The Oxford Student - Week 1, Michaelmas 2017

The

OXFORD STUDENT Friday 13th October 2017

oxfordstudent.com

Vol. 81, No. 2

Oxford the first to go emission-free

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Merton reveal Professor Irene Tracey as new college warden Charlie Willis News Editor

Professor Irene Tracey, head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, has been chosen as Merton’s new warden, the college has announced.

Professor Tracey will be Merton’s second female warden after Dame Jessica Rawson, who

Irene Tracey

Comment Rhodes Must Fall - a reappraisal in the wake of Charlottesville p.10

held the position from 1994 until 2010. She will succeed Sir Martin Taylor in September 2018.

An alumna of the college herself, Professor Tracey studied at Merton as both an undergraduate and postgraduate student, winning the Gibb’s Prize for joint top-First upon graduation. While studying for her doctorate, she was Merton’s senior scholar.

Continued on page 4

Alex Oscroft Editor-in-chief

Oxford City Council have announced that they will start efforts to ban all non-zero emissions vehicles from the roads of Oxford, making the city the world’s first emissions-free urban area.

The plan involves a gradual ban on petrol and diesel cars and vans from roads in the city centre, starting with Cornmarket and Queen Street in 2020 and eventually encompassing the whole city centre by 2035.

Some of Oxford’s busiest roads currently exceed European regulations on safe limits of pollution - George Street, the worst offender in the city, averages at almost 150% the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide. High Street, St. Clement’s, and St Aldate’s also all broke the EU regulation limit.

The plan relies on the development of green technology between 2020 and the stated end point of 2035 in order to allow HGVs to meet the zero-emission goals as well.

Nitrogen dioxide is a toxic gas

emitted by combustion engines, that has been linked to obesity, asthma and heart problems, and is estimated by the Royal College of Physicians to contribute to around 40,000 deaths in the UK every year.

Rupert Stuart-Smith, President of the Oxford Climate Society, said: “Oxford Climate Society welcomes Oxford City Council’s proposed Zero Emissions Zone to cut the amount of toxic air breathed in by students and residents in central Oxford. The Council’s action is certainly a step in the right direction towards protecting the long-term well-being of the City’s residents.

“However, the City Council’s own feasibility study indicates that the planned measures will be insufficient in the short term and that air pollution levels will remain illegally high in the city centre for the next 8 years.

With many of Oxford’s students living and travelling on streets polluted with toxic air, and with nitrogen dioxide levels more than 50% above the legal limit on George Street in 2015, further action is urgently needed to

Blade Runner 2047 wows with a stunning vision of the future p.20

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protect us from our polluted air.”

Councillor John Tanner said: “Toxic and illegal air pollution in the city centre is damaging the health of Oxford’s residents. A step change is urgently needed; the Zero Emission Zone is that step change.

“All of us who drive or use petrol or diesel vehicles through Oxford are contributing to the city’s toxic air.

Everyone needs to do their bit – from national Government and local authorities, to businesses and residents – to end this public health emergency. Everyone who uses Oxford centre has the right to breathe clean air.

The announcement comes after the government announced plans to totally ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars and vans in the UK by 2040. More recently, Transport for London announced an extension of their current low-emissions zone to become and ultra-low emission zone from 2020.

Phil Southall, Managing Director of the Oxford Bus Company, said: “One of our core values is being socially responsible to the people we serve and the environment we all share, and so we always embrace modern technology to ensure we are as green as possible.

The Green Party’s delegation in Oxford City Council had a mixed response to the announcement. Green Transport Spokesperson Cllr Dick Wolff said in an emailed statement: “Planning for better air quality in 2020 and 2025 is all very well but it is difficult to take such proposals seriously when the Council is taking decisions NOW which are significantly worsening air quality.”

Cars have had a long history of difficulty in Oxford, and have been subject to a huge number of bans and restrictions in recent years as the city council try to promote more environmentally-friendly - and safer - forms of transport.

Last year, the roundabout between Magdalen Bridge and Cowley Road was found to be the second-most dangerous for cyclists in Britain, with 45 serious accidents between 2011 and 2015. The city has also recently spent over a million pounds on upgrading the facilities for electric car charging across the city.

Features

‘I will hold your gaze’: Lily Waite’s bold exhibition of transgender art p.12

Editorial 2

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

STAFF LIST Editors-in-chief Alex Oscroft Rosie Shakerchi

Deputy Editors Daniel Mahoney James Evans Katrina Gaffney Madeleine Taylor Tara Snelling Verity Winn

News

Charlie Willis Liam Lucas Anisha Faruk (deputy)

Comment

Lizzie Deane Siddharth Jayaprakash Danielle Dean (deputy) Will Evans (deputy)

Editorial

Alex Oscroft Mansfield

The end of first week is always a bit of an odd time in Oxford - you’ve scraped through your first tutorial (mine was definitely a close one), the lectures are still packed, and you’ve got dozens of events lined up over the coming weeks to look forward to. But you also know that none of those are going to last, and the optimism probably won’t survive the next fortnight.

But that’s ok! First week is also a great time to set some goals for the coming term and the first test of actually sticking to them.

One of mine has been to go to more of the talks in Oxford, considering how some of the most influential and knowledgeable people on earth come here on a seemingly regular basis. After exploiting my Union membership to the full in first year, I had a

significant lull in second year, making it to about two talks total, so I’m going to try and redeem that a little bit in the coming months, and not just at the Union.

This week I got to see Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, give a talk at the opening of the Oxford Foundry in Wahoo’s old building (rest in peace).

He’s an interesting guy, and spoke about business in a much more engaged and thoughtful way than you’d expect from some corporate exec spieling on about innovation or streamlining. Whether a centre for entrepreneurship is what the university needs right now, in an era of upheaval and rejection of the sort of business that Cook and Apple represent, is questionable, but hopefully Oxford students can make something really special out of it.

COMMENT

Investigations

RMF: “The assumption held by many British people, and still prevalent now, is that nothing went on before the British came”

Aaron Robertson

Profile

Nicholas Linfoot Tobi Thomas

Features

Caitlin Law Penny Young Marina Hackett (deputy)

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Art & Lit

Abigail Eardley Sree Ayyar Isabella Cullen (deputy) Queeni Li (deputy)

Stage

Anya Gill Bethan Spencer

Screen

Eve Lytollis Richard Tudor Irina Boeru (deputy)

Music

Madeleine Taylor Seb Braddock Joe Small (deputy)

Fashion

Leonie Hutch Lucinda Kirk

Sport

Danny Cowan Vincent Richardson

Sub-editors

Sarah Conkerton (chief) Emma Woodcock Grant Dalton Hannah Johnson Lily-Anna Trimble Mayu Noda Taro Konishi-Dukes

Broadcasting

Exercising the mind

by Elhana Sugiaman

www.oxfordstudent.com The Oxford Student

Henry Grub Tom Gould (deputy)

@TheOxStu

Online

@TheOxStu

Abi Howell

editor@ oxfordstudent.com We are always looking for new writers to join the OxStu. If you’re an Oxford student and you want to be involved in the OxStu or hear more, get in contact!

Rosie Shakerchi St Catherine’s

We’re settling into term now: missed alarms, missed lectures and deadlines... a near-miss. It can be easy to get used to the stress of that routine, especially in that dreaded moment when you look at the Freshers and start thinking how young they seem. But like Alex says, it’s worth escaping for a moment to take advantage of Oxford’s opportunities.

One of the talks which caught my eye is next week’s Union debate: “This House would Abandon the Ideal of True Love”. It’s a topic on my mind recently, as friends regale me with stories of the joys and pains of Tinder dating: from hilariously bad to wonderful to the downright creepy. In the media, dating apps are presented as the cynical outlet of young people, who aim for convenience and tick-box

spot light ART &LIT

matches over genuine connection.

They see us pursuing dating as a game to ‘win’. And it hardly seems promising that the first defender of ‘True Love’ in the Union debate is the creator of Love Island - a dramafuelled reality TV show is not the most convincing argument, hardly helped by the fact that he earns his income through propagating such an ideal - as does the Hollywood industry of chic-flicks and romance novels. There’s a lot of economic incentives out there to try to keep us convinced. Yet what surprised me in Love Island was the seemingly genuine commitment of most of the contestants to find something ‘real’.

We might be tricked into it, but the ideal certainly remains, and if finding love is one of the opportunities you’re seeking at Oxford, I say go for it.

FEATURES New transgender art exhibition

12

What Jane Austen has taught us

SPORT

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32

Neymar’s move is about more than football

LETTER TO THE EDITORS Dear Alex and Rosie,

Dear Anthony,

I read an article in the ‘OxStuff’ section of the OxStu last week which that both referred to “filthy Blairites” and ingeniusly used the words of the song “The Red Flag” to imply that those on the right of the Labour party would be cowardly and traitorous - in effect, useless allies - in a revolutionary situation.

While I cannot disagree that Blairites would make useless revolutionaries (they’d be far too prissy and undoubtedly lack the ideological guile), I cannot help but take issue with the use of the adjective “filthy”.

You see, I know a number of Blairites personally, and while they may be a bad (albeit declining) influence within Labour I have never met one that smelled. I am sure that most of them wash more regularly than your article suggested.

From Anthony B

Thank you for raising this issue with us - we’re always looking to open up discussion about the most important issuses of the day, and nobody can deny the importance of covering Labour’s factional battles. We can only apologise if our Deputy Editor’s use of the term ‘filthy’ has caused you offence, although are glad that you could find common ground with him in relation to his other points.

We too have never met a Blairite that smelled, although would wager that with enough looking you could probably find a fair few. That being said, we must stress that the use of the term ‘filthy’ was intended to be humourous, and that this paper takes no official stance on the scent of Labour’s right-wingers.

Please feel free to write a rebuttal of the piece to which you refer. We always encourage vigorous debate.

From Alex and Rosie

News 3

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Student found dead at Westgate Charlie Willis News Editor

A body found on the roof of John Lewis at Westgate Oxford shopping centre on Monday has been identified as Max Mian, a second year student at Brasenose College studying Classics.

Construction work on the centre, due to open in three weeks, has been halted for police to investigate the death. A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said that while the death remains unexplained, it is not currently being treated as suspicious.

Mian’s body was found by a construction worker beginning his shift in the morning and the investigation will look into how he accessed the locked construction site as well as the manner of his death and why he was found on the roof of the building.

John Bowers, principal of Brasenose, said: “Max was a brilliant and popular student and we all miss him greatly. Our thoughts are especially with his family and friends and everyone at the college is doing all we can to

help and support them and each other at such a difficult time.”

Steffan Griffiths, headmaster of Mian’s former school in Norwich, said: “I am deeply saddened by the news of the tragic death of Max Mian, who was a much loved

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member of Norwich School.”

The JCR President of Brasenose, Miles Overton said: “Max was a popular, much-loved member of the Brasenose Junior Common Room. His tragic death has deeply shocked us all, but the supportive community in which we live has come together at this difficult time.

Our thoughts are especially with Max’s family and friends, and we in the JCR will always feel his loss.”

The college has been in contact with Mian’s parents to express their condolences and counselling and support has been offered to students and staff.

Suu Kyi stripped of award Zoe Tidman Staff Writer

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar, is to be stripped of her Freedom of Oxford (an honour granted by the city council) following wide criticism of her response to the ongoing Rohingya crisis.

She has received international scrutiny for failing to denounce the military or address UN accusations of a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”, concerning the persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.

Suu Kyi was awarded the Freedom of Oxford whilst being held as a political prisoner by Myanmar’s military dictatorship in 1997. She was celebrated for her “long struggle for democracy”, which eventually led to the success of her National League for Democracy party in the November 2015 open elections.

She received international praise as Myanmar’s opposition leader and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

However, Oxford City Council has voted unanimously that is “no longer appropriate” to celebrate the leader with her honour in light of recent UN evidence.

Over 500,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh following the violence and persecution which has spread

through the western state of Rakhine since late August. Rohingya insurgents attacked security forces, triggering a military crackdown on the minority group which reportedly involved killing and arson.

The 72 year old has been criticised for failing to put an end to the violence. In a controversial speech in late September, Suu Kyi condemned human rights abuses but did not place any blame on the army or addressing allegations of ethnic cleansing.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority group who have lived in the majority Buddhist Myanmar for centuries.

The estimated 1.1 million Rohingya are not officially considered as one of the country’s ethnic minority groups and have been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982.

Suu Kyi read philosophy, politics and economics at St Hugh’s College, Oxford between 1964 and 1967. Her portrait hung in the main entrance to the college until recently when it was replaced, in light of her reaction to the current crisis. Both the University of Bristol and the London School of Economics are also reviewing the honours which they granted her.

A meeting on November 27 is set to confirm the official removal of the honour.

Dame Maggie Smith awarded Mansfield honorary degree Anisha Faruk Deputy News Editor

Mansfield College has announced in an email to its students that Dame Maggie Smith, English actress, is to be conferred with an Honorary Fellowship of the college on the 20th October. Smith will then be in conversation with the Principal of Mansfield, talking about her life and career.

The conferment and subsequent talk will mark the beginning of the Mansfield Lecture Series of this term.

Maggie Smith began her onstage career at the Oxford Playhouse in

1952 at the age of 17, playing Viola in Twelfth Night. Her Broadway debut came in 1958 with New Faces of ’56. Two years later she received the first of her eighteen BAFTA Film and TV nominations for her role as Bridget Howard in Nowhere to Go. Many today will know her as Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series and Lady Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey which won her three Emmys. She is to feature in a BBC 2 arts documentary this year titled ‘Nothing Like A Dame’ with old friends Dame Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright.

The veteran star, a survivor of breast cancer, is also the patron of the International Glaucoma Association,

aiming to support the organisation and raise awareness of glaucoma.

Her prolific career has seen her become a cornerstone of British culture for over six decades.

In 1990, she was appointed a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the performing arts and received the Companion of Honour in 2014 for services to drama.

Perhaps the most prestigious of all was her receipt of the Bodley Medal

by University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries in April of last year.

The conferment event will be taking place in the Sir Joseph Hotung Auditorium in the Hands Building of Mansfield College and is currently only open to Mansfield members.

HiraV

Two dead in Banbury stabbings Lucy Clay Staff Writer

Jon Lewis

Raymond Morgan, 52, has been charged with murder following the discovery of two bodies in a flat in Banbury. Police came to Newland Road, where the bodies were found on Sunday.

Formal identification named the men as 39 year old Adrian Fannon and 25 year old Mark Pawley, and the postmortem revealed that the cause of death for both men was ‘multiple’ stab wounds.

The Thames Valley Police have said that this was an isolated incident, and the two victims are

believed to have known Morgan. According to neighbours, the flat’s resident had only been living there for a few months.

Morgan, charged with two counts of murder, is set to appear in court again on Friday, when bail arrangements and a date for the full trial will be set.

The family of one of the victims, Pawley, have spoken out in grief: “Mark was a lovable rogue, who made you smile and cry with laughter and was known for his love of singing and dancing.

Our family is devastated and heartbroken at the shocking loss of Mark who, behind all of his troubles, was a truly loved and loving person.

Mark was a loving son, father, brother, grandson and uncle. We do not know how as a family we will get over this.”

Thames Valley Police

News 4

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Bitesize Your weekly roundup of university, research and city news Trench foot causes discovered More than 100 years after the condition was first identified in World War II, the causes of trench foot have been found by Oxford researchers.

Trench foot, more properly called non-freezing cold injury, occurs after soft tissue is cooled for extended periods but not frozen. It can cause permanent injury, chronic pain and longlasting numbness and tingling.

The condition can impair or even end military careers due to the limitations on physical activity which these symptoms cause.

They studied armed forces personnel and veterans who suffered from the condition and the associated chronic pain, finding that they had significantly fewer nerve fibers in the upper layers of skin.

Professor David Bennett of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences said: “Finally understanding the root cause of their symptoms will open the way for new treatments, as well as improving ways to prevent the condition in people who are most susceptible.”

St Hugh’s criticised for all-male University Challenge team St Hugh’s college, originally an all-female college, has attracted criticism for fielding an all-male team on BBC quiz show University Challenge, prompting presenter Jeremy Paxman to joke in the introduction of the show: “On the basis of tonight’s team, we could be forgiven for thinking they’d [men] rather taken it over.”

F­ ounded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth, St Hugh’s was created for women who could not meet the expenses for existing colleges.

In 1987 the college began accepting men, and counts amongst its alumni Theresa May, Nicky Morgan and Aung San Suu Kyi. The college describes itself as being “a vibrant, co-educational establishment, which remains very proud of its radical tradition and beginnings.”

St Hugh’s has said that team members were selected by the roughly

800 students at the college.

This is not however the first time that University Challenge has been accused of being male dominated.

Last year, only one fifth of competitors on the quiz show were female, with the final battled out between two all-male teams.

Paxman said in an article for the Financial Times earlier this year: “The students are encouraged to enter teams which broadly reflect their institution.

I suspect that - like football or darts - more males than females care about quizzing.”

A spokesperson for the BBC has responded to the criticism saying: “The make-up of each team is determined by the universities themselves, and whilst we do encourage them to reflect the diversity of their student population, ultimately each university has their own team selection process.”

£80,000 industry scholarships for student research Anastasia Zykova Staff Writer

Charlie Willis Oxford City Council host World Mental Health Day event Oxford City Council hosted the #OxMindWMHD book relay event on Tuesday 10th October 2017. The loose leaf pages of the book travelled around Oxfordshire to collect contributions, and councillors and staff were invited to submit a contribution to the book, particularly focusing on what mental health means to them. This could be expressed in any way they desired, as a pledge, poem, personal experience, or challenge. The book contributions were collected from the Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Christine Simm, and Councillor Marie Tidball in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour, Oxford Town Hall. The closing ceremony and final relay stop was in County Hall. World Mental Health Day is a national campaign, pioneered by the World Federation for Mental Health to identify and address sources of mental health problems. This year’s theme is mental health in the workplace.

Ahmed Ahmed

JP Bowen

Merton College

Irene Tracey appointed new warden of Merton College Continued from front page Her career since has been illustrious, including a post-doctoral position at Harvard Medical School. Professor Tracey also cofounded the Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, holding the position of director for ten years. Within Oxford, she has been given fellowships at Christ Church and Pembroke Colleges. In recent years, she has been awarded the Feldberg Prize for contributions to neuroscience and pain research and has been elected to serve on the Medical Research Council.

Professor Judith Armitage,

Merton’s sub-warden, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Professor Irene Tracey has agreed to take over as Warden from October 2019. She will continue Merton’s longstanding tradition of having an active and very successful academic at its head, in this case one who was also an undergraduate and graduate student here. With her lively involvement in the wider University and the national and international biomedical and educational community, we feel Merton will be well placed to address the increasing challenges facing higher education in the coming years.”

Two Oxford University students are to be awarded £80,000 each in funding as part of an initiative to aid talented young professionals to pursue ground-breaking scientific research while continuing to gain valuable experience.

Chao Jiang and David Dearlove are among this year’s fourteen recipients of the Industrial Fellowships organised by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. The commission, originally established by Queen Victoria following the Great Exhibition of 1851, recognises the best research that could advance British industry and annually awards funds to the UK’s top young doctoral engineers and scientists in order to aid them bring them to market.

The Industrial Fellowships provide graduates with the means to develop innovative technology with commercial potential, ideally leading to a patent, while completing a PhD or EngD. Chao Jiang’s research focuses on reactivating stem cells in ageing bones to treat Osteoporosis, a condition which affects approximately 3 million in the UK (more than 1 in 20 people out of the population). His treatment could bring old stem cells in bones back to life to regenerate the bone itself and actually reverse the weakening caused by the condition.

David Dearlove is in the process of developing a ketogenic drink that can improve metabolic health in humans. The drink has already been tested on numerous athletes and is being used in America as a performance

drink. Dearlove is currently looking at how this drink could be used by the public to mimic the effects of diets such as the 5:2 diet and cause weight loss just by consuming the product.

Bernard Taylor, Chairman of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, commented: “Ensuring Britain’s young scientists and engineers are supported is crucial to ensuring that the UK is at the forefront of innovation in the years to come. Our Industrial Fellowships are designed to fund and commercialise the most promising technologies that could shape our society in the future.

This year, we have awarded more Fellowships than ever before, and the breadth of technologies we are supporting, from artificial intelligence, to clean power and potential cures for most deadly diseases demonstrates that the talent in the UK is only growing.”

Thirteen Nobel Laureates have already received support by the initiative in the early stages of their careers, including Peter Higgs (who theorised the Higgs boson particle) and quantum physicist Paul Dirac.

The commission, founded after the first world trade fair saw huge success, became a permanent body under Prince Albert to “increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry”. The commission was influential in the founding of many famous London sites, including the V&A, Science and Natural History Museums as well as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Colleges of Music and Art and Imperial College.

News 5

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Balliol backtracks on Christian Union ban from fair Anisha Faruk Deputy News Editor

Students at Balliol college have backtracked after preventing the Christian Union (CU) from being represented at their freshers’ fair. Balliol JCR has voted to prevent any organization being banned in the future. The issue has been “amicably resolved” according to the umbrella organization for Christian Unions UK. Initially the JCR committee attempted to prevent any CU representation at the fair desiring to make it a “safe and secular space” to prevent “alienating” new students. Eventually, discussions between the CU and JCR Vice President Freddy Potts led to permission being granted for a single multifaith stall which was set up without representatives from any society manning it.

Potts said in a statement explaining the ban: “Historically, Christianity’s influence on many marginalised communities has been damaging in its methods of conversion and rules of practice, and is still used in many places as an excuse for homophobia and certain forms of neo-colonialism.” The decision was met with widespread criti-

cism and made national news.

Responding to the ban, a Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship spokesperson said: “Balliol College JCR committee took the decision to prevent Christian Union representatives from attending its freshers’ fair on the grounds that they wished the fair to be a safe and secular space.” She added that it was “a pretty rare experience” and that the majority of student unions

Deputy Editor

The planning application to redevelop The Cellar into retail space was withdrawn on Wednesday after public outcry against closing the nightclub.

This August, The Cellar had revealed that the head landlord of their premises off Cornmarket Street were looking to redevelop the site into retail space, leaving the venue’s future uncertain.

A Change.org petition to save The Cellar reached more than 13,000 signatures, and a Facebook event titled “Save The Cellar” had over 1,100 people register as “going” and a further 1,800 “interested”.

In a statement, The Cellar had described the news as “devastating… not just for the Cellar team, but for the Oxford music scene as a whole”.

The move by the venue’s landlords St Michael’s and All Saint’s Charities was criticised as further evidence of “the continued erosion of independent music venues by big business”. Responses online took a similar vein, with many voicing concerns about the limited options for similar venues in Oxford.

Local musicians who have played at The Cellar also spoke out against the closure. Dave Bayley of Glass Animals said: “My love for live music, clubbing, and nightlife came from basically living in The Cellar [...] to see it turned into some retail outlet would be like beating the small heart of the Oxford music scene to

way is to misunderstand the nature of debate and dialogue, and is at odds with the kind of society we are all seeking to promote.”

Balliol College said it was satisfied that “the students themselves have now resolved this matter”.

A college spokesman said: “The Christian Union will be offered a stall at future freshers’ fairs.

“Balliol is a tolerant, friendly college where students of all faiths and none are free to worship.”

Anandagopal Srinivasan, a doctor at John Radcliffe Hospital, has been charged with two sexual assaults, one incident occuring at the Oxford hospital and one at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Srinivasan, of Sandfield Road, was arrested 6th October and released on bail.

He appeared in Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, when it was decided that his trial would be held on 10th November.

Charlie Willis Brookes release mental health research Oxford Brookes has released research on World Mental Health Day which found that workers who pursue goals for the purpose of helping others or personal satisfaction report higher levels of happiness than those who work out of obligation or selfishness.

The research concluded that our reasons for working are critical to satisfaction derived from that work.

Charlie Willis Tony Hisgett

Cellar will stay open Daniel Mahoney

“enjoy a good relationship with the CU in their university.”

Chief education officer for the Church of England, Rev. Nigel Genders, was critical of Balliol JCR’s ban: “Freedom of religion and belief is a fundamental principle that underpins our country and its great institutions. “Christian Unions represent some of the largest student-led organisations in many universities across the country. “To exclude them in this

Oxford doctor accused of sexual assault

a pulp with a premade sandwich.”

In response to this threat of closure, the Cellar launched a campaign to mobilise the local community to ‘Save the Cellar’. In addition to the Change. org petition started by Oxford based event organisers Fluid, throughout September the Cellar encouraged fans to submit comments to the planning application for the planned conversion. Businesses around Oxford also voiced their support for the Cellar, with ‘Save the Cellar’ posters plastered around shops, pubs and cafes across the city.

The Cellar’s owners called the news that the application had been withdrawn “amazing”, saying “support f looded in for us”. Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, called it “brilliant news”.

Oxford Union criticised for male-dominated term card Anisha Faruk Deputy News Editor

The Oxford Union has faced criticism over its male dominated term card for Michaelmas 2017. Just 12 of 61 speakers confirmed for this term are women - under 20%.

Oxford SU VP Katy Haigh has made a statement criticising the Union: “While I greatly appreciate the efforts the Union has made recently to engage with topics of equality and diversity, we need to see more from the Oxford Union. An establishment as old and prestigious as the Oxford Union should surely have adequate power and resources to engage a more diverse range of speakers.”

Oxford University Labour Club Co-Chair Iris Kaye-Smith was scathing of the Union: “In producing this almost laughably maledominated term card, they abdicate any claim they might’ve had to relevance in Oxford students’ lives. Men comprise about half the population; it’s a complete joke that the Union is devoting over 80% of its time and attention to male speakers. They seem determined to cement their reputation as an out of touch old boys’ club.”

Addressing the criticism, President of the Union, Chris Zabilowicz, has admitted to being “disappointed” with the

gender imbalance but has insisted that it was due to more men accepting invitations rather than bias on the Union’s part.

“Anyone who knows me will support me when I say I very much care about diversity, as the first openly gay President of the Oxford Union and an access member myself, and that I strived to put together a term card that reflects this.”

Female speakers this term include anti-cyber bullying activist and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, former Green Party leader Nathalie Bennett, and actor Anna Faris.

There is a racial disparity amongst the speakers this term too – just seven non-white speakers feature this term including Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, and actor Terrence Howard.

The Union has not shied away from inviting controversial figures including former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who has faced accusations of antiSemitism, and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci who was fired by President Trump after an expletive-laden interview with a New Yorker reporter.

Other events run by the Union this term include an ‘Into the Movies’ social, an Olympus black tie ball and a Wine and Cheese social.

Oxford research confirms we are not in a simulation We are probably not living inside a Matrix-like computer simulation, according to a recent study by theoretical physicists from Oxford University, published in the Scientific Advances journal.

The research team, led by Zohal Ringel and Dmitry Kovrizhi, observed a novel link between gravitational anomalies and computational complexities. They looked at what would be required to build a computer simulation capable of exhibiting quantum manybody effects and ruled that there are not enough particles in the known universe to sustain the computing power necessary for a simulation of such scale. The simulation needed to be extremely complex, exponentially growing in complexity as the number of particles required for grew.

Storing information about hundreds of electrons requires a computer memory containing more atoms than available in our universe. The researchers added: “One cannot exclude the possibility that some inherent physical property creates an obstruction to efficient classical simulations of many-body quantum systems.”

Felix Rante

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

News 6

WORLD NEWS

Spain inches closer to implementing direct rule in Catalonia following referendum dispute

Liam Frahm News Editor

Mariano Rajoy, Spanish PM, has asked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to confirm if Catalonia has declared independence following a referendum on 1st October, where around 90 percent voted for independence with a turnout of 43 percent. However, on Tuesday, Puigdemont said in a speech to the region’s parliament in Barcelona that Catalonia had won the right to independence and signed a declaration of independence. However, the Catalan leader also asked the parliament to suspend the effects of independence for dialogue and international mediation between the two parties.

“Today I assume the mandate

for Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic,” Puigdemont said on Tuesday. He added: “We propose the suspension of the effects of the declaration of independence for a few weeks, to open a period of dialogue.” Mr Rajoy responded on Wednesday, “This call - ahead of any of the measures that the government may adopt under Article 155 of our constitution - seeks to offer citizens the clarity and security that a question of such importance requires. There is an urgent need to put an end to the situation that Catalonia is going through - to return it to safety, tranquillity and calm and to do that as quickly as possible.”

Article 155 allows for “all measures necessary to compel the community to meet said obliga-

tions, or to protect the abovementioned general interest,” and has never been implemented in the history of the country and would require senate approval. Suggested policies this could entail range from taking control of the police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, or tightening funding to more extreme measures, such as dissolving the Barcelona government.

The developments come after Spain’s Supreme Court declared the referendum result illegal and it was announced that the extra 4,000 national police sent to Catalonia ahead of the referendum by Rajoy would stay. The day of the vote was marred with police violence, with reports of Spanish police hitting voters with batons and dragging them away from polling stations.

Generalitat de Catalunya

US faces NFL national ‘Nudge’ theorist Richard Thaler anthem protests wins Nobel Prize for economics Anisha Faruk Deputy News Editor

US President Donald Trump has defended Vice President Mike Pence for walking out of an NFL game during national anthem protests.

Pence left the stadium on Sunday as players knelt during the Star-Spangled Banner.

He was attending the game in his home state of Indiana with Second Lady Karen Pence.

The match, between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers, saw several 49ers kneel during the anthem and some Colts, with arms interlinked, wearing black shirts reading “Stand for equality, justice, unity, respect, dialogue, opportunity” on the back.

White House reporters have said they were not brought into the stadium with Pence and were told he may leave early. This has led to accusations that Pence only attended the game to pull a publicity stunt at the expense of taxpayers.

Trump tweeted in defence of Pence: “The trip by @VP Pence was long planned. He is receiving great praise for leaving game after players showed such disrespect for country!”

Sports players in America have been kneeling during the pregame national anthem to protest the treatment of black people and against police brutality. The

protests started last year with ex49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick and escalated this season with more players taking a knee.

Some have said the protests are disrespectful to the American flag and members of the US armed forces. Trump, speaking at a Republican rally, referred to protesting players as ‘sons of bitches’ and argued that they should be sacked by team owners. Others have highlighted how the first amendment of the US constitution protects the free speech of players and their right to protest.

Owners of Nascar teams have threatened to sack employees who protest whilst NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has previously praised the protesting players.

Deaths of black Americans at the hands of police over recent years have created a divide in American politics and culture and the #takeaknee” movement is the latest form of protest in an incendiary climate of racial tension.

Keith Allison

Liam Frahm News Editor

Richard Thaler, regarded as the “father of behavioural economics”, has been rewarded for his decade-long efforts with this year’s Nobel Prize for economics. He takes home a prize-pot of nine million kronor (around £850,000) for “understanding the psychology of economics”, according to the Swedish Academy of Sciences secretary Goeran Hansson.

The Nobel committee commended Thaler, 72, as a “pioneer in behavioural economics, a research field in which insights from psychological research are applied to economic decision making” which “incorporates more realistic analysis of how people think and behave when making economic decisions.”

Thaler, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, is best known for his 2008 work “Nudge”, co-authored

with Cass Sunstein, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. The theory, according to the Guardian, has been “read by politicians around the world and soon had them embracing the notion that people can be influenced by prompts – such as changing the wording of tax demands – to alter their behaviour.”

Meanwhile, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for, “its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.”

Japan-born British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his “novels of great emotional force” and uncovering “the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”

Earlier this week, the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded

to Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young for their work on the genetic building blocks of circadian rhythms.

Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of gravitational waves and the development of the detector, known as the Laser Interferometer GravitationalWave Observatory (LIGO), sensitive enough to detect them.

Finally, The Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson for their roles in the development of cryo-electron microscopy. Their culminating work led to the development of an ima ging technique which allows for the exploration of structures at an incredibly high resolution.

Chatham House

COMMENT

Comment 8

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Charlottesville shows us why we still need RMF

The legacies of slavery and colonialism continue to impact POC across the West John Aggrey Odera Staff Writer

Recent violence in Charlottesville, VA, caused by the clashing of white Neo-Nazis and the far left anti-fascist group Antifa, have proven false the “post-racial” bubble that some white Americans choose to live in. I use the phrase “proven false” ironically, since you would be hard-pressed to find a person of colour (POC) living in America right now who thinks racism ended with the civil war, Brown v. Board of Education, or Loving v. Virginia.

Yet despite massively documented police brutality against POC, despite the continued exploitation of predominantly black bodies for free or cheap labour under the prison industrial complex, some white Americans, mostly on the right, have rejected the idea of the continued existence of white supremacy and institutionalised racism. Instead, they have made calls for POC to “work harder”. They have touted the “American Dream”, and have provided examples of people who came from nothing: the “model minority” – mainly Americans of East Asian and Indian origins, who have proven that through hard work, you can make anything of yourself in America.

This view, of course, exists mainly in pundit circles, in not-so-fringe elements of the right wing taken extremely seriously by their viewership (which is massive, if media reports are anything to go by) but not by anyone else. Most white Americans on the centre right/left acknowledge the existence of institutional racism and white supremacy. Yet even for them, there are numerous disjunctions between their well-intended desires to dismantle white supremacy and the ways they go about it.

But that’s a corollary. The first part is the recognition of the fact that there’s a problem, and of the sources of this said problem. America has a white supremacy problem, many white Americans recognise it, and its sources and are willing to take measures against it; in fact, Antifa is predominantly white. That’s a start.

Interestingly, the ways America and Britain have tackled white supremacy are markedly different. Despite being the first to ban slavery, Britain has been much slower in confronting its legacy of white supremacy. Perhaps because chattel slavery against black and Indian people was not practiced in mainland Britain, or perhaps because Britain, through extremely strict immigration laws, does not have a large enough population of people who suffered from British atrocities to force it into a productive discussion with them, many British people

Wikimedia Commons

refuse to confront their white supremacy inspired legacy of colonialism.

It is not uncommon to run into Britons online who fervently believe that the statue of Robert Lee should fall but not that of Cecil Rhodes. The argument is that colonialism does not occupy the same moral plane as slavery. Whereas Rhodes was a hero to the British Empire, Lee was a traitor to the American one. While that is at best an arguable proposition, and while it is important to point out that if Rhodes was a hero, then it was primarily because he was around when British colonialism was in vogue whereas Lee was a traitor because he fought to preserve an out-of-fashion American institution, the point is that both British colonialism and American slavery had the same ideological grounding – white supremacy – and any moral distinctions between slavery and colonialism are completely post hoc.

The assumption held by many British people, and still prevalent now, is that nothing went on before the British came Britain as it is now suffers from simultaneous nostalgia of what once was the British Empire and amnesia of the atrocities they committed. It is the relic of a Great Britain that refuses to believe that the “Great” in its name is now about as relevant as the “Democratic” in

“Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”. Empire critics have documented the deleterious effects that British colonialism had on previously existing local economies, the most startling example being India, whose share as a percentage of global GDP fell from upwards of 20 percent at the onset of British colonialism to under five percent when they left. This is always mostly ignored, or when it isn’t, the “benefits” of colonialism are pointed out to you as a counter.

The assumption held then by many British people, and still prevalent now, is that nothing went on before the British came. It conflates Britain, the West, indeed the land of the white man, with science, technology and advancement, whereas the rest of the world, the colonies, are backward and in need of saving. Its proponents automatically come to the conclusion that British colonialism was good, by providing evidence of “improved” infrastructure (while of course ignoring the fact that this infrastructure was built to further British resource plundering, and that trade and information links would have led to these improvements anyway).

This then leads these Empire nostalgics to declare definitively the ‘ingratitude’ of movements such as Rhodes Must Fall, and even to stifle conversation on the issue because the activists are supposed to be thankful. After all, RMF is predominantly made up of people privileged enough to attend Oxford. Surely they couldn’t be suffering that much if they attend Oxford, could they? It is at times even pointed out that RMF activists, by virtue of being at Oxford, enjoy

privileges that even the majority of white Britain does not. This assertion, aside from attempting to use class to add unnecessary complexity to the issue so as to undermine RMF’s core claim, also implicitly denotes Oxford as a place that many white people are entitled to, but most of them are not lucky enough to attend, and one that the majority of POC are not entitled to, and the few lucky to attend should be grateful they do.

I assure you, Southern Africans are still suffering from Rhodes’ legacy Ntokozo Qwabe, a South African Rhodes scholar who was prominent in the Rhodes Must Fall movement at Oxford, was severally accused of “lack of thankfulness”. How dare he campaign for the removal of the statue of Rhodes while at the same time benefitting from a Rhodes scholarship?

The greater accusation levied against Rhodes Must Fall, however, is that of wanting to revise history, of refusing to acknowledge the fact that some things happened the way they did. On the one hand, proponents of this point of view argue, these statues are too old and have lost the ideological mettle behind them. On the other hand, they claim that having statues of people such as Rhodes in public places forces us to acknowledge them and their atrocities, to learn from history.

Having these statues there apparently creates debates about the actions

of the people these statues honor.

These two points of view, despite coming from the same camp yet being contradictory, still both show one thing: many POC are disturbed by the legacy of Rhodes and what he represents; many white people are not. If the years that Rhodes’ statue has quietly looked down on Oriel College tell us one thing, it is that the very public presence of this statue forced no one to confront the legacy of Rhodes until Rhodes Must Fall came along. And for those “worried” that Rhodes’ atrocities are going to be omitted from the history books, or that nobody is going to remember what he did, I assure you, the Southern Africans are still suffering from Rhodes’ legacy; in terms of landlessness caused by having their ancestors forcefully evacuated from their lands, in terms of a colonised education system that still chooses to dignify and heroify a man who oppressed their ancestors; they will not forget Rhodes. He is very much alive to them.

And even then, Rhodes Must Fall activists are not against the statue being moved into a museum. In a museum, the problematic legacy of Rhodes can be taught without people of colour constantly being made to feel like we inhabit a space not welcoming to us. POC can feel safe walking around campus knowing that that same campus does not glorify someone who murdered their ancestors and pillaged their property. Oxford can take a stand against perpetuating the legacy of a white supremacist and, by bringing his statue down, Oxford can show that it will not lend its institutional prestige towards the celebration of white supremacy.

Now, more than ever, Rhodes must fall. But as has been stressed before, this is not just about a statue. Aside from removing the statue, Oxford’s duty further lies in ensuring that its students and faculty of colour feel safe and welcome in this space not originally meant for them. It lies in Oxford increasing the number of black and other POC students and faculty to be a true reflector of the world. It requires that Oxford be not synonymous with whiteness. It lies in Oxford introducing more classes about people of colour, about other histories other than British and “world” history, taught by people from these various parts of the world. It requires that people realise that you can simultaneously be an African against Rhodes yet benefit (and without any guilt, might I add) from the Rhodes scholarship. As Nanjala Nyabola, a Kenyan Rhodes scholar once claimed, she could not imagine a bigger “fuck you” to Rhodes than accepting a scholarship he had not meant for people like her.

Comment 9

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

The deadly cost of relying on nineteenth-century laws Dani Dean

Deputy Comment Editor

When you arrive at Oxford’s train station, one of the most unmistakable sights are the many bikes parked up on the racks. These constitute just a small percentage of Oxford’s cycling community, with the city having one of the countries’ highest rates of bike use. Any changes made to cycling legislation would have a significant impact on Oxford residents. And the recent killing of Kim Briggs by a cyclist in London has sparked debate to this effect.

Twenty-year-old Charlie Alliston knocked over and killed Briggs in East London last year, whilst riding a bike with no front brakes at 18 miles per hour. He has subsequently been sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders’ institution. Mr Alliston was sentenced under the 1861 “wanton and furious driving” legislation which was intended for horse drawn carriages, and states that “whosoever, having the charge

of any carriage or vehicle, shall by wanton or furious driving or racing... [can be] ... imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years”. Any cyclist who causes bodily harm can currently only be convicted by this Act. It is undeniable that this legislation is severely outdated, but it is

not only this law that is severely lagging behind societal change.

In other UK cycling legislation, there are gaping holes demonstrating that we do not take the safety of cyclists and pedestrians seriously enough. Compared with those relating to motorists, cycling laws have been dangerously

Robin Stott

Robin Stott

overlooked. For example, British cyclists have no legal obligation to adhere to the same speed limits as those in a motorised vehicle. Although it is possible for local by-laws to impose speed limits for cyclists – which has been done in areas such as Hampstead Heath – the point is that if cycling is allowed in all areas of the UK, then either new blanket legislation must be introduced or local councils must be pressurised to create by-laws that impose stricter cycling regulations.

A similar oversight can be found with the legislation regarding cycling while using mobile phones, which again is illegal for motorists but not for cyclists. In a society where cycling is continuously being advocated, it must be considered as a serious form of transport that, like any other, comes with real risks. In contrast with Australia, where a national mandatory bicycle helmet legislation was introduced in 1990, the UK are yet to introduce any laws surrounding helmet-wearing. Yet a report

by the International Transport Forum in 2013 found that there was an eight percent decrease in cyclist fatalities in countries where there was a law on helmets.

On being asked about UK cycling legislation in the wake of the Kim Briggs tragedy, Theresa May said: “I think we should welcome the fact that the prosecution were able to find legislation under which they were able to take a prosecution.” According to findings from the British Social Attitudes survey in 2015, 1.5 million people are cycling nearly every other day or every day in this country; the fact, therefore, that the prosecution had to “find” this legislation is hardly of any comfort. May’s initial response to “welcome” the finding of the existing outdated legislation is distasteful, as it undermines the importance of having up-to-date laws, the absence of which has now been shown to endanger life.

The Briggs case has clearly demonstrated the failure of current legislation to deal with 21st century developments in transporta-

Why do we undervalue junior academics by paying them so little?

The underreported salary discrepancy between vice-chancellors and junior staff

Tom Gould

Deputy Broadcasting Editor

Not one to miss a passing bandwagon, Universities Minister Jo Johnson was quick to make hay out of the controversy over vicechancellors’ gold plated salaries in early September. Their soaring pay is a “real embarrassment for our higher education sector”, according to Johnson, justifying new plans which will see universities required to publish details of all senior staff earning over £100,000 peryear, and fined if they fail to justify salaries above £150,000.

Stricter regulation of wasteful spending by universities would certainly be welcome, especially as annual tuition fees are raised to £9,250, whilst interest rates are increasing from 4.6 to 6.1 percent this Michaelmas. Nonetheless, the minister’s outrage seems to disguise a far more serious embarrassment lurking within the Department of Education. For every overpaid university official, there are many more academics labouring on low paid and insecure contracts.

“I earn just over £6,000 a year,” Dr Steve Hanson told the Guardian in November 2016. He is a part-time lecturer in political sociology. “We are seasonal labourers, like fruit pickers. You have to email every September, cap in hand, saying: ‘Is there

any work for me this year?’”

The face of academia is often that of the wealthy, whether it’s a vice-chancellor or a celebrity expert with a book deal and a documentary series on the BBC. In Oxford especially, our expectations about academic pay are conditioned by the gilded environment in which we are surrounded. Meanwhile, there is a startling ignorance of the treatment of academics on the junior rungs of the ladder.

Dr Hanson’s case is not unusual. Last year, the University and College Union (UCU) analysed data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency and found that 53 percent of UK academics are on insecure fixed-term contracts. The situation is even worse at research-intensive Russell Group universities, where 59 percent of academics are on these fixed-term contracts.

“We are seasonal labourers, like fruit pickers” This has a real impact on the day-to-day lives of junior academics. An extensive report by the UCU in May 2015 revealed that 42 percent of staff on casual contracts in universities and colleges have struggled to pay household bills. More than a third had experienced problems with getting

a mortgage on account of their insecure contract, whilst one in five struggled to pay for food.

Where is the public outrage over the insecure, low-pay contracts to which our junior academics are subjected?

It is unlikely that conditions are much better in 2017. Some university staff have seen their pay fall in real terms by 15 percent since 2010. Writing in The Times Higher Education Supplement, Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the UCU, compared the university model of employment to what “one might expect to find in a Sports Direct warehouse”.

The outlook is particularly ugly in Oxford where our Vice-Chancellor, Louise Richardson, took fire for attempting to defend her £350,000 salary on the basis that attracting talent in a “global marketplace” is an expensive necessity. For all I know she could well be overpaid for what she does. But if social justice really is our rallying cry – rather than just knee-jerk envy – then where is the public outrage over the insecure, lowpay contracts to which our junior academics are subjected?

At the time of writing, Mans-

OUImages/John Cairns

field is advertising for a stipendiary lectureship in Politics, paid at £13,415 per annum. And it’s not just that the humanities are undervalued. Hertford is currently recruiting two or three stipendiary lecturers in Computer Science, for an annual salary of between £13,026 – £14,651 “depending on qualifications and experience”. To straddle the poverty line in the UK’s least affordable city, after spending eight years or more in higher education, is a scandal. To make matters worse, Oxford has the fourth

highest rate of insecure contracts of any British university.

Richardson, to her credit, has at least acknowledged that she is paid “a very high salary compared to our academics – our junior academics especially, who are very lowly paid”. Yet in spite of this candour, there has been no visible movement to rectify the inequality she herself recognises.

Although Louise Richardson and Jo Johnson are at loggerheads, it appears they are both prepared to ignore, or at least tolerate, the plight of junior staff.

PROFILE

Profile 10

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Uchenna Ikonne

On the rise and fall of Nigerian rock Tobi Thomas Profile Editor

2017 marks 50 years since the outbreak of the Biafran War. In 1967, the persecuted Igbo people, mainly settled in the South-East of Nigeria, established the Republic of Biafra and declared independence from the country. One million Biafran civilians starved due to a naval blockade on the Republic. By 1970, Biafra surrendered and the war ended.

But the scars of the war were still visible, and made their way into Nigeria’s own legacy of rock.

Nigeria’s cultural influence across the globe is vast: Peckham in South London is referred to as ‘Little Lagos’; Yoruba, an official Nigerian language, has vast influence on Cuban Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. Considering this, it seems strange for Nigerian rock to be half in shadow: for a very long time, relatively little has been known about its legacy, or its artists. Uchenna Ikonne is a Nigerian music historian, who uncovered the forgotten sounds of these lost artists.

“The Beatles and James Brown were the most influential figures” How did you first discover the Nigerian rock of the 1970s, which has today been lost when compared to other genres of West African music?

What inspired you to research into the genre?

I suppose I was always aware of it when I was a child. I really came of age in the 1980s, by which time the rock scene was about a decade in the past. But echoes of it were still hanging around by then, mostly through older guys I encountered.

Like, university-age guys who had been into the rock thing when they were in high school (I grew up on a university campus so I had lots of guys like that around me).

It wasn’t until the end of the 1990s or so that I really started to explore it in depth. No, not really… let’s say that that was when I really started to take active interest. In-depth exploration did not happen until around 2007 or so. Why I decided to dig into it is a long story, but the broad strokes of it are: I wanted to

learn more about this scene and was disappointed to find that there was no substantial research on it, so I had to do it myself.

as a whole, including bands that were not even from Aba! Aba is my hometown, so I suppose I felt I had a bit of a foothold there. But really, I

“Fela was a bit older than most of the rocker kids [...] but he had very keen ears” Was there a process in how you chose what bands and artists to focus your research on?

I don’t know if there’s a real process. I just went in there prepared to talk to anybody who was open to talking to me. That’s still how I operate, for the most part. I absorb all the information I can, and then work through it to find a cohesive narrative.

There probably is some degree of methodology involved, though.

I guess I would say that when I started out, I prioritized bands from Eastern Nigeria. Could it be because I myself am from the East?

Perhaps. But more than that, it was because the rock scene was situated largely in the East, and I had heard many old-heads using the term “Aba Rock” to describe the genre

didn’t even start from Aba… I think I started at Asaba and Port Harcourt. But Aba was where I did the deepest, most thorough and satisfying research. Mainly because that city was such an epicentre for the scene and there were many living old-timers who had vivid memories (and photographs) of the period.

How much do you think Western hard rock/ psychedelia influced the Nigerian artists?

It influenced it all the way. The Beatles and James Brown were the most influential figures, but bands came to also take in inspiration from the likes of Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad, and Atomic Rooster.

What impact do you think the political and cultural land-

Uchenna Ikonne

scape of Nigeria had on the genre? Were there any standout events, such as Nigeria’s independence, which influenced the music?

Not Nigeria’s independence. The rock scene did not really take off in earnest until 1968 or so, by which time Nigeria had been independent for almost a decade. But in some ways, the arrival of independence did have some impact on the rock seed taking root to begin with.

When Nigeria became independent, the world was still in the throes of the Cold War. And rock‘n’roll and R&B were among the cultural tools that the US employed to woo the youth of newly-independent African states to align themselves with the West.

The civil war had some influence too. Mostly to the extent that the social disruption caused by the war brought an end to the previous highlife generation’s reign as the dominant musical idiom. That opened up a space for rock to become a mainstream music… Highlife had become riven by ethnic segregation, but rock was more democratic. It was for everybody.

Did religion have an influence on the genre? In relation to artists which come from the Muslim North, compared to artists from the Christian South?

No. There were a few songs that contained religious statements in their lyrics such as OFO the Black Company’s ‘Allah Wakbarr’ (the members of the band were actually Christians). But no… the music was not religiously driven at all. There were far fewer bands from the North, though...there were a number of reasons for this that are not altogether religious but have more to do with the social structure of Northern society.

Uchenna Ikonne

You wrote about the Iijadu Sisters in your research, but do you think women in general had a significant influence on the genre as a whole?

There were not large numbers of women involved in the rock genre for most of its period of peak popularity. It was generally considered

to be an unseemly world for young girls to be in the midst of, so they were very few and far between.

Do you think different genres, such as afrobeat, with major artists like Fela Kuti, influence Nigerian rock?

Afro Beat (note that I didn’t spell it “afrobeat” in this instance) had a huge influence on rock, and vice versa. Fela was a bit older than most of the rocker kids and he had grown up idealizing jazz more than rock, but he had very keen ears.

He was able to hear something in rock and soul that most of his peers in the highlife world couldn’t. He borrowed some ideas from these youth-oriented genres and blended them with his jazz and Latin influences. The result was Afro Beat.

And in turn, the rock kids listened to Afro Beat and heard a new way to express rock ideas that felt authentically African. Fela’s influence helped lead to the development of afro-rock and other rock expressions that didn’t copy foreign sources as slavishly.

Why do you think the genre declined towards the late 1970s? Do you think there is still a legacy of Nigerian rock today?

There are various reasons why rock declined. In some ways, Fela caused it. While he was in his own way a product of the rock revolution, he became so big that he and his afrobeat ended up overshadowing the rock scene, starving it of exposure and attention. There might have been some other reasons too, such as various shifts in cultural awareness in society that might have prioritized more obvious indigenous music styles such as juju, highlife, apala and the like.

There is no real rock legacy today.

Most young Nigerians don’t know that Nigeria ever even had a booming rock scene to begin with. There are a few bands in Nigeria that describe themselves as playing “rock” but I don’t really regard their music as such. Their influences today are more likely to be groups like Coldplay and Maroon 5 – I don’t think those bands really “rock” at all!

Features

Features 12

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

‘I will hold your gaze’: a bold exhibition of transgender art Amy Smith Staff Writer

What does queer art look like? I found out in the multimedia exhibition ‘I Will Hold Your Gaze’ at the University of the Arts, London, and spoke to Lily Waite, its curator.

The exhibition satisfies both the scientist and the artist within the observer, and I left feeling like I’d just left the studio of a Renaissance polymath. That is, if Leonardo da Vinci had been a trans woman in modern-day Chelsea.

“This exhibition was intended to not just be a celebration of trans artists,” Waite told me, “but also a show of defiance and strength, and existence.

“I wanted to help educate cis people - any and all authentic insight into trans experience is incredibly important for a cis audience to see, to help break down stigma and prejudice. I also wanted any trans or non-binary people who saw it to see our community represented by ourselves as that’s so, so important.

“As Edward Said put it, any act of representation is an act of violence; when cis people represent trans people (within a fine art context), it is inherently problematic. This is why I’m trying to represent trans people and provide us with platforms, because only we can truly do justice to ourselves.”

‘Trans Jelly’ (2016) - Elijah Harris These polaroids follow a gender transition. But somehow, medical themes weren’t as intimidating as they should have been - because the people were smiling and laughing, and surrounded by

desire for surgery to alleviate this) but some are comfortable with their bodies. Some find that hormones do enough to make them happier in their bodies. It’s evidence that there is no one homogenous trans experience, or body, for that matter. This is especially true for those who are non-binary; some are completely happy within their bodies, but are still NB, or some undergo various surgeries, but are still NB. We’re all different.”

‘My Euphoria’ (2017) - Alistair Pauly This colour-changing, proud, vascular figure is one of joy, following a difficult but rewarding gender transition.

‘With love’ (2016-17) - Noel Oganyan “The work is a very personal project about his relationship with his mother - his traditional Russian family has always rejected his identity as trans, gay, and queer. The work is an ongoing series of postcards addressed to his mother, but never sent; they would have been sent in the knowledge that they would only have been destroyed. It’s incredibly moving work, and one of my favourite pieces I’ve seen this year.”

‘You built the pyre, you lit the match (I set myself on fire)’ Lily Waite “My piece in the exhibition refers to the violence which the trans community faces, especially trans women (and disproportionately trans women of colour), as well as dealing with the issues of trans representation, the destruction of past identity, and the representation of the trans body using abstraction.

“The burnt wood references a funeral pyre, or a fire upon which a

Noel Oganyan

images of peace and nature.

“Most trans people want surgery at some point in their life, some get it and some don’t, and some don’t even consider it, for a number of reasons. It’s rare to find trans people who don’t suffer gender dysphoria (which then often leads to a

to draw parallels and using abstraction to reference our bodies without using the same old tropes of ‘the big reveal’ and the obsession with trans genitalia and surgery.”

witch may have been burnt (I wrote a poem a short while ago drawing parallels between the witch hunts of Salem, 1692, and the persecution of queer people today). It also explores the issue of how to show a trans body when the body isn’t there; how

Michele Fornera

‘Uninvited’ (2017) - Michele Fornera “If you were to look on a porn website, or even somewhere like Tumblr, you’ll find a huge amount of ‘shemales’, ‘trannies’, ‘chicks with dicks’ etc; the object of (often straight) male sexual desire.

Most trans women, at some point, will have been objectified in a similar way.

“To me, ‘Uninvited’ is about selfcelebration and the subversion of gender roles and norms. It calls into question the roles of gender within attraction and desire, and how gender presentation can affect that. If it were to be called sexual at all, I would say it’s Michele taking control of their sexuality. This is vastly different to hypersexualisation, which I refer to as both imposing sexualisation upon and increasing the sexualisation of an individual or individuals, which can lead to them being viewed solely as sexual objects, which can lead to harassment, assault, violence, rape and murder.

At the very least, it’s dehumanising.”

What’s the difference between femininity and womanhood?

“For some trans people to be perceived as their gender and not their sex assigned at birth, they ‘perform’ within the gender binary: as a trans woman, I wear feminine clothing, makeup, and I ‘inhabit’ a female role. I feel a strong sense of femininity, as many cis women do, as well as exhibiting some masculinity, but femininity isn’t my gender. I would argue that a feminist view of womanhood is that it is the individual’s to define - I am not biologically female, I don’t menstruate and cannot

give birth, but that doesn’t lessen my womanhood. Gender is whatever it means to you. My female gender, to me, means that I am perceived as female, and whilst I have a different experience to the majority of women, my womanhood is no less valid. You don’t have to be a woman to wear a dress or makeup, and you don’t have to wear a dress or makeup to be a woman. You can do what you want, and you’re still the gender you say you are.”

How can everyone make life easier for trans people?

“Educate yourselves. Not just on the bare bones of it - read up on trans rights issues, and other things that are affecting our community. You’re at Oxford, you’re clever, I’m sure you’ll get your head around it! It’s supportive, and shows you care.

“Above all, be an ally. Call out transphobia, stand up for trans people, even when they’re not there to hear it. Educate others about trans issues - it shouldn’t just be us doing so!

“Finally, learn when to step back; this is primarily our battle, so sometimes, we need to have the loudest

Alistair Pauly

voice. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be right there behind us, though.”

What are you working on next?

“I’ve got many ideas floating around at the moment, both artistically and curatorially: I want to look in greater detail at the idea of using abstraction to represent the trans body; I want to continue working to commemorate the people from the trans community who have been lost; and I want to continue trying to desexualise the trans body, and subvert the idea of the homogenous trans experience.

“Curatorially, I’ve got a couple of ideas including a couple of collaborations (one of which is with a great friend who does great work for our community, which I think will be amazing), and also a similar project to this, but on a larger scale, with international artists. I don’t think I’m going to stop working with trans people for a while; no one’s giving us space to exhibit or engage in these discussions, so I’m just going to do it myself.

“We need this space, and we need someone to find it, so, I’ll keep going.”

Features 13

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

‘Where have all the good men gone?’: The single life of a bdelloid rotifer Amy Smith Staff Writer

Bonnie Tyler didn’t realise how aptly her song ‘Holding out for a Hero’ described the lives of the bdelloid rotifers - in all of the 300 years that we have been searching, we’ve never found a male, just millions and millions of females.

Well, there was one single scantily documented report, about 100 years ago, that a scientist from Denmark saw one moving “round and between the females with extreme rapiditity”. But even he admitted that he wasn’t really sure. Perhaps he just didn’t like the idea that males might be a futile waste of resources.

So bdelloid rotifers are all ‘female’, and therefore asexual.

Why should that be surprising?

We know of thousands of species of animals, fungi, plants and bacteria that are asexual (although it can be argued that bacteria are sexual, they certainly don’t have sex in the reproductive sense that we do).

Perhaps he just didn’t like the idea that males might be a futile waste of resources The reason that the bdelloid rotifers have caused such an ‘evolutionary scandal’ by being asexual is that they don’t represent just one species, but over 450 different ones. Bdelloid rotifers all belong to the bdelloidea class of the phy-

lum rotifera (hence their name, bdelloid rotifers), so they are all closely related on the evolutionary tree of life, but are different enough to be called separate species. Each of these is unique and

and so it makes sense that our shared ancestors were too. If sex is evolutionarily advantageous (which it surely is, given that it has been maintained in almost every other eukaryotic species),

far more likely that one of the clones will have worse vision, or no vision at all, than one of them has improved sight. Contrast this with the real human mode of reproduction - there is a reason-

then how do the bdelloid rotifers manage to survive when all they have is asexual reproduction?

Asexual reproduction (cloning) seems to be a terrible plan for an organism trying to pass on its genes successfully. Imagine if I cloned myself, and my clone cloned herself, and so on for generations and generations.

My short sightedness would be passed on unchanged in every clone, except for the tiny chance that one of the clones would have a lucky mutation that made her have perfect vision. It’s actually

able chance that the faulty gene that caused short-sightedness in the mother might not do so in the child, because the father contributes his own, non-faulty gene.

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identifiable - or at least they’re identifiable by the few bdelloid rotifer taxonomy experts that exist, if they have a microscope handy.

The ‘scandal’ therefore is that at least 40,000 years ago (the age of the oldest fossilised rotifer that we’ve found so far), an ancestor of today’s rotifers gave up her need for a mate, and reproduced asexually by herself.

We know that their ancestors were sexually reproducing because almost all other eukaryotes (you, me, other animals, protists, plants and fungi) are sexual,

Natural selection is just organisms trying to pass on as many copies of their genes as possible But in other ways, asexual reproduction seems to make very good sense. In sexual reproduc-

tion, a mother would only be able to pass on half of her genes to her offspring per pregnancy (effectively making half a clone of herself), whilst in asexual reproduction she would pass on them all (making one whole clone of herself). Natural selection is just organisms trying to pass on as many copies of their genes as possible to the next generation, so really asexuality makes the most sense.

The only way for sex to be advantageous is if the benefits of having two parents mean that the offspring is more than twice as likely to survive as they would be with only one. And this is exactly why some species - such as ourselves - are sexually reproducing.

But what about the rotifers?

We can only assume that for them, it is not worth the twofold cost of sexually reproducing, as having two parents does not double the likelihood of survival of their offspring. So that one female bdelloid rotifer who had a unique genetic mutation that made her able to reproduce without needing a father for her children started a family dynasty of clones of herself, which managed to diverge into different species relying on only small genetic mutations for their evolution.

Scientists have managed to prove via genetic evidence that male bdelloid rotifers are not hiding, or very very small (as has turned out to be the case for several species with ‘missing’ males such as the Angler fish), but are completely unnecessary, wasteful, and gone.

Rest well early in term: you’ll thank yourself later Emma-Jane Hampsheir-Gill Staff Writer

In the next few weeks, students will be pouring into Oxford and settling into their colleges in anticipation of a busy term ahead.

But before term starts, there’s all the excitement of Freshers’ Week to enjoy - exploring a new city, meeting other people, and embracing Oxford’s social scene.

Staying out late into the night at pubs and clubs, can be fun but also fatiguing, causing some of us to start term drained. Exhaustion can make the transition from Freshers’ fun to academic assignments particularly tricky, and can affect your academic performance – so it’s important to respect your own limits and enjoy yourself responsibly, so you’re ready to hit the ground running at the end of the week.

I’ll be a veteran when I return to Oxford to start my Master’s course, having survived Freshers’ as an undergraduate here too. This should mean that I know exactly

how to handle the week like a pro, having reached the end of my last Freshers’ resembling something from The Walking Dead and with about as much brain capacity.

I grew frustrated with myself because I was underperforming in my essays It wasn’t the alcohol or the partying; my main issue was my arrogance in thinking I could get away with surviving on virtually no sleep, and I found out the hard way that this just wasn’t true. I hadn’t appreciated that the first few weeks of term are not only about late nights socialising, but also some early morning academic orientations which are vital to attend. I was attending these inductions on about three hours sleep, and so by the third week I still had no idea how to use

the library systems because my brain simply wasn’t functioning.

This had a knock-on effect, as I couldn’t work out how to access the books I needed when my friends were sailing through, which slowed down my working and impacted my ability to engage in class. In addition, I underestimated the impact tiredness had on my work: looking back I can see that when I thought I was writing Keats I was barely writing sentences, because fatigue was impairing my self-awareness. I grew frustrated with myself because I was underperforming in my essays, wondering whether I really deserved my place at Oxford, and was staying up even later trying to cram, trying to improve. It seems obvious now that this was counterproductive, and the best thing I could have done was to get a good night’s sleep, refresh my brain and try again. But instead, I continued to believe that getting so little rest and surviving on strong coffee was simply part of being a university

student – rather than a product of a particularly tiring first few weeks.

I wasn’t alone though in ignoring the needs of my body - some of my friends took pride in staying out the latest and made it into a kind of competition. This made it really hard for me to stick to my guns when I’d had enough, so instead of turning in, I was always willing to stay up for that extra hour.

Coming to university, making new friends and having so much freedom for the first time was incredibly exciting, and I didn’t want to let the experience pass me by while I was tucked up in bed. But now I wish I’d managed my time better, and not pushed myself so far every night until I was too exhausted even to enjoy the fun.

Establishing a balance is really important, and recognising this could really have made my first Michaelmas that much easier.

Whilst seriously undervalued, getting enough sleep is key to physical and mental wellbeing and strong academic performance.

My grades improved enormously when I made a conscious effort in Hilary term to get more sleep each night. Being well-rested doesn’t have to mean being a party pooper though; it just means being aware of your own limits.

Coming to university, making new friends, and having so much freedom for the first time was incredibly exciting Getting stuck in a cycle of caffeine-fuelled exhaustion will make it hard to struggle through a few weeks, let alone a whole term of deadlines. So strike a balance: play hard, work hard and rest well, to make your Oxford experience memorable for the right reasons.

Features 14

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Franco Manca makes a mark in Oxford

Lizzie Shelmerdine Staff Writer

A new Italian restaurant has arrived at the top of George Street, fresh from London. The Oxford Student attended Franco Manca’s Oxford launch party a few weeks ago to see whether a fifth Italian venue could make its voice heard among the competitive chaos of Oxford’s food scene.

The wealth of mirrors covering the walls may appear a little chaotic for a 1pm lunch, but when packed out in the evenings, this feature creates the illusion of greater space within the somewhat small venue. The doors opening onto George Street spill light and energy onto the pavement late into the night.

The traditional wood-burning oven, an invention dating back to the 5 century BC, marks the heart of the establishment.

The Oxford Student met Alfie, a pizza artist who has been making pizzas for the last ten years. His fast flipping of the thin dough is truly a sight to behold – luckily, the open kitchen layout means guests can watch him work his magic all evening. In the woodburning oven, Alfie tells us, the

pizza will only take 30 seconds to cook in the 500C heat. It is turned thrice, the fire being to one side of the oven, and before one can blink it is done. It is a fact universally acknowledged that there is little better in life than fresh, hot pizza, and there are surely few that can deliver as good a pizza as Franco Manca. With a thin base and fluffy crust, the dough brings together the best of both worlds from a rustica and a classic base.

Expect Franco Manca to make a lasting mark on the Oxford food scene in the coming term The fact that all the key members of the company were present at the Oxford launch – notably including Giuseppe Mascoli, the developer of the menu, creator of the signature dough recipe, and author of the Franco Manca recipe book - speaks volumes about the personal and genuine nature of the brand: these people are passionate about pizza, and they know exactly how to ignite customers with that

passion through their food.

The wine list, like the rest of the menu, is selective, but boasts some surprisingly light varieties.

All wines and beers are vegan and organic (most wines and beers contain animal elements in order to clarify the colour of the drink).

The wine-taster and selector, George, says his love affair with wine began when he first tasted it at six months old. Since then, he has tasted thousands of wines and now is putting his expertise to good use at Franco Manca.

Although Franco Manca’s simple yet striking menu caters for all tastes, its purist approach with regard to choice – pizza being the only main meal available on the menu – might be off-putting for some. Yet with vegan and vegetarian options, as well as the option to customise your pizza with fresh seasonal vegetables in addition to the range of other toppings, there is little to complain about.

Despite being the fifth Italian venue on George Street, Franco Manca could likely make a success of itself due to the pricing alone.

The menu is notably cheaper than the other options available nearby. With a simple margherita pizza costing only £6.40 compared to £11.95 at Jamie’s Italian and £9.45 at Zizzi’s, this is undoubt-

edly the most budget-friendly option out there – and thus destined to be a hit with students.

This restaurant might lack a widely varied menu, but what it

lacks for in options it makes up for tenfold in flavour. Expect Franco Manca to make a lasting mark on the Oxford food scene in the upcoming term.

lilivanili

Biotechnology: bridging the gap between science and entrepreneurship How can scientific research lead to the next big breakthrough?

Emma-Jane Hampsheir-Gill Staff Writer

Biotechnology is at the forefront of the 21st century’s biological revolution, developing novel therapies grounded in the mechanisms already exploited by biology. Biotech companies themselves are the minnows of the pharmaceutical world, streamlined for the sole purpose of developing these treatments—no marketing costs, just pure research and development

Qimono

—and aiming for the ultimate prize of acquisition by big pharma.

This system ensures everyone is happy: the biotech equity holders receive a fat premium for their investment, and the pharma management have their next blockbuster drug.

The convergence of outstanding scientific breakthroughs and investor appetite for lucrative returns has led to a worldwide biotech boom, with its epicentre in America. Clusters of biotech start-ups have sprung up around academic institutes across the world, with a tight synergy between the two. The

biotech clusters across the pond in San Francisco, San Diego and Boston far outshine their British counterparts in Oxford, Cambridge and London—known as the ‘golden triangle’—which are not only smaller, but also have lower growth rates.

Biotech companies themselves are the minnows of the pharmaceutical world Why aren’t Britain’s best researchers investing in biotech and building companies to fill this gap, instead of penning their fiftieth paper? The quality of research certainly cannot be blamed: recent university league tables for medicine and biomedical sciences place Oxford and Cambridge in the top three worldwide. Yes, biotech is a risky industry in which rewards are often reaped only after 10 to 15 years, but researchers are in the unique position of having fully funded university labs—and intellectual property of greater maturity —already on hand. The foundations are in place, so why not put them to use?

Perhaps the issue is that scientific discoveries have no associated guarantee. The chance of any one venture translating into the next biotechnological ‘unicorn’ (a startup valued at more than one billion dollars) is slim. Or perhaps it is due to the trend towards “isolated excellence”, as described by Luke Heine, a research intern at Oxford Sciences Innovation and founder of the Harvard Lab of Entrepreneurship and Development. British researchers tend to produce world leading science only within a very niche area, having been encouraged to rapidly specialise, driven into a corner by the competitive scientific ethos.

Certainly, the nature of higher education in Britain lends itself to specialisation at a young age, while in America students only find their niche in graduate school. Furthermore, it is well documented that the seed of innovation is planted at the cross-sections of academic disciplines, and Oxford’s departmental structure does not lend itself well to interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Oxford University Biotech Society (OUBT) aims to address these problems. The newly founded group seeks to inspire a new generation of scientific entrepreneurs at a stage sufficiently early in their career to foster a more risk-taking attitude.

By attracting top scientific speakers and investors from the cluster in Oxford and further afield, and by bringing together students from a range of academic backgrounds, it hopes to inspire and build relationships that will cultivate a more interdisciplinary approach in the search for the next blockbuster drug.

Why aren’t Britain’s best researchers investing in biotech and building companies to fill this gap, instead of penning their fiftieth paper?

The society’s first event is on Thursday of 2nd week at 5pm in the New Biochemistry building.

Andrew McLean, a principal at Oxford Sciences Innovation, will talk about how to build a worldbeating biotech company from a groundbreaking piece of science.

If you are interested in joining OUBT then visit oxfordbiotech.uk

Get 50% off the original retail price As a member of Oxford University Student Union you can buy the Master Lock Gold Sold Secure D-LOCK and/or LIGHTS at a discounted rate.

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ART & LIT

Art & Lit 16

a fraction of something volcanic’. It certainly felt that each of the more violent incidents that made the news in those weeks were the grains of wheat in a field full of rotten crops.

The summer of Brexit slides into autumn, the season of harvest. With Smith’s love of word play, it is worth mentioning the etymological link here: the origin of harvest is the Old English hærfest, which also meant autumn, or August. The title links therefore to the six epigrams, two of which mention harvest (Shakespeare’s ‘Spring come to you at the farthest/In the very end of harvest!’, and a quote from a Guardian article from that July, ‘At the current rates of soil erosion, Britain has just 100 harvests left’). Perhaps Smith is alluding to the cycle of growth, produce and regeneration. The cycle of this particular crop is over – the vote has been made, the decision, in one sense, is final – and now begins a new cycle of negotiations and uncertainty. But there is also the sense of foreboding, that this is a shift too far in the wrong direction, edging us over a threshold, and unable to pull ourselves back, as a nation and as individuals.

To say that Smith captures the mood of the months following Brexit would suggest that there was something concrete she could chronicle, something sure and solid to draw

tivating traits is her ability to craft a novel which seamlessly threads its way through prose and poetry, past and present, dream and reality. As the seasons change, Daniel’s old age is evident in his unresponsiveness and the sections of dreamlike musings of almost mythical proportions: he metamorphoses into a tree, into leaves, as his final days pass. In doing so, Smith confronts fundamental questions of mortality, again alluding to the idea of the cyclical nature of life.

At the end of the book, the cycle has come to an end; the crops have been reaped; what is done is done.

Yet what illuminates Smith’s writing is the lucidity which shines through its complexity: while tackling a complex subject, one which has led to much confusion and despair, there is humour and humanity which always shines through. The harvest may have finished, and the leaves fallen, but there is a rose ‘wide-open’ and still stubbornly in bloom, as if in defiance of the mounting confusion and despair. Twisting through the complexities of a troubled and uncertain time, Autumn certainly manages to edge its way into celebration and hopefulness. The wide-open rose remains that glowing symbol of hope as we continue into unprecedented political and cultural territory.

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Her first post-Brexit novel: Ali Smith’s Autumn Grace Crabtree Staff Writer

The first in a four-part series, Autumn is the first explicitly postBrexit novel, as well as the first in a series of novels chronicling the seasons of our times. The book is fairly short – written and published just weeks after the results of the EU referendum. The novel shifts between past and present, the narrative alternately told by Elisabeth, born in 1984, and Daniel, a century old care home resident. She sits in his room in the home, or wanders the street of her childhood, remembering those formative years woven with stories told by Daniel, of pop artists, literature, and morality – if not taught to her by him, then acknowledged as an undercurrent of the tales and musings he told her. In the fraught, divided place that the UK became in the weeks and months following the referendum result, fragments of these childhood conversations come to Elisabeth’s mind, especially in witnessing an incident of the fearful xenophobia that snowballed at that time. A Spanish couple arrive at a station and Elisabeth sees them shouted at by people in the queue behind, to ‘go home’, to ‘go back to Europe’.

She senses that ‘what was happening in that one passing incident was

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from. Rather, she is moving with the time, reflecting its contradictory, unstable state. In one chapter (just three pages long, almost as an interlude), the phrase ‘all across the country’ is repeated, followed by contrasting statements: ‘All across the country, people felt they’d really lost. All across the country people felt they’d really won’. It is necessarily open-ended, the writing confident but not fixed and final. This may be the ‘bravura’ which the Financial Times writes about: an author must have a certain degree of audacity to tackle a historical subject which is still very much present and continuing. In further interlude-like chapters she writes

about the changing seasons – the golden leaves beginning to fall and be trodden into the wet ground – and alongside this inevitable change, she writes about the frantic pace of major political events. People check the news on their phones ‘to catch up on the usual huge changes there’ve been in the last half hour’.

A year after the summer and autumn of Brexit, this novel has been shortlisted in the prestigious Man Booker prize, and with the negotiations hardly more solidified today, this novel where people are trying to make some sense of the events, or of timeless sentiments that contributed to this result, feels just as relevant. One of Smith’s most cap-

A dissection of Scorn: an interview with Paul Hoffman Sree Ayyar

Art & Lit Editor

It’s not very often that one stumbles upon a book that is so bold in its uncovering of the tragedy, dark humour and transfixing revenge that modern society harbours, while also making one laugh-out-loud in the process.

Written by Paul Hoffman, an English novelist and graduate from New College, Scorn tells the tale of a depressed scientist, who takes a turn for the worse after an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider goes terribly wrong. He undertakes a radical new mission – to exact revenge against the priests who brutalised him and his school friends by confronting and subsequently eating them. That is, until Scrope and Lister, the protagonist cop duo, step in to protect the ‘unconquerable’ Catholic Church.

Controversial literature such as this, that is so raw in its assessment of traditional institutions so deeply embedded in modern society that they present a rather unquestionable front, is always fascinating and one is left with so many questions: Why? What? Who? It is not every day that one gets the chance to interview the author of one such literary piece, and be able to find

out just what the thought process and inspiration was behind such a dark and brutally honest novel.

What inspired you to write Scorn? Are you an avid reader, and if so, did any specific work inspire this novel or play any part in its formation?

Paul: I was brought up on the idea that the devil (his existence as an actual personality has been confirmed

by Pope Francis) was the subtlest of creatures so the notion of a clever monster is entirely natural. There are some truly interesting werewolf films – An American Werewolf, Wolfen, The Howling, The Company of Wolves – but for a long time I’ve been kicking around the idea of a talking monster with an intelligent axe to grind. I never really got over reading Shakespeare and Webster.

Iago and Richard III and Bosola have rooted themselves in my way of thinking in dramatic terms. I’m drawn to outsiders - the bitter and twisted who make a decision at some point to turn on the system they believe has denied them. On the other hand, I tend to be inspired by everything in general rather than any work in particular. I steal from adverts, old comics, films – anything at all. At my age I’ve read and seen so much that it all swims around together in

a vast millpond of an eco-system in which everything eats and is eaten by everything else. The human mind is not a library classified according to the Dewey Decimal System, it’s a living, teeming, promiscuous, clever, tasteless, complex, bad-mannered ooze. I can’t abide perfection.

You develop a rather interesting relationship between Aaron Gall, the depressed scientist, and Scrope, the detective. Could you throw some light on their intended relationship and why you decided to develop it thus?

Paul: There are a great many interesting relationships between criminal and cop in fiction of a kind that hardly ever exist in reality. As the psychoanalyst in Scorn emphasizes, intelligent and charismatic serial murderers like Hannibal Lecter have their real counterparts in banal monsters like Fred West. But this battle of wits scenario fascinates us because there is a pleasure for readers in identifying with clever villains – they can imagine what it would be like to be their intelligent (and invariably lawabiding) selves freed of moral responsibility. In the twenties and thirties crime fiction was a frequent hobby for Oxbridge dons. Here, Aaron Gall is taking revenge both at a personal level (as an audience we like revenge

dramas) but also at a more distanced, general level. Aaron Gall likes to play with his food by explaining exactly why his victims deserve to die (Richard III again). But of course there’s only limited pleasure in being clever without having a suitable audience to appreciate your brilliance. It’s not so much that Gall considers Scrope to be a worthy opponent (a traditional idea – see Moriarty and Holmes) but more as someone to be teased and mocked as well as admired in the way of most male friendships. Lacking a ‘friend’ Scrope becomes a living embodiment of the hand-wringing line from Mahogany that ‘fame is nothing without someone to share it with’. The audience becomes a part of that friendship and this creates a new dimension to the drama. I once worked with the late Alan Rickman on a film project and he was justly proud that it was his idea to bring in the walky-talky scenes to Die Hard so that the evil but clever Hans Gruber (to some the ‘greatest popular villain of all time’) could have one of these antagonistic male friendships with tough working class cop John McClane. Interestingly, Gruber is a kind of reverse of Aaron Gall in that he claims to have a higher motive for his crimes but doesn’t. In general, I’d say that these villain/hero relationships are a way of exploring masculine relationships at a time

when male writers seem to have acquiesced in the notion that maleness is inherently a problem. What can you expect from a gender made of slugs and snails and puppy dog tails but a warped and dubious nature?

“I tend to be inspired by everything - I steal from adverts, old comics, films anything at all” Rejecting this idea brings us into the friendship between the two cops, Scrope and Lister, a reaction against the now conventional idea that cop partnerships must be antagonistic chalk and cheese for there to be any drama. But I wanted to write about male friendships and what makes them distinctive in a way that’s true of such friendships across the class divides: you don’t need a false antagonism, because they’re already antagonistic in a way I find really attractive: men are constantly teasing and winding each other up and the closer the friendship the greater the mockery.

To be continued next week.

Art & Lit 17

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

“Obstinate, headstrong girl!”: What Jane Austen has taught us Raffaella Sero Staff Writer

Bride and Prejudice, a 2004 Bollywood musical, was the first version of Pride and Prejudice I came across; then it was the turn of Bridget Jones’ Diary. It was only after watching the 2005 film with Keira Knightley, however, that I finally picked up my mum’s dusty copy of the novel from where I had spotted it many times before in our bookcase. Thus, years before meeting Elizabeth Bennet, I had already met Lalita Bakshi and Bridget Jones - to paraphrase Edmund Bertram’s words in Patricia Rozema’s Mansfield Park, “there are as many versions of Lizzy Bennet as there are moments in time”.Inspiring faithful representations as much as widely original retellings, Austen’s stories have captured our imagination as those of no other author. But all the adaptations and retellings, all the Lizzies and the Emmas, far from deepening our knowledge of Austen, have only draped her figure in layers of other people’s impressions of her. In her illuminating book Jane Austen the Secret Radical, Helena Kelly puts Austen in ‘the unknown knowns’, “things we don’t actually know, but think we do”. This feeling of familiarity prevents us from striving to understand her work. Two-hundred years from her death, the real Jane Austen is furthest from our sight than ever, wrapped into a mist too thick for us to see through; if we want to find her, all we can do is walk straight into the mist, and hope to stumble on her.

But the sheer number of these impressions clouding the truth does tell us something on Austen: that she is still important to us. As I squeeze my eyes to find the real Jane Austen, then, I ask myself one question, hoping to use its answer as a torch to find my way through the fog: what did I learn from reading Jane Austen?

The first thing that comes to mind is that I learned not to be like Lydia Bennet The first thing that comes to my mind is that I learned not to be like Lydia Bennet. (Running away with your elder sister’s crush? Not nice.)

And as I go on reviewing all the things I learned from reading Jane Austen, it emerges that a large part of her characters represent for me negative examples, don’t-try-thisat-home types of behaviors. From reading Persuasion, I learned one should not let their family talk

“two of the silliest girls in the country”. The ‘business’ of Mrs. Bennet’s life, we are informed at the end of the fist chapter, is “to get her daughters married”; Lydia is the first of the Bennet girls to graciously oblige her mother’s wishes. No matter how much fuss Mrs. Bennet delights in making over her youngest’s elopement, she is still ecstatic over its result. Her face is “decked with smiles” in welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Wickham at Longbourn.

Clearly, to her all is well that ends well.

Elizabeth, however, does not oblige her mother’s wishes, not when she rejects Mr. Collins nor at any other point in the novel. In fact, she marries virtually the only man Mrs. Bennet has not tried to throw upon her, the only man whom she has been told not even to dance with. Her refusal to marry Mr. Collins gains her much fiercer reproaches from her mother than Lydia ever gets for marrying Mr. Wickham. Mrs. Bennet describes her as “a very headstrong, foolish girl”, a description echoed towards the end of the novel by Lady Catherine’s resentfully calling her “Obstinate, headstrong girl!”. especially University of Texas Disobedience, to authority figures such as ten’s last complete and most tor- a parent, is far from peculiar to mented novel, is a monument to Elizabeth Bennet among Austen’s the importance of this theme to heroines. Emma listens to no one its author. Her fascination with but herself, and the only time Anne the subject, however, is traceable Elliot meets her father expectato Austen’s very first efforts as a tions she spends the next eight writer. In the surreally witty no- years pining over a man. Nothing vella Lady Susan, the formidable good (at least of their own makprotagonist notes to her friend that ing) ever comes to characters who “Flexibility of Mind, a Disposition do listen to their parents. Edward easily biased by others, is an attrib- Ferrars regrets that his mother’s ute which … I am not very desirous dislike for the church, and his disof obtaining”. Indeed, her whole like for anything else, has kept character is a praise to decisive- him from obtaining “anything like ness and strength of will, which independence” through a profeswin her a young, rich, titled hus- sion. What has really detained him, band - in addition to a lover simply however, is the weakness that distoo charming to be faithful to his tinguishes his character, the same weakness that, had it been for him, wife.

Lady Susan is one of the mar- would have gotten him married to velous instances (more easily de- Lucy Steel. Whatever happy endtectable in her earlier, less popu- ing Edward does obtain, he does lar works) in which Jane Austen not achieve it through any ability allows herself to be openly on the or virtue of his own, but through wicked’s side. One may therefore Lucy’s own scheming, through wonder whether being unyielding her independence of thought and like Lady Susan, instead of all sub- strength of will. These virtues win missiveness like her insipid daugh- her her happy ending. That Edter Frederica, is actually what we ward should thus be free to find his are meant to get out of the story. with Elinor is a fortuitous coinciThe truth is, however, that all of dence. It is true that not all demonJane Austen’s heroines are rather strations of strength win happiness willful, and that their willfulness in Jane Austen. Maria Bertram, usually takes the peculiar form of who insists on marrying Mr. Rushrebellion against their parents or worth even when her father offers her the opportunity to go back on guardians.

For it occurred to me that what her steps, is duly punished - but Lydia does, unlike Elizabeth, is to this happens because, when paired listen to her mother. “I remember with rashness, independence bethe time when I liked a red coat comes folly. While in Austen folly myself,” Mrs. Bennet tells her hus- is often punished, however, weakband, in an attempt to rebut his ness is never rewarded.

What Austen actually taught me, opinion that Kitty and Lydia are them out of marrying the love of their life; Northanger Abbey taught me at the very least not to let my morally questionable friend persuade me to ride in a carriage with her brother, instead of waiting for the friends I actually like to come pick me up for a walk.

Slowly, a pattern seems to be forming in front of me: what most negative examples in Austen have in common is their propensity to yield to others. Persuasion, Aus-

then, is what Mrs. Dashwood tells to Edward Ferrars moping for his lack of direction in life - “Know your own happiness”. It is not stubbornness that she preaches, but decisiveness, and above all self-analysis. It is Fanny Price, who on the surface appears as meekest of all her heroines, who pronounces the single most important sentence in all of Austen’s works: “We all have a better guide in ourselves, if we would only attend to it, than any other person can be”.

This is the real Jane Austen, this is why she is still relevant to us, and to women especially. At a time when it was expected of women to be always condescending, always obeying, ready to listen either to their parents or their husband or to just about anyone except their own heads, she put into the world these amazing female characters whose life turns exactly around whom it should: themselves.

Journeys don’t end in lovers’ meetings; they end with a deeper understanding of themselves The examining of their own hearts is a journey each Austen protagonist takes on her own. Emma does

not change her snobbish behavior because of Mr. Knightley’s “badly done, Emma, badly done indeed!”.

She does because she empathizes with Miss Bates, a sad, distorted version of the single woman she aspires to be. Austen’s heroes are only part of her heroines’ happy endings, and not even the most important part. Lizzy’s ultimate triumph is in standing up for herself against the bully Lady Catherine and everything she represents, void tradition, oppression, the will of imposing one’s ideas on others considered weaker than oneself in one word, the patriarchy. None of Austen’s heroines marry their intended because they have taught them how to live, but in spite of the fact they have tried. Their journeys do not end in lovers’ meetings; they end with a deeper understanding of themselves, and with the acquisition of the strength necessary to be who they want to be in a society that does everything to prevent them from succeeding. However difficult to imagine, Mr. Darcy is not the most important part of Jane Austen, by a long shot.

By acknowledging myself forever grateful to Jane Austen for having made of me a decidedly obstinate, headstrong girl, “I leave it to be settled by whosoever it may concern, whether the tendency of this work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny, or reward filial disobedience”.

POETRY CORNER Dreaming of a Grasshopper

by Nayeem Firoz

A night of Star fall.

This time I am watching the show of a grass-colored insect.

It was in the shade of a basin, the grasshopper.

The common ‘me’ in me remains there in the disguise of a story listener.

Assuming the tiles-adorned room a square sized pink field the Grasshopper plays, it is like a jumping game enjoyed from an assembly of yellow lights.

How aesthetically walked through the tiny lane of MYKOLOGY that RAYKOMOL Grasshopper!

Had I ever seen anywhere such an optimistic creature?

Then I felt like someone was climbing with its six legs on my frozen face swaying wings as if a bird it was as if it were a greenish bright star The dream of Constantinople?

We feel the smell of the childhood from our past in the memoirs of grass birds and in the lozenges that blind astronomer left by.

Climbing slowly on our existence that dream whole day and night, and spreading your wings, shaking our conscience O Grasshopper, the green and soft hermit aren’t you teaching us to be more ‘humane’?

Coincidentally, insects do not know the art of metamorphosis!

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The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

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A modern day adaptation of Caesar in the O’Reilly

Cameron Marnoch Staff Writer

Plays are performed in places, and the effect of that on the play can sometimes be palpable.

In the case of Cosmic Arts’s strong, new performance of Shakespeare’s Caesar, place seems to have an extremely high level of prominence. The site of the play’s performance, the Keble O’Reilly Theatre, is located in the red-brick cathedral that is Keble College, and contrasts sharply with its surrounding opulence. Instead of the always anachronistic Victorian Gothic of the college’s entrance, the Keble O’Reilly Theatre, the newest of the Oxford student theatres, combines the redbrick with plate-glass, grey slate and polished wood to make a modern space that is heightened by the wall mounted statues of the neighbouring quadrangles.

This is perhaps fitting for a play taking a Shakespearian tragedy set about 1650 years before it was written, and now, under Benjamin Ashton’s direction, placing the tale and the text of Julius Caesar’s assassination and its aftermath in a modern day United States of America, a nation that did not exist in William Shakespeare’s day.

Indeed, the play makes its own place entirely clear. At the dress rehearsal I watched, the play had no fewer than five American flags on stage at all time, with one scene bringing the total up to seven, alongside a Presidential flag. Whilst this might come across as overt with

weaker direction, the relative sparseness of the rest of the stage, alongside a four-person strong band hidden offstage playing music directed by Darius Latham-Koenig, allows these flags to not just achieve a level of prominence, but also a level of symbolic absurdity. As the first act draws to a close, and Shakespeare’s scenes are interrupted by a cacophony of mob noise and music where only the occasional profanity and Jimi Hendrix-style electronic guitar riff on recognisable big band tunes are distinguishable.

The intensity and theatricality of the play threaten to overwhelm it, showing both how the cast and crew are able to fit Shakespeare’s play to their stage, and Shakespeare’s play’s own ability to transcend the specific.

to discover that their actions lead to a situation worse for all involved. However, as Ashton mentioned, the goal of this play was to create a dialogue, as the combination of the original text, combined with a changed genders and settings allows each individual audience member to engage in a ‘Socratic’ debate with themselves and each other about what the play implies, and that is probably wise. Shakespeare’s play was written in an era of absolute monarchy and looking to it for answers instead of questions would have led to some pessimistic conclusions about the state of democracy.

This is not to imply that the play is solely viewable as a political mediation. Part of the charm of the production is its enjoyability as a traditional

“...everyone is aware of the political connatations of the play...’

Indeed, as Ashton made clear in a conversation before the play, everyone is aware of the political connotations of the play, and with Jennifer Hurd’s American Caesar wearing a trouser or pant suit, the most easily graspable analogue is that of the winner of the popular vote, and final loser, in the 2016 US General Election, Hillary Clinton. Viewed through this lens, the play actually becomes an interesting, and surprisingly sympathetic, look at various machinations of politicians and law enforcement to keep the seemingly powerhungry Clinton in check, only

Shakespeare play.

Joining Hurd, there’s Jonny Wiles, playing a surprisingly noble and restrained Brutus; Tom Ames as a morally ambiguous and manipulative but ultimately understandable Mark Anthony; Benedict Turvill playing a string-tie wearing Decius with a broad accent that whilst first strange allows for his more duplicitous turns to become amusingly different; and Amelia Gabriel as Cassius, finding nuances in her performance that would imply that the role had always been written with a woman in mind if it weren’t for

history saying otherwise. Across the cast the Shakespearian text was delivered clearly and understandably, or, at least, for this English undergraduate’s ear.

Staging was also well developed, with key moments, such as Caesar’s death and the following unrest using the Keble O’Reilly’s unusual design of a strip of stage well, with the combination of dynamic movement and emotional lighting.

This is not to say that the production is not without any flaws. Occasionally the balance of sound effects, music and dialogue is undone and the dialogue overwhelmed.

Alongside that, occasionally the genders of various minor characters could feel unclear, as could always grasping the

doubling of every one of the 7 actors with multiple roles.

However, these flaws did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the night, or my interest in the play’s design.

To bring this review full-circle, although Shakespeare’s text is retained, if edited, the use of that most deliberately provocative and anachronistic setting in a different anachronistic place seems to help develop the right atmosphere for a play that is in itself anachronistic, with its famous Roman clocks, yet always interesting and slyly relevant about modern democracy, and all its shortcomings.

Shakespeare’s Caesar is being performed at the Keble O’Reilly Theatre from October 11th to October 14th.

Introducing OUDS President: Lucy Hayes I’m Lucy, I’m a finalist (!) at St Hugh’s studying English.

I’m currently the President of Oxford University Drama Society, so it’s my job to oversee all the events that OUDS runs (Cuppers, New Writing Festival, workshops, socials etc), make Oxford drama better, and get as many people involved in theatre at Oxford as possible!

Aside from that, I’ve directed four shows here and produced one show.

How did you get involved with OUDS? I had a play I really loved and wanted to put on in Oxford, so I roped my friend into producing it for me. I went to a producing workshop run by OUDS to convince her, and

ended up being asked to produce a show at the Oxford Playhouse - so I did both!

Do you have any upcoming productions?

I’m directing one last show in Oxford, which is Hedda, a modern version of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler adapted by Lucy Kirkwood.

It’s at the Oxford Playhouse in 6th week of Hilary term.

I’m really excited to tackle such an iconic play and bring it into the 21st century- it poses so many challenging questions about identity, gender, relationships and how we make our lives worthwhile. These issues are still present today, but present themselves in slightly different ways, and it’s really important we represent that. Aside

from that, we have an amazingly talented team who have been working on some beautiful designs, really innovative lighting, and some original music!

What can we expect/ look forward to from Oxford theatre in Michaelmas Term?

As ever, there’s so much great stuff on. I’m really looking forward to Candide (at the Oxford Playhouse, 5th week) which is such an ambitious and interesting musical, and Lights Over The Tesco Carpark (North Wall, 3rd week) which is completely devised- and I don’t think we have enough devised stuff in Oxford!

Do you plan to continue with theatre/ stage after university?

Yes! Definitely. I couldn’t im-

agine doing anything else.

Why should others get involved?

It’s a really thriving community, and you’ll make some fast friends. I also think Oxford drama at the moment is going in an exciting direction- lots of people are doing more political pieces, being more experimental, or using lots of physical theatre. There’s also so many roles to get involved in- like if you want to go into marketing or advertising after university, marketing student shows, especially a Playhouse show, is basically work experience.

What will you take away from your experiences with Oxford theatre?

Time management! And the

knowledge that if you really want to do something, you will be able to prioritise it even in an over flowing schedule.

OUDS

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The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

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The unstoppable rise of live stream theatre: from Oscar Wilde to Benedict Cumberbatch Cameron Marnoch Staff Writer

Live-streamed theatre is here and it is staying. Just this term five separate different performances were scheduled across Oxford’s cinemas, broadcasting professional plays to many thousands throughout the country, alongside the more packed into the theatre itself. Whilst an encore stream of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet has already come and gone, there remains the four live-streams left, performances of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance, and the new comedy production Young Marx.

These productions star a huge wealth of well-known actors of not only theatre but also television and cinema, including Rory Kinnear, a frequent staple of the Daniel Craig James Bond films, in Young Marx; and Harry Potter’s terrifyingly saccharine Dolores Umbridge, Imelda Staunton, in Follies.

worsened over time: how to retain the special sense of shared, live performance between audience and players; the immediacy and intimacy invoked by the slightly surreal sight of an audience varying from a couple dozen to thousands watching adults perform as people completely different to them without the contextualising use of the screen and the edit to mask it; in a world of mass communication that threatens to convert theatre into a luxury and novelty for the upper-middle and straightforwardly upper classes living near cities. By using the technology of the live-stream, as much of the immediacy can be kept as the potential audience increases by factors of ten or more. I personally remember seeing the Iqbal Khan-directed, Hugh Quashire and Lucian Msamati-starring, 2015 RSC production of Othello live-streamed and at first being mildly frustrated by a spot of static that meant several minutes of performance were lost, only to realise that such lost moments represented the vital,

“it would appear that theatre has begun to solve the problem that has plagued it since the invention of the camera and only worsened over time” So, it would appear that theatre has begun to solve the problem that has plagued it since the invention of the camera, and only

live, performed nature of the production, showing how fragile the performance was, even when transmitted and blown

up onto, the admittedly small, Lincolnshire cinema screen.

However, there is a catch to such an optimistic outlook, and it’s already been mentioned in this article: the seeming logic behind what is performed. Of the five productions this term, only one is a new production, three are over one hundred years old, and the only two that aren’t make use of immediately recognisable elements, be it the performers, Follies’s creator Stephen Sondheim, or the elements of the play in Young Marx’s case.

It seems that whilst live-streams wish to create an experience that captures some of the fragile intimacy of theatre, they also lean into something different, some more indicative of mass culture.

Each of the plays performed and streamed is filled with cultural elements that makes the transmissions not just events, but highly related to the rest of the cultural landscape. More straight-forwardly put, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Stephen Sondheim, Benedict Cumberbatch, Imelda Staunton, Rory Kinnear, and Karl Marx all are figures that have a history of broadcasting, and their presence here in the live-streamed productions show that the livestreams are chosen to represent productions that can exist outside of the theatrical world, even if they emerged from there.

The production companies themselves seem to understand this, and, on average, any given live-stream will contain

“any given live-stream will contain pre-recorded retrospectives, a voice over presenter and possibly interviews with the cast and crew” pre-recorded retrospectives, a voice-over presenter and possibly interviews with the cast and crew. These elements remove the live-stream from its apparent goal, the use of technology to increase the audience size whilst retaining the immediacy, and place it instead in the realm of the still most common world of live broadcasting, television.

So, what are live-streams then?

In this writer’s view, they are partially the return of a lost artform, the live drama. Programs using multiple sets, cameras

and sometimes special effects, but performed and broadcast immediately due to the lack of usable video recording, these productions dominated early British television and show a similar fragility to performance, as some of the foundational television of the fifties was seen only once, by only one group of people. It is perhaps ironic, then, that a production removed due to improved recording technology has come back in recent years, due to even more technological changes.

-

What’s On: Second Week

Iridal Productions

What: Three Parallel Places When: Wednesday-Saturday 2nd Week (18th-21st October) Where: Michael Pilch Studio Tickets: £10 (£7 conc.)

Brad Fergie

What: The Oxford Revue When: Tuesday-Saturday 2nd Week (17th-21st October) Where: BT Studio Tickets: £6 (£5 conc.)

Oxford Greek Play

What: Bacchae When: Wednesday -Saturday 2nd Week (18th - 21st October) Where: Oxford Playhouse Tickets: £6

What: Joan When: Thursday 2nd Week (19th October) Where: Old Fire Station Tickets: £6

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The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

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OxStu Review: Blade Runner 2049 Nancy Epton Staff Writer

At the Leicester Square preview screening of Blade Runner 2049, a Sony employee read out a statement from director Denis Villeneuve imploring critics to keep any plot details ofhis work to the bare minimum and avoid spoilers wherever possible. Ironically, I’ve already seen reviews that also stress this directorial plea, but have clearly done exactly the opposite.

The information on the film’s posters has been fairly scarce. Wesee the two characters of Agent K. (Ryan Gosling) and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) contrasted against red and blue landscapes, and not much more. The trailers also don’t provide many details about the plot, a welcome relief from the overloaded detail that hasinfected the majority of the modern blockbuster trailer. Don’t look any further for a plot synopsis than the simple description listed on IMDB: “A young blade runner’s discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who’s been missing for thirty years.”You’re also probably wondering how I’m going to explore the depths of this film without going too far beyond this simple outline.

Plainly enough, however, the above statement gives no detail of the film’s cinematic splendour, and2049 follows oneof the most influential visual works of all time.

The author Scott Bukatman considers how Ridley Scott’s cyberpunk landscape of a grime and poverty-stricken Los Angeles represents “a dark city of mean streets, moral ambiguities and an air of irresolution”. Villeneuve was intimidated at the very prospect of taking up the job and continuing such a powerful legacy. Yet, from his recent filmography, his concerns are entirely without reason. The bleak, neo-noir worlds of Prisoners and Sicario combined with the more

ethereal scenes ofbeauty and huge scale in Arrival are blended perfectly into 2049’s dystopian world.

These environments are largely crafted from the artistic genius that is Roger Deakins (who worked as cinematographer for the first two mentioned films). Villeneuve’s character’s are full of intense, brooding pain, yet these human traumas are unnervingly offset and separated by the outstanding environments of peace and quiet majesty surrounding them. Villeneuve’s camera lingers pervasively on moments of the sublime; thick, rolling clouds move beside Arrival’s alien ship, in a similar fashion to the cascade of water that tumbles down into unknown depths as Agent K. flies past into the distance.

2049’s aesthetic, as in its original, dominates the screen Bernard Goldbach

2049’s aesthetic, as in its original, dominates the screen, and just like its predecessor, will no doubt require multiple viewings just to appreciate the awe and symbolism in every diverse landscape and shot. One particularly powerful environment, is a desolate desert area that we have already seen in the trailers. The area is a dump of lost civilisation; most of production designer Dennis Gassner’s gargantuan statues lie tarnished and broken inan empty screen of polluted orange. No sky or background are distinguishable, just a bleak image of colour and Agent K’s blurred figure. He views a collection of bees as he walks further, and absently watches one move on his hand before it flies off in a second, a creature now alien to K and his broken and diminished society, and absent-mindedly inserts his hand into one of the beehives. After their incessant buzzing, he moves into

October Film Releases Irina Boeru & Eve Lytollis

Screen Team

Loving Vincent (13th) Starring Douglas Booth and Saoirse Ronan, the world’s first fully-painted film revolves around the difficult life and mysterious death of iconic artist Vincent Van Gogh.

The Snowman (13th) This terrifying thriller sees Detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) taunted by a wintry serial killer, whose creepy calling card involves the building of a snowman.

a building and the music switches to Brahms’ Opus 39, no.15 waltz.

The tension diminishes for a moment in this silence, then slowly increases aswehear this eerie tune in a world that has supposedly lost these ancient sounds and chords.

Just like the landscapes, music and sound are intricately weaved into every individual scene, each song representing the change innarrative and tone. 2049 is certainly a louder film than its predecessor, but one which reflects the continued disintegration and corruption of society thirty years on. I could go on about the genius of Deakin’s cinematography for hours, but if you want to get the full, unspoiled experience, you have to see the film yourself to appreciate his expertise. In terms of the film’s brooding hero, there surely couldn’t have been a more appropriate choice for the role than Ryan Gosling. Having already cul-

tivated an intense persona inDrive, The Place Beyond the Pines, Only God Forgives and many others, he carries a wistful, earnest determination, which is only enhanced by Villeneuve’s various close shots of his bloodied, pained expressions. In the hands of a lesser actor, such a character could come across as unsympathetic and brutish, yet with Gosling, just a single look of apparent boredom or consideration articulates a plethora of deeper, passionate concern. Harrison Ford comes across as slightly diminished in comparison, as befits the ageof his character, but nonetheless delivers a solid performance. We all suspected Jared Leto’s Niander Wallace was never going tobeas compelling as Roy Batty, buthe’s far from the disaster his critics predicted. It would have been interesting if, as Villeneuve was planning, David Bowie had played the role, but alas, we never

Breathe (13th) In this inspiring film based on a true story, Andrew Garfield stars as Robin Cavendish, a young man whose life-limiting polio motivates him to use his remaining time to help others with disabilities.

Happy Death Day (20th) When college student Tree Gelbman is murdered on the night of her birthday by a masked killer, she finds herself waking up and reliving t h e same day all over again. Using her new ability to repeat her birthday over and over again, Tree must solve her own murder, in what could be described as Groundhog Day but with more death.

Thor: Ragnarok (27th) The next release in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Thor: Ragnarok sees the heroic Asgardian pitted against fellow Avenger Hulk in a deadly gladiatorial competition. With appearances from Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett and Benedict Cumberbatch, this film is not one to miss.

gotto experience that because of the singer’s untimely death. Itis the female roles, however, many of which could’vebeeneasily placed on male equivalents, which also deserve note. Robin Wright, as K’s commander, is, as usual, incredibly strong, balancing the didactic boss role with more believable and sympathetic reactions toher agent’s emotional turmoil. Ana de Armas’ Joi is also brilliant as K’s lover, and like Gosling, is able to express anguish and happiness ina mere glance. Sylvia Hoeks is the final highlight, as she articulates a calculating and determined loyalty in physical, violent movement alone.

If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes. But of course, you can. Get yourself down to a cinema (preferably in Impact format or IMAX) on October 5 and witness the greatest visual spectacle in cinematic history.

Vincent Van Gogh

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The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Endeavour: explore Oxford through its people and places Irina Boeru Deputy Screen Editor

Impressive architecture, pinnacles that align as you travel by bike along narrow streets, aerial panoramas from church towers, Oxford city gives a sense of space that photographs fail to capture. It is only if you get close and personal with the place that you begin to grasp its true essence. If you have never been to Oxford before, or if you did not have the time to wander the streets and venture into colleges, the ITV detective drama series Endeavour makes it possible for all viewers to catch a glimpse of the fascinating world of Oxford University, while simultaneously uncovering its mysteries .

Shot in Oxford and its surroundings, the series is a prequel to the well-known Inspector Morse TV series (1987–2000) based on the detective novels by author Colin Dexter. The action takes place in mid 1960s and focuses on the adventures of young Endeavour Morse and his early career. Having left Lonsdale College of Oxford University (spoiler alert: Brasenose College in real life) without taking his degree, he joins the CarshallNewton Police. In the pilot episode aired in 2012, Morse is sent with other detectives from the CarshallNewtown Police to the Oxford City Police’s Cowley Police Station to investigate a case of a missing fifteen-year-old schoolgirl. This mission comes on the verge of Morse writing his resignation letter but his

superior veteran Detective Inspector Thursday at the Oxford City Police’s CID sees the potential of the young detective in whom he can place his trust and even friendship, making Morse his new assistant.

In the first episode of the series through a tracking shot overlooking Oxford’s Broad Street , with Blackwell’s and Balliol College in sight , the camera captures the atmosphere of the 1960’s Oxford life , with busy students hurrying for lectures, citizens on their way to work , vintage cars in bright colours and a double decker portraying one of the British emblems . The camera then cuts to a classroom of students attending a lecture, and then to an image of a choir in a church in dim light under a stained glass window as the credit sequence presents in white letters on a black font the name of Shaun Evans, followed by an angle shot of the singers of the choir with Morse framed in profile in the bottom right corner.

The viewer has been introduced in just a few seconds in the world of Oxford and has made the identification character –actor, as the

background music C Minor Mass

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Sarah-Jane Brandon at a high volume that creates discomfort hints at Morse’s passion for classical music and the apparent equilibrium which will be disturbed by a murder.

The series portrays not only the heart of Oxford, but also its hidden facets This technique of alternating classical music with shots of Oxford will be representative of the whole series: in another episode the camera captures part of the painting on the Sheldonian Theatre’s ceiling and then pans down to the right from a pipe organ to Morse’s profile sitting in the lower gallery attending a concert.

The series is comprised of four seasons so far, with the fifth to air in 2018. Endeavour marks the 30th anniversary of the first episode of

David Iliff

Inspector Morse, starring John Thaw. The series is written by Russell Lewis who previously wrote the Inspector Morse series and is directed by Jim Loach, the theme song being composed by Barrington Pheloung, who was nominated for ‘Best Original Television Music’ at the British Academy Television Awards in 1991. Apart from the talented Shaun Evans as Endeavour Morse the series stars Roger Allam as Detective Inspector Fred Thursday; Abigail Thaw, the daughter of the ‘old’ Inspector Morse ‘John Thaw’ as Dorothea Frazil and the talented Dakota Richards Blue as WPC Shirley Trewlove. The series presents high -quality acting in a stunning setting and a pressured atmosphere constantly keeping its spectators in suspense.

Endeavour is one of the best detective series ever produced, offering a journey into unexpected areas of Oxford from college rooftops to underground tunnels, Bodleian Library shelves and the Radcliffe Camera. It casts the mystery further for the viewer to elucidate the geographical settings of colleges, and their real life names. After all as Dakota Blue Richards states: Oxford ‘is one of those cities that make you feel like there’s secrets hiding everywhere’. From academic environment, architectural and natural beauty to narrow streets and wicked crimes the series portrays not only the heart of Oxford but also its hidden facets available for the viewer to discover.

Top Five: Historic film firsts Richard Tudor First onscreen kiss – The Kiss (1896) This 18-second short, distributed by Thomas Edison, scandalised the public, and was the subject of a call for censorship by the Catholic Church.

First ‘talkie’– The Jazz Singer (1927) This iconic movie starring Al Jolson heralded the rise of the spoken word and the decline of the silent film.

First ‘summer blockbuster’– Jaws (1975) The tale of a New England tourist town at the peak of a summer terrorised by a 20, 25-foot shark. Released alongside Peter Benchley’s book, audiences were terrified by Steven Spielberg’s menacing shark-tale and John William’s haunting, iconic score.

First commercial use of Steadicam – Marathon Man (1977) Dustin Hoffman stars as an avid marathon runner and history student who becomes embroiled in a plot to sell illicit Nazi diamonds. Laurence Olivier puts in an Oscar-winning performance as sinister Nazi and sadistic dentist Dr. Christian Szell.

First feature film made entirely using CGI – Toy Story (1995) Feeling old yet? Starring the voice of Tom Hanks as cowboy Woody usurped by new-fangled spaceman Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story was the first feature to rely entirely on computer technology.

It has since produced two sequels, and a third expected in 2019.

The Transformers franchise: the deceptive style of Michael Bay Max Herberg Staff Writer

My first great attraction into the world of cinema was watching the first Transformers in theaters 10 years ago. Perhaps it had to do with the capacity to appreciate film when you’re only ten, but it’s been engrained in my memory ever since.

I had never seen any of the original cartoons, let alone own a transformer, but I had embarked on a journey of Transformers fanboyism into the next 4 films of the franchise.

And yet, as I walked out of the cinema after each new entry, I couldnt help but feel an even greater sense of bitterness than the last. When I sat through the 2 ½ hour session of CGI pornography and sex joke fest that was Transformers: The Last Knight, it made me question my fanboyism.

Have I been watching crap all this time? I found out that I was not alone in this disappointment, critics and audiences alike have extensively criticized the franchises flaws as each entry got worse. Yet, with each new film, the franchise found new box office success, with 2 of the later entries grossing $1 billion each. How could a franchises deterioration benefit it so

greatly financially? Whitten at CNBC credited the proliferating success due to foreign audience appeal, especially in booming markets such as China.

Do we want to live to see another movie where robot testicles are shoved in our faces?

While this may provide explanation on why Transformers is a financial goliath, it says little on why the quality deteriorated. With such amazing returns, distributor Paramount Pictures wouldnt want to jeopardize its success by not paying attention to critical feedback. Even if they did, with the hundreds of millions of dollars and months of work to produce such blockbusters, one would have to intentionally avoid any quality control at all for the franchise to arrive at such a low point. It begged investigation.

Packed with the original Iron Man screenwriters and a tremendously

celebrated source material, I realized that the core problem was not due to the Transformers themselves, nor due to the heightening skepticism of studio interference in big budget films. It was director Michael Bay’s purposefully crafted filmmaking to make a statement that he could make the trashiest film of all time, and millions of people would still watch it.

While a director does not have control over every aspect of a film, they direct the cameras on where the audience should focus. From that selective focus, an audience interprets the film through that lens only, ignoring all other facts not featured in the frame. Focusing on everything from puking dinosaur robots to Victoria’s Secret models with no acting credentials to even robots with giant testicles, Bay has set a vendetta against the audiences suspension of disbelief. Even out of spite, Bay has pushed his films to be considered for the Oscars Best Picture awards.

Despite being Dinohawk

known for soulless filmmaking, Bay has made respectable films not so long ago. When he wasnt making the next Transformers, he made Pain & Gain and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, films with their fair share of action shoot-outs but with narrative substance and sociopolitical commentary. Whether Bay has done this to stroke his own ego or to provide some sort of ingenious social commentary is still undecided, but what is known is that the poor quality isnt reckless, its intentional.

Kohn classified the Transformers franchise in an IndieWire article as an assault on the senses thats actively fighting against the prospects of a more varied film culture. Kohn calls on audiences to watch other

non-traditional movies forthe fight taking place beyond the multiplex.

While exaggerating the urgency of the issue, it highlights an interesting opportunity cost.

By going to see these blockbusters, we forego the cost of seeing a different movie. Few people would probably make a return trip to the cinema to see that other movie, especially when piracy and streaming has never been so convenient. Thus our allocation of our money in Transformers’ pocket versus your local indie studios matters. Hollywood cant make crap films if not enough people watch them. Question is - do we want to live to see another movie where robot testicles are shoved in our faces?

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Music 22

MUSIC

The OxStu guide to Oxford’s live music venues Seb Braddock Music Editor

ingdon’s live offerings are regularly supplemented with club nights.

The Cellar Though one would associate Oxford more with the average University Challenge music round answer than with live pop, the city nonetheless benefits from a rich vein of touring acts. Here, the OxStu offers up an authoritative overview of the options available for the discerning punter in and around the city’s dreaming spires.

The O2

Oxford’s branch of the communications company’s series of concert venues errs on the smaller side in comparison to its brethren, whilst still being comfortably the biggest concert hall in Oxford. In truth indistinguishable in many respects from its neighbour the Bullingdon, the O2 nonetheless benefits from the added economic cachet its affiliation guarantees. Its annual Mayday afterparty, jockeyed last year by Irish house stars Bicep, remains one of Oxford’s most prominent social occasions.

The Bullingdon So called because of its location on the corner of Bullingdon Road, rather than after the infamous men’s drinking society, the Bullingdon styles itself as an independent live music venue positioned on the slightly less commercial end of the spectrum relative to its next door neighbour the O2, whilst still maintaining a certain profile in respect to its bookings.

Ghostface Killah, Slowdive, and New Jersey punk rock misfit Titus Andronicus have all made appearances in recent years, and the Bull-

Thankfully, rumours of the Cellar’s demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated. The underground club has a cult following amongst the edgier portion of the student population, and plays host to a range of world class DJs and independent acts. Infamous for its low ceiling, sub-par ventilation, and lysergic heavy atmosphere, it nonetheless produces some of the most consistent termly lineups, heavy on up and coming artists and established indie favourites.

The Wheatsheaf A pub most known for its townheavy clientele and a stupendous pool table, the Wheatsheaf nonetheless also doubles as an

Grey World

“Regularly frequented by hipster early adopters who fail to notice the irony of not having come round to early adoption before it was cool.” intimate music venue with a regular open mic night and a history of surprisingly prestigious and inspired bookings. Notably, Panda Bear of Animal Collective played a show premiering tracks from his seminal 2007 record, Person Pitch. There even happens to be a soundboard recording of the show over on the Animal Collective forum (collectedanimals.org) floating about, albeit an incomplete one.

The New Theatre

The Library

Centrally located on George Street, the New Theatre leans heavily towards family favourites and the older crowd due in part to its seats; lovers of stand-up comedy, however, are quite well served, with the likes of John Cooper Clarke a New Theatre regular.

Located down Cowley way en route to the Bullingdon, the Library is another pub catering mostly to students and local creatives with a craft-heavy beer focus. Easily in reach by bike, gigs are held in the cellar, in what can unquestionably be called the most intimate of Oxford’s venues; consequently, the pub’s bookings lean heavily local, yet hardly to its detriment.

This well-estahlished hostelry located in its namesake quarter, in common with some of the aforementioned watering holes on this list, similarly acts as an independent live music venue.

Most famously, the Tavern boasts of having had Radiohead grace their stage in their previous in-

The Jericho Tavern

carnation as On a Friday. Regularly frequented by hipster early adopters who fail to notice the irony of not having come round to early adoption before it was cool.

And to find out what’s on…

Besides the obvious first port of call in the Oxford Student music section, Nightshift magazine offers a reputable publication pro bono both in print and online over at nightshiftmag.co.uk , with substantial gig listings, new music sections and in depth gig reviews and previews. For those craving the joys of arena venues, meanwhile, the Oxford Bus Company offers next day returns to and from London for very reasonable prices.

What’s on this week?

Max Pixel

What: Desperate Journalist/October Drift When: 14h October 7.30pm Where: The Cellar Female fronted indie rock has found itself in something of a halcyon era. The self-referential music fandom turned band trope of Desperate Journalist’s Cure referencing name call to mind Art Brut. Appropriately named for their billing, October Drift, meanwhile, complete their double billing with classic 90s alt -rock stylings. £7

ChrisTheDude

What: Dream Wife When: 16th October 7.30pm Where: The Bullingdon Originating from a Brighton art college, this Anglo-Icelandic all-female trio meld catchy pop-punk choruses with 90s riot grrrl attitude.

They’re touring their latest ‘Fire EP”, which they describe as exploring ‘the paradox present in the symbolism of ‘fire’ as both a creative and destructive force’. Yikes. £8.80

Ohconfucius

What: The Pretenders When: 18th October 7pm Where: The New Theatre Legacy acts are never afraid of the late career nostalgia cash in; the Pretenders, however much Chrissie Hynde may pretend otherwise, are no different. Come for the crowd of 60-something baby boomers, stay in the vain hope of getting your money’s worth. £48-53

Max Gleeson

What: Lethal Bizzle When: 19th October 7.30pm Where: The O2 Veteran Grime MC returns to the O2 having reaped the rewards of the favourable zeitgeist towards the new blood of the genre by association. Anticipation will be high for the potential surprise guest appearances of his former collaborators in Wiley and Stormzy, which will make the gunfingers crowd exceedingly happy. £21.50

Music 23

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

Album Review: American Dream, LCD Soundsystem Connor Thirlwell Staff Writer

In the afterword to his 2005 treatise on post-punk music from 1978-84, Rip it Up and Start Again, Simon Reynolds theorised that, after this era, a primary pleasure for the hip listener of alternative dance-rock began to lie in the identification of an artist’s musical influences and of the allusions and citations in their song.

The most switched-on listener of LCD Soundsystem’s comeback album, American Dream, (“comeback” only inasmuch as the previous record was a limited edition quintuple live album entitled The Long Goodbye) could not fail to sense a tip-of-thetongue taste of the bygone post-punk era it is clearly indebted to: the opener ‘Oh Baby’ is a lugubrious, synthcleansed Disintegration-era Cure ballad; ‘Other Voices’ kneels before the Almighty Funk-Power of The Groove as foretold by Talking Heads; ‘Emotional Haircut’, which contains some the albums’ most exhilarating moments, grinds to a rockified underbeat as sourced from Suicide’s ‘Diamonds, Fur coat, and Champagne’.

This retrospective underlay to American Dream was showcased none more so as on their live performance of ‘Tonite’ on Later…With Jools Holland. The crammed, keyboard-

packed octet delivers a repetitive, snaking, danceable groove founded on a squelchy 2-note rave-synth riff.

‘Repetition’, of course, was the buzzword for forward-thinking postpunk giants like Public Image Ltd. and The Fall, who themselves infamously wrote a whole song on the concept.

Then there’s the front man James Murphy, looking like Stewart Lee in his navy blue jacket and wiry grey hair, clutching his microphone in his palm like a walkie-talkie, overand-outing modern life’s absurdities: the digitalisation of the personality, self-defeat and alienation – “life is finite but, shit, it feels like forever”.

So, what to make of this? American Dream is often thrilling but sometimes dully treads water.

LCD Soundsystem are clearly derivative. But then again, why the hell shouldn’t they be?

Tore Saetre

cheap thrills, are the gawky flocks of carrion-crows pecking at its liver.

The music is there to all with Wifi and a will to listen. So why shouldn’t we expect groups like LCD Soundsystem to release records

like American Dream in a musical landscape so indebted to the innovations of its predecessors, and with such ease of access to the canon?

The ultimate goal, of course, is to transform what has been and gone into something startling, fresh and new. James Murphy and co. have it in them to sound like no one else but themselves. Maybe it’s just me.

Maybe I’m the sucker, the snob, but LCD Soundsystem, disappointingly, too often, sound like someone else.

Live Review: John Murry at The Basement Madeleine Taylor Deputy Editor

Almost everything about John Murry is uncomfortable. From his dark backstory tracking lifetime cycles of addiction and mental instability, to the stark figure he cuts on stage, murmuring eccentric jests between sowwngs, and awkwardly outfitted like an Oscar Wilde caricature, in a suit with red velvet bow round his neck. If it weren’t for his immense musical talent, you might wonder who would put up with it.

But Murry’s redemption has always been in his deep, distinctive Tupelo Mississippi drawl. It would be easy to lump Murry in with idiosyncratic musical legends of the past. Reminiscences of Neil Young’s ‘intense’ brand of Americana with that unwavering eye-contact on stage, Pete Doherty’s drug-addled mixture of poetry and near-incoherence, and Nick Cave’s trickster-ly soulfulness suggest themselves. But like his peers, Murry’s incongruity goes well beyond his attire

and off-colour jokes (‘Coke’s not that good anymore. Smells great, though’). Even while Murry sings of grief, loneliness, and despair, he manages to be somehow be bitter and soothing all in one go – a combination only possible thanks to his genius-level songcraft.

liam Faulkner, his early life was characterised by issues resulting from undiagnosed autism, which led to his being institutionalised for addiction. Homeless on the streets of Memphis for a time and hooked on heroin, he discovered his passion for music, eventually stabilis-

solo, to his drummer’s dismay.

All in all, it was a privilege to be one of the around 50 fans that packed into the Basement last week.

While some songs’ upbeat synths and recklessness on slide guitar seemed better suited to a crowded Friday night at the academy, the

Murry manages to be somehow be bitter and soothing all in one go – a combination only possible thanks to his genius-level songcraft.

Murry kicks off with the uneasily upbeat ‘One Day (You’ll Die)’, taken from his second album ‘A Short History of Decay’, recently released to critical acclaim. Anxiety-laced as its title suggests, it’s an introduction to the vein of mortality that runs through his work, and the characteristic bitter humour of his delivery. Indeed, the title ‘A Short History of Decay’ refers ostensibly to its protagonist’s consistent struggles with life and addiction, with Murry himself describing his music in a 2015 interview as ‘like soul music for the suicidal’.

Adopted into the family of Wil-

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (1965) The Animals

Richard William Laws

James Murphy, looking like Stewart Lee in his navy blue jacket and wiry grey hair, clutching his microphone in his palm like a walkie-talkie, overand-outing modern life’s absurdities This is the music of the internet age.

This is a time when the past 60 years of Rock ‘n’ Roll output lies sprawled out on its back like a great, paunchy Titan, tied down at its wrists and ankles; we, the thrill-seekers seeking

OLDIE OF THE WEEK

ing thanks to the positive influence of his musical mentor, Tim Mooney (American Music Club).

A ten minute rendition of ‘Little Coloured Balloons’ was the emotional climax of the show, which tells of Murry’s near-fatal heroin overdose in San Francisco.

The emotional atmosphere of the night, although palpable throughout, didn’t become stifling. Murry’s cover of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Intruder’ contained interludes in which Murry playfully messed with his backing band, at one point snatching up a pair of drumsticks and performing an impromptu dance

Cavie78

A surprising classic of the so-called British Invasion, given its transatlantic origins as a 1964 single

by Nina Simone. The Animals spiced up the original jazzy harp arrangement with simple side-byside guitar and organ riffs, and of course, Eric Burdon’s almost pitifully bluesy vocals. Burdon’s signature deep, heart-on-his-sleeve vocals are what really make the song – and they have an uncanny knack of haunting you, especially as you sit through your first tutorial of the year doing your best to hide your lack of vacation reading.

NB: Do yourself a favour, and listen to The Animals’ 1965 version, as opposed to any of Burdon’s later alternative ‘reggae’ versions.

‘Baby, do you understand me now?

Sometimes I feel a little mad.

Well don’t you know that no-one alive Can always be an angel, When things go wrong I seem to be bad.

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.’ venue’s claustrophobia was the perfect showcase to such a moving, occasionally sinister performance.

Catch Murry’s remaining tour dates as he headlines Folkestone Songwriting Festival in Kent, and Take Root Festival in the Netherlands.

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

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Fashion 24

This week it gets political: how we consume, view and think about fashion is examined

Gage Skidmore

I’m a trendsetter. I set trends. This is what I do.

You know that I do it. I do it the best. I am a trendsetter.

Rewriting Americana in an uncertain America Leonie Hutch Fashion Editor

In the past few weeks there has been an influx of Americaninfluenced clothes on the high street. There is suede fringing, double denim, cowboy boots and plaid. And I know no one else is going to ask the question, so I shall: why is there so much plaid?

Why are there cowboys and stars and little neckerchiefs everywhere? And, maybe more importantly, why should you care?

Well, to try and answer this question I have scoured runway shows and studied political timelines. I have compiled lists. I have, in short, investigated. And, as far as I can tell, this particular resurgence of Americana appears to have begun back in Paris a/w (autumn/winter) ‘17 at the Balenciaga show which took place mere days before Trump’s inauguration.

The collection, which was created by Gvasalia, focused on corporate office wear: jackets, button down shirts and ties. Pretty standard, right? But the proportions of the clothes were skewed, the jackets were cut too large across the shoulders, the trousers so loose they billowed around the legs and the coats sleeves so long the models’ hands couldn’t be seen.

It was almost as if they were playing dress-up in their father’s work clothes. They were playing corporate make believe. Remind you of anyone? If that was not enough, it

seemed as though the Balenciaga logo had been reworked to reference Bernie Sander’s campaign slogan. It all got a bit ‘political’.

And, so it seems, did many other designers in the following weeks. A whole host of shows made political references about American identity under Trump’s presidency. If you enjoy a bit of fashion-based political drama (and I’m not going to lie, I know I do) a/w ‘17 was your year.

I have compiled a selection of highlights from the season.

A reference to Trump’s America, and a clear subversion of what Americana once represented

mainly for their street and athletic-leisure wear focused designs, made waves with their ‘Make America New York Again’ red hats. Easy politicizing (but also maybe a questionable slogan seeing as Trump himself hails from Queens- ah well). However, they also experimented with wool plaid, corduroy, paisley and double denim- what appeared to be classic Americana (and actually not at all classic Public School) basics.

But the sleeves on the jackets had been torn apart and reconstructed, hems ripped, the clothes intentionally mangled and warped.

Also, during the show a live version of Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land’ was playing. Later Chow revealed that the inspiration behind the show was the idea of borders and how they emphasize and can create societal division, xenophobia and nationalism.

Throughout the a/w ’17 fashion week season, there were

In New York one of my favourite things to possibly happen at any fashion show ever happened right at the end of Eckhaus Latta’s collection. They closed with a model, whose hair had been coiffed to resemble Trump’s, wearing a knitted dress emblazoned with the words ‘IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED’ across it. It was a beautiful moment.

Also in New York, Public School, a collaboration between Maxwell Osborne and Dao Chow, known

countless examples of designers reimagining classic Americana style and reclaiming American national iconography.

Designers reclaimed national American iconography It was a way of challenging the inherent unease and contradictions within Trump’s ideas regarding American patriotism and the symbols and images associated with that: is it traditionalism and conservatism, or freedom, democracy and tolerance. These ideological inconsistencies and discrepancies could be seen in the way in which such images and symbols were subverted and repurposed.

Vaquera, a collaborative label between the designers Patric DiCaprio, David Moses, Bryn Taubensee and Claire Sully, is known for taking inspiration from everyday life and the American Dream. The collection they produced for a/w ‘17 explored the juxtaposition of white collar and blue collar workers within America, and ideas of belonging (or not, and in who’s America?).

The clothes were reminiscent of uniforms worn by waiters, chefs and construction workers as well as referencing Tiffany boxes (a sneaky reference to that awkward exchange between Melania

Trump and Michelle Obama during the inauguration, perhaps?), pearls and ball gowns. One of their most striking pieces was a flouncy dress made out of cut up American flags. Its long train dragged along the floor- a symbolic reference to Trump’s America, and a clear subversion of what Americana once represented.

This reclaiming and repurposing of American iconography was also seen clearly at Raf Simon’s debut show for Calvin Klein. The models walked down the runway in cowboy boots to ‘This is Not America’

by David Bowie. There was also an instillation produced by Sterling Ruby exhibited which featured part of a shredded American flag printed fleece. The Americana that was being presented is a warped Americana. It uses and reinterprets symbols that Trump sees as synonymous with the American state, or at least his version of that.

Stars and stripes also featured at Tommy Hilfiger, Charles Jeffery Loverboy and Engineered Garments. There were American flags everywhere actually, as well as cowboy boots (House of Holland’s bejewelled metallic ones were especially excellent). The a/w ’17 VFiles show in New York actually finished with Strateas Carlucci sending models down the runway as “fetish cowboys”.

It is subversive fashion. It is Americana when what America itself stands for is unclear. And I am here for it (and the kinky cowboys).

Oxford fights fast fashion with the Nu. Wardrobe Lizzie Shelmerdine Staff Writer

Recently, a new clothes sharing platform launched in Oxford which enables you to meet up and share clothes with your local community. It is called Nu. The concept is simple: upload your chosen clothes to your profile, and you can start requesting to borrow clothes from others in your local area. Rather than buying entirely new outfits for special events – that you might only wear once or twice – you can borrow them free of charge (registration fee of €5 aside).

Search for clothes in terms of style, item, brand, colour or occasion to find exactly what you’re looking for.

“Our mission,” write Irish cofounders Aisling and Ali, “is to provide alternatives to fast-fashion.

We believe in looking good without the social and environmental costs. We hope to internationally empower young people to access fashion in a sustainable and affordable way while still having fun!’”

Nu. comes to Oxford at a time where online clothes recycling is becoming a rising trend. An online ball gown swap shop, limited to students of Oxford University, which launched last year, already boasts over 1200 members. Founder Ailsa McKinlay, third year student at Corpus Christi, claims that the initiative was begun to encourage students away from budget-friendly

fast fashion. “Someone has made every dress we’ve worn,” she writes, “and due to the state of the fashion industry, the condition in which our dresses are made is terrible. We want to stand and make a difference.”

Fast fashion sells underpaid labour for the convenience of high street buyers, disproportionately benefitting those at the top of the food chain. The owner of H&M is currently Sweden’s wealthiest person, while the founder of Zara has replaced Bill Gates as the world’s richest man.

Yet many textiles factories have recently been exposed as paying their workers merely a few dollars per 12 hour shift. The factory featured in Rahul Jain’s recent documentary Machines is located in India, in the

area with the second highest rate of clothing exported after Bangladesh.

In addition to this, the environmental cost of fast fashion is deeply damaging. Britain alone sends 235 million items of clothing to landfill each year, contributing to a collective and growing worldwide waste problem. H&M and Zara have also been linked to air and water pollution at viscose factories in Asia – factories supplying these high street giants have been exposed as dumping untreated, toxic water directly into rivers and streams. This not only affects local plants and animals, but local people and families. Clean production technologies exist and are widely available – by choosing not to shop with these companies, buy-

ers can exert pressure on them to do the right thing and make a move towards more sustainable fashion.

The concept is currently limited to universities, but hopefully with continued success it will spread to a regional platform – likewise, the platform is focused on womenswear to start out with, but will be expanded to menswear as it grows.

By keeping clothes out of landfill, removing the need to be constantly updating our wardrobes, and avoiding unethical fashion companies, together consumers can combat fast fashion. Live your values, save money, and join a growing sharing and recycling community.

Sign up to try Nu. now at: https:// www.thenuwardrobe.com/signup

Fashion 25

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

FASHION

Streetwear, feminism and the comeback of ‘ugly chic’ SalomeyaGvaradze Staff Writer

If you scroll through Instagram, or look at well-established brands like Gucci or Prada, it is almost possible to wonder: has ‘ugly’ become the new chic? From oversized jumpers to tees with catchy slogans, Birkenstocks and ‘Jesus sandals’ to unflattering sunglasses shapes (and how could we miss Gucci’s excessive prints), ‘ugly chic’ is having a moment. Ugliness is not a new concept in fashion and can incorporate almost every idea from practicality to asymmetry to unconventional, unfeminine forms. Instagram definitely helps promote products that shock and awe the consumer with their unconventionality, and many brands exploit this platform to forward their fashion ideology.

One of the most apparent ideologies of modern fashion is female empowerment, and what Instagram shows us today is that fashion trends are trying to help us defy the male gaze.

The women’s clothing considered trendy by our generation is no longer tailored to bring out feminine forms solely for the pleasure of the masculine eye. The notion that a modern woman is free to dress according to her own rules is not new. Yves SaintLaurent’s 1966 creation, Le Smoking, captured by Helmut Newton, depicted a woman puffing a cigarette and wearing a tuxedo. This was, in a way, the crossing of a cultural Ru-

bicon, a point at which women were allowed to adorn themselves in male clothing. Since then, fashion has gradually become more gender fluid, and the desire to defy the male gaze is almost embedded in the industry.

Today, designers such as Demna Gvasalia and Gosha Rubchinsky scream rebellion, anti-sex and modernity, whilst also blurring the line between high fashion and streetwear.

Demna Gvasalia’s status in the fashion industry was cemented in 2015 when he took over as creative director of Balenciaga. Alongside this directorship, Demna retained his role at Vêtements, a collective of seven

anonymous designers. This muchdiscussed brand represents the haute couture take on streetwear. In an interview with The Business of Fashion magazine, Gvasalia described the brand’s philosophy as a “conversation with ‘today’”. Vêtements’ most important aim is to create clothes that women of the now want to wear to feel good, comfortable and practical, yet dictate contemporary style and a fashion-forward approach. The distorted forms, asymmetric lines and oversized jackets in Vêtements’ ready-to-wear a/w ‘18 collection represent the ‘ugly chic’ of presentday streetwear fashion, which is still perceived as couture. The metamorphosis of these two notions of high fashion and streetwear is undoubtedly revolutionary and subversive.

Fashion no longer attracts the public eye with feminine forms and beauty

Tanya Taylor

It is not just emerging designers that are trying to revolutionise the way we see fashion. Brands like Prada and Céline have prioritised interesting rather than feminine shapes, bold colours and distorted forms over the years. Prada’s latest shoe collection with furry slippers, futuristic gladiator sandals and the iconic wedge-heel derby shoes perfectly

embodiex the concept of ugly chic.

Has ‘ugly’ become the new chic?

In order for these brands with hundreds of years of tradition to stay relevant in the modern world, they need to retain the quality and remain dictators of style. And in order to dictate certain trends, every year there has to be something new. It is, thus, not surprising that ‘ugly’ is having a moment. Clothes have always been a tool of self-expression and power: in the modern world such power for womenswear comes with the idea of feminism and female power. In order for clothes to provide such power and a sense of full self-identification they have to be a statement of independence: a statement that women are no longer dressing for men; a statement that the male gaze is no longer as relevant in dictating what we wear.

In the Instagram age where the image is so easily produced and extremely accessible, it has become important for fashion to shock, to stand out, and to catch the eye that has seen almost everything. Unconventionality and ugliness are new and cool. Fashion no longer attracts the public eye with feminine forms and beauty. Social media has undoubtedly been instrumental in transforming the modern-day fashion industry. Instagram is accessible

to anyone, and anyone can use it as a means to express themselves and, in a way, to make their own newsfeed their own runway. It defies the norm because anyone can become a style icon on their own terms by gaining an army of followers, with which comes recognition and popularity.

Fashion in the media age is becoming increasingly subversive because it is distancing itself from the idea that it has to dictate a certain style or trend. It is becoming more diverse and offers more opportunity for selfexpression of female individuality and comfortable, effortless style.

Maybe it all started with Coco Chanel and the female suit, but today modern fashion is a sign of progress society has made towards female empowerment and individual freedom. But the fact that we can still refer to it as ‘ugly’ and ‘unattractive’ is also a sign of progress that is yet to be made.

The Khooll

Is Dior repurposing feminism for profit?* Leonie Hutch Fashion Editor

Christian Dior’s s/s (spring/summer) ’18 show in Paris opened with a model wearing a long sleeve Breton shirt emblazoned with the words ‘WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO GREAT WOMEN ARTISTS?’.

The quote comes directly from Linda Nochlin’s 1971 essay about the limitations and difficulties that women who are artists face within society. (I would just like to mention that the second source of inspiration for Dior’s show came from the sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle- a woman - whose influence could be seen in the bright colours, stripes, broken mirrors and metallics that were used throughout the collection. Also, I very much appreciated the juxtaposition of this next to the opening outfit. Well done, Dior.

But back to the t-shirt in question.)

The label’s womenswear artistic director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, made her debut at Dior almost exactly a year ago. And during her time at Dior she has repeatedly used feminist

mantras on her clothing. The white t-shirt across which was printed the title of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book ‘WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS’ was produced along with a slew of other ‘feminist’ t-shirts which could be bought at asos, Topshop and Primark. You name it, they probably had a t-shirt verifying the fourthwave feminist credentials of the wearer (or the wearer’s boyfriend).

But why? Well using clothing to parade your political view is nothing new. Slogan t-shirts have been a thing for a long time. But what appears to be happening with the feminist slogans is something else.

Fashion houses and high street brands have co-opted feminist quotes, phrases and ideas created by activists and managed to sell them for hugely inflated prices to women who can then Instagram themselves wearing it to feel part of a movement.

This started in September 2014 when Chanel staged a feminist demonstration down the catwalk, complete with placards reading ‘Ladies First’, slogans like ‘Women’s Rights are Alright’ and Cara Delevingne

with a loudspeaker. But even the, there was a whiff of opportunism about the campaign. To be honest, I’ve never truly been convinced of Karl Lagerfeld’s feminist convictions and it all seemed a bit put on to me. Sitting and applauding a group of predominantly white, generally wealthy, thin women who are, using Chanel’s words, ‘Feminist but Feminine’ seemed a bit ‘meh’ really.

Delevingne and her girlfriend at the time, St Vincent, were later spotted wearing navy sweatshirts printed with the slogan ‘THE FUTURE IS FEMALE’. It is worth mentioning here that the very first ‘THE FUTURE IS FEMALE’ t-shirts were actually designed for Labyris Books, a women’s bookstore in New York City, which was opened in 1972 by Jane Lurie and Marizel Rios. You can buy a version of that top, which was remade by Rachel Berks for Otherwild’s for $30 (the sweatshirt worn by Delevigne is $50). They donate 25% of the profits to Planned Parenthood- quality. (Also, to be fair, whilst Dior does charge $170 for its ‘We Should All Be Feminists’

tops, it does donate a portion of the profits to the Clara Lionel Foundation, a charity set up by Rihanna which focusses on providing education and healthcare opportunities.

Fast forward to last season and Prabal Gurung also showcased tshirts that read ‘The Future Is Female’ and similar slogans. They cost about £160 apiece. Again, as far as I can tell, none of this goes to any sort of charity. Although we are all assured on the Selfridges website that they are part of her “campaign for equal rights”. So that’s nice!

The other part of the phenomena that is feminist slogan t-shirts is the celebrity endorsement they recieve and widespread recognition on social media. Dior’s (or is it Adichie’s?

Hmm…) ‘WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS’ top was the most Instagrammed look from Paris week in 2016. Last year Natalie Portman was at the Los Angeles Women’s March wearing said shirt and Rihanna has also been spotted in it. The Bella Freud sweater with ‘Solidarité Feminine’ across it (£270) has been making the rounds on Instagram over the

last two years too. Rihanna has also Instagrammed images of herself in a ‘THIS P**SY GRABS BACK’ hoodie and tutu. Ariana Grande wore a sweatshirt with Malala Yousafzai’s image and the words ‘FIGHT LIKE A GIRL’ on it. In January at the Women’s March on Washington Madonna wore a t-shirt with a Marie Shears quote ‘Feminism is the Radical Notion That Women Are People’ written across it.

And whilst yes, it could be argued that this is all a long way from the reality of political protest marches and the second-wave feminist literature which inspired the clothes, I would argue that these tops have moved feminism into the public eye in a very real, and potentially powerful way. Undoubtedly, some people are just making money, and some a fashion statement, but that does not negate the political one scrawled across their chest. And ultimately, if the clothes are making feminism both visible and in vogue does the motivation even really matter? *Short answer : yes, probably.

OxStuff

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

OXSTUFF The secrets of breakfast at Spoons is displayed in this moment.

Men preparing for a hard day’s work ahead stock up on a hearty breakfast in one corner, a student on the brink of a nervous breakdown shovels porridge into their mouth with one hand and desperately flicks through Tacitus with the other. At the bar, a couple of absolute bloody legends are disheartened to find out that they can’t actually buy a pint until 9, scuppering their plans of a semi-ironic Insta snap to impress the lads.

Oxford is filled with secret societies and curious clubs. The Bullingdon, the Piers Gaveston, the Oxford Ukulele Society mysterious names hiding dark secrets and puzzling pasts. But those watching the hustle and bustle of the Four Candles on a Tuesday morning comprise a sect more secretive and exclusive than any of them, and it shockingly it draws its members right from the heart of this very newspaper.

The ‘Oxford Student Society of Wetherspoons Breakfast

Daniel Mahoney Deputy Editor

They meet at 7:55 on a Tuesday, as the early morning wind blows through the trees and 99% of Oxford’s student population lies oblivious in their beds, a secret society gathers on George Street. As they wait outside their meeting place, no words need be exchanged. A furtive nod, a glance through imposing double doors for any signs of life inside.

As the clock moves slowly towards the hour, anticipation grows as their moment of glory approaches. 7:58. 7:59. And then finally, as bells chime as if in celebration around the city, 8am approaches and the doors open.

It is time. Spoons has opened.

As the bleary eyed locals jostle to adopt their favourite positions for the pleasures of a Wetherspoons breakfast, this brotherhood takes pleasure in observing all of human life that

Watchers’ are hard to define as a group. Are they anthropologists, gaining a greater understanding of the human condition through the medium of hash browns? Are they voyeurs, getting a sort of sick thrill out of watching people go about their everyday lives? Or are they just a group of hungry student journos attempting to inject meaning into their sad lives through Oxstuff articles? It’s impossible to tell.

Perhaps the answers lie in the origins of Wetherspoons as an organisation. In the creation myth of this pub chain which defines a nation, the original Mr Wetherspoon was a teacher who told founder Tim Martin he would never amount to anything.

Martin has since denied this

story, but if the Oxford Student stands for anything as an organisation it’s taking a stand challenging the narratives of the rich and powerful, so who cares about what he says.

Perhaps it is in this spirit that the OSSWBW go about their work, seeing every Spoons and the majesty of life it contains as a symbol of defiance to the academic powers that be. As term begins and the crushing reality of work begins to bear down on us, let us all be inspired to not let those who criticise or tell us that “this really isn’t an acceptable level of work Dan, you can’t use yourself as a source” put us down and crush our spirits.

Or something like that.

What Oxford Facebook Page are you?

Which TV show do you relate to the most? a) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend b) The Thick of It c) Mr. Robot d) Peep Show e) It’s Me or The Dog What’s

your favourite song? a) ‘You’re Beautiful’ by

James Blunt b) ‘Love to Hate It’ by Off Bloom c) ‘Heard Ya Talkin’’ by

Jeremy Kay d) ‘Crazy Frog’ by Axel e) ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’

by Baha Men

Someone sneezes in the RadCam. You: a) Fall in love b) Scream c) Tweet they said ‘I’m allergic to peasants’ d) Think “me” e) Remember that sneezing panda video

You’re late to your tute.

Why? a) Got distracted by someone good-looking b) Tourists c) Eavesdropping d) Needed to see what you’d been tagged in e) Spotted some particularly cute dressed up doggos

Mostly As You’re OxLove!

You love to love, and are definitely the Romeo in your group of friends. Whether it’s a random pedestrian or your college parent, you’re constantly ogling anyone and everyone.

Just watch out you don’t get

OVERHEARD IN OXFORD “I just need to do more cocaine, really” “Oh shit, I made a dick joke in front of Malala!”

“Why did you make your cat a staryeyed midget man?”

“It’s so easy to find someone to strangle you on Craigslist... probably”

OxQuiz

You overheard some gossip in the JCR. Do you: a) Pidge the person

in question some

sweets anonymously b) Vague tweet for

maximum likes c) Spread the word d) Tag them in a meme e) Who cares, it’s the

Welfare Walk today

28

“So basically you just slept with a monk”

(any more) restraining orders.

Mostly Bs You’re OxFeud!

‘Make love, not war’ is not the slogan stitched onto your decorative pillow. You love to gripe about life’s small daily hassles, and always want to vent (usually about the same thing).

Mostly Cs Overheard in Oxford!

You’re the friend people go to for news, but stay well away from when the drama’s happening to them. A selfproclaimed drama queen, you have a knack for turning the smallest issue into the end of the world when necessary (and it’s always necessary).

Mostly Ds You’re The Memeing Spires of Oxford!

Easygoing and unruffled, nothing gets to you. You enjoy the little things in life, and drift through daily life with only a niggling sense of self-hatred and a bit of regret staying up those extra few hours scrolling through your Facebook dash.

You’re

Mostly Es You’re Open Dogsford!

101 Dalmatians was your favourite film as a kid, and you always asked for a puppy for Christmas. Crufts is infinitely better than America’s Next Top Model, and you’re always on the look out for wholesome content.

“We can’t show him our really spherical grape, he’s too cool”

OxFURd

Introducing Marigold. Super soft fur. Gives awesome high fives.

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

OxStuff

29

Sharking scrapes: Our agony aunts share their advice Socrates & Ion Ancient Greek agony aunts

SOCRATES: You see, when this kind of thing happens to your friend, you know exactly what to say: just message her and get your jacket back. We’re all speeding along the dark, dusty road to death anyway - life’s too short to fret formalities, and it’s miserable enough without being cold all winter because you lost your jacket. Then again, we all know that it’s different when you’re in the driving seat and your hard-won college reputation is at stake, especially as a fresher.

Thus my advice is simple: hold your ground and pray you freeze to death over the Christmas vac so you don’t have to confront this awkward scenario ever again.

ION: Desire for death is an action too passive for one so young as a fresher only two weeks into Michelmas. You have much suffering to endure yet, my friend. Texting a girl who, let’s be honest, probably can’t remember your name, to collect your coat is probably the least embarrassing thing you’ll do over the next three years.

S: But that assumes that a message will be the end of this fresher’s troubles, when we all know that it’ll just be the start. You know she’ll pretend to be busy all week, and then the one time she’s free, she’ll just HAPPEN to be stuck in her room all day, and then you’ll just HAVE to pop up and see her on a dark, stormy, predatory night - and once you’re back in her room, you’re basically standing in the shark pool at SeaWorld wearing a meat vest. Stay strong, sweet fresher, and sacrifice the coat - it’s the only way to keep out of the murky waters.

Besides, you’ll be swamped in college stash in no time.

I: If we’re ruling out a resharking entirely, then yes, the coat may be lost. But where one door closes, another opens – you might have lost a coat, but you’ve gained not only a semimemorable sconce, but also an invaluable life lesson: just as you have been sharked, you shall in turn go on to shark. The sharkee will become the sharker.

If you can’t face up to texting her, it’s time to move on and embrace your inevitable descent into the jaws of fate. Don’t try and fight it: it’s the cycle of life.

S: If we’re going to be using such inane animal metaphors for the rest of our degrees, Ion, you might

as well quote The Lion King right.

It’s a circle of life, and it need not end in predating upon some poor fresher just because you were wronged yourself. You can stop this somewhat questionable practice here and now by cutting all contact with your shark.

Your silence will prove a moral point which your lost clothing will only bolster: your mind is in higher, more honourable things than the sexploitation of vulnerable others.

I: Inaction, as I’ve always said, is an action in itself. As to the moral quality of this subject’s mind – I think their need to post an Oxfess about this tells us all we need to know.

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The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

University Sport: a fresher’s take on preseason hockey Joly Scriven Staff Writer

When you arrive at Oxford, it’s hard not to feel intimidated. For most people, leaving home for the first time to study in a completely new environment is daunting enough; but in the back of your mind, you want to do so much more than that. Meeting new friends during freshers’ week, making a good impression with your tutors, and joining clubs and societies that’ll keep you going throughout your university career all weigh heavily on the mind. Luckily for me, I was invited to join Oxford’s preseason hockey training, allowing me to find my feet in Oxford two weeks before the start of term.

From my point of view, this was brilliant.

Beginning university on my own terms was the perfect start. Instead of rushing around trying to get involved in every freshers’ event going, I was playing a sport that I love and meeting new people at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t just an extended holiday; on most days we had two training sessions of two hours apiece; but during this, I was

constantly meeting new people.

One of the things that I liked best about starting at Oxford with preseason was the fact that nobody was out there to judge anyone else. Without worrying about not being “clever” or “cool” enough, it felt comfortable enough to make friends just by hitting a ball around with a new bunch of people. After all, they didn’t care much about my political views or anything like that; they were just an inclusive group of lads who made my start at Oxford easier than I ever thought it’d be.

beating UCL and Surrey’s 1st teams 5-0 and 4-0 respectively in a great example of hard work paying off.

It was exhausting, but it was definitely worth it; even without starting my academic work I quickly began to admire the commitment and desire that people at Oxford showed for their sport. In a completely different arrangement to sport at schools, where training, games and tours are

organised by staff, I was amazed by everyone’s initiative and proactivity to arrange such a serious set-up on top of their busy student lives.

With this in mind, playing a sport at Oxford is a huge commitment.

Besides training and matches, the social side of the hockey club is lively, with regular socials and crew dates. For a fresher, this can be intimidating, but while it is true that initiation rituals and the like

are still very much alive, they’re reasonably tame affairs that you don’t have to get involved in if you don’t want to, and actually give the club a little bit of extra character.

Going on preseason with Oxford’s hockey section has given me the confidence that I’ll be able to enjoy playing sport during my time here, however seriously it may be; there is something for everyone, and no one will punish you for being outgoing.

I was playing a sport that I love and meeting new people at the same time The schedule was full-on; rest days seemed few and far between, and even then they were occupied with video analysis and flexibility sessions. However, this work ethic paid dividends; prior to going on our first tour, we held an hour-long whiteboard tactics session that forced the squad to mentally adapt to new playing styles. We then took these tactics to London and won three out of our four games, Arnaud Malon

Neymar’s move is about far more than football Continued from back page These include Roman Abramovich (Chelsea), Mike Ashley (Newcastle), Stan Kroenke (Arsenal), and Joe Lewis (Tottenham). Abramovich, with a net worth of $9.1 billion in 2017, is perhaps the outlier in this group and has always been willing to splash his cash at Chelsea. Yet, until their signing of Alvaro Morata this year for £58 million, Chelsea’s record transfer had remained the £50 million they spent on greatat-the-time-but-not-for-long Fernando Torres in January 2011.

They have never strayed into insane transfer territory.

Arsenal and Tottenham have also never done so. The clubs are run shrewdly, as profitable businesses, and they spend relatively little on only the right players. Many of these billionaires operate businesses outside of their football ownership, and they know how to make a profit.

They are not silly with their money and spend on football in much the same way as they would on their other interests: ‘Will I get value for my money?’

Politics seems to be a bg driver of prices. There are an increasing

Follow @OxStuSport on Twitter for more sporting updates

number of teams – including PSG – that are indirectly or directly owned, or assisted, by nation states. PSG’s owners are Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSi). QSi is a fund, and what the ownership structure essentially means is that PSG is owned by the Gulf State of Qatar. Manchester City is owned by the City Football Group, which is owned

by Sheikh Mansour. Mansour is the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Minister of Presidential Affairs and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. He is halfbrother to the current President of the UAE. All this means that City is essentially owned by the United Arab Emirates.

There have often been controversies in the past too, where the Spanish government has been accused of assisting Real Madrid and Barcelona. In one instance, Madrid was able to buy land at £15 million below market value; these clubs, as well as a handful of others, have benefitted unfairly from tax and loan advantages as ruled by the European Commission in 2016.

Real Madrid sold part of their training ground to the council for £23 million in 1998, and it was immediately loaned back to them for free. According to the BBC: “some of the land given to Real in 1998 did not even belong to the council at the time.

This was not discovered until 2011. The council’s solution was to take back the land and compensate Real Madrid in a deal that included new parcels of land at their new training ground and stadium, as well as prime assets elsewhere. The total value of this compensation was more than £19 million, a 54-fold increase on what the original land was worth in 1998”.

Madrid were responsible for every world record transfer from 2000 until 2016 and it would be foolish to think that such government assistance wasn’t

Madrid were responsible for every world record transfer from 2000 a significant factor in allowing Madrid to acquire its high-priced ‘galacticos’. City, on the other hand, have been responsible for a remarkable price inflation in England after signing Robinho for £38million in 2008/9. City have more recently signed players such as John Stones, Benjamin Mendy, and Kyle Walker for around £50 million each. These are incredible prices for defensive players. They have also prised many players such as Samir Nasri and Carlos Tevez away from big clubs where they were flourishing

– Arsenal and Manchester United respectively – with the promise of vastly increased wages.

This forced these teams, and others, to respond by increasing their own wages and the amounts that they are willing to pay for players. Right now, City are rumoured to want Alexis Sanchez, forcing Arsenal to offer Sanchez a contract worth a reported £300,000 per week (via talkSPORT) – far higher than their old wage structure would allow. It is clear that the support that these clubs have goes far beyond what an ordinary rich owner would provide. As PSG demonstrates, the amount that a state-backed team are willing to pay for players, and the wages that they are willing to pay them, moves into increasingly outlandish figures.

The reason is simple; these are not necessarily footballing transfers. These are transfers of national pride. What we are talking about here is not mere competition between clubs, but the playing out of national and international politics on the footballing stage. The Spanish government is incredibly proud of its footballing giants and so was willing to defy footballing logic, and the law, in order to bring them the best players. The President of the UAE, meanwhile, is seen as a pro-western moderniser and what better way to appeal to

the western world than through sports franchises which showcase the riches and power of the UAE. The impact of politics on football, however, is most apparent with Qatar and the Neymar transfer. A Saudi-led coalition of Gulf States has currently placed sanctions on Qatar over its “independentminded foreign policy and alleged support for extremism” (Guardian). They have asked for the monitoring of all Qatari financial transactions, in order to clamp down on terrorist funding.

Yet what better way to show your independence and resistance than to spend £450 million on a football star in front of the whole world. The Neymar transfer was not so much a footballing move as a message to the world that Qatar will not bow to these threats.

We can see then that politics and football have a dangerous relationship.

The Spanish government, among others, has long had a ‘special’ relationship with its most successful teams.

However, the recent acquisition of teams such as PSG and City by nation states is a marked change.

This, in turn, has meant that the money in football no longer has to make sense from a footballing and financial perspective, but from the perspective of national pride, and on this there is seemingly no limit. A troubling thought for the future of the game.

Sport 31

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

NFL protests: are they patriotic or misguided?

Continued from back page This is a far more palatable idea to many Americans who oppose Trump but are still fiercely patriotic and bristle at criticism of their nation and what they view as disrespect towards its anthem and its flag.

Julius Peppers, of the Carolina Panthers, who stayed in the locker room for the anthem, said “I just thought it was appropriate to stay in because we know what went on this week with the comments that were made by the President. I felt like he attacked our bothers, my brothers in the league; I felt like it was appropriate to stand up with them and stay in the locker room.”

Peppers might be looking to support Kaepernick’s stand against racial injustice, but the final straw was the comments by Trump.

Even the protesters are on the fence about protesting. This gives us an idea of the environment in which these players are operating and the anger with which the protests have been received.

While they are a fascinating form of American political action, a key question comes to mind.

Was Kaepernick right? Are these protests “bigger than football?”

Should sport and politics even mix? A classic response to the protests has been the line that sport and politics should be separate, and that if players want to protest they should do it in their free time, not while the nation is watching them play football.

This, however, is a strange idea.

Sport and politics are intrinsically linked, and always have been.

The very concept of a locationbased sports team means that the teams are representing other groups of people. They are inherently political actors.

The Barcelona football team, for example, is heavily linked to the Catalan cause, and their rivalry with Real Madrid stems largely from the civil war, with Barca representative of the communist movement and Madrid of the King.

Celtic and Rangers have such fierce rivalries because of the religious and political differences between the two Glaswegian fanbases. When Jesse Owens won gold at Hitler’s 1936 Olympics, it was just as much a political and moral victory as a sporting one, given the host nation. As representatives of areas, communities or countries, sports teams are, in their definition, political actors.

The argument could be made, though, that although this was once the case in most sports teams, many of the affiliations to communities and areas have fallen away with the rise of global fanbases, and hence sport and politics, in many cases, are no longer inextricably linked.

This is a valid point to make – in some cases, there is very little affiliation. Yet in acknowledging this, we need to move away from ‘Is sport political?’ to ‘Should sport be political?’ Sport is special in the passion and patriotism that it can inspire. Fans follow their teams with incredible emotional investment and interest and so can be far more affected by the actions of their team than by faceless politicians they feel little attachment to.

Sport is and has been an incredible platform for activism.

To combat the apartheid regime in South Africa, the South Africans were ostracised from world sport - a massive deal for a sports-mad country. When Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in 1968, the picture was seen and talked about all over the world.

The reason that sports stars often talk politics is that they are aware that they have this platform.

Similarly, the NFL protests today have reignited a much needed discussion about the disproportionate levels of police violence towards people of colour.

To think that the action of sports stars cannot and do not influence the wider world is foolish. All eyes are on them, and that means that they can really make a difference. This is why the “protest on your own time” argument makes no sense. When trying to effect change, you want to do it while the world is watching.

Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton spoke to this following the protests in week three: “This is not just no Sunday thing, this is something that has been an issue in our country for years and years and years, and it’s just has to be an everyday thing and that’s what we have to make people aware of. It’s not just about the national anthem on Sunday, it’s about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

If then, we recognise that sports teams are often political, and that sport is an effective environment for protest and change, what we are left with is an argument about respect and offence. On the one hand, those opposed to mixing sport and politics argue that sport should remain pure and free of the kind of offensive and heated discourse of politics. With particular focus on the NFL protests, they say that the protests themselves also disrespect the American flag, anthem, and in turn her veterans, patriots, and her very fabric.

On the other hand though, the protesters themselves maintain that they mean to cause no offence, merely to raise awareness of their issue in a respectful manner. Newton clarified that “By no means do we want to offend anybody, I don’t think

nobody who has protested meant for it to be disrespectful to the United States flag, by no means.

Whatever demonstration or protest that person might have are just personal beliefs that that individual believes in.”

The issue lies in actions and

the flag and anthem should not be disrespected, such as Carolina coach Ron Rivera. He spoke to the media following the protests: “I really think what we need to do is for everybody to be united, to all stand, to look at the flag, be at attention ... left hand by our

There are only a few times in man’s life that you get a chance to stand up for something that you believe in, and make a statement. Today I thought that was that chance, and I took it intentions. Those who view the kneeling as disrespectful do not care about the intention of the kneeling, but rather just the kneeling itself, which they find offensive. It is here that we reach a fork in the road. The two sides of the argument interpret the same action in different ways and, when this is the situation, it is very difficult to find consensus.

One side sees respectful protest, while the other sees something offensively anti-Americanism.

While this might seem like a potentially valid argument against the NFL protests, hindsight shows that such complaints are common in instances where sport has managed to change things for the good. Smith and Carlos’s protest in 1968 was met with sharp criticism from many in America who resented their stand on racial injustice and many believed the boycotting of South African sport to be futile.

At a fundamental level, protests aren’t meant to please everyone.

There are those who believe that

Jesse Fratis

sides, right hand on our hearts, we need to look at the flag, we need to listen to the anthem, we need to think and envision an American we believe in that’s free from bigotry, that’s free from injustice.”

While Rivera’s view is undeniably valid, there are many more who simply use the argument of respect to avoid the conversation, either because they find it uncomfortable or because they actively prefer the status quo. These protests were designed to generate change, something Rivera also spoke on; “I think the time for doing is now.

Let’s start talking about what the solution is; how we can do things as an organisation, how we can do things as a community to start bringing closure to this and start showing that we are truly working in a direction to correct those things that everybody was protesting against.”

Whether you agree with Rivera or not about how the protests should be conducted, it is hard to deny that they have sparked a conversation. Like with much

of American politics, however, the challenge is now to turn that conversation into progress.

The step that now needs to be taken is for those involved to identify what change would look like on a day-to-day level.

Do the police need better training? Does the US need tighter gun regulations to minimise escalations? Does it start earlier, - should the US look at how race is dealt with inside the education system? This list could last for pages, and whilst here is not the place to have this discussion in full, it does need to be had.

As long as the conversation is able to be derailed by comments about the respect for the military, the flag, or the anthem, then change will be hard to come by. What the protests are, however, is a brave first step. “There’s something coming in the mist … the time is upon us for us to do something, to bring people closer together.”

Hopefully Newton is right.

This really is about so much more than football, or any sport. People will be offended, as is their right but who really cares when there are children being shot by those that are supposed to protect them, and these players can do something about it? Progress isn’t free, and Kaepernick has already paid his price, but standing passively by is rarely the route to real change.

“There are only a few times in man’s life that you get a chance to stand up for something that you believe in, and make a statement. Today I thought that was that chance, and I took it” – Julius Peppers.

Sport 32

The Oxford Student | Friday 13th October 2017

SPORT

NFL protests grow after Trump comments

A fresher’s take on preseason hockey

Neymar’s move is about more than football NFL

protests: patriotic or misguided?

Danny Cowan & Vincent Richardson Sport Editors

Alex Fau

Danny Cowan Sport Editor

On 3rd August 2017, Paris St Germain (PSG) signed Neymar for £200 million. This was just his transfer fee, when agent’s fees and Neymar’s salary are included, the deal looks set to cost PSG £450 million. This is an obscene amount of money, and it prompts an examination of the footballing world. When did transfers become so crazy?

In 2000, the transfer record was broken when Real Madrid signed Luis Figo from Barcelona for a fee of £37 million. In 2001, Madrid broke the record again, when they signed Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for £45 million. It was not until 2009 that this record was broken. Again, incredibly, it was by Real Madrid, when they signed Kaka for £56 million but, just under one month later, they signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £80 million, raising the record by 42% in one swoop.

Before the Ronaldo transfer, the record transfer fee had increased by just 51% over 9

years. After Ronaldo, Gareth Bale signed for Madrid in 2013 for £85 million, and Man United signed Paul Pogba in 2016 for £89 million, finally wresting the transfer record away from the Spanish capital. In these 7 years, the record transfer fee increased by just £9 million, a mere 11%.

While there was an undeniable rise in transfer fees over this period, with the exception of Ronaldo (the first reigning Ballon D’Or winner to be sold since Hristo Stoichkov in 1995), this period was without a single rapid or dramatic increase in fees. Then came Neymar.

Neymar’s fee of £200 million eclipses any transfer we have seen before. It is an increase of 125% on the fee for Pogba just one year later. This type of price inflation is unheard of, so how did this happen?

It is undeniable that there is more money in football today then there ever has been. The new TV rights deal for the Premier League that came into play in 2016 is worth £5.13 billion over just 3 years. This has provided Premier League clubs with an influx of money, allowing

them to pay over the odds for foreign stars like Pogba, prising them from competing leagues.

It has also allowed them to resist transfers, such as Swansea have done by demanding £50 million for Gylfi Sigurdsson.

As they do not need the money, why should they settle for less?

China’s league, too, is one flushed with money, full of wealthy owners who see a country, and market, with incredible untapped potential.

The Chinese league has been able to pull stars such as Oscar and Alex Teixeira away from the Premier League giants of Chelsea and Liverpool. These players were in the primes of their careers, but were lured with the promise of untold riches. The biggest clubs in Europe tour all over the world: in Asia, America, and Australia as they try to expand their brands to new markets. Football has become an incredible business, with a rich-list published every year of the biggest global brands.

Yet, none of this can account for Neymar’s fee. The TV rights deal for the Premier League amounts to £1.71 billion per year, but the deal for French Ligue 1 sees

it gain only €726 million per year - far less that its English counterpart. TV rights deals have not impacted money in French football, or in European football overall, for that matter, in the same way as they have affected the Premier League.

In terms of global branding, PSG have risen up the rankings remarkably. In 2013, they sat at 24th but now sit at 7th.

Despite this, they are only one place above Arsenal in terms of brand value - a club which would never dream of this kind of transfer. They also sit below Bayern Munich, a club whose transfer record is £37.35 million (this year, on Corentin Tolisso).

Clearly, a large global brand does not necessarily facilitate the paying of ludicrous transfer fees.

We are left then, with the concept of the wealthy owner.

Forty football teams are owned by individuals with a net worth of more than $1 billion, not including families such as the Glazers (Man United) or the Liebherrs (Southampton).

Continued on page 30

‘This is not the place for politics’, ‘Football and politics shouldn’t mix’, and ‘They should protest on their own time’. These are some of the things we continue to hear about the protests that have exploded in the NFL recently. The protests, which involve kneeling for the national anthem when it is played before the games, was started by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick before a preseason game in 2016. In recent weeks, however, there has been a significant growth following comments by Donald Trump calling for those involved to be fired.

Kaepernick actually sat for the anthem originally, to protest against racial injustices and the racial biases shown

by American police forces. He was later convinced by a veteran to kneel instead of sitting. The veteran felt that this showed more respect towards the American flag and the anthem while still making Kaepernick’s point: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

While Colin Kaepernick has received support from many, he has been vilified by pundits, fans, and the President alike.

He is currently a free agent, despite his significant talent. As a player, he should have a team, but as a person, he is seen as too provocative. No team will take him on.

It also took the comments of President Trump to move Kaepernick’s protest from one involving a handful of players to a significant movement. About 180 players knelt in week 3 of the NFL following Trump’s comments at a rally in Alabama: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

Yet the fact that it took Trump’s involvement to provoke action from players is lamentable. Protesting now, the players involved can hide behind protesting their President.

Continued on page 31