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LONDON EDITION May 2017

P24 Playing live should be like cave people dancing Success blows my mind DUA LIPA

Protesters to demand closure of immigration detention centre

‘Shut it for good’

P19

P11

PICTURES: SOAS DS/LATIFA AKAY

WHALE OF A TIME Duo row across Atlantic

 SUSIE JOSEPH P19 P13

GRIME’S J HUS Tells us he’s a bit boring

Coachloads of London students will call for the closure of a highlycontroversial detention centre with a protest.

Groups from the capital will join

those from cities and campuses across England to surround Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire, which houses adult women and families.

This will be the 11th protest at the immigration removal centre to be organised by the Movement For

Each demo brings more anger Movement For Justice BAMN

Justice By Any Means Necessary and the group says each demo brings ‘more vibrancy, more anger, more determination’ to push for it to be shut.

Since the site was opened in 2001, it has been steeped in controversy, with numerous enquiries into the treatment

of detainees, allegations of sexual assault and questions over deaths there.

University College London’s Freedom Of Movement and UCLU Women’s Network have joined forces in an effort to raise awareness and Continued on Page 3

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May 2017

REVIEW Warm welcome and cookies set premise for rest of stay HOTEL AND FOOD DoubleTree by Hilton Skerne Road, Kingston



 Amy Denman If I took one thing away from my time at DoubleTree, it was the welcoming atmosphere from both the decor and the staff.

As we made our way through the revolving doors, we were greeted by shades of beige and grey with pops of teal and yellow, all of which had been tastefully combined for a comfortable lounge atmosphere.

We walked to reception, which was tucked away behind the bar-comelounge area, and were greeted with a smile and welcome cookie – a delicious sign of how the rest of the stay was going to be.

We went up to the fourth floor filled with anticipation about what our room was like. As the door to our room opened, we switched on

As we sunk our bottoms into the soft mattress, we were in heaven

Amy Denman

For more reviews, go to www. unipaper.co.uk

the lights and walked in. With a wood effect wallpaper, marble and mirrored work tops and a grey carpet with splashes of colour, it was a cosy setting for the evening.

It was time for the most important part, testing how comfortable the bed was. As we sunk our bottoms into the soft mattress, we were in heaven.

Walking into the bathroom, my face lit up as I spotted the walk in shower.

I had washed not long before leaving for the hotel, but was tempted to give it a try there and then. Expectation lived up to reality, the high-tech shower, with grey tiles and a glass wall, was bliss.

Once we were fresh, we made our way down to the Hawkers Bar And Brasserie, the hotel’s restaurant. With teal leather booths, and a ceiling lined with dim, rose gold and copper lighting fixtures, it was the perfect setting for a romantic meal.

We were greeted by a waiter and told we could sit wherever we wished.

Once we got comfortable and ordered

our drinks, we were surprised by the time they took to come. But this gave us plenty of time to take a look at the menu. Once the waiter returned with a dark and stormy (£8.50) and an

Chique and cosy: A king sized room and, inset, the scallops

amaretto sours (£8.50) we ordered our starters and mains.

The pan fried scallops (£13) and chicken liver parfait (£7) came in small portions which left you wanting more.

The combination of the scallops with

Detainees’ strength ‘inspires each demo’

The protest is led by the women within Yarl’s Wood, whose voices are at the core of the fight to end immigration detention

« Continued from page 1

increase attendance at the May 13 demo. University of the Arts London’s SU will lay on transport and Soas Detainee Support are trying to maximise turnout.

SDS co-ordinator Alexa Goodman told TUP: ‘The Yarl’s Wood demos

Alexa Goodman, Soas DS

Women are held here in horrendous conditions Alexa Goodman, Soas DS

have become huge demonstrations of solidarity, mobilising students across the UK to stand against these immigration prisons.

‘This has happened hand-in-hand with a growing awareness that these immigration removal centres are sites of extreme oppression.’

Yarl’s Wood was founded as a

Closure call: A previous protest outside the perimeter fence

We’re there in solidarity holding centre for foreign nationals prior to their deportation from the UK but a 2015 report found only about a third of detainees there were

actually deported. But it is not the site’s unclear purpose that protesters find most unacceptable.

‘Women inside have been

subjected to racism, sexism, sexual violence and abuse by the centres themselves,’ Alexa said. ‘Women are held here in horrendous

CONTACT US EDITOR: JASMINE CHINASAMY Email your stories to editor@unipaper.co.uk

conditions for indefinite periods.’

Serco, the company that runs Yarl’s Wood, published a report in January 2016 by former barrister

chorizo and pea puree, left a smokey and satisfying taste in your mouth.

But the pate to toasted brioche ratio was slightly off, more brioche was needed to finish the dish.

As soon as our starters were taken, our mains arrived. I had the rump steak with skinny fries (£19) and my partner had the slow cooked rib of beef (£18).

The steak was well seasoned with salt and cooked to perfection.

My partner, however, wasn’t overwhelmed by his meal, although the mash was creamy, the meat was too fatty.

Our luck swapped with dessert, as my guest enjoyed his blackberry and apple crumble (£6) but I wasn’t a fan of my coffee crème brûlée twist (£7) the combination of cream, coffee, the sugar layer and ice cream seemed confused. It was lucky I had a chilled glass of white wine to wash it down.

With bleary heads and full stomachs we sunk into the comfy mattress for the night.

Kate Lampard and investigation consultants Verita, which found no ‘endemic culture of abuse, nor a hidden problem of inappropriate behaviour by staff at the centre’.

But it did raise serious concerns over staff training, capacity and the low number of female workers.

Through all the demonstrations at Yarl’s Wood, one group has been omnipresent; those held inside.

‘Above all, the resilience and strength of the women inside this centre has mobilised a huge number of people to stand in solidarity with them,’ Alexa said. ‘The protest is led by the women within Yarl’s Wood, whose voices and resilience are at the core of the fight to end immigration detention. At these demos, Movement For Justice use loud speakers to talk with different women being held in the centres, allowing their voices to be heard in a crowd that is listening.’

News

Puppy power

Students across the UK are discovering the calming effects of canines as part of pet therapy We investigate the use of dogs on campus and the science behind feeling all fluffy over fido  Valentina Bulava

Canine cuddles: A session run by Guide Dogs UK with Oxford students

Unless you’re allergic, chances are a cuddle with a cat or dog will put a smile on your face.

And universities have embraced this, with many arranging for their students to interact with puppies.

‘Puppy room’ events are popular at many universities around exam time, while some students can book regular appointments with dogs at their unions.

But how big an impact do these sessions actually have on students and are the dogs OK with it?

Ailie Robertson, a student advisor at Heriot-Watt students’ union in Edinburgh, described a typical Therapet session, which

5

May 2017

the advice hub organises with the Canine Concern Scotland Trust and volunteer dog owners.

‘I’ve been incredibly surprised and quite moved by how lovely the occasion is,’ she said. ‘Every session has 150 students passing through, broken down into different slots, and it’s always fully booked.

‘We usually have about five or six dogs and owners and each have a circle around them with the dog on the mat.

‘It’s not that big a space and there are 30 students per 20-minute session but it’s an incredibly calm, quiet space and the students lose track of time.

‘The dogs go into this amazing zone of loving the attention. The owners always say they love coming here.’

Research backs up the good feeling many get from making a furry friend in these sessions.

Having a specially-trained dog improved the quality of life and

Although there are 30 students and five or six dogs, it’s incredibly calm and people lose track of the time

The trust that comes from opening up to a dog is a very good way of managing stress

Prof Daniel Mills, behaviour expert

Ailie Robertson, Heriot-Watt SU

boosting furr-apy, many unis team up with local organisations to bring the pups to campus.

One charity that works with students across the country is Guide Dogs UK, which brings puppies being trained to assist blind people to unis, along with their handlers.

Sue Richardson, head of the charity’s Atherton training school, said the sessions helped the

These sessions help teach our puppies good manners – behaviour we would expect

PICTURES: GUIDE DOGS UK/LIVERPOOL SU

working relationships of disabled people in a study by Elanco Animal Health, results published in February show.

Families with a dog in their home also got on better and worried less, according to the research, which surveyed more than 300 clients either with a specially-trained dog or on the waiting list for one.

Research for the Dogs Trust has also found it’s very likely having a dog can help reduce blood pressure.

Prof Daniel Mills, a veterinary behavioural medicine specialist at the University of Lincoln, said as well as providing puppy therapy, universities are increasingly letting students take pets into lectures and exams to fight anxiety.

‘The anecdotal evidence is that it does calm these people – you speak to them and they wouldn’t be able to turn up if it wasn’t for that,’ he said. ‘If you’ve got a dog, it gives you a focus so it redirects your attention from the stress.’

He said humans had been learning to identify with animals since our time as prehistoric hunters, making us good at telling pets our problems.

‘The sharing of intimate thoughts and the trust that comes from it is a very good way of managing stress,’ he said. ‘One of the beauties of

Clockwise from top: A Guide Dogs UK puppy, a happy student, a dog learns to socialise, directions for a Liverpool SU session and positive feedback

Sue Richardson, Guide Dogs UK

something like a dog is if you talk about things that are troubling you, then you know the dog is not going to betray your trust.’

Georgii Popov-Lvov, a first year illustration student from the University of Brighton who has felt

Paws for pleasure: Students often leave the dog petting sessions calmer, above

the benefits of puppy sessions first-hand, said: ‘I love dogs, so I really liked dog therapy. It made my mood better.’ But he added: ‘To avoid stress, it’s better to be prepared for exams in time.’

In order to deliver the mood-

puppies involved and the guide dog movement as a whole.

‘Socialising is key for our dogs, as long as it’s done appropriately,’ she said. ‘We have very clear protocols and the welfare of the dog is at the forefront. Basically, they’re being taught good manners – behaviour we would expect of them.’

But she said the sessions also educated people at university about guide dogs and their owners. ‘We

Have you relied on a pet to get you through a tough term? Email your experiences to editor@unipaper. co.uk

have students with guide dogs around the country so it’s useful for the university to have that disability awareness,’ she added.

Other universities have their own dedicated therapy dogs.

Vinnie helps stressed students at the University of Leicester SU, coming in every week for two hours’ worth of 15 minute sessions, with up to three visitors at a time.

The black labrador joined the Education Unit team after he proved too timid for a guide dog training scheme. Naomi Willett, advice development co-ordinator at the SU, said: ‘Vinnie’s been getting on really well. Some students have said they find it relaxing to have a dog to pet when they’re feeling stressed and anxious in the run-up to assignments and exams.’

The sessions are made even more beneficial by the fact most students are not allowed pets in their accommodation.

‘Other students seem to get comfort from Vinnie as they miss their pets back home,’ Naomi said.

6|Research

May 2017

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Pubs close down as supermarkets sell cheap booze Research finds drink is still easy to reach

was three times more accessible in more deprived areas.

The research showed 85 per cent of postcodes have an outlet which sells alcohol within 500metres, with the average distance being just 323metres.

Colin Angus, who led the study, said: ‘Our research shows a major change in how people obtain their alcohol. Small supermarkets and convenience stores, where alcohol is commonly available at low prices, have proliferated in recent years.

At the same time, the numbers of pubs – which sell alcohol at a higher price – has decreased dramatically.

‘What is especially concerning is these trends are most pronounced in deprived areas, which we know are particularly affected by alcohol Closing time: One in ten pubs shut down from 2001 to 2013 related harm.’

 Amy Denman

Many of us have our loyalties to a local pub, whether it’s for the garden, the atmosphere or the pool table.

But it seems more and more people are ditching their local boozer for the cheaper plonk at the offie.

One in ten pubs closed in England between 2001 and 2013, while the number of supermarkets and convenience stores has more than doubled, according to research from the University of Sheffield.

The study, conducted by analysts from the university’s Alcohol Research Group, also found booze

Women given less time to talk

When you think of comedy, you tend to think of male comedians such as Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre or Jimmy Carr.

A reason behind this may have been found by researchers from Birmingham City University.

Scientists from the institution found female panelists spoke much less on the popular BBC show Mock The Week than their male counterparts.

Dr Robert Lawson and Dr Ursula Lutzky analysed an entire series of the comedy news show to see how frequently panelists of different genders spoke, how long they spoke for and the number of times they were interrupted by other speakers.

The results showed only four per cent of nearly 60,000 words were spoken by female panelists.

It also revealed that in ten episodes, male guests had 2,199 turns to speak, whereas the female guests had just 125 opportunities to

speak. Dr Lawson said: ‘We would expect that with six panelists on Mock The Week the talking time would be equally divided between all six comedians.

‘Our research shows, however, that this doesn’t seem to be the case.

‘More research is needed to compare the amount of talk produced by male and female panelists in series after 2014, when the decision was taken to ensure that at least one female panelist should be present on each episode.’

The team’s research looked at series five of the show, which aired in 2007 and has 12 episodes, as it was seen by the pair of academics as having a comparatively higher number of female guests than other series.

Sad face: Show’s guests are mostly men

Bullies and victims more likely to want surgery Insecure: 11 per cent of victims want plastic surgery

Bullying is a horrible thing to experience.

Most of us know the reasons people pick on others is because they are insecure.

This has now been proven by a study from the University of Warwick which has found bullies and their victims are more likely to want to have cosmetic surgery.

The research looked at roughly 2,800 UK secondary school students aged between 11 to 16.

They were screened for their involvement in bullying through both self and peer assessment.

The pupils were then asked to complete a number of questionnaires which included questions on their views on cosmetic procedures.

A sample group of around 800 participants including bullies, victims, and those unaffected by

bullying was analysed for emotional problems, self-esteem levels and their desire to have plastic surgery was measured.

The results showed 11 per cent of teens who were bullied were interested in procedures.

Whereas 3.4 per cent of bullies desired surgery and 8.8 per cent of those who are both a bully and a victim expressed an interest in such procedures.

Prof Dieter Wolke said: ‘Being victimised by peers resulted in poor psychological functioning, which increased desire for cosmetic surgery. For bullies, cosmetic surgery may simply be another tactic to increase social status to look good and achieve dominance.

‘Our results suggest cosmetic surgeons should screen candidates for psychological vulnerability and history of bullying.’

New camera technology inspired by animals’ vision Glagsow scientists help cams to ‘see’ Researchers have taken inspiration from animal vision to improve the way digital cameras capture images.

Scientists from the University of Glasgow have developed a new method which allows a camera to focus on an object, in the same way a hunter can hone in on its prey.

The sensor will identify the main object in the frame and allocate the

majority of its detail to that. For example, if a tree was blowing in the wind the camera would produce a high-resolution image of the tree and objects in the background would appear more blurry.

Lead researcher Dr David Phillips, from Glasgow’s School of Engineering, said: ‘I started to think a bit about how vision works in living things and I realised that building a programme which could interpret the data from our sensor along similar lines could solve the problem. By prioritising the

information from the sensor in this way, we’ve managed to produce images at an improved frame rate.

We’ve also taught the system a valuable new skill.’

He added: ‘We’re keen to continue improving the system Bird’s eye: Camera inspired by animals’ sight

and explore the opportunities for industrial and commercial use, for example in medical imaging.’

The eyes and brains in humans and animals work together to focus on objects in their field of vision, for example during a chat, visual attention is focused on the

person speaking – Dr Phillips’ new method works in a similar way.

His research was published in the journal Science Advance.

The news comes after an experiment saw Google’s new smartphone camera take detailed images in environments with small amounts of light.

The experiments were performed by a Google Daydream software engineer. During the trails, the new camera was able to capture an image of space by using the light from nearby stars.

IN BRIEF

Grant could save lives A professor from the University of Liverpool has been awarded £850,000 to develop a life saving device.

Prof Andrew Weeks received the grant to develop the Postpartum Hemorrhage Butterfly.

The invention helps to stop postpartum bleeding, which occurs up to 24hours after birth, and diagnose the source.

PPH is the cause of around 25 per cent of maternal deaths around the world and it affects around 40,000 British women every year.

Learning bots catch disease Scientists have developed new artificial intelligence which can more accurately predict heart disease than current technology.

Research from the University of Nottingham has shown that self teaching AI tools were significantly more accurate at predicting cardiovascular disease than the established algorithm.

Dr Stephen Weng said: ‘These AI algorithms have the potential to help save more lives.’

Fingerprint tech on trial New fingerprint technology developed by Sheffield Hallam researchers has been used in a real case for the first time.

The technology, which analyses fingerprints to look into what the alleged criminal was doing before the crime, was used during an investigation into harassment in West Yorkshire.

It works by mapping different molecules within tissue sections.

Dr Simona Francese, project leader, said: ‘This is yet another step closer to our aim.’

Freedom: It works well Employees with higher levels of autonomy in their workplace reported positive effects on their well being and job satisfaction, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham’s business school examined changes in reported well being in relation to levels of autonomy at work.

Dr Daniel Wheatley said: ‘Greater levels of control over work tasks and schedule have the potential to generate significant benefits for the employee.’

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Shaping young lives: When pupils are excited to learn, it is extremely rewarding

It’s a joy to see the kids learning

Science teacher Victoria Warren discusses how training helped her build her confidence and how her career is exceeding her expectations

A

 John Shaw T SOME point in your academic journey, you have probably had a teacher who has made a difference in your life. They may have made learning interesting, helped you through a hard time or challenged you to push your limits.

But have you ever thought that special person could be you?

After graduating, you may want to look into teaching as a career.

Good teachers are in demand and there are excellent employment prospects. To attract the best and brightest people with the potential to be exceptional teachers, a range of tax-free bursaries and prestigious scholarships are now available.

New teachers may be entitled to a tax-free bursary of £25,000 to train, or up to £30,000 for physics teachers*. Once you are qualified you can expect to start on a salary of £22,000 to £28,000 depending on location, which is competitive compared to other graduate jobs.

It’s not too late to apply for teacher training starting in September and the Get Into

Teaching service can help you with your application. Applications are made through UCAS and will remain open until late summer. We spoke to Victoria Warren, a science teacher at Elthorne Park High School in London, to find out more.

When did you first decide to get into teaching?

I started tutoring when I was doing my PhD. For the last year and a half my funding was running out and I got an email from my university about them needing tutors. I started doing it and really enjoyed it.

What were you afraid of before you started training?

You always think your knowledge is not going to be enough.

If the kids ask you difficult questions what are you going to do if you do not know the answer?

You get over that quickly! No-one expects you to know everything, which is quite reassuring.

What skills did you develop during your training?

I learnt how to deal with difficult children and how you encourage them to learn when they do not

want to. They can be a challenge, but the training helps a lot.

Before your training were you happy to stand up in front of people and speak?

No, definitely not! I was not at all when I first started.

The training provides you with the confidence to stand up in front of a class of children, and the more you are put in front of young people and have to think of different ways to teach them the same thing, it continues to build that confidence.

I am quite little as well so it is quite intimidating sometimes.

So, how did you overcome that fear then? Is it a case of just doing it?

Yes, exactly. It is about having the confidence. They’re still children at the end of the day, even if they’re bigger than you. You have just got to make sure they have the respect for you and appreciate that shouting doesn’t work. You have got to think of a different way to make them take you seriously.

How did your training help you in developing those skills?

It was more about seeing the other teachers and how they deal with it. There is another female teacher at the school and she is tiny too.

There is no point in her going in and shouting at the children.

They are not going to pay attention to her at all. It is more about taking a stance.

Her method is to stand there and give them a minute. If they are still not paying attention she will do a countdown. It is all about learning different techniques and how to deal with different age groups.

Is there a good community between the teachers?

Yeah, it is a really tight-knit department. The science department is very close. There are lots of social activities as well and lots of helping each other out.

They have a sharing system on the drive, where, if you have got a really good teaching technique, you can put it on there and the other teachers can see it as well.

If someone was still deciding about going into teaching what would you tell them?

I would recommend going into a

school for an experience day.

I contacted local schools and asked them if I could come in for a day of work experience and some of them got back to me. It was very casual like ‘yes, you can come in’.

A lot of the schools are willing to have you come. Look for the ones who have vacancies, go in for a day, shadow a teacher and get a feel for what it is like. After I did it I thought ‘this is brilliant’.

I think that is the best way to do it.

Some people are worried about career progression. Was that something you were worried about?

No. My family friend is a teacher.

She is the deputy head of a primary school so I had got some information from her about career progression in teaching.

But your school will help you with career progression.

What is the most rewarding thing about the job?

When the students grasp a concept, get a bit excited about it and start asking questions about it.

It shows you’ve got them gripped. *Subject to eligibility. Selected subjects only

CONTACT Want more? For more on bursaries, training and getting school experience visit: Website: getintoteaching. education.gov.uk LinkedIn: linkedin.com/ company/get-into-teaching Facebook: facebook.com/ getintoteaching Twitter: twitter.com/ getintoteaching YouTube: youtube.com/ getintoteaching Instagram : instagram.com/ get_into_teaching

After going to visit concentration camps in Poland, I realised we have not learned from the horrors of the Second World War

Jamie Jones, MK and Andy C have been handpicked by the Radio 1 presenter to perform and of course she will be putting in a set of her own.

She takes me through some of the other acts to look out for.

‘The Black Madonna is an amazing selector,’ she says. ‘Also, Giggs and D Double E for being absolute cornerstones of the UK hip hop and grime scenes, and the six hour extravaganza from J.E.S.u.S – made up of Jackmaster, Eats Everything,

g of going somewhere I’ve never been before. I h as I used to so when I do it’s still exciting

to the muddy e backdrop to

must-have for ential but it tells me. ‘The els warmer y in the t on pool, boat

urge festivale for the chilly tists including

DISCOVER ANGEL CENTRAL

 Emily Wood

he Mac

e Malta as the day party. she says. ‘And ese government re so behind the o.’ also makes ace to party,

May 2017

Want to have your say about a current event? Email your comment to editor@unipaper.co.uk

Seth Troxler and Skream – will be a must-see experience.’

Inspired by the lineup and tempted to get myself a ticket for Lost And Found, I wonder how she manages to confidently select such an exciting list of performers.

‘Conviction and knowing your s**t,’ she tells me. ‘Not booking people because you feel pressure to book them from other people. You have to believe in it yourself.’

Although the pressure to organise a successful festival is high, the job does have its perks, travel being one.

‘I love the feeling of going somewhere I’ve never been before,’ the Londoner tells me. ‘I don’t do it as much as I used to so when I do go off

Visit our website to view our great offers, discounts and competitions PICTURE: ENRICO

The experience of visiting Auschwitz concentration camp is hard to put into words.

The mixed emotions of having been at a place of horror is akin to nothing I’ve ever felt before.

Upon entering Auschwitz you’re welcomed with the sign that reads ‘arbeit macht frei’,which translates as ‘work sets you free’.

It is the message Jews, Roma, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political prisoners and others from across Europe and the world were faced with on a daily basis at Nazirun camps.

It is estimated more than six million people died in the Holocaust, with nearly 1.5million murdered in Auschwitz.

The remnants of the victims are everywhere – their possessions, clothing, even the hair shaved from their corpses. The sight makes you sick to your stomach.

However, for me, entering Birkenau, the largest of the subcamps that made up the Auschwitz complex, was much worse.

The sight of the tracks that brought so many to their deaths, and a freight car abandoned on them, is harrowing. Standing on the ramps where so many were selected for the gas chambers fills you with such dread. Plus the sheer size of the place was just disgusting.

Watching documentaries and films simply does not prepare you for the sight of the masses of wooden bunkers in front of you.

By the end of the visit my feet were sore, but I felt guilty for complaining about it as I thought of all the horrors the victims of the nterview Nazi regime faced in Auschwitz.

When I came back to England, the dio 1 presenter tells us about trusting her first thing I did was check the news.

To my horror I saw a story about

ing DJ Annie to do, it’s throw been hosting Festival in Bay for three formers from usic industry

9

Message from the past: The Auschwitz I entrance

History could repeat itself

made a stupid comment about the gas attacks in Syria, claiming that Hitler didn’t gas his ‘own people’ – only to quickly retract this statement after being called out by the press – and went on to call the After what I had seen concentration camps ‘Holocaust the week before I couldn’t centres’ as if they were some sort of understand how this could day care for the Jewish people. happen The Holocaust is more than Emily Wood just a warning from the past, it’s Comment 25 9 important to remember the sheer Big waist of NHS cash scale of injustice after the war, with understand how this could happen. instincts, practising her DJ skills in the garden and catching all kinds of travelling bugs the rise of antisemitism and suicide Less than a day later, the White House’s press secretary Sean Spicer rates of survivors. Think of all the camps being set up in Chechnya, Russia, to hold gay men.

After what I had seen the week before, at a camp which was liberated by Russia, I couldn’t

March 2017

Readers and writers have their say on controversial topics. Want to get your point across? Email your comment to editor@unipaper.co.uk

 Alice Ball

Self-care is just another factor that becomes part of the balancing act.

There are many healthy and affordable options on the market. A bag of frozen chips may cost £1, but so does a bag of frozen vegetables.

It’s no longer realistic to suggest government intervention is enough to reduce obesity. They can try to discourage consumers from buying fizzy drinks by introducing the sugar tax, but it is still down to us whether we buy them.

Most of us understand the advice that tells us to be more active

is back in town In response to Stripping pays my way as a student on p11 of The University Paper’s February edition

 Aneeka Hussain

As I stand in line at a global cuisine restaurant, I notice the man in front of me piling his plate with a bizarre combination of chicken korma, stuffed potato skins and Singapore noodles.

There’s something vomit-inducing about consuming as many calories as humanly possible to get your money’s worth.

I’ve realised these disturbing behaviours are not confined to buffets – the grazing, lack of portion control and unequal balance of food groups epitomises a growing issue There’s something with weight gain. vomit-inducing about According to the Health Survey consuming as many calories for England, 27 per cent of adults as humanly possible to get are obese. Obesity increases the risk your money’s worth of developing type two diabetes, and make healthier choices, but cancer and high blood pressure, which could lead to heart disease, a we choose to ignore it, believing a healthy lifestyle requires an heart attack or stroke – a giant yet excessive amount of effort. avoidable bill for the NHS. Money saved from treating When starting at university, students gain a lot of independence, obesity-related diseases could be spent on scientific research for from deciding where to go out incurable diseases. to what goes into their mouths.

It is ironic so many people are It’s easy to fall into the trap of quick to criticise the state of the unhealthy eating because of a new public health system despite being hectic lifestyle, the cost of living or at risk of the many conditions the availability of fast food. associated with obesity.

But it’s time to stop with the Essentially, the only way to save excuses and take responsibility for Let’s our be honest, most of us go to your favourite artist.

Whyisnot our health service to take stop making growing waistlines. excuses. It’s to us to find the time festivals for the lineup. there isuni the opportunity to up discover some Everybody has But to balance to exercise it’sare upour to us what we always the potential for a clash that new acts instead?and Here work with extra-curricular activities, put in our mouths. has you frantically running fromlife. recommendations to check out while jobs, family and a social

Misha sharing her story is not just brave, it is vital in taking a step towards abolishing a fallacy somewhere it’s still really exciting to around strippers. me,’ she says.

‘I don’t feel empowered by my The 38-year-old tells me about job, but then I don’t think you her favourite places to spin the should have to,’ she said while also decks, reeling off a list of enviable comparing stripping to working at destinations.

‘I was going home to spend the first Tesco.

‘I love Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow night in my new house. I rang the Not all pole dancers (or women for the spirit of the people,’ she says. doorbell at 2am and my boyfriend working in other areas of the ‘However, I love Miami for the fun, opened up. sex industry) are doing it for food and the adventures I’ve had ‘The first thing I did was fall down empowerment. there. Sonar in Barcelona is always on my hands and knees in the hall I feel the term is used to contribute amazing. Toronto crowds are always and throw up,’ she laughs. ‘Such a to a glorified ideal of how we wish super open minded and progressive.’ nice start to a new home.’ to see strippers when actually they But she doesn’t just travel for work, She had her second child with just see it as any other job. and names Jamaica and Mexico as partner Toddla T in January after This uninformed perspective stems Annie Mac her favourite places to kick back. revealing the pregnancy in a low-key Presents: Lost from the desire to sexualise women’s She also loves New York, where reply to a tweet from a fan asking And Found bodies. she worked in a vegan coffee shop why she was not on the lineup for Festival takes place from This is why I’m glad Misha April 13 to 18 at I came home from Ibiza with food poisoning. My boyfriend emphasises how it is just like any Numero Uno in opened the front door and the first thing I did was throw up another job.

Malta It involves juggling commitments, one stage to another, trying to see at Lost And Found Festival. perks and annoyances. Her for a summer when she was 19 – a September 2016’s Bestival.

Pregnant experience also proved there should time she has described as a rite of MistaJam has been covering the pause: harder. admire strippers to be a clear distinction between ability to balance reality makespassage. the path‘New to erasing York City is very closeWe should mother-of-two’s Radio 1 slotwork whileethic and Peckham rapper Giggs has had an incredible Annieand Mac for taking ownership of their bodies between education business and personal life. other the entrenched objectifi of that changed to my heartcation as a place she has been away. year so far, touring the UK and collaborating Allowing idealised views to cloud women in our but also commend them forof their obligations. is preparing that little bit mysociety life,’ she adds.

After a couple months’ leave

Sometimes it is better to confide in a friend

The naked truth: It is just another job

In response to Could lecturers do more with mental health issues? on p9 of TUP’s March edition

 Valentina Bulava Tianna Graham wrote an interesting piece about mental health issues and whether lecturers could do more to help students who suffer.

‘Perhaps some day depression, sleepless nights and mental breakdowns won’t be common stereotypes of student life, but legitimate concerns,’ she said.

Yes, such problems must be considered important – they affect people’s lives, ability to work and interactions with society.

But universities do take the

!

G TS IN EN LL D CASTU LL A

Opinion

problem seriously and provide the necessary help.

Find theTianna finest performers is right, lecturers should notice if one of their students has a mental health issue and be concerned when students act Could lecturers do more with mental health issues? unusually.

Offering help, even if it is Who would pay to abort? make students feel rejected, might better by letting them know that someone is concerned. However, and I can’t speak for everyone, but I believe in the case of mental health, it is important to speak with someone who really cares for you It is important to speak with and understands the problems you someone who really cares for might be going through, rather than you, rather than someone who someone who is just doing their job. is just doing their job It is great there are organisations Valentina Bulava with professional help, phonelines with people ready to talk and listen.

It might be a good move to Do you want to encourage other students and staff to share your opinion? help each other – perhaps by doing Email us at editor@ group therapy or seminars to share unipaper.co.uk opinions and stories. Sometimes, all you need is a friend you can cry  Tianna Graham

We know there is a mental health crisis when it comes to university students across the UK. Despite the widespread statistics, there hasn’t been a conversation about staff intervention.

As editor of the mental health section for Epigram at the University of Bristol, I regularly receive messages from suffering students. A common grievance is that students believe their anxiety or depression is visible, yet professors don’t notice. If a student is un-focussed, they are perceived as lazy, if they are falling behind, it isn’t followed up with concern.

A second-year student, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: ‘I confided in my tutor that I had been diagnosed with PTSD because of trauma in my childhood and it was having a negative impact on my uni work.

After explaining this and breaking down in front of her I didn’t return to uni for weeks. I didn’t receive a single email of concern. ’ The counterclaim is that staff aren’t trained to counsel students and shouldn’t try to play agony aunt. Stephanie Codsi, a tutor of English literature at the University

Despite visiting some amazing places across the world, the Dublinborn DJ reveals she has had some travel disasters, namely ‘various bouts of aggressive food poisoning over the years’.

‘One came on just as I was boarding a plane home from Ibiza,’ she adds.

Want your opinions heard? Email editor@unipaper. co.uk with your thoughts

with Drake on a new song. His tunes, including to get back the presenter is looking forward to Lock Doh, Whippin Excursion and Who’s Dat? are on the decks returning to the decks. guaranteed to get the crowd proper gassed – as for her Lost ‘I’m glad I have been through this one might say.

And Found before,’ she says of the return to Festival after work. ‘I know it will feel really nervehaving her wracking and really amazing.’

He calls himself the sexiest fat man in the secondmentally.’ child student is struggling Despite being away from DJing, she universe Charlie Sloth is a master at selecting January How do youintell the difference the finest tunes. If his popular Radio 1Xtra slot is has found a way to keep on top of her skills at home in Notting Hill.between a student that has pulled anything to go by, you’re guaranteed to go from and one suffering two stepping to dabbing and slow whining all in ‘I enjoy practising in my offian ceall-nighter at from insomnia? Or between the end of the garden and catching one glorious slot. anxiety and healthy nerves? up with all the music I’ve missed.’

She may have been DJing forIt13can be difficult to spot the Dubstep DJ Skream is travelling all the way from years, but the nerves are stillsigns. there.However, when a student is the outskirts of south London to St Paul’s Bay ‘I’ll probably be a little selfconsistently distressed or absent, to bring some seriously danceable tunes your shouldn’t be ignored and if conscious but will absolutelyitlove it way. He hasn’t released anything of his own for a In response to Student’s petition matter – his petition shouldn’t have once I’m up and running,’ shethey says.confide in staff, it should be while, but he knows how to get a crowd bopping to remove abortions from NHS been about removing the option ‘That buzz you get when youfollowed move a up. To assume they can by selecting the latest jams. sparks social media outrage found of abortion altogether, but rather handle their problems themselves crowd never grows old.’

of Bristol, said: ‘It is always necessary for a tutor to direct the student towards some professional help or to their personal tutor.

‘It is not recommended that the academic tutor get involved in personal issues, nor give advice, but should demonstrate a professional concern and, if necessary, follow up with the personal tutor on the student’s wellbeing.

‘At the same time, it should be understood that it is not always easy for a tutor to recognise when a

Staff aren’t trained to counsel students and shouldn’t try to play agony aunt

Tianna Graham, University of Bristol

on www.unipaper.co.uk removing the public funds that pay is to dismiss them. for abortion (though this does raise Mark Ames, director of student Listening to dance music in the Maltese warmth like Samuel Davies sounds a dream come true. And what some questions about equality, and services at Bristol, said: ‘The artists to university takes student health andbetter I won’t beprovide signingthe thesoundtrack petition. to a whether it should be a privilege for evening thanchoice, Dusky? but The duo will those who can afford it). wellbeing very seriously and wouldMediterranean Not because I’m pro tracks from album urge any students who are feeling bringbecause thetheir logiclatest behind it isOuter, whichWhat would have been more Wiley, Gary Numan and Solomon Grey.feasible for Emanuel would be to anxious, depressed or lonely to features misguided. seek support.

[Petition creator] Emanuel makes petition for an ‘opt-in system’ that ‘We will continue to work with a valid point: ‘Why should I pay for would potentially have more of an Catscontrary and dogs areimpact, known for not taxpayers getting on.can choose where students to improve our support for health procedures that are Pets Recordings owners Catz ‘n they want to contribute their wellbeing and mental health.’ to my personal values?’Polish producers whether Dogz are known for gettingthis theprocedure catchiest tunes towards (though Many students feel defeated, as if Not only is it a valid question, onaand producingagain, some the electrifying cuts.

Grab aneeded logistical process they are to suck up their feelings to but it’s one that deserves serious Sex On The Beachtoand along tovery the setwag thatyour up istail probably prioritise their grades. But the truth answer. house duo’s tracks. is, grades are achievements you However, his argument about thebestunrealistic).

It’s an interesting thought to earn in a short space of time – your right to life, which he presents as the imagine who, once a choice is mental health is for life. raison d’être behind this petition, is available, would consciously pay Let us hope universities follow irrelevant to this issue and has only towards abortion. suit and perhaps someday succeeded in fuelling the atrocious After all, where people spend depression, sleepless nights online dialogue over abortion. their money shows what they truly and breakdowns will be seen as What the focus should have been legitimate concerns. on is the financial aspect of the value.

writers, inventors, artists, scientists, doctors and others we lost because of this injustice.

Think of all the minds of future generations that will be lost because of the camps in Russia and the words of Spicer spurring on hatred among antisemites and deniers.

It’s time to remember the past and stop the injustice before it’s too late.

As Tadeusz Borowski wrote: ‘There can be no beauty if it is paid for by human injustice, nor truth that passes over injustice in silence, nor moral virtue that condones it.’

to and get a hug and a cup of tea from. And for many people, no amount of professional workers could replace one close person.

Also, not everyone is happy to share their personal problems with strangers.

Students should know there is nothing wrong with asking for help, but they should never be forced into talking.

As a student myself, I understand the problem from the inside. I have friends with mental health issues and I have difficulty when it comes to sleepless nights before deadlines, and private problems.

And trust me, the ‘it’s gonna be OK’ line does not always help, especially when it comes from a lecturer who says it as a stock phrase to everyone, just because they have to.

Everyone is different and has different needs, but it is important to stay compassionate, as it is to offer help as a professional.

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Your life

11

Students reveal their unique experiences at university.

May 2017

A big wave knocked me out and I came to with half my body in the water

KCL student Jack Galsworthy tells TUP how he and friend Freddie Wright faced storms, whales and flying fish to become the youngest duo to row the huge ocean

I

We conquered the Atlantic Ocean

FIRST thought about rowing across an ocean after talks I had in junior and secondary school by people who had done it: they showed me it was possible.

Later, at uni, I thought ‘what do I want to do that’s a bit different and out of the ordinary?’ Rowing the Atlantic sounded pretty cool to me.

I told my friend Freddie Wright about my idea and we decided to do it. When we signed up, more people

had been into space than had rowed across an ocean.

We also knew if we completed it by the time we were 21, we’d be the youngest pair ever to do it.

After we signed up, we had two years’ work to get to the start line, which is the hardest part of the whole thing – only 60 per cent of those who sign up actually set off.

We had to raise £85,000 to cover all our costs for food, the boat,

shipping fees, a lot of things. I spent a lot of my student loan on it!

After sending thousands of emails out to companies, we raised the money. Then came the training.

We went to the gym a whole lot and ate constantly throughout the day. I had a Sainsbury’s meal deal in every single lecture I was in.

I put on 11kg in muscle and 5kg in fat that year, raising my total weight from 80kg to 96kg. In the 47 days

we were at sea, I lost 25kg.

Eventually we set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, in our boat Blue Steel, along with 25 other teams. We immediately started our shift patterns – we’d take turns rowing, two hours on and two off.

We found ourselves in a storm quite early on and got led out by a school of dolphins. We followed them to the edge of the storm, until it was calm again, then the dolphins

PICTURE: BEN DUFFY AND TALISKER WHISKY ATLANTIC CHALLENGE

Oar-some: Freddie Wright, left, and Jack Galsworthy celebrate in Antigua

Jack, Atlantic rower

Do you have a story to share? Email editor@unipaper. co.uk

flipped, turned around and headed back into the storm.

The scariest moment came one night when I was just about to wake Fred up for his shift. There were some big swells coming, and I got hit by a huge wave which nearly washed me off the boat. I hit my head and came to with half my body in the water. I pulled myself back in and just held on. The heat also made things hard. We broke

our GPS, our radar, two iPods and our aerial just through sweat. For three days, it was so hot we couldn’t leave the cabin. We were both crammed into this tiny cabin lying half on top of each other, genuinely in tears because our backs were seizing up so badly.

Despite my talk of storms and heat, it was the most humbling experience. The only man-made objects we saw were satellites.

Flying fish would hit us in the face every night and a whale followed us for four days. We were so lucky – we saw everything on the list.

Knowing all my friends were stuck in the library made it worth it, no matter how hard-going it got – there wasn’t a single moment where we wanted to get off the boat. We didn’t have a single argument.

We arrived in Antigua in the middle of a lightning storm. The first thing anyone said to us was ‘you are now the youngest pair ever to have rowed across an ocean’.

We were greeted by 1,000 people in Antigua, all cheering. It was the most bizarre and emotional thing.

Then they made us sit on a stage in front of everybody. They brought us burgers and a pint, and because they knew we were students they made us stand and down the pints. I downed mine and fainted into Fred.

Neither of us could stand so we both just fell on the floor, in front of 1,000 people.

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What’s On

13

The Lowdown

May 2017

P18-19

ADVENTURES Seasoned travellers tell you how get out for less

T

 Amy Denman

HERE are many layers to grime artist J Hus, which is something I learn quickly during our conversation.

He is cheeky but reserved and rebellious yet cautious.

I quickly realise it will take more than

a 15 minute chat to get to know him properly.

‘There’s a lot to me. One day I’m like this, the next day I’m like that,’ he says. ‘I think that’s why my music is so diverse, because I’m constantly changing.’

Among the ambiguous answers, I manage to find out a few interesting things about the 20-year-old.

Although his music is played in nightclubs across the country, he tends to steer clear of the scene.

‘I’m not really a party person. I’m more of an indoor person,’ he admits.

‘I don’t know why, that’s just how I am.

I’m a bit boring to be honest.’

But to his fans, the cheeky one liners and catchy melodies make him quite the opposite.

The lyric ‘I like my Fanta with no ice’ from his 2015 song

I have moments when I do stupid things and I think with different body parts instead of my brain

J Hus

Cheeky chap: J Hus is bold when using his lyrics and chat up lines

Friendly became a catchphrase – you only have to Google the line and Hus’ song is the first result.

With an abundance of audacious lines, I ask if he has a favourite. ‘With every song I’ve got one.

‘So with Did You See it’s probably “I’d be a genius if I didn’t think with my penis”,’ he laughs.

I ask why he chose that line in particular. ‘I don’t know, it’s a good lyric,’ he says.

I push to find out if it stood out because there is an element truth to it. ‘I reckon there used to be, maybe, a little bit. I have moments when I do stupid things, and when I think I don’t use the right...’ he laughs. ‘I’m just using other parts apart from my brain. But it’s just guys innit, that’s how we are sometimes.’

In a couple of his songs he also offers to season his female listeners’ chicken, which I’m sure is a euphemism, but can’t resist asking anyway. ‘Yeah, yeah,’ he laughs. ‘Do you know what it is? It doesn’t really have a proper meaning, it just sounds nice. I wouldn’t really use it day to day like “I wanna season your chicken”.’

Intrigued by

P23

DUA LIPA Takes inspiration from her rock ‘n’ roll dad

his response, I ask what chat up line he would use when approaching someone he likes the look of. ‘The last one I used was “I wanna kidnap you”.’ Charming.

Rather shocked by his reply, I ask if the line worked. ‘They liked it, they were like “yeah”,’ he laughs.

Still taken aback by his choice of words and their effectiveness, I suggest his fame may have helped him get away with such a brash line, as many other guys may not have had such a warm response.

‘A hundred per cent,’ he says. ‘I get away with a lot because of my fame.’

I ask for the naughtiest line he’s ever managed to get away with, but he struggles to think of it. ‘What do I do? I do a lot of s**t,’ he says. ‘That’s a hard one you know, I couldn’t say.’

Another thing the 20-year-old pulls off is his outlandish sense of style.

His latest fashion fix is fisherman hats – he wore one during the music video for Samantha, has a song named after them and is selling his own take on the accessory as merchandise for his album, Common Sense.

‘I just love fisherman hats,’ he tells me. ‘I kept on wearing them and everyone started calling me a fisherman.’

His own design of hat also features on the cover of his debut album, which is released on May 12.

Random merchandise isn’t the only thing we can expect from the album.

‘It’s the same sound as before but I’ve advanced it,’ he says. ‘I’ve added things to make it sound more grown up.’

The singer tells me he is looking forward to playing his new tunes at Wild Life festival this summer.

‘It’s gonna be crazy – I can’t wait,’ he says.

‘I know I’ll be nervous before I jump on stage but it’s gonna be sick.’

I’m not a party person P26-27

KASABIAN Guitarist Serge shares his breakfast with us P30-31

Rapper J Hus explains why his music makes regular club appearances but he doesn’t

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The Lowdown

15 May 2017

Hello

FOUR THINGS YOU NEED TO DO

from The University Paper

The end is nigh, ladies and gentlemen. It’s all over. The fat lady has sung.

No, I’m not talking about the nuclear disaster that’s hanging over our head like a boulder hangs over Wile E. Coyote.

I’m talking about the end of the academic year!

In many ways it’s a magical time when all exams are written, essays are handed in and the next deadlines are months away.

For The University Paper team, however, the moment is tinged with sadness. It’s always a delight to be producing these papers and having to wait four months for the next is painful.

Salve to our considerable wounds is www.unipaper.co.uk.

On there you’ll still be able to find the latest news, biggest interviews and incredible deals and competitions. We’ll

ARTI CATC SUM

be continuing to update the website regularly and we’re always looking for more writers to join us. (Email editor@ unipaper.co.uk to find out how).

But there’s still one more edition to get out the way before we chuck on our shades and sombreros and venture off to sunnier climes.

We think this summer special is our most exciting edition yet.

We chat to Reading and Leeds headliners Kasabian about finding harmony, plus we talk to pop sensation Dua Lipa about her incredible rise to fame. Elsewhere, we introduce you to micro adventures and take a look at the best sporting moments this year. Enjoy!

Travel. Go somewhere you always wanted to, but didn’t for whatever reason. Because when you start a full-time job or begin a masters degree, you’ll struggle to find the time.

Much love

The TUP team

Family fortunes: Popstar Dua Lipa chats to us about her musical upbringing Catch up with friends. See all those people you’ve been missing because of deadlines, sleepless nights and hours in the library. It’s great to catch up with old friends and share some stories.

100 Oxford Street London W1D 1LL 020 7580 6419 www.unipaper.co.uk @TheUniPaper

EDITORIAL

Editor-in-chief: Sam Murray sam.murray@unipaper.co.uk Deputy editor: Clare Hardy clare@unipaper.co.uk Sub editor: Amy Denman amy@unipaper.co.uk Online sub editor: Tom Gellatly tom.g@unipaper.co.uk

Send out your CV. Just do it in one go and then you can relax.

Even if you don’t need a job straight away, or plan to travel, it is always useful to see what’s out there. You never know, you might find your dream career.

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by The Uni Paper Ltd, at the address above, and printed by Newsquest, Oxford. We distribute 200,000 copies in 16 cities. We’re committed to putting errors right.

Email corrections@unipaper.co.uk.

Make new contacts. Go to different events like conferences or start-up fairs, open exhibitions or clubs – you never know who you might meet and it is always good to get your face out there. jessjenkins.co.uk

Valentina Bulava

Graduation moments

Drama amid the decorum Thick with tradition, graduations can all be a bit of a blur. But Valentina Bulava found ten students who ensured theirs would be remembered...

A speech reminded everyone why they started their degree If everyone spoke publicly at each graduation ceremony, they would go on for weeks. However, for those who get the chance to have a say, the pressure is well and truly on.

Donovan Livingston rose to this challenge with his speech at his Harvard Graduate School of Education ceremony, which has had more than 700,000 YouTube views.

The five minute spoken-word poem about inspiring school children and breaking away from the legacy of slavery, was shared by Justin Timberlake and Hillary Clinton.

An activist took a stand against a protest ban When his university took out a high court injunction to ban ‘occupationstyle’ protests, Connor Woodman was not impressed.

The 22-year-old unfurled a banner with ‘students against injunctions’ painted on it in the middle of his graduation ceremony at the University of Warwick.

The stunt was part of a protest by Warwick For Free Education, which Connor was a member of. He called the indefinite ban on sit-ins, granted following clashes between police and protesters in 2014, ‘a gross violation of basic liberties’.

One of the graduands gave his folks financial freedom as a ‘thank you’ Andy Evans’ graduation ceremony was already a big moment for his parents – tutor and bank worker Jane and David.

But as they all celebrated the 22-year-old’s 2:1 in graphic design from Staffordshire University, Andy had a massive surprise in store.

The graffiti artist handed his mum and dad a letter telling them he

had saved up money from the freelance artwork he did partly while at uni to pay off their mortgage.

‘Today is a good day for our family and not just because of graduation, because I can finally do something I have spent five years trying to achieve. I’ve paid off the rest of your mortgage,’ he said in a letter, which he handed his parents on the day.

He said he had wanted to pay the mortgage off since he was a teenager and was grateful to his mum and dad for helping him reach his goals.

The girl at the top of the class was proposed to Getting the top mark possible for her degree in psychology had already made Ashley Nelson’s day pretty special. Then, after being congratulated in front of her coursemates at Bridgewater State University in the US for maintaining such high grades, she turned around to see her boyfriend Josh Tillinghast, who got down on one knee and proposed, to the crowd’s delight.

17 May 2017

Someone fell over while taking a selfie in skyscraper shoes It’s every student’s worst nightmare.

If you haven’t stressed out or worried about falling over at graduation we can guarantee you will. Most of us will do anything in our power to avoid it by wearing practical shoes and being cautious as we walk along the stage.

But one Nottingham Trent University student decided to ignore

the warnings and wear the world’s most impractical high heels – think Lady Gaga meets NASA. Not only did Terri Winghei Ng wear sky high platforms to her ceremony, but while she was strutting across the stage to collect her degree, she attempted to take a selfie – which is when it all went wrong.

She wobbled on one of her shoes and collapsed on to her knees. But that didn’t stop Terri. Her friends helped her up and she got her selfie.

A graduand stood for the first time since a debilitating car crash In the first year of his law degree, Jeremiah Daliel vowed to his classmates that on graduation day, he would stand unaided.

And for the first time since he had been in a car crash five years before, that’s just what the UWE Bristol student did, getting a standing ovation from the crowd in the process.

‘As if I was dreaming, I pulled myself up unaided and put my hands forward,’ he said. ‘And guess what – I was stood on my feet unassisted for the first time in five years.’

The emotional moment was captured on video and posted on the university’s Facebook page, reaching 110,000 views in two days.

Boris became the most embarrassing dad ever

We all have our own ways of celebrating. While some are happy with a handshake or a cheeky wave, Robert Jeffrey Blank

When your father is a politician known for his headline-grabbing antics, you would hope he would avoid doing anything to overshadow your success on graduation day.

Well, if you’re Boris Johnson in the middle of a Brexit campaign, that idea goes out the window.

Boris saw the graduation of his eldest daughter, Lara JohnsonWheeler, at St Andrews University on June 23 last year as the perfect opportunity to get down with the kids on Brexit.

While he was waiting for his daughter to receive her degree, he unveiled a poster which read ‘last chance to vote’.

The mum of a student graduating didn’t even know he was at uni Rhonda Blair thought her son Liam had been doing odd jobs in a fish factory for the four years leading up to his graduation.

Her son had kept his studies secret from her, only letting on as he appeared in the pub where he’d taken her for an ‘early birthday

A cathedral full of people did the mannequin challenge It was all over the internet last year – even Destiny’s Child, Adele and Paul McCartney did the mannequin challenge.

The great thing about watching the freeze-frame videos is marvelling at

how those involved managed to get their sports team or common room to stay in position for so long.

So imagine getting 140 graduands and spectators at UWE Bristol’s ceremony in Bristol cathedral to sit or stand still for nearly a minute.

The attendees, including the vicechancellor, managed it without so much as a wobble.

celebration’ wearing his graduation robe. Rhonda found it hard to believe him at first, then broke down in tears when she realised the 31-year-old was telling the truth.

Liam studied psychology at the University of Dundee and was inspired to choose the subject by friends’ mental health struggles.

His degree has helped him secure a job as a support worker for the Scottish Association of Mental Health.

PICTURES: FACEBOOK/TWITTER/YOUTUBE/WFFE

A novel celebration went horribly wrong

from Michigan’s Davenport University decided that was not quite enough and did a backflip. It could have been brilliant... if he hadn’t landed flat on his face – ouch.

The Sortinterview your summer

T

 Henry Edwards

REKKING your way across world-famous landscapes far from home, taking selfies with local people and ancient monuments, is a life-changing experience, guaranteed to give you a new perspective on life.

It can also take a long time and leave you short of a few quid.

But Alastair Humphreys, whose big trips have included cycling the world and rowing the Atlantic, wants to prove you can still change your life with ‘microadventures’,

Adventurer has plan to give us all wanderlust

Big dreams?

Begin micro Into the wild: Explorer Alastair Humphreys

Serge Pizzorno, Kasabian

which he describes as ‘short, simple, local, cheap yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing and rewarding’.

We’ve put together some of our favourite ideas for your own mini escapades.

Walk or cycle home from university for the summer PICTURE: ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

A show is about the mosh pit and the escape – It has to feel almost tribal, like cave people dancing round a fire

In a tent you’re basically in a rubbish version of indoors – in a bivvy bag you’re outdoors

If you’re leaving your uni city for the summer, why not send your folks off with your stuff and make your way home, cross-country?

For example, if you study in Leeds and you’re heading back to Sheffield for the holidays, you could

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Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno tells us the band is at the top of their game, reveals how they drew inspiration GOODGE STREET to have something for everyone, track Put Your Life On It with sang at my wedding,’ he tells me. move down to London then you live just can’t get rid of you,’ he chuckles.  Hannah Dodd with influences from punk to acid Kasabian at a special homecoming The collab really demonstrates the in a different world. You sing about ‘They look at the stuff you’ve done AM ecstatic waiting for Serge house, but one collaboration withGoodge De gig at the football stadium. group’s investment in Leicester, and I that world. And not many people go and the albums you’ve created and 46 Street, Pizzorno’s call – it’s not Montfort University Gospel Choir ‘There’s something about the unison wonder if the band’s global fame has through that world. they say OK there is a lot more to it. every day you get to speak stood out for Serge, who describes and harmony, especially harmony, ever distanced Serge from a normal ‘You lose touch with real life and With us, there has been a lot of people W1T 4LU to Kasabian’s guitarist, let himself as a ‘studio head’. with a choir – the power of the music life back home. He assures me that real life is more interesting to make saying after each record, “oh, I didn’t alone find out what he had for ‘I was walking down toCAMDEN the and the lines being sung by a lot of would never be the case because music for.’ think they were like that”. breakfast.

Leicester City football grounds and I people – it elevates it, it really does,’ home is either ‘in you or it isn’t’ when And make music they certainly ‘People sort of realise what you’re ‘I had crumpets and Marmite and it heard this amazing sound,’ he says. he explains. ‘They entered our world it comes to your sound. have. Kasabian seem to be maturing trying to do the longer you stay in the Opening Soon was just great!’ he tells me.

‘A choir basically singing some and our world is sort of 100mph and ‘It’s easy to get swept up in it and like fine wine, even after six albums game. The new show with the set we But we’re not here to chat breakfast. gospel terra songs, and I couldn’t it’s quite chaotic. They were so sweet think you are anyone but who you people can’t get enough. I ask if Serge already have, it’s really quite amazing.

High St, are. But staying and living there, with thinks they’re the best they’ve been. It really has hit another level.’

After their three-year break from believe it – straight away 21a I needed toCamden and we had a really good time.’ recording, I’m itching to know about know what was going on so I stood in Serge was so impressed he also Kasabian anyway, I kind of want ‘You know what, yeah,’ he says.

Kasabian are at home with their ww.icco.co.uk NW1 7JE Kasabian’s much-awaited sixth front of DMU and watched them.’ hired the choir for the most personal to make music for my friends and ‘It’s really exciting and you make it back catalogue, especially on the

I

album, For Crying Out Loud. From the tracks debuted so far, it seems

So impressed was Serge that he invited the group to perform new

of gigs.

‘I got married this year and they all

I figure to do that I need to know about their lives,’ he says. ‘If you

to six albums and it’s almost like they sort of just give in – in the end they

festival stage, according to Serge.

‘The shows we’ve just played have

19 27 May 2017

cycle back using part of the Trans Pennine Trail – a fully signposted coast-to-coast path.

If just the thought of covering so many miles is enough to give you saddle sore, you could get the train half way and walk or cycle the rest.

At the very least, you won’t have to spend a long, hungover journey cooped up in a car with your stuff.

STARVING AND PENNILESS: GLOBETROTTER CONQUERS A CONTINENT WITHOUT CASH Five thousand miles from home, hungry, depressed and exhausted, adventurer Laura Bingham tells me she wanted to ‘crawl into a hole’.

We have to give full credit to Alastair for this idea. Get a few essential pieces of kit together, find a spot not too far from the city, head there after work or uni, sleep rough for a night, under the stars, and head back at dawn.

Alastair recommends taking a bivvy bag, which is a waterproof sack you can wrap around your sleeping bag to keep out the damp (but not the rain). A plastic survival bag costs about £5.

‘In a tent you are basically in a rubbish version of indoors,’ Alastair says. ‘In a bivvy bag you really are outside.’ His website has advice on safety, legality and fire lighting and tips on how to get started.

If you’re not up to the whole route, pick the most interesting part.

Alastair’s advice applies here: ‘If you want to do a big [adventure] you’re best off starting with something small.’

Go with the flow

Brew it yourself

Ever looked out at the river winding through your uni town and wondered where it all begins?

Why not get to know more about it by following it from source to mouth? Comedian David Walliams swam the River Thames for Comic Relief a few years ago, picking up a nasty bout of ‘Thames tummy’, but you don’t have to get that stuck in to discover the course of a creek.

Many of the UK’s great rivers, including the Thames, Severn and Trent, have long-distance walking routes marked out along their banks.

Her troubles came last year while cycling the Ecuadorian Andes, surviving on four to six stale bread rolls a day.

The 23-year-old, who now lives in Leicestershire, had challenged herself to cross South America on a bicycle without spending any cash.

If your garden is as far as you’re prepared to venture, you can still

For more amazing stories, go to www. unipaper.co.uk

it stands about 1.5cm taller than the bottom and make ridges around the outside with the back of a knife, a finger’s width apart. Slide the top half into the bottom and fill with medical alcohol, which you can buy in chemists. Once you light the alcohol, the flames rise up through the ridges. Balance a small metal pot of water with a handle on top

Microadventures are short, simple, local, cheap yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing and rewarding feel a bit closer to outdoor living by making your first cuppa of the day on a home-made camping stove.

Take a drinks can (a beer or large energy drink can is a good size), cut off the circle of aluminium at the top and slice the can in half with a knife, levelling off with scissors. Next, trim the top half so

and it’ll be boiling in no time.

Search ‘the original beer can stove video’ on YouTube for a fuller how-to guide.  For more microadventure

inspiration and to buy the book Microadventures, visit www. alastairhumphreys.com.

Pack your bags: Alastair Humphreys has travelled the world but wants people to get out close to home

the plates of restaurant customers, rummaged through bins and foraged in tips.

But inspiration to complete the task came after speaking to the founder of charity Operation South America – which looks after homeless or abused girls and young women in Paraguay.

‘He told me the story of these two girls who physically didn’t know they were supposed to eat three meals a day,’ Laura tells me.

‘Their father would go to work and would come back every other day with food and they just thought

There were very few people who gave us food and there was a lot of rejection that you were supposed to eat once every other day.’

The harrowing tale inspired Laura to take on the challenge and raise money and awareness for the charity.

I ask if she felt brave for doing it.

‘It was brave in a way because of the macho culture out there,’ Laura says. ‘Women aren’t [seen to be] as good as men [in South America] so I think it was brave from that aspect. ‘[But] I don’t really see it as that much of a huge thing. I see it as a learning experience – learning other people’s lives, appreciating them.’

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS

䐀䤀匀䌀伀唀一吀 TO SEE KASABIAN AT READING OR LEEDS FESTIVALS 2017

The main stage lineup for Reading and Leeds reads like a who’s who of music movers and shakers.

We have a pair of tickets for Reading and a pair for Leeds, where winners can choose between main stage headliners Kasabian, Eminem,

Muse, Liam Gallagher and Korn, as well as more recent break-throughs such as Blossoms and Rat Boy. To enter our competition, click on ‘Win’ at www.unipaper.co.uk and for the full lineup and to buy tickets, see www.readingandleedsfestival.com.

PICTURE: PHIL KNOTT

Do a five-to-nine

On top of the world: Laura Bingham in La Paz, Bolivia and, below, near Asuncion, Paraguay

PICTURE: BRENDON GIESBRECHT

This is one that needs a lot of planning beforehand. We’re not suggesting you dive into any rushing torrents or filthy canals, and certainly don’t take a dip after a night out or go it alone.

But nothing beats the feeling of floating in a large body of water in the great outdoors.

While the shock of entering a lake or the sea will feel like a million tiny cattle prods zapping you all over, research suggests very cold water can help reduce stress.

PICTURE: HUGO ASEFF

No lanes here

I’m speaking to the British explorer nine months after she completed her mission, so I know it turned out alright, but still her struggles make me wince, particularly from the Ecuadorian leg of the epic journey.

‘There were very few people who gave us food and there was a lot of rejection,’ Laura tells me.

‘I built up a huge fear about being rejected just because it was happening so frequently.’

Aside from the physical pain, the lack of food also started to play havoc with Laura’s mood.

‘I was depressed,’ she says. ‘I just wanted to crawl into a hole most of the time.

‘I was really down because I was working hard physically and then I had no fuel to put in my mouth.’

After the ‘dark’ period in Ecuador, things turned around for her.

She says: ‘When I got to Peru, [the fear of rejection] started to disappear and by the time I got to Paraguay and Argentina I was having to tell people to stop giving me food because they were being overly generous.’

The whole adventure sounds terrifying to me.

Travelling is scary enough but take away the safety net of a credit card and, I think, most people would feel the risk is too big.

To survive, Laura ate scraps from

from the city of Leicester and remembers his oddest festival moment... chatting golf with Wu-Tang Clan and uplifting. But it’s one of the best, not the best. I don’t want to get in trouble,’ he jokes.

It took a little longer to spin gold this time around and like many music lovers I wondered why the release date was put back to April 28. Serge feels it’s an album for the summer crowd and says he needed a holiday.

‘I finished it last year before the summer and it was going to come out, then I just thought I’d go on holiday, like “well I’ve done all the hard work”,’ he tells me. ‘I never really give myself a break, like why don’t you have three months off? So I had

a holiday, got married and hung out with the kids.

‘Then I went back to the album and made it even better and I wrote three more songs. It was the best thing I could’ve done and it definitely made the album better.

‘It also didn’t sit right it coming out in the winter – it’s going to own the summer.’

When it comes to this summer’s festivals, Kasabian’s dance card is certainly looking full. With headline shows at Reading and Leeds I wonder if the band gets much down time and if festivals are the highlight of the PICTURE: ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS

been unbelievable,’ he says. ‘It really feels like we’re a band nobody’s seen before, like nobody felt “oh not these lot again”.’

I want to talk rumours, after hearing Bless This Acid House was set to be the best track on the album.

But Serge is quick to correct me, saying he doesn’t want to put that kind of pressure on it and he just wanted to write a punk pop song.

‘It’s really difficult,’ he says. ‘We got it in the last day of recording, and we were all like “right, no more after this”. So we kind of wrote it pretty quickly, but it sounds really hopeful

summer for them. line-up is really strong and amazing people dancing round a fire. While I ‘I love Reading and Leeds – I have and to share a poster with Eminem is want to make music and the studio such fond memories of those places incredible. I’m a huge fan.’ is my place, the more you play the and we’re honoured to be part of the The last time Kasabian played new festival stage, the more you become a history of those festivals,’ Serge says. stuff was at Glastonbury, in a blaze of heightened version of yourself.’

‘Unfortunately, by the time we get bass and magenta, 䰀 唀with 一 䌀the䠀 pressure 䐀 䔀 䄀 䰀 匀 䘀 As 刀 伀our 䴀 time ꌀ 㐀is⸀ coming 㤀 㔀 to a close, I decide to ask for Kasabian’s craziest there and we’re off, there isn’t much piled on. But Serge says that ‘excites festival story. Serge recalls the time time. It’s different with the European me, rather than frightening me’. they were chatting to Wu-Tang Clan festivals with dance tents that go on ‘The most important thing to till late and you can get out there.’ remember is that the show 䴀 伀 is一 about ⴀ 䘀 刀 䤀at T ㄀In㈀The ⴀ 㔀Park.

‘We were about to go on and we I’m curious about how Serge finds the mosh pit, and the escape, dress it were huge fans of theirs,’ he recalls. the energy to do such big sets. up as much as you like, but it has to ‘We were told not to stare too much ‘I don’t like to get there too early,’ be about the moment you feel that ⴀ ⴀ ⴀ 圀圀圀⸀䴀䔀䄀吀䄀一䐀匀䠀䄀䬀䔀⸀䌀伀䴀 ⴀ ⴀ ⴀ at them, but suddenly we all had a he says. ‘My adrenaline kicks in too connection, when you’re elevated to chat about golf swings. Totally bizarre early and by the time you get there another dimension,’ he says. you’re knackered. I’ve seen the ‘It has to feel almost tribal, like cave moment.’

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DUA Music

TUP rabbits on with dark pop’s Dua Lipa about her musical upbringing, success and Glastonbury...

 John Shaw

D

UA LIPA fits so comfortably into what we expect of a modern musician, from the outside it feels like she was constructed from a create-your-own-popstar kit.

She’s got model looks, a great voice, 225,000 Twitter followers and a set of catchy songs – so catchy in fact that I’m singing Be The One in my head moments before our interview without realising until the very last minute.

But she has a musical journey

23 May 2017

we speak on the phone, it’s been two weeks since the end of her UK and US tour and the Londoner is still buzzing.

‘I loved being on tour – it’s so exciting to get to experience different crowds every night, it’s really, really great,’ she says.

‘It’s a bit exhausting but it’s so rewarding every night, it really makes it worthwhile.’

I ask what the highlights were and she replies: ‘I absolutely loved my LA show, I mean every night was wonderful.’

She adds: ‘London Shepherd’s Bush Empire was crazy.

‘It was quite nerve-wracking doing a show at home but it was really, really exciting, especially knowing my friends and family were watching.’

So, on to the next chapter.

Dua releases her self-titled debut album on June 2.

Being brought up in a musical household is the reason I’m doing what I’m doing

I’ve put a lot of hard work and dedication into this album.

It’s definitely shaped in a way that I could have only dreamed of

very unlike the cookie cutter popstars we listen to every day.

She was raised in London but her Kosovar-Albanian family returned to Kosovo when she was 13, taking Dua with them.

It wasn’t for her though.

Determined to succeed in the music business she convinced her parents to let her return to London at 15 and live at her friend’s house.

‘I’m so excited for it to come out,’ she tells me, with characteristic positivity.

‘I feel like it’s been a long time coming and I’ve worked so hard on it and I’m really, really proud of it and I’m super excited.’

She adds: ‘I guess it’s been a massive learning curve and I’ve learnt a lot about myself. I’ve put a lot of hard work and dedication

However, the real beginning of her musical adventure starts with her father, a handsome rock star named Dukagjin Lipa.

He imprinted a love for music in her at a young age, indoctrinating in his daughter the beats, rhythm and melody that would eventually see her named as one of Britain’s leading musical talents.

‘I was very, very young when my dad was making music so I don’t really remember it,’ Dua tells me.

‘But I have memories of being brought up in such a musical household and my dad listening to songs that he loved, songs that my parents listened to and even his own songs.

‘Being brought up in a musical household is the reason I’m doing what I’m doing.’

Unsurprisingly, with a rock star for a dad, Dua was bottle fed on David Bowie and Bob Dylan.

But by the time she started to develop her own style on YouTube in her mid-teens, it was female popstars she covered, such as Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado.

Her talents caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records, which signed her up for a deal.

From there she’s worked bloody hard to get to where she is now. As

into this album. It’s definitely shaped in a way that I could have only dreamed of.’

Fans have already heard (and loved) a number of the tracks, including Hotter Than Hell, Be The One and Blow Your Mind (Mwah).

I ask whether the triumphs of those had heightened her expectations for the album.

‘I don’t measure success in numbers,’ she says.

‘That’s not something that’s that important to me. It’s about being able to tour and being able to see people really enjoy the album as a whole. I think that’s the most important thing.’

The ultimate test will come this summer when she plays to festival fans who might not yet be acquainted with her music. She’s most excited about her performance at Glastonbury, where she has been going for years as a punter.

After a lot of hard work (and success) it’s a good chance for her to relax.

She still loves ‘running around’, which is not what you expect from a popstar. But then Dua Lipa is not your average popstar.

LIPA She was born to Du it

For more music interviews go to www.unipaper. co.uk

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Music

25

Festivals need fresh ideas

May 2017

Sundara Karma’s lead singer Oscar Pollock chats to us about feisty followers and headliner let-downs  Patrick Hollis

W

HEN you think of a gift that’s guaranteed to impress, a voucher or a nice bottle of wine might spring to mind.

Not so for Sundara Karma’s fans.

The band’s lead singer, Oscar Pollock, is telling me most of the weird things that happen to them are too rude to be repeated in interviews.

‘I think the strangest thing was probably when we received a vegan curry sauce cake,’ he says.

OK, that sounds pretty strange, but you can see the logic considering there are two vegans, a vegetarian and a pescatarian in the band – until Oscar adds: ‘There were ecstasy pills on top of the cake.’

Quirky fans seem to be something of a running theme for the Reading fourpiece, which also includes guitarist Ally Baty, bassist Dom Cordell and drummer Haydn Evans.

‘At the smaller venues we often get people trying to come up on the stage,’ Oscar tells me.

‘We did this one show, in

Birmingham I think it was, and this really drunk girl got up on stage and offered to perform, erm, oral sex on all of us. Our lead guitarist was terrified.’

He confirms the band did not take the fan up on her offer.

They will have a chance to test the fandom waters in Japan, as they plan to tour that part of the world later this year.

‘We’re playing a festival in Japan – we’re totally stoked for that,’ Oscar says. ‘We’ve never played there before so we’ll probably get a tattoo out there.’

The band have made a habit of acquiring body art from new places.

‘It seems to be a recurring theme that whenever we go to a place we haven’t been before, we get tattoos,’ Oscar says. ‘We’ll run out of body space soon,’ he jokes, but he could be right – the band are going to be all over the festival circuit in the UK and Europe this summer, with dates including Reading and Leeds.

Sundara Karma owe their current incarnation to an inspiring moment at Reading Festival, where Oscar and guitarist Ally were when they realised music was their calling.

‘We saw The Vaccines and Bombay Bicycle Club – they were

ON TOUR May 26 Dot To Dot Festival, Manchester May 28 Dot To Dot Festival, Nottingham June 29 to July 2 Barn On The Farm, Gloucester July 6 to 8 Blissfields Festival, Winchester July 21 to 23 Truck Festival, Steventon, Oxfordshire July 27 to 39 Y Not Festival, Matlock, Derbyshire August 4 to 6 110 Above, Atherstone, Warwickshire August 24 Victorious Festival, Portsmouth August 26 Reading Festival August 27 Leeds Festival

pretty big at the time,’ he says.

‘Those two shows stood out for us and they made us think “yeah we want to do that and be in a band”.

That was the moment.’

Even before the current band’s journey started, when they were about 14, Oscar and drummer Haydn had been making music together since they were in primary school.

Perhaps because Reading Festival has been so crucial in inspiring him as a musician, Oscar feels let down by this year’s choice of headliners, which include Eminem, Muse, Kasabian and Liam Gallagher.

‘It would be good if the Reading line-up this year was a bit more inspiring,’ he says.

‘I don’t get why festivals keep offering the same artists in the same spots. It’s boring. Get some fresh headliners on and give festivals more life.’

Although Sundara Karma’s music lives in the land of guitar hooks and well-crafted lyrics, when I ask Oscar which other acts he looks up to, he doesn’t mention a single guitar band, unless you count The Spiders From Mars.

‘Bowie has always been a huge inspiration on me,’ he says. ‘A lot

size.co.uk

of Motown stuff and funk can really excite me. Luther Vandross is an inspiration too but not necessarily one which comes out in the music.’

He throws in Ninja, half of South African rave-rap twopiece Die Antwoord, who is known for his irreverent lyrics and ‘weird dad style’ clothes, as an inspiration wildcard, before adding: ‘I have to say Elvis as well.’

With their heroes firmly in place, another part of the glue that has held the band together is their strong family vibe.

‘We all met at school,’ Oscar tells me. ‘I’ve known Haydn since I was about eight or nine and the other guys, you know, we’ve been together since we were 13 or 14. It’s been a while.

‘We’ve been with each other for all this time and normally when you get to this stage, like brothers and sisters, you tend to be spending more time apart from each other.

‘We’re spending more time with each other purely because of the nature of what we do. You could argue that we’re even closer than blood relatives.’

There is something old-time about Sundara Karma – there’s the flowing ‘80s hair and Oscar’s

@sizeofficial

Festival family: Sundara Karma’s (l-r) Ally Baty, Oscar Pollock, Dom Cordell and Haydn Evans

I don’t get why festivals keep offering the same artists in the same spots.

It’s boring

Oscar Pollock

For interviews and more on this summer’s festivals, go to www.unipaper. co.uk

slim build and flamboyant style, reminiscent of Bowie and Jimi Hendrix.

And while Oscar says he supports the way streaming has made music from across the decades more accessible, he bemoans the loss of many of the real-life scenes that built up around emerging genres before the internet age.

‘We are so exposed to everything, we aren’t really shut off from anything as we don’t have a select amount of vinyls,’ he says.

‘With technology, anyone can find and listen to any sort of music they want. ‘[In the past] you’d have a pocket of some town somewhere, say Manchester, which was a real bubbling pit of like-minded individuals and since there was no way for the outside world to know what was going on, people would have to move there.’

He’s surprisingly nostalgic for the 21-year-old frontman of a band who found their footing so young there’s still an article on their school website calling them ‘talented sixth formers’.

‘There’s a social quality lost in not being able to have a scene develop like it used to,’ Oscar adds.

The interview

A show is about the mosh pit and the escape – It has to feel almost tribal, like cave people dancing round a fire Serge Pizzorno, Kasabian

We’re better than ever Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno tells us the band is at the top of their game, reveals how they drew inspiration

I

 Hannah Dodd AM ecstatic waiting for Serge Pizzorno’s call – it’s not every day you get to speak to Kasabian’s guitarist, let alone find out what he had for breakfast.

‘I had crumpets and Marmite and it was just great!’ he tells me.

But we’re not here to chat breakfast.

After their three-year break from recording, I’m itching to know about Kasabian’s much-awaited sixth album, For Crying Out Loud. From the tracks debuted so far, it seems

to have something for everyone, with influences from punk to acid house, but one collaboration with De Montfort University Gospel Choir stood out for Serge, who describes himself as a ‘studio head’.

‘I was walking down to the Leicester City football grounds and I heard this amazing sound,’ he says.

‘A choir basically singing some gospel terra songs, and I couldn’t believe it – straight away I needed to know what was going on so I stood in front of DMU and watched them.’

So impressed was Serge that he invited the group to perform new

track Put Your Life On It with Kasabian at a special homecoming gig at the football stadium.

‘There’s something about the unison and harmony, especially harmony, with a choir – the power of the music and the lines being sung by a lot of people – it elevates it, it really does,’ he explains. ‘They entered our world and our world is sort of 100mph and it’s quite chaotic. They were so sweet and we had a really good time.’

Serge was so impressed he also hired the choir for the most personal of gigs.

‘I got married this year and they all

sang at my wedding,’ he tells me.

The collab really demonstrates the group’s investment in Leicester, and I wonder if the band’s global fame has ever distanced Serge from a normal life back home. He assures me that would never be the case because home is either ‘in you or it isn’t’ when it comes to your sound.

‘It’s easy to get swept up in it and think you are anyone but who you are. But staying and living there, with Kasabian anyway, I kind of want to make music for my friends and I figure to do that I need to know about their lives,’ he says. ‘If you

move down to London then you live in a different world. You sing about that world. And not many people go through that world.

‘You lose touch with real life and real life is more interesting to make music for.’

And make music they certainly have. Kasabian seem to be maturing like fine wine, even after six albums people can’t get enough. I ask if Serge thinks they’re the best they’ve been.

‘You know what, yeah,’ he says.

‘It’s really exciting and you make it to six albums and it’s almost like they sort of just give in – in the end they

just can’t get rid of you,’ he chuckles.

‘They look at the stuff you’ve done and the albums you’ve created and they say OK there is a lot more to it.

With us, there has been a lot of people saying after each record, “oh, I didn’t think they were like that”.

‘People sort of realise what you’re trying to do the longer you stay in the game. The new show with the set we already have, it’s really quite amazing.

It really has hit another level.’

Kasabian are at home with their back catalogue, especially on the festival stage, according to Serge.

‘The shows we’ve just played have

25 May 2017

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS

The main stage lineup for Reading and Leeds reads like a who’s who of music movers and shakers.

We have a pair of tickets for Reading and a pair for Leeds, where winners can choose between main stage headliners Kasabian, Eminem,

Muse, Liam Gallagher and Korn, as well as more recent break-throughs such as Blossoms and Rat Boy. To enter our competition, click on ‘Win’ at www.unipaper.co.uk and for the full lineup and to buy tickets, see www.readingandleedsfestival.com.

PICTURE: PHIL KNOTT

TO SEE KASABIAN AT READING OR LEEDS FESTIVALS 2017

from the city of Leicester and remembers his oddest festival moment... chatting golf with Wu-Tang Clan been unbelievable,’ he says. ‘It really feels like we’re a band nobody’s seen before, like nobody felt “oh not these lot again”.’

I want to talk rumours, after hearing Bless This Acid House was set to be the best track on the album.

But Serge is quick to correct me, saying he doesn’t want to put that kind of pressure on it and he just wanted to write a punk pop song.

‘It’s really difficult,’ he says. ‘We got it in the last day of recording, and we were all like “right, no more after this”. So we kind of wrote it pretty quickly, but it sounds really hopeful

and uplifting. But it’s one of the best, not the best. I don’t want to get in trouble,’ he jokes.

It took a little longer to spin gold this time around and like many music lovers I wondered why the release date was put back to April 28. Serge feels it’s an album for the summer crowd and says he needed a holiday.

‘I finished it last year before the summer and it was going to come out, then I just thought I’d go on holiday, like “well I’ve done all the hard work”,’ he tells me. ‘I never really give myself a break, like why don’t you have three months off? So I had

a holiday, got married and hung out with the kids.

‘Then I went back to the album and made it even better and I wrote three more songs. It was the best thing I could’ve done and it definitely made the album better.

‘It also didn’t sit right it coming out in the winter – it’s going to own the summer.’

When it comes to this summer’s festivals, Kasabian’s dance card is certainly looking full. With headline shows at Reading and Leeds I wonder if the band gets much down time and if festivals are the highlight of the

summer for them.

‘I love Reading and Leeds – I have such fond memories of those places and we’re honoured to be part of the history of those festivals,’ Serge says.

‘Unfortunately, by the time we get there and we’re off, there isn’t much time. It’s different with the European festivals with dance tents that go on till late and you can get out there.’

I’m curious about how Serge finds the energy to do such big sets.

‘I don’t like to get there too early,’ he says. ‘My adrenaline kicks in too early and by the time you get there you’re knackered. I’ve seen the

line-up is really strong and amazing and to share a poster with Eminem is incredible. I’m a huge fan.’

The last time Kasabian played new stuff was at Glastonbury, in a blaze of bass and magenta, with the pressure piled on. But Serge says that ‘excites me, rather than frightening me’.

‘The most important thing to remember is that the show is about the mosh pit, and the escape, dress it up as much as you like, but it has to be about the moment you feel that connection, when you’re elevated to another dimension,’ he says.

‘It has to feel almost tribal, like cave

people dancing round a fire. While I want to make music and the studio is my place, the more you play the festival stage, the more you become a heightened version of yourself.’

As our time is coming to a close, I decide to ask for Kasabian’s craziest festival story. Serge recalls the time they were chatting to Wu-Tang Clan at T In The Park.

‘We were about to go on and we were huge fans of theirs,’ he recalls.

‘We were told not to stare too much at them, but suddenly we all had a chat about golf swings. Totally bizarre moment.’

|On Campus: 28 Graduation moments City University

Drama amid the decorum

www.unipaper.co.uk | t @TheUniPaper | f TheUniPaper | 020 7580 6419

We asked: tupidest s What’s the d has n ie fr a thing done at uni?

City This month, dents University stu ates m shame their ph

By Susie Jose

Adelie Bert

Thick with tradition, graduations can all be a bit of a blur. But Valentina Bulava found ten students who ensured theirs would be remembered...

A speech reminded everyone why they started their degree If everyone spoke publicly at each graduation ceremony, they would go on for weeks. However, for those who get the chance to have a say, the pressure is well and truly on.

Donovan Livingston rose to this challenge with his speech at his Harvard Graduate School of Education ceremony, which has had more than 700,000 YouTube views.

The five minute spoken-word poem about inspiring school children and breaking away from the legacy of slavery, was shared by Justin Timberlake and Hillary Clinton.

An activist took a stand against a protest ban

Alex per Coo One of the graduands gave his folks financial freedom as a ‘thank you’ Andy Evans’ graduation ceremony was already a big moment for his parents – tutor and bank worker Jane and David.

But as they all celebrated the 22-year-old’s 2:1 in graphic design from Staffordshire University, Andy had a massive surprise in store.

The graffiti artist handed his mum and dad a letter telling them he

had saved up money from the freelance artwork he did partly while at uni to pay off their mortgage.

‘Today is a good day for our family and not just because of graduation, because I can finally do something I have spent five years trying to achieve. I’ve paid off the rest of your mortgage,’ he said in a letter, which he handed his parents on the day.

He said he had wanted to pay the mortgage off since he was a teenager and was grateful to his mum and dad for helping him reach his goals.

When his university took out a high court injunction to ban ‘occupationstyle’ protests, Connor Woodman was not impressed.

The 22-year-old unfurled a banner with ‘students against injunctions’ painted on it in the middle of his graduation ceremony at the University of Warwick.

The stunt was part of a protest by Warwick For Free Education, which Connor was a member of. He called the indefinite ban on sit-ins, granted t before his following clashes between police and making toas and started up t go protesters in 2014, ‘a gross violation of He . . exam run so fast 4  t back the night before ank an yone has ever ornes,ph2on Osbliberties’. e wen I don’t thin Phil basic ll. d’ ha e en th fri sure he y in m t but I’m pretty The clock of asked him why he wasn’ one got hurt No y. nn fu housemate ty . It was pret operw,or2ks4ina residential building once Alex dCseot of re fi d it f s. I went in an My frien flashing light t. of ou s ed ad ck lo ki w t go ncing. rtment and sa  course depa andeered a room for da ti, 22t.  ked past my m AdeleuniBlaeteron e nigh I waling drunk, who had com ocking m s of wine, kn I was at p over a glas are still there to y friends, stea tri m to of w ed fe ag a an was my friend m on to the wall. The stains t, 21te our lecturers, nds Vinclaestnye nded by all ofe two glasses in her ha at , ar Milly ing th rty ntally throw At a course pa r, while accide it to the floo this day.

Phil rne Osbo

The girl at the top of the class was proposed to Getting the top mark possible for her degree in psychology had already made Ashley Nelson’s day pretty special. Then, after being congratulated in front of her coursemates at Bridgewater State University in the US for maintaining such high grades, she turned around to see her boyfriend Josh Tillinghast, who got down on one knee and proposed, to the crowd’s delight.

Millyent Vinc

May 2017

Student band of the month Someone fell over while taking a selfie in skyscraper shoes

PICTURE: PHOEBE DAWSON

It’s every student’s worst nightmare.

If you haven’t stressed out or worried about falling over at graduation we can guarantee you will. Most of us will do anything in our power to avoid it by wearing practical shoes and being cautious as we walk along the stage.

But one Nottingham Trent University student decided to ignore

the warnings and wear the world’s most impractical high heels – think Lady Gaga meets NASA. Not only did Terri Winghei Ng wear sky high platforms to her ceremony, but while she was strutting across the stage to collect her degree, she attempted to take a selfie – which is when it all went wrong.

She wobbled on one of her shoes and collapsed on to her knees. But that didn’t stop Terri. Her friends helped her up and she got her selfie.

29 17 May 2017

How would you describe your

A graduand music? stood for the first since aindie rock High time energy alternative debilitating car crash with a hard-to-explain twist.

In the first yearare of his law degree, Who your major influences?

JeremiahEach Dalielof vowed hisuenced by us aretoinfl classmates that on graduation day, he something different, from jazz would stand andunaided. blues to heavy rock, which And forsomehow the first time since he we come blend when had beentogether. in a car crash five years before, that’s just what the UWE Bristol student did, getting a standingartists?

Who are your favourite ovation from the crowd It would have in tothe be Royal Blood, process. Frank Turner, Muse and Red Hot ‘As if I was dreaming, Chili Peppers.I pulled myself up unaided and put my hands do you forward,’ What he said.topics ‘And guess whatcover – I in songs? was stoodyour on my feet unassisted for We look things from being lost the first time in fiveatyears.’

Playing The liveemotional in a modern world moment wasto relationships. is life:captured (left The two main themesonare on video and posted thethe bad to right) decisions wepage, makereaching and the little university’s Facebook Euan Holwill time in wetwo have to make them.

110,000 views days.

Ethan Dodd Laurence Mulligan Matthew Hambling

became the most Each month we introduce you to the best new musicians fromBoris campuses across the UK. embarrassing dad ever This time we chat to indie fourpiece Kill The Intermission, from the University of Leeds

Music is at our core A novel celebration went horribly wrong

When your father is a politician known for his headline-grabbing antics, you would hope he would avoid doing anything to overshadow your success on graduation day.

Well, if you’re Boris Johnson in the middle of a Brexit campaign, that idea goes out the window.

Boris saw the graduation of his eldest daughter, Lara JohnsonWheeler, at St Andrews University on June 23 last year as the perfect opportunity to get down with the kids on Brexit.

While he was waiting for his daughter to receive her degree, he unveiled a poster which read ‘last chance to vote’.

from Michigan’s Davenport University decided that was not quite enough and did a backflip. It could have been brilliant... if he hadn’t landed flat on his face – ouch.

We all have our own ways of celebrating. While some are happy with a handshake or a cheeky wave, Robert Jeffrey Blank

Where do you want to be in ten years’ time?

We want to be where every band wants to be, on tour with friends, playing shows and getting our music out as much as possible.

If you could collaborate with one artist, who would you pick?

Muse, because of their pure talent and the raw tone to their songs.

Our lives revolve around music, even outside of the band. To make it big would make us realise the time and graft we have put in was worth it.

Where is one place you’d really like to play live?

The main stage at Leeds Festival.

Leeds is where we all grew up together, so playing on the biggest stage in our home town would be an amazing experience.

What are you working on now?

We are putting the finishing touches to our debut single In The Night which is going to have its release date announced any day, so keep your eyes peeled. It’s something we’ve been working on for a while and can’t wait to share it.

What do you enjoy doing outside of music?

Music is at the centre of our lives, even outside of the band. A lot of what we do is based around music. Our bassist Euan enjoys rugby and cricket, but we don’t do much outside of music. If we’re not playing a gig, we will be in the crowd.

If your band lived by one philosophy, what would it be?

Never turn down a gig because you What does success mean to you? never know which one is going to be the start of something bigger.

For us it would mean everything.

FANTASTIC OFFERS ON FOOD AND The mum of a student graduating didn’t even know he was at uni

celebration’ wearing his graduation robe. Rhonda found it hard to believe him at first, then broke down in tears when she realised the 31-year-old was telling the truth.

Liam studied psychology at the University of Dundee and was inspired to choose the subject by friends’ mental health struggles.

His degree has helped him secure a job as a support worker for the Scottish Association of Mental Health.

Rhonda Blair thought her son Liam had been doing odd jobs in a fish factory for the four years leading up to his graduation.

Her son had kept his studies secret from her, only letting on as he appeared in the pub where he’d taken her for an ‘early birthday

A cathedral full of people did the mannequin challenge It was all over the internet last year – even Destiny’s Child, Adele and Paul McCartney did the mannequin challenge.

The great thing about watching the freeze-frame videos is marvelling at

Temple Station, Temple Place, London, WC2R 2PH

how those involved managed to get their sports team or common room to stay in position for so long.

So imagine getting 140 graduands and spectators at UWE Bristol’s ceremony in Bristol cathedral to sit or stand still for nearly a minute.

The attendees, including the vicechancellor, managed it without so much as a wobble.

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In Style

31 May 2017

Versatile day-to-night outfits to celebrate success in style

Be a master of flexibility  Valentina Bulava

Final years, the time to bask in the results of your hard work is just

around the corner. You’ve got your cap and gown ready, but what will you wear underneath? You’ll want something that can take you from

the ceremony right through to the dancefloor. If you’re not prepared, try not to panic – our interchangeable outfit ideas will have you sorted.

This look is the perfect way to avoid a boring suit without breaking the dress code. Swap the burgundy shoes for less formal suede loafers after the ceremony.

Burgundy shoes, £50 from River Island Shirt, £12 from Matalan Trousers, £40 from River Island Blue shoes, £45 from Next Navy tie, £10 from River Island

A flash of floral will help break up formal robes, while the jacket keeps it smart during the day. Swap court shoes for sandals for the after party.

Dress, £34.99 from New Look Jacket, £69 from Monsoon Bracelet, £15 from Accessorize Court heels, £90 from Dune Clutch, £70 from Dune Sandals, £90 from Dune Earrings, £9 from Accessorize

Food & Drink

33 May 2017

Craft the ultimate cookout W

Forget about the charcoal encrusted sausages and dodgy looking chicken and become the greatest griller in town with these expert tips  Tom Gellatly E ALL love the smoky, charred taste of foods cooked on the coals and there are few better feelings in life than getting some friends together in your garden, putting on some great tunes and getting the barbecue fired up.

But sometimes things can go wrong, especially for us amateurs.

We’ve all been there – frantically

There’s no better feeling than getting some friends together and getting the grill fired up trying to stop our food burning on a tiny disposable grill and battling with the wind as our guests complain that it’s 10pm and they still haven’t eaten. It can be tempting to give up and order a takeaway kebab instead.

But don’t despair, TUP has asked Andre ‘Boss Hog’ Blais, founder of smoke house specialists Bodean’s BBQ, for his failsafe tips on how to make your barbecues stand out from the crowd.

For more food and drink ideas, go to www.unipaper. co.uk

Meat masters: (Top to bottom) founder Andre Blais, Bodean’s meat and one of their chefs

 Keep some apple juice in a spray bottle and regularly spray the meat while cooking. This not only helps to keep the meat moist but will lightly caramelise the outside too.  Apple juice is also great to marinade your ribs in overnight, as the acid will tenderise the meat.  Soak some wood chips in beer and spread on to the hot coals to add a great smoky flavour.  Keep a foil tray of water next to the coals. The steam will help keep your food moist and provide a warm area to rest it in when it’s cooked.  Marinate the meat overnight with a dry rub – use around 25 per cent salt, 25 per cent sugar, 25 per cent paprika and 25 per cent other dried spices of your choice, for example garlic and onion powder, powdered mustard, cayenne pepper or celery.  Don’t cook at a high temperature.

Use a medium to low heat – this will cook the meat thoroughly and stop it from drying out.  Buy the highest quality meat you can afford, never use frozen and look for good marbling (intramuscular fat) in red meats and firm, dry skin and fat on poultry.  Never eat meat straight from the barbecue. Let it rest for five to ten minutes so the juices can set in, for juicier, softer meat.  Use lumpwood charcoal if you are grilling directly over the heat source, as briquettes contain a chemical which can taint your food.

Also, cook on embers and always let the charcoal turn white before you begin.  Always stay well hydrated. I recommend a cold bottle of Samuel Adams or a Goose Island.

Get your buns and baps at the ready as we round up the best budget barbecues Save yourself the hassle of trying to keep Gentlemen’s Club Grill a disposable one alight and take a look at Sergeant BBQ It may look like Tom Cruise in Tropic our top picks of grills

KORPÖN portable charcoal grill

Thunder, or in Top Gun plus tash, but this tiny grill is a real hero. Not only does it stand to attention while you cook up your burgers, but its clip on lid and tiny size means it can be taken anywhere. But you can stand at ease, as Sergeant BBQ will only set you back £25.

Landmann 0630 Cast Iron Barrel Barbecue Notebook Folding Grill The clue for why this is so great is in the name – with the ability to fold the Notebook completely flat, you can pretty much carry it anywhere as easily as you would a laptop. Whether you’re buying it for the beach, the local park or just your garden, this sturdy and portable choice is pretty affordable at £20.

This is about as durable as it gets – the Landmann 0630 is made of cast iron, with sturdy wooden handles.

Despite how solid it is, reviewers say it’s easy to assemble, in about half an hour. You can also adjust the height, so the chef can relax with a beer while grilling or sit with the rest of the party – they may not be so grateful for the smoke though. This model can also be used as an outdoor heater and is available for £20 to £30.

Looking like a combination of a UFO and saucepan, this is another portable option for all those spontaneous summer chefs. The small holes in the grate reduce the chance of food falling into the coals beneath, and the vent increases airflow, meaning cooking will be quick as well as easy. And it looks like it’s starred in a sci-fi movie. You can grab this barbecue from IKEA for £15.

Kingfisher BBQ 2 14-inch Basic BBQ It might not be as portable as some of our other picks, but this barbecue comes with a removable grill and a tripod stand and is ideal for a spontaneous cookout to celebrate the end of exams. And looking as cool and retro as it does, it will have everyone coming to chat to you while you flip the burgers. It is also the cheapest of our picks – you can pick it up from Amazon for £10.50.

Digs

34

37

www.unipaper.co.uk | 020 7580 6419

May 2017

Master monster moving day

Our ten packing tips will ensure moving out of your halls or house this summer goes like a dream

to make your moving day a lot less stressful too.

4» Spring clean A lot of clutter can be stressful to pack, unpack and even live with, so get a bin bag and be ruthless. As artist and revolutionary William Morris once said: ‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.’

I

 Tom Gellatly T’S a nightmare scenario: it’s moving day and you wake up hungover to find your belongings everywhere and a text from your parents saying they’re half an hour away.

To come out on top in this situation (rather than just sitting on top of your suitcase crying), you have two choices – develop the ultimate hangover cure and learn to throw a year’s worth of stuff together quicker than lightning.

Or, you can make sure it never happens in the first place.

Packing up all the belongings you’ve somehow collected over the last year is no small feat, but Benedict Sycamore from SpaceWays storage has some tips on making it easier.

5» Don’t overload If you only have a few boxes, you may be tempted to load each one with as much stuff as possible.

But by distributing the weight evenly, you will reduce the risk of breaking your back or ripping the cardboard.

6» Fill in the gaps If you’re wondering what to do with those lecture notes you never revisited why not use them as packing paper?

Think of it as a form of recycling.

Filling the gaps with paper will also secure everything for the ride home.

1» Be brutal

7» Colour code

Do you really need three hairbrushes? Or that traffic cone you picked up on a night out during freshers’ week? If the answer is what we think it is, then these are the items you need to tackle first.

It makes sense to pack (or throw away) what you don’t use on a daily basis before anything else.

Also, think about what you need to use every day and be sure to pack it last. Plan an outfit for going home in and have it laid out so you don’t have to frantically rummage through your suitcase on the day – don’t forget to include underwear.

On each box, write a list of its contents – try and be as detailed as possible, staying away from descriptions such as ‘bits and bobs’.

Why not put those highlighters to use and choose a different colour for each category – as long as you don’t start drawing patterns to procrastinate.

8» Think bottomheavy Make sure a box of books is not on top of one containing the decorative beer glasses you’ve carefully been stealing from pubs since the start of term. By stacking the heaviest packages first, you ensure no breakable items are crushed during the move.

2» Confront one room at a time This is an often neglected point.

Just because you spend most of your time in your room, that doesn’t mean you don’t have stuff lying about elsewhere.

Why not make a start in the kitchen, by washing up your things?

Or you could be super organised by planning your meals for the week before and packing away the cooking equipment you don’t need.

Taking on the task room by room will help you stay organised and make it easier when it comes to the dreaded unpacking stage.

9» Get the essentials The last thing you’re going to want to do when you get home is unpack, especially on a hangover.

To avoid having to do this, take a bag of essentials so you can spend time catching up with family and friends rather than stuck in your room riffling through your stuff.

10» Have fun

3» Dawdle wisely We know the weeks before moving out are supposed to be dedicated to revision and essay writing. But let’s be honest, a lot of time is also spent procrastinating.

Rather than using ten minutes to watch everyone’s Snapchat stories, why not make a start on your packing instead? A bit of time here and there will help clear your mind of exam stress and will guarantee

Packing will be quicker the more fun you have doing it. Think of a game to help the minutes go quicker. How about starting while pre-drinking and taking a shot for every box you manage to fill?

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Screen & Tech

Say ‘hell yeah’ to open-air

‘T

 Valentina Bulava URN the TV off,’ they say. ‘Get outside, run around,’ they say.

Screw that. Rather than getting tired and dirty, get to one of the open-air cinemas popping up as the weather warms up.

We’ve picked five of the best places to enjoy screen time while fulfilling your ‘time outside’ quota.

1» Somerset House We’re sure Buckingham Palace has a bloody big TV for when Phil and Liz want to Netflix and chill.

But the former home of Queen

35 May 2017

waving with Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.

3» Coventry Cathedral Ruins

Spend some reel time with mates at outdoor cinemas this summer...

Elizabeth I has an even bigger one.

Every year, Somerset House in London opens its doors to around 2,000 of us serfs a night. This year movies such as black comedy Cruel Intentions and Studio Ghibli flick My Neighbour Totoro will get an airing in the series which runs from August 10 to 23.

2» Tatton Park Go back in time at Tatton Park in Knutsford, where deer roam across 1,000 acres. And talking of time travelling, Back To The Future kicks off a three-day series there in August, which also includes leather outfit bonanza Grease and wand

Ghosts, aliens and dinosaurs will take over Coventry with a series of cult movies at the Cathedral Ruins.

Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will all get a showing in the programme, which runs from June 1 to July 22.

4» Sandford Parks Lido, Cheltenham Recreate that scene from Dirty Dancing moments before watching the actual movie. Sandford Parks Lido is screening the film along with a number of others in a programme that runs from August 10 to September 22.

For more screen & tech, go to www. unipaper.co.uk

We’re sure Buckingham Palace has a bloody big TV for when Phil and Liz want to Netflix and chill

5» Cardiff Castle We doubt the Norman invaders who plonked a castle on the site envisaged a three-day movie extravaganza taking place in the grounds. And we’re sure they wouldn’t have approved of Top Gun, Grease and Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone as the films for the series, which runs from September 15 to 7, but they were more into conquering land than family flicks so what do they know?

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WIN! One meal

May 2017

Your chance to win fantastic tickets, trips and treats | For all our competitions head to www.unipaper.co.uk/competitions

Competition T&Cs: One winner will be chosen from the following cities: London, Bristol, Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Enter the city you would like to eat at in the ‘your location’ section of the entry form.

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for two at Byron

It’s the end of the academic year – time to celebrate!

Whether you’re on the verge of graduating or just looking for somewhere special

(and delicious) to mark the momentous occasion, we’ve got you covered.

The University Paper has teamed up with burger master

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To be in with a chance of winning head over to: www. unipaper.co.uk/competitions and fill out the form. It only takes a

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Sport

43 May 2017

Take a look back on the topsy-turvy year of sport which took place on university tracks and fields across the country

Men with Hart prove they’re the best around

 John Shaw

A

1» Hartpury College secure magnificent BUCS double

PICTURE: UNIVERSITY CENTRE HARTPURY

FTER Leicester won the Premier League, the Chicago Cubs took the World Series and England capitulated to Iceland in the Euros, sports fans were getting rather used to excitement.

But things have undoubtedly calmed down since the summer of 2016.

However, in the world of university sport nothing ever plays by type. Once again this year has been a blockbuster-worthy tale of triumph and despair, highs and lows.

At The University Paper we have witnessed some epic battles between giant sporting institutions, personal tales of glory and one or two upsets.

As we’re nearing the end of the academic year, let us take you through our eight sporting highlights of the 2016/2017 academic year.

When it comes to rugby union there was one team who rose above them all this season: Hartpury College.

The magnificent side from Gloucester were undoubtedly the best in the country this year, first lifting the inaugural BUCS Super Rugby trophy and then the BUCS Rugby Union Championship.

The second piece of silverware came after a pulsating match at Twickenham which saw reigning champions Exeter defeated 27-24.

Next year, the men in red will certainly be the ones to beat.

The question is: can anyone stop them?

For more news, events and sport go to www. unipaper.co.uk

The good, mad and the rugby

2» Bath’s golden victory

3» Super Rugby kicks off

4» Leicester dominate

5» A fine Fin-ish

6» Unlucky 12 for Beckett

7» Records tumble

When the University of Bath travelled to Cardiff Metropolitan University for the second iteration of their Varsity competition, everyone expected it to be a closelyfought affair.

But few could have predicted the winner of the entire series would be decided by a dramatic golden goal in the final event of the night.

With the overall scores tied at 26-26 by the end of the men’s rugby union, the fate of the title was determined by a breakaway try for the English side in extra time.

In terms of raw excitement, it was undoubtedly the most thrilling Varsity finale we witnessed this year and, perhaps, ever.

A new era of rugby union dawned this year, with the aim of delivering highly competitive fixtures every week. But did BUCS Super Rugby work? Hell yes it did.

The premise is simple: the best eight university teams (Bath, Cardiff Met, Durham, Exeter, Hartpury College, Leeds Beckett, Loughborough and Northumbria) play each other in a super league.

Weekly matches against top opposition sides have pushed the teams to the limit.

At the start of the year it was impossible to pick a winner. By the end it was Hartpury’s captain Sebastian Negri lifting the trophy at Twickenham Stadium.

When you think of unbelievable footballing feats involving Leicester, you’d be forgiven for jumping to Leicester City’s incredible Premier League win.

But the University of Leicester’s women’s football first XI had their own ridiculously successful spell this year, as they stormed to an unbeaten, first-placed finish in their Midlands 3A league. But being crowned champions wasn’t the most impressive thing about this Leicester team: it was the manner in which they secured top spot. They recorded a +75 goal difference in ten games and swept aside their opposition, including a 17-1 win against Warwick’s seconds.

When Brunel student Finette Agyapong came second in the 200m at last year’s BUCS Nationals, she lost out to a new BUCS record time of 23.76 seconds.

The 20-year-old was undeterred in the intervening year, however, and she returned to the 2017 competition to avenge her previous loss.

Not only did Finette win the 200m this time round, she set a new record of 23.68 seconds to secure a historic gold medal for Brunel.

If the law student keeps improving at this rate, the 2018 200m time could be a third record-breaker in a row.

Leeds Beckett University had a strong record in the BUCS Rugby League Championship going into this year’s competition, having won the last 11 titles in a row.

When they made it to this year’s final against Northumbria University, most fans were backing the Yorkshiremen to make it an even dozen. But the Tyneside team had other ideas, storming into a 24-0 lead in the first 50 minutes in a terrifying display, which signalled there was a new boss in town.

Beckett clawed back 18 points in the last half hour, forcing Northumbria to hold on to record a historic victory, finally ending their rivals’ decade-plus of dominance.

The 2016 Rio Olympic Games saw gold medals for the big names of cycling Sir Bradley Wiggins, Jason Kenny and Laura Trott.

That must have been a huge inspiration when it came to the record breaking weekend of BUCS Track Cycling Championships in Manchester in November.

We saw an outstanding weekend with records falling from the very first day.

The weekend even saw an appearance for Team GB’s Jess Varnish, who made her first start for Manchester Met University, pipping Exeter’s Emma Cockcroft to the line in the women’s elimination.

Quotes of the year

8» Gamble for Morgan pays off in a big way

• The BUCS rugby league

moments after her BUCS Nationals 200m record.

has been the best I’ve seen university rugby – John Barnes, director of rugby at Hartpury College.

• It feels really good to get

the win. I didn’t expect to win at all – Morgan Jones after his BUCS Nationals victory.

• It was a matter of staying

composed – I knew I had it in me – Finette Agyapong

• Cardiff Met have got to Want to write for The University Paper? Email editor@unipaper. co.uk to find out how to get involved

come back and prove they’re better than us – Will Galloway, Bath sports officer

• I honestly believe we can

do it, we’ve got a great team, great staff behind us and a great squad – Sebastian Negri, Hartpury College captain at the start of their double winning season

Cardiff Met sprinter Morgan Jones (pictured) took a massive gamble by changing his coach and moving away from jumps to sprints.

Would it pay off? His choice was to be tested when he made it through to the final of the 60m ambulant at BUCS Nationals in February.

With pressure mounting, a false start was made, throwing everyone off. The 22-year-old Jones was unshaken.

The sport and exercise masters student clocked a PB of 7.66 seconds to take the gold medal.

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