The official newspaper of Leeds University
Reclaim Headingley Stadium: Protesters call for a safer city A petition has been set up to encourage local authorities to implement further safety procedures for those using the alleyway which joins Headingley and Burley.
www.thegryphon.co.uk Twitter: @TheGryphonLeeds Instagram: @thegr yphon Issue 2 11/11/20
Research shows attainment gap between Black and white students Emily Olivia Roney discusses new data that reveals a deep-rooted discrepancy in degree results (Page 7)
Pope Francis’ statement on same-sex relationships Image: Jack Taylor
Franks Feng Following huge social media attention surrounding recent alleged sexual assault cases in Headingley, a protest took place near the ‘assault hotspot’ alleyway next to Emerald Headingley Stadium on Friday the 30th of October. The event attracted over 100 students and locals. A petition, which now has almost 10,000 signatures, has been set up to encourage local authorities to implement further safety procedures near the alleyway to make it safer for students and the local community to use the route. The alleyway is used as a shortcut to avoid walking around the stadium, however students are said to be feeling increasingly unsafe when using the sexual assault rates in recent months, reported in student areas such as Headingley and Hyde Park since October 2019. People gathered at 12pm near Headingley Stadium for the event, with
Will Nixon reflects on Pope Francis’ statement on same-sex relationships and its impact on the LGBTQ+ community (Page 10)
#EndSARS: Uniting Nigerian youth protesters following social distancing rules and wearing facemasks. Posters and banners detailing the reasons for the protest were put up along the alleyway whilst participants took the opportunity to discuss their concerns around the issue of sexual assault cases in the city. Some of them are victims. Rhiannon
Abuse Society and organiser of the protest, gave a speech, criticisng the lack of action from the local government and West Yorkshire Police. Rhiannon said “We usually hear from the university, local police and city council saying they are happy to support what we are doing. However, so far we haven’t witnessed any action from the key people.” She also expressed her confusion as to why local authorities haven’t gotten in touch with them in response to them raising their concerns. West Yorkshire Police made a statement on Facebook that one rumoured incident has “not been reported” to them as of yet.
One of the students who joined the protest has herself experienced incidences of sexual assault in the past, and believes that the council should do more than just cutting down trees behind the alley. Protesters are calling for further measures to be put in place, such as adding more security patrols and installing more CCTV cameras on the road to ensure the safety of women in particular, especially as the darker winter months approach. There were some international students who also joined the protest in order to learn more about the situation. Rhiannon emphasised the importance of keeping the local community informed. “As an international student you may not know it is dangerous here. We also want to make sure that students speak out. Both home students and international students’ safety is important and by getting involved they can learn more about the issues in the local community. Everyone living in the Leeds community should join together to make a change.”
Bridget Eke pays homage to the Nigerian youth movement and their work in mobilising change for the motherland (Page 13)
Gendered lockdown dreams Finn Laslett discusses research on the nature of COVID dreams (Page 19) In the Middle Music and Clubs, Fashion, Arts and Culture, Blogs and Lifestyle (Midway)
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Editor’s letter Credits Editor-In-Chief Newspaper Associates
Social Media Associate Web Developer Head of Marketing Head of Radio Head of Design Head of Photography Treasurer Secretary News
Society Features
Views
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Contents: 4-7 8-11 12 13-16 17-18 19-21 21-23
News Features Society Views Business Science Sport
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Student Exec columns: Izzy Walter A
Laila Fletcher
highlight
Sophia Hartley
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Franks Feng (Jian)
Carolina HallRodriguez
Lotti Morton
Lucy Murphy
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Campus Watch
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Union threatens strike over in-person teaching during pandemic
Manchester Metropolitan University has recently stated that it will resume in-person teaching, despite the UK having entered a national lockdown on the 5th of November. The University intends to provide up to three hours of in-person teaching per week for most courses, despite most classes being moved online.
3 1 4
5
Manchester Metropolitan University
to revert back to in person teaching is simply “unacceptable.” The Union has warned that it will ballot industrial action if this action is not reversed.
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Metropolitan University’s ViceChancellor wants to undermine the
urging them to return to campus.” A MMU spokesperson said: “Our decision to reintroduce an element of face-to-face teaching is in line with recommendations from the Director of Public Health for Manchester and Public Health England. Above all, many of our students, who tell us and the Students’ Union that they greatly value in-person activity.” Kerisa Carlin News Editor
Martyn Moss said that “the people of Manchester are making huge spread of the virus. Yet Manchester
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University of Bath University recording ‘historic highs’ in COVID-19 cases
The University of Bath has reported and students over a two-day period.
The University said the old cases had been added to its new data “for transparency.” The University explained that “due to changes in how GP registration data is reported nationally, the University has been made aware by B&NES Public Health of additional historical cases which are included in the data for transparency.” The seven-day average for the number of daily cases reported amongst students has risen in the per day (as reported at the time of writing). Bath remains the area of Somerset COVID-19. It is estimated that there
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Durham University
LGBT students targeted via Zoom meeting
A Zoom event for students at Durham University was disrupted by more than 15 people reportedly shouting homophobic slurs and playing sexually explicit videos, leaving new students feeling “threatened” and “unsafe.” Students who were new to Durham University had joined the LGBT Association Zoom meeting before a group entered via a link, posted on the Association’s welcome page, to reportedly harass the members with abuse, loud music and explicit images. The incident has been branded a hate crime by LGBT groups at the University, with one stating “to hijack an event like this in such an aggressive and targeted way is nothing less than a hate crime.” The statement went on to detail how the event is made worse by the fact that new students who were facing COVID-19 restrictions were seeking personal interaction and support within the group at the time of the incident. Durham Univerisity has condemned the attackers’ actions, stating that such behaviour “will not be tolerated.”
the region at the time of writing. Kerisa Carlin News Editor
Isabelle Thom News Editor
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University of New Chancellor to replace Prince Andrew
announced a new Chancellor to replace Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who resigned last year amidst the scandal Epstein. This appointment has been delayed by several months due to COVID-19. The role is now occupied by Sir George Buckley, a South Yorkshireborn businessman and an alumnus of Sir George, who was knighted in
currently holds the Chairmanship of UK based technology innovator Smiths Black & Decker. The new Chancellor has maintained close ties to the University as both a generous supporter and honorary Innovation Centre was opened at the University. Jonathon Thornton, the Chair of the praised Sir George as “a person who has used education – alongside his capacity for hard work and his visionary qualities – as a stepping stone for a truly exceptional career.” Chloe Gronneberg
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University of Bristol Drug testing kits distributed to students
The University of Bristol is the latest to join the list of UK universities as part of their All About Drugs Campaign. More and more universities, including the University of Leeds, are adopting harm reduction tactics to reduce the risk of overdose and drugrelated illness within the student community. These include education on the dangers of substance abuse and drug testing kits, which verify the ingredients in a drug. This follows the increase in drug use among students due to the coronavirus pandemic. students are resorting to alcohol and drugs to ease the transition into living independently and meeting new due to isolation and social restrictions. Despite the majority support of these harm reduction tactics, there has been some backlash, arguing that these methods endorse drug use. Sophie Donne
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Rashford’s free school meals campaign inspires Leeds residents to
It’s clear that as the debate continues to ravage around Westminster, it’s leading to unlikely political bedfellows. In spite of the almost unprecedented opposition, the Government appears to be doubling down. Boris Johnson, speaking at a visit to a hospital in Reading, said he “totally” understands the “issue
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of holiday hunger” and that the question was about “how do you deal with it?”
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Former Chancellor George
Image: PA
Jack Valentine England and Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford’s campaign to extend the free school meals
has “provided resources to local authorities to help in
a chasm thanks to the Government’s complete lack of compassion.”
programme over the holidays has been bolstered
As well as Leeds City Council, many local residents
in the last few weeks as local authorities, small
have been doing what they can to donate to local food
businesses and residents came together to provide
banks and initiatives across the city.
free-school meals to the vulnerable over the recent half term break.
Leeds United captain Liam Cooper announced that players at the newly-promoted club would donate
Recently, there have been setbacks to the campaign,
£25,000 to Rashford’s campaign. Soon after, the
most notably the defeat to Labour’s motion that
club itself announced that it would match its players’
called for free school meals to be extended over the
pledge.
However,
many
local
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Christmas holidays.
authorities
“ in Leeds.
and
small
for Children and Families, said: “We are so proud of our communities pulling together
The Healthy Holidays programme, which is run by
Leeds Community Foundation in partnership with
Chancellor Rishi Sunak also backed Johnson’s claim,
and went even further to state that the Government
It was not just Rashford’s fellow sports stars backing the campaign however, as artists such as Coldplay and Louis Tomlinson expressed their support for the campaign via Twitter. Opposition
continues
to
be
prominent
in
Westminster too, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer stating that “schools are pillars of our communities and may need to be reimagined during this period, so that those with additional needs get the support they need.” Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey echoed a similar call, stating: “we need the Government to commit to practical, long term measures to prevent any child going hungry, on any day of the year.”
Leeds City Council and other organisations, provides
Opposition also came in the form of ex-Brexit
children and families with access to meals and
Party leader Nigel Farage, who retweeted a message
activities during the holidays. Fiona Venner, Leeds City Council’s Executive
read: “The Government was happy to help adults to
Member for Children and Families, said: “We are so
eat out in August, but no it lets the poorest children
proud of our communities pulling together to plug
go hungry during the school holidays. Does this seem
the gap, but we know that those gaps are becoming
fair to you?”
a targeted way the most vulnerable children that need looking after.” There are certainly hints, however, that the political backlash is taking its toll on some MPs, with Wolverhampton South West MP Stuart Anderson Other Conservatives aren’t so certain that this Government will continue its opposition to the proposal, with rumours circulating that some newer ‘blue wall’ Conservative MPs are “spooked” by the backlash they are receiving in light of the vote. Former Chancellor George Osborne used his column in the Evening Standard, the paper for which he is Editor-In-Chief, to claim that a U-Turn from the Government was now “inevitable.” Highlighting
the
political
battles
he
faced
surrounding issues of food banks as Chancellor, he expressed: “I was armed with all the facts … but the answers felt tin-eared when confronted with real stories of hungry families.” He went onto explain that “Marcus Rashford has got this right. The Government needs to realise that it’s game over.” If you are in a position to support the Leeds Healthy Holiday programme, please contact Leeds Community Foundation on leedshealthyholidays@leedscf.org.uk. * The government has since embarked on yet another U-turn, deciding to run a £170m Covid winter grant scheme.
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Campaign blunder or brilliance? The Biden Campaign and video games
Image: Wikimedia Commons
As Americans headed out to vote last week, they faced two primary options: the current President Donald Trump or the Democrat Nominee Joe Biden. For a long time in Western Democracies, the issue of getting young people to vote has been unsuccessful, with the USA having a youth turnout of 50 per cent in 2016 (18-29 year-olds). So how have the Democrats tried to bolster youth voting numbers?
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Biden’s Campaign has chosen to target young people using two of this year’s most popular video games. With Joe Biden having “his own island” on Animal Crossing where a tour was held, showcasing voting booths and signs with the URL ‘IWillVote.com’ to promote voting.
With Animal Crossing and Among Us, of course. Yes, that is correct: Biden’s Campaign has chosen to target young people using two of the most popular video games this year. With Joe Biden having ‘his
own island’ on Animal Crossing where a tour was held, showcasing voting booths and signs with the URL ‘IWillVote.com’ to promote voting. So far the video has been seen almost 50 thousand times on the YouTube Channel ‘Kinda Funny Games’ It is also important to note that Animal Crossing sold over 22 million units this year on the Nintendo Switch, therefore it has widespread appeal, not just in the US but globally as well. Even more surprisingly was when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) announced on Twitter that she would be playing Among Us, with fellow congress member Ilhan Omar, as well as announcing that she would be livestreaming it to the popular streaming platform Twitch. Here, she received 439,000 at her highest concurrent viewers (with the record on Twitch being 628,000). This is paired with approximately 5.2 million viewers over the course of the stream (as people tune in and out). Now the question is, was this a strategy blunder or brilliance? In the past, politicians have blundered when trying to appeal to the youth. In 2016, Hillary Clinton came up with the infamous line ‘Pokémon-Go-to the polls’ that was instantly turned into a meme, and made Hillary Clinton look hilariously out of touch. This was something Trump avoided entirely by not
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Cameron Thomas
trying at all to appeal to the youth vote.
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AOC chose to play Among Us with various popular Twitch streamers such as Pokimane, HasanAbi, and DisguisedToast, to name a few. This enabled additional exposure from high appeal to young people.
Now clearly AOC’s livestream was far more popular that Joe Biden’s video tour. This could possibly be due to a few factors. AOC chose to play Among Us with various popular Twitch streamers such as Pokimane, HasanAbi, and DisguisedToast, to name a few.
Additionally, AOC herself is young and on stream acted very ‘natural’ and ‘normal’; as Guardian writer Joshua Rivera expertly pointed out, is something most politicians struggle with. Overall, it is fair to say this was not a political blunder, and it will be interesting to see if the Democrats’ strategy leads to a boost in youth voters in the 2020 Presidential Election.
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Research shows degree attainment gap between Black and white students Emily Olivia Roney
week, it concluded that annual equality data shows a 22.6 percentage point gap between white students course mates. Black students, as the disparity for people from Black African, Black Caribbean and other Black backgrounds, at 23.3, 19.2 and 24.4 points respectively, indicating a focus on attainment for Black students, not just ethnic groups under the ‘BAME’ label. The research from HE found the proportion of Black students awarded top degrees was 58.8 per cent, whereas twice as many white students were awarded Gary Loke, Director of Knowledge, Innovation and Delivery at Advance HE, said: “At a sector level, progress on narrowing the ethnicity gap continues to be slow.” He called on universities to put in place actions Image: Pxfuel
Chris Millward, Director for Fair Access and “University can transform the lives and careers of graduates, but we know that this is not happening for all students. As the data shows, over the last decade, there has been painfully slow progress in addressing the attainment gap between white and Black students.”
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In October 2019, The Gryphon found that Black students were awarded 1st Class degrees at a rate that is four times less than white students in the academic year 2018-2019. The University’s most recent Access and Participation plan claimed in the proportion of BAME students attaining a 2:1 or above.
There have also been recent calls to ensure the responsibility of closing this attainment gap is lifted Akinbosede wrote in the Times Higher Education that
collaboration from BAME students.” Controversy also exists over the generalizing and misleading nature of using the ‘BAME’ (Black, Asian and Ethnic problems the Black community face. Unfortunately, the situation isn’t too dissimilar in Leeds. In October 2019, The Gryphon found that Black students were awarded 1st class degrees at a rate that is four times
The University’s most recent Access and Participation proportion of BAME students attaining a 2:1 or above when compared to white students.” However, the latest statistics are from 2017/18. The BAME Attainment section of the report cited for BAME students: “the gap between 2013/14 and 2017/2018 of this gap widening.” The report also acknowledged the “aggregation of ethnic groupings up to BAME level does mask larger disparities in attainment.” Overall, it concluded an attainment gap of 28.9% between Black and white students at the University or above in 2017/18. Although these statistics are two years old, they show a 6.3% increase in the national percentage point gap. The Gryphon spoke to the University of Leeds, who provided the following statement: “Diversity and equal opportunity are hugely important to the University. We are wholly committed to closing the degree awarding gap, and have set clear targets for doing so in our Access and Participation Plan and forthcoming Access Strategy: to reduce the awarding gap to 5.5 per cent by 2025 and eradicate it by 2030. The attainment gap between Black and white students is an issue across the UK, and our focus is on using data analysis and research to understand what is happening as well as to foster more discussion about race and barriers throughout the University. Work to ensure the curriculum is inclusive to students from all backgrounds is progressing and a framework for decolonising the curriculum will shortly be published.” So, what are the proposed solutions on narrowing this gap from the University of Leeds? LUU stopped
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this gap, especially after an NUS report in 2019 urged
to “dismantle structural inequality” in higher education, examining issues such as the diversity of
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New data from a recent study has uncovered a worrying reality for the state of higher education equality; a national “degree gap likely to preserve white advantage for ages.” The report, carried out by Advance Higher Education (HE), found that the gap between white and Black students achieving at least a 2:1 degree at university will not close until 2086 at the present rate. The report raises concerns and shows the slow progress the universities have made so far in closing the degree attainment gap for Black and ethnic minority students. The ‘gap’ being referred to is the disparity in the proportion of white students who were awarded a 1st or 2:1, compared to the proportion of Black and Ethnic Minority students awarded the same degree. In recent years, universities across the UK have faced
BAME students “the BAME Attainment gap” in September 2019. Placing pressure on the University to take further action, it is hoped that the widening gap
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On a national scale, universities must look in the mirror and address the perpetuation of whiteness as normality.
On a national scale, as Daniel Akinbosede’s poignant article highlights, ultimately, universities must look in the mirror and address the perpetuation of whiteness as normality. His article also stresses a call to review how this data is analysed. Kingston University’s approach has been praised, as it transforms the way that attainment gap data are analysed, basing them on the academic potential of Black students, rather than their proximity to white attainment.
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Features
Ahnaf Akeef and Clarissa Leung Suicidal thoughts among adults in the UK have increased from 8% to 10% over the past few months, with young adults (18-29 years) showing the highest increase, a study led by the University of Glasgow reveals. Chair in Health Psychology at the University’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing Professor Rory O’Connor called this a “creeping rise over a very short period of time”, which is something of a paradox and more than a cause for concern for the country. A survey carried out by Healthwatch Bradford and a “sense of anxiety and fear was palpable” among respondents. One person said, “I’m still coming to terms with the death of my wife…the present situation has brought home how lonely I can feel at times.” became lockdown. I had my medication increased only because I became suicidal, and crisis team came out. After that, I had nothing at all and had to help myself; it was awful.” dicted that at least 10 million - that is almost onesixth of the population - will need mental health support, directly resulting from the pandemic, and 18.
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as using the telephone, extremely inaccessible and unviable for them while some others are unable to
use the computer or electronic devices to access online information. From the Bradford survey, it’s been revealed that a lot of people with pre-existing mental conditions have had their treatment and counselling sessions cancelled without any follow-up or information as the very least, causes confusion; at worst: panic, relapses, deterioration of wellbeing or even the most catastrophic repercussions - suicidal thoughts. Have we been prioritising physical health and containing the virus at the expanse of neglecting the prevalent problem of mental illnesses in this coununnoticed. suicide, self-harm, alcoholism and domestic abuse”, concluded 42 mental health experts in an open letter to the Government. Covid. But it’s also certain to cause further deaths, not only from other physical diseases like cancer but from alcoholism, addiction and suicide – which have already been soaring this year. It will also lead to intense loneliness and depression and in older people, these are killers, closely linked to poor physical health. Ironically, this will make them all the more vulnerable to Covid.” says consultant psychologist Dr Keri Nixon, an expert in trauma and domestic abuse. killing people, just like Covid-19. Containing the coronavirus should not be prioritised at the expense of our mental health; it will only weaken our physical wellbeing and exacerbate the bodily deterioration of those already infected with the virus. Using our resources to develop vaccines and em-
phasising the importance of social distancing are valid. Still, we should also keep the very real strugthan ever - in mind.
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Shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan lays the blame on the government for being “asleep at the wheel” and playing “political football”. She told the Observer that “the secretary of state did not meet with a single mental-health organisation
ethnicity or socioeconomic background.” In October, the minister for mental health Nadine Dorries announced in the Commons that the government would pledge “an extra £2.3 billion of funding into mental health services”, but the funding still falls short of the £2.6 billion required by the NHS’ pandemic. waves of coronavirus washing over Britain, mental
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Image: BBC
Visit www.mindwellleeds.org.uk or call 111 for NHS Urgent Help. Samaritans can be contacted via phone (116 123) or email (jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie)
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Features
Image: BBC
Will Nixon Pope Francis recently made headlines for expressing his belief that same-sex couples should be entitled to “civil unions” and welcomed in the Catholic church. This has been considered a departure from the traditional Catholic or Christian view. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered” and to be approved “under no circumstances.” In Catholic doctrine, same-sex relationships are particularly unacceptable because they are considered to remove the potential for new life from the dynamic of sex. It’s worth noting that the Pope only advocated for civil unions, not going so far as to pledge support for same-sex marriage. In this sense, he hasn’t actually said anything new. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he opposed the legalisation of gay marriage in Argentina in 2010, but still advocated for civil unions. In 2013, he famously commented “who am I to judge” an
told they’re going to hell, suggesting that biblical
(rather base level) statement that gay people should be tolerated and entitled to equal legal protections in the form of civil unions comes with some personal precedent and are therefore no surprise. Christianity and the Bible have regularly been weaponised against the LGBT community and used as a tool to justify homophobia, particularly Leviticus 18:22, which calls same-sex relations an “abomination.” However, the exact same term, “abomination,” is also used in Leviticus 11:10 to
it may be, is still something of a step forward. More conservative Catholics are wary that civil unions may prove a slippery slope, eventually undermining Church views of ‘traditional’ marriage. Additionally, Pope John Paul II oversaw the publishing of a
and scales in the seas.” I sincerely doubt anybody enjoying a meal of Moules Marinère has ever been
Arguably, despite the current Pope being viewed as having more liberal interpretations of the Catholic faith, nothing that he’s said about same-sex relationships meaningfully contradicts its doctrine. The aforementioned Catechism of the Catholic Church also dictates that “homosexual persons ‘must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity,’” disapproving of “unjust discrimination” against them. As a result, the Pope’s support for civil unions, marriage despite maintaining a distinction between the one that is unholy and the one that is sacred; does not upend any long-standing Catholic teaching. However, just because the Pope has not upended Church teaching does not mean that his words are
unions: “respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way … to legal recognition of homosexual unions.” As a result, despite how bare-boned Pope Francis’ statement may appear to LGBT Catholics, they have still hailed it a considerable step forward. Regardless, Pope Francis has still not really changed any of the Church’s fundamental teachings
– meaning that it therefore remains to be seen whether this recent statement will have any impact in societies that have so far been unwilling to embrace marriage equality, particularly those in the global south. Ultimately, his recent words are unlikely to make any tangible impact considering that a genuine change in Church doctrine to encourage tolerance towards same-sex relationships would require a formal procedure and far more internal debate in an environment that, despite the Pope’s statement, still harbours scepticism towards samesex relationships. For example, Bishop of Providence Thomas Joseph Tobin, a frequent critic of Pope Francis, stated that the Pope’s statement “clearly shared by many of the Catholic clergy that samesex relationships are “objectively immoral,” and that civil unions are “not admissible.” It is therefore clear what kind of opposition any kind of Catholic homosexuality would face. In short, Pope Francis’ statement does not meaningfully represent an imminent change in however, demonstrate that at the core of Church leadership, stances regarding same-sex relationships are softening, albeit at a snail’s pace. Perhaps this indicates that some degree of liberalisation of Church policy on same-sex unions is not an entirely irrational forecast.
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What we should know but aren’t told: A brief reminder of the UK’s continuing ‘hostile environment’ Geeta Wedderburn
The Dublin Regulation
Adopted in 2003, the regulation originally determined that the state in which the asylum seeker the asylum application. This changed in 2008 due the pressures inequitably to inland states. Now, asylum seekers must “wait in limbo”, until they are transferred to the state “deemed responsible for their claim” (UNHCR, 2010).
The Detention Period
The “bureaucratic step before deportation” is in reality not so much a ‘step’ as a period of incarceration lasting an average of 89 days (Garina, 2015), by which refugees arrive at UK borders having left an “unsafe country”, and are detained in centres which allow just “one hour in the open air every day”, demonstrate an is hard to dissociate this discourse and such regimes from that of prisons. Recently the “squalid conditions inside former military barracks hastily converted into refugee camps” (Townsend, 2020) were revealed. It is, of course, impossible to socially distance under these conditions. Asylum seekers may be detained at any point while their claim is being considered whether to decide on whether to grant temporary admission
or release”, or because “removal from the UK is imminent” for the refugee. In some cases, the refugee may be detained whilst “alternative arrangements are made for their care”, or alternatively, because their “release is not considered conducive to the public good”. In almost all cases, though, the asylum seeker is remand in custody (Girma,2015). Such lack of clarity is frightening, confusing and detrimental to the mental health of arrivals whom are already survivors threat of terrorism.
The Brexit Implications
Of course, regulation is set to change once more, commencing January 31st, 2020, or ‘exit day’, as referred to in Brexit legislation, and immigration legislation has already been “earmarked for immediate repeal” (Halliday, 2020). For those who arrive in the UK after this day, harsher UK rules on deportation will deportation from the UK” will be enforced “where the (Halliday explanatory note, 2020). It is notable that “the United Kingdom enjoys considerable discretion… security, for purposes tailored to its individual context from time to time” (UK legislation cited directly by Halliday, 2020). This is a strategic and nuanced way of justifying the deporaton of those who have risked their lives to make the treacherous journey from Calais to the UK , at any time during their asylum application. Against this oppressive instrument of systemic exhillation, Refugees have little to no hope of forging a political or documented identity, given that these administrative measures render Refugees legislatively incapable to do so.
Life post-release
In May’s own words, the UK’s ‘hostile environment’ transcends the period of arrival for refugees, and extends to the “safe” new life that refugees, who make the notoriously dangerous 5 hour long boat - a task which miscalculatedly assumes that migrants have the means of accessing a computer,
required to open a bank account. On top of this, in this short time period, refugees are expected to have and basic healthcare, which paradoxically, require a bank account to apply for. After volunteering in Calais with Care4Calais, founders of UK Refugee Support Network, Cicely and co-founders of the Network- Barnie Hakata and lack of responsibilitisation and systemic support beyond the detention period and that “the hardships that our refugee brothers and sisters face in The Jungle, continue when they reach the UK.” Cicely explained that “due to the pandemic, we couldn’t go and volunteer in Calais. So, we wanted to create a support network of people in the UK for refugees and asylum seekers.” Having worked in Calais, they are in contact with lots of refugees that have undertaken the treacherous journey across the channel and safely made it to the UK. A success story in itself! However, Cicely notes that after immigration detention bail or release, the state deploys refugees to remote, highly-dispersed informal settlements such as destitute hotels on the subaltern, suburban peripheries of cities where both social isolation, the lack material necessities (shoes, clothes, a mobile phone) and functional fundamentals (a bank account, legal advice) means refugees become socio-economically immobilised and marginalised. Refugees are physically forced to remain in the farwithout communication or contact. Cicely reminds us redundant to a refugee who hasn’t even been shown how to set up a bank account. A system in which the fundamentals aren’t provided or considered in refugees from wanting to leave Calais, or their homes, a conversation had with a refugee brother, in which he remarked: “I miss Calais. I Miss The Jungle”. When nationhood and systemic iniquity becomes a mechanism for social injustices and exilic refugee experience, and when nation becomes more of an impediment to personhood than a protector of one’s equality, it us up to the people to create a new, imagined, inclusive community.
supplement the legal and legislative knowledge
Image: New Stateman
The Gryphon’s sustainability column ROOTED recently spoke to Cicely Fraser, Leeds student and member of UK Refugee Support Network. Dynamized by grassroot collectivism, the initiative is mobilising refugees and asylum seekers beyond the boundaries of the UK border. The interview with UK Refugee Support Network, which can be found online, catalyzed ROOTED’s inquiry into the hardships that refugees are continuing to face here in the UK. Though the term ‘hostile environment’ was coined in 2012 by May, this set of administrative and legislative measures designed to force undocumented migrants to “voluntarily leave” (JCWI, 2013) still stand to enforce systematic exsection and socio-economic immobilisation for refugees today. The term is now synonymous with the dehumanisation, incarceration and isolation of asylum seekers - the realities of which we felt important to remind people of.
12 | Society
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Leeds Disabled Student Network: “We’re here to support anyone who needs support” Martha Sanders Last year, the Gryphon reported on the founding of the Leeds Disabled Student Network. However, a year on, and due to COVID related setbacks, they are still yet to be fully recognised as a society. As a result, they are yet to receive any funding and small things such as setting up a Zoom call through which they can do society socials are impossible. Nonetheless, they are still active through social media and want students to know that they are there for those who need them. The Gryphon caught up the society president and founder Emeline Gilhooley students despite the struggles. This month, the society have been working to raise awareness about brain tumours on social media. They have been posting about charities as well as informing people on the possible symptoms. This is a personal topic for Emeline who, in 2018, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. When the tumour turned out to be cancerous, Emeline was forced to take a year out of university. It was upon her return that she began seeking out support and looking for other people who had had similar experience.
While she recognises the excellent work the University’s disability services do, she found that the there was no way for her to contact other students with similar experiences. After doing some research,
she found that most other universities had some kind of network. It was this that inspired her to found the
Disabled Student Network. The main aim of the society is to connect disabled students to one another. Furthermore, they are currently planning a careers panel to talk about disability within employability and they are seeking to do work around making campus more accessible. A long term goal is for them to be able to work on activism but currently their main focus is establishing themselves as a society. Emeline explains how there was a similar society prior to her joining the university but it was shut down due to a lack of interest. She believes societies such as these are essential for many students and is calling on the Union for more support. Unable to receive funding and currently not visible on the LUU website, they are somewhat stuck in a limbo state. However, the main message is: they are there for anyone who needs support.
Find them on Twitter (@luudsn), Facebook (@LeedsDisabledStudentNetwork) and Instagram (@luu_dsn)
LUU Marrow Society move campaign for stem cell donors online Martha Sanders
Our Society editor Martha Sanders spoke to Leeds Marrow society president Matthew Mellor about the challenges they are facing due to social distancing. The society, which usually runs a range of events, socials and fundraisers, has one main aim: to sign people up to the stem cell register.
The stem cell register is an online record of people willing to donate their stem cells to patients with blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma and other diseases such as sickle cell anaemia. Leeds Marrow, which is student-run branch of the Anthony Nolan Charity, used to be seen on campus
asking people to sign up to the register by giving a cheek swabs. Matthew told the Gryphon: “Normally people would come in, do a quick swab and then be on the register from the age of sixteen to sixty.” However, clearly swabs distributed in person are no longer possible due to the ongoing pandemic. “It’s not very COVID secure to be going around campus sticking swabs in people’s mouths”. That is why the Leeds Marrow society are moving their campaign online and are eager for students to sign up through their online link. By visiting their page, you will be directed to the Anthony Nolan charity through which you can order a swab and a form. Last year the Leeds Marrow branch signed 1055 donors to the register – the second highest sign up number of any university in the country after Glasgow. Once on the register there is still only a 1/200 chance that a person will be called to donate and for the most part the transplant process is simple and painless. The transplants can be live-saving for those with
a match are only 60%, whilst for a person of an ethnic minority background, the chances are only 20%. Matthew explains how, for example, someone of an India in order to bring back the matching cells – a The society hopes that it can encourage students to request the tests and are always looking for volunteers
Images provided by the society
Leeds Marrow society are actively looking for people of Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds to sign up as there is a shortage in these communities.
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#ENDSARS: Uniting Nigerian youth against corruption and violence purpose intended as opposed to having the money line the pockets of the very people committing these atrocities. Feminist
monetary ways we can continue to support Nigerians. We must ask ourselves what mechanisms are now at our disposal that weren’t
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stories to light.
It was through social media
SARS. It made me aware of the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon; the oil tanker threatening to spill in the Caribbean; the millions killed in the Congo sourcing coltan for our mobile phones.
state the importance of awareness. When Twitter users point to
Bridget Eke
has been linked to the fact that local media can’t always be trusted foundation they are built on itself is rocky.
to spread accurate facts. One protestor in particular remarked that
#ENDSARS protests against police brutality and government corruption began in 2017. The use of the hashtag resurfaced on
placed on the Nigerian government could be. These sanctions tend
Twitter last month as Nigerian youth recounted personal anecdotes
to leave the poorest and most marginalised members of society
ground.
of the power abuse of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Zimbabwe. Nigeria’s capital. state and never seem to empower the people they are supposed to be liberating. They allow Western countries to assert post-colonial then announced the creation of the Special Weapons and Tactics
violence
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target the high-ranking individuals pulling the strings. Sanctions have to be accompanied by a clear time frame and outcomes if they name. For Yoruba readers: “werey dey disguise.”
are to make sense. Nigerians on the ground also hope government
at and murdered peaceful protestors exercising their constitutional
numerous human rights violations.
to prevent the spread of media awareness or hold any evidence of the senseless murders about to occur. This is clear evidence of the
“
Nigerian government’s strategic planning and the premeditated
SARS is clearly a symptom of an overarching disease. When
There has been a shift, and I believe that the Nigerian youth are the physical manifestation of Nigeria’s future.
to shout out a local grassroots collective: Feminist Coalition. They
and imperialism. meant we have watched the loss of life in real-time on platforms
every hero who unwillingly gave up their life for a cause. We owe it shall be in vain. Continue to educate yourself on events on the current political it is inextricably connected to everything we do. We will learn from
were instrumental in fundraising and providing resources such as
independence the growth of these countries is stunted since the
If you’d like to support
Nigerian youth are the physical manifestation of Nigeria’s future.
information on where to donate to here:
admirable to see accountability and funds used for exactly the
https://endsars.carrd.co/#donate
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Should public toilets remain open in light of further COVID-19 restrictions? Tilly Hayes There has been much debate over the Government’s handling of the pandemic in
go out because the toilet they usually use is closed.” This is clearly a widespread
recent months, and the unveiling of the new three-tier system is the latest policy
issue that, until public toilets are reopened, is far from over.
to receive a critical reception from the public. Several pressing issues continue to
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toilets.
advises that in doing so, facilities should maintain high standards of hygiene in an attempt to deter visitors. These closures have a detrimental impact on
and implement social distancing measures as far as possible. Therefore, why is
thousands of people, in particular, those with lifelong digestive conditions, such
it that local councils feel the need to close public toilets in clear disjuncture from
“ national advice?
the ordeal left Tom in a near-miss situation as he was instead forced to rush
of these people, including my own father, are prescribed immunosuppressant
As Disability History Month approaches, we should recognise the needs of all disabilities in an attempt to combat the UK’s growing mental health crisis, which has worsened now that so many people feel isolated once again.
law which legally binds local authorities to provide toilet facilities. However, we
sense of safety has been curbed by the closure of public toilets that they had used
the pandemic. The refusal of many local governments to budge on the issue is simply inadequate. It highlights the government’s failure to recognise and meet of loneliness. With an increasing mental health crisis and rising suicide rates as a
the needs of people with hidden disabilities who feel especially vulnerable during
Feeling restricted to staying at home as a result of closures is also a problem for
that everyone, irrespective of health conditions, has access to public toilets by reopening facilities to address a fundamental component of human rights.
severity of this: “I get calls every day from people who say they’re reluctant to
has worsened now that so many people feel isolated once again.
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children are placed in mainstream classrooms
“
maltreatment.
the disorder. It is termed “autism spectrum
reaction.
are treated in society. As Disability History Month
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identity should not
better include and accept disabled people in society.
matter.
The proposed solutions to sustainable reductions in
problem.
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Labour’s anti-Semitism shame: The fallout of the EHRC report On the 29th of October, the Equality and Human
“dramatically overstated” the scale of the problem “for
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Rights Commission released its long-awaited report on
political reasons.” This revelation is a shocking one, as it
anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. The Party was found
shows no deviation from the message he promoted whilst
to have broken the law, with those in power actively
leader, and, therefore, a lack of understanding about the
interfering in the process of dealing with complaints,
contents of the report.
the result being the institutionalisation of anti-Jewish
A few hours later, Corbyn was suspended from the
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racism. If Labour is prepared to act on this report, it
Labour Party.
repair the damage caused to relations with the Jewish
that complaints of antisemitism are fake or smears”
community.
amounts to anti-semitism in itself, and in some cases
“
The Labour Party should not belong to those who cannot see that there have been serious failings on this issue. The report sets out in forensic detail the failure to
deal appropriately with the internal crisis, concluding
has been a form of unlawful harassment. Therefore, the correct form of action was indeed to suspend the man who oversaw these violations, and who now refuses to accept the harm caused. The Labour Party should not
Keir Starmer has said that the party he leads accepts
this report, implying that he believes those who do not agree with it contradict the tenets of the Labour.
serious failings on this issue. There should be no place
those denouncing them. However, it it too early to
for those who perpetuate the narrative of a Jewish
tell whether his words will be enough to reassure the
community who have “dramatically overstated” the crisis they have faced. This undermining attitude has to
report. After all, it was Starmer who supported Jeremy
end.
Corbyn in his Shadow Cabinet during this period; it was
The next step must be to challenge the position of those at the top of the Labour Party who turned a blind
lack of willingness to tackle anti-Semitism rather than
eye to the events of the last few years. Shami Chakrabarti
an inability to do so”. It is therefore unsurprising that
chaired an inquiry which found that there was no
investigation; it was Starmer who was complicit in the report, cannot be forgotten.
endemic antisemitism in the party. She was subsequently
man in charge of the Party during the period in question, On the Thursday morning, he refused to accept
It was Starmer who supported Jeremy Corbyn in his Shadow Cabinet during thid period; it was Starmer who didn’t stand down when his party faced investigation; it was Starmer who was complicit in the original crime.
belong to those who cannot see that there have been
that the consequences “appeared to be a result of a
appears unchanged.
“
Emily Bell
of Corbyn speak for themselves. The words of all his were questioned by many at the time, but in light of the
defenders speak for themselves. Now, we must trust that
report, it is now questionable whether she can maintain
the report, conceding that the recommendations will
her position in the House of Lords. It is paramount
put aside, but not forgotten, and note the feeling of deja
be implemented. He spoke of opponents inside and
that she is held to account and made to answer for her
vu when we say that anti-Semitism on this level must
outside the party, as well as in the media, who have
actions.
never happen again.
Image: Richard Gillin
Image: Getty Images
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Beating the odds: Local, female-led businesses during COVID-19
Image: Yorkshire Post
Alba Goskova As countries imposed restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, 2020 saw the majority of businesses worldwide shut their doors for a prolonged period of time. While the impact of a complete lockdown on the British economy has been severe, with gross production levels in June being 17.2% lower than in February, female-founded businesses have taken the hardest hit. A study conducted by The Entrepreneurs Network Female Founders Forum in partnership with Barclays discovered that 21% of female-owned businesses have struggled during the pandemic, Despite contributing £85 billion to the national economic output, the study reveals that companies with female-identifying founders raised approximately half the equity capital compared to male-founded businesses. While the current business climate is not particularly favourable and promising, it is not all a story of doom and gloom. Against all odds, these local, femaleestablished businesses paint a picture of resilience and innovation.
The Post Box Deli After acquiring the business in 2018, owner Rachel Bielby turned the former tea room into a delicatessen selling sandwiches, cakes, biscuits and hot drinks
made with locally sourced products. When the UK government imposed a nation-wide lockdown, The Post Box Deli became the only place in Thornor where residents of the village could pick up fresh bread, milk or meat. Even though she had to self-isolate while the business was growing, the appreciation she received from customers who experienced little human contact during quarantine made it worthwhile. Despite the uncertain and rapidly changing situation, Rachel is looking into converting the space above the deli into a tearoom where customers can sit, unwind and enjoy the delicacies that The Post Box
her initiative is making the dogs happier and uplifting the spirits of the local community. Looking further ahead, the couple’s post-pandemic plans include opening an animal shelter for lost or mistreated pets alongside their dog walking business.
Akila Dolls After quitting her job as a receptionist in 2019 Olivia Thompson started ‘Akila Dolls’, her own disability and diversity dolls business, to produce toys which represent children with special needs and children coming from a variety of backgrounds. a female business owner, Olivia’s commitment to
Woodland Walkers Being restricted to one daily form of exercise a day, Naomi Nicholson and her wife decided to start their dog walking business as a way to help dogs socialise What sets Oakenshaw-based Woodland Walkers apart is its commitment to social responsibility. For every mile walked, the business donates £1 to charity. by the pandemic, Woodland Walkers has made donations to Oakenshaw Residents Association and Woodlands Church of England Primary School since its establishment in June 2020. Despite struggling to get hold of the appropriate PPE before launching her business, Naomi believes that
she has received from other female entrepreneurs across the UK have encouraged her to set up ‘Akila Dolls’ will be releasing its inaugural collection of
Native American woman to hold a pilot licence. Being aware of the impact of the pandemic on the economy of Leeds, Olivia is committed to working with professionals in her local area. So far, she has employed a local illustration company and a Leedsbased web designer. ‘Akila Dolls’ will be releasing its inaugural collection
Native American woman to hold a pilot licence.
Business
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Is there really no money for free school meals?
Image: Shutterstock
With the motion for free school meals until Easter 2021 defeated and many children in the UK risking not receiving proper nutrition, Bea Turner looks into government spending to determine whether there really is no money for free school meals. Bea Turner On Wednesday October 21, a motion put forward by the Labour party which called for free school meals to be extended over school holidays until Easter 2021 was defeated by 261 votes to 322. The outcome was met by huge backlash across the country with more than a million people signing footballer Marcus Rashford’s petition for a review. In England, 1.4 million children are eligible for free school meals, which have been a lifeline for families living in poverty, especially during the pandemic. But faced with spiraling public debt and unemployment due to Covid-19, the government must draw the line to its spending somewhere. The inspiring work of Marcus Rashford, who used his platform to raise awareness on child hunger in the UK, sparked a national debate about free school meals. His activism and partnership with the charity FareShare resulted in 4.2 million meals being provided for children and families who might not otherwise have eaten during the crisis. his #MakeTheUTurn campaign, which meant 1.3 million vulnerable children received food vouchers over the summer holidays. Extending the scheme over summer cost the government £120 million
whereas Eat Out to Help Out, which most likely led to the further spread of the virus, cost £522 million. Until yet another recent U-turn, Boris Johnson stood his ground, refusing to fund free meals over October half term and the Christmas holiday, despite pledging that “no children will go hungry this winter”. As the Covid-19 pandemic surges and we face a second national lockdown, many more families will inadequate furlough and sick pay. On top of this parents should not have to worry about where their child’s next meal will come from. The Government claims it has provided enough support, by giving councils £63 million for families back in June has already run out. With the second lockdown looming and public funds running dry, the food security of families living in poverty should not be up for debate. Free school meals would cost the government £20 million per week, £2.30 per meal. During the pandemic, Health Secretary Matt Hancock bought £16 million worth of faulty antibody tests from China. Fifty million unwearable face masks were purchased costing £156 million, and £10 billion has been spent on a test and trace system that is still not working
and if the government wants to solve child hunger, it can. The failure of austerity has shown that during a recession spending must go up for the economy to recover. In the long run the government can close the public debt by raising taxes or the Bank of England can increase the supply of money through quantitative easing. So, to the question ‘is there really enough money for free school meals?’ the answer is yes. Streamlining wasteful spending and targeting those who need support the most would provide enough money. by local lockdowns and many people have been dependent on the generosity of local businesses and communities in order to feed their families. Mumatz,
Generous donations to the Leeds North and West Food bank have also been a lifeline for many families. Although it is humbling to see communities coming together helping those in need, it should not be their responsibility to pick up the governments slack.
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Science
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Secrets of the Wood Wide Web Indi Lacey
Image: Woodland Trust
Indi Lacey in a Ted Talk which opened up the discussion of the Forests are one of the most important ecosystems on the planet, covering over 30% of its land area. They are the lungs of the Earth, home to some of the rarest species of plants and animals and provide food and fuel for millions of people worldwide. However, what we might think of as the forest - the trunks, the leaves, the canopy above our heads - is only half of the story. Below our feet lives a dense network of fungi living in and around the tree roots, sometimes termed the Wood Wide Web, connecting trees to one another and providing nutrients and minerals to the trees in exchange for carbohydrates in one of Earth’s most ancient symbiotic relationships. In fact, this symbiosis is thought to be a key factor enabling the colonisation of land by plants over 460 million years ago. Even today, fungi-plant relationships can determine the ability of a plant to adapt to new environments and climates. There are a variety of well understood fungal and plant relationships, however their impact on plant-plant interactions has only recently been explored. Recent research to send nutrients to each other, with particular stronger links between certain plant species. Back in 2016, Suzanne Simard, a professor at The
her childhood in forests, she unknowingly stumbled upon the fungal network after her dog fell down into a pit. Years later she began to study how this network functioned, and the impact it might have on the she planted birch, pine and cedar seedlings and measured the movement of the carbon between the three. What she found was very surprising: during the winter months, the evergreen pine would send carbon to the birch to help it survive the winter when it loses its leaves and cannot photosynthesise, but during summer the birch would return this favour and send carbon to the pine to help it grow when Interestingly, the cedar did not interact; it was in a separate world completely. While Simard expected to see interactions between the pine and the birch, what she didn’t anticipate was the way mother trees, called hubs, would seek out and form strong fungal links with their daughter seedlings. This increases seedling survival by four times, as the hub well as nutrients, the daughters will also receive defence and warning signals if the hub tree senses disease or water stress. Even in older trees this trend continues, as a recent study has shown the greater
a tree’s network, the higher chance of its survival. This has major implications for plantations and ecosystems alike, as removal of too many hub trees can cause collapse of the entire forest. Therefore,
hub trees and seedlings to maintain forest growth. More recently Professor Thomas Crowther, a researcher in Zurich, Switzerland undertook a major project to map this network. This highlighted the impact of these fungal networks in climate change, and the impact climate change would have on them. Currently, 60% of trees worldwide are linked to a type of fungi that stores carbon in the ground, but as temperatures rise, the climate favours those that release carbon in the form of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This forms a cycle that encourages the transition to carbon-emitting fungi with higher temperatures. Chemical pollution from plant fertilisers enhances this cycle and has caused worldwide. It is becoming increasingly clear these unseen networks are also a forgotten aspect of global warming. Perhaps consideration of these incredible organisms could help the numerous forest regeneration projects worldwide, or simply help us appreciate our incredible forests just a little bit more.
Gender differences in lockdown dreams Finn Laslett There was a weird period of lockdown when everyone simultaneously decided to revisit Houseparty, Year 10’s hottest piece of cyberbullying equipment. One of the few conversation starters you could grasp out of the static of daily nothingness was the Lockdown Dream Report. Back in your real life, subjecting anyone to the details of a nocturnal adventure had been the lowest form of chat-crime, but now that everything basically felt like one long hallucination anyway, you thought you could get away with it. Since then, however, research has been published suggesting some more depressing implications to the
Count (LIWC) to assess their emotional content. Barrett compared results between men and women in 9 LIWC categories – positive emotions, negative emotions, anxiety, anger, biological processes, body, health, and death – and used data from a very similar 1996 study to investigate changes between the two groups. The results showed universal changes in the directions you’d expect: lower in positive emotions, higher ineverything else. Men and women shared similar dramatic increases in health-related dream content, but women seemed to be disproportionately
released earlier this year from the Harvard Medical
decreases in the level of positive emotion, elevated anxiety, anger and sadness and more of a focus on biological processes, the body and death. In men, the change from positive and negative emotion and the prevalence of anxiety and death occurred to
darker content in their coronavirus dreams than men. Deirdre Barrett of Harvard’s Department of Psychiatry, collected survey data from around 3,000 respondents of all ages, genders, and nationalities and used a tool called Linguistic Inquiry and Word
change in the anger, sadness and body categories at
all. Barrett puts this startling disparity down what psychologists call the continuity hypothesis, which state of the dreamer. be explained by the threat simulation theory of Finland, outlined this theory in an article published in 2000. He believes that dreams can act as a kind of ‘virtual training ground’ for events that the conscious mind thinks could come up in the future. He also thinks this feature is an evolutionary adaptation formed millions of years ago, and so was ‘designed’ to best deal with the kind of threats our ancestors would have faced, rather than what we are likely to the massive increase in nightmares in individuals who have experienced trauma. (cont. p.20)
Science
thegryphon.co.uk axe murderer than the much more likely car crash. A of hostility in nightmares are dangerous animals and aggressive human males. It is only when we return to the victims of violent trauma that it starts to look more rational, he says, because those events are more similar to the kinds of emotionally charged risks that prehistoric humans faced. If you think that all sounds a bit unbelievable, I
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men.
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of people appear to have an instinctive response to spiders, snakes, and rats, and fewer to cigarettes and buses. Returning back to Barrett, then, it looks as if her
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People, especially children, exposed to traumatic events are almost always found to have dreams in which they return to the traumatic situation and are forced to relive it, or where they seek revenge on the cause of their trauma, for example, an attacker. One particular case he brings up is a study of the dreams of Arab and Israeli children in living in the West Bank in 1989. Here, the ‘other side’ was overrepresented in the children’s dreams compared with their real lives, and in many cases, they dreamt about entirely plauswible events given their situation, but nonetheless events that had not yet happened to them. Secondly, the absence of ‘intellectual content’ from most people’s dreams. That is, walking, conversation, and sexual activity are about as common in dreams as they are while awake, whereas reading and writing almost never appear. Finally, the fact that dreamt threat often doesn’t align with actual threat in modern societies – people living comfortable lives are much more likely to dream about the extremely rare
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don’t blame you. But, in Revonsuo’s defence, he does remind us that if it did exist, the threat simulation
during the pandemic. As she points out, women are 3x more likely to be engaged in unpaid care work, and make up 70% of healthcare workers, where jobs are less likely to be well paid or have high status and are more likely to go without PPE. They are at a greater risk of domestic violence and more likely in unstable employment. The pay gap remains at 16%, and women have lost more jobs overall than men since the start of the pandemic. Overall, Barrett’s study is a pretty bleak reminder of the extent to which coronavirus has exacerbated inequality worldwide and will continue to do so.
behaviour to be a holdover from our past. Plenty
Whales, dolphins, porpoises and their looming extinction
Image: Unsplash, Amanda Panda
With populations rapidly decreasing, it is becoming increasingly important that policymakers get to grips with the modern-day issues that blight any chances of these animals recovering, which is entirely possible with careful planning and consideration! Evidence shows there were approximately 27,000 humpback whales during the 1830s, but whaling the mid-1950s. Following the ban on commercial whaling in 1986, the species would make an extraordinary recovery, and it is now thought some 84,000 individuals occupy all Earth’s major oceans. According to a separate 2019 study, the humpback population is now predicted to be approximately 93% of its original size.
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Endangered since 1996. The IUCN estimates just 18 individuals exist but Simmonds and the other specialists in the letter now believe that number could be as low as 10.
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In a letter addressed to nations across the world, marine experts have come together from 40 countries including the UK, US, South Africa and Pakistan, to call on countries with whale, dolphin and porpoise populations to protect the animals from human activities. They have also stressed that all nations must work alongside the international organisations that look to tackle these threats, such as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). The letter, coordinated by Mark Simmonds, a marine scientist with Humane Society International and research fellow at the University of Bristol, states that more than half of the 90 living species of whale, dolphin, and porpoise, have dire conservation status. Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species has become the broadest source of information on the likelihood of extinction for animal, plant and fungus species. The North Atlantic Right Whale had its status decreased from Endangered to Critically Endangered in January 2020, and according to their data, there is still a continuing decline. It is believed just 200-250 mature individuals now remain spread out mostly across the east coasts of the United States and Canada. The vaquita, a species of porpoise found in the
Today, a multitude of threats exist to aquatic
and equipment, kills as many as 300,000 dolphins, porpoises and whales per year. This is a particular problem in UK waters, common dolphins and harbour porpoises are increasingly likely to become trapped whales are common victims of a painful and slow
minke whale was found dead on a beach in Orkney baleen, comb-like plates of keratin that allow certain
cost one whale and her unborn female calf their lives. Coupled with plastic pollution, loss of prey and habitat as a result of human intervention, noise and chemical pollution, climate change, and collisions with ships, the future for our iconic marine animals looks rather bleak. But as usual in the world of wildlife conservation, all hope isn’t lost, and the humpback is perhaps one of the most successful examples of this. Just part of the growing movement by marine experts, the letter also stresses the importance of these animals for our oceans and ecosystems. Simmonds and Dr Vermeulen of the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit, who helped coordinate the statement, state “Whales, dolphins and porpoises are seen and enjoyed all over the world, and are valued as sentient, intelligent, social and inspiring species; we should not deny future generations the opportunity to experience them. They are also sentinels of the health of our seas, oceans and, in some cases, major river systems and the role of cetaceans in maintaining productive aquatic ecosystems, which are key for our survival as well as theirs, is also becoming clearer.” A solid statement that sums up the importance of conserving our marine species, I’m not sure the message could be any clearer?
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Good Gold! How Covid-19 is accelerating mining in Amazonia Olivia Kolasinski
2
The novel coronavirus SARS-COV-2 has undoubtedly
lands.
be done.
Come on vaccine Catherine Upex
Edit: news of a coronavirus vaccine was announced on the 9th November.
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Sport Sports
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Refugee team to compete at Tokyo 2020 The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced that a team of six refugees will be sent to compete in the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Opportunities for refugees to compete at high-level sporting events are limited. According to Amnesty International, there are over 26 million refugees in the world today, yet the proportion of these people who are likely to ever compete in an Olympic games is minute. The prospect of a physically impaired refugee competing at a Paralympic games is even smaller. It is for this reason that the IPC is making a
these promises, commercial sponsors have already been announced, with Airbnb pledging to be a leading partner of the team and Sportswear company Asics signing on as the team’s sportswear provider.
book called “Ayase Haruka meets Beautiful Athletes” as part of their Beautiful Japan towards 2020 campaign. The company have promised to donate part of the training programme for Tokyo.
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Oliver Sanderson
At Rio 2016, only two people - a refugee and an asylee - represented the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team. In Tokyo next year, there will be six members of the RPT.
by the IPC, but also by former Paralympian Ileana
Athletes Team. In Tokyo next year, there will be six a swimmer for the United States. She has now been refugees around the world and create awareness of the struggles faced by refugee athletes. the funding it requires for Tokyo, including coaching, training facilities and sponsorship. On the latter of
as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has revealed plans to increase the number of Olympic refugee athletes for Tokyo.
Tokyo’s Paralympics is set to be held between 24th schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.
England top of Europe, for a few weeks at least Dom Friel Last month the six nations resumed, seven months after the pandemic brought an abrupt halt to the tournament in March. Ireland and Italy completed something of a non-contest from the outset, with Ireland running in seven tries, including a hat trick for debutant Hugo Keenan. England, France and Ireland could all take the hope Ireland failed to match their result away to the revitalised French. Unable to challenge for the title, Scotland and Wales were left to play for pride. There was plenty to be proud of for Wales captain Alun-Wyn Jones, who surpassed
of the last decade, and though his form has dipped on occasion, nearly all of England’s best performances in that time have coincided with Youngs delivering his best. This left Ireland needing to win by seven points away The France side has been transformed under Fabien Galthié this six nations with the energetic half-back pairing of Dupont and Ntamack managing to bring the most out of a powerful forward pack and dangerous backline and an away win always looked unlikely at best. What ensued was an enthralling game with both defence. For a while, it looked as though Ireland
The result, however, went the way of Scotland after a turgid game that few will remember for long and capped a disappointing year for Wales following their Next up were England, who, though not at their best, did exactly what they needed to do in dispatching Italy. It was a day to remember for Ben Youngs,
chances that saw France pull away in the second half. title to England. There is little rest ahead for the international players, as the new Autumn Nations Cup replaces the
hemisphere. The tournament takes the form of two pools of four and includes all the Six Nations sides, plus Georgia and Fiji. The additional two sides have an opportunity to impress after Italy, again, looked well below the level a chance for sides to try out new players - potentially out of necessity for many who have come of a packed mission with England sure to want to give game time to a number of young talents that have had outstanding seasons for their clubs. Italy, could well get a starting berth if England look Jack Willis and Jacob Umaga could do little more to earn an opportunity at the top level. As for predictions, Wales and Ireland will look to continue their development under new coaching teams, but will struggle to challenge England or France for the main title. It’d perhaps be deserved if have brought so much to the rugby year. Image: The Telegraph
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thegryphon.co.uk
Football is very much alive and well in the Yorkshire region, boasting teams such as Leeds United, with its rich history, and Bradford City, an
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on everyone’s lips when you think of the enriched football culture in Yorkshire. Well, not until now.
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on everyone’s lips when you think of the enriched football culture in Yorkshire. Well, not until now.
Due to luck and other issues, Northwich Victoria was relegated in their place. Safe to say, Simon and Town haven’t looked back since. In 2016, many of the Town players went fulltime, showing their dedication to the team, missing out on promotion due to an extended period of poor form. These full-time boys managed promotion in the 2017-18 season to the Conference, which then led to their promotion last year to the EFL, beating Notts County, formerly a well-established EFL team in their own right 3-1. COVID-19 could’ve curtailed this unlikely promotion from occurring, but when football did resume in the lower leagues, Weaver and his men were prepared - and through Jack Diamond
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Bradford and winning 1-0 at Valley Parade. Minnows in the grand scheme of things, but constantly working against expectation, 4th in League 2 so far. It reads as a great success of continuation, of sticking by Simon Weaver and too a story which
The team has been managed by Simon Weaver since
staying there for well over a decade into the present day, Weaver has overseen various Town teams. One
League, establishing themselves as a team worthy of recognition in their football-esteemed county. In League 2 this season, it doesn’t look like stopping,
Sam Wiley American brother-in-law and how he “grew up in a trying to explain his actions. called his teammate Ousmane Dembele a “n*gro that largely went unnoticed until it was highlighted by Antoine Griezmann at 11pm on the 28th of October. Soon after, ABC issued a full and frank apology, hoped that it would be swept under the rug and forgotten about, marked down as a mere misunderstanding. “My intention was to praise the beauty of Ansu’s Sostres wrote in his apology. And perhaps that is where the problem lies. Few doubt Sostres’ claim that this was an accidental mix-up and few would argue his intent was malicious or racist, in fact, many people understood that Sostres was trying to praise the young Spanish international but took it a metaphor too far, but where are the editors and the proof-readers in all this? A tone-deaf manipulation of language from a reporter with a deadline to meet is one thing, but how did it get past the people whose responsibilities it is to avoid this kind of catastrophe? a key problem pervading Spanish society at the moment that goes beyond a few careless writers and explains why media scandals like this happen time and time again. In 2018, Espanyol forward Sergio Garcia was accused of aiming a racial slur at Samuel Umtiti during the Catalan derby against Barcelona. Garcia, who in his apology claimed “In no way were my
Barcelona were quick to push under the rug without an apology. In Italy, Corriere dello Sport ran a headline in the leadup to Inter Milan v Roma with the headline
interview that this kind of treatment was part of the game and he just had to learn to deal with it, but both the vile racist abuse of the ‘90s and the widespread journalistic ignorance of today stem from a lack of education on what is and isn’t acceptable in the racial discourse, and such mistakes will continue being made until these journalists realise the seriousness of their mistakes.
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Lukaku and Chris Smalling. Unlike ABC, the Italian Sports paper doubled down after being criticised by Smalling, following up with a headline that read “Who are you calling racist? Lynching of a newspaper The common factor among all these cases is the ignorance shown by all those involved, and when asked for an apology they make it clear that they misunderstanding comes from you being overly sensitive, not them being completely tone-deaf towards members of another race. In fact, it seems the line between extended metaphor and racial slur is far less cautious than it deserves to be in these times of heightened racial tensions.
by the likes of Rayo Vallecano’s Wilfried Agbonovare during the 1990s, where the Nigerian goalkeeper was received constant verbal abuse up and down the country from fans wishing death upon him for the colour of his skin and was met with ignorance from the media alike, but admitted in a post-match
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Following Barcelona’s 5-1 win against Ferencvárosi on Tuesday, Salvador Sostres, a prominent journalist for Spanish newspaper ABC, compared 17-year old winger Ansu Fati’s pace to that of a “Black street
He is not apologising for what for what he said: he is apologising on your behalf because you feel
educated enough to understand how tone-deaf this article is, while he seemingly can’t.
tells you everything you need to know about Sostres’ view on this debacle: “I deeply lament the misunderstanding and I ask forgiveness if anyone has is not apologising for what he said: he is apologising sorry that you are educated enough to understand how tone-deaf this article is, while he seemingly can’t. And until those behind these insensitive articles realise that intent does not exonerate them of guilt and that they must to take responsibility for what they put out there, you are going to be blamed once again the next time this occurs.
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Image: Jack Taylor