February 2019 by The Boomerang

The

Boomerang February 2019

Psychology at UCU, and Master’s elsewhere by Sven Bosma

Illustration © Amu Endo

spent the Winter Break facing the scary future by firing off Master’s applications left, right, and centre. I’ve sent six off, and could possibly be sending out a couple more. One might say I’m operating like a pollinating flower, increasing my odds of success by spreading applications far and wide. That may be so, but there’s a more serious reason for this too. I’ve applied for Master’s programmes in the Netherlands as well as in London, and they all had a title similar to “Industrial / Organisational (and

“

Trying to check all the boxes for any of these programmes, you feel slightly helpless asking “Where am I going to find all these credits?” Business) Psychology”. Looking at the structure of the courses, most of the compulsory modules have similar content, and the basic requirements are a general “must have completed a Bachelor’s degree in psychology or related social science”. That too, I have more or less covered, majoring in social sciences with mostly psychology courses. The problem presents itself once I delve into the specific requirements for each programme. Bear in mind that this is based on applying to (only) five psychology Master’s programmes in the Netherlands (technically three, but tracks within programmes allow for five total), and this of course is not a massive sample. For that reason, I’ve chased down students, alumni, track representatives and fellows to get their input, complaints, experiences, recommendations, and workarounds. The problem in question is what the universities seem to be calling “Track-specific qualifications”. Psychology Master’s at both Amsterdam universities ask for a minimum amount of credits in very niche fields such as Personnel Management, Leadership, Work Motivation, Human Resources, etc. Some of the UU Master’s programmes in Psychology have equally niche

requirements. We’re aware of the problems encountered by UCU students trying to make the transition to clinical psychology, but it turns out the Master’s programme Social, Health and Organisational Psychology presents a similar problem. Depending on which specific track you apply to, the above mentioned specialisation courses may vary.

It’s not just a matter of taking courses that you can tick off a list. The plot thickens once you’re confronted with the specific amount of EC’s. Studying anything related to social psychology in Amsterdam requires eighteen EC’s of “Advanced Social Psychology (level 2/3)”. This is already in addition to a required six EC’s on “Attitudes u

This article continues on page 3

A socialist perspective on Dining Hall 2

The sustainability debate

New: Boomerang’s Agony Aunt

Deepfakes

Women’s Day: why you should care

Bar Brawl on the mice problem

The Boomerang | February 2019

BUBBLE

An alternative to Sodexo Trigger warning: socialism by Gideon Frey

ersonally, I do not hate, hate meal plans before they arrive. But I won’t go Sodexo. It’s okay, the food can be into this spiel. Rather, we are NOT consumers, best described as “mehhh”, I eat it we are stakeholders; this is the campus we live in a rush and when I am lazy (so a on, our community, and DH is our small little lot), the employees are nice – hell, public sphere (at least when the bar is closed) I am even getting a goddamn meal plan this and we better treat it that way. semester. The reason I want to Sodexo to be Maybe, just maybe, instead of having to pay replaced is not because it is bad – I mean yes off student debt by delivering food for shitty it is kind of shitty, it’s overpriced, DH is closed pay we the students could run DH. Instead of too often, the servings are a bit small for my someone coming in, we ourselves should run taste, they are desperately trying to be hip and the place. Now this whole ‘seizing the means engaged (yes let’s put up a map of the city – of production’ stuff can leave a bit of a commie bet dem kidz think that’s cool) taste in your mouth but it which annoys the hell out of me, is essentially the same way and so on and on - but they try! reception and the bar work Sure, there’d be changes that – relying on students rather Maybe, instead of I would appreciate, but that’s than some outside company. not what this is about. Besides, having to pay off While the music choice at I have better things to do than student debt by the bar isn’t my cup of tea, give them free advice on how to it still has a nicer atmosdelivering food for run a business, I’d rather ask phere, mainly because it is BY shitty pay, students some stupid questions: students FOR students. What Why is Sodexo here at all? could run Dining Hall. I am proposing is that we run Why is it that they enjoy a DH the same way we run the quasi-monopoly, the purpose of which is to bar, just with a fair pay and with a flexible bring profits to Paris? How is that so many schedule, high quality food, and fair prices. of our students have no option but to work at The (small) profits can be reinvested, given to shitty ‘Gig-economy’ jobs or jobs with inflex- the scholarship fund, or if we are truly utopian ible work hours, just to be able to pay for an it can be spent on free coffee and tea for the education that is being limited by them having student body. to work on the side? And then we have to pay Now I know that these are just the stupid the profit margin of a company to eat at the ramblings of a naive boy who has read too one place on campus that is supposed to facili- much Marx for his own good. Getting out of tate our community? contracts is hard and as a mortal being I do I could go into the whole socialist spiel that not know what the powers that be on Mount Sodexo’s incentives are opposed to ours as College Hall think. And as I said: DH is well... consumers, that quality of food, prices etcetera its okay. Insults are easy, and honestly occudon’t matter as long as we pay. This won’t pying DH seems like a hassle. So for now all change since 1) they have a monopoly as the I (and now hopefully you) can do is to say: only real provider for on campus food and 2) FUCK SODEXO! incoming students will be nudged into buying

“

Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions by Soomin Chung on behalf of ASC Fifty years ago, in May 1968, the first student occupation of a university building took place in Nijmegen. At the face of the government’s restructuring of the education system, the students perceived these initiatives to serve capitalist interests rather than of the people and took to the streets. The call for democratisation in the Nijmegen protests resonate in modern-day student protests. Historically, the structure of tertiary educational institutions in the Netherlands has been strongly characterized by students’ demands, on the basis of their belief that the ownership of the education lies in their hands.

exceedingly high. More than 70% of the teachers and professors at Utrecht University expressed that the workload is too high. The staffs across many departments in UU are overwhelmed with working overtime hours and subsequent burnouts, resulting in their resignation and their tasks being fulfilled by others. As confirmed by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven, there is a consensus that employees at universities endure unsustainably high workloads. “Partially, we owe these problems to ourselves. We’re not loud enough,” said Rens Bod, a professor from Amsterdam behind WOinActie.

What are we fighting for? Since 2000, the number of students at Dutch universities has increased by 68% and government funding per student has fallen by 25%. As a result of years’ worth of underfinancing, the workload in many universities increased

What can you do? WOinActie is a national movement that defends the interests of academic education and its connection with academic research, which is under pressure as a result of long-term budget cuts, a rapid increase in the number of students,

Dear Campus, It’s that awkward time in the year when the weather is just not right. Although we have been blessed with some sunny days the past few weeks, most of us remain skeptical and keep our winter coats nearby, waiting for the temperature to drop… Whilst we revel in these remaining warm days, let us also indulge in the new Boomerang. The name is back to normal now, meaning that everyone can stop being confused about the whole Scope/Boomerang/Scoperang-affair. Although it was a spur of the moment, entirely unbudgeted collab, it ended up being quite the success. Lots of you made your debut as a writer and revealed some hidden literary talents. I genuinely hope you pick up the pen more often! This month’s edition will address campus’ most discussed issue. You guessed it: those furry little creatures that creep into our kitchens. On pages __ and __, you’ll find an XL Bar Brawl along with a fact-checked piece that includes an interview with Bettina Nelemans. We’ve also added two new regulars to our team of writers. Stanley has been writing a little music piece for every edition since he got here, so we decided to declare our relationship official and add his face to his monthly contributions. Discover his post-Valentines day playlist on page ____. Another columnist had joined the gang too, but she will remain anonymous: UCU’s very own A.A. (no, not Alcoholics Anonymous): Agony Aunt! Find her form on our Facebook page and send in your deepest darkest fears, questions and doubts. Our dear Aunt will pick the least fortunate soul and reply back with her wise advice every month. May the sun shine a little longer each day. Yours sincerely, Meike Eijsberg Editor-in-Chief

and extra academic tasks. WOinActie makes three demands to the government: to abolish the structural budget cuts of 183 million euros, to restore government funding to the amount of funding received prior to the budget cuts in 2000, and to abolish the lump sum cut by 19 million euros. On December 14 last year, they organized a national protest in The Hague against budget cuts in higher education. Many of our students and staff members attended the protest, with full support from College van Bestuur. If you missed that demonstration and would like to take a stand, don’t fret! On March 15th 2019, there will be a general education strike organized by WOinActie in The Hague. The demonstration is open for everyone to join, and it aspires to address the aforementioned issues directly to the Minister van Engelshoven. As supported by UU, students who will join the strike will be exempted from examination on the day of, and the teaching staff will be paid as on any teaching day. For more technical information, keep an eye out for an e-mail containing instructions on how to get the exemption and join an organized free transportation. Join us and save higher education!

A University College Student Association Magazine

This is a continuation of page 1

and Influence”. They offer you the possibility of substituting the Advanced credits for credits in a different field, but they still require a minimum of twelve EC’s for courses under any kind of social psychology banner. Trying to check all the boxes for any of these programmes, you feel slightly helpless asking “Where am I going to find all these credits?” This extends to other psychology fields, clinical being the one we’ve all heard of. Moving into any clinical psychology programme, you have to have covered three domain-specific courses: Psychopathology, Clinical Communication, and Assessment (note that this last one varies across universities). The largest hurdle is the communication part, and it’s especially hard for internationals since the course is taught in Dutch. It makes sense though, since Dutch universities train mostly those who will practice in the Netherlands. Speaking to alumni who’ve moved on to Master and Pre-Master programmes, missing track-specific credits is really their main problem. At this point I should mention that this hasn’t been an issue in any of my UK applications. I suspect that may be due to the markedly lower rates, relatively speaking, of students pursuing a graduate-level degree. This I suppose is a result of the (extortionate) tuition fees paid for an undergraduate degree, about £9,250, for each of the four years of study. When you’ve already spent £37,000 on a Bachelor’s, most people call it quits and head into the labour force, which means that UK Master’s programmes are relatively empty and thus aren’t as narrow when it comes to previous education or specific requirements. I should mention though, they do have the caveat that those missing out on the essentials will have to put in extra hours, independently, to catch up. Either way, the knowledge of your field of study is not the only requirement. Dutch universities have a secret affair with methods and statistics. Many ask for a certain amount of credits varying from ten to twenty-four EC’s in quantitative research methodology and statistics. For this reason, it is highly advisable to any psychology student here at UCU that they take the level300 statistics course. Of course, it’s useful and everything, but in addition to that, it really sends

BUBBLE

a message to the programme you’re applying to. If it’s a research Master’s it’s a huge leg-up, but even for a one-year programme it carries weight. Seven point five EC’s makes it easier to fulfill a programme’s requirements, but when you have an understanding of modelling in statistics it looks even better on a transcript. I spoke to UCU’s Psychology Fellow, Dr. Christel Lutz, who is well aware of the situation. She mentioned that every couple of years this issue comes back round as a campus talking point. The stumbling blocks of transitioning to clinical psychology came up first, and Christel informed me the required courses always reserve one or two spots for UCU students who might need to join in for Masters’ purposes. We are of course

“

None of the alumni think it’s UCU’s responsibility to offer all necessary courses. But they all wish they’d known what they needed a little bit sooner.

perfectly able to take the required off-campus courses, and this is where our conversation moved into the common thread of this article. The resources are there for 95% of the things you want to do, but you have to make sure to put together a plan on fitting them into your curriculum. And if you’re missing something, ask your teachers and tutors. Some have even taken the requirements while on exchange. It seems that this conundrum has the root cause of coordination and unawareness. This comment came up many times when talking to alumni as well. None of them think it’s UCU’s responsibility to offer all necessary courses. Instead, they all just wish they’d known what they needed a little bit sooner. And if they do know exactly what they’re missing, they might even be able to use courses in related fields to boost their EC-count. Obviously, cognitive neuroscience is the big on here, but other fields can count too. I must admit, when I started looking into the situation, I came from the perspective of the disgruntled student who hadn’t started planning early enough and consequently didn’t

fulfill all requirements. However, asking around and looking at the workarounds, the situation is nowhere near as dire as it is made out to be. Both Christel and the alumni I spoke to had useful points. There are plenty of opportunities throughout one’s UCU career to fulfil any requirements. Those who made it straight into their programmes did so by fulfilling these while on exchange, or by taking off-campus courses that run slightly into the summer term. Others did internships and worked in their desired field over the summer. You may want your summer off, to relax and whatnot, but then I guess the question is, “How bad do you want into this Master’s?”. Going that extra mile to get what you want should be almost second nature to a UCU student anyway, so if that means taking a 300-level statistics course, so be it. Moving forward, I know this now, but how to spread the word and prepare new students? I finished off this investigation by speaking with the psychology track representative and one idea that came up would be a more elaborate track event for psychology majors. With psychology being one of the larger tracks at UCU, containing many sub-disciplines, having some kind of pamphlet might be handy. I envision a brief explanation of the different psychology fields (i.e. organisational, clinical, cross-cultural, social, developmental, etc.), with the corresponding UCU courses in there. This would then be followed by a short list of the off-campus courses that fit under that discipline. Finally, a point would be made of looking into requirements early for Masters’. You’re all left with the one question of course. “Why not add the needed psychology courses?”. Well first, given that some are quite niche, the costs most likely would not outweigh the benefits. There is also the issue of the psychology track being huge as is. However, Dr. Lutz’ response when I asked her about this is that the track is ever-evolving, and if the student body is developing certain “needs”, she would like to hear about this too. Cue the ASC focus groups. But in the end, this is all supplementary for the students. Another, larger part, is orientation and making some decisions for yourself. Find out which aspects of psychology really speak to you. You can’t put off the Life After UCU decision, so best make sure it’s well-informed.

UCSRN: What we do and why we do it by Mai Thai de Rijk

ou may have recently heard the term UCSRN somewhere on Facebook, or in some election conversation. This long acronym you’ve been seeing stands for University College Student Representatives of the Netherlands. The UCSRN is composed of 3 boards - the Executive Board (EB), the Social Committee (SC) and the Academic Committee (SC). In each committee, there is one social and one academic representative per university college (UC), ours being Livian and Jari respectively. For the EB, you must run and be voted for, based on your speech and relevant experience. In September, I was voted as the EB secretary and recently have been appointed as the SC Chair. With the responsibility and trust of others given to me, I’ve never felt more motivated and

inspired. This year alone, we’ve been working hard together with the deans of all UC’s on the quality of higher education, Bachelor-to-Master transitioning, and mental health. The UCSRN is reflecting on how each UC experiences stress, how we tackle these pressing issues, and how we can learn from one another. Our long term goal is to stimulate excellent education, provide opportunities after college, be a participative society, and promote diversity and accessible education. The UCSRN wants to provide platform to all representatives and students to appreciate and connect with the Liberal Arts and Sciences program, from classroom to community. We fund and help organise events that bring UC’s together as we find the connection, enthusiasm and individuality of each university college to be of utmost importance. This can be seen at the

UCSRN Tournament where all 9 UC’s compete for the trophy to take home, calling themselves the ultimate winner. Hopefully UCU will bring home the trophy at this year’s tournament, as AUC has won the past two consecutive years. At the end of the day, UCSRN may allow the members, including myself, to grow and learn, but it genuinely is about the university colleges; the bigger picture. It’s the community that matters most - the students and the teachers. All of this is just the beginning of what the UCSRN does and why we do it. The important matters we deal with have impacted my views of university colleges immensely. If you ever have any questions or interest, please don’t hesitate to message or email me.

The Boomerang | February 2019

BUBBLE

Let’s end the close-mindedness of UCU

Agony aunt

Alberto Delgado Abello

was in a Political Theory class last consciously project her voice more loudly to semester where I stated that, as long our half-deaf teacher. She did not need to as the poorest people are not destitute hear a prejudiced and, as far as I can tell, and the path to acquire riches is not completely false, insult to our teacher. corrupt, inequality is OK. I live quite We all need to help each other learn and a good life without being rich and I don’t care grow, and always assuming fault in others if someone else owns an island. This was a instead of self is not a path to learning. Yes, personal observation (I really don’t care that sometimes people are just stubborn and some people are much richer than me), but mean, some of those times they are also also an opinion informed by my knowledge acting on prejudice, but it is most often not of the fields of development economics and the case. positive psychology. A number of people I should have told her, but being afraid to answered quite angrily, and with surprising state my point clumsily and disagreeably, confidence (dare I say, with certainty) that I decided not to say anything. We live in a I was wrong. There was no open-minded- context where everyone is so on edge about ness, no questions certain topics that it asked. Just shocked is hard, even intimThink of the debates we denunciations. idating, to bring up The extent of could have if people stated points that disagree social enforcement their candid opinion on all with the default of a subset of the political answer. matters, each with a mind US left wing politIn an internaopen to new and different ical position at UCU tional setting, this is alarming. If you social enforceideas. say anything that ment of a political slightly deviates orthodoxy is most from the orthodox position you are likely counterproductive, as people come from to be met with strong, emotional responses. different countries where the dividing lines We should not denounce everything we of politics lie in different places. Think of disagree with. Instead, we should under- the illuminating debates we could have if stand that most everyone has some basis people stated their candid opinion on all for their opinion, and without a thoughtful matters, each from the perspective of their conversation about that basis we are igno- own countries, each with a mind open to rant of whether our counterpart is right or new and different ideas, open to improving wrong. The thing about tolerance is that you and adapting some of those ideas, open to need to disagree to be tolerant, just as you abandoning some others. That is where the need fear to be brave. true value of diversity lies, in being able to Rash judgements run in the other direc- seek truth in the contrast of differences, in tion too: Jumping to conclusions. In another being able to fill in each other’s blanks and incident, one of my friends said she was correct each other’s mistakes. mad because her teacher never understood her, and always asked for her to repeat herself. Another friend answered, “you are brown and a woman, what did you expect?”. But I was in the same class and I know the reason was not race nor gender. My friend always speaks with a tone of voice that was hard to hear even to me, who sat close by her. She needed to hear this, so she could

Illustration © Meike Eijsberg

“

Dear Auntie, I think I like a guy who’s in a serious relationship, and I don’t know if he feels the same way. He is very handsy and flirty with me when he is drunk, but never when he is sober. Here’s my question: is he more honest when he’s drunk? Or is it just the booze talking? Okay, first things first: he is in a serious relationship. Regardless of whether he is drunk or not he should not be crossing the line as much as he is. BUT that leaves you in a really annoying position, I get it. I think the first thing to do is seriously think about whether you like him, because if there is a slight chance that you feel like you can get over it, then that might be the better option. However, I am aware that the chances of that are slim, seeing as you wrote to me in the first place. So, in regards to your question. People do always say that the truth comes out when you’re drunk, but let’s be real, how many stupid mistakes have you made when you’re drunk that you would NEVER do sober? Trust me, I’m talking from experience. And so as much as he might be acting like this when he is drunk because it is how he actually feels, you can’t count on it. I think the best thing for you to do is to see whether he acts like this with other people when he is drunk. I mean, if he does, he obviously has a problem with keeping his hands to himself. That’s off-putting in itself. If that is the case then stay clear, he’s going to be more trouble than he’s worth. But then if you notice that it is just you that he is like this with, and you have strong enough feelings for him, then it needs to be addressed. It is really important to remember that he’s in a relationship and so it all needs to be kept quite open and frank (and preferably sober). Without necessarily telling him how you feel, I think you should talk to him about how he acts when he is drunk and see what he what he has to say. Whatever the outcome it is always better to know where you stand. Speculation is all very well and good but sometimes we just have to fuck it and bite the bullet. However awkward and unpleasant that bullet may be.

In need of advice? Keep a close eye on The Boomerang Facebook page. When auntie finishes her next embroidery project in which she stitches Mitt Romney’s face on a pair of size XL mittens at the request of a cold-handed CH employee, she will be open to any questions and problems that you have. We will post a link where you can anonymously submit what troubles you, so watch out for that!

A University College Student Association Magazine

BUBBLE

sweet svensationsby Sven Bosma GETTING THE 80% RIGHT You ever wonder how some people just keep on performing any feat at an amazing level with remarkable consistency? I don’t mean your friends doing 10 consecutive shots and making it home, with both shoes still on and unsoiled underwear, every Thursday without fail. I’m talking about the people who seem to have their shit together across all domains, who know where they’re headed after graduation; the people who have some conception of what their life is going to look like in a couple years’ time, or at least know what they want it to look like. The pattern I’ve noticed is that all these people have something in common: They get the 80% right. The 80% is essentially all the mundane, day-to-day stuff going on in life. If you stop and think about a full year of your life, you have to admit that a lot of it is just basic, possibly routine stuff. Health, friends, work and purpose, wrapped up in some time to yourself for relaxation. That’s really it. Of course, you spend a week trekking around some country I can’t pronounce; there’s a week that catches you off-guard and you’re just way too busy somehow; you try your hand at something new but fail miserably; or you take on some more responsibility at your job. That’s the remaining 20%, the special stuff that comes round every now and then. There are ups and downs, but for the most part, life progresses at that 80% baseline level. Many people seem to worry about this baseline level, thinking “I’m not happy all the time so I must be sad”. They want a permanent cycle of the good part of the 20%. The constant chase of a happiness-high is pervasive in today’s culture. It’s obvious to everyone how this thinking isn’t quite accurate, and everybody knows that aiming for a profound sense of satisfaction, or being deeply content, is far more sustainable. The problem is just that internalising this is very difficult, and requires certain building blocks, or a foundation of sorts. This foundation is of course the 80% I speak of. So how do you ensure a strong 80%? Well first off, take care of yourself, physically. The reason I say physically is that if you make sure

your physical health is on point, mental health will follow in 95% of the cases. By now everyone is aware of the effect sleep, nutrition and exercise have on anxiety and depression. So make sure you sleep well, aim for those sweet 8 hours. There’s a reason every being in the animal kingdom will give up foraging or hunting, even on a bad day, to still make sure they get their sleep. Then of course be careful what you put in your body, and give it some movement every now and then. Once you feel good, it makes the next step anywhere a lot easier. Next up, have a small group of people to talk to. Obviously, interact with everyone, ‘cause that’s life. But a small group of friends is all you really need. Anything more is overkill. Everybody wants to be the full-on socialite, but how many of the people around you do you end up knowing, and I mean really knowing? Of course a large part of this is personal preference, and some will be content with 3, whereas others require 8. Point is, set yourself up with a group around you who truly want the best for you, who you can share with, and of course laugh with. You don’t need to see each other every day, but just make a plan every now and then. Finally, have something that gives meaning to effort. For most of us, that’s university, and studying something. It requires some effort, but it also gives a sense that someday you’ll contribute in turn. But this doesn’t even need to be work or studying. It could be a hobby on the side where you seek mastery. The point isn’t necessarily what you do, but it’s about striving for mastery, and knowing what it’s like to be on the right track with something. That feeling of knowing what’s right, once you recognise it, will guide you in other things you try. In the end, I guess what these people have in place is a safety net of sorts. They can keep on keeping on, and have their life more or less sorted, because all the stuff that usually might take thought and cause worry has been sorted and routinised in a sense. So when it comes to going above and beyond, that’s all they have to think about, the 80% is already in order.

Powered by ! Town & Gown 28 February @ Begane Grond Town & Gown’s Clay workshop We will be having the second edition of our clay workshop! It will be a relaxing, creative and meditative experience with guided instructions. There will also be a potluck afterwards. Make sure to sign up since there are limited spots! 1 March @ Filmcafe Filmcafe Black cat White cat Free entrance to the filmcafe! Enjoy a great movie with English subs. This time they will be showing Black cat White cat, a Serbian romantic black comedy film directed by Emir Kusturica. Date TBA (Most likely 5 or 9 March) @ Stichting Kringloop de A.R.M Volunteering Afternoon at the Kringloop Town & Gown is going to organize a group of UCU students to visit the Kringloop warehouse and volunteer on various tasks. The Kringloop is an organization of thrift stores that hopes to

increase re-use and recycling, as well as donating parts of their profit to charities! (Keep up to date on this on our facebook) 6 March @ Drift 25 Yemen: discussing the war and devastation Do you want to get a perspective on the conflict in Yemen from the two Yemenis themselves? Maali and Moutaz are going to tell us about Yemen before the war as well as about the origins and the key players in the conflict. 8 March @ UCU Newton Town & Gown Dialogue on “Having a Choice” Utrecht in Dialogue and Town & Gown will honor International Women’s Day with a dialogue on the theme “Having a Choice.” This year’s celebration is particularly significant, as 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the Netherlands.

The Boomerang | February 2019

AAAAAAAAHHHHH

All mice in this issue © Charlotte Remarque

We’re also to blame

We can’t fight this alone

by Thomas Scasselati Sforzolini

by Rafaella Karadsheh

anting to cook some rice for dinner, only to find a mouse sitting inside your rice bag, is undoubtedly not on anyone’s bucket list. Unfortunately for some UCU students, mice problems like this are not uncommon. A recent post on UCU Students has brought to light many experiences students have had with these rodents. One students wrote: “Now, I came back from winter break and had to scrub literally everything except what was in my closet or in drawers because the mice had free range of the place for weeks. I shudder to think of the bacteria I inhaled even after cleaning. Even so, I did wake up less than two nights later to a mouse less than 10 centimeters away from my face.” This case is only one of many - keeping your units clean can only do so much. A clean unit does not mean it is mouse repellent, as proven when talking to students who live in some of the tidiest units on campus. “I live in the cleanest Wall unit ever seen,” another student wrote, “We already caught 3 mice and still have at least another 3 running around.” A week later, the same student posted a picture of a mouse they found inside a rice bag on the unit kitchen shelf. The rice was not out of place, but the mouse certainly was. If this was in fact a student problem, then mice would not have been popping up in clean units, especially within a few days’ or weeks’ of moving-in day. Despite the chaos Introweek brings, units are certainly not thrown into a state suitable for mice to thrive in that early on. That being said, the mouse situation has gotten out of hand. It goes without saying that mice are extremely unsanitary, and their feces, which they leave everywhere, are a health

“

If this is a student problem, why do mice pop up in clean units within a few ays or weeks after moving-in day?

hazard. I don’t even dare consider the hazards of rats, who have made an appearance in a few units last semester. Although nobody has gotten sick as a result of the rodents in units, it’s only a matter of time until someone does, if the situation continues to escalate at this pace. At the end of the day, we are students, many of us living on our own for the first time. Besides placing mouse traps, there isn’t much we know of or can do to lessen the mouse population on campus. We don’t have experience with pest control. Campus management could help with this. Holes need to be sealed, poison needs to be placed, and exterminators must be consulted, in order to really have an impact on the situation. This ultimate solution is really something only management can effectively see to.

In Bar Brawl, two students tackle a controversial issue each month. Want to fight? Email us at boomerang@ucsa.nl or join us at the next Writer’s Meeting!

uring my time here at UCU, I’ve lived with and without mice. For instance, last year, my unit was a pigsty, so much so that if there had been a competition for Utrecht’s most revolting and uninhabitable unit, I am quite sure that we would have gotten first place. Somehow, by the grace of god, or maybe because I lived in Voltaire, I did not see a single mouse that year. This year, however, I have had to deal with a few mice (I live in Kromhout) and that’s even with everyone doing their dishes, cleaning up the mess from pre-drinks before going to bed, and thoroughly cleaning the unit at the end of the week when it’s their turn. I admit, putting in the work to keep a clean unit and s t i l l coming home one night just to see a mouse crawling on the stove is frustrating- and gross -to say the least. However, I still believe that a significant portion of the mouse

“

Holding UCU students up to such high cleaning standards may be unrealistic and unfair, but the fact of the matter is that mice don’t care about unrealistic expectations.

problem on campus is the student body’s own fault, and the reason being is simple; the average UCU unit is not clean. The most familiar forms of sordidness look like a little this: floors that have never been properly vacuumed or mopped, hot plate covered with greasy grime and crusty stains, piles of unwashed dishes, and mountains of reeking trash and recyclables. The most messy units- like my Voltaire unit last year- check all and some of these boxes, but even the more “clean” ones are still messy when held up to normal housekeeping standards. Holding UCU students up to such high cleaning standards may be seen as unrealistic and unfair, but the fact of the matter is that mice don’t care about unrealistic expectations- even a slightly messy, in other words “pretty clean”, unit is a good unit. As my experiences living on campus prove, a very clean unit does not guarantee a mouse free unit and a very messy unit does guarantee a furry critter invasion. It is a known fact that the mice on campus live by Kromhout and the Wall, which means that if you happen to ever live there, they will unfortunately come inside your unit during the cold weather months. However having a clean unit versus a messy unit will be the difference between having two mice versus a nest of mice. I personally prefer not having mice, but dealing with two is manageable; dealing with a whole nest is a living nightmare. The reality is, we live in a city; mice exist. If your unit does not get thoroughly and regularly cleaned, they will likely come inside, and if they don’t, then you can consider yourself lucky. In other words, try to keep your unit as clean as possible before inculpating the University as the sole culprit to your rodent infestation. They definitely have a role to play when it comes to managing this issue, but so do we.

A University College Student Association Magazine

THE MICE HAVE TAKEN OVER

A mouse tale by Sophie Martens

Mice, what would our campus be without them? From Kromhout to the Wall, mice are frequently being spotted . It was only recently, however, that the problem seemed to grow bigger and bigger. “Time for action”, said College Hall. I conducted an interview with Bettina Nelemans, managing director of UCU, to find out more about this issue.

he attention of the management had already been drawn to the mice issue by CAR last December. In response to that, Maarten Diederix was given the job to pay extra close attention to this phenomenon. A couple of weeks ago, however, messages reporting mice coming in at College Hall increased dramatically. Even parents started emailing about the issue. Nelemans: “I’ve worked here since 2011, and there’s always been mice, but now there were so many that we wanted to know whether this was getting out of hand.” It is thus fortunate that Nelemans meets every six weeks with Lekstede Wonen, the housing corporation that oversees UCU’s housing. In response to the reports, she decided to put the mice issue on the agenda, which resulted in the creation of an action plan. The first step was to hire a professional extermination firm (Rentokil) and inspect the campus collaboratively. 20 units in five different buildings have been inspected by Rentokil, accompanied by Maarten

Diederix and a Lekstede Wonen representative. the landlord to get these sealed. From personal Lekstede Wonen is now awaiting an advisory experience, I know that Lekstede’s servicemen report from Rentokil. In the units that w e r e do this with of pieces of toilet paper, so that you inspected, the number of mice could also do yourself. found was only small. NeleThough most reports that Nelemans mans summarizes: “It’s not received came from the Wall, the like there is a plague, so to problem is more widespread. As Nelespeak”. While College mans said, Kromhout, W, K and G Hall is awaiting have also been reporting. the official “There are fewer incireport, CAR dents of mice in the has been given newer buildings”, she mouse traps to reckons. Interestingly, distribute among Nelemans has not heard Illustration © Claudia Ionita students. of any mouse-related Mice were reported most often in Wall units, incidents reported by the and that is not surprising. One important finding of the inspection team was that the soil had been Lekstede Wonen, sagging at the Elmarelaan, which made it easier management and students for mice to enter the crawl spaces underneath the units and use them as a way to easily move must conjoin their efforts to from one unit to another. The university facilities combat this furry problem office has been notified about this issue and Nelemans suspects that the problem will be resolved soon. That, however, will not mean the end of residents of the academic buildings. This would the mouse problem. Neither will mouse disprove the theory that mice like to hang around traps magically solve the problem. in old buildings. What it does show, she says, is Actually, Nelemans says, “There is no that mice are attracted by food. Given that the long-term solution, I am afraid”. As ground and first floor of the academic buildings she mentioned in her email, a mouse have relatively little food when compared to a can live on a bread crumb a day, which makes residence building, it is not as attractive to mice. it hard to exterminate them. Also, units that Figures from CAR with regards to their distriare keen on separating waste should be careful, bution of mouse traps show a slightly different because the residue left in jars and boxes may image of the problem. According to their regisalso attract vermin. Furthermore, Nelemans was tration, 25 units have picked up traps. Of those, told that students often leave their doors open, 18 were in Kromhout. Another 5 were in the allowing mice to easily move around. However, Wall and two unfortunate units, in W and G, mice can also enter via cracks and holes. If that decided to undertake action as well. Of course, is the case – especially when they are in the exte- these numbers do not illustrate the actual distririor walls of the unit – students should contact bution of the problem. Rather, it shows the willingness of units to tackle this issue, which in turn might be mediated by the severity of the problem. Anyway, the problem seems to be more severe than College Hall thinks it is, yet they found it alarming enough to act upon it. Finally, I asked Bettina where she thought the responsibility for this problem lies. “It’s a collective responsibility,” she says, and with that she means that Lekstede Wonen, management and students must conjoin their efforts to combat this furry problem. Nevertheless, exterminating vermin is not something that takes place overnight. The Dutch would say “Dit muisje krijgt nog een staartje”, which translates to “This mouse will get a tail yet”. What I mean is, this story remains open-ended for the time being.

“

WORLD

A heated discussion about an increasingly hotter planet: the Sustainability Policies Debate

Illustration © Lotte Schuengel

The Boomerang | February 2019

by Meike Eijsberg

Recently, PoliticsCo and EcologiCo joined forces and organized a debate on what is probably the hottest topic of this century: the politics of sustainability. A variety of topics were discussed, ranging from fairly simple approaches, such as taxes, to the so-called hot buttons: all vegan and no flying. Strong opinions from both sides and arguments thrown like darts, resulted in a discussion as heated as the average surface temperature of the earth.

he panel on stage consisted of a mix of people: Matthijs Sienot (D66 Parliament Member), André van Schie (VVD lijsttrekker for the upcoming provincial elections), Dr. Brian Dermody (assistant professor at the Innovation Studies Department UU) and Detlef Meijer (Expert Local Energy Transition at Utility Company Firan). Somaye Dehban (Ambassador of Liberaal Groen) commenced and concluded the evening, whilst Bram Cool (Board member of Liberaal Groen) acted as the moderator. A first step: diets and taxes After a brief introduction of the participating members, Cool introduced a mentimeter, a quick way to poll a large audience. The first question was rather straightforward, asking people about their diet: vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or carnivore. It’s been a well-known fact for a while that meat, especially red meat, is not only harmful towards one’s health, but mass-producing it damages the environment. Such facts, along with a compassion for animals, has already pushed quite a few people to switch up their diet. According to Het Voedingscentrum, more than half of the Dutch population has become flexitarian. The mentimeter results were similar: a clear majority voted flexitarian, but the vegetarians were not far behind. It urged Cool to introduce the first debate question: should we stimulate society to consume fewer animal products? Responses from both the panel and the audience were mixed. “People should decide for themselves,” Sienot said, “but the really important thing is that you are aware of your choices.” Many nodded in agreement but others pointed out that waiting for everyone to become conscious of their choices takes too long. “We gave people a choice and its not working,” someone from the audience said. “The government should put a tax on meat.” Finding a balance Cool moved on to the next issue with another poll:

What is more important than climate change? No surprise there: the pillar titled ‘nothing’ jumped to the sky within 5 seconds. Nevertheless, a few voters prioritized other aspects such as national security and employment. The latter especially generated some interesting debate. Politicians, diplomats, and even employers have always struggled finding a balance between going green and simultaneously ensuring stable incomes. Dermody agreed, adding “the problem with transition is that there’s always going to be winners and losers.” But how can we facilitate such a transition in a way that there are more winners than losers, if even possible? Taxes, especially those on CO2 emissions, were brought up once again as an example. Sienot: “Let’s not tax people out of business, but let’s tax them into better business.” This seems like a reasonable idea, especially regarding what happened in France in response to the increased carbon taxes. Unfortunately, taxes (even those with good intentions) on pollutants tend to result in higher energy bills, something the Dutch government horribly miscalculated (by a whopping 334 euros) not that long ago. So much for trying to “tax them into better business”! Personal choices with crucial consequences With a clearly established majority recognizing climate change as crucial, the moderator turned the debate into a personal direction. The question on the screen now asked us which of the following five activities we pursued in the last couple of months: eat meat, fly somewhere, drive a fossil fueled car, buy disposables, or used non-green energy. Everyone had done most of them. Unsurprisingly, the next step was to ask what we would prepare to change in the next 10 years. ‘Go vegetarian’ was by far the most frequently chosen option, followed by ‘flying 50% less’. A bit of an argument broke out over the latter. With a fair number of people on this campus living and traveling all over the world, flights are

a highly consumed good. But, at the same time, news headlines are confronting us with their detrimental emissions. The issue, once again, is to find a balance. At least, that’s what van Schie said: “Traveling is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. We just need to find an environmentally friendly way to do it.” Exactly how to realise that, or Sienot for that matter, failed to clarify. For them, waiting for innovation whilst taxing the most polluting flying companies was our best way to go. “I think its strange that planes are not motivated in whatever way to improve,” said Sienot. A physics professor from the audience begged to differ, and explained how it’s simply not possible, technology wise, to improve airplanes in the same way that cars have been reinvented. The answer seems to simply be: fly less. And for good reason. A student from the audience remarked that taking a return flight from Amsterdam to Bangkok emits more CO2 than eating meat for 6 years. A need for urgency By the end of the night it was clear that there was a general discontent amongst the audience with the policies that are currently pursued. But did anyone learn anything? Interestingly enough, the speakers did. Meijer seemed to appreciate the need for urgency that the crowd conferred, saying: “My hope in you guys is well put.” Dermody was a bit less motivated and described how he wakes up in panic every now and then, pondering over what kind of world his 1-year old daughter will live in. Van Schie, the optimist, viewed this as overreacting. “Please don’t let your sleep be influenced by what you read in the papers,” he exclaimed. “Live your own life responsibly.” This was met by a very hesitant applause. The most promising message was made by Sienot, who concluded: “I was always the green guy. And now I’m sitting in front of an audience that tells me I’m too slow. I’m going to take that home and to Het Binnenhof.” Let’s cross our fingers that he does.

A University College Student Association Magazine

Keeping it lightheart-ed by Edward Barber

GREEN NEW DEAL WILL SPUR POSITIVE ACTION With our planet’s environmental well-being in serious jeopardy, we are in dire need of radical solutions. Behavioural change is required, clearly, but above all else we need the power to acknowledge the magnitude of our predicament and put these radical solutions into practice. Fortunately, many politicians and activists are prepared to broach the difficult issue. One example is US Congresswoman and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who drew international attention for advocating a revival of the ‘Green New Deal’ (GND) framework. The GND proposes a reform of the financial sector as a means of restructuring the economy in order to eradicate the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. Current observers attribute this reliance to the vast supplies of unregulated credit that seep through our globalised financial system to numerous speculators and consumers. The idea is that regulation of this sector will help curb inflation of Earth’s assets, and therefore the detrimental consumption of fossil fuels. With greater regulation would come a ‘10-year national mobilisation’ comprising of an upgrade in infrastructure, expanded energy efficiency and access to power and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by bolstering forests. Further still, the GND aims to remedy wage stagnation and income inequality by calling for access to affordable and adequate housing, guaranteed jobs and universal, high quality healthcare. Such structural change is highly ambitious and, some may argue, a tad far-fetched. Especially in practical terms, when we are reminded that the Republicans still control the upper house and the executive stands in ardent opposition to the proposed deal. Consider though the successes of the deal’s 1930s name sake: President Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’. That great feat of federal government was carried out on the back of a ground-breaking re-ordering of the global economy in the form of Keynesian monetary policies. Roosevelt too faced a formidable ecological challenge in the form of the dust bowl. Today it is the rapid disappearance of natural resources and the ailing state of the ozone layer. Slightly more impending issues, yes, but the essence of the problems and solutions remain the same. Even if this radical policy prescription is not attainable now, the fact that it is on the table is good news. Just as Trump and his populist contemporaries have extended the range of acceptable political discourse in the last few years, Ocasio-Cortez has in the last few weeks broadened our own perspectives on the plausible answers to the imposing environmental questions we face today. If an ambitious idea is discussed, it will at the very least provoke conversation, hopefully produce some refined ideas and possibly implementation of the idea itself. This is a radical proposition from a national representative. The Green New Deal is thus both positively provocative, which engenders relevant conversation, and indicates a will to initiate structural change. We need both, so long may it continue!

WORLD Deepfakes by Jamie March

Your ex sends you a video on Facebook. It’s a porn video of you but you don’t recognize the situation, or the person you’re sleeping with. So what’s going on? The video is a deepfake, they have used artificial intelligence technology to transpose your face, expressions, and voice, to the body of someone else. You know it’s fake, but will your coworkers or your friends and family know this, once it’s released to the world? “Deepfake” is a neologism made up of the words “Deep Learning” and “Fake.” You feed this program footage of someone, from which it learns how that person speaks and what their facial tics are. It even learns to mimic how they move. Afterwards, you can transpose their face onto another person’s body. Alternatively, you can record yourself saying something, and the program will adapt what you said to the profile of your victim, and make a video where they are the ones saying it. This technology first came into the spotlight in 2017. Celebrities faces were superimposed onto porn stars, creating porn featuring the intercourse of consensual parties, but with the face(s) of non-consenting victims. In the UK, producers of deepfakes can be prosecuted under harassment laws, and Reddit, Twitter, and Pornhub, were quick to ban

these videos. For now they have been relegated to the more niche parts of the internet. But don’t get me wrong, if you google “deepfake [celebrity name]” you will easily find porn videos of various quality. The current situation is just that you won’t accidentally stumble upon it if you aren’t looking for it. It reached more mainstream media outlets when people started making spoof videos of famous politicians. Jordan Peele made a video warning about the dangers by making a deepfake of Obama, where it was Peele’s words, but Obama’s face and voice. While many commentators were quick to point out that it was fake, the resemblance to Obama was uncanny. The technology is still in its infancy. Powerful computers are needed to create deepfakes with credibility, although there are free programs online that allow the average Joe to make a bad one if they wanted. To the critical eye, it’s not that difficult to see when a video is fake, especially if there is some context. There is also technology out there that can accurately tell if a video is fake or not. However, with how successful fake news has been in misinforming the public, the chance that people will critically assess a video that supports their political viewpoint is most likely nihil. For now you are safe. Your ex currently lacks the footage or technology to create a realistic looking porno of you. You’re much more likely to be a victim of revenge porn if that helps you rest easy. The technology to create deepfakes with a high degree of credibility is still only in the hands of researchers. While deepfakes are currently relegated to sloppy homemade celebrity porn videos, what will we as a society decide to do when fake videos become so good they are indistinguishable from real ones? Hopefully, just a lot of masturbation.

Dumpling Downer by Ivan Ryan

aving moved away from Hong Kong to go to university, this year marked the first time I was outside of Asia during the Lunar New Year celebrations. Seeing friends’ photos of the holiday definitely sparked feelings of longing for the city I once called home, as its bright red fireworks illuminated the hundreds of skyscrapers on my Instagram feed. Pictures of plates piled with Dim Sum made my stomach grumble, so I set out to try and make some for myself. Claiming the dining table as my workspace, I prepared a dumpling filling before rolling dough, caking the table entirely in flour. This naturally caught the attention of my unitmates, wondering what I could possibly be making. In return for occupying their sacred study space, I promised them a few of my creations. Having closely followed the first recipe I found online, I was sure my hard work would result in nods of approval from my unitmates. Never had I been so wrong. The filling was fine, but the dough I had rolled out was too thick. The absence of a rolling pin meant that I had to use a wine bottle to flatten out my

mixture, which was not ideal. But then came actually folding the dough. Having done this at a friend’s house the year before, I felt like I knew what I was doing, but I quickly came to realise that I had forgotten the exact technique. I also wasn’t sure how I was supposed to cook the dumplings, as the recipe wasn’t at all clear on whether I should fry or steam them. Seeking the easy way, I decided to plop my blobs of dough into a frying pan and hope for the best. Surprisingly enough however, the tiny morsels appeared to be frying quite well and smelt delicious. Upon taking my first bite, it became apparent that, despite their inviting aroma, they were frankly disappointing. After having hyped them up so much to my unit, I realised I had no other choice than to eat them all myself. Before anyone even realised I finished cooking, I had gobbled them up so as not to waste anything. Thankfully though, my unitmates came to the rescue and instead gave me some spring rolls they had bought. Lesson learnt: make food with friends next time.

The Boomerang | February 2019

ARTS&CULTURE

Stan’s Sad Boy Songs Top 7 Post-Valentine’s bangers to get you through the week by Stanley Ward The dumbest holiday of the year has come and gone, and in preparation for the waves of heartache that will ripple through our campus once those Valentine’s flings fall through, I curated some songs to soundtrack the heartbreak. Why seven songs you ask? So there’s one for each day of the week - like a musical recovery program, one song a day to make the sad go away. Enjoy. Monday: ‘My baby don’t understand me’ - Natalie Prass It’s Monday morning. With the weekend of booze finally leaving your body, you are presented with your Valentine’s hook-up in the cold, sober light of day. And it turns out they’re actually kind of a dick. And major in economics. How did you not notice this before? Maybe it’s because you didn’t actually get any talking in, or maybe you were impaired by Valentine’s party beer goggles. Either way, you realise this relationship is doomed, so what is there to do but put on some headphones, and be soothed by this slow burning soul jam. To paraphrase Natalie’s final lines - your love is a long goodbye. Tuesday: ‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ - The Postal Service When you get hit with the Big Sad, you gotta turn to the electronic melancholy of one album wonders the Postal Service. The opening track for the album Give Up with its skipping beats and string samples, combined with singer Ben Gibbard’s classic vocal delivery is perfect for a lonely tuesday evening. This is possibly the only song that actually becomes more depressing

after a double-time drop, which is a feat of sound of a motorcycle riding into the distance is production. even sampled - ‘Not My Baby’ transitions into a Smiths-esque jangly pop track anthem about Wednesday: ‘What happened to us?’ - being done with drama and wanting to have fun. Shura Molly Rankin’s vocals are angelic, and the vocal Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where overdubs on the final chorus where the different a relationship went off track, and while this a melodies interweave beautifully is transcendent. sad feeling, this cut from Shura’s lush synthpop debut album transforms this sentiment into an Saturday: ‘Got To Get You Off Of My anthemic, cathartic moment to help power you Mind’- Solomon Burke through wednesday. Combining sharp punchy In my opinion, probably one of the best songs synths with wide reverbs and ambient guitars ever written. Perfectly balanced, as all things helps make this track both melancholy and should be… During this classic 60s soul number, uplifting, and makes for a great post-valentine’s the highlight of this track is Burke’s effortjam. lessly beautiful performance, and immaculate phrasing. The Sweet Inspirations provide Thursday: ‘Somebody That I Used classic vocal accompaniment, and the To Know - Elliot Smith’ horns? The horns go hard. To round off Coming in at just two minutes your Saturday, ‘Got To Get You Off and nine seconds, this skippy Of My Mind’, is the perfect digniacoustic ballad from Smith’s fied love song to remind you that 2000 release Figure 8 is the when a relationship ends, often one to listen to if you hook up it’s really for the best, so you can with a classmate and they start find somebody new. Heartwarming to blank you afterwards. While initially isn’t it? seeming to be another lovelorn ballad, this track actually has some hidden sass, through Smith’s Sunday: ‘Crimson and Clover’ - Joan Jett cutting lyrics, laid back delivery, and jaunty & the Blackhearts guitars which culminate in ending in a major It’s been a week of emotional turmoil. You’ve key. Don’t worry about them - they’re just some- gone through all the drama. You hear Joan body that you used to know. Jett’s thundering guitar chords. You’re ready to go through the whole stupid thing all over again. Friday: ‘Not My Baby’ - Alvvays After all, what else is there to do? Beginning with a beautiful extended intro, Happy Belated Valentine’s day everybody, with sparkling guitars and swelling synths - the until next year, xoxo.

Recipe: Plantain and Beans (known as “red red” in Ghana) by Michelle Verstraaten

Ingredients • 3-4 ripe plantains, peeled • 680g pot of beans, e.g. brown beans or black-eyed beans, drained • ½ onion, sliced • ½ carrot and/or ½ bell pepper, chopped • 1 tomato, chopped • Salt and chili pepper/sambal to taste Directions 1. Preheat a deep fryer or heat oil in a deep pan for the plantains. 2. Heat a little oil in a separate pan. 3. Fry the onion, carrot and/or bell pepper until softened. 4. Add the chopped tomato and cook until soft. 5. Add the beans and season with salt and chili pepper or sambal. Let the beans heat through. 6. In the meantime, cut the plantains into diagonal 1 cm-thick slices. Drop into the hot deepfrying oil. (The oil is hot enough when food put into it bubbles immediately.) Fry for a few minutes until golden-brown and flip. Fry for another few minutes, making sure not to let them burn. 7. Drain the plantains on kitchen paper if necessary and serve hot with the beans stew.

Plantains are a kind of starchy cooking banana native to Southeast Asia and a staple food throughout the tropics. Described as “a potato-banana” by a fellow student, they can be found in most Dutch supermarkets such as the Jumbo and Plus, where they are labelled as “bakbanaan” or “bakbananen”. Ripe (yellow) plantains are sweeter and softer than unripe (green) plantains. If you only find green plantains in a supermarket, you can let them ripen over a few days at home. To peel them, cut off both ends, score the long ridges, and then peel off the strip from each side. The recipe below is suitable for vegans and serves 2.

A University College Student Association Magazine

Sexism in over a minute by Valentina Esconjauregui Caro Disclaimer: There is no intention of accusing all men of sexism. There is also no intention of portraying women as perfect. Yes, sexism also affects men, but let’s take these discussions one step at a time.

et’s talk sexism for a minute…or more than just a minute. Yes, we’re all sick of the endless rants about how women are always the victims of sexism, all day every day. Well, I hate to break it to you, but it’s true. Women are victims of sexism more often than you’d think. Let’s stop pretending that we’re feminists when we let our friends, peers, or the unitmates of some friend say sexist comments that make women uncomfortable. Let’s look at our community. The sexist culture on a female-dominated campus may not be as clear-cut as a man yelling profanities at you from across the street, but it’s still a big deal. We’re in the Netherlands, at one of the most liberal universities in the country, so why is it that women here feel targeted? Let me point out some problems I noticed through a few interactions here and there. Four days was all it took for me to have been fed up of this. My favorite people on campus, bringing me laughs and many, many questions: frat guys. Yes, we love the Primus Mario Kart race and throwing stuff at these boys for no rhyme or reason. Yes, we laugh while pointing at the “Equites Corner” at the bar. What we don’t love is the stories about frat guys being harassers. We don’t like hearing frat guys boast about how they can get any girl on campus because they belong to an all-boy group. Let me be clear, not all frat guys are harassers. They are all really sweet. Not all these guys are loud and annoying. They are fun to be with. But boys, hearing you talk about girls the way you do, hearing excuses about how you treat them, is unacceptable. This includes non-frat boys too. Being in a fraternity does not make you hot; your boy-bands are not amusing to us. Instead, we hear you talk about us like we’re things you play around with for a while, you tell your friends, and you make some jokes. I’m not saying don’t tell anyone Illustration © Vivian Claes

who you hook-up with, we all do that. But could you not talk about us like we’re cutlets that you get to poke at for a while, write down our names or how hot we are and then act like we’re all in a big happy family where everyone respects each other? Once again, non-frat boys, take note of this. Thank you, next! Have you noticed that we don’t talk about sexual harassment as much or as in-depth as we should? Nee, we talk of rape, in a tabooed and secretive way. But what about the things that happen before rape? What about being sexually harassed to an extensive degree, but also being too scared to talk about what happened because others say “it wasn’t so bad”? Yes, thankfully she’s OK and it wasn’t too serious. But then again, it was. It was serious to her. It was serious for her mental health. Why don’t we open up and have discussions so that every single one of us who has experienced something that terrified us can talk about it, giving it the importance it deserves? No act of sexual harassment is acceptable, regardless of the degree. I understand that some people won’t sympathize with this. Maybe some guys won’t get it. That’s fine as long as you remember that you’re a dude and you don’t go through what girls do. So please, boys, be a little more conscious about what you say and how you say it. It takes very little time for you to think twice before you trash-talk another human being. And girls! Stand up for yourselves. We have all gone through something of this sort and staying quiet won’t help you or anyone else. It’s time for a reality check. Are we hurting others by how we refer to them? Let’s have open groups of discussion, let’s listen to how others feel about the way we speak of them. Let’s spread some more love in this campus and take action against something that is toxic t o all of us.

WOMEN’S DAY Why you should care about Women’s Day

by Ingriin Rääk As the approaching 8th of March marks the International Women’s Day, it might be useful to look into the origins and meaning of the day. Originally, it was strongly tied to the socialist movement. The first National Women’s Day, in 1909, was celebrated in the United States on the initiative of the Socialist Party of America. In 1910, the Second International Socialist Women’s Conference set up an International Women’s Day, modeled after May Day celebrations. The following year, over a million women in Western Europe celebrated Women’s Day. In Russia, the day was first celebrated in 1913 and became a public holiday under Soviet rule in 1917. What is even more fascinating is that on the 8th of March (which was the 23rd of February according to the Russian calendar at the time), women celebrating International Women’s Day and demanding equal rights joined protesting factory workers, people in bread lines (a large number of them were women too), and many others calling for the end of food rationing and WWI, in the Russian capital of Petrograd. This protest would start the February Revolution and would be followed by the October Revolution of 1917 - one of the most influential events of the 20th century. Later, the Western feminist movement has tried to redefine the origins of the holiday and to distance itself from the socialist idea, for example by creating the myth that the day originates from a 1857 protest of female factory workers in the US. Many scholars now say that this event never occurred. Whilst many socialist women at the time were championing women’s rights, not all of them would call themselves feminists. ‘Grandmother of Communism’ Clara Zetkin, one of the most influential women’s rights advocates of the late 19th and early 20th century and one of the initiators of the International Women’s Day idea, was openly against ‘bourgeois feminism’, arguing that it was a tool to divide the unity of working classes. Sadly, throughout history the holiday has lost its original political connotation in many places. Especially in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, the original champions of female workers’ rights, the focus has shifted from solidarity with women and fighting for equal rights to celebrating women and their femininity for merely existing. Women will receive flowers, candies, perfumes and other small gifts from men in their life, but no attention goes to the legitimate problems women face daily. The holiday has thus deviated from a revolutionary movement calling for action and change, to a symbolic day maintaining the status quo. This shift in itself could be seen as regressive and anti-feminist. Not to say that giving women flowers or boxes of chocolate is bad or sexist, but the problem is that this act is often not accompanied by any real discussion or action on real issues. In Russia, the reality for women is dreadful. Legal changes in 2017 have partly decriminalised domestic violence, the #MeToo movement has been met with laughter, ridicule and public humiliation, the increasing power of the Russian Orthodox Church has forced women into their subordinate feminine roles (the Church has officially identified feminism as a mortal sin), and the female participation in politics is shockingly low. The situation in the West is far from ideal as well. Whilst Women’s Day here seems to be less about gifts and more about discussion, women still face discrimination and harassment, receive unequal pay, and in some countries still fight for the right to decide over their own body. An example: the Soviet Union legalized abortion in 1920, but in Malta abortion is completely prohibited, even when the mother’s life is in danger. In Poland, Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland abortion is only allowed in rare cases. In the United States, many states have lately passed legislation to tighten abortion laws. Even here in Utrecht, people visiting health clinics are confronted by anti-abortion protesters. During this year’s Women’s Day, the international community of UCU has to remember that whilst struggles for women in different parts of the world might differ, the fight for full equality in every aspect of life is far from over.

The Boomerang | February 2019

QUAD QUERIES nd “How did you spe Valentine’s day?”

“ I organized a back to the coparty to give mmunity”

the worst ejaculation is “Premature se” tine’s surpri kind of Valen – Jana

– Ariane

“I spent time with Julien in his room”

–Eddie

“I cuddled

Chuck the hamster” – Yvette

d text very awkwar “I answered end” yf my ex bo ri messages from a sc

– Franci

“Cryin g” “Drink – Tasmin ing” – Lena

“Reading philosophical texts for Floris. I love Dr. van der Berg” – Yota

”

“With my right hand – Reinout

“I didn ’t e Valenven know it tin was – Terees Day” sa

“I baked vale ntines cakes and handed them out to my frie I nds” – Sandra

“There’s to

“I had lunch with my sister”

o much pre ssure I do know wha n’t t to answe r” – Mark

– Reinoud

“With me girlfriend – Joe

yself’”

“ I ‘enjoyed m – Max

THE BOOMERANG BOARD

“I sat in th e bread andsun and had hummus” – Lo tte

boyfriend” “Missing my – Kat

mate”

“I spent it

on the sla ckline” – Julien

With support from Boomerang uses wind energy printers The Boomerang is a periodical newspaper. It comes out eight times a year.