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Now is the time for students to be heard and compensated

Séamus O’Hanlon

University students across the nation have been seriously impacted, disappointed and politically shafted over the past year. At the start of the academic year, many were told that, on a case-by-case basis, students whose quality of learning had proven to be inadequate could perhaps be compensated - but only after going through a complaint procedure with unsure guidance.

During the second lockdown, students in some areas were fenced in their accommodation, leaving them vulnerable and isolated with no in-person learning whatsoever. The third lockdown only means that the remaining months of university life will feel unrecognisable and incomplete. by the pandemic and all students therefore deserve and

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Students have turned down many opportunities out of the goodness of their hearts. Understandably, the media has drawn attention to the few illegal parties and rulebreakers who threaten this hopefully are qualities that students have been tirelessly displaying do this, students have had to give up on their university experience twice already, and now for the foreseeable future, to protect the most vulnerable members of society and the NHS. enables workers to claim a £6 weekly allowance to compensate for incurred living costs should be expanded situation, but they are struggling. To go without the to encourage staying at home. The government needs to necessary downtime means we have become run down; stop omitting the discussion on university students and to continue for so long with an intense, and sometimes must address the matter directly. gruelling academic workload has left them exhausted. Rent, living fees and a constantly increasing debt are are being currently charged. Reducing fees by half would some of the expenditures students are facing, which to support students with their mental health, and one issue which should be lifted from students’ minds is the pressure of keeping up with rent while the government advises everyone to stay at home. understandable at the time for people and universities to have been optimistic during the summer months, believing that blended learning was going to be a viable lot of better decisions could have been made, impossible to see back then, but that does not mean we can’t have better be more than symbolic, as it would mean adjusting to the reality of this unfair situation. Students have welcomed the University of Leeds’ one-week blanket coursework assignment extension this January, but this again reveals the unprecedented amount of disruption faced by students this past year. Rent refunds, academic assistance and mental health issues need to be tackled this year. ProAll universities in the UK have “ “ policies and procedures now. Universities have shown student policies help everyone, and the public should join resourcefulness and determination with their attempt in on this pledge in the same way that it has supported think criticism, dismay and outrage at this lousy situation Having further education has never been more important should not be bottled up: for many students, online learning has not been acceptable or to a high enough universities need to understand that young people who incurred high debts but with a huge lack of personalised teaching. Even younger people who are currently studying learning from home. their A-Levels will face changes, which means all students

Attending university from home is not the same as have seen their education negatively impacted. This really working from home. Working from home to prevent could be the required impetus for a much-needed reform of the tuition system.

How Lewis Hamilton is racing against racism in F1

Rishi Shah

Sir Lewis Hamilton is by far the standout name on the recently published New Year’s Honours list. Following his recent Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) award, the accolades are stacking up for the British F1 driver. The SPOTY award has long eluded a curiously unpopular Hamilton, despite the fact that before his record-equalling Formula One World Championship title in 2020, he already had six to his name. His recent dominance within the sport has become somewhat of a routine, so one might ask: what was these two glorious honours? The answer lies in an all against racism, striving for equality and diversity, in the sport and beyond. t-shirts drawing attention to police brutality and the unjust murder of Breonna Taylor highlights his refusal to simply be an F1 driver, alongside his active decision to take a knee and show solidarity with the oppressed before each race.

Hamilton’s motives are deep-rooted, with Mercedes in previous years, starting conversations about surrounding the shortage of minority mechanics employed by the team. Hamilton’s world domination in the context of being the sport’s only black driver has no doubt motivated him to inspire other young fans into believing that anything is possible, no matter your background, as he emotionally re-iterated on the team’s radio following his World Championship victory in Turkey. However, the individuality of his actions has only exacerbated the sport’s clear lack of unity behind such an important cause.

Whilst Premier League football has normalised the gesture of taking a knee, seven F1 drives - which equates to 35% - have refused to join Hamilton in his pre-race demonstrations. Such a global sport, which involves personnel from over six continents, displaying this awkwardly detached sense of social awareness is not only damaging to its reputation, but also a sign of where the genuine problems lie. With an entirely male driver line-up, including many who have family connections in the F1 hierarchy, there are already enough reasons why the sport is inherently restrictive - and its failure to stand with its champion in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter cause only worsens its image. Within the context of social issues, perhaps unsurprisingly, F1’s infamous partnership hierarchy turning the blind eye to its dismal human rights violations. As F1 welcomes a new CEO in 2021, Stefano Domenicali, the man must surely look into these issues to reshape the sport into an inclusive, diverse environment in which anyone can succeed.

Whilst there are many rumours that Hamilton’s retirement is on the horizon, it is perhaps more important than ever that he remains in the sport and of his unerring desire to utilise his platform for good. These feelings no doubt leave him hungrier than ever to pursue his goal and ensure anyone can enter the sport - regardless of race or background - in any in 2020 have sealed Lewis Hamilton’s legacy, not only in his records and titles but as a role model who leads by example by tackling systemic issues in a sport that needs it more than ever.

The individuality of his actions has only exacerbated the sport’s clear lack of unity behind such an important cause“ “ Wearing masks and t-shirts drawing attention to police brutality highlights his refusal to simply be an F1 driver“ “

So often leading races from the front (quite literally), Hamilton knew that it would be the most impactful if it was him who picked up the mantle that needed 25th May 2020 had invoked a Black Lives Matter movement with momentum unheard of for decades, F1 driver as directly as possible. Wearing masks and

Image: El Nacional

Impeachment at the door for Trump, again

Manasa Narayana

voted in support of it in the House last Wednesday. If and “armed protests” being planned in various cities the views remain, enough votes might be secured to With 232 votes in favour (including 10 Republicans impeach him this time. Republican congressman Dan with that, Trump has been barred and banned from voting yes), US President Donald Trump was Newhouse voted for the impeachment, explaining various social media platforms in the last few weeks – impeached in the House of Representatives on 13th that, “there was a domestic threat at the door of the January for having “engaged in insurrection”. The capitol and he [Trump] did nothing to stop it”. by the suspension of his YouTube channel. This, along move to impeach comes as a reaction to the breaching The odd part of these proceedings is that the Senate with the far-right platform Parler going down, has of and attack on the Capitol building by a mob of trial itself would happen after Trump’s presidency upset his supporters further. While some discussions Trump supporters on 6th January. As a result of the and communication can be curbed by such measures, of impeachment at this point; given that the damage it is in no way a solution to Trumpism. In fact, this lives. is already done and Trump will be leaving anyway. approach could lead to further dissatisfaction among

Trump, who had given a speech that day prior to Democrats have still insisted on the impeachment, the pro-Trump populace, making any reconciliation the riots, has been accused of inciting his supporters to march to and attack the Capitol. Many believe his speech, along with his continued denial of the 2020 US election results, is directly responsible for the assault that took place. This has led Democrats to quickly make the move to impeach him, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the helm. This is Trump’s second impeachment. He was previously impeached in the House in December 2019, being accused of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress”. At the time, while the vote was in favour of impeachment in the House, it did not get through in the Senate. This time, the results in the Senate have switched sides. While no Republican member stating two major reasons: one, that it sets an example to any future leader who tries to jeopardise democratic processes and side with violence, and, two, that they While these are legitimate reasons, the larger picture should also be considered here, as there is a huge possibility that these proceedings might further incite as well as isolate Americans who side with Trump. While it is important to condemn the violence and attack, and the people involved in it, reconciliation must be prioritised. In these circumstances, it is vital to reassure the public, instil trust among them and maintain calm. Representatives will not achieve anything if they manage to impeach Trump but fail to bridge the divide that exists among US citizens. While the consequences of the impeachment for the larger public can be debated, this is again only a short-term solution. The US simultaneously needs to consider the long-term too. It would be a mistake to think that issues of misinformation, polarisation and extremism start and end with Trump. The issues are bigger, need a rethinking of the political space and Representatives will not achieve anything if they manage to impeach Trump but fail to bridge the divide that exists among US citizens. “ “ supported Trump’s impeachment in 2019, 10 of them There is already news of possible demonstrations

The UK reveals breakthrough cancer developments amidst COVID-19

Grace Mortley

types of cancer is due to be piloted across England next year. The trial is being conducted on 165,000 patients by the NHS in a bid to increase the rates of early-stage diagnosis.

The Galleri blood test that looks for molecular changes was developed by US company GRAIL. Research on patients has already found that the test can identify even the hardest cancers to diagnose early. These include cancers in the head and neck and ovarian, pancreatic, oesophageal and some blood cancers.

With one in two people likely to get cancer, it is projected to soon become the world’s leading cause of death. Lord David Prior, Chairman of NHS England stated: “every year, nearly 200,000 people in the UK die from cancer. Many of these people are diagnosed too late higher chance of surviving, compared to those found at stage four. This test really does have the potential to save many lives and could help thousands more get successful and less expensive treatment. it should become routinely available for people without symptoms. The results of these studies are expected by 2023, and if the outcomes are positive the studies will be expanded to involve about one million participants around 2024 and 2025.

Cancer cells are known to be very unstable and quite often break, spilling their DNA in the blood. The Galleri blood test looks to detect the characteristics of this DNA

As positive as this all seems, we do not yet have proof that the test works on real-world, healthy people with no symptoms or if it is sensitive enough to pick up really early cancers. Dr David Crosby, head of Early Detection research at Cancer Research UK is calling on the government to support the NHS in making this early detection become a reality. He says, “we need to invest in the NHS and a health system which is ready to accommodate these new tests and change the way we think about the disease”. So far, the NHS are trained to treat symptomatic disease, so this is going to change their whole model. The Government needs to invest in innovation of this new test.

This test hopes to meet the NHS Long Term Plan goal of increasing the proportion of cancers caught early, which can be the key to reducing cancer mortality.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock said: “We are building a world-leading diagnostics industry in the UK – not just for COVID-19 but for other diseases too. This exciting and ground-breaking new blood test from GRAIL will give us another tool to give more people the very best chance of survival, demonstrating how the UK continues to lead the way in using the latest innovative treatments to help patients.”

This comes not long after Cancer Research UK awarded a £1 million grant to doctors and scientists at The Christie Institute. The simple blood test can see if treatments are working in cancer patients. At the moment, the typical cancer patient would have to undergo CT scans alternative that scientists have been looking for.

The discovery comes after two decades of research by a team at The Christie, led by Professor Gordon Jayson and Professor Caroline Dive. The simple blood test looks vessel drugs by examining if a protein in the blood, Tie2, has increased or decreased. If reduced, it will prove the anti-blood vessel drugs are starving tumours of blood and nutrients. If Tie2 levels were to return to their original state, the medical team will be able to see the treatment is not working for that particular individual.

The test is currently in its second phase for the blood test will be adopted by the NHS. However, this will be several years before it becomes a routine measure in cancer patients.

Our exit from Erasmus: A small loss for the EU, a major setback for the UK

Katie McCarthy

I was fourteen years old when the Brexit referendum took place. Like other pro-Europeans around the country, the result left me speechless. I admit that I was barely politically educated at the time and knew next to nothing about what the European Union actually was, but I was wised up enough to know that our country had chosen to leave an incredibly special community. whilst many were rejoicing on 24th December in response student at the University of Leeds. The EU means so much more to me now than it did in 2016 and, unfortunately, Brexit has now made my future more uncertain than I could have ever imagined.

This is partly due to the government’s decision to leave the beloved Erasmus Programme, which enables the free movement of students across the EU to study and work. The EU-funded scheme began in 1987 and has since allowed hundreds of thousands of students to participate in a valuable cultural exchange, improving their language skills and contributing to both personal and professional development. Under the latest version of the scheme, around 200,000 people have participated, including around 15,000 British university students. Most importantly, the programme highlights the communal values that the EU is all about. To strive to support and understand your neighbours, to be respectful towards other cultures and to appreciate the spiritual bonds that hold all Europeans together. Essentially, mentality that our little island has now chosen to pursue. started this Liebesgeschichte with the Schland. What a sad loss of European exchange and opportunity”. It is hugely upsetting, then, that the government actively chose to leave to continue participating, and the Conservatives’ excuse not good enough. Since when did life become solely about money and trade deals? The Erasmus scheme made up for students who took part in it.

Erasmus is the furthest thing from that our little island has now chosen to pursue.“ “

Is this really so surprising? The government have proven time and again in a never-ending cycle of embarrassing U-turns that young people’s futures mean nothing to them. Whether it was the government’s decision to open pubs before schools or to put their faith in a defunct algorithmic system in determining pupils’ grades, young people have the Erasmus Programme, despite Boris Johnson promising scheme”, is yet another example to add to a long list of lies and disappointment.

that Brexit would keep at least some of my degree intact and that my year abroad would go ahead relatively hassle-free. But now everything is uncertain. Thousands of Languages year abroad will now work. The government’s Turing Scheme, replacing Erasmus with a more global outlook, seems promising. Yet, it is still tragic to consider what has been lost in leaving the Erasmus scheme and what this will mean for a generation whose future has been played with like gaming chips in a casino. If the government wishes to win even the smallest amount of respect back from students, students.

When we joined the European Economic Community (that would later become the EU) in 1972, the Prime Minister are joining is far more than a common market. It is a community in the true sense of that term”. As a generation, we should not be focusing on the fact that this community has been taken from us, but rather on the power we have to learning new languages and making international friends. Do everything you can to remind all those Brexiters out as the saying goes, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.