Volume 71 Issue 1
Wednesday 8th October 0th Week
oxfordstudent.com
Exclusive Freshers’ Guide
2014
Oxford ‘myths’ discourage state school applicants Sutton Trust report details teachers’ failings ADAM DAYAN NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO/Philip Sheldrake
Gendered Trinity marriages come under fire Random ballot for college marriage slammed as “heteronormative” after welfare concerns ADAM DAYAN & NICK TONER
The random ballot system used for college marriages at Trinity has come under fire for being “antiquated”, “heteronormative” and contributing to “oppression”. According to a meeting agenda posted on the College JCR’s website, from Trinity Term, “the Fresher Marriage Ballot will be drawn” at a meeting in 3rd week. The system sets up “arranged marriages”, in which one name of a man and one name of a woman are drawn from a hat and paired. The JCR post acknowledges the gender-binary nature of the system, pointing out that in “the majority of cases, in a very het-
eronormative way, men will be paired with women”. It confirms that College marriages between men are rare, stating that “there are slightly more men than women and as such there will be one marriage of three men”. The author of the post is unclear. One Trinity student told The Oxford Student: “In Trinity we are not allowed to choose our spouses. The process is: towards the end of term when it comes for the College children to be allocated families, there is a marriage ballot. The whole event is peculiar and antiquated. “What happens is that there are two hats on a table. Each hat contains the names of all the freshers of one gender. The JCR president
Consent workshops in all colleges p.4
Merton top the Norrington p.3
OUSU VP for Women confirms that 30 undergraduate colleges will run sessions for freshers
then picks a name out of one hat in those cases.” and matches it with the other. And NoHeterOx co-editor Annie Terithere you have it, an arranged mar- ba criticised the system, saying: “I riage. recognise the attempt to make sure “As you can see, the whole thing everybody is included in College isn’t exactly LGBTQ-friendly nor marriages; they can certainly be a does it take into consideration of social minefield as a fresher, but how we, the freshers, feel,” they beyond recognising the bourgeois construct of marriage, we needn’t added. The JCR claims that the system buy into its heteronormativity too. means nobody feels excluded by “I’m firstly concerned by the imthe process. On this, the student plicit suggestion that non-binary speaking to the OxStu says: “This and agender people do not exist is supposedly meant to bring Col- and secondly, by the incessant lege families closer, but what ends need, it seems, to gender all aspects up happening is you get paired of College life. I guess whoever is with someone you either don’t responsible probably didn’t mean know or haven’t spoken to, or ac- it but then that’s how most opprestively dislike. So you can imagine sion works isn’t it. As a suggestion, the treatment the children will get Continued on page 5 »
This year’s college rankings sees usual suspects at the top while Pembroke falls dramatically from grace
Junction junked in club makeover p.4
Oxford nightclub ditches London Underground theme in favour of new name and a different set of events
Intelligent state school pupils are being discouraged from applying to Oxford by their teachers, a recent report by the Sutton Trust claims. The research argued that “myths” such as Oxford being full of overly posh people or “toffs” prevented teachers from recommending applications to Oxbridge. The Sutton Trust claims that 40 per cent of teachers “rarely or never” suggest that academically gifted pupils apply to either Oxford or Cambridge. The research also showed that many teachers significantly underestimate the chances of state school students being accepted. 60 per cent of teachers surveyed believed that the majority of Oxbridge students were privately educated and 25 per cent believed that 8 in 10 Oxbridge students were from private schools. In reality, 2013 figures show that 56.8 per cent of Oxford undergraduates are from the state sector, and private school students are actually in the minority. Only 9 per cent of teachers came close to the correct number. An Oxford University spokesperson responded to the report, saying: “The findings about teachers’ perceptions are frustrating, not only because state students are in the majority at Oxford (56.8 per
Continued on page 3 »
Fresher swaps Silicon Valley for Sheldonian p.6 Nick D’Aloisio, Australian-born millionaire inventor of popular news digest app, begins studies at Hertford
2 Editorial
8th October 2014
Editorial An introduction
An apology
T
he Oxford Student would like to apologise for an article that was placed online on 29th July 2014. We could not issue an apology until we had concluded our internal investigations into the matter. The content and tone of the article were irresponsible, and far below what Oxford students deserve and should expect from their student media. Many different voices contribute to the newspaper, and an article such as this does not reflect their integrity and hard work. The Oxford Student is not written by OUSU, however we value the system of mutual accountability between OUSU and The Oxford Student. The Editors are answerable to the OSSL board, which is the commerical subsidiary News Comment Features Music Screen Stage Arts Fashion Sport Multimedia
of OUSU. The newspaper works to ensure transparency from those same student leaders. We will work hard to rebuild your trust in the newspaper and to serve the interests of the student body. We are all pleased to have Jack Myers, our former Features Editor, taking up the role of Editor-in-Chief. Jack has worked hard to redesign the paper so that its excellent content is matched by a clean and readable print edition. We hope that this apology goes some way to restoring your confidence in The Oxford Student. We are determined to do better in the future.
work with us
T
his week, we report on Trinity’s college marriage policy, in which men and women are picked from separate ballots, meaning that Trinity college marriages are inevitably ‘opposite-sex’, gendered and exclusive. That this has engendered such a strong, principled response should be evidence of how Oxford is progressing. The forums for debate in the University have moved beyond the Union and spread throughout the student body, and voices from across the spectrum of thought on gender issues can be heard in these pages. For this reason, and for many others, it is an exciting time to be at Oxford. As we report on in our story on recent research into Oxbridge access (p.3), there is still much work to be done to get across the image
of a vibrant, diverse university that celebrates difference and provides a welcoming atmosphere for each fresher. Indeed, we must strive harder to make sure Oxford is that kind of environment, and there is much work to be done here too. There may be some freshers who arrive fearing they are about to encounter the cast of The Riot Club, swigging champagne and sporting tails. But as Jake Hurfurt argues in Comment this week (p.10), this is not to be expected on the cheesefloor at Park End or even in the ‘VIP’ lounge at Warehouse (Junction to old friends – see our story on p.4). Just like Oxford, the OxStu is changing. From Union debates expertly dissected to first-hand accounts from students struggling with mental health issues and coverage of
courageously fought Blues battles, we aim to cover the full spectrum of University life. With that in mind, we have invested a lot of love (and blood, sweat and tears) into our redesign this term. We are excited to launch our new culture pullout – OXII – in which we cover the University’s thriving arts scene. Over in OxStuff (p.41-3), we take a look at Oxford’s best rooms and Oxford’s best people, alongside old favourites such as HackDaq and Cliterary Theory. Our new website, complete with student opinion polls and a stunning visual layout, invites engagement with our biggest print stories, along with a range of exclusive online content. We hope that you are as excited for your coming term as we are for ours. Congratulations and welcome.
Are you a photographer, cartoonist, film-maker or just a plain old journo? With the largest readership and the most national stories of any student publication in Oxford, The OxStu is the ideal training ground for budding student jounalists. In fact, in last year’s Guardian Media Awards we were not only shortlisted for Student Publication of the Year, but, of the five people on the shortlist for Student Reporter of the Year, three wrote for us.
To get involved email
editor@oxfordstudent.com
Get involved with student social action www.oxfordhub.org
8th October 2014
News 3
OUSU issues Consent Condoms
Anti-rape culture contraception to be distributed to students LUKE MINTZ DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
2000 “Got Consent?” condoms are set to be distributed this term as part of an attempt by OUSU to reduce the incidence of sexual assault across the University. OUSU Vice President for Welfare, Chris Pike, said: “We’re piloting the condoms because we think it is good to have positive messages about sexual consent around all of us, and condoms are one way of getting the message across. Combating sexual violence is high on OUSU’s priority list.” OUSU’s actions are the latest in a series of initiatives focused on raising awareness of sexual violence, including the “It Happens Here” campaign as well as the recent introduction
PHOTO/weheartit.com
of compulsory sexual consent workshops to all undergraduate colleges. Students have responded positively to the initiative, with former OUSU Vice President for Women Sarah Pine saying: “Consent is always necessary. A reminder to respect the boundaries of our partners keeps everyone safer, and means that noone has an excuse to not check with the person they’re having sex with.” Third-year historian Abigail Burman, an active member of the “It Happens Here” campaign, said: “Condoms and consent are both crucial parts of safe sex, so it makes a lot of sense to put them together.” However, not all students agreed that this was the best way to tackle the problem. A second-year English student said: “It is a facile and simplistic sticking plaster solution to a problem which is culturally entrenched. Consent workshops are perhaps a more positive way of achieving the same end.” A female history student questioned the value of the condoms, saying: “It is naïve to think that perpetrators of sexual violence have simply forgotten about the need for consent and just need to be reminded. This seems like a bit of a gimmick rather than an effective prevention method.” The condoms will be available from college welfare representatives from the beginning of Michaelmas.
New Sutton Trust report: teachers failing applicants LUKE MINTZ DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
Continued from front page »
cent), but because of all the outreach work we do in state schools. We holding well over 2,000 events and spending millions on activities every year. Sadly, just one negative or stereotyped headline in the media can unravel that work in an instant, which teachers are not to blame for.” “Teachers play a vital role in getting students to aim for Oxford and so we naturally do a lot of work with them. We send out a regular e-newsletter with the latest information about the Oxford application process. Every year our Vice-Chancellor gives out Inspirational Teachers awards to state teachers who have supported a student through the application process and been nominated by that student for recognition. “These findings make us more determined than ever to continue our work with teachers. Misperceptions of Oxford, partly informed by the media, are a hurdle we shall overcome,” they added. James Blythe, OUSU VP for Access and Academic Affairs, commented: “One of the biggest challenges for increasing the percentage of successful applicants from low socioeconomic backgrounds and other access priority groups is attainment at GCSE.” “I want Oxford’s students, through OUSU and the NUS, to be part of
a national student movement that campaigns and lobbies the government to do more to support schools and families in improving performance at GCSE. Schools already do incredible work but they need more support.” A Magdalen medic said: “An Oxford filled with braying toffs is not an Oxford that I recognise. It’s a real shame that these misconceptions are putting clever kids off applying.”
VP for Access and Academic Affairs calls for “student movement” for access The Sutton Trust has launched a summer school program for teachers to attempt to combat “Oxbridge myths”. James Turner, Director of Programmes at the Sutton Trust, said: “We all know how important teachers are in guiding their students’ choices about where to go to university.” “As our polling shows, too few state school teachers consider Oxbridge as a realistic possibility for their brightest pupils. They might not think the students will get in to the universities, or fit in once there, or they may lack the specialist knowledge to prepare their students for the application process. We hope our teacher summer schools will begin to change that.”
Norrington Table 2014
Where did your college place in this year’s Norrington? NEWS TEAM
Merton has re-established its reputation as Oxford’s brainiest college by taking the top spot in this year’s Norrington Table. St John’s moved into second up from third last year and Worcester jumped eight places from 11th to third. New College, last year’s table toppers, were demoted to fourth. At the bottom of the table Somer-
College
ville, Teddy Hall and Queen’s came 27th, 28h and 29th respectively and Pembroke dropped a shocking 17 places to rock bottom 30th. Other big moves included Trinity’s drop from second to 11th and Wadham’s jump from 19th to fifth. According to the university website, “the Norrington score is calculated by attaching a score of 5 to a 1st class degree, 3 to a 2:1 degree, 2 to a 2:2 degree, 1 to a 3rd class
Merton St John's Worcester New Wadham Jesus Hertford Harris Manchester Magdalen Lincoln Trinity St Catherine's St Anne's Corpus Christi Exeter Christ Church St Hugh's Keble Brasenose Balliol St Hilda's St Peter's Oriel University Mansfield Lady Margaret Hall Somerville St Edmund Hall Queen's Pembroke
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
degree and 0 to a pass, Honours Pass and Unclassified Honours. The percentage expressed is calculated by dividing the total college score by the total possible score the college could attain”. This system has been criticised in recent years as “one-dimensional”, although seems to be influential, with Norrington results frequently correlating with volume of applicants to any given college.
Score 74.70% 74.56% 73.98% 73.96% 73.79% 73.76% 73.33% 72.59% 72.18% 72.13% 71.94% 71.73% 71.58% 71.52% 71.29% 71.11% 70.99% 70.53% 70.09% 70.09% 69.75% 69.48% 69.02% 68.85% 68.47% 68.32% 68.22% 68.13% 68.00% 63.14%
4 News
8th October 2014
OUSU sexual consent workshops to run in all colleges
Women's VP Anna Bradshaw hails chance to "get as much of the community involved as possible", with workshops made mandatory in eight colleges MATTHEW DAVIES NEWS EDITOR
Oxford University Student Union has announced that its sexual consent workshops will be run this freshers' week at all thirty Oxford colleges which admit undergraduates, and
will be compulsory in all but eight of them. OUSU’s consent workshops consist of small facilitator-led discussion groups centring on issues of sexual consent. OUSU states that the workshops are intended to "stimulate community-wide con-
versations about sexual consent," thereby creating a “culture of enthusiastic and informed consent.” Since they were launched in 2011, the sexual consent workshops have been expanded by successive OUSU Vice Presidents (Women) in collaboration with and OSARCC
PHOTO/James Waddell
(Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre). Current VP (Women) Anna Bradshaw was elected last year on a platform which pledged to expand the program and ensure that the workshops would be compulsory in at least one third of colleges by the beginning of this academic year. The expansion of the workshops comes after an academic year in which issues of consent have been frequently discussed both at Oxford and in the national media. In a poll conducted by Cambridge’s Varsity student newspaper last May, 77 per cent of students said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment, while Oxford’s news cycle was dominated last year by allegations of rape against former Oxford Union President Ben Sullivan. Charges against him were never brought. OUSU said it hoped that the workshops "may also help to reduce harmful attitudes towards sexual violence," and a statement issued by VP (Women) Anna Bradshaw argues that the workshops are "desperately needed" in order to "send a clear message that sexual violence is not tolerated within the community." One student, who requested to remain anonymous, told The Oxford Student that “it seems more than a little hypocritical for consent workshops to be compulsory and nonconsensual,” asking “what sort of message does that send to freshers about how seriously we take consent at Oxford?” This view was echoed last month by Cambridge academic Mary Beard, who noted in a Guardian piece that it "remains to
be seen" whether compulsory workshops are an effective way of raising awareness of consent. In her statement Bradshaw stresses OUSU’s preference for compulsory workshops over non-compulsory ones, stating that “workshops are about starting community-wide conversations, and the best way to do this is to get as much of the community involved as possible.” One trained workshop facilitator also emphasised that “any attendee is free to leave at any time or to not turn up at all; the workshops are compulsory for colleges to hold, not for students to attend”.
PHOTO/Anna Bradshaw
OUSU VP (Women) Anna Bradshaw argues that workshops are "desperately needed."
Oscar Barber, JCR Equalities Rep at Queen’s, commented that “the new compulsory workshops are a great step forward for gender equality within college life,” noting that consent is a "more complex and sensitive subject than often made out.” Queen’s is one of the twenty-two colleges holding compulsory workshops for undergraduate freshers, while all undergraduate colleges and Regent’s Park College (a Permanent Private Hall) are holding the workshops in one form or another.
Tutor sex investigation dropped Popular Oxford nightclub re-opens as Warehouse
Child sexual assault charges against Prof. Subir Sarkar dropped
IMOGEN CRANE NEWS EDITOR (ONLINE)
LUKE MINTZ DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
Thames Valley Police has dropped its investigation into an Oxford tutor who was arrested in May on suspicion of child sexual assault. Professor Subir Sarkar, head of Oxford’s Particle Theory Group, was arrested by officers in May on suspicion of sexually assaulting a boy aged under 13. On 9th September, Thames Valley Police spokesperson Connie Primmer announced that no further action would be taken against him. Sarkar teaches an undergraduate Classical Mechanics class as well as a graduate Astrophysics course. He was educated at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, and gained a PhD in 1982. He has held a permanent position at Oxford University since 1990 and also works at the University of Copenhagen, where he was awarded the Niels Bohr professorship in 2012. The tenure, given by the Danish National Research Foundation, includes a research grant of 29 million kroner (£3.4 million). Professor Sarkar was described by
Junction to become a "unique events space" and will continue to host Itchy Feet and new nights
PHOTO/Alireza Khalili Golmankhaneh
Poul Henrik Damgaard of the Niels Bohr Institute as a “fantastically active researcher” who is “very popular with students”. Thames Valley Police also corrected an earlier error with spokesperson Connie Primer stating: The investigation into Professor Sarkar related to the period between January 2004 and August 2010, rather than January 2010 and August 2010 as had previously been stated. Oxford University stated that it considered the case a closed police matter.
Popular Oxford nightclub Junction is being transformed into a "unique events space" called Warehouse, according to its owner. Warehouse will continue popular nights such as Itchy Feet, but will also launch several new nights. The biggest change has been to reinvent the club’s interior to make it into a "unique events space". A spokesperson for the nightclub, on Park End Street, described how the building has been "transformed". "After months of labouring we opened the doors for Oxford Brookes Freshers Week to a rousing reception. The venue has been transformed into a unique events space, it's [sic] black and blue colour scheme complements the newly fitted LED Live Lighting Show (engineered on the night of the event by our house lighting technician) and the FUNKTION ONE Sound System." The improved venue has been the work of different management com-
panies. "What has been created is a club for the people by the people who know best. A heavy focus was put into improving the site’s VIP offering. Eight newly built, 12-person booths have been installed in what is being marketed as the 'most inclusive VIP area in Oxford'." "The area is secluded enough from the main arena to allow for conversation and enjoyment of the venue’s personal waitress service, whilst its open viewing allows for bookings to look onto the dance floor, lighting show and DJs in full swing. There is also a 'VVIP' Room which can cater for parties of up to 40," they added. Isobel Wilson, a freshers committee rep at Regent's Park, said she is "so relieved that Oxford clubs are starting to change their style this year". "Much as everyone loves a bit of the cheese, it’s nice to have variety, and to give students the chance to choose from a wide variety of nights, music and venues. Hopefully it will also ring the changes on the freshers week scene! It’s nice to know that being a second-year freshers rep won’t just mean repeating my own
freshers week!" However, some students were more ambivalent to changes. A secondyear PPE student at St Hildas said: "To be honest, I don’t know how much I’ll notice the change. A lot of the Oxford clubs are quite similar, and often it’s more who you are with than where you are going." Another said: "I hate clubbing, so don't care about these changes. I go to bed at 8pm and drown my sorrows in hot chocolate." On top of the aesthetic changes, the venue is looking to change its music scene. It will continue to host night such as Kandy Fridays, but will now include Thursday night Carwash.
PHOTO/James Waddell
News 5
7th October 2014
Ranking success for Oxford • THE puts Oxford in third place in its global rankings
Union to change rules
• Rules on misconduct complaints to change following dramatic year for the Union
NEWS TEAM
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, released last week, have placed Oxford third, ahead of other leading UK institutions such as Cambridge and Imperial College London. The makeup of the top twenty illustrates a continued dominance of the table by Anglo-American institutions, while not placing London universities so highly as the QS World University rankings, released last month. James Blythe, OUSU Vice President (Access and Academic Affairs), said of the rankings: “The various global rankings reflect many different aspects of a university, especially research. I am confident that Oxford students generally get a fantastic education, which is reflected in some amazingly high satisfaction results in the National Student Survey. Nevertheless, over the coming year OUSU is developing and massively expanding its support for student reps in departments, to give them the capacity to make change happen in academic departments if there are problems with their courses.” Henna Shah, a second-year PPE
student involved in several Oxford access schemes, stressed that “it is important that Oxford and Cambridge aren't seen as the be all and end all in terms of university rankings,” while arguing that “it is very important that students applying are informed about how misleading league tables can be. Imperial, for example, only climbed so much because the number of research citations mentioning it increased. “This doesn't particularly affect the quality of teaching received by undergraduates and it's important that we continue to make it clear about the advantages of the tutorial system so students who could benefit greatly from an Oxford education don't lose out because they have been misled by rankings which involve irrelevant methods of assessment to their student experience.” A university spokesperson said: "We’re delighted that all these league tables consistently show Oxford in the very forefront of the world’s universities, both for the quality of its teaching and the excellence of its research." The scoring according to the THE places Oxford at 93.2, behind Harvard at 93.3 and Caltech at 94.3.
The president of the Oxford Union has proposed substantial changes to the Union rules intended to tackle corruption and make it easier for serious complaints of misconduct to be addressed. The proposed rules will set out an explicit procedure for raising complaints over misconduct. If the changes are passed by Standing Committee, the Union website will provide a ‘complaint information pack’ including information on how to report breaches of the Union rules as well as procedure for referring criminal misconduct to the police. Under current rules complaints are dealt with by the Union’s Standing Committee, while the proposed changes provide for a ‘Complaints Consultant’ to handle accusations of misconduct. A central component of the proposed changes is the clause that any committee member or Senior Officer (includ-
ing the President) who is arrested on suspicion of committing a crime will be ‘subject to an automatic leave of absence,’ in effect standing down on a temporary basis. This change comes after a year in which the Union has been under heavy fire for its handling of criminal matters, in particular its response to the arrest last May of Union president Ben Sullivan under suspicion of rape last May. Sullivan’s arrest sparked a campaign to have him removed from his position, with activists criticising the Union’s ‘deeply distressing’ and ‘casual’ response. Sullivan remained in his position, and no charges were brought against him. Critics of the Union’s handling of the Sullivan episode have been quick to praise the new rules, framing the new changes as a response to last year’s controversy. Sarah Pine, last year’s OUSU VP (Women) and a prominent voice in the campaign for Sullivan’s resignation, told the OxStu: “This is great. The Union has done well to tackle the crisis of
last term - keeping people in office when they have been arrested of serious crimes sends horrific messages to survivors of those crimes.” The proposed changes will also seek to limit opportunities for corruption by formalising the process by which the President can invite society members to Presidential Dinners and drinks receptions. Standing Committee will vote on the new rules next week, following a discussion on Monday of 0th week which will be attended by committee members as well as past critics of Union policies.
Best ever gender balance of Union speakers >Previous termcards have been criticised for low number of female speakers >Michaelmas 2013 was 82% male, and Michaelmas 2012 was 90% men >This term the lineup is 62% male, the closest to parity ever achieved at the Union > Baroness Shirley Williams, Nicky Morgan, Jo Brand and Naomi Wolf are all included in the list of female speakers
PHOTO/Padraicon Flickr
PHOTO/Times Higher Education
MATTHEW DAVIES NEWS EDITOR
> Flo Read and Alys Key, the society's Women's Officers, commented: "There’s an inaccessible aura around the society, due to a preconception that all its speakers are old white men. Having more women visit will hopefully change that, and encourage more female members to get involved."
Trinity under fire for heteronormative marriages
• JCR President and Equalities Rep reject accusations that enforced marriages contribute to LGBTQ oppression ADAM DAYAN NEWS EDITOR
» Continued from front page
PHOTO/Tejvan Pettinger
maybe just pick some names out of a hat?” Another Trinity student commented: “I think although the system
was designed to promote fairness, it's unfair for new freshers to have parents who don't know each other and so are very reluctant to socialise or organise family dinners.” “Ultimately, it means that the college parents system becomes useless because when parents feel awkward about seeing one another they rarely make time for their college children.” In a statement,
JCR personnel at the college said it was “in no way the intention” of the system to be heteronormative. “We accept that the titling of the ballot as a ‘marriage’ unfortunately has the potential to be interpreted as heteronormative. However, this is in no way the intention, nor is there any aim to be exclusionary,” said President Eleanor Roberts and Equalities Rep Celia Stevenson in a
joint statement. They claim that the system gives everyone an “equal stake in the ballot regardless of sexual orientation”. “Furthermore, the random nature of the sorting process ensured that everyone is included in the ballot, and no one is excluded. Potential for feelings of exclusion are not limited to LGBTQ students, and could affect students who dis-
agree with marriage as an institution in general.” Roberts and Stevenson admitted that “retitling may be a future possibility to avoid suggestions of exclusion.” They added: “With regards to the claim that the ballot can lead to welfare problems because parents who are forced into marriage will quite possibly... lack the inclination to spend much time with their college kids and thus be poor parents: responsibilities for ‘parents’ are not huge; while they may not be friends, this in no way entails that they will be unable to work together or that they will make poor parents. It is advantageous if ‘parents’ can co-ordinate together to provide advice to new freshers, but they are not ‘forced’ to do so. Parents are entirely able to fulfill their roles independently.” Roberts and Stevenson hit back at their critics, arguing that “the assumption that welfare issues might arise from a ‘bad’ combination of parents is heteronormative itself, as it assumes that two parents are better than one.”
6 News
8th October 2014
Fresher is millionaire app-developer Creator of app Summly to study Computer Science and Philosophy
Pullman lambasts University over fees
Author hits out after making major contribution to crowdsourcing project ELLIOT THORNLEY DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO/Hubert Burda NICK MUTCH NEWS EDITOR
An English-Australian computer programmer who designed an app and sold it to Yahoo for millions of dollars is starting a degree at Hertford this week. Nick D'Aloisio, who launched text summary software Summly at the age of 15 and received investment of $250,000 from a billionaire a year later, will study Computer Science and Philosophy at the Catte Street college. He then sold the technology to Yahoo at the age of 17 for an estimated $30m. Regarding his move to Oxford, he claimed his "main motivation" was "actually to interface with people my age who are obsessed with these problems and senior professors who will add insight. It will be very hard, I'm expecting to find it very difficult. But it's really important to put yourself in situations where you're not going to coast." The WIRED article about D'Aloisio's move to Oxford said that readers "can probably expect to see him debating the ethics of sen-
tient beings with an Oxford fellow, getting a team of AI enthusiasts together for his next company, and perhaps studying up for a spot on University Challenge.” It quoted D'Aloisio as saying that "Jeremy Paxman mentioned Summly the other night on it and it was one of my favourite things, I freaked out". Students were torn over the arrival of the entrepreneur to Oxford. One said: "I hope I get to meet him, he sounds like a very cool guy." However, another said: "If I was him, I wouldn't be bothering. He's clearly not interested in going to Bridge or sailing into a job at JP Morgan when he graduates, so what's the point in coming to Oxford?" An MA in Computer Science and Philosophy is a four-year degree, meaning it is likely that he will graduate in 2018. At the time of writing, D'Aloisio had not yet been added to Nexus, rendering him uncontactable by his new fellow freshers.
Philip Pullman has strongly criticised university fees after contributing to a prospective student’s crowdfunding project to fund her postgraduate studies at Wadham. The author of the His Dark Materials trilogy made a “generous” donation to the crowdfunding project of Emily-Rose Eastop, who begins her Masters this year studying cognitive and evolutionary anthropology. Pullman, an alumnus of Exeter College, said “she wrote an interesting letter and I decided to give. I don’t give to everybody who asks, but she made a good case.” Pullman said: “Some people have got money for university and other people haven’t. It’s an unjust system – when I went to university we didn’t have to pay at all. Now people can’t go at all unless they can acquire some money. I don’t think students should have to pay. It should be free. It’s absurd and criminal when everything’s got to make money. Everything is being privatised and monetised. It’s a dreadful system and a deplorable way to run the country. I’m against it in any way possible.” Eastop, who graduated from Magdalen College in 2010, used the crowdfunding website Hubbub to raise the £26,000 necessary for her course. She said of Pullman’s donation, “It wasn’t crazy but it wasn’t a token amount either. It was generous.” Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker and cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter also made donations to the cause. Eastop criticized the lack of funding available to postgraduate students. She said, “I did apply for a grant but didn’t get one. They
[Wadham College] said they had nine times more applicants than they could fund.” Her Hubbub page appeared in the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, and her YouTube appeal, ‘Get ‘ER to Oxford’, currently has over 32,000 views. She told BBC Newsbeat after reaching her target, saying “I'm absolutely over the moon. I'm so encouraged and so inspired by what we can do when we get together." She has pledged to keep her backers informed about her studies through a private blog, saying “The idea is that you do the masters with me. I will publish easily digestible summaries of all the essays I write, interesting ideas from lectures I have been to, cool quotes from books I'm reading and people I have spoken to and anything I
think you might find thought provoking or entertaining.” A spokesperson for the University Press office, commented on the state of postgraduate funding, saying “Fundraising for postgraduate scholarships is one of the University’s key priorities and this year over 1,000 fully-funded scholarships were available from the University, its colleges and supporters for new master’s and doctoral students in 2014-15, which puts us in a very fortunate position compared to our UK peers.” “But for the many aspiring graduate students who do not receive scholarships, it can be very difficult to find the money for their studies and we hope that more can be done at a national level to ensure postgraduate study is open to all.”
PHOTO/ENGLISH PEN
Duke of Cambridge opens Oxford China Centre
Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre opened by Prince William at St Hugh's over Long Vacation ELLIOT THORNLEY DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
Prince William paid a visit to Oxford on the 8th of September to formally open the Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre building. The ceremony took place hours after an announcement from Kensington Palace that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting her second child. She was unable to attend due to acute morning sickness. Prince William met with students, members of staff, and friends of St. Hugh’s, as well as the donors and architects behind the project, before being given a tour of the new building. He also took part in the traditional Chinese ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the centre, before a plaque was unveiled bearing the names of the Duke and Duchess. The building, situated in the grounds of St. Hugh’s College, cost a total of £21m to build, £10m of which was
PHOTO/OXFORD UNIVERSITY
donated by Mr Dickson Poon CBE, after whom the building is named. It features a one-hundred seat lecture theatre, dining area and a range of conference and seminar facilities, as well as 63 ensuite bedrooms for the use of St Hugh’s students. Also included is a library set to house books from the Bodleian Library’s China Collection.
Prince William said at opening: “'The China Centre is an enormous achievement. It stands on the foundations of many centuries of learning in the University of Oxford about China, and it marks a significant leap forward. "The strength and creativity of the partnership between the University and St Hugh's provides a solid foundation
for the creation of what has the potential to become the foremost place of study about China in the world.” “Learning from and learning about China has never been more important than it is now. China is one of the world's oldest civilisations. Its long history, customs and artistic and technological ingenuity have endured as a
source of fascination and wonder in the world. The globalised world that we inhabit and that we have both helped forge, underscores the importance of deepening our knowledge and appreciation of one another. In an ever turbulent and changing world, the dialogue that academia can foster is not merely a niceto-have it is a pillar that supports peace and prosperity.” Mr Dickson Poon added, “I believe China will become an even more significant world force this century, requiring a deeper understanding by the West. Oxford already has a proud history in the study of China, and I was delighted to make this gift to help advance knowledge, collaboration and understanding in all aspects of Chinese culture.” One St. Hugh’s second year student commented, “Ohmygod, [sic] Prince William is ridic [sic] handsome in the flesh. Also, I better be getting one of those new ensuite bedrooms.”
News 7
8th October 2014
From Shakira to stereotyping, what you missed over the vac Summertime, and the living wage has been increasing - the lowdown on the hottest news items to hit Oxford this summer THE OXSTU NEWS TEAM
OUSU GETS
NUS VP SLAMMED FOR
ACCREDITATION
RESIDENTS ‘RICH
LIVING WAGE
OUSU, a longstanding supporter of the Living Wage Campaign, was in August finally accredited for paying the Living Wage to all employees. The Living Wage currently stands at £7.65 an hour, while UK minimum wage is over a pound less at £6.31. OUSU’s belated adoption of the living wage stems in part from the manner in which it outsources staff to Estate Services, which until May this year did not pay the living wage.
OXFORD TO CONDUCT HUMAN TRIALS OF EBOLA VACCINE
Last month saw Professor Adrian Hill call for volunteers in Oxfordshire to combat the Ebola virus. Professor Hill is leading clinical trials at Oxford’s Jenner Institute starting this month, with the hope of producing a vaccine for the deadly virus. Ebola has killed around 1,500 victims in West Africa this summer, with at least one British national infected. Hill assured potential volunteers that participation in the trial posed no risk from Ebola infection. “The vaccine takes a gene from Ebola and puts it in a virus carrier. The carrier happens to be a safe version of the common cold virus.”
SHAKIRA SINGS
CALLING ALL OXFORD
PRAISES OF OXFORD A
MIDDLE CLASS’
Pop star Shakira took to Twitter in July to praise Oxford a cappella group, Out of The Blue.
Back in August, Societies and Citizenship Vice-President Piers Telemacque faced an outcry from Oxford students after referring to Oxford residents as “rich middle class people”. On 13th August, while at the NUS’ ‘Lead and Change’ seminar, Telemacque tweeted: “I’m so worried about the social issues the rich middle class people in Oxford will be talking about. I’m preparing to be heartbroken #LC14” OUSU President Louis Trup responded on Twitter that “12 areas of Oxford are in the bottom quintile on the national index of Multiple Deprivation,’ telling Telemacque that “assumptions and judgements such as yours alienate many people from the student movement.”
CAPELLA BOYS
CARFAX COUNCIL-
LOR IN BY-ELECTION CONTROVERSY
September’s council by-election in Carfax ward came under fire for allegedly ‘suspicious’ timing – which led to a turnout of only 8.6%. The election was held on the 4th of September, when the vast majority of undergraduate students were away from Oxford for the summer vacation. According to the 2011 UK census, full-time students make up 70% of the population in Carfax Ward. A petition calling for the newlyelected councillor to step down attracted 176 signatures on Change. org, with a petition lambasting the by-election as “against the spirit of democracy.”
Shakira tweeted “hey @ootboxford we LOVE your a cappella Shak medley!” and linked to Out of The Blue’s ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ mashup video. The single was recorded in aid of Helen and Douglas House, an Oxford children’s hospice. The tweet received over 400 retweets and close to 1000 favourites. One Out of The Blue member, Marco Alessi, told the OxStu: “It feels pretty epic. The video has been in the works for months so I’m super chuffed after all the effort that she (or at least her team) has seen it.
8 News
8th October 2014
Developing Global Leaders I chose to be a Business Analyst at McKinsey for the same reasons I read PPE at John’s: it looked interesting, kept plenty of doors open, and involved constant learning. I knew working at McKinsey would improve my understanding of economics and finance, but I hadn’t realised how much I’d also develop my interpersonal skills. The soft skills are the hardest part of the job – managing difficult meetings, persuading senior leaders to accept our ideas – and I’ve really enjoyed getting to grips with those situations. My first project was with a logistics provider, and I was very quickly trusted with a lot of responsibility as my job was to do the customer analysis. My team made sure I had the support and coaching I needed to succeed, and were on hand with plenty of advice. I also got a lot of helpful tips from the other business analysts: we get together on Fridays in the office, and next month we’re going away for the weekend. I’m now working in healthcare – another new industry for me, in a new location, with a new team. My favourite part of this project was running a workshop for 50+ clients – another new skill to develop, but in the same supportive atmosphere. I really enjoy the variety in what we do, and I’m still learning as quickly as I did at Oxford. That makes it fun and keeps me interested, which is good as I’ve a short attention span!
www.mckinsey.com/careers Please follow us on Facebook McKinseyCareersUkIreland or visit our website at www.mckinsey.com/careers
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Comment 8th October 2014
Comment 9
Debating devolution and delegation
PHOTO/ Lawrence OP
Sam Rakestrow Wadham College
I
t could all have been so different. The people of the United Kingdom could have awoken to a government in crisis, forced into 18 months of tortuous, tense and technical negotiations that they were viciously unprepared for. We could have seen a slim Labour majority after May 2015 disappear a year later, leaving Parliament in deadlock. Given enough public pressure, we could have even seen the UK–not to mention the Conservative and Unionist Party–having to find not just a new name, but a new leader. But that didn’t happen. By a margin of over 10 per cent, the people of Scot-
It won't all be plain sailing; vast chasms of political differences need to be bridged land rejected independence, and chose to remain part of the so-called “family of nations” of the UK. The result can hardly be called a whitewash - indeed, whilst the margin of victory for the “Better Together” Campaign is higher than predicted in recent polls, even the
most out-of-touch politician cannot ignore the fact that nearly 38 per cent of the eligible voters of Scotland cast their vote against having anything to do with Westminster after 2016. But it is still a victory for the unionists, and a stinging defeat for those who dreamed of Scotland taking up a seat at the UN between Saudi Arabia and Senegal. There are undoubtedly big changes on the way. The possible devolution of powers over welfare and taxation to the Scottish Government is a major step up from previous arrangements. Combined with devolution of powers to Wales, Northern Ireland and even English cities like London and Newcastle, the entire way that government in the UK is run could be transformed. Having lived under a devolved government for almost my entire life, I can only see this as a good thing – more delegation to officials like the Mayor of London should mean policies more suited to cities like London, and less of a one-size-fits-all approach dictated from Whitehall. And it is as much in the interests of Lincolnshire as London that big cities should have more power; less time in Parliament spent dealing with what goes on just in the cities means more time solving nationwide problems. But it won’t all be plain sailing in the next few years. Leaving aside the vast chasms of political differences between parties that need to be bridged in order for any further devolution to occur, there is no sense in expecting clear-cut solutions from any party when even
there are internal divisions so rife. In the Conservative Party, some backbenchers oppose David Cameron’s promise of more powers to Scotland because of the potential impact on the rest of the country – every additional pound that goes north is one less that is being spent in areas which are just as deprived but happen to sit south of
The SNP needs to realign itself Hadrian’s Wall. Similar sentiments can be found among Labour backbenchers, whose opposition to devolution in the 1970s not only turned the legislation into an unworkable quagmire, but (along with the SNP) brought down James Callaghan’s beleaguered government and paved the way for over a decade of vociferously anti-devolutionary Thatcherism. Even outside Westminster, there is some resentment over the fact that England (and to some degree, Wales) has so far been left out of changes to the advantage of Scottish secessionists, with the proposed solutions including everything from scheduling days when only English MPs are present in Parliament to a separate English Parliament. Such calls for parity are being picked up by parties like UKIP, and could easily bolster their already burgeoning support ahead of 2015. In Scotland specifically, there’s also big changes in store. There can be no
doubt that the campaign has raised for debate issues that have existed for decades in Scotland but have so far not been dealt with, something which, in the long-run, can benefit all of Scotland, unionist and nationalist alike. And the SNP’s majority in the Scottish Parliament is not (for now) under threat, but their ability to motivate their MSPs and govern Scotland until the next election in 2016 will clearly be affected, thanks to both the loss of their leader and their flagship policy. Looking forward to 2015, if the aftermath of the failed attempts at devolution in the 1970s is anything to go by, the SNP’s seats at Westminster will be severely threatened. The SNP, as well as other Scottish politicians, are faced with a major need to realign themselves in light of recent events – a situation not so far removed from if there had been a Yes majority. In Northern Ireland, it similarly seems like a double-edged sword. In one sense, DUP First Minister Peter Robinson can breathe easy that the source of the unionists’ raison d’être remains intact, and he has recently announced that he’s even more confident of the province’s place in the Union. But at the same time, he and the rest of the Unionist community must face up to the fact that a British government will willingly allow for a referendum on secession if an assembly wishes for it. With a growing Nationalist vote in Northern Ireland, increasing dissent from all quarters about the operation of the devolved administration at Stor-
mont, and the fact a referendum on union with Ireland on request has been practically written into law since 1998, it seems much more likely that the next campaign on the future make-up of the Union will be centred on Belfast instead of Edinburgh.
Calls for an English Parliament are bolstering the support of UKIP ahead of 2015 In short, across the United Kingdom, change is on the way. There will inevitably be debates, both in Parliament and in public, over just how the government should proceed with allocating the resources of the UK, driven to a great extent by an increasingly politically aware electorate. But it has to be remembered that there is more at stake than just money – the political life of the United Kingdom has been irrevocably changed. It’s difficult to predict just what those changes will mean in the long-term, because of the myriad potential paths – everything from more elected mayors to total dissolution of the Union itself could be on the cards in the next few decades. In fact, only one thing is for certain – those who thought that a No vote would lead to the end of the devolution discussion have been proven to be sorely mistaken.
10 Comment
8th October 2014
Spoonful of sugar helps medicine go down? Joespeh Mansour Balliol College
I
t was a classic BBC News juxtaposition. First, the news that scientists from UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine now recommend that sugar should make up no more than 3 per cent of our energy intake, in order to reduce tooth decay. This follows the recommendation from the World Health Organisation earlier this year that we halve our daily sugar intake in order to tackle obesity. Then, barely five minutes later, came the announcement that the London Eye will be sponsored by none other than Coca-Cola from January. In less than 300 seconds, the BBC managed to encapsulate the problems we face when it comes to sugar. On the one hand, we are more and more frequently being bombarded with facts telling us how bad sugar is for our health. On the other, there is relentless pressure from the food and drink industry to increase our sugar intake through advertising, sponsorship, and special deals. For students especially, avoiding “‘bad’” sugar is nighear -on impossible. For most of the last four decades, the whipping boy of food health has been saturated fats; now, sugar seems to have taken over the mantle. Worse for your blood pres-
sure than salt, worse for heart disease than fat, and the cause of a raft of diseases from cancer to Alzheimer’s to tooth decay, as well as being one of the leading causes of obesity, sugar is now the food to avoid according to the experts. Of course, that’s not just added sugar: the WHO’s recommendations of the WHO (World Health Organisation) cover “all sugars added to food, as well as sugar naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates.”. These sugars are what are is known as ‘“empty calories”’ they play no positive role in your body’s internal workings, but are incredibly harmful and, even worse, hugely addictive. They are also the sugars that are nigh-onnearly impossible to avoid. The sponsorship of the London Eye by Coca-Cola is a case in point. London’s most -visited tourist attraction is now sponsored by a company, whose flagship drink would already take the average adult to their 5 per cent% of their sugar target with just a single can. And the Eye’s not the only one: Cadbury sponsored the London 2012 Olympics, while Coca-Cola also sponsored the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. An Australian study found that children are being exposed to unhealthy messages for up to
four hours per week during community sport. Large ‘“community”’ events and institutions are not taking their public responsibility seriously. Neither are the supermarkets. Walking into the Tesco on St. Giles’ Street in Oxford, you’re immediately assaulted by a host of freshly -baked sugary ‘“treats”’ on one side, while the other showcases the latest deals on chocolates and sweets. Food manufacturers also include added sugar into a whole host of foods, from cereals to ketchup to pasta sauces, and even bread. It’s almost impossible for a student to live on a budget-friendly diet and at the same time avoid added sugar. So, what can be done? The government claims that we are the first European country to have introduced voluntary traffic-light systems on food packaging so consumers can see how much sugar their food contains. But the problem is with the word ‘“voluntary”’: many companies have simply not signed up, and even if they do, knowing how much sugars is in your food won’t do much good if your student loan can’t stretch to more expensive foods without added sugar. A whole host of possible solutions have been suggested, including a controversial “sugar tax”, but it is clear that, whatever the solution, something has to be done to help people who want to take the latest health advice on board, but simply aren’t able to do so.
Large “community” events and institutions are not taking their public responsibility seriously
The cause of a raft of diseases cancer to Alzheimer’s ...sugar is now the food to avoid
PHOTO/Barbro Bjornemalm
Rioting against the Oxford elitist myths Jake Hurfurt
St John’s College
O
PHOTO/Nartagiampetruzzi
xford. The University which The Daily Mail takes pleasure in condemning as home toto a quasi-cultish elite, especially when our (often ridiculous but utterly harmless) traditions are seen in public. This year, the Mail took issue with trashings, sneering: “Dowsed in foam, dodging eggs and swigging from bottles of champagne… this is the best of young British academia.” Anyone without intimate knowledge of the University would, quite rationally, see us as a bunch of arrogant, posh snobs. It’s not as if anyone at any other university has a drink of something fizzy to celebrate the end of exams. I say something fizzy rather than champagne, because most of us just about stretch to Lambrini at a fiver a bottle. Not quite Moët, is it? So, we come to The Riot Club, a film about the eponymous society who are a thinly-veiled version of the Bullingdon. Though not the filmmakers’ intention judging by interviews with the writer, the brilliantly left wing Laura Wade, it is worrying to anyone involved with access and outreach work that the film could reinforce the Mail’s preferred im-
age of drunk poshos being the norm at Oxford. Though the film does not show the Riot Club as typical for the University, the implication is that this kind of club is not exactly rare either. With recent scandals about various individuals being revoltingly misogynistic in sports/drinking clubs, anything that reinforces this image, intentionally or not, is worrying.
The attitude of “Oxford is for posh people, not for people like me” is still sadly prevalent Let’s be honest: the attitude of “Oxford is for posh people, not for people like me” is still sadly prevalent. Anyone coming from a state school and many from independents will have encountered this attitude, and from my own experience, some brilliant students haven’t applied because they were worried that they weren’t posh enough, or they wouldn’t fit in. Perhaps more research should be done into the University before dismissing it, but when the media hammers home the stereotype of Oxonians being posh drunkards, the image becomes ingrained in people’s minds and is pretty hard to remove.
The image of the University is vital to any access schemes we offer. No matter how much we even out the playing field, if those from poorer backgrounds view Oxford as the home of a well-off, well-spoken elite and little else, they are less likely to view it as either attainable or suitable for them, and more likely to reject it out of hand. It is not in the interests of the University at large or the student body to have only a narrow band of people at Oxford. It damages diversity, and ensures that we miss out on fantastic minds who simply do not apply. As students, we spend a laughable amount of time in academic gowns, black tie and the like. It doesn’t mean we’re all super-posh. Frankly, most of us feel at least mildly ridiculous every time we start swearing at the mirror in a vain attempt to tie a bow tie. Like students everywhere else in the country, we go out, drink cheap drinks in terrible clubs, and grab cheesy chips from a greasy kebab van as we stumble back to bed. Just because we’re at Oxford, it doesn’t mean we only drink vintage Dom Perignon and swans’ blood – give me Everyday Value Vodka at under ten pounds a bottle any day! Films like The Riot Club and the charming folks at The Daily Mail will always portray us as a posh elite, and whether this is deliberate or not, we need to reject that image strongly. It’s bad for access and, ultimately, bad for all of us.
Comment 11
8th October 2014
An unfond farewell to free speech Sid Venkataramakrishnan Pembroke College
I
t is sad, truly, when principles which form the basis of democracy are battered and moulded beyond recognition. So it is that the freedom of speech has been debased to the point where it no longer resembles its true meaning. It has been mutilated into a catch-all excuse for any sort of unethical, offensive, or even illegal behaviour. The thefts and subsequent publications of celebrity photographs have been mulled over by virtually all news media, but there is an amusing contrast to the NSA revelations. Granted, state surveillance has its differences from the selective stealing of private photos – but at least the NSA has some excuse for its behaviour, however irksome Ben Franklin would have found it. Oddly enough, no-one was saying ‘Shouldn’t have saved your stuff on the iCloud!” when the NSA was found with one hand in their emails. Perhaps if they’d shared some of the juicier material, we would have hundreds of Voltaires in the street, defending mass surveillance to the death.
Invasions of privacy are wearingly routine: the very fact that we have ministers mentioning revenge porn is evidence. Much has been made over the reason that in this case, celebrities were targeted: commentators have called it a power-play, an attempt to put famous women in their place. I’d say the answer is, by and large, a little less profound. It seems to ignore the deluge of other women whose photos have undoubtedly been splashed out across the internet, and downloaded onto thousands of computers. Men want pornography; naked celebrities offer (A) nudity and (B) some rarity and excitement – but (A) probably trumps (B). It feels worryingly unlikely that those who stole the photos or continue to share them even have the capacity to imagine the real people behind them. The act was a crime, regardless, and although we can quibble over specifics and the apparent favouritism of the FBI, at the least the general outrage of Celebgate might cause some actual changes in certain quarters of the internet. I remain doubtful, because there is a deeper problem when it comes to free speech, and the internet in particular. Granted, there are the typical issues of hate speech which have plagued traditional media. These are amplified online, but
for the most part, they exist within communities of likeminded idiots: the Stormfronts and Global Islamic Media Fronts of the world, hives of hatred abusing tolerance for the sake of intolerance. There is a newer phenomenon, however, a slavish devotion to principles, as in the Violentacrez saga.
Invasions of privacy are wearingly routine: the very fact that we have ministers mentioning revenge porn is evidence
PHOTO/Ben Fredericson For those who missed it, Violentacrez (Micheal Brutsch) was a member of Reddit. With a keen eye for spotting illegal content, he built strong relationships with moderators, who in turn allowed him to build up his own impressive array of obscene
images. Founder of the /r/jailbait subreddit, filled with sexualised photos of underage girls, as well as dozens of other depressingly unpleasant forums, Brutsch was outed by Adrian Chen, a reporter for Gawker, in late 2012. The effects of the ‘doxing’, or release of private information, was unsurprisingly devastating for Brutsch, who lost his job and whose funding by members of Reddit doesn’t appear to have added up to much. Yet the amount of vitriol which Gawker received is stunning. For violating one of Reddit’s central tenets, the protection of personally identifiable information, the website was banned from Reddit – at first totally, but even after this ban was lifted, numerous sub-reddits continued to block links to Gawker. You can argue about Chen’s ethics in outing Brutsch – you can accuse him of playing vigilante – but this doesn’t take away from what Redditors were defending in the name of free speech. Paedophilic images; pictures of abused women; hideous racism – all were inconsequential, as far as they were concerned. No matter the content, the principle seems to be that you cannot reveal the real names of the monsters. I’m intrigued as to where they go with this. Certainly, it would be unfair to pretend that doxing doesn’t have the potential to be harmful. Brutsch lost his job, but at the least it was the right person. In the case of the suicide of Amanda Todd, Anonymous succeeded in doxing the wrong one – perhaps an admirable
act of vigilante justice, but woefully misdirected. Nevertheless, the free speech argument remains unsteady. There is an irony to the fact that the same people who criticise ‘white knights’ and ‘social justice warriors’ are driven by equal delusions of grandeur. Perhaps these free-speech defenders really believe that censorship or the outing of paedophiles is a slippery slope to a totalitarian state - that we’ll have our own Tiananmen Square online, where the forces of democracy, standing for truth, justice, and creepshots will be ruled over by the tanks of censorship? If so, I will put the whole length of my name on the line and say, don’t worry. It’ll be fine, really. In the meantime, people are being hurt by having their images ruthlessly plastered across the net to be jeered at by total strangers – and no matter of ‘free speech’ makes that any better. In the end, if J S Mill clambered into a time machine and ended up on Reddit, I can’t imagine he would be best pleased with the use of ‘free speech’ for so much offence. Arguments that total anonymity is needed or else the edifice of freedom of speech will collapse are illogical at best. If you don’t have the courage or the intellect to admit that what you are doing hurts others, and you have to hide behind some slippery slope argument of fascist oppression, then you don’t really deserve the internet. But don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of company.
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14 Arts & Lit
Arts & Lit
8th October 2014
Screenprints and Sphincters - the Turner Prize 2014 Jack Solloway
Magdalen College
I
am sitting on a bench outside the Tate Britain, observing the daily commute. A good while has passed since leaving the exhibition; yet here I am, people-watching on London’s Millbank. There go the cars and the cyclists wheeling their separate ways, their pilots oblivious to my thoughts as I sit pondering. Just a moment ago I was standing in a room with a group of strangers, watching a sphincter clench as it reacted to the gentle caress of an elderflower. I bite in to my sandwich and looking out at traffic. It’s certainly an interesting way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Turner Prize.
“Watching a sphincter clench at the touch of an elderflower” Yes, it’s that annual controversy: the Turner Prize 2014. The avant-garde of contemporary art have been shortlisted and the exhibition has been curated. Expect to see everything from photos of erotic flora to a film on commoditisation, with an obscure French sound poet thrown in for good measure. Candidates for the 2014 shortlist include Duncan Campbell, James Richards, Tris Vonna-Michell, and Ciara Phillips. The year’s prize is dominated by audio-visual content, with printmaker Ciara Phillips being the only artist not to feature a form of video installation. At times, the exhibition itself makes for difficult viewing. Duncan Campbell’s quasi-documentary It for Others, for example, is particularly laborious. His dreadfully drawn-out 54-minute film begins with the objectification and fetishising of African art, before cutting to a choreography illustrating Marx’s theory of value. When that’s over with, the audience is subjected to further lectures on commoditisation and merchandise. The film finally concludes with a reflection on the art market. Phew! It’s heavy going, and expects the audience to spend a disproportionate amount with one artist (unless, of course, you were planning on festering in the Turner for four hours). Ciara Phillips brings a wave of colour to the proceedings with a wallpaper of screenprints; the room itself acting as frame for her individual works. “If to print is to transfer or fix an image from
one register to another, Ciara Phillips works to its open-ended possibilities”, writes Sofia Karamani. Phillips’ vibrant and fragmented images are a collage of re-cropped and re-worked material. The final product is heavily shaped by the hands-on printing process, often including glitches and accidental traces of ink. It’s easy to enjoy the bold aesthetic her work exudes. Spoken word artist Tris VonnaMichell displays two curious installations which mix image and high tempo monologue in order to create a form of audio-visual portraiture. In Finding Chopin: Dans l’Essex, Von-Michell’s voice is soothing and his discourse rhythmic. Objects and places swirl erratically, repeating and restating themselves as the narrator stutters. The storyline concerns Henri Chopin, a French pioneer of sound poetry who spent part of his life in Essex, close to Vonna-Michell’s childhood home. “Why was I born in this place?” he asked his father. Henri Chopin is provided as the man with the answer, replies his father. Vonna-Michell’s installations are certainly the highlight. They are unquestionably personal, very human and brimming with personality. I am pleased to write that this year’s art is as edgy as its shrubbery. Richard James’ mesmerising video installation Rosebud features “images of a head of elderflowers trailed lightly over lips, skin and genitals taken from VHS erotica”. The installation itself juxtaposes these scenes of tender intimacy and pictures of a violently censored monograph. Found by the artist in a Tokyo library, the monograph contains scuffed photos which have been scratched and torn to remove sexually explicit content. The Tate described the installation as work of “poetic meditations on the pleasure, sensuality and the voyeurism that is in the act of looking”.
“I am pleased to write that this year’s art is as edgy as its shrubbery” I expect if you listen hard enough, you can just about hear the many thousands of traditionalists sharpening their knives. I have no quarry with conceptual art. The Turner Prize is a prize for new art and is designed to encourage new modes of expression. It’s just a shame the Tate Britain’s £11 admission fee is likely to deter many of those hesitant of modern, conceptual art.
Ciara Philllips, Things Put Together detail from 2013 Exibition ‘Function, ’
Kate Tempest at MAO - Review Nasim Asl
Somerville College
L
ast Thursday was a joyous occasion for all lovers of verse – National Poetry Day fever swept across the nation, with the affiliated hashtag trending on Twitter all day. Oxford saw its fair share of poetry action too, including a performance from Mercury-prize nominated Kate Tempest at Modern Art Oxford. Nestled between Camera and Pembroke, Modern Art Oxford is a quaint and delightful art gallery dedicated to contemporary pieces. The venue’s basement saw a sell-out crowd gather to hear Kate perform from her new collection ‘Hold Your Own’. Although Kate has been pushed into public consciousness since her Mercury Prize nomination for her debut album, she’s been in the poetry game for a little while now. She studied poetry after leaving school at 16, and since then has been a continuous player in performance poetry circles, supporting poets such as GCSE-staple Benjamin Zephaniah. Kate has also seen her music take her around the world and to a plethora of big name festivals.
‘Shapeshifters’ was the title given to the Modern Art Event. The premise was simple – The Arts and Humanities Research Council saw Kate’s epic theatrical poem ‘Brand New Ancients’ in 2012, and since then have been enthralled by her ability completely to modernise mythology and combine it with the ever growing genre of performance poetry. Fellow poet Henry Stead opened ‘Shapeshifters’ with his live video poem ‘Attis’. Also a shifting of the Roman Catullus between genders, the poem was captivating live – the video feed behind Henry featured haunting artwork and eerie shots of the natural world, reflecting the journey undertaken in the poem. The power of music and poetry in an ensemble was reinforced in an overwhelmingly intense poetry experience – Henry’s reading developed into an incredible sensory experience, and really demonstrated that in a multi-media world multimedia poetry has massive potential. Shapeshifting was also the theme of Kate Tempest’s reading, and largely her collection. ‘Hold Your Own’ follows the Greek mythological figure Tiresias throughout his journey – from child to woman, to man and blind prophet. ‘Hold Your
Own’ is actually split into these four separate stages too, with Tiresias’ story being displayed alongside Kate’s own poems. The collection opens with a poem almost 30 pages long, which maps out Tiresias’ physical and emotional shapeshifting throughout the course of his life. Kate opened her performance with this, remarkably having the entire poem, as well as the others she performed, fully memorised. This enabled her really to bring the poems to life – not only was her poetry skilled in its own right, but her voice was also built to perform. The entire audience was held absolutely captivated by the tale, and Kate’s deliverance was hypnotic – her passion was evident in the pace of her voice, the intensity with which she immersed herself in her words and within her actions, moving in time with the poem’s pulse. This passion spilled out into the other poems she performed – these much shorter however – and really made the ink of ‘Hold Your Own’ materialise into vivid images for everyone present. If you ever get the chance to see Kate Tempest perform her poetry live, I would take it. It’ll change the way you view performance poetry for good.
8th October 2014
Arts & Lit 15
Beside ourselves with the best of the Booker Alice Jaffe
St Edmund Hall
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he book starts at “the middle of my story”, and finishes in the same place. As we are reminded, however, the story is far from over. Through the eyes of Rosemary Cooke, daughter of a Professor of Psychology, Fowler treads the classic American literary path of nostalgic suburban houses, shrouded in shifting autumn leaves and slightly uncomfortable familial relations. The textbook backdrop to thanksgiving, however, gives way to a diachronic structure that mirrors the development of the protagonist’s thoughts. It is these thoughts, combined with understanding of memories, that create Rosemary as a human or perhaps merely ‘person’. The latter being a term many would use to describe Fern, Rosemary’s sister, who we soon discover is also a chimpanzee. We are welcomed, naïve and innocent, into the memories, or perhaps even allusions of Rosemary Cooke. The erratic plot twist reveals im-
mense weaknesses in the very human memory, and awareness of the characters, the narrator and even the reader themselves. As you kick yourself for not realising sooner, or having the limited mindset of not even having considered sooner, the full impact of the fact that there may be more to the characters and persons that have been presented seems more a comment on yourself than any of the characters. Through Rosemary, Fowler pushes us all to question the boundaries for society and acceptance, as well as our awareness of individuals and feelings. The guilt and loss Rosemary associates with her sister Fern is more than just animal rights; it’s a family connection. Slowly, Fowler draws her protagonist away from her ‘monkey-girl’ filled childhood and into adolescence. Rosemary’s infatuation with her dramatic friend Harlow – introduced from early in the novel, serves to fill the aching hole left by other hedonist and impassioned characters featured earlier in her life, though not necessarily earlier in the novel. As the information
unwinds, parallels between Harlow, Rosemary’s imaginary friend Mary, and also her sister, Fern, appear, all in the shadow of her brother Lowell – the only character from the past that physically resurfaces in some, though possibly not all, of the glory that had been anticipated. Perhaps the most defining feature of Fowler’s work exists beyond the state of simultaneous past and future, and even beyond the overarching comments about animal rights, the human condition, the meaning of family and politics. Instead it lies in the neatly driven, intelligent, keyed-in and inquisitive voice of a young adult, who is telling her own story to an avid audience. In one of the many anecdotes that litter Rosemary’s life, we are told of a time when as a child she fell from climbing a tree, claiming “the lesson seemed to be that what you accomplish will never matter so much as where you fail”. In a book about the failure of a family, this seems particularly poignant; suggesting that the only reason the book matters – or even the voice in the book matters – is because it records a failure.
Objects of Humanity at the Wellcome Collection Alice Theobald
“X” would naturally invite an insight into the discovery of X-rays; and yet, walking up to a glass display cabinet, I see some dinky little porcelain fruit miniatures. Oh wait, they in fact open up to reveal figures engaged in “X-rated” activities (ah, that makes it relevant then). Professor Alan Kirby (currently
Magdalen College
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irst, Duchamp presented us with a urinal. We called it Dadaism. Then Beckett stripped drama bare and we hailed his avant-garde Postmodernism. But arriving at an exhibition and being confronted with a blank sheet of paper and a waste-paper basket – what’s that? Instructed to write down my greatest fear and “throw it away”, who was generating the art here? Was I the artist now? Was this actually art? Post-structuralist critics may
“You don’t just see the human condition; you realise your place in it”
“Who was generating the art here? Was I the artist now?” have been telling us that meaning is always left open; but here at the Wellcome Collection’s ‘An Idiosyncratic A to Z of the Human Condition’ I was free to inscribe that meaning for myself. It would still be open, yes, but this time it would originate with me. Similarly, visitors were invited to Instagram photos of themselves at the exhibition, with the resulting portraits stuck on the walls (as if the Wellcome Collection needed to prove that other people had actu-
PHOTO/SoraZG
ally visited this bizarre, eclectic inventory too). That said, it did put us at the fore of the exhibition’s focus. Here, you don’t just see the human condition; you realise and exercise your place within it. Arranged around the alphabet, old and new objects from around the world are brought together to
create this hotchpotch documentary about the wonders of being human. We see footage of the first test-tube baby under “B” for Birthdays and – continuing its spotlight on science – we learn about the pseudo-science of phrenology under “P”. Admittedly, some of the categories seemed a little strained.
living in the haven that is Oxford) has come up with his own neologism for this new trend in the arts: Digimodernism. Just as the exhibition is centred upon our participation, this concept foregrounds the audience’s active involvement in determining the artwork’s outcome. Termed “the cultural effects of new technologies” and claiming to have “far-reaching philosophical implications with regard to such matters as selfhood, truth, meaning, representation and time”, that’s exactly what we have here at the Wellcome Collection (see Kirby’s ‘Digimodernism: How New Technologies Dismantle the Postmodern and Reconfigure Our Culture for more on this postpostmodern phenomenon’). In a rare clip of Florence Nightingale speaking (“V” for Voice), we
hear her utter the poignant statement that after her death, when she is “no longer even a memory”, she hopes to live on through her voice. But it would seem that she doesn’t even have to do this. Florence Nightingale – an icon of philanthropy and courage – never stopped being a memory. She is embedded within our cultural memory, and remains an animate figure to those who hear of and admire her achievements to this day. And that’s what this exhibition seems to be about. I won’t go so far as to say that we can live forever; but there is something to be said for the durability of the human
“Digimodernism foregrounds the audience’s involvement” condition. There are intrinsic ties binding us together across seemingly disparate cultures and time periods, and, in addition to showing us this, the exhibition tells us that it’s enough – perhaps more than enough – just to be here, alive, Instagramming a selfie. http://www.wellcomecollection.org/ whats-on/exhibitions/the-humancondition.aspx
16 Arts & Lit
8th October 2014
| 8th October 2014
Music
Music 17
Find out where to catch these guys on page 19
Jessy Parker Humphreys Jesus College
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oman’s Hour pick up attention without always trying to thanks to their band name. The relieving thing about this is that they deserve that attention. Their brand of smooth indie washes over the listener, using unobtrusive synths and occasional brass, to create a blend of some of the best elements of indie music. Fans of Warpaint, The XX and even Jessie Ware will be the easiest to win over. Woman’s Hour plunder the music and style of the ‘80s in a way that avoids sounding like cliché imitation, – instead sonically recycling it into something that somehow looks back without losing any modernity.
“We didn’t really
expect to ever release anything” They’ve been garnering support for a while now, having first released singles in 2011 before taking a break to record an album at their own pace. Fiona Burgess, the band’s lead singer, said that initially, everything happened very quickly for the band. “When we first started the band, we were completely naïve and nonprofessional. It was a case of playing in our bedrooms. We didn’t really expect to ever release anything. “When we were first approached by someone to release a single we were kind of flattered. I think that worked against us because we weren’t prepared. “We didn’t like the feeling of not being involved in something which was representing us and our music. “It was after that moment that we all decided to commit to the band in a more professional way.” It became a very holistic approach that the band took, making sure that they were in control of all the visual elements of their performances, art work and videos. At Village Underground in London, where they kick off the tour which also recently took them
to Cellar in Oxford, the stage is dominated by the same pyramids which make up the front cover of their debut album. “We got quite excited about the idea of thinking about what kind of style we wanted our output to be and what we wanted it to reflect and what we wanted to communicate. “We also met the artists Oliver Chanarin and Adam Broomberg. They’re photographers but they’re really kind of fine artists.” This new friendship sparked a collaboration based around the use of pedagogic manuals which contained the equivalent of the internet age’s stock photos. “We looked at these images and thought, ‘Well, what happens when you take them out of that context, how do you read them?’ “When they’re used as artwork, they’re completely recontextualised, they take on a different meaning.” Ambiguity is a core part of Woman’s Hour’s creative ideal. Taking complete control of the visual aspects of their output was particularly an effort to not have a message dictated over it. When Fiona talks about the band’s latest single, ‘In Stillness We Remain’, she seems cagey about it. “For me I guess it was a kind of reflection on a time of uncertainty. It’s about kind of being in limbo.” It’s only later in the interview she admits that Woman’s Hour try to shy away from an over analysis of their songs. “I struggle to articulate songs’ meanings because I feel as though there’s some beauty in ambiguity and there’s beauty in the eye of the beholder. “I remember being a kid and my mum taking me into an art gallery. She refused to read any of the literature about what she was about to see before she went into the space, because she just wanted to experience the artwork. She didn’t want to be told how she should read it or what it was she was seeing. “I think that experience really affected me as a kid. There’s
“There’s some beauty in ambiguity […] There’s something to be said about allowing the viewer or the listener not to be told”
Tune in toWoman’s Hour PHOTO/WH Gullick
something to be said about The portrayal of women in allowing the viewer or the music is still something that concerns and perplexes Fiona listener to not be told.” It’s a refreshing manifesto Burgess. to hear when bands are often “The way we view women [in hounded to impart what all their music] is like they are the lead creativity is based upon. With a singers. Rarely are guitarists band name like Woman’s Hour, or drummers or bassists, who you would expect the band to happen to be women in a band, have some strongly held opinions, on the front cover of magazines. but you would be wrong to read It’s always this kind of individual the band iconic female name as a “There’s this obsession with popstar. “There’s statement. It w a s the central female character, this obsession actually a rather than looking at all the w i t h the result of central female the band different women in the music character, naming rather than industry” their looking at all original the different song writing efforts after Radio women in the music industry 4 shows. Woman’s Hour was the who are behind the scenes, or at one that stuck. least not in the lead role.”
This attitude pertains in particular to Woman’s Hour who despite being femalefronted, are very much a four person band. “Josh (Hunnisett, keyboards) was saying that when you see four guys you think of them as a band but when people see one female singer and three guys, they might just think that [the men] are the backing band. “It’s so interesting how gender is so important in terms of how people read artists and how people read the roles that people play. “There’s this kind of social code that plays into everything.”
Woman’s Hour’s debut album Conversations is out now on Secretly Canadian.
18 Music
8th October 2014
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Flying Lotus – ‘You’re Dead!’ Lower Than Atlantis David Astley is left underwhelmed by Flying Lotus’ new full-length Nasim Asl reviews LTA’s self-titled record
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istening to a Flying Lotus (Steve Ellison) record for the first time, from 1983 to You’re Dead!, you are simply awestruck. So many things, all at once, it shouldn’t work, et cetera. This same train of thought leads to the major criticism of Flying Lotus: he creates music which is disjointed, sketch-like, overloaded with ideas. On his last record, Until the Quiet Comes, he withdrew. The songs were still short, but they weren’t overdosed with the rhythmic mayhem that Cosmogramma and everything before had melded so perfectly. The opening tracks of You’re Dead! would suggest that Ellison has got hyperactive again. The aptly titled ‘Theme’ introduces the various ‘sounds’ that make up FlyLo’s latest offering: the woozy synths, jazz instrumentation, the breakbeats and everything
else imaginable. On the following instrumentals, the styles come and go as quickly as they appear, but the chopped-up jazz samples are consistent, acting as a base for each track. Ellison’s ability seamlessly to blend snippets of the past, present and future is what has made him a unique artist, and this ability is still deafeningly obvious. This opening of fantastic tracks culminates with the album’s second single, ‘Never Catch Me’, a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. Compton’s good kid’s Midas touch continues with the verses he provides for Flying Lotus’ wandering and morphing track. As the speed builds, dropping the piano chords for trap claps, Lamar’s lines become more frantic in an attempt to keep up with an amphetamine-bass riff; but then back to the piano and an-
Music in Michaelmas
9th October – Peter Andre, New Theatre This ‘Mysterious Girl’ comes to show Oxford ‘A Whole New World’. Ooh we wanna get close to you, Peter!
18th October – Eagulls, Jericho Tavern We interview the Northern lads ahead of their gig - read it in next week’s OxStu!
11th October – Dry The River, O2 Academy & Truck Store Catch their acoustic set and signing in Truck’s indie store before crossing the road to see their O2 gig the same night.
20th October – Schubert Ensemble – The Trout Quintet, Holywell Music Room Our pick of the Oxford Lieder Festival.
12th October – Nick Mulvey, O2 Academy The Mercury Prize folkster brings his twiddly guitar playing to the O2.
25th October – Schola Cantorum, University Church of St Mary the Virgin Schola’s post-tour concert is not one to be missed.
18th October – Bel Esprit, Purple Turtle Subtle plug for ex-Music Editor’s band’s charity gig.
26th October – Kids in Glass Houses, O2 Academy KIGH return to Oxford, this time for their breakup tour. So sad.
other chopped and screwed beat builds. It’s a shame that the highlight of the record comes only eight minutes in. It’s also a shame that it’s followed by one of the blandest moments, but what could we expect of a collaboration with the Snoop Dogg of late? The intricacy of the previous tracks has vanished on ‘Dead Man’s Tetris’, clunky beats and repetitive samples – yeah, the album’s called You’re Dead! – are overlain with Snoop’s relaxed, and ultimately dull, lines. The series of eight instrumentals which occupy the groove until the next collaboration, the non-event of ‘Descent into Madness’ with Thundercat, ebb and flow with tempo and style. You are taken in by undulating synths and repetitive bell chimes. The climax of these woozy instrumentals is Flying Lotus’ uncredited collaboration with Herbie Hancock, ‘Moment of Hesitation’. The track is a tight little jazz number which Ellison has twiddled his knobs over. What should be out of place on an electronic record sits well. The track really highlights the similarities in Flying Lotus and Hancock’s practises, and coalesces the samples used throughout You’re Dead! in a satisfying way. After another lacklustre collaboration, this time with FlyLo’s alter ego Captain Murphy, the record slows down and we are left with a repeating gospel sample, “We will live on, forever”, before the needle lifts and ends Flying Lotus’ study of death. A frustrating record, You’re Dead! is let down with its collaborations and these, unfortunately, occupy the foreground when the LP comes back to mind. Lamar and Hancock’s appearances are extraordinary, as are a number of the small instrumental numbers, but these again are punctuated with mediocrity.
What’s On(line)? Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien 5 stars Aphex Twin - Syro 5 stars alt-J - This is All Yours 3 stars The Drums - Encyclopedia 3 stars Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balcony 5 stars As well as recent interviews with Twin Atlantic, Phox and Charlie Simpson
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onday 6th October saw the release of Watford four-piece Lower Than Atlantis’ fourth album. Following their pattern of experimentation on new records, the group have certainly branched out and produced an offering of songs which are recognisably LTA, but bolder and more mature. This summer has seen Lower Than Atlantis transition into the world of mainstream radio, with Radio One taking a particular interest in their track ‘Here We Go’, which opens the album somewhat fittingly. Definitely a crowd-pleaser, the song’s chart success is undeniably down to its lighter and faster tone. The album version sounds different from Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record in the World. Maybe this isn’t the radio edit, or maybe the track just sounds more LTA when played with LTA, but either way long-time fans of the band should enjoy it.
“This album definitely feels more musically rounded than LTA’s previous records” Lower Than Atlantis’ second album single, ‘English Kids in America’ has also been a popular release. Aside from the feel-good anthemic pulse of the track, the incredible skill with which lead singer Mike Duce performs the guitar riffs deserves a nod of recognition. Sandwiched between this and ‘Here We Go’ lies ‘Ain’t No Friend’, one of the band’s more experimental tracks. The juxtaposition works. The electronic feel to the song makes it easy to imagine LTA being played in a
club near you. Its always great to see a band with such an established and recognised style branch out successfully, and here Duce’s change in focus is really highlighted. Gone are the deeply therapeutic and autobiographical lyrics – although the song still talks about a relationship breaking down, more attention has been paid to the music which appears to carry the theme in itself.
“The band’s personal forays into the pop world are audible” Duce’s lyrics have not been ignored completely however – the slightly techno and string-heavy ‘Criminal’ points fingers at those who didn’t quite agree with the band’s previous decisions, and the slower songs of the album really draw out the emotive way in which Duce still writes. ‘Words Don’t Come so Easily’ is catchy and moving, a lethal combination. ‘Just What You Need’ manages to combine impressive guitar riffs with a more calm and lamenting verse to great success. However, the album itself is not sombre. The band’s personal forays into the pop world are audible, yet it works well and compliments the new musical direction Lower Than Atlantis appear to be storming towards. Although the group signed to Sony after the album was recorded, this album definitely feels more musically rounded than LTA’s previous records. It finally feels like the band have found a mixture of styles and music that defines them, and vice versa, a style that they have now defined.
Music 19
| 8th October 2014
Tales from the road: OxStu touring stories
Sachin Croker, Jessy Parker Humphreys, Amelia Brown and Katie Jeffries-Harris talk about going on tour Sachin Croker
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Bel Esprit
here’s a legend that only 50 people saw The Sex Pistols play Manchester on their first tour, but that every single person there formed a band. Among the supposed guests were members of Joy Division, The Smiths and many more of Manchester’s future icons. It must have been a legendary gig indeed. However, playing a gig to a tiny audience is never as glamorous as that fable suggests, especially in a city that isn’t your home. My band Bel Esprit recently played a gig in London at the invitation of Gary Powell of The Libertines, and so we were presented with our first out of town touring opportunity. ten minutes before our stage time we realised that without our usual audience of Southampton natives, we might be playing to our most hardcore fans only – our mums. But in the words of Scott Pilgrim – ‘a gig is a gig is a gig’ and playing places without your usual fans is part and parcel of being a band. In our case, we went out and gave our all, and as people started trickling in we were relieved from potential embarrassment. Hopefully we have now learnt one of the key lessons of touring: bring people.
“We also spied Wadham College choir wandering around the Slovak capital - clearly college choirs are not very original with their tour destinations”
Amelia Brown
In The Pink
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or our tenth year running, the acapella group In The Pink headed up to Edinburgh festival for three weeks over the summer. Having spent a week rehearsing, getting to know the city and enjoying the theatre and comedy on offer, we were soon ready to begin performing. On the Royal Mile, tourists and locals are besieged with flyers to every show imaginable and we added ourselves to the crowds, advertising our show with flyers and busking. It was then time to head off to our daily show for an hour of singing, dancing and applause! It was an amazing experience and we loved every moment.
PHOTO/James Polley
Katie Jeffries-Harris
Schola Cantorum
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merica’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the largest popular music museum in the world complete with Elvis Presley’s sold gold Cadillac, numerous Dolly Parton outfits and the Schola Cantorum of Oxford singing some of the finest English choral music ever written. At least that was how it stood around lunchtime on 25th September 2014. This is one of many incredible experiences to be remembered from Schola’s two week tour of the States. Over the course of the tour the choir experienced two time zones, eight cities, five Universities, and eight incredible concerts.
PHOTO/Rosie Mai
‘Before the Dawn’ – what music can be
Thomas Barnett is left awestruck by returning star Kate Bush’s London show
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ate Bush’s ‘Before the Dawn’ was an experience that rendered the critical apparatus of music journalism pretty much obselete. Transcendent and overachieving on every imaginable level, ‘Before the Dawn’ is perhaps the pinnacle of an already dizzyingly accomplished career. Not only one of the finest pieces of musical theatre ever assembled, but also a stunning reinterpretation of some of the most fascinating pieces of music from Bush’s oeuvre.
“Ships sank, rooms flooded, and mayday calls were sent”
As ships sank, rooms flooded, and mayday calls were sent, Bush brought startlingly vivid life to her classic ‘Ninth Wave’ suite from
1985’s Hounds of Love album. After a brief interval (during which most of the audience remained standing motionless, utterly speechless, mouths agape like so many startled fish), the ‘A Sky of Honey’ suite from Aerial unfurled to the backdrop of rolling clouds. It featured a fascinating set-piece focussing on ‘The Painter’, played by Bush’s son, Bertie. However, encapsulating and uniting these dreamy narratives of dawn, shipwreck, birdsong, ghosts and magic was the even more compelling story of Bush’s career. The seemingly eclectic opening trio of ‘Lily’, ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘Joanni’ function to reintroduce Bush as a living entity to her legions of devotees. Encoded in lyrics like “Oh Lily, I’m so afraid”, “I’ve always been the coward”, and “She looks so beautiful in her armour”,
this cryptic triptych was a searingly frank acknowledgement of the personal significance of the shows.
“‘Before the Dawn’ is one of the most important, things to have happened to music for a very long time”
As for the band, the very best I can do is to quote the man next to me (who wept for a good fifteen minutes during the second half and who nearly concussed his wife whilst dancing to the encore of ‘Cloudbusting’) in his loud, repeated assessment that they were “shit-hot, I mean, just SHIT-hot”. The technical virtuosity deployed to tackle the often complex and multi-layered pieces of music was
nothing short of breath-taking. Every iconic drum beat, shriek and rolling synth wave was captured with a new freshness yet compellingly faithful to the original recordings. As an operatic tragedy, a family story, or simply an outstandingly good concert, ‘Before the Dawn’ is one of the most important, beautiful and joyous things to have happened to music for a very long time. Testament to this bold claim is the fact that never before have I known a room full of people in London to be so nice to each other. Total strangers embraced, danced, and even wept on each other’s shoulders. As Bush enacted shipwreck onstage, her audience were physically clinging to each other for dear life - flabbergasted flotsam in the wake of a truly phenomenal musical power.
Jessy P H
Jesus Choir
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hen my friend told me that you could see all of Bratislava in 30 minutes, I laughed in his face. Yet as Jesus College choir arrived into a city which doesn’t seem to have changed considerably since the collapse of communism, I realised he was right. The small cobbled streets of Bratislava contrasted hugely with the historical metropolis of Vienna, the other stop on our tour and just an hour’s boat ride down the Danube. In mostly gorgeous July weather, the choir got to sing at venues as iconic as Stephansdom (Vienna) and St Martin’s Cathedral (Bratislava). We also spied Wadham College choir wandering around the Slovak capital - clearly college choirs are not very original with their summer tour destinations. The best venues to sing at were often the more tourist filled ones. They tend to be fuller and more relaxed, with people happy to wander around as the choir sang. Yet nothing compares to the generosity of the Franciscan monks who hosted us at their church and rewarded us after with wine and nibbles. Add to this searching the cities for places showing the World Cup, some incredible food served seven storeys above Bratislava and spying on Tom Odell gigging, it was a tour to remember.
Win tickets to an upcoming gig! Want to see some of record label Communion’s best up and coming artists? We have two tickets to see Amber Run, FYFE, Kimberly Anne and Pixel Fix play The Art Bar on 7th November. The record label is the home of artists like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Deap Valley, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Michael Kiwanuka, and Pale Seas. Aside from being run by one of Mumford and Sons, it has a great reputation for picking the best upcoming young talent. To enter simply email us at music@oxfordstudent.com with “Communion Competition” in the subject line!
I wanted to make a difference. So I did. Just 16% of pupils eligible for free school meals make it to university, compared to 96% from independent schools.* Â Change their lives. Change yours.
*Source: Sutton Trust, 2010
Matt Inniss, The University of Cambridge Taught: History Now: Head of Department
Applications to join the 2015 cohort open on the 11 June 2014 (7th Week) If you are applying from an Arts or Humanities background please apply early as these subjects will close first
The single most important thing you will do
teachfirst.org.uk Charity No 1098294
21 Screen
Screen
Thomas Bannatyne St. Hilda’s College
T
he John Hugheses of this world have ngrained into our cultural consciousness that the best, most memorable and most relatable coming of age films are comedies. Though drama always exists beneath the humour and there is darkness as well as levity, the charismatic exploits of Ferris Bueller and the antics of the American Pie boys dominate, and, whether the comedy is clever or not, it is central to telling a familiar story. Indeed, the teen movie market has been cornered by directors wishing to relive their cinema-going experiences of the ‘80s, openly invoking Hughes and his contemporaries to milk the genre dry. But the exploratory teenage years are not solely preserved for gross-out experiences or sharp dialogue. They can be awkward, but in a distressing and not at all funny way. Coming of age films are by no means limited to the bounds of the American high school comedy, and often the most affecting are those which reserve their humour, and take a more macabre turn. Alfonso Cuaron’s Y Tu M Tambien (2001) takes the coming of age template and twists it into something with far less sugar and far more bite. It has all the hallmarks of a road trip/sex comedy: teenagers Tenoch and Julio convince an older woman to join them on a journey and they come to discover a great deal about friendship, sex and love. But while Tenoch and Julio’s coming of age is at times funny and heart-warming, it is elsewhere devastating and savage. Cuaron treats his audience to a mysterious sense of tragedy; throughout the film the sound cuts out and a narrator growls, not about a buoyant future, but about morbid details, some of which seem inconsequential to the story itself. We are told of a man killed on the road, leading to the traffic jam our protagonists sit in, and a memorial to a car crash that they pass briefly. If the characters and audience take anything from the film, it is not so much about themselves or their potential, as many films of the genre would have, but about mortality. Julio and Tenoch come to learn not just about sex and the usual fare, but also about the proximity of death and the need to make the most of life. Their maturity comes from their unique experiences, and their passage from masturbating layabouts to open-minded
but serious young men is engrossing if at times painful. Cuaron takes the sexfuelled teenage mindset, but keeps the stupidity toned down, allowing his audience to come to terms with the grim but inevitable truths of relationships, life and death. If Y Tu Mama Tambien derives some of its power from its closeness to a mainstream experience – many people can claim to have, or have had, a similar, though maybe watered down, experience to Tenoch, Julio and their friends – Ciudade de Deus (City of God, 2002) documents a more specific type of adolescence. Following the youth of a group of young characters from a district of Rio de Janeiro, it finds itself wrapped up in the violence and horrors of the drugs trade. Our hero Rocket, more interested in pursuing girls and finding a job, is caught up in the wars on the street, and wrestles to find his place outside the criminal network. Over the course of the film’s narrative, Rocket forges for himself an upward trajectory, while the bulk of his peers are dragged deeper down. His teenage years are rife with violence and terror, whereas we are more familiar with anxiety and confusion. Still, even though City of God is less ostensibly about a coming of age, and more explicitly about the cyclical nature of crime and its widespread effects, the development in confidence and ambition that Rocket undergoes, both in the criminal world and in his more typical teenage experiences, resonate with the audience as both admirable and empathetic. Returning to English-language cinema, the story of Carrie White is a forceful and haunting tale of selfdiscovery. Stephen King’s novel is a popular one for filmmakers, with three adaptations made since 1976. Once again the components for a standard coming of age story are present: the marginalised teenager with a torrid school life and an even more horrific home life begins to come to terms with her own capabilities and even begins to blossom socially. There is, of course, the difference that her capabilities involve telekinesis. However, Carrie’s discovery and subsequent mastery of her power has widely been regarded as a deft metaphor for puberty, the biological coming of age. It is telling that the growth of her telekinetic ability coincides with her first
Coming-of-age films are by no means limited to the bounds of American high school comedy.
period, and, just like many a teen movie, the pivotal scene is prom night. Yet instead of gross-out gags or schmaltzy romance there is grisly horror. Of the three adaptations, while Chloe Grace Moretz’s rendition has promising moments, it is Brian De Palma’s original that stands out as the most vivid and testing, with Sissy Spacek’s performance as Carrie encapsulating the awkwardness of her teenage years and
8th October 2014
every actor, director and person has undergone, which can make the more broad-ranging contributions of the genre all the more effective.
Not your average coming-of-age tales
the combination of fear and excitement as she finds her feet. Carrie’s powers help her become independent from her terrifyingly dominant mother, and allow an insignificant and much ridiculed girl to make a mark. Framing the coming of age in a horror setting, but still within some familiar boundaries gives Carrie an unnerving appeal to the audience. Those who have experienced her status as a social outcast can feel her thrill at being accepted and her devastation at being bullied, and perhaps shudder even more at the more horrifying moments. Though De Palma’s version thrives in the supernatural moments, it has an authenticity which the most recent version ignored in exchange for spectacle, ensuring that Carrie’s plight is one that an audience can deeply feel. Coming of age films can be seen as an overworked and, nowadays, clichéd, but there is a diversity in the range of films which express the same emotions and challenges of growing up. It is perhaps easier to palate feel-good comedies, but sometimes something darker or even horrific is necessary to evoke the complexities of that age. Whether it is in forging one’s own path against the seemingly relentless tide, or searching for meaning in one’s own life, or life in general, films of all languages, genres and styles can affect an audience and give context to their worries or aspirations. Regardless of how alien the concept is, be it the vicious Rio drug trade or the discovery of supernatural powers, there are strands of truth, the truth of a rite of passage that
Not so much about the characters and their potential, but about mortality
Screen 22
8th October 2014
Life After Beth: Coming-of-Zombie? Tom Roles
Worcester College
J
PHOTO/ davidzellaby
eff Baena’s directorial debut is a Frankenstein’s monster of a zomrom-com; it’s a straggly mess of stumpy, mangled ideas bolted together just so it can stagger through 89 clumsy minutes. And it’s made all the more difficult to watch by the niggling feeling that somewhere in Hollywood’s screenplay graveyard there’s a better film that’s been unjustly buried alive. Zach Orfman (Dane de Haan) is a morose teen with floppy hair whose girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza) dies after being bitten by a snake whilst out hiking. In an effort to make sense of it all, he finds himself spending more and more time with Beth’s grieving parents, Maury and Geenie, but they suddenly stop responding to his calls. Fuelled by anxiety and a suspicion of betrayal, Zach mopes around their house, and catches a glimpse of a figure which looks unnervingly like Beth through a dingy window. Is it the hallucinatory delusion of a young man coming to terms with tragic circumstances? No. Beth has been “resurrected”. And not, despite Maury and Geenie’s pro-
testations, “just like Jesus”. The core idea could easily have led to something more surreal and ingenious; the abject loneliness induced by teenage grief finds a source of distraction and even comfort in the escapist conventions of zombie cinema. Not wholly original perhaps, but at least admirable. One can sense the muffled cries of this central theme desperately clamouring to be heard, particularly in the first thirty minutes, but they’re consistently drowned out by a catalogue of narrative wrong turns and a preference for short-sighted comic quirkiness. That natural desire to reconnect with our
loved and lost ones is nodded to just enough to make you think the film has sprung from interesting intentions, but the script then embarks on an aimless journey, wandering restlessly from distraction to distraction, like a fidgety toddler. At first, Aubrey Plaza’s performance rather successfully manages to hold its offbeat own amidst the chaos around her in a surprisingly likeable
way, but her descent into zombie growling leaves the rest of the film to flounder alone. Anna Kendrick pops up from nowhere as an utterly predictable and perfunctory narrative convention, introduced solely to drag the film torturously towards that ‘feature-length’ marker: sheer laziness is unconvincingly disguised as gentle ironic mocking of well-worn cinematic ground, with a subtext that says: ‘If you’re not laughing, it’s because you’re not trying hard enough.’ There’s solid stuff from John C Reilly somewhere in all this as Beth’s endearing father, and Matthew Gray Gubler is underused as Kyle Orfman, Zach’s gun-obsessed older brother. Zach and Kyle’s characters, though disparate at first, do find some understated common ground, in another segment of the story that inexplicably gets relegated in favour of dumbed-down zany piffle. Molly Shannon doesn’t deserve the knocking she’s had elsewhere for her performance as Beth’s mother Geenie, portraying the variously grieving, loving and interfering elements of her character in an unexpectedly charming manner. Ultimately though, Life After Beth is less than the sum of its parts. The overwhelming sense of mediocrity it leaves you with belies some interesting ideas and good performances that refuse to ‘stay dead’, despite the best self-defeating efforts of Jeff Baena.
Of Virgins and Suicides Sam Joyce
Balliol College
“
You’re not even old enough to know how bad life gets.” “Obviously Doctor, you’ve never been a thirteen year old girl.” So begins The Virgin Suicides, an ethereal mystery about a family of suicidal neighbourhood girls, and the boys who loved them. First time director Sofia Coppola captures the twilight of adolescence, somehow both endless and fleeting. The boys, now men, narrate the film, looking back on the tragedies that struck the Lisbon family. The men are still fascinated. How could these young women, who had been so popular and desired, have been so miserable? The film’s presentation of the deaths is unnervingly calm, almost unreal. How can the boys feel so unemotional about the deaths of the Lisbon girls, except for the way in which they remind them of their own fleeting youth? The film understands the misery and confusion of being young, but also the tragedy of its transient nature. Kirsten Dunst’s Lux wakes up alone in the middle of a football field. It’s the morning after a school dance. She just lost her virginity. Arriving home, Lux and her remaining siblings are locked away inside their home, a punishment for breaking curfew. The
The film understands the misery of youth, but also the tragedy of its transient nature
Laura Hartley Christ Church
O
nly one word can really describe how I felt leaving the screening of Gone Girl this week: disturbed. The story begins when protagonist Nick Dunne (Affleck), receives a call from a nosy neighbour whilst at work, alerting him to the fact that his front door is wide open and his cat is sat outside the house. Nick returns home to find his wife, Amy (Pike), gone and glass tables overturned. It’s Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary and something is amiss. The police are called and an investigation follows. This investigation soon becomes America’s biggest news story as the media discovers that Amy, a beautiful New Yorker, and the inspiration for America’s favourite children’s books, Amazing Amy, is presumed to have been murdered by her cool and calm husband, Nick. “I did not kill my wife. I am not a muderer.” These two phrases are repeated again and again by Nick as he becomes
PHOTO/ substance
OxStu’s pick of the week: Gone Girl the primary suspect in the investigation into his wife’s disappearance. As time goes on you begin to hate Nick more and more as it becomes glaringly obvious that he has been lying to the police and is withholding information. True to the book, this film is told from the alternating perspectives of Nick and Amy. Nick’s narrative is told in the present, whilst Amy’s gives us a glimpse into how the relationship between her and Nick has developed over the course of their marriage. It is from Amy’s narration that you begin to see the cracks in Nick’s story – or is it the other way round? Is Nick lying? Or is Amy lying? Maybe they’re both lying? (Good luck trying to wrap your head around this one.) “You ever hear the expression that the simplest answer is often the correct one? Actually, I’ve never found that to be true.” Keep this in mind when you think of Gone Girl, because I guarantee that you will not be able to predict the outcome of this film. Around halfway through this film, a huge plot twist is revealed that changes everything. Prior to this game-changer you’re probably thinking that you’ve got it all sussed out and wondering how they could possibly drag out the outcome of this story for another hour
Lisbon girls become trapped in an ivory tower stuffed with ‘50s records and soft toys. At night, Lux retreats to the roof, wrapped in a blanket, cigarette in hand, an adolescent siren calling out to the neighbourhood boys, who every night offer up one of their number to keep her company. The younger boys watch these rooftop rendezvous from across the street, awestruck and terrified. Lux holds court on the roof, as fascinated by her audience as they are with her. The film becomes about the male gaze, about the simultaneous idolisation of, and protection of, the feminine. Coppola’s camera loves Kirsten Dunst. She dances for us in front of the camera, twirling in slow motion. But Coppola’s greatest asset is her capacity to return this gaze on to the audience. Her feminine sensibility imbues the film’s leering stare with the perspective of its female subjects. They seem to be looking right back out at us, through the pastel colours and soft rock soundtrack, through the knowing stare of Dunst’s Lux, who occasionally glances right into the lens. In this way, the girls’ real selves peer out through the memories and projections of the boys who remember them. The film becomes a commentary on the cinematic medium itself, particularly in the gendered way it depicts coming of age narratives. By the end of the film, the causes of the suicides remain elusive. The film has led us into regarding these girls more as puzzles than people, unknowable and unsolvable. Perhaps this is how it always was. And so we’re left, like the boys, consumed by an enigma.
and a half. Perhaps if you’re a thriller fanatic, you’re still not quite convinced that all is as it seems, but either way, you won’t be prepared for just how dark and disturbing this film gets. When you think the story has reached its peak, it just grows even darker to the point where you begin to seriously question the mental stability of the scriptwriter, and author, Gillian Flynn. How could someone write a tale this disturbing? Gone Girl combines a darkly chilling tale that cleverly analyses some of the big questions of our time (including gender stereotypes, marriage, even the obsession with celebrity) with a near perfect cast and script, all of which is delivered under Fincher’s brilliant direction. Rosamund Pike’s performance as Amy will stay with you long after you have left the cinema in what is probably one of the most mesmerising performances of the year, which places her as a serious contender for Best Actress at next year’s Oscars. Gone Girl also stands in good stead to be nominated for numerous other awards, Best Score, Best Editing, Best Director and Best Picture, but with a few months to go, we’ll just have to wait and see. Impeccably crafted, this is not one to miss.
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Stage 28 Stage
8th October 2014
“Stark, tortured” Greek play shows promise Sam Sykes New College
A
PHOTO/ The Furies
n Oxonian institution worth celebrating, the triennial Oxford Greek Play is going strong. Following on in the footsteps of 2008’s Agamemnon and 2011’s Clytemnestra, this year’s instalment will complete Aeschylus’ trilogy with The Furies, under the directorship of Arabella Currie. Where 2011’s Clytemnestra was unusually interpreted with elements of Japanese theatre, The Furies promises to renew Aeschylus’ play with a stark, tortured aesthetic. Director Arabella wants to strip the play down to its core, to see Aeschylus as “a painter and a musician”, vividly bringing out the colours and rhythms of his work. Although the visual elements of the production are not quite in place yet, (though talk of “oily” Furies and “metallic” Gods certainly piqued the imagination), it is easy to see just how central movement and rhythm are to this production.
Influenced by the strange sculptures of Henry Moore and the haunting paintings of Francis Bacon, the choreography of the Furies (the play’s chorus) is entrancing as they contort their bodies, crawl and squat on their haunches like wild animals (perhaps evoking the savagery of life in a society not knowing Athenian justice). During scenes in which they fade more into the background, the Furies still ebb and flow across the stage, a palpably menacing presence; as Orestes supplicates the Gods for forgiveness, the Furies gradually surround him, avatars of an inevitable fate. The only presence which subdues them is Apollo’s – yet even he, supposedly an envoy of true justice, is subsumed by the bleak, macabre aesthetic, as he creepily caresses Orestes’ back and almost throttles the Furies to direct them to where he wants. In similar fashion, we watch the ghost of Clytemnestra emerge from a sort of plastic cocoon with jerky, robotic motions, which convey a whole world of torment and
anger. A lot of work has clearly gone into this precise choreography, and indeed when speaking to the cast and director, we find out that to come up with ideas, they have not only watched and improvised from old mime videos and practised imitating predator and prey sequences from old David Attenborough documentaries, but even prepared for some rehearsals with yoga. Complimenting this fascinating choreography is an array of musical devices. Intermittent gusts of shrill string music, followed by staccato salvos of percussion, stretched the tension taut like a bowstring, while the chorus sections have been transformed into song – song which sounds darkly, perversely lyrical, yet is also contorted with strange angular intervals. One especially brilliant chorus section saw them alternating a breathless, panting a cappella of panic with a slow, dreamy interlude – similar contrasts abounded; the often joyous music jarred powerfully against the gruesome content of their verses. Composer Joseph Cur-
rie informs us that, in addition to this already rich range, there will be a semi-improvisational element in the ensemble playing. The acting still has some way to go, but performance was pretty strong from all, with Hannah Marsters’ Clytemnestra and Jack Taylor’s commanding Apollo as standouts. Overall quality is astonishing for a play in ancient Greek in which half the cast don’t even study Classics! No matter how many rooms you put in your memory palace (apparently one cast member’s technique for learning lines), memorising that many words, which are essentially gibberish to you, is an incredible feat. Given how potent this half of a run-through was – without costumes, lighting, set (and everyone knowing their lines!) – we can only imagine how good this is going to be.
The Furies is playing at The Oxford Playhouse from the 15th-18th of October
Back to unreality: fantasy literature staged at O’Reilly Madeleine Perham St Hilda’s College
W
hat defines the fantasy genre? Generally, what happens within the pages of such books is impossible, and closing the book returns us to a different and more straightforward world. Fantasy stories travel, spanning whole worlds (sometimes crossing into more than one) and hurtling through time. And the characters: they’re rarely familiar and true to life (“my auntie always gets like that during family dinners”) but instead stretch the imagination (“my auntie always rides her unicorn like that”). A talking bear whose soul is intertwined with his armour, or a stubbornly loyal piece of luggage that stalks its owner through the Discworld. If you move beyond the normal worries of ‘the wrong casting’, any character can be easily brought to life on screen. A point in time and space can be realised by good VFX or loca-
tion shoots. Middle Earth is found in the tree-green mountains of New Zealand where Andy Serkis capered in a lime green suit. You can adapt any book with ease in the cinema. The stage is a very different beast – and one that’s physically present rather than imagined. The challenges of putting a much-
“You can adapt any book with ease in the cinema. The stage is a very different beast” loved book on stage can be solved by perseverance and ingenuity. To adapt a more ambitious novel – one that leaps places and periods and involves a cast of characters you’d never find in everyday life – is a labour of love. For the team behind His Dark Materials: Part One, running in 5th week at the Keble O’Reilly, love of the original novels is exactly what drives the project. I remember the books for bears and
pine martens and tearing open the Aurora. His Dark Materials, using the script first performed at the National, will rely on costumed actors, puppets and a fast pace to ultimately split open the universe on the O’Reilly stage. In contrast, Orlando comes to the O’Reilly in 6th week, relating Virginia Woolf’s 800-page ‘biography’ of a fantastic figure who lives for five hundred years and changes gender partway through. Orlando is often considered to be one of Woolf’s masterpieces, for its powerful exploration of gender through time as well as its ambitious sweep of history. To match Woolf’s gliding movement through time, the production is consciously theatrical: the storyline conveyed through a chorus surrounding Orlando, and the changing settings by projection and costume. English students helm both productions, but the stories they tell are childhood favourites or liter-
ary masterpieces. If you’ve never got round to reading the book, head to the O’Reilly in 5th or 6th week and sample some of England’s greatest literature and
its impossible worlds brought to life on stage.
PHOTO/ Peculiar Spectacles
Stage 29
8th October 2014
“There is some delicious irony in turning up without any actors”
Former Oxford linguist Ramin Gray, director of Blind Hamlet, speaks to Marcus Li about the theatrical rationale behind his unique production, the “bloody-mindedness” of artists, and attacking the theatrical norm Marcus Li Magdalen College
A
fter a stint at the Edinburgh Fringe, Ramin Gray’s production of Blind Hamlet is now touring around Europe. The play that uses audience participation, no actors, and audio recordings of the writer, Nassim Soleimanpour, has been called a “groundbreaking” piece of theatre.
As a linguist yourself, having read Arabic and Persian at Oxford, and, of course, the internationality of this particular production, how has learning languages affected you in the theatre?
Some people think it really works well and some people think
With such an abstract piece, there are bound to be a lot of open interpretations. What would you want your audience to come out of the theatre thinking?
You have been described as “groundbreaking”; the play has no actors but just a stage manager to set up the dictaphone, and has been described as “boundary-pushing”, “original” and “experimental”. Do you think the concept of theatre is revolutionising in the modern age and how do you see the future of the theatre?
There is a sense of parallel between the writer losing his vision and the idea of a blind Hamlet, isn’t there?
Well… Aspects of Hamlet, perhaps. Hamlet speaks to us all, or it would not be the world’s most famous play. We find ourselves in that moment of vacillation, existential questioning, disconbobulation, savage irony, and black humour... But you certainly do not need to know the play to participate. Just because a play has the word “Hamlet” in it, doesn’t mean it has to be the Hamlet, there are other reasons…
In relation to previous plays you have worked on with the ‘Actors Touring Company’, what is new or different about Blind Hamlet?
What is it like working with Nassim? What was it that made you want to work with him?
It is something that I particularly like, something that is very simple and pared-down. Only strictly speaking what is necessary, because the thing that you see on stage that you don’t normally see is people drawn from the audience. We just made a very simple space for that to happen, and it’s rather elegant, don’t you think?
I think it all depends on if you participate imaginatively and go with it and see where it takes you. Not necessarily joining in actively, but I do mean imaginatively, and not just sit back passively. The other thing is if you get picked to be on stage, you will get a very different perspective of the play than if you were to just view it from the audience. I want the audience to be entertained and have fun, to come in with openness and wanting to join in.
Well, every play is like learning a new language in the sense that you have to pick up an ear for the tone, the weight, the value, and the meaning that is encoded in the language the writer uses. It is revelatory hearing writers speak in their own language because you really hear what they intend. When writers read their work, they give them a spin and a twist and a real sense of humour. That I find invaluable. If I lost my eyesight, I would probably still turn up to rehearsals, but if I couldn’t hear, then it would be very difficult for me.
As the name suggests, we normally tour around the world with actors, putting on plays. But with this one, one of the curious things was what would it be like to have a play with no actors. There is a stage manager, and that’s it. It literally depends on who’s there, which, by the way, is the first line of Hamlet: “Who’s there?” And the challenge in the team was to find a way to inveigle the audience to participate. And that, formally, is very difficult to achieve. I just worked with Nassim on recording his voice. There is some delicious irony in turning up without any actors.
It touches on themes in literature and ‘Game Theory’. We tour a lot of university towns in the country, and I am often shocked that in these towns, how few of the drama students come to see the work. I think that at Oxford and Cambridge, because drama is very much cherished, there is a completely different relationship with theatre.
PHOTO/ David Levine
it’s a bit of a botched failure. Nassim has got a certain degree of self-confidence and you could say, stubbornness. There is something about writers, all artists; they have got to have a core of bloody mindedness and self-confidence. That core of stubbornness is really important, because the process of making any art is very difficult. You need strength in yourself to push through to get to the conclusion. Why should people go and watch
this play? I think for Oxford students in particular, it is very interesting to get the perspective of a young Iranian playwright having a go and trying to attack or challenge the norms of drama, of how plays are and can be made. So I think it is formally very innovative and inventive, whilst referencing people like Samuel Beckett and Shakespeare. What you will experience is a sort of message in a bottle… from Iran.
There are nevertheless all sorts of echoes between the two: the relationship of the stage manager to the tape-recorded voice is not unlike the relationship of Horatio to Hamlet. Or the fact that there is a voice, a dead thing, coming back is obviously like the ghostly and disembodied voice of King Hamlet. This is after all the thing that kicked off the whole magnificence of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. There are indeed many parallels if you know Hamlet really well, but if you do not, that is fine too. What is the aesthetic you are going for in this piece?
When I started doing plays some thirty years ago, I was obsessed with creating a reality in the rehearsal room, and I was always very disappointed because I tried to carry that through onto the stage, and then got even more depressed when the audience came and it failed to materialise. Since then, I have realised I was looking in the wrong place. The play doesn’t happen on stage, the play is really happening in the auditorium, in the head, the heart and the body of the audience. So, I come to the idea of investigating the audience, and putting them on stage; I see that as a logical development of my own thinking. Theatre is always going to be about people in a shared space, interacting with each other. I think one of the reasons maybe theatre is anything gaining in popularity, and certainly not waning in any way, is because the more time one spends on the tablet or the telephone, the more one appreciates the physicality, the reality, the challenge, the grittiness, and the importance of interacting with fellow human beings in a shared space. And that is what it’s all about.
Blind Hamlet is playing at Cambridge Junction on 8th October and Lincoln Performing Arts Centre on 9th October
30 Stage
8th October 2014
All the world’s a stage for Globe’s international tour As the Globe prepares for its international tour, Rebecca Took gets an insder’s glance at rebellious costumes and Jacobean stages, and talks to the cast and crew of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
PHOTO/ Globe Publicity
Rebecca Took St Hugh’s College
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or Dominic Dromgoole’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the infamous proclamation by Shakespeare that “All the world’s a stage”, seems fittingly appropriate. The play, which has been performed at Shakespeare’s Globe, London for the past five months, is upping sticks for Asia, moving on to Russia later in the year. Although the Globe, the brainchild of American actor and producer Sam Wanamaker, has been a UK touring company for some 17 years, it is the first time the company will have undertaken such a far-reaching tour. Wanamaker’s ambition for the Globe was to unite Shakespeare’s plays with a theatrical experience replicating that of Jacobean England as closely as possible. The staging is faithful to contemporary Jacobean capabilities, meaning that no
spotlights or sound amplification is used, instead relying on natural lighting, live music and the vocal projection skills of the actors. Such simplistic production not only enhances the atmosphere, but gives the company greater freedom over where they can perform, enabling parks and outdoor areas to be potential performance spaces. Yet while Wanamaker’s
“For many of the Asian and Russian audiences, this tour will enable them to actually experience the play for the first time.” philosophy of authenticity may be easily adhered to in the company’s London home, inevitably compromises could be expected once the tour visits unfamiliar theatres across the actual globe. However, regardless of location, Director Dromgoole is keen to
PHOTO/ Globe Publicity
maintain the unique experience of a Globe production. Designer Jonathan Fensom has purposefully created an imitation of the Globe’s own stage as the core body of the Midsummer Night’s Dream set in order to accommodate this. The staging mimics the Globe’s Italianate mock-marble columns and symmetrical, three-exit composition, although Fensom departs from the play’s Greek setting, translating its Renaissance aesthetic into an Elizabethan English country manor, “such as Charlecote House in Warwickshire”. This is achieved by mirroring chandeliers and a portrait above the mantle of Lord Chamberlain Henry Carey, after whom Shakespeare’s “Lord Chamberlain’s Players” were named, and for whose granddaughter’s wedding A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written. This reference shows the importance given by Dromgoole to the theme of marriage and relationships. This is not only a focus of the play but also of the actors, who strive to establish a relationship with their audience. Traditionally, the ‘groundlings’ who stood throughout the performance would yell replies to the actors’ speeches, akin to a pantomime. While modern audiences are seated, and for the most part quiet, Associate Director Joe Murphy hopes that overseas, the actors and audience will be “complicit in the story together”. The dedication to Henry Carey demonstrates the company’s attempt to incorporate the play’s ancestry, as if the production is aiming for the play’s 16thcentury roots, ignoring more recent interpretations. As such, the design is stimulated by the words of the play itself, rather than a post-dated reading. For instance, the aesthetic of the forest scenes is inspired by the lines “And then the moon, like to a silver bow / New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night / Of our solemnities”. Fensom uses the appearance of the moon to inform the look of the entire fairy realm. An effective forest backdrop can be a tricky thing to make convincing; in many productions of the play the forest has appeared as a Christmas grotto. Thankfully, such unsubtlety is not present in Dromgoole’s version.
PHOTO/ Globe Publicity
Rather, the concept of moonlight informs the appearance of two luminescent grey curtains which run across the width of the stage, acting as the forest scenery. The background is designed to give an ethereal, slightly otherworldly ambience ‘like going to the moon’, Fensom claims. Three slits in this backdrop allow actors seemingly to appear or disappear spontaneously. The faerie world aims to be unsettlingits proximity to, yet disparity from that of the humans is meant to unnerve the audience. Furthermore, while the human characters are costumed in standard Renaissancetype dress, the faerie costumes rebel against the “19th-century, gossamer-wing-type” convention seen in so many other productions. Inspired by taxidermy and mystical creatures, the appearance of the faeries is intended to reflect their original representation as feral miscreants, whose animalistic natures juxtapose the beauty with which they sing. In Dromgoole’s conception, Bottom is not the only character with a creature’s head.
While Assistant Director Joe Murphy claims that “theatre people exist everywhere, and they’re kind of all the same”, just as A Midsummer Night’s Dream is divided among three worlds, this tour has a wider appeal for three distinct kinds of “theatre people”. For a literature student, Dromgoole’s interpretation is interesting in its attempt to faithfully recreate the original wildness of Shakespeare’s play through its aesthetic. For many of the Asian and Russian audiences, this tour, with its on screen subtitles, will enable them to actually experience the play for the first time. Similarly, Brendan O’Hea (who plays Quince) claims the company is excitedly anticipating the tour, as it gives the actors the opportunity “to discover [the play] for the first time again”.
The international tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream starts in Taipei on 2nd October
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Fashion Fashion 32
Olivia Sung
St Catherine’s College
O
ur LFW correspondent Olivia Sung (aka Mouse) assesses some of the best and the brightest of Fashion Week’s catwalks with her almost-but-not-quite-frontrow exclusive access.
Mariana Jungmann
The vibe: Jungmann presented her audience with an aesthetic that was keenly inspired by the molten interiors of a gilded, ancient world. Melding crisp, clean lines with fluid bias-cut fabrics rendered on an unobtrusive palette of monochromes and metallics, there was something deliciously liquid and transitional about this SS15 collection. Hemlines skimmed the marble floors of a regal corridor, or else slashed defiantly above the knee. The standouts: An effortlessly cool hooded deconstructed dress in offwhite slippery silk; a smocky white A-line mini tapping into two current trends - Lolita-esque and 60s mod simultaneously, but elegant and timeless enough to be added to a seasonless rotation wardrobe; a light shimmery drape-effect throw over a sleeveless vest in shimmery sea-
foam. The girl: Cleopatra time-travels into 2014, invests in an iPhone and attends a cocktail party; for the company she’s CEO of, naturally. Regal but unostentatious. Trend reinvention: Accessories from River Island in the run up to party season - shimmery metallic clutch bags, snakeskin shoes. Mouse’s Favourite: A pewter-toned circle midi skirt and billowy peasant blouse combo
Felder Felder
The vibe: The reinvention of Woodstock hippy cool, adding metallic brights, polka dots in a fresh daisy yellow, and a reexamined graphic animal print drafted onto whimsical fabrics. Strictly no sharp lines. Festival chic at its finest. Transitioning into evening wear with the minimalist detailing and sexy-sleek look of the 1990s (they aren’t going away); only now all that confidence is removed of the brash arrogance of its first time round, and repurposed for the cool, self-assured fashion buyer. The Standouts: A bronze-gold two piece of shorts and halter neck crop top; translucent black chevron threepiece halter neck top / kimono / long pants outfit; a pair of tailored metallic blue date-night shorts. The girl: The twentysomething festival graduate; Alexa Chung on a mid-
8th October 2014
and add a vintage 1980s jumper with as much fluff as you can find. Mouse’s Favourite: A white sweetheart-neckline cocktail dress reminiscent of Alicia Silverstone’s Clueless Dress Moment. Only with much more hemline flounce.
Marchesa
The vibe: The London fashion crowd’s equivalent to So Every Christmas Just Came at Once. Strictly NYFW Only stalwart and red carpet darling Marchesa hits the red bus capital. And brings a ritzy, glitzy, frivolous fantasia of high-glam floral confections with it. The standouts: EVERYTHING. The girl: Keira Knightley at the premiere for the film that wins her an Oscar. Trend reinvention: Monsoon, Ted Baker and Coast regularly offer floral cocktail beauties when the spring thaw comes around. Mouse’s favourite: EVERYTHING.
Topshop Unique
The vibe: 1950s Americana meets Olympic sportswoman. A national pride vibe: reds, whites, blues and a dash of black to enhance the look. Basic pieces reinvented with a youthful insouciance bespeaking old school Ralph Lauren. Playful but practical; the daytime garb of a girl who knows how to party. The standouts: A sexy firetruck-
PHOTO/Olivia Sung
Trend reinvention: Genuine army suppliers - find a jacket, take out the sleeves and add silk ones, and throw it over a 1990s bias cut grunge evening gown. Mouse’s favourite: A moss-green, semisheer fauna appliqué bandeau
in all shades of black, were confident, sensual reiterations of the sweetheart neckline. The standouts: An intergalactic lilac/ violet bustier dress in high sheen with a high split skirt; a slate grey turtlecollard pencil dress with silver under
minidress - a stunning NYE choice.
bust detailing; a cool black bustier tailored jumpsuit The girl: She auditioned for a role as a Disney princess; they sent her to borstal instead. Trend reinvention: H&M currently have a great selection of black skirts in interesting fabrics - including a hot shiny neoprene number - but hurry as they’ll sell out quickly. Mouse’s Favourite: A strappy bustier dress with flippy skater miniskirt in a textured silvery black
London Fashion Week: the shows to watch August day in Coachella. Trend reinvention: Tailored highshine and metallic shorts are all over the high street at the moment; try Topshop for a pair to refresh your last-days-of-summer clubbing outfit. Mouse’s Favourite: A long, skyblue-and-leopard-print shirtwaister, one button fastened only: sexycool, but never try-hard.
Sibling
PHOTO/Walterlan Papetti
The vibe: Minnie Mouse grows up, goes to Art School, and meets the post-bubblegum-pop Tutti-frutti incarnation of Lolita as she’s mid-experiment with a high-fashion wardrobe and Aztec prints. The standouts: A bright blue ra-ra skirt with matching teeny-tiny shelf bust crop top; a two-tone diamond patterned midi tank dress in burnt orange; an entirely overblown feathery black knit jumper (and its crop top counterpart). The girl: Lana del Rey at a Tate exhibition. Before the grandiose gloom of Ultraviolence, that is. Trend reinvention: Capes are pervading our favourite stores; try and pick up a graphic print one in H&M for the Autumn transition wardrobe
meets-maroon ponte dress with Brit pop colour and bold block graphic print; a white striped sleeveless roundcollared tank; a generous oversized leather mod biker jacket The girl: Cara, Cara, Cara. Trend reinvention: Topshop’s sale rail in two seasons’ time; genuine American vintage baseball jackets. Mouse’s favourite: A simple empireline strappy summer dress, as seen on this season’s catwalk returner Lily Donaldson.
Mary Katrantzou
The vibe: Breaking away from the signature scribbly prints of her establishing collections, this season MK is all about sharp geometry, structured tailoring and elongated, flowing fabrics in cool earthy shades - think dark Celtic fairytales meets neolithic artwork. The standouts: A floor-sweeping sleeveless opera overcoat with silk lapels and contrasting khaki coat span; a tribalesque fish-scale print military dress with soft pleat skirt and intoned stretch fabrics; a pale blue mix scoopneck cocktail dress with inverted triangular skirt seam and floral appliqué cutwork bodice. The girl: Arwen (of Lord of the Rings) goes shopping on Fifth Avenue.
Tom Ford
The vibe: The master of sultry haute-glam returns his signature sex appeal to the catwalk. Think recent Saint Laurent, but without the frills or Frenchness. Lots of black, lots of tactile fabrics, lots of punk rock oozed through a tin of sludgy black glittery paint… it’s tactile, and delicious. The standouts: It’s Tom Ford. You expect me to CHOOSE? The girl: Cara might be fronting the new perfume campaign, but that’s baby stuff compared to Ford’s runway muse. Think Joan Jett in her heyday. Smoky, a bit Gallic, a bit punk, and incredibly powerful. Trend reinvention: Leather shorts, a good military jacket, your mum’s leather circa or predating 1984, some ravaged American Apparel, and a hefty dose of badass attitude. Oh, and a bass guitar. Mouse’s favourite: Every. Single. Thing.
Emilio de la Morena
The vibe: Paintpot brights gave way to urban metallic cool on the catwalk, all rendered in seductively high-shine and playful fabrics. The final numbers,
Marques Almeida
The vibe: Frayed grunge. Inky blacks, translucent sheers, angled 45-degree drops of fabric, and lots of stray-away slithers of ribbon. The standouts: A sheer bubblegumbright pink long-sleeved blouse with artful ruche detailing to the front and sleeve ties; a block-colour mini-caftan with billowy arms in summer brights; a completely sheer black halter-neck dress The girl: Carrie. Early ‘90s Manhattan Girl About Town. Trend reinvention: Raid Mama’s party clothes from way back when. Mouse’s favourite: A one-shouldered cropped handkerchief vest with ribbon and embellishment details.
Fashion 33
8th October 2014
Olivia Sung
St Catherine’s College
T
here’s been a huge drive towards deconstructing stifling stereotypes of gender and body norm in fashion recently: the last haute couture season saw Conchita Wurst walking for Jean-Paul Gaultier, and UK Vogue paid no mind to putting Kate Upton - with those famous curves - on its front cover in their April issue, signalling a major shift towards a wider range of model body types in the industry. But literally ahead of the curve is Ashley Graham, the size 16 model - and passionate advocate for body positivity - leading the current storm of “alt bodies” in modelling. She’s radiant, healthy, and at the moment, emphatically “nonstandard”; but crucially, she’s at the helm of a new wave of models larger than industry standard (which has, for nearly two decades now, been a waif-like slim size six or smaller) who have been signed to IMG modelling without being tagged as “plus size”. IMG is the company responsible for major models such as Gisele and Karlie Kloss, so the initiative has marked a major change in the discourse of fashion, readdressing the language we use to talk about fashion and our bodies. Changing language is one of the most important step in changing anything, and when it’s coupled with a poster image as striking as Graham’s gutsy, confident, positive attitude, it can really get the ball rolling. She has already infiltrated the high fashion world, having modelled covers for French Elle, and anticipates a major strike for body positivity if she lands a Victoria’s Secret campaign. For a girl who glimmers in Donna Karan and emphasises how “words have power”, there couldn’t be a more important accolade.
Sailor Brinkley Cook
Léa Caresse
Worcester College
S
ailor Brinkley Cook is about to take the modelling industry by storm. Granted, when your mother happens to be one of the biggest names in the business, i.e Christie Brinkley, it does help. But the 16 year-old all-American beauty hasn’t just been content to sit around since signing with number one modelling agency, IMG. Quite the contrary, Sailor has, among others, been busy with Ralph Lauren campaigns and scoring an editorial in Teen Vogue. Talented as a photographer too, this teen is one to keep an eye on.
The OxStu Fashion team pick their top four newcomers to the world of modelling. Keep your eyes open!
Q&A Léa Caresse
Worcester College
Q. Why and how did you get involved in fashion journalism?
A. I always wanted to write, initially essays and books, but then my love for magazines and clothes developed. I love the idea of clothing being a form of expression and exploration.
Manon Leloup Idina Moncrieffe Lisa Cave
The Queen’s College
T
he French do oh so well and Manon Leloup is a classic example; her ice-blue eyes and sweeping fringe were hard to miss as she strutted down a Milan catwalk two weeks ago, opening the S/S 15 show for Georgio Armani. The 22 year-old French model is signed to top agencies Wilhelmina Models, FM Agency and Elite Model Management in New York, London and Stockholm respectively and is as accomplished behind the camera as she is in front of it. Alongside her hefty workload (she walked in no less than 37 A/W shows in 2013), Manon Leloup co-directed a new documentary, Speaking Dolls, which unveils the often uncomfortable reality of the modelling arena. Featuring a handful of Leloup’s cohorts, the 54-minute documentary (which is available with English subtitles on Vimeo) confronts the very real concerns and often ugly truths behind these beautiful faces and offers a candid perspective from those who choose a career with a brutally short shelf-life. “I feel old, even if I’m only 18 years old’ is one particularly resonant line. Leloup, who shot and edited the film herself, describes the finished result as an honest truth that gives these anonymous faces and figures a voice in the industry. A woman with many talents and modelling is clearly just one of them, she is currently fronting advertising campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Carolina Herrera, as well as high-street favourites Gap and Replay. For the time being at least, Manon Leloup is here to stay.
Jennie Graham Christ Church
A
lthough a relative newcomer to the world of modeling, the career of the striking Idina Moncreiffe already seems destined to mirror that of another Scottish darling of the fashion world, Stella Tennant. And with her icy blonde hair and steely gaze, it’s hard not to see why. Also trained as an artist, Idina is fast on the way to becoming the next Northern storm to blow through London. Idina grew up on her family’s estate in Perthshire and went on to train as an artist at Central Saint Martins, before turning her hand to modeling. As a contemporary of Cara and the rest, Idina is well aware of the power of social media savvy, and her fast-growing army of fans follow her exploits with interest, from shoots for Nylon Mexico to posing with street-style designer-du-jour Jeremy Scott for Elle Italia. Having already made appearances in Vogue and Tatler, and with a fair few fashion weeks under her belt, Idina’s star is very much on the rise. Watch out, it seems there is a new Queen of Scots.
PHOTO/Aveda
Ashley Graham
Model citizens
Alice Cavanagh, Editor-in-Chief of Miss Vogue Australia & contributor to American and Australian Vogue
bly. Saying that fashion has always been an industry that embraces change and there will always be new and exciting opportunities.
Q. What is your favorite part about getting the edition of Miss Vogue together?
A. Working with so many talented people. A magazine is a group effort and I love to collaborate, to see how other people interpret a particular subject or vision.
Q. What advice would you Q. Which designer collecgive out to aspiring journal- tion are you particularly ists out there? looking forward to during the Fashion Weeks? A.Ensure that you have a diverse
range of skills and be open-minded about your career goals. Traditional roles within the media are scarce and the landscape has changed irrevoca-
A. I like Isa Arfen and Christophe Lemaire, but am also looking forward to Jonathan Anderson’s women’s collection for Loewe.
PHOTO/www.fashionmoriarty.co.uk
Fashion 34
8th October 2014
International
Style
O
xStu Fashion Editor Jennie Graham has been in Dubai over the summer, and her daily outfit updates are enough to make us unfashionably green with envy. From reclining by the pool to overlooking the futuristic skyline, she has been upholding her style creds wherever she goes. To look at all her ensembles, head over to the newly-redesigned OxStu website: wwwoxfordstudentcom
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Features 8th October 2014
Advice to my fresher self... The OxStu Team
A
t this time each year, student media is flooded with advice for your first year at university. The advice applied to Oxford is particularly cliché and often misleading. While making half the mistakes you’re told to avoid is a crucial part of any fresher experience, in hindsight we all wish there had been someone to tell us how much it is socially acceptable to drink at formal, or how seriously the tutors take their love of niche research subjects (despite the apparent irrelevance to your course). With this in mind, and Freshers Week upon us, the OxStu team have swallowed their pride and unearthed a collection of embarrassing memories and cumulative wisdom to bring you the very best advice they wish they’d known a year (or two) ago. “The first night in college, after
hyperventilating in the toilet of Bella Italia that afternoon, will be spent in a panic during dinner in hall. There are candles, wine lists, and silver spoons that must have been custom made for people with mouths the size of aircraft carriers (try eating soup delicately off them). But it won’t be too posh for you to handle. You end up sitting next to your future (college) husband, who loves your lamb impression to explain vegetarianism. And laughs REALLY loudly. Oh, and everyone hates the spoons.” Rheanna-Marie Hall Features Editor “Do EVERYTHING. No one ever left Oxford regretting not getting more sleep.” James Waddell Deputy Editor-in-Chief “Dear fresher self, Although you’re finding the first
night out of freshers to be a new and very special level of awkward, don’t respond to this by drinking a whole lot of shots from a whole lot of second years. This will most likely result in you having to subtly dash out of the IT induction the next day to throw up in some public toilets. Power through in a more mature fashion – it gets so much better.” Asya Likhtman Stage Editor “Losing everyone you go out with on the first night of freshers isn’t always a bad thing. You can end up stumbling down Cornmarket, being hit by a t*** on a bike and gain sympathy from people who turn out to be the friends you spend the year with, and you might even live with some of them in 2nd year!” Jake Hurfurt Deputy Comment Editor “It’s the ultimate cliché, but just
Features 37
PHOTO/ Matthias Rosenkranz
get involved. Starting Oxford is understandably overwhelming, but don’t let panics about the workload and a desperation to impress terrifying tutors get in the way of anything you want to try out. You have all of Trinity to worry about prelims (which you only need to pass anyway), so for now, take advantage of the amazing opportunities and give something a go. And remember your keys. Having to run to the lodge at 2am because you’re locked out of your room for the third time that week is really never fun.” Elizabeth Freeman Features Editor “Don’t bother befriending any visiting students. Yes, they’re unbelievably exotic, but too late will you realise that they aren’t in it for the long haul and before you know it they’ll have abandioned you for their ‘real’ friends back home.” Natalie Harney
Creative Director “In all likelihood, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of socials, clubs and traditions of Freshers Week. Two things though that you should definitely avoid rushing into:. Firstly, getting collegee married wihtin 24 hours of arriving comes with the great risk of divorce come Trinity; secondly, good mates don’t necessarily make good housemates – choose elections reps, avoid entz reps.” Jack and Jess Editors-in-Chief “ALWAYS save your work. Losing that essay on Barthes in the ether is more painful than a Cheese Floor scrum. It takes a lot of alcohol to wash away essay crisis sorrows anyway, don’t let temperamental and vindictive IT aggravate things.” Alys Key Deputy Editor-in-Chief
38 Features
8th October 2014
I’m in the Bodleian: Get me out of here!
A coping strategy for the dreaded essay crisis, the bogeyman of Oxford student life Oliva Widdowson Worcester College
A
t what point does an essay crisis verge on an existential one? At 2am to be precise. But fear not, freshers! I have some tips that will help you get through the inevitable first essay crisis and how to avoid another one. Get your coffee ready. It’s about to get serious. An essay crisis can be defined as the moment when you realise that you are quite possibly having a mental breakdown and most definitely screwed. Perhaps your deadline is tomorrow and you realise that you have read nothing on your reading list. Maybe it’s that morning and you still haven’t read anything – at this point hang your head in shame. Questions run through your mind such as ‘Why am I here?’, ‘Why didn’t I start earlier?’, ‘Is Bruce Jenner secretly a woman?’. (Seriously, it happens.) Once you have procrastinated through those blissful first stages of denial, confronted the rhetorical questions and realised that Facebook stalking missions should be aborted at all costs, take a deep breath and prepare for the next stage… cramming. Get your shoes on. It’s time to head to the library. Once you have cycled/walked/
cried your way there it is important to understand that time is of the essence. Distractions are for the weak. You are strong. Bod card at the ready, you swipe your way into the Rad Cam, negotiate rows of unfriendly hipsters, and get out your reading list whilst secretly wishing your look was more ‘vintage’ than ‘desperate and need a wash’. But remain calm; they can probably smell fear. Once seated, turn to the back of the book. This is where the index is and the reason you will survive the next 24 hours. Look through and find topics or key words essential to your essay. It also helps to do a small Wikipe-
Your body may have turned into one big coffee bean but as soon as dawn breaks, it will all be over
dia of the subject before you begin any heaving reading, as this will give you a general idea of what the hell you’re supposed to be talking about. Turn off your phone, wificonnection and put away anything else that could disturb your focus. Now it’s time to cram, cram, cram! However be sensible about the amount of reading you can physical do. There are a lot of words in the world and you can’t read ‘em all.
It’s now 2am, or what I like to call ‘scary time’. This is when you must be at your strongest. The introduction has now been written and you need to stick to the vague argument of your essay and run with it as if you were fleeing sharking second years in Wahoo. I find inspirational songs such as Elton John’s ‘I’m still standing’ helpful at this moment. Do not break down. Remember that you deserve to be here and you can do this. Make your paragraphs short and snappy; since at this time they could enter into the realm of nonsensical and hysterical. Your body may have turned into one big coffee bean but as soon as dawn breaks, it will all be over. The conclusion is the hardest part. If all else fails turn philosophical, making it so evasive and wordy that your tutors bow down to your intellectual superiority. Or just sum up your argument and throw in an opinion, just to spice things up a bit. Add in your references and then you are ready to launch yourself into a coma. If by now your pants are slightly soiled by the prospect of an essay crisis, bear in mind that it is not always inevitable. Here are some tips to help you avoid having one. 1. Start early – once you have received your reading list, select six to eight things to read which most interest you and check them out of the library asap. 2. Research your topic on the
PHOTO/ Nic McPhee
internet to give yourself a general overview of the topic and to help to focus your reading. 3. Give yourself a target of reading two to three pieces each day and make notes on a computer, as typing is much faster than handwriting. 4. When tackling a book remember: index, index, index. No one reads a book cover to cover. 5. Pick books or articles that have two opposing views. This will give a good basis for an argument and challenge you to think in an alternative way, making your essay much more interesting.
6. Plan well. Spending time on your plan will make the writing process less arduous and soul destroying. 7. Try and write over two days or give yourself a day to write your essay. I find starting the introduction and first paragraph the evening before the day before the essay is due really helpful as it breaks up the writing process and keeps you and your tutor interested in your essay. If however, you are finding yourself in a never-ending cycle of essay crises, pat yourself on the back. You are now an official Oxford student.
Introducing: a preview of Features’ new columnists The search for Oxford’s ultimate drinking-hole
a city of nearly one hundred public houses and inns – one that two school friends and second year PPEists, at Brasenose and Wadham respectively, intend to investigate with the utmost thoroughness. Having fairly exhausted the ale-based possibilities of their own city, they came up with the singular ambition of having at least one pint (or in Hugh’s case, the occasional half) in every pub in Oxford. Armed with Brakspear’s guide to the ‘And yet, steeped in sentiment as she lies, spreading her gardens to the moonlight, and city’s pubs and a newly minted student whispering from her towers the last enchant- loan, they made a fair crack at the job last ments of the middle ages, who will deny that year (despite occasionally being waylaid in Oxford, by her ineffable charm, keeps ever Purple Turtle). Fearing that their newly calling us closer to the true goal of all us, to found ale-wisdom may be perceived at the ideal, to perfection…?’ best as pointless, and at worst as a sad Nigel Faroates’ tribute to age tribute act, this term Oxford is a fitting they will be writing a reone, but a romanview of a pub each week. tic flight of thought that is Aiming both to highlight rarely felt outside of the state some of Oxford’s little of slight inebriation located known gems to the new somewhere between one’s crop of Freshers and to first and second pint. The tempt older hands away waypoint, between the dull from the respectively peand dutiful concerns of sobricuniary and spatially chalety and the earthier kebab and lenging King’s Arms and companionship aims of true Turf Tavern, they will be drunkenness, is arguably the heading out to the outskirts only moment at which one can of the city and even into a truly appreciate the significance surprise rural location. Deand beauty of our home. It’s spite the mellowing effects PHOTO/ Katie Lips certainly a realistic possibility in of Oxford’s foaming pints,
Jack Lale & Hugh McHale-Maughan
Wadham College & Brasenose College
the reviewers will be sharp when necessary; they show no fear of the brewery-industrial cabal dominating the town’s beer market. From Cowley to Carthax, Jericho to Jesus, Hugh and Jack are stumbling forth on a quest, an adventure that they want you to follow – otherwise they’re just two students getting pissed, aren’t they? Do you have a particular pub that you think is underappreciated by our bright young undergraduates? Or an inn hopelessly overrated? If so, please do let us know at hugh.mchale-maughan@bnc. ox.ac.uk. Anyone fancy a pint?
C
PHOTO/ Hugh McHale-Maughan
A country bumpkin confronts city life Jenny Rowe St. Hugh’s College
I
’ve been in London this week, one of the few times I’ve been there. Or any other British city, for that matter. This in itself goes a pretty long way to introducing myself, and only a tenth of the way through my column – so ideal. Alternatively, I could have told you how I encountered my first kerb: slap, bang in the middle of my forehead, an unwelcome find for the keen and freshly stabiliser-free cyclist. Confused as to why a grassy verge, or at least a cowpat, hadn’t broken my fall, I was greeted with a worms-eye view of an absurd twist of concrete, which had appeared to writhe out of nowhere. Bike bucking in panic, me tumbling down to meet it: “Welcome to the city,” it sneered. But then I realised that the latter was a necessary addition anyway. Fifteen minutes ago I was a sardine, packed into a tin and cartwheeling beneath London. And during that time I learnt more than just the working population’s hygiene habits, or what my neighbour’s music ‘jam’ was. I
learnt more than what I would during a week languishing in my country retreat (ahem – equivalent to a convent, really). Perched royally beside me, the poor victims to many an aching-legged jealous glare of the standing, was an elderly man, kindly wrinkles pinching round wide eyes. Next to him a cleanshaven, coiffured, younger. So, the older man was playing Candy Crush. On an iPad. Very thoughtfully and earnestly, bent over the screen in complete concentration. Next to him, his neighbour, was knitting. A complex little red and white number. It was just so refreshing. And so welcome between those sweaty-bodied breaths. I’d never seen these things before. Welcome to the city.
Follow Jenny’s city adventures each week, exclusively at oxfordstudent.com.
Features 39
8th October 2014
A month’s volunteering in the city of Nablus
Last minute travel plans offer an alternative perspective on daily life in Palestine Aleksandr Al-Dhahir Trinity College Getting here
It was at the most innocuous of events, a birthday party in central London where, at around 1am and a little tipsy, I (quite literally) ran into a guest at the party who would change the course of my summer. The topic of the Middle East came up and this relative stranger told me that he had done some volunteer work with a local charity in Nablus, Palestine. I found myself telling him that I had always wanted to visit the region; a comment which, while true, was made more in passing than with any genuine gusto. Fast-forward two months and here I am, writing this from the office of Human Supporters Association, an NGO that gives trauma counselling to children in Nablus as well as teaching them languages and school subjects. Getting here was certainly not easy. On the five - hour flight, I made best friends with Daniela, a Romanian pathologist working in Tel Aviv who insisted on giving me my first few shekels, force-feeding me biscuits, and telling me that I was the craziest person she had ever met for wanting to go to the West Bank rather than stay in Israel. As we parted ways at Ben Gurion airport, she left me with a jovial “Welcome to Tel Aviv!” Five minutes later, I was sat in a cramped room being interrogated by a man who looked far too much like Seth Rogan to be as stern as he was. Call it caution, call it racial profiling, call
it whatever you want, but if you try to come into Israel with an Arabic surname, albeit with a British passport, you’re going to be questioned for a very, very long time. Later, when I had settled into the guest-house in Nablus, some of the volunteers were shocked I had told Seth the truth about my volunteering in the West Bank, and I discovered that lying is, unfortunately, the quickest way into the region. After three hours at the airport, I was given my passport and allowed to leave, only to advance 50 metres before a woman came up to me and asked me how I was with an incredibly welcoming smile. “Surely she can’t be flirting”, I thought to myself, considering I was pale as a sheet and smelled like stale biscuits. Suddenly she made a move towards me. I closed my eyes puckered my lips in anticipation but, as it turned out, I was being detained yet again by a plain clothes police officer who wanted to search my bag for drugs. By the time I got to the hostel in Tel Aviv, it was nearly midnight. I was knackered, missed Daniela as if she were my own mother, vowed never to watch Knocked Up again, and slept with my bag for a pillow. I reached Nablus hassle-free the next day, entering the northern West Bank via Jerusalem. I was picked up from the city centre by Samara, a local volunteer who also runs the guest-house. I dropped my bags off, grabbed a long-needed shower and set off to explore... or rather that’s what I would have done if I didn’t collapse in bed until evening.
Turkish, British and Israeli occupation and has been passed down through the Hamouz family. On entering, I was greeted by the current Hamouz (no-one knows his first name), who showed me photos of him as a child serving tea to the British army. What comes as a shock is that many of these cafes are for men only. I was told that that this discrimination is not indicative of a wider culture of sexism in Palestine; it is instead a relic of a bygone era that is quickly fading as the new generation starts to take precedence. Amid the exuberant and loud buzz in cafes such as Hamouz can be found small enclaves, shrouded in smoke, where pairs of men will sit for hours playing chess. At work, too, lunch-breaks in the office are often quiet affairs interrupted only every halfhour or so by the sound of a king falling over. One of my supervisors tells me wistfully that
If you try to come into Israel with an Arabic surname, you’re going to be questioned for a very, very long time
The city
PHOTO/Aleksandr Al-Dhahir
The generosity of the Palestinians is unmatched, especially considering the distress they go through on such a frequent basis PHOTO/Aleksandr Al-Dhahir
Nablus is located in a valley in between two mountains. On my first night a couple of French volunteers took me up one of these, Mount Gerizim, to see the Samaritan village. There are only 700 Samaritans in the world and the village we went to houses half of them. This small Abrahamic religion has faced persecution from Jews and Muslims for thousands of years, and it is prohibited for Palestinians to enter the village. Walls are definitely a main feature in the West Bank and Israeli soldiers, Palestinian people and Samaritans are all kept very separate. Indeed, Israeli citizens are not even allowed to come into the Palestinian Territories. I must admit that my expectations of basic amenities in Nablus were low, and of government provisions for its people even lower. I discovered, however, that everyone is entitled to free healthcare and schooling. In fact, almost every teenager I’ve met has wanted to go to the local An Najah University and continue their education. As one local French teacher at the charity told me, “Les enfants de Nablus rêvent de deux choses: etudier et voyager.” There are very few people under the poverty line and no beggars on the streets, which locals tell me is because the Koran obligates all Muslims to give to those poorer than themselves on a regular basis, especially during Ramadan. The Koran says a lot of other things,
many hotly debated between Muslims, but, on this point at least, the quasi-Robin Hood effect has created one of the safest street cultures I have experienced anywhere.
Culture
There’s a lot to see in Nablus, especially the old city, which is an array of narrow cobbled streets full of markets and shops specialising in
To find out more about volunteering with the HSA, or to donate, visit www.humansupporters.org the three things this city is renowned for: soaps, sweets and handicraft. Even though it’s less warm now, everything takes place out on the street, which makes the place visually astounding. In the centre of the city is the main marketplace where I go for my lunch-break. You don’t even really have to order in the restaurants, you just sort of nod at the man behind the counter and he produces something delicious, cheap, and inevitably smelling of oregano. One night, I was taken to one of the oldest cafes in Palestine, Hamouz. It has survived 120 years of
the Palestinians understand chess better than any other race because they are forced to spend their lives living four steps ahead of their oppressors.
The people
The generosity of the Palestinians is unmatched, especially considering the distress they go through on such a frequent basis. Just two days before I arrived here, Ali, a volunteer paramedic, saw someone shot through the chest just outside where I work. Another volunteer saw one of his brothers go to jail in Israel for 13 years for siding with Arafat in the 1982 Lebanon War. The other night, as we were heading out, two voluteers got the news that someone they grew up with had just been killed in Syria after having his hand chopped off. This conflict is grizzly business and the resilience of these Palestinians, and their ability
Another volunteer saw one of his brothers shot through the chest
to smile after the very personal grief they’ve suffered, is admirable. Since arriving, I haven’t stopped thanking drunk me for arranging this volunteer work. You need to be careful out here, and at times very patient, but I thoroughly recommend Nablus to those interested in understanding more about Palestine’s long and troubled history.
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OxStuff 41
8th October 2014
One to watch Jake is President of the Oxford Students Oxfam Group, a position he has held since the start of Hilary. Last year, he headed up an initiative to gather the writings of poets, students and academics into a poetry anthology to raise funds and awareness for the humanitarian emergency in Syria, entitled ‘Shall I Write About My House’: poetry inspired by and in aid of the Syrian crisis. He has also organised a host of other fundraising initiatives, like bringing the Oxfam facepainting stall to Wadstock and Summer VIIIs. As if his charity
responsibilities weren’t enough, he’s also involved in campaigning for penal reform on the Howard League Society Committee. Jake remains President of the OSOG for until Hilary of this year. Of his *finals* year…
Jake Dowse Exeter 3rd Year Historian
OxStuff
Cliterary Theory
For me, the most sumptuous part of the new academic year is collecting the back-log of post from the porters’ lodge. If there’s one really out-there turn-on I’ll admit to, it’s pristine packaging – there’s just something about unwrapping layer on layer of carefully folded, tastefully arranged tissue paper and slowly plucking ribbons undone. Ever since that scene in Love Actually with Rowan Atkinson first sent shivers down my spine, I’ve always looked forward to picking up the term’s consignment of… accessories (discreet packaging guaranteed). And the anticipation is even greater when a birthday coincides with the new term – and a new boyfriend. The pay-off for handing over your overdraft to the sort of website that only comes up on your bank statement as cryptic initials starts when the illicit goods are first handed over. Some boxes jawdroppingly long, others adorably dinky, some brutally heavy, others tantalisingly light and delicate. The lucky dip mystery combined with the shadowy thrill of secrecy means that the enjoyment of this precious cargo of gifts-to-self starts long before unwrapping starts. Next comes the opening – think Christmas morning, but with the
jingle of bells replaced by the clink of buckles, the boxes of toys replaced by…well, boxes of toys. With my new room for the year at the top of a flight of stairs (and mercifully far away from prying ears), it was a struggle to get it all up there. But it was even more of a struggle to get up there at 1am, accompanied by boyfriend, whilst keeping some semblance of respectability (and our clothes on). Happily, that was the only trouble with getting up we had that evening. As any anyone else who used Cosmo as a map to negotiate their way through educational years of fumbles will tell you, the key to great sex is novelty, and what better time and what better way than the new year to inject a heady dose of little surprises. And besides, anything that means the abyss of your overdraft provokes a reminiscing half-smile is worth every penny.
Not content with Cherwell’s sub-standard banter, Nick has jumped ship and become one of the OxStu’s News editors. Maybe it was the glimpse of the glamorous OxStu offices during the last OxStu/Cherwell crew date that swung him. Or perhaps it was the promise of a group – one might even say a squadron – of people dedicated to top-notch banter just as much as they are to brilliant copy. Either way, we’re glad he’s finally seen where the true journalistic prowess of Oxford lies. Bring on Michaelmas #SoMutchExcitement #MutchTooMutchToHandle #InTheNickOfTime #HackMutch #MutchAdoAbout Nothing
HackDaq Alas, Junction dies – not with the bang of a sell-out, scenestopping, student-thronging hit night, drowning itself in the sweat dripping from its walls, but with the whimper of a quiet mid-vacation rebrand. At one point the club was rumoured to be considering a run for OUSU Prez to revive its hack career, but since everybody would probably just vote for its best friend Park End in a Milibandesque nightlife backstab, it decided instead to change its name to ‘Warehouse’ (edgy!) and install a bunch of ‘LEDs’ (snazzy!). Though Itchy Feet promises a triumphant return onto the scene, it’s a red light at this junction…
42 OxStuff
Lurking in a corner of Front Quad lie the lodgings of the most powerful John’s undergraduate, Alisdair Lennon. He gives us a wee tour around his new rooms and opens up to us about his dark secret.
10th October An Evening of Schubert Song
Presidential Address
PHOTO/Jack Myers
The centre of the room is dominated by a board meeting set, complete with a semi-circular arrangement of tired chairs around a laminate coffee table. Lennon has obviously purged the place of the normal student trappings. What’s left are some pretty dire conversation pieces, which he’s causally strewn across the room: the odd JCR Minutes, a Freshers’ Guide. Anodyne yes, but oh so very presidential. But Lennon has a dark secret. For tucked away behind his bookcase lies the door to a secret room, hiding in the walls. It looks as if Fritzl went rogue here: dark, dank and grey, a bare lightbulb buzzing in the damp darkness, poorly plastered walls stained by age and disuse. So what will Lennon turn this new extension to his lodgings into? Wine cellar? Cabinet War Rooms? Sex dungeon? “I’m planning to unleash a monster in it, make it the JCR Chamber of Secrets.” It seems then that, unwittingly, Lennon has chosen the prefect architectural metaphor for the Oxford hack. A proud, presentable façade, screened just before press come to scrutinise, yet with dark secrets skulking in the shadows.
PHOTO/Ben Nabarro
The space is vast, accentuated by the light streaming through the long palatial windows that look over the President of the College’s gardens. Lennon begs us not to investigate the carnage that is his bedroom suite, we are only too happy to oblige.
OxDigs
Ben Nabarro Pembroke JCR President
Tell me about Pembroke. It’s supportive, there’s a sense of a tight-knit community where people help each other out if they’re struggling. And Professor X is an alumnus as well. Professor Who? Professor X. Of the X-Men. I didn’t know that. Well there you go. So that’s, like, the fun shit. What’s the worst thing about Pembroke? Cost. Probably the JCR President also. If Pembroke were a band or musical artist who would they be? Frank Turner. Because we desperately want to be alternative but in reality we’re full of posh public school kids from Hampshire. Wow, controversial. How would you sum up Pembroke in three words. I thought welcoming and supportive; I was going to put ambitious but I don’t want to sound like a joke, I thought that would sound like a joke in the context of the Norrington table. Yeah. Well I guess ambitious rather than, you know, successful. Yeah, let’s say ambitious. Welcoming, supportive and ambitious. That’s a bit vanilla. I mean individually it all means something, but… It means nothing; it’s vacuous. Okay. Let’s think through something new. “Too cool for school”?
PHOTO/Jack Myers
That’s four words. Just change it to four instead of three. It’s the first week, we can do what we want.
PHOTO/Jack Myers
Alisdair Lennon St John’s JCR President
9th October No HeterOx* Freshers’ Party: Paris is Still Burning New Babylove
Music
Activism/ Clubbing
8th, 9th, 10th October Auditions for ‘His Dark Materials
Drama
OxStuff Pick of the Week
8th October 2014
But four words is… three is the magic number in these things, you know. Five words – “Far too cool for school”. Sorted. Five is a magic enough number. People do say “Describe it in five words”. Sometimes. So really you’ve gone for an entire sentence instead. Is that legit? Sure. Thanks Ben!
15h October OxStu Recruitment Event Drinks at the Varsity Club
Clubbing
OxStu
Music
Fashion
11th October Vintage Fashion Fair Town Hall
11th October 11th October Dry the River (Gengahr, Pale Seas) Dry thestore River (Gengahr, Pale Seas) and truck acoustic and truck O2 Academy store acoustic O2 Academy
16th October Supermarket at the Cellar
See our What’s On Calendar on oxfordstudent. com for event listings
OxStuff 43
8th October 2014
What you were reading on oxfordstudent.com
Rosie's Recipes
PHOTO/Rosie Shennan
1.The OxStu guide to Oxford libraries Elizabeth Freeman
Ultimate foodie Rosie Shennan shares some of her student-oriented recipes this term to help you battle freshers’ flu, 5 week blues and get in the Oxmas spirit. Follow her on Instagram @a_scone_atatime or her blog asconeatatime.wordpress.com
Ingredients 150g golden syrup 100g butter 300g chocolate (dark or milk or mix) 200g ginger biscuits 100g raisins 100g dried fruit 50g Brazil nuts
th
Fresher's Fridge Cake Chop up the butter and chocolate into small pieces and put in a bowl with the golden syrup. Microwave until melted and stir. In a separate bowl, crush the biscuits and Brazil nuts. Add the dried fruit and raisins. Add the melted chocolate, syrup and butter to the mixture, and stir well until everything is coated in chocolate. Tip the combined mixture into a tin or plastic box, preferably small sized, lined with baking parchment or aluminium foil. Leave to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours, until hard, and then cut into chunks.
2 Urban Outfitters’ Tshirts stigmatise mental health issues Beth Lambert 3. Review: Ballyturk Daniel Bottiglieri 4. Rainbow Laces Campaign: we can change the game Tim Cannon 5. Debate: This house believes Islam is a religion of peace Rachel Goddard-Bernstein 6. Taking care of number one Josh Meikle
Wordsearch
Puzzles
Brasenose Christ Church Exeter Hertford Jesus Lincoln Mansfield Merton New
Pembroke Somerville St Benet’s St Catz St Hilda’s St Hugh’s St John’s St Peter’s Teddy Hall
Sport 45
8th October 2014
Put your best foot forward with OUDC
Take your moves beyond the confines of the cheese floor with the Oxford University Dancesport Club of Cuban Salsa danced by several sport for women and a discretion- Cuppers and summer vacation Marathon on 22 Nov. Get involved Grace Holland couples in a wheel, where one person ary full blues sport for men. For classes, 2014-5 should be a par- because it promises to be a great year
O
xford students love to dance, and not just at Park End on a Wednesday or the termly bop. Oxford University Dancesport Club (OUDC) has the second largest society membership in the University, beaten only by the Oxford Union. The reasons for this are clear: OUDC provides opportunities for students, staff, and community members of all dancing abilities to get involved – whether that’s through social dancing, working towards a dance exam, or competing in a team.
OUDC has the second largest society membership in the University, beaten only by the Oxford Union While many people think of OUDC for its namesake Dancesport (Ballroom and Latin) dances, the types of dancing offered by the club extend beyond these traditional dances. OUDC offers Cuban-style Salsa, an improvised style of dancing with deep Afro-Cuban beats. Fortnightly socials, called La Iglesia, allow dancers to come dance with lots of different dance partners. For those who enjoy a bit more structure to their salsa, Rueda is a type
calls out moves, which often involve rapidly changing partners. OUDC’s performance Rueda team – the Komrades – regularly conduct popular demonstrations in and around the Oxford community. Oxford Rock and Roll have had a successful year by winning the national championships and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Varsity match. Their gravity-defying acrobatic stunts are very impressive, especially incorporated into the fast-paced style of Rock ‘n’ Roll music. OUDC also offers a style of Rock and Roll called ‘Authentic 1950s Rock and Roll’, involving moves that allow dancers to stay closer to the ground, which makes it perfect for social dancing. Yet if you too have been inspired by Strictly Come Dancing, the classic Ballroom and Latin American dances have been offered by the club for the longest period of time. There are classes at all levels, for competitive and non-competitive dancers alike. Various dances are offered, from the floaty and romantic waltz, to the sassy and sexy cha cha cha. The smooth and classy foxtrot is taught, along with the energetic jive, offering a real mix of dancing styles. The competitive beginners team is open to anyone who hasn’t received formal training in Latin American or Modern Ballroom, and like the main team, members are selected by the Head Coach at trials. Competitions take place throughout the year and last year we were the second best overall university team in the country. Dancesport is a full blues
those wanting a more social class in Ballroom and Latin, the club offers Argentine Tango, a sensual dance which is a lot of fun. Dan Claff, the OUDC president, says: “Building on the success of
ticularly exciting year for the Club. The Michaelmas termcard is packed with 38 hours of classes per week. This will be in addition to socials and special events, such as our 10hour Cancer Research UK Rueda
of dancing!” So whether you’re looking to improve your fitness, your dancing technique, or simply want to try something new and have fun, give one of our free classes a go!
PHOTO/ Mark Turner
Corpus Christi College
Sport 46
8th October 2014
Managerial stability – a thing of the past?
As Arsène Wenger prepares to leave Arsenal, James Yow asks what we can expect from club leadership
James Yow
Balliol College
A
s Arsène Wenger stepped out at the Emirates Stadium last Tuesday, before his Arsenal team faced Galatasaray, it marked an astounding 18 years at the helm of the Gunners and one is left to wonder whether we will ever see another managerial tenure in elite football quite like this one. Since he took over in 1996, there have been 207 different Premier
League managers with major clubs in Europe following suit with generally shorter-term managers. Have times just changed and are the days of managers being with their club season after season over? Does changing the manager have any impact at all – if the players remain the same, things can’t be too different? If not the manager, what makes up the winning formula? A longer tenure will ultimately lead to stability, but does stability lead to success? In Arsenal’s case, after a trophyladen start, the recent success came off the pitch rather than on it, by guiding
Arsenal consistently to the Champions League each year, Wenger secured millions in television revenue and this was used largely to finance the move into the Emirates Stadium. But success on the pitch is what matters the most and it is unlikely that another club at the top of the league would have granted their manager so much time to try and secure some silverware – the fans were more relieved than overjoyed at a top four finish most years. Managerial stability provides a basis for long-term planning at the club; attracting transfer targets can be easier if
PHOTO/godin2017
you can make a promise that the manager will remain, but this can be taken care of by a director of football or a commitment to hire managers that play a similar brand of football. Swansea are a prime example of this, from Rodgers, Laudrup and now Monk they remain competitive and tactically similar in style – perhaps more important than the actual individual that they bring in is that they share similar ideas about how the game is played. This is hardly a ringing endorsement for keeping the same man in the job however, it signals that the players themselves and style of manager is more important than the individual. Money talks however, and with nineteen managerial changes between them, Chelsea and Manchester City are not adverse to making a switch at the top. It is hardly coincidental that in terms of ownership, billionaire investors are not the most willing to wait and allow a club to grow, preferring to force through immediate results on their vast investments. That last bit is key, vast investments, buy world class players and pay them enough money and you will find yourself with a team that can always compete and fight for the big trophies, regardless of the manager. It works in the other way too, put a proven winner like José Mourinho in charge of a struggling relegation contender and it is most unlikely that they will win the league that year. It doesn’t take a genius to correlate success to great players and great players to big price tags and for those truly elite performers, assuming managerial instability takes a little off their game, they tend to be good enough to sort themselves out on the pitch most weeks – papering over the cracks a little perhaps. Is it not a little sad that there nothing to be said for a club sticking with its manager for years and years anymore? One only has to tune in to the odd radio football phone-in to hear
fans call for the sacking of their club’s manager, believing that it is the man in the dugout rather than the eleven on the pitch that will pull the team up the league table.
There is more to success than stability then but the sacking culture is hardly one in which to foster and develop a young manager A study by Sheffield Hallam University showed that a team faced with relegation is more likely to stay up if they change their manager once things start to turn sour, but for teams comfortably in the middle of the table, changing a manager does not seem to consistently boost them higher up the table. Not good news for those managers currently fighting the drop. Rather than bemoan the fact that a tenure like Arsène Wenger’s may never be repeated at the top of the game, it is nicer to think of it as a rare occasion where a club and manager just fit perfectly. Let us not forget that even Sir Alex Ferguson was not immediately successful when he took over. The difference is that today, with expectations higher than ever and huge ticket prices not easing the demand of the fans, managers at the very top really have to hit the ground running or find themselves out of the door all too quickly – remember David Moyes? There is more to success than stability then; money and ultimately players have a huge impact, but the sacking culture is hardly one to foster and develop a younger manager in and with many questioning the lack of top English managers to lead the national team – is that not the biggest problem of them all?
London Welsh vs Leicester Tigers: Oxford hosts the rugby union
London Welsh are planning their comeback – win tickets to see them play Win tickets to see the match! elite rugby union league back in that has seen them pitted against and are inviting two lucky OxStu Dan Smith 2012/13. They were handed a five some of the strongest teams in the readers the chance to witness their Somerville College
O
xford is a city of many things. World-renowned academics, beautiful architecture and club nights where ‘Cotton-Eyed Joe’ and ‘the Grease Mega-Mix’ are played both shamelessly and consistently. It’s probably less well known however for playing host to one of England’s 12 Premiership rugby union teams. Since May 2012, London Welsh RFC have played their home games at the Kassam Stadium, home to Oxford United and situated just four miles from the city centre (only a 20 minute cycle or for the less dynamic types amongst us, a short bus ride away). Welsh were unlucky to be relegated in their first campaign in England’s
point deduction after fielding an ineligible player which seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Dragons’ final few months of the season and meant they eventually finished twelfth, ten points adrift of safety. There were high points to the club’s first campaign in the top flight however, notably early wins against the likes of Exeter, Sale and Bath. After gaining promotion following just one season in the Championship, Welsh are back in the big time and looking for a much less dramafilled campaign as they seek to avoid relegation this time around. With the likes of ex-All Black scrum-half Piri Weepu and former England international Olly Barkley both arriving in Oxford last summer, head coach Justin Burnell will hope that safety is a realistic prospect. After a tough start to the season
league, the Exiles are looking to get their campaign back on track
planned revival.
he club are giving away a pair of free tickets for their Premiership T game against Leicester Tigers on 23rd
November and to be in with a chance to win, all you have to do is answer the simple question below and send in your answer to oxstu.sport@gmail.com. Please include ‘OxStu Sport Competition’ in the subject line of your email. The deadline is 4th November, and the winner will be announced on 5th November. So, students of Oxford, crawl out from your book-filled nests, see more than the four walls of your college’s library and win the chance to witness elite level rugby union on your doorstep.
PHOTO/London Welsh
Who won the Aviva Premiership final in 2014? a) Saracens b) Northampton Saints
Sport 47
8th October 2014
Is Europe’s Dominance a Threat to the Ryder Cup?
It’s a hole in one for Europe as Emma Williams reports on their Ryde to glory at Gleneagles tinued their unbeaten run by beating into the second day. fourth game, Europe needed just and Europe ended up winning 16½Emma Williams arguably Europe’s best pair of McIlMother Nature blessed the home of one point to win the Ryder Cup. It 11½. Captain McGinley was highly
W
ith Europe winning their third successive Ryder Cup to complete a hat-trick of victories over Team USA, their dominance of golf’s greatest match was further enhanced. They have now won an impressive eight out of the last ten Ryder Cups, with the USA struggling to stay ahead by the end of the final day. While, as European fans celebrate the success, the question is starting to emerge of whether or not the overwhelming dominance of Europe will cause fans of Team USA to turn off their televisions and to stop paying for the privilege of being a spectator? As the sun rose from behind the Scottish hills on Friday 26th September, the wait was finally over and Gleneagles was ready to welcome the stars of the Ryder Cup. It’s like no other golfing event, with vocal fans roaring around the golf course and passionate golfers cheering on their fellow team members. The atmosphere is what makes it so great. As the first match walked through the tunnel and onto the first tee, the crowd erupted, and the three-day battle began. The morning saw eight players from each team competing in fourballs. Halfway through the morning session, the eight Europeans were looking good and were confident of delivering points for the team. However, by the end of the session, it was clear that these three days were going to be a tough fight. Europe ended up going 2½-1½ down. The star pairing from Medinah of Mickleson and Bradley con-
roy and Garcia (World Number one and three respectively). The USA’s rookies (the boisterous Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth) also turned up with a point to make and thrashed European rookie, Gallacher and veteran Poulter to win 5&4. There was hope however for the Europeans in Rose and Stenson, who dominated their match to also win 5&4.
It would all come down to the final day and the singles When the players returned for the afternoon session, it was Foursomes they would have to try and master. With this being the format most different to what they are used to, it was interesting to see which team could really work together to find an advantage. Luckily for Europe, it was they who took to this format best and they dominated the afternoon session winning handsomely 3½-½. The stars of this session were not the American rookies, who had been rested by captain Watson, but the European rookies. Donaldson went out first with Westwood, who was competing in his ninth Ryder Cup. They beat foursome specialists, Furyk and Kuchar 2UP, playing with great consistency and steadiness. Dubuisson then made his Ryder Cup debut alongside McDowell in the anchor match, and hit some terrific shots, playing better than he had ever done before. At the end of the first day, Europe went in with a 5-3 lead and great confidence going
golf once more with another glorious sunrise at the start of the second day. With the arrival of the weekend, the crowd was even bigger, louder, and more excited to watch the battle continue. The second day saw a repeat of the first day’s results. The USA once again dominated the morning fourballs, winning 2½-1½, with the European team coming out fighting in the afternoon and winning the foursomes 3½-½ once more. This meant that by the end of the fourballs and foursomes, the score was 10-6 to the home team, just as it had been two years previous before the miracle comeback at Medinah. This was perhaps a glimmer of hope for the US team, whose hopes of avenging Europe for two years previous were quickly fading. It would all come down to the final day and the singles. As the players went out onto the course for the final day, it seemed that America were not going to give up without a fight. Early on the board was dominated with red, with McDowell struggling against rookie Spieth, and Europe’s rock, Justin Rose, was also down to Hunter Mahan. Rory McIlory came out determined to bring back a point for Europe, and obliterated Rickie Fowler, going 5UP after the first six holes. He beat Fowler 5&4 to post Europe’s first point of the day, meaning they only needed three points from the other eleven games to retain the Ryder Cup. McDowell turned his game around in some style, winning 2&1 in the end, and Martin Kaymer continued his singles success by winning 4&2. With a hard fought ½ from Rose in the
all seemed to come down to rookie, Jamie Donaldson, who was 4UP against Keegan Bradley with five to play. He had a put on the 14th green to go 5UP and to win the game 5&4, which would be the winning point for Europe. It ended up just inches away, which guaranteed a half point and the retaining of the Ryder Cup. However, it was the outright win the players, captain, and fan were all waiting for, and they all went marching off to the 15th. Donaldson hit a great tee shot onto the middle of the fairway, but it was his second shot that was the winner. In his own words, he hit the shot of his life. As Bradley walked onto the 15th green he saw it was a gimme and conceded the hole. This meant Donaldson won the match 4&3 and earned the point that won the Ryder Cup.
Most importantly, the USA need to find their fighting spirit and hunger for the Ryder cup, and learn how to win again
The scenes after the handshake were pure joy from all those supporting Europe, as well as from the players and staff, who could not contain their happiness. The cheers were erupting around Gleneagles, and the players who had already finished were hugging each other and began their celebrations. The last few matches still had to be finished,
praised by all of the players and had ended up victorious. After the final ceremony by the 18th hole, and the congratulating of Europe, attention turned quickly to the American team and what was next for them. Tom Watson had appeared to have got it all wrong and came under attack from one of his own players, Phil Mickleson. Although this attack was widely condemned, his points about how the USA had lost their way and needed to find a winning mentality again were important issues that need to be addressed. He brought up the USA’s most recent win, back in 2008, and asked the next captain, whoever that may be, to learn from Paul Azinger. Most importantly the USA need to find their fighting spirit and hunger for the Ryder Cup, and learn how to win again. If they don’t, and Europe manages to win away for a second consecutive time, the American fans may start to lose interest. What makes this different to all of the other golfing events is the fans and the atmosphere around the course. It is vital for the Ryder Cup that this is maintained across the pond in the USA, and that they keep getting excited to support their country. If not, what is currently one of the greatest sporting events in the world may see a decline, and for all golfing fans that is a scary prospect that I am sure none of them would want to happen. So yes, as a passionate supporter of the European team I am suggesting that an American win might not be such a bad thing, and might even be necessary to save my favourite event in the golfing calendar.
PHOTO/ brent
Oriel College
Sport
48 Sport
8th October 2014
PHOTO/ OUWAFC
Women’s Blues off to a winning start Zoe Griffiths
Lady Margaret Hall
O
xford University Women’s Association Football Club return with its first trophy of the year after a successful pre-season tour to Madrid. After an early-morning touchdown on 18th September, the squad began their tour with a fitness session in Parque del Retiro, followed by a technical session to blow away the cobwebs after the long summer break. The technical session brought in a small local crowd, a few of whom suggested that a number of members of the squad should trial
for Atlético Madrid Féminas. The ladies politely declined. Friday began with a tour of the Santiago Bernabéu, the Real Madrid Stadium. Players enjoyed a tour of the Real Madrid museum, changing rooms, dugout and technical area before giving their own impromptu press conference.
An ecstatic Oxford squad were later presented with their first trophy of the new season
Another technical session followed, with OUWAFC president
Becca May proving just why the Women’s World Cup should not be played on an artificial surface. The day concluded with a “nutrition session”, consisting of white bread and patatas bravas in abundance. The following day, the squad made their way to Alcorcon to play in a round-robin tournament against local sides Atlético Cañada A and Atlético Cañada B. With local media coverage present and a crowd of spectators, the tournament kicked off with Atlético Cañada A beating Atlético Cañada B 2-0. Next, an OUWAFC team of mostly Furies played Atlético Cañada B. After having the majority of the opening chances, Furies captain Habiba Daggash opened the scoring by following up her initial shot that was
spilled by the keeper to head the ball into the net. Oxford defended their 1-0 lead, with this being the final score. This meant the Oxford were guaranteed a second place finish, and needed a win against Atlético Cañada A in order to secure the trophy. In an evenly matched game, a team mostly made up of Blues had the best of the play, with Atlético Cañada A breaking up the play well in the centre of the field. With one minute left on the clock, the score was 0-0. However, with almost the final kick of the game, OUWAFC veteran Lucie ‘Juice’ Bowden played a short corner to Sam Moore, who crossed into the box for Blues captain Anna Green to head the ball home. There was an uproar from the Oxford dugout and a look of
disbelief from all the local support as the ref blew the final whistle. An ecstatic Oxford squad were later presented with their first trophy of the new season.
The tour was a great success in boosting team morale OUWAFC could then look forward to starting their pre-season training on Monday 29th September and are confident that the successes of the tour will put them in good stead to make a positive start to the BUCS season. The tour was a great success in boosting team morale before the intake of new freshers.