscious of one conflict in England. (5)

n Saturday morning at half past eleven, girls gathered on the Jesus football pitches to battle it out in a College League football game. The teams were a combination of Selwyn and Robinson (Selwynson) versus Jesus. With both teams needing a win in order to be in with a chance of wining the League, the stakes were high as the game kicked off. Both teams had managed to field enough players and the play started off strong. The Jesus girls had good possession, and were pushing it up to score, but the Selwynson girls managed to score fairly early on, giving them a boost of morale and confidence. The girls’ fitness was good on both sides, with all players making runs for the ball and not being afraid to move as a unit up and down the pitch. There were University standard players on both sides of the game, raising the standard and drawing in a handful of spectators despite the chilly wind. Selwynson were very strong in the

middle of the pitch, making it very difficult for Jesus to push through, and therefore reducing their opportunities to take a shot on goal. When Jesus managed to get a ball out on the wing they were able to make some good runs and made a few attempts on goal, but only two of these were successful over the course of the game. After a short break in between the 35 minute halves, the girls continued to play aggressively, with some particularly strong attacking play from Selwynson. The encouragement from fellow team mates, especially for those who were new to the game was very heart-warming and added to the overall atmosphere of the match. The final score overall was a 5-2 win to Selwynson, leaving Jesus with their first loss of the league and Selwynson in good stead for winning said league. Nevertheless, given that Selwynson previously lost to Homerton, there is still a lot of potential for things to change with regards to the competition for the League. MAGDALENE SPORTS

Sudoku

by Thomas Prideaux Ghee

Magdalen vs Magdalene: Oxford visit Cambridge Lili Bidwell

S Solutions from Volume 18, Lent Issue 1

aturday afternoon saw the arrival of Magdalen College, Oxford in Cambridge, ready to play their sister College at a variety of sports, before bonding over a roast dinner in Cambridge’s finest club, Life. The women played netball in a heated game, with the score being very close throughout the match, Magdalene Cambridge even pulling ahead at times. Nevertheless, Magdalen Oxford managed to get a good rhythm going with their shots and scored a couple in quick sucession at the end of the game, leaving the final score at 13-11 to Magdalen Oxford, in spite of a strong performance from both sides. The mixed hockey game was another close match, with both sides giving it their all and responding well

to the support from the sidelines. The game was technically very good, with both teams defending well and leading to a very tight game. With three goals scored in total, the game was full of suspense and ended with a 2-1 win for Magdalene Cambridge. The men battled it out at both football and rugby. The football match was very exciting, with several goals scored, resulting in a 5-1 win for Magdalen Oxford. The Oxford players dominated the rugby pitch, playing very strongly and winning 58-12. The players from both colleges then set out to celebrate the day’s sporting achievements and treated themselves to a swap in Life. With a good dance to round off the night, the sistercollege bonding was a real success. All involved look forward to next year’s event, to take place in Oxford.

02 February 2017 • The Cambridge Student

Sport

Magdalen v. Magdalene

Sister colleges compete in day of rivalry → p. 19

www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/sport

SELWYN COLLEGE SPORT FACEBOOK

Selwyn AFC in action in a pre-season match

Stalemate in Churchill and Selwyn clash

Football: Churchill Firsts 0 - 0 Selwyn Harry Robertson

t was a tale of two goalkeepers as these two stubborn teams held each other at bay in this top division clash. Selwyn (I) scuppered their chances of a title shot and Churchill (I) did themselves no favours in their relegation battle as the sides drew 0-0 in a tense Premier League clash on Saturday. After a fairly even start, Selwyn soon began to dominate. Their holding midfielder, Pablo Portela, danced around multiple players on a scorching run into the Churchill penalty area, and was only denied by a miraculous save from the Churchill keeper, Robert Smyth, who was one of the best players throughout. This was not the only time Smyth would be called upon to keep his team out of trouble: he was required to fearlessly dive at the feet of Selwyn’s wing-back Simon Fox, who had charged forward to snatch

After a fairly even start, Selwyn soon began to dominate

the ball and prevent a goal. Selwyn were repeatedly frustrated upfront, but their defence held Churchill back too. When attacking, Churchill were relatively effective in sending balls over the top and down the wing to striker Ludo Sappa-Cohen and wingers Duherich and Holland. Selwyn’s defence had a shaky first half hour, while Churchill had some success but were wayward with their shooting. Keir Baker in the Selwyn goal pulled off some brilliant saves, including a sublime, back pedalling dive to the right to prevent Sappa-Cohen from drawing first blood with a driving volley. However, these moments of pacy attack were rare from both teams. The ball was consistently held up in the middle of the park, and neither Churchill midfielder Harry Holt nor his Selwyn opposite number Alex Thompson were able to

produce that killer pass through to their wingers or strikers, although the latter created the better chances. A nasty injury to Tony Anele had seen him substituted off, causing a re-jig in the Churchill defence who nevertheless managed to hold firm, with captain Robin Platts inspiring a gritty performance. Indeed, the sturdiness of each side’s defence made things feel a little desperate in the second half, as Selwyn felt any title hopes slipping away and Churchill desperately sought the goal that would aid their relegation battle. Selwyn were dominant for periods, with Tom Higgins Toon producing a star performance, but James Massey struggled to find the final pass, after some brilliant runs down the right, while Hawes upfront lacked the service he needed to produce a goal. Selwyn captain Joe Hudson rallied

his team and they went for broke in the final twenty minutes, but to no avail. They produced many chances, but failed to capitalise. Against the run of play, however, the final word was Churchill’s. Harry Holt could have capped off a stellar performance with a goal, but fired straight at Baker after getting through one-on-one in the dying minutes. It was a tough and eventful 0-0 draw, in which Selwyn had the better chance. “We pushed hard”, Selwyn captain Hudson lamented, “but neither team produced attacking quality on the day. However, the point cements our continued status as a top flight team.” Churchill’s captain was hopeful about their chances of survival: “We had a poor first half of the season but we’re getting up to speed now.” Selwyn now look to the Plate, where they may proceed to the final.