The Oxford Student - Week 5 Hilary 2024 by The Oxford Student

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Hilary Term, Week 5 | Friday 16 February 2024

OXFORD STUDENT The University of Oxford’s Student Newspaper, Est. 1991

Oxford increased fossil fuel investments to £31.2m in 2022

Gaspard Rouffin

he University of Oxford has recently come under fire after its endowment fund increased its proportion of indirect investment in fossil fuels, less than three

years after setting its Net Zero target. According to the UN, fossil fuels account for over 90% of CO2 emissions contributing to climate change. The Oxford University Endow-

ment Management (OUem) is a £6bn investment entity representing the vast majority of the University’s generation of investment income. According to the University’s

Investigation into SU President drags on for fourth month Milo Dennison

Image credit: Cameron Samuel Keys

n investigation into the SU President, Danial Hussain, has failed to reach a resolution despite now being in its fourth month, while Hussain has been repeatedly targeted anonymously online. The SU has been conducting an independent investigation into an alleged incident that occurred when Hussain shared porn with staff through misuse of a Google Drive.

Yet more than three months later, Hussain is still suspended and the SU have not informed the student body of any resolution. When asked about this at Student Council, a statement given in Week 7 of Michaelmas was referred to, with no further update provided. Hussain has been harassed on social media, with anonymous accounts repeatedly posting derogatory statements and Oxfesses targeting him. Read more on page 5

targets. The 2022 report had a limited section on investment links to fossil fuels, stating: “Exposure is low with a total 0.52% indirect exposure to fossil fuels.” In its divestment decision in 2020, the University stated its fossil fuel investments only accounted for 0.6% of the endowment fund – with the proportion now being 0.52%, this means that total indirect fossil fuel investments have decreased by 0.08% in the last four years. At the time, the University described itself as a “world leader in the battle against climate change.” The 2021 and 2022 reports also highlighted a significant decrease in OUem’s ESG engagements, falling from 379 in 2021 to 275 in 2022. The University had approved a Net Zero target for 2035 as part of its Environmental Sustainability Strategy in March 2021. The Vice-Chancellor at the time commented: “The Oxford Endowment Fund has been actively managed for over a decade to be part of the solution to sustainability.”

Read more on page 4

“

“Labour is sacrificing the desire for office for its principles, and this is a tragedy for Labour and the country”

“

Image credit: Kamyar Adl

financial statements, only an estimated £4bn are Oxford University endowments, with the remaining £2bn being endowments from other actors, including many Oxford colleges. The share of fossil fuel exposure had been regularly decreasing since 2008 and represented 0.32% of all investments in 2021, but increased to 0.52% in 2022. Although these numbers are small, this means an increase in investments related to fossil fuels of around £12m in a year, reaching £31.2m in a year. Proportionally, roughly £1 of every £200 invested by the OUem goes to the fossil fuels industry. The OUem had an average nominal return on investment rate of 8.8% since it opened, meaning that ties to the fossil fuel industry could have generated around £2.64m of profit in 2022. The 2021 OUem report stated Read more on page 3 that it had “no direct holdings” in fossil fuel holdings, and that it had reduced its “indirect exposure to fossil fuels” to 0.32%, with a breakdown of where this exposure came from and the plans to achieve Net Zero

- Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg at the Oxford Union debtate “This House does not know what Labour stands for”

2 | Editorial

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

THE EDITORIAL TEAM EDITORS IN CHIEF Tara Earley and Daisy Outram ASSOCIATE EDITORS Sami Jalil and Haochen Wang STRATEGY Rose Henderson and Milo Dennison (Directors), Charlie Bowden, Martin Alfonsin Larsen, Emily Hudson CREATIVE Elliot Francolla (Director), Blane Aitchison, Seraph Lee, Cameron Samuel Keys

NEWS Gaspard Rouffin, Audrey Davidson-Houston, Ruby Hurst, Tasneem Jodiyawalla, Gabriella Kchozyan, Valida Pau, Rebecca Whalley COMMENT Jack Arrowsmith, Thomas Cowan, Leah Gelber, Amelia Gibbins, Johannes Riese PROFILE Haochen Wang, Cora Alina Blau, Audrey DavidsonHouston, Tallulah Hawley IDENTITY Sami Jalil, Georgia Ferris, Nina Naidu PINK Etienne Baker, Elsie Haldane, Jacob Newby COLUMNISTS Blane Aitchison, Sharon Chau, Amanda Li, Nina Naidu, Jonah Poulard, Matthew Taylor FEATURES Martin Alfonsin Larsen, Nayana Juliette Syed, Purav Menon CULTURE Keng Yu Lai, Amelia Gibbins, Tallulah Hawley, Isra Khan GREEN Bridget Harrington, Ava Chan, Sabine Zednik-Hammonds SCITECH Samkeet Shah, Ava Chan, Gabriella Kchozyan OXYOU Olly DeHerrera, Zaid Magdub, Florence Purcell FOOD & DRINK Johannah Mathew, Rebecca Whalley SPORT Thomas Thornton, Purav Menon, Johannes Riese PODCAST Haochen Wang, Treya Agarwal, Matthew Holland, Kitty Vesey, Cindy Yu

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From the Editors

e’re somehow halfway through the term – how the time does fly when you’re having fun. I’m quite saddened at the idea of having to leave this position so soon, but very grateful to have spent it with such a lovely, talented group of people. Before anything else, I must thank Daisy for her companionship, kindness, and the endless diligence and care she brings to the team. You’ll find her work in a number of sections across the paper this week – please do give it a read. Halfway Hall also took place last week, commemorating

a major milestone in many of our degrees. Spending an evening reflecting on all of the beautiful memories and friendships we’ve made was just what I needed to alleviate any notion of fifth week blues. Thank you to the amazing Hertford crew – Sinéad, Jade, Aaliyah, Beth, Shareen, and everyone else who I’ve had the pleasure of spending the last year and a half with. Thank you also to our entire senior editorial team for their hard work this week, as ever – our deputy editors have done a fantastic job commissioning and curating content for this edition. I feel something akin to a proud parent when collecting the finalised print edition from my lodge (sad as it sounds), and it’s all thanks to the contributions of everyone in OxStu. Look out for our final print edition of Hilary coming soon!

Tara Earley

Hertford College

hile I’m sure you’re all expecting to hear my lament on the fifth week blues, I've instead been learning to find the joy in life at Oxford lately. From singing along to Declan McKenna at the O2 to celebrating the great people I’ve met so far at my Halfway Hall, there’s a lot to love amidst the inevitable burnout. More importantly, of course, is the joy of this week’s print edition! Thank you to Tara, who leads the team with such kindness and humour, and the whole team for their hard work. Laying in on Valentine’s Day has truly been a labour of

love. To shake things up in our penultimate edition, I have finally written for a section other than news! Thanks go to both Haochen and Jack for editing my pieces this week. It was a privilege to interview Sir Geoffrey Nice KC for Profile, and I’m glad to have finally immortalised my self-deprecating case against grammar schools for comment. Give them a read if my editorials have convinced you of my writing skills, alongside everyone's wonderful contributions across all sections of the paper. A huge congratulations also to our very own Rose and Milo for their well-deserved titles of Best Journalist in the South East of the SPA Regional Awards. Their work on the paper has been essential and I’m eternally grateful for their guidance - up the OxStu!

Daisy Outram

St Hugh's College

Editors’ Picks Comment

find that terms always go so fast at Oxford. It feels like I was getting the train from Manchester only yesterday, but now we're in 5th week tackling the blues and preparing for that last stretch of term. Having my Halfway Hall celebration was a massive reality check: I've been here for a year and a half now, and whilst I've achieved a lot during my time here, I'm still keen to achieve so much more! Working for the OxStu has definitely been one of my proudest moments. Facilitating so many fabulous articles in print is a true joy, and I hope to continue to supporting the voices of our very diverse community.

Sami Jalil

t’s been a hectic term so far, but Oxford terms always are – filled with meetings, deadlines, and, of course, the slight issue of degree work. Admittedly, second-year History right now seems to be taking it easy on us, but the fear of an essay always looms in the distance. Amidst all this, OxStu never fails in grounding me in some sense of stability. My thanks, as ever, goes to Daisy and Tara for their support through this cacophony, and to Daisy’s insightful interview with Sir Geoffrey Nice. Also, the enthusiasm of the Profile section editors must not be forgotten. With that, enjoy this week’s content!

St Catherine's College

Pembroke College

Haochen Wang

The problem with grammar schools

Pink

Culture

Exploring the queer politics of Eurovision

The secret to a great Super Bowl halftime show

Sport

A very silly season: Hamilton to Ferrari

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

NEWS

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The Oxford Student

University of Oxford Chancellor retires

In your inbox

News | 3

his week's episode "Inside the paper" features:

•

ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT: Matt Holland discusses Pink piece on LGBTQ+ issues under a Labour government and more

•

EiCs' corner: Daisy and Tara provide a behindthe-scenes view of the paper's work this week

•

OXFESSES OF THE WEEK: we pick the best

of Oxfess submissions, from local dining picks to the student drama scene

Article spotlight: "Global warming exceeds the 1.5 degree target for the first time" by Bridget Harrington

he University of Oxford announced on 5th February that its Chancellor, Christopher Patten, Lord Patten of Barnes, will be retiring at the end of the 2023-24 academic year. The Chancellor is the titular head of the university, presiding over several key ceremonies, alongside chairing the Committee to Elect the ViceChancellor. The Chancellor also undertakes advocacy, advisory and fundraising work, and acts as an ambassador of the University at a range of global and national events. Before becoming Chancellor, Lord Patten was formerly the last British Governor of Hong Kong, and the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He had studied History at Balliol College in the early 1960s. The OxStu had exclusively interviewed him last February. Lord Patten said, ‘This year, I will have my 80th birthday in

May. I hope that there will be many more birthdays to come. But I am unlikely to have another 21 years in the job as Chancellor of the University.’ ‘I think it is in my own interest and that of the University for me to step down at the end of this academic year, giving the University the opportunity to plan a sensible succession which matches the demands of the 2020s. I say this with a heavy heart, trusting that I will still be able to work for Oxford University (which I love) from time to time.’ ‘The University of Oxford has been a hugely important part of my life. I think it is true to say that Oxford as a whole made me, not just because of the three happy years I spent there as a student, but because of what Oxford has continued to mean to me over the years right up to the present day.’ The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Irene Tracy, said, ‘Over the past 21 years, Lord Patten has been an extraordinarily active and

Image Credit: Frank Chan

committed Chancellor, engaging in as many as 60 international events per year on the University’s behalf, tirelessly championing Oxford at home and abroad. While his incomparable dedication will be sorely missed by the University, it is entirely understandable that he should want to take a step back at this time, as he approaches his 80th birthday.’ ‘I am personally grateful for his wise and steadfast support to me as I navigated the transition to becoming ViceChancellor.’ ‘On behalf of thousands of alumni, students and staff and the many people whose lives have been changed by the University’s work, I thank Chris, and also his wife Lavender, for their service and wish them well in a richly deserved retirement.’ The University will announce the process and timetable for the election of the Chancellor by members of the University’s Convocation in due course.

4 | News

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

Oxford increased fossil fuel investments to £31.2m in 2022 Gaspard Rouffin Head of News

Cont. from page 1

Environmental sustainability is not listed as one of the OUem’s objectives or philosophies in any of its reports, favouring instead “real returns”, “investment research”, “partnerships”, “risk management”, and “funding charitable activities.” A statement from Student Organising for Sustainability (SOS) stated that “the 2020 policy change left loopholes for continuing fossil fuel investment” because the commitment taken was only to divest from direct investments, and because other fossil fuel investments should only be “avoided”. SOS also stated that this increase from 0.32% to 0.52% was due to new investments, and not an increase in the existing investments.

Mia Clement, VP Activities and Community of the Oxford SU, commented that the SU had been “actively working with the university administration on the adherence to Oxford’s 2020 divestment and ethical pledges”, and that the SU was “look[ing] forward to engaging in meaningful discussions regarding fossil fuel divestment with the University.” Clement also stated: “Students will be disappointed to see this decrease in ethical engagement, the absence of a clear strategy for escalating such engagements, and significantly increased active investment in fossil fuels.” The Oxford Climate Society said they were “deeply concerned and disappointed”, that “at the same time as [students] are taught about the importance of sustainable investing for climate action, the University is dishonouring its

own words and the research of its members”, and that “the University should be focusing its efforts and significant material resources on investing in these instead of finding loopholes to support the status quo.” The Oxford Climate Justice Campaign called this “a shocking example of institutional greenwashing”, stating they could not “overstate how disappointed [they were]” that OUem “sought to hide this backsliding from students and the public”, and called for OUem to “take immediate action to rectify this.” SOS commented: “This just isn’t good enough from Oxford. Over 72% of UK universities are now committed to full divestment from fossil fuels. It’s the clear sector standard, including for universities like Cambridge, which has a very similar investment

structure to Oxford.” “The University’s attempts to mislead and cover up this fact whilst rebuffing constructive student engagement is a concerning example of institutional greenwashing. As we witness an accelerating climate catastrophe driven by fossil fuel companies, [we] sincerely hope the university will dramatically change course and begin to take real ethical investment leadership.” The University declined to comment, forwarding the request to the OUem instead. OUem claimed to have “fully implemented the University’s 2020 divestment and engagement commitments. The Oxford Endowment Fund has no direct exposure to fossil fuels and indirect exposure is a fraction of a percentage. This will fluctuate for a variety of reasons on a year-by-year basis, in

2022 by 0.2%, when energy markets increased by nearly 50% as equity markets dropped.” “Fossil fuel commitments are only one part of OUem’s extensive work to integrate sustainability across investments. This involves engagement with investment groups on a wide range of ESG activity and investments in sustainability solutions across the portfolio.” OUem also noted that “while the Oxford Endowment Fund’s indirect exposure to fossil fuels is 0.52%, Oxford University’s exposure is 0.45% since the University also has investments in a separate Capital Account which has zero fossil fuel exposure.” OUem later added that they “report on [divestment commitments] publicly,” and that “2021 happened to be an exceptional year for ESG engagements.”

Other British Library services, including EThOS (the UK’s national thesis service) and British Library inter-library requests, also continue to be affected. In an update published on the British Library’s blog on 9th February, their Chief Executive Sir Roly Keating announced that an “indicative timeline” for the restoration of the library’s key services will be shared later this month. This will include access to collection items at the library’s Boston Spa site and further access to their digital collections. The cyber attack was perpetrated by the Russia-affiliated ransomware group Rhysida in October 2023. They demanded a ransom of 20 bitcoin, around £596,000 at the time, to restore the British Library’s online services and return their stolen data. When the British Library refused to pay, Rhysida released approximately 600GB of leaked data to the public. Rhysida’s attack left the British Library without over 10 million journal articles and almost 800,000 books, journals, maps, and music scores for 11 weeks. The full restoration of online systems is expected to take several months. In January the Financial Times reported that it could cost the British Library £7 million (around 40% of their reserves) to completely recover their systems.

A spokesperson for Bodleian Libraries provided The Oxford Student the following comment: “As many students will be aware, the British Library suffered an major cyber-attack last year, which has significantly impacted services and access to digital materials received through the legal deposit privilege across all UK legal deposit libraries, including non-print legal deposit books, scores, journal articles and issues, and the UK web archive.” “We understand how unsettling service disruptions can be, particularly around milestone moments of study and regret any inconvenience caused. In order to help lessen the impact of this event on our readers, we have developed, where possible, other routes to access materials that are currently unavailable. We ask that you contact your subject librarian if you need access to an electronic Legal Deposit item.” “We want to assure our readers that we are working with the British Library to do everything we can to fix the situation and restore electronic Legal Deposit services as soon as possible.” An update on service provision improvements will be shared later this month by the British Library. In the meantime, we recommend readers visit our libguide to see potential alternative routes to locate content.”

Louis Wilson to become Bodleian services still impacted Union President for by British Library cyber attack Trinity Term 2024 Charlie Bowden News Editor

Milo Dennison and Gaspard Rouffin News Editors

ollowing a decision by an Appellate Board, Louis Wilson, the LibrarianElect, will become President of The Oxford Union for Trinity Term 2024. The Board has published a non-binding preliminary notice of their decision, intended to provide clarity for the Leadership of the Union for next term. This followed an appeal resulting from the decision of the Election Tribunal that sat in December 2023. This Tribunal disqualified Leo Buckley for “harassment, bullying, or victimisation in connection with the Election”, as per Rule 33 (a)(i)(28). At the time of the original Tribunal, Julia MaranhaoWong was instated as the Union President-Elect. How-

ever, the Appellate Board has decided that the appropriate course of action would be to leave the role of PresidentElect vacant. The role of President-Elect will remain vacant until the end of Hilary term, at which point it will be offered to the incoming Librarian, Louis Wilson, under Rule 12(c)(ii). The role of Librarian-Elect will then be offered to the Treasurer-Elect, currently Izzy Horrocks-Taylor. The role of Treasurer-Elect will then go to the candidate elected Secretary in the upcoming elections this term, whose role will go to the first elected member of Standing Committee. A spokesperson for The Oxford Union commented, “An appellate board met, and they have now issued a preliminary declaration. We have full confidence in our disciplinary procedures.”

Image Credit: Barker Evans

he online services of the Bodleian Libraries continue to be disrupted by the cyberattack committed against the British Library. Until 15th January, the main catalogue of the British Library was unavailable online, which affected a significant amount of content available via the Bodleian’s SOLO service. The current online version is read-only, which gives a snapshot of what is available as of April 2023. The catalogue excludes data including audio and visual content and manuscripts. Oxford students who require access to legal deposit items are currently being encouraged by the Bodleian to fill out a Recommend a Purchase form if said item is not available on SOLO. Library Hub Discover, a list of UK-wide academic and specialist library catalogues, can also be used to obtain details of alternative locations for items. As the Bodleian is one of six legal deposit libraries in the UK, it is entitled to a digital copy of all works published electronically in the country. The attack made all these digital copies unavailable to Oxford students and researchers for almost three months. The read-only catalogue has restored a lot of items but electronic legal deposit content remains unavailable.

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

News | 5

Investigation into SU Addi Haran Diman elected as SU President drags on President for fourth month The Oxford Student News Team

Milo Dennison News Editor

Cont. from page 1

The Oxford Student exclusively revealed the incident last year after a video was placed in a Google Drive of a number of Hussain’s friends watching gay pornographic material with laughter heard in the background. The video was then opened by a member of SU staff and also seen by another SU Sabbatical Officer. Hussain was suspended after the incident, with the SU telling The Oxford Student, “Oxford SU is aware of the allegations that have been made in this article and have launched an investigation.” More than £6700 in salary has been paid to the suspended Hussain during the suspension. Hussain told The Oxford Student that the video was uploaded as a joke by two friends and that he was “the innocent victim of a prank which has gone hor-

ribly wrong.” He apologised to the individuals involved and said he did “not tolerate such conduct”. The SU told The Oxford Student, “The investigation remains ongoing and as such we cannot comment.” Hussain was unable to comment due to the ongoing investigation. The role of SU President is currently up for election for the 2024-25 academic year, with 8 candidates standing. One candidate for SU President, Q Sun, is running on a manifesto that argues “the University and the SU are currently running just fine without anyone fulfilling the role of SU President. How about we leave the SU President role empty next year and contribute the £27,181 salary to something else? He has promised that, if elected, he will not take up the post and will work to ensure that it remains vacant for the year. The SU declined to comment on his campaign.

ddi Haran Diman has been elected as SU President for the 2024/2025 academic year. Diman is a third year DPhil in Politics at Lincoln College. She ran a campaign on “a university that cares”. This included pledges to increase welfare funding, hold a reading week referendum, and “advocate for equality”. Her campaign also highlighted her work as the President of OULGBTQ Society. Notably, she created a report as part of extensive policy discussions over LGBTQ+ issues at the university following the row over Kathleen Stock’s invitation to the Union last year. This included allowing students to declare their pronouns via the Student Self Service. Diman received 717 first preference votes, with Shermar Pryce coming second in first preference votes with

630. In the final round of voting, Diman received 972 votes, versus Pryce’s 891. Speaking to Cherwell before the election, Diman stated that she is “pretty much an outsider to [SU] babble”, but believes “that’s good because what’s really needed right now is someone who can shake up the system and is not part of the problem”. Eleanor Miller was elected as VP Undergraduate Education and Access after running uncontested, while Lauren Schaefer was elected VP Postgraduate Education and Access with 1130 first preference votes. Meanwhile VP Liberation and Equality went to Joel Aston with 1501 versus

Adya Singh with 579 and VP Welfare went to Alfie Davis, who ran uncontested. Finally, VP Activities and Communities went to Alisa Brown, after she beat Luca Di Bona with 1524 to their 926. All Souls had the highest turnout, with 6 out of 8 students voting. Corpus Christi came in second with 60.8% of 380 students voting. Overall, there was a 15% turnout with 4206, an increase of 15% on last year. The campaign was marred by controversy after endorsements from Class Act for candidates running in the SU elections were invalidated after an investigation by the elections conduct team.

Chairs, Alfie Davis, Chair of Class Act, told other chairs that they thought they “had maybe nine votes in the class act meeting it was almost all just committee [sic]”. Another candidate, Luca Di Bona, Chair of Environmental Affairs Campaign, told the group chat that “Environmental affairs had one person ‘vote’”. The Environmental Affairs Campaign endorsed Di Bona. A number of other Campaigns made endorsements, but no Campaign other than the Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality endorsed any candidate outside of the six endorsed by Class Act. Voting has already opened in the elections, with more than 3500 students having already cast their votes before Class Act’s endorsements were rescinded. Their email pointed out that voters could change their votes until the close of voting at 18:00 tonight. They noted that the retraction was “not a statement as to any Candidate’s suitability”. One candidate for President, Shermar Pryce, commented “It’s a real shame that the Class Act campaign has operated in such a dubious manner, especially while

being very aware of how influential they are as an organisation.” He further commented, “I’m also disappointed by what I consider to be a subpar response to this by the SU. The potential effects of this fraudulent endorsement on the final results of this election are incalculable, bringing the entire electoral process into question.” He noted, “The SU already has a massive problem with engagement and approval amongst students, the damage this scandal will cause on these fronts will no doubt be enormous.” The SU told The Oxford Student “The elections conduct team received a complaint regarding conduct in the elections and specifically in relation to endorsements emails sent by the Class Act Campaign. The investigation found that there had been a technical breach of the Regulations. However, the investigator was satisfied with the reasons provided and that the incident had not compromised the integrity of the election so no further action was taken beyond the endorsements being invalidated and a warning issued.” Class Act have been approached for comment.

Class Act endorsements invalidated by investigator Milo Dennison and Daisy Outram News Editors

Image Credit: Chen Chen

Image Credit: Elliot Parker

n investigation into the Endorsements from Class Act for candidates running in the SU elections have been invalidated after an investigation by the elections conduct team. In an email to Class Act members, it was shared that the endorsement process had been found to “[involve] a degree of unfairness” alongside “some instances of procedural invalidity in breach of the election Regulations”. The Election Rules state that, “Oxford SU Campaigns may only endorse a candidate at an Open Meeting following a democratic vote in which all Full Members of the Campaign can participate, and in which there is an option to make no endorsement.” The endorsements originally favoured Elliot (Riz) Possnett for SU President, alongside Luca Di Bona for VP Activities and Communities, Joel Aston for VP Liberation and Equality, Eleanor Miller for VP UG Education and Access, Alfie Davis for VP Welfare and Harry McWilliam for Student Trustee. The Oxford Student can exclusively reveal that on a group chat of Campaign

6 | News

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

Oxford marks workplace day of action in support of Palestine Daisy Outram and Gaspard Rouffin News Editors

n Wednesday 7th of February a march calling for “Freedom for Palestine” took place in central Oxford. The demonstration was led by the Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and joined the “Oxford stands with Gaza” vigil organised by several trade unions, including the University and College Union (UCU). The march started at 12pm in front of the Weston library on Broad Street. Protesters marched along broad street, and turned left onto Cornmarket Street, where they stopped for several minutes in front of the Barclays bank branch. A protest had been organised in front of the branch by PSC two weeks ago, targeting Barclays for “Banking on Apartheid”. Around 8 protesters were already present in front of the bank under the slogan “protect what you love”, calling both for a “ceasefire” and to “cut the ties to fossil fuels”. A man tried to throw an object on the protestors, but was quickly taken away from the scene by police officers.

The march resumed and turned left onto the High Street, where protesters marched in the middle of the road – briefly interrupting bus and cab traffic in one direction. The demonstration turned left again onto the Radcliffe Square, where the rest of the protest took place. Chants during the march included “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “Israel is a terror state”, “Netanyahu you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide”, and “UK, Israel, USA, how many kids have you killed today?”. Protesters then stopped at the vigil positioned in the North-West corner of the Radcliffe Square, under the Bodleian Library. This had been organised at the initiative of the “Stop the War” coalition, which had called for a workplace day of action on February the 7th to “stand with Gaza”. Around 100 people attended according to UCU. Speakers included NHS doctors, a medical student from Syria, and representatives from both UCU (University and College Union), the majority trade union amongst Oxford University staff, and NEU (National Education Un-

ion), a large primary and secondary school trade union. Rebecca Inglis, NHS doctor in Gaza since 2015, quoted colleagues in the region. They shared that their healthcare system was being “systematically destroyed”, and that hospitals were under “continuous and increasing pressure” with deaths occurring daily because of insufficient resources. She detailed conditions in Gaza, with “2 to 3 babies per incubator”, supplies running out, and many “disillusioned” doctors being displaced in tents, finishing her speech by saying “Israel has no humanitarian considerations”. A representative from the Oxford UCU branch declared that “at least 92” academics had been killed since October, and that scholars were being specifically “targeted” by Israeli strikes. He explained that no university had been left untouched in Gaza, and that the only university hospital there had been destroyed, which constituted an “erasure of culture and intellectual life.” The NEU representative stated that “education is a fundamental human right”, that “all Palestinian children

should have the learn”, and that it was of the “responsibility of every trade unionist” to name what is happening in Palestine as “genocide”. He congratulated those protesting against Barclays, condemned the government’s move to ban public boycotts and protests, and praised Oxford City Council for its motion against said anti-boycott bill. A group of representatives from the Oxford branch of the National Union of Journalists was also present at the Radcliffe Camera. Their secretary commented that they were “here to support” the “116 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of this war”, which represents “more than 10% of all journalists”, and that “journalists are being targeted because they are the only ones that are telling the story of what’s going on inside.” A student who had been working in the nearby Bodleian library but had come down onto the Radcliffe Square commented that it was a “welcome distraction from work.” The Oxford UCU branch has been contacted for comment.

Bodleian Libraries. Brathwaite began the project by studying the Bodleian archives. Through researching his ancestral heritage, he traced his roots back to the British-owned Codrington plantations in Barbados, a Caribbean island. He is descended from both enslaved West Africans and their English enslavers. Throughout the research process, Brathwaite noticed resistant slaves were often labelled as mischievous in archival documents such as ledgers. In reality, what was branded as “mischief ” was people trying to exercise their right to personhood

and free will. By decolonising these archives, Brathwaite has created what he calls a “counter archive,” which highlights the perspectives of the oppressed that have historically been muted. Shifting the perspective of the documents from the oppressors to the enslaved showcases the agency of the enslaved individuals, such as efforts to practise indigenous religions or listen to African music. The art project brings together Brathwaite’s research and reflections, personal items, and archival content to shed light on the hidden stories of the past. It demonstrates the living history of slavery and how racialised narratives have buried and dehumanised the experiences of oppressed peoples. “Mischief in the Archives” has allowed Brathwaite to explore and piece together his family history and identity. It likewise provides an opportunity for others with a similar ancestral experience to find representation

and voice. The exhibition comes as part of the Bodleian Libraries project ‘We Are Our History’: Towards Racial Equity. The Mellon Foundation funds this project in hopes of promoting racial equality and inclusivity throughout the entire Bodelian system and its institutional reach with audiences. The Bodleian Libraries commented: “Mischief in the Archives is an intimate portrait of renowned baritone and artist Peter Brathwaite’s ancestry, that challenges preconceived ideals of race and history through his own ‘creative mischief ’. The exhibition comes as part of the Bodleian Libraries Mellon Foundation funded research project, We Are Our History, and seeks to learn and adapt from experiences and stories that might previously have been lost in our archives.” The exhibition is free for students and visitors. The Weston Library is open on weekdays from 9am to 7pm and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays.

New pop-up exhibition opens at Weston Library Gabriella Kchozyan News Editor

new pop-up art display called “Mischief in the Archives” opened on January 27th and will run through April 7th of this year. The exhibition is located in Blackwell Hall at the Weston Library and provides an intimate look into the artist’s family history. It seeks to decolonise the racialised narratives behind slave records and history. The project was created as a collaboration between Peter Brathwaite, an internationally acclaimed opera singer and artist, and the

Image Credit: Ian Wallman

Balliol student arrested at Palestine protest

Image Credit: Cameron Samuel Keys

Milo Dennison News Editor

Balliol student was arrested on Saturday on Cornmarket Street on suspicion of aggravated trespass. A protest took place at the Barclays branch on Cornmarket Street on Saturday morning, in which a number of protestors entered Barclays. Thames Valley Police told The Oxford Student, “At around 11.30am on Saturday (10/2) Thames Valley Police were called to a protest in Barclays on Cornmarket Street.” “Protestors had entered the bank and were asked by officers to leave. The protestors then made their way to Starbucks, again entering the premises.” “A 19-year-old man from Oxford was arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and has been released on bail.” The Oxford Student understands that the 19-year-old man was a student of Balliol College. Balliol College declined to comment on the incident. This follows a similar protest outside Barclays two weeks ago, in which a counter-protestor was arrested after an altercation with a demonstrator. Protestors have targeted Barclays repeatedly both in Oxford and elsewhere, claiming that “Barclays [has] long been an accessory to apartheid [and] ethnic cleansing”. A number of different groups have staged protests in Oxford in relation to the conflict in Israel and Palestine in recent months.

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

News | 7

The Oxford Union does not know what Labour stands for Valida Pau News Editor

n 10th February, the Oxford Union debated on the motion “This House does not know what Labour stands for.” The event featured prominent speakers from both the Conservative and the Labour parties, such as Joe Moore and Sir Jacob ReesMogg. The debate comes 2 days after Labour scaled back on its £28bn a year green investment pledge. Labour also spent the past few weeks performing a series of U-turns on previously announced policies as it finalises its manifesto ahead of a general election, which polls show Labour could win by a significant margin. Theo Adler-Williams, Union Chief of Staff, opened the debate for the proposition. He argued that Labour dropped their policies for a “bombproof ” campaign. “If you can’t be attacked by the Tories, then you just wrote the Tories’ manifesto,” he said. He further argued there is division and mistrust with

the Labour party between leadership and MPs, and that although Labour is leading in the polls, this does not prove it is standing on something. “Labour is better than this, the electorate deserved better than being offered no substance,” he concluded. Opening the opposition, Anita Okunde, Union Director of Media, argued that Labour is standing “for the many, but not the few.” Laying out policies like an income tax increase, Okunde asked the floor to raise their hands if they believed Labour harmed the economy, which was met by no reaction from the audience. Okunde discredited the spotlight that is put on the leading figure, and argued that voting for Labour means voting for the hard-working grassroots campaigners doing the groundwork. “We are not voting for Starmer, we are voting for the principle the policy represents,” said Okunde. Robert Griffiths, Welsh Communist activist and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain spoke next for the proposi-

tion. He argued that Labour “cuddles up to big business” and “the leadership of the [Labour] Party knows exactly what it stands for, it stands for the interest of big business.” Moreover, Griffiths cited a Morningstar article which stated that 43% of the young eligible voters will not vote or considered not voting, and declared this was a “tragedy”. He urged the Oxford Union to “sit still [and] occupy the Chamber” in a message to Labour for a clearer stance. Ali Khosravi, Co-chair of the Oxford University Labour Club in Trinity Term 2023, then took the stand for the opposition and outlined the economic reality that under Conservative leadership: economic growth stagnated, debt and taxes increased, and people were left with no hope of getting their own home. He urged the floor to vote for Labour if they wanted to see more houses built in this country, better workers’ rights, and a taxation system that rewards hard work. “Whether you love it, or loathe it, life will be different from under the

Image credit: NATO conservative government,” Khosravi said. Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, British politician and Conservative MP for North East Somerset since 2010 closed the debate for the proposition. He asserted that Labour “stands for nothing” with 26 U-turns. In response to the Green investment U-turn, he said if Labour believed in the importance of fighting climate change they would find space in the budget. He echoed Adler-Williams’ earlier argument that U-turns were making Labour similar to the Tories. “Labour is sacrificing the desire for office for its principles, and this is a tragedy for Labour and the country,” concluded Rees-Mogg. Closing the debate, Joe

Moore, Political advisor of Labour MPs Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and Kate Green, Shadow Secretary of State for Education. He acknowledged the disappointing “U-turn” Labour made on the Green Investment pledge, but argued that this did not mean that Labour did not have a policy. He stressed that the policies Labour committed to were still going on. He concluded that Labour had a coherent idea of economic policy, and that Labour will be more active and involved and a government “shaping, but not being shaped.” The motion passed, with 188 members voting in favour and 70 members voting against.

Ehud Olmert visits Oxford Olly DeHerrera Deputy Editor

ormer Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, visited Oxford on 5th February to address students. His appearance was organised by Oxford Speaks in association with the Oxford Diplomatic Society. Olmert served as head of the Israeli Parliament between 2006 and 2009. Notably, he attempted ratification of a formal border agreement which would establish an independent Palestinian State, evacuating West Bank settlers whilst also annexing East Jerusalem into Israel. The plan was never accepted and Olmert soon resigned. The event was met with online disapproval, with Oxford Palestine Society issuing a public statement that “[they] condemn Olmert and the choice made by Oxford Speaks to invite him. War criminals are not welcome on campus”. They shared their view that “Olmert is a war criminal: he was threatened with arrest by the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Switzerland for violations of international law”. The Israel-Gaza war has been ongoing since early

October, following the 7th October Hamas attacks on Israel killing over 1,200 people. More than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed since and essential supplies have had limited access in Gaza. Amidst this conflict, Olmert opened his speech declaring that “[he is] not a spokesperson for the [Israeli] government” but also that “[he] didn’t come here to apologise for Israel’s reaction”. He added that “[he doesn’t] know any other country who would have tolerated the brutal massacre, the rape, the beheading [of October 7th]”. Over 250 people were taken from Israel by Hamas, and vigils have taken place in Oxford for the hostages. 112 have now been freed, though Olmert relayed that Israeli authorities are “not confident that more than half the [current] hostages are still alive.” Several protests occurred during the talk, including a reading of Oxford Palestine Society’s full statement. One protester stood up during the first part of the talk to declare: “Israel war criminals shouldn’t have any place at Oxford”. Chants of ‘Infada’ were also heard, which have been criticised as ‘anti-Semitic incitements to violence’.

Protesters present outside the event also commented on civilian casualties and Israel’s alleged use of illegal weapons during the 2006 Lebanon War. The 2006 conflict was a point of contention to several attendees, with one audience member expressing that Olmert should be arrested and tried for accusations of war crimes and sarcastically praised his bravery for coming to a country where he may theoretically be subject to such arrest. The IDF’s responsive military campaign in Gaza was also an issue at the talk, following the International Court of Justice order that Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent troops from committing genocide against Palestinians. When asked if he’d be willing to pull IDF forces out of Gaza, Olmert agreed that pulling significant forces out would be the right thing to do if it were necessary to secure the return of the hostages, stating: “the life of the hostages is the pride of victory”. Co-hosting the discussion, Oxford Speaks’ Sam Zia presented Olmert with statistics which estimated that between 70% - 90% of current conflict deaths in Gaza

Image credit: Agência Brasil have been civilian. Answering to the vast civilian casualties, Olmert stated firmly he “regrets the death of every innocent, non-involved person”, but disputed both the accuracy of the statistics of civilian death in Gaza and the technical status of the many journalists reportedly killed there. However, Olmert appeared to agree with the notion that civilian death occurring in Israel’s military campaign was seriously awry, saying “something is going wrong, it’s heartbreaking”. In his own words, he expressed “one baby that was killed by an Israeli is one too many”. Olmert was nonetheless insistent that eradicating Hamas is vital to securing longterm peace. He emphasised that Hamas was the “enemy not just of Israel, but of the Palestinian Authority, of Jor-

dan and Egypt”, and other surrounding Nations. He remained hopeful that his 2008 proposal would be of practical use in the future, and that this plan will involve collaboration with the Palestinian Authority. He acknowledged that barriers of prejudice and hurt exist on both sides of the border. In response to an audience question he further recognized that radicalisation and the reluctance to negotiate within the Occupied Territories does not operate in a vacuum, acknowledging that “53 years of occupation leaves an impact of bitterness”. In contrast to Netanyahu’s most recent statements about the future of Palestinian sovereignty, Olmert was firm in his closing remarks that “what we need is a Palestinian state alongside us… living with patience and tolerance”.

8 | Comment

Deputy Editor: Jack Arrowsmith Section Editors: Thomas Cowan, Leah Gelber, Amelia Gibbins, Johannes Riese comment@oxfordstudent.com

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

Comment

What does honest journalism look like? Jack Arrowsmith

he American comedian Groucho Marx is often attributed with the quote: “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” It’s been regularly cited to embody the tenuous relationship between those involved in politics, and their principles. Never does it seem more relevant than in relation to American political commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Idolised as a crusader who dares to speak truth to power by many on the Republican right, he’s actually exactly the kind of person Marx is referring to. In 2021 Dominion Voting Systems, a company that manufactures voting machines used in US elections, sued Fox News for defamation. Carlson and his colleagues had made numerous false statements on the network that Dominion’s voting machines had been rigged in favour of Joe Biden for the 2020 US Presidential Election. Of course Dominion’s case was rock solid, and Fox knew this. They reached a settlement with Dominion amounting to a staggering $787.5 million, in order to avoid trial. During the lawsuit, Dominion subpoenaed internal text messages and emails from many prominent figures at Fox. They revealed that Fox hosts were knowingly encouraging Trump’s lies about the outcome of the election, a figure who many of them despised. Carlson was among the worst offenders. On Trump, he said on November 5th “What he’s good at is destroying things… He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong.” On November 9th, referring to the claims about rigged Dominion machines, Carlson said: “the software s*** is absurd.” Of Trump’s presidency, he said: “We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump.”

These statements contradict pretty much everything else he has said publicly about Trump. He was a passionate supporter of the Trump agenda, and touter of the lies Dominion would call him out on. Why he would be so dishonest about Trump and the 2020 election is anyone’s guess. But you don’t have to be a cynic to see that his quote “(Trump) could easily destroy us if we play it wrong,” offers some clues. Carlson moulds his views to the audience base he is trying to appease: if they don’t like his principles, he has others. Dominion would result in Tucker parting ways with Fox and going solo. Most recently he caused a stir by interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin, to discuss the war in Ukraine and the changing global power structures. Much like his views on Trump, Carlson’s take on Putin has been malleable to say the least. In the era of the Bush administration, with neoconservatives dominating the Republican party, he was extremely hostile towards the Russian president. Now that the law of the land is isolationist Republicans who are suspicious of interventionist American foreign policy, Carlson has (since 2017) been heavily sympathetic to Putin’s position. This history meant that from the outset, the decision to interview a leader already known for manipulating narratives to suit his own agenda was met with some trepidation. Carlson framed the decision as grounded in a journalistic obligation to inform the American people about what is happening in Ukraine. In his view, Western media outlets are presenting a biassed account of the war, fawning over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a way which amounts to government propaganda. By contrast, no one is interested in hearing Russia’s side of the story. The American taxpayer is spending significant amounts of money to support the Ukrainian war effort: they have the right to know the whole truth. The pitch, then, is that Carlson

is acting in the tradition of independent, honest journalism. Of course, to present Western media outlets as uninterested in hearing from Putin is just completely false. It’s so false that it was even denied by Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin Press Secretary, who noted that in fact they receive a lot of requests for interviews with Putin. Journalists want the opportunity to make him accountable. The BBC’s Moscow Correspondent Steve Rosenberg has been behind some of those requests, including waiting to ask a question in Putin’s most recent four hour televised Q&A, to no avail. Rosenberg has in the past been praised for his bravery in asking tough, direct questions to Putin. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it has simply not been possible for Western journalists to get an interview with the President.

“The job of a journalist is not to amplify propaganda.”

Besides the initial flawed framing, Carlson could have used the interview as a genuine opportunity to hold Putin accountable. Indeed, people were only suspicious of the whole project because of the many public statements Carlson has made sympathising with Putin and presenting a flawed narrative of the Russia-Ukraine war. No doubt if any serious Western journalist was interviewing the Russian President, people would have been eager to see the results. Suffice it to say that Carlson did not take his golden opportunity with the President to seek genuine accountability. Putin steamrolled him, beginning the interview with a 30 minute lecture on the history of Russia, starting in the 9th century. He repeated many of the claims made in his 2021 essay “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” that the creation of Ukrainian identity was intended to under-

mine Russia. He sees Ukraine ultimately as an artificial creation of the USSR, when Lenin established the Soviet Republics (including Ukraine) as autonomous regions existing within the union. In reality, the Russian state has historically sought to suppress Ukrainian identity. Serhii Plokhy, a professor of Ukrainian and Eastern European history at Harvard, describes how from the 1860s, there was a more than 40 year prohibition on the publication of Ukrainian. Whilst this position moderated under the Bolsheviks, as Lenin allowed autonomy for the independently minded ethnic groups in the Soviet Union, it would continue at pace under Stalin. In 1932 during the Ukrainian famine, he moved to stop any education or publication of Ukrainian outside of the socialist republic. This was part of a broader attack on Ukrainian culture and institutions. Ukraine even fought a war of independence from 191721, establishing an independent Ukrainian republic which would ultimately be absorbed into the USSR. More than 92% of Ukrainians would vote for independence in 1991. To say that Ukraine was an artificial creation by Lenin is to completely ignore the agency of the Ukrainian people, who have long sought to preserve their own ethnic and cultural identity. Despite studying history in college (as Putin appeared all too keen to point out in the interview) Carlson did not seek to push back on any of Putin’s analysis. He simply allowed a distorted account to go completely unchallenged. It’s not as if he wouldn’t have had adequate opportunity to prepare for such claims, either: Putin’s views on this topic have been well publicised since his 2021 essay. This lack of pushback is a running theme throughout. Putin was then allowed to set out his own case to justify war in Ukraine virtually unchallenged. NATO expansion and the 2014 removal of President Yanukovych (which for him was en-

gineered by the West) are the main acts of aggression which forced Russia into action in Ukraine. I think it’s perfectly legitimate to ask whether the West’s approach to relations with Russia since 1991 has been appropriate. But all we hear in this interview is how Western aggression has caused every single problem under the sun. There is no mention of the Chechen wars, or Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia. Eastern European countries have been acting to ensure their own security against an openly aggressive Russia, which has shown a willingness to wage war on multiple fronts. Take the most recent NATO expansion, which is a strategic disaster for Russia. Finland joining has more than doubled the size of the Russia-NATO border. Sweden’s imminent membership will help bolster NATO’s position in the Baltic sea, allowing it to effectively challenge the Russian navy and offer alternative supply lines to the Baltic states if Russia closes off the Poland-Lithuania border in a war. Putin could view this as a major act of aggression, but it has been entirely in response to his own actions. Historically both countries have fiercely sought to defend their own non-alignment in Russia’s tense standoffs with the West. Prior to the Russian invasion, NATO membership polled badly in both Sweden and Finland. It was only after the destruction of Ukraine that the reality of the Russian threat crystallised. In October 2021, one poll put Finnish popular support for joining the alliance at 24%. By October 2022, it was at 78%. European countries are fearful for their own safety. They are acting to protect themselves, not as part of a wider goal to destroy Russia, but due to legitimate fears sparked by real decisions the Russian government has made. Carlson did not use the interview to present a rival account of Russian foreign policy which highlighted Russia’s aggressive acts since the 1990s. All

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

we got was a brief reference to concerns about a Russian invasion of Poland, which Putin quickly dismissed, saying that Russia would only invade if they were attacked by Poland first. This claim is surely of little comfort to the Polish, who were attacked (unprovoked) from both sides by the Nazis and Soviets during the second world war, and proceeded to live under the tyranny of Soviet puppet regimes for decades. Carlson did at least raise the issue of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who is currently wrongfully imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges. But even here, some real scrutiny was lacking. Once Putin set out that he believed Gershkovich had carried out espionage under Russian law, the matter was essentially closed. Gershkovich is the polar opposite of Carlson when it comes to his work in Russia. He was brave enough to continue telling the truth during the war, when many of his colleagues had left and others had already been arrested. So we leave the interview learning nothing new, but experiencing a whole lot of damage. The perspective Putin laid out was already public, but Carlson gave him a platform to amplify his warped worldview. The issue here is not the idea of a western journalist holding an interview with Putin. Done correctly, it would be interesting to listen to him defend his position. The problem is giving him a platform to spout his false agenda unchallenged, especially when that agenda has led to the suffering of millions of innocent people. Carlson presented this as a journalistic crusade to uncover the truth, when all he’s done is promote the lies of a dangerous authoritarian. For him to consider himself some kind of hero of his field (as his announcement of the interview seemed to suggest) is ridiculous. The real heroes are the Evan Gershkoviches and Steve Rosenbergs of this world. They are the ones who are showing the bravery to actually speak truth to power, challenging the echo chamber of Russian politics and exposing Putin’s crimes. The job of a journalist is not to amplify propaganda: it is to give a fair and balanced account of events. It is then up to the individual to make their own judgement. This was severely lacking from Carlson’s interview, and journalism is all the worse for it.

The 2024 Olympics seen from France

Gaspard Rouffin

he Paris Olympics are set to open on the 26th of July 2024, and last a little over two weeks, with the Paralympics running from August 28th to September 8th. Coming back to the French capital exactly one century after their last occurrence, these Olympics have already attracted their fair share of polemic. Accumulating controversies and complications, the Games are not off to a good start. The Olympics are certainly President Macron’s most symbolic project undertaken during his term. Announced only months after his election in 2017, the Olympics have been central to Macron’s terms, with the post of “Olympics Game Minister” being especially created for the occasion, and have fuelled widespread criticisms from his opponents and allies alike. The Games are part of Macron’s broader political project to restore France’s international prestige, with lavish state visits in Versailles, the reconstruction of Notre Dame in less than five years, an increased presence on the international stage, and many other political stratagems. Pricey Passes The Olympics Committee prided itself on making the Olympic Games accessible to all, with prices starting at 24€ (~£20). It would be fantastic if that were the case, but aspiring spectators (and myself!) got a shock when the online ticketing system opened. The first price approached 700€ (~£600) for athletics, 500€ (~£430) for swimming, 480€ (~£410) for gymnastics, fencing and judo. Not to mention the minimum price of 2,700€ (~£2,300) to attend the opening ceremony on the Seine. Especially given the current cost of living crisis and rampant inflation in France, how can anyone deem these prices “accessible”? The committee defended that there had been “millions” of

24€ tickets sold, but they were almost all for unpopular Olympic events - early stages and heats, sports with little to no following, practically inaccessible stadiums, etc. - and they sold out almost instantly. The ticketing system worked on a random draw, meaning that customers only had access to a random selection of events (including all sports, locations, and stages) with only 10-20 options to choose from, leaving many unsatisfied (including myself, I refused to pay hundreds of euros for a round of 32 of BMX hours away from my house). Social Struggle The Olympics seemed to be targeting a rich international audience, and that to the detriment of local residents. Over 2,000 rooms of student accommodation have for instance been requisitioned by the government to host workers during the Games. In France, this state-owned student accommodation is only available to students on bursaries who cannot afford private accommodation - this requisition disadvantages the most precarious. Affected students have been offered in return 100€ (~£85) and 2 first-price tickets to an Olympic event in Paris (while simultaneously being kicked out of their accommodation in the capital). Students will not have access to their accommodation for a little under 3 weeks - for information, private accommodation in Paris usually costs around 40€ (~£35) a night.

“Accumulating controversies and complications, the Games are not off to a good start.”

Local charities and organisations have expressed fear of “social cleansing” before the Olympics, with systematic removal of homeless people from

Comment | 9

Image Credit: Nicolas Michaud

public spaces and the shutting down of emergency shelters. Evictions of homeless people have skyrocketed in the past year, with increased police intervention. In the meantime, police officers have secured an exceptional bonus of over 2,900€ (~£2,500) for 16 days of work during the Olympic games, which represents a little over one month’s salary. In comparison, during Covid, health workers mobilised for several months in a row had only received €985 (~£840). Transport Turmoil Using public transport in Paris is already usually a rip-off, but the Olympic Games are only going to make it worse. Going from 1€90 (~£1.60) last year to 2€10 (~£1.80) now, a single metro ticket in central Paris, which wouldn’t even allow people to travel to the majority of sport stadiums which are located in the suburbs, will cost a whopping 4€ (~£3.40) during the games. This may not seem like much - after all these prices are fairly comparable to a Tube ticket in London or even a single bus fare in Oxford - until you realise how much visitors will have to rely on the service, and how poor that service is. The Paris metro is old (many of the trains date back to the 70s and 80s), and is a nightmare to navigate as a non-local. Even worse, the Metro doesn’t leave central Paris - to go to the suburbs, where all but one sport stadiums are located, visitors will have to take the RER - Paris’s much-hated suburban train. This service has been neglected by authorities, even though it is indispensable for its 3 million daily users. Trains are systematically cancelled or delayed, often by hours, and are consistently filled to the brim, operating dangerously over capacity, leading to queues sometimes extending outside the platform and station and onto the street, with passengers having to wait hours to access their commute. The infrastructure can barely

cope with every-day travel, how will it survive tens of thousands of tourists all going to the same sporting event?

“What was meant to be a moment of cohesion has become a symptom of class conflict...”

Closing Considerations The Olympics are facing increasing criticism and controversies, and the ones listed above only scratch the surface. An average hotel or AirBnb night in Paris during the period will set you back on average 1,033€ (~£880). The opening ceremony, happening on the river Seine, will have all the free viewpoints on bridges completely blocked off without paid entry. The Games cost upwards of 8 billion euros (7 billion pounds), largely funded by private companies with ties to Russia, Qatar, the fossil fuel industry, and many others. The Paralympic games, boasting their inclusivity, are taking place in a city where accessibility can be described at best as mediocre: out of 309 metro stations, only 21 are accessible. The Paralympics, usually taking place 1-2 weeks after the Olympics, will be held in Paris over one month later, making it virtually impossible for international visitors to attend both events. The 2024 Olympics were a good idea for France, and very welcome by the French public, but their implementation is certainly one of the worst in modern Olympic history. It is at best doubtful that infrastructure will be ready in time, and the Games will certainly happen in deteriorated conditions. What was meant to be a moment of cohesion for a country and the world have become a symptom of class conflict and what is now called in France “the Games of the Rich” (“Les Jeux des Riches”).

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

10 | Comment

The problem with grammar schools Daisy Outram

here is an unspoken truth at this university that the so-called “Oxford experience” is shaped by accessibility. In my time here, I have asked myself what this means for the strange “in between” that grammar schools occupy. The educational background sits uncomfortably between state comprehensive and private education, questioning what camp a free yet selective school fits into, within a model so steeped with socioeconomic inequality. In 2022, 68.1% of Oxford admissions came from state schools, but no line is drawn to understand the figures of selective and non-selective students. At eleven years old, I can’t say much of this thinking went into applying to the grammar school I attended. When I reflect on the experience now, however, I believe that it gave me a first hand view of how the system is failing both society and its own students. Selective education has been a feature in the British education system for centuries, but modern grammar schools can be drawn back to the Education Act of 1944. This aimed to reduce inequality in postwar secondary education by making it free, but at the same time created a two-tier system. Grammar schools were to focus on academic studies, while secondary modern schools encouraged children to enter into trades. Such an archaic idea of “potential” led to much criticism of the system. As levied by Labour politicians in the 1950s and 60s, it led to grammar schools being phased out in large parts of the country. Some became comprehensive, while others became fee-paying, explaining why many private schools have “grammar” in the name. Only 35 local authorities still retain the institutions, and a mere 5.3% of the total num-

ber of state-funded secondary pupils attended them in 2022. So why does the debate on their existence rage on in such a minority? There is already a prohibition against new grammar schools, meaning only those that used selective admissions since the 1997/98 school year may continue to do so. However, this was drawn into contention when my fellow grammar school and St Hugh’s alumnus Theresa May announced plans to withdraw the restriction in 2016 “to create more good school places”.

“...it would be wrong to ignore the inequality they promote, (but) even within their own parameters the model is a failure.”

This followed a controversial moment in 2015 where ministers allowed a grammar school to set up a new “annexe” in another town, pushing the limits of what could really be a “genuine expansion”. Upon questioning, education secretary Nicky Morgan held she did not “want to fight the battles of selective and non-selective” and this was its own peculiar set of circumstances. Many supporters and opponents of grammar schools saw through this though, and the debate returned. The shadow education secretary Lucy Powell condemned grammar schools, stating that “[they] do not increase equality of opportunity, they make it worse”. She highlighted the problematic admissions tests as “the preserve of the privately tutored”, believing that grammar school’s claim of social mobility was fatally flawed. The allocation of places at grammar schools is based on an examination taken by children in the last year of primary

school, known as the “11 plus”. Year six pupils have to tackle a test that claims to assess “natural ability”, which is thus forced to be questions alien to their education so far. Its distinct assessment of numerical, verbal, and non-verbal reasoning attracts the attention of the private tutoring business and allows more affluent parents to effectively “cheat the system”. The Social Research Institute at UCL found that candidates whose families are ranked in the top 10% socioeconomic status were 50% more likely to gain entry into a grammar school, suggesting tutoring among other factors were superseding any true social mobility. In my own exam year, there was significant effort to make the model “tutor-proof”, yet I was one of only three pupils in top set maths that was not receiving this tutoring. I was faced with concepts I had never encountered before in the test, and questioned how some lucky guesswork on my part showed any real academic ability. Without looking at existing academic achievements to assess both the talent and commitment of a student, how can the model understand if a student would suit a grammar school? Both the dominance of private tutoring and the rejection of any familiarity make the test a futile attempt at finding the ever vague idea of “potential”. Selection processes are certainly not the only issue faced by the education system in this country. Location is a prominent problem for equal access to quality education. University research found that admissions dependent on distance between home and school can effectively amount to a “size of your mortgage” entrance requirement. Problems of regional division also need an answer, to which some respond with grammar schools allowing so-called “gifted” children to expand their options

regardless of where they live. However, across grammar schools in England there are additional admissions criteria to select students among the successful 11 plus candidates, including “catchment area” requirements. What sets grammar schools apart is still the first step of testing, but the general features of inaccessibility remain. Beyond the problematic access to grammar schools, once a student joins is their attainment significantly better than at state comprehensive? The Attainment 8 measure totals students on eight government approved subjects at GCSE before averaging for the school. In 2022, grammar schools received 74.1 under this analysis. In contrast, state-funded secondary schools achieved 44.2 in highly selective areas and 48.9 in non-highly selective areas, referring to how significant the presence of selective education is in those areas. From such statistics it would appear grammar schools achieve what they set out to do: selective social mobility by promoting high academic standards. However, the truth in these figures is that prior attainment is the driving factor. Measuring those with high prior attainment makes the scores 77 for grammar schools, and for non-selective schools 62.6 in highly selective areas and 68.4 in other areas. This would make grammar schools a channel for students with existing talent and privileged backgrounds rather than a significant tool for social mobility and development. On average, their pupils only achieve a third of a grade higher across eight GCSE subjects than their comprehensive counterparts. Though it would be wrong to ignore the inequality they promote, even within their own parameters the model is a failure. The problems, however, don’t

Image credit: AP Monblat

end at academic attainment, but rather at the opportunities that follow. Professor Lindsey Macmillan at UCL has expressed from evidence that students in areas with a strong grammar school presence have their opportunities intensely impacted by school choice. She held that state comprehensive students are “less likely to go to university” and “less likely to earn as much as adults”, disadvantaging swathes of students from less privileged backgrounds. From my own anecdotal evidence, I know I would likely not be at this university if I had not passed the 11 plus to go to my school. My home town’s options were largely selective grammar or faith schools. The key fully non-selective academy only offers the IB Career-related Programme at Sixth Form, which Oxford does not accept in its admissions process. It seems that the backwardness of the academic versus trade-based education division of the 1944 Education Act somehow persists in the 21st century.

“The inaccessibility of grammar schools means they can never be a true tool for social mobility.”

I admit that my life will forever be shaped by my ability to guess some maths questions I didn’t understand at age eleven, but does that not show the deep flaws of the grammar school model? Its supporters should understand that the inaccessibility of grammar schools means they can never be a true tool for social mobility, but at the same time the 11 plus’ futility and the absence of a significant attainment gap undermines the system from within.

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of the week

In conversation with Sir Geoffrey Nice KC

Daisy Outram

efore he embarked on his argument in proposition of the motion “This House has no confidence in the United Nations” at the Oxford Union, I sat down with Sir Geoffrey Nice KC to learn about his work as a barrister and part-time judge. We discussed his career on the international legal stage, modern challenges to rule of law, and what the future holds for the next generation of lawyers. Nice was educated in Oxford, reading PPE at Keble College, before becoming a barrister in 1971. Following over twenty years at the Bar, he joined the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In 2001, he led the prosecution of Slobodan Milošević, the first time a head of state was indicted for war crimes. More recently, Nice has chaired the China and Uyghur tribunals. The China tribunal investigated forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, while the Uyghur tribunal was called in 2020 to examine if human rights abuses against the Uyghur people in China constituted a genocide. Nice said at the time that this was necessary as there was “no other way of bringing the leadership of the [Chinese]

Communist Party collectively or individually to judgement”. The tribunal concluded that the People’s Republic of China had committed a genocide under Article Two of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Marking his commitment to human rights, Nice was knighted in 2007 for services to International Criminal Justice. On the triumphant side of Thursday’s debate, he highlighted problems of inaction in the face of human rights crises, stating that the UN “fails in its core policies”, and that these failures “put us all at risk”. You’re at the Oxford Union, a debating society where students discuss salient global issues and discover passions for certain careers. What sparked your interest and inspired you to pursue Law? Like so many people, it was a bit by mistake or by chance. I read something else when I was here, and then studied for the bar part-time because it seemed like a reasonably natural thing for my skills. I also saw a lot of people here reading Law, so I could see it was a career. It’s an imperfect answer, but by chance I got started at the Bar and found I quite enjoyed it. If you had to give some advice to any aspiring lawyers

Image Credit: Jamesfranklingresham

on how to enter the field, what would it be? My life was all chance. These days it’s so difficult for new lawyers as they all have to complete short one or twoweek work experiences, either mini-pupillages or placements. I think that’s really good as it makes the student think. The best thing for the student to do if he thinks he wants to do criminal law is to go and do a criminal law placement, but also do something completely different. If you think you want to do one thing, go for another. You might think something like wet shipping law is ultimately boring, but you go off and do a week there and find it exciting. It’s much better early on to do all this stuff, as much of it as you can, in order to make sure that your direction is better set.

“...the advice I often give to law students is that you could spend your life in so many different ways.”

You chaired the China and Uyghur tribunals, so what made you want to be a part of these independent “people’s tribunals” to examine human rights abuses when the outcome could not be legally binding? That’s a very interesting question, and I find the answer I have to give is quite useful. I started off being asked to be involved in the tribunal and I was really sceptical; I didn’t think much of it. Rather grudgingly I went and watched the first bit, then became a little bit involved in it and called some witnesses in the Iran tribunal*. It was very well-organised by people with proper regard for the standards there. At the end of the first conclusion, I realised that delivering a judgement, as the judges in that tribunal did, was so important for the diaspora who were so distressed. It was a more emotional experience for me as well than anything I’d done before. That tribunal’s

work was used in 2019 when one of the people named as a criminal was unwise enough to touch down in Sweden*. Universal jurisdiction grabbed him and he’s now serving life in prison. The same tribunal named the current president as a war criminal, so of course he can’t travel. So there were two things: the advantages to the interested people and practical advantages. I went through one other tribunal that was less satisfactory but from which I learnt a great deal, then decided a great deal can be achieved by these processes if they were done in the right way. For the Uyghur and the China tribunals, I was determined for them to be composed of non-specialists, non-lawyers, non-do gooders, nothing - just people of integrity, a bit like a jury, then apply rigorous standards of process and proof. They have actually both been quite effective. Statutes that have been changed in the United States of America following the China tribunal on changing practices in medicine dealing with transplant practices. The other generally advanced the cause of the Uyghurs. The best thing about it really is that I started from a position of doubt. In the news at the moment is the ICJ ruling on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, so what do you think this ruling will mean for the conflict? There are so many potential outcomes. First of all, it could reduce the number of unlawful killings of Palestinians. The second following from that is Israel’s reaction one way or another is likely to affect the sympathy that seems to be with the Palestinians at the moment, but could switch back if Israel says they must abide by this. The third consequence is that whatever Israel does, countries which have influence over Israel such as America and the UK may increase the pressure they put on Israel to change the way they conduct warfare. The bigger picture is a much much greater prize though, as

the Convention requires countries on recognition of genocide to act immediately to prevent, and in 70 years no countries have done that except the Gambia in respect to Myanmar and South Africa in respect to Israel. Those two countries from the global south have shown the rest of the world what for 70 years they should have done, and if they’d done it the consequences of genocide or odds of genocide occurring might have been reduced. It’s a decision where if it isn’t buried in the news cycle or by countries that have an interest in burying it, its potential significance could be big. Looking forwards, how do your experiences in law encourage you as to the future of the career, and what would you want to see in the future generations of lawyers? The advice I often give to law students is that you could spend your life in so many different ways. You could be a fancy lawyer in the city, earn millions, have yachts, houses, and cars; or you could do public international law and decide on the law of the sea. You could go off to one of the international tribunals to try genocide, although it will take ten years and the judges will be at each other’s throats; or you could do criminal law and not get paid very well; or you could go off and be a suburban high street lawyer doing wills, traffic offences, and conveyances. At the end of your life when you look back, you may find that the lawyer on the suburban high street will have a list of more people who were more grateful for appearing at stressful times in their lives. They may in a way do more good than a useless genocide conviction or acquittal, which means nothing to anyone and deters no one. At the end of your life, the number of yachts you had doesn’t much matter, the number of people you’ve helped does. Full interview available at oxfordstudent.com

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

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Dropping out of Oxford: Revisited “What were the experiences of those few who do choose to leave, and why do dissatisfied students decide to stay?

Cora Alina Blau

en years ago, The Oxford Student reported on students leaving the University of Oxford and found that, despite a few success stories, many left because of mental health issues. More recently, Cherwell wrote on the issue of rustication, a term referring to a temporary leave of absence, showing that despite around 50 percent of students considering rustication, only four percent actually do so—mostly because they were afraid of social isolation and stigmatization. Departing from Oxford, and the broader issue of student dissatisfaction, remain taboo, and it was understandably difficult to find students willing to speak on this topic. In the following, a former BA Law student who chose to leave and a current MA student in the Department of Politics and International Relations who decided to remain share their thoughts. This is an anecdotal approach to the topic, adding to the landscape of voices on the value and price of an Oxford degree. Student satisfaction and academic rigour can go hand in hand. The University of St. Andrews was ranked as the top institution in the UK for two consecutive years by The Guardian, with the highest overall ‘positivity measure’, in 2023. In contrast, the University of Oxford ranked in 51st position. However, despite this disparity, Oxford boasts one of the lowest drop-out rates in the UK, with only 0.9 percent of students choosing to leave. This begs the question: what were the experiences of those few who do choose to leave, and why do dissatisfied students decide to stay? A starting point is to examine why students decide to

come to Oxford in the first place. Both of our interviewees stated it was Oxford’s standing as “one of the best international universities” and its “high selectivity” that motivated their applications. Oxford’s prestige attracts competitive students, but the essence of this prestige – its ranking, history, societies, notable alumni, and so on remains elusive. It is perhaps the unexplainable that makes Oxford unique, often simply described as “different” by those who have experienced it firsthand, without further explanation; others perceived as too much of an outsider to be let in to this secret.

“Oxford boasts one of the lowest drop-out rates in the UK, with only 0.9 percent of students choosing to leave.”

However, once students arrive and experience Oxford themselves, it is often not what they expected. Our law student described Oxford as “incredibly rigid— you can’t easily change your major, and you can’t even choose many subjects. I want to learn about a range of things and figure out what I’m actually passionate about, not just be pigeonholed into one subject.” This early specialization is a unique aspect of the British educational system. In contrast, the American fouryear college system offers much more flexibility. Our politics student stated: “I am dissatisfied with the student experience even though I was warned by mentors and alumni. It’s much worse than I could have ever

imagined – the University lacks diversity in all imaginable realms. This does not only influence the variety of perspectives shared in classroom discussions, but also the spirit of societies and social events. There are barely free social events often harnessed by a persistent elitism.” When asked what they would change about the University, they pointed to the financial aid system, arguing that “the best university in the world should enable the brightest students to attend, not just the brightest of those who can afford it.” Oxford states on its website that their ambition is “to ensure that no one with outstanding academic potential is deterred from studying here because of their background, personal circumstances, or finances.” However, many international students in Master’s or DPhil programmes who spoke with us received no financial assistance from the University. Instead, the University relies on students being able to secure scholarships from external sources or fund their studies independently, with the latter being heavily influenced by socioeconomic status. One applicant had to decline their offer as they could neither afford it independently nor defer. Deferring is only an option once the Financial Declaration is met, which requires proof of sufficient funding for one year, covering both living expenses and tuition fees.

“... once students arrive and experience Oxford themselves, it is often not what they expected.”

These experiences may shed light as to why some students opt to drop out while others stay. The law student told us: “From term one, I knew I didn’t want to study law. Everyone around me told me to stick it out. ‘It’s just three years.’ I wish I dropped out earlier. It took me too long to get the conviction to do it.” They preferred gaining practical experience and “learn best by doing”. Staying in university is often viewed as a “safer bet”, usually supported by parents and peers, and there is a strong social norm to go to (and stay in) university. This aligns with Cherwell’s findings: taking a leave of absence, let alone leaving university altogether, is still stigmatized. While “degrees are a signal for employers for general aptitude”, deciding against one can also show determination and independent thinking, with the former lawyer confirming the found “dropping out a stronger signal than staying [unhappily] in uni”. The politics student does not consider dropping out an option, believing it “too late” at this stage to leave. They stated: “I simply need a master’s degree to proceed with my career, and that’s what I am here for. I wish I had had more confidence to decline my spot at the University of Oxford in favour of another university.” However, they were unsure to what extent the “Oxford” label, a crucial part of attracting students in the first place, will be helpful in their further career. They conclude: “Since many people around the world are familiar with the University, I would say the Oxford label helps to attract attention – for better or worse.” Peer and parental pressure, the academic climate in Oxford, and society’s emphasis on a degree all contribute to maintaining low dropout rates.

”

But for some, dropping out is a preferable course of action, requiring more conviction and consideration than the decision to attend Oxford. It’s unlikely anyone had to justify to their parents, or themselves, why they wanted to go to Oxford.

“...deciding against (a degree) can also show determination and independent thinking...”

Nevertheless, a low ranking in “overall positivity”, a significant number of students contemplating departure, and stories of students persisting for pragmatic reasons all raise the question: “Why Oxford?”. And it’s a question which should not be brushed aside easily with reference to the University’s reputation. The politics student advises others who plan to apply to Oxford, or have already commenced their studies, to be critical and “consider whether this is what you are looking for.” Many students will have a clear understanding of what they hope to achieve here. But if it doesn’t work out, do not feel you have to suffer in silence.

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14 | Identity

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

Deputy Editor: Sami Jalil Section Editors: Georgia Ferris, Nina Naidu identity@oxfordstudent.com

Why I fired my therapist Nina Naidu

oday, I fired my therapist. After a mere two sessions and a lot of overthinking, I decided that it was in my best interests to terminate our contract but I couldn’t really articulate why. For many years, I’d been passed around from person to person in the NHS, all of whom ultimately rejected me due to me having BPD. I was told that I had “complex needs” that most therapists weren’t willing to deal with or had little training in, forcing me to usually lie and say I’d only had issues with anxiety and depression. I’d never had a real therapist before, other than the counselling I’d received with the Oxford Counselling Service, and while they have continued to be absolutely amazing for me, I’d struggled to find more frequent sessions whilst in Italy for legal reasons. I still occasionally see my regular university counsellor while being abroad but it’s difficult only being able to talk to him once a month, meaning that my sessions are always jampacked with fragments of issues or I miss things out because I can’t remember everything.

“...a therapist is like finding a good relationship...”

In January, I decided that I wanted to take more control over my mental health. Waiting lists on the NHS meant that it was almost impossible to find a therapist without waiting potentially years, and I had very little support as I was not based in the UK. Of course, not being able to call the GP or access mental health services as I usually would in the UK took a big toll on my mental health, leaving me to feel isolated and directionless. Although it was far from ideal, I eventually settled on finding private therapy since my options were so limited. I spent hours in a cafe, scrolling through the UK counselling directory, only to find that they were mostly completely out of my budget or that they too were unequipped to deal with my issues. Why was it so difficult to find someone who could help me?

Eventually, I stumbled upon a counsellor who took concessions and had dealt with BPD before. Focusing on a humanistic personcentred approach, this counsellor emphasised the importance of the client being able to understand themselves. The fact that they had worked with people who have BPD was reassuring, as they understood the stigmas that BPD often face. I felt seen in my initial consultation with my counsellor, who comforted me that I was able to get what I wanted out of counselling with them. I swiftly booked a proper session with them and was eager to get started. My first session was pretty uneventful. I talked a lot about my past, how I feel that my family has shaped who I am today, and general issues that I’d been facing recently. Talking about my background often feels like recounting a story mindlessly, as I was used to mental health assessments where I often regurgitated the same information to the point of it almost feeling like a fairytale. My counsellor brought up a few points regarding my family, but it was mainly me talking for the bulk of the hour. It all seemed to be fine, so why did I quit? I had to go with my gut after my second session. Much like the first session, I’d spent most of it rambling about ten different topics without interruption. Silence tends to scare me, so when nobody was talking for more than five seconds, I’d interject with yet another topic that I wanted to explore, but I felt as though I was just talking to the wall. I was used to my university counsellor asking me questions about my issues, asking me to consider why I was feeling a certain way and to expand on it, but with this counsellor it was very much the opposite. After talking for almost half an hour, I was met with slightly helpful yet painfully generic comments, like going out for a walk or journaling my ideas. While it is not to say that I haven’t tried these ideas already, I felt mostly frustrated because I wanted to go more in-depth about my emotions, and found it really unhelpful that I was told to “wait and see if I process” my issues. At first, I thought that I’d been overthinking, and maybe this is what therapy is supposed to be, and I’d read many stories online about

Identity

people sticking it out for months or even years before deciding if it was successful. Not only am I impatient, but my gut was yelling at me, informing me that for whatever reason, this just wasn’t working out. Since I was paying for counselling, I felt the anxiety wash over me that I didn’t want to keep paying for something that was making me feel so uneasy. I wanted a therapist who pokes and prods at me, challenging me to explore my thoughts and emotions in a more insightful way. I imagine that person-centred style therapy works for many, but I acknowledge that this wasn’t necessarily working for me. I just didn’t feel understood, and surely that is reason enough for me to stop.

“...passed around from person to person in the NHS...”

Maybe I went wrong in jumping straight to the first counsellor who emailed me back. I’d messaged many, some of whom were psychologists, others counsellors, all with varying prices and specialities. I had no guidance on how to find someone suitable for me, and was never told that it often requires a lot of shopping around before you find your match. And then there was the idea of having to email my counsellor, saying that I wanted to stop my sessions. How daunting! I didn’t know how to approach writing such an email. While I felt awkward about hurting their feelings, I realised that part of my mental health journey was to embrace things that work for me and to not feel guilty about letting go of things that don’t. I’ve only just sent the email and I am unsure as to how they’ll reply, but at least it’s done now. Although I am dreading having to restart the process of finding a therapist and am even considering waiting it out until I return to the UK, at least I feel less anxious that I made my boundaries and decided to let this counsellor go. I’ve come to find that a therapist is like finding a good relationship, and there is no reason to have to stay in something that doesn’t serve you when there’s probably a better match somewhere out there.

Tunneler

Image Credit: Mitch

Benji Chowdhury

Big, black, bloodthirsty beast It had no name but it brought me shame We played its game and I went insane Crying “Tell me your name. Tell me your name!” “Tell me your name before I truly go insane!”

But the sound of my voice was lost in empty space Drowned in the sound of the world’s fast pace Footsteps echoing and voices belting My own voice crying “God, please end this” My feet moving out of my control One step, two steps, three and four So much so that I can’t count anymore Did I say four? Where goes five? In my mind, these numbers thrive The tears flow and they refuse to stop One drip, two drips, a drip and a drop Like ink Dispersing through water

Leaving its stain no matter what it says No matter how it pleads or how it begs Engulfing each particle with its bitter taste An impurity I have no choice but to face An impurity that will crush my little fort of eroding stone Even if I lock the doors and barricade the windows It will always find a way in Seeping through the cracks it worked so hard to create Hellbent on being the reason I truly break Dragging me back into the darkness And aiming my eyes at the light ahead Basking in the fact that I don’t fight back Giving me hope Just to remind me that a light only lasts so long Until it runs out of fuel and returns to being a hungry darkness It ensures that I’m broken down to something so small

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

Pink | 15

Pink

Deputy Editor: Etienne Baker Section Editors: Elsie Haldane, Jacob Newby pink@oxfordstudent.com

Exploring the queer politics of Eurovision Jacob Newby

urovision has always held a special place in my heart. Every year, we are treated to the campest performances from across the continent (and Australia, for some reason). Last year alone featured daring sets from a Finnish man in a spiked choker and green jacket covering only his arms singing an annoyingly catchy techno ‘Cha Cha Cha’, to two Austrian women singing about being possessed by American writer Edgar Allen Poe. Typically, we see the most untypical, and most queer, songs do the best at the competition. But aside from the bright costumes and synth beats, Eurovision is a staple of queer culture and quietly involved in its politics. Eurovision has not always been as openly queer as it is today. For most of its history since its founding in 1956, gay symbols and acts were heavily discouraged or in some cases outright censored, reflecting the deeply homophobic and transphobic mood of the time.

Queerness, like in real-life, had to be hidden and alluded to, but was always present subtly. Luxembourg’s winning entry in 1961 was about a same-sex couple that couldn’t be together, though kept quiet through the use of neutral language. Jean-Claude Pascal, the performer, sang about when “the time will come when I will be able to love you without anyone talking about it” – a heart breaking reality for so many queer people then and today.

“Eurovision is a staple of queer culture and is quietly involved in politics.”

Russia’s entry in 2003, t.A.T.u, danced the line between acceptability and censorship, embracing their image as a young lesbian couple, despite their queerness being a marketing strategy. They were told that if they dared kiss on stage their backup performance would be used and they wouldn’t be

able to perform. This was only the beginning for (albeit performative) queerness on stage. Later years saw, despite Eurovision’s rules on remaining apolitical, kisses among two men, two women, even a camply depicted lesbian wedding in 2007 from Serbia. It is from this point that the messages for gay and trans liberation became more open, and more politically charged. Russia, in 2014, banned “gay propaganda” to “protect children”. That year, Austria sent the now-famous bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst to the Eurovision song contest, which she won as the first openly gay man. Conchita sung a song of defiance, banding together against oppression, while the Russian entry was booed by the crowd. Eurovision had become not just a celebration of different cultures and peoples, but a platform for advocating for equality, tolerance and acceptance – especially for the queer community, who through these daring performances, had now adopted Eurovision as a place for them.

What is the gender expression fund?

Etienne Baker

TW: Suicide, Transphobia

GBTQ+ students’ mental health and wellbeing is consistently among the lowest levels of all university students, and this experience is heightened for the transgender community. The Stonewall ‘Trans Report’ revealed that more than a third of trans university students (36 per cent) in higher education have experienced negative comments or behaviour from staff in the last year. This sits in the context of recent political rhetoric, which has seen a steady increase in transphobia, from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s comments that “a man is a man, and a woman is a woman”, to his recent jabs at Keir Starmer over transgender

policy in the House of Commons. It is subsequently increasingly difficult to experience university as a young transgender or gender diverse student. Mental health rates among LGBTQ+ students are low, with half of LGBTIQ+ people reporting to have experienced depression, whilst for transgender students, around half had considered taking their own life. Issues such as unsupportive households, gender dysphoria, and barriers to accessing healthcare all contribute to a lack of support for transgender students. An investigation by The Oxford Student into whether Oxford was a welcoming place for transgender students highlighted that one of the main routes for support is through JCRs and MCRs. An SU LGBTQ+ campaign report on transgender issues,

released in 2018, highlighted that 43% of students said that their first port of call for welfare was JCR representatives in a 2016 Welfare Report.

“...extra expenses can be a signifcant barrier to accessing the things needed to ease gender dysphoria...” What support do JCRs offer, then? A significant welfare support that is available is the gender expression fund. This is a pot of money, provided by most JCRs, which can be accessed by trans and non-binary students in order to fund aspects of social transitioning. Balliol College’s website, which calls it a “gender expression fund grant”, outlines that it is available to “support students with the cost of items that help them feel comfortable with their gender presentation.” The fund, which is available

Image Credit: Thomas Hanses (EBU), Guy Levy

“...queer people are visible, proud and must be accepted.” Today, queerness is not the exception for Eurovision, but the norm. Queer politics have always, in some way, been involved in Eurovision, especially with its central message of acceptance and peace. While now queerness is accepted at most colleges, can cover the cost of a number of things, including but not limited to: the purchasing of binders, packers, wigs, makeup, or for services such as a haircut. Items such as these can be surprisingly expensive - a singular binder can cost around £40, and it’s incredibly important that clothing such as binders is done safely, with good quality products. For students from lower income backgrounds, or more generally, extra expenses can be a significant barrier to accessing the things needed to ease gender dysphoria, which in turn helps improve LGBTQ+ students’ mental health. To access the funds, normally JCRs will have either links to a compensation form, or an application process. Some colleges also have processes of anonymised submissions, meaning that students do not need to be out to access this support. If you can’t find information on it on either your JCR website or information hub, normally speaking

on the Eurovision stage, we mustn’t forget the real struggle across Europe and the world for true acceptance. This year the UK are sending queer artist Olly Alexander to the finals in Sweden, and while hoping that he can give the UK a long-awaited Eurovision victory, I hope that his and every other queer performance, especially in light of today’s increasing tirade against trans people, will show that queer people are visible, proud, and must be accepted.

to the JCR LGBTQ+ can signpost you as to how to access this compensation. Oxford LGBTQ+ Society (OULGBTQ+) also has a universitywide fund, which is available to those whose “welfare would be benefited by the purchase of gender-affirming items, but would otherwise be unable to afford them”, according to their website. They recommend trying to access college services before consulting this, and up to £50 can be claimed. Support such as the gender expression fund is vital for students struggling with gender dysphoria, and the mental health impact that comes with this. It is also becoming increasingly popular amongst other universities as well, with the University of Manchester having a dedicated website outlining the fund. Hopefully, support such as this will be widely available to all transgender students in the near future, and universities continue to expand the support given to LGBTQ+ students.

16 | Columns

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

snmuloC

Dolce Diaries Demanding a white mocha Nina Naidu o be honest, personal news in Italy has been very slow recently. In the midst of January exams, I have been both blessed and cursed to have absolutely nothing to do while I watch everybody around me slave away to get those top marks. I’ve witnessed some friends fail, others passing but unsatisfied with their grades to the point of retaking their exams. As I was told (prior to my arrival) that it was not necessary for me to do exams, nor was it even a requirement to go to lectures if I didn’t want to, I’ve essentially just been observing university life without truly experiencing it. As a result, I’ve been trying to occupy my life through other means. With no essays or assignments, I decided that this will be the time I properly start improving my Italian. I have never had many chances to speak Italian, save for cappuccinos

at cafes or asking for directions. Recently, however, I have gotten more used to speaking Italian. Not only have I tried to actually revise grammatical concepts (which I’d been putting off for months), but I’ve gone out into the real world and tried to fight to keep talking in Italian. When people reply in English, I push back and continue in Italian in the hopes that even if they are talking to me in English, the mere fact that they answer must mean that they understand me.

“It’s white chocolate syrup over a white chocolate mocha, how would it not taste good?”

In the past week, I’ve had a few strange encounters with Italians, consisting of quite a

bit of arguing. Just last weekend, I went to Milan with a friend, where we stumbled across the famous Starbucks Reserve Roastery. Since it was a special occasion, I made the decision to splash out on said Starbucks coffee, going for a white mocha with white chocolate on top. The price was extortionate but I sucked it up and watched my €7 fly out of my phone. I asked for white chocolate syrup on top (which was an extra 50 cents) and was met with utter disgust by the barista who staunchly told me “no”. Upon asking why – naively thinking that they had run out of syrup – he informed me that it was not going to taste good and therefore he was refusing to serve it to me. I thought, what? It’s white chocolate syrup over a white chocolate mocha, how would it not taste good? I was thoroughly confused. I said that I preferred it better this way, and that I wanted to enjoy my white mocha

the way I paid for it but he simply wasn’t having any of it. At a normal cafe in Italy, I would understand that the very existence of white mocha is sacrilegious, but considering how un-Italian Starbucks was, I thought it was quite a weak argument from the barista. In huffs and puffs of Italian, I’d managed to stand up for myself. After minutes of back and forth, he reluctantly agreed with passive aggression, saying that secondo me (personally) he wouldn’t put syrup on a drink like that. I dismissed his words and paid for my drink, reminding myself that this simply wasn’t worth arguing over. When my white mocha finally arrived, I was both mortified and amused to see that the barista had poured my syrup into a separate cup, as if to tell me that I was going to regret it. Of course, I enjoyed it very much, and found it irritating how much energy it took for me to articulate my points. Defending yourself

Working Hard or Hardly Working? A Northerner’s survival guide to the South

Matt Taylor

eing northern is still a rare thing at Oxford. According to the university website, only 27% of students originate from those regions. Although numbers have increased from 15% ten years ago, we’re still vastly underrepresented. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is the expectation on us to adjust ourselves to fit in the southern drawl of the place. In case you haven’t twigged, I am a Northerner. I was prepared for many culture shocks when I arrived, but I seriously thought the regional kind was just a bit of arcane click-bait. Still, when you arrive, our way of life will be seen as a ‘you’ problem and that we must con-

form. I say no. But the best thing to do is come prepared so when you finish at Oxford, you won’t have your northern credentials beaten out of you. So here is a short list to prepare you. When’s dinner? The most infuriating thing about being down south is how late everyone eats here. Lunch is not at 12pm, and dinner is not between 5-6pm. We’ll save the debate about whether it’s called dinner or tea, but one thing it’s not is supper. Prepare to be starved until tea is served at 7:30pm.

Brollies at the ready The easiest way to find a fellow northerner down here is to look for people with coats with attached hoods.

Down here, people don’t use hoods. They use umbrellas – a luxury of the slightly warmer climate and lack of harsh winds.

Don’t argue about the ‘r’ This is an obvious one, but still, the scars are there. So be prepared. The first time I came to Oxford and mentioned the word path, everyone stared in bafflement and asked me to repeat it. I knew they had paths here; I’d seen the signs. Once, I literally spelt it out for them. Of course, I was the stupid one for not recognising the ‘r’ that wasn’t there. Don’t bother arguing; you’ll never win.

Tea Things that you always thought were a given are no

longer. Back home, there are only two brands of tea. Tetley is for those who don’t care, and Yorkshire is for those who do. If you buy any other brand, you will be crushed by a bombardment of judgement. Down here, you can still have the best, but they will insist on downgrading you with a tonne of other brands. They will also ask you if you want milk. We know there is no other way to have tea but be prepared.

“The most infuriating thing about being down south is how late everyone eats here.”

is difficult enough in your mother tongue, but it was an entirely new experience having to argue (about coffee of all things) without truly having all the words to encapsulate my feelings.

“...the barista had poured my syrup into a separate cup, as if to tell me that I was going to regret it.”

Despite it being such a benign topic, I was proud of myself for being able to use my words to stick up for myself. I’ve since had to defend myself a few times, especially when dealing with hostile shop clerks, and perhaps part of integrating into Italian culture is having to learn how to argue. Luckily for me, it seems I’ll get plenty of practice in.

I don’t want to be a Southerner; they don’t like gravy (on chips) Up north, it’s a classic. A ladle full of gravy over a freshly fried batch of potatoes is tantalising. But down here, it’s a move too bold. Gravy is reserved for your KFC or your roast dinner. If you want to send contorting cringes down their spines, add some cheese to the order, too. We’re open, friendly, polite, unjudgmental people. We like to fit in, not make a fuss, and have a good time. As we multiply and continue our march through this university, we must not forget who we are and what makes us great. We need to stop thinking we’re the problem. It’s the Southerners who need to learn to be open and accept that other people may have a better way of doing things.

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

Columns | 17

Columns Chaos in Kyrgyzstan

An earth-shaking welcome

Jonah Poulard

e’re back. On today’s order of service is an expedition to watch some Kok-Boru, Kyrgyzstan’s national sport. Called other things like buzkashi and kupkari elsewhere, Kok-Boru is the Kyrgyz variation of the general Central Asian equestrian discipline that sees men on horses fight over a goat carcass. Terrifying to a steed-less western audience, but very much in the blood out here, a stay in Kyrgyzstan would be remiss without experiencing it. A friend had kindly relayed me some hot intel about a scrimmage on a Saturday afternoon, and so, off I went. The site of the Kok-Boru was a small village nearby Bishkek’s airport, called Dachi Su. There wasn’t a whole lot there really, just a few boarded up shops, impossible to tell whether open or not, fields stretching out into the interminable steppe on one side, and a small housing grid on the other. It was still rather pleasant though, despite the town’s close proximity to the city, it was far enough removed to impart a nice rural feel. The fact that it was situated under the airport’s flight path slightly diminished this effect, but the views over the pancakeflat steppe, dusted in snow, towards distant mountain ridges, shimmering through a haze, the make-up of which I daren’t question, more than made up for it. Upon arrival to lovely Dachi

Su, we were however confronted with the grave problem of having no idea where the game actually was. A quick survey of the locals hanging around yielded a different answer every time, usually a vague gesticulation in a vague direction in return for a cigarette. Eventually, a man on a horse gave a more definitive answer, unsurprisingly because he was also heading there himself. It turned out that the imprecise black mass we had seen on the horizon was in fact a crowd of horses, and not some, I dunno, farming stuff as we had initially thought. One would imagine that the outline of a dark horse on a white background would be more recognisable, but alas not. As a brisk walk along the icy road carried us closer to the action, the shape of the horses became clearer, and it became evident that there were rather a lot of them. We sheepishly approached, a little intimidated by the horsemen galloping thunderously around us. There was indeed a Kok-Boru pitch set up, with two ‘goals’ at either end and the bounds marked with tyres. The goal is like a raised, shallow circular pit, into which the aim is to place/throw the goat carcass. We were eagerly shown the day’s carcass too, headless and footless, and stuffed with sand to bring it to 35kg. It was a light one today, we were told, as it was being used in an U10s game. The British mind can scarcely comprehend 10 year olds bat-

tling it out over a 35kg dead goat on horseback, let alone how a child of such that age is physically able to reach down to the ground from their saddle and hoist up a lump that weighs about as much as they do. But these are nomads, a title the Kyrgyz people are immensely proud of, raised on plov and horsemeat, who begin riding around age four. It was astounding to see these kids cantering around at high speed, leaning incredibly precariously off a moving horse to grab a literal dead animal, and deeply impressive too. With the chaos of the game and the mountaincum-steppe backdrop, the whole thing felt most Kyrgyz, a truly authentic experience.

“Despite our difficulties with understanding what on earth was going on, it was terrific fun.”

After the game, various people were keen to give the Westerners a go on their horse, and we dutifully obliged. I was personally escorted on a jolly by the young son of the chief state prosecutor, a position I equated to the mythical American DA. The child, whom I was told was 8, was extremely able on horseback and led me off at a speed that, to be honest, terrified me. You probably wouldn’t even call it a canter,

but horses are powerful, scary animals and riding one as a newbie is an unfamiliar sensation. And so, I was glad when he delivered me back after no more than five minutes of pure fear combined with a modicum of excitement, even if I struggled with the dismount (read: fell off). The fun didn’t stop there though. It turned out, that the junior game was just a precursor to the main event, which was a free-for-all version of the game over a calf carcass that anyone with a horse could participate in. In the meantime before kick-off, I was busy having an allergic reaction to my earlier steed. I reckon I had got a hair or some dander into my eye, as it began to swell up rather dramatically and I couldn’t stop sneezing. But some tea and pelmeni at a nearby canteen helped me convalesce sufficiently to get back to the action. The scene to which we returned was far more overwhelming than the one we had left. A little ways down a farming track was the complex. There must have been at least two hundred men on horseback, all crowding around the flat bed of a lorry which seemed to be headquarters. Opposite the lorry was a line of stalls selling tea, plov and, apparently a Kok-Boru staple, a hot cheesy, salty soup that my stomach instantly had a quarrel with. The format of this game much more unclear than the footballlike code that we saw earlier. Ostensibly, it was a free-forall: a marshal would gallop off into the distance with the calf, allegedly weighing 80kg, and then there would be a battle

to see who could bring it back to the lorry, whereupon a very enthusiastic announcer would proclaim “Mashallah!” and the rider’s name and hometown. A friendly man by the name Chingiz, as in Chinggis Khan, gave us some much-needed explanation. There were several rounds to this game, and each winner won a cash prize ranging from one hundred to one thousand dollars. We were still in the early, low-stakes rounds, which is why only about ten riders were trying per round. He assured us that the pros, of which some rather famous ones were in attendance, would get going about three hours later when the real money was to be won. Chingiz also told us that at least half of the competitors were just there for the fun of it, grateful for the chance to have a nice chin-wag with the boys on horseback. He fell into the latter camp, and confessed that he was surely unable to even pick up the carcass, as were most others. We stayed for a while, spectating the mayhem from the comparative safety of the truck bed. Despite our difficulties with understanding what on earth was going on, it was terrific fun. We were however reluctant to perch atop the lorry for the four more hours it would take for the proper excitement to begin, and so took our leave back to Bishkek, thoroughly satisfied with the day. I would advise the reader to watch some Kok-Boru highlights from the World Nomad Games to get a feel for the drama of this noble sport; it really is quite something. So long, my friend…

18 | Columns

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

snmuloC

Womansplaining

2024 election psy-op (Taylor’s Version) Sharon Chau ver since the beginning of Taylor Swift’s high-profile relationship with Kansas City Chief star Travis Kelce, all eyes have been on America’s most popular power couple and their love story. But not everyone is rooting for them. The bad blood between Taylor Swift and the political right has been evident ever since her endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 election; her recent relationship has since given birth to a ridiculous conspiracy theory, upgrading Taylor’s status from ‘Anti-Hero’ to full-blown ‘Mastermind’. Right-wing influencers and politicians, both mainstream and fringe, have argued that Swift and Kelce’s relationship is fake, and their immense popularity is part of a secret left-wing plot against Donald Trump’s bid for the White House. In return for rigging the Super Bowl in favour of Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs, or so the rumour goes, the couple will endorse incumbent president Joe Biden for reelection and manipulate their contingent of fans into voting for him. Conspiracy theorists

have even gone so far as to call this a ‘psy-op’, or ‘psychological operation’, coordinated by the Pentagon (a metonym for the U.S.’s Department of Defense) to influence public opinion. This theory was first floated when a former FBI agent said that the Democrats would like Taylor Swift’s support. Rightwing news networks pounced on this, with the prominent Fox News airing a segment arguing that Swift’s skyrocketing popularity has been meticulously orchestrated over the past four years, just so she could become a Pentagon ‘asset’ to be used for the 2024 presidential election. Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also fanned the flames with a cryptic tweet. He wrote, ‘I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month. And I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally proppedup couple this fall’. Other right-wing political and media figures, including political activist Laura Loomer, One America News Network host Alison Steinberg, conservative commentator Mike Crispi, and influential right-wing

conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec, have amplified such allegations. Donald Trump, never one to miss out on a chance to rile up his MAGA fanbase, has also weighed in, saying there is no way Taylor Swift could endorse ‘Crooked Joe Biden’ and be ‘disloyal’ to himself, given he had passed the Music Modernisation Act which benefits her and other artists.

Amanda Li ew College is notably not new, and my attendance in the NC bar is also not very new. I think it was one of my first colleges that weren’t Brasenose that I visited, and some of my closest friends go there! It is always a go-to when my non-Oxford friends come to visit, and I truly think it is a big part of Oxford history, whether it’s because of the old city wall running through, the historic choir, or the giant mound in the gardens. Obviously, because of this, I have high expectations for the bar in relation to the culture of NC: the center of college life and historic just as the college itself is. New is absolutely beautiful despite being super intimidating. I am often too scared to sneak in: the Hollywell entrance is relatively

quiet but porters’ presence always scares me off with their constant eye contact whenever I even dare to take a step near in my puffer. The New College Lane entrance is paved with high walls and the alley gives me the vibe that some kidnapper is hiding and about to kill me. I did almost get run over by someone turning the corner when leaving once, so my anxiety is definitely not unfounded. Getting in with friends is nice, though, and tailgating in the New College Lane entrance makes me feel a sense of success that really boosts my ego unlike anything else (besides getting a first, I hope). The inside is honestly even prettier than the outside: the gardens are gorgeous no matter which quad you’re in. I often try to take walks along the path by the Mound and it’s a nice and serene way to take a quick walk during the day.

The vibes are definitely more imposing at night, which makes it even more fun! Of course, there are the cloisters. As an American who is friends with annoying Harry Potter obsessives, I’ve probably heard too much about those damn cloisters. They’re beautiful, but I like to focus more on the people buried under the floor there than a theoretical ferret transformation. The bar certainly is central: it is connected to the freshers’ accommodation and hall, located in a medieval bar cellar underground. It’s still modernized, though: the bar itself serves as a cafe during the day, with a more modern design that makes it feel more like a bar than a museum. For some reason, I’ve never been able to play darts in the bar, but it certainly is something on the list to do. Prices aren’t bad, but what makes NC stand out to me is how much

“The bad blood between Taylor Swift and the political right has been evident since 2020...”

This reflects the fear on the political right that Taylor Swift’s tremendous star power could tip the American presidential election in favour of the Democrats. As the top artist on Spotify, Time’s 2023 Person of the Year, and the only ever artist to win Album of the Year for the fourth time at the Grammys, Swift is indeed a force to be reckoned with. She also has an enormous fanbase, with an SSRS poll conducted in October 2023 finding that around

In the Bar: New College

6 out of 10 American adults identified as at least her ‘casual fans’, with 8% identifying as ‘big fans’. And no wonder — her lyrical prowess and ability to write songs for an insane range of genres (her hugely anticipated new album, The Tortured Poets Department, has been allegedly listed as synth pop), has led to millions of devoted Swifties worldwide. On top of such enormous influence, Taylor Swift also has a history of political participation. Back in 2018, she spoke out endorsing Democrats in the midterm elections in Tennessee. In 2020, she similarly endorsed Joe Biden and warned Trump, who was president at the time, that ‘We will vote you out.’ After her Biden endorsement, Swift posted a short message on her Instagram account in September 2020, encouraging her 272 million followers to register to vote; the post led to more than 35,000 registrations on the nonpartisan nonprofit Vote.org. Given all this, it’s understandable why Republicans are majorly stressed about Taylor Swift potentially speaking out in favour of Biden. But they Need To Calm Down. She has

I like its port. I first tried New’s port after a formal and for someone who is not a fan of too much alcohol, I managed to get down about half a glass in one go. It was almost too nice. Their college drink is iconic in its own way: the Rusty Nail, one shot of sweet whiskey, one shot scotch, on ice. Unlike the port, it was not to my taste (and not my boyfriend’s either!) Manners may maketh man according to college, but I think being able to down multiple Rusty Nails a night certainly helps. The atmosphere in New is always buzzing. The bar is often filled and the underground stone bench really remind me of the

been much less outspoken in politics since 2020, having avoided criticising the incumbent Biden government on issues such as Ukraine and Palestine, against which many other artists have spoken out. Moreover, affirming a clear stance in the upcoming election may not be economically rational for her, especially given her base in country music, the quintessential Republican genre. With the recent Super Bowl win confirming half of the psy-op conspiracy theory, it suffices to say that Taylor Swift is not out of the woods yet. She may have been able to shake it off thus far, but she might be reluctant to speak now in support of Biden. Ultimately, haters gonna hate. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect a conspiracy theory about Taylor Swift rigging the upcoming American presidential election, but everything has changed — sadly, the rightwing propaganda machine is forever & always going to churn out conspiracy theories. Here’s to hoping this Travis-ty can be Swift-ly resolved. Good luck finding the 14 Taylor Swift-related puns! xxx

Image Credit: David Purchase

history embedded in this school (namely, the many Winchester grads who probably spent hours here throughout the centuries). It’s honestly my favorite bar seat: I am reminded of it when I try to sit on the stone slabs in BNC bar, but this one is embedded into the actual wall. I am always freezing when I sit there, though: the bar is pretty cold to me and that seat is especially unfun for heating. The wooden benches that line the rest of the pit are pretty nice, though. Still, I’ve had so many good conversations in the bar and it’s definitely one of the most enjoyable ones in Oxford. An overall good bar in a good college— who can complain?

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

Columns | 19

Columns Blane’s Style Files

The last ten years of Pantone’s Colour of the Year ranked Blane Aitchison

ince 2000, Pantone has named one of its colours Colour of the Year in order to ‘draw attention to the relationship between culture and colour’. 2024 marks its 25th year, so I thought I’d give my opinions on the most recent ten colours and rank them from worst to best.

2019: Living Coral In last place is Living Coral. Intended to ‘energize’ and ‘enliven’, the colour falls flat because of its cool tone that leans too orange. This makes it hard to use in any context, being too flesh-like to be worn as the colour of item of clothing, and too painful on the eyes to be used in interior decorating or on any websites. Furthermore, the cold undertones of the colour feel alienating, rather than Pantone’s assertions that the colour is ‘humanizing and heartening’.

light blue with an even paler pink. The colours are reminiscent of a gender reveal, or a baby’s room, or something similarly immature. Had the blue been darker, the combination would have been a lot more relevant and would have lent itself to more outfits or interior decorating opportunities, but the combination as it stands is just too limited in its applications.

2017: Greenery Vibrant and playful, 2017’s Greenery is a strong choice for a year that was otherwise pretty dismal. The colour is easy to imagine on a website, in a garden-facing room of a house, or on some environmentally conscious packaging. Unfortunately, this inescapable link between Greenery and nature is its own downfall, with the colour then seeming out of place in any non-nature related environment (excuse the pun). This is also fixable by making the tone either lighter (although this may have similar infant-related issues to Rose Quartz and Serenity), or by making it darker, allowing it to be used or worn in a wider range of contexts.

“Intended to ‘energize’ and ‘enliven’, the colour falls flat because of its 2020: Classic Blue cool tone that Classic Blue is really just that, in fact Pantone put it leans too orange.” best when it described the

2024: Peach Fuzz 2024’s Peach Fuzz is a light peach colour that is effectively a lighter, more orange version of Living Coral. Unlike Living Coral, Peach Fuzz does what Pantone intends in terms of it being a warm, elegant, and nurturing tone, and its something that I can easily imagine being used to paint a nursery. Outside of this, however, the colour has limited applications, being similarly unwearable to Living Coral and almost unimaginable on any business’ website. 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity Pantone’s first ever joint colour of the year pairs a

colour as ‘a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on’. This means its applications are endless. Blue clothes, blue walls, and blue websites are always safe choices, but there comes a point where the colour starts to seem just a little bit boring. Of course, it can be made more exciting by being paired with different colours, but by itself, this colour suffers slightly. Blue really is everywhere, and this is exactly why Classic Blue ranks lower on this list compared to some of the more interesting shades chosen by Pantone. 2021: Illuminating and Ultimate Grey Pantone’s second joint col-

our of the year is comprised of a medium grey and a bright yellow. The contrast between the two makes them an attractive choice for use in websites, but this contrast also scuppers any chance of the colours being used in fashion or interior design. Do you want to walk down the street looking like a highlighter? I think this pairing is easily fixed if both colours were made warmer and darker – a mustard yellow and darker grey are much more appealing to the eyes, and would shift the atmosphere of a room to a trendy, industrial space rather than a cheap and unappealing break room in an office building. 2018: Ultra Violet Ultra Violet is described by Pantone as ‘a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level’. This colour is very similar in feel to Classic Blue, but the purplish tone gives it an edge that a simple primary blue doesn’t have. It’s easy to imagine it being used online and on clothes, and although it would be an unusual choice, walls painted this colour could create a really interesting space-y atmosphere. Unfortunately, this colour feels a bit too much like a product of its time.

Remember when that galaxy print was absolutely everywhere? If you do, then Ultra Violet gives me flashbacks to that dark and horrible era.

“2022’s Veri Peri is a purplishblue that has a real modern feel, without being too cold or clinical.”

2023: Viva Magenta Viva Magenta is a bright, fruity, flamingo-esque colour that can easily brighten up any space its used in. It isn’t too light (see 2016’s Rose Quartz), or too dark, so it could work almost anywhere. A drawback of Viva Magenta is that, if used alone, it can feel very suffocating. Rather than a full room painted this colour, I think it would better suit a feature wall or corner, flanked by a wall or two with a patterned wallpaper, maybe a tropical print on a deep blue or green background, allowing the colour to shine without consuming the entire room in its pinkness. 2015: Marsala Marsala is a deep, earthy red colour that has a sophisticated feel. This is the only

colour on the list that would seem appropriate as someone’s wedding colour, being unique, unisex, and upbeat on somebody’s big day. Red can also help to create a more intimate atmosphere, so painting the walls in your kitchen or bedroom this colour would do a lot to positively affect the tone of these locations. The earthy brown undertones also combine feels of nature and luxury, making Marsala one of the most versatile colours on this list. 2022: Very Peri 2022’s Veri Peri is a purplish-blue that has a real modern feel, without being too cold or clinical in its feel. Its dynamic qualities make it a great candidate for use in an app or website, while still being calm enough to decorate a room. What gives it the edge over similar shades Ultra Violet and Classic Blue is its adaptability. This colour would work just as well in a child’s bedroom as an adult’s bedroom and could be used in a website aimed at any target audience. Very Peri comes at the top of this list because of its unwavering flexibility, paired with its exciting, dynamic tone.

Image Credit: Леся Терехова

20 | Features

Features

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

Deputy Editor: Martin Alfonsin Larsen Section Editors: Nayana Juliette Syed, Purav Menon features@oxfordstudent.com

Summertown: As bad as it seems?

Image credit: Motacilla Gaspard Rouffin

iving in Summertown, the northern edge of Oxford, might not appeal to the average Oxford student, especially as clichés pile up: it’s far from the city centre; the commute is long and tiring; there’s nothing to do; it’s full of pensioners; and it’s expensive. It almost sounds like a different world compared to the typical Oxford experience. But is life in Summertown really as bad as it seems?

“There is a common conception that because you live in Oxford everything should be within a 10-minute walk, but that’s simply not how most places work.” I moved to Summertown in Michaelmas, and I would disagree with those stereotypes I’m actually quite enjoying this slightly different experience. The thought of living here was quite daunting when I was first told by my college I’d have to move a 20-minute walk away from St Anne’s, which is argu-

ably already quite far from the city centre. However, it’s not as dire as it appears. A 20-minute walk, that’s all it is. In a little over 30 minutes, it’s possible to be on Broad Street - and while this of course isn’t very practical for an everyday commute, it’s quite nice to do from time to time. If you cycle, it won’t take you more than 10 minutes to reach any of Oxford’s central libraries, and it’s also possible to take the bus with a monthly pass for £45. The commute really isn’t anything inhumane, and is actually much shorter than what most people would find acceptable in major cities. There is a common conception that because you live in Oxford everything should be within a 10-minute walk, but that’s simply not how most places work. In Paris for instance, where I lived before, no one would ever dream of such a short travel time. I actually found that having a “long commute” made me have a better degree- life balance and be productive. I do most of my work in town, and home is just for resting and relaxing (and OxStu articles…). The two mingle less than before, and I treat my degree

more like a 9-5 (or 10-7, really), something that certainly wouldn’t have happened if I continued to live a 20 second walk from the library. Summertown doesn’t really feel like Oxford; it’s like its own little bubble in the busy student life. The ‘vibe’ is different, and it almost feels like its own little town, separate from the Oxford spirit. While many might find this regrettable, I actually found that it made me enjoy central Oxford even more.

“The ‘vibe’ is different, and it almost feels like its own little town, separate from the Oxford spirit.”

One of the main advantages of Summertown is certainly the close proximity to shops. With everything being so close together, doing a bit of extra shopping

isn’t as much of a hassle as it might be in the city centre, unless you live in Balliol. Tesco and Sainsbury’s are so close to my accommodation that I can literally go buy something I forgot to get while cooking without fear that my precious dinner might burn. Of course there’s a bit less choice and it’s slightly more pricey in those small shops, but nothing insurmountable - there is also a large M&S only a few minutes away. But where Summertown excels is certainly in extra food shop offerings: a small Romanian off-licence convenience store, selling things you didn’t even know were possible to buy, an organic fresh produce and natural product shop, and many others. There is also a small artisan market in Summertown every weekend selling delicious breads, pastries, and other baked goods and fresh produce, and the best chip van in Oxford only seconds away from my bed: Boss Kebab, open from 6:30 to 2:30 every night. Summertown also has its fair share of cute coffee shops and bakeries: of course the usual Pret, Costa, and Gail’s like everywhere else, only closer, but also a Taylor’s, and Colombia Coffee Roasters, also present in the Covered Market and serving excellent coffee. But my favourite Summertown coffee shop is certainly Gatineau, a French artisan Patisserie and Bakery. They have some of the best French pastries I’ve been able to find in this country, and even have on sale a wide range of French regional products impossible to find anywhere else. There is also a good range

of everyday stores in Summertown, that often avoid an excursion to central Oxford. There is for instance no less than 4 charity shops in a 3-min walk radius, all significantly larger and cheaper than those in the centre. Summertown is also home to Daunt Books, an independent bookshop with an excellent selection of books that changes from what you can find in Blackwells or Waterstones, as well as an extremely cute family-run card shop. The main downside to Summertown remains its distance from everyday commitments: lectures, tutorials, lay-ins, OxStu socials. Libraries are also quite far away, and it’s sometimes hard to find motivation to do work, especially on the weekends. You also think twice before going on a clubbing excursion, but there’s nothing a friend’s room in town can’t fix, especially as buses run all through the night.

“You think twice before going clubbing, but there’s nothing a friend’s room in town can’t fix, especially as buses run all through the night.” Summertown for me is more practical and enjoyable, I have nicer accommodation and I enjoy living outside of the ‘Oxford bubble’. It’s maybe not for everyone, but if it’s for you you’ll enjoy it more than you think!

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

Features | 21

The Merchant of Venice 1936: Has Britain forgotten its Fascist history? Olly DeHerrera

his year’s theme for Holocaust Memorial Day was the fragility of peace, something heavy on the British Jewish consciousness in a climate where it often feels as if people have chosen to forget Britain’s proximity to the Holocaust with its own Fascist history. Tracy-Ann Oberman spoke on this tension with her adaptation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, set in 1930’s East London, where her own grandmother resisted Oswald Mosely’s British Union of Fascists movement. This adaptation confronts the temptation to think of British fascist history as an ancient history, and furthermore a history disconnected from fascism on the continent. Adolf Hitler’s forces never invaded Britain, so British Jews never got to see if their own police would arrest them, and their own neighbors would passively watch them, murdered in their millions, as they were from France all the way to Russia. Had Britain not resisted fascism and Nazi invasion so effectively, would there have been concentration camps on British soil and mass graves in the forest? Does it bear thinking about? The question may seem tasteless, but perhaps is the core way in which we should interpret this history and understand the Holocaust. The Holocaust was not a sudden eruption of hysteria in Europe, but a trajectory which played out on the foundation of hundreds of years of antiJewish scapegoating and hatred. What British Jews did see was the vitriol and violence of the rise of fascism in the 1930s, which was connected directly to the trend of German Nazi and Italian fascism on the European continent. Oberman powerfully brings these memories to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage, embedded within a 400-year-old play, itself the relic of anti-Jewish hatred. Deeply embedded in the text of the Merchant of Venice is the antisemitism of middle Europe.

Oberman takes on the role of Shylock, a religious Jewish money lender who strikes a dangerous deal with the play’s main character and hero. During the Middle Ages in Britain, Jews were restricted to the ‘un-Christian’ job of handling money, deriving a stereotype which has not yet ceased to be weaponized against modern Jews. Despite Oberman’s valiant attempts to redress this depiction of Jews, the venom of the original text is irreconcilable. The character of “the villain Jew” which continues to permeate literature (if not in less subtle ways), serves as the titular antagonist force to the heroes of the play. Oberman achingly draws this out of the script, forcing the audience to confront the meaning and implication of a story which rests on the unironic depiction of Jews as greedy, hateful, and bloodthirsty. A twisting and serotyping so profound that

even the word ‘Jew’ seems to carry the wrath of an insult, as if it is incarnate of all bad and undesirable traits.

“Deeply embedded in the text is the antisemitism of Middle Europe.” The rhetoric behind the hate and prejudice of Elizabethan England is not far removed from the rhetoric of the British Fascist movement. The audience see the evidence of this projected onto the stage: headlines from Mosley’s campaign of terror, the popular media’s support for the Fascist movement with the Daily Mail’s ‘Hurrah for the Blackshirts’ headline. More flashes of newspaper archives show us the British Fascist party reaching half a million members, and Mosley’s calls to overthrow ‘Jewish bankers’ and reject Jews from British identity. Most haunting

perhaps are the videos of the Blackshirt rallies, hundreds of men performing Hitler’s salute whilst dressed in fascist attire on the familiar streets of London. In the shadow of this, Oberman recaptures Shylock not as a calculated villain, but a woman desperate to protect her family and identity as it is strangled by the rising tide of fascism. Seeing the play on Shabbat (Friday), Oberman and cast opened the play in her own voice, welcoming the audience and praying over the sacristy of Shabbat, as Jews across the UK would have been too in the ancient enduring Hebrew language. Oberman’s portrayal of Shylock transforms his lines from the twisted musings of a villain to the desperation of a woman whose life has been repeatedly marked by different waves of anti-Jewish hate which continues to hang over the British Jewish community. “Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause; But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs.”, she declares stoi-

Image credit: Brian Scott

cally in the face of Antino, a British Fascist party member. Shakespeare’s intention with writing Shylock’s character has been a long subject of debate. Many lines within the play suggest an empathetic recognition of Jews humanity. “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?”, is poignantly written. At the end of Shakespeare’s play, Shylock is ultimately forced to convert to Christianity as the other characters celebrate their happy endings: perhaps suggesting what Shakespeare may have considered justice to Jewish alterity. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, Jews were being forced to convert or flee Spain and Portugal en masse - the beginning of the Sephardic diaspora. Oberman denies this ending, instead depicting Shylock traveling to join the Cable Street protests, gripping with raised fist a banner reading “they shall not pass”. Leaving character for the final time, she credits the English and Irish working class, the then tiny Afro-Caribbean community, Trade Unionists, and other groups who stood with her grandma to confront and resist Mosley’s Blackshirts. The Battle for Cable Street is often cited in Britain as the day that fascism was rejected, but does that mean it’s forgotten? British Holocaust survivor, Manfred Goldberg, who survived 3 concentration camps, lamented: “I never thought I’d see this antisemitism again”, in a recent interview. Many Holocaust survivors now residing in Britain echo the resounding sentiment that antisemitism they personally witnessed in their childhood is back in their neighborhoods once more. In contemporary discourse on fascism there is a tendency to forget that Jews are the primary scapegoat on which the fascist ideology is deeply predicated. Oberman’s production should remind us that we cannot abstract Jews out of this history, lest we fall back on the very hatred which is at the heart of this original text. So long as antisemitism is enduring, peace will be fragile.

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

22 | Culture

Culture Exhibition in progress — Yoko Ono: Deputy Editor: Keng Yu Lai Section Editors: Amelia Gibbins, Tallulah Hawley, Isra Khan culture@oxfordstudent.com

Music of the Mind at the Tate Modern Liberty Brignall and Keng Yu Lai unning from 15th February 2024 - 1st September 2024 at the Tate Modern, Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind features more than 200 works, and “is the UK’s largest exhibition celebrating key moments in Ono’s groundbreaking, influential and multidisciplinary career”. Ono’s works — multisensory, interactive and imaginative — invite visitors to unlearn how we typically approach creating and viewing art. They prompt us to see these pieces in dialogue with each other, and perhaps even with the ones we’ve created in our heads. As we walked into the first room, we were immediately greeted by Ono’s FILM NO. 1 (‘MATCH’) / Fluxfilm No. 14 (1966), where we were invited to watch a match slowly burn. Ono’s use of the multisensory does not stop here, however, and is present throughout the exhibition. As we looked at the Waterdrop Painting (1961), sounds of a toilet flushing — the Toilet Piece (1971) — played intermittently in the background. Ono’s Cough Piece (1961), an audio recording of her coughing forms the ambient noise of one of the rooms, which we initially did not notice. By tapping into sounds so common in everyday life, Ono not only challenges the perception of what constitutes art, but prompts viewers to pay attention to, and perhaps appreciate, the world around them. Many more videos and compositions are on display, but you’d have to visit the exhibition to experience them. Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind is set up such that imagination is very much encouraged with the visitors’ interpretations subsequently challenged (or perhaps coexisting with other possibilities). One of the first installations we see is Ono’s handwritten Instructions for Paintings (1961-2), and we begin to imagine how they might be physically realised in our heads. For example, the instructions for Waterdrop

Image Credit: Liberty Brignall, taken at Tate Modern

Painting (1961): “Let water drop. / Place a stone under it […]”. As we progress through the room, we become privy to Ono’s interpretation of this set of instructions. A second set of instructions features in the exhibition, this time, typewritten and more in number. One of our favourites is “[s]end the smell of the moon” from Smell Piece (1953). This set of instructions, seems to also include more abstract pieces, ones that become realised through the viewer’s interaction with them. The exhibition reveals its interactive elements in the second room, where a piece of black material on the ground bears the dust and dirt of footprints. A recreation of Painting to Be Stepped On (1961), visitors are invited to step on the material “to complete the painting”. The idea of interaction between artist and viewer is one of the defining characteristics of Ono’s work. In an interview with Hans Ulrich in 2002, Ono describes how she “wanted to give an unfinished work for others to add to, not to merely repeat”. Throughout the exhibition, visitor participation shapes certain installations. Shadow Piece (1963) instructs people to “put your shadows together until they become one”. A once-blank canvas already bears the outlines of numerous shadows. It is surprisingly difficult to draw around your own shadow, and once we stepped away we could no longer find ourselves amid the overlapping lines. Boundaries thus, are im-

portant in Ono’s work, and also in our experience of the exhibition. This is evident in the 1961-2 Instructions for Paintings, which features 22 works. The process of creation is brought to the fore: we see guiding lines and pieces of paper pasted over parts of the instructions. It is as much about recognising boundaries as well as collapsing and blurring them. Ono’s Striptease for Three (1964), contains three chairs. A sign warns us not to touch the piece, setting up a clear boundary between the viewer and the art. This is juxtaposed against the Bag Piece (1964), located extremely close by, prompting the question of what constitutes creating and when it becomes encroaching. In this piece, the visitor ceases being on the outside, and is instead invited to be part of the art by covering themselves in a bag and doing whatever they wish — be it moving about or striking a conversation. Bag

Piece not only collapses the boundaries between viewer and art, but also in the way the viewers “become just a spirit or soul” — there is a formlessness, and yet also a sense of impermanence. Towards the end of the exhibition, a number of installations reflect Ono’s advocation for peace through artistic media. White Chess Set (1966) features only white chess pieces to articulate her “anti-war stance” – visitors may pause and play a game while BED PEACE (1969) is projected on a nearby wall. The film documents one of Ono and John Lennon’s “bed-in” events during the Vietnam War. A more recent project, Add Colour (Refugee Boat), first realised in 2016, asks visitors to create their own art. White walls surround a white boat, though both are already covered with splashes of blue ink. Blue footprints are the result of trodden-in paint and someone has written “Thank you Yoko for all the peace” on one of the walls. We can only imagine that by September, the room will be more blue than white. Just outside, German helmets from World War Two hang upside down, filled with puzzle pieces. Entitled Helmets (Pieces of Sky) (2001), the installation demands a deconstruction of sorts. Brought together, the pieces form an image of the sky, but this is the first exhibition we have been to that asks people to take a small

part of the installation home. As the exhibition continues, the pieces will be further dispersed across the world, but a complete picture has already been made an impossibility. Whether hammering nails into the walls or drawing on them, the exhibition’s tactile and interactive elements are its greatest strength. We left with questions about viewership, given that we had spent the past couple of hours contributing as much as observing. Visitors to the exhibition add something – hand-drawn outlines of their shadows; drawings and phrases in blue ink on and around the refugee boat; and in the final room, messages to their mothers, fixed to canvases, in Ono’s My Mommy Is Beautiful (2004). If viewership tends towards the passive, this tendency is left at the door. But, visitors not only add to the exhibition; they also take away – two puzzle pieces left with us. A video in one of the rooms shows Cut Piece (1964), during which audience members cut away pieces of her clothing, taking the fabric with them. Ono defines stripping as “discover[ing] something hidden in humans”. Despite what is taken away, in the video and from the exhibition, the interactive elements mean that Ono’s installations grow more than they diminish. And, perhaps, you might leave not only with a puzzle piece, but having discovered something hidden in yourself.

Image redit: Liberty Brignall

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

Culture | 23

The secret to a great Super Bowl halftime show Charlie Bowden

he Super Bowl is one of the most important events in the American calendar, not just for its sporting significance but also for its entertainment value. Companies spend millions on securing celebrity cameos for a 30-second advertisement, some of which have gone down in history as iconic pieces of branding. But the main draw of the Super Bowl for non-sports fans is its illustrious halftime show, which has played host to some of the biggest stars in the music industry over the years. Not all halftime shows are created equal, but before exploring what makes a great performance, let’s go over the basics. A Super Bowl halftime show takes place, of course, during the 20-30 minute halftime period in the Super Bowl, which is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The actual performance lasts for around 12-14 minutes, with the rest of the time dedicated to setting up and taking apart the stage for the show. The Super Bowl halftime lasts about 10 minutes longer than halftime during a regular NFL game. The NFL does not pay their halftime show performers, but they do cover the expenses of putting on the show. The benefit for artists comes both from the prestige of the performance itself and the massive spike in streams and sales they receive in the days after the show. The Super Bowl regularly attracts over 100 million viewers and each game ranks among the most-watched television broadcasts of the year, so many performers use the platform to promote recent releases or share significant news. In 2012 Madonna debuted her new single “Give Me All Your Luvin’” during her halftime performance. In the week after the show, the song reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. More recently, Rihanna used her halftime show in 2023 to announce that she was pregnant with her second child. Super Bowl viewership frequently peaks during the halftime show as fans of the headliner clamour to see what they offer, so putting on an impressive performance is paramount. By taking a look at previous shows we’ll explore what makes for an unforget-

table halftime performance. It makes sense to begin with the halftime show with the most live watchers to date, which was the 2015 halftime performance by headliner Katy Perry, supported by Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott. This is unsurprising: Perry was at the peak of her career coming off of another hit album – Prism – and its accompanying world tour, which was the highestgrossing tour of her career. She heavily leaned into the spectacle of the occasion and her own over-the-top aesthetics, beginning the show mounted on a large mechanical lion as she belted out “Roar”. For “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” she dressed in the beach-ready fashion that those singles were associated with.

“What made [Lady Gaga’s] performance one for the books was pure showmanship.”

She also supplemented the show’s appeal for her younger fanbase with legends of older generations in Kravitz and Elliott, who slotted into Perry’s set nicely. Rather than feeling like a desperate ploy (as some legendary Super Bowl cameos have been viewed), it seemed that Katy genuinely wanted to spotlight these veteran artists in her performance, with Missy Elliott performing three of her own tracks while Perry

Image Credit: Elliot Francolla

prepared for her final number. Virality also played a role in this show’s success, with the iconic Left Shark meme of one of Katy’s backup dancers assisting the survival of the performance in popular memory. Moving from a show that seemed to do everything right to spark the interests of an audience, it’s interesting that Lady Gaga’s 2017 performance also ranks very highly in viewership despite lacking many of the bells and whistles of Perry’s two years prior. The 2017 show received the most Emmy nominations (six) of any Super Bowl halftime performance to date, ultimately winning Best Lighting Design / Best Lighting Direction for a Variety Special. Unlike Perry, Gaga had no special guests; there weren’t any standout viral moments; and Gaga was not at the top of her game career-wise, coming off of the lukewarm reception to her most recent album Joanne. What made this performance one for the books was pure showmanship. Lady Gaga has been known since her debut in 2008 as an electrifying live performer, but the Super Bowl was undoubtedly one of her best. 13 minutes of hit song after hit song, with Gaga’s relentless energy pushing the show forward. The best moment of the show, ironically, was when she slowed things down for a piano performance of her most recent single “Million Reasons”, which shot into the top five of the Hot 100 after the performance. The timing of the show might have also had an impact on its legendary status: coming only two weeks after the inauguration of Donald Trump, Gaga’s mes-

sage of unity shone through in her reference to the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning and in her performances of songs like “Born This Way” and “Million Reasons”. This more tender moment made the big finale of “Bad Romance” all the more effective, with a poignant ending as Gaga jumped off the stage and cleanly caught a football on her descent: she had well and truly scored. A more recent trend in Super Bowl performances is featuring a group of artists tied together by a specific theme. The NFL paid homage to legends of hip-hop in 2022 with a show co-headlined by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, featuring 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak as guests. This show was the first Super Bowl halftime performance to win the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special. Two years prior, the halftime show celebrated the Latin culture of the Super Bowl’s host city, Miami, by featuring Shakira and Jennifer Lopez as headliners. Their joint show was comically referred to afterwards as 2020’s closing ceremony, since it was one of the last major events to take place before COVID-19 lockdowns began, but it wouldn’t have deserved such a title without both artists absolutely giving it their all, to the point that many observers asked why they hadn’t been invited to perform individually. The 2020 show combined elements of Perry and Gaga’s shows: like Katy, they brought on guests and bathed in spectacle, and like Gaga, they put their impressive performance skills on display first and foremost. The finale brought Lopez and

Shakira together to perform their most uplifting songs, “Let’s Get Loud” and “Waka Waka”, and many saw Lopez’s feather cape depicting both the Puerto Rican and American flags as a dig at Trump’s rhetoric against the Latinx community. The performance was fantastic, but timing was also on the headliners’ side, as lockdown gave the show an unprecedented virality, having accumulated over 300 million views on YouTube to date, by far the most of any Super Bowl halftime show. If we want to discuss good timing imbuing a performance with legendary status, then the most obvious place to go is Prince’s 2007 show, which is consistently ranked as the best Super Bowl halftime performance of all time. There was a clear moment where this show soared into the heavens of the pop culture zeitgeist when Prince closed the show with “Purple Rain” during a downpour. The preceding set was amazing, incorporating both Prince’s hits and covers of roof-raising tracks like “Proud Mary”, but perhaps no other single song has solidified a Super Bowl performance’s iconic status. It is simply one of the most mesmerising live music moments, full stop. This year’s headliner Usher put on a great show but the inordinate amount of guest stars and set dressing (despite performing the first half directly on the football field) somewhat detracted from the talent on display. Usher clearly hasn’t lost his groove since his hit-making years and this show definitely felt like a celebration of his past as he gears up for a new tour. However, the sheer excess of the performance means it cannot hold much of a candle to the artistry of Prince, who made his musical magic feel effortless. Was it enthralling to see the likes of Alicia Keys, Lil Jon, and Ludacris perform their collaborations with Usher two decades on? Absolutely, but some restraint in extending invitations to guest performers would have benefited the overall sheen of the show. Why exactly did H.E.R. show up just to play the electric guitar? Why was Jermaine Dupri on stage for all of ten seconds? The performance still wouldn’t threaten Prince on pole position when it comes to halftime performances, but it would feel more connected and purposeful.

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26 | Green

Green

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

Deputy Editor: Bridget Harrington Section Editors: Ava Chan, Sabine Zednik-Hammonds green@oxfordstudent.com

Global warming exceeds 1.5C target Bridget Harrington

or the first time ever, we have seen global temperatures to be over 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, with an average rise of 1.52 degrees. This warming target was agreed on as part of the Paris Agreement in 2015, signed by 196 parties. It represents a key target for fighting against climate change, so its breach would be catastrophic. Whilst it is only officially breached once temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees of warming for 20 successive years, this year-long pattern shows we are well on track. European climate monitors say we should take this as a “warning to humanity”. The temperature rise is caused by a combination of anthropogenic damage, such as burning fossil fuels, and the natural El Niño events, whereby a weaken-

ing of the usual westwardblowing trade winds causes warmer surface waters to move from the western to eastern Pacific. It is hoped that as El Niño events subside in the next few months, temperatures will stabilise below 1.5 degrees of warming. However, recent analysis of 300 year old marine sponges reveal that we may have actually exceeded 1.5 degrees of warming much earlier than we thought. The IPCC uses global temperatures from 1850-1900 as a baseline against which we measure current warming, but a team at the University of West Australia Oceans Institute advocates for us changing these baselines. By analysing the ratio of strontium to calcium in the skeletons of marine sponges, we are able to get an accurate proxy for global temperature as far

back as 300 years, and this paints a very different picture. “We have an alternate record of global warming… It looks like temperatures were underestimated by about half a degree,” said Malcom McCulloch, leader of the research team. Nonetheless, this yearlong breach is not the only milestone we have reached recently, the second being a lot more positive. COP28 marks the first time ever that fossil fuels have been mentioned in the final legislation from a COP agreement, with a landmark deal to “transition away” from their use. This represents fundamental recognition of the damage that fossil fuels are having on our climate. By combining efforts of reduced greenhouse gas emissions with more negative emission technology such as carbon capture and stor-

Image credit: Nicola age and reforestation, scientists urge that we are still able to curb our warming to avoid catastrophe. “Doom is not inevitable”, states Zeke

Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, we just simply need to recognise this as the wake up call that it is.

Space junk: Why is it such a problem? Ava Chan

ver the past 60 years of space exploration, thousands of rockets have launched to space, resulting in a sea of space junk circling the Earth. Space junk is inactive machinery or debris left by humans in space. These ranges from less than a millimetre to the size of a rocket stage. To date, it is estimated that there are over 30 thousand tracked objects that are over 10 cm, about 500,000 mar-

ble-sized debris and over 100 million debris that are 1 mm or smaller. Tiny debris resulting from fallen parts of satellites pose huge risks to other operational satellites in orbit. They travel at a speed of 10 km/s, and a tiny piece of junk could easily damage spacecraft or satellites upon collision. In worst cases leading to leaks or mixing of fuel components, this triggers self-ignition and explosion. What goes up doesn’t come down, except for space junk in very low Earth orbit (LEO)

that will re-enter the Earth after a short period of time. With an annual launch rate of 110, and future break-ups of 10 to 11 per year, the population of space debris in orbit will continue to grow. Over time, the accumulated mass of space debris will result in a chain reaction of collisions generating more space junk to a point that the Earth’s orbit is no longer usable. This is known as the Kessler syndrome proposed by Donald Kessler, a NASA scientist, in 1978. At that point, satellite

Image credit: Johan Swanepoel

applications we relied on in modern day to day life, such as telecommunication, navigation, weather forecasting, and Earth observation will be affected. This is a long lasting problem that will affect generations. Some scientists described the space junk problem as a “tragedy of the commons”, and urged the United Nations to treat the orbital space environment as part of the global commons that are worthy of protection. NASA has established and signed the Artemis Accords with seven other founding member nations to create a sustainable, safe, peaceful and prosperous future in space, and ESA has introduced the zero debris approach, with the aim to eliminate debris production in the Earth orbits by 2030. The outlook of the space sector is switching towards commercialization. There is a rise in demand for space data, related products and services. With the advance-

ment of technology, the costs of launches have decreased by 95% from $65,000 per kilogram to $1,500 per kilogram. Launches are more affordable than before, leading to an increase in launch frequencies (22% increase in 2022) from new and current players in the space industry, and the LEO is becoming congested. Fortunately, the growing problem of space junk has attracted attention. Big players such as SpaceX are developing reusable launch vehicles, with a focus on reusability in near and long term. Missions such as the RemoveDEBRIS project and space companies such as ClearSpace are testing and developing the best methods to remove spWWace debris actively. Other measures such as satellites “endof-life” disposal manoeuvres, in which satellites deorbit after they reach the end of their operational life to prevent them from converting to space junk.

SciTech Measles outbreak in the UK declared The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

SciTech | 27

Deputy Editor: Samkeet Shah Section Editors: Ava Chan, Gabriella Kchozyan scitech@oxfordstudent.com

a national incident Gabriella Kchozyan

ollowing the recent measles outbreak in the West Midlands, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national incident.

The resurgence of the viral disease coincides with a broader international trend. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced a more than 30-fold increase in measles cases across Europe in 2023. Measles is a highly contagious infection that spreads easily without vaccination. The infection can prove deadly to babies and young children. According to the WHO, a decline in the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine coverage has contributed to the greater incidence of the infection. UKHSA authorities have noted the UK’s MMR vaccination rate has fallen below the WHO’s recommended full vaccination rate of 95%. The outbreak in the West

Midlands has raised concern for further infection and spread across the country. According to NHS England, more than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 are unprotected from the disease. The MMR vaccine is included in the NHS Routine Childhood Immunisation Programme, meaning it is offered to all children in the UK. Children are meant to receive their first dose at the age of one, and the second at three years and four months. Through receiving both doses, children are provided with lifelong coverage against measles, mumps, and rubella. The uptick in measles cases comes as a blow to public health in the UK, which had previously been classified as a country that eliminated measles entirely in 2017. At the moment, only about 85% of children starting primary school in the UK have been fully vaccinated against the acute viral illness. With the backsliding in vaccine

coverage, schools and nurseries have become dangerous environments for infection. By declaring a national incident, the UKHSA is strategising its immunisation campaigns to ensure children are being fully vaccinated against the virus. Local efforts to recover MMR vaccination rates are currently in process. The NHS launched a twopart vaccination campaign focused on MMR in November 2023. The goal is to encourage and facilitate catch-up jabs of MMR, especially among vulnerable groups. As part of the campaign, the NHS has contacted parents and guardians of children under five years old via text, email, and letter in an effort to encourage routine MMR vaccination. Other target groups living in London and the Midlands will also be contacted. According to the NHS, measles will stop spreading if at least 95% of children have both doses of the MMR vaccine. The risk of spread greatly increases if the vaccina-

Image credit: Mufid Majnun tion rate falls below 90%. Medical experts emphasise the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, since after both doses, about 99% of people are protected against measles. The current low vaccination rate among children can be attributed to various factors. Vaccine misinformation, low vaccine equity, and disruptions in health service provisions are just a few reasons for the downward trend. The COVID-19 pandemic further impacted routine immunisations for children. On top of a spike in

anti-vaccine sentiment, many individuals and families feared contracting an illness at clinics or felt access to health professionals was challenging. Some may have felt a lack of transparency regarding vaccine services or had difficulty scheduling and attending appointments. As the NHS and UKHSA work together to help recoup vaccination rates, measles still presents a real risk for vulnerable groups. Individuals should take care to protect themselves and their loved ones from the potentially deadly virus.

Can we slow down or reverse ageing? Ava Chan

geing is defined as the decline in physiological function with decreased survival and fertility rate as age increases. As the elderly population grows in the next 20 years, ageing is likely to become a major risk factor for disease-induced mortality, and it is of clinical relevance and interest to search for remedies. EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING Epigenetics is defined as the regulation of gene expression by means other than an individual’s DNA sequence. Epigenetic changes occur at various levels when the organism ages. Epigenetic reprogramming is the reset of epigenomes of somatic cells to establish pluripotency. iPS cells were a revolutionary technique to revert differentiated cells to the pluripotent stem cell stage by over-expression of Yamanaka factors to erase epigenetic marks

and restore youthfulness to cells. Short-term cyclic expression of Yamanaka factors has been shown to reduce age-associated hallmarks without the formation of tumours in premature ageing mouse models. LENGTHENING OF TELOMERES Telomeres are short repetitive DNA sequences at the end of each chromosome and they help to protect chromosomal DNA ends and prevent degradation. Telomere shortening happens as an organism ages; some have referred to telomeres as the “biomarker of ageing”. Extensive studies are working on reversing ageing through the reactivation of telomerase, an enzyme that extends the length of telomeres. SENOLYTIC DRUGS Senolytic drugs induce apoptosis of senescent cells selectively. Senescent cells, which are known to accumulate in different types of tissues as age increases, enter an

irreversible cell-cycle arrest, undergo several phenotypic changes and are resistant to apoptosis. These cells release chemokines, pro-inflammatory cytokines and pro-thrombotic factors that may damage tissues, alter tissue structure and increase fibrosis. The new class of drugs, senolytics, are inhibitors of the identified senescent cell anti‐apoptotic pathways and were demonstrated in previous studies to extend lifespan and improve the function of stem cells in ageing mouse models.

DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS OF ANTIOXIDANTS Oxidative damage increases and antioxidant function decreases with ageing. Antioxidants, which are substances that inhibit or reduce the oxidation of substrate, may therefore be able to slow down ageing and increase the lifespan of an organism. Studies have demonstrated that dietary supplements of antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, can increase the lifespan of model organisms.

Image credit: Dimitri Otis

CALORIC RESTRICTION Caloric restriction, which is the reduction of food intake by 3050% without malnutrition, is reported as the most effective method to extend lifespan as well as health span in a number of species. PERSPECTIVES There have been massive efforts in researching methods to slow down ageing for several decades. With technological advancement, we began to understand more about the mechanisms of ageing and develop strategies based on these mechanisms to slow down ageing. However, ageing is a complex process whose full mechanism is yet to be discovered. It is foreseeable that there will be more interdisciplinary collaboration in the next 50 years to dissect the mechanisms of ageing. With the rise of big data analytics, it is predicted that the new era of informatics will help to advance biomedical research in the coming years.

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Upcoming Dates: March 1st More TBC in Trinity Term Make sure your bike is safe to ride! Find out more at oxfordsu.org/whats-on The University is offering a £10 subsidy on bike helmets at the following locations; please show your University ID card at the time of purchase: The Oxford Bicycle Company Ltd, 251b Cowley Road, OX4 1XG Walton Street Cycles, 78 Walton Street, OX2 6EA

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

OXYOU

The Modern Flaneur Florence Purcell

he Modern Flaneur does not stroll, she scrolls. She no longer lingers in smoky streets, peering carefully through dingy curtains. Now, her finger hovers gently over a silver screen. You can usually find her curled up on some soft furnishing of sorts. You no longer see the various types of flaneurs haunting park benches, watching the world in their carefully careless way. She flicks through profiles and pages and pictures and albums. She can get much nearer now. She doesn’t have to guess as much anymore, either. A long time ago, a flaneur honed a certain set of skills; differentiating a cry of distress from mere childish screech of delight, making out ambiguous shapes moving behind

Deputy Editor: Olly DeHerrera Section Editors: Zaid Magdub, Florence Purcell oxyou@oxfordstudent.com

darkened windows, listening to softs words as they tumbled out of bed in that vague time between going to bed and falling asleep. Most importantly, she no longer has to make up her own tiresome stories. They are served to her on that little silver platter. And yet, she is bored. The light hurts her eyes, her senses feel dim and the stories pouring into her get duller by the hour. She wants to walk again; she wants to catch those wispy fragments of lives whirling around streetcorners. She wants them to stick to her coat, tickling her nose with the smell of after-school dinner. Or get caught in the tangle of curly hair by her ear- was that a sob or a snort? If she looks hard enough, she can see them lying about, sometimes they are tucked into an old welly, other times they are

plastered onto someone’s dirty car boot. People miss the older fragments, the ones that have hardened and ossified into a wonky window frame (G-d only knows how that carpenter wet his baby’s head the night before!) or a sapling growing out of an unused chimney-pot. If she’s really lucky, she finds them in people’s faces; poking out of a granny’s wrinkle, or taking up space in that man’s toothless grin. It’s all just a little bit harder now. The fragments are still there, oh certainly! But no one ever seems to be looking, not even our little Flaneur. Sometimes they catch her by surprise, but that’s usually when the fragments are angry- they furl themselves into little pellets in people’s mouths, waiting to find their targets. But they are tired,

they can’t do all this work by themselves. They can’t hide if no one can be bothered to seek. But the thing is, once the fragments give up and nestle themselves comfortably into the little stories we make up (picture books, that is. Letters are too difficult to wrangle), they get lazy. They become bloated, engorged on their own sense of importance. Who wouldn’t want to look at them? They become vain, straining themselves over a shallow pool of water just to get a glimpse of their own faces. Little devils, what are we to do with them? So, the Modern Flaneur sighs and settles herself back into the settee. There’s no point trying to walk anyway, there’s nothing much to see. Why bother, anyway, when it’s all in the palm of your hand?

person who follows you on Instagram. Emerging victorious in the more important pizza race, All Souls have announced they will donate their hard-won election pizza to the Police Officers body-slamming protestors outside of their gates. Sadly, democracy is not infallible even at the most irrelevant Student’s Union level, as one campaign classlessly approved an endorsement on the vote of “almost all the committee members if you exclude the ones living within walking distance of a Waitrose”. The President Elect could neither confirm nor deny the existence of a Secret Slate which meets up to say mean things about you, and OxStu is graciously leaving the role of speculator to our competitor..

identified ‘old fashioned liberal’ said in his resignation letter that his choice to step down has nothing to do with Ben Shapiro’s new diss track but did link his response via SoundCloud. The Chancellor will be fondly remembered as a certified free-speech-lover and safe-space-hater during his 200 years of Chancellorship. His most controversial edicts include the time he campaigned to make the university an ‘unsafe space’ by compelling Proctors to say at least one cancellable word to any student with an unnatural hair colour. In another controversial moment the former Chancellor was seen blasting Rhodes Must Fall protestors with silly string from the top of Oriel college whilst laughing maniacally. As perplexing as his time may have been, OxYou can only wish him luck on the upcoming album.

the students awkwardly file into the dining hall. Everyone is wearing their glad rags, Rordon included (although he doesn’t see why shirts have to be so damn itchy, why does Moss Bross want him to sweat???). Those who neeked away last year strut past the crowd, their long gowns and ample sleeves billowing in the wind. You can always tell, Rordon thinks to himself, who only scraped past on a 68, as they seem to puff out their chests the most. He stares at a particularly smug (and short) ginger fellow. Oh, how Rordon looks forward to seeing what the group of ‘popular’ people (exhibitionists who treat the JCR like their own personal livings rooms) are currently fighting about. Oh, lookie! They must be trying to kick that girl out of their group, he thinks, as one of his fellow collegiates goes up to the front to collect her certificate for ‘Most likely to get hospitalised at Plush after doing too many poppers!’. What a night!

BEST OF THE ROAST Rordon Gamsay

his week was time to shine for the very people you dreaded meeting at Oxford. The most insufferable among us were jet-setting at the Casino Royale Ball; but instead of throwing villainous private bankers off roofs, attendees could be found hiding in the bathroom and desperately searching Facebook for the names of everyone they’ve forgotten. A big week for journos’, our Editors were busy covering the unimportant stuff whilst Rordon was sent to review an OUDS’s dramatization of David Cameron’s autobiography. Rordon’s considering leaking his own texts if it means he has a chance of making front page for once. Democracy ‘n‘ chill?

Sneaky link is out, Sneaky Slate is in. This week we got to all witness that one person who follows you on Instagram battle it out at the polls with that other

Fond farewell

This week we got the sad news that Oxford’s Chancellor is stepping down (no, the other one). The self-

Rordon does Halfway Hall

The stars shine bright as

OxYou | 29

What to Watch Friday 11:15 BBC ONE Homes Under the Hammer Sunday 11:15 BBC ONE Homes Under the Hammer Monday 11:15 BBC ONE Homes Under the Hammer Tuesday 11:15 BBC ONE Homes under the Hammer

Wednesday 11:15 BBC ONE Homes Under the Hammer Thursday 11:15 BBC ONE Homes Under the Hammer

30 | Food & Drink

Deputy Editor: Johannah Mathew Section Editor: Rebecca Whalley food@oxfordstudent.com

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

Food & Drink

Flipping fantastic: Oxford’s top pancake hotspots

Honorary mention: The Dosa Being South Indian, I am not going to call a dosa a pancake even if people do mistake it as a savoury crêpe (which is somewhat valid), however the dosa is a great place to start when trying South Indian food. The dosa is a crispy, thin crêpe-like food made from fermented rice and ground black gram batter, often stuffed with mashed masala potato and served with coconut chutney and sambar, a lentil-based vegetable curry. This is also a great starting point if you are vegan, vegetarian or glutenfree as, like much of South Indian food, the dosa is plant-based and uses rice flour. If you’re

looking to try a dosa, or South Indian food in general, check out Dosapark, a tucked-away restaurant located near the Oxford train station. The French Crêpe The crêpe is probably one of the first pancakes you think of when you think of… pancakes. Traditionally served in France on Candlemas (February 2nd), the word crêpe derives from the feminine Latin version of the word crispus (crispa), meaning curled, wrinkled, or having curly hair. A great place to try both sweet crêpes and savoury galettes (savoury pancakes) is at the Crêpes O Mania van, usually found on Broad Street. The van offers classic options, such as chocolate and lemon and sugar, but you can also try something a little more mealworthy, such as La Forestiere (mushroom, onion, bacon, bechamel sauce, cheese), La Toulouse (sausage, onion, cheese) and La Vegetarian (mushroom, onion, cheese). The Brunch Pancake Brunch pancakes take on the traditional British pancake but flip them towards a more filling meal option. Located on St. Michael’s Street, The Handlebar café is a sweet little eatery located above Oxford’s oldest bike shop. They

Easy Pancakes from BBC Good Food (Credit: Cassie Best)

Johannah Mathew

ven though Pancake Day has by now passed, why not try something a little different to celebrate the pancake season? Here are some great spots to try a new type of pancake, touching on some of the global cuisines represented in Oxford’s bustling culinary scene.

Try something new this Pancake Season!

offer a classic buttermilk pancake stack and a more eccentric coconut pancake stack with both options either being served with fresh fruit or bacon. The Duck Pancake The Peking duck pancake might be the pancake underdog. Originating from Imperial era Beijing, the Peking duck is characterized by its thin, crispy skin and is often served on sheet-like spring pancakes with spring onions, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. This was revised in British Chinese cuisine, becoming the crispy aromatic duck pancake, often served with plum or hoisin sauce. Although it primarily serves Thai cuisine, located on Hythe Bridge, Bangkok House includes a great crispy duck pancake! The Placki/Placek The placki or the placek is an Eastern European pancake, predominantly found in Poland, but also in Hungary made from finely grated potatoes, eggs and onions, being a great option for the crispy potato lover. Placki can be served lightly with smoked salmon or a Polish salad, or as a more filling meal, for example with a beef, pork or vegetable stew. Located slightly further out from

Image Credit: Ksenia Chernaya

central Oxford in Iffley, Polish Kitchen offers a diverse range of placki, being served with a variety of options as discussed before, they also serve sweet pancakes with either strawberry sauce, sweet white sauce or Nutella and also a vegan option of placki, made from carrots and celery, served with vegan yogurt.

Explore some of Oxford’s bustling global cuisines!

The Mille Crêpe Cake Even though ‘gâteau de crêpes’ have existed in France for a long while, the modern mille crêpe cake was invented by the Japanese pastry chef Emy Wada in the 80s. Translating as ‘a thousand crêpes’, the mille crêpe cake combines several layers of the thin pancake with different cream fillings, such as vanilla, chocolate, mango or matcha – it’s the perfect cold, sweet treat! A personal favourite

and hidden gem of Oxford is the DoreDore Bakery and café, located between St. Peter’s and Westgate, which serves ‘handmade Asian-style cakes and pastries’, including chocolate, matcha and mango mille crêpe cakes. The Hopper Hoppers are bowl-shaped pancakes made with coconut and fermented rice flour, originating from Sri Lanka and South India and being named after the pan that they are cooked in. Hoppers are the perfect base food, as they can be packed with a great variety of fillings, including savoury options, such as a fried egg, fried vegetables or vegetable curry, or sweet options, such as fruit salads or fruit chutneys. Also slightly further out, located on St. Clement’s Street, The Coconut Tree specialises in Sri Lankan food and serves both plain and egg hoppers. Like the dosas, plain hoppers are great for people who are vegan, vegetarian or glutenfree as the base is rice flour.

Recipe of the week: Quick and easy pancakes Prep: 10 mins Cook: 20 mins Makes 12 (freezable)

Image Credit: Alberta Newsroom

Ingredients: 100g plain flour 2 large eggs 300ml milk 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil, plus a little extra for frying lemon wedges and caster sugar to serve (optional)

STEP 1 Put 100g plain flour, 2 large eggs, 300ml milk, 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil and a pinch of salt into a bowl or large jug, then whisk to a smooth batter. This should be similar in consistency to single cream. STEP 2 Set aside for 30 mins to rest if you have time, or start cooking straight away.

STEP 3 Set a medium frying pan or crêpe pan over a medium heat and carefully wipe it with some oiled kitchen paper.

STEP 4 When hot, cook your pancakes for 1 min on each side until golden, keeping them warm in a low oven as you go.

STEP 5 Serve with lemon wedges and caster sugar, or your favourite filling. Once cold, you can layer the pancakes between baking parchment, then wrap in cling film and freeze for up to 2 months.

Sport

Sport | 31

The Oxford Student | Friday 16 February 2024

Deputy Editor: Thomas Thornton Section Editors: Purav Menon, Johannes Riese sport@oxfordstudent.com

Super Bowl LVIII: A game of luck and probability Maxi Grindley

hy do you love sports? Ask people that question and I can guarantee you will receive a range of answers: perhaps one person will say because of the community it provides, maybe another will say because of the excitement it generates, and a third might say because of the escape it offers. Fundamentally, these are variations on the same theme: we love sports because of the narratives created by it. Any single sporting event spawns countless potential narratives. Every kick could birth a plotline and every catch could kill another. We identify with the protagonists of these narratives and are enlivened by them, imagining we too are leading our nation or our club to success, or struggling to overcome another failure on the road to eventual redemption. Superbowl LVIII was not short of possible narratives. The Kansas City Chiefs were targeting back-to-back titles, and their third in five years, to cement their status as a dynasty. The San Francisco 49ers were aiming to avenge their loss in Superbowl LIV to the same opponent and join the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots as the teams with the most titles overall. Amongst the players there were possibly even more evocative narratives ready to be played out. 49ers Quarterback Brock Purdy was looking to continue his fairytale journey from being Mr Irrelevant (the last pick in the NFL draft) in 2022 to potentially becoming a Superbowl winner and maybe even MVP in 2024. Across from him, Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was trying to continue his inexorable pursuit of Tom Brady by winning his third Superbowl and Superbowl MVP. There was even a sprinkling of celebrity magic in the budding romance of Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce and popstar Taylor Swift, surely

an even more glittering sportsmusic crossover relationship than that of David Beckham and Posh Spice. And yet the game itself managed to nullify almost all of these narratives. The first half ended with the 49ers leading 10-3 and both teams’ defences firmly dominant. The second half concluded with the score only increasing to 16-16 before it finally crawled to 25-22 to the Chiefs after overtime. Mahomes looking uncharacteristically vulnerable and Kelce was anonymous for much of the match.

“Amongst the players there were possibly even more evocative narratives ready to be played out.” Similarly, Purdy was neither especially dreadful nor particularly exceptional. The Superbowl therefore served as an important reminder that sports make their narratives, their narratives do not make them. When talking about sporting events in retrospective, it is typically through the lens of the stories they generated: the 2015-2016 Premier League will always be the year Leicester City won, the Thrilla in Manilla will always be the fight which cemented Muhammad Ali’s legacy, the 2003 Rugby World Cup will always be the tournament won by Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal. With the alluring benefits of hindsight, it is easy to think these events were bound to happen. Their plots are just too fitting, too captivating, too neat, for their ever to have been a possibility that they might not have happened. However, this year’s Superbowl potently refuted this notion, revealing its fundamental falsity. Sport is decided by a swirling mixture of probability and chance. Two sides of the same coin, the former describes

Image credit: Andrea Perez the ninety-nine times out of a hundred things go as expected, and the latter describes the one time they don’t. Pretty and elegant as they may be, narratives are simply the make-up we use to gloss over these ugly blemishes and imperfections, replacing them with an even and beautiful finish we can make sense of and understand. The Superbowl was decided by mechanistic probability and divine luck, rather than any particular individual skill or talent, more than most sporting events. Especially in the first half, the two defences were firmly on top. Marshalled by the 49ers Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks and the Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, they played the odds to ensure the likelihood of big offensive plays were minimal.

“The Super Bowl was decided by mechanistic probability and divine luck, rather than any particular individual skill or talent...” Even with offensive talent such as Mahomes, Kelce, Purdy, 49ers Running Back Christian McCaffrey, Tight End George Kittel, and Wide Receivers Dee-

bo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk in the game, significant yardage was rarely gained. By gaming the numbers and limiting the chances of successful deep throws or runs, the defences maintained their superiority. As a result of this suffocation of scoring, it was always going to take something special to win this match. While it is easy to look for a hero in situations like this and anoint them the matchwinner, on this occasion, blind fortune has seized the throne as kingmaker. Arguably the turning point of the match occurred with the 49ers leading 10-6 and the Chiefs forced to punt. While this should have resulted in the 49ers beginning their own drive and potentially extending their lead, instead the ball bounced off the ankle of the unaware 49ers Darrell Luter and the Chiefs were able to recover it. They then scored their sole touchdown in regular time on the following play, without which it is hard to imagine them dragging the game to overtime. Indeed, it is notable that of the seven fumbles in the match the Chiefs recovered six of them. While it is easy to imagine an over-enthusiastic youth coach espousing how fumble recoveries shows passion and desire and determination, in reality, fumble recoveries are more reliant on the uneven bounce of an ov-

al-shaped ball than they are on the actions of any individual. Quite simply, the players are reduced to lottery players hoping the ball bounces their way.

“Quite simply, the players are reduced to lottery players hoping the ball bounces their way.” Following the Chiefs’ victory, many reports instantaneously lauded them as the next dynasty to replace Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots, appointed Mahomes the successor of Tom Brady, and declared Swift their good luck charm. Fun as these stories are, looking at the events of the match itself reveals a very different story. The Chiefs, like most winners of sporting events, have emotionless numbers and fickle chance to thank for their victory. They went to the casino, slowly grew their pot counting cards before lucking out on the green in the roulette. Of course, the players themselves played a key role in this, but they were certainly not the arbitrators of their destiny.

Sport 32 | Sport

Friday 16 February 2024 | The Oxford Student

A very silly season: Hamilton to Ferrari Gaspard Rouffin

t’s February, and like every year, F1 is back. But this year will be different: it started with what is certainly one of the biggest announcements in the sport in the past decade: Lewis Hamilton driving for Ferrari in 2025. Silly Season The 2024 silly season of driver transfers was bound to be particularly dramatic, with 15 of the 20 driver’s contracts ending at the end of the year. The only drivers safe from this were Verstappen (2028), Russel (2025), Piastri (2026) and Norris (“long-term”) as well as Stroll, on a “rolling” contract unlikely to end anytime soon with his father owning the team. Albon and Leclerc have since then signed contract extensions with their respective teams. But the biggest story, of course, is Lewis Hamilton, 7 time world champion, announcing that he will be leaving Mercedes where he won 6 of his titles, and joining Ferrari from 2025 onwards. This will have repercussions on the entire field, with drivers to be pulled by various teams ahead of the 2026 new regulations. Hamilton described the decision to leave Mercedes as

“one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made”, and it certainly came as a shock to many Silver Arrow fans. The racing driver had said last year that he wanted to finish his career at Mercedes, and win an 8th championship with his team. The decision to leave Mercedes is understandable from Lewis’ perspective: he hasn’t won a race in over two years since he lost the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the Championship to Max Verstappen, and the Mercedes car hasn’t exactly been competitive for the past few years.

“The decision to leave Mercedes is understandable... he hasn’t won a race in over two years...” Sure, it has shown a few signs of good performance and improvements, with several podiums last year alone, but it is nowhere near RedBull and the front of the grid. Hamilton has consistently complained about the new cars and even commented last year “I had asked for certain changes, and they weren’t done.” Other F1 teams using a Mercedes-Benz engine, such as Aston Martin or McLaren, have even often

surpassed the performance of the Silver Arrows last year.

Why Ferrari? Such big performance downsides could certainly outweigh Hamilton’s attachment to Mercedes, but why go to Ferrari now? Ferrari, of course, is probably the sport’s greatest and most prestigious team - and I am a Ferrari fan myself. But Ferrari hasn’t exactly been showing great performance in the last decade - the last time it won a World Championship was almost 20 years ago. Ferrari, the team that forgets to bring tyres to a pit stop, and that systematically opts for the wrong strategy on race weekends, forcing Sainz and Leclerc to make up their own strategy as they drive? Ferrari has shown signs of success in the past season Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix, and both drivers achieved several podiums. While the performance of the machine was quite good, its reliability was simply inexistant, with Leclerc even having to retire on the formation lap of the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix because of hydraulic failure. Mercedes and Ferrari overall performed quite similarly in the last few seasons, arriving tied in 2023 in the final Grand Prix, and Mer-

cedes achieving second place by 3 points only. In those conditions, Hamilton’s move to Ferrari is at best optimistic. Unless Ferrari shows significant progress in the next season, and RedBull unexpectedly delivers a low-performance car, it seems at this point unlikely that Hamilton will win his 8th title with Ferrari. Of course, the 2026 new regulations should even out the playing field - this might be Hamilton’s chance to be crowned once more. It is rumoured that Hamilton’s contract at Ferrari is 2 years, with a 1 year extension option, but at 39 years old, his chances to win a world title are now counted.

Where will Mercedes go? Mercedes is a clear loser in this new deal. While T o t o Wolff claimed that he “ h e l d no grudge” against Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, he was reportedly informed only the day before the news was made public. With the team losing their flagship driver, winning a constructor’s championship in the future seems more unlikely than ever before. The move benefits George Russell, one time race winner, and now Mercedes’ primary diver from 2025 onwards. This should mean a machinery more tailored to his personal driving style, and potentially favourable strategy calls in critical situations.

“In those conditions, Hamilton’s move to Ferrari is at best optimistic.”

Image credit: fuji.tim

Mick Schumacher, Mercedes reserve driver, has already stated that he will not be taking Hamilton’s place. The next best candidates could be Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 17yo Italian driver part of Mercedes’ Academy, or Esteban Ocon, who has historic ties to the Silver Arrows. Mercedes’ seat will certainly be one of the most sought after for the 2025 season.

There are rumours that Mercedes engineers Loïc Serra (performance director) and Peter Bonnington (“Bonno”, Hamilton’s race engineer) could also be moving to Ferrari, and that these moves influenced Hamilton’s decision. However, it would not be unlikely that Hamilton’s contract included clauses preventing him from taking with him Mercedes staff when changing teams. What does this mean for Ferrari, Leclerc, and Sainz? For Ferrari, acquiring the sport’s greatest ever driver is certainly a victory. It secures the team’s driver lineup for the foreseeable future, with Leclerc having signed a “multi-year” extension earlier last month and Hamilton joining the team for 2-3 years. It boosts its image, and secures its role as a prestigious and historical F1 team - in the past week alone, Ferrari’s stock has gone up nearly 15%. However, Hamilton coming to Ferrari is certainly not good news for Ferrari’s current drivers. Leclerc reportedly knew about the possibility of Lewis’ move before signing his “multi-year” contract extension, but this will place him in a difficult and uncomfortable position. While he was until now Ferrari’s primary driver, he will be relegated to second place, his preferences foreseeably coming after those of Hamilton’s. He is certainly world champion material, but any opportunity to win the championship for him has now been pushed back by at least two years. Sainz is by far the biggest loser for 2025, but his situation may not be as bad as it seems. While losing your job is of course never fun, this does put him as one of the top contenders for a place in 2026 at Audi, which could be one of the best competitors on the grid. The 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons will be some of the most thrilling the sport has seen in decades, and will be shaped by Hamilton moving for Ferrari. Now let’s see what Drive to Survive makes of it.