Volume 72 Issue 7
Thursday 26th February 6th Week
oxfordstudent.com
LGBTQ Society moves away from “unethical” BP sponsorship • Members express discomfort at proposal to approach British Petroleum for funding LAURA WHETHERLY NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO/ Lawrence OP
Oxford University’s LGBTQ Society has rejected a proposal to approach British Petroleum for sponsorship, following concerns from members over “unethical” elements of the corporation. The society received BP sponsorship worth around £500 last year, and still displays the company’s logo on its website. Last month the committee rejected a proposal, made by Society Treasurer Cai Wilshaw, to seek BP sponsorship once again. A report from Wilshaw during a Committee meeting in January stated that “corporate firms want to give us [the Society] money and we make almost all our money from them”. According to meeting minutes, “3 people expressed disagreement with certain firms and types of firm”.
Continued on page 5 »
The end of sub fusc? OUSU proposes referendum on future of gown and mortar board • Access VP will bring proposal to next week’s Council meeting • Students voted to keep sub fusc in 2006 with 81% majority LUKE MINTZ AND MEGAN ERWIN NEWS TEAM
OUSU Vice President for Access and Admissions, James Blythe, has proposed a student referendum on the future of sub fusc in university examinations. The University is likely to review its position on the traditional gown and mortar-board clothing in coming months. Blythe’s motion will be brought to next week’s OUSU Council meeting, and, if passed, students sitting exami-
nations may no longer be required to wear sub fusc. Students will also be given an opportunity to reject the traditional clothing in a university-wide referendum. Whilst generally popular among Oxford students, sub fusc has come under fire in recent years for presenting an “elitist” image of Oxford, and potentially discouraging students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to apply. OUSU held a similar referendum in 2006, with 81 per cent of students voting to keep sub fusc.
Blythe told The Oxford Student that he did not have a strong personal view on sub fusc, but believed that OUSU should “represent accurately the student view”. He commented: “The student view on this issue, set nearly ten years ago by a referendum, is taken very seriously by the University and I believe only a referendum should change that view. “I myself can see both positives and negatives of sub fusc and don’t intend to lead either campaign. I hope many people will come forward to articulate
the passionate views on both sides of this debate that I have heard from students. “I have certainly not proposed this referendum because I want to abolish it, but just so that OUSU can represent accurately the student view.” Student ‘trashing’, which refers to the practice of throwing flour and champagne over sub fusc-clad students to mark the end of examinations, regularly attracts negative national publicity, with student’s gowns and mortar boards frequently used to portray Oxford as a
Sport, p.24
Features, p.19
Blues prepare for varsity football showdown in Cambridge
We speak to Adrian Hill, the man fighting Ebola in Oxford
‘posh’ and elitist university. It is not yet clear whether Blythe’s envisioned referendum would propose the abolition of Sub Fusc, or merely seek to make the dress optional. Students showed divided opinions on the matter. A second-year humanities student heavily involved in university access and outreach initiatives described sub fusc as: “sickeningly socially elitist” and “the very worst of Oxford”. Continued on page 3 »
EDITORIAL
2 Editorial
26th February 2015
Stuck in the past? Tradition and heritage are at the heart of Oxford. You need only think of all the strange traditions in your college, or the grandeur of the Bodleian, or the number of profile pictures taken whilst punting to know that. Yet there is also a strong argument which says that tradition is hampering us in moving forward; just because things have always been done in one way does not mean they should continue to be so. This is the side we see represented this week in the OUSU proposal to do away with enforced sub fusc for exams (run-on page 3). One of the most iconic images of modern Oxford is the crowd of finalists leaving Exam Schools, ready to have their pristine white shirts and strange-looking black covered in silly string and flour. It’s a fun time, and makes for a good photo. But it also contributes even more to that ‘Oxford wanker’ persona. What’s more, the added formality to the exam process is just not what the stressed student populace needs, be they freshers doing their first exams, or finalists doing their last. Nothing can match the panic of the fresher who suddenly realises they’ve left their mortar board at home, and is convinced that they’ll be rejected from the exam and probably kicked out of Oxford. Maintaining the status quo is not really what Oxford should be about. As well as considering exam clothing, there has been a lot of discussion lately about the way Oxford (and Cambridge) terms are arranged.
You can read an argument for the introduction of a fifth week reading week on page 9. While Oxford traditions are part of its fame, surely the University’s reputation is more about innovation. We are at the forefront of advances that could have a global impact, such as the work being done on Ebola, which you can read about in our feature on Professor Adrian Hill on page 19. On page 6 you can see how two Oxonians are looking even further forward, as they prepare to boldly go to Mars on a one-way mission to colonise the Red Planet. Back on Earth, climate change is still the deciding factor of our future, and an article in Comment reminds us of its pressing importance (page 10). Inside OXII we see the practical applications of environmentally conscious industry on OXII page 10’s article on Eco-fashion. All this shows how Oxford is a place where we are more concerned with moving forward than dwelling on the past. Whether that means we ought to let go of traditions will have to be decided by the students.
Spring into action This week we have a vibrant OXII cover, in tribute to the Channel 4 show Cucumber, which is discussed in the Screen section (OXII page 6). Previously a lot of our OXII covers have been very dark, both aesthetically and thematically, and it feels like this fresh, colourful composition is really an indicator that we are moving into Spring. The office windows are open, the
sun is shining, and the low hum of the bus station fills the air. Suddenly, the Easter holidays don’t seem all that far away. And as we emerge from the depths of 5th-week blues, it’s time to start thinking about taking a well-earned break. You could read some recent fiction to take a break from your reading list, like the National Book Award-winning Redeployment (discussed on OXII page 4). You could see a ‘microplay’ (OXII page 15) or take the Music section’s advice on what to listen to (OXII pages 12-13) while you chill out.
OxStu wants you
While it’s vital to take some time out, even if it’s just a brief break before hitting the books again, there’s also the spectre of next term on the horizon. Whatever that term holds for you, be it exams or just reclining in the sun, we hope you will consider joining the OxStu team. Applications will be open until next Sunday, and we will remind you again in our final issue of term, but here is your first official reminder to check out what positions are available and start working on your CV.
If you want to get involved, or have any comments or questions, email editor@ oxfordstudent.com
News 3
26th February 2015
Pembroke responds to incidents of verbal abuse with ‘Porter Appreciation Week’ • JCR votes through ‘Porter Pals’ motion for event to shower Pembroke porters with cards, baked goods, vocal praise, and poetry LUKE MINTZ NEWS EDITOR
Pembroke JCR has voted to create a “Porter Appreciation Week”, following reports of students behaving in a “verbally abusive” manner towards porters. Porters will recieve cards, baked goods, vocal appreciation, and poetry over the entire course of 7th week. Approved in Sunday evening’s JCR meeting, the motion ‘Porter Pals’ notes that porters have “had a hard time recently – mainly from members of the JCR” and proposes “cards and vocal appreciation” as the “best way to honour our porters”. An initial suggeston of “Porter Appreciation Day” was overturned in favour of a week-long event. The JCR’s actions follow a number of reports of “verbal abuse” from Pembroke students towards porters. In an email sent to Pembroke JCR on February 6th, Home Bursar Mike Naworynsky mentioned “recent isolated incidents of casual abuse toward our hard working Porters late at night”, even citing “potential racial harassment cases”. Naworynsky wrote that he was “very concerned and surprised by what I am seeing and hearing”. One drunken Pembroke student was reportedly told to spend an evening in the lodge last week after antagonising porters, while another undergraduate rang the lodge doorbell for a number of minutes, continuing even after a porter had opened the door. The Facebook event created for Porter Appreciation Week proposes a secret complement box, a big JCR card, and a poetry competition, in which students are encouraged to write a poem about their favourite porter. All the poems will be printed and presented to the porters
in a booklet. The original motion was received warmly by the JCR, passing with overwhelming support. Third-year student Dan Bowen, who proposed the ‘Porter Pals’ JCR motion, said he was “excited to see what the creativity of the student body can produce given this opportunity”, commenting: “The recent motion was designed to allow students to express their (often silent) gratitude for the pivotal role that our Porter team plays in the Pembroke community.” Bowen, a Biological Science student, continued: “I hope it reaffirms a strong relationship between the student body and our most charismatic, fun and wellliked members of staff.” Bowen added that, although prompted to create the motion by the recent student behaviour, he originally conceived the idea “a few years ago”, with the alleged conflict between Pembroke students and porters “not [being] the main motivation for this motion”. Steven Capper, Head Porter at Pembroke, described the event as a “lovely” and “very thoughtful” gesture, commenting: “As a team we work hard at providing a warm, friendly lodge, building a good working relationship with our student community. Pembroke has a reputation as a friendly inclusive college and it really makes a difference to the work place to be part of that.” Capper continued: “This JCR motion has come as a complete surprise, simply put it is a lovely gesture, very thoughtful, and reinforces the affinity the [Pembroke lodge] has with students. Just hope we don’t have hug a porter day or we won’t get any work done!” Capper was unable to comment on the claims of racial harassment allegedly directed toward porters from students.
PHOTO/Mark Wainwright
OUSU revisits discussion on future of sub fusc • Students voted to keep sub fusc in 2006 with an 81 per cent majority LUKE MINTZ & MEGAN ERWIN NEWS EDITOR & NEWS REPORTER
» Continued from front page The student, who wished not to be named, commented: “Sub fusc represents everything that is stuffy, outdated, and sickeningly elitist about Oxford. Coming from a state school pretty removed from the world of public schools and formal halls, the sight of students covering each other in flour and champagne while dressed in gowns and bow ties very nearly put me off applying. “The abolition of sub fusc would benefit the university and the country, and would constitute an important step in broadening Oxford’s social diversity.” Christ Church student Daniel Freeman, a senior member of the University’s Conservative Association, defended sub fusc, commenting: “In the dozens of tours, open days, and talks I’ve done on behalf of access I’ve found very little evidence for this belief that things like sub fusc really put people off applying. In many cases it is the
charm of these customs that make people consider Oxford in the first place.” He continued: “[Sub fusc] is, to say the very least, a bizarre place to start when issues such as the cost of living in Oxford seem to be a far bigger factor in turning away potential applicants than having to wear a gown and a white bow tie or ribbon two or three times in your time here.” Freeman went on to express fear that a “drive to make Oxford more and more a carbon copy of more modern universities will make [Oxford University] less appealing to the best candidates, not more.” Students at Cambridge University are not required to wear gowns during university examinations, making Oxford one of the few universities in the world that retains the tradition. In 2012, the University altered sub fusc regulations to remove gender restrictions, a move described by the LGBTQ Society as a “welcome change” that will “greatly improve the experience of transgender students.”
Bowlplex accused of racial discrimination • Video reveals bowling alley staff discriminating LAURA WHETHERLY NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO/Skittledog
An Oxford bowling alley has come under fire after a video showing staff members being discriminatory against travellers was shared online. The video, recorded by one of the women involved, shows a staff member telling visitors that “we’ve had problems with travellers… Bowlplex, not me, Bowlplex, have banned all travellers from being in here”. The staff member continued: “We’re just doing what the manager has asked us to do”. After being originally shared on Facebook by Roseanne Gallagher on 21st February, copies of the video have since been posted on YouTube. In a comment to The Oxford Mail, Ms. Gallagher said: “we want to take them to court. The security guard was doing his job, but we also think the manegement are to blame”. In an official statement, Bowplex commented: ““The safety and well being of our customers is our number one priority... “The security staff at the Oxford bowl identified some individuals that were connected to a previous incident on
the premises, and to ensure the safety of other customers they were asked to leave. “During that process one of the security staff involved made claims regarding Bowlplex company policy – these were completely incorrect and are now the subject of a full investigation by the third party company that are contracted to provide these team members. “Bowlplex would like to apologise unreservedly to anyone that has been caused offence by these comments and re-iterate that no such policy exists”. A copy of the video was also shared to Oxford-based Facebook group The Class Room. OUSU Black and Minority Ethnic Students’ and AntiRacism officer Nikhil Venkatesh commented: “This is disgusting”. Bowlplex commercial director Ian Bennett told The Oxford Mail that this went “totally against” the firm’s policies. He said: “I have seen this clip and the first thing to say is that it is factually incorrect to say [banning travellers] is a Bowlplex policy”. “As I speak, there is now an investigation going on to understand how that has come about. We welcome everyone into our premises.”
News 5
26th February 2015
LGBTQ Society reject approaching BP for sponsorship • Society members express concern for the “damaging” company continuing to sponsor the society, and suggest an alternative framework LAURA WHETHERLY NEWS EDITOR
» Continued from front page
PHOTO/OU LGBTQ SOC
Committee member Jessy Humphreys explained: “The decision to reject BP sponsorship has arisen out of agreements by committee members that we felt uncomfortable with having a corporation like BP, which many view to be unethical and damaging, sponsoring the society.” Humphreys, who is also JCR President at Jesus College, continued: “Having a company like BP, which has caused huge environmental damage and continues to use fossil fuels, associated with the LGBTQ Society seemed to legitimise the corporation and it was something that LGBTQ students across Oxford objected to. I’m glad that the Society has taken into account the opinions of its members and the committee in making a decision. “Being LGBTQ is about objecting to all kinds of oppression and that should consequently include supporting actions taken to encourage an environmentally friendly world, actions which BP do not take”. An anonymous committee member agreed, commenting: “I don’t really believe that huge, environment-destroying companies like BP sponsoring LGBT societies and hosting LGBT recruitment events makes them any less evil. “As a queer student myself, it doesn’t exactly fill me with glee that a huge corporation like BP are using LGBT rights as a public relations ploy”.
The issue of corporate sponsorship has provoked tension within the committee on previous occasions. An email sent to society members in Michaelmas 2014 promoted a BP LGBTQ recruitment event with: “If you like spilling oil and ruining the environment, a job at BP could be for you!” BP runs a Pride group for LGBTQ employees, and in May joined with Stonewall in order to host an LGTB event at the Royal Academy of Engineering concerned with how to increase inclusion within the engineering sector. Society Treasurer Cai Wilshaw commented: “Our committee discussed the possibility of seeking sponsorship from firms in our first week meeting, and we had a very productive discussion with a plurality of views advanced. “This was not specific to sponsorship from BP as we have not heard from them since last year. However, we decided on a short term pledge to explore possible sponsorship from firms, with the aim of establishing an LGBTQ club night in the medium term. “We also hope to revisit the conversation at a later time, to see whether there are other means to make the society selfsustaining, and to ensure that we can continue our work in supporting minorities within the LGBTQ community through free welfare events, film screenings and pizza nights”. BP recently attracted publicity after former chief executive Lord Browne came out as gay. BP did not respond to our request for comment.
Worry over building plans by St John’s and Worcester BERTRAM BEOR-ROBERTS DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
A consortium formed of St John’s, Worcester and Keir Ventures have proposed a new project to build 500 homes, a business park, and a large hotel in a greenfield site in North Oxford. These plans have already come under fire from local campaign groups. Helen Marshall, director of the Oxford branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “Traffic and air pollution in the area are already atrocious and CPRE’s concern is that the proposed development will make things worse, badly affecting Port Meadow and other sensitive sites nearby and posing an increased risk to human health. “A Planning Inspector previously made it clear that these issues should be resolved by the Area Action Plan. Now, the City and County Councils are trying to kick the ball further down the line and not consider the problems until the planning application stage.” Ms. Marshall further expressed concerns over the visual problems of the development, particularly the fivestorey buildings proposed on higher ground: “Coming hot on the heels of the University’s commitment to ‘do better’ following the lessons learnt from the Castle Mill accommodation blocks, it is worrying to see that St
Somerville JCR promotes college staff to honorary status Somerville College has made all college support staff honorary members of its JCR following a motion passed in Sunday evening’s JCR meeting. The work of staff in the bar, kitchen, garden, and library, as well as that of scouts and porters, was praised by students, and the motion was passed with overwhelming support. The initial motion proposed elevating a member of Somerville bar staff and a member of the catering team to honorary JCR membership status. This policy was amended over the course of the meeting, however, to include all college staff, who were described as “pretty awesome”. The move comes in the same week as a Pembroke vote to hold a “Porter Aprpeciation Week” (see page 3).
Shitstorm at St Peter’s Toilets at St Peter’s college had to be cleaned with a power-hose after being found in a “frankly disgusting” state. Walls of one of the men’s toilets on the ground floor of the college were found on Friday morning covered with excrement and vomit. In an email to students, JCR President Luke Miller said that he couldn’t “quite understand how such a mess could have been made”. With no individual yet coming forward as responsible, St Peter’s JCR have been fined £60 for cleaning and students have been reminded that “drunkenness in a public place is a civil offence”.
Cambridge wins resounding victory over Oxford in Corpus Christi Challenge
PHOTO/WIKIMEDIA
John’s and Worcester Colleges, who own much of the land, may still not be giving adequate consideration to the visual impact of their buildings.’” The consortium’s submitted plans will propose developing the ‘Northern Gateway,’ an area of Oxford comprising the fields north west of Summertown, including part of Pear Tree Park and Ride. Although other institutions such as Oxford City Council and Merton College own parts of the land, the three consortium members are
pioneering the development. Just weeks after the controversy surrounding the Castle Mill accommodation, the consortium opened the project to Oxford residents by holding a public exhibition at Oxford Hotel where issues could be discussed. Plans given at the exhibition suggested multiple consultations with the public over the coming months, followed by an application to the planning commission in July. Work is not expected to start before 2017.
As the members of the consortium have agreed not to comment on issues individually, Worcester College could only reply that studies relating to transport and air quality will be presented at the next consultation event (occurring in March). Other concerns have been aired over the need for another primary school, and the fact that homes surrounded by traffic will create a ‘slum’. Neither Oxford City Council nor the consortium press office replied to requests for comment.
This year’s Corpus Challenge was won by Corpus Christi Cambridge by 67 points to 33. The annual competition, in which Corpus Christi Oxford and Corpus Christi Cambridge compete in a range of sporting and non-sporting activities, saw dozens of Cambridge students visit Oxford on Sunday. After competing in a range of traditional sports, as well as FIFA, board games, and table tennis, the Cambridge students enjoyed a formal dinner in Corpus hall before an evening trip to Varsity Club. The event was organised by the JCR’s Clubs and Societies Officer David Windmill, who was praised by students for doing an “amazing job”. Windmill, a second-year student in Material Sciences, admitted that organising the event was “a lot of hard work”, but “despite the bad weather, everyone seemed to enjoy the day.” Windmill added: “The Cambridge students were enthusiastic and it was great to spend an informal day playing sport and having a laugh with them.”
6 News
26th February 2015
Oxonians among Mars hopefuls
• Two students in competition for one-way space trip
Town Crier resigns over medal lies • Church apologises for lying about serving in army STEPHANIE STAFFORD NEWS REPORTER
PHOTO/NASA
MATTHEW COULTER DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
A current Oxford student and a former visiting student have been shortlisted amongst 100 candidates for a planned human mission to Mars. From an original 202,586 applicants, both graduate physics student Ryan McDonald, from University College, and former St Peter’s visiting student Laurel Kaye, remain in the running as the project reaches the third round of selection. If chosen, McDonald and Kaye may become members of a crew travelling on a one-way trip to Mars, scheduled for 2024, with the aim of establishing a permanent human settlement on the planet. Asked how he felt to be selected, MacDonald said: “I was absolutely thrilled when I learned I'd made the cut, and particularly that I am the last male candidate left in the UK. Since 24 will ultimately be selected at the end of 2015, one in four odds aren't that bad at all!”. He said that he applied for the Mars One programme for the “sheer scientific potential of the mission,” and “to inspire young people back on Earth to want to become scientists again”. Kaye, currently a fourth-year student at Duke University in the
US, said that she “wanted to be an astronaut from a young age,” and described herself as “the kind of kid that begged for a telescope for Christmas and would read popular science and physics books in school”. Kaye, who studied in Oxford last year, continued: “I am so excited to have made it to the third round. It is something I had never expected as over 200,000 people showed interest but I am very happy to be progressing and eager to see what the next several years have in store.” Regarding the one-way nature of the planned mission, MacDonald called the prospect of being in the first crew to settle on Mars “extremely exciting”, and “much more so than going on an Apollo-style return mission. This way, every moment from the landing on I am contributing to building something that will endure for generations to come, I can continue to make scientific advances; this would not be possible if I come back to Earth.” Kaye said that she has “certainly accepted the one-way aspect of it as the current best option. I relish the thought of having a long period of time to live my dream, to do research and to really engage in establishing the new settlement”. She also stated that she was “very optimistic about the possibility of a return trip” within her lifetime.
However, there are doubts about the feasibility of the Mars One project. Dr Chris Lintott, a Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford, called Mars One “a lovely idea”, but said that it “has about as much chance of actually taking off as the Radcliffe Camera does. “Going to Mars is hard and requires solving a number of serious technical problems – and that requires funding, which Mars One don’t have. They’ve already stopped work on the robotic lander they’re supposed to send in 2018, so I’m afraid their crew are going to be waiting a while.” Professor John Eland of the University’s Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, as well as senior member of the Oxford University Space and Astronomy Society, of which McDonald is President, said that “a serious MIT study, which anyone can consult on the web, has certainly not ruled it out, though it indicates that some of the initial projections may be optimistic”, and noted that “the financial side also presents some very large obstacles.” However, he also said: “I believe that extraterrestrial colonisation will one day be a vital part of the future of mankind. “An adventurous start like this may accelerate progress and as such it is to be welcomed.”
Oxford’s town crier has resigned after revelations he lied about serving in the Armed Forces. 62-year old Anthony Church claimed to have served as sergeant major in the Falklands War with the Coldstream Guards, despite having never been involved in the army. Church falsely claimed various titles and honours, including an MBE, and was seen to wear military medals, including the British Empire Medal, the South Atlantic Medal, and the General Service Medal for service in Northern Ireland. In response to the allegations, Church apologised for the “grave error of judgment”. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he said: “I was told several years ago that as the solesurviving son I was entitled to wear the BEM and put BEM after my name. “I also wanted, with the anniversary of the Falklands and World War One, to show my solidarity for those people who had served in these campaigns and found a place I could purchase replica medals and purchased a South Atlantic medal.” The group that ousted Church is a community of Internet vigilantes who call themselves the Walter Mitty Hunters Club. On 18 February they posted on their Facebook page a link to the news story with a comment: “Cheers for this one lads!”. The Walter Mitty Hunters Club have previously sparked controversy on account of aggressive tactics and smear campaigns. They have also been accused of online bullying. The group is made up of 20 for-
mer and current servicemen but has a further network of informers that expands to thousands. Communicating only through emails, one member described to The Telegraph what happens they receive a tip off: “We just give them facts collated then 24 hours to think about what they have been doing and the hurt and insult their action caused. If they admit, then we only post the apology, accepting the hurt they have caused members and families of the Armed Forces community. If they don't, we expose them.” As well as Oxford, Church spent 12 years as town crier for Wallingford, Chipping Norton, Banbury, Daventry, and Thame. In an interview with BBC Oxford following his resignation, Church said: “it was very stupid and I categorically now apologise to everybody who has served in the forces. It was never my intention to cause any distress or upset. I made a mistake, I told someone I'd served and it's been going on from there. I can't apologise enough for the hurt and distress it has probably caused people." He added that he was "absolutely distraught". Banbury Town Council chairman Kieran Mallon called his actions "disgraceful". "To wear medals and decorations you are not entitled to is morally wrong and disrespectful to those who served," he said. It is still possible to convict someone for wearing military dress without permission under the historic Uniforms Act 1984, and has happened three times in the past two years. However, if somebody has lied about their military experience for personal enrichment, they can be convicted of fraud. It is not yet known whether any charges will be brought against Church.
PHOTO/OOTB Facebook
PHOTO/DES BLENKINSOPP
News 7
26th February 2015
Oxford students and graduate leading LGBT Leaders Conference
• Conference on 21st February organised to encourage LGBT students to get involved in politics and business LAURA WHETHERLY NEWS EDITOR
Four current Oxford students and one recent Oxford graduate formed the committee for the first LGBT Leaders Conference, held at the Clifford Chance headquarters in Canary Warf. Cai Wilshaw, a third-year at St Anne’s, is Director and Founder of LGBT Leaders. Prior to the event, Wilshaw commented: “We really hope that this conference will be an opportunity for LGBT students to meet others similar to them from all across the country, and learn from the incredible line-up of speakers we have. “We’ve been very lucky to have such support from our host Clifford Chance, as well as a huge array of other sponsors and organisations such as LGBT
History Month and the Fulbright Programme who have made this event possible. Students will come away from the conference inspired by the success of our speakers, and empowered to do the same.” Speakers included MEP Seb Dance, Vice-President of the European Parliament Ulrike Lunacek, and campaigner Peter Tatchell. Christ Church student and attendee Will Neaverson said: “I was so proud of what Cai and the team managed to do. The speakers were inspirational and everyone I spoke to took away so much from the sessions and talks they attended.” Also present was LGBTQ Society President Otamere Guobadia, who tweeted: “As a BME President of @ OULGBTQ meeting @MsLadyPhyll
PHOTOS/Elaine Z. Photography
of @ukblackpride @LGBTLeaders was an absolutely intersectional dream! <3” Serving on the committee alongside Wilshaw were recent graduate Tyrone Steele, fourth-year New College student Adrien Mallevays, second-year Sandy Downs, and Christ Church student Declan Davis. Sandy Downs, who is also Secretary of Oxford’s LGTBQ Society, added: “The LGBT Leaders conference was an incredible experience, both to help organise and to attend. We had a fantastic turn out, giving students from a wide range of Universities the chance to meet each other and to create networks between themselves and with our in-
credible speakers. “Chairing the Women in Business panel was an honour, and seeing some real diversity in the queer community was really exciting. It was hard work to organise, but I’m really proud of everyone on the committee for pulling together something that we should be really happy with.” Davis added: “There are two things I will always remember from the day itself. Firstly, I will remember the willingness of speakers to speak openly. It was the contributions of speakers who were willing to openly confront personal struggles they had faced over the course of their life that really created impact
for attendees. “Secondly, I will remember watching an attendee hug a speaker and telling them that their words had inspired them. As an organiser these are the moments you strive to create, and to see it happen in front of me was truly special.” One of the keynote speakers at the conference was Lord Browne, the first Fortune 500 businessman to come out openly as gay. He said: “Too many LGBT students re-enter the closet when they start their careers. “Gatherings like this demonstrate why that is the wrong thing to do, and why authentic leadership from the very beginning is the route to success.”
Further Campsfield expansion delayed by legal letter from campaigners • Plans to double controversial detention centre’s capacity have come under heavy criticism from local groups and students SCOTT HARKER NEWS REPORTER
Students and campaigners have had mixed reactions to the delay in the decision on whether or not to expand Campsfield House immigration detention centre. Cherwell district council voted on 19th February to defer the decision on expanding the site near Kidlington after receiving a legal letter from solicitors representing the Stop Campsfield Expansion group. Bill MacKeith, of the Campaign to Close Campsfield, reacted to the news in a statement: “This backs up what we’ve been saying from the beginning, that Councillors must consider all the evidence and make up their own minds whether there is a need to detain more migrants. “Since the Home Office’s own figures confirm that they are releasing more and more detainees without taking further action against them, people who they should never have locked up in the first place, we are confident Councillors will eventually decide that there is no “Need”.” The current plans being debated would see the expansion of the site which has been an immigration detention centre since 1993, more than doubling its capacity from its current level of being able to house around 270 detainees, to being able to house 566. Amelia Cooper, a first year History and Politics student at St Peter’s College said of this: “Cherwell District Council’s deferral of the decision to expand Campsfield
gives me tentative hope. However, I find it troubling that the principal arguments from Kidlington Parish Council against expansion is that it will not provide ‘high value employment’ or offer ‘successful transition between town and country environments’. Campsfield is a scourge on national human rights policy, forming part of the UK’s detention estate; it is inhumane, inefficient, and I hope that during this time, sufficient evidence – not to mention basic considerations for human welfare and rights – will demonstrate that allowing the expansion would be a grave mistake.” The plans have attracted criticism from campaigners and politicians. Speaking to The Oxford Student in January, Nicola Blackwood, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said of the plans: “Increasing Campsfield House to 566 beds more than doubles the size of the detention centre. Like many local people I believe we should be focusing on finding alternatives to detention and improving the speed of decision making within the asylum system, rather than simply increasing our detention estate.” A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “Immigration removal centres play an important role in our work to remove people who have no right to remain in the UK, and it is right that we have the adequate facilities in place. “A final decision is yet to be taken about the future of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre.” Cherwell District Council planning committee will next meet on March 19th.
PHOTO/Campagin to Close Campsfield
26th February 2015
COMMENT
Comment 9
CARTOON/Harriet Bourhill
We deserve a fifth week break, not blues I write this as outside, it pours with rain. It’s a dull Wednesday in fifth week, approaching 4am in the morning, and the three translations for tomorrow are becoming less of the faint prospect they were a couple of days ago and more of a threatening reality. The only reason I haven’t managed to do them has been because of the intensity of this past week, which caused me to eventually cave in and miss a day of lectures to manage to finish some work. Terms at Oxford are a blink-andyou’ll-miss-it type of short – intense to say the least, combining attempts and failures to equalise a work and life balance, and squeezing academic work into a length of two months. Only last week, speaking to a friend at Exeter University, did I realise that whilst we heroically slogged along to get through fifth week, the rest of the UK students were enjoying a break from their own terms at that time, catching up with work in their assigned reading weeks. I also realised, having followed last term’s Cambridge Union president on Twitter for a few weeks, that
Cambridge seem to be far more concerned with the lack of a reading week than our own institution. The Other Place have, in fact, started a campaign called #endfifthweekblues, which has reached 445 signatures as of today – only 55 away from its target – in a very short amount of time. Cambridge students seem to be of the same mind-set as many of us here: that it is unfathomable that other universities should be allowed to take a week off in the middle of term, whereas we simply have to accept the harsh reality. Endurance, we are taught from the moment we set foot here, is key to reaching the end of each term. The consequences of the University’s attitude towards the workload is, without doubt, having a terrible effect on a large percentage of those attempting to thrive academically at Oxford. Attempts are being made to detail the impact which this has upon the lives of real students, such as the newly founded blog welfarecrisis.tumblr. com (which recounts the experiences of rusticated Oxford students). Yet too many are still suffering in silence
with problems connected to mental health, brought on (in an alarmingly high number of cases) by the sheer intensity of stress and pressure. Our terms present problems, which first and foremost must be considered by examining the effect they are having on students’ health – however, the academic aspect also fits into the equation in which despairing students find their work suffering from the lack of time. A
Terms at Oxford are a blink-andyou'll-miss-it type of short
second year at Queen’s reflected upon the urgency that many of us sense looming over us: “I do certainly feel like Oxford encourages a kind of rush mentality whereby handing in anything, as long as it meets a deadline, is acceptable; I’d rather take the time to make a piece of work really good”. His words lead us to question ourselves, and the system – how
can we perform to the best of our academic abilities, if we are constantly deprived of sleep and overworked? On a far broader basis, the intensity and brevity of Oxford terms often disguises how wonderful a place it is to live in. These truly are the dreaming spires: the beauty of Christ Church meadow, the richness of student theatre, and the serenity of punting – even having a social life! – could all be drawn on in an essayfree week. In particular, it seems perverse that there is a real and palpable tension between having the latter, and fulfilling one’s academic obligations. It may be difficult to agree to alleviate the stringent academic standards which Oxford expects of us; we are all here to receive intense and focused teaching. But there is also no denial that there is a very significant difference between high standards, and standards which are simply ignorant of student wellbeing. Let’s try to put this into concrete terms – the introduction of a reading week for the average PPEist is equivalent to being let
CAROLINA BAX
St Hilda's College off two essays: in the grand scheme of things, that's not that much at all. This does not devalue an Oxford degree in the slightest – it is simply a step that needs taking if we are to expect students to be able to face continuing their studies, whilst simultaneously not damaging their physical and mental health. Alternatively, if tutors genuinely insist that every essay is vital, there do not appear to be many barriers to simply extending term length. Oxford and Cambridge have shorter terms than any other UK university; in terms of time in formal study, we spend less than half the year at university. There are also implications for potential applicants. The more students express negativity about the extreme time constraints an Oxbridge degree entails, the less likely it is that students who lack self-confidence – or who simply see our university as a mysterious web of gowns and essay crises – are to apply. There is nothing to question, nor any doubt about it – a reading week is key to making our university an improved, healthier, and more accessible place of learning.
26th February 2015
10 Comment
POISON
Austerity has not worked; more austerity will not help. Greece has already imposed deep cuts to public spending, deep enough to run a primary surplus of 1.5 percent. But the demands of the Troika (the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund) that Greece increase this by three percent – necessitating yet deeper cuts – are neither plausible nor helpful. Greece is in no position to repay the debt it has already accrued, let alone the new debt taken out to maintain interest payments on the existing debt stock. Continued Greek borrowing under the current agreements does not fund reckless spending. If Greece is running a primary surplus, it simply goes back to Greece’s creditors as debt repayments. Greece is borrowing more to meet its already existing obligations. It is not Greece that is being bailed out; it is the institutions that lent to the country. Despite a debt ‘haircut’ that lowered the debt-to-GDP ratio by 40 per cent in 2012, the vast majority of the burden remains to be covered by the Greek taxpayer. The argument for debt repayment often takes on an unpleasant moralistic tone, that Greeks have been living the highlife funded by debt and must now pay the price for such foolishness. Treating economies or governments as people is rarely a sensible move: the Greek government has too much debt, but that does not make Greece morally culpable. And what of the culpability of Greece’s creditors – banks that make bad loans should not expect automatic protection from their mistakes. There is as much moral hazard in bail-outs to Greece’s creditors as there is in a default. If Greece cannot secure an agreement to maintain the current primary surplus, the country should walk away rather than accept the further austerity demanded by the Troika. The risk is that a failure to reach a deal with Greece’s creditors would be met by the ECB cutting off funds to
TOBIAS THORNES
Oriel College
T
he issue of climate change has been put on the sideline of politics for too long, and it has been left to charities, NGOs, and activists. Climate change is an issue that affects us all, and so should be given centre stage in any discussion of the future of our country. Unfortunately, it is only the Green Party who are taking seriously an issue that should be the number one consideration for voters and politicians alike. The real problem here is that the other parties aren’t talking loudly enough about climate change and what they plan to do about it. A warming climate will mean more extreme weather, more droughts, more habitat loss, and rising sea-levels across the world. It will affect people in low-lying regions, less-developed countries that lack the infrastructure to protect themselves, and areas already on the margins of habitability more than it will directly hurt most people in the UK. But that is no reason not to prioritise climate change now; the UK will be far from unscathed if we fail to take action. Climate change will mean more events like last winter’s floods which destroyed
RICHARD HIGSON
HUGH MCHALE-MAUGHAN
Somerville College the highly fragile Greek banking sector, forcing an exit from the Eurozone. It is a risk Greece should be prepared to take. The additional cuts needed to increase Greece’s primary surplus by the three percent demanded by the Troika would shrink the Greek economy by eight percent, deepening a contraction already as large as the USA experienced during the Great Depression, and further increasing the debt-to-GDP burden. If no compromise can be reached, Greece should be prepared to go it alone. A programme that involves a substantial, say 50 per cent, write-down of Greek debt, accompanied by a moratorium on interest payments until renewed growth has produced a sufficient budget surplus to cover them, would leave the country in a stronger position than pursuing the current path of austerity and repayment in full. The current primary surplus should be maintained, but not increased; this is not a call for wanton spending. Any unilateral default is highly likely to lead to Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. A Grexit would undoubtedly be painful for Greece, but, accompanied by a steep devaluation, it has the potential to address Greece’s problems in a less painful manner than austerity. The central problem is that Greek wages and business costs are too high relative to much of the rest of Europe; in other words, Greece is seriously uncompetitive. These costs can either be brought down by slow and painful austerity (internal devaluation) or by competitive (external) devaluation. A devaluation of a new drachma can boost the Greek economy and allow a return to growth faster than the current policy of unending austerity. The first rule of holes is that when you are in one, you should stop digging. A halt to further austerity is Greece’s best hope for a return to growth, and an end to this depression. Greece cannot repay its debts in full – to insist that it must do so can only impose needless suffering.
Brasenose College
IS AUSTERITY THE POISON OR THE CURE FOR GREECE?
PHOTO/Daniel Fowler
It would have been misguided for Greece to abandon austerity and exit the Eurozone at any point over the last half decade; it would be insanity in 2015. This is the perverse irony of the debate about Greece’s currency status: now – when the economy is at last growing, the primary budget is in surplus and unemployment is finally falling – is the least appropriate time for Athens to abandon its commitments to reform at home and reliability abroad. The domestic economic repercussions would be devastating, and the political ramifications for the remainder of the Eurozone would be catastrophic. Even as the Grexit appears more likely than ever, the Troika and the Greek people cannot, should not, and must not let this happen. Indeed, the election of Syriza presents a peculiarly potent combination of opportunity and threat. Opportunity, because with the sky high popularity of 74% approval ratings, Alexis Tsipras has the mandate and unprecedented opportunity to drive home reform to the labour market, the bloated public sector and business regulation. He also appears to possess sensible leftist ideas, primarily concerning the oligopolistic competition that comprises so much of Greek business, and cracking down on tax evasion. However he also brings threat: he appears to prefer capricious grandstanding and furious railing against the Troika to sensible negotiation. This is one of the key reasons Germany and Greece’s other creditors cannot back down. To do so would give succour and ballot papers to misguided and cynically populist anti-austerians across the Mediterranean, incentivising left wing governments to throw their toys out the pram when austerity gets difficult. The commentariat’s assessment of Tsipras and Greek austerity more generally has been characterised by elision and falsehood. Austerity is not ‘making Greece pay’, some cruel imposition of
CURE
a moralistic Protestant urge to punish debt. In fact, the arguments from the Troika have been remarkably devoid of moralising. Austerity is in reality the unavoidable corollary of the wide-ranging structural reform that Greece must undergo in order to regain a semblance of competitiveness. Greece still lags behind Bulgaria (the poorest of the EU member states) in key indicators such as enforcing contracts, registering property, and credit provision. But the point about the need to pay debts is an important one nonetheless. Bondholders are not just the shadowy financiers, smoke clad and velvet jacketed; they are pension funds, public institutions and ordinary savers. If Greece defaults, its debts do not simply vanish – someone pays the cost. This issue is inextricably tied up with sovereignty. What many figures appear to forget when they make claims that the Troika is compromising Athens’ democracy by imposing austerity against the wishes of Greek voters is that if the Troika did not then the wishes of German voters would be compromised; it is a zero sum game. As The Economist put it, “Tom and Dick can’t vote that Harry should lend them money.” Even more seriously, the domestic impact of a default and Grexit would be cataclysmic. Beyond the short-term chaos of reintroducing the drachma, there would be a colossal loss of income, a steep rise in unemployment, and unavoidably onerous capital controls. It is unclear if Greece’s banking sector could survive at all without the ECB’s Emergency Liquidity Assistance programme. ‘Fragile’, that frequent epithet, does not do justice to the moribund and ramshackle financial institutions that comprise Greece’s lending market. Austerity is, by definition, not plentiful, pleasant, or even necessarily fair. But in Greece’s case, it is the unavoidable best of a bad hand.
We need to talk about climate change thousands of homes, or the 2003 and 2006 heatwaves which lead to thousands of deaths across the country. In the future it could mean flooding in London, and the arrival of invasive species and diseases. It will certainly mean a less beautiful, diverse, and habitable world for generations to come. The clock is ticking. The longer we delay behavioural changes that would make our lifestyles more sustainable and reduce our emissions of greenhouse gasses, the worse the effects will be. The UK can make a difference: if we take the plunge and make radical changes now, the rest of the world will be more likely to follow our example. Delaying these changes, meanwhile, means prolonging the slavery of consumerism. It means wasting food, energy, and resources by orienting our lives around the meaningless goals of producing surplus goods and shopping, suffering from inequality, debt, widespread anxiety and depression as a result. It means denying the unemployed access to the huge host of potential useful and meaningful jobs that creating a low-emissions society would require, and it means continuing to see
the spectacular natural environments of our planet plundered for products we don’t actually need. Changing society to combat climate change would improve our lives and prospects by dealing with these and in a plethora of other ways. At the same time, the longer we put off research into protecting communities and adapting our cities and agriculture to cope with heat stress, the less prepared we will be when the extreme events come. For the sake of our health, safety, and well-being, it is essential that climate change prevention and adaptation are brought to the centre of all the decisions we make. Yet most politicians still focus on economic growth as the be-all-and-end-all, as though it were an end in itself. Growth is often not evenly distributed, only making the rich richer, without benefitting the rest of society. The happiest societies are the most equal, not the richest. And a focus on growth, and growth alone, certainly will not help us combat climate change. If politics continues to focus on cutting the deficit, boosting the economy and tinkering with the smaller issues that face our society, we will have spectacu-
larly failed to tackle the biggest problem we face. This would be the most disappointing of missed opportunities. Things could be even worse, if UKIP have a say on the matter: this political newcomer denies the very reality of human-induced climate change. We
urgently need to talk in depth about climate change, and its implications for every policy we discuss – for the sake of human wellbeing. The tragedy is that without explicit Green representation, political debates are unlikely to even begin the conversation.
PHOTO/net_efekt
26th February 2015
Kirchner and Argentina’s dark heart A
rgentina is the land of broken promises. With vast tracts of land and unexploited resources, this nation should have been able to build herself into an economic powerhouse. Yet a 20th century wracked by bitter political division and economic disaster have reduced Argentina to a shadow of its potential. Nowhere is this clearer than in its political foundations. In any country, the death of Alberto Nisman – a state prosecutor investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires – the day before he was due to present his allegations of President Kirchner’s cover up of Iranian involvement in the bombing, would be extraordi-
narily damming. Killing 85 people, the terrorist attack was the deadliest in the country’s history and is still widely discussed today, with many holding close to their heart the memory of a friend, or a friend of a friend, who witnessed the shocking attack. Speculation is rife as to whether Nisman was murdered, committed suicide, or was made to kill himself. The fact that the terrorist attack happened in a country where the government has a record of strained relations with its people is even more incriminating, and indicative of the corruption that dominates every aspect of life in Argentina. Such corruption and scant regard
PHOTO/Ministerio de Cultura de la Nacion
ARTURO RODRIGUEZ
St. Anne’s College
I
n the midst of the polemic over Le Pen’s visit to the Union, a comment piece appeared in the fourth edition of The Oxford Student, which had the courtesy to mention the Oxford Marxists. The article repeated the liberal mantra that farright populists like Le Pen should be given a platform for the sake of “freedom of speech”. We, the Oxford Marxist society, take issue both with the author’s argument, and the criticism of our society. Far-right parties have thrived across Europe in the wake of the crisis of capitalism. People are look-
answers since 1977 – despite their near constant vigil outside the Casa Rosada, Argentina’s presidential palace, successive governments have tip-toed around the issue. Argentina is hiding some dark secrets, ones which its rulers rarely have any interest in revealing. Kirchner’s corruption first reared its ugly head when, in 2013, she established the Truth Commission to collaborate with the Iranian government to look into the 1994 attack. As an Israeli spokesperson stated, this was “like inviting a murderer to investigate his own killings”.
There is nothing more personal than the fight for justice saint, Mr Lloyd Webber, Eva was not), her government has become an unholy hybrid of the superiority and unaccountability of the former and the class populism of the latter. Between these malignant principles and means of control, Argentine politics has fallen down the rabbit hole and emerged as scarcely concealed institutionalised corruption. The ‘Dirty War’ of the 1970’s touched every part of Argentine society. None were more affected, however, than those families who lost children during the bloodshed, many of whom were ‘disappeared’ and killed, or forcibly removed from families deemed to be politically deviant and given to loyal ones. The campaign to reunite these lost children with their families, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, have been lobbying the government for
The collaboration came at a time when Argentina needed oil and Iran seemed all too keen to have Interpol’s “red flags” removed from the Iranian terror suspects. As ever, the suicide or murder of Nisman has sent accusations flying, with Kirchner herself wading into the debate to insist that it was not a suicide, but the work of corrupt intelligence officials. Argentina’s institutional corruption runs so deep it ties every investigation, inquest, and search for justice in knots. The death of a man who apparently feared pro-government fanatics more than foreign terrorists, a man who might have finally been able to take a stand against the Argentine government and attain justice for the population merely demonstrates exactly who this web of corruption hits hardest: the people.
KATHRYN WELSH
Oriel College
Numbering over 200,000, the Jewish community in Argentina is the largest in Latin America. Two terror attacks and a total lack of progress in the investigation of 1994 bombing mean that it is the people and communities of Argentina that are suffering under a corrupt government once again. Just as the mothers and grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo must fight to find the children lost in the Dirty War, and families must cope with crippling inflation, so too must the Jewish community of Argentina fight to bring the terrorists of 1994 to justice. This should not have to be a fight against the government. Realistically, Kirchner simply won’t face prosecution: the corruption that has brought great embarrassment now will also shield her from any legal consequences. However, Argentina’s corruption has transformed the tragic death (be it murder or suicide) of a state prosecutor into a global, political humiliation. The working class support of Kirchner’s Justicialist Party will remain in the long term, but political controversies against the people have historically been severe in Argentina. Corruption has tangible, personal effects, and there is nothing more personal than the fight for justice. Alberto Nisman fought, as Argentines have been fighting for the past century or more. The burial of Nisman in the same place as those that lost their lives in the terrorist attack of 1994 is a tragic symbol of the fight that has been, and must continue to be fought.
Oxford Marxists respond to Le Pen
the “one percent” of bankers and big capitalists. At the same time, the Front National has shrewdly attacked the EU technocrats and their neoliberal policies, cashing in on popular hatred of austerity. This echoes what fascists did in inter-war Europe. If these far-right parties are not stopped, the decay of capitalism will be expressed not through the unity of the exploited for a better society – the standpoint of Marxists – but in a downwards violent spiral of ethnic hatred, intolerance, and fundamentalism. The viciousness of this populism
Far-right populists are already given ample visibility ing for alternatives and the traditional parties of the Left that working people used to look up to have capitulated to capitalism, and have nothing to offer. In these conditions right-wing bigots find fertile ground for their demagoguery. This does not mean that these parties are in any way respectable or progressive. They divide working people, look for scapegoats among the most marginalised groups in society, and prevent popular anger from being directed against those who are really to blame:
for its citizens has seared painful memories into the psyche of the Argentine nation, whether that be in the black market for foreign currency borne out of the hyperinflation that rules the economy today, or deeper scars from Argentina’s brutal past. It is between the two diametrically opposed ideologies that have dominated Argentine politics for the last 100 years that the Kirchner political dynasty lies. With the anti-democratic, classist ideals of Porteño Liberalism, and the Peronist use of populism to control the masses (a
Comment 11
should be clear to everyone. But does this mean that we should stop Le Pen from speaking at the Union? The common stance is that this would compromise freedom of expression. Under capitalism, there is no genuine freedom of speech; the media are in the control of a handful of monopolies over which ordinary people have no control and which serve the interests of the elites. The moguls that control the media are more than happy to voice the views of people like Le Pen, while they elbow out
or distort the views of those who are fighting the system. Far-right populists are already given ample visibility – we can only oppose them at every step and demand the Union does not help boost even further these dangerous, reactionary ideas. The article, though, seemed not to be that concerned with freedom of speech as such, but rather with the fact that it is the “influential and important politicians” of the farright that are being combated rather than the “ideological evil” of communism. This scaremongering is the real threat to freedom of speech on campus – always happy to voice the views of those who defend the status quo, it vilifies those who fight for a better society. It raises the spectre of Stalin, whose regime “killed more people than all other dictatorships in history combined”. A few historians would take issue with his liberal use of figures. Is it really plausible that Stalin killed more people than all the Fascist and Western-sponsored dictatorships of the 20th century? Indeed, capitalism itself is inherently responsible for horror without end. We merely have to examine the news to see war, poverty, famine, and disease, all the product of the system’s incapacity to provide a decent standard of living for all of
PHOTO/vintagedept
humanity. Stalinism was a dictatorial regime that killed millions of people. Whilst paying lip-service to Marxism and socialism, this regime had nothing in common with the real ideas of Marxism. Stalinism was the product of the bureaucratic degeneration of the Russian Revolution. The revolution was trapped in a poor, isolated, underdeveloped, and wartorn country, surrounded by hostile
powers, and, within this context an extensive bureaucracy emerged that imposed its authority and protected its privileges through violence and censorship. At the Marxist Society we stand for genuine, democratic socialism, not for the caricature of our ideas that Stalinism represents. We are passionate about our cause, but we are always up for a friendly discussion, as the author would discover if he came to one of our events.
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26th February 2015
ARTS & LIT
Leslie Jamison on the hazards of empathy
“N
othing human is alien to me”: this is the epigraph of the essay collection The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison, and also a tattoo inked into the author’s forearm. It’s an apt summary of her philosophy as a writer, journalist, and thinker. She takes on central questions of the human condition such as “How do we understand and practice empathy?” or “How do we make our pain and suffering decipherable to the people we love?” and ventures forth to collect stories – from Texas and Connecticut to Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Mexico. This mass of humanity is then put into what can only be described as an arsenal of observation, the contents of which comprise The Empathy Exams. The resulting emotional power is a blow to any reader – in the best way possible. Curious to learn about her process as a writer and thinker, Stephanie Kelley interviewed Jamison for The Oxford Student. One of the most captivating pieces in The Empathy Exams is an essay called ‘The Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain’. In it, you write about walking a taut tightrope between writing about pain and glorifying it. What’s the easiest trap for a writer or journalist to fall into when writing about difficult subjects? Certainly that tightrope stretches across one trap: the possibility of relishing pain or dysfunction or the kinds of sexy narratives they can offer. Another trap that I’ve become increasingly fixated on – largely because I’m often guilty of it – is the siren call of over-easy metonymy. Basically I mean: letting some small, interesting detail become emblematic of the whole situation, offering a neat distillation that actually oversimplifies everything: the homeless man sitting next to the guys with big guns outside a bank; the butterflies landing on pineapple wedges in a glassedoff garden in the Singapore airport. This is related to the Didion I quote in the book (from Salvador) about the perils of the ironic detail – how that irony can offer an easy escape hatch. Part of the call or prerogative of New Journalism is setting scenes, and choosing to recount the details from reported scenes that deepen the meanings you are trying to convey – but I don’t believe in letting the details save us from the hard work
of exposition and really digging into complication. When you’re not writing about yourself, how do you maintain a measure of distance between you self and the subject, while still making every effort to dig deep into the truth? Does it ever get difficult? Absolutely it gets difficult. In about two hours I’m headed to a panel at the NYU Journalism school – where I taught last semester – to take part in a panel called ‘Reporting Pain’ about the difficulty of writing about the pain of others – trying to be empathic without co-opting anything; trying to humanize but not make too many assumptions about someone’s humanity. I try to ask lots of questions, to give a subject the benefit of
“I don’t believe in letting the details save us from the hard work of exposition and really digging into complication” the doubt, and to make space – in the final written product – for abiding gaps or points of mystery, rather than offering a conclusive narrative – too often, that feels like trapping the subject in a closed space with no breathing hole. Of the two forms you’ve published in – the essay and fiction – which do you prefer? Impossible question. Choosing between children. I’m just glad – as a reader and a writer – that we’ve got both, and that we’ve got others. Right now I’m writing mainly nonfiction because it feels like the best way to weave together my impulses to blend memoir and reportage – to look inward and outward at once. But I’m considering writing a novel about two characters who are both memoirists, so make of that what you will. Maybe in order to look at nonfiction writing I’ll need to get outside of it by going back to fiction. I saw you wrote an article for Vice about the suicide of novelist David Foster Wallace. In his widow’s
memoir, Bough Down, she writes, “It’s hard to remember tender things tenderly.” From Empathy Exams, do you think this is true when writing about emotions like grief and empathy? To me there’s a lot of wisdom in that sense that it’s difficult to write about tender things tenderly. Without knowing exactly how she meant it, I know how it strikes me – reading it now – that too many vectors pointing in the same direction don’t actually end up inspiring what they’re meant to. That contrast and juxtaposition and a bit of undermining and complication actually sharpen the rendering of emotion – so you evoke the deep amount of love at a wedding not by writing about how beautiful everything was, and the deep soulful gaze between bride and groom, but by writing the awkward bits: how the groom comforted the bride when she started crying because she couldn’t remember her vows, or no one told her that her teeth were stained pink from the pomegranate seeds in the artisanal fig salad or whatever. The strange, odd, cumbersome bits are often what carry the feeling – just as the moments or respite or levity are often what make the most painful stories utterly heartbreaking. Continuing the subject of difficulty – Life is hard! Writing is hard! – what would you say is the most difficult thing about becoming a successful writer? Is there anything you wished you would’ve known earlier? Not everyone will love your work. Or even like it. Or even think it has the barest sliver of use or value to offer the world. I knew this in the abstract but it was really hard to let go of the idea that if I just wrote something [fill-in-the-blank] enough – good enough, smart enough, soulful enough – that it would be somehow beyond dispute. But it doesn’t work like that at all. My most beloved pieces still drive some readers insane, make some readers absolutely hate me. If you’re curious to find out whether you love or “absolutely hate” Jamison’s book, The Empathy Exams is available from Blackwell’s Books for £12.99.
Arts & Lit 3
STEPHANIE KELLEY
Regent’s Park College
4 Arts & Lit
ARTS & LIT
Redeployment & the value of the National Book Award T
PHOTO/PENGUIN LTD.
Boltanski at Modern Art Oxford
I
n 1973, Christian Boltanski proposed the idea of an inventory of objects as an exhibition. Fortunately his project was assumed by the director of the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford at the time, Peter Ibsen (one of few who agreed to do so). Hearing about this exhibition, one initially imagines to be faced with a work that generates some form of nostalgia, and perhaps a romantic view of Oxford. On walking in, however, the atmosphere that is projected is the exact opposite. The lighting is an icy blue; the room is stark, so what we actually feel is detachment. All that stands are two boards with a collection of photos of these, “objects belonging to a young man in Oxford.” The exhibition is definitely short and won’t hold one’s attention longer than twenty minutes, making it definitely possible to visit even on a busy weekday. That said, this isn’t an exhibition where you can simply drift between paintings. In order to appreciate the work, one must analyse and study each image. Perhaps what is striking is the comparison one naturally makes between oneself and Christ Church’s student of the 1970s whose objects we view. The most striking aspect, I would argue, is the overwhelming presence of
religiously-orientated objects. Books such as Pope Paul VI, and, The Imitation of Christ, as well objects like a crucifix, highlight how times have changed, and give us a deeper insight into this unknown man. Yet, it would appear that there are objects that have remained essential. Razors, cards, after-shave, throat lozenges, a teapot, and photo frames all give us a familiar connection to a world with which we are unfamiliar.
The lighting is an icy blue; the room is stark, so what we actually feel is detachment Adding to our insight are an array of newspaper articles, showing headlines such as “Race professor beaten up at LSE” and “Israel celebrates 25th Anniversary,” which also give us the ability to speculate about the concerns of the time. A particularly endearing touch is the newspaper where we find a detailed doodle of a cartoon man skiing. Through these finer details, the
he winners in the various categories of the National Book Award were announced about a month ago, but we should never limit the discussion of such seasonal events to the three or four days surrounding them. It is indeed a strange phenomenon that those critics of (for example) the National Book Award only emerge to denounce it when its winners are being revealed: they manage nothing more than to reinforce the token press bubble for an annual occasion which they would probably describe as depressingly ritualistic. One advantage of considering the National Book Award’s winners after the fact is that it shows us the ways in which good literature anticipates and critiques cultural moments which it could never have specifically foreseen. The overall winner in the National Book Award’s category for fiction, Paul Klay’s Redeployment, is testament to this. Comprised of twelve stories about the Iraq War by different first-hand narrators embodied by Klay – including a chaplain, an artilleryman, and a mortuary specialist – Redeployment seeks to give insight into the war from multiple, deliberately differing perspectives. In light of the kind of grotesque bravado about war found recently, for example, in Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper,
Klay’s appreciation of the complications of war – his delicacy and hesitancy – is refreshing. The quick “hi” with which he greets the viewer in a video-junket for Penguin USA is not assertive but in ap-
“Good literature anticipates and critiques cultural moments which could never have been specifically foreseen” peal; in that video he always stares at his shoes and wrings his hands, and when he sighs it is rueful and self-frustrated, as if he is mindful of the importance of being clear and fair when contributing to the big discussion about his country’s foreign policy. Redeployment makes a virtue of being non-committal. Klay has talked before about the strange and dissonant nature of his return from Iraq, where he served as a Public Affairs Officer for thirteen months until February 2008: coming back home “to a country that’s ordered you to war” which is nevertheless “only
26th February 2015
WILL ABBOTT
St. Hugh’s College half-paying attention” must be surreal, and throws into stark relief the dreamworld anomie of a culture which idealises its military but remains blissfully distracted by its own interests. Bradley Cooper as Kyle Walker in the insufferably black-and-white aforementioned blockbuster is an example of the kind of documentation which, because it is oversimplified and certain in its construction of a hero and an enemy, is more readily stomached. Though the twelve short stories in Redeployment fail to come to any moral or narrative conclusion, this is a manifest attempt to show that such one-sided interpretations are often impossible. The National Book Award is, in many ways, similarly democratic in its nomination practices. The Award has often been accused of deliberately sidelining publications which have already become successful, and focusing only on those titles which are commendable but little-known. But this kind of behaviour, which is more akin to the rarefied selections of an individual reader than a formal, organised body, is perhaps valuable in its implicit suggestion that we should not derive our likes and dislikes from a public body but rather be encouraged by the extent of the literature that is out there.
MISHA GABE-WILKINSON
St. Peter’s College
exhibition creates a bond of intimacy with its viewer. It is clear that this exhibition has been popular, with different inventories being displayed in Germany, Jerusalem, Denmark, Paris, and of course, Oxford. Interestingly, the Oxford inventory is the only one of the five to display the collection through photography, rather than the original physical objects. If I were to criticize a part of the exhibition it would surely be this aspect. Considering that the idea here was to build up an image of a person through these objects, tangible items would certainly add to the depth of Boltanksi’s work. Overall, however, this exhibition is wonderful. The pure simplicity leaves its interpretation somewhat subjective, yet with a subtlety to it. This subtlety gives the exhibition inherent warmth, which the setup of the room contrasts completely. Most importantly, it indirectly pushes viewers to actually think for themselves. This is surely a positive, and so this exhibition is definitely worth a visit. For more information, visit the museum’s website https://www.modernartoxford. org.uk.
PHOTO/CHRISTIAN BOLTANSKI PHOTO/CHRISTIAN BOLTANSKI & MOA
26th February 2015
Arts & Lit 5
RUSKIN PROFILE: Lu Williams
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
“W
ho is the architect, the miniaturist or me?” This question, which is asked midway through the novel by its main character, 18-year-old Petronella Brandt, reverberates throughout the strange and immersive world of Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist. The setting is late 17th-century Amsterdam, during the booming years of the Dutch sugar-trade industry. Nella has entered into marriage with a wealthy merchant, Johannes Brandt, in a household which is also occupied by his unmarried sister Marin and two servants, the “Surinam”-born exslave Otto (“dark, dark brown everywhere”) and Cornelia. The marriage is sexless and intimidating to Nella, but as a wedding gift Johannes presents her with a miniature cabinet. It’s a pristinely crafted doll’s house and piece of aristocratic furniture, and he encourages her to fill it. She writes to a craftsman, the self-adver-
tised “Miniaturist”, who now delivers her a series of unrequested items for her cabinet. Each of these is loaded with dark energies, which in turn anticipate the main dramatic events of the plot: Marin’s lost love, a fatal duel, and Johannes’ illicit sodomy, leading to his conviction to death in court. This is an imaginative narrative thread; it provides an engaging and suspenseful tale of intrigue and artifice, which is brilliantly poised until the final page. Burton’s talent is for the piercing comment in a scene of social friction, the itch under the skin. At an awkward dinner-party, “except for his gentle mastication, the bread is a block between them, dry, untouched”. The wife of one of Johannes’ trade partners, a fake friend in high society, “seems un-lived in” to Nella. When Nella, who is frustrated by her own marital listlessness, interrogates this woman, she fears “that
J.E. GRIFFITHS
Brasenose College the question mark was too loud and accusatory”. Burton’s scenes are also full of sensory potency, full of the smells and tastes of a moving city. Nella enjoys “the velvet suck of air” in walking around Amsterdam unchaperoned. “No war was ever won, Nella thinks, with an arsenal of sugared treats” – but the miniaturist’s gifts often include confectionary, and the collapse of Johannes’ sugar trade is part of a dialogue on the irresistible allure of sweetening things. Nella harbours thoughts which belong more naturally to a young woman in the 21st century than in the 17th-century, this is true, but Burton’s scene-drawing, as well as her meticulous study of this slice of history, do not make for effortful imagination. This is a bold and fully breathing world to enter into. As Nella observes, “we make a hopeful tapestry, with no-one to weave it but ourselves”.
Ruskin student Lu Williams talks about technology and theory in art. Which area are you most interested in and why? Computer generated females within the glossy aesthetics of consumer capitalism, a feminism that encompasses digital bodies, the language of massadvertising and a move beyond representation. What are you currently working on? What inspired it? I’m currently interested in sculpture, film, installation, digital collage and how representation and image consumption have kind of become more and more divorced from each other. “The shapely swirl of energy holding shattered fragments in place, but only just.” Of course, any investigation of image appropriation strategies inherently refers back to its legacy in the history of modern art. Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the readymade inaugurated a new method of artistic production that would come to figure heavily in artistic practice for the next century. By extension, if Duchamp’s objects could be considered art by virtue of the artist’s declaration, the plethora of available imagery in modern culture could similarly be mined as potential sources. Artists in the 1920s and 1930s used strategies of collage and montage to juxtapose imagery of conflicting ideological sources, artists associated with the Pictures Generation examined the psychology of the mass-circulated image and its effect on our understanding of reality and lived experience. By doing little more than lifting images out of their original context and into the discursive space of art, pictures artists subtly subverted the media image by exposing its secondary connotations and re-motivating its meaning, questioning notions of authorship, originality, and authenticity.
ARTWORK/LU WILLIAMS
Why have you chosen the medium you have? The internet has been subject to a corporate hegemony from the very beginning, in particular the specific virtual semantics and consumer climates that have arisen from its birth.
In other words, a manifestation of the absurdity of digital pedagogy and information accessing, an artistic practice surpassing a simple study of digital textures (think nostalgic glitch-making) to occupy a full-fleshed, hyperreal space, usually reserved to corporate giants in advertising or entertainment. How would you describe your fashion sense? Is it influenced by your art? That’s really interesting – fashion is a social and political theory that examines the effects of a society oversaturated in media images. I think we share a sense of emerging from a culture that had lost its idealism and found drugs to be the primary refuge – you see your artistic vision as still shaped by living in a “culture of the unreal” in which you had to dig deep to find your own meanings. If you could pick one artist (dead or alive) to paint your portrait who would it be and why? Elad Lassry, because his series of compositions look to the world of advertising photography and its seeming perfection. The visual tropes of stock photography in a conceptual investigation of how such images operate in our media age. This could be described as the crisis of stock photography, where its over-saturation necessitates critical reflection and speculative debate. At the same time, it is also the death of its aspirations as a fine art medium, resulting in an aesthetic that is dull, redundant, uninspired, and un-hierarchical in nature. How would you define art?/ would you define art? On the internet we presume an autonomous end user. The fictionalized aspect and photographic style remind me of mid-2000s era advertorials. They came about in a very cynical and ambiguous time and context. ‘Queer’ occupies space, in works that figure not simply better sex or better bodies but rather the layers of collection, interpretation and negotiation that comprise a culture always in danger of being disappeared. For more about Lu Williams, visit her website at http://www.luwilliams.com.
6 Screen
SCREEN
26th February 2015
PHOTO/Channel 4
Russell T Davies is back, but is he better? R
ussell T Davies’ shows are like buses; you wait ages for a new one and then three turn up at once. The television maestro behind Queer As Folk and Doctor Who has had a quiet few years off; his last television credit was way back in 2011, and since then his partner’s severe illness has understandably kept him off our screens. Returning to Channel 4 as a kind of prodigal son, Davies has something to prove with Cucumber – his new show about sex, love and growing old in modern-day Manchester – as well as its sister shows, Banana and Tofu. The question remains if a writer who has been absent for nearly half a decade can still match the style and panache of his earlier work, and if he can still be relevant in today’s media landscape. The answer, of course, is yes, and the sight of grizzled TV veteran Davies swaggering back onto the stage like he’s never been gone gives Cucumber a viscerally joyful quality. The show follows the life of Henry Best, a middle-aged, middle-management type, who is brilliantly played by Richard Franklin (the Tory spin-doctor from The Thick Of It). The show opens with Henry and his partner Lance – they have an affectionate and companionable relationship, but over the course of the first episode, we learn that the two of
them have not actually had sex in the nine years they have been together. This is something of an issue, particularly in a show named after the strength of an erection. Following a disastrous night involving vast quantities of alcohol, a spectacularly ill-advised threesome and Boney M’s ‘Rasputin’, Henry ends up fleeing their home and moving in with his much younger colleagues, Dean and
kissing another boy, and the camera focuses entirely on his reaction to this act, once thought unacceptable, now blithely accepted as normal. Richard Franklin sells the hell out of it, demonstrating in awe-struck shock; while he confesses earlier on that his own sexual awakening “terrified” him, he says with a sense of wonder: “I saw two boys today...they were so fearless.” A world in
Russell T Davies’ shows are like buses; you wait ages for a new one and then three turn up at once Freddie. From there, the focus is on Henry dealing with his various insecurities, sexual, financial and otherwise, and his relationship with a younger generation of LGBTQ people. The way in which the older generation, represented by Henry, relates to today’s youth is a key strand of Cucumber, as well as the feeling of growing older as an LGBTQ person in modern Britain. There is a moment in episode one where Lance proposes to Henry, and he refuses, saying: “I’ve know since I was ten years old that I’m not getting married – it’s not my fault they went and invented it.” Henry later sees his nephew openly
which there is no fear involved in being LGBTQ leaves Henry incredulous. This is a Davies trademark – displaying the fundamental humanity which underlies his best work. Cucumber is breezy, sexy and frequently hilarious, but it is this quiet poignancy that give the show its real power. The two spinoff shows are a mixed bag. While Cucumber is concerned with older people in relation to the young, Banana is concerned with young people in relation to themselves – the E4 show focuses on young characters whose stories intersect with that of the main series. And really, therein lies the problem: in tying
itself so clearly to Cucumber, Banana is consigned to eternally playing second fiddle to its higher-profile parent show. This is reflected in the show’s content: while the young cast is reliably excellent, the scripts they are given sometimes feel like attempts to cram episodes of Cucumber into half the time, with a cast half the age. The first two episodes are particularly rocky, with a number of scenes feeling staid and truncated when they should feel involved and compelling. Pacing is a severe problem, and there is a real sense that Davies has simply grown too used to the comparative luxury of the 45-minute episode and has just hit a wall with Banana’s 25-minute one. Still, he demonstrates his ability to create compelling images through dialogue in Banana in much the same way as in Cucumber, and the show has visibly improved over the last few weeks. Sue Perkins’ rather lovely script for episode three deftly and efficiently manages a whirlwind romance, a few passionate statements and some wonderfully witty dialogue, as well as a gleefully morbid streak. Banana is unambiguously the secondary show, and certainly a lot more of a slow-burner quality-wise, but its writers have thus far demonstrated that the secondary show needn’t necessarily be the lesser one. Rounding out this little trilogy of
WILLIAM SHAW
Corpus Christi College shows is the 4OD exclusive Tofu, a quasi-documentary by YouTuber Benjamin Cook. Tofu is an odd little thing, reflective of its nature as an internet-based ancillary feature. It mostly consists of various talking heads, some involved in the show, some not, discussing various aspects of sex and sexuality. When it is doing this, it is thoroughly charming and wittily observational. But it also makes the frankly disastrous choice to cut away from those lovely talking heads in favour of long-winded and cringeworthy sketches about sexuality that provide not the faintest whiff of humour, insight, or entertainment value. These sketches are an unequivocally bad decision, which derail an otherwise lovely little series of sweet and good-natured shorts. It’s a real shame. And so Davies returns to television, and it looks like he’s here to stay – Cucumber hasn’t even concluded yet, and already he’s teasing his next project, which he says will deal with the subject of the 1980s AIDS epidemic and its effects on the gay community. If it has even half the impact of Cucumber, it looks to be very important indeed. Cucumber and its sister shows mark the return to television of one of the most skilled and insightful screenwriters of his generation, and it seems there’s no limit to what he might be able to achieve next.
26th February 2015
Review: Kingsman K
ingsman: The Secret Service bears all the marks of the kind of film only Matthew Vaughn could have directed. Indeed, it seems he was almost fated to do so. Vaughn has confessed that, pre-Casino Royale, he came remarkably close to being tasked with the rebooting of the James Bond franchise, though things didn’t pan out. Watching Kingsman, one is almost glad that they didn’t. Lamenting the absence of the good sense of humour of Bond’s earlier incarnations, Vaughn has made a film that re-injects some muchneeded fun into a genre that Bond, Bourne and Bauer alike have all but deprived it of. The film sees an elite organisation of privately-financed gentlemen spies in need of a new recruit. Among the string of Oxbridge candidates invited to interview is Eggsy (newcomer Taron Egerton), stifled by the council estate into which he was born. All the while, lisping supervillain Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) poses problems of world domination and mass genocide. Colin Firth exudes sophistication as Harry Hart (Kingsman name: Galahad), the brilliantly dry yet curiously warm veteran Kingsman who takes Eggsy under his wing. The latter is fiercely endearing
in his own right, with Vaughn’s decision to cast an unknown proving very effective; an eye every bit as sharp as that which cast Chloe Grace-Moretz as Hit-Girl. With Kingsman, the sequences of lavishly over-the-top ultraviolence showcased in Kick-Ass are elevated to another plane entirely. Characters find ways to be violent that you never knew existed. Always inventive in its
Vaughan has made a film that re-injects some much-needed fun into the genre
set-pieces, the film lives to entertain, and to do so with originality, cementing Vaughn’s reputation as a force to be reckoned with. Firth is clearly revelling in the sheer irreverence of the role he’s been dealt, and it is credit to Taron Egerton that the young actor more than holds his own: it is an impressive debut to have made. A very strong cast has been assembled, with Mark Strong, Michael Caine, and an amusingly game Mark Hamill included. While simultaneously riffing on
Screen 7
PETER TELLOUCHE
Christ Church the My Fair Lady/ Trading Places/ Men in Black dynamic at work, the film does to the spy genre exactly what 22 Jump Street did to sequels, only with considerably more subtlety and verve in its self-parody. Despite the tradition of Austin Powers and Johnny English that has come before, spy pastiches have never seemed so refreshing, so daring, and frankly, so R-rated. Kingsman is bold and brutal, pulling no punches but delivering a great many. “Give me a far-fetched, theatrical plot any day,” pines Firth’s Galahad, as he and Jackson’s Valentine reflect on Bond over dinner. And that’s exactly what Vaughn has given us, a film that wears its theatricality on its incredibly well-tailored sleeve. Having side-stepped both the James Bond and the X-Men franchises (having directed First Class, he turned down the offer to do the same on Days of Future Past), Matthew Vaughn has always opted to operate outside of Hollywood’s rules and conventions: he even privately funded Kick-Ass when every studio turned it down. He operates underground, bubbling underneath the surface, ruffling feathers and answering to no one. A true Kingsman, in other words.
COUNTDOWN
TOP THREE MODERN WESTERNS
O
nce the default mode for the Hollywood action film, westerns went almost completely out of favour in the 1970s, and nobody has been interested since. (And no, films like No Country for Old Men don’t count – we’re talking good ol’ westerns here, films set in a bygone era of the American frontiers.) But in the 21st century there have still been a few revivalist highlights that speak to the setting’s enduring resonance.
PHOTO/Kimberley French/Summit
3
PHOTO/Warner Bros Pictures
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Even without the powerful character drama, this film would be remarkable for its cinematography, filled as it is with stunning shots of this most distinctive and strikingly rugged of landscapes.
2
PHOTO/Paramount Pictures
True Grit The Coen brothers’ remake of the ‘60s classic is worth seeing for Jeff Bridges’ performance alone, but it’s also every bit as starkly, wittily gripping as the best of these directors’ work.
PHOTO/Allstar
I
t may not be quite as abhorrent as his film, but ‘comedian’ Leigh Francis’s latest use of his permatanned, insultingly unfunny Keith Lemon character is about as low as TV comedy can go. Spoofing celebrities and other programmes in a frenetic 30 minutes, it tries to invoke the pace and timing of older, similar shows. But Francis/Lemon simply isn’t up to it.
impression. I was surprised that Jeremy Kyle didn’t make an appearance. Every sketch is weighed down by its own sordid humour. The very first one I saw had Dr Christian eating a carrot out of someone’s behind to cure him of his deformity. One sketch that has picked up particular attention online is the Kardashian/Big Fat Gypsy crosso-
1
It looks like, and it surely is, some mates having a bit of fun lampooning the rich and famous. Which is fair enough, but do it in the pub, not on my TV. I didn’t laugh once. But there is something that annoyed me even more. Keith Lemon is a character who has many fans, even though he is an offensive and loathsome personality. But he doesn’t appear
THE KEITH LEMON SKETCH SHOW THOMAS BANNATYNE
St. Hilda’s College
He appeals to the same tabloid sensibilities that got him where he is today, picking off the easy targets and never going beyond tasteless parody. There is nothing but the low-brow; a ridiculous Embarrassing Bodies sketch turns immediately into an attack on Harry Styles’ penchant for older women, which leads to an uninventive David Dickinson
ver. It’s a cheap shot, killing two sluggish, overweight birds with one enormous stone, and it isn’t even funny. The actors appear as if they were a group of friends who had decided to go to a bop dressed as the Kardashians, with tight black dresses stuffed with clothes and minimal effort put into hair and makeup.
PHOTO/Warner Bros Pictures
There Will be Blood The brutality of the Old West gives way to the brutality of the modern industrial world in this unforgettable epic of greed, passion, and vengeance. Running through it all is the grim suggestion that the world we see here never really disappeared; its values and its dangers surround us, disguised, to this very day.
in most of the sketches – Leigh Francis does. The name is there to catch the eye and draw in a crowd, but Francis is singularly unable to justify it. Yes, he hosted the Great British Piss Up segment (which was a good idea, poorly executed), and a cartoon of him dropped onto a stage in the transitions, but otherwise, it has nothing to do with
him. There might be something to praise, if Francis managed to pull off playing a character, playing other characters. Shakespeare loved that sort of thing. But he can’t, and the name sticks only for publicity purposes. What we are left with is a series of brainless sketches, all based on what everyone has been saying for the past few years. ‘Isn’t embarrassing bodies perverse and weird?’ ‘Mark Wright is a waste of space.’ ‘Kim Kardashian has a big bum.’ Insightful stuff. As for the celebrity cameos, I was unsurprised at their calibre. I saw Fearne Cotton and Paddy McGuinness and I heard Bill Oddie. If we ever want to dissuade aliens from invading Earth, I suggest we beam this drivel into space. They’d leave us well alone, and I wouldn’t blame them.
8 Fashion
26th February 2015
26th February 2015
The Weavers Project Photographer: Phillip Babcock | Model: Georgie Berriman | Concept & Styling: Demie Kim
Fashion 9
10 Fashion
FASHION Transforming the bad into the beautiful E
ver wonder where, how, and by whom the products we use and encounter in our daily lives are made? New Yorker Elizabeth Suda began with this question when she launched ARTICLE22, a fashion brand that partners with artisan communities around the world to design, produce, and sell accessories that tell stories and give back. Its first collection, Peacebomb, consists of jewellery created by artisans in Laos from Vietnam War bombs and scrap metal that remain scattered on their land. Transforming the bad into the beautiful, Peacebomb helps detonate unexploded bombs to make Laos safe – the simplest bracelet clears three square meters of bomb-littered land. Today, ARTICLE22 sells in 39 countries on article22.com, and through a network of over 150 stores worldwide. OxStu Fashion interviewed Elizabeth Suda (who studied abroad at Oxford as an undergraduate), on the story behind her brand, and the challenges and rewards of working in ethical fashion. Tell us about ARTICLE22 – what is the story and concept behind the brand? ARTICLE22 works at the nexus of local development and the global market. In partnership with artisan communities, we create authentic accessories that are modern in design, but made according to traditional methods. We capacity-build upon
26th February 2015
DEMIE KIM
Exeter College
pre-existing skills, help develop sustainable local enterprises, and provide global market linkage. We pursue an inclusive and respectful globalisation. Can you tell us about your background and what led you to create ARTICLE22? My experience working in the men’s merchandising department at Coach, Inc. was crucial to starting a retail business. The team was small, which meant that I engaged in high-level meetings on all aspects of the supply chain from design and development to production, quality assurance, sales and analysis. I saw what a powerful force the fashion market was and wondered whether it could be harnessed to do good – what if there was an offer of products that benefitted the people that made them? I had read about the rich natural dyeing and handloom weaving culture in Laos and decided I needed to go. I lived there for six months, working with a local women-led textile business, Nikone Handicrafts, and Swiss NGO Helvetas. What inspires you? Discovering local cultures, Muhammad Yunus, Russian constructivist art. In particular, I appreciate this moment in history when artists created art with a social mission. The style and ideas behind constructivism extended from painting and sculpture into film, photography, and more practical design
PHOTOS / ARTICLE22
work. ARTICLE22 embraces this idea that design can be a vehicle for change. For us, fashion innovation is about both aesthetics and ethics. Can you elaborate on the process of working with artisans in rural Laos? Our success working thousands of miles apart is built on strong relationships within the village and with our country manager, Manivone. We started a few years ago by designing from wood and ash molds within the limits of local production and applying light finishings in the US. Since then, we have built upon these designs, bringing the artisans new prototypes and tools, enabling them to make more challenging designs and
What are some challenges you have faced in building the brand and running the company? The daily mix of numbers, impact, aesthetics, and storytelling in our social fashion business is so engaging. I love that I have the opportunity to collaborate with artists, travel to work with our artisan partners, and hear stories from customers across the world ranging from U.S. Vietnam Veterans to Australian boutique owners passionate about conscious consumption. But the multidisciplinary nature of entrepreneurship is also full of the unknown and unexpected. When a huge holiday delivery got stopped in
Eco-fashion on the rise
E
PHOTO / PeopleAlerts.net, “Cara Delevingne Tattoo – PeopleAlerts.” PHOTO / Søren Raagaard
thereby earn more money.
nvironmental concerns are at the forefront of our public consciousness, and the fashion industry is no exception. Consumers have become increasingly conscious of what goes into the manufacturing of their products, from water consumption to chemical pollution to deforestation – and they have made sure that retailers take note of such issues. On the back of scandals such as the revelation that lingerie giant Victoria Secret was cutting down endangered forests to create the 400 million catalogues they send out annually, retailers are becoming aware of a pressing need to alter practices in order to retain customers. Environmentally conscious fashion, however, has moved on from the somewhat questionable couture styles that might be associated with it. Gone are the days in which eco-friendly fashion meant a hemp sack with armholes. Instead, we have seen a rise in mainstream brands’ development of environmentally conscious lines, such as H&M’s 2013 ‘Conscious Collection.’ The retailer is now committed to “making fashion sustainable and sustainability fashionable,” according to their CEO Karl-Johan
Persson. A crucial part of their strategy involves avoiding the use of materials created using pulp from trees cut down in some of the oldest and most endangered forests in the world. According to Canopy, a non-profit organisation aimed at reducing the environmental cost of clothing, 70 million trees are cut down to make fabric for the fashion industry every year; this figure is set to double over the next two decades. Forest hotspots include the rainforests of Chile, Indonesia and the Amazon.
customs, I had to understand why it happened, who I could ask for help, how to fix it, and how to balance cost against time. So one of the biggest challenges is executing tasks and making efficient decisions in areas where our small team lacks expertise. Any exciting plans for the company moving forward? We have a weaving project in Laos with the World Bank, another project in Colombia, and another in India. As we are “slow fashion,” we do not have a precise timeline for product launch. In each case, we are working with an artisan community, capacity building, and developing a product that tells their story.
ALEXANDRA PATERSON
Hertford College
customer base? Whilst this is undoubtedly a contributing factor, the strategies are having an effect on environmental issues. According to their 2013 annual report, H&M collected 3,047 tonnes of clothing worldwide from customers in their stores, and 2014 saw the launch of their first garments made from the recycled fibres of these collected clothes. Considering 90 million items are thrown out each year in the UK, this is a promising step. However, the impetus for real change
Gone are the days in which eco-friendly fashion meant a hemp sack with armholes H&M, along with other apparel companies such as Zara and Levi’s, have teamed up with Canopy to remove such forests from their dissolvable pulp supply chain for viscose and rayon fabrics. It’s hard not to view such plans with a little skepticism: H&M has not been without its own share of ethical scandals, with one New York store reportedly cutting up and discarding its own unsold clothing. Is this just the fashion industry responding to current mainstream concerns in an attempt to widen its target
needs to come from the consumers themselves. Fast fashion, in which clothing is mass-produced while distributors battle to provide the cheapest price, is never going to be environmentally sustainable. As shoppers, the easiest way to help is to make small changes, like supporting smaller, local companies who are better able to track their sources; going down to Cowley to find a bargain in one of the many charity shops; or swapping with your hipster friends to try out something new.
Fashion 11
26h February 2015
GUIDE TO CHARITY SHOPS 1. Be prepared to rummage through heaps of questionable clothing. Bargain hunting is literally just that – a hunt. As with all things, time, dedication and hard work are key. 2. Imagine the clothes out of their context. Have true vision. Don’t play it safe. 3. Location, location, location. Target posh areas for truly miraculous designer steals. It’s amazing what people throw away. 4. Shop unisex to maximize your chances. 5. Visit the shop often – there’s always new stuff coming in. Create a rapport with the workers so they save you all the edgiest garms.
PHOTO / Flickr user net_efekt
PHOTO / @feralchildestudio
INSTAWORTHY @feralchildestudio is the brainchild of Moriah Carlson and Alice Wu. Feral Childe combines thoughtful choice of materials and attention to quality construction to make smart, wearable silhouettes for forward-thinking women. They use sustainable fibers, manufacture locally in New York and dispose of production waste responsibly by either donating remnants to schools or sending them to a textile recycling facility. Feral Childe is committed to ethical business practice and support communities by participating in educational outreach, teaching workshops, and sharing their experiences and resources with others. Their Instagram is as fun, refreshing and singular as their brand.
Guide to ‘cruelty-free’ brands
PHOTO / WestportWiki
L
et’s face it: as much as most of us would love to use ‘cruelty-free’ products all the time, there are moments when amazing claims, convenience or branding trump such intentions. This is a short guide to brands that fit best with such ethical considerations. Although European law states that products and ingredients cannot be tested on animals, there are loopholes under the REACH regulation, which means such testing can still be used as ‘a last resort.’ It must be noted that some brands are required by law in certain countries, such as China, to perform animal testing on their products – Avon, Covergirl and Estée Lauder all do this. The ‘Leaping Bunny’ logo is undoubtedly the best way to locate products not endorsing or utilizing any kind of animal testing – beware of labels asserting ‘cruelty-free’ or ‘against animal testing,’ as these often do not reflect the true ethos of the brand. Burt’s Bees, a magical source of lip and hand balms and Liz Earle, where one can find expensive but soothing skincare; and the Hot Cloth Cleanser, a beauty guru staple, are all certified ‘cruelty-free’. Neal’s Yard Remedies and Pai Skincare also pride themselves on their completely natural and organic products: these can come at a cost, but are definitely worth it if you want to treat family or friends to a totally guilt-free pampering session. Lush and The Body Shop are notable high-street brands that not only advertise being ‘cruelty-free’, but also have initiatives to combat the issue, such as the horrifying re-enactments of animal testing on humans in shop
PHOTO / Maria Morri
life a multitude of colourful, modern designs. Through movement of a foot pedal on traditional weaving looms, two sets of yarn are interlaced to create the scarves: the warp, a set of threads initially attached to the loom lengthwise; and a weft, hank yarn wound into a small bobbin. Movement of foot pedals during the weaving process requires the weavers to exercise precise timing and a constant balance of body and mind – a skill they’ve come to master. Through income generated from selling scarves, the women of the weaving village are able to overcome the throes of poverty so prevalent in Cambodia following the ravaging effects of the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. Through The Weavers Project, the team at Sonas hopes to preserve the weaving tradition and offer these women the chance to earn a steady income, develop critical skills and create a foundation on which they can build their futures. Each scarf is sent to its recipient with a story of the woman who made it. Brands like Weavers create a connection between the origin of the products we wear and ourselves as the wearers. All profits from the scarves sold come back to the weavers’ village so they can invest in new looms, employ more women and continue to grow the business. We can have a positive impact through the fashion we decide to purchase. To check out the weavers’ scarves and join the slow fashion movement, visit weaversproject.com.
Brasenose College
Beware of labels asserting ‘crueltyfree’ or ‘against animal testing’, as these often do not reflect the true ethos of the brand.
windows. There are also some surprising high-street brands on the list, with the inclusion of own brand products from Superdrug, Argos, Morrisons, and Marks and Spencer. The ‘Yes to…TM’ line of products in Boots offers excellent skincare value for money, without harming animals in the process. Anti-aging products are especially known for their ‘new and improved’ labels, which mention various and confusing (for the non-science student) chemicals and formulas, peptides and collagen. In my humble opinion, there really is no need to use such products. Age is just a number and a natural process (even if you are as old as 20, or even 21). Yet, women are undoubtedly under great societal pressure, and the media is always ready to target our insecurities. Mothers may also be requesting skincare items, which are notoriously expensive, as part of their presents for Mothers’ Day. Unfortunately, the choice of cruelty-free, anti-aging skincare is slender among traditional brands. Again The Body Shop is present; alongside Yves Rocher and Mary Kay, more niche brands such as Derma E are also well-rated. Complete lists of brands that do not test on animals can be found on several websites: Go Cruelty Free offers the most user-friendly guide but those of PETA, ‘Uncaged’ and ‘The Vegetarian Site’ are also useful. Thankfully, particularly for cash-strapped students, ‘cruelty-free’ products can increasingly be found at all points on the price spectrum. Brands are clearly realising that the modern consumer is choosing, when they can, a more ethical brand.
Fashion for good: The Weavers Project I t’s not often that we can put a face, a name, and a place to the creation of our fashion products. Fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M have obscured our knowledge of the process and our perception of “handmade” goods. Production of these low-priced, mass-produced items is affecting the global sustainability challenge, and may in fact be doing more harm than good. Fortunately, the ever-growing slow fashion movement is pushing back, offering a chance for us to take control of the products we purchase by understanding how they’re made, and how their production affects the environment – and potentially changing the lives of those who made them. The women of a small weaving village in Takeo, Cambodia, are smiling today. Channa Mao, mother of a young girl, works full-time in order to save for her daughter’s education. Mao’s salary supports her husband and six children who are able to attend school. Thanks to the efforts and investment of microfinance organisation Sonas World and the opportunities presented by the global slow fashion trend, they have been given an opportunity to make a steady income through practice of their traditional craft of weaving. The Weavers Project is an initiative that employs artisans in Takeo to produce handcrafted scarves, made available online around the world. Cambodian weaving craft is an ancient tradition imbued with artistry and history. Fairtrade products, the scarves are created by hand with 100 per cent cotton using large looms, bringing to
ARIANE LAURENT-SMITH
THEA SOKOLOWSKI
Balliol College
PHOTOS / Sonas World
12 Music
MUSIC
The necessary artistry of a great soundtrack T
he punch of so many of our favourite moments in cinema and television would be lost without the music in the background. Sometimes it’s there to hit you in the gut with emotions: as Andrew Lincoln walks away from accidentally revealing his unrequited love for Keira Knightley in Love Actually, Dido’s ‘Here With Me’ springs into life, and it’s devastating. Sometimes, it’s just plain funny: the car chase between the neo-Nazis and the Blues brothers in the film of the same name becomes magnificently ridiculous as Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ soars in the background. That’s the first trick to a soundtrack: timing. Who can forget the oh-sonineties thrill of ‘I Had A Dream’ revving up the confrontation between the Montagues and the Capulets in Baz Luhrmann’s wonderfully trashy Romeo + Juliet? Or, quite frankly, the iconic moment when Bridget Jones starts wailing ‘All by Myself’ at the top of her lungs? It’s about syncing up the action on screen to a song that fits perfectly. I’m never sure whether to laugh or cry, and that’s the genius of it. Alongside timing, there’s the question of atmosphere. The Twilight films are not good. But the one thing they do have going for them – other than the opportunity to chart Robert Pattinson’s
descent into self-loathing – is their soundtracks. Alexandra Patsavas, the woman behind the music of The O.C., Lost, and Grey’s Anatomy is responsible for the series of compilations that feel like an angsty romance in the wet wilds of the Pacific Northwest. The more curmudgeonly among us might say those films didn’t deserve the likes of Thom Yorke, St Vincent, and The Dead Weather, but they had the knack of creating a believable, immersive soundscape: the romance might have been a bit pants, but the burning
Soundtracks are the way to the heart of the audience.
intensity of Blue Foundation’s ‘Eyes on Fire’, or the swooning ‘My Love’ by Sia were pitched perfectly for the emo vampire romance. The atmosphere point also carries into the depiction of a particular moment in time. Whether it’s a retrospective look at an era – think the Oasis-drenched soundtrack to My Mad Fat Diary – or a film that stands up as a document of its time, music is fundamental to creating a realistic world. Starter for Ten sets itself up as the epitome of eighties university life. From the moment the rollicking
Father John Misty wants you to know that I Love You Honeybear I
’d never listened to Father John Misty, alias of former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman, before hearing I Love You, Honeybear. Despite the heartfelt recommendations of more than a few close acquaintances, he’d always managed to slip under my radar; I vaguely recall 2012’s Fear Fun, but that stayed with me more for its album artwork than its music. It was while idly surfing YouTube, the demon of impending finals naively banished to the darkest corners of my mind, that I chanced upon his performance of ‘Bored In The USA’ on Letterman. He strode onto the stage, a lanky, bearded scarecrow, expounding the hollowness of American culture in a striking baritone. His cries of “Save me, President Jesus!” in the face of relentless mechanical mirth spoke of a dying society in thrall to its empty, rarefied icons (Fox News’ Megyn Kelly’s cries of “Jesus was a white guy!” came to mind). In an environment as habitually inoffensive as Letterman’s perfumed realm, this was not only bold, but savagely intelligent. However, the discovery that Tillman’s opus was a concept album centred around his relationship with his wife initially made my heart plummet. In such albums, the beloved can become a trope, a conveni-
ently silent character in the narrator’s schmaltzy love story. Would the ennui of ‘Bored In The USA’ be subsumed under a cushy blanket of cookie-cutter ‘romance’? The answer, thank President Jesus, is no. From the outset, it’s clear that this is an album of contrasts. The images of the album’s opening title track are set against each other masterfully. Tillman’s wistful calling of his ‘Honeybear’ is set over a lyrical picture of post-coital detritus staining a Rorshach-blot bedspread; the lovers are set in opposition to the world around them, “we’re naked, getting high on the mattress, while the global market crashes”. The storybook romance is shattered by the grimness of its own reality and the exposing of its more real aspects. Clearly, Tillman is not fixated on a rose-tinted view of his wife to the exclusion of fierce introspection. However, the jealous privacy of this romance also abounds. The dancehall blues slow-burner ‘Nothing Ever Good Happens At The Goddamn Thirsty Crow’ is a blistering attack on the other men’s attempts to seduce his muse, while at the same time contemplating whether he can ever truly ‘possess’ her; the album’s closer, ‘I Went To The Store
One Day’, a genuinely touching celebration of old love and a tongue-in-cheek idealisation of the future; and ‘insert re: our golden years’, pictures a marital home shut off from civilisation by vegetation, before finishing beautifully with the moment of their very meeting. There’s something deliciously ironic about such a private romance being put into an album for public circulation, and I did find myself questioning whether he meant any of it – if this was a giant ‘in-joke’ between Mr and Mrs Tillman. However, perhaps this is the kind of picture we all need in our lives, particularly in the context of rampant Valentine’s Day commercialism. Looking at the lyrics of ‘Holy Shit’, written on Tillman’s wedding day, the genuine heart of the album is revealed: “maybe love is an economy based on resource scarcity – what I fail to see is what that’s gotta do with you and me”. The sentiment of the album’s title is validated in its simplicity, rather than obscured by cynicism or the overly saccharine. Ultimately, it is one of the most authentically romantic albums I’ve ever heard - Father John Misty is not seeking to cure your romantic delusions, if indeed he has you in mind at all. Why would he, when he’s got everything he needs?
26th February 2015
LUCY CLARKE Regent’s Park College drums of ‘In Between Days’ by The Cure come crashing into life, to protagonist Brian Jackson later staring out to sea with the moans of ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’, The Smiths song that surely resonates with anyone that didn’t quite make it onto University Challenge. Songs are hooked into a particular time, and their vitality is what makes a film believably a representation of the era. There’s something about the impact of a musical atmosphere that’s worth taking away from here. Jim Jarmusch’s soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive, a deranged mix of harpsichords and world music, perfectly encapsulated the claustrophobia of the reclusive Adam’s life, set in comparison to the free-ranging Eve. Without the music, it’s hard to imagine the film having as much of kick to it: in a story about two separated, eternal lovers, the musical themes are vital to setting up distance and longing. Director James Gunn claims that the magic behind the film was writing the music into the plot, and therein you have the secret to soundtracking: music’s the soul behind the film. From the indie-pop thrills of The Perks of Being A Wallflower, to the thrumming electronica of Drive, soundtracks are the way to the heart of the audience.
ALEX BRAGG St. Hilda’s College
PHOTO/EMMA TILLMAN
Music 13
26th February 2015
Stairway to Seven OxStu’s 7th Week Playlist
Treat Me Like Your Mother The Dead Weather Third Man/ Warner Bros.
GMF John Grant Bella Union
Imagine Dragons move away from arena rock F
ollowing the unprecedented global success of Imagine Dragon’s debut studio album Night Visions almost three years ago, the Las Vegas group’s latest release had a lot to live up to. Released in the middle of February, Smoke + Mirrors rocketed straight to the top of the UK Album charts. It’s easy to see, given the band’s reputation. Night Visions was somewhat revolutionary, as far as arena rock albums go. Smoke + Mirrors follows this tradition but overall appears more stripped back without losing its boldness. The hip-hop producer Alexander Grant’s influence is obvious throughout the album as lead vocalist Dan Reynolds shares the centre stage with electronic beats and rhythms that will undoubtedly mean that some songs – ‘Gold’ especially – earn their rightful place on the dancefloors of underground, smoky clubs. The album’s opener will take even the most devout Imagine Dragons fan by surprise. Gone have the raw and deep vocals of ‘Radioactive’ – ‘Shots’ sees the band playing with slightly higher, forced vocals. It allows the quality of the production to shine through as, impressively, the band opted to largely self-produce. This is their chance to show off the gamble that this was, and its one that pays off. Once used to the changes,
Kate Bickerton
Stand By Your Man The Dresden Dolls Important Records
‘Shots’ becomes the perfect introduction to Smoke + Mirrors. The drums pounded so theatrically on stage are forefronted towards the end – a nice symbol that this is, ultimately, the same Imagine Dragons. Just a bit more evolved, for better or for worse. Pre-release, Reynolds told Rolling Stone that the album would embrace more of the band’s original rock roots. Although guitar riffs and solos litter the majority of the tracks, a clear homage to this intention, there are surprisingly few real rock anthems. The closest shot is probably the fourth track, ‘I’m So Sorry’. Don’t let the ballad-esque title ward you off –
the opening guitar falls straight into a heavier mash of classic rock instruments, and Reynold develops a new vocal style for the verses. Surprisingly, it works. Reynolds is easily able to swap between a throaty, traditionally gritty rock staple into a softer piano verse as the rest of the band grunt in the background. The more traditional Imagine Dragon fans need to fear not – the band’s lyricism has only improved. Where Night Visions focussed more on the visual, this album’s lyrics are more emotionally driven and desolate. The tracks are narrative, and this is sure to lead to listeners being able to actually relate to the band, rather than
just getting lost in the music. Although lead single ‘I Bet My Life’ didn’t chart as well as the band probably hoped, it has still had some commercial success in the States, but it works better when heard alongside the rest of Smoke + Mirrors, throwing back to the band’s older material and providing a stepping stone for tracks like ‘Polaroid’ and ‘Trouble’, which demonstrate the new direction that the band is trying to take. Smoke + Mirrors is not an arena rock album built for commercial success. It’s an album from a band who have found themselves suddenly at the forefront of the rock scene worldwide, and who have taken in all they’ve seen since reaching stardom. Ultimately, it’s a festival album. It’s natural to image ‘Trouble’ and ‘Hopeless Opus’ performed live in a dark and crowded tent, as the masses sway in unison. The addition of the more ballad-like, emotionally angsty ‘Dream’ and ‘It Comes Back To You’ gives the album a sense of personal genuineness. It doesn’t feel that the band are trying for something as massive and successful but rather something that reflects themselves. If, as Imagine Dragons sing, “Life is a Polaroid picture”, then it feels like Smoke + Mirrors is stepping into that Polaroid and immersing yourself in a hazy world of timeless beauty.
WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE... Under My Skin
Taro Alt J Atlantic Records
PHOTO/ CHUFF MEDIA
NASIM ASL Somerville College
Picture this. It’s 2004, you’re nine years old and you live in a backwater town with little variety or colour. All the girls in your class are listening to Britney and Girls Aloud and the Sugarbabes. Not you. Enter the proto emo icon Avril Lavigne. You proudly clutch your copy of Under My Skin, Lavigne’s relatively unknown second album. At the time I felt like I was a tortured genius: Avril understood my pre-teen angst at the world. Parents didn’t understand, life was dull, and relationships that I hadn’t even experienced yet were complicated. Depressing as a collection of music, it oddly reminds me of happier times. Of being very young and wishing you were one of the cooler; older kids who sauntered past my primary school with dyed hair and piercings. I look fondly on memories of organising an all-female nine-year-old choir at my school which only sang Avril covers, or sitting on my bedroom floor reading books which would fuel my passion for History, whilst the CD span around and around in the Sony Walkman disk drawer. However depressing it is as the first album I owned, my pretentious nine-year-old self who bought that album is still moping somewhere inside.
Employment
Room on the 3rd Floor
The year is 2005. Trousers are skinny, guitars are jangling and band names have got weird again. I am ten years old, standing in an aisle at Tesco, and holding a copy of Employment by the Kaiser Chiefs, the first album I will buy with my own money. I remember being fascinated by the Kaiser Chiefs. Ricky Wilson’s bizarre dancing around the microphone, the screaming leading up to choruses, the pulsing synths… to a ten year old who’d just discovered the big world of indie music and a song that used the word ‘sex’ was a hell of a lot of stimulation. ‘I Predict a Riot’ blew my mind, possibly due to the number of times I played it at top volume on my little CD player. The album remains a solid one: from the frenetic ‘Every Day I Love You Less and Less’, to the spaced-out ‘Modern Way’, it’s a series of songs with solid instrumentals and lyrics that get stuck in your head. It fits together as a whole beautifully, being quirky enough to hold your attention, but also with vocals you want to sing to. It’s a shame their later albums didn’t quite live up to the first, but I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Employment.
With Room on the 3rd Floor, McFly broke the record, previously held by The Beatles, for the youngest band to have a number one album, and well done for them really. Looking back, it wasn’t especially good in any sense of the word, but I had just turned nine and it blew my world right open. Busted had come, Busted had gone, and McFly took their place in my heart. Ultra-produced and filled to the brim with factory generated pop punk and surf pop hooks, it was destined to blow our pre-teen minds. Although my tastes shifted quickly to match my burgeoning teen angst, I was still as excited as anyone when drummer Harry Judd was announced as a judge for a local battle of the bands! Entering with my American Psychoinspired noise-punk outfit, we grabbed the audience’s attention, if not their hearts. Somehow or other, we didn’t win, but, having got quite drunk at the after-party, my childhood icon autographed my face and accepted the fact of my eternal fanhood. It was truly a life-affirming moment, and shows that one must always acknowledge one’s roots.
Lucy Clarke
Henry Holmes
Whatever People Say I Am, It’s What I’m Not Naomi Southwell
Buying your first album symbolised a divergence from the influence of other people’s tastes, often those of your parents or your peers. It became a chance to assert yourself and work out what type of music and crowd you ultimately belonged to. For me, this album was Arctic Monkey’s debut Whatever People Say I Am, It’s What Im Not. The album came to represent what it was like growing up in a small to mid-sized northern town. Alex Turner seemed to foreshadow the delights of future shitty teenage nights out on tracks such as ‘Dancing Shoes’, and offered a general cynical critique of the present with ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’. The most popular single from the album ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor’ became the mainstay of any house party with people belting out the lyrics that we’d all memorised sat at home in our bedrooms. now, my CD case is held together by sellotape The disc itself is scratched and warped due to extensive use - overall, an apt fate for an album that came to define those uneasy, early teenage years.
14 Stage
26th February 2015
STAGE
PHOTO/ Robert Fuller
Playwright Lucy Prebble: “Fall in love and grieve and doubt” L ucy Prebble’s show Enron premiered at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2009, and later transferred to The Royal Court due to popular demand. She wrote the screenplay for Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billie Piper, which ran from 2007 to 2011 on ITV2. Her more recent work The Effect won the Critic’s Circle Award for Best Play and secured her place as a playwright who deals with current affairs and contemporary issues. How do you go about writing a play? What is the first thing you do? The first thing I do is have an idea and assign it a drawer. Everything I encounter that speaks to that idea, I put in the drawer. Much later, I start writing. This process can take years. Have you always wanted to become a playwright? What first inspired you to want to go down that career path? At first it was a way of making friends with the cool kids. It was the social aspect of playmaking that ap-
pealed to me. I never considered it as a career until I actually met people who made a living that way. It had never occurred to me that was a possibility. So I would humbly suggest joining some sort of writing group but also trying to get stuff on, even in an amateur way.
Do you have any advice for anyone hoping to do the same? I’d say write as much as possible. If you just study you’ll become a critic and if you just live you’ll become a raconteur. Writing is the only thing that makes you a writer, difficult and boring as it can be. What kind of jobs and experience would you recommend they get? Work in as many industries as possible and fall in love and grieve and doubt and commit and laugh and say ‘yes’ a lot. It’s far better to have a breadth of worlds and experiences to draw from than it is to commit purely to ‘media’. Once you actually begin to make money from writing, then learn to say ‘no’.
How has your English degree helped you in your career? Not at all I’d say! Definitely the living and the drama alongside it were more helpful. I don’t think you need to do an English degree to be a writer. But then if you are doing an English degree you’ll have already learnt not to trust what writers say about themselves…
Having worked in theatre and in television what would you say are the main differences? Do you have a preference for either? Film and theatre are intrinsically honest in completely different ways. In film, people tell the truth because there is too much money at stake to do things any other way. In film, people proudly introduce themselves as arseholes. They fight for reputations for being the most savage, terrifying son of a bitch in the industry and stars compete for more outlandish demands. Too much is at stake in film for anything but brutal honesty. If they want a popcorn film, you make them
a popcorn film and they don’t pretend the deal was ever anything else. In theatre, there is too little money involved for anyone to lie, or to be allowed to be an arsehole. Theatre’s poverty and embarrassment about its own irrelevance keeps it generally supportive and honest. Both of these models are manageable. But in television, people lie, thinking they are telling the truth. It is the muddiest and most difficult of the industries to work in, unsure if it wants to be art or mass entertainment. It can be great but negotiating its power structures and bizarre independent production model is exhausting sometimes. It is the hardest to work in and the easiest to write for. Is there something you particularly enjoy about your job? Honestly? I love getting up at whatever time I want. And I love coming up with a new idea and the feeling of that. There is always a moment late on in the process when I recognise the employment of a number of actors and
HARRIET FRY
Somerville College a busload of audience members are tied to that foolish, stupid moment where I smiled to myself and thought, “no way, I can’t do that….” I enjoy the moments of extreme zooming out when I work with a director or designer on the big vision and themes for the piece. And I love the extreme zooming in when you sit in a dark technical rehearsal and you notice the way an actor’s eyes change when they are entering a scene. I love techs. I find them very romantic. Why do you focus on political issues and current affairs in your writing? Because if I expect people to schlep out of the house, pay for transport, walk through the cold and sit in uncomfortable seats in the dark not talking for hours, I think the work should function on a number of levels, including the political. Is there anything else you’d like to add? What you’re ashamed about now will eventually be what inspires you. You’re okay. Don’t worry.
Stage 15
26th February 2015
Prepare to be amazed
PHOTO/Beanie Walker
C
aptain Amazing is invincible – a run in with the sun causes him no more than a “light tan” and no villain can out-smart him. Each bedtime, Mark recounts the adventures of his superhero self, Captain Amazing, to his daughter Emily. But as Mark tells these stories to Emily, he gradually “fools himself into thinking he is a superhero,” beginning to believe the stories himself, though his daughter is quick to remind him that no other good superheroes seem to be bald like he is. “What begins as a fantasy for his daughter becomes a coping mechanism for himself,” actor Andrew Dickinson tells me. As the play progresses, the line between reality and fantasy begins to dissolve. Stories of Batman and evil masterminds are “interwoven with more realistic scenes”, domestic scenes at the park on the swings, and the reality of
parenthood and family, as Emily demands if she was an accident and Mark struggles to respond. It is a one-man show packed with characters. During initial rehearsals, Kassian and Shrai, the co-directors who also both have acting experience, acted in the parts around Andrew, allowing him to develop natural reactions and responses between the characters, and to “understand the relevance of each role” It is an extreme challenge of characterisation, with Andrew jumping between his daughter, brash security guards, super villains and Captain Amazing himself. He needs to know “each character inside out,” Kassian tells me. Certainly a “daunting prospect,” acknowledges Shrai. However, Andrew handles it brilliantly, through vocal tone, physicality and expression, jumping between the characters effort-
COLLEGE COMEDY
AMELIA BROWN
Jesus College
lessly. “Especially for a one man show you need to be very physical,” Andrew tells me. During rehearsals they have used actioning – a technique which involves finding the physicality of each line – advocated by theorist Mike Alfreds in his book Different Every Night. Their work has paid off – each character takes on a relevant physicality within the world of the play. Each scene is situated by projected illustrations (one of which is pictured here, drawn by Beanie Waker, a student at the Ruskin) serving as the backdrop that look like they could have been drawn by the young Emily. The play has enjoyed sell out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the past two years. It was originally written specifically for the actor, Mark Weinman, by playwright Alistair McDowall. Having seen it himself in Edinburgh, Andrew was lucky enough to meet Mark, and later received an essay of advice on the role, so he is certainly well prepared for the play. The team are incredibly passionate about this ambitious project and this certainly shines through in the performance and in watching their rehearsals. Their passion is infectious and I leave excited to see something so different soon to be gracing the BT. Jumping between a world of extreme fantasy and a more mundane and difficult reality, Andrew creates a plethora of equally believable characters. Witty, at times ridiculous, and ultimately poignantly moving, this is a masterpiece of characterisation not to be missed. Captain Amazing is playing at the Burton Taylor Studio, 9:30 pm 24th-28th February.
I
mprovisation comes from the Oxford Imps, sketch shows come from the Revue, but where is Oxford’s stand-up comedy scene? To fill this gap, two student comics Harry Househam and Alex Faroe have started touring college comedy nights, which bring stand-up comedy to different college bars throughout the term. We spoke to them about setting up their nights and getting involved in stand-up nights. The two friends met on the Oxford comedy scene, but their nights offer an impressive range of comedians. At a gig in St Hugh’s last week, Househam and Faroe had organised acts ranging from undergrads, to people living in the Oxford area, to Oxford alumni who had returned specially for the show. So far their nights have proved incredibly popular and they draw in crowds of at least 40 people each time. There is a high demand for comedy in Oxford: this way, they bring their comedy nights to different groups and generate audiences more easily. Not wanting to make money from the gigs, the pair decided to raise money for the charity ‘Mind’ by charging a small entry fee. “When thinking of a charity, ‘Mind’ was a clear choice because mental health is a massive issue in both the Oxford community and in the comedy world,” Househam tells me. Comedians contact them because they want to help raise money for ‘Mind’ too which helps to keep their sets varied. Gigging in Oxford has its own idiosyncrasies they tell me. “People rarely
Microplays might be the next big thing
he Royal Court Theatre and The T Guardian teamed up at the end of last year to produce a series of microplays
exploring issues in modern-day Britain. Each play is only minutes long, but many of theatre’s most electric playwrights and directors have worked together to make every second burst with precarious ideas of what makes our nation tick, and what explosive tensions lurk beneath the murky waters of our culture. The collaboration is significant in itself. There is a slippery tightrope between theatre and journalism: both are connected by a fierce desire to find out what people are thinking and feeling, to have their voices heard on current issues, and to be the ones to say it first. The project, aptly titled “Off the Page”, has been described by the newspaper as ‘an extension of The Guardian’s journalism’. The idea was to create theatre responding to six areas of the newspaper’s coverage: politics, food, education, sport, music, and fashion. The first microplay, Britain Isn’t Eating, satirised our nation’s attitudes towards food poverty and the cost of eating. It was written by Laura Wade, (Posh), who conducted numerous conversations with The Guardian’s social affairs and food writers. Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) stars as a politician advocating that people should stop complaining about food prices, and be more resourceful with what they have in their cup-
PHOTO/Ben Sutherland
boards. She discovers the truth the hard way when she is invited to cook a meal live on air with tragically limited ingredients and appliances. Carrie Cracknell (Medea), helmed the play. Parkinson wonderfully epitomises politicians’ lack of empathy with food poverty; she is constantly fighting the urge to scream with frustration but knows that she must continue to smile. Appearance is everything. As she berates the ‘laziness’ of benefit-fueled citizens, who ‘exaggerate their circumstances’, reliant upon food vouchers and tokens to survive, we see her crack. She knows that she has no idea of what it’s like to be in such dire poverty.
Cracknell then diverts our attention to the room next door. Parkinson enters as a different character: a desperate and destitute woman carrying her meager shopping in a dirty cardboard box. She slumps down, staring blankly into space, and then she looks right at us. This is poverty. In PPE, playwright Tim Rice shows us the extraordinary but ultimately feigned and performative lengths politicians will go to in order to convince their constituents of their sincerity. Based on the idiosyncratic habits of real politicians such as Nigel Farage’s laugh and David Cameron’s hand movements, the micro-
play is a work of physical theatre and expressive movement. We see three suited individuals: a white man, a black man, and a woman, representing three very different ideologies, yet all conforming to the same cheap ploys of performativity. The actors become immersed in a robotic routine of head shaking, broad smiles, rigid waves, to represent the monotony of a politician’s tactics. Behind them are ordinary people. These people have come to hear the politicians speak, but they are greeted with a rehearsed and disingenuous rhythm. The politicians hone in on the citizens, sweeping them up in indifferent hand movements, wiping away any scepticism with assuring belly laughs. We know that what we are seeing is false, but we are not sure that people are seeing the façade. The politicians win, embroiling innocent citizens in their web of structured deceit, all to the droning, incessant chime of a semi-computerised score, but it isn’t all so bleak. At the last moment, a young girl enters. She is peripheral to the main stage; she is yet to be absorbed by these politicians and their promises. She dances to her own music, separate from the others. What is Rice telling us here? Is there still hope – or will this little girl too one day be engulfed by the political jargon? We cannot know. In Death of England, a nine minute play about the nation’s iden-
heckle because everyone is so polite,” notes Househam, “if they do heckle it’s about something really pedantic and academic.” In the past, audiences have heckled them about the true origins of the symbol zero, if the tan line goes through the zero axis, and the Trojan war. It seems Oxford has some pedantic crowds around. For anyone wanting to break into the stand-up scene Faroe recommends going to as many nights as possible to see what other people are doing. Outside of the student bubble there are so many things to go see in Oxford ,such as Jericho comedy at the Jericho Tavern, and Humour Tumour on Cowley Road. They say that until you’ve been in an audience above a little pub, you probably aren’t ready to go into it yourself. They also recommend talking to people who do it too to get some advice. Househam and Faroe have big ideas about what they want to do with the comedy scene in Oxford, and have started a Twitter account to collate all information about all comedy goingons in the city. Comedyinoxford is a Facebook and Twitter account which lets people know where to go to seek out those stand-up gigs. The College Comedy Nights have been hugely successful so far this term. Now building up to a bigger gig in the future, this group is one we’ll be hearing more from. If their backstage banter is anything to go on, this looks like something to look out for. College Comedy Nights are going to Oriel next on March 11th.
ANTHONY MASKELL
Trinity College
tity crisis, we find ourselves at a funeral. Writer Roy Williams turns a time for private mourning into a chance for public mourning, with the deceased’s son taking to the stage and committing to a terrible diatribe about the sorry state of Britain’s immigration. Rafe Spall plays this young man fantastically, capturing the erratic and mercurial voices of our nation’s aggressors. He uses his father’s ignorant opinions to propel his own argument. The director, Clint Dyer, moves us back and forth between Spall’s character and the other mourners. Despite their disgusted and shocked reactions to his brutal honesty, something is making them stay. Perhaps it’s that they agree with him, deep down. The microplay is a fascinating concept. We see and hear so much in such a short ime. Handily, they have been filmed and uploaded, available free online. Is this the future for a culture deficient in attention spans? There is a sense of urgency to the pentup arguments and opinions. The length of each play only strengthens the need to act fast, to get out into the world and make a difference. This collaboration has proved productive and poignant. These are characters we know, concentrated, confined to a bleakly restricted space of time. Shamelessly didactic, they undeniably make their point. Is this the future of theatre?
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26th February 2015
OXSTUFF
OxStuff 15
COME DINE WITH ME: WORCESTER FOOD AND DRINK 8/10
This was my second formal at Worcester, and the food, although not quite as good as it was on my first visit, was still impressive. As with most formals, wine is not provided. My vegetarian filo pastry tart was excellent and came with its own sauce, a nice touch as vegetarians often have to do without. The accompanying mash and vegetables were perfectly cooked and the ambiguous “blackcurrant slice” was surprisingly tasty.
ATMOSPHERE 8/10
Worcester Hall is my favourite of all the Oxford colleges I’ve visited, beautifully well-lit and ornate - gowns, grace and high table all lend a suitably ‘Oxfordy’ feel to the evening. Every seat was oc-
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cupied so there was also a nice buzz of conversation around the room.
PRICE 10/10
My Worcester friend and I regularly swap formals, so, as far as I was concerned, the price was excellent as I didn’t actually pay anything. That aside, the price is £5 which is really excellent, especially considering how good the food was. I think the college has also recently introduced a policy whereby formal on Wednesdays is cheaper…so even better!
WOW FACTOR 9/10 Silver service is still used at Worcester for the main course and there is undeniably something very enjoyable about being served in this way. The Hall itself is
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very impressive, as is the silence that fills the room when the SCR members enter and walk to High Table. The presentation of the food was also very professional, making dining at Worcester feel like a special occasion.
CONVERSATION AND COMPANY 9/10
I went with a friend at Worcester who I met at a networking dinner last term and, as usual, we got along like a house on fire, with the conversation flowing along with the wine. The other Worcester people we sat with were also very friendly, with one third-year Medic being particularly memorable for his hilarity.
TOTAL SCORE FOR WORCESTER: 44/50
Atomos 3rd-4th Mar, 7.30pm Oxford Playhouse
PHOTO/Eric Meyer
The Duchess of Malfi 24th-28th Feb, 7.30pm BT Studio
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Captain Amazing 24th-28th Feb, 9.30pm BT Studio
Mobeen Azhar: 'Inside Gay Pakistan' 3rd Mar, 8pm Queen's College
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Alexander Darby, New College
Christ Church Arts Week 2015 All week Various locations
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16 OxStuff
26th February 2015
CLITERARY THEORY PHOTO/LUKE MINTZ
Here in OxStu Towers some say that the latest addition to the team, a frankly nondescript potted plant (‘The OxStu Plant’) may, in fact, be a bug (or bomb), ingeniously disguised by Cherwell as a pacifying gift. Others speculate that this is a mere decoy to distract us from the real, internal threats amongst our ranks after it came to light that Luke (‘don’t Mintz your words’) Mintz leaked confidential information (“the worst kept secret of the town”) to enemy ranks. After drunkenly admitting that the OxStu is eight pages longer than Cherwell, with more “filler,” we can only congratulate Luke for divulging OxStu secrets dull enough to qualify as hack ‘gossip’, and for having a pun-worthy name.
LUKE MINTZ
BALLIOL VEGAN LEFT
These are dark times in Balliol, make no mistake. Last week’s attempt at merging with Wadham was a cry for help from those poor citizens of Oxford’s “Second Most Progressive College™” fed up of being oppressed by the “meatriarchy” (like the patriarchy, but meatier), “sporty lads” and “fuckweasels” of every stripe. What the people of Balliol needed was a hero. What they got, was Balliol Vegan Left. This committed Twitter warrior has wasted little time in smiting the dread legions of the “#FreeSpeechFundamentalists”. However rumours abound that it could actually be a parody account controlled by the evil masterminds at Versa HQ. Marxist-Feminist-Vegans across the University will be praying otherwise for if it turns out to be a problematic pedlar of parody, then we are truly lost.
FREIDA BREST Private Affairs Sexretary
R
emember when you lived at home, with parents – those distant voices you now only recognise through a phone – and all the sex you had happened in secret? Maybe they knew you were doing it, maybe they didn’t, but you either way you would sneak around, cover your mouth to muffle the moans (if there were any at the tender age of 17), and pray that that the bedroom door remained shut. Do you remember also how most of this time was spent wishing and praying for the days you’d be at university, with your own room, no nosy parents, and the freedom to have sex whenever and with whomever you want? Well, we’re here, and we certainly have our own rooms, but what else has changed? It is undeniable that Oxford is rife with secret sex. The hallways somehow always seem busiest at one o’clock in the morning. The streets are filled with groups of friends leaving each other after a night at the pub and going to their respective rooms, only to then minutes later sneak into each others’. There are living rooms all over Oxford with four nosy housemates (the new and improved nosy parents) pressing their ears up against the door as housemate number five tiptoes up the stairs after a date. There may even be a bet placed on whether or not number five is alone. How do I know? I am of course number five, and I’m rarely alone. The question is: why do we still feel the need to keep our sex secret? Surely we don’t really care if our friends know about our sex lives; we’re inevitably going to tell them all about our night with the strange man from ‘Spoons as soon as he leaves anyway. Saturday morning in my house, at least, is occupied by
very detailed (and often educational) post-coital debriefs. It is a time for reflection which, while mostly about the sex, can of course frequently descend into reflection of the ‘What am I doing with my life?’ nature. The reason we still sneak around, then, is very simply: we love secret sex. Everybody knows it’s so much hotter when you’re not supposed to be doing it, so what do we do when there’s nothing stopping us? We just do it in secret anyway. Of course, there are times when it really is a secret. For example (a totally random example that I know nothing about because obviously I have never ever done this), say you’re sleeping with somebody else’s boyfriend. Shock, horror, outrage, etc – obviously nobody at university ever cheats, especially not on their girlfriends from back home… Ok fine maybe I’ve done it. We’d sneak into each others’ rooms at night, we’d place our hands on each other when nobody was looking, and yes we would have some of the best sex known to man. I’m not proud of myself (I mean I am of the great sex – let’s face it, that’s really all anyone is hoping for in life) but it happened and now I’m able to tell you all my wonderful story and what I learned so it was probably worth it… All I can really say is, why bother with the guilt and mess of it all when we’ve already established you can have secret sex without it? If you’re sleeping with someone in your friendship group, for example, you can have fun hiding it from your friends without everything eventually collapsing into an emotional catastrophe. Otherwise, two weeks later you’ll find yourself standing in a bedroom with the visiting girlfriend being a creepy level of friendly because you’re not sure how you’re supposed to behave. Again, obviously this never happened. At all. But you can imagine it’s pretty shit.
ONE TO WATCH
PHOTO/FREYA JUDD
FREYA JUDD been a busy term for Somersecond year Freya Judd, who Iis t’sville starting to make a serious name
for herself on the Oxford thesp scene. The director has just made a successful bid for the Oxford Playhouse, which will now see her production of Pentecost hit the prestigious venue in Michaelmas 2015. It’s a long way from where she was in MT13 – having just arrived as an intrepid fresher, she took straight to the stage with her original Cuppers production of Hamlet in Space. Trinity 2014 saw Freya return to the BT as director of A History of Falling Things, before moving up to the Keble O’Reilly this term with her production of The Effect. This path is one that many an Oxford director has taken, but Freya has firmly left her staple on the scene – ThoFT saw a largely female production team, The Effect was the only play by a female playwright at the O’Reilly this term, and her Pentecost bid was made with an all-female production team. On a scene that has traditionally been male-dominated, it’s inspiring to see such a proactive and consistent attempt to combat the theatrical off-stage gender divide. Outside the theatre, Freya is also heavily involved in college life, elected as her college’s Arts Officer last year. Next week sees Somerville Arts Week burst into life, with the theme ‘Women in Arts’ again demonstrating the English student’s determination to break down the issue of gender in the arts and media. The week sees a large variety of events open to students from across the university, some of whom have submitted artwork to the week’s exhibtition. Oxford alumna Nina Raine and Christine Langan, head of BBC Films and a film producer, will also host talks looking at the topic at hand. The line-up is impressive for a mere £600 budget. It’ll be exciting to see where Freya goes next – her Oxford drama credentials are building up, and its pretty likely that soon she’ll smash straight through the thespy glass ceiling.
OxStuff 17
26th February 2015
PHOTO/Rosie Shennan
Puzzle by Poins
CROSSWORD
T
he Bubble is one of those things you don’t realise really exists until you step outside of Oxford. You think you’ll stay grounded in reality when you arrive here as a Fresher – for the first few weeks, you read all the news (if for no other reason than to make conversation with PPEists), and you keep up the pretence of culture, and you actively try to engage with the outside world. Then, before you know it, it’s 8th week, and on the way back home you realise that the whole of the Middle East is on fire, the Russians are about to use Red Dawn as their basis for foreign policy, and UKIP controls large strands of Kent with an iron fist (this bit I’ve been told isn’t true. Yet. It’s only a matter of time. At least when the Commies take over, they can put down the Thanet Liberation Front). Being forced to live and breathe your subject does inevitably lead to the scenario where you prioritise, say, 12th century Vietnamese agricultural policy over whose finger is currently poised shakily over the big red button labelled ‘NUKE’ or which nation-state currently intends to wipe us clean off the map. And it’s not as if your tutors are likely to show much sympathy for your faux pas when you are asked just who the POTUS was – they’re further down the road of academic madness, after all. They were the once like us, but they never managed to escape from the clutches of the Bubble, their very minds metamorphosed by years of intellectual rigour and borderline academic brainwashing. For them, it’s probably still the 12th century, and their works will directly affect the very future of Vietnamese crops. What’s worse is if you buy into the ‘exciting’ story of rice production in the 1100s, before taking a job
outside of academia. You’ll realise all too late that no matter how exciting you find the domestication of manioc and sugarcane, it’s seriously affecting your chances of having friends. Or getting a promotion. It also warps your sense of normality in other, more subtle ways. You come to think that three essays a week is normal, rather than the recipe for an addiction to coffee, Pro Plus, and late night kebab sojourns. Then you spy on Facebook that a ‘friend’ at an-
high price of exhaustion and pain. I hate to think what’s going to happen when I leave and have to commute to work: I may just have to sleep in the offices if I ever want to be in on time – or at all. Speaking of time, the “10am wake-up, long breakfast, 12am nap, 1pm start work” routine may also have to go. Even the most laid-back of employers presumably prefer their workers out of bed before midday. Waking up at 9 requires nothing short of a tute to happen, and even that’s iffy - there’s always an ‘illness’ going around college you could jump onto… Then again, I suppose it’s not all bad. When you visit friends from home and discover their rooms now accurately resemble battlefields in the carnage on hand, you can show off your abode quite smugly. They look at you incredulously, until you tell them that you have a scout. Then you explain what a scout is, and realise that when you move back home and expect the bin to be emptied and your room to be tidied, you’re going to get short shrift. Then you realise that if/when you move out, you’re just going to stare at the mess that is your room and wait for uninhabitability to descend on it. If you can make it to six months before the detritus of pizzas and cans and dirty laundry form a layer several inches deep across your whole floor, you’ll be lucky. Not to mention that within the Bubble, so much that would see you pulverised in the real world is acceptable. You can walk down the street in red chinos, or go clubbing in a tails suit, and still feel perfectly at home. Where the gentry can mingle, safe from the excesses of proletariat. Where the insanity of pure academia can trundle on unabated from the Ivory Towers. Truly, it’s a brave old world.
There’s a reason why the verb ‘relaxing’ never made it into the Oxford English Dictionary other university has just gotten over their essay crisis. You send them a message of support, asking if it’s the first of the week – they respond, a little puzzled, that it’s the first of the month. You do not speak to them again, just in case your incandescent, self-righteous rage boils over into physical violence. And don’t even get started on that kooky idea held by the rest of the country (potentially the world) that the vacation is for pleasure, rather than cramming in darkened rooms, interrupted only by bursts of sobbing and existential crises and comfort eating. There’s a reason the verb ‘relaxing’ never made it into the Oxford English Dictionary (Collections, for those interested, come under the definition of ‘torture’). The concepts of time and space are another casualty of the Bubble’s bizarres powers. Getting to Iffley Road feels a little like A Pilgrim’s Progress, and that’s half an hour at most from college at a slow trod. When even the shortest of trips starts to seem akin in magnitude to the journey of the Fellowship of the Ring, physical exercise and health doesn’t seem worth the
ACROSS 1 Vessel held by mothers in service (6) 5 Wayward salesman turns to poetry (8) 9 Doctor tests brine for sharpness (10) 10 Worker loses piano part (4) 11 Alienate European leader? Extraordinary! (8) 12 Reg sat rewritten Oxford exam (6) 13 Sudden attack results in prisoners of war returning around the beginning of October (5) 15 Come in – one inside can amuse (9) 18 Anticipate enjoyment of free toast for a change (9) 19 Revolutionary model describes military student (5) 21 Nobleman receives coppers for plant (6) 23 Reappoint fool taken in by rule (8) 25 Stood up for girl (4) 26 Every bird comes to the first hoop in fairly brisk time (10) 27 A grave situation (8) 28 Hidden soldiers retreated in fast time (6) DOWN 2 Raise new sign (5) 3 On-site rep forced to mediate (9) 4 Weapons mounted around North Beach (6) 5 Abnormally friendly – ringing about bird at return game (15) 6 Troubled designer gave up (8) 7 Mountain home sounds strange (5) 8 Game bird (9) 14 Complete a few to get healthy (9) 16 Fleeting river engulfs the centre of Grange and is rising (9) 17 Coach deportment (8) 20 Cattle food causes disease at port (6) 22 Bit part (5) 24 Advance fare (3,2)
Last week’s solution
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26th February 2015
FEATURES
Adrian Hill: fighting Ebola in Oxford
O
nly a year ago, a talk on Ebola would have struggled to raise a crowd. Yet Professor Adrian Hill's talk, given in Magdalen College this term, was bursting at the seams, with medical students resorting to perching on tables. Clearly, the world is taking Ebola seriously at last. The talk began with the debunking of several myths that the Ebola outbreak has accrued. It is a little known fact that there have been 30 outbreaks of Ebola since 1976 that all, bar the 2013 outbreak, have been contained through isolation. Additionally, the origin of the first case of this epidemic is as yet unknown; Hill speculated that the first death from the Guinea strain could have resulted from transmission from fruit bats, consuming the meat of an infected ape or even contact with another infected person. The Jenner institute developed a vaccine, which thus far has tested â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;safe and possibly usefulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, with the trials showing
significant strengthening of immunity following an additional MVA boost. Yet for the medically illiterate students at Oxford, the ways in which Ebola has touched our lives are finite. Some may have participated in vaccine trials in the past; the Jenner Institute normally dedicates considerable energy to the recruitment of volunteers on which to test its vaccinations. Professor Hill recounted how his inbox had already been full when it came to the normal stage of enlistment, on this occasion, and how the motivations of this batch of volunteers diverged from participants in other vaccine trials. The standard motivations include compensation, the hope of protection or the interest of willing science students. In this instance, members of the public were "emailing [him] directly, so that [they] were fully subscribed by the time applications opened". He attributed this to a willingness to help with the crisis; many had seen the images that had bom-
barded each news outlet, and wished to help combat Ebola in any way they could. There were a handful of moments like this in Professor Hillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk, moments where the florescent squiggle of Filovirus on the screen became connected to the apocalyptic images that had penetrated our lives.
The origin of the first case of this epidemic is as yet unknown Another such moment occurred when Professor Hill discussed the task of finding volunteers for trials in West Africa. The authorities in Gambia declined to have the trials carried out there, they "would not have Gambia and Ebola in the same headlines in Western papers," recognizing that it would spell disaster
for tourism. Hill reflects that this assumption was correct as the industry has collapsed not just in West Africa but also in Kenya, which he takes care to highlight "is further from West Africa than the English coastline is". The ethical impasses in the next stage of the vaccine development are striking. Two vaccines have been developed, there is a third but it is not yet ready, so the next phase of the Oxford-developed ChAd63 trials is use in the field. 9,000 volunteers will be given the ChAd63 and 9,000 a placebo; the ethics of leaving a group unprotected are fraught. Hill reconciled this with the recognition the vaccines could indeed make the patient ill or at risk; to test the efficacy of the injection, that is to recreate the conditions of Ebola, is demanding in a lab, not least because of an unwillingness to infect volunteers with the disease, but also because of the difficultly in recreating the low levels of exposure that are often
Features 19
ELIZABETH EVENS New College intrinsic to an adenovirus. Hill presented a slide that listed two columns of fifteen other outbreak pathogens, and he asked "how many of these do we have ready vaccinations for?" The question hung ominously in the air, as one hesitant student pondered the thought that there are no inoculations prepared. The Professor confirmed this. Hill speculated that to develop vaccinations for each of these would cost half a billion pounds, which he quickly trumped with the proclamation that Ebola has thus far cost three to four billion. He opined that development is "eminently do-able" yet as with many contemporary issues it boils down to a matter of finance. In response to the question of where the funding comes from he declared, "we are responsible for our own health: we must inform people of this situation and it is remarkable what can change if taxpayers and consumers demand it.
20 Features
26th February 2015
Activism beyond the internet
VICTORIA CLAYTON New College
I
t appears easier than ever to do one’s bit to better the world. Buying Fairtrade, signing online petitions, or paying for someone else’s coffee takes a minute out of our day, and gives us a boost of great ‘I did my bit’ feeling. But how effective are they? Focusing on online activism, the #BringBackOurGirls campaign drew global attention to the girls kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram in April 2014 and involved the likes of Michelle Obama – yet ten months later, 219 girls remain captive. Three years ago, the Occupy Movement had 600 occupations in the US alone, and yet the policies propagating inequality which they opposed are still in place. Maybe I’m being a bit impatient, but as Zeynep Tufekci argues in her TED talk, the outcomes of such actions are not proportional to the size and energy of support they initially inspire. In an age of clicktivism, it’s so easy to show support for a cause but also so easy to forget one: with over 500 million Tweets a day, a shiny new cause needing all the support it can get comes along very quickly. The follow-up action that is required to achieve the actual change doesn’t happen. As Nnansasi Esther, one of our students says: “Talking [or tweeting!] is an advanced stage of a thought. Doing, however, is the final stage of the thought process.” Gilbert Happy Lwetutte and Nkusi Ndiira Solomon, two more students we work with, agree: “Technology provides the platform but is not a solution. A campaign is not a result.” Social movement scholars have long been fascinated by how people get involved. Individuals are most likely to participate in a social movement when a close friend is already involved. Being already embedded in an active social network helps hugely – for example, in the civil rights movement, being part of a politicised church congregation was one of the strongest predictors
PHOTO/ Victoria Clayton
of black voting (a risky choice at the time). The cause becomes a significant part of one’s identity. Driving for change for and with people you really care about is a strong motivator for sustaining action when the going gets tough – and when you’re trying to change the status quo, boy, does the going get tough. It is essential to bring back relationships to the centre of social change. In addition to increasing individualisation, the challenges we face are now more geographically
diffuse in their consequences than ever. Drinking my cup of tea affects sugar plantation workers thousands of miles away. In a world where challenges are truly global, we need sustained global relationships to tackle them. Designing a model to facilitate such global relationships is what I’ve been beavering away at with a group of fellow students and recent grads for the last 18 months. We started United and we are creating a sustained network of university students and social projects. They
collaborate over the long-term, supporting each other through the highs and lows of working towards change on difficult social and environmental issues, the aim being to build the relationships necessary for effective and sustained collective action. To tackle these global challenges and create a better world for everyone in it, we need voices from all over the world present and loud, connected and sustained. We’ve built up a community of over 3000 students across eight
Distant Voice: a day in New Orleans
L
ast week, the UK celebrated Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Day – in the United States, the day of feasts is known as Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras is all about family, friends, food, and fun; it is a day to celebrate living life at its fullest before the fasting of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. In the states, there is no better place to celebrate Mardi Gras than New Orleans, Louisiana. Every Shrove Tuesday, the streets of New Orleans are packed with people as both locals and visitors cheer on the marvellous street processions. The parade-goers often dress in costumes, adorned with beads caught from “throws” in previous years, and sport the official colours of Mardi
Gras: purple for justice, gold for power, and green for faith. Along with the music and festivities, picnics in the street are one of the staples of Mardi Gras. The traditional carnival fare includes red beans and rice, creole jambalaya, cajun prawn and grits, and beignets, the official state doughnut of Louisiana. Yet nothing quite says Mardi Gras cuisine like Kings’ Cake, the Danish dough cakes named for the three wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Traditionally, a tiny baby (usually plastic, though once they were made of porcelain and gold) is baked inside of the King’s Cake, and the one who receives the slice of cake with the baby Jesus inside becomes the King of the Mardi Gras.
The New Orleans Mardi Gras carnival generates over $1 billion for the state in annual spending. This fact is impressive when one considers that the city does not provide any of the funding for the festivities. The street processions are paid for by the krewes who organize their parade themes, costumes, and entertainment, as well as annual electing Rex, the King of the Carnival. The Mardi Gras krewes are private, non-profit organizations, individually funded by their members. Whilst some of the larger krewes have corporate sponsors, most raise money through membership dues, fundraising, and merchandise sales. Every krewe is unique, representing different charities and good causes,
and they often host events like balls and parties for their members throughout the year. While most krewes derive their names from Greek mythology (Orpheus, Okeanos, Isis, etc.), others find their roots in pop culture, like the sci-fi-inspired Chewbacchus. Some of the most popular krewes include Zulu, Rex, Endymion, and Bacchus. Bacchus is one of the largest, and therefore considered one of the most spectacular krewes in Mardi Gras history. The krewe hosts more than 1,000 members, and provides 31 outrageous ‘super-floats’ like the Bacchagator, Bacchasaurus, and Baccha-Whoppa. Bacchus is known for their Las Vegas-style of entertainment, a marching band
universities working on over 100 projects together. And we need your help to continue building United as an an inclusive, dynamic community enriched through sustained friendships. If you want this to happen you can do three things: join our Thunderclap to spread the word (https://www.thunderclap.it/ projects/22374-united-in-clapping); Contribute to our crowdfunding campaign (https://buzzbnk.org/ UniTED); or Volunteer for OxMak (United’s Oxford chapter by contacting director@oxmak.com).
CAILEE DAVIS
Regent’s Park College procession that walks alongside the floats, and their celebrity headliners. Just last year, Oxford-born actor Hugh Laurie led the Krewe of Bacchus parade. The carnival season in New Orleans begins on 6th January, a “Twelfth Night” observation that carries on until Fat Tuesday. The Big Easy plays host to over a month’s worth of festivities that culminates in a massive celebration of street performers, live bands, and grand floats. A city-wide party, the grandiose celebrations of Mardi Gras in New Orleans are all about indulging in life, food, and music, before commencing the fasting and religious obligations of Lent in a fun and family-friendly way.
Features 21
26th February 2015
Lessons of Oxford jailbreak N
New College
WILLIAM SHAW
with Alan, and God knows how long we would have been stood outside the ferry port if an unsuspecting Slovak, Jan, hadn’t come along, mistaken us for officials (how?), and only realised his error when we were firmly in his car. Oh, and he didn’t speak English, so I’m not sure he really understood what we were doing. His driving was terrible, but we stuck with him for the 600km drive from Dover to Frankfurt. 4. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. From Frankfurt to Budapest we blagged our way onto five trains for free. Admittedly, our onesies and panicked expressions probably helped, but people were far more willing to help us than we expected. Although… 5. You have to pay if you want to make it over a border. We hadn’t realised that train staff swap over when the train enters a different country and that the second lot were never as accommodating as the first. We were very firmly told to get off trains on two separate occasions - the terrifying Hungarian ticket inspector, not at all pleased that we’d been allowed to get on for free in Austria, was particularly memorable. This is what makes Jailbreak so great: it raises loads for charity, and gives participants a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I would urge anyone even slightly tempted to do it next year to go for it; you never know where you might end up! PHOTO/ Gee’s
PHOTO/ Holly Clarke
obody really expects success on Jailbreak, do they? Only teams who have been lucky enough to wrangle some sponsored flights in advance are guaranteed to make it out of the country. For those who start on the Saturday with precisely no plans in place, Jailbreak is tough, as my two team mates and I (together the New College Nomads) learnt this year. In 36 hours, we somehow managed to make it all the way to a small town just outside Budapest, and it was undoubtedly one of the best and most surreal experiences of my life… but it was not without its hiccups. We learnt many lessons over the course of the weekend: 1. College porters really love and value their students. Going to the Porters’ Lodge for a team photo at 7.30am escalated into hitching a lift all the way to Folkestone with Paul, one of New College’s porters. I quote: “It’ll only cost me 30 quid in petrol.” What a hero! 2. Looking absolutely ridiculous can be advantageous. Our onesies (a crocodile, a banana, and a cat-zebra hybrid thing) were useful when it came to hitchhiking: it could not have been more obvious that we were doing a charity event. They were also blissfully warm in the snow of Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Thank you Primark… and Alan, who took pity on us and drove us from Folkestone to Dover. 3. Hitchhiking is hard. We got lucky
Oxford etiquette
POLLY M,ASON
THOUGHT FOR FOOD
R
arely can a conservatory showcase such sophistication. Somehow, Gee’s manages to transform the otherwise humble into a rather cosy, refined, and tranquil setting, almost as if we were dining in a well-to-do Italian family’s stately winter garden. Mille the manager affectionately ushered us in to the bar, where the shelves of spirits and wines glistened under the dimly glowing lights. I couldn’t tell which had more swagger: the sophisticated and stylish bar, or perhaps the quiff-haired and smartly dressed young bar tender with his designer watch. To start things off, I asked for a glass of Schloss Lieser Riesling, priced at £33.00 a bottle or £8.60 per glass. Its body was light, crisp and lieblich, with its white-blossom sweetness coming through nicely as an aftertaste and contrasting the mildly citric flavour. One really cannot go wrong with this: it is succulent yet delicate. Nicole’s Margherita proved to be rather too strong
for her adolescent palate. I liked it. There is nothing better than to sip away at a glass of chilled wine while gazing up at the sparkling light hanging from the ceiling. Life as an Oxonian is terribly hard. Looking at the menu, I had what Grace Dent would call a ‘Marcus Wareing moment’. Everything on the menu looked appetizing it took us an eternity to finally decide what we wanted. The starter was flawless. My mussels with chorizo were beautifully balanced: the tender fruits of the sea were pleasingly luscious, with the savoury aroma of the cured meat complimenting the dish. Nicole’s starter was a delightful splash of the Mediterranean – grilled squid with salsa verde – and was juicy and flavourful. The blend of zesty sharpness from the dressing balanced the dish nicely. The champagne (Veuves Deloynes de France, priced at £50.00 per bottle) was delicate and discreet. Looking around, the well-
cared-for olive trees helped to blend in the artificial with the natural to create a calming ambiance. I don’t know what it was – the hearty dishes, the cosy atmosphere or the perfect hospitality but the conversation flowed pleasantly, even if it was between two siblings. The main was superb. My pollock fillet with saffron mash was divine. The fish was fresh and perfectly seasoned; the mash was silky and intense. I particularly liked the smoky scent of the pine nut with the brown shrimp butter; it gave an all-round humble attitude to the dish. I couldn’t decide whether I was regretting my order or not, as I found Nicole’s exquisite corn fed chicken with glazed beetroot, cumin potatoes, with a romesco sauce to be equally mouth-watering. The dessert exceeded my expectations. Nicole’s panna cotta with pouched rhubarb was magnificent. It was most probably the finest panna cotta I have eaten in this
country – smooth, velvety with a vanilla fragrant. The rhubarb was tangy and offered a sharp awakening of the palate. The only criticism I could give would be the presentation of the rhubarb: it looked out of place against the otherwise gracefully presented dessert. I must admit, caramel and I have never seen eye to eye, but even I bowed down to the dark chocolate tart with salted caramel sauce. A simply rich and divine sensation, the caramel consistency was dangerously moreish. The overall experience was impeccable. Looking around, every table received the same warm, smiling hospitality. It well and truly exceeded my expectations of what the Oxford dining scene could offer. There is no guessing as to whether the ingredients were fresh and ethically sourced. I spoke to Mille the manager later and found out that they have their own vegetable garden. Amazing. This is what I would call highend homely food. Gee’s – I salute you.
Corpus Christi College
F
ormal hall is terrific fun, but there’s an awful lot of archaic nonsense that goes along with it (He said, inadvertently summing up his entire student life). They provide excellent food and good company in a suitably Hogwarts-y atmosphere, while also justifying the twenty-five quid one must shell out for a subfusc, which would otherwise simply lie rotting at the back of the wardrobe. In my experience, dinner in formal hall is an immensely congenial experience, striking a perfect balance between sophistication and booziness, and the Latin is at least not as annoying as it could be. But the question remains as to what constitutes proper etiquette at formal hall? Is it rude to bring your own glasses? Or indeed your own ketchup? And is it, as I was told on one occasion, rude to take selfies at the dinner table? Yes, apparently, but I fail to see why: what, we’re content to let these 17th century geezers line the halls with their narcissistic visages, but I’m not allowed to make a (higher quality) version of the same? But I digress. Suffice it to say that at formal hall it is terribly easy to slip up and be frightfully embarrassed– whether it’s using the wrong cutlery or drinking too much and being sick on your Economics tutor. All of this is fairly easily rectified with some basic advice: use cutlery from the outside in, stick to standard table manners, know your limits. Simple, really. The best experiences to be had at formal hall, though, are the ones with guests. I recently had my grandparents over for formal dinner, and seeing the slightly awed looks on their faces made me realise something: Oxford is impressive. But while you’re here, you don’t see it. You forget that not all Pret à Mangers are older than your church back home. The grandiose becomes routine. But sitting in the softly-lit hall with a nice glass of wine and the people I loved, I realised how lucky I was – how lucky we all are. I saw it again. That is the power and the privilege of formal hall. Next to that, the etiquette seems simply... moot.
22 Sport
Oxford Blues in 3-8 Defeat to London Dragons at Oxford Ice Rink The Oxford Blues Ice Hockey team suffered a 3-8 defeat at the hands of the London Dragons last week at a packed event at the Oxford Ice Rink. An energetic crowd of several hundred made their voices heard as Oxford battled against a strong London side. The Blues looked out of sorts, playing without the confidence and flair that they usually do and were constantly caught on the back foot. Despite some promising attacks toward the end of the match, the Dragon’s defence stayed strong and stopped any comeback from being mounted. Despite the defeat, the Blues remain third in the league table as London Dragons extend their lead at the top.
Brilliant OUBaC perfromance at BUCS Nationals OUBaC performed brilliantly as last week’s BUCS Gatorade Nationals at EIS in Sheffield. Star-performer must of course go to Claire Weaver, who valiantly claimed 3rd place in the Women’s Singles, losing out to the first seed. Weaver also reached the last 16 in the Women’s Doubles and the Mixed Doubles, alongside Emily Giles and Matt Harris respectively. As for the Men’s Doubles, the pairing of Chris Lim and George Heinemann reached the last 32, as did Alistair Reed and Matt Harris, rounding off an excellent weekend for the Oxford club. OUBaC’s attention now must turn to the 2015 Varsity Match, hoping to put in strong performances to come out on top against an experienced Cambridge side.
OUAFC finish season with victory The Oxford American Football Lancers finished their British Universities American Football League season with a great win over rivals Essex Blades last week, winning with a formidable final score of 12-33. Amazingly the coaches of the two teams had to become makeshift referees during the game as the official referees failed to turn up, lending a comic touch to what ended up being a quite serious affair.
The OxStu sports team wants you! Want to see your club feature on our University sports side-bar? We would love to hear from you. Please send in your brief team reports and news updates to oxstu.sport@ gmail.com or get in touch with one of our esteemed editors David and Alex at david.barker@some. ox.ac.uk and alexandra.vryzakis@ st-hildas.ox.ac.uk.
26th February 2015
Is greed destroying English football?
• Ridiculous scheduling and expensive tickets are driving fans away despite bumper new TV deal ALEXANDRA VRYZAKIS SPORTS EDITOR
Arsenal fans were left outraged last week after finding out that their quarter-final FA Cup tie with Manchester United would be played late on a Monday evening, so as to allow BBC Sport to televise the game. This would mean that the Gunners fans making their way up to Manchester would be unable to get back to London after the match as there was no train scheduled to make the trip that late in the evening. Although the club have now managed to reach an agreement with the train company so as to charter a special service just for Arsenal fans, the whole debacle has left quite a bitter taste in the mouths of football fans.
most likely never even watch it? Sadly, it’s all about money. That and football fans’ loyalty. Earlier this month, a new Premier League TV rights deal was announced, totalling an unbelievable and unexpected £5.1 billion. While BT has paid a little more money to get about the same amount of games as before, Sky has ended up paying about twice as it used to, and that’s where the problem lies. The TV companies are paying astronomical prices to be able to control the football market, and they can therefore dictate scheduling, always at the fans expense of course. The FA Cup games were similarly paid for by the BBC and BT, believed to amount to more than the £425 million paid by ITV and Setanta in 2007. The sad truth is that money talks in
TV is paying astronomical prices, and therefore can dictate scheduling The situation was compounded by the fact that Reading have been scheduled to play against Bradford at 12.45pm on the Saturday, meaning that Reading fans will have to get up inordinately early to get to the Valley Parade in time for kick-off. So the question arises, how is it that the two teams with the furthest to travel have the absolute worst scheduling times? How is it that the BBC is allowed to make decisions that will hinder those for whom the football is in fact for? How is it that football games are dictated by people who
football, and when producers and executives are agreeing crazy deals and sordid sums for something as simple as televising grown men kicking a ball around, we can all agree that we have finally entered the realm of the surreal. Richard Scudamore, the Premier League’s chief executive, defended the new TV rights deal, as well as insisting that it is not clubs’ responsibility to pay club staff the living wage. He went as far as to say that the stars who are fielded in the Premier League are “world stars”, and that therefore it is a world market, before stating that it
PHOTO/ ARSENAL MJH
was really the responsibility of politicians to instigate change. You would be forgiven for thinking that you were listening to a highflying banker about bonuses, because the inability to connect with the fans and even their employees is the unfortunate reality for most officials in football today. When we look at the international TV deals for football, it becomes apparent that the Premier League is a wondrous cash cow, especially in comparison with the almost meagre deals made for televising the Bundesliga or La Liga. No wonder that they aren’t prepared to let it go. Unfortunately, clubs in the Premier League have followed suit, raising ticket prices every year, and pricing out loyal fans in the process. Currently, the cheapest season ticket in
the Premier League costs far more than even the most expensive season ticket in the Bundesliga. Perhaps it’s time that the fans took matters into their own hands. It wouldn’t be that difficult to imagine that these so-called “world stars” are only in the Premier League because of the prestige and the reputation of its clubs. Would Eden Hazard and Sergio Agüero swagger onto the pitch if they realised that only a few hundred fans were there to cheer for them? Fans may be feeling that they have less and less power in today’s game, but Premier League and FA officials should tread carefully, who knows what the fans could be capable of doing. Loyalty is very important thing, but it can only stretch so far. Any further and it might just break.
Oxford patchy in Lawn Tennis bouts
• Gutsy victories for Womens 3rds and Mens 2nds offset by defeat for Womens Blues MATTHEW MORROW SPORTS WRITER
David facing the mighty Goliath. Bradford City stood against the mighty Chelsea. The Spartans defending their honour against the vast expanse of the Persian army. These are the kind of inspiring underdog tales and legends that come to mind when thinking of the Women’s 3rds match against a feisty Brookes 1st team last Wednesday. Having been dismantled two weeks previously in the league, losing by an unfortunate and frankly quite harsh margin of 6-0, confidence seemed to be rather lacking going into the match, particularly when regular skipper Olivia Lamming was lost to the 2nds team. However, showing fantastic ability, steely determination and a great deal of perseverance, the score stood at 3-3 after both the singles and the doubles had been played. Confusion was rife as to what was meant to happen next. Would there be an FA Cup style replay, one to rival any great Wembley affair? A sole shootout between the two best players? Perhaps a swift round of rock, paper, scissors? Ultimately though, common sense prevailed, instead allowing the OULTC
PHOTO/MATTHEW MORROW
and Brookes teams to go into singles tiebreaks. Alex Grime was narrowly pipped to the post in the first, but it was Steph Austera who showed great resolve to take it to a deciding doubles shootout. The crowd could barely watch as the tension mounted, creating an almost untenable atmosphere around the courts. The fact that Matilda was practically playing with just one good leg only added to the drama on the day. However, guided by the experience of former captain
Emma Nelmes, the pair courageously saw off the competition and stormed to an historic and deserved victory. The trimph means that the Women’s 3rds are now into the semi-finals, and who knows how far they can go. Unfortunately the other two Women’s teams didn’t fair quite so well. The Women’s Blues came undone against an experienced Royal Holloway team, losing narrowly 4-2. It was a brave effort from the Blues and their performance
was a gutsy one but ultimately the London team’s experience told. The team will have to instead focus on the league, where they have a great chance to be promoted, and keep on getting stronger as a result. The Women’s 2nds lost 5-1 to Birmingham 2nds in the Cup last Wednesday. The team went into the match with an air of confidence as they had easily defeated the same team just a couple of weeks ago. Suprisingly however, Birmingham 2nds came good seemingly out of nowhere, producing a much improved performance and catching the OULTC 2nds completely off-guard. Much like the Women’s Blues the Women’s 2nds can now focus on gaining promotion in the league. Meanwhile, the Men’s 2nds were in clinical form, easily dispatching of a less than impressive Birmingham 2nds team 5-1. Although illness allowed the opposition a dead rubber, Oxford stormed into the next round of the Cup, and looked to be on great form after brushing the Birmingham team aside. The 2nds could be seen as one of the favourites to go all the way this year, providing they can keep producing this high-standard of tennis to which the crowds have grown accustomed to.
Sport 23
26th February 2015
Stuart Lancaster’s men will be happy to have given the England faithtful something to shout about in the run up to this year’s World Cup.
PHOTO/RUGBYRAMA.FR
Should we be excited by England’s Six Nations form?
• England’s next match away against Ireland in Dublin will be crucial in staking their claim to this year’s Six Nations title. • England have been seeded into a tough group for this year’s world cup featuring proven sides Australia and Wales.
DAN SMITH
SPORTS WRITER
Two weekends into this year’s Six Nations and Stuart Lancaster will undoubtedly be an extremely happy man. His team has two relatively convincing victories on the board and has played with all the verve and flair that can be expected of such a youthful, and exciting XV. He will be even more pleased when he considers the sheer size of England’s current injury list. Their absentees include experienced regulars such as Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Ben Morgan, David Wilson, Geoff Parling, Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood. The men who have come in to fill the void have performed admirably, however, with the likes of Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph making an immediate impact with four tries between the pair in the last two games. A note of praise should also be
spared for the new lock partnership of Dave Attwood and George Kruis. England’s second row has been an area that has been most ravaged by injuries, with England’s regular trio
my pick of the English players on game week one against Wales. His sheer physicality in the breakdown and maul means that Tom Wood will certainly have a challenge on his hands
There is good reason for England fans to get excited about their team’s recent of Lawes, Parling and Launchbury all out. Attwood and Kruis have performed tremendously however and have appeared infinitely more experienced than their combined 24 caps would presume. Flanker James Haskell has also enjoyed his renaissance back in international rugby. A man who has always had the ability to perform on the international stage, but not so much the discipline or temperament, Haskell has shone in the opening few games of this year’s competition and was
PHOTO/RUGBYRAMBLE
to win the shirt back on his return to full fitness. It is the man on the other side of the back row that has surely been England’s most valuable asset so far however. Chris Robshaw came into the Six Nations with questions still being raised over the legitimacy of his captaincy but has managed to answer his critics emphatically. The Harlequins man has an incredible 45 tackles already to his name in this year’s tournament, an incredible 13 tackles ahead of any other player. From his part in the drama of ‘who blinks first’ in the Millennium Stadium tunnel to his flawless game management, Robshaw has been an absolute colossus with comparisons rightly being made to England’s heroic World Cup winning captain Martin Johnson. Robshaw’s monumental efforts on the pitch have been matched by the work of the English coaching staff off the pitch. I don’t know what it is about Messrs Lancaster, Rowntree and Farrell but I can’t help but think England are in a safe pair of hands under them. No-nonsense, down to earth realism seems to be consistently translating into solid results against big teams and a positive atmosphere in the England camp of hard work and grittiness.
This grittiness was certainly on show in Cardiff with England trailing 16-8 at half time and to a lesser extent two weeks ago at Twickenham when they fell behind to Italy. On both occasions, there appeared to be no air of panic, with the team sticking to the game plan and superbly playing the ball into the right areas. In the Millennium Stadium, they also flawlessly took the sting out of the game in the final ten minutes, an effort that was expertly marshalled by young fly-half George Ford who has already put a massive marker down to be England’s starting 10 come this autumn. This habit of going behind early will surely catch up with them at some point though. As much as Wales have an inordinate wealth of talented players, they currently don’t possess the overall clinical nature that Ireland and France both do, who England are still to play. This said, come the World Cup, with the hopeful addition of recent rugby league convert Sam Burgess and the return of England’s injured; an already strong squad will get even
England’s 2015 World Cup group (Pool A) Australia England Fiji Uruguay Wales
England’s Six Nations Fixtures Date
Opponent
14th March
Scotland (Home)
1st March 21st March
Ireland (Away)
France (Home)
stronger and certainly has a credible claim to challenge the very best that international rugby union can offer. England undoubtedly possess enough talent to beat the best of the Northern Hemisphere teams on their day, as well as Australia and Argentina; but I still think they will struggle against the likes of South Africa and especially New Zealand. A lapse of concentration of the like that occurred for Rhys Webb’s early try in Cardiff could be the difference between victory or defeat against a team of the quality of the All Blacks. Time and time again they have been the inferior team for the majority of the game yet clinically manage to pounce on a team’s moment of weakness as they did against Ireland back in 2013. All in all then, there is certainly good reason for England fans to get excited about their team’s recent form. Their successful negotiation of a crippling injury crisis has been mightily inspiring and with the introduction of the world’s best rugby league player, they certainly have good reason to be excited about England’s chances in the World Cup.
FOOTBALL
Is greed destroying the beautiful game in England?
Page 22
SPORT
RUGBY
England's form a cause for optimism?
Page 23
Blues prepare for Varsity football showdown in Cambridge
• 131st Varsity Match in a competition dating back to 1873 played at stadiums including Wembley and Highbury. • This year's match to be Blues' veteran Ezra's fifth and final varsity match having played over 120 games for club. ANDREW GRIGGS SPORTS WRITER
In the wake of Sky and BT’s recent bids for Premier League broadcasting rights, totalling a record breaking £5.136 billion, there is no doubting the popularity of football in the UK. Some would argue that Oxford’s traditional headline sports continue to be the annual Boat Race on the Thames and the annual Rugby Varsity Match played at Twickenham, in both of which Oxford successfully and convincingly destroyed the filthy tabs last year. However, the Varsity football match has a rich history of its own and it is difficult to dispute its stature on the Blues sporting calendar within Oxford’s biggest sports. Having been played since 1873, the Varsity football match has been hosted by some of the UK’s premier footballing venues, last year at Fulham’s Craven Cottage and previously at Selhurst Park, Upton Park, Loftus Road, Highbury and the iconic old Wembley Stadium. The overall record between the Blues and the tabs put Oxford marginally ahead at 50 wins to 49, and perhaps more remarkably, Oxford have scored just one more goal than Cambridge in the entire history of the tie, at 205 goals to 204. As this year’s squad prepare for their Varsity game against Cambridge on Sunday 8th March (8th week) which will take place at Cambridge United’s
This year's match to take place on Sunday 8th March at Cambride United's Abbey Abbey Stadium we caught up with the Blues’ veteran captain Ezra Rubenstein to get his thoughts on the season so far, and his final varsity. The Blues currently sit third in their division – BUCS Midlands 1A, the second tier of University football – and enjoyed a successful tour to Japan over the Christmas vacation. On the season so far, and their upcoming Varsity preparations, Rubenstein commented, “the Blues have had a reasonably successful season so far, despite a couple of disappointing recent results Overall though there have been some good
PHOTO/OUAFC
performances and lots to be positive about…Preparation for Varsity is progressing nicely – the squad has now been selected, and everyone is focused on doing everything we can to secure victory. We’ve got our last league match to take care of first – away at Coventry in a week’s time – and then the big match will be just one week away!” This reasonably successful season is not something Cambridge have enjoyed, as he points out “It’s fair
Varsity Match history: Total matches Oxford wins
Cambridge wins Draws
Oxford goals
Cambridge goals
130 50
49 31
205
204
to say that Cambridge have had a pretty awful season thus far, losing every single competitive game. However, they do play in the league above us, which is made up of some very strong teams, and a lot of their matches have been tight. They’ll be desperate to turn their season around with a win at Varsity, so we can’t go into it with any complacency.” Ezra was keen to play down the effect the previous results in the season would have on the varsity match, despite saying, “I expect us to be the better team. Varsity games are always tight though, and quite unpredictable. It’s a lot to do with which team deals with the situation better psychologically. I just want to make sure we perform to our potential. If we do that, I think we’ll have a very good chance.” On the top performers in the squad Ezra added, “New recruit from the States, Will Smith, has proved to be a very valuable addition at the back, whilst Alex Tsaptsinos has been a
consistent performer in the centre of midfield. Peder Beck-Friis has been a towering presence for us up front.” The 2015 match will be Blues’ veteran Ezra’s fifth and final Varsity match having previously won one, drawn two (losing both on penalties), and lost one. On his last Varsity and last game for the Blues after over 120 appearances Ezra said, “I suppose it’ll be a bit of an emotional occasion. I don’t think I’ll think about it at all until after it’s all over though. I’ll just be focussed on winning the game!” Finally, when asked whether a victory in Varsity would make for a successful season he simply told us “yes”. Clearly the Blues’ players know what they have to do to give Ezra the send-off his service to the Blues deserves. To buy tickets (including bus transfer to and from Cambridge) please contact sabbatical-officer@ ouafc.com or any university footballer at your college.
Player
College
Beck-Friis
Christ Church
Essman
Exeter
Dark
Farmer
Gomarsall
Hobkinson Lloyd
Moneke Oulton
Rubenstein M.Smith W.Smith Szreter Tozer
Tsaptsinos
Tunningley
St Hugh's Balliol St Benet's Teddy Hall Pembroke Trinity Christ Church Trinity Linacre Jesus Wadham Wolfson Pembroke LMH