Vısıon YORK
Tuesday March 14, 2017
THE UK’S MOST AWARDED STUDENT NEWSPAPER
ISSUE 261
FEATURES: LGBT History Month and Sexpose
INSIDE: STUDENTS PROTEST SWP PRESENCE ON CAMPUS
HOUSING HORROR Spotted: Fungi growing in uni accommodation
BY AISLING MUSSON and ABBY TOMLINSON
Building site from hell keeps Hes East Freshers up at all times!
VISION investigates the housing crisis in York, from mildew, mushrooms and nasty moulds to loud crashes, bangs and a few noisy cement mixers making freshers’ lives hell. Turn to Page 4 for more.
YorkVision.co.uk
Want to write for the UK’s most awarded student newspaper?
WE ARE the UK’s most awarded student newspaper, and home at York to breaking news, in-depth exposés, controversial opinions, the latest and greatest in the world of culture, and - of course - salacious campus gossip. Now we’re looking for new journalists, designers and photographers to join our team. It’s no surprise that after nearly 30 years of printing, York Vision has seen alumni go on to work for the Telegraph,
the Guardian, the Times, the Mirror, the Independent, Buzzfeed, USA Today, the BBC, ITV, and Sky Sports. We’ve been nominated for 40 Guardian awards, won nine NUS student journalism awards, and been named the UK’s best student newspaper five times. If you fancy a shot at a career in media, if you want to see your name in thousands of copies of a newspaper across campus, or if you want to go on our notorious socials – then come along to our elections.
EDITORIAL TEAM SPRING 2017 Editors-in-chief:
Amara Barrett-Willett Taghreed Ayaz Deputy Editors: Abby Tomlinson Eleanor Riches Managing Director: James Eyerman Webmaster: Lucas North Scene Editor: Finley Harnett Laura Walmsley
News Editors: Josh Salisbury Aisling Musson Deputy News Editors: Lucas North Chief News Reporters: Max Flynn
You can stand for any position in the paper – and there are lots. We like everyone standing for editor-in-chief, deputy editor and managing director to have had two terms’ worth of experience, but if nobody else goes for them they’re up for grabs. If you don’t have any experience in journalism then don’t worry – we’ll teach you tips and tricks for getting stories, interviewing the hottest talent, getting great shots, and designing a newspaper on our Adobe suite. We’d like everyone to make a short
speech, between 30 seconds and a minute long, about why you want a position. Then everyone votes! If you don’t know what to say, think about anything you’ve written or designed, or anything you’ve been involved in managing – or if that fails, just why you want the job in the first place! Elections will be held in week 2 of Summer term
Vısıon
Opinions Editor: Huw James
Deputy Opinions Editor: Abdullah Ibraham Features Editor: Aisling Musson Deputy Features Editor: Huw James
YORK
Chief Sub Editor: Laura Aspinwall Victoria McCluskey-Williams Chief Photographer: Laura Aspinwall Linda Phan
Got a story? We pride ourselves on being the best news source in York
Facebook: York Vision Email: vision@yusu.org Twitter: @YorkVision
Advertising Director: Lauren Proctor Sports Editor: Amara Barrett-Willett Taghreed Ayaz
Taghreed and Amara
Opinions expressed in York Vision are not necessarily those of the Editors, Senior Editorial Team, membership, or advertisers. Every effort is made to ensure all articles are as factually correct as possible at the time of going to press, given the information available. If you do spot any mistakes or wish to make a complaint please send an email to vision@yusu.org. Copyright Vision Newspapers, 2017. Printed by Mortons of Horncastle.
Student & Professional Lets
LEADING THE WAY FOR STUDENT & PROFESSIONAL LETS IN YORK PICCADILLY RESIDENCE U Õ Þ vÕÀ à i` U Ãi Ì Õ ÛiÀÃ Ì ià U ÝVi i Ì V ÌÞ Vi ÌÀi V>Ì
S T UDIO (FROM £585 PCM) 1 BEDS (FROM £840 PCM) L AS T FEW REMAININ G
GEORGE HOUS E U Õ Þ vÕÀ Ã i` U Ãi Ì V ÌÞ Vi ÌÀi U ÛiÀÌi` ÃÌi` LÕ ` }
S T UDIO (FROM £650 PCM) 1 BED (FROM £800 PCM) COMING SUMMER 2017
FOSSGATE HOUSE U £È >«>ÀÌ i Ìà ££ ÃÌÕ` ] x Ý £ Li`® U 1Ì ÌÞ L à V Õ`i` U - Ü y>Ìà V } č«À Óä£Ç
www.ypp.co.uk/fossgatehouse S T UDIO (FROM £74 0 P CM) 1 BEDS (FROM £865 PCM)
Find your perfect home – be quick, they’re letting fast
KPHQ"[RR EQ WM (QNNQY WU QPe
YYY [RR EQ WM
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
4 NEWS
STUDENTS LAUNCH INVESTIGATION INTO ACCOMODATION PRICES AT THE UNIVERSITY BY ABBY TOMLINSON YORK STUDENT Think Tank has launched an investigation into on-campus accommodation prices at the Uni. The Think Tank wants students to complete a survey about their satisfaction with: the quality of on campus accommodation; what their thoughts are on the rent costs; and how university accommodation should cater to the student body. The aim of the survey is to ensure that students have their voices heard regarding on campus accommodation. Paula Balic from the Think Tank said: “So far from the responses we’ve gotten, 78% of students don’t think they’re getting value for money. University’s rent prices go up every year, yet the quality of the accommodation stays the same. The university seems to come up with new ways to profit off of students, for example making most of the blocks catered, when 81% of our respondents have said they prefer self-catered accommodation. There’s clearly a problem and this is why more and more students are opting to live off-campus – 67% have said they’ve not considered on-campus accommodation as a possible option.” York Uni is about average for accommodation prices nationally,but has recently come under fire from YUSU prez candidates for failing to provide enough economy accommodation. Anger at the failure of universities to provide affordable accommodation for students has increased in recent years, the NUS unipol accommodation costs survey of 2015 found that 48% per cent of institutions had no policy on providing affordable accommodation for their students. The study also found that although the York Uni is located in a region with lower rents than many parts of the country, around 90% of its accommodation lay within the considerably high £120-150 and £150-200 bands, suggesting that the University should perhaps provide a broader range of accommodation prices in order to ensure all students are catered for. YUSU pres elect Alex Urquhart, commented that: “Rising accommodation prices is a real concern for students, but premium accommodation is only being built because students are asking for it when choosing their accommodation. When students are making the move from school to university, there is a lot of uncertainty and, quite understandably, they often feel that a double bed and an en-suite will help them settle in. Once they’re at university, however, these luxuries become less of a priority. To stop the building of more expensive accommodation, we need convincing data that suggests students don’t actually want it. If we collected more data after students have had some time at university, we may have a stronger argument for building more economy accommodation. Until the students stop asking for premium accommodation, it will continue to be built.”
UNI HOUSING IS...
MOULD
BY AISLING MUSSON
A DERWENT student has told Vision of a serious mould problem in his accomodation block that took 3 weeks to be resolved. In an email shown to Vision sent to residents of the block, who pay £120 a week for rooms with shared bathrooms, college staff inform students “the mould you’re describing is called mildew, and it has been caused by the shower tray being cracked and water leaking. Please be assured that any inconvenience to the residents is temporary but unavoidable, and Estates are doing their best to resolve the problem.” In another email, a member of staff
attempted to explain the delay in resolving the problem: “He [the maintenance manager] said that it’s reasonably obvious that the shower has been leaking for some time but not reported to Estates, which he’s found a bit frustrating; he says it’s quite a large crack. He’s explained that the shower cubicle will now require stripping to allow the walls and floor to dry before a new shower tray can be fitted so this may increase the time it takes to complete the repair. But he’s assured me it will be done as quickly as possible.” However, Antoine
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
5 NEWS
CONCRETE POURING BY ABBY TOMLINSON
STANDARD Echassoux, a 1st year student told Vision it took 3 weeks for the problem to be resolved: “We reported a crack in the shower and maintenance didn’t do anything about it, and this led to lots of mould growing behind the shower and eventually actual mushrooms in the shower room and corridor - we reported it multiple times and it took a good three weeks before they did anything. Though many
students are angry at similar issues appearing in their on-campus accommodation, particularly with relatively high rent prices compared to the rest of the UK, Echassoux was quick to emphasise that it was just what he’d come to expect from campus accomodation, particularly campus accomodation in Derwent College. “For the mushroom it was more funny than anything for us, we were a bit annoyed when we came back from the holidays because it was still not fixed, but we started making jokes about it.” “The whole of Derwent is a bit
like this, that’s part of the experience, they don’t have stories like this is Hes East!” In the same accommodation block, the taps in the student bedrooms are all labelled to indicate the water is not safe for drinking, though students still use the water to brush their teeth and wash their faces which could be a safety concern. A student at the University of Nottingham contracted an infection while living in halls from a parasite that could have eaten her eye from the inside, resulting in permanent visual impairment or blindness.
STUDENTS IN Langwith College have been left angry at repeated 24 hour concrete pouring taking place directly outside their accommodation blocks making what has been seen (or heard) by many as an unacceptable amount of noise. The concrete pouring, which has been going on until as late as 3am, is part of construction for the enigmatic “Piazza Learning Centre” being built on Heslington East, costing £17 million and due for completion in January 2018 – after most of those who have been disturbed by its construction no longer live in close proximity. So far, excitement surrounding the piazza-learning centre has been limited to students walking past the construction site and accidentally thinking that the signs say “pizza is coming…”. After the first concrete pouring, and presumably after a series of complaints had been made, accommodation services sent an email saying, “We are sorry that the Piazza works last night were louder than expected. We are trying to complete each pour as quickly as possible but, depending on the weather and a number of other factors, the entire process can take up to 24 hours and cannot be stopped once it has been started.” From then on students received an email from accommodation services on days the concrete pouring was due to take place, asking them to get in touch if they felt they would be adversely affected by the noise caused. Upon following these instructions, students were then offered a room on Heslington West for the night – because there could be nothing more convenient than lugging your duvet, pillow and possessions over to Derwent for the night to get the beauty sleep you’d think would be a given for students paying up to £7,650 for their accommodation. Still, at least there’s no asbestos.
tesy
cour
ickr of fl
No Sleep for Langwith Freshers
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
6 NEWS
ANGER AS UNI ADVERTISES ON ALT-RIGHT SITE Site says “York doesn’t care about male suicide” BY JOSH SALISBURY THE UNIVERSITY is advertising on the altright site, Breitbart News, Vision can reveal. Breitbart has personally targeted York staff and students in the past, most notably over the controversy surrounding the cancellation of International Men’s Day (IMD) in November 2015. Breitbart has previously come under fire for harassing York students amid a backlash against the cancellation of IMD. One writer on the site wrote of a then YUSU officer: “If this were Tinder, you’d ask for your money back”, linking to their personal Facebook pictures. Another piece on the extreme online publication branded York as being
“Advertising on a site that has actively targeted our students is a betrayal”
full of “campus crazies” due to some students’ opposition to the celebration of IMD. The right-wing outlet has also slammed the Uni itself, raising further ethics questions about the suitability of York’s advertisements on the site. Shockingly, one article on the alt-right site alleges that “the University of York doesn’t care about male suicide” because of its decision not to mark the day. Another, penned by inflammatory commentator, Milo Yiannopolous, called the Uni “pathetic and spineless” over a failed bid by a student to host a talk by him. Ben Walker, a third year History student, blasted the University, saying “The university advertising on a site that has actively targeted our students is a betrayal. If they’re trying to attract Breitbart’s readership to the University then frankly they’ve betrayed not only the students that have suffered as a result of their poisonous
journalism but every student that opposes their narrative”. YUSU’s Wellbeing and Community Officer, Dom Smithies told Vision: “I believe our institution should support good quality media - as they do with the formidable student media we have on campus. The Uni may not be aware of this advertising if they’re going through an advertising agency. I personally would hope and encourage that, upon being made aware, they take action to remove any and all advertising from the site, following the example of other universities.” Several universities have blocked their adverts from appearing on the incendiary website following outcries on social media. Sheffield Uni pledged to remove their advertising presence from Breitbart in January, as did Sheffield Hallam, Queens Belfast and Loughborough. Liverpool and Stirling universities also publicly stated last month that they have banned their adverts from appearing on the outlet. An anonymous social media campaign, called Sleeping Giants, has been encouraging Twitter users to name and shame organisations which are supporting Breitbart with their advertising presence. According to the campaign, over 1,200 companies and organisations have divested from Breitbart, including big brands such as Kellogg’s, Audi and T-Mobile. The campaign has intensified in the wake of the appointment of Breitbart’s former Chief Executive, Stephen Bannon, as Donald Trump’s Chief Adviser.
David Duncan, the University’s Registrar, said in a statement to York Vision: “I’m quite sure that the University of York has not taken out advertising space on the Breitbart website; however, it may be that online advertising on behalf of the University of York appears automatically on a range of websites with a wide variety of political perspectives. This should not be taken as an endorsement of any particular political viewpoint. I am unclear whether it is possible to request that online advertising only appears on specific websites.” The university still has not taken steps to block their adverts from appearing on Breitbart News, Vision understands.
“I would hope and en- ‘Betrayal’... Students slam Uni for not courage the uni, upon withdrawing ads being made aware, to remove any and all ads from the site”
PROPOSAL FOR YUSU TO HAVE A WORKING CLASS HERO
BY MAX FLYNN
YORK MAY be the next in a list of universities including the likes of Manchester and King’s College London to introduce a Working Class Officer to the student union. A proposal for the inclusion of a Working Class Officer within YUSU was submitted last week by Michaela Tharby and Jacob Webb,. It will be reviewed by the Policy and Review group next term and potentially passed on to the wider student body to decide. In addition to the role addressing monetary concerns of lower income students, the role is also thought to aim to address attitudes and culture on campus with Manchester Union describing the role as aiming to “bridge the gap between working and middle-class students”. While Chav D last year met its demise in the face of growing student
opposition, issues of class division are still a hot topic on campus. The form a Working Class Officer would take within YUSU, if ‘Working Class Officer’ would be its title and the criteria a student would have to fit in order to stand are divisive topics even among its proponents. Other Students’ Unions often take a variety of approaches. King’s College asks students to self-define as working class in order to be eligible to stand while Manchester University requires students to either be a recipient of the Manchester Bursary, a care-leaver or the first in their family to go to university in order to stand. With a rise in tuition fees likely to be around the corner and the cutting of student bursaries, there has been a movement to provide a formal voice for students from lower incomes within student unions across the country.
DEBATE: Should YUSU have a working class officer? YES/NO debate p. 18
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
7 NEWS
NUS LGBT+ CONFERENCE RONs ONLY CANDIDATE IN NEC WOMEN’S PLACE ELECTION BY LUCAS NORTH THE 2017 NUS UK LGBT+ Conference voted to RON the election for LGBT+ Officer (Women’s Place), a full time paid role at the organisation. The role is elected by women’s caucus at the national meeting, meaning delegates who do not define as women cannot take part in the vote. Following the result, nominations were re-opened at conference, and a second election was held later the same day. The only candidate for the role, Airlie Ogilvie, was nominated by the incumbent officer and was subjected to an online RON campaign which she described as “bullying” and “hurtful” in her election speech. There was a significant outcry on social media during the conference with many delegates raising concerns that Ogilvie had been racist and islamophobic in the past, sharing screenshots of facebook posts and comments in which she had implied Muslim students could not be LGBT+, and spoke of her calling police on a fellow student after having torn down Palestine flags on that student’s door.
Shocking comments made by LGBT+ Candidate Her supporters took to twitter to defend her actions, but conference was not convinced and she received only 13 votes while RON received 47. Some delegates suggested she was attempting to use her identity as a trans woman to disguise the allegations, which remain unaddressed. A YUSU delegate to LGBT+ conference tweeted their support for the RON campaign, saying “Vote RON for women’s officer. These non-answers are completely unacceptable. We have to act in complete solidarity to POC.” They added “Vote RON - be inclusive, listen to QTIPOC voices, and stand up for liberation.” After reopening nominations Beth Douglas, NUS Scotland LGBT+ Officer, was elected to the role.
YORK WIDENS PARTICIPATION
BY JOSH SALISBURY
YORK IS among the BEST in the Russell Group for admitting the most disadvantaged students, newly released stats show. The figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that 8.7% of York undergraduates in the 2015-16 cohort came from the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. York was only beaten by Liverpool and Cardiff, with 9.1% of Liverpool’s undergraduates being from the poorest areas and 9.3% of Cardiff’s undergraduates being from the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The figures, however, don’t include Scottish Russell Group unis, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The numbers also reveal that York is ABOVE average for its intake of state school students in the Russell Group, with 81.2% of the 2015-16 intake coming from state schools, compared to the average of 78%. York’s state school intake ranked higher than Russell Group contenders, Warwick, LSE and Nottingham. Oxford was the worst performer, with barely over half of its intake in 2015-16 coming from state schools. Nationally just 7% of children attend non-state schools. However, York was still under the national averages for its proportion of state school students and students from the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Nationally, 90% of the 15-16 cohort came from State schools and 11% were from areas least likely to participate in Higher Education. A University spokesman told York Vision: “This latest data underlines York’s commitment to welcoming students from diverse backgrounds and Statistics show York has third highest admission emphasises our long record in widening rate for disadvantaged students participation and fair access. “Over the last few years, we have intensified our widening participation work and developed exciting, progressive programmes of activities for schools. These include ‘Shine’; which is aimed at the brightest young pupils from Years 6 to 11 from areas where there is low progression to higher education. “The University also offers extensive financial support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds while they are studying with us, with a bursary fund of over £6M in 2017/18.”
NUS UK MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST TRANS OFFICER IN EUROPE IS ELECTED LAST TUESDAY, at the first conference of the newly created NUS Trans Campaign, years of activism culminated in the BY LUCAS NORTH
election of the first trans officer in Europe. Jess Bradley became the first NUS Full-Time Officer who identified as a trans woman, and has been congratulated by numerous NUS Officers on her election to the role. The NUS Trans Campaign became policy at NUS National Conference in 2016, after previous courtesy of #TransformNUS attempts failed to gain the two-thirds majority of delegates in favour needed. That decision was ratified at a company law in December, attended by YUSU President, Millie Beach. The 2015 debate on the motion saw Maddy Kirkman, former Derwent College Access Rep before moving on to NUS Disabled Students Officer, take to the stage and beg delegates to vote against the motion as it had not passed at NUS LGBT+ Conference. The creation of the campaign follows the work of #TransformNUS, who lobbied for the motion online and in person, and is the first of its kind.
courtesy of creative commons
8 NEWS
PUPPY LOVE
BY JOSH SALISBURY
GUIDE DOGS are coming to York, as part of a stress buster organised by Wentworth College. The event, which is bound to set dog lovers’ tails wagging, is due to take place on Monday March 20th at 13:00pm, taking place in Wentworth College’s Common Room. The event is free, but the organisers suggest a donation of £2, all of which will be donated to the Guide Dogs Charity. The Charity helps to provide guide dogs for blind and partially sighted people. Guide dog events have been very popular with students in the past, with multiple Colleges organising them to help relieve stress.
IWD CELEBRATED
BY AISLING MUSSON
CAMPUS MARKED International women’s day on Wednesday last week, with academic departments promoting and advertising “Women in research”, showcasing the female academic talent at the university. Additionally, the Women’s Officers chose to fundraise for “Girls Not Brides”, a worldwide group of campaigns to end child marriage and help girls access education instead. Women’s Officer Lucy said in light of departments formal celebrations of women in research, they “wanted to do something fun and nice”. They fundraised by handing out “goodie bags” for a suggested donation, each containing balloons, sanitary products, sweets, tea bags and pens. Though fundraising continues, by the end of the day the women’s officers had raised over £100 pounds. The day was rounded off by Comedy Society’s Women’s Show, featuring a lineup of improv, stand-up and sketch comedians, all women and non-binary people.
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
STUDENTS SAY: SWP-OFF Open letter protests the Socialist Workers’ Party
BY JOSH SALISBURY STUDENT POLITICOS have written an open letter protesting York representatives’ attendance at a meeting they consider to have been organised by the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP). Since 2010, the far-left party has been marred by accusations that it has covered up the rape and sexual harassment of party members by the party’s senior management. The event, organised by York Stands Up to Racism (SUTR), took place on 15th February, and was attended by Green Party Councillor for Guildhall ward, Denise Craghill, among others. York Centre MP, Rachael Maskell, was invited to attend but withdrew at the last minute, although the York Labour Party banner was displayed at the meeting. The open letter contends that members of the SWP’s executive body are co-organisers of Stand Up to Racism and argues that co-operation with SUTR is inappropriate for this reason. Craghill was contacted by students from the UoY Green society prior to the event, asking her not to attend due to the alleged links between Stand Up to Racism and the Socialist Workers’ Party. The open letter, signed by the Uni of York Labour Society, Lib
Dems and Greens, asks “those in York to avoid supporting and lending credence to Stand up To Racism” and says that anti-racism movements cannot be “organised and fronted by rape apologists”. The letter has also been signed by a number of individuals, including YUSU BAME officer, Sophie Flinders, a York Labour councillor, several academic department reps and two College Wellbeing ViceChairs. In a spat on Twitter, York students challenged the York Green Party for their co-operation with the event, writing that “stand up to racism is a known front for the SWP, a vile organisation with no place in progressive politics.” The official York Green Party account responded that “if we only ever work with those we agree with, we will be hopelessly divided … some of us even worked with Tories during [the] referendum, and frankly they are much worse”. A student, who ran in the recent YUSU elections, has been vocal in the past against Stand Up to Racism’s supposed links with the SWP and has criticised them for a “culture of institutional suppression of survivors of sexual violence within the group”. As a result, they have allegedly found that their campaign posters were disproportionately
targeted by the group’s recent efforts to flyer campus. Speaking to Vision, the student said “To be targeted by a group who have been accused of having a casual attitude towards sexual violence and is alleged to have treated survivors within the organisation abysmally, is pretty scary. Given the elections were ongoing I was having to have a very public presence during this week and knowing that these people were not only aware of who I was but were trying to send me a message was pretty terrifying. It made campus feel pretty unsafe for me and I can only imagine what seeing the flyers made students who are survivors of sexual violence feel.” The students behind the open letter are also planning to submit a policy to YUSU, which would mandate YUSU officers not to share a platform with the SWP, or to take part in events that are considered to be organised by the SWP. The policy would also commit YUSU officers to educate students on the allegations against the SWP “as a matter of safety”. YUSU does not usually take stances on party political issues. Responding to the open letter, YUSU’s Wellbeing and Community Officer, Dom Smithies told Vision: “The content of this letter relates to
racism, sexism and rape-apologism - these are all issues which the sabbatical team firmly oppose. It’s great to see such a broad range of York student and student groups express their views on what is and isn’t acceptable to them.” The York Green Party said in a statement to Vision: “York Greens are active in many campaigns including against racism, against austerity, to stop the war and to defend the National Health Service. Many other people are involved in each of these campaigns, and they come from a variety of different parties including Labour and the SWP. It would be absurd to not work with groups simply because members of the SWP are also involved in these groups. It would divide campaigns and lead to ineffectual campaigning. We are not rape apologists, and do believe that the SWP nationally have a serious case to answer of rape by one of their leaders, and the way that they handled it by expelling the victim. We, obviously, condemn both the rape and the treatment of the victim by the SWP. It would be wrong to condemn all members of an organisation for the actions of a few and futile to only attempt to work with perfect organisations.”
“Tories are worse”... York Green Party response
Student criticises York Green Party for orgnaising with Stand Up to Racism
Allegations... Another student says their campaign material was targeted
9 NEWS
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
ELECTION VANDALISM SCANDAL BY AISLING MUSSON
THIS YEAR’S YUSU elections were marred by vandalism and the destruction of candidates’ election posters. In an election with remarkably low turnout, multiple candidates for full-time and part-time officer roles reported that their posters were being taken down or ripped up, with foul play suspected on the part of drunk students. Piles of cardboard were gathered up in a candidate clean up, following the destruction of many posters. Most notably, a candidate for Disabled Students Officer, Sam Linley, found his printed A4 posters had remained in place but the image of his face had been burned off. On the vandalism of his posters, Linley said: “It’s pathetic really - people burnt a few posters, ripped a few down. It was 20 minutes of my life to put them back off. What have you achieved other making me from feeling a bit crap. Obviously I wasn’t the only one to have been targeted, it’s just unfortunate with YUSU Elections that these things happen.” Activities sabbatical officer Alex Lusty was quick to attribute the destruction to university staff and intoxicated students, “The atmosphere surrounding this year’s elections was a significant improvement upon last year. However, it’s an unfortunate fact that every year posters get taken down; this is usually a mixture of drunk students, over-zealous estates staff and the wind. I would also encourage students to consider the amount of work which candidates put into their campaigns, and to be considerate of their efforts.” However, despite assurances that most of the posters had been damaged by the weather, there are suspicions of foul play. One candidate remarked on University Radio Talk, a URY News show, - “There’s very few instances I’ve seen the wind carrying a pair of scissors, cutting cable ties, so I think it can be more than just the weather.”
YUSU ELECTION APATHY
WITH TURNOUT at a seven year low and a drop from 49 candidates to 32 the YUSU full-time elections this year seemed to signify a general apathy among students with YUSU. While there is a country wide downwards trend in engagement with student politics concerns have been raised that YUSU did not effectively advertise many of the officer roles. Among the part time roles which seemed to fall by the wayside on YUSUs agenda was last years new editions to the team of Faculty Reps. Despite YUSU describing the two faculty rep positions as “sitting on some of the highest committees” and being a “champion for University wide campaigns” it failed to attract any candidates in this years election. YUSU in an attempt to fill the roles held by-elections with a deadline of the 10th of March (Week 9) though this has since been extended once again according to advertising for the position on YUSU’s Facebook page. Faculty Reps were not the only positions that seemed to be left off the election agenda this year. The BAME elections initially received no candidates and only after an unspecified extension of the deadline were candidates found and ran unopposed. Concerns around the nature
of the extension have been raised as YUSU did not post on any of their social media or website publicising it only contacting the existing BAME Officer about the extension. YUSU gave a statement on this stating “After four weeks of an open cross-campus nomination period unfortunately no candidates had confirmed. YUSU election organisers, after discussion with the DRO, requested that a call for further candidates was put out to the BME network”.
NEW SOCIETY CREATES BUZZ BY LUCAS NORTH
THE NEWEST society to join YUSUs list is the York Uni Beekeeping society, described as “a society for people who are interested in Beekeeping to learn about what is involved, how honeybees live and all other things bee-related!” The society has an annual membership fee of £5, and can be reach via twitter on @BeekeepingYorkU.
twitter/@KeekeepingYorkU
BY MAX FLYNN
Voter turn out by year, 2017 left. Credit YUSU.org
10 NEWS
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
“YUSU CAN DO BETTER” SAYS CANDIDATE
ENGLISH SURGES IN RANKINGS BY JOSH SALISBURY
courtesy of flickr
THE ENGLISH department has surged in the 2017 QS World Rankings to 24th in the world. The rankings also rated the Department as 1st in the UK for the number of times its scholars are cited. The QS league table says of York, that it is “one of the success stories of UK Higher Education” and that “it is acclaimed as the most socially inclusive University in the UK’s top 10 with over 80% of undergraduate intake from the state school and college sector.” The University itself does not rank as highly as some of the English department, coming only 127th in the world.
NOT IN MY BARRACKS YARD! BY JOSH SALISBURY A CAMPAIGN has been launched to save the Army barracks in York from closure. The campaign, launched by York Central MP, Rachael Maskell, is petioning the Ministry of Defence to keep the Imphal barracks open, arguing that their closure would cost over 1,000 jobs. The group’s petition slams the Ministry of Defence for their “wrongful” decision to close the barracks, and argues that no political and economic impact assessment has been undertaken regarding the decision. York has long been a garrison city, having played host to the armed forces for over 2,000 years.
YUSU ACCESSIBIITY INVESTIGATION PLEDGED BY TAGHREED AYAZ DISABLED STUDENTS’ Officer Elect Aisling Musson has told Vision that when she assumes office this Friday she will be launching an investigation into the accessibility of elections. Aisling commented: “As a disabled student there are numerous barriers in place that block us from participating in YUSU Elections. This isn’t intentional and no one’s going round actively seeking to make it harder for disabled students to get involved but there are several
things about the way the elections work at the moment that really need changing to make sure everyone can access and take part in our union. “The first thing I’m going to do once my term starts is work with all the candidates that took part in the process as well as the Disabled Students Network to compile a detailed report of everything YUSU can do better at, from candidate training to scheduling and rule changes that might benefit disabled students. I’ve already begun compiling
reports of access issues and I hope to present a robust report to YUSU that provides them with useful feedback to enable everyone to have a chance to have a say in our democracy. YUSU can do better in terms of accessibility in this and several other areas of university life which I am excited to be able to try and improve over the next year, working with the network and other officers to make the university a better place for everyone.” During the campaign the then Community and Wellbeing
candidates Mia Shantana Chaudhuri-Julyan and Thomas Underwood joined forces to draw attention to ‘the inherent ableism that exists within the current candidate election process’. In a video posted on both their candidate Facebook pages, they pledged to boycott campaigning in clubs that didn’t have disabled access and to not make full campaign videos ‘because of individuals’ access to certain cameras and equipment’.
72 FALSE FIRE CALL OUTS
BY JOSH SALISBURY
THE MAJORITY of fire service call-outs to campus in 2016 were due to FALSE fire alarm activations, newly released figures reveal. The fire brigade attended campus 72 times during 2016, of which a stunning 46 were due to unwanted activations of fire alarms, with a known cause. An additional six incidents were due to “malicious activations by persons unknown” and sixteen visits were due to false alarms without any clear cause. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service did not issue any fines as a result of the false alarms. However it is likely that uni bosses fined students
as part of disciplinary procedures. The stats also show that the Police visited campus 186 times in the same period to deal with university trouble makers, visiting Hes West nearly twice as many times as Hes East. Meanwhile, the ambulance service was called out a shocking 170 times for emergencies over the year. Negligently setting off a fire alarm in university accommodation carries a standard fine of £75, whereas the standard fine for maliciously activating an alarm is £125. All on-campus students have to attend a mandatory fire safety briefing at the beginning of the year.
Students crying wolf... Fire Service call outs are mostly false alarms courtesy of wikimedia commons
11 NEWS
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
BLANKETS IN THE LIBRARY
THE FREEZE is over, the library has recently put blankets in the entrance of JB Morrell. Students who feel the chill can now go downstairs to the reception and pick up on of the comfy blankets to wrap up in while studying. Cleanliness and hygiene aside, (from sharing blankets with hundreds of other students) this is definitely a step closer to turning the library into a bedroom.
WHEELY STUCK! Ambulance stuck in the mud on Hes East!
PICTURE: ABBY TOMLINSON
YORK STUDENT WINS STUDENT COMEDY PEOPLE’S CHOICE
round!”
LETHAL B CONFIRMED FOR BIG D BY AISLING MUSSON
courtesy of creative comons
A YORK student has been successful in the preliminary heat for the Chortle Student Comedy People’s Choice award, and will go on to the next stage of voting. Stephen Harper, a postgraduate studying for an MSc Digital Systems Engineering won in a hotly contested heat determined by public vote in which 700 people voted. “Feel honestly so blessed and made up that so many people voted for me and I hope I can keep it up in the next
courtesy of bbc
BY AISLING MUSSON
Stephen Harper (left) and Lethal Bizzle (right), not to be confused
DERWENT ENTS team has confirmed that London rapper Lethal B, also known as Lethal Bizzle, will be appearing at Big D which will take place in term 3 on 5 June. Other acts featured at Big D, Derwent’s flagship event, in the past include Fuse ODG, Simian Mobile Disco and Basshunter Lethal, who hails from Walthamstow, London, is known for his feud with music group N-Dubz. He is also known for his clothing brand “Stay Dench” and a few acting stints including Bad Education and other television appearances including Match of the Day 2. Last week students were lining up at Greg’s Place for the official launch of Big D, to buy discounted pre-sale tickets.
12 NEWS
UNI SHOULD REMOVE ADS FROM BREITBART NEWS YOU’D THINK that the Uni would have taken steps to make sure their ads don’t appear on a site that accuses it of not caring about male suicide, wouldn’t you? Apparently not. Today Vision has revealed that the Uni’s marketing material material is on a site which is sexist, islamophobic, and to round it all off, has enabled the harassment of York students. We think Uni bosses should not allow ads to appear on Breitbart News. We think that York should follow Sheffield, Liverpool, and Stirling’s example and publicly state that York will block Bretibart News from our advertising profile. If you agree: Tweet your objections to @UniOfYork asking the Uni’s head honchos to ensure their ads don’t appear on the website. Tag @YorkVision in your tweet so we can keep the pressure up on Uni bosses. Since advertising is dealt with by a third body, it’s probably the case that Uni management didn’t realise that their ads were even appearing on the outlet. But now they do realise, they should take any and all steps to make sure their adverts don’t appear on a website which doesn’t share York’s values.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING NOW THE UNIVERSITY continues to shirk its responsibility to provide affordable and habitable accommodation. We believe that the lack of reasonably priced housing on campus is appalling. No student should be put off university by the price of campus accommodation. Hopefully the Think Tank survey into housing will provide the university with the data to prove that change is necessary. And soon.
KOEN-ING IT IN
VC PAID SIX TIMES AVERAGE STAFF SALARY BY JOSH SALISBURY
YORK’S VICE-CHANCELLOR, Koen Lamberts, was paid a colossal £282,000 last year – over SIX times the average staff salary at York, figures obtained by the Universities and College Union (UCU) show. The total is a combination of his salary and all other benefits that he receives. The staggering sum is a 4% increase on the previous year, yet pay for hardworking academics only increased by 1% in the same period. The figures also show that the University spent £3,000 on Lamberts’ air-fares last year, 84% of which were first class; £3,400 was spent on hotel accommodation for the VC’s trips; and that the VC claimed £1700 in “personal expenses”. The costs of Lamberts’ flights were below the sector average of £7, 762 – however, his personal expenses claims were above the average of £1, 150. The Vice-Chancellor’s pay is set by the University’s Remuneration Committee, chaired by the Head of the University Council, Sir Christopher O’Donnell. The University declined to release the secretive committee’s minutes to the UCU, arguing that
WHAT YOU COULD BUY WITH THE VC’S £££ 135 years of a student’s food bill 100, 000 laundry washes 51,000 burgers at Couryard Over 40,000 Evil Eye cocktails Drinks are on Koen....
LIBRARY THROWS THE BOOK AT STUDENTS
REGI-STAR
UNIVERSITY REGISTRAR and Secretary David Duncan is joining Glasgow University from April. Over the years David has provided us with many memorable quotes and we wish him the best of luck at his new job! We look forward to working with the new registrar.
“they contain information which is confidential to individuals, and their release would therefore breach those individuals’ data protection rights”. However, Lamberts’ pay is dwarfed by other fatcats in the sector, the report published last month also reveals. Birmingham’s head honcho was given a gigantic £378,000 – 10 times as much as the average Birmingham staff member – whereas the £434,000 given to Bath’s boss was a stunning 12 times as much as the average staff pay at the uni. David Duncan, the University’s Registrar and Secretary told York Vision: “The VC’s salary is recorded in the 2016 Annual Report & Financial Statements as being £238,333; like all other members of staff, he is entitled to join a pension scheme which attracts employer contributions. At this level, he is one of the lowest paid VCs of any leading research-intensive University in the UK. The pay of Vice Chancellors and the increases they receive annually reflect what it takes to attract and retain highly experienced higher education leaders in a competitive sector”.
courtesy of university of york
THE VOICE OF...
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
BY JOSH SALISBURY
Library fined users £31,000 last year - more than Aston or Imperial
FIGURES RECENTLY released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Library fined students a WHOPPING £31, 060 for overdue books in 2015-16, Vision can reveal. York students were fined more than Aston’s, who paid £25,000, or Imperial’s measly £4,000,
but were not charged as much as Cambridge students, who had to cough up £41,000 in university library fees last year. The 31k sum will go towards the Library Content Fund, which is used to purchase additional books and resources for library users. The Library charges £2 a day for overdue requested items, and £1 an hour
for late key texts. Students are not allowed to borrow or renew books if they owe more than £20 in outstanding fines. The Library told Vision: “Our aim is to move towards zero fines, and we’re getting there. In 2012, users paid over £100,000 in fines. In 2013 we collected fines of just under £46,000 and latest figures show this
is now down to £31, 060. Users are encouraged to please come and talk to us if they have any concerns, or if they have problems returning items.” Have you been booked? Share your biggest library fine with us by tweeting us @YorkVision.
13 NEWS
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
14 NEWS
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
YORK JOINT 4TH IN THE COUNTRY FOR HARASSMENT
BY AISLING MUSSON
YORK HAS come joint 4th place for the highest reported number of staff-on-staff sexual harassment cases, in a series of Freedom of Information Requests submitted by The Guardian. The news comes in light of allegations made by Labour MP Harriet Harman in her memoirs “A Woman’s Work” that she was offered better grades in return for sex while she was studying Politics at York in the 1970s. Anna Bull of the 1752 Group which was set up to address sexual harassment in higher education between staff and students, indicated that the actual figures of
sexual harassment in the UK would be much higher. She pointed to a survey conducted by the Association of American Universities (AAU), which found sexual harassment reporting rates were around 7.7%. If the rates are similar for UK campuses the actual rate of sexual harassment in UK universities could be “staggering”. A Universities UK estimate of the UK campus reporting rate was 6.8%, which if applied to York in real terms would indicate over a thousand cases of sexual harassment. While a working group has been set up to examine the procedures around reporting sexual harassment and hate
crimes on campus, because of the devolved college welfare system the university lacks information on the scale of the problem and can only rely on estimates, with critics calling for a centralised reporting system. NUS women’s officer Hareem Ghani has created a training programme including various guidebooks and reading material, in efforts to train student leaders such as student union officers in ways to manage campaigns and protect women. The training is availaible online with in person bootcamps, running in London and Manchester.
STUDENTS EYE HE BILL CAMPAIGN BY AISLING MUSSON YORK STUDENTS celebrated a victory earlier this week as the House of Lords voted to amend parts of the Higher Education Bill to separate the Teaching Excellence Framework from increases in university fees and the recruitment of international students. The chamber voted 263 to 211 to accept the amendment proposed by cross-bencher Lord Kerslake, Labour peer Lord Stevenson and Lib Dem Baroness Garden. The government’s proposed bill would have allowed universities that achieved “gold” or “silver” ratings to raise their fees from 2019. The defeat is quite an embarrassment for universities minister Jo Johnson, although the amendments are unlikely to be accepted by the House of Commons unless a number of Conservative MPs rebel against the government whip, as the current actual majority of the Conservative party is 16 once factors such as Sinn Fein’s perpetually abstaining MPs are taken into account. Despite this, York students have already begun plans to contact MPs to try and secure a vote to accept these amendments. Academic Officer Tamaki Laycock said: “It was fantastic to see this discussed in the House of Lords.
Students now have a small window of opportunity to make a difference. I’ll be making representations on behalf of York students by writing to our local MP. You can do the same, contact your MP and let them know your thoughts.” TFTV department rep Jay Elizabeth Edevane, who campaigned for the No Campaign in the recent referendum on the NSS Boycott, welcomed the news and told York Vision plans are already in place for York students to campaign for the amendment to be accepted in the House of Commons. “This is an amazing and frankly unexpected opportunity to take positive action against the disastrous TEF. I am thrilled to be working on a strategic campaign of letters, emails and phone calls to put passing these amendments at the House of Commons at the forefront of the York MPs minds.”
DERWENT TUTOR SHAKEUP BY JOSH SALISBURY COLLEGE TUTORS could no longer be students, in radical proposals being considered by Derwent. The changes would allow non-students to become College tutors, alongside postgraduate students. Currently, all College tutors are postgraduate students who receive a discount on their accommodation during their studies. Tutors look after students in the College, and put on events for College members. The director of Colleges and former Derwent provost, Rob Aitken, told Vision: “We are examining the proposal at the moment to ensure that it would provide the same support to students while opening the opportunity to be a College Tutor to graduating students.” However, current YUSU Wellbeing and Community Officer, Dom Smithies, criticised the lack of consultation around the plan, telling Vision: “I, and many other stakeholders across the institution, have not been formally approach for consultation on any proposed changes to the College’s current tutor model.”
MEET IkARUS: BRINGING GRIME FROM LDN TO THE YO10
art & culture
books + tv
music
editors’ note
the team
2 . Embroidered dreams LEGO 3. David Hockney 5 . Scott Matthews Interview 6 -7 . Meet Ikarus 8. Book review The Best Binge TV 9 . Hidden Figures Review 10 . Meet the Vegan Mary 11. Sex andd Relationships 12. The Sound of the Underground
Food // Mary Kangley
Music // Taghreed Ayaz Afoma Ojukwu
Sex & Relationships // Anonymous
TV // Aisling Musson Books // Josh Salisbury Life & Style // Laura Walmsley + Finley Harnett
2
sex & relationships
1 . Welcome back pals
Editor // Amara & Lucas
Film // Gregory Waddell
food
contents
P
anic over. Your favourite life and style supplement is back. It’s been a while, we’re like that guy that texts you ‘wuu2?’ after disappearing for six months. Only difference is we’re decidely more cultured and we don’t wear adiddas slim fit joggers. This edition of SCENE is hopefully full of tasteful, yet sik and wavey photography, carefully selected reviews and somewhat trustworthy advice from our new sex and relationship consultant, who although has no formal training is a self proffessed goddess of ‘all things love’. We sent out a diligent team of reporters to find the best binge-able tv shows to watch this easter, I’m sure you can imagine the dedication and work that went into that. But for our readers, we go above and beyond. We also got classy at an art gallery, and we met up with a cool London grime artist, to maintain our street cred and keep it ten toes. Some things have had a bit of a change, but we promise you, if they’re trash we’ll get rid of them. Blind date will be back in full force for the next edition, if you have a pal whose been unlucky in the roller coaster of love then send them our way by emailing us at vision@yusu. org/. Matchmaking aside, enjoy SCENE. We hope you find it edgy and cool like a sharp Rubik’s cube. ~Amara Barrett Willett
film
Want to write something for SCENE? scene@yorkvision.co.uk Keep updated with everything Vision! www.yorkvision.co.uk Facebook - York Vision SCENE Twitter - @YorkVisionScene
art & culture
music
books + tv
film
food
sex + relationships
Art.
S
CENE’s Laura Walmsley met up with the renowned artist Susan Aldworth to discuss her new art installation, The Dark Self.
Take part in ‘The Dark Self’; a new exhibition coming to York this summer Acclaimed artist Susan Aldworth is to host an exhibition exploring the theme of sleep at York St Mary’s in June. ‘The Dark Self’ will be part of a three-year interdisciplinary project with a centrepiece installation entitled ‘One Thousand and One Nights’. This installation seeks to bring together the embroidered dreams of 1001 local people. White pillowcases, depicting narratives of sleep, will be hung on wires in the patterns of neural pathways associated with sleep in the brain. To bring the exhibition together Aldworth has been working with York academics, including art historian Professor Michael White and neuroscientist Professor Miles Whittington with funding from the Wellcome Trust. ‘The Dark Self’ will coincide with the York Festival of Ideas. Alongside ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ a sculpture exhibition and a film installation exploring the three stages of
sleep will also be on display.
Those wishing to contribute to One Thousand and One Nights will receive a pillowcase, Susan Aldworth “Deep sleep is an experience embroidery silks in 4 colours, and the needles of nothingness but one that is full of fundamen- for sewing embroidery silks and needles for tal but hidden activity.’’ sewing. Completed pillowcases must be submit“One Thousand and One Nights is an instalted by 31 March 2017. For more information lation based on the concept of the Arabian email Susan Aldworth at saldworth.t21@btintNights - stories that were collected over many ernet.com or visit www.susanaldworth.com. centuries by various authors, translators and scholars from the Middle East and South Asia. Bringing together 1001 dreams of a local community from diverse backgrounds, the work will be a cultural snapshot of our times.’’ Aldworth has spent much of her career exploring the complex relationship between the physical brain and our sense of self, with exhibitions including ‘The Portrait Anatomised’ at the National Portrait Gallery in 2013 and ‘Realisation’ at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge 2016. The Dark Self series of exhibitions will run in York from May to September 2017. ~Laura Walmsley
Worlds Largest Lego DC Characters Exhibit
I don’t love art. But I do love DC, and I really love lego. So, all things considered, I was pretty damn excited to go to Nathan Sawaya’s exhibtion of the DC Universe shown in his style of “well I did it out of lego didn’t I” The Nathan ‘classic’ was there, a piece called yellow. But the rest of it was all about DC. There were some fairly innovative pieces in there,
and a nice chunk that made you go “huh, that’s quite cool that.” But, I’ll level with you, right after I went to the exhibition, I went to the lego store in Leicester Square with my friend. And we both agreed we enjoyed the shop more than we did the exhibition. The DC art exhibition, full of attempts at humour in the descriptions of the pieces, these were cringy, unfunny and unnecessary and detracted from how cool it was seeing a 400,000 lego piece batmobile. By far the most interesting information on each notice was the dimensions and the list of how many bricks went into each piece. It feels like the whole show was just a cynical attempt to cash in off of Lego Batman’s fame, and at £12 admission, the show costs similar to a trip to the cinema, and as someone who’s seen a lego rendering of the DC Universe, filled with stunning visuals, tons of wit that left me with my face hurting from smiling, and who’s also seen Nathan Sawaya’s art show, I know which one I’d recommend you to see. bile. By far the most interesting information on each notice was the dimensions and the list of how many bricks went into each piece. It feels like the whole show was just a cynical attempt to cash in off of Lego Batman’s fame, and at £12 admission, the show costs similar to a trip to the cinema, and as someone who’s seen a lego rendering of the DC Universe, filled with stunning visuals, tons of wit that left me with my face hurting from smiling, and who’s also seen Nathan Sawaya’s art show, I know which one I’d recommend you to see. ~ Stephen Harper
3
art & culture
music
books + tv
film
food
sex + relationships
David Hockney: Sun, Sex and Swimming Pools. David Hockney’s retrospective, spanning over 60 years of work, brings cool LA sophistication to the London’s Tate Britain. Vision’s Finley Harnett takes a look at this year’s most anticipated exhibition.
Yorkshire’s David Hockney is Britain’s most celebrated living artist. Hockney’s owl-eyed, bleached blonde hair and showy flamboyance has become synonomous with British pop art counterculture, so its no surprise the Tate have decided to put on the most comprehensive retrospective of his work to celebrate his 80th year. Covering 60 years lived between Yorkshire, London and Los Angeles, the retrospective has become the gallery’s fastest selling exhibition. Bringing sunlit bohemian decadence to an otherwise dreary London afternoon, I’m struck by the vibrancy of colour as I enter the rooms featuring the California swimming pool pictures with which Hockney made his name. The dazzle of A Bigger Splash is brought into greater focus by the semi-abstract canvases that precede. Produced at the Royal College of Art in the early 60s when homosexuality was still illegal, Hockney’s early work focused on this trangressive coming out of sorts. The homosexual subtext is hardly subtle: phallic tubes of Colgate toothpaste feature alongside crude graffitti (‘69’ and ‘fist’ make various appearances). These works are, however, admirable in their boldness and lack of restraint, openly flouting the order of the day. We Two Boys Together Clinging stands out, the vulgarity of the child-like style and the sprawling toilet-wall graffitti juxtaposed with the inclusive love poetry of Walt Whitman. Hockney’s move from London to permissive LA decadence feels like a personal liberation for the artist. Done with abstract allusion, Hockney’s subjects are now fully exposed in sun-saturated Californian landscapes. In what are surely the most popular rooms in the gallery, Hockney documents the effervescent planes of colour in 60s and 70s suburbia: symmtrical garden sprinklers, the clean, flat surfaces of Modernist houses and the hedonistic promise
4
of the swimming pool. The sparkling geometry of light on water is expertly captured in swimming-pool paintings A Bigger Splash and Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool. The California paintings are worth the price of admission alone, bringing the verdant foliage and vibrant modernism of the city of angels to life in a way no one had before. As Hockney famously said, “My God! This place needs its Piranesi…so here I am.” The other draw of the exhibition are the large double portraits, presenting dispassionate surfaces that hint at the simmering relationships between the two subjects underneath the flat facade. Paintings of friends and family emphasise both a material and unexpressed emotional distance. An example of this is in the portrait of novelist Christopher Isherwood, looking menacingly accross at then-lover Don Bachardy, who gazes blithely ahead. A lone fruit bowl on a coffee table between them punctuates their distance. This era of sun, sex and swimming pools is widely regarded as Hockney’s heyday. Later rooms are less impactful, including a series of interesting albeit unremarkable sketches from his adolescent years. Previosuly-unseen sketches from throughout his career, including WH Auden morosely smoking a cigarette or pop art contemporary Andy Warhol suavely reclined in armchair offer an insight into the man’s personal life but are hardly worth comparing to his more established works. I have to express a personal fondness for Hockney’s use of photographic collage, or what he called ‘joiners’. Hockney, who felt conventional photography was only useful for ‘mechanical representation’, challenged himself to insert a greater sense of space and time in these composite polaroid portraits. Portraits of Hockney’s Mother and the
most well-known, Pearl Blossom Highway, are brilliantly weird and otherworldly. This experimental phase turns the limited perspective of a static camera on its head, giving these portraits a Cubist depth that still has genuine heart. I admire Hockney for his ability to experiment with different mediums like the polaroid camera, but his attempt at iPad art is less successful. Turning his index finger into a paintbrush and iPad into a canvas, this last room, his most recent work, is little more than a curiosity. Projected on screens, you can see, in sped-up time, the evolution of each of these paintings from empty canvas to finished product. To this end, you can see the skill it takes to capture everything from Yorkshire vistas to self-portraits. David Hockney’s retrospective solidifies his place as one of Britains most iconic, influential 20th century painters. The curators have done an excellent job of presenting a clear chronology of Hockney’s evolution, from abstract etchings to iPad ‘paintings’ via decadent LA. His paintings attract mass appeal, perhaps to the annoyance of those who think is work is too ‘user friendly’ and not as politically subversive as it should be. His cultural importance as a true artistic heavyweight, however, is undeniable and this remains an exhibiton that demands to be seen. ‘Hockney: 60 Years of Work’ is on at the Tate Britain in London until 29th May 2017. - Finley Harnett
art + culture
music
books + tv
film
food
sex + relationships
Interview. W
e payed a visit to Scott Matthew’s, the award winning Folk artist when he came to York to headline the NCEM’s critically acclaimed festival last week. 10 years on from his groundbreaking debut album, and now an Ivor Novello winner Scott Matthews tells us more about his songwriting process, spring solo tour, and new album Home Part 2.
and meaning because of the experiences I’ve had in life.
How does preparing a live set affect your arrangements? Fundamentally I’ve been a guitarist since I was 11, I think that reflects in the kind of colours I have in my solo tracks. Old country big chords. Balance between guitar textures used, even though this is a solo set. I always look to think of the shape of the set. You have that emotional control. You have to try and take people on this ride without getting them too up and down. There’s got to be a level playing field for two or three songs. I’ve got a couple of new track in my new album, one is a track called Waltz at Nightfall, where there’s a crescendo of noise, almost like chaos, drums toppling over each other, I love the juxtaposition of going from that to really delicate finger picking songs. I love the dynamics of that. I always try to take the strengths of the dynamics into a set list. You’re the entertainment for that hour and a half, a night of music and I always want to strike a balance of emotions.
Is there a track that you get requested to play a lot on tour? The first record sold the most, a lot more people are aware of the first album material, so Elusive does get requested quite a lot and I’m more than happy to play, it’s one of my babies. You’re in this position in the artistic world, where you can put your music out there. I’m more than happy to oblige, I count my blessings with this kind of stuff and I’m keen to discover more about the song. I think the sign of a good song is that fact that playing it gives you something every time. You understand the lyrics a bit more, because it has more weight and resonance over the years. There’s a lyric from my first album Your Eyes Wider Than Before: your eyes are wider than before, so little has changed but your eyes have seen much more. The more I’ve played it over the years, it seems to have gained more weight
What are your thoughts then on musicians uploading their material to YouTube, and gaining recognition that way? Not sure how it works, I’m in the dark about this sort of stuff. I know that promoters do book artists now based on the strength of their YouTube hits but I wonder about the longevity of that and whether it’s just a fad. The ability to share your music immediately, and breaking through those barriers of red tape is encouraging. Shows like the X Factor and The Voice are designed by the devil, I just think there’s got to be better ways that that. I prefer the slow burner approach, I’m old school. I think at the end of the day it’s about the emotional power and pull of a track, when the fads and gimmicks are over, all that matters is the music. Music is at the top of the tree and I can sleep easy at night, in a happy place, knowing that I’ve recorded what I wanted to. It’s been 10 years since your debut, is there anything you would have done differently? I’m proud of the albums I’ve made, artistically that was where I needed to be at that time. My advice to my 29-year-old self would
be take it easy, don’t get so worked up, what’s the worst that can happen? Let the music breathe rather than being pent up about what to do next and working to time frames. Learn to trust in myself and not be so cagey and unsure about my instincts. When I was younger I met T-Bone Burnett who signed a photo ‘ride easy’. What are your plans for the future? This is a bit of a grey area, I’ve been asked to possibly write music for a film, which is completely new territory. I’m excited about the cinematic widescreen. I’m energised by Sun Kil Moon, he’s one of my favourite artists and he’s been putting out records since the 1990s, it makes me want to keep going. I’m hoping to release a new album in February 2018, very stark, guitar, vocals stripped back, instrumental. Any advice for aspiring musicians? Trust yourself and don’t be too influenced by the people who represent you. Don’t be afraid to write songs, we’re all unique and trust your instincts, as an artist you have to believe in the moment. Be expressive. ~ Taghreed Ayaz
5
art + culture
music
books +tv
film
food
Introducing Ikarus:
sex + relationships Cameron Watson - Azmi is a sure star in the making, Bringing the world of Grime and UK Rap to York We met up with the PPE student, artist and songwriter to find out a bit more about him. Where are you from? I was born and raised in Hackney, London. I think London has really helped me become the artist I am today. Who are you listening to now? 1) Frank Ocean 2) A$AP Mob 3) Dave Find Ikarus on soundcloud at: www.soundcloud.com/ Ikarus_UK/
What has being at Uni taught you? University has taught me to be more honest with my feelings as the independence I had to develop taught me to rely on friends for help more. This helped me to be more comfortable in writing music and ultimately, making a song that can be listened to by anyone who searched www.soundcloud.com/ Ikarus_UK. Previously I would never show anyone for fear my music was too emotional and would be seen as weak. The freedom and relief music provides for me also caused me to openly represent men’s mental health in my music, in hopes that one day I can use my music to work with a charity to raise further awareness of the issue.
6
~Tom Butler-Roberts & Lauren Malcharek
art + culture
music
books +tv
film
food
sex + relationships
What do you love most about London? My favourite thing about London is the diversity of culture and the ability to experience most cultures within a 10 minute walk of your house. The vast majority of my life me and my friends would constantly listen to hip hop and rap, sometimes grime, and it is through these experiences which we developed emotional connection to these songs as they were the ones we grew up to. Therefore I would say London has helped in making the production of my music one sincerely from the heart.
Get the look Like what Ikarus is wearing? Primark jeans - £10 Primark shirt - £3 ASOS TALL Phoenix embroidered jacket - £55 Criminal Damage Dragon embroidered sweatshirt - £45 Nike Ultra Flyknit Max one - £80 Rolex Oyster perpetual Datejust £4,500
Photography by Linda Phan ~Amara Barrett - Willett
7
art + culture
books + tv
music
film
food
sex + relationships
Book Review. J
osh Salisbury had a read of a book, apparently it’s pretty good. We think you should give it a go too.
The End of Eddy Book Review Release date: 2nd Feb 2017 Author: Eduoard Louis The ‘End of Eddy’ is a haunting book about the troubles of growing up gay in a working class community in rural France. The opening sentence: “From my childhood, I have no happy memories” hits the reader in the gut, and sets the tone for much of the rest of the book. This is not a happy read: Eddy’s family are locked into a cycle of pain, poverty and violence. His father is a brute who uses his fists to communicate what his words can’t; his mother is a housewife who is forced to give up her job because she earns more than her husband. The book is made even unhappier because the novel is only
a thinly-fictionalised account of the author’s own background. Eduoard Louis grew up in Hallencourt, a deprived town in the north of France, and has given interviews admitting that much of the book is an account of his own experiences. Despite that, this book is not a misery memoir, of the type that is often common among portayals of ‘coming out’. The book is tender and warm-hearted: while we hate characters in the novel for what they do, we don’t hate them personally. The reader ends up hating the economic circumstances which has turned people into players of a narrative they have no control over. There’s much to identify with in ‘End of Eddy’. Anyone who’s had to come out can identify with the feelings of despair,
8 TV Shows to binge-watch right now 1. Battlestar Galactica
It’s not often you can start explaining a show by saying “well, it starts with the genocide of almost the entire human race and just gets worse from there really...” but that’s the beauty of BSG. It’s genre-defying in that it deals with religion, politics, relationship and family drama all the while IN SPACE. And did I mention there are humanoid robots? It’s what I would consider a “cult show” but it also has huge mainstream critical acclaim. By the time you finish it you’ll be right there with me chanting “Roslin 2020”
American answer to his smash hit “The Thick of It”, but Veep has taken on a life of its own, with all the essential parts intact - an anti-hero who you objectively think is a bad person with an incredibly potty mouth.
4. Stranger Things
If you haven’t seen Stranger Things yet, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Netflix’s smash hit with the adorable kid actors has been out for 7 WHOLE MONTHS, and is set to return for a second season on Halloween 2017. Don’t worry if you’re generally not a horror fan, take it from someone who has probably only seen 20 minutes of a horror film her entire life (and hated it), as long as you don’t watch this at night alone it’s fine, although be prepared for jump scares.
5. A Series of Unfortunate Events
2. The Good Wife
This is a law show. However, you do not need to care about or understand law in the slightest to enjoy this. I know this because I can watch this show and understand it without losing track of what’s happening or nodding off. Sure, this might be because it prizes drama over realism, but this still makes for an enjoyable show and they weave in enough personal drama for it not to matter.
If you enjoyed reading Lemony Snickets macabre series as a child, you’ll probably enjoy the recent Netflix dramatization. The series features Neil Patrick Harris who makes a dramatic appearance as Count Olaf, as well as Cobie Smulders and Will Arnett in two mystery roles which adds a spot of mystery to the viewing experience of those already familiar with the story.
3. Veep
When accepting her fifth (!) Emmy Award for playing the role of Selina Meyer, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus apologised on behalf of the cast and crew of Veep, saying: “Veep has torn down the wall bewteen comedy and politics. Our show started out as a political satire, but it now feels like a sobering documentary.” Arnando Ianucci created the show as the
8
the feeling of being somehow different. Yet there’s also much in which some readers – whether LGBTQ or straight – might not be able to identify with. Hopefully, many of the novel’s readers do not recognise the feeling that Eddy has, of being complicit in his own homophobic bullying – to the extent that Eddy waits for his bullies regularly, observing the ritual of being bullied religiously. In a nutshell, that summarises why this book is so different from many others which have dealt with similar themes. There’s nothing hackneyed or clichéd in the ‘End of Eddy’, even when it’s treading ground that many have trod before. ~ Josh Salisbury
TV. 8 people wake up one day to discover they’re telepathically linked, that these psychic abilities are part of a legacy from other “clusters” of telepathically linked individuals, and somehow also part of some global conspiracy to lobotomize people with their abilities. Stunning visuals, compelling stories and a hefty dose of action from the creative minds behind The Matrix, Cloud Atlas and V For Vendetta, The Wachowskis.
7. Westworld
Based on the 1973 film of the same name, Westworld was billed by critics as HBO’s answer to questions of what would replace Game of Thrones for the network’s top billing, and boy does it not disappoint. Also soundtracked by Ramin Djawadi, the similarities don’t end there: both shows feature a significant amount of violence, the rise of female heroines, falling heroes, and stories pieced together by carefully woven threads which culminate in dramatic clashes.
8. Pushing Daisies
6. sense8
I’m not entirely sure how to explain this one, but basically:
The way I describe this show to friends is by saying “imagine if Parks and Recreation and The Walking Dead had a baby.” Which is simplistic but a pretty good reflection of this show about death, saturated with colour and whimsical like a Wes Anderson movie. ~ Aisling Musson
art + culture
music
Film Review. W
books +tv
film
food
sex + relationships
Gregory Waddell is a writer for The Lemon Press magazine, his views do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, senior editorial team, membership or advertisers of Vision. Greg is known for his satirical commentary on political issues, and gives us his take on the Oscar nominated Hidden Figures. He would personally rate the film 8/10.
omen in STEM is a big deal, there’s at least three massive posters in the Biology Block telling us that. Gregory Waddell went to watch Hidden Figures, the Golden Globe winning biographical drama about three women working in STEM during segregation in the US.
H
idden Figures is a movie which made a mistake. It reminded me of The Right Stuff, one of my favourite films, which also happens to be about the same period of American history. It even concerns the same subject matter. However, The Right Stuff stars a group of white men, and Hidden Figures features a diverse cast with the focus on a trio of black women working behind he scenes during the Mercury era of the Space Race. So what it comes down to is whether or not Hidden Figures is a better film, and it is not. This does not mean that Hidden Figures is a bad film, in fact it is a very enjoyable experience filled with fun characters and sharp dialogue. But the fact that I am a racist, among other interesting comparisons, places it lower in my estimations than The Right Stuff. Before going into any of that, it is key to recognise that there are three types of film based on true events and real people. There is the stylised variety, the muted variety, and the Hollywood variety. Stylised films based on fact include the Danny Boyle films Steve Jobs and 127 Hours, as well as more niche titles such as American Splendour. These films do take real people and events, and dilute them down to themes and ideas. These are then conveyed in film in a variety of ways, presenting ideas instead of a straight retelling of what came before. The muted types include Bennet Miller films like Foxcatcher and Capote, the MLK piece Selma, as well as the Hitler “that one scene where he shouts” film Downfall. These films go in the opposite direction, and instead of presenting themes and ideas present a stripped down portrayal of people and events to let the audience place their own ideas upon them. Paul Greengrass, with his hyperactive yet muted films United 93 and Captain Phillips, can also be considered here.
“Between hating Jim Parsons and Kirsten Dunst for being a prick and a bitch respectively, we also have to hate those dastardly Russians” The Hollywood variety is a Frankenstein’s Monster of these. It tries to convey both themes and a stripped down believable portrayal of people, and plays as a simple narrative with writing and acting which is less realistic and more rooted in melodrama. To clarify, this does not mean that Hollywood movies are always bad. The Social Network, The King’s Speech, even The Right Stuff, all of these
films fall under the Hollywood “True Story” net. However, when these films fall they fall hard. I need only mention the films Grace of Monaco and Dianna to send shivers down the spine of movie goers everywhere. Enter Hidden Figures. Right from the starting line, there are elements which pull it above the usual gunk of middling cinema (Oh my aren’t I a genius writer). First, it is a relevant film. It has been released at a good time. It deals with the issues of race and inequality and innovation and the hatred of those darn Russkies, when all of these are topics at the forefront of the daily news cycle. Not only are these addressed, but they are addressed in ways that are refreshing. The movie has moments of unbridled rage at an unfair system, the most notable of which features our lead Katherine yelling at those around her regarding her use of a coloured bathroom, the use of which requires her to run half a mile away and back. But the film earns these moments with a sufficient build up. This bathroom explosion, a bad phrase if ever there was one, comes after a motif of Katherine running to and from the place on the other side of the campus, played almost comical and as a joke while the film focusses on other battles and other conflicts. These conflicts, however, is where the movie begins to crack. Hidden Figures, unlike the nearly 3 and a half hour long The Right Stuff, feels like a bloated movie. It has it’s fingers in many pies, so to speak. There are too many cooks in play at times, and it does risk spoiling the broth. Between hating Jim Parsons and Kirsten Dunst for being a prick and a bitch respectively, we also have to hate those dastardly Russians and their pesky space program, as well as hating NASA itself for having a bad organisation, and hating the IBM computer for taking people’s jobs, and there is also a college and a judge and at one point a love interest and lions and tigers and oh my. What this means is, unlike The Right Stuff, no one theme is explored fully. The Right Stuff sets out to retell the Space Race and focus on why America fell in love with it and why the astronauts did what they did. Its machismo and bravado and all
sorts, and by the end of the film you feel like you understand everything. Hidden Figures certainly is not hard to follow, and it never drags, but at some points you wish that they would just finish their dinner before they move onto dessert. I mean, how can you eat your pudding if you haven’t finished your meat? From an acting standpoint, the ensemble works well. Our trio of leads all have sufficiently different personalities and goals so as to stand out from one another. Kevin Costner is MVP (Oh wow, pick a white man much) for his ability to make you not know whether he begins to respect Katherine for her race and helps her out of humanity, or whether he just wants her to keep doing math and it just so happens that being nice helps with that. Kirsten Dunst is also a stand out (Really, whitey again?) for being not quite a racist but kind of one, and Jim Parsons (WE GET IT WHITEY ALWAYS WINS) really makes me want to feed him his own mouth. In conclusion, Hidden Figures is a pretty good movie. The Right Stuff is better. Why? Is it because it has a nearly all white male cast and never shows a woman or minority as a respectable character with which to place responsibility on to? Maybe. Is it just because I cannot stand black people or women doing science? Perhaps. All I am saying is, you could certainly do worse things than see Hidden Figures. Also there is a short montage of rockets blowing up, so if you like me are bored of watching the Challenger disaster on YouTube over and over again trying to see the little body parts go flying into the Gulf of Mexico, you will appreciate this film. - Gregory Waddell @UncleWabisuke
9
art + culture
music
books +tv
fifilm lm
food
sex + relationships
Food.
M
eet the Vegan Mary, she’s not done a virgin birth. But she is a vegan, and her name is Mary. The vegan lifestyle can be a hard one, but Mary has lovingly blessed us with an easy way to pretend to be healthy.
There’s so many misconceptions around being vegan/ plant-based, but it’s really not that confusing. Not using or consuming products derived from animals: meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, leather, wool, silk, etc. A plant based diet only concerns itself with the food side of things, but a vegan lifestyle extends to abstaining from any and all unethical and animal based products. This can be for many reasons- for the animals, the environment, your own health or religious reasons, but it’s all personal to the individual. A common misconception is that it’s expensive to be vegan. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re buying processed vegan food and all organic produce, then it can be pricey, but it doesn’t have to be. Think how expensive meat is, £10 for 3 packs of meat? So cut that out, and suddenly switching your unethical and unhealthy cow’s milk for plant based alternatives is not Serves 2 (eat one portion and put the other in the freezer!)
ingredients. 1 red onion 1 red bell pepper 6 (ish) cherry tomatoes 2 cloves of garlic 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp mild curry powder 1 tsp minced ginger 2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp turmeric 2 tsp dried coriander 1 tbsp tomato puree 1/2 cup green lentils 2 cups boiling water/ vegetable stock Large handful of kale Salt & pepper to taste
Want more check out her https://thevefor more recipies instagram at: @thevegan.mary
that big of an undertaking. Changing your diet little by little is a great place to start. Cut out meat first, then work on removing dairy products, or just do it all at once. Do it in your own time, on your own terms and you’ll find it easier than you may expect. As students, we want quick and easy meals, and cooking vegan food is the epitome of just that. However, since becoming vegan at the beginning of the year, I’ve also been more creative about cooking, and I’ve found myself looking forward to making dinner, as opposed to getting bored of the same old stuff I was eating before. Here’s one of my favourite recipes: Lentil dahl!
Method.
1. Dice up the onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic and ginger. 2.In a medium saucepan, heat some water (enough to cover the bottom of the pan), and add the onions (no need for oil!). When the onion is translucent, add the bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and ginger (and more water if/ when necessary). 3. After cooking for a minute or so, add all the spices except the coriander, and stir thoroughly. Feel free to add more or less of any of the spices depending on your taste, this is just how I like it! 4. Rinse and drain the lentils, then add them to the pan, along with the tomato puree. Stir till they’re all coated. 5. Add the water/ stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for around 30 minutes, or until all the water has gone and the lentils are cooked (add more water if the lentils aren’t cooked to your liking- this part varies every time i cook it!). 6. Half way through cooking, add the coriander, and season with salt and pepper. 7. Before serving, stir through the chopped kale. *Tip- I buy bags of prepared kale and freeze them. This way, the kale somehow loses some bitterness and cooks almost instantaneously! * ~Mary Kangley 8. Serve and enjoy! I like to serve mine with roasted sweet potato and steamed broccoli!
art + culture
music
books +tv
film film
food
sex + relationships
Sex + Relationships.
I
t’s time to get the feeling stick out, burn the incense and listen. Our trustworty and highly respected (amongst her peers) relationship guru is here to help solve all your problems. Her experience and knowledge knows no bounds, but we do have to tell you she is unqualified and her advice is to be taken at your own risk. Got a problem? Send it in to yorkvisioneditors@gmail.com
Q. Should I bring my uni boyfriend of 2 months home with me for easter? Congrats on your boo, it’s been a rough couple of months out here for some of us. But putting my bitterness aside, it’s difficult to tell if you’re ready to take such a big step with someone you’ve only known for two months. Bringing your special someone back home is you telling your family that this one is special, and hopefully a keeper. If you look at him and think, I trust you won’t embarass me in front of my nearest and dearest then go for it! However, if you’re looking at him sideways, he’s a bit of a free spirit, there is a side of him that worries you etc, then I’d say it’s best to leave the visit till the summer. Q. I kissed a boy in Kuda and now he’s everywhere I go. How do I get him to go away? A. We’ve all been there babe, it’s dark, the warm damp heat of Tiki Bar has gotten to your head and the next thing you know you’re in the camper van stealing oxygen from a random person’s throat. I want you to know, it’s okay. You’re not just now seeing him everywhere you go, in all probability you passed him a million times before. Sadly he won’t go away, mainly because he doesn’t actually need to. Take a pause, because its about to get deep...what needs to go is your embarrasment. Yes, it may have been a little bit shameful to realise you kissed someone you definitley wished you hadn’t but life is a roller coaster and you made a mistake. It’s okay, nobody here is judging you, because we’ve probably done worse. All I can offer to you is don’t run away. Be happy man, it’s all okay. Q. I fancy my housemate, but they’ve said they don’t want to shit where they eat, what do I do? A. You tell them to shit on you, right here and you point at your chest violently. You’re housemate is probably right, dating within the house or flat are general no-go areas. You share too much time together, cooking, eating, general slobbing about and before you know it, you’ve been dating for a month but it feels like a year. Only the strongest of couples can make it through living together and come out the other end as a functional pair. If you think the bond yourself and your housemate have is that strong and resistant, then go forth and conquer love pal. It’s very important to conquer love, however beware it may turn sour. Romance can be slaughtered just as quickly as it can be conquered. The day you catch your housemate shaving their back or picking their nose in the garden, some of the love and lust may fall away, if that’s the case then I don’t think your feelings were anything serious.
5 ways to tell your crush likes you back: 1. They laugh at your jokes. You know, they know, you know you’re not the funniest of people. But still every time you make that terrible punchline about the chicken crossing the road, they laugh so hard they’re about to cry. It’s a sign, they want you to want them. 2. You catch them staring. At first, you think it’s your greasy hair coming to take the world by storm, but then the doubt kicks in maybe they can see you haven’t had your eyebrows done in the acceptable time frame. This may not be your regular oogling, this could be your crush trying to look into your eyes to see if the pair of you are soul mates. 3. They keep touching you. You walk past and your hands brush eachother’s, the electricity in the air is about to pop and you think at last my love is confirmed and reciprocated. Well, it’s probably not, anyone who insists on touching you at random moments of the day instead of talking to you is to be well avoided. That’s someone you shouldn’t take home to mum. 4. Their feet will point at you. Because of the science of the human body, the feet double as a love compass. Pointing towards their one true love. In reality you can’t determine who is harbouring secret feelings for you via the direction of their toes. But it was a nice thought while it lasted. 5. They tell you. Sometimes we remember we’re adults, and those are the times we get a grip and act with some determination. The easy way to know of your crush is similarly diggin’ your vibe is to ask them. “Hey bro, do you dig my vibe?” “Yeah dude, it’s rad”. The only way to radness is through truth.
11
SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND
When I first came to York I had very little expectations for the night life and music scene. After completing my first first bar crawl, the first first stop being Popworld, I thought to myself “I genuinely don’t think that I can do this every student night. I’m going to have to trek back to London every time I want to shake a leg or catch a whine. How am I going to live through 3 years of revolving dancefloors dancefloors and karaoke each weekend?” I literally spinning like Mr Krabs at the thought, until I came across a DROP poster advertising D Double E, a veteran in the London Grime scene in York, not Leeds or Manchester or Birmingham, York.
Since then, there have been a number of urban music events hosted by various different events teams, Bassmentality, BlackBox, TREMOR, On&On and more recently Trap Szn and Soul Candy, all of which who have carved out their own niche in the blossoming underground music arena. I caught up with Bassmentality and TREMOR and asked them a few questions about their journey and their thoughts on the current state of urban music in York.
For people who have no idea what you are and what you do, what do you do? What style of music do you promote? We are an underground event that specializes in up and coming music in the underground Bass scene and other underground scenes such as Drum&Bass and Grime. How do you feel you’ve contributed to the underground scene in York and where do you see it heading? I feel like we’ve been extremely infl uential to the underground scene, seen as York has a influential lot of time for live music and not really that much time for DJs and MCs, to see us keep going and keep a solid fan base of people that are waiting to see the next line ups, and waiting to see what we have on off er, it really does feel like we have succeeded in acoffer, complishing our ultimate goal of just reaching out to the audience and literally listening to the fan base. What have you got coming up for summer term? Our next event is on the 31st of this month (March) Featuring: Notion, Darkzy, and Bru-C along with residents ATYK and Mr.Mac
Why did you decide to start? How difficult was it for you to see your vision realised? I decided to start through the love of DJing at other people’s events and thought why not go for it myself! It was very difficult to start initially, doing monthly resident parties at what was Blue Fly before eventually teaming up with our friends at Drop where we first started dealing with booking headline artists. From there it has just exploded massively. What was the music scene like in York before you came along? In my opinion, for this genre, there wasn’t really an underground scene for bass/bassline in York, especially not for students. For house/techno/disco it was different with the likes of On&On and BlackBox and other local event organisers, and then Drop. came along bringing the fresh sound of grime and from there I just saw the gap in the market which was bass/ bassline.
What was your most memorable event here? This is definitely a tough one, would it be the first headline artist booked, selling out Mansion with underground bassline sounds, or bringing up the man behind Feed Em to the Lions’ Solo 45 of BBK? I think as much as I’ve enjoyed them all, the most memorable event will have to be My Nu Leng for Tremor’s first birthday party. It was the goal for Tremor by time I finished university to book them for a show, and we managed to get them between a show at the Warehouse Project and the Detonate Halloween Special in Sheffield to come play for us at Fibbers! Bassmentality: Bassmentality x Tremor Presents: TQD Definitely the most insane night we’ve put on yet, full dance floor for the whole night with locals and students all in one venue which is incredibly rare, that for me was an accomplishment in itself! Even though its a recent event it definitely shows the rise in Yorks attitude for underground music, I had literally never seen a more incredible crowd at a Bassmentality event.
Photos courtesy of Kluens photography and Bassmentality
York Vision Tuesday March 14,
15 COLUMN
@ALANKELLYSPIN
BEN WALKER
“YORK NIGHTLIFE IS DEAD”
It’s been almost three years since I first came to York, and in all that time I’ve never really, truly enjoyed the nightlife. When I rocked up on open day, they gave us this massive spiel about how there’s one bar for every day of the year, Willow is amazing, and if you really don’t like the nightlife in York then you can always hop the train to Leeds for the night. Total horseshit. There is an abject lack of any decent club nights in this city. Now I’m not going to harp on about fucking Willow. I’m not that guy. It was an alright place that you can replicate in your kitchen by drinking half a bottle of tequila and pissing on the floor. It’s dead, and any third year reading this should just get over it already. In addition to that, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who went to Leeds for a night out. Nightlife at Leeds Uni, as my LUU sabb mate would say, is a dead ting. Leeds as a city is much better for live music but even the bloody students there can’t find something better to do than an up market equivalent of Marmite. They all pile into this massive basement under the Union building and drink VKs. It’s utterly obscene. But enough about the past and our dear neigh-
bours. We’ve got to look forward and work out why nightlife in this city is so stale. Is it the focus on generic chart hits with broad appeal? Is it the lack of support for up this little game? It’s called study bingo (I’m not exactly an imaginative sort). Fill out your bingo sheet with nine different things you expect to see in the library. Then cross that all out because you won’t see any of that. Instead fill out your sheet with nine different wild and improbable things, and coming student artists? Is it the borderline criminal monopoly York Parties has on student nights? Well, it’s probably all three, but the real answer is that it’s because York is basically a cultural backwater and absolutely no positive steps we take will change that. So settle in with a nice bottle of Pinot Noir and laugh as Father Jack goes through the DTs and the Gardaí finally take Ted away for his time at Tuam care home.
SOLUTION? STUDENT WATCH IN THE LIBRARY In other news, it’s revision/dissertation time for a lot of people. Do you know what that means? The University’s eprobably going to host another puppy petting session again! As if that will somehow do anything to stop our astronomical suicide rate. Seriously though, while it’s no replacement for nightline if you have the spare time you should absolutely go. It’s a great experience to see something small, furry and confused being fus sed over by students with thousand yard stares that wouldn’t be out of place at Shiloh. The only way you could make it better would be if there was one puppy each and they had the magical ability to grant firsts. Actually by that point you could probably ditch the puppy. I always find it really fun to student watch in the library at this time of year. In the day time it’s pretty much business as usual but it’s like everyone suddenly switches when the sun goes down. The next time you’re in the library after dark, why don’t you play this little game? It’s called study bingo (I’m not exactly an imaginative sort). Fill out your bingo sheet with nine different things you expect to see in the library. Then cross that all out because you won’t see any of that. Instead fill out your sheet
with nine different wild and improbable things, things that you would never ever see in the library. Sheep in the carpark? Seen it. Someone staring at a sock in the toilets and laughing like it was the Royal Variety show? It happens once a week. Someone creating strange tableaus of popular TV shows using only pens and coffee cups? Someone spoiled House of Cards for me doing this. All logic and sense goes out the window when the sun goes down and people are still working. The library becomes a strange combination of Castaway and the Hunger Games, where everyone isolates themselves off for the most part but the coffee machine becomes the cornucopia but with more mortality. Once you’ve crossed off all your boxes, you win the first prize! You get to go home and have a little sleep, because if you see all nine then you’re about an hour away from being captured in the Linguistics shelves and served as an entrée for the strange Deliveroo banquet someone seems to be per-
petually having. If you see a bearded man weeping into a book on ethnic cleansing, please buy me a coffee and engage me in conversation so I can stave off the auditory hallucinations for a few minutes.
16 OPINION
I
AISLING MUSSON: YUSU JOKE CANDIDATES WERE ILL CONSIDERED
n this years’ YUSU elections there were no fewer than four joke candidates for the role of YUSU President. Joke candidates have an interesting history in YUSU Elections: in 2008 joke candidate Mad Cap’n Tom, whose main manifesto promise was simply to “speak like a pirate” sailed to victory in his election for YUSU president in unprecedented voter turnout that year. I am not at all opposed to the idea of joke candidates in a student union election. I think they can bring a bit of light-heartedness to what otherwise can often become quite a boring process, and it can often increase engagement for students who might otherwise have completely ignored the fact that YUSU elections were happening. However, the joke candidates fell at the first hurdle in their candidacy. None of them were funny. Instead of being a nice way to break up the serious candidates this year by providing a sense of excitement or levity, they simply dragged the process out while leaving less time for the presidential candidates to debate the real issues. In fact, by my recollection the only time any of them managed to land a joke throughout the entire process was when one of them answered a question on the NUS as if it was about the NSS at Debate Night. Things took a turn for the worse when the joke candidates were met with questions at the URY Candidate Interview Night about mental health. As much as I appreciate a
“the joke candidates fell at the first hurdle in their candidacy. None of them were funny.” little Smash Mouth in my life, there are some circumstances in which the lyrics to All Star may not be appropriate, namely when you’re being asked about student mental health in light of an unusually high suicide rate at your university. To his credit, Jed Fulwell later apologised for the incident and indicated sincere regret, but the fact that it happened in the first place demonstrates the pitfalls of trying to apply your joke candidacy to an issue as grave as student suicides. The debate night seemed to follow much of the same pattern. The joke candidates were an obstruction to any meaningful debate taking place between the three genuine presidential candidates. In particular the way they were distributed throughout the serious candidates disrupted any sense of back and forth between the presidential
candidates, meaning that debate on the most serious issues that York students face was stifled. Perhaps the worst part was that one of the
“I expect candidates to exert a degree of sensitivity when talking about mental health” joke candidates, Tom Arnold, seemed to have had a change of heart and was suddenly running as a serious and joke candidate at the same time. This culminated in a particularly painful set of debate night answers where he discussed incredibly serious issues such as harassment and student mental health without abandoning the sarcastic tone he had adopted. I’m not saying that as a whole joke candidates are bad, or have no place or even that they cannot or shouldn’t talk about serious issues in an election. I’m simply saying that I expect candidates to exert a degree of sensitivity when talking about mental health on such a public platform (as I would expect of any person in other contexts). Furthermore, I expect them at the very least to be funny.
Mad Cap’N 2008/2009
Tom
-YUSU
president
Bottom Line: If you’re going to run as a joke candidate make sure you are funny... and don’t be a dick. @Clementattlees
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
SOPHIE FLINDERS: WHY STUDENTS SHOULD #BOYCOTTNSS The National Student Survey is something that you may have seen around campus, receive invasive messages on your phone and email about for a while now, and I am asking you to not fill it in. There are changes happening to university education. The government is imposing the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) that aims to stratify universities. Universities will be given a gold, silver or bronze depending on how well they perform in three main metrics: the NSS, graduate employment and the retention rates of courses (how many students drop out). The institutions that get a silver or bronze will be allowed to raise their tuition fees at a rate of about 3-4% a year and you can already see this starting to happen. York is planning to raise fees to £9,250 for home and EU students.
“The NSS is a survey that focuses on student satisfaction, something that has little to do with ‘teaching excellence’.” Further, the institutions that get a bronze will not be able to accept as many international students; This is part of the government’s aims to reduce immigration into the UK and is a violation of freedom of movement. In 2016 reports were published that Theresa May illegally deported 48,000 students (including our own international students’ officer Roberto), and continues to do so. A recent high profile example is that of Shiromini Satkunarajah, a Bangor university student who was detained at the infamous Yarl’s Wood detention center with her mother. 30,000 people are held in detention centers in the UK every year, this includes full time international students. With the TEF this attack will be embedded into our education system as well. By boycotting the NSS you can aid in making the TEF unworkable. The NSS is a survey that focuses on student satisfaction, something that has little to do with ‘teaching excellence’. In fact there is evidence to suggest that departments that have higher numbers of BME and women academics score less highly in the NSS than those that do not; as more emphasis is put on the NSS, departments and universities who employ these academics will lose out. The TEF disincen-
“‘instead of improving teaching, a higher score could be achieved by admitting students from backgrounds who are statistically more likely to get higher paid jobs” tives universities to diversify their staff. Also if universities wish to do better in the TEF then, as Eden Bailey from Oxford university writes, ‘instead of improving teaching, a higher score could be achieved by admitting students from backgrounds who are statistically more likely to get higher paid jobs [white male students], or incentivizing students to fill out the NSS’. The emphasis the TEF puts on the NSS creates a culture of satisfaction that does not support innovation, taking risks and challenging students. In 2016 the National Union of Students (NUS) voted to boycott the NSS. The policy in question was put forward by NCAFC the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts a movement borne out of the protests following the £9,000 hike in tuition fees. Across the country 27 student unions, which accounts for a fifth of all universities in the UK, have passed policy to boycott the NSS. In not filling in the NSS and telling others to do the same you are participating in national action against the biggest marketisation of education yet. Let’s send a clear message to the government that if you are going to use the NSS to raise tuition fees, then we will unionise and fight back. Unity is strength! If you have filled in the survey and wish to retract your responses email: thestudentsurvey@ipsos.com
Bottom Line: Team projects may be difficult for natural perfectionists and procrastinators. @YorkVision
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
17 OPINION
ABDULLAH IBRAHIM: YUSU MISMANAGED THE BAME ELECTION
SAM LINLEY: UKIP, AND WHY I DEFECTED
I
started getting passionate about politics after the 2014 European Elections. I was a Conservative supporter, but I really didn’t like the EU and as time went on the EU got worse and so I decided to support UKIP. I liked what Nigel [Farage] said and so I started to become vocal in my support of UKIP. I went along to the University of York’s UKIP stall at Freshers’ Fair and became quite active in the society. A few weeks ago, I was elected Chair and before then I was the Secretary. I had my own Diane James moment when a few weeks after taking on the position of Chair I left. It was a really tough decision to make, one made over the course of a number of months.
“it was the infighting that got to me. It’s getting crazy.” Before the Stoke-by-election I was seriously considering whether I wanted to stay in the party. But I thought this could be our [UKIP’s] chance, this could be our breakthrough. I knew I didn’t want to leave without trying my hardest and so decided to base my membership on our success in Stoke. One of the things that prompted me to leave UKIP was the infighting it was just getting crazy. I sympathise with Carswell as a fellow libertarian but I do think that whether or not you agree with the leadership it’s unhelpful to directly target your leader. You should respect the leadership. The situation with Arron Banks threatening to withhold donations unless he was elected Chairman was similarly disheartening. It’s hard to say whether I would have remained in the party if Nigel was still the leader, because I honestly don’t know what direction the party would have taken. I am however still a big fan of Nigel, I have a lot of respect for him. He’s not perfect of course, I thought the migrant poster a week before the EU referendum was misguided. I appreciate the point that they were trying to make with the poster but I think they
went about it in the wrong way. I’m defecting because of Theresa May. At one point I thought there was a possibility we could replace Labour but all the infighting has disillusioned me to that prospect. On the other hand I am really happy with some of Theresa May’s policies for example on Grammar Schools and leaving the Single Market. I’m not going to support everything the Conservatives do. I’ll remain a strong supporter of electoral reform, and advocate a system similar to Wales, so you can keep that constituent link but also have proportional representation. Whilst this certainly isn’t the end for UKIP, I do think they will stagnate. Since the referendum I can’t even count on my fingers how many friends have left the party, this week alone I can think of 4 or 5. Although that’s not to say they’ve all joined the Conservative party. I do think the Conservatives are doing really well especially in the North, we [Conservatives] trounced Labour in Copeland. If we have that swing in my local area of Teesside, we’d have Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Darlington, Bishop Auckland
“Whilst this certainly isn’t the end for UKIP, I do think they will stagnate.” all going blue. I think it’s important to note, that the University of York UKIP Society was never just a one-man band. I may have stepped down but there are plenty of other active members, some of whom have indicated their interest in assuming the role of Chair. I genuinely do hope they continue to do well. At the end of the day I’ve got a lot of friends in the party. The friendships I’ve made were part of the reason I didn’t leave earlier, as I didn’t want to disappoint people. I was also the North East Chair for the Youth Wing and it’s regretful that because I’ve left they are unrepresented at the moment. However, I can’t stay in a party that I don’t feel can make a change in politics. I can’t see UKIP getting anywhere beyond maybe a small handful of MPs in 2020.
Bottom Line: I’m enthused by the direction of the Conservative party, and feel better served by them. @SamL_97
The elections for YUSU full-time and part-time positions were hotly contested – so you thought! As some may have noticed the election for the position of BME (Black and Minority ethnicities) officer was a one horse race with Deborah Daniels and Afoma Ojukwu (as one candidate) winning with 1634 votes. YUSU avoided the awkward situation of no BME candidates standing when no students put themselves forward in the 4 week open nomination window. Deborah and Afoma always want-
“These revelations show structural problems in YUSU”
ed to stand but missed the deadline so YUSU extended the deadline and informed the BME network that the deadline had in fact been extended. These revelations show structural problems in YUSU, as when YUSU was asked “How was the extension of the deadline for YUSU BME candidates advertised?”. A question challenging whether YUSU had taken enough steps to ensure a contested election, YUSU President Millie Beach replied with: “After four weeks of an open cross-campus nomination period unfortunately no candidates had confirmed so the network was requested to put out a further call for candidates. This was at the close of the nominations period but it remains at the discretion of the deputy returning officer to change an internal deadline. We are very pleased to wel-come the BAME officers and look- ing forward to the wonderful work they’ll be doing.” They seemed to have either misunderstood the questioned, assuming we were questioning the legitimacy of how they extended the deadline or are either purposely avoiding to answer the question as they know through answering the question directly they will have to address how they failed to adequately advertise to ensure a contested election. As our question is one that asks whether YUSU should have better publicised the extension of the deadline to ensure a contested election for this position rather than simply requesting the BAME network to put out further calls. This seems to reflect a failure of YUSU to engage BAME students onto a small under-resourced BAME network where Sophie and Gabby are doing their best to engage more BAME students. When the BAME network was contacted, they could only find two candidates who wanted to stand, with Afoma stating that: “I told the previous BAME officer that I was
interested in being a BAME officer but she told me that the nominations had closed the day before. Then a few days afterwards she got back to me and told me the people who nominated themselves dropped out last minute, and she asked me if I was still interested. I said yes then she got me in contact with another girl who was also interested and we ran together.” In general, it is believed that contested elections are better for the liberation network elections as it allows the candidates to put liberation issues onto the agenda of the mainstream of student politics and to make those that belong to that liberation network feel in-
“This seems to reflect a failure of YUSU to engage BAME students onto a small under-resourced BAME Network. ”
cluded in student politics. Michaela Tharby, one of the elected women’s officers raised this point to us: “The competition boosted how much we tried to engage students... They chose to put abortion support, postgraduate training, and femme club nights on the agenda. This gives us a much larger mandate for these ideas - they weren't just the alternative to RON” But do rest assured this seeming incompetence from YUSU has not marginalised BME issues and students from the mainstream of student politics with Afoma, one of the new BME officers ensuring she will do whatever is in her mandate to “help BAME students in York”.
Bottom Line:
YUSU needs to work harder to engage BAME students and support the network. @abdullaibrahiim
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
18 OPINION
YES/NO
SHOULD YUSU HAVE A WORKING CLASS STUDENTS’ OFFICER? MICHAELA THARBY YES:
The University of York is a leader in diversifying intake, yet nothing is done to bridge the attainment gap between classes and class differences are persistently ignored. A working class part-time officer would make sure that the interests of poorer students are represented, and begin to address the massive class issues at our university. The four liberation officers work to make sure self-identifying students have a voice and look after specific interests of minority students. The current liberation framework ignores class but the ugly truth is quality of opportunity is an urban myth - especially when unpaid internships are a must for a good career - university life is a privileged bubble, and no one talks about the culture shock of coming to university. Class matters, whether we like it or not. I grew up on a council estate, went to one of the worst schools in the country and was made homeless during my A levels. I went from an environment where being above the minimum wage and owning your house were luxuries – to university life where I honestly met someone who thought the average salary was £100,000 because “why would you work for less?” Attitudes to food, careers, fashion, and language all differentiate us, and there was a crushing sense of alienation (please see ‘Chav D’). Following in the footsteps of Manchester, KCL, LSE, St. Hilda’s College Oxford and SOAS, a working class officer would help with any sort of culture shock at the university, coordinate the opportunities for people with a lower socio-economic
JOSH SALISBURY NO:
status, and make sure working class people are represented. They would continuously lobby against hidden fees, improve access to information for bursaries and scholarships, and make sure emergency loans are done properly. The university puts so much time into widening participation – yet, resources and effort seem to stop once you are actually in university. People say the president always lobbies for the interests of poorer students but we need a specific officer to form a network and represent students. Alex Urquhart, while lovely, went to Harrow, one of the most expensive and exclusive schools in the country – forgive me if I think he may not completely understand the working class perspective. We cannot continue to ignore the role of class and the alienation students from a lower socioeconomic class face. A social mobility & working class officer would not solve the problem – but it would be a step in the right direction. It would make university life so much better for the students who need it and the representation comes at the expense of no one. York has always led by example, and it is time we do so for working class students.
@Kalawaddup
When I first got to York, I was intimidated as hell. It seemed that loads of people I met were so sure of themselves. They just had this unshakeable inner confidence that after three years, they would leave York with a 2:1 and work in publishing, or law, or medicine like their parents or family friends do. They’d be able to work unpaid internships in central London in the summer, and they already had CVs bursting at the seams with extra-curricular activities. And as the first in my family to go to uni, on a full maintenance grant, that was scary. So I completely understand the desire for a working class officer in YUSU. The issue is that I can’t see the role working and functioning beyond simple tokenism. Firstly, all YUSU part time officers have networks which they chair. What would a working class students’ network look like? What would it discuss? And most importantly, who would attend? It’s incredibly hard to pin-point exactly what working-class means. This isn’t a problem that other networks face: it’s much clearer who exactly the disabled students’ network is for, or the LGBTQ network. But no-one can pin-point precisely what the remit of a working class students’ network is in the same way. The danger is that middle class students will self-define as working class, and talk over the voices of genuinely working class students. Supporters of the idea hope that a working class students’ officer would be able to stop the caricature of working class students on campus. Yet having a
working class students’ officer wouldn’t have stopped Derwent from hosting ‘Chav D’ for many years, or Halifax and James Colleges from running a Chavs v Toffs social. The proof is in the student reaction to criticism of the events: many working class students denied that having a Chav themed social is classist in the first place, and took more offense at the backlash against the events than the events themselves. This underscores the biggest problem facing a Working Class Students’ Officer. Many working class students acknowledge the problem of exclusion on campus, but resent the idea of having an officer speak on their behalf. They would feel that an officer specifically for Working Class students singles them out. The working class students’ officer also wouldn’t do justice to the breadth of opinion among students who are working class. The very fact that working class students can’t even agree on whether there ought to be an officer in YUSU for them shows that. There’s no denying that York can be a culture shock for people from low-income backgrounds, and every effort should be made to make life easier for those students. YUSU should be pushing for more bursaries for low income students, and seek to educate the whole student body about the issues that working class students face. But they should, and can do this through their existing officers – there’s no need to create an ill-defined role which working class students can’t even agree that they need.
@josh_salisbury
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
19 OPINION
JORVIK VIKING FESTIVAL
For the 33rd time, from the 20th to the 26th of February, Jorvik Viking festival returned to York. Locations across the city were filled with Viking tents, long boat replica’s, and, of course, the energetic Viking marches. Jorvik festival is the largest Viking festival in Europe and attracts more than 40,000 visitors each year. This years theme was “Vikings on display”. Events that took place during the festival included a best beard competition, Viking folk and metal bands, a Viking banquet experience, and a Viking inspired percussion workshop delivered by a Spanish performance troupe, of course. We ventured into the weapons tent and were provided with an assortment of impressive battle equipment by a rather helpful Viking called Paul*. The axe was heavier than it looked and I have no idea how anyone wore those helmets for more than 5 minutes. I think it is safe to say I would not have beaten Paul in hand to hand Viking combat, but at least he couldn’t have whacked me on the head.
(*the Viking was not actually called Paul, in all the excitement of being handed an axe I forgot to ask his name but just thought he looked like a Paul.)
Other
The Jorvik Museum (pictured) had to close in December 2015 after York suffered intense flooding.
Attractions Historic DIG
WOLF HALL COMES TO BARLEY HALL
RICHARD III and HENRY III EXPERIENCE
Find out more about the York-Lancaster rivalry A hands on archaelogical experience. Handle real by visiting the ancient gateways to the city. artefacts from ancient civilisations, undertake The ‘Power and Glory’ Exhibition at Barley Hall Monk Bar is home to the Richard III Experience you own excavation and find out how archaelo- will be featuring costumes from the BBC TWO which focuses on the turbulent life of Richard II gists recreate the past. show Wolf Hall until the 24th of March. and his rise and fall from power during the Wars Opens Sunday 8th of April AT THE FESTIVAL: AT THE FESTIVAL: of the Roses. Multi-million pound reimagining of the centre Viking animal steading -an opportunity to get up A “Make Your Own Poo” workshop, where you Micklegate Bar is home to the Henry VII ExpeUpdated ride experience with 16 new language close and personal with animals Vikings would could learn how poo was used to solve ancient rience which focuses on the fascinating life of options have reared. Discover the importance of rearing mysteries. Henry VII and his rise to power during the Wars Updated historical interpretation, showcasing the animals -for meat and milk but also for their What came first the chicken or the pot? Archaelof the Roses. cultural ‘melting pot’ of 10th centruy York bones and antlers which were used to make a ogist Peter Connolly’s talk about the remains of AT THE FESTIVAL: New Smells variety of object including combs and picks. Roman burial grounds from around the country. Walking Tour, 2,000 years of history in 2,00 steps New Sights
JORVIK CENTRE
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
20 OPINION
lgbt history month on campus
AISLING MUSSON examines student involvement in York’s LGBT History month commemorations
L
GBT History month is an annual observance commemorating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans history. It has been celebrated every February in the UK since 2005 to coincide with the abolition of homophobic law Section 28. The national LGBT History month celebration was initiated by the charity Schools OUT, though the local York LGBT History Month organisation has clarified that they are a separate organisation because of a dispute about alleged transphobia. York LGBT History Month’s programme of events encompassed a wide variety of screenings, discussions and talks on a diverse range of issues, and there was significant involvement in the commemorations from York staff and students. Lead Co-ordinator Kit Heyam said: “We’re really pleased to say that this year’s York LGBT History Month programme saw our highest turnouts and engagement yet. Coming together as an LGBTQ community to celebrate and remember our history seems to be particularly important to people this year: it’s meant a lot to all of us to have so many positive reminders of our solidarity. We’re so grateful to the University of York for being one of the sponsors of our charity again this year, and also to everyone at the University who worked really hard to help make this happen - especially Adrian Lee, Annis Stead and Jaz Millar.”
“I don’t shave for Sherlock Holmes”: queerbaiting, queer coding and queer visibility in popular culture from Sherlock to Stranger Things Hannah Benzies: “This session examined popular TV shows and other pop culture from an LGBTQ+ perspective, looking at the way non-straight characters are treated in media as well as the phenomenon of queerbaiting, where queer storylines are hinted at but never fully realised. Topics covered included queerbaiting in BBC Sherlock, One Direction and its interactions with its fandom, and the “dead lesbian” trope found in many TV shows.”
Joint ISA/LGBTQ+ Network Film Screening: “The Way He Looks” (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho)
Said Huw James: “The International Students Association screened Brazilian drama The Way He Looks, an uplifting portrayal of a young visually impared boy coming of age - developing his sexuality and personal independence - whilst promoting the value of friendship. Through the upbeat tunes of Belle & Sebastian, and the aesthetic talent of Daniel Ribeiro and Pierre de Kerchove, ISA picked a movie that will be enjoyed by all.
Is Our Past Ace? How Asexual Communities See Their Own Pasts Lavender Linguistics:
A whistlestop tour round recent York research into LGBTQ areas of language including Sex Ed Discourse, Lesbian Language, Trans language issues, & Gay Lisps The Liberal Democrats had planned to host
Baroness
Lynne Featherstone, architect of the same-sex marriage bill, and the University of York Labour Club had
intended to host Emily Brothers, disability and trans rights campaigner, however unfortunately both were can-
National LGBTQ+ campaigner George Norman and founding member of asexual campaign group maaple spoke about asexual history and how the ace community sees its own past.
Tackling heternormative archaeology:
University of York Archaeology student Sophie Jorgensen-Rideout gave a talk about their field exploring “the ways that we create LGBT archaeology in the modern day, to how looking at archaeology through a queer lens can open up so many new possible interpretations
celled due to train delays!
WHAT THE OFFICERS THOUGHT:
Said incoming LGBTQ+ officer for 2017-18, Henry Fairnington: “I think it’s gone amazingly. There were so many events that went down well, and everyone I’ve spoken to about it seemed to really enjoy the whole month. I think LGBT History Month matters because it dispels a lot of people’s attitude that being LGBTQ is a modern thing. People throughout history have felt the same things as us, and it’s wonderful that, whether their lives are celebrated, or mourned, or even hated, that they’re acknowledged as people. So many times this group is condensed into a stereotype represented by a few people, and LGBTQ History Month just opens it up, and helps people realise that. We have York Pride coming up at the start of June to look forward to” “until then the LGBTQ Network is planning on lots of events throughout term. We’re hoping to have joint events with other liberation networks, and individual ones, doing anything from film nights to campaigning ideas to awareness weeks. Dates will all come out when events are more firmly organised!”
Current LGBTQ+ officer Jaz said: “Students make up a significant percentage of the population of York and universities have so many resources to explore LGBT History. I firmly believe we should be getting as involved as we can be. This year I was so impressed by the number and range of events across UoY and YSJ and I really hope it continues. If there’s one thing I think we could improve on it would be to use LGBT History Month as an opportunity to break down the divide between students and the rest of the city. Our LGBT heritage is a shared one.” When asked if they thought there had been an improvement in the position of LGBTQ students on campus in recent years, Jaz had this to say:
Incoming LGBTQ Officer Henry Fainington
“I’d say LGBTQ represents a wide range of genders, sexes, romanticisms and sexualities so it’s hard to measure successes for us as a group. What I think has vastly improved in my 4 years here has been the increase in diversity of the membership and campaigns & events we’re running. There’s a strong and caring community that covers so much of the LGBTQ spectrum.
@YorkVision
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
21 OPINION
“Liberation event of the Year” Sexpose: V Reviewed
HUW JAMES reviews the Sexpose Panel between LGBTQ+ Network, Women’s Network and FetSoc, and looks at all the juicy details from the sex survey results!
LGBTQ Network Panelists & Organisers of Sexpose V.
S
tudents turned up in their hundreds to attend Sexpose V the widely-celebrated sex-positive panel hosted by LGBTQ Network, Women’s Network, and Fetish Society. The event, hosted by YUSU Sabbatical Officers Dom Smithies and Tamaki Laycock, promised to be “Bigger, Better, & Wetter”, both quenching the audience’s thirst and minds in their discussion of all things sex. This year marked the 5th Anniversary of Sexpose, its founder, Maddie Boden, commented “I’m so glad it’s still happening and LGBTQ, Wom Comm and FetSoc are still at the helm!” Activities included: Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Quizzes on titbits of LGBT History, Sexual Paraphernalia identification, a Pointless-style presentation of the annual student sex survey and Would I Lie To You.
Salacious Stories Included:
J
az Liddell, incombent LGBTQ Officer has given York Vision access to Sexpose’s Student Sex Survey revealing saucy statistics about the lives of University of York Students in and beyond their bedrooms.
SHOCKING York Student Are Wankers.
@YorkVision
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
22 FUN 1
2
3
4,5
6
Crossword — ‘Little Grey Cells’ by Citric ACROSS
7,8
1
9
McDonagh’s in a Flemish bridge (2,6)
4
Post-post-24 (4)
7
Paradoxical Belgian Riddle (4)
9
Oh, you intended - or so I hear. Discourse. (8)
10 10
11
Cooking up an ailment will change the fact you’re 20 (7)
12
12
French girl (5)
13
Prussian ruler, now Luxembourgish and with a Carbon centre (7)
19
Profound sense of nothingness, perhaps felt by 12 (5)
13,14
15
20
Rather hungry (7)
22
EU Commission feels an electrical imbalance (8)
23 16
17
19
18
Shortly, in the olden days, now unidentified (4)
24
Pre-Jorvik (4)
25
Sprouts bureaucrats (8)
DOWN
20
2
Britain’s Recursive Explanation - In This (6)
3
21
22
Wise herb - or goes in all fields (4)
23
5
This is more scrumptious (7)
6
Manhattan Project’s Cat (6)
8
Paradoxical Zen Riddle (4)
11
Antipodean Avian (3)
14
4’s river runs unequally through the JTR (7)
15
1923 Congressional Proposal, had its time? (3)
24
25
16
Malt loaf sounds very tranquil (6)
17
Retributional mix-up in Geneva (6)
18
Antediluvian plot (4)
21
Knives in the dark (4)
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE! A
T
B
I
B
T
E A
R
THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER?
Vısıon YORK
SPORT@YORKVISION.CO.UK BECOME A SPORTS REPORTER TODAY
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
36 SPORT
NAVIGATING ROSES 2017 V/N/045:
HENDRIX HALL:
SLB/118:
DEBATING
MOOTING
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE POKEMON CHEERLEADING
RKC: DARTS YORK SPORT VILLAGE: SWIMMING OCTOPUSH WATERPOLO CYCLING CIRCUIT TT
22 ACRES: NETBALL
VOLLEYBALL
RUGBY
BASKETBALL
CROSS COUNTRY
LACROSSE
HANDBALL
ARCHERY
FOOTBALL
BADMINTON
RUGBY
CRICKET
LMB: E-SPORTS
YORK SPORT CENTRE: LAKESIDE WAY: MOUNTAIN BIKING
FOOTBALL
TENNIS
HOCKEY
SQUASH
VOLLEYBALL
NETBALL
FENCING
BADMINTON
TABLE TENNIS
KARATE
TRAMPOLINING
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
37 SPORT
ROSES PROMOTES
BY TAGHREED AYAZ _______ Roses 2017 will be used as a platform to discuss mental health. YUSU are teaming up with York Mind, an “independent local mental health charity which aims to empower individuals experiencing mental ill health to start on the pathway to recovery.” YUSU will be running a campaign before Roses to highlight the positive link between Mental Health and sport, including player profiles from a number of different sports and societies. Representatives from York Mind will be present at the Roses opening ceremony and throughout the weekend. As well as raising
awarenwwess of how healthy minds and bodies are linked, YUSU will also be fundraising so York Mind can continue to provide services. York Sport Union Prez Isaac Beevor told Vision that: ‘One of my manifesto aims was to tie in sport/activity and the positive benefits that it can have on an individual’s Mental Health which is why I think it is appropriate that we use our biggest stage, Roses, to make this important link.’
RESPECT THE ROSE Lancaster University Students’ Union and the University of York Students’ Union believe in providing an inclusive, professional and safe environment for all teams and athletes to participate in. Each institution expects all players and clubs to adopt this ethos and to the best of their abilities ensure that the Roses Competition is a event that any student would be proud to be a part of. Believing any student wishing to take part in the Roses Event in any capacity should be able to do so without fear of discrimination and have a zero tolerance approach to homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, xenophobia, racism, sexism, gender bias and all other forms of discrimination.
We pledge: • Abide by the Roses Code of Conduct • Protect the Roses Event and reputation by ensuring all players, coaches, officials, supporters and attendees at the Roses Event: • Represent the University, Union and club in an exemplary manner. Behave in a respectful and appropriate manner. - Show due respect to other users of facilities and to University/Union staff. - Are welcoming and hospitable to opposing teams and treat all opponents with respect.
BY TAGHREED AYAZ York and Lancaster teams will be renewing their pledge to Respect the Rose. The pledge was unveiled at the launch of Roses 2016 by the then LUSU Activities Vice Pres Natalie Sutcliffe. All sports captains had to sign the pledge to Respect the Rose before Roses weekend began. However Roses 2016 was marred by unsporting commentary at both the Men and Women’s Darts tournament. Then YUSU Sport President Grace Clarke spoke out against the conduct of the Lancastrian commentators, assuring students that the allegedly sexist and body shaming comments would be fully investigated. It is unclear what the outcome of this investigation was.
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
38 SPORT
BUCS ROUND UP BADMINTON BATTLES BY TAGHREED AYAZ The University of York Badminton Club avoided relegation by beating league favourites Liverpool by 6-2 against Liverpool 1sts who were favourites to win the league this year. This means York moved away from almost certain relegation, all the way up to 3rd place. York Vision caught up with Captain Dan Martyres who told us: “The feeling after the match on Wednesday was a mixture of joy and relief - against one of the strongest sides in the league we obviously had our doubts going into it, and a win was
necessary in order to avoid relegation, but with tensions running high and nerves on end everyone managed to pull out top performances. “For Roses, as far as the men’s goes, Lancaster are languishing far beneath us in the league and we’ve taken two easy wins from them this year, so we’re confident it’s going to be a good one to watch for any York fans. The Women’s badminton team are a whole division above Lancaster’s own women’s team. And are looking forward to putting an “exhibition of domination.” on at Roses this year.
TABLE TENNIS TRIUMPH BY TAGHREED AYAZ York’s Table Tennis club won silver medals in the Northern Conference Cup finals. One of the biggest com[petitions in the Table Tennis sporting calander, the table tennis club were playing against some of the very best in the sport. York Vision contacted President Ishan Bairoliya who told us: “I am extremely proud of our women’s team who performed excellently this year, not only winning a silver medal in the cup but winning the division by some margin. This newly formed team, captained by Lydia Brown showed great
commitment and spirit in all their matches. “ Sonja Wieland who was part of the winning team commented: “Participating in the NCC was a great experience that fostered the team spirit of our new team a lot. Especially the semi-finals and finals, where we met two topranked teams, were good fun and we are very proud of having come second in this strong field. The table tennis club meet every Monday, Friday and Saturday in the main hall, in the sports centre on Heslington West. For more information,
The proud players defeated various teams to take
check the YUSU Sports website.
WONDER WOMEN BY TAGHREED AYAZ
Beating Leeds Beckett 5-0 UYWFC are the
The University of York Women’s Football team beat Leeds Beckett 5-0 in their first year in the 1A. They not only kept a clean sheet but had 3 different goal scorers. UYWF told York Vision: “we’ve worked so hard throughout this season, everyone has shown so much passion and commitment, so to have that rewarded with this result is really great. We came up against some really tough sides so this just shows that we’ve proved ourselves against some of the best. Now we’re massively confident for Roses coming off the back of our league
success and our 7-0 win last year, but we know Lancaster will be looking for revenge and have done well in their league this year so we’re expecting them to give us a bit more of a challenge than last year. However, with our 2s doing well this year as well, we’re confident for another roses whitewash!”. York dominated for most of the match, maintaining possesion of the ball and keeping up an impenetrable defence. If their performance against Leeds Beckett is any indication, this team are going to really show Lancaster what colour roses really are!
York Vision Tuesday March 14, 2017
39 SPORT
YORK STUDENT WINS DOUBLE GOLD BY TAGHREED AYAZ The 11 March 2017 saw the second national University Brazilian Jiu Jitsu League come to Nottingham. Competitors from universities across the UK competed in gi and no-gi divisions to decide the best university grappler in the country. York Vision caught up with Violet Xanthe Bennet after her win: “I’m feeling pretty bruised after my double gold,
but very pleased! It came as a surprise to me but not to my team, who have been behind me and everyone else that competed from day one. I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for a year and a half now, and started at the University of York Mixed Martial Arts Club. From there I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Brazil to train, as well as training at Elements gym in my hometown of Brighton. I’d love to thank my training partners and coaches, especially Indy Lynn,
Nick Charnley, Marty Wolf, and Chris Lübker for their support, and my parents, for not quite knowing what BJJ is and why I do it but being proud of me anyway.” Hot on the heels of her victory Violet was succesful in her campaign to become President of the university’s MMA club. The club trains four times a week with the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class every Monday from 6-8pm in the Derwent Performance Studio and beginners are very welcome.
UYSWC RAISE OVER £1,590 for Ovarian BY TAGHREED AYAZ On the 3rd March the University of York’s Swimming and Water Club (UYSWC) pledged to swim 7,300 lengths (over 180km) to raise money for Ovarian cancer charity. That’s one length for each of the 7,300 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the UK every year. Fresher Ellie Griffin set the tone of the day by swimming 15km before 10am, and Rob Mason gave himself the herculean task of swimming throughout the whole 12 hour event to register a whopping 30km. Members past and present turned up to show their support including former captains Beth McArt, Ryan Conway and Grace Gilmour. By 12pm UYSWC had reached their half way target and by the end of the day 230km had beenclocked. At the time of print they have raised £1,590. However you can still donate at: https:// www.justgiving.com/fundrais-
ing/uyswccharityswim UYSWC’s Press & Publicity officer Rebecca Hall told York Vision that the team: “chose this charity because one of our swimmers was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year. It’s a fantastic charity that does so much to support treatment and research into the condition. As March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month we also wanted to help raise awareness of the symptoms and the fact that it affects younger women too.” The club would also like to thank York Sport Village for hosting the event, and allowing them to use a second lane to accomodate the number of people who showed up.
Follow @YorkVision For live updates go to www.yorkvision.co.uk