Volume 71 Issue 2
Thursday 16th October 1st Week
oxfordstudent.com
Colleges defend staff pay: living wage criticisms “wrong”
Report lambasts richest colleges over “unfair” pay MATTHEW DAVIES NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO/National Demo
Balliol vote to support free education march JCR will fund buses for students to attend a national demonstration on 19th November MATTHEW DAVIES NEWS EDITOR
The Balliol JCR has unanimously passed a motion in favour of a NUS demonstration in support of free education. The motion commits £100 to subsidise buses for Oxford students to attend the NUS demonstration in London on November 19th, and also assigns all three of Balliol’s votes in OUSU council to support the NUS motion. The motion stated: “1. We face a clear choice in education funding: either our system is going to continue down the road towards an American-style model of private
More colleges ban smoking onsite p.3
Magdalen and Mansfield decide to augment restrictions on smokers
universities with uncapped fees, or we can take it closer to a German model of free, public and accessible education. 2. The German model of free education is preferable to the current UK system of high fees, debt, cuts to staff wages, and privatisation of the education system. 3. That we should join the campaign to fight for a better education system.” The motion further argued that “tuition fees and marketisation have decisively failed to created sustainable funding for our universities” and that “fees act as a deterrent to
access”. The NUS demonstration, which will take place under the banner of “Free Education: No fees. No cuts. No debt”, is being held in protest against the coalition government’s higher education policies, including the privatisation of the Student Loans Company and the tripling of tuition fees to £9,000. The demonstration is backed by a coalition of activist groups including the Student Assembly Against Austerity, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, and the Young Greens, and will follow a trade union demonstration on the 18th.
Labour campaign accused of sexism p.4
Former OUCA president slams ‘Never Kissed a Tory’ slogan as “misogynistic”
The passage of the motion was met with praise from JCR President Daniel Turner, who remarked: “Balliol JCR is very well placed to support the Oxford-wide movement for free education. We have a very politically active student base and the funds to back them up. It is absolutely right for the JCR to be political: we are the students’ union of Balliol undergraduates, and our stance on free education is unequivocal. “The motion was not only passed unanimously, but was actually strengthened through a series of Continued on page 4 »
OUSU officers clash over Tony Blair p.7
Tom Rutland calls Chris Pike’s criticism of him “complete bollocks”
Colleges have hit back at a Living Wage Campaign report claiming that many colleges still do not pay the Living Wage of £7.65 an hour to all staff. The Living Wage report accused some of Oxford’s richest colleges, such as St John’s, Magdalen and Christ Church, of “maintaining their wine cellars but not paying their staff enough to survive on”. The report also noted that “not a single Oxford College has committed itself to becoming an accredited Living Wage employer. This would bind them to maintaining a Living Wage in keeping with the rising cost of living; something that they are currently not obliged to do”. The living wage is considered the minimum amount required to maintain a decent standard of living, and is calculated according to the cost of living for a particular area. A representative for the Living Wage campaign told the OxStu that “since several of the poorest colleges, including Mansfield just last year, now pay a Living Wage, it is patently not the case that issuing a fair rate of pay is beyond the financial capability of richer Colleges”. But several colleges have taken issue with the campaigns statistics, claiming they are wrong or misleading. When asked to comment on the Living Wage Campaign’s figures, New College responded that the claim it does not pay the living wage is “wrong – we DO pay ALL staff the Living Wage as a minimum.” Brasenose college stated: “We can confirm that Brasenose does regard the living wage as important and pays all staff above the living wage, with the exception of one casual role for which only students in receipt of subsidised accommodation and meals are eligible to apply.” The Bursar of Linacre College commented: “Except for students running the bar e.g we DO pay at least the Living Wage to all our staff” and Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, confirmed that they
Continued on page 5 »
Somerville rejects ‘Thatcher Thursdays’ p.5
Happy hour at college bar will not be named after controversial Somerville alumna
2 Editorial
16th October 2014
Editorial Waging war
W
ith Balliol’s JCR planning to march against high fees, wage cuts and privatisation of the education system, and the Oxford Living Wage Campaign taking on the vast majority of colleges with their damning graphics, Oxford is on the warpath against inequality in education. And so the Oxford Bubble is broached once again, pressure mounting on both sides of the flimsy film of our Michaelmas cocoon. It is a habit that we all fall victim to, an unfortunate News Comment Features Music Screen Stage Arts Fashion Sport Multimedia
consequence of studying at an elite university. We take on the elitism, the aloofness, and spend our nights navel-gazing ourselves into an endless introspection. The NUS demonstration that Balliol has voted to support also emphasises the responsibility we have as students to our successors. I remember the time a friend from Frankfurt was astounded, having growing up in a system where state education is no impediment to higher education, to hear the number of university places given to
work with us
privately-educated applicants here in the UK. Many of us devote precious time and effort to the various access programmes across the University, an invaluable exercise surely. However, the very effort, the heroic lengths Oxford students go to in order to level the playing field for disadvantaged applicants, is itself indicative of a more systemic problem. Many colleges are lucky enough to have large budgets and large reserves. It is of the utmost importance that JCRs look beyond their imme-
diate and often banal priorities, and appreciate the powers they have to influence change on the national stage.
Are you a photographer, cartoonist, film-maker or just a plain old journo? With the largest readership and the most national stories of any student publication in Oxford, The OxStu is the ideal training ground for budding student jounalists. In fact, in last year’s Guardian Media Awards we were not only shortlisted for Student Publication of the Year, but, of the five people on the shortlist for Student Reporter of the Year, three wrote for us.
To get involved email
editor@oxfordstudent.com
16th October 2014
News 3
UKIP condom controversy at freshers’ fair Mansfield and Magdalen crack “Don’t waste an election”, say freebies given out by Oxford Young UKIP society to students last week down on smoking inside College The Oxford Young UKIP society has come under fire recently for its decision to distribute condoms bearing the slogan “Don’t waste an election” at the University Freshers’ Fair. Whilst some regarded the slogan to be no more than a harmless pun, a number of students have expressed concerns that the slogan trivialises the issue of consent. Alice Nutting, the editor of Oxford-based feminist magazine Cuntry Living, responded: “If we go with the idea that ‘election’ is an attempt at a witty pun on ‘erection’, they seem to be suggesting that not having sex when you’re horny is some sort of missed opportunity, which undermines the importance of obtaining enthusiastic consent. A far more appropriate message would have been ‘Got consent?’, especially given the high prevalence of sexual violence in this country.” She also stated that such actions from UKIP were hardly surprising. Concerning the society more generally, she stated: “UKIP seems far too focussed on scaremongering the public with immigration myths and making sexist gaffes, and not concerned enough about the real issues, such as protecting public services, prioritising
welfare spending, and building more affordable housing. Their recent election success is sadly unsurprising, given the failure of the three main parties to properly address our national living standards crisis.” Jack Duffin, Chairman of the Young Independence group linked with UKIP, was keen to defend the society’s actions. He wrote: “Youth pregnancy and STIs are on the rise, we are keen to address this issue rather than ignore it. It is ridiculous that the word election is instantly being linked to rape. Rape is a serious issue and people trying to belittle this with pathetic political point scoring is disgusting.”
Ian McDonald, also a member of the Young UKIP group, tweeted about the “positive response received at Oxford freshers” but made no mention of the distribution of condoms. He wrote: “Its [sic] been great sharing policies on how #UKIP can help young people.” One Mansfield second-year student commented: “It is fairly clear that, given the endemic issues surrounding respect for women at UK universities at present, a slogan in which female sexual agency is totally ignored and imperative male action is championed represents UKIP’s anachronistic disregard for this fundamental problem in our society.”
PHOTO/Thomas Jackson
ELLIOT THORNLEY DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO/James Waddell
Plush Lounge assault defendant pleads not guilty Abdulrahman Abdelsalam is charged with sexual assault and actual bodily harm ADAM DAYAN NEWS EDITOR
A teen has denied assaulting Teddy Hall student Jeanne Marie Ryan last March. Abdulrahman Abdelsalam, 19, of Edgeware, London, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Oxford Magistrates’ Court last week. He was arrested in March. The charges relate to the attack on Jeanne Marie Ryan in popular nightclub, Plush Lounge, on 22nd March. The attack on Ryan led to widespread attention on social media after she posted a “#nomakeupselfie” showing the injuries she received. According to Ryan’s report, she was groped on the dancefloor and when she resisted she was punched in the face. Her assailant then knocked her to the ground and proceeded to hit her a further six times when she attempted to stand back up. Ryan said she was assaulted “for telling a guy in a club who groped me that it is completely inappropriate to touch a woman without her consent, I was beaten. He told me to “Smile!”, too.” Ryan told Cosmopolitan: “He seemed really angry that he hadn’t knocked me out straightaway. “I was bleeding profusely and as he walked off, I was yelling at someone to stop him from getting away but he just walked out of the club.
“We had chosen to go there because it’s an LGBT club and we just wanted to dance with no hassle. Everyone who goes there thinks of it as a safe space – it’s great for dancing
and not being bothered by guys.” After the assault, Ryan set up a Just Giving account and raised £16,000 for the Oxford Rape and Crisis Centre.
PHOTO/Jeanne Marie Ryan
Mansfield bursar delivers news in two-line email ADAMDAYAN NEWS EDITOR
Mansfield’s Governing Body has banned smoking in college and Magdalen’s Health and Safety Committee is considering the same move. Mansfield’s Bursar, Allan Dodd, sent an email to all Mansfield students saying: “Please be aware that, following a Governing Body decision on 2nd October, smoking is no longer permitted within the College grounds. This is with immediate effect.” A student immediately emailed back, asking: “Is there any way we can appeal this decision and is there any reason that this action has been taken?”. Dodd responded: “As for the reason, the unanimous view of GB was that smoking should be deterred on grounds of health and the unattractive nature of smokers’ detritus.” The Bursar added: “It is also worth pointing out that with the new terrace we have a space that has to be non-smoking as it opens into an eating area, and it is therefore increasingly difficult to set boundaries for smoking and non-smoking areas, so we prefer now to restrict smoking to public areas outside the College.” One Mansfield student told the OxStu: “I understand that smoking can cause issues but a ban is just draconian. I resent the lack of student consultation beforehand”. The OxStu understands a survey of JCR opinion might lead to a JCR motion calling for Mansfield to reconsider its decision. Magdalen’s JCR President sent out a copy of the letter he received from the Home Bursar which stated the Health and Safety Committee is considering “a complete smoking ban on the College premises”. The letter identifies a number of problems caused by smoking: passive smoke getting back into college buildings from external smoking
areas, the unpleasant smell of smoke for those around, and the mess created by butts and subsequent blockages in drains. The letter also cites inequality with different college, inequality between uniformed and non-uniformed staff and the lack of approved staff smoking areas as reasons to restrict smoking in college. The Bursar emphasised that a final decision has not yet been made and that the college will consult the student body. Student reaction has been mixed. Will Forrest, a second-year Magdalen PPEist, commented: “It’s just a really bizarre idea - during exams I bet some students smoke well more than 20 a day. “If the ban passes they’ll be running in and out of Magdalen. For a college so concerned with our academic performance it really is biting off your nose to... well for no good reason at all to be honest”. However, one Magdalen thirdyear disagreed, stating: “Smoking is an unhealthy, dirty habit that has health ramifications for fellow members of the college community. It should hardly come as a surprise to smokers that their actions should be regulated by college”. Fabian Apel, JCR President, told the OxStu: “The College has entered initial consultation with all Common Rooms and staff to discuss the current smoking policy. “This has become necessary primarily because of problems with the disposal of cigarette butts on the College grounds. “In discussions so far, a ban has not been advocated by any party; so I am very optimistic that all stakeholders within the College can find an intermediate solution.” Many colleges restrict where students can smoke but thus far Mansfield is one of the few to have fully banned it.
PHOTO/Media Specialist
4 News
16th October 2014
Balliol JCR declares support for NUS education demo MATTHEW DAVIES NEWS EDITOR
Continued from front page »
amendments doubling the amount of money the JCR is to provide and mandating Balliol’s OUSU votes to follow suit.” Xavier Cohen, a second-year PPE student at Balliol, agreed, commenting: “Not a single person in the JCR general meeting – and I think there were possibly near to 100 of us there – made a principled stance against free education or the subsidising of buses to the national demo. The motion not only passed unanimously, but was made more radical by amendments. One amendment doubled the money from £50 to £100 and one amendment mandated all three Balliol reps for OUSU council to vote for the OUSU motion. “I believe people voted to support the motion for principled reasons: we collectively recognised not only that education is a good thing and that people’s development matters, but that all should be able to access education regardless of wealth,” Cohen continued, before admitting: “This also isn’t a purely altruistic move: this is a campaign to make postgraduate education free, too.” Activists across the university have responded to the news from Balliol positively, with the Oxford Activist Network circulating a draft motion for indivual students to bring to their JCRs. James Elliot, a second-year historian at Teddy Hall who drafted the motion, reported that:
“In Oxford I’ve had interest from numerous JCRs, and I’m hoping the demo will be debated across the university. It’s an opportunity to show we’re serious about working with other unions to defend the education system from privatisation.” Some on the Oxford left have criticized the OAN’s focus on the demonstration, however. Helena Dollimore, a third-year student at St Hildas and former co-chair of the Labour Club, commented: “you might be shooting the OAN/ lefty slate in the foot a bit by all going on the demo on polling day.” Cohen admitted that the demonstration will clash with the elections, while stressing that “people have several days to vote and can still vote on the morning or evening of the demo. At a time when the Conservatives are thinking about uncapping fees, Labour is thinking about reducing them, and Germany has abolished them, this is a key political moment for the student movement to once again make the call for free education.” Despite calls for unity within the student movement, it seems that various JCRs are continuing to jockey for the “crown of radicalism.” Cohen suggested that while “Wadham might talk the talk much better than Balliol, it appears that Balliol are the ones walking the walk.” Turner struck a more conciliatory tone, stating that “we want to support students from all colleges to get involved in the fight for free education. I’d hope there will be Christ Church Tories sat alongside Wadham Trots on the bus across to the capital.”
Brasenose women recognised
OULC accused of "inspiring misogynistic comments"
MATTHEW DAVIES NEWS EDITOR
LUKE MINTZ DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
New portraits of female students and alumni to be commissioned
PHOTO/James Waddell
Brasenose JCR is to celebrate forty years of co-education by commissioning "large, good quality and permanent" portraits of female students and alumni, after a motion passed on Sunday by the JCR. The motion, proposed by French and Italian student Margherita De Fraja, resolves to "invite various female alumni, fellows and maybe even tutors to have photographs of them hung around the walls of the JCR with details of their names and achievements under them." Motivated by the fact that "very little has actively been done in college and the JCR to celebrate this anniversary or the women who have been graduates and active members of this college since then", the motion goes on to note that: “this forty year anniversary is an excellent opportunity to showcase some of the many things that female Brasenose Alumni have achieved since graduating and also celebrating how much of an integral part of college life women
have become.” Henry Zeffman, JCR President of Brasenose, remarked: “I'm delighted that this excellent motion was passed. I think everyone at Brasenose is proud that we were at the vanguard of co-education in Oxford, and it is great that the JCR wants to celebrate it.” De Fraja’s motion follows in the footsteps of Hertford College, which celebrated the milestone last month with a similar scheme that replaced pictures of ‘dead white men’ with those of female students and fellows. Alice Nutting, a second-year English student at Exeter and contributor to feminist magazine Cuntry Living, commented: “I think it's great that Brasenose is following Hertford's example of recognising the achievements of women in the college in this way. Oxford colleges are cluttered with centuries-old portraits of men, which is not representative given the fantastic contributions that women have made to our university.”
'Never Kissed A Tory' stickers under fire after sexist remarks directed at female OUCA officers
Former President of the University’s Conservative Association Jack Matthews has accused his Labour counterparts of “inspiring misogynistic comments”. Writing on Twitter, Matthews’ accusation concerned a set of stickers distributed by the Oxford University Labour Club stall at last week’s fresher’s fair, which displayed the slogan ‘Never Kissed a Tory’. Matthews claimed that the stickers prompted some students to direct comments such as “Sorry love, never kissed a Tory” at female officers running the OUCA stall. These comments reportedly made his friend feel ‘extremely uncomfortable’. Matthews tweeted the OULC account, asking “Have you given up on One Nation Labour with your ‘Never Kissed a Tory’ stickers – theyre (sic) inspiring misogynistic comments”. Matthews, a postgraduate student in Earth Sciences, declined our request for further comment. The claim of misogyny prompted angry responses from senior OULC figures. Former co-chair Helena Dollimore used Twitter to describe Matthews’ claim as ‘absurd’ and ‘offensive’. Dollimore, a third year history and politics student also involved in Young Labour UK, went on to criticise OUCA’s feminist record, asking Matthews ‘does OUCA have a women’s officer yet?’. Dollimore supported an OULC
measure passed in June of this year to split its members into two electoral colleges, with 50% of voting power given to those who do not identify as men. OULC declined our request for further comment. Former OUSU Women’s Officer Sarah Pine also defended the slogan, claiming that Matthews was wrongly focusing on the stickers rather than the male students who had made the comments originally, writing on Twitter: ‘We’re saying man involved is at fault’.
History student and NUS representative James Elliot intervened in the heated discussion, writing: ‘Think Tory councils closing rape crisis centres does more to harm to women (sic) than stickers’. Matthews served as OUCA President in Hilary of 2014, making student headlines when he condemned the NUS as intolerant of right-wing opinions. The slogan ‘Never Kissed a Tory’ is used by LGBT Labour across the country on stickers, t-shirts and banners since its introduction in 2008.
News 5
16th October 2014
Somerville JCR amends 'Thatcher Thursdays' happy hour motion
Original plans to name two-for-one drinks offers after Margaret Thatcher scrapped due to opposition NICK MUTCH NEWS EDITOR
An attempt by Somerville JCR to rechristen Thursdays at the college bar ‘Thatcher Thursdays’ has been defeated. The motion, proposed by JCR President Shyamli Badgaiyan, would have instituted two-for-one drinks on Thursdays at the college bar under the banner ‘Thatcher Thursdays,’ but the title was amended in the face of opposition from the student body. The motion, noting the underuse of Somerville’s college bar, asserted that: "We should do more to encourage people to come to the bar", and that "Cheaper and discounted drinks would increase business in the bar". Pointing to widespread ‘Happy Nights’ at other colleges, and the success of Somerville’s own Happy Hour in freshers' week, the motion resolved to "mandate the President to talk to college about instituting 'Thatcher Thursdays', with cheaper or 2-for1 drinks". Reaction from members of the Somerville community was not entirely positive. Recent Somerville graduate Olivia Arigho Stiles tweeted @SomervilleJCR: “WOT THE F*** WHAT IS THIS???? I implore everyone to think carefully
about this please.” When informed that the motion was simply about a drinks deal for the college bar, Stiles then responded: “ah ok that's quite sweet. good idea! Ergo 'Thatcher Thursday' poor choice of name, utterly ill-suited.” Samual Billington, Sommerville Secretary, told the OxStu: "'Thatcher Thursdays' actually passed as a motion, however the Thatcher bit was amended so that the name of the happy hour would be decided at a later date. This is the second time such a motion has been amended, and the reason given both times was the same Thatcher is a divisive figure, and is possibly not the best choice of alumnae to name an event after, especially if you're hoping to attract people from other colleges.” Billington added: “I don't think the aim of the motion was to honour Thatcher - it was simply to come up with a catchy name for a happy hour (after the success of our first one in Freshers' Week which was unnamed.) Although she is definitely one of Somerville's most famous alumnae, I agree with the JCR in the choice being misguided. Personally, I thought the suggestion of Margery Frydays was a brilliant one."
PHOTO/Chris Collins
Oxford scientists trace HIV origin Oxford colleges defend their records on living wage Discovery made by researchers looking for source of the virus
NICK MUTCH NEWS EDITOR
Oxford University scientists have pinpointed the origin of the HIV strain that accounts for the current global pandemic as being Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project, a report of which was published in the leading journal Science was a collaboration between scientists at Oxford and at the University of Leuven in Belgium traced the genetic history of the HIV group M strain which originated in approximately 1920 and was transmitted from a primate to a human. The pandemic has infected over 75 million people worldwide to date. While the Kinshasa transmission was not the first case of human infection or transmission, it was the infection that was responsible for the spread of HIV throughout Africa, and later the world. Professor Oliver Pybus of the University’s Department of Zoology stated: “It seems a combination of factors in Kinshasa in the early 20th
Century created a 'perfect storm' for the emergence of HIV, leading to a generalised epidemic with unstoppable momentum that unrolled across subSaharan Africa.” Dr Nunio Fara, also of the Department of Zoology, described the virus’s progression across Africa, saying: "Our genetic data tells us that HIV very quickly spread across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, travelling with people along railways and waterways to reach MbujiMayi and Lubumbashi in the extreme South and Kisangani in the far North by the end of the 1930s and early 1950s. “This helped establishing early secondary foci of HIV1 transmission in regions that were well connected to southern and eastern African countries. We think it is likely that the social changes around the independence in 1960 saw the virus 'break out' from small groups of infected people to infect the wider population and eventually the world." The team stated that much more research needed to be done on the role played by social factors in the spread of the disease throughout Africa.
New College, Brasenose, Linacre and Christ Church respond to Living Wage Campaign criticism
MATTHEW DAVIES NEWS EDITOR
» Continued from front page employed no permanent staff at below the living wage. The Living Wage Campaign has now admitted that its report is out of date, stating: “The information gathered
was that of 2013/14. We should have made that more clear. Our statistics were not based on students, and the FOIs sent out specifically targeted scouts, gardeners, kitchen staff, and porters. Our figure for Brasenose focused on their ‘base rate’.” “Obviously if colleges are now paying the LW we are very happy about that and would like to celebrate it with them”.
The campaign claimed “we have no reason to misrepresent their wage rates”. The University of Oxford last year confirmed it would pay the Living Wage to all its registered employees, and several colleges including Harris Manchester, St Catherine’s and Green Templeton pay a minimum that is significantly above the living wage.
Graphic taken from the Oxford Living Wage Campaign Freshers' Fair leaflet
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News 7
16th October 2014
Sabs clash over Tony Christ Church welcomes New Dean Blair LGBTQ accolade Prof also featured in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code Facebook war of words erupts after Gay Times names Blair as one of its 30 top gay icons THE OXSTU NEWS TEAM
OUSU VP for Welfare Chris Pike has slammed ex-OUSU President Tom Rutland for ‘erasing’ trans and disabled voices in a debate over Tony Blair’s gay rights legacy. Chris Pike, OUSU’s VP (Welfare and Equal Opportunities) and Tom Rutland, last year’s OUSU President, engaged in a heated discussion on Facebook following a disagreement in the No Heterox** group, with Rutland dismissing Pike’s arguments as "complete bollocks". Pike hit back, suggesting that Rutland could only speak for "middle-class white able cis gay men" and not the entire LGBTQ movement. The dispute centred on the listing of former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair as “top gay icon of the last 30 years” by Gay Times. Blair featured on a list of ‘gay icons’ from the past three decades including Boy George and Sir Ian McKellan, in honour of the proLGBTQ rights policies pursued by his government, including the introduction of civil partnerships and the repeal of Section 28. When posted on No Heterox**,
a popular discussion group for Oxford’s queer and trans community, the decision drew ridicule, with OU LGBTQ Society Publicity Rep Jessy Parker Humphreys labelling it "so so so infuriating/ ridiculous". Rutland, a prominent former member of the Oxford University Labour Club, waded in to the discussion to defend Blair’s legacy on gay rights. When Helena Dollimore, an active member of OULC and Vice Chair Policy for Young Labour, posted an infographic on Rutland’s wall which listed advances in gay rights under Blair’s government, Pike argued that "the actions of Blair on the whole were not conducive to queer liberation," while also stating that he was "quite uncomfortable with the fact that this was originally posted by someone who isn't queer". The political debate soon became personal, with Rutland telling Pike to “stop bashing Helena” and that “if it makes you uncomfortable you need a much better cushion on your chair”. When contacted by The OxStu, Tony Blair’s office declined to comment.
PHOTO/Centre for American Progress
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PHOTO/Christ Church NICK MUTCH NEWS EDITOR
Christ Church’s new Dean, The Reverend Canon Professor Martyn William Percy, was installed in a ceremony last week. Professor Percy is replacing the outgoing Reverend Christopher Lewis, who has been in the position since 2002. Percy officially took up the position at 6pm, 4th October, following the retirement of Reverent Lewis. Professor Percy commented that the job was “exciting and challenging”, stating: “I am very much looking forward to serving the unique foundation that is Christ Church – a college of the University and the Cathedral of the Diocese. I am particularly looking forward to working together with colleagues throughout the College and the Cathedral, as well as with
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the senior staff of the Diocese." Professor Percy has been the Principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon since 2004, and is married to Dr Emma Percy, Chaplain of Trinity College. He also holds the distinction The Reverend Canon Professor Martyn William Percy of being the only real-world theologian to be quoted in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Christ Church has a unique status as the only academic institution in the world that is also a cathedral. As the Visitor of Christ Church is the reigning monarch, the Dean
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of Christ Church is one of the few academic positions that must be personally approved by the Queen. David Nowell, Senior Censor at Christ Church, commented: “Martyn is an excellent fit for the Deanship of Christ Church in a number of important respects: he is an active academic, committed to the importance of teaching and research; and he has experience of college life at Cambridge and at Cuddesdon. Martyn also has wide experience as a priest.” A second year philosopher at Christ Church commented: “We are happy to welcome the new Dean to Christ Church and I am sure the dean will enjoy his time here. Christ Church often attracts media attention for all the wrong reasons, and I hope he will be a good figure to attempt to challenge this.”
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Profile Profile 9
16th October 2014
Naomi Klein
PHOTO/ Emily Ding
Nick Mutch Christ Church
N
aomi Klein is known as one of global capitalisms’s most fierce opponents. Her books No Logo and The Shock Doctrine provided devastating critiques of the effects of consumerism and neoliberalism, particularly in the developing world, and her new book This Changes Everything is a call to action against climate change, which she believes will require “a complete reorientation of the way human beings see their place in the world.”
I’m writing about a dominance-based worldview...it’s intimately linked to patriarchy
So I begin by asking her not just how she became an activist, but when did she realise that the world was not the way it should be? “I got involved in university, I got over my antipathy towards it when there was a really awful campus shooting in Canada, a gunman who specifically targeted feminists before he killed 14 women at the University of Montreal, which is my hometown. He went into the room,
separated the men from the women, said “you’re all a bunch of fucking feminists”, and killed them. So I was like, ‘Ok I think I’m going to start calling myself a feminist now’. It really was the formative moment. Up until that point I had not even wanted to call myself a feminist or activist, up until that point I think I had just associated it with my mother and her embarrassing friends.” One criticism often levelled against movements for equality is that they distract from the aim of critiquing capitalism, preferring to work within a system riven with inequality for personal and narrow aims. What, I ask, does she think of this argument? She quickly scolds me, saying “I think there’s a really bad history on the left of men saying things like that! The truth is that feminism has at various points had stronger economic critiques and parts of the feminist movement have presented a pretty fundamental challenge to the systems that I’m writing about. I’m chiefly writing about a dominancebased world view, I think it’s intimately linked to patriarchy. She tells me that the climate movement has much to learn from the feminist movement, saying “there was this shift I write about in the book from seeing the Earth as this ‘alive mother’ to seeing the earth as a prone woman who can be dominated and ultimately controlled which was a shift that happened in the 1600s
very explicitly. You really see the connection between the severing from nature, the industrial project and the sort of anger at women, the desire to dominate. “But that said, narrow identity politics that are just about fighting for representation within a flawed, deeply unequal system is a degeneration, and that’s what a lot of radical movements, including the gay rights movement have turned into under capitalism. Parts of the gay rights movement have always had a more radical critique of the system that seeks to own other people, the critique of marriage that actually just turned into the rights to marry
The Baconian moment in the scientific revolution was on of high hubris “These aren’t just monolithic movements, but it’s obviously easier to fight for representation within a system than it is to try and present a radical challenge to that system. I think a big part of the problem we are having in facing the climate crisis is because it so profoundly challenges the myth that we are in control. So this idea that we are not a part of nature but above it and in charge, I think that is why climate
change isn’t just an issue like any other issue, it is a fundamental challenge to who we think we are as a species, what our place in the world is and who we think is in charge.” Having located the impulse to control and dominate, whether in capitalism or patriarchy, in the scientific revolution, I ask to what extent she would consider herself as arguing, as many thinkers have done, that the enlightenment project to understand the world in its totality is the source of many of today’s problems? “Obviously the scientific revolution has massively improved our lives and this is not about dismissing an entire era or movement, but I think that this conception of ourselves as being above and outside nature and fully in control is a flawed conception and we must evolve beyond it. Indeed, our most brilliant scientists have evolved outside this ridiculous, linear understanding of the natural world, complexity theory, chaos theory, and any intelligent biologist will say we live within complex, nonlinear systems and what we don’t know is much much greater than what we do know. That has not seeped into our industrial hubris. We still behave as if we are much smarter than we are. When I described spending the weekend with would-be geoengineers at the Royal Society it’s clear that this is not all scientists, this is not an indictment of science. This is why most scientists are terrified of
geoengineers. There is this kind of scary boys club of confident, overfunded would-be geo engineers who for some reason have not learned the lessons that they are not in charge, and are willing to contemplate tampering with our climate system on a global scale.
This conception of ourselves as being above nature and fully in control is flawed
I went to the Royal Society conference two weeks into the Fukushima disaster. These massive engineering failures, such as the BP oil spill, had a huge impact on me - watching the best and the brightest fail so miserably to contain that disaster, to foresee it, to be able to fix what they had broken. I feel we should be learning from this and saying we are not as smart as we think we are. It’s not an indictment of science. Our first scientists are the first to acknowledge their ignorance and I think that Baconian moment in the scientific revolution was a moment of high hubris. It must have seemed to them that the universe would be infinitely knowable and controllable. You can understand it from their perspective in time, but I don’t think you can understand it from ours.”
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Fashion 12
Fashion Olivia Sung St Catherine’s College
C
osmo Girls are something of a significant cultural reference - the magazine is a byword across both sides of the Atlantic for the handbag bible of the sophisticated, glossy-haired, powersuited career girl. She knows what she wants, and how she wants to get it. From Elle Woods’ declaration post-case win in Legally Blonde (any Cosmo Girl knows her perm technology, right?) to the “Cosmo Dream” (great clothes, great sex, great job, great friends, great cocktails), Cosmopolitan is synonymous with the fashionable independent woman and her world. But that’s not to forget it’s also a high-production glossy magazine (and website): busy, driven by hard work, and a dedicated team of editors, stylists, creatives and journalists. Luckily for OxStu Fashion, Rosie Mullender - Cosmo UK’s Fashion Features Editor, and the woman responsible for overseeing the magazine’s journalistic content - was kind enough to take the time out and answer some questions I had about her career at one of the most famous magazines in the world. You’re Features Editor at one of the most widely-read women’s magazines in the UK. What kind of responsibilities does that job entail - not just in terms of workload and managing staff, but in terms of knowing your readership? I’ve been here for seven years, and getting to know readers inside-out is something that comes with time. The letters, emails and comments we get shape how we come up with ideas for the magazine. As well as less tangible things like understanding what our readers want, we spend our days looking at ideas from PRs and journalists, writing copy for the magazine and website, editing, fielding queries and doing random things like asking people in the street questions, compiling polls and testing sportswear. It’s certainly varied! During your working day, what kind of work might you typically do? How does your job take you outside of the office? I could be doing any of the above – but my day mainly comprises responding to emails, commissioning, writing and editing copy, and coming up with new feature ideas. I often have meetings outside the office with people such as PRs, and we go to plenty of events, such as
16th October 2014
the recent Girl Summit, awards ceremonies, or film screenings.
How does the job of Features Editor differ from that of Fashion Editor, or other editorial positions more generally?
Each department deals with a different section of the magazine – we have beauty, fashion, picture, art, web and subs teams, each headed up by a director and/or editor. The features team deals with articles such as careers, reports, confidence and confessions – everything except fashion and beauty. Every department works very differently, but as a team we work together to create the final product. A lot of people believe that working at a magazine is a glamorous job (courtesy, no doubt, of films like The Devil Wears Prada). To what extent is this an accurate representation of the kind of job you do? I’d say it is glamorous to an extent, but not in the way it’s portrayed in films! We’re not all clad in designer gear, nibbling salads. But we do get plenty of free doughnuts … A lot of people expect the office to be full of bickering and sniping, but you’ve never met a friendlier team – everyone supports each other and works together. We do have our glam moments - interviewing celebrities, attending premieres and parties and getting to delve in the beauty cupboard – but we’re the same as our readers, just with a job we’re very, very lucky to have! And, of course, we work very hard too. What is the most exciting thing about your job, and what is the most difficult? The most exciting thing is that every day is different. When you land an exclusive interview or read the new issue when it lands on your desk, the buzz is unbeatable. There’s always stress – tight deadlines, rescuing features which threaten to fall apart, last-minute changes – but because we’re trying to help women enjoy their lives it’s always going to be more satisfying than stressful. How often do you have to make sure your content is different from that of other magazines? Do you have to actively pursue eliminating content that might come up in another magazine and how easy is it to access the “Cosmo voice” in your pieces? We try to be as unique as possible. Of course, you’ll sometimes have crossover with other magazines –
PHOTO/Duncan Chen
Cosmo Girl: Rosie Mullender for example, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month most women’s magazines will cover it in some way. The trick is to identify what makes our reader different to the others and why she comes to us rather than anyone else, and make sure we’re giving her what she wants. There’s always a new way to write something that’s been covered by others, whether that’s visually, or with a new twist, giving it a strong Cosmo voice. But generally, we try to be unique by being ahead of the curve and constantly coming up with fresh ideas. Our ears are always open for what women are interested in and talking about. As Features Editor, you write yourself but you also have other writers writing for your section. How do you choose pieces for an issue of Cosmo? And how do you make sure that your writers and pieces have the right tone for your magazine? We write most things in-house, but get hundreds of pitches from freelance writers too. If we choose one of their ideas, especially if it’s a writer who is new to Cosmo, we’ll send them articles in the tone we’re looking for as guidance and write a
detailed brief. We also have some writers with different specialities to hand who have written for us before and know our style, who we will turn to if we need something specific written for us. How did you come to be in your career - did you always want to be a Features Editor, or did you pursue another career first? I always wanted to work in magazines, and Cosmo was always my favourite. But after doing an English degree and three years of work experience I thought I’d never make it, so I started to pursue a career in publishing – I’d just started a new job when I got my big break at a news agency in Bristol as a features writer, and it went on from there. Did you have to overcome any difficulties to reach this point in your career? How did you manage to do this? I had to be very, very persistent and it was very hard work. After three years of working in a petrol station and doing unpaid work experience, at one point going seven weeks without a day off, I still
hadn’t managed to get an entrylevel job, and was losing hope. I was lucky that my last-gasp attempt lead to a job, but I really wanted it, and was prepared to put the work in to get it. I’ve also had jobs I haven’t enjoyed much, but told myself that all experiences make you a better journalist in the long run – and luckily I was right! What advice would you give to anybody trying to pursue a career as a Features Editor or journalist, and why would you recommend this career? I’d heartily recommend it, because it’s exciting and varied, but I’d also say this: don’t expect lots of money, be prepared to work very hard, make sure you really want to do it before you start (it’s so competitive), and if this doesn’t put you off, don’t give up. I’d also tell aspiring journalists not to confuse writing about yourself with being a journalist – very, very few make a career from ‘confessional’ journalism – if you want to make it, you need hard journalism skills, being willing to chase leads, attend court cases, and conduct tough, emotional interviews. We’re not all Carrie Bradshaw, sadly…
Fashion 13
16th October 2014
Olivia Sung St Catherine’s College
Y
our beloved Mouse here, reporting from the frontline of the capital’s most riotous, anticipated event of the year – it’s London Fashion Week, and, Press Pass in hand (unfortunately under the pseudonym of one Miss Olivia Sung, but I only go by this to remain incognito at important events, or else how on earth would I get around with everybody knowing the famous Mouse is in attendance?), I am traversing the frankly lethal cobblestones of Somerset House, which leads me to wonder how on earth
these more seasoned pros strut this walkway like it’s another Dior catwalk, and whether there is a mysterious invisible safety cable above me I was meant to sign up for. Right now, I have all the grace of an anaesthetised gazelle. Why is nobody else skating across the floor like it’s an ice rink? Honestly, you’d think some of these girls were models the way they’re frolicking about. Fashion week, fashion week, fashion week! If I wasn’t the most professional fashion columnist in the world, I might get excited about this. Fortunately I have a hefty dose of unbridled arrogance, I mean, glamour, to carry me through without a whiff of distraction. Ooooooooh Tom Ford! Sorry, I digress. Anyway. With a calendar packed full of catwalk shows, talks and press events, stay tuned to read all about my escapades as the most elegant Mouse About Town. Albeit, under the pen of my far more boring alter ego, but she has to come out to play occasionally, or she gets ratty, and nobody enjoys cross-rodent mutation (side note: I had a fondness for a gent we shall call Rat once, but thankfully escaped in the nick of time; it’s true, they are an incredibly smelly species, and have the most ridiculous sense of style I’ve ever encountered. Long skinny tails aside, there’s nothing attractive about doubling up on neon patchwork, especially when you match it to chevron-patterned fur). In the meantime, however, here are a few things I’ve managed to learn at Fashion Week so far:
PHOTO/Olivia Sung
1. Da Street Iz Ur Catwalk Gurl. Sometimes – rarely, but sometimes – I lament
Q&A
the number of hours I’ve spent burrowed away in my books and parchment, scribbling down my thoughts and feelings instead of concentrating on Essential Fashion Girl training such as How To Navigate All Surfaces In Six Inch Alaias. One of those “sometimes” was three hours into the spectacle on Day 1, when I went flying off the side of a press queue. Thankfully I was small and at the back, so only one girl witnessed, and luckily she saw the funny side. She too was a student journalist, and we bonded over our newness to the job. Still. Shan’t be trying to repeat that ever again. 2. Bloggers. Bloggers everywhere. Bloggers in the middle. Bloggers to the side. Bloggers hiding under cars. Bloggers in bins. Bloggers on the ceiling. It is mind-bogglingly difficult to join the new virtual jet set in their in-jokes when all you’ve ever managed to accomplish social media-wise is seven tweets and a Facebook feed that largely contains photographs of your dog, and statuses to your friends saying something along the lines of, “TOTALLY HUNGOVER LAD”. Still, they’re a fashionable lot. Lots of them can pull off socks and strappy sandals, which I’ve never been able to manage and doubt I ever will. Suddenly my pointy Carvela courts seem terribly antwacky next to this Bright Young Thing’s Versace-plus-Cable Knits combo. I feel undeservedly oldfashioned. 3. I’ll never have hair as stunning as Sarah Harris. Sarah Harris is the Fashion Features Director at Vogue magazine and she has beautiful silvery mermaid hair, which is, depressingly for the rest of us, all-natural. I met her at the Vogue Talent dinner; she’s absolutely fascinating, knows a library’s worth of information about couture, and despite casually wearing a variation of what has become her trademark style uniform (tailored
PHOTO/ Natia Rekhviashvili
jeans, heels, nice top), she was still by far the most unpretentiously glamorous person to walk those treacherous cobblestones. Fashion salutes. 4. I don’t know any famous people. At all. And I can’t preen like one either. People will literally just stop in their tracks in front of you and pose. For photographs, generally. But also sometimes not. Sometimes it will just be because they want to, because this is fashion and that is what Fashion People do. I can’t pose; I tried it once and fell backwards out of the photograph I was meant to be in, so all you can see of me is a bit of frizz and a Topshop-clad tummy, mid-fall. For certain people however, posing is a bit like a nervous tic that they absolutely must observe or they’ll die, and they’ll do it with as much ostentation as humanly possible. It’s okay and passably amusing, until you almost get mown down by a truck’s worth of photographers clamouring to take the photograph of #RandomFamousModel. I only know she was a #RandomFamousModel because she was four feet taller than me and could carry off one of those floppy bohemian hats with feathers, which
The Mouse Diaries
make some of us non-modelling lesser mortals look like we’re auditioning for the local pantomime version of Robin Hood. Also, side note: Cara Delevigne is, I can now say with some degree of certainty, Not As Tall As You’d Think She’d Be. This makes me feel fractionally better about myself, even if I’d still almost definitely drown in her boots. 5. For anybody unwilling to pay £10 for a Fashion Week Omelette (side dressing excluded), there is a Greggs four doors down. By far the most valuable lesson I’ve learned on the fashion circuit. I think the fact that they’re charging a whole ten pounds for one-and-a-half eggs’ worth of food is probably trying to tell us all something subliminally, but I have no idea what. Still, I refused to pay for this when the Inner Rebel within me kept spotting untouched organic lettuce leaves at Every. Single. Turn. I may like me some Marchesa, but I also like my carbohydrates. Thankfully, London had my back. Who knew the architect who built Somerset House and the surrounding streets would realise that even the most meticulous of Fashion Girls still crave a really good Cornish pasty, eh?
Kate Tuohy interviews Simon Haveland, producer of the film Immortal, for fashion brand Sorapol
Kate Tuohy Jesus College
S
orapol is the London-based fashion label of Bangkok-born designer Sorapol Chawaphatnakul, who works alongside creative director Daniel Lismore. Kate Tuohy met Simon Haveland, the producer of its latest promotional film, Immortal. What is the premise behind Immortal?
PHOTO/ShoesbyBryan
The fashion designer wanted a visual medium to show off his latest collection, and after meeting with Soropol and his artistic director Daniel Lismore, we came up with the idea of creating a short dramatic film that incorporated the collec-
tion. We chose to shoot most of the film in an old motor garage, in London, with peeling walls and stone floors. The exteriors were shot on Hampstead Heath and we graded the shoot to enhance the colours to give a Victorian postcard effect. How does the film reflect Sorapol’s brand image? We gave the film a moody appearance with subtle lighting and candles to enhance the beautiful materials used in the collection. The theme was oriental, and I approached the composer Jon Dauo to write a classical piece of music that reflected this . Where was the film showcased? It was showcased at the Par-
is
Fashion
Film
Festival.
How different is it working on a fashion film from a commercial film? Principally the approach is the same but a fashion film is purely about the visuals whereas in a drama the audience are led by the narrative and the story is enhanced by the visuals. In a fashion film you are selling a product whereas in a dramatic film you are selling a story. The lighting and the sets are very important in fashion because the image has to be instant and the effect immediate. How would you sum up the film Immortal in one word? Graceful.
Fashion 14
16th October 2014
Midnight in Paris Continuing our series on international style, this week we are in Paris. Set against the beautiful backdrop of the city of love, our model owns the night in sleek silhouettes .and a monochrome palette. Photographer: LĂŠa Carresse Model: Alexandra Sazanova Prokouran
16th October 2014
Music
Nasim Asl
Somerville College
L
eeds’ next big band has emerged. Although in the incubation stage that comes with a debut album, Eagulls have already impressed both at home and across the Pond, bagging a performance slot on US prime-time show David Letterman. Guitarist Liam Matthews is certainly aware of how well-earned the band’s ongoing success is. Ahead of the band’s October tour, we sat down for a chat with one fifth of the northerners to talk about challenges Eagulls have faced, the recording of their debut album and settle the Reading/Leeds debate.
“We’re just a punk
band really.”
“We’re just a punk band really. There’s a lot of differences in there, but I’d rather people just listened to it and made their own decision about it,” Liam wisely put it. “It’s punk music at heart.” As a band, Eagulls are difficult to pin down. The majority of songs the group put out are message-centred. ‘Tough Luck’ explores singer George Mitchell’s ties to Thalidomide, the disastrous pregnancy drug, and how it affected his grandfather; ‘Hollow Visions’ reflects the band’s disillusionment of life’s promises post-university. “None of us want him to be singing about being in love or broken-hearted.” Liam laughed, “It probably wouldn’t sit right with the music anyway.” he wisely noted. George is responsible for most of the band’s lyricism, from which their unique punk emerges. “He’s never wanted to copy anyone else’s style. He’s always jotting things down and drawing pictures, his mind’s always ticking over things relevant to and around him.” Despite this, Liam’s aware of the massive spectrum of influences that modern bands in particular are privy too. “There’s a lot of 80s, 90s punk music in there. Obviously, all the experiences we’ve had and the situations we’ve found ourselves in in life make the music sound like it does. The angst of having to go to work nine-to-five when you just want to concentrate on writing music and being in a band. It ended up being a release for us.” Although this year saw the group’s
first album hit the stand, Eagulls have been around since 2010. “We all went to uni in Leeds, except for George. I met Henry [Ruddel, drummer] on our first day.” However, picking up the pace during this time proved to be initially difficult. “I think we started the band at the wrong time in our lives, cause we just really got gigging as we all finished uni and had to start full time jobs. It was a shock to the system. You work hard at uni to do well, but it’s a lot different having to go to work Monday-Friday, nine-to-five. It wasn’t difficult juggling the band with uni, but it was difficult having to drive to London after work for a gig, and driving home straight after for work the next day.” Despite the time taken for the band to overcome the reality of the workplace, Liam has no regrets about the band’s journey. “I think it’s worked perfectly for us. There’s a lot of bands you see that’ll have people working with them from the get go – they started in London, their first gigs are playing to record labels and producers and whatever, they get all the buzz on the internet and they’re the ‘next big thing’. We’re not about that – we wanted a record we were proud of, and happy with. The band couldn’t be our main focus in life cause we had to pay the rent, so the time it took us to get the album out was just a reflection of our life.” The band are definitely proud of their northern roots, and getting together out of the country’s main musician breeding grounds. “I’m from the north and I love being up here,” Liam proudly declared, “but it is good going to London – you understand it’s a big city there, there’s a lot of people there, but I think if you work hard you’ve got as good a shot. Obviously you have to be considered a good band and work hard to get
Flying high with Eagulls
“The band couldn’t be our main focus in life cause we had to pay the rent.” any attention, so I guess you have an advantage being a band in London cause there’s so much going on, and it’s such a big place, but I think some people that live there don’t live in the real world sometimes.” It certainly doesn’t look like being northern has really ended up slowing Eagulls down. Their self-titled album, release in March, has had a positive reception and gained Eagulls impressive festival and support slots, with their headlining shows to follow
Music 15
PHOTO/Sandy Kim
in October. “The week the album came out we were on tour and you could tell the different straight away, people were singing along to the songs, more were turning up to the shows. That was all we wanted, for people to finally be able to hear the songs and relate to them and see them live.” Although this was their debut, the band have been releasing singles and EPs for a while now. Liam, however, found that the recording process was noticeably different. “We’ve been writing the songs for a long time prior to the album release and recording. We didn’t have a label in mind or anything but we recorded it anyway, then came across Partisan and its turned out amazing.” Eagulls have already started receiving awards and accreditation for their work. NME awarded their ‘Nerve Endings’ video Video of the Year Award earlier this year. “It wasn’t anything we thought we’d end up receiving or being part of. That video cost us £300 to make, and we got to share a room with Paul McCartney and Debbie Harry and so many legendary artists. It
was amazing that it was something were expecting Leeds to be the we’d done ourselves and been given better of the two shows, but I think recognition against things that cost I enjoyed Reading the most.” like millions of pounds.” October sees the band travel up and In a busy year of festival dates, down the country on their album Eagulls have spent a lot of time supporting tour. “We always love across the Atlantic, playing SXSW playing in Leeds – we all live here, we for the second time, touring America started the band here. We’re going for six weeks before hitting Canada. to a lot of places we haven’t been to “We’ve been to the USA three or before, but that aren’t as renowned four times since playing SXSW last for gigs as places such as Leeds, year – it was actually the first time Manchester and London. There’s I’d been to America in my life, so a venue called Cabin in Exeter that’s it was cool that the band had taken meant to be famous and cool. We’ve us there.” Despite this, Liam isn’t never played places like Cambridge overly sold on the practicalities of or Hull before, so I’m really looking an American tour. “In America you forward to that.” Support on this don’t know where you are, you’re tour comes from fellow Leeds lads just driving for so Autobahn, who long. You turn up “I’m from the north and I actually shared at a city, wake up, a practice room love being up here.” with Eagulls set up, play, then drive again. I love not so long ago. touring Europe and England cause Nowadays, the two bands have we’ve done it so many times. It’s practice rooms next door to one home.” The band made their first another. “It’s always fun going on appearance at Leeds and Reading tour with them, even to just have festivals this year too. “I was really some familiar faces when you’re overwhelmed by the reaction of the travelling around”. crowds and by how many people Eagulls hit the Jericho Tavern on came. Especially at Reading – we Saturday 18th October.
16 Music
16th October 2014
Why does pop music need Gwen Stefani?
PHOTO/Michael Kensinger
Sam Joyce explains why Gwen Stefani is coming back to shake up the pop world
Sam Joyce
Balliol College
C
asual consumers of pop music could be forgiven for believing Gwen Stefani already returned to radio this past summer. “I’m so Fancy / you already know” blared from speakers of all sizes across the land. That hook. That delivery. It was trademark Gwen. And yet she wasn’t. It was Charli XCX, dropping the self consciously cool pretension of her solo work in favour of a featured credit on Iggy Azalea’s career-making global smash. ‘Fancy’ would go on to sell over six million copies worldwide and top charts around the world. We were clearly starving for some Gwen Stefani. Thankfully, she heard our prayers (and probably the ringing of cash registers), and has deigned to return to us, with both a new single and new album promised by the end of this year. But why do we need Gwen Stefani? What has she really done for us? In a pop music landscape still exhausted from 2013’s EDM fatigue, the charts have collapsed into a stagnant pool of tired sounds and directionless misfires. Sure, we’ve seen Beyoncé champion a more experimental style of RnB, Lorde place her alt-pop stylings firmly in the mainstream, and Ariana Grande resurrect the ghost of Mariah Carey, but there’s been no era-defining song in the way that Gwen’s ‘Hollaback Girl’ launched an unending stream of imitators back in 2005. Even the House revival and the beginnings of a Trap-lite movement with the one two punch of ‘Dark Horse’ and ‘Black Widow’ have yet to yield a visionary to guide us. Perhaps then it’s the job of Gwen,
along with her fellow comeback queen and class of ‘07 hitmaker Fergie, to reimagine the urban influences of their glory days. Early signs are positive. Gwen has been in the studio with frequent collaborator Pharrell, the producer behind perhaps both’s most enduring creation, the “B-A-NA-N-A-S” chant of ‘Hollaback Girl’, and, if gossip sites are to be believed, she’s reunited with the director of her most iconic videos. The world is holding its breath. The second coming is upon us. It couldn’t have come soon enough. In an increasingly sterile pop music landscape, where every walk from a hotel to a waiting car is stage-managed to within an inch of its life, Gwen promises at least a little rebellious spontaneity. Stuck for much of the 90s, along with the rest of her band No Doubt, on the sweaty, grimy merry-go-round known as Warped Tour, Gwen is hewn from the rough and ready aesthetic of the rock arena. She’s a contradiction, all feminine iconography backed by masculine bravado. She’s an aggressive and unpredictable stage presence with perfectly styled blonde hair and perma-stained red lips. And she’s already going off script. She messed up Stephen Colbert’s name while presenting him with an award on live TV. She joined the American version of The Voice, a show ostensibly built on the importance of, you know, the contestant’s voice, and then immediately dismissed the idea that being able to sing was important to being a star. And she spontaneously skanked on Jimmy Fallon’s talk show, the cultural sinkhole of America’s late night circuit where celebrities playing beer pong is about as close to counter culture as it gets.
“She’s a contradiction, all feminine iconography backed by masculine bravado”
The secret to Stefani’s appeal is that she doesn’t take anything too seriously. She’s dismissed her solo career as a “joke”, which as ridiculous a description as it is for almost ten million record sales, comes as little surprise to those that paid attention the first time around. This is a woman who twice rode samples from classic Broadway musicals to worldwide success – the Fiddler on the Roof’s ‘If I were a Rich Man’ became ‘Rich Girl’ a delirious ode to the joys of materialism and couture designers, followed by the feverish, insane ‘Wind It Up’, which took the yodelling from the Sound of Music’s ‘The Lonely Goatherd’ and wrapped it around a bombastic club beat.
“We need Gwen Stefani because she understands that pop music is inherently ridiculous”
We need Gwen Stefani because she understands that pop music is inherently ridiculous. It’s disposable, vacuous and utterly joyous. It’s made for preteen girls to sing into hairbrushes, for the gay clubs and for gym mixes, for the blogs that need new music to keep their twitter feeds ticking over 24 hours a day. Gwen’s dismissive treatment of the genre is at the heart of her appeal. The woman whose yodelling was heard around the world is going to save pop music from itself. But this isn’t to say that Gwen Stefani exists outside the current pop production line. In fact, she lay the foundations for much of its architecture. By parodying the artifice of pop music, Gwen, after Britney, inadvertently created the modern pop star, an entity whose personality is defined by whatever outfit they’re wearing. Gwen as a cheerleader, Gwen as Alice
in Wonderland, Gwen as a pirate. She put on these costumes, ringing every last drop of ridiculousness from their threadbare material, before moving onto the next. Without her there would be no Katy Perry, no Lady Gaga. But Stefani’s personas only worked because underneath it all, we knew she was the commanding frontwoman of No Doubt, a fierce, multifaceted performer who just liked to hang with the guys. Her imitators may have raided her costume box, but they’re all pageantry and no personality. And yet, questions still loom over how Gwen will fit into the current pop music landscape. How will we respond to her new songs, with our ears already exhausted from Pharrell’s ubiquity? Will her bindis and her travelling troop of Harajuku girls spark untold numbers of outraged think-pieces across the web, in an age attuned to issues of cultural appropriation? To her fans, appreciation has always lain at the heart of her appropriation. It was another part of her slipping into costumes, too selfconscious to be taken seriously. To others, it seemed at best misguided, at worst offensive. However, one trend she could surely slide right into is the popularisation of feminism. Whilst hers is certainly a different feminism to that espoused by Beyoncé, and to a lesser extent, Nicki Minaj, it’s no less a valid interpretation. Her image, already one that draws attention to the performative nature of femininity, is a walking gender studies class. By making her name in the boys club that was
“She’s drawn attention to double standards and misogyny”
Andrew McMahon goes on a journey In the Wilderness Third musical persona of the former Something Corporate frontman delights Alys Key
Alys Key
Somerville College
A
ndrew McMahon is now on his third musical identity. Starting out as the frontman of Something Corporate, he then went on to release three albums under the moniker Jack’s Mannequin. Now he has moved on again, and has just released an eponymous album as Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. I first came across Andrew’s music during a phase when I was convinced my life would be immeasurably improved if I lived in a beach house in California. The first Jack’s Mannequin album (Everything in Transit, 2005)
is full of sun-soaked imagery of Santa Monica and Venice Beach combined with uplifting melodies; it’s the kind of music which draws you in because it’s catchy and keeps you coming back as you start to unravel the lyrics. This album does not disappoint on that front. The catchy refrains have you singing along by the end of your first listen, but after a few replays you begin to notice how evocative the words are, and how deeply personal. Andrew has had an incredibly varied life for a 32-year-old – including a brush with cancer in his twenties – and his music always records these new experiences with the kind of emotion which can only come from using biographical material. It is difficult to top the raw feeling of 2008’s single ‘The Resolution’, a song about surviv-
ing cancer, but I think that the second track on this album ‘Cecelia and the Satellite’ at least comes close. It’s got a slow build which climaxes in a euphoric chorus (the kind which will no doubt soon be snapped up by Coca Cola to create an oddly moving commercial), but it is also the fact that this relentlessly overjoyed track is about his newborn daughter which lends it depth of emotion. Although recognisably Andrew’s work, this album features heavier beats and more innovative ways of layering sound. He seems to be moving with the times, and possibly even hoping that a remix of one of these songs will become an Avicii-esque club hit. For new listen-
90s pop-rock, she’s drawn attention to double standards and misogyny, whilst at the same time exploiting her desirability. From the angry, subversive ‘Just a Girl’ to writing the searing breakup anthem, ‘Don’t Speak’, and making its target, ex boyfriend and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, play it every night as she sang it to crowds of thousands of cheering fans, Gwen has always been fearless. Perhaps she’s also ready to be a feminist. Ultimately then, whilst some pop stars fight to legitimise pop, worshipping at its altar as they try to imbue it with meaning, Gwen does the opposite. She makes pop records just because she can, because she wants to mess around, get paid and dress like a cheerleader throughout her adult life. It’s the fact that she operates at something of a remove from the pop world which puts the meta-textuality in her madness. She is always, brilliantly, aware of the limits of the medium. Pop music needs Gwen Stefani precisely because she doesn’t need it. Plus there are always more fruits she can teach us to spell. Cantaloupes, anyone?
ers, I would describe the sound as somewhere between Carolina Liar and Owl City. For old fans, fear not: there is plenty of Andrew’s classic pop-piano style in here, it’s just taken a fresh, mature turn.
Win tickets to an upcoming gig! Want to see some of record label Communion’s best up and coming artists? We have two tickets to see Amber Run, FYFE, Kimberly Anne and Pixel Fix play The Art Bar on 7th November. The record label is the home of artists like Deap Valley, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Michael Kiwanuka, and Pale Seas. Aside from being run by one of Mumford and Sons, it has a great reputation for picking the best upcoming young talent. To enter simply email us at music@ oxfordstudent.com with “Communion Competition” in the subject line!
Music 17
16th October 2014
OxStu tells you what you should listen to this term
Henry Holmes, Jessy Parker Humphreys, Nasim Asl and Josh Brown pick the best albums of Michaelmas. Henry Holmes
Jessy P H
Nicki Minaj
Damien Rice
The Pinkprint
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My Favourite Faded Fantasy
24th November
D
icki Minaj’s third album is coming and it should be very good. The title is a reference to Jay-Z’s monumental 2001 album The Blueprint and is supposedly a move away from her more commercial singles like ‘Super Bass’ and ‘Starships’ – both of which are outstanding pop songs, but this indicates a return to the pure rap talent she indicated in her mixtape days. The hope is that the excellent single ‘Anaconda’ is indicative of what’s to come, both in quality of rapping and the powerful feminist subtext. This should be a pure hip-hop album from Minaj, and with all the experience and resources she has behind her now, it has the potential to be spectacular.
3rd November
amien Rice has spent a long time working on My Favourite Faded Fantasy. Eight years to be precise. Our headphones and speakers have been free of the emotionally wrecking delicate guitar and soulful vocals. And how we have missed that! Everyone needs something to cry to once in a while and Damien was always there for us, crooning ‘Cannonball’ or ‘The Blower’s Daughter’. The eponymous first track from the album has already demonstrated that Damien Rice is on form. Filled with swelling strings, it was originally released as a two minute snippet which in itself was glorious. The whole track was something else. The music business moves fast and people can be quickly forgotten. Not Damien Rice.
Nasim Asl
Josh Brown
Taylor Swift
Nick Jonas
1989
F
27th October
ollowing the undeniable success of Red and Taylor’s earlier albums, 1989 is definitely one that’s set to rock the pop world as we know it. Named for her year of birth, the superstar’s new album promises the world an era of Swift-pop. ‘Shake it Off’ was our first glimpse of this path Taylor is creating, and in recent interviews she has sworn that 1989 is a treasure trove of similarly feel-good, poppy, 80s love. We can still expect Taylor’s classic relationship songs, and Harry Styles has apparently influenced these again. The focus of the album, however, is not boy drama – Taylor’s famously said she’s taking a break from dating for now. Expect big things, Swifties. Would Taylor’s perfection ever let us down?
Nick Jonas
F
11th November
amous amongst my peers for my obsessive love for One Direction (Louis will marry me, one day), I have a confession - it was not 1D that marked my descent into the boy band underworld, but rather the sweethearts that were The Jonas Brothers. The promise-ring-wearing trio provided me with some of the happiest memories of my teenage years, but have faded into the murk of time since their band disbanded in a world where Justin Bieber ruled. Things are about to change. Angelic Nick is back, but this time he’s bulked up (check out his Instagram – phwoar). Complete with his first ever parental advisary sticker, Nick’ s new album will definitely surprise us. Hopefully he’ll be the one who’s able to take down the Biebs once and for all.
‘Ready to Die’: Biggie Smalls reveals rap’s Great Gatsby
Go back and revisit Notorious B.I.G’s seminal album, argues Donald Brown, instead of Nas’ Illmatic
Donald Brown Christ Church
T
his year Nas’s Illmatic was re-released for its 20th year anniversary. On October 2nd, the documentary, Nas: Time is Illmatic, had a special one-night screening in theaters all across America. This is the first rap album in history to be so wholeheartedly embraced by mainstream Western popular culture. I am happy to see Nas carry the genre so well. However, I wish another album released the same year would get the same amount of love, namely, Ready to Die. On Ready to Die, hip-hop’s most dynamic and memorable character comes to life, the cinematic Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls. The sample-driven ‘Intro’ skit places you right in the middle of life in 1970s Brooklyn. Biggie is born into a world of conflict, poverty, and criminality, and quickly gets caught in its traps. By the end of the intro’s skit, we hear him being released from jail. He emphatically declares that he has ‘big plans.’ In the next song, ‘Things Done Changed’, Biggie explains why his big plans for the future do not look promising if he stays within
legal bounds. His mom, and other hard-working parents in Bed-Stuy, are proof. She did all she could for them, but they were still miserably poor: “It’s hard being young from the slums / Eating five cents gum, not knowing where you next meal is coming from.” So he delves deeper into the illegal underworld. The next fourteen songs are an amazing adventure. We travel with the world’s biggest, baddest, and most loveable gangster. In ‘Gimme the Loot’, he is a world-
“On Ready to Die, hip hop’s most dynamic and memorable character comes to life”
class robber more than eager to tell us all the details of his successful heists. In ‘Warning’ he’s got nearly half of the American drug world locked down. However, there are jealous friends out to get to him. But Biggie, always aware, attacks them first: “In a sec, I throw the tec (Tec-9) to your fucking neck / Everybody hit the deck, Biggie bout to get some rec (recognition) / Quick to leave you in a coffin, for slick talking.” With all this money and recognition, the girls begin
to flock to him also. His famous singles, ‘One More Chance’, ‘Big Poppa’, and others, explore his extravagant parties and intimate relations with women. All this, and I have yet to mention the album’s classic single, ‘Juicy’. Here, Biggie is on top of the world. No longer forced to sell drugs and rob for money, he’s now got a new—and legal—occupation: rapping. This autobiographical track is the one of the most celebratory songs in rap history. He epitomizes the ideal American self-made man. Reminiscing on his earlier days in poverty makes all he has now that much more precious: “50-inch screen, money green, leather sofa / Got two rides, a limousine with a chauffeur.” He is able to provide for his mother like he always wanted to; and not only his mother, his “whole crew is lounging / celebrating every day, no more public housing.” But there is another side to this rags-to-riches success story. It creeps in and out of the plot as the album progresses. On ‘Ready to Die’, he cries: “My shit is deep, deeper than the grave, G / I am ready to die and nobody can save me.” In ‘Everyday Struggle’, he soberly reflects on his criminal lifestyle, saying: “I don’t wanna live no more / Sometimes I hear death
knocking at my front door / I’m living every day like a hustle / Another drug to juggle, another day, another struggle.” His conscience weighs on him so heavily that he drinks Tanqueray to forget about his devilish ways. Still, with all the foreshadowing, the last song is a devastating blow. ‘Suicidal Thoughts’ is when the great house of cards comes crashing down. Biggie Smalls calls a friend late at night and confesses that he deserves to go to hell: “All my life I been considered as the worst / Lying to my mother, even stealing out her purse / Crime after crime, from drugs to extortion / I know my mother wished she got a fucking abortion”, and from there he continues deeper down into the abyss. He rhymes nonstop for nearly two minutes before he takes his own life. Notorious B.I.G.’s uncanny storytelling ability and clever wordplay have you hooked from song to song. You visualize every step he takes on the street, every ounce he sells on the corner, and every gun he pulls on a victim. He gives you all the particulars about the lavish parties: the glasses of Chardonnay
he sips, the Lexus GS3s he smooth talks ladies in after shows, the Tbone steaks he can now afford to eat, and the L’s he smokes in Jacuzzis with women. As crazy as it all sounds on paper, he somehow makes you believe every word. Sure, the album has a few throwaway – and inexcusably misogynistic – lines, and even one or two throwaway songs. You will not hear anything of the sort on the impeccably economic Illmatic. Furthermore, Nas’s Illmatic probably gives one a more accurate depiction of inner city life in NYC, and a broader scope. But Notorious B.I.G created a singular character that is still unmatched, and he brought that character’s storyline to a most poignant and befitting end. No album will take you higher, or bring you lower, than this one. Ready to Die is the Great Gatsby of rap. The “mic ripper, girl stripper, the Henny sipper” will leave you in awe, but like Gatsby, he will also leave you in tragedy. Neither characters could escape their past or actualize their Platonic conceptions of themselves. They both pay the ultimate price while trying to fulfill the elusive American Dream.
“Notorious B.I.G created a singular character that is still unmatched”
Screen
16th October 2014
PHOTO/ Jennifer Rogers
18 Screen
Through a screen, darkly Kate Sinclair Wolfson College
W
atching a sitcom is like reading a self-help book or flipping through an Ikea catalogue. It’s like channel-surfing. On television, we select lives as we would select blouses or topiaries. We are sold an ideal. We are told: this is how your life should be.
Television is at once therapist, mentor, and surrogate family. Sitcoms are not just ‘shows,’ they are ideologies. By forging ‘relationships’ with characters on television, we extract something more than entertainment. We learn what is normal, what is funny, what is romantic. We construct a matrix of familiarity in which to forge our own identities. Because we think of characters on television as ‘friends’ we assume that they are harmless. We don’t think twice about the relationships we develop with our favourite programs. We allow them to index our personal histories, giving us memories that seem real, but are really mental cul-de-sacs; prosthetic fixtures of our massproduced imaginations. It’s funny that we think commercials come in between sitcoms when the real ‘sell’ masquerades on the storyboard. Our screens reflect our ideals. The history of television can be read as a history of domestic life. It is no coincidence that Wonder Woman followed the suffragette movement or that I Love Lucy and The Donna Reed Show appeared during the wholesome (and regressive) fifties. No surprise, either, that Betty Friedan’s army of
second-wave feminists tugged new (and more powerful) female protagonists onto the screen (Samantha in Bewitched, and Mary of The
The history of television can be read as a history of domestic life. Mary Tyler Moore Show). If television mirrors society, what does today’s programming say about the collective consciousness? Google lists the most popular sitcoms of 2014 (including reruns) as: How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Community, Orange is the New Black, Parks and Recreation, Arrested Development, The Office, Modern Family, Seinfeld, Friends, and Two and a Half Men. These can be broadly categorised into ‘conservative’ and ‘progressive’ programs. Gawker rates The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, and Two and a Half Men as decidedly ‘conservative’ hits (in opposition to shows like Parks and Recreation). Although this might seem to be a natural categorisation, the reality is far more conflicted. How I Met Your Mother might at first seem traditional (its only ‘ethnic’ protagonist being Canadian), underneath the machismo and the chauvinistic jokes are concealed a handful of archetype-breaking characters. Emotionally-precarious Marshall, for example, is arguably the most ‘feminine’ character on set, while cigar-smoking Robin is arguably the most ‘masculine.’ Barney’s unfunny womanising is counteracted by Ted’s obnoxious (but nonethe-
less sincere) pursuit of ‘love’ (with a capital L). Although How I Met Your Mother poses as a typical ‘lad’s show,’ it features a surprisingly nuanced cast of characters. Meanwhile, shows like Modern Family, which are celebrated for their inclusivity, remain gratingly one-dimensional. In spite of ‘progressive’ plotlines, Modern Family creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd people the show with wealthy patriarchs, stay-at-home moms, trophy wives, and ditsy daughters. In spite of Modern Family’s token ‘diversity,’ it remains deeply orthodox. The patriarch is still the patriarch (an emotionally-dimensionless owner of luxury vehicles), and the subordinate wife remains subordinate (a shrill homebody). Traditional tropes triumph, and Gloria’s breasts (not to mention her nationality) jiggle into the
In spite of Modern Family’s gimmicky diversity; it is far from progressive, especially where gender and sexuality are concerned. punch line of every joke. In spite of Modern Family’s gimmicky diversity; it is far from progressive, especially where gender and sexuality are concerned. In an especially chauvinistic moment, Phil conspires to exclude his wife and daughters from the family’s Leap Day celebrations because they are simultaneously menstruating and he thinks that the three ‘hormonal’ women (‘Satan’s trifecta’) will spoil the fun. This episode
was nominated for an Emmy, to the vocal chagrin feminist bloggers, who launched indictments of ‘The Patriarchy’ from their Wordpresses ®. It’s not that I don’t like Modern Family. It’s just that I am conflicted. When the perennial boob joke pops out of the metaphorical blouse, I am not sure whether I am meant to laugh or cringe. My sense of humour has been conditioned (perhaps circumscribed) by my politics. Black-ish, released this September, is a prototypical example of our century’s confused progressivism. The sitcom centres on the travails of an upper-middle class advertising executive, ‘Dre’ Anderson, who is concerned that his privately-educated children aren’t ‘black’ enough. The first three episodes feature a lot of basketball interspersed with scenes of Dre looking to ‘pick up’ black boys on the street and to ‘set them up’ with his son (haha?). Failing to forge any appropriate mono-racial friendships, Dre deplores the loss of ‘black traditions’ like the socalled ‘head nod’ (a nod exchanged between black men), and the ‘black man’s wrinkle’ (a face pulled by black men checking out female haunches). Only in episode three does Dre manage to foster ‘blackness’ in his son, when, upon visiting a local park, both lads pull the ‘black man’s wrinkle’ as a voluptuous woman struts past (‘dang’). I suppose it is heartening to see a sitcom address cultural identityloss among upwardly mobile nonwhites, but I’m not sure whether Black-ish addresses the issue tastefully, or whether it merely peddles a new caricature. I am also faintly disturbed that Black-ish and Modern Family seem to have initiated
a disturbing trend. The more ‘progressive’ a show becomes (by featuring gay or non-white protagonists), the more chauvinistic is the gender binary. I can’t make up my mind about these programs because I’m not really sure if I’m allowed to have an opinion at all. In our politically hypersensitive, ‘enlightened’ society, it’s difficult to know what kind of television is okay. As I enter my twenties, it seems to me that personal entertainment is not as simple as it once was. Suddenly, I feel as if I am making a political statement every time I pick up the remote control. Of course, television is only a magnifying glass. A fun-house reflection. Behind the high-definition plasma is a more fundamental problem. We (postmodern, postfeminist, postcolonial audiences) have yet to reconcile the personal with the political. Class, race, and gender continue to bewilder us onscreen (and off it). Although we cannot decide what is ‘normal,’ we seem to operate under the assumption that there is no normal, and if nothing is normal, then nothing can be absurd, and nothing can be comical. Irony is leached away, and we fumble on, writing gender/racial/hetero-normative screenplays that only briefly entertain us before they are deemed offensive or banal or both. We trade one program for another until something new goes awry, and then we slash everything on the cutting room floor and return to the drawing board, again. And again. And again. Those of us in the market for lives continue to flip the dog-eared pages of the proverbial catalogue, faced with too much choice, or perhaps, with too little.
Screen 19 PHOTO/ genevieve
16th October 2014
Old is gold Srishti Nirula
Somerville College
Laura Hartley Christ Church
PHOTO/ genevieve
P
remiering back in 2012, The Mindy Project is probably one of the lesser-known sitcoms currently on our screens. It’s just come back for a third season this year, but despite moving from strength to strength and receiving very positive reception from critics, viewers have fallen with each season. Regardless of ratings, The Mindy Project is a brilliantly written and executed show, and if you don’t already watch it, then you need to start ASAP. The main character Mindy Lahiri, written, directed and acted by Mindy Kaling, lives in New York, but she isn’t the stereotypical tall, leggy blonde that you find in most American shows (or all the shows on The CW). Instead, she’s a short, Indian gynaecologist with “the voice of an eleven-year-old
girl.” Some may say that she lives with her head in the clouds, but Mindy Lahiri is looking to make some serious changes in her life, both professional and romantic, and The Mindy Project is the result. This is a downright hilarious sitcom featuring doctors Mindy, a young woman who wishes her life was a romantic comedy; Danny, a man who rarely smiles and is Mindy’s ‘nemesis’ and Jeremy, aka British eye candy. Although Mindy is the protagonist, there is a detailed back-story to each and every other doctor and nurse in this show and they work well together as a team, and as individual characters. Whilst there are some plot strands that carry on through the show, each episode also works very well on its own, meaning you can dip in and out of this series without missing too much (i.e. you have no excuse not to watch it). This show has it all – the cast, the direction, the script, most of which is all written by the same woman/goddess – Mindy Kaling.
Kaling has become somewhat of a role model for all women who have seen her work and it’s not hard to see why. Taking serious issues and putting a funny slant on them is The Mindy Project’s greatest achievement. The show has received much attention from feminists and supporters of racial diversity as well as television critics. There are not many shows based on a successful woman of colour that can boast ratings as good as these – and that is why we should raise our (metaphorical) hats to Mindy Kaling.
Taking serious issues and putting a funny slant on them is The Mindy Project’s biggest achievement.
The show is a comedy writer’s goldmine. From talented writers like Kaling herself, who started out at The Office, to Emmy-award winner Tracey Wigfield, and big names like Jack Burditt (30 Rock) and Jeremy Bronson (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), the show essentially has a comedy writing dream team behind it. With a pedigree like that, you’re sure to laugh whenever you tune in. If you’ve been avoiding this show because you’re not quite sure that it’s actually funny, then don’t. I binge-watched the entire series over the vac and did not regret a single second of it. With each episode only being twenty minutes long and only fifty episodes so far, it would probably take you less time to walk from LMH to Parkend, and it will be considerably more enjoyable.
Seinfeld
I think I can safely say that this show shaped the world we currently live in. Every episode has had a tremendous impact on pop culture. Set in New York, the show follows the lives of comic Jerry Seinfeld and his friends George, Elaine and Kramer, whose antics may seem ludicrous but are utterly grounded in reality. While this show is famously, “about nothing,” it hilariously manages to portray the problems and triumphs of everyday life. It’s so easy to say, “that’s happened to me too!” while watching the show, because Larry David, Seinfeld and the entire crew of writers manage to pick out mundane aspects of the human experience and transform them into brilliant bits. A highlight is “The Parking Garage”, where all four characters traipse around a garage, lost, as they can’t remember where they parked the car. Simple, yet genius. Another favourite is the famous “Chinese Restaurant.” This episode really saw Seinfeld come into its own, as Jerry, George and Elaine are shown simply waiting for their table at the restaurant. The episode resembled a play, and really placed the show at the forefront of innovation in comedy.
PHOTO/ substance
PHOTO/Genevieve
PHOTO/mikeess;
Pick of the week: The Mindy Project
PHOTO/tonyhoffarth
W
hat with the chaos of Freshers’ Week and the already imminent essay
crises, I knew the time had come for sitcom-therapy. So if you too find yourself lying in bed, overwhelmed with all the work you haven’t done, friends you have ignored and Bridge Thursdays you have missed - grab that remote control (or track pad) and indulge in these brilliant sitcoms:
M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H, a sitcom about a group of doctors working in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea during the war, was a show that could make you laugh, think and cry all at the same time. The tone did seem to become more didactic around halfway; but the irreverent humour, the wonderfully sketched characters and the brilliant comic timing of all the actors still make it a show I go back to. The best thing about M*A*S*H though, was that it never underestimated the intelligence of its audience, and allowed the viewers to understand and experience the tragedy of the war right alongside the dark comedy. It’s difficult for a show to be funny, but far more difficult for a show to be timelessly hilarious. If you want to watch sitcoms that take you seriously, but themselves lightly, these are the ones to go to.
Arts & Lit
16th October 2014
The Man Booker Prize Special Feature Conquering Literary Elitism
Lucy Diver
Magdalen College
I
’m at the launch party of a faux-Victorian, zodiac, murder mystery novel set on a goldfield, by an author with only one previously published work. Normal book launch stuff: upstairs room of an independent bookshop; canapés and wine; lots of literati in hornrimmed glasses. But this time, there’s a hum in the room, an electric current in the air. The book has just been longlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Even this first tier of the process is enough to create this buzz. Sales have already increased exponentially in the wake of intense media coverage. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, the critically and popularly acclaimed zodiac mystery novel went on to win the 2013 Man Booker Prize, making Catton the youngest winner at 28 and the second New Zealander. The novel was also the longest winner to date, a small brick of 832 pages. (Not a good one to carry around in your handbag.) Judged by a panel of carefully selected judges, including Oxford’s very own Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, it was described as a “dazzling work, luminous, vast”. At dinner parties and drinks all around the world, and certainly in New Zealand, the question was
not “Have you read The Luminaries?” but “Have you read The Luminaries yet?” Such is the influence of the Man Booker Prize. Quite apart from the prize of £50,000, a win – or even a place on the shortlist – will ensure worldwide sales, media exposure, and attention from the intelligent, common reader. Sales from Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies have exceeded one million each. Clearly, this is positive step towards encouraging “the widest possible readership for the best in literary fiction”. By and large, this is achieved: the shortlist will be stocked by all good bookshops, end-up in reading groups, libraries and even academic syllabuses. Indeed, the Oxford English Literature course covers several, from Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children to A S Byatt’s Possession. But for now, the focus is all on this year’s shortlist. The Telegraph gave How To Be Both by Ali Smith a five star review, calling her “among Virginia Woolf’s most gifted inheritors”. Smith has made the shortlist twice before, while British Howard Jacobson has won once before: J is a novel set in a dystopian future. The final Brit on the list is Neel Mukherjee, with The Lives of Others, the story of a Bengali family. There is one Australian author on the list, Richard Flanagan. The prize has been open to Irish and Commonwealth authors since 1969, and there have been several previous Australian winners. The
Narrow Road to The Deep North is about Australian POWs. The prize helps draw attention to authors from countries and cultures who might otherwise have encountered disapproving glances from the hoary old guard of the English literary elite. Would Salman Rushdie quotes appear in Oxford English Literature exam papers and would London be plastered in posters advertising The Luminaries without the Man Booker? No, probably not. Two US authors also have books featured on the shortlist: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler and To Rise Again At A Decent Hour, by Joshua Ferris. The latter is intriguingly touted as an existential Catch-22 of dentistry, and The Guardian remarked that the former has “a twist best kept under wraps”. This is the first year that US authors have been included – a move that was largely welcomed, with a little scepticism. The chairman of the Booker trustees, Jonathan Taylor, said: “By including writers from around the world to compete alongside Commonwealth and Irish writers, the Man Booker Prize is reinforcing its standing as the most important literary award in the Englishspeaking world.” Publishers welcomed the move, with Bloomsbury editor-in-chief Alexandra Pringle saying that: “I am in favour of the Prize broadening out so that [it] is identifying and celebrating the finest fiction written in the English language.”
Chad Wys’s work is conceptually focused without aesthetic compromise, it’s approachable without dumbing down, and it’s fun without ever lacking gravitas. Working on canvases of readymade works, quite often reproductions of 19th century pieces, Wys adds “aggressive” foreign colour to the familiar in an attempt to spark discussion about how we objectify all that surrounds us. “When people get angry at me for […] “vandalizing” another artist’s “hard work,” they unwittingly underscore the complex web of problems at play in our visual world, since, really, […] I’m pointing out that the original was “vandalized” the moment it was reproduced”
Arts & Lit 21
16th October 2014
Man Booker Focus: How The Guardians to be Both by Ali Smith of the Gallery Alice Jaffe
St Edmund Hall
M
y particular copy of the narrative begins with the young Francesco del Cossa watching a seed fall into a pool of horse piss, causing a ring of liquid to ripple outwards and disappear. The young girl asks ‘Where’d it go?’ and her mother responds ‘Where’d what go?’ When the daughter explains about the ‘ring’, her mother, expecting a ring of gold or silver, is surprised. ‘Your sort of ring is much better than those’. The fleeting
ephemerality of the ripple ring, described by the Mother as ‘still going, still growing’, serves as a good analogy for the beguiling elusiveness of Smith’s narrative – or at least for the ideas that the narrative begins to approach – as it grasps at them in medias res, merely helping
“Beguiling elusiveness”
the reader to move a little further along rather than pushing in any particular direction. Depending on which of the two different versions of the book you happen to pick up, you’ll either start by meeting Francesco del Cossa, a painter in Renaissance Italy, or George (short for Georgia), a teenage British schoolgirl. Whilst both are fictional accounts, del Cossa is based on a real historical figure who contributed significantly to frescoes painted in Ferraro, Italy. Smith’s intuitive and poetical multi-narrative novel dissects the lives of both young adults and reveals the depths of what initially seems to be the minds of the characters, but soon begins to interrogate art, literature and language itself. Inspired by the fresco style of painting, in which intricate layers are built and rebuilt to inscape and display reality, Smith’s fresco certainly simultaneously captures and creates an art. Perhaps the most prevalent dynamic captured in the work is that which is hinted through the title: the concept of being ‘both’. Where Francesco undergoes a more obvious transition between genders through cross-dressing, strapping her breasts and donning trousers, in order to secure and achieve her dream job as painter, George’s incorporation of ‘both’ is perhaps more subtle. It stretches beyond the initial use of a typically male name and into explorations or allusions to intimate relations with other women. George’s female friend is a parallel of the potential (but perhaps unreal) friendship enjoyed between George’s mother and the mysterious woman who hovers around their family. Just as Francesca enjoys and explores intimate and sexual relations with women in the brothel (which, ironically, is also the only place she can artistically explore the female form). The intensity of these relationships blurs the lines between sex and romance, art and intellect, and perhaps most importantly between what the reader may perceive as male or female. The alleviation of traditional categories from both the modern and archaic narratives allow us to draw parallels between renaissance brothels and internet porn, maternal and paternal relations, as well as the fundamental role that art and language play in creating and deconstructing the world around us.
Natalie Harney Pembroke College
Y
ou know how when you walk into an art gallery, and you spot that normally decrepit looking figure in the corner, watching you, and you instantly feel like they’re judging you really hard? That’s probably because they are. I can say this with some certainty as I spent a month of my summer being that decrepit, semiconscious character in the corner, and I was definitely judging far too many patrons.
I’ve seen more silly walks than Monty Python could imagine I’ve seen more silly walks than Monty Python could have ever imagined (why do people feel they have to sneak up to an art work?); I’ve had to bite my tongue as many tried and failed, in increasingly inventive ways, to open doors; and I’ve heard more than my fair share of ridiculously pretentious commentaries on surrounding art work. My favourite of these narrations was the recurring comment that the sound quality of the music in one installation was so enhanced by being produced by a gramoPHOTO/ Natalie Harney
20 Arts & Lit
phone that it seemed crazy we’d ever moved to mp3s. On it’s own, that may seem like a perfectly fair analysis, but the gramophone was just for show and the symphonic sound those visitors were hearing was coming from a 2005 iPod and some equally aged speakers. Being a gallery invigilator isn’t all people watching. Regularly, my job involved pointing out where a particular piece, or the toilets more often than not, could be found. And, sometimes, my role as a ‘Guardian of the Gallery’ (think a less treelike version of Groot) was a whole lot more serious. This serious aspect of my job was mainly making sure people, quite often children,
didn’t touch art works that could easily be damaged. In carrying out that particular task, I didn’t realise that I was also protecting the visitors from mild psychological damage as well, until I had to talk to a child who had decided to throw himself at an installation of a bed. “But whyyyy can’t I touch it?” he asked in that tone which simultaneously challenges authority whilst maintaining childish inquisitiveness. My response was, unfortunately, the truth. I offered it with typical deadpan delivery: “Because it’s made out of human hair and dead beaver’s skins...” As I spoke, I watched this poor, perhaps deserving, child’s face scrunch-up until it reached critical mass and overflowed with tears. His mother watched the both of us rooted to the spot, neither quite sure what to do next. Moral of the story - don’t touch the artwork, kids. Or pee on it, but that’s another story...
“Because it’s made out of human hair and dead beaver’s skins...” This aspect of invigilation has been around as long as the very wise phrase “never work with children or animals”, but, as art is evolving, so too is the purpose of those who inhabit the art gallery. As works become more conceptual, quite often you may be asked to help someone access a piece. This act of explanation, I think, can add another layer to a work beyond the artist’s intention, audience preconception and curatorial interpretation. If you’ve never spoken to an invigilator before, do it. Breaking the seal of silence in a gallery can be pretty intimidating but they really know what they’re talking about, with many being practising artists or students of arts subjects. The experience of living with any given exhibit for an extended period of time also sees you develop a privileged insight into an artwork – if you stare a piece of work for four or five hours on end you’re bound to see something you may not have noticed at first glance. You end up forming a relationship with the pieces because your witnessing every detail, all its whims, and the effects it has on its audience. My short time as a gallery invigilator taught me three things: firstly, the ‘Guardians of the Gallery’ deserve more credit they work with children, animals and worse curators; secondly, that striking up a conversation with one of these corner-lurkers could actually enhance my gallery experience; and finally never, ever, be in a position to have to tell a full-bladdered child that you don’t have a bathroom.
22 Arts & Lit
16th October 2014
Bodies in the Sand
Voice of Myth
There’s a sting of salt in the mote In the mind’s eye And it grows organically through the brain. The sand is cancer; and a stye sits Stoically without a shame. The corners of a sea are fresh, and frisky Gainst the dusky sky and hark, Alas, the bodies wait, absorbing death, So soon to die.
My breath full of the musk Of a cat’s head, the split fig Wasted on the roadside: A sweet smell mixing With the sharp rot, fixing My eye on the baker’s wrap That contained a spanakopita.
Alice Jaffe
Goose-fat heavy, And paper white, and flattened like a salmon strip. The rips of sun in red and brown Caress each carcass into sin. There’s only meat and cooking bone, and Spiralled spray to speed it up, A cough, a splash, and human waste, wasted In this ground of mush.
I Know the Mayfly Jack Solloway
I steal pictures with pink ink To crib and cradle way-by Summer-crafts, milling a lull, Away by wake and ripple, With dawn dipped circlets dancing Rosy abound the river, I know the Mayfly hiding, Hiding under arch and bridge, I know the Mayfly waning, Waning on a nightly ridge, Watch these winged moments tumble – Let them tumble with dewy Eyes, bright and blind in the day, With maybes and frantic mights, Borne by a ready morning, Adorning this brassy bay, I know the Mayfly spirits, Spirits overhead with heart, I know the Mayfly timids, Timids with a flicker start, Tree boughs rise with autumn fans, Shimmying fickle waves, as Willow Hellos whose hallow For leave gently wavers a Heavy fall from summer heights: May lapses in stale flight. Stay by me another day By me another way than This Mayfly way-by, wick-forOne and burn into the night, Only so the light dwindles, Unkindled, in moonrise soot. I knew the Mayfly hiding, Hiding under arch and bridge, I knew the Mayfly waning, Waning on a nightly ridge.
And physics fills the feeble world, Philosophically fighting doubt. With Curves, and hair, and teeth and eyes We cannot bear to bare without. Fasten in the sin of human flesh and catch The wind-air in one hand, because from Here, alone we stand. Separate from the whims of one, the Other’s whims come marching by, upon The biting, climax wind, that hits each Spot and spits out cries. So flies That flee across the tan, can revel in their Wingéd wish. And alone the barman stands Shimmering vodka, like a fish. Spouting into tall, and slender cups and Passed along the browning bar, across From the frying flips of people, lying with Their legs ajar. So catch the crippled, croaking gasp That’s uttered from the feet on shells, so Match the wistful works of art; to works Of what some may call hell. And in this fickle thriving heart, There fails to be time to think; For heavy, hot and broken now The body barely dares to blink. Or even allow the brain its chink. Just bodies lying in the sand
Athanassia Williamsown
Could anyone make anew These cracking pavements? Apollo lay too low on them, Grown fat and lazy, his Sun-God song Caught under the cicada sound, feet Itching over the ricketing chariot.
And the voice of myth reigns here, The siren’s call of a truck selling melon, The sphinx-like stare of a billboard Selling laser therapy. Yes, The voice of myth rings loud here. (And I, Tiresias, sodden with all This olive oil, have suffered dearly.) OPA, cries Zorba, OPA – A kind of DA for everyone, merrier Than the Upanishads (Alcohol, alcohol is free) And for me I lie steeped in dead history – A kind of Leda, gone barren, As she burns in the sea.
Balconies clatter their allegiance With Chaos, each small child’s voice A reminder – of mixing, several generations Stuck under a canopy – a reminder Of some ethos, some vague hospitality. (Even dead cats and dog shit Find their place under the sun.)
Amazon Love Ross T. Cates
Body-hugging dress, The figure of a Goddess, Callipygian
A Kite for My Mother (After Seamus Heaney) James Costello O’Reilly
Stand here in front of me and take the strain. I dreamt it was just the two of us, as in the very beginning, In a wind-blown field, flying kites. As mine turned helplessly back on its own tail and spiralled down towards the leaning grass,
you judged perfectly the weighted spin and slack of your line, watching its slow, silent unspooling into unravelled years. As the distant shape your hands still worked tugged closer to the sun, It seemed you felt nothing besides the lull and pull of love, its game of give and take at once the breeze and the ballast.
Stage 23
Stage 16th October 2014
Falling for The Bard: Shakespeare in Love finds its home in West End Sam Liu and Poppy Clifford Wadham College
I
t seems fitting that the 1998 film, Shakespeare in Love - a joyous celebration of all things theatrical – has finally moved to the stage, which is surely its natural home. Lee Hall’s adaptation of Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s screenplay, while not a radical departure, does bring to the fore many themes that are perhaps less immediately evident in the film. Though still a romance, Shakespeare in Love the play is also a historical drama and an insight into the world of actors, and the often precarious, occasionally chaotic circumstances in which they find themselves.
Writers, and the relationships between them, are brought to life through the characters of Marlowe and Shakespeare. Hall gives Marlowe (played with panache by David Oakes) a much bigger role in his script, and while keeping the running joke that Will has a habit of nicking Kit’s poetry and plots, this is developed into both a thoughtful examination of artistic influence and exchange, and a portrayal of the brotherly friendship between the successful first man among us (Marlowe) and the struggling young upstart (Shakespeare). Indeed it is refreshing to see The Bard as a man before he became a myth. With frequent winks and nods, the play and the actors both exploit the comic irony, inviting the audience to laugh along with them knowingly. Even more so than the film, the play abounds in Shakespearean allusions, and Twelfth Night casts an especially long shadow, with all of the songs and even bits of dialogue lifted directly from it.
But the self-awareness that permeates the action does sometimes lead to over-acting verging on the hammy. The play truly comes into its own near the end of the second half, with Shakespeare’s troupe giving the first ever performance of Romeo and Juliet. Here, actors, script and Nick Ormerod’s simple yet stunning set work together beautifully to create a compelling and utterly convincing evocation of an Elizabethan playhouse. The theatre setting in this case undoubtedly trumps the film, as we the audience become the audience of 1593, made to feel an essential part of the action; the theatre is shown to be a community, an arena for actors, writers, and audience alike. And this is the real triumph of the night. You leave the performance with a renewed enthusiasm for what the theatre can achieve, and a renewed love for Shakespeare, too. Not because he is venerated or mythologised, but because of the
PHOTO/ The Corner Shop
opposite – because we are allowed to see him as a flawed human being, a human being who struggles to pay his way, steals his ideas from the cleverer kid and, of course, falls in love.
Shakespeare in Love is playing at Noël Coward Theatre, London until summer 2015
Pillbox Theatre’s debut show is one-woman Conscientious
Harriet Fry Somerville College
P
PHOTO/ Pillbox Publicty
illbox Theatre’s debut play Conscientious recounts a young professional’s experience of life in the office and the dramas that come with it. Largely set in her workplace, this one-woman show provides a moving account of her experience of office bullying and her struggle to survive. Rebekah (Rachel Ashwanden) is a fresh-faced and motivated university graduate on an office grad scheme whose all-time hero is her great grandfather, a conscientious objector in WWI. The play relates the bravery of conscientious objectors in WW1
to the difficulty of standing up for our principles in the modern day world. As the writer’s foreword says, ‘it’s a play which asks more questions than it answers’ and leaves you questioning the use of personal values in daily life. Rachel Ashwanden is impressive and, although alone, keeps the audience engaged throughout. Light relief is provided by candid jokes and musical interludes which break the play up into episodes. Although the music is sometimes a little jolted when replayed, it gives some useful time for reflection after particularly dramatic moments. The simple yet versatile set is used to great effect; it constantly helps to convey and illustrate the protagonist’s emotions. Seeing someone appear so downtrodden on stage moves the audience, especially in such a relatable situation. Although the play is generally well executed, the actress’s
image, especially her make-up, is somewhat puzzling. Given that it’s not addressed in any way, it can at times distract from the story she is recounting. Conscientious is overall a very thought-provoking and moving production. Having learnt about the plight of conscientious objectors at school, it is interesting for an audience to see these experiences related to the present day. A potential alternative to a wild night out, Conscientious, though not the lightest of plays, will certainly spark a good discussion afterwards.
Conscientious is now on tour until early December. For dates see: http://conscientioustheatre. wordpress.com/tour-dates/
24 Stage
16th October 2014
Alecky Blythe
‘I’m interested in ordinary people in extraordinary situations’ Alice Troy-Donovan chats to Alecky Blythe about verbatim plays, the London Riots, and the ubiquity of three pound cappucinos Alice Troy-Donovan
Magdalen College
A
lecky Blythe’s show London Road first appeared at the National Theatre in 2011, returning the following year due to popular demand. It brought Alecky and her innovative ‘verbatim’ methods to the forefront of British theatre. She founded the company ‘Recorded Delivery’, which creates plays using verbatim techniques, in 2003. I met up with her in the Almeida Theatre during the run of her latest show Little Revolution, which explores the impact of the 2011 London riots on a small community in Hackney, East London, using verbatim accounts from local residents.
What is verbatim theatre? Verbatim theatre is theatre created from real-life conversations. There are different levels of it, and I would put myself at the most extreme, purest end: nothing in any of my work has been fictionalised or made up in terms of what is said. On the other hand, someone like David Hare, who has also used verbatim
“In my plays the actors are at the mercy of the recording tape” techniques, works at the looser end of the spectrum to me. Sometimes context or action is changed in my plays, but the actual words are the words said by those real-life people. I then edit those conversations and during the show the actors speak those real words. Traditionally in verbatim theatre, and in London Road and all my shows, the actors wear ear phones during the performance and copy the exact words of those interviewees [the ‘recorded delivery’ technique]. The idea of the earphones is to stop them from falling into their own speech patterns – they copy every ‘um’ ‘ah’ and stutter, every non-sequiter. Why do you think you’re on the ‘purest’ end of the verbatim spectrum? For me the advantage is the authenticity, which is first and foremost – I would find it difficult to write with that kind of truth and honesty. To me pure verbatim theatre is brilliant, joyful, and illuminating. There are frustrations with it – I find myself thinking ‘oh, gosh, if only they’d said that’, when things don’t link into the narrative. I’m at the mercy of what they say.
How central is the ‘recorded delivery’ technique to your performances? Do you think people come to watch for the story or the unusual method? The plays are a combination of the technique and a good story. Up until my first show, Come up Eli, I’d worked on group projects: I’d take a theme like ‘love’ and go and interview people about it. The pieces were anecdotal – lots of talking heads, no narrative through line. It was just lots of funny different stories – very much about the technique. Once my project was on ‘fear’ – there was a siege going on up the road from where I lived in Hackney. I had unwittingly walked into a story. I had, not by design, captured it – beginning, middle, and end. That project really put the technique out there purely because it had a story. How do actors cope with adapting to the ‘recorded delivery’ technique? People often ask what kind of actors you need for verbatim theatre and I say, just good actors. The performance is all plotted out for the actors: they’ve got to laugh there, do a sigh there – they have to, because it’s in the tapes. However, it takes more than just being a good mimic: if there’s a laugh, the laugh has got to be sprung, it’s got to be connected. It’s got to be felt. In a way they can’t control their emotions because they’re at the mercy of the tape. It’s a very weird thing to think you can actually speak and listen at the same time, but most actors realise they can do it, despite being white with fear when I first introduce them to it in the rehearsal process. It’s harder with actors who have made a name for themselves and want to deliver a line in their own way to get a laugh or a certain reaction, when in fact I want them to deliver it exactly as it sounds on the tape. There’s something very liberating about giving yourself up to the tape and there’s less room in your head for actors’ thoughts like ‘oh that was really crap’. As soon as you start thinking about that you’ve missed the next line. Actors really love it – it can lead to very ‘in the moment’ acting. Do you see your verbatim method as a kind of reporting, like an alternative news gathering tool? Yes, in a way it is. Although I would always say that I’m a dramatist before a journalist; it would be wrong and breaking all sorts of journalistic rules if people were to take too many factual things from my plays. I do manipulate the material and there’s always the challenge of getting the balance between being faithful to these interviewees and thinking in dramatic terms. For that reason I always say when I’m interviewing people that I work in quite a journalistic way but it’s not, first, journalism.
PHOTO/ Idil Sukan
You said in a recent interview that your area in East London is being overrun with ‘coffee shops selling cappuccinos for £3’, and that your show Little Revolution highlights the gap that has emerged between rich and poor. Do you see evidence of this divide in the demographic of your audiences? I think the best audience we can hope for is not all three-pound-cappuccino drinkers but a mixed audience. These things take years and years to reach a wider audience. The best shows are when the audience reflects the cast we have on stage. I think Little Revolution went over my parents’ heads: ‘you don’t get voices like that in Suffolk’. Do your plays have a social goal? I suppose they do. They’re political with a small ‘p’ – I’m interested in the human experience more than why something happened, for instance the reason for the London riots. I’m interested in ordinary people in
extraordinary situations, because that’s when we really reveal our true colours. You had to put yourself in some risky situations whilst interviewing for Little Revolution. Do you think verbatim theatre is revolutionising the concept of the playwright, out on the front-line rather than tucked away in a study? Sometimes when I meet people they say ‘Oh, I didn’t expect you to look like that’. People think that playwrights are nerdy and introspective, but actually you have to be very bright if you’re going to get people to talk to you. I seem to slip into an interviewer persona in trying to get people to talk to me. I try to create an environment in which people don’t feel they’ll be judged and feel at ease. You’re making a film of London Road, aren’t you? Yes, it’s written and shot already. The film is much more active than the show of London Road: the first thing the
producers told me was: ‘You don’t have long conversations in film Alecky – it’s all action, action, action’. So I had to kill lots of babies and make it very active. It still has a sort of theatrical quality – sort of like a documentary. What do you think of other recent verbatim theatre? I think the one that really stood out for me was The Permanent Way by David Hare, which came out around the same time that I was making my first play. I think what was exciting about it was that Hare didn’t know where he was going with it when he started. I think those are the interesting ones, rather than somebody waving their political agenda and stamping their opinion all over it. It’s much more interesting to go in not knowing – you discover it as you journey through, and allow all those voices to speak. Alecky Blythe’s film London Road will be out next Spring
Stage 25
16th October 2014
Sneak peak: The Pillowman Asya Likhtman New College
We join directorThomas Bailey and The Pillowman team as they prepare for their Playhouse run
W
PHOTO/ Dina Tsesarsky
PHOTO/ Dina Tsesarsky
PHOTO/ Dina Tsesarsky PHOTO/ Dina Tsesarsky
PHOTO/ Dina Tsesarsky
hat has resulted from ten days work at The Pillowman rehearsals is astounding. Lines learned and characters formed, this outstanding team is now looking at the several weeks they still have ahead as an opportunity to try on every possible version of their production and see which one fits best. Thomas Bailey’s innovative direction is crafting The Pillowman into something many believed it couldn’t be: a deeply moving and funny story. The play, written by Martin McDonagh (In Bruges), has often been called ‘hollow’ or ‘empty’ for its seemingly pointless grotesque imagery and apparent lack of meaning. But if there was ever a team to bring The Pillowman to life, it seems that this would be it. Thomas is using a layering technique in rehearsals, which involves repeating a scene over and over while giving each actor a new ‘point of concentration’ every time. By the end of the process, the actors should have built up a way to play the scene that incorporates all these different angles and emotions. This promises to open up the play to a new depth and clarity that may be what it has often lacked. Claire Bowman (Katurian) reveals how Thomas is also ensuring that their characters feel authentic by making them play out various everyday scenarios in character, such as a Christmas dinner for her and Emma D’Arcy (Michal) to cement the sibling
bond. Thomas explains that he is using a gender blind cast merely for the sake of taking advantage of the fantastic female talent in Oxford. In such a small cast (traditionally of four male actors), there’s opportunity to hand pick the very best that Oxford has to offer – and that’s certainly what he’s done. With a team of four of Oxford drama’s heavyweights, which also includes Jonathan Purkiss and Dominic Applewhite, The Pillowman can’t go wrong – and the word team really is the most appropriate way to describe the group behind this particular production. They detail how the way to play each character was thought through by all individually and then set out as a group, as well as how comfortable and lucky they feel to be in such an encouraging environment. Given how unusual it is for such a small student cast to hold a slot at The Oxford Playhouse, the decision to stage this production involved a high risk. However, with glorious talent, a phenomenal set, and utterly exceptional direction, The Pillowman is looking to be one of the shows of this term. Look forward to this very small team putting on a very big show.
The Pillowman is playing at The Oxford Playhouse from 29th October until 1st November thepilloman.co.uk
PHOTO/ Dina Tsesarsky
Olivia Sung St Catherine’s College
T
here are a few things in life you learn from your mother. Morals, unshakeable stubbornness, and how to make a meal out of two eggs and four tins of stockpiled, just-in-case-there’sa-nuclear-fallout food are amongst them. My mother also taught me two other (arguably) valuable skills: namely, a mean left hook, and how to put a tape measure to the right nooks and crannies of the human body, and somehow come out of the end of the process with a wearable garment. I got straight to putting one of my maternally-inherited talents to work this week, plunging into Michaelmas with gusto: at the first read-through for what promises to be one of the O’Reilly’s most sophisticated and raw Sondheim productions yet, 7th week’s Assassins. And no, that doesn’t mean I ended up lamping any divastropping actors (they’re a lovely bunch, and very down-to-earth, which is something that continues to surprise me about Oxford thesps); but it does mean I had to whip out my tape measure and swan around, Edith Head-style, explaining why I’m just different to any predecessors who might have been satisfied with a quick bulk-shop in Primark. I doubt I’ll ever actually need to know your ‘Body Rise’ inches, but it makes me happier to know I have the distance between your waist and the biggest part of your bottom available in a spreadsheet… you know, just in case. You ask for an OCD dressmaker, you definitely get. Costume Directing an Oxford production is a brilliantly multifaceted role, one that grapples with a number of necessities, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in theatre here who knows a thing or two about sartorial psychology (i.e. why we wear clothes, rather than just how we wear them - not too difficult to research, and some people have a knack for it, without needing to break out the Roland Barthes). For a start, it gives you an inside track on all the shenanigans going on in the glittery world of Oxford drama (who doesn’t want to know all the red curtain gossip?), and a means of perceiving how a production is put together without the added pressure of trying to harness the whole thing yourself straight away - great for
people starting out in these intense climes! It’s also very creatively demanding and satisfying - but that doesn’t just mean pretty pictures of nice dresses; concept sketches are only the starting point. After that, there’s measuring, sourcing the costumes, making some of the more specific garments (a sewing kit and machine are handy items to have around). And, of course, there are the wonderfully talented people you get to work with… in most cases, the wackier the better: for example, a certain director who rose to acclaim last year with a brilliant production of a John Ford play is returning to form and bringing some feathery friends along with him this time… although, luckily, I’m not required to make any costumes for the birds (at least, I hope not). That said, he does have me constructing animals in some fashion… In any case, we’re not even a week into MT, but already the backstage corridors of Oxford’s luminous theatre world are raring to go. This morning saw a bleary-eyed coffee shop contingency of West Side Story production team members putting together what promises to be the Playhouse production to see in Hilary, and I’ve already learned that concept sketch delivery is so much better when aided by superlative hot chocolate. With marshmallows. Assassins sketches are currently midway through completion and scattered around my room, possibly where there should be critical editions of the works of Edmund Spenser instead, but hey - it’s not like the drama people here do degrees or anything. And I’m in the process of acquiring the sexiest sewing machine I can budget for, except the guy on the end of the John Lewis helpline doesn’t seem to care about the fact he’s dealing with a Playhouse costumier (ugh). In the meantime, however, this is me over and out - I’m off to measure the cast of Jerusalem (which may just be the most fantastical and intense production to have ever held a fourth-week O’Reilly slot) while they do their photoshoot. A little birdie (cough) tells me there’s some kind of nakedness going on for this shoot today; but one must remain professional when faced with this kind of thing. That, after all, is something else I learned from my mother. And she’s never wrong. Until next time!
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OxStuff 27
16th October 2014
One to watch
Described by one of her Pembroke contemporaries as "literally the most effective person in the university, if not the country", Natalie Harney is, for want of a better phrase, a devastatingly competent individual - and, as OxStu's creative director, our secret weapon. That quirky, hand-drawn, and oh-so-muchbetter-than-Cherwell fresher's guide? Natalie. That new Cliterary Theory logo, every bit as smart and sexy as the column itself? Natalie. Even if you haven't met Natalie in the flesh, it's only a matter of time before you come across her work.
PHOTO/ Sachin Croker
Natalie Harney Pembroke 2nd Year English
OxStuff I
Cliterary Theory
t’s the classic Friday night. The stars are bright, the city is buzzing, and a new acquaintance is fumbling around in my underwear. I won’t pretend like this isn’t a fairly frequent occurrence. After a few shots, it suddenly seems necessary to pull pretty much anyone in order to celebrate the end of the week. As long as they’re not my tutor, my best friend’s boyfriend or a Tab, they pass the test, and thus I find myself enthusiastically eating the face of some random in the Bridge smoking area – or, in this particularly superclassy situation, on the steps of Freud. And thus we rejoin my romantic adventures. I am as yet undecided about whether I want to take this guy back to my room, so now is his time to impress me. Unfortunately, Cliterary Theory is clearly something he could use a lesson in. Despite proudly boasting of three ex-girlfriends who all allegedly found his bedroom services to be above-par, his performance in below-the-waist action is so far proving disappointing. I’m sure he’s
trying his best, but it’s all feeling a bit like a cross between a medical exam and someone entering their PIN into a card machine. Sadly,
this is not an anomaly, and I feel that several of Oxford’s men could learn from this chap’s mistakes. Gentlemen: what exactly are you
PHOTO/ Natalie Harney
trying to do down there? Scrabbling around like a cheap date trying to find enough change in his pocket is really not going to do a whole lot for me. Equally, I don’t understand why you think it’s a good idea to go straight to the front door without ringing the bell, if you catch my drift; the lady-lair does not open her gates for everyone who comes knocking, you need to work your way there and stop at all the right places on the way. Needless to say, MrChip-and-PIN and I did not continue our affair beyond this point in proceedings. Perhaps the fault lies with the state of sex education in schools, but I’m afraid that he and several others could do with brushing up on their female anatomy knowledge. And if I tell you what to do whilst in the act, don’t take that as a slight to your oh-sofragile masculinity; I’ve deigned to share words of wisdom with you, so use them wisely. Urethra Franklin
Here at the OxStu HQ, we have enjoyed sharing an office with OUSU Prez Louis Trup this week. After winning over the incoming Freshers, Louis seems determined charm Oxford's second most important group: the OxStu team. From friendly visits to half a mug of lukewarm white wine, LJ's OUSU olive branch knows no bounds. We were particularly enamoured by this latest edition to the OxStu's office. If Louis is trying to curry favour, he should be advised that acutal curry is required. Likewise, brownies for brownie points.
Louis Trup
0
HackDaq -202
The Cherwell Freshers' Drinks
Our investigative team were sent out to find a long-lost, long-forgotten event that oh-sovery few can remember, even fewer willing to admit their participation. Why though? Some noted that the event had 'peaked too soon'. Others have blamed the shit venue. Knowing that alcohol was integral to the low spirits, we primed ourselves with the most comprehensive list of cocktail puns known to man. To no avail however, as it seems the only social lubricant the tightarses were willing to dole out was free punch, which isn't really amenable to puns. There's nothing one could add to 'free punch' to better convey the utter desperation and sheer farce of it all. So, pulling no punches, we're not pleased as Punch, but Cherwell's free punch has beaten us to the punch.
PHOTO/ Cherwell
28 OxStuff
17th October OU Ceilidh Band Freshers’ Ceilidh Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy
University
16th October Cuntry Living Social Old Refectory, Wadham
Dance
Clubbing
OxStuff Pick of the Week
16th October 2014
18th October Matriculation
OxDigs
The favourite child of this family, though, is the room’s centrepiece: a prize-winning (probably) terrarium. “They’re my cactus babies - they each have their own personalities”. Flanked by a “rapidly depleting” bottle of Hendrick’s on one side and a copy of the Bible on the other, they embody the split personality of the room - cute and dinky, but dangerously prickly when you look a little closer. Postcards of cherubim sit alongside a dizzying spiral of wristbands from “about a couple of weeks’ worth of clubbing” (for Pembroke’s Entz Rep, it doesn’t take long for them to build up). The inevitable Supermarket flyers (now paractically compulsory for the non-fleece-wearing half of the student body) nestle in amongst handmade postcards from home friends. It’s eclectic, erratic, eccentric; you could invite gran for a cup of tea after a John Lewis trip, or host a pack of sweaty, wide-eyed post-drinkers from Cellar or the Bully. Apparently, there’s only one thread linking the room’s slightly schizophrenic components: “it’s very me”.
PHOTO/JJames Waddell
Forget scandi sparsity, second-year theology student Helen Stevenson’s Pembroke pad is meticulously decorated with all the TLC of a caring matriarch.
PHOTO/I Too Am Oxford
Presidential Address
Helen Stevenson Pembroke
Shyamli Badgaiyan Somerville JCR President Tell me a little about Somerville Somerville is a great college. It’s the right combination of academic excellence, diversity and being really chilled out. What’s the worst thing about Somerville? It’s a bit far out from town. It’s not too bad though. People just think of it as being quite far. Yeah it’s just I’m also quite lazy. Fair enough. So if Somerville were an alcoholic drink, what do you think it would be? Why? Maybe a Long Island Iced Tea just because it’s a good mix of everything. And we’re quite chilled as well. Just what you need after a long day. Since we went co-ed in ‘94, there have only been 3 female JCR presidents. Do you ever just wish we hadn’t bothered letting boys in? Absolutely not. I think I would die with the amount of oestrogen in college. I mean it’s a shame to have fewer female JCR presidents but I think having a mix outweighs that. I’ve heard it been asked “What do you even do at Somerville apart from get high and get thirds.” What do we do? Um, definitely not that. We know how to have a good time. I don’t think being a relaxed college is something people should look down upon. So we’re not Merton. We’re not Merton; fun doesn’t die here. We keep the fun alive – that’s what we do. That should be our new motto. ‘Somerville College: we keep the fun alive’ Exactly. We bring back the fun from the dead.
21st October Fat Pig Burton Taylor Theatre
Clubbing
20th October The Monday Declamations Oxford University Poetry Society
Drama
Poetry
Clubbing
18th October Matriculash Warehouse
21st October Functions om the Low Launch Party
See our What’s On Calendar on oxfordstudent. com for event listings
OxStuff 29
16th October 2014
What you were reading on oxfordstudent.com 1.Christ Church GCR under fire for trivialising consent Matthew Davies PHOTO/Rosie Shennan
Rosie's Recipes Rosie's Recipes
Ultimate foodie Rosie Shennan shares some of her student-oriented recipes this term to help you battle freshers’ flu, 5th week blues and get in the Oxmas spirit. Follow her on Instagram @a_scone_atatime or her blog asconeatatime.wordpress.com
Ingredients
50g porridge oats 100g grated cheese (plus a little extra for the tops) 225g self-raising flour 55g butter 150ml milk 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
Puzzles
Cheesy Scones
The perfect pre-lecture snack, these herby scones are delicious and sustaining for October days. Best warm and straight from the oven, but they keep remarkably fresh for days. Makes 10 – 15. Heat your oven to 220°C. In a bowl, rub the butter into the flour. Stir the cheese, oats, herbs and milk to make a soft dough. If too wet, add a little extra flour, and if dry add a little milk. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 2cm depth. Using a cookie cutter or simply a can, press out the shapes. Place on baking sheet, top with cheese and bake for 10 – 15 minutes until risen.
Crossword by ‘Chuckles’
For clues & answers contact oxstu.puzzles@gmail.com
Down 2 Ant escapes gazelles (9) 3 Without an anagram, answering these can be tricky to tackle (7) 4 Important letters for the daughter of Mr and Mrs Ives (8) 5 Start the day with a sensible meal, wind up barfing steak (9) 6 See 12 11 Flat bread gone awry? Give it a lighter touch! (3,2) 12,6 Funny sounding Polish person leads to premature disembarkment of poor Nigel - before train’s designated stopping point. This is, of course, great for democracy. (7,7)
2. Gendered Trinity marriages come under fire Adam Dayan & Nick Toner 3. Oxford ‘myths’ discourage state school applicants Adam Dayan 4. Gerard Way steps out of the shadows Jessy Parker Humphreys 5. The missing peace: why plans to target ISIL are not serious Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan
Across 1 Have more fun with ‘and tickle’ curious pals (4) 5 Multiple Arts degrees filled with infantile mockery? Completely absurd. (7) 7 Masturbatory aid? (4-4) 8 Casual sexual encounter at Farage’s party spoiled and broken up by Political Correctness gone mad (6) 9 Bad surprise (3) 10 Parting words - “Don’t be a stranger” - reveals attractive young woman’s unexpected love (5) 13 Retired dishwasher loses head (3) 14 Working abroad no longer a load of bullshit (5) 15 This just in: gingers almost always concealing some form of pain (8)
Comment 16th October 2014
Comment 31
Intervention, ISIL, and Britain's future PHOTO/ Jez
Oliver Shore
St Hilda's College
B
ritain goes to war. The bold headline of The Telegraph the day after the parliamentary vote to take offensive action against ISIL. That statement was later expanded upon to inform us that we had sent six jets to take part in air strikes. Six jets. That’s now the definition of war for the country which defended the Falklands from Argentina, and invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. The country with the fourth highest defence spending in the world. Not six jets with accompanying soldiers, aircraft carriers, or any other incarnation of the military. Six jets.
Six jets. That's now the definition of war for the country which defended the Falklands from Argentina, and invaded Iraq and Afghanistan
Yes, all right – they are only a contribution to an international coalition of forces, put together to bomb ISIL and aid Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers, sold to us on the grounds that they would halt ISIL’s advance. Only that hasn’t really happened, has it? At the time of writ-
ing, ISIL are within miles of Baghdad and are engaged in heavy street fighting after increased bombing failed to prevent their advance into Kobani. This town near the Turkish border is largely populated by Kurds who will be the victims of a massacre if ISIL succeeds in taking the town, parts of which they already control and over which their black flag flies. A growing number of voices are saying that an air force which doesn’t have reliable friendly forces on the ground is far less effective than one which benefits from ground support. Writing in The Telegraph, Dr Walter C Ludwig III of KCL stated that “the relative weakness of Iraqi forces and the limited number of Western ‘boots on the ground’ means that the effectiveness of air strikes on ISIL fighters in the field will be significantly retarded”. The Pentagon Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, has said: “Air power is not going to be alone enough to save [Kobani]”. Military leaders from the UK have said words to a similar effect and the President of Turkey - a country still not involved in the fight against ISIL - has declared “dropping bombs from the air will not provide a solution”. A consensus is being reached that the politically expedient solution of air strikes, which can be sold to the electorate as relatively risk free and which doesn’t involve crossing the line of “boots on the ground”, is not having the desired effect. Yet, unfortunately, the increased commitment which effective action necessitates is politically
impossible in the war-weary nations of the West. To my mind, the definitive solution to the ISIL problem would be large-scale, long-term intervention by forces which, after they had dismantled the group, stayed in the area for a considerable length of time, providing the stability which nation-building requires. But that’s just not going to happen. Not only is the public not willing, but the military is not able.
David Cameron's mentaliy is locked in an era when Britain actually had the power to cash the cheques it wrote
There has been a trend in David Cameron’s rhetoric recently to become more and more aggressive on the world stage when it comes to issues like ISIL and the attempted intervention in Syria. But as he has ramped up his rhetoric, he has been taking the rug out from underneath his own feet by weakening the armed forces with which he would seek to back up the positions he takes on international issues. The size of the army has been cut by thousands of personnel and one wonders if there is a better example of the embarrassing state of the nation’s armed forces than HMS Queen Elizabeth, the aircraft carrier which was launched this July: it won’t have any
aircraft to carry until 2020. Mr Cameron loves to talk the talk, but Britain can’t really walk the walk these days; nor will we be able to walk the walk for quite some time yet, given the state of the nation’s finances. The mound of debt upon which we rest is so vast, that the interest payments on it amount to one billion pounds per week. And that’s only rising, since we still run a multi-billion pound deficit. The amount we pay to service the national debt is higher than the entire defence budget. David Cameron’s mentality is locked in an era when Britain actually had the power to cash the cheques it wrote; when we had the power to change the world for the better; when a British alliance with America actually meant something other than America with some hangers-on. We need to take a long, hard look at ourselves as a nation which has declined from its status as a world power, and either come to terms with that decline and acknowledge the limited effects we can have on world affairs, or reverse it. Whichever way we go, we need to be honest with ourselves. There is no point strutting on the world stage, condemning actions here and there if, without the hard power to back it up, we are doing nothing more than whistling in the wind. In summary: air strikes aren’t working, and we are unable to do anything that does work. No one would be willing to undertake the intervention necessary to finish ISIL and to ensure stability in the region. Even if we were willing to do it,
we couldn’t afford it. Since the help we are providing – that’s six jets, remember – seems to be largely symbolic, I question the point of sending help at all. As has been pointed out, Saudi Arabia has a massive air force (we should know, we sold it to them) and Turkey has one of the world’s largest armies (part of which is parked on the border, watching the catastrophe in Kobani). Many countries in the Middle East have joined the coalition against ISIL, and I would suggest letting them sort it out. They can at least afford to.
Air strikes aren't working, and we are unable to really do anything that does work
I should clarify, I wholeheartedly support the principle of intervention against ISIL. It just seems that what we are doing isn’t working, and we can’t do what would work. It is one of the biggest tragedies of being in the financial situation we’re in. I would prescribe abstention from intervention until such time as we can do it properly. In the meantime, we must either return the armed forces to the state in which British intervention means something, or we must recognise our position as being far less than what it was and behave as such. I would prefer the former, but I am afraid we are being forced into the latter.
32 Comment
16th October 2014
Kevin Pieterson’s book reveals hard truth about sport
Joseph Mansour Balliol College
K
evin Pietersen is back where he belongs: in the headlines. The release of the former England batsman’s autobiography has been preceded by interviews and comment pieces in which a plethora of cricketing names, past and present, have given their opinion on the words of ‘KP’. Central to the focus are Pietersen’s accusations of bullying, directed mainly at what he calls the “clique” of bowlers who ruled with fear in the England dressing-room. Anyone outside this “clique,” he claims, were “fair game for mocking, ridicule and bullying”.
Accusations centre around “clique”of bowlers who ruled with fear in English dressingroom
The conversation surrounding the issue of bullying has revealed much about our views on the term, and revealed that many still preserve unhealthy views about who can, and should, be affected by bullying. Pietersen has some powerful things to say about how he felt in the England dressing-room. On finding out that some of his fellow teammates were contributing to the parody Twitter of account of him, he claims he was left with a “hollow, empty, horrendous feeling”, and felt abandoned by the England and Wales
Cricket Board. These emotions are all too familiar to those who have been victims of bullying, whether as a child or in the workplace. Both the emptiness – the feeling of powerlessness – and the sense that you have been abandoned by those with the authority to do something about it are common ones. That someone as outwardly confident as Pietersen, someone who displayed such positive aggressiveness and selfbelief when batting, could be affected in such a profound way by what he perceives to be bullying should show that anyone can be affected, no matter their external persona. The disappointing thing is that this whole affair could have been channelled positively into a discussion of the effects of bullying, who it can affect, and what constitutes bullying. Instead, however, those accused of bullying, and those defending them, have sought recourse in old-fashioned arguments about how people on the receiving end of bullying should simply “get over it.” However, some of the arguments produced have struck the wrong key. Graeme Swann, who has been particularly vocal, has said that “a bowler or wicketkeeper delivers a bit of a kick up the backside, just like a goalkeeper shouts at his centre-half. This is international sport, not the under-11s. If Kevin or other players can’t take [that] they are in the wrong business”. The implication is that if you can’t take a bollocking then you don’t deserve to be in the “business” of competitive sport. This, clearly, is rubbish. Obviously, being mentally strong is part and parcel of being a sportsperson, but this should be directed towards being able to combat a poor run of form or aggressive opponents, not the frequent chastisements of your
own team-mates (if Pietersen is to be believed). Similarly false is former England captain Mike Gatting’s view on the issue. “Think of bullying KP, I’m not sure that’s quite right. He’s a larger than life character.” Again, the insinuation is that people like Pietersen simply can’t be affected by bullying. This is totally false. A further issue concerned with bullying which this whole unhappy saga reveals is the reaction of authorities. Pietersen says he felt abandoned by the ECB and, in its responses, the ECB has hardly signaled that it did all it could to ensure that no bullying was taking place. Paul Downton, the managing director of England Cricket, has said that there were no formal complaints of bullying, while Geoff Miller, former national selector, has said that “to the best of [his]
knowledge there was no atmosphere of bullying.” This hardly suggests a proactive institution determined to create the ideal atmosphere amongst its employees.
Testosterone-fuelled atmospheres are conducive to heated atmospheres where bullying is common Some may say that this is all an issue within sport itself. Male-dominated and fuelled by testosterone, sports are conducive to heated atmospheres where bullying is all too common. This, however, is to ignore the root
of the problem. It is not sport that has the problem, but our society in general. Victims feel scared to speak up when they do feel bullied, something that exacerbates the problem – encapsulated here by the ECB – of those in positions of authority not being proactive enough about the whole situation. This may seem like an overreaction – maybe it is. However, when you remember that bully victims are between two and nine times more likely to consider suicide than nonvictims according to studies by Yale University, or that a study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying, the issues raised in this one sorry affair take on a whole new, and profound, importance.
PHOTO/Gareth Williams
Oxford and “the other place”: maybe not so different after all Charlotte Vickers Pembroke College
W
hen I first told my younger sister that I was going on a date with a Cambridge student, her genuine response was ‘is that even allowed?’ Overall, though, it didn’t make that much of a difference - well, not at home anyway. But how would the ‘other place’ react to an enemy in its midst, I wondered? As the train rolled into Cambridge for my first visit, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sick. I haven’t even moved in to Oxford yet, I thought, and I’m already committing what must be an act of treason. (Do the proctors execute you for that, or is it just the stocks?) Of course, I have to admit that Cambridge is gorgeous – full of the impressive buildings, colleges and parks that Oxford had first. I think I was honestly shocked at myself for not hating it despite my best efforts. An even more unexpected bonus
was that the students I met didn’t decapitate me when I begrudgingly admitted my allegiance. Occasional digs aside, it didn’t even make a difference to them where I studied. It seems strange now that Cambridge was all that big of a deal anyway. The life here, I realised, is
so intense that I haven’t even had time to consider any kind of deep loyalty issue. My opinion on Oxford has changed already anyway. Spires aren’t really as impressive when you walk past them every morning on the way to the library, eat under them every night, and watch Mc-
PHOTO/ Alex Brown
Coys trundle past them in between. Maybe it’s this that made Cambridge feel impressive while I was there – because even while I wasn’t unwelcome at the University, I still felt like an outsider. People are desperate to prove that there are major differences between
PHOTO/Foshie
life in the two cities; the general consensus seems to be that Cambridge is prettier and Oxford is livelier. Personally I’m tempted to say neither of these are really true: Oxford obviously has a size advantage, but then Cantabs are fairly creative when it comes to socialising, and trying to judge them based on prettiness seems a fairly pointless argument anyway. Then, of course, there are the dozens of forums devoted to proving (anecdotally) which is better for each and every subject. Honestly, the only difference that really seems solid is that in Cambridge you’re maybe five minutes closer to London. From a subjective view though? Cambridge might be pretty, but it’s got nothing on the way Oxford feels like home already. No matter how many times I visit – even if it eventually gets to the point that I can navigate my way around – I doubt that it’ll ever quite feel right in the same way. Reassuringly, I no longer feel like a traitor; whether I’m in the other place or not, at least a small part of me will still be here.
Comment 33
16th October 2014
CARTOON/ CHARLES CLEGG, ST JOHN’S COLLEGE
Getting the academic representation you deserve James Blythe OUSU VP
A
s a sabbatical officer at OUSU and former JCR President, you won’t be surprised to learn I’m pretty keen on student representation. I believe that most of the time, students get a lot more of what they want in Oxford by writing a clear and powerful proposal to a committee than they do with a megaphone and a placard. Not that placards and megaphones don’t have their place in the student movement, but I just tend to believe that you’re better off being in the room than on the street outside. Given how I feel about student representation, the current state of how we are represented in our departments makes me really angry. There are many great reps working hard and putting huge amounts of time into their role: they are the unsung superstars of representation at Oxford. Reps in Theology played
a major role in the big changes to the Theology curriculum that have just been approved, for example. But if we look at the overall picture, we see many, many departments where students don’t know who their reps are, where student representation is confined to a few token meetings, and where reps don’t feel they have the capacity to achieve any real change.
The student voice needs to be heard in our departments as much as in the University or the colleges If this was happening in your college, or if the OUSU sabs only got invited to two meetings a year with the senior people in the University, I hope you’d be seriously annoyed. It would mean your voice wasn’t being heard by your Senior Tutor, or
Bursar, or Vice-Chancellor. Yet for many of us, our Head of Department or Director of Graduate Studies isn’t hearing our voice. In the recent National Student Survey, Oxford did very well overall and it’s clear that lots of finalists leaving last year were extremely happy with their academic experience. But not every course did so brilliantly, and in specific areas like feedback on work, it was strikingly clear that
Oxford students were across the board unhappy – we were 20 per cent below the national average for those questions. We need strong representation in our departments.The student voice needs to be heard in them as much as in the University or the colleges – and at long last, OUSU is endowed with the resources to make that happen. We are now able to offer every department representative training
in negotiation, paper writing, power dynamics and gathering feedback. We can train the reps in all the basic skills a good rep needs. This is going to be a year in which our system in departments changes for the better. A year from now, I hope that we will be able to say that everyone who represents Oxford students anywhere has every possible chance to be a really effective voice for students.
PHOTO/OUSU
mind your head Mind Your Head is OUSU’s mental health campaign, and aims to increase awareness of mental health issues among students and to reduce the stigma and misconceptions surrounding mental illness. We work to empower students to look after their mental wellbeing, to encourage them to seek help when needed, and to look out for others in need of support. If you are interested in being a part of the campaign, please come to our first meeting of the academic year at 5pm on Wednesday of Week 2 in the Pusey Room at Keble College. More generally, for more information and to get involved, please email mindyourhead@ousu.org to join the mailing list, follow us on Facebook, or visit mindyourheadoxford.org.
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Features 16th October 2014
Features 35
Rheanna-Marie Hall St John’s College
W
ith over 20 books published and a collection of pen names to match, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Julia Golding’s sole career has been as a hugely successful author of children’s and young adults’ literature. Not so: Golding has also worked as a foreign diplomat, graduated from both Cambridge and Oxford, and been an Oxfam lobbyist. Nowadays you can find her in the city writing for her next book, or talking at schools, bookshops and festivals. It seems appropriate to discuss Golding’s authorship first, and I ask about the beginning of her career as a full time writer of fiction. It isn’t the usual nightmarish tale of the slush pile for months on end. “Well I’m unusual in that I had a very smooth journey from sending in a book to getting it pub-
The many talents of Julia Golding lished. What happened was, I’d been writing beforehand but I’d never sent anything serious off to a publisher… and I was on maternity leave with my third child and I wrote a book, as you do.” The book was sent straight to the very local Oxford University Press, who immediately expressed their interest. However delays meant that the wait
It’s carnage in publishing at the moment, total carnage
for publishing was lengthy, so much so that Golding had time to write a second (unrelated) book, and send that to an agent. Again, the response was swift. Taken on by another top publisher, in 2006 Golding had her first two books published merely months apart, something that must have felt frustrating at the time but came good in the end. “So the first book I had published isn’t so much a first book and that’s worked out really well for me because that’s the one that won prizes and set me firmly on the way to making it a career as opposed to just having a book published,” Golding explains. “People say getting a book published is difficult but actually the really difficult thing is keeping going and it’s particularly difficult now. It’s carnage in publishing at the moment, total carnage.” In the world of publishing, Golding is known by three names. I ask why
the need to write as different people; as herself, and by two pen names, Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards. “There’s a creative answer and there’s a practical answer. So the creative answer is that I see them as three different kinds of expressions of what I do.” Julia Golding is mostly children’s literature from ages nine to thirteen; Joss Stirling is the name she then created for her teenage paranormal romances. Despite the description however, Golding definitely does not write books about love triangles or supernatural boyfriend issues. “I suppose I got fed up with seeing [my daughter] walking round with the Twilight books. I wanted to write something for her not in that heavy duty paranormal stuff, because I couldn’t seriously write about people turning into werewolves.” Her final pen name, Eve Edwards, is who she reserves for more historical fiction, in the vein of “a teen Philippa Gregory”. There is also a business side to Golding’s multiple identities. “It’s a very good strategy relating back to what I said about publishing being difficult at the moment, which is bookshops are reluctant to take more than too much of any writer. If you split up your load you can do more than one book a year, and to make enough money to live on you have to do more than one book a year, unless you’re stratospherically famous.” In terms of her publishing schedule, Golding’s latest book has just been
released. There has already been a phenomenal response from readers online to number four in the hugely popular Savant series, Misty Falls. However it almost didn’t happen, due to the publisher’s uncertainty about the future of the series. Sales of the previous instalments in a wide array of countries, as well as fan demand for more, changed their minds. “They then decided that maybe we hadn’t come to the end of the Savant series, because they’d packaged
To make enough money you have to do more than one book a year, unless you’re stratospherically famous
it as a trilogy, and they said can you do another. This is when you get the author creativity butting up against the publisher,” Golding tells me. “I said, ‘Well yeah, course I can, but I want to do another trilogy so I can finish off sorting out the brothers that I’d lined up’. I had it in mind to do that anyway. Because things are flaky out there they prefer to go book by book, but what I have in mind – what I’m going to do, I’m sure they’ll follow me in this one – is another three.” Writing wasn’t always on the agenda, and while in her last year at Cambridge studying English, Golding began to
cast around for future options. A master’s degree and a dream of radio production were both high on her list, but where she ended up was completely different from either. Desperate to get some interview experience, Golding signed up for the civil service exam. Totally relaxed about the whole affair, Golding came out of her final year with a degree and a job secured in the Foreign Office. The plans for the BBC had sadly fallen through, but the government was keen to employ her. “I was a bit more nervous by the time it came to final interview, and it wasn’t helped by the fact it was just a week before my finals, so I wasn’t sure which to be more nervous about. Whatever I did worked and I got selected for what they called then the fast-stream.” Three years were spent in Poland as a diplomat, but Golding explains to me that not having had a year out, and too young for a promotion, it was time to try something new. “Also I wasn’t keen on the idea of being a nomad for the rest of my life, and if you work for the Foreign Office you’re a nomad,” Golding continues. “So I decided to do a doctorate and have children for a bit whilst I did a career break and then I’d decide if I’d go back or not.” It wasn’t to be, and Golding never returned to the Foreign Office. Instead, after completing a doctorate in Romantic literature at Oxford and building a family, she went to work in the policy department of Oxfam, a process that
PHOTO/ Julia Golding
involved lobbying at a high level. “It was a really good job, better than being in the Foreign Office, because it was on conflict issues it meant going round the UN; Brussels, governments, lobbying on the various things that were going on at the time including the war in Afghanistan. It was all about the protection of civilians in war and the delivery of aid.”
You’re always an author, but whether or not you’re published is open When Golding had her final child, she decided to see if she could make something of writing. Describing herself as “frazzled” by a family and a job in conflict zones, she settled into the demands of authorship. Over 20 books and three pen names later, this seems to be very firmly her career, and when I ask if that is the case Golding agrees. “The difference between the other things I’ve mentioned and this is I’m the only one who can write my books, whereas somebody else could do the role I was doing in the organisations. But the thing about being an author is it’s not so much your choice about how long the career lasts but for how long you have something which is commercial. You’re always an author but whether or not you’re published […] is open. I’m trying to make it last.”
36 Features
Sandhya Fuchs St Antony’sCollege
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banner flashing the words ”Dalit Rights are Human Rights” caught my eye as I walked through the maple doors into the Central Secretariat of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) that is located in an area of Delhi called South Patel Nagar. Immediately next to the banner I could spot a large portrait of B.R. Ambedkar, the famous drafter of the Indian constitution, who had himself been a member of the so-called ‘untouchable’ community in India and coined the term Dalit (broken, suppressed) to refer to those who belonged to it. Today, fifty years
16th October 2014 kind of activism that can successfully tap into popular discourses and utilize new linguistic and conceptual tools. One notion that becomes particularly important and useful in this context is the idea of human rights. This September I spent six weeks with the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights in Delhi, conducting fieldwork for my Masters thesis. Despite the fact that I had done a fair amount of background research on both Dalit activism and on the organisation itself, I was unsure what to expect. Working with academics, activists and policy makers alike NCDHR did not clearly fall into any institutional category, notably successful in its national but especially international advocacy efforts NCDHR is a registered NGO that uniquely combines elements of grassroots community organisation, policy lobbying on the
Dalit Watch. Each of these specialized sub-campaigns collaborates with statelevel Dalit NGO’s, which in turn provide resources and capacity building to community advocates. In this way skills, as well as financial assets filter down to the grassroots, while, simultaneously, important insights from the community level are translated up the chain to the central office. There regular staff members, many of which hold Masters degrees or even PhDs integrate this information into their recommendations to Indian policy makers or their reports to international bodies, such as the UNDP. During my initial days at NCDHR I focused much of my time and energy on the attempt to understand the precise institutional character of the organisation. Yet I soon realised that maybe I was asking the wrong question altogether. As I began to interview the campaign
Now we can all agree that self-assessment is a tricky thing, and even more so when it comes to an organisation with a clear mission in the fight against injustice.
What is important is how we differ. We try to beat the politicians at their own game. We are the new activists. Therefore, whether or not NCHDR’s work actually represents a uniquely new approach is questionable. However it is undeniable that the organisation’s line of attack lives from the mobilisation of distinctly modern discourses, such as that of economic analysis and Human
with numbers and charts and reports. We need to present them with tools they are familiar with and believe in.” It is for precisely this reason that NCDHR has chosen to frame its demands in terms of human rights. Although as an anthropologist I can confirm that there continues to be much discussion about the universal applicability or the ideal formulation of human rights, the idea that we need general moral guidelines of this kind has become widely accepted. Through the ratification of various UN charters countries around the globe have made human rights their responsibility. “By saying that Dalit Rights are human rights, we are making this everyone’s issue, and everyone’s responsibility,“ Beena Pallical, the National Convener for NCDHR told me. “It’s all about the way you frame it.”
“Dalit Rights are Human Rights”: working with the NCDHR The organisation redefining activism to tackle marginalistation and discrimination in Delhi after his death, Ambedkar is still the incontrovertible hero of the ‘untouchable’ community and the champion of Dalit rights. His photograph remains as ubiquitous in Dalit political institutions as the pictures of Gandhi elsewhere in India. In fact, many contemporary NGOs, activist groups and even Think Tanks specialising in issues of Dalit discrimination and marginalisation, such as NCDHR or the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS), continue to draw much of their inspiration, as well as specific strategies from Ambedkar’s writings. Yet, there is also an increasing acknowledgment of the fact that new historical circumstances, the changing political and economic face of India, and processes of globalisation call for a more time-tailored type of Dalit activism; a
state, as well as the national level and an awareness raising campaign. The central office in Delhi coordinates four separate and clearly targeted sub-
Even if certain demands for justice remain constant they need to be articulated in the political and linguistic tools of their time. campaigns: The National Dalit Movement for Justice, the Campaign for Dalit Economic Rights, The Movement for Dalit Women’s Rights, and a disaster management initiative called National
administrators in the central secretariat, attended meetings with grassroots activists and participated in debates on current issues of marginalisation it became clear to me that what NCDHR’s members were truly concerned with was contributing strategic innovation to an ancient struggle. Over tea one day, Abhay Xaxa, the programme coordinator for the Dalit Movement for Economic Rights (Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan), frankly informed me that he thought I was missing the point. “You keep trying to figure out in what ways NCDHR is an activist campaign or a research organisation,” he said shaking his head. “We are all those things, but that’s not what’s important. What is important is how we differ. We try to beat politicians at their own game. We are the new activists.”
Rights. Mr. Xaxa’s campaign has set itself the task of addressing the issue government funding for Dalits and other marginalised groups like tribals (politically referred to as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively) by performing a meticulous investigation into the patterns of money allocation revealed in annual budget reports. Paul Diwarkar, the General Secretary of NCDHR summarised this strategy for me during a team meeting one day. “People tend to think about Dalit activism merely in terms of identity politics. You know, people demonstrating, talking about everyday untouchability and discrimination. While all these things are crucial we realise that many people across India prefer to be blind to the continued discrimination we face. Therefore we need to convince them
It is difficult to assess the extent of NCDHR’s success as a human rights organization or even an awareness raising campaign after the brief time I spent working there this summer. NCDHR is a young initiative, merely 20 years old and evaluating its work would require a close look at its achievements on the local community level, as well as in national and international advocacy over an extended period. Yet I am convinced that NCDHR has managed to tap into a crucial insight: even if certain demands for justice remain constant they need to be articulated in the political and linguistic tools of their time to be heard. Making people see and acknowledge discrimination is not simply a matter of pointing it out but a question of how one points it out. In this sense activism is and always needs to be new.
Home sweet home, away from home
Beverley Noble Somerville College
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ollege accommodation – whether you’ve hit the jackpot, or feel at the bottom of the pile as far as room allocation goes, there’s always something you can do to make yourself more comfortable. On a student budget, it can seem like a big ask, especially knowing the limits set by your college concerning fire risks and other dangers. Although most are
relatively relaxed about changes you might be planning, it is best to be on the safe side. But don’t worry, there’s usually a way around it. If you’re looking to fill up your walls, Last Chance Bookshop and the £3 Bookshop have sheets of gift wrap which make great posters, for £1.50 each. Featuring designs from famous book illustrations to vintage film posters and gents on penny farthings, it’s well worth a look before splashing out at Blackwell’s. On the other hand, if you prefer the big, glossy cinema-
poster look you can always try asking at your local cinema whether they have any posters they’ve just taken down (most of which they’ll easily give away for a few pounds). But do make sure you’re allowed to Blutak – otherwise you might need to get creative. If you have hanging nails, attaching posters or other wall art to a bulldog clip provides a loop which can be hung on the nail – without even damaging the paper. Otherwise, fixed in a paper clip and attached with a drawing pin works just as well with poster strips. Another way to brighten up your room is by something colourful you’ve already got – the contents of your wardrobe. Hangers or rails with all your favourite things on show are such an easy way to inject some personality into your room, as well as making a scarf an easy grab on a chilly day. But obviously the best thing about this idea is that it is free; what’s more, it is an accumulation of your tastes over the past few years. Of course a key item you will need this winter is something to keep you warm. If you are paying for your utili-
ties, it will work out that buying a warm blanket is a lot more cost-effective than those escalating bills come December. Wool and fleece seem to work the best and can be picked up for a reasonable price in markets, supermarkets and, of course, online. When out of use, blankets become a great throw for chairs or benches – making that standard-issue furniture a little more individual. The key to making these last is by storing them well (if you can’t take them home) – make sure they’re nice and dry before stuffing them into thick bin bags or vacuum-sealed compressor bags to keep damp out. Now what about those empty shelves and windowsills? The key is to choose decorative items that can be used functionally – bowls and pots which double up as containers for various collections of pens, keys, beauty products and snacks. Don’t expect to find everything in one trip; it might take a while to find what you’re looking for, especially if you don’t specifically know what that is. The beauty of this idea is that your items can be re-donated at the end of
the term if you don’t have the storage space and at the same time you’re supporting good causes both local and international. What’s more is you won’t end up with the same things as everyone else. Don’t be afraid of choosing items you think might clash, because it’s the eclectic (and sometimes hectic) nature of décor that helps to make a room feel personalised. Besides, charity shops have started to realise the value of some of the stock they hold – so don’t go expecting to buy a set of Royal Dalton at a few pounds apiece. And if you have a lot of blank wall space, the same principle applies to artwork, which tends to look more ‘permanent’ since they are usually sold in their frames. The most important thing, however, is to be honest about who you are! Don’t think your room needs to be typically ‘Oxford’ (whatever that means); you need to exhibit your personality in your room to really take ownership of it. That way, it’s much easier to settle in and feel at home, away from home. Happy decorating!
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16th October 2014
To find out more about volunteering with the NCDHR visit www.ncdhr.org.in PHOTO/ McKay Savage
The Oxford pub crawl, week 1: Angel & Greyhound Jack Lale & Hugh McHale-Maughan
Wadham College & Brasenose College
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pub that can barely justify its claim to be a Cowley local, the Angel and Greyhound sits on St Clements, just off the Magdalen roundabout. The unremarkable outside, littered with picnic tables and clad in unattractive red brickwork, is drab enough that we came perilously close to beating a hasty retreat. The hanging Young’s sign, with its promise of sterile mockantiquity, did little to dispel the impression. The judgement was too hasty, however; this is a fine example of a well done suburban pub with a solid selection of drinks, a pleasant atmosphere, and enough unique features to hold interest. Despite the time (2pm on a Tuesday, a damning indictment of our work schedule), the Angel and Greyhound had one of its two fires roaring and a surprisingly young clientele cosied on the tweed and leather armchairs. The bar itself was spacious, well stocked and warm, with a friendly, professional but laid-back landlord buried in the crossword as we entered. In classic Young’s style, there was a drink for everyone here: as well as the brewery’s standard ales, there was a
unexpected selection of European lagers, some exceptional spirits that included a particularly fine port and a pretty good wine list. It’s even one of only four pubs in the UK that serves Young’s chocolate stout. Being a particularly vile drink, this isn’t entirely surprising. This was essentially a nicer, cheaper King’s Arms. The same olde worlde photos of an Oxford that is far past, or perhaps never existed, including a par-
The Verdict Beer: 3/5 Value: 4/5 (£6.80 for two pints) Atmosphere: 4/5 Food: 2/5 ticularly strange series of grocery murals; the same unclassifiable wooden panelling and expensive upholstery that fulfills the cliché of what a British pub should look like. There’s more here, however, including a bizarrely wide selection of board games, a peculiar baize-based cross between billiards and pinball that slightly defeated us and a particularly strange selection of banjo playing guinea
pig models nestling among the wines. These eclectic additions remove the drinking-society pretentiousness that pervades the KA. The space is well laid out, affording private areas without being oppressive or constrained; the sense of a cosy inn was here in force. You were naturally led through to the large beer garden (really more of a patio). At first extremely uninviting in the bucketing rain, this grew in promise as the afternoon sun lengthened and the second pint sunk in. This coincided with the pub beginning to busy, until – by 4pm – the atmosphere was pleasantly jovial. There were a few downsides to the Angel and Greyhound. The bar snacks were overpriced and Dickensianly gristly, palatable only when dowsed in mustard. A particularly ugly ATM seemed an entirely unnecessary addition, and, positioned between two games machines, lent a slightly arcade-esque feel to the back of the pub. The bathroom facilities slightly gave away the game of a commercial pub dressed up, as they certainly clashed horribly with the clean and welcoming bar. This is an ideal pub for a lazy Wednesday afternoon, where a superior option to work is a couple of pints and a catch up with an old friend – though we do suspect it busies significantly with locals and students in the evening. It’s not angelic, but it is a worthy alternative to Oxford’s better known establishment.
PHOTO/ Don cload
Sport 38
Somerville College
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ike Essman scored a piledriver from well outside the 18-yard box to secure another pre-season win for the OUAFC Blues at the Iffley Road Sports Ground last Wednesday and help maintain their unbeaten start to 2014/15. Oxford certainly had the better of the opening exchanges, pressing high up the field and forcing Hartpury’s defence into making mistakes. Several dangerous balls were played in from the right-hand side with Blues striker Peder Beck-Friis unlucky to capitalise on more than one occasion.Hartpury came into the game as the first half developed, however. They looked particularly dangerous on the counter-attack but failed to find the killer-ball necessary to penetrate the Blues defence and resultantly turned to taking on shots from distance which never really troubled the Oxford goal. The match had begun to resemble a slightly scrappy affair as the first half drew to a close, with both teams being careless in possession and most of the play being centred in the middle of the park. Hartpury were probably on top however but were still yet to create anything clear cut. This changed early on in the second half though as a Hartpury shot from distance was saved by the Blues keeper smartly to his left. Hartpury seemed to take heart from this and had it not been for Oxford’s excellent centre-back partnership, the Blues could have found
Blues remain unbeaten throughout pre-season themselves several goals behind. Rich Smith and Mike Meneke (who was the Blues man of the match) were outstanding throughout. Their defensive ability both on the ground and in the air was plain for all to see. They were commanding, robust and surely have an exciting season ahead of them. The half fell into somewhat of a stupor after Hartpury’s good start, with both teams creating little other than several wayward shots from distance. The deadlock was broken, however, at 72 minutes as Oxford’s number seven Mike Essman collected the ball from out wide and fired a rocket-shot into the top-left of goal that just managed to evade the glove of the Hartpury keeper. Essman came on as a substitute on the one-hour mark and was well deserving of his goal after an impressive first ten minutes. His ability to run at defenders meant that Oxford could afford to be less direct as he posed a threat down the left-hand side for the duration of his time on the pitch. The Blues saw the game out well and managed to rebuff any Hartpury attempts to snatch a draw. On balance, Oxford were probably deserving of the win but manager Mickey Lewis will be looking for a more commanding performance come their first league game against the University of Buckinghamshire on 22nd October.
PHOTO/ OUAFC
Dan Smith
16th October 2014
OxStu Sport Predicts - Deputy Sports Eds vs an Oxford Student
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his week marks the beginning of OxStu Sport Premier League Predictions where we pitt our ‘expert’ Deputy Sports Eds against an unwitting member of Oxford student’s population. So with better hair but much less hands-on expereince of both punditry and playing; Xav and James aim to emulate the BBC’s Mark Lawrenson and dust off their crystal ball to predict this weekend’s Premier League fixtures. This week they face second-year Chemist Amy Ford of Balliol College.
Manchester City v Tottenham
X/J: After a good result winning at manager Mauricio Pochettino’s former club Southampton last week, Tottenham can go into this game under less pressure than before. That said, away at Manchester City is one of the league’s hardest fixtures and the spine of Kompany, Toure, Silva and Agüero should have more than enough to see off Tottenham comfortably this weekend. 3-1 Amy: Though Spurs had a good win against Southampton last week, they have been otherwise struggling, and Man City should chalk up a victory here. 2-1
Arsenal v Hull
X/J: Hull have looked impressive this season after a significant spend this season, Mohamed Diame is dominating midfields and Arsenal will need to not let his powerful presence bully their midfield. While Arsenal have struggled at times this season, it is traditionally the mid-table teams that they send to brush
aside and will probably happen again on Saturday. 2-0
Burnley v West Ham
Amy: Hull have had a decent start to the season, and, with Arsenal still not playing at their very best, I would expect them to win, but only just. 1-0 X/J: After picking up another point last weekend, but scoring only their second and third goals of the campaign, it looks to be a long season ahead at Turf Moor. West Ham have started brightly and with Sam Alladyce playing a more attacking brand of football the fans are warming to his ways. Strikers Sakho and Valencia should have too much for Burnley and a solid win should be on the cards. 0-2 Amy: West Ham’s handy strike force, combined with their first clean sheet of the season against QPR last week, should see Burnley waiting at least another game for their first win.0-2
Crystal Palace v Chelsea
X/J: After an excellent start to his tenure at Crystal Palace, Neil Warnock’s unbeaten run came to an end at Hull City last weekend. It is hard to see them getting anything against Chelsea who have coasted easily past nearly all opposition this season. With Diego Costa firing and Cesc Fàbregas controlling the midfield, a rout could be on the cards. 0-4 Amy: Chelsea have looked indomitable in the past couple of months, particularly on the attacking front, which means
that anything but a victory seems highly improbable. 1-3
Everton v Aston Villa X/J: In 17th place, Roberto Martinez is having a tough time of it this season, shipping goals but scoring highly as well, they need to get their season back on track. Aston Villa have started well and Paul Lambert – seemingly permanently under pressure – has got a hard working team that are blistering on the counter. It should be a closely fought contest. 2-2 Any: Everton have been really struggling this season, only winning one match and conceding far too many goals, and so I could see the low-scoring Villa grinding out a victory at Goodison Park. 1-0
Newcastle United v Leicester City
X/J: With expectant fans and a hugely difficult chairman to manage as well as the team, time seems to be running out for Alan Pardew at Newcastle. Papiss Cissé’s goals have secured a few draws, but winless Newcastle will be in for a tough test against Leicester City who will no doubt be well drilled, fired up and with Leonardo Ulloa have a real goal threat. 1-1 Amy: Leicester have had a surprisingly good start to their campaign, most notably the 5 -3 victory against Man Utd, and they should expect at least a draw at Newcastle. 2-2
Southampton v Sunderland
X/J: Having had to replace the spine of the team and the manager after last season, few could have predicted that Southampton would have started so strongly. In Dušan Tadić they have top quality on the wing and the huge Graziano Pellè is a menacing prospect for any defence, Southampton should score a few. Sunderland with Steven Fletcher up front are a different proposition and come off an impressive 3-1 win last weekend against Stoke. That said, at home, Southampton should be confident of the three points this weekend. 2-1 Amy: Despite their loss against Spurs, Southampton’s fantastic start to the season should continue against a Sunderland side with an underwhelming strike force. 2-0
QPR v Liverpool
X/J: QPR have found their return to the top flight difficult and one has to wonder how much longer Harry Redknapp will be given. The summer signing of Rio Ferdinand has appeared have to have little positive impact on their defence and Liverpool would regard anything less than a win here as crucial points dropped. Mario Balotelli has struggled for goals so far and if given the nod ahead of Ricky Lambert, he could well score a few this weekend. 0-3 Amy: Liverpool’s shaky start to their first season without Suarez should cause some concern, but they will be too much for a QPR side which is leaking goals. 1-2
Stoke City v Swansea City
X/J: After a bright start, Mark Hughes’ Stoke have struggled for consistency after beating Manchester City and Newcastle but losing to Leicester and Sunderland. Swansea have been flying this season and find themselves in 5th position, but without a win in their last four games three points are really needed and they could well come this weekend. 1-2 Amy: With their striker Wilfred Bony now set to stay at the club and looking menacing against Newcastle, Swansea should expect a narrow victory away to Stoke. 1-2
West Brom v Man U
X/j: After a shaky start, the ship appears to be steadying at Old Trafford with three wins in the last four. While the team may not play will full cohesion at the moment, they have enough world class players to pull through most games and this looks like another one where they can keep the recovery moving forward. Under Alan Irvine, West Brom have had mixed start and with star striker Brown Ideye yet to find his form, it could be a long weekend for the Baggies fans. 0-3 Amy: Van Gaal’s team clearly needs time to reach its full potentia, but, with three wins in the last four, things are looking up and a victory against West Brom looks likely. 1-3
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16th October 2014
Are the Anti-Galacticos here to stay? Rupert Tottman Balliol College
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panish football, since the end of Second World War, has broadly been a duopoly with Real Madrid and Barcelona being far and away the most successful clubs. While it has been neither as constant or as profound as that found in Scotland, the effect these two giants have had on Spanish football could not have been more defining. In a 2011 poll asking Spanish football fans whether they preferred Real or Barcelona, only 9% said neither. Even for diehard supporters of other clubs their presence is suffocating. In the last 10 years, as they have begun to suck up more and more TV money and sponsorship rights for themselves (Real and Barcelona receive 90% of all TV money allocated in Spain), the duopoly has become particularly prominent. While Real and Barcelona have been battling over the signatures of the world’s best players the other clubs have been fighting for scraps. Athletic Bilbao, the club which finished 4th last season, did so with a smaller wage budget than Cardiff, which finished bottom of the Premier League. This makes Atletico Madrid’s recent achievements all the more remarkable: La Liga Champions, Spanish Super Cup holders, vanquishers of Barcelona from the Champions League and less than a minute away from winning the tournament outright until Real Madrid’s cruel equaliser in the final minute of stoppage time. In such an unequal playing field how have Atletico managed to do this? Is it
Is it sustainable and are Spanish football’s gatecrashers here to stay? sustainable and are Spanish football’s gatecrashers here to stay? While it would be inaccurate to say that the past 15 years have been an uninterrupted dark period in Atletico’s history, they have had to contend with problems that would have sunk many other clubs. After years of financial irresponsibility and chronic mismanagement throughout the 90s the year 2000 saw a reckoning for Atletico. In six months they saw their offices raided by Spanish tax authorities, their President, the infamous Jesus Gil (corrupt to the point where ‘gilismo’ has entered the Spanish language as a pseudonym for dishonest and criminal financial management) imprisoned for three and half years for tax avoidance and the club relegated to the second division. Whilst the club were able to regain their La Liga status within two years the financial problems only worsened. With relegation Atletico, with tax debts of €45 million, simply stopped paying, citing their precarious finan-
cial situation and their position as a cultural icon of Madrid which could not be permitted to go out of business as an excuse. It took the tax authorities until 2011, when Atletico had run up a scarcely believable tax debt of €117 million, to finally get tough. It was amid increasingly serious talk of administration, the seizure of control of the board by the Madrid municipal
Atletico are now a team undoubtedly built in the image of their manager authorities and even of winding up orders that current manger Diego Simeone stepped into the job. While Simeone was able to lead the club to a successful end to that season, (they finished as Europa League winners as well as a respectable 5th in the league), that he would continue such successes was anything but inevitable. Taking over after a summer that had seen £75 million worth of players, including Sergio Augero and David De Gea leaving the club, Simeone was not backed in the transfer market. Any money coming in was going straight to the taxman. The following three summers would see another £170 million worth of players sold, with less than half of that being reinvested and that only with the help of numerous third party agreements and complex repayment plans. In 2013 it was found that only six players on the club’s books were fully owned by the club. So financial sleight of hand aside, how have Atletico managed to weather this financial Armageddon and emerge as La Liga winners and Champions League finalists? Whilst the impact of managers on the fortunes of their teams is far too often grossly exaggerated, in this case Atletico have only one man to thank: Diego Simeone. Atletico are now a team undoubtedly built in the image of their manager: an intense and aggressive defensive midfielder during his playing days. Unbelievably well organised in defence, deadly on the break and revolutionary from set pieces (they have scored with 30% of their corners so far this season, twice as effective as any other side in Europe) Simeone has built a style of football that is uniquely Atletico. Stalking the touchline in his signature jet black suit and shirt like an unholy combination of Antonio Banderas, Roy Keane and Dracula, his team reflect his personality on the pitch, playing a kind of blackhearted, almost anti-football, which has so far proved effective in both blitzing smaller teams and dragging their technical superiors onto their own base level and beating them with experience. In their last Champions League game, they beat Juventus, one of the architects of the Italian strategy of catenaccio, based on aggressive and organised defence in numbers, at
their own game. The Italians failed to have a shot on target whilst Atletico scored with their only one, an Arda Turan tap in from 3 yards after a lighting quick counter. If this style of aggressive, practical football is light years apart from the gung-ho style played by their more illustrious neighbours, then in the transfer market they are operating in another universe. Looking at the two teams which faced each other in the Champions League final there could not be more of a contrast. Real’s forward line of Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema cost £210 million between them. Atletico’s cost £2.6 million. Benzema alone, a relative snip for Real’s standards at £40 million cost more than Atletico’s entire squad for that match. Atletico captain, cult hero and for many the best player in last season’s La Liga, Gabi, was a £2.5 million signing from modest Real Zaragoza while midfield partner Koke, Xavi’s replacement in the Spanish national side, came through the youth ranks. Simeone’s mastery of the transfer market has been matched by his people management skills and ability to, essentially, make a silk purse out of the sow’s ear of talent he has had at his disposal. Atletico’s current centre back pairing, Miranda and Diego Godin, considered by many to be the best in Europe, came from humble beginnings. Upon Simeone’s arrival, Miranda was in the reserves and Godin was on the verge of being hounded out of the club by fans after a season of abject performances. Despite Atletico’s continuing financial woes, they reportedly rejected an offer of upwards of £40 million from Manchester United for Godin
Atletico Madrid are everything their neighbours are not, the ‘Anti-Galacticos’ of European football during the summer. Where Real Madrid’s policy is to buy superstars at the peak of their powers for extraordinary sums while playing Hollywood football, Atletico Madrid are everything their neighbours are not, the ‘AntiGalacticos’ of European football. But with this approach can they expect to continue to keep pace with their big spending neighbours? This year’s transfer window may have seemed a little different in that Atletico spent big money on the likes of Bayern striker Mario Mandzukic, French international winger Antione Griezmann and Slovenian keeper Jan Oblak, and indeed they did turn a £20 million loss, spending £97 million and receiving £77 million through the sales of the likes of Diego Costa and Felipe Luis to Chelsea. In reality, however, the bumper payout in prize money that they earned through last season’s successes, around £45
PHOTO/ Ver en vivoen Directo
Atletico Madrid’s recent success is remarkable, but seemingly unsustainable
million from the Champions League and around £20 million from La Liga, combined with a rise in their TV revenue due to heightened interest given their successes (in Spain TV revenue is split up club by club depending on interest and viewing figures) they should again be able to post net profits in the £50 million range. However, all is not well. Debts to tax authorities have been reduced, but only down to around the €100 million mark, and there is every possibility for the Spanish authorities to get a lot tougher over repayments. What is more pressing, however, is Atleti’s investigation by UEFA over falling foul of financial fair play and soon to be introduced 3rd party ownership rules and there is a growing paranoia around the club that UEFA may seek to claw back or withhold future Champions League prize money payments. The financial vultures are circling, and with Atletico’s short-term revenue model based on Champions League participation and success, their position remains precarious. The question remains whether Simeone can keep the club at their current level. On the pitch at least the signs look good. Atletico have already beaten Real twice this season, 2-1 in the league and in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup to claim the trophy and sit 5th in La Liga. After a couple of disappointing early draws they are starting to hit form, despite a 3-1 loss to a resurgent Valencia last weekend. In terms of personnel Mandzukic has bedded in well and the combination of Arda Turan and new left back Guilherme Siquera on the left hand side means that Felipe Luis has not been missed. If Atletico can continue improving there is no reason they cannot challenge for the title once again, particularly with Barcelona looking their weakest for a decade. If they can, and Simeone can continue working his magic in the transfer market, there is no reason
why they cannot turn the current duopoly into a more regular 3 horse race. But unlike the traditional behe-
Atletico could find themselves falling back into the mid-table mire moths of Real and Barcelona, Atletico are in a precarious situation. Should they have a bad season, should Simeone fail to adequately replace their top players after the next inevitable exodus (Koke in particular is destined for superstardom) or should Simeone himself leave, Atletico could find themselves falling back into the mid table mire, where the financial demons of their own making will swallow them whole.
Atletico Madrid’s Honours La Liga 1939-40, 1940-41, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1965-66, 1969-70, 1972-73, 1976-77, 1995-96, 2013-14 Copa del Rey 1959-60, 1960-61, 1964-65, 1971-72, 1975-76, 1984-1985, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, 2012-13 UEFA Europa League 2009-10, 2011-12 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup 1961-62 UEFA Super Cup: 2010, 2012
40 Sport
7h October 2014
Sport ally getting to row in an Oxford boat in the Boat Race is by far enough to make the training seem all worth it. Not to mention having the chance to be coached by the best in the field; it seems a chance only Oxford could give you and one that any rower would snatch in a heartbeat.
The prospect of being able to be part of the Boat Race squad is the most exciting thing What is the best thing about training and trialling? “The prospect of being able to be part of the Boat Race squad is the most exciting thing, but for all this talk of long hours and early mornings it is actually good fun. We have a good work ethic on the water but when we’re not training it’s pretty
PHOTO/ Pointillist
Inside The Blues Rowing Camp Emma Williams Oriel College
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s college sports go, rowing requires more time and commitment than any other. However, it does not compare to the demands put on rowers trialling for the university boats. To really find out just how much pressure it puts on an Oxford student, and what drives them to do it, I interviewed Rufus Stirling, a second year English student currently trialling for next years race. So what made you decide to trial for the blues squad in the first place? “I had rowed at school and in college and I wanted to take it to the next level. Yes, it sounds cliché but it’s also about making the most of my time at Oxford and testing myself.” You were in the Oriel boat that won headship in last year’s Summer Eights, rowing with an Olympic gold medallist in that boat. How does OUBC compare? “Rowing with Malcolm Howard was very special – when someone who’s sat on the start lines of two
Olympic finals is a bit nervous about the Summer Eights race ahead, you know you should be getting serious about it too. The OUBC squad this year is led by another Olympian, Constantine Louloudis, who makes sure the training environment is welldisciplined - but never too serious.” The rowing preseason has the
It’s about making the most of my time at Oxford and testing myself
earliest start date of all the university teams, beginning nearly a month before the start of freshers week. It requires students to give up a large portion of their summer and enables them focus on just rowing. What is it like starting training a month before term starts when it’s all new and no one else is back in Oxford? “It’s good having a chance to focus on the training and get used to the load when there isn’t much work or too many other friends around to distract you.”
During the preseason rowers can adjust to the high demands without any other distractions, but it quickly gets a lot tougher when you throw work and a social life into the mix. How tough is the training regime? “The day-to-day training is generally low intensity but high volume - long sessions on the ergo at Iffley Sports Centre or on the river at Wallingford to build endurance. This sort of training twice a day, six days a week, is going to get pretty tough especially when it’s cold, dark and wet and you have to juggle it with academic work. That said, being an arts student I don’t have to get up as early as some people who need to get a session in before 9am lectures. Luckily the English Faculty doesn’t function before 10am.” Do you feel that you’ve had to sacrifice much in order to trial? “It’s taken out a month of the summer vac, and no doubt time spent socialising is going to take a hit. But it’s already worth it.” Do you have time to do anything else other that rowing and work? “Sleep comes pretty high on my priorities at the moment, but there’s always a chance here and there for ‘controlled amounts’ of fun...”
It seems that these extremely talented athletes are not only challenged by the level of the training, but perhaps even more by the requirement to be a great time manager and efficient worker. With twelve training sessions a week it is bound to put pressure on other aspects of their lives. Having said that, there must be a great sense of achievement in even making through the first cut to this stage, with so many other gifted rowers trialling against you. How high is the standard this year? “This is only my first time trialling with the squad and so for me the standard was always going to be high, but it seems like the squad has particular strength in depth this year. Many people have returned from last year’s successful squad or have rowed internationally in some capacity or other. As someone who doesn’t have that pedigree I’ve got a lot of hard work and development ahead!” It seems clear that despite all the hard work and pressure of trialling, the pros far outweigh the cons and the motivation and drive is there to push yourself as hard as you can. The excitement of rowing with world class athletes and the chance of actu-
chilled and we’re getting to know each other well.” What is it like to be a part of such a historic process? “Between sessions on weekends we sometimes watch past Boat Races to remind ourselves of what all the training is for – the brutal side-by-side scrap where there is only one winner, the crowds, the whole occasion. It’s pretty special.” What are the coaches like? “The coaches Sean Bowden and Andy Nelder, plus support team, run a programme which they are constantly refining and have done over many years. It is world class. It is also very scientific: we do a lot of physiological testing so that the programme can be suited to our individual needs to make sure everyone develops towards their potential. At this level, attention to even the smallest detail of physiology or technique matters.” Just before I finished the interview I was intrigued to know from someone on the inside what they thought was behind Oxford’s recent success in the boat race... “They say success breeds success and the ability of the athlete to place absolute trust in the coaches to make you the best you can be is incredibly important.” So there you have it; it’s extremely tough and requires commitment and hard work from all involved, but if you put in all you can, you get the best coaches and team mates and have the chance to be a part of an historic process. If you ask me, that all seems pretty cool.