The Oxford Student - Week 1 Trinity 2022

Friday 29th April 2022

TT22, No. 1

www.oxfordstudent.com

The SciTech

Yexuan Zhu’s fascinating facts featuring fantastic fungi.

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Entertainment

Has Rishi Sunak lost his knack? Asks Tom Elliot.

Fantastic beasts, not so fantastic of a film. Will Neill flails the newest installation in Rowling’s franchise

JSAA express concern over UJS open letter to NUS

Image credit: Richard Nias via Creative Commons

by Jason CHAU Associate Editor

T

he organisation of Jewish Students Against Antisemitism (JSAA) at the University of Oxford has recently released a statement disputing the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) open letter to the National Union of Students (NUS) Board of Trustees. The statement has brought forward the necessity to address the recurring issue of antisemitism within the

SU Criticizes University over Imposing ‘Patronizing’

U

niversity authorities have announced a “strictly enforced” crackdown on trashing, in the face of staunch opposition from Oxford SU. Trashing is a tradition in which students finishing exams are sprayed with alcohol, foam, con-

fetti, and other substances by their friends outside the Examination Schools. Many will then proceed to jump in the river to wash it off.

Although trashing has been a staple of Oxford undergraduate celebration for decades, it has

The Official Oxford Guide to Spotting BNOCs

“

Christopher COLLINS Deputy Editor

long been a source of controversy. Opponents of the practice believe that it is recklessly damaging to the environment and that it is a symbol of decadent privilege in a city which struggles with significant inequality. The University web-

site claims that clean-up efforts cost £45,000 per year, or about £3.60 for each of...

Read more on page 3

O

”

Read more on page 3

Oxford Students Protest Government’s Refusal to Ban Conversion Therapy

n April 19th (Tuesday), Oxford Against Conversion Therapy staged a protest at Bonn Square, Central Oxford. The group was formed in response to the Government’s changing position on the banning of conversion therapy.

A diverse range of speakers took to the steps of the Tirah Memorial to speak against the government – these included

We have longheld concerns that the UJS is more preoccupied with supporting and advocating for Israel...than with protecting or advancing Jewish student life or interests.

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Join our Facebook Contributors page, QR Code on page 2...

by Kesaia TOGANIVALU

News Associate

members of the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University, and the Labour Party.

Many speakers chose to speak about the institutional actions they felt were oppressing transgender and...

Read more on page 5

Illustration: Jonas Muschalski

£150 Trashing Penalty

2 | Editorial

The Oxford Student | Friday, 29 April 2022

The

OXFORD STUDENT Editorial 1st Week

TRINITY TERM 2022 EDITORIAL TEAM

issuu.com/theoxfordstudent

EDITORS IN CHIEF Dania Kamal Aryf & Elias Formaggia ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jason Chau

DEPUTY EDITORS Agatha Gutierrez Echenique, Anna Davidson, Chris Collins, Jen Jackson, Madi Hopper, Marietta Kosma, Matt Holland, Yii-Jen Deng

NEWS Dominic Enright, Jessica Kaye, Shivanii Arun, Adi Kesaia Toganivalu, Efan Owen, Eve Thomas, Harrison Gates, Tim Green COMMENT Daniel Kovacs, Shivanii Arun, Tom Elliott, Kylah Jacobs, Harrison Gates, Samuel Kenny PROFILE Elsie Clark, Maya Szaniecki, Ciaron Tobin, Kylah Jacobs, Samuel King

FEATURES Maya Szaniecki, Eve Thomas, Ciaron Tobin, Duoya Li

IDENTITY Anmol Kejriwal, Srishti Kochar PINK Jessica Kaye, Kiki Wrece

ENTERTAINMENT Joe Wald, Kian Moghaddas, Eve Thomas, Duoya Li FOOD & DRINK Lydia Fontes, Oscar Smith, Jasmine Wilkinson GREEN Katie Hulett, Yexuan Zhu

SCITECH Emily Hudson, Yexuan Zhu

SPORT Ayomilekan Adegunwa, Joe Sharp, Dominic Enright, Joe Wald

OXYOU Milo Dennison, Susie Barrows, Jonah Poulard, Adi Kesaia Toganivalu COLUMNISTS Anvee Bhutani, Blane Aitchison, Cicely Hunt, Daniel Harrison, Nadia Awad, Poppy Atkinson Gibson DIRECTORS OF STRATEGY Alex Foster & Andrew Wang

SOCIAL MEDIA & PUBLICITY Eleanor Warrington

L

ike everything else in my life, my unexpected appointment as Editor for this term involved a lot of chaos and drama; For once, I was not actually the cause of it. To say that this is a stark comparison to where I was last year, would be an understatement. If you’ve ever met me or even spoken to me just once, you’ve probably heard me repeat this story at least a hundred times – if you haven’t, then, it goes something like: “In Trinity 2021 I was completely dysfunctional to a point where I’d wake up every morning without even the slightest will to live, had no choice but to eventually rusticate, then feared that I might lose my scholarship and get deported from the UK because of my rustication. To top it off, as I was going through all that, I also found out I that had apparently lived my entire life with undiagnosed Autism, and then went through such a traumatic breakup that would genuinely be capable of putting an Oscar-worthy coming-ofage film to absolute shame.”

Exactly a year onwards, I’ve somehow become the Editorin-Chief of the university’s student newspaper. Yet, more importantly, I am simply just grateful to still be alive. The first print edition of this term is meant to be out on the 29th of April, just before Autism Acceptance Month comes to an end. I genuinely cannot emphasise how much Autism awareness, and acceptance, is radically capable of saving and improving lives.

Throughout those few months which I have taken time off from my studies and learnt to navigate my new diagnosis, I have finally been introduced to the correct type of support that I have been denied for more than 20 years.

Had it not been for that, I am fairly certain that I would never have come close where I am right now.

I owe so much gratitude to the

@theoxfordstudent

many people who have always been here and have kept me alive through their love and compassion.

And I owe so much gratitude to the many new and wonderful people I have had the opportunity to meet throughout my rustication. I have made meaningful relationships that initially began with me merely reaching out, or being reached out to within my capacity as a ‘student journalist.’ Yet, it truly means a lot to me that many people have entrusted me enough to help them tell their stories.

Essentially, I will always stand by the fundamental belief that journalism is about telling our stories, and keeping them alive.

While The Oxford Student may not exactly be Pulitzer-worthy (I mean, look at the sheer number of Oxfesses we get complaining about “Oxford University’s terrible quality of student journalism” ) it has, nevertheless, still brought so much meaning and positive difference into my life and the lives of those around me. That alone, is enough to keep me going each day, and to experience so much joy to work with such a wonderful team.

I cannot express enough admiration and respect for Elias, Jason, and of course – Alex and Andrew, who were the Editors from last term and have been the most supportive and encouraging people I have had the opportunity to work with.

Needless to say, I am very much excited to experience more chaos and drama this Trinity – hopefully with less visits to the ER at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and sans the fear of death or deportation.

In fact, just today, our lay-in plans were nearly thwarted by the uphill battle we have had to face with the SU’s dysfunctional computers, and the fact that Jason, who plays such a crucial role on our team, might not be able to come back to Oxford in time to help out, because his phone got stolen in Barcelona.

While we all laughed and panicked together in the SU, it gave me the much-needed glimpse of a an exciting new term that I think will most definitely not disappoint.

The OxStu may have had its flop era, just as I have had mine – but TT22 is now a time for radical reform, and dare I say, revolution.

Dania Kamal Aryf, Oriel College.

@theoxstu

From the Editors

I

write this first editorial from table 35 at the Swan and Castle, a pub with all the charm of early onset dementia. Fresh off of exams, and having contributed nearly nothing to this first print edition, I’m perfectly placed to write an egregiously indulgent introduction to this week’s paper. Having insofar taken up the role of a deadbeat parent as the paper’s editor this term, I’m incredibly grateful to our wonderful team that has taken on the non-trivial task of producing a print edition for 1st week.

Having interviewed the majority of our team for TT22, I was incredibly excited for the influx of new talent to the paper’s editorial team, whilst also being able to maintain some of the OxStu’s previous players (Alex and Andrew I love you). Now, with degree

bullshit out of the way, I cannot wait to dive headfirst into the highly noble role of a pseudoinfluential student journalist.

The team this term is the most promising I have seen during my time at the OxStu, and it is an absolute pleasure to collaborate and work with each editor that thought the student union paper worthy of their precious time.

This term we have already published an abundance of high quality articles, and this is something I hope to help continue throughout my time as Editor-in-Chief.

I cannot thank Dania and Jason enough, for covering my back as I pursued every Oxford student’s dream of a solid 63. Much love to the entire team, and the the best paper in Oxford. See you in third week x

Elias Formaggia,

The Queen’s College.

(and Andrew and Alex) for being the best editorial team one can ask for. It’s going to be a heck of team, cannot wait to start this with a bang and let’s do this right!

Jason Chau,

B

eing the third editor on the second oldest and the best paper in Ox has been totally unexpected but an absolute joy. We cannot wait to showcase the incredible talent and stories we have this term. Huge thanks to the amazing team we assesmbled, who have went above and beyond to get this first TT paper out! And lots of love to Dania and Elias

St Anthony’s College.

The Oxford Student | Friday 29th April 2022

editor@oxfordstudent.

News | 3

NEWS @TheOxStu

The Oxford Student

oxfordstudent.com

University criticised for imposing £150 trashing fines Christopher Collins News Editor

U

niversity authorities have announced a “strictly enforced” crackdown on trashing, in the face of staunch opposition from Oxford SU. Trashing is a tradition in which students finishing exams are sprayed with alcohol, foam, confetti, and other substances by their friends outside the Examination Schools. Many will then proceed to jump in the river to wash it off.

Although trashing has been a staple of Oxford undergraduate celebration for decades, it has long been a source of controversy.

Opponents of the practice believe that it is recklessly damaging to the environment and that it is a symbol of decadent privilege in a city which struggles with sig-

nificant inequality. The University website claims that clean-up efforts cost £45,000 per year, or about £3.60 for each of Oxford’s 12,500 undergraduates.

In an email to all students last Wednesday, the University said that “if you litter by throwing, pouring or spraying substances after your exams, you will be liable to a £150 fine”.

The University justified the move as necessary to “protect the environment, save money, and respect our community.” It stressed that “we want you to celebrate after your exams”, but the Senior Proctor, Professor Jane Mellor, said that trashing was “wasteful and disrespectful”.

She added: “We know that our students are committed to sustainability and urge them to ex-

tend this to their exam celebrations this year.”

University officials have taken varying approaches to enforcement in past years. Attempts have been made to restrict trashing to Merton Street, and to encourage the use of sustainable, biodegradable materials. In 2018, the University launched a ‘What a Waste’ campaign and threatened to levy fines of up to £300.

Oxford SU said in a statement that it was “disappointed” by the University’s “punitive approach”.

Accusing the University of implementing a plan which “vilifies, patronises and scapegoats students”, it claimed that “the University as an institution is responsible for its reputation of elitism” and that “it is not students’ responsibility to save the University money.”

Cont. on page 5

Jewish Students Against Antisemitism express concern over UJS open letter to NUS Board of Trustees Dania Kamal Aryf and Andrew Wang Editor-in-Chief and News Editor

T

he organisation of Jewish Students Against Antisemitism (JSAA) at the University of Oxford has recently released a statement disputing the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) open letter to the National Union of Students (NUS) Board of Trustees. The statement has brought forward the necessity to address the recurring issue of antisemitism within the NUS, while remaining critical of the UJS’s conflation of anti-semitism and anti-zionism.

The JSAA reached out to The Oxford Student affirming that, “the statement expresses support for both Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom, reiterating calls against anti-semitism, while expressing concern over the UJS’s conflation of antizionism and anti-semitism.”

Dallali, who is set to serve a two-year term commencing July, was condemned for a tweet she made ten years ago, referencing an anti-Israeli protest chant: “Khaybar Khaybar O Jews … Muhammad’s army will return Gaza.” The chant is a controversial reference to the Muslim army’s assault against the Jewish population of Medina during the battle of Khaybar in 628 AD, and was tweeted by Dallali

at a time of heightened tensions between Hamas and the IDF in 2012.

Further criticisms of Dallali also include an article she wrote in 2018, reporting on the election of Yusuf al-Qaradwi as chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), and describing al-Qaradwi as a “moral compass for the Muslim community at large.” The Qatarbased IUMS was declared as a terrorist organisation by the UAE government in 2014, and al-Qaradwi has also been a long-standing figure of controversy. He is banned in several countries, including the US, UK and France due to his inflammatory views, especially regarding antisemitism, homophobia, and condoning of suicide bombings. In 2018, al-Qaradwi was sentenced to life-imprisonment by Egyptian authorities, and he continues to remain exiled in Doha.

Dallali has since apologised for the tweet from ten years ago, acknowledged that she is “no longer the same person “, and that she has “developed (her) political language to talk about Palestine and Israel.” However, she expressed serious concerns about her safety, especially in light of the incident which

has resulted in violently racist and Islamophobic abuse, including threats to “go ahead and kill herself.” She is quoted saying, “unfortunately, as a Black Muslim woman, it is something that I expected because I’ve seen it happen to other Black Muslim women when they take up positions in the student union or the NUS, where they are attacked based on their political beliefs or their pro-Palestinian stance.” In a recent article from The Tab, Dallali also claims that “the pre-emptive scrutiny of Muslim women is symptomatic of the nature of Gendered Islamophobia. Individuals and groups will go out of their way to seek to criminalise Muslim women in leadership, without acceptance for any space for growth and change.”

The JSAA statement reaffirmed the condemnation of anti-semitism within the UJS open letter, citing, “we are acutely aware of how anti-semitism affects Jewish students (and Jewish staff) on university campuses. British society is bathed in the legacies of white Christian supremacy, colonialism and antisemitism – these phenomena are interlinked and therefore must be addressed jointly to keep all students safe.

We wholeheartedly agree that, as stated in the UJS letter, ‘Jewish students have a right to be included in NUS and the wider student movement’. We also understand that many Jewish students who signed the UJS letter did so because they are concerned about anti-semitism on campus… We take particular issue with the ways that the UJS has conflated anti-semitism and anti-zionism in this instance. The inclusion of a demand that NUS adopts the IHRA working definition on anti-semitism in their letter, despite evidence that such a move would put Palestinian students at risk, is unacceptable.”

Cont. on page 4

4 | News

Jericho’s Jude the Obscure returns from £100k+ revamp Christopher Collins News Editor

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alton Street pub Jude the Obscure has reopened following a major six-figure renovation project.

The pub, part of the Greene King chain, has had a complete interior redesign. It now features high-end furnishings, centred around a teal and green colour scheme. Visitors will also benefit from a remodelled outside seating area.

Its popular house brew “Obscurity” will be joined by beers from local craft breweries White Horse and Siren, as part of a new drinks menu served from an upgraded new bar.

General manager Timothy Bailey commented: “Jude the Obscure has always been a popular Oxford pub, and the whole team are thrilled to invite back our regulars and new customers so they can enjoy everything our new setting has to offer.” Greene King described the newly overhauled pub as “heated and dog-

friendly.”

Dave Richardson, a spokesman for Oxford’s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) branch, said: “It’s always good to see a major chain like Greene King investing in its pubs.

“You can get Greene King beer in lots of different pubs but we always like it when they allow some guest beers in as well.”

Jude the Obscure was named for Thomas Hardy’s 1895 novel of the same name. Hardy’s final work, it follows Jude Fawley, a working class young stonemason who dreams of studying at “Christminster” (a city based on Oxford).

The well-regarded watering hole used to be known as Oxford’s only ‘theatre pub’. In The Rough Guide to the Cotswolds (2011), Matthew Teller praises it as a “comfortable Jericho pub with bookish decor, pleasant outdoor seating and a refreshingly down-to-earth attitude that is rather atypical for the area.”

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

Letter sent from Oxford MP to Stop Sewage Discharges Dominic Enright News Editor

A

nnaliese Dodds, the Labour MP for Oxford East, has written to the Environment Secretary to draw attention to a report from the Oxford Rivers improvement campaign that found Oxfordshire Sewage Treatment Works collectively oversplit for more than 68,000 hours in 2021.

This has come 6 months after an amendment to the 2021 Environment Act was rejected, which would “insert a duty on sewerage undertakers to take all reasonable steps to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged from storm overflows into inland and coastal waters.”

The MP said on her webpage that “this disturbing report outlines the disgusting extent of untreated sewage outflows.”

Aiming to solve this issue, the Government initiated a consultation on its Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan in March. However, their current proposed plan will only eliminate 75% of stom outflows by 2035, meaning it will take 13 Cont. from page 3

The JSAA further states that UJS cannot claim to speak for all Jewish students, and is unrepresentative of the diversity within Jewish opinion. “We have long-held concerns that the UJS is more preoccupied with supporting and advocating for Israel – whether through their IHRA campaign, their continual partnership with the right-wing Hasbara organisation Stand With Us, or their support for politicians like Nadhim Zahawi – than with protecting or advancing Jewish student life or interests. We are hard-pressed to understand how any of these activities relate to combatting anti-semitism. They are also inherently exclusionary to Jewish students who identify as anti-occupation, non-zionist or anti-zionist,” they continue.

The NUS has been under constant scrutiny for recurring anti-semitism, with consistent rallying calls from Jewish students urging for reform and for more effective measures to be put in place against such discrimination. In 2018 and 2019 respectively, a member

years at least for the waters to be definitively clean. DEFRA’s argument for such a long timescale is that although “complete separation of sewage and rainwater systems would remove the need for storm overflows, this would cost between £350 billion and £600 billion”. However, this will seem a long time to wait for those that bathe in Britain’s natural waters.

This comes after findings early this year found that the Cassington Sewage Works storm overflow spilled 28 times in 2021 for a total of 384 hours, discharging into the Thames.

This was disconcerting news for Oxford students who often swim near Lake Binsey and Port Meadow. The Cassington sewage works is upstream, and only two miles away from the Wolvercote Castle Mill stream.

This area received bathing water status this month and since then has been used by casual swimmers.The designation should mean that further

of the national council and an election candidate were removed from the organisation in line with their policies against anti-semitism. Recent incidents have also resulted in more than 20 former presidents of the NUS, including three cabinet ministers, urging for an investigation and for further action to be taken.

Michelle Donelan, the Minister of State for Higher Education has also reportedly urged for student unions across the country to “consider disaffiliation, unless matters improve quickly.”

A recent article in the Cherwell has criticised the Oxford SU’s response towards Dallali’s appointment, in which the SU has echoed similar sentiments to that expressed by Cambridge SU’s regarding the “co-option of genuine student concerns about anti-semitism… as an attempt to silence students of colour and those advocating for Palestinian rights.”

In a recent email to the Oxford SU, the JSAA has stated that,

steps are taken to clean the water in the area, and pollution levels will be monitored by the Environment Agency between 15 May and 30 September each year. However, the Bathing Water status designation would be revoked at short notice if a high pollutant count was found, and likely if there was a large storm overflow from Cassington.

The letter from the former shadow Chancellor comes ahead of the local elections for the Oxford City Council on 5th May, in which Labour will hope to retain their majority. Mark Hull, Labour candidate for Summertown ward, is also a key member of the Oxford Rivers Improvement Campaign, and stood on this platform. There will be elections to all 24 wards in Oxford, with one councillor to be elected in each.

“we, Jewish Students Against Antisemitism, are a movement founded by Jewish Students at the University of Oxford following the recent UJS open letter criticising the NUS. Though we recognise that Shaima Dallali has made some problematic comments, the UJS’s approach is ineffective in tackling anti-semitism and fails to align anti-semitism with anti-racism and liberation more broadly. Our group seeks to campaign both for a liberated Palestine and Jewish safety and wellbeing on university campuses. We stand behind your statement on the NUS and ask that you continue to advocate for Palestinian human rights and protect Jewish Students’ voice like our own.”

The Oxford Student has reached out to the Oxford SU and Oxford JSoc for a response regarding the statement from JSAA. Both parties have declined to comment.

The Oxford Student | Friday 29th April 2022

News | 5

Cont. from page 3

The SU statement added:

clean up after themselves.

“While we, like many students, believe that environmental sustainability and being mindful of the wider Oxford community is essential, we do not believe that this campaign is a suitable solution to the issues associated with post exam celebration and we understand the distress and upset this will be causing students.

The Green Trashing alternatives include the use of bioedegradable confetti rather than complicated glitter, and biodegradable Holi powder in place of paint.

“The use of fines creates a disproportionate punishment as it will have a great impact on some students, depending on their financial situation. It means that students who can afford the fine will continue to trash, while only the students who can’t afford the fine will be prevented from participating.”

Some of these alternatives can be found on the SU webisite as part of their Guide to Green Trashing. There have grown a number of small businesses like Ecotrash.co.uk which supply eco -friendly trashing equipment.

Despite the green trashing movement growing in Oxford, it apears unlikely that the University will take these change in trashing habits into account or reconsider its decision.

The SU reiterated “the importance of post exam celebration for students”, especially “in light of the pandemic and its impact on student experience.” It said that it believes in promoting ‘Green Trashing’, and called for a greater emphasis on encouraging students to use sustainable materials and

Oxford students protest Government’s refusal to ban trans conversion therapy Kesaia Toganivalu News Editor

On April 19th (Tuesday), Oxford Against Conversion Therapy staged a protest at Bonn Square, Central Oxford. The group was formed in response to the Government’s changing position on the banning of conversion therapy. A diverse range of speakers took to the steps of the Tirah Memorial to speak against the government – these included members of the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University, and the Labour Party.

Many speakers chose to speak about the institutional actions they felt were oppressing transgender and marginalised voices. Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) was represented by two of its committee members including Secretary Fiónn McFadden, who was one of the many speakers praising the way in which the fight for Transgender rights was an undeniably intersectional one. There were shouts from the crowd as he recognised black trans activists, Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Riviera and their hard work, credit-

ing figures from history that the speakers noted have often been forgotten.

Jayne Ozanne, founder of the Ozanne Foundation — an organisation focused on stamping out religious discrimination based on sexuality and gender — spoke of the need for the media to be transparent on transphobia. They said, “We need truth and we need our media to cover the truth”. Ozanne’s admission to the crowd of how their life changed once they accepted their identity as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community echoed those of Clay Nash who had spoken earlier. Nash spoke of the shame they had felt, and the smile on their face as they shouted “I am here, I am Queer” was mirrored back by those in the crowd.

Nash, Co-Chair of the LGBTQ+ Oxford SU Campaign, spoke to The Oxford Student after the protest: “I think having a protest in Oxford especially is super important because Oxford does have a lot of political impor-

tance. It is basically a pipeline for Downing Street. So many prime ministers, and even more of the politicians in the House of Commons at the moment come from Oxford. And so, to have the student body and the community all come together as one to take a stand against transphobia and the exclusion of trans people from the ban on conversion therapy, I think it is very meaningful. And, I think it shows that the future will be better, and if we keep pushing on this issue then we can achieve things.”

Nash’s words were echoed in other speakers. Many transgender speakers shared that whilst there was often “pain in their identity”, they also felt “incredible joy”. Maz McCormick, a student activist studying Animal Sciences at the University of Nottingham listed moments of dysphoria they had experienced and finished by exclaiming to the crowd “But there is also euphoria too!”

Nash was not the only person to speak at the protest who holds position within student government. Sara Radha Pelham,

who also rallied the crowd with chants and slogans in between speeches is the LGBTQ+ Representative for Exeter College.

They spoke to the Oxford Student, reflecting on the national movement itself by saying “I think what’s telling about it is that people are working so hard to fight the government and it is such a difficult process…” They then turned towards the University of Oxford itself and added, “To get anything sorted at Oxford as a [university], as a whole you have to go through every single college, to get some people speaking about this, to get some awareness… to get people realising it is an actual issue.”

Pelham went on to praise the hard work of students, especially student activists and people in JCR positions but emphasised “we should not be having to not do our degrees to have an identity or have a right to live.”

Alana Stewart from Oxford Pride, who introduced every speaker and is one of the founders of Oxford Against Conversation Therapy said, “So many people [have] turned up today. It

just shows the fringe groups, like LGB Alliance, that they’re the minority [and] we’re the majority, there’s more support for trans rights in the queer community than there is against them.”

Another speaker, who when asked for comment merely said “I really don’t have anything more to add”, simply pointing to their sign which read “NO BAN WITHOUT TRANS”.

The protest today was intended as a space where members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and in particular the trans community, could express their frustrations at being excluded from the government’s plans in banning conversion therapy.

Molly Mantle, founder of Ban Conversion Therapy UK stated, “We’ve waited long enough for the government to protect the LGBTQ+ community with a comprehensive ban. This isn’t an LGBTQ issue- everyone should care about the continuation of this dangerous and pseudoscientific practice.”

6 | News

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

Popular Oxford eatery shuts down after 50 years Christopher Collins News Editor

The Nosebag, one of the city centre’s most well-established culinary fixtures, stood opposite the Oxford Union for over half a century before closing its doors for the final time on Wednesday.

The restaurant and café on St Michael’s Street first opened in 1971, and announced on the 12th April that it was to close down.

In an emotional message on Facebook, manager and head chef Mandy Craigan wrote: “With sadness and regret I’m sorry to announce that the Nosebag will be closing its door for the final time on Wednesday 27th April.

“The Nosebag has survived and thrived for 51 years and I’ve been part of that story for 32 of them.

“I’d like to express deep gratitude to all the staff and customers of The Nosebag who sustained us for so long.”

Commenters on Facebook, expressing hope for “one last visit”, spoke of their sadness and said that “Oxford won’t be the same” without The Nosebag.

Camilla Chia, whose family own the business, blamed the coronavirus pandemic for forcing it to close. She said it was “a miracle” that the restaurant survived as long as it did.

She pointed to a range of factors that had made trading very difficult, including a loss of foot traffic in the city centre which had been diverted to Westgate, a broader staffing crisis in the hospitality sector, and the closure of Debenhams and Boswells.

She criticised Oxford City Council for not being “very understanding” about the restaurant’s difficult situation. “We have not returned to the sales that we were pre-pandemic, sadly.” she

added.

Ms Craigan said that customers were “really sad” about the closure and that there had been a “big outcry” on social media. She said that one of her “real highlights” was that The Nosebag had been able to host a couple of weddings in the past year, of customers who had had their first dates there.

“I suppose when something has been here as long as The Nosebag has been, people just assume it will be forever,” she said.

“It is nice to think that we will be missed, as so many businesses come and go.

“I think it will leave a legacy and hopefully lots of happy memories for people.”

Oxford researchers win European grants Efan Owen

Deputy News Editor

Four of Oxford’s leading researchers were on Tuesday awarded multi-million pound European Research Council (ERC) grants for work in Linguistics, Biology, Mathematics and Physics.

The prestigious Advanced Grants, worth up to €3.5 million (£2.9 million) over five years of research, are intended to support scholars and scientists recognised as leaders in their fields and provide funding to help further develop their pionereeing research.

The announcement came after a highly competitive process in which only 14% of 1700 research proposals from across Europe were approved.

Three awards were granted to researchers from the university’s Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, while another was announced for professor of Linguistics Aditi Lahiri, for whom this was an Oxford record-breaking third ERC Advanced Grant.

All four award-winners were

congratulated by the heads of their divisions. Professor Sam Howison of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division commented on the significance of these prizes in demonstrating the breadth of groundbreaking research being carried out in Oxford, while Professor Dan Grimely of the Humanities Division applauded the extent of international recognition for Oxford research that the awards represented.

Professor Stephen J. Blundell, of the Physics Department, was awarded for his plans for developing new technologies in the study of quantum spin liquids, an exotic phase of matter, utilising spin-polarised subatomic particles called muons.

He expressed his excitement on receiving the award, which will allow him to continue his three-decade long work with muons, which he referred to as ‘amazing particles.’

Professor Aditi Lihari will receive her grant for a study on the principle of pertinacity in language - that is, the limited extent of phonological change

in languages over time. Her research will utilise classical comparative linguistics as well as psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic experimentation.

Professor Ben Sheldon is the Luc Hoffman Professor of Field Ornithology in the Zoology Department, and will use his grant in order to investigate the effects of human-caused climate change on the timing of seasonal events, with Oxford’s Wytham Woods as his case study. He noted that sufficient attention had not yet been drawn to the impact of changes in seasonal events on the survival and reproduction of wildlife, and that Wytham Woods would provide the necessary spatial scale for conducting such an investigation.

The Mathematics Department’s Professor Stuart White, meanwhile, has been awarded a grant for his proposed study on the structure and classification of operator algebras.

The research will examine the relationship between the mathematical fields of topology and non-commutative

measure theory. The professor expressed his gratitude to the ERC and their ‘commitment to fundamental mathematical research.’

The Research Council was established by the European Union in 2007 as Europe’s premier funding organisation for excellent frontier research. The holding of these awards by UKbased researchers, however, requires the formalisation of the UK’s association to Horizon Europe, a seven-year Euro-

pean Union scientific research initiative.

Association was outlined in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement in December 2020, and remains a stated priority of the UK government. If association does not occur prior to the final date for signature of grant agreements, the UK government will provide equivalent funding to award winners through the UKRI.

The Oxford Student | Friday 4th March 2022

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The Oxford Student | Friday 29 April 2022

Editors: Daniel Kovacs, Shivanii Arun, Tom Elliott (deputy), Kylah Jacobs (deputy), Samuel Kenny (deputy) comment@oxfordstudent.com

Comment

A different Le Pen but the same story?

by Samuel KENNY

I

t’s 2022 and it’s a year of many political stories, but one that many keen political observers have followed is the French presidential election, with the implications of the result likely to be felt not just in Europe but globally. In many ways, it was a rerun of the last election; Macron vs Le Pen, the centre-right parties and centre-left parties of France overtaken by Macron’s En Marche and Le Pen’s National Rally (formerly known as the National Front). However, the story of the 2022 election was very different than that of 2017. Macron was the incumbent with a mixed record, while Le Pen attempted to change her image and moderate. Macron won the election with a comfortable victory, but much narrower than 2017: Le Pen gained nearly 3 million more votes and Macron lost 2 million.

The French are slowly warming to a far-right presidency. But why did Le Pen do better this time?

The election happened in the midst of a European war. This was seen by many as a natural advantage for Macron, with his far firmer belief in NATO and the EU compared to Le

Pen’s NATO scepticism and party links to Russia. However, Macron spent more time as statesman than candidate.

This allowed Le Pen to frame the election around the cost of living crisis, which many French citizens care far more

Le Pen’s policies would put France in direct conflict with the EU about. Le Pen went out on the attack, claiming Macron is the president of the rich and out of touch with the working class.

Economically, she moved significantly to the left, adopting a more statist platform which she hoped would increase her chances of wooing Mélenchon voters. She vowed to lower the state pension age to 60, scrap income tax for all those under 30, and make businesses raise wages by up to 10%. Focusing on these issues allowed her to take less flak for her other, more controversial, policies on the EU and immigration.

Regarding the EU, has Le Pen really moderated – or kept her

true ambitions hidden beneath a change of language? In 2017, she promised a referendum on France’s membership of the Euro, which most observers say would have inevitably led to France leaving the bloc altogether (which Le Pen expressed support for in 2012). Macron has called this election a referendum on Europe, arguing a Le Pen presidency would lead to a disastrous French exit from the EU. Le Pen has changed her language, stating she wants to remain in the EU but change it from the inside into a bloc of “sovereign nations”. However, while Le Pen’s language may have changed, her true goals haven’t. Le Pen’s policies would put France in direct conflict with the EU, with her plans to slash EU funding and prioritise French nationals for jobs – which would go against EU law.

On immigration, Marine Le Pen has maintained her nationalistic and anti-immigrant roots. She wants a referendum on immigration, with plans for strict rules for entering France and becoming French.

Under a highly controversial

proposal called priorité na- her party destroying leaflets that tionale (national priority), she featured pictures of her shaking also wants French nationals hands with Putin. Macron tried to be given housing and so- to show that he has attempted cial services ahead of foreign- to lead the diplomatic efforts ers – with 620,000 homes for to stop the war in Ukraine and foreign nationals put on the introduce EU sanctions. The market for families where at French people will have been least one parent is French. wary of what a Le Pen presidenShe was initially in favour cy might mean for France’s reof holding a referendum on the lations with NATO and Russia. death penalty before realising it was “anti-constitutional”. Le Fundamentally, Marine Le Pen’s vision for future French Pen tried to present herself immigration as more of a Fundamentally, has never really stateswoman. changed, espe- Marine Le Pen tried She focused on cially with her to present herself radical policies fuelling the fire to restructure of anti-Muslim as more of a states- the economy woman. rhetoric with and rebalance her plan for the divide that a headscarf ban in public. exists within French society, Macron did press Le while maintaining her strong Pen on her foreign policy views. nationalism and anti-immiDuring the TV primetime de- grant sentiments – but hiding bate between Le Pen and Ma- them beneath more moderate cron, he landed a killer punch, language. It didn’t work this pressing Le Pen on her bor- time, but Le Pen is building for rowing money from a Russian a final run, and possible victory, bank to support her political in 2027. She will be the most ambitions. Le Pen has suffered mainstream candidate with the because of her party’s alleged largest support base and Maclose links to Putin, especially cron will not be able to stand. suffering the embarrassment of

Comment | 9

The Oxford Student | Friday 29 April 2022

What Russia’s invasion means for Taiwan...

Harrison Gates discusses his thoughts.

O

n the 21st February 2022, Russia decided to recognise the ‘sovereignty’ of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republics. This essentially undermined the sovereignty of Ukraine’s eastern territory and allowed Russia to move troops into Ukrainian land. After three days, Russian troops attacked what they called the ‘Russian land’ of Ukraine changing its covert support of separatists in Eastern Ukraine into an outright invasion. This was the climax of Russia’s persistent aggression made against Ukraine over the past thirty years since the crumbling of the USSR in 1991. Around six territorial disputes have been made against Crimea have been made since the collapse of the USSR. But why Crimea? It’s simple, why not control a strategically important land which gives you a warm water port in the Black Sea and expands your territorial waters closer to NATO and its ‘unfriendly’ states. Likewise, Putin has also claimed in 2008 during the NATO summit that the southeastern parts of Ukrainian territory were wrongly given to the region of Ukraine by Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin when the USSR was created in 1922.

But we must first understand the context of this situation. Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 led many in the western world to finally admit that it was not going to follow down the path of liberal democracy like former Warsaw Pact states such as Estonia and Lithuania, and for that matter, Ukraine. The inadequate response from NATO after the invasion of Crimea showed Putin that Europe was not ready to engage in direct conflict with the Russian state, hoping that appeasement will be enough to bring the Russian state closer to the European Union.

Vladimir Putin has wanted to create a new wave of Russian patriotism that sees Ukraine as an essential piece of the Russian world. This and the incorporation of both Crimea and Belarus would solidify Putin’s place in Russian history. Crimea was recaptured in 2014; Belarus a de facto puppet state, especially

since Lukashenko’s crackdown on democratic protests in 2020.

This leaves Ukraine as the last major obstruction to Putin’s objective in Eastern Europe before he has to engage directly with any NATO states including Poland and the Baltic states.

But how is China directly affected by this situation, you may ask? Both China and Russia believe that Taiwan and Ukraine respectively are within their natural and historical boarders. Russia sees the land and the people of Ukraine as Russians.

The state-owned news agency RIA Novosti printed an article in 2022 stating that Russia has overcome the humiliation of the collapse of the Soviet Union, restored the greatness of Russia, and is in the making of uniting all eastern Slavic cultures into a single pan-Slavic state. This will include Belarusians, Ukrainians and other “Little Russians.” Putin will stop at nothing to achieve this goal, regardless of the impact it has on the global stage.

“Ukraine is not even a state!

What is Ukraine? A part of its territory is in Eastern Europe, but another part, a considerable one, was a gift from us!”

While situated on the other side of the planet, Beijing has a very similar position to Russia.

Since the Republic of China reestablished itself on the island of Taiwan, the Beijing government has consistently claimed that the island is the 23rd province of China. We can see the similarities between Russia and China on how Ukraine and Taiwan are perceived not as sovereign states, but as regions that must be reintegrated into the Motherland after years of separation.

Taiwan has been a thorn on China’s side for the last 70 years. The overall existence of two Chinas is a clear violation of People’s Republic of China’s Constitution and brings back memories of its ‘Century of Humiliation’ under European and Japanese invasion and occupation. The One-China policy has proven to the world

that China is on principle prepared to retake this rogue region.

Many in the autonomous regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet have experienced direct oppression from the Communist Party in its goal to achieve cultural and national unity across all of China’s time immemorial’ territories. This is a term often used by the Chinese government to refer to the idea of a Chinese state that stretches from the Himalayas to Vladivostok. But unlike the war in Europe, there has been no direct military conflict between Mainland China and Taiwan.

While there have been multiple provocations by the Chinese such as the military encroachment of Taiwanese airspace monthly, the current likelihood of invasion is low. Adding to this, the limited buildup of Chinese troops on the coast across the Taiwan strait is another indication that even during the invasion of Ukraine, Beijing is not ready to capitalise on the invasion of Ukraine to invade Taiwan This is down to two fundamental reasons. Firstly, Taiwan’s de-facto separation from the mainland is guaranteed by the US and its carrier strike force which has been used before under the Clinton administration. Secondly, the logistics to get enough troops onto a relatively small island that has been preparing for an invasion since 1949 could quickly become a military disaster for China.

While there is a clear parallel in Russian and Chinese attitudes toward reclaiming their territories, the contexts behind their aggression are vastly different. Taiwan has a long-standing promise of protection from by the US regardless of which President is in the White House. This has been proven by a constant show of force by the American fleet that has kept Beijing at bay.

While on the Ukrainian front, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum stated that the US would never defend Ukraine with troops, and it shows. The lack of time and enforcement of agreements has proven to the global community that history matters.

“The historical task of the complete reunification of the motherland must be fulfilled and will definitely be fulfilled.”

So, what is Beijing’s game? How can they reunite Taiwan into the ‘Motherland’ and fulfil the Communist Party’s prime objective since1949? Rather than an outright invasion that could isolate China from the rest of the world, as is the case with Russia now, China is using its ever-increasing economic power to impose its hegemony over Taiwan and to make it politically, economically, and culturally connected to the mainland. We can see this power being used today. Currently the island only has diplomatic ties with 14 UN member states, none of them in NATO or the EU. By putting pressure on other countries to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, China is free to bring the island further into its fold without any direct conflict. Further to this, the Russian aggression has left the Beijing government with safe knowledge that the West will respond and will be a source of discontent for the Beijing government, with the imposition of sanctions and provision of military

equipment to Taiwan at a significant scale It is clear that after its departure from the European Union, Britain needs to expand its Global Britain strategy and support any new and emerging democratic state. It should be a priority for the UK to protect both itself and every democratic state across the globe. With the support of the US and the EU, a new sense of unified cooperation is required to stop any further aggression acros the world.

10 | Comment

The Oxford Student | Friday 29 April 2022

Has Sunak lost his knack?

O

by Tom ELLIOTT

nce upon a time, in the dark days of 2020, Rishi Sunak had a 50 percent approval rating. Now it sits at 26 percent. Of course, it is fairly easy to see why a man giving thousands of pounds in furlough and lending a hand to a country on its knees fared so well in such ratings. Yet such a fall from grace is virtually unprecedented. The Chancellor has become public enemy number one because of the cost-of-living crisis and his personal financial affairs, yet is it truly right to martyr a brilliant MP as a scapegoat for a long-flawed system of taxation?

To briefly summarise, the Chancellor’s misdemeanours include raising tax and failing to successfully counteract the rise in fuel prices, inflation, and cost of living. His wife, Akshata Murty, has non-domicile tax status, meaning that since she supposedly has a permanent home outside the UK she need not pay UK tax on her (sizeable) foreign income. Furthermore, she owns a 0.91 percent stake in her father’s tech empire Infosys, which brings her net worth to around £500 million, and which kept open its Moscow office in the early days of the war in Ukraine. Mr Sunak himself also has money in a ‘blind trust’, a potential conflict of interest to his role as Chancellor, and has donated over £100,000 to his alma mater, Winchester College, whilst also possessing a US Green Card.

But has Sunak actually done anything wrong?

Legally, no (with the exception of ‘Partygate’).

Akshata Murty cannot be a UK citizen under Indian law, and she is entirely within her rights as a private individual to structure her tax paying practices as benefit her. Indeed, there are many who, failing to recognise the indirect benefits their taxes have, would do the same.

Moreover, her ownership of less than one percent of Infosys ensures that she in no way directs the company’s policy. It would have been difficult – not impossible, but difficult – for Murty to have jettisoned her stake in the company once the war broke out, and Infosys has since terminated its dealings in Russia

Is it truly right to martyr a brilliant MP as a scapegoat for a long-flawed system of taxation?

the Brent Crude is currently at $112, peaking at $128 on 8th March 2022, falling as low as $21 in April 2020, and averaging at between $50 and $70 per barrel in the past 5 years. This is a dramatic rise, offset little by the cut in fuel duty, and it has caused fuel, heating, and electricity prices to skyrocket.

The problem, therefore, is not Sunak but a lack of money, money which could be used to subsidise energy costs but also to improve education and the NHS, among other things.

There are many answers, all with their own ca-

If we want to avoid a world full of sub-par or career politicians, the public will have to accept that some politicians will have piles of self-made wealth. veats. I shall present three. First, some groups could be taxed more heavily. Already the top 0.1 percent of British Citizens by earnings (over £500,000 per annum) pay 10 percent of the tax. Yet there are other, smaller, richer groups to tax. The 0.1 percent number at approximately 50,000, the 0.01 percent at 5,000 To be in the top 0.01 percent requires millions of excess income per year. Is it right that all earnings over £150,000 are taxed at the ‘additional rate’ of 45 percent? Perhaps new levels should be introduced at 50 percent for earnings over £250,000, 60 percent for earnings over 500,000, and somethingpunitve 75 percent, for earnings over £1 million. Of course, the numbers would be subject to revision, but such taxation would be unlikely to deter those whready work in the United Kingdom fromcontinuing to work here.

Second, we could tax companies more heavily. This is a risky strategy, and one that I am not entirely on board with, but the potential exists to increase corporate tax from 19 percent tosomething more in line with France (25 percent), the United States (21 percent), or China (25 percent). Doubtless, there is the risk of companies leaving and setting up headquarters in other regions, yet, if we have faith in the strength of London as a financial hotspot, perhaps this is a risk that the government should be willing to take. In a similar vein, capital gains tax, VAT, inheritance tax, and entrepreneur’s relief could be subject to review.

Finally, and most pertinently, the government could invest in British energy independence and renewables. In order to reduce Britain’s reliance on foreign oil, it is important that independent sources of energy – be that nuclear, wind, fracking, or North Sea oil – be developed to prevent future fuel-cost crises.

There is, and has traditionally been, an aversion to ‘unsafe’ fracking and nuclear. Yes, there have been devastating instances of nuclear fallout from damaged reactors, yet presently France, a nation which, as an example, generates 70 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy, is faring far better on the energy independence front than Germany and Britain.

These are all things which Sunak as Chancellor could arguably have implemented.

However, it must be remembered that the Chancellor is bound by party policy and the circumstances within which he operates, and that he could still implement them in future years. I urge you to consider that underneath the man behind all this outrage, is an agile mind, fiscal competence, and compassionate conservatism. It is worth remembering that, although the Conservative Party has failed in this instance, this is the fault of the party as a whole, even of the political system, rather than of the unfortunate man at the head of the Treasury. As always in British politics, there is no guarantee that Rishi Sunak’s successor would be any better, and the likelihood is high that they would be a lot, lot worse.

Image Credit: Simon Walker via Flickr

Furthermore, Sunak’s ‘blind trust’, an arrangement which only six other government ministers have, is also entirely legal. Can an MP really be expected to let their capital stagnate while they are in office? The matter of Sunak’s donation to Winchester College, which was used to fund scholarships for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, is also perfectly reasonable under current law.

The Conservatives present themselves as the party of private charity, and, even if Sunak had donated this money to the treasury – or worse, kept it to himself! – it would have done little to mitigate the cost-of-living crisis.

Then there is the matter of the US Permanent Resident Card, described by Zarah Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South, as proof that the Chancellor has “been ready to swan-off

to his California home if being an MP didn’t suit him”. Can Ms Sultana not equally “swanoff” home to Coventry if she decides to leave politics? Sunak’s destination of choice, the USA and his flat in Santa Monica, is his private business, and it must be noted that holding the US Green Card is hardly a golden ticket, forcing him to pay tax on his global earnings to the government across the pond.

Though this is only one side of the argument, it is evident that the Chancellor’s dealings do not sit right with many observers.

With the rising cost of living, it is difficult to hear that Sunak is so rich, and that his family are making such effective use of mechanisms designed to lighten tax burdens. Moreover, a variety of Sunak and Murty’s investments and donations seem now to have been made in poor taste (namely, in Infosys and to Winchester College). However, Sunak is perfectly within his rights to plead ignorance of his wife’s financial affairs. To expect him to wield any control over her dealings would be to imagine that the Chancellor operates in his family life in a quasi-18th century manner. Of course, it is right that the Chancellor’s wealth be subject to public scrutiny, and doubtless his money influences the policy decisions he makes. However, it must also be recognised that this wealth, though it places the Chancellor in a privileged and removed position, is testament to his skill with money.

The question then is what to do about the whole situation. The Chancellor seems on his last legs, politically. This is a shame, particularly when the source of this controversy, his great wealth, is a testament to his fiscal skill and qualification to be Chancellor. Indeed, this wealth was not handed to him on a platter. Yes, He studied at Winchester College and was the child of a GP and Pharmacist.

But he also gained a 1st in PPE from Lincoln College, Oxford, and an MBA from Stanford, evidence of a sharp mind, while the bulk of his personal wealth stems from his work for Goldman Sachs and his own firm Theleme Partners, set up in 2010. If we want to avoid a world full of sub-par or career politicians, the public will have to accept that some politicians will have piles of self-made wealth.

If we want to avoid a world full of sub-par or career politicians, the public will have to accept that some politicians will have piles of self-made wealth.

The actual issue rests far from Sunak’s private life in the Spring Statement. Here, we see a cut in fuel duty by 5p a litre and a reduction in base level income tax from 20p to 19p by the end of the Conservative government in 2024. However, there are flaws. Although the National Insurance threshold will rise from £9,880to £12,570 on 6th July 2022, the NIC rate will also rise by 1.25 percent. The real kicker is that the Spring Statement has failed to address the cost-of-living crisis, particularly in relation to oil, fuel, and energy. As of writing,

The Oxford Student | Friday 29 April 2022

Comment | 11

4 more years in Orbánistan...

Dániel Kovács reflects on Viktor Orbán’s fourth consecutive election victory in Hungary.

O

n April 3rd, Hungary voted. Viktor Orbán not only came out victorious in the 4th election in a row, but also retained a 2/3rds legislative majority in parliament, gaining a staggering 54% of the vote in the election. Since coming into power for the second time in 2010, him and his FIDESZ party have been responsible for proclaiming the ‘illiberal state’, features of which have included democratic backsliding leading to a disciplinary procedure launched by the EU, issues with press freedom, the widespread demonization of groups including immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community, and a foreign policy reorientation towards Russia and China.

It was a devastating defeat for the democratic opposition in Hungary who entered this campaign with so much hope and optimism.

For those of us who wished for a democratic, progressive, and pro-European Hungary, the result feels crushing.

This defeat can no longer be explained and dismissed along the recurring arguments of ‘Orbán cheats’, ‘the system inherently benefits Fidesz’ or ‘the media landscape is dominated by oligarchs close to Orbán and filled with progovernment propaganda’. Yes, the electoral plane is tilted in the favour of Orbán’s ruling party. Yes, there had been some reported cases of attempted cheating at the ballot box, including attempts to buy votes with cash or even sacks of potatoes. Yes, the media landscape of Hungary is indeed in a sad state, and it is hard to fathom how it is possible, in an EU member state, in the 21st century, for the candidate of the unified opposition to get a measly 5 minutes of airtime at the national broadcaster during the entirety of the election campaign, while Fidesz politicians and pro-Orbán com-

mentators constantly fill the airtime. None of that can explain the sheer scale of this victory.

Even as the opposition face an unfair, uphill battle in reaching the electorate, it must be recognized that a large section of Hungarian society simply likes Viktor Orbán and is happy with his policies and the direction he has taken the country in.

In no sense is that more disappointing than if we look at how the population has responded to the war that has been taking place not far from our borders. Since taking office in 2010, Orbán has been openly forging closer ties

For those of us who wished for a democratic, progressive, and proEuropean Hungary, the result feels crushing. with Russia and Vladmir Putin. One would’ve thought that the Russian invasion of Ukraine right in the middle of the election campaign would hurt him, but the Fidesz communications machine moved quickly. The narrative was framed quick as lightning: Hungary has nothing to do with this war, we must stay out of it and only a vote for Fidesz could guarantee this. The pro-government media immediately began spreading false accusations of the opposition sending soldiers to Ukraine if elected, alongside constant skepticism about Putin’s responsibility and on any claims of war crimes committed by Russian forces. When President Zelenskyy called out Orbán by name for the complete lack of support shown to Ukraine, the media machine sprung into action rapidly once again, ruthlessly attacking the Ukrainian leader. All of this seems to have worked.

After the constant false coverage in the media, voters bought into the idea that an opposition victory would mean sending young men off to the war. A hardly insignificant minority of voters believe that Putin was justified in launching his invasion. Among those who don’t, an alarming number appear to have overlooked or excused Fidesz’s pro-Russian politics. When Orbán mocked Zelenskyy in his victory speech, he received a rapturous cheer.

It is hard to admit, but there is a rotten element present at the core of Hungarian society that cannot be ignored. This is the nation of 1956, of the ‘lads of Pest’, the people who bravely resisted when the Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest. If any nation in Europe should understand what it is like when the Russian bear refuses to let you go from its grip it is us Hungarians. Our nation’s history would command that we be a leading voice in calling for support of the heroic Ukrainians who today bravely resist Russian aggression just as we Hungarians did in 1956. Instead, voters re-elected a man who declared an ‘eastern turn’ for Hungary, cozied up to the Russian dictator, housed the headquarters of Putin’s

When Orbán mocked Zelenskyy in his victory speech, he received a rapturous cheer. spy bank in Budapest, and is currently refusing to allow any shipments of weapons to Ukraine through Hungary, as well as blocking attempts for certain sanctions on Russia. It is utterly shameful. This is who we currently are on the world stage, shunned by the EU and the wider democratic community, the poster nation for

democratic backsliding, a frequently cited negative example for other democracies to beware. Worst of it all, we actively chose this.

The frustration and disappointment cannot be put into words.

It is hard to even begin trying to figure out where those looking for change in Hungary go from here. Analyses of the reasons for the opposition’s heavy defeat have already been thrown around and will be explored in the coming years for sure. What is clear is that while uniting the democratic opposition was a necessary step, it was nowhere near enough.

The stranglehold Orbán and Fidesz have, not only over the nations legislative and media landscape, but also as it seems its soul and morality, will take a lot of work to overturn. As this election has shown, there is currently simply not the necessary desire within Hungarian society for meaningful change, for Orbán to go. People appear satisfied with the situation as it is, despite the erosion of democracy, misuse of public and EU funds and significant issues with the state of the healthcare & education systems (as shown by frequent recent protests).

We have seen at best indifference to, or at worst an outright approval of, the hatemongering, homophobic, and pro-Russia policies that the government has pursued in the past years.

Neither prospect offers much hope. In a 2018 song commenting on politics & society, Hungarian rapper Krúbi ended with the line ‘we only truly feel at home in the smell of piss and s***’. It sadly seems he is right and in light of this election, the words have never been so apt…

12 | Features

Editors: Anna Davidson, Marietta Kosma (Deputy) Deputy Editors: Jason Chau, Will Neill features@oxfordstudent.com

Features

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

Life of a Social Secretary

Ciaron Tobin tells all about the highs, lows, rewards, and challenges of being a Committee Social Secretary. worth putting myself forward the preceding term for this logistical mind-decaying role?

However, this gloomy perception would change in a couple of minutes as the event started. Expectations were low, the preceding term events on average would be lucky to have 20 people, but as our tactical use of Facebook paid

“Elections and appointments to such roles are usually only termly so your flexibility to do what the hell you want for a solid eight weeks can help you find your audience, and your style of event-making.”

“Thus, my first ever interaction with committee work was a success, with the people’s appetite sated, membership drive attained, and a shift...had began.”

The toilers, the cup-of-tea makers, the moneyless troopers, and the alcohol carriers, who hold the Oxford society life together, deserve some sort of token of respect. They give us great events - from Paksoc Punting to Hispanic Society Burritos. They are the chair movers who create post-tute social pleasure. My experience last term as ‘social’ secretary of the Labour club was one of the most enjoyable parts of Oxford life and proves why joining a societies committee is one of the most rewarding things you can do whilst at Oxford. Here are my reasons why: The Adventure A moody 0th week Hilary morning emerged. I had finished my first set of collections and was looking forward to preparing for my first social secretary event, welcome drinks. I took the arduous walk from Magdalen to the Tescolator and waited for fellow newlyelected committee members. Our purpose? To buy drinks and some

trademark humous for the event.

As soon as we did away with the usual gossip of university life we entered the Tesco and initiated, within an instant, a zealous-like discipline in hunt of the cheapest gin, vodka, and rum, whilst balancing the oxford students’ diet with

“Already committee work had instilled a sense of diehard dedication to the best deals and epitomised the selfless nature of societies.”

£1 breadsticks. After collating an assortment of valuable liquids unsurprisingly buying £150 worth of alcohol between 4 students to a tiller - and travelling to the room of the event, the preparation phase had ended. Already committee work had instilled a sense of diehard dedication to the best deals and epitomised the selfless nature of societies. Yet at this moment in time I thought to myself: was it

off, over 50 people would turn up in this small Magdalen prison-ofa-room I had booked last minute.

With drinks already on the low 45 minutes after the event started, I rushed to the nearby Sainsburys, in awe of what had been created.

Thus, my first ever interaction with committee work was a success, with the people’s appetite sated, membership drive attained, and a shift from the drudging of Hilary towards a sunny uplands of a term had began.

Thus, my first ever interaction with committee work was a success, with the people’s appetite sated, membership drive attained, and a shift from the drudging of Hilary towards a sunny uplands of a term had began.

From this positive start, the social part of being a social secretary was boosted manifold. Our weekly debating event ‘Beer and Bickering’ became the subject of numerous Oxfesses and even some Oxloves. The accidental smashing of our glass ‘gavels’ were incidents of ridicule but were at the same time symbols of the heartiness that the event transformed into. The rowdy-family vibe I aimed for in the role succeeded, motions were thoroughly discussed in differing touches of humour of participants, and the humous was devoured!

Seeing the fruits of your labour

succeed and making numerous people enjoy their Friday night is an indescribable feeling. The art of hosting is an experience that must have universal appeal if it can create such a feeling of universal ecstasy. Those active in societies know the enjoyment of organising a social-experiment of an event, from sorting issues of supply to ensuring all are welcome to participate in the event. Committee work can be some of the most rewarding time spent at Oxford and just the slightest tweak of how an event runs can change the entire atmosphere of the night.

This experimenting can go wrong. I experienced this all too well in trying to solve the issue of University events and life often being alcohol dominated. Changing ‘Beer and Bickering’ to ‘Pizza and Politics’, and moving the event to an earlier 6 pm start, was the worst idea I have ever had. The usual alcohol-fuelled audience arrived and upon spotting the lack of alcohol fermented into a near mob riot. Speeches were dull, people were close to breaking down in tears, and I witnessed the desolation of my social experiment.

The way to fix alcoholic-crazed events cannot be to remove them entirely, for then the alcohol eager folk will break down into a tuteEsque phase: barely clinging onto life and bluffing every sentence just for the event to end. Despite this, experimenting is not a damaging affair. As roles like social secretary are often quite vague, they allow you to mould it around your personality and do your environmental wishes. Elections and appointments to such roles are usually only termly so your flexibility to do what the hell you want for a solid 8 weeks can help you find your audience, and your style of event-making.

Elections and appointments to such roles are usually only termly so your flexibility to do what the hell you want for a solid 8 weeks can help you find your audience, and your style of event-making.

The ‘Hackery’ As often every committee

are painted with the same few, boisterous, and confident faces, students are often afraid to put themselves up for elections for positions that, in the broader picture, should be quite trivial compared to the academic work we (may or may not) do. The trick to solving this is for societies to introduce ‘how to get involved’ events. For all the scariness of the Oxford Union, which has been deemed to have the ‘toughest elections’, it has multiple avenues to encourage people to run. For societies of lesser size, elections are often merely put on notice at the end of terms and usually just have a continuity of the friends of the preceding committee (especially in societies based on appointments rather than open elections). We must solve this by following the Union only slightly by opening society life to everyone through a significant degree of transparency and encouragement to diversify those who join committee life.

“For societies of lesser size, elections are often merely put on notice at the end of terms and usually just have a continuity (especially in societies based on appointments rather than open elections.”

The Life So, my appeal to you, from those worrying about prelims, to those relaxing after arduous mods, get involved! At the end of the day, society work is worth the treks of organisation, and it is one of the best ways to meet new people through the blood, sweat, tears and toil of gathering Bear and Breadsticks for your event.

The Oxford Student | Friday 4th February 2022

Features | 13

Publish or Perish: Getting Involved in Publishing

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etting involved in publish- my best work into a project, spent ers’ comments are tough but fair, ing includes having a heavy weeks writing it up, submitted it to What I wish I had known before or whether they have a political stomach to accept criticism a journal, placed hopes on it, and getting involved in publishing is axe to grind? The truth lies someand rejection which are part of the waited for months for a response. that it is necessary to develop thick where in between. Sometimes experience. From personal expe- Then I received the response skin quickly and keep sending the reviewers’ comments are indeed rience, it takes a lot of courage to that I was not good enough. The manuscript that has been rejected helpful as they highlight the weakstart submitting your manuscripts breaking point for me was when a out. It is crucial not to take criti- nesses of the work submitted but for publication good friend of mine cism personally. other times they and then wait- I had put months of my whom I consider as The rejection of The rejection of a paper are ill-framed. ing for the edi- best work into a project, a mentor told me an article could is to be expected, and tors’ response. If spent weeks writing it up, in one of our con- depend on many certainly does not mean The caveat of you submit your submitted it to a journal, versations over factors therefore you are an incompetent publish or perish work to a high placed hopes on it, and the phone “be like it should not be research or that you pushed me to do impact journal, waited for months for a water”, meaning disheartening. are not good enough. more and more your research response. Then I received be flexible enough However, I would You need to constantly even at periods may be rejected the response that I was to adapt and ac- lie if I say that my remind yourself that you when I felt utsimply because cept that there are mental health has terly exhausted. are enough. not good enough. it is not innovasome things that not been battered tive enough or are beyond one’s by the process of submitting my When a reviewer turns to me a because they want to publish a control. It was then that I real- work for publication. Academia manuscript with major revisions, limited number of articles. ized that I should never give up. is brutal due to its requirements I read through is comments once, After this conversation, I joined for scrupulous work. I have been put it aside for a day or two until Having your papers published the editorial teams of some high suffering from stress and depres- my mood clears and then come in a high-ranked journal is hard ranking journals. By reading and sion because of the requirement back to it in a calmer frame of work. I constantly read, review reviewing papers of other academ- to constantly publish not just any mind. In that day I tend to do articles for academic journals, ics with similar research interests paper but papers in high ranking things that would take my mind discuss ideas with colleagues and to mine, I have actually managed journals of my field. The caveat off rejection like hanging out with thought about different research to improve my own submissions. of publish or perish pushed me my friends or watching a re-run ideas because I target top journals do more and of my favorite show. Then when The caveat of publish to in my area of research, American I had put months more even at pe- I get back to the document I do or perish pushed me to riods when I felt my best to address the reviewers’ literature. Last year, I submitted of my best work more than 10 papers to various into a project, do more and more even utterly exhausted. comments, first the easier ones journals. Some were rejected by spent weeks writ- at periods when I felt When you spend and then the more complicated. utterly exhausted. the reviewers and some were ac- ing it up, submitmonths on comcepted for publication with revi- ted it to a journal, posing a 12 page Facing rejection is never easy sions. After a while I almost gave placed hopes on it, and waited for paper and you get three lines of especially when first getting inup. It was easy “to feel isolated months for a response. Then I re- poor comments as a review is dis- volved in publishing. Receiving and disconnected after receiving ceived the response that I was not heartening to say the least. This a critical review requiring major a rejection”. I had put months of good enough. has led me think whether review- revision of your manuscript is

extremely frustrating too. More importantly, you must accept that having a manuscript rejected is something you’ll have to cope with for your entire working life. Rejection can be quite a challenge emotionally and mentally. If you allow it to incapacitate you now, you’ll have an unimpressive research career. Getting rejected is a huge blow to the ego. To be an effective researcher it is necessary to create distance between my identity and self-worth as a person and the outcome of research.

Research is a long process full of failure and dead-ends, especially when you are in graduate school.

You can’t take it personally when things don’t work out. Research requires perseverance. The rejection of a paper is to be expected, and certainly does not mean you are an incompetent research or that you are not good enough. You need to constantly remind yourself that you are enough.

The rejection of a paper is to be expected, and certainly does not mean you are an incompetent research or that you are not good enough. You need to constantly remind yourself that you are enough.

Image attribution: CIPHR Connect via Wikimedia Commons (https://www. flickr.com/photos/193749286@ N04/51390518047/)

14 |Profile

Profile

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

of the week

Anna Davidson talks with Beth Molyneux, Head Rep of SolidariTee Oxford, about the charity’s work to empower refugees and asylum seekers worldwide Can you give us an introduction to the charity?

SolidariTee is an international student-led charity. We are a grant-giving organisation, so we don’t actually provide legal aid services but fund NGOs that are doing that. The NGOs that we fund are selected each year based on where we can make the most impact, and also how sustainable we think that the work they are doing is. It tends to be small, regionallyfocused and community-based NGOs and within each funding cycle a certain number of NGOs apply and we select the eight. The main two things that we do are to raise awareness, so inform and educate people about the injustices faced by refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people worldwide, and also to fundraise for these NGOs. Our main fundraising method is t-shirt sales. We have teams of student reps at unis across the UK, each managed by a head rep. Reps sell t-shirts and work with events co-ordinators to organise events on campus which aim to either fundraise or awareness-raise or both. In terms of what we are fundraising for, it’s primarily legal aid for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people, but also we have now branched out into some other forms of empowering aid - so one NGO, for example, helps refugees who are passing through the West Balkans to document their stories so that they’ve got evidence for when they do get to the asylum interview. The idea behind legal aid is that it is a more long-term, sustainable solution to the refugee ‘crisis’, because rather than just putting a plaster on a ‘crisis’, it allows people to better negotiate the asylum system, so that they can move on with their lives rather than just being trapped in a camp.

What makes SolidariTee unique - is it that long-term focus?

I’d say there are at least three things which make SolidariTee unique. One of them is definitely the focus on long-term solutions, so that includes the way that we talk about the refugee ‘crisis’, the way we do our educational content, but also the actual NGOs that we fund

and the area of aid that we focus that a lot of journalists who align on. The other distinguishing fac- with the work that we do have tor between SolidariTee and other to be aware of - there’s these ischarities is that we are entirely sues of ‘trauma porn’ and issues of student-led (there is a non-student people not consenting to photos, board of trustees, though this is or if they are going to be potenmade up of the founder and former tially put in danger by their faces student directors) and entirely being shown. So we try not to volunteer-led with no paid staff, focus too much on very emotional so our admin costs are incredibly or evocative stories - sometimes low, and we really do maximise they’re necessary but generally the money that we are raising. we won’t use someone’s account The third thing that distinguishes in order to ask someone to doSolidariTee is that alongside the nate, we’d rather present someone very concrete awareness-raising with the facts and then they can and fundraising that we do, we are make a decision, rather than bealso empowering a generation of ing emotionally manipulated. We young activists, also try to avoid so we’re also playing into the thinking long- “rather than just putting ‘good immiterm in that grant’ narrative. a plaster on a crisis sense - it’s not We want to celjust volunteer [legal aid] allows people ebrate refugees to better negotiate the here-and-there - all our t-shirts and educating asylum system, so that are designed by the public, it’s refugee artists they can move on with educating our - and we are all their lives.” own members. about empowLots of people ering displaced come to Solipeople, asylum dariTee not knowing that much seekers and refugees, but if we about it, but the charity equips talk about them too much in terms us with the skills to then go and of ‘look what they are bringing effect change elsewhere, so that’s to our country’, that plays into a another long-term aspect. narrative that suggests that they You’ve mentioned the language of somehow need to ‘prove themthe refugee ‘crisis’ - what do you selves worthy of protection’, when mean? actually, protection against perAs an educational charity, and secution by the state or someone one which is concerned with rais- in your home country is a fundaing awareness about refugees, asy- mental right that is protected by lum seekers and displaced people, international law. we are obviously careful not to Do you think that falling into stestereotype or reproduce harmful reotypes, tropes and use of overtlyprejudices against these people - traumatic imagery is an issue that not talking about them as ‘waves’, is prevalent among charitable or‘invasions’, or this kind of thing ganisations? you hear about in the media. It’s I mean, if you think back to when being careful with our terminol- you used to see charity adverts ogy, so knowing when we are talk- on TV, a lot of them do play on ing about a refugee versus talking this ‘vulnerability’, this kind of about a migrant versus about an emotional manipulation, and ofasylum seeker or a displaced per- ten though the aid is going to very son, because they’re not all the good causes you can see this. Even same. We try to be nuanced in our newspapers like the Guardian, who descriptions of people, but equally tend to be more nuanced in their not presenting them as exception- representation of refugees, still ally vulnerable - we don’t show sometimes fall into these issues. faces of refugees in any of our pho- So you’ll see articles where they tographs, instead we try to focus use terms interchangeably that on infographics. This is something aren’t interchangeable, you will

Deputy Editors: Anna Davidson, Marietta Kosma Editors: Ciaron Tobin, Maya Szaniecki, Elsie Clark, Kylah Jacobs, Samuel King Editorsprofile@oxfordstudent.com

still see instances where they’re presenting this horrific traumatic story. Obviously it’s quite a fine line to tread - because you know when you’re talking about people drowning in the channel, it’s hard not to be emotive, and you do have to be emotive to introduce the human side, but we tend to err on the more neutral side of the information and the facts.

You’ve recently been expanding on what you as a charity do, could you tell us a bit more about the charity’s journey so far and where you’re headed in the future?

I think our founding story is quite iconic. It started with one girl in Cambridge called Tiara Sahar Ataii, who had worked as an interpreter in a refugee camp one summer - I recommend her Ted Talk for more information on sustainable solutions to the refugee ‘crisis’. She spent her student loan on a bunch of tshirts and delivered them by bike around Cambridge.

Originally the charity was just in Cambridge, but it later expanded to have regional teams across the country. We are now at more than 60 universities across 6 countries, and that’s been a real increase over the last four or five years. Last year was our biggest year yet in terms of how much we were able to give, and we’ve been able to pledge even more this year - this year we pledged £142,000. Over time we’ve also increased the number of NGOs that we are able to support, it’s now at eight. In terms of projections for the future, I think it will be expanding along this trajectory, so spreading the word a lot more, while keeping it student-led.

It’s an issue that isn’t going away, so we’re always just looking to adapt to the needs on the ground.

You’ve talked about a specific focus that SolidariTee has with ‘legal aid’ - why have you taken this direction?

Legal aid is really at the heart of what we work at. The NGOs we work with - traditionally we have worked primarily with ones in Greece, we have expanded this year into the West Balkans - are countries on Europe’s borders which play a central role with refugee movement, and have larger

numbers entering, and thus have a larger caseload of people applying for asylum. We look at the initial point of arrival and what often happens is that people arriving in Europe are in refugee camps, and they don’t have access to information about the asylum process.

The asylum process is a complex legal process, and people often go into it with very little information.

There’s also other problems, like how long people have to wait for asylum decisions and how long they’re waiting for interviews, but often during this time they’re unable to access information, or the information that they can access might have misconceptions in it. So we provide, through NGOs, this legal advice, lawyers and case workers who can sit with people and explain their process more clearly, as well as funding interpreters and translators. One of the organisations we fund is ‘Mobile Info Team’, who provide information and educational content about the asylum process via social media and Whatsapp etc. We also fund Fenix, which has a focus on ‘holistic’ legal aid, which is form of aid which takes into account the trauma and psychological circumstances of what many refugees have been through - asylum interviews are often confrontational, which can be re-traumatising, and also doesn’t take into account that when you have trauma, there are certain things that you might not be able to remember, or are willing to talk about, especially in that context. So we want asylum seekers to be able to tell their story in a way they’re comfortable with as part of empowering aid.

What are the main sources of ignorance around this?

I think the media lacks nuance in its presentation of immigrants and is sometimes actively hostile, which creates misunderstandings and prejudices. So for example the term ‘illegal asylum seeker’ can’t exist, because if you come to a country to claim asylum, international law says that you can’t be persecuted for the way that you’ve arrived. If you arrive by ‘irregular route’ AKA ‘illegal without a VISA’,

The Oxford Student | Friday 29th April 2022

then if you then turn yourself into the authorities when you arrive you haven’t committed a crime.

I don’t think people understand this. I also think people lack understanding when it comes to people coming to work - whether this is actually something we want to stop or whether that is also a form of, if not forced migration, not the most free choice they’ve been able to take. If we do have this ignorance about the nuances of refugee asylum law, I also think there is also active hostility on the part of governments, which you see in what has been called ‘the fortification of Europe’ in recent years, which seeks increasingly to ‘protect’ Europe’s external borders by excluding certain populations. So we see things like Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment policy’ and then follow this through various home secretaries to Priti Patel and Boris Johnson’s ‘Nationality and Borders Bill’, in which some aspects actually actively contravene the international law which grants protections to refugees and asylum seekers. In Europe, we are seeing a scary trend towards diminishing refugee rights, which

we can to help these people’, so I guess what the humanitarian sector needs to do is to inform people.

So broaden our perspective on who is someone who ‘deserves’ protection and health, which has been incredibly minimised by the British press and government, and also how they can best help these people. I think some recent initiatives about Ukraine are useful in terms of short-term solutions, but we need to look long-term.

How can people become involved, and how/why/where should they buy a t-shirt?

There are many ways you can support SolidariTee. If you go on our website there is a donations page, so you can always donate financially and there is an option to set up a ‘coffee cup’ donation of £3 per month. You can also volunteer with us - if you’re based in Oxford, you can get involved with the Oxford regional team by becoming a rep. You’ll do a quick interview, get a pack of t-shirts to sell, and would help with arranging events. If you would like to be involved regionally but can’t commit to being a rep, you can attend our events - like our social media

Profile | 15

who come from similar circumstances, like mine. For example, I didn’t grow up in a world where my parents took me to the theatre as a leisurely activity, and children of immigrants are often expected to be doctors, lawyers, engineers.

We are actively discouraged from going into artistic careers, especially due to the inherent lack of privilege and access to these spaces in the first place,” he says. _____________________

Michael explains how eventually, he began to get involved with running poetry workshops for Mind UK, a nationwide mental-health based charity.

“I did those workshops in Coventry when I was taking time out from my studies, and they were specifically targeted for students who grew up in care, and from underprivileged backgrounds. It was important to me to provide a space where people could creatively and safely express themselves.”

Throughout his time off, Michael also had the opportunity to pursue

Upon arriving at Oxford, Michael continued his involvement with activism and lobbying for underprivileged groups. He has been an advocate for the Student Union’s Liberation Campaigns such as Class Act and DisCam, and aims to raise awareness on the intersection between class and disability.

“I also think there should be more focus on accommodating neurodiversity, because at Oxford, it can seem as though people are talking about it all the time,” Michael continues, “but it also seems like nobody fully understands what it is – myself included.”

“Do you have ADHD by any chance?” I ask.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” he says.

I laugh and excitedly respond with, “oh gosh, me too!”

We continue to talk about his advocacy and activism, and he tells me about his involvement with the Bail Observation Project in Oxford, which aims to promote a more equitable system for immigrants and asylum seekers. Michael is also part of the Cameroon Conflict

he continues.

“Music and art have always been, and are always going to be a part of me. But I still need to improve my thinking on social issues before I go out to produce the creative work that speaks about those things – and I think that my degree in PPE might be able to help me understand these issues better.”

He explains further, “I am using my time at university to do the things that I’ve always been interested in, because I find that it’s a lot easier to get involved in making small changes within the Oxford community. It is also a lot easier to make small attempts to fix things within the system, instead of fixing certain things in my life that I cannot control.”

In an affirming conclusion to our conversation, Michael tells me, “we live in a world with inherently flawed systems, and I probably can’t fix the entire system. But I often ask myself, ‘what can I do to help people, and make the world a better place, whilst I’m still here?’”

“you know that your money is providing legal aid and empowering forms of assistance”

manifests itself in hostile immigration policy, and the complexity, bureaucracy and hostility within the asylum process across Europe is a reflection of that policy.

In the context of recent events in Ukraine, how are you looking to address recent upheavals and developments in addressing refugee rights?

I think the fact of what is happening in Ukraine just shows that this is not an issue which is going to go away, in Europe and globally. What is significant about recent events is, I think, that it has shown that Europe does very much have capacity to take on refugees, and so though it is bleak, the capacity is there: it is a matter of political will. And so I think what SolidariTee wants to do is change minds - inform people, educate people.

Because as soon as you tell people a humanising story about refugees, then various governmental policies seem inhumane. People’s reaction towards a ‘nicer’ media campaign towards refugees shows there is an intuitive human response to people fleeing conflict, which is ‘we need to do what

page, which has details of all of the events that we put on. We have free educational events, as well as fundraising events. You can also get involved by buying a t-shirt.

We have some designs which are like £10, some which are £12 (the price increase being because we have moved in recent years toward more ‘ethical production’) -. Our production costs are minimal, and everything that isn’t production costs goes directly to the NGOs that we fund. If you want to give to charity I think this is one of the most sustainable ways to do it - you get a visual marker of solidarity with displaced people worldwide, you get a beautiful tshirt which is designed by refugee artists, and you know that your money is providing legal aid and empowering forms of assistance to refugees and asylum seekers.

Message the Facebook page or email me at bethany.molyneux@ lincoln.ox.ac.uk if you’d like to buy a tee or get involved with the Oxford team!“I see myself as a very artistic person, with aspirations of an artistic career, but there is definitely a lack of cultural capital for those

a course with the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy on social entrepreneurship, and undertake a brief internship with MP Nick Bowles from the then Department of Innovation and Skills.

“When I worked with Bowles MP, it was mainly with a team of Oxford graduates and PPE-ists, and that was when the idea of continuing my further education became something I seriously wanted to pursue,” he says. He explains how the team had been very appreciative in recognising his talents and hard work, and had encouraged him to return to education and complete his A-Levels and apply to Oxford.

“But a lot of different complications meant that I could barely afford to financially survive when I went back to doing my A-Levels.

At one point, I was working in a warehouse from 10pm till 4am, and then going to school the next day, it was exhausting. And when I first got my Oxford offer, I eventually had to take another year out and re-apply again, due to issues with student finance,” he explains.

Research Group, which strives to raise awareness on ongoing turmoil within the region.

When I ask Michael about his immediate plans after graduation, he does not hesitate to tell me that he is ready to go back to making music, theatre and poetry. “I definitely want to continue giving poetry workshops, making films, and starting a social entrepreneurship to make all these opportunities a lot more accessible to people like me,” he says.

“Part of the reason why I also struggled a lot when I first came to Oxford was realising that I had become disconnected from who I thought I was, and what I wanted to do. So when I began to get involved within the creative scene here, it definitely brought me back to feeling like myself again.”

Among the productions he had been involved with are the short films ‘Black Lives Playlist’ in Hilary Term of 2021, ‘Lost Connection’, and ‘Blink’, in Trinity Term of 2021.

“I am so lucky to be here, and I want to make the most of all the privileges laid out in front of me,”

I reflect back on everything he has told me, and realise how Michael has inevitably answered his own question. We part ways with reassuring smiles, no longer in the crowded coffee shop, but instead, I am led out through the gates of University College and eventually find myself back on Oxford’s high street.

16 | Profile

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

In Conversation Maya Szaniecki

With the

T

his year on International Women’s Day (IWD), like most others, companies and organisations took to social media to show their undying support and celebration of women. The posts came out in their plenty with tags and empowering quotes, this year following the chosen theme of #BreakTheBias.

But, something was slightly different this year.

how the idea came about.

“It came from the frustration of seeing companies distribute messages of ‘empowerment’, ‘inspiration’ and ‘celebration’ for International Women’s Day, without actually doing anything to progress gender equality within their organisation,” she told me.

Francesca works as a freelance copywriter and social media manager, and Ali is a software consultant. It seems the bot gave them the perfect opportunity to combine their individual skills, as Francesca explained to me how they split the task of creating the bot:

A Twitter page named the Gender Pay Gap Bot (@paygappapp) started retweeting every post published by a UK organisation that referenced international women’s “I Francesca] worked on the day, alongside said organisation’s creative and strategic side, and Ali median gender pay gap. The statistook care of the coding. I sketched tics quickly spoke for themselves out an idea for how we could best and ingeniously highlighted input this data in the spotlight, and equalities within countless organiAli’s tech knowledge and skills sations, alongside their hypocrisy. brought it to life.

This trend of so-called performaThere are three main parts to it: tive activism is one we’ve seen on first, a bit of code searches Twitter countless occasions in the past few to identify the relevant usernames years, particularly via social mefor the companies in the governdia. Companies in particular are ment data. Next, a listener watches keen to claim their innocence and for tweets from those compashow support for activists through nies using various International their PR, often Women’s Day without incorkeywords. Then porating any when it finds a “We’ll definitely be concrete actions relevant tweet, back next IWD if or changes sent from one of themselves. nothing else!” the companies Indeed some of for which we the PR stunts hold gender pay for IWD this gap data, it pushes out the gender year were so elaborate and ridicupay gap as a quote tweet.” lous, it almost seems easier to just pay women fairly and equally. I It takes guts to openly and honspoke to Francesca Lawson, the estly confront so many organisacreator behind the bot alongside tions – many of which hold a lot of her partner Ali Fensome, about power – and display their insincer-

Maya Szaniecki sits down for a chat with Francesca Lawson, creator of the Gender Pay Gap Bot ity in such a transparent manner. I asked Francesca whether she had been worried about backlash from said companies.

“I expected that more companies would challenge us on it,” she told me, “but so far none have contacted us to complain. It’s their own data, and it’s available to the public, so I hope those companies realised that we’re not the bad guys here…we’re just providing factual statements to counteract their emotion-led International Women’s Day PR. In fact, I’m absolutely amazed by the amount of support we’ve had. I didn’t imagine one bit that our story would be picked up by journalists in Australia, Brazil, the US, and across Europe! I think what this shows is there’s a thirst for transparency and authenticity from companies and on social media, and our account managed to tap into that.”

When it comes to the gender pay gap there are often countless arguments which arise about how to measure it, how accurate it is and what it can show us. Arguments which often miss the wider point – that women’s work is still undervalued in comparison to that done by men. The gender pay gap bot notably compared the median gender pay gap, rather than the mean. I asked Francesa what the thinking was behind this choice:

inequality at other levels. Although pay disparity between the lowest and highest earners is still a problem, the median excludes the extremes and therefore gives an indication of the ‘typical’ situation,” she explained to me.

“Salary data covers such a wide range, that a small number of high/low salaries can distort the mean average. For example, the mean pay gap at a company with a female CEO is likely to be low, which can conceal issues with

Although the gender pay gap bot did reveal some saddening truths about how much disparity still exists within so many UK organisations, it did also provide some glee for those of us who are sick and tired of their PR stunts and inac-

Not to mention that the median can also point to the fact that there are more women in lower-paid positions than men, something which raises a lot of questions about how organisations should be levelling the playing field for all genders. But what more could they be doing?

“There are actions companies can take to resolve the inequalities within their organisations that they’re clearly not doing, because women’s median hourly pay was less than men’s for 77% of UK companies in 2020-2021,” Francesca explained to me. “Companies need to take responsibility for the inequalities in their organisations. It’s within their control to improve wages, introduce more flexible working patterns, improve their parental leave offering for all genders, introduce ‘blind’ applications and diverse interview panels to root out bias in their recruitment processes. Any of these things would help to remove some of the barriers women face at work, and reduce the gender pay gap.”

tion. I asked Francesca whether we can expect to see the bot back for next year’s IWD, or even raising awareness of the many other existing inequalities. Luckily, Francesca and Ali seem unwilling to leave their project behind any time soon.

“We’ll definitely be back next IWD if nothing else!” she told me.

“We’d love to be able to make a similar bot to challenge messages of corporate solidarity around Pride and Black History Month too, but we’re a bit limited by what data is available. We’re looking into a few different data sources which might make that possible, but what we really need is the UK government to expand compulsory reporting to include ethnicity pay gap data, for example. We know that problems with racial bias exist within companies, and we need to quantify the problem so we can start to fix it.”

Until then we can only hope that the light shone on these organisations’ hypocrisy this year will mean they can no longer shy away from what needs to change. Following the gender pay gap bot’s revelations, several organisations have actually deleted their original Tweets, presumably from shame and embarrassment. And who knows, maybe next IWD there will be people within them actually calling for change, rather than relying on a bot to do so.

Image Attribution: Screenshot of the gender pay gap bot’s twitter profile.

The Oxford Student | Friday 29th April 2022 Editors: Anmol Kejriwal, Srishti Kochar Deputy Editor: Madi Hopper identity@oxfordstudent.com

Identity

Identity | 17

The Holy Triad

“Whilst in an ideal world this intersection of holy dates would stand for Religious tolerance, solidarity and acceptance, it can also remind us of violence and division present even during times of observation”

Iona Neill reflects upon the convergence of Abrahamic religious festivals .

For the first time in 30 years, the three holy seasons of Easter, Passover and Ramadan are set to fall within the same period.

In 2022, the 40-day Lent period of fasting for Christians broadly aligns with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In fact, the Orthodox Christian calendar (in which Lent begins one week later than the West) aligns even more closely with Ramadan, with the end of Lent taking place on 23rd April whilst the end of Ramadan is expected to be 1st or 2nd May. Passover, on the other hand, begins on 15th April and ends on 23rd – the day before Orthodox Easter.

The dates of these celebrations differ slightly each year given their different and often confusing calendars. Whilst the Christian calendar depends on the solar equinox, the date of Passover follows a lunar calendar, using a corrective process to ensure that the date never drifts out of spring. The beginning and end of Ramadan also rely on the moon, with the beginning of the month of fasting marked by the sighting of the hilal (the crescent moon) for the first time after the end of a

lunar cycle. Whilst Ramadan falls making taxi drivers particularly largely in the month of April in grumpy where I live in Amman.

2022, next year it will begin in This fast is broken after sunset, March, and, by 2032, Ramadan is first with water and dates, then expected to fall within the winter with a meal called iftar. In the solstice. The date of Easter also West, Christian fasting for Lent hops around each year (no pun typically does not involve a comintended!) because it depends plete fast, but rather members on astrological factors, falling on are encouraged to ‘give up’ somethe first Sunday after the first full thing specific – anything from moon after the spring equinox.

TV to alcohol to rollerblading, as As a Christian in my favourite who lives in a “Moreover, whilst episode of Father majority Muslim Muslims and Chris- Ted. This differs country, I find tians fast in dif- quite significantly the overlap of ferent ways, the from the Orthodox Lent and Rama- religious purpose practice of fasting, dan particularly is similar: to dis- which can restrict significant. The tance yourself from the consumption fact that these material needs” of dairy, eggs, meat two times of and wine, with the fasting fall within reach of one Friday before Easter often being another provides a great feeling a complete fast where members of solidarity since almost every- eat nothing at all. one in the country is observing a However, whilst in an ideal holy time. Moreover, whilst Mus- world this intersection of holy lims and Christians fast in differ- dates would stand for religious ent ways, the religious purpose is tolerance, solidarity and acceptsimilar: to distance yourself from ance, it can also remind us of the material needs in order to become violence and division present closer to God. In Ramadan, Mus- even during times of observation. lims fast during daylight hours, In no other area of the world is abstaining from food and water, this division as clear as it is in Jeas well as cigarettes – the latter rusalem, where the past week has

seen “clashes” between Palestinian Muslims and Israeli forces at the al-Aqsa Mosque inside the Old City. This is just one in a trail of similar incidents that are chronically under-reported in the West.

Last year, attacks in and around the mosque during Ramadan escalated to an 11-day war between Israeli and Palestinian forces. This year again, even during the holiest time of the year for Muslims (most of whom are Palestinian), religious buildings are no longer safe spaces to pray and worship.

Meanwhile, just a few minutes to the north, Christians celebrate Palm Sunday with a procession of palm crosses to represent the crucifixion of Jesus. As Christians in the West celebrated Easter on Sunday, Pope Francis said in his address: “May Israelis, Palestinians and all who dwell in the Holy City, together with the pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, dwell in fraternity and enjoy free access to the holy places in mutual respect for the rights of each.”

Yet however much we hope for this prayer to become true, the violence and tension between Jerusalem’s religious groups is a reminder that coexistence does

not always lead to harmony – particularly under occupation.

But it is not all doom and gloom. One thing I have enjoyed about living in a Muslim country during Ramadan is an increase in people’s kindness and hospitality, in a culture that is already welcoming to guests and foreign travellers. Free water is available in many places on the streets after sundown, and in certain areas you find organisations providing a free meal for those who want to break their fast. The other day, I travelled in a bus during the hour before iftar, and after sunset a box of dates and water was passed around amongst all people who wished to share, regardless of whether they had been fasting or not. Amman may not be a good comparison to Jerusalem as it enjoys much greater religious and political stability, but even so it is an example of people coming together during a holy time, irrespective of background.

The convergence of holy dates might not mean harmony, particularly for those living in Jerusalem. But it seems necessary now, more than ever, to speak to those whose religions are different to

The Oxford Student | Friday 4th March 2022

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The Oxford Student | Friday 29th April 2022

Dania KAMAL ARYF

“To have to pay for my father’s sins is so unfair! But then I suppose every family has its crosses to bear. We’re all paying for past evils and mistakes. It’s what you Indians would call karma.”

U

“I have often felt that you prefer my company’s to Tom’s.” Niru’s initial response is one of shock and horror, yet, she eventually acknowledges this and says, “there are people that you love, and others that you would almost rather be with.”

On stage, the chemistry between Kashyap and Emmens is electric – yet, less so between Kashyap and Luke Nixon, who plays the role of Tom Helmer.

While their interactions as Niru and Tom appear much more strained and less organic, I suppose, that it is meant to be the entire point. Both Nixon and Kashyap deserve praise for this, and it is a remarkable portrayal that reenforces the idea of Niru and Tom forcing a marriage to work despite being fundamentally incompatible from the start.

Tom Helmer, whilst arguably still an arrogant, controlling husband, eventually sees himself at the end of the show grieving for Niru when she decides to leave.

Nixon is impressive in depicting Tom’s outbursts of rage; It is a genuinely terrifying spectacle for any member of the audience to see how he is capable of demonising and vilifying his ‘little Indian princess’, to suddenly infantilising and smothering her again, with a fetishising amount of pity and condescension.

In the Helmers’ home, grief is intertwined with betrayal, and with unhealed wounds from previous generations.

We witness the characters whispering to each other about having to pay for their parents’ sins, and how Tom, in a moment of rage, tells Niru that “you have the same blood as your father… I should have known better.“ He deems her as unfit to raise his children, and blames the lack of her mother’s presence in her upbringing. Likewise, Uma’s character is laden with the grief of being estranged from her own child, and she makes up for this by playing a

crucial role as their housekeeper, and the sole maternal figure in Niru’s life.

Krishna Lahiri and Kaushik Das (played by Ujaan Ganguly) are brilliant representations of the grief that accompanies class conflict, and financial difficulties. Ganguly’s acting was particularly emotional, and he wonderfully encapsulated Mr Das’ frustrations in the most raw, unbridled way.

Tom describes him as a “monstrous, unscrupulous ill-bred Indian man,” and Ganguly’s performance of Mr Das does not shy away from portraying how he no longer refuses to tolerate such disrespect. He does not hesitate to point out to Niru how, “you marry a white man, take his religion and then treat us all the way they treat us?”

As the story draws to a close, it becomes evident that the destruction caused by endless layers of betrayal, especially within the Helmers’ marriage, has reached a point of no return.

The grief that accompanies such a realisation is sharp, striking, yet painfully necessary. It is most evident when Niru cries, “for eight years, I’ve been living with a stranger, and had borne him children. I can’t bear to think of it, I could tear myself to pieces!”

Tanika Gupta’s adaptation of A Doll’s House is heavy with its endless portrayals of what it means to be human – the beautiful, the terrifying, and the mundane. More so, it brilliantly explores the extent of intimacy within human relationships that transcend race, class, and time.

A few months prior to the production, Director Jigyasa Anand approached me to ask if I would be interested in writing about their upcoming show. I eventually sat through an enthusiastic, two hour conversation with Jigyasa and with the production’s ‘resident historian’, Srutokirti Basak. We conversed excitedly about the production team’s ideas, vision, and creative aspirations.

Needless to say, when A Doll’s House was finally brought to life, it successfully lived up to every single one of my expectations.

Editors: Joe Wald, Kian Moghaddas, Duoya Li, Yii-Jen Deng

to be highly commended for their performances.

While the show still adheres to Ibsen’s original that spotlights the imbalanced power dynamics and sexual politics prevalent within the Helmers’ marriage – it has also managed to capture the essence of grief as something inherently universal: regardless of gender, ethnicity, or social stature.

I think that is what I find most captivating and poignant about this adaptation.

The entire team from Velvet Morning Productions have impressively managed to retain the emotional depth and earth-shattering heartbreak that is so prominent in Ibsen’s original, into a setting that is geographically so distant.

If anything, the added dimension of Tanika Gupta’s post-colonial re-writing of this play just makes this story even more humanising, especially for women of colour navigating the many uncomfortable truths that often arise within inter-racial relationships.

Dr Rank, arguably my favourite character from the entire show, is portrayed perfectly by Joe Emmens. Charming and intelligent, yet equally pessimistic and morose in his worldview, I like to believe that Dr Rank is symbolic of the grief that often accompanies ‘what could have been’. He laments a lot about his ill health (despite being a doctor himself) and how being born with a venereal disease has stolen several years from his life.

“To have to pay for my father’s sins is so unfair! But then I suppose every family has its crosses to bear. We’re all paying for past evils and mistakes. It’s what you Indians would call karma,” he mourns.

Likewise, his friendship with Niru, is also a wistful portrayal of an un-pursued romance that remains suppressed due to impossible circumstances. When he professes his love for Niru shortly before his death, he remarks how,

oxstu.culture@oxfordstudent.com

pon entrance into the Keble O’Reilly, one cannot help but immediately notice how the overall set design is overwhelmingly beautiful. The backdrop features a house’s front façade painted bright yellow, bathed in colourful lights – representative of a charming 1898 Kolkata and its inhabitants. The muted decor and furniture of a quintessential Victorian living room strikes a most noticeable contrast against its surroundings. As we wait for the show to commence, there is a man onstage playing the tabla to traditional live music, and the room is gradually filled with the aromatic smell of burning incense.

This is how we are introduced into the Helmers’ home.

The Helmers are meant to be a perfect family – static and unflinching as beautifully polished dolls in a perfect, one dimensional world.

Niru is revered for her beauty, and Tom for his political power. Yet, underneath the gleam of such superficial desirability, their entire family has been built upon nothing but deception and denial.

This is how their doll’s house eventually collapses, and falls apart.

As the audience sits through a two-hour performance (including a 15-minute interval), we witness the Helmer’s marriage being deconstructed, piece-by-piece, shattering both Niru and Tom’s perception of reality. As the story unfolds, we also witness how each of the characters in this show are plagued by the weight of their grief.

Grief is so very heavy – and yet, the entire cast have managed to carry this complex emotion impressively well. The portrayal of grief, growth, and womanhood, through Niru, Uma, and Mrs Lahiri, are especially poignant and admirable. Disha Kashyap as Niru Helmer, Kiran Dhillon as Uma, and Jade Khan as Mrs Lahiri deserve

Enter tainment

A Doll’s House Review: The Weight of One’s Grief

20 | Entertainment

Fantastic Beasts:

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

The Culture Wars Strike Back Will Neill

Enter tainment

F

antastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is a nightmarish film. Far from a relaxing exam break, this was a two-and-asomething-hours long car crash of a movie. The film reminded me a lot of the Star Wars prequels, with overqualified actors reduced to contrived, overcomplicated dialogue with CGI characters. Driving back home, I tried to recall what had happened in the film and it all blurred together into a haze; a sort of elongated fever dream one has between fits of vomiting.

I quite enjoyed the first Fantastic Beasts film released in 2016. It was a simple story about a quirky wizard collecting strange creatures, with lots of British charm. However, following this film’s box office success, Warner Bros decided to relaunch the franchise as a five-part epic series about the war between Hogwart’s Professor Dumbledore and clearly Hitler-inspired Gellert Grindelwald. This was an overt attempt to recapture the Harry Potter magic but seems the sudden dark shift of the films is strange considering the whimsical simplicity of the first film. The resulting sequels therefore have all the tonal whiplash of a grim fusion between Come and See and Detective Pikachu. This surreal combination was reflected in one scene of the new film: scenes of a wiz-

arding mass meeting resembling the Nuremberg Rally were interspersed with shots of Eddie Redmayne dancing like a crab. A moment of cognitive dissonance. I’m not sure if the film wanted me to laugh, I did often but at and not with it.

I don’t know who this film is for.

It definitely isn’t for children; they will be bored stiff by the convoluted political nonsense of the plot. But I don’t think this film is for adults either. This isn’t for anyone. Despite the fact that these are basically the ‘Dumbledore’ series of films, they still have to shoehorn in the titular Fantastic Beasts in increasingly ridiculous ways. In this film, the whole narrative revolves around the characters capturing a magical baby deer that will determine who will become the leader of the Wizarding World - it is as absurd as it sounds. I can’t say I recall there ever being a ‘Wizard World leader’ in pre- vious films, and I still don’t quite understand why the wizards believe that a light-up fawn is needed to pick this leader, but then nor do I really care. I think Fantastic Beasts 3

would have been better realised in podcast form, with just one continuous sound of a long, constipated groan.

The political satire here is as obvious as it is tired, and perhaps I was projecting but there seemed a general energy of fatigue throughout the film. They don’t want to make two more of these films as much as the audience doesn’t want to see them.

Thankfully the filmmakers seemed very aware of the general exhaustion surrounding the franchise. I enjoyed the fact that when returning characters were introduced, they had this tendency to monologue about who they were and what happened to them in the previous films, an almost meta-acknowledgment of the fact that the audience both can’t remember and don’t give a shit.

I write this not just as a very grumpy cynic but also as a big fan of the Harry Potter franchise. I read all the books when I was younger, and binged the films over the Christmas vac. I think what I enjoy the most about those films are the memorable characters and the stellar cast who play them. The Harry Potter films feature, it seems, almost every British actor on the planet: Dame Maggie Smith, Jason Isaacs, John Hurt, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, David Tennant, Ralph Fiennes, to name but a few. The Fantastic Beasts franchise also contains an extensive cast, but with a lot of quite dull side characters played by less established actors. There are so many sidecharacters and subplots in this film and yet, despite all this commotion, so little happens; it

is less of a story and more of a cinematic optical illusion. Why does Newt Scamander need a brother in this who has no character and simply follows him around the whole film? Does there really need to be an extended side story about a wizard who infiltrates the Nazis, is revealed to be a Nazi, and then turns out to be double-double-agent non-Nazi?

Even poor Mads Mikkelsen isn’t given very much to do, as if all the script direction he was given was ‘LURK ABOUT - LOOK INTIMIDATING’. Voldemort was hardly a subtle villain; however it does seem to me there is more going on with him than just literally being ‘Wizard Hitler’ as Mikkelsen’s character Gellert Grindelwald appears to be.

My personal highlight of the film was Jude Law who made the bizarre decision to try and replicate Michael Gambon’s accent as Dumbledore, talking normally but attempting to end every sentence with an Irish accent. Far from capturing Gambon’s Dublin roots, for most of the film I thought that the secret of Dumbledore was that he was Cornish. It reminded me of those stories in the paper you read about a person from Australia waking up from a coma speaking French. The comedy from Law’s accent was not intended, but was the only magic found in this miserable mess.

It’s not a huge surprise that this film is such a disaster considering the controversy surrounding it, with J.K. Rowling’s TERF wars, Johnny Depp’s trial and subsequent recasting, and now Ezra Miller’s repeated scraps all capturing headlines and shining constant negative attention on the series. It feels both fitting and ironic that a film about political division and culture wars has descended into becoming itself a hotly contested part of the culture war. They say that there’s no such thing as bad press, but as it stands The Secrets of Dumbledore is performing poorly in comparison to previous Wizarding World films, and Warner Bros has made it clear that the franchises’ future hangs in the balance.

Image Credits: Sean Thomas via Unsplash

The Oxford Student | Friday 29th April 2022

Exhibition: Tutankhamun at the Weston Library

Entertainment | 21

Blane Aitchinson

T

utankhamun: Excavating the Archive’ is a new exhibit at the Weston Library that attempts to retell the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb not through jewels and treasure, but rather through the diaries, photographs and records kept by the team that found the tomb. These documents now reside in the archives of the Griffith Institute.

The exhibit has a vivid focus on the thoughts of lead excavator Howard Carter, financier Lord Carnarvon, archaeologist Arthur Mace and others, as seen through contemporary

documents. This human approach is a novel and colourful one, and it is undoubtedly this which brings the exhibition to life. Other highlights include the original diary of Howard Carter and a podium where visitors can hear a short recording of one of Carter’s lectures about the discovery of the tomb.

At the back of the exhibition room is a section dedicated to a set of three photos of an Egyptian boy wearing an elaborate necklace at the time of the dig. Whereas most museums would focus on the necklace, the exhibit instead focusses on the boy and

tells his story. This originality is often lacking in Egyptological exhibits; this exhibition pushes the Egyptian members of the excavation team back into the public eye.

Further displays explore the reception of the excavation by the general public, namely the commercialisation of the dig through board games, literature, music and even the brand of lemons that was named after Tutankhamun. This is an important aspect which is often neglected and its inclusion here is indicative of the curators’ commitment to telling the human story of the find.

Unfortunately, the archaeologistcentred approach to the exhibit left something to be desired.

proposal to Elizabeth Harman, and subsequently denied for the role of Regius Professor of Greek.

But the problems of Oxford in the interwar period that Dunn reveals are far greater in reach than just these three men. She includes, in addition, the problem of Oxford’s attitudes towards women - it sometimes feels as though the book yearns for this to be its main theme, but is constrained by its focus on the classical trinity of Dodds, Murray, and Bowra. Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby make up part of the book’s supporting cast.

Touching scenes are set in the ladies’ colleges of the time (Dunn seems to have a particular affinity for Somerville), and due credit is given to the legendary female classicists at these colleges.

The world of women somewhat uncomfortably inhabits an Oxford dominated by men. Although Dodds, Murray, and Bowra were in support of women studying at Oxford, the book gives the impression that their interactions with women were not always comfortable. Bowra’s aforementioned proposal came as a shock to just about everyone (he was gay).

On one occasion, when asked why he had chosen such a plain woman, Bowra responded: ‘Buggers can’t be choosers’, and his wit is much of what makes the book come alive.

At the same time, one cannot help feeling that the overall impression of Dunn’s book is slightly misleading. Not Far From Brideshead, it is titled, as if to suggest that interwar Oxford was quite like the Oxford immortalised by Waugh in Brideshead Revisited. By focusing on important characters, Dunn creates the impression that Oxford was a

place full of important people, or soon-to-be important people. It is a world where somehow all these important people know each other and are friends. We see a picture of Bowra with Virginia Woolf and end up with the impression that everyone was connected in some enormous Oxford network. At regular intervals, other impressive names appear. One reads of Bowra’s visit to so-and-so, and suddenly Churchill is there too. At other times Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley make guest appearances.

Was Oxford really full to the brim of such characters? Were there so many familiar names and faces?

Were there no mediocrities? Yes, there were; there must have been.

Indeed, the book begins by quoting a letter from Lady Pansy Lamb to Evelyn Waugh. She describes the Oxford she experienced: ‘Nobody was brilliant, beautiful, rich & owner of a wonderful home though some were one or the other.’ In other words, interwar Oxford gets an overly flattering treatment in Brideshead Revisited. Countless people passed through Oxford whom we have never heard of. Pictures of the time are often flooded with people labelled ‘unidentified’. It would be helpful for this fact to be mentioned once or twice.

Oxford wasn’t

just Dodds, Murray, Bowra, and all those other famous names that Dunn mentions. It must have felt sheltered, and to many was enjoyable, but was, nevertheless, quite far from Brideshead.

‘Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archive’ is a free exhibit at the Weston Library until 5th February 2023

Strangely enough, very little is explained about Tutankhamun himself, leaving him feeling somewhat erased, despite the exhibition being named after him. It may just be that curators, Bruce Parkinson along with Dr. Daniela Rosenow, expect visitors to know who Tutankhamun is, but a brief biography definitely wouldn’t go amiss, and wouldn’t be overpowering to the main focus of the exhibit.

Book Review: Not Far From Brideshead by Daisy Dunn Kian Moghaddas

D

o you ever wish you lived in Evelyn Waugh’s Oxford? Perhaps it is a malady unique to me. A world of artists and poets, aesthetes milling about in ostentatious colours, exuberant larger-than-life tutors, the kind who would invite students to lunch, who would be their friends rather than mere academic supervisors. These are at least some of the characters that populate Daisy Dunn’s Not Far From Brideshead: Oxford Between the Wars (2022). The book is enough to inspire nostalgia in anyone for a time they never experienced.

It pivots around the lives of three exceptional classicists: E.R. Dodds, Gilbert Murray, and Maurice Bowra.

The names may already be familiar to those studying Classics, owing to the older items on their reading lists. I, therefore, being a classicist, felt very much at home in the world of the book. But non-classicists will be kept interested by frequent mention of a cast of other famous names: Virginia Woolf, Charlie Chaplin, and the man whose novels defined this age in Oxford’s history as one of beauty, Evelyn Waugh.

Not Far From Brideshead, though, is not merely an exercise in rousing nostalgia, nor a simple love-letter to Oxford. Instead, Dunn skilfully portrays the problems that plague Oxford as well as all its cosy beauty.

The three main figures of the book suffer disappointments and tragedies of their own. Dodds, we learn, was asked to leave Oxford over his support for The Easter Rising; Murray keenly felt the pain of rejection in love; and Bowra had as many personal disappointments as professional ones, being denied in his marriage

Image credits: Nikita Ti via Unsplash

Image credits: Adrian Dascal via Unsplash

Friday 29 April 2022 | The Oxford Student

FOOD&DRINK

Food od & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink

22 | Food and Drink

Editors: Jasmine Wilkinson, Lydia Fontes Deputy Editor: Yii-Jen Deng food@oxfordstudent.com

Happy National Bubble Tea Day:

The Joys of Boba Yii-Jen Deng

Food & Drink Editor

T

omorrow (April 30th) is National Bubble Tea Day – so Instagram says, and this is my excuse for pondering a panegyric on the subject, with a trip to Formosa later. Doubtless I am falling into the marketing ploy, but the fact that bubble tea (or boba) is five minutes away means I can’t resist, and it feels marvellous in itself that there is such a shop nearby, and such a day.

After all, remember back when bubble tea barely existed in England? I remember hopelessly trying to explain to my friends in the play-

M

ay Day is fast approaching, and so is the traditional deathly all-nighter that many Oxford students will be attempting, followed by the angelic singing beneath Magdalen’s Great Tower at 6 am. These May Day Muffins are the perfect fuel if you do decide to take on this challenge, whilst giving more sensible students a delicious taste of spring, using rhubarb, one of spring’s finest ingredients. Reminiscent of one of England’s favourite desserts, the tart rhubarb is complemented by the sweetness of the custard, making these muffins, like the May Day Celebrations, unmissable!

ground what this fabulous beverage was – LOADS OF SUGAR, I think I said, and well, PEARLS (so the translation goes), which you can eat! ‘Eating pearls?’ they queried, sceptically. ‘In tea?’ This was, perhaps, ten or fifteen years ago (I am proud to say that they’re now as obsessed as I am).

Yet such ramblings on sugar and pearls only enriched the golden associations of bubble tea at the time: for me it represented summer, and fun, and endless carousels of all-you-can eat vegetarian buffets, for bubble tea meant Taiwan which, in those days, meant simply family. I loved bubble tea so much that my aunt always had one waiting for me, cold and sweet, the very day we stepped off the plane, jetlagged and tired but so excited to be ‘back’.

So perhaps there is something inherently childish about my love of bubble tea: I like the satisfying pop when you strike your straw through the cellophane cover, and the focus needed to get at those last bubbles. I love how QQ they are (a word for a specific kind of chewiness; there are some onomatopoeias that English needs, and QQ is one of them!).

Part of the fun is in the translation; I en-

joy poring over the menu with its myriad flavours – taro, red bean, mango yakult, and more – seeing which Chinese characters I recognize, or how they’ve rendered the English (T4’s ‘Ballet chocolate milk tea’ is an intriguing one), though I almost always get the classic.

perhaps there is something inherently childish about my love of bubble tea.

The aroma of sugar and milk and oolong tea on a hot day makes me feel as though 7-elevens and egg cakes should be just around the corner. Partly such ludicrous nostalgia comes from not visiting Taiwan for three years – the longest ever – or possibly I’m just hungry (for rice burgers and gua bao and shaved ice with grass jelly).

It’s the ultimate treat. Before bubble tea stores began opening in London, we tried making them at home, cooking tapioca pearls in sugar and water before enthusiastically dolloping them into milky tea. It doesn’t quite capture the slight decadence which bubble tea ought to have however: there’s a knack to getting the texture of the pearls right and, besides, the amount of sugar doesn’t really bear thinking about… Better, these days, to glide serenely into a shop and request – Lychee? Jasmine? Winter melon? – and find the sweetness placed in your

RECIPE:

Makes an estimated 20 muffins

hands, to enjoy with friends and family under a blue sky.

Bubble tea is ‘normal’ now, and you even can find such innovations (or aberrations) as boba pizza or boba noodles, as well as the (much nicer) bubble-tea flavoured mochi. It is moreover possible to speak of ‘boba liberalism’ or the ‘Milk Tea Alliance’, purchase plushies or necklaces with kawaii bubble tea designs, and read long-form articles about its connotations. Invented in Taiwan and popularised by the Asian diaspora in America, it occupies an idiosyncratic role as a popular drink that has been embraced as an icon – the humble bubble tea as a cultural identity symbol and touchstone of politics.

But I still feel a silly thrill of delight when I have one, and Oxford has so many bubble tea stores: Formosa is truly wonderful, and I go to Chatime or YiFang for old time’s sake (Bubbleology however, with its brash unfamiliar colours, is one I’ve yet to explore!).

On other days I almost regret the proliferation – the temptation! – and perhaps because it’s not the same. What I wish for is a cup of endless summer days where the big question of ‘where do we go next?’ meant arcades or a Rilakkuma café. Then my cup of bubble tea arrives, delicious as always, and I am ridiculously glad.

Wishing you all a Happy Bubble Tea Day. Image credits: MYCCF via pixabay

May Day Muffins

Jasmine Wilkinson Food & Drink Editor

Ingredients: 2 medium eggs 125ml vegetable oil 250ml semi-skimmed milk 250g caster sugar 400g self-raising flour 1tsp of salt 300g of rhubarb, washed and chopped into 1cm pieces Carton of custard Icing sugar (optional) for dusting Instructions: Step 1: Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/ gas 6. Line 2 muffin trays with paper

muffin cases. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk or electric mixer.

Step 2: Add 125ml vegetable oil and 250ml semi-skimmed milk, and beat until just combined, then add 250g of caster sugar and whisk until you have a smooth batter.

Step 3: Sift in 400g self-raising flour and 1 tsp salt, then mix until just smooth.

Be careful to not overmix the batter!

Step 4: Stir in the chopped rhubarb until well incorporated.

Step 5: Fill the muffin cases 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are risen, firm to the touch, and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Step 6: Leave the muffins in the tin to cool for a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 7: Use a knife to cut circles out of the muffins, and then spoon custard into the holes, before replacing the lids on the muffins. Enjoy!

The Oxford Student | Friday 29 April 2022

The Imitation Game:

Food & Drink Editor

I

In today’s world of environmental concern and ethical consumerism, many people are starting to think twice about the amount of meat and dairy products they buy. Whether you’re going completely vegan or just cutting down, at some point you are guaranteed to miss meat and dairy and turn to plant-based imitations.

Now, more than ever, supermarket shelves are stocked with these alternatives; brands like Quorn, Alpro and Tofoo are bringing out new products all the time. The task of meat and dairy imitation is not an easy one and we all know these products can be hit or miss. This list provides a quick guide to a few of the vegan and vegetarian alternatives I have tried, rated out of ten for your convenience.

Quorn Chicken Nuggets Vegetarian Tesco price: £2.20 9.5/10

Starting this list off strong with a veggie classic! I have yet to meet a vegetarian who is not partial to a Quorn chicken nugget. Find them on the menu at all good Wetherspoon establishments or in the frozen food aisle at Tesco, they are reliably delicious and surprisingly versatile. I am not ashamed to admit that I had Quorn chicken nuggets for my Christmas dinner last year, alongside more traditional trimmings.

I could not have been happier.

But the downfall of Quorn nuggets, and the reason I have deducted half a point from their score, is that they are not vegan: like most Quorn products, they contain egg.

Quorn have recently been expanding their vegan range, using potato protein as an egg substitute – here’s hoping that one day our

vegan brothers and sisters will be able to enjoy this delicacy with us.

Violife ‘just like’ cream cheese Vegan Tesco price: £2.50 1/10

As I reached for this vegan cream cheese alternative in Tesco last term, I knew I was taking a risk.

Vegan cheese is famously difficult to perfect, and few can claim to have enjoyed it. In fact, I may have only ever had one good experience with the stuff, and it was at a vegan restaurant in New York when I was 17.

I’m not sure what convinced me that I could recreate this experience in the dairy alternatives’ aisle of the Magdalen Street Tesco, but I willingly surrendered my £2.50 for the chance to sample Violife’s vegan soft cheese. It is only right that I warn the Oxford Student readership against making a similar error. Despite what the reassuring branding suggests, Violife’s product is not ‘just like’ cream cheese.

It is not like cream cheese at all.

As soon as you open Violife soft cheese you are aware that something is wrong. The eerily bright white colour which stares up at you from beneath the tinfoil is less than promising.

The culprit behind this colour is coconut oil, the chosen dairy replacement. It turns out, not altogether surprisingly, that the sweetness of coconut goes very badly with the strong salty yeastiness of the ‘cheese’ flavouring. In the immortal words of Tyra Banks, “it is so bad, I want to give you a zero”, but, just for effort

Oat Milk Vegan Tesco price: £1 - £2 3/10

This is perhaps the most controversial rating of this list. Many will be surprised to see oat milk treated so harshly after the cultural buzz it has received over the last two years. Oat milk was the ‘it’ girl of 2020, suddenly surging in popularity to become the UK’s favourite plant-based milk

by September of 2021. You could not walk into a coffee shop last summer without hearing requests for oat milk iced lattes and oat cappuccinos, oat was omnipresent.

The nation has sustained this oat obsession into 2022, but I say the madness stops here. It’s not awful but it’s gloopy, and that’s my final word.

Soy milk Vegan Tesco price: £1 - £1.80 8/10

There was a time not too long ago when ‘non-dairy milk’ was synonymous with the soya bean.

The humble soy led the long and arduous uphill struggle for the milk alternative, only to be cast aside for the glamourous almond or the trendy oat. Having freed myself from the oat milk cult, I have returned to this old favourite as my go-to milk. I prefer the thinner consistency and it doesn’t separate in the carton like oat milk tends to. The high protein content of

soy milk is also reassuring for those concerned that a vegan or vegetarian diet will leave them wanting.

Alpro yoghurt Vegan Tesco price: £1 - £2 10/10

I am pleased to end this list on a high note, and you can’t get much higher in my esteem than Alpro yoghurt alternatives. My flatmate and I discovered this gem in the middle of a long and difficult Hilary term and instantly fell in love. Before long our fridge was seldom seen without multiple pots of Alpro yoghurt. I ate them for breakfast, as a mid-morning snack and as an after-dinner treat.

I ate peach Alpro yoghurt, strawberry and banana Alpro yoghurt, raspberry and cranberry Alpro yoghurt. Whatever the flavour or the occasion, it hits the spot.

I am a great believer that vegan and vegetarian alternatives should be judged by how enjoyable they are to eat as stand-alone products, irrespective of how they compare to the meat or dairy option they are imitating. However, I was truly amazed by the convincing creaminess of the Alpro yoghurt alternatives – the harshest critic would struggle to distinguish them from a yoghurt made with cow’s milk.

You cannot fault it. Alpro yoghurt is the perfect 10 Image credits: Anna Pelzer via Unsplash

Food od & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink

Lydia Fontes

and the admirable vegan cause I give Violife ‘just like’ cream cheese a 1/10.

FOOD&DRINK

a guide to the vegetarian and vegan alternatives available in YOUR local supermarket

Food and Drink | 23

24 | Pink

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

Pink Uncomfortable Oxford:

Editors: Agatha Gutierrez Echenique (senior); Jessica Kaye, Kiki Wrece (section) oxstu.pink@gmail.com

Hidden Histories Tour

Abigail Stevens

T

he statue of Dorothy Wadham at Wadham College (pictured above) is the only statue of a woman who is not a religious figure or royalty in Oxford. In the early 1600s, Wadham used her late husband’s fortune to build the college, patronage being one of the only ways women involved themselves with the university.

I know it will come as a huge shock to everyone that history has primarily celebrated the accomplishments of straight white men, especially Oxonian history.

However, local students and academics are working to bring to light the legacy of discrimination, imperialism, and inequality in Oxford.

Uncomfortable Oxford is an organisation that employs Oxford University students to lead walking tours and educate people about the town’s uncomfortable history. The organisation also highlights those whose accomplishments have been overlooked. On March 5th, I went on Uncomfortable Oxford’s “Hidden Histories” tour and heard several stories about women and queer people working and studying within Oxford’s culture of traditional masculinity. This tour was engaging. Our tour guide Julie regularly invited us to contribute to the conversation and strongly encouraged us to question today’s status quo. Here are four the topics we discussed:

Nurses and the NHS: When Julie asked our group what we thought about the treatment of nurses, the group’s consensus was that society undervalues nurses. The Rad Cam and the Radcliffe Humanities building are named for John Radcliffe, whose estate paid for the construction of several pieces of architecture in Oxford, although countless others contributed to the history of these buildings. Radcliffe Humanities originally served as the Radcliffe Infirmary, where nurse Thora Silverthorne trained and worked in the early 20th century, while also participating in activism that would later lead to the formation of the NHS. Today the NHS is a point of pride for Britain, but it rarely recognizes the contributions of nurses to the organisation, while COVID-19 has made the job more stressful and demanding.

A Self-Defining Process: Sommerville College was founded in 1879 as one of Oxford University’s first women’s colleges, the other being Lady Margaret Hall. However, women still faced sexism and racism as students at the university and those who were able to attend often came from wealthy backgrounds. One of these women is Catherine Duleep Singh, the daughter of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and the goddaughter of Queen Victoria, who was born and raised in the UK and educated at Sommerville at the end of the 19th century. After graduating,

she lived with her partner Lina Schäfer in Germany for more than 30 years and the couple smuggled many Jewish families out of the country in the years leading up to WWII. Duleep Singh requested to be buried next to Schäfer in her will.

A Trans Man Attending a Women’s College: Laurence Michael Dillon was the first person to transition from female to male with hormones and surgery. Dillon attended St. Anne’s College and was a part of the women’s rowing team in the 1930s. After graduating, he began treatment for sexual reassignment and was able to change his birth certificate. Dillon had trouble applying to schools and jobs because his transcripts from Oxford revealed that he had attended St. Anne’s, an all-women’s college. However, when he enrolled in medical school in the 1940s, Dillon was able to have his transcripts changed to state that he graduated from Brasenose. Dillon left Britain after the press disclosed his identity and wrote his autobiography entitled Out of the Ordinary: A Life of Gender and Spiritual Transitions.

Prostitution and the University Jail: Oxford, originally being the site of an originally all-male university, became the centre of a lucrative prostitution market that attracted many young women, who came to the city specifically for this work. Many of these women worked different jobs by day and were smuggled onto

university premises at night. The university took it upon itself to police the women (not as much as the men) and established the nightly patrol. If a woman was walking alone at night, it was automatically assumed that she was a prostitute. If she were caught doing so, he would then be arrested and thrown into the jail that resided underneath the Old Clarendon building. This practice persisted until the beginning of the 20th century, after Sommerville and Margaret Hall opened as the first women’s colleges, presenting some obvious challenges for the university’s first female students.

In addition to several more individual histories, we also discussed the sexism that still prevails in the workplace. Sexual misconduct is at the forefront of these issues and Al Jazeera investigated several staff members at Oxford University just this fall. The geography of the town itself is gendered, while the old women’s colleges are located on the outskirts, further away from the centre of the university. Additionally, the struggles of childcare whilst completing postgraduate studies can cause difficulties for mothers who are expected to care for their young children. Oftentimes, it can be difficult for women to accept positions into these postgraduate studies because of long waitlists at childcare programs.

I highly recommend attending one of Uncomfortable Oxford’s tours for a crash course in hon-

est history. As a young woman, it is disheartening but crucial for me to hear about the opportunities denied to women in the past while confronting the realities of the present day. However, this tour also celebrates the accomplishments and perseverance of women and queer individuals.

Other tours focus on subjects such as imperialism, literature, money, and medieval history. Uncomfortable Oxford strives to educate the public about the true stories behind the romanticized history that has dominated textbooks for centuries.

Find Uncomfortable Oxford Tours at: https://www. uncomfortableoxford.co.uk/

Resources Consulted for this Article: Durand, O. (2021), “Proctors and Prostitutes: Policing Women at the University of Oxford,” from Uncomfortable Oxford Tours website:

Yong, J. (2020), “’Of Oxford... chiefly North’: Women in Oxford” from Uncomfortable Oxford Tours Website.

“Trans Pioneers,” part of “Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Histories” section of Historic England website.

McKeown, M. (2020), “Love and resistance: Re-inventing radical nurses in everyday struggles.” J Clin Nurs, 29: 1023-1025.

Image Credit: Abigail Stevens.

The Oxford Student | Friday 29th April 2022

Editors: Jen Jackson, Susie Barrows, Milo Dennison, Jonah Poulard

OXYOU

Top things to do in Trinity Katharine SPURRIER

Y

our tutors will say that Trinity is for exams, hard work, and rounding off the year academically strong… this is a lie. The summer is finally here and for the first time since 2019 it might be normal!

If you follow this concise but definitive list, then the ultimate Oxford term awaits you.

1) BE AESTHETIC - You have seen the influencers, scrolled through the pictures of iced lattes, browsed crochet tops on Depop all in preparation for this moment. Trinity means Instagram aesthetics. Why else did you try so hard to get into the best university in the world? Trinity brings with it your license to lounge on college lawns and remind the world you go to Oxford with a strategically placed copy of Beowulf on your Instagram story. Hello Port Meadow, goodbye lectures.

Trinity is the time to be your best, most aggressively aesthetic self … by this point in the year someone might have forgotten about the five different matriculation posts on your feed and thought you went to Durham.

2) GET ‘BEACH BODY’ READY – No, I do not mean Trinity is for intensive gyming, long runs, or plenty of protein. The ideal Trinity physique comes in an ability to actually survive what might be the worst term of the academic calendar. There is no point getting to the only decent vac we have, not having seen a glimmer of sunshine and looking like the 8th Cullen (Twilight apparently - ed.). Trinity

should exude the energy of sixth form when the DVD collection is brought out, it should be punctuated by training sessions of doing absolutely nothing to mentally prepare yourself for 3 months of idleness, it should make you question if today might be the day you contract the mystery illness from the questionable contents of the Cherwell. Don’t let Trinity be anything other than the pre-rest before the vac.

3) REVIVE YOUR SUPERIORITY COMPLEX - This one may be somewhat year applicable but by the time your second or third summer comes around I assure you there is nothing more satisfying than an afternoon spent observing the chaos that is punting. No activity has ever made such a reasonably bright group look quite so inept. As far as spectators’ sports go, leave rowing at the boat houses and head down Christ Church Meadow for an afternoon of the purest form of entertainment.

4) ANTI-PRELIMS PROPAGANDA – a worthy extension of the above, condescension towards those taking Prelims in Trinity is of course a requirement for any summer term schedule. Privately, I will acknowledge that to many Prelims are really taxing, and my deepest sympathies go out to those having to struggle through such important and life-changing examinations. So, when looking for a solution to ease the burden of stress that is placed on first year shoulders, I find it is always nice to do your civic duty and remind them that maybe they don’t

need to print off every past paper ever written thus breaking the only college printer.

5) FIND YOUR INNER SUPERSAVER - The Oxford student, particularly when it comes to buying drinks, is often a little mean when it comes to expenditure. So, lucky you… I have a summer money saving tip for you. The exorbitantly priced drinks offered up at the likes of the King’s Arms or Isis Farmhouse do not help your student budget. Yet, if you were looking for that ever so basic drink epitomising everything about Britain between May and September look no further than The Bear. Within this gem can be found possibly the cheapest jug of Pimm’s in the County.

Don’t be a fool and shell out £25 for what is possibly the most underwhelming drink of the summer season, go to The Bear and live out all your British Summer dreams for a price that is almost reasonable – don’t forget you’ve got that unpaid working experience to fund.

6) TAKE MAMMA MIA! TOO FAR – Universal Pictures did a terrible thing when they released Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Not only did they reignite the urge to immediately go Greek Island hopping, but they also validated every Oxford Students dream that one day they might be spontaneous and fun, that they have not sold their soul to a life of academia, banking, or law. Trinity is a term for promising yourself you will go away, discussing all the holidays you will book when you’ve finished your essay, and ultimately not booking anything at all. My only advice to combat this inevitable failure is to book something the moment the feeling

OxYou | 25

strikes, actually be spontaneous and hopefully with all the money you have saved going to The Bear you might be able to afford your flights (who needs an internship anyway?)!

7) CRISIS OVER INTERNSHIPS - Picture the scene, you’re enjoying the end of Hilary (actually knowing some people this crushing moment may occur for a few of you as early as Michaelmas) and discussing your summer plans. The holidays you’re definitely (without a doubt) booking, the road trips you’re planning, and the festivals you’ve got tickets for only seem moments away. However, your summer’s inadequacy (because we all know you never booked the holidays you had been so sure of) will unfailingly be highlighted by the ever present ‘intern’. The friend who got their Magic Circle work experience gifted to them as a Christening gift. The friend who just has ‘something small in the city’ to do for 8 weeks at twice the salary of the London Living Wage. We all know them, and I can almost completely assuredly say that all of us have smiled, said ‘oh that’s cool’, and afterwards rushed to our laptops to search in vain for internship applications that are still available. Of course, by the time Trinity comes around the realisation that you’ve missed the deadline has dawned on you and the probability that is will be another summer of explaining to your parent’s friends how competitive the pre-job market is seems likely.

There you have it, the conclusive guide to how to spend your Trinity. The main takeaways? Get to the summer having done all of your work, planned back to back

A definitive guide to Oxfesses Elsie CLARK

Oxfess only gains traction as an occasionally diverting tool for procrastination. Studies have shown that at any one time, 67% of students ‘working’ in the Rad Cam are in fact scrolling through Oxfess [citation needed]. They let the endless little white boxes roll across their eyelids and register faint sensations of amusement or irritation with each one that goes past, a mild but welcome contrast to the brain-dead inertia usually experienced in the library.

I too have spent many an hour as one of these sad and bored individuals.

It is time I put my knowledge, completely unwillingly attained, of Oxfess (and Oxlove) to some sort of use.

Here is a definitive guide to the types of post you will see on these pages.

ANGRY COMPLAINTS - Every week, the frayed nerves of Oxford’s students are let loose upon Oxfess. With no

other outlet for such strong emotions, the boomer instinct to run to Facebook and keyboard smash takes control. ‘#oxfess12472 oxHATE to whoever was WHISTLING SOFTLY in the Gladstone link at 5.04pm last Tuesday. It distracted everyone around you and made us concentrate even less on our work than we were already. Show a little consideration please!! Some of us have to sit EXAMS this term. I stg students have no respect for their fellow workers…’

FUTILE RESPONS- ES TO ANGRY COMPLAINTS - ‘#oxfess12479 whoever wrote #oxfess12472 is so fucking entitled. don’t you realise that someone whistling is not actually a personal attack on you??? you haven’t even considered that the person who distracted you might have some sort of breathing impediment or hidden disability??? so ignorant. check your fucking privilege I swear some students have no respect for their fellow workers…’

BAITY POSTS (NOT MADE UP BY THE ADMINS) - ‘#oxlove67578 I know I fucked up. Please take me back. I just miss you so much. I didn’t know I could live without you. I didn’t know it would hurt this bad. I hate myself right now, but not so much that I’m going to do anything about it except end another sentence with a full stop to show I really am serious and not a fuckboy.’

SINCERE OXLOVES - An increasingly rare breed, but has an Oxlove ever actually been successful? If not, then what’s the point?

BAITY POSTS (MADE UP BY THE ADMINS) - Anything to get that engagement.

CONFESSIONS FAR TOO REVEALING FOR A UNIVERSITY MEME PAGE - ‘#oxfess176308 during sex I like to wear a banana costume and get my boyfriend to ‘pick’ me from a tree. Idk i just think it’s super hot.’

‘#oxfess1320 Does anyone else actually find Oxford really easy? Like I see all these posts complaining about workload, and I don’t get it. I work for 10 minutes a day and have managed to get a First every time. It’s not hard. Come on, guys, stop moaning. We all know we have the same 24 hours in a day. From MM’ KO @ Peter’s. Your hair is made of angel dust and I faint every time you smile.

‘#oxlove6969 KO @ Peter’s. Your hair is made of angel dust and I faint every time you smile. Coffee sometime? xxx (might need to keep your mouth shut during the date or I may end up in A&E)’

If you’re one of those people who does post on Oxfess, which one are you? More importantly, why do you do it? Thank you for the entertainment though.

26 | Gen Z

Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z Elsie CLARK N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE few months ago you might GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G have been confused if you Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z were out with a friend, their N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN phone buzzed, and they screamed GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE ‘ooh, BeReal! Quick, take a picture!’

GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G Not so much anymore. The ‘alternaZ GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z tive’ social media app has taken the N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN world by storm and continues to GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE grow, with over two million downloads in March 2022 compared to GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G a mere 500,000 back in December Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z 2021.

N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN In case you weren’t aware of it, GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE the premise is simple: the app hits GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G you with a notification at a random Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z time of day between around 7.30 and 11pm, and you have to take a N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN picture of yourself and whatever’s GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE in front of you within 2 minutes of GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G seeing the notification (although Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z you can post late). Only once you N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN have taken your pictures can you GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE see what all your friends and followers on the app are up to.

GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G The idea seems to be to create a Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z more ‘authentic’ social media feed, N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN one that isn’t full of posed beach GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE pictures and carefully curated ‘phoGEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G to dumps’. Being in Oxford, this usuZ GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z ally means your BeReal is swamped with people sitting in the library N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN looking bored, doing ‘work’, or, if GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE the notification hits unexpectedly GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G early the morning after a night out, Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z Blane AITCHISON N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE After the whole Will Smith and GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G Chris Rock debacle at the 2023 Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z Academy Awards, why don’t we take a trip down memory lane N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN and remember some of the other GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE strange happenings on the red GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G carpet?

Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z Angelina Jolie’s N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Scandalous Kiss GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G When Angelina Jolie was nomiZ GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z nated for Best Supporting Actress N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN for her role in Girl Interrupted, GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE she decided to bring her brother, GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G James Haven, as her plus one. At Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z first, this seemed really sweet.

What wasn’t so cute was when, N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN whilst accepting her award, Jolie GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE revealed “I’m so in love with my GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z G brother right now” and was then Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z later filmed French kissing her brother at the Vanity Fair afterN Z GEDITORSEN Z GEN Z GEN GEN Z BLANE AITCHISON Z GEparty!

GEN JASMINE WILKINSON Z G Sally Field’s Z GEJEN JACKSON Z GEN Z Acceptance Speech N Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GEN Z GE When accepting her award for

Friday 29th April 2022 | The Oxford Student

Is it possible to BeReal. on Social Media?

A

with all your friends hungover in bed taking pictures of their ceilings.

The premise is quite fun: I love seeing what silly things my friends are up to at random times of the day, especially in Oxford when life moves so fast you don’t always have time to keep tabs on everyone. The app has capitalised on many things that seem to define Gen Z and have helped to skyrocket its popularity: self-deprecation, chronic nosiness, and a relentless addiction to documenting our lives online.

Yet for all its alleged pretensions towards ‘being real’, in many ways I have noticed that people’s relationship with the app is as toxic as any other social media. I keep seeing TikToks of people doing exciting things (visiting a beautiful church, having brunch with friends, on a mountain hike) with the caption, ‘if BeReal doesn’t come up here I’m going to be so pissed’.

I’ve also heard similar things said in real life. Whilst partly meant to be humorous, statements like these possess an underlying sincerity that is slightly unnerving. Although BeReal encourages us to show off the more boring moments of our day, we still feel the urge to present ourselves as if we have the most exciting lives possible, and perhaps even feel annoyed if BeReal passes

us by when we are engaged in doing something ‘cool’. As the old adage goes: if a tree falls in the forest and the BeReal notification doesn’t go off at the moment it falls, did it even happen?

Moreover, the way the app works encourages this sort of mentality, since you are only allowed to see what others have posted once you have done the same. This breeds engagement with the app by playing off our nosiness and sometimes our insecurity, constantly wanting to see what others are up to and how their lives compare to our own.

This is perhaps a minor personal failure of mine but I have also ruined my BeReal experience by accepting friend requests from too many people. Whilst I initially intended to limit my followers to close friends only, out of fear of being seen as rude for rejecting them my feed is now full of random acquaintances from college and ex-schoolmates whose lives I don’t really need to see. Having too many faces on the app means it becomes just another dead-eyed scrolling session to be sucked into rather than a fun window into the banality of everyday life.

But as I said, it’s my own fault my BeReal has ballooned out of control, and perhaps I should just

commit the brutal online sin of quietly unadding some of my ‘friends’.

Nevertheless, I still think the way people talk about BeReal and the way it is used simply plays into our obsession with online projection and does little to cut through the inherent artifice of this.

On your laptop when BeReal comes through? One simple switch of tabs and you can show everyone that you are not a sad sack scrolling through the ‘Personal Life’ section of Timothée Chalamet’s Wikipedia page, but a dedicated student working on their next essay. Adding less familiar friends on BeReal seems to encourage this sort of behaviour, it being less tempting to be completely honest about our activities when we know people we aren’t entirely comfortable with are watching.

Another breed found on BeReal is the user who posts several hours late every time, and in every photo is suspiciously surrounded by hosts of friends or exciting scenery. You FORGOT to post did you?

Yeah, right - not when we have our phones in our pockets basically all the time. And there lies the main problem with BeReal, and social media more generally: even when the app’s title literally tells us to do otherwise, we cannot help but lie.

Five of the Weirdest Award Show Moments of All Time Best Actress for her role in the film Places in the Heart, Sally Field gave a speech that was somehow touching, funny and just downright weird. After giving a weird, rambling, humble brag about how she won an Oscar before but it didn’t really mean much to her at the time, she delivers the awkward, yet immortal line “You like me!

Right now, you like me!”. What really makes this a memorable moment is how enraged the other nominees (who included Jessica Lange and Vanessa Redgrave) look when Field is told she’s won, and then their bemused smiles after her speech had finished.

Amy Schumer’s Hilarious ‘Prank’

At the TIME 100 Gala in 2015, Amy Schumer decided to pull the most hilarious practical joke of all time. Being her usual quirky self, she decided to pretend to fall in front of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian when they were walking

down the red carpet. Kanye and Kim responded to this by simply ignoring her and moving on, which was presumably not the reactionshe was looking for. Come to think of it, what sort of reaction was she looking for? For them to help her up? It’s difficult to imagine any way in which her pretending to fall could ever be funny, but if she had fun doing it, then who are we to judge?

Selena Gomez’s Cool New Look

In a mini red carpet interview for the 2007 Teen Vogue Party, Selena Gomez opened up about her bold new style. “I like a little edge, a little pop in my hair, so I wanted to add something different, especially for Teen Vogue!”, she said, obviously proud of her new hairdo, which was actually just a small strand of electric blue hair. The strange moment was dredged up again when it briefly became popular enough for Selena Gomez

herself to see the video again and release her own response 14 years later, which was captioned “To my younger self: you’re not cool bro.”

Nicole Kidman’s Much -Hated Dress

For her appearance at the 1997 Oscars, Nicole Kidman wore a dark chartreuse Dior gown designed by John Galliano. Comedienne Joan Rivers took it on herself to let Kidman know that this was the ugliest dress that she had ever seen, repeatedly making comments such as “Nicole, come and tell me why you wore such an ugly colour!” and “I hate that colour!

You are making me puke!”, before making vomiting noises when Kidman decided to simply ignore her and walk away. According to Marie Claire magazine, Kidman was apparently paid $2 million to wear it, so it seems that Nicole Kidman got the last laugh!

SciTech | 27

The Oxford Student | Friday 29 April 2022

SciTech

Editors: Emily Hudson, Yexuan Zhu scitech@oxfordstudent.com

Talking Fungi: the Unspoken Languages of Nature

N

o single organism survives in isolation. Active or passive, friendly or hostile, the information flow exchanging facts about nutrients, threats, preferences, and so on, is omnipresent.

While the ability to use languages has been widely construed as a human character, the rest of the living world does talk in their own ways, in sound, electricity, chemicals, etc. Recently, a study highlighting the sophistication of fungal electrical languages again sparked the interest to re-examine the definition and evolutionary meaning of ‘languages’.

Fungal colonies are connected with each other by networks called mycelia. They are knitted by thin filaments called hyphae.

Similar to neurons, these structures are electrically excitable.

With the highly regulated movements of ions across the cell membrane and the filaments, electrical impulses are conducted and propagated across the mycelia.

This information highway enables the communication of food and injury among fungi occupying the same niche, or even between different species, such as fungi and plants. As an example, scientists have discovered that when wooddigesting fungi sense woodblocks, they inform surrounding colonies

by increasing the electrical pulse frequency. Such a language is readily quantifiable - by recording the electrical impulses through a small electrode, scientists can analyse their frequencies, intensities and patterns.

Dr. Andrew Adamatzky, the author of the new research, is a computer scientist at the Unconventional Computing Laboratory, the University of the West of England.

He is not only interested in how fungi talk, but also in how much complexity they can reach in their electrical languages. He focused on four fungi species, ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis), Enoki fungi (Flammulina velutipes), split gill fungi (Schizophyllum commune), and caterpillar fungi (Cordyceps militaris). Recordings from fungi are subject to a series of computational analyses in an attempt to crack the fungal lexicon and grammar.

The researchers grouped spikes within a defined time frame into fungal words. The average fungal word length appears to be comparable to that of some human languages - between 3 and 5 for fungi, 4.8 for English, and 4.45 for Greek. The total number of fungal words characterised amounts to around 50, all represented by mixing and matching various patterns

Yexuan ZHU

of electrical spikes. The trophy of “the most complex language” among the four studied species is won by the split-gill mushroom, one of the most common fungi worldwide - you can find them almost wherever there is wood.

Whereas surprising sophistication and resemblance to human languages are found in fungal electrical activities, it seems too large a stride to conclude that such spiking patterns really recapitulate information exchange by language.

Though the spike patterns do not seem to be random electrical impulses, do they really represent attempts of communication, or in fact other processes, such as growth or circadian rhythm?

Even if it does represent a form of communication, what does the resemblance to human language mean to fungi?

This research caught scientists’ attention not only because it takes a step further in understanding fungi and their possible ‘intelligence’, but also for stressing a more inclusive and less anthropocentric understanding of the concept of language itself. Millions of years ago, the mutations that gave rise to Homo Sapiens from other human species, lie within the FOX2P gene, one closely related to language abilities. Yet what

exactly is the biological role of languages? Languages are meaning-making behaviours. They are abstractions of meanings - some most basic ones include danger, food availability, need for mating - based on various types of signals that can be utilised.

Aside from the electrical language of fungi, there are the vo-

“In a biological sense, there is no fundamental difference between human languages and those of other species.”

cal languages of birds, the volatile chemical languages of some plants, and the visual languages of some flowers that display different colours before and after pollination. They are representations of survival-relevant information that can be innate or learned. The only distinctions are that, first, human languages are primarily based on sound (though we also have an elaborated tradition of communicating with drawings, gestures and so on). In addition, we humans are so good at meaning-making as to expand the range of meanings to an unprecedented di

versity from those with direct biological importance to esoteric philosophical jargons.

Some might attribute the uniqueness of human languages to their plasticity, the fact that their usage can be shaped by culture and experience. This claim is now undermined by a range of observations of the appalling flexibility in languages of the natural world. Plants are able to alter their secretion profile of volatile chemicals based on past predator or pathogen attacks to better prepare for similar assaults in the future. The recognition of such languages appears to be more efficient among kins than among strangers, a phenomenon similar to the ‘cultural’ transmission of meaning-making across generations. In the animal kingdom, humpback whale colonies from different locations sing different songs, and would even exchange their songs when they encounter other migrating colonies.

Starting to unveil with the talking fungi, is a whole realm of languages from nature, bearing surprising resemblance to what we speak every day. All living things talk. To decode the mysteries of nature, we need more listeners.

Through the looking glass: the Hubble Space Telescope Emily HUDSON

T

he Hubble Space Telescope (HST), launched on April 25th, 1990, revolutionised astronomy, facilitating discoveries such as supermassive black holes and documenting celestial bodies at all points in their dramatic life cycles. The HST has also been instrumental in studies of dark matter and dark energy, which together are thought to make up to 70% of the mass in the known universe and yet remain puzzling to scientists. Its impact on modern astrophysics cannot be overstated.

The most recent discovery marks the telescope’s 32nd birthday: Hickson Compact Group 40 (HCG 40), a group of five galaxies densely packed together which will go on, in about one million

years, to form a new, larger galaxy. What makes HCG 40 quite remarkable is its density and diversity, with three spiral galaxies, an elliptical galaxy, and a lenticular (lens-shaped) galaxy all packed into a space less than twice the size of our own Milky Way. Studying such groups gives astrophysicists an insight into how the universe might have looked in its early stages and hints at the origins of the well-established galaxies we see in our skies today.

The most popular theory of the mechanism behind these galaxies merging involves dark matter in an intrinsic way, wherein galaxies orbit in a large cloud of their surrounding dark matter and slow down due to its gravitational effects. Eventually, the galaxies become too slow to remain separate,

collide into each other, and merge.

Although it happens over an extremely long timescale (in human terms), there are vast amounts of energy involved in galaxy merging events such as that hinted in HCG 40. This is why astronomers believe that many more such groups may have been present in the early universe, where their hot, dense material may have served as fuel for highly energetic black holes, called quasars.

The HST makes observations not only in the visible light spectrum, but also in regions of infrared, radio and X-ray wavelengths.

As such, its capabilities far outstrip the human eye or optical telescopes, and this is what has made it so effective in astronomy research. Additionally, being in orbit around the Earth, it is un-

affected by atmospheric distortions, ensuring it can reliably look into the universe in detail. X-ray observations of HCG 40 (impossible to make from Earth’s surface) have demonstrated that the galaxies are interacting gravitationally, and that there is a compact radio source at the centre.

This agrees with observations made at infrared and radio wavelengths which may point to supermassive black holes – it is quite clear that in one dense group of galaxies there is a lot of physics to be unpicked.

The photograph shared from the HST is recent, but scientists have known about HCG 40 since 1966. This goes to show how developments in technology allow scientists to dig deeper, and in doing so glean richer conclusions from data they already have. This is

also true for the HST in general: one of the keys to its success is its regular servicing, with state-of-the-art instruments being added on a rolling basis throughout its lifetime. That said, the lifetime of the HST is finite, and it is expected to reenter our atmosphere sometime between 2028 and 2040.

The 50 thousand strong bank of images taken by the HST is soon to be complemented by those from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is due to begin observations this summer. The JSWT was launched on 25th December 2021 and is stationary in space about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.

Designed to photograph celestial bodies which are too distant, hot or faint for the HST to detect, the JWST may take astronomers one step further towards answering some fundamental questions about the universe.

28 | Green

Editors: Agatha Gutierrez Echenique (senior); Katie Hulett, Yexuan Zhu (section). oxstu.green@gmail.com

Friday 29 April 2022 | The Oxford Student

Green

Mermaids, UFOs, & Climate Change: The Reality of the Durban Floods

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alking off the plane at King Shaka airport on the 14th of April, I wasn’t hit by the same wall of hot air I’ve come to love when visiting family in South Africa. Instead, we emerged from our flight into a soggy gloom reminiscent of a cold English March. The rain was falling with a disastrous intensity on South Africa’s east coast – though the extent of the rainfall had yet to make ripples on mainstream media or on my family as we traveled to Durban.

The severity of this rainfall failed to dawn on me or my family during our taxi ride to the hotel. Despite the continual downpour en route, our taxi driver, Marlon, kept up a light-hearted (and continual) stream of chatter about our holiday, COVID-19, the dangers of using Uber in South Africa, and consequently, the benefits of his multiple shuttle companies. It was only after we had screeched to a grinding halt on the N2 (one of Durban’s busiest highways) that the conversation veered towards the floods As Marlon swiftly manoeuvred out of the standstill, using the hard shoulder as a natural 4th lane and casually driving the wrong way back up the highway to find an alternative route, he cursed the disruption the rains were having, but attributed the traffic jam to a police roadblock. South Africa is, after all, no stranger to such things.

It was only when we noticed the complete lack of cars on the other side of the highway that we began to realise this wasn’t a roadblock.

Instead, a bridge further down the road had crumbled as a result of the almost apocalyptic downpours.

The Durban region in the North Western province of Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) has experienced some of the worst flooding and associated landslides in living memory.

The catastrophic flooding has displaced more than 40,000 people and the current death toll is estimated at over 420, a figure that will undoubtedly increase as ongoing recovery missions regularly pull bodies out of the mud and tidal zone. Damage to infrastructure, homes, businesses and at least 248 schools is estimated at over 757 million Rand (£39m) and Durban

port (the busiest in South Africa) has been extensively damaged and subjected to widespread looting.

Over the 24-hour period of the 11th of April, an excess of 300mm of rain was dumped over KZN, equivalent to around 75% of South Africa’s annual precipitation. This was the heaviest rain recorded in over 60 years. The rains were the result of a cold weather system which rarely reaches as far south as South Africa, but causes largescale destruction in neighbouring countries like Mozambique. The collision of this cold weather front with the warm, humid Durban climate led to rainfall “of the order of values normally associated with tropical cyclones” as the South African Weather Service reports.

It is hard to attribute individual weather events to climate change under any circumstance, but is particularly difficult to do so in places like KZN and across much of Africa. This is because the absence of comprehensive historical rainfall records makes systematic climate analysis nearly impossible. These gaps in the climate records are an example of climate science apartheid between the global North and South, where the places facing the most immediate and existential threats from climate change are the least studied, measured, and understood. To quote Dr Friederike Otto from Imperial College London, “the people least responsible for climate change are bearing the brunt of the impacts”.

Despite the clear gaps in climate records, it’s undeniable that the intensity and frequency of storms such as those Durban is currently experiencing are increasing as a result of global warming. In a landmark statement, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa described the flooding as “a catastrophe of enormous proportions” directly linking the event to the climate emergency in a way that South African officials have rarely done before. Upon visiting the flooded metropolitan area of eThekwini and seeing the devastation first hand, Ramaphosa claimed “we no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change” and declared a national state of disaster.

Post-apartheid, Durban and its surrounding urban settlements have been among the fastest growing metropolitan areas. This puts immense pressure on the already poor and racially segregated infrastructure of the majority black population. Much of the area’s population live in flimsy shacks in informal settlements called townships which are often constructed on steep hillsides or in valleys in close proximity to rivers and lack sufficient foundations. The absence of key infrastructure places communities at an increased risk of climate disasters, as seen in the staggering death toll from these floods and mudslides.

What became devastatingly clear during my stay in Durban was the way in which deep-rooted, ever present racial divisions perpetuated climate injustice. The hotel my extended family and I were staying in didn’t have water for the duration of our visit, but otherwise it remained completely undamaged. The minor inconveniences of boiling swimming pool water for baths were utterly insignificant compared to the tragic loss of life, livelihood, and possessions experienced by those all around us. This disparity in impact points to the fact that, while what is occurring is a natural disaster, the sheer magnitude of death and destruction can be more readily attributed to man-made causes. It was not so much the amount of rainfall, but the sheer inadequacy of infrastructure and housing, especially for the most socio-economically vulnerable, which is to blame for the immense loss of life. This should be unequivocally viewed as climate and racial injustice in its most lethal form.

Friends involved with beach clean-up efforts relayed the heartbreaking scenes of sweeping up mops, spatulas, kettles, bedsheets from the high tide mark – the entire contents of people’s homes, people’s lives. During our stay, the majority of beaches were closed for public use. We were told it was due to the risk of raw sewage and debris in the ocean, but in retrospect, I think it was the risk of finding bodies.

During my stay, I began asking bartenders, reception staff, and

waiters at the hotel about their experiences of the flooding. Theo, a bartender in his 20s, recounted how his entire house had been washed away in the floods, leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back. His neighbours, a family of four, had all been swept away along with their house, down the river and out to sea -- a fate that Theo claims would’ve been his had he not been at work.

Robin, the chief waiter in his 50s, told me a similar story. He lived next to a cemetery and had witnessed coffin after coffin unearthed, only to then disappear downstream in the torrents of water. His neighbours had also lost children. While they were helping out on a recovery mission, they had found a body buried in the mud and a man still in his buckie (pick-up truck) decapitated from being thrown around in storms.

These stories of local communities bearing the responsibility of plucking body after body from the mud and under the corrugated iron sheets of township shacks as cleanup missions continue are far from uncommon. Already, various similar accounts are emerging across the province. In a gut-wrenching mockery however, those still alive have no option but to come into work, over Easter, away from their families and communities, in order to survive.

During these conversations at the hotel, I wanted to not only hear people’s account of the impact and tragedy of the flood, but also their account of the origin of the floods.

Assuming climate change would be the most common answer, I often suggested this in my question (poor interview technique on my behalf), but was met every time with an awkward silence and uncertain glance. No, it wasn’t climate change, they claimed. Instead, Theo informed me that similar storms had occurred in 2013 because a local fisherman had accidently caught and dredged up a mermaid onto local beaches. He offered photo evidence from a friend, should I be interested. As a consequence, the weather was acting up and producing storms. Slightly stunned by this response, I asked if a similar mermaid had been found this time, to which Theo shook his head in

by Katie Hulett apprehension, saying, “no, not that I’ve seen on social media yet”. This was also a source of anxiety for all three men behind the bar, who had joined in our conversation. It would be explainable if a mermaid had been found, but thus far there was a worrying emptiness on the beaches.

Robin, however, was unconvinced by the mermaid. Instead, he attributed the storms to UFO sightings. He also mentioned nuclear fallout and radiation, but I was unable to ascertain the links between these and the storms before Robin got whisked away by the imperatives of dinner service.

In relaying these conversations, I am in no way meaning to delegitimise the understanding of these storms by local people, or the importance of community perspectives, which historical climate science often neglects. The epistemic violence of rejecting place based, lived experience of those at the forefront of climate impacts as ‘folklore’ or ‘superstition’ in favour of western ‘experts’ is undeniable neo-imperialism. This effacement of people’s epistemic beliefs – either by branding them as mere ‘superstition’ or ‘folklore’ – constitutes a credible existential threat.

These conversations also point to the incredible inequity of climate change education, and the immense privilege in not only understanding the basics of climate change, but then having the capability to deny its existence from a point of safety, comfort, and running water.

The Durban floods demonstrate the dire need for much more robust and wide reaching climate education which engages with local communities deeply, respectfully, and without undermining traditional knowledge. In this way, those at most immediate risk from climate disasters can be better equipped with effective and meaningful mitigation and adaptation strategies.

This one experience has again exemplified that the dire existential consequences of a warming world are a reality across the world now, rather than a future potentiality and must be addressed with the urgency such a crisis requires.

The Oxford Student | Friday 29 April 2022

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Sport

Ronaldo vs Messi: The Ultimate Football Debate

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ominic: Lionel Messi. The small, Argentine magician that has pulled off more hat tricks than Derren Brown. He has certainly averaged more hat tricks per game than Ronaldo for club and country. While Ronaldo may look like the pinnacle of humanity, Messi is no human. The man is an alien of football, with no peer on earth. I will argue why he is the greatest footballer of the 21st century.

Dominic Enright and Hudaa Bax

debate Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi to see who is the best footballer of the 21st century. comparison to Ronaldo’s 3. In total, Messi has won La Liga an astonishing 10 times. It is no wonder Messi has won the Ballon d’Or more times than Ronaldo, with 7 orbs and counting.

Hudaa: From Manchester United to Real Madrid to Juventus, this hero has blessed many Hudaa: Cristiano Ronaldo. To the naked eye, with his presence. His record number of goals he is a handsome sports star. To the learned in the Champions League will surely remain eye, he is a talented, skilful, hard-working, for at least a decade, since Messi is unable to and artistic footballer. To the scholarly reproduce his form at PSG. However, It is his eye, he is better than Messi. The list of this success in winning the competition where legend’s achievements is endless; with his Ronaldo excels. He has won 5 Champions highest jump recorded at 2.56m (higher Leagues which is more than Messi and less than the crossbar), a total of 811 goals in than only 4 teams in Europe over their whole 1116 appearances, and a perfect jawline, history. Of course, Dominic will probably there is no comparison. I will argue why he argue that internationally Messi has been is the greatest footballer of the 21st century. more successful: he has won a continental cup competition, and reached a World cup Dominic: Lionel Messi’s stats are without final. However, Ronaldo won a continental comparison. In the modern era, Messi has cup too and with a much smaller nation. the second highest goals While Portugal have al“[Messi] has averaged a goal ways overperformed per game ratio of playcontribution per minute across ers that have scored 25 his career of 81 mins. That is less internationally relative or more in the Champito their size, it is hardthan the length of a game.” ons League with 0.80 ly a boast to succeed and only Robert Lewandowski is higher with Argentina who have historically been with 0.81. While Cristiano Ronaldo is close the second best team in South America. to Messi at 0.77, Messi has recorded a higher assists per game ratio and higher overall goal Dominic: Although Messi has seemed sucontributions per minute. In fact, he has aver- perhuman, this has probably been his worst aged a goal contribution per minute across season. Whether it is that he has got older, or his career of 81 mins. That is less than the the limelight has been taken away by Mbappe, length of a game. However, it is in La Liga he couldn’t win PSG a Champions League. where Messi really comes into his own. In the However, the international success last year 9 seasons that they played in the same league, certainly laid to rest the old argument in this Messi won La Liga 6 times and Ronaldo only 2. debate that he can not perform for his country.

Messi was also top scorer 5 times in La Liga in However, unlike Ronaldo, he makes it into the

PSG starting XI without question while Ronaldo may not even start. PSG have won their league and his addition has definitely helped.

He likely has a few more years at the top of the game whereas Ronaldo feels only a few more years from an LA Galaxy or Guangzhou FC.

way to Roger Federer playing tennis. He plays with the freedom of any kid in a football cage, and like any gifted year 7 playing with older boys, he cuts through men much bigger than him. It has always been an underdog story for the man who was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency at age ten, and we are profoundly lucky for the series of events that got him into the professional game. For me, this makes him greater than Ronaldo, as proof of triumph over adversity, even if Ronaldo may have won one more Champions League.

Hudaa: It is probably necessary to address an elephant in the room for Ronaldo as well; why are Manchester United 6th in the Premier league table if Cristiano is on the pitch? As a Hudaa: The statistics and facts are endless, but Manchester United supporter, I only claim to you can just find them almost anywhere and be writing an article on why Ronaldo is better everywhere on the internet. The reason as to than Messi, not that he why Ronaldo is special “As a Manchester United is a miracle worker. Not is because of something supporter, I only claim to even a god could fix Harintangible. No, it is not be writing an article on why Ronaldo is better than the list of his famous ry Maguire’s defensive failings. Yet, Cristiano Messi, not that he is a miracle hat tricks, and no, it is worker... has consistently kept not the description of them competitive despite their shaky back his abs either. Rather, it is about his attitude line. For example, his heroics in the group and mentality. Just at the gym, Ronaldo trains stage, twice scoring in the last minutes, got 3-4 hours a day, 5 days a week. At Juventus, he Manchester United into the knock-out stage. was the first to arrive at training and the last In comparison, Messi’s Paris Saint Germain, to leave. On the pitch, whether he is playing despite having a star-studded supporting cast, a bottom table team or a friendly, Ronaldo is were knocked out at the same stage as Unit- hungry for the game. It is this very starvation, ed this year. Clearly, Lionel is no god either. perseverance and effort which gives Ronaldo that extra charm when he is on the pitch. And, Dominic: The players’ awards and career of course, the jawline. The CR7 brand reaches path seem fairly equal, but the way Messi a wider audience due to this; more than 434 makes supporters feel, for me, puts him above million follow him on Instagram as compared Ronaldo. Whereas CR7 feels often more than to Messi’s 322 million. People identify more just about football, Messi is for the purist. with the hard working lad from Lisbon than No statistic can explain the feeling of seeing the superhuman gifted with talent. That is Messi get the ball, turn away and cut through why Ronaldo’s fanbase and legacy is deeper, 7 players like he did against Getafe. While and the real reason he is greater than Messi.

Ronaldo can probably jump higher, run faster and shoot harder, Messi glides in a similar

Review: New College Sports Ground

and St Cross Road, its vertiginous expanse draws in wondrous gazes from all passers-by. It stands out for several reasons, chief among which is the fact that it’s relatively flat, especially in comparison with other college grounds.

It’s also pretty massive as it has to accommodate both New College Jonah P oulard “its vertiginous expanse draws School’s sporting needs in wondrous gazes from all and Linacre College’s he New College existential needs. passers-by” Playing Field, more commonly known as Weston The pavilion is in fact just that, a building after its benefactor, is a sports ground that and not a glorified shed, playing host to exudes class and prowess more than most two squash courts, one now sadly the doothers. Situated between the river Cherwell main of the Boat Club’s erg room – classic

T

rowing - two changing rooms and the MCR especially the case when I did a sick Cruyff bar. The balcony overlooks the rugby pitch, turn and banged it bottom corner in a 2s of ample size and unblemished due to it football game to rapturous applause. only being used for fixtures. The changing rooms are clean and newish, though sadly Also possessed by the grounds are a are not pimped out slightly dishevelled “these pitches do provide yet functional conwith a sound system. valuable spectators to the crete court for tennis The football pitch is further afield, but similar football team, which was and netball, as well in essence to the rugby especially the case when I did a as five grass tennis one – well-kept and courts in Trinity, well-sized. I will con- sick Cruyff turn and banged it which are beautiful. All cede that it does dip a bottom corner in a 2s football in all, it’s definitely a top little towards the southcollege sports ground, game” west corner though. and in this estimation The bank up to the wall into Linacre on all I must do is extend heartfelt gratitude the north touchline makes for solid mid- from me and the wider college to the genergame ball retrievals. It is however dwarfed osity of the Weston family. by the five or so smaller pitches utilised by the school to the north-east and east. On Image credit: Hzh on commons.wikimedia.org occasion, these pitches do provide valuable spectators to the football team, which was

30 | Sport

Friday 29 April 2022 | The Oxford Student

Sport

Fan’s Corner: Everton – It’s the hope that kills

Sports-Washing and American Owners:

Misha Pemberthy

A Conversation with a Football Industry Joharn Sharp Insider Sport Editor

I sat down with an anonymous source who has worked in the football industry for nearly 20 years to ask the two main questions Chelsea fans have been pondering since early March…what exactly is sports-washing, how does it work? and are American owners really that bad?

In early March of this year my football club, Chelsea FC, were sanctioned by the British Government. Their owner, Roman Abramovich, is described as Putin’s ‘favourite son’ and indeed, it was this close relationship to the Russian regime that led to Chelsea’s asset freeze. This article does not seek to explore the politics or legalities of this process. Despite all my tribal instincts, one has to accept that this was a necessary and poignant action on behalf of the British government in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. A good decision.

However, what I will explore are the consequences of this process. Indeed, Chelsea fans, including myself, have faced two fundamental questions…. have we fallen into the trap of sports-washing? and what does the future hold for our football club?

These two avenues of discussion have both been prompted by the Chelsea fanbase’s responses to the sanctions; the embarrassing heralding of Roman Abramovich as some sort of ‘victim’ in this process . His name continuing to be sung at by a certain, balding, Caucasian, gold teethed, Brexit loving sect of the fanbase has made me confront the realities of sports-washing.

Similarly, the near apocalyptic panic of fans on social media over the prospect of having American owners as a result of the impending takeover of the club as led me to wonder if they are really as bad as they are made out to be?

Speaking to a source who has worked in football for nearly 20 years, with great insider knowledge, I sought to alleviate my fears and become enlightened on the realities of football, but more importantly Chelsea.

It is important to note from the offset that sports-washing is a broad subject. My source was keen to stress that in regards to sports-washing one needs to look beyond football, the F1 and the Olympics being major sporting bodies guilty of promoting this practice. Indeed, there is seemingly an inevitability surrounding it. The circumstances of the selection processes of host cities make it inescapable.

My source outlined how unfortunately federations like the IOC call on their host countries to pay for everything while simultaneously exploiting the sponsorship and media rights, keeping the money.

Emphasising that it means there is little financial motivation for these host cities.

Hence we have World Cups in Russia and

Qatar, Olympics in Beijing or F1 races in Saudi Arabia. The conditions of selecting these host nations means most counties, willing to spend the money required, have a different motivation - that of enhancing their reputation. Sport is high profile and putting on a world cup or F1 Grand Prix provides a useful route for states to coverup their political or social misdeeds.

Poignantly, to my source it seemed a near laughable myth that governing bodies are there for the good of the sport. Most of these federations are run for the good of the president and those who surround them. Finding host-nations who are willing to take on such a responsibility without any financial impulse allows for these governing bodies to hold onto their profits and disperse them to retain votes. Interestingly, my source noted that this is what made the Super League an interesting concept in how it took away this power.

Hence, we are forced to ask what of the fans? Sadly, as my source was quick to

”The sport has been besmirched, we must act to stop society from going the same way”

emphasise, there is not much room for fans in this issue. It seems, it is only really the government that can combat this…… hurrah!

Once again, in a near inevitable cycle, one must turn to the government to find the key source of the issue. So, what can our British government do, or have they done, to combat owners taking over our clubs and using them as tools to enhance their reputation? Disappointingly it seems this very issue has come about due to the governments lack of action. The British government has never really cared for football. Consecutive governments have disregarded the sport and British clubs’ position in the community. They have failed to protect it from outside investment, and ultimately aren’t we to blame?! Fans have only really cared about success rather than integrity. I speak for myself in this regard- a Chelsea fan of almost 20 years who only now has decided to think critically about sports-washing. This is what we get - a bunch of Americans seeking profits or other foreign parties seeking to strengthen their reputation. It is high time we decide which of these is worse. “...to my source it seemed a near laughable myth that governing bodies are there for the good of the sport.”

However, my source swiftly pressed me on this assumption - are American owners really that bad? Should they be seen as an evil? They went on to outline that

if British football is going to opened up to outside investment this is a near inevitable consequence. We are either at the whim of owners who make money a near farce, throwing it about without a concern. Or we will have owners who will treat it like a business investment, seeking to make profit in the long-run.

In many way American owners - or any owner who seeks a financial incentive rather any image based one- are the only reasonable solution to sport-washing within football at an ownership level, within the framework of British football finds itself in. People like myself must accept that it is better for society to have owners who will come in and seek to sell off the club in the future for more than they paid, than those who come in to cover up the muddied waters of the state they represent.

I’d personally rather have my club owned my a Boston based investment firm, who might not throw money around like other clubs, but their ownership won’t lead to my fans chanting the name of a man who is directly involved in the invasion of a sovereign nation and the murder of thousands of innocent civilians.

We have to accept that our football clubs have been treated like commodities for decades now. Nonetheless, fandom is inherently irrational, it is a passion driven lifestyle. It subsequently distorts fan’s view of what’s happening, who’s good and who’s bad. We, British football fans, have to take a step back and recognise the wider picture.

Though American owners, like the Glazers, might be lambasted as parasites sucking the money from Manchester United this is what happens when a cultural cornerstone of our society isn’t protected by our government. Bad owners come in. However, in the long-run I’d still rather have ‘bad owners’ like the Glazers than allowing our football clubs to be tools for political games. For their ownership of a club to allow for fan’s view on the elementary notions of good and evil to be warped by success on a football pitch. Nowadays there simply exists two choices for premier league clubs- to be run for profit or disguise.

Football is a messy and depressing subject - even more so when framed within the British model of club ownership. For fans like myself who pretend to see football clubs as more than just teams who play on the pitch, but as pillars of community there is no happy solution. The sport has been besmirched, we must act to stop society from going the same way. Or, most likely, nothing will change. This issues are longterm - they have bigger consequences, but they take time to develop. As long as the fan keeps watching great performances they’ll probably never care.

“It’s not the despair […], I can handle the despair- it’s the hope” John Cleese in Clockwise

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defining moment for me as an Everton fan this season was the City game in late November, sitting with a pint in the Chequers and watching Sterling score to put City ahead just before the half.

Two 60-year-old Everton fans came up to me as I bought a direly needed top-up pint and started chatting.

“Give up”, one of them said, “Everton are finished”. They continued talking wax lyrical about the Kendall era of the 80s, a silverware dense era of Everton history my dad experienced when he was my age. However, at this point in November, Everton were sat in a comfortable 11th and my only gripe was that we weren’t challenging for Europe. I was still readily telling anyone who would listen, “Demarai Gray, signing of the season!”. I told them “Keep your chins up, there’s some way left of the league yet”.

It was only when I returned home for the Christmas vac that I realised I had gone the entire Michaelmas term without seeing Everton pick up a point, but even with that hope soon came to the rescue; Everton’s first game in the vac, a 2-1 win against Arsenal, quickly convinced me that maybe me being in Oxford was just a bad luck charm. Indeed, being in Oxford did seem to be a bad luck charm as Hilary did not improve Everton’s form. Aside from the cup, there was just the one win against similarly free-falling Leeds. In fact, from 0th week in Michaelmas until the 8th week of Hilary, Everton only picked up 8 points in the league, the lowest total in not just the Premier League but in the five top leagues in Europe.

Despite this, hope persisted, and I was certain with a change of manager, Frank would turn things around.

Hope does funny things to a football fan. After beating Vanarama National side Boreham Wood in the FA Cup, I started researching Wembley tick-

ets, only to be promptly humbled by 4 haunting goals from Palace.

Similarly, anyone in a Spotify blend with me will attest to a persistent presence of “Spirit of the Blues”, despite the lyrics “we don’t know the meaning of losing” acting as a point of concern this season rather than a celebration.

Following a loss to Burnley in a six-pointer on the 6th of April we sat as firm relegation candidates, with a singular point between us and the drop zone- despair firmly set in. Hope wasn’t in the picture, for me the only positive I was able to find was that Oxford United’s bat-

Despite this, hope persisted, and I was certain with a change of manager, Frank would turn things around.

tle for a playoff place in League One meant an Everton away day to the Kassam Stadium was on the cards- a spoonful of sugar helps the Everton go down? It was a loss that hurt double as in the same week financials had been released showing the dire economic state Everton stood in, a situation that would be bad in the Premier League, but catastrophic in the Championship.

However less than a week later, in standard Everton fashion, the dangerous feeling of hope crept in again with a trio of unexpected events- a heroic 1-0 win versus Manchester United in tandem with Burnley losing to Norwich lifted us up 4 points above relegation. Days later an unanticipated Dyche sacking left Burnley sitting in 18th with no one at the wheel. I know that if we do eventually go down it is this hope that will kill Everton fans, as we mourn what could have been. As it stands though, hope is convincing me Anthony Gordon is the best youngster in the league, Alex Iwobi is a force of nature, and Jordan Pickford is a brick wall between the sticks. Hope is fatal for an Everton fan, but at the moment it is the one thing keeping me going.

The Oxford Student | Friday 4th March 2022

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The Oxford Student | Friday 4th March 2022