Ink 2020/21

Ink L O C K D O W N

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CHURCHER’S COLLEGE

Editorial In the year that Churcher’s College was founded, 1722, ‘A Journal of the Plague Year’ by Daniel Defoe was published.

It is an account of one man’s experiences of the year 1665, in which the bubonic plague struck the city of London.

This special, lockdown edition of INK includes work that Churcher’s students produced during the plague of our time, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, when the school was locked down in the late spring and summer, and again in early spring 2021. Despite the restrictions of remote learning, the ambitions of the students remained undiminished.

Reflective of their ‘can do’ attitude, the students applied themselves with creativity and imagination to the challenges presented. In Art, students took part in abstract, surreal and ‘Life Imitates Art’ photography projects, and Charlie Lilley’s magnificent piece, which adorns the front cover of this magazine, reflects the positivity and optimism that characterised the students’ work during this time. Where shown, the year indicates the year the students were in when they completed the work.

William Baker

Contents 3-5

To what extent has the dot com bubble changed investor behaviour in the USA?

Ethan Morse

6-8

Will space become another ‘Tragedy of the Commons’?

Jude Franklin

9 - 10

What is the most important reason for the success of insects on land, and why is this success not mirrored in the ocean?

Emily Duke

12 - 14

Julian Assange - 10 years later, how did we get here?

Molly Steele

15

Dissociative identity disorder: the multiple voices of Psychology

Connie Batt

16 - 17

Given the concentration of high-value economic sectors in big cities, is a promise to reduce significantly regional inequalities by ‘levelling up’ possible to fulfil?

Jack Ramseyer

20 - 21

The Ayia Napa rape case 2019

Eva Ihezue

22 - 23

Camera obscura

Alex Mearns

24 - 25

Paelozoology

Will Clark

26 - 27

Which evolutionary innovation has been the most influential, and why?

Grace Mortiz

29

At what point should a child be tried as an adult?

Imogen Barr

30 - 31

Can animal testing be justified?

Alice Carr

33 - 34

‘Churchill’s diplomacy was crucial to winning the war.’ Discuss

Elizabeth Gallagher

36 - 37

From the dramatic to the meta-dramatic - Comparing Die Zauberflöte with early operas in terms of contextual, textual and musical features

Tom Wild

40 - 41

Market Bubbles: Past examples and preventing future ones.

Sam Rose

42 - 43

The Eden Dome

Tim Emmens

45 - 47

The structure and potential applications of borophene.

Jacob Tutt

48

Admiration of oneself

Phoebe Abraham

50

Why did the Montgomery bus boycott succeed?

Angelica Hooton

51

Pandemic panic – what explains the behaviour behind the public’s reaction to the Coronavirus of 2020?

Caitlin Smith

54 - 55

Covid-19: pandemic or infodemic

Elizabeth Gallagher

56 - 61

Parallel lives: Artemisia and Agrippina

Flora Edward

64

Stop. Smile.

Alex Lambrianou

65

Creative writing

Kitty Hogg Amanda Clark

Cover by: Charlie Lilley

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To what extent has the dot com bubble changed investor behaviour in the USA? This article was completed as part of the Churcher’s to Campus (C2C) courses Ethan Morse Upper Sixth

The ‘Dot Com bubble’ describes the period from 1995 to 2002 where the share value of technology companies on the NASDAQ stock exchange skyrocketed, eventually creating a bubble 200 times the size of the underlying earnings of these companies.

Over five years (1995-2000), the NASDAQ Composite Index rose over 500% to a value of 5,048.62 and then plummeted to 1,114.11, losing 77.9% of its value within only 2 years (NASDAQ Composite Index, 2020).

The main area of blame when it came to the creation of this technology bubble was focused around investor behaviour and how these investors ignored underlying issues in technology-centred companies such as profitability or longevity and, as a result, pumped money into these firms causing the creation of a bubble.

When this bubble finally burst, many large tech companies went bankrupt; this included even those who had been worth hundreds of millions a couple of years previous such as ‘Pets.com’ or ‘eToys. com’. This crash shook many investors who thought the market would continue to grow and believed the companies irms would bring in huge long-term profits and shows why it is important that investors change their behaviour when evaluating a company’s worthcompany’s worth.

If investors ignored the effects of this bubble then there is reason to believe that the cycle of bubbles will continue, which could have disastrous effects on the world economy such as recessions, unemployment and deflation and this is more likely to affect individuals negatively rather than the investors themselves.

Unemployment, homelessness, crime, increased debt and unavailability of cheap credit are all factors that a crash can have on individuals, while most investors and investment banks may feel few consequences.

impact on markets and public/private companies so the importance of that behaviour changing as a result of market crashes such as the dot com bubble is critical.

One crucial area of change likely to affect investor behaviour is the US regulation of the equity/debt markets. An example of regulation affecting investor behaviour was the J.O.B.S (jumpstart our business start-ups) Act 2012 which was intended to encourage small business funding in the US by easing regulation, therefore encouraging more companies to issue initial public offerings (IPOs) and go public. One way this Act achieved this outcome was by ‘easing requirements for companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue for up to 10 years, up from the five-year time span that was previously in place’ (Sinéad Carew, a journalist, writing in 2018).

[T]he chief cause of the dot com bubble was the rapid investment in newly created public companies through their IPOs.

In the future, the focus of investing is likely to move from ‘day traders’ to artificial intelligence which can make intelligent decisions, considering all information without the impact of investor bias. This change is already occurring.

‘Machines are likely to take up to 10 per cent - 25 per cent of work across all bank functions with AI and automation’ (HCL, 2020) which should reduce the effect of investor behaviour completely. However, investor behaviour still has a significant

A likely increase in IPO creation shows that investor behaviour has not changed significantly, as the chief cause of the dot com bubble was the rapid investment in newly created public companies through their IPOs, which funded the bubble. This can be shown as: “In 1999, there were 457 IPOs and over 25% doubled in stock prices.

But within two years, the infamous dotcom crash erased much of that progress.

The number of IPOs plummeted to just 76,” (Bryan Martin, chairman of 8x8, a technology company, writing in 2008). This suggests that investor behaviour has not changed significantly as the regulation guiding it is directly encouraging the type of behaviour that created the dot com bubble by easing the process of firms issuing IPOs. However, other regulation controlling investor behaviour tries to ensure a repeat the dot com bubble does not occur including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) which ‘is a law the U.S. Congress passed on

Sinead Carew

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in 2016 to 55% in 2019 (Statista, 2019).

July 30 of that year to help protect investors from fraudulent financial reporting by corporations’ (Will Kenton, 2020) offering protection by forcing chief executive officers (CEOs) to sign off on the accuracy of their financial records. This regulation was passed to combat directly fraudulent behaviour by companies during the dot com bubble such as Enron Corporation, Tyco International plc, and WorldCom who manipulated numbers to encourage investors to inflate the stock price well above intrinsic value (Will Kenton,2020).

This regulation is evidence about changes in investor behaviour, as it allows investors to make more intelligent decisions about newly issued public companies, reducing the chance of stock price bubbles like the dot com bubble. With this in place, investors will see a potential bubble forming earlier and sell stocks, hence reducing the stock value before it becomes a meaningful drop. Overall, although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act demonstrates a change in regulation, aiming to change investor behaviour after the dot com bubble, the J.O.B.S Act is a more significant piece of legislation that encourages no change in investor behaviour.

Another area where investor behaviour could have been seriously impacted as a result of the dot com bubble was behaviour biases and heuristics. To evaluate the change as a result of these biases and heuristics, we must analyse the effect human bias had before the dot com bubble and after it.

Before the dot com bubble, investors showed two key examples of bias and heuristic, one being representativeness bias. It can be described as ‘when investors … label an investment as good or bad based on its recent performance.’ (Melissa Lin, 2020). Stocks such as Pets.com had a great initial performance as ‘The shares debuted at $11 and quickly went as high as $14.’

(Andrew Beattie, 2020). Investors saw the initial success and assumed that the

business was sure to be a big titan in the technology industry; yet the company filed for bankruptcy nine months after its initial IPO. Investors’ behaviour suggested they were influenced by representativeness bias since they used Pets.com’s incredibly successful initial IPO as an indicator of the firm’s long-term performance, resulting in them buying up the stock until it crashed. We can compare the impact of the repetitiveness bias after the dot com bubble to see the change in investor behaviour by looking at the 2008 financial crisis and specifically the housing market crash.

Before the crash, many investors bought CDOs (collateralized debt obligations) and other bond packages and assumed that because the housing market had been on a strong rise in the early 2000s these CDOs would continue to generate returns on their investment. The influence of this bias is clear as these investors ignored the underlying issues which existed, such as the mortgage programmes these bonds were built on or the increasing default rates. Comparing these behaviours before and after the dot com bubble suggests that investor behaviour has not changed significantly and that biases such as the representativeness bias have plagued investor behaviour in the USA.

Technology has aided the increase of casual investors entering the stock market who are untrained, and so may reflect investor behaviour before the dot com bubble. These untrained investors are more likely to be affected by biases, such as the representativeness bias discussed in the previous paragraph and so resembles investor behaviour before the dot com bubble suggesting that the overall behaviour of investors has not changed significantly.

However, there is evidence to suggest that technology has had a huge improvement in investor behaviour, enabled by the use of A.I. and complex algorithms. Technology has played a major part in equity research for major hedge funds and investment banks. Equity research is a far more efficient and reliable way of collecting data on potential investments.

A branch of A.I called Natural Language Processing is designed to make sense of human language via machine learning and this gives hedge funds an advantage as they have more information and can detect major trends beginning and old trends fading (Timothy Vasilyev, 2019). The market for acquisitions and takeovers has also been remarkably transformed by technology.

An example of this is Axial Network which is a platform that connects start-ups with potential buyers/investors and has facilitated $25bn worth of deals since its launch in 2010 (Timothy Vasilyev, 2019). This demonstrates that investors can have access to more information and so make more intelligent decisions when allocating capital and are therefore less likely to make uninformed and unwise investments, like the ones happening during the dot com bubble. This overall improvement in technology suggests retail traders and investors can make far more informed choices, removing the effect of human bias and showing a significant change in their behaviour due to the change in technology.

[T]he largest area of change in investor behaviour after the dot com bubble was due to the massive advancement in technology.

Technology is an area which has changed significantly since the dot com bubble and which has had a critical impact on investor behaviour. The availability of technology has increased significantly due to lower prices and an increase in advertising. The percentage of adults owning a laptop has increased to 74% in 2019 (Statista, 2019) and the percentage of adults invested in the stock market has increased from 52% 4

One significant way investor behaviour

helped to create the dot com bubble was the use of financial metrics to value companies and this influenced how investors behaved.

During the rise of the dot com bubble, investors chiefly used sales growth and stock price as a key indicator of a successful company; this allowed companies such as Pets.com and eToys.com to raise millions at their IPOs with Pets.com raising $82.5 million in a February 2000 IPO (Andrew Beattie, 2020). The issue with investor behaviour is that these metrics were invalid when assessing the potential success of a company. For example, ‘Pets.com’ spent millions in advertising to attract consumers, including £2.2million for a Superbowl commercial, designed to attract more customers.consumers.

Sales grew from $1,776,000 in 3rd Quarter 1999 to $11,570,0000 in 4th Quarter 1999 (Erika Matulich and Karen Squires, 2008), and investors began to purchase more equity causing the stock price to inflate from $11 to $14 (Andrew Beattie, 2020) even though the net losses increased from $15,852,000 thousand to $42,423,000 thousand in those same quarters (Erika Matulich and Karen Squires, 2008).

2015) a common metric used is called the ‘Contribution Margin’ which shows the profitability of individual products. The Contribution Margin is used to determine whether variable costs for a product can be reduced, or if the price of the end product should be increased. This is a more accurate metric to use than sales growth as it highlights the potential profit that a firm will make both in the present and in the long-term and would have highlighted ‘Pets.com’s inability to make a substantial long-term profit. This example highlights the change in the use of metrics to govern investors and shows how the dot com bubble crash significantly affected investor behaviour by introducing more indepth metrics to ensure that investors take informed decisions when purchasing equity in companies.

[T]he dot com bubble crash significantly affected investor behaviour.

This evidence shows how the poor use of metrics led to poorly informed investment choices. We can compare this information to how metrics are commonly used, post dot com bubble, to evaluate whether investor behaviour has changed significantly. According to (Jenna Taylor,

Overall, the largest area of change in investor behaviour after the dot com bubble was due to the massive advancement in technology, as the development in A.I programmes has allowed investors to assess volatility and transformed risk almost into a security of itself. This shows a more significant change in their behaviour compared to the change in metrics as while metrics have changed and become more representative their implementation is down to technology

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and changes in A.I. Overall, technology is a bigger area of change in investor behaviour after the dot com bubble. The most significant factor that suggests that investor behaviour has not changed since the dot com bubble has been the lack of change in substantial regulation. Although the Sarbanes-Oxley regulation enforces the policing of companies who forge financial numbers, this act does not necessarily improve investor behaviour and allowed a significant asset bubble, the housing market in 2008, to occur and devastate the global economy.

In conclusion, there has been significant improvement in investor behaviour, mainly due to the improvement in technology, as A.I. not only removes any effect of human bias but can also compute information at greater speeds and higher amounts.

Will space become another ‘Tragedy of the Commons’?

Jude Franklin Upper Sixth

With four hundred years since the first colony was established in the ‘New World,’ a new frontier of exploration appears to be opening up. With all land on Earth essentially occupied, people are now looking to Space for the next voyage into the unknown. Being conceived during World War II, and turbo-charged during the Cold War, large space programmes of the USA and Soviet Union kick started humans’ presence off Earth. However, moving into the 21st century a new force has arisen in the extra-terrestrial realm. The Private Company. Once deemed impossible, and then only for the world’s largest super powers, space travel may have seemed out of the public’s reach. This idea has come into question over the last ten years, with some of the worlds richest billionaires founding private space companies, working alongside space agencies to put humans into space. The bounds in both mechanical and computer engineering made in recent times has begun to slash costs of leaving Earth. Although now there are only a select few wealthy and inspired enough to take on this massive challenge, in the coming decades it seems inevitable the market for space will explode, and what were once noble feats will descend into an uncontrollable economic free-for-all. The ensuing economic phenomenon that is the commercialisation of space could not only lead to inequality like we’ve never seen, but also what is known as the ‘tragedy of the commons.’

One of the primary reasons space is likely to become a tragedy of the commons is the simple fact that international policy is extremely hard for humans to agree on. Currently we are restricted to just one planet, and it already seems challenging enough, without the prospect of considering the rest of our near solar system. Human nature is greedy.

This has driven millennia of territorial wars, colonialism, and perhaps even the space race. However, once we leave the atmosphere, those national boarders should disappear, with our only defining origin being that of Earth. This is the issue that many governments struggle with—working as a whole isn’t in our current nature.

Driven by the insatiable appetite for more growth, governments will generally put their economies above all others, not considering that fundamentally we are all a part of a global society. All it takes is a look at the ‘America First’ sentiment pursued by Donald Trump’s government to understand that much of the world is not ready for multilateral agreement on the scale that would be needed for extra-terrestrial inhabitancy. Ultimate cooperation would be needed for humans to effectively find a home, on Mars for example, and the level of compromise needed for such an endeavour seems unlikely. We would need a governing body, similar to that of the UN, where decisions could be agreed upon between all of the member states, in a way that is independent of individual, corporate, or state intervention. At first this doesn’t seem so hard, but when you look at the dismal track record of such agreements on Earth, this feat seems far greater. The

interconnectedness needed seems to be reversing, as there are signs globalisation is slowing down, and even reverting. In an article from the Financial Times, the author states “The contract people thought they had with politicians, governments, institutions, and potentially each other is disintegrating.” This implies that at a time when we finally have the technology to move off Earth and onto the next frontier, our governance couldn’t handle it. There are some potent examples of how, in a time when we consider ourselves to be growing closer, we are actually drifting apart.

Of course the key instance is that of the Paris Climate Accord, with Donald Trump announcing his departure soon after his election success. An excellent example of the commons is the atmosphere, as no one state can control it, due to it being fluid and dynamic; actions in one place can lead to huge changes elsewhere. Without the US being apart of the climate accord, the ‘tragedy of the commons’ really becomes obvious. America is one of the worlds biggest polluters, with the fourth highest carbon emissions per capita, at 14.6T/ capita/year of CO2 being released . Their exit from the agreement means untempered climatic degradation is likely to ensue. Trump’s motives behind the move is that being in such an agreement hinders America’s growth; falling just short of calling out the UN for conspiring against him (though I’m sure his Twitter drafts contain such an accusation.)

Republicans believe that having to comply with such an agreement is “eroding U.S. sovereignty” and acts to dampen their growth.

[W]hat were once noble feats will descend into an uncontrollable economic freefor-all.

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Although such policies are generally considered to diminish GDP growth, maybe it is a wakeup call to the world that pursuing such a blunt and generic measure can no longer accurately inform us about the health of the economy, and rather ignores the fact that infinite growth in a contained system is practically impossible.

Another example of difficult multilateral policy agreement is that of international waters. A perfect case of where without total agreement from the majority of powerful nations, the agreement of a few means nothing.

these major political non-alignments, then we will have to consider different ways of thinking about society, and how economics as a whole is formulated.

Kate Raworth’s donut model is based off the theory that GDP growth has become obsolete, and for anthropogenic progression we must change what we consider as normal society, so that we may work together in such ways that pushes society as a whole forward, rather than leaving many behind. Should we venture in to space with economic intentions, we must consider those that are able to fund such endeavours are already extremely wealthy on Earth.

An extra-terrestrial elite could form, where those who have access to the space commons hold all power on Earth, leading to massive inequality.

Where engineers and mathematicians go, philosophers and social scientists will follow.

There are, of course, short term commercial benefits to keeping the open ocean entirely non-regulated. Those who have the best equipment and largest fishing fleets are able to exploit the resource, taking what they want, without the concern that what they are doing will harm the planet for years to come. An example of this is the huge growth in Tuna catches in the open ocean. Over just 50 years, the catch has moved from 125 thousand tonnes a year, to 3.5 million tonnes. The current rate of exploitation of the ocean is expected to lead to a reduction in fish stocks, and therefore a long term downward trend in the amount of fish we will be able to catch.

By 2050 the fisheries’ yield is expected to fall by 34%, meaning those who had the resources to exploit and pollute the oceans today have created major problems for those of tomorrow. Many consider this a by-product of a government ‘Laissez-faire’ attitude to what businesses do in global commons, especially when these practices generate strong GDP growth for the country. An independent study on the open oceans said that the data above was due to “Global governance architecture [being] fragmented, poorly integrated, and [having] significant gaps.”1 That seems a perfect

summary for why policy in space, at this point of time, would be virtually impossible for any humans to decide.

It is likely that if humanity is to move past

Despite clear cut arguments on why any international policy is hard to agree on, there is nothing to say that in the long term, agreements cannot be made, especially as larger international governing bodies become more influential. With technology moving on, despite an evident lag, society can move on too.

Where engineers and mathematicians go, philosophers and social scientists will follow.

Though there will inevitably be issues, creating an extraterrestrial settlement that doesn’t result in a ‘tragedy,’ could quite possibly be achieved. Amongst the growing power of international law, there comes a certain hope that societies of the future will be able to both utilise and respect the global commons.

One example of where significant work has already been done is the protection of Antarctica, leaving the vast majority of its land mass up to scientists from all 7

nations, that have maintained it in near pristine conditions. This is largely down to the Antarctic Treaty, that was established before any permanent settlement was created on the continent. The treaty, containing just fourteen articles, stipulates an array of laws in order to protect the area, for the greater good of humanity. It includes strict laws on how the area can be used, and that individual nations must “set aside the potential for sovereignty disputes.”2 There are also pre-decided procedures which must be followed, should a dispute arise. This has been in place for more than fifty years now, and as of yet there have been no major political issues over the land mass. This provides hope that humans may be able to achieve such stability in space.

Another example of where strides in international law are being made is with marine commons. Despite earlier listing all of the current problems surrounding the area, many international authorities are working towards creating a clearer set of rules and regulations that all who wish to utilise the commons must abide by.

Policy makers believe that this can be done through shared responsibility, conditional access, and effective enforcement. With these three pillars, the hope is that the ocean commons can be protected, with stakeholders being actively involved into the movement to sustainable management.

Various international lawyers are trying to coordinate such protection through the UN, and the hope is that over the next few years there will be a global network of protected and enforced areas in which fish stocks are managed successfully.3 One of the key groups working towards ocean protection is the Global Commons Alliance, that has created a four step plan to success. This includes the Earth Commission, Science Research Targets, Earth HQ, and the Systems Change Lab. There is no reason to suppose, once a permanent presence is established in space, that a similar organisation wouldn’t be able to deal with the issues of the ‘space commons’. This agency is working to foster collaboration between scientists, industry

leaders, and governments, to create a push towards more sustainable management of the oceans. If, before any serious space economy could be established, those on Earth could form a collaborative effort similar to this one, we may be able to create a whole anthropogenic system in which industry, science, and the environment could be balanced. The anticipation is that by 2050, the GCA will have developed a system where science will inform governance, and specific performance targets will be set for policies to strive for, “ultimately transform[ing] the global economy.” They have backing from the UN, the World Economic Forum, and the World Resource Institute, among others, proving that there can be large scale global cooperation.

Whilst efforts from such organisations are impressive and honourable, they are often flawed. One such issue is that any change created will take a long time to come to fruition. Whilst the improvements may be invaluable, that becomes an issue when considering human nature and satisfaction.

If we are able to see instant results, we gain instant gratification. However, it is far more difficult to modify our behaviour now, when benefits won’t be seen for another 50 years, even if we know the eventual outcome will be of huge significance.

This is evident through practices such as burning fossil fuels and the still-massive consumption of plastic. Sometimes this can prove fatal, as half the battle in political melee is public perception. Applied to space, when first presented with seemingly unlimited resources, it may seem tempting to reap what we desire, with no foresight past the present. This implies a dangerous future for space; as although humans may want to change, they may not have the self control and perseverance to change. In addition to this, policy tends to fall years, and even decades, behind the realisation change needs to happen.

More often than not, the majority of the damage is done before any real action is taken. This is a major issue for societies today, when faced with such challenges as climate change. As early as the 1970s, there was research that proved climate change was being heavily influenced by anthropogenic burning of fossil fuels. One of the key contributors to this research was ExxonMobil, a multinational petroleum extractor. Quite shockingly, they concluded that the petroleum industry was a massive contributor to climate change, yet they spent the next forty years trying to cover

this up in order to protect their business interests. They were aware of such damage in 1977, 11 years before the science even became known to the public, yet actively tried to cover it up. Only in the most recent decade has any real concern for the environment materialised, with the UK government declaring a climate emergency in 2019.

Finally, even the ‘local’ area space is far more vast than the domains of Earth, and control over people’s actions is difficult when they are so disparate. Without the necessary enforcement in place, rules are there to be broken, and it is likely disorder will ensue, as has been the case in all former frontiers. An example of this, where control has been lost, is the foundation of independence in America.

Those who had immigrated to the New World eventually became self sufficient, and no longer saw a need to comply with the rules of the Old World. This came to fruition with the Boston tea Party in 1773, where those in Massachusetts grew weary of the British taxation and law making, especially when they lacked representation in British Parliament. They decided to break ties with Europe, leading to the War of Independence, and eventually the establishment of the United States.4 There is little reason to object that once a self sustaining colony establishes itself in space, they will ultimately call space their home, and reject all Earth-based control. Even if the Earth-created policy seems sensible and irrefutable to us, those living in space may have an entirely different perspective, deciding that those on Earth couldn’t possibly understand the nuances of extraterrestrial living, in much the same way the Americans did to the Europeans.

To summarise, despite many successful and well thought-out policies being implemented in space, they could either take to long to implement due to inertia or sheer stubbornness, or they will be impossible to police and eventually disintegrate.

In conclusion, it seems inevitable that at some stage, human technological evolution will take us into space, to maintain a more permanent residence. What may be at first scientific, will likely turn commercial, with the abundant supply of minerals found off Earth. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has already stated its intent to establish a base on Mars by 2030, opening the floodgates for a 21st

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century space race, between both States, corporations, and private individuals.

There also arises the threat of the space debris, which not only deteriorates the space commons, but completely prevents any humans from ever leaving Earth. Every space voyage leaves behind matter in orbit.

This makes it perpetually harder for the next launch to happen, as the likelihood of each rocket being interrupted by debris previously deposited increases, which in turn leads to more debris if that rocket is damaged. Four satellites every year are destroyed by space debris, which is only set to increase, eventually making it impossible to leave Earth if an exponential chain reaction were to occur. If one satellite is destroyed, it could fragment and shatter three more satellites, eventually leading to a chain reaction so extensive it will be impossible to enter space again. Some predictions put an event like this as close as ten years away. This would not only diminish the space commons, but entirely prevent us from using it.

However, provided a solution for such an event is created, or it never arises, space may never become a ‘tragedy of the commons.’ Not only is there evidence that in the future humans will be able to agree on inter-planetary policy, but they may not even need to. With space being so vast, it is only a matter of time after we first colonise our local planets that we will attempt moving further a field. Once, or if, humans are able to break through the colossal barriers preventing our wide spread presence off-Earth, then we will have access to space’s seemingly infinite resources. One of the key assumptions about commons is that it is limited, and those who exploit it exclude others from doing so in the future.

Thinking about the global oceans, we will reach a point at which fish stocks are too depleted, temperatures are too warm, and micro plastics are too prevalent. However, with the endless nature of the eventual universe, space itself would both have the resources and the dilution to counteract any exploitation. Though our solar system may be considered a commons, space itself, technically, isn’t. If humans managed to ever reach that point, without destroying ourselves first, we would be in possession of potentially limitless resources, thereby negating the idea that use of such resources would be a ‘tragedy of the commons.’

What is the most important reason for the success of insects on land, and why is this success not mirrored in the ocean?

Emily Duke Upper Sixth

Diptera fly

Insects are a successful class of animals, representing more than half of the wold’s biodiversity (University of Bergen, 2015).

They can be found in large abundance in a diverse range of ecological habitats and are found in almost every terrestrial and freshwater environment on Earth.

For example, the ice bug can survive at -20oC, while the locust can survive at 80oC (AgriYouthNepal, 2017). Although many insect species spend part of their life on the surface and margins of the ocean, and more o so within fresh-water lakes, there is not a single insect species which spends its entire lifetime in the open ocean (Maddrell, 1998). The following essay details the characteristics that provide explanations to the success of insects, and some hypotheses for the failure of insect colonisation within the open ocean.

A method which allows female aphids to reproduce without a male mate is called parthenogenesis. This allows for several generations of aphids to be efficiently produced within one summer alone, without the female being required to find a mate. Some insects, such as bees, can reproduce both sexually and asexually. For example, worker bees are produced from fertilised eggs, whereas drone bees are produced from unfertilised eggs (Tipton, 1976). Most insects are oviparous, which means they lay eggs; however, others are viviparous and give birth to active young. An example of o parthenogenic metagonadic viviparity (when the offspring develops in the hemocoel, where nutriment is derived from maternal tissues, causing the larva to consume the mother’s internal anatomy) is in Diptera, a type of fly (Hagan, 1948). The benefit of having multiple methods of reproduction is that insects are not at a disadvantage should they experience a reproductive set-back, such as finding themselves without a mate or having their young predated on.

[T]he ice bug can survive at -20 C, while the locust can survive at 80 C.

The first, perhaps most obvious reason for success is their fast rate of reproduction.

An example of such high fecundity (producing a large number of eggs) is the queen honeybee that can produce 4000 eggs each day (AgriYouthNepal, 2017).

Antoni van Leeuwenkoek researched the reproduction potential of insects by rearing Calliphora erythrocephala. The data calculated that a pair of flies could produce 3,869,835,264 individuals by the sixth generation. However, this type of calculation highlights the colossal potential of insect colonisation; it ignores the limiting factors that constrain the size of a natural population (Meyer, 2007).

The combination of high fecundity and fertility means that female insects can produce large numbers of offspring within a typically short lifetime (2-4 weeks) which provides the genetic resources to adapt quickly to the changing environment.

Possibly the most interesting example of insect adaptation in recent history would be resistance to the insecticide in the house fly, Musca domestica, in the United States after World War II. Public 9

health officials made an effort to eradicate the housefly using an insecticide called DDT. However, the few resistant flies survived, containing an enzyme capable of detoxifying DDT and passed the resistance onto their offspring – a modern example of natural selection. However, the house fly is not alone in its resistance to pesticides; significant levels of pesticide resistance has been reported in over 500 species (Meyer, 2007). Other adaptations include physiological adaptations in defence, such as releasing poisonous and unpleasant odours (AgriYouthNepal, 2017), or having spines, such as on the katydid grasshopper (Tipton, 1976), or behavioural defence mechanisms, such as the Colorado potato beetle which ‘drops dead’ at any sign of threat (AgriYouthNepal, 2017).

Another important explanation for insect success is not only that insects fly, but that they are the only invertebrates that can do so. According to fossil records, insects acquired this ability 100 million years before the first flying reptiles. This means that they would have had a successful method of escape from their prehistoric predators (Meyer, 2007). Flight allows insects not only to escape predators but also allows them to expand to new habitats to exploit new resources (AgriYouthNepal, 2017). For example, when the insect reaches a new habitat, they are able to quickly adapt to suit the new ecological niche through generations of natural selection (Jacobs, 2013).

Flight is an efficient use of energy, so insects are capable of flying for long periods. The metabolic cost of flight (the number of calories required per unit of lift) is similar to that of birds and bats, although an insect’s flight musculature produces more than two times the power per unit of muscle mass. This incredible efficiency is due to the high elasticity of the thorax and allows insects to travel by flight for long periods of time, over a large distance. For example, the locust Schistocerca gregaria can remain airborne for up to 9 hours without rest (Meyer, 2007).

Locust

There is a vast variety of theories as to why insects haven’t colonised the oceans, ranging from competition from crustaceans filling niches to there being no flowering plants or trees in the open ocean. However, the primary explanation as to why insects have failed to colonise the open ocean appears to be that insects fail to escape from their ocean predators: fish. Other animals, such as crustaceans, have developed strategies to avoid predation, such as descending to the ocean bed. Insects, however, are naturally buoyant due to their air-filled respiratory system so they cannot do this. The respiratory system relies on the presence of gaseous air and at 100m

depth, the total pressure is approximately 10 atmospheres which would reduce the volume of gaseous air, resulting in system failure.

Another strategy used by crustaceans is to become transparent. This is unobtainable for insects because their “glistening” air-filled tracheal system would ruin their transparency (Maddrell, 1998).

[T]he queen honeybee... can produce 4000 eggs each day.

However, in using this hypothesis, it overlooks why insects can survive in saltwater environments in-land. An analysis was carried out, collecting insects and comparing seawater samples to waters from the Salt Range in Punjab, Pakistan, where numerous insect samples were found despite the salinity being 2-5 times higher than seawater. The key difference was the comparatively low calcium content of the seawater. The calcium content of the waters from the Salt Range varied from

Queen bee

10

1.77% to 31.67%, except San Sakesar Lake, where the calcium content was 0.11% and no insects were found. It is thought that the high calcium content in the highly saline waters of the Salt Range that allow insects to keep their body fluids at equilibrium. This suggests that low calcium levels have played a role in limiting insect colonisation of the open ocean (Pruthi, 1932).

To conclude, insects are highly specialised animals that are capable of adapting rapidly to environmental changes. The most important point leading to success is that their short life cycle, along with high fecundity and fertility, allows for a species to adapt through rapid generations of natural selection, developing into highly specialised and highly adaptable species. However, their specialisation is also their downfall in the open ocean, in that their adult form is so specialised to suit terrestrial life that adaptations, such as their air-filled respiratory system, are unsuitable for marine life. To colonise the open ocean, the first step would be for insects to develop suitable adaptations to sustain life in low calcium concentration waters. The next hurdle would be avoiding marine predators, such as fish and crustaceans. However, this is a lesser concern, given that insect species have been able to colonise both fresh and saltwater bodies of water in-land. In all, despite their incredible success on land, insects are simply too specialised to be suited to an entire lifetime in the open ocean.

De Haviland Seaplane

11

Julian Assange - 10 years later, how did we get here?

This research was completed as part of the Churcher’s to Campus (C2C) courses

Molly Steele Upper Sixth

Julian Assange and his cat (officially known as Embassy Cat on Twitter)

In 2010, the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange, was involved in what is considered one of the largest releases of unauthorised information in history.

In the ten years since the event, he and his company have become wrapped in controversy; his supporters argue that his work is for the public interest, whereas his critics argue his work undermines national security. Having faced two extradition requests (one from Sweden, one from the US), and spent nearly seven years in London’s Ecuadorian embassy, Assange still has not faced trial in the US for his involvement in the 2010 WikiLeaks Scandal.

WikiLeaks has continued to release private or unauthorised documents and information, including significant Vatican documents and the emails of Hillary Clinton.

The 2010 WikiLeaks Scandal During the late part of 2009, Chelsea Manning, a US army intelligence analyst, contacted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with the intention of releasing classified information about the US government and armed forces to the public.

In February 2010, WikiLeaks published a diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Iceland, marking the flood of classified information and documents that would go on to be considered the largest release of unauthorised information in history (Ray, 2020).

This included over 250,000 embassy cables, war-related activity reports for Afghanistan and Iraq (90,000 and 400,000 reports respectively), 800 Guantanamo Bay detainee assessment briefs, as well as the contents of several secret-level military and intelligence documents, including CIA detainee

interrogation videos and rules of engagement for Iraq and Afghanistan (Terwilliger, 2019).

to face trial in the US for 18 counts [see appendix 1], the most serious of which are espionage and theft (BBC News, 2019) (The United States Department of Justice, 2019), which may result in up to 175 years in prison (Presse, 2019).

Many of the cables exposed the darker side of international diplomacy, including the names of Saudi donors who were the biggest financiers of terror groups; conversations in which US officials were being instructed to spy on UN leadership; evidence of Arab leaders privately urging the US to do an airstrike on Iran; and an agreement between Washington and Yemen to cover up the use of US planes to bomb al-Qaida targets (Leigh, 2010). One of the most famous leaks occurred in April 2010, when WikiLeaks released footage of possible US war crimes, whereby US soldiers in a helicopter shot dead 18 civilians in Iraq (BBC News, 2019).

Amnesty International believes that the charges against Assange should be dropped: the non-governmental organisation believes that the act of publicising disclosed documents should not be punishable as it “mirrors the conduct that investigative journalists undertake regularly in their professional capacity” (Amnesty International, 2020).

The US Department of Justice argues that the leaks not only threatened the national security of the US but also noted the significant danger this put many individuals in: the leaks included the names of human sources for US intelligence, including local Afghans and Iraqis, journalists, religious leaders, human rights advocates and political dissidents from repressive regimes (The United States Department of Justice, 2019).

Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State who previously served as CIA Director, believes it is time to “call out WikiLeaks for what it really is – a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia” and attorney-general Jeff Sessions announced that Assange’s arrest was a priority (BBC News, 2017).

However, during the 2016 US election race, Donald Trump praised WikiLeaks following the release of the Democratic National Committee emails, including those of Hillary Clinton. Furthermore, Assange claims that Trump offered to grant him clemency if he denied WikiLeaks had links to Russia (Borger & Bowcott, 2020). Evidence has also been released by the FBI that suggests Roger Stone, a political strategist and associate of Donald Trump, exchanged private messages with Assange whereby he offered to support Assange if he was tried in the US (Goodwin, 2020).

Many of the cables exposed the darker side of international diplomacy.

Manning was arrested in May 2010, and in July 2013 was sentenced to 35 years in prison for multiple charges, including espionage and theft (Ray, 2020). After the Swedish government issued a request to extradite Assange in 2010, he claimed diplomatic immunity in 2012, and for nearly seven years remained in London’s Ecuadorian embassy. In April 2019, this right was revoked and he was arrested; he was then sentenced in May for breaching his bail conditions (Taylor, 2019). Assange is in Belmarsh Prison in the UK, and is yet 12

Assange’s UK trial started in February this year, but has yet to progress beyond the first hearing due to coronavirus (Holden, 2020).

A Summary of Events There are four strands to Julian Assange’s story: the WikiLeaks Scandal and repercussions with US government (red), Sweden and its two charges against Assange for sexual molestation and rape (purple), Assange’s relationship with

Ecuador (green), and how the UK courts have dealt with prosecuting him (blue).

seeking asylum (BBC News, 2013). Julian Assange was seeking diplomatic asylum in 2012, after being granted bail by the UK Supreme Court as it decided on Sweden’s request to extradite him. Assange believed

Despite this debate, Assange was able to claim diplomatic asylum and remain in the embassy without being arrested by the The table below will be useful to reference British authorities: under international throughout this essay, and provides the law, it is illegal for the UK to enter the Ecuadorian embassy and remove Assange, as it would 2010 February WikiLeaks release unauthorised files of US government be an infringement of August Swedish Prosecutor’s Office issues a European Arrest Warrant for Assange Ecuador’s state sovereignty.

December Assange is arrested in London, then granted bail

However, after 6 years and 10 months of asylum, June Assange requests diplomatic asylum from Ecuador, and enters its embassy Ecuadorian President Lenín August Ecuador grants Assange diplomatic asylum Moreno announced the termination of Assange’s Swedish prosecutors drop investigation into sexual molestation: they ran out of right to diplomatic asylum.

2015 August time to question him This was the result of his “discourteous and Sweden’s Director of Public Prosecutions announced the drop of the rape aggressive behaviour”, 2017 May investigation his “hostile and threatening declaring of 2019 April Ecuador removes Assange’s right to diplomatic asylum its allied organisation, Metropolitan Police enter Ecuadorian embassy and detain Assange against Ecuador” and May US files 18 charges against Assange in a superseding indictment “the transgression of Assange is sentenced to 50 weeks in Belmarsh Prison for breaching bail conditions international treaties”.

Sweden reopens investigation into sexual assault Assange is accused of June Formal extradition request from the US for Assange having blocked security July Home Secretary Sajid Javid signs US extradition request, sending case to the courts cameras, gained access to November Sweden discontinues investigation into rape allegation security files of the embassy without permission, and 2020 February First hearing for extradition request occurred in Woolwich Crown Court for a week having threatened the May Second hearing is cancelled due to coronavirus government of Ecuador by trying to challenge (BBC News, 2019) (BBC News, 2019) (Holden, 2020) (Taylor, 2019) them legally three times in context for what is to be discussed. For the that if he was to be extradited to Sweden, regards to his treatment in the embassy purpose of this essay, the focus will largely he would then be extradited to the US: (Moreno, 2019). He was given multiple be on the Assange and the Ecuadorian even though the US had not submitted an warnings by the Ecuadorian government, in embassy, as well as the fallout of the extradition request at this time, there had particular in regards to mistreatment of the WikiLeaks scandal. been significant backlash from the US guards, which a few months prior resulted in regards to his involvement in the 2010 in the removal of his security, as well as in Assange, Diplomatic Immunity, and The WikiLeaks Scandal, leading him to believe regards to the conditions in which he kept Ecuadorian Embassy that his political activity put his safety at his living space, with great concerns for his An embassy is a diplomatic post that is risk and his life in imminent danger. pet cat [see appendix 2]. (BBC News, 2018) considered the territory of a foreign nation, with the ability to offer refuge to those Ecuador recognises the right to grant Ultimately, the legal reason for Ecuador diplomatic asylum, which is enshrined in terminating Assange’s diplomatic immunity the Caracas Convention on Diplomatic was due to a series of acts that violated Asylum (1954). The Ecuadorian government both the Havana Convention on Asylum granted Assange’s request for diplomatic (1928) and the Caracas Convention on asylum in August 2012: even though Article Diplomatic Asylum (1954). Article 2, section 3 of the convention states that it is “not 5 of Havana states that “while enjoying lawful to grant asylum to persons who, asylum, refugees shall not be allowed to at the time of requesting it, are under perform acts contrary to the public peace” indictment or on trial for common offences (Anon., 1928). Furthermore, the Caracas … or have not served the respective Convention states that anyone in asylum sentence” (UN - Treaty Series, 2014). cannot interfere in the internal politics of the territorial state (Vecoso, 2019).

This was a controversial move by the Ecuadorian government: they believed that The majority of Assange’s work with Assange faced a situation that meant to him WikiLeaks meddles with the internal an imminent danger, whereas the British affairs of other states by releasing sensitive authorities feared Assange was using information that may disrupt internal diplomatic asylum as a way to escape “the politics. An example of this occurred in regular process of the courts” (Värk, 2012).

2019, when WikiLeaks released Vatican Priti Patel documents which exposed alleged 2012

May

UK Supreme Court rules Assange should be extradited to Sweden

13

However, Assange has the ability to appeal against the extradition ruling, meaning hearings could be extended for at least another year. He would be able to appeal up to the UK Supreme Court or the European Court of Human Rights. Although the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2012 that the allegedly harsh conditions in US prisons do not breach human rights (Casciani, 2020), the Home Secretary, now Priti Patel, has the ability to step in and reverse Sajid Javid’s agreement to the extradition, thereby blocking the court’s decision.

Chelsea Manning

corruption in the Catholic Church; key members of WikiLeaks visited Assange before and after this and multiple sources have stated that Assange still works for them (Moreno, 2019). This highlights Assange’s breach of international treaties, as well as his failure to abide by his promise to the Ecuadorian government to stop working for WikiLeaks.

This resulted in Assange being arrested on 11th April 2019. He was then sentenced to 50 weeks for breaching his bail conditions.

(BBC News, 2019) Julian Assange – What will happen next?

British extradition law means that the judge does not have to be provided with evidence that the suspect is guilty or not.

Rather it requires the requesting nation, in this case the US, to explain to the UK

courts that there is a case that needs answering. This can happen as the UK has a list of countries, including the US, which it believes has laws and safeguards in place that guarantee independent judges and a legal right to a fair trial. (Casciani, 2020) However, the Extradition Act (2003) bans extraditing anyone to face trial in a country that has the death penalty, unless the requesting nation has promised not to impose it (Houses of Commons, 2003). This means that, if the courts agree to extradite Assange, it will be conditional upon the US agreeing not to impose the death penalty.

Extradition requests also require the consent of the Home Secretary, which was gained in 2019 when Sajid Javid signed off on the request (BBC News, 2019).

In 2012, Theresa May did just this; she blocked the motion to extradite Gary McKinnon to the US, as she feared the extradition would likely lead to a high risk of him ending his life (he had both Asperger’s and depression) and therefore viewed the extradition request as incompatible with his human rights (BBC News, 2012).

Assange himself is considered by many to have ill health – with 60 doctors from around the world writing an open letter to Priti Patel requesting that she moves Assange out of Belmarsh Prison, and that he undergoes an “urgent expert medical assessment of both his physical and psychological state of health” (Presse, 2019).

It is possible that he may be considered too frail, whether physically or mentally, to be able to be tried in the US – therefore giving Priti Patel the ability to block the extradition entirely.

Ultimately, the trial of Julian Assange in the US hinges on the decision of the courts, and the response of the Home Secretary.

Charge

Name

Reference Law

1

Conspiracy To Obtain, Receive and Disclose National Defence Information

18 U.S.C § 793(g)

2-4

Unauthorised Obtaining of National Defence Information Detainee Assessment Briefs, State Department Cables, Iraq Rules of Engagement Files

18 U.S.C § 793 (b) and 2

5-8

Attempted Unauthorised Obtaining and Receiving of National Defence Information Detainee Assessment Briefs, State Department Cables, Iraq Rules of Engagement Files

18 U.S.C § 793 (c) and 2

9-11

Unauthorised Disclosure of National Defence Information Detainee Assessment Briefs, State Department Cables, Iraq Rules of Engagement Files

18 U.S.C § 793 (d) and 2

12-14

Unauthorised Disclosure of National Defence Information Detainee Assessment Briefs, State Department Cables, Iraq Rules of Engagement Files

18 U.S.C § 793 (e) and 2

15-17

Unauthorised Disclosure of National Defence Information

18 U.S.C § 793 (e)

18

Conspiracy To Commit Computer Intrusion

18 U.S.C §§ 371 and 1030

Appendix 1: WikiLeaks Scandal – The Charges (The United States Department of Justice, 2019)

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Dissociative identity disorder: the multiple voices of Psychology This article was published in the ATP Today magazine Connie Batt Lower Sixth

likely that they will be able to integrate it into their autobiographical narrative if they do not have the words to describe it or anyone willing to listen and care for them. Therefore, traumatic events become dissociated.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID), previously known as multiple personality disorder, is characterised by a fragmentation of identity. The personality of the one person is comprised of many ‘parts’ or ‘alters’ that are not functioning together in a smooth, coordinated and flexible way; the single person does not have a unitary single sense of self, put perceives themselves to be multiple. DID reflects a failure to integrate various aspects of identity, memory and consciousness into a single multidimensional self.

People diagnosed with DID may experience feeling like a stranger to themselves or feeling as if there are different people within their mind. This can cause them to feel uncertain about their identity. This disruption in identity involves a change in sense of self which causes a shift in behaviour, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition and motor function.

Some people experience amnesia, so they do not remember what has happened when another alter has been in control.

This can cause frequent gaps in memories of personal history, for example people, locations and events. Individuals may report hearing voices and trains of thought over which they have no control. Others experience a sense of physical change; their bodies suddenly feel different, such as the body of a small child or someone big and muscular.

Alters each have their own names, ages, genders, voices, histories and mannerisms.

Each alter perceives the environment and self differently. Some people feel that they have one ‘main’ part of their identity that feels most like ‘you’; this is referred to as the host identity and may be the alter that presents to others most frequently.

Some people with DID prefer to refer to themselves as “we” as it better represents their identity. Particular identities may emerge in specific circumstances and become the driver of the mind; they gain control of the mind and body, however the individual experiencing this may not have control as to when different alters decide to take over.

Dissociation is a defence mechanism that helps people cope during trauma. This can become a dissociative disorder if the environment is no longer traumatic but the individual acts as if it still is; the dissociation needed to protect themselves suggests that the individual has not been able to process past traumatic events.

People who develop DID frequently report having experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse and/or severe neglect during childhood.

Brand, Classen, Lanius et al found that amongst their patients with dissociative disorders, 86% reported a history of sexual abuse and 79% a history of physical abuse. Taking into account the amnesia between different alters, these percentages could be even higher if they had been able to recall the trauma. In childhood, the brain and personality are still developing which means any trauma experienced can have a long-term effect. DID is intimately associated with attachment, and attachment patterns are formed from a young age, providing a template for the rest of life. If children do not feel supported to cope with difficult emotions and situations, they are more likely to use dissociation as a way of dealing with trauma. It is less

The psychodynamic approach would suggest that DID could be caused by childhood experiences. This implies that trauma at a young age will significantly influence an individual’s adult life. The ego protects itself using defence mechanisms.

In the case of trauma, such as physical abuse, the trauma would be repressed into the unconscious, and effectively forgotten.

However, the thoughts of our unconscious can be expressed in dreams. People with DID may have post-traumatic symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks or startle responses. Freud would suggest that dream analysis therapy could be used to decode the manifest content of the nightmare into the latent meaning, the therapist would have to reverse the dream work processes.

The cognitive approach would highlight the internal mental processes of the different alters. Each alter perceives the world differently which would lead cognitive psychologists to research perception, memory, language and attention of the different alters. However, it is very difficult to investigate internal mental processes. Wundt, a pioneer experimental psychologist, advocated an adapted form of ‘scientific’ introspection to isolate and identify the constituent parts of consciousness to try and infer what is occurring inside an individual’s head.

Dissociation is a defence mechanism that helps people cope during trauma.

15

The biological approach may suggest that people are more likely to develop DID if the individual has close biological relatives who also have the disorder.

They would argue that genetics may play a role in inheriting the disorder. They may suggest that the disorder could be caused by neurotransmitters and prescribe antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs to help control the psychological symptoms.

Given the concentration of high-value economic sectors in big cities, is a promise to reduce significantly regional inequalities by ‘levelling up’ possible to fulfil?

This essay was submitted to the Young Economist of the Year competition Jack Ramseyer Lower Sixth

Levelling up is a phrase introduced by Boris Johnson during the 2019 election campaign, in which he used to try to convince less prosperous towns and constituencies to join the Conservative boat. He was promising to ‘level up’ their towns, to upgrade their opportunity in life and reduce regional inequality across the UK. For this question to be answered effectively, four questions must be answered. What are the problems with regional inequality across the UK? Why have these occurred? How are we able to ‘level up’? And is this promise truly feasible?

In the UK, we are seeing London strive further ahead of all other regions, notably Wales, the North East and Northern Ireland, based on GDP per head. This is not just a recent problem, however. During the 1900s, London’s GDP per worker was 30% higher than the national average. We did see this gap close during the 1950s due to tough economic times, but since the 1980s, this gap has widened again and most likely will not close anytime soon in our capitalist society. This is indicated by the way in which just over 50% of the UK’s financial services and 45% of our knowledge intensive business services are found in the centre of cities. This signposts that we are not seeing huge numbers of these high-value economic sectors in depressed towns for many reasons which I will come

on to. Furthermore, the UK’s regional productivity gap is the widest it has been for a century, we saw the gap widen when rapid deindustrialisation massacred North England in the 1980s and 1990s leaving regional inequality of productivity as high now as at the start of the 20th century. To exacerbate this problem, what followed was lower spending on transport infrastructure in North England’s regions than in London. So therefore, the cities in which this infrastructure was installed became more successful from the attraction of transnational companies (TNCs) which increased the value of the economic sectors in the cities as they attracted investment. Therefore, for this promise to be achieved, we must reverse this trend that has been a problem for almost a century now.

This problem of regional inequality has developed ever since the UK started to industrialise in the late 1800s. Towns and cities which thrived from the mining of

coal or from the fishing industries, are now losing their fundamental reason for existing, their identity. Businesses were more attracted to bigger cities as people moved from left-behind rural areas, such as coastal towns including Blackpool, to work in the cities such as London and Manchester. We are also witnessing how cities are becoming younger with innovation from the agglomeration of highly educated and talented people, whereas, coastal towns are growing older and outdated.

This very high proportion of old people hurts the dynamism of these areas and our ageing population is worsening this problem that is increasingly difficult to fix. Not only are these areas suffering from ageing populations, but they suffer from the loss of prosperous people who move to London where there are plentiful opportunities compared to their old, impoverished town.

The issue is that this is aggravating the regional disparity problem rather than helping our economy grow from what this worker can add to the agglomeration within the cities such as London and Manchester This illustrates to us the clear scale of the challenge that Boris Johnson has set

Towns and cities which thrived from the mining of coal or from the fishing industries, are now losing their fundamental reason for existing, their identity.

16

himself and how there are copious factors he must consider.

So, what can we do to try and ‘level up’ these deprived areas in the UK to the level of our prosperous cities today? The obvious answer would be to look towards education, the most important tool for promoting equal opportunities. If everyone in society is entitled to go to school and university, we can ensure a certain degree of equal opportunities. Therefore, in the recent 2020 Budget, the government announced it was committed to giving everyone the opportunity to fulfil their potential, regardless of where they are from. They allocated an extra £7.1 billion for schools in England by 2022-2023, compared to 2019-20 budgets. We also saw an allocation of £1.5 billion over 5 years to bring the facilities of colleges everywhere in England up to a good level, and to support improvements to colleges to raise the quality and efficiency of vocational education of provision. Most impressively, the government focussed on regional disparities and provided £7 million to support a total of 11 maths schools in England, covering every region. But we must take into account that money cannot fix everything. Throughout the UK, money could be invested into improved facilities for education, however, this may not have the full effect expected as students may not use them to full efficiency due to their attitude towards education and training.

As well as looking towards education to develop the rural parts of the UK, the government could also look towards using infrastructure to help us climb out of this hole. Infrastructure would not only provide surplus numbers of jobs in areas where structural unemployment has occurred, such as Sheffield, but would also have a positive feedback impact where investment would only lead to more investment. The government have definitely glanced, if not stared, towards the use of infrastructure as it would allow high-value economic sectors to move into new regions and would trigger new agglomeration in these areas. HS2 is a perfect example of this, it provides numerous jobs for the unemployed between London, Birmingham and Manchester. It provides access to London from Manchester in just over an hour, potentially allowing these huge companies to move out to areas along the HS2 route as they now have greater access to these areas.

But is this going to be easy to fulfil? If we recall the French experience regarding the construction of the early Paris to Lyon branch of the TGV then HS2 may just be a repeat. The TGV operated in the opposite way to what was expected; businesses in

Lyon moved their high-tech services to Paris, in some cases their headquarters.

Businesses were meant to move out to Lyon and smaller towns along the route. Instead they saw movement from these smaller towns to larger towns along the route.

The overall impact of this project was that geographical inequalities increased and no ‘levelling up’ effects were felt until 30 years later. Even then they were still very small.

Developing rural parts of the UK will also require an improvement in mobile coverage because as of October 2019, 23 million consumers struggle to connect to 4G. This is a huge problem that requires addressing to ‘level up’ because without good mobile coverage in deprived areas how can we invest there? With an improvement in mobile coverage across the UK we would see a huge boost to consumers as the speed and efficiency of services increase, potentially causing quality of life to increase in these areas. Not only will it boost spending, it will allow homes and businesses to become better connected, so businesses in these areas can start ‘levelling up’ these towns prior to investment. The government undeniably detected this, so it allocated a £5 billion investment in gigabit broadband rollout in the hardest-to-reach areas of the UK, hoping to boost regional economic growth to close the digital divide.

Boris Johnson even keenly boasted how 4G coverage will reach 95% of the UK by 2025.

But will it? This operation would require a huge number of workers to build these networks in such a short space of time and so does seem slightly ambiguous and optimistic.

Lastly, we could look towards an increase in the national minimum wage, desirably increasing the income of the low paid

Rishi Sunak

17

and reducing wage inequality. This has worked recently with the number of UK workers benefiting from minimum wage rising from 830,000 in 1999 to 2 million in 2018. The effects this could have would allow productivity to increase, potentially destroying our regional inequalities.

Productivity would increase as it makes firms look towards cheaper alternatives like investment into automation, so they can reduce costs and employ more workers. This was discussed in the recent Budget and the national living wage was increased to reach £10.50 an hour by 2024 as the government set a target for the wage to reach two-thirds of median earnings. However, sadly it is not that easy as it risks unemployment; firms cannot afford the workers and so it would worsen inequality as poverty would rise in the UK. These rising costs of production may just be passed onto the consumers via higher prices, so in effect we would see inflationary pressures from the rising prices within the economy.

The idea of moving high-value economic sectors to deprived regions in the UK may never be seen. We will always see regional disparities in the UK because, as the old-aged towns become more prosperous, our big cities will continue to blossom.

However, along with the government, I also believe education, infrastructure and improved mobile coverage will have a colossal positive impact on our regional disparities.

18

19

The Ayia Napa rape case 2019 This research was completed as part of the Churcher’s to Campus (C2C) courses Eva Ihezue Upper Sixth

Harriet Hall

On 17th July 2019, a British nineteen year-old, who was on a working holiday in Cyprus, gave a statement to the police claiming that she had been attacked and raped by twelve young Israelis in the Pambos Napa Rocks Hotel where she was staying . The men were arrested the same day but after eight days of detention, five of the men were released from prison as no DNA evidence was found to link them to the alleged crime. The rest of the men were released only a few days later.

The reason for their release was due to the fact that the nineteen-year-old retracted her statement on 27th July after further questioning by the police. She was then charged with the Cypriot offence of Public Mischief. Public mischief is defined by the Cypriot Criminal Code as knowingly providing police with “a false statement concerning an imaginary offence,” and carries a maximum jail sentence of a year and a 1,700-euro fine. The teenager then spent more than a month in prison in the capital, Nicosia before she was granted bail at the end of August. During this time she rejected her retraction statement and said that she had been forced to produce it by the police. Regardless of this, the case was brought to trial and on 30th December, after nearly two months in trial, the Paralimni court ruled that she was guilty of causing public mischief by falsely accusing the men of raping her.

On 7th January Judge Michalis Papathanasiou gave the teenager a fourmonth sentence suspended for three years (this means that if she abides by the law for three years, she will not serve the four months in prison). The day the verdict was given she returned home. It is said that an appeal will be made against the conviction and sentence3, due to a number of events, both before and during her trail, that the lawyers defending her believe show that this was a ‘miscarriage of justice’ and greatly influenced the verdict.

Michael Polak, the teenager’s lawyer for the trial and the director of Justice Abroad, says that their appeal is based on the fact that the retraction statement was given in what the teenager thought was a witness interview made ten days after her own allegation against the boys, when no lawyer or translator was present.

This, he says, is a breach of The European Convention on Human Rights and also Cypriot constitutional law, which is based on the former. Polak is referring to article 6 of the Convention on Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to a fair trial and is allowed a lawyer present in the interview and an interpreter if the questioner cannot be understood. Neither of these was present.

Having a lawyer present at a police questioning is extremely important so that she or he can identify any irregularities in questions or procedures. The solicitors also advise the witness of any consequences the answers might have in a court.

This is especially important in this case as the teenager had said that she was: “coerced into signing a confession revoking the criminal complaint” and did not realise that in doing so she was admitting to having given false evidence that could lead to a charge against her.

considered a suspect in a case rather than a witness. Such interviews are conducted ‘under caution’ and are recorded to be used as evidence. As nothing is recorded in police stations in Cyprus, this presented a further problem, in that there was no evidence of exactly what the teenager or the police had said in either one of her interviews. This made it difficult to prove or disprove whether she was in fact encouraged to write a retraction statement.

Michael Polak stated: “After providing a further written statement, the police officer told her that he believed that she was lying about the allegations and that he wanted to help her. He told her to write a confession and that if she did not do so he would arrest her friends in Cyprus for conspiracy.”

It might be said that the average person would be unlikely to withdraw a statement that was actually true. However, Doctor Kristine Tizzard, a psychologist working with the teenager, said that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The doctor explained that people suffering from PTSD have been known to make retraction statements to get out of the stressful situation.

This might explain the discrepancies in the teenager’s comments, but this evidence was not taken into consideration by the judge in the trial.

“Public mischief is defined by the Cypriot Criminal Code as knowingly providing police with “a false statement concerning an imaginary offence”.

In the UK, the police are expected to inform citizens if they are potentially 20

A further criticism of the trial procedure was that the judge refused to consider evidence that a rape had been committed, claiming that the case was for public nuisance only and that the trial was not about whether a rape had been comitted.

The teenager’s defence team argued that this prevented them from putting forward the evidence to show that her account was correct. The definition of public nuisance is that the statement must concern an imaginary offence.

During the trial, the teenager said that she had agreed to have sex with one of the men, but that the other eleven men had burst into

The British media have now expressed their concerns over the safety of female tourists visiting Cyprus due to this case and others that have occurred before it. Amnesty International reported in 2018 that in Cyprus the rate of reporting incidents of sexual violence to the police is the highest in the EU. It stands at twenty-seven percent compared to the EU average of fourteen percent. However the conviction rate, as in many countries, is falling.

the hotel room and attacked her. She could not see all of their faces because one of the men was kneeling on her shoulders. She explained that once she had left the room her friends took her to a medical clinic and the police were called. She put forward evidence from a forensic pathologist doctor, Marius Matsakis, who examined her and found thirty-five bruises on the teenager’s eyes, bottom, knees and upper legs. He said that the injuries were “consistent with rape.

Anyone who had any medical experience can see that they are not jelly fish stings.”

This was in response to the prosecution which had having identified the marks as jellyfish stings in the trial. The defence was also not allowed to highlight problems with police procedure. For example, Marios Matsakis claimed that the rape kit was incomplete and that the teenager’s clothing was not examined. The defence team noted that the police did not take any pictures of her upper body, which would have been important in the evidence as the girl had said that she had been pinned down by her shoulders.

Independent which brought up other accounts of victims who have experienced mistreatment under the law. This included the American Marie Adler who felt she had been treated as suspect when she was questioned for hours about her rape without the presence of a lawyer.8 In her case, Marie had told the police that she had been raped at knifepoint by a burglar but could not remember details of his appearance. Similar to the teenager in Ayia Napa, she had retracted her statement and was then charged with false reporting under section 1038 of the U.S. code. It was later proven using forensic evidence that Marie Adler had been attacked by Marc Patrick O’Leary, who was found to be a serial rapist.

Many rape victims feel as though they are being treated as liars rather than victims, even though the Ministry of Justice in 2012 estimated that only around three percent of 1149 rape cases they analysed could be perceived to be ‘malicious’ and even then none of them could be proven to be false.

In response to the case, many human rights and feminist organisations urged Cyprus’s attorney-general to dismiss the case. They included Susanna Pavlou of the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies.

In addition to providing support outside of the court, approximately twenty-five protesters from the Network Against Violence Against Women sat in the court during her trial. They wore gags over their mouths showing an image of stitched-up lips.

[I]n Cyprus the rate of reporting incidents of sexual violence to the police is the highest in the EU.

There was a lot of media attention surrounding the case, much of which supported the teenager.

One of the teenager’s lawyers, John Hobbs, helped set up a GoFundMe page for the nineteen-year old’s legal representation titled ‘help teen victim get justice in Cyprus’. It raised over £150,000.

The case also highlighted the treatment that many victims of rape across the world say they experience. Harriet Hall, a journalist, published an article in The

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On the face of it, this case seemed to be a simple legal matter where a witness had admitted that she had made false allegations and faced the legal consequences of her actions. However, it has highlighted the importance of a fair police procedure and trial process. In addition, it has brought to public attention the difficulties that people who alleged that they have been raped face within the legal system.

There have been theories suggesting that the Cypriot court did not want to take a rape case against the men to trial over fears of bad publicity affecting the amount of tourism the country receives. If that was the case, the approach was arguably unsuccessful given the amount of publicity the teenagers trial has received. Certainly, the holiday company Summer Takeover released a statement early in 2020 writing that: “Summer takeover takes the safety of our guests extremely seriously. We will no longer be operating in Ayia Napa in any capacity. Any affiliation to Pambos Napa of rocks has been removed from our website and no dates are available to book.”

Michael Polak

Camera obscura Alex Mearns Upper Sixth

For the Churcher’s to Campus (C2C) Art course students were given a word each week (in this case ‘viewpoint’) which they fused with another word from a list of 20 given at the start (in this case ‘urban’).

Urban Viewpoint This photo of a camera obsucra has inspired my work for this project

Pinhole camera A pinhole camera is photography in its simplest form.

Inspired by the basic principles of photography, it is a quick way to capture a one-off image. The pinhole camera was inspired by the camera obscurer, being simply a lightproof box with a pinhole in one side

Contoso Ltd.

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Camera obscura

Camera (latin for box, chamber or room) Obscure (latin for dark)

The latin translation gives us a clue as to what the camera obscura is. This was the first stages of the development of a camera in which a whole (later with a lens) projected an image onto a wall. Artists originally used the obscura to create accurate paintings of the landscape around them I visited the camera obscura last year and was able to take this photo of the image it produced of Edinburgh

Vera Lutter

Vera lutter is a photogarpher, that converts rooms and trailers into darkroom’s or large pinhole cameras. She exposes views of cityscaped or building sited directly onto large scale photgrpahic paper or light semsitive materials

Contoso Ltd.

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My own response In response to Vera Lutter’s work of transforming large spaces into pinhole camera’s, I decided to turn my room into a pinhole camera. To do this, I locked the door, turned off all the lights and blocked the window with aluminium foil. I then gouged a circular hole in the centre of the foil. The sunlight entering through the aperture in the foil projected an inverted image onto my back wall

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Paelozoology Will Clark Upper Sixth

Charles Darwin

Throughout the evolutionary history of animals, there have been many integral driving forces that have combined to push animals to the evolutionary point they are at today, with millions of complex organisms deriving from once singlecelled organisms inhabiting the Earth.

Each of these driving forces has certainly been integral and essential in its own right, making it difficult to pinpoint a “most influential” factor. It is unlikely that any of these developments could have happened without the others happening.

However it is fair to say that some factors, such as mitochondria being absorbed into eukaryotic cells, has a distinctly more noticeable physical advantage than a factor such as the predator-prey relationship, as this is more of a behavioural evolutionary trait, compared to the drastic physical changes caused by the engulfment of mitochondria by eukaryotes. The symbiotic relationship formed as this event happened helped shape the modern cells as we study them today. Therefore it is a factor that cannot be overlooked and is clearly monumentally important in the development of animals. However, another factor that is perhaps often overlooked is the ability to reproduce sexually, and the numerous advantages this trait brings with it. Sexual reproduction is one of the most complex and bizarre scientific processes we can study, and the creation of a new

lifeform that is genetically unique from its predecessor brings some serious advantages in the evolutionary game, helping modern animals to push through the evolutionary boundaries that other lifeforms have faced.

The origin of sexual reproduction is widely disputed, with the first species to utilise this evolutionary tool being highly uncertain. Despite 99.99% of eukaryotes being known to reproduce sexually as opposed to asexual reproduction, we still do not know exactly how and why this process first came about. One argument for the origin of sexual reproduction states that organisms simply engage in sexual reproduction as opposed to asexual as it is pleasurable. However, on the large-scale evolutionary picture, this theory seems rather out of place and far-fetched. Considering that the first eukaryotic organisms to engage in sexual reproduction were single-celled protists that appeared over two billion years ago, this argument starts to seem rather unlikely. This is further confirmed when considering the fact that organisms capable of producing pleasure-inducing neurons only evolved around 1.3 billion years ago, casting doubt on the pleasurable aspect of sexual reproduction for this 700-million-year period. The eukaryotic cells that engaged in sexual reproduction in this time tended to transfer genetic material via processes such as conjugation, transformation and transduction, all of which come under the umbrella of parasexuality.

adapt to their environments, as natural selection does. However, as I will discuss later, producing more variable offspring is not always favourable, and, even more surprisingly, sexual reproduction does not always increase the variability among the offspring.

Although the dawn of sexual reproduction has always been a puzzle for scientists, it seemed to puzzle no one more than Darwin himself. Although making breakthroughs in the areas of natural selection and evolutionary studies, he wrote in 1862: “We do not even in the least know the final cause of sexuality; why new beings should be produced by the union of the two sexual elements. The whole subject is as yet hidden in darkness.” He could not explain the reasons why many organisms and animals will go to great and troublesome lengths to attract a mate and be completely preoccupied by sex, even if it is time consuming and troublesome for the creature. Why would animals make the transition from asexual reproduction, a form that is known to be far more efficient and less troublesome, to sexual reproduction, a time consuming and often unpredictable lottery of creating a new generation? This can partly be explained again by August Weismann’s theory of “individual differences” upon which natural selection acts. Reproducing sexually causes the offspring to carry a

Sexual reproduction is one of the most complex and bizarre scientific processes.

Another theory as to the original reason that sexual reproduction was brought into the behaviour of modern animals states that it is because of its ability to produce genetically variable offspring, allowing natural selection to take its course. This is a far more reasonable theory, and dates back to the work of German biologist August Weismann in the late 1800s.

It is natural that organisms would reproduce in a way that best lets them evolve and 24

beneficial mix of good genes from both of the parents, causing them to respond better to the environmental stresses caused by a changing or harsh environment.

This contrasts to the carbon copies of an organism produced by asexual reproduction, whereby this cloning process could leave the offspring in grave danger. This leads on to the fact that sexual reproduction is thought to speed

evolution up - which can be seen as an extreme advantage in a changing climate or environment. Whereas an asexual reproducer may be left behind and unable to cope, the natural variation caused by sexual reproduction allows the organism to respond to these changes and increase the frequency of this favourable phenotype in the gene pool, furthering its’ species survival.

Many organisms are able to reproduce both sexually and asexually, including aphids, slime moulds, sea anemones, and many more creatures which can do this. When environmental conditions are favourable, these organisms reproduce on a mass scale using asexual reproduction, in order to take advantage of this increase in survivability. This could be caused by a new and abundant food supply, adequate shelter, optimum pH or other climatic factors. However, it is only when the conditions become unfavourable that sexual reproduction is preferred, as it enables a mixing of the gene pool and allows variation. This variation in the

offspring naturally allows some to be better suited to this new, hostile environment and provides a mechanism for selective adaptation to occur. If organisms were not presented with this choice millions of years ago, then this would make it impossible for many of the modern animals we know today to exist at all. This is because it is extremely likely that one singular change in the environment, ranging from a dip in the food supply to a monumental event such as an asteroid hitting the Earth, could cause the entire species to die out, without any variation to utilise.

Leading on from this point, is the idea of disease resistance within a population. An asexually reproducing population, although it may produce large quantities of offspring within a short time, would be far more susceptible to a new disease that there is not an immunological defence against yet.

Species that reproduce asexually, even when faced with a deadly disease or infection, would have a far higher likelihood of some members having natural immunity due to random variation, and this would allow the population to survive. The members of the species that are less vulnerable to the disease would be able to survive and reproduce, therefore passing on these disease-resistant genes to their offspring and increasing the allele frequency of this characteristic in the gene pool. As more susceptible members die out, there would be a shift in the population towards organisms with the immunological response against the disease, and the population members would be able to survive and grow with this new gene embedded within their DNA. Asexually reproducing populations, however, would likely be wiped out due to the lack of variation, meaning that if one member is susceptible to the condition then there is certainly a high chance that the rest of the population is.

[S]exual reproduction is thought to speed evolution up.

However, as mentioned earlier, sex does not actually generate more variable offspring, contrary to popular belief. Although this 25

may often be the case, there are examples where asexual reproduction is actually more favourable in producing variable offspring after selection has taken place.

For example, with a gene that contributes to height in a diploid organism, here, individuals with the genotype aa are the shortest and those with Aa are of intermediate height, with AA being the tallest. If the shortest organisms are able to hide safely and the tallest are too large to be eaten by predators, then this implies that the Aa (intermediate height) organisms are going to be heavily consumed and preyed upon. Amongst the few extremely tall or small organisms that are able to survive, there will be a huge variation between heights, and this brings in the question of how sexual reproduction would actually be an advantage at this point. It is logical to use asexual reproduction in this particular circumstance in order to keep the extreme heights that prevent the species from being preyed upon rather than to use the Hardy-Weinberg principle of sexual reproduction to stabilise the height distribution, thus allowing more of the species to be preyed upon. This would result in variation actually being reduced by sexual reproduction and would certainly be unfavourable for the species involved.

However, this argument is overly simplified and, although it illustrates a general point, these circumstances are rare and cannot account for all examples of sexual reproduction.

Having taken all of these points into account, it is clear that sexual reproduction is certainly one of the driving forces leading to the evolution of modern animals, and that it can be argued to be the singular most important reason that modern animals were able to evolve. The variation caused (most of the time) by sexual reproduction is extremely important and without it a huge number of organisms would not have been able to survive changes in their environments causing them to become hostile and dangerous.

Which evolutionary innovation has been the most influential, and why?

Grace Mortiz Upper Sixth

Throughout the history of animal life, environmental and ecological shifts have resulted in both small and large scale evolutionary diversifications. Examples include the invasion of land around 400 million years ago, giving way to new habitats and niches for many organisms (Erwin 2015).

Mass extinctions, namely the one at the end of the Permian period which wiped out 95% of earth’s species, have also created new evolutionary opportunities (Lumen Learning n.d.). These events have been the origins of evolutionary innovations, which are defined as ‘traits that produce something novel compared to before’ (Dall’Olio 2012). In this article the evolution of warmbloodedness, the eye and the mitochondria will be discussed, in order to conclude which of these innovations may have been the most influential.

In today’s world, the only warm-blooded animals, otherwise known as endotherms, are mammals and birds. The origins of warm-bloodedness is a controversial issue because anatomical features that were thought to be linked to warm bloodedness have also been found in cold-blooded reptiles. These features include turbinates, which are bones inside the nose or snout, which increase the distance that air has to travel to get into the body. This allows it to warm up on the way in. What we do know is that the development of a warm-blooded metabolism allowed ancestors of mammals and birds to survive the giant mass extinction at the end of the Permian around 252 million years ago (Rey n.d.).

A recent study that looked at the ratios of oxygen isotopes in fossils has suggested that ancestors of mammals may have acquired warm-bloodedness between 259-252 million years ago, earlier than previously thought. This in turn suggests that climate may have been the selection pressure that triggered the evolution of warm-bloodedness (Rey n.d.). There are other theories as to why warmbloodedness arose in our ancestors - for example, as a result of pathogens. In order to achieve ‘fever’ like high body temperatures that boosts the effectiveness of some immune cells, cold-blooded animals, or ‘ectotherms’ would have had to sit in the sun for extended periods, as they cannot maintain a high body temperature

internally (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 2019). Endotherms can maintain a constant high body temperature internally, which allows the immune system to deal with pathogens more effectively. Logan, a Tupper Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), suggests that “by keeping their bodies warm at nearly all times, mammals and birds effectively prime their immune systems to withstand virulent pathogens, and this may be part of the reason the extremely costly strategy of endothermy evolved in the first place.”

Perhaps therefore, warm-bloodedness holds critical advantages over ectothermy, making it a particularly influential innovation.

Endotherms are not restricted by thermal variation and can enter new habitats and niches. However ectotherms may be sensitive to environmental fluctuations, and in searching for warm spots to initiate ‘fever’, they may struggle to find food, to mate, and may be more exposed to predators. (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 2019).

Endotherms are not restricted by thermal variation and can enter new habitats and niches.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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Schwab (2018) describes the existence of eyes as “so basic to our profession that we do not consider how and why vision appeared or evolved on earth at all”. He believes that “sight is an evolutionary gift” but it was not an “ineluctable” one. Through the process of evolution by natural selection, different types of ‘eyes’ have emerged over

Figure 1

time. It is estimated that the first animals with some kind of simple ‘eye’ structure lived about 550 million years ago. Using the less complex light sensitive structures found in living organisms today, scientists have suggested scenarios by which the first eye like structure may have come about, perhaps starting out as a simple, pigmented, light sensitive spot on the skin.

This light sensitive spot may have given the organism some kind of small survival advantage, for example, allowing it to evade a predator. A random mutation at some point in time may have led to a depression in the light sensitive patch, sharpening the ‘vision’ further. At the same time, the rim around the pit may have narrowed, allowing light to enter through a small hole - like a pinhole camera. Every change that the ‘eye’ underwent would have had to give some kind of survival advantage in order to be passed on. Eventually, the light sensitive cells evolved into the retina, the layer of

cells and pigment which is situated in the back of the eye. Over time a lens formed at the front of the eye. Interestingly, eyes corresponding to each and every one of these stages have been discovered in living species today (Nilsson n.d.). This fact supports this particular scientific theory about how complex eyes, like that of a human, may have evolved.

Clearly, the evolution of the eye has been a massively influential innovation. It gave our ancestors and existing species today the ability to see what was around them.

This has given them a survival advantage in terms of allowing them to more easily forage for food, evade predators find prey and move into new niches. It should be noted however that organisms with poorer vision make up for this with other evolutionary ‘gifts’, an example being bats, which use echolocation in order to find their prey.

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Perhaps one of the earliest, and most influential innovations in our evolutionary history came about when only 2 domains existed, the prokaryotes Bacteria and Archaea.

Somewhere between 2.7 and 3.5 billion years ago (Virtual Fossil Museum n.d.), an Archaea engulfed a Bacterial cell, perhaps attempting to eat it. Somehow this bacterial cell survived and was able to replicate inside the archaea. Equally, the Bacterial cell was beneficial in some way to the Archaea.

Eventually the Bacterial cell became what we know today as the mitochondria - often referred to as ‘The powerhouse of the cell’, and a new Domain - the Eukaryotes, was born (see figure 1). This is known as the Endosymbiotic theory. The mitochondria is an extremely important organelle essential to eukaryotic life because it is the site of cellular respiration, the process by which oxygen and glucose are converted into an energy storage molecule, ATP. This ATP is vital for metabolic reactions, cell growth and division, and therefore the survival of a whole domain of organisms (MitoQ 2017).

In conclusion, the evolution of warmbloodedness, while costly in terms of energy loss, is highly influential in giving a survival advantage to mammals in birds in terms of opening up new niches where environmental conditions are different.

It also may be highly beneficial in terms of the immune system. However, a high proportion of the animal kingdom is coldblooded, so perhaps ectotherms make up for it with minimal energy loss. The eye is certainly a gift of evolution, opening up new opportunities that organisms did not have before. But, as Schwab (2018) noted, the gift of sight was not ‘ineluctable.’

Without good eyesight, organisms have evolved other methods of finding prey etc, like echolocation, which is likely just as effective as good eyesight in its own way. It cannot be ignored that the evolution of the mitochondria has had a huge effect on the species alive today, allowing the survival of all multicellular organisms on earth, as well as much of the unicellular life, like yeast.

For this reason, it should be considered one of the most influential innovations in evolutionary history.

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At what point should a child be tried as an adult?

This article was published in the ATP Today magazine Imogen Barr Lower Sixth

whether, if Thompson and Venables had been tried as adults, they would they have recommitted or not.

Emperor Meiji

Research shows that children have the ability to know the difference between right and wrong even before they reach the age of two, and scientists have found that even babies aged between 19 and 21 months understand fairness and can apply it in different situations. If this is true, why are defendants of children who break the law using their ‘lack of maturity and knowledge of consequences’ as an excuse for why they committed the crime?

The age of criminal responsibility in the UK is 10 years old which means that anyone who has committed a crime under the age of 10 cannot be arrested or charged with the crime. Children between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they have committed a crime, however they are treated differently to adults and are dealt with by youth courts; they have different sentences and do not go to adult prisons if they are convicted.

There are lots of cases, outside of the UK, where children have been tried as adults, such as in Pennsylvania. Murder automatically moves a child into an adult court regardless of their age. This is because their view is that murder and other heinous crimes are done with intent and that children are fully aware that they are committing the crime. However, Andy Peaden, the head of Leeds Youth Justice Service (representing all heads of youth offending teams in England & Wales) speaking about the Jamie Bulger case (1993)

said that 10 was “ridiculously young to be prosecuting children” and the age should be raised. “When you work with young people on a regular basis it’s absolutely apparent that 10-year-olds are not able to be wholly held to account for the stuff they do”.

The Jamie Bulger case was a horrific murder of a two-year-old boy by two 10-year-old boys (John Venables and Robert Thompson) who took him from his mother in a shopping centre in Liverpool. The boys’ defendants claimed that the boys did not fully understand the consequences of their actions, and therefore should not be tried as harshly as they clearly did not know what they were doing. However, Womack said, “the things that lead a kid to not care if they kill someone make it very hard for them to be part of society.

They don’t look at human life as being very valuable. They see themselves as…unimportant to the system.

Therefore, the system is unimportant to them.” In addition to this, Jon Venables has reoffended since being given a new identity and being let out of rehabilitation, and many people think that the boys should have been treated with more punishments than with ‘rewards’ (rehabilitation) and that the reason he has reoffended is because he was not punished enough. We must ask

This leads to the question of whether children actually know the difference between right and wrong. And even if they do, does this mean that they should be tried as adults? What determines that when you hit 18, you are now legally an adult? Is it when they can legally buy alcohol? Or drive a car? Or buy a house? The human brain does not fully develop until the age of 25.

Should this be the age at which you become an adult? Or should it be a completely different age overall? It has been proven that the frontal lobe, which is extremely important in our decision making, doesn’t finish developing until many years after most cultures in the world consider you an adult. With children under 14, statistics show that there is a good reason to believe that they are cognitively immature enough that they aren’t thinking like an adult, but by the time they reach 14, they should be.

When you bring psychiatric problems into this, it becomes very clear that those with these problems should not necessarily receive the same punishment as those without them. Especially for mental illnesses such as schizophrenia where a lot of their actions are uncontrollable and therefore the person themselves may not be fully aware of what they are doing until they have done it.

The things that lead a kid to not care if they kill someone make it very hard for them to be part of society.

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This could lead to the answer that every case should be looked at on a case by case basis and that maybe age should not be the final factor in deciding whether a ‘child’ is tried as an ‘adult’. There are two things to consider; does their age impact their criminal responsibility, and does the person who has committed the crime have any underlying psychiatric problems. And then you can decide their ‘punishment’.

Can animal testing be justified?

Alice Carr First Year

Animal testing is the use of non-human animals to create new medicines and test the safety of products. Overall people take two approaches toward animal testing. A teleological approach is one in which it is decided whether an action is right or wrong depending on the consequences; in contrast to this there is the deontological approach in which it is decided whether the action is right or wrong depending on the action itself.

must outweigh the potential animal suffering. Someone who holds a teleological view may state that even though the animal being tested on is harmed the benefits gained to humans justify the means. People who believe that testing on animals is moral may believe that humans are distinct from animals. As Peter Singer states, these people: ‘Are interested in justifying certain human practices toward non-humans – practices that cause pain, discomfort, suffering and death.’

Without animal testing, treatments including HIV drugs, antibiotics and more would never have been made.

I chose animal testing because it is still an extremely relevant issue with strong arguments on either side. Animal testing is still a heated debate within the fields of science, religion and philosophy. Animal testing leads to contrasting Buddhist and Christian views, because of their beliefs about the world.

On the one hand someone who takes a teleological approach to ethics might state that animal testing can be justified if the suffering of the animal is minimized in all stages of the experiment and if the human benefits gained could not be obtained using any other forms of testing. Those who take this teleological approach usually believe an animal has instrumental value, meaning the animal has no value in itself and that the animal is used to help us achieve something else.

On the other hand, someone who takes a deontological approach to ethics might state that animal testing is immoral because the animals can be injured or even killed during the testing process.

Usually someone who takes this approach believes that an animal has intrinsic value and that the animal has value in itself and therefore should not be harmed. People who have this view strongly believe that any form of testing is immoral even when the laws are followed. As Peter Singer points out, someone who believes animals have intrinsic value may argue that: ‘While humans are different in a variety of ways from each other and other animals, these differences do not provide a philosophical

Animal testing has aided many of the medical advances of the past century, and still continues to aid our understanding of various diseases, products and cosmetics. In the UK it is illegal to test cosmetic products on animals (figures from the RSPCA). Since 1998 companies have not been able to buy or sell ingredients that have been newly tested on animals. These laws and agreements have been put in place to protect the animals and state that we only test on the animals if absolutely necessary for medical advances.

Because of animal testing many people enjoy a better quality of life. Without animal testing, treatments including HIV drugs, antibiotics and more would never have been made. The benefits accrued 30

defence for denying non-human animals moral consideration.’

A deontologist might state that any form of testing can also lead to further abuse of animals. Laws have been made in order to protect the animals from being harmed in the testing process but these laws can be misused or even ignored. Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) is Europe’s largest animal testing company, but its employees have sometimes misused these laws. An example of this would be a secret recording

by BAUV (a national cruelty free company) called “a dog’s life.” Whilst this was be-

ing filmed there was proof that HLS had broken some laws, for example by abusing a young beagle puppy in the testing process.

Another horrifying story filmed during the documentary showed a young monkey being dissected alive.

The handmade cosmetics company LUSH strongly believe that animal testing is unacceptable. Lush claim that: ‘We recognise that customer safety is of importance but that this can be assured without the use of animals.’ Someone who is against animal testing may state that if all companies had this view toward testing we could drastically reduce how much we test on animals.

as an animal is a major spiritual setback, this is because non-humans can’t engage in conscious acts of self-improvement’(BBC).

They must continue being re-born as animals until their bad karma has worn off.

Early Buddhists and modern Buddhists believe in two different approaches toward ethics. Early Buddhists took more of a teleological approach toward ethics. They believed that as animals were spiritually inferior because they are unable to selfimprove consciously, they could use this to justify harming animals.

Similar to the Buddhist thinking, modern and early Christians have slightly different views towards animals.

Traditional Christians believe that God created animals to benefit humans and that people can do as they please with animals. For them animals do not have souls or reason; they were deemed inferior.

This shows that traditional Christians took a teleological approach towards animals.

Buddhists believe in karma, that souls are reborn as animals because of their past misdeeds.

Buddhists believe in ‘Ahimsa’ or nonviolence towards animals. It seems at first this view would instantly fall into the deontological approach but under the surface it becomes more complex. As the BBC website states: ‘Buddhists say that this (animal testing) is morally wrong if the animal concerned might come to any harm.

However, Buddhists also acknowledge the value that animal experiments may have for human health.’

Some Buddhists acknowledge the fact that even though it is immoral to harm animals, sometimes it is necessary for the health of others. Buddhists believe in karma, that souls are re-born as animals because of their past misdeeds. ‘Being reincarnated

Modern Christians have more sympathy towards animals and are less accepting ‘that there is an unbridgeable gap between animals and human beings’ (BBC website.)

Modern Christians also believe we are the stewards of the environment. This is because the Bible shows that God did not just make a covenant with humans; he also did so with animals.

Leading modern Christian writer on animal rights, Andrew Linzey, teaches that Chris31

tians should treat every living thing with the intrinsic value God gave it. This view is closer to a deontological approach.

Animal testing is a conflicting on-going argument which is a major part of the advances made by our human generation. I believe causing harm to any sentient being immoral, but for medical advances I feel it is necessary. Until an alternative to animal testing is made, I feel it is crucial to continue testing, but only if absolutely necessary.

I do not feel I simply take a deontological or teleological approach towards ethics; my view is closest to what modern Buddhists believe. This is because I feel if the laws are followed and the benefits gained outweigh the harm to the animal then the suffering of the animal is not pointless (much like the teleological approach). On the other hand the deontological approach suggests that animals have intrinsic value and therefore should not be harmed. I believe there is some truth in this.

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‘Churchill’s diplomacy was crucial to winning the war.’ Discuss Elizabeth Gallagher Upper Sixth

Churchill’s diplomatic stamina throughout World War Two is commendable; he attended sixteen meetings as opposed to Roosevelt’s twelve and Stalin’s seven, and he travelled much further than them as none of the meetings was held in his home nation. This suggests that Churchill himself felt diplomacy was a crucial element in securing victory for the allies. And undoubtedly it was important, such as in securing support for his campaign in the Mediterranean, keeping both Stalin and Roosevelt on side and placating the ambitious de Gaulle.

However, there are arguably other more crucial factors, namely errors made by the Germans and the allies’ successful mobilisation of their plentiful resources, both of which played a more crucial role than diplomacy in ensuring victory on the Eastern front, the event that allowed the Russians to march into Berlin and win the war for the allies in Europe in May 1945.

Churchill’s diplomacy was undeniably important during the war, especially in cementing the ‘Grand Alliance’ between Britain, the US and the USSR. Even though it was Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the US into the war, it was Churchill’s skilled diplomacy at the First Washington Conference in December 1941 that led to the decision to pool American and British resources against Germany who would be deemed the ‘prime enemy’ in a ‘Europe First’ policy. The fact that General Marshall and Roosevelt conceded to Churchill’s will that Europe should be the primary theatre of war rather than Japan is testament to Churchill’s skilled oratory. For example, his address to Congress in December 1941 emphasised the unity of ‘the English-speaking world’ and their ‘common resolve’ to defeat the Axis powers. With Churchill’s speech Congress was brought on board despite the fact that the American voters were largely in favour of taking revenge on Japan and not fighting a proxy war in Europe. Moreover, Churchill’s ability to nurture the American and British diplomatic relationship was crucial to winning the war as it allowed them to launch joint offences, like that on D-Day, and aid each other when required, such as during the Soviet invasion when the Americans supplied aid. Churchill

prioritised the maintenance of this alliance at the expense of his own health, suffering a heart attack whilst in Washington in 1941 and insisting that he continue to work despite suffering from pneumonia in February 1943.

Churchill prioritised the maintenance of this alliance at the expense of his own health.

Furthermore, it appears that Churchill was the only diplomat with the ability to handle difficult characters, such as the arrogant de Gaulle and Stalin. Tensions between the allies and the USSR were rife as the US and Britain were reluctant to open a second front and relieve the beleaguered Soviet army. At the Second Moscow Conference in August 1942, Stalin bitterly accused the British of being afraid of fighting the Germans. However, Churchill counterargued brilliantly, leaving the conference on very good terms with Stalin and avoiding ‘a really serious drifting apart’ which could have compromised the allied war effort. It took skill and brute effort in order to placate Stalin, as demonstrated by a letter written by Alexander Cadogan, the British ambassador to Washington who was also present at the meeting, detailing how Churchill endured an ‘awful’ Kremlin banquet with a ‘headache’ and even then requested an additional private meeting with Stalin to iron out any disagreements.

The fact that Churchill set aside his own views – principally his loathing of Communism – and wellbeing in order to achieve a desirable diplomatic coup with both de Gaulle and Stalin is testament to his commitment to diplomacy.

Therefore, Churchill’s diplomacy was hugely important in getting the Americans on board – who played a major role in the offensives that secured victory for the allies – and for appeasing both Stalin and de Gaulle, avoiding a fragmentation of the ‘Grand Alliance’.

However, there are many primary sources which reveal Churchill’s lack of tact, especially with his own advisors and leaders of the armed forces, an obstinacy that at points could have threatened Britain’s ability to wage war effectively. In a diary entry (Appendix A) on 19th August 1943, Sir Alan Brooke – the Chief of the Imperial General Staff – wrote that the Prime Minister behaved like a ‘spoilt child’ 33

and they ‘settled nothing’ after Churchill became incensed by Brooke wanting to make long-term contingency plans. In a similar way, Churchill was described

by Cadogan as ‘a bull in a ring’ whilst in Moscow in August 1942, yet he somehow managed to come away on good terms with Stalin, having persuaded him to continue fighting on the Eastern front whilst Operation Torch was launched in Northern Africa. It was these fortuitous outcomes such as this one that have perhaps allowed Churchill to escape criticism for his often brash behaviour.

Therefore, although Churchill’s diplomacy was important to the war effort, it was not the crucial factor behind allied victory, as Churchill’s occasional poor behaviour and lack of tact counteracted any progress his skilled diplomacy otherwise made for the allies.

A more crucial factor to the allied victory were the errors made by the German leadership. Time and time again the overconfidence of Hitler and his generals left the German forces over-exposed and this eventually led to their defeat. For example, the historian Ben Shepherd argues that it was ‘arrogant, racially coloured assumptions of chaos and incompetence’ about the Red Army that led to Hitler making the fateful decision to invade the Soviet Union on 22nd June 1941, opening a front that would ultimately open the path for an occupation of Berlin by the Soviet Union in 1945. Hitler made poor judgements, often ignoring the recommendations of his advisers and

Winston churchill making a speech 1941

Nazi invasion of Russia, known as Operation Barbarossa

rashly launching major operations, such as when he declared war on the USA on 11th December 1941 without decisively defeating the Soviet Union. From this point onwards, German resources were fatefully overstretched and this was compounded by what historian James Holland called ‘a production spiral’, where Germany and Japan – after an initial increase in production – suffered huge shortages of food, fuel and materiel after Germany’s principal industrial areas were bombed in 1942 and 1943.

landings when the air force was used to drop paratroopers on the ground before the main landings. Therefore, the allies’ superior air forces and their tactical might was crucial to winning the war. And this is an example of how the allies would have still won the war regardless of Churchill’s diplomatic efforts. For example, the entry of the US into the war was undeniably brought about by the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 rather than any of Churchill’s persuasions, especially as he had made numerous failed attempts to persuade the Americans to enter the war prior to Pearl Harbor. Moreover, his diplomacy often hampered the mobilisation of allied resources rather than helped it; for example, he stubbornly refused to go ahead with Operation Sledgehammer – the plan to open a second front - something that made relations at the Tehran Conference extremely stretched and almost led Roosevelt and Marshall to abandon the Europe First policy, a decision that would have been disastrous for the allied war effort.

[T]he overconfidence of Hitler and his generals left the German forces over-exposed and this eventually led to their defeat.

Therefore, one of the most crucial factors in ensuring an allied victory was poor judgements made by the Axis powers, principally Germany, as Hitler pursued an invasion of the USSR before securing victory on the western front and overstretched his armed forces as a result.

The allies were able to capitalise on this fateful error, by wiping out Germany’s production lines with bombing and then mobilising the Grand Alliance’s vast resources against a weakened Germany.

Perhaps the most crucial factor in winning the war then, was the plenitude of the allied resources – especially after the US joined the war – and how they mobilised them effectively to secure victory in key battles. This was a strategy that gradually wore the Axis powers down, allowing the allies to encroach further and further into Germany’s territory until they could occupy Berlin. A key example of this was the allied air forces; the US and Britain correctly predicted that air power would be essential to winning the war, so they quickly enlarged their air forces, producing 650,000 aircraft during the war compared to only 230,000 by the Axis powers. Moreover, the allies used their large air forces skilfully, such as in the Battle of Britain with the ‘Vic’ formation that allowed a concentrated attack on the enemy or during the D-Day

Superior allied resources also helped defensively as well as offensively, as Britain and the United States’ far larger navies (42 battleships compared to Germany’s and

Italy’s combined total of 7) allowed them to evacuate their armies when needed, such as at Dunkirk, and move their armies around the world in order launch attacks in vulnerable areas, e.g. in Sicily in 1943.

The final way in which the allies’ superior resources was crucial in helping them win the war was their far greater access to foreign intelligence, especially after the Bletchley code breakers deciphered the Enigma code, allowing the allies to prepare for operations planned by Germany. In fact Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the allied forces in Europe, credited the intelligence gathered from Bletchley as contributing ‘to the speed with which the enemy was routed and eventually forced to surrender’ in a secret 1945 letter.

It is significant that the commander of the armed forces himself recognised the essential role intelligence, in combination with the allies’ mobilisation of their other resources, played in winning the war as opposed to diplomacy or any particular German errors.

In conclusion, Churchill’s diplomacy was important to winning the war but it was not the crucial deciding factor. The Americans would have entered the war regardless of his diplomatic manoeuvres, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. And there is plentiful evidence to suggest that Churchill’s diplomacy could in fact have been an obstruction to success rather than a reason for it. The crucial factor to winning the war was in fact the huge numerical superiority of the allied resources, especially after the US joined the war, and the allies’ adept co-ordination, allowing them to support each other and win the crucial battles. Diplomacy played a part in this, but its success was largely derived from huge resources being united by a common cause rather than diplomacy on an individual level. This tactic allowed them to eventually wear down the Axis powers into submission, most importantly on the Eastern front, securing victory for the allies in May 1945.

Code breakers at Bletchley Park - 75% of its staff were women

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From the dramatic to the meta-dramatic - comparing Die Zauberflöte with early operas in terms of contextual, textual and musical features Tom Wild Upper Sixth

for his two settings of Euridice in 1600 and 1602) and Monteverdi (famous for Orpheo in 1607). In this way, the culturally educational and development aims of early operas were fundamental to the style the drama was presented in.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

On 30th September 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (K.620) premiered in the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna. This theatre was owned

by Emmanuel Schikaneder, who also wrote the two-act libretto which Mozart set as a singspiel, a popular form of drama in Vienna at the time. With a full orchestra and songs with complex textures, this form of opera is a far cry from the monody of early operas, and the hyperreal, magical fairy-tale does not share many similarities with the myths and legendary stories of that style. However, some similarities can be drawn between Die Zauberflöte and early operas, especially in terms of their contextual aims, even if the musical features are contrasting. opera was always meant to be a good spectacle for its audience, but it was more socially aware and important than simply that. This essay will assess some of these developments in opera, and the social importance of Die Zauberflöte and some early operas within their respective cultures.

Whilst on the outside dramatic interpretations, Die Zauberflöte is worlds away from the early monodic operas.

On the most basic and integral level it shares certain similarities in its social context and aims with the earlier works.

Specifically, Die Zauberflöte aligns with

the Renaissance belief that opera should be presented and designed to enrich the soul and enhance social sophistication, although the manifestations of these designs are markedly different in Die Zauberflöte than in early operas. In the renaissance period, such aims of opera can be found most prevalently in the style of Monody.

The increased popularity of this style in the late 16th and early 17th centuries can be attributed first and foremost to the extensive research led by Girolamo Mei (1519-94) into ancient Greek Music.

Music did not escape the general intellectual public fascination with GrecoRoman tradition in all aspects, and Mei’s findings that the Greeks preferred a monophonic style in order to allow emotion to be expressed in the purest, most unconvoluted form of a single line ‘proved to be a significant catalyst for Florentine composers to explore the possibilities of the new style’.

Early operas were using musical means to enhance the social sophistication of its audience according to Renaissance beliefs, and this monodic style can be seen in works by several prominent Italian composers of that era including Guilio Caccini (famous

This is not so evident in Die Zauberflöte.

Unsurprisingly, given that it was around two centuries later, Mozart and Schikaneder find slightly more intricate and varied ways to inject their work with cultural references and beliefs. Thus, in Die Zauberflöte, the cultural education of the audience is subject less to the conventions of the times, but more to the ideas of the composer and librettist than in early operas. In this particular case, there is considerable debate among musicologists regarding the possible masonic connotations of the libretto of Die Zauberflöte. For example, Martin Nedbal criticises Jan Assmann and Nicholas Till for their explanations of Mozart’s setting which focus (in his mind) too heavily on masonic belief and do not take irony into account. Regardless of what one believes, there is significant use of moral maxims (a popular trend at the time according to Nedbal) throughout the opera, notably in the Quintet (No.5 ‘Hm hmhm’). Nedbal offers theories about the ways in which the presentation of these maxims is designed not just to keep them within the hyperreal world of the story, but to be put across without irony to the audience, as if the characters break the fourth wall.

Early operas were using musical means to enhance the social sophistication of its audience.

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Thus both Die Zauberflöte and early operas such as Dafne and Orpheo make use of texture in order to enhance the social sophistication and morality of their audiences. Whilst monody used the idea of monophony affecting the soul in the ancient Greek style, Nedbal points out how Mozart uses textural change in order to draw attention to the moral maxims in the quintet. Specifically, he highlights the fact that most of the quintet has had a rather conversational feel, with the characters addressing each other, predominantly in melody dominated

homophony. But when the maxim remonstrating Papageno for his lies earlier in the story occurs, all five characters, regardless of their roles within the rest of the song or even the opera as a whole, seem to address the audience in ‘impersonal, piecemeal homophonic delivery’. This forces the ‘diegetic reality to recede into the background’1 and allows the audience to clearly discern that these words are meant not just for Papageno but for everyone, at least in the eyes of those behind the work.

This non-diegetic meta-dramatic touch is made possible by the musical setting of the libretto by Mozart, as a part of the Viennese moralist tradition of the time. The intricacies of the setting (such as lowering the dynamics at the sotto voce when the maxim is being delivered in homophony to increase sincerity), especially by a composer with the prominence of Mozart, corroborate the idea of the social influences of Die Zauberflöte being more defined by the creators of the opera and specific to that piece of work than those of early operas, which were more general as a part of the Renaissance movement, permeating most operas at the time.

although a larger plethora of techniques are used to enhance the morality of Die Zauberflöte, they arguably diminish the sincerity of these morals and perhaps are not as effective as they initially seem. The only thing certain is that our lack of clarity over how the audience would treat these maxims (with sincerity or irony) diminishes our ability to analyse the specifics and give a certain judgement or interpretation, which cannot be said for early operas where the simplicities in the social aims are ostensibly easier to unequivocally understand.

Early operas dealt with the enhancement of cultural sophistication with far more simplicity, with such ideas coming simply from the libretti.

These generally used mythical and legendary tales with strong characters portraying virtues such as courage and love, such as Orpheus from Orfeo or Alexius of Rome from Landi’s Sant’Alessio. The traditional monophony, harking back to what they imagined the original performances of Homer’s Iliad or Odyssey might have incorporated, was used for a similar purpose. However, in the early 17th century with Renaissance ideas rampant, these techniques would have been seen as the height of sophistication due to their Greco-Roman origins, with the composers believing that their revival of the style was ‘of revolutionary importance’.

Mozart uses textural change in order to draw attention to the moral maxims in the quintet.

The analysis of contrasting didactic techniques used in early operas compared to Die Zauberflöte calls into question not just their audience’s developed cultural awareness, but the sophistication of the opera and its techniques themselves.

Superficially, the complexities of Die Zauberflöte shine through. The musical means used by Mozart and detailed by Nedbal are clearly complex and well thought-out, to such an extent that there has been considerable debate among musicologists centred around whether or not the moral maxims are deployed earnestly or with some irony. Writers on the subject such as Till2 and Maurer Zenek do not generally subscribe to the aforementioned view that the maxims are presented meta-dramatically, thus leading them to infer that irony must be the cause as the characters who deploy the maxims (in the Quintet and Pamina’s Waltz) fail to embody their virtues later on. Whether or not this is what Mozart was intending, perhaps the conflicting interpretations of these maxims detract from their effectiveness.

In essence, the sheer volume of debate about the dogmatism of the texts indicates that such dogmatism may not be as effective as some argue. Therefore,

Therefore, it seems that the didactic cultural techniques used in Die Zauberflöte and in Early opera were different because they were contemporarily effective.

The simplicity of early Venetian monodic opera was perfect for that time period. In late 18th century (especially in Vienna), with an intellectual climate that would become famous for both the personalities and ideas it produced, from Goethe and Lessing to Freud, perhaps the ambiguity of Mozart’s settings of the moral maxims was equally a strength, allowing for interpretation, rather than simply assimilation. In the early days of opera, a strong story and a production with a clear 37

political or moral message was what the courts of the principalities wanted to see, when opera was somewhat less commercial (before 1637 in Venice) and more private, so this was catered for. By the time of Die Zauberflöte, not only had the passing of time allowed for opera to develop and flourish in terms of its form; by this stage, opera was something to be written about and seen by many more than it had been two centuries earlier. It must be also be acknowledged that opera was designed to be a spectacle, and as the style developed and funding inevitably increased with enhanced commercialisation, many of the aforementioned changes in the style owed at least something to this aim.

Thus, it can be said that Die Zauberflöte shows developments - which are to an extent inevitable due to the passing of time - with respect to the form of the opera, the textures of the music and the complexities of the techniques used to set music and deliver morality messages. However, the basic principles of opera being used both to tell a story and to enhance the social sophistication of the audience, as well as being a spectacle for both the court (most notably in the early times) and, increasingly after 1637 the public, can be traced back from Die Zauberflöte to early operas.

These principles allow us to analyse the two realisations of opera together and also as their own pieces of work with regards to their text, context and the musical techniques of the composers.

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Market bubbles: past examples and preventing future ones Sam Rose Upper Sixth

2008 market crash

A market bubble is defined, by Investopedia, as “an economic cycle characterized by the rapid escalation of asset prices followed by a contraction”. The sudden change in asset price inevitably has dire consequences for the market and sometimes the global financial system, as we will explore. No economist can say bubbles are not a problem; so how do they keep occurring? What allows them to get out of control? And what can we do to stop this cycle?

Before we can attempt to treat the problem, it is first essential to understand real examples of bubbles in our history. One key example of a bubble occurred in the early 1700s when a French official called John Law had access to both the French Mississippi company and French monetary policy. As brilliantly detailed in Niall Ferguson’s book, The Ascent of Money (2009), Law encouraged all members of the public to purchase company bonds. This began to inflate their price as the market forces adjusted for increased demand.

The key feature that made this a bubble, however, was when Law was granted the power of the Mint with his Banque Royale.

He began to move French currency away from coinage to paper notes. This allowed much easier expansion of the money supply and Law used this to full advantage. He expanded the supply of money significantly and, to his credit, brought France out of a

deep recession. Law was granted the power of control over the French tax system. This was to become the final straw as Law began to finance debt collection by the issuing of more Mississippi company shares. “On 17 June 1719 the Mississippi Company issued 50,000 of these [shares] at a price of 550 livres apiece”.

Furthermore, Law produced even more new shares at 1000 livres to maintain his monopoly over the Mint. This was substantiated by the promise of more profits coming from the company in Louisiana. This was not to be hence we now have a bubble.

The price of the company shares was unprecedently high (9000 livres in autumn 1719) and continuing to grow. It was then only a matter of time before the collapse. This was accelerated by Law’s appointment as French Minister of Finance in December 1719.

forced to re-introduce gold and silver currency to promote stability.

After all this France was virtually bankrupt and went on struggling from one desperate reform to another before the monarchy finally declared bankruptcy. This sparked the Revolution. One might have noticed that during this time the British South Sea bubble was beginning to occur, but the harsh reality is that its losses were nothing compared to that of the French. The key reason for this was that that the South Sea Company never got control of the Bank of England.

The story of the Mississippi company demonstrates the huge dangers of bubbles perfectly. Minsky explains the five stages of a bubble to be: Displacement, Boom, Euphoria, Profit-taking and Panic.

This final stage was all too eminent in 1720 France as the bubble caused such panic and unrest as to entirely overthrow the French monarchy in the later revolution. There is no doubt that certain bubbles can destroy economies.

There is no doubt that certain bubbles can destroy economies.

Sure enough, by 1720 prices began to fall and there was further mass inflation followed by deflationary controls and price manipulation. France lost almost all confidence in Mississippi shares but, more importantly, the Livre. In late May 1720 Law resigned and was placed under house arrest. By October the government was 40

This is further evidenced by the 2008 financial crisis, where a US housing bubble eventually caused the collapse of most of

Mississippi Bubble 1720

the world’s financial system. For a detailed account I recommend Adam Tooze’s book: Crashed (2019). On a smaller scale, however, bubbles will at least cause major financial losses. People who buy in the “Euphoria” stage will be buying high. The Euphoria stage is even described as when “caution is thrown out the window”. People are ignoring the high price and potential losses and pour money into the asset. The “profit taking” stage is only for a small number, however, and most people suffer the “panic”. When the price plummets people sell for less than they bought and lose money. Overall bubbles will cause people to suffer financially. This much is clear, but the degree to which they suffer very much depends, as already demonstrated with John Law, on the magnitude and the tools we have to fight them.

ing prices stable will help prevent them.

That said, interest rates will affect all levels of spending in an economy. The Bank of England cannot micromanage individual asset prices.

On the fiscal side, however, a price cap could be effective. Using the example of 2008, a price cap on collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) funds would have limited the incentive to make more. It was the massive demand (profit motivated) that brought on the oversupply that was eventually filled with subprime options that fell through. That said, looking back at traditional economic theory, a maximum price that is set below the market equilibrium will lead to a welfare loss and market inefficiency.

The question we must ask ourselves, therefore, is what is more important? Market efficiency or preventing potential economic collapse?

[T]he bubbles we need to worry about are the exceptions to the rules.

One method to prevent, or at least mitigate the effect of, bubbles is, as shown by the Mississippi bubble, is to maintain a strong and independent regulatory body for monetary policy. The Mississippi bubble would not have been nearly as destructive if John Law hadn’t acquired control over French monetary policy. The evidence for this can be seen with the modern-day Bank of England model. Keeping a powerful body solely responsible for controlling inflation, and as a derivative: asset prices, is a strong start to maintaining price stability. When one remembers that bubbles can only occur when prices increase unsustainably, keep-

The key issue with bubbles, however, is that they are all unique. Whilst the blanket solutions previously discussed may work for many economic issues, the bubbles we need to worry about are the exceptions to the rules. They are always “Black Swans” as Taleb would put it. Bubbles must always, therefore, be treated on a case by case basis.

The dotcom bubble could have been battled by putting greater restrictions on venture capital investment, paying greater attention to beta coefficients (a value that indicates 41

the degree to which a value of a stock changes in correlation with the state of the economy) and tightening server access laws. The 2008 situation could have been prevented by greater study of the mortgages involved, regulation to prevent tranches (a security that can be divicdeddivided into smaller segments and put up for investment) traunching and regulatory control over the ratings agencies. Another problem lies in that we know all of this in hindsight.

If bubbles truly are Black Swans, then they cannot be predicted.

The Eden Dome This was submitted to a competition run by Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Tim Emmens Lower Sixth

As a centre for students and fellows to collaborate, this will be a busy space, and thus the noise levels may be high. To reduce reverberation, the panels on the ceiling will be clad in a dampening material.

Different spaces in the dome are divided to further reduce unwanted noise: the study rooms are sectioned, and the lounge and study ‘bars’ are sectioned off by way of the aforementioned hanging sound barriers.

These different modules cater for all different scales of collaborative work, from one-to-one discussions on the mezzanine floor, to group work on the large desks in the centre.

Design brief: Design Challenge Brief: You are challenged to design a new building somewhere on the Fitzwilliam College site. This building will serve as a hub for interaction between teaching Fellows and students, where they can share and explore ideas.

Design Narrative: My initial decision to build this ‘hub of interaction’ on top of the chapel resulted from observing the available space and deciding that the carefully considered landscaping should be preserved. My idea is to ‘crown’ the chapel. Many a cathedral has a magnificent dome and I believe the architecture of Sir Richard MacCormac deserves its own. Despite this grandiose metaphor, this design should simultaneously blend into the green spaces of the college. With an extensive sedum roof, this would maintain the natural, green aesthetic of the college courts and help fulfil environmentally conscious criteria.

My inspiration for the angular, spiral design came from a combination of partly Fibonacci’s sequence - strongly featured in nature and specifically represented in spiralled sunflower seeds; and partly the angular, copper-roofed buildings surrounding the Central Building.

The triangular windows allow good levels of light throughout the day. Within the dome, the acoustic barriers are wooden slats with a foam cladding - preserving the light levels as much as possible whilst dampening sound. The large panel windows on either side of the stair well provide additional light.

I wanted to sustain this light throughout the dome, so the study rooms have Jalousie windows, enabling light and privacy concurrently.

A small kitchen area is essential to keep students and fellows hydrated and ‘fuelled’ in their studies and encourage ‘watercooler moments’ - as unplanned interactions between a variety of different groups of students and fellows is key to the space’s intention.

The triangular windows allow good levels of light throughout the day.

Air is key to a productive hive of collaboration, so I have included indoor plants with a high oxygen output (e.g. Areca Palm, Snake Plant) to maintain a high air quality. The flow of air is also important, so the skylight windows will be remotely openable, and this will also counteract a potential heating effect in the dome.

There are three main aspects of architectural design I believe are paramount to a successful built space and a productive environment: light, sound and air quality. I have addressed each of these aspects with care in my design.

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In retrospect, there are some aspects of the design that could be developed. To maintain the light coming into the chapel, the dome could have a smaller diameter, or vertical, rather than angled edges, retaining light coming through the chapel’s ceiling windows.

These designs are based on the assumption that access to the dome can be constructed from the adjoining building.

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The structure and potential applications of borophene Jacob Tutt Lower Sixth

Before discussing further characteristics, it is important to understand the terms used to describe the planar directions in which 2D molecules are described – the two directions which are perpendicular to each other are described as the armchair and the zigzag directions. In contrast to most 2D honeycomb materials, borophene has a highly anisotropic crystal structure in space, implying a structure in which the armchair and zigzag directions have varying arrangements of atoms and characteristics. Due to the strongly anisotropic structure, the molecule can be manipulated for ideal application by correctly orientating the molecule so there is the correct combination of zigzag and armchair characteristics.

The synthesis of graphene, at the University of Manchester in 2004, initiated huge excitement and financial investment in the nanomaterial industry. The planar, honeycomb lattice of carbon promised a remarkable and wide range of potential applications across the scientific spectrum.

Graphene is a semi-metallic material with previously unparalleled mechanical, electrical, chemical, and optical properties. The material is a zero-gap semiconductor with extremely high carrier mobility and is therefore a potentially efficient transistor.

Furthermore, by only absorbing 2.3% of visible light, it offered the first major steps towards a transparent conductor. Material scientists imagined a new era of “graphenebased computer processing and a lucrative graphene chip industry”.

plications, its regular honeycomb structure could not be greatly manipulated, especially to the degree that was required on the microscopic scale of nanomaterial research.

The material borophene has gained recent attention and it is suggested to rival graphene in many applications. Borophene is a 2D allotropic material, with a triangular base structure. All three phases (allotropes) of borophene have recently been synthesised on single-crystal silver substrates, as the regular arrangement of silver atoms within the crystal force boron atoms into a regular pattern of hexagons with bonding to a maximum of 6 boron atoms each. However, under certain conditions it is common for boron atoms to form only 4 or 5 B-B bonds, creating vacancies in the structures. This is one of the two properties that make borophene so promising. Its ability to form regular vacancy patterns within a structure, which create subtle changes to characteristics, allows it to be strategically tuned for the desired properties.

Borophene is a 2D allotropic material, with a triangular base structure.

This visionary graphene-based world is yet to materialise on the scale intended by material scientists 16 years ago. However, it accelerated the research into the fabrication of other 2D materials. One of the major limitations of graphene was, despite its incredibly wide range of conceivable ap-

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It is important, before looking at the uses of each structure, to show the 2D arrangement of atoms within the 3 major allotropes/ phases (Striped, B12, and X3). The ‘base structure’, known as the stripped phase, has the densest arrangements of atoms, in which bonds travelling in the armchair direction are 1.6 Angstrom (Å) and those travelling in the zigzag direction are 2.8 Å. It is shown to have a ‘planar’ structure with anisotropic corrugation, with ‘out of plane’ buckling along the zigzag direction, and an un-corrugated structure in the armchair direction. This buckling along the zigzag direction is caused by the arrangements of atomic orbitals in this direction, as they have a majority of SP3 hybridisation rather than less stable SP2 hybridisation.

This can be proven by the accumulation of electrons on the top of the upper plane and the bottom of the lower plane. Although we can see the dissociation of electrons from the bond along the zigzag direction, the electrons along the armchair direction are localised near strongly covalent bonds. The two other phases of borophene (B-12 and X-3) are planar without vertical undulations. These structures can also be referred to by their boron vacancy concentration, which is defined as the ‘ratio between the number of hexagon boron vacancies and the number of atoms in the original triangular sheet’, with B-12 borophene having a vacancy concentration of 1/6. Finally, it is important to appreciate the 3 major allotropes discussed are only those which have been physically synthesised, and many more allotropes have been theoretically predicted.

It is important to consider and evaluate the mechanical properties of borophene allotropes, as it provides evidence of the strength of the materials and leads to further understanding of their potential application. Upon initial consideration, it is thought that due to the strong nature of B-B bonds and the unique atomic structure, borophene materials will exhibit very high Young modulus, but with different numerical values for different perpendicular directions. It can be seen that the boron vacancy concentration can have a large effect on the mechanical properties, and therefore the allotropes must be evaluated separately.

The densest structure, striped borophene, has the most regular atomic structure and therefore we can see a uniform extension throughout the material, whatever the loading direction. Striped borophene has been shown to have a Young modulus in the armchair direction of 398 N/m and 170 N/m in the zigzag direction, which are both higher than that of graphene. The much-reduced Young modulus in the zigzag direction in comparison to the armchair direction can be attributed to its ‘out of plane’ buckling, and its longer and less covalent B-B bonds discussed earlier. Furthermore, due to the corrugated lattice, the Poisson ratio is negative, describing it as a material that when stretching occurs along one direction causes stretching stresses along the perpendicular direction.

It has been proven that there is an almost perfect negative linear coloration between the Young modulus of the armchair direction and the boron vacancy concentration.

For allotropes B-12 and X-3 the Young modulus in the armchair direction is 179 N/m and 199 N/m respectively, as stretching does not occur uniformly. There is a higher degree of deformation in bonds connecting

hexagonal (B-12) or zigzag (X-3) lattices in comparison to bonds within these lattices.

Interestingly, these phases of borophene exhibit a positive Poisson ratio. Therefore, when the materials experience stretching along one direction it causes contracting stresses along the perpendicular direction.

Another point to consider is that these allotropes can be manipulated chemically and physically to give them the desired mechanical properties. The power of chemical modification can be seen by the dramatic decrease in the young modulus, in both perpendicular directions, when borophene structures are completely hydrogenated or fluorinated. This effect can be attributed to bond elongation, of the B-B bond, from 1.6 Å to 1.9 Å, which decreases bond strength and, thus, the Young Modulus. Interestingly, chemical modification increases the critical strain of the material, which increases the strain at which cracks form in the material. The structural lattice of borophene with its ultra-high young modulus, high anisotropy, and negative Poisson ratio (striped borophene), along with its outstanding electric conductivity, may allow its application in flexible electronic devices, biomedical sciences, and electrochemistry.

conduction along the armchair direction yet a relatively prominent band gap along the zigzag direction. It is important to evaluate the term bandgap, which refers to the energy difference between the top of the valence band (minimum energy electron orbitals) and the bottom of the conduction band (maximum energy electron orbitals).

Metallic materials have an overlap between these bands and therefore conduct at all times. Semiconductors do not overlap; instead they contain an almost full valence band and almost empty conduction band of electrons. Therefore, they have varying resistances, because, as the material experiences work done to it, electrons can overcome the bandgap energy and transfer from the valence to conduction band. This increases the number of mobile electrons making it a more efficient conductor. Finally, insulators contain such a large band gap that an overwhelming majority are confined to the valence band making them very poor conductors.

The electronic properties of borophene have created huge excitement within nanomaterial research.

The electronic properties of borophene have created huge excitement within nanomaterial research. Like all other characteristics of borophene, the electronic properties are significantly anisotropic with striped borophene showing metallic

One of the major issues which face borophene as a conductor is its high energy state in comparison to bulk boron and, therefore, its thermodynamic instability and vulnerability to degradation under high potential differences. Yet chemical modification may be an effective approach to stabilising borophene structures and altering the bandgap. The fluorination of borophene creates two highly stable structures (B4F and B2F), which both show remarkable thermodynamic stability at temperatures as high as 1000K. Both prove to be promising candidates for the production of semiconductors in electronic devices. Similarly, promising is the zerogap semiconductor that fully hydrogenated striped borophene creates. The material exhibits a Dirac cone electronic band structure, with the Dirac point located perfectly at the Fermi level (highest energy state at 0k). The term Dirac cone describes materials in which the valence band and conduction band take ‘the shape of the upper and lower halves of a conical surface, meeting at the Dirac point’. Zero-gap semiconductors are so promising in electrochemistry, due to their combination of metallic and semiconducting properties, which allow them to be low resistance transistors.

Many scientific studies have reported the superconductivity of borophene, the ability of the material to conduct electricity with zero resistance. The superconducting

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transition temperature, the temperature at which materials exhibit superconducting properties, is shown to be dependent on the boron vacancy concentration. As the concentration increases, to 1/9th (1 hexagonal boron vacancy per 9 atoms within the original triangular sheet), the transition temperature decreases gradually. Interestingly, once the boron vacancy concentration of 1/9th is surpassed the transition temperature rises again. This therefore suggests a minimum transition temperature at a concentration of 1/9th. The most stable structure, striped borophene (boron vacancy concentration of 0), has a transition temperature at 19K. The materials show a high ‘superconducting transition temperature and, therefore, a high application prospect in superconductivity’.

In the past two decades, two-dimensional nanostructures have received attention for their potential ability as effective electrode materials, due to their large surface area. Borophene has been investigated for its capacity for alkali metal ion storage, due to its low density and ability to influence the surface tension of a liquid’s surface activity. Striped borophene has shown a strong surface interaction with aqueous lithium atoms, with a fully lithiated phase having a boron to lithium ratio of 4:3 respectively, corresponding to the capacity of 1860mAh/g. This suggests that, per gram of borophene, a charge is stored sufficient to generate a current of 1860mA for an hour, a much higher value than other 2D structures including graphene, silicene, and phosphorene. The promising potential of borophene as an electrode material was highlighted by the high electronic conductivity of borophene, as well as its ability to maintain this property through the lithiation process. Furthermore, the Liion migration barrier of 2.6meV along the armchair direction (the resistance to flow of ions across the barrier between cathode and anode) suggests an ultrafast ion migration, with a much lower resistance to migration than other conductive super materials. This

property hints at its probable distinguishable performance during the charging and discharging process. Overall, the combination of borophene’s high alkali ion capacities, electronic conductivity, and ion transport speed suggests a very efficient anode material. These borophene electrodes may cause huge advancements in the field of medical devices, as the efficient energy storage and ultrafast charge time can greatly improve the functionality and practicality of biomedical implantable devices.

As a society, we have become increasingly aware of our environmental impact. Consequently, the material science industry feels an ever-mounting pressure to come up with a solution. One option to reduce the worldwide carbon footprint is the transition from fossil fuel combustion to hydrogen fuel cells, a potentially powerful alternative.

Massive funding has gone into increasing the feasibility of this mechanism over the last few decades.

Many scientific studies have reported the superconductivity of borophene.

However, a major limitation has been finding a safe and efficient way to store hydrogen so that it can be readily accessed. Borophene might offer a massive step towards making this mechanism of energy production feasible. It has the potential to be a material with an ultra-high capacity for hydrogen storage, although pure borophene sheets exhibit too little of an ‘absorption energy for practical hydrogen storage’. The ‘decoration’ of borophene sheets with metal atoms strengthens the interaction with hydrogen. For example, the use of lithium decoration dramatically increases the absorption energy from 0.047 eV to 0.35 eV. It simultaneously creates a lattice capable of a Li:H2 ratio of 3:1, a figure high enough to make hydrogen storage effective and efficient. It has been proven that the use of alkali metals has the greatest effect and is, therefore, the most feasible.

Finally, another potential application for the 2D boron lattice, is the production of microelectronic, ultrasensitive, toxic gas sensors. It has been observed that there is a 47

sharp increase in the current through B36 (decrease in resistance) upon the absorption of ethanol and formaldehyde molecules, therefore generating an instant electrical signal. This property has the potential to revolutionise biometric sensors [9]. Formaldehyde, although highly toxic, has high thermal stability and reactivity, making it common in many industrial and medical settings. Borophene may provide the answer for a highly sensitive formaldehyde sensor and therefore could potentially save many lives. Furthermore, its high sensitivity to ethanol could lead to a higher degree of accuracy in breathalyser type devices, and once again save lives.

However, it is as important to realise the key issues that lie ahead for the material, one of which is its susceptibility to oxidation due to its high surface activity, and thus lack of ‘air-stability’. Although covalent modification, such as hydrogenation, is effective, it is important to minimise the effect on the material’s properties. Finally, it is vital to find a way to produce the material on an industrial scale in order for us to see the wide range of effects possible in the real world. Currently, due to the process requiring chemical vapour deposition, the synthesis temperatures are too high for an economically viable production. Furthermore, the adhesion energy between the material and the substrate used to form the material, Ag or Al, is too great for practical application.

In conclusion, the recent discovery of borophene in 2015 has led to a wide range of speculation on the structure’s potential applications. This does not just include physically synthesised structures, but allotropes that have been theoretically investigated through first principle calculations. What makes borophene so remarkable is that its many properties, whether mechanical, thermal, electronic, optical or chemical, show huge potential for revolutionising nanomaterial research, and multiple other areas of science. Moreover, through its hugely anisotropic nature in almost all properties, as well as its high degree of change across boron vacancy concentrations, the material can be tuned to the highest degree through orientation and careful allotrope selection.

The material can be further manipulated through the application of physical stress, chemical and covalent modification or even the dimensions of the material, i.e. the number of layers, but many issues must be overcome until we can see the widespread application of this material become possible.

Admiration of oneself This article was published in the ATP Today magazine Phoebe Abraham Lower Sixth

seek power for the status and attention, only participating in something just for the personal benefits that go with it.

Narcissism is, by definition ‘excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one’s physical appearance’. I’m sure you’ve met someone in your life who you consider to be quite narcissistic and carry these traits and also wondered why they behave the way they do. Narcissism comes from an ancient Greek myth about a character, Narcissus, who caught a glimpse of himself in a river and fell in love with his reflection.

Unable to tear himself away from his own reflection, he drowned; this myth captures the basic idea of narcissism and selfinvolvement.

This trait is also studied by psychologists.

The psychological definition of narcissism is ‘selfishness, involving a sense of entitlement, a lack of empathy and a need for admiration, as characterising a personality type’. In other words, narcissists think they’re better looking, smarter, more important than other people, believing they deserve special treatment.

Psychologists recognise two forms of narcissism as a personality trait: Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism.

Firstly, Grandiose Narcissism is the most familiar kind, recognised by extroversion, dominance, and attention seeking.

Grandiose Narcissists pursue attention and power, sometimes as politicians, celebrities, or cultural leaders. Of course, not everyone who pursues these positions of power are narcissistic. Many do it for very positive reasons, like helping make people’s lives better, such as Gandhi or Mother Teresa (it would be difficult to argue that either were narcissists!). But narcissistic individuals

Vulnerable Narcissists can be quiet and reserved. They have a strong sense of entitlement but are easily threatened or slighted. In either case, the negative effects of narcissism show up over the long term. Narcissists tend to act selfishly, so narcissistic leaders may make risky or unethical decisions, and narcissistic partners may be dishonest or unfaithful.

When their view of themselves is challenged, they can become resentful and act out aggressively towards others.

On a more extreme level, this type of behaviour is labelled as a psychological disorder called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It affects 1-2% of the population, in which only adults may be diagnosed with this disorder, most commonly found in men. Although young people and children can be very selfcentred this might just be a normal part of development. Most children who show traits of narcissism at a young age will generally grow out of it.

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual describes several traits associated with NPD. These include a grandiose view of oneself (an unrealistic sense of superiority), problems with empathy, a sense of entitlement, and a need for admiration or attention. Narcissism is a true personality disorder that, because of these traits, can take over people’s lives and cause significant long-term problems and issues in both personal and work related.

For example, someone with this disorder, instead of genuinely caring for their family, would only use them as a source of attention or admiration, putting a massive strain on the relationships they make. In work a narcissist would tell someone who is trying to give constructive feedback that they are wrong, rejecting help.

Studies show two causes of narcissism; one being genetics in which evidence indicates that an individual is more likely to develop NPD if the disorder runs in the medical history of their family. For example, the research of The Genetic Epidemiology of Personality Disorders (2010) suggested that specific genes and genetic interactions contribute to the formation of NPD, and to the development of a narcissistic personality.

The second environmental and social factors also significantly influence the development of a narcissistic personality.

For some it may be due to an impaired emotional attachment to the primary caregivers, usually the parents. Either overindulgent and permissive parenting or insensitive and over-controlling parenting are contributing factors towards the development of NPD in a child. Gabbard’s Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders (2014) study determined these as some of the factors that encourage the development of NPD: excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic criticism of the child, overindulgence and overvaluation by parents, family, and peers, being praised by adults for perceived exceptional physical appearance or abilities and learning the behaviours of psychological manipulation from parents or peers. Research reported in “Modernity and Narcissistic Personality Disorders” (2014) suggests that cultural elements also influence the development of NPD, because narcissistic personality traits more commonly occur in modern societies than in traditional societies.

[N]arcissistic partners may be dishonest or unfaithful.

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So now you know that narcissism isn’t just someone acting rude or nasty, but a personality disorder, recognised by psychologists. We know there are different types of narcissism and there is evidence to suggest the causes of this disorder, but there is still so much more to learn and discover about why some people carry this trait and others do not.

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Why did the Montgomery bus boycott succeed?

Angelica Hooton Second Year

Rosa Parks

The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social campaign protesting against the policy of racial segregation on public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. It happened during December 1955, and was a key event in the progress of the Civil Rights Movement. A number of factors helped make this boycott succeed and galvanise greater publicity for the Civil Rights movement in the USA. Certainly, strong leadership was vital, as was the fact the leaders called for non-violence and that legal action was successful.

Strong leadership did play a crucial role in the boycott. When Rosa Parks was arrested for simply refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person - a small act of defiance - civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, E.D Nixon, and Jo Ann Robinson organised the bus boycott as a protest to achieve justice for those who are unfairly treated because of their race unfortunately, a common occurrence. Their strong leadership inspired participants to join the boycott through the use of speeches, sermons and leaflets. A good example is Martin Luther King addressing 5,000 people in the Holt Street Baptist Church, promoting the protest. Another example is the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) being set up to coordinate the boycott. King was made the leader for the MIA. The leaders used their charisma and platforms (King was a pastor) to give the bus boycott leverage. This is something only strong leaders would do risking themselves to bring about justice for those they lead. Without these leaders

inspiring people to take part in the protest, as well as organising it, and fighting against blatant racism in the US, the boycott might have been ineffective and a failure. Strong leadership certainly played a part in the boycott’s success.

Another factor that influenced the boycott’s success was non-violent protest. Instead of resorting to violence to protest against the injustice, the protesters calmly refused to ride on the buses or any other form of public transport that they were mistreated on so frequently, instead opting to walk, carshare, and so on. This was just as successful (or more) as violent protest would have been. The simplicity of this act had an immense impact just because of how many people participated, and how well-planned and strategic it was. The bus company’s revenue went down by 65%. The boycott is estimated to have caused losses of about $1 million. Violent protest may have just prompted segregation laws to strengthen and have caused more damage than change.

The boycott proved that the protesters were willing to peacefully change the oppressive laws that caused them to suffer for so long. It was subtle and unassuming but changed so much in a short space of time.

It prompted legal action and the eventual integration of buses. Equality hadn’t been fully achieved yet, but non-violent protest was one of the most important reasons for the success of the boycott, which took a step towards the integration of the US. It is well known that non-violent protest also helped other causes to do with the Civil Rights Movement succeed as well.

Strong leadership did play a crucial role in the boycott.

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The last, but not the least important, factor in the success of the Montgomery bus boycott was legal action. Obviously, without legal action, the bus boycott would have been all for nothing. The two other reasons--non-violent protest and strong leadership--are what caused legal change, but without it, the success would not have existed. In June 1956, the MIA, alongside the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), challenged the segregation bus laws in a federal court. This prompted action in the Supreme Court, which integrated the buses and declared segregated buses were unconstitutional. If the case had never been taken to court, nothing would have happened. Despite the two other reasons being responsible for pushing the case into a national court, legal action was the final push that took the fight for equality and against racial prejudices a step further towards its goal.

Overall, the most important reason for the boycott’s success was probably non-violent protest, although non-violent protest is very much linked with the strength of the leadership who inspired this. This powerful form of protest, that Gandhi had used in India, gave the moral high ground to black people. It was a very tactical and intelligent move that greatly benefited the Civil Rights Movement. Without gratuitous violence, that may have ended horribly, it proved to be the most effective strategy. Non-violent protest was demonstrated to have a far more positive effect than violence ever did.

Pandemic panic – what explains the behaviour behind the public’s reaction to the coronavirus of 2020?

This article was published in the ATP Today magazine Caitlin Smith Lower Sixth As we have all heard, COVID-19 is the global pandemic sending the world into panic, resulting in massive media coverage and causing the population to react in concerning ways. COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways.

However, as we know, the flu is a very similar illness, so why does this pandemic seem to be worrying people beyond limit?

One of the most ridiculous things to have come out of the pandemic is the global toilet paper shortage. Hand sanitiser is more expected, however the sudden demand for toilet roll is confusing psychologists. The global population is currently going into panic mode due to the daily messages being sent out by governments and buying more than we need to. But why toilet paper?

One of the most ridiculous things to have come out of the pandemic is the global toilet paper shortage.

Fear is a ‘mix of miscalibrated emotion and limited knowledge’ according to psychologist David DeSteno from Northeastern University, Boston.

The difference between the fear of the flu and COVID-19 is due to the lack of information we possess about it. Most people have not had COVID-19, whereas we have personal experience with the flu; we understand it which makes it seem less scary.

So why are we reacting this way?

There is what psychologists call ‘availability bias’ meaning that we are more likely to be affected by events that we can immediately recall. This is being accelerated by the constant media coverage surrounding the virus and its symptoms, so it is always at the forefront of people’s minds. With even our own Prime Minister contracting this illness, a powerful figure who we hoped would lead us through this, people are therefore more aware of it and interpret the media coverage in a threatening way. News articles and media speculation is making us more worried about contracting the virus and potentially more susceptible to embracing fake claims and hostile attitudes towards people around us, explaining the public’s new attitudes towards others.

Another explanation is down to our uncertainty of COVID-19. This is down to genes passed down by our ancestors, as we have evolved to react negatively to this kind of uncertainty and unpredictability. The reason for this is because it gives a feeling of lack of control, and we have been made to respond to threats and protect ourselves (evidenced by our fight or flight mechanisms). This is where we see people take on more unusual behaviours, because they don’t know how else to react.

Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos: an expert in consumer and behavioural science at the University College London, tells us that people are now panic buying. Toilet paper has a longer shelf life than lots of things, so people can see it lasting a long time in potential self-isolation conditions. Additionally, it is prominently featured in aisles and is large in size, so we ae psychologically

drawn to purchasing it in times of crisis.

This is now however becoming a system of positive feedback. People are buying the product in large quantities, so the shelves are empty. This psychologically worries people and fears arise that stocks will permanently run out; therefore, people buy more than they need, leaving shelves empty.

The cycle then just repeats itself. It is more obvious when an aisle of toilet paper is empty, compared to other smaller items, which leads to the craze over the item intensifying.

The whole procedure is just a way of people feeling more in control in a time of very 51

little control over their lives, as we wonder when lockdown will cease.

However, there could be positives to this strange trend. Long-term stress is shown to weaken the immune system. If stockpiling toilet paper lowers the stress levels of UK citizens, then they will be less susceptible to contracting the illness.

But why are people reacting in different ways? Not everyone reacts to pandemics in the same way. Research says that when news is mixed, as it clearly is due to the media in our current day and age, people can choose to focus on the good or the bad. People who are particularly concerned about illness or disease, or suffer from Nosophobia, feel a heightened sense of their own mortality because they find it harder to process the good news side. This is to do with how their schema influence their stereotypes of disease.

So overall, why have people retreated into a state of panic and shown abnormal behaviour over a disease very much like one of which has been around for 100 years?

The answer is this; it is the fear of the unknown, combined with miscommunication from the media, and the way in which our brain reacts to this state of panic. Whether COVID-19 will have further psychological implications is unknown, however it is certain that how we perceive this will greatly influence how the public respond in the coming months to various restrictions put in place.

Josh Becvar

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Tom Jackson

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Covid-19: pandemic or infodemic Elizabeth Gallagher Upper Sixth

Covid-19: pandemic or infodemic ‘5G radiation’ is ‘exacerbating’ the contagion’s spread and making it more lethal.’

These claims were tweeted by the American actor Woody Harrelson in early April, and have since been robustly debunked by leading scientists across the world.

However, with this tweet receiving over 25,000 likes before it was deleted and the conspiracies having been similarly propagated by British celebrities such as Amanda Holden and Eamon Holmes, the rumours – at least for a time – got ahead of the facts.

This is the nature of the ‘infodemic’ that we are currently facing; a term coined by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to describe the phenomenon of fake news ‘spreading faster and more easily’ than the virus itself, potentially hampering a public health response and creating confusion and distrust. The disinformation is spread via human-to-human ‘contact’ and multiplies exponentially, just like the virus.

So, even though the outbreak of a pandemic on this scale is not unknown or necessarily unexpected – for example the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic reportedly killed up to 50 million people, far higher than anything for Covid-19 so far – the current opportunity

for information to be disseminated rapidly across the world has created a new set of challenges.

It cannot be denied that technology has in some respects helped the international community respond to the virus, including the sharing of data on vast scale, the rapid deployment of personal protective equipment (PPE) across the world and even moving critical patients across borders. The problem, however, is not the technology itself, rather who and how it is used: for example, the Chinese government has been accused of being too slow to release the genetic data, and disinformation has spread at lightning speed, whether statesponsored or simply reckless individuals.

million links to unreliable information had been shared on Twitter alone; one of the few social networks to allow its data to be analysed. His review suggests that disinformation was spreading at a far faster rate than the virus itself, as the number of links shared on Twitter far exceeded the number of globally reported infections by that date.

[B]y 14th March, 1.7 million links to unreliable information had been shared on Twitter alone.

In fact, disinformation is arguably worsening the economic, political and social impacts of an already deadly virus and intensifying the threat that governments and populations alike face.

And the scale of misinformation – the ‘infodemic’ – is extraordinary. For example, Manilo De Domenico, an Italian scientist, began collecting data on 22nd January (the day that Wuhan was put under lockdown) and discovered that by 14th March, 1.7

It is likely that we have all fallen victim to the ‘infodemic’ at some point in the last few months.

How many of us believed the claim that holding your breath for ten seconds without coughing meant you did not have the virus, or hesitated when seeing Facebook posts claiming that coronavirus ‘hates the sun’ and can be prevented by taking ‘a few sips of water every 15 minutes’? Both of these claims lack any scientifically-based evidence whatsoever.

What is particularly worrying is the potentially lethal implications of fake news during a pandemic such as Covid-19. If an individual believes that sipping water is the only preventative measure they have to take, she could be putting both herself and others at a much greater risk of infection.

The extent of this ‘infodemic’ is concerning. And never more so than when the President of the United States, arguably the most powerful man in the world, himself suggested in his daily news conference on 23rd April that doctors could ‘look into’ injecting disinfectant into patients to ‘clean’ the lungs - an action that anyone with any basic biological knowledge would understand as being potentially very harmful. Despite the public backlash and denouncement by disinfectant manufacturers, this dangerous notion took hold in many communities. For example, both the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and a poison control centre in New York reported a higher than usual number of calls the day following the blunder. The incident begs the question of whether the President of the United States was himself a victim of disinformation.

The overwhelming popularity of

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Non-profits and activists are beginning to take action; for example, the South Korean government was forced to back down from rolling out compulsory location-tracing bracelets for people who broke quarantine rules after human rights groups objected to the intrusion. The NGO Human Rights Watch has warned that Covid-19 is allowing governments to ‘institutionalize’ monitoring systems, leading to concerns that these powers will take a long time to be scaled back following the pandemic, if they are at all.

‘homebrewed’ cures, data and conspiracy theories, indicates something more than just a desperate search for answers. It implies a global distrust for established and official sources of information; a pattern that was highlighted in a report published recently by the network analysis firm Graphika.

This evident mistrust has had many causes, perhaps most significantly Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, during which he often accused the mainstream media of peddling ‘fake news’ and later called the press ‘the enemy of the American People’ in a tweet. This, as well as accusations that the BBC were biased in their coverage of Brexit in 2016, also cast doubt in people’s minds on both sides of the pond about whether the mainstream media was objective and trustworthy. This has resulted in a largescale shift to the more transparent yet unbridled platforms of social media.

But relying on social media as a source of news – largely unfiltered - could prove to be even more of a minefield. Something that is compounded by recent accusations that Facebook profited from controversial or false information being published on its platform.

With the onset of Covid-19, little trust has been rebuilt, so people continue to supplement traditional news sources with online feeds, often populated with rumours and speculation. Moreover, the tangible fear of falling ill has made the need for definitive information more and more urgent. Moreover, the lack of clarity from political leaders, has exacerbated our reliance on unofficial sources and increased our vulnerability to disinformation.

In spite of this, there are some countries where an ‘infodemic’ has been largely avoided. An example is South Korea, which used advanced technology to implement a successful test and trace system.

The technology includes a mandatory government-run app to trace all newcomers into the country (which can be deleted after two weeks). In addition, it will include text alerts from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, detailing the anonymous routes of confirmed carriers, directly alerting the local population. This leaves little leeway for damaging disinformation to enter public discourse.

And this may have contributed to South Korea’s extremely low death rate although it was one of the first countries to be affected and is already exercising an easing of lockdown measures. Controlling information and distributing it effectively, especially regarding infected members of the public, appears to be a viable way out of the lockdown.

Concerns regarding privacy are more prevalent in Western countries and amongst older generations; a group of society less used to having their data known and shared. Chinese citizens have long been subject to extensive monitoring, most infamously with the new Chinese Social Credit System where all forms of private data are collected, from restaurant reservations to traffic infringements.

The collection of more data during the pandemic has appeared to be an undesirable yet inevitable progression of state control to many Chinese people.

So, the outbreak of Covid-19 has highlighted two recurring issues: the rapid dissemination of information and the gathering of personal data by national authorities and corporations. Both of these have important but potentially harmful consequences, and the ability of individual governments to maintain the right balance during this pandemic – and avoid an ‘infodemic’ – may determine the relationship it has with its citizens for years to come. Not only is this a watershed moment for how governments manage information in an increasingly connected world; it also provides a unique opportunity for people to take action: to lobby governments and companies over how personal data is used, and to seek out objective and accurate information. We all need to take more personal responsibility, hesitating before accepting news stories at face value, being prepared to checked facts, and pressing for ownership of personal data. This is how we can all fight to prevent an ‘infodemic’.

Chinese citizens have released photographic evidence of surveillance equipment being installed outside their homes.

There are, however, also dangers associated with accurate information being too effectively distributed. For example, there have been reports of people managing to identify infected individuals by analysing the detailed text alert information. South Koreans have also become fearful of the stigma attached to becoming ill or inadvertently spreading the virus. A study conducted by Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Health found that ‘criticisms and further damage’ were more feared than having the virus itself.

Breaches of privacy of this kind are now a global concern: Chinese citizens have released photographic evidence of surveillance equipment being installed outside their homes, and authorities in Kerala, India, have reportedly accessed telephone records to check recent contacts made by those who have tested positive.

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Parallel lives: Artemisia and Agrippina Flora Edward Upper Sixth

Agrippina the Younger: Women in Rome have never been allowed any position of Authority, so we’ve had to adapt, outsmart the men that are so threatened by us. History records me as the wife and mother of men- doing little to detail me as anything more than that. They express outrage at my lack of adherence to societies norms for women- especially women in such a position as mine. But why conform to such rules when it makes life so dull? Why should I, as Great granddaughter of Augustus, adopted granddaughter of Emperor Tiberius and sister to Caligula (however disliked) be denied the same titles and honours as my male counterparts?

Most remember me either as the wife of bumbling Claudius or mother of that Nero, neither of which are crowing achievements, some may also note my exile under the rule of my mad brother. When recorded by historians it is merely to accompany some scandalous rumour or alongside a set of adjectives describing this man or that, never as a person and political actor in my own right. Yet notice how each of these socalled brilliant emperors of Rome came up against hatred, and arguably descended into tyranny? Would not a greater presence of women within the political sphere ensure a more level-headed, less testosterone fuelled decision making process? That aside, it would at least make the senate more representative of the people it claims to serve in the interest of.

not one but 3 plots of murder- 2 of which they suggest succeeded. Likewise, the crime of ambition falls upon my shoulders, yet the men in my life had the same end goal yet got hailed hero’s and victors of our empire.

With regard to my involvement in a plot to remove dear little boots, well, let’s just say someone had to do something. Let me also remind you I was not the only one involved; It was dubbed the Plot of Three Daggers for a reason. Both my sister Livilla Drusilla’s widowed husband Lepidus had an equal hand in attempting to remove our brother. Gaius should never have been entrusted with power over Rome and its people, squandering our resources and funds, as well as allowing Terror and Fear to cast their dreadful shadows over the city.

people and society that the elevation of the position of a handful of women. Likewise, his largesse and mass spending’s left Rome in a precarious position, resulting in the need for a levelheaded leader to take charge, thus Claudius took the title of princeps.

Double standards ran strife through the streets, lurking around every corner to catch women in acts thought inappropriate for our sex. Roman law would suggest that, upon the untimely death of my second husband Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus - whom I had no hand in killing- that I was to become the property of my Son, Nero. As one who is fully capable of handling herself, it seems as dishonour to hand the control of my life to one who I brought into the world. Thus, I deemed it appropriate for me to take power into my own hand.

Would not a greater presence of women within the political sphere ensure a more level-headed, less testosterone fuelled decision making process?

I could easily continue with my diatribe of the flaws in the society and political systems of Rome; however, I write to record history as I remember it, not as high minded, uninformed as that noted down by one Suetonius, or Tacitus. Thus, I intent to record history as I remember it, free from the assumptions and accusations so common in other works.

Caligula’s reign did bring some benefits to both me and my sisters, however. Upon him becoming emperor the 3 of us became royals, the pinnacle of the societal hierarchy. He also had the vows of those swearing oaths of loyalty read: I will not value my life or that of my children less highly than I do the safety of the Emperor and his sisters.

Likewise, we were given the rights of the Vestal Virgins, gaining the ability to travel by carpentum and to attend public games, something few other women were capable of. Our dear brother also had coins commissioned in our images, making us the first women still alive to be formally recognised on coinage. Such honours bestowed upon us allowed us to rise to a position of political prominence not previously achieved by women in Roman society.

In the history of the Julio-Claudians, you are unlikely to find a woman regarded in such a scandalous light as I. My supposed wrongdoings and misdemeanours are recorded- some say to my luck- by the likes of Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio; all men. Such men have made me complicit in

Despite the cruelty exhibited by Caligula, one of the only saving grace in all this is that Caligula is remembered no more fondly than I am myself, disgraced for his decisions such as that to make himself a god and appoint his horse as a priest. That to me is a far greater insult to the Roman 56

I used what influence I had following my banishment under Caligula to work my way into the royal courts becoming mistress to eminent men until I got close to Claudius. Love never existed between us- he was my uncle after all- though I had his ear and his trust, two deadly tools in the art of political manipulation.

Claudius lacks the reputations of those who preceded him. He was not mad or tyrannical, nor did he have a short temper or a thirst for blood. He is however remembered for his close administration of Rome, bringing the empire and city back from the brink of collapse left behind by Caligula. I was the one pulling the strings.

It was my idea to complete the aqueducts abandoned by Caligula. I too was the mind behind the Invasion of Britain as well as the annexation of Thrace. My involvement in such affairs did not go unnoticed with Tacitus siting how I “Put it forth that [I] was [myself] a partner in the empire

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acquired by [my] ancestors,” Why should I not? I had as much if not more claim to the land and empire of Rome than the man put in charge by the praetorian guards. I was, unlike so many others, of Augustus’ blood, not adopted in like those who rose to power and then fell from grace before me.

I had seen enough examples from Augustus and his successes, to Caligula and Tiberius with their decent into tyranny to feel certain that I knew the do’s and the don’ts of ruling over Rome.

I remained content- for a short while- to be the puppeteer behind the show, but soon my ambition and vision for Rome outgrew the front behind which I hid. No longer could I use Claudius without the notice of the men around him, thus I knew things needed to change.

The poisoning of Claudius was perhaps not as subtle as I had hoped, with suspicion falling upon me sooner that I intended- no doubt due to that freedman Narcissus. I will admit it is one of the few things correctly recorded. My fears were growing that Claudius would have Britannicus succeed him not my Nero, who was fast approaching manhood. But I also knew that, were I to succeed in securing power for myself, Nero needed to be young enough for me to pull his strings much as I had Claudius’.

According to Tacitus, my plot went further than the simple removal of Claudius, becoming a “Plot aimed at overthrowing the whole imperial household.” I will admit to contemplating the removal of Britannicus, though such actions would have made my plan more obvious, thereby putting its success in jeopardy. Locusta, a secret friend of mine was the one who

suggested to poison the mushroomsClaudius’ favourite food- and it worked a treat. This left Claudius dead and my Nero ready to be acclaimed imperator before the troops and his new subjects.

Yet again rumours surfaced of the relations between Nero and I, yet again suggesting that I had some sort of sexual intimacy with him that was affording me my position and power. I deny all such contact, he was after all, my son. It may come as no surprise to you that it was Tacitus who recorded such falsehoods, dealing as he so often did in fabricated fiction over fact. I once again attribute such accusations to the lack of precedent for women in power, with men regarding their rise as nothing more than a result of adulterous exploits as opposed to any natural aptitude of my own. In many ways such ignorance on their part aided my plans. They did not perceive me as a threat until it was too late, allowing me to puppeteer Rome and its emperors to my own ends.

Nero on the other hand was more problematic than Claudius had ever been.

He was mailable, to an extent, for a fair amount of time but it didn’t take long for such power to go to his head, much as it had with my brother- it must have run in the family. It didn’t take long for him to grow bitter of my position over him and begin looking for a way to remove me, though I would not be the first to die on his orders or by his hand.

Nero had proved his capability of murder by seeing the end of Britannicus. Suetonius goes to great lengths to detail how Nero “feared that the common people might be lass attached to Claudius’ adopted son than to his real one,” a fear I feel was well placed given the suspicion surrounding his accession to the principate. So, I advised him to seek the help of Locusta- the 2 of us providing her with frequent businessin acquiring a fitting poison. Britannicus died the instant the poisoned cup touched his lips and he was buried with haste, his death dismissed as a tragic result of epileptic seizures, as so eloquently put by Nero. However, with Britannicus out of the picture, I was left the sole object of Nero’s hate and thus became his next target.

[T]he crime of ambition falls upon my shoulders, yet the men in my life had the same end goal yet got hailed hero’s and victors of our empire.

It is true however, that my popularity was scare among the people of the empire to the point that “all men yearned for the breaking of the mother’s power.” However, this mattered little to me or my plan. Who do you think inspired Caligula to say, “let them hate me so long as the fear me?” I could deal with unpopularity so long as I held my position.

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This then led to a period in which that petulant boy did everything in his ability to see that I was disgraced. He stripped me of my honours and powers and expelled me from the Palatine, something Suetonius appears to record with great pleasure. Likewise he had my bodyguards removed. His tactics got pettier still once I had relocated to one of my numerous country estates. Nero paid handsomely those who willingly drove and sailed past my house shouting and jeering at me at all hours of the day. It was only when I threatened Nero to the point of terror did my son decide that his life would be better if I were no longer in it.

In an odd way I am proud of the extent to which he went to try and remove me- he learned from the best. Nero did, however, allow for one flaw in his plan to develop.

A person is easier to kill if they are not themselves a killer. Tacitus was clever to suggest that it was ill-advised to “Tamper with the domestics of a woman whose

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experience of crime had made her vigilant for foul play.” I knew perhaps before even Nero did, that he would soon be plotting my removal. Thus, I went to Locusta once more. She provided me with the appropriate antidotes needed to fortify my system against any Toxin Nero might have chosen. Plot number one failed.

Next his determination saw him rig a custom machine to the ceiling above where I usually slept, the idea being that the panels would drop on me in the night. A rather ingenious plan had it not been for one of my many spies within his ranks having warned me. Plot number two failed.

the centurion drawing his sword, I offed up my womb to him, telling him that is where he should strike. He did just that, but my death was not quick and easy but rather drawn out and painful. Those men stood and watched as I finally lost my battle with the plethora of scars that littered my body, bleeding out until the last breath left my lips.

I was buried that night, cremated on the very couch on which I had been murdered.

Such humble rights, I am certain, of Nero trying to reduce my status even now I was dead, indicating to everyone that I was no longer- now was I everyempress of Rome. The ungrateful brat did not even give his mother the honour of a proper burial, earth never being piled over my grave- a right preformed much later by my still loyal servants. Thus, I was trapped between life and death to witness the tyranny and despotism Nero succumbed to. He did not outlive me for long however, getting what he deserved just 9 years after my own death.

I find it particularly remarkable that a woman should have taken part in the expedition against Greece.

I was able to survive the masterful conspiracy to have my shipwreck and frame my death as an accident. It was a well-conceived plan- one which involved a lot of acting on his part. Both Tacitus and Suetonius suggest that he lured me to Baiae “under the pretence of reconciliation,”. As his mother I was perhaps all to ready to believe him and boarded the ship he offered me. The ship sank as plan, yet the boy did not seem to have factored in my ability to swim- something most women could not. I swam to safety near the Lucrine Lake. Plot number three failed.

Such a sting of survival on my part caused Nero to resort to far less theatrical, and more typical methods for my removal. I was staying at one of my many villas when the day of my death came. I was in my bedroom when Anicetus and his men surrounded the couch on which I lay. The last Act of my life and finally come. Thus, when I saw

Thus, my story comes to an end, this time told how I wish for it to be remembered.

I may have a reputation as one who slept her way to one of the most powerful positions in Rome- Tacitus yet again having started much of that speculation. That reputation comes at the hands of senators and equites who gazed upon my power with jealousy and angered when realising that a woman had different and more accessible sources of power. To use one’s resources wisely was key in my rise through roman

Agrippina

society and men are all too easily distracted by the allure of women. This cast negativity on my sexual exploits and how I acted in ways inappropriate to tradition, yet they cannot deny that I rose to gain greater power and influence over Rome than many of them ever did.

Artemisia “I find it particularly remarkable that a woman should have taken part in the expedition against Greece,” were the words used by Herodotus to justify why he recorded me in his history, when there is little mention of other Persian officers, let alone other women. I am well aware of my fortune at having made enough difficulty for the men of the world to have been remembered through time, unlike so many women. Yet a man’s version of my life is not what I wish to have remembers, as I was as much a key actor in the Greco-Persian war as any man who fought- perhaps greater than even Xerxes himself.

For some reason the men of Greece find it next to impossible to comprehend a woman in any position other than that of as a mother and a housewife. Therefore, you can imagen their dislike when they realised, they were losing battles to a woman. Thus, when you hear of the battle of Artemisium, the naval battle concurrent with that of the battle of Thermopylae, you only hear of it as a draw. Those who were there know that in truth it was my men, under my command that secured a victory for the Persian side, the Greek fleet turning tail and fleeing after only 3 days of battle.

I was often described to be one who fought like a man- possibly a description used to justify a Greek defeat at my hand, as no woman could possibly have defeated the mighty Athenian Navy. Likewise, Herodotus sites my ‘manly courage,” as the reason I joined the fight. Neither are entirely true.

I was born to the King of Halicarnassus, King Lygdamis, my mother a woman forgotten to the passage of time. They named me after Artemis, the goddess of the hunt among other things, a woman permitted by the Greeks to live in a way deemed unsuitable for mortal ladies. I did what I could throughout my lifetime to emulate the goddess, not to the point of impiety, but in principle. She could hunt and fight to a level on par, if not greater, than that of her twin Apollo. She did what she wanted and didn’t allow herself to be controlled by any man, though some tried.

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I was married to an eminent man within our society- likewise forgotten by historya marriage that suited my father well, securing peace with the great Anatolian region, and giving him a successor to the throne of Halicarnassus. I ruled by my husband’s side as his queen hence, when my he died, it seemed only natural that I take to the throne, earning me the title of Artemisia of Caria. Some record my son as having been of a suitable age to become the next king, therefor suggesting I took it with no just cause. However, upon my husband’s death our son was a mere boy, unfit to wear the crown of our kingdom.

Ionian coast made us a prime target for the Persian’s and their war with Greece.

Xerxes’ wasn’t going to make the same mistake as his father, and as such he knew that to sail up and around the coast, though safer, would give the Greeks the time they needed to prepare for the coming fight. He arrived in Halicarnassus looking for advice, something I was more than happy to provide. Perhaps that was where the Greeks fell short, diminishing and ignoring women were other cultures appreciated them and treated them as equals.

[T]he men of Greece find it next to impossible to comprehend a woman in any position other than that of as a mother and a housewife.

I ruled for some time in peace, keeping Halicarnassus and the surrounding areas prosperous and the people happy. However, such a peace didn’t last long with the rising powers to the East. We had been left alone under Darius. He and his man had reached Greece without us, opting to sail the long way around past Amphipolis. It was under his son Xerxes’ that our position along the

I was the one that advised Xerxes to split his forces. The first batch was sent on the long march across the Hellespont and into Greece through Macedonia and Thrace upon my suggestion. The rest of his forces were to stay in Halicarnassus and build ships as our current fleet was too small to take on any provided by the Greeks. Xerxes stayed with the men at Halicarnassus, overseeing the construction of our feet whilst plotting his next move.

Xerxes stayed by my side as these preparations were being made, allowing me to entertain him and his officers with lavish feasts and entertainment. Such time spent in their company made me accustomed to their ways, and likewise endeared myself in Xerxes’ eyes, giving me a greater sway over his opinion. Some have speculated whether we loved one another, though no man could ever hold my heart.

The moment we got word from a messenger that the marching troops were nearing Attica, having passed through and medized much of Northern Greece, I was the first Xerxes came to seek advice. I of course hastened to too so, considering the matter at hand and advising accordingly.

To get into Greece the Persian troops had chosen to pass through Thermopylae, a narrow stretch now guarded by the Greeks, becoming impassable. It became clear to me, if not those around me, that a diversion would be needed if any success in battle were to be secured. As such I put forward the suggestion of a naval battle in the adjacent bay.

It became known as the Battle of Artemisium and was a Persian victoryone of only a handful throughout the war.

As part of the Persian fleet, Xerxes had sent messengers to all the surrounding Artemisia

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cities and client kings to ask for ships, the total amounting to some 1200 ships, placing us at a significant advantage over the 200 ships of the Greeks. This gave us confidence going into the battle, knowing our ability to overwhelm the enemy would play in our favour. As queen I had no need to be present at the battle, however, from a tactical point of view I knew it would give our troops an advantage.

The Greeks- namely the Athenians- had positioned their ships in the straights of Artemisium to protect the flanks of those fighting at Thermopylae and to provide backup assistance. However, there was a level of discourse within their ranks and the allied navy was to be commanded

by Eurybiades the Spartan, which didn’t sit well with some of the other Greeks.

However with the Greeks having positioned their fleet as such, it gave us the perfect opportunity to attack, distracting them from aiding the men on land.

Some commend my actions in the battle, Herodotus suggesting that when I fought “I was not the least brave of those who fought at Euboea,”. I did however use a certain trick which appeared to have left a sour taste in the mouth of Thessalus who described me as a pirate and schemer.

Admittedly some of my tactics would not have been commended by those who stuck to the codes of war, yet the proved no less useful. One such device was to carry on board 2 flags, one of the Persians and one of the Greeks.

Which flag that flew depended on what best suited me. I’d fly the flag of the Greeks to manoeuvre in safety, before ramming the unsuspecting ships.

desires and Darius before him, all to do with a rebellion sparked by the Athenians.

I sat and watched by Xerxes side, present as the news came pouring in; Athens had been abandoned. To many this was excellent news, making the task of capturing the city far easier than had been predicted, though it dud not satisfy Xerxes’ desire to see the Athenians themselves crippled.

Thus debate began among Xerxes closest advisors. Should he make an attack on Salamis, the refuge of the Athenians, or should he be contempt with having taken Athens? To make such a decision he of course looked to his advisors. Mardonius, so keen to redeem his losses under Darius pressed for a battle at Salamis, siting that our navy was more than capable of overwhelming the Athenians once again.

He had the overwhelming support of all of Xerxes’ other yes men, making the decision seem unanimous until my opinion was asked. I, myself, advised that the battle should not go ahead. Herodotus records a speech I made stating that to fight with the Athenians at Salamis would be foolish “because at sea [his] men will be as inferior to the Greeks as women are to men,”. My words were not meant to discredit woman- however true they were- but they put my argument into a context these glory hungry men could understand.

They named me after Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.

After a 3-day long battle, and the Greeks disengaging, both sides had sustained roughly equal losses, yet those were losses the Allied Greeks could not afford; half of the Athenian ships were damaged or sunk, putting the Greeks in a more vulnerable position than ever. Word too came from the victory at Thermopylae, giving the land forces direct access into Attica.

Whilst the Persian navy next went to Histiaea, the army marched onwards itno Greece, laying claim to all that they passed. The cities of Boeotia were sacked and burned before the forces turned their attentions towards Athens. The great city of Athens had been the object of Xerxes’

I also added to my argument that had he “not [already] captured Athens, which was the point of the campaign?” Xerxes controlled almost all of Greece, with the Athenian’s at Salamis and a collection of Peloponnesians holding out against him.

Many of those that had heard me give this opinion were shocked as it did not fall in line with the opinion previously given by the king. Some suggested that I should be punished for such a reply, others still feeling my words were punishable by death.

Contrary to the beliefs of such men, Xerxes praised me for speaking with such honesty.

Though he felt compelled by what I had said, he was bound by law to do as the majority wished, giving command to fight at Salamis. Some site the 10,000 drachma price on my head as my motive to avoid such a fight, however, such a bounty did not scare me.

The battle of Salamis was messy to say the least. The waters were shallow and 61

the stretches of water, narrow. Some commander had made the foolish mistake of falling for the Greek’s false retreat, following them into the narrow passages around the island. Our large number of ships were a greater hinderance than help in such conditions, the smaller Greek ships having the advantage.

It wasn’t long into the battle that I found myself being pursued by a ship from Attica.

I could see no way out, given that there were ships everywhere, blocking every exit.

Thus, I made the decision to set a course for the ship of Damasithymus, a ship on the side of the Persians. The King of Calynda had lost my favour prior to the battle, thus I spared no thought when his ship sank, dragging him with it. Ramming this ship cleared the way for me to make my escape.

The man persuing me believed my ship to be fighting on the Greek’s side and thus dropped the chase. This allowed me to sit back and watch the rest of the battle until it ended in Persian defeat.

From there Xerxes seemed to be at a complete loss as what to do. Mardonius, like useal, wanted to fight on. Unconvinced by this, and sceptical due to Mardonius’ advice leading to the defeat at Salamis, Xerxes turned to me. “I think you should pull back and leave Mardonius here with the troops he’s asking for, since he’s offering to do that of his own free will,” Is how I advised the king, convincing him that any victory of Mardonius’ was also a victory of his, but any failure could be pinned solely on Mardonius. This argument won the favour of the king and thus we withdrew from Greece, leaving only Mardonius and a handful of troops behind.

From then on I fade away in the histories of men, only to be a name that corps up her of there. What happened in the rest of my life is uncertain. Some say I lived on in peace, continuing to rule over my people as queen. Others say my life ended after I was rejected by some prince or other, throwing myself dramatically off a cliff. Living on in peace until claimed by old age is far more realistic as to what happened. I allowed the legends of my bravery and skills to echo on throughout time, however what happened after Xerxes left my life will forever remain a mystery.

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Tom Hogg

Tom Jackson

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Stop. Smile.

Alex Lambrianou Lower Sixth

fact these two things exist. So, on the 14th of October 2020 I vowed to do something about it. That vow lead to ‘Share A Smile Today’, it led to five months of hard work but it led to a platform that allows you to share a smile while supporting local independent coffee shops in the process.

Feels good doesn’t it. However, over the past year, there hasn’t been much to smile about. Personally, I find it’s the small things that make me smile the most. Whether a friendly wave, hug or smile, they all conjure that indescribable sensation of contentment. Although recently, that wave has had to come over a screen, that hug – well it’s hard to hug someone from two meters away and that smile has been hidden behind a face mask for far too long.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but if you ever walk through a town or city, the sight of ‘Sorry, we’re closed’ or ‘Sorry, we’ve had to shut down’ signs will be a common phenomenon.

Café’s and coffee shops unlit tables ‘empty until further notice’ tell the story of how many of our beloved local independents succumbed to one fatal phrase – ‘you must stay at home’.

If you are anything like me, you hate the

someone’s day is cheaper and simpler than it’s ever been before.

Whether it’s a thank you or a congratulations, an I’m sorry or good luck, best wishes or goodbye, the intended reaction is always the same – a smile. So, why not give a unique gift from a local cafe, coffee shop or deli to add a spring to someone’s step. We make sure that smile doesn’t stop there though spreading the smile further by working with local charities to provide a smile to those who need it most.

Whether it’s a thank you or a congratulations, an I’m sorry or good luck, best wishes or goodbye, the intended reaction is always the same – a smile.

‘Share A Smile Today’ allows you to give a someone a special gift in local café, coffee shop or from a local deli, guaranteed to make them smile. Our method is simple, you simply choose a unique product from one of our partnered businesses, enter the email of the person you wish to send it to and a small message to accompany the gift. That’s it. Your lucky recipient will then receive a personalised voucher containing your message, what you have given them and a QR code. All they then have to do is go into the chosen shop, show their voucher and they will be given their gift. With over 12 different products across 7 independent businesses and in 3 locations (Petersfield, Guildford and Farnham) we have the perfect product for everyone. At less than the price of a train ticket giving a unique gift to make

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A small thing really can go a long way, so I urge you to support local independent businesses and share a smile today.

Our website is shareasmiletoday.co.uk and Instagram is @share.a.smile.today.

SO, YOU THINK YOU’RE FREE Creative writing TO CHOOSE YOUR UNIVERSITY? Grace Whelan

Lower Sixth

The Letter I wonder if my letter has arrived?

Across the open waters of the sea.

Will it have braved the storms? Has it survived?

Precious paper that means so much to me.

My thoughts are carried like a bird of prey, to my mother they go; a place I know.

My home of green fields, of farms far away.

Unlike the trenches of bleak, wet and snow.

Will my words be placed in her working hands?

To keep worries of war far from her mind.

To know I am safe in these wounded lands.

On precious paper of ink, I have signed.

From your dearest son, who longs to return.

To the warmth of my home, where fires will burn.

Kitty Hogg Second Year

Archive poem The announcement came that schools were to close, What will lessons look like? No one knows.

What on earth is ‘Teams’? How do you join a meeting?

Teaching remote lessons where ‘thumbs up’ was the greeting.

‘Initials’ not faces, ‘chat’ not conversation, Lockdown seemed to continue for an infinite duration.

But persistence prevailed and the students have thrived, They demonstrated autonomy, sheer grit and drive.

When our school opens I know so much will have changed, With distancing rules, ‘bubbles’ and tables rearranged.

But behind the ‘new normal’ we all have a journey we’ve shared, And for life’s future hurdles we are all more prepared.

Amanda Clark Staff

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As an extra curricular activity Joe Knowles made this kennel for his dog Frank. It remains unused

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