THE
OXFORDSTUDENT One step ahead since 1991
Volume 73 Issue 1
Thursday 23rd April 0th Week
oxfordstudent.com
Leaders’ debate school report praises Sturgeon
Sadness and sarcasm: Interview with TV’s Simon Amstell
OUAC: Tanned, fit and ready to shoe the Tabs in May
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Page 11
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Oxford West MP under fire for fox hunting stance • Activists condemn fox hunting as ‘barbarous’ • Issue could prove crucial in marginal seat
NEWS TEAM
Blaze at the Randolph: Inspector Morse landmark engulfed in fire. See page 5 for details.
Laura Whetherly and Kate Bickerton
Oxford MP Nicola Blackwood has come under fire from student activists this week for her apparent support of legal fox hunting. Blackwood, Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has signalled her support for a bill to legalise fox hunting, which was banned in 2004. She claims the original ban was “introduced undemocratically”, and she “fully supports a Repeal Bill with a free vote so that a proper debate can happen”. A commitment to a fox hunting Repeal Bill is included in this year’s Conservative Party manifesto. It also emerged in recent weeks that Blackwood has received campaign support from Vote-Ok, a countryside lobbying group that sends campaigners to parliamentary candidates sympathetic
to their cause. Vote-Ok views the legalisation of fox hunting as one of its top priorities. Student animal rights activists reacted with dismay to Blackwood’s stance. Adam Bridgen, President of the Oxford University Animal Ethics Society, described fox hunting as a “barbarous blood sport that the Labour Party did well to do away with”, and criticised Blackwood’s position as a “populist pre-election move, intended to appeal to the Conservatives’ traditional support base”. Bridgen continued: “Nicola Blackwood is a prime example of the risk of fox hunting being used as a form of electoral leverage: not only does she vocally support the promised repeal, but she is receiving backing from pro-hunting lobby groups in [her constituency].” Blackwood is currently fighting a hotly Continued on page 5 »
OxStu General Election survey shows Labour with marginal advantage • Male students more likely to vote Conservative, whilst English students opt for left-wing parties by large margin
LUKE MINTZ & LAURA WHETHERLY
31% of Oxford students are planning to vote Labour in next month’s General Election, against 28% who are planning to vote Conservative, a survey conducted by The Oxford Student has shown. The next most popular party was the Greens, on 16%, with the Liberal Democrats close behind on 13%. The figures, extrapolated from 578 responses to a survey conducted this month, also highlighted clear differences between male and female voting preferences, with Oxford’s women significantly more likely to vote Labour or Green than men. Whilst Labour
enjoyed a large 11-point lead over the Conservatives among female respondents (35% to 19%), male students were more likely to lean Tory, with male respondents giving David Cameron’s
Labour: 31% Tories: 28% Greens: 16% Lib Dems: 13% Iona Caseby
party a 7-point lead (36% to 29%). The University’s Labour Club (OULC) welcomed the survey’s results, with co-chair Loughlan O’Doherty commenting: “With a promise to reduce student fees, ban exploitative zero-hour contracts and unpaid internships, Labour are representing student interests the best this election.” OULC went on to comment on the gender divide seen in the results. O’Doherty continued: “A Labour government will be committed to a gender balanced cabinet, as well as reducing the effect of the coalition’s cuts, which have disproportionately hit women harder – concerns with Oxford students evidently hold too.” The figures show that Oxford student voting preferences are broadly similar
to those of young people across the most Tory, with 36% voting for David country. According to a YouGov poll Cameron’s party over 24% opting for from earlier this month, 30% of British Ed Miliband. 18 to 24 year-olds are planning to vote The deadline for voter registration Labour, versus 26% planning to vote elapsed earlier this week, with new Conservative. government rules, requiring students Nigel Farage’s UKIP, support of to register individually, meaning which has increased dramatically dur- that many Oxford students may find ing recent years, with the party now themselves unable to vote on May 7th. challenging the Conservatives in a Despite a highly-publicised OUSU handful of key marginal constituen- campaign, for instance, only 44% of cies, was supported by only 2% of re- Oxford students were registered as of spondents; significantly lower than the February 2015. Next month’s General Election will, 7% support from 18 to 24 year-olds nationally. nevertheless, prompt considerable English students were the most left- excitement among Oxford’s student wing of the major subjects, with 53% community. choosing Labour and 25% choosing Green, versus only 10% voting Con- For full results and analysis, servative. Classics was, in contrast, the see page 8 »
2 Editorial
23rd April 2015
THE OXFORDSTUDENT
Editorial Editors: Nasim Asl & Luke Mintz
One step ahead since 1991
This week in Oxford.
Student comment of the week @XavierCoh:
‘fuck the oxford union and fuck the cherwell for doing its advertising.’
Tutor comment of the week
‘Are you sure your first language is English?’ Said to a Welsh Music student
Alumnus of the week Stewart Lee Stand-up Comedian St Edmund Hall 1986-89
Election 2015 May 7th is a date tattooed onto the consciousness of the nation right now. The register to vote deadline has passed, and hopefully most students have registered – OUSU did a great job campaigning on this and reminding people of how crucial and important their right to vote is. Those of us who have registered now have some pretty major choices to make about the directions in which we want our country’s future to go. As first-time voters, the majority of us are casting our first ballots for a government under which we will graduate, gain employment, and enter the adult world. The results of our General Election survey, undertaken over the vacation, seem to reflect the current feel of the nation, with Labour polling slightly ahead of the Conservatives. Page eight contains a more detailed breakdown of our survey results, showing an interesting disparity in the popularity of the Conservatives between male and female voters; a possible indication of Oxford’s vibrant and highly active feminist community, and its effect upon the political views of Oxford’s female students. Our other main story this week concerns student criticism of a local MP, Nicola Blackwood. Whatever your view on fox hunting may be, and indeed this issue can provoke charged emotions on both sides, it is important to research the views and policies of your
local parliamentary candidates as much as possible before giving any of them your vote. Too often in our social media dominated lives, we focus only on the dramatic spectacle of national politics, ignoring the intricacies of our local candidates. Over our next series of issues, we hope to highlight the views, policies, and political backgrounds of our local candidates to you, the student voters. Understandably, politics is definitely at the forefront of minds this week, with articles looking at the art of politics on the streets of Tel Aviv (page 19) and an exploration of mass surveillance within the USA. Even amidst the excitement
MUSIC
@OUSU_Pres:
“Love the new pins @nusuk are giving out. Wearing mine with pride. #nusnc15”
Jean Pierre:
“At least they go with my outfit, these freebies are the best thing about this lefty conference. #baguette.’”
3/1
OUSU to publicly endorse Oxford’s Tory candidates.
15/1
An OxStu editor to step down before 4th week.
2/1
ARTS & LIT
Culture
Elsewhere in the paper, OXII, our weekly culture supplement, is exploring the world of entertainment. Record Store Day dominates the music section, whilst Screen explores the phenomenon that is Game of Thrones following its series five debut (page 6). We have a strong selection of interviews with a wide array of figures this week. YA legend Maureen Johnson can be found on page 12, and fashion have spoken to anonymous blogger Brighton Girl Problems. Oxford alumna Poppy Burton-Morgan, of Metta Theatre, discusses her collaboration with the Oxford Philomusica (page 14), whilst over at page 3, readers can get to know L.A. band Vintage Trouble. Just outside OXII, page 13 sees Simon Amstell share some profound thoughts on his career so far, as well as his plans for the future.
SCREEN
GAME OF THRONES: THE SHOW THAT WOULD BE KING p.6
‘I love you’, Anonymous, Unknown College:
Send in your letters of ‘One-ply not thick enough’, Tomas, First year, Somerville College: unwavering support to Sitting down on the bog as I always do after a hard day of work, I went to grab a copy of your to wipe the dirt from my gluteus. Usually using the Cherwell for this purpose, a student our esteemed editors at: rag paper with much higher paper quality, I was alarmed when my hand pierced through the
Editors Deputy Editors
pathetically thin paper that your publication is printed on and covered my wiping hand in the mess I was so desperately trying to avoid. I have since been forced to use the Union term card, which is scarcely available material. Please sort this out, my uni budget is low as it is.
Nasim Asl & Luke Mintz Deputy News Editors David Barker, Kate Bickerton, Laura Hartley, Hugh Mchale-Maughan, Deputy Comment Srishti Nirula and Laura Whetherley Editors News Editors Jasmine Cameron-Chilshe, Jennier Lee Deputy Music Editor and Cason Reily Deputy Screen Editor Comment Editors Polly Mason & Kathryn Welsh Deputy Arts & Lit Music Editors Naomi Southwell & Jacob Wiseman Editors Screen Editors Thomas Bannatyne & Megan Erwin Deputy Stage Editor Fashion Editors Lizzie Evans & Charliotte Lanning Deputy Features EdiArts & Lit Editors Marcus Li & William Shaw tors Stage Editors William Aslet & Lucy Oliver Deputy Sports Editor Features Editors Ariane Laurent-Smith & Elle Tait Photographers Sports Editors Alice Richardson & Ben Sanders
STAFF
Disgruntled ex-Union President to be found
In this week’s news section, you will also find a story about possible contamination at Castle Mill (page 4). This rather unimpressive block of student flats has remarkably managed to dominate student news for large parts of the last academic year. Whilst Castle
Mill-related news is by no means the most glamorous or exciting, we cannot underestimate the importance of holding the University to account on issues of student welfare and accommodation conditions. In a city where students are paying among the highest prices in the country for accommodation, it is essential that we do not simply accept poor living conditions, and we encourage readers to contact us with your own concerns, so that we may continue to explore stories of this type in the future.
This letter is actually for a deputy editor... The way your jaw looks, the way you wear Ralph Letters Lauren and the way your hair flaps about in the wind. I have been trying to find a way to tell you to the Editors. this and for months and I thought this was the best way of getting through. I love you, my cherub, my sun, my bunny, my sweet pea. I hope that one day you can make my dreams come true xxxx
editor@ oxfordstudent.com
odds-ford bets.
Elsewhere in news
PELVIS PUSHERS WON'T STAND MEETING MAUREEN JOHNSON p.12 STILL p.3
Monsieur Jean-Pierre, Translator.
of the General Election, collections, and a sunny start to Trinity Term, students still have their sights set outwards to consider the world around us, an encouraging reflection upon the attitudes of students around our University.
Scott Harker, Louis Mercier, and Latifah Sat Carolina Bax, Daniel Coleman and Elizabeth Webb Sean McIntyre Hector Manly Daniel Haynes, Sam Sykes and Georgia Watson Philippa Stacey Lynton Lees, Kate Plummer and Jamie Russell Taylor Yu Saskia Mondon-Ballantyne and Bethan Jones
Illustrator Chief Sub-Editor Sub-Editors
Associate Editors
Laura Mackenzie Sam Harman Jennifer Allan, Olivia Brown, Veronica Corsi, Henrietta Mosforth, James Sewry, Elizabeth la Trobe and Siddarth Venkataramakrishnan Alys Key, Sachin Croker and Jess Sinyor
Editors can be contacted at editor@oxfordstudent.com and Section Editors can be contacted through this address. We follow the code of practices and conduct outlined by the Press Complaints Commission. Address complaints to The Editors, 2 Worcester Street, Oxford, OX1 2BX, email: oxstucomplaints@ousu.org.
23rd April 2015
News 3
Union speakers announced amidst furious student media war • Hilary Swank, Piers Morgan and Warwick Davis amongst guests scheduled to speak in Trinity CASON REILY NEWS EDITOR
The Oxford Union’s speaker list for Trinity Term has now been officially released, along with an announcement of the major debates taking place. Despite Cherwell supposedly being granted the rights to an exclusive release list, The Oxford Tab published a version of the speakers online on 18th April, several days before the planned release. The Oxford Tab have since been forced to revise the published list, following errors including the wrongful announcement of Anjem Choudary, a radical Muslim cleric, as one of the speakers for this term. Although Choudary spoke publicly about an invitation from The Oxford Union during the vacation period, the Union have confirmed that he is not scheduled on their termcard. The current dates and times for Union events provided are provisional, and the official termcard is expected to be released soon. Highlights of the announced speakers in the official list later published by the Cherwell include Hilary Swank, Piers Morgan, Peter Thiel, Brian Lara, and Alexandra Shulman, as well as major debates covering topics including the election, the tobacco industry and Britain’s place in the EU. The list of major speakers is notable for the inclusion of several actors and entertainers. Hilary Swank, the Oscar-winning American star
of Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby, is expected to come on May 13th with Nicola Benedetti, the accomplished young Scottish violinist appearing at the Union on Monday of 1st week. Other entertainers listed include Dynamo, the illusionist known for walking on the Thames, and actor Warwick Davis. Other important guests will be major media personalities. Piers Morgan, the polarizing tabloid editor and US television host speaks on May 12. His latest CNN show was cancelled in 2014 amidst plummeting ratings, and he is currently US editor-at-large for The Mail Online. Bill Maher, American comedian, political commentator, and host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher joins the Union on the 25th of May. He has attracted controversy in recent years for statements about Islam, and was unsuccessfully disinvited as a University of California Berkeley commencement speaker in 2014. Following fashion magazine Vogue editor Anna Wintour’s popular visit last term, the editor of British Edition, Alexandra Shulman will be speaking on May 27. She has held the role of Editor-in-Chief since 1992, and has also written as a columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail. The term will also bring visits by cricket star Brian Lara, billionaire Silicon Valley capitalist Peter Thiel, playwright Simon Armitage, and Australian F1 driver Mark Webber.
PHOTO/Flickr user skittledog Clockwise from top: Warwick Davis (Gordon Tarpley), Piers Morgan (Cow PR) and Hilary Swank (UNICEF Ethiopia)
New self care support group opened for Oxford’s female students • Students who self-identify themselves as women will have access to a ‘safe-space’ to share experiences and advice LAURA WHETHERLY DEPUTY EDITOR
A new Facebook campaign under the name Oxford Women Self-Care has been founded, with the intention of providing a safe space for selfidentifying women to “share tips about self care, vent about crappy mental health stuff and generally help each other out”. This campaign, founded on 14th April, is modelled on a similar project at Cambridge University, and has over 300 members. One of the founders and admins, Rowan Davis, commented: “A brief glance at the hastily added women’s toilets in old departments and colleges, the harassment policy that was only updated in the last year thanks to the work of women campaigners, the lack of basic accessibility (from ramps to hearing loops to decent lecture halls), and an attitude to suspending status and mental health that harks back to the dark ages clearly demonstrates that we go to a university built for neurotypical, able-bodied, men (I would also add that the archetypal Oxford student is white, heterosexual and cisgender). “Living in the confines of such
an institution it is a radical act for women to come together and share ideas and techniques for overcoming stresses that so many of us face. With that in mind a group of us set up the women’s self-care group to mimic the success of the CUSU one in the hopes that we would be able to collectively overcome some of the struggles that Oxford Uni puts in
Women’s Campaign
our way.” Alexander Hill, a first year History student and feminist, added: “I think it’s fair enough. I don’t think men should be totally excluded from feminist discussions, but in some cases men in groups such as Cuntry Living can be overly aggressive in their comments. It makes sense that there should be safe spaces for
women, especially because there are some issues such as sexual abuse which people might not be comfortable discussing in a wider group.” The foundation of Oxford Women’s Self Care comes following accusations of trolling and inappropriate behaviour by some members of the Facebook group Cuntry Living,
including the ejection of OUCA President Jan Nedvidek. One anonymous commenter added that, although “a self-care group is a great idea, it does seem slightly like a women’s only Cuntry Living which has been made to escape the (normally male) trolls. This is quite a sad reflection on how many men in Oxford view student feminism.”
23rd April 2015
4 News
Castle Mill "contamination" sparks student fury CASON REILY NEWS EDITOR
A local environmental campaigner has urged concern over possible ground contamination at the Castle Mill graduate accommodations. The blog Castle Mill Contamination argues that measures taken to prevent exposure of construction workers and residents to brownfield contaminants have been too weak. Others, including University officials and City Councillors, are not convinced of the danger. Before construction at the Castle Mill site at the base of Port Meadow began, testing found possibly dangerous concentrations of asbestos and heavy metals in the soil. Sean Feeney, a local environmental campaigner, has called on both the University and the City Council to conduct further testing at the site to investigate possible dangers. The University and some Councillors have dismissed activists’ claims. A spokesperson for the University stated: “There is absolutely no basis for these allegations.” Castle Mill houses several hundred graduate students and many spouses and children. The recent worries around contamination are the latest in a long string of local issues surrounding the buildings, including their impact on Port Meadow. The accommodations were built on a brownfield land, formerly home to railroad siding. Major construction began on the site in 2012 and the first graduate students moved into the new accommodation in September 2013. A 2011 independent assessment of soil and groundwater samples from the site reported potentially dangerous concentrations of several contaminants. Using a conservative measure, taking into account frequent potential soil exposure for a female child under 6, asbestos, lead, arsenic, and several polyaromatic hydrocarbons were noted as exceeding safe levels. The 2011 report and a subsequent filing in 2013 both recommended that uncontaminated soil be imported to the site in order to prevent exposure to the contaminants, and noted that construction workers could be at risk. The blog, citing a 2014 Environmental Impact Assessment, has expressed concern that the actions taken were not enough to mitigate the risk, writing that
“Asbestos may have been incorporated into the fabric of the building”. Sean Feeney told the The Oxford Student that he believes serious crimes may have been committed in the planning and building process. He suggested “possible criminal exposure to poisons, particularly during construction” and “possible fraud in the planning application”. “I believe the Environment Agency the Health and Safety Executive and the Police have all failed to properly investigate these concerns.” Prolonged exposure to heavy metals such as lead can lead to a variety of health problems. Asbestos and polyaromatic hydrocarbons are both known carcinogens. However, the risks were calculated very conservatively, assuming frequent and prolonged exposure to soil in young children. John Tanner, Labour Councillor and Board Member for ‘Cleaner Greener Oxford’, is not convinced by the activists’ concerns: “I am satisfied that there is no danger whatever to residents or the general public. The land is probably safer now than before it was built on because it is covered in concrete and tarmac.
2011 Independent assessment uncovers dangerous concentrations of harmful contaminents in soil 2014 EIA alleges that 'Asbestos may have been incorporated into the fabric of the building.' “Whenever a brownfield site is built on the ground, it is always tested and heavy metals are sometimes found. Asbestos is only a danger if it is exposed and in these cases it is removed by experts. There is no danger as long as precautions are taken, as they were in this case.” The Council is not unanimous in its confidence, however. “We are seriously concerned about the risk of contamination at the Castle Mill buildings,” Green Party Councillor Sam Hollick revealed. “The development is still being considered by the council, and we will want to see confirmation that the
Daniel Cunife
site has been made safe and that a proper assessment has been made of whether construction workers were put at risk - and compensation paid if they were.” The “Save Port Meadow” campaign, which has focused on the aesthetic impact of Castle Mill, also believe the possible contamination may have been mishandled. The campaign has asked the Environment Agency to investigate. The University remains confident in the Environmental Impact Assessment and the measures undertaken to mitigate danger. A spokesperson stated: “The assessment prior to construction
identified the contamination potential of the land and comprehensive mitigation works were carried out during and after construction, to the satisfaction of City Council requirements. The independent Environmental Impact Assessment confirmed this work had been done and that the site is safe and suitable for use.” It is currently unclear whether further steps will be taken to assess contamination. Those speaking in favor and against have drawn markedly different conclusions from the two chemical assessments and the 2014 Impact Assessment.
Feeney is seeking to pressure the city council into a further investigation. He has contacted Oxford’s independent auditor Mick West, encouraging him to issue a public interest statement regarding the contamination. “I may ask the auditor to use his discretionary power to issue judicial review proceedings. One of the issues I have already raised with Mr West is a concern that his client Council may have a multi-million pound contingent liability because there may have been, and may still be, unlawful exposure to poisons.”
for their students, hopefully ensuring that all students who menstruate have access to sanitary products that are affordable, and ideally free. OUSU is absorbing the 5% “luxury” tax placed on these items because we believe that they are a necessity.” Bradshaw also noted the further initiative in the project whereby common rooms can choose to match their order with a box of sanitary products worth £7.50 which OUSU will provide on their behalf to homelessness services in Oxford. She continued: “This belief [in the necessity of sanitary products] is also reflected in the ‘Period Match’ function of the scheme, where common rooms can match their order with a box pads, tampons and pantyliners that OUSU will provide to homelessness services in Oxford. I hope that this pilot will be just the first step towards improv-
ing student access to cheaper periods.” OUSU already subsidises the provision of condoms and other welfare supplies, as it has done for several years. The current 5% tax rate on sanitary products in the UK has been challenged recently, with an online petition under the title “Stop Taxing Periods. Period” attracting over 220,000 signatures. First year student Fiona Donnan commented, saying: “I feel this is a great idea, because I pay a fuck-tonne of money for the pleasure of bleeding every month. However, I’d be interested to know what kind they’re providing, because some brands can be quite uncomfortable which is the last thing you need when you’re menstruating.” Common rooms can order sanitary products from OUSU from the Friday of 0th week.
Launch of OUSU initiative to subsidise sanitary products LAURA WHETHERLEY DEPUTY EDITOR
Celia Hippie
OUSU has introduced a new initiative to subsidise women’s sanitary products for JCRs. The pilot scheme, originally announced in March, came into action on 19th April. During Trinity term, OUSU will provide “pads, tampons, pantyliners and mooncups” to common rooms at or below cost price, while also absorbing the 5% “luxury” tax which is currently imposed on these products. Anna Bradshaw, OUSU’s VicePresident for Women, said: “I’m very excited to launch the pilot of this scheme to provide pads, tampons, panty liners and mooncups at or below cost price to common rooms. This will enable common rooms to cheaply source sustainable sanitary products
23rd April 2015
News 5
Blaze engulfs iconic five-star Randolph Hotel
• Most recent evidence suggests the fire began after chefs used too much brandy to flambé beef
LOUIS MERCIER DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
The Randolph Hotel in central Oxford caught fire on Friday 17th April in one of the highest-profile emergencies to have taken place in the city for several years. Fire crews remained at the site of the five-star hotel for several days following a blaze which began around 4:30 on Friday afternoon. The fire is thought to have originated from chefs flambéing beef in a ground floor kitchen. Half of Beaumont Street, where the hotel is located, remains closed. Simon Furlong, assistant chief fire officer at Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We were working overnight to damp down the embers. There was a wedding party we were liaising with them and we went back in and got the rings and the floor plans. Those are small things but it’s someone’s special day today.” Furlong continued by describing how the fire had, “spread up through some voids” through the building to the roof which would have protected much of the interior. The extent of the damage is not yet fully assessed, but the top peak of the middle tower has been visibly damaged, and blackened beams poke through the damaged parts of the roof. One student bystander at the event commented: “The smoke was really heavy and black - it spread as far as Gloucester Green and you could smell it everywhere. People had been evacuated from the Ashmolean Museum opposite
the Randolph as well as from the hotel itself, and it was just chaos really. The fact that nobody was hurt is obviously really lucky, and it’s fantastic that the emergency services were able to do their job so well.” Regent’s Park student Kate Bickerton was also present. She added: “It was obviously sad to see such a prominent Oxford landmark being destroyed. I’m glad no-one was hurt during the incident. The road being closed was a major issue in my life, and it took me ages to get home”. Three people were assessed by South Central Ambulance Service due to concerns of smokeinhalation, but did not require hospitalisation or further medical treatment. Buildings in the local area, including the OUSU headquarters, were exacuated when the smoke level was at its highest level. A Thames Valley Police Spokesperson stated: “The hotel and other buildings adjoining it have been evacuated as a precaution and there have been no reported casualties, nor has anybody needed to be rescued.” Rodney Rose, the Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, praised the firefighters at the scene, saying: “The county council is very proud of its fire and rescue service and yet again our firefighters have responded magnificently - this time to a very high profile incident at one of Oxford City Centre’s most well known hotels.” The Randolph Hotel was a regular feature in the TV series Inspector
Morse , and has, according to the MacDonald Hotels & Resort Website, “played host to world leaders, Prime Ministers and Presidents” for almost 150 years. Passports and luggage were delivered to tourists needing to catch flights and the Randolph Hotel has provided alternative accommodation while recovery work continues. Scaffolding was being erected around the building on Saturday
morning for repairs, and will remain for the foreseeable future. The Randolph hotel has estimated that the fire may have caused millions of pounds of damage, particularly in the kitchen. In an interview with The Oxford Mail, Michael Grange, the hotel’s owner, said that the damage had been “devestating”. However, the hotel may be able to reopen as early as Saturday.
Oxford Mail
Oxford West MP defends fox hunting OXSTU NEWS TEAM
» Continued from front page
Oxford Mail
contested election race to regain her parliamentary seat, with Oxford West and Abingdon considered one of the closest constituencies in the country. She was elected in 2010 only 176 votes ahead of her Liberal Democrat rival. Liberal Democrat candidate Layla Moran, Blackwood’s main opponent, also criticised the MP’s stance and voiced her own disapproval of fox hunting: “There is no appetite to bring back the sport of fox hunting in the public and the Tory obsession with repealing the Hunting Act is a waste of Parliamentary time. As the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon I would oppose any repeal.” Blackwood has provoked student anger on previous occasions. In 2013, her vote against same-sex marriage was criticised in a letter written by 38 JCR Presidents, as well as then OUSU President Tom Rutland. Bridgen went on to describe Blackwood’s stance on fox hunting as a “ridiculous proposal” that will “lose [Blackwood] as many conscientious voters as it gains them
blood sport fans”. Bridgen went on to describe Blackwood’s stance on fox hunting as a “ridiculous proposal” that will “lose [Blackwood] as many conscientious voters as it gains them blood sport fans”. Sally Copley, the Labour candidate in Oxford West and Abingdon, also implied criticism of Blackwood’s support from Vote-OK, telling The Oxford Mail: “The important thing is to take your lead from what consituents tell you rather than particular groups.” A PPE student at Brasenose voiced his support of Blackwood’s stance, commenting: “Foxes are pests that cost the rural economy hundreds of thousands of pounds a year as well as causing untold disruption to the farming community. “Agriculture already faces a myriad of threats and difficulties and it’s right and proper that the government does everything it can to support the community. Moreover, foxhunting is an integral rural tradition.” Fox hunting was banned by Tony Blair’s Labour Government in 2004, though legal hunts are still held on Boxing Day every year in a number of areas.
Laura Whetherly and Kate Bickerton
23rd April 2015
6 News
OUCA President banned from Cuntry Living
• Jan Nedvidek has been removed from feminist discussion group by administrator, Alyson Cruise JENNIFER LEE NEWS EDITOR
The President of Oxford University's Conservative Association, Jan Nedvidek, has been removed from feminist discussion group Cuntry Living after sharing sensitive posts elsewhere. Nedvidek was removed by Cuntry Living administrator Alyson Cruise after it emerged that he had posted screenshots of Cuntry Living posts onto the Oxford Liberal Forum in an allegedly “mocking” manner. One female student and regular reader of Cuntry Living commented to The Oxford Student: "Posting screenshots of private and sensitive posts is obviously unacceptable. But we shouldn't forget that the Cuntry Living admins have become far too quick to remove people recently for often minor infractions. I feel this contributes to the group's intimidating atmosphere and discourages a lot of people (like myself) from joining in discussion." Cuntry Living and its administrators have previously fallen under heavy criticism for removing members from the group and have been accused of "unjustifiable banning and dismissal of opinion". Two weeks ago, an opinion
piece was published on The Stepford Student voicing contrasting opinions concerning the banning of members. The piece questioned the purposes of the group, asking: "should it [Cuntry Living] be an introspective safe space, or function as an open debating group?" Ruby Lott-Lavigna commented: "It is a space to be angry. It is one of many feminist, intersectional forums, and cannot try to be everything for everyone." On The Stepford Student, she argued that, "Expecting this space to be an educational forum for every white dude is to burden those with levels of oppression." Christ Church student Becky Butler voiced a different opinion: "Cuntry Living is losing sight of goal-oriented feminism that improves society, in favour of a spade to vent frustrations. There is no reason it cannot do both. It is possible to have a system of banning insensitive trolls whilst keeping genuine enquirers and notices. It will require faith in humanity." Jan Nevedick and Alyson Cruise declined to comment.
Roger Askew
NUS 'Liar Liar' campaign deemed "unfair" • A campaign against pledge-breaking MPs has been met by criticism by students SCOTT HARKER DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
The NUS’ ‘Liar Liar’ campaign, encouraging students to vote against MPs who broke their pledges not to raise tuition fees, has been met by criticism from students at Oxford and beyond. The campaign, which is reported to have cost £40,000, will see billboards, vans and newspaper advertisements all bearing the slogan ‘Liar Liar’. The project has attracted criticism for singling out
NUS
the Liberal Democrat party in particular, with the Liberal Democrat logo featuring prominently on the proposed posters. The planned billboards will be set up in London, Manchester and Sheffield (where Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is standing for re-election). Critics have argued that this further substantiates the claim that the campaign singles out Liberal Democrats, whilst ignoring other MP’s who broke their ‘Vote for Students’ pledges not to increase tuition fees in the run up
to the 2010 general election. A campaign entitled '#trollNUS' has been set up in response, to encourage students who disagree with the NUS’ campaign to make donations to the Liberal Democrats. Joseph Miles, a PPE finalist at Wadham College and founder of the campaign, stated: “I never expected the #trollNUS campaign to take off like this. When I heard of the #liarliar campaign, and having seen the NUS’s increasingly desperate attempts to plug it on social media, I started a Facebook
event called “Troll the NUS executive; donate to the Liberal Democrats!” as a joke and invited several people who I know are Lib Dems at Oxford. From there it just took off unexpectedly. The hashtag was really an afterthought for people to express support, and it surprised me that there were so many people that were interested in doing so. I do think the NUS has a problem with accountability, and its internal structures are almost impossible to understand. Clearly I am not the only person who thinks that the NUS has become dominated by small internal cliques who are nowhere near representative of the entire student body; small internal cliques who are only too happy to conveniently ignore the fact that Labour is still pledging £6,000 fees when they decide to send their battle-buses to key Labour-Lib Dem marginals like Sheffield Hallam. It’s an outrageous waste of our money and I think that there are much better things that they can be doing for students.” The NUS describes the campaign as seeking to end the "cycle of broken promises" and ensure politicians can be trusted and held to their word.
Debate debacle Debate enthusiasts have expressed concern over a policy introduced by the organisers of this term’s Oxford Women’s Crash, which requires participants to house visiting students in their bedrooms, or else not be allowed to debate again for the rest of the academic year. An email sent to the Oxford Women’s Crash mailing list on Tuesday by the Chair of the Oxford Union’s Debate Selection Committee informed members: “If you do not sign up to [house visiting debate students in your bedroom], you will not be selected for the remainder of the year.” The policy does not include finalists, and the email points out: “If there is a good reason you cannot [house visiting students], just [contact us].” The policy has been criticised by some students, however, who argue that members may have sensitive reasons for not wishing to allow strangers into their bedrooms which they may not want to share with the competition organisers. One female student commented: “As a victim of sexual assault, I do not feel comfortable 'taking crash', for obvious reasons. I feel vulnerable and unable to tell the debate select committee my reason, even though I’m sure it is a “good reason” like the email requires you to have." Jamie Jackson, Chair of the Union’s Debate Select Committee, explained that “the reason we make [housing visiting students] compulsory is that it ensures everyone does their fair share to help out at our competitions, which in turn funds travel and registration to external competitions. [The policy] is standard practice at all UK university competitive debating competitions.”
23rdApril 2015
News 7
Magdalen College lose University Challenge • Magdalen College team beaten by Gonville and Caius handing Cambridge a second win in a row JASMINE CAMERON-CHILSHE NEWS EDITOR
Magdalen College suffered a bruising defeat by Cambridge’s Gonville and Caius in the final round of this year’s University Challenge. The 105 - 255 point loss was dubbed “a revenge for Saturday’s boat race losses” by Cambridge student newspaper Varsity. Topics ranged from classical mechanics and geology to Ancient Rome and mathematics with both teams illustrating an extensive breadth of knowledge. Despite levelled scores 15 minutes into the programme, Cauis entered the lead through a series of well executed answers provided during the picture round and bonus questions. The winning team were presented with their trophies by novelist and Oxford alumnus Will Self, who complemented their mental agility and eclectic spread of knowledge. Ted Loveday, a Caius 2nd-year, emerged as the star of the show due to his speed and accuracy throughout the final. Notably, he correctly answered the opening ten questions whilst he left Paxman with little time to finish his question: “Meaning ‘only said once’, what two-word Greek term denotes a word…”, before providing the answer “Hapax Legomenon”. Subsequently, #ally-
ouneedisloveday trended on Twitter through the final stages of the competition whilst he secured himself on the ‘Cuties of University Challenge’ tumblr page. In a post-show interview, Loveday revealed the team’s tactics, saying: “We’d put aside regular times to sit down together in the college bar, watch past episodes on YouTube and try to shout the answers at the telly before any of the contestants buzzed. That was really helpful for improving our reaction speeds. Sometimes question-setters really like a particular area and they’ll keep coming back to it. For instance, they’re a bit obsessed with Pre-Raphaelite paintings, so we binged on some Wikipedia articles to make sure we were familiar with them. It paid off because we had a whole picture round on the Pre-Raphaelites! University Challenge isn’t about deep understanding - it’s about very wide, superficial knowledge combined with quick recall.” In its 44th series, the highly-anticipated final was hosted by Cambridge alumnus Jeremy Paxman. The Magdalen College team was headed by captain Hugh Binnie, studying Chemistry, alongside fellow chemist Chris Savoy, classicist Harry Gillow and Cameron Quinn reading French and Philosophy. Meanwhile
the Cambridge team was headed by 6th year clinical medic Antony Martinelli, 4th year Jeremy Warner reading Natural Sciences, 3rd year historian Michael Taylor, and 2nd year Ted Loveday reading law. Magdalen Team Captain Hugh Binnie commended his team’s achievements stating: “I was very happy with our performance… The overall experience was immensely enjoyable. The most stressful part was probably waiting to find out if we’d got on!” Despite this year’s loss, Magdalen College have won the competition four times in the past, including their 2004 win against Gonville and Caius, and Magdalen is currently ranked first alongside University of Manchester for the highest number of wins within the competition’s history. JCR President of Gonville and Cauis, Harriet Barlett, added: The team have put so much work into University Challenge so it is fantastic that they won! They have had a great amount of support from the college throughout the competition and we are so proud of them!” Last year’s University Challenge final similarly saw a fight between Oxford and Cambridge, with Trinity College Cambridge gaining 240 points to Somerville’s 135.
Magdalen College JCR
Caius College MCR
The biggest stories you’ve missed over the vac OXFORD TRIUMPH IN THE BOAT RACE Both the women’s and men’s boat teams won in the annual race against Cambridge on the 11th April, held on the Thames river. The race was particularly notable as it was the first time that the men and women’s teams raced on the same day, following the same race route.
BBC Oxford
WOMEN’S BOAT CLUB RESCUED FROM RIVER OUWBC were rescued by Chiswick RNLI on 1st April following strong wind and waves that flooded their boat near Fulham Railway Bridge during training for the Boat Race ten days later. All students were safely recovered, and the boat was later towed to safety in Putney by the lifeboat crew. The Women’s Boat Team Twitter page made the following announcement: “Thanks to the @ChiswickRNLI for their help this morning! Glad to say all athletes well+ready to go #shouldhavebeenanaprilfools”
EDL MARCH IN OXFORD The English Defence League marched in Oxford on 4th April, in protest of recent child grooming cases in the city. Three people were arrested and one police officer was injured during the protest. St Aldates and streets around it were closed due to the disturbance, due to counter demonstrations held by Unite Against Fascism and local faith groups. OUSU and the Oxford Islamic Society both released statements condemning the march. Up to 500 people were planning to attend the demonstration, including EDL groups from Liverpool and Berkshire.
ST JOHN’S IN £150,000 HEDGE DISPUTE Oxford’s richest college has found itself in a £150,000 dispute with a 74 year old retired businessman over a hedge on his land. Anthony Bethell, whose one acre plot of land spans the St John’s 1,200 acre plot, challenged the college over the exact boundaries of their land. A full trial concerning the case is to be held at the end of the month.
WEEDEN-SANZ FORCED TO RESIGN FROM UNION
CITY COUNCIL PROPOSES BAN ON ROUGH SLEEPING
Roberto Weeden-Sanz, the Presidentelect for Trinity 2015, was forced to resign in March following the decision of a Special Disciplinary Committee. Weeden-Sanz’s automatic resignation came after he missed several compulsory meetings. The Committee decision was only reached after a discussion which lasted over nine hours, lasting until the early hours of the morning. Olivia Merrett has since been confirmed as the new President for this term.
Oxford City Council angered local protesters following a proposition that rough sleeping and other activities related to homelessness are to be banned under the introduction of a new PSPO. A petition in protest of this action had over 300 signatures at the time of original publication, and the Council’s consultation on this matter was completed at the end of March. The PSPO also proposed bans on pigeon feeding and public drinking in the city centre.
ST BENET’S ADMIT WOMEN St Benet’s have said that they will admit women for the first time from the 2015/16 admission cycle. This now means that every college and PPH in Oxford will admit both male and female undergraduate students.
The Oxford Union
23rd April 2015
8 Survey
OxStu General Election Survey Student voter preferences T TORIES
GREEN
LABOUR
LIB DEMS
OTHER
Labour: 31% Conservatives: 28% Green: 16% Lib Dems: 13% UKIP: 2% SNP: 1% Other: 9%
SNP UKIP
“Ideologically, I suit the Lib Dems on pretty much everything. But I’m not particularly happy about paying £9,000 fees right now so I’ll be voting for whoever can put Nick Clegg out of a job.” “The whole ‘let’s hate on Nick Clegg because we’re students’ thing has become so cliched and boring. They’ve actually done a great job of defending civil liberties in this government, so I’ll be giving them my vote.” “I don’t really know much about the election or the policies but I think Ed Miliband is really cute so I’m going to vote Labour.” “I wish I could vote. I wish people would realise how lucky they are and vote.”
here are two pervasive stereotypes of Oxford students. The first, and best known, is that of the black-tie wearing, port-swilling Tory. Most commonly found swaggering around central Oxford in their characteristic red corduroys, or launching pointless coup d’etats in the Christ Church JCR committee, this antihero has been made famous by generations of Bullingdon boys and insufferable poshos. One consistent bedrock in the lives of these Boris Johnsonwannabees is their political conservatism; indeed, numerous senior figures in our current government originate from their ranks. The second stereotype of Oxford students is a more recent invention, produced by the national attention given to Oxford’s activist communities. Whether they’re shutting down abortion debates or demanding that students show their approval through jazz hands instead of applause, Oxford’s Left has emerged as its own community in recent years, and are supposedly beginning to challenge the dominance of the Buller-Tories. Our figures show that neither of
these amusing caricatures are particularly accurate. Oxford students are, politically, split broadly down the middle, with 31% of our respondents opting Labour against 28% going Tory. Students in this University are not, contrary to the popular narrative, overwhelmingly and homogeneously Left or Right wing. Indeed, Oxford student voting preferences are broadly in line with the national average for 18 to 24 year-olds. The only notable difference is the substantially lower support for UKIP, with only 2% of Oxford students opting for Nigel Farage’s party, versus 7% of 18 to 24 year-olds nationally. Another interesting factor is the student gender divide, with male students giving the Tories a 7-point lead, whilst women gave Ed Miliband’s party a whopping 14-point lead. Whilst national polls also show a left-leaning tendency among women, it is possible that Oxford’s vibrant and highly active feminist community has shifted the centre of debate toward the Left, an impulse naturally more marked amongst female students.
Percentage breakdown of votes Labour: 29% Conservatives: 36% Green: 12% Lib Dems: 13% UKIP: 8% SNP: 2%
Percentage breakdown of votes
Male voter preferences
Percentage breakdown of votes 18 - 24 year olds nationally
Graphs by Iona Caseby
Labour: 30% Conservatives: 26% Lib Dems: 11% UKIP: 7% Other: 26%
Female voter preferences
FUN FACTS • Classics is the most right-wing of the major subjects, with 36% of its students voting Conservative • English is the most left-wing of the major subjects, with 53% of its students voting Labour, and 25% voting Green. • Oxford students far less likely to vote UKIP than 18-24 year olds nationally.
Labour: 35% Conservatives: 19% Green: 20% Lib Dems: 14% UKIP: 2% SNP: 1% Other: 8%
“I don’t really like any of the parties. The only reason I’m voting Conservative is because Labour don’t seem very competent, especially when it comes to the economy.” “I genuinely don’t understand why anyone would vote for UKIP. I’m scared for the future of equality in this country.” “I’m voting Tory, because I don’t really want any more power in the hands of radical Scot politicians like Nicola Sturgeon.”
23rd April 2015
Comment 9
O Big Brother, Where Aren't Thou?
Comment
• Many Americans are ignorant of mass surveillance • Snowden's impact is conspicuous by its limitation
JOE D'AMORE HERTFORD COLLEGE
I
n John Oliver's surprisingly intense Moscow interview with Edward Snowden, the British comedian confronted the exiled American whistleblower on several awkward points concerning his legacy. Oliver's intent was to spur a conversation about security and mass surveillance as US politicians prepare to decide the fate of the controversial Patriot Act in June. Snowden was visibly surprised and uncomfortable during the interview, especially when Oliver undercut his optimism about Americans' newfound awareness of mass surveillance by showing him sidewalk interviews with New Yorkers who had no idea who he was. Oliver's point was simple but crucial: too many people are still apathetic and ignorant about government snooping.
“ When it comes to politics, we already
have to watch carefully what we say
”
Several factors contribute to this apathy. First and most obviously, mounting anxiety about the Islamic State and other supposedly existential threats has had a noticeable effect on prosecurity sentiment which, of course, coincides with fear about national safety. But another factor is that many people do not understand what these nebulous, mysterious security programs actually consist of. During the Snowden interview, Oliver ingeniously made this point by showing his New York interviewees reacting viscerally to the revelation that the privacy of "dick pics" is compromised by the Patriot Act. Oliver has demonstrated that there needs to be a wholesale repackaging of the mass surveillance issue if necessary reforms are going to be made. What people imagine when they hear "NSA" has a huge effect on how they feel about it, and it is up to journalists, educators, politicians, and others to make sure that what
people imagine properly symbolises the processes and apparatuses that actually exist. I will admit that sometimes, I do not feel genuinely threatened by the NSA; that is, my criticism is often more intellectual than emotional. Like most people, since I think I have nothing to hide, I am tempted to shrug it off and attend to more pressing issues, and I also feel like my opinion does not really matter and will not change anything. The root of my apathy is that what I picture when I hear about government collections of metadata, click streams, and the like, is really not that scary. Specifically, my image of Big Brother is that of an bumbling, bespectacled man with a toothbrush moustache and a pocket-protector full of green pens. Bored nearly to death and sunk in a swivel chair, he mechanically scrolls through a tedium of ones and zeroes, stopping only for a bagged lunch in the conference room and the occasional round of eye drops. When the boss steps out, our man dips into the Snapchat folder and peeks at a few gems until the thought of his wife (a spy at a different kind of surveillance program) makes him feel guilty enough to get back on track. Am I overjoyed to hear that this squishy menace might have seen photos of my "database" or my call log? Of course not. But do his transgressions make me want to march on Washington? No, again. That would be a long walk, and I am very busy. The problem here is that the image described is a dangerously naïve misrepresentation of what mass surveillance actually is. The security programs in place are much more powerful and insidious than many of us imagine, and the climate of secrecy nurtured by the US government has extremely deleterious political and psychological effects that absolutely should not be overlooked by the wider public. We already know of enough instances of the US government's abuse of its post-9/11 privilegesthe crimes at Abu Ghraib, the torture at Guantanamo Bay, the recent disappearance of American activists in Chicago, among many others- to know that surveillance program expansions, no matter how much they are pitched as rational security measures, always hold the door open for civil and human rights violations.
Considering what we do know, and what we can thereby infer that we are still in the dark about, I do not even think it is overly paranoid to assume that this article could someday earn me a spot on one of those lengthy government lists. A large number of us will soon face serious risks simply because of what we write, believe, and say. Indeed, many of us already face those risks. When it comes to politics, we already have to watch carefully what we say and do. This is especially true for people living the States, where the government uses a gluttonous prison system and an overtly militarised police to negotiate what can and cannot be expressed publically in the political sphere. It goes without saying that these very real dangers are not at all done justice by the image of a voyeuristic Poindexter. Yet the general indifference to these dangers which is becoming normal shows that such confounding narratives are taking hold. Those who are still outraged have the responsibility to deconstruct and replace these narratives, for that is the way public anger will be adequately sustained. It is no longer sufficient to detail lists of shocking statistics or harrowing anecdotes. We need a newer, more vivid and far more personal narrative to genuinely change perceptions. They can start with the dick pic thing.
THE PERCEPTION OF SURVEILLANCE 77%
of Americans do not think that the government should be able to secretly monitor their communications
65%
Mass surveillance Big Brother really is watching you
agree that government surveillance helps to prevent serious acts of terrorism being perpetrated
50%
believe that the government should monitor foreign nationals
John Perivolaris
23rd April 2015
10 Comment
W
e are more than statistics, but, when you consider the fact that the USA elected white straight cismen to the White House 43 times in a row, it’s hard not to get a little riled. I am a woman, and I want my powerful, human statistic of 51% to get the representation it deserves. In a system that favours white cis men, I want a woman to become President and prove once and for all that women are more than an under-represented statistic and, finally, show that a woman’s agency is so much more than her gender. Were I a citizen of the USA, it would not be Hillary Clinton’s gender that would seal my vote – Sarah Palin certainly wouldn’t have it – but because she stands up as a genuine and passionate advocate of women’s rights. Her advocacy of abortion as part of a “safe, legal” system promoting women’s reproductive health is a breath of fresh air in a system that institutionally favours the cis male. For the first time in a while, women’s rights are at the forefront of the political agenda. The USA is more than ready for this. Clinton’s campaign video showed exactly that; the focus on everyday Americans, despite receiving criticism for overshadowing Clinton’s own contribution, demonstrates the power of her campaign. Everyday Americans are #readyforHillary precisely because she is not just a step in the right direction for a representative system, but because she is an advocate for change. That is not to say she is the perfect candidate. Just like many politicians (yes, male politicians), Clinton will make mistakes, dubious claims and questionable decisions. She’s already proved this through the worrying transparency issues surrounding email-gate and her previously farfrom-progressive “evolved” opinion on same-sex marriage. That is the scandal and controversy we have come to expect from politics. While we should not make excuses for politicians caught in the web of their own game, what it does
KATE WELSH ORIEL COLLEGE
JAMES GADEA MANSFIELD COLLEGE
show is a woman fully part of that game that has been so heavily and severely dominated by white cis men. It is clear that she is already a key figure in a race against men who deny climate change (Ted Cruz), deny humans’ contribution to climate change (Marco Rubio), and claim vaccinations cause mental health problems (Rand Paul). Rather than having her outfits or age analysed – although one cannot ignore the disdain implied in calling Clinton a ‘grandmother’ – it is her policies and opinions that are under scrutiny. The dangerous game of top level politics seems like little reward for a woman who has had to fight ten times harder than men to make it there. But for the first time, a woman who is an active advocate for women’s rights is a major player in the American political game. By making a presidential bid, Hillary Clinton is acting as more than part of a statistic. To reduce her to one is to play into the hands of people like Wayne LaPierre, the NRA president who claimed, in reference to Obama, “Eight years of one demographically symbolic president is enough.” The political system of the USA has a long way to go to be truly representational, but Clinton is a very firm step in the right direction and one that is long overdue in the United States of America.
he United States of America is better served by other candidates than by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In Secretary Clinton’s announcement video, she made the following, bold statement: “Everyday Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion.” This statement reveals everything unwieldy and unfitting about her campaign. Clinton’s belief is that she will be “a champion” of America. America does not need a human champion; individual humans are flawed and make mistakes, however good their intentions might be. This was showcased in President Obama’s two terms: whatever good things we might intend, what matters is what we do. President Obama campaigned on a platform based on a nebulous term named “change” and yet, despite his charisma and brilliant personality, the President could not make huge improvements in the welfare of the American state. America does not need another “champion.” It does not need hazy key word campaigns. It needs bold ideas, bold plans, and bold methods of making those ideas and plans realities. It does not need more of the same. Celebrity personality will not reform the country’s immigration system. Celebrity personality will not re-establish America’s place in the globalised world. Celebrity personality cannot provide the working man with a better chance at the
T
IS THE USA READY FOR NO YES PRESIDENT HILLARY? Diego Cambriaso
American dream. Whoever will be chosen by the American people as the President does not need to be America’s champion. The President is not our King. The President is not our Lord. The United States of America was not founded by a champion; it was founded by the People of the United States of America. This country does not need Secretary Clinton to be their champion. Yes, the American President and all government officials ought to be advocates for the American people but, in addition, the American people ought to be advocates for themselves. Democratic President John F. Kennedy once famously stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” Secretary Clinton seems to think that if she is elected President, all of this country’s challenges will melt away as her decision-making begins to “run” America. However much she desires to melt away America’s problems, it does not negate the fact that a brilliant, experienced, and personable leader without a game plan is not necessarily the best choice for a leader. Secretary Clinton believes that her ascendancy to the Oval Office would allow her to be “the champion” America needs. America needs good ideas. America does not need a champion. America depends on the American people’s ingenuity and hard work. American innovation, ingenuity, and effort can change this country for the better. I want to support a campaign whose goals and objectives showcase those qualities of the American way, and I wish to vote for a President who believes in the power of American innovation and American thinking. Not feeling. It might feel like Secretary Clinton’s time to be President, but that does not justify voting for her as President. First, think. Our problems are best solved bottom-to-top, not top-to-bottom. America is better suited by a President who sees this.
Why pretend that politicians control the economy? MAX LEAK WADHAM COLLEGE
T
he current election is about the economy; it is the basic terrain on which any government must defend itself electorally. It’s the issue which has doomed Hollande, protected Merkel, and placed Cameron’s stature somewhere between those two. There’s an awful lot wrong with the way that politicians and voters discuss economics. We clamour for rapid growth at any cost. We obsess over quantitative measures of prosperity (headline GDP growth, numbers of new jobs) and neglect the qualitative realities underlying them (the nature of these jobs, the distribution of the newly created wealth). But the biggest lie of all has got to be the idea that politicians presently exercise any real control over any of this. It is staggering to observe, in an age defined by a rampant, unregulated capitalist order, the extent to which people still believe that British politicians “run the economy,” or even “run the country”. Governments can choose to facilitate or restrict domestic energy production.
They can administer stimulus packages and bail-outs. All told, it’s a shadow of the kind of control which would render sensible the election rhetoric of any major party. But the electorate’s neural connection between the economy and the people who do not, in any real way, “run” it, is undiminished. Our woeful inability to separate bad economic times from the person in Downing Street has debased and distorted political dialogue to a truly worrying extent. History throws up some (retrospectively) jaw-dropping examples. Britain’s second Labour government had been in office just a few short months when the Wall Street Crash occurred, and operated one of the most impeccably conservative fiscal policies seen in British politics before or since. None of this mattered – Labour were crushed at the next election. Dumb luck is no less the arbiter of politics today than it was in the ‘20s. There is no conceivable reason to believe that the 2007 crisis would somehow have been any less damaging if Cameron’s Tories had been in power. But in the end it was Cameron’s good fortune to not be in government when his and New Labour’s shared policy exploded. We reward or
punish parties for simply having been in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time. The incentives put in place by this state of affairs are simply perverse. Having pledged their way into power by claiming to control that which is beyond them, politicians invest in assembling the appearance of growing prosperity. In the last five years, the Conservatives have frantically pushed at the very same buttons of top-down stimulus and unsustainably cheap credit which they once condemned, desperate to have headline economic statistics moving in the right direction by polling day. If there’s a silver lining here for progressive types, it’s that most British voters have never understood Westminster’s devotion to undiluted free-market economics. Despite decades of consensus support among politicians for the privatising, deregulatory approach pioneered in the 1980s, those same politicians still need to pay lip service to the idea of a strong, interventionist state. The role of government in creating a fairer, more secure, more sustainable economy is still very much a viable political project. What’s missing, for now, is a party which is willing to take it up.
BRITAIN’S ECONOMIC MESS 1.5 percent
The average yearly growth of the economy, 2010 -2015
£100bn
The yearly trade deficit
877,000
The increase in unemployment during the recession
£178bn
The total to which public borrowing increased during the recession
401_K
23rd April 2015
Comment 11
“ The undoubted victor of the debates, Sturgeon portrayed her-
The French are right about models IMOGEN GOSLING
CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE
W
hen Botticelli painted Venus, the most beautiful of the Greek goddesses, he did so through the lens of 15th century European physical ideals. For me, the most striking thing about the painting is its reflection of an image of beauty so different to 21st century views on feminine perfection. Plato considered beauty to be absolute, yet after comparing Botticelli’s painting with the pages of Vogue, we can only conclude that beauty is a malleable concept. Beauty is somewhat demeaned by this malleability. If we remove the
“ Crucially, we are able to shape and define beauty
”
sacral quality granted to it by Plato, we are left with a relational entity, defined by our perceptions of it and constructed by culture. Crucially, this implies we are able to shape and define beauty. Institutions that trade in visual culture therefore have considerable power. In idealising models with worryingly low BMIs, fashion has warped the public view of beauty to the extent that an unhealthy body image is almost fetishised. It seems, then, appropriate – even essential – for governments to intervene. France’s law banning unhealthily thin models on its catwalks, passed on 16th March, and the similar legislation already in place in Spain, Italy and Israel are to be commended. Furthermore, the internationalism of fashion means that if enough countries follow suit, models with unhealthy BMIs will be increasingly less economically viable for global brands. These pioneering governments are thus creating the conditions for a snowball large enough to completely change the face of fashion. However, physical health is only half of the story. With rising levels of anorexia and eating disorders, banning the promotion of an unhealthy ideal is of paramount importance. But equally so is banning the promotion of a single ideal. The rise of social media, the selfie explosion, and the phenomenon of the filter have undoubtedly contributed to this tendency among our generation. The expansion of visual culture is not an inherently bad thing; on the contrary, it allows for an unprecedented level of diversity and self-expression. Nevertheless, any newsfeed would be a lot more fun to scroll down if it wasn’t filled with photos of pouting girls, painstakingly angled and filtered to achieve maximal cheekbone definition. A key problem with the
ideal of beauty promoted on most of the world’s catwalks is that it is monolithic. Sometimes, our fixation with the health risks of size zero leads us to forget about the broader implications of any aspirational physical image. The skinny fourteen year old girl despairing over her knobbly knees and flat chest can feel equally as insecure as her friend worried about the size of her thighs. Instead, what we should be striving for is a world in which there is no single ideal of beauty – Botticellian or Burberrian. So how does France’s law help to solve this problem? In encouraging the employment of models within a healthy BMI range, the French government is giving clothing brands greater scope to diversify their ‘faces’. ‘Skinny’ masks differences in body shape and, facially, it promotes universally drawn, angular visages with the result that all high fashion models (women supposedly selected for their unique appearance) have a look of each other. Bodily insecurities and eating disorders are by no means strictly ‘female’ problems; indeed, men with eating disorders is the fastest-growing demographic in mental illness. Yet, fashion is one of the few industries dominated by women, and of these it is the most economically substantial. It therefore has the potential to be an engine of female economic empowerment and a huge asset to the feminist cause. Let our catwalks be filled with variety. Rid them of the medically unfit and fill them with a diverse range of models so that children grow up in a visual environment where the whole spectrum of beauty is reflected. As ever, Paris has set the standard for the fashion world. If this continental trend catches on, it could represent a solution to the paradox of the fashion industry.
self as the leader of a progressive alliance which could well keep the Tories out of power.
”
Leaders’ debate school report sings Sturgeon’s praises SAM BILLINGTON
SOMERVILLE COLLEGE As the dust settles after the three election debates, Sam Billington assesses the leaders’ performances.
David Cameron What he set out to do: Preferably, not take part at all. When forced to take part, show himself as being above the other candidates by refusing to engage in squabbles that would make him look identical to his opponents. How he fared: A mixed bag. Cameron did not want TV debates – he does not want people to believe this election is a choice between anyone other than himself and Ed Miliband, and knew that his popularity ratings were already far above his Labour adversary. During the one debate in which he did take part, Cameron impressed in the areas one might have expected – the economy and strong leadership. But it was his absence from the final debate which made the biggest impression, and his all but guaranteed refusal to accept Ed Miliband’s direct challenge will not likely do the Prime Minister any favours in the polls. Grade: D+
EATING DISORDERS AND THE FASHION WORLD Ed Miliband
1 in 5
women struggle with an eating disorder or disordered eating
98 percent
The percentage of adult American women that the average catwalk fashion model is thinner than
Eating disorders have a higher mortality rate than any other mental illness
What he set out to do: Prove he is capable of being Britain’s next Prime Minister. How he fared: Broadly, very well. He struggled to tackle some of Paxman’s questions, with unflattering comparisons to his brother and his (rightly) much-parodied “Hell, yeah, I’m tough enough” hardly bolstering his leadership credentials either. However, his performances improved in the ITV and BBC debates, looking more Prime Ministerial with each appearance. The problem he faces is convincing the public that the SNP will not hold the balance of power if they are allowed to prop up a Labour Government. Grade: B
Nick Clegg What he set out to do: Defend his record as part of the Government, while simultaneously convincing the public that his party would be the best coalition partner to Labour or the Tories (rather than the comparatively ‘extremist’ alternatives). How he fared: There was no sign of 2010’s wave of Cleggmania here – Nick was effectively forced out of both the first and last TV spectacles and failed to capture the audience’s attention during the one in which he did take part. Clegg wants the Lib Dems to be seen as the sensible middle ground between Labour and the Conservatives, but was simply not as inspiring to protest voters as the newer parties on the left & right. It still looks likely that a considerable number of Lib Dems will lose their seats next month and, worse still, that Clegg could be amongst them. Grade: E
Nicola Sturgeon What she set out to do: Complete an unenviable task: convince Scottish voters to vote SNP over Labour on the promise that her party will make Scotland’s voice heard, but also persuade English voters to vote Labour over the rest. All this, whilst simultaneously demonstrating that the SNP is standing up for the whole of the United Kingdom. How she did: Superbly. The undoubted victor of the debates, Sturgeon portrayed herself as the leader of a progressive alliance which could well keep the Tories out of power. A polished performer all round, her appearance caused ‘Can I vote for the SNP?’ to be one of the most googled questions after the second debate- even in Wales and England. Who needs Alex Salmond? Grade: A
Leanne Wood What she set out to do: Represent Wales on a national stage. How she did: Wood accomplished her goal: referencing her home
country at every opportunity and even closing her final speech in Welsh. She will not have won a huge number of friends among the English audience, but also doesn’t need to. Wood was the first to respond to Farage’s ridiculous claims about HIV patients, and generally strengthened the antiausterity narrative. Grade: C+
Nigel Farage What he set out to do: Appeal to his core support-base in order to win his party’s target seats, and not care who he offends in the process. How he did: Apart from the more obvious qualms, such as his tendency to blame everything on immigration and his generally offensive nature, Farage often seems to take a deliberately misleading approach to discussing factual issues. However, Farage polled well after both debates, and it is clear that a large minority of the British population support his views, viewing him as the most straighttalking, grounded leader. Criticising the audience in a live debate is bold, but UKIP’s commander-inchief was perhaps correct when he said that for him, the real audience was at home. Grade: B-
Natalie Bennett What she set out to do: Portray her party as the only real English alternative to the pro-austerity, pro-Trident, anti-immigration Westminster counterparts. How she did: Mixed. Bennett is improving, but still seems to somewhat struggle in these situations, and it was telling that her opening speech in the final debate name-checked Caroline Lucas (easily the more popular of the two). Although she successfully portrayed herself as a real left-wing alternative, the Green Party leader was still outshone somewhat by Sturgeon. Nevertheless, she had a few nice individual points, especially against Farage on the subject of immigration. Grade: D+
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Music 3
23rd April 2015
MUSIC Pelvis pushers won't stand still
“D
irty, nasty, deep-digging,” are the terms laughingly banded around by Vintage Trouble to describe their on stage swagger. With songs such as ‘Pelvis Pusher’ this deep-digging sexiness is central to Vintage Trouble’s sound and image, but it is not to be underestimated: “We said sexy when we were boys, now we’ve got a whole lot of something else to do.” This is a band with a restless sense of something to do, and they certainly do not stand still. Since their breakthrough appearance on 'Later… with Jools Holland' in 2011, the L.A. band has not stopped touring. Formed after singer Ty Taylor and guitarist Nalle Colt set up a home studio in Los Angeles in 2010, the band had been playing together for a year when the BBC got in touch. A viewer tuning in to Jools Holland that day was presented with a sound that is hard to define but immediately familiar: as if James Brown collided head-first with Led Zeppelin. They had energetic soul with a rock edge: bass, guitar, drums, and voice. Lead singer Ty Taylor screeched, shimmied, swirled, swaggered and roamed into the crowd. “We played
HELSINK
that song like we were being shot out a cannon,” he says. “I think people felt like these guys have music running through them like lightning. And we do, but we just thought, ‘Oh shit, here we go!’” Since that performance, Vintage Trouble have not stopped going, touring the UK, Europe and America. Their live shows are characterised by high-octane performances, and this energy is key to the group. Colt insists that mutual energy between band and audience fuels the group. “There’s something created at a live show – an amazing energy. We feed off the energy of the audience and then it becomes about giving people a show, something to remember and be part of.” Drummer Richard Danielson refers to it as “synergy” and Taylor calls the audience a “fifth member of the band.” “It’s often the audience hyping us up,” he continues. “And also, we can admit it, we like some adoration. It’s nice to be on stage and get a little pump from someone looking at you smiling and sweating.” Vintage Trouble give their fans – the Troublemakers – a lot of love. It is hard not to be struck by the humility of a group who run their own merchandise stalls after concerts
in order to chat to their fans. But they do not only play to admiring crowds. The band has opened for The Who, The Rolling Stones and Paloma Faith amongst others, in huge arenas where they are unknown to most of the audience. Despite this, “the audience was
“We started get-
ing into the mentality of making it more like a party
”
participating as if they knew the songs,” Danielson says. “We only know how to get up there in front of a band like The Rolling Stones from the shows we played in L.A. when we were starting out.” “We started getting into the mentality of making it more like a party. You’re not coming to see a concert and stand there with your arms crossed. We gotta get people involved and really try to get people motivated to hoot and holla and dance and sweat and shout and give
and cry and yell and go crazy.” “Lots of our songs feel very primitive,” Taylor adds. “We try to get into the soul more than the head. It makes people feel like they know already. Something feels new to them, but something also feels familiar that allows them to act up and act a little crazy.” This is the core of Vintage Trouble’s sound: familiar genres of soul, R&B and rock combined to form their own sound. Their appreciation of Amy Winehouse’s “marriage of old music with new sounds” readily applies to their own sound. Vintage Trouble have gained reputation as a live act, and hold the magic of live music in high esteem. How do they condense that sound into the studio? “You go into the studio, set up like you do live, ask the guy to mic it and go for it” Colt responds. The band always record together, as opposed to the widespread modern technique of tracking instruments individually. Danielson believes that is the key to getting that live magic on record. “There’s something about doing full takes with the band all at one time, and it’s something that I think people feel even if it’s on a subconscious level.” Their combination of self-assur-
JACOB WISEMAN LINCOLN COLLEGE ance, swagger and humility gives the band genuine warmth. They are simultaneously artists who have a deep appreciation for their craft and party guys who want to get down. They have an exciting energy about them. Last year they were signed to Blue Note records, and their debut album on that label comes out later this year. There is a sense that this album will be a defining project for the band. “We’ve been waiting to do this a long time. We’re really excited,” Danielson says. Bassist Rick Barrio Dill adds, “There is something that transcends even a live atmosphere when the song is that fucking good.” For Vintage Trouble recording presents other challenges and advantages, much of which relates to the way in which listeners access music in the 21st Century. “People that like music, whatever style, need to challenge themselves to go deeper into it,” Taylor asserts with the authority of a man who has spent endless hours engrossed in records. “Like you watch a television show, just stop for a while and listen. Don’t make it background music; don’t make it a couple-second experience. Music deserves more attention than that.”
23rd April 2015
4 Music
Sufjan Steven’s existential crisis T
here are easier songs to remember than ‘A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze’, which sounds exactly like you’d imagine. On the other hand, there are few as instantly endearing as ‘The Dress Looks Nice on You’. Such is Sufjan Steven’s eclectic
“An album for
shut curtains and for losing one’s self
”
discography. The Michigan-born singersongwriter boasts a genre-defying career across fifteen years of critical acclaim, which varies from the avant-garde efforts of the millennium albums A Sun Came and Enjoy Your Rabbit, to the folk-pop Michigan in 2003. Quietly interrupted by 2004’s Seven Swans – an acoustic album rich with Christian allegory – the 2005 album Illinois burst out with dense orchestration; in 2010, the neon-drenched electronic album The Age of Adz was released after five years of experimental recording. And yet in Sufjan’s latest offering, Carrie & Lowell, there is neither bombast nor musical intrigue. The Age of Adz bows out with
the joyously carpe-diem ‘Impossible Soul’: “It’s a long life/do you wanna dance?” Just half way into Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan is rhyming “The fourth of July” with mantra-like repetitions of “We’re all gonna die”. This time, Sufjan Stevens really is having an existential crisis. Carrie & Lowell, named after Sufjan’s mother and adopted father, is not strictly an album about family, but the memory of Carrie’s passing in 2012 haunts, frag-
mented, throughout the songs. Some, like the opening track ‘Death with Dignity’, are an open lament to an absent, depressed mother from a mourning son: “Amethyst and flowers on the table / Is it real or a fable? / Well I suppose a friend is a friend”. Others such as the titular track hide within hazy, happy nostalgia for “pear tree… cottage grove shade” poignant and heartbreaking eulogies for a schizophrenic parent: “Carrie go home /
Thorazine’s friend”. Nevertheless, we can still find room to smile at the stepfather who misnames his son “Subaru”, in the Oregon devotional, ‘Eugene’. Sufjan makes no secret of his Christian faith: Biblical – and Classical – allusions manifest fluently in his lyrics, guiding this album through the myriad streams of “Blind faith / God’s grace”. In ‘John My Beloved’, Sufjan begs, “Jesus I need you / Be near me, come shield me”; elsewhere in ‘Drawn to the Blood’, he demands “Tell me what I have done!” of his “God of Elijah”. Unlike the Biblical parallel, however, no heavenly fire descends from his sleeping sovereign – Carrie & Lowell remains in the perpetual flux of uncertainty. Consequentially, an almost teenage volatility comes out in the 39 year old artist: he watches his partner text in bed while he masturbates (blurting awkwardly that “All of me wants all of you”), or plays host to thoughts of “driving this car… into the canyon at night”. The confidant, eccentric frontman – the Sufjan who once introduced his live band as “Chief Eagle Majesty Snowbird and the Butterfly Kite Brigade” – has succumbed to turmoil: “Fuck me, I’m falling apart,” he sings, on the single ‘No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross’. Overall, Carrie & Lowell is a wonderful, devastating masterwork. Fingerpicked guitar melodies reminiscent of Seven Swans underscore fragile vocals throughout Sufjan’s most lyrically driven album to date; collaboration with S. Carey of Bon Iver crowns the album closer ‘Little Bucket of Gold’ in a vast,
Cycling to record label success
‘B
ear on a Bicycle’ are the Oxford based record label and all-round creative collective that like “big thinkers and interesting people”. I spoke to the collective’s founder, Jordan O’Shea, about operating the collective in Oxford. The acts currently signed on the label display an impressive range of genres, styles and influences with folk and folk-tronica acts such as My Crooked Teeth and Sier Pin Sky to electronic and drone acts such as After The Thought and Paddox. The line-up also includes Jordan himself, he notes that the collective was born after, “a realisation of how talented my friends were and knowing that together we could all achieve so much more than if we did it alone. We promote each other, advise each other, perform together, whilst maintaining our own styles and art-forms.” This cultivation of a relaxed and friendly atmosphere is key to the label, and something they are keen to replicate with their newer signings. When asked how artists are approached to be on the label, Jordan comments: “Usually by building a friendship first. We have big family values and like BOAB to run like a collective, so even if you’re the best band in the world, if we don’t get on with you we just won’t want to work with you.”
The ‘Bear on a Bicycle’ collective spirit and family ethos appear refreshing in comparison to what Jordan describes as the “ridiculously competitive and cutthroat nature” of the artistic industries. Oxford’s own creative scene can sometimes be reflective of this wider, impossible situation within the arts. Despite
“If we don’t get
on with you, we just won’t want to work with you
”
this, Jordan is keen to stress the supportive nature of Oxford’s music scene: “Oxford has a highly competitive music scene, but the musicians are equally as supportive of each other.” This competitive, yet supportive, environment brings its own challenges. “The quality [within Oxford] is outstanding, and so setting up ‘Bear on a Bicycle’ meant we had to make an impact as
quickly as possible.” This meant utilising the city’s creative spaces, but often in inventive and interesting ways, with the collective frequently holding their showcases, in art galleries rather than gig venues and most importantly, “all in interesting places – places you’ll be remembered” As well as showcasing their artists’ work locally, ‘Bear on a Bicycle’ are keen to let the wider public know of the talent within Oxford. Jordan almost plays down what the collective can offer it’s artists in this respect: “Simply, we aim to progress their careers in any way we can and make sure they’re enjoying what they’re doing.” Yet the label’s recent projects show a level of commitment to creatively marketing their artist’s and performers work that major record labels currently lack. For Paddox’s latest album, Aphrodisiaque, Jordan describes the preparation that went in to releasing the album in the run up to Record Store Day: “We designed and built the world’s first 3kg concrete encased 12” vinyl, using 3D printers to make the original silicon mould, then a lot of hard work and masonry! We teamed up with One Note Forever Records to release the album and even did one black and one gold
DANIEL HAYNES NEW COLLEGE ethereal soundscape. It is not perfect: scarce musical progression often blurs tracks indiscriminately, and at times it is difficult to decipher between the real and fictitious projections of the artist. However, Sufjan’s strength remains in his poetry: this is an album for shut curtains, for losing oneself.
Sufjab Stevens discography. 2000 A Sun Came 2001 Enjoy Your Rabbit 2003 Michigan 2004 Seven Swans 2005 Illinois 2010 The Age of Adz NAOMI SOUTHWELL SOMERVILLE COLLEGE
PADDOX
version for Record Store Day 2015”. This commitment to quality in their creative output not only allows ‘Bear on a Bicycle’ to showcase their artist’s work in unique and innovative ways, but has also led to them carving out their own creative path within the Oxford scene. This is evident when Jordan describes the collective’s Oxford-based projects: “We’ve made our own arts and culture magazine ‘Urban Trees’ to help promote our acts and others around Oxford too.
Pop-up shops with fashion designed by our artists and various postcard collections.” It’s clear that collectives and independent labels like ‘Bear on a Bicycle’ are offering creatives within Oxford a unique platform to showcase their work, locally and nationally. It’s equally apparent that support from within the community at Oxford is vital in order for these unique creative opportunities to survive.
Music 5
23rd April 2015
1 Love
OxStu’s 1st Week Playlist
Take a holiday with Buena Vista Social Club BENJAMIN HUSTON ST JOHN'S COLLEGE
B Could You Be Loved? Bob Marley
Detroit Baby Habibi
uena Vista Social Club’s 1997 album deserved its incredible success and place in recording history. It boldly showcased a generation of Cuban musicians who had been a part of the pre-revolutionary musical legacy of the 50s. Nick Gold, of the World Circuit record label, expected the album to sell no more than 100,000 copies, yet the figure currently stands at over eight million. That’s not bad for a record put together in a couple of days when a planned collaboration between musicians from Mali and Cuba fell through. Such unlikely success was a musical phenomenon we may never see on this scale again: a truly genuine album driven by the joy of playing music rather than commercial production. In the nearly 20 years since the 1997 album the only subsequent release has been a live recording from the Carnegie Hall. Will Lost and Found – a collection of unreleased recordings for the original
Untitled (How Does It Feel) D’Angelo
One Million Lovers The Growlers
notonous ‘Black Chicken 37’, or pieces overuse the solo-and-accompaniment formula with little improvisation and interaction between band members. The first track of the album, Ibrahim Ferrer’s live recording of ‘Bruca Manigua’, almost falls into this category but is redeemed by the unabiding energy of the vocalist himself. A number of new instruments are present on this album, most obviously in a frenzied violin solo on ‘Tiene Sabor’. However, it is the familiar sound of Ruben Gonzalez’s unaccompanied piano playing in ‘Como Siento Yo’ which is one of the real gems of the album. As was the case with the 1997 record, the success of Lost and Found should not be based on preconceived ideas about the music or musicians, but simply on the joy and vibrancy of the music. In the 90s there were no longer any of the Cuban music clubs from which the name of the group and 1997 album took its name; the whole point was to evoke and pay tribute to music from the past. By waiting almost two decades to make this release, when only a couple of the original musicians survive, the same principle could not be more apparent.
Getty Images
RECORD STORE DAY Psychocandy
I Love You, Honeybear Father John Misty
album and solo efforts from band members – live up to the same ethos or is it a blatant attempt to capitalise on the original lucrative success? Fortunately, this album works. It is not an album that has simply been thrown together, nor will it only be popular with those fans who are only interested in hearing what missed the cut in 1997. This is a true compilation. Each track compliments the next and the whole result keeps to the same spirit, if not always the same style, of the original record. Having said that, the only two original recordings with the full band, ‘Macusa’ and ‘Lágrimas Negras’, are truly superb. In fact, I cannot understand why they were left off the original album. They exhibit all of the great Buena Vista virtues: an emphatic pulse, uncomplicated melodies and band members who are not afraid of riffing away in the background. The result is the familiar and charming balance of spontaneity with tight musicianship. The other tracks on the album (unreleased recordings from the Buena Vista all-star cast) are varied and altogether successful. Sometimes spontaneity seems lacking, such as with the slightly mo-
Naomi Southwell The pulsing drum beats of ‘Just like Honey’ signals the start of Psychocandy. Released in 1985, it’s easy to proclaim the album as before its time knowing the shoe-gazing distortion that was to follow, from the likes of My Bloody Valentine, and others. Yet, the album is firmly set in popular musical tradition, showing a fondness for the “wall of sound” production techniques and generic pop song structures of sixties girl groups like the Shangri-La’s, this innocent sound, was transformed into the distorted masterwork that is Psychocandy. But what makes this year’s Record Store Day offering significant? This year sees the release of a live version of Psychocandy, recorded at Glasgow Barrowlands during the band’s 30th anniversary tour. The tour itself, and the resulting record, has a symbolic value for the band and their fans. Celebrating 30 years since the release of an album from a band considered by many to have limited shelf-life, it’s a tour of celebratory defiance. The physical record itself echoes this, pressed on to heavy-weight red vinyl by influential sound engineer, Noel Summerville. The production behind this new release is more than capable of cap-
Kings of the Wild Frontier Kate Bickerton If I could go back to any era in music, it would have to be the New Romantics. Who wouldn’t want to pose around in outrageous glam military attire, complete with boys in eyeliner and girls in face paint? There is something about the opening drum core in ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’ that speaks to youth, regardless of era. I think it is the inner teenager in Adam Ant that fuels his enduring support of Record Store Day. Both are a call to arms for youth everywhere to get up and dance, and this is proved in the support they receive on Record Store Day. This year, Adam and the Ants have released a special double feature of their most iconic songs: ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’ and ‘Ant Music’. I imagine a younger, naïve me in 2015, going along to her local record store, browsing the shelves and picking out the record with the funny men in face paint on the cover. It makes me happy to think that there are younger versions of me now who are discovering for the first time the Kings of the Wild Frontier and stamping their feet along with generations of youth culture.
The Charade
Jacob Wiseman The Charade features two tracks from D’Angelo’s entirely unexpected December relase, Black Messiah. The album was the neo-soul artist’s first major offering since 2000’s hugely popular Voodoo. The release was brought forward as a result of the Ferguson and Eric Garner cases. The two songs, ‘The Charade’ and ‘1000 Deaths’, epitomise the combination of tracks on Black Messiah - showcasing their powerfully politically motivated lyrics and the musicality of the D’Angelo groove. On the B side, ‘1000 Deaths’ questions the singer’s faith, juxtaposing it with chilling morbidity. Perhaps the relase of these songs was intended to follow the Walter Scott case? There is certainly anger in Jesse Johnson’s closing solo on ‘1000 Deaths’, as D’Angelo sings “A soldier only dies once, once, once.” The songs are drenched in the instantly recognisable D’Angelo behind the beat groove. Drummer Questlove and bassist Pino Palladino create their groove paradox, going beyond the length of the bar and back playing so far behind the beat while crafting the tightest of grooves. This vinyl underscores the lyrical power and musical prowess of D’Angelo.
Run the Jewels
Emma Newelle Phrases such as: “one of the hottest rap duo’s in America right now” are unexpected for two 39 year olds. But such is Run the Jewels. Both “Killer Mike” and Jamie “EL-P” Meline were close to abandoning their music careers, with remarkably limited success in terms of record sales to show for their long time in the game. Their persistence is now paying dividends. Both young and old will appreciate this year’s Record Store Day release, an exclusive 12” with four tracks. The tracks include,the unreleased “Bust No Moves” featuring SL Jones, Pew Pew Pew (from the European edition of Run the Jewels) “Love Again” (from Run the Jewels 2) and “Blockbuster night Pt 2” (a bonus track from Run the Jewels 2). The star of this LP is the bonus track, “Bust No Moves”. Combining schoolboy humour about reefers with wider political concerns, with lyrics “law, please don’t shoot” directly referencing “Hands up, don’t shoot”, the simple words that became an acute expression of the the anger after Ferguson. This artful mix keeps Run the Jewels relevant to their diverse audiences; the duo are clearly in it for the long haul.
6 Screen
SCREEN
23rd April 2015
Season 5, episode 2
Jaime Lannister prepares to travel to Dorne along with his companion Bronn
Sky Atlantic
GoT: The show that would be king I
n television, it’s extremely easy to label something ‘phenomenal’. The finalists of Britain’s Got Talent show phenomenal talent when performing; the standard of play on Super Sunday is at times phenomenal; even seeing people fail miserably at Total Wipeout is phenomenally entertaining. However, few shows, if any, can claim to be a phenomenon in and of themselves. Game of Thrones wears that moniker comfortably. Season five made its bow on 13th April in the UK, having already enjoyed a glitzy, red-carpet premiere at the Tower of London. This in itself is unheard of. It takes a special show to replicate the prestige of a Hollywood Blockbuster. Indeed, Holby City’s premiere at Gloucester City Hospital doesn’t come out of the comparison all too well. So, after four full seasons of deception, realpolitik, conflict and copious amounts of nudity, what shape is Westeros in come season five? Well the opening to the season, “The Wars to Come”, followed the Thrones tradition of setting out its chess pieces methodically, with each figure gearing up for their own power plays. However, if you listen to interviews with the cast and crew then you get the impression that this season, more than others, will see characters and subplots
intertwine. Episode one alluded to this on numerous occasions. Sadly for fans of the show though, this marks the beginning of the show’s end game. If hitherto the warning had always been that “Winter is Coming” (*gruff, northern accent*), then now equally pressing is the fact that “War is coming”. The opening episode featured levels of scheming that have become commonplace in Westerosi politics. The exchanges between Tyrion Lannister and Lord Varys oozed with intrigue, in many ways framing the whole series. In the far north, Stannis sets in motion his plan to wrestle the north from the Boltons, whilst in the south, the (SPOILER ALERT) death of the true power in the Seven Kingdoms, Tywin Lannister, has rocked the capital. Across the narrow sea, Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, is learning the difference between conquering and ruling. In weeks to come we will undoubtedly see bold political moves and multiple deaths – this is Thrones after all. But more than this we will see events that have thus far not occurred in George R R Martin’s books at all. This marks a new chapter in the show, as the creative process is now at times wholly in the hands of showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff. Although for some of the Thrones purists this will be a be-
trayal of their hours spent poring over the books, it also means that the future of the Seven Kingdoms is now a completely unknown entity, open to speculation and fan theories a-plenty.
“ If the series’ upwards tragectory continues, then the weeks and seasons to come will only solidify its stellar reputation
”
For years fantasy fiction was seen as the remit of anoraks and pre-pubescent boys, the kind of genre that always made you think twice about mentioning it in a social situation (if, of course, you ever managed to find your way into one of those). But now, lo and behold, film and
television are awash with sci-fi superfans and fantasy fanboys. If The Lord of the Rings was the first iconoclast, then Game of Thrones is the heir to the throne, and is now the vanguard in promoting the genre. Why is Game of Thrones so successful? Fantasy fiction can never, if we’re being brutally honest, be cool, though Thrones is making a good stab at it (pardon the pun). The simplest answer is perhaps that the show is capable of enticing a variety of people; there truly is something for everyone. There are strong male and female characters, epic action sequences, cutting pieces of dialogue, droll lashings of humour and a smorgasbord of eye candy (Daenerys, Margaery, Sansa, and yes, Jon Snow, to name just a few). Indeed, although there are loose historical foundations to the show, the reality is that it is a perfectly executed piece of escapism. However, Thrones is also part of a wider phenomenon. For too long critics and viewers alike have agreed that television is the little brother of film, never capable of replicating the same level of drama. Yet if you look at the last decade or so, the quality of television is simply jaw-dropping. The advent of the anti-hero with Tony Soprano some 16 years ago spawned such gripping drama as The Wire, Prison Break,
LUKE WALPOLE ST HUGH’S COLLEGE Mad Men and, perhaps the jewel in the crown, Breaking Bad. The so-called “Second Golden Age” of TV has not just continued, but also developed and adapted to changing social mores. Female led shows such as Orange is the New Black and Veep prove that top draw drama doesn’t need a male, anti-hero lead. A big budget doesn’t always guarantee success on the big screen – oh, hi there John Carter – or even on the small screen – I see you Terra Nova. However, the increasing budget parity and willingness of big studios, such as HBO, to invest in small-screen drama is in general closing the gap between film and TV inexorably. Television has time on its side; more hours to form character arcs and fully realise subplots. But more importantly some shows are now capable of replicating the spectacle of the silver screen. Which brings us back to Thrones. Such set pieces as the Battle of the Blackwater or the Watchers on the Wall prove that the show can deliver when the time for talking is done. If the series’ upwards trajectory continues, then the weeks and seasons to come will only solidify its stellar reputation. So whether or not Game of Thrones has truly succeeded in making fantasy fiction cool, I will be making the pilgrimage to the television every Monday night regardless.
23rd April 2015
Screen 7
Review: John Wick I t’s been a long time since Keanu Reeves’ last success as a genuine movie star. So long that many had given up hope of witnessing again the charismatic onscreen presence that lit up The Matrix Trilogy and Point Break. With The Day the Earth Stood Still and 47 Ronin as our most recent and all too memorable points of reference, Reeves looked destined to slip out of favour as a great Hollywood hasbeen. It’s a relief then, and something of a surprise, that John Wick excels with the now 50 year old actor as the titular lead. Though it may not be a generation defining phenomenon, the film deservedly restores Reeves to the position of movie star. The catalyst for this success is undoubtedly the film’s director, Chad Stahelski. Having worked as a stunt coordinator and double for Reeves on the Matrix films, and now running his own stunt company, he is excellently placed to play to all of Reeves’ strengths. Following a brief but heartfelt opening ten minutes that sets up the most elemental of revenge plots, John Wick plays out like a long, glorified, operatic action sequence. Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) plays Iosef, a swaggering, jumped-up son of Russian mafia boss Viggo (Michael Nyqvist), who takes it upon himself to steal John Wick’s car and kill his dog. Unbeknown to Iosef, Wick is a legendary retired assassin, and his dog was the last parting gift from his dying wife. What follows is essentially a poised,
gorgeously shot and choreographed action sequence, which runs for around 60 minutes, and leads the audience through the world within a world that is the New York crime scene. From neon bathed clubs to disused churches, to hotels to dockyards, John Wick ticks off all the classic action sequence set pieces. It all kicks off with an excellently well composed stealth sequence, in which Wick clinically dispatches of a small army of hitmen sent to his home under cover of dark. Suited, sculpted and dressed entirely in black, we get to see Reeves at his best, a force of nature that is a joy to watch. His dialogue may be minimal, but he has an unreadable quality onscreen that brings an impressive amount of weight to the role, and is made excellent use of by Stahelski. Without any big shows of emotion he produces a formidable image of someone in grief and embattled, yet ruthlessly effective. What Stahelski crucially understands is how to make the best use of the excellently talented stuntman in Reeves. He chooses not to bring the camera right into the action, with close proximity and rapid cuts in quick succession, the technique used so successfully in the Bourne Trilogy and every Liam Neeson film. Rather, he knows Reeves is capable of delivering a believable fight sequence, and makes a spectacle of it. Despite the unrelenting combat, Stahelski keeps the choreography fresh. Not limiting himself to simple guns, knives and fists, he
COUNTDOWN
makes great use of the environment and timing. This is handsomely demonstrated in a small sequence where Wick entraps an attacker in his tie to buy time to reload. Despite this, towards the end, the film does slightly run out of ideas, and falls back to a guns and SUVs car chase that has all been done before. The film also boasts a respectable supporting cast, Willem Dafoe as gaunt and eye-catching on screen as ever as the weary counter-assassin, while Alfie Allen is brilliantly petulant and cowardly in equal measures as the ultimate target of John Wick’s unrelenting wrath. Michael Nyqvist is one of the film’s few missteps, as a singularly unthreatening Russian mafia boss. Rather than set up some epic coming together of an unstoppable force and an immovable object, his lack of onscreen persona threatens to reduce the action to John Wick simply ploughing through those unfortunate enough to get in his way. Fortunately Ian McShane is on hand with a performance that has all the mystery and power of any classic crime lord. All said and done, the film’s greatest strength will for some be its greatest weakness. Beyond the spectacle there’s very little in terms of character development, humour or much to fire emotional investment on the part of the audience. But if the success of Taken is anything to go by, then it won’t be long at all before we see John Wick return to the big screen, whatever that means for Keanu Reeves.
The Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP, Yes Minister This was apparently the favourite TV programme of the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which may be because it engages in some good ol’ fashioned civil service bashing, as the narrow-minded CS incumbents continually thwart the plans of the well-intentioned Minister of Administrative Affairs, Jim Hacker.
T
ST HILDA’S COLLEGE
3
BBC
2
Frank Underwood, House of Cards For the first two seasons of HoC we were left unsure as to whether Frank Underwood had any sort of political agenda outside of his own boundless ambition. Since becoming President, any question as to the existence of a latent conscience has been firmly put to rest (if the murder of a former lover wasn’t enough for you).
Allstar
1
Malcom Tucker, The Thick of It No list of unscrupulous fictional politicians would be complete without the foul-mouthed master of spin himself. Ed Miliband recently said in an interview with the Radio Times that he avoids watching The Thick of It because “it’s too much like reality” – not exactly reassuring.
Des Willie/BBC
David Lee
THOMAS BANNATYNE
TOP THREE WORST POLITICIANS ON TV
HECTOR MANLY WADHAM COLLEGE
he question: does Britain have talent? The answer: sort of. That’s the verdict from the first audition show in the new series of Britain’s Got Talent. It had some good bits, some genuinely laugh-out-loud bits, but it also had a lot of tedious filler. In the past couple of years we have seen a Hungarian shadow theatre group and a dog win (don’t even ask me who won last year, I have either forgotten or never cared), but the real problem isn’t with the contestants. The problem is that the same basic format has existed since 2007, and it is lamentably predictable. We are never in doubt as to whether someone will be good or bad. If there is a long introduction, the performer will be good, no matter how unlikely it seems. If they are brought on quickly, with a comedy soundtrack behind them, looking like a no-hoper, then they are a no-hoper. There is absolutely no need for us to see or hear the
judges because we know what they are going to say. Last Saturday they were even more obsolete than usual, as their big red buzzers were almost entirely unused. Fortunately, when people are bad, some of them are really bad. An atrocious ventriloquist. A dog that was supposed to sing, but chased after Ant (oddly, not
some weird and wonderful acts as successes too. There was the Parisian and his dog, who sang and meowed as a ventriloquist dummy (“It can’t actually sing”, David Walliams reminds Simon Cowell as they leave the theatre). There was a brilliant contortionist. There was a brother and sister roller-skating combo,
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT Dec) every time he was let loose on stage. There was also a chicken that didn’t do anything at all. We have yet to see something to rival the painting donkey or the duck in the cannon from years gone by, but there is still hope. And, unlike The X Factor, where all the good people are good for the same reasons, Britain’s Got Talent offers up
who whirled each other around, her head passing inches from the floor. There were middle-aged women whose terrible dance routine got even worse when it turned into a striptease. There are the makings of some good entertainment here, but they are obscured by Simon Cowell’s need to fabricate and stage every-
thing, and a slew of unspectacular acts taking up too much time. The pinnacle was a singer, good but not special, who earned the honour of being sent straight through to the live semi-finals with a press of the golden buzzer by Cowell. Not only was it an outrage that the talking dog wasn’t given the same treatment, but the presence of his sister, just turned down by the judges, on the edge of the stage made it feel all the more contrived. There is a fine line between insufferably dull and freak show, and Britain’s Got Talent hasn’t quite nailed it. It feels less mean than it used to, but it now celebrates the people who belong on The Voice or The X Factor, and doesn’t give enough time to the unusual. I’d take Patty the painting donkey over some singer any day. Catch Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday evenings on ITV.
8 Fashion
23rd April 2015
Ballternatives Model: Lauren Miles Photography: Amber Larkin Styling: Charlotte Lanning Editing: Tom Reynolds
23rd April 2015
Fashion 9
Balltenati
Photographer: Sakura Xiaomei | Models: Rosalind Brody, Lucy Thraves & Re’em
Moskovitz | Concept & Styling: Augustine Cerf & Demie Kim
10 Fashion
23rd April 2015
FASHION Spotlight: diverse careers in fashion • Introducing a new series of interviews about the reality of fashion industry • An OxStu exclusive interview with fashion blogger Brighton Girl Problems
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any people underestimate the fashion industry and write it off as “fluffy”, or imagine it to be dominated by a group of stiletto clad bitches (otherwise known as the clackers in the Devil Wears Prada). This term the OxStu will be running a series of interviews with people involved in an array of jobs in the fashion industry to get to grips with the reality of the fashion world and the people that it employs.
I
t seemed right to start with the foundation of many modern careers in fashion, blogging. Having a blog is a non-negotiable part of any wannabe stylist, writer or designer’s repertoire. This is primarily because creating a blog is so easy thanks to sites like Blogspot and Wordpress. However, being successful at blogging and making it a career is a feat that only a few achieve. It is essential for showcasing your ideas and opinions. Making these ideas stand out is the difficult part. A poorly put together blog can be a bigger turn off to empl oyers than not having one at all. But how can you be a fashion blogger and be anonymous? I spoke to anonymous fashion and lifestyle blogger Brighton Girl Problems (brightongirlproblems.co.uk), whose blog amassed half a million views just a year after the idea was born. With a penchant for fake tanning and contouring, BGP is the archetypal 20-something struggling along but aside from her brilliant commentary she’s something of an enigma. Her podcasts are dubbed to make her voice far deeper. She very rarely posts pictures of her own styles. This mystery allows her to deliver posts with brutal honesty which brings a huge dose of humour that many other bloggers simply can’t achieve. In a world that is saturated with pretension, it seems that the secret to being a popular blogger is to not take yourself too seriously. What made you start the blog? I started my blog as a follow on from my Twitter. It was a platform to talk all things beauty, fashion, food, girly
advice and more. I’ve always loved writing and as I built up views I knew it was something I wanted to stick at.
“ It is easier to be honest - as I’m
anonymous, I can open up a lot more
”
How did you build up your followers and how long did it take for it to become successful?
I have only been doing my blog for a year, and BGP for 18 months and have only seriously been doing my blog for around 6 months. I started off with the Twitter so this helped to build up the following of the blog. It definitely wasn’t an overnight success and only in the recent months has it gotten to the level where I can do it as a full time career - I’m very lucky for this to happen early on, as it can take a lot longer. What do you think is the secret to your success? I think people see me as very real. I don’t put on any airs and graces, my blogs are the sort of things you would say to your friends as you’re getting ready for a night out and people like that. Your blog is anonymous, have you found any negativity easier to take
A lack of MAC? MUA eyeshadow
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Barry M dazzle dust
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because of this and is it easier to be honest?
of a struggle juggling everything on top of my blog!
I think each person deals with negativity in their own way. A lot of my first blogs were very jokey and tongue in cheek but as the blog has grown they have become more serious in certain ways. My main forms of negativity do come from males as I don’t think the things I blog about connect with them as much. It is easier to be honest as I’m anonymous, I can open up a lot more about certain topics which I think my readers appreciate. I’m not honest because I’m anonymous though, I’m anonymous because it’s how my blog and twitter both started and it just feels right. I get called ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Bridget Jones’ and a modern-day ‘Carrie Bradshaw’ which is lovely but at the end of the day I am just the girl next door sharing her experiences in the world of love and beauty and fashion.
You’ve expressed your dislike of kitten heels and clear strap bras but what is your number one fashion and biggest beauty faux pas?
You started up the BGP store, how else can a blog be profitable? Is the blog now your full time job or do you work as well?
My blog still contains a fair amount of fashion and beauty, which is my passion but I did a few break up blogs and my followers and readers connected to them so much that I slowly started doing more. I get hundreds and hundreds of emails a week from girls, young and older and even a few men asking for advice on all their personal issues and I would love to reply to them all but it’s just not physically possible. I think people see me as a good source of advice I’m anonymous and I know what I’m talking about (I hope anyway!). It’s very flattering to be someone’s person to turn to but it’s also a massive responsibility, especially as my blog grows. It’s easy for me to talk about
There’s lots of different ways that you can make your blog profitable if you have the determination to work hard. Marketing, advertisement and brand sponsorship are just a few ways but that takes time as you need to reach a certain stage before you can turn it into a career. I currently do have another job; however, my hours have slowly been decreasing as BGP grows, and I am hoping to be able to commit to BGP full time this year, as blogging is a full time job once you reach a certain level and it’s becoming a bit
CHARLOTTE LANNING
Pembroke College MAC Cinderella
The Cinderella range for MAC sold out as quickly as you can say bibbidi-bobbidiboo. Maybe it was the quality of the products. Maybe it was the pretty packaging. Or maybe it was the obsession with Disney that just won’t quit. It definitely wasn’t because the range contained any bargains. If you’re hell bent on getting your hands on some Cinders stash, products are being resold on eBay, the £32 eyeshadow palettes go for as much as £100 and the £17 lipsticks for up to £55. So, we’ve found some cheap alternatives to get your beauty fix and stay out of your overdraft.
I think my biggest fashion issue is when someone wears a top which was once white and is now grey. I just hate it! It’s so obvious. My biggest beauty problem is when people wear a darker foundation than their skin but don’t tan their body too - I always wear a darker base but I make sure my body is the same colour! It’s surely just standard, isn’t it? The blog started off quite fashion/ beauty orientated but is now more personal, you’ve also turned into something of an agony aunty. Why is this and was it easy to change the focus?
CHARLOTTE LANNING
Pembroke College
cheating and break-ups and depression because they’re all things I’ve gone through and come out the other side of stronger and as a better person.
“ There’s lots of different ways that you can make your blog profitable
”
Have you had to change your lifestyle much or did blogging fit in with what you were already doing? My lifestyle has changed in the fact that it’s now more difficult to just experience something without thinking ‘oooo I could blog about that’. Being given brilliant opportunities and contacted by amazing people is a massive honour which has taken some adjusting to but I’m not fully adjusted yet! What are your tips for starting up a blog? I would say blog about something you love, enjoy and are passionate about. And if you are just blogging for money then it’s not likely you’ll succeed - most successful bloggers started out of loving writing and what they were writing about and then it spirals into a career if you’re lucky. Be patient and stay focused. Be your biggest fan and your greatest critic. Finally, what plans do you have for the future of BGP? There’s all sorts of things in the pipeline but at the moment I’m just trying to write the best blogs I can and listen to what my readership wants. I have lots of great ideas and I can’t wait to watch my blog grow with time. It really is something special seeing all your hard work and dedication pay off.
L’Oreal Color Riche
The L’Oreal Color Riche series has over 30 shades with many natural and understated shades available. Perfect for balls where your dress or shoes are making the statement. Currently on 3 for 2 in boots treat yourself to a variety and still have enough left for a glass of Pimms whilst
Fashion 11
23rd April 2015
INSTAWORTHY @hayden_williams This is what Instagram was made for - a creative showcase that is a delight to the eyes. Williams’ couture-esque illustrations feature a range of subject matter, from Disney characters to old Hollywood stars to his own collections. Recent posts include modern twists on the classical princess look for the new Cinderella film (see above). The occasional selfie reminds the one million followers that this is a one-man show, and with a celebrity following including Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Beyoncé, it would seem there’s plenty more to come.
@victoriabeckham As someone known for her constant pout, Victoria Beckham probably doesn’t sound like the jolliest person to follow. But it would seem that the ice queen is melting. In the past few weeks she has shared A LOT (39 pics in one week to be precise) and it’s making her more likeable by the day. SHE’S SMILING (sort of). Family snaps include matching mother and daughter Burberry monogrammed scarves for her and daughter Harper. She’s even acknowledged her dark past as a Spice Girl standing next to a cut out of alter ego Posh Spice. As a well established member of fashion royalty VB is at last proving that she doesn’t take herself too seriously.
Don’t need a dress to impress
FLORA HOLMES AND NAYRA ZAGHOUL
Lincoln College
CAPES
JUMPSUITS
In heavier, more luxurious fabrics the cape trend can adapt to be the perfect cover up for ball season! The beautiful and unpredictable British weather means that Oxford can remain chilly in the evenings even during summer ball season. So, a warm cover up is a crucial yet often overlooked garment. This white ‘collarless cape blazer’ synthesis by Lavish Alice (£54) is a potent and fresh take on the formal cape. White may seem terrifying (oh the many hypothetical stains!) but it is infinitely rewarding in its potential pairing with any colour and its striking appearance would be well worth the required caution. This look exemplifies the beauty of the formal cape: it has the capacity to look endlessly chic without being ageing due to its unique combination of structure and playfulness. This Jayley Silk Fringed Cape (£55) is a lighter and slightly less bold option. The loose fit in a less insulating fabric makes it very comfortable (albeit less cosy), and excellent for layering. Its delicate lace and fringing detail are right on trend and can add a bohemian vibe to any ball outfit. The biggest pro about this cape is its versatility. It can be paired with any casual daytime spring or summer outfit so won’t need to be stowed at the back of your wardrobe like your ball dress probably will heaven forbid outfit repeating!
Jumpsuits are an elegant substitute for the traditional ball look if you’re looking for a more structured silhouette that sometimes cannot be found in a maxi dress. Take this ‘wink cut out jumpsuit’ in cream (£150, aqaq). Worn with a chunky gold belt it brings extra attention to the waist combined with the bold structures around the chest. The straight-legged style elongates the body in a way that a maxi dress may not do, so if you are wanting to draw emphasis to your legs, then a jumpsuit might be the way to go! This particular jumpsuit could be worn with hair tied back and platform heels as the model does in the photo to create a really fierce, edgy ball look. Equally, if long and flowing maxi dresses aren’t really your thing and you’re looking for a more down-stated, yet still formal, ball look, then a jumpsuit such as this one from Y.A.S. (ASOS, £80) might be for you. The slouched detailing at the back gives off a more chilled vibe whilst the silk material and fluent tailoring keeps it ballsuitable. Again, this jumpsuit illustrates the silhouette in a way that cannot often be found in a ball dress by drawing in at the waist and loosely following the form of the body and the legs, creating an effortlessly graceful look.
PHOTO /Andy Field
One Piece from Perfect C
inderella’s look was not complete without her infamous glass slipper nor Dorothy Gale without her ruby pair. Taking inspiration from these heroines I developed the habit of yearning for a single piece, with a belief in its revolutionary abilities. Any child born in the 1990s will recall the tantalising Lelli Kelly shoes adverts; the toothy grins of the child actors and the camaraderie provoked by the sassy sandals, made me covet a pair. Once acquired, as you may suspect, I was not suddenly surrounded by a group of like-minded girls who joined in my chorus proclaiming the joy of the shoes “oh yeah”. Yet I have seemingly failed to learn my lesson. Suffice it to say my tastes have refined somewhat since then. My latest longing was for the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation, that promises to make skin ‘delicate’ ‘glowing’ and boasts ‘perfecting’ qualities. It is clearly quite a simple leap from perfect skin, to perfect appearance, to perfect friendships, to a perfect romantic life and a successful in your degree-the logic was infallible and the key was this foundation. Perhaps unsurprisingly whilst the foundation was delightful, its powers extended little beyond making one’s complexion even.
The idea behind this belief in the ‘one piece from perfect’ dogma is telling of a broader trend; a trend whereby young women pressure themselves to be perfect. Never before has an aspiration of perfection been so pervasive. ‘Perfect’ is a resolute word and one which conjures numerous expectations, but today the pursuit of this accolade encompasses a multitude of facets. Every experience has the potential to be perfected; beauty, the body, the mind, the personality, friendships and appearance on social media. One can witness the apogee of this trend at Oxbridge. Small screen counterparts promote the prototype provided by Hermione Granger, the darling of this generation, Rory Gilmore of the Gilmore Girls, Spencer from Pretty Little Liars and Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl. Thus the high-achieving, very pretty, extra curricular whizz who is bound for an Ivy League college became a stock character of American TV shows. The narrative is compelling and it has promulgated an ideal for its eager viewers. Much media
attention has been devoted to the circumference of Lily James’ waist in the most recent adaptation of Cinderella, but little to the archetype promoted by such films in which women who find happiness are shown to be the embodiment of perfection. Whereas beauty has been sufficient for perfection, here it is a pre-requisite and is reinforced by the desirable traits of being well read, courageous, always polite and charismatic. It is easy to see how the notion of perfection can surpass an ideal and become an identity. Issues with perfection stem from its very nature, which dictates it is something to be encouraged, lauded, celebrated and ultimately an evershifting finish line. As such the effects of this pressure are too often forgotten in success or, worse, ignored all together. The work executed in the pursuit of perfect is immense, producing perfect essays, maintaining an ideal appearance and refusing to display any cracks can prove a dangerous obses-
LIZZIE EVENS
New College
sion. This pursuit can be linked to disorders such as anxiety, depression, orthorexia and other eating disorders. Whilst perfection is doubtless a commodity of advertising, it extends beyond airbrushed skin or a photoshopped waistline, and promotes an ambition to reach a perfect ideal that is all-embracing.
PHOTOS / Polyvore
23rd April 2015
12 Arts & Lit
ARTS & LIT
On the taboo of nude drawing
• Life drawing classes are still considered a social taboo and attract smirks • Madeline Briggs discusses her experience working as a life drawing model
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or most fine artists, the ability to accurately depict a human body is a critical skill. It seems to follow logically that most developing artists would be glad to practice drawing a figure without the distractions of draping cloth or fussy accessories. However, life drawing classes - which provide these opportunities in a professional setting-remain stigmatised and under-attended. Such classes require artists to interact with nudity in an unfamiliar way, which often leads to either awkward or inappropriate behaviour. In my experience as a model, this taboo can be alleviated by respect: for the model, both as a person and a form, and for one’s own ability as an artist. Nudity itself, while widely accepted in classical art, remains pilloried in modern art for any possible perceived erotic or sexual tones. For many people, their primary experience with nudity, and nude figures, reflects a sexual context. Whether or not you believe that nudity and sexuality should be mutually inclusive, this modern trend tends to result in two types of behaviour from new life-drawers. Some, reluctant to risk judgement or afraid of accidentally acting inappropriately, simply don’t draw, and neglect the skill completely. Others mistake the line between model and person, and treat the assignment and muse improperly, thus confirming the stigma. Usually, I see these as subconscious behaviours, but they often reflect the artists’ own attitudes towards sexuality. With that in mind, the most universally applicable advice that I can give to life-drawers is to remove sexuality
from the equation, and focus on the art. When I model, I make every attempt to neutralise any possible tones, erotic or otherwise. When I am on the stand, I view myself as a sculpture, rather than a person. Poses are determined based on complexity and interest of lines and contours, rather than, say, attractiveness of the body. I do not speak to the artists, I do not flirt or engage, but I also do not shy away from possibilities. Although I avoid any overt tones, I recognise that each artist will select a different angle,
“ When I model, I make every at-
tempt to neutralise any possible tones, erotic or otherwise. Life Drawing Classes:
Combining classical aesthetics on human form with modern ways of capturing reality
Mahin Kirinde
”
a unique view, and I know that some of those may reflect sexuality. The moment I am off the stand, I dress, and revert to being my normal self. I usually like to wander and regard the various drawings, but I do not see them as a judgement on my figure or personality. They reflect the artist’s vision, which is always unique and usually fascinating. During a session, draw what is interesting. Normally, each pose provides any number of stimulating angles-draw what you are comfortable with, or fascinated by, and don’t worry about being judged
Meeting Maureen Johnson
WILLIAM SHAW Corpus Christi College
aureen Johnson is an old hand of the Young Adult novel. Over a literary career of more than a decade, including such novels as 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Girl at Sea, and the Suite Scarlett series, as well as the popular Bane Chronicles series, co-authored with Cassandra Clare, Johnson has marked herself out through her lively and engaging voice, crisp prose and knack for creating memorable and well-developed characters. Her latest novel is The Shadow Cabinet, released earlier this year as part of the ongoing Shades of London series, and I was fortunate enough to talk to her about the novel, as well as the field of Young Adult literature more generally. The conversation began with the novel itself. “It’s about an American girl named Rory, who comes to London to go to school, and while she’s there someone starts imitating the murders of Jack the Ripper. In the process of the first book she discovers she can see ghosts, there’s an underground system of ghosts monitoring the police in London. There are a lot of murders.” I asked what attracted her to this slightly unusual premise. “I spend a lot of time there [in London]. My partner is English, so I’m there quite a lot, and I was working on a different book and I was taking a historical tour for background
in your head of what it is you want to do, then you figure out how to make it. I have a different system each time. With the mysteries I have to figure out all the solutions at the beginning and then work backwards, so that’s totally different.” Johnson is already hard at work on a fourth Shades of London book, as well as another entry in the Suite Scarlett series. She is an extremely prolific and wittily proficient author, but what really shone through during our time together was her passion for her subject matter. This passion has hooked legions of fans, and looks set to draw in a load more as her novels go on.
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information on something else. I noticed that I was getting historical information, and then they would say ‘Oh, and that room is haunted.’ And I was like, ‘Why do they keep saying this on a historical tour? I don’t understand.’ I said ‘Well, why do you think this place is being haunted?’, and they would say things like ‘Oh, well,
“ I kind of do what feels right at the time. Every book, you kind of figure it out. There’s no formula to it.
”
that room gets very cold,’ or ‘Oh, the door just…opens.’ Well yeah, it does that, otherwise it’s a wall. I hate crappy haunting stories, I don’t believe in ghosts. I wanted a better ghost story. If you’re going to have a ghost, I want a ghost that does some stuff. I want a ghost who messes things up. I said, ‘Who would be a problematic
ghost to have?’ Jack the Ripper. And then the more research I did the more I found out how much of it was just a large media creation. It was basically one of the earliest sensationalist media stories, like how to sell newspapers – scare people!” “I liked putting a Southern American in the story as well. I think you can spot us [Americans] coming a mile away, the same way that we can spot you when you do an American accent on Spooks or something. You can tell fake English and fake Americans. The outsider coming to town is a pretty classic story, so I thought, send her to England, let her see some ghosts! What could go wrong?” The novels deal heavily with London’s history and architecture. “There’s quite a lot of research. Two years of looking into the Jack the Ripper case, and also researching things like the history of the Tube, the tunnels underneath the city of London, buried rivers, disused bunkers, tunnels. I know a lot of super boring facts about sewers and holes in the ground. I’ve basically become some terrible trainspotter.” The supernatural thriller is, of course, one genre of many Johnson has worked in over the course of her career. “I kind of do what feels right at the time. Every book, you kind of figure it out. There’s no formula to it. You kind of get an image
Heather Weston
MADELINE BRIGGS
Oriel College
for your selection. Models are aware of their imperfections, and most recognise that human flaws are an integral part of life drawing. Few will ever be angry with an artist for depicting an unflattering or untraditional angle, be it stretch marks or body hair. In that sense, I traditionally expect that the artists will also respect me in two ways: as a figure, and as a person. Treat your model as a statue. Don’t expect them to care about what you draw, but also, be careful about interacting with them while they are working. Do not ever touch the model, for any reason. Unless they explicitly give permission to the class to request poses and moods, do not ask them to move, to look at you, or adjust their hair or accessories. The model will pose in a way that is comfortable for them, and any requested deviation may introduce themes that they are not willing to portray. If you have any concerns throughout the session, speak to the teacher or session organiser, and allow them to liaise with the model. Finally, remember that your model is still a person, and that they have a life and limits beyond modelling. Do not take pictures; a model who is comfortable being drawn may not want to be naked on someone’s cell phone. Treat their nudity as a work uniform over which they have no control- do not discuss it unnecessarily, don’t pass judgement or compliments, and don’t talk about it to your friends when you pass your model on Cornmarket. If in doubt, discuss the art, and allow the model to mention the nudity if and when they feel comfortable. Treat your model as respectfully as any stranger you have just met (fully-clothed).
23rd April 2015
Arts & Lit 13
Do allow us to introduce ‘ourshelves’ Treasures from afar
MARCUS LI & WILLIAM SHAW you, you will not find a more joyful poet.
Arts and Lit. Editors
A 1
new university term means a new editorial team at The Oxford Student. To make things more creative, we have chosen five books from our shelves that characterise us: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam This is quite simply the best comic novel in English, bar none. The sheer force and volume of ideas this novel throws at its reader was enough to lift my adolescent head off, and in many ways I’m still reeling from the shock. And if there’s a single character who embodies my general outlook on life, it’s Arthur Dent. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell If there is a single novel I can point to and say, ‘This is the reason I decided to study English’, this is it. Cloud Atlas is a work of mad genius, weaving together six totally different stories panning multiple continents, time periods and literary genres, but what’s most amazing is that all of it fits together perfectly. If Mitchell can be this clever and also this entertaining, there really is no excuse for the rest of us. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde I’m not sure it’s actually possible for a play to be more fun than this. Reading the part of Algernon in A-level English class was a formative experience. The sheer joy of the whole thing pretty much single-handedly ended a prolonged period of extremely tiresome teenage angst, and set me on the straight and narrow path marked ‘if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right’. I cannot think of a better role model than Algernon Moncrieff. Well, I can, but I defy you to come up with a funnier one. The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson A tutor once asked me why I used so many dashes in my essays. I felt terribly embarrassed and mumbled something about not being able to organise my thoughts properly. The real answer is that I read too much Emily Dickinson. Actually, scratch that. You can never have too much Emily Dickinson. Despite what some naysayers may tell
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Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell Another one read at a formative age. In some ways a conventional love story, in others a wonderfully witty and subversive take on the genre, this novel reduced me to a blubbering wreck at the tender age of seventeen. This is, quite simply, one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Wuthering Heights by EmilyBrontë As I stepped into the threshold of Wuthering Heights, into the depths of Emily Brontë’s tempestuous world, I found myself in the midst of a heated love relationship bordering on insanity. Charlotte’s Jane Eyre does indeed seem to be widely read, but this certainly puts up a fight. The settings are well-developed to reflect an ominous atmosphere that overshadows the entire novel, and Brontë’s language skillfully explores the psyche of her characters. This is certainly an essential for any erudite bookshelf. Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) by Günter Grass The Nobel-prize winning author sadly passed away two weeks ago. Whilst Will calls me a snob against contemporary literature, there are a few exceptions that I find absolutely splendid. Grass’ masterpiece tells the story of Oskar Matzerath, a child who has decided to stop growing at the age of three! He experiences the tyranny of the Nazi regime, as well as the post-war socio-economic climate of Germany. Despite his infantile physical appearance, he leads an adult life, has sex with his step-mother (potentially siring the child of his father), works as a nude model, and plays his beloved tin-drum as he finds communication a bore. But this scanty description does not do the book justice; Grass’ humour and irony pierces through each episode of Oskar’s narration. RIP Günter Grass. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Oh Gatsby, you old sport, how hard you tried to find your Daisy, only for her to abandon you in the iciest manner. Set in the Roaring Twenties, with its debauched morality, decadent parties and capitalistic obsession, it brings to light the failures of the American Dream as Gatsby fails to survive. For me, Gatsby
REBECCA HENDERSON
St Anne’s College
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Wikipedia
“Y
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Laura McKenzie
is the Heathcliff of the 20th century. Heidi by Johanna Spyri Heidi is my childhood all time favourite. Orphaned from a young age, she was sent to the village on the Alm in Switzerland to live with her grandfather. She transitions into her new life with ease, and spends the day herding goats up to the mountaintop. All is well until one day, her aunt Dete returns to take Heidi to Frankfurt am Main in Germany as a hired companion for a wealthy family. Heidi soon becomes homesick; her free-spirited self is repressed in the urban scene of the metropolis.
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The grimmest Oxford libraries
E
xam season is finally here, and for most Oxford students, this marks the yearly migration to the library. But with so many to choose from, which libraries are most conducive to productivity and which ones will leave you in a whirlpool of despair? Here is a list of the five worst libraries to work in as voted by you: The Radcliffe Science Library Home to the most enthusiastic water fountains in the city, which flood the entire library every time someone uses them to refill their water bottle, this place is best avoided for those who don’t want to add a Biblical flood to their list of worries. Combined with its underground location, which resembles a nuclear bunker, a number of students who commit to this library never come out for fear
of the real world after university. Whilst this may suit some finalists, freshers are advised to look elsewhere. The Social Science Library A home from home for PPEists, this library is notoriously boiling, with temperatures rising to worrying levels in the summer months. There is a high risk of students losing crucial knowledge through their sweat if they spend too long in Oxford’s very own Gobi Desert, and with every mark counting towards your final grade, is this risk really worth taking? Magdalen St. Swithun’s Library This temporary structure best resembles a marquee at a wedding. Whilst some may delude themselves into thinking this similarity will wed them to their textbooks, it is most likely to
cause distraction and unauthorised frivolity. One also fears that an inadequately timed head-bang on the desk will bring the entire structure down, resulting in a mini avalanche of books burying desperate finalists. The Gladstone Link Whilst some masochistic students derive a warped pleasure from the harsh lighting (which is reminiscent of a 1970s police interrogation room) most people are actively repulsed by the clinical décor. The scene for a worrying number of killings in the ITV series, Lewis, most students are put off this library for fear of being trapped in between the sliding book shelves. Steer clear if you want to want to avoid being caught up in a murder investigation during the revision period.
10
‘An old baguette’ Somewhat infamous amongst close friends, my shelf has been known for its controversial display of baguette art, normally found on top of a tattered copy of Atlas Shrugged. A piece of French baguette has been air-dried lest it disintegrates, and elevated with bent paper clips in a pseudo-Dalian fashion. The weighty load seemingly defies nature by being suspended in the air. The piece symbolises that no matter the origin, if one perseveres, one can always succeed and rise amongst the ranks. Say what you will, but this is an old dweller of my shelf that I am proud to call art.
SIAN BAYLEY
Queen’s College
Tom Barnett
ou should perhaps at some point consider reading something post-1300.” Deciding to heed the advice of my grammar tutor and get out of the medieval period for a bit, I spent half an hour of the final Friday of Week 8 feeling mildly overwhelmed by the well-stocked French section of St Anne’s library. Telling myself that staring at spines is, alas, not the same thing as actually reading, I grabbed three titles and scurried off to finish packing. A few weeks later, I’ve finally got to the end of the first one: La Chute (‘The Fall’) by Camus. I’ll admit this straight up: I know nothing about Camus except he wrote L’Etranger, which I haven’t read, and all my linguist buddies describe him as “depressing, weird and kind of confusing.” My experience showed that the description of “depressing, weird and kind of confusing” turned out to be fairly apt – yet I can’t help feel that the struggle to ‘get it’ is very much the point. La Chute is Camus’ final work, and it’s masterful. Trying to outline the plot is quite hard – essentially ‘lonely man describes life to random strangers.’ It sounds simple. It is anything but. Jean-Baptiste Clamance, who calls himself a “judge-penitent”, offers his perspective on all the Big Life Issues: crime and punishment, innocence and sin, life and death, love and hate. So often I was vividly reminded me of those late night drunken conversations (aided perhaps by the initial setting of an Amsterdam bar) when everyone’s a philosopher – except in this case, the speaker truly is. It’s a damn clever book. There’s a sense of poignant pointlessness and hopelessness in Clamance’s descriptions of his fall (hence the title) from wealthy, popular Parisian lawyer to a grim life in Amsterdam, which becomes a ‘Dantesque’ Hell with the red light district at the centre. Camus’ work constantly explores the issue of truth- what it is, and how to recognise it- yet all within a fictional framework. The novel so easily seems to wander into transcendent existential discussion, but then suddenly with a direct question to you, the holder of the book, you’re jolted back into an earthy, grimy setting where high flying ideals feel incongruous, uncomfortable and more than a tad ridiculous. It’s deeply clever. It’s deeply unnerving. The protagonist’s struggle to find meaning in his life as he describes his ideals crumbling very much reflect the experience of struggling to impose a unified reading on the novel. It doesn’t work. Interpretation is not straightforward and neat – it’s messy and difficult. Neither Clamance nor the reader can ever truly settle on what anything means, but nevertheless both endlessly seek to find cohesiveness in experience.
14 Stage
STAGE
23rd April 2015
Metta Theatre does Cosi Fan Tutte The play transforms Mozart’s Italy with this iconic image of World War II
Metta Theatre
Mozart takes a trip to Wartime Britain L ucy Oliver talks to Oxford alumna, Poppy Burton-Morgan, artistic director and co-founder of Metta Theatre, who will be putting on Mozart’s Cosí Fan Tutte, in conjunction with ‘Oxford Philomusica’, at the Playhouse this May. How did this collaborative production come about between your theatre company, Metta Theatre, and Oxford Philomusica? Through one of the cast, Danae Eleni, who is playing Despina – we were all at Oxford together as students about ten years ago. Over the years we’ve kept in touch and she basically facilitated the introduction between us and Marios Papadopoulos [founder of Oxford Philomusica]. We founded the company, Metta Theatre, whilst at Oxford and we’ve toured back there with several productions. We’ve been back in Oxford a lot since we left – its always a really lovely opportunity as you always get very literate audiences who, if you create (which we do) richly layered, symbolic work, you get lots of people who interpret that and read meanings into it that you intend – or even more readings than you intend! Mostly we do contemporary opera so this is a slight change for us to do a classic on a really large scale, with a full orchestra, in a massive theatre! What attracted you to Mozart’s
Cosí Fan Tutte? Quite a few people were very surprised when they heard I was directing it because it is kind of famously misogynistic and I am kind of famously feminist! But actually, on reflection, it’s not very misogynistic at all, and I think the gender politics in it are really complex and its fairly ahead of its time really. While some of its characters express misogynistic views, there is some really interesting stuff in there about Despina as a very strong, independent woman, who calls the shots. And also in our production, the two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, because we have transposed it to World War II, are not passively sitting around ‘ladies who lunch’, but very active and strong. It’s really about two young women exploring their identity and sexuality; it is much more about following their trajectory as protagonists, rather than perhaps the more conventional route of these two soldiers who set up a bet and then are betrayed. And also, the music is just gorgeous! How did you form the idea of transforming the traditionally Italian setting of this opera into wartime Britain? There’s something really interesting about transposing it to a very English location because there is something about the British sense of honour and
decorum and the social structures of that time that make complete sense of the way the girls behave, especially in the way they rather quickly throw their old lovers over, because during a war if your guy has gone off and you think he may potentially be dead and you may any moment die because of a bomb, you are much more justified in thinking ‘lets grab our fun where we can’. And also there are so many iconic stylised images of
“ If you’ve got a way of doing
things that you feel no one else is doing, keep it going
”
women and men at that time, femininity and masculinity – it’s ripe for an exploration of gender politics. With the wartime period in mind, how has this setting influenced the design of the set and staging? My designer is also my co-director, co-director of the company, and also my husband! Which means that, in all
of our productions, the visual design element is there from the word go. He has a specific aesthetic, which is always quite minimalist and quite abstract, so we have this simultaneously with a very real World War II setting, and the costumes are gorgeous and historical. The whole action plays out on a ten metre long propaganda poster and then everything happens within that: things fly in and fly off, moving between different settings. Our style is to use whatever is absolutely necessary to tell the story, but beyond that, it is a very open space, very much leaving the audience to fill in the imaginative detail. There are big visual scenes running throughout it – we use a lot of balloons, partly because they’re fun, but as a recurring symbol throughout the different wooing scenes, representing the British and American lovers. By having so little on stage, the things that are there become much more imbued with layers of meaning. How did you find the transition from being a university theatre company to a professional one – do you have any advice for current students here with that plan in mind? If you said to us ten years ago ‘you’ll be still running the company, it’ll be a charity, a registered company, touring all over the country’, we probably wouldn’t have believed that! So I think it’s been a very organic process for us.
LUCY OLIVER
WORCESTER COLLEGE At Oxford, the meaning of a company is two people and a website and a logo and a name. And actually the reality of that, when you first set out in London on the fringe scene, it’s the same. So in some ways that actually wasn’t such a big leap. And the great thing about starting in Oxford is that, as you don’t have to pay people, you can make really big scale work [...]in a way, it takes some of us about ten years to work back up to that scale because when you have to pay people the budget is in the hundreds of thousands. I think the thing I’d say is, if you’ve got something that you do, or a way of doing things, that you feel no one else is doing, keep it going. We’re also the producers of the company, so we do the fundraising and everything, so its just been a slow process of getting better at fundraising, getting better relationships with venues, making a show that someone useful comes to, and then that leads to the next show. Your reviews get bigger and better, your shows get bigger and better: it’s a gradual process. I’m so glad now that we did start it and decide to keep it going because when you’re a freelance director, you’re at the mercy of other venues and other producers. When you’re the artistic director of your own company, you call the shots and are completely the masters of your own fate. Anyone can do it, just keep plugging away!
Stage 15
23rd April 2015
A Song of Triumph S ong of Riots, which debuted last week at Oxford’s North Wall Theatre, is an expert study in anger, isolation and masculinity. Written by Lucy Maycock and co-directed with Christopher Sivertsen, the play focuses on two parallel lives: an unnamed Prince from a fairy tale world (Jason Callender), and Lukasz (Christopher Finnegan), the only son of Polish immigrants living in London. Over the course of the play, both of these boys are forced to leave their homes, and to reimagine their relationship to the world around them – a world that has promised them both power and freedom, but which yields only new forms of restraint and disappointment. Weaving together elements of dance, song, poetry, rap, and visual projection, the play pushes the limits of what theatre is and what it has to offer its audiences. The use
of physical theatre is particularly impressive. Finnegan refers to the performance as a “riot ballet,” a phrase that captures both the artistry and the chaos of the choreography. Actors embrace, dance and exchange blows in quick succession before retreating behind stage to linger inside the set’s metal scaffolding. And yet the performance is also built around the importance of sound – raging cries of anger; howls of desperation; steel striking on steel and hands beating on drums. Heard over all of this is the stalking pulse of a lone cello, which lends the performance an eerie and unshakeable sense of darkness. The inspiration for the play came partly from the 2011 London riots. Wanting to understand the impulses that lay behind that series of events, Maycock and Sivertsen embarked on a process of research and development that spanned
Awake Projects
MATT CLARKE
MERTON COLLEGE over four years. Speaking about the origins of the project, Sivertsen notes: “We began this work with no preconceptions but rather with a desire to understand the nature of riot and to find the link between the joyous and the destructive, the idealistic and the cynical.” What results is a remarkably empathetic production. There is no moralising here, only a desire to listen and
Next On at the North Wall Arts Centre So It Goes
Thursday 23rd April 8pm to understand. Fittingly, the play’s primary source of reference is William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, the poetry of which is sung and spoken throughout. Like Blake, Maycock and Sivertsen are interested in understanding the move from childhood through to a world of violence and uncertainty. Callender and Finnegan give brilliant performances in this respect, highlighting the combination of danger and vulnerability that lies at the heart of the production. Song of Riots is a furious, heartrending work of theatre. It is a play not just about sons and fathers, but about the disasters they wreak upon each other and upon the world around them. While it focuses on only two lives, it is really about all the other Prince Hals wandering in the wilderness, both longing and refusing to reclaim their kingdom. Song of Riots was at the North Wall Theatre, from Tuesday 14th Saturday 16th April.
B
A Night in Soho
efore the performance I was handed the ‘director’s note’: “When I first moved to London, one of the first shows I saw was Owen McCafferty’s. It was amazing. Superb acting. Some of the best I had seen. And a simplicity and truth of writing, that enabled actors to do what they do best… just a simple study of simple people faced with simple dilemmas”. In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t read it; it set too high an expectation. Death of a Comedian was, as promised, simple. It’s about the rise of an unremarkable yet authentic comedian (Doherty), who, in pursuit of sellout auditoriums and fame, loses some of himself along the way. Two characters represent the dilemma: his girlfriend and his agent. His agent (Dingwall) attempts to change his style to sell more tickets. His girlfriend (McGuinness) discourages these alterations because it makes his material insipid.Three characters and a simple plot allow McCafferty to take the audience on a boring stroll through a neat garden of moral philosophy, exploring with little acuity the notions of conceit, honour and love. There was nothing much original about the play, and maybe it wasn’t trying to be original. But in absence of originality, it’s not forgivable to subject an audience to a rambling script that reduced language, at
Abbey, Lyric and Soho Theatres
Arcadia’s artistry continues T
he English Touring Theatre’s production of Arcadia left me weeping. As the lights came up and the company took their two modest bows, the feeling was not that an engaging fantasy world was ending but rather that the ideas of Arcadia had pervaded the real world, that the play continued even after I left the theatre. The ETT took an astonishing play and performed it to perfection; every character was convincing, every action realistic, and even the potentially awkward scenes in which the two time periods portrayed in the play come into close proximity had no sense of abnormality, merely extreme poignancy, and indeed humour. It is hard to write a review of the performance of the play as opposed to the play itself; not for nothing has it been dubbed one of the best plays of the twentieth century. Tom Stoppard creates a fast-paced melting pot of human existence mingling present and past, philosophy and ignorance, art and science, love and sex. The sharp humour of the play mocks our ideas of understanding and expertise, but also hints at the abyss between the gap between the limit of our human knowledge and what we seek to understand:
in short the play is mind-blowingly deep. All this on top of rapid, witty word play and the odd sex joke. The range of humour reflects the broader variety within this fast, intellectual play
“ Together we wept and wooped, laughed and gasped
”
that makes us chuckle and weep as we creep ever closer to an insight inherent in the play, that of our ultimate human triviality. Stand-out performances in this vivacious cast are hard to spot: Wilf Scolding did an exceptional job of establishing the wit and pace of the play from the off in his role as Septimus, while Dakota Blue Richards created a character whose spark and ingenuity it was hard to contemplate losing; her portrayal of Thomasina’s tiptoeing
ever closer to the brink of adulthood seemed completely effortless, and thus masterful. The knowing innocence of Thomasina was cast into a brilliant contrast by the (perhaps recognisable?) character of Bernard. The pomposity, pride and prig-headedness of his character were brought out wonderfully by Robert Cavanah without Bernard (in any way) becoming a caricature; he instead remained deeply human. Kirsty Besterman also avoided the pantomime-dame minefield in her exceptional portrayal of the humorous, brilliantly confident and ever dominant Lady Croom. The music in this rendition was carefully and well-chosen, ranging from the atmospheric contemporary-classical introductions to each act to the simultaneously ironic and compellingly sincere choice of “This is a man’s man’s world” for the dance that closes the play, complete with a haunting song in which the line “it’s not enough” was painfully apt. The tableau in this final scene was powerfully managed too: as the two pairs dance on opposite sides of the stage in separate yet simultaneous times, they are silently watched from backstage by a character from the time of the other, further blurring
times, to a noisy endless stream of trite. The same play might have been written with half the words. The acting, however, was superb. I defy anyone to watch Death of a Comedian and not be utterly amazed at Doherty’s mastery of nuance. Each gesture considered, each inflection deliberate. To that end, I enjoyed the play. It delivered a worthwhile exposition of comedy’s intricate composition. Indeed, I found of the play’s merits to be its exploration of comedy as a form of storytelling, and comedy’s reliance on the disposition of a given audience. This was made more interesting because the play flicks between a comedian in character, on stage, doing his gig and him out of character, backstage, rehearsing and reviewing his material. The result was a performance packed with irony. Along these lines, McCafferty does particularly well to illuminate the crude efforts of comedians generally to relate to the audience. Doherty was often at his most amusing rehearsing the gender gags that some comedians rely upon; you know the type, the ones which begin with: “you know when she gives you that look…”. However, a spectacular performance from the entire cast, were not enough to rescue the play from being a thoroughly underwhelming piece of theatre.
the audience-actor relationship in a play which already merges so much. I cannot praise this performance of Arcadia enough, nor can I do justice to the play itself. Together we wept and whooped, laughed and gasped, and shared the earth-shaking realisation that to the future, we are already the past. Arcadia offered us a collective human experience, and the ETT’s
English Touring Theatre
MIRANDA DAVIES ORIEL COLLEGE
performance made it impossible for us to refuse. Arcadia was directed by Blanche McIntyre, and was at the Oxford Playhouse from the 13th-18th April, as part of a national tour that, having premiered at the National Theatre, encompassed Cambridge, Bath, Cornwall and Brighton.
23rd April 2015
ALYS KEY SOMERVILLE COLLEGE
Profile 13
Simon Amstell Profile
T
he task of conveying Simon Amstell’s tone is not an easy one for the interview-writer, especially if the reader has not seen him perform. Almost as soon as we meet, he is drawing attention to the awkwardness of the interview setup, referring to both himself and me as “self-aware weirdos”. His style of humour combines self-deprecation and sadness with a wry smile and tight delivery. It seems that these moments of melancholy are the ones which he deems most comedic. “In stand-up, I’m only talking about the worst things that have happened or the most upsetting things about myself. So walking around Oxford today I was feeling very peaceful and content with life – that is not going to make a very interesting story for my stand-up show. So that won’t be written down in my notepad. It’s not that I’m exaggerating a part of myself but I am editing. I’m selecting the funny parts of myself; those are the worst bits of myself.” This method of writing can result in some hefty subject matter. Amstell’s shows deal with depression, heartbreak, and loneliness, all of which he treats with an engaging honesty.
“ I'm selecting the funny parts of myself; those are the worst bits of myself
Sadness and sarcasm:
”
“It’s not as good as actual therapy, but it is very helpful,” he says, when I ask whether it feels good to talk through these things in front of a roomful of strangers. “Once I’ve turned something traumatic that happened into a story, I realise that actually it was all just the perception of an idiot. And so I feel healed by making up these stories.” Making stories isn’t the only thing Amstell can do. He’s a veritable polymath of the comedy world, having created, written and starred in his own semi-autobiographical sitcom Grandma’s House, toured the UK (and more recently the US) with his stand-up shows, and presented BBC2’s staple music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He’s the kind of entertainer who seems to be constantly moving on to the next project, seeking out new things to try. I have to ask what he plans to do next. “I might direct a film. I’ve been directing some little bits and pieces this year, so I’m hoping that this year becomes the year that I direct a film. But if it doesn’t... don’t print this. It will be very embarrassing for me.” I can’t promise him anything, but can at least hope that in setting out that ambition in an interview he’ll have something to spur him on. He
Simon Amstell on therapy, touring, and his plans for the year
Carol Rosegg
certainly seems to have the backing of the industry in his endeavours; Grandma’s House received good reviews and was nominated for a British Comedy Award. Sam Spiro, who plays the waspish Auntie Liz, also took home the British Comedy Award for Best Female Comedy Breakthrough Artist. Amstell is quick to sing the praises of Spiro, along with the rest of his co-stars. “I was very lucky I suppose in that I got a really good cast together for Grandma’s House. There’s Rebecca Front, who I love from some of the stuff she’s done with Alan Partridge and Armando Ianucci. Also Sam Spiro, who’s very funny. And Linda Bassett, who I learnt a lot about acting from.” As well as learning from those he’s worked with, Amstell grew up on a diet of comedic artists, whose influences still help to shape his work today. He cites French & Saunders, Ruby Wax, Eddie Izzard and Woody Allen among others.
“I like anyone if they’re being quite boldly truthful about something, or if they’re taking some sort of risk. Like Larry David. I really like anyone who’s some kind of outsider and hasn’t reduced themselves in order to be liked.” That certainly seems to be an apt description of Amstell himself, who has never been known to water down his personality; he’s famously caused the odd celebrity to walk off a show. His stand-up persona is different from the Simon Amstell who presented Buzzcocks and Pop World, but his real constancy is in his honesty. He manages to stay true to this, despite the disorientating nature of touring. “The problem is that cities often look the same. It’s always the same grey place with the same upsetting shops. But once I’m on stage, I feel like it doesn’t matter where we are. It’s my room for that hour.” He likes Oxford though. Touring has inevitably led him to the city several times, but his first visit was as a prospective student.
Career Highlights 1998 Begins presenting on Nickelodeon
2006
Hosts Never Mind the Buzzcocks
2007
Wins two British Comedy Awards
2009
Amstell writes and stars in Grandma's House
“My state school did a coach trip, to tell us peasants that we could come to Oxford. There was no barrier. But there was a barrier for me because I didn’t get three As,” he says with a laugh. He doesn’t seem bitter at all, but Oxford certainly appeared to be an ideal place to him. “I remember coming here and thinking ‘I’m going to get those three As. I really like it here.’ And I saw two boys kissing on a lawn and I thought ‘my goodness, I could really find some joy and peace in this place’. But then I didn’t get the right A-levels. So I had to carry on being sad.” These kinds of statements make Amstell all the more difficult to fathom. He sounds sarcastic but the words themselves are pretty tragic. In some ways it’s this ambiguity that makes him so appealing. Audiences like his offbeat honesty. “I’m very profound,” he says near the end of our interview, doing an impression of sincerity. I can’t help but agree with him.
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23rd April 2015
OXSTUFF
Oxstuff 15
COME DINE WITH ME: INTO NARNIA RAG BALL FOOD AND DRINK
to say that I got my money’s worth.
Little pots with sausage and mash in them. They are incredible. The queue is miles long so I grab three at once to avoid spending the entire night queueing. The cocktails come in cheap plastic cups but receive bonus points for being incredibly strong. Later on, I discover that the desserts have been kept in a secret side room and unfortunately I discovered this a little too late.
WOW FACTOR
8/10
PRICE
6/10 Given that at this point in time I can’t remember many of the details of the night (and I’m pretty sure this isn’t because of the amount of alcohol consumed), I’m going to say that it wasn’t particularly wowing.
ENTERTAINMENT 7/10
At £79, this is one of the cheapest Oxford balls, but that doesn’t mean that it was worth it. I paid a lot of money just to get very drunk in a nice dress but I don’t think I benefited from enough of the entertainment
Upon arrival, we are greeted with the sound of an organ playing - exactly what you need to get a great party started. The photo booth is great fun and there are lots of props to play with (none of which are Narnia themed though, I might add), but once again, the queues are massive. In one room, they’re playing the
Pre Election Q&A With Candidates 23rd Apr, 7pm Oxford Town Hall
SYP Pub Quiz 23rd Apr, 6.30pm Wadham Room, The Kings Arms
6/10
WILD and Noughty 28th Apr, 10.30pm Cellar
Itchy Feet May Day Extravaganza 30th Apr The Varsity Club
Narnia film on a huge screen and this is surprisingly popular – but who goes to a ball to watch a mediocre film that was released years ago?!
ATMOSPHERE 6/10
So much for transporting me to Narnia. The town hall is decorated with a few twigs here and there which appear to be sporadically placed. The music is good but the dance floor is empty. The night got off to a slow start but by the end of the night, I was having a great time (though, the dance floor was still pretty empty).
TOTAL SCORE FOR RAG BALL: 33/50
Oxford RAG Ball
PCBC Pimms Party Croquet Cuppers 25th Apr, 2pm Signup Deadline Pembroke College 25th Apr
PICK OF THE WEEK Supermarket does May Day 30th Apr, 10pm Cellar
Bridge May Day Ball 30th Apr, 10pm Bridge
Oxford Women's Debate Open 1st - 2nd May The Oxford Union
Simple Minds 26th Apr, 8pm New Theatre Oxford
Alexander Darby, New College
Wisdom Teeth 27th Apr, 10pm Cellar
Measure for Measure 28thApr - 2nd May Oxford Playhouse
23rd April 2015
32 OxStuff
Cliterary Theory ANITA HEAD Shakeel Hashim
Unpertubed by not actually having won the Union’s inter-media ‘competition’, to release this term’s list of speakers, Tab Editor Shakeel Hashim nonetheless grasped the blazing torch of free speech and held it aloft, deciding instead simply to nick the Union’s term card and publish it online. Standing alongside Gandhi and Luther King, Shakeel’s petty theft shone as an example to journo-hacks across Oxford of how the pen can triumph over a fair and open bidding process. Our hero, however, fell victim to hamartia even at the pinnacle of his triumph; in his haste, he failed to realise that the list he had released was riddled with more inaccuracies than a Union vote card. Better luck next time, Shakeel.
SHAKEEL HASHIM
THE RANDOLPH HOTEL Barely featuring on most students’ radars other than a place to stumble drunkenly past or a venue for a parentfunded heinously expensive afternoon tea (on record, an exorbitant waste of time), the Randolph caught national headlines last week for a spectacular fire erupting from its Gothic spires. Rumours that this was “Weeden-Sanz’s final revenge” are unconfirmed as of yet, though there were strange parallels between two grand old Oxford figures’ fall from from grace. The most notable aspect of the story was that, despite it saturating The Tab and Cherwell, literally not a single undergraduate gave a shit that the tourist nest was ablaze, with social media reaction purely being speculation on the likelihood of the flames reaching any student accommodation. Toasted teacakes, anyone?
you’re engaging in a steamy hot Skype shag. It always happens just as one of you is reaching climax – and there’s nothing less sexy than having to scramble around attempting to coax the wifi back to life, even if you’re still in your laciest underwear. Which brings us to: Issue no 2: sound quality. My laptop microphone is patently terrible, and there is nothing less sexy than attempting to make your moans at just the right volume so they sound realistic but still clear on the other end of the line. Even worse, if you accidently hit the volume button at some point during the session, the resulting burst of sound is not something which is going to add to the mood either. Worse still, somebody else might have heard it. Because that is another very real problem, and just part of the wider concern of... Issue no 3: timing the session. Under normal circumstances this is hard enough. There’s got to be some form of build up before virtual sex; suggestive texts during the day, maybe a couple of underwear shots appearing on Snapchat - enough to make sure you’re both at least a bit horny. But waiting for that moment isn’t
EDUROAM EXPERT
T
he Oxford relationship is a strange thing. You fall in love in beautiful libraries or in the smoking area at Bridge, and, until the end of term, everything is wonderful. And then, when the vacation starts, you make passionate promises to keep in touch every day until you come back. In more innocent times, this would have meant love letters. Now? Skype sex. Granted, it’s not the most romantic thing in the world, but what else can a girl or guy do? But virtual sex comes with its own rich selection of pitfalls which make that long vac feel even longer… Issue no.1: Skype is quite shit at its job, and we all know it. Even though we’re in 2015, nobody has quite yet mastered a video messaging system which is immune to the contant issues which plague calls. Even worse, if one of you has stayed in Oxford, then your sexual happiness may be placed solely into the cruel hands of Eduroam. Lagging and losing connection are very real problems when
Somerville does Famous Duos
BOP! FLOP! Mark Hillary
the problem. It’s the fact that one (or both) of you are likely to be at your parents house. Having sexy chat and masturbating in front of a webcam is not something you can do when your parents are downstairs watching TV with a cup of tea. Well – I can’t, anyway. Kudos if you’re confident enough to go for it, but for those of us still scarred with the image of our Dad’s face that time he walked in on us snogging a boy when we were fourteen, military-level advance planning is required. If, by the will of some benevolent God, both of you can coordinate the absence of family members or housemates from the immediate vicinity, you’re onto a good start at least. But that still doesn’t take away from the fact that: Issue no.4: A lot of the time, it’s really quite awkward. Much like real sex, Skype sex is often awkward, messy, and can be uncomfortable at first. Because, if you’re not used to it, setting up a webcam purely in order to wank into it while watching another person do the same is just a bit…weird. If you’re not that comfortable with your body (let’s be honest, who is?), seeing it flashing up in the corner of the screen is deeply offputting. And, much as you’d desperately love a shag with the person at the other end of the call, there are times when you’d willingly give up the possibility of an orgasm in order to be with them in person, even if just for a little while. It may be overtaking our lives. But technology is never going to replace the feeling of sleeping in someone elses’ arms after a long day wandering around the dreaming spires. After all, that’s the only reason we all come back in the end – right?
Srishti Nirula
BOP!
23rd April 2015
OxStuff 33
One To Watch
BNOC Baby
+ L
ike an Uruk hai emerging from the pits of Isengard, or an Orc rising from Mordor, Conservative Central Office and the Union have blended genes, dark blue ties, an all-consuming respect for institutions and an inherent right to rule to produce the “ultra-hack”. Combining the whiff of incestuous Amplefordian superiority of St. Benet’s with the populist everyman appeal of Wadham, Joberto ‘Sebastian’ Wiles-Sanz (or Sebby WS to friends) is destined for those highest of offices: the Union Presidency, followed by a junior ministerial role in DEFRA. His proud parents
will settle for nothing less- especially since they have relinquished (with more and less acquiescence) their own clammy grip on Union power. Both have learnt the trials and tribulations of the Union political high wire, and now, having perfected their art in the fire and brimstone of the Returning Officer’s meeting, are ready to pass their hard won knowledge onto their firstborn. Speaking immediately after the birth, Roberto- having lost a hand in his final, bloody Standing Committee meeting- murmured metallically, “Sebby… I am your father.” We can’t wait to see this baby appear on our Union term cards and- whisper it- on the sticky floor of Purple Turtle.
BOP!
C
ollections, eh? Who the fuck thought that one up? Genuinely, could there be a more utterly preposterous time to position an exam than THE END OF THE BLOODY HOLIDAY? The timing guarantees two things. Firstly, in five weeks of vacation you sure as shit won’t do any work. You’re at home, surrounded by parental care, school friends infinitely more fun than your ‘mates’ at University, and, particularly perniciously in my case, a dehabilitating addiction to the Nazi Zombie mini-game: Oxford barely feels real, let alone something that you should be learning macroeconomic theorems for. Secondly- and even more gallingly- they will chisel off just a soupcon of fun from any activity that you undertake which isn’t pretending to revise. I say pretending, because the probability of any genuine learning occurring before the Thursday of 0 th week and the vaguely frantic surroundings of the SSL is precisely zero. All the same, that kernel of guilt will sit like Compare the Meerkat’s Sergei at the back of your skull, viciously niggling away. In your pyjamas at 2pm watching the 2009 snooker final? Unreasonably drunk at around twenty past five because “well, the beer garden hasn’t been open so far this year has it?”? Pulling out your best Purple Turtle moves in the local nightclub at some time after four
FLOP! BOP!
a.m? The little Collection shaped voice will take the edge off all of these things, murmuring softly “What would (insert tutor’s name here) say? How would they feel? What would their eyebrows look like?” Objectively, it is completely nonsensical to set exams not after eight weeks of, you know, actually studying the subjects you are to take the tests on but rather after an arbitrary six week break. Collections are in no way a test of how much progress you made the previous term. Indeed, they’re not even a test of how good your are at your chosen subject. They’re either a test of how boring your home life is/ how friendless you were at school, or, more likely, a test of how effective you are at cramming unreasonable amounts of information into your brain in the space of about three days. While the latter is doubtlessly a useful skill, it hardly seems fruitful (even by Oxford’s arcane standards) to be tested on it at the start of every term. Moreover, it is a process guaranteed to eradicate any enthusiasm or freshness you may have had for the coming term of work. Raking over last term’s pisspoor essays and half-baked problem sheets hardly acts as inspiration for another eight weeks of missed deadlines. Collections- and I say this in all seriousness and with genione emotion- can piss right off.
Living Together OP
JAMES ALDRED
T
his Westminster alumnus got his start in Oxford acting straight away, taking to the stage as part of one of three Somerville Cuppers 2013 entries. His role as a flamboyant director of Hamlet In Space, with a lot more style than substance, gained him a coveted Best Actor nomination at the Cuppers competition, and it certainly was the start of an illustrious thesp career. James bounced from the BT to the O’Reilly almost instantaneously. Here at OxStu towers, we gave four starts to the production of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in which this languages student demonstrated his flair for accents and alliteration. A History of Falling Things, the directorial debut by previous One to Watch, Freya Judd, saw James adopt a lead role, playing a dorky yet lovable victim of keraunothnetophobia – a fear of falling satellites. Having been scouted whilst performing at the start of MT, James took to Worcester Gardens in order to make his Oxford Shakespearian debut in Henry V. Despite the rain, it was a raging success, earning five stars in numerous reviews. This year, James returned to the Bard last term with a moving performance as Edgar in another five star performance, the neonoir version of King Lear that hit the O’Reilly. Clearly, this Oxford thesp is well suited to the classic drama associated with the legendary playwright. Not only that, but James’ fans would definitely have been pleased to see him get his kit off and scramble about the stage as Poor Tom - it’s bound to have softened the critics. The Oxford Playhouse is soon to be graced by the Aldred charm and wavy garms (or attempt thereof ). Second week sees a four day run of Living Together, a play following Norman, a would-be romantic pining for his wife’s sister whilst his family get in the way of his pursuit. With dreams for taking the show to The Fringe, it could soon be a case of Aldred on tour. What next? There are no plays lined up for now – directors take note – but it’s inevitable that something will crop up for this talented and ambitious actor. His year abroad will be taking him across Europe, so it may be the case that he manages to make his acting name on the Continent. We will certainly be watching and waiting for James to make an appearance on screens and stages near us in the future.
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23rd April 2015
Features 19
Features
The art of politics on the streets of Tel Aviv
• Graffiti art has exploded on the streets of Tel Aviv • An expression of disillusionment and anger but also hope ELEANOR NEWIS MANSFIELD COLLEGE
A
s you walk through the streets of Israel’s capital city your eyes are drawn, squinting, away from the beating sun, and to the walls. The streets of Tel Aviv are crowded with images; even the old city of Jaffa, the historical site of the stories of Solomon, Jonah and Saint Peter, is strewn with graffiti. Over the past few years, the city’s street art has been growing in both quantity and publicity: one of Tel Aviv’s grassroots artists, Dede, is now exhibiting in the Kishon Gallery, Alfred Gallery, the Rivera Gallery and the Fresh Paint Art Fair, to name just a few. His work, begun in earnest around 2008, when he was in conscription service with the IDF, marks a trend for much of the artwork around Tel Aviv. Bright and bold, more like murals that graffiti, these works speak of anti-establishment, anti-war undercurrents in Israel’s populace.
“ Scrawls colour are
of an attempt to use the city's ruins
”
Eran Yashiv, speaking at a conference held back in November 2014, lamented the political fragmentation of Israel’s electorate. He warned this situation was going to get worse, as a cycle of more conflicts fuels a political apathy which will fail to give any government a mandate for radical change concerning Gaza. On March 17th 2015, the Likud party, led by current Prime Minister Benwjamin Netanyahu, gained 30 seats, whilst the other main party, the Zionist Union, gained 24. Israel’s political scene is now subject to frantic Likud/ Zionist coalition talks, with the rest of the available seats, 56 , split between eight smaller parties. This kind of splintering is exactly what Yashiv predicted; the Israeli voters have grown too used to conflict, too tired of a political class they see as disjointed and removed
from their concerns. It is no surprise, then, that so many of these voters have taken their opinions to the streets instead of the ballot box. Near the port at Old Jaffa, I stumbled across a painting of three cartoon IDF soldiers, holding hands and raising fists beneath a scrawled caption, “NO WAR”. The caption is written in English. Just as Palestinian artists adorning the walls of the blockade on the West Bank write in English for the news cameras, and tourists, on the other side of the blockade Israelis are joining the outcry with pictures of their own. It can be difficult in Israel to find people willing to discuss politics; even talking to IDF soldiers themselves, the conversation leans more naturally to personal stories than to political views. One woman however, told me she was contemplating leaving Israel: she had been involved in a partnership movement working with both Israelis and Palestinians. There are lots of these: Mejdi, the Roots Project, Aix Group – but despite these efforts the Israeli government still spends 23.2 per cent of its annual budget on defence, and no agreement over territory is in sight. Yet the walls of Tel Aviv contain hope: not all these paintings are overtly political, but they all speak of a country that is not all its political class and international reputation would suggest. Dede’s most famous work is his painting of the entire Dolphinarium, a shell of a nightclub overlooking Tel Aviv beach, blown up in 2001 by a Palestinian suicide bomber, an attack that killed 21 teenagers and injured 120. Dede has turned the building into a massive, gaping mouth, its teeth bared against the horizon. This work perhaps sums up why Tel Aviv street art is worth looking at – and then looking at again. These scrawls of colour are an attempt to use the city’s ruins, its disused buildings and leftover bomb site, to make something new. Foma’s campaign in South Tel Aviv features sinister pictures of masked women, daubed with Hebrew slogans in red paint like “such legs”; work she calls “my little campaign against sexual harassment.” The artist Klone, whose work I found in the Florentin district, also in South Tel Aviv, is becoming famed for his fusing of animal and human imagery.
That most of these artists work in South Tel Aviv is significant: it is the poorest area of Israel, home to the capital’s 60,000 migrant residents. And it is here, in the most poverty stricken and derelict part of Israel, between bars selling arak and amongst stray cats, that art is fast becoming the expression of a disheartened electorate, of soldiers returned from conscription in Gaza and the West Bank who never found a cause to fight for. As the paintings spring up around the city, their messages will be loud and clear: each wall in Tel Aviv is a space to watch.
2015 ELECTION SUMMARY 71.8 per cent
turnout; the highest in 15 years
10
parties in parliament, the fewest since 1992
28
female MPs in Israel, a record number
17th
March, the day of the election
17
Arab MPs, up five since 2013
120
Speech on the Streets:
seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament
Jaffa Port and the Florentin District play home to some of the most outstanding murals.
30
seats given to Likud, the winning party
18
voting age in Israel
All/Eleanor Newis
23rd April 2015
20 Features
Global perspectives “A strategist and statesman that has the respect of the international society.” Xi Jinping
“Too often, basic freedoms and human rights were sacrificed to ensure economic growth.” Amnesty International
“A legendary figure in Asia.” Ban Ki-moon
“Many British PMs benefited from his wise advice.” David Cameron
What we can learn from Lee Kuan Yew • Lessons of life from a controversial modern leader, whose approach split Singapore and the world
A
torrential downpour marked the funeral of Lee Kuan Yew on 30th March. The founding father of modern Singapore; architect of a state arguably closer to More’s idealized Utopia than anything ever realised in the West; Lee Kuan Yew has been one of the world’s most consistent figures of power for more than three decades. One of the most profound tributes came from Barack Obama, who described him as a “true giant of history […] one of the great strategists of Asian affairs”. Be pragmatic. One of the first things we can learn from Lee Kuan Yew is the importance of pragmatism, of living in the moment but preparing for the future. Lee was known as a master planner, Margaret Thatcher praising his ability to express “with unique clarity the issues of our time and the way to tackle them”. Lee placed more value in getting things done than in philosophy and grand ideas, defining innovation, entrepreneurship and teamwork as three of the most critical factors for improving national competitiveness. Be passionate. Lee was known for his sincerity and conviction, for straighttalking and not mincing his words. For Lee, personal success was following one’s passion and realising it. As Priscilla Neo, a 42 year-old Singaporean woman said:
“I may not agree with all his policies, but I do salute this one man who truly breathed, ate, slept, and thought about
“ For Lee, personal success was following one’s passion
”
Singapore and its citizens.” Do things you care about about and you’re more likely to achieve results. Be creative. While government policy in Singapore ensures that everyone receives the highest possible levels of education, Lee rejected the traditional separation between academics and creative individuals. His view was that “scholars should also be inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs”. Think globally. Aside from the invention of air-conditioning, Lee cited multiculturalism as the reason for Singapore’s success. While African countries are suspicious of foreign investors and make it difficult to move
There’s a No-rway to Oslo • From hitchhiking to hens, exploring Norway on a budget
T
hree weeks in Norway. Who would have thought that I’d make camp on a beach, descend into a witch’s cave, have my feet immersed in snow, sleep on a refugee’s couch, clean the buttocks of 30 chickens, hitch a lift on a school bus, look down 604 metre high cliffs and survive in the world’s secondmost expensive country on less than £30 a day? I am sliding in the snow. The cold enters through the holes in my old trainers, while the rain has already soaked all of me and my belongings. Yet I sing at the top of my lungs, inventing a song begging the mountain to let us down safely. We have climbed up way too late, knowing that the weather conditions would deteriorate quickly. When we started the ascent at 3pm, the last visitors came down from the cliffs, equipped with waterproofs, hiking sticks and even some with snowshoes. We look pathetic with our bags and the tent, wet as we are. This seems to be the motto of our travel - crazy, incredible, enchanting. On our arrival, we have no idea about Norway but vague recollections of fjords and forests. Still in Oxford, I exchanged £100 into Norwegian crowns which turned out to be the only money available to both of us for the whole journey. We are hitchhiking. There had been a snowstorm the previous
night. The road conditions are bad. When I don’t know anymore what additional clothes to put on, an elderly Norwegian eventually stops to give us the first lift of our journey. Despite this unfavourable start, we eventually make all our way along Norway’s south coast with the help of strangers, paying for nothing but two ferry-crossings and a meal. We
“ I find myself holding stately
hens by the legs to clean their backsides
”
mostly surf people’s couches and pick our destinations at random and in the countryside. One of our first hosts is an Eritrean journalist who shows us East African food and holds a traditional coffee ceremony with friends. We end up meeting him a few days later in a city down South, where he is off to visit a friend and invites us to stay over. We are surprised and grateful to get an unexpected glimpse into nomadic Africa while in the middle of Scandinavia. Hitchhiking
goods in and out, Singapore chose to globalise rather than nationalise: of its current population of 5.3 million, 1.5 million are expats, and vigorous trade and export promotion, low tax rates, and free trade agreements have encouraged nearly 40,000 international firms to set up on the island. Do the right thing, even if it’s not popular. Yew once said “I stand by my record. I did some sharp things to get things right-too harsh-but a lot was at stake”. This does not mean, as Rwanda’s authoritarian president Paul Kagame hastens to assume, that the case of Singapore proves the success of authoritarianism. It is true that Lee’s ‘nanny state’ banned chewing gum, bankrupted and imprisoned without trial political opponents, and fined people for littering; William Gibson described it as “Disneyland without the death penalty”. Nonetheless, the Singaporean government was unusually uncorrupt and transparent, its success an anomaly among authoritarian states today that have a tendency to place private interests above public good. Singapore is a powerful reminder of the impact one generation can make. Lee’s combination of pragmatism, passion and creativity, coupled with a global mindset, enabled the transformation of a failing
FELICITY BLACKBURN SOMERVILLE COLLEGE city-state into a thriving international city with the world’s busiest port and one of the world’s least corrupt and besteducated societies. When asked which leaders he most admired, Lee cited Charles de Gaulle, Deng Xiaoping and Winston Churchill: “De Gaulle, because he had tremendous guts; Deng, because he changed China from a broken-backed state, which would have imploded like the Soviet Union, into what it is today; and Churchill, because any other person would have given up.”
Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew $54,000
GDP per head
2
Limit on children per family
16 ½
Age of initial military service
RONJA LUTZ WORCESTER COLLEGE becomes very easy as soon as we reach the southern highways - often the first person we ask on a petrol station takes us on, it feels like flying across the land. Indeed, our drivers often complain about the small and winded motorways, but to us, it is nothing but a scenic ride. Slowly, our picture of Norway becomes a bit less incomplete. We see small coastal cities that in the summer get populated by tourists from Oslo and discover the traces the wilderness has left in the hearts of many. Nearly everyone goes skiing, hiking, fishing or hunting and we are told that in the summer most people along the fjords and rivers use their boats instead of their cars. On our hikes, we discover untouched land behind every second hill, desolate lakes surrounded by bogland in which we make out the traces of roaming elks. During the days of Easter, I spend my time in a henhouse. Julian and I have decided to volunteer on a farm in exchange for food and lodging and the chickens need an urgent cleaning. So I find myself holding stately hens by the legs to clean their backsides from encrusted droppings. I feel somehow consoled when seeing the newborn lambs and chickens. More so, the environment is beautiful. We use our afternoons for hikes in the area, one day descending into the cave where Norway’s last “witch” used to hide before she was burnt.
Norwegian Beauty
Fjords and forests abound in Norway’s picturesque landscape Ronja Lutz
23rd April 2015
Features 21
Romance a La Rochelle
Navigating the maze of mental health DAVID PARTON ST HILDA’S COLLEGE
M
ental health illnesses are less visible than obvious physical illnesses or injuries, and so they are often treated as less serious, less devastating, and less life-changing. This is a dangerous approach to take to public health. Now the tide is turning. The treatment of mental health in this
“ Stigma and discrimination
are finally being tackled
”
country is improving. Stigma and the discrimination faced by people with mental health illnesses are finally being tackled, and I would like to commend the amazing work of OUSU’s Mind Your Head Campaign and others, in destigmatising mental health and normalising people’s experiences of illnesses that were for too long swept under the
rug and ignored. I’m not pretending, or even proposing, that all has been solved, and stigma and discrimination have been removed from society. But the effect the tackling of these issues has on the treatment of mental health is profound. If someone feels less ashamed of their anxiety attacks, less embarrassed about their obsessive compulsive disorder, treated with respect when dealing with their bipolar disorder, they may feel more inclined to reach out to others in an effort to come to terms with their mental health, and in some cases seek treatment for their conditions. So, if destigmatisation is the first step in improving the treatment and support for people’s, and in particular students’, mental health, surely the second step is to ensure people actually know what services are available to them in order to address their mental health concerns. In relation to students, this is the first place where too little is being done. Too often students don’t know where to turn, or to whom to turn, in order to address their worries and concerns. It cannot be right that students, often at their most vulnerable, should be left to themselves to manoeuvre through the plethora of information and services available. Oxford University is well provided for when it comes to mental health services,
EMILY HONEY LADY MARGARET HALL
whether it be by the Oxford NHS Foundation Trust, Oxfordshire Mind, or the University’s own counselling service. However, students don’t know about them or how to contact them, and get the ball rolling in relation to coming to terms with and resolving their mental health concerns . The mental health of students at Oxford is a particular priority for OUSU and increasingly, in all parts of the university, it is being taken seriously and with the gravity it deserves. But how can students be expected to receive help from professionals or other treatment if they do not know they are there? As OUSU’s Health and Welfare Officer, one of my election commitments was to tackle the accessibility problems facing students in relation to mental health services. One of my responses to
this is to create a mental health awareness pack, which is nearing completion that will highlight some common mental health issues, concerns, illnesses and possibly symptoms. It will then provide a simplistic, concise and comprehensive guide to the services available to students and how to get in touch with them. I hope to have this ready by 5th week of Trinity term. Whilst I appreciate that signposting services will not solve all the problems, barriers and challenges facing students with mental health concerns, I believe it will help reduce the stress and trauma of reaching out to mental health services. And in combination with other work, in relation to the haste of appointments, referrals and treatments, make a real, positive impact on students, facing mental health issues or illnesses.
Tomáš Zeleninský
Eat to forget, don’t forget to eat
T
rinity Term is upon us bringing with it collections, essay crises and the dreaded run-up to exams. As if this isn’t bad enough we’re suddenly thrust back into a cruel, almost real world where cleaning, laundry and cooking are no longer miraculously done for us. On the bright side we are, once more, the masters of our own destinies though - or densities, with regards to meal times . Surrounded by equally stressed friends, this can mean only one thing: comfort eating. There are few greater motivational aids than the thought of a well-deserved, hot evening meal; a proper coffee or binging with a study buddy on the box of muffins that you
managed to sneak past the librarian. As work takes hold it’s important to maintain some sort of social life, for sanity’s sake if nothing else. Why not agree early-on to go out for dinner with friends once every week or every other week? This is sure to raise morale and provide much needed human contact, particularly for those living out. While food may be a welcome relief or much-needed fuel for revision, this is no excuse to abandon a healthy diet as eating properly is just as important as getting a good night’s sleep. It’s important to ensure that you start preparing good meals for yourself again from the very beginning of term;
otherwise your health as well as your bank balance could suffer. If you like to snack while working it’s easy to not realise quite how much you’re eating which, after an initial burst of energy, can leave you feeling lethargic later on in the day. It’s also easy to get thrown out of many libraries in this way so it’s best to know which to avoid (or at least which desks you are least likely to get caught at). If you are going to flout rules on eating in libraries avoid foods which will leave crumbs or make a lot of noise and ensure that you get rid of any evidence by taking your rubbish with you.
JAMIE RUSSELL WADHAM COLLEGE A good supply of your favourite fruit is a great way to snack healthily. If you get through a lot of fruit (or any other foodstuff for that matter) visiting Gloucester Green Market on a Wednesday morning allows you to support local traders and stock up at a great price. Popcorn has become a popular substitute for crisps as it is filling, available in a variety of flavours and has far fewer calories than the same amount of crisps. The final decision on what you eat, of course, rests with you. As the pressure mounts it’s important to remember that eating to forget is far better than forgetting to eat.
Herv é
W
alking into the departmental archives of La Rochelle, France, I expected to find a beacon of tranquillity, the musty scent of ages past, perhaps some light jazz. Instead I found a geriatric underbelly of vice, licentiousness and high-stakes shuffling, aided and abetted by au fait administrators and orthopaedic footwear. I was unaware that archival research was something anyone other than a historian would choose, by virtue of their subject, to do: there are so many other things in life that bring greater pleasure, like leisurely walks, fine cuisine, and breathing. But, on an early Tuesday afternoon, this joint was pumping. Elbowing a well-coiffed hobbit out of the way on my way to desk 16, I unwittingly found myself in a Bermuda Triangle of furtive glances, ‘accidental’ nudges, and the faintest whiff of vin rouge. Now, reader, I possess a clinically incurable ‘Resting Bitchface’ at the best of times, which has seen me ruin countless family photos, and intimate relationships. At its worst, it can be roughly approximated as a cross between Edvard Munch’s The Scream, and a slackjawed orc. Unsettled by the feeling of seniors-on-heat, and now acutely aware of the live-action Tinder activity ebbing throughout the room, I hoped, in my naivety, that my RBF would provide prophylactic cover. Indeed the first hour passed deceptively quickly, engrossed as I was with as much 18th century correspondence, police documentation, and confiscated pornography as I could get my mitts on. By 2:30, however, there had been a tangible increase in casual chair bumps, ‘cheeky’ shoulder grazes, and my first experience touching a bunion: by 4pm, an hour from closing, I could feel some kind of shotgun courtship was but a few rasping breaths away! Feigning nonchalance, I made the dismal mistake of checking my bank account, and quickly discovered that an enterprising cretin from Buckinghamshire had skimmed my debit card (‘may their balls or ovaries shrivel, forever more’). I thus immediately hauled ass to a WiFi hotspot, Skype-ventilated to Visa, and arranged a new card in the space of an hour. And yet it was not fast enough to get back to the archives before closing.
23rd April 2015
22 Sport
Tanned, fit and ready to shoe the Tabs •
Oxford Sport In brief... Pietersen stuns Oxford’s finest Kevin Pietersen awed Oxford’s student cricketers earlier this month, scoring 170 runs in the first-innings in a rampant display for Surrey against Oxford MCCU. Pietersen, who is reportedly determined to make his way back into the England team, managed two sixes and 24 fours before eventually being dismissed. The match ultimately ended in a draw, with Oxford’s Steve Leach claiming his own second-innings century.
Katie Wasyliw
ALICE RICHARDSON SPORTS EDITOR
On training in Portugal
Ice hockey triumph Oxford University Women’s Blues Ice Hockey team was victorious in the annual Varsity Match against Cambridge, hosted in Peterborough. Cambridge were well beaten, failing to score in a 25-0 defeat. Oxford, on the other hand, were good value for their win, regularly showcasing fine technique and exquisite skill.
Vincent’s vote fails In March, Vincent’s Club, a maleonly society populated mainly by Oxford Blues, voted against allowing women to become full members. 62.5 percent voted in favour of change, but this fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority. The issue is rendered more complicated by the fact that Vinnie’s, prior to voting, consulted Atalanta’s – the only club that represents women’s sports in Oxford – whose members expressed their belief that the change should not occur.
Oxford Athletics captains Montana Jackson and Sam Trigg answer our questions ahead of doing battle against the other place. • OUAC are due to face Cambridge in May.
Montana Jackson: OUAC Captain
Pentathlon clean sweep Oxford’s Modern Pentathlon teams completed a clean sweep of trophies in early April, leaving Cambridge empty-handed. The women’s team has now won the competition for a second successive year.
On FEAR (Indoor Athletics Varsity Match)
Montana: It was really nice to be staying in half-board accommodation so that we didn’t have to worry about breakfast and dinner. Every day we would get up and have breakfast at about 8am, then cycle to the track which was about a mile down the road for a morning session that lasted for about two hours. After training we used the hotel pool as an ice bath because it was extremely cold but excellent for muscle recovery. We’d usually make lunch in our apartments as there were cooking facilities and a supermarket down the road from the hotel. We’d have another training session in the late afternoon but in the meantime there was plenty of time to relax on the beach, by the pool or to do some work. After the second session we had some more free time before dinner. On two occasions we went out after dinner and socialised as a team but most of the time we just relaxed in our rooms and went to bed. Training twice a day is pretty tiring!
Sam: FEAR was a great competition and, as always, it was very close. The competition is run completely differently to the main Varsity and there are four separate competitions - field and track trophies for both Men and Women. The Women unfortunately lost both trophies but there were some very strong performances across the board, which is very promising for Varsity. Similarly, there were some superb performances in the Men’s matches with draws in both the field and track. Being beaten in an event by a tab or seeing a training partner overtaken on the line by a light blue is perhaps the best motivation anyone can have to train harder. Since FEAR, the team has been out in force at every training session and already there have been some great outdoor performances – especially from the OUAC Women. Cambridge looked strong across their team so the Varsity match will be a brilliant contest on 16th May at the Cambridge track.
On warm weather training
On a typical week of training
Sam: Warm weather training (WWT) is a fantastic build-up to the outdoor season. The warmer weather allows you to train more often and harder whilst it’s less likely to cause injuries. Having coaches there with us for feedback and Lesley (our sports masseuse) on hand every single day also made a huge difference both in terms of injury prevention and performance compared to visiting her once a week or fortnight. Essentially, WWT is an intense period of quality coaching and perfect training conditions and a great opportunity to get to know your team.
Montana: The sessions our athletes do vary somewhat depending on which event they are training for. Generally, for sprinters and jumpers, training would involve two track sessions per week (Tuesday and Thursday evenings), weights sessions and circuit training. Throwers do some track work but there is more of a focus on throws practice, weights sessions and strength/power training. Depending on ability, time available and how seriously an athlete wants to take training, the number of sessions usually varies from four to six sessions per week.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Sam: The Varsity match runs as four individual competitions comprising of the Blues and seconds matches for both Men and Women. The year before last, Oxford lost 4-0 before the Men’s Blues managed to win last year 3-1 overall. This year, the Men’s Blues team is looking stronger than ever and for this reason, the Seconds team will actually mainly include people who could have been in the Blues in a weaker year – the depth is incredibly strong. For the Women, the team has had an influx of brilliant freshers with both awesome talent and a great attitude, which only builds on the fantastic core of athletes already in place. Although the match is at Cambridge this year, giving them a slight home advantage, it will only make it sweeter when all four teams absolutely smash them.
On getting involved in atheletics Montana: Unlike some other Blues sports, athletics does not require anybody to be of a particular ability level. We welcome all athletes, regardless of whether you’re an international phenomenon or you’ve never even seen a track before. There is a lot of variety within athletics, so it’s a great sport to get into as you might find that you discover a hidden talent. The most popular sessions to start off with, if you’re thinking about giving it a go, are the Tuesday and Thursday evening track sessions (5:45pm for a 6pm start) or Monday circuits in the Iffley sports complex’s sports hall (67:30pm). There will always be members of the committee there training and they will all be happy to speak to you and make you feel welcome. The best thing to do if you’re interested would be to email either me (montana.jackson@spc.ox.ac.uk) or Sam (samuel.trigg@worc.ox.ac.uk) and we can help you to get involved!
‘The Parasitic Elite?’ LUKE MINTZ
Got sporting news to
On facing Cambridge this term
The organisers of this year’s OxfordCambridge boat race received widespread and much-deserved praise for their decision to allow the female team to compete on the same day on the men’s for the first time, a move toward equality you can read about on our back page. With Oxford’s victory over Cambridge on top, it proved an exciting day. In all the drama, however, many of us seemed to forget how absurdly elitist this event still is. It’s not the idea of having the country’s top two universities competing in a sporting event that is particularly objectionable. Even the fact that one of these institutions – sadly, Oxford – has accepted three times more
students from Eton College than students on free school meals over the last three years, doesn’t entirely negate the value of the race. It’s the fact that the (let’s face it, intensely boring) contest continues to dominate the attention of the nation’s media for a whole day that should make us all slightly queasy. Fortunately, the ever-hip Vice magazine was here to save the day: a video interviewing some of Oxford’s worst offenders captured the student imagination this week, with the quotes “Are you setting us up because we’re wearing blazers?” and “We don’t really have any problems to be fair” bringing particular amusement to bored social media users. The Dark Blues saw victory for all of its teams last week. Victory for Oxford. Tragedy for social equality.
23rd April 2015
Sport 23
Could City’s decline turn permanent?
• The future of the champions is in question with key players well past their peak • Losses to Burnley, Crystal Palace and West Ham are far cry from last season BEN SANDERS SPORTS EDITOR
On the precipice: City have difficult times ahead of them
Getty Images
65 percent
of City’s squad is aged 29 or older
£160-170m
transfer spend since summer 2013
Just over three months ago, Manchester City were still going strong in three competitions. Since then, disaster has struck. Losses to Arsenal, Burnley, Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Manchester United have left City scrapping for fourth place in the league. Throw in their FA Cup loss to Middlesbrough and their defeat against Barcelona, and it’s clear that we’re looking at a dramatic capitulation. But City had a similar slump in 2012/13; immediately after winning the Premier League, they won no trophies and their manager (Roberto Mancini) was consequently sacked. City bounced back from that rut and won the Premier League again in the next season. Why shouldn’t we expect the same this time?
1) The core of their team is in permanent, possibly rapid, decline. Most would agree that the key players at Manchester City are Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Touré, David Silva and Sergio Agüero. These players made significant contributions to both of City’s Premier League triumphs. However, several of them have been a source of big concerns this season. Touré, Zabaleta and Kompany’s bad form have persisted for many months – indeed, Kompany’s game has become increasingly error-strewn and decreasingly imperious for the last three years. The others have so far resisted this decay – however, Silva is nearing 30 years old,
the point at which attacking players’ powers traditionally begin to wane. Of City’s current 23-man squad, fifteen players are now aged 29 or older. Their squad could very soon be in need of a near complete rejuvenation and that process would take a lot of time, money, and expertise.
2) Their recruitment strategy remains poor and this time no ‘quick fix’ is available. Since Pellegrini’s arrival in summer 2013, City’s big-money signings have included Stevan Jovetić, Fernandinho, Álvaro Negredo, Jesús Navas, Eliaquim Mangala, Fernando and Wilfried Bony, costing £160m-£170m altogether. So far, most
“City fans
should be a little worried
”
of these players have failed to significantly impress. Moreover, City haven’t merely wasted a lot of money. Other aspects of their recruiting staff’s decision-making have also been poor. For example, the club originally signed Frank Lampard until the end of 2014, with the stated intention of then allowing him to join sister club, New York City, for the start of the MLS season in March. The club then reneged at the eleventh hour and decided to keep him until May. That caused considerable upset amongst NYC’s staff and fans, yet
Lampard’s impact since then has been negligible. The episode has come to feel like a farce. Of course, poor transfer dealings are a familiar story in the blue half of Manchester – think Jack Rodwell, Javi García and Scott Sinclair. What sets this time apart, however, is City’s hiring of Txiki Begiristain as their new director of football in October 2012. Begiristain has considerable input into the club’s signings and presided - in the same role - over Barcelona’s phenomenal success from 2003-2010. Hiring him was a clear attempt to bring cohesion and class to City’s recruitment policy, and expend minimal effort in doing so. However, it seems that this plan has failed almost entirely. Moreover, it isn’t clear whom City can now turn to in their next attempt to improve it – the search will take a great deal of patience.
3) Financial Fair Play will continue to bite. Financial Fair Play, imposed by Uefa, is a complex system of financial controls. The relevant facts are that every team is permitted to have only a certain amount of financial losses - €45m over three seasons – if they wish to compete in Uefa competitions without risking punishment. City have incurred such penalties already, comprising a wide range of player-related and monetary restrictions that will operate for at least one more year. Let’s assume, for now at least, that the quality of City’s current players is permanently dwindling. In that case, they will need to pay a lot of money to restore their squad.
It is by no means certain that they could do that at a fast enough rate, given the FFP restrictions, to prevent the quality of their team entering a long, downward trend. Fall out of the top four as a consequence – which is plausible – and the attendant loss of revenue would make the road back to the top even steeper.
4) City will have to pay great costs to comply with the new “homegrown rules”. According to the new rules, which will be gradually phased in from 2016-2020, a “home-grown” player is now someone who has been registered with an English or Welsh club for at least three years prior to their 18th birthday. By 2020, clubs will be able to list a maximum of 13 players that don’t fit this description in their Premier League squad. Due to the increase in demand that this amendment will cause, home-grown players will become even more expensive than they already are. A cheap alternative to buying such players from other clubs is to create them through the academy system. However, City’s academy has produced very few top players in recent years, and held onto even fewer. All this, combined with the FFP restrictions and the rejuvenation that their squad may soon require, means that in just a couple of years City could be left needing to spend a gigantic amount of money – rendered impermissible by FFP – if they are to avoid falling out of England’s elite. Is that a likely outcome? Maybe, maybe not. One thing’s for sure – City fans ought to be at least a little bit worried.
• Today's generation: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose are following in the footsteps of Ali. » Continued from back page Should we expect athletes to live up to such expectations? To some extent, one could argue that the main role of athletes is to compete and to entertain - Charles Barkley’s “I am not a role model” commercial of the 1990s was probably the best representation of the very much prominent belief that athletes should not be seen as bastions of social values and justice. Some may also object by claiming that these athletes, with their wealth and status, are not “from the ghettos” and therefore should stay out of it. Yet these people neglect to realize that not only do many athletes come from less-than fortunate backgrounds but also that, just because they belong in a higher tax bracket,
doesn’t mean they’re less capable of being compassionate about these fundamentally human issues. Consider these numbers for a sec-
“Should we expect
athletes to live up to such expectations
”
ond. Official TV ratings show that 69 percent of all potential viewers in the United States have watched a NFL game since 2012, with 17.6 million viewers tuning in to every game on average during the latest NFL season. On Twitter, Lebron James and Kevin Durant have over thirty million followers combined.
On a global scale, this may not seem much. Yet it is nonetheless obvious that these athletes and these sporting events attract a significant amount of attention on a regular basis. No one is expecting these athletes to induce considerable change – that is ultimately up to politicians and government leaders, and how capable they are in representing the will of the masses. Nor can we point to these displays of solidarity as active ‘protests’ – as J.A. Adande rightfully points out, a protest is a work strike or a mass sit-in, not a jog through the layup line wearing a t-shirt. What we can expect athletes to do with their high profiles and influence, however, is to guide the conversation in the right direction and continue to garner attention to the social flaws that continue to haunt the lives of millions today.
As social media continues to permeate all corners of society, athletes can no longer hide from the spotlight, as their behaviour and comments are constantly being broadcasted and often psychoanalyzed by reporters and the public alike. When Lebron James says that there are “much bigger issues” at play behind the Michael Brown case, you can bet that some sports fanatic somewhere is taking notice. The player’s voice is becoming more important than ever and, as time progresses and the attention and frustrations caused by the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown inevitably become faded in the future, it is imperative that athletes continue to embrace this responsibility and remember that what they do and what they say can have a bigger impact than they realize.
US TV viewing stats.
69 percent
Of all viewers in the US have watched an NFL game since 2012.
17.6 million
average viewers for each NFL game.
30 million+
people follow LeBron James on Twitter.
SPORT e-mail/ sport@oxfordstudent.com
Athletics
Football
» Page 22
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Tanned, fit and ready to shoe the tabs in May.
Are Man City in a permanent decline?
A momentous day for women's sport
• For the first time, female rowers from Oxford and Cambridge race alongside men • Viewership experiences huge rise reaching a total of 4.8 million at its peak on the BBC ALICE RICHARDSON SPORTS EDITOR
The 2015 Boat Races were historic. All four races saw decisive victories for the dark blues and a massive turn out of spectators on the Thames’ banks meant that the atmosphere felt more electric than ever. What’s most noteworthy, however, wasn’t just that our men and women shoed the tabs so ably, but for the first time in the
“It has taken 88
years for Oxford's women to be seen rowing on the same course as the men
”
Boat Race’s 161 year long history, our women rowers competed along the same course as our men. To put that in perspective, rowing on the Thames in the Oxford versus Cambridge Boat Race has been a men's-only activity since 1854 –
when Queen Victoria was on the throne, the British involvement in the Crimean War had just begun and a cholera epidemic was ripping through London killing thousands. It all sounds practically medieval – and not just the rampant spread of water-borne disease. In contrast, the first Women's Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge crews took place in 1927 – the year the BBC was granted a Royal Charter, Southern Ireland was first recognised as independent from the UK and Newcastle United finished the football season as First Division champions. In other words, it has taken 88 years for Oxford women to be seen rowing on the same course as our men along the Thames. Before this year, the Women’s Boat Race took place as part of a regatta known as the Henley Boat Races. The event regularly drew up to 10,000 spectators to the river on the day and was watched by thousands at home via its first televised broadcast in 2008. By comparison, in 2009, 270,000 people turned up on the banks of the Thames to watch the Men’s Boat Race along the Thames
Together in rivalry: A long-held grudge gives way to an historic breakthrough. Getty Images
course whilst seven million watched from home on their televisions. The tideway’s 6.8km course stretches from Putney and Mortlake in South West London along the Thames. In previous years, the Women’s Boat Race at Henley was over a 2km course. The step up in distance, however, definitely didn’t prove too much of a challenge for our girls; they beat Cambridge by a massive 6.5 lengths. We could get bogged down in and angry with the reasons as to why these historical and more recent discrepancies have existed, and have been allowed to exist, but I propose a different path. Rather than getting
upset, disheartened and downtrodden by these issues; see the events of Saturday 11th April as a triumph and a breakthrough. Rather than feel resentment towards the pre-existing and well-established status quo; recognise that this is now being challenged. Rather than feeling deflated, realise that a long-held rivalry, although as fierce as ever, has enabled a group of very talented athletes to come together, to make a statement and to do something very special.
The 2015 Boat Races were indeed historic – but one was one that rowing will remember for a long time to come.
250,000
Stood on banks of the Thames
7 million
Tuned into men's race
4.8 million
Tuned into women's race
1927
Year of the first women's boat race
Player activism: Why the voice of US athletes is more important than ever • LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose are all following in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali TAYLOR YU
DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR
Staten Island and Ferguson: Athletes join the campaign. H Pattenden esq
For a brief two-week period in December of 2014, the US sports scene was not dominated by wins and losses, team rivalries or individual highlights. Instead, athletes nationwide were united by the deaths of Eric Garner in Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson and displayed a level of political consciousness that was perhaps surprising to those who viewed these athletes simply as entertainers. There was no question that the sports world was as shaken as the rest of society by these events. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose – all established stars that represent the modern generation of elites in the NBA- wore ‘I Can’t Breathe’ t-shirts during pregame warm-
ups. Kobe Bryant, whose presence and influence goes way beyond his dominance on the basketball court, declared that the disparity between
“ Ali's
actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness
”
displeasure of local authorities. Such displays were not without historical precedent. Arguably one of the defining moments of the Civil Rights Movement was when Muhammed Ali refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967 on grounds of being a conscientious objector – a decision powerful enough to persuade Martin Luther King Jr. to take a tougher stand on the Vietnam War. New York columnist William Rhoden reflected at the time that “Ali’s actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete’s greatness. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?”
the power of the police and the significance of black lives had reached a “tipping point”. Five St Louis Rams players entered the field before a game against the Oakland Raiders with their hands up in solidarity with Continued on page 23 » the St Louis protestors, much to the