The Glasgow Guardian: January 22

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STAFF ‘BURNT OUT’ AFTER FIRST SEMESTER UNI STAFF ON EXCESSIVE WORKLOADS AND NO SUPPORT - PAGE 2 28 January 2022

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Cough up: Glasgow unions lowest funded of all noncollegiate Russell Group universities Luke Chafer NEWS EDITOR

Information gathered by The Glasgow Guardian, via a series of Freedom of Information Requests (FOIs), shows that out of all Russell Group universities, the University of Glasgow provides the lowest levels of funding to their student unions of any non-collegiate institution. Between 2016-2021, the University of Glasgow provides on average £1,438,345 annually to its four student bodies; less than half of what the University of Edinburgh provides its one student union.

In total, out of the 23 universities that have provided The Glasgow Guardian with data (Queen’s niversity Belfast are yet to reply), the University of Glasgow ranks 20th. The only institutions in the Russell Group that provide lower levels of funding to their student unions are the University of Cambridge, Durham University, and the University of Oxford. As these universities are collegiate they provide funding to their central student unions, but also their colleges, who in turn fund their own “common rooms” - known as “JCRs” and “MCRs” - which hold many of the same functions as a student union. It has not been possible to acquire the amount of funding given to each JCR, explaining why collegiate universities rank at the bottom of this list.

As a result of the pandemic, the University of Glasgow did provide additional funding to its student bodies.

The total grant for the academic year 2020/21 was £1,743,560, which equated to a mere £4 rise in funding per student from the previous year, from £49 per head in 2019/20 to £53 in 2020/21.

Credit: AJ Duncan (@ajd.illustrates)

This is in comparison to £266 per student provided to the student union at Kings College London. The lack of increase in funding at the University of Glasgow was also despite posting a profit of £45.7 million in 2019/20.

Out of the four student bodies on

campus, the SRC receives the most funding annually. In the academic year 2020/21 it received 46% of the total funding provided by the University for student unions, receiving £769,984, while the GUU received the lowest of all four unions, accounting

for just 16% of the total grant receiving £285,320. In 2016/17 and 2017/18 the GUU and QMU received the same amount of funding year on year, however, since 2018/19 there has been a divergence with the QMU receiving an extra £68,559 more in the last aca-

demic year. In four out of the five years for which The Glasgow Guardian holds data, GUSA received the second highest amount of funding. However, this changed last year when it received £316,182 in comparison to the £353,879 received by the QMU. The issue of funding provided to the University’s unions was raised in the University Court back in February 2018 by then-Rector Aamer Anwar.

The court minutes note: “The Rector had met with the unions and believed there was a lack of understanding by the University that while the overall grant for 2017/18 might be at the same level, there had been a cut in real terms. The GUU had already had its grant cut between 2016 and 2017, with the QMU’s and GUSA’s frozen from 2015. Additional support was needed to allow the union boards to enhance the student experience and address the needs of students.” Anwar went on to say that he didn’t feel the University understood the “function of the unions” and without increased funding, their “viability was threatened”. Since that statement was made the funding to student unions at the University has only increased by £7 a head.

A UofG spokesperson said: “We are really proud of our four student organisations. Comparing funding between universities is highly misleading as the balance of responsibilities between union and university varies enormously across the Russell Group.

“UofG has increased the grant to our student bodies substantially over the past five years and will invest more in the future.”

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News

Staff left feeling ‘exploited’ and ‘burnt out’ after semester one Luke Chafer NEWS EDITOR @_lukechafer

Going into the academic year the issue of staff burnout was a concern.

The issue was flagged at the University court session in September, where the minutes note that there was a concern “about staff welfare, particularly in the areas where there had been a large January intake, which had meant that a number of academic and support staff had been unable to take a break over the summer holidays. The impact of blended learning was also noted to be causing acute problems for staff.”

The Principal went on to acknowledge the “unusual levels of

cisions about teaching and learning.

This is a problem because it means decisions are taken without recognising and trying to address the difficulties involved in implementing these decisions. The amount of work we’ve had to do to fix problems created by management is not insignificant.

“Another is that management have failed to communicate their decisions in a timely manner, meaning we’ve had too little time to implement those decisions without working way beyond our contracts.

To be fair, communication has slightly improved recently but the damage has already been done. The

impact on staff workload, stress and morale is significant.

“The impact on staff workload, stress and morale is significant.”

“Sadly, aside from some training sessions on Zoom and ‘thank you for all your hard work’ messages, University management don’t seem to understand how overwhelmed

many of us feel. We don’t feel supported by University management we feel betrayed and exploited.”

This sentiment has been echoed by another lecturer who has told The Glasgow Guardian: “I don’t feel there has been adequate support. There is just expectation that you will get the job done. There is a lot of lip service that support is available but there is no clarity as to what that support is. It has been a time where investing in more staff to ease workloads would have been the logical and helpful solution.

That hasn’t happened which means workloads have risen extensively.”

They went on to emphasise:

Credit: Dorota Dziki (@drawing__dora)

“Academic and support staff had been unable to take a break over the summer holidays...”

“Workloads increased massively when we moved to fully online/ blended learning. Entire courses had to be adapted for this type of delivery in a very short period of time which led to excessive workloads and high levels of stress in order to get the work complete in time for classes beginning.

“There is a lot of lip service that support is available but there is no clarity as to what that support is.

“Staff are often coordinators of several different courses across different levels of teaching so this required working hours well in excess of what we are contracted to (averaging 50-60hr weeks just to stay afloat). There is no question this has led to burnout across university staff everywhere.”

Another lecturer commented: “It is absolutely right that some form of blended learning continue especially given we are talking about vulnerable students and staff. As lecturers we are concerned that our students get the best education experience despite the present reality.

“When I speak to colleagues both from Glasgow and elsewhere it is also true this has severely impacted lecturers [who] often have to do twice as much planning and teaching.

“Whilst there is individual support from schools, I think it is a wider sector issue which needs a collective approach.”

The Glasgow Guardian has requested comment from the University of Glasgow but they are yet to respond.

tiredness” and stressed the importance of the institution’s recognition of this, going on to thank the staff.

Yet, going into the second semester, little has been achieved by the University in this regard.

A senior lecturer at the University has told The Glasgow Guardian: “It’s fair to say that blended learning has led to an increase in staff workloads. It takes time to learn to use new platforms and think through how to adapt teaching to an online environment, or at least it does if you want to do it well. However, there are two much bigger problems.

“One is that throughout the pandemic the University management have consistently failed to consult teaching or professional services staff in Schools before making de-

Students suffering from long Covid appeal to the University for support Kimberley Mannion NEWS EDITOR @mannionkim

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by The Glasgow Guardian has found that over the first semester of the academic year 2021/22, 127 Good Cause claims were made at the University of Glasgow containing a reference to or mention of long Covid.

Of these 127 claims, a third (41) have so far been granted.

However, long Covid is not a specific field for reporting Good Cause, and so other reasons would have been submitted alongside of this.

Symptoms of long Covid include extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, chest pain and problems with memory, or “brain

fog”, which can last for months after being infected with Covid-19. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 134,000 people in the 17-24 age bracket, the age group made up of the largest proportion of students, are living with long Covid in the UK. Tara Byrne was due to start the fourth year of her languages degree this year, but instead had to withdraw from the University for the year due to her long Covid symptoms making it impossible to study. Since she is technically no longer a student for the time being, she has been left with little to no support.

Before withdrawing, advisors in the University urged Tara to keep studying through the long Covid in order to receive more support - although it is unclear

exactly what this would have included - and offered her the option of studying from home. However, her long Covid symptoms meant that even with some form of support, remaining in studies was not a feasible option for Tara.

“Her long Covid symptoms meant that, even with some form of support, remaining in studies was not a feasible option for Tara.”

Following confirmation of her deferral, Tara applied for the University’s Discretionary Fund and was awarded just £500, despite her subsequent withdrawal from studies meaning she is no longer in receipt of a student loan and cannot work due to the illness. Shortly afterwards, a friend applied for the same fund and reportedly received more than double Tara’s amount, even though she is still studying and thus has a student loan as well as a part-time job.

Although the University directed Tara to apply for both the Discretionary Fund and Universal Credit, she emphasised that there was a lack of support in completing the difficult applications.

“The application processes are so complex and detailed that it’s really impossible for me to get it done alone. With the Discretion-

ary Fund, my mum had to do the whole application for me because I just can’t concentrate on it. It’s really exhausting and for someone with such debilitating symptoms, there isn’t much in place to help with that kind of thing,” Tara told The Glasgow Guardian.

The FOI obtained by The Glasgow Guardian did not detail the number of students who deferred their place at the University due to long Covid.

The University of Glasgow has been asked for comment on support available to students struggling with long Covid. however has not yet responded.

If you are a student at the University who has been struggling due to long Covid and would like to comment on your experience, please email news@glasgowguardian.co.uk.

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28 January 2022

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‘Study drugs’ prevalent in UK universities including Glasgow Kimberley Mannion NEWS EDITORS @mannionkim

Following a recent investigation by The Times which discovered the high prevalence of “study drugs” being taken across UK universities, The Glasgow Guardian conducted a survey which looked at use of these nootropics, or cognitive enhancers, at Glasgow.

Study drugs were found by The Times to be taken to improve academic performance and work through exam and deadline periods at universities in the UK. The investigation noted the most commonly used study drugs to be modafinil, a legal prescription drug designed to treat people with excessive sleep disorders and methylphenidate (Ritalin), another prescription drug given to people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It found that 19% of UK students surveyed had taken study drugs at some point in their academic career.

“19% of UK students surveyed had taken ‘study drugs’ at some point in their academic career.”

The Glasgow Guardian’s survey on the use of study drugs at the University of Glasgow found that 29% of participants had heard of students taking such drugs to enhance academic performance at the University. However, only 9.7% of respondents admitted they had taken the drugs themselves.

The most commonly used study drug was modafinil, followed by methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin). Methylphenidate is a stimulant drug that affects the dopamine pathways in the brain.

It is prescribed for people with ADHD, who would not feasibly be able to plan and cope with assessment without the prescription, as

one respondent noted.

Other respondents told The Glasgow Guardian they had taken amphetamines (brand name Adderall) to help them study. Amphetamine drugs are used to treat both ADHD and the sleep disorder narcolepsy in the US, but Adderall is not common or widely available in the UK. It is a class B drug and illegal without a prescription.

The majority of respondents that had taken study drugs before had experienced negative side effects. One person commented: “I thought it would give me the competitive edge. Instead, I felt like I was in a tunnel... I became heavily addicted to the drug [modafinil], unable to do anything without having taken it, e.g. no motivation, as my brain had become used to the ‘tunnel’.”

This respondent described their “horror experience” on the stimulants which brought their use to an end: “As I was walking, I fainted, hit my head against a wall, and vomited. This was followed by a series of regaining consciousnes, vomiting, and fainting again. I was sent to hospital in an ambulance and was genuinely unsure whether I would survive.”

“I was sent to hospital in an ambulance and was genuinely unsure whether I would survive.”

While one respondent did note that it was “very easy” to obtain study drugs in Glasgow, a theme emphasised in The Times investigation, another told The Glasgow Guardian that “while I know people have used them at Glasgow, it doesn’t seem nearly as big compared to [in] the US. I took them in high school and noticed marginal improvement at most.”

Universities UK is to launch a study of drug use at universities in the UK this year, which will be used to shape new guidance by the end of 2022, which will also include information on the use of cognitive enhancing drugs.

Credit: Roberto Sorin via Unsplash

UCU report finds sexual violence is ‘commonplace’ in higher education The 4,000-participant report mapped patterns of sexual violence over the last five years.

Lucy Dunn EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @lucyidunn

The UCU sexual violence task group finds that 10% of survey participants of almost 4,000 respondents have “directly experienced workplace sexual violence in the past five years”, and 70% of these respondents experienced it as “an ongoing pattern of behaviour”. Those most at risk of workplace sexual violence included staff on non-permanent contracts, those with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ staff.

13 UCU members carried out the project which focused on staff who are represented by the UCU, and as such the report did not focus on student-student gender-based violence (GBV), although did include instances involving postgraduate students who were also graduate teaching assistants, as well as postgraduate researchers, who UCU are campaigning for to be recognised as staff.

The report found that sexual violence in tertiary education is “commonplace”, with 39% of survey participants reporting their experiencing of sexual violence directly, or indirectly, as a witness, or as a confidante to a victim, across the last five years. The majority of survivors (49%) were assaulted by a colleague. 18% were assaulted by a manager, 10% by a line manager, 14% by a student, and 9% had not specified.

Over half of survey respondents didn’t tell their employers about their abuse.

The sexual violence report found that, for 70% of participants, sexual violence followed

a sustained pattern involving a range of acts and behaviours.

A selection of these behaviours included unwanted “derogatory comments” relating to a person’s appearance or clothing, “leering” and suggestive gestures or remarks, physical contact (e.g. unnecessary touching), and unwelcome sexual advances, propositions or demands.

“For 70% of participants, sexual violence followed a sustained pattern involving a range of acts and behaviours.”

The UCU Scotland President quoted the report on social media, saying: “Problems with sexual violence are typically dealt with according to the status in the institution of the alleged abuser, i.e. if they are a professor with a large grant record, you may as well forget it.”

Becca Harrison, a former lecturer at Glasgow University, said: “[The report] makes for grim reading – 10% of respondents experienced sexual violence in the year prior to the survey… It is endemic. And, as you’d expect, sexual violence is most common along intersecting lines of oppression, with women, LGBTQ+, people of colour, casualised staff and so on most likely to be affected. It tracks with existing studies

Credit: Dorota Dziki (@drawing__dora)

about student experiences of sexual violence on campuses in the UK.” The UCU report recommends that employers should take a number of actions to help prevent sexual violence and gender-based violence in the workplace. These include increasing transparency for survivors of violence, changing employment patterns and reducing casualisation, and creating a more efficient means to pursue proceedings against perpetrators even after they have left the institution. The UCU Task Force also suggested that the UCU should withhold “at least some forms of representation” from perpetrators, and that offering guidance and support for both survivors and union reps against further legal proceedings led by accused perpetrators was advised.

“Employers should take a number of actions to help prevent sexual violence in the workplace.”

Jo Grady, General Secretary of the University and College Union, said: “The report of UCU’s sexual violence task group attempts to challenge and address the problem of sexual violence in [further and higher education]… We’re indebted to the many survivors who took part in the group’s research and entrusted us with their experiences.”

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UofG receives a 2:2 in latest sustainability ranking Luke Chafer NEWS EDITOR @_lukechafer

The People and Planet 2021 sustainability league table has ranked the University of Glasgow 84th out of 184 UK universities and 4th in Scotland on its environmental policy, which represented a 2:2 classification for the University scoring 40.3%. Within the Russell Group, this meant the University was ranked 20th out of 24. Overall the research found that 46% of universities are on course to meet the sector-wide emissions reduction target set by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), representing a 33% rise since 2019.

The index combines information presented on each university’s website with data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Estates Management Record (EMR).

The index then uses 16 factors to determine the overall ranking with the greatest emphasis being placed on carbon reduction, making up 15% of the overall score, and management systems, making up 10%.

According to the index, there were two areas that required significant improvement at the University of Glasgow. The University scored 0% in policy and strategy; the index criticised the University for not having an environmental policy that was reviewed regularly by a member of staff in a senior position. This was in addition to failing to have targets for environmental travel and sustainable procurement.

The other area that the University scored 0% on was waste and recycling.

One of the strongest scoring

areas for the University was its ethical investments being ranked top in Scotland, and 12th UK wide. This is despite the failure to divest from arms companies, reinvesting divested funds and still using banks that finance the fossil fuel industry.

Jack Ruane, University League Manager at People & Planet has said that: “The improvement of some Russell Group universities and the increased number of institutions on course to meet the carbon reduction target are positive signs.

However, it’s disappointing that the majority of the institutions are still not on course to meet the 15 year long sector-wide

HEFCE carbon reduction target before next year’s deadline. The sector must prioritize immediate and rapid decarbonisation, rather than celebrate target-setting as far away as 2050 in some cases.”

“In the age of the climate crisis, transparency and accountability on sustainability must not be seen as a burden, but as a necessity. We will continue to encourage the sector to submit estates management (EMR) data to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and call on the Office for Students (OFS) to work with the sector to provide regulatory leadership by mandating its reporting once again.”

Credit: Nairne Clark Hopkinson

Mindstep raise 100k for research at UofG Lauren Brooks REPORTER

The Mindstep Foundation has raised £100,000 for suicide prevention research at the University of Glasgow, led by Professor Rory O’Connor.

The foundation is a family-run mental health charity that was founded to help educate people on the warning signs and consequences of untreated mental health issues. The charity also raises awareness and reduces stigma around mental health, with the aim of suicide prevention, particularly in young men.

The Mindstep Foundation Fellowship has funded the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory (SBRL). Professor Rory O’Connor, a world-renowned suicide prevention research expert led the research at Glasgow University. The research has helped improve risk assessments, intervention, and treatment planning for those at risk of suicide.

Co-founder Stacey Davis founded the Mindstep foundation in 2018 following the suicide of her son Max Davis, who took his own life at the age of 22 after suffering with depression. She commented: “We were determined to help those who felt the same as Max and to prevent another family having to experience the pain of bereavement by suicide. Whilst suicide is the biggest killer of young men under 45, research into prevention is chroni-

cally underfunded.”

“Research into suicide prevention is chronically underfunded.”

Professor Rory O’Connor, head of the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory at the University of Glasgow said: “I am so incredibly grateful to Tracey and the Mindstep Foundation for supporting our research into understanding and preventing suicide, through the Mindstep Foundation Fellowship. Their generous support has allowed us to identify specific groups who have been particularly affected by the pandemic, as well as other research into identifying those who are most at risk of suicide. I am delighted that we will continue our partnership with the Mindstep Foundation for at least another two years as we continue to tackle the devastation of suicide.”

Mindstep co-founder Tracey Davis concluded: “We are very thankful to our incredible supporters who have helped us raise over £100,000 for this vital research.

The Mindstep Foundation Fellowship would not be possible without their efforts.”

The charity said it will continue to support the research at Glasgow University for a further two years.

Credit: Mindstep

UofG medicine graduate and Chief Medical Officer is knighted Ollie Rudden DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR

The new years honours list saw a host of accolades for University of Glasgow alumni, including Dr Gregor Smith who has been knighted by Her Majesty The Queen.

Gregor Smith, Scotland’s chief medical officer has made the New Year’s Honours list, which gives recognition to “achievements and service of extraordinary people” across the UK in their line of work.

Dr Smith joins other recipients this year that include the chief medical officers of the other nations of the UK such as Professor Chris Whitty, alongside Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, and former Prime Minister Tony

Blair.

Gregor Smith, who is also an Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at Glasgow was previously the deputy chief medical officer for Scotland at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to this, he was also a medical director for Primary Care at NHS Lanarkshire and has spent most of his career as a General Practitioner in Larkhall.

He was made interim chief medical officer in April 2020 following the resignation of Dr Catherine Calderwood who was forced to resign from the role after The Scottish Sun caught her breaking Covid-19 restrictions.

He was officially promoted to chief medical officer on a permanent basis on 23 December 2020.

Commenting on Twitter, Dr Smith thanked people for all the

good wishes he received on the announcement of his knighthood, describing it as “a truly humbling experience”. He enthused about how pleased he was to see many other clinicians make the list this year. However he also commented and commended the work of other individuals in his line of work, stating their “dedication, professionalism and excellence goes unseen”.

Dr Smith wasn’t the only University of Glasgow representation on the new years honours list. Six other alumni and honourary graduates received accolades, including Professor Dame Glover who was appointed a Dame for her services to music and Dr Beverly Bergman who received an OBE for services to veterans in Scotland.

Credit: RCGP via YouTube

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

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Scottish universities accused of falling short on ‘female-only’ staff networks following Kathleen Stock resignation Lucy Dunn EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @lucyidunn

Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, an Edinburgh-based independent policy analysis collective, found that no Scottish university has a “single-sex, female-only” staff network or representative body.

The group sent of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to 15 Scottish universities which questioned whether each institution had a female-only staff network, and if so, who it was open to. The FOI responses found that “no university in Scotland has any form of organised representation or networking for female staff based on the protected charac-

teristic of sex in the Equality Act”.

This investigation follows the resignation of Professor Kathleen Stock of Sussex University.

Murray Blackburn Mackenzie say that Stock’s leaving the post “brought the inadequate handling of sex and gender identity issues within UK Higher Education to the fore”.

Professor Stock received an immense backlash after blogging about her views on the reformation of the Gender Recognition Act. Following Judith Butler’s assertion that gender is a social construct, and trans writer Julia Serano’s work on gender identity, Stock told The Sunday Times in an interview that despite seeing the attraction of the theories being discussed, she failed to see

the logic in the “liberal academic orthodoxy [that] a person’s inner ‘gender identity’ took precedence over their biological sex”, and her stance remains as such.

“Professor Stock received immense backlash after blogging about her views on the Gender Recognition Act.”

Credit: antiterfsussex via Instagram

Recently, Stock has also criticised the University of Glasgow’s philosophy department. She commented online on the “joke academic philosophy is fast becoming” alongside UofG philosophy’s call for papers on trans issues, with particular reference to one essay title: “Rainy Fascism Island: What the hell is going on in the UK right now?”

Initially, she began to receive comments about her online, however the reaction to Professor Stock’s commentary grew, and most recently, students at Sussex took to protesting against Stock’s employment at the University, with police informing her that she was “unsafe on campus”.

The student group “Anti-Terf Sussex” was one that formed on Instagram with the aim of calling for Stock’s resignation. The page shows numerous pictures of posters and demonstrations held on the Sussex University campus, with one on a tunnel wall reading: “It’s not a debate / It’s not feminism / It’s not philosophy / It’s just transphobia and it’s not on / Fire Kathleen Stock.”

“The student group ‘Anti-Terf Sussex’ was one that formed on Instagram with the aim of calling for Stock’s resignation.”

Following her resignation, Anti-Terf Sussex posted a screenshot on Instagram which stated: “Good riddance. This is a monumental victory for trans and

non-binary students who have protested the ways that this university has enabled transphobia, abuse and discrimination… Direct action gets the goods, and trans and non-binary students are safer and happier for it.”

“This is a monumental victory for trans and non-binary students who have protested the ways that this university has enabled transphobia...”

Murray Blackburn Mackenzie disagree with the backlash Stock received and state that Stock’s is not a standalone case. They write that Oxford University’s Professor Selina Todd has “required security at her lectures”, whilst events on “women’s sexbased rights” at Oxford Brookes, Edinburgh and Essex have been “postponed or cancelled”.

However, those who oppose Stock and others who don’t recognise trans women as being privy to the same rights and spaces as those assigned female at birth – most commonly termed “trans-exclusionary radical feminists” or “TERFs” – emphasise that these views are transphobic. The “Anti Terf Sussex” group stated: “Institutional transphobia lives on; it runs deeper than any university. Trans liberation is possible in our lifetimes but we must stand strong together in the face of structures that support eliminationists and bigots.”

Study finds young people’s sex lives affected most by lockdown Luke Chafer NEWS EDITOR @_lukechafer

A recent study published by the University of Glasgow in conjunction with University College London (UCL) and the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) found that the sex lives of young people were most affected by lockdown. Sexually experienced young people aged between 18-24 were most likely to report a change in frequency, with 60% of them doing so, of which 66% reported a decline in sexual experiences. This age group also reported a decline in perceived sexual satisfaction.

The study collected data from over 6,500 people aged between 18-59. The data was collected be-

tween 29 July and 10 August 2020 and participants were asked a series of questions about their sexual behaviour (including physical and virtual activities) during the first four months of lockdown.

Aside from the findings on young people, the study found that more broadly adults were still engaging in intimate relationships over lockdown. Findings showed 57% of adults classed as sexually experienced said there was no change in the number of times they had sex with a partner compared to the three months before lockdown. Additionally, 63% of adults reported having sex after lockdown started, with just under a quarter not living in cohabiting relationships.

As well as studying physical relationships, the study also assessed the changes in online

behaviour as a result of the first lockdown. The study found that 53% reported a virtual sexual activity such as sexting or watching pornography whereas 84% reported some form of physical sexual activity with a partner or by themselves. The proportion of people reporting virtual activities since lockdown was largely driven by watching pornography, reported by 65% of men and 21% of women.

Professor Kirstin Mitchell of Glasgow University, joint senior author, noted: “Physical touch is a fundamental human need and crucial in developing intimacy.

Virtual ways of being sexual can feel less satisfying because they don’t allow that. We found the reduction in opportunity to give and receive intimate touch was not experienced equally across the population.”

Credit: Katrina Siân Williams (@veryberrykitty)

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THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

A tale of two cities?

Jeevan Farthing VIEWS COLUMNIST @jeevolutionary

Glasgow has been ranked the unhappiest place to live in Scotland. As an unknowing firstyear suddenly immersed in the cultural and culinary delights that the city has to offer, this finding seemed incongruous with my experience of living here.

I only have to walk to campus from my f lat in Finnieston to be immersed in greenery, fountains and lakes. Kelvin Way, now effectively pedestrianised, is both soothing and thriving.

The hubbub of students rushing to their classes and parents ambling along with their pushchairs is supplemented by birds tweeting and leaves falling. The walk is pleasant and peaceful, and ensures I arrive on campus feeling relaxed.

Another journey stands out though, for very different reasons. My parents don’t own a car, so before moving into halls we stayed overnight and walked from our apartment near the Royal Infirmary to Tesco Extra Credit: Kirsten Colligan

to get pots and pans. It was a dismal experience.

Almost the entire walk is along the roar of a dual carriageway. Before that, you have to navigate a labyrinth of elevated concrete structures criss-crossing each other, deafening those who dare walk underneath.

Five whole minutes of lingering around never-ending pedestrian crossings, inhaling fumes as you wait. You feel dirty.

Walking by large roads and motorways is overwhelming and demoralising. The people speeding along in their vehicles are going places while you’re stuck here. This is because a city designed for cars is ultimately a city designed for those who pass through it and not those who reside there. It’s telling that in Springburn - the area the dual carriageway leads to - only 37% of households actually own a car.

The walk also takes you past Sighthill, emblematic of the failure of the city’s housing policy in the late 20th century. While those with qualifications and better employment prospects were siphoned off into new towns like East Kilbride and

Cumbernauld, high-rise estates like Sighthill were constructed and quickly deteriorated as only those in the most desperate of circumstances would choose to live there.

“A city designed for cars is ultimately a city designed for those who pass through it and not those who reside there.”

Sighthill has now been demolished. So have a lot of other high rise schemes in the poorer parts of the city, which contributes to Glasgow having the highest total acreage of vacant and derelict land in Scotland. This same study also found a link between exposure to this land and poor mental health. Unfortunately, communities have not been afforded the opportunity to reclaim these spaces, because a decade of austerity has deprived local authorities of the resources needed spruce them up Credit: to Jack Corban

and, in many cases, decontaminate them. Instead they just lie empty and abandoned.

These are the consequences of managed decline. They are brutal, long-lasting and poisonous.

It is overwhelmingly those areas still reeling from the decimation of heavy industry that contain the most unpleasant living environments and feel most unloved by those running the city. Fundamentally, Glaswegians are unhappy because the place in which they live is not designed for them to be happy.

“Fundamentally, Glaswegians are unhappy because the place in which they live is not designed for them to be happy.”

My first two walks in Glasgow demonstrate a tale of two cities within one. There is a gaping chasm in the experience of those whose economic purpose

is to contribute to Glasgow’s economy by spending money, and those who contribute to Glasgow’s economy by earning money: in other words, through their labour. A large proportion of the latter group, but also those out of work, cannot afford to spend money on a coffee and cake in the West End, so the city does not consider their living environment to be important.

Such analysis is reductive, you may argue. Glasgow has a booming financial district in Anderston, and people work there too. Alas, they probably own a car. The thrill of the elevated motorway running alongside can whisk them away in no time. But, if you’re a local living in the slab blocks on St Vincent Street, you’ll have to traipse through a dimly lit underpass that stinks of piss to access your local station.

What a damning indictment of Thatcherism. Where your experience of Glasgow is overwhelmingly shaped by your economic worth.

I love living here, but I’m a student and I’m meant to love it.

That’s the problem: not everyone is.

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28 January 2022

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Is written media dead? Oh, we’re Ethan Marshall

VIEWS COLUMNIST

It’s a well cited facet of twenty-first century life that print journalism and newspapers are struggling. The world is moving online and with “speed” and “convenience” being two watchwords of innovation, lengthy written articles are seeming increasingly archaic. They are appearing to be so archaic, in fact, I find myself asking, “does my writing actually make a difference?” or “who exactly am I writing for? Am I just writing for other writers, or are other people with no connection to journalism finding any value in my work?” Ultimately, I reach the most penultimate existential questions: “What is the meaning of this? Is there any?”

“Am I just writing for other writers or are other people with no connection finding any value in my writing?”

Personally, I read a lot of articles, but I am in the minority among my friends, even those who are at university. I find the act of reading articles relaxing and interesting. I think that the act of writing, especially writing an article that contains your ideas and opinions has an innate worth and, by extension, meaning. Yet, my personal preferences alone aren’t enough to sway someone who doesn’t read articles and favours other forms of media for information.

Written articles are useful because they inform you and present you with challenging ideas that make you think, but there is something deeper and more fundamentally valuable about them. Arguably, they are an impression of someone’s person and character - they are a snapshot of another individual’s persona. Written journalism can encapsulate a qualitative form of connection better than other mediums. It is a form of expressive art and art itself has meaning.

Even at a fundamental aesthetic level, a written article provides an insight into someone else’s minds that few other mediums can match. A seminal article that is either well written or constructed can, at its most potent, inf luence the actions of another person. Not through force or through negative coercion but by exposure to the ideas, opinions and character of the author. Articles are frac-

tions of the person that writes them. Like a message in a bottle, they possess a timeless quality.

Unlike journalists, who all unfortunately pass away, an article has a chance at immortality that its author does not. Isn’t this valuable? Isn’t the act of writing an article planting a tree you will not sit under? Isn’t it the case that when people write articles they have no real idea of what the effects of their writing will actually be?

“Articles are fractions of the person that writes them.

Like a message in a bottle, they possess a timeless quality.”

Moreover, news is most effective when it is human. News about issues facing a society, whether it be climate change, poverty or political upheaval, are most impactful when they are linked to the harm they are

causing individuals, and a journalistic article is the best place to capture this suffering. A scientific study could easily provide quantitative data about the effects of climate change, but stating that “20,000 people in x province could be displaced” is less effective in spurring action than giving the names of some of these people. Articles make people more than just figures on a page - they become what they always were: human beings with lives. Individuals who have triumphs and struggles. It is this qualitative aspect that journalism can best capture and it’s something that you can only uniquely experience if you engage with quality written journalism.

It would be impractical to have an in-depth conversation with every stranger you pass on the street, but quality written journalism can allow us to see into the minds of strangers we would otherwise not get the chance to meet. Written media allows writers to meaningfully engage with hundreds of people without the dispassionate blue light medium of computers. I think that this is something truly valuable.

Credit: Dorota Dziki (@drawing__dora)

halfway there…

Rachel Campbell BOOKS EDITOR @rachocambo

Though this time of year tends to be filled with the remains of that post-Christmas festive spirit, for students - particularly fourth years - this can be far from the most wonderful time of the year. I am in my final year of an english literature and history degree, and at this halfway point it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the prospect of this chapter of my life ending. As I look back on my time here and ahead to an uncertain future, I have many mixed emotions, which can be a lot to handle.

“At this halfway point it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the prospect of this chapter of my life ending.”

I have really loved my time at uni. I never considered changing my course or dropping out. I’ve had interesting classes, brilliant lecturers and incredible opportunities whilst at Glasgow, not to mention the friendships I’ve made or solidified whilst here, and the sense of community I’ve gained from societies. That does, however, make it all the harder to leave. With my plans after graduation yet to be determined, I worry about how I’ll retain the friendships and the sense of belonging I’ve found here. While my friends discuss their plans to do master’s degrees, I’m pretty certain that’s not the path I’m taking after graduation. Although I love studying and might come back to it at some point, I feel as though it’s time for me to take the leap and apply for jobs. With that said, I already have pre-emptive FOMO about no longer being a part of The Glasgow Guardian, meeting equally-stressed friends in the library, or having guiltless midweek celebrations.

Of course, it’s exciting; the idea that I could go and do whatever I like after graduation. On the other hand, standing on the precipice of endless possibilities is terrifying. With an english and history degree, I get a lot of “have you thought about teaching?” or “so what jobs actually look for that degree?”, to which I feel I have to justify the wealth of experience and knowledge I’ve gained studying an arts course: “I mean, it’s all about communication…”

Unlike subjects like accounting or business, the jobs I’m looking at are less likely to recruit graduates a year in advance, meaning

all I can do for now is keep an eye on what’s coming and going, knowing the job search will be frantic as soon as I finish my degree. No pressure.

With that in mind, I’ve known for a while the importance of having more than just good grades when I go into the world of work. “They’re all looking for experience nowadays,” they tell us. That’s not to say the only reason I’ve taken up opportunities is to build my CV - I’ve been able to do things I never thought I could due to the extracurriculars I’m a part of - but would I necessarily be undertaking an internship, editing for the student paper, tutoring higher english and working part time in retail, all whilst writing my dissertation and keeping up with classes if I felt it didn’t make a difference to my career prospects? I doubt it. Though I’m grateful for and proud of the things I’ve achieved, it is extremely overwhelming trying to spin all these plates.

There’s also the terrifying prospect that it will all be for nothing. That, despite how hard I’ve worked during my time here, I’ll struggle to figure out what I want to do and secure a job I’m happy in. The idea of working in retail for much longer doesn’t thrill me. When trying to meet deadlines and keep up with other responsibilities, it’s easy to get burnt out and bogged down with these nihilistic thoughts. None of us can predict the future, and so it’s hard to know whether it will all work out in the end. This halfway point is tough when you still have months of hard work to go but haven’t yet reaped the rewards.

“There’s also the terrifying prospect that it will all be for nothing. That, despite how hard I’ve worked during my time here, I’ll struggle to figure out what I want do.”

Ultimately, we will get there, and it will be worth it regardless of where we end up. But, that doesn’t make the process less stressful. I find it useful to remind myself we’re all in the same boat. Mutually ranting with a friend about everything you have to do won’t lift the workload, but it will remind you that you’re not the only one. Nobody is breezing through their final year, no matter how much it looks like it.

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28 January 2022

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‘Fat’ needs to be abandoned, not reclaimed Molly Mead WRITER

CW: Eating disorders Seemingly obvious yet systemically suppressed, a crucial fact to arm yourself with is that bodies come in a vast array of shapes and sizes, all of which are deserving of respect and appreciation. With that in mind, it could be a valuable exercise to create a non-medicalised vocabulary to describe, recognise and affirm the existence of bodies that have been othered and sidelined in recent history.

To formulate this language, we can recognise that it’s not only those who are visibly larger who have issues with compulsive eating, a habit I refer to as eating when you are not physically hungry. By acknowledging that this issue impacts people who are “thin” as well as everyone in between, “fat” people are no longer shamed as the only ones who are “out of control” around food. It also dissuades us from deducing meaning, like an individual’s relationship with food, solely from someone’s appearance – or question why we make that assumption in the first instance.

By widening the range of bodies being invited into the conversation about language and bodies – including smaller ones generally subject to less cruel judgements – we not only dismantle our assumptions of “fat” people but find solidarity in the amount of people suffering from

compulsive eating patterns.

Some propose to positively reclaim the word “fat” as part of this new language. Whilst it’s important for communities to have the language to describe and represent themselves and their experience, “fat” is not a neutral descriptor of physical appearance. Not only is it wildly subjective, but it holds a myriad of negative connotations.

“‘Fat’ is not a neutral descriptor... it holds a myriad of negative connotations.”

In Fat Is A Feminist Issue (1978), psychotherapist Susie Orbach provides several examples, one being: “To be fat means to have no needs… to be a constant embarrassment to yourself and your friends”; and: “...having to wait until you are thin to live”. All bodies, especially those that have been relentlessly sidelined from living freely, deserve descriptors that do not confine themselves in and perpetuate simplistic binaries. In a moment when we are assaulted by visual culture with images of westernised, digitally manipulated, fetishized human bodies – particularly female ones – we have to be imaginative and thoughtful moving forward. Why reuse Credit: Dorota Dziki

a word that has been so divisive Credit: AJ Duncan (ajd.illustrates) and done so much damage to people’s relationships with their body, and others?

Furthermore, the word “fat” is so loaded with emotion and blame; it atomises people. It prevents us from asking important questions that locate the cause of compulsive eating in the external world. A politically-conscious approach would consider bodies as the manifestation of various circumstances, like what types of food are financially accessible or who gets to be educated about food. We can remember that having the time and energy to consistently cook a meal is a privilege. Others point to social relations - for example, Susie Orbach suggests that women are particularly affected by compulsive eating because it’s a response to their secondary social position. The word “fat” works to break down collective solutions to troublesome relationships with food and body-image, in spite of it being painfully commonplace.

Crucially, an overhaul in language presents the opportunity to accommodate compulsive eating as a reasoned response to a difficult situation. A politicised approach removes the anxiety and fear around fatness and prioritises having a nourishing, comfortable relationship with food and your body permanently. Discussing and sharing the diversity of our experience enables support networks to be built to deal with these issues communally.

Are we, once again, leaving behind accessibility?

Katherine Prentice LIFESTYLE EDITOR @kprentice10

In some ways, lockdowns have been a godsend in terms of accessibility, particularly in the workplace and university. In other aspects, it’s been a nightmare. Of course, for many people who are disabled or chronically or mentally ill, there has been an overarching sense of dread the past couple years. Some, like me, though, were just relieved that our lectures were finally recorded - even if I wasn’t allowed past my front door.

Online university has its drawbacks - in all honesty it was draining, and I am so excited to be back on campus. But, as someone who is chronically ill, being able to catch up on lectures easily and attend seminars from home made a huge difference to my learning. I had been waiting for my promised recorded lectures since 2018, and it shouldn’t have taken a pandemic for disabled people to be properly considered. For others, the move to working from home had a similar set of advantages, and I know it has made a huge difference to family

and friends of mine.

Seeing places open up with a blended approach has also been amazing, with events being hosted both in-person and online, and lectures finally being recorded as standard (yes, I feel very strongly about this). Despite the total misuse of the sunflower lanyard by some, the pandemic has brought a much greater awareness to invisible disabilities like mine. This was in progress before the pandemic; the “not all disabilities are visible” stickers on toilets and lifts around the uni have given me peace of mind when taking the lift one or two stories, or being the dreaded slow walker on University Avenue. Of course, everything is not suddenly perfect, but the awareness brought about by the pandemic has been a big step in the right direction. It has been a breath of fresh air to see some people finally grasp the concept of someone being disabled and not being in a wheelchair all the time. People seem to have a general greater awareness of health and wellbeing as a social issue rather than a personal one.

But, as the campus slow walker, the lessons I thought we had been learning about accessibility seem

to have been quickly forgotten the more things open up. I fully understand the need for certain measures, but having every bench taped up in shopping centres or busy streets is a nightmare for disabled people, and an inconvenience for everyone else.

One-way systems around shops can double or triple the walk to do certain things, making moving around campus, work, or a supermarket a far more energy-intensive task than before.

The queues that are still forming outside of shops (where seats have now been taped up) are also very difficult. I have witnessed people I know be sworn at by “supermarket bouncers” for asking if they can go in, sit somewhere, or skip a queue because they physically cannot stand that long. I am worried that as things open up and people are vaccinated, disabled people are once again being overlooked for the sake of convenience for others.

The anxiety for many people trying to return to normal life can be disabling in itself. Some people are not going to be ready or feel safe enough to just jump back into pre-pandemic life, whether they are high-risk, anxious or disabled, and we shouldn’t be making this any

much harder than it needs to be.

Shop assistants and people working the doors should be considerate and trained to be aware that not everyone will be able to wait in a 20-minute queue to get into a pharmacy, or walk the 15-minute one way route to find a toilet. The public also need to be understanding of the difficul-

ties many disabled or chronically ill people face, too. It is exciting to be returning to some semblance of normal, but it is also terrifying, and I just hope we can bring with us some lessons from the pandemic on accessibility and acceptance, rather than revert back to overlooking others for ease.

Credit: AJ Duncan (@ajd.illustrates)

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28 January 2022

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Dear friends, you don’t always have to be an agony aunt Haneul Lee VIEWS COLUMNIST

Humans complain. That’s part of who we are. We remember more negative experiences than we do positive – our brains are just wired that way. Some of our concerns are, let’s face it, fairly privileged, and, in the grand scheme of things, pretty insignificant. When most of us vent about personal struggles, we are already aware that there are “easy” solutions to our problems. Sometimes all you need is a different perspective. Your tutor hates you? Tough, at least you have one. You’re inundated with work? Good, you’re getting an education.

But humans are social beings – a large part of our venting isn’t because we’re clueless about the privileges we have as students living in a country with a democratic government, public healthcare and free ed-

ucation. It’s because we want to know that we have someone who validates our experiences, a presence that cares enough to empathise with even the most shallow and ridiculous versions of ourselves.

“We want to know that we have someone who validates our experiences...”

The problem with unsolicited advice is that more often than not it can be hurtful. When I rant to my able-bodied f latmate about something frustrating that happened to me that day as a disabled person, the last thing I want to hear is, “well, at least you can walk” (I wish this

wasn’t a true story). Not only is this incredibly patronising, but it made the petty side of me rethink every moment I listened to her complain about deadlines or having drank too much the night before.

I’m sure there have been plenty of times in which I’ve made the same mistake. There has been many a time where my friend was crying on my shoulder about a terrible boyfriend of hers and everything inside of me was screaming, “just break up with him!” But sometimes it’s not the right time or place, and sometimes there are things you should never voice. So why do we feel the need to give advice when a shoulder to cry on is the best way forward?

I can see both perspectives.

Sometimes the solution is so blatantly obvious to the listener that you can’t help but advise someone who may not want that sort of support. Maybe you genuinely think the person who’s

venting wants advice. Or maybe giving people advice is your love language – trying to help solve a problem shouldn’t be considered a bad thing, should it?

It depends on the type of concern and the type of advice.

Instead of ever entrusting my f latmate with my daily struggles again, I realised that little anxieties like “what if they think I’m shallow?” or “what if they just don’t care?” were niggling in the back of my head.

Of course, giving unsolicited advice is not an unforgivable crime. In some cases, however, I see it as a red f lag. More often than not as a disabled person, a lot of the unsolicited advice I get is about how most of my issues could be solved if I perceive the world with a more positive outlook. I’m sorry, but how will a positive outlook solve the fact that I’m paying out of pocket for taxis and Ubers because public transport is wildly inaccessible?

This is just not up for debate – if

an able-bodied person tells me one more time that the majority of my problems come from my head, I can guarantee this right now: I will shut down like a venus f lytrap.

“Giving unsolicited advice is not an unforgivable crime. In some cases, however, I see it as a red flag.’”

The moral of the story is this: listen. We all have concerns, some more pressing than others.

But, if the venter wants advice, they’ll tell you. Most days we just want a caring presence to lend an ear to our problems.

Do we ignore victims of violence? vicariously from the comfort and safety of their living room.

This plays into a wider issue of the sensationalising of perpetrators of violence and their actions. Numerous documentaries recount the lives and violence of countless killers, all seeking to, in some way, explain or justify their actions. Is our desire to focus on the perpetrators an attempt to understand their behaviour and make some sense of it?

Molly Craddock WRITER

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was only 42-years-old when she was tragically shot and killed on the set of Rust. A gun that had been deemed safe to use on set was fired and Hutchins was struck by ammunition left inside the weapon. Despite being airlifted to hospital, she was pronounced dead hours later.

Press coverage of this incident does not paint this tragedy as that of a young woman cut down at the height of her career; rather, it has become the tragedy of Alec Baldwin, the actor who fired the gun. Countless articles have been produced discussing how exhausted and despondent Baldwin appears, how much this event has impacted his family, and the degree to which he should be held accountable for Hutchins’ death. Halyna Hutchins occupies perhaps a line or two of these articles.

The Rust shooting is a tragic incident for all involved and, of course, public speculation surrounding Baldwin following this event is to be expected. This speculation should not interfere with the respect and attention that Halyna Hutchins’ life is owed, but on countless occasions it has: the most glaring of which being a reporter unable to recall Hutchins’ name whilst interviewing Alec Baldwin. The 42 years of Halyna Hutchins’ life have been condensed into a single line, or even worse, a single word, to add some context to her death. Sadly the treatment of Hutchins by the media is not unique. The press and the public are often on the perpetrators side of violence, rather than that of those who have fallen victim

“This plays into a wider issue of the sensationalising of perpetrators of violence and their actions.”

Credit: Dorota Dziki (@drawing__dora) to it.

If I asked any of you reading this to tell me some facts about Charles Manson, Richard Ramirez, or any famous perpetrators of violence, I’m sure you could reel off some information with ease. However, when asked to list any information about their victims other than the events of their death, I’m certain

you would struggle. A lot of you wouldn’t even be able to give me a name.

So why is it that the victims of violence are ignored? Perhaps it is due to the morbid curiosity of the public - the popularity of true crime television shows and novels indicates that there is a large audience of those excited by experiencing violence

In the case of Halyna Hutchins, neither of these motives make sense. Her death was accidental, there was no perverse motive or any mystery for armchair detectives to try and solve - it was just a nonsensical and preventable tragedy. So, why is it that her life is overlooked in so many articles?

I believe that people have an innate desire to distance themselves from victims of violence in order to avoid feeling the true extent of the tragedy, to protect their own emotions. By not portraying victims as their authentic three-dimensional selves, we are able to emotionally detach from them, thus allowing us to ignore how similar these victims are to ourselves and those we care about. In doing this we can avoid facing the truth that any one of us could easily fall victim

to violence.

It is understandable that many would rather sensationalise violence and view it as an exhilarating fictive story rather than a real-life tragedy with grieving families struggling to carry on with day-to-day life.

It is much easier to let the violence end when the article does.

This, though, is disrespectful to the victims. When we ignore the victims of violence, we commit a posthumous final act of violence against them. In ignoring them, we take away their agency and characterise their whole life by the manner in which they were harmed. We strip them of any sort of meaningful legacy: instead of being remembered for who they were, they are remembered for what was done to them.

I will end this article by attempting to give Halyna Hutchins some of the attention that she deserves and to ensure that you finish reading this article knowing more about her life than you do her death. Halyna Hutchins was a Ukrainian cinematographer, journalist, wife, and a mother to a nine-year-old son. Halyna Hutchins grew up on a Soviet military base stationed in the Arctic where she fell in love with films as it was one of the few forms of entertainment available to her. Before becoming a cinematographer, Halyna worked as an investigative journalist in eastern Europe. Hutchins was a fan of extreme sports and enjoyed parachuting and exploring caves.

In 2019, Halyna Hutchins was named as one of the “10 up-andcoming directors of photography who are making their mark”

by American Cinematographer.

Halyna Hutchins was so much more than her death.

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Let’s move this conversation Are you really out of the bedroom what you eat?

Emma Landsburgh WRITER

Consent is not just confined to the bedroom, but it’s often only spoken about regarding sexual relationships, especially after the #MeToo movement.

Whilst consent is an important part of sexual interaction, it’s also in every other interaction we have, if only subtly. It’s deeply ingrained in every aspect of our lives, so why is it so rarely recognised when discussing non-sexual relationships? Consent is essential in school hallways, hospital corridors, office blocks, and shops; it’s just as important in our private lives, around those we surround ourselves with.

Asking for consent in non-sexual situations strengthens and develops trust in relationships; it’s a simple way to show that you value someone’s choices and boundaries. Asking for permission can feel vulnerable or even a little clumsy, but it makes those around you feel respected. In my experience, the first misstep is always assuming. Guessing that someone is okay with something without asking them can cause distrust to breed in any relationship. Consent is directly linked to respect, showing those around you that you view them equally.

It’s an essential part of maintaining any relationship you engage in.

A crucial part of communication is consent; we do it already in our lives when we make plans, borrow something, post photos, and have difficult conversations.

It can be as simple as asking someone if they are comfortable talking about something or listening to a topic that could cause distress or unease. Conversational consent is not spoken about enough, even though words have a massive impact. A real-life trigger warning offers the chance to avoid upsetting a friend, even if it’s unintentional.

In friendships and family situations, consent seems to regularly be ignored in favour of “politeness”; think of those times as a kid when you had to hug a relative that you didn’t even know.

As a child, being taught about consent can go a long way in developing healthy relationships later in life. This familial “politeness” often coerces people to ignore consent on their own part to make others happy. However, I would say it is far more polite to put consent first and recognise the requirement of another’s permission than carrying on with this idea of uncomfortable politeness at the expense of your own feelings. It’s a far more polite social cue anyway.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Would you like a hug?”

“Want to hold hands?”

These simple questions take no time to ask, but more often than not, they make everyone feel comfortable and respected.

Though it might feel a little embarrassing in the moment, it’s often received as a sweet gesture.

Touch can make many people feel on edge, especially when it unexpectedly happens. I am sure we can all agree that feeling a hand on your shoulder or the small of your back instead of hearing “excuse me” is the absolute worst. If you were to walk past someone, and simply say “excuse me” instead of reaching out and touching someone - assuming, perhaps wrongly, that won’t bother them - then this is a simple act of consent. Recognising that those around you, including strangers, deserve to be offered the chance to consent is just being an active member of society, and a decent person.

“Recognising that those around you deserve the chance to consent is just being a decent person.”

Consent is involved in every interaction we have: posting a group picture on Instagram, splitting a bill, or even moving past someone at the pub. It may seem awkward at first, but communication and respect are skills that have to be practised in every interaction we have. Consent forms boundaries in relationships that are necessary for trust, respect, and mental wellbeing. Without consent, a relationship can become suffocating and uncomfortable, as boundaries are ignored.

“Consent forms boundaries in relationships that are necessary for trust, respect and mental wellbeing.”

By taking the discussion of consent out of the bedroom, it is recognisably a part of everyday life already. It’s muscle memory. The creation of a safe space through consent allows us to place trust in those who appreciate and acknowledge your personal limits.

The questions that begin with “can I…?” go a long way.

Credit: Ciara McAlinden (@mcalindendraws)

Meg Russell WRITER

CW: Eating disorders Relationships with food are really complex. I obsessed over it for years: only ate certain things, didn’t eat, over-ate, and hated myself and my body throughout. As I disentangled myself from the reasons I was focusing on food (and because food is an essential part of, well, living, and you can’t just ignore it), I became less interested in its nutritional content and more focused on its place in society.

I used to designate foods as good or bad, and internalise the morals associated with these, but now I realise that we do this to each other – our consumption habits are intertwined with value judgements. What we consume forms part of our identities; what - and where - we eat and drink has come to define part of who we are.

Our relationships with different foods are formed through interactions of our upbringing, politics, culture, and market forces, and it fluctuates with time. Yet we attribute moral virtues to others based on their consumption habits. Whilst the tendency to deepfry everything in sight pervades Glasgow, it seems to be served with irony. In the jokes about it, there’s a simultaneous recognition of the love for golden batter and a distancing from it. It’s the joke of the beige dinner plate that for some isn’t a joke, but an ideal.

It’s in these small divides that unrecognised moral judgements about class and living standards hide. Why do we deride a struggling family for getting what they can on the table, but playfully laugh at a student diet of beans and pot noodles? Honestly, probably because it makes us feel better about ourselves; a nod to the temporary nature of student life.

But food has always been more than just its basic function of sustenance. In our current era of fatphobia and moral panics about obesity, we forget that it used to be a sign of wealth to have access to enough food that gaining weight was even achievable. This is still the case in different places across the world. Today, in a moment of abundance, we revere the self-control required to look a particular way and we forget that norms shift.

It’s also necessary to remember that many food trends and fads today are born from severe inequity across the world, cultural appropriation, and colonisation. Lobster wasn’t always a delicacy, açaí has been linked to child labour, crops of grains that the West suddenly finds an obsession with create fluctuations beyond our supermarket shelves.

Of course, there’s some resistance to this – the slow food movement, for example, champions

local and seasonal produce. Other forms of food movements, such as veganism or “clean eating” also drive the moralising of consumption. Although some of these will have benefits, they often involve a higher financial barrier to involvement, too, whilst those that vouch for them often do so with a sense of moral superiority.

“Health” seems to be an increasingly pervasive ideal. Just like with “fitspo” and “clean eating”, we tie a sense of moral superiority to knowing what’s best, what’s “healthiest”. We have normalised the chips and curry sauce after a night out, but not the chippy dinner more than a night or two a week. It’s morphed over time, but the moral hurdles are still there.

“We tie a sense of moral superiority to knowing what’s best, what’s ‘healthiest’.”

We mark social occasions with special meals out, and maybe we idolise those that seem to have those nights out more often than our student purse strings allow.

We critique others on the foods they deem celebratory, on the meals that make it to their Instagram grid. Perhaps we try not to - maybe our histories have forced us to recognise there’s no need to act as arbiter - but on some level, we all do. Sometimes more painfully still, we’re the ones that feel judged, and have unwelcome suggestions or comments made. To exist in a body that lies outside the societal ideal only increases these moralistic adjudications.

Food is political and our consumption of it is policed by each other. The crescendo of this is disciplining ourselves; of eating disorders and disordered eating habits. In viewing food in binary terms - good and bad, tacky and trendy, healthy and unhealthy we’re reinforcing divisions that often break along moral and class boundaries.

We need to find ways of disrupting reductive thinking about food because we literally can’t live without it, and the irony of so many of our relationships with food is that they’re not healthy nor sustainable. Tying someone’s morality to their diet does nothing but sustain division. If we can begin to recognise that food is more than its physical manifestations, that it’s deeply social and contextual, maybe we can at least recognise the danger in defining our own or others morality on their consumption. Food shouldn’t be good or bad, we should be able to enjoy it for enjoyment’s sake.

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28 January 2022

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Features

I want you to read my diary

Is it a cardinal sin to read another’s diary? Writer Constance Roisin contemplates for whose eyes the author truly intends to write.

Constance Roisin WRITER

A friend of mine (in fact my old babysitter) kept a diary after breaking up with her girlfriend.

In it she wrote long and sincere entries about her heartbreak.

Then, one day, she lost the diary on a train from Newcastle to London. I have since often thought about what happened to it; who found it. This has morphed into a daydream where my own diary is lost, and a stranger reads it and becomes enamoured with the mysterious author of the text. (I am admitting here that I keep a diary. I have for the last five years. Every time I tell someone this I seem to be wearing a cardigan and I can’t help but hear that line from HBO’s Girls: “Of course she keeps a journal, like all girls who listen to Tori Amos and masturbate.”)

Susan Sontag argued that all diarists secretly want their journals to be read. According to her, “one of the main (social) functions of a journal is precisely to be read furtively by other people”. Sontag wrote this after having found and read her partner’s diary. The journal is, according to her, the only place where you can be cruelly honest about the people in your life, and by reading it, you are spared the discomfort of confrontation. “Do I feel guilty about reading what was not intended for my eyes?” she asks. “No.” It is, as we all know, a terrible offence to read someone else’s private journal. I have myself twice read someone’s diary without their permission. The first was my mother’s; a journal from when she was 24 and living in Greece. The entries were written, in green ink, mostly at airports and on ferries, the occasional balcony. The backdrop is very glamorous, but what I like most about it is that it shows me a version of my mother who I have never and will never meet.

She smokes and swears and

Credit: Emma Garcia sleeps on the beach and wears dark sunglasses. By the time I met her (at a C-section in 2001) she was a polite non-smoker who hated cold water.

The second was a diary that my mother found and kept (clearly invasiveness is genetic).

Written in the 90s by a teenage girl, it is the holy grail of strangers’ diaries. Inside the small red leather notebook is a thrilling tale of the writer’s relationship with an older man - who she gives the alias “Smiley” (why? I still wonder. Did he have a smiley face tattoo? Is it a Le Carre reference?). What follows is a romance that leads to her being arrested, and it ends mid-trial. That is the funny thing about diaries. Sometimes they stop in the middle of a sentence. Sometimes they stop right at the good bit.

It is particularly unforgivable that I have read these diaries because I am myself somewhat obsessed with privacy. I have tape over my laptop camera, and private browsing mode permanently on. I am not on any social media and whenever I have to register for anything online, I always put my sex as male, and my age as eighty five, in order to confuse the man. (Who is the man? They ask me. Jeff Bezos, I say. Cambridge Analytica.

Something to do with Russia?).

Do I feel guilty for reading what was not intended for my eyes?

No.

“Do I feel guilty for reading what was not intended for my eyes?

No.” Why then, given my love of anonymity, do I have this daydream of you finding my diary (A4 moleskin, light blue) on the Glasgow subway? You are stuck between Buchanan Street and St Enoch’s; it is on the seat next to you, and so you casually pick it up. In its pages you find the following details.

Whilst my friend drove me home from A&E on the 27 September 2020, he sang along to Hungry Like the Wolf. In that same car, less than a month later, when we crashed into a bollard, the radio was playing WAP (my last words were almost “macaroni in the pot that’s some —.”) Standing in St Pancras station on the 18th of November there were carollers singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and it made me cry.

On 29 November, back in Glasgow, my grocery list was “tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic bread, apples, veggie bacon, lemon (one), ice tea”. On the 17th, after a day waitressing, I wrote “quiet shift. Messed up one order.

Made 45 pounds in tips (though only got to keep 5), one kind older woman folded a tenner into

my palm and said ‘and you take care of yourself young lady’. An American tipped me in Euros.”

I have a made a note of the customer who played chess against himself. Of the woman at the taxidermy section of Kelvingrove Museum who told her little boy that all the animals were just sleeping (“this was a terrible idea,” she said, sidelong to me).

Of the stranger who ran towards me with an umbrella in a f lash storm last August. On Halloween I wore the perfume Fracas and on the 10 October I put too much garlic in the spaghetti. I know that on the 4 November at a pub quiz I contributed only one answer to my team (“Monte Cristo”), that we came in 4th place, that I drank a lime soda, half a glass of whiskey, ate two packets of steak McCoys crisps, and that it rained.

You also find the worst version of myself. My diary is the only place to be cruelly honest, just not about others. I am repetitive, dull, always telling you the details of my dream the night before (17 January 2021: “Had a dream I was on a beach, playing in the waves with a swan - an egg appeared and hatched into a newborn baby”); self congratulatory, vain (28 August 2019: “Ran into Z— and her new girl, thank god I looked great: red bra, red lipstick”); overly judgemental about Covid rule breakers, keeping track of them like some kind of Nazi guard;

and moody (23 September 2020: “G—sends a text about the importance of forgiving others.

It is the least helpful thing she could have possibly written.”)

I never try particularly hard at anything. I never read the news.

I hate that all his ex-girlfriends are blonde.

It is a relief to be terrible in a diary, particularly if you put a lot of effort into being good in real life. In the outside world you have to remember people’s birthdays and smile when you are tipped in Euros and not look in the mirror too often. So, occasionally, I want someone to meet the other self. Not anyone I know, but you, who has taken the Outer, rather than the Inner line (a mistake I also often make), and so has some time on their hands.

Really, I think that the fantasy of the diarist, and the reason that a diary is often as confessional as it is factual, is for someone to understand you exactly as you wish to be understood.

However, this will never play out in real life. I am a very careful packer. My handwriting is fairly illegible. And, okay, here is the thing. On 18 November 2021 I was at St Pancras. There were the Christmas lights; the birdcage between that station and Kings Cross was lit up purple. And there were Christmas carollers, singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

I watched them for a while. In fact, I almost missed my train.

But I didn’t cry. I felt like I might cry, and my thought was that, in a scene, I would cry. So that’s how I wrote it down later.

What is the point then? I regularly change my email passwords. I am a polite non-smoker.

So I want you to understand me, and then I leave you a doctored account anyway.

Maybe, if you want someone to know who you are, you should just take a breath and tell them.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

12

28 January 2022

Features

Coronavirus, climate crisis, and cognitive decline: Happy New Year!

Hailie Pentleton EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @hailiepentleton

In the hour before the bells conjured up a clean slate, a friend suggested that we all shared our favourite moments of 2021 with one another. I felt an all too familiar panic clutch at my chest and left the room to sit in an empty bathtub and cry. A little theatrical, I know, but at that moment, all I wanted to do was walk out into the street and catch the first Uber available. Anxiety has usually been my plus one at Hogmanay, but this year, I was hers. As if struck by temporary amnesia, I couldn’t think of a single “happy” memory from 2021 in which misery hadn’t lurked behind me.

“Anxiety has usually been my plus one at Hogmanay but this year, I was hers.”

One of the first questions a psychiatrist is likely to ask you during an evaluation is whether you think your life is worth living. It’s a question I’ve wrestled with as far back as my memories stretch, present even in their cavities. At 17, leaving a long-term relationship with Mormonism behind me, my nihilistic, new-atheist self was resigned to the belief that human life is inherently meaningless, devoid of any purpose or promise.

Having left my copy of The God Delusion in my granny’s attic, and trying to reserve such a loaded question for my ethics seminars, I am trying to embrace some version of absurdism and enjoy the little life I have carved out for myself. However, with the world literally caving in around us, moments from bursting into flames, this last year has pushed my tolerance for uncertainty to its breaking point.

And despite believing so, in more melancholic moments, I am not alone in flitting between answers. These last two years of living through a global health crisis have drained our collective emotional reserves, burdening each of

us with new challenges, demanding more energy than we can often muster. By now, it feels as though burnout is an inevitability. With four in 10 adults having reported symptoms of depression and anxiety throughout the pandemic, it feels as though everyone has been affected by the plague of misery that Covid-19 has so kindly bestowed upon us, in some way or another.

In the workplace, we are being asked to hustle with every muscle, with 50% of work-related cases of poor health being related to our mental wellbeing. These rates are especially prominent in the lower-paid positions that we tend to find ourselves in as students. As toxic productivity culture continues to leer at us from TikTok and LinkedIn, course chats and staffrooms, the urge to yank up the drawbridge and disappear from the day-to-day can be unbearable.

I decided to quit my job in the summer without a contingency plan. Working in housekeeping isn’t advertised as a health hazard and yet I was finding myself throwing up in freshly cleaned bathrooms every single day from the stress and the heat (but mostly the stress). When my mental health landed me back in the hospital, my friends begged me to quit my job. But the angry sign on the notice board that threatened the termination of our zero-hour contracts if we asked for the day off made me dread admitting to Credit: Jack Corban

“When my mental health landed me back in the hospital, my friends begged me to quit my job.” my boss that I was struggling.

Eventually, with a little coercion, I gave up folding towels and threw them in. I don’t blame my managers, who seemed just as frazzled as I was. In fact, I felt guilty about leaving on such short notice. But in this climate, it’s every person for themselves.

It’s no secret that we’ve all become a little more individualistic over the course of the crisis. Some of us more than others, avoiding masks and vaccinations in the name of liberty, treading all over the freedom of disabled and vulnerable people as they do. Whilst focusing on the self is important to maintaining a good standard of mental wellbeing, an individualistic culture can significantly damage our collective quality of life.

Explained by Professor Shilpa Madan, she states: “As people become more independent and more individualistic, more self-interested, it becomes more difficult to take collective action.” She continues: “The challenges the world is facing right now - the COVID-19

pandemic, climate change, discrimination, bias, and inequity need collective action.” However, as Conservative Christmas parties rage on, and billionaires blast off into space just for the hell of it, individualistic ignorance feels inescapable. Gone are the days of swearing we’re all in the same boat. Some of us are drowning, and we’re running out of life jackets.

And the planet is drowning too, in case you’d forgotten. Thousands of people flooded into Glasgow this autumn to attend or protest the United Nations Climate Conference. COP26 took over the city like a second virus. Cited as our only hope to save the planet, politicians, diplomats, and scientists alike took to the OVO Hydro to strategise their way out of the end of the world; a mean feat, of course. After several flashy conferences, extravagant meals, and performative gestures from world leaders, the results of COP26 were disappointing. Across the bridge in the city centre, thousands of us heard from groups of climate activists from all over the Global South, who recalled various instances of loss and destruction that the climate crisis and the actions of the Western world had caused in their homes and families.

Speaking to The Glasgow Guardian about her campaign, Andrea Ixchiu, an indigenous K’iche activist from Guatemala, noted the individualistic attitude

we have in the West towards the climate, calling on world leaders to stop “[ignoring] indigenous voices and to stop lying to the people”. Standing amidst that Fridays for Future protest, I remember hearing the woman next to me gasp in horror, saying that “she’d never thought about what we were doing to them”. I believe her ignorance was innocent, as is the case for most of us. It isn’t good enough, no, but when your house isn’t physically burning down, your children aren’t dying in front of you, and world leaders refuse to acknowledge the impact that Western consumerism is having on our climate, why would you think about it? Especially when it feels as though you can’t make too much of a difference, anyway.

When all we hear is doom and gloom, if you’ll pardon the Rolling Stones reference, it’s hard not to feel despondent, especially going into the new year. In all honesty, it can be difficult to see any point in bothering with things at all. Why not just let those dishes pile up, ghost your friends until they’ve had enough, and spend your money on frivolous nothings until you’re in the pit of your overdraft?

“When all we hear is doom and gloom, it’s hard not to feel despondent, especially going into the new year.”

I’ve been asking this of myself a lot lately. But I’m not 17 anymore, and I’m a firm believer in carving out our own purposes.

There are reasons for persevering, but if they’re not apparent to you right now then that’s okay.

And so, as I welcome in the new year, bogged down by burnout and laden with worry, I’m choosing not to view 2022 as a slate wiped clean. When the last two years have been miserable, we shouldn’t be trying to force ourselves into having a Happy New Year. If all you do this year is focus on healing from the last, that’ll be enough.

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THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

Lifestyle

I ain’t afraid of no ghost

When navigating the confusing world of online dating, is it ever okay to ghost someone? to haunt. Don’t play with people’s feelings if you have no intentions of pursuing anything. If you poltergeist somebody with mixed messages after your initial ghosting stint, then be prepared to acknowledge that maybe you are problematic. But aren’t we all?

Marcus Hyka WRITER

I believe it was the great American thinker Abigail Breslin who once said: “Ghosting is when you’ve been texting with a guy for a long time, and you know, things are going really, really well and you think that’s he’s really into you, and then all of a sudden, one day he just stops texting back because he finally saw what you look like, and so you just text him, and you’re like, ‘hey sexy, where’d you go?’ And then he just doesn’t answer because he ghosted.”

The first time I ghosted someone was after a first date (to Subway, might I add), when this guy told me that he hexed his dad’s new girlfriend. The first time someone ghosted me was when I accidentally sent a message about him to him. As spooky as it sounds, ghosting is inevitably a standard component of romance in the age of the dating app. One study found that 82% of women and 71% of men have been involved in this paranormal phenomenon. The most common ghosting catalysts include avoiding confrontation, catfishing (when a person doesn’t particularly resemble their profile), and clingy people. Although ghosting is a relatively simple act to carry out, it can be a real knock to the confidence of those on the receiving end - but what are the rules?

“The first time I ghosted someone was after a first date (to Subway, might I add), when this guy told me that he hexed his dad’s new girlfriend.”

Obviously, online dating involves an element of risk and mystery, with two possible outcomes.

Outcome A is that your date is your soulmate, and you will one day

“If you poltergeist somebody with mixed messages after your initial ghosting stint, then be prepared to acknowledge that maybe you are problematic.”

Credit: AJ Duncan reenact the opening scene from Up with them. In this case, congratulations. Pass “Go” and collect $200 as a honeymoon gift. Outcome B involves your date being a lecherous sociopath in a manner similar to Jack the Ripper. When presented with this conclusion, it seems ghosting is the safest, most effective route to go down to avoid potential conflict and bathroom decomposition. In all seriousness, there are so many strange people out there. Ghosting can ensure you are not in danger by virtually disconnecting from a potential threat

before the situation escalates.

Even if your date doesn’t turn out to be Charles Manson, ghosting can still be the better route to travel down. They might not look like their photos, there simply may be no connection, or they have bad chat and/or breath. Ghosting ensures that your time isn’t over-invested in someone you don’t want to see again. It means that you can move on quickly to find who you would rather spend your energy on, ensuring that you also won’t be leading any prospective beaus on.

Ghosting and making someone

“Even if your date doesn’t turn out to be Charles Manson, ghosting can still be the better route to travel down.” go cold turkey from your contact should ensure they get the message (or lack thereof). In doing this, however, it is essential not

Ghosting as an act itself can potentially be destructive when it is carried out on somebody who shares a romantic connection with the ghoster. If you have been on multiple dates, and can even remember their name, then perhaps drop them a line that you don’t want to see them again. As tricky as this admission of “it’s not you, it’s me” can be, it appears to be the most courteous thing to do when an emotional or romantic bond is formed. I think we would all want that same baseline level of respect and honesty. Maybe consider how you would feel if you were the one being ghosted in the situation and go from there.

The act of ghosting can interestingly perpetuate the cycle of ghosting: how often it is carried out, and its associated expectations. We all have a part to play.

As with anything, if you feel like you should just be honest, just be honest. Sometimes, a quick text is more straightforward than ghosting in the first place and alleviates both feelings of guilt and the risk of the ghostee not quite taking the hint. But only we can gauge what the best fit is. Responsible ghosting can be a positive tool in the romantic confines of cyberspace.

Remember, if you are going to be a ghost, be a friendly one.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

14

28 January 2022

Lifestyle

Hangxiety? We’ve all been there...

Elena Adams LIFESTYLE COLUMNIST

You’ve just woken up. Your eyes feel slightly crusty from the leftover mascara you forgot to take off. There’s a half-eaten portion of chips, and a full glass of water that you said you’d drink next to your bed. Your head hurts, your throat could not be dryer, and you can feel the alcohol sitting in your stomach. You could not feel any worse. But then you start to remember everything you did last night, and you do indeed feel worse.

We’ve all been there, it’s horrible.

It could have been a Hive Thursday where you may have indulged in a few too many pints of fun, or a wedding where the complimentary prosecco was too exciting to say no to. Perhaps you decided that buying everyone tequila shots was the best idea you’d ever had (it really wasn’t).

It’s hard not to let your mind run wild with thoughts of how annoying

you may have been after having a few drinks. Did you talk too much? Were you too loud? Did you spill emotional trauma to a complete stranger? You’ve made quite the mess, haven’t you?

But, none of that is true. Okay, well it may be a little bit, but it’s probably not as bad as you think it is. Everyone was likely as drunk as you were and also embarrassed over what they said

or did. And if they weren’t? Well, it’ll probably make a really funny story down the line. No one cares as much as you about what you did the night before; they’re all too busy reliving their own drunken mistakes.

Talking to your friends can help.

They probably think they were really embarrassing too. Once you realise no one else cares, it can be funny to

think about all of the stupid things that happened the night before. Some of my closest friends now are people I embarrassed myself in front of while drunk, and then laughed with the next morning.

Allow yourself to relax for the day and try to distract yourself from thinking about last night. Don’t feel guilty about doing nothing. If you

Credit: Uday Mittal via Unsplash

feel up to it, take a walk - fresh air always puts things into perspective.

Or watch some trash TV and order a takeaway. But if you really hate the feeling this hangxiety gives you, maybe try to drink a little less next time to hopefully mitigate these effects, or have a soft drink between the double vodkas. What you do when drunk is something you don’t have too much control over; how much you drink is.

But, if you do wake up, horribly hungover and anxious from the night before, the best thing to do is drink some water, have a shower, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Besides, what’s the worst that’s going to happen? You might have made yourself look like an idiot, but if you had fun, then there’s no need to worry. Maybe you’ll have made friends or maybe you’ll have a really funny story to look back on in the future. At the end of the day, everyone else is usually too focused on their own drunken antics to really care about yours!

A letter to students working in hospitality

Meg Russell discusses the benefits and pitfalls of working in the hospitality industry as a student.

Meg Russell WRITER

Balancing studies and finances can be a constant source of stress for many students. Prioritising one is usually to the detriment of the other, and the differences in everyone’s situations can be demoralising. It can be frustrating and stressful, but even jobs unrelated to potential career paths develop key communication and teamwork skills; not to mention the fact that they’ll help fund nights out too.

As someone who has worked in hospitality for much longer than they originally intended, my jaded initial response to anyone considering it is: run. But let’s hold that thought for a second.

Hospitality is one of the many industries experiencing labour shortages at the moment. A complex mix of factors has led to this point, but there are some silver linings that come with it.

If you’re a student looking to get your foot in the door, there are plenty of places absolutely desperate for staff. This means some employers have been forced to reassess conditions and pay, Credit: EasyJet and you’re more likely to find

Credit: Dorota Dziki

places offering above minimum wage. Add tips into the mix, and you can get an okay-looking paycheck. The staff shortages also mean that lack of experience is unlikely to be an issue.

Hospitality is a really diverse industry that covers everything from corporate or massive music and sports events, to your local pub or coffee shop. This makes

it difficult to talk about in broad brush strokes, but it also means you can choose what might be the best fit for you.

Most places will be flexible with hours, making it ideal to fit around classes. Generally, universities recommend working a maximum of 15-20 hours a week, and hospitality businesses are used to accommodating students’

schedules. It’s also fairly easy to reduce your hours when you might have a busy week or two with deadlines.

And, whilst it’s definitely not the case everywhere, a lot of places will allow you food on shift which can be helpful in cutting down food bills (and gets you out of some cooking, too). A postshift pint isn’t unheard of either.

If you find a place that’s a good fit for you, your colleagues will definitely become mates and you’ll not only have fun on shift, but outside of that, too.

Sounds okay so far, right? I am jaded, yes, but hospitality can get a bad rep and there’s a reason for that. I know plenty of places that genuinely care for their staff as much as their customers, but that is unfortunately not industry standard.

The flexibility can be so convenient, but on the flip side it can also mean nasty zero-hour contracts, resulting in a precarious and unpredictable income. It can mean extremely late nights that make lectures the next day exceedingly difficult. Many places don’t ensure staff get breaks, even on shifts that are more than 10 hours long. Some places might

offer higher pay, but minimum wage is still common and increasingly difficult to get by on.

Hospitality is an industry that relies on a young workforce, who are likely to be less aware of their rights as employees - and businesses will take advantage of that. It’s really important to know your rights: Unite has a hospitality branch that provides legal support to members, and I’d strongly recommend joining.

“Hospitality relies on a young workforce, who are likely to be less aware of their rights...”

For all my misgivings, I still work in hospitality. It can be stressful, customers can be painful, and like any job combined with studies, time management is important. On the other hand, there are aspects that make hospitality a great part-time job whilst you navigate university. I guess in the end, it’s not run; it’s weigh up your options and choose what’s best for you.

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THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

Lifestyle

Horrendo-metriosis “This isn’t a condition many people know about, and they don’t fully understand its severity...”

Erin McKie WRITER

“But you don’t look ill… It’s just a bad period, get over it”.

I’ve heard phrases like this numerous times. Last April, I was officially diagnosed with endometriosis, having displayed symptoms for the previous five years. Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries, pelvis, and the bowel. This illness causes a chronic inflammatory reaction that causes lesions, adhesions, and fibrosis, and if left untreated may result in problems like infertility. This condition affects one in 10 women and according to the NHS it is in the top 20 most painful conditions to experience. Despite this disease affecting around 176 million women worldwide, there is still no cure, making endometriosis a long-term condition which has a significant impact on your life.

On average, it takes between seven and 10 years to be diagnosed with endometriosis due to its symptoms being normalised.

I was one of the few lucky women who received an early diagnosis and only had to wait five years.

However, during those five years, I experienced debilitating periods that would wipe me out. Severe abdominal cramping, lower

Credit: AJ Duncan

back and hip pain that made it difficult to stand at times and extreme tiredness after completing small tasks. I remember going to the doctors aged 14, explaining my aches and pains and being told that this was “normal” and “part of growing up”. Constantly being told that nothing is wrong with you massively affects your mental health. It felt like I was being gaslit by doctors; made to believe that my pain wasn’t real and that it was all in my head.

Subsequently, I felt like a burden and begrudgingly accepted what the doctors said.

“Constantly being told that nothing is wrong with you massively affects your mental health. It felt like I was being gaslit by doctors” During the various lockdowns my physical health dramatically worsened. I went from only having pain during my period to gradually experiencing some sort of daily discomfort. More than once my dad accompanied me to out-of-hours patient care in the early hours of the morning. Finally, after my third visit

to my local 24-hour practice, my concerns were taken seriously and I was referred to a specialist and received a diagnosis after many uncomfortable physical examinations. Whilst this brought an immense feeling of relief, the helplessness remained. Knowing that this condition is incurable and has significant physical and mental health implications seriously affects me; and with my symptoms becoming more life-altering in the past few months, it’s on my mind most days.

While I am still able to do things, what was once easy has suddenly become difficult. I am currently completing a semester abroad, and while this is the best experience of my life, a part of me cannot help but think that I am wasting my time. Last week, I went to a theme park and was on my feet for around eight hours. The next day I was in bed with severe hip pain and was unable to do anything besides watch Netflix and sleep. A meal out with colleagues ended with a visit to hospital after I collapsed while coming off the train. Several times, I’ve had to cancel plans last minute due to intense flare-ups. What should be an incredibly exciting time meeting new people and seeing unfamiliar places has been side-tracked by this horrible condition. Fur-

thermore, I feel frustrated and guilty for cancelling things last minute - like I’m letting people down, including myself. To put it simply, I feel alone.

Because I left Scotland pretty soon after receiving my diagnosis, exploring all treatment options has not been a possibility and the treatment options I have looked at so far have not made much difference. At the beginning, I was told to lose weight or go on the pill (male doctors, I am looking at you). But these are band-aid solutions, temporary ones that don’t offer much help.

Furthermore, other available treatment options like surgery or hormone therapy do not guarantee a positive outcome either.

The lack of effective treatment options adds to the frustration this condition already carries.

“At the beginning, I was told to lose weight or go on the pill. But these are bandaid solutions...”

Perhaps what’s even more frustrating is explaining what endometriosis is. This isn’t a condition that many people know about, and when people do

become aware of it, they don’t fully understand its severity. Often people think it’s a bad period that only affects you for a few days a month. In reality, it affects all aspects of your life. Endometriosis has serious implications for intimacy. What should be enjoyable is painful and can be difficult for partners to fully understand. From my experience, not many people want to be in a relationship with someone who experiences chronic pelvic pain. That’s not even to mention the body image issues that arise from constant bloating and weight gain.

“That’s not even to mention the body image issues that arise from constant bloating and weight gain...”

I am not writing this for pity.

I wanted to share my experience to raise awareness for endometriosis and its debilitating effects. I may be chronically ill and struggle to do certain tasks, but that doesn’t mean I’m weak.

In my opinion, it makes me even stronger. This condition may affect me - but it does not define me.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

16

28 January 2022

Lifestyle

The trouble with Balaclavas: coveted and cosy, or criminal accessory? microtrends Dorota Dziki

PHOTOGRAPHY & ILLUSTRATIONS MANAGER @drawing__dora

Gabriel Wheway

Microtrends, or short-lived trends, are a plague on the fashion industry, reinforced by huge tryon hauls popular on TikTok and YouTube. Thanks to fast-fashion brands such as Shein, AliExpress and Pretty Little Thing, dupes of expensive and excessive amounts of clothing have become accessible to pretty much everyone, allowing more and more people to find popularity on social media by keeping up with the fast-paced and ever-changing microtrends. And can we really blame people for wanting to join in on trends and experience fashion that would be otherwise inaccessible?

But the conversation around sustainability and the ethics of shopping “fast fashion” is becoming louder in 2021. Microtrends, and the subsequent large-scale purchase of fast-fashion, have negative consequences ranging from the exploitation of workers, to theft of ideas from small designers, and the devastating impact on the planet.

Society’s support of excess is frightening. I know every time I see a “redeem your £700 Shein gift card” ad on Facebook, all I can think about is: “Who on earth would need that much clothing all at once?”

And how could we forget the infamous “Pink Friday” sale on PrettyLittleThing, with clothing up to 99% off? One tweet read: “Just ordered over £600 worth of clothes from PLT for £6, what is happening?” The fact, too, that people felt compelled to buy so many clothes simply because they were on sale highlights the problem with overconsumption in our society, and how keeping up with microtrends forces people to continuously buy more clothing.

The infamous House of Sunny dress that everyone was obsessed with comes to mind. The dress itself was almost £100, but fast-fashion brands quickly took it upon themselves to make dupes of it, resulting in floods of TikTokers showing it off for a short period of time before it wasn’t “cool” anymore, and they moved on to the next big thing.

With people buying far more

The balaclava, a snood-like piece of headwear most often seen on juvenile grime artists and ski slopes, has made a surprising return as the number one trend for this autumn/winter season.

Over the course of October and November the secondhand clothing app Depop had a stark increase in searches for balaclavas - of more than 145%. Beyoncé was witnessed sporting a balaclava-esque head covering in her Ivy Park collection earlier this year.

Celine initially glamourised the trend, as models wore balaclavas on the catwalk for the brand’s collection. Now, is there more to this newly fashionable headpiece than staying warm?

The balaclava has initiated an enlightening fashion statement, presenting facial coverings as an interesting hybrid between “safety wear” and fashion. Reading the trend in a different light, perhaps this headwear serves as a comment on the post-Covid-19 winter world, where we are still required to be covered up, anonymised and even defensive in our fashion choices. The item has continually been associated with battle and defence, originally worn by British soldiers in the Crimean war, designed to protect from the bitter weather of what is now modern-day Ukraine.

And it has gone on to form an association with special forces regiments such as the elite mil-

DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR @wheway_

Credit: AJ Duncan (ajd.illustrates)

clothes than they need just to make one TikTok, these clothes end up in landfills or charity shops, impacting the climate, but also having an effect on people who rely on charity shops to acquire clothing. Charity shops, known for being a source of cheap, second-hand clothing have risen in prices as they are flooded with barely worn clothing from fast-fashion brands.

It feels good to be involved in something collective, and on the surface making these clothes accessible to people who would normally not be able to afford it seems like a great concept. But the truth is our relationships with our wardrobes have become unhealthy, and the dark side of fast-fashion and microtrends is something that should be spoken about more, in order for this relationship to shift to one of sustainability and ethics. An alternative to fast-fashion I found recently is the app “Vinted”, where people sell their own clothes second-hand at incredibly cheap prices. By changing tact and partaking in “slow-fashion”, we can start addressing the negative impact on the planet and the human rights violations that these brands facilitate.

Credit: Eve Maier via Unsplash

itary division the SAS. The influence military-wear maintains on fashion is undeniable and Beyoncé, through her Ivy Park collection, reflects this in her manifestation of the profoundly masculine alter-ego known as King B. This repopularisation of the item has reinforced the rise of “war-core”, a contemporary development of the 90s fashion trend that sports riot shields, military jackets, and tactical vests to create a utilitarian fashion that focuses on layering and subtle colourings.

“This repopularisation of the item has reinforced the rise of ‘warcore’...”

While many regard the balaclava as an edified fashion statement, the garment has also been associated with anarchy. Several brands, including Nike, have in the past been criticised for playing on the stereotypes of black youths and encouraging gang culture. Nike withdrew the item in 2018, despite their argument that it was a training item designed for cold-weather sports and recreational use. They went on to state: “We are in no way condoning or encouraging the serious issue of criminal and gang culture.” This racial and boisterous subtext is often associated with balaclavas, and many de-

signers have been accused of exploiting it…

While they seem to lack a certain practicality – without appearing as a criminal-esque accessory – the likes of Celine, Raf Simons and Stone Island’s collaboration with streetwear brand Supreme have made them both practical and covetable.

While these brand’s price points start at around £150, this vintage revival of unique headwear has appeared on Depop, eBay, and other vintage fashion outlets, making them readily available to all. Kim Kardashian headlined a balaclava as an almost fetishized piece of facewear at the Met Gala, whilst Raf Simons’ revival and persistent faith in the balaclava has seen it feature in his collections for over 20 years. Many do look to the Kardashians as fashion gurus, however the original and most appreciated outfits featuring the balaclava are seen on the likes of Skepta in his music videos, and even sat by a catwalk at a high-end fashion show.

It may seem a little menacing at times, yet the normalisation of the balaclava in everyday wear is only a positive for the development of headwear in the fashion industry. Though many choose to sport a subtle black piece, brands are continually experimenting with a plethora of styles and colours, making it an easy statement for an outfit. Above all, it’s a garment that reinforces an understated and disconnected persona, manifesting privacy in the cold Covid-19 months.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

17

Lifestyle

Worried sick: how health anxiety diseases the mind Why ‘stop worrying’ doesn’t help in the battle with hypochondria Emma Urbanova WRITER

Mastoiditis. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Temporomandibular joint disorder.

You name it, I’ve encountered all of these illnesses on my frantic Googling sprees and convinced myself I had them. After hours of touching the weird lump in my neck or trying to identify the cause of yet another obscure pain in my body, my mind paints the worst scenarios. I am going to die.

“My mind paints the worst case scenarios. I am going to die.”

I’m not exaggerating – what I’ve just described is a reaction known by every person suffering from hypochondria, also known as health anxiety. Having been ill at least four times in the past three months (a natural reaction from my body to the Glaswegian autumn and winter), I could not get rid of an incessant tickly cough that has forced me to excuse myself from seminars. After so many weeks of feeling like crap, I could not put my finger on what exactly was causing these symptoms. In my mind, it could be anything from pneumonia to good ol’ Covid-19.

Between panicking and calling the University GP’s hotline, I’ve experienced some gaslighting by my friends: “Oh, you’re sick again?” “Stop worrying so much, it’s all in your mind” “You’re such a hypochondriac!”. Tell me something I don’t know…

The word “hypochondriac” seems to have become nothing more than a word people tend to throw about, belittling the actual struggles experienced by people suffering from health anxiety. The overuse of “hypochondriac” obscures the fact that the word describes a mental disorder. According to Harvard Medical School, hypochondria - now most often referred to as “health anxiety” - affects 4% to 5% of people, but experts maintain it could be much higher in

reality due to underreporting.

It has certainly been on the rise since the onset of the pandemic – how many of us have been frantically looking out for Covid-related symptoms or obsessively testing ourselves? Health anxiety can be an extremely debilitating condition, impacting our daily life and wellbeing significantly, and it should be acknowledged as such.

When I expressed some caution about attending public events just before the Christmas break, I was dismissed as “ridiculous” and “worrying too much”.

What people didn’t seem to realise was how important it is for international students like myself to be cautious in these times, having only a few chances a year to see friends and family, often splurging hundreds on f light tickets and Covid tests for trav-

el. It’s a daunting prospect to be stuck alone in a foreign country with some not-altogether-pleasant symptoms while your pals back home post their Christmas decorations and family gatherings online. If that was your case during the break, I salute you – you are incredibly strong.

Next time your friend refuses to enter an overcrowded club or wears a mask at a public venue where nobody else does, don’t make fun of them for doing so. If they seem off or keep mentioning this one symptom they’re worried about, don’t dismiss their worries, and think twice before calling them a hypochondriac.

Believe me, people suffering from health anxiety don’t need another health issue to worry about. Listen to them, acknowledge what they’re experiencing, and encourage them to contact a

Credit: Katrina Siân Williams (@veryberrykitty)

GP if they are persistently worried. You can offer to attend the appointment with them or call the practice instead of them – with many of the appointments being telephone-based, it can be significantly off-putting for a person with anxiety to call. Additionally, make sure they know they have your continued support no matter what.

“Don’t dismiss their worries, Credit: Rachel Wood and think twice before calling them a hypochondriac.”

Finally, if you suffer from health anxiety yourself, you are not alone. Try to combat your

stress by sober reasoning once your anxiety steps down and allows you to see things more realistically: “Is it really probable that I have this illness? Is my mind just tricking me into experiencing symptoms that aren’t real?” Whether it’s Covid or cancer you’re worried about, try to step outside your head and reach out for help. Crucially, avoid excessive Googling, and be cautious when talking about your symptoms with people who are not medical professionals, as they may say the wrong things without intending to. What you can do, is have a look at some online resources for some clear advice, such as the NHS website on health anxiety, or talk to a mental health counsellor. However sinister a role hypochondria may play in your life, it is highly treatable.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

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28 January 2022

Lifestyle

A veggie’s guide to nutrition Tristan Rees LIFESTYLE COLUMNIST

Over the last decade, for a variety of reasons, many people have adopted a more plant-based diet.

Due to the growing concern surrounding the climate crisis, environmental activists are changing their dietary habits to become more sustainable. Ethical reasons are another motivation behind avoiding meat; many have decided to stop eating animal-derived food in order to end the exploitation of animals. Finally, the latest research shows that adopting a vegan diet is one of the healthiest choices an individual can make. The diet not only can be well balanced and nutritious, but it also eliminates the harmful consequences of eating animal products, such as high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol.

However, despite the known benefits, navigating the shift away from meat can pose problems. The internet is full of misleading information which can scare people away from changing their diet. In general, the more vegetables and less meat people eat, the better.

Here is a rundown of the vitamins to look out for if you decide to try out a vegan or vegetarian diet.

To start off, the only essential vitamin that cannot be obtained through a vegan diet is vitamin B12; vegans therefore have to

source it through a supplement.

Many plant-based milks such as oat or soy are fortified with vitamins, often including B12. Another option is to take vitamin B12 tablets, which are inexpensive and easy to find in pharmacies and health food shops.

Credit: Kirsten Colligan

“The only essential vitamin that cannot be obtained through a vegan diet is vitamin B12...”

All other essential vitamins can be found naturally in plant foods.

Iron, for example, is found in dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, and pulses like lentils. Sesame seeds offer a potent source of iron for vegans and vegetarians; tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds, and a regular component of middle eastern cooking, is a great option.

Calcium is often thought only to be found in dairy products. While these are still an option for vegetarians, there are plenty of plantbased sources too. For example, nuts, seeds, and pulses are high in calcium. Tofu is also particularly calcium-rich, and as it is also high in protein, it is a good vegan alternative to meat. As previously mentioned, plant-based milks are often fortified, and calcium is a common

ingredient.

Iodine and omega-3 fatty acids are often believed to only be found in fish, however both are actually found in the food that fish eat. For example, omega-3 fatty acids are concentrated in algae, which can be taken as a supplement. This may not seem all-that-appealing to eat, but the good news is that there are other sources too. Key examples are linseeds (which are also referred to as flaxseeds) and chia seeds. These can be found in most supermarkets and have numerous other health benefits, such as being high in fibre and protein. Iodine can be found in any seaweed, which again, might

not be to everyone’s liking, but the nori sheets used in sushi are a good source. Iodized salt is also available in many stores and is a convenient alternative to table salt.

Vitamin C and fibre are essential components of a healthy diet.

Luckily for anyone considering dropping meat from their diet, getting enough vitamin C and fibre should be easy. In fact, these two essential components are not found in any animal products; getting a good quantity of fruit and veg into your diet will more than cover your vitamin C and fibre requirements.

A vegan diet is a great way of

reducing your environmental impact, being kinder to animals and improving your own health. To ensure you don’t fall into the same trap as others who have tried the diet, it is vital to eat enough calories. Often when you drop meat from your diet, you will inevitably reduce the number of calories you are eating because meat is very calorie-dense. If you eat plenty of calories, take a vitamin B12 supplement, and eat a varied diet, a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle will more than fulfil your requirements for vitamins, protein, and minerals, in a cheap, enjoyable and sustainable way.

The socially conscious cafe guide Rowan Duffy WRITER

MILK Cafe MILK Cafe is a non-profit enterprise providing a warm and welcoming environment for refugee and migrant women living in Glasgow. Their aim is to provide a safe space in which people can enjoy delicious food and drinks at affordable prices, as well as running a number of inclusive workshops furthering community integration. The folks at MILK encourage anyone to volunteer, giving people a chance to learn new skills, build confidence and gain support in a comfortable environment.

The Glad Cafe One of the most popular eateries in the city’s Southside is The Glad Cafe, a cultural hub serving up a range of nectarous craft beers, high-quality coffee, delightful baked goods, live music and smiles all round. The cafe is a not-for-profit venue, offering a welcoming atmosphere perpetuating the diverse and creative community within Shawlands, and hosting brunch every Saturday and Sunday with a mostly vegetarian/vegan menu. As the cafe is a CIC (community interest company), they strive to support their sister charities: Glad Rags Thrift Shop, and the Glad Foundation who host affordable music classes for locals.

Social Bite Social Bite is a popular social enterprise cafe chain, also in Aberdeen and Edinburgh. All of the profits go to charity in an effort to end homelessness. Many of their team have fought with homelessness in the past and the cafe has helped them to reform their lives into positive stories. The cafe has a scheme where customers can purchase food in advance for homeless people to collect later on, making them a major provider of free, freshly-made food in the UK to people in need. Take a break in its calm whilst sipping on a freshly roasted fairtrade coffee and tucking into a tasty sandwich or hearty stew, doing both your health and consciousness some good.

Locavore Locavore is a social enterprise which helps to support a network of small local producers to sustain and benefit the local economy and the environment. They aim to provide locally sourced meals and products, and to reduce food miles and industrialised processing. The Govanhill cafe is entirely organic (the only cafe in Glasgow to boast this aspect), and all scran is freshly made with seasonal ingredients and waste prevention in mind. Enthusiastic about food waste management, Locavore employs permaculture ethics, so any unused food is recycled as compost, or offered to customers, staff or those in need. The enterprise has 2 other shops based in Partick and Garnethill.

Soulfood Sisters Soulfood Sisters is a vibrant, not-for-profit collective of migrant women based in the East End, creating ethically made food. The cafe is open Thursday to Saturday, and located in the Barras Market. It aims to bring the refugee and migrant community together with honest, good food. Their menu is intercontinental, taking inspiration from the various backgrounds of the Sisters.

The female-led team are passionate about empowering migrant women in the local community, providing skills and encouragement in order for them to develop their self-esteem and to start their own ventures. The cafe supports other co-ops and uses locally sourced ingredients where possible.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

19

Lifestyle

Lifestyle Listens

The Glasgow Guardian’s agony aunts contend with friendship breakups and clashing music tastes.

Over summer I finally cut off a friend who I knew for the entirety of my school years. Our relationship endured purely out of convenience within a larger friend group, my distaste for confrontation and ability to keep up small talk during the outings we would see each other. I felt we were totally different in terms of political views and general interests and I knew for a long time that I no longer wanted to be associated with them.

In the end I simply stopped replying to their texts. This is the first time in my life where I have actively severed ties with a friend. Months have passed and I still feel guilty. Is this a universal experience, that you can’t go through life without making some enemies?

In all likelihood, they will know what they have done, even if they don’t admit it to themselves, and it may be easier for them to feel angry or resentful instead of acknowledging this. But this isn’t your problem: you took the mature route here.

So, yes, let them follow their idea of events, as long as they aren’t spreading lies or anything amongst mutual friends. And if they are, people will likely ignore it: they aren’t worth worrying about.

In my experience, other people will understand and won’t care that much, but if they do see you in a bad light then they were ready to for their convenience, and it isn’t worth being upset over. Soon, you may be able to be totally amicable, and acknowledge that the friendship didn’t work out but you need not hate each other either.

Be proud of it! This was a healthy and normal thing to do, and feeling bad is natural.

Katherine: First of all, well done. It is incredibly hard to end a friendship, and it does sound like this was the best thing for you. And yes, it is impossible to go through life without making enemies, unless you crush yourself in the process. It doesn’t sound like you are overthinking it; as I said it is a difficult thing to do, but don’t feel so guilty for prioritising yourself and your needs.

Genevieve: The unlimited options that life offers us means that when we do one thing we are always neglecting another thing.

This sounds dispiriting, but there is hope. You are neglecting tasks, or people, every time you choose an activity or a person over them.

Every time you consider a friendship, or an invitation, you should think, is this worth neglecting something, or someone, else for?

Genevieve Brown & Katherine Prentice LIFESTYLE EDITORS

Credit: Katrina Siân Williams (@veryberrykitty)

Is it something you want to prioritise? This sounds selfish, I know, but I also believe it is the kinder thing when it comes to friendship.

If you put yourself in this person’s shoes, wouldn’t you prefer that a friend of yours wasn’t forcing themselves to interact with you? I personally hate the thought of people contacting me or spending time with me out of a sense of duty. This person is better off spending time with someone who likes them!

There are difficult cases when, for example, someone is going through a hard time and possibly isn’t their usual self, but this doesn’t sound like one of those times to me.

All this to say: I understand your doubts that you aren’t cutting your friend the necessary slack. However, it sounds like your friendship-disconnect has been occurring for a while now, through the bad times and the good, and in summary I think you made the right decision.

It is part and parcel of the human experience that you will cause inadvertent hurt, and sometimes even intentional hurt, over the course of your life. It is important to try to minimise the hurt you cause, of course, but don’t be harsh on yourself when it does happen. You don’t elaborate on the ways in which you were mistreated in your question, so I’m not sure if it was only

problematic views of this person which made them difficult to be around or if there was more to it.

I hope you didn’t suffer too much from their presence in your life.

At least this situation will help you learn who you want to be friends with! Friendship breakups are so tough, but you executed this one perfectly.

Help! My flatmate is becoming the worst thing imaginable… a Dave Matthews fan. At first it was just one Credit: Rachel Wood song he’d play in his playlist, but now it is his playlist.

I’ve tried giving him therapy and trying to show him good music but it just won’t work, I’m concerned he’s becoming deaf because he seemingly just keeps enjoying it more and more. Should I just release my flatmate into the wild? Or should I just take him to animal control to be destroyed?

Katherine: This is a difficult one, but it sounds like he is too far gone. Release him into the wild so he can learn the error of his ways.

If he finds his way home, he will have a new respect for you and understand that bad music taste is most certainly a punishable offence.

However, this can be tricky (see question above), so I think you can also tell him to turn it off. What he does in private is his

business, as long as it isn’t bothering anyone. If it is, you totally have the right to tell him to stop.

Genevieve: Okay, but have you heard the belter that is Crash Into Me? The lyrics are creepy but that guitar melody!

It’s in Ladybird if you need a justification for being caught listening to Dave Matthews Band like myself. I just googled and the absence of the apostrophe in their name is already annoying me – does the band belong to Dave Matthews (almost acceptable) or are they supposed to be celebratory of him (cringe because he is the lead singer - have some humility)?

For whatever reason I share my life with very few people who have the same music taste as me, and I also struggle to view this as anything other than a moral failing on their part. To my dismay, I have known two people who enjoy The Great Gatsby soundtrack; multiple musical theatre fans; and electro-swing fans if you can believe it (I can’t).

On a serious note, if they are blasting tunes in your f lat at times when you’d rather they didn’t, it is equally your living space and it is perfectly reasonable for you to request that they pop some headphones on.

My commiserations, and if it’s any consolation I’ve encountered some truly insufferable people who have my exact taste in art.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

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28 January 2022

Culture

‘It’s like a black hole you get sucked into and everyone goes a bit mad.’

alt-J’s Thom Sonny Green discusses sonic influences, the songwriting process, and touring with anxiety ahead of alt-J’s fourth album.

Fred Bruce MUSIC EDITOR

One of alternative music’s most exciting outfits, alt-J’s eclectic merging of acoustic folk, esoteric lyrics, and complex production has launched the three-piece into superstardom. With a fourth album set to release next month, we met with drummer Thom Sonny Green prior to the band’s next stint in the limelight.

The Glasgow Guardian: altJ’s upcoming record, The Dream, features an incredibly diverse range of tracks, sonically. With stripped-back cuts like Get Better and more grandiose songs like Philadelphia, do you feel there is one particular sound you connect with the album or is the sheer variety part of the charm?

Thom Sonny Green: That’s a good question actually. There are so many little things I really love and have a connection to that are specific to this album in a way that’s not really happened before.

It’s very personal and very detailed in terms of how we’ve approached it, just because we’ve had so much time in our own little bubble during the pandemic. It’s little things like the drums on Philadelphia, or the picture that Walk a Mile paints in my mind. It’s all very coherent and complete to me.

GG: You mentioned the personal connections on the album – how do you adapt your drumming style to match the darker semantic places that Joe [Newman, vocalist] takes the songs?

TSG: It’s often a case of stripping stuff back and actually really listening. I have to hold myself back and not go full force with the first thing that comes to mind – though it’s hard to say, ‘cause each track is so different in terms of how I approach the rhythm and the drums.

Often tracks will be started on Ableton and digitally programmed in as a kind of sketch, and the trouble is getting too attached to that origi-

nal idea when that’s often all it was: an idea.

This album I wanted to use more acoustic instruments in terms of drums and percussion, because it’s easy to just start using samples and drum machines and before you know it the whole sound has changed. I wanted to do more Credit: Rosie Matheson

of what we did on the first album, which was almost entirely live drums, and really pair it with the darkness and introspection that Joe had. It varies track to track, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to appreciate scaffolding things a bit more, rather than coming out like: “I’m the drummer, here’s the drum

part.”

GG: Did you find that change difficult, especially after you released your solo project High Anxiety and are now returning to a band that is not entirely your own vision?

TSG: Yeah, it can be tricky in

that my style of production when I’m messing around at home is extremely experimental, and I don’t really make tracks that often. I kind of forced myself to put structure into the things I released, but I really like to just let things record and let it keep rolling and rolling. I might have a tendency when we’re writing together as a band to want to put that kind of stuff in, though I’m aware it wouldn’t work.

With Joe’s guitar, for example, I like to record it into my laptop onto Ableton and then I can manipulate the sound as a kind of experiment.

It’s another sketch, and some of it might stay but we’ll likely re-record it based on that idea. But programming drums can become quite tedious, and I’ve realised that above all I’m a physical drummer. I had this about five or six years ago that I wanted to be a producer, and do these remixes and DJ, but now I’ve started seeing the whole picture rather than homing in on that particular sphere.

GG: You’ve brought up artists like Skrillex, Clams Casino, and even Death Grips as influences in terms of production on the rhythm side. Did you find them working their way into the writing of The Dream, or were they mainly relegated to the experimental areas?

TSG: I think it probably has. I think the reason I like Clams Casino is the rhythm and the pace of his work,I’m really drawn to that laid back hip-hop, almost grunge tempo of production. That sort of stoner side of things.

GG: Like sludge almost?

TSG: Yeah, exactly! Artists like Sleep or Bong Ripper or Electric Wizard I really love, and Clams Casino to me is the same tempo and that’s where I’m really drawn to. When we’re jamming together, which we don’t do that often, my tendency is to wait until I can find that sort of breakdown and I love it. But I also love bands like Radiohead, and Phil Selway with his crazy up-tempo playing.

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28 January 2022

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Culture CONTINUED...

GG: I can see that - especially with how adaptive Phil is to the eclectic range of sounds Radiohead dabble with on their different records.

TSG: Yeah, I have a lot of respect for Radiohead and how they’ve managed to stay honest.

They seem to have a good relationship with each other and all their egos are in good places, which is hard to do. It’s really difficult sometimes if you have an idea that you firmly believe in that no one else sees. You think “well, my opinion must mean something”, but you have to remind yourself that the reason we’ve gotten this far is because it’s a democracy and the three of us are aware that you have to trust each other.

GG: How difficult did you find keeping up that sense of democracy during the pandemic?

TSG: At the beginning, everything is flowing really easily and we’re recording little demos.

The initial stages are instinctual, and we have such a good dynamic that when I hear Joe’s guitar I know immediately what I’d like to do.

But once you start working with the producers, I find that phase harder because you’re handing stuff over a little bit.

That trust has to be there, and I’m not that great at bringing stuff up, so if I’m feeling like I’m not liking the way something is going I find it difficult to say that. If you let that happen, it really snowballs and you end up resenting it, so I have to remind myself to just be honest about how I’m feeling. We know it’s coming from the best place because none of us have this agenda, no one’s doing this for any other reason than we want to make the best work that we can.

“Once you start working with the producers, the trust has to be there...”

GG: Do you think you’ll find a similar experience next year with the world tour, especially given this is the first in several years?

TSG: Touring is a little bit easier, in the way that it’s all planned for. Our booking agents and tour managers schedule everything, and literally we just have to turn

never said anything, that’d be so much time gone.

Credit: Rosie Matheson

up. Well, we don’t even have to turn up, we get picked up…

There can be other things, other dynamics like meet-and-greets or dressing room politics where it can get a bit tricky. I’m quite private and try not to engage with too many people on tour that I don’t need to. I love meeting fans when I do, but I find the interaction beforehand very overwhelming, so I avoid certain situations.

“I love meeting fans when I do, but I find the interaction beforehand very overwhelming...”

I feel bad sometimes, but I just don’t have whatever it is you need to be able to do it in that moment.

The three of us have never been told that we have to do it, but we get told that “people are waiting after the show, and it’d be great if you went out”. In the end, though, you just have to be honest.

GG: Do you find that, say compared to after [debut album] The Awesome Wave, you’re in a place where you feel more comfortable drawing those boundaries and having confidence in them?

TSG: Yeah, I think over the last couple of years, actually. We took a year off after touring Relaxer, and I did a lot of work on myself – I started therapy then, and I figured out a lot of stuff about myself. I suffered from really extreme anxiety and bouts of depression which I just lived with,

and now I’ve worked through a lot of that and realised what it is that I need.

I used to be just generally scared of people and not knowing their intentions, especially on tour. And I would sometimes seek out that attention as well, but now I don’t need to because I actually have what I need in my own life.

I’m in a nice place now where I feel that I can interact with people in a way that is beneficial to both me and them. The actual physical action of being with people is still difficult, and I love being on my own, but the trouble with touring is that if you spend too much time isolated you go mad. There’s only so much YouTube and room service you can consume before you lose it, and I’m hoping this next tour I’m going to be more open-minded about venturing out and socialising more.

GG: Your solo album High Anxiety was born out of your complex relationship with touring. Do you see yourself returning to that kind of experimental production, or was that tied to your emotions at the time?

TSG: High Anxiety was a great way for me to process what was going on in my head when we were touring. Having a laptop with a creative tool meant that I could zone into that, especially in smaller venues when you had less personal space, it let me focus and that album was the result.

I’ve still worked a lot since then, but I’m starting to accept that I don’t need that approval. I think with High Anxiety I wanted to prove myself in some way,

and I don’t really have that now going into touring an album I’m so proud of, with The Dream. It sounds like a weird thing to say: making an album because I wanted attention , and it’s not the sole reason I did it, but it was part of it, and if I do another it might be for a different reason. I’d love to put another one together, and I wonder if I’d go into a studio with a producer next time in order to make a better album.

“It sounds like a weird thing to say, making an album because I wanted attention...”

GG: Given High Anxiety was more a collection of vignettes, do you think working with a producer would streamline the album, or would it almost obscure your own intentions?

TSG: I think it would streamline it. I hope it would add a bit more clarity, because I hear things like the new James Blake album and it’s just so insanely good and I would love to be able to do that. It’s stupid, but I get jealous of people when they release an album and I think “How have they done that?” Then I get pissed off with myself and think “I’m just going to stick everything on Soundcloud” - which would be a waste of time because you need to promote stuff for people to be able to listen to it. If we put The Dream onto Soundcloud and

GG: Part of the alt-J mythos, as it were, is the length of time between records that really allows the music to set in. Is it the same with the band, or are you as a group always looking towards the next project?

TSG: I think the time in between is a good thing. We write together very quickly, which might be surprising considering there’s been five years between Relaxer and The Dream, so people assume that we’ve spent five years making this. But we finished touring Relaxer in 2019 and then there was a pandemic and before that we had taken a year off, so its actually a pretty quick working process.

It’s intense, though. It’s like a black hole you get sucked into and everyone goes a bit mad. You can’t sleep, and there were times when you’d be working on something all day, like Joe’s guitar on The Actor, where it’d just be that over and over again in the studio.

I have synaesthesia, so this guitar lick got lodged in my mind as this quite imposing, intimidating structure. I’d go home and try to sleep but I couldn’t stop seeing and hearing it.

GG: How do you end up dealing with that?

TSG: I’ve found meditation and mindfulness work. Or even just really concentrating on something else, like watching TV or YouTube and really paying attention to the screen and filtering the rest out of my head. It can make me really anxious ‘cause it gets really lodged in there, especially if the song itself starts changing and it gets at odds with the abstract form I have in my head. With Walk a Mile, I had this specific tunnel-like image in my head, but as the song progressed it would dilute and lose its colour which was disconcerting. When I was younger, I wasn’t aware that it was a thing, but maturing and recognising it has made me learn to appreciate it much more as a creative tool.

alt-J’s fourth record, “The Dream”, releases on February 11th and can be pre-ordered here. Thom’s solo album “High Anxiety” is available for listening on his website and all streaming services.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

22

28 January 2022

Culture

Why is it Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

Writer Marcus Hyka explores the secret to the bold sitcom’s long running success and its mental mechanics.

Marcus Hyka WRITER

“I haven’t even begun to peak,” declares (likely serial killer and main character) Dennis Reynolds in the third season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That statement has never been more apt with the show now on its 15th season. In spite of its outrageously controversial content, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is officially the longest-running live-action sitcom in US history.

But what makes such a pungent programme so hilariously enduring?

Debuting in 2005, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was born a single camera, anti-sitcom. Instead of revolving around chummy sitcom characters in typical sitcom situations, the show’s creators and stars (Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton) decided to subvert this trope. The series centres around a clan of disgusting degenerates struggling to run Paddy’s Pub, a bleak South Philadelphia bar. A conventional episode consists of the “gang” partaking in various schemes to maximise pleasure and profit for themselves, always at the expense of others. Unlike a generic sitcom, these characters consistently behave erratically, which is the show’s secret rocket fuel. It unlocks a wealth of mineable comic potential.

“Instead of revolving around chummy sitcom characters in typical sitcom situations, the show’s creators and stars decided to subvert this trope.”

Each main character is either a sociopath, psychopath, narcissist or a combination of all three.

They hate one another, and their nonsensical motives lead to nothing but destruction, harm and/or death for everything and everyone they encounter. Notably, the

Credit: Unsplash

Credit: wall.alphacoders.com characters are never rewarded for their misdeeds, as they face continual punishment for their depravity. The laughs are never aimed at the victims of the gang but at the gang themselves, who are a satirical parable of the most deplorable denizens. The protagonists are the antagonists. I’ve listed some appropriate episode titles to reference this point: Frank Sets Sweet Dee on Fire, Ass Kickers United: Mac and Charlie Join a Cult, The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis, Mac Kills His Dad. I must confess that this show is a tricky phenomenon to describe, so I implore you to cautiously sample an episode. Preferably, this would be one after Danny DeVito’s addi-

“The protagonists are the antagonists.” tion in the second season.

Nevertheless, the show and its writers have not escaped backlash from audiences and critics.

Over the course of the series, the dreadful characters have used various highly-offensive slurs and have engaged in Blackface.

In recent years, viewers have reevaluated the message this sends as to what is appropriate in comedy. Thankfully, all episodes featuring Blackface have now been pulled from streaming services, with apologies is-

sued. In fact, a recent episode of the show had the characters acknowledge their wrongdoings for engaging in Blackface in a meta turn of events. The language used on the show has similarly changed, ensuring hate speech isn’t given a platform to breathe.

In 2020, when questioned about this backlash, McElhenney stated: “We failed in some ways and what we’ve been trying to do throughout the last few years is ameliorate that in a lot of ways.”

The characters continue to be problematic, but the writers consistently renegotiate precisely how this is achieved as the parameters of satire evolve.

Crucially, the show resides outside the rhetoric of alleged

cancel culture as it satirises the very right-wing, White people who deem cancel culture a devastating and vital issue.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia prospers on through its strict rule to never reward the vile main characters and through its willingness to learn and progress from its satirical mistakes.

The show continues to amass cult status because of the infinite list of chaotic plots at the writers’ disposal due to the unpredictability of these anti-sitcom characters.

The Gang Carries a Corpse Up a Mountain is the 15th season’s finale title. If that isn’t an articulate synopsis of the overall series, I don’t know what is. Long may it be sunny in Philadelphia.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

23

Culture

(Don’t) Play the Hits!

Dylan Brewerton-Harper presents a guide to disappointing setlists.

Dylan Brewerton-Harper WRITER

It’s a question as old as live music itself. Do musicians and bands have an obligation to their fans? Should they play the “hits” when you go to their gigs? After all, it’s the fans that have gone out and bought their records, downloaded their music from iTunes, come home from a gig decked out in t-shirts, tote bags, and pencil cases covered with their insignia. Through thick and thin, is it not the fans that have put musicians where they are? Are we not due our, relatively, small reward; to be able to jump around belting out the crowd-pleasers hell for leather at one of their shows?

Well, I’m not so sure... First of all, I don’t think there are many bands or musicians that deliberately do not include some of their hits when they play live, so in some ways it is a dead end “phenomenon”. Of all the gigs I’ve been to over the years, I can’t think of one that springs to mind where I came away feeling disappointed at not hearing a “hit”.

In fact, a lot of the time it is exactly the opposite. Obscure, cult songs found tucked away at the end of albums, or ancient B-sides that I’ve re-discovered through streaming, are often the songs omitted from the setlist for one reason or another, and, although you know the chances of them being played are slim, you always hold out that hopeless hope.

“Of all the gigs I’ve been to, I can’t think of one where I came away feeling disappointed at not hearing a ‘hit’.”

There is a bigger, and potentially more dangerous, phenomenon at play here. Something I’ve noticed amongst the younger generations especially is a proclivity towards not listening to albums at all, and instead just having “songs you like”. And it totally makes sense. We live in the streaming age, the age of the

playlist, the age of Spotify. Despite a recent revival, only a select few are travelling to record shops to buy the new albums of your favourite artists. Gone are the days of going round to a mate’s house to burn 30 CDs onto your iTunes library. Everything is right there in front of us whenever we want, wherever we want.

Adele has even addressed this Credit: Lisa Paul

shift, going so far as to remove the Spotify “shuffle” feature on her recent album 30, for listeners to experience the album as the singer intended.

So, when it comes to artists playing live, are we wanting and expecting the “hits” because we’ve lost the appreciation of the album? Artists put a lot of time, effort and money into making

albums because that is the way they want us to listen to and appreciate their music. Albums tell stories; they take us on emotional journeys that we can relate to our own lives and reveal hidden truths about our favourite artists. So, I can understand the desire to play new material more relevant to the artist’s current mindset over hits they’ve been

playing for years, and maybe decades.

“Albums tell stories; they take us on emotional journeys that we can relate to our own lives and reveal hidden truths about our favourite artists.”

Take a band such as Radiohead, a group often noted for not playing their older “hits” at their shows.

Their musical journey is a story of change and adaptation. From album to album, their sound augments, new sounds, instruments and styles evolve whilst others remain. It is a discography I’m sure they are immensely proud of, but at the same time their sound has changed for a reason. They’ve wanted to experiment, to move with the times and to traverse the boundaries of genre. Is it too much to ask us fans to simply respect this? Creep is a great tune but if I go and see Radiohead, I’d be more than happy not to hear it. I mean, it’s no secret that they despise this track; Thom Yorke even stated that they had “sucked satan’s cock” following its release.

“Creep is a great tune but if I go and see Radiohead, I’d be more than happy not to hear it.”

One final question I will pose is this: do we expect this from any other cultural art form? If we went and saw our favourite comedian doing stand-up, would we want them to simply go through the “greatest hits” of all the jokes they’ve ever told from years gone by? When we go to a gallery to see our favourite artist, do we want to see only the “famous” paintings or do we want to study, examine and appreciate their full life’s work? I think I know where I stand.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

24

28 January 2022

Culture

2022’s most anticipated reads

Set a New Year’s reading resolution? Kate McIntosh has the rundown on the best books to expect in 2022.

Kate McIntosh WRITER

As 2022 begins, no-one can be sure what the year will bring – but one thing we do know is that there are lots of literary treats to look forward to. Here’s a quick rundown of our most promising picks.

Let’s start with two much-loved Scottish writers. Douglas Stuart’s heartbreaking debut Shuggie Bain won the Booker prize in 2020, and his second novel Young Mungo tells the story of love between two young men on opposite sides of the sectarian divide in Glasgow. Set to be published in April, it has already been praised by Publishers Weekly as a “literary wonder”. Multi award-winning Ali Smith, having concluded her seasonal quartet with last year’s Summer, returns with a novel exploring companionship in its various forms – Companion Piece, also arriving in April, is described by publisher Penguin as “unmissable”.

Candice Carty-Williams’ 2019 debut novel Queenie was published to critical acclaim and a spot on bestseller lists, and followed up with a successful YA offering, Empress & Aniya. In April, Carty-Williams will return with People Person, which she told The Times was “about the relationship you have with your dad and how affecting that can be – or not”.

And those who have just finished drying their tears after reading Hanya Yanagihara’s Booker and

Women’s Prize-shortlisted A Little Life can dive into her new novel, To Paradise, when it is released in January. Set in 1893, 1993, and 2093, To Paradise looks sure to be an emotional, thought-provoking read.

A number of promising debuts will also be published in the coming year. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, appearing in February, is the story of estranged siblings learning about their late mother’s past after she leaves a mysterious

inheritance including a traditional Caribbean cake. The novel has been highly praised and is already being developed as a television series co-produced by Oprah Winfrey. Our Wives Under The Sea, the debut novel by award-winning short story writer Julia Armfield, is due in March. A story about a relationship changed by a deepsea dive, it has already received acclaim from writers such as Sarah Waters, Neel Mukherjee, and Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

Credit: Dorota Dziki

“Douglas Stuart’s second novel Young Munro tells a love story of two young men on opposite sides of the sectarian divide...”

“Black Cake is already being developed as a television series co-produced by Oprah Winfrey.”

In non-fiction, fans of Margaret Atwood can look forward to March, when a book of more than 50 of her essays, Burning Questions, will be published. In August comes The Last Colony; a book by the international lawyer Philippe Sands QC (2016 winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize) which will explain the unlawful removal by the UK government of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago, and the legal battle for their return. And for those who have fond childhood (or more recent!) memories of reading the Noughts & Crosses series, or any of Malorie Blackman’s many other works of fiction, the autobiography of the former Children’s Laureate will be published in September by #Merky Books – Stormzy’s publishing imprint.

This is, of course, just a smattering of the books the coming year will offer. However, even with this brief overview of what will be available, we can be assured that there is something for all literary tastes in 2022.

Live podcasts: from solitude to stage Micaela Levesque WRITER

Podcasts. Who doesn’t have a favourite? You might enjoy listening to conversations with your fave celebs while you work out or maybe you find yourself gravitating to the Apple Podcast app for your daily dose of news during your commute. Whatever your listening habits may be, you likely have a few shows that you keep downloaded in your phone’s library. Soon, you may find that your podcast listening habits are changing. As more podcasters make the decision to hold stage recordings—such as Off Menu Live

by James Acaster and Ed Gamble, or Shagged, Married, Annoyed by

Chris and Rosie Ramsey—your inear friends might transform into your new favourite night out on the town.

“Your in-ear friends might transform into your new favourite night out on the town.”

Traditionally, podcasts have been a solitary activity. I myself am a habitual laundry-folding-podcast-listener and I savour the moments when the kitchen is empty and I can do dishes and blast the

voices of the McElroy brothers in peace. When I am doing a repetitive task, I pull podcasts out to provide background chatter that allows me to stay focused on my work. It’s like writing an essay in the library with friends… Except the friends are usually NPR reporters or Dungeons and Dragons players.

So how does this experience translate to the stage? Though I’m yet to attend a live show for a podcast (fellow My Dad Wrote a Porno fans who are free this Spring hmu), I’ve attended several conventions where I’ve gotten to experience what it’s like to see my internet interests enter the “real world”.

I’ve held group discussions about a book series’ lore and sang along

with a crowd to the soundtrack of a niche internet musical. There is something special about seeing a personality or media that you’ve only ever enjoyed in the privacy of your home (or your earbuds) suddenly become a public, shared event. It’s almost equally about watching the performance as it is about watching the people around you share delight in something that you’ve held so close.

Podcasts sit in a particularly intimate space for media. They come with us in moments that even some of our closest friends might not (I mean, most of my friends haven’t chatted with me whilst I fold my underwear) and dedicated listeners can spend hundreds of hours getting ac-

quainted with the lives and views of the hosts.

“I mean, most of my friends have chatted with me whilst I fold my underwear...”

Podcast fans are a perfectly poised consumer base for live performance; they’ll be fast to grab tickets to see these people who they value so highly and, just like with concerts, theatre, and all the live performances we enjoy, they’ll bring people together for a shared experience with media they love.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

25

Culture

Portrait of a Scottish Artist: Alasdair Gray Jackson Harvey

LIFESTYLE COLUMNIST

I went to get on the subway at Hillhead and held up a queue at the gate. Dead ahead of me was this quote: “ALL KINDS OF FOLK”.

It had “Birds of Paradise”, “Lucky Dogs” and “Head Cases”, each with doodles to boot. I was struck by the one that said “Financial Wizards” because the face, planted on the body of a spider, looked startlingly like myself. I didn’t know how to take that, considering my teetering overdraft and ripe student loan status. To the right was a mural of the West End that I was yet to inspect. It was fresh and bold and nothing like the interiors of the transport system I had known previously. I now think Alasdair might be the wee guy in the beanie, at the left foot of the vista (but I’m not entirely sure).

“...the face, planted on the body of a spider, looked startingly like myself...”

I first caught wind of Alasdair Gray in my first, or maybe second, year at uni. (That’s technically a lie; I first heard of him when my friend was bigging up this book called Lanark, but at that time I was knee-deep in coursework and wasn’t quite willing to tackle that yet.) Anyway, he made an appearance at the University Chapel. I was still in the thrall of an earnest scholarly mindset and thought I might’ve caught enlightenment or something. Alasdair arrived and settled at the foot of the altar. I

couldn’t see a thing and sat at the back. I’m not going to lie, I can’t remember for the life of me what his visit was about, and I can’t remember a single thing he said. What I do recall is that he had the most booming, boisterous voice I’d ever heard. Can’t remember what was for sale, but I was sold.

Turns out Alasdair had been a one-time writer in residence at the University and was intrinsically linked to Glasgow culture.

In his youth, he developed a knack for mural making at the Glasgow School of Art. He then became an art teacher in several schools in and around the city. Fast-forward a bit and he later worked as a painter, in an array of positions: set design, churches, personal endeavours. His whole life revolved around art, and he lived nearly half a century before bringing out his first book.

Alasdair’s work cropped up in either my second- or third-year course reading list. Poor Things was vivid and bizarre, but that’s by the by. What really grasped me was the caricaturesque artwork on the cover. A giant figure with cheddar-coloured mutton chops, and an electric shock of a mane to match, is pictured sat on an Edwardian sofa, with the characters Bella Caledonia on his lap and Archibald McCandless under his wing. The picture is sincere and grotesque, not to mention the beheaded skeleton to the back and the disembodied head to the front.

The scene reads like a cabaret nursery rhyme, hued in primary colours and moral ambiguity.

Alasdair did all his own artwork, and his artistic faculties drip through the pages of his books. His writing isn’t what you would con-

sider painterly, but then, neither is his art. And yet, his approaches to both are in harmonious correlation. He describes his absurd, misshapen characters exactly as they are presented visually. During an interview with The Rumpus, he once professed that good writing had “as few adjectives and adverbs as possible”. Likewise, there is very little shading in Alasdair’s art. A lot of line work. What you see is what you get, whether it makes sense to the observer or not.

“What you see is what you get, whether it makes sense to the observer or not.”

The BBC aired a documentary titled “Alasdair Gray at Eighty” a few years ago, which followed the artist during the development of the SPT Subway murals. The programme is interspersed with segments wherein Alasdair conducts a bizarre interview with himself and himself. Characteristic much?

The most enjoyable moment is when he wakes up dishevelled and hungover, at an extremely venerable old age, to find out that he has lost several of his artistic manuscripts on a drunken bender the night previous. Later found at Òran Mór.

Despite the unrealistic nature of almost everything revolving around the work and art of Alasdair Gray, the unifying thread is an air of profound, unflinching, levelling humanity. Catch the underground home and have a wee look.

Credit: Alasdair Gray via Oran Mor

Don’t judge a book by its cover...?

Leah Hart WRITER

The act of buying or borrowing a book must inevitably be predicated by a judgment of its worthiness. This judgment will either need to be quick – if perhaps you are late for coffee with a friend and something caught your eye in the passing Oxfam – or leisurely and careful. Either way, a book is an object marketed to visually-able individuals as we will first be attracted to an interesting image.

As a more-than-casual reader, my process of choosing books has become more unrelated to the exterior with time. After all, we university students don’t always get to be picky about our reading material.

When I do allow myself the simple pleasure of choosing a book outside the curriculum, I do, however, find myself attracted to covers that reflect the kinds of stories I love most. My love of a fast-paced plot, full of action and twists, comes through in colourful cover design.

For me, as well as most readers and non-readers alike, the aesthetic matters a great deal in our attraction to books. Compared to past cultures of bookselling, no period has been quite as focused on the aesthetic marketing aspect as today. The culture of using books as home decor and the concept of “coffee-table books” almost certainly contributes to this as well. Less concerned with creating great art however, modern cover-design seems to be a homogenising phenomenon. Formulae are being established for the cover-de-

sign of each genre, with the recent micro-trend of popular modern romance exclusively depicting abstract outlines of the couple within. A similar thing happens with Young Adult pop fantasy; a central ornament and the infamous title template: something of something and something.

One famous example is the 2015 A Court of Thorns and Roses series, similar in both title and cover-arrangement to the 2018 Afro-Fantasy, Children of Blood and Bone. Despite sharing the outward markings of the fantasy genre, the stories themselves appeal to different types of readers. These formulae prove to me that there is no correlation between cover-design, good or bad, and the content within, seeing as my reactions are widely different to each book I read following these trends.

Alternatively, some of the greatest books I have ever read, such as The Kite Runner, have the ugliest, most off-putting covers I have seen yet.

As a person who loves libraries and therefore chiefly collects my very favourite books, it is easy to end up buying several editions of the same book. Sometimes I just can’t decide between the US and the UK cover, so I simply buy both. The same goes for antique books; so what if I already own that Tom Hardy? Vintage editions are like book porn. Pleasing aesthetics are an undeniable asset in the choosing process, and though it might reflect the story inside (as well as the art budget), it certainly says very little of its quality. The beauty of book buying is that it is nobody’s business but your own.

Credit: Emily Walkingshaw

Credit: Pippa Blundell

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

26

28 January 2022

Culture

Illusions of control: the frustrations of storydriven gaming Yulia Ovcharova CULTURE COLUMNIST

“There’s no open world, obviously, so you’re just snooping around in enclosed areas like an idiot,” reports the brave soul who sacrificed his purity to venture on exploring the destructive nonsense of the story-driven game.

“You stupidly push buttons you are told to push. Then you want to examine objects, and 97% of them turn out to be useless decorations. Only 3% are crafting material but crafting at its best is severely limited. Most of the time you listen to soapy music, which surely will land a strike on your YouTube channel. Then you sit through dialogues you have to skip line-byline if you’re even allowed to skip them, and finally make choices that will almost certainly put you on the rack later in the episode. No replayability value. 2.5/10.”

Fellow gamers have been downgrading each other for years. The industry is brimful with ambitious individuals who can and will make your life a living game-over because of your genre preference, gaming abilities, or at least your platform if they run out of fun ideas. However, when the story-driven games arrive on the scene, the plot thickens.

On the rise of story-driven games, gamers were confused with choicebased games a little more often than it rained in Scotland. That’s what I believe to be the apple of Discord – a good-old case of false advertising. People were given entire films

with settled plots and strict order of events, but they still expected to twist the whole storyline by pushing buttons because the ad preached: “Your choices matter! You’re in control of everything!”

The reason it never worked out in games is the same as in real life (unless you’re playing The Sims). Let’s just say, the people in charge decorated the truth. But only because it was necessary to figure out what they should improve on.

I think your choices in story-driven games like The Walking Dead or Life is Strange matter, for the most part. It simply doesn’t appear as revolutionary as the ads were promising.

The developers wanted to achieve success by creating personal bonds between real players and fictional characters by telling an engaging story. Choices were there, but they served as transitions that gradually enweaved you into the plot without changing it. That’s also the reason why, despite the “dumbest survival strategy” some gamers criticised in The Walking Dead and the cringe dialogues topped by rigid facial animations in Life is Strange, both games received numerous awards for their brilliant storytelling, which leads us to the main point.

Was it fair to promote freedom of choice in back-then-limited story

games? Yes and no. “Yes” because imagine the morally-right ad: “Our dear writing staff produced a lovely story that we made slightly interactive by turning it into a video game.

Remember Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain?

Any classics nerds here, eh? Anyhow, they’re quite similar. Please, do check it out. Your choices won’t change a lot, but the idea is to think about the consequences of your actions...” The entire campaign would go phut by the beginning of the third sentence.

Nevertheless, if we were to talk about 2021, I’d say, “absolutely not”.

Take a look at Until Dawn, Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange: True Colours. While those games still

Credit: PC Gamer

have a solid plot in their foundation, which is the biggest obstacle for the writers because every plot and subplot must remain linear while being tailored to player’s choices, new story-driven games let players shift between different storylines so smoothly that it’s almost scary how naturally your gameplay flows.

To put things into perspective, Detroit has roughly 40 endings and about 85 in total if you count those where little details vary. If things keep going this way, the only ones who are going to be driven mad by story-driven games are the programmers because they know that 99% will always replay the same goodie two shoes route to keep their favourite characters safe.

My personal favourite feature of all story-driven games is how they strip the player of their power to bring justice. You can instantly murder someone in shooters, but if the plot has wronged you in the story-driven game, you just suck it and see where all this cinematic elegance takes you next. They often deliver stories that evoke a strong sense of injustice – and a desire to make it better if the delivery was successful.

If you look back, choices used to have mostly emotional consequences that left players moist with tears, joy, and sense of control, while discreetly running the same programmed narrative. But, who knows – the future might allow us to write entire novels by just playing video games.

When worlds collide...

Marine Ourahli WRITER

In season 17 of Grey’s Anatomy, viewers were surprised to see Covid-19 take over the walls of the famous Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for an entire season. The first episode aired on 12 November 2020, when many countries were still under lockdown. The season was not just heavily criticised by fans but also by press, with the dominating Covid-19 plot not charming the public at all. In a world where Covid-19 is already in the primary news item, interpersonal and media focus, fiction was one realm of existence unaffected by the pandemic, a way out for everyone. Did we really need to see

the virus intrude upon our fictional means of escape too?

“In a world where Covid-19 is already in the media focus, fiction was one realm of existence unaffected by the pandemic.”

This question can be extended to all reality-intrusions across various pieces of fiction. Jacques Demy, the French director of the great musicals such as The Young

Girls of Rochefort and Donkey Skin, said: “I prefer to idealise reality, otherwise why go to the cinema?” Personally, I couldn’t agree more with this statement. When the lights of the cinema go out I expect to find myself somewhere else than that which I am used to.

Escapism has too often been put on trial, associated with extreme melancholy and depression. But escaping from our reality is often a crucial way for the average person to survive it. Escapism can also be a political statement. Claiming “to flee the real world” is to seek freedom outside a place that denies it. Thus, escapism is condemned because it allows everyone to see what it should be and not what it really is.

“Escapism has too often been put on trial, associated with extreme melancholy and depression.”

However, the films that are deeply rooted in reality are the most acclaimed in Hollywood.

Just look at the Oscar nominations each year to see the predominance of biopics and films inspired by true events. There is a glorification in cinema of the search for reality, to get as close as possible to reality, to imitate it, to make the real

with the fake. However, these films often have a classic and uninspired production style, which will be quickly forgotten by the audience, such as Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech or Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour.

There are biopics that try to break away from these conventional forms such as Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life or Man on the Moon.

These films stand out for their desire to go further than telling the life of an artist, it is an invitation into their worlds. A work of art sublimating another work of art.

The dreamlike quality of these films is what we all need in these anxious times. Ultimately, is it not one of the great powers of cinema: filling everyday events with magic?

28 January 2022

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

27

Science & Tech

The fall of the animal kingdom Patrick Gaffey outlines the real danger posed by climate change to so many species following a trip to Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum.

Patrick Gaffey WRITER

It’s no secret that the climate emergency places the natural world in a dire situation. A recent study found that it has put one third of all plant and animal life at risk of extinction in the next fifty years. With a view to understanding this stark prediction and to know what species are most at risk, I headed to the Hunterian Zoology Museum.

The museum, located in the Graham Kerr building, is known both to visitors and students, who use it as a unique study location. It’s open from 9-5pm on weekdays, when an amazing array of animals from across the globe can be viewed. Mike Rutherford, the curator, showed me their new COP26-inspired project, where undergraduate zoology students have put notices on the displays of particular animals, discussing how they are affected by the climate situation. So many are impacted; he told me that virtually every animal on display was likely to have one.

“Mike Rutherford, the curator, showed me their new COP26-inspired project...”

Rutherford is particularly concerned about sea turtles, a beautiful collection of which can be seen at the museum. These animals come on land to lay their eggs, the sex of which is determined by the climate of the area. Male sea turtles can only hatch on land at 29°C or lower, which is becoming increasingly rare in their natural habitats. One study predicted that, based on current climate change models, the conditions needed for males to hatch will become

near-impossible in the next century, meaning the species will be unable to reproduce. However, these animals live for a very long time, and Rutherford fears humanity will continue to watch older populations and be “lulled into a false sense of thinking everything’s all right,” until they suddenly die out.

“Based on current climate change models, the conditions needed for males to hatch will become nearimpossible...”

One of the museum’s most fascinating and unique animals is a fellow reptile: the tuatara. The last survivors of an order that developed 250m years ago, they were once somewhat widespread, but are now only found on certain islands in New Zealand. They have a third eye, which is believed to be able to recognise the time of year based on sunlight patterns, and can still reproduce when aged over 100. But, disastrously, climate change places them in danger, as they find themselves unable to cope with rising sea levels. However, Rutherford points out that they are not best understood as a species threatened by climate change, as their number has actually increased in recent years due to recovery efforts. In reality, “the tuatara’s main problem has always been invasive species such as rats and dogs”.

Not all animals in the museum face negative effects. Hammerhead sharks seem to thrive in higher temperatures, although some of their cousins are struggling to survive. Xenarthrans like the sloth are protected by an ability to relocate en masse to appropriate climates. The Eurasian nuthatch, once a bird-

Credit: Lucy Dunn watchers’ favourite in southern Scotland, is likewise moving northwards, and can now be seen in Glasgow. Their ascension seems to be a viable strategy for now, but what will they do if northern areas become uninhabitable too?

The scientists who work with these endangered animals are often consumed by an understandable sense of futility, and it is not uncommon for them to leave the profession in frustra-

tion. One project to conserve and recover the Hawaiian honeycreeper ended in disaster

“The scientists who work with these animals are often consumed by an understandable sense of futility.”

when the entire population was killed by malaria. The disease was previously unknown in Hawaii, but has arrived in its rainforests due to rising temperatures. Christa Seidl, who played a leading role in the project, said in a recent interview: “For me, the only response is to just keep moving forward.” And move forward humanity must, as we try to reverse the damage already done and protect the next generations of natural life.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

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28 January 2022

Science & Tech

Less Indiana Jones, more fluffy velociraptor So archaeology may not really be all about haunted cave temples, but perhaps the reality is even cooler.

Katherine Prentice LIFESTYLE EDITOR

Credit: BBC Radio 4

@kprentice10

Sci-fi of every kind is fantastic; from your galaxies far, far away to DNA extracted from mosquitoes, there is something so tantalising about conjuring up the possibilities science and technology could open for us one day. Whilst some films put in painstaking effort to get things right (Interstellar and Arrival get a shout out from me), many don’t and if anything is drilled into you in archaeology 1A at Glasgow, it is that Indiana Jones is a terrible archaeologist. And if there is one thing I am passionate about, it’s how velociraptors were actually fuzzy - and how we know what we do about past civilisations and species is sometimes stranger than fiction.

“If anything is drilled into you in archaeology 1A at Glasgow, it is that Indiana Jones is a terrible archaeologist.”

We have made some crazy advancements in archaeology, which receive less buzz than a whip-wielding-Westerner. My favourite is how far we are getting with underwater archaeology. Just look up underwater cities and appreciate that most images of them now are… real?!

Who needs Atlantis when we have the very real Thonis-Heracleoin!

What’s more magical than a city frozen in time under the waves?

Besides countless underwater cities and monuments, the sea floor is littered with shipwrecks carrying all sorts of lost treasures, including, for example, a 2000-year-old computer in Greece. New technology is constantly being used to help us explore and discover these once-mythical mysteries. From deep sea diving suits, radar, and funky baths to stop waterlogged sarcophagi from crumbling in the air, this is just as exciting a field of archaeology to keep an eye on as the action movies portray… with less risk of booby-traps, of course.

Speaking of radar, its newer cousin LiDar (Light Detection and

Ranging) absolutely blew my mind when I read about it. Basically, we can use lasers to make 3D models of a landscape, making it much easier to scour the earth for ditches than simply walking through jungles (yes, looking for indents in the ground is basically what archaeologists actually do).

“We can use lasers to make 3D models of a landscape, making it much easier to scour the earth for ditches...”

LiDar can be used by flying a plane or helicopter over land or water, helping us find more of these sunken cities, and one of its most

fascinating uses has been discovering nearly 500 unknown Mesoamerican sites. The Olmecs and Mayans created some of the most awe inspiring cities and structures in the world, but jungles pose a challenge to archaeologists due to some pesky trees. The amazing thing about LiDar is that you can strip away layers from the image produced, meaning we can simply remove trees from a 3D model of the area and see what is hidden. A lot is hidden by trees, it seems.

Now, there seems to be running accusations that paleontologists, the scientists who study extinct ancient life, are ruining the dinosaurs with all their annoying new discoveries; apparently feathered dinosaurs just aren’t as cool. In my humble opinion, there is nothing more fun than finally knowing what dinosaurs looked like - especially when some were feathery, fuzzy and

patterned.

How do we know this? Through the discovery of melanosomes in fossils of dinosaurs like the orange-striped sinosauropteryx. Melanosomes are small funny shaped organelles that hold melanin, like in our hair, and paleontologists can now study these through electron microscopes to work out the colours present in dino feathers. Sinosauropteyx, a theropod-like the velociraptor, was a good clue that dinosaurs evolved into birds back when

“And, yes, as a theropod, Jurassic Park’s famous velociraptor was feathered and turkey-sized.”

this was hilariously controversial (paleontologists often get their claws out over bold claims), but it was a massive breakthrough for many reasons. And, yes, as a theropod, Jurassic Park’s famous velociraptor was feathered and turkey-sized.

Hey, DNA may not last as long as we would hope in amber, but every year we get closer and closer to understanding these famous reptiles, and can instead anxiously await the return of the mammoth.

So, while archaeology and paleontology may be more digging in dirt, filling out forms, and looking in microscopes than cursed tombs and supersized scaly monsters, at least there is less running. But what we are discovering through constantly-evolving technology is amazing, and it’s continually developing. Being able to bring dinosaurs and ancient cities to life on a computer is glamorous and safe enough for me.

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

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Science & Tech

Cutting your consumption… conservatively Rothery Sullivan VIEWS EDITOR @SullivanRothery

In 2019, I was having dinner with a friend when she said something that changed my mindset on eating meat forever: maybe it’s not about going entirely vegan at once, but instead giving up the things you can. The non-absolutist viewpoint made the whole process a lot more appealing: after thinking about it the rest of the evening, I decided to give up fish and lo and behold, six months later, I gave up red meat. How did I decide what to cut out? My decisions came down to animal cruelty, the environment, and my own health.

So… why fish? Usually the last thing to go when people try to consume less meat, my reasoning for cutting out fish was quite simple: they are essentially tortured no matter where they are farmed. The fishing process puts them through ridiculous levels of pain, with many being dissected alive without any stunning beforehand. The cruelty behind fish farming is often dismissed with a nonchalant: they’re just fish, they can’t feel anything. For years I believed this too, mindlessly eating the fish served to

me, until I got a fish of my own and realised that this was not the case.

On another level, fish farming is also terrible for the environment. According to a study, a two-acre fish farm can produce over 100,000 kilograms of waste, which kills other organisms in the water. The fishing industry also destroys valuable ocean habitats and kills exponentially more fish than are actually consumed… Did you know that only one in three fish that are caught are actually consumed?!

Overfishing is one of the largest problems with eating these sea creatures; because of industrial farming, many species are killed until they are on the brink of extinction; not only devastating for the species themselves, but also resulting in a knock-on effect on ocean ecosystems. The problem from this industry comes from the high demand for the animal, and the pressures of mass production. Lives are being wasted, but millions of tonnes of waste accumulates and ecosystems are being destroyed too.

What about red meat, then?

My decision felt a more difficult one, but it came with well-rounded reasoning: the suffering cows face, and the horrible impact that

cattle farming has on the planet and even our own health. For starters, cows spend their entire lives in excruciating physical conditions - I will spare you the gorey details, but it’s worth the research if you want to become more educated on the topic.

“What about red meat, then?

My decision felt a more difficult one, but it came with well-rounded reasoning...”

Additionally, beef (along with lamb and goat) have the largest negative impact on the climate crisis, making up around 62% of livestock emissions. Methane, which is known to be far worse than carbon dioxide in trapping radiation in the air, is a large byproduct of livestock farming. In fact, 40% of methane produced by humans comes from agriculture. Cattle farming is also problematic because of the land and food use required to maintain animals; a Cornell University study showed that the grain

used to maintain livestock in the US would be enough to feed 800 million people. This same study also commented on water waste, noting that beef productions require about 100,000 litres of water per every kilogram of food.

Negative health consequences can result from consuming red meat: there is a clear link between consuming red meat and bowel cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other health problems. Considering the amount of waste created, the horrible impact on the planet and the negative health benefits, plant-based options are an all-around better

environmental food option.

The decisions I’ve made about eating meat are personal, and I don’t think that my choices are necessarily the “right” choices. I’m not trying to force them on you. There are a lot of things I could cut out of my diet that would support the ending of animal suffering and be better for the planet, the dairy industry being a whole other subject. This is perhaps just the start of my journey, and my decisions, spurred on by my friend’s motivating remark, came from my personal experiences, reflection, and values - as should yours.

Credit: Kirsten Colligan

Contributors Amy Richmond, Jeevan Farthing, Ethan Marshall, Rachel Campbell, Molly Mead, Katherine Prentice, Hanuel Lee, Molly Craddock, Emily Landsburgh, Meg Russell Editors Lucy Dunn and Hailie Pentleton Deputy Editors Rosie Shackles and Jamie Byrne Production Lucy Dunn News Luke Chafer, Kimberley Mannion, Ollie Rudden, David Swanson, Jordan Hunter, Lucy Dunn, Lauren Brooks Views Ciara McAlinden,

Rothery

Sullivan,

Features Ananya Venkatesan, Jamie Salem-Dalgety, Constance Roisin, Hailie Pentleton Lifestyle Genevieve Brown, Katherine Prentice, Marcus Hyka, Elena Adams, Meg Russell, Erin McKie, Dorota Dziki, Gabriel Wheway, Emma Urbanova, Tristan Rees, Rowan Duffy Culture Chloe Waterhouse, Jodie Leith, Anest Williams, Fred Bruce, Katie Evans, Lucy Fitzgerald, Rachel Campbell, Marcus Hyka, Dylan Brewerton-Harper, Kate

McIntosh, Micaela Levesque, Jackson Harvey, Leah Hart, Yulia Ovcharova, Marine Ourhali Science & Tech Matt Laing, Izzy Sinanian, Patrick Gaffey, Katherine Prentice, Rothery Sullivan Sport Claire Thomson, Craig Smith, Gabriel Wheway, Genevieve Brown, Dan Street, Alex Mirzai, Qalam Trevelyan, Photography & Illustrations Dorota Dziki, AJ Duncan, Katrina Siân Williams, Emily Walkingshaw, Ciara McAlinden Online & Social Media Becca Luke, Katrina Siân Williams, Zein Al-Maha Oweis, AJ Duncan

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Sport

THE GLASGOW GUARDIAN

28 January 2022

The best sporting moments of 2021 2021 has been a year of sporting ups and downs. Here’s a round-up of some of the most memorable moments from the past year.

Various SPORTS EDITORS & OTHERS

The sporting world, like the rest of the world, had its fair share of highs and lows in 2021. We laughed, we cried, we celebrated and grieved as sport began to return to normal, with athletes continuing to live out their dreams under the watchful gaze of many. Here are some of our favourite sporting moments from the past 12 months.

Genevieve Brown – PGA Golf beef between Koepka and DeChambeau Watching the 2021 PGA Championship with my dad, I caught a moment of unguarded contempt on live television. Brooks Koepka muttered “fucking Christ...” at the mere sight of Bryson DeChambeau at a press conference - and I was hooked. The Trump Golf-sponsored DeChambeau was known for hitting the ball as far as possible, using brute force, and performing calculations on the fairway to determine his strategy. But he was bested by the winning 50-year-old don, Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is skilful and sees golf as an art, not a science. This Hollywood-style narrative had me unexpectedly invested in golf drama this year!

switching play to the right flank; then the erudite, sixpence delivery of Kieran Trippier; before the left back’s flamboyant, Picasso-esque stroke caused Wembley to erupt into a kind of buzzing delirium. The resultant euphoria, before the halftime warm pints of Carling kicked in and Italy wrestled back control, was as close to perfection as I have experienced watching the national team. For at least an hour or so, it felt different being English. The nation was vibrant, colossal, sure-footed.

It felt as if England was made for days like this – when myriad societal worries would melt away to be replaced by diverse, young, jubilant heroes. The Scottish roars from my Glasgow local, however, were louder when Italy finally won, but I shall keep the memory of that heady, ecstatic hour with me forever.

Alex Mirzai – Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder III Any boxing trilogy is always worth the watch. Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder III was no exception.

No doubt, Wilder was determined to succeed on this occasion after the initial draw followed by his first-ever professional loss in the

“Wilder weighing in at his heaviest mark introduced a level of uncertainty which later exposed his questionable boxing ability...”

rematch (Fury v Wilder II). Wilder weighing in at his heaviest mark (231 lbs) introduced a level of uncertainty which later exposed his questionable boxing ability on fight night. Fury, sharp as ever, was appraised for yet again performing to an exceptional standard.

The back-and-forth action between the two fighters was relentless. From stinging body blows to damaging hooks, Wilder stood no chance against the relentless pace of Fury. With five total knockdowns in the fight, the matchup emphatically ended in the 11th round with Fury by knockout. The result was both concussive and conclusive.

This begs the question of what the future holds for Wilder. With no belts in his corner, the former champion must prove his worth in the heavyweight division by defeating the best fighters, namely An-

Dan Street – Luke Shaw’s goal in the Euro 2020 final As the pandemic leered over the UK’s summer, and cases grew and grew, the England men’s football team gave my nation south of the border something to finally be proud of. Luke Shaw’s goal in the Euro 2020 final was a surreal, swirling thing of high seas beauty.

Within the first two minutes of a major tournament final, the nonchalant outside-of-the-boot strike gave England fans the best glimpse of the promised land since 1966.

The goal itself was an artwork for the ages, conjured initially by Shaw himself, who started the move near his own box; then Harry Kane’s intelligent, deep foray – deftly

Credit: Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay

thony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk, or Dillian Whyte, or face ridicule for biting off more than he can chew.

Naturally, Fury prevails and is now the name to beat.

Claire Thomson – Women’s 200-metre breaststroke at Tokyo 2020 Olympics In the swimming world this year, there have been some absolutely incredible races, standout athletes and moments that make me feel proud to be involved in the sport. British Swimming have had a year to remember and their Olympic montage is something really special; however, I’ve decided to pick the women’s 200m breaststroke final from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as my sporting moment of 2021.

Having failed to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics by just one-hundredth of a second, South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker claimed victory in the 200m breaststroke in a world record time, beating a strong field, including the favourite for the title, American Lilly King. Whilst my heart went out for King, being beaten for the second time at the Games in both her main events, Schoenmaker’s achievement was simply incredible. Her gold medal was South Africa’s only of the whole Olympics and was her country’s first female medal in an Olympic Pool since Penny Heyns won bronze in 2000. What’s more was her reaction to her win: the pure emotion of realising she had broken the world record, becoming the first woman ever to swim under 2 minutes 19 seconds. Joined by fellow South African swimmer Kaylene Corbett and American duo Lilly King and Annie Lazor, who grabbed silver and bronze, the quartet shared their success together in the pool, proving that swimming is far from an individual sport and that we always need each other to help us achieve our dreams.

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28 January 2022

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Sport CONTINUED...

Qalam Trevelyan – Men’s High Jump at Tokyo 2020 Olympics For the first time since 1912, the Tokyo Olympics saw a shared podium. Following an intense two-hour competition, Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy found themselves inseparable at 2.37m in the men’s high jump final.

Having been offered a “jump off” by officials to decide who would take home the highest of athletic honours, in an unprecedented move, the two athletes instead decided that they would share the gold medal.

This sporting demonstration of respect, self lessness and friendship captured the hearts of all who had tuned in. The events of that night undoubtedly transcended athletics. Having previously been united by a common injury, both athletes have helped the other reach the lofty heights of Olympic glory. In a world frequently torn apart by animosity, such a sto-

ry allows us all to re-evaluate the importance of kindness in maintaining human excellence.

Pictures of the two men embracing, immortalised on the back pages of newspapers across the globe, will forever be a demonstration of the importance sport has in uniting all, despite the most testing and competitive of arenas.

Craig Smith – McTominay’s Goal v Israel My favourite sporting moment of 2021 came in October when Scotland’s men took on Israel in a crucial 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier at Hampden Park; win and Scotland were in a strong position to gain a playoff spot, fail to win and it would be an uphill struggle to say the least.

It was a magical day from start to finish, the game itself was a rollercoaster of emotions with brilliant Scotland moments, like John McGinn’s opening goal, and daft Scotland moments, like Lyndon Dykes’ missed penal-

ty. However, that was all just a precursor to the moment of the year as in the 94th minute of the match, with the score tied at 2-2, Scotland won a corner.

John McGinn stepped up to take it, Jack Hendry f licked it on with his head at the near post and Scott McTominay bundled in the ball at the back post. The goal might have lacked aesthetic pleasure but the fans did not care - it was a moment of release for Scotland fans, celebrating together in a way they had been deprived of when Scotland qualified for Euro 2020 due to the severe Covid-19 restrictions at that time. This felt like the moment when the Tartan Army finally got to come together as one and celebrate the wonderful team Scotland currently have. As if the day wasn’t special enough, Hampden was topped off with a spectacular rendition of Yes Sir, I Can Boogie from the crowd.

And what a year to be a Scotland fan considering there was at least three rival Scottish Men’s National Team moments

Credit: Rachael Banks which could have usurped McTominay’s goal for best sporting moment of 2021: that Euro 2020 draw against England at Wembley, Callum McGregor scoring Scotland’s men’s first major tournament goal for 23 years,

and Che Adams making it 2-0 for Scotland against Denmark to secure a home playoff spot for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It is truly halcyon days for Scottish football fans, and it might get better yet in 2022.

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28 January 2022

Sport

The 2022 Qatar World Cup: a competition Less than 12 months before kick-off, the world looks on, stagnant and bewildered.

Gabriel Wheway DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR

Whilst no one expected anything different from the ghouls at FIFA, it continues to remain an enduring discomfiture that over a decade after their decision to grant the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, amongst widespread global indifference, the tournament remains on course to take place in the clinical new build stadiums of the Arab state. Sepp Blatter, in 2010, warily revealed the name of the country anointed to host the 2022 World Cup. Little did the football world know, through a smug grin of manipulation, Blatter had just conceived one of the most deceptive and corrupt decisions in the history of the “beautiful” game.

Events in the Middle East are bound to top global headlines again in 2022, yet these will certainly be veiled in negativity.

Some may see the Qatar World Cup as a cause for optimism with the potential for a major spur for the Gulf region in terms of future business, tourism and hopefully a more open and progressive form of governance. Yet, Qatar hosting the world’s most prestigious football tournament is overshadowed by countless allegations of corruption, along with an abhorrently scrutinised human rights record. The Guardian revealed that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died during the building process, in preparation for the tournament.

These numbers do not consider workers from the home nation Qatar, or the significant number of Kenyans and Filipinos whose contribution to work has seen a significant increase in the death toll since 2010.

“Qatar hosting the world’s most prestigious football tournament is overshadowed by countless allegations of corruption...”

The unprecedented building program that Qatar embarked on, over 10 years ago, has seen astounding amounts of development throughout the country, including seven new football stadiums, a new airport, modernised public transport systems, and essentially a new city – manifesting a sterile and spurious façade that is solely built to host the World Cup final. Concerns will additionally persist regarding Qatar’s parochial attitude to free speech and the authoritarian and aggressively restrictive stance on women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, in a nation that considers homosexuality illegal, and where it remains dangerous to openly criticise the government. But there are suggestions that most fans visiting Qatar will overlook these issues, introducing the most blatant example of “sports-washing” to date.

For the UNICEF goodwill ambassador David Beckham, this conforms perfectly with his desired image. Speaking of images, Credit: GQ

“Qatar is manifesting a sterile and spurious façade...” he recently posed on his Instagram with high-achieving young women such as Malala Yousef and Emma Raducanu, captioning the post “these girls make me excited about the future ahead”, in marking the Day of the Girl.

He also poses next to his daughter, Harper, claiming that these young women have caused her to become an “inspiration’’ due to “their determination”. Now encapsulating these supportive images of women’s rights and its progression, Beckham has embarked on a campaign for Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, a country where Harper would need a male guardian’s permission to study or work, and where Victoria would technically be subordinate to her own son Brooklyn.

A study by Human Rights Watch, entitled “Everything I Have to Do is Tied to a Man”, investigates women and Qatar’s male guardianship rules, impressively arguing that any advocate of Qatar’s authoritarian governance is not only violating Qatar’s own institution, but more that women are openly discriminated against and treated like children, simply left without any assistance of independent women’s rights organisations, with little hope of either changing the country’s attitude to such prevalent issues or even leaving it in its own right. Now, David, why would you support a country where migrant workers have died in their thousands, but moreover a country where your children and your wife would not have a voice in their own right?

With his reputation arguably in jeopardy, UNICEF maintaining his representation also raises some issues. Their image revolves around “a world in which all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential”, yet

Qatar would only allow for half of those children to reach this potential, it seems.

“Now, David, why would you support a country where migrant workers have died in their thousands, but moreover a country where your children and your wife would not have a voice in their own right?”

Beckham’s endorsement of this competition is by extension an implicit endorsement of Qatar’s actions and a critical eye-opener on what public figures will do (or endorse) for money and favourable connections.

While the Qatar World Cup is still scheduled to go ahead at the end of 2022, there is still ample time for activist action and objection to take place. Philip Lahm has pointed to footballers and professional sports officials to act.

With such a prestigious platform, sports professionals still have the means to deeply impact politics and influence decisions such as this one. Chelsea and Ivory Coast Legend Didier Drogba, showed how possible this was for elite athletes, after playing a pivotal role in his nation’s ceasefire during a civil war in 2006.

Objection is one thing, but actively becoming the catalyst of change is another. They can no longer plead innocence. While we have an obligation to follow our moral compass and the very best intention to confront the obviously repugnant discrimination within the host nation, it appears that football fans and players worldwide dither when there is potential to derail the journey to the World Cup and ultimately a team being victorious. Priorities need to be clearly defined, otherwise this winter recess to create the most corrupt competition in history will maintain its status and undeniably prevail.