Issue 88 - March 2021

themagdalen for students, by students issue 88

march 2021

Things can get stressful around deadlines.

It’s important to note that the uni offer a range of support services that can be accessed here: www.dundee.ac.uk/student-services/studentsupport-team/

CONFIDENCE (noun) / 'kan.fı.d ns/: the quality of being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future.

Trust, Belief, Faith. 

THE LAMENTATIONS OF LENT / writer considers Lent and the redefinition of “sacrifice” during this year’s religious period.

Pg 06

DUNDEE’S SY-STEM-IC SEXISM / In-depth interview with the president of Dundee Women in STEM. Highlights challenges and the future. Pg 24

CONTEMPT FOR HUMANITIES / article explores attitudes of contempt towards non-STEM subjects and considers the proposed school mergers. Pg 38

Find us online The Magdalen Magazine @themagdalenmag @themagdalenmag

Get in touch editor.in.chief@dusamedia.com

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR EDITOR IN CHIEF Welcome to our penultimate issue of the year, At The Magdalen, we, like so many of our student and other readers, have been drawn to thinking about our futures. Uncertainty.

Discomfort. Caution. These are all words that spring to mind during this dual process of reflection and consideration. Importantly, it is worth reminding ourselves that, despite the longevity of COVID and the restrictions to combat it, this will pass... hopefully sooner rather than later.

Equally important is to be mindful that COVID is not the only challenge we face. At the university level, we face the proposals to merge 3 of our academic schools, with further uncertainties over the future of other schools and disciplines.

Disciplines fear the squeeze and students are concerned about attitudes and perceptions of their degree subjects. On a personal level, we also face the challenges associated with engaging with our coursework from our bedrooms, and the present inability to freely meet up with our family, friends, and peers.

That said, it is not all bad news; we are progressing through our final semester of this academic year; the days are getting longer and (somewhat) brighter; and the prospect of a sustained easing of restrictions in Scotland is looking more likely as the prevalence of the virus declines.

Appropriately, this issue reflects on the themes of confidence, reason, and posterity; it is a forward-looking issue. We wish all students and staff the best of luck during the rest of this academic year. And we look forward to signing off from our duties in our next – and final – issue of the academic year.

Best wishes, Joshua Harper.

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR CREATIVE DIRECTORS Spring is finally here and has brought with it some sun! We find it helps a little with the mounting pressures as we career towards the end of another tough semester. This time of the academic year can be particularly challenging, awash with deadlines and pressure, so why not take a moment to relax in the sun and feast your eyes on some wonderful articles?

As we have a roadmap out of the current restrictions, it seems fitting that our themes are confidence, posterity and reason. We look to an enjoyable summer filled with family and friends; we are confident things will continue to get better; and we have great reason to believe the future is bright. Let The Magdalen take you away from the stresses of everyday life, even if just for a moment, as you dream of the long summer days on the horizon.

Another issue of the mag brings another batch of brilliant articles and fabulous designs, including work from new members of our design team! We’re very excited for this issue to be out in the wild, and we hope you’re just as excited to read it!

From your Creative Directors, Robyn Black and Zhaneta Zhekova

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SENIOR TEAM CREATIVE DIRECTORS EDITOR IN CHIEF SENIOR DEPUTY EDITOR DEPUTY EDITORS

Robyn Black, Zhaneta Zhekova Joshua Harper James Kirkpatrick Finlay James Beatson, Erin Mckeown

CREATIVE TEAM PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGERS ILLUSTRATION MANAGER SENIOR ILLUSTRATOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS SOCIAL MEDIA FREELANCER EVENTS & PR MANAGER

Carlota Sainz, María Paula Huertas C. Cait Maxwell CL Gamble Emma Biggins, Katrina High Aylish Kelly Bethany Cameron, Orla Barr

EDITORIAL TEAM ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ON/OFF CAMPUS CREATIVE WRITING CURRENT AFFAIRS FASHION INTERNATIONAL LIFESTYLE OPINIONS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SOCIETIES COPY EDITORS

Mareth Burns, Jaime Aries, Fyfe Howard Barbara Mertlová, Marleen Käsebier Jennifer Gillespie, Katie Stewart, Andrew Young Fiachna Mac Carráin, Luiza Stoenescu Ellie J. Jamieson, Sophie Murray Amelia Carrothers, Luke Burr David Smith, Joanne Lam Andrew Elton Alex St. John, Flora Caldwell, Catherine Baxter James Kirkpatrick Niamh Alexander, Kyl Tan, Kathryn Boyle, Samantha King, Kirsty Bruce, Anna Campbell

SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

Lauren McDonald, Marcin Kielczewski, Sofia Rönkä

PUBLISHED BY PRINTED BY

Dundee University Students’ Association Magprint

CONTENTS 06

FEATURE

10

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

18

ON/OFF CAMPUS

29

CREATIVE WRITING

38

CURRENT AFFAIRS

50

FASHION

54

INTERNATIONAL

58

LIFESTYLE

62

OPINIONS

66

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

72

SOCIETIES

FEATURE OPINIONS Design by Robyn Black

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FEATURE Words by Erin McKeown

The Lamentations of Lent Selfishly, I welcomed the concept of a period of forced isolation when our national lockdown was announced almost a year ago this month. It acted as a catalystic trigger which signalled my inherent need for a break: from my academic studies, my job, and graduating into a muddied future as the lockdown coincided with my decision to repeat my fourth and final year. It was an apparent alignment of the cosmos, a gift from the universe which granted me time to pause, breathe and heal. In my self-serving mentality I couldn’t begin to fathom the repercussions such seclusion would have upon the posterity of myself, my family, and my friends.

This month marks the beginning of Lent, a period of reflection and preparation for a multitude of Catholics and other factions of the Abrahamic religion. By observing forty days of fasting, from both food and festivities, worshippers replicate the sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert of which Jesus enacted within the New Testament. Lent was an occasion which harkened positivity and the excitable buzz of expectation when I was a child, and despite my retreatment from the religion of my youth, the period still marks a point in the year where I attempt to reflect upon my current habits and traits and reason with their presence within my lifestyle. Do they embolden me to make positive decisions? Do they serve in the betterment of myself? Or is it time to slam a symbolic door upon them?

Despite the anticipation millions of Christians will be experiencing this time of year at the return of their messiah, I have a proverbial bone to pick with the concept of Lent this year. How is it fathomably productive to participate within a period defined by self-sacrifice, when so many of us have sacrificed so much in the past year? A globalised Lent has been imposed on the world, forcing all creeds and nations to practice self-control and denial. The curtailing of my historical inhibitions (drinking, smoking, sugar) pale in comparison to the devastating losses suffered on both a personal and global scale. To preach from a pulpit regarding loss and sacrifice seems egregiously ignorant when so many cannot even attend the funerals of the

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FEATURE Design by Robyn Black

“When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of streets, that they may be seen by men.”

Matthew 6:5 ones they love. Christenings are halted, Wedding deposits lost, and those unfortunate enough to live in complete solitude are left to wander through the wasteland of the pandemic alone. Lent has therefore become a bitter period of lamentation as we eagerly await the resurrection of our old ways of life.

For my peers, so much of our university career has been defined by self-sacrifice and self-control. We devote much of our time devoid of personal discomfort as we freeze in the library, eyes straining as our stomachs rumble at the thought of the packed dinner stuffed in our bags.

We sacrifice the pleasure of one another’s company and the warmth of the pub in favour of the completion of a project which we absolutely should have started earlier in the month. For some, our mental health suffers extreme deterioration in the pursuit of perfection. The true experience of the student is sacrificial in essence, time and money, blood and tears condensed into an experience which is subjectively singular and simultaneously universal.

We pay our metaphorical dues in the hopes that our dedication and hard work will be rewarded tenfold: that we will have opportunities inaccessible to previous generations and the ability to pursue our goals and ambitions freely and unbridled. In making the decision to commit to an extra year, I foolishly hoped the first lockdown would offer a solution, that I had managed to evade the onslaught of existential anxiety which threatened my graduating peers as I drank sangria, learned to roller-skate and gorged myself on the delicious notion of “free time” during the summer of lockdown. As I face the finality that my time in Dundee is drawing to a close for good this time around, I feel like JC staring out into the barren landscape of the desert, stepping out into the unknown to fight my devils, alone.

“Normality” feels like a glistening mirage in the near distance, edging and teasing like a flirty little minx. During

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sluggish days I cast my mind back to the final calm before the storm, where I rolled around in the sunlight outside DJCAD, head empty of anxiety and full of optimism for the future. Then, when I’m feeling particularly sentimental, Instagram will shoot me a flashback from a year ago and it is a painful reminder of the reality of my old life, the good days. Whenever I find my mood swinging dangerously towards the desperation we have all surely experienced this year, each of us struggling against what I can confidently christen a shit show of a semester, I try to remember what all these sacrifices have been in aid of.

The health of the public, the remediation of our social lives and the festivities and celebrations which have become a ghostly apparition which haunts the corners of my flat.

Flashes of frustration are a common intrusion to my daily stream of consciousness however, as I scroll through images of so-called “Christians” protesting the closure of shops and schools, refusing to wear masks and denying the existence of a disease which has robbed us of so much. JC and I aren’t as close as we used to be-more like acquaintances than firm friends- yet I can confidently say that the Jesus that violently stormed the merchants in the temple would have some choice words for such “devoted” disciples of the faith. Such followers evoke the performative essence of the subjects of Matthew 6:5, who Jesus denounced, “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of streets, that they may be seen by men.” The same people who proudly boast to be devoted followers of God won’t don a mask because of their “religious freedom”. The irony is not lost on me. Although I no longer consider myself religious in the traditional sense-since I realised God’s house was no longer one I wished to rent-I believe in the potency of selfsacrifice for a higher power, or greater good. This pandemic has shown the compassion of the wider community and highlighted the hypocrites amongst us.

FEATURE Words by Erin McKeown

We can define Lent as a period for self-denial and the rebuttal of our deepest desires; however, we can also utilise this period to redefine our expectations for a post lockdown world and regain our confidence. The concept of embracing my friends properly when it is safe to do so has helped me persevere during the hardest days of isolation, but the thought of socialising in a crowded pub or concert hall or theatre grips me with a spike of anxiety: something which has never occurred to me before. Each of us will come out of this communal experience affected in one way or another, and although the power of prayer is not something I practise within the confines of church walls, I manifest my own intentions. In my mind there is no interchangeable difference between saying a rosary and wishing for the collective good will of those surrounding you. Thought is also a powerful weapon if used as a conduit for beneficial intentions and deeds. Over the period of Lent, I’ll be choosing to repeat a mantra to myself, one of optimism for the posterity of my friends and family, willing a fruitful and joyous future for myself and others as we trudge through this period of inertia.

The past year has been a time of great sacrifice for all of us. Many irretrievable milestones have slipped through our fingers like sand, defining moments which are meant to make the hard work worth it. As a soon-to-be-graduate I have lost one of the most defining years of my life not just once, but twice. Therefore, I intend to leave this lockdown the most selfish person that has ever graced this earth.

Selfish with my time, my desires, my inhibitions: I want to travel, sunbathe, dance, swim in the sea, teach and be taught in turn. I have spent the last five years of my life garnering knowledge from articles and journals and books and now it is time for the lived experience. Once the floodgates open and we can safely coexist once more I believe we should all pursue the hedonistic lifestyle we have all dreamt of and more. The time to be selfish is nearing, and we deserve it.

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ARTS + ENTS Design by Anna Poehlman

A Retrospective on Daft Punk’s Music from a Long-Time Fan Of all the things I expected to happen this year, Daft Punk breaking up was not one of them.

After eight years of radio silence it just seemed a bit out of the blue. Sure, they collaborated with other artists - like The Weeknd and Parcels - but it just wasn’t the same as a full-blown solo song or album. To say that the news crushed me would be putting it lightly, and I think I can say the same for a lot of people. News of their breakup trended all over the internet with people expressing their shock at the split while reflecting on the positive impact the mechanical duo had on them. Even seemingly close celebrity friends seemed surprised at the sudden announcement, with artists like Nile Rodgers and Todd Edwards discussing their interactions with Daft Punk and what they meant not just to them, but the entire industry.

To classify Daft Punk’s influence on the music industry as anything less than seminal would be a mistake; their reach from the 1990s to today has been, to put it lightly, completely bonkers. Just as they sampled Edwin Birdsong and Viola Wills, they in turn were sampled by Kanye West and Nicki Minaj. Over the next 3 decades, what started off as experimenting with relatively new electronic instruments in their bedrooms became working with cutting-edge technology and the world’s best musicians to create Grammy-winning songs. Who would think that two guys without faces would become the face of electronic music? It’s hard to believe that when Daft Punk handed off a demo tape to Scottish producer Stuart McMillan, they could have ever predicted their propulsion to musical stardom. Especially considering their own name was derived from a scathing review of their old band, Darlin’, which dismissively labelled them as “a daft punky thrash”.

A big thing about Daft Punk, even since their humble beginnings at Parisian raves, is that they always wanted to keep it fresh. Even in pre-robot interviews they talked about trying to be genuine and not caring if they got replaced, as long as they

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were making good stuff. It’s clear they stuck with this motto until the end, with each album they put out offering something new. Each time they presented something different: a costume, an anime movie, a GAP commercial. They never tried to follow the path expected of them, but rather took a running leap into previously unexplored territories. Even Human After All - considered by critics to be the weakest in their discography - was an attempt at scaling new heights, with its heavy vocals and raw guitar sound absent from previous work.

“Robots can always be rebuilt.”

And though it may have stopped short at a resounding success, Human After All pulled its weight when it was played and remixed in their 2007 Alive tour, a complete phenomenon in modern music. Even outside the audio realm, Daft Punk were influencing their industry: the giant pyramid and light show they carted around with them helped create a somewhat universal agreement that electronic music shows should be nothing short of a spectacle.

The thing is, even after all the music, shows, and collaborations, nothing is as striking to me as Daft Punk being essentially two 40-year-old French men cosplaying robots. The fact that they were able to convince the public at large to play along with their robot personas is nothing short of incredible, especially with today’s focus on knowing everything possible about a celebrity. Even in their earliest days they always wore masks to obscure their faces, but when they first put those robot costumes on in 1999

ARTS + ENTS Words by Alex Murray

it was game-changing. It was unique and played totally serious, but still had great humour about it. I think a big part of their success can be attributed to the fantasy they brought along with the inclusion of the robots. They managed to construct a hyperreality in which their human selves really HAD died in a studio explosion and had to be brought back as robots. It was, and still is, a unique form of escapism that people are all too happy to play into. It’s way more fun to imagine two music-making machines rather than two music-making dudes!

In all, Daft Punk are a completely bizarre outlier in the world of music. From house to pop to electronica, this duo has been able to meld together classic songs with modern music-making techniques in a funky bricolage, churning out some of the most well-loved hits this side of the millennia. And though I’m sad they’re gone, I know their influence has (and will continue to) spread far and wide, ushering in many new artists with fresh ideas and sounds. And if nothing else, I take great comfort in what Nile Rodgers said after the announcement: “Robots can always be rebuilt.”

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ARTS + ENTS Design by Olivia Juliette Baird

Spelunky was first born in 2008 when Derek Yu created a 2D roguelike platformer with cave-exploring, damselsaving and enemy-fighting gameplay. In 2012 and 2013 the game was remade for XBOX and PC respectively, giving the world Spelunky HD by turning pixel art into cartoonlike graphics, and expanding the world of Spelunky, and establishing the game as an award-winning roguelike classic. However, eight years later, the world of Spelunky has been broadened once again, introducing old fans as well as new players with a bigger, more challenging, easter-egg-rich remake with updated graphics.

Being the sequel to the previous games, the main character of Spelunky 2 is Anna, the daughter of Guy Spelunky who was the original main character. Anna flies to the moon to explore a magical cave system to find her parents who had not been heard of since they had travelled to the moon themselves. Many other characters from the previous games return to the Spelunky universe but Anna also makes many new friends. Old characters now have families and small character arcs are hidden throughout the game, such as the mysterious Sparrow who is planning to rob the famous club owner Madame Tusk. However, a rather simple personal favourite was the return of Monty the Pug as a damsel in need of saving, as well as the addition of Percy the Cat and Poochi the Hamster. Another new “animaladdition” to the game is mounts – who would have thought riding a giant turkey would be so useful in spelunking?

Gameplaywise, Spelunky 2 might be a tough nut to crack with its increased difficulty, but the more work you put into it the more secrets you can unlock. Yes, it might get tedious at times to keep dying to a bat in the first area of the game, but even reaching and finally beating the mid-game boss gets that euphoria flowing. And to counteract the repetition of playing again and again, the game offers choices between areas to go through each time you play. Already after the first area, the player can choose to go through Volcana’s lava lakes and exploding robots, or The Jungle’s spiky vines and mischievous monkeys. Furthermore, the game awards achieving a high skill level most evidently by offering three different endings, one harder to reach than the other. The route to the final possible ending adds only

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ARTS + ENTS Words by Sofia Rönkä

95 additional levels to the game – easy enough, right?

As fun and challenging as the game can be for a single player, part of its experience is also playing with other people – even indirectly. Firstly, the game is great to watch being played by professional gamers and streamers, achieving things like reaching the final true ending, a speed run of less than 10 minutes or unlocking all of the almost endless secrets and easter-eggs in the game. Of course, there is also actual multiplayer; online cooperative had some hiccups in development but was finally released for people to enjoy the game together and help each other out of tricky situations. There is also an additional feature of a local multiplayer deathmatch, where players can fight it out with each other or some CPUs. One of the most incredible aspects of Spelunky 2, however, is the mix of mythologies that have been used to create its world. From the ancient civilisations of the Olmecians to aliens, from gods of different cultures to real-life creatures such as axolotls, the game is full of surprises, some more familiar than others. It is very enriching to have all these less represented cultures and beliefs featured in the game and you could spend hours googling the origin or inspiration of all the things you encounter.

Truly, besides the high difficulty of the final ending, there is not much to nit-pick about Spelunky 2. The reward of reaching the final ending is perhaps a little underwhelming compared to the cutscenes of the easier endings, but on the other hand, being one of the few in the world to be able to reach the end is probably a reward in itself. Finally, in my opinion, the enemies are sometimes too cute with their cartoony looks and silly behaviour. It seems like a crime to kill a caveman minding his own business while carrying a vase home to his family. And furthermore, damsels such as Monty the Pug can be sacrificed to the goddess of death, Kali, for rewards. I am sorry Monty, my beloved pet, but I apparently really need this life-granting cup to survive the game…

But minor quibbles aside, Spelunky 2 is undoubtedly one of the best games released in 2020, and it will surely establish itself in video game history as a beloved roguelike classic just as its previous versions did.

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OPINIONS ARTS + ENTS Design by

by Lewis RobynElks Black Design

Review:

The Farewell

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ARTS OPINIONS + ENTS Words WordsbybySarah Andrew Georges Elton

Lulu Wang illuminates the delicate balance needed in maintaining a connection between two cultures at once in her 2019 film partly based on her life.

The Farewell centres on a ChineseAmerican family and their handling of the illness of the family matriarch, Nai Nai (played by Zhao Shu-zhen).

Following a terminal lung cancer diagnosis, her family decide to keep her in the dark, reckoning that if the cancer doesn’t kill her, the fear will. The film explores the discordance between Chinese and American culture, Western individualism and Eastern collectivism through this prism of grief in an ensemble of poignant performances.

The film opens with the claim: ‘Based on an actual lie’ and this notion of truth is threaded throughout the film.

Billi Wang (Awkwafina) walks down a New York street speaking to Nai Nai on the phone in Chinese. The close grandmother-granddaughter relationship – despite their physical distance from one another – is clear from their relaxed conversation. Nai Nai asks if she is wearing a coat and a hat. Billi reassures her that she is as we see her in profile coatless and hatless. This white lie is then reciprocated: upon hearing strange sounds in the background, Billi questions their source; Nai Nai tells her from a hospital waiting room that she is at her sister’s house. In both cases, they are protecting the other from information that might evoke worry or concern.

When the family are reunited in China to spend time with Nai Nai, the ethical implications of dishonesty with the intention to shield another from pain come to the fore. Billi learns from the doctor that it is quite common for families in China to keep news

like this from family. In one of the most thought-provoking moments in the film, Billi argues that the family should tell Nai Nai the truth. Her uncle counters: ‘That’s the difference between the East and the West. In the East, a person’s life is part of a whole: family, society…’ Billi’s American upbringing is juxtaposed with the culture she left in childhood. Rather than asserting that one culture is more invested in family, Wang highlights the difference in how this love is expressed. Is truth the best option in every circumstance, or does family have a responsibility to take on burdens that would bury the individual? It is a compelling question that the film puts forth and each side is expressed in an empathetic way.

Billi’s connection to China and its culture reside in her relationship with her grandmother. Whether she is around a dinner table with homemade food, or in a street as she is taught an exercise to expel negative energy, the use of Mandarin is notable. Indeed, Wang (rightly) does not accommodate a Western preference for Englishlanguage films. Lending to the film’s authenticity while also facilitating the film’s examination of the gap between Billi’s connection to America and China, the conscious choice of language leads to a consideration of the film industry.

When the Oscar nominations were announced, The Farewell was noticeably snubbed. With its beautifully crafted script and nuanced performances from a brilliant cast, in particular Awkwafina as Billi, this was a shocking oversight. And yet, it would be naïve to suggest that this was unexpected.

Predominantly in Chinese, and written and directed by a woman of colour, the lack of award attention

is in keeping with The Academy's history. In 2016, when all of the acting nominees were notably white performers for the second year this lack of diversity was brought into focus. In protest, this sparked the #OscarsSoWhite campaign to shine a light and demand change.

Five years later, it would be generous to say that buzzwords and wellmeaning gestures have contributed to actual progress. The Academy continues to consist of overwhelming white members. This extends to the make-up of the majority of writers and directors in Hollywood. This current homogeneity of filmmakers – and those who get financial support to make movies – manipulates viewer tastes, dictating what is Good and Bad, and limits the scope of the audience for films that do not meet these white and male criteria.

With this industrial context in mind, the steady rise in acclaim for diverse and deceptively modest films is encouraging. When encountering such a richly complex film like Lulu Wang’s The Farewell it is immediately apparent the dearth of similar films. In this rare joy of a film, Wang manages to craft a story that is warm, genuine and bittersweet. But at the same time, subtly weaving these bigger picture ideas of assimilation, the immigrant experience and grief into a universal portrait of family connectedness.

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ARTS + ENTS Design by Cait Maxwell

You’ve probably gained a couple of pounds, but to be honest, who hasn’t? You look at yourself in the mirror and think about how pale you’ve gotten, sitting at home in the dark, especially in winter. I’m guessing you don’t have a spectacular view from your home, seeing that most of us students live in tiny flats. All in all, you don’t have the muscular physique of a sailor, the tan, a view of the endless ocean. Yes, that’s a very different type of isolation, but maybe we have something in common in the way we deal with it.

or pulling in the anchor. Then we have songs for when the sailors were off duty, talking about their home, their destination or their loved ones. These are also known as fo’c’sle shanties, as pointed out by Tumblr user theiceandbones, named after the living quarters of the sailors in the front part of the ship. We could sing shanties as a way of synchronizing workflow and inspiring workers but this is a little difficult during the pandemic.

If you’ve spent most of the winter on your phone like me, there’s a good chance you’ve seen sea shanties come up a few times on your social media. Wondering what it’s all about?

Journeys on a ship were extremely strenuous – sailing for months on end, scorching sun, bad food, little hygiene. And all of that with nowhere to go. We can kind of relate, can’t we? We have food, a shower and a comfy bed but there doesn’t seem to be an ‘X’ on our map, no port we’re going to reach. And if there is, there is little telling when we might reach it. Through sea shanties, people help each other endure difficult times. It’s always better to be with others when you’re feeling low; to feel like someone understands what you’re going through. Shanties create a sense of camaraderie and confidence to get us through the journey.

Call and response are excellent for this purpose while they lift our spirits up – the sailors following the shantyman who leads the song. But aside from those quick, snappy and witty songs we all love like The Drunken Sailor, there are also more sombre, slow and reflective shanties.

It all started when Scottish singer Nathan Evans covered the Wellerman song by the Longest Johns on TikTok. He didn’t have any musical accompaniment nor any backup sailors to sing with him, but that didn’t last for long. A mighty wave of artists took to work to produce their own covers of the song and after a quick search, you could find videos of the song with arrangements by multiple artists, singing together like a band of sailors. I admit there is definitely something haunting and satisfying in hearing a deep bass voice carried over all the rest…

No one can deny that Wellerman is a catchy song with an addictive chorus. However, there is more to sea shanties and why they’re making a comeback.

There are many types of sea shanties, depending on the type of work the sailors did such as hauling the halyard

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So why do so many people sing them?

The journey was often exciting and with great rewards, but what about the times when that wasn’t the case? Sailors get homesick just like everybody else, they also lose friends along the way. You will find many shanties about love – the love that is waiting back home. Shanties that talk about the past, about lost friends. Sailors wondering

ARTS + ENTS Words by Valerya Krumova whether the journey is worth it, and when it wasn’t they didn’t turn back but went on. Voicing and sharing their hardship was their way to cope.

Over the past year, we also lost many people and continue to do so. We try our best to remember them, to honour their name and be the person they wanted us to be. A lovely shanty that deals with this topic is ‘Bones in the Ocean’ which voices the struggle of a sailor to keep on living after the loss of his friends. He ultimately realizes that he has to sail on – for them.

If the sailors in the midst of the wide ocean could pull through then so can we. No matter how big the voyage, there will always be land to set foot on. Remember that even the worst storm doesn’t last forever; the waters calm and the sun comes up. So while we wait, let’s find a shanty and let our voices do the rest.

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ON/OFF CAMPUS Design by Tessa Minshull

Presidential Memoirs Iain MacKinnon is a former President of Dundee University Students’ Association (DUSA) (2013-2015) DUSA’s Honorary Secretary (2011-2013), and a former contributor to DUSA Media. As current Senior Project Manager at the Parliamentary Digital Service, he took me on a journey through his career and his outstanding relation with media. with media.

At the end of your second year of Politics and The following year was especially productive for you.

International Relations, you were elected a Honorary You ran your Radio Show, fulfilled responsibilities of an Secretary at DUSA. It was only six years later that you Exec, wrote for the Magdalen, and you also launched worked on the 2017 General Elections at Westminster. your website, The Scooby Gang. In partnership with Did you see that coming? the DCA, you created weekly reviews of the movies they played. Were you trying to get as much as possible done No, not at all! I studied Politics but I never had a great ahead of the infamous end of the world in 2012? desire to work in that field and certainly not doing behind the scenes projects for the Parliament. I’d gone from I really liked writing for The Magdalen and I wanted to do running a small student election to helping to run the UK more, but there is only so much space the DUSA Media can General Election. Back in Uni, I wanted to do things that provide. I launched the website because I wanted to write looked interesting to me and that I enjoyed. I was very reviews of everything that I got my hands on. There was a envious of people who knew they wanted to be a police period when I saw and reviewed almost every single film officer, a doctor or a CEO. I never had a career goal. that was released in the DCA, who provided me with free entry for the plug. Reviewing films is something that I don’t do anymore and although a part of me does miss it, there is a danger that it can turn into a chore sometimes. When “I’d gone from running a small student election I started working a full-time job and had to go to a cinema to helping to run the UK General Election.” on Friday evening to see 2-3 films in a row, drinking far too many energy drinks to keep me awake, it was challenging.

Around the same time, that is 2011, you launched Though, I became very quick at writing. Maybe that was your own show in DUSA Radio. What prompted you it, maybe I was scared that the world was ending and just into the media? threw myself into everything.

My friends were involved in DUSA Media. My best friend helped set up DUSA Television and started his radio show and then another friend and I set up ours. That opened the door for other DUSA Media stuff. The one advice I would give to Freshers is: Get involved in stuff early. Sometimes all it takes is to send an email or knock on a door.

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When you were elected President of DUSA in 2013, did you feel that the experience you gained within media helped you in the role?

Yes, it did. When you write or broadcast it makes you think of your audience in a specific way. The same people I was

ON/OFF CAMPUS Words by Marcin Kiełczewski

writing reviews or recording radio shows for were the people I was trying to get to vote for me. They were my audience. Spending years writing in an academic style might make you great at it, but you won’t necessarily have the skill to address your peers or colleagues or those who are apathetic. Knowing my audience is a skill I’ve been using throughout my career.

DUSA recently conducted a revision of its governance and since it takes place every five years, the previous one was done by your team. What were the main points of your strategy?

When I started as President, there was only one part-time support officer. We identified that the Executive team was dragged down by the administrative tasks that didn’t need to be carried out by an elected person. We recruited fulltime staff members for Societies, media, and legal support.

We used funding from the University to recruit Stewart Squire, Democratic Support & Policy Coordinator, who was tasked to review all DUSA documents. It was, I think, the first proper review of DUSA’s governance and Stewart Squire was a leading force in the field. It is as important to do those large periodic reviews, as it is to have the flexibility to allow for the smaller changes ad hoc.

We’re only a few weeks away from the next DUSA Elections. What is your advice for anyone running DUSA under the current circumstances?

Every Executive team has that one thing that defines them.

For my team it was the Scottish independence referendum,

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ON/OFF CAMPUS Design by Tessa Minshull

“I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for the experience I got in DUSA.”

the introduction of tuition fees for students from outside Scotland, as well as an issue with landlords. It all pales in comparison with the impact of the pandemic on the higher education experience. The ability to be flexible and to be reactive is very important. I’ll stress again the importance of knowing how to communicate, whom you’re communicating to, and how you’re doing it. The current Executive team has gained a year of experience of dealing with completely unforeseen circumstances.

Being an Executive team member, or even unsuccessfully running in the Elections, is a great experience which opens so many doors.

As President, you wanted to improve the communication between DUSA and Students, which is the same problem the current President, Scott Quinn, is trying to tackle. What do you think makes it difficult to find a good solution?

It’s a never-ending battle. In wider society, there is a huge issue of apathy which on campus life is even bigger. Most people are not here to think about student representation, student politics and even Societies or media, but to get a degree. How do you engage 17,000 students through the work of a Student President whose main role is to sit on the University committees and to make sure the student voice is heard? What we found most successful was to find small things to celebrate.

There is an acceptance that you will never manage to encourage the majority of the students, but it is important that they know they can get help from the Executives when needed.

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You mentioned a conflict between students and landlords during your presidency. We’re facing similar issues now. What did DUSA do to help the students in the past?

We wanted to be a source of help for students. We helped to put them in contact with Citizens Advice Bureau, student Advisory Services, and solicitors. We had team members who, if you had an appeal, fight with a landlord or disciplinary issue, would go with you as a support. We put students in touch with other students who had similar issues. We helped to find experts. We arranged a meeting where all students who were angry at a certain landlord could meet with him and talk. At times, we contacted the media: the Courier, local radio, etc. One of the Executive Team members ran a campaign to have landlords endorsed by the Union. We had one staff member providing legal support for students.

Thank you for finding the time for this interview.

I wish you all the best with your career.

Thank you! I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for the experience I got in DUSA. One door opens another.

ON/OFF CAMPUS Design by Ale Lopez, Words by Marleen Käsebier

C a r e e r p a t h ? Yo u r p a t h .

A reflection on confidence in study choice and a gentle reminder to embrace the choices you’ve made so far.

“Your career is like a garden. It can hold an assortment of life’s energy that yields a bounty for you. You do not just need to grow one thing in your garden. You can do more than one thing in your career.” - Jennifer Ritchie Payette It’s difficult to choose a career path.

More and more people meander and stumble into unknown areas that they weren’t expecting to come across when it comes to careers because, a few professions aside, often it doesn’t matter so much what you learned in a specific course, but what you’ve learned throughout your life and what knowledge and power you carry as part of you from those.

“You may be on a certain degree course, but you are always, primarily, on your own path” Confidence in study choice isn’t always bursting and certainly isn’t constant, especially at a time in the semester such as this, when approaching deadlines won’t slow down and new material doesn’t cease to flow.

Do you remember choosing to study the course you’re in now? Maybe, like me, you opted for a different course than you initially started in because your gut

felt safer, maybe you weren’t sure in the beginning but are in love with your field now, or maybe you used to be sure but feel lost at this moment.

In any case, it’s alright.

Without words of advice of what is right or fears to drill into you out of misplaced concerns, I offer you a moment to breathe and to accept that there is no single course. You may be on a certain

degree course, but you are always, primarily, on your own path.

“in any case, you are growing, so choose to lean into growth” That might sound cheesy and it might not calm you if you are struggling with worries about the future, but maybe it serves as a reminder that you’ve already come a long way.

You made decisions, you continued, and you’ve learned. When you reflect on where you are right now, maybe you realise that you have learned about what is important in making life feel fulfilled, about future goals for and outside your career and ways of thinking or being that help you reflect uniquely. You are always continuing to build your voice and no matter how confident you currently are about your choices, in any case, you are growing, so choose to lean into growth.

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ON/OFF CAMPUS Design by Noni Farragher-Hanks

STUDY HARD, STAY ON TRACK, AND STAY SAFE A reflection about keeping on track of studies in lockdown.

With the semester in full swing and just a few weeks before its end, many of us will be busy with, what else – studying. This academic year has seen many highs and lows - some of them unexpected - and a fair majority frustrating on a number of levels. As this year is unlike any that has ever been experienced before; we must congratulate ourselves for sticking with our studies during these hard, pressing times. As a student body at a highly regarded higher education institute, we have all done exceptionally well for cracking on with our studies.

It hasn’t just been lockdown which has changed our University experience. We have all had to learn to navigate a new Blackboard setup. The Library has had to restrict the number of students it can accommodate, making borrowing books a struggle especially for students who live outside of Dundee.

Classes have been carried out entirely, for most of us, via Microsoft Teams

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or Collaborate. All of these changes combined, add up to a University experience unlike any previous years.

We have all been pushed to our limits, which can be a frustrating experience.

It can be easy to dwell on the negative aspects of the past several months, instead of giving ourselves a much deserved pat on the back. Student life shouldn’t be and isn’t all about studying and assignments. An important part of our years at University is rewarding ourselves when we know we have performed well. Just taking that moment to reward ourselves can make us all the more stronger.

These past seemingly long months may seem like a marathon, with little outdoor activities and societies to give us much needed breaks. Student life is usually filled with catch-ups at coffee shops, hanging out with classmates over a drink or two, and generally catching up with the latest gossip in and around our campus and the city. Many of us will

ON/OFF CAMPUS Words by Benedict Jackson

probably be feeling some blues and our confidence levels can be down at times. We are a strong student body and together we can get through the upcoming weeks, regardless of unexpected circumstances that may be thrown at us.

“We are a strong student body and together we can get through the upcoming weeks” However, it would seem there are more long weeks of lockdown ahead which is the last thing we all wanted to hear. With six more weeks of lockdown, it seems that there isn’t going to be a change to continue our studies in person. The next six weeks will take us to the end of the semester and into the holidays. Since we have already experienced one and a half semesters of studying from home, we all probably would like a change of pace, something to light up our days. Moral and positive emotions will be down,

but we must remember to remain strong and safe over the upcoming months.

Our studies might appear to be the only thing which will keep us going, the only thing keeping our minds active, and the only thing to fill our time up with. Studying is evidently important whilst at University, but taking time away from revision is equally important. Studying should never seem monotonous, nor should it be treated like a chore, and taking much needed breaks will help concentration and commitment. We are all probably familiar with the phrase ‘stay on track’.

A student’s life can be met with many unanticipated challenges which can make studying all the more difficult to commit to, and it can be hard to remain on the ‘studying path’. Throwing in the towel, so to speak, does not need to be your first thought. Acceptance to study our passions at University is something to be cherished, and committing to our studies this past year has been a

worthwhile challenge.

We’re all probably looking for that ‘positive’ light in the near future, and many of us will be lacking in confidence. Our University offers services to help students stay committed to their studies throughout all years, both undergraduate and postgraduate. Nobody should have to struggle alone, and just talking about troubles and worries can make all the difference to confidence levels. We all probably have that passing thought, which makes studying or completing assignments all the more challenging.

Studying is never easy and it takes a lot of self-discipline to ‘hit the books’ for a few hours every day, which can have a large effect on confidence.

The near future will be a major test for all of us and our confidence levels will be pushed to their limits. We must remember to stick together and see the academic year out to the very end.

So stick with it and remember to stay safe.

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ON/OFF CAMPUS Design by Olivia Juliette Baird

Dundee’s Sy-STEM-ic Sexism In an interview with Skye Kirwan, the President of Women in STEM Society, she explains the aims of the Society. Skye discusses how well women are supported on campus, and what the future of Women in STEM looks like at the University of Dundee.

This article is inspired by the recent celebration of the ‘International Day of Women and Girls in Science’. As a University of Dundee student obtaining a STEM degree, I believe fellow students should be aware of the work our University does to promote equality in these traditionally male-dominated fields. Skye explains how women in STEM are supported on Campus through societies and University-led projects, and what continues to prevent women from receiving equity in these courses.

The Women in STEM Society: What is the aim of the Society?

The aim of our Society is to really empower the women and non-binary students at the University to reach their full potential, both professionally and socially. Our main aims are to professionally aid their development, help them get a step ahead in the STEM industry and also match them up with new friends and a support system.

“Every single woman that I’ve met in my courses has been brilliant because they’ve actually had to fight to be there.”

What kind of things have you been up to this year?

To meet the aims just mentioned, we have set up a mentorship programme with the Alumni team. We’ve matched women with alumni who are now working in the STEM industry. Through that, we partnered with Equate Scotland

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ON/OFF CAMPUS Words by Lisa Kilday

with whom we’ve been running training events and hosting workshops on confidence and networking. On top of the mentorship programme, we also have the sisterhood scheme. We’ve formed little sisterhoods that members can opt in or out of, where you have three or four sisters from across the STEM subjects that you are encouraged to reach out to. Last week we had a social for the sisters - it was really cute and fun. So hopefully we’ll do a little bit more of that.

surprising! With there being so few girls in the class, it’s as though if you don’t show up to a class or you do something wrong, everybody knows about it because you’re one of the only girls, you’re going to be noticed… and watched. Or maybe we just feel like that?

In addition to the sisterhood scheme, what are your plans for the rest of the year?

I feel like that is still a huge issue and something that we do have to focus on. Even in the Society, the committee is all white and cis. It’s a hard thing to balance but it’s something that we have to challenge. There is a significantly low

We have a few things coming up, like speed networking.

We are also planning to do a workshop as part of the Dundee Women’s Festival in partnership with the School who are helping us organise this. The workshop is going to be about dealing with sexism in the workplace, not getting defeated by it and having coping mechanisms to become empowered from it. That’s on the 11th of March. Of course, one of our big aims is to encourage more women to enter STEM fields.

Confidence in our University at present: Do you think there are equal opportunities for women and non-binary people in STEM courses at the University right now?

In general, there’s not a huge amount of opportunities available for women and non-binary people full stop. I feel like it’s more up to us to look for internships and go to networking events etc. A positive of that would be that Societies do bring a lot of these professional opportunities to students. Before [the Society], I do think events were maybe somewhat male-dominated. I personally would feel a bit intimidated by this. I think that it’s good to give people a push to actually go to such events and feel like they’re in a supportive bubble as well.

I don’t think that’s the fault of any individual, it’s just the system. Even in computing, I do have a couple of great female lecturers but that’s surprising to see, and it shouldn’t be

Do you feel like the University recognises intersectionality in STEM? For example, black or gay women entering STEM courses?

“We’ll have equality in STEM when women only have to be as average as men do to be in their line of work or study.” amount of black people in our course. The thing is, all of them are exceptional because they’ve gone for it and not let the odds stand against them.

Have you worked with any DUSA Representatives before?

No. We reached out to the Women’s Representative but I don’t think we got a response. We haven’t reached out to the Science and Engineering Rep but that’s probably on us. However, the Science and Engineering School are now working alongside Equate Scotland which is a non-profit organisation aimed at supporting women in STEM. The University elected seven Student Champions this year to be ambassadors for gender equality in STEM. The Future of our students: How do you think the University’s support could improve?

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ON/OFF CAMPUS Design by Olivia Juliette Baird

I think getting the word out there more about events and societies would be great. Sometimes you have to really look for these opportunities and when you’re already a bit isolated in your course and don’t feel very confident, it can be hard to push yourself and say ‘I’m gonna go for this’.

Sometimes it helps to be told to go for it, when it comes to career-enhancing and self-improvement opportunities.

There’s definitely a lot of good opportunities in the school of Science and Engineering Do you feel like the University is on the right track to fully supporting women in STEM degrees?

Definitely. Progress can be slow with everything going on, and it probably can’t be the number one priority, but as a Society, we’ve had so much support. We’ll have people reach out to us, trying to raise our voice, which is amazing.

The University is definitely on the right track.

Finally, how have you been personally challenged as a woman in STEM? I went to college before this, and I definitely struggled with my confidence and feeling like an imposter inside a class full of men. Over time, I learned to realise that just the fact that I’m there is amazing. I’m not joking when I say that every single woman that I’ve met in my courses has been brilliant because they’ve actually had to fight to be there.

They’ve had to doubt themselves and then go: ‘No, I AM good enough’. Something someone said to me before, which I thought was really true, was; ‘We’ll have equality in STEM when women only have to be as average as men do to be in their line of work or study’.

It seems clear that women still have a long way to go to feel equal to our male colleagues at Dundee University, but we are certainly making small but meaningful differences to achieve this. If you would like to support the Women in STEM Society or get involved yourself, you can find them via: Email - wistemsociety@dundee.ac.uk or IG/fb/twitter- @uodwomeninstem Thank you for a great discussion, Skye!

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ON/OFF CAMPUS Design by Molly Paterson, Words by Catriona Harrison

The New Gap Year Under the pressures of Covid uncertainty, what are the opportunities for Graduates in Dundee?

Like many final year students, I am currently sitting in my flat wondering where on earth I will be this time next year.

Alongside the usual trepidation and worries that come around when thinking what to do after graduating (besides the excitement and the huge exhalation after four years of hard work), we now need to factor a Covid world into our short-term planning.

If you’re worried about embarking on a new job or qualification, lacking the confidence of how face-to-face it will be, could volunteering for a charity or social enterprise around Dundee be a rewarding way of spending a year after graduating?

If this sounds like something you’d like to consider, you’re in luck. Whether you want to connect directly with people facing challenges like mental health or isolation, support charities in your chosen academic field by using your skills or fundraising, or if you think you can help more people get digitally confident - there’s loads to choose from.

ReKindle, a local project, dedicated to helping the elderly feel less lonely and isolated during these hard times, puts volunteers in touch with elderly residents in care homes across Dundee. Connecting regularly via zoom calls means you can meet and chat to new people from the comfort of your own home!

Facebook: ReKindle Dundee Instagram: @rekindle_dundee Another great Dundee-based charity, Befriends, is a well-established charity which joins volunteers up with disadvantaged youth for support, fun and positive engagement. If this sounds like a charity that could be of interest, please note that there are some prerequisites for working with vulnerable children and young adults, including PVG disclosure checks and references. Befriends also provides guidance and information when becoming a ‘befriender’.

“could volunteering for a charity or social enterprise around Dundee be a rewarding way of spending a year after graduating?”

If you are looking to spend your free time out and about, you might be more interested in expanding your knowledge in all things environmentally friendly. Taybank Growers Cooperative enables volunteers the chance to help produce chemical free, fresh veg and fruit for the local area. You can volunteer for a couple hours a week or more often at their ‘monthly volunteering sessions’. Although they are not taking volunteers during lockdown, they hope to take people soon.

Website: taybankgrowerscoop.com Facebook: Taybank Growers Cooperative Lastly, a charity which really runs off volunteers and donations is Dundee Foodbank. Whether you are able to spare some time or food, it has never been more important and worthwhile to give what you can.

Website: Dundee.foodbank.org.uk Facebook: Dundee Foodbank

Website: befriends.org.uk Twitter: BeFriendsDundee Facebook: BeFriends Dundee

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ON-OFF CAMPUS Design by Karly Yu, Photography by Lottie Belrose, Words by Emma Sturrock

The Debenhams Closure:

Through the Voices of Students When news reports announced that Debenhams was set to close, including the Overgate branch, many people in Dundee were concerned about the impact this would have on the city centre. But this closure also has a significant impact on students.

When I learned that Debenhams in the Overgate Shopping Centre was closing down, I was concerned for the employees who have lost their jobs, some of them students of Dundee. The loss of jobs during a pandemic has been a hard blow for everyone, making job hunting more competitive than ever with one student saying,

“Dundee is hardly a bustling metropolis, and I think the decision to close the store will have a devastating impact on students’ prospects for part time work.”

The pandemic has forced out large businesses that had the most chance of survival. A couple of large businesses in Dundee that had to close were Zara and Topshop, leaving the Dundee City Centre with two vacant buildings. Cited as the main reason behind closures has been the increase of online shopping, as people haven’t been able to travel to shops. Online shopping, in these circumstances, provides not only convenience but also safety. One student agrees: “Not just Debenhams shutting, but now also the Arcadia Group, it’s a constant battle of which online retailer remains on top - Boohoo or ASOS.”

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So, how does this affect current students of Dundee?

One student thinks that “The closure of Debenhams will be detrimental to student employment as so many part time staff there are University Students, supporting us financially during term time but also the critical period over summer where SAAS is not available.”

Part-time work is vital for many students for the benefits it provides, the main one being financial security and freedom to enjoy the typical student experience.

These closures may also impact the University overall, as for prospective students applying to the University of Dundee, the perceived lack of part time jobs in the city might be a factor in choosing a different university in bigger cities where there are more part-time jobs available. One student provided a suggestion “There needs to be more financial assistance and proactive job shops for students provided by the University and the City Council. Especially for those who reside in Dundee or cannot ask family or friends for help.” This may seem ambitious, but the long term benefits would mean potential students witness the active role of the University helping their students wherever they can and perhaps this would mean that the University of Dundee may welcome more students.

CREATIVE WRITING Words by Luke Perry Design by CL Gamble

CHAIN BREAKER One step, two steps, three steps, four, With each step, the crowds cheer evermore Five steps, six, seven till the eighth hits the floor Breaking the chains attached to my core.

These chains that once held me so Tightly by the ankles, shackled so low.

They kept me hidden, kept me down Yet paraded me about like a clown For I had no desire, and with it came no will, Thus I let them consume me, like a puppet on fire.

Each wisp jerking my limbs Away from others, only to myself.

People saw it as a posture of pride But it was a awkward stance, controlled by whims.

But through the will of reason the chains had loosened.

Installing in me, the confidence I needed to break away from the chains of the dark And reconnect with those I wish to embark with on my quest, and hear their cheers! loud and numerous, all around here!

Now for once I can finally stand Alone yet together, ready for new lands.

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CREATIVE WRITING Design by Amy Keir, Photography by Lottie Belrose

Tacet to the chirping of birds mixing with the sound of distant cars for a clue of what he should do.

A young woman was sitting on a park bench – head resting on her hands and dark shiny strands covering her face. People walked past, giving her sideways glances.

Kai had seen her six times already as he jogged around the park’s edges, but she had not moved an inch. Kai slowed and stopped in front of her.

Mirai sniffed quietly. Instinctively, Kai reached for his pocket, pulled out a packet of tissues, and offered it to her. She slowly took a tissue, padded her eyes and blew her nose. She crumbled the tissue up and put it in her pocket. Then she looked up at Kai again and nodded ever so slightly.

He smiled at her. Then he tilted

“Excuse me, are you okay?” he asked gently but slightly out of breath. The woman still didn’t move. Slowly, Kai sat on the other side of the bench and tapped on her shoulder. She winced and her head shot up. Two dark wide eyes, gleaming wet in the sunlight, stared at him in alarm.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” He retracted back, showing his palms. The woman blinked several times and then moved her hands around.

Kai frowned plaintively, “Oh, I’m sorry, but I don’t know sign language…” He spotted an occupational name tag on the woman’s light-blue button-up shirt that read “ASL NYC” and below it “Mirai”.

Mirai let her hands fall on her lap and lightly shook her head.

Unsure of what to do, Kai looked at his own tanned hands, listening 30

his head, frowning, and gestured toward her with his hand.

Mirai sighed and threw her arms in the air while shaking her head.

Kai made a circular movement with his hand, urging her to continue.

Mirai brushed her fingers through her hair nervously with a pained expression. Then she sighed again and lifted her left hand for Kai to see. With her other hand, she pointed at a ring.

Kai nodded slowly but raised his eyebrows.

Mirai frowned at the ring. For a while, she kept turning it round and round on her finger, deep in thought. Suddenly, her expression turned angry. She took the ring off and threw it forcefully to the ground. She looked defiantly back at Kai as if expecting him to challenge her.

Kai only nodded again; his expression solemn but encouraging. Slowly, he reached toward her now ringless hand and hovered his palm over it.

Mirai nodded, still scowling, and Kai squeezed her hand firmly. Slowly, Mirai’s eyebrows retracted, and her forehead smoothed. When Kai let go of her hand, she gently brushed a finger over the faint mark where the ring had been, and for the first time, Kai saw her smile.

Without a warning, Mirai stood up from the bench. Her determined black eyes locked with Kai’s for one more time. Mirai lifted her hand, fingers extended, to her chin, and then brought them forward toward Kai. Then she turned toward the park exit.

Kai watched her disappear behind the walls that separated the park from the busy streets. Then he stood, smiling to himself, and, wondering about the peculiarities of life, he resumed his jog.

CREATIVE WRITING Words by Sofia Rönkä

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CREATIVE WRITING Design and Photography by Robyn Black, words by Hannah Comrie

i miss the calls at 3am when you don’t know what we are the faceless snapchats that seem to last forever the way you felt near when you were far i miss the compliments and the kisses over messages that we sent the facetimes and the voice notes god knows how much time we really spent i miss the days that turned to nights talking about the music we loved in the charts the hours that we spent talking nonsense filling the void in our lockdown lonely hearts

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CREATIVE WRITING Design by Gosia Kepka, Words by Fabio Grant-Carvalho

Homebound Thrown beyond thrownness In a home, beyond homeliness Where the seas are not quite so blue, where the forest scent is still, so new The cities are greater and clean Yet, their wonder is a simple dream So they look to the sky in hope, And they meet a familiar gleam Warmth.

But the light has an uncanny feel, As it shines on what is not real What remains from these broken hopes?

But to make way for new attempts Godspeed! Running up that next slope, Homebound, a path we’ll always know The heart of years ago.

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CREATIVE WRITING Design by Megan Hunter, Words by Andrew Young

O B L I V I A N I

I am the Good Shepherd I am the Good Shepherd Always facing that supreme goodness.

I come to lead the wayward Toward a path of sureness.

When that foul and green snake Has wound its way around your throat And your heart can muster a mere quake, Its venom, there is one antidote.

“Look in your soul and find the courage.

With your strength beat that beast, Show no fear as I am your sage And you will be released.”

“I am the Good Shepherd And I have come to lead the wayward.”

II

The Red Rose

While walking in the purest of gardens, I came across trees and flowers, of red And green and blue and white. My soul hardened When I found that particular bed.

Like great horned serpents that had risen from ash, With blushing heads of intertwined silk.

Those piercing roses that made my heart bash.

Their furious colour, like Mother’s milk.

What, I thought, of plucking one to take home?

As I bent low a voice said, ‘Be careful – Of what you pluck. Remember thy tome.’

‘Foolish voice’, I said, ‘they have had their fill.’

‘Very well’, replied the voice, ‘make your choice,’ ‘But always remember my warning voice.’

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CREATIVE WRITING Design by Maddie Talbert, Words by Aaron Tweed

Cloud of my Heart Hearing Life’s long solemn cries From behind low, mournful sighs.

Happy thoughts are lost in winds, Bearing heavy Heart’s despair.

They, who heaving, hold sweet skies, Lifeless, deathly dark; once fair.

Deviant clouds swelling minds.

Swelling, sweating, ready: I Reach outstretched with hand, held high.

Burst with scalpel-sharpened pin, Glinting light in trembling hands.

Bleeding woollen clouds rely Strong on rivers, puddles, sandSafely holding seas within.

Why should I expose the rain?

Why should I give access to pain?

Like old wounds on my heart carved, Steam that rises from the brand.

But ironic water gains Nurse’s helpful, healthful hands.

Healing for the heart once starved.

Sinews raw and seeping red.

Ganges dripping ‘bove my head.

Soothing rains and seething sun.

Beauty, only truly seen Viewing both sides of the thread.

But who holds the brand I’ve seen?

Clouds? Or Sun? Am I the one?

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CREATIVE WRITING Words by JJ Bennett, Design by CL Gamble

THE CENSUS You call me: Male / Female Yet this is not an identity I have chosen

It is not as observable as White / Mixed Multiple Ethnic Groups / Asian or Asian British / Black, African Carribean or Black British

Or date of birth: 22/06/2001 Or place of birth: Burton-on-Trent Or marital status: Married / Single / Divorced / Widowed

It is as complex as sexuality: ???

Gender can’t be defined by your form when it cannot fit into a norm.

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CREATIVE WRITING Design

by Eirinn Leigh Reay, Photography

by Maria Huertas Design

by Eirinn Leigh Reay, Photography

by María PaulaCaycedo, Huertas, Words by Fay Rizo

The Evolution of Touch I bump into you Down we go together I see you and my body shivers Your hands cover mine Warming them inside and out I glimpse your way Cold grass caressing our skin Stealing glances side by side We giggle Blue eyes look through mine Mid-air, warm hands graze each other Later hand in hand Your hands are so cold And so is your breath on me I stand there fulfilled Your lips kiss mine And nothing exists in the world Just our lips skin to skin

With your lips on mine A tender touch on my skin I see the world anew

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Design and photography by Oisean Burnett

Contempt for humanities The merger of the Schools of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education and Social Work is an unfortunate symptom of a far-reaching, contemptuous attitude toward non-STEM subjects. Although this may not be the intention of the University Executive Group (who are responsible for these proposals) the diminishing and reduction of these disciplines is an all-too familiar story for those of us that study them. We are used to the jokes made about our few contact hours, our likelihood of employment after university, and the easiness of our subjects. We are used to the questions from family and friends, of what we are going to do with our degrees, and if we all want to be teachers or academics. We are used to them, and we laugh along with you and answer your questions politely, but we are tired. In a recent alumni’s own words: “I am too burnt out from years of justifying to staff and students in other disciplines, as well as society in general, why my chosen subject deserves to exist and receive a basic level of respect”.

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Everyone relies on subjects within these schools; there will not be a person in the United Kingdom who has not enjoyed a book, play, film or poem, voted in an election, questioned their place in the world, or gone to school. All of these are made possible through humanities, social sciences, education and social work. These subjects enrich our world, and are valued by many, so how did we arrive at the place we are now: where non-STEM subjects are expendable, underfunded, and devalued?

Since the 1990s, STEM subjects have been rightly promoted but to the detriment of non-STEM subjects. This decision is part of the marketization of higher education and a push towards “efficiency”, profit maximisation and wage increases for management in the sector. Subjects are now assessed in terms of economic contribution, either to society, or to universities.

Value has become equated to “usefulness” and economic output, rather than recognising

CURRENT AFFAIRS Words by Milli Crouch the inherent value of a subject in itself. There is a society wide disparaging attitude towards subjects deemed as less useful, but use is by no means the sole metric of value. Should we not be incorporating happiness, beauty, creativity, and innovation into our measurements of value?

These harmful and dismissive attitudes are perpetuated by UK government policies and messages: from Fatima the ballerina being told she could retrain to work in cyber to English education secretaries implying Humanities subjects are less useful and provide fewer opportunities than STEM subjects. This is particularly disappointing, as the large majority of politicians and Prime Ministers are Humanities or Social Sciences graduates (Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel are notable exceptions).

These attitudes trickle down from political rulers, and make their way into the minds of our fellow peers. There have been plenty of comments suggesting an “educational pecking order” of subjects,

Should we not be incorporating happiness, beauty, creativity, and innovation into our measurements of value?

or justifying the constant and consistent underfunding of nonSTEM subjects. Is it any wonder that when universities come under financial pressure, the first subjects that face module, staff, and programme cuts are Humanities and Social Sciences, when these are the attitudes disseminated by our government, echoed by students and reinforced by a capitalist focus on economic output as the be-all and end-all of humanity?

It doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, this way. Universities are centres of thought, discussion and debate. They are

not assembly lines to turn out thousands of corporate-ready clones who will sit at their desks and submit to the status quo. We need graduates who can think critically, are ready to innovate and push boundaries, and drive our society forward.

Thankfully, we have plenty of strong-minded and outspoken students who are voicing their concerns. The student reaction to the merger proposals has been strong, with protest groups and campaigns springing up all over the university. This has been wonderful to see, especially in a world of constant Zoom meetings (other video platforms are available!).

So, although we may be tired of defending our life choices, our interests, and our careers, we are not giving up. In fact, our community of educators, activists, writers, creators, critical-thinkers, researchers, lawyers, linguists, contemplators, and debaters is just preparing itself for a life-long fight against the devaluation of our beloved subjects.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Design by Norbert Lawniczak, Words by Tara Jones

MERGING SCHOOLS, FORGING DIVIDES As part of the Academic Excellence and Structure proposals, the University Executive Group (UEG) have proposed to merge three academic Schools: The School of Education and Social Work, the School of Humanities, and the School of Social Sciences. These proposals were supposedly created in order to address the deficit of the University.

However, there is no evidence to suggest that these plans will do so, as no cost/benefit analysis has been provided.

The consultation with staff, students, and community stakeholders on the merger proposals has been inadequate at best. Importantly, students were primarily made aware of these proposals through the popular social media confession page, ‘Dunfess’, on 24 November 2020.

This only evidences the UEG’s lack of commitment to communicating with students. Two weeks later on 7 December 2020, the first official statement to students arrived through

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email. This email emphasised that the implementation of the merger would “not directly impact current students’’.

Yet, there has been no impact assessment conducted that would support this statement and given that the intention of these proposals is to potentially reduce staff numbers, this is unlikely to be true.

In reality, with this merger comes threats of compulsory redundancies, a reduction of undergraduate degree pathways, and continued financial uncertainty. Thus, calls for the university to reassess these proposals, and consider the full impact that they will have on the university, its students and staff, and also the wider community of Dundee have been made. To do this, all of the relevant actors must be involved in a meaningful consultation about the proposals. Given the current situation with coronavirus, it is clear that this discussion cannot be facilitated at the moment, as students and staff are already overburdened and

overworked with the implications of ‘blended’ learning and the pandemic as a whole.

The University centres itself around its core values of working together, integrity, valuing people, making a difference, and excellence. However, these are not being observed in the UEG’s attempt to undermine entire academic Schools and individual disciplines. This has created a conflict between some of the students who are opposed to the merger and the UEG, who appear to be out of touch, unrepresentative of student interests, and most crucially, unappreciative of the equal value of each of the academic Schools and disciplines.

Nonetheless, while the divide between the UEG and the rest of the university may be growing, the university community is proving to be stronger and more united than ever.

We must continue to stand together and fight this merger, along with the injustices which accompany it.

CURRENT AFFAIRS Design by Liam Palermo, Words by Karl Maclean

Unpaid Internships: Pay to Win? To many school leavers, going to university might seem like an exciting way to earn success and a big pay-check.

But when a Sutton Trust report found that 79% of law and 86% of arts internships were unpaid, it became clear that the only way to succeed in this capitalist society is to already have plenty of cash in the bank.

Internships have been around for a long time, replacing ‘entry-level’ jobs or apprenticeships. The reason behind this replacement is glaringly obvious –extract the most labour from the worker for as little wages as possible. If they can legally work you full-time with zero pay, even better. This is where the marketing teams earn their paychecks; they make unpaid internships sound appealing to university graduates.

A highly successful angle has been the snake charm of a guaranteed job at the end of the 6 or 12 months. Or the equally compelling ‘fast-track’ to success. This façade puts working class students at a disadvantage to their middleclass peers. How is a person expected to thrive in a career if they do not already have the funds to survive it?

Unpaid internships allow wealthy students to use their

family’s money to gain these positions. Even if a workingclass student accepted one of these roles, they would need a second job to survive, and the reader should be aware of the damaging effects working multiple jobs can have on a person’s mental health. If you are not aware, ‘Politics of the mind: Marxism and Mental Distress’ by Iain Ferguson is your homework this month.

How then, do we level the playing field? For all its talk of a meritocracy, capitalism has shown itself to be the major contributing factor for the use of unpaid internships. A government that puts people before profit and allows individuals to flourish in a career they choose is the clear way forward for a fairer society.

Governments must remove unpaid internships and replace them with apprenticeships or ‘entry-level’ jobs with a guaranteed wage that does not cater to the privileged few who can afford it. In 2014, only 50% of university graduates found a job related to their degree. The current system is deliberately stifling the potential of working-class students.

This must and will change, but only when we unite and strive forward for a more equal world.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Design by Liam Palermo

Hi, my name’s Jazmine, my pronouns are she/they and I’m organising the rent strike at the University of Dundee. Dundee is actually one of the ten universities that is facing staff redundancies due to COVID, as well as cuts to many degree pathways. We’re currently facing what’s called Academic Excellence Structure proposals that are being put forward to solve the university’s financial deficit, but I can tell you that these proposals are far from excellent.

They are proposing to merge three academic schools which will result in 34 compulsory full-time redundancies and they are also cutting other schools such as the School of Medicine which is making staff really scared that they’ll lose their place as the number one medical school in the UK. And the way that they are so bold to propose

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these changes to courses, when the deficit is caused by the inefficiency of management and not by the way the academic schools are run, really has shown everyone at Dundee that senior management really does not value the quality of our education, or care about student wellbeing.

And this financial deficit is not caused by the staff who will be made redundant, it is because of the inefficiencies of a marketized university run by white men who do their jobs for their inflated salaries. And it is this same structure that has failed our students who were told that it was safe and necessary to move into halls in October.

Students across the country, including those in Dundee, are being forced to pay for rooms that they are not legally allowed to return to. When students in Dundee were in halls, the support offered by the university, for

CURRENT AFFAIRS Words by J.J. Bennett

those struggling with mental health issues and for those isolating, was practically non-existent.

This is why I decided to organise a strike, as it was clear to me that my university was going to continue to say they cared while really doing very little to help students. Rent strikes are such a good way to put pressure on university management as well as the government since this is a national movement. And the national coordination that has just been set up, and which I’m now a part of, is going to be so vital to our successes.

If you are staying in halls, and you want to get involved, please get in touch with your local rent strike to join in, if no one at your university has set up a strike yet, I urge you to do so, and if you’re running a local rent strike that’s

not yet part of the national coordination, please do get in touch via the Rent Strike Now Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter pages.

Even if you’re not in halls and you want to support, get in contact with your local strikes because I can guarantee that there are so many ways to help. We do rely on support and solidarity from the wider university community as well as others in society to support students in halls who’ve been neglected and exploited throughout this pandemic. Thank you so much for listening to me and solidarity with you all.

This is a reprint of a speech given at the National Rent Strike Rally earlier this year.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Design by Adam Valentine

Market Stalinism in the University Universities have long been an esteemed and privileged place for the formation and preservation of the collective knowledge of a society, and because of this, external interference from larger forces in society has always been seen as a violation of freedom.

Jacques Derrida calls this position that the university occupies the ‘university without condition’ which has “the right to say publicly all that is required by research, knowledge and thought concerning the truth” and ultimately for this purpose it must essentially be a place of critical resistance “to all the powers of dogmatic and unjust appropriation”. However, this idea of a ‘university without condition’ relies on the strength of its community, built on the constant encounters and exchanges between those within these institutions, both on and off campus, and constitute friendship groups, study groups, clubs, societies, activists, etc. The relationships and solidarity within this community built up by students and their lecturers is a core strength upon which the university without condition relies on and would not survive without.

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Unfortunately, the pandemic has been an unprecedented external force that has stifled this community, and while we as students have gratitude towards our lecturers for having to adapt to the wholesale move of classes to online formats, and to our fellow students who have kept societies, clubs, journals, media and other student-led activities running, the lack of access to others in our university community in the last year has felt like a loss. With the success of multiple vaccine developments, and their rollout in the UK, there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel, meaning next year students and lecturers will hopefully return to public spaces, from the lecture theatre to the pub, the sports field to the gallery, and once again the ideas, relationships and friendships that form the base of university communities can thrive.

— a UCU report from 2016 found that lecturers are working an average of two days unpaid every week.

— it is a form of commodity fetishism that is tearing out the educational core of the university and replacing it with facades of idealised symbols that reconfigure universities for the production of private wealth.

But even when the threat of a deadly virus is withering away, there will remain the threat of the external forces of markets. This has been an increasing problem since the emergence of neoliberalism four decades ago where public services such as universities, as well as schools, hospitals and even local government have been increasingly opened up to the relentless battery of market forces. While this is most notable in the university with the introduction of tuition fees and the replacement of grants with loans for students, and the casualisation of labour, wage stagnation and pension reform for lecturers, the root of this neoliberal dogmatism is buried deep in the banality of bureaucracy.

In capitalist production the primary goal is to maximise productivity. This means that processes of labour need to be quantifiable for assessment and measurement to ensure that the labour is productive. But because the work done in public services are inherently resistant to quantification, the marketisation process within public services such as the university has meant that introducing the language of commodification into

CURRENT AFFAIRS Words by Rufus Hodge these public services must be accompanied with new models of bureaucracy to enforce quantifiable units of labour such as ‘aims and objectives’, ‘outcomes’, and ‘mission statements’ which become the foundation for disciplinary regimes of work. This becomes detrimental for two reasons. The first goes without saying, that the workload burden of such regimes fall on lecturers, who are expected to self-regulate their own courses for the benefit of management, is exploitative and has led to both increased intensity and quantity of work; for instance, a UCU report from 2016 found that lecturers are working an average of two days unpaid every week.

The second reason is that what happens with the quantification of unquantifiable work is that the work becomes geared not to the actual processes of the work, but

instead to the best presentation of representations of the work. This valuing of symbolic achievement over actual achievement, the distortion of the university from the purpose of actual learning to a system that produces merely symbolic quantifiable achievements is what Mark Fisher calls ‘market Stalinism’ and it is a form of commodity fetishism that is tearing out the educational core of the university and replacing it with facades of idealised symbols that reconfigure universities for the production of private wealth.

‘student experience’, mere distant abstractions from what is actually happening in the rich and diverse experiences in each student’s lives.

As Mark Fisher writes, in capitalism, ‘all that is solid melts into PR’. But for those of us who know the value of what is solid know the value of solidarity in a community, and that despite everything, the university community will prevail as long as there are those who fight for it.

Students themselves become a measurement too. Our experiences, ideas, relationships, and friendships that are the heart of each university community are being reified through the language of commodification, to be compared on university league tables through rates of ‘graduate employment’, ‘student satisfaction’,

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Design by Zhaneta Zhekova

THE BIRTH OF R*P* CULTURE AND

ITS MODERN-DAY ACCEPTANCE

TRIGGER WARNING The lack of authoritative support and accountability in violent and sexual crimes creates the phenomenon of victimization. This throws the victims and suffers into a state of fear and anger, creating psychological, physical, and sometimes even financial strain. Consequently, the act of victimization and rape culture go hand in hand. This is due to the sociological concept of rape culture itself; a term that was popularized by second-wave feminists in the United States during the 1970s. This cultural phenomenon articulates victimization as within rape culture, sexual violence against women and men is accepted and justified. The author would like to acknowledge and support a major commentary put forward by critics of the concept, declaring that “the idea of rape culture can imply that the rapist is not at fault but rather the society that enables rape”. It is in the author’s belief that rape culture and sexual crimes are a result of psychological and environmental factors such as child sexual abuse which leads to mirroring of those experiences later in life. Or repeated repudiation from

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desired partners which may lead to weaponization of rape to humiliate, dominate and even experience gratification from intentionally maltreating their victims. When expressing those notions in an accepting environment with the likes of social forms and friendship groups, rebuking may not occur which results in further exploration of those thoughts and feelings. This in turn will lead to the “new normal thought” where the premeditation or instinctual act of the sexual violence may occur. However, for the purpose of this article, the author will discuss rape culture and its permissive societal occurrence with high profile individuals, specifically governmental figures.

Sociologists, researchers, and academics have introduced and established the term in the scholarly landscape, and by the mid-1970s, the phrase began to be used widely in multiple forms of media. Yet the efforts of raising awareness in the 1970s and 1980s by activists and victims in regard to educating the public about rape, its myths, and the prevalence of it, have gone in vain. There is still a societal disconnect. This is due to disorderly media coverage that highlights rape myths:

“RAPE IS A SEXUAL ACT THAT RESULTS FROM SEXUAL URGES” “FALSE REPORTS OF RAPE ARE FREQUENT” “THE WAY A WOMAN DRESSES AFFECTS THE LIKELIHOOD THAT SHE WILL BE RAPED” “MEN CANNOT BE RAPED” These myths have harmed the movement, the message behind it and have elevated the acts of victimization. Wherefore, normalising and encouraging the act of rape, sexual assault and harassment whilst ensuing perpetrator support and victim blaming. A first long-time US study, conducted in 2018, has displayed that media has a significant influence on rape culture as it was found that a higher

CURRENT AFFAIRS Words by Luiza Stoenescu

number of rapes occurred within the regions where sexual violence and crime themed articles were published.

This study demonstrates that victim blaming and sympathizing with the perpetrator by the writers or information provided to sway the audience results in the normalization of sexual crimes, and the belief that the victim should improve their behaviour rather than improving the behaviour of the rapists/potential rapists. Regrettably, the study has also concluded that in the specific regions researched, the police were unlikely to follow up the reports or have conducted a poor investigation.

Modern day acceptance of rape culture in current affairs regarding prominent and bureaucratic figures have been panned throughout media over the decades. Sexual misconduct at work and gender-based violence in politics and other professions has become the new ordinary for media reporting and headlines, with the #METOO movement taking off in 2006 and remerged in 2017. However, no real repercussions have developed – trials have been conducted and reputations have been tarnished. Indeed, a few trials have managed to bring some peace and relish to victims, for instance, a former French government minister, George Tron, has been found guilty and jailed for raping an employee between 2007 and 2010. Nevertheless, the Tron trial took 10 years of legal battles to conclude, and the

perpetrator received only 5 years in jail, with 2 years of suspension. Such verdicts, or lack of verdicts, thereby promote that having political influence and authority plays a fundamental part in the guilty or innocent belief that the jury, judge and public audience may take on. This is due to victim blaming, slut shaming, accusations that are perceived as a desire for vengeance or even public attention whilst the committer may be granted sympathy from the media and police, which in turn can influence public opinion and sway court judgement. Additionally, politicians all over the world have been continuously known to dodge trials and accusations with no further backlash, despite numerous victims coming forward.

Media has been notorious for twisting the words of victims and granting free passes to the perpetrators due to their high role in government. For instance, former President Donald Trump has managed to avoid trial until 2020 despite the countless allegations and evidence put forward over the decades.

During the 1990s divorce settlements, Ivana Trump has described a sexual encounter with her ex-husband as rape; however, over the years due to media coverage and accusations of inquiring fame, she has softened the language used when talking about her experience. Regardless of her claims and multiple accusations of groping, forceful kissing and inviting models to his hotel rooms, no cases have stuck,

and Trump was still voted into office as the President of the United States.

With Trump’s arrival in the White House, by 2019, 90 state lawmakers have been accused of sexual misconduct since 2017, where a majority of these politicians were simply removed from office or have had charges completely clear. This is another example where rape culture is evident in politics with little regard to the victims and their suffering. Their experiences are disregarded and villainised by the public with the help of the media.

Rape culture has momentous and detrimental effects on those who had to go through this ordeal. Victims have re-learn their way of life, and cope with the fear of random acts of oppressive sexual violence whilst dealing with the psychological trauma of the specific event. Male victims have to be confronted with the ideology that men do not experience rape or other sexual crimes, the disbelief of their family and peer group and the notion that they were “not strong enough” to fight the committer. This is due to the social concept of what masculinity is perceived as, with male victims losing societal respect. It has often been noted that the only justification of rape towards men is prison rape; nonetheless, society and media still portray the act of rape and sexual assault towards men with a notion of dismissal and reject.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Design by Zhaneta Zhekova

Both men and women have been reported to express the incidents of rape and other sexual crimes with negative effects of suicidal thoughts, depressive and anxious episodes, feelings of worthlessness and sexual dysfunction. These intense and draining emotions are heightened when the victim decides to openly report the perpetrator, and the chances of a relapse are greater. During an investigation in an unnamed Member of Parliament in the Australian government, one of the victims who was raped in 1998 at the age of 16, ended up committing suicide as the New South Wales state police have decided to close the investigation due to “lack of evidence”. The author is aware that the unjust suicide may not be a direct effect of the rape; however, in 1996, a study found that sexual assault is associated with an increased lifetime of attempted suicide.

“

OO

On top of that, in 2004, another study conducted on the correlation of child sexual abuse and suicide has found that sexual victimization during childhood and adolescence does in fact result in an increased risk of suicidal behaviour.

Hence, there may be a correlation between a history of sexual trauma and suicidal behaviour and attempts.

Although, efforts have been made to ensure protection and support to the victims, such as providing a safe space for confession, anonymity when reporting, and policies updates, the author shares a notion of eternal despair towards rape culture. The act itself of rape or other sexual crimes are illegal and sanctions are promised. However, this societal construct of women deserving to be raped due to the clothes that they wearing, if alcohol was involved or if the victim sent mix messages alongside the dismissal and rejection of testimonies coming from male victims due to ‘lacking’ masculinity, establishes a bitter taste when looking at the current makeup of our political climate. The fact that politicians and other governmental ministers face no significant sanctions as they govern our nations and create policies regarding sexual misconduct at work and labelling the act of rape as a statutory crime, leaves the author questioning the legitimacy of government when regarding the safety of its population. Such acerbic actions grant the impression that politicians turn a blind eye towards the act of rape and this sociological concept of rape culture in order to gain further political power and influence. The trivialization of sexual crimes ensures that the reputation of certain politicians is not tarnished; thus, the party image is not impacted either.

This constitutes a notion of uncertainty as the author commences to wonder how far and high does the power play regarding rape culture and the meaning behind it go within the national and international governments?

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Words by Luiza Stoenescu

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FASHION Design by Kirsty Meek

THE BATTLE OF THE BRA It is no secret that over lockdown people have been trading in their “going out” clothes for a more comfortable style: joggers and a t-shirt, and most importantly, no bra. The lounge style is in. People have left their tight bands in the dark corners of their wardrobe for months and working from home means that it is finally acceptable to go braless in the workplace. There is hope in the air that choosing to wear no bra in public, and in the workplace, will be “socially acceptable” now that lockdown has made so many unused to the feel of a bra.

immediately excluded from the privilege of being socially accepted for not wearing a bra. The second issue is the misogynistic branding by publications such as the Daily Mail, calling women who make the decision not to wear a bra as “revealing”, “racy” and “leaving little to the imagination,” immediately objectifying their bodies. Faced with this backlash, it is no wonder some women find it uncomfortable leaving the house without the discomfort of a bra. However, with many people embracing sartorial freedom, we can already see a social shift toward normalising feminine bodies without bras in daily life.

Traditionally going braless had very specific connotations of provocation and protest. In the 1960s, women’s liberation movement spurred protests and bra burning on the streets, breaking the status quo of confining a woman’s shape to patriarchal standards created by male lead fashion houses and magazines. The cultural movement continued through the 70s and 80s with many celebrities and activists, such as Gloria Steinem, Debbie Harry and Jerry Hall, making appearances without bras.

Into the 90s celebrities, such as Kate Moss, and TV characters, like the ubiquitous Rachel from Friends, made going braless the go to fashion statement.

Yet, ironically, I sit here typing this while wearing a bra.

I had not previously touched one since October. The weather has improved, and I took the opportunity to wear one of my favourite tops instead of a warm, cosy jumper.

I’m not going anywhere (we are in a lockdown and I have this to write) so there is no social anxiety telling me the shape of my breasts had to be hidden, but I felt that, without a bra, I did not have the right structured silhouette to pull the look off. Which brings me to the other end of the spectrum to the no bra movement, the notorious silhouette shaping garment that is back in the headlines: the corset.

And there lies one of the first issues with society’s barrier to accepting going sans bra: breasts are not a fashion statement. However, their level of acceptability in public are tied to how they look; perky with small pointed nipples (a.k.a. “fashion tits”). This means that anyone’s breasts that do not fit this narrow societal margin, are

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The historical garment of corsets, or stays, is heavily politicised. Seen as a restrictive symbol of the patriarchy at best and a torture device at its worst, it’s surprising that the corset has made a resurgence in the era of #freethenipple and going braless. So, why have they been given a new spotlight? Thanks to Bridgerton, a regency era Netflix series released on Christmas Day 2020, and its wild

FASHION Words by Thomasin Collins

success, the simplicity of Cottagecore has been dwarfed by the decorative style of Regencycore. Identified by pearls, feathers, soft pastels and corsets, the trend has been rolling off the online shelves in 2021. Bodices in particular have been gaining traction. Yet, the one great difference between the 21st century trend and the historical garment is aesthetics: Regencycore was popularised for its style, but the historical corsets had a function.

First and foremost, corsets were practical: they provided back support for those with larger breasts, and hip support for the layers of petticoats and skirts. The public perception, perpetuated by TV and film, that sees corsets as cages for women, with montage after montage of tight lacing, are simply not accurate depictions of history. Tight lacing was a fairly uncommon practice for most women as it is entirely aesthetic and impractical, and of course, uncomfortable. It was this rarity of the practice that led it to be voraciously written about because, shock factor sells.

misconceptions that the 20th century girdles and bras replaced the corset (which were later burned in the ‘freedom trash cans’). Looking at skeletons, there is little evidence to support the 19th century doctors’ claims. If anything, a form of corset (a brace) is still used in medicine to support the spine and correct spinal conditions today.

In 2021, the “corsets” that are quickly going out of stock are made for looks and not as an historical alternative to the bra. In western culture, corsets are still used in Haute Couture to create a form and shape for fashion, but very few use the garment for its original purposes: structure and support. Maybe it is fitting then, that at the same time we are pushing for making bralessness socially acceptable, we are embracing the corset, a symbol of the female body and agency and women’s power in the fashion industry. People with breasts should have the right to choose what to wear (or what not to wear) beneath their clothes.

And those rumours of dislodged internal organs and rib removal? All made up. Fashion in the 19th century was run by women for women, and when the suffrage movement was taking hold, men targeted it. An industry and form of expression that was under the control of women was belittled as frivolous and vain in cartoons and newspapers, creating stories of how far women would go for a slim waist. Then, doctors took it one step further, publishing medical “evidence” of the physical deformities in women caused by the dreaded corset. It is with these derisive

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FASHION Design by Izabella Jaruszewska

SPRING/SUMMER 2021 TRENDS

Rediscover The Joy Of Getting Dressed And Find Confidence in Your Wardrobe This Season

‘Fashion is the armour to survive the reality of everyday life’, said fashion photographer Bill Cunningham.

Currently our realities couldn’t be harder, yet whether we’re slumped at our desks or dancing around our dining rooms, fashion has been the ultimate saviour. It’s power to shift a mood, provide comfort and most importantly give us confidence in something unparalleled.

As we come out of winter and into spring, warmer days with less layers are much anticipated and with this comes a season of new trends and collections to report on.

In the autumn of last year, everyone from Alessandro Michele at Gucci to Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen were faced with the task of showcasing their SS21 collections in the midst of the pandemic.

Across the 4 fashion capitals each fashion week took a varied approach.

New York and London opted for predominantly digital showcases with some designers hosting covid-secure presentations.

Milan and Paris held showings with strict social distancing for some of their biggest brands whilst other brands opted for something avant-garde such as showing off-schedule or showcasing in virtual reality, most of which captured the hearts and closets of fashion lovers.

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This seasons collections act as a reflection on 2020 and the year of epic disruption that we have endured.

Inspiration from at home living and our new found individuality as a result has come through in this years showcases. Active wear in all shapes and sizes has made its way into many of this seasons collections and a spirit of hope and optimism has been breathed into designs with bright colour blocking, feel good prints and sequins.

Spring / summer 2021 will be a chance for us to rediscover the joy of getting dressed and the ultimate opportunity to make confident and bold choices about what we wear.

As a new writer for The Magdalen, I hope to bring you some of this season’s most anticipated trends that may provide some inspiration to style up that summer dress stuffed in the back of your wardrobe. It might not seem it now, but we are headed for warmer and more stylish times, and I for one, cannot wait.

Trend 1 - Bralettes Are Back

FASHION Words by Georgia Bayne

First up is bralettes, which are truly making a comeback this season. As something that may not be new to the gym-goers amongst us, bralettes and sports bras have been all over the cat walks this season. From boho embroidered bralettes at Dior to sports bras and blazers at Celine, the not-so-beloved bra has been reborn.

This trend reflects the aura of self confidence, comfort and convenience that fashion has provided us during lockdown. Styling our loungewear with more elevated pieces has now become the latest fashion hack in order to disguise our bed heads.

So this is well and truly an opportunity to embrace your femininity and style up your most comfortable sports bra with your favourite blazer.

Trend 2 - Comfort Is Key With practically everyone resorting to comfort during the pandemic, it’s clearly something many designers couldn’t let go of. From Prada to McQueen we have seen loungewear integrated with dresses for a more casual look. So if you’re dreading being back in a dress, throw on your favourite hoodie because you’ll be bang on trend. Celine also brought home the message of ultimate comfort and practicality, presenting their show on an athletics track. From dresses worn with hoodies to bomber jackets and floaty florals, Celine are providing the ultimate inspiration for transitioning out of lockdown attire.

Trend 3 - So Many Sequins The catwalks looked hopeful that sequins are here to stay for spring / summer 2021.

Does this mean we can soon dance under our favourite disco ball… who knows? But Gucci’s star studded line up of models, including Harry Styles and Billie Eilish, showed off some incredible printed sequin trousers alongside sparkling cropped blazers which you can definitely take inspiration from for your next living room disco. Whilst Louis Vuitton put sequins on sports vests (because why not), Loewe provided the ultimate knotted sequin dresses perfect for those evening plans we’ll soon be putting in our diaries. Meanwhile don the sparkle for your living room disco or pair them with a hoodie and some trainers for a more casual look.

Trend 4 - Bold Is Best If you love bold prints, rainbows and bright colours this trend is for you. All of the above are out in full force this season as designers bring a symbol of hope and optimism to the coming spring and boy do we need it. At Halpern we saw bold prints paired with bright colours modelled by key workers for their SS21 showcase. From bright checks and polka dots, to feather trimmed silks, the Halpern show emulates a sense of bold confidence which might even encourage you to pull out your brightest boldest pieces come springtime.

At Stella McCartney, tie dye denim and rainbow knits reflected lockdown trends and Versace brought us an array of mood-boosting stripes, bringing home that bold really is best.

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INTERNATIONAL Design by Zoe Arlidge-Lyon, Words by Raye Ward

SIZE ISN’T EVERYTHING The top three superpowers in the world are considered to be the USA, Russia, and China. This is based predominantly on economic influence and military power. These countries are also three of the four largest countries in the world by area, and three of the nine largest countries by population. But what about the quality of life in these countries? Health, education, employment rates, contentment? China and Russia score low on the Quality of Life Index, in 65th and 67th position, while the USA is ranked as 15th in the quality of life index. Now, of course, many countries, both large and small, have been subject to exploitation of all kinds, and many still are. Historically this has cost them the sanctity of their own culture and disadvantaged them in a global system of Western values. But speculatively, where do the real advantages lay for a successful country? Because economic and military power certainly don’t seem to make for happier populations. We can change this.

Smaller countries tend to be more unified and less corrupt, with leaders who are less remote from the people.

In Europe specifically, it has been noted by the Mises Institute that smaller countries are both wealthier and

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healthier, with a higher quality of life.

In fact, many of the highest-ranking countries in the Quality of Life Index have fewer than 10 million residents, with a few exceptions (Germany and the Netherlands).

A prominent example of ‘bigger isn’t better’ is, of course, New Zealand, a country whose reaction to Covid-19 was exceptional, thanks to the leadership of Jacinda Arden. Many of these small but mighty states have another thing in common, female leadership, which could be interpreted as a contribution to their achievement, both in dealing with COVID-19, and in maintaining a high standard of living.

We can learn from them. Look at Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark - all female-led, small, and successful.

Perhaps our global powers could take a leaf from the books of their happier neighbours, and re-evaluate their territorial, monetary, militaristic values, and the illusion of ‘power’.

Whilst we joke about moving to New Zealand, to somewhere we could be living full lives, instead of marking the first anniversary of lockdown, and the thirteenth year of austerity. We need to turn away from imperial ideals. We can emulate the success of these countries and vote for people with their values. We have the power.

INTERNATIONAL Design by Eilidh Smith Words by Sonia Rönkä

Travelling: When and How? Current lockdown restrictions in the UK have banned non-essential travel, both domestically and internationally.

Although lockdowns are important, we find ourselves wondering when we can travel again. When can we go on holiday, or see loved ones, or just get a break? And how can that be made possible?

First, we need the lockdown and travel ban to be lifted.

Different parts of the UK have already introduced roadmaps out of lockdown. In England, restrictions might be lifted to allow travel as early as the 17th of May, while Scotland has not yet commented on travelling. However, Scotland plans to start using the tier-system again by the 26th of April.

If we are allowed to travel in May, what would travel look like? The ISE Asymptomatic COVID-19 Test Facility could be a good way to ensure that returning students do not take the virus with them. When travelling abroad, most countries also require a negative COVID-19 test result from 72 hours before departure. Some countries specifically request a PCR test, which can be acquired privately for a cost. It is likewise required to have a negative test result when returning to the UK (even for UK citizens). And currently, anyone returning to the UK from “red-list” countries must quarantine for 10 days in a hotel and pay for two additional COVID-tests.

However, with the vaccination rollout going smoothly so far, there have been talks about countries allowing vaccinated people to enter without additional testing.

The Greek government is hoping to establish a “vaccine passport” system with the UK allowing tourists to arrive in Greece freely in the summer. Cyprus, and Israel have already agreed to similar arrangements. Furthermore, Sweden and Norway are also working on vaccine passports for the summer, hoping that these certificates could be compatible with other EU countries.

Downing Street has acknowledged the possible need for vaccine certifications or the use of specific airlines to enter other countries. There have been suggestions of adding the passport as a feature on the existing NHS app.

However, the vaccine passports would not be used within the UK. Vaccines Minister Zahawi has pointed out that since the vaccine is not mandatory in the UK, vaccine passports would be discriminatory against those not vaccinated.

Whether we will be allowed to travel in the summer or not, it is important to remember that all these measures are there for our safety.

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INTERNATIONAL Design by Robyn Black

The New-Auld Alliance Brexit has left a sour taste, like a nice French wine being corked.

But is this the end for Scotland’s historic ties to Europe?

This article doesn’t seek to make promises about the future, but if it were to, do you think they would last 700 years? Could they withstand world wars, financial crashes or pandemics? How about Brexit itself? Well frankly, probably not. Yet, this is exactly what the Auld Alliance has done.

Now, for context, what is the Auld Alliance? The Auld Alliance, and it is very ‘auld’, is a promise between France and Scotland to aid each other in the event of an invasion from England, a quickly growing power in 1295. This promise saw strong trade links and diplomatic ties between the two countries and even saw admiration from one of France’s most influential Presidents, Charles De Gaulle, in 1942 where he said: ‘In every combat where […] France was at stake [the] men of Scotland [fought] side by side with the men of France, and what Frenchmen feel…’ he proclaimed, ‘…is that no people has ever been more generous than yours with its friendship.’.

This is a powerful statement, but how could any of this help us now?

According to Dr S. Talbott (2011), this historic union never ended. Trade between both countries has always been sympathetic, and there has been a strong cultural tie with no formal dissolvement of the treaty itself. This is very significant. The Auld Alliance was once a beacon for Franco-Scot unity with active dual nationality, strong university links and even the elite Garde Écossaise who protected the French monarchy until 1830.

In the 2014 Independence Referendum, there were also calls for French officials to oversee the process to vouch for its credibility. Scottish people feel soothed by France, as an ally and as a peacekeeper.

It would be natural to think this also goes both ways.

In 2020, the accredited French newspaper Libération even interviewed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with much haste on what she had to say about Scotland’s future. With Scotland now being severed from the EU 56

INTERNATIONAL Words by Luke Carlin

against its democratic will, perhaps now is time to ask for some of that famous Franco-Scottish kinship?

France isn’t the only country with an interest in Scotland’s re-entry into the EU, the capital of the Friesland region in the Netherlands (Leeuwarden), has permanently replaced the Union Jack with the Scottish Saltire outside its Central Station as a symbol of ‘keeping the lights on for Scotland’, according to its Deputy Mayor Sjoerd Feitsma.

Soon after Britain left the EU, the European Union Commission building in Brussels set up a sign proclaiming Europe’s solidarity with Scotland, again symbolically ‘leaving the lights on’. In 2019, Scotland also announced its Innovation Hub in Paris, seeking to strengthen one of the ‘oldest relationships in the world’ and to ‘promote trade and investment’ despite the ‘challenges of Brexit’.

Is our way back through the Auld Alliance though?

Well, it may be a little more complicated than that.

Some have argued that the pact was dissolved after the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560 which saw the union of England and Scotland. This made the original point of the alliance null and void, which was originally to keep the English military in check. Scotland was also at war with France during the Napoleonic wars, which would have seen any agreements between the two states shredded. Although this may be the case, France

and Scotland’s cultural mélange supersedes all of this. Plus, technically Scotland was never at war with the Napoleonic Empire, Britain was. Would an independent Scotland see the agreement reinstated?

Sadly, the answer is that there are no current plans, according to the Scottish Government. Perhaps it is a better question for another day, but with 21 recent polls in favour of independence, it’s a conversation we might be having sooner rather than later…

Although this alliance is more of a novelty now, and there isn’t a strong case for its reinstatement, our ‘French connection’ might be exactly what we need to find our identity in Europe. Former trade routes and associations show Scotland is primed for the ‘European Embrace’ and it never hurts to befriend one of the politically strongest members in the EU. Scottish people have felt robbed of their freedom of travel and settlement, and Scottish Fishermen have found Brexit to be damaging to their sector, so could France help? Will, or can they offer anything?

The bond between us and France is strong, like sisters. We fight. We make up. We move on… but most importantly we always have each other’s back.

One day soon we might see the age-old question brought up again, will we see the ‘Auld Alliance’ for an encore? It is likely no, but more importantly, will we ever see a ‘New-Auld Alliance’?

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LIFESTYLE Design by Sophie Stuart

Interview with a Lockdown Gamer Being in, what feels like, our 6000th week of lockdown, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stay sane.

To stop ourselves from going completely mad, many of us have turned to baking, crocheting, and (failed) attempts at becoming TikTok famous. However, one of the most popular past-times at the minute is the act of picking up a controller and playing video-games. Our resident Mag lifestyle writer, and part-time gamer, Elan Baird decided to investigate what it is about gaming that is helping people through these tough times by conducting an interview with our lockdown gamer (the experiences of Charley Robertson and Dirk Reynolds).

Elan: So, Lockdown Gamer, we are glad to have you here in the studio today. First things first, what games have you been playing?

Gamer: Where to start… well, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley are a few games I have been playing a lot recently.

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Elan: Have these games helped you through your time in lockdown?

Gamer: Yes, definitely. They have really helped me to cope with the pandemic, acting somewhat as a distraction. Playing these games was a way to keep me sane and prevented me from overthinking things. The characters and small achievements within the games have really brought me a lot of joy and have allowed me to truly get creative. These types of open-ended, but routine-based games have helped me establish a kind of stability and predictability during lockdown.

Elan: That is great to hear that you have found something to pass such boring times, everybody needs a little escapism. Onto my next question. Could you discuss the social aspects of gaming and how it is different from real life, or what do you think about the gaming community?

Gamer: The social aspect of these has honestly been the best part about them. Being able to play and talk to friends remotely over Discord or FaceTime has ended up being one of the only social aspects I have really had during lockdown. I do not know what I would do without it. The online community that comes with these games is what inspires me to go back to them week after week. I have made so many friends through Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok, that I would not have made without our shared love for gaming. Specifically, the Animal Crossing online community is something I have been a part of since I was around 11, so I really love being a part of this community and have always felt welcomed. It is a game that revolves around a lot of pleasant social interaction which is needed in these times. Stardew has what feels like a vibrant in-game community and it is easy to find yourself getting a bit lost in the relationships you build with the townspeople; you cannot help but be fascinated with how each character links to another.

LIFESTYLE Words by Elan Baird, Charley Robertson, and Dirk Reynolds

Elan: That is just wonderful to hear that such a close-knit community exists in such times, especially when so many people need that kind of support.

That leads me to my final question.

Did playing these games affect your mental wellbeing? For better or for worse?

Gamer: These games have heavily influenced my mental well-being; they are probably one of the main things that bring me happiness at the moment. It helped me so much that I have recommended Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley to others who have also been feeling lonely during lockdown. The community surrounding them is very supportive, helpful, and kind. Safe to say, I have made lifelong friends playing these games. I have found them to be comforting as I have played similar games for a long time; they have a warm nostalgia element to them.

With these games in particular, their laid-back style allows me to relax, so I do not get frustrated or stressed about progress. During times like

these, there is no point in getting exasperated over a fantasy world. So overall, yes, it has greatly improved my mental well-being.

“I have found them to be comforting as I have played similar games for a long time; they have a warm nostalgia element to them.”

Elan: Thank you so much for being here today, sadly that is all we have time for. However, I wish everyone all the best in these trying times. Whether it is gaming, cooking, or juggling - I hope that everyone finds something to help them feel motivated and optimistic.

Until next time, goodbye!

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LIFESTYLE Design by Lauren Henderson, Words by Elan Baird

Chinese-Style Sticky Chicken If you love fake-aways as much as us, we guarantee that you will love this amazing Chinese-style Sticky Chicken recipe!

Ingredients •

½ tsp garlic granules

•

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

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1 tsp mirin

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1½ tbsp dark soy sauce

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1½ tbsp runny honey

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A pinch of dried red chilli flakes

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4 boneless chicken thighs, skin removed, halved

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4 spring onions, thinly sliced

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1-2 tsp sesame seeds

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1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve

Method 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

Put the garlic granules, sesame oil, mirin, soy sauce, honey and chilli flakes in a resealable food bag and shake well.

Add the chicken thigh halves and mix to coat – you can do this by holding the outside of the bag and squishing them around.

Tip out onto a small baking tray, pouring over all the marinade.

Then bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.

Toss the cooked chicken in any remaining sauce from the tray and transfer to a serving plate.

Sprinkle with the spring onions and sesame seeds and serve with the lime wedges.

Enjoy!

LIFESTYLE Design by Cait Maxwell, Words by David Smith

I’ve never been much of a porridge guy. I have always thought that oats tasted of wood and would do nothing for me, but boy was I wrong. Over the past few months or so, every third Instagram story I saw was of people raving about ‘baked oats’ and how healthy they were and, being on a bit of a health-kick myself, I thought I may as well give ‘em a try. Since trying I have just one thing to say- Game Changer. It’s genuinely like having cake for breakfast, and the opportunities to experiment with the recipe are endless! Since I’ve become a selfproclaimed baked oats connoisseur, I thought I’d share my recipe with you Mag readers.

Method: 1.

Preheat your oven to 210C/190C Fan/Gas mark 6

2.

If blending - blend your oats together with your cocoa/hot chocolate powder and baking powder for around 10 seconds until the oats have become powdery.

3.

In a bowl, mix your blended powder with your sugar and milk. You may also add flavour drops here. Once mixed nicely together, pour into a small ovenproof dish.

4.

Here’s the fun part- Add in any chocolates or fruit of your liking. I’ve tried adding things such as kinder Buenos, chocolate orange segments, oreos, and my personal favourite, mint aero bubbles!

5.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

6.

Take out and enjoy (sometimes I drizzle melted peanut butter over the top which is also amazing!).

Ingredients: •

45g Oats (I like to blend them but it’s optional!)

•

5g Cocoa/hot chocolate powder (optional)

•

1tsp Baking Powder

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1tsp Sugar or Sweetener

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100ml Milk (any kind)

•

Flavour drops (optional)

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OPINIONS Design by Norbert Lawniczak

WILL THE GAMESTOP FRENZY CHANGE THE FUTURE OF INVESTMENT? As the GameStop investment chaos was happening, many news outlets were reporting the negative implications. Yet, I believe that the GameStop investments could introduce big changes.

GameStop is a US video game retailer whose position was not looking good. The retailer lost much of its market share due to online trading, leading the stock to plummet from $56 in 2013 to around $5 in 2019, and the company was set to close 450 shops this year. Big hedge fund companies were waiting to cash in on GameStop’s misery by shorting its share price. This is a bet that an asset, including shares, will decline in price generating these hedge funds huge

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profits, they can also lose a lot of money if the share price does not fall.

But, with GameStop, through the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets, an investment discussion group of more than six million users, decided to group together to buy GameStop shares in order to push the share price up. As a result, this story quickly became an international sensation with other people all over the world joining in, boosting the share price from about $40 to almost $400 within days. The Redditors made quite an impact with their decision, as one hedge fund, Melvin Capital Management, was forced to seek a rescue package.

Now, what I find interesting about this event, is the fact that an online forum has exposed the absurdity of the stock market. It shows that ordinary people can have the knowledge to manipulate the market, which should be celebrated because it means that the stock market could become more diverse as more people from working class backgrounds, for example, decide to make a career of their interest in investing. Instead, however, investors on Wall Street have been complaining about the change in the status quo. This panic has drawn the attention of the US Senate’s Banking Committee who said it would hold a hearing about this issue and the incoming committee chairman Sherrod Brown also sees the entitlement of Wall Street saying “People on Wall Street only care about the rules when they’re the ones getting hurt.”

OPINIONS Words by Emma Sturrock What is unique about the GameStop event is the popularity of social media. Although social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook were around during the 2008 Financial crisis, the popularity was not as high in 2008 compared to this year. Twitter helped to more than double the share price after Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted to his 42 million followers “Gamestonk!”. Again, this has added to the ethical dilemma produced by the r/wallstreetbets, by igniting the debate about ethics and legality of social media users coming together to inflate stock prices. Now, there could be a repeat of GameStop as the Reddit traders shifted their efforts to a struggling cinema chain AMC , whose share price jumped 200 per cent in early trading on Wednesday after multiple social media posts encouraged investors to buy stock.

A hearing from the House Financial Services Committee is upcoming. This hearing will interrogate some of the key players within the GameStop frenzy and other stocks favoured by internet forums with most of the committee’s 53 members set to participate. There are around six people expected to testify at this hearing. Some of these people are Vlad Teney of Robinhood, the popular investment venue which helped the GameStop frenzy, Gabe Plotkin of Melvin Capital, the hedge fund targeted by the Reddit traders and Steve Huffman of Reddit, the home of WallStreetBets forum.

Despite the potential consequences of the GameStop investments, it will not be enough to end online investments. The WallStreetBets forum had a wide age demographic consisting of several generations. This community supports up and coming young traders who are drawn in as they can discuss investment trends with other interested parties.

Technology has also helped with the rise in knowledge within investing. There are YouTube videos teaching you how to diversify a portfolio or how to time a stock buy. The rise in ‘the ordinary person’ investing their spare money will only increase as online investing grows further. Currently, the common ground of young investors is the fact that they buy and sell equities right from their smartphones and they post their gains on online forums for their peers to see, increasing the hype of investing further while decreasing the stereotype that investing is only for the rich. Taking all this information into account, I hope that the future of stock exchange will become more accessible towards ordinary people like you and I.

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OPINIONS Design by Militsa Ruseva

The Dangers of a If businesses were to adopt a ‘no jab, no job’ policy it could verge on possible discrimination, as well as being a breach on our freedom to choose our own actions.

We must not restrict the fundamental principles of our nation by imposing obscene limits on those who refuse the vaccine.

Let us first establish two key points. Firstly, the majority of those in the UK who are offered the vaccine would, and should, with high levels of optimism and enthusiasm, accept this offer. Secondly, those who work within the health and care sector (nurses, doctors, care workers, etc) should have the vaccine as a condition of their employment, and one would hope that many of those involved within this profession would agree. I don’t think this is too unreasonable to assume.

What I refer to in this article is my reluctance and hesitation in support of making vaccinations a compulsory condition for employment in the wider job market. I also think it is worth mentioning that the broad consensus is that the vaccine should not be compulsory anyway. This would only give rise to vaccine conspiracy theories and dis-information.

“ NO JAB, The most crucial reasoning for my reluctance in making the vaccine a requirement for general work is that it could be viewed as a form of discrimination. In this country we already have strict rules on what employers cannot discriminate against; age, sex, relationship status, disabilities, religion are just a selection of these protected characteristics. Why then, would it be appropriate to discriminate upon whether one has a vaccine or not. Even Downing Street has stated that to order people to have the vaccination as a condition on their employment would be “discriminatory”.

I understand that each of us has a responsibility to one another, especially during a pandemic, to act in the best interests of, and to protect, society. This does include getting the vaccine when one is offered, as we keep getting told the vaccine is ‘the way out of the pandemic’.

“

But to encroach on our personal freedom to make our own decisions would be wholly inappropriate with the values that we pride ourselves on in this nation.

NO JAB

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OPINIONS Words by Andrew Elton

NO JOB ”

Policy

As stated above, health and care workers are a special case. But for ordinary jobs – builders, painters, lawyers, etc. – there should be no reason to make employment conditional on getting the vaccine. To do so would take us one step closer to the notion of compulsory vaccines, which is already considered a dangerous path to take, and to the feeling of an authoritarian state.

A ‘no jab, no job’ policy could also disproportionately affect young people who are at the bottom of the priority list to be offered the vaccine. Particularly as we slowly emerge from the pandemic with a broken economy and high levels of unemployment, a policy such as this would devastate young students entering the job market for the first time.

It is also worth considering that if companies do create policies such as this, then there is the chance that it could be quite simply pointless. While it may be legal to make employment conditional on vaccines for new hires, this would not be the case for existing employees as they would already have a contract. Therefore, a possible situation could arise in which the existing employees choose not to have the vaccine, but new hires are forced to thus creating a somewhat unfair workplace.

Alongside it being unfair, it would also somewhat defeat the purpose of such a policy in the first place. Surely companies have to trust both their new hires, and existing employees, to use common sense and have the vaccine, rather than making it compulsory.

Luckily, we live in a society in which both individuals and businesses are free to make their own choices and decisions. Therefore, a ‘no jab, no job’ policy is entirely up to a business itself. Similarly, so is an individual’s choice to have the vaccine. However, I would strongly suggest that it is discriminatory to force someone to have the vaccine as a condition of employment, not to mention immoral. Hopefully, and as one would expect, most of those who are offered the vaccine will take it, and a ‘no jab, no job’ policy would have little effect in reality.

“

a policy such as this would devastate young students entering the job market for the first time.

NO JOB

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SCIENCE + TECH Design by Louise James

The Underlying Biology of Cancer Immunotherapy TW: discusses cancer

In every 100,000 people globally, about 200 are diagnosed with cancer, and roughly half of those died from cancer in 2020. Although these figures may not seem substantial, the WHO estimates that cancer is the second leading cause of mortality, only behind cardiovascular disease. The biggest challenge is treating late-stage cancer, where the tumour has metastasised. Surgery, radiography and chemotherapy usually merely prolong survival. Recent excitement surrounds a group of anti-cancer interventions involving the reinforcement of the immune system against the tumour, known as immunotherapy.

An immune response against cancer cells is a strongly evidenced, long-standing theory. Although most of our immune cells remain in circulation, certain subsets reside within solid tissues and thoroughly patrol these areas. All immune cells have certain proteins on their surfaces known as receptors. These can detect specific “marker” proteins called antigens, which are in turn “presented” on top of molecules called major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules found on the surface of all nucleated cells, leading to the identification of the corresponding cell.

Essentially, an antigen and MHC function a bit like the personal details page and the cover of a passport respectively. While immune receptors are tolerant to the body’s self-antigens, they set off signals when bound by either abnormal-self or excessively displayed normalself antigens, one of which is always present on cancer cells. This leads to an immune response against cancer cells similar to that against a virus. Under the pressure of immune responses, a tumour outgrows by selectively making the less immune-reactive cells divide after a pause in growth. Cancer cells begin showing their antigens less to avoid detection. They also attract particular immune cells, which normally suppress unneeded immune responses, into the tumour site, undermining the tumour-directed immune response. Eventually, the immune system is overwhelmed, and tumour growth proceeds.

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Immunotherapy is advocated as having the most potential for definitive therapy. The specificity of immune receptortumour antigen interactions means, in theory, that only tumour cells are targeted, and any adverse effects on normal tissues are minimal. Immunotherapy might even develop immunological memory of the tumour. The enhanced immune response can produce a particular population of immune cells, called T cells, coated in many receptor molecules for the tumour antigen that can immediately recognise concealed tumour cells. It would also produce a different group of immune cells capable of mass-producing tumour-specific antibody proteins upon activation. Antibodies would then “tag” the tumour cells and alert tumour-killing immune cells to their presence.

“Immunotherapy is advocated as having the most potential for definitive therapy” Consequently, tumour cells from recurrence or relapse, should be more easily spotted and eliminated in principle because the immune system “remembers” them. In practice, most immunotherapies empower the tumourdirected immune response at the expense of off-tumour toxicities. This is because antigens unique to tumours are rare. Over-displayed antigens on tumour cells are often recognised on normal cells by previously activated immune cells, leading to normal-cell damage. Molecular immunotherapies include; cancer vaccines containing specific tumour antigens, the injection of activating immune-cell signalling molecules into the tumour site, and the infusion of a tumour-specific antibody.

The earliest immunotherapy which is still practised to date is bone marrow transplantation. Because bone marrow contains primitive cells that form mature blood cells, including immune cells, the recipient is equipped

SCIENCE + TECH Words by Emre Berk

A typical r ecepto r- antigen/MHC inte a generic immune cell and a generic

An immune r ecep to r

An MHC molecul

with uninhibited, extra immune cells that can mark and kill tumour cells. Contemporary cell-based immunotherapies involve isolating certain immune cells from the blood and culturing them in artificial environments to induce activation. These new, more capable, immune cells are subsequently re-infused into the body, after which they put up a stronger immune response against the tumour. Cell-based immunotherapies are named after the type of cell transferred. In tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) immunotherapy, certain immune cells from the tumour mass are sampled and re-activated.

These readily re-target cancer cells due to previous tumour recognition. TILs re-infused along with an activator signalling molecule frequently produced favourable responses in melanoma patients.

The arguably most effective tumour resistance mechanism is withdrawing MHC molecules from cell surfaces and avoiding recognition altogether, which occurs very commonly in reality. This obstacle can be overcome by the most recent cell-based immunotherapy called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. As the second approved anti-cancer gene therapy, re-infused T cells are genetically modified to encode a particular gene. This gene is the CAR gene, which codes for a receptor protein formed by the fusion of two main distinct components.

The external component is adapted from the tumour

e

The antigen itsel f

An additional signalling molecul A generic immune cell

rac tion betw een t umou r cell.

e A generic

t umou

r cell

antigen-binding part of an antibody. While not very relevant in tumours, antibodies can bind free antigens, such as bacterial poisons dissolved in the blood. The internal component sends various chemical signals. A CAR can thus bind tumour antigens not presented on MHC molecules on those escaping cells and still signal to activate T cells fully. Unfortunately, because of the nature of most tumour antigens, this immunotherapy also accidentally targets normal tissues. Currently, it is effective in blood and lymph cancers but not in solid tumours.

Immunotherapy has opened a myriad of possibilities in treating cancer with minimal adverse effects.

But even its current best standing forms, antibodybased therapy and CAR T-cell therapy need further research to overcome the challenges of adaptive tumour resistance and normal-cell toxicity.

“Immunotherapy has opened a myriad of possibilities in treating cancer with minimal adverse effects. ”

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SCIENCE + TECH Design by Zhaneta Zhekova

The mortuary on City Campus, a two-minute walk from the Union, is essential for many students and researchers who require human bodies - known as cadavers - for their course or field of interest. I’m sure most students are aware that some of their peers are elbow-deep in human remains from time to time, but why is this necessary and why would people choose to donate their bodies to science?

and dental students, they are required for anatomical examinations; for surgeons, they provide training of surgical techniques; and for researchers, they are used in scientific studies.

The University’s mortuary has not always looked as modern as it does now. Vivienne, the Bequeathal Manager, said it ‘makes the old mortuary appear Victorian The use of human bodies in science and medical fields gothic by comparison’. Having worked here for many dates back to ancient Egypt. Galen, an anatomist of Ancient years, Vivienne kindly provided me with facts and gave times, wrote about his findings and was the first to hypothher insight into changes to dissection at Dundee over esise that blood flowed through arteries, rather than air. the years. Since 2014, the University has used Thiel emExaminations of the deceased developed throughout the balmment- a modern technique that allows bodies to be Medieval period, and eventually, in the 12th century, formal preserved in an almost life-like state. Dundee was the teaching was established using cadavers. In the 15th century, first institution in the UK to use this method and remains Leonardo da Vinci created diagrams of his dissections. the only university in Scotland to do so. This makes the experience of our students pretty unique. Vivienne exBy the 17th century, the demand for cadavers was plained that Baroness Sue so high that the number of crimes punishable by hanging was increased to obtain more bodies of criminals. Black, previous Professor Infamous ‘body snatchers’ arose, who dug up buried bodies of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the Unito sell to rapidly growing medical schools in the UK. versity, initiated the moveNow, of course, laws must be adhered to and ethical conment from formalin (an older, less impressive form of tracts signed by those who dissect. The Anatomy Act 1984 embalming) to Thiel after seeing its use at the University and the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 define the reguof Graz, Austria. The mortuary was then refurbished to lations for the use and disposal of human remains. facilitate this new embalming technique.

At the University of Dundee, cadaver dissection has been used since 1889 for various purposes: for science, medical

“ kk

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SCIENCE + TECH Words by Lisa Kilday

‘It’s quite hard to explain to people the benefits of Thiel disThis had me wondering, how do people discover body section’, explained Vivienne. Luckily, I found two fourth-year donation? Had I not been an anatomist myself, I would Forensic Anthropology students, Sebastian and Corrina, only know of organ donation. ‘It’s mainly just word of who summed it up well. Sebastian explained that ‘the bodmouth and people reading about it’, Vivienne explained. ies are flexible, you can pull the tendons and the fingers ‘Sue’s first book contained a chapter on body donation… still move… you can’t do that with formalin’, which leaves that’s really pushed the numbers up of people enquiring bodies stiff. This attracts many applicants to the University, about registration’. including Corrina. When asked if Thiel embalming swayed her University choice, she stated, ‘Oh Deciding to donate your body to science is absolutely. That’s how I chose my course’. I quesa personal and often difficult, decision. tioned the students on how they feel dissection has benefited them, to which Corrina replied, ‘I genuinely Not just for those donating, but for the families having to think being able to dissect a human body is the greatest process this decision after their death. ‘That’s the most learning experience of my life. Not only from an anatomical difficult part, dealing with the relatives at the time of standpoint… but just the experience of it humbles you. It’s their death’, said Vivienne. With the annual funeral sersomething that completely changes you.’ Sebastian agreed vice for donors, the families can hear from students and that ‘[dissection] changes your perspective on everything in staff benefiting from the use of cadavers and who can life… it helps you grow as a person, it brings a lot of new perexpress their appreciation to the families. We can only spectives - ethical ones, understanding of life and death… hope this inspires the families and helps them underit’s a life-changer.’ stand why their loved ones chose to donate.

There have unfortunately been incidents of unprofessionalism and disrespect towards the cadavers during dissection. In 2016, the ‘knots and crosses’ scandal caused outrage in the University and the local community. Interestingly, and to my amazement, Vivienne noted no decline in donations - a testament to the donors’ goodwill. In fact, the University has recently been funded for a further expansion of the mortuary.

The opinions of Vivienne, Sebastian and Corrina have hopefully inspired you to think sincerely about those who have donated their body to our University. Yes, it’s gory and stomach-churning at times, but it’s also deeply sensitive and valued. Thank you to all of our body donors for making our educational experience outstanding.

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SCIENCE + TECH Design by Caitlin McPhee

The Digital Divide and Starlink The Internet has become a cornerstone of the way we live and work in the few decades since it was first made available to the public in 1991. Even more so in the past year, when COVID-19 made it impossible to do many of the things we took for granted. But unfortunately, the same cannot be said for everyone.

According to the 2020 October Global Snapshot Report, there are only 4.66 billion people connected to the internet. That’s 60% of the world’s population of 7.81 billion, meaning a huge amount of people still have no effective access of any sort to the internet. Furthermore, most of the low adoption rates tend to be in developing countries.

As an area with the highest adoption rate, 96%, Northern Europe stands in stark contrast with the lowest adoption rate of 24% in Eastern Africa.

Furthermore, this divide doesn’t exist on its own. Regardless of country, almost every area experiences their own local digital divide. Difference in broadband and mobile internet technologies can be between areas of high and low economic standing and rural areas vs cities. The effects of this divide are severe. 2009 Reports by the Federal Communication Commission Broadband Task Force

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have shown that 70% of teachers assign homework requiring access to the internet at home, with 65% of students reporting that they use the internet to complete their homework.

Termed the Homework Divide, this divide within education carries an unfair disadvantage to many students, stifling growth and the ability to learn. With the massive change to online learning recently, this issue is only on the rise.

The Homework Divide’s underlying effect is one that is very similar in all implications of the digital divide.

People and organizations are being left behind - whether it’s a company that cannot reach potential customers, missed opportunities by individuals looking for work, less opportunities for social connection or even an inability to access content due to lack of accessibility options. Thankfully, this divide, in some cases, has been naturally closing as computing technology has become cheaper and infrastructure has become more developed. Of course, there are still many cases where this divide is still visible, and change is difficult to affect. Socioeconomic inequality and a divide in the knowledge needed to use Internet technology are just some of the problems contributing to the overall divide.

But technology, especially recent developments, have had the potential to have a massive impact in turning things around.

One such technology, Starlink, could finally offer fast connection regardless of local infrastructure availability. Currently, areas with minimal to no infrastructure, such as rural areas, have no real way to improve connection availability and speed unless it becomes economical to improve infrastructure in the area.

Since there is usually no financial incentive to Internet Service Providers, this is not a priority. Sometimes improving connections beyond a certain point is not viable due to geographic locations such as the North Pole, beyond the range of most satellites.

“It’s in these cases where Starlink comes in, a project by Elon Musk’s SpaceX that hopes to provide internet through a grid of low-orbit satellites.”

SCIENCE + TECH Words by Sameer Al Harbi Setting up these satellites is cheaper than digging up miles of land for wires, greatly reducing the infrastructure cost of providing access. This also means that areas with prohibitively high internet costs will have another option that will hopefully be much cheaper and more stable. Currently, Starlink is in beta and available to a limited number of people per area in the northern US, southern Canada, and UK but is continuing expansion globally, with plans to cover most of the populated world by the end of 2021.

Currently available speeds range from

50-150 Mbps (Megabits per second) with latency as low as 20 ms. To put this into context, the average speed in the UK is around 64 Mbps.

There can be little doubt that Starlink appears as the most viable solution to closing the gap of the digital divide.

It cannot magically solve the myriad of economic and human issues that contribute to the divide, but there is no denying its potential as the solution to solving access problems.

So, what now remains? What else can be done to help with closing this divide? A lot, and it’s not only big organizations who can help.

We too can help close this divide.

Help someone like your parents or older relatives learn to use the internet or donate old technology to charities. The Internet has become an inseparable part of the way we live and work. So, ensuring that everyone is on the same level is a vital goal for all of us. Coupled together with new technologies such as Starlink, we could really help make a change.

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SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT Design by Storm Dobson, Words by Tradsoc Society

Dundee University Traditional Music Society

Dundee University Traditional Music Society (Tradsoc) is a fun, vibrant music group open to musicians and singers of all abilities with an interest in traditional and folk music. We mainly play Scottish and Irish music but have also incorporated other traditional styles including Swedish, Spanish and some bluegrass. We always welcome new styles!

We normally have lots of events planned throughout the year, with weekly practices on a Monday night from 8-9pm and pub sessions in the Speedwells bar from 9.30pm- midnight every Tuesday. Every other week we would head to our sponsor pub for a catch up after our Monday night practice!

Other events we would hold were ‘Bring-a-Dish-Night’, quiz nights and playing/attending ceilidhs in Dundee, as well as travelling to St Andrews, Glasgow and even further afield! We also attend concerts and workshops held by various musicians and different traditional music societies.

In 2020 we invited groups from a number of different universities to our Pre-Paddies weekend, a fantastic event which culminated in a massive session in the basement of the Hunter S. Thompson!

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic we haven’t been able to continue in person practices, however we have still been active online! Our Monday night tune learning practices have continued online, with a member of the society teaching a set of tunes each week. We have also had some incredible, world renowned Scottish musicians take workshops on a Monday night and introduce us to some new styles of music! We have continued with our socials online including lunchtime catch up video chats and trad. dance workouts as well as the whole music society’s fortnightly pub quizzes, for which tradsoc has joined and competed in a team for! We have also continued to watch concerts together by having video calls alongside to watch live events such as livestreamed album launches and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival at the start of this year. We have been sharing a “Track a day” on our Instagram stories and have created a playlist of these on Spotify. Tradsoc have even released our own merchandise this year so we can all have a snazzy t-shirt and hoodie for when we can play together again.

Tradsoc are so excited for the day that we can all make music together again, but for now we’ll see you online!

If you would like to keep up to date on what Tradsoc gets up to please follow us on our social media accounts or if you would like to join please send us a message!

Instagram- @dundee_tradsoc Facebook- Dundee University Traditional Music Society

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SOCIETIES OPINIONS Words Design

by Andrew

by AdaElton Ung

Founded in 1967 Dundee University Volleyball Club is best known for being the University’s most sociable club! We had 124 matriculated members in the 2019/20-year, and we pride ourselves on being an extremely multi-national club with 78 nationalities in our club’s history. Our social calendar for 2020/21 certainly looked different, but we still managed to host a brilliant online Burns Night Quiz which brought together current members and alumni from around the world.

It was a fun filled evening with bagpipes played by Kieran, all the way from Canada, and an address to the haggis from our very own coach, Paul. Next year, restrictions willing, we will be glad to host our classic welcome nights, ceilidhs, camping weekends and everything in between – not forgetting our infamous club trip, an amazing weekend away in Europe! This genuine engagement within the club community keeps students coming back and has fostered some brilliant This additional net was a great help because friendships over the years. it allowed us to maximise the number of socially distanced students at sessions and highThe Volleyball Club is also widely known lighted the versatility of this fantastic sport. for being successful on court. In previous A special appreciation also goes out to the years, two teams (one men’s team and one dedicated committee and club members who women’s team) have consistently competed led sessions and organised the equipment. in the British Universities and College Sports This year has been a difficult one for most, (BUCS) with both teams competing in the however we are proud of what we were able top leagues. We also have teams competto achieve this year despite the challenges. ing in the SSS cup, with our men’s team We have furthered our engagement with reaching the final last year! With the general social media, launched a brand-new webclub often having more than 70 members, site; participated in the GiveBlood4Good we also had several mixed district league blood drive; and provided training so that teams and club training which were ideal our members were able to stay active and for beginners and those who preferred to connected to one another. Yet again, despite play recreationally. Last semester, our focus restrictions, we showed that advanced or beshifted more to creating a safe space for ginner, DUVC is the perfect club for anyone students of all abilities to learn and play who wants to make lots of friends, have fun volleyball. As a result, for the first time ever, and keep fit! our regular training sessions took place Join the family by getting in touch with us outdoors by Riverside Pavilion and Campus via our social media (search Dundee UniverTennis Courts! The transition to outdoor play sity Volleyball Club on Facebook, find us on was relatively smooth, partly because of our Instagram at dundee_uni_volleyball or check successful application for an extra portable out our new website www.dundeeuniversioutdoor net through the Scottish Volleyball tyvolleyabllclub.co.uk).

Association Pop up and Play support fund.

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DESIGNERS CHOICE MARIA-ZOI TOULOUPA @portrait_artys

During these uncertain times, please look to the Scottish Government website for up to date news.

www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/