The Oxford Student - Week 3 Michaelmas 2023 by The Oxford Student

Culture

Justin Timberlake and the tricky art of the breakup text

Comment

Sport

Just Stop Oil: Activism or publicity?

The

Crossover Boxing: A score settled

Michaelmas Term, Week 3 | Friday 27 October 2023

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

emonstrators calling for the liberation of Palestine gathered outside of the Clarendon Building on Broad Street on Tuesday. The demonstra-

Read on page 19

Martin Alfonsin Larsen and Etienne Baker

tion was organised by Action Against Oxford War Crimes and Oxford Palestine Society. Announcing the event, Oxford Palestine Society pointed to the University accepting “millions

in research and consultancy funding from companies found by Amnesty international to fail to ‘demonstrate adequate human rights due diligence’”. Speakers at the protest force-

SU scraps half of Student Council meetings The new rules halve the

Rose Henderson and Milo Dennison

he SU Trustee Board has acted unconstitutionally by driving through changes to Student Council with no consultation of Student Council. The SU By-Laws only stated that the Council can amend the Rules of Council, yet new rules were published with no notice on the website and without Council approving them.

number of Student Council meetings per term from four to two, slashing the opportunity for students to have their voices heard. The provision for extraordinary meetings and extraordinary motions has also been removed. This was done without even a meeting of the Trustee Board to discuss these major changes. Instead, the SU CEO emailed the members of the Trustee Board asking them to vote Read more on page 5

Protesters carried signs with text reading slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine”, and “£190m accepted by Sanctuary Unis from Lockheed Martin, BAE, Rolls Royce, and more” One of the eight Labour councillors that resigned last week, Jabu Nala-Hartley, spoke at the demonstration. Throughout her speech, the former Labour councillor stated that Israel had created an apartheid state in Palestine. She said that Labour is sending out a message that “it is okay for Israel to obliterate Palestinians” and that Keir Starmer has “shown his true colours.” Nala-Hartley invoked Nelson Mandela in stating that the struggle against apartheid in South Africa was “intertwined” with the struggle in Palestine. A speaker later began to chant, “Keir Starmer, blood on your hands”, as well as, “Rishi Sunak, blood on your hands”, “BBC, blood on your hands” and “Oxford Uni, blood on your hands.” There was a general consensus among speakers that the most important course of action for those who support Palestine

Read more on page 4

“

Oxford University’s primary focus is the health and wellbeing of staff and students impacted by the terrible events in Israel and Gaza

“

Palestine liberation protest criticises University

forcefully criticised the University of Oxford. They drew attention to Oxford’s status as one of the top 5 UK universities in receipt of funds from money from arms manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Rolls-Royce. Protesters chanted: “Oxford Uni you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”. One speaker stated that “only a revolutionary solution can bring Palestinian liberation.” In addition, they also critiqued the University’s apparent hypocrisy in their University of Sanctuary status, which was granted earlier this year. A speaker said that Oxford “creates displacement and then profits from those fleeing”. One speaker stated that the University was complicit in the “genocide being perpetuated against the Palestinian people by the Israeli state” and that it “[acts] and [enables] systemRead more of on page 3 atic oppression Palestinians”. They went on to say that the “reason why the University takes money is that [weapons] are used in the systems upholding imperialism and white supremacy all across the world”.

- University statement on Palestine liberation protest

2 | Editorial

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

THE EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITORS IN CHIEF Emily Hudson and Charlie Bowden ASSOCIATE EDITORS Tara Earley and Martin Alfonsin Larsen CREATIVE DIRECTOR Amy Ellis Winter STRATEGY Rose Henderson (director), Milo Dennison, Ayomilekan Adegunwa NEWS Daisy Outram, Blane Aitchison, Etienne Baker, Gaspard Rouffin, Tasneem Jodiyawalla, Milo Dennison, Rose Henderson COMMENT Jack Arrowsmith, Haochen Wang, Thomas Cowan PROFILE Martin Alfonsin Larsen, Lukas Seifert, Jack Arrowsmith, Holly Errington PINK Etienne Baker, Amelia Gibbins, Charlie Wild, Lauren Gray IDENTITY Sami Jalil, Georgia Ferris, Ivy Wong, Amelia Gibbins FEATURES Haochen Wang, Patrick Groves, Elliot Francolla CULTURE Jennifer Robinson, Johannah Mathew, Ivy Wong, Declan Collins FOOD & DRINK Tara Earley, Johannah Mathew, GREEN Jasmine Wilkinson, Gaspard Rouffin, Jessica Wang SCITECH Bridget Harrington, Tymoteusz Syrytczyk, Samkeet Shah, Gabriella Kchozyan OXYOU Olly DeHerrera, Florence Purcell SPORT Patrick Groves, Purav Menon, Thomas Thornton, Charlie Wild COLUMNISTS Blane Aitchison, Paul Furey, Matthew Holland, Jonah Poulard, Vuk Winrow, Amanda Li CREATIVE Amy Ellis Winter, Charlotte Kerr, Cameron Samuel Keys, PODCAST Tara Earley, Ashley Lee, Niall Hall, Sam Freeman, Holly Gowland, Cindy Yu

he weather’s turned and suddenly I’m wrapping up in college stash to make the commute into town. Still, I wouldn’t change a thing about the way this term has gone so far – excepting some horrendous bad luck putting my laptop (gasp) temporarily out of action. We are certainly in times of change, with storms raging across the country, in both weather and politics. I have the enduring hope that things will get better. Work seems to get easier every year, but being in my fourth year it’s all tinged bittersweet, knowing that this may be the last time I’m

t’s amazing how quickly two weeks can fly by in Oxford, and this is especially true when gathering content for a student newspaper. Things are constantly going on around the University to keep tabs on, even if the paint buckets of Just Stop Oil haven’t graced our front page for a second time running. I’d like to spotlight the hard work of our News team in covering various protests recently because it’s important that the voices of students and the local community are amplified through media. I would also like to spotlight the even harder work of Daisy

free to explore my interests and call it “work”. I’m trying to make the most of Oxford whilst I am still here, so I’ve gone out of my way to get a local library card (they’re free) to read fiction again. It had been a while – it’s difficult to truly relax when you have so much to do, so more often than not I’ve felt a duty to read nonfiction and “expand my mind”. There are some fantastic pieces in the paper this week that I’m proud to be publishing, so don’t turn away after the news; there are 32 whole pages to enjoy. Thank you ever so much to our editors for the time you’ve committed to the paper, I hope you’ve enjoyed working on it as much as I have. Special thanks this week to Jenny, Jasmine, Daisy, Etienne, Jack, Blane, and especially Hoachen whose InDesign efficiency is unmatched.

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@theofficialoxstu

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Editors’ Picks Features

Mr. Mayor! Tear down these tower blocks!

Profile

SciTech

In conversation with Melissa Terras

Can lab grown meat solve the climate crisis?

Emily Hudson

Oriel College

Green

Charlie Bowden

Jesus College

t’s fair to say that the last few weeks have been my busiest in Oxford by a country mile. Throughout all the essay crises, 12-hour play rehearsals, and mystery illnesses, OxStu has been a safe (if largely remote, via Messenger) haven where I can lose myself in the banter of lay-ins and cosiness of print socials. The Spotlight Social on Saturday was particularly memorable; the harrowing hunt for St John’s’ garden quad shall not be forgotten. Thank you to the podcast team for your continued hard work, and to all the editors for putting in an absolute shift this week, as ever. Enjoy our wonderful week 3 edition!

27 26

'Pollution Pods' art installation opens at St John's College

From the Editors in lay in this week, who had to re-do an entire double page spread because of InDesign being temperamental. The world's worst technological evils cannot beat our intrepid Head of News. The podcast is also still going strong so keep an eye out for this week’s episode where the hosts pull back the curtain and tell you a bit more about themselves. I am crossing my fingers that the 3 million questions I submitted to them made the cut. Thanks as ever to our amazing team. In other news, I've learned to not skip lectures for fear of loosing an institutional curse that manifests in my tutorial partner fainting. Sorry Charis. Of course it would only happen while I was gone. Team Kate Butch to win Drag Race UK by the way.

Tara Earley

his last week at the OxStu has been great. I’ve had the pleasure of editing Rose’s profile of Melissa Terras and covering a demonstration for the liberation of Palestine three days ago with Etienne, Daisy, and Cameron. Collaboration is the lifeblood of student journalism, and it’s a welcome break from degree work. On that note, I want to thank some of the people who've made this experience what it is. There are too many to list, but I’ll try and get some of you; Charlie, Emily, Tara, Rose, Daisy, Milo, Etienne, Blane, Lukas, Jack, Holly, Anvee, Susie, Matt, Anna, Ayomi, and many others.

Hertford College

St Catherine's College

Martin Alfonsin Larsen

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

editor@oxfordstudent.com

Profile - p. 12 Pink - p. 15

Features - p. 20Green - p. 26 OxYou- p. 29 Sport - p. 31

NEWS

@TheOxStu

The Oxford Student

oxfordstudent.com

Council to make LTNs permanent amid 15-minute cities dispute

Contents News - p. 3

News | 3

Comment - p. 8 Identity - p. 14

Columns - p. 16 Culture - p. 22 SciTech - p.27

Food & Drink - p. 30

To find more online, scan the QR code

Illustration: Jonas Muschalski

Daisy Outram Head of News

he Oxfordshire County Council made the decision to continue the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods scheme in east Oxford on 17th October, which was previously linked to controversy over 15-minute cities. In an interview in September, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke on plans to stop councils creating 15-minute cities to halt “anti-car measures”. He attacked “harebrained schemes” like LTNs and expressed that “cars are freedom for most people”. The measures mean that motor vehicles are prevented from using shortcuts through residential areas, aiming to calm traffic and make streets safer. Meeting in County Hall, the Liberal Democrat and Green Party cabinet agreed to keep the LTNs, but there would be exemptions for emergency services, waste and postal services, and vehicles hired on a private basis. This comes after former mayor of Oxford Mark Lygo said that it was “[t]ime to rethink Oxford’s LTNs”, saying that the scheme “isn’t working”. He pointed to congestion and that the scheme has “made bus journey times in

Oxford considerably worse”, so the decision-makers need “a different approach”. Emily Kerr (Green Party), Oxford City Councillor for St Mary’s Ward, said that she was “pleased” at the decision today as it “is a welcome step to ensuring Oxford has safe, clean and green streets”. Kerr said the changes had meant “cycling is up 20%, car use is down 10%, road collisions have halved, and children are walking, scooting and cycling to school at unprecedented rates”. Council work would now need “to address the key issue of peak-time, peak-date congestion at The Plain roundabout” for a good system for all. In September, the city council’s cabinet member for housing Linda Smith (Labour) expressed that “routes through the conglomeration of LTNs are needed to allow the traffic to move”. This came after a 90 minute journey she had to take to get to Marston and back. Consultation on the proposal for east Oxford LTNs began in March 2021, engaging with the public to create a report shown to cabinet in June that year. Changes at that point included redesigning the traffic filter on Magdalen Street, where use

of private cars is restricted in favour of buses and cyclists. After the trial began in May 2022, consultation reopened with the response reflecting improvements for pedestrian and cyclist safety. The six-month trial was also shown to reduce noise and pollution, but concerns over traffic being displaced elsewhere and reduced access to important locations emerged. A protest in February against changes took place in order “to say no to 15-minute cities”. Protestors held discouraging driving in this way infringed their freedom, one of whom was Laurence Fox who has connected the plans to a wider plan to control people The controversy also led to vandalism and bollards going missing, hampering evaluation of the scheme. As a result, the council again asked for the general public’s view in June 2023. Feedback contributed to the proposals put to council, including the suggestion to use automatic number plate recognition cameras instead of bollards in several locations and introduce bollards or planters on Jeune Street in St Clement’s. Image credit: Tara Earley.

4 | News

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Palestine liberation protest criticises University Martin Alfonsin Larsen, Etienne Baker News Team

Cont. from front page

is to go to the protest happening in London this weekend. One speaker urged people to wear black and have a respectful tone, to demonstrate mourning for those lost in the conflict. A student who spoke urged members of JCRs and MCRs to propose motions and speak up using this forum. A student organiser, who

also spoke at the protest, stated: “Oxford University has been taking funds from Lockheed Martin and BAE systems, who are funding the arms that the Israeli state are using to bomb and do an active genocide against the Palestinians. We are here to protest that, and get them to stop.” An organiser for Socialist Appeal in Oxford, who also spoke at the protest, stated: “The working class movement has a proud history of international solidarity that we should up-

hold […] it’s very obvious that the power to change anything is going to come from no one but us.” A spokesperson for the University expressed their “primary focus is the health and well-being of staff and students impacted by the terrible events in Israel and Gaza, and it has written directly to those affected to offer welfare and other types of support”. The “University and its colleges are working to ensure all members of our community

are supported as much as possible, and [they] will continue to respond as appropriate as the situation develops”. Tuesday’s protest follows a demonstration of around 300 people standing with Palestine earlier this month, alongside one last week in Wellington Square with 100 protestors urging the University to “act against genocide”.

citizens”. Four hostages have been released from Gaza so far. One freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz stated she “went through hell” when kidnapped by gunmen during the assault in Israel on October 7th. Oxford University’s three main political societies endorsed the recent statement: the Conservative Association (OUCA), the Labour Club (OULC), and the Liberal Democrats (OULD). Prior to this in 2016, OUCA and OULD, as well as thirty former OULC Co-Chairs signed an open letter opposing OULC’s endorsement of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). This was a series of lectures condemning the Israeli occupation of Palestine and supporting the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movements. The signatories of this open letter criticised the use of the term “apartheid” in respect to Israeli policy, and expressed that “it is wrong to contend that Israel – a multiracial democracy – even remotely resembles the horrors of South Africa’s racist dictatorship”. OUCA commented on the recent statement that though “[m]any things in

geopolitics are complicated and difficult”, the “right of sovereign democracies to defend themselves against terrorist incursions and protect the integrity of their borders” was not. Signatories of the recent statement also include Oxford JSoc, Chabad Jewish Center of Oxford and The Newman Society (the Catholic Society). The Pinsker Centre, an organisation which describes itself as “a think-tank supporting free speech and open debate on university campuses” also expressed its support. Previously the Oxford Israel Society responded to recent demonstrations for Palestine in another statement calling the Hamas assault “one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in history”, pointing out the “barbarity” of civilian losses. They stated “it is the duty of the world to see Hamas removed”. This also condemned reporting on the conflict for framing “Israeli attempts to save civilians as illegal or even genocidal”. They instead state “Hamas is using the people of Gaza as human shields” and that “civilian infrastructure used for military purposes are legal tar-

gets”. On support for the recent statement, Oxford Israel Society commented they were “glad” that “support for the return of the hostages is so broad across the student body”. They hoped hostages would be returned “back home” and that “perpetrators of these horrific crimes brought to justice”. They also referenced that their “call follows a letter by the Oxford PalSoc”, quoting their view that the 7th October attacks were “the result of Palestinians’ long-brewing and well-founded anger in response to Israel”. On 13th October, the Oxford Palestine Society published a joint statement expressing its “unequivocal support of Palestinian liberation” and calling for “an immediate end to Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza”. The statement identifies the “root cause of ongoing violence” as “Israeli settler-colonial occupation”. The signatories state that their sentiments are supported by “international human rights organisations, the United Nations OHCHR, over 140 countries in the UN General Assembly, and millions across the globe who sympathise with the Pales-

operations, public affairs, and diplomatic relations. Conricus has over 20 years of military service. Society members were told not to forward information about the event “without approval”. The briefing took security concerns into account in what information to provide on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Speaking to Cherwell, the Oxford Israel Society stated that Conricus emphasised the “tremendous efforts” Israel

is undertaking to only strike military targets in the Gaza Strip. He also said that the IDF and the Israeli government are committed to “rescue the hostages and protect civilian lives”. The Israeli Embassy continued the Q&A after the IDF briefing, focusing on casualty numbers and trust in the media’s reporting of the conflict. In a video shared to YouTube by the IDF on 20th October, Conricus stated that Israelis “have no choice but to fight

for [their] safety and very existence”. Speaking to CNN on 16th October, he called the political and military leaders of Hamas “dead men walking”. The Oxford Israel Society said in a comment to Cherwell that they “look forward to hosting more events, and giving a space and voice for students who wish to support Israel, and celebrate Israeli cultural and social life.” Image Credit: James F Clay

Image Credit: Cameron Samuel Keys for The Oxford Student

Societies issue statements on crisis in Israel-Gaza

Tasneem Jodiyawalla News Editor

he newly-formed Oxford Israel Society and the Oxford Palestine Society have both issued statements on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The conflict in question follows a Hamas attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7th October killing more than 1,400 people and taking more than 220 hostages. Air strikes from Israel in retaliation have reportedly led to 5,800 deaths. On Tuesday the Oxford Israel Society published a “historic statement” calling for “the immediate unconditional release of 200+ Israeli hostages illegally held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists, including at least 10 British

tinian cause”. Broader support was pointed to in the statement with the 2021 example where “a record-breaking 180,000 people marched” for Palestine, precedent for the 100,000 demonstrators in London over the weekend. To understand the background, the statement also emphasises that international and Israeli human rights organisations have published reports “outlining how Israel’s actions fit the international definition of the crime of apartheid”. They also quoted the organisation Jewish Voice for Peace in their calls for the US to end military aid to Israel in order to end the “military occupation over Palestinians”. The statement aimed to unite people in similar opposition to Oxford’s role in “[upholding] colonial power structures”. Including Oxford Palestine Society, fifteen Oxford societies have endorsed this statement so far. These include the Rhodes Scholars for Palestine, the Arab Society, the South Asian Society, the Syria Society, the AhlulBayt Islamic Society, Divest Borders Oxford, and the Marxist Society.

Oxford Israel Society hosts Q&A with IDF spokesperson Charlie Bowden Editor-in-Chief

n 19th October the Oxford Israel Society hosted an international spokesperson of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) for a virtual briefing and Q&A session. The event, accessible to society members only, was with Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, international spokesperson of the IDF responsible for social media

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

SU scraps half of Student Council meetings Rose Henderson and Milo Dennison News Team

Cont. from front page

electronically, telling them that he had consulted students on the proposals. However, The Oxford Student can reveal that rather than putting a motion to Student Council allowing any student to express their opinions, the extent of student consultation was casual conversations over the summer between the SU President and some JCR Presidents on general problems with the SU, rather than the rule change being proposed as a definite policy. The Oxford Student can also reveal that some JCR Presidents who were consulted were told that the changes would mean they would not have to attend as many meetings and that pizza would be provided. One JCR President we spoke to told us that they were simply told that the changes had been made, with no opportunity to express their own views. Another only heard that the change was being made after The Oxford Student contacted them. The changes have caused serious concern amongst the student body. A complaint has been submitted to both the SU and the ViceChancellor outlining the unconstitutional nature of the complaints. The University has been asked for comment. The complainant told The Oxford Student that “the Trustee Board’s decision was not only unconstitutional and undemocratic, it was foolish. This complaint only asks them to affirm what everyone already knows, that the trustees never had the power to change when or how often the Council meets. The SU’s rules are democratically

decided and it is not for its leaders, duly elected or not, to wilfully disregard them. Reducing meetings of the Council will hurt student engagement, reduce scrutiny, and distance sabbatical officers even further from the students they serve. Everyone else can decide if those are the priorities they want sabs to have.” The Trustee Board is made up of the SU’s elected Sabbatical Officers, including Danial Hussain the SU President, three elected student trustees, and four external trustees. The SU website states that this group is “legally responsible for its [the SU’s] financial and legal health and strategic direction.” When we asked the SU President about these changes at his “Ask us anything” event outside the RadCam, he repeatedly declined to comment, instead simply staring silently at The Oxford Student’s reporters. This comes despite earlier assertions that he was keen to be open and transparent with the student press. The 2022/23 Student Council Chair was not consulted on the changes, and when Isaac Chase-Rahman, the 2023/24 Chair, contacted the SU with his concerns about the proposed changes in a 2000-word email, they responded in under 400 words and failed to address all of his critiques, which included concerns over the removal of extraordinary meetings and motions and the fact that the changes could lead to a perception that the rules represent a “move away from Student Council being structured around students and towards being structured around non-students, particularly trustees and the university.” Chase-Rahman told The Oxford Student, “Student

Council has always been the only place that students can rely on to hold the SU and Sabbs to account, and make their own voices heard, and this change jeopardises that. A body run by students for students has been changed by non-students into a body for non-students. This move by the SU destroys accountability and transparency for the people they are meant to represent – us students. I believe this change has been made based off inadequate and inappropriate student consultation, done in a way to allow this to be rushed through by the Trustee Board and prevent students having a proper say in the matter. It is undemocratic and flies in the face of the principles of Student Council.” In the proposed policy document prepared by the Student Union, seen by The Oxford Student, Student Council is described as “not fit for purpose” with the timeline of Student Council and Trustee Board meetings “too condensed for Trustees to fulfil their legal responsibilities”. The previous arrangement of four meetings per term is described as “detrimental to Sabbatical Officer wellbeing.” The document also notes that the Council is “relatively ineffective” and that there has been a “significant drop in Council engagement over the last two years.” The SU said, “Due to unmatched inflationary pressures and their impact on our grant funding, Oxford SU faces financial challenges. In response, our CEO, with the board of trustees’ authority, conducted an internal review to formulate strategies ensuring our financial sustainability while upholding our core mission. To optimise resources for student-focused projects this academic year, the

number of council meetings will be reduced from four to two per term. Moreover, meetings will be hosted within colleges, facilitating easier student engagement, and fostering local democratic involvement. The adjustments will enhance our student engagement efforts, allowing for increased student interaction and project development. We are initiating a comprehensive review and invite students from the entire collegiate university to join us. Our aim is to create an SU that resonates with every common room and serves our 25,000+ student community.” The CEO of the SU is a separate position to the SU President. Paddy Breeze, JCR President at St John’s College and one of the JCR Presidents the SU consulted said, “I’m very supportive of the reduction of the number of Student Council meetings, and grateful to have had the opportunity to consult on the change with the SU President. I remain unconvinced about the effectiveness of this forum for formulating SU policy, or its mandate as a representative body for students. The common rooms are the bodies which are most in touch with the needs and views of students, and I would be very supportive of any move by the Student Union to further collaborate with existing JCR/MCR structures in its policy-making process” The Oxford Student has also received an email, sent to the PresCom mailing list (i.e. all JCR and MCR Presidents), asking them to sign a petition of no confidence. The email accuses him of not properly consulting students over the changes, and draws links to Danial Hussain’s time as Director of Research for The Oxford Union whilst Ahmad Nawaz was President. It also makes a number of other claims, which The Oxford Student has been unable to verify. It is unclear whether the motion will be brought to Student Council, particularly since extraordinary meetings can no longer take place. The No Confidence Campaign has created an Instagram account, where it describes itself as a “Campaign To bring A Democratic No Confidence Vote Against Corrupt and Bullying Changes.”

News | 5

DisCam responds to ADHD medicine shortage Blane Aitchison News Editor

isCam, the University of

Oxford’s Student Union Disabilities Campaign has put out a statement to “express their support for all students currently affected by the national shortage of medication used to help manage the symptoms of ADHD”, and are taking steps to aid students in a “non-medical capacity”. This comes during a national shortage of three varieties of ADHD medication was announced at the start of October, with the Department for Health and Social Care stating that “increased global demand and manufacturing issues” are behind the shortage. Government analysis suggests supply issues could reportedly last until December. The campaign has informed the university’s Disability Advisory Service of its awareness of the issue, and has added its support to informing colleges, tutors, and welfare teams about issues the shortage may cause. DisCam are running study sessions for all students using a “body doubling technique”, in which students work alongside others in order to manage ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence such as executive dysfunction. The campaign is also writing a guide for how people with ADHD can attempt to get their medication from a different pharmacy using their original prescription. DisCam closed their statement by emphasising their support for those facing difficulties with university staff not making accommodations, and say they will “do our utmost to assist in ensuring students are treated fairly and not penalised”. The charity ADHD UK estimates that between 3% and 4% of the UK population have some form of ADHD, based on data from NICE and Lancet.

6 | News

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Christ Church votes to allow non-clergy College Oxford head Tube Charlie Bowden Editor-in-Chief

he governing body of Christ Church has approved a proposal which would allow non-clergy to lead the college for the first time in its history. This follows an independent review of Christ Church’s governance released in May by Dominic Grieve KC, which recommended that the head of the college should not be required to be a member of the clergy. This change would give the governing body more freedom in selecting who should lead the college. The proposal serves to divide the current responsibilities of Christ Church’s Dean into two roles. The Dean would remain in charge of the cathedral, working alongside a separate college head. The Dean is currently in charge of a single founda-

tion which comprises Christ Church Cathedral and Christ Church as an Oxford college. Therefore, the Dean must be an ordained Anglican priest. On 18th October the governing body took an indicative decision to approve the proposal, but it is still subject to a formal vote and further approval by the University, the Church of England, and Parliament. If adopted, the change would open up leadership of Christ Church as a college to a non-clergy member for the first time since its establishment by Henry VIII in 1546. The Very Revd Professor Sarah Foot, Dean of Christ Church, said: “This vote signals an historic change for both the College and Cathedral at Christ Church. It is no longer appropriate that the leadership of an Oxford University college should be reserved exclusively to ordained priests. “The Governing Body’s decision will ensure that future

appointments to the headship of the Foundation can be drawn from the widest range of applicants. “The deanship of the Cathedral is a senior office in the Church of England with significant responsibilities. Future Deans will be able to dedicate themselves to leading the mission, ministry and management of the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Oxford, overseeing its prayer and worship.” Though the vote signalled support for separate leadership of the college and ca-

experiencing slowness in accessing the tests. We request you to wait for a few mins and we will let you know when things are back to normal. We assure you that students will not lose any test time”. A parent on X said that the ELAT test was “delayed, going off line, losing annotations, even the exam question was wrong.” The University has said it will not use results in awarding places for next year’s English courses. A spokesperson expressed that they “understand the difficulty and disappointment some UK students

have experienced because of technical problems with online admissions tests.” They also explained admissions tests make up “only one part of the admissions process”, and the University “will be having further talks with the provider to understand better why these problems occurred”. Severe issues were also reported with the Mathematics Admission Test (MAT) required for computer science and maths, where candidates were not able to return to their tests. One user said they had “over

thedral, Christ Church would remain within a single foundation in Oxford. Professor Foot assumed office in July 2023 and may be the last person in the college’s almost 500-year history to lead both parts of the foundation. She was also the first woman to take up the role in Christ Church’s history. Her appointment followed controversy over the position of the previous Dean, Martyn Percy, due to a conflict over pay in 2018 and allegations of misconduct in 2020.

Disruptions plague Oxford online admissions tests

Valida Pau News Editor

pplicants taking the University’s new online admission tests were plagued with technical difficulties yesterday. Students taking the English Literature Assessment Test (ELAT) could not log on to the platform, were kicked out during the test, or experienced ongoing crashes. Many encountered an error message stating “We would like to inform you that we are

90 minutes [delay] plus ongoing glitches followed by the issuance of a paper version of the MAT after two hours.” Applicants were due to take tests in physics, philosophy, modern languages and history using the same online platform. After the first day, test centres will receive the test beforehand and print it locally. This year, Oxford opted to use an online platform developed by Tata Consulting Services (TCS) for most of its admissions tests in an effort to transition away from using the Cambridge Assessment Admission Testing in 2024. Only the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) and Biomedical Assessment Test (BMAT) are still administered by the CAAT, using a paper-based format. Bill Watkin, the chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, told the Guardian that “The Oxford University admissions tests were beset by technical problems, largely a malfunctioning platform and inadequate support communications, and too many students were unable to take the test in a calm, orderly environment. “The big concern is that the technology meltdown will have affected the performance of some candidates and not others and that the unlucky ones will miss out on their university dream.”

begins expanded service operation Etienne Baker News Editor

rom today several extra Oxford Tube services are now available for use by passengers, following the success of the coach service. Passengers are able to board from Carterton, Witney, or Eynsham to travel to London. There is also a new stop in High Wycombe, available hourly on weekdays. Boarding from any of these four morning weekday departures in West Oxfordshire, coaches will bypass the Oxford city centre, stop at Thornhill and then continue on to London. The new service in High Wycombe will connect High Wycombe with Oxford Brookes, Headington, and Oxford city centre. The changes also include an increased frequency of the core service. Coaches will run up to every 8 to 12 minutes on a Saturday, 10 to 15 minutes Monday to Friday and up to 20 minutes in the night. The additional connections expand upon the popular travel mode among students and Oxfordshire citizens alike and has been made possible due to more coaches being added to the fleet. Operations director Chris Hanson at Stagecoach West said that the extra services were due to the ‘roaring success’ of the core service in a quote to the BBC. Managing director of Stagecoach West, Rachel Geliamassi told the Oxford Mail that ‘today is a very exciting day for the Oxford Tube’ and that ‘the expansion of the service and these new stops will make the daily commute so much easier.’ As well as this, in a press release, Geliamassi said that ‘air con, super comfy seats, tables and charging points make our Oxford Tube an incredibly attractive option when travelling into London.’ Ticket pricing is unaffected by these changes, with a student return for use within 3 months between Oxford and London being currently £18, whilst an adult ticket costs £20.

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

News | 7

Stella Dadzie pulls out of Union talk over controversy concerns

The Oxford Student News Team

tella Dadzie, a writer and historian best known for her co-authorship of The Heart of the Race: Black Women’s Lives in Britain, has pulled out of her appearance at the Oxford Union where she was due to take part in a “Pathways for Liberation event” on Tuesday 21st November. She made the decision to pull out after being contacted by a group campaigning against the Union, which has targeted a number of speakers appearing at the Union this term with emails urging them to pull out. Dadzie was scheduled to appear alongside Dr Helen Pankhurst and Dr Shola MosShogbamimu as part of the event, which was supposed to discuss feminist voices in the 21st century, but the status of the event is now unclear. The cancellation will increase pressure on Union President Disha Hegde to

reconsider the invitations of a number of controversial speakers including Katie Hopkins and Ben Shapiro. She has already faced discontent in her own committee over the invitations, after LibrarianElect Ebrahim Mowafy gave a fiery speech in a meeting of Standing Committee. In a speech, Mowafy cited Hopkins’ remarks, which include “[look], the Jews are not as bad as the Muslims, at least we know we can cull them by a third if we need to”. He added that “hate speech… is not free speech”. Hegde drew controversy last month when she invited a host of controversial figures to speaker events in the Union. They included Katie Hopkins, who is scheduled to speak at a debate on veganism in 8th week, and Ben Shapiro, who is scheduled to be interviewed and questioned by Union leadership and members. This follows a term of controversy in Trinity, when

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ended up weighing in on the Union’s invitation of Kathleen Stock following weeks of national news coverage. A Boycott the Union campaign was previously launched in 2019 in response to the Union’s invitation of “fascist and racist figures”. As one of the people coordinating the current campaign against the Union, Alfie Davis said that they “cannot thank Ms Dadzie enough for standing in solidarity with us”. They criticised the Union using “accomplished activists and thinkers to attempt to draw in freshers” amongst invitations for “right wing, white supremacist bigots”. Davis also pointed to an “alleged culture of bullying, harassment and discrimination” that was raised when the Student Union severed ties with the Union last term. The motion aimed to safeguard students against this culture in the danger highlighting there was “no external body

to regulate or hold the Union accountable for its actions”. The Oxford Union told The Oxford Student: “The Oxford Union was founded two hundred years ago on the principles of free speech and open debate. This means that every term, we feature speakers from a range of backgrounds, fields and viewpoints. For example, this term we will be hearing from Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Tom Hanks, Ginger Spice and Ben Shapiro, among many others. The Union provides an opportunity to hear from and to challenge those who we disagree with. Crucially, we only host speakers who agree to be challenged – either within the form of a debate, or through questions from our members. Freedom of speech is not just a oneway street – it must always include the right to challenge and speak against those who you do not agree with. “Ms Dadzie was scheduled to speak on our Feminism

Panel alongside Dr Helen Pankhurst and Dr Mos-Shogbamimu. We regret that she will no longer be attending, yet the event will go ahead on the 21st of November at 17.00 PM.”

Credit: US State Department

8 Labour councillors resign over Starmer’s Gaza comments

The Oxford Student News Team

ight Labour members of Oxford City Council have resigned their party membership this month, citing Keir Starmer’s refusal to condemn the “collective punishment of Palestinians” in the conflict in Gaza. The first two resignations came on 13th October. Cllrs Shaista Aziz and Amar Latif resigned in response to a comment Starmer made in an interview with LBC on 11th October. The Labour leader said that Israel “has the right to defend herself” when questioned about a blockade restricting necessities from civilians in Gaza. Aziz, who has served on the council since 2018, told the Oxford Mail that she was “appalled” at these words. She emphasised that whilst she was “devastated” by Hamas’ attack on Israel, politicians must “evok[e] humanity” and “put an end to collective punishment in Gaza”. She also condemned Israel’s response because it “contravenes international law”. When contacted again by the LBC regarding his comments, Starmer stood by his previous statement, but added that “everything should be done within international law”. Latif, who has served since 2021, also expressed his disappointment in Starmer’s response to a crisis “unlike any

other”. Both councillors had contacted national and local leadership for “urgent clarification” of the issue, given their concerns over the “direct contravention of international law”. They did not hear back, so immediately resigned, viewing Labour’s response as one which demonstrated “the lack of humanity and regard for the rights of the Palestinian people”. A further six Labour councillors left the party on 20th October at a meeting of the Oxford and District Labour Party. Among them are Cllr Jabu Nala-Hartley, former Chair of the ODLP; Cllr Edward Mundy, former Whip of the City Council Labour Group; and Cllrs Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, Paula Dunne, Duncan Hall, and Imogen Thomas. Cllr Thomas outlined her reasons for leaving the party in a speech. She stated that “the UN has ruled that Gaza is still under Israeli occupation. Under international law, the occupying power is responsible for meeting the needs of its population. However, since at least 2007, Gaza has been under blockade; an act illegal under international law. “The Labour leadership, locally and nationally, has sought to actively silence members and representatives who have acted to high-

Credit: Chris McAndrew light violations of international law, banning motions, as we’ve seen, from branches, strongly advising councillors against attending demonstrations.” In a joint statement released after the meeting, the councillors said: “At a time when it’s been crucial to call for an immediate ceasefire and a deescalation, and to insist Israel abides by international law, Keir Starmer and the shadow Foreign Secretary have instead endorsed collective punishment, blockade, siege and mass civilian casualties. “As Starmer has said, “Israel has that right” to continue deadly attacks on Gazans. This is complicity in war crimes.”

Pressure is mounting on Starmer after he attempted to reconcile with members in a letter on 18th October. Despite expressing that “this is a terrifying and distressing time for everyone – Israeli, Palestinian, Muslim and Jew”, tensions in the party remain. The eight resignations this month bring the number of Labour city councillors down to 24, with 24 in opposition. All eight former Labour councillors will continue to serve as independents. The Oxford City Council Labour leader Susan Brown expressed that the party “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself from the indefensible actions of Hamas… in line with international law”. This

was to be balanced with “humanitarian access to Gaza”. Cllr Chris Smowton, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on the council, said in response to the resignations: “This cannot have been an easy decision for those councillors who have resigned from Labour. I can understand their frustration with Keir Starmer, who has failed to communicate that both terrorism and inhumane response to terrorism are unacceptable. “Labour has lost its majority on Oxford City Council. If they can’t get a grip, then the Liberal Democrats stand ready to get on with the job of governing in the best interests of our city.”

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Deputy Editor: Jack Arrowsmith Section Editors: Haochen Wang, Tasneem Jodiyawalla, Thomas Cowan comment@oxfordstudent.com

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Comment Just Stop Oil: Activism or publicity?

Haochen Wang

iven that it’s now been almost two weeks since the Radcliffe Camera (Rad Cam) was “redecorated” with some bright orange paint, I feel that we’ve all somewhat calmed down from the Just Stop Oil (JSO) display, and the subsequent aftershocks. Perhaps the stars aligned or the JSO protestors were avid readers of The Oxford Student, but most of the editorial team were sitting in one room in the Student Union laying in that week’s newspaper when we found out that the Rad Cam had been sprayed. Of course, it later headlined our print.

Whether an ardent supporter of its rather high-visibility approaches or one that strongly dislikes it, you’ve probably become quite familiar with the movement JSO. Founded on Valentine’s Day 2022, JSO describes itself as “a nonviolent civil resistance group demanding the UK Government stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects.” Indeed, their actions aren’t exactly marching down streets and smashing cars that run on gas or mugging those using soap made from coal and coal by-products, but it has, without any shadow of doubt, been deeply controversial. I first became aware of JSO, admittedly very late in the story, when two supporters of its campaign threw tomato soup at the fourth version of Vincent van Gogh’s famous “Sunflowers” in October last year, then glued their hands to the wall. Fortunately for the painting, it was protected by glass and was not damaged (the valuable frame did suffer some slight damage). At the time, I had found it an

Credit: Michael-Akolade Ayodeji

intriguing approach to campaigning about climate change and the lack of concern that is being shown by the governing bodies of the UK (and indeed around the world). For the two activists’ argument was “What is worth more? Art or life?” Immediately, the press and wider world was polarised. Vox and other major outlets criticised the demonstration’s irrelevance and suggested that such defamation of popular artworks that have little to no connection to climate change did nothing more than undermine the campaign’s efficacy and credibility, while some JSO supporting organisations were equally fervent in declaring their support. Personally, I found that while I generally aligned with the mainstream criticism and distaste for their actions, I was also somewhat impressed by its effectiveness in attracting attention. Climate change and the rapid degradation of our environment is certainly a deeply troubling issue. Yet, with so many climate action communities, campaigns, and organisations out there, how could JSO stand out? Following the performance at the National Gallery, JSO, to me, became a persistent hum in the background of my news feeds: protestors, supporters, and activists seemed to really like sitting, unmoving, in blockade of cars (a group sat on the track of the British Grand Prix in July 2022, before the tomato-ing of “Sunflowers”) and sporting events, or to spray bright orange powder or paint on places that they find have connections to the oil and gas industries. I never forgot that they existed and were active, but it never really piqued my attention either. That was until, on 10th Octo-

ber, when, as mentioned above, the Rad Cam was unwillingly redecorated by some student members of JSO. Again, the reasoning of the members wasn’t entirely befuddling – since 2022, more than £40.4 million has been pledged to 44 UK universities by 32 oil, coal and gas companies in the form of research agreements, tuition fees, scholarships, grants, and consulting fees, and Oxford alone was revealed have received £1,209,221 in funding from the above.

“I was somewhat impressed by its effectiveness in attracting attention.”

So, before anything else, such an amount would have obviously attracted the attention of JSO, and, of course, if anyone were to ask for the most quintessentially Oxford building and landmark, it’d undoubtedly be the Rad Cam. So, in equal alignment with JSO’s apparent strategy in publicising themselves in the most apparent manner, Rad Cam was the obvious choice. Nonetheless, was painting the Rad Cam orange, and indeed painting other university buildings across the UK really the most effective way to take a stand against these institutions’ continued reliance on funding from oil corporations and the like? No. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing for JSO. PR stunts have been around for a long time. Whether Felix Baumgartner’s jump from the stratosphere that raked in more than 8 million views for Red Bull on YouTube or the advertised fight between Elon Musk and

Mark Zuckerberg, these stunts serve to attract mass attention, and irrespective of annoyance or support, attention is attention. For JSO, a similar desire likely underpins much of their actions. Public Relations (PR) and publicity aren’t exactly the same thing. Where the former disseminates information in a controlled manner, the latter sees information (and indeed misinformation) spread like wildfire, and in the age of digitisation and social media, it has never been easier to spread information. That being said, JSO’s reputation comes generally from publicity, and not PR, for it has been described by its own members as a non-hierarchical coalition of organisers, scientists, lawyers and former workers in the oil industry who collaborate on both demands and tactics with activists who operate in autonomous blocs with shared resources but no formal leadership. So, similar to the guerrilla warfare tactics employed by the Vietnamese in the Vietnam War, when JSO strikes, they do so quickly, simultaneously, but also publicly. Through their rather extreme disruptive actions, bystanders cannot help but look on as they vandalise or obstruct. Without JSO and other similarly minded organisations, scientists would still be releasing reports about the irreversible damages that climate change has done to the planet that we live on, and they would still be urging governments around the world to gradually shift away from reliance on these “traditional” sources of energy, but, like most of the news and reporting that goes on, these calls

for action fade into the background, especially amidst the current geopolitical tussles and tragedies occurring in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the like. Even so, JSO’s actions are effective in reminding us that their cause – climate change and the dire need to address it – won’t just fade away because we bury our heads in the sand but will continue to worsen. No, I wasn’t a fan of the Rad Cam’s temporary redecoration, I think that such disruption to student life and vandalism of a Grade I Heritage Site is not only ineffective in rallying students and people at Oxford and beyond to their cause by bifurcating all to either a hero of climate action or an accessory to the murder of the planet, it contradicts JSO’s claims to nonviolence and civility. However, perhaps the main purpose of such actions wasn’t to immediately rally the mass-

“No, I wasn’t a fan of the Rad Cam’s temporary redecoration”

es to their cause, but to issue a series of warnings, reminders, and alarms that JSO – and their cause – demand attention. There will always be those that support them irrespective of the extremity of JSO’s actions, but to the masses that aren’t donning the orange shirt and spraying buildings, Just Stop Oil’s glaring presence resounds everywhere, and perhaps the background hum that news of climate change had become to many will, once again, take a rightful place in our considerations.

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

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Beyond the 27: Why the world still matters on the world stage

Polycrisis!

Thomas Cowan

uestion: Is the world about to fall apart? Gaza, war in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis, my radiator won’t work: all signs point to an endemic and irreparable state of desperation. This situation, seemingly our current situation, has been given the pseudo-scientific name of ‘polycrisis’. This is not a term that has wormed its way from the popular vernacular into the mouths of politicians like Brexit did - the World Economic Forum were keen to declare an ‘Age of Polycrisis’ at their 2023 Davos summit. What can we do, then, when the people who run our governments and institutions have apparently written everything off already? Maybe, just maybe, it’s all an overreaction. Have we really entered an unprecedented

“the World Economic Forum were keen to declare an ‘Age of Polycrisis’ at their 2023 Davos Summit.”

age of calamity? Because by dubbing our present state of affairs a ‘polycrisis’, we are suggesting that past years were relatively crisis-free, or at least could be put under the umbrella of ‘monocrisis’. But that simply isn’t true. The 2010s, the 2000s, the 90s all had their fair share of problems. It is frankly impossible to think of a time without war, pestilence, famine, etc. wreaking havoc in some part of the world. The 90s are often seen as an especially bright decade, a period of good living best exemplified by Bill Clinton playing the saxophone with his shades on; Bill Clinton would go on to order questionable missile strikes against Iraq but sit on his hands throughout the genocide in Bosnia, all while the UK struggled its way out of recession. The issue we really have, I think, is not that we are now concurrently suffering more crises than ever before, but that we are much more aware of them. I’ve seen many people post online about which

modern innovations would most astound a Victorian child - I reckon scrolling through TikTok for just three minutes would fry their poor, pale brain. The sheer amount of information that is thrown at you in rapid succession is insane. You can go from the frontlines in Ukraine to SAG-AFTRA picket lines to Prayag to dying coral reefs in seconds, without any time to process what you’ve just seen. It’s a deluge of quick snapshots about the current state of the world that would have been incomprehensible in the 90s, let alone the Victorian era. I just don’t think that we, as humans, were designed to be able to process this much stuff. Climate depression is one manifestation of the clash between our newfound omniscience and galling impotence as individuals. It looks as if the world is on fire, and it is all too easy to feel utterly powerless to put it out. So, even if the diagnosis is slightly different, the symptoms are ultimately the same. Great. What, then, is the cure? Dispassion is tempting, but it can’t be the answer. If we become apathetic, we lose all hope of ever affecting the changes we want to see in the world. I wrote last time about the power of the public in raising nearly £50,000 for the family of Elianne Andam, and it would be simply tragic to lose that positive power in an attempt to guard ourselves from the negativity that seems all-pervasive at the moment. Truth be told though, I didn’t really write about the money that kind people donated to Elianne’s family. I wrote about the awful circumstances of her passing, and about the bizarre felling of the Sycamore Gap tree. There was a moment of light, but it was buried in the dark. Because the thing is, our media is rarely predominantly about the many good things that happen every day despite the state of the world. Maybe it’s some quirk of evolution that compels us to remain aware of the dangers around us, rather than taking in all those things that make our lives so much better. The Age of Polycrisis, I’d argue, may be a result of this fo-

cus on the potentially harmful becoming more acute as our base of knowledge becomes more broad. We now have so much that we could read, watch, or listen to; with the finite time we have at our disposal, we choose to spend it staying vigilant about all those possible dangers that are out there.

“Dispassion is tempting, but it can’t be the answer”

In this vein, it was sad to see the New York Times close their ‘This Week in Good News’ column back in early 2019. Yes, that was just one column in an enormous world of journalism and social media, but its closure seems indicative of the increasingly tense media landscape we now seem to be in. And what gets reported does matter: ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ is a memorable little phrase that seems to be everywhere you look nowadays, but maybe its catchiness has had the illeffect of inducing 64% of the British public to believe that we are currently in a recession. Not-so-breaking news: we aren’t. Of course, we aren’t in an exactly stellar economic situation either, but I think this is just one example that goes to show how the media’s focus on the negative can even lead us to see negatives that aren’t actually there. So while there may not be any complete cure for our current hyper-awareness that makes us perceive a ‘polycrisis’, one remedy may be remaining cognisant of the negative skew that pervades the media we all consume. What’s happening in Gaza right now is tragic and condemnable, but allow yourself the brief levity of knowing that over 30,000 Palestinian people were housed and fed by humanitarian efforts in just twenty-four hours. Maybe give yourself a moment to feel lifted by the fact that university staff pension payments have just been fully restored. They’re even sending someone to fix my radiator this week. Good news is out there, we just have to look a little bit harder for it.

Credit: Oxford Charlemagne Institute

Oxford Charlemagne Institute

tamped on the boxes of military aid delivered to the front lines in Ukraine; etched into the glass and steel of the laboratories making Promethean advances in climate science and technology; emblazoned on the sleeves of aid workers rescuing over 120 million victims of humanitarian disasters around the globe annually; stood resolute, bearing witness to European diplomats achieving historic agreements, such as those ending the Balkan Wars; carried to humanity’s furthest frontier on the Orion spacecraft: the golden stars of the European Union are prominent in all critical areas of the modern world. A world more globalised today than ever before, rewarding those able to utilise its full potential and punishing those who shut themselves in. Isolationism is dead, a relic of the twentieth century. The European Union cannot be satisfied

“The European Union cannot be satisfied with dealing only within the boundaries of its 27”

with dealing only within the boundaries of its 27: to suc-

ceed and to thrive it must look beyond the horizons of the Mediterranean and Caucasus, and assume an active role in global affairs. In other words - European foreign policy is more important than ever. In 2014, when Russian troops invaded Crimea and the Donbas, the European Union and its member states abetted this violation of international law through their feeble response. Eight years later, the Union stormed out of the gates with sanction packages, military aid and unconditional support for

“New ideas are desparately needed...we are playing catch up for years of lost discussion”

Ukraine. Although a clear strengthening of the EU’s external policies divides these two fateful dates, it is understandable to wonder whether had these recent actions been taken all those years ago we would still have to lament the current situation. Much remains on the road to a Union capable of acting as a serious global player. This road has been travelled before, and previous attempts to morph the EU away from a purely “civilian” power have

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met with successive failures. From federalist dreams to intergovernmentalist realism, the driving forces of European integration have so far been unable to provide a credible solution to

“Still we are foresaking our allies and giving our adversaries the false impression that the Old Continent is a spent force”

the lack of European external power. Henry Kissinger once emblematically asked, “Who do I call if I want to talk to Europe?”, and while the recent creation of the office of High Representative for Foreign Affairs may have answered this question, still Europe remains unable to speak with a single voice. Still we are forsaking our allies and giving our adversaries the false impression that the Old Continent is a spent force. To avoid another 2014 capitulation, or another 2022 shock, it is clear that there needs to be greater development of a truly European foreign policy. New ideas are desperately needed to vitalise an area historically seen as a secondary and even tertiary issue, or beyond the remit of the EU - we are playing catch-up for years of lost discussion. This is why we have founded the Oxford Charlemagne Institute, a student-run think tank dedicated to researching and discussing all aspects of European foreign policy. With the support and guidance of Lord Patten, our senior member, and his wealth of experience, we are researching areas as crucial but varied as the European defence industry, the management of evacuations from countries in crisis, and how the invasion of Ukraine has affected the position of the EU’s easternmost members. These represent the genesis of our exciting project, one that we seek to make as open and welcoming as possible. We have outlined the importance of EU foreign policy, its shortcomings, and the need for new ideas to continue its development. We want these to come from all, regardless of the colour of your passport. So, whether you agree or disagree with our firm belief that European Union foreign policy is crucial now more than ever, please reach out to us with your ideas and proposals.

Is Poland turning its back on populism? Etienne Baker

n Sunday 15th October, Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), lost its majority in parliament after eight years in power. Whilst winning the vote with 35.8%, the PiS lacks the seats to make up a majority. Poland’s electoral system is proportional and multi-party, meaning that if one party fails to make a majority, a coalition is formed. These

“this election was a long awaited tussle between national populism... and liberal centrism” results of the election signify that the oppositional parties led by Donald Tusk and the Civic Coalition that have fledged to form a coalition government have 248 seats; comfortably over the 231 needed to form a government. For many, this election was a long-awaited tussle between national populism that has been rampant in Europe and liberal centrism, fighting to re-emerge after a decade of disappearance. As a former president of the European Council, Tusk is unlikely to hold the same stance on the EU as the current president of Poland, Andrzej Duda. From this perspective, officials in Brussels are sure to be breathing a sigh of relief at the results. Furthermore, this polarisation fits with a wider divide on social issues, such as women’s reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights, which have been systematically chipped away at by the PiS over the last eight years. According to the latest ILGA Europe country ranking report, Poland is now considered the worst state in the European Union for LGBTQ+ rights. These contests were reflected in turnout from the election, which was up to 74.3%, break-

ing the record turnout in 1989 which triggered the collapse of the Soviet-backed communist system. Almost 69% of under30s turned out to vote, a marginally higher percentage than over 60s. This bucks many Western electoral trends, such as in the UK, and a 2023 European Parliament report which found a ‘shocking landscape of voter absenteeism…especially among the youngest cohorts of eligible voters.’ The hostility of the PiS on minority rights seems to have pushed greater youth turnout, and was a large contributor to boosting oppositional parties’ vote share. There are many complications, though, and despite hope among many left-wing and central supporters, the road away from ultra-conservative populism is long and complicated. For those familiar with the TV show Borgen, the post-election mayhem from an unexpected election result rings some bells, and it will likely still be some time until a new coalition is confirmed and approved to

“it will not resolve the ongoing tensions that rightwing populism provokes for the electorate”

govern. Although the rhetoric around the election results is one of a rebirth and radical change, this is more symbolic than realistic. Mistrust, resentment and conservatism are an ingrained part of the Polish, and European, political landscape now, and the PiS still won the largest vote share out of all the parties. Polish politicians and progovernment media have heavily used anti-German propaganda, which paints Tusk as bringing about ‘the end of Poland.’ This is

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

a presentation that is not immediately forgotten from popular discourse whether the leader of the governing party or not, and will no doubt be used to discredit his policy agendas. The Ukraine-Russia war remains in the laser-focus of Eastern European governments, and concern over Russian in-

“despite hope among many leftwing and central supporters, the road away from ultraconservative populism is long and complicated”

tentions to restore a Cold Waresque empire weighs heavy in an only relatively recently independent nation-state’s consciousness. Spending on defence specifically for arms supplies for Ukraine is unlikely to stop, and may draw a wedge between the promising EUPoland relations if the EU tries to retract support for Ukraine at all. This links to the wider anti-German and anti-French sentiment stirred by the PiS, some of which is focused on the lack of strategy for fighting against Russian expansionist ambitions. This is fuelled in many ways by the deep national trauma that is ever-present in Polish politics. The PiS’ ‘history policy’, which bases a version of history on the politics of memory, effectively erases anything that doesn’t protect a positive depiction of Poland. This is reflected by so-called ‘phantom’ or ‘ghost’ borders, through which electoral results geographically fall on previous geographical borders of Poland; something that has been linked to collective memory of WWII and its aftermath. A contested Poland is by no means over, instead working in a cycle of

Credit: Arno Mikkor

fighting with its own national trauma, manifested in some senses through national populism. On a more practical level, as a coalition there will inevitably be contested issues within the likely incoming governing parties. For example, parts of the coalition involving the New Left will be considerably more socially liberal, such as on abortion policy, which will likely grate against the Christian Democrat faction of the Third Way. Such a diverse coalition risks fracturing, against the opposition of a defined and populist conservative party. Its lasting impact on the constitution will be long and arduous to unpick, and the PiS will be ready to challenge and divide wherever they can. As well as this, the shift to the ultra-conservative right has a long-lasting impact on the ideological scope for all parties, and has a lasting resonance in popular consciousness. Even if ‘radical’ legislative policy does get introduced, it will not resolve the ongoing tensions that right-wing populism provokes for the electorate. In spite of the post-election talk of a new age of politics from the left and centre, by no means is populism gone from either parliament or the public. What the election does signal, though, is an uprising of political engagement from traditionally under engaged demographics, such as young people; a pattern

“A contested Poland is by no means over, instead working in a cycle of fighting with its own national trauma”

that would not be a surprise to see cascading through the rest of Europe.

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of the week

In conversation with Melissa Terras

Rose Henderson

“W

e see system after system that tramples minorities” says Melissa Terras. According to the University of Edinburgh’s Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage, “we’ve got it all wrong in society right now.” I sat down with Terras to learn more about her career, and the fascinating work she does to intersect computing, history, and literature, inviting criticism from all three. She told me about her philosophy on AI and algorithms in modern life, and touched on her own experiences of bias and cultural difference, specifically at Oxford. Terras’ background is wideranging. She went from an undergraduate degree in English and Art History to a Masters in computer science, ultimately completing a DPhil in Engineering at Oxford. It is her expertise in the intersection between humanities and culture, and how we interact with technology, that grounds her concerns about the modern day. Those concerns are expansive. Terras remarks that “there are so few things [in society] that are paid for in a municipal way – something like Twitter should have been a public infrastructure. They’re not prioritising things that aren’t financial. We need to think about how we can build a society that’s a bit more rounded, and cares about different values which are not just money, but also care, and intellect, and fun, and creativity, and rest. We could be doing all of that with technology but we’re not, and that worries me.” Terras’ career has spanned multiple academic institutions, and she has worked on projects relating to Egyptian tombs, video games, and art galleries. Digital humanities for her is about “the relationship of the past to the digital present.” In the mid-90s, Terras discovered the internet via a friend of hers that studied physics. “He took me down to the lab and said ‘you have to see this thing – it’s called the World Wide

Web!’ All the physics labs were first to have it, because it was connected to CERN.” Terras learnt how to programme websites, and when she finished her undergraduate degree, submitted her final dissertation as a website. “I’ve always been doing the two things [computing and humanities] together.” Terras’ favourite project at UCL waswhere she worked on Jeremy Bentham’s manuscripts. Bentham was an 18th century philosopher, best known as the founding father of utilitarianism. UCL owned all of his manuscripts, but they were hard to access, and even harder to read. Transcribe Bentham digitised the manuscripts, and then innovatively used online crowdsourcing to get volunteers to transcribe them. However, the most exciting outcome of the project was the data set it produced. “It provided really high-quality images of the manuscripts and really high-quality transcripts, which means you’ve got training data for artificial intelligence. This wonderful data set was the foundation of handwriting recognition technology, and now twelve years later, we have an artificial intelligence infrastructure where you can put in an image of any Latin script language and it’ll

spit out a transcription about 98% accuracy.” Terras is particularly proud of the fact that this spin-out company, Transkribus, was built as a cooperative. “We have an infrastructure of about 150 different libraries and archives worldwide which help the infrastructure survive and we’ve processed about 50 million images of historical documents. It’s not-for-profit AI. It’s not extractive like Google where [they’re] trying to extract money and value from the system to make people rich.”

“We need to think about how we can build a society that’s more rounded, and cares about values which are not just money, but also care, and intellect, and fun, and creativity”

Some of Terras’ other problems with the way society works can be traced to issues in the building of technology and AI, and a lack of regard for diversity and inclusion. AI systems have been called

out for throwing out CVs with non-Western names, treating disease in women as “inconsequential” because of sexbased differences in patterns of disease, and characterising people as criminals based on facial recognition data. In some cases, AI is learning that “it’s a man’s world” right from the start. A common training data set is newspapers and books from pre1923 as their copyright has expired. But in any newspaper from this period, the vast majority of people mentioned are men. Women weren’t allowed to vote, stand for election, own property, or have the same education as a man. “There’s a new standard rolling out where facial recognition is going into cars to tell you about your emotions while you’re driving. This is going to come to a head, where women are going to be driving and getting told ‘you look upset - you should probably stop driving’. Like, no, it’s just my face. It’s like when the computer tells you to smile. You get enough of that from men, never mind your car!” Terras thinks that addressing this is a matter of both using better training data sets, and being careful about where we use AI. “You can’t take the bias

out of any data set, but you can explain the biases which are there. We should be building tools that help us flag it.” She has some practical tips for navigating our newly digitised existence. Young women should “learn to touch type, but don’t tell anyone that you can so you don’t get treated like a secretary.” Everyone should also know how to construct searches. “It’s getting harder to search online because the internet is being flooded with AI-generated content. So learn decent search strategies.” When at Oxford, Terras faced an entirely different world in comparison to life as an undergraduate and masters student in Glasgow, with its own biases. “I was told I couldn’t have a boy stay over. Like I’m 26 years old and I’m paying you money, and you’re saying I can’t have a boy stay over? I got sent to the Dean because the cleaner - the cleaner! - ho needs a cleaner when you are 26?! - had seen a boy in my room.” Terras is glad she had a student experience at Glasgow before coming to Oxford. “I met a lot of people at Christ Church who’d gone straight from private school to Christ Church, and then done their PhD at Christ Church and then, they got into the real world, and really struggled when they suddenly weren’t in an institution.” She thinks the time-limited nature of a DPhil meant she was able to throw herself into the experience. “I went to balls, and played croquet, and went punting and all of that. But I’m glad I didn’t go and think it was all normal at 18.” Terras has worked and studied in multiple cities and institutions since her time at Oxford, and is now Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage at Edinburgh, leading creative innovation activities in Design Informatics. She advises me, “it’s going to be a long working life. Find out what you like doing, but also what you believe in. The only times I’ve ever got into trouble is when I’ve persuaded myself that that inner voice is wrong.”

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

Profile | 13

In conversation with Cameron Brookhouse and Martin Tweedie, founders of fitness gaming platform Quell

”

Meet the Oxford grads combining gaming and exercise to fix the “broken experience” of fitness Credit: Oxford Alumni Stories Martin Alfonsin Larsen

s an avid gamer and amateur runner, I never once thought about meshing those disparate worlds together. My marathon sessions in games ranging from Civilisation, a turn-based strategy game, to Hitman, a sandbox stealth game, have been happily isolated from my thriceweekly runs through Oxford and London. I have always been content keeping those two things separate. That’s where Oxford grads Cameron Brookhouse and Martin Tweedie’s platform Quell comes in. Quell (pictured to the right) is a resistance-band based fitness video-gaming system that promises to provide the best of both worlds. You run, jump, squat, dash, and punch your way through the enemies and landscapes of the fictional world Shardfall on a screen in front of you, supposedly burning 600 calories an hour in the process. It’s pitched as an immersive exercise system that removes the most frustrating elements of fitness, while introducing gamified elements to retain user attention. Investors so far have agreed with the premise; Quell has raised $10m in Series A funding, led by venture capital firms like Tencent. In its earliest stages, the platform was also given a boost by startup accelerator YCombinator, which has helped to launch huge companies including Airbnb, Reddit, and Twitch. It all started when Brookhouse and Tweedie met at Oxford as Teddy Hall Materials Science undergraduates. Matriculating in 2010, Tweedie was drawn to the subject because of its “mixture of engineering, physics and chemistry”, and Oxford more widely because it was the “exceptional” place to go and

study. Somewhat fittingly with the two and their interest in gaming, Brookhouse describes seeing Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, as his impetus to drop his humanities A-level subjects and embark on a pivot “wholesale to science”.

“As a product or set of products, the experience of being fit is super broken”

When they arrived, the pair became fast friends. Within the first four weeks of their time there, they had already decided to live together in second year, and spent most of their time together in first-year halls. At one point, Brookhouse jokingly said that what had allowed their friendship to create a now multi-million pound business partnership was the “traumabonding” of doing a “very challenging course” together. Tweedie added that it was a sort of “dry run” that provided “proof… that [the partnership] would be viable”. Both were also interested in video games growing up. In our conversation, Tweedie jokes that “none of [his] survival horror” suggestions, from games like Resident Evil, made it into Shardfall’s world. Brookhouse added that the two “probably spent three hours a day at Oxford” playing Destiny.

“We want to become the PlayStation of fitness”

Following graduation, Brookhouse went on to work for consulting firm McKinsey, which provided the basis for his work as the CEO of Quell. Meanwhile, Tweedie stayed

in Oxford to complete a DPhil in Materials Science, which equally informed his work as CTO meshing the complexities of hardware and software together in Quell’s system. What actually is Quell, though, and what drove this pair to design and manufacture a product which now has more than 10,000 preorders? Brookhouse outlined what the duo perceive as the “fitness problem”. As a product or set of products, the experience of being fit is “super broken” and it’s not akin to any other kind of product space or sector. The duo cite two powerful stats; one, a stat from exercise tracker Strava, which found that over 50% of runners hated or barely tolerated runners. The other; 64% of US gym memberships are completely dormant. While people are of course aware of the benefits of fitness, to them, it is not an “enticing or high retention product”. Their solution is to tap into what, for many people, make team sports so exciting; turn “every motion you’re performing” into a service of a “gamified goal”. Brookhouse theorises that the gamified elements of this hybrid experience help to increase the quality of working out, too: “if something is trying to punch you in the face, you’re

going to put a lot more effort into avoiding that punch than you would if you were just selfmotivating, right? Your heart rate goes up, because you’re really thinking, ‘How do I not get knocked out here?’” My main question-marks when I heard about the product were twofold. First of all, I was sceptical of the ‘gamified’ element that the pair discussed. Even with years of development time and hundreds of millions of dollars, games can fail to be entertaining and even come broken on arrival. This is especially a problem in PC gaming, where releases such as 2020’s Cyberpunk and 2023’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor arrived in a borderline unplayable state for a significant number of con-

sumers. Given that the product and its development relies on both immersive hardware and software, I’m skeptical that it can be as precise as intended. My other concern was the viability of the exercise. For people who just run or go to the gym for fitness and little else, is the exercise side of it intense enough? And for people who spend hours exercising already, is this worth adding into their routine? Surely, with the end of COVID restrictions, people who want to exercise will already be back into complex routines, and won’t have the space for something new like Quell. The pair addressed both of those claims in substantial detail. Brookhouse said that the fitness gaming sector is perceived as “gimmicks” with “very shallow gameplay”, a “rudimentary art style, and not much in the way of narrative or progression, or retention or social.” He wants “to destroy that”. Despite its smaller size, Quell has a plan to ensure depth of progression and replayability. The idea is to simulate the playstyle of a roguelike game, with procedurally-generated environments and turn-based gameplay that ensures replayability despite a relative lack of content to something like an openworld game. In this simulation of a rogue-like, each exercise session will have its own structure, complete with an ascending degree of physical difficulty that is complemented by fighting a boss at the end of the session. Each session, importantly, will be a win. Full profile available at oxfordstudent.com

14 | Identity

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Deputy Editor: Sami Jalil Section Editors: Georgia Ferris, Ivy Wong, Amelia Gibbins identity@oxfordstudent.com

Racism by erasure

Identity

Benji Chowdhury

he stands on the sideline of her own life, waiting for something to happen but knowing that nothing will. From birth, she must fight for her right to live: her right to breathe, to speak, to exist and to feel. She must fight for her rights from the minute she steps foot on the ground, knowing that she fights a battle that is lost. She stands on the sideline as the children play, waiting for someone to invite her but knowing that no one will. Her growth is stunted by the roots of society that grasp at her feet and pull her down. While the rest of the chil-

dren run freely in the wind, she must spend every waking moment fighting against it. She stands on the sideline as her new friends talk, waiting for one of them to realise how uncomfortable she is. Even in places where she is supposed to feel safe, she is degraded and beaten and slaughtered by words she never expected from the people she loves. She is erased from the sideline. Brushed off like dust. She screams as her skin fades away, and a tear dissipates from her cheek as her sound fades to nothing. Slam the door again. Do it. I dare you. Slam the door in

my face and call me the aggressive one. Slam the door to the society you claim you want: choosing to remain passive is an action. I will kick and scream until you stop erasing me. I will punch and growl like the rabid animal you think I am. Let’s entertain your fantasy until you realise you’re the delusional one. You trick yourself into innocence, and you take the whole world along for the ride. But you are not innocent. Your silence is just as guilty as the one who holds the knife.

Accessibility in Oxford

Matilda Carnegie

had applied to Oxford just to have a crack at it, and truthfully was not expecting to get in. Sure, I had done a lot through academics, equestrian and disability advocacy, but so would have everyone else with their relevant interests. I found out that I had been accepted to Oxford to study an MPhil in Politics (Comparative Government) towards the end of March. Funnily enough a few days after I got accepted, I saw an article on the Economist titled “Oxford University’s other diversity crisis- good luck trying to become a professor if you don’t have family money”. Oxford has a reputation for not being the most diverse of institutions, and I did wonder how I would get on as a disabled student who is profoundly deaf & wears a cochlear implant.

Fundamentally, Oxford University still has a long way to go in terms of accessibility for disabled individuals. One of the primary challenges lies in the university’s bureaucratic structure, as an older institution. Consequently, Oxford tends to take a more reactive approach to accessibility needs rather than proactively addressing them. As a post-graduate student, finding suitable accommodation is a nightmare, and I was initially informed that no rooms were available. Despite my cochlear implant, my hearing does not function in the same way as others, making socializing more tiring and causing me to miss parts of conversations. I knew that residing close to other students would be crucial to being able integrate into the Oxford social fabric because as a deaf person I will never be able to join in

social situations as easily as my hearing peers. I reached out to my college explaining my circumstances, and fortunately, they were able to accommodate me. I appreciate their assistance, particularly considering the unfortunate stories I have heard about people falling victim to scams while searching for accommodation. However, it is worth mentioning that I did disclose my disability on my application form, which could have prompted a more proactive approach by the university.

“...take a more proactive approach with disability.”

es from Oxford’s status as an older institution is the lack of accessibility in their physical spaces. Most of the buildings are grade-listed and have historical significance, which usually means numerous steps and cobblestones. Personally, I have experienced difficulties in these older buildings due to their echoey nature, as sound tends to bounce around, making it challenging for me to

hear. It took me a few weeks to adjust to this. While there is a valid argument for preserving heritage, it is possible to incorporate accessibility features alongside such preservation efforts. For instance, I have witnessed successful examples of accessibility features in other historic English buildings, like ramps, accessible bathrooms, and lifts in places like Harewood House. Even in Greece, there have been notable efforts to preserve older landscapes while implementing accessibility features. Oxford University can follow suit in this regard. Unfortunately, even the spaces that are more accessible at Oxford often lack clear signposting for these features. As an example, when I attended the Student Union Freshers’ fair, there were no clear signs indicating the location of the lifts. I hadn’t thought to check the accessibility information online beforehand, so I initially assumed that there were no lifts to access the second floor. This situation made me assume that the fair was inaccessible to those with mobility-related disabilities. It wasn’t until I checked later that evening that I discovered there was indeed

a lift providing access to the second floor. While some might argue that individuals should always check for accessibility information, people have the right to simply show up and enjoy an event. It becomes much more difficult to do so when accessibility information is not clearly signposted. The issue of inadequate signposting is not unique to this fresher’s fair; I have encountered other buildings where platform lifts were available inside but the presence of stairs at the entrance created confusion. This makes me question whether there needs to be clearer accessibility information or a re-evaluation of how accessibility features are implemented. I do want to reiterate though that all my peers, teachers and university staff have accommodated me when I have explained what I need. On an individual basis, people at Oxford for most part are happy to help with accessibility related issues and will accommodate you. However, the larger issue lies with how we get Oxford as an institution to take a more proactive approach with disability.

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

Pink | 15

Pink “Trans lives not Tory lies”: Oxford students Deputy Editor: Etienne Baker Section Editors: Amelia Gibbins, Charlie Wild, Lauren Gray pink@oxfordstudent.com

protest transphobia Daisy Outram, Etienne Baker tudents have come together in Bonn Square this afternoon to protest for trans rights.

This follows comments made at the recent Conservative Party Conference which have been criticised for transphobic rhetoric by the queer community, including a statement released by the SU LGBTQ+ campaign last week. The campaign announced today’s protest saying “it is important to call out and hold our current government responsible for the Transphobic rhetoric and unfounded initiatives our parliamentary majority wish to take”. Demonstrators held signs stating “not your scapegoat” and

“it’s not radical to be trans, it’s just normal”

“trans joy is real”, alongside “queers for Palestine” in reference to the London protest also taking place today to demand an immediate end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Joel Aston, co-chair of the SU

LGBTQ+ campaign, began the event expressing how trans people have always been here will always be here. The aim of visibility and volume from the community at this time was also highlighted. Aston told The Oxford Student that the campaign wants to be present and there for people so it was important to rally behind trans students. They emphasised that whilst this protest wasn’t specifically focused on the university, they wanted it to remind the university to be constructive not performative in supporting trans students, pointing to issues raised since controversy surrounding Kathleen Stock’s visit at the Union last term. A local journalist spoke on the comments at the Conservative Party Conference being “pandering”, pointing out the plan to ban trans people from respective single-sex wards as a distraction from the NHS crisis that there are “no more beds to go around”. Demonstrators chanted “trans rights are human rights”, a call and response “intersectionality – important for humanity”, and “trans lives not tory lies” to put across their message. Fara-

bee Pushpita, co-chair of the SU Women*s Campaign, also spoke at the protest. They put forward that “all women deserve to be under the umbrella of feminism”,

call out and hold our current government responsible for the Transphobic rhetoric and unfounded initiatives our parliamentary majority wish to take”. The statement went on to express they were “not surprised at the ignorance and small-mindedness this government never ceases to show”, yet they still wanted “to express [their] stance against the unfounded decisions and remarks made”. The first aspect they criticised was “the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, repeating his claim that misgendering trans people is ‘common sense’”. At the conference, Sunak expressed his idea that people “shouldn’t get bul

lied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be”. This follows the Prime Minister’s intervention last term in support of Kathleen Stock’s appearance at the Union, condemning a “small but vocal” group shutting down the gender critical speaker. The SU LGBTQ+ campaign highlighted the “leaked footage of [Sunak] mocking Trans women in 2023”, where he made fun of Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey saying it was possible for a woman to have a penis. Their statement also criticised Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s plan “to ban Trans women from the women’s ward in all NHS

“won’t ever stop fighting”. The SU’s VP for Activities and Community Mia Clement joined the speakers and expressed they felt “happy and joyful” to see

Credit: Cameron Samuel Keys

including opposition to discrimination against trans women. In a comment to The Oxford Student, Pushpita expressed that as “Wom*Cam co-chair and a non-binary AFAB” it was important for them “to speak out against the rising transphobia in the UK”. Such an “attack on the trans community is an attack on all of us”, so the turnout today was “beautiful” and the group

the turnout. They recently took place in another peaceful protest against the Oxford Students for Life stall at Freshers’ Fair. Responding to Rishi Sunak’s idea that it was “just common sense” to say “a man is a man and a woman is a woman”, Clement criticised government failure to see “common sense” in climate action, COVID recovery, and addressing the cost of living crisis.

SU LGBTQ+ Campaign responds to Conservative Party Conference Etienne Baker he Oxford Student Union LGBTQ+ campaign has released a statement on transphobia following comments made by several ministers at the recent Conservative Party Conference.

The remarks, which included Rishi Sunak stating that “a man is a man and a woman is a woman, that’s just common sense”, have gained widespread attention and condemnation from the queer community. On Saturday 14th October, the LGBTQ+ campaign released a statement on Twitter and Instagram in response to the Conservative Party Conference as they felt it was “important to

facilities”. Evidence contrary to this proposal from TransLucent showed that “no complaints were made about Trans women” on NHS wards they investigated, sending 102 Freedom of Information requests. Finally, the campaign called the statements “yet another example of the constant erasure and removal of Trans rights to utilise an already marginalised community as a scapegoat for the real issues facing this country”. Such a “backslide into anti-trans and fascist policy and rhetoric” was stated as something the SU LGBTQ+ campaign “vehemently opposes and will continue to stand against whether it be by taking action or supporting the Community many of this Campaign is a part of”. They offered welfare resources during this “difficult and scary time for the Trans community”. In the days after Rishi Sunak’s

Chrissie Chevasutt, author and outreach worker for the trans, intersex and non-binary communities at St Columba’s United Reformed Church, also attended and spoke. She highlighted the recent Safe Churches Report, looking at harm caused by anti-trans figures like Reverend Ian Paul. Paul called upon the Church of England to change guidance on welcoming transgender people to the church on the view that leaders were “allowing themselves to be hijacked by these very small special interest groups” Chevasutt also spoke of the link between hate speech and real life harm, such as the death of Brianna Ghey, but maintained progress would be made via nonviolent protest. Speaking to The Oxford Student, she said today’s demonstration was a “recognition that the rhetoric of the government, media, and even parts of the Church are inciting hatred against trans people”. Towards the end of the demonstration, SU LGBTQ+ campaign co-chair Bella Done concluded on the hope for a future where “it’s not radical to be trans, it’s just normal”.

speech, he stood by his position after being questioned on whether or not he regretted his comments about “biology”. Speaking to a reporter after the Meeting of the European Political Community on Thursday 5th October, Sunak said that “this is always going to be a passionate, tolerant country… but we can’t ignore fundamental facts of biology and [say] those things shouldn’t be controversial”. Speeches by ministers at the conference sparked immediate response nationally, with hundreds protesting outside Downing Street on Wednesday 10th October. A number of organisations and individuals, including Galop and Black Lives Matter UK, condemned the rhetoric, with many sharing the opinion that transphobia is being invoked to distract from the failings of the government.

16 | Column

Friday 27 October | The Oxford Student

snmuloC

Paul Furey Visited Magdalen’s Macintyre Society and the October Club

So You Don't Have To... Paul Furey nce again, I find myself in Magdalen’s Oscar Wilde Room, this time to soak in their Macintyre Society social, Hangover and History. As I enter, the room is packed with almost forty history enthusiasts in attendance, mostly crowded a small table housing the impressive selection of completely free wine, gin, and vodka. A whiteboard projects the prompt for the evening, “Is the Roman Empire overrated?”. This sparks passionate debate and fun. From the serious worry that holding the Roman Empire above all others displays a level of eurocentricism, to a reenactment of the famous ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’ Monty Python sketch. There was plenty of involvement from all who attended, not just historians and classicists, but from a wide-range of

subjects. One theologian raised the point that the Roman killing of Jesus adds points for relevance, while a PPEist noted that Gladiator held a higher IMDB score than any other movie set in an empire they could think of. In the end, a vote confirmed for all that the Roman Empire is in no way overrated. H&H organisers Sam Winstanley and Enrique Normand encourarge anyone interested to come and “enjoy free drinks with a side of lighthearted historical debate on Magdalen’s wallet!”

“Enjoy free drinks with a side of lighthearted historical debate on Magdalen’s wallet!”

“Our ambition is to provide a space for informal discussion for anyone at least marginally

interested in history, we especially encourage encourage non-historians to come along and share their viewpoints, they tend to be the most interesting. H&H will be held again on the Fridays of 3rd and 7th week.” The October Club is a communist organisation and a home to radical-left Oxford students. Originally banned by the university in 1993, it only reformed in Trinity term 2022. They hosted their first Rum and Revolution (you may have picked up a theme by this point) on Thursday of 2nd week in Harris Manchester’s Warrington Room. Taking an ironically capitalistic approach to the bar, a single cost £2, while a double would set you back £3. One immediate difference between the October Club and their presumably rival political society, OUCA, was the dress code. Instead of smart suits, casual dress was on show, including a Mean Girls inspired

red t-shirt with Karl Marx in a convertible and the caption “Get in loser we’re seizing the means of production”. Around fifteen were sat

around a table discussing the pressing social matters of the time. The times and dates of upcoming protests and marches against the Israeli response in Gaza between Oxford and London were shared, with many pledging attendance. The conversation turned to possible plans of action the October Club could take to highlight the University of Oxford’s links with arms companies which are supplying Israel,

none of which were named. One suggestion was to occupy the Exam Schools in the upcoming week and disrupt lectures by shouting down the lecturers. This seemed to attract significant support from the group, with most vowing to help in some capacity and a handful agreeing to take part in the occupation. I was surprised by the level of activism expressed and students’ willingness to risk academic suspension for their belief. Many claimed to have experience pulling of similar disruptions before. References were made to plentiful “funding” that could be used to purchase the necessary equipment for people to conceal their identity and avoid the heavy hand of punishment uni higher-ups may dish out. Plans were made to meet later for final clarifications. So, if the Exam Schools become overrun in the very near future, you heard it here first.

they’re also supposed to hold whatever items the Balkan mother may pack. No matter how short the excursion, the Balkan mother will usually have packed at least 2 types of snacks, some kind of a beverage, hand sanitiser, hand cream, and optionally cigarettes. These bags should be able to be used on the shortest of shopping trips and on distant vacations. Ultimately, they need to remain packed with enough items so if an emergency happens the Balkan mother has everything she needs to make a quick escape. A cigarette – (optional), but should the Balkan mother also be a smoker, these too will usually be found as a marker of the Balkan mother. Practical but also nice looking shoes – If the Balkan mother is particularly brave, she may choose heels or a wedged sandal as her shoe

of choice, but this is usually for advanced level Balkan mothers only. The rest tend to opt for a more practical, welldressed trainer, which in case of emergency will provide the Balkan mother with enough comfort or speed to go about her daily tasks whilst not bothering her feet too much. Talking loudly on the phone – Perhaps the most tell-tale sign, the Balkan mother is not particularly quiet. Although respectful of public places, the Balkan mother will sometimes slip out of this respect and opt to speak loudly to whoever and about whomever on the phone. This could be in the native language or in English, the Balkan mother does not tend to be wholly self-conscious. A plane ticket to Budva – (optional) although a seasonal accessory, a plane ticket to the ‘Miami’ of the

Balkans can be often found lingering amidst the Balkan mother’s usual items in her handbag. Advanced Balkan mothers will usually drive but for those who can’t stomach the journey, flights to Tivat airport are thankfully cheap and regular in most Balkan countries. When the Balkan mother needs a quick escape from her children (or currently land-locked Yugoslav countries), she can often be found boarding a 45 minute commercial flight to Montenegro as a way to both top up her tan, spend time on the beach, and indulge in the finest Montenegrin nature. Just don’t expect her flight or any of the transport to be on time – Montenegrins are notoriously late. I hope this has been equal parts illuminating and practical so that spotting the Balkan mother becomes a universal acquired ability.

Lessons from the Balkan Women in my Life Spotting the Balkan Mother

Vuk Winrow

t’s almost like a sixth sense, and one which ignites my fight or flight response, but I feel I can always tell when a Balkan mother is near. Perhaps it’s out of a need to protect myself from the consequences of my own actions, but I’ve found that the Balkan mother is a character best not disturbed or defied. In order to help others, and muse on cultural stereotypes which I find at the very least humorous and at most – true, I’ve created a list below of physical and emotional qualities that define the Balkan mother. The puffer jacket (preferably from TK Maxx if in the British diaspora) – Practical, comforting, and at times stylish (although not often), the puffer jacket is the embodiment of the Balkan mother. Seemingly surgically attached as soon as September hits, it

provides a post-Soviet (or ex-Yugoslav) charm to the sartorial expression of Balkan mothers. These jackets seem to get replaced every few years with a slightly better looking model, but they remain a wardrobe staple no matter. Their greatest ability in protecting the Balkan mother from the horrors of the draft mean they’ve become perhaps the most treasured item in a Balkan mother’s closet. A mid-range, not too expensive, but also practical designer bag/wallet – When it comes to ‘quality’ leather goods, the Balkan mother is seldom seen without a sturdy moderately expensive designer bag, or a wallet of the same brand/price range. Not to be taken as a status symbol, these items tend to be reflections of the Balkan belief in quality, these bags are supposed to look nice, but

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October

Columns | 17

Columns Yesterday in Yerevan Weird Corners of the City

Jonah Poulard

aving lived here in Yerevan for about two months now, I’ve done a good bit of exploring. Like any city, it has its quirky and unique places and sights, although I do reckon its post-Soviet quality increases the number of random relics dotted around the place. You know, your usual derelict concrete structures and peculiar goings-on. The good stuff. One such relic that I happen to spend a lot of time in is my university here, themighty Russian-Armenian. It’s a good place, friendly atmosphere and amazing views, although its stance is so pro-Russia that C*mbridge won’t even let their students go there. Indeed, it was quite a shock when they played the Russian national anthem at the Day of Knowledge, kind of a yearly opening ceremony for schools and unis. The building itself is of note, apparently a former psychiatric hospital (disputed by a taxi driver named Ararat in Dilijan), it is essentially a very long, enchanting corridor with a deserted gelato stand at one end, into which you can sort of imagine transposing scenes from One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest. As you stroll down the interminable corridor, continually forgetting where the entrance to the library or the nearest toilet is, the liminality

of the space is palpable, hostile doors and chainsmoking professors on either side keeping your path true, unwavering. It’s a lot more fun than Welly Square, although that’s also a fucking maze. Aside from the university and my house, my primary haunt is a semi-secret dive bar tucked away in the basement of an old khrushchevka. It’s a fun place,

"The tiff made it onto the streets outside after the repeated exclamation of what I can only define as the Russian equivalent of “cash me outside, how bout dat”, but was quickly broken up by some upstanding young Muscovites."

locals only type vibes, walls bestrewn with graffiti, a constant stream of music videos on the TV, reminiscent of a 2010s hairdresser. The crowd is for the most part friendly, after a couple of trips you get to know the familiar faces and are set for some weird nights. For instance, I was there yesterday

doing the usual – drinking beer and trying to chat shit in Russian – when a colossal ruckus arose surrounding a quote from the movie Blef. An impassioned elderly gentlemen vehemently insisted that the phrase “schet naschet scheta” was absent from the Soviet flick, while a younger guy calmly pulled up the evidence, upon which the other man stormed out. He was soon to return however, and within five minutes had embroiled himself in another spat about an Armenian singersongwriter with a man wearing a cravat, who, apparently erroneously and unforgivably, referred to the bard as “Jazzman”. The tiff made it onto the streets outside after the repeated exclamation of what I can only define as the Russian equivalent of “cash me outside, how bout dat”, but was quickly broken up by some upstanding young Muscovites. Fun times, and great for the language skills. If you head to the north of the centre, up the big staircase known as Cascade, which is in itself an architectural delight, and past a big column commemorating the 50 th Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, you reach the fabled patch of green named Victory Park. It houses the Mother of Armenia, a big statue celebrating all things patriotic that looks over Yerevan with austere majesty. In front of it there’s the obligatory Eternal Flame and within

the pedestal the military museum. On its own, it’s a classic piece of post-Soviet realia (similar statues are found in Tbilisi, Volgograd and Kyiv), but its surroundings really take it to the next level of odd. You see, Victory Park also plays host to a funfair that can’t have changed since 1985, thus foregrounding the great symbol of Armenia with a rusty ferris wheel, an algae-covered zorb pond and a decrepit hall of mirrors. The farcical juxtaposition of it all induces manic confusion as you get jump-scared by a wandering kvass cart or the rippling of a Minions bouncy castle. Highly recommend. Snaking around the west side of the centre is the Hrazdan Gorge, which is best reached through a long, crumbling tunnel that starts at the end of the upscale hustle and bustle of a nice park and ends in the verdant peace of the deep valley. There are actually two parallel tunnels tracing this path, although one appears to have collapsed, thus not filling you with confidence as you traverse the other. The graffiti- ed walls and oppressively jagged lighting fixtures guide you to the other end, which always appears to be an eternity away until those final moments in which you are reunited with the world. Continue down an old staircase to the bottom of the gorge and you come across the Children’s Railway, a collection of discarded Soviet locomotives now overrun by nature. There’s also the old station building, which is of course falling apart, but thankfully its lovely stained glass remains intact. Nearby you actually reach the Hrazdan

river, which is inexplicably tiny with respect to the massive chasm it inhabits. Maybe it’s been dammed, idk. It’s very romantic, a calm oasis in the middle of the crazy city, although I went with my housemate and so didn’t quite get with the lovers’ vibe. If you press on south through the gorge, you’ll end up on a very big bridge, at either pole of which the cognac derby faces off. The grandiose factories of Noy and Ararat sternly stare down one another, and you feel the sudden urge to have a tipple. In view too is the Hrazdan Stadium, where Snoop Dogg was to perform a concert so hotly anticipated that governmentbought billboards for it managed to interpose themselves amidst the constant stream of beer and vodka ads that somewhat questionably line the motorway to Sevan. Every weekend a flea market pops up in the shade of the stadium’s concrete hull, where you can buy literally anything: furniture, clothes, a box of wrenches, random circuit boards with blown capacitors, very ornate plates, the odd book or trinket, and a tattered portrait of Nikolai Gogol. The latter I very nearly purchased, only dissuaded by the impossibility of bringing it home in one piece. The owner of the portrait, Aram, kindly offered to keep it safe for me ‘forever’ in exchange for a small fee. Sadly, but sensibly, I declined. That’s just a taste of the weird and wonderful world of Yerevan, to experience it fully you must come yourself. And please do, I’m cripplingly lonely. Jk, bye. Image credits: Jonah Poulard

18 | Column

Friday 27 October | The Oxford Student

s n m u l o C History Beyond the Reading List Family History

Matt Holland y aim with this column is to introduce readers to the various different ways in which people whoaren’t history students can engage with history on a popular level. Whilst there is naturally a great degree of academic snobbery at Oxford, with the lines between academic and popular history being consistently and definitively drawn, some tutors see the value in facilitating a deep interest and curiosity among their students by recommending that they engage in popular ways. One particular tutor at Exeter massively encouraged the next form which I will discuss as a means to help me become even more engaged and intrigued by early thesis work; that is family history. The popularity of sites such as Ancestry have exploded

in recent years, giving users the ability to trace their family trees, discover interesting facts about their relatives, and even find out detailed information about their genealogy. In 2019, Ancestry alone reported that it had 3 million users on its network, while it had also served 15 million people through its AncestryDNA scheme, with an estimated 100 million family trees having been made since it was founded in 1996. Without bursting the bubble too much, the value which these sites have is somewhat limited and you are very unlikely if you come from a family like mine to discover detailed information about the life story of your Victorian ancestors. For the most part, these sites are limited to census and military information, with their only service being to streamline the process by which you can discover this information. Through the

Ancestry account I set up over the summer, I found out about a number of men on my mum’s side of the family who served in both World Wars,

“I found out particularly about my great, great grandfather George Herbert Shepherd who served a distinguished career in the Royal Navy”

predominantly in the Royal Navy as most generations of my family were born and raised in Portsmouth. I found out particularly about my great, great grandfather George Herbert Shepherd who, having served a

Blane’s Style Files

distinguished career in the Royal Navy for many years before the First World War, returned to the Navy after a 5 year period of garrison duty at the age of 46. His son, Herbert John David Shepherd went against the expectations and traditions of the family to serve instead in the Royal Garrison Artillery on the Western Front, and was killed in action on the 13 th June 1918, just a few months before the end of the war. George’s other son, George Victor Shepherd, being just too young to serve in the Great War found himself serving in the Royal Navy at the start of the Second World War and was sunk on the HMS Hood in the Atlantic Ocean in 1941, and his picture is on this page. These stories are just the few I was able to discover of the family on my mum’s side, but they give me a tangible connection to two of the

most important events of the 20 th century. And on top of that I was able to discover that I am 17% Danish/Swedish and 12% Irish, although this is sadly not enough for a passport for any of these countries.

Top 7 British Fashion Icons

Blane Aitchison

he UK has played an integral role in the evolution of fashion over the last century, both through the emergence of subcultures like Mods, Punks, and New Romantics, and the creation of now internationally renowned luxury fashion brands like Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, and Alexander McQueen. In this semi-serious list, I want to discuss seven British designers, celebrities, and characters who have left their mark on the world of fashion. Vivienne Westwood Dame Vivienne Westwood is famous for making punk popular, while still preserving its message of rebellion. Her use of tartan, leather, and provocative graphics meant that neither she (nor her brand) has ever really gone out of fashion, especially with younger consumers and those who love to embrace their rebellious side. In

fact, prices for archival Vivienne Westwood pieces have soared in price since her passing in late 2022. Vivienne Westwood’s unexpected, and often erotic, themes were initially laughed at (see her interview on Wogan in 1988), but this turned out to be proof that she was always ahead of her time. Mary Portas Starting out as a humble shop window dresser, Mary Portas later became the creative director of Harvey Nichols, dominated the BBC in the late 2000s with Mary Queen of Shops, and was appointed by the government to attempt to save British high streets in 2011. Though she was rarely seen without her bright orange bob, businesscasual clothes, and chunky statement jewellery, recently Mary Portas has changed her style to include more neutral tones, showing that changing your iconic look doesn’t have to come at the cost of your person-

ality; it is merely an evolution of yourself.

Janine Butcher from Eastenders

AKA Judith Bernstein, Janine Butcher (played by Charlie Brooks) has been terrorising the residents of Albert Square for years and has always looked good doing it. Camp, risqué, and downright-evil, Janine has proved that you an always look the part while you’re killing your husband, committing romance fraud, or just being a super-bitch. Wardrobe highlights include her leopard-print jacket, all of her incredible wedding dresses, and the iconic red coat she wore when she pushed Barry off a cliff.

Alexander McQueen

Four-time winner of the British Designer of the Year award, Lee Alexander McQueen wowed audiences for years with his avant-garde designs and futuristic footwear, with collections that often blurred the lines be-

tween beautiful and monstrous, and natural and technological. His untimely death in 2010 was felt around the world, but his inspiration can be seen in so many brands, and his final show, inspired by Plato’s Atlantis, is still relevant and futuristic over ten years later.

Kate Moss

Since 1990, Kate Moss has almost irreversibly changed what it means to be a model. Her style (described as ‘grunge’, ‘dishevelled’ or even ‘heroin chic’) has had a lasting impact on society, becoming an ‘anti-supermodel’ at the time due to her short stature and thinness, but went on to inspire the ‘size 0’ craze of the 90s and 00s. Nowadays, Kate Moss consistently informs new trends whenever she leaves the house.

Patsy and Eddy from Absolutely Fabulous

Everyone’s favourite irresponsible middle-aged women, Patsy and Eddy (played by Joanna

Lumley and Jennifer Saunders respectively) solidified their statuses as fashion icons as the main characters in Absolutely Fabulous. Patsy’s sleek, edgy, and rebellious outfits contrast perfectly with Eddy’s eccentric, mismatched, and over the top ensembles, displaying the contrasting yet complementary aspects of their characters.

Mystic Meg

Astrologer Margaret Lake became a mainstay of 90s pop culture when she would appear during broadcasts of the National Lottery to announce who would be in receipt of good fortune. Nearly always appearing in something black, red, or purple, alongside her signature black bob and red lip, Mystic Meg seemed to be a British manifestation of the dark fantasy themes that became prevalent in American TV shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charmed.

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October

Columns | 19

Columns

Mental Health Walk Michaelmas Amanda Li

riginally, I was going to go to the Ashmolean this week with my friend. Instead, I got that feeling you get when you’re absolutely bleh (still do!) and decided to instead take a little walk around before seeing my friends for dinner. Saturday scaries, am I right? So off I went, getting a nice little drink as a treat and walking around town to try to relax. The intention was an errand walk with my boyfriend; I wanted something pumpkin flavored, then a little walk in a charity shop, to Tesco and Westgate Sainsbury’s for groceries, and then back to my kitchen, hopefully calmer. Obviously, that did not end up happening. The journey began when I decided that I wanted something not from Pret or the other cafes, but instead something from the Covered Market. The flower shop was closed, but all the cafes were open; we stopped by Colombia Roasters to grab a hot cocoa with marshmallows ($4.) The hot cocoa was dark and mellow, but not too bitter or sweet. The foam and marshmallows on the top combined with the cold weather kept me from burning my tongue as we walked out past the tourists. There was not much talking happening with the tour-

ist groups looking for dinner, forcing us to walk single file. The Covered Market is not normally this bad, though it is often crowded; expect some money to be spent and crowds to be crowded, though the stuff is worth the crowd. After we got out onto the High Street, the crowds eased up a bit and we could actually chat. The high street is normally a decent place for conversation, but the constant stares at my puffer made me self-conscious that someone could always just know who I was at any given time as I passed. If I was in a crying mood that day, I’d probably have been more panicked that my breakdown would be on Oxfess. Thankfully, with the tourists, nobody I knew was walking at the time, so on we went past Carfax’s religious chanters to Queen Street. I do treat them as background noise, but recognize that others may not have the same ability to ignore them; when they approach me, I always just push past them but still feel a bit uncomfy. It’s much easier to hide the sounds of sobs when all you can hear is overlapping yelling about what God wants from each of us. I nipped into the British Heart Foundation shop right before it closed, doing a quick peruse through the racks. I have found some great finds here in the

past, but today was not my day; after about fifteen minutes searching through both men’s and women’s sections (and homeware, for a small pan in the kitchen) to no avail, off we went past the buskers back to the Westgate plaza. Those of you that have read my columns in last year Hilary know I am a big busking fan. The violin lady was there, playing Canon in D, plus some new person playing the synth…. It was a nice backdrop while walking into Westgate, but I still was not in the mood to get groceries. So instead, I decided to do more window shop-

ping: having finished my cocoa, it was time to see what sales were going on. Uniqlo brought no luck, but at Miniso we got some things for the kitchen and a $1 storage basket! Then into the Westgate Blackwell’s; a little less interesting than the Norrington Room in the Broad Street location, but still with a good selection. The entire time I am getting a bit better and having much chit chat about the state of affairs in my life, without the crowds and with zero chance of running into anyone I know. It was a great experience. As I ran off to my dinner in the upstairs rooftop area, I realized that though I still had no food in the fridge, I still had a nice and successful and mostly relaxing walk without running into anyone I knew, and ended up getting some admin done at the same time. Nice to know you can still hide in plain sight, even in Oxford! Image Credits: -wuppertaler, David Hallam-Jones via WikiMedia Commons

WRITE FOR US

The Final Ratings:

Covered Market: Cryability: 2, Seclusion: 2 Fun: 8 Helpfulness: 7 Quickness: 8 High Street:

Cryability: 1 Seclusion: 1 Fun: 4 Helpfulness: 4 Quickness: 9

Queen Street: Cryability: 5 Seclusion: 1 Fun: 5 Helpfulness: 7 Quickness: 9

Charity Shop: Cryability: 9 Seclusion: 3 Fun: 8 Helpfulness: 6 Quickness: 8 Westgate:

Cryability: 7 Seclusion: 3 Fun: 5 Helpfulness: 7 Quickness: 8

20 | Features

Deputy Editor: Haochen Wang Section Editors: Patrick Groves, Elliot Francolla features@oxfordstudent.com

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Features

A Russianist abroad Patrick Groves he ‘year abroad review’ type article can very easily fall into the trappings of cliché; and I promise that is what I will do my utmost to avoid. Perhaps I bear an overly inflated sense of exclusivity in studying Russian, but I honestly believe that the past year abroad has been one of the most eye-opening and informative experiences of my life. Oh look, I’ve already broken my promise. Unlike many of my peers, I have had the privilege of visiting Russia. Scratch that, I have had the privilege of living in Russia. The summer of 2019 was, for many reasons, one of my favorites; this was mostly owing to my dearest tetya Katya (my sort of “Russian aunt”) who, upon learning of my bizarre intention to study Russian at university, took it upon herself to drag (in the affectionate sense) me to St Petersburg for six weeks. Living out in the sticks, using the dacha as basecamp, I spent my summer exploring all of St Petersburg’s rich cultural offerings by day, and it’s not-so-cultural by night with my best mate, Ivan. Having the luxury of a quasi-family from St Petersburg itself is, admittedly, a bit of a cheat code in the endeavour of wrestling the unforgiving mistress that is the Russian language, but from this endless summer under the dazzling white nights of the north, I was hooked. The vision I had fostered when approaching the year abroad at Oxford was one imbued with the overly romanticised musings of an impressionable sixteen year old drunk on the intoxicating prospect of returning to St Petersburg and hoping to pick up the threads of my summer three years prior. This was destined not to be, as we all are so poignantly aware, after the events of February 2022; the designs I had on my year were abandoned. It is now that I must, regrettably, return to reality. While I sit here writing this paragraph on a Sunday night far too close to the lay in, I find my mind wandering, brood-

ing over the year that never was- the year I still mourn. I look back on early 2022 with a sort of disbelief; my plans collapsed and the faculty, who were understandably more concerned with more pressing issues like extricating the Russianist contingent from a besieged Ukraine and Russia the aggressor, were sadly not of immediate help. Planning became a process of picking up the pieces of tattered agendas and adapting to rapidly evolving circumstances.

I look back on early 2022 with a sort of disbelief; my plans collapsed and the faculty, who were understandably more concerned with more pressing issues like extricating the Russianist contingent from a besieged Ukraine and Russia the aggressor, were sadly not of immediate help.

From this haze of uncertainty, I happened upon Narva, Estonia’s easternmost city and Russian speaking exclave. I spent three months in the Soviet relic that is Narva – incidentally, three of the coldest months in their calendar, as I was later helpfully informed by a local – but I have written about this peculiar outpost at length before. With that in mind, I’ll offer only the abridged edition of my Estonian exploits: Point one: Estonian train conductors are not friendly – avoid interacting at all costs. Should you be unfortunate enough to incur their wrath on a particularly icy day – inclement weather is directly proportional to Estonian/Russian disposition, I find – offer your sincerest apologies and hastily vacate the first class seat you didn’t pay for. Point two: when, after several litres of vodka consumption, former soldiers employ your services to venture into the bitter cold and fetch more – you are contractually obliged as the youngest, it’s the law – get one of them to pay for it. Admittedly, two litres of Nemiroff from the office in Narva is not going to break the bank, believe me, but certain heavy drinkers have a taste for the stuff and harbour no moral

qualms at getting the British kid to buy their booze. Point three is the most important. If you’re planning on heading to visit the 60,000 ethnic Russians in Narva, and intend to do so for more than a weekend, BUY A PROPER COAT! I did not, and I suffered despite the Carhartt number I so naively donned. With Narva in the rear-view, I enjoyed a brief interlude back on Merseyside for Christmas, though it was straight back to pulling strings and trying to recoup some semblance of structure that, with a bit of luck, might actually help me speak a bit of Russian. Funnily enough, what I decided on – a six month stint in the Baltic state of Latvia – meant that my festive homecoming had been essentially futile (aside from the delight that is spending two idle weeks cooped up with your three younger siblings, of course). The far east of central Asia didn’t appeal much, and Black Sea border countries like Georgia and Armenia weren’t really what I was looking for. So, Latvia it was. My most striking observation about arriving in Latvia might have been regarding my first Latvian taxi driver who, for the low, low price of six quid, would traverse the ten kilometre journey from Riga airport arrivals to the train station drop off. I’m pretty sure I’ve paid more than that for a sandwich in Stansted airport, so Latvian taxi travel certainly can’t be faulted for its expense. The quality of the roads however, can absolutely play victim to my reproach. Even with all the help German automotive engineering can muster, the journey was a far cry from comfortable; the driver’s distinctive perfume of Ukrainian fags and last night’s liquid courage did nothing to put my mind at ease either. The train journey from Riga to my destination of choice, another Russian speaking exclave, Daugavpils, was not much more comfortable. In spite of their somewhat ill-natured workforce, the Estonian train network is modern and, vitally, heated. The Latvian network leaves a lot to be desired. The great diesel trains are straight out of the ‘60s Sovietera Latvian Republic. Boarding is an interesting process that

involves hoisting yourself and 6 months’ worth of cold weather clothing from a poorly lit icy platform up three feet through a set of not-so-automatic double doors. Not to mention, this process takes place in the January snow endemic to this area of Europe and the pitch black that’s equally as oppressive in the early months in the Baltics. Oh, and did I mention, as well as focussing on not losing your own footing, the charade is further complicated by navigating the fine line between causing offence and offering help to the ranks of less nimble elderly babushki who are engaged in the same endeavour. Alighting at the other end is worthy of an article in itself... The road and rail network notwithstanding, my time in both Daugavpils and Riga profoundly impacted my language skills. I was pleasantly surprised at the frequency with which I had to deal with situations in my chosen language. From refusing the endless requests for free cigs off locals to repelling pyanitsy (drunks), intent on irritating foreigners who so audaciously elect to occupy the pavement outside their language school, the range of ‘colloquial’ vocabulary I managed to absorb proved remarkable. The year abroad I had envisaged four years ago is but a distant and unfulfilled pipedream. I never roamed the Petersburg prospekty, and was unable to visit the many people in Russia I hold dear. With the stagnation the Russia-Ukraine conflict has reached now, my future prospects of returning to Russia look equally bleak. My Baltic escapades did, however, provide an outlet for my frustration and yearning for Russia - a luch nadezhdy (silver lining) of sorts. I bore witness to the immediate response to the War in Ukraine, befriended an assortment of eccentric characters (I still have several standing invitations to Kyiv) and did, between the ample vodka-fuelled evenings, manage to learn a little bit more Russian. Studying Russian abroad is not what it once was and, sadly, I don’t see that changing any time soon. But future Russianists, fear not! The Russian year abroad is still alive and well.

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

Features | 21

Mr. Mayor! Tear down these tower blocks! Anton Nieboer e have all looked out of our windows on a car journey or on the train to school, and every so often have found ourselves looking up in awe at one of these daunting and towering blocks of concrete, known by city planners as a multi-storey building. Upon this sight, we perhaps have then wondered why council housing could not simply take the form of a neat, quiet, and gently ordered row of houses and flats in place of the eyesore, but reality soon kicks in and reminds us that such an ideal is home only to some model village and could not possibly come about under today’s needs and circumstances. The small issue I have with this thinking is that this reality is anything but the truth. Not only is the case for social housing to be in the form of actual houses, as opposed to tower blocks, persuasive on the obvious aesthetic grounds (that we should build for beauty instead of blind utility), but it is as clear that such a system is practically superior. On all fronts actual and beautiful housing defeats the tower block, whether it be for population density, the housing crisis, financial efficiency, and indeed for the health of citizens and the environment. The case for beauty in buildings is sometimes a forgotten one, dismissed on false charges for being out of touch, elitist or void of practical concerns. Again, this reality cannot be further from the truth. Beauty can be valued both for its intrinsic quality and for its utility, such as its evident benefit on the mental health of those who are surrounded by it. A rich oil painting or a fragrant flower are both considered beautiful because one sees no other use for it than itself. In that moment when one is looking at the painting, or smelling the flower, they value it simply for being itself, i.e. valued for its intrinsic quality. But the beauty of architecture is that it can be valued both for its own sake and for its ulterior benefits. The delicate bridging of Hertford College over New College Lane, which somehow always conjures up the images of romantic Venice; the symmetry imbued in the Radcliffe Camera, and the neatly ordered

yet naturally ordained arrangement of an Oxford college all can be gazed at and enjoyed for their own sake, whilst also creating a sphere of calm and contentment over those who are covered by it. This phenomenon can be observed even outside the boundary of the Cowley roundabout: countless polls and interviews with residents of tower blocks confirm time and again that they would choose to live in houses on streets if they could afford to do so. Furthermore, the ugly, atomized and dehumanizing way tower blocks are built has led to many studies showing that high-rise living has contributed to residents’ feelings of depression. A striking correlation found in a recent study even showed the rate of loneliness rising with the actual floor level on a given building. Alongside this are the clearly increased childhood behavioural problems and a tendency for more crime within multi-storey buildings, since the layouts of most tower blocks comprise of one entrance door to a hundred homes, instead of the one door leading to the one home. Residents are safe neither from crime nor from health hazards in these towers of utility, since most tower blocks happen only to have one or two fire exits for the use of hundreds, with some facing an abnormal twenty or thirty floors until they reach ground (a point that has been imprinted in our minds since the Grenfell tragedy). It is also worth noting that sometimes, only sometimes, the very walls and concrete turn against their residents and pose as their own health and safety problem (need I mention the recent RAAC problems). There is something intrinsic about these blocks, and it is not beauty. But there is a solution, one that is not plucked from some utopian model village, but rather one which is frightfully simple. To say that estates and tower blocks were first erected in the 1950s under the simple pretext to increase population density and to house an everlarger population is a myth. It was and indeed still is the will of town planners and councils, but clearly not the will of the people. Not only is beauty valued in terraced housing, but so too is its utility in city planning, as it is abundantly clear that the

creation of more streets and terraced housing surpasses the population density which the estates and tower blocks offer, both in theory and in practice. The think tank Create Streets has produced all sorts of reports on this, defending the

“...the beauty of architecture is that it can be valued both for its own sake and for its ulterior benefits”

view that ‘we can improve current densities while reinstating the traditional street pattern’ (Policy Exchange Create Streets report, p60). Terraced housing has proven to be the most efficient model for population density, in contrast to its wasteful alternative. It is clear to see that the replacement of tower blocks and estates in exchange for more streets would serve the increasing population of London and the UK, and indeed help solve the housing crisis, by matching the ever-growing demand for houses with a massively increased supply. Figure A, given by the widely cited Andrew Wright Associates, acts as a very useful model to show how the average UK tower block matches modest terraced housing, of medium and low-rise coverage respectively, in population density (all models are at a measurement of 75 units per hectare, the standard unit of population density). Countless studies in addition to this have shown

Image credit: Sam Bowman for Create Streets

the triumph of terraced housing in this realm, one report from the other place concluding that ‘high density housing can be provided in built form similar to the scale of the larger Georgian terraces… acceptable developments of this type can be designed within a range of densities generally between 300 and 400 habitable rooms per hectare’, equating to 100175 units per hectare. Terraced housing also emerges victorious for cheap and efficient city planning. The need for vacuous open spaces in estates, which are rendered futile when a common is almost always nearby, along with the wheelchair access and bike storage (compulsory for tower blocks even if such a feature is not needed for all residents) is removed when reduced to the individual housing level. It is not far off the imagination to see how an estate or tower block, after its demolishing (something which is now heavily restricted across the board) and after its aforementioned byproducts have been recycled, could easily be transformed into a street or square lined neatly with houses and flats, of up to five storeys with slender width and modestly sized private gardens. Not only would this match or even increase the amount of residents one could house in a given area, but the creation of streets and private gardens would allow for the growth of nature. Some critics who are self-admittedly in touch with reality will say such a utopian ideal is far removed from society as it will take more time, resources

and money than is realistic in today’s economy, as opposed to the cheaper and necessary alternative of building blocks. A cursory look at the figures would inform this person that the opposite is in fact true: streets and terraced housing are cheaper to build and maintain, and provide a better longterm return. The former can be proven with this economics A Level dictum: building high is expensive. A study from UCL has shown that per square metre, a fifty-storey building was 60% more expensive than a five storey one (my personal favourite storey limit on a building). The latter claim can be proven by the simple fact that houses can be built to last for centuries, as Georgian and Victorian housing proves, with carefully laid out streets connecting one to the rest of a city being a financial incentive in itself. Instead, the average life expectancy of a tower block is no more than fifty years. It really is not idealistic to hope for the return of a terrace in place of a tower, a curated garden in place of a ‘communal open space’, a mews in place of an abandoned yard, or even a boulevard studded with trees in place of a wasteful and spacious block. All of these scenarios are not a utopia, but rather require a change in the way we approach social housing. Quite simply, it can’t really be called social housing if houses are not being built.

Image description: A street with terraced housing, trees, bikes and life.

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

22 | Culture

Culture

Deputy Editor: Jennifer Robinson Section Editors: Johannah Mathew, Ivy Wong, Declan Collins culture@oxfordstudent.com

Sappho Masques Empowering

culture and mental health through art

Warning: Mature Themes

I have buried in the grass follicles Fitri Fareez Ramli the loose straw, the fresh yellow of it remember when I decided to take up a brush to start my while my eyes look on. painting hobby a few years ago. It was back in 2016 when This is a ritual honouring the sorrow I worked as a doctor in a psychiatric institution in Malaysia. young plants The first painting was a beta fish, inspired by my sister, Lush. She undergo. I have planted my eyes loves this fish and used to have many of them. During this period, in the waste reeds and their trembling. No. my paintings were generally inspired by what I observed from No. You are supple and powerful. my surroundings, more literal than abstract. When the night comes I will wear you in a crown. As I just started my painting journey, I tried many mediums. The tones of the lapped waves on thighs, As I was not formally taught to paint other than those basics marble sand, your bronze. we learned at school; I just tried to paint according to what I felt Moon lapis of ocean, was right. I would stop when I felt the painting looked good to come to where your fire is me. I experimented with acrylics, watercolours, coloured pencils, and we will lie out at ease together. and pens to visualise my imagination. Among those mediums, I We will heave our black sighs. fell in love with acrylics. The paint gives volume and texture to my And I will tell you what it meant to be a person paintings. I had a cubicle at the office when like Dawn. working at the hospital, which I shared with another colleague. For you have no attachments. The cube was the first place that I exhibited my paintings. I pasted For we can stay here as long as we like. them on the cubicle wall so that my colleague could come and see The schoolyard of girlhood: them. I also created an online gallery to reach a wider audience. broad, placid, vulpine. However, my painting interest only lasted for a year during this Was there caste to assert? period as I grew busier when I shifted to another psychiatric There was air to love. Breezes institution. Then, I was occupied with more work and study shook open vaults, dusted rooves. commitments when I joined the National University of Malaysia I remember myself as a leaf as a medical lecturer. The urge to paint again resurcarried about by others, faced in 2021. I had just arrived in Oxford for my DPhil in Psychiatry. not even a hyacinth. My loves During this period, I encountered many people from various backwere older than I was. grounds with strong opinions. I was trying to force myself to fit in Where, darling, would I place you? initially, but over time I realised I needed to stop changing myself If you arose from the dusk-yard of my youth just to be part of the group. I told myself that I could change myself what would you be? for a better me, but I needed a

by Edward McLaren

self-consent to do this. This period inspired me to create a painting collection I called ‘Kembara’ or journey in English.

The art forms at this time were abstract. The Kembara collection initially consisted of nine paintings that I exhibited at St Cross College, University of Oxford, in March 2022. As the collection is partly inspired by my struggle with identity, I came out with the idea of incorporating cultural elements in the form of words. I named every painting with Malay words. I am Malaysian and used to study in Indonesia for my medical degree. So, I must say that the terms used might be from

collection. I named this collection ‘Suratan’, which means destiny. I incorporated various messages through narratives. There were ten paintings in this collection. One painting called ‘Akar’ or ‘Roots’ in English conveys a powerful message about identity that we need to appreciate. It is impossible for us to change our background. I was born Asian, so I cannot change the fact that I am Asian, but what I can do is embrace my identity and culture. The collection was inspired by

both countries because we share similar cultures. I also provided narratives for every painting so that people could relate the word context to paintings and their descriptions. I added more paintings to the Kembara collection, including those from 2016 that I brought from Malaysia. I had the opportunity to exhibit my art pieces at St Cross College, University of Oxford and Education Malaysia London in October 2022 and February 2023, respectively. During this time, I used acrylic paper to paint as it was more convenient and portable. I continued sharing my art pieces and narratives with other people. I was glad to hear feedback that people could relate my artworks to their life experiences. I guess my emphasis on sharing vulnerability was a good move, as this is something we often keep to ourselves. Raising this issue indirectly through arts somehow created additional room for people to open up. I then changed my usual painting medium from acrylic paper to a larger canvas for more satisfactory visuals. It took me longer than usual to create this

my personal experiences and readings from literature. Other messages include mental health and climate change. I managed to exhibit the Suratan collection at Royal Lancaster London and St Cross College, University of Oxford, in August and September this year. I was glad to have diverse audiences to convey the messages from the art pieces. These opportunities secured me another chance to exhibit at the National Army Museum during a special event. I brought 13 paintings to showcase my works there in mid-October this year. Four of the paintings are from my recent collection ‘Kiriman’. Kiriman means bequeath or something special sent or passed down to us. It is an appreciation and gratitude for the experiences and gifts of life that I received. The message I tried to convey from this collection is related to Malay cultural elements. I am using arts to convert the negative energy into positive. I believe arts can help me to express complex emotions. I hope to continue painting to bring numerous powerful messages to diverse audiences.

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

Culture | 23

Songwriting, touring and inspiration: In conversation with Lynne Hanson Johannah Mathew

eleasing her 8th solo studio album Ice Cream in November last year and currently writing her next record expected in Spring 2024, I had the chance to interview Hanson about touring, her writing process, and musical influences.

Johannah: How’s tour been so far? Lynne: It’s going well, all the gigs have been good so far. We played in Scarborough the other night to a nice big crowd, so that was fun. We were also in Sheffield, and we were treated so nicely by the venue, it just felt really special. There’s always something positive about every show. J: What did it take to find your musical voice and has it

changed over your career? L: When I became a professional musician, for the first five years I was touring with another songwriter, who was my partner at the time, and I would play rhythm guitar and sing backing vocals with them. That kind of got me started in terms of being a professional performing musician. I started writing my own songs after that, as a sort of offshoot from that original project. Over the years I’ve listened to other song writers and moved into different sonic directions and it’s kind of by osmosis that I’ve ended up where I am now. J: You describe your music as ‘porch music with a little red dirt’, did you grow up with Americana, or was it something you found later? L: Somebody gave me Car

Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams in 2006, and that’s when I discovered Americana. It completely changed how I heard music, that record was by far the biggest influence on my writing style. Over the years I’ve listened to people like Patty Griffin and Jason Isbell, and they’ve greatly influenced where I’ve moved too. J: Over the time, have you noticed your writing process change? L: Majority of the songs I write start with music and then I develop the lyrics and vocal melody on top of that and that hasn’t changed, but I think my lyrical style has changed quite a bit. It’s a combination of being influenced by other writers, especially in Americana, and spending more time refining my craft. In the early days I

What’s on this week? Angels in America: Millenium Approaches

Running from the 1st-4th November, this play is a complex exploration of homosexuality, love, and loss during the American AIDS epidemic.

Cathleen Ni Houlihan

would hear when a song was finished, whilst now I really make sure that every word is the way I want it to be and I am really paying attention to those details – that’s what I’ve found has changed. J: How do you view your songwriting process? L: When it comes to writing a record, I’ll set aside a certain amount of time to write, so it becomes a type of 9-5 job. I’ll sit down in the morning, and I’ll write until the day is over and even if I’ve gotten nothing, that’s just what I’ll do every day. When I’m not writing a record, I’ll just come up with song ideas – it’s a little more organic. I might just be fiddling around on the guitar, get an idea and then start working on a song. J: When you’re writing, are you already thinking about how

the album will look? L: No, I never have any idea. I think the ideas sort of pile up in my subconscious and then when I start writing, they start coming out. I don’t have a plan necessarily, it’s just all of a sudden, I have a bunch of songs that work together and the couple that don’t are the ones that don’t get recorded. J: Do you ever come back to the unrecorded songs? L: For the record I’m recording now, that will come out in Spring, there’s a really great song we’re going to record that I originally wrote in December 2020, but I doubt it’ll make the record, just because it doesn’t really fit. So, a lot of the times if it’s not meant to be, maybe it’s a song for me, maybe it’s a song for someone else.

Group sketching at Pitt Rivers

Meet up at the museum on the 28th October and choose a spot to sketch together. People are also free to wander and sketch individually.

Running from 24th-28th Oc‘The World of Publication’ Talk tober, this is an opportunity to wit- This event held on the 29th October by ness the work by the prolific Irish The Oxford Writers is is a talk about playwright, brought to life on stage self publishing and traditional pubby Phoenicia of Dido Productions. lishing.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get these events in your inbox every week! Link on our website: oxfordstudent.com

Justin Timberlake and the tricky art of the breakup text Liz Lane

ritney Spears recently revealed in her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, that Justin Timberlake, her then boyfriend of two years, broke up with her via text. This breakup reportedly left her devastated, whilst Timberlake was seen “happily running around Hollywood” enjoying the success of his ever-growing career. In a moment where many are reflecting on the poor treatment of Spears both professionally and personally, is it time we reassess the acceptability of the break-up text? Spears and Timberlake first met in in 1992 on the set of the “The Mickey Mouse Club”. Officially, they began dating in 1999 when Spears was 17 and Timberlake was 18. After three years, a shared Super Bowl performance and the most iconic double-denim look of all time, the pair called it quits after cheating allegations surfaced on both sides. At the time, Timberlake famously responded

with his single “Cry Me a River” featuring accusatory lyrics about a cheating girl and an actor who looked suspiciously like Spears. In an excerpt from her memoir, Spears described how the media reaction to the music video left her “comatose” and details about the break-up itself are only emerging now. Citing the director of Spears’ 2002 music video “Overprotected: The Dark Child”, The Independent are reporting the break-up text sent by Timberlake allegedly consisted of two words: “It’s over!!!” Naturally, Spears is not the only celebrity to have had a high-profile relationship end over the phone. Taylor Swift told Ellen DeGeneres that in 2008 Joe Jonas broke up with her during a 27-second phone call: “That’s got to be a record,” she told the host. Cazzie David, meanwhile, writer and daughter of Larry David, revealed that Pete Davidson broke up with her via text following a two-and-ahalf year relationship. Zayn Malik famously sent an engagement-ending text to Little Mix’s

Perrie Edwards, who described the break-up as “the worst time of my life”. So if the repercussions of break-up texts are so obviously hurtful for the recipient, why do people keep doing it? According to a 2020 Sky Mobile survey, nearly a third of Brits have been dumped by text message, whilst a 2023 Paddy Power survey found that 71% of Gen Z participants admitted to ghosting someone online. The break-up text may seem like a strange and potentially cruel product of our internet age but the reality is break-up messages have always existed – they just used to be sent in different forms. Consider Jackie Kennedy’s letter to her then teenage boyfriend featuring the immortal words “I guess I’m not in love with you”, or actor Richard Burton’s 1973 letter to Elizabeth Taylor: “You’re off, by God! I can barely believe it since I am so unaccustomed to anybody leaving me. But reflectively I wonder why nobody did so before.” He ends with the words: “I

shall miss you with passion and wild regret.” With these lines, it becomes apparent that break-up message can be something of an art form. As language and technology evolves, it is only natural that expressions of regret and sorrow have found a new medium today. Though most break-up texts likely won’t achieve the poetical heights of Burton’s or Kennedy’s, writing break-up messages has become far easier particularly with the assistance of AI. Though I would strongly advise against using Buzzfeed’s “Break Up Text Generator” in a real-life situation, I did, out of curiosity, fill in the details required to assist an 21-year-old Justin Timberlake keen to end things with pop sensation Britney Spears. Answering the bot’s prompts as best I could (in response to the question “What do you have too much of in your house?” I filled in the blanks based off an online rumour that Timberlake has a secret love for sneakers), the results were as follows: Hey Britney,

I hope you’re doing alright. Look, I think it’s time we have a serious conversation. I can’t deny the fact that I maybe, allegedly, saw you kiss your dance choreographer. Remember when we first met and I fell in love with your amazing singing? That’s what made me fall for you in the first place. Thinking back, I should’ve noticed the red flags earlier. Like when you wore a deep denim at the American Music Awards instead of washed denim - a clear sign! But hey, lesson learned. We’ll have to officially divide our sneaker collection and go our separate ways now. In the words of a famous pop song, “We are never, ever, ever getting back together” - Taylor Swift. Wishing you all the best, and looking forward to finding someone who appreciates my sneaker obsession! Peace out, Justin The results, as we can see, are far from perfect, but it sure beats ending a three-year relationship with a two-word text.

24 | Advert

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

Advert | 25

26 | Green

Deputy Editor: Jasmine Wilkinson Section Editors: Gaspard Rouffin, Jessica Wang green@oxfordstudent.com

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Green

‘Pollution Pods’ art installation Going Bananas for TEXFAD! opens at St John’s College Gaspard Rouffin

he ‘Pollution Pods’ designed by artist Michael Pinsky were inaugurated in St John’s College on the 21st of October. This innovative installation was created with the intention of increasing public consciousness regarding the effects of air pollution on the environment and human health by allowing spectators to experience first-hand the effects of living in a polluted environment. The installation is composed of five geometric domes, each simulating the atmospheres of highly polluted cities including London, New Delhi, São Paulo, and Beijing, as well as the clean air of Tautra, Norway for reference. The pods use sophisticated air filters as well as gases and chemicals to recreate the specific composition and odours of the polluted air of each city. Michael Pinsky is an accomplished visual artist who employs a range of media to delve into the socio-political stakes of a location. He is often critical of the impact of humankind on the world, and especially of our behaviour as a society. The artist praised Oxford for the availability of sustainable transportation methods, such as bicycles and buses: ‘For many cities, air pollution remains a pressing concern, yet

it is only a select few that are taking proactive measures to combat this critical issue, and Oxford stands proudly among them. [...] Through my installation, I aim to draw attention to the significant detrimental effects of air pollution on our health, urging a collective reconsideration of our urban mobility patterns.’ The installation that is now in the St John’s College Front Quad has been travelling around the world since 2017, and has been exhibited in prestigious locations such as the WHO offices in Geneva, the UN Headquarters in New York, COP 25 and 26, as well as the Somerset House in London.

“The Pollution Pods raise important questions...”

Michael Pinsky’s ‘Pollution Pods’ help promote and enhance comprehension of the urgency of climate action, and inspire communities to promote cleaner air and sustainable solutions. Climate activist Greta Thunberg, after her visit of the installation at the UN in 2020, described it as “an incredible exhibition, It’ll really bring attention to these problems, and if people can experience this, people from all around the world, how these people live everyday, it will bring lots

of attention and people will be more encouraged to deal with these problems.” John Fulljames, Supernumerary Fellow at St John’s College, said “The Pollution Pods raise important questions about our climate, exploring the ways in which art can change people’s perception of climate.” Professor Dame Sue Black, President of St John’s College, stated the college is “committed to supporting its local community [...], and looking forward to raise awareness of the impact of air pollution on health”. The ‘Pollution Pods’ are part of the “Everything is Connected” initiative, a series of creative events across Oxford taking inspiration from the fact that everything is connected in the natural and human world. In St John’s, visitors are also offered two supplementary exhibitions in the Canterbury Quad, the first one about the college’s own sustainability programme, and the second being a photography exhibition featuring images from recent prestigious awards. A private view of the ‘Pollution Pods’ was arranged for college members the day before the opening. The installation is free to visit, and open to all members of the public from Saturday 21 October to Sunday 5 November from 1pm to 5pm on weekdays, and 10am to 5pm on weekends.

Jasmine Wilkinson

n a groundbreaking endeavor, TEXFAD a banana textile industry in Uganda, is leading the way in sustainable and biodegradable textile production, transforming waste banana pseudo stems and other waste materials into high quality sustainable and biodegradable handwoven textile products. Their mission is to mitigate waste, promote sustainability, and empower communities through vocational skills training. On this note, they offer work based non-formal hands-on skills training for job and wealth creation in Uganda through a Vocational Skills Training Academy that is accredited by the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) as a Centre for competence-based assessment in line with the Uganda Vocational Qualification Framework. At this Centre, they focus on training youths and women in various disciplines including textile and handloom weaving. Uganda is one of the world’s largest banana producers and a world leader in banana consumption. After the harvest, banana stems are usually discarded as waste. TEXFAD has developed technologies for banana fibre extraction and ap-

plication into the production of high-quality banana fibre textiles and handicrafts including banana fibre cast boards, lampshades, coasters, rugs, and blended fabrics, which are 75% banana and 25% cotton. Bananas are one of the world’s most wasteful crops. After harvest, almost 60% of banana biomass is left as waste. Worldwide, about 114.08 million metric tons of banana wasteloss are produced, leading to environmental problems like greenhouse gas emissions, with bananas having a carbon footprint of 0.21kg per pound of banana. Banana production in Uganda has been rising steadily over time, growing from 6.5 metric tons in 2018 to 8.3 metric tons in 2019. Uganda is said to be the world’s leading producer of bananas, second only to India. Additionally, bananas are the main food crop to over half the population in Uganda. TEXFAD’s commitment to transforming banana waste intoo sustainable textile products not only fosters emnvironmental stewardship but also bolsters job creation and economic empowerment in Uganda, something truly wiorth going bananas for!

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

Deputy Editor: Bridget Harrington Section Editors: Tymoteusz Syrytczyk, Samkeet Shah, Gabriella Kchozyan scitech@oxfordstudent.com

SciTech | 27

SciTech

Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient: Light that perplexes even astronomers “The Hubble observations were really the crucial thing. They made us realise that this was unusual compared to the other ones like that, because without the Hubble data we would not have known,” said Ashley Chrimes, lead author of the Hubble paper reporting the discovery in an upcoming issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS). While these spectacular explosions have been considered to be a rare sort of supernova known as core-collapse supernovae, the massive stars that become supernovae are rather short-lived by stellar standards. As a result, the enormous progenitor stars do not have much time to travel from their birthplace — a cluster of young stars – before exploding. All prior LFBOTs were discovered in

the spiral arms of galaxies where star formation occurs, but the Finch is not located in any galaxy. “The more we learn about LFBOTs, the more they surprise us”, Chrimes added. “We’ve now shown that LFBOTs can occur a long way

LFBOTs go off abruptly and are among the brightest known visible-light phenomena in the cosmos. Only a few have been discovered since the first detection in 2018 – an event roughly 200 million light-years away known as

“the Cow”. LFBOTs are now discovered roughly once a year. The newest LFBOT was spotted by several telescopes spanning the electromagnetic spectrum, from X-rays to radio wavelengths. The transitory occurrence, designated AT2023fhn and dubbed “the Finch,” exhibited all of the hallmarks of an LFBOT. It shone brightly in blue light and developed quickly, reaching peak brightness and then fading in a couple of days, as opposed to supernovae, which take weeks or months to fade. But unlike any other LFBOT seen before, Hubble found that the Finch is located between two neighbouring galaxies – about 50,000 lightyears from a nearby spiral galaxy and about 15,000 lightyears from a smaller galaxy.

Bridget Harrington ith carbon dioxide levels the highest they have been for over 4 million years, and the hope of staying below the IPCC 1.5-degree Celsius target looking ever bleaker, now is the time to make drastic changes to our lifestyle and consumption patterns. With the meat industry being one of the worst contributors to the climate crisis, the idea of cultivated, lab grown meat is making waves in the world of food. But just how sustainable is cultivated meat? And can vegetarians expect to be replaced by the rise of ‘cultivarians’? The environmental impact caused by the meat industry is indisputable, with it producing some 14.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and accounting for 77% of agricultural land. With the global population estimated to surpass 9 billion by 2050, the demand for meat is only going to rise. Much of our global agricultural land is already being rendered unusable due to climate change; felling more

trees to develop new farmland is only going to exacerbate this problem as it removes a large carbon sink. Although plantbased diets are becoming more common across the globe, it is clear we need a new strategy to tempt our meat lovers away from factory-farmed produce. Lab grown meat relies on a technique of in vitro muscle tissue growth. The process was developed over 100 years ago, but it was only in 2013 that focus switched to applying this technique to produce the first cultivated burger. The process of cultivating the meat involves harvesting muscle cells from a live animal under local anaesthetic, and growing them in a bioreactor supplied with the required nutrients to allow the cells to proliferate into muscle tissue that can be formed into the desired size. Cells taken from a single cow can produce up to 175 million quarter-pounder burgers, which is the equivalent of slaughtering 440,000 cows, meaning that, with appropriate production scaling, cultivated meat is more than able to meet the consumer demand.

In terms of environmental impact, cultivated meat has the potential to be the secret we may be looking for. Depending on the type of meat produced, cultivated meat is predicted to use 82 to 96 percent less water, 99 percent less land, and produce 78 to 96 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions. This is because it does not rely on as much pasture space to graze cattle, and less land and water must be dedicated to growing the animal feed.

means that the process is not yet fully decoupled from factory farming, although the Dutch company ‘Mosa Meat’ substitutes FBS with hydrolysed cyanobacteria, which is cheaper and more sustainable, so it is hoped that other companies will soon follow suit. To assess fully the ability of cultivated meat to help solve the climate crisis, we must also consider how feasible it is in terms of health impacts and cost. Perhaps surprisingly to many, cultivated meat is actually a healthier alternative to traditional meat, despite being produced by an admittedly unnatural process. However, lab control over the meat production means that we can adjust the essential amino acid profile, vitamin and mineral content of the meat to enhance its nutritional value. Furthermore, unlike traditional meat, it avoids contamination from growth hormones or antibiotics that are routinely injected into factory farmed animals, reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance, which is responsible for the deaths of some 1.2 million people every year.

Samkeet Shah he astronomical power of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has made a very uncommon burst of bright light in the cosmos even stranger. The phenomenon, known as a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT), suddenly appeared in a location where it wasn’t anticipated, distant from any host galaxy. Astronomers are even more perplexed by the outcomes. They were unaware of LFBOTs, and by disproving certain potential explanations, the Hubble data imply they know even less.

from the centre of the nearest galaxy, and the location of the Finch is not what we expect for any kind of supernova.”

Image credit: vijaifoon via iStock

Can lab grown meat help solve the climate crisis?

“...can vegetarians expect to be replaced by the rise of ‘cultivarians’?”

However, the process of artificially cultivating meat is profoundly energy-intensive, so to reap the full benefits from the process it is vital we decarbonise the industry and switch to primarily renewable sources such as wind or solar energy. Furthermore, many companies are still relying on foetal bovine serum (FBS) to supply nutrition to the dividing cells, which is obtained from the unborn foetuses of pregnant cows after they are slaughtered. This

Currently, it is the expenses that prevent cultivated meat from being a feasible, every day alternative. Although huge progress has been made in minimising production costs, with a decrease from $300,000 per burger in 2013, to just $11.36 by 2015, this is still significantly more expensive to produce than traditional meat. If cultivated meat is to become common in household shopping baskets, companies will have to focus on the scaling of factories, and maximising efficiency to avoid any wasted costs. Overall, we cannot predict with certainty the impact that cultivated meat will have until it hits the shelves. Nonetheless, the health and environmental prospects are promising, provided we are able to drive the manufacturing process from renewable sources and reduce production costs. The climate crisis is a complex issue with many interacting factors, but the ability to reduce our reliance on the meat industry would be a major step forward to halting our detrimental anthropogenic damage.

28 | Advert

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

30 | OxYou

OXYOU

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Deputy Editor: Olly DeHerrera Section Editor: Florence Purcell

An open letter to St Catherine’s College Florence Purcell

n a cold winter’s morning the wind rushed and whirled around the quiet streets of Oxford town. Leaves and debris alike fluttered past steamed up, cosy windows. One lonesome little letter, however, didn’t find its rightful home. Making barely a clatter, the wind plastered the literary matter on to a solitary streetlamp. Dashing to and fro, with barely a minute to spare, a young Oxonian (with tousled and greasy hair) stumbled upon this pamphlet of wisdom. Feeling much like he’d just found oak leaf left by the Cumaean sibyl herself, he carefully flatted this crumpled sheet of paper, laying bare its hallowed ciphers. With great awe, he began to read the letter which began as thus:

‘ ear Saint Catherine, I am writing you this letter personally to let you know how quite frankly, I find not only the handling, but also the sheer existence of concrete matter to be pathetic and bor-

derline insulting! I, a talented, brilliant, yet also notably worldly and wise second year undergraduate student, find it lamentable that you, a vital organ of this godlike creature known as The University of Oxford, would let something as measly as dodgy concrete affect the welfare of your students. As it does not affect me one bit, I do not care that the roof of a primary school collapsed. We are not a primary school! As someone who was personally anointed by the Lord himself to grace his green earth with my sheer existence, I know full well that something like that couldn’t possibly happen to me or my fellow brethren in brilliancy. Alas, as the commoners say, there is no point crying over spilt milk, or split concrete for that matter. However, there is still ample room for me to not only whinge, but also whine about the college’s egregious fumblings! As the college already knew about the issue in May, they should have told me, the MOST important undergradu-

ates of all undergraduates to exist EVER about the goings on in the college (I don’t mind them not having told the other students, they aren’t as important as me). Now, as it stands, we have two days until terms starts. Not only have I been promised an en-suite, but also as many rooms as my father has in his second house in which I was told I may house my various mediaeval manuscripts as well as my personalised harpsichord. Yet, in the same way in which the nanny was relentless in taking away my Nintendo when I had to make my daily visits to mother, the college was equally relentless in taking new quad away from me. Although they have offered me a perfectly reasonable alternative, including the possibility of financial compensation, I remain dissatisfied! How dare the college appeal to the kindness and solidarity of the student body! We do not care if you are losing massive amounts of money as a result of an unexpected emergency situation, just make some

more! Quite frankly, I find it repugnant that you expect me to share my toilet like a dirty commoner! Private toilets are the bare necessity, not a luxury. Not to mention the fact that I am expected to eat three cooked meals, which staff are still cooking despite the comprised cooking facilities, resulting in extra effort, in a spacious and heated marquee. How dare they only offer me three choices when it used to be four! Moreover, the extra effort the voluntary JCR committee is putting in to make the JCR marquee a warm and welcoming space is lacking, for simply put, I expected them to rebuild the whole space just in time for my return! To end this letter, I would like to address the master of the college directly. I find it truly insulting that she has not yet offered to give me her own bed, let alone even offered to share it. When the college mentioned sharing rooms, I assumed they would give me the master’s lodgings. It is audacious that the college

top scientists now believe that other religions may exist. Named after the most famous Jew of all time, Christchurch College now hopes to broaden the possibility of College leadership from “other silly little religious beliefs”. In this devastating blow to the legacy of Henry VIII, critics worry that core Biblical values such as “No one whose testicles are crushed shall enter the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:1) will be out the window. With Biblical guidance abandoned, the College is expected to introduce its own guiding principles for students, with doctrine including: “Thou shalt not walk on the grass”, “Thou shalt only buy stash from the official drop” and “Any man found without a trust fund should be stoned to death”. In the meantime, all that the good Christian souls of Oxford can do now is look on as the JCR is

converted to a strip club staffed exclusively by people with they/ them pronouns (Rordon review coming soon).

know they don’t actually count)! Immediately he sensed that something can’t be right. With singed nostril-hairs as proof, we know for sure that you lot aren’t buying it all. So where has it gone? Something here smells fishy… (or onion-y, to be more precise). It seems that the perilous particles of pongy pits will continue to penetrate our city’s sweet air, posing a threat to unsuspecting innocents like me. Take heed, dear Oxonians, and hope the deodorant bandit doesn’t find the under-the-table Rexona dealer. (Warning-this doesn’t mean that we don’t think YOU shouldn’t! The air at Atik is already thick enough…) for a straight 31 days. If Rordon can do it, anyone can.

BEST OF THE ROAST Rordon Gamsay

fter a week was bumpier than a golf cart ride around the Rad Cam, Rordons back from a leave of absence that even the OxStu editors didn’t notice. But the Roast will never rusticate and Rordan knows his fans will be itching like Paris metro travellers for this week’s Roast. Although those bed bugs were hardly a worry for the Univ students back from a night out who can’t even get to their bed. This week Out in the big wide world Britain could only look on as another line it drew in the sand erupts into violence, and with misinformation laying on thicker than gravy, it’s time for some fake news you can actually rely on.

UNHOLY

This week Christchruch officials voted that the head of the college no longer needs to be Christian Clergyman after

LOCAL WARNING: DEODERANT SHORTAGE IN OXFORD

Be it the hip hop floor at Bridge or a bop at Balliol, it seems that the common consensus has been to forswear any form of anti-perspirant. Letting the molecules of pungent teenage spirit flow free, it has become so bad that Rordon, protector of our university’s fair nostrils, have taken up God’s own proverbial roll-on to bathe every armpit in swich licour (lynx). However, as Rordon made his way to raid the shelves at Boots (Mitchum deodorant is on three-for-two!) he realised they have been utterly ransacked (the shelves housing the natural deodorants were noticeably untouched- even this fiend must

PAINT IT ORANGE

Orange is the new grotty beige it seems. Last week the Radcliffe Camera got a Jersey Shore spray tan courtesy of tomato soup

broke yet another promise! As my student experience will be severely impacted by the one term I will spend in the accommodation I lived in the whole of last year, I expect to at least receive a wing of the library to honour my name as compensation. Yours sincerely, An anonymous critic.’

As the innocent Oxonian looked up, he noticed that his eyes had filled with tears. Not yet before had he read such a moving account of suffering and plight. He couldn’t help but cry ‘Why, why must my fellow brilliant brethren feel pain to this extreme degree?’. Nevermind war, famine or sickness, the fear of homelessness that this poor university student felt touched the young fellow at the very core of his being. ‘Yes’, he muttered. ‘University accommodation is a right, not a privilege’. connoisseurs, Just Stop Oil. As the first reporter on the scene, Rordon undertook his due duty and licked the freshy coated walls himself to confirm the orange was in fact paint and not Heinz tomato this time (other soups available). After gaining much notoriety for the bothersome habit of warning everyone about their impending doom, the protest group decided it was time to stand up to the core forces of oppression, that being some History postgrads writing on the 12th century Ottoman fabric trade. According to OxYou sources, the protestors initially had considered glueing themselves to the floor of the Glink but were worried staff would just choose to leave them there. Rordon spoke to local amateur art group Just Start Oil painting, who were keen to distance themselves from any possible mix-up with the group, stating they would have much preferred a Prussian Green or Vandyke Brown colour choice.

30 | Food & Drink

Deputy Editor: Tara Earley Section Editor: Johannah Mathew food@oxfordstudent.com

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Food & Drink

Review: Château Megyer Hárslevelű, Tokaji 2014 Johannah Mathew

hen visiting the Turl Street branch of The Oxford Wine Company on behalf of The Oxford Student, I was asked whether I wanted to review a classic sweet or dry wine, or something a little weird and funky. Being in Oxford, a city with all the traditional wines you can name on offer, I opted for the “weird and funky” option. Resultingly, I was handed a bottle of Château Megyer Hárslevelű, Tokaji 2014, which certainly fits the bill in the most perfect ways imaginable.

“The bottle is also a little strange, as it has been aged since 2014...”

Château Megyer is a Hungarian region best known for its sweet wines made from Hárslevelű grapes; however, this 2014 bottle differs from their usual, being a dry white wine. The bottle is also a little strange, as it has been aged since 2014, which is quite a long time for white wine.

The alcohol percentage sits at 12.5%, which is on the high er side for white wine, too. At first glance, the wine is quite sheer, with a goldish hue and is very light to swirl. At first smell, there are heavily pleasant tinges of apricot and peach, with very subtle earthy hints in the background. A friend and I tried as best as we could to “professionally” taste-test the wine after watching a couple of YouTube tutorial videos, and we were pleasantly surprised. We both aren’t avid wine drinkers and only really forced ourselves into liking the stuff after coming to Oxford, but this bottle may have shifted our opinions on the matter. The texture is light and sheer, with a slight, but good, acidity level (the tingling feeling you get on your tongue). As said on the bottle, it is a dry wine, however it doesn’t feel like someone patted your tongue with a paper towel, and it still has fruity hints of apricot and peach, as smelt before. Going down, it’s very light with a faint sensation of honey and warmth, the flavours blending well.

Taste testing this wine surprised both of us, as we, to put it bluntly, actually liked the drink! It’s very light and

subtle, and combines fruity factors that we hadn’t really tasted in wine before. I might go as far as to say that this is a bottle to make the non-wine drinkers change their minds.

“It’s very light and subtle, and combines fruity factors that we hadn’t really tasted in wine before.”

OxStu’s Picks!

We would recommend pairing this bottle with either chicken, fish, or spicy pasta, for an absolutely divine combination. Of course, it also stands just fine on its own. With the original bottle price sitting at £16, this is the perfect gift or occasion drink for the Oxford student, as it sits in the upper-middle of the student price range. However,

with The Oxford Wine Company’s 10% student discount on proof of a Bodleian card, it gets even more studentfriendly! They also provide further discounts to societies, common rooms, and other events in need of a drinks supplier, and offer bespoke tastings too if you are looking to attend one in the near future. The Oxford Wine Company has three branches dotted around the city, with the central shops appearing on Little Clarendon Street and Turl Street, and one further out on

Botley Road. The few times that I have been to the Turl Street outlet, I have had nothing but lovely experiences, with the staff always lending

“...this is a bottle to make the nonwine drinkers change their minds.”

a knowledgeable hand when choosing the perfect wine. I would heavily recommend this bottle to both the avid wine drinker, and also to the people who aren’t the biggest fans of wine, as this definitely changed our minds on the drink overall. However, if this particular bottle is not for you, The Oxford Wine Company is always able to help you find a wine that suits your personal taste and price range. I am glad to have visited the store and tried this bottle - perhaps the Oxstu team shall be back for more wine reviews in the near future...

Thank you to Remi Griffiths for being the friend in question – your input was unbelievably helpful. Thank you also to Nick Gorton from the Turl Street Oxford Wine Company shop for all of your help with choosing the right bottle of wine; I hope this review doesn’t make customers finish all the bottles!

Parents coming to visit? Friends round for dinner? Nice date approaching? OxStu’s got you covered.

Recipe of the Week: Spicy Vodka Pasta (pair with the wine!) - BBC Food, serves 4 Ingredients: - 1/2 onion, finely chopped - 200g tomato purée - 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped - 300ml double cream - 5 tbsp vodka - 2 tbsp butter - 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - 1 tsp dried chilli flakes

- 400g dried pasta - 50g grated Parmesan - salt and pepper to taste - Parmesan + basil to serve

Method: - Melt the butter and oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the onion; season well. - Reducing the heat to medium-low, cook for around 5 minutes until softened. - Add the chilli flakes and garlic and cook for 1 minute, then turn the heat back to medium and add the tomato purée. Cook for another 5 minutes and then add the vodka, stirring well. - After another 3 minutes, add the cream, and remove from the heat once well-combined. - Cook your pasta as normal, and then combine with the sauce on a low heat, adding in some of the pasta water and grated Parmesan into the sauce as you do. - Serve with more Parmesan, pepper, and some basil leaves for a finishing touch.

Lunch

Dinner

THE ALTERNATIVE TUCK SHOP (ATS) - £

ROSA’S THAI - ££

24 Holywell Street, Oxford, OX1 3SB

Arguably the best sandwich shop in the city; come here for a hard-earned lunch break, with good vegetarian and vegan options too. Don’t be put off by the queue - they have some of the speediest service in Oxford!

27-29 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2AU

Delicious, spicy, and authentic Thai food, from noodle soups to fish cakes to “wok stars”. Offering the chance for all diners to win a FREE Pad Thai on November 7th for World Pad Thai Day!

Sport | 31

The Oxford Student | Friday 27 October 2023

Sport

The Saudi Pro League: the future of European football? W Thomas Thornton

ith the prodigious rise of the Saudi Pro League and Major League Soccer, both of which have been able to attract top players from European clubs, the future of Europe as the home of world class football is uncertain. The rise of the Saudi Pro League is especially noteworthy, from virtually unheard of - to the tip of every fan’s tongue. The looming crisis of European football, however, has some interesting historical predecessors… Don Revie is not a name people of our generation would instinctively recognize, but to people my parents age, he was a figure of infamy. In 1977, as the current England manager, he dropped everything and left for the UAE to manage their national team. The story was broken on the front page of the Daily Mail, and the eyewatering £340,000 deal over four years with £100,000 upfront (the England manager for context earned £25,000 a year) proved to be too much for the FA and media to handle. Revie was issued with a 10-year ban by the FA, and a letter was issued to all 92 clubs in the Football League reminding them he was persona non grata. Although in 1979 the ban

was overturned by the high court, Revie never worked in British football again. His reputation as a dirty manager, as well as swirling allegations of match fixing, meant that his defection to the UAE ruined the reputation of an already controversial figure. Revie perhaps was the first person from British and European football to leave for the Middle East and his case adds an interesting perspective to modern debates about the future of football.

“His claim that he had ‘won everything was given short shrift in the court of public opinion.”

Firstly, the sheer level of hysteria is hard to ignore. The judge, when dismissing the ban in 1979 said of Revie that he was, “a sensational and notorious example of disloyalty, breach of duty, discourtesy and selfishness”. In contrast to the contempt that Revie was held in, there is a difference between him and the coverage of modern players who have left for the Middle East. This is generally mockery rather than condemnation

Image credit: Oleg Bkhambri

Image credit: Mehrdad Esfahani of players, who, by going to the Saudi League, have recognized the end of their competitive careers. The highest profile case of this is of course Ronaldo, who, after a distinguished career in Europe, left for the Saudi team Al-Nassr aged 37. Others such as Steven Gerrard have suffered similar humiliation after their respective decisions to leave British football. Footage of Gerrard’s announcement video and issues communicating with the players at Al-Ettifaq during training led to mockery on social media. The one player who has received the most scathing criticism is Jordan Henderson, although this is due to the hypocrisy of being a vocal supporter of LGBTQ rights in the past, rather than the choice to take the money. Owing to the commercialization of football across the world, the decision to leave European football for huge paydays in the Middle East is mostly an extension of something that has already happened in Europe, rather than a novel change as it was in the 1970s. Before this, when China looked to be the rising nation for football, signing Carlos Tevez and others in 2016, Maradona said of Tevez’s decision, “He went to China.

He filled up Santa Claus’ sack with dollars and came back to Boca. Perfect.”. It’s much harder to be outraged at the obvious financial motivation of these moves when they are just taking what has already happened in Europe to the next level. It will be interesting to see how long this response to players leaving for Saudi Arabia and others can last going forwards. Both in the 1970s and now, the idea of European football as self-evidently bet-

“If trends over the next few years continue, the choice to move to the Saudi League could be taken seriously.”

ter and the decision to move to the Middle East as purely financial is almost universally held. While the quality of football is undoubtedly worse than the major leagues in Europe, there are some concerning signs for European leagues. For example, in the last week it has been revealed the French Ligue 1 and 2 has been unable to auction off the TV

rights for the 2024-29 cycle. As Rory Smith, chief football correspondent at the New York Times has argued, the Saudi League, recognizing the trend away from TV to social media, can gain credibility for the league through nontraditional means. Rather than pushing the TV rights or spectator figures, social media could be key to the Saudi League’s growth. Highlight reels of big-name players are just as powerful in the modern era as full stadiums, or how many people watch on TV. There is also the question of politics. The short-lived rise and rapid fall of the Chinese Super League was more to do with politics than spectators or broadcasting rights. After the spending spree in 2016, the Chinese Football Association issued caps for the number of foreign players and in 2018 introduced a quota for young Chinese players to improve the national team. As long as the political will of the Saudi government remains with the strategy of signing high profile foreign players to appeal to social media audiences across the world, there is no reason why the league cannot keep growing in the next decade. Perhaps they will have the

32 | Sport

Friday 27 October 2023 | The Oxford Student

Sport

Deputy Editor: Patrick Groves Section Editors: Purav Menon, Thomas Thornton, Charlie Wild sport@oxfordstudent.com

Crossover Boxing: a score settled

Patrick Groves

isappointing. If Misfits Boxing’s main card event is to be reviewed in a single word, then it is disappointing. No, in view of the event’s theatrical roots – not to mention its lack of sanctioning by anything other than the token ‘PBA’ – I didn’t expect much. But what in the name of the pugilistic gods was that? The undercard was replete with lots of allegedly famous names that are neither worth mentioning in this article, nor worth committing to memory. The ‘co’-main event, however, was where the majority of the ‘value’ for the poor souls who forked out twenty quid lay. That is, the internet-beef-fuelled 6 rounds between Disneykid turned WWE wrestler, Logan Paul, and washedout MMA-ist, Dillon Danis. Danis’ policy of being ‘on the offensive’ online did

not translate to the ring. From the sounding of the first bell he was instead on the defensive. This was to be his downfall. Paul led the fight for the first three rounds, with Danis failing to throw a single punch, instead favouring a particularly taunting manoeuvre – lying flat on the canvas, legs akimbo. By the sixth, Paul was visibly agitated as Danis persevered. The round was at best shaky, though Danis

betrayed a little more fighting spirit as the jeers from the now irritated crowd clearly started to aggrieve him. After a superficial attempt at the clinch (a move that was to become all too familiar later in the night), Danis lost his cool and

strove to tackle Paul with a move more befitting of his combat repertoire: the guillotine. Paul however, slipped away and similarly blew his lid, aiming a powerful strike to Danis’ head while the jui-jitsu pro lay sprawled on the canvas after his fruitless Guillotine. This was cue for the bout’s descent into bedlam as some twenty-odd beefy security guards stormed the ring, physically separating the pair as Danis swung wildly, throwing more punches at the guards restraining him than he had managed in the previous five rounds. The scene left a bad taste in the mouth, and worse, reeked of theatre. Though Paul was unsurprisingly victorious, winning on disqualification, neither the first five rounds, nor the chaos that capped off the sixth were at all worthy of being classed as ‘Boxing’. The co-main card was equally tepid. Fury Jr. vs

KSI was long tipped as one of the most exciting fights of the year; the ultimate crossover of the influencer and pro scene. A KSI victory would signal a new dawn to the ‘influencer’ landscape and imbue him with all the pugilistic legitimacy a privately-educated YouTube gamer could possibly muster. Fury had less to prove, aside from affirming the pedigree so synonymous to his surname. It was Fury’s fight to lose then. That is by no means saying, however, that it was a convincing victory. KSI looked more explosive in the opening of the first, though his unorthodox style with fists at his waist – a weak imitation of the illustrious Prince Naseem’s nearfeline agility and speed, minus the accuracy – didn’t pay dividends when faced with the more columnal Fury. The remaining five were tedious and somehow even less eventful than the

Paul/Danis fight preceding. The script played out as follows: referee starts the fight, Fury and KSI immediately grapple for the clinch, Fury lands a mislaid glove to the back of the head, KSI protests, referee separates the clinch, they clinch again, repeat. So Fury Jr. emerged victorious on points. Crossover boxing has had its heyday, and the reality star can focus on his new day job. Though the victory was less than convincing, it has at least put all chatter about further professional crossover to bed, in spite of the unremarkable means. Perhaps I am intent on involuntarily gatekeeping the ‘pure’ sport I’ve followed with such ardour for many years, but should I have been swindled for £19.99 to access Eddie Hearn’s pitiful excuse for a PPV, even with the Fury win, I’d be feeling a little hard done by…

in the Champions League final against Inter Milan, perhaps it is time to finally accept it is the Fiats who reign supreme on the pitch. On a pitch of footballing Ferraris – Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Lautaro Martinez perhaps the flashiest of them – it was the player who famously drove an Opel Corsa while playing for Villarreal and Atletico Madrid who scored the decisive goal. As arguably – or inarguably, depending on how you perceive Man City’s Champions League triumph enhancing his legacy – the greatest football manager of all time, Pep cannot be simplified or reduced into one simple category. And yet, when you think of what he represents, it generally does come down to three strands: metronomic and indefatigable tika-taka passing

(Xavi and Iniesta in their relentless prime), tactical innovation (John Stones operating in an indefinable, permeable defencecum-midfield position) or attacking wizardry (Lionel Messi – enough said). Strangely though, each of those aspects only really exist as either evolutionary stages in or accidental by-products of Pep’s philosophy. The one constant of his, to my mind at least, is disappointingly dull: the defensive midfield. There was Sergio Busquets at Barcelona then Philipp Lahm followed by Joshua Kimmich at Bayern Munich and now Rodri replacing Fernandinho at Man City. Indeed for all his talk of being a Ferrair, Zlatan has never won a Champion’s League. Busquets on the other hand has won three and just left Bar-

celona as the final survivor from Pep’s 2008-09 treble-winning vintage.In a way, it seems like a shame. For all its artistry, all its creativity, all its fluidity, the foundation of Pep’s philosophy is the holding midfielder, that old-fashioned pillar of defensive solidity and reliable backwards passing. Surely, if anyone could think of an alternative to this unexciting insurance plan, it would be Pep. But this acceptance of the inevitability of the incessant bargaining between risk and reward, offence and defence, is also a reminder of the ultimate beauty of football: the danger that is inherent in every move, the potential catastrophe lurking in every step, the hypothetical disaster present in every pass. The magic of football does not

come from ignorance or rejection of the possibility of failure, but rather as a direct product of it. At their finest, watching Pep’s teams play is exhilarating and captivating for the very reason that there is always the possibility that they will make that mistake and they will lose that match. And yet, they still play in that style, tempting fate with every touch and daring destiny with every pass. The holding midfield – Busquets first and now Rodri – is thus not a surrender to cowardly safety-first football but rather an affirmation of the front-footed football Pep has always advocated. And so perhaps it was fitting that it was Rodri who scored that goal, the final goal to push Man City and Guardiola past an insurmountable obstacle at times.

“Crossover boxing has had its heyday...”

Flowers from concrete beds: Pep’s Champions’s League masterclass

Maxi Grindley

n today’s increasingly materialistic and consumerist society, cars serve as vital mobile status symbols. They proudly answer the world’s unasked question and announce how much we earn, what we value, where our loyalties lie, which concerns we prioritise and an alarming amount of further personal information. Perhaps that is why Zlatan Ibrahimovic reached for an automobile analogy when describing his relationship to Pep Guardiola. Zlatan declared ‘when you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari’ but that Pep’s style-of-play meant ‘if that’s what he wanted, he should have bought himself a Fiat from the start’. A clash between two footballing titans whose significance is verified by their first-name monikers. Following Man City’s 1-0 win