EPIGRAM 318

Fortnightly 30th October 2017 Issue 318 Winner of Best Publication and Best Use of Digital Media 2017

University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

Ex-Israeli diplomat speaks at Bristol amid tight security and protest

Epigram / Emma Chittleburgh

Nikki Peach & Emma Chittleburgh News Editor & Online News Editor The University of Bristol Politics Society hosted a sold-out talk by Israeli diplomat, Michael Freeman. Bristol Friends of Palestine demonstrated in protest outside the venue, the Wills Memorial Building.

Members of Bristol Friends of Palestine named their event ‘A Rally Against Apartheid!’ and police were present during their demonstration.

The talk was given by Michael Freeman, the ex-Israeli Deputy-Ambassador to South Africa

Food

Ella Mawson’s experience of Page 24

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do you think the Israel and Palestine conflict attracts so much international attention?’

Freeman responded, saying that ‘It doesn’t make sense as it’s not the ‘greatest crisis’ and you have to accept that the crisis in Syria is bigger.

‘I don’t think the Friends of Palestine society have held a demonstration against Syria in the last three years,’ Freeman added.

Bristol Friends of Palestine who demonstrated against the talk, invited students to ‘Come and stand with us against oppression and demonstrate against the university hosting an Israeli diplomat complicit in the occupation and systematic racism and apartheid in Palestine.’

They told Epigram, in reference to Freeman’s

Wellbeing

Dani Bass interviews Feed the

‘Last year, deferring saved

Homeless after they saved a

my life’ - Jake Porter on the

man’s life in Bristol

importance of time

Page 8 EpigramPaper

emphasis on the Israel Palestine conflict, ‘We are untested because being pro-Palestine is being pro-human rights.

‘The Israeli-Palestine conflict represents racism and colonial policies in the 21st century.’

Bristol Friends of Palestine also questioned the Politics Society. saying they ‘don’t understand how PolSoc can say they are apolitical and aren’t being one-sided.’

The President of University of Bristol Politics Society, Joe Robinson, responded to the protest, telling Epigram: ‘We don’t just represent one side of the view. We are fully apolitical and other speakers who represent more points will be invited soon.’

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Letters

Dear future year abroad students...

Flickr / bertknot

Epigram / Jane Cowie

turning Vegan

who described protesters as his ‘welcoming committee.’

The protesters chanted, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ whilst Michael Freeman criticised the geographical basis of their statement. He said, referring to Palestinians, that ‘Both sides must accept the rights of the other.’

Freeman spoke mainly about relations between Israel and Palestine.

Guests at the talk were locked inside while he was speaking and there were high levels of security around the premises, including three bodyguards inside the room.

After his talk, Michael Freeman held a Q&A session with guests. One student asked ‘Why

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Epigram | 30.10.2017

Editorial

A note from Alex...

The news in the last few weeks has been full of the failings of UK universities to create a diverse community and attract a range of educational backgrounds.

The BBC led with the headline ‘Oxbridge uncovered: More elitist than we thought,’ revealing that, although 30 per cent of people nationally are in the top two social income groups, students with parents in these top jobs took up 81 per cent of Oxbridge places in 2015. David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham who initially released the figures following Freedom of Information requests, commented that ‘access failings [are] creating social apartheid.’

This month, Epigram revealed the unequal distribution of private and state school students across Bristol’s halls of residence.

Despite the fact 61 per cent of Bristol University students in 2016/17 came from state schools (according to the ISC, nationally only 7 per cent of students go to independent school), Stoke Bishop took disproportionately privately educated students.

Sixty-six per cent of Hiatt Baker’s residents went to private school, while Favell House in the city centre only comprised of 8 per cent private students, figures that have remained fairly constant over the past 5 years. Read the full story on page 5.

While perhaps these stories are not surprising, when you take a step back it is actually quite astonishing how this type of report is still news.

Positive steps have been taken- Bristol gives contextual offers to those from poor-achieving schools, the University of Bristol bursary and the Bristol Scholars programme and both Oxford and Cambridge are spending £5 million a year on attracting a social mix.

But more needs to be done. The experience of state-school students needs to be acknowledged, an experience that is often drastically different from a private education. There is a broad spectrum of reasons why state school students may not apply to top Russell Group universities such as Bristol or once accepted, the stereotypically private school halls.

Money, perhaps the most obvious, is just one - most Stoke Bishop halls are simply unaffordable for many (a single room in Wills is £7899), and even when out of halls, Bristol is an expensive city to rent in. A significant number of Bristol students pay upwards of £110 a week for rent and bills, when I know people in other university cities who pay a fraction of this - is it really a mystery that the university succeeds in attracting a significant community of private school students?

An Epigram poll revealed that 83 per cent of respondents thinks Bristol has a ‘culture of privilege’ that needs tackling.

This reveals a divide between the experiences of private and state school students, a divide that needs to be acknowledged in order for it to be addressed. Perhaps the NUS have the right idea in commissioning their Poverty Commission to investigate the experiences of lower income students.

Confidence is another big barrier in affecting whether state school students apply to Russell Group universities; the knowledge that you will be in seminars and lectures with students with an education seemingly so much better than yours is a significant worry - one that I know myself and friends faced when deciding whether or not to apply to stereotypically ‘middle class’ universities. More needs to be done to prevent those who may be put off applying to a top Russell Group university from slipping through the net, encouraging them to consider top universities like Bristol and Oxbridge.

I am not trying to encourage a divide here - the goal should be to unite rather than divide students, to dispose of the stereotypes surrounding both state school and private school students. After all, education doesn’t define people - where you went to school shouldn’t determine your friendship group, the university you decide to go to or even the accommodation you decide to apply for. We need to create an equal playing field and this can only happen through making university economically accessible for all and dispelling dangerous stereotypes.

It is not about dumbing down universities. It is about recognising talent from a variety of sources and creating more of social mix that will benefit everyone. Private schools should not have a monopoly on success - all students should have equal opportunities.

2 Co-Editors in Chief: Alex Boulton and Noa Leach

Online Editor: Georgia Marsh

editor@epigram.org.uk

georgia.marsh@epigram.org.uk

Deputy: Edie Essex Barrett

Online Deputy: Lucy Thompson

Editorial Assistant: Mary Richardson

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From the archives- ‘Bristol falls in world rankings’ Bristol ‘slumped’ to 80th place in the Times Higher Education ‘Reputation Rankings’ of universities across the world When you’re trying to choose your university at the age of 17, league tables can sometimes seem like the most important quality to consider. Or at least – the one factor that you know for certain – despite desperate wishes your predictive grades will be accurate.

In 2011 Epigram’s front page article covered the fact that Bristol had fallen to 80th place on the Times Higher Education ranking of universities by reputation.

This was a fall from 68th in overall rankings, which in itself was a fall from its previous ranking of 34th.

At the time of writing, Bristol no longer even appears in the top 100.

However, this reminder is not meant to depress or dishearten – instead it should highlights how unreliable these are as a measure of university life.

The rankings used indicators like teaching quality, but also research and ‘how often university publications were cited elsewhere’ - indicators which are not representative of your university education let alone experience.

Bristol is certainly not going down in global estimations.

These tables are constantly changing, and the news stories covering the changes seem to echo each other and swing back and forth every year.

While this is not to say that they are completely useless (in fact, they often highlight important issues like student satisfaction levels), it is important to remember that these are temporary, fluctuating statistics.

Keep writing those essays and be proud of your work!

First published in Epigram on the 21st of March 2011

Write for Epigram: join our writers’ groups on FacebookEpigram News 2017-18 Epigram Features Contributors 2017/18 Epigram Comment 2017-18 Epigram Science and Tech 2017-18 Epigram Letters 2017/18 Epigram Living 2017-18 Epigram Wellbeing Writers’ Group 2017/18 Epigram Food Writers (17/18) Epigram Travel Section 2017/18 Epigram Style Contributors 2017-18 Epigram Film & TV 2017-18 Writers Epigram Arts 2017-18 Epigram Music Writers 2017/18 Epigram Sport Writers 2017/18

Chief Proofreader Lucy Moor Sub-editors on this issue Jess Cselko, Yasmin Hamidi, Nadia Hassan, Izi Miller, Imogen Benson, Jamie Muddimer, Poppy Price, Samuel Wong, Laila Freeman, Dani Salvalaggio, Max Lewthwaite Managing Director Calli Keane Director of Communications Joe Jones Director of Finance Josh Moloney Deputy Finance Jeremy Mei Head of Ads and Sales Aravin Skantha Ads and Sales Assistants Grace Rose, Frances McNab, Cameron Hooley Head of Marketing Lowri Daniels Marketing Assistants Kate Nissen, Tara Lidstone

Alex Boulton, Co-Editor in Chief

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Epigram 30.10.2017

News

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@epigramnews Editor: Nikki Peach news@epigram.org.uk

Deputy Editor: Hannah Wakefield

Online Editor: Emma Chittleburgh

Deputy Online Editors: Emily Vernall, Jecca Powell

Two students taken to hospital after mixing cleaning products Emma Isle Science and Tech Editor

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The large scale response is indicative of the dangers that chlorine gas poses

Bristol student and resident of the building Josh Blannin said of the incident: ‘It was an interesting start to the evening, as to start with we were given very little information beyond the fact that we had to leave. Just relieved that everyone is ok, and it’s a reminder to everyone living here not to mix cleaning products.’

Tenants have now been allowed to return to the property, with the stern warning that you should never mix cleaning products.

Epigram / Emma Isle

Students at a block of flats on Redland Hill were evacuated on the evening of October 19th after two residents are thought to have mixed cleaning products to produce chlorine gas.

Two students, a male and a female, were taken to hospital after being taken ill due to exposure to the gas. It is believed that their exposure was not severe, as tenants received an email after the incident was resolved informing them that everyone was okay.

The five storey building, comprised of 14 student flats, was evacuated so that the Avon Fire and Rescue service could deal with the gas.

Approximately 25 tenants were evacuated to a nearby building, while Avon Fire and Rescue Service removed the gas using a pressure ventilation unit, after diluting the gas. The large scale operation involved at least 2 fire trucks, including a specialist chemical unit.

Although only a small amount of gas was said to have been released, the large scale response is indicative of the dangers that chlorine gas poses.

Fire engines gather outside the building

Ministers to fine universities that fail to uphold freedom of speech

Bristol Unibus (U1)

Hannah Wakefield Deputy News Editor

Nikki Peach News Editor This Autumn, the University will start a major re-development of the Clifton campus.

Changes are said to include a new library and a student resource centre in Senate House. The development will take several years.

As part of this re-development, the Hawthorns Refectory and Study Lounge catering areas will be converted into new student study spaces.

The work began in September and is due to be complete by early January. Despite hopes to complete the development by October, there have been delays as a result of planning permission for maximum disabled access.

Students, staff and visitors are still able to use the Terrace Bar facilities as normal.

The new study area in the Refectory will provide access to hot water so that students can consume their own food.

There are no current plans to make the study areas available as a bookable space for University societies, clubs and meetings at

present. This will be reviewed in discussion with Bristol Students’ Union once the areas are open.

This work will provide 100 new study spaces in addition to the 175 spaces that are already available in the Hawthorns. These study spaces will help to replace those lost when the Senate House Study Centre is closed for refurbishment in Easter 2018.

The Refectory and Study Lounge catering outlets are reported to have been making a loss for some time. Their closure will eliminate a drain on University resources and help maximise the funds available for education and research.

The university has revealed,‘The Hawthorns will ultimately be demolished to make way for a new University Library, but demolition work is not scheduled to begin for another two years.’

The University is working closely with Trade Unions to support all Residential and Hospitality Services staff who are affected by this change. Staff will be offered alternative working locations on campus in the University’s other catering outlets.

Learning how to disagree with diverse opinions… is a fundamental aspect of learning at university

Sir Michael Barber, chair of the OfS, has said that ‘ensuring freedom of speech and learning how to disagree with diverse opinions and differing views of the world is a fundamental aspect of learning at university.’

Matthew Gibson, a final year philosophy student, has told Epigram that whilst he acknowledges that freedom of speech is of the utmost importance ‘in cases where universities don’t think that a person should be given a

Huffington Post

Hawthorns to be redeveloped

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University of Bristol

Hawthorns Cafe on Woodland Road

The new Office for Students (OfS) is set to have the power to clamp down on the NUS’s and students’ unions’ ability to ‘no platform’ controversial speakers.

Jo Johnson, the universities minister, wishes to challenge the safe space culture at universities, in doing so the OfS would be allowed to fine, suspend, or register universities that fail to protect freedom of speech by banning certain speakers on campuses.

From April of next year the OfS will have the legal power to hold English universities to account over their duty to secure free speech, and to ensure that it is upheld by their staff, students’ unions, and student societies.

Jo Johnson, Universities Minister

platform because they espouse homophobic or anti-trans views, for example, then the university should not be penalised for their decision.’

The Department of Education has commented that ‘in recent years student unions and campaigners have banned, or attempted to ban, a number of high-profile people from speaking at universities because of their controversial opinions.’

Campaigners at the University of Bristol have also been involved in attempts to ban certain speakers at the University. For example, the recent protest by the Bristol Friends of Palestine against a talk given by Michael Freeman, an Israeli diplomat, which was hosted by the University of Bristol Politics Society.

Moreover, in 2015 there was an attempt from the Intersectional Feminist Society to ban Milo Yiannopoulos, who had been invited to talk to students by the Journalism Society, for his highly controversial opinions on gender equality, although they were not successful and the debate went ahead as planned.

Epigram 30.10.17

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Matt Dominey News Reporter Globally renowned neuroscientist, Dr Beau Lotto, is to give this year’s annual Richard Gregory Memorial lecture, exploring the influence of perception on the human experience.

The talk, entitled The Science of Perception, is due to take place on Friday 3rd November at 6 pm and is free to attend.

Dr Beau Lotto is the Founder and CEO of Lab of Misfits Studio, the world’s first neuro-design studio.

He is well known for venturing beyond the sciencelab in the pursuit of understanding perception, often collaborating with artists and musicians.

This work has brought him to some groundbreaking conclusions that have drawn the interest of specialists and non-specialists alike.

He proclaims “We can’t always trust what we see, whenever we open our eyes we never see what’s there, we only ever see what was useful to see in the past.”

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We can’t always trust what we see

Nikki Peach News Editor

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Olivia Huxtable, 3rd year Bristol student, spoke to Epigram about the launch of Part Two of her campaign for men to discuss their mental health.

She says, ‘I think it’s important at any university to encourage students to seek help if needed and that it’s okay to talk.’ Which is why her campaign is returning to Bristol for a second time.

University can be lonely, stressful and far more challenging than we’ve been prepared for

The University has recently revealed their plan to invest an additional £1 million in student welfare services as part of their ‘Time to Change’ pledge.

The return of this campaign comes at a time when mental health awareness is higher on the university agenda.

Olivia explained, ‘I was in two minds whether to do another campaign. My main worry was figuring out how to top the success of Part One but I was thinking too much in terms of the likes and shares on social media, instead of the personal impact it could have.

‘After the overwhelming response of the first campaign, I think it’s a wasted opportunity to not do it again. I’m in the fortunate position where students have actually engaged and responded

to Be ManKind and I’d like to leave it open for future students to take on and continue after I graduate, if they wish.’

Olivia initially started the campaign with an awareness of the pressures students feel to be enjoying themselves all the time. ‘We get told that university will be the best time of our lives, and so people come to uni thinking that every day and hour will be the best of their life.

‘With this pressure to act like we’re loving every moment and to post it on social media, I think students can fall prey to hiding their true emotions and get lost in their own head.’

The campaign is targeted at male students, particularly those who play sports, who Olivia claims often struggle more with discussing their mental health.

‘Sport is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has a massively positive impact on our mental wellbeing, but on the other hand I believe it instils negative qualities of masculinity that prevents men from talking about their emotions.

‘If students learnt now how helpful exercise can be to their mental wellbeing, hopefully this will carry forward throughout their working lives.’

Last year, Be Mankind was a picture-based campaign with students showing ranges of their emotions and the commonality of hiding them.

This year the campaign will also include video footage of participants discussing their mental health.

The message she hopes student take from the campaign is ‘That no one is immune to mental health issues, no matter what age, degree or background. But at the same time, no one is alone in facing these issues and there are plenty of support systems in place in Bristol for students to use.’

Male students at Bristol are encouraged to take

part in the campaign, ‘I think there is a lot of ‘traditional’, deep rooted pressure on men still presiding in society today; the need to be strong, to not cry, to be successful etc. Whilst this is slowly beginning to change, men still try and keep this brave face but this needs to change.’

The campaign is being promoted through the Facebook page (@BeManKindBristol) and an Instagram account (@be.mankind) you can follow both of these accounts to keep people up to date with what they are doing.

Men still try and keep this brave face but this needs to change

Students and staff will also be able to purchase Be ManKind t-shirts in the next coming months, which will feature the numbers of mental health helplines on the back. ‘If people wear these around Bristol, hopefully we’ll realise how many people are willing to engage and support this current conversation surrounding mental health’ Olivia told Epigram.

To get involved Olivia asks, ‘Wear the t-shirt, sign up to join the campaign, share our posts but most importantly, take the time to ask friends and family how they are and to really listen to their response. Encouraging openness and being supportive is the best way to get involved.’

Facebook / Be ManKind

The annual Richard Gregory Memorial lectures are put on for free by the Bristol Vision Institute (BVI) and held in memory of University of Bristol academic, Professor Richard Gregory. Director of BVI, Professor David Ball, said: “We have two basic requirements for the Richard Gregory Memorial Lecture – firstly that it’s about exciting contemporary issues in vision science and secondly that it covers something Richard would have enjoyed.”

Dr Lotto will join an exciting list of speakers from previous years. These include, but are not limited to, Dr Andrew Watson, a pioneer in vision science at NASA Ames Research Centre and world-leading visual neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran.

The lecture will take place on Friday 3 November at 6 pm in Lecture Room 1, School of Experimental Psychology, Priory Road Complex, Priory Road, Bristol. Admission is free, but advanced booking is essential through Eventbrite. For further information about the lecture contact email bvienquiries@bristol.ac.uk.

Interview: Be Mankind founder, Olivia Huxtable discusses mental health campaign

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Critically acclaimed neuroscientist to give talk in November

Be ManKind campaign banner

Bristol: one of the most beautiful universities in the UK Emily Vernall Deputy Online News Editor

The University earns its place on the list because of its ‘striking mix of contemporary and heritage architecture’

According to Holiday Lettings , the University earns its place on the list because of its ‘striking mix of contemporary and

heritage architecture, which is matched by the fantastic biodiversity of rich parks, gardens and open spaces.’

It singled out the city’s iconic creative and vibrant atmosphere, the universities gothic architecture and the award winning Royal Fort Gardens that are set at the heart of the campus.

Other universities that have made it into the top spots include Royal Holloway, University of London, with its flamboyant Founder’s Building, as well as the historic University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

Until October 24th, Holiday Lettings will be opening votes to see which university will be crowned the most iconic campus by the The Victoria Rooms public.

University of Bristol

The University has been selected as one of the ‘UK’s Most Beautiful Universities’ in a new ranking released by Trip Advisor’s Holiday Lettings.

The travel company have compiled a shortlist of the top 14 campuses across the UK which it believes are worth a visit on your travels based on their achitectural splendour and natural beauty. Not always considered your typical travel destination, Holiday Lettings suggest that ‘our universities are so renowned, people travel from all over just to

get a look. The UK’s best university campuses are truly architectural delights, astoundingly impressive both inside and out.’

Epigram 30.10.17

5

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Gender hate crime recognised by Avon & Somerset Police Hannah Wakefield Deputy News Editor On 16th October, as part of National Hate Crime Awareness Week, the Avon and Somerset Police became the third police force in the UK to officially recognise hate crimes based on gender.

Based on current crime reports it is expected that gendered crimes will account for 41 per cent of all reported hate crimes.

In the last two years, the number of reported hate crimes in the region has increased by 46 per cent, despite the fact that many women do not report hate crimes committed against them.

This is something that is particularly true amongst Muslim and transgender women, and generally it is thought that only two in five hate crimes are reported to the police.

Superintendent Andy Bennet of the Avon and Somerset Police has said that ‘we know women are less likely to report hate crimes committed by strangers in public, which could be because

Being honked at and someone making a comment on your appearance are some of the most frequent forms of harassment

Flora McNeil, a Masters student at Bristol, told Epigram that ‘since about the age of 11 cat-calling has just been “one of those things” – most women I know have experienced it, but I doubt any have ever reported an incident because they happen so often and because it is so normalised. This doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable and humiliating; hopefully recognising it is a crime will make women more comfortable to report instances and stop it happening so regularly.’

Street harassment is now part of what is classed as a gender-based hate crime.

The organisation Bristol Zero Tolerance (BZT) has been gathering evidence from across Bristol from people who have experienced street-harassment.

Investigation reveals unequal distribution of state and privately educated students in halls Jecca Powell Deputy Online News Editor

Flickr / Sarah

In an investigation led by the Student Union, Living Officer Lucky Dube looked at the proportion of students per year from each halls of residence that were educated in private schools.

Hiatt Baker catered had the most significant proportional disparity, taking in 66% private school students, and 34% state school students in 2016/17.

Churchill was the second highest, with 64% of its residents having come from private school backgrounds.

‘Hiatt Baker catered had the most significant proportional disparity’ Contrastingly, Clifton and City Centre halls of residence were found to have far lower proportions of private school students.

Among those with the lowest proportions of students from private schools were Favell House, at which only 8% of students were from independent schools in 2016/17, and Northwell House, at which they made up just 9%.

Hiatt Baker catered halls

Poster issued on police twitter

Bristol celebrates Black History Month

UOB / Student Union

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Hiatt Baker has 66% private school students and just 34% of students went to state schools

based violence is a prolific occurrence’ and that ‘having a gender hate crime category will help give victims the confidence that the problem is being taken seriously and lead to a stronger feeling of safety in the community.’

National Hate Crime Awareness Week ends on Friday 20th October with a Facebook Live hosted

by Force lead for Hate Crime, Superintendent Andy Bennet, SARI Strategic Director, Alex Davis and Lighthouse lead for Hate Crime, Rob Fortune, from 6.00pm to 7.00pm, with the intention of providing a platform for people to ask questions about hate crime and gender, and on areas including victim care through to reporting, policing and community support.

Flickr / Sarah

Residents at Stoke Bishop catered halls are mainly privately educated, Epigram has learned.

Earlier this year, the BBC found that 61% of Bristol University students in 2016/17 came from state school backgrounds.

However, in several halls of residence, including Badock, Churchill, Hiatt Baker and Wills, independently educated students were found to outnumber those educated at state schools.

Larger City Centre halls also took in relatively few students from private schools. At Unite Hall, only 12% of the 2016/17 residents were found to be independently educated.

These proportions have remained fairly constant over the past 5 years.

According to Lucky Dube, the results reflect a disparity in the educational backgrounds of applications for each halls of residence. For Stoke Bishop catered accommodation, he said, 55-60% of preferences are from independent school applicants.

In a statement, the University told Epigram; ‘we are committed to creating a broad student community in all our residences, reflecting the diverse profile of our student body. We provide a range of residential accommodation, both catered and self-catered, to suit individual preference.’

‘In addition to the student’s preference about the type of accommodation they would like to live in,’ they said, ‘we also take into account a wide range of criteria to ensure each residence has a good mix of students. This includes gender, nationality, school type and subjects studied.’

They had 117 responses to their survey, and 92 per cent of respondents were women. Their data has shown that 58 per cent of respondents first experienced some form of street harassment at just 10-15 years old.

The most common forms of harassment were found to be being honked at in a vehicle and someone making a comment on their appearance, with 78 per cent of respondents reporting both of these.

According to this survey 35 per cent of the respondents experience street harassment on a weekly basis, but 81 per cent have never reported an incident of harassment to the police.

China Fish from BZT commented that ‘gender

Twitter / Avon & Somerset Police

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It is expected that gendered crimes will account for 41% of all reported hate crimes

discrimination is normalised for many women. The new category will help us improve our response to hate crime as we understand more about the discrimination people experience everyday.

‘Our message is hate crime won’t be tolerated, we take all reports seriously and we encourage anyone who needs our help to tell us or one of our local support partners.’

Student Union Black History Month poster

Emma Chittleburgh Online News Editor Black History Month was celebrated throughout the month of October with talks and exhibitions held across the University and at Bristol Museums.

What began as, ‘Negro History Week’ created in 1926 by African American scholar Carter G. Woodson, Black History Month aims at ‘recognising and valuing the inspirational individuals and events from within the BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) communities’ according to the official website.

The annual celebration takes place throughout the months of October and February.

The celebrations in February are said to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and AfricanAmerican social reformer Frederick Douglass on 12th and 14th February, dates historically celebrated within African American communities.

Bristol University and co-sponsor the University of West England will be sponsoring Bristol Museums and holding a variety of talks to engage

with Black History Month.

The Faculty of Arts has also been named as a co-sponsor of Black History Month.

Talks put on by the University will explore the cultures and histories of people of African descent.

Events featured as part of the Black History Month include, ‘The art of revolution and protest’ and ‘Women of colour in leadership’ which kicked off on Tuesday 17th October.

Black History Month was also celebrated through the teaching and research of university staff.

Professor Nishan Canagarajah, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Chair of the Equality and Diversity Board said: ‘Our ambition is to be an inclusive and diverse organisation, and endorsing this special month allows us the share activities of our staff and students with local communities’.

Staff research interested in the intellectual work of black people and African diasporas are concentrated in an Arts Faculty research cluster, ‘The Centre for Black Humanities’. More information can be found on their website.

Epigram

30.10.2017

Features

@epigramfeatures

Editor: Ellen Jones

Deputy Editor: Dani Bass

Online Editor: Olivia Cooke

features@epigram.org.uk

Do exams encourage ‘hollow learning’?

Oscar Edmondson discusses the reliance of academic institutions on exams and whether it encourages good academic practice Oscar Edmondson First Year, History

“ Testing is essential, and a recognised method of testing progress

There are clear parallels here between the failures of testing at secondary school and those at undergraduate level. Medical students are compared to their scores on this particular ‘progress’ test and pressured over the five years to achieve an incrementally higher grade. This isn’t suggestive of learning simply for enjoyment but instead learning in order to meet the requirements. What is further telling, is that medical students are discouraged from doing the extended reading in favour of focusing on what is essential for each session, due to the density of the course. Here we see that expanded knowledge is forfeited

in favour of test results and that which is immediately applicable.

We must take into account that there are obvious differences in the content of these two courses, as Arts subjects, such as Music, require reading as an essential part of learning. However, Marsden continued, ‘What I find really useful are the in-class polls […]

I know they are tracked so our tutors can check up on us discreetly if we get the wrong answers’. If progress is to be tested therefore, it is more beneficial to the student for it to be done in an informal way, allowing time to expand one’s knowledge, which Spielman suggests is so invaluable.

On the secondary school side, changes are being made, with the new Curriculum for Excellence

being implemented in Scotland. Its aim is to focus on the application of knowledge and reduce testing, as opposed to ‘Filling youngster’s heads with facts that are unlikely to be of any use unless they were contestants on quiz shows’. Secondary education is therefore becoming increasingly independent in promoting further study. Equally, universities are amending their methods, such as Birmingham University Arts courses, which have tailored testing methods with different weights given to either essay-based testing or exam-based. In some cases, results are based solely on performance in essays.

There has been key criticisms of the Curriculum of Excellence however, and it is evident that the fear of this

new style will result in falling exam results. Critics such as Professor Lindsay Paterson have suggested that the major worry is that this will ‘widen inequality’, opening up the debate as to what is more important: understanding or results?

Testing is essential, and a recognised method of ascertaining progress. It is clear that it requires tailoring to each subject: for the likes of medical students, high contact hours are a necessity as it is the most effective way of achieving understanding. However, perhaps schools and universities alike need to reconsider their reliance on examinations, to encourage understanding, academic freedom and enjoyment, through independent study.

Flikr / Richard Lee Flikr / barnimages

There has been a lot of change in the national curriculum over the past few years, with frequent references to the ‘guinea pig’ years whereby students at secondary level have fallen foul of new initiatives being introduced and then quickly scrapped. An example of this from my own experience is the English Baccalaureate, which all students were told they must make themselves eligible for, only for the whole idea to be shelved within 12 months.

One fundamental part of the curriculum which has remained stoic in the face of a changing landscape, is the necessity of testing. However, even this age-old practice is being challenged by the new head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, suggesting that there is too much emphasis on testing at the expense of a broader range of knowledge, creating a ‘Hollow understanding’.

In a recent BBC article, Spielman explained how the current system doesn’t promote a ‘Rich and full knowledge’. Whilst acknowledging that testing has its place, Spielman believes that the emphasis should be on reading as a means of building a range of insight, as opposed to being drilled in a narrow bank of topics in order to pass an exam. This is a feeling shared by secondary school students, with 76% of pupils surveyed by the Career Colleges Trust believing that their school is only training them to pass an exam.

This problem is not concentrated at secondary level, with undergraduates also feeling the strains of a decaying testing strategy.

‘It is a bit overwhelming knowing that I’m tested on the full five years of medical content only four weeks into my degree. I’ve been reassured not to worry: this ‘progress testing’ is for us to learn from, and we are only expected to achieve around 7% to start with’ , commented Oliver Marsden, a Medicine student.

‘The way Music is taught means that I hand in work regularly and receive feedback weekly, but this is done in a relaxed unassessed environment […]

I always know where I am without the need for excessive testing’, said Isabella Armishaw, in contrast.

Make or break: in exams, student’s academic results can rest on just a few hours’ work.

The new normal: six months into veganism

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Emilia Andrews shares her experiences of going vegan at university Emilia Andrews Second Year, English At the University of Bristol, you will no doubt have met, or even become, a vegan. I am one of those weird plant chewing herbivores who apparently subsist on nothing but rabbit food and the fundamental nutritional requirement of ‘positive vibes’. At least, that is the image many people have of vegans, but, six months into this lifestyle, I can tell you a different story.

People often ask me whether I am vegan for my health, for ethics, or for the environment. Thankfully, to save me having to construct a complex, comprehensive answer to that question, my response is truthfully, ‘all three’.

After learning more about the meat and dairy industries and their impact on our health and the environment from an array of sources (documentaries, scientific reports, and anecdotes from online communities), it seemed like a lifestyle that I wanted to try out.

“ When I became vegan, the animal products I would have usually seen as normal completely changed in my eyes

Admittedly, while I wish to stray away from this idea of vegans being more spiritually enlightened than the rest of society, I did find that I felt awakened

and more aware of the origins of our food. We all know that milk comes from a cow and that the meat on our plate is from a once living animal but when I was a meat and dairy eater, I tried to ignore these facts as much as possible.

Although I had an underlying guilt for consuming animal products, I brushed it away because I just really loved cheese. When I became vegan, the animal products I would have usually seen as normal completely changed in my eyes.

Seeing a man leaving the supermarket holding a pint of milk became a man holding milk taken from a calf, who would either be killed or go through the same fate as its mother, continuously producing milk for humans who don’t need it.

People often worry that veganism will massively restrict the foods that

they can eat but this is not true at all. In fact, my diet has expanded a lot since adopting a vegan lifestyle. While I do generally eat a lot of vegetables, there are also many vegan meat alternatives which do taste a lot like meat, the best of which are, in my opinion, the Linda McCartney products.

Many restaurants and cafes also now offer vegan options

Many restaurants and cafes also now offer vegan options, for example Wagamamas, who have just released

their new vegan and vegetarian menu.

I was also surprised by how many products are unintentionally vegan, such as Oreos, which are a vegan junk food staple. These examples prove that veganism isn’t just all about eating kale and carrying out nightly yoga rituals.

Although veganism is a much disputed issue, I haven’t received much grief for my choice. Perhaps living in Bristol where veganism is popular and fairly normalised has helped.

Having said that, my friends were surprised that I have stuck at it and some have said that they feel like they should do it, but they just really love [insert animal product]. If you’re one of those people, I would recommend giving veganism a go. You never know, it might become your new normal.

Epigram

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Identity crisis and the tattoo

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Asher Breuer-Weil looks at whether body art holds deeper meaning

Asher Breuer-Weil Third Year, English

“ A rise in tattoos is indicative of a loss of contentment

Perhaps then, we are going through a crisis of identity. A rise in tattoos is indicative of a loss of self-contentment.

It’s as if swathes people are coming out and saying, ‘how can I be more me?’.

I hate to instantly turn to social media, but it’s unavoidable here. When people are so publicised, when you can

gives you something unique; everyone approaches religion in their own way.

Why so many irreligious people get religious symbols tattooed could be because they recognise the importance of it as an identifying unit, and as such cling onto it desperately.

Flikr Abey / Irene Miranda Brrizzlepuffs / Ajantha Flickr/ John Bauld

If you’ve been to the British Museum’s new exhibition on the ancient Scythians, you will have undoubtedly seen in one of the cases the leathery skin of a 2,500-year-old horseman, covered in tattoos.

I was surprised by this – have tattoos always been around? How old are they?

What is their history? Are we more tattooed now than ever before? And by how much?

Most interestingly however, is the question of why? If it’s true that tattoos are growing in popularity, what might be the cause of this? Is it that it’s ‘just cool’? Or is there something darker lurking beneath the ink?

The facts don’t lie: despite continuous rises in body inking figures, we still won’t reach peak tattooing until 2025. It’s an epidemic, and one that’s been going strong since the ‘90s.

It’s estimated that about one in five of the UK population is tattooed, and this figure rises to one in three for young adults. Tattoos are more popular than ever, and should only get more popular with time.

In trying to understand why this is the case, it’s vital to understand the reasoning behind getting a tattoo.

Lying in the subconscious, the most obvious reason is that it’s a means of identifying yourself.

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Scythians would tattoo those of nobility with images of mighty animals, stags and tigers, to signify their bravery and courageousness.

Anyone without a tattoo was deemed to be of a lower-class.

In the same way that kings wear crowns, or the Pope has a sceptre, elder peoples tattooed primarily as a mark of distinction, an identifying symbol of their authority.

Whilst the perception of tattooing

has changed, the principle is the same.

True, those in positions of power may now shiver at the idea of being tattooed, but it still stands as a mark of identifying oneself, in the same way that jewellery, hair and clothing does.

Why do people wear crosses round their neck, or wedding rings, or dye their hair, get piercings, wear jeans instead of a skirt, a blue coat instead of a red coat? It’s all a way to say, ‘I am x’, and ‘I am unique’.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with this - we are programmed to seek individuality. The difference with a tattoo is that it is a permanent mark.

If I suddenly fall out of love with red, I can wear blue; if I fall out of love with travelling, I can’t suddenly remove those dreaded Thai letters emblazoned across my chest without going through an expensive procedure.

It’s fair to say that a tattoo is a much more serious statement of the ‘self’ than most other means of identification. You could posit that dreadlocks or plugs occupy the same space, and I think this is true – but they’re not growing at the same rate that tattoos are.

Tattoos are often a form of self expression with meaning to the individual

see everything that people are doing, wearing, how they’re behaving, it’s easy for you to get lost. They wore it first, they listened to it first, they watched it first – what did I do? Who am I? In having a personalised quote on your wrist, or a date of a birth or death, you have something that can only be applicable to you. It’s a concrete publication of the self; a mark that can’t be mimicked, for its very essence is you.

Countering this, you could say that tattoos in themselves are a statement that can be copied, and this is true. The fact that so many celebrities around in the early 2000s were getting tattoos could simply mean that it was a fashion trend, and one that won’t last forever.

According to statistics, despite the rise in tattoos, there is also a 440% rise in tattoo removals, a fact that backs up the previous claim.

To me however, this isn’t a compelling argument. Tattoos are far more personal, a permanent mark that

is surely done for reasons other than fashion. It seems ludicrous to make such a statement when you know that its popularity could be fleeting. It must be because of a greater force that people decide to alter their skin.

Another significant factor could be the UK slowly falling out of love with religion. We are at a stage where over half the country identifies as being atheist, a startling statistic for such a historically religious country.

For most of history, religion has been a key mark of identification; wars were fought over it, people died because of it and people alter their lives because of it. It’s telling that as religion slowly dies, people also suffer this crisis of identity.

I, as a Jew, can always fall back on my Jewish heritage, despite not even being passionate about it as a religion or culture. Much in the same way, I’m sure most Muslims or Christians, or people of any faith, see their religion as a large part of their identity – it

If trends in social media and religious absence continue, will we see tattoos become even more commonplace?

Now this is not to say that religion is something we should cling onto – if it fails, it fails for a reason. All it’s saying is that in the modern world, we lack the grand sense of identification that came before us.

We’re now divided into far more subcategories: vegans, nationalists, feminists, the football team we support, the political party we follow, each a kind of mini-religion to which people devote their lives.

Having a tattoo is almost like the physical manifestation of these beliefs, the symbol of your mini-religion that now defines you. Where Christianity has the cross, socialists currently have the symbol of Corbyn. Where Judaism has the Star of David, Liverpool fans have their club crest. It seems ridiculous, but with the absence of a hijab or skullcap, you wear your relevant symbol in the best way you can: a tattoo.

It’s a craze that makes sense in our current age, justifiable by social circumstances. If the trends of social media and religious absence continue, will we see tattoos becoming even more commonplace? Whether you like it or not, the evidence points in only one direction.

Bristol’s ski trip goes carbon neutral Kathryn explores how UBSC plan to offset their carbon footprint Kathryn Firth Masters, Environmental Policy and Management The University of Bristol Snowsports Club (UBSC) are the organisers of the world’s biggest ski trip run by a single university, with 1,650 students attending their trip to Les Deux Alpes in March 2017. Even if you’ve never touched a pair of skis before, you’ve probably heard about the trip, and you’re sure to know someone who’s been on it.

In spring 2018, the club will head to Alpe D’Huez in the South of France, for a ski trip with a twist: they’re attempting to go carbon neutral.

In our everyday lives it can be all too easy to detach ourselves from the effects of global warming, but seasoned

skiers are beginning to witness changes first-hand. UBSC President Jamie Serjeant is one of them.

‘We’re already seeing the effects of climate change on snowfall.

Seasons are getting later, snow is less predictable, and glaciers right across Europe are retreating. It’s possible that the Alps won’t be skiable in the future if we don’t do enough to stop the current environmental catastrophe.’

Les Deux Alpes is known as a summer ski resort, but members of UBSC who visited the resort in 2016 were shocked to return this year to the same spot, at the same time of year, and find that the piste they had skied the previous year no longer existed due to the glacier having retreated significantly up the mountain.

Large ski resorts worldwide are damaging to the environment in so

many ways, from the deforestation and destruction of habitats caused by the creation of ski trails, to the huge amount of electricity required to keep ski lifts in constant operation. As the glaciers melt and seasons get shorter, more artificial snow will be required to satisfy the demand of holidaymakers, requiring an estimated 100 gallons of water per snow gun every minute, and costing resorts vast amounts of money. If it does become impossible to ski in the Alps, fans of the sport from this side of Europe will have to travel further afield to find good snow, increasing the carbon footprint of their trip even more. It is therefore in the interest of both resort owners and skiers to reduce their environmental impacts as much as possible.

With this in mind, UBSC have decided to try to offset the carbon

emissions of their trip for the first time this year. To do this, they’re investing in a UN-accredited renewable energy project, building a 14 Megawatt Windfarm in Maharashtra, India, with a small part of each participant’s trip fee contributing towards the fund. This will offset nearly 6,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, which they have calculated to be roughly the impact of their trip.

We’re already seeing the effects of climate change on snowfall

In addition, the 2000+ trip t-shirts produced every year are now being

made with FairWear organic cotton produced in sustainable factories, and all participants are being encouraged to take the arranged coach to the resort which, according to carbonfootprint. com’s online calculator, will reduce the carbon footprint of their travel by over 50% compared to flying. Finally, the club have set up a partnership with Ecotricity, a Gloucestershire-based company who supply green energy, primarily generated by wind power, to homes and businesses across the UK, including some student homes in Bristol. As part of the partnership, Ecotricity donate £60 for every home that switches to the Teenage Cancer Trust, the club’s charity of choice. Any Bristol student, UBSC member or not, can use the referral code UBSC1 to have this donation made on their behalf when switching supplier to Ecotricity.

Epigram

30.10.2017

8

Feed The Homeless society save a man’s life after he collapses in Bristol Dani Bass interviews the Head of Operations at Feed the Homeless, Naseem Talukdar, and Feed the Homeless student ambassador, Zoulikha Belblidia, on the incident and the wider issue of homelessness in Bristol

We believe he has recovered, however a similar incident occurred last weekend and both collapses are thought to have been associated with the use of the drug ‘Spice’.

Why do you think homeless people are turning to drugs such as Spice?

Major reasons why people become homeless include mental illness, relationship breakdowns and financial issues. In many cases, they are well qualified and educated, yet there is very little support offered to homeless people and they are made to feel like outcasts from society.

It is not only a physical struggle but a mental one as well. It is impossible for them to get a job or open a bank account as they have no permanent stay of residence. Barriers are constantly put up preventing them from being part of the community.

On top of this, many homeless people are physically and sexually abused on the streets.

Spice offers them an escape from reality - one that is also cheaper than many hard drugs.

Is there a major homelessness problem in Bristol?

In the last three years, there

Barriers are constantly put up preventing them from being part of the community

The cold is a dangerous prospect for homeless people and just last year a man froze to death in Birmingham. We are hoping to use this money to distribute £25 worth of new clothes to 100 homeless people.

The reason for using new clothes rather than people donating them second hand is that 80% of the clothes donations we get are not fit to be worn.

We have a philosophy that whatever food we cook for the

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Flikr /Flikr Nicu/ Buculei Rul Duarte

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In the last three years, there has been an 128% increase in homelessness in Bristol

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Can you tell us a bit more about the organisation’s work, which help saved a homeless man?

On Sunday 1st October we were out distributing food and there was a huge crowd of people surrounding a man who had collapsed. An ambulance was called whilst one of the volunteers, Firth Trezevant, went over to help.

A volunteer from Feed the Homeless, Enyo HumphreyAckumey, performed CPR on the man until the ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital.

has been an 128% increase in homelessness in Bristol.

However, the reason for this is because Bristol provides such good homelessness facilities.

Many homeless people from neighbouring cities such as Birmingham and Cardiff, where the support may not be as good, are coming to Bristol to seek help. The St Mungos Church offers night shelter for homeless people and is one of the best in the country, offering over 1000 beds.

But Bristol City Council only offer their services, such as housing and benefits, to residents of Bristol who have lived here for at least three years. Therefore, many people spend these three years by living on the street until they can get support through the system.

Can you tell us more about what the society/organisation does?

We aim to make sure that everyone can go to bed having had a cooked meal. We want to make sure no one is hungry - we also provide for people who are not homeless but simply can’t afford food.

Our staff and volunteers cook home-made meals on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and distribute it around the centre of Bristol.

It is not just food that we offer. At the end of the month there is a fundraising event in which we hope to raise £2500 to provide warm clothes for the homeless as it comes close to winter.

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Dani Bass Deputy Features Editor

Feed the Homeless provide home-cooked meals and warm clothing for homeless people in Bristol homeless, we should be able to feed it to our family - not food that has been expired or half used. For clothes, it is no different. Having new clothes will also help to reduce the premise that homeless people are outcasts and not part of society. If this is successful we are hoping to continue this every few weeks.

Another thing we hope to do as an organisation is to raise awareness of this issue. We have student ambassadors at both the University of Bristol and UWE offering Feed the Homeless societies and engaging students with the issues of homelessness and giving them the chance to volunteer.

We are hoping to collaborate with many other societies and organisations in Bristol.

There are other homelessness

societies affiliated with the University and we all have the same aim.

We aim to make sure that everyone can go to bed having had a cooked meal

Many faith societies also do a lot to help combat the issue so we are hoping to work with them. There is even a knitting society which uses their skills to help knit warm clothes for the homeless and are working with Feed the Homeless to help distribute these around the Bristol area.

What can students do to help?

Students can get involved in Feed the Homeless society itself by volunteering at the weekends, either in the kitchen itself cooking food or distributing it around Bristol city centre.

We have fundraising events throughout the year, for example cupcake sales which take place at major occasions in the year such as Easter, Valentine’s Day and so on, so getting involved in these events is a great way to help.

We suggest that people don’t give homeless people on the street money, as many have alcohol and drug addictions.

Instead it is a good idea to buy them food.

We also tell our volunteers not to get emotionally attached or involved in the lives of homeless people, as many have

had difficult experiences and have serious mental health issues which most people are not equipped or had the training to deal with.

Many homeless people are physically and sexually abused on the streets

Despite this, every student can do their bit. Don’t just walk past a homeless person and pretend you haven’t seen them.

Say ‘hello’ or ‘have a good day’.

It is important we don’t make them feel like a burden on society.

e t a u d a r g t s Po 7 1 0 2 y a D n e Op Wednesday 22 November 3-6 pm, Wills Memorial Building Book your place today bristol.ac.uk/postgrad-openday

Epigram 30.10.2017

Comment

@epigramcomment Editor: Ed Southgate

Deputy Editor: Jake Porter

Online Editor: Cameron Scheijde

@ed_southgate comment@epigram.org.uk

@porterjake

@camscheijde

Epigram Comment is the home of the student voice. The opinions expressed here are from individual students with an individual perspective. As an independent newspaper, we do not affiliate or associate ourselves with any one view, but aim to publish all views of the student body as and when they come to us. If you would like to respond with an opposing point of view in a subsequent issue, please contact the Editors.

What the #editors are saying...

Giving Bristol’s homeless a ticket to leave may be the best option Amelia Gaffney-Shoebridge reflects on Bristol’s homeless crisis, arguing that whilst the council’s options may be few, students can have a big impact Amelia Gaffney-Shoebridge First Year, Sociology Coming to Bristol for the first time this year, I was struck by the amount of homeless people I saw - so alarming it was, it seemed most people I spoke to in my first couple of weeks at university brought it up with similar shock. Like all major cities in the UK, we are seeing an increase in people living without a permanent stable roof over their head. As the Bristol Post recently reported, ‘There has been an 825 percent increase in rough sleepers since Autumn 2010’, with many more ‘hidden homeless’ people not accounted for in that figure.

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Coming to Bristol for the first time this year, I was struck by the amount of homeless people I saw

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at discounted prices, but students will be more than willing to help with the building of these miniaturised homes. Even more importantly, students have the power of social media to gain traction and get many others involved with the project.

This is the brilliance of having so many young people in a city

That is the brilliance of having so many young people in a city; we do not have the bureaucratic layers of red tape that councils have to go through to create change, we can just do it ourselves, organically with the passion and zeal that inhibits so many of us.

So, I implore you, if like me the homeless crisis in Bristol has shocked you, or you think there is a kinder solution than one-way tickets, be the change you want to see. This city has a reputation for advocating social change and being wonderfully loud and brash about it, it only takes one person with a hand outreached to lift someone - literally - off the floor.

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What the @NUSUK is saying...

This poses huge strains on the council and local organisations/charities are they try to grapple with the growing amount of those who seek help. This problem is further exacerbated by the cuts the government has shamefully rolled out since 2010 and its reluctance to build more social houses. Councils have been forced to make very difficult decisions as to how they can save money and what services will have to be reduced.

Furthermore, since the change in the benefits system to Universal Credit, there has been long delays for people getting their first payment which has left them with little to no money in-between.

Many people have been deemed ‘uneligible’ or put onto the wrong type of benefits for their needs, so this safety net, and subsequently the ability to pay rent, food and utility bills, is gone. People are being forced to choose between the three.

quick way for the council to ‘sweep it under the carpet’ or to adopt an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach, that simply puts the problem somewhere else for someone else to deal with it. But is it truly ‘social incompetence’ or just a practical, honest solution? I would be inclined to lean towards the latter.

However, we must be careful and make sure that every rough sleeper they assess is being treated as an individual with all the right background checks being carried out and all options considered.

With politics as turbulent as it is now, there will have to be more of a creative approach to tackling this issue. Some cities, Bristol included, have either witnessed or aided the establishment of shipping containers as houses. This nifty, space-saving and cheap way to home people could potentially be an incredible solution, even if only temporarily.

Incentives like these need awareness and financial backing to make them work and this is where I can see students coming into the picture. It is arguable that if the University keeps on expanding, there will be a negative effect on housing/rent control. Somewhere down the road, this will then inadvertently potentially increase the number of rough sleepers or those in temporary accommodation.

As we are all aware, the University charges us increasingly over-priced rates for halls as each year comes and goes, for a room we only live in for nine months and is mostly left vacant during the holidays.

The University may not be willing to rent these out

Maybe [sending homeless people elsewhere] is the best thing [the council] can offer them in the current political climate

Epigram Epigram/ Ed / EdSouthgate Southgate

To tackle their homeless crisis, Bristol City Council has sent 167 people without a shelter across the country. After my initial horror and anger at hearing that rough sleepers have been given one-way travel tickets to relocate elsewhere, I realised that maybe this is the best thing they can offer them in the current political climate.

Due to council laws,implemented through national policy, many local services cannot be used by people who do not have a ‘local connection’. This means that unless they have family, housing or work in Bristol, then they will not be eligible for the different services on offer. If they can be offered this somewhere else, if they are able to get on the waiting list for a house a lot faster in another part of the country, it seems fair to me for the council to be helping them make their way there.

I understand some might still see this as a cheap,

Since Autumn 2014, Bristol City Council has given 167 homeless people a ‘one-way ticket’ to leave the city. Is this the best solution, and can students help make a difference too?

Epigram 30.10.2017

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Political round-up

UK politics: Second reading of Representation of the People (Young People’s Enfranchisement and Education Bill) 2017-19 on November 2nd Student politics: The NUS has launched its Poverty Commission which aims to help those from financiallystruggling families reach top universities

Lower the voting age to sixteen

Tyler Royce-Liddle explains how lowering the voting age will increase young people’s representation and engagement with politics Tyler Royce-Lidde Second Year, History How young is too young? Western democracies give varying answers: in America you have to be 21 to buy alcohol, whereas in Belgium you can get wasted at 16; in Ireland you have to be 17 to have sex, but in Germany you can be 14; in Andorra you can get married at 14, but in Gibraltar the minimum is 18. When it comes to voting age, however, the nations of the west are almost unanimous in believing that 18 is the magic number.

The reasoning behind this seems fairly straightforward: once you become an adult, you are given the vote. But when do we really become adults?

After living for 18 years on this planet, a person is legally and culturally deemed to be an adult. It is at this moment that minors cease to be considered children and assume legal control over their person, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the control and legal responsibilities of their parents or guardian over them. At the age of 18 a person is permitted to buy alcohol and to gamble in the UK, and becomes fully accountable for criminal offences in a magistrate’s court.

Defenders of the status quo make the argument that the right to vote should only be granted to those legally deemed adults, arguing that when you are an adult you become fully responsible for the consequences of your actions. In reality, the concepts of adulthood and childhood are ambiguous. A 16-year-old can legally marry, can

Epigram / Ed Southgate

World politics: Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Spain, has announced plans to curb Catalonia’s powers

A response to the round-up...

Is it time for young people to cast their vote to be better represented in parliament?

legally serve in the armed forces, and can - most importantly - pay taxes towards the government whom they are, at present, not represented by.

In the UK, minors can be emancipated from guardianship: depending on jurisdiction, this may happen through acts such as marriage, attaining economic self-sufficiency, obtaining an educational degree or diploma, or participating in a form of military service. Such citizens, however, are not allowed to vote - surely this is inconsistent with our fundamental democratic values?

Many assert that people below the age of 18 are not yet wordly-wise enough to participate in the democratic process, and that teenagers are apathetic to the world of politics. It is admittedly true that young people are relatively less involved in politics: turnout of American voters under 25 at presidential elections has fallen from 50% in 1972 to 38% in 2012, yet among those aged over 65 it rose from 64% to 70%.

But surely by allowing young people to vote we can attempt to remedy this alarming disillusionment with politics. Voting is a habit

for many people; I would argue that it is easier to instil this practice within young people when they are still at home, and when they haven’t moved away from their family or wider community. 16year-olds can pick up the habit to vote when accompanying their parents to polling booths, and are probably more likely to understand the political situation of their local constituency having lived there 16 years - than an 18-year-old at university in an unfamiliar area. In Austria, the only European country to have granted 16-yearolds the vote, turnout rates are markedly higher for under 18s than 19 to 25 year-olds.

We are in a worrying situation if powerhungry politicians adapt their policies to the disproportional voting tendencies between the ages. If older people are more likely to vote, then politicians are more likely to appeal to them and, conversely, to neglect the young. It is imperative that young people re-ignite their desire to participate in elections; granting 16-year-olds the vote will serve to rally the young and restore democratic balance between the ages.

A response to the news...

Bristol Uni has a problem with equal access

Lucy Moor argues for lasting change to tackle the inequalities between private and state school students

The University of Bristol has made headlines repeatedly over the last few years for its relatively low intake of state schooled students – a quick Google search of ‘Bristol Uni state school’ throws up everything from BBC News and The Telegraph to The Tab’s ‘How private school is your university?’. The latest public figure for this is 61.4%, highlighted

by BBC News in February this year for being the second lowest proportion in England and Wales, beaten only by Oxford. This is, clearly, shocking.

This was the figure for the 2015/16 intake, but a look at other years’ admissions could suggest the situation is improving. 2015/16’s 61.4 followed 2014/15’s 60.7, a marginal improvement. Then, in 2016/17, it jumped to 64.7, which amounts to an extra 130 or so students from state-schooled backgrounds.

The numbers aren’t out for this year’s freshers, and we would have to look at longer-term trends to check this wasn’t just a blip, but this

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is nonetheless encouraging. As Cambridge University enjoys its largest intake of state school students for 35 years, is Bristol also learning its lesson when it comes to equal access?

At a staggering £7899 for a ginle en suite in Wills Hall, Stoke Bishop accommodation is utterly unaffordable

However, Bristol arguably still has a culture of privilege that can’t be overturned just like that. Between Badock, Churchill, Hiatt Baker Catered and Wills halls, nearly 1500 freshers are housed and the majority in 2016/17 were still from independent schools - as high as two-thirds in Hiatt Baker’s case. This is over nine times the proportion of privately educated people in the UK population at large - 7%, which can result in an isolating first-

Epigram / Cameron Scheijde

Catered halls in Stoke Bishop, such as Wills Hall, attract more applicants from private schooled students

year experience for those from less privileged backgrounds.

Obviously, different backgrounds don’t mean they have nothing in common.

Undoubtedly, the situation is more nuanced than every single person who attended private school being ‘posh’, just as we cannot class every comprehensive-educated student as ‘disadvantaged’. But this nonetheless does not negate the experiences of less privileged students who have found the imbalance hard to cope with.

While the University of Bristol argues that these disproportionate numbers have occurred because catered halls in Stoke Bishop attract more applications from private schooled students, maybe it should consider why this is the case.

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Lucy Moor 93% Club Public Relations Officer

It is important we continue pressurising the University to keep the momentum going and initiate lasting change

At a staggering £7899 for a single en suite in Wills Hall, and even £6027 for a shared room, they are utterly unaffordable for many – indeed, the former is well above the average maintenance loan. There are cheaper options elsewhere, but such disparities in halls costs can only serve to create divisions between more and less wealthy students.

In response to Bristol’s access problem, last year former English Literature student Sophie Pender led the way in setting up the

‘93% Club’ - a society building a community of, and offering a platform for, state-educated students at Bristol. It doesn’t aim to be divisive, but instead to unite all those passionate about the cause for widening participation in higher education, and provide opportunities to those who may have lacked them. 93% Club committee member turned Student Living Officer Lucky Dube continues to lobby the University on the issue of integration in student halls, given the imbalance evident in Stoke Bishop.

The University is working on doing its bit, too: the ‘Bristol Scholars’ programme, offering lower offers to disadvantaged local pupils, welcomed its first cohort this September – albeit amid controversy that a third of offers were given to private school applicants. These Scholars are each receiving ten private tuition sessions to aid their attainment at university, and were welcomed at a special ceremony alongside pupils from other outreach schemes such as Access to Bristol.

While the proportion of state-educated students admitted to Bristol may have improved in 2016/17, and there are some initiatives in place to continue this trend, it remains one of the most financially-exclusive universities in the country. It is important we continue pressuring the University to keep the momentum going and initiate lasting change.

I joined the movement this year as 93% Club Public Relations Officer. I urge anyone passionate about social mobility and equal access to do the same.

Read the original news story on page 5

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30.10.2017

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Bristol must fix the poverty crisis to tackle the mental health crisis in children Zoe Pereira details poverty’s links with mental health, focusing on the needs of Bristol’s children

“ Poor mental health has infiltrated our society at a cancerous rate

The vision for 2015 to 2020 aims to expand further than just Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and will involve working closely with schools and local communities, GPs and school nurses, as well as the voluntary and community sector, which is often underestimated.

This is part of a complete overhaul of young people’s health services in the South West.

The Bristol Emotional Health & Wellbeing (EHWB) Transformation Plan 2015 – 2020 is also in full force. Providing greater skills and expertise to mental health specialists - who have the capacity to support children in community environments - will allow schools to have those all-important

Twitter / @otrbristol

‘Every day in a hundred small ways our children ask, ‘Do you see me? Do you hear me?

Do I matter?’. Their behaviour often reflects our response.’ - L.R Knost Poor mental health has infiltrated our society at a cancerous rate; as a consequence, we see that young people’s futures are crumbling and their deficits piling up. This is taking a severe toll on Bristol, where severe inequalities mean the poor are living in dangerous environments, trying to sustain themselves with the dregs that benefits provide but still lacking the necessary amenities to participate fully in society.

The figures speak for themselves. One in three adult mental health issues are directly related to experiencing difficulty in childhood, and the onset of 50 per cent of serious mental health problems begin by the age of 14. The correlation between poverty and children’s mental health is not one to be downplayed; when children living in poverty were asked how useful they feel, almost a quarter said that they felt like useless ‘spare parts’ in society.

In terms of schooling, there is a stigma associated with growing up in poverty. Young people are left feeling marginalised and at risk of being bullied, with nearly two-thirds of children in low income families feeling ashamed of being unable to afford the cost of a school trip, a new uniform or other form of basic commodity. Being able to interact and fit in with their peer group is essential for children’s social development; that poverty robs children of this interaction is testament to a need for urgent action.

The previous Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Damian Green, summarised the issue at hand in April.

‘We need to do more to turn Britain into a great meritocracy where success is defined by

work and talent, not birth or circumstance. By making housing more secure and affordable, giving more children the opportunity to go to a good school, and tackling […] inadequate mental health services, we are helping those who work hard but struggle to get by.’

He referred to how poverty creates a strain that destabilises families and, in turn, children’s lives, and hit the nail on the head with his call for a new, more personal approach which goes beyond the welfare system into a more personal realm.

Government officials need to work personally in implementing support for complex needs, rather than viewing the situation as one of cold, concrete statistics.

How do we achieve this vision in Bristol? In 2015, the Departments of Health and Education published a joint five-year strategy ‘Future in Mind’ to completely reform services for children and young people’s mental wellbeing.

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Zoe Pereira Second Year, Modern Languages

Inside Off the Record - Bristol’s mental health charity which Epigram teamed up with last year for their #14conversations

conversations regarding mental health. In Bristol, ‘Off the Record’ offers confidential counselling and support; this has been a great help to all age groups, from high school to university students.

This early intervention in young people’s lives will drastically reduce the number of fully fledged adults suffering from mental health problems, possibly within just a few years.

In Bristol, however, we need a greater emphasis on the Government’s Troubled Families Programme - which helps parents back into work and tackles the disadvantages associated with unemployment - all the while pushing for local service reform.

Bristol should aim to raise educational attainment by introducing an Early Years Pupil Premium to help ensure that three and four year olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds get the best start in life. Through the scheme, an extra £14,000 can be given to those who are considered the most disadvantaged. Charities like IntoUniversity, based in areas including the south of Bristol, should be supported further, as they encourage children from poorer backgrounds to aspire to further education or post-16 training and apprenticeships. This is crucial, as South

Bristol was recently ranked the second worst in the country for the number of young people going on to study in higher education.

In Bristol, we need a greater emphasis on the Government’s Troubled Families Programme

As with many issues, it is a case of maintaining trust and dialogue with children, rather than leaving a ‘put-up, shut-up’ attitude to stew among our young people. Ask about their subjective wellbeing: are they satisfied with their relationships?

Which aspects of their lives do they rate highly, which do they rate poorly, and how can we as a society help?

With this dialogue achieved, perhaps the next time a child asks, ‘Do you see me? Do you hear me? Do I matter?’, we can proudly answer in the affirmative, as Bristol paves the way for a brighter future.

Do not ‘Clogg the Mogg’: allow him a platform to speak Oliver Randall urges for us to allow Rees-Mogg to speak here at the University Oliver Randall Second Year, Modern Languages A man who is openly opposed to abortion under all circumstances, who has voted against same-sex marriage, and who has never changed a nappy in his life despite being a father of six, is coming to Bristol. This man is, of course, the now (in)famous Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Flickr / LadyGeekTV

Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg holds some controverislal views on issues such as abortion

Importantly, the MP for North East Somerset still holds many of the orthodoxies of the Catholic Church. He says these orthodoxies are key to his fundamental views, so if the Catholic Church changes its mind on abortion, he will too - or so he says!

Due to speak at the University of Bristol on 14th February 2018, a debate has stirred surrounding whether he should be no-platformed. This is an increasingly common trend where protesters try to kick up enough of a fuss, with the aim of disrupting a speech and removing a speaker’s ‘platform’ to espouse his or her views.

Many would argue that no-platforming is a great way to fight the Far Right, or the conservative wing of politics; but is this really the way the Left and Centre Left should behave?

Sure, having views that vilify women for choosing what is done with their bodies, or believing that men and women alike should not be able to marry those they are in love with, is completely wrong. Clearly, the fact that this man is one of our law-makers in 21st Century Britain is at best an anachronism.

That said, would it really be worth ‘noplatforming’ Jacob? In the short term, yes. ReesMogg would be prevented from spouting his archaic conservative views, and thus wouldn’t offend anyone.

But, while this does sound like a pretty tempting idea, we should bear in mind that this would only strengthen the Right’s hand. Breitbart would be rubbing their hands with glee, running

headlines like ‘So much for the Tolerant Left’, and right-wing meme pages would be full of similar things – mocking the Left for their apparent ‘double standards’.

Preventing him from speaking would only encourage anti-leftist and anti-minority bile that many right-wing papers and pundits spew at times like this. They would demand freedom of speech and expression for all, whilst simultaneously rejecting the rights for migrants to live in safety, or for LGBT+ people to love equally.

“

The consequences of him being no-platformed simply aren’t worth the effort

That is why we need to allow him to speak – as much as it offends us and infuriates us – because we can’t stoop to their level. We can’t limit their freedom of speech. If things were the other way around and a left-wing speaker was ‘no-platformed’, the Left would consider that an act of fascist intimidation, not to mention the negative publicity that the press would run.

Our right to freedom of speech kind of ‘protects’ itself, in the sense that, when someone comes

along expressing views that are offensive and wrong, it’s important to hear him/her out. If ReesMogg’s views are openly exposed and challenged, then a debate can take place. Many people would then see how out-dated and harmful his views really are.

So, allowing him to speak could actually work to benefit the Left, because, not only would our tolerance and openness be undeniable, but we could actually win over those people who like Rees-Mogg because he’s ‘a bit of a character’ or ‘charming’. We would just be letting him expose himself and his views for what they really are – not antiquated, but misogynistic, homophobic and heavily based upon orthodox religious beliefs.

As soon as people realise once and for all that behind the mask of an eccentric, 19th Century aristocrat lies a dangerous man who could be close to achieving power, his popularity should, hopefully, plummet.

I hope he does come to speak at Bristol, because the consequences of him being no-platformed simply are not worth the effort. We just need to sit there and take his vile opinions, because we must hold the moral high-ground. We can calmly explain to him why he is wrong, and we can give him the opportunity to turn some of his own supporters away from him.

Let us not get rid of him, purely to make ourselves feel better in the short-term. Instead, we should hear him out and let him do our work for us. That way, we’ll set an example, and do much better in the long-term.

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30.10.2017

13

“

Student Finance is financially failing students Will Charley demands to ease the financial burden on students by returning to maintenance grants Will Charley First Year, History Student Finance isn’t working, and the government knows it. 83% of graduates won’t pay back their student loans in full; this year’s freshers will rack up £5,800 in interest before they even graduate; and this week the Commons Treasury Committee concluded that student debt will hit £160bn by 2023.

Theresa May recently announced that the repayment threshold for tuition fees will be raised from £21,000 to £25,000, supposedly making students struggle less with debt. The theory goes that if students make more money before the quasi-tax of tuition fees begins, they will have it easier financially and could start their careers without being burdened by repayments.

In theory, it sounds positive. It sounds as if the Conservatives are finally aiding the ailing student. However, this is purely a symbolic gesture. Student Finance needs massive

reform and May’s titbit needs to be discarded in favour of something much greater.

Although the £28,000-plus of tuition fees are a huge problem, these are not actually students’ real nemesis.

Rather, the snake-in-the-grass that actually threatens students is the smaller, less talked about maintenance loans. Yes, maintenance loans, used to pay rent, food and, let’s be realistic, alcohol. But they have a minefield of issues that need to be resolved.

Firstly, maintenance loans currently accrue 6.1% interest, considerably higher than tuition fees. Put simply, maintenance loans will burn a hole in your wallet from the first day of Freshers’ Week and this hole will only continue to expand throughout your degree and beyond. Maintenance loans are clearly the real student-killer.

However, it gets worse. You’re told that tuition loans pay your tuition, whilst maintenance loans pay for your accommodation. Yet, the reality is that whilst the former does the

Epigram / Ed Southgate

Does Student Finance give us enough to spend on student essentials, such as alcohol, ready meals and study equipment?

job, the latter falls woefully short. Despite being in university accommodation, my maintenance loan doesn’t even cover half of my accommodation fees.

The snake-in-the-grass that actually threatens students is the smaller, less talked about maintenance loans

Maintenance loans are entirely flawed as they currently exist. Students must abandon any hopes of being financially independent and fall back on their parents, pleading for Daddy to pay for their accommodation, just so they can put the loan to good use buying microwave meals and jägerbombs.

For those whose parents can’t afford to lend them a fistful of cash here and there, the reality is even bleaker. In the past, the government might give less-well off students a maintenance grant, meaning that they wouldn’t have to pay back any of the money they received. However, since the Tories abolished grants in 2016, these students’ best hope is claiming a bursary from their university. or otherwise, in the words of the NUS, suffer a ‘Lifetime of debt’.

The alternative is to get a job - but this can eat into students’ study time, prevent them from taking up all-important extracurricular activities to enhance their CV, and have a negative impact on mental health.

If maintenance loans are the real issue for students, Theresa May’s ‘Labour-Lite’ attempt to get the youth vote by fiddling with tuition

fees is meaninglessness. Significant reforms to the maintenance loan should be the priority.

Maintenance loans need to have lower interest. And that interest should only kick in after graduation. Interest is normally only applied to encourage the borrower to return the money quickly. What use is it encouraging a full-time student to pay back thousands they don’t have for the duration of their course?

Perhaps more radically, the government needs to either give students enough money in maintenance loans to actually pay for their accommodation or should alternatively do away with the whole system.

Fundamentally, students at university want financial independence and want to learn how to effectively budget whilst maintaining good finances. How on earth are they meant to achieve any of that when they’re still siphoning off hundreds from their family?

Maintenance loans are flawed in their current state. Yes, bigger loans would equate to bigger debt, but when students already face around fifty grand anyway, a little more debt for a lot more learning is probably worth it.

Finally, and most importantly, the Conservatives should reintroduce maintenance grants. The poorest in society should not suffer the most for university.

Whilst the number of lower income students attending university is currently going up, so is their debt; politicians shouldn’t use this to claim student finance works.

So clearly, May’s awkward jab at tuition reform is fundamentally focused on the wrong area of Student Finance. We shouldn’t accept being bought off with this cheap ploy.

Students, watch out for that snake in the grass: maintenance loans.

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Self-directed learning has gone too far Phoebe Chase rejects the benefits of self-directed learning as not supporting students’ education Phoebe Chase First Year, Archaeology & Anthropology

The apparent aim in self-directed learning is to cultivate a student’s initiative to pursue their own interests

The apparent aim in self-directed learning is to cultivate a student’s initiative to pursue their own interests in their course field and to create their own goals for what they wish to achieve.

However, I fail to see this benefit from how it is exercised at the University of Bristol. There is no clear help to make that initial plan or assessment of what the student wants and how they wish to reach their academic goal.

Last year, first-year English students had only eight contact hours a week. Although a lot of this course relies on independent reading - you can’t really do English Lit without reading the lit - the time given was clearly not enough. Following many complaints, I hear English students are given extra time in so-called ‘discussion hours’, but I haven’t heard great things about them either.

That so many complaints were made suggests that many students feel they are not being supported enough in their education. With the University cracking down on its mental

health crisis, trying to provide help and support to students who need it, they seem to have overlooked this issue almost entirely as a potential reason for why some may be struggling.

Critically, although less contact hours and more independent learning might appear to make courses easier or less stressful, it actually potentially exacerbates the students’ stress because of the worry that we are not learning enough. The pressure to make up for the lack of lectures and seminars can be difficult to deal with, especially for students in their first year who are still getting to grips with their course.

Using myself as an example, with usually only one seminar and three lectures a week, am I basically expected to educate myself ? We are not given enough time to go deeply enough into the topics, and with so few seminars we are hardly given the chance to ask questions in order to fully understand. It should not be this way.

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Education is not constantly sitting alone in one’s room or in the library, reading from a very dry book and making notes. I came to university to be educated and inspired, not to attempt to educate myself. The University’s aim of selfdirected learning has gone too far.

Am I basically expected to educate myself?

The best and the most productive learning stems from conversation and debate, in an environment filled with people who are interested and engaged. People need to be able to listen to a lecturer who is inspired by what they teach, who communicates in their own words the knowledge they wish to impart.

Epigram / Ed Southgate

Most weekdays, I see my flatmates who study the sciences return home, tired after many hours of lectures. Studying within the Arts Faculty, I cannot relate to this. Most students studying the arts, such as English, History, or Classics, have much less time in lectures and are expected to adopt a more independent or ‘self-directed’ learning approach.

Currently I have at least six, at most nine contact hours a week. Comparable to the 25 hours on average per week that some of the Veterinary Science students have, this is very little. Whilst I am glad that my days aren’t quite as full as that, seeing as I’m really very lazy, this very large difference in contact hours is concerning. Are Arts students getting enough time in lectures and seminars in order to be successful and confident in their subjects, and is the Faculty of Arts truly meeting its obligation to its students to provide the quality education and support from which we can benefit?

An issue with these minimal contact hours are university fees. We all pay 9k a year, but Arts students are clearly losing money. Although the figure may have changed slightly due to inflation rates, an Epigram investigation in 2014 shows that the overall loss per student studying English Literature or Language, for example, was £5,652.86. BA students are essentially funding the science, medical, and veterinary degrees that cost massively more.

For 9k a year, seven or so contact hours a week seems inexcusable.

The University Strategy, launched in 2016,

sets the University’s aims for the next seven years. It states that they aim to ‘Provide the support, feedback, infrastructure and contact hours that students need as part of a top-class learning experience’. So far, I wouldn’t say they have done a particularly great job with that.

Has self-directed learning gone too far by giving students long reading lists and short timetables?

Epigram

30.10.2017

Science & Tech

@EpigramSciTech Editor: Emma Isle Online Editor: Sadhana Kalidindi

Deputy Editor: Oliver Cohen

scienceandtech@epigram.org.uk

RADAR research gives hope for Alzheimer’s James Charlick Second Year, Pharmacology Is there a new epoch for Alzheimer’s treatment on the horizon? Probably not; but if a new clinical trial is successful, the age of onset could be delayed by five years and rate of prevalence could be halved. Though surprisingly, the drug under investigation isn’t a new blockbuster by Eli Lilly or GSK; it costs just 7p and is already in widespread use.

Losartan is traditionally used to treat high blood pressure, a health risk that, like dementia, correlates with age.

It intervenes in the complex reninangiotensin system: a series of chemical

reactions constricting and dilating blood vessels, thereby changing blood pressure in response to bodily needs and conditions.

RADAR (Reducing pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease through Angiotensin targeting) is a major multi-centre clinical trial investigating whether losartan can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s. As it is a double-blinded, randomised and placebo-controlled trial - in other words, an experiment with powerful design - the results could be either extremely encouraging or just another wrong turn in the Alzheimer’s research matrix.

The study is lead by groups at the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge,

Flickr / Pranjal Mahna Common drugs like the one being investigated for its Alzheimer’s combating role.

Queen’s Belfast and UCL. Gestetner Professor of Translational Dementia Patrick Kehoe at Bristol is the trial’s Chief Investigator. The Clinical Research and Imaging Centre (CRIC), a Bristol NHS Trust and University of Bristol partnership, is where local trials will take place. It currently accommodates 34 trials that require the use of state-of-theart infrastructure, such as MRI scanners.

The trial acquired £2 million in funding from the government’s Medical Research Council (MRC). It is managed by the joint National Institute for Health Research and MRC group, the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme.

Years in development, it has been a flagship study for the ‘Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia’.

As is to be expected, there is a dispute within the scientific community over the mechanism by which losartan supposedly stunts the progression of the disease. Some suggest that blocking angiotensin 2, a key chemical in the reninangiotensin pathway, sustains for longer the release of acetylcholine, a crucial chemical in memory formation. A more recent study says it has nothing to do with the usual suspects in Alzheimer’s, instead exerting anti-oxidant and antiinflammatory effects - lesser known but nonetheless established contributors to this neurological knot.

To add even more complexity to this molecular labyrinth, there is evidence that losartan could work to increase the prevalence in neurones of the

harmful form of amyloid beta. This is the notorious toxic substance that most scientists in the field think is among the myriad potential contributing factors, the major player in Alzheimer’s associated memory loss, brain shrinkage, and inability to perform the basic functions like swallowing, without which we would not long survive.

“ The trial acquired £2 million in funding from the government’s Medical Research Council

This paradox does not discredit the significance of research clearly showing the protective effect of losartan on cognition. It, like the many apparent paradoxes in science, only indicates the size of the chasm between current knowledge and that towards which we are working. And with losartan available for 7p a pill it is, compared to the multibillion-pound investment of creating a novel drug, financially preferable in terms of development and distribution, and therefore well worth testing out in a clinical trial.

Losartan is far from being a preventative cure for Alzheimer’s - it is a growing global health concern that there may never be a ‘vaccine’ for what may become in the developed world the ‘most-wanted’ disease of the century.

However, losartan could converge in conventional treatment plans with popular Alzheimer’s drugs, such as memantine and donepezil, to forestall physical and emotional harm. Moreover, for up to 5 years per patient, it could lift the financial burden on the NHS. Indeed, RADAR’s findings could free up funds for health services across Western Europe, where 5.4% of the total population have this tragically destructive illness.

There are in the UK 23 participating trusts. A total of 230 participants are required. To volunteer, you must have an Alzheimer’s diagnosis alongside proof of mild cognitive impairment, and as the study is not concerned with the cardiovascular uses of losartan, a normal or high blood pressure. Participants must be able to consent adequately by themselves. A more comprehensive list of inclusion and exclusion criteria is outlined on the study website, www. radar-trial.org.uk. To volunteer yourself, on somebody’s behalf, or to find more information, call the number corresponding to your local area - all are listed under the ‘where can I participate’ dropdown on the website.

Finding the key to the matrix is still a way off. However, RADAR could inspire a swell of research aimed at appropriating drugs for Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Any success would be not only a financial relief - it would restore an invaluable few years to the growing number of families changed permanently by the disease.

Trump crashes clean power plan

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It was the first cap on emissions ever set in the US

However, the plan was seen by many Republicans as a direct attack on coal powered stations, since they emit the most carbon dioxide. When announcing the repeal, the head of the EPA Scott Pruitt declared that ‘the war on coal is over’. The coal industry has been suffering ever since Obama’s second term. When he came to power, coal provided 52% of US electricity; now it is

Flickr / Lorie Shaull

Last week, Donald Trump’s Administration formally moved to repeal the Clean Power Plan, a signature environmental policy from the Obama Administration.Theplanthatwasproposed allowed the EPA to set regulations on how much CO2 each indvidual state could produce from electrical power. States would then be required to come up with individual plans on how to achieve these targets. It aimed to reduce CO2 emissions by 32% by 2030 from their 2005 levels. It was the first cap on emissions ever set in the US and it was seen as a major step towards achieving goals set by the Paris climate change agreement.

closer to 30%. During this period, over 400 coal-fired plants have closed as more than 50 coal-mining companies went bankrupt. This has caused thousands of lost jobs and redundancies. Throughout his presidential campaign Trump had promised to ‘bring the coal mining jobs back’. This policy is pandering straight to those disenfranchised workers, many of whom helped get Trump elected to the Whitehouse.

The impact of dispatching the CPP on global warming is up for debate.

To anyone who does not deny climate change, it may sound troubling, but analysis from the Rhodium group shows 25 states are already on track to meet their original CPP goals, 14 of which are members of the United State Alliance.

This Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of states committed to the Paris agreements and CPP’s set emissions target.

Surprisingly, the Private sector has been a major influence for this. Power generating co-operations know that the issue of climate change is going to be around longer than Donald Trump.

Therefore major investment is still going into renewable power, driving down the cost of wind and solar power stations.

Coinciding this investment with the with dropping price of natural gas, suggest that the reasons for struggling inefficient coal-powered stations is an economic issue, not a regulatory one.

Mike Bloomberg, former New York mayor, tweeted ‘The EPA can repeal the Clean Power Plan but not the law of

Flickr / Núcleo Editorial

Jack Bradford Second Year, Maths

Protesters decree Pruitt’s actions as hamful

economics. This won’t revive coal or stop the US from reaching our Paris goal’. He holds a similar view to many industry leaders and big businesses like Google and Facebook, who back the plan. This Breadth of support could indicate that the removal of the CPP will not have as big a negative impact on climate change than otherwise thought.

However, the example being set from the leader of the free world will only discourage countries from complying with agreements set in the Paris agreements.

Thus, this could in-turn have a global impact if participating countries do not meet their the 26-28% CO2 reduction aim on emission levels. There is also a risk that the price of natural gas may rise, and the decreasing cost of renewables could slow

down, making coal-powered stations more competitive again. Conversely, Donald Trump is the only head of state who has denied climate change during his office, and his nationalist policies mean that his global influence has already diminished.

It is also unlikely with the current rate of investment that gas and renewable prices will rise.

This repeal is about appeasing voters that felt like the Obama Administration left them behind. However, Trump’s promises about bringing those Coal workers back are unlikely to be fulfilled.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said ‘Promises to create more coal jobs will not be kept- indeed the industry will continue to cut pay rolls’ and ‘Too many companies are mining for too

many workers’. Finding a way to replace workers whose industries have been replaced by technological advances, like coal with renewables, will be one of the major challenges for of the 21st century.

It may gain Trump some political capital in the short term, allowing him to appear to keep his promises to his voting base, but the global stock exchange for coal was not affected by the announcement suggesting that the repeal’s effect may be limited. Ultimately the impact on the environment will not be as detrimental as one would think.

In any case, however, it would be more productive to re-train coal workers in a different field, rather than follow backward looking policies whilst trying to revive a dying industry.

Epigram 30.10.2017

15

This Month in Science

Hilary McCarthy Fourth Year, Chemistry

Mapping the Milky Way

Sounds like a terrible mix, right? However, the active psychedelic component found in magic mushrooms has been found to be therapeutically useful in treating depression, new research reports.

Brain imaging studies carried out at Imperial College London showed psilocybin to induce a calming effect on the amygdala, a part of the brain whose over-activity is thought to be responsible for causing depression. Increased stability of the default-mode network was also observed in patients, who consistently described a feeling of their brain being ‘reset’. What’s more, after only two doses patients reported positive effects from lasting up to five weeks. This research is far from the first of its kind; magic mushrooms have been of psychiatric interest since the 1950s, however, in light of legal and financial obstacles, neural mechanisms are relatively poorly understood.

Even though this study lacked a control group and was small, with only 19 participants, it holds great promise for much needed future research.

The spiral-like arm on the far side of the galaxy has been measured more precisely than ever before; parallax measurements of jets of radio waves could soon allow the mysterious far side of the galaxy to be accurately mapped. So what is a parallax? A parallax is the apparent displacement of an object based on the difference in angle between the ‘starting point’ of sight and the object, an easy way to see one for yourself is by alternating which eye you open and observing the consequent shift. Closer objects will appear to shift more than those further away – this is the premise for these galactic measurements. Previous difficulties have stemmed from the fact that the parallax is too small paired with the dense cloud of interstellar dust in between us and the far side of the galaxy, distorting oncoming emissions of optical light. The radio waves, associated with star formation in the spiral arms of the galaxy, are capable of outshining the distorted jumble of stars, enabling precise measurement.

Flickr / NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Flickr / Anna-Maria Oléhn

Flickr / Andrey Naumov

Flickr / Ali Harrison

Psychedelics and Depression

Babel Fish could become a reality

Don’t Panic!

¿Hablas Español? We’ve all been there, wishing we could speak more of a language so that we could properly communicate our thoughts and feelings.

‘Pixel Buds’, pioneered by Google, facilitate realtime two way translation in 40 different languages; a simple ‘let me speak ____’, could now be all you need to speak fluently with someone without the need for a common language. At present the wireless headphones work only with the Google Pixel phone and employ similar technology to that already effectively available in the ‘Google Translate App’. However, the real-time speed of translation combined with the conversational element make the headphones stand out from currently available technology. Though the state-of-the-art earphones are in early stages of development, they hold huge potential for revolutionising the way we communicate across the globe - before we know it we could all have our very own ‘Babel fish’ in our ear!

With a world increasingly dependent on satellite communications and the internet, a sudden wipe out of such technologies could have catastrophic consequences for the human race. Recent reports have suggested that worryingly this isn’t that unlikely. In fact, experts say it’s highly possible within the next century. Ironically, the source of the problem is the same as the source of all life on Earth; solar flares are the explosion of high-energy radiation from a sun-like star and are a reasonably common occurrence, at least with regard to typical solar time-scales. Depending on the magnitude, destruction caused can range from technological failings, such as that recorded in 1859, to the most powerful superflares potentially initiating extinction events. But don’t panic, superflares of that kind occur on a 20 million year time scale, so I would say we’re safe for now. What is more worrying are the odds that another solar flare like that which hit 150 years ago will occur within the next century.

Technological failures didn’t have such a drastic impact back then, however we can only imagine the damage that would be caused now.

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m has ry to ng ntu t a ndi lled n qua oun e c s a Chi t a firs te vi volves light c and he n a f i t c ted tons o i l p e l n s y a r le o om mmu eo c enc e ph y of rtic bec co vid led pa ighly th wa e f y l o h m l l c tu fu ang n is ce sfu n e t s n s a n e fen a u u e c io ly l de urb suc . A q ed in cat t b a i i s i n n l d u and d red tio cal bed comm o any n inc as na ing o t e m p vid of ne ch et the s a -cry atio form ed du This i ion su of de ue to rm t k s s d o a i . c f y h a st m ly in wa but for ate mo eh s. T edi rity in ll find ation, ton ob he t t o m h i c e u s m i p i ibl d i gh sec kers w mun his tion oss cte hi om logy t unica ac c imp dete h g f n i o m no ure ng cat bei muni e. Fut is form s tech t com i s c h e m h n t t rld. e co saf of wo llig ting and in the inte ercep ature ed int ew n m anc for n adv

MJ Parker... reports on the flyby of asteroid TC4

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Emma Isle... informs us of why the sun appeared red on Monday 16th

Beyer Thompson and Sophie Geddes... talk about the first ever quantum video call

Flickr / thellr

Epigram

30.10.2017

Letters

@EpigramLetters

Editor: Ellie Chesshire letters@epigram.org.uk

The Conservatives: can they really be the best party for students?

Trust the Tories with your money? You havee been lied to

Although the matter of leaving the EU is not a partisan issue, the crowd and array of speakers were predictably leftist. As Dr Mike Galsworthy took the stage, representing Scientists for the EU, he made a passing joke in his opening remarks that he was ‘feeling very Che Guevara today’, whilst sporting a blue beret with yellow stars in the style of the EU flag - it was quite something.

Apologetic, self-deprecatory, and ultimately a bit of a joke, right? After all, his politically leftist views meant that he was essentially a foolish old dreamer, living in a hard world that in reality

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While the deficit is reducing, it comes at a terrible cost - the economy is being starved and squeezed, and the victims are the poorest in our society

This is what we believe because this is what has been consistently pushed down our throats by the overwhelmingly conservative sympathising press in this country. While the deficit is reducing, it comes at a terrible cost: the economy is being starved and squeezed, and the

victims are the poorest in our society, and those who rely on the state and our public services.

Tory austerity is a myth. The IMF has now warned repeatedly of the threat of this neoliberal doctrine, and in 2012 the chief economist Olivier Blanchard effectively apologised for what has been a catastrophic miscalculation. The cutting of expenditure in an already weak economy is crippling, and the public sector is on its knees.

Why turn to these conservative folklores, when they so obviously exist to downsize government and transfer wealth and influence over the coffers from citizens to the elite?

Instead, the answer is increasing government spending and investment in infrastructure and public services.

Borrowing is not a dirty word, though the Tories have managed to make it a taboo in political discourse. This despite the fact that they have a higher average borrowing value for each year in office, and the national debt now stands at £1.7 trillion, up from £0.95 trillion when the conservatives took over in 2010. Leaders such as Justin Trudeau have committed to modest short term deficits in order to fund transport, social infrastructure and affordable housing in order to spur economic growth.

This is standard macroeconomics.

Flickr / 401(K)2012

Trust the Tories with your money?

You have been lied to.

I came across a Pro-EU protest on College Green recently, whilst lugging a bag of groceries and three library books under my arm on the way back to my flat. I soon forgot how badly my arms ached and how much I’d been looking forward to my lunch, as I became absolutely transfixed.

requires hardline leadership.

What struck me most was the appearance of the Conservative MEP for South West and Gibraltar, Julie Girling.

Her presence there was noticeably jarring for the audience, and yet she received the loudest round of applause for ‘breaking ranks’. Indeed, she looked remarkable in her beret, and said herself to the onlookers of hippyish seniors, ‘Our style might be a bit different...this is not the way I usually do my politics.’

Because Julie was a Conservative, she was sensible, grounded, and did not normally partake in such lavish displays of optimism and self-delusion - much like the parent who spends within their means as the old adage goes, whereas the centre and far left grow their magic money tree.

Flickr / Special Collections Toronto Public Library

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Annie Tyagi First Year, History

The borrowing does not compete with private investment, and provides the social support to help address the wealth gap, inequality and ultimately reinvigorate growth in this country.

So call me a beret wearing hippie, because I reject the conservative ‘common sense’ economics that is really destroying this country. And if you do not take such a strong view, I ask you to at least look beyond the assumptions that most of us hold about the conservatives and the trust we give them in matters of the economy.

It is no fact that they can be trusted with money; it is a brand. And you are being mugged off.

Dear future year abroad students...

Scarlett Sherriff Third Year, French and Spanish

I thoroughly recommend that you go on one, it will teach you so much about yourself

Even though a lot has gone on since, second year wasn’t that long ago. I remember that every time we got the opportunity to speak to someone who had been on their year abroad we all wanted to know what to expect.

Now I realise my course-mates and I were asking all the wrong questions and that we should have been telling ourselves not to expect anything. Our preparations shouldn’t have been based around how to deal with our new host countries, but rather how to deal with our ridiculous selves.

What the year abroad gives you is the

ability to compromise - with the situation yes, but above all with yourself.

My experience has been a French one, but it has also been classically me.

I’ve been stuck in the metro, the thyroid medicine I forgot got stuck in the post and I had to get a new prescription. My laptop also broke.

Apart from getting stuck in a metro station, (Mayor of Lyon, when the last train is leaving can you please shut the entrance before you shut the exit, so I can’t be an idiot?) those are pretty normal situations for me, except that it all felt more dramatic because I was in France.

I had to figure out a new system and explain why I needed a prescription in French, and at the laptop shop I had to describe the bouncing folder with a question mark that came up on my laptop in French.

The most important thing is to establish a routine. For me that meant that no matter how lethargic I became and regardless of the forms I had to fill out and the laptop I had to fix, I’ve always gone out on a Monday and to a language tandem on a Thursday.

I’ve also tried to do a bit of sport: pilates in French was interesting.

I honestly think the most important tip for the year abroad is that it’s vitally important to keep busy and to feel like you’ve planned stuff yourself.

When you have no control over administration or what to expect, it’s important to have control over constructive things. If you’re feeling a bit lonely, go for a walk. Walking is the

Flickr / Net Circlion

I write this just over a month into my Erasmus exchange in Lyon. You will be pleased to know that I thoroughly recommend that you go on one; it will teach you so much, not only about the new culture you are experiencing but also about yourself.

That said, it will always begin with settling in. There is always plenty of admin, don’t expect pure freedom.

Much to my dismay the never ending bits of confusing paper that fill me with dread are part of part of being human.

The trip’s not a holiday after all.

A desire to escape is, I suspect, somewhere in the psyche of those who plan a spell abroad. I for one have wanted to escape forms since school when I’d lose everything my mum had diligently signed. I still lose and forget absolutely everything.

Sadly, that’s not possible. Even when you leave Bristol life goes on, you’re on Earth and things will be mundane sometimes, and you will get angry and grumpy. That said, you may find that you can actually deal with such stress better than you ever thought.

Waiting two hours for anything to get done did frustrate me but I’ve realised that the English part of me is able to laugh it off with a touch of irony.

Meanwhile the stressed, intense part of me has become calmer.

It had to, because I’m bad at this sort of thing even in Bristol, where it’s all really efficient, let alone in France.

(Yeah, you’ll definitely start to appreciate some things more).

You will also start to appreciate new things. For me, it’s been how beautiful Lyon is and also great coffee (from a machine but made with grain) for 40 cents at the university and the certainty that when you buy a croissant it won’t taste like sawdust.

best way to see new things anyway.

That’s how I discovered one day that French farmers had physically brought their sheep to Lyon to protest against wolves. A lamb was born in Place Bellecour, Lyon’s biggest square (even the lambs in France are political from day one) and they had a sign with a Victor Hugo quote.

I might be mad, but it was a pretty good insight into French culture if you ask me. Everyone’s angry with Macron, and I understand their point. I thought I was pretty political.

I wasn’t expecting a baby lamb to compete on that front.

So if it’s all feeling a bit boring and you’re dealing with an administration system that seems to be as annoying as everyone says it is, stop looking at your friend on Facebook who has learnt

tango in Argentina, has a brand new perfect profile picture, and already has loads of friends.

Remember that it’s all an image, and that this isn’t a competition. Just get out there - you’ll probably meet some great people and maybe even some pretty motivated, bolshy sheep.

In all seriousness, for those of you going abroad next year, you’ve still got loads of time - but it will come quickly.

When ‘Year-Abroad’ talks happen, listen to the parts about forms and the Learning Agreement and try and do it all ahead of time, but don’t think too much about what to expect, because the only thing you can expect is the unexpected and your own foolishness, in a good way.

Yours, Scarlett (as clueless as ever).

Living Wellbeing Food Style Travel

Isaac Norris

Happy Halloween!

Editor Jordan Barker

18

Online Editor Josie Roberts

Deputy Editor

30.10.2017

Emily Hayman

living@epigram.org.uk

@EpigramLiving

Epigram Living Section 2017/18

Bristol blind dates: Henry and Nicola Is that love I can smell in Bar Humbug? Or is it just the loos?

Why did you decide to go on a blind date?

Any awkward moments?

Henry: I decided to go on a blind date after a friend suggested it.

I’d always heard about them, so I wanted to give it a try!

Henry: I generally fill awkward silences with more questions, so nothing really noticeable. I probably said a couple of awkward things, but who doesn’t?

Nicola: Not really, he was good at filling awkward silences. But when he said ‘Could you imagine marrying me in four years time?’ it was a tad awkward. It made sense in context... But still.

Epigram / Henry Putley

Nicola: I made a pact with my flatmate to go on a blind date. Also thought it’d be fun - it’s so unusual going on a date and knowing absolutely nothing about the person you’re meeting.

What do you look for in a person?

Henry: Someone who is really outgoing in life, with a good sense of humour and a passion for something. I think being enthusiastic about a hobby or a cause is really attractive.

Nicola: Nothing in particular, just as long as we click instantly.

Normally someone funny, blonde, and a little odd.

First impressions?

Henry: I’m going to be really honest and say that I was actually really happy to see the prettiest girl at the bar (Bar Humbug) awkwardly laugh and introduce herself. We got into conversation really quickly, which definitely helped to break the ice.

What did you like most about them?

Henry: Nicola was really talkative and interesting, which is exactly what you want on a blind date. And of course, some of the funny noises she would make during conversation. I thought those were pretty cute.

Henry: 4th year, Physics. A lad from Harrogate with a lust for life

Nicola: Henry tried out some cheesy pick-up lines. This was brilliant: ‘Do you go to Hogwarts? Because you’re a nine and three quarters’. He did also walk me home, even though it was in the opposite direction and chucking it down!

What would you rate them out of 10?

Nicola: I thought he was pretty good looking and very chatty.

Epigram / Nicola Godsell

Henry: 9 and 3/4s out of 10.

What did you talk about?

Henry: Everything. Hobbies, our subjects, cooking, climbing, Westworld, The Lobster (the movie), awkward dates we’d both experienced, how much of a lightweight I am, etc. Talking with the right person is always easy.

Nicola: Everything, from films to family, he also told me some good stories from his year studying abroad.

Nicola: 7.9/10

Would you see them again?

Henry: I can’t see much (myopia), but I’d definitely see her again.

Nicola: 2nd year, Geography. A lassie on the look-out for a blonde oddball.

Nicola: Maybe.

Halloween: is it worth celebrating?

Living writer, Nora Gunn, shares her thoughts on this spookiest of holidays Flickr / Mike Licht

shouldn’t be celebrated, even without religion they create a feeling of unity. In a time when our communities feel more divided than ever, this is vitally important.

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Flickr / Chris Friese

Halloween, the time of year when children dress up, take to the streets and knock on doors asking for sweets. It’s also the time of year where adults dress up, get disgustingly drunk, and the next day have very embarrassing walks of shame.

When I asked my friends all about their Halloween experiences as children, their main memories were of traipsing round with plastic, pumpkin shaped buckets in shop bought costumes. They remembered running home and eating as much as they physically could before their parents confiscated their spoils. Most would go with parents when they were little, and then with friends once they were old enough.

I had to ask them, since I have never been trick or treating.

This means my prevailing memory of childhood Halloween is the morning of the 1st of November, when all the cool kids would come in with extra treats in their lunchboxes.

I’m not bitter, obviously, but it does mean that Halloween has very little sentimental value for me. It always seems a little like forced fun. One positive part of this, however, is that you actually get to meet your neighbours, which gives this celebration a nice feeling of community - see mum, trick or treating is fine!

Those who oppose Halloween on a religious basis do have a valid argument. By turning a day originally intended to celebrate ‘All Hallows’ (the saints), into a candy-grabbing, slutty costume wearing, devil associating extravaganza the meaning has slightly been lost.

But does that mean it shouldn’t be celebrated at all? Christmas and Easter are also Christian based celebrations which have become decoupled from their religious intention. That doesn’t me that they

Club tickets skyrocket in price - £40 for The Blast! Are you joking, Motion?

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The main problem with it is that it’s expensive. Club tickets skyrocket in price - £40 for The Blast, are you joking Motion? Then there’s costumes, which after one use are often simply thrown away, that cannot be good for the environment or anyone’s wallet. These problems are easily solved however, but either choosing a cheaper night, throwing a party, or buying tickets early. Costumes can be recycled, or lent, or given away rather than simply thrown in the bin. Trick or Treating is free - although it is slightly less acceptable when you’re an adult sized person…

With the night’s drawing in, essay deadlines coming thick and fast, and far too many days left till Christmas perhaps we need something to celebrate? Halloween is, in essence, totally harmless fun, and that should never be discouraged.

Nora Gunn Second Year, English and Classics

30.10.2017

19

Why are societies the best part of uni life?

Online editor, Josie Roberts, asks all of you out there to consider joining a society or sports club.

When I came to university last year, every single one of my older friends or relatives who had been a fresher in the not so distant past told me that I absolutely had to join a society or sports club. For some it shaped their entire experience and for others it was something they told me they really regretted not throwing themselves into. And after a year at university now I am truly grateful to every single one of those people for telling me to join a group because it really did shape my first year experience.

For me especially I only had eight hours contact time a week which meant that I had so much spare time and there were only so many cupcakes that I could bake on a Tuesday afternoon after I got home from my 11am lecture and had had my nap. So firstly by joining a society I had an amazing way to fill my time and it gave me a little bit more structure to my life. I reckon that if I didn’t I would have spent a lot of time napping and procrastinating.

to only a handful and that was tough. By then joining multiple societies I managed to open my social bubble tremendously and I was going out more and having so much fun!

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Secondly joining a group gives you a purpose. Whether it’s a sports club where you have to train a few times a week or a society where you have coffee fortnightly and create to raise awareness, by having a group of people expecting you to come and work towards something you automatically have a reason for that day. This is significantly heightened if you, like me, really question whether you are doing the right degree and need some more inspiration in life. In addition to this, by being actively involved in societies or sports clubs by getting elected to be on the committee by your peers you are getting experience that could be really valuable to your future career and make your CV stand out that little bit more.

Most importantly however, societies and sports clubs mean you meet so many new people and it’s where I have met a lot of my closest friends at university. I found that by being in city centre accommodation last year as well as being on a huge course with only eight contact hours, I am still meeting second year English students on the daily which surprises me every time, I knew only a few people. I went from a school where I knew loads of people

Flickr / TimOve

...by joining a society I had an amazing way to fill my time and gave my life a little more structure

In snowsports we’ve been transforming ourselves from a glorified drinking society into a Performance Sport Club

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So, if the idea of filling your time with valuable and fun opportunities appeals to you, head to the SU website and take a look at the hundreds of societies that the university has to offer.

There is something that is out there for everyone.

To give you an idea of the type of goals that some societies strive for here are some words from the University of Bristol Snowsports Club’s president Jamie Serjeant: ‘There’s a collective awareness that’s been brewing recently across sports clubs, the university and

the union. It’s an awareness that sport at university plays a massive part in the student experience, from physical health to quality of social life and mental wellbeing. This gives sports clubs a very sincere responsibility to look after their members - to include them, to improve their performance and to develop them as people.

‘In snowsports we’ve been transforming ourselves from a glorified drinking society to a Performance Sport club for the past few years. The most important thing for me is to help foster a sense of family and pride in the sport. Everything else will follow. That’s why we subsidise training to make it as affordable as possible for as many as possible. It’s why we try to keep socials inclusive, involve our competitors in decision making and promote wellbeing with yoga, nutrition and physio. And it’s why we pioneer new initiatives that unite everyone, such as carbon offsetting our next ski trip.’

For many of us we call this club home. And with changes afoot across the University, I’m confident the Bristol sports scene will continue to grow into an even better home for everyone.

Josie Roberts Online Living Editor

How not to waste your reading week Edwin Teong provides tips on how not to waste good ole ‘no-lectures’ Week 6 After a hectic term, rushing for lectures, churning out tutorials and keeping up with the daily grind, comes recess week - a week of reading and more catching up. Isn’t it ironic that university readings are like blackholes? There is always room for more. Yet a week can come and go and before we know it, its back to chasing the pack as dawns and dusks pass us by. So here are a few tips on compartmentalising and planning your reading week to ensure revision is complete - whilst maintaining some vestige of sanity, preventing burnout and saving time for introspection.

Tip No. 2: Remove distractions We traverse life’s vicissitudes, surmount the hardest of obstacles but find it most difficult to resist the urge of rejecting a good friend’s call to have fun, or to chill and have a night out at the bar or club. Distractions abound but the onus is on us to allocate our time well. When they clearly clash with scheduled reading, try not to give in. It may be a case of unrequited desire to take a break, but push on and be sure of your priorities. That is not to say be a loner or reject all requests to take breaks, but the key thing here is to be self-aware.

Tip No. 1: Planning/ Charting your daily goals The age old saying that failing to plan is planning to fail may be a truism, but it has some value. There has to be some planning involved in terms of allocating which subjects you want to cover for the day, followed by the reading for that subject. Try not to allocate yourself too much on the first day. Start slow and build on your momentum but also have a to-do list to guide and keep you grounded. Reading should never be a bore, nor should it become a humdrum routine.

Tip No. 3 Take measured breaks Life is way too short to be spending all of it confined within the four walls of the library. This may seem contradictory to the previous tip but measured breaks are important, they revitalise and ensure our minds are kept fresh. This can involve taking short walks to scenic places in Bristol such as to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which is exceptionally beautiful when cast against the

coral pink of dusk. Exercise keeps the mind fresh and also imbues discipline. Do something that fits your preference but remember that it should not last beyond time allocated for reading. Say 30 minutes maximum for a break, as you do not want to become counter-productive.

Tip No 4: Constantly evaluate your learning At the end of each day, try to take a brief 5-10 minutes to evaluate your learning. Key areas of focus can include whether you fulfilled the tasks you set for yourself that day or how much more ground you have to cover. Factor these considerations into the next day’s plan. Always bear in mind planning entails giving yourself space to fail and never shy from it - for it isw failure that allows us to learn and emerge stronger from moulds of ourselves.

Edwin Teong First Year, English

30.10.2017

Online Editor Leila Mitwally

WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW WRITERS! Whether you’re a budding journalist or just have an interest in mental health and wellbeing, we want to hear from you! If you are interested in writing about your own personal experiences with mental health, offering advice or writing about current mental health events, join our Facebook Writers’ Group or email us at: wellbeing.epigram@gmail.com

If you ever need to talk to someone, try www.bigwhitewall.com and register with your bristol email

Let’s get talking: it could save a life seriously consider suspending my studies and voiced my thoughts to my friends and family, all of whom were incredibly supportive. My GP and Senior Tutor were equally sympathetic, offering to guide me the whole way. I took the plunge.

Last year, deferring saved my life Deputy Comment editor, Jake Porter, discusses the events which led him to defer his studies to focus on his mental health, and the positive effects that this had on his recovery.

Epigram / Leila Mitwally

*Trigger warning: this article contains references to self-harm, drug abuse and suicidal ideation which some readers may find distressing.* October 31st, 2016. Following a disastrous encounter that threw my emotional state and self-esteem down a pit, I made the mistake of employing alcohol as a means for coping. Staggering home from a Halloween house party, I drunkenly psyched myself up to do something I’d never done before. I went to my kitchen, found a knife and did a really bad job of cutting myself. Luckily I’d picked up the bluntest blade in existence, leading to no more than a few surface wounds and a deeper sense of disappointment in myself that I couldn’t even self-harm right.

The mechanics of deferring were simple: all I needed to do was fill out a form, with supporting evidence from my GP, and the rest was done for me. Minimal fuss, minimal stress, no meetings or appraisals. I went home, and was immediately released from all the parts of life that, I realised, were secondary to the importance of personal wellbeing.

I was absolved of having to take care of myself, something that had gotten harder to do as the depression worsened. My family took me in and made sure that I ate, that I showered, that I went outside – what a grim and dirty little gremlin depression makes you – and, perhaps most importantly, they were there as a shoulder to cry on. It’s necessary for me to note that I credit my dog within the definition of my family; poor Ralphy suffered many a tearful hug with bemused patience.

Time is the ultimate healer, horrifically cliché though it sounds. Suspending my studies gave me that time

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It was not an instant cure. I got worse before I got better, with numerous slip-ups and falls on my way out of the hole. I suffered a technical overdose – technical because I had access to nowhere near enough drugs to do myself any real damage, sucking at self-harm again – and spent many nights staring at the ceiling, knowing it would be better for everyone if I just didn’t wake up. But the critical thing was that I did wake up. Every day. I woke up, and suffered, but the space and time afforded to me from deferring did facilitate my recovery, slow though it often felt.

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My first incidence of suicidal ideation – on the early morning of December 11th – really hit home that this was an extreme episode that needed urgent attention. Stronger medication was dosed out alongside indefinite delays on my overdue coursework. I started CBT courses, but these seemed ill-suited to my situation. The staff running them were kind, attentive and caring, but the classes were focused on treating a more low-key side of depression’s spectrum than the chronic illness that I was feeling.

I went home for Christmas; the suicidal thoughts came with me. Even with the soporific anti-depressants numbing me to some extent, I knew that I needed to do something before things became truly hopeless, and before I became truly helpless. Seeing no other option, I started to

If I’d known how significant a change deferring would make to my wellbeing, as well as how simple and stress-free the process would be, I would definitely have decided on it much sooner

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Coming back in September was as painless as leaving had been, with minimum hassle or paperwork. I started my new third year with a positive perspective and have not been disappointed: I’ve met some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever known, as well as still being in contact with all of my beautiful friends from before. One of my best friends is even still here – she deferred too, the sucker – and I’ve been lucky enough to find a house to live in with her. None of my initial worries about deferring came to pass; I find myself more fulfilled than I ever was before.

I owe my continued existence to so many things, including my support network of family, friends and carers, and also myself, loath though I am to credit myself with anything other than disdain. If I’d known how significant a change deferring would make to my wellbeing, as well as how simple and stress-free the process would be, I would definitely have decided on it much sooner.

My choice to defer was most certainly a key step on my path to recovery; I’m not sure I’d even be alive without making it.

Jake Porter Deputy Comment Editor

The 10th October was World Mental Health Day - a day dedicated to spreading awareness of mental illness. Therefore, to raise awareness, we went around Clifton Campus asking students to write what helped them when they had a bad mental health day, or things that made them happy in general.

Epigram / Leila Mitwally

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From them I was served up a cocktail of medication and extensions: the former, an attempt at beating back the encroachment of negative thoughts, the latter a delaying tactic while I tried to sort myself out. This was when deferring my year was first brought up as an option; I turned it down immediately. How could I just drop out of my third year? I wouldn’t graduate with my friends, I’d be held back and have to adapt to a whole new set of people, I’d need to sort out new housing, and besides: what would I do for nine months? The notion seemed ludicrous, and the implicit stress associated with arranging such a decision felt like far too much for me to handle.

trying, lame – but have subsequently found to be a fantastic avenue for creativity, purpose and new friends.

What helps you on a bad mental health day?

This was the event that kick-started my spiral into a deeper depression.

I had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety months before, but this was a new low. I started missing lectures – finding sleep to be the best escape – with impending essays looming before me like unassailable cliffs. I made the right move in immediately informing both my friends and the relevant authority figures, such as my GP and Senior Tutor.

How could I just drop out of my third year? I wouldn’t graduate with my friends, I’d be held back and have to adapt to a whole new set of people

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@epigramwellbeing

Epigram Wellbeing

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@EpigramWB

Deputy- Editor Jasmine Burke

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Editor Chloe Payne-Cook

I was given the time to fully dedicate myself to my mental health.

Group therapy, the support of my family and friends, the attentive care of my wonderful GP and my own changing perspective all contributed to an environment of self-care, one that I’m sure I couldn’t have cultivated if I’d stayed on at university. Deferring gave me the opportunity to take stock of my life and see what really mattered, as opposed to what societal, cultural, social or institutional forces might try to make you think is important.

Possibly the most infuriating – but necessary – piece of advice I can give is that time is the ultimate healer, horrifically cliché though it sounds. Suspending my studies gave me that time. I was able to occupy myself with getting better without the stresses of impending deadlines or nights out, without the mounting strain that everyday activities can force on a fragile mind.

It was with time that I was able to nurture a new, more positive outlook than I’d ever held before, even before my crisis. I learnt to care more about what I did, and to take pride in what I was good at. I applied for a role with Epigram, something I would never have done before – ergh,

We were met with an overwhelming response, and it was great to see so many of you get involved and share your tips! Mental health is not something that should be shied away from, and the more we talk about it, the more it can be normalised.

Epigram / Chloe Payne-Cook

Although we made a step in the right direction on World Mental Health Day, this is only the beginning - mental health should be talked about everyday. 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year - you are not alone, and you should be able to share your experience without fear of judgement.

Thank you to everyone who participated, and keep an eye on our social medias - which can be seen at the top of the page - to see what other campaigns we do over the year!

Jasmine Burke Deputy Wellbeing Editor

30.10.2017

22 20

Coping with stress

The face behind the pledge the age of 45 in the UK and yet we don’t do enough to help those at risk. We have to advance to meet the needs of sufferers of mental health conditions, not simply let this tragedy unfold.

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

I was extremely pleased to have introduced Jonny Benjamin MBE and Neil Laybourn, together with Sue Baker from Time to Change, to the Director of Student Services at the University of Bristol. My idea to have Neil and Jonny to come and talk culminated in the formal signing of the Time to Change pledge

by Professor Hugh Brady at the University on 6th October 2017; a tremendous step forward for mental health awareness at the University.

Last December I had been helping to facilitate mental health charities under the Heads Together trust, raising money for Jonny and Neil’s marathon effort. Between the work I was doing and the news of the devastating student suicides at Bristol, I could see the dire need to improve mental health services at our University. No one should ever get to the point where they feel they have to take their own life.

I wanted to raise awareness of an issue that is so desperately in need of time, attention and resources

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I was so saddened by the tragic death of our students and felt I had to do what I could to make a positive change in the University. I decided to introduce Jonny Benjamin and Neil Laybourn to the University during a big event in the Great Hall in order to raise awareness of an issue that is so desperately in need of time, attention and resources. After making contact with the Chancellor’s Office, the Director of Student Services and the CEO of mind – who put me in touch with Sue Baker - I went to Bristol with Jonny and Neil to have a meeting with the Director. It was suggested that the University sign the Time to Change Pledge in order to demonstrate a groundbreaking commitment to mental health within the University.

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I was so pleased that this decision was reached and hope that this leads to a University where not only is the rate of suicides reduced, but students can access the help and support that they need. There needs to be in increase in both the quantity and quality training available for therapists and more therapy available for students. Therapists have a massive impact on students, especially in boosting their willingness to access help, so attitudes need to change. Simply having a 45-minute consultation and sticking a patient on medication without support isn’t going to help anybody; it is only going to suppress the real issue.

By improving both the mental health services and attitudes towards mental health here at university, we are making steps towards saving lives. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under

I wanted to provide hope to the sufferers of mental health disorders in the student community and show them that there is another way

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care and accommodations provided. As a society we should be recognising that the problem of mental health does exist and, instead of discriminating against it, we should actively work towards finding effective solutions for it.

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

Simply having a 45-minute consultation and sticking a patient on medication without support isn’t going to help anybody; it is only going to suppress the real issue

I certainly hope that this event was just the beginning of moving towards genuine and adequate care for those affected. My goal was to inspire anyone that is suffering to realise that there are many people out there like them; to show them that it is okay to talk about it and reach out for support.

With the signing of this pledge, I look forward to mental health becoming a priority at the University, with better mental health

”

There is a huge gap in the UK between psychological knowledge, support and care and demand for psychological services. At least 25% of people at University are struggling with mental health issues of one kind or another, but there are nowhere near enough personnel, expertise or facilities to support their struggles.

Even when people attempt to get help, more often than not the services are either not available or are totally inadequate to meet people’s needs.

Zack’s efforts and passion for change led to an event that not only inspired both adults and students alike, but forced the University to stand up and make a change. Although the devastating increase in student suicide at Bristol last year has prompted the University to take action, Zack’s individual efforts speak volumes.

The fact that Zack’s actions provoked such a monumental reaction shows that as students we can make a difference and inspire others.

Zack Rose Politics and International Relations Graduate

I will hold my hands up and admit I’m not exactly the calmest person in the world… In fact, when I fall victim to stress it overtakes me completely.

It used to be messy. I would launch into full blown panic attacks complete with tears and irrational tantrums, but overtime I’ve found my reaction to stress changing. Nowadays when I get stressed I cut myself off from my surroundings. I can’t control it but I start to feel nothing but numbness; I can’t bring myself to do anything.

Surprisingly, I actually preferred the breakdowns, because at least then I was feeling and expressing something; feeling nothing at all makes me feel indescribably empty.

”

By bringing Jonny and Neil to the University, I wanted to provide hope to the sufferers of mental health disorders in the student community and show them that there is another way. Jonny was on the brink of committing suicide when a stranger - Neil - stepped in and saved his life. His story shows us that even in the darkest of times, there is a way forward. Jonny went from almost jumping off Waterloo bridge to becoming a leading spokesperson regarding mental health and recovery and even managing to run the London Marathon for Heads Together, the Royal Foundation’s mental health trust. As young people themselves they can hopefully help other young people realise that there is always hope.

Instagran / balancetoblossom

Bristol graduate Zack Rose was incredibly passionate about having Jonny Benjamin and Neil Laybourn come to speak at the University. Below, he tells us exactly why it was so important to him.

November 1st happens to be National Stress Awareness day! In preparation for that, Deputy Wellbeing Editor Jasmine Burke talks you through her experience with stress and how she copes with it.

I’m not okay. I’m going through a stressful period and shutting down. But it is only temporary. I am going to be okay. I just need to give it time

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The good thing about it now though, is that I’ve had so many years with my bad coping mechanisms that I’m basically an expert at controlling them. I still can’t quite manage how I react when I’m overly stressed, but what I can do is help myself cope with my reactions. I now know that when I feel it looming I have to embrace and acknowledge what’s happening: I’m not okay. I’m going through a stressful period and shutting down. But it is only temporary. I am going to be okay. I just need to give it time.

It’s okay to admit that things aren’t going right from time to time, you just have to also admit that they will eventually get better. Yes, we all have low-points, but the good thing about hitting any kind of rock bottom is that things can only go up from there. After doing this - well, it can be different for everyone, and obviously I can only speak from my experience - I can then usually tackle my emotions in one of the following ways…

Talk to Someone… I won’t lie, this person is usually my mum.

When stressed we’re often irrational and exaggerate situations in our head that realistically aren’t half as bad as we thought they were, and my mum is the perfect person to remind me how solvable my stressful situations actually are. However, you don’t have to talk to them about your problems if you think that will make it worse. It can be good for just seeking out a distraction to try and shift your mind’s focus.

Distance Yourself from the Stressful Situation… This is probably one of the most important ones for me. If a situation has stressed me out - and it doesn’t have a looming deadline - the best thing I can do is remove myself from the situation, usually with some sort of self-care task. I go have a bath, or a nap, or watch a cheesy movie in bed. Anything that will calm me down helps. The calmer I am, the quicker I recover, and the more likely I am to get back to the task at hand, this time in a less stressful manner.

Power Through… This is often a last resort for me as the other two work better, but sometimes the thought of not finishing a task is what gets me stressed in the first place. Powering through for a stressful couple of hours and getting the task done relieves me of all stress once it’s all finished. Yes, those couple of hours feel like the worst thing that can possibly happen to me at the time, but afterwards I thank myself that I went through them, and I can sit back and smile.

We all get stressed from time to time, and we all have different ways of dealing with it, regardless of whether they are healthy or unhealthy. The real importance comes in recognising how your mind reacts to that stress and where you need to go from there.

Jasmine Burke Deputy Wellbeing Editor

30.10.2017

23

Your confidence isn’t about you anymore when it relies on getting over 100 likes

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As much as I enjoy all the vlogs, the work outs and the holiday pics, the confidence I want to discuss can’t always be found on the Instagram feeds or seen in all the mirror selfies. Knowing how others value you and how you value yourself are different things, and have different ways of being achieved.

At the other end of the scale, some of us shy away from posting too many pictures and expressing self-confidence because it has developed this arrogant stigma. We can’t have confidence in ourselves because we can’t come across as arrogant; being egotistical and being confident appear inseparable, but this isn’t the case.

What I am discussing is the importance and the necessity to have the ability to love yourself, who you are and what you stand for. This confidence doesn’t necessarily need to be publicised, or justified by likes. Although they can be a bonus, they shouldn’t define whether it’s a good picture or not; true inner confidence is much more personal. You should be able to look in the mirror and really see who’s looking back at you, your strengths and your weaknesses. Having this mental state needs work. Especially as your mind, your opinions and your body is changing so rapidly through school and uni.

Self-confidence, in its raw and natural form, is something that exists when nobody else can see it

I have finally stopped dreaming about looking like Blake Lively. As a short, fair skinned brunette girl, I really couldn’t be more far off

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This doesn’t mean becoming obsessed with diets and exercise plans, or becoming unconditionally focused on changing yourself because you’re not happy with who you are. As a big food lover, I couldn’t recommend dieting 24/7. And missing leg day at the gym every now and then isn’t the end of the world, especially with all the hills in Bristol.

You want to aim to be in a place of strength, a place where you feel invincible so that you can comfortably tell yourself I am better than nobody, and nobody is better than me.

This leads to stopping the comparisons between yourself, your flatmates, your course mates and even strangers in the street. Your selfesteem plummets if you keep staring at those skinny legs walking in front of you, wishing for them to be yours.

You can physically stop comparing yourself to all these people that you’d probably need surgery to look like! For instance, I have finally stopped dreaming about looking like Blake Lively. As a short, fair skinned brunette girl, I really couldn’t be more far off.

”

Having a boyfriend at a young age meant I was very dependent on someone else for my self-confidence for a while. It becomes a cycle; you can’t love yourself unless that one person has all their attention on you. Although we all enjoy this attention, it should be a confidence boost, not the only reason you have any confidence.

You need to have your own voice rather than relying on someone else’s. Self-confidence must first and foremost come from within. Once you gain this belief in yourself and your life, you can withstand any insults, any daggers to your pride, as well as your feelings. You know your worth and you know what you stand for.

”

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

Social media sites, Instagram in particular, are obsessed with the idea of pictures. Selfie after Selfie after Selfie, our age group are rarely commented on for not having self-esteem. We each have this online photo diary of our lives, and it does come across as confident.

Being comfortable in your own skin is vital. It’s not only about your mental and physical health, but also your relationships with others: if you can’t love yourself, how can you expect somebody else to?

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History student Bea O’Kelly discusses the importance of self confidence.

Being over confident or egotistical happens when self-confidence becomes a form of attention seeking and your pride and appreciation of your body must be witnessed by the maximum number of people possible in order for it to be validated. Your confidence isn’t about you anymore when it relies on getting over 100 likes.

”

Learning to love yourself

It has developed this arrogant stigma.

We can’t have confidence in ourselves because we can’t come across as arrogant

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So, focus on you. Spend more time on things you enjoy - whether it’s playing tennis, drawing or even public speaking. Spend time on yourself and, going forward, cut the negativity out. Be brutal, be bold.

Self-confidence, in its raw and natural form, is something that exists when nobody else can see it. Inner beauty does not need to ask for attention because it can exist on its own.

Bea O’Kelly Third Year, History

We need to start talking about emotional abuse Comments such as these can be the first indicator of an abusive relationship, but they are often overlooked. Why do we not take this emotionally abusive behaviour more seriously? Answer: because people do not realise its damaging effects.

There is an increasing amount of information and help available for people who are being physically abused in relationships. However the same cannot be said for those who are emotionally abused. From my experience, this is particularly true for young people.

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”

emotional abuse can happen to anybody and will impact people in different ways.

believing that only he could want me. Even after the break-up, he told me that he would ‘pray for the next guy who stumbles across me’. Very mean, I know.

I felt helpless and incredibly lonely because I didn’t know what help was available. I reached out to the university counselling service where I talked about it for the first time, and where the word ‘abuse’ was used for the first time. This opened my eyes to the fact that emotional abuse is simply not talked about enough. People realise that physical abuse is completely unacceptable in a relationship, while in an emotionally abusive relationship people are less aware of the associated behaviours and thus are less likely to seek help.

I was fortunate that my ex-boyfriend ended the relationship. I had become reliant on him and he controlled me by making me feel guilty. My self-esteem was such that I was not in a position to end the relationship myself. I know this may not be the case for some people, however.

To cut a long and tumultuous journey short, he ended the relationship two years ago and I was distraught because I had been conditioned into

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

I want to assert that I did think I was happy and that our arguments were normal. It was only after I was first physically hurt that I questioned the nature of the relationship. My self-esteem was ripped apart, I felt constantly not good enough and I isolated myself into believing that only he could provide me with happiness – which is not at all true. The thought of not having him in my life utterly terrified me, but the same can be said for him staying in my life.

The thought of not having him in my life utterly terrified me, but the same can be said for him staying in my life.

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Aside from talking about it, I found focusing on myself and doing what I wanted to do to be liberating. I exercised more and slowly put myself out there until I felt comfortable being in a room with people I did not know previously. It is so important to surround yourself with good, supportive people – even if you just want to hide away.

Anonymous

I want to be clear from the outset – emotional abuse can happen to anybody and it will impact people in different ways. This is my account of it.

My ex-boyfriend and I were together for 5 years. The last 2 years of the relationship were based on him manipulating my life so that I was dependent on him. His anger put me in fear of what he might do, be that hit me, or share my private photos online. It is difficult to understand why I stayed with him for so long – I too ask myself this question, 2 years after the relationship has ended.

I know it is cliché, but I found strength in talking to a few friends and a counsellor about my experience. I urge anybody who feels the way I did to talk to somebody. I appreciate that talking does not solve everything, but it makes you feel less alone. ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ - though maybe quartered - could not have been more true in my case.

”

We all hear people say that X’s girlfriend is ‘controlling’ or Y ‘didn’t let her go out with her friend that night’. Phrases like this are thrown around in the university party scene. However, what people may not hear is the potential emotional abuse behind these statements.

If any of these behaviours or feelings ring true, it is so important that you reach out to anybody. Whether it is your closest friend, your sibling, your parents, or as I did – a total stranger at student counselling. It will help.

My experience is that people are willing to help and talk about it. It takes prioritising yourself to realise that you are worth so much more than you think. I prioritised myself by cutting off all contact with my exboyfriend, and instead, surrounded myself with positive friendships.

Find for your mind

Here you’ll find a new person or service to follow or check out online which you might find beneficial to your wellbeing. This weeks is...

Youtuber Melanie Murphy After recovering from an eating disorder and leaving a very serious long term relationship, Melanie turned to Youtube to work on self-love and appreciation.

Her videos include balanced yet realistic food diaries, Q&As on mental health and self-love, and loads of fun things in between!

24

Editor

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Jane Cowie @janecowiefood food@epigram.org.uk

Holly Penhale

Sarah Roller

Epigram Living 2017-18

30.10.17

@epigramfood

My experience of turning vegan Ella Mawson tells us about her transition from meat and dairy lover to creative culinary vegan

People will judge you for being a tree hugger: The term ‘vegan’ is one steeped in stigma. From the moment you tell people that you are vegan they automatically make assumptions: that you’re a dedicated tree hugger, that saving the planet is your number one priority, that animals are friends not food. What I have learnt is that it’s possible to adopt a plantbased diet without adopting a completely vegan lifestyle.

Overnight my portions tripled in size and the great thing is I didn’t ever feel too full or bloated

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​ loating is a thing of the past: B Despite the massive portions and constant eating, I’ve happily discovered that bloating is no longer an issue when I eat. As far as I know, plant products are easier for the body to digest and that means the end of issues like bloating and constipation.

You’ll experience a few culinary disasters: Along the way, I have found that it is inevitable that you will experience at least a few culinary disasters. My first was attempting to make a bowl of cinnamon porridge and adding too much cinnamon which not only made it inedible, but also made it look disgustingly similar to a bowl of runny poo.

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When I decided to go vegan I knew that I’d have to change my diet quite radically by cutting out all meat and dairy products, but what I didn’t realise was how many things contain dairy. I had to get used to tea without milk, learn to bake without eggs and forgo cheese on top of pasta dishes. To deal with this I’ve had to learn to cut them out of dishes completely or learn to love the vegan substitutes.

Epigram / Jane Cowie

After 21 years of being a meat eating, dairy loving, non-vegan, I recently surprised my friends by suddenly turning vegan. I have dappled with veganism for a while, experimenting with the occasional vegan dinner and gradually reducing the amount of dairy I consumed, but until now I never would have described myself even as a part time vegan. Here are a few things I have learnt in my short, and not entirely easy, vegan transition.

I’ve found a love of food that I didn’t know I could have and been transformed from a calorie counter to a carb lover

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​ ecoming vegan makes you think more: B I’ve found that adopting a vegan diet makes you think more: about the climate, about how your body reacts to the food you put into it, about where your food comes from.

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Epigram / Ella Mawson

I think this thoughtfulness is at the root of the phenomena of the ‘preachy vegan’. It is surprisingly difficult not to share the message and not suggest that people give it a go to. I made a conscious decision not to let my diet influence those around me and so hold my tongue around my boyfriend who continues to be a meat and dairy lover.

It’s a pretty exciting experience: Despite the challenges, setbacks, and stigma I have nonetheless found that turning vegan is an exciting transition.

I have found a love of food that I didn’t know I could have and have been transformed from a calorie counter to a carb lover.

I only wish that I had become vegan sooner!

Epigram / Ella Mawson

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

You get hungry all the time: Despite eating a lot and loading up on carbs I still find that as a vegan you get hungry all the time. Before turning vegan I could easily manage on a banana and some fruit during the day but now I have to eat all the time to stave off the hunger. I take a packed lunch and emergency snacks wherever I go and last night, before going out clubbing, I even considered bringing a banana...just in case.

When I first turned vegan I made the mistake of not eating enough at dinner and the result? I woke up at four o’clock starving hungry and desperately in need of something to eat.

Ella Mawson

Third year, Sociology

Recipe: easy baked Mediterranean eggs Poached? Not anymore. Ali Cottam teaches us to bake eggs with this delicious shakshuka recipe Serves: Two Ingredients: ½ a red onion ½ a red pepper and ½ a green pepper (feel free to mix and match according to your preferences) One small courgette Two eggs One can of tinned tomatoes One teaspoon of oregano Salt and pepper to season Method: 1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees (180 fan oven) 2. Dice the vegetables into small chunks and place into an oven proof dish 3. Coat the vegetables in a fine layer of olive oil, adding the herbs 4. Roast the vegetables for 20 mins 5. Remove the vegetables from the oven and then add tinned tomatoes and mix in the vegetables in 6. the dish 7. Dig out a well out for the eggs and crack them eggs into the well 8. Cook for 8-10 mins 9. Serve with warm bread and salad

You have to eat...A LOT: Because plant products have fewer calories than animal products you have to eat a lot more! Overnight my portions tripled in size and the great thing is that despite eating enough to fuel a small whale I didn’t ever feel too full or bloated - just satisfied. My food bill has definitely gone up but amazingly my waistline hasn’t.

Epigram / Ali Cottam

Epigram / Jane Cowie

Weight loss is hard to avoid: Because it is difficult to change your portion sizes overnight, I’ve found that weight loss is hard to avoid in the beginning. I chose to turn vegan for the long-term health benefits so weight loss definitely wasn’t a goal of changing my diet. Since becoming vegan carbs have become my best friend: bread, potatoes, leafy greens. I pile my plate high with them and hope they’ll help me maintain a stable, healthy weight.

Ali Cottam

Third year, Dentistry

30.10.17

25

Wagamama Review: new Veggie and Vegan menu Jasmine Burke gives us her take on the recently launched vegan and vegetarian menu at Wagamama

The menu has two halves: the vegetarian side containing three sides, three mains and 11 desserts, and the vegan side containing four sides, six mains and two desserts. And between me and my friend, we managed to sample two sides, two mains and three desserts.

favourite thing from wagamama, So I of course had to see if the vegan version would compare. The vegan ones had great flavour… I wasn’t a massive fan of the sauce it came with - too vinegary for my liking - but this didn’t impact the meal.

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Though all the meat-free options are obviously still listed on the main menu, Wagamama have decided to dedicate a specific menu to it, so that people don’t have to go through all the ingredients to determine what has meat/animal products in and what doesn’t.

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

With veganism on the rise, it makes sense that more and more restaurants are beginning to offer more meat-free options. Wagamama has jumped right on the bandwagon with a specific vegetarian and vegan menu and I got to go and give it a try!

What it lacked in meat, it made up for in flavour

Mains

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

Sides

Yasai Gyoza (Vegan): The Duck Gyoza on the meat menu is probably my

Yasai Katsu Curry (Vegetarian): The (non-veggie) Katsu Curry seems to be most people’s staple wagamama choice, so this vegetarian version had a lot to live up to.

Same rice, same sauce, but the chicken was replaced with fried sweet potatoes, aubergine and squash coated in panko breadcrumbs. I tried a bite of the sweet potato slice, and honestly, it could rival the chicken version.

Kare Buruso Ramen (Vegan): I’ve never really ordered ramen in a restaurant, but the picture on the menu looked really good so I thought I’d give it a try. Not only was the portion was absolutely massive – you definitely get value for your money – but it was packed with taste: the noodles were massive and plenty, and I loved the range of vegetables. This was my first time trying tofu, and I won’t lie, I don’t think I’m a fan… but it was easy to push it to the side and enjoy the rest of the meal.

Would I eat from the Veggie/Vegan menu again? Honestly, yes! I do eat meat, and yes, I do enjoy it, but I didn’t feel like I was ‘missing out’ by eating from this menu. What it lacked in meat, it made up for in flavour and I would recommend it to meat eaters and nonmeat eaters alike. The portions are massive so you definitely get value for money, and everything is packed full of taste. If I had to pick one favourite, it would definitely be the bang bang cauliflower – didn’t think I’d love it as much as I did but I would definitely go back for it.

I think it is great that Wagamama have created a separate vegan/ vegetarian menu, because it makes things so much simpler for those who don’t eat meat. I’ve been to restaurants with my vegan/ veggie friends and watched them scroll through the menu, reading the ingredients intently, determining what they can eat and what they can’t. This takes out the middle man, and gives them a whole menu worth of edible goodness.

Whether you eat meat or not, I recommend giving the wagamama’s vegan menu a try. I went out of my comfort zone and liked it, and I suggest you do the same.

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

Bang Bang Cauliflower (Vegetarian): I gave this one a try because I have tried bang bang chicken before and I liked that, so I figured the cauliflower one would be similar. I was far from disappointed; this was probably my favourite thing on the menu. It was packed with taste - although a little spicy, however I love some spice - you got a pretty great portion size, and I really didn’t feel like I was eating cauliflower. Vegetables without the feel of vegetables - my favourite kind.

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Pink Guava and Passion Fruit Sorbet (Vegan): I’m not a big sorbet fan, but they had two vegan sorbets, and I felt like I had to try out a vegan dessert, so I decided to split the passion fruit sorbet with my friend. I was so pleasantly surprised! It was gorgeously refreshing, and exactly what I needed after the amount of food I’d eaten. I’m not sure if I even like guava, but I apparently love it in a sorbet. To quote the friend I went with, ‘I’d come back just for the sorbet alone to be honest’.

Desserts Chocolate Layer Cake (Vegetarian): This was not as chocolatey as I was expecting, which was actually pretty good, because it stopped it being overly rich. The top layer was beautiful and chocolatey, and topped various layers of sponge, and cream, vaguely resembling the taste of a Ferrero Rocher. I – a Ferrero Rocher lover – was a big fan.

Jasmine Burke

Deputy Wellbeing Editor

Recipe: pumpkin, pea and bacon risotto Newsflash: Pumpkins are not just for carving! Holly Penhale shares her tricks for conjuring up a Halloween inspired treat This week I discovered that Salad Days in Kingsdown are selling fairly large pumpkins for the bargain price of £1.95. Ordinarily, I buy one on the 31st of the month, attempt to carve it, cut myself in the process and end up throwing the whole sorry mess away on the 1st of November. This year I’ve taken a different approach and I’m a lot less disheartened by the result!

Serves four Cooking time 2.5 hours

Tip: To cut down the cooking time you can chop the pumpkin into chunks and roast for half an hour, but I prefer to roast the whole thing and use it for other recipes later in the week.

Epigram / Holly Penhale

Epigram / Holly Penhale

Ingredients: ½ a medium pumpkin 200g Arborio rice 200g smoked bacon lardons 100g frozen peas One red onion Three cloves of garlic One courgette One handful of pumpkin seeds One tsp of cumin ½ tsp of turmeric One vegetable stock cube 50g parmesan or cheddar 25g butter olive oil

Method: 1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and roast your pumpkin on a baking tray for 1.5 hours.

2. When your pumpkin is almost done, finely chop the garlic and red onion, dice the courgette and fry gently in olive oil until softened.

3. Scoop out the flesh of half your pumpkin and discard the seeds.

4. In a bowl, mix the pumpkin with the ground cumin and turmeric and season generously with salt and pepper.

5. Make up a litre of vegetable stock in a jug and add the Arborio rice to the pan, allowing it to absorb the flavours before adding a quarter of the stock.

6. I add the pumpkin at this stage so the rice can soak up the spices but you can stir it in towards the end if you prefer.

7. Allow the rice to simmer, adding the stock roughly a quarter at a time until it is all absorbed and the rice is cooked.

8. With your last splash of stock, stir in the peas and allow them to cook for a further five minutes.

9. Meanwhile, dry fry your bacon lardons in pan until crispy, coat your pumpkin seeds in olive oil and toast the oven for four minutes.

10. Remove your risotto from the heat, stir in a knob of butter and the grated cheese, cover with a lid and allow it stand for two-three mins. This is crucial to achieving that luxuriously creamy texture.

11. Dish it up, finishing it off with a topping of crispy bacon and pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

Holly Penhale

Deputy Food Editor

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30.10.17

Food Waste to Foodie Feast Jane Cowie reviews the pop up cafe run by Bristol Students Junk Food raising £386 for Refugee Project The team worked tirelessly all day producing a wide range of foods for students to enjoy in the evening. The hot main dishes served included a vegetarian Indian curry, vegetable soup, ribollita, potato dauphinoise. Students could help themselves to the variety of cold plates: potato salad, coleslaw, wraps, bread rolls, homemade guacamole, mushroom tapenade, olive tapenade and more.

UK households bin 7.3 million tonnes of food a year, whilst 8.4 million families in the UK struggle to put food on the table

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For a deliciously sweet finish, there was a tempting selection of vegan chocolate and banana bread, banana or chocolate ‘nice’ cream, homemade apple crumble as well as the donated cupcakes, scones, flapjacks, gingerbread and fresh fruit.

Epigram / Jane Cowie

The event works on a pay as you feel scheme, with donation boxes on each table to encourage charitable giving. The charity the money went towards is one in which the CEO, Lucy Staite, did volunteer work with over the summer break. Movement on the Ground is a volunteer run, industrial mobile kitchen located on the island of Lesbos. They provide thousands of healthy, hot meals 24/7 to the refugees and aid workers there.

Thursday 12th October was the first of many events this year. It was a roaring success. The food that was donated came from local stores such as Sainsbury’s (Clifton Down), Pinkman’s, Boston Tea Party, Bakesmiths, Earth Bound, as well as the large warehouse Fairshare. The food was picked up across three days, using volunteer’s cars and storing them in the team’s houses.

Lucy Staite explained that she thought the association between Movement on the Ground and Bristol Junk Food was a perfect match: hoping to make a positive change upon the world using the medium of good food. I asked Lucy to speak to us about why she chose to work at movement on the ground, and the experience she had:

The amount of food donated was tremendous, and of fantastic quality, too. Crates upon crates of tinned beans, fresh potatoes and sweet potatoes, carrots, avocadoes, hundreds of bananas, apples and cabbages, a mountain of bread as well as baked goods (anything

‘I chose to work at movement on the ground because I’d heard of their ‘giving food truck’: the largest food truck in Europe. A group of friends had driven it to across the Aegean Sea to Lesbos to help the refugees when the crisis started in 2015. The organisation had

an inspirational story, a range of projects, and I wanted to work with them to give something back - I was too fed up of sitting and just following what they were doing on Facebook.

Epigram / Alice Matthews

Bristol Students Junk Food is run collectively by a group of volunteers with a dual mission of making use of supermarket waste, and raising money for a worthy cause. The team, headed

by Lucy Staite and Issy Macfarlane, aim to put on these ‘pop-up cafes’ on a fortnightly to monthly basis, trying to ensure that the local supermarket’s waste food can be reused in a delicious and charitable manner.

from scones to flapjacks) were amongst the goods received.

”

Food waste in the UK is an incredibly pressing and depressing, issue. The Independent recently reported that UK households binned 7.3 million tonnes of food in 2015. Meanwhile, 8.4 million families in the UK still struggle to put food on the table. This is truly staggering: it is an issue that has solutions, and needs to be addressed now.

It was the most amazing, humbling and frustrating experience.

The refugees on the camp were the friendliest people I had ever met, inviting you into their container homes for breakfast when they had so little themselves.

To be able to meet families, or 20 year old boys who had left their families at home, fleeing from places like Aleppo was heart wrenching. It really brought the crisis to a personal level when all you hear are facts and figures in the news. I think anyone who disagrees with letting more people into this country should go work at the camp and see how warm, hard-working and kind these people are.

The pop-up café ran from 7:00 - 9:30, and in just two and a half hours, using otherwise wasted food, the team managed to raise £386: an extraordinary feat for such a small team within tight time constraints.

Make sure that you don’t miss out of their future events: keep your eyes peeled and get yourself down to the next pop up. You won’t regret it.

Jane Cowie

Food Editor

Potty for porridge: an interview with The Bristol Porridge Project Sarah Roller speaks to the founder of the beloved Porridge Project

When I arrive at 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, it doesn’t entirely surprise me that we take up of three of the 16 seats. Unsurprisingly, it’s normally a morning based operation, but Adam says things are changing. ‘The afternoons are getting busier, people having a coffee and understanding that porridge can be eaten all day, and I’m hopeful that when students move back into Colston Street I might get a few of them popping in: I think it’s priced OK (at £3 a bowl, including toppings I think it’s a bargain), and we often have deals on Wriggle. We have gym goers all day: it’s a water-based porridge so it can be pretty healthy depending on what toppings you put on it. Saturday is an example of when people

clusters, and rolls all his oats on the premises).

The Porridge Project is tucked away on Trenchard Street, and is blissfully quiet while I am there. Adam assures me that it’s actually a pretty busy location: ‘People are going to work at the university, the hospital, and the tech businesses, as well as a cutting down to the Christmas Steps. I had a gentleman in earlier this afternoon who’s quite old and comes in every Wednesday because he goes to a dance class and then comes here for porridge - he’s now had every single porridge on the menu. We get all sorts - it’s a diverse lot of customers!’ said Sheppard.

Sadly, however he tells me he has no plans to take over the world with porridge shops. ‘This is definitely a permanent installation: it’s my job and I love it. But, it’s very transportable: I think there’s definitely several spots where we could potentially see another Porridge Project appear.

It took us a while to get used to trading patterns, especially as I’m nearly just a one man operation. People are generally understanding: they can see we’re small and there’s just one of me, but when everyone comes in at the same time it can be pretty challenging,’ he continued.

It’s also good news for vegans: ‘We started with Rude Health granola - they’re nice and they do a lot of flavours, but they’ve got honey in all their granolas and we’ve got a very vegan friendly menu, so that was a problem. We now make our own granola with golden syrup which solved the problem.’ (Adam also makes his own cherry compote, oat

My final question stops Adam in his tracks: what’s his favourite flavour? He looks slightly like he’s been asked to pick a favourite child.

‘Mmm I mean it was the bottom one, ‘Crunchy Nutty Heaven’ (almonds, cashews, crunchy oats & maple syrup), but since we’ve been making the granola, I think it’s got to be ‘Goldilockstock + Banana’ (homemade granola, banana and maple syrup).

”

Like any unique venture, I want to know where he got the idea of the Bristol Porridge Project from. ‘I was in Germany, staying in a hostel in Berlin, and there was a tiny place, even smaller than this one, just around the corner. We went there for breakfast on day one and then we never went anywhere else. It was just amazing. So that was the plan: no-one here was doing anything similar. You can get porridge in lots of places, but it’s not the same. So, I decided to do a similar thing with just porridge alone, you know as opposed to being a secondary thing: coffee first and porridge second. By putting porridge first, everyone was like ‘Wow!’ which has taken me by surprise: I didn’t expect it to be quite as well received, but it’s really really nice and people come just to have a look, and understand and to make sure it’s real. And yeah, it’s great!’ he said.

come in all day round, they’re are out-and-about, exploring’.

Epigram / Jane Cowie

The Bristol Porridge Project opened in July 2017: it went semi-viral on Facebook, Wriggle, and even BBC Bristol got involved. Tucked away behind Colston Hall, it looks pretty unassuming from the outside, but an array of oaty delights await you inside. With a clean, stylish interior, oats being rolled on the counter, and the smell of fresh coffee lingering in the air, it’s no wonder that three months later, Adam Sheppard is smiling widely as he discusses his venture with me: but not, of course, before a bowl of porridge, topped with dark chocolate, banana and maple syrup.

What’s his favourite flavour? He looks like he’s been asked to pick a favourite child

”

There aren’t any new flavours in the works at the moment, but I think 6 is a nice number and it will take people a while to try them all. But, there’s definitely room at the bottom for a special, and with Christmas coming up the possibilities are endless… People are also welcome to mix up their flavours, if there are things they don’t like or they prefer it in a different way then we can do that: it’s all here.’

Two visits down, and I can’t wait to go back. I honestly don’t think anything could be more Bristol than a café which primarily sells porridge. Clean, stylish, modern and yummy, I have every intention of sampling all six flavour combos, it would be a great place to work in the afternoons (and it’s incredibly Instagram friendly). 10/10, would recommend to a friend.

Raring to go to The Bristol Porridge Project? Appetite whetted? Quote EPIGRAMPRINT17 and Adam will give you 2 bowls of porridge for the price of 1: what are you waiting for?

Sarah Roller

Online Food Editor

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Editor Nancy Serle style@epigram.org.uk

28

Deputy Editor Lottie Moore

@e2style

30.10.2017

Online Editor Hannah Worthington

@epigramstyle

Epigram Style 2017/18

Can Crocs ever be cool?

“

Deputy style editor Lottie Moore discusses her relationship with the infamously ugly Croc, and whether the shoe can ever be truly considered cool

“

Crocs are many things; durable, wipe clean, all-terrain and comfortable, but cool has never been one of them. Crocs started pounding the pavements fifteen years ago and have been worn by chefs, toddlers and your gran in the garden ever since.

There has been a long history of persecution against the Croc

The synthetic, garish shoe with its upturned snout and wipe-clean properties has been almost universally hated since its launch at a boat show in Florida in 2002, says it all really.

Subsequently, there has been a long history of persecution against the croc. Most recently my best friend told me the security man at Bestival had refused to search her bag because he could see her glowing orange Crocs poking out. He chastised her and forgot to check her bag at all.

We inferred from this - after initial concern at

insubstantial security measures - that maybe the man thought there couldn’t possibly be anything remotely illegal in a bag belonging to a croc wearer. On a similar note, my sister, who bought me my first pair - aged ten, hot pink, with a matching diamante heart - informed me that she thought I might have grown out of Crocs by now.

She then swiftly asked an “unrelated” rhetorical question about my love life. Supposedly even doctors have found fault with them. A 2016 study argued that the shoe does not offer adequate heel support and Croc-wearers have a higher risk of arch pain. The Sun articulated this in the headline ‘Crocs can kill!’ Accusing the Croc of murder seems a little unfair- surely comfort is the Crocs redeeming feature?

Considering the company has sold over 300 million pairs of shoes, there must be a considerable number of closet Croc wearers.

I thought Prince George and myself were the only people under 65 who wore them publicly, however Crocs are slowly elevating themselves.

The most loathed shoe on the planet has had a makeover. Comfort has finally become cool in the form of the designer Croc. This all began last year with Scottish designer Christopher Kane. Kane horrified the fashion industry during

his 10th anniversary show in S/S 2017 when he whipped up a jewel-encrusted Croc and thrust it on the catwalk. Kane is well known for finding beauty in the unconventional, so if anyone can make a Croc cool, it’s him.

Accusing the Croc of murder seems a little unfair

It would seem Kane was prepared for the backlash he would receive, responding, ‘I don’t really care what anyone thinks. I don’t think anyone’s got the right to say right or wrong, unless they’re God, otherwise just shut up.’ Never a truer word has been spoken. Most recently, in their S/S 2018 campaign, out bounced - on literally 10 inches of foam - a Balenciaga model wearing what can most appropriately described as Crocs on steroids. With the addition of a platform, Balenciaga offer a transitional day-

to-night Croc, for when you finish weeding the garden late and need to hit the town.

Perhaps what is most significant about designers today highlighting such a historically lame shoe is just how blurred the boundaries are when it comes to style. Who is to proclaim what is ‘cool’ and what isn’t? We know the answer according to Kane, but he makes a valid point: what represents un-style to one is a work of art to another. Even Crocs can be cool.

Lottie Moore Deputy Style Editor

DKN-Why? Donna Karan defends Harvey Weinstein

“

Style editor Nancy Serle shares her opinion on Donna Karan’s shocking comments

“

Karan wrongly and archaically shifted blame on to those who have endured sexual assault

‘To see it here in our own country is very difficult, but I also think how do we display ourselves? How do we present ourselves as women? What are we asking? Are we asking for

it by presenting all the sensuality and all the sexuality?’

‘And what are we throwing out to our children today about how to dance and how to perform and what to wear? How much should they show?’

Karan should be supporting and advocating women’s agency to wear what they please

Karan’s comments are not only shocking due to their insensitivity to Weinstein’s victims, and to sexual assault survivors in general, but because of her decades long career in designing female clothing. As a prominent figure in the fashion industry, Karan should be supporting and advocating women’s agency to wear what they please without fear of sexual harassment, not questioning the victim’s role in their own abuse. No-one should have to fear being sexually harassed, or worse, because of their sartorial choices, to propose otherwise is ridiculous.

Karan has since claimed that her comments have been ‘taken out of context’ in a statement sent to the Daily Mail: ‘I was honored at the Cinémoi Fashion Film Awards in Hollywood and while answering a

question on the red carpet I made a statement that unfortunately is not representative of how I feel or what I believe.’

‘I have spent my life championing women.

My life has been dedicated to dressing and addressing the needs of women, empowering them and promoting equal rights.’

‘My statements were taken out of context and do not represent how I feel about the current situation concerning Harvey Weinstein.’

‘I believe that sexual harassment is NOT acceptable and this is an issue that MUST be addressed once and for all regardless of the individual. I am truly sorry to anyone that I offended and everyone that has ever been a victim.’

Whilst it is highly doubtful Karan purposefully meant to cause offence and upset to those affected by Weinstein’s actions or sexual assault in general- one alleged victim Rose McGowen denounced Karan’s comments as ‘deplorable’her words are still damaging. Although her statement may have been ‘taken out of context’, unfortunately, Karan’s words do nothing to help demythologise the idea that a low-cut top or a tight dress are excuses for sexual harassment.

Abusers have escaped jail time because of this very myth. Hopefully, in the future, Karan will think before she speaks and understand the gravity of her words.

What are you wearing and why: Cirque Du Soul Epigram/ Hannah Worthington

Donna Karan’s suggestion that victims of sexual assault may be ‘asking for it’ if they wear revealing outfits embodies everything that is wrong with rape culture. Coming to the defence of disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, the centre of countless sexual assault and rape allegations, Karan wrongly and archaically shifted blame on to those who have endured sexual assault rather than the perpetrator.

Speaking at the CinéFashion Film Awards last week she told a reporter: ‘I think we have to look at ourselves. Obviously, the treatment of women all over the world is something that has always had to be identified.

Certainly, in the country of Haiti where I work, in Africa, in the developing world, it’s been a hard time for women’

Nancy Serle Style Editor

l-r: Instagram/ @anuvalli, Instagram/ @erikajnepo, Instagram/ @henriettagabreal. Instagram/ @the.ladies.compartment, Instagram/ @the.ladies.compartment, Instagram/ @whatshesaid_, Instagram/ @clothesarenotconsent, Twitter/ @rosemcgowan

Hannah Worthington Deputy Style Editor ‘I have opted for a funky snake skin bandeau, beaded hoops and glittery eyeshadow for Cirque tonight!’

30.10.2017

29

The perfect autumn/ winter outerwear

Stuck on what to buy this year? Miranda Smith gives her advice on the best coat styles available on the high street Whether you consider yourself fashion forward or have a more laid-back view on your clothing, the perfect coat or jacket can make or break an outfit. They will either keep you the perfect temperature or make you overly sweaty which - trust me - you do not want to be in your small group seminars.

Now, I realise that a fair number if Bristol students will be looking for something a bit more edgy….

This £385 (?!?!?!) windbreaker from Urban Outfitters is one of the most unique pieces I have seen- I love the colours and graffiti inspiration.

Although this piece has a steep price tag (I wouldn’t want jägerbombs spilt on this piece), I’m sure ASOS Marketplace or Depop will have something similar!

I can’t help thinking that I would feel like the coolest person in Bristol wearing this, but maybe I am hyping it too much!

Everyone kept telling you last year that puffer jackets were basic, but an Autumn/Winter outerwear article could never be complete without one. This piece from Zara is a bit different because it is actual coat length. It also has some unique elements of interest such as the huge collar- a black puffer doesn’t have to be simple! This would be the ideal coat in a cold exam hall in January to wrap yourself up in as you cry into your completely blank answer

Get a puffer in an interesting colour to avoid looking overly basic. This bold number in mustard yellow was everywhere toward the end of last summer and seems to be sticking. Personally, mustard is not for me, but it is easy to find other colours such as red or millennial pink which I find are much more compatible with my skin tone! Other ways to spruce up the puffer is choosing one made of an interesting material such as suede or vinyl.

Back to basics - something every girl needs in her closet is a good leather jacket. An oversized version like this one from Zara will keep the outfit casual and androgynous but also allows for a thick jumper underneath. Leather jackets are also great for a night out!

To attempt keeping in line with Bristol’s reputation as a cool, edgy university, I wanted to include this Fila half-zip. This would be idea for a night out as the zipped pocket would keep all belongings safe and limit the number of ‘lost my keys (and my dignity)’ posts on Clifton and Stoke Bishop tickets.

Another classic is a denim jacket- I’ve included this one as it’s a bit different. It’s bright in colour, slightly distressed and the rips and holes draw attention and make the piece more unique!

Yellow seems to be everywhere this Autumn/ Winter. A fur jacket is truly a classic for the coming months, so something like this, with an all black outfit underneath, adds a pop of colour and interest.

Miranda Smith History of Art, Second Year

Style Editors’ Picks MARBLEOUS ROO

POMDOTCOM

Second year History and Innovation student Ruth Bannister launched her accessories brand Marbleous Roo on Instagram (@marbleous.roo) and Etsy (MarbleousRoo) last year, selling gorgeous marbled products

Third year History Students Frankie and Kate recently set up POMDOTCOM, a funky, student based Depop (@ Pomdotcom) and Instagram (@ pomdotcom_) account selling a range of pompom earrings.

‘I noticed that marble and marbling had become a trend, and rather than printing my designs onto objects, I wanted to make one off pieces of abstract art that were utilitarian. My aim was to sell my work to support myself whilst studying, rather than having to get a part-time job’.

‘We sell gold and silver hoops, with different coloured pompoms. They range from small, medium and large in size, with all sorts of colours of pompom – pinks, blues, red, white, yellow, green.

We can also make premium double pompoms with two different colours’.

For full interviews with @pomdotcom_ and @marbleousroo check out Epigram Style online: http://epigram.org.uk/style

l-r Zara Long Puffer £89.99, UO Vinyl £99, UO Graffiti £385, Topshop Leather £189, Zara Mustard Puffer £69.99, UO Suede £85, UO Fila £90, Zara denim £49.99, Zara fur £79.99, Instagram/ @marbleous.roo, Instagram/ @pomdotcom_

Editor Nick Bloom travel@epigram.org.uk

30

@EpigramTravel

Deputy Editor Evy Tang

Online Editor Ellie Caulfield

@epigram_travel

30.10.2017

Epigram Travel Section 2017/8

What’s stopping you from going on a year abroad?

Travel Editors Ellie Caulfield and Nick Bloom team up to discover the stresses and highlights of a year away

Break it down. Make the most of your support networks at uni (Careers Service, Year Abroad team, personal tutor, friends). Get in touch with any contacts who have worked or studied abroad. Amass as much information as possible. And take bite-size baby steps. Ask yourself easy questions that narrow down your options like: Do I want to be in an English-speaking country? Do I want to be able to pop home for the weekend? Is there a country that’s been on my bucket list for ages?

“I feel like I’ll have major FOMO if I’m away for a whole year. I won’t be with my friends for 21sts and final-year celebrations.”

(Rhiannon Du Cann, Second Year, Liberal Arts) You might have FOMO to start with, but you’ll be surprised how many people are actually jealous of you. True, you may miss the friends you’ve made in Bristol but you’re going to make so many new ones all over the world who can celebrate these things with you. A year can go by pretty quickly and while you’re out exploring your new home, most of your friends will be in Bristol stressing about their dissertation. Don’t worry about this year being the last year you’ll spend with them, they might stay in Bristol or even do a Masters!

”

” Epigram / Ellie Caulfield

“I’m nervous about working abroad, and being given lots of responsibility in a foreign working environment.”

(Toby Coleman, Second Year, French, Spanish, and Italian)

“I’m already in so much debt, I could really do without the cost of another year, especially if I struggle to find flatmates” (Josh Stevenson, Second Year, Politics and International Relations)

Working abroad can be a challenge. But there is a reason they hired you. They know where you’re from and how much experience you have. Any good employer will be sensitive to your needs and expectations. Whatever happens, it will be a learning experience.

”

“I have no idea how I’m going to deal with such a culture shock, what if I absolutely hate it and want to come home.”

(Natalia Kübler, Second Year, Liberal Arts)

Bristol is a pretty expensive place to live, especially compared to a lot of places that we can study in. However, money is a major concern of all students and so the university is there to help pay the difference if your flight is over £300 (worth dropping your department an email). It is also important to note that if you study in Europe then you’re eligible for an Erasmus grant (not for long, thanks Brexit) which is a major life-saver if you are concerned about money. A lot of students end up having more money on their year abroad than they do when they’re in Bristol.

The year abroad is cheaper - you only pay 15%. And remember, you’re paying much less for an education that could be very expensive for local students. It is all about balancing money with the invaluable experience you’ll get from the year, and we’re all swimming in debt anyway! What’s a little more going to do?

”

“I can barely afford Bristol, let alone paying for flights to and from another country and living costs abroad.”

(Adam Harper, Second Year, Economics)

Well then he probably isn’t the one, not to be some sort of agony aunt or anything. If it is really meant to be him you can easily make it work. Your other half should be excited for you as this is truly such a great opportunity and so you really shouldn’t let anyone hold you back.

You might have FOMO to start with, but you’ll be surprised how many people are actually jealous of you

Ellie is a second-year student, applying for her year abroad this year, and Nick is a fourth-year student who recently returned from his year away. We’ve been attending all the year abroad fairs and talks to try and get a sense of what the major concerns are. We’ve also been talking to people who have studied abroad who can pass on some much-needed advice.

Chances are, there will definitely be some sort of culture shock along the way. When you’re spending so much time in another country, it’s bound to happen. However, these shocks won’t always be bad and a lot of the time the year abroad is most valuable for things other than academic studies. If you really, really hate it then you can always come back, but you’ll never know unless you try.

“Pretty sure my boyfriend will dump me if I go away.”

(Anonymous)

Epigram / Ellie Caulfield

Epigram / Ellie Caulfield

”

We’re here to try and ease some of your concerns and convince you that a year abroad is truly life-changing

“The planning is daunting. I don’t know where to start and I’m confused about who I should go to for advice.”

(Will Smith, Second Year, French and Politics)

Epigram / Nick Bloom

It’s fast approaching the time of year when if you’re going on a year abroad, you need to start applying. If you’re still undecided, well, you need to start deciding.

With the deadline looming (22nd November) certain stresses and nerves kick in and you can begin to start doubting whether you actually want to leave Bristol and study in a foreign place.

We’re here to try and help ease some of your concerns and convince you that a year abroad is truly life-changing. Ellie is a second-year student, applying for her year abroad this year, and Nick is a fourth-year student who recently returned from his year away. We’ve been attending all the year abroad fairs and talks to try and get a sense of what the major concerns are. We’ve also been talking to people who have studied abroad who can pass on some much-needed advice.

The year abroad is cheaper - you only pay 15%. And remember, you’re paying much less for an education that could be very expensive for local students

”

“I’m most scared about not being able to speak the language.”

(Izzy Nelson, Second Year, French, Spanish and Italian.

If you find yourself in a country where English isn’t spoken, plan ahead. Get yourself on Duolingo or iTalki (fantastic online resources for all language learners) and try to cover the basics. Be ready to make mistakes – that’s a crucial part of the language-learning process. If you’re a Modern Languages student, try to immerse yourself as much as possible – you already have a good grasp of the language – but be aware that over-immersion can be draining, and an English contact out there not only gives you some muchneeded time off, but can even increase your appetite to learn the target language.

Ellie Caulfield and Nick Bloom Travel Editors

Epigram / Nick Bloom

Epigram / Nick Bloom

Epigram / Nick Bloom

30.10.2017

31 A nation divided: protests and passion in Catalonia

Sydney mate!

The corridor down to my classroom was blocked by around 40 students who had aligned their sleeping bags “top to tail” to cover the entire corridor. A lady who worked in the office escorted us through to the room but it was clear the students were not keen to go to class, blasting loud music through the classroom window.

The teacher couldn’t stop laughing and ended up cancelling the lesson.

On Sunday the 8th October, the flags changed and thousands of people filled the streets in a show of support for unity. There were flags proclaiming “Catalonia is Spain” and “together we are stronger” everywhere, the walk from Arc de Triomf down to Parc de la cuitadella was full, and helicopters were circling above. People had travelled to Barcelona from other cities in Spain; everyone wanted their voice to be heard. Police were barricading the gates but that didn’t stop anyone from crawling under them and running away to protest.

”

Police were barricading the gates but that didn’t stop anyone from crawling under them and running away to protest

”

”

But Barcelona’s citizens haven’t backed down. Days of protests continued until we were finally allowed back into the university building. I saw 300 students camped out with hammocks and sleeping bags on the stone floor. They had set up little areas and surrounded themselves in flags and posters. There was water stacked up around the building and free apples for everyone. I noticed one girl boiling pasta on a camping stove, and asked her how long she was planning on staying there. She replied in Catalan, declaring resolutely that “we, as students, have a part to play and for now we are staying put”. It occurred to me just how much independence meant to younger generations as well as older citizens.

At 19.54pm, Puigdemont declared that we need to work towards independence and proposed suspending the effects of the independence declaration

”

Every night, at 21.10 on the dot, residents go out onto their balconies with a metal pan and a wooden spoon and bang them together for 15 minutes. Each car that passes joins in by beeping their horn to make everyone know they are making noise for democracy.

I must admit that this has been an incredible experience and there is more to come – I am witnessing history in the making!

”

”

When the police began seizing ballot boxes, what had been a fetive atmosphere for voters quickly became a city plagued by fear

All of this leads me to Tuesday 10th October, the defining moment of the political crisis. I was sat on my balcony with three flatmates, our eyes glued to the computer screen on the Guardian live stream.

Carles Puigdemont started his speech arguing how Catalonia needs a better relationship with Spain and a need for dialogue. At 19.54, Puigdemont declared that we need to work towards independence and proposed suspending the effects of the independence declaration.

”

”

Epigram / Megan Warren-Lister

Eager to make some Spanish friends, I arrived at uni to find that all the entrances were blocked and two men were standing in front of the main door stopping people from getting in

The Universitat square was full of students. 15,000 people took to the streets to parade their flags and sing their protest songs and the next day university was closed again. I met a girl carrying some posters calling for freedom of speech, who offered me one and asked if I wanted to help put them up. As I walked with her friends shouting various chants and pinning posters to trees and buildings, she grabbed my arm and said, “if the police come, just stand back and I’ll deal with it”. At this point I was unsure whether the protests would go on until 1st October – voting day.

Sunday came around quickly. When the police began seizing ballot boxes, what had been a festive atmosphere for voters quickly became a city plagued by fear. Peaceful protests turned into violent crowds as police fired rubber bullets and battered locals with batons.

”

Epigram / Arabella Adamson

Flickr / Mathieu Marquer

”

I haven’t missed England anywhere near as much as I thought I would (sorry mum and dad!)

Sydney University is glorious, situated near the central CBD. It’s a bustling campus which puts on daily events and campaigns, from talks discussing the 3D printing of the barrier reef to therapy dogs. Most Australians live at home and commute, or stay in one of the University colleges (think frat house). The building I’m staying in is full of international students, and is near the vibrant Newtown, which is rather Bristol-esque, albeit on a very miniature scale. It has its own study rooms, theatre, gym, rooftop terrace, sky lounges, and lower ground chill area, complete with ping (beer) pong tables. Whilst students looking at taking a year abroad may be sceptical of going back to halls, I can totally recommend doing so, however regressive it might seem. It fosters an incredibly social environment and is where I’ve made my closest friends. The diversity of nationalities is refreshing too - I recently went on Spring break with 20 people from all over the world.

Every night, at 21.10pm on the dot, residents go out onto their balconies with a metal pan and a wooden spoon and bang them together for 15 minutes

”

Arabella Adamson Third Year, Spanish and Portuguese

It’s hard to have a bad day when your accommodation overlooks the famous Harbour Bridge. It’s rained three times, and 90% of days have been sunny which makes a huge difference when you’re missing home. Wherever you are in Sydney, you’re not far from a harbour or a beach, which help ease the stress of university life. Public transport in the whole state of NSW is capped at $2.50 on Sundays, which means that on weekends you have the perfect excuse to explore, from visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay, going for drinks at the Opera House, or venturing all the way to Byron Bay. As for the night scene, the likes of Stormzy and Odesza play at the Enmore Theatre in Newtown, and there are clubs that will suit any party vibes. One universally popular haunt, the Ivy, has a pool.

”

Home of the illustrious Gaudi, Barcelona is a city bursting with energy and a sheer passion for its Catalonian heritage. As history has unfolded, Catalonia has become a vibrant cultural community; a flourishing language and a strong sense of identity has created an immense atmosphere throughout the various regions.

It took me a little while to realise quite how relaxed the whole University experience is in Spain. Appointments are certainly not on their agenda. So, after days of endless queuing outside the Erasmus office to register, I finally had my first lesson on the Thursday of my second week.

Eager to make some Spanish friends, I arrived at uni at 8am (yes, 8am) on the following Tuesday to find that all the entrances were blocked and two men were standing in front of the main door stopping people from getting in. They were only allowing news reporters to pass. I heard them say that we were not allowed to enter inside the building due to “security issues” because students had occupied the building over the weekend and were refusing to move.

When I applied for my year abroad, over a year ago now, I was feeling very idealistic and chose Australia on a complete whim.

18 months later and I find myself on the other side of the world (and very grateful to my past self for applying!).

In my second year of university I visited my Hampshire home once a month to get the compulsory dosage of home comforts and cuddles from dogs, so I was unsure about how I’d cope being away from home for a whole year. But as I write this, three months in, I have to admit I haven’t missed England anywhere near as much as I thought I would (sorry mum and dad!).

”

Arabella Adamson, Third Year Spanish and Portuguese student, witnesses history unfold on her Year Abroad

I can already tell that filling out that form was one of the best things I’ve ever done

”

Another thing about Australia is the calibre of its people – I hate to say it but the Aussies are an attractive (and very tanned) bunch. If you’re still not convinced, then perhaps I can entice you with a three-month Summer vacation over Christmas time where there is scope to visit Kangaroo Island, (an island filled with kangaroos), Pink Lakes in Western Australia, and Uluru… to name a few. Need I say any more?

I remember going through the application process last year, and no matter how much research you do, it won’t actually seem real until you step off that plane. Trust me when I say I had all of the doubts and worries that I know lots have at the moment but so far they have all amounted to nothing. I’m not even halfway through the year and I can already tell that filling out that form was one of the best things I’ve ever done. So, to anyone thinking of applying, do it. You’ve got nothing to lose!

Megan Warren-Lister Third Year, Law

#wearebristol VARSITY CONTINUES

UP AND COMING

Varsity

RECLAIMING POWER, BODY AND NIGHT

reclaim the night

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS

bristolsu.org.uk

equality & diversity careers week

VARSITY THIS MONTH The Varsity 2017/18 series kicked RII LQ VW\OH WKLV PRQWK ZLWK WKH ÀUVW of our Colour Run events. An event that saw over 200 students compete, with participants from across both universities.

Powder paint was there in abundance and it was great to see and be part of an event with such a range of partakers. A great afternoon of sport for everyone involved and all those who took part did themselves proud! A IXQ ÀOOHG HYHQW DQG RQH FHUWDLQO\ QRW to be missed when it returns in March!

Like the sound of that?

Our second instalment of Varsity À[WXUHV DUH WDNLQJ SODFH WKURXJKRXW November and December and now is the perfect time to get involved.

Varsity Darts

Thursday 9 November, 7.30pmMidnight, Walkabout Bristol.

A sell out last year, Varsity Darts is back bigger and better than ever. Join the best athletes each university has to offer, with a live feed to multiple TV screens throughout the venue, with discounted food and drinks and an after party thrown in for good measure.

Varsity Water Polo

Saturday 2 December, 12.00pm4.30pm, Hengrove Park Leisure Centre.

Fast paced, dynamic, ferocious & oh so nail bitingly tense. Athletes reputedly need the over-arm accuracy of cricket bowler, the toughness of an ice hockey player, the endurance of a cross-country skier & the strategy of a chess player…all whilst dressed in matching Princess Leia headgear…what’s not to like!?

See you there!

- John House, Sport & Student 'HYHORSPHQW 2IÀFHU

Tickets available now varsityseries.com

equality & diversity careers week photo highlights

Equality & diversity week RECLAIM THE NIGHT IS BACK

assault silences its victims, through fear, stigmatisation and a sense of isolation.

This year we’re not just reclaiming one night, we’re reclaiming a whole month.

Women are still encouraged to not talk too loudly, or take up too much space, both physically and metaphorically.

Bristol Women’s Network is challenging these stereotypes; reclaiming our bodies, our power and reclaiming the night.

The recent #metoo hashtag, encouraging victims of sexual assault or violence to speak out, has been shared on Facebook over 20 million times. Frankly, I’m not surprised by the magnitude but am dismayed that campus is the pinnacle of, not exception to, this epidemic.

Beginning in early November, Reclaim our Bodies will tackle the verbal and physical assault that women face daily, about the way we look, what we wear and how we present ourselves.

Together with Bristol Body Positivity Society, we will celebrate our diverse bodies and identities through the use of photos, articles and poetry. Sexual

Reclaim our Power reminds us that we are not alone, and support is available.

It will encourage women to take back their voices, by using our Spotted_Sexism Facebook page to anonymously publish their experiences at Bristol University. The campaign will also collate reporting tools and support services.

Our ‘Hands Off’ campaign will be a reminder that our bodies are not for public consumption, and they are not up for grabs. Finally, on the 25 November we will be celebrating our fourth Reclaim the Night march, walking through the streets of Bristol, together with our sisters, making as much noise as we possibly can.

When we all shout together, our voices are too loud to be ignored.

- Sally Patterson, :RPHQ V 2IÀFHU

there’s always something on!

Monday The Big Fat Pub Quiz

Wednesday Midweek Mixtape

Friday Karaoke

Test your brain and go for the jackpot

Warm up for a big night with our student DJs

It’s karaoke, it’s curry, it’s curryoke

Tuesday Society Takeover One of our societies rules the Balloon

Thursday Live music Enjoy our open mic or acts at our weekly live lounge

Weekends Sport Live sport, cheap drinks and our tasty lunch menu.

WHAT'S ON Varsity Darts Thursday 9 November, 7.30pm-Midnight, Walkabout A sell out last year, Varsity Darts is back bigger and better than ever. This event brings you a spectator sport like no other, in a made-to-measure sports bar. A professional darts compère and the best athletes each university has to offer, with a live feed to multiple TV screens around the venue – and not to mention discounted food and drinks, prizes for the best fancy dress and an after party thrown in for good measure.

Get your tickets now from varsityseries.com #WeAreBristol

Student Advisory Group: Bristol Futures, Monday 30 October, 5.45pm-7pm, Wills Memorial Building, Room 3.32.

Bristol Futures is an exciting new initiative that will enhance students’ experience. It aims to provide students the opportunity to develop core academic skills and develop as adaptable graduates. Join us to have your say in the future of Bristol Futures.

Bristol SU Food Market, Thursday 2 November, 11.30am-2.30pm, Life Sciences Garden.

This is your chance to sample some tasty and sustainable treats from a range of local vendors in the Life Sciences Garden. Takes place every Thursday during term time!

Bake-off Final, Tuesday 31 October, 7.30pm-9.30pm, Balloon Bar. Join us on Halloween for our screening RI WKH %DNH 2II ÀQDO %ULQJ \RXU IULHQGV DQG \RXU FDNHV WR ZDWFK 79·V ÀQHVW show draw to a close.

Bristol University Swing Society presents: Swing Class, Tuesday 31 October, 8pm10pm, Richmond Building, AR5.

This swing dance class takes place every week during term time. No previous dance experience required, just come along and join in! Drop in sessions are £1, or year membership is £10. See you there!

RAGaoke, Friday 3 November, 8pm11pm, Balloon Bar. Bristol RAG host karaoke night - The Balloon's wildest night, guaranteed. Belt out a classic, or force a mate to do it for you.

African Caribbean Society present: FitwithFirm Bootcamp Tour, Saturday 11 November, 1pm-2pm, Anson Rooms.

A fun, interactive and challenging JURXS ÀWQHVV VHVVLRQ OHG E\ WZR advanced trainers, to target all major muscle groups. It is open to EVERYONE DQG QR ÀWQHVV OHYHO LV UHTXLUHG

Bristol Quidditch Club: Charity Tournament, Sunday 22 October, 10am - 4pm, Durdam Downs.

Bristol Quidditch Club are raising money for the local charity Off the Record. With loads of societies, halls and sports clubs getting involved in the tournament - this is an event not to be missed! Tickets £4.

For more information on all upcoming events see bristolsu.org.uk/events

Epigram

30.10.2017

Film & TV

filmandtv@epigram.org.uk Editor: Charlie Gearon Deputy Editor: Gabi Spiro @GearonCharlie

@GabiSpiro

epigram_film

@epigramfilm

Online: Tim Bustin Deputy Online: AshleyYonga @timbustin1

@ashyonga

Harvey Weinstein and Hollywood’s scandal culture After the recent allegations against Harvy Weinstein, Alex Williams examines Hollywood’s scandal culture

Alex Williams Third Year, History Hollywood and scandals have always gone hand in hand.

In Hollywood’s ‘Golden Age’ of the 1920s, up-and-coming actress Virginia Rappe suffered fatal injuries at a party with silent comedy star Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle. After two highly publicised mistrials, Arbuckle was acquitted of rape and murder.

The decade also saw female stars Barbara La Marr, Alma Rubens and Juanita Hansen become hooked on heroin. The former two tragically lost their lives, whilst the ensuing scandal ensured Hansen could never work in the movies again.

Of course this was also the era of Charlie Chaplin, perhaps the most famous ‘Golden Age’ star. Such was his power that he was able to avoid charges of statutory rape by marrying 17-year-old Mildred Harris after he got her pregnant. Amazingly, his second marriage mirrored the circumstances of his first, as he later married the pregnant Lita Grey. Lita was 16 when she married Chaplin.

Hollywood scandals persisted throughout the 20th century. One only has to go back to 1977 to the arrest of director Roman Polanski

name disgraced, the isolation of Weinstein will make other potential predators think twice and will encourage other survivors of sexual assault to come forward. Only in this way can progress be made.

It may seem difficult to appreciate this in light of recent events, but Hollywood has made strides forward, even if it is still blighted by scandal. We are no longer in the era of heroin overdoses, blatant sexual manipulation of minors and occasional murder. Increasingly, Hollywood stars are using their power to force a change in culture, such as discussions over the gender pay gap started by Jennifer Lawrence or Ava DuVernay’s campaign for racial equality in Hollywood. Ultimately, the Hollywood studios are focused on making money, and they will have to adapt their practices if they perceive that audiences respond to concerns raised by insiders over Hollywood culture.

Obviously this is not a problem that is isolated to Hollywood.

Hollywood’s culture is simply reflective of the wider societal issues of misogyny and patriarchal control. As Thompson says, ‘this has been part of women’s world since time immemorial.’ Yet the shaming of Weinstein and others in positions of power is vitally important in how it consolidates the lesson that sexual abuse is unacceptable. It is just unfortunate that it is a lesson that still needs to be taught.

Flickr / Thomas Hawk

Flickr / Anna Britton Harvey Weinstein, famous for his work on Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love and Gangs of New York

in Los Angeles after being charged with raping a 13-year-old.

Polanski fled to France and was never formally sentenced.

Scandals have become so embedded into the history of Hollywood that counter-narratives have developed against the dominant ‘Tinseltown’ characterisation that has been pushed to audiences since Hollywood’s earliest days. Directors like David Lynch have been unafraid to show the seedy side of Hollywood in films such as Mulholland Dr., which features one prominent (and prescient) scene of sexual harassment where Naomi Watt’s ingénue is groped in an audition by an established older actor.

There is therefore a sad predictability surrounding Harvey Weinstein’s defence over numerous allegations of rape and sexual assault. He is simply ‘an old dinosaur learning new ways’ according to his lawyer. Weinstein’s deeply unsatisfactory defence is entirely unsurprising given the insidious sexual culture that has always run through the veins of Hollywood.

One only needs to look at recent Oscar ceremonies to see how scandal is still endemic to Hollywood. Three years ago race was the major factor, with the #OscarsSoWhite campaign aimed at a lack of diversity amongst nominees in major categories. Last year the ceremony was once again blighted by allegations of sexual harassment, as Casey Affleck was awarded Best Actor despite the resurfacing of prior allegations of sexual misconduct towards former co-workers.

We should thus not expect scandalous behaviour, being embedded as deeply as it is, to disappear from Hollywood anytime soon. As actress Emma Thompson has said, Harvey Weinstein is just ‘the tip of the iceberg’ of a much larger problem in Hollywood culture, whereby agents and producers will put young actresses in uncomfortable situations with powerful men. A culture of silence then persuades many victims not to speak up.

Yet as the pre-eminent force of cultural production in the world, we should not sit back and accept that Hollywood should forever be corrupt and irredeemable. One measure that should be taken is for unions such as the Screen Actor’s Guild to implement more stringent policies to support those who speak out and to utilise union power to counteract people like Weinstein’s ability to destroy careers.

Otherwise, the only other response is to keep on condemning such scandals as and when they arise. The response of various actors and directors (both male and female) in condemning Weinstein is an encouraging start. Expelled from the Academy and with his

Charlie Chaplin with his then seventeen-year-old wife, Lita Grey

What are your views on Harvey Weinstein and Hollywood’s scandal culture? Let us know on twitter @epigramfilm

Editors’ Picks

The best films and shows about race for Black History Month Twitter / @ifpfilm

Twitter / @IBM

Flcikr / BagoGames

Tim Bustin

Ashley Yonga

Gabi Spiro

Online Editor

Deputy Online Editor

Deputy Editor

Hidden Figures (2016)

Dear White People (2017)

Hidden Figures is a tremendous tale of the black women behind the first human spaceflight program at NASA in the 1950s, without whom Neil Armstrong might never have made it to the moon.

These women were underestimated for many reasons. This film doesn’t just empower black women, it moves its audiences. It is a story about science, family, love and determination. It shows how the fight for racial equality requires participants from all races, and the importance of people with power speaking up. Katherine Johnson being the first black woman on that space program in 1950 was huge. We’ve come far but clearly we have so much further to go. Hidden Figures goes perfectly with the theme of Black History Month: it is the retelling of black stories long neglected by not just Hollywood but history itself.

Dear White People has all of the essentials of good television – it is addictive, accessible, stars beautiful actors in complex roles, and sports sharp dialogue and a well-formed narrative. But all of this is shadowed by the show’s message. The ten-part satirical series tackles modern day, elitist racism in an American Ivy League college after a black-face party sparks controversy among the Black Student Union. Characterisation is better developed than in the 2014 film of the same name as we are now offered interior glimpses into character’s lives and history when they each foreground an episode. The show questions identity, skin colour prejudice and most importantly, whether racism is still common-place in today’s ‘liberal’ societies. Dear White People is a relevant, eye-opening watch for the (majority white, privileged) UOB student body.

Alicia Wakeling Get Out (2017)Second Year, Film & Television

Smartly twisting the tropes of horror for its own purposes, Get Out slaps audiences awake by portraying black culture as the horror victim to positive discrimination. The liberal middle-class is unaware of its own villainy, as they celebrate the attributes and physicality of another’s culture by wearing their skin – literally; a gap to realism that’s only a cinematic step and far scarier than jump-scare ghouls could ever be. Jordan Peele utilises his comedy knowhow, delivering a debut that’s tight, tense and brilliant as a horror genre film in its own right, for its directing, pacing and style. Never before has the fear of visiting your new girlfriend’s parents been so terrifying.

Epigram 30.10.2017

37

London calling: the best and worst from BFI’s London Film Festival 2017 Film & TV Editor Charlie Gearon gives his take on the film’s on show at the capital’s annual film festival at times, terrifying. A UK Theatrical release is promised for later this year, so go and see it!

Charlie Gearon Film & TV Editor Another year, another London Film Festival in the books. The BFI’s annual celebration of all things film brought over 200 films to cinema screens around London, including everything from big-budget productions from the likes of Andy Serkis and Martin McDonagh to international indie flicks made on a shoestring budget. Here’s our (incomplete) take on the best and worst that this year’s festival had to offer.

performances from the entire film’s cast.

Hidden Gem

Best Animated Film

Best English-Language Film

Lynne Ramsay’s latest feature is a brutally cruel thriller with an underlying and just barely tangible thread of hope and humanity.

You Were Never Really Here stars Joaquin Phoenix as a hired gun (or in this case, hammer) tasked with rescuing a Senator’s daughter from a child sex ring. It’s visually dark and claustrophobic, with the majority of the action taking place indoors under cold blue fluorescent lighting. The action is perfectly punctuated by Johnny Greenwood’s score, propelling the film forward through its frantically brief 85-minute running time. Not for the faint of heart, but an absolute triumph.

A stunning breakthrough in the world of animation, Loving Vincent holds the title of being the world’s first fully painted feature length film. It follows the events leading up to and immediately following Vincent van Gogh’s suicide and is comprised of over 60,000 frames hand painted in the style of the post-impressionistic master himself. It’s visually vibrant with near constant allusions to actual paintings by van Gogh, most of which will be missed by all but those with the keenest artistic eye. The narrative of the film doesn’t always match the strength of the animation, but it remains a captivating and oftentimes poignant portrait of the artist as a man.

Best Debut Film

Worst Film

Brigsby Bear is the brainchild of SNL writer Dave McCary, starring his frequent collaborator Kyle Mooney as James Pope – a young man who is finally set free and returned to his family after spending his entire life as a captive in an underground bunker. During his time underground, James develops an obsession with Brigsby Bear, a fictional 1980s children’s TV show created by his captor-father to keep him placid and indoctrinated. After gaining his freedom and learning that nobody else in the world has seen Brigsby, he decides to make his own version of the show. Brigsby Bear is a hilarious, touching and hugely successful debut feature which wears its relatively dark subject matter lightly. It’s filled with laugh-out-loud humour, beautiful on-location cinematography and convincing

Wonderstruck

Getty Images

Getty Images

Thelma

An impeccably intricate and well-structured piece of Scandinavian cinema borrowing elements from horror, sciencefiction and romance, Thelma could well be the unheralded best film of this year’s festival. It follows the life of young university-student Thelma, as played by the phenomenal Eili Harboe, as she begins to suffer from some form of epilepsy with a supernatural twist. The film explores the realities of family, religion and conflicted sexuality thoughtfully and with a light touch while remaining gripping and,

Brigsby Bear

The fact that I stumbled upon this film can be blamed on nothing other than fortuitous timetabling and a 90-minute gap in my schedule. Thankfully, the end result was hugely entertaining and touchingly personal. A documentary set in modern-day Spain, the film follows the family of actor-director Gustavo Salmeron as they are forced to give up their dream-house after falling on financial difficulty. The star of the film is undoubtedly Julieta, Gustavo’s mother; she’s a sharp-witted, eccentric and fundamentally kind matriarch who keeps the film consistently engaging and funny.

Not only this, but her frank and candid meditations on her own mortality offer some of the film’s most poignant moments. Lots of Kids is a punchy film which at times seems more akin to a scripted Office-style comedy than a documentary. An absolute delight.

Getty Images

Best Foreign-Language Film

Getty Images

Getty Images

You Were Never Really Here

Getty Images

Loving Vincent

Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle

If overtly sentimental and poorly acted piles of narrative slop are your thing, maybe you’ll enjoy Wonderstruck. The film explores the respective journeys of two deaf children separated by 50 years, as they travel to New York in search of their parents. Objectively speaking, there may have been ‘worse’ films on display at this year’s festival, but there were none whose expectations so far overshot the quality of the end product. It’s directed by Todd Haynes whose previous feature Carol was lauded as a critical success, and shot by Edward Lachman who has been a long-term collaborator with Haynes. Despite this, the finished product is a narratively uninteresting and soppy affair which fails to do justice to what, on paper, sounds like an interesting and innovative premise.

This day in cinema history 31st October, 1993: ‘This road never ends. It probably goes all around the world’ - River Phoenix dies at 23

Flickr / Enrico

There’s perhaps no celebrity death which better embodies the tragedy of a young artist cut down before their time than that of River Phoenix. At just 23-years-old (four years younger than Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and Jimi Hendrix were when they passed), Phoenix’s untimely death from heroin overdose still resonates with film fans today, almost a quarter-century later. Like James Dean and Marlon Brando before him, River Phoenix almost singlehandedly changed the face of the male-protagonist in cinema. He represented a new kind of hero; a tender, gentle and introverted hero, in touch with his emotions and hopelessly romantic.

No character better depicts this side of River Phoenix’s on-screen persona than Mike Waters in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho.

Mike and Scott (Keanu Reeves) are drifters, both becoming involved with prostitution to make a living. Mike is hopelessly in love with Scott, despite Scott’s assertions that ‘I’ll only have sex with a guy

for money, and two guys can’t love each other.’ In the greatest scene of Phoenix’s short career, he responds to this by gingerly confessing his love for Reeves’ character. He bashfully looks at his feet, speaking softly, unable to look Scott in the eye and says ‘I could love someone even if I, you know, wasn’t paid for it. I love you and you don’t pay me.’

This scene alone would have been enough to cement Phoenix’s place in the annals of film history in a performance which hinted at what he had to offer in later life. That his life was cut so short is nothing short of a tragedy, and the absence of his presence is still felt in the world of cinema and beyond. More than just a talented actor, he was a gentle and beautiful soul. Rest in peace.

Charlie Gearon Film & TV Editor

Thinking about thinking?

28 November 2017 6pm Great Hall Wills Memorial Building

How can changing the way you think: • significantly improve academic results • increase employment prospects • maintain well-being?

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Epigram

Arts

30.10.2017

@EpigramArts

Editor: Alina Young

Online Editor: Helena Raymond-Hayling

Deputy Editor: Anna Trafford

Deputy Online Editor: Avital Carno

39

arts@epigram.org.uk

Is there beauty in gore?

Hallowe’en is right around the corner, which traditionally brings to mind blood, death and gore. Nora Gunn and Niamh Rowe ask whether gore can ever be beautiful.

Niamh Rowe Second Year, English and Philosophy Blood shed from violence, or ‘gore’, has long been depicted in art. Artistic gore predates a bloodied Sissy Spacek sauntering out of a Stephen King novel onto our screens, and the redefinition of chainsaws in our cultural consciousness in to more than just forestry paraphernalia.

“

The beauty of the piece, as gory as it is, comes from the questions it asks about the human relationship with death

In literature, Angela Carter uses gore in her series of short stories The Bloody Chamber. In The eponymous short a young bride married blue beard and is confined to a castle only accessible at low tide. The eerie tone created by Carter is punctuated by ironic twists, and shocking phrases. With beautifully grotesque descriptions of the couple’s sex life, and of blue beards victims, Carter plays with the audience’s reaction to horror.

In The Lady of the House of Love, Carter plays with the conventions of typical vampire stories and presents a starving decaying vampire, whose house is crumbling around her. This ironic twist on vampire folklore capture the essence of these tales. By turning conventions on their head Carter teases the audience. Her tales defy our expectations and have the ability to engross, and repulse.

This ability to explore the conventions of

From Caravaggio’s vivid beheadings, through the bloody aftermath of Francis Bacon’s lover’s suicide, to Jake and Dinos Chapman’s recreation of Hell complete with miniature Nazis performing bloodied carnage, we see artists’ unwavering desire to show us the extremes of who we can be.

If we accept that life imitates art, then the aestheticisation of gore is problematic. In Republic Plato calls for poets to be banned. He maintained ‘What goes on in the theater, in your home, in

Epigram / Gabi Spiro

Gore, a noun, meaning blood that has been shed, especially as a result of violence. With this in mind, an answer to the question ‘is there beauty in gore’ seems an obvious no.

But what if you were to consider the influence of artists such Damien Hirst, and his Natural History series. His medium: dead animals, formaldehyde and enormous glass tanks. Doesn’t get much gorier than that. In his controversial collection Damien explores our relationship between art and death.

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, his first piece in this series, uses a dead shark and an obnoxiously long title to draw the viewer’s mind to this relationship. This striking piece may not be considered typically ‘beautiful’ - perhaps it would be described by many as intimidating. I would argue, however, that the beauty of the piece, as gory as it is, comes from the questions it asks about the human relationship with death.

Particularly poignant is the actual decay of this piece; the whole shark carcass had to be replaced in 2006. Not only has this stirred debate about artistic originality, but also draws attention back to the original intention of the piece. Designed to shock, inspire debate, and stir up strong emotions, this piece has a beautiful way of extracting a strong opinion from observers.

A totally different artist, Caravaggio, also embodies this tension between beauty and death, as well as the controversial nature of art. His paintings are often violent, bloody, and extreme.

His use of a brown canvas as a base means the lighting of his works is highly dramatic. In

his David with the Head of Goliath, Caravaggio presents a very youthful David holding the bloody severed head of his enormous enemy. The use of an almost black background draws our attention to how very young David looks, the shine of his bloody sword, and the cold dead eyes of Goliath.

Typical of Caravaggio the image focuses on the human view of religious experiences. Raw and real, this image captures the true nature of the David and Goliath story.

National Science Foundation / James M. LeBeau

Epigram / Eden Peppercorn

artistic beauty is what these pieces of work all have in common. The take typically repulsive events and materials and present them to their audience in a way that provokes interest, if not admiration. While beauty may be subjective, there is no doubt that all of these works both defy our expectations, and entrance us. Hirst dances the line between truly grotesque and beautiful most closely. Perhaps that is why his work is so

controversial.

Regardless of your opinion on these artists, it is safe to say that these creatives have attempted, if not succeeded, in changing our perceptions on what is typically beautiful.

your fantasy life, are connected’. Shakespeare constructed a murderer in Macbeth. Was he unintentionally making a sea of silent ones to the audience?

Plato’s argument finds contemporary resonance in the online phenomena of glamourizing selfharm; now banned, ‘Self-Harm Blogs’ on Tumblr aesthetically celebrate maimed wrists and bruises.

This aestheticisation undermines the harrowing reality of self-harm, and is quite simply dangerous.

Finding beauty in gore can implicitly praise, and hence inspire, violence.

To completely deny a place for gore in art would be mistaken, however. It can be valuable in art precisely because it doesn’t offer beauty. When we delve, with bloodied dagger, into the heart of humanity’s relationship with the aesthetic of gore, we see that evolution has wired us to react to gore with aversion, rather than attraction. It alerts us to danger. Gore’s function in art is to assault the viewer; to categorise gore with ‘the beautiful’ would not only be biologically contradictory, it would undermine its very purpose.

As long as there’s absence of beauty in society, and ourselves, we need non-beautiful art to remind us of our often-ugly world. The Austrian artist Nitsch’s exhibition Bloody Dark Mofo incorporated a performance piece 150.

Action. Flooded with animal blood and guts, performers reenacted the cycle of life using the ingredients that fuel it: dead animals. The piece uses a shocking aesthetic to successfully convey its message: we need to be visually offended to acknowledge the gulf we’ve created between our food production and our consumption.

On the one hand Big Macs are the religious icons of the consumerist era, on the other their

behind-the- scenes manufacture unsettles us. To be grossed out is to feel something real in our increasingly numbed existence. Nitsch reminds us not only of our consumerist ignorance, but our own mortality too. In a technological world, we’re increasingly isolated from our own flesh and blood.

“

Nora Gunn Second Year, English

Interested in illustrating? Join our Facebook group: Epigram Arts Illustrators 2017-18

Finding beauty in gore can implicitly praise, and hence inspire, violence.

There may be beauty in the appropriation and imitation of gore in an artistic context. Yet fundamentally we must recognize any perceived beauty has undergone an artistic filter. Displacing this gore from an artistic to journalistic contextrecent harrowing images in the media of bloodied Syrian children come to mind - and we can conclude there is no intrinsic beauty in real violent bloodshed. Ultimately beauty is interweaved with morality, and thus resides in the good. We can find beauty in artistic gore because art is divorced from consequence. In art’s ability to alter our perceptions through imitation there may be beauty, but this does not make the subject imitated beautiful.

Does the aestheticisation of gore negatively influence society? Add your comment:

Epigram

40

30.10.2017

@EpigramArts

Expand your mind, not your overdraft The Arts Editors have compiled a list of the best upcoming talks and tours from the University and beyond- all for free //TOUR

//TOUR

As part of its Autumn Art Lectures series, the University of Bristol hosts Barlow to talk about queer art. More specifically, the radical period in art between 1861, which saw the end of the death penalty for homosexuality, and 1967, partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Barlow’s talk promises to be an interesting one; she is the curator behind the blockbuster ‘Queer British Art 1861-1967’ exhibition at the Tate Britain. She is particularly knowledgeable on 18th Century art, with her research interests lying in the relationship between art, society, sexuality and gender.

The event is a popular one but you can add yourself to the waiting list on the EventBrite page online.

In honour of the publication of their new official guide, the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery on Queens Road invites the public to join the guide’s author on a tour of the collection that inspired the guide.

The tour will lead you to the highlights of the museum’s expansive collection of works, and is a perfect introduction for those that have never ventured inside.

This a drop-in event, so no booking is required. Details on the tour and the collection can be found on the Bristol Museum’s website.

Bristol Museum and Art Gallery offers the chance to explore a photo archive of the ‘British Empire and Commonwealth’ collection in a tour of the exhibition Empire Through the Lens- all in the space of a lunch hour.

The exhibition showcases a selection of photographs from the archives, where 27 people were asked to each choose one piece from 500,000 images. Dating from the 1880s to the 1960s, the images explore public and private aspects of life in the British Empire and Commonwealth. The exhibition demonstrates, through the 27 individuals, varying and fascinating perspectives of the Empire’s legacy.

This is a drop-in, ‘pay as you like’ event, so simply come along. Further details can be found on the Bristol Museum’s website.

Clare Barlow: Queer British art, 18611967 31.10.17 - Wills Memorial Building

Lunchtime talk: A brief history of artour new guide to the art collection 07.12.17 - Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

Lunchtime talk: Empire Through the Lens gallery tour 02.11.17 - Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

//READING

Bristol Poetry Institute Annual Reading 2017: Simon Armitage 16.11.17 - Wills Memorial Building

//DISCUSSION PANEL

Gasp! Exploring breathlessness through creative arts 24.11.17 - Arnolfini

//LECTURE

John Milner: Art on the edge of extinction in Revolutionary Russia 07.11.17 - Wills Memorial Building Curator of the Royal Academy’s major exhibition, ‘Revolution: Russian Art 191732’, John Milner, is coming to Bristol to speak on the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution. The lecture forms part of the Autumn Art series, which is themed around the art of revolutions.

Milner will be discussing how the grandscale seizure of private artworks and the closure of galleries during the Revolution led to the profusion of public and political decorations, in all kinds of mediums. The lecture will touch on the development of the Russian avant-garde movement in the light of these changes.

If the lecture is anywhere near as fascinating as the exhibition curated by Milner earlier this year then the audience have a lot to look forward to.

Tickets can be booked via the page on the EventBrite website.

Epigram / Katy Hubbock

Oxford Professor of Poetry, Simon Armitage, is set to perform at this year’s poetry reading hosted by The Bristol Poetry Institute. He will be reading from his new collection, ‘The Unaccompanied’, alongside some of his older work. There will be a book signing at the end.

The Bristol Poetry Institute was founded by the University’s Faculty of Arts in 2012, with the aim of promoting the study, practice and reading of poetry both within the University and without. It offers a platform for established and aspiring poets.

Arthurian literature enthusiasts (and First Year English students) will be excited to hear that Armitage’s readings will include his translation of the 14th Century tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, which won the 2017 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.

This is a great opportunity to experience the work of one of the UK’s most prized contemporary poets. Spaces for this event are filling fast, so get booking on the EventBrite page online.

Researchers from the Life of Breath project team up with an installation artist, musician, writer and puppetteer to discuss and demonstrate the relationship between the breath and arts.

The panel will discuss their various projects, ranging from the importance of breath in puppeteering and music, workshops where participants wrote a letter to their breath, to an art installation developed from the thoughts of repiratory patients.

With demonstrations and performances, this event extends beyond a traditional panel discussion, even giving audience members the chance to add their own ‘breath’ signature.

This event, to be held at the prestigious gallery, the Arnolfini, has been organised with the University as part of the ‘Being Human Festival 2017’. Details and booking links can be found through the Being Human Festival website, via ‘Events’.

//TOUR

//TALK

If you haven’t already seen the new exhibition, I Believe My Works Are Still Valid, at Spike Island, this tour will be the perfect excuse to do so. The exhibition features the work of South Korean artist, Kim Yong-Ik’s, 40 year artistic career.

Dr Je Yun Moon, co-curator of Kim YongIk’s exhibitions at Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) and Spike Island, will be leading an informal tour of the exhibition, named I Believe My Works Are Still Valid.

Spike Island’s exhibition coincides with the Korea/UK Season 2017-18- a cultural exchange organised by the British Council with the mission of celebrating the relationship between the two states. The exhibition offers the chance to learn something about the turbulent political past of South Korea through Yong-Ik’s expressive questioning of contemporary art and its forms.

Booking is advised, and can be done via the Spike Island website.

Artist Hannah Murgatroyd, currently based at Spike Island, opens up her studio to visitors with an informal introductory talk and discussions with the public. Spike Island describes Murgatroyd’s paintings as:

Exhibition Tour: Kim Yong-Ik Led by Dr Je Yun Moon 01.11.17 - Spike Island

Behind the Scenes Studio Visits: Hannah Murgatroyd 18.11.17 - Spike Island

‘‘island spaces of the imagination’: a painted and drawn world inhabited by a cast of protagonists. These form an idiosyncratic canon of desire, whose genesis springs from a history of the body told through high art, popular culture and personal narrative.

Representation here opens a window on to a version of the world, one eroticised, ambiguous and deeply engaged with surface.’

To book for free, go through ‘What’s on’ on Spike Island’s website. Can’t make this event?

Spike Island regularly hosts ‘Behind the Scenes’ events, so keep an eye on their site.

Lecturers We’re bringing back our much-loved Lecturers on Literature series, and our first lecturer in the hotseat is Dr Jan Wozniak of the Department of Theatre. He shares with us some of his top reads.

Epigram / Lucy Hall

//LECTURE

A book I discovered as an undergraduate...

‘The Name of the Rose’ by Umberto Eco is everything a novel (or any work of art) should be: intelligent, entertaining, challenging and thought-provoking. A history of religion and detective fiction wrapped in a fantastic story.

A book that inspired me...

‘Hopes for Great Happenings’ by Albert Hunt is a book that I continually return to for inspiration for my teaching. It recounts his days teaching in FE in the 1970s and doing project work combining performance, history and other disciplines in a way that those interested in multi-disciplinary approaches today could still learn from today.

A book for the beach...

I don’t really do beaches, unless I’m playing football or cricket on them, so maybe I could say ‘Beyond a Boundary’ by CLR James.

However, a book I try to read every summer is ‘Absolute Beginners’ by Colin MacInnes.

Brilliantly written in the voice of a teenager (an absolute beginner) it recounts a long hot summer in London in the 1950s.

A book that made me laugh...

‘Puckoon’ by Spike Milligan and ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ by Dario Fo: although both are funnier when staged...

A book that made me cry...

Books don’t tend to make me cry - I use music and performance for that! So I’ll say Stephen Daldry’s 1992 production of ‘An Inspector Calls’.

Ripped out of the drawing room, the inspector’s final speech, delivered direct to the audience, is a call for solidarity against the ravages of individualistic capitalism and brought tears of joy and frustration to my eyes.

_ PHOTOGRAPHY _ COMPETITION Would you like to see your photos featured in Epigram?

We want submissions from student photographers on the theme of ‘Bristol student life’.

You can enter up to two photos.

Our favourites will be featured in print and online.

Email your photos to us at arts@epigram.org.uk by Sunday 10th November.

Epigram

Why we need war poetry

30.10.2017

41

With Remembrance Sunday just around the corner, William Snelling makes a case for the importance of war poetry today William Snelling First Year, English In the past century, poetry has become something people generally only read when they are forced to. A poem is difficult, obscure, pretentious, the reserve of intellectual snobs in black turtlenecks.

Who has time to labour over a sonnet when the daily stream of updates on global terrorism, North Korea, and Trump seem to require our constant attention? The urgency of current affairs appears to suggests that the ‘introspection’ of poetry is out of place today. But I would argue that poetry, and particularly war poetry, on this centenary of the First World War, has a unique power to help us understand our chaotic world.

Reportage and cold hard facts are, of course, still essential in an age when false information is being so easily disseminated. However, they are only part of how we can begin to understand the reality of war. Engaging with war poetry can bring to stark relief the complex and subjective, in other words ‘human’, side of war in a way that a statistic cannot. On this centenary of the First World War, I have selected a few of my favourite war poems.

“

“

‘Dulce et decorum est’ is the most famous poem by Wilfred Owen, and is probably the first poem that sparked off my interest in poetry in school. Its horrifying, visceral description of a victim of poison gas in the First World War from the perspective of another solider - ‘he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning’ - left an indelible mark, awakening me to the immediate and sometimes uncomfortable effect that poetry can have. In an age when jingoistic rhetoric dominates political discourse, it is vital that Wilfred Owen’s accounts of the First World War aren’t forgotten.

‘The Waste Land’ by T.S. Eliot, is a stranger, more ambiguous piece, alluding to disparate literary works and historical events in a way that is both disorientating and yet has a direct power, regardless of your interpretation of exact meaning. Its subversion of Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ in the first few lines, ‘April is the cruellest month,/ Breeding lilacs out of the dead land’, followed by snatches of German opera and shifts in narrative perspective contribute to a sense of the decay and breakdown of order, which Eliot

Epigram / Hudi Charin

The urgency of current affairs appears to suggests that the ‘introspection’ of poetry is out of place today.

saw in a Europe scarred by the First World War. The landscape of cultural erosion, with its ‘heap of broken images, where the sun beats/ and the dead tree gives no shelter’, is all the more relevant today when failed states are seeing their histories crumble and their social orders collapse in the wake of conflict.

Engaging with war poetry can bring to stark relief the complex and subjective, in other words ‘human’, side of war in a way that a statistic cannot.

Nathalie Handal is a French-American writer of Palestinian heritage, and has written a number of poems dealing with conflict in the Middle

East. ‘The Record-Keeper’ is set in Afghanistan and meditates on how the individual can respond to bloodshed. The record-keeper witnesses a bomb fall on ‘a loaded song’ through his window, a moving moment of human potential snuffed out by collateral damage. While images of a ‘high window’ and ‘evening prayer’ seem to offer hope of finding meaning and consolation through reflection amid the turmoil, the observation that there is only ‘absence falling into absence’ leaves room for ambiguity about whether an escape can be attained.

If works like these, which illuminate the human experience and consequences of war in a way that is more directly affecting than any other medium, were more widely read, perhaps as a society we would find it easier to empathise with those fleeing conflict, rather than seeing them as alien and other. Perhaps military might would be less of

an imperative in our modern politics. So, let’s rid poetry of its ‘elitist’ label and spread the word.

Editors’ Picks Contemporary war poems to read: ‘Big Ask’ – Carol Ann Duffy The poet laureate comments on the Iraq inquiry and the war in Afghanistan.

‘The Pomegranates of Kandahar’ – Sarah Maguire

Maguire explores the human costs of war.

‘Dead Soldiers’ – James Fenton Fenton shines a light on the tragedy of the Cambodian Civil War in the 1970s.

‘Here, Bullet’ – Brian Turner American poet, Turner, served in the U.S. army for 7 years; his poetry gives voice to the experience of the modern battlefield.

Epigram / Lydia Thurlow

Flickr/ Thomas Stellmach

Epigram

30.10.2017

Music

@epigrammusic Editor: Alexia Kirov

Deputy Editor: Kate Hutchison

Online Editor: Joe Samrai

music@epigram.org.uk

Blockchain and the Arts: is it all about to change?

Asher Breuer-Weil discusses the uncertain but forthcoming impact of Bitcoin and blockchain on on the music industry, and whether it should be a welcomed change.

Flickr / Keychain

Bitcoin revolution

Asher Breuer-Weil Third Year, English It is well-known that Bitcoin and blockchain are going to revolutionise the world of banking and finance – but what about the arts? What impact might the blockchain have on creators?

Could we see musicians thriving in a new era of the troubled industry?

On the outside, the music industry is booming.

Streaming services have allowed music to become far more readily available and easier to discover and enjoy. Revenues are high, labels are prospering, and many more artists are experiencing stratospheric success, allowing them to flex their creative muscles as they will.

Yet on the inside, the reality is quite the opposite. Piracy and illegal streaming is, and always will be, an issue. As is the fact that music is becoming more and more basic and consumable.

Charts are now dominated by single artists and albums, Soundcloud is dying, and some even say that the ‘album’ is dying.

But even with all this, there is another, more significant, core issue – that the music industry is overrun by a huge lack of transparency. Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal are all very mysterious with their data. They share little about their payment structures, amounts of streams, who is streaming and where they are streaming from.

As an up and coming artist, making money from the likes of Spotify and Apple Music is difficult. Using data published by Information Is Beautiful, it was found that for a solo artist

Mr Chubb’s Gastric Band: an introduction Harry Bowden-Ford Third Year, Psychology

Since they formed in 2015, Mr. Chubb’s Gastric Band have played countless gigs across

to earn the US monthly minimum wage, they would need roughly 170,000 plays - an exorbitant amount for someone without a major following.

Not only this, but payments by streaming services and record labels are renowned for taking up to a year to process and go through.

Imagine trying to make a living on most probably less than the minimum wage, whilst not even receiving that payment for up to a year.

It is impossible. It disempowers creatives.

Adding to this, without the data of who is listening and where, it is harder for artists to connect with their fans. Targeted advertising works so well because companies have the exact demographics of who will see what, and when. Young artists now might have no idea whether their music is attracting youth or the elderly, Europeans or Americans. Without this information, it is much harder for them to cater to the desires of their fans, and ultimately harder to generate more income.

How can this change?

There is obviously no concrete answer. Music is a dense industry where luck hugely defines who makes it and who does not. Yet, there can be steps made to change that. Blockchain is now all the rage in the financial world, along with its accompanying cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum etc.). Applying its advantages to the music industry, you can see why it could go a huge way to solving the problems.

The blockchain is effectively a distributed ledger that can validate and register transactions

Bristol. The eight-piece function band delivers a mesmerising mix of funk and soul classics and modern pop hits to their audiences that consistently dazzle and delight. They have played a number of student formals, corporate and charity events, Jazz Funk and Soul jam nights at Mr. Wolf’s on Tuesdays and have recently become the house band for The White Rabbit in Clifton; their Facebook page states that they are ‘Available for weddings, parties and bar mitzvahs’.

Composed of Frances Cummings (Vocals), Jake Herbert (Alto Sax), Olly Chubb (Trumpet), Jack Kelly (Trombone), George Leggett (Keys), Matt Petrie (Guitar), Matt Robson (Bass), and Andee Liu (Drums), the band is made up entirely of Bristol students who met at the regular Tuesday jam nights Jazz Funk and Soul Society hosts at Mr. Wolf’s.

Now both a function band for hire and The White Rabbit house band, they are an industrious

without the need for a central authority. It is the equivalent of sending a Facebook message to someone, rather than posting a status. One reaches the person directly, the other is hosted on a third-party page.

No one owns this ledger — it is spread across a network of devices and is publicly available to everyone. Information stored on the ledger is interrelated through cryptographic hashes, which make it completely secure. Transactions are irreversible and tamper-proof.

In short, it means that people can make direct, peer-to-peer exchanges of data, money or anything else of value in any amount, in a safe manner.

Projecting this onto streaming services, it would mean that every bit of data, every play, every download, is tracked. No one would own this data; music could not be downloaded illegally, copied or changed because each song or album would contain the metadata of its ownership. With this in place, it would mean that artists would be paid in full for use of their content. Money couldn’t be lost via piracy.

Equally, the transferral of money could be done with much greater ease. At present, the streaming service effectively tallies up an artist’s plays, processes a payment and sends it to the record label, who then distribute it at their own leisure.

Instead of this, through micropayments, an artist could be paid directly after every play. The cut of this that the label takes could also be paid out immediately – it benefits everyone.

The effectiveness of this procedure would allow

group who have rightfully earned themselves a reputation as one of the best non-society student function bands at the University of Bristol. Naturally, their numerous gigs draw impressive crowds. Each member of the band is a strong musician and a show rarely goes amiss without a section dedicated to showcasing the band members’ individual talents through aweinspiring, jazzy solos.

Alongside proficient performances,the band’s setlists are strong crowd-pleasers. Comprised of a compelling mix of funk, soul and pop tunes that are often instantly recognisable, their cover choices rarely fail to get an audience singing and dancing. Artists such as Bruno Mars, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, and Alicia Keys are regularly covered, and soulful twists on Adele and Clean Bandit have made appearances; a gig seldom passes without playing something

by Stevie Wonder.

the artist to spend more time on the creative process and have less anxiety over the financial side. Where the current system can cripple young artists, the blockchain system empowers .

Is it fool proof?

This is uncertain. There is far more online about this than I can say with assurance, but it is clear that blockchain is inhabiting a large bubble at present that may pop at any time. Whether cryptocurrency can effectively replace regular currency is also unknown.

Assuming it doesn’t fail however, the change would be met with hostility by those in higher power. Streaming services are profiting hugely from the lack of transparency. The limitations imposed on artists are beneficial, the data heist produces gold.

Let’s say that blockchain is embraced by startups and new artists - which it already is with Gramatik, Shelita Burke, and even Ghostface Killah. It would cause a rift in the industry between these and the giant streaming services.

Can you really see Spotify, a company fraught with scandal, utilising a system that might hinder its money-making capabilities? Can you see them giving freedom to their artists when that might trigger them to leave the service?

Again, it is all very unknown at present; this is a matter for the future. But let’s say that the blockchain is all that it’s cracked up to be, and that no one has any objections to it - it is feasible that we could be entering into a new era of creative empowerment.

Both aspects have allowed their fanbase and demand to grow rapidly and, as a result, they regularly play several paid gigs a week. Their progression from humble beginnings to success as a function band whilst managing their studies is, at the very least, impressive, if not inspiring.

Such a career just goes to show the heights dedicated students can reach juggling their degree with a love of music.

Now in their final years of university, Mr. Chubb’s Gastric Band can look back on a very successful spell of shows, and are contemplating their future as a function band around Bristol.

Whatever the next step is for the group, it’s safe to say they’ll be jamming out plenty of powerful performances between now and graduation day.

Whether or not you have had the chance to see them play yet, be sure to head down to their next show: you’d be mad to miss it.

Epigram 30.10.2017

43

An interview with LICE

University of Bristol alumni and art-punk fourpiece LICE chat to Music Editor Alexia Kirov about their beginnings, the Bristol music scene and Big Jeff.

Alexia Kirov Music Editor

LICE on tour

“

something like that

The next step was to post an advert on Bristalt and LiveSoc, two of the music societies here at the university. Silas says ‘I was very explicit about what kind of bands I wanted us to sound like’. The singer had to be prepared ‘To do and say horrible shit’. At first, only Gareth, their now bassist, replied. Still looking for a singer, they toned the advert down slightly and Alastair, who would become their frontman, responded. ‘But then was then like “No, I’ve got another band”. It was an Arctic Monkeys cover band.’

They all laugh and Alastair continues, ‘You know how in fresher’s week you make friends, and you don’t want to bail on them? One of my friends recruited me into this band. His idea was that you developed a fanbase by playing covers, and then you slowly slipped in some stuff that you’ve written. It was the worst thing ever. A few days later, I dropped these guys a message and said “I’m in”’.

‘We met at the White Hearte. You know how there are two White Heartes in Bristol? I went to the one on the hill, and then eventually made it to the one on Park Row.’ That same evening, ‘Gareth and Silas took me to Silas’ house, we had tinnies, and went to The Love Inn, but before that they played me the first LICE songs they’d written, and they got me to read out of one of Silas’ Physics textbooks, to get a feel for it.’

They got me to read out of one of Silas’ Physics textbooks, to get To those just starting out, it might seem that there is a huge gulf between playing with your friends in your bedroom and playing Thekla. Yet LICE have managed to do it in a relatively short amount of time and all agree that university is a great setting to start a band. There are societies, mentions Gareth, like ‘Bristalt – they do the Ctrl Bristalt Delete night, they put on student bands every month. There is a platform there for bands

“

That’s how you do it – you get Big Jeff to tweet about you

“

But that is not to say LICE have not been working hard to make things happen for themselves – they have put on all their headline Bristol gigs to date.

Their biggest piece of advice for those wanting to follow in their footsteps is to do the same. ‘It’s actually pretty easy. When Will - from the venue, Crofters Rights - first messaged us [about putting on a gig] we were like “How do you do that?”. He said “You make a Facebook event, you invite everyone you know, we’ll handle a run of posters if you send us a design, tell us some good places to put them, we’ll put it on our site, it’s free hire”.

It was easier than putting on a house party!’.

I guessed that a night out on the Triangle probably was not LICE’s favourite thing to do during their time at uni. Alastair laments the loss of Start the Bus, a venue which closed last October.

‘That was great – free gigs! You’d just turn up and see good bands. The amount of times I’d be able to convince my housemates who weren’t into the same music as me to come down and have a drink and go see The Wytches or something, just because they could’. In its absence, the battle for the LICE frontman’s favourite venue is ‘Probably neck and neck between the Old England and Crofters’.

For many people, the first thing that springs to mind when you mention ‘Bristol’ and ‘music’ is

Birthday Party and wanted to create

trip hop. But, as LICE and countless other artists prove, things have moved on. ‘There’s not a resentment towards [trip hop], but a resistance towards it’, argues Alastair. ‘You can kind of tell, amongst a lot of people that were there at the time, it’s almost a bit kind of gauche to talk about it. Nick at The Louisiana, [another Bristol venue], I’ve known him for a year – and he only told me, literally the other week, that he used to drum in Portishead!’.

There’s not a resentment

towards [trip hop], but a resistance towards it

So, how would LICE define the Bristol music scene today? ‘The scene that we exist in, and that all our peers exist in, started in around 2010/11, when this group of electronic artists formed the Young Echo collective, and ushered in a new wave of weird, electronic music and techno and stuff’ says Alastair. He continues, ‘A year later, Howling

all just check each other out

The sense of community in the Bristol music scene is evident in the music video for LICE’s first single, ‘The Human Parasite’, which features many of LICE’s peers and friends. It was directed

by James Hankins, who used to be in the band OLO Worms. Alastair tells me how ‘James, Adrian [Dutt], who’d formed Howling Owl, and Oliver Wilde, who became the biggest breakthrough act of recent memory from Bristol before Idles, all started working at [the record shop] Rise at the same time. James used that as an opportunity, with all these new musicians coming together at the beginning of the scene that we exist in now, to make loads of new videos.’

Sadly, Rise recently closed its doors for the final time, as it is set to become a new branch of Rough Trade in the coming months. To commemorate what has been a bastion of independent music in Bristol, the shop released a 12” compilation of Bristol bands, on which two previously unreleased tracks from the formative days of LICE feature.

Silas is ‘Really flattered that they asked us’ and feels that it was ‘It was a huge honour’ to be included on the record. It was ‘A good chance to get some of those ideas out there, in a no pressure way. It’s not like it’s a single or an EP, but people will listen to it’.

And listen they shall. With a headline slot at Thekla already under their belts, it will not be long before these Bristol alumni are taking to much bigger stages in this city and across the country.

Twitter / @RiseBristol

“

to get a gig when they want one.’

There is also the fact that ‘Students just know lots of people, so we played to 50 people – obviously, none of them knew who we were, they were just our friends’, adds Silas. Alastair nods and agrees that university is ‘A really good resource, just being surrounded by young people who you can very easily sway into coming out and seeing your band for like £3.’

It has been said that it is a barometer of whether you are at the right gig in Bristol that night if local legend and gig-goer extraordinaire Big Jeff is in attendance. He went down to LICE’s gig at The Louisiana - their first with their current drummer, Bruce - and ‘Wrote a Facebook review, and tweeted about us a couple of times, and literally the next day we were getting emails. That was all it took.

That guy, the sway that he holds, is unbelievable!’.

Silas is only half-joking as he says his advice to bands starting out is ‘That’s how you do it – you get Big Jeff to tweet about you.’

I was really into bands like The

“

There’s no definitive sound, we Facebook / @LiceBristol

I met LICE on a Monday morning in the bar of their former SU. To the uninitiated, they could just be four mates grabbing breakfast between lectures, and not a band due to headline one of Bristol’s best loved venues, Thekla, in little over a week. But, equally, I would not have been surprised if someone had come over and asked them for a selfie, such is the current trajectory of LICE in this city and beyond. A time when they will be swamped by fans everywhere they go does not seem far off.

Like many freshers, LICE guitarist Silas wanted to start a band in first year. ‘I was really into bands like The Birthday Party and wanted to create something like that. Then in second year, my friend brought in a drummer, this guy called Isaac who was a great guy [but has since left the band]. In my second year house, I had a drum kit in my room, I had amps, he came over and we did some stuff. Then Henry, the guy who started it all kind of disappeared. So, me and Isaac were playing together for a couple of months, then we decided that we should get a bassist and a singer, or we should stop playing. There’s only so much you can do with a guitarist and a drummer.’

Owl came to Bristol, set up a label, got banned from every venue in Bristol, then had to start playing shows in non-venues. After that, loads of other labels popped up – like Stolen Body and Gravy Train. Everyone knows each other in Bristol now. There’s a lot of very interesting acts.’ Gareth sums it up neatly: ‘There’s no definitive sound, we all just check each other out’.

The Rise EP

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Epigram

Puzzles

30.10.2017

@EpigramPuzzles

Editor: Joselyn Joanes puzzles@epigram.org.uk

Solutions will be posted online at www.epigram.org.uk before the next issue is released.

The Omnipuzzle The aim of The Onmipuzzle to find a word. Some clues here can give you a letter or a number. A hint will be released online on Epigram’s website and tweeted on Wednesday.

Word ladder

Can you get from top to bottom, changing only one letter from one rung to the next?

Sudoku Takeover Fill the empty squares with numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and 3x3 box.

If you need any help, contact the editor by email or through social media

Word grid Word links

Just a phrase

How many words can you find including the middle letter, with at least four letters per word? There is at least one nine-letter word.

Find the word which can come before each of the three words given, in each case giving a common two-word phrase. E.g. CAR park, CAR stereo, CAR alarm.

18= Average 24 = Good 30= Excellent

Find the three letters that can suffix the word on the left or prefix the word on the right, in each case giving a real word. E.g. HE-AR-MY.

PROOF WHEN DOOR DATA LAND

DRESS LASTING FATHER BALLS AGE

1. Ten, Ted, Riot 2. Bugs, Pan, Side 3. Ant, Ail, Tock

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The Omnipuzzle Solution, Epigram Issue 316: Flesh

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Epigram

46

30.10.2017

Medics and marriage proposals: a match made in mud Felix Rusby Deputy Sports Editor

really hammered the nail into the coffin, as the Blues only significant attack in the Medics twenty-two, was defeated as Will ran the ball in.

After this, three further scores, including an impressive double from number 20 Guy Wintle, brought the score to 74 – 3 at the final whistle.

After the game, man of the match Tobin, reflected, ‘It was a great effort by the guys, we lacked discipline some of the time, but on the whole a good first run out and looking forward to the season ahead.’

Club captain Clem was also positive about the team, saying, ‘We’ve got high ambitions for this club. We want to follow in the footsteps of Hartpury College. It’s good to see so many new faces, and we’re looking forward to the season ahead.’

The match day drama didn’t end at the final whistle however. After the conclusion of play, both teams gathered round together to shake hands.

On the wet muddy pitch, with both teams present, local Gloucester girl April Flower was called over into the

circle. Getting down on one knee, All Blues player Blake Teague presented April with a ring and offer of marriage.

To which April replied, ‘Go on then.’

With the match complete and the proposal over, the teams headed back to the clubhouse to celebrate what had been a very engaging afternoon of rugby.

Since their first game of the season, the Bristol Medics have continued their winning ways in the Gloucester league, beating Kingswood 82 – 0 and have further matches to play in the coming weeks.

Epigram / Felix Rusby

Bristol’s medics rugby team got off to a flying start, scoring twelve tries in a dominant display against Gloucester All Blues Rugby Club.

Bristol Medics began their new season against Gloucester All Blues.

This was the medical sides first game in the league (the Gloucestershire rugby league), having joined this year.

Going into the match, expectations were high for the medics who fielded a strong team, including a number of Bristol University first team players. Meanwhile the All Blues opened their campaign off the back of a tough season in which they finished second bottom in the table.

Despite this, the All Blues started stronger. The ball was kicked deep into the Medic’s half and after some strong carries, an infringement by the medics set up the first scrum of the game.

Though it was the medics who looked more powerful, it was the All Blues who earned themselves a penalty.

The Blues didn’t hesitate at taking the points, kicking the ball between the posts. Within the first five minutes the All Blues were leading 3 – 0.

These however were to be the All Blues only points of the game.

After kicking the ball deep, it was caught cleanly by the Medics and carried deep into the opposition half by Tobin Rusby. From there, Bristol continued to put pressure on the Blues defence through some powerful carries in the forward pack.

With the All Blues under pressure,

Bristol shipped the ball wide, allowing full back James Bloor-Griffith to run in for the first try of the match.

James was unable to convert his try, leaving the score at 3 – 5.

The next score arrived soon after the first, when a turn over ball allowed the Medics to use their numbers out wide, letting winger Clement Stratford to score under the posts.

After a simple conversion, Bristol Medics lead by 12 points to three.

With two tries already on the score sheet, the medics took the opportunity to push their advantage.

Tries followed from, 11 Tom Davies, 13 Will Van Klaveren and a second for 15 James Bloor-Griffith, leaving the score at 42 points to three at the break.

In the second half, the medics carried on where they left off.

After some early pressure from the Blues, Bristol Medics were able to again up their game. After a lineout that was taken cleanly by the Medics, the Bristol team scored again. An aggressive run, taking the ball at pace, put number 13 Will through for the try. The try was unconverted, leaving the score at 47 -3.

It wasn’t long before the Medics were scoring again however. After a neat little switch and some impressive inter play between the 12 and 13. Eddie McKees dotted down to stretch the lead further.

At this point in the game, the medics began to make a number of changes, giving their bench players some game time, in what was becoming something of an annihilation of the Gloucester All Blues.

Despite a yellow for Callum Craig in the final quarter of the game, this did not set the Bristol team back.

An impressive interception try

All Blues player Blake Teague proposes to his girlfriend post-match

UBAFC 1s triumph over Cardiff Freddie Keighley Second Year, History UBAFC Journalist A cagey opening to the match led to Cardiff 1s hitting the bar after the home side failed to clear their lines, but it was Bristol 1s who broke the deadlock on 16 minutes after a brilliant corner routine.

A low delivery from Al Harlington was met superbly by Coy to give Bristol 1s an early advantage. The captain’s first-time finish into the roof of the net left the keeper with no chance.

Their lead was nearly doubled shortly after, with a clever give-and-go between Harlington and Thomas leading to a lastditch clearance by a Cardiff 1s defender,

while crosses from wide-men Jack Haire and Harry Cruttenden consistently troubled the away side’s centre halves.

The second goal came just before half time, courtesy of Toby Thomas’ finish low to the keeper’s left. George Coy turned provider on this occasion, weaving between Cardiff 1s players before being brought down on the

edge of the box. Bristol 1s made full use of the ensuing Advantage Rule, and Thomas instinctively finished as the ball fell to him to double his side’s lead.

The second half saw Bristol 1s dominate further. Cardiff 1s rarely posed a threat to goalkeeper Ross Cusdin’s net, and the home side will be disappointed not to have finished more chances to cap off a complete team performance.

“ Cardiff 1s rarely posed a threat to goalkeeper Ross Cusdin’s net

Instagram / UBAFC

UBAFC playing under the floodlights at Coombe Dingle Sports Centre

Thomas nearly added a third goal on two occasions, firstly hitting the bar from range with a magnificent curling effort amidst the windy conditions. Deft passing on the right between Haire and Ed Mahoney released Thomas, who struck the ball from outside the area only for it to rattle the woodwork.

The other occasion saw a dubious offside call rule out Thomas’ finish after a quality delivery from the right.

Josh Norris almost made an instant

impact after coming off the bench in the late stages of the game, meeting a delightful outside of the foot pass from Jack Haire, but his shot sailed narrowly the wrong side of the post.

At full time, Bristol 1s will have been pleased to have won convincingly and kept a clean sheet in the opening game of the BUCS season. Cardiff 1s had no answer for the width provided by Haire and Cruttenden in the wing back roles, nor the midfield dynamism of Mahoney, Coy and Oli Henery which repeatedly saw Cardiff under pressure and outmatched both physically and technically.

The two goal scorers, Coy and Thomas, shared the Man of the Match award.

Next up, on Wednesday 18th October, is a trip to a Bournemouth 1s side which lost 2-0 in their opening game of the season against Exeter 1s. Bristol 1s will be hoping to repeat their dominant showing to maintain a 100% start to the season.

Freddie Keighley is the UBAFC journalist, working with Epigram as well as producing reports for the club. If you fancy a go at writing match reports and keeping us updated with your club let us know!

Join the writers group on Facebook: Epigram Sport Writers 2017/18

Epigram

30.10.2017

47

Epigram introducing... Darts Ben McCall-Myers Online Editor

When people think of university sports, they assume that to play at a competitive level one must be willing to put their body through a series of trials and tribulations. From football, to rugby and even to quidditch, a reasonably large degree of physical exertion is expected.

However, darts is one of those

games that escapes this preconception, allowing for all the excitement and competition of an ordinary sports match without the pulled muscles and buckets of sweat. It seems to be a game for those more concerned with how many pints they can see off in an hour than how quickly they can sprint 100m.

Online editor, Ben McCall-Myers caught up with society president (and coincidentally, Rugby League

rugby for the University I thought I’d try a ‘more physical’ sport like Darts!

BMM: What’s the level of competition like?

RA: The club varies in ability hugely.

There are many who cannot hit the board and there are some who are capable of hitting 180s with ease. All standards are welcome. Although it is worth saying that club rules dictate that if a 180 is hit, everyone who is a witness MUST go for a

Twitter / Bristol Dart Club

“

night out on the triangle IMMEDIATELY. BMM: Love that – Care to disclose your highest checkout?

RA: 160. Although legend has it that Nick Main (korfball captain) can hit a max 170 check out if he focusses his energy away from korfball to darts.

If a 180 is hit, everyone who is a witness must go for a night out

BMM: Is there a BUCS league structure for those who take it seriously?

RA: There are a few national competitions throughout the year for those that want to compete. There will also be internal competitions within the club, as well as the big Varsity event againstUWEcominguponNovember9th.

BMM: What are the club’s targets for the upcoming season?

RA: Our targets are to win Varsity Darts for the first time ever along with seeing off a record number of pints.

BMM: There’s Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, there’s Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, but does our darts president have his very own nickname?

RA: Don’t quite think I’m a talented enough player to boast a nickname. Perhaps after Varsity this year I’ll have earned myself one.

Upcoming BUCS results 18th October

Men’s Football Bournemouth 1s 0-3 Bristol 1s Bournemouth 2s 2-3 Bristol 2s Southampton 2s 2-4 Bristol 3s Bristol 4s 5-1 Gloucestershire 2s Women’s Football Winchester 1s 1-9 Bristol 1s Swansea 2s 3-7 Bristol 2s Men’s Rugby Bristol 1s 19-17 South Wales 1s Plymouth 1s 29-12 Bristol 2s Women’s Rugby Bristol 1s 7-10 Oxford 1s Plymouth 1s 60-7 Bristol 2s

Fantasy Football

Bristol Darts Club recruiting new members at the Welcome Fair this year

Netball 2s test 1s mettle in BUCS Nicky Withers Sports Editor After tough opening games for both teams, this all Bristol affair was a chance for one of them to get their first win on the board. Obviously the 1s went into this tie as favourites, however it wasn’t to be a walkover by any stretch. The 2s put in a performance showing exactly why they’re in Western 1a division with the top teams. I arrived during the warm up with music blasting as the teams psyched themselves up, the near silence during the team talks was then almost eerie.

If it wasn’t for the identical dresses, you’d have no idea these women trained together, played together and drank together. All friendships were

non-existent on that court. The 2s marked very well, but the 1s handled the pressure and calmly built up from the back again. Each missed opportunity by the 2s was quickly capitalised on, with a few turnovers giving the 1s a comfortable lead.

Goalkeeper Ellie Brown was brilliant for the 2s, but opposition shooter Kate Skuse kept her cool for the 1s to lead 13-5 at the end of the 1st quarter.

The second quarter started with a powerful charge from the 1s and all eyes were on the centre court battle.

There was no love lost between the two centres, with penalties conceded for contact on both sides. Kate’s movement was slick, combining with some lovely

“

one handed takes. Yet, just as it looked the 1s were going to run away with the match the 2s charged with a couple of turnovers, finishing the quarter at 23-13.

By half time there was a real atmosphere building and the crowd on the balcony had grown in numbers and noise. The 1s shook up their team, changing the defensive pairing for fresh legs. The shooting pair for the 2s were completely clinical, with Liv Brown sinking almost every shot she took. At the opposite end of the court Ellie Brown remained solid, leaping up to pluck attempted overhead passes out the air.

Despite their efforts, the 1s combination of Kate Skuse and Charlie Wilson was too much and the 1s extended their

lead by a further three points, 36-23.

The 2s changed it up, bringing on some fresh legs for the final quarter.

However, heavy defensive pressure from the 1s forced errors from the opposition, with many free passes given away. At this point the 1s took control of the match, despite the 2s valiant fight. The scoreline arguably looked more comfortable for the 1s that it really was, however they came away with a solid 48-27 win.

There were hugs all round at the end of the match, with both teams coming together to do the traditional ‘three cheers’. They can both say the left it all out on the court. Stand out performances for me were Ellie Brown for the 2s and Charlie Wilson for the 1s.

Epigram Sport is running its very own Fantasy Premier League. Feel free to join!

Epidivisie Code: 787477-1079615

Sport is Being Mankind Paddy Sidwell Second year, English

The biggest killer for men under the age of 45 is suicide

you probably know someone who has.

Interest amongst university sports clubs has already been sparked, with entire clubs looking to get involved.

Last year saw representatives from rugby, basketball and many others.

Sport can be a vehicle for improving personal mental health, but if we can normalise and expand the

conversation, it could be a platform for whole clubs to support each other.

Masterminded again by Olivia Huxtable, it is going to be brilliant and no doubt it will be a bigger success than the first time. Even if you’re not involved directly, there are other ways to support the campaign. Soon t-shirts will be available, which will increase the visibility of the campaign. They will also feature the numbers of mental health charities on the back, reinforcing the fact that help is out there.

Finally, don’t wait for the campaign to get the conversation going. Reach out to your friends and family, they are there for you. If you think one of your friends is struggling, take ten seconds out of your day to check in with them.

Remember that it’s ok to not be ok, and it is certainly not weak to speak.

Facebook / Olivia Huxtable

Earlier this year, part one of the Be ManKind Campaign was released to the world. For those who haven’t seen it, it is a campaign encouraging male Bristol students to get the conversation about mental health going. It artistically portrayed a very serious issue and saw over 30 men from all sectors of the University take part. The powerful images were an unwavering success.

Each participant’s thoughts on mental health and on the campaign featured alongside their photographs, making for moving and insightful reading.

The statistics regarding male mental health are frightening - the biggest killer for men under the age of 45 is suicide; one out of four people in the UK are

affected by a mental health issues every year. If you haven’t been affected,

Paddy Sidwell in an image from the first part of the Be Mankind campaign

Epigram

30.10.2017

Sport

@epigramsport Editor: Nicky Withers

Online Editor: Ben McCall-Myers

Deputy Editors: Tim Godfrey Twiss & Felix Rusby

sport@epigram.org.uk

Bristol Babes - record breakers, history makers BUCS results 18th October Men’s Basketball Bournemouth 1s Bristol 1s

69-63

South Wales 1s 49-77 Bristol 2s Women’s Basketball Southampton Solent 1s 7356 Bristol 1s Netball Facebook / Tobin Rusby

Bristol 1s 48-27 Bristol 2s Men’s Squash UWE 2s 2-3 Bristol 1s Bristol 2s 0-5 Bath 1s Women’s Hockey

The Babes going strong despite it being the early hours of the morning

“

The Babes made it back in

seven hours and a minute

The Babes made it back in seven hours and a minute, taking nearly fifteen minutes off their previous record and finishing over two hours quicker than the next fastest team. Despite their impressive achievement, the boys’ first reaction was one of frustration, having not manged to make it under seven hours. However, after a well-earned massage, provided by the staff waiting for them at the finishing

tent and a couple of hearty cakes, the Bristol Babes could celebrate their impressive achievement for what it was, amazing!

After the race and some wellearned sleep, all the teams reconvened for a large post-race dinner and prise giving. At the ceremony awards were given and complements paid to all who had competed in the gruelling challenge.

More importantly however, a speech was given reminding everyone why this event was happening.

Each team is expected to raise

a minimum of £1,000, averaging

year of running, the Bristol Babes intend to leave on a high. The four members of the team will separate at the end of this year as many of them graduate from Bristol. Despite this, the team members will remain close friends, brought together by common adversity and triumph.

If you were impressed by the Bristol Babes achievement, or want to show your support for the British legion, you can still sponsor the team on their Just Giving page.

If anyone is interested in challenging themselves, if you feel you’ve got what it takes to break the Babes’ record, then check out the event website.

Exeter 1s 5-0 Bristol 1s Bristol 3s 3-3 Bournemouth 1s Men’s Hockey Exeter 1s 3-1 Bristol 1s Bournemouth 1s Bristol 2s

2-3

Keep up to date with what’s happening on Twitter at @epigramsport

at £250 per team member

The Exmoor 3030 challenge works in conjunction with the British Legion Charity. They are a UK charity that provides lifelong support for members of the British armed forces, reservists, veterans, and their families, helping them cope with emotional, financial and social issues. Members who compete in the 3030 challenge try to raise money for the charity, in support of the great work they do. Each team is expected to raise a minimum of £1,000, averaging at £250 per team member.

The event is a great way to not only raise money for a charity that does amazing work with the British forces, but also helps to raise awareness about the difficulties that British forces personnel have to deal with.

The 3030 is a small-scale competition that is professionally run. Teams of many different sorts come to compete and support what is a really positive competition. Having now completed their third win in what is the Exmoor races eighth

Flickr / Solider 3030

The Bristol Babes set a record time after completing the 30-mile 30pound Exmoor running challenge to raise money for the British Legion.

A small group of four Bristol students headed to Exmoor two weeks ago, to undertake the gruelling Exmoor 3030 challenge for the third year running.

The competition is made up of a number of teams ranging from four to six individuals, who have to compete over a 30-mile cross country course in Exmoor National Park.

Contestants must navigate their way between six checkpoints along the route, while carrying backpacks that must weigh in at 30lbs per bag. The race begins in the early hours of the morning, starting at 02:30, with teams setting off at five-minute intervals following that. Teams are expected to navigate their way back to the finish line using only a map and compass.

Many teams choose to walk the race, seeing it as more of a hiking challenge. Not the Bristol Babes.

Oscar Baker, Tom Badger, Tobin Rusby and William White, all students at Bristol University, set out with a clear objective- to break the record.

A record which was set the previous year, by the same team in a time of seven hours and fifteen minutes.

In their previous attempt the Babes were a team of five, with the additional Felix Rusby, who was unable to compete in this year’s race.

Last year’s attempt was particularly successful; the team smashed the previous record by over half an hour and perhaps even more impressively beat a team of Paras from the British Army Parachute Regiment.

With this success behind them expectations were high. Trying to break the record a further time would take a considerable step up.

This didn’t daunt the Babes however.

This year round, better preparation meant that navigation was much more accurate, saving precious minutes over the 30-mile course. Less time spent changing over shoes, also cut their total time.

Over a race like this one, consistency is crucial, by setting a steady and even pace, the team were able to cover ground much more quickly.

The competition was not without its difficulties. At 03:40am, while many of their student compatriots were still out clubbing, the Bristol Babes headed off, beginning the defence of their trophy. Early into the first few hours of the race, while it was still dark outside, Oscar began to experience considerable pain in his back and hips. But despite the difficulty, he continued to push on, not risking slowing the pace when the teams’ title was at stake.

Rain, mud and exhaustion, made running hard and threatened to set the team back, but despite this they stayed strong. Finally, soon after 10 o’clock, the Babes came in sight of the finishing banner and crossed the line, completing the race.

“

Felix Rusby Deputy Sports Editor

The team in high spirits before the start of the race