Epigram 329

Celebrating Black Artists Arts

Inside...

pg. 38

How students can pass on plastic Science pg 18

Overcoming homesickness and lonliness The Croft pg 18

epigram

Fortnightly 8th October 2018 Issue 329

est. 1988

The University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper

Celebrating 30 years

Support our Services issue demands to Uni...

‘Informed and compassionate care for all Bristol students’

James Cleaver Online News Editor

• •

The Student group have submitted wide-ranging proposals to Uni management Demands cover funding of services, staff training and more ‘compassionate’ care for all Bristol students.

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upport Our Services, a student group campaigning for changes to the University’s support system, have released a series of demands aimed at revolutionising the way in which Bristol University deals with students’ wellbeing.

The University has pledged an extra £1m per year for new wellbeing services and has transitioned its model of pastoral care from ‘halls-to-hubs’. Support Our Services believe that this ‘pales in comparison to other investments the university has made’,

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pointing to the £300m investment being made in the new Temple Meads campus and the University’s £47.2m surplus in the academic year 2016/17.

Their proposals were drawn up in consultation with over 150 responses to a survey released in May, and the group aims to effect change in areas such as funding, recruitment, advertising and training.

Said proposals have been divided into three sections, based on the level of supported provided to students.

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Support Our Service’s demands for first tier student support revolves around ‘general university support and non-emergency mental health issues’, the aim of which is to take ‘early preventative measures towards providing support’. Second tier student support focuses on backing for ‘moderate to severe consequences’, whilst the third tier involves support for severe and emergency cases.

Read more: Double page spread detailing the demands on pages 6 and 7

epigram 08.09.2018

Editorial I remember when I came to Bristol for an open day, I was sat in the Great Hall in Wills Memorial Building, and a member of staff was talking about how a great number of Bristol students end up living in Bristol once they graduate.

Having lived in this city f o r two years now, it is not hard to understand why that is. Being a campus university, in which student life is intermingled with the city, it is very easy to feel like a part of Bristol, as opposed to existing within our own bubble away from the local life. Being able to explore Bristol from this, I see it as a place in which there is always something happening - as cliche as that may sound. From great music, theatre and films to great food venues, from presenting us with city life to then giving us what feels like country life over at Ashton Court - of which you can read a history about in this issues Features section - there really is something for everyone.

Despite such a spectrum of activities throughout Bristol, it is still managed to forge a very distinct stereotype for itself. As mentioned in last issue’s Style section, wavy garms are not uncommon for Bristol students, the city’s love for Drum and Bass and sportswear has not gone unnoticed, with big DnB names such as My Nu Leng having come from this great city. To an extent, I have found myself falling into this stereotype, and it is from this that I want to focus my editorial.

Returning to university can feel like an exciting trip home to the city that has developed and shaped you, and coming here as a fresher can feel like the beginning of a fantastic adventure. Regardless, the academic pressures and ‘sink or swim’ environment of having to live alone for the first time can be extremely daunting. This is why, for me at least, feeling like a part of the city, and finding something in the city that we feel we can belong to is so important.

I mentioned that Bristol has an incredible Drum and Bass culture, and this is the part of Bristol that I have found myself most comfortable in. It is a massive stereotype, of course, and as readers you are probably laughing whilst reading this - I constantly get ripped by my mates for having morphed into a gremlin that epitomises the Bristol stereotype.

Coming to university, however, I was still trying to deal with my own anxieties and my own inability to deal with stress well. In first year, I found it hard to socialise and, once I had found a group of friends, I found it hard to move out of that group in fear of not belonging in another.

DnB culture, to me, is like one big family. Whenever I end up on a night out, it is not uncommon for me to find myself going on a wander by myself, then suddenly skanking with some random group of people I have never met before, and ending up spending the rest of the night with them. This is in stark contrast to clubs on The Triangle and SWX where, if you so much as look at someone who is not part of your group you are faced with a barage of dirty looks.

The DnB scene in Bristol is one in which I have felt accepted, and it is this sense of belonging which has genuinely helped my own mental health, whilst developing me into a more confident human.

Furthermore, skanking is definitely one of the most phsyical, and maddest, of things to do on a night out. Again, I have found this to be useful for my mental health. I am one of those strange people who will come back from a night out and crack on with an essay, or some research or reading for a seminar and/or lecture. Most people I have spoken to about this just laugh and look at me with bewilderment - understandably. But after a night of skanking and pure filth, I find myself in the most relaxed state of mind. It manages to release all the tension from my body, and I come back in a good mood content that I have had a good time, have let go of any stresses, and can therefore settle down and work.

As I say, this concept of doing work after a night out is pretty strange for most people. The broader idea, however, I think is applicable to all students. Amongst the stresses and pressures that university life will inevitably throw at us all, it is extremely important to find something that we can use to relax, to release those tensions, that will allow us to return with a fresh mind ready to learn.

With Support Our Services publishing their lengthy list of demands - of which we have a double page spread reporting on this on pages 7 and 8 - it is fitting to reiterate the little things we can all do to help our own mental health. We are all very fortunate that Bristol as a city, and all that it has to offer, can help us with that.

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

co-Editors in Chief: Ed Southgate & Cameron Scheijde editor@epigram.org.uk Deputy Editor: Nikki Peach

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Online Editor: Hannah Worthington Deputy Online Editors: Kate Hutchison & Oliver Cohen

Chief Proofreader Ethan Luc Sub-editors: Nina Bryant (News), Eleanor Holmes (Features), Phoebe Chase (Comment), Rebecca Scott (Science), Hendrike Rahtz (Living), Anna Hart (Wellbeing), Erin Lawler (Food), Eloisa Griffiths (Travel), Laura Mallinson (Style), Eleanor Gunn (Film & TV), Eleanor Tarr (Arts), Guy Marcham (Music), Michael Sherridan-Warburton (Sport) Managing Director Frankie McNab Director of Communications Tara Lidstone Director of Finance Ben Woods Head of Ads and Sales Joshua Varghese Head of Marketing Emily Lowes

Epigram is the independent student newspaper of the University of Bristol. The views expressed in this publication are not those of the University or the Students’ Union.

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Editor: Imogen Horton Online Editor: James Cleaver Deputy Editor: Lucy Downer Investigations Editor: Louise Cripps Uni Management Correspondent: Laura Reid Student Life Correspondent: Victoria Dyer SU Correspondent: Zoe Crowther

epigram 08.10.2018

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Email: news@epigram.org.uk

Bristol 5 from bottom for social inclusion: Times University Guide 2019 th

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University of Bristol is ranked 113th for teaching quality Only 2.2 per cent of intake were black ethnic minority students

Cameron Scheijde co-Editor-in-Chief

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he new University Guide, released on 23 September, finds the University of Bristol is only just better than the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and St Andrews for social inclusion.

With state school pupils making up 50.4 per cent of the student body this year (not including grammar schools), Bristol has placed low on the new social inclusion league table published

by The Times. Bristol also placed 72nd for ethnic minority intake, with 16 per cent of students coming from minority backgrounds. However, just 2.2 per cent of the intake were black ethnic minority students.

The guide did recognise the efforts made by Bristol to diversify their student body: ‘Reducing the standard offer for English and History by a grade, trimming the GCSE demands for medicine, and removing the requirement for maths A-level for management, to attract a broader intake, has helped Bristol to a 13 per cent rise in applications, one of the biggest at any university this year’, said the guide online.

It remarked that the new contextual offers that gives students from aspiring schools offers up to two grades lower was a ‘very real attempt to improve social inclusion in an institution that lies fifth bottom in our new ranking in this area’.

The new scheme also includes making offers to five ‘high potential students’ from every school or college within the Bristol area, based on recommendation from headteachers.

However, it was not all good news for the admissions department as the statistics show that little over half of University admissions come from comprehensive schools.

The guide also remarked on Bristol’s research excellence as it placed 6 th, despite its three place drop to an overall national position of 19th.

‘The 2014 Research Excellence Framework confirmed Bristol’s place among the leading universities in the UK. It ranked alongside Oxford in the top four and was rewarded for entering more

“We are firmly committed to making our University into a socially diverse and inclusive community”

Sally Patterson, Equality, Liberation and Access Officer

than 90 per cent of its eligible staff — a higher proportion than Oxford’ Bristol’s national position can be attributed to its disappointing performance in the areas of teaching quality, where it placed 113 th, and student experience, where it ranked 111th.

Professor Judith Squires, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education, said ‘It is good to see that we have retained our position within the top 20 Universities nationally in this particular league table. This reflects our excellent graduate prospects and academic reputation’ ‘We work in close partnership with our students to provide the best possible experience during their time at Bristol, using feedback to continually develop our offer. Current initiatives include the creation of a new campus heart, with more study spaces and a refurbished indoor sports centre, and the delivery of our flagship Bristol Futures curriculum.

We are also introducing a new Wellbeing Service to support the health and wellbeing of our students and staff. Some of the positive changes we have implemented are better recognised in other rankings such as a recently published Times Higher Education (THE) league table that placed Bristol sixth best in Europe for teaching excellence’.

She continued ‘We are firmly committed to making our University into a socially diverse and inclusive community.

We are proud that our flagship two-grade contextual offer policy is having a transformative impact on the social diversity of our student community. While we appreciate that

there is still significant work to be done, the University is making real progress in diversifying our student community.

In the last five years there has been a 90 percent increase in the University’s intake from students attending the lowest performing schools.

‘In the past four years there has been a 56 per cent increase in the University’s undergraduate intake from Black and Minority Ethnic groups. We have also seen a steady increase in the proportion of our intake from state schools annually since 2013: in 2017 sixty six percent of our intake was from state schools.

In 2017, 984 students enrolled at the University from our Aspiring State School list made up of schools in the lowest 40 percent nationally.

We are also immensely proud of our pioneering Bristol Scholars scheme: forty-two Bristol Scholars entered the University in 2017 under this innovative programme that works with students from the city of Bristol who have suffered significant levels of educational or domestic disadvantage’.

Students to be offered a safe journey home in new SU partnership with V Cars Vic Dyer

Student Life Correspondent

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Sally Patterson, Equality, Liberation and Access Officer

the importance of getting students home safely.

Patterson said: ‘It’s so important that our students can always get home safely - our obligation to support our members does not start and end on campus!’.

The partnership displays the SU’s commitment to ensuring student safety at all times of the day and night, including those outside academic hours.

The scheme allows students to use the service even if they do not have money on them, enabling individuals to settle the bill later. Bristol SU guarantee the payment for students, then giving the individual 48 hours to go to the Students’

Bristol SU

he Students’ Union have teamed up with V Cars in order to ensure students can get a safe journey home at night regardless of whether they have money on them.

The innovative new safe car scheme provides students who find themselves in emergency situations late at night with safe transportation. Its purpose and priority is to better ensure the safety of students.

Bristol SU’s Equality, Liberation and Access Officer, Sally Patterson has stated

“Our obligation to support our members does not start and end on campus ”

Union in Clifton and pay the outstanding amount.

In order to use the service, students must call 01179252626 and quote ‘Bristol University safe car scheme’. The student must then provide the operator with their full name, email address and U Card number and a car will be sent to their location as a matter of priority.

At the point of pick up, students show their U Card to the driver as verification of the booking. Depending on the circumstances, the driver will take the student to their hall of residence, residential address, police station or hospital.

epigram 08.10.2018

4 News

Freshers’ Fair Domino’s stall disrupted by protestors for ‘invading our student space’ •

Students protested the presence of large corporations in student spaces SU Officer Sally Patterson supported the students’ right to peacefully protest The protestors were offered free pizza in return for leaving the Domino’s stall

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Epigram / Robin Boardman

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

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ristol University students disrupted the Domino’s stand at Freshers’ Fair as they protested the presence of large corporations in student spaces.

The protestors stormed the queue for free pizza and blocked students from entering the tent. One protestor was heard chanting ‘power to the people’ whilst another held a banner which read ‘CLIMATE EMERGENCY!’.

Robin Boardman, one of the protestors said that he was ‘tired of corporations invading our student space’ and that ‘the climate crisis needs to be a key issue for students as it will destroy our future and we have the power to stop it’.

The protestors were then surrounded by six security guards and were reportedly told that they were not allowed to protest at the

“They are unhealthy in all aspects; bad for your health, bad for our society and bad for the environment” Kieran, third year student, University of Bristol

Fair. Domino’s staff pushed the banner out of the way and offered the protestors free pizza in return for leaving, to which the protestors declined.

Kieran, a third year Aerospace Engineering student, said: ‘It is crazy that multi-million pound corporations like Domino’s can dominate our Freshers’ fair. A strong student union needs to be independent of such unhealthy chains.

One in seven students have fallen asleep whilst cooking • •

Between 2012 and 2017, there have been 911 accidental fires in student halls of residence Students have been warned not to ‘drink and fry’

Imogen Horton News Editor

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New poster campaign makes invisible disabilities visible on campus •

“All this smoke poured into the kitchen and I was just asleep under the table” Third year student, University of Bristol

against the UK government for what they deem to be their inaction on climate change.

They will be declaring the rebellion on 31 October and will be disrupting major infrastructure in London between 12-25 November.

Sally Patterson, Bristol SU’s Equality, Liberation and Access Officer said that she supported the students’ right to peacefully protest.

The Disabled Students’ Network are raising awareness of less visible disabilities

Zoe Crowther

SU Correspondent

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he Disabled Students’ Network have been sticking posters on the outside of disabled bathrooms in order to spread awareness of less visible disabilities.

The aim of the campaign is to make those with invisible disabilities feel comfortable using accessible toilet facilities, and to reassure them that they have justified reasons to do so.

Chair of the Disabled Students’ Network, Felix Manocha-Seymour, explains: ‘This might include people who have limited mobility but do not use an aid such as a wheelchair or walking stick, and people who have sensory issues and need a quiet bathroom.

‘Also people who have digestive problems and/or use a device such as an ostomy bag, and people with mental health conditions such as OCD who benefit from a cleaner bathroom.’

The posters have been distributed in order to remove the stigma surrounding invisible disabilities and remind able-bodied

people that there are many reasons why accessibility can be important to a wide range of individuals.

Many UK charities have also tackled the issue of invisible disabilities: Scope in particular have discussed the need for publicity surrounding the topic, and emphasized the importance of ensuring that there is support and connections in place for these groups.

The Disabled Students’ Network shall be running various campaigns through this academic year. The Chair of the Network has said ‘my main focus will be working with the University to ensure that they start providing adequate support to students who have to suspend or defer their studies or withdraw from the University due to a disability.’

Epigram / Felix Manocha-Seymour

he charity Electrical Safety First is urging students not to ‘drink and fry’ as a recent survey has shown that many students carry out reckless practice in the kitchen.

Recent statistics have shown that between 2012 and 2017, 911 accidental fires took place in student halls of residence in England. One of these was the October 2015 blaze in the University of Bristol’s Colston Street halls of residence, which started when a pan of oil was left unattended in a kitchen area.

This is equivalent to five fires a week, every term. Of these, 80 percent occurred in the kitchen and 60 per cent at night, a time when students are likely to have drunk. A recent survey has revealed that 56 per cent of students admitted to cooking whilst drunk or after drinking. As a result, Electrical Safety First has urged students

not to ‘drink and fry’.

One third year student revealed to Epigram that they had once put some curly fries in the oven before falling asleep after coming from a night out with a friend.

‘My friend came downstairs because she was worried about where I was, I was passed out and there was smoke billowing out the oven. The pyrex dish was black, the curly fries were burnt to a crisp. All this smoke poured into the kitchen and I was just asleep under the table. It actually could have been quite bad.’

Electrical Safety First has also warned students not to put objects such as lightbulbs or tin foil in the microwave, as one fifth of students admitted to misusing the microwave either for fun or by mistake. A quarter admitted to putting a knife or fork in a toaster while a further one in eight admitted to leaving the oven on with the door open to warm up the room.

Emma Drackford, director of communications at Electrical Safety First has urged those living independently for the first time to ‘take care in the kitchen when handling electrical appliances.

‘With so many students admitting to taking to the stove under the influence of alcohol and a significant number falling asleep with food cooking we are warning students not to drink and fry’.

‘They are unhealthy in all aspects; bad for your health, bad for our society, pushing for corporate greed over good wages and bad for the environment. The fact that corporation have such a lot of power on our political system means that NGOs are pushed aside for profit.’

The protestors wore an extinction symbol and claimed to be part of the Extinction Rebellion. The group are declaring a rebellion

epigram 08.10.2018

News 5

5

Protest to save community centre Hamilton House •

Vice Chancellor backs Mayor’s decision to scrap Bristol arena plans

The owners of Hamilton House are planning to convert the community centre into flats Coexist are aiming to launch a community share offer to buy a building for community use

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• • Epigram / Nina Bryant

Nina Bryant News Sub-editor

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“Let’s make community space important” Ari, Coexist

Stokes Croft or had friends who work for social enterprises based in Hamilton House while others joined in because they love Hamilton House and all that it offers to the community.

Ari, a representative from Coexist, a non-profit social enterprise which currently manages the space, said that they were protesting because they did not want the developers to do what every developer does and disrupt community spaces in order to make a profit. She told Epigram: ‘let’s make community spaces important, let’s make them long term’.

Coexist are aiming to launch a community share offer to buy a building in Stokes Croft for community use. This aims to protect those working in the creative industry and non-profit organisations from being affected by rising rent caused by the gentrification of creative communities.

Zoe Crowther

SU Correspondent

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n September 4, councillors officially agreed to withdraw the plan for the Bristol arena to be built in the city centre. They have instead proposed a ‘mixed development’ on the Temple Island site which will include a hotel, housing, multiple retail outlets, office space and a conference centre.

Vice Chancellor Hugh Brady has written an open letter calling for an acceptance of the Mayor Marvin Rees’ decision: ‘Now that a decision has been made, I support the Mayor’s call to look forward and to work together to ensure Bristol is a thriving, wellconnected city.’

The University of Bristol also has investments in the area. The new £300m Temple Quarter campus is expected to open in 2022, and will be situated next to the development complex on Temple Island.

Bristol is the largest city in the UK without a large arena venue, making the plans for an arena a contentious issue across the area.

Conservative and Lib Dem councillors have asked for the Mayor to reconsider the city

Graduate earning potential falls as student numbers grow •

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The number of students undertaking degree courses has risen while the earning power of university graduates is falling Degree holders still have a benefit above non-graduates when it comes to salaries

Maddy Russell

Second Year Politics and International

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he earning power of university graduates is falling, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The additional earnings of degree holders have fallen from 41 per cent to 24 per cent in the last year which is thought to be the result of a higher proportion of graduates pushing down the market value of degrees.

The number of students undertaking degree courses in the UK has risen with over 2.3 million students attending UK higher education institutions in 2016/2017, the most recent figures available. In July to September of 2017 it was estimated that 42 per cent of the UK population aged 21 to 64 have achieved degree qualifications.

Students from Russell Group and pre-1992 universities have maintained relatively high earning potential compared to graduates from newer institutions, suggest recent figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Graduates from universities producing the highest earnings can expect around £40,000 per year for women and more than £50,000 per year for men, five years after graduation.

Despite an overall fall in earning, it seems that degree holders still fair better in terms of salaries than non-graduates. In response to the report from the IFS Alistair Jarvis, Chief Executive of Universities UK said: ‘A university degree is an excellent investment.

On average, graduate earn £10,000 per year more than average non-graduates and are more likely to be in employment’.

These statistics come after data released in June 2018 from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) showed 11 subject areas taught at the University of Bristol are in the top 10 nationally for graduate earning.

Bristol graduates have also been named as the 4th most-targeting by Britain’s top 100 employers in the Graduate Market in 2018 survey, putting Bristol above both Oxford and Cambridge.

Uni’s ‘Your Support at Bristol’ event produces extremely low turnout • •

24%

additional earning of degree holders in 2017

centre plans, arguing that hundreds of jobs could depend on the project.

Rees has said that he would be open to proposals in order to rescue the scheme, which, according to a report by KPMG, could create £500m of economic benefit for Bristol.

The Vice Chancellor argues that the opportunity for investment on Temple Island should not be wasted, and that going ahead with the ‘mixed development’ project is the best course forward.

Brady also alluded to Bristol’s reputation as a historical hub for architecture and engineering: ‘Brunel and Brabazon were, in many ways, emblematic of Bristol ambition and achievements on the world-stage in decades past.

‘How fitting it would be if, together, they now become synonymous with Bristol’s contemporary ambition to develop the state-of-the-art infrastructure that secures Bristol’s future international reputation over the decades to come.’

Bristol City Council

upporters of Hamilton House in Stokes Croft assembled on Wednesday 26 September to protest plans to develop the community centre into flats.

Protestors gathered outside Hamilton House to challenge new plans which would remove access to affordable workspaces for hundreds of artists, outreach programmes and social enterprises.

Hamilton House is currently a community space managed by the non-profit social enterprise Coexist. Coexist have been running the space for 10 years and are protesting the owners’ plans to develop the building into flats.

People dressed in orange and grey and carried signposts with slogans such as, ‘artists make Stokes Croft valuable,’ ‘people before profit,’ and ‘don’t rip the heart out of Stokes Croft’. Songs, with lyrics such as ‘save Hamilton House’ were also sung as protestors congregated round the building in support.

Those gathered were there in support for a variety of reasons. Some worked in

Bristol City Council now propose a ‘mixed development’ The University also has development plans in the Temple Quarter

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An event run by Bristol to inform first years of available student support Event mainly focused on mental health Main speakers and presentations cancelled Low turnout suggested to be due to lack of publicity

Laura Reid

University Correspondent

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n Wednesday 26 September, the ‘Your Support at Bristol’ event took place at the Students’ Union. The event was held in order to inform freshers of the wide options of student support available to them, and was particularly focused on mental health services.

Several organisations were present,

including the Black Dog Project, Nightline and Mind.

However, only a fraction of the amount of students anticipated showed up. The introductory talk from Mark Ames, head of Student Services, and the presentations from each separate organisation were cancelled due to lack of audience.

Some have suggested that this poor turnout was due to a lack of publicity as a couple of floors below in the Balloon Bar a well attended mingle was being run for wellbeing week.

Ruby Rosenthal, the school coordinator for Black Dog Project, emphasised that she had seen ‘no posters and no university wide emails’ in the run up to the event.’

She also went on to say, ‘we only ended up speaking to four people on the Black Dog stall. I think this event would have been better timed in a few weeks, when the initial buzz of university has calmed down and students are facing the other side to university life which is not just making friends, and so can sometimes be very difficult.’

6 News

epigram 28.09.2018

Support our Services Demands

Demands published to overhaul and Mental health funding and training under the spotlight • • •

Demands drawn up after a survey of over 150 in May Proposals divided into three sections, based on level of support provided Key themes include increased funding, better training for staff and personal tutors and also more support for those affected

James Cleaver Online News Editor

Zoë Crowther SU Correspondent

Continued from front page.

Funding

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Training The demands emphasise the importance of personal tutors and lecturers in improving the quality of provision. All personal tutors are mandated to meet their students at least twice a term.

Support Our Services also urge that attendance should be closely monitored in seminars, with tutors taking a much more proactive role in checking up on students whose attendance is consistently low.

Further changes and the future Following the low turnout at the optional sessions on wellbeing, support services and consent during Welcome Week, Support Our Services have requested that the aforementioned sessions be better promoted and made compulsory, as the consent session was before the 2016/17 academic year. Extra funding has also been requested for the Student Health Service to better signpost their mental health services.

The implementation of a more humane approach to the Fitness to Study programme is also requested. One of the co-founders of Support Our Services was disallowed from attending student counselling while suspended, and then forced to rent private accommodation because ‘the University was worried about her effect on other students.

This ordeal has massively affected her mental health negatively.’

In response, the SU officers have also emphasised their ongoing commitment to ensuring that every student is supported.

Sally Patterson, Liberation, Equality and Access Officer, said: ‘Mental health is basically our top team priority. It is in every single one of our remits.’

The Student Living Officer, Vanessa Wilson, has previously attended meetings with Support Our Services, but the SU officers have yet to discuss and agree on a position concerning the demands. With the officers’ roles covering a wide range of issues, Patterson commented that ‘What the university needs to be delivering does not just fit a set of demands like this.

‘I don’t think any of our aims are different.

I think to demonise the university as an institution that is working against students is very dangerous.’

The officers outlined some of their plans for the year, including collaboration with student support services, societies and the Wellbeing Network to create Mind Fest, an event dedicated to educating students on what services are available. Ginny Troughton, Sport and Student Development officer, added: ‘it’s mainly aimed at first years, but it’s for everyone to know what support is there.’

Regarding the University’s progress so far this year, the officers expressed that the University have been taking their opinions on board and that they have been involved in the editing process of the future policies.

Patterson said ‘the University is currently working on the Mental Health Strategy.

That’s being reviewed and that’s going out to students soon.

‘Every student that struggles here proves that we haven’t done enough. All of these services have to be adequate to ensure every student feels supported.’

Epigram / Tom Taylor

ne of the key themes in the demands is an increase in the funding apportioned to student support, both in terms of recruitment and facilities, in order to improve coverage of and access to wellbeing services. In terms of recruitment, Support Our Services have stressed the need for more Wellbeing Advisors and full-time psychiatrists, to deal with less serious and greater problems respectively.

Currently the ratio of students to Wellbeing Advisors is estimated at 900:1.

Support Our Services want this reduced to 300 students for every Wellbeing Advisor.

The group also argue that an increase in the number of Wellbeing Advisors and fulltime psychiatrists would help services to see students within a fortnight, which would also mean that the number of counselling sessions a student could attend would no longer be capped.

The University’s expanded team of counsellors is also called upon to be more diverse, so as to better identity with members of the LGBTQ+ community and to communicate better with students for whom English is not their first language.

These counsellors should have their powers expanded to include the ability to refer students to more qualified professionals.

The University has received praise for its engagement with the LGBTQ+ community, winning the ‘Best Employer’ award at the Bristol Pride Gala.

Furthermore, Support Our Services have requested that their new support system is integrated into the University, calling for a volunteer-led student safe space in the University grounds, with trained students always present. According to them, ‘the new Senate House remodel could facilitate this.’

All staff should undergo formal mental health training, which would replace the reading of an online booklet for preparation.

On top of this, all staff, especially those working in halls of residence, should receive suicide prevention training. To ensure the completion of a holistic response process, the University should follow-up with those who have finished their treatment, reinforcing the sense that help is always available.

94 per cent of students agree to let Uni tell parents if they struggle • •

The scheme allows the University to tell parents and guardians of potential struggles The University has employed 50 new staff to look out for students struggling with mental health

Victoria Dyer

Student Life Correspondent

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“The demands emphasise the importance of personal tutors and lecturers in improving the quality of provision”

he University of Bristol have launched their opt-in mental health scheme. This gives the University consent to tell parents and/or guardians of potential mental health struggles their child may be experiencing at university.

It allows data-protection laws, which previously forbid the sharing of sensitive medical information, to be overlooked in the interest of students’ mental health and wellbeing.

Freshers and returning students are given the opportunity to give consent for university staff to share major concerns with the their home support system. This follows

the University’s effort to put more time, money and resources into mental health support for its students.

The University have also employed a further 50 members of staff whose role it is to look out for students struggling with their mental health. The institution has launched three new student centres which are open 24 hours a day, allowing students to source professional help with their mental health concerns.

In the last 18 months, there have been several suicides at the University. According to the Public Policy Research, the number of students now arriving at university with a mental health condition has increased five-fold over the course of the last 10 years.

The vice-chancellor, Hugh Brady stated that the University’s ‘mantra now is mental health is everybody’s business’.

It is apparent that some 94 per cent of students, both fresher’s and returning, have agreed to the opt-in consent scheme indicating the positive and constructive steps the University are taking in order to better understand the mental health needs and conditions of its students and aid them throughout their time at the University.

Student Support: where to find help Student Wellbeing Service: 0117 42 84300 student-wellbeing@bristol.ac.uk Student Counselling Service: 0117 394 0123 student-counselling@bristol.ac.uk Nightline 0117 926 6266

Residential Life Services: North Residential Village 0117 42 83300 resilife-north@bristol.ac.uk West Residential Village 0117 42 83301 resilife-west@bristol.ac.uk East Residential Village:

More information can be found at bristol.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/services

28.09.2018 epigram

Support our Services Demands

News 7

reform Uni’s student support system ‘Actual change is not here yet’ An interview with Support our Services Feature / Zoë Crowther and Jasmine Burke interview Grace Carroll, the Press Officer for Support Our Services concerning the demands they have released to the University.

Zoë Crowther

SU Correspondent

Jasmine Burke Wellbeing Editor

Support our Services/ Grace Carroll

Would you say that the University should be there to support students personally as well as academically? t Bristol, personal tutors are advertised as taking care of your academic needs and your pastoral.

Sometimes when students get to their tutor, the tutor either doesn’t know where to send them or doesn’t feel able to give them the support that they need because they have not had the appropriate training.

A

How does SOS think students should be made aware of the services available to them?

Our idea to have a routine check-up is a way of making sure that students know that the wellbeing services are available.

In welcome week there was meant to be a wellbeing talk run by the University, but it was terribly advertised. That’s the kind of thing that is supposed to say to freshers ‘look here are the mental health services’ and it was so poorly publicised that no-one came.

You’ve got to time these things right.

Is

Why do you think the number of counselling “I do want sessions needs to be increased? to stress that When you get to the counselling services you do get an exceptional quality of care. they’re not doing enough, The problem with capping the sessions at four is that you can form a very trusting and that is relationship with your counsellor; you have why we exist” support there which is then taken away from Grace Carroll you. Mental health is not something you Support Our Services cure, it’s a continuous process you need to keep going with.

How should the university ensure it is reaching out to every demographic?

If international students feel removed from the services, then the university needs to let them know that they can reach out. Multilingual counsellors are a really important part of that.

In terms of LGBT+ students, we need to recognise that a lot of students are coming from unsupportive backgrounds. We are very good at Bristol at saying we are inclusive, but that needs to extend to the wellbeing

Analysis / The problem of a lack of prioritisation of the mental health crisis at Bristol University Lucy Downer

Deputy News Editor

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s Bristol University doing enough to improve its mental health services, and if not what more practical measures can be taken? These demands from the student campaign group Support Our Services aim to provide the solution. The proposals come after months of debate over the university’s response to its growing crisis around mental health.

Support Our Services are asking for a major increase in funding and training, and for the immediate financial prioritisation of mental health services, echoing what many students across campus will feel is a growing and long-overdue sentiment.

Despite a commitment of an extra £1m per year for new wellbeing services by the university, there is a sense that proportionality, in comparison to other investments made over the past year, this number is not high enough.

Following an estimate of the university’s finances, Epigram believes that the university is in a strong financial position.

Its continual commitment to expansion, its growing surplus of £47.2m last year alone, and the fixed interest rates on loans, all suggest that more funding could be given to

services.

Do you think some students could be overwhelmed by the level of promotion mental health services have received this year?

The University is saying ‘we’re positive about mental health now, we’re being supportive,’ but the actual change isn’t necessarily there. But I think it’s interesting that students feel overwhelmed with this display of change when the actual help that you need is basically in the same condition as it was last year.

this issue. With such a surplus of money at the university, the question is, why hasn’t it come to the conclusion that it can, and needs to, make a larger investment in wellbeing services before?

Whatever the motivation (or lack of it) for a proportional financial commitment in the past, according to these proposals drawn up in response to a student survey, the university needs to do more to secure the future safety and wellbeing of its students. These practical proposals drawn up by Support Our Services, calling for a 300:1 ratio of students to wellbeing advisors, increased mental health training for personal tutors and compulsory Welcome Week sessions on wellbeing, should be taken seriously. The demands come from direct consultation with the student body, the group to whom surely the university should be looking for a solution to this crisis.

It should be noted that this is an issue that the university is continually re-assessing, and that improvements on the ground are being made. The long-term solution to improving the university’s support system, however, is surely the presence of a strong student voice which makes continual demands of those in positions of power. The proposals

by Support Our Services are an encouraging sign of the commitment of Bristol students towards resolving this issue, a commitment which shows no signs of wavering.

recommending suicide prevention training for all staff a last resort?

I don’t think it’s a last resort, more of a safety net. Even if the services were perfect I would still recommend suicide prevention training, especially for people working in accommodation. It shouldn’t be left down to the students, this is the job of the people who work at the accommodation.

Has SOS also considered those who do not live in University accommodation and don’t have access to the same services?

We’ve outlined that student support centre needs to provide effective support or people living in private residences. Whether that’s wellbeing advisors checking up on students after a crisis situation or through routine appointments.

push for further negotiation with us and for more communication between the university and our campaign. The demands are a good way to get to that point.

Is there anything you think the university has been doing particularly well?

It feels like they’re trying. It means they are more likely to listen to us. On the whole they recognise there is a problem, but they don’t necessarily recognise that the problem isn’t just ‘sector wide’. But I do want to stress that they aren’t doing enough, and that is why we exist.

How do you plan to assess and track the University’s progress?

I won’t reveal all our secrets! But one thing we are going to be doing throughout the year is gaging student response. Facebook is a really good tool for doing that, we do have a lot of people who reach out to us through our page. We have a lot of events coming up that we can use to gage student response. We need to be a channel through which students can express their concerns.

How do you hope the University will respond to these demands?

I expect for them to say they’re taking it on board. Whether or not they actually do is another question. I would hope they will

The demands in brief

8

epigram 08.10.2018

News

Wellbeing, sexual violence and employability among Bristol SU Officers’ priorities for the year • •

Bristol SU sabbatical officers have announced their priorities for the new academic year Key focus lies on Wellbeing, Inclusion, Employability and facilities.

Ed Southgate co-Editor-in-Chief

Bristol SU’s elected officer team have released their team and individual priorities for the coming academic year.

As a team, the officers have identified five key priority areas, covering: Building trust in and engagement with the SU, Wellbeing, Inclusion and Community, Employability, Space and Facilities. The Officers also have their own individual priorities.

Sally Patterson, the Equality, Liberation and Access Officer will be looking at Welfare, Sexual Violence, Inclusivity and Brexit. Undergraduate Education Officer, Nasra Ayub, will focus on the structure of the academic year, assessment and feedback, hidden costs and diversifying the curriculum, whilst Shubham Singh, Postgraduate Education Officer, will focus on international students, making university more affordable, social experience and wellbeing and increased support for postgraduates.

Returning Union Affairs Officer, Stanford, will focus on diverse representation, space, student groups and communication

“I have had productive meetings with the University about a university-wide approach to tackle sexual violence” - Sally Patterson, Equality, Liberation and Access Officer

as well as mental health. Vanessa Wilson, Student Living Officer, will too focus on mental health, alongside support for other officers and accommodation. Epigram has been told that mental health remains a ‘top priority’ for all officers, however.

In an exclusive interview with Epigram about these priorities, Patterson spoke about tackling sexual violence as a ‘passion’ of hers, and stressed the importance of ‘challenging a culture that breeds sexual violence’.

She added that, because of what she sees as a need to change our culture arouns

sexuality and pleasure, campaigns cannot just last for one year.

She added: ‘I have had productive meetings with the University about a university-wide approach to tackle sexual violence’ and mentioned that she aims to be as inclusive as possible with her approach, exploring ‘different avenues’ to reach as many students as possible.

In relation to Brexit, she said: ‘students have so much power’ and she believes this can be used to push for a ‘people’s vote’.

She added: ‘People had very valid reasons to vote for Brexit. It is inexcusable

and ignorant to be flippant about those reasons’, but she believes that ‘what they were sold is not what is being delivered’.

Bristol SU currently has active policy, voted for by students at an AMM, to fight Brexit.

Cameron Scheijde, co-Editor in Chief of Epigram, said: ‘These demands reflect much of what the SU always tends to talk about, such as inclusion and divertsity, though this year there is obviously more of a focus on mental health. It will be interesting to see if the officers can meet these rather vague goals.’

Mental Health and Wellbeing festival announced

• • •

The festival will aim to ‘educate, empower and connect’ students It will take place on Sundau 21st October It will be run by Bristol SU, the Wellbeing Network and SoS

Cameron Scheijde co-Editor-in-Chief

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ristol SU, Support our Services, and the Wellbeing Network have announced a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Festival, MindFest.

Run by the SU and its network, collaborating with the student group Support our Services, MindFest will ‘aim to educate, empower and connect students at the University of Bristol’

The Facebook event says: ‘come to explore what wellbeing and mental health are, the variety of support available to you and the diverse range of ways you can get involved in improving student wellbeing at Bristol University.

‘Whether you’re a first year, final year, post-graduate or anywhere in between, MindFest is a fantastic opportunity to find out more about and become a part of our wellbeing community here in Bristol’ Sally Patterson, Equality, Liberation and Access Officer at Bristol SU, told Epigram that they are ‘very excited’ for this event that will be ‘dedicated to wellbeing’.

Sports and Development Officer, Ginny Troughton, added that it will offer a ‘collective voice to wellbeing’, when in the past it has been an issue that has unnecessarily ‘divided us.

Features

epigram 08.10.2018

Editor: Ollie Smith Deputy Editor: Tom Taylor Online Editor: Emily Vernall Deputy Online Editor: Niamh Rowe

Should the town be disrobing its gowns?

An investigation into how the University is engaging with the city

Niamh Rowe

Deputy Online Features Editor

T

“Only 58 per cent of local residents were proud of their universities”

“In Stoke Bishop the rate of income deprivation is just one per cent, the lowest in the country”

theatres are increasingly left half-empty, especially in first year. This digitisation of face-to-face academic contact could make online resources easily shared with our neighbours. In Southern Bristol the percentage of young people going onto higher education is just 17.5 percent, less than half the UK average.

Yet, on the other hand, universities are businesses offering a service to their customers: students. In the past 10 years university staff have seen their wages fall by 19 per cent in real terms, making the fusion of lecturer and local politician a tenuous proposition. However, in 2017 universities pocketed £2.2bn surplus from tuition fees, with the vice-chancellor of Bath Spa University earning over £800,000; more than 35 times the average local worker.

Epigram spoke to Amy Leigh-Hatton, head of Bristol’s STAR society that supports local refugees and asylum seekers, the majority of whom are Somalians living in nearby Lawrence Hill. Amy relayed how this community only interacts with the University when student volunteers enter their community. Despite the benefits of this scheme, we are ‘also in danger of perpetuating the divide due to the

white saviour stereotype it reinforces’, and the focus should be on ‘bringing the community together rather than just us supporting them’, especially since students are short-term and seasonal Bristolians, inevitably intermittent with their commitment. The university has invested in the ‘Sanctuary Scholars Scheme’ for students who are unable to receive funding from the government. Yet Amy noted how recipients have found the application process inaccessible, calling into question the scheme’s primary function: supporting communities or creating the façade of corporate social responsibility? Amy advocates the University appointing a contact specifically to work with prospective refugee and asylum seeker employees and students, ‘humanising them, utilising them as local talent rather than just viewing them as victims of trauma’.

No matter how borderless their thinking, universities still remain civic institutions.

Some argue, however, that they should ensure engagement with a cross-section of their cities and provide a holistic education for students so that they may broaden their horizons and be more engaged in the community.

Epigram / Tom Taylor

own and gown conflicts are no recent phenomena amongst university towns. In 1355, a dispute in an Oxford tavern between scholars and locals escalated into a two-day battle, with townsfolk bearing crossbows against their bookish neighbours. Whilst the ‘town versus gown’ tensions may have evolved past the primitive warfare of wooden weaponry, the battle lines have become more obscure and the wounds more insidious. Universities can bring budding minds and the leaders of tomorrow into cities, but are these institutions isolating their own communities?

A 2018 study by the Civic University Commission found that only 58 per cent of local residents were proud of their universities, and 35 per cent were unable to name a single thing they had done to engage the community. In Bristol, the University provides 13,300 jobs in the region and contributes £720m of economic value to the city. The city has maintained a high number of UCAS submissions with Bristol being voted the best place to live in the UK in 2017 by The Sunday Times.

This disengagement between universities and locals may be due to segregated student regions. For some Bristol students, their daily routine rarely extends beyond Redland, Clifton, City Centre and Stokes Croft. Having high student populations

around educational facilities, private housing and nightlife is inevitable and in principle unproblematic. Though when mapping the wealth of student areas and their neighbours, this segregation becomes more unsettling. In Stoke Bishop the rate of income deprivation is just one per cent, the lowest in the country. Simultaneously merely a few train stops away in Lawrence Hill the rate rockets to 36 per cent, one of the highest nationwide. Whilst the University and students are not the cause of inequality in Bristol, it appears class segregation is occurring between our university and neighbouring Bristol regions. As ignorance is infamously blissful; if students are not seeing the inequality in Bristol, they may be less inclined to think about it.

However, dispersing student-enclaves of private housing across Bristol to enhance integration would not necessarily be a desirable solution. Expanding privately rented HMOs (houses of multiple occupation) into poorer areas may cause the ‘studentification’ of an already saturated housing market. Nonetheless, the student population of the university is growing. Between 2010 and 2015, Bristol undergraduates increased by roughly 33 per cent. In the university’s new Temple Quarter Campus opening in 2021/22 for an additional 5000 students, only 1,188 new bedrooms are planned.

Currently ‘The Bristol Scholars’ scheme from the University appears to be a unifying force. Identifying promising students from under-performing local schools, the scheme provides free tutoring and a guaranteed tailored offer. There are, however, other ways the University could connect with the community. With the emergence of recorded lectures, lecture

How inclusive is Bristol University?

Epigram Features examines inclusivity and diversity at Bristol University

Emily Vernall

Online Features Editor

W

e are in an age where society is considered significantly more tolerant than its generational predecessors, yet this notion of progress is juxtaposed by the often-recurring criticism that UK higher education is still beset by a noticeable presence of an inclusion and diversity ‘crisis’.

The education system is one of the earliest and most dominant exposures to systems of hierarchy, diversity and community for young people across the UK. As such, in an ideal world, education systems should be an exemplar of diversity, equality and inclusion. The University of Bristol’s decision to invest around £3.4 million to refurbish existing toilet facilities and to create non-gendered facilities across more than 30 university buildings has been heralded as a significant milestone in the drive for more inclusive and progressive university campus facilities.

This specific refurbishment, set to occur over the next four years, will ensure that students and staff who identify as non-

binary and/or do not identify as either male or female, as well as males and females, have equal access to facilities.

Sally Patterson, the SU’s Equality, Liberation and Access Officer, announced the news on Twitter, commenting that ‘Our investment in gender neutral toilets responds to our students and staff requests for more inclusive bathroom provision, to ensure everyone has access to toilets where they feel comfortable, anywhere on campus.’

In a statement released last year, the University announced that in line with the NUS’ definition of gender neutral toilets, the proposed bathroom facilities do not have gendered signage, and therefore do not require the person using them to define into a gender.

This initiative indicates that much-discussed policy is being put into tangible practice by the University. This year, many of the University’s most prolific and active inclusion developments are set to take the form of high publicity campaigns across campus.

Building upon the success of last year’s event, the next campaign to target inclusion is the celebration of ‘Black History Month’ in October. The SU have worked in close collaboration with the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network to create a line-up of workshops, panels and events.

These range from an audience with an all-

“Greater emphasis should be placed on closing the staff BME attainment gap”

“All-female panel of activists conversing on the role of black women in creative industries”

female panel of activists conversing on the role of black women in creative industries to a talk by historian David Olusoga who will be giving a perceptive insight into the often overlooked role that black people have played in fabric of British history.

Crucially, it has been described as an ‘inclusive event’ that is open to anyone who wants to celebrate Black History Month.

Eva Larkai, Chair of the Bristol SU BME Network, commented on the connection between the campaign and empowerment of minority groups: ‘I believe that exposure to this history is beneficial for all, not just black people, and can help to process and contextualise some of the issues that exist in society today.’

Black History Month highlights that these campaigns are an important outlet to bring issues of diversity to the forefront of student and academic conversation.

The University and SU is set to continue in its support for other inclusion campaigns this year such as the Equality and Diversity Careers Week, This Girl Can and its continued support for LGBTQ+ Pride.

However, as much as the presence of campaigns and initiatives of inclusion are rapidly growing in support across UK campus, the fabric of university administrations is considered by some to be less receptive to change and diversity.

Statistics released in The Times in 2017 highlighted that a lack of diversity is present from the very top of the University hierarchy. Amoungst the Russel Group Universities, 97.6 per cent of the senior administration of Universities was of white ethnocultural representation. According to this statistic, the senior leadership of UK universities are less diverse than the boards of The Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 companies.

Moreover, research by the Equality Challenge Unity (ECU) published earlier this month shows that in the 2016-17 academic year just 25 black women were recorded as working as professors out of about 19,000 professors in total.

Similarly, out of more than 14,000 white men recorded as professors, only 90 black men held positions of the same status.

In order to make UK university’s truly inclusive, many believe that greater emphasis should be placed be on closing the staff BME attainment gap, which is often of secondary priority due to a concentration on prioritising efforts to increase the diversity of the student population. As well as facilitating access and campaigns to support inclusion amongst students, the ability to set an example of diversity on campus amongst staff is an increasing concern on higher education agendas.

epigram 08 10.2018

10 Features

University strikes: The story continues

A look into what is still to come with the university strikes

Oliver Cohen

Deputy Online Editor

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“Last term may have given the impression we’re out of the woods, yet we may only be approaching the centre of the forest”

UCU / JEP 2018 Report

ast your minds back to last term, before the long summer, when exams still were an unfinished thought, sapping energy and time in equal proportion. Around this time the jubilant news that the strikes had finally be called off welcomed in the end of the university year as undeniable good news. However, like VE day and the subsequent cold war, all is not over just yet.

The strikes ended after the UCU – the union behind the lecturers – agreed with UUK – the union representing university employers to set up JEP - the joint expert panel to re-evaluate the situation on the USS - the Universities Superannuation Scheme.

Moving on from the endless acronyms to the present, just over a week ago on 13 September the JEP released the longawaited report which so much undoubtedly rides on. The full details are verbose but what is worth noting is the plan. The ‘Terms of reference’ define the guidelines for what the report should cover and more importantly the scope of discussion, more on that later.

‘In particular, the JEP Terms of Reference call on the Panel to: • Assess the 2017 valuation (paragraph 5 of the ACAS agreement) • Focus in particular on reviewing the basis of the Scheme valuation, assumptions and associated tests (paragraph

4 of the ACAS agreement); and • Agree on key principles to underpin the future joint approach of UUK and UCU to the valuation of the USS fund (paragraph 1 of the ACAS agreement).

The Terms of Reference identify two phases to the JEP’s work programme: • The Panel will aim to submit a report to UUK and UCU in September 2018 that meets the purpose described above about the 2017 valuation. (Phase 1.)

• The Panel will provide a followup a report that meets the purpose described above about the USS valuation process in general. This follows up report will relate to valuations after the 2017 valuation. (Phase 2.)’

Taken from the Joint Expert Panel report September 2018.

Now looking at the ‘scope’ of the report, the specific issues it concerns, which is helpfully summarised in this table also taken from the report below: What is most striking is the big-ticket

issues that are plainly and purposely out of scope for the report. ‘Negotiations of the new benefits structure,’ i.e. the most important aspect of this whole situation has not and will not yet be analysed until phase 2 of the report. While so far 2017/18 strike action was ended as part of the agreement, what happens next? Do both sides agree on the report’s recommendations unanimously? While the UCU has endorsed the recommendations of the report, as of yet UUK and USS haven’t.

The fundamental factors that led to this situation, the broad industry shift from a benefit to contribution focus of the pension schemes and financial pressures touted by the UUK haven’t just vanished. Dialogue is invaluable, but nothing is as of yet set in stone about how these fundamental issues are going to be resolved. Phase 2 of the report, the crucial future-looking part doesn’t have a definite release date.

Taking a line from the ‘Looking ahead’ section: “Given the need to prepare for the 2020 actuarial valuation, the Panel believes that Phase 2 should start as soon as possible.”

An actuarial valuation is, in essence, analysis and appraisal of the scheme from a financial standpoint. Whether this will mean 2020 acts as a backstop is uncertain; with the 2017 valuation not yet over, phase 2 is still very hypothetical.

What this could hopefully mean is that while the second half of the report is in the synthesis stage, it may act as a deterrent to further strike action. Conjecture aside, the UKU officially told Epigram that there was no strike action planned. They do however have their dispute committee meeting on the 5th of October, the consequences of which are not yet known.

Closer to home, speaking to the university,

they said - paraphrased full quote belowthat they aim to engage with staff and have set up consultation schemes to involve staff in their official recommendations to the various unions. They, however, conceded that they have been preparing for strikes by contingency planning for the last few months.

Certainty is not a term that can really be used to the sum up the last few paragraphs.

Last term may have given the impression we’re out of the woods, yet we may only be approaching the centre of the forest.

A University of Bristol spokesperson said: ‘A big part of our planning is to proactively engage with staff about pensions before a ballot. We are currently running a series of six staff pension briefings about both the USS consultation and the JEP findings.

Our web pages have been updated to make information easier to find.’

‘We have also set up a Staff Pensions Working Group, which is open to any member of staff to join. This group will continue to be consulted on the University of Bristol submission to UUK consultations.

We were one of twelve institutions to make a joint submission to the JEP expert panel and were pleased that the JEP recommendations reflect the arguments that we made.’

‘In order to protect the education and learning experience of our students as far as we can, we have been undertaking contingency planning for some months.

Should the outcome of the consultation result in further strike action, we will do all we can to make sure all views are heard and respected, whilst minimising disruption to students and non-striking staff.’

So, the story of strikes may be far from over.

Getting involved: Volunteering opportunities in Bristol How to break out of the student bubble and involve yourself in one of Bristol’s many commnuity projects

Tom Taylor

Deputy Features Editor

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“You get to meet new and interesting people”

Community Centres One of the easiest ways to get involved in a project is to visit your local community centre. Many centres will have a cafe that you can volunteer in or you may be able to become involved in a variety of community groups. At the very least they will be able to point you in the right direction and help you choose a role which is right for you. The closest community centre for those living in the Clifton residences is Bristol Subud Hall, in the City Centre accommodations its Bristol Folk House and near Stoke Bishop there is the Greenway Centre. Other notable centres include Avonmouth and Malcom X Community Centres and Kuumba Bristol.

Visit your closest centre and explore.

North Bristol Community Project Situated on one of Bristol’s most famous

SWCityFarm

ith over 330 societies, student halls events and a variety of student nights to choose from, freshers can often get caught up in the student bubble.

It can be easy to forget that a Bristolian world exists outside of Clifton and Stoke Bishop. Volunteering at one of Bristol’s many community projects is a fantastic way of experiencing the wider city and can be incredibly rewarding.

You get to meet new and interesting people whilst giving back to the community which you are now part of.

Epigram Features have given an outline of some community projects which might be of interest to students and how to get involved.

This list is by no means extensive and you may find a different project which suits you. Do not worry about having to commit to a certain amount of hours - volunteering opportunities are usually very flexible and will work around your university schedule.

University life is a lot of fun but being surrounded by students all the time can soon become stifling. Volunteering at a community project is a lovely way to escape into the vibrant and diverse city we call home.

“Volunteering at a community project is a lovely way to escape into the vibrant and diverse city we call home”

St Werburghs City Farm Nestled in the heart of inner-city Bristol, the Farm uses its community garden, conservation site and community allotments to educate and inspire local people. They aim to increase knowledge of where food comes from, provide greater access to local food and give people skills and experience. The surrounding area is one of the poorest in the UK and St Werburghs City Farm believes it is important to improve community engagement and provide a green space for underprivileged people. They hold weekly volunteer sessions which range from nature and craft workshops to working with animals and everyone is welcome. Send them an email at getinvolved@swcityfarm. co.uk.

streets, North Bristol Community Project aims to promote well-being and community learning in order to bring about personal and social change. They celebrate diversity, inclusivity and bringing people together in a creative space. Volunteers can help run craft groups and workshops or gain experience in graphic design and event management! They are always welcome to new volunteers and would really appreciate help from students.

Get in touch at nbcp84@gmail.com.

Incredible Edible Set up in 2014, Incredible Edible is a perfect volunteering opportunity for anyone who enjoys gardening or eating food. Their vision is to make Bristol an edible city by creating community gardens where anyone can grow

and harvest healthy food. They have over 30 sites across Bristol and welcome volunteers to help tend the community gardens. On their website, you can find an events calendar of work parties to which you can just turn up and help out. This opportunity is perfect for students who are worried about committing to certain hours as you can pick and choose which events you would like to attend. Visit Incredile Edible’s Facebook page or website t find an event.

It is rare to find a city that places so much emphasis on community. From St Paul’s Carnival to the International Balloon Fiesta, Bristol has shown time and time again that community building is still possible and actively happening across 21st century Britain.

08.10.2018 epigram

Features 11

Jacari: The student-led education charity Hope Riley Living Editor

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Jacari.org

t school, the term ‘extracurricular’ was a buzzword, but it triggered in me subliminal feelings of inadequacy. As I could not play an instrument and I was not on a sports team, there seemed to be no other option but to get on with my A-Levels and hope that my UCAS applications did not suffer as a result.

At university, however, ‘extra-curricular’ is a term that encompasses far more than music and sport. There is a plethora of different opportunities to get involved with.

These opportunities are there to benefit the community as well as the individual, no matter your skill set.

In my second year of University, I started volunteering for Jacari, a small student-led charity that was originally founded at the University of Oxford in 1956 as a political activism group: the Joint Action Committee Against Racial Intolerance. Jacari, as the oldest student charity in Oxford, has a

historic legacy of helping children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) and are therefore at an extreme academic disadvantage to their peers. The charity holds the belief that English being a child’s second language should not restrict their right to an education.

Jacari ran as an independent charity in Oxford for over 60 years but it expanded to Bristol in 2015 to tackle what was seen as an urgent need to solve educational inequalities and support EAL children in our expanding and diversifying city, many of whom were refugees. Although providing housing and education for refugee families is seen as a

Epigram/Hope Riley

Reflecting on the work of Jacari, a studentrun charity supporting children with English as an additional language

“Jacari differs from other teaching organisations in that volunteers commit to tutoring the same pupil for a minimum of 15 sessions”

crucial starting point, the reality is that their struggle does not end here.

EAL children and young people from families that have migrated to the UK are often expected to sit exactly the same exams – for instance SATS/GCSEs - as native English speakers, sometimes within weeks or months of arriving. As a result, Jacari tutors focus on tackling this point of educational inequality by providing one-on-one English teaching sessions with pupils who are in need, to boost their confidence and unlock their full academic potential.

Students who sign up to tutor for Jacari fill in a form online, undergo a DBS check and go to a one-off 3-hour training session before being matched with a pupil. It is then up to the student to liaise with their pupil’s

family to find a suitable weekly slot to have the lesson – usually this takes place in the pupil’s home, or it is possible to arrange the lesson in school.

Jacari differs from other teaching organisations in that volunteers commit to tutoring the same pupil for a minimum of 15 sessions (about a year), and as such develop a special bond with the pupil. Many find it immensely rewarding to watch their pupil grow in confidence in speaking English and the improvement in their schoolwork can be astronomical as a result.

If you wish to get involved with Jacari this academic year, then email: publicity.bristol@ jacari.org. Applications are welcomed from students from all degree programmes at all levels.

Histories of Bristol: Ashton Court As part of a regular series on the past of our city, Epigram Features examines the history of one of the city’s most famous landmarks Deputy Features Editor

I

n the village of Long Ashton, just across Clifton Suspension Bridge, lies Ashton Court Estate. The Estate contains around 850 acres of beautiful woodland and a grade one listed mansion house, notable for its unusual yellow colour.

Once owned by the Smyth family and now under the ownership of Bristol City Council, the mansion house is run by the arts charity Artspace Lifespace.

Whilst the mansion has been redeveloped and reshaped multiple times throughout its history, Ashton Court Estate has been the site of a manor house since the 11th century and there are still medieval age trees in the park today. The estate is referenced in the Domesday Book as ‘a wealthy estate owned

“Professor Madge Dresser has carried out an important investigation into the role of slavery”

Epigram / Tom Taylor

Tom Taylor

Epigram / Tom Taylor

by the Bishop of Coutances’, perhaps given to him by William the Conqueror.

In 1627, MP and lawyer, Thomas Smyth succeeded to Ashton Court and carried out refurbishments to the gardens and grounds.

The Smyth family were prosperous Bristol merchants in the Tudor period and Thomas appeared to have been a well-liked character, often referred to as ‘good Tom’ or ‘honest Tom’.

Senior Research Fellow at the University of the West of England and Honorary Professor in the Department of Historical Studies at Bristol University, Professor Madge Dresser, has carried out an important investigation into the role of slavery in the history of West Country Houses and used Ashton Court as a case study. In Professor Dresser’s investigation, she explains how the marriage settlement in 1757 of John Hugh Smyth to the Jamaican heiress Rebecca Woolnough, which included the Spring Plantation in Jamaica, substantially improved the fortunes of the Smyth family.

The Spring Plantation was large sugar and rum plantation in Jamaica which used enslaved people as workers.

Research suggests that the Smyth family’s connection to slavery began long before this marriage. Sir Hugh Smyth’s father, Jarrit, was also a member of the Bristol Society of Merchant Venturers who lobbied on behalf of Bristol participants in the African, American and West Indian slave trades.

Professor Dresser’s investigation goes on to state that a portrait, recently purchased

by Bristol city’s Museum Service, of a young aristocratic girl and her African servant could suggest that the slavery connection can be traced as far back as Thomas Smyth.

The girl was originally thought to have been Arabella Astry, the early 18th century heiress, but it is now thought that the girl was probably Florence Smyth, the second

daughter of Thomas Smyth.

This would suggest that connection between the Smyths, long thought of as a mercantile family, and the African trade might stretch back to the 1630s, before Bristol’s formal entry into the slave trade in 1698. This assertion is supported by the Astry family’s own associations with the Carribbean from the early 17th century.

The renowned 18th century landscape designer Humphry Repton, whose designs include Blaise Castle and alterations to Kensington Gardens, had great influence in the refurbishments of the grounds and gardens. In 1852, Sir Greville Smyth, a keen horticulturalist, introduced a large range of new plants including species from America and China and built a now-demolished indoor Winter Garden.

Ashton Court Estate was used as a military hospital in the First World War and in the Second World War it became, in turn, an army transit camp, RAF HQ and US Army Command HQ. When the last residents of the mansion, Gilbert and Esme Smyth, died in 1940 and 1946 respectively, the house was left to their daughter Esme Francis Cavendish. She

attempted to sell the house immediately in order to pay her parents’ death duties but failed to find a buyer. 13 years later, by which time the house was unoccupied and in a state of decay, the house was sold to Bristol City Council.

The northern wing of the house was damaged in a fire during the summer of 2013. Avon Fire and Rescue were widely praised for containing the fire to just two rooms and saved the mansion from being completely gutted.

In May 2018, Artspace Lifespace were given a five year lease to run the property with a vision to create an ‘inclusive multiuse arts venue, facilitating art, theatre, performance and community activities’.

Whilst tours of the property are not currently available, admission to the grounds and gardens is free and there are a variety of art exhibitions on display in the mansion throughout the year.

The Estate is now the site for the annual Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. The gardens and grounds are open all week from 8am until evening and the mansion is open from 11am to 4pm from Wednesday to Sunday.

Comment Twitter and Instagram: @epigramcomment

Editor: Will Charley

@willcharley1

Online Editor: Ffion Clarke

@ffionclarke5

Deputy Online: Maia Miller-Lewis

@maiamillerlewis

epigram 08.10..2018

Social media is a powerful tool for body positivity The rise of social media has had detrimental effects on our body image, but some are pioneering change and using social media to its advantages

Ffion Clarke

Online Comment Editor

S

The Florida House/ #BodyPositive

ocial media is an integral part of our lives, with platforms currently holding 3.196 billion worldwide users.

Measurements of self-worth are dangerously changing following this, with social media now an influential factor.

As perceptions of ourselves and of others are increasingly based on what we put out on social media, the platforms are saturated with misrepresentations and exaggerations.

Most people will admit to trying to portray their best lives by only showing the most impressive and aesthetically pleasing elements. Many others even use apps, such as Facetune, to physically change the way they look.

Standards are therefore becoming incredibly high, as we increasingly measure our personal worth in comparison to the carefully edited posts of others.

According to a study by The Florida House Experience, 22.8 per cent of women and 17.81 per cent of men believe that social media impacts the way they feel about their bodies. Looking in the mirror alternatively was only a factor to 1.15 per cent of women and 1.55 per cent of men. Clearly, this issue is about comparison to unattainable goals, not an inherent dislike of ourselves. It must therefore be solved by shifting away from the negative imagery perpetuated by social media.

It is incredibly important to deal with this issue because, according to a 2006 Lifespan study, those with negative body image issues are likely to experience heightened depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies compared to those without them. Even when compared to others with differing mental illnesses which do not concern body image.

However, merely saying that social media is bad and that we should move away from it does not solve anything.

The statistics show that it is an embedded part of society and has changed the way we interact. Moving away from social media is therefore unrealistic and unattainable.

It must also be noted that social media itself is not the issue. The issue is the large platform it has given to spreading these fake bodies and lifestyles as a norm.

As has been discussed by body positive campaigner, Jameela Jamil, social media has caused damage because it has made it much easier to find this negative imagery, as the algorithms in place continually feed you with similar content.

Back in the magazine years of the late 1990s and early 2000s you would have to make more of an effort to find such consistently similar images.

However, feminist campaigner Scarlett Curtis importantly highlights that the size of this platform and its ability to deeply indoctrinate, can also be used for the alternative purpose of improving body posivity. While, in previous years it would have also been difficult to flood yourself with images of real people in order to incite body positivity.

The capacity of this movement is 7.1 million Instagram posts using the hashtag ‘body positive,’ with further posts using other tags such as ‘all bodies are good bodies’ with 206,000 tags.

Jamil has made waves in this movement with her Instagram account @I_weigh.

This must be praised for its encouragement for women to liberate themselves from the shackles of strict beauty standards, as they post photos of themselves with descriptions of what makes them who they are. Thousands of women following the hashtag have highlighted their personal self-worth outside of looks and objectification.

The positive impact of this account is obvious, recently achieving 162,000 Instagram followers.

The online body positive movement does face difficulties, as the aestheticsdriven nature of Instagram means that the platforms given to women are continually given to those who conform to societal norms and conventional standards of beauty - skinny, mostly white women.

Therefore, the spotlight is being shifted

away from the beauty of black and disabled women, as intersectionality is left out of this feminist movement. Even though it was initially created for them.

Jamil’s use of a separate @I_weigh account is particularly impactful, as she attempts to remove focus from her name and onto the every-day women posting these pictures. She is also outspoken about the unfairness she recognises is present, because she is often the one receiving praise for this movement, though she is actively attempting to create space for

“Social media itself is not the issue”

these women and not for herself.

While social media demonstrates destructive tendencies, it is important to praise those correctly using the platform instead of belittling this space as a whole.

Such a focus will not have much of an effect with the addictive nature of social media and its consequent hold on society. However, individuals like Jamil are proving that social media’s huge normalising and inclusive power can be used for good.

Comment 13

08.10.2018 epigram

Initiations should be about impressing your mates, not degrading freshers Alex Mackay-Howse

Sports societies must adapt their approach to initiations in order for this messy, mad ritual to survive in our consentbased culture

Will Charley Comment Editor

I

nitiations. The word conjures two responses: the wide-eyed shivering of a fresher who has yet to experience one and the grim smile of a student who has seen - and done - twhings that are best not mentioned.

Unfortunately for me, and perhaps for you, I will be mentioning my own initiation experiences. But first let’s clear the air because much of the discussion on initiations is stuffy, patronising and illinformed.

Initiations are funny. They are often amusing and also disgusting in equal

measure.

University culture would fundamentally be different, quite possibly worse, without initiations.

However, as they are, initiations and sports societies more broadly need to reform themselves to survive.

We live in a society that increasingly demands the consent of individuals for everything that they do and that is fantastic.

University campuses increasingly puts emphasis on the role of the individual to make their own decisions, act independently and move freely.

As they are, initiations compel freshers to perform vile, often quite lurid acts and challenges despite their explicit desire not to.

But, to be precise, the vast majority of freshers do not complain or object verbally in any way. Similarly, senior students responsible for these initiations do not compel freshers to do it in any way physically, with no threats stated.

Students are however being forced to do disgusting things, to prove themselves in unpleasant ways, against their will because

“It was a rare gem, an initiation that was as fun and bizarre as it was consenting”

“Initiations should be an optional challenge for those individuals who want to show off”

it is the culture of university sports societies that means to object would be to commit ‘social suicide’.

Like an unwritten pact, both the fresher and the senior enters an agreement in which neither will say anything and yet both know what they must do.

I was lucky enough to have chosen a sport that uses a semi-reformed model when it comes to initiations. When I joined the University of Bristol Swimming and Water Polo Club (UBSWPC), there was no talk about initiations, but everyone knew there would be one.

When it did arrive, it was embarrassing, unpleasant and bizarre in equal measure. But it was also fun and most importantly, I did not feel forced.

Although all the freshers ended up walking around The Triangle and going clubbing in our UBSWPC branded speedos, I did not feel that if I said I felt uncomfortable that I would be ostracised.

Whilst that night, freshers were fed stock cubes, ‘dirty pints’, made to run until they threw up repeatedly, wrestled in oil and doused in so much fake tan that we would have made crude extras in Aladdin; we had fun, we had a laugh and none of us privately said to one another that we felt uncomfortable. It was a rare gem, an initiation that was as fun and bizarre as it was consenting.

This is the model by which university initiations need to abide if they wish to survive the consent crackdown on campus.

Initiations that rely on social pressure to make freshers act like performing monkeys

are wrong and unhealthy, but initiations that are fundamentally optional- and make this clear to first years- are the sort that needs to develop more.

Let me be clear. It is my view that iniations as they are- a mandatory evening of abuse for first years that cannot be refused- will not and should not survive.

Instead, initiations should be an optional challenge for those individuals who want to show off in bizarre and admittedly brave ways.

There are many issues with having the former model of initiations, ranging from mental health issues to people avoiding doing a sport just because they are afraid of the tests they will have to do.

Matt - not his real name, but a real person - is a classic example of why initiations are terrible when they are forced upon freshers.

Matt is a fantastic rugby player, having played in the first team at his school and for his local club. It is quite likely that he would have made the first team at the University.

However, due to initiations, he chose not to play, instead joining a less serious, less ambitious Intramural rugby team. This was a great loss for him as well as the University and its rugby teams.

Initiations create unwanted social stigma and can begin to drift into the dangerous terrain that is the abuse of power, otherwise known as bullying.

Initiations are fun and I certainly do not want to see them disappear, but they need to be less about ‘proving yourself’ and more about voluntarily impressing your mates with a ridiculous challenge.

Bristol’s mental health is in crisis and the Lib Dems are demanding better The Liberal Democrats are the party students can trust to fix Bristol’s biggest issue: mental health

R

ecently, members of the Liberal Democrats gathered in Brighton for their Autumn conference where they discussed their policy and their way forward.

I attended, and it was this more than ever that the Liberal Democrats are the party demanding better for students.

I joined the Lib Dems because they are the party of change. From bringing green issues on to the political agenda, to legalising gay marriage - they have pointed out injustices in our society.

The issue where they have achieved most is in the field of mental health.

An issue that is growing in importance across the UK, but most visibly here at the University of Bristol.

The treatment of people with poor mental health is a stain on our society. It is constantly underfunded in relation to physical health, causing longer waiting times and worse treatments. All of this whilst our country as a whole, and especially younger people, are going

Epigram / Max Langer

Max Langer

President, University of Bristol Liberal Democrats

through a mental health crisis.

We have felt the ramifications of this all too severely here in Bristol. 11 of our fellow students have died from suicide since October 2016 and rightfully the University’s wellbeing services have been questioned.

Unfortunately, these problems are not unique to Bristol. According to the mental health charity, Mind, only one in eight people with a mental health problem are currently receiving treatment. Would we accept if only one in eight were treated for broken bones?

Too often the importance of mental health is undervalued and people crying out for help are ignored.

The Lib Dems have long fought to end this injustice, implementing the first ever targets for mental health when they were in government. Now, they continue to campaign to bring parity between these targets and those for physical health.

Why should we distinguish between illness, whatever its form?

However, target parity will not solve our mental health crisis. Services across the NHS are being stretched to their limit and need more resources to keep up.

That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for an increase of a penny in every pound of income tax to be used specifically for the NHS and social care, with a big emphasis on funding mental health treatment.

But, even this is not the end.

At this conference, the Lib Dems built on their policy with a motion which specifically targets the treatmeant of mental health amongst young people and the reduction of self-harm rates.

Moved by Lib Dem health spokesperson, Norman Lamb MP, the motion will see the Lib Dems campaigning to ensure all schools and colleges offer access to a counsellor and will include mental health awareness in school inspections.

It will also ensure that all in the mental health profession will undergo LGBTQ+ awareness training to tackle the huge disparity between mental health in the LGBTQ+ community and the general population.

Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Bristol West, James Cox, who is a Masters student here at the University of Bristol, spoke in the debate, saying: ‘The link between self-harm and suicide is often discussed. For some, it is a way to take control of their pain, for

“The constant aim is to point out injustices wherever they may be and to fight them even in difficult situations”

others a cry for help that too often goes unheard.

‘I am living with a mental health condition, but I am lucky that I recognised the signs earlier, sought help and am undergoing treatment. Others, too often tragically, are not so lucky.’

Policies and debates like the this are the reason why I am a Lib Dem.The constant aim is to point out injustices wherever they may be and to fight them even in difficult situations or against powerful opponents.

We at the University of Bristol should follow suit and demand better from our university on mental health. We should demand better for our city and our environment. We should demand better than a Brexit that will damage all of our opportunities.

And, when one fight is won, we should look to the next injustice and tackle that too.

epigram 08.10.2018

14 Comment

Bristol SU is a hidden gem worth finding Bristol SU is a wellequipped facility that is empty due to the belief it is a solitary building in a distant oasis Comment Editor

I

f you ask Bristol students what buildings they use most, it will be a familiar list. Wills Memorial, the ASS Library, Beacon House; sometimes even the Victoria Rooms are mentioned. One name that is unlikely to be heard is the Richmond Building.

“Bristol SU might as well be in Afghanistan for all the difference the 15 minutes makes”

Epigram / Will Charley

many cafes located on The Triangle, it is neither close to shops nor to open green spaces. For many students, the SU is a 30-minute round trip to somewhere that is located on Mars, away from the student campus. Why would they go when The Triangle is a third of the distance?

So, yes, the Student’s Union is far away and removed from all other Bristol University buildings. But this is not the real reason that the SU experiences less traffic than a country road on a quiet Sunday.

The problem with the Richmond Building is that no one actually has a clue what is in it.

I have to admit, I spent much of first year avoiding the SU simply because it was a building that was ugly on the outside and unknown on the inside. Apart from splashing around like a drowned rat in the pool below, I did not know a whole lot about what was there.

Too many students have little idea of the availability of study spaces, and excellent facilities that can be used at the SU. Whether it is the freely available meeting rooms and computers, the dance studio or even just the full English breakfast for £3.50 from the Balloon Bar,

Epigram / Will Charley

Will Charley

Otherwise known as Bristol’s Students’ Union, it is a multi-storey complex comprised of study spaces, meeting rooms, and offices. It also has a bar, a discounted cafe, a theatre, a media suite, music rooms and a pool, amongst its excellent facilities.

Funny then, that it is less known than Taka Taka, the ‘restaurant’ that serves greasy, albeit loveable gyros, chips and Greek food. Even more so, the (in)famous Jason Donervans, serving everything from curry chips to chicken nuggets, is definitely more well-known - and more used - than Bristol SU. So, why is it that one of Bristol Uni’s best buildings, the SU, is largely only visited by student actors, journalists and swimmers, rather than the entire student body?

Some say that the SU is simply too far away, that the 15-minute walk, or more precisely nought-point-six-mile hike from the ASS library to the Richmond Building is too far. And to an extent they are right.

Bristol SU might as well be in Afghanistan for all the difference the 15 minutes makes.

It is not near libraries, it is not near the

too few students know the SU’s facilities.

The Richmond Building is one building I wish I had used more in first year and one that I would recommend to all students, especially this year’s freshers.

Do not believe the rumours - you do not need a chinook helicopter to get in and out of the wasteland where it is located.

Whilst it is solitary, it is not far when 15 minutes is put into real terms. More importantly, it is an amazing resource, so it is time that more students actually started to use it.

Cultural appropriation is not malicious, it is ignorance Those who culturally appropriate shoud be forgiven: it is likely they are just naive

Maia Miller-Lewis

Deputy Online Comment Editor

A

full to the brim with people from all over the world.

We take from everywhere and anywhere, consciously and unconsciously all the time in an attempt to carve out our place, our personality.

It is inevitable that there will be unintentional cultural overlap.

Accusations of cultural appropriation can sometimes inhibit this process, making kind, open people anxious and reluctant to fully engage in fear that they will do something wrong, somehow offend people without that intention.

It is good to be aware, to acknowledge

“When you see a white person wearing dreadlocks, it is more than likely that they have not even thought about the possible ramifications of their choice”

privilege. After all, the very fact that I can write this article and have this opinion is a privilege. It is a little comical that I have even written this article, given that I am a white middle-class woman from a prosperous city in England. But it is an issue that needs to be engaged by all fronts, on all sides, with noboday being able to cop out.

What we need is exactly what is happeningdebate, discussion and conversation.

I want to be told if I am doing something offensive, to understand and expand my naïve perspective. But I also want to enjoy the multicultural environment I have become a part of.

Epigram / Shaneel Shah

s 21st century, social media driven students, accusations of appropriation are everywhere.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, cultural appropriation is defined as ‘the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.’

This definition is clear and succinct and certainly has a place within societal discourse, which is becoming increasingly defined by globalisation.

But, what does the accusation of appropriation actually apply to? Where is the line drawn between inappropriate adoption and open, free choice?

Take the example of dreadlocks. We are all Bristol students, we have all seen some dreads out and about. Although surrounded by fierce debate about their origin, it is undeniable that dreadlocks have significant historical purchase within African culture.

Even more so, if we are all honest, even if seeing a white private school boy donning blonde locks does not offend you from a cultural standpoint, it can still make you groan.

But when accusations of appropriation are directed specifically at white people wearing them, as happened to Cory

Goldstein, a student at San Francisco State University in 2016, it strikes me that the accusers are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. Human ignorance.

When you see a white person wearing dreadlocks, it is more than likely that they have not even thought about the possible ramifications of their choice. They have not done it to slight someone elses’ culture, or even out of a sense of privileged greed. They have done it because they liked the style.

Living in Bristol, having dreadlocks probably goes with the new-age, vegan hippy vibe they are cultivating. You all know the ones I mean.

Of course, this does not exempt said person from criticism, and rightly so. We should all be more mindful of the choices we are making. Whereas white people see dreadlocks as an on-trend and funky choice, black people are routinely subject to scathing criticism for adopting the style.

But, we should also be mindful of the barriers we could be building, of the missed opportunities to celebrate, embrace and enjoy each other cultures.

When I was seven, I was desperate to own a sari. Having seen women looking absolutely stunning in the delicately made, vibrant garments, I was transfixed. I did not intend to appropriate Indian culture. I just wanted to share in the beauty, reflect women I saw as strong and creative.

Of course, I was a child so there is some leeway, but my point is part of a bigger picture.

Identity is built from a variety of influences, some naturally from groups that we are not born into. Especially as students, for the first time for many of us, we are immersed in a diverse melting pot,

Science & Tech

epigram 08.10.2018

Editor: Bethany Harris Deputy Editor: Vilhelmiina Haavisto

Are you having problems passing on plastic?

Plastic waste is more of a problem than ever before, increasing the need for more sustainable alternatives. Here we share some tips to get started.

Rowan Fenelon

Fourth year, chemistry Unsplash / John Camreon

R

ecently, there has been a lot of talk in the press about plastic consumption and finally, the world is starting to realise that our consumption of plastic is getting out of control. David Attenborough’s Blue Planet series has been a great contributor to this, with images of litter filled oceans providing a poignant message.

However, with plastic being so widespread it would be somewhat impossible to eliminate plastic completely from your life. That said, there are a lot of simple switches you can do that can have a really positive effect on our damaged world.

Single-use plastics are some of the worst culprits, we use items for a very short period of time and then they stay on our planet for hundreds of years to come, lying in a landfill site for generation after generation.

The government is, however, starting to wake up to this and are moving towards putting in place a ban on wet wipes and cotton buds – so cut them out!

As a student we may naturally go for the cheapest and simplest options and limiting your plastic consumption does not have to go against this. One of the easiest things you can do is buy a reusable water bottle and a KeepCup. Plastic water bottles are one of the biggest culprits of ocean litter and thousands are thrown away each day across the world. Many establishments, such as the Source Café, will offer you a discount if you

“Plastic water bottles are one of the biggest culprits of ocean litter and thousands are thrown away each day across the world.”

bring a KeepCup, meaning you will quickly make up the money you spent investing in one.

It can be tempting when hosting a house party or pre-drinks to buy plastic cups and straws, but this is a very easy way to build up your plastic waste. Instead either buy paper cups, they can be bought in bulk online, or opt to buy cheap glasses or tumblers, they may take up space in your cupboard and risk being smashed, but I say it is worth it to avoid the plastic waste. It may sound harsh, but in a society that is aware of the damage plastic straws cause to wildlife and the natural environment, there really is no excuse for using them. Even large corporations, such as Wetherspoons, have begun to cut them out of their businesses. Personally, I have bought a set of eight metal straws that I can get out at pres and share with flatmates. Alternatively, you can buy paper straws in bulk for parties.

You can even buy a metal straw with a case,

so you can take it out to bars and restaurants to say no to plastic straws. The more people who do this then the more establishments may start replacing plastic straws too.

Furthermore, if you ever have a look in your bathroom you will notice it is plastic heavy but there are so many switches you might not even be aware of! Not only can you buy soap bars instead of shower gel, but you can also buy shampoo, conditioner and shaving bars. Whilst initially they may be a bit more expensive, they last so much longer so are worth it in the long run. Lush have many delicious smelling options but more and more shops are starting to sell them so they are becoming easier to get your hands on! You can also replace plastic cotton buds and toothbrushes with bamboo alternatives that will not break the bank or the environment. Shaving doesn ot have to require plastic either, safety razors may have gone out of fashion, but they are actually

very effective and relatively easy to use.

There are also decisions you can make when you are out shopping. Always remember to bring plastic bags to the shops, the collection of bags under your sink does not need to get any bigger! To avoid plastic completely it is a great idea to invest in a couple of tote bags, they will last much longer than thin plastic ones! If shopping in the supermarkets, try and avoid plastic food produce bags, it is not the end of the world if your broccoli is loose in your bag, you can always wash it when you get home! However, an even better idea is bringing Tupperware or cotton bags to your local greengrocer. You can support local businesses and cut down on your plastic consumption in one!

Overall, there are many ways in which you can cut down your plastic consumption and the more consumers that shop this way, the more shops that will listen! Just think of the turtles…

Medication that spies on you?

Valli McAdam

Third year, chemistry

Y

es that is correct, you have read the title right. What if your medication had a mind of its own?

What if instead of needing to set a daily alarm to remind yourself, your medication could remind you instead? Seems a bit farfetched doesn’t it? Well maybe it is not so far away…

The latest gadget of the medication world is a digital pill called Abilify MyCite. This was approved in November 2017 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These digital pills contain electronic sensors which are activated when they come into contact with stomach fluid. So, although the pills can’t shout at you just yet, they can inform your doctor if and when you’ve taken the medication. Furthermore, in order to keep better track of the patient’s medication, with

“50%

of all patients who receive their medication do not take it properly”

their consent, the information generated from the pills can be fed back not only to doctors, but to family members and carers too.

This digital pill is currently used in antipsychotic medication used to treat people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is hoped that this design will help ensure patients are properly following medication regimes, which should help them cope with their mental health more effectively.

However, as expected, there has been some backlash. Many people have questioned the ethical issues surrounding the use of such a drug, with it being branded by many as the ‘snitch pill’. Is the ‘snitch pill’ an invasion of privacy? Will this pressure patients into taking medication that they are unhappy with?

Nowadays there are so many pieces of information that companies have about us; biometric data used to unlock phones, credit history used in banks, even our web history is used to target us with specific adverts.

Is there any getting away from being monitored in a world where our information is being increasingly used? Surely our health is the one thing that should be kept private?

Concerns have been raised about how secure the information will be, and whether hackers could use medical history as blackmail. Will children with no consent be forced to use

Unsplash / Simone van der Koelen

Digital pills that can record when a patient is taking their medication are beginning to enter circulation. Is this a step in the wrong direction for medical ethics and patient confidentiality?

tracking pills? Could employers demand this medical information from you when you’re on sick leave? There are many unanswered questions brewing.

However, there are lots of potential upsides. For many adults with mental health problems, the world can be an isolating place.

Lots of adults may not have adequate support around them to encourage them to continue with medication regimes, monitoring their medication intake may be the motivation they need. Abilify MyCite will allow doctors to make more accurate assessments based on information obtained from these digital pills.

It is currently estimated that 50 per cent of

all patients who receive their medication do not take it properly, there is no doubt this kind of technology will help with patient compliance (and ultimately patient safety)!

Whatever your stance on the issue, it is undoubtably a difficult topic. The FDA may need to clarify some rules about how the drug should be used to ensure private information is not at risk. With the drug having only been available from November 2017, there is not yet the body of data to determine the extent of improvement on patient compliance. It is clear that more information and testing is required, so for now it is simply a waiting game.

08.10.2018 epigram

Science and Tech

16

Health and fitness trackers - friends or foes?

The use of health and fitness apps and wearables is evergrowing, but could they be causing us to worry unnecessarily about our health?

Vilhelmiina Haavisto Deputy Science Editor

I

can also lead to real problems. For example, a 2017 study on over 400 university students found that fitness and calorie tracking were associated to dietary restraint and disordered eating, especially after adjusting for factors such as gender and BMI. In general, overfixation on working out and calorie-counting can be detrimental, and apps that track every aspect of our health arguably exacerbate this by gathering data to fixate on. In the worstcase scenario, daily statistics begin to define our self-worth, and we may beat ourselves up over not reaching sometimes unrealistic goals, thus breeding unhappiness and selfloathing. There are aspects of health journeys

that these apps do not even document, like how you feel emotionally during a workout, or after a meal, which are just as, if not more, important than any statistics or numbers.

So, while there are obvious benefits to using health and fitness tracking apps or wearables, it is important to be honest with yourself about the impacts they are having on your life – positive and negative. It is worth stepping back from all the data, enthralling as it is, and checking that you are invested in it for the right reasons. Health and fitness trackers are not friends, nor foes – just tools we can use to monitor our lifestyles, and possibly make positive changes.

“Flurry Analytics estimated in 2017 that usage of health and fitness apps had grown by a staggering 330 per cent since 2014”

Epigram Photo by/ :Andrew CameronBrumhill Scheijde

n mid-September, Apple announced that their latest Watch will include what is being hailed as the first overthe-counter electrocardiogram (ECG) app. It can measure the user’s heart rate directly from the wrist, and even detect signs of erratic heartbeats that could signal an oncoming stroke. Though novel and exciting, there are concerns that the new feature could lead to users over-worrying about their heartbeat, seeking out unnecessary emergency treatment, and thus straining already-busy emergency services. As such wearable capabilities and other health apps become ever more commonplace, it is worth considering whether they cause us to worry about our health unnecessarily, and even misdiagnose ourselves with health issues.

Recently, the popularity of health and fitness apps and wearables has grown enormously. Flurry Analytics estimated in 2017 that usage of health and fitness apps had grown by a staggering 330 per cent since 2014, with workout and weight loss apps alone accounting for nearly three-quarters of total app sessions. This large share is partially due to wearables that encourage tracking of daily exercise and weight.

Indeed, a 2015 study found that over half of UK wearable-users had purchased one to access exercise information. Even the NHS dubs health and fitness trackers “effective ways to share your goals and get advice and support”.

There are many reasons for the growing success of health and fitness wearables and apps. For one, they can encourage physical activity as users set themselves goals – stepcounters being just one example. The

NHS recommends taking 10,000 steps daily, but how many of us students, who spend so much time sat down in lectures, seminars, and libraries, actually achieve this everyday?

Then again, many students are also involved in sports clubs, work out independently, and scale the Bristol hills on the daily, so maybe we can cut ourselves some slack here. Regardless, step-counting is one way of making positive changes to your daily routine. This could start small, by taking the stairs instead of the lift, or walking a longer route to get a bite to eat – just noticing to how much you move around during the day is a great start.

Health and fitness trackers can also be used to prevent overexertion. For example, those who need to keep their heart rate low for health reasons might find heart rate measuring apps very useful. They can also be used to keep heart rate low enough during endurance-building workouts, thus making workouts safer and more effective. However, accuracy remains a issue. Indeed, Apple notes that their new ECG app may produce anomalies whereby a user’s heart rate appears “abnormally high or low”. Moreover, a 2016 study published in JAMA Cardiology found the accuracy of heart rate monitoring wearables becomes increasingly inconsistent above 100 bpm, a normal heart rate for an exercising person. Underestimation especially can push people to go harder when it would be safer not to, thus risking injury and overexertion. Likewise, a 2017 study found that the people who develop health and fitness apps are largely disconnected from the scientific community, where the latest data comes from. This means that apps may not even always be scientifically accurate, or approved by medical professionals.

Although sometimes controversial, nutrition and weight-loss apps can be helpful to some. A new branch of the NHS website features apps including a food scanner, containing nutritional contents of 140,000+ products, and multiple apps for diabetes management, all with specific capabilities.

While such apps can be genuinely useful, they

Under the microscope: Coral reefs and malaria mosquitoes...

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Bethany Harris... reports on new technology to save the coral reefs.

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Emily House... reveals advances in the battle to eradicate malaria.

Wellbeing Living Food Style Travel Issue 2 / 8th October 2018

Wellbeing //

The Elephant in the Room Stress, Lonliness and Homesickness at Uni Sophie Tupper shares her tips for getting through the blues

Travel// How to travel with friends (and not kill each other)

Travel// How to travel with friends (and not kill each other)

Travel// How to travel with friends (and not kill each other)

08.10.2018 epigram / The Croft

Editor Jasmine Burke

Deputy-Editor Luke Unger

@EpigramWB

Online Editor Marina Afzal-Khan Epigram Wellbeing

@epigramwellbeing

Stress, loneliness and homesickness at university

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Understandably, societies may not be for everyone, and maybe you are too busy with work to commit to something right now. If that’s the case, try and make an extra effort with the people already in your life – say hello to your flatmates if you see them around, eat meals in a communal area, make plans to see friends and try speaking to students in your lectures/classes.

Epigram / Luke Unger

For many, university is the first time in their life that they are living away from their families. We are driven miles and miles away from home in a car jam-packed with IKEA necessities, tinned goods and one too many kitchen utensils. We are forced to live with complete strangers in a new city and not freak out! I don’t know about you, but I found this pretty damn terrifying.

Joining new things can be daunting, especially if you’re attending alone, but try and force yourself to step outside your comfort zone once in a while

Now don’t get me wrong, going to university is extremely exciting; you have a new room, new flatmates, a new city to play around in and not to mention you can literally be whoever you want to be. This is all great, but in the midst of all of this novelty, it is easy to miss your routine and home life. I have put together some simple tips to help combat feeling lonely, stressed or homesick during uni that can hopefully help you out:

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Keep your expectations realistic

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In the age of social media, everyone is putting their highlight reels online and portraying their life to be this amazing and fun thing where nothing bad ever happens. This can be especially true when first going to university. It is so easy scroll on Instagram and think you are not having as good a time as your friends seem to be, or that you are doing something wrong. Don’t forget that social media is just a snapshot of people’s lives and is RARELY an accurate representation of what is actually going on. It is not going to be great all the time, that’s life.

Get moving to manage stress Exercise releases endorphins - this isn’t new news to you, I’m sure.

Endorphins make you happy and decrease stress, so get outside and get moving! Now, I’m not telling you to go run away from your problems for hours and hours on a treadmill, but you would be amazed at how much better you feel even after just 30 minutes of exercise. The great thing about exercise is that there are so many different forms; you can be a gym bunny who lifts weights 6 days a week or become a regular Zumba-goer.

Walking is also completely underrated in my opinion. Crack on a banging playlist or an entertaining podcast and go walk around the city for a bit.

Sounds simple I know, but it will make you feel better to get outside, trust me.

Sleep and eat well This is so easy to overlook. People’s eating and sleeping patterns tend to take a hit when they are not feeling their best. You start to reach for the most comforting foods (that also conveniently tend to require less cooking effort), you might drink more, smoke more, eat less vegetables - you get the picture. There is literally a direct correlation with what you eat and how you feel. I promise you, eating healthy meals throughout the day will make you feel so much better than living off meal deals and microwave dishes. It also gives you a chance to test out some of those recipe books gifted to you by concerned relatives. Who knows, you may discover a secret talent for cooking!

B

efore starting Bristol, I had searched societies and course details and was convinced I would be amazingly proactive. It was not a question of whether I would join something, but rather how many things I would join. University was set up to be this amazing world of opportunity and clubs and happy, busy days.

However, by the time I had finished my first semester, I knew that this was not going to be the case. In fact, university had become anything but that for me.

I did not get along with my flat as well as I wanted to. I was not doing as well in my course as I expected to. I had friends, but they were spread out all over the place. And as for all of those societies that I had my eye on?

I barely had the energy to leave my bed, let alone hike up the Christmas Steps and make my way to the SU. My mental health had plummeted, as did my drive to do anything but the bare minimum. I spent the rest of the year focusing on dragging myself out of my slump; anything other than that had to take a back seat.

By the end of the year I had ‘fixed’ myself to some extent, but at that point I felt that it was too late, and my university experience was set to be grey and dreary for the following two years. However, on a whim – literally at 2am one sleepless night – I decided to apply for the Epigram editorial team and ended up set to be one of their editors for my second year.

When in doubt, go out There will be times when university work will creep up on you and you will find yourself chained to your laptop trying to balance out 3 essays, a presentation and seminar work. Which, unsurprisingly, can make you feel very stressed and lonely. It is easy to say goodbye to your friends and lock yourself in your room until your deadlines are over with, but trust me this will only make things worse. Grab your stuff and go to a library or sit in a café with an Instagrammable latte and be one of those people who works in coffee shops. The point is to get out and about in the world and not isolate yourself.

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We’re promised a life of wild parties, countless drunk memories and minimal responsibilities

Epigram / Luke Unger

Now to be perfectly honest, university is pretty much that - plus or minus a few coursework-induced breakdowns and some questionable Taka Taka orders - but not everyone experiences this all the time. Without a doubt university can be an incredible social experience. However, while some individuals thrive from the get-go, others find it takes a little longer for them to get their footing in university life. Now please do not worry if you relate more to the latter. Many people struggle with feeling lonely while first starting out at university. Especially because you are suddenly surrounded by a bunch of people that you do not know and you are expected to have a great time.

This is important! I know organised group activities might not be everyone’s cup of tea but have you tried one yet? It is honestly one of the easiest ways to meet people with similar interests to you and is a great alternative if partying is not really your thing. You will also find that the busier you are, the less free time you have to think about being homesick or lonely. Yes, joining new things can be daunting, especially if you are attending alone, but try and force yourself to step outside of your comfort zone once and a while.

I wasted my first year... and things turned out alright

Whether it’s a facetime call, postcard, text or Whatsapp group chat, keeping in touch with your family and friends back home can make you feel less alone

Keep in touch…but not too much!

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Whether it’s a facetime call, postcard, text or WhatsApp group chat, keeping in touch with your family and friends back home can make you feel less alone. However, if you are constantly calling home and communicating with people back home more than you are with university people you will probably end up feeling the distance more!

Your friends and family will still be there when you go home during the holidays, so try and put your focus and effort on university life for now and make the most of it.

Sophie Tupper Third Year, Psychology

I barely had the energy to leave my bed, let alone hike up the Christmas Steps and make my way to the SU

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Next thing I know, second year started and I was thrust into the responsibilities that Epigram entailed. There were socials, people with similar interests to me and I had a drive to get out and do things that had not existed before. I felt like I had a bit of the ‘old me’ that actually wanted to do things back. Also, I was able to make a separate set of friends, which is always refreshing.

I’m not trying to shamelessly scream ‘Join Epigram!’ at the top of my voice, because honestly that is not the point of this article. The main point of this is that it is never too late to join a society and turn your university experience around. Whether it is sport, music, journalism and so forth, find your interest and find the society… you’d be surprised at what could happen.

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teen.

Join clubs and societies

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f you are like me, you will have gone to university with the expectation of it being the best time of your life; we are promised a life of wild parties, countless drunk memories and minimal responsibilities. The prospect of moving away from home, making loads of new friends and finally gaining independence makes university life seem extremely appealing to a rebellious

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I

Sophie Tupper explains the best way to cope with the challenges the new academic year has in store for students starting university

Until you graduate, the ‘that’s it’ signpost that you have created in your head does not actually exist.

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I would hate for this to be one of those ‘it gets better’ stories, because I cannot guarantee that. But yes, in my case, things did get better. I was sat in my bedroom in first year, convinced that I had wasted my year and that was it now. But, until you graduate, the ‘that’s it’ signpost that you have created in your head does not actually exist.

Jasmine Burke Wellbeing Editor

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08.10.2018 epigram / The Croft

7-13 October is OCD Awareness Week

Obsessive compulsive disorder is commonly misunderstood, with three quarters of a million people thought to be living with the condition. Students Nina and Gail share their experiences The struggles of OCD at university

hard to recognise when it cropped up again in my life. The themes were so different and the nature of the compulsions so abstract compared to any symptoms I had experienced before.

Epigram / Luke Unger

I

t is no secret that living with a long-standing mental illness at university is challenging at the best of times. Obsessivecompulsive disorder is no exception to this.

Having OCD is a constant battle between two distinct mindsets: one which torments you with distressing thoughts and images, and one which allows you to act, talk and think like a completely rational human being. Despite an OCD sufferer’s perspective of the world being overwhelmingly tainted by the former, it is the existence of the latter which prevents people from seeing just how ill someone with OCD might really be.

Contrary to popular belief, OCD is essentially extreme fear of uncertainty, whatever the obsessions may be. The thought processes or behavioural patterns are what define the disorder, rather than the content of the thoughts themselves. For instance, somebody can have a preference for cleanliness without thinking the same way as someone with contamination OCD. Also, someone troubled by intrusive sexual or violent OCD thoughts will mirror the same controlling and neutralizing thought processes, despite the content being completely unrelated.

One of the hardest things about living with OCD at university is the secretive nature of the illness. Making friends and living with new people can be difficult if you spend every other minute obsessing about contamination after your toothbrush or food gets unintentionally moved, or beating yourself up for being bombarded with deeply traumatizing thoughts or images. You want to show people you can be yourself - the ‘real’ you that gets squashed by the avoidant nature of this illness - but you also know that you can only push your obsessive thoughts so far before the compulsions take over.

Making friends and living with new people can be difficult if you spend every other minute obsessing about contamination after your toothbrush or food gets unintentionally moved

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Raising awareness amongst students is important because, from my experience, it can often be hard for people to see OCD as an illness. People might assume that these strange beliefs are due to personal preference for organisation; that you simply like things a certain way, dislike eating, socialising, going out or doing anything spontaneously. The worst part is that people might see someone with OCD and assume they are happy with their life as it is. Unfortunately for sufferers, nothing in life can ever be 100 per cent certain, meaning compulsive behaviours often feel like an impossible quest for reassurance, only leading to greater distress.

It is important to remember that fear is not the same as dislike and that, at its core, OCD cannot be understood by the rational mind. Compulsions provide no basis in reality or logic. These irrational thoughts just seem compelling to those who suffer from it and ludicrous to those who do not. I am not in control of my intrusive thoughts and if I was I would most definitely not be opting to watch the same horror film that repeats in my head all day and most nights.

My experience with OCD first emerged as contamination OCD. Due to lack of knowledge, even amongst health professionals, I found my OCD

I am not in control of my intrusive thoughts and if I was I would most definitely not be opting to watch the same horror film that repeats in my head all day and most nights

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I became fixated with confirming that this was not the truth. I spent most of my time wrapped up in my own mind, analysing my own words, thoughts and behaviours over and over. Social interaction became horribly draining because of the amount of time I spent reliving it in my head, analysing, counting and checking.

Soon anything in the media about anyone doing anything immoral led to a sick feeling in my stomach and hours of researching and checking. To me, it was not merely a trigger, but perceived as a sign. It was as if every time I heard about any harmful act, I thought that the person relaying the information was actually talking about me. This led to a never-ending train of thoughts about whether or not I deserved to be punished for the

Why you’re not ‘so OCD’

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CD is a wildly misunderstood mental illness, which is more common than originally thought. OCD is the fourth most prevalent mental health issue after depression, substance misuse and social anxiety, affecting between 1-2% of the population at some point in their lives.

Having suffered from OCD from a young age, I have come across many of the stigmatisations and misconceptions people have made about this mental illness both directly and indirectly. As a result, I have decided to compile a short list of things people commonly assume about OCD in an attempt to break down some of the prejudices.

constant pain knowing way of being 100 per would never harm Epigram / Luke Unger

Due to high levels of stress, my supposedly ‘treated’ disorder crept back into my life in weird and nonsensical ways. My compulsions were seemingly so uncommon so I could not see them for what they were. I started to have intrusive thoughts about bad things happening to people around me, and intense fears that I was going to be unintentionally responsible for harming my loved ones in some way.

same crime. I was in that there was no cent sure that I anyone.

M y distress and feelings of shame were so intense that I developed a norex ia , an illness c o m m o n ly associated with OCD. This seriously affected my ability to work or socialise.

Starvation causes serious mental and physical suffering, but I believed only such a level of punishment could neutralise my intrusive thoughts. There was no obvious way to rid myself of my intrusive thoughts as there had been when I had an irrational fear of germs: this time the fears were about me.

Whilst it is of the utmost importance that people do not belittle the horrifically debilitating nature of this seriously misunderstood disorder, it is also important to stress that over-validation of irrational fears is not in the best interest of an OCD sufferer. OCD’s biggest fear is a sense of safety and contentment, and will always find a reason for why that feeling is wrong. That is not to say that believing this is easy by any means, but if you or someone close to you suffers from OCD it can be helpful to know that these fears are not reflective of reality.

Nina Bryant News Sub-Editor

4. OCD is an adjective One of the most common things I hear on a pretty regular basis is the phrase ‘I’m so OCD’, which almost invariably annoys me greatly. No, you are not ‘so OCD’ because you are tidy and you are certainly not ‘so OCD’ if you like things in a certain order. I have even heard one of my Psychology professors once using OCD in this way. It is paramount to make it clear: OCD is not an adjective and it is not a personality trait. It is a serious and sometimes debilitating mental illness which should not be dismissed as anything else.

5. Everyone is a little bit OCD This one really grinds my gears. Saying ‘I’m a little hay fever’ doesn’t really work, does it? One is not a little bit Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

You either have it, or you don’t.

1. OCD sufferers are just neat freaks It is a well-known fact about me that I am incredibly messy. When I first opened up to a few of my closer friends about my OCD I was met with a slightly perplexed and confused look on their faces, occasionally followed by the words ‘but you’re so messy?’ . I don’t blame them. It is true; for some reason it seems cleanliness and hygiene are what most people associate with OCD. Sure, cleanliness may be a common obsession in OCD sufferers - about one third - but it is far from the only one.

The term ‘neat freak’ also implies it is a personality trait, which to an extent can be controlled. However, OCD sufferers do not choose to experience these obsessions and compulsions.

2. Only women suffer from OCD This is far from the truth. OCD does not discriminate when it comes to gender, race, ethnicity or economic background. Anyone can develop it, with the most common onset being in early teenage years or adulthood.

3. People with OCD may actually be dangerous This may be one of the most distressing misconceptions those with certain types of OCD may experience. People with obsessions surrounding taboo subjects such as violence and sexual deviance may be misinterpreted as therefore being dangerous. In reality, it is more likely they are the opposite of this. The thoughts are incredibly distressing to the sufferer. For many, their worst fears become their obsessions, adding to the debilitating cycle of anxiety which accompanies the thoughts.

Using phrases like this again demeans the experiences of people living with the condition. Of course, most who use this phrase do so with absolutely no negative or malicious intention, and in our daily vocabulary using a mental illness as an adjective has become common. ‘She’s so bipolar’ or ‘she’s clearly psychotic’ are said on a regular basis, but this doesn’t mean it comes without consequences. If we were to use illnesses such as cancer in the same way it would be deeply frowned upon. Mental illness can be just as devastating for the family and the individual involved.

6. OCD sufferers do not know they are being irrational Yes, we do! Though it may be difficult for some to believe, the compulsions and obsession are seen as irrational by the sufferer more often than not. However, it is just not possible to control them, making it a whole lot more frustrating to deal with.

7. You can tell when someone has OCD This is not true. In fact, often it is years between the onset of symptoms to a diagnosis of this disorder. This may be due to many factors such as a sense of shame and fear to talk about how they feel. Personally, it took me seven years to be formally diagnosed from the onset of my symptoms, and none of my friends or family suspected I had it as I hid it so well!

For OCD awareness week, why not educate yourself further? A little knowledge never hurt anyone!

Gail El-Halaby Second Year, Psychology

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08.10.2018 epigram / The Croft

Drinking pressure

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With Freshers’ Week over and many students enduring perpetual hangovers, Deputy Wellbeing Editor Luke Unger discusses the pressure assosciated with the drinking culture at university a group constantly socialising through activities which involve alcohol Epigram / Luke Unger

t is undeniable that there is a huge drinking culture throughout British universities and, unfortunately, Bristol University is no different. This side to university life is especially evident within Freshers’ week.

What should I expect?

-Address it

This is probably the best option to consider first. If you are you confident enough with your flatmates, there is no harm is simply saying ‘hey guys, just to say I’m not a huge drinker / I don’t drink but I’m up for having some fun this Freshers!’. No reasonable human being is going to be angry or weirded out by you for your choice not to drink.

If they do have a problem with it then your choice allows you to filter out unkind and unempathetic people you’d be better off without in your life.

Alcohol has been used as a social lubricant for centuries and, for the most part, has helped people relax and enjoy the company of those around them. However, with the effects of British drinking culture and awkward excitement of Freshers’, many find the first few weeks of university occasion to explore the intricacies of the many pavements, toilets and carpets of Bristol city. Walking down through the Triangle at 3am, with sluggish figures, flashing ambulances, and mayonnaise-smudged faces, the scene can only be described as apocalyptic.

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-Explore places with your flat that do not require copious amounts of alcohol

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For the most part, nights out begin in halls with pre-drinks.

Unfortunately, in this more intimate environment, many feel pressured into drinking ridiculous amounts, often resulting in awkward conversations or consuming drinks you realllllly do not want to drink.

Often these pressures are not directly targeted at you or anyone else.

I think the cliché image is a group surrounding an individual, screaming at them to down a drink or drink something horrible. However, perhaps what is more common is an indirect pressure felt by students. This can be

Are you just a ‘fussy eater?’

Epigram / Marina Afzal-Khan

ARFID is a new diagnosis in the DSM-5, which explains why it is less commonly known. It was previously referred to as ‘Selective Eating Disorder.’ Children who do not outgrow normal picky eating are more likely to develop ARFID. This is because during puberty, appetite and eating flexibility increases. However, in some cases, these children do

Bristol has one of the most diverse nightlife scences in the whole of the UK: one which can easily cater to good old-fashioned sober fun. Some venues really worth investigating, to name a few, are: The Canteen (Located in Stokes Croft), Mr Wolfs, The Old Duke, Chance and Counters (boardgame bar), bowling at the Lanes and the hundreds of restaurants peppering the streets of Bristol.

Then again, nightlife just may not be your thing entirely, and that’s ok. There is a huge selection of societies which don’t revolve around alcohol. Head onto the SU website to have a peruse.

However, at some point, you may indeed find yourself getting ready

not grow out of their narrow range of foods. ARFID involves limitations in the types and amounts of food but does not have anything to do with distress about the way you perceive your body. It is usually to do with the texture, taste and appearance of certain types of foods that may cause the individual to develop feelings of fear, shame and anxiety, especially when trying new food. Some individuals would dress in extra layers to hide their weight loss. It can lead to problems at school, at work and difficulties eating with others.

Epigram / Marina Afzal-Khan

‘Why can’t you just eat it? All you have to do is chew the food and swallow it?’

‘But, it tastes nice!’

‘Why do you always eat the same foods?’

‘There’s hardly anything on your plate!’

Do n’t forget that people around you don’t know you’re not drinking While everyone else around you is telling you and each other you are their best friend, crying into the VK or making greasy love to a doner kebab you can revel in the fact you are completely sober. Comparing yourself to the crowd you, you are a master of conversation, a professional dancer and the wisest person in the room.

What do I do if I can’t hack the night out?

In terms of physical health concerns, this means that individuals may not get all the nutrients or calories that they need due to the restrictive eating, can cause dramatic weight loss and lead to an overall lack of appetite. It has similar physical health consequences to anorexia as it involves an inability to meet nutritional needs such as menstrual irregularities, sleep problems, fainting and dizziness.

I suffered from this through my childhood and adolescence and, although I am getting better, I still have significant struggles eating most food. It can have serious consequences. There is help available and you can speak to the Student Health Service to get more information. When ARFID is more well-known, I hope to see people who suffer from it feel understood by the people around them.

Marina Afzal-Khan Online Wellbeing Editor

Leave. Certainly, tell someone you’re going or leave with someone but leave. These wise words were given to me as I stood disinterestedly in the corner of Lounge at 2 in the morning. If it’s not your thing it never will be, and that’s ok. University is a precious time, with each fantastic second passing far too quickly before your eyes. It should not be wasted being miserable, trying to please people who will not remember the night anyway.

Not drinking or drinking very little at university does not have to be a life sentence. It makes sense that the best memories from your university experience will be the ones you remember. Furthermore, university is full of people who are exactly in the same boat as you, eager to enjoy the amazing experiences Bristol has to offer.

Luke Unger Deputy Wellbeing Editor

Wellbeing calendar wEpigram / Luke Unger

T

he question in the title is something I get asked very frequently. This is because I struggle to eat certain foods. This can cause problems in my everyday life, such as friends feeling that they have to cater to my dietary needs, which are so limited, and therefore affect social situations. In addition, when I am attending events such as formal dinners, as most of my peers may worry about what they will wear, I sit there with the anxiety that is: what if I am not able to eat the food?

If you don’t want to drink a huge amount on the night, try drinking weaker drinks or alternate between a drink and water or a soft drink. This way you can ‘keep up’ with your friends without getting ‘fresher-drunk’.

Epigram / Luke Unger

Walking down through the Triangle at 3am, with sluggish figures, flashing ambulances, and mayonnaise-smudged faces, the scene can only be described as apocalyptic

How can I avoid this if I’m not a big drinker or don’t drink?

to go out to a club or bar in Bristol where people will be drinking heavily.

The question is, ‘how do I get through a night without drinking or drinking very little?’.

National events OCD awareness week- 7-13 October -Raising awareness of Obsesive Compulsive Disorder World Mental Health Day - Wednesday 10 October - World Mental Health Day is presented by the World Federation of Mental Health, with the goal being to raise awareness for mental health and get people talking Stoptober- October -Giving up smoking for a month, making it easier to quit in the long run Wellbeing network events The Wellbeing Network run regular events to help with mental health and wellbeing! Feel free to go along to any of them...

Committee nominations open - 8-14 October Committee elections - 15-19 October Coffee morning at the Botanic Garden - Sunday 14 October Mindfest - Sunday 21 October A mental health and wellbeing festival taking place at the Anson rooms

Editor Hope Riley

Deputy Editor Imogen Rogers

Online Editor

epigram / The Croft 08.10.2018

Josie Roberts

Epigram Living Section 2018-19

Aunt Aggie: ‘How do I go on seeing him in the ASS without going absolutely beetroot?’

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Its 2018, for Pete’s sake! Tell it like it is!

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And what did I go and do? I told him I’d seen him every dayfor a year in the ASS and that I thought him attractive’

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Dissertation planning got you down? Or is one of your flatmates grinding your gears? Aunt Aggie is BACK to answer all your problems, however big or small.

Get in touch with us at livingteam.epigram@gmail.com, or submit your problem on our Facebook group: Epigram Living Section 2018-19.

All submissions will be published anonymously.

The inevitable arrival of freshers’ flu You’re not alone - Online Living Editor Josie Roberts offers her advice on surviving the annual bout of freshers’ flu #selfcare

F

reshers’ week – the adrenaline of meeting new people, being independent for the first time, a full bank account to play with and loads of events to go to… is now over. What happens next? Lectures?

Seminars? Library trips? Hold on a second! Because now comes the stage that no one tells you about before you come to university… Freshers’ Flu is here.

Say hello to the week of a symphony of coughing throughout your lectures, calling home asking whether it is advisable to use Lemsip pills or sachets, and your flatmates walking around in dressing gowns sniffling along with their piping hot soups and saying they feel awful every two minutes. If you get it, you feel gross, and if you’re lucky enough to feel healthy, you feel bombarded by student zombies.

flat drinking sessions get crazier. The fun isn’t going to suddenly leave without you if you decide to have a night off. I did 10 days straight of going out when I came to Bristol and I felt so exhausted by the end of it that I got really unwell. Have a night off now and again to relax, watch Netflix, call your mates from home and have an early night. You feeling awful will only get worse if you don’t.

Sleep!

Epigram/ Josie Roberts

What is Freshers’ Flu? How do you beat Freshers’ Flu? Some say it is a myth, others say it is fiction. I say it is a combination of both. Not an actual virus, Freshers’ Flu is a fusion of a heavy hangover, exhaustion and your body getting used to germs from all over the country. If you think about it, Freshers’ Week is the coming together of thousands of people (both freshers and returners) from all over the country and world. All these people will bring the germs of their towns and beyond (think trains, planes and petrol stations) into Bristol. Please don’t panic when you read the above, Freshers’ Flu is real but it isn’t lethal; it just requires a lot of time, love and care.

Hydration Keeping hydrated is the key to staying healthy. Drinking water when you are at your normal health regulates the temperature of your body, helps transport nutrients to keep you healthy and gives you energy. So when you’re feeling under the weather, staying hydrated is key. If you don’t, you’re going to feel even worse. Have a night off - More often than not, Freshers’ Week doesn’t finish at the end of the week. Club nights continue, sports nights start and

I know any non-student reading this will be thinking that all students do is sleep and go out but when you don’t feel so good, sleep and rest is the best way for your body to recover. So put some arnica on those bruises you got from falling down the stairs at Thekla and rest.

Stock up Get yourself a box and fill it with hydration sachets, paracetamol, ibuprofen, Lemsip, Strepsils, whatever floats your boat and makes you feel better. Vitamins are also a must - I know there is technically a tomato base on those Dominoes you ordered every single evening last week, but I think you need a bit of a boost. It will really help in both the long term and short term, even if you’re not unwell yet. The first few weeks of term are always tumultuous and new and its even worse when you’re unwell! So try to be mindful and follow my advice or come up with your own coping mechanisms. Help each other out over the next few weeks so you can have the most fun possible in your first term at Bristol University!

Josie Roberts Online Living Editor

22

08.10.2018 epigram / The Croft

Hello Epigram, welcome to my crib...

Epigram/ Laila Freeman

Fairy lights - Primark, £4 it from Etsy for a fraction of the price. She also recommends the photo printing app freeprints.co.uk for cheap, good quality photos. You receive 45 free prints a month – only having to pay for postage- and so you can bring some of your home life to uni. But do not empty your home bedroom of decorations, Laila warns. Make sure you have a personal space both at home and at university to avoid feeling out of place!

Think your house is worthy of appearing in Epigram Living? Send your photos to livingteam.epigram@gmail.com for a chance to feature in the next issue!

Imogen Rogers Deputy Living Editor

Epigram/ Laila Freeman

E

pigram Living want to share the best decorated rooms and houses from throughout the student population. We start off in the bedroom of Food Editor Laila Freeman. Describing her room as peaceful and homely with a hint of ‘groovy’, Laila offered us her top tips to decorating your bedroom. Firstly, get inspiration from expensive shops or websites such as Pinterest and Instagram, before turning to charity shops or bargain stores such as Wilko to find cheaper alternatives. The wire notice board was first seen on the Urban Outfitters website, but Laila was able to purchase

Epigram/ Laila Freeman

Epigram/ Laila Freeman

Noticeboard - Etsy, £9.50

Photo prints - freeprints.co.uk, 9p per print

10 tips your Freshers’ guide forgot to mention Congratulations on securing a place at the University of Bristol, despite questionable student satisfaction rates and incessant rainfall, it continues to be one of the most sought after universities on which to spend the extortionate higher education fee!

Here are some things to keep in mind: 1.

Prepare to be asked what school you went to and/ or where in London you are from. (If you are from a “well-known” school, shall we say, and/ or have a house in London- perhaps consult a map of the UK before asking what anything beyond Surrey is.)

them is to join one of the many societies - Epigram, perhaps - play a sport or approach them in person with a phrase such as, ‘hello’.

4.

For those short-legged such as myself, get used to a regular and deep-seated hill lunge on the ascent to your lectures.

2.

The stereotype of dressing like a Bristol student has evolved into a joke that literally encompasses all clothing styles so try to ignore it. If someone has the same second-hand, gem-encrusted denim flares as you then that could be a sweet conversation starter.

5.

Your degree should come with a footnote of unspoken rules regarding where you can and cannot work. For example, the ASS (Arts and Social Sciences library for Arts and Social Sciences students) can get quite Lord of The Flies when you are searching for a free seat. If you are spotted size-ordering your test tubes or using a calculator, you will receive a judgemental glare.

3.

There are lots of students who reside outside of the conveniently located Stoke Bishop campus, so the way to meet

6.

The gastronomic scene in Bristol is rather exceptional. I would recommend spending less on £20+ tickets for “nights” at Motion

and more out for dinner with your friends because there is something (delicious) for everyone, on most streets, in most areas.

7.

There is a wide variety of music, ranging from disco to techno to jazz, in venues ranging from huge warehouses to basement bars to pizza restaurants. It goes without saying that the top 40 is also spoken for in a variety of locations.

8.

There always seems to be someone writing a play, producing a short film or launching an app alongside their degree. It is an exciting atmosphere to be part of when you are surrounded by so many proactive and talented people. Who knows, maybe one day they can hire you to pick up their dry cleaning!

9.

Surprisingly, what your overpriced Freshers’ wristband doesn’t tell you is that Bristol is an amazing hub of culture. There is always something going on and Epigram will (try to) keep you informed!

10.

Remember to enjoy yourself and take this list of pointers with a handful of Himalayan pink salt.

Nikki Peach Deputy Editor

Editor Laila Freeman @lunchingwithlaila

epigram / The Croft 08.10.18

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Olivia Critoph

Nicole Abou-Abdallah

Epigram Food 2018-19

@epigram_food

A new diet for a new year

I

SashaBest,explainswhysheisadoptingapaleodietthisyearandhowotherstudentscandothesame.

t is thought that Freshers tend to gain 15lbs by the end of first year, hence the term, “Fresher’s Fifteen”. The killer kilogram loader of high alcohol and carbohydrate intake can have heavy consequences when it is turned into a daily routine. This seems to be a both unfair and unavoidable outcome when waterfalls of alcohol are consumed in return for a hysterically good night, and the cheapest food on supermarket shelves (or takeaways) always seem to have an unnaturally high carb content.

Now that I am in my fourth year, I have decided to take my health more seriously and spend time reading aboout what our bodies really need to function properly and efficiently. Aside from plenty of exercise and sleep, diet is most important. An old fitness adage is that ‘abs are made in the kitchen’ and I have found that to be true although I am still searching for the abs themselves.

It has been stressed enough through education that any eating pattern must provide balance, variety and moderation from a nutritional standpoint. It must meet the special nutrient needs that arise during all stages of the life cycle and should reduce risks of diet-related diseases. This is easier said than done.

There are many sources which would tell you that fat and especially meat is the cause of all your problems, but switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet is not necessarily the answer to weight loss unless carefully planned. To name a few deficiencies that can result from cutting out meat: vitamin B12, riboflavin, calcium, iron, lysine and methionine and zinc. Many of these vitamins and minerals are found in animal products and if sufficient effort is not made to supplement them, these diets can pose harm rather than good.

Another danger of drastic diets is the insufficient energy intake, which can lead to unexpected dramatic weight gain. If energy needs are not met, body proteins will be broken down for energy. You may even develop a slowed metabolism as your body enters “starvation mode” which is a common cause for cravings and weight rebound after the diet is finished.

Through long consideration, I have decided upon my own adapted version of the Paleo diet. The key to this diet is to eat foods that could once be obtained by hunting and gathering: that is meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I don’t strictly stick to this diet since I am a lover of dairy products, which are to be avoided along with grains, legumes and highly processed foods. The overriding benefits of this kind of diet are plentiful, notably easier weight loss, better appetite management, blood sugar management and lowering blood pressure.

Epigram / Laila Freeman

I like the simplicity of this diet and its focus on protein, a nutrient that is often forgotten about. Protein performs so many of our bodily functions including the replication and repair of DNA. According to research performed by a host of universities, protein intake should be between 1.3 and 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day which the average person does not abide to. What may be surprising is that you need more protein in the case of dieting and weight loss.

Here is my advice for a better and healthier you: Eat High Protein but Low Carb – stick to a simple diet where you are not calorie counting. This is not a dramatic diet and you will not be overwhelmed by its complexity. Increase your consumption of protein with lean meats, fish, eggs and Greek Yoghurt along with salads and vegetables. A side benefit of eating foods with these

natural proteins is that you will also get plenty of healthy fats vital for hormone synthesis and tissue regeneration.

Do not forget that a high fat and protein diet increases your metabolic rate and tames your hunger. You will be fuller and more satisfied for longer. If I have breakfast at 10 or 11am, I can snack on a handful of nuts and not be hungry until dinner.

Save money by cutting down on alcohol (after Freshers’ Week of course) and shopping from the clearance items. Eating high protein can be expensive, but so is drinking, so buy fewer pints for a leaner and cleaner body. You can often find bargains in the supermarkets when items are reduced in the evenings. If it expires that day or the next, cook it up straight away or freeze it. Despite the expense of high protein food, in the long term you will benefit. Your body is a temple so treat it like one instead of trashing it with cheap carb heavy food.

Discipline plays a huge part in maintaining a healthy diet, it is very easy to lapse and find that you have overdosed on carbs and beer feeling bloated and regretful the morning after. Walking around in an oversized hoodie and baggie tracksuit bottoms will not help anyone.

To vegetarians - of course, animal protein can be replaced by vegetarian protein, but in this case, it needs to be paired with other foods to ensure bioavailability of the indispensable vitamins and minerals. Pair legumes - beans, peas, lentils - with grains, nuts/ seeds to get the limiting amino acids in one food group or another in the form of kidney beans and rice, or lentil soup with a peanutsesame seed mix.

Eating properly is hugely important, it stabilises your insulin and hormone levels, keeping you at peak performance as well as helping your mood during the stressful times ahead. Though this diet may not work for everyone, it can be a starting block for those wishing to explore the right diet for their body. Everyone is different, and everyones needs are different, but we are all human and we can strive to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.

Good luck Freshers and all!

Sasha Best

Fourth Year French and Russian

Recipe: Parma Chicken Ham Parcels Online Food Editor, Nicole AA, sharesaneasyrecipethatissuretoimpress.

Time to cook: 60 mins Serves: 2 What you will need: •2 chicken breasts •1 tub of cream cheese (any type) •2 sheets of Parma ham •1 leek •1 punnet of plum tomatoes •½ a head of broccoli •3 potatoes •4 tablespoons olive oil •Italian herb seasoning

Epigram / Nicole Abou-Abdallahn

H

ere is a 2-tray easy recipe, which you can whip out on a Friday night as a treat for getting through the week! Use this to impress your mates, or even yourself, by following a few simple steps.

Method: 1.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius and prepare 2 baking trays.

2. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Boil on the hob for 10 minutes until only the outside begins to soften.

Drain and toss in the pot so that the potatoes begin to crumble on the surface.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Place the potatoes in a tray and cover in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the potatoes begin to roast, butterfly the chicken breasts and spread 1/3rd of the cream cheese tub into the chicken and re-fold.

Wrap the chicken breasts with a slice of Parma ham and place on the tray.

Slice leeks into discs, half the plum tomatoes, and cut off the broccoli florets and place around the chicken breasts in the same tray.

Season all the chicken and vegetables with the remaining oil, Italian herbs and salt.

Place the tray of chicken and vegetables in the oven. Here, the potatoes should have been in for 20 minutes. Turn the potatoes over and place back in to the oven.

Allow everything to cook for a further 20 minutes.

Serve and add pepper to taste

Nicole Abou-Abdallah

Online Food Editor

08.10.18 epigram / The Croft

25

Eating out while staying in: Bristol’s best takeaways Deputy Living Editor, Imogen Rogers, sharesherfavouritetakeawaysinBristol.

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Burgers; Predominantly a sit-down restaurant, Atomic Burger situated on Gloucester Road- is out of the way for many students.

Although I recommend paying a visit to this unique pop-culture style restaurant, they have recently started offering takeaways on Deliveroo, so you can enjoy their incredible burgers at home. With a choice of beef, chicken or vegetarian you can then customise your burger to your taste, from traditional toppings such as cheddar or bacon to more novel additions like onion bhajis or hash browns. They also offer a huge range of milkshakes, which are well worth the try if you have the appetite.

hinese; After Hotcha was closed down following the discovery of their 35-million-pound money laundering operation, havoc hit in the student body, as many students had to find their new favourite Chinese takeaway. Following the recommendation of a local friend, Chan’s Chow became the preferred takeaway in my student house. It caters well for people with dietary requirements and boasts an excellent range of vegeatrian options. With a larger and more exciting menu than Hotcha ever boasted, Chan’s Chow is quick, cheap and comes with the added bonus of having a good-looking delivery boy.

Atomicburger.co.uk

Indian; The best Indian takeaway for the Bristol student is undoubtedly Chai Pani, which is super conveniently located on Cotham Hill. A favourite for student socials, their £10 deal includes any classic curry dish, any rice and a naan for just £10 and they operate a bring your own drinks policy. However, they also deliver, or offer an alluring up to 30% discount for collecting the takeaway yourself. However, if you are looking for a fresh and healthy Indian takeaway - that is not constantly swarmed with students - then I have recently discovered Tiffins on St Michael’s Hill. Serving Gujarati vegetarian and vegan curries, this small takeaway restaurant receives constant praise and recognition from locals and students alike. The food is designed to be taken away and re-heated later on, and they serve it in large plastic Tupperwares, but it can be purchased hot and ready to eat if you prefer.

Chaipanibristol.co.uk Tiffins-bristol.com

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Chanschow.123eat.co.uk

Pizza; Forget dominoes and turn to Pizzarova to satisfy your pizza needs. With three restaurants around Bristol – Gloucester Road, Park Street and Wapping Wharf- they are in close proximity to all the student living areas. They are a lot less greasy than other takeaway pizzas and are surprisingly inexpensive. Their speciality sour dough adds a great spin to the taste of the traditional favourites, and they also offer options such as gluten-free bases or vegan cheese.

Desserts; As winner of the “Best Cakes” Bristol Good Food Award in 2016, is there a better place to get a takeaway dessert than Pinkmans bakery? Although subject to availability, Pinkmans Deliveroo options include breakfast pastries, their famous Sour-dough-nuts and a collection of cakes including vegan and gluten free options. If ice-cream is more your thing, then Swoon also on Park Street, offers a Deliveroo service for their delicious ice-creams and sorbets, but order at your own risk - ice-cream melts!

Pinkmans.co.uk Swoononaspoon.co.uk

Imogen Rogers

Deputy Living Editor

pizzarova.com

Eating with the seasons: why and how to do it As autumn sets in, Food Editor, Laila Freeman, reviews the reasons for choosing to eat seasonally.

What is seasonal eating?

W

hilst it is easy to dismiss the seemingly constant new diet ‘trends’ in recent years, seasonal eating is not about eradicating or restricting any particular foods or food groups. Instead, seasonal eating simply involves focusing on consuming foods that are ‘in season’ at the time. This is something that earlier societies would never have thought twice about, as it is all that would have been available, but technological advances have meant that, for us in Britain, most food is now available all year round. This is, of course, a luxury that we should not overlook, however nor should we overlook the benefits of being aware of when certain foods are in season, and subsequently in incorporating this knowledge into our diets.

consumption of water based fruits such as cucumbers and melon in the summer, help fight dehydration, whereas hearty root vegetables are perfect in autumn.

Financial benefits of seasonal eating

cost of the produce itself, as will the use of chemicals and fertilisers, which are used to keep the foods fresh.

If the health benefits of seasonal eating are not compelling enough for you - after all, all diets are going to claim to hold health benefits - then the financial savings that eating seasonally can bring should be enough to entice each and every student. Indeed, when foods are in season, they tend to be priced more cheaply than foods that are out of season, which makes sense considering that when farmers in Britain are easily producing in season foods in large qualities.

However, when foods are out of season, they are often exported from further afield, and these transport costs will, in turn, raise the

Seasonal eating mostly involves eating foods that are being produced at the time in your country of residence. Whilst our ability to import food may often seem necessary, or at least desirable, it is important not to disregard the fact that this happens at a considerable environmental cost. The idea of reducing ‘food miles’ which is how far your food has travelled from where it was produced - has gained considerable weight recently, and seasonal eating generally tends to reduce these miles. By reducing the distance travelled, the consumption of finite resources required to transport foods is also reduced, as is the massive amounts of pollution that food transportation causes.

Environmental benefits of seasonal eating

Seasonal eating in autumn

Simply, seasonal eating involves eating food when it is at its optimum nutrition levels. Fresh fruit and vegetables are allowed to fully grow and develop and are given more exposure to the sun, which increases antioxidants which are thought to prevent cell damage. Furthermore, they are less likely to be sprayed with all the pesticides that are required to grow fruit and vegetables to full size quickly or out of season. In addition to the amount of ‘goodness’ in fresh produce, or the lack thereof of chemicals, seasonal eating is also thought to benefit our body by equipping our bodies with what they need to conquer specific seasons. For example, the

Convinced by the benefits of season al eating but not sure how to get started? Here are some seasonal eats for September to November.

The obvious one is root vegetables and the typical ‘autumn’ flavours - think pumpkin, butternut squash, parsnips, turnips and potatoes.

In addition to this, fruits such as apples and blackberries, and green vegetables like sprouts, cabbage, kale and spinach are also perfect for this season.

Epigram / Laila Freeman

Health benefits of seasonal eating

Laila Freeman

Food Editor

Epigram / The Croft 08.10.18

26

Bristol student sets up vegan ready meal company ScienceEditor,BethHarris interviewsThirdYearMechanicalEngineeringstudentabouthisfoodtechstartup:Abon So, what is Abon and what are the products?

For me, there is a lack of balance, you either have to invest a lot of time into cooking vegan food, or you invest little time and end up with a limited selection of vegan ready meals and do not eat a very healthy, nutritious diet. This is where Abon comes in. However, making the product vegan is also beneficial for the environment, something which I am very passionate about. Even cutting meat for your diet a couple of times a week could go a long way.

”

How successful have you been so far?

Considering the business launched over the summer with few students in Bristol, I am delighted with the progress so far. We have got some excellent feedback allowing the business to continue to improve.

What support have you received from the University?

I have received a huge amount of support and have been lucky enough to get a couple of grants. A university run new enterprise competition gave me some funding at the start of the summer along with access to shared office space at the centre for innovation and introduced me to a mentor. They have been superb!

Epigram / Jane Cowie

It is very important that everything we do is clean and green.

Epigram / Jane Cowie

Abon (a bag of nutrition) is a food technology start-up company making a product that is super convenient, super cheap and super healthy. The products are vegan, frozen vacuum sachets of either superfood pesto or roast veg curry, both of which can be added to boiling water containing rice or pasta. Simply drop the sachet into boiling water in the last 3 minutes of cooking pasta or rice. In that time the bags will defrost and heat up. As each sachet is a sealed Where do you see the future of veganism going? unit, no moisture is lost, and the bright and zingy flavour profile is maintained. This method of preparation is unique and is why I beThere are currently over 540,000 vegans in the UK. This has gone lieve these products are less compromised than anything currently up by 360% in the last 10 years and I only see this accelerating! Moavailable. tivations to become vegan are on the increase as not only are there significant health benefits but people are beginning to care more Why did you choose to make the products vegan? and more about the environmental impacts of meat production and the importance of animal welfare. As a vegan company I recognise Personally, I have found that the current offerings for vegans that we have a social responsibility beyond the ingredients we put are pretty poor and uninspiring. I have tried to be vegan myself on into the food. It is very important that everything we do is clean several occasions but have always failed due to a lack of provision. and green. For example, we have spent a lot of time working on the packaging making sure that it stands out on the shelf, is recyclable and as minimal as possible.

Months later I found the bag and thought; rather than thawing it, I would put the whole bag into the boiling pasta water.

The plastic melted and it was a horrendous mess. However, it sparked the imagination for Abon. Most student start-ups are degree spin outs which have come through their degree.

Abon has happened by accident which makes it all the more interesting!

Have you received any support from outside of the University?

”

Who do you see being Abon’s biggest target market?

Epigram / Beth Harris

I anticipate that the biggest market will be students. A lot of students sacrifice nutrition and a healthy diet in favour of value and convenience. Despite being abhorrent, pot noodles are a student staple! What Abon offers will help people who lack the time, money, skill or inclination to make a nutritious meal.

How did you come up with the idea for the business?

By accident! Whilst I have always been an enthusiastic chef I didn’t plan to start a food tech company. I made too much pasta sauce one day and put it in a ziplock freezer bag for another time.

I applied to the Natwest Pre-accelerator scheme, an intensive eight-week programme for early stage businesses, over the summer and got accepted. It starts on the 24th September and runs up to the beginning of October. This will provide me with coaching and mentorship, giving me the skills to allow Abon to progress.

James is currently delivering Abon to a small radius within the centre of Bristol but is soon hoping to see the products being stocked in supermarkets. You can order the products through the website: abon.xyz

Beth Harris

Science Editor

T

Epigram / Jane Cowie

Recipe: super greens risotto Cravingsomethingwarm?DeputyFood Editor,OliviaCritoph,sharesherrisottorecipe

his easy recipes is cheap, very filling and delicious! A great meal to cook on mass, allowing you to save it for other meals or have a lovely dinner party. To mix it up, you can swap in the vegetables, for example I often swap out the spinach for asparagus!

Ingredients:

Method:

Olivia Critoph

Flickr: rpavich

1. Finely chop your onion then splash some olive oil in a frying pan, and once it is hot add the onions. Cook the onions on a low heat for about 15 minutes until they turn golden.

2. While the onions are cooking finely chop your mushrooms, and crush your garlic. After the onions have been cooking for around 10 minutes, add the garlic and mushrooms, and cook them altogether for a further 5 minutes.

3. Roast the pine nuts by putting them in a baking tray with a splash of olive oil, shake them around as to spread out the oil, and put in a preheated oven of around 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes. Once they have gone golden/brown take them out of the oven and crush them.

4. Once the garlic, onion and mushrooms are cooked add your rice to the pan and stir continuously for 2 minutes as to let the rice absorb the oils.

5. Slowly start adding the stock to the rice, around a ladle at a time. Once the rice has absorbed the stock add another

ladle.

6. Once half the stock has been absorbed, add the remaining vegetables. Then continue to add the stock.

7. Once the rice is soft, stop adding stock and mix in the parmesan, a sprinkling of chilli flakes, the crushed pine nuts, butter and salt and pepper. Stir them into the risotto until the butter has melted.

8. To serve in style, sprinkle some chopped parsley on top of the risotto!

Epigram / Laila Freeman

olive oil 1 white onion 2 cloves of garlic 1 packet of button mushrooms 50g pine nuts 1.5 cups of arborio rice 6 cups of vegetable stock 1 packet of spinach 1 cup of peas a knob of butter salt and pepper parsley

parmesan chili flakes

Deputy Food Editor

Editor India Harrison-Peppe

Deputy Editor Jemima Carr-Jones

Online Editor Ruby Gleeson

@epigramstyle

@e2style

Epigram / The Croft 8.10.18

Epigram Style 2018/19

Dior to your door: Hire Street uncovered Style’s Deputy Editor Jemima Carr-Jones lets you in on how to wear designer brands for a fraction of Spotted! their retail price

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At the Fresher’s Fair

orget forking out for an expensive dress you’ll probably only wear to that one party, ball, prom, date or wedding, and consider getting clued up about hirestreet.com. This website allows you to select an outfit and hire it for ten days at a fraction of the retail price. Interested? I thought so. The founders of the company say their goal is to ‘enable customers to save money for the important things in life: travel, fun and adventure’. The website emphasises that memories are more valuable than materialism, but equally the understanding that a new outfit can have a huge impact on self-confidence: ‘Hirestreet girls are empowered with the freedom to have the looks they love, whilst also being able to save for the important things in life.’ And it is so easy; all cleaning is taken care of by Hire Street - when you are finished with the outfit you drop it at any nearby Hermes collection point, simple as. Customers can reserve pieces up to a year in advance, and although deliveries are non-refundable, exchanges can be made.

Isobel wears belt from Off White, Balenciaga Shoes. Dickies Trousers and a Zara Turtleneck. Watch out for the style editors and wear your trendiest clothes for a chance to be featured next issue. To see some of our other favourites from the fair, follow us on Instagram at @Epigramstyle

Epigram / India Peppe

Instagram / @_ratandboa_

The company launched in May 2018, and currently have plans to expand depending on the success and feedback they receive in the coming year. However, this could well be one direction online retail fashion takes in the future on a much grander scale. With concerns growing about the value of unused clothing in wardrobes - estimated £30 billion per annum - and that going into landfills - estimated £140 million per annum -, this may prove to be a more sustainable way of obtaining the look you want for less. Could we be on the brink of a fashion revolution that sees a halt in the standard gradually amassing great collections of clothing - one can’t possibly wear more than a handful of times - in favour of a jazzy new borrowing scheme?

Jemima Carr-Jones Style Deputy Editor

Get the Autumn look Style Sub-Editor Laura Mallinson advises you on what to wear during this Autumn Season

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he air is crisp, the leaves are changing, and the smell of pumpkin spice is in the air. The cosiest season is officially upon us, and its colour pallet is hitting the high street.

The fashion world fully embraces the natural warmth of autumnal change as an explosion of rusty swing skirts, golden accessories and oaty jumpers effortlessly mimic the transforming foliage. Soon, we’ll all be colour matching our cardies with the trees in Brandon Hill for the perfect backdrop for an October candid; mother nature’s colour palette is a clear winner and a huge source of inspiration for the fashion world. Thankfully, bringing the natural warmth of autumnal colours in line with this season’s fashion trends is a surprisingly easy task, as many standout style items of A/W18 incorporate cosy colours; and luckily for us students, they’re also easily found in charity and second-hand shops, keeping both our

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Epigram / India Peppe

Tweed isn’t just for Geography Teachers

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wardrobes and our wallets full this term. So, with one eye on Vogue and the other on our second-hand shops, I’ve pulled together some easy ways to bring the joy of autumn styling into your wardrobe: The underdog that is mustard yellow is undoubtedly making a

resurgence this Season. This shade has been popping up all over the high street and is the perfect compliment to your day-to-day styling.

It’s also ideal for colour blocking –which is definitely making its way back into fashion – as the late golden hour will make the deep yellow pop. Add gold jewellery and a berry lip into the mix, and you’ve got yourself a colour combination which oozes autumnal vibes. For a strong colour base, look no further than the return of the 70s brown.

You might think that it’s a colour reserved for geriatrics, but this chocolate tone is ideal for pairing with rusty oranges and our all-time favourite: leopard print. I popped into Park Street ‘The Vintage Thrift Store’ and found a gorgeous 70s brown chord pinafore, which could be a key piece for layering this seasons colours. With the potential to mix in fun animal prints, you’ve got yourself a very on-trend look with minimal effort or expense.

For both girls and guys, bringing the catwalk’s love of tweed into the autumn chill is another easy A/W fashion win; that’s right, tweed isn’t just for geography teachers. This classy piece will instantly level up your look – even when paired with simple jeans and a T. A long tweed coat will give you an element of pizzazz, but won’t necessarily break the bank if you look in the right charity shops. This classy piece will not only keep you comfortably toasty but will bring the warmth of darker autumnal hues- perhaps paired with a rouge scarf for a spicy hit or swishing alongside some delicate winter florals, it makes the perfect wardrobe essential for your transition from summer to autumn.

Laura Mallinson Style Sub-Editor

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8.10.18 Epigram / The Croft

New role models- how fashion’s latest must-have is being ‘#woke’

Style Editor India Harrison Peppe discusses how social media usage has made models more important to society than they have ever been before

However, the model ‘off duty’ is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Once, only idolised for their unique beauty, these elusive creatures have now evaporated into the ether and are replaced by a host of beautiful women who have moved beyond the realm of the aesthetical and into that of activism. Female models are speaking out on some of the most topical issues in current affairs to date: but not everyone’s happy about it. It’s a trajectory that is pretty unsurprising, and one that is indebted to our generation’s fixational use of social media. Instagram has been a revelation for those of us who are selfproclaimed ‘stalkers’, digging as deep as we possibly can into the lives of those we aspire to be. With platforms like Instagram, the model ‘off duty’ has disappeared. There is a marketing strategy to it now that is engendered by these sites; these women must promote themselves in such a way that we wholeheartedly invest ourselves in their lives.

In an industry where being quizzed on followers is protocol to being picked up by an agency, it’s heartbreakingly apparent that having an audience is now a pre-requisite for success; how they then use these platforms is imperative to the longevity of it.

Being a model is no longer the end goal- it’s a certified pathway to bigger and better things

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It is a sad state of affairs when people feel the need to devalue model activism, merely because we cannot accept that they are as entitled as the next person to have an opinion on the current state of our world. However, it is true that their choice to speak out does not detract from the fact that many of these women are speaking from places of privilege. They generally come from financial success, from a position of which speaking out on political and social issues does not threaten their livelihood nor, more importantly, their lives for that matter. Yet, if the majority of these women have followings within the hundreds of thousands, if not more, why not use this space for a worthy cause?

Jameela Jamil’s recent attack of the company ‘Flat Tummy Co’ has provoked this particular kind of debate online. It seems that ‘internet trolls’ have a tough time bringing themselves to hear the opinion of those in the public eye simply because they do not represent the ‘everyman’ -or ‘everywoman’ in this case-. With social media meaning that we now have Big-Brother-esque access to the insand-outs of everyone’s lives, it seems that the public feels it can only side with the opinion of those they find most relatable, excluding the voice of those that are unlike them. This is a new-fangled type of discrimination. In the example below, we have an Instagram user stating that she finds it ‘hard to accept an opinion’ from Jamil, simply because she is a slender and beautiful woman. It transpires

that we are now in the position where we choose to silence those whose success and beauty we find intimidating. Please find another gripe; the cult of celebrity exists, now more than ever, and it is not going away overnight. When voicing these concerns about young women’s exposure to unrealistic beauty standards, I urge people to consider that it is often the models that you are attacking who are criticising said expectations, as Jamil is managing to prove.

It is ignorant to assume that every movement made in the modelling industry is positive, and it’s clear that media coverage of unrealistic beauty standards is at the core of a lot of sadness and low self-esteem felt by society today. However, I propose that we dismiss our debilitating cynicism and see this opportunity for what it is. This change in the modelling industry means that for a group of women whose power already exists, they can influence the masses that currently dedicate their time and energy to them. The role of a model is assimilating into something else, something that is potentially more productive. This transformation has signalled the importance to redefine what activism means. It does not have to be an all-encompassing term that isolates anyone who does not fit a particular ‘social justice warrior stereotype’. Instead, it is the instinct to make things better, no matter how small and how large that may be. Over the last two decades, fixation on models has not dissipated. The question we must then ask ourselves: what is more productive? To condemn those who are having an effect on our society, or to embrace the ‘cult of the model’ and simply thank our lucky stars that the large majority are not advocating the use of appetite suppressant lollipops (cough-cough, we’re looking at you, Kim Kardashian). So, if ‘having a voice is what it is about at the moment’, as Hailey Baldwin put in a recent interview published by Vogue, then let’s roll with the punches - out with the old and in with the new- activism is, after all, the new black.

India Harrison Peppe Style Editor

Instagram / @GurlsTalk

Enter in the ‘woke’ model: a gaggle of entrepreneurs, writers, feminists and animal activists. Being a model is no longer the end goal - it’s a certified pathway to bigger and better things, and these women are making real change. Adwoa Aboah and Cara Delevigne, for instance, have both opened up recently about their experiences with addiction and depression. Edie Campbell has written an

open letter condemning model abuse in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations, and Cameron Russel created the hashtag #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse in an attempt to encourage women to talk out against misconduct experienced in the industry. It’s a story of social media success. The outlets chastised for making people feel worse about themselves are beginning to be seen as a method through which change can be brought about - a stepping stone on the road to a better world. Where value was once deducted by hip measurements and the symmetry of a face, these women are now assessed by their ability to champion change. We are witness to another gender stereotype being demolished in the realisation that - shock horror - it is indeed possible for women to be both beautiful and intelligent.

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can do anything you want me to do so long as I don’t have to speak.’ Sounding more like a line from 50 shades of grey, this is a direct quote from supermodel Linda Evangelista.

You might, like me, read a statement like this and squirm. In an era of Jameela Jamils’, Lena Dunham’s, Michelle Obama’s and Caitlyn Moran’s, we are constantly hearing from multifaceted, career driven, empowered women. So much so, that a statement so unapologetically submissive seems almost perverted; especially considering the context of our current zeitgeist ‘callout’ culture condemning anyone not sufficiently ‘woke’. You can’t, however, condemn Evangelista for her passivity: this is what society once expected of models. The nineties golden age of modelling was an era where such women were seen everywhere and heard nowhere. In their heyday, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss were icons for a generation that prided itself on unabashed hedonism and cool Brittania glamour and apart from the occasional controversial quote - ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ -, they were slaves to the motto ‘never complain, never explain’. PC to them meant personal chef.

Editors’ picks Style Deputy Editor Jemima says...

Boots

Urban Outfitters’ new astrology necklace.

Count your lucky stars- the hip high street store have just released this layered charm necklace in all ten signs of the zodiac. Both Capricorns and Cancers will rejoice in this constellation recommendation, whether you’re a Scorpio or a Sagittarius, Urban Outfitters has you covered this season. Even sceptics will agree, layering necklaces is so in right now- and what better way to join the trend?

(Urban Outfitters, £16)

Urban Outfitters

Having long hair results in split ends which, if left unattended to, can very quickly look far from glam. I trawled through endless lists of top ten recommended hair care products, from the expensive and organic to the somewhat cheaper. Finally, I decided on this hair mask,- it is both affordable and phenomenally effective - no exaggeration. Use it around once a week, and it will give your hair such a brilliant lift, leaving you with instant silky and healthy looking locks. Trust me; this product is the only reason my hair looks nice - Tresemme can only take a girl so far. TIGI Catwalk Oatmeal and Honey Intense Nourishing Mask, (Boots, £10)

Online Editor Ruby Gleeson loves...

Editor Amelia Edgell-Cole

Deputy Editor Rachel Evans

@EpigramTravel

The darker side of voluntourism

epigram / The Croft 08.10.2018 Online Editor Amelia Shoebridge

@epigram_travel

How to travel with friends (and still like each other by the end)

Evy Tang argues voluntourism benefits the ego of Westerners more than providing aid

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Jasmine Burke gives us her guidance for venturing abroad with others

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hether it’s The Hangover, Girls Trip or Sex in The City 2, we have all seen versions of group holidays in one way or another.

However, they never turn out quite as glamorous – or in some cases, insanely messy – as the movies depict. In fact, if you are not careful, you can end up broke, angry and resentful of the people you once called friends.

Don’t worry though, you are not solely to blame for this Western phenomenon of going into the ‘other world’ to see how ‘poor people’ live. This twisted tradition dates back hundreds of years and was a key feature of the Imperial age - an age which considered the white man superior, with those ‘beneath’ needing this ruling figure and ‘civilising’ influence.

I have travelled with my friends in various combinations now, from groups as small as four to as big as nine. They all had their fair share of ups and downs and though I am by no means an expert, I have been able to figure out what works for me and what does not.

Therefore, I thought I would compose a list of top tips for travelling with friends.

There are travel companies that facilitate such ‘adventures’, often using the rhetoric such as ‘go on an inspiring and inspirational journey’, ‘be an inspirational change and make a lasting impact on a community’. However, what they conveniently leave out is that the lasting legacies they promise are not all rainbows and roses.

1) Lay out your goals for the holiday while you are still in the planning stage

There is something inherently wrong with a system that endorses privileged and wealthy Western citizens to swoop in, ‘play poor’ and buy what is ultimately, for them, a holiday that makes them think that they are helping developing communities.

Not only is it unhealthy and unfair to those Cambodian orphans or the patients at a rural Tanzanian hospital, but it is also thoughtless and selfish. They pay little thought to what impact their flying visits actually have on these communities. Your new profile picture of you holding an orphan from a developing country does not make you a saint.

A holiday to Greece may sound cute and wholesome to some, but like the perfect opportunity for cheap alcohol and free club entry to others. Avoid arguments by laying out your goals and making sure you are all on the same page before you spend any money.

Bigger groups clearly have an advantage here. When I went on holiday with nine of my friends, we were able to break off into smaller groups when we could not all agree on what to do.

However, the smaller your group, the more likely you’ll have to do everything together.

2) Discuss a budget and try to stick to it It is very rare to find a group of friends that are all in the exact same financial position. Therefore, the best thing to do is to set a rough budget before you head out there, so you all know the kind of prices you are looking for.

Flickr / smilengo.india

Obviously, you can do this in advance with hotels and flights, but it becomes a little trickier with spending money. Try and set a rough group budget when it comes to activities and eating out. Then, what you choose to personally spend on souvenirs or shopping is up to you. Also, if you decide from the start to pay for what you order rather than just splitting the bill evenly in restaurants, you can all set your own budgets for food as well.

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

am not a fan of voluntourism because, to put it simply, it is tourism coated in a veneer of ‘goodness’ and ‘selflessness’, when actually this kind of travel is pretty selfish. To those of you who travelled in their gap year, spent a week or two ‘helping’ at an orphanage and went on a path of self-discovery, don’t kid yourselves - you probably did more harm than help.

3) Bring headphones or a book – something that allows you to be antisocial Yes, the main aim of a group holiday is to spend time with your friends. But let’s be real - we all like a little alone time. If you are anything like me and do not fare well with being surrounded by people 24/7, pack something that allows you to step away.

Whacking in a pair of headphones or hiding your face with a book is the perfect non-aggressive way of saying ‘please don’t talk to me right now’.

4) Bring playing cards When you are feeling bored or lethargic, it can be nice to sit around and play some sort of card game. If your friends are anything like mine, it ends up as a competitive battle to the death, which is always incredibly entertaining. Additionally, they work as a great way to waste time when you are stuck in the airport waiting for your flight.

5) Try to let things go Ultimately, if you are travelling together you are clearly quite close to begin with. It would be horrible to let one or two weeks destroy everything you have built as friends. When you are stuck with people in a foreign situation, of course things are going to start getting on your nerves. However, the more you can let go, the better.

Admittedly, I am ashamed and guilty of selling my soul to these tour companies. I was 17 years old and travelled with my school, but the 17 day ‘expedition’ only made me realise how naive and selfish I was to have embarked on such a journey. I was stupid to think that I would make a difference to a rural Himalayan community by helping to build a greenhouse. In reality, we did not do much at all. The hard labour was done by the locals and the money we had spent would have been put to better use funding the labour and raw materials than on all of our flights, onward travel and chaperoning around the mountains.

If you are stuck in a foreign country with only a few friends, the last thing you want is a passive-aggressive, hostile environment that you cannot escape from. If you bitch to your family back at home or sulk about the situation for the rest of the night, you will end up making it a bigger deal in your head than it needs to be. The quicker you can just accept that your friend does annoying things and let it roll off your back, the more at peace you will be on your holiday.

This is not to say all voluntourism is bad; if you are genuinely volunteering and staying somewhere for at least six months then itis less about your ego inflation and more about contribution. If you are volunteering and putting skills you already have to use - good on you. If your intentions are to ‘make a genuine and amazing contribution’ by bottle-feeding a sloth in a jungle - wake up and just acknowledge you are not an amazing person beacuse of this.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, have fun and enjoy yourself!

You are in an amazing place with people that you love – or at least, people that you love enough to lock yourself in a hotel with – soak up all the memories that you can! Take those cheesy selfies and bikini pictures that everyone likes to make fun of, push yourself out of your comfort zone or lie by a pool day in and day out. There will probably be arguments, and there will probably be endless eye rolls, but if you can get on the plane home and smile at the good parts, then it will have been a pretty successful holiday, if you ask me.

Epigram / Jasmine Burke

Evy Tang Deputy Travel Editor 2017-18

6) Focus on the good

Jasmine Burke Wellbeing Editor

08.10.2018 epigram / The Croft

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Lyonnaise living: a students’ guide to a year abroad Lily Donnelly shares her experiences of living in Lyon and urges all students to consider a year abroad

If it’s still summer time, head down on the metro to Le Parc de la Tête d’Or, where one can stumble upon a zoo, a lake and a botanical garden, or just enjoy a slumberous sunbathe at La Piscine du Rhône, a public pool that overlooks the fleuve (ginormous river) nearly in the very centre of town. If you are in need of a glass of wine, the Presqu’île – an area that spreads from the hill of Croix Rousse to the meeting point of the river Rhone, the Soane at Le Confluence - is an El Dorado of options, with happy hours at the likes of Kaffee Berlin or Les Temps des Copains providing good reason to spend that Erasmus grant. If beer is your poison, Hopper and Hop Store have three-page-long lists of them to choose from, with some of the best pizza and fries in Saxe-Gambetta and Croix Rousse respectively. And don’t fear the gaping hole that Thekla or Motion may leave in your hearts; Le Penniche runs along the banks of the Rhone leaving at least a dozen boat bars at your disposal,

whereas Le Sucre hosts events on the rooftop of a disused sugar factory for when you’re wanting to stay up past the watershed on the weekend. It’s hard to be thirsty in this town with all of this at your doorstep.

Amidst the bar hopping, there are many sights to see. The old town, Vieux Lyon, tells tales through its traboules of the city’s rich history in the silk industry, and leads up a (very) steep hill to Le Notre-Dame de Fourvière where you are rewarded with a view across the entire city and a descent into a beautiful rose garden, where I once saw a man playing away on a cello (how continental?).

The fine art museum, found in Hotel de Ville, boasts enough beauty to cure your hangover and is a mere stroll away from renaissance

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or second and third year students, Instagram feeds and Facebook posts are now swarming with updates from friends on their year abroad. And as one of these students, I present to you a guide to the city that I now call home - Lyon, France – and hope to encourage you to do the same one day. As the third biggest city in the country (and home to the second largest metro system), the vivacity of Lyon is not to be underestimated.

Organised like Paris by an arrondissement system, a unique identity can be found in each quartier (neighbourhood), leaving Erasmus students like myself options aplenty to choose from.

Cheap booze, cheap transport... and affordable food - is there much more a student needs?

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streets and hipster cafés alike. Or, if you are a fan of cinema, you’ll know that the Lumière brothers (founding fathers of filmmaking) came from Lyon and l’Institut Lumière showcases their work. For times when the city needs escaping, use your Carte Jeune (18-25 railcard) to get tickets to the likes of Lake Annecy, Geneva, Paris, Marseille or even Barcelona with a 30% discount. I mean, is it hard to choose between the Cote d’Azur or Weston-super-Mare? This

is incentive enough to choose a year abroad.

Moreover, it’s important to find the right area to live in. I chose an apartment in the second arrondissement next to Place Bellecour, one of Lyon’s most iconic squares, deciding that taking a twentyminute journey to university (Jean-Moulin III at Sans-Souci, ironically translated into ‘without worry’ for its stressed students) was a much wiser option than paying for taxis home from all ends of town. From chez moi I can get anywhere either by foot or with a quick hop on the metro, making it safe for me as a young girl in a foreign city to get home at night. Whilst this may sound expensive, the CAF is essentially a benefits system that enables students to claim money back on their rent a month after move-in day, with the TCL metro system offering unlimited transport in all of its forms (that being metro, tram and train) for around thirty euros a month. Cheap booze, cheap transport to establishments for the booze and affordable food – is there much more a student needs?

There is plenty more to be discovered here in Lyon, and plenty of discoveries that I have not been able to mention, but perhaps this is enough to tempt you to apply for that year abroad and to have some great stories to bore you friends with when you get back to Bristol. This city is not too big, yet not too small, and will fling you into a frivolous, fantastically French lifestyle that can be the envy of those sat back in the ASS library. And did you know, by the way, I’m doing a year abroad?

Lily Donnelly, Third Year, French and Italian

Epigram / Lily Donnelly

Epigram / Lily Donnelly

Epigram / Lily Donnelly

Epigram / Ella Jones

My summer... electrifying schools in the Himalayas

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Lauren Jeffery tells us about her time taking part in The Global Himalayan Expedition

n the summer after first year, three friends and I decided to explore India. After arriving in Delhi, we got a flight to Leh in the state of Ladahk in the Himalayas to take part in The Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE).

The GHE was founded by Paras Loomba, who created the opportunity for us to trek through the Marca Valley and help electrify a school. GHE have been running for seven years and throughout their time have already helped 63 villages and have electrified 25 remote villages that were quite literally off the grid, as they were not recorded on any maps. This is a wonderful organisation that goes into the core of some of the most hard-toreach parts of the Himalayas in order to give small villages the opportunity to have electricity.

Epigram / Lauren Jeffrey

In order for this to be feasible, Paras Loomba encouraged Tsering Dorjay and Stanzin Gurmet to set up a trekking company called Sun Trails. While in Ladakh we got the amazing opportunity to spend time with both Dorjay and Stanzin as they led us through the Marca Valley for three days. The trek itself was spectacular, the

vast beauty of the mountains continually shape-shifting before our eyes, their colours flowing from violet to ivy as we walked deeper and deeper into the valley.

Together GHE and Sun Trails make it possible for people in Ladakh to get electric light by raising funds and awareness and encouraging travellers to come and support them in the field. Once there, they take solar panels and generators up into remote villages and install them into the homes and schools that need them.

While we were out there we got the opportunity to help electrify a school and install their new computers. The teachers spoke of the aspirations they had for their students to reach college and how fundamental it is for them to have access to the internet. Once GHE and Sun Trails have electrified a village they support the villagers in promoting their tourism, by setting them up on Airbnb in order to help the villages become accessible to the wider world.

In the four and a half weeks I spent in India this summer, my time in Ladahk was by far my favourite period. Both GHE and Sun Trails are immensely worthwhile organisations that are focused around impact-tourism. They are making a huge difference to people’s lives and I would strongly recommend being a part of it.

Lauren Jeffery, Second Year, Philosophy & Sociology

Film & TV

epigram 08.10.2018

James Turnbull Online Editor Miles Jackson Deputy Online Editor

Patrick Sullivan Editor Luke Silverman Deputy Editor

Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) Patrick Sullivan Film & TV Editor

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reaks and Geeks was the platform for many of today’s most successful comedy actors and writers. Judd Apatow, Paul Feig, Busy Philipps, Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, and James Franco were all involved in the single season masterpiece.

The show is high school with a twist.

Lindsey (Linda Cardellini), formerly a smart, obedient kid, ditches her former identity, chucks on her grandad’s military jacket, and mixes in with a rougher crowd (Philipps, Segel, Rogen, Franco).

Elsewhere, her younger brother Sam (now writer/director John Francis Daly) struggles with the jump from middle school as a prepubescent geek, along

“The legacy of Freaks and Geeks comes from the fact that it was the first to execute classic comedic storylines and tropes we know all too well today”

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“The simple yet horrible truth is that the viewer numbers just weren’t high enough to justify the big budget”

with his two best friends, Neal (Samm Levine) and Bill (Martin Starr).

The legacy of Freaks and Geeks comes from the fact that it was the first to execute classic comedic storylines and tropes we know all too well today. The masculine gym teacher teaching female sex education in Mean Girls (2005), the smart girl helping the dumb guy with algebra (also Mean Girls), and kids playing Dungeons & Dragons in Stranger Things (2016) all owe Apatow and Feig for their inspiration. Even the popularity of red cups seen in beer pong are partially accredited to Freaks and Geeks , as well as American Pie (1999), since the network NBC did not wish to explicitly show high schoolers drinking alcohol on evening time telly.

The network was disillusioned with the show and expected it to be a false pretence where all the geeks would end

ark Angel is, with no trace of exaggeration, a masterpiece of television. Despite its aged production, occasionally absurd plots, and premature cancellation after only two series, it will always be a fond favourite of mine, and its abrupt end will always haunt me.

Dark Angel, Jessica Alba’s first leading role, follows a genetically enhanced young girl and trained soldier Max (Alba) in post-apocalyptic Seattle. As children, her and the other child soldiers in the X5 series broke out of the government facility they called home, Manticore, and now she works as an inhumanely powerful, impossibly enticing, motorcycle mail courier. Quite the change.

Created by James Cameron, it featured one of his trademark strong female leads, and with characters as diverse as the real King County, I can think of few contemporaneous shows with a cast to compete. Her best friend and roommate ‘Original Cindy’ is sharp, loyal, black, and fiercely gay, and her partner-incrime Logan is physically disabled in an

up with cheerleaders, and the freaks stopped smoking weed to improve their studies. But Freaks and Geeks is about the alternative teenagers who exist and their lifestyles, not the usual Hollywood, afterschool special versions.

Unfortunately, NBC’s dislike for the show and the time slot - Saturday 8pm - attributed to its cancellation. In fact, the network interjected breaks between

IMDb / 20th Century

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h Firefly, every sci-fi fan’s one that got away. Even though it is relatively old and dated compared to more contemporary shows such as Netflix’s Star Trek: Discovery (2017-18) - which I would also highly recommend if you enjoy space sci-fi by the way - Firefly remains in the hearts of every fan as one of, if not the greatest scifi tv shows. So, why was it cancelled?

The simple yet horrible truth is that the viewer numbers just weren’t high enough to justify the big budget. Like greatness ever needed justification (am I coming across as bitter?) By the time the decision was made, and cries of outrage began to be heard, it was too late.

The space-western comedy-drama created by Joss Whedon follows a loveable crew on their journeys around space. Whilst not strictly good, they aren’t bad either which makes them very endearing and rounded characters. The crew is ultimately driven by the need to make enough money to survive and

Leah Martindale 3rd Year Film

early episode, leading to complex and sometimes tragic plot points.

Its style dabbles in gothic cinema and action films; if Vin Diesel and Morticia Addams had a child, she would certainly be Max. Max is fervidly protective, deeply caring, and entirely loveable. She makes some monumental mistakes and occasionally is guilty of the dithering femme act that drives me, Max-like, directly up the wall, but never has another character touched me quite as earnestly as my dear X5-542.

The show touches on everything from self-love to government conspiracy, and with a pilot episode costing around $10mil it definitely had potential, but sadly dwindling audiences earned it the axe. What can I say? Sometimes the customer is just wrong. I will always be pained I never got more instalments of my favourite badass babe Max Guevara.

episodes, which disrupted its following.

The first five episodes were aired in Autumn 1999, albeit with a three week break in between episodes two and three, but then there was only one episode each in January and February 2000, two each in March and July, and six episodes of the only season - not even the final six - were excluded from its original run altogether.

The producers created a website to inform fans of the erratic schedule, but NBC refused to share it, because Apatow claims ‘they didn’t want people to know the internet existed. They were scared of losing viewers to it.’ It was never given a chance to succeed, but thankfully Freaks and Geeks has become a cult hit since.

Fox Television

Film & TV Deputy Editor

Dark Angel (2000-2002)

IMDb / Apatow Productions

Firefly (2002-2003) Luke Silverman

keep their ship working but at the same time make sure that they don’t attract too much unwanted attention. The characters struggle with this, leaving them with some interesting dilemmas to work out.

The cast includes Nathan Fillion as Mal Reynolds, the captain of the ship and Gina Torres as Zoe Washburne, the second-in-command. The two of them play off each other brilliantly as a pair of war veterans, with Washburne serving underneath Reynolds passionately and loyally. This relationship is only tested with the addition of Washburne’s husband and pilot of the ship, Hoban Washburne, played by Alan Tudyk, who is jealous of the pair’s ‘war buddy’ relationship. Hoban’s character was a great addition due to his light-hearted nature and tendency to make jokes even in dire situations. It is safe to say the casting of Firefly was genius.

In 2005, Firefly fans were finally given closure with the film Serenity (2005) which - whilst not an extra season of the show - was enough to answer most of the questions that were left unanswered by the show.

It is sad to think what could have been, but at least we had a conclusive ending, right?

Epigram / Patrick Sullivan

IMDb / 20th Century Fox Television

Cancelled too soon: three TV shows underappreciated in the early 2000s

08.10.2018

epigram

Film & TV 35

Celebrating 20 years of The Big Lebowski The Coen Brothers’ cult comedy was shunned by critics on release, but is celebrated today IMDb / Gramercy Pictures

David Thirkeld 3rd Year History

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he Coen Brothers’ cult classic The Big Lebowski becomes more enjoyable through every sitting, even on its 20th birthday. Indeed, there was little to worry about when tickets were booked and a pair of double doors opened to the plush Screen One of the Everyman Cinema, described by Bristol film lecturer Pete Falconer as a ‘rococo brothel’ in his suitably witty introduction to what is arguably the Coen Brothers’ comedic masterpiece.

The Big Lebowski is an ample reminder that critics occasionally let films of prodigious significance slip through the cracks.

Underwhelming at the box office during its 1998 release, The Guardian described it as a ‘bunch of ideas shovelled into a bag and allowed to spill out at random’ – not exactly a glowing assessment. The film now enjoys an annual screening at the eponymous Lebowski Fest, first created in 2002 and held for its 20th anniversary in New York.

If this does not seem praise enough it is also worshipped worldwide through the religion of Dudeism, on top of being enrolled in the National Film Registry as one of America’s selected films of ‘cultural, historical or aesthetic significance’ in 2014.

Despite all this, it is easy to understand why the feature failed to impress viewers during its first screening. The film can

“The Big Lebowski is an ample reminder that critics occasionally let films of prodigious significance slip through the cracks”

seem directionless at times as we follow Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) in a story that oscillates across 1991 Los Angeles from one desultory scene to the next. The plot progresses from an initial case of mistaken identity to an abduction, but never fails to end up at the retrostyle bowling alley which the Dude’s pals Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi) frequent.

In fact, to many a viewer’s bemusement, the film concludes back at the very same bowling alley with numerous loose ends unanswered. Do the Dude’s trio win the big bowling showdown against flamboyant paedophile Jesus Quintana (John Turturro)? What happens to soon to be born Lebowski junior? Does Jeffrey ‘The Big’ Lebowski (David Huddlestone) find his trophy wife?

None of this matters. The Coen’s admit to such during an interview where they discuss the influence of Chandler’s The Big Sleep (1939) on their comedy; their film is intentionally ‘episodic’ like Chandler’s writing. Indeed, the plot is ‘ultimately

unimportant’; the story is bizarrely prompted when a hired thug soils an oriental rug which, according to the Dude, ‘really tied the room together’. What did you expect?

Although, there is one moment where the Dude seems to be on to something. During a visit to renowned pornographer Jackie Treehorn’s (Ben Gazzara) Malibu mansion we imagine that finally the case will be solved as Lebowski is given a moment to glimpse at Treehorn’s notepad which he has just been writing on during an important call. Instead, he scratches out the pattern of the notepad to reveal a cartoon of a man thrusting a large erection in the air. Perhaps this moment best encapsulates the movie.

As with later films O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000) and Burn After Reading (2008) from the Coens’ canon, The Big Lebowski rejects naturalism in favour of a world that is highly stylized and as a result exceptionally entertaining. It is above all a comedic take on film noir, and it shines through the cast’s outstanding execution of the Coen Brothers’ subtly hilarious wit and humour.

We are treated to a medley of idiosyncratic

characters from Lebowski’s belligerent bowling companion Walter who cannot stop mentioning the Vietnam war; to ‘The Big’ Lebowski’s daughter Maude (Julianne Moore) whose Fluxus-style artwork is ‘strongly vaginal’; to the aforementioned Donny, who is constantly told to ‘shut the fuck up’ by Walter (a reference to his nonstop talking in Fargo).

Of course, there is more to The Big Lebowski than an eclectic mix of amusing scenes enriched by Dickensian characters.

The subtext intimated by Walter and the Dude’s incompatibility as representatives of both sixties neo-conservatism and flower power is difficult to ignore. Yet this ultimately only ends up accentuating the Dude’s personal philosophy that some disorder and aimlessness will not be the end of the world.

We should all just chill. Indeed, twenty years on from its initial release, The Big Lebowski demands to be seen over and over again to bare the fruits of its brilliance.

Editors’ Picks

IMDb / Illuminations Films

Lionsgate Publicity UK

YouTube / A24

image.net / Walt Disney UK

This week’s theme is underrated films/series and we have picked four gems from recent years

Patrick Sullivan

Luke Silverman

James Turnbull

Miles Jackson

Editor

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Deputy Online Editor

20th Century Women (2016)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Locke (2013)

Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

Locke is a fascinating film that is utterly captivating despite showing just one man driving a car for 90 minutes. Tom Hardy is Ivan Locke, a construction worker whose decision to face the consequences of a one-night stand many months prior causes his life to implode. He is forced to conduct all of his grisly emotional business over the car-phone, calling family and colleagues in a vain bid to control the damage his actions have caused to everyone around him. A stellar cast supplies the voice performances for the phone calls, and Tom Hardy’s understated yet truly believable portrayal of the title character lets the audience feel every excruciating moment of this dark night of the soul. Let Locke surprise you.

The bold and brilliant Berberian Sound Studio follows a sound designer working on an Italian horror film in the ‘70s who slowly loses his grip on reality. Peter Strickland’s breakthrough is both a loving homage and a savage evisceration of the ‘giallo’ genre, a lush but lurid sub-genre of horror categorised by its kaleidoscopic colours and fascination with explicit (and often sexist) violence.

Even if you’ve never seen a giallo before, the film is still a deeply disquieting exploration of sexual politics and the subconscious, as well as our fascination with film itself. A cinematic fantasy about cinematic fantasies, Berberian Sound Studio is an overlooked masterpiece.

Annette Bening is one of the most criminally The second anthology film after the successful underrated actors of film history. Her character acting Rogue One (2016) was, in my opinion, sold short. deserves to be spoken of alongside Meryl Streep and Whilst definitely well known, it is seemingly the Helen Mirren. Here she stars as an unconventional most underrated in the Star Wars franchise. The single mother in 1970s California with Greta Gerwig film serves as an origin story for Han Solo. And yes, Alicia Wakeling and Elle Fanning as the other two women involved whilst it is a predictable story, isn’t that why they are Year, FilmRon & Television in the raising of her teenage son, Jamie (LucasSecond Jade so beloved?

Howard, as the director, performs Zumann). the superhuman task of signing on to helm the film It is both incredibly poignant and funny, an halfway through its production and reshooting 70 uplifting piece of cinema that will leave you inspired percent of it. The quality of acting is superb, with by the vivid characters. After watching 20th Century Alden Ehrenreich taking on the lead role and Donald Women for the first time, I rediscovered my love for Glover supporting as Lando Calrissian. If you haven’t The Talking Heads and plenty more ‘70s culture spills seen this Star Wars flick already, I strongly urge you into the story and discussions. to.

epigram 08.10.2018

Film & TV 36

Was Good Time snubbed by the Oscars last year?

Robert Pattinson and the score dazzle, but too few went to see the film Ethan Luc Epigram Chief Proofreader

BFI London Film Festival 2017 / A24

W

hen it comes to film, the words ‘good time’ probably don’t make you think about the pulsating 2017 release from A24 and the Safdie Brothers, which did okay but should have done much better.

Good Time was a filmic descent down the rabbit hole. It features an acidic, mindbending use of glowing colour, an intense techno score and a mesmerising central performance by Robert Pattinson.

The film received some accolades: a few nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards, a Palme D’or nomination and a handful of others. It only won two, both for its score, by composer Oneohtrix Point Never. It received no Oscar nominations.

In an era where indie films are riding a wave of popularity at the mainstream awards, it was disappointing to see the Safdie Brothers’ hellish ride snubbed.

The film opens with Connie (Pattinson) forcibly removing his disabled brother, Nick (Safdie), from a therapy session. They embark on a thrilling bank heist, which ends abruptly after the duo are tricked and Nick is taken into custody. Connie escapes.

The remainder of the film endures over

the course of a frenetic day, in which Connie attempts to find the money needed to bail his brother out. Instead, he ends up smuggling a mummified Nick out of a hospital, only to find that the bandaged figure is in fact a cynical caricature of a criminal named Ray. What follows is an intoxicating nighttime adventure under the gorgeous haze of New York’s neon signs, where strangers are seduced into corruption, LSD is buried like treasure at amusement parks and drug dealers come equipped with hounds straight from the underworld.

Pattinson is ferocious in his role, blending misplaced love for his brother with a spewing hatred for the society around him.

Shaggy-haired, foul-mouthed and staring into the void, he gives an unforgettable

turn as Connie Nikas. It is a far cry from the pale-faced pouting of Edward Cullen.

Benny Safdie, one half of the pair of directing brothers, plays Nick, an empty shell of a man, who perhaps once requited his brother’s affection but now no longer even recognises it. Together, they are our keys into an American nightmare which is far removed from what Frank Sinatra crooned about.

Indie films have experienced an industry wide boom in the last twenty years, resulting in the inception of companies like A24, which distributed Good Time. A24 is an independent film company which produced Best Picture winner Moonlight (2016) and, this year, has received praise for Hereditary (2018) and First Reformed (2017). They also helped create Lady Bird

“...an intoxicating night-time adventure under the gorgeous haze of New York’s neon signs...”

5

(2017) and The Disaster Artist (2017).

Despite the two latter titles being released in the same year as Good Time, they received much more public attention: Good Time made just $4.1 million at the box office, less than half of the budget spent on both those films.

Like many indie films, an initial, limited release contributed in part. The film then suffered the 39th worst opening since 1982, making just under $600,000 after a fleeting appearance at nationwide theatres.

It failed to kick on from there, but those who had the fortune of seeing it received it well, giving it a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 80% audience score.

Clearly, the film was enjoyed immensely by critics and audiences alike, but it seems that simply not enough people saw it. Box office sales do play some role in Oscar and awards success, and the marketing of Good Time was unfortunately weak in that respect. A24 had bigger prospects to promote and the film was duly acquired by Netflix for a low key distribution.

Good Time is gritty, ugly and hypnotic.

It is not a warm, fuzzy film like The King’s Speech (2010) or Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Its characters are difficult to sympathise with. But the film’s score and its central performance were arguably the best of that year.

In the 21st century it’s a reminder that good marketing is a necessity. Good Time was not so much forgotten, it never had much chance of being remembered.

Forgotten French film veteran still has her hunger for art 90 year old Agnes Varda teams up with 35 year old JR to make Faces Places Oliver Goddard 2nd Year English

YouTube / Madman Films

A

gnes Varda is a veteran filmmaker of the nouvelle-vague, the groundbreaking ‘60s French film movement, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing who she is.

Last month there was a nationwide retrospective of her films, which taught us that her work has too long been sidelined by the other filmmakers of her era.

Make no mistake, Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut are important, revolutionary figures, but Varda was there too, making films that were just as challenging and essential.

To revisit her films from that fruitful ‘60s period is to see a unique voice in action: 1962’s Cleo from 5 to 7, photographed in stark monochrome, focused on a singer awaiting a cancer diagnosis in realtime, and is in many ways a precursor to Godard’s own landmark Vivre sa Vie (1962). Her pastel-hued feminist horror movie Le Bonheur (1965), immaculately composed and shot in a colour scheme that would make even Wes Anderson blush, announced her as a top rate formalist.

All the while, Varda was also dedicating her creative energies to the documentary format, making an array of films on diverse subjects, such as the Black Panthers

“It is just as much a portrait of crossgenerational friendship as it is an exploration of the impact that art can have within a community”

(1968) or the residents of her street in Paris (Daguerrotypes, 1976).

As her career progressed, the distinction between the artificial and the factual blurred. Not only did she employ non-actors to heighten her work’s sense of realism, but Varda would utilise documentary techniques within works of fiction: the fate of Sandrine Bonnaire’s drifter in the bleak pastoral drama Vagabond (1985) is told through Varda’s own omniscient third-person narration and the non-actors that populate the film provide pseudodocumentary talking head interviews.

But since 1995 she has dedicated her output to the documentary medium exclusively, experimenting with digital video technology in the process. As is evident, Varda’s body of work is diverse, her creativity restless. But all of her output shares a warm-hearted humanism.

Which brings us to Faces Places, which

seems to embody everything that is great about Agnes Varda; her presence, her personality, her creativity. Not only is it her first film in almost a decade (2008’s similarly reflexive and reflective The Beaches of Agnes) but it is also the first in which she shares the directing credit with a collaborator.

Co-director JR, a 35 year old photographer and visual artist, whose dark sunglasses bear a significant resemblance to a certain bastion of the nouvelle-vague, fulfils Varda’s self-professed desire ‘to meet new faces and photograph them’.

This, ostensibly, is what the film is about. They drive around the French countryside in JR’s van-cum-photobooth, meet strangers, take their photographs and paste their gigantic creations on whatever large surfaces are most readily available, be that barns, houses or shipping containers.

JR’s artistic gambit pays hefty dividends -

the people of Faces Places are noticeably moved by this warm gesture of creative collaboration - and similarly Varda seems energised by his presence.

Indeed, Faces Places is just as much a portrait of cross-generational friendship as it is an exploration of the impact that art can have within a community. Varda and JR are a winning double act, sharing not only an artistic outlook but a sense of mischief and humour. They spar off of each other like old friends, even though, as the film’s playful prologue reinforces, they’ve not known each other for very long.

One particularly kinetic excursion shows them tipping their hat to Godard and racing down the Louvre’s fine-art wing, with JR pushing Varda along in a wheelchair as she exclaims the names of the old masters: ‘Bellini! Del Sarto!’ It serves no narrative function whatsoever, but therein lies its charm. It’s a visual representation of their friendship: JR is facilitating Varda’s hunger for art and images, for seemingly no personal gain.

It almost seems counterintuitive to write about Faces Places for it is a film that actively encourages the audience to engage with the people around them, to take in their surroundings. It is also a film that encourages the audience to create.

Certainly, it contains infinite wisdom in that respect, but it unfolds with such a lightness of touch that feels more like a warm hug than a dogmatic treatise. Varda is endlessly inspiring, if the 90 year old is still creating with such vivacity, there is no excuse for the rest of us.

Arts

epigram 08.10.2018

@epigramarts

Editor: Alina Young Online Editor: Avital Carno Deputy Editors: Anna Trafford & Gabi Spiro

@epigramarts

Black History Month 2018 We ask students to share their favourite black artists

James Baldwin

Toni Morrison

In 1963, engulfed by the white-hot lucidity of passion, James Baldwin penned a letter to his nephew. My Dungeon Shook is a brief, visceral and vertiginous piece of writing, detailing the place of the black man in an America overcome by racial injustice and discord.

While framed as a piece of advice to his brother’s son, the work is imbued with a deep sense of self-searching, a desire to find the answers that he is himself supplying. Despite his anger, his ultimate message is one of forgiveness, of acceptance, of empathy. He stresses that, despite white America’s dehumanisation of its black population, it falls on the shoulders of African Americans – like Baldwin, like his nephew – to accept those that serve as their oppressors.

The white American, argues Baldwin, has been directly confronted with their contribution to black oppression; their world has been turned upside down by their sudden realisation that they are the sole proprietors of racial injustice. It is the role of the black American to force the white American to acknowledge their wrongdoing, and to shepherd them away from racist thought, and towards an acceptance of African Americans. As Baldwin himself writes, ‘The black man has functioned in the white man’s world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar: as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations.’

Yinka Shonibare Hudi Charin History of Art, 3rd Year

As a student at Goldsmiths in 1991, a teacher had asked Shonibare why he wasn’t making ‘African’ art. Shonibare became fascinated by the idea that as someone with a Nigerian background, he was expected to engage with African concepts of art. He began turning to British icons, considering the sombre backgrounds to the iconic pieces, commenting, ‘Who had to be enslaved in order for you to be able to afford a portrait painter?’ Since then, Shonibare has become one of the most exciting contemporary British artists, receiving a string of nominations and awards. Utilising Dutch wax fabric, a material that has become a symbol of African independence and identity, Shonibare dismantles some of the most iconic motifs and characters of British colonial history.

In 1998, Shonibare challenged the eighteenth century artist Thomas Gainsborough by sculpting the titular Mr and Mrs Andrews from his wellknown 1750 painting. Shonibare cut off the heads of the aristrocratic couple and dressed them in Dutch wax fabric. That same year, he positioned himself in a series of Hogarthian photographs, Diary of a Victorian Dandy, challenging the idea of a black man in the role of a rich Victorian. In Trafalgar Square in 2010, Shonibare displayed Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, replacing the flags of the Victory with richly decorated Dutch wax fabrics; it was a commentary on how one of the most famous maritime victories enabled the slave trade. Shonibare continues to make viewers question the accepted heroes of British history, and how there are multiple sides to every story.

Kate Hutchinson Online Deputy Editor

Lydia Barnes Comparative Literature & Cultures, MA When the so-called Greatest Living American Novelist, Philip Roth, passed away earlier this year, the literary world debated as to who would succeed such an acclaimed title. To me, there was no competition: Toni Morrison. Born in 1931 in Ohio, Morrison was the first ever African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. She has devoted herself to express the black experience in an acutely harrowing, yet poetic, manner, with her most critically acclaimed work being the 1987 novel ​Beloved. This story of Sethe, who had been enslaved but managed to flee with her children, is an exquisite depiction of motherhood, guilt, and the psychological legacy of slavery.

Despite the novel’s popularity, however, it did not win the National Book Award for that year, resulting in a letter of protest being signed by 48 African-American writers, including Maya Angelou and Angela Davis. Following this, Morrison has continued to publish numerous works of both fiction and non-fiction, and has won many more prizes, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But in the end it all comes back to her words, which combine the personal and political in a way that feels absolutely necessary now, as ever.

Flickr / Angela Redulescu

Instagram / sctoya

Yewande Adeniran

Twitter / A_C_Collection/. Photo by James Mollison

Charlie Gearon English, MA

Gil Scott-Heron Gruff Kennedy English, 2nd Year

Instagram / edcrossfineart

Yewande Adeniran can’t be described simply: Ifeoluwa is just her DJ name. That’s not to say she isn’t killing it under this title, especially here in Bristol, but that’s just the start of her everyday repertoire.

Beyond a monthly NTS slot, consistent lineup appearances, Dialogue residency and recent Discwoman mix, she’s an activist, mentor and Philosophy academic specialising in post-colonialism, gender studies and queer studies. Taking to social media to discuss the issues underpinning electronic music, and unwarranted criticism received in her own life, Yewande continually reminds people of an ongoing discussion making stagnant process, namely an electronic music scene severely lacking diversity. Besides, this, her free DJ workshop, Intervention, which is now based in six cities, continues to diversify music by giving marginalised groups in music an essential platform, equipment and training. With her experimental sounds creating social media frenzies, and her activism ringing in the ears of many, Yewande’s sonic art – and social impact – are both worth screaming about.

Tam Joseph Gabi Spiro Arts Deputy Editor

Flickr / Michael Brown

Facebook/Yewande Adeniran

Quoted in an exhibition at the University of Bradford Gallery II were Tam Joseph’s words: ‘I wasn’t trying to develop distinctively Black art. I was trying to develop myself as a person, through my art.’ Despite his pioneering role in the first generation of black British artists, Dominican-born Joseph refuses to be reduced to an artist who solely focuses on issues of race.

But his work can certainly be categorised as socio-political commentary. ‘Spirit of the Carnival’ (1983) reflects the uneasy relationship between black communities and the police in the early 1980s, particularly at the Notting Hill Carnival. It depicts a performer, dressed in a traditional Dominican carnival costume, encircled by riot police, defiantly and joyfully continuing to dance. ‘UK School Report’ (1983) is a cartoon-esque triptych, showing three black students. The neatest student is captioned ‘Good at sports’, the second, with longer hair, ‘Likes music’, and the third, presumably unfairly categorised as a delinquent, is labelled ‘Needs surveillance’.

Joseph’s art is witty, political and unique.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised; its title could be a political manifesto all by itself. Gil Scott-Heron’s 1970 work is a masterpiece of the protest song genre, making an incisive statement about the situation of black Americans during the supposedly liberated 60s with a perfect tongue-in-cheek attitude. Scott-Heron’s knowing skewering of white culture acts as a front for the underlying revolutionary message in his lyrics. Sparse instrumentation highlights the percussive intensity of the lyrics and the underlying message to black Americans to search for ‘a brighter day’. Scott-Heron makes it clear that this happy future will not be achieved easily, of course; the title itself is a callback to a popular Black Panthers slogan. While he takes aim at white culture and TV, his obvious disdain for the greater American capitalist system lends an altogether more radical aspect, almost reminiscent of Martin Luther King’s abortive Poor People’s Campaign, which white America found so unpalatable. Scott-Heron’s ambition to put black Americans ‘in the driver’s seat’ of a cultural revolution, when listening to this visionary piece of writing, seems completely feasible.

08.10.2018 epigram

Arts 39

The Channel: Voices from Detention City-wide exhibition The Channel brings testimonies of immigrant detainees to Bristol Anjum Naha Carina Murphy English, 3rd Years

Epigram / Anjum Nahar

Epigram / Anjum Nahar

The UK’s immigration laws are complex, amorphous, informed by Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’, and liable to trip even the well-versed up. Rather than treating migrants with understanding when their applications take a long time coming through or are refused on the grounds of a single minor inaccuracy, this country’s policy is to place them in detention centres. There are nine such holdings, run either by private companies or the prison service, and for the 2,000 – 3,500 people (including children and the elderly) detained at any given time, life in them is hopeless and isolating.

Funded by the Bristol City Council Arts Fund, a coalition of charities (Borderlands, Right to Remain, Detention Action and These Walls Must Fall) brought The Channel to Bristol, an exhibition where to listen to detainees’ testimonies and send them a recorded response you simply step inside a mock-up red telephone box. The exhibition aims to open up a dialogue about detention, and crucially, to allow those detained be part of it.

Designed by Isobel Tarr, The Channel was in Bristol between the 15th – 20th September, moving between Broadmead, College Green and the Junction 3 Library in Easton. The aims of the exhibition seemed to shift with its location. On College Green, it was serving to inform passers-by who often expressed surprise at never having known such detention existed in the UK. Meanwhile, amongst the large migrant community in Easton, people were only too familiar with it. One woman told the story of how her

brother’s detention led to his estrangement from their family, and many were eager to attend the exhibition’s follow-up meetings so that they could take action.

The exhibition’s design is clever for mimicking a red telephone box, known not only as a symbol of communication but as totemic of British culture. The sight of it in the street is familiar and benign; alongside a picnic table offering tea, coffee and a tray of biscuits, it puts passers-by at ease and reduces the knee-jerk alienation and discomfort that issues like migration can provoke.

At Junction 3, the exhibition made an even more concerted effort to bridge cultural divides by dishing out free Somalian food.

This was less exotic than one might think given the high migrant population in Easton, but still distinct from the chequered tablecloth, red telephone box, tea and biscuits of the main exhibition, which are all deliberately quintessentially British. The Queen’s crest, which traditionally crowns a telephone box, however, is replaced with a red weather-proof umbrella because, as the artist reasoned, there are some things better left out.

The Channel was trialled in 2016 in Oxford, were it aimed to connect people with inhabitants of the Calais Jungle. It owes

“The UK is the only country in Europe where the time a person may spend in detention is indefinite”

its name in part to the body of water that divided those migrants from this country.

This serves as a reminder that while telephone conversations create a unifying channel between the public and detainees, they also symbolise an enduring distance between us.

This is something that the exhibition is graciously aware of; unlike much political art, its aims don’t stop short at informing the public, but by encouraging them to attend the ‘These Walls Must Fall’ community meeting and take action, it is geared towards producing real change.

The UK is the only country in Europe where the time a person may spend in detention is indefinite, and this can have severe mental health consequences for detainees. One of the recorded messages in the exhibition, left by an anonymous male detainee, tells us that the uncertainty and anxiety created by indefinite detention can leave many who are confined within the terrible conditions of the detention centre feeling depressed or even suicidal.

Indeed, a recent HMIC report reveals that at the infamous Yarl’s Wood detention centre, 49% of residents felt depressed or

suicidal during their stay. When speaking to Tarr, we heard that often people who have been released from detention found it hard to adjust to normal life.

Conditions within detention centres are similar to the conditions within private prisons largely due to the fact that they are often run by the same companies. Considering that one private prison in Birmingham was reported to be in a ‘state of crisis’, characterised by ‘squalor’ and ‘filth’, we can assume that the conditions within detention centres are hardly better.

Often, residents have no choice but to participate in in-house labour to rectify these poor conditions, sometimes working as cleaners and barbers, only to receive the inhumane pay of £1-an-hour for their work.

Detention centres benefit no one except the companies that profit from running them and the politicians who are looking to further implement the ‘hostile environment’ in the UK, designed to alienate migrants and make their stay in the country as difficult as possible in the name of immigration control.

Epigram readers may find it shocking that the University of Bristol is complicit in the unjust detention of these people but, sadly, this is the reality. The university has contracts with Mitie and Capita, two companies that not only provide the university with services such as cleaning and catering but also manage detention centres across the country.

The People & Planet Society have launched a new campaign on campus called ‘Undoing Borders’, which aims to persuade the university to boycott these companies and delegitimize their involvement with detention.

The campaign is also currently working with Tarr, with hopes of bringing The Channel exhibition onto the university campus during term time so that more students can learn about the border industry, show solidarity with detention centre residents, and continue the dialogue between UK migrants and the wider society.

What’s art got to do with Freshers?

Hudi Charin

History of Art, 3rd Year The UK’s most mellow and soothing artist of all time, Bob Ross, once said ‘you need the dark in order to show the light.’

Although he probably wasn’t thinking of Freshers’ Week when he said it, this quote can easily be applied. In the first week of Uni, there will be highs and lows. And the one thing that you can do to make sure you have more highs than lows? Well, art, of course. Here’s the many ways art can guide you through the first week.

The Art of Self Reinvention

The Art of Room Décor

Probably the most important one. Did you even take a gap year if you don’t have a tapestry hanging over your bed? Do you even have any friends if you don’t have

Unsplash

“Wait it out and you’ll see that under their £100 Fila jackets; most people are also wondering how to navigate the highs and lows”

This is it, folks. You’ve known pretty much the same people since you were 11, and most of your friends remember the time you wet yourself in the middle of a club like a cast member on Geordie Shore. Never before have you had such an opportunity to reinvent yourself and start over. Be who you want to be. It’s a fine and important art learning how to present yourself the way you want without coming across as too try-hard.

Wear frames with clear glass in them to come across as ‘bookish’. Wear fake tan every day but tell people it’s natural. Wear t-shirts with obscure band names or geographical places in order to seem cultured. Except on the fourth day of Freshers, you’ll get smashed playing Never Have I Ever and tell all your flatmates the weeing story and all your hard work will be for nothing.

The Art of Fashion You’ll spend a good few hours contemplating what to wear on the first night out, and will borrow so much from your flatmates that you all enter SWX wearing an amalgamation of everyone’s wardrobes. You’ll soon decide all the clothes you wore back home aren’t Bristol enough and you’ll head for the vintage shops on Park Street.

By November, you’ll realise you’re broke and maybe £80 isn’t that reasonable for a sustainable reworked, revamped vintage shirt with a hole in the pocket. Anyway,

by TB2, you’ll have given up completely on looking good for Uni and you’ll have finally resorted to rolling out of bed, into your coat and out of the door.

something they know about Bristol.

Yes, it’s where the ‘Boris and Trump kissing’ mural was. Yes, I got my septum done in Pierced Up, where Banksy did a free artwork. Yes, my Dad’s gonna kill me for getting my septum done.

Instagram / tiaano_

photos of them perfectly blue-tacked on the wall? Are you even able to study if you don’t have Instagram-worthy stationery arranged on your desk at the start of term? Make sure to get this one right as it will define you forever. That’s a lie; no one pays as much attention to your bedroom as you do, and deep down you’ll know that, but it won’t stop you from Pinteresting colour schemes weeks beforehand, and asking your parents desperately if they have any old records you can display on your shelves to show you’re musically knowledgeable.

The Art of the Arts

The only thing on this list that’s actually artistic: the arts in Bristol! Get acquainted with Banksy, go to a play, drag someone along to a free performance on Gloucester Road. Not only will the activities make you more rounded and arty -- always a good goal -- but they’ll be a great way to meet people and have something to do together, other than going to Spoons.

It’ll also help to know a little bit about the graffiti culture in Bristol because it’ll invariably come up at family functions when an uncle tries to come up with

The Art of Self Love And, in amongst this stressing, shopping, Pinteresting and aspirational living, you’ll need to make time for the trickiest art of all, staying true to yourself throughout! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t find your feet at first. The best bit about Freshers’ is everyone is doing exactly what you’re doing, and by the end you’ll realise your new mates might also be artists of their own reinventions.

Wait it out and you’ll see that under their £100 Fila jackets, they’re wondering how to navigate the highs and lows.

Music

Epigram 08.10.2018

Editor: Alexia Kirov Deputy: Joe Gorecki Online Editor: Bethany Marris Email: music.epigram@gmail.com

A (brief) introduction to Bristol music One of the best things about this city is its music community Alexia Kirov Kayla Painter If you haven’t already seen Kayla Painter live, you need to. The solo electronic producer creates an immersive experience, by accompanying her experimental, ambient sound with dynamic visuals; she has taken her AV show from small clubs in Bristol to Glastonbury. Painter makes her music using synths, other instruments, and sounds she collects from her surroundings. Her latest track, the atmospheric ‘Keep Under Wraps’, is available to buy on Bandcamp now.

Idles

LICE Every Bristol student needs to have a listen to LICE. The art-punk four-piece were UoB students themselves just a few years ago, and are a reminder to us all of the unlimited opportunities afforded to you as a student. The LICE story all began with an advert in the Live-Soc Facebook group; since then, they’ve gone from strength to strength, headlining Thekla, and releasing their first 12”, a double EP, It All Worked Out Great, earlier this year.

Frontman Alistair Shuttleworth is also the founder of The Bristol Germ, a publication that is a celebration of and ultimate guide to Bristol’s music community.

Oliver Wilde

“Every Bristol student needs to have a listen to LICE”

Epigram / Alexia Kirov

Idles are the band of the moment – and not just in Bristol. Following their well-acclaimed debut, Brutalism, this August, the post-punk band put out their sophomore LP, Joy as an Act of Resistance. Showing no symptoms of the dreaded ‘second-album-syndrome’ JAAAOR charted at #5, and was accompanied by a powerful Later… with Jools Holland performance and an entirely sold-out upcoming UK tour.

Purveyor of earnest, lo-fi songs and stalwart figure on the Bristol scene, musician and poet Oliver Wilde is a must-listen. Having released three albums in the last five years, as well as one with side-project, Oro Swimming Hour, there’s plenty of material to be getting stuck into. His unique bedroom production style yields a rare beauty to his sound; for a quick introduction, look no further than 2013’s gorgeous, fuzzy ‘Perrett’s Brook’.

Epigram / Alexia Kirov

Music Editor

Oliver Wilde

MXLX

Review - Brockhampton: Iridescence Bethany Marris Online Music Editor

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etween late 2014 and early 2015, the self- acclaimed boyband Brockhampton was realised. American rapper Kevin Abstract headed the formation, recruiting a vibrant mix of musicians, artists and personalities to join him.

In March 2016, the Hip-Hop collective dropped their first body of work, a mixtape entitled All American Trash.

The project’s reception was neither terrible nor fantastic. Overall, AAT was dubbed a little comme ci comme ca, and it certainly didn’t foreshadow the wave of anticipation that was generated by the initial singles of the band’s debut album, Saturation.

Saturation satisfied eager ears on 9th June 2017, and with a healthy 17-track playlist, the arrival of Saturation II, merely two-and -a -half months later, certainly took the industry by surprise.

A trilogy was soon confirmed. On 15 December 2017, alongside the festivities, Brockhampton gifted fans with Saturation III: the final instalment.

Unique in production, consistent in quality and lyrically sharp, the collective quickly brushed off the frequently-

drawn comparisons with Odd Future that dogged their artistic infancy.

In less than half a year, Brockhampton released almost 50 tracks, with many of these rich in introspective and political themes. Working relentlessly, and with ideas flying from a multitude of creative minds, it’s hard to ignore just how impressive the group’s seamless collaboration truly is.

The success of the Saturation series brought Brockhampton an impressive $15 million record deal with RCA, not to mention an exclusive ticket to record in London’s iconic Abbey Road studios.

Furthermore, quickly accruing such a large fanbase carried the obligation to embark upon a year-long world tour. In May, however, the Saturation- induced wave of euphoria crashed. Brockhampton found themselves amidst a sea negative publicity: allegations of sexual assault were filed against band member Ameer Vann, who was consequently dismissed from the group. Vann was a prominent figure and recognisable voice throughout the group’s discography.

As plainly articulated by Abstract, the nature of the scandal ‘just fucking hurts and sucks’. That said, with the release of Iridescence last Friday, it is evident that the disruption that Brockhampton experienced has failed to blunt their

“Iridescence is incontestably their sleekest work”

ambition.

In fact, through ‘TONYA’, we see the group creatively use, and address the ways in which the Vann controversy halted their stream of prosperity.

Iridescence is set to be the first of yet another three-part project, The Best Years of Our Lives.

Opening with an explosive, industrial beat from ‘NEW ORLEANS’, there’s an undeniable echo of Saturation III’s opener ‘BOOGIE’, yet as the album progresses, fears that Iridescence might be just ‘more of the same’ are muted.

While the band maintain their capacity to blend an array of insightful, differing themes, complex instrumentation, and unexpected soundscapes, Iridescence is incontestably their sleekest work. Woeful violins and gospel vocals miraculously melt into a garage-trance rhythm, complimented by an Andre 3000-esque flow from Joba on ‘WEIGHT’.

Moreover, ‘HONEY’ harnesses the hook ‘A million reasons to get rich’, distracting from an unexpected beat-shift, as bopping pop-rap descends into a crooning sample of Beyoncé’s ‘Dance for You’. Iridescence is an extravagant, multi- faceted LP that boasts its abundance of contributors.

There are some claustrophobic moments where the listener could, perhaps, do with a little breathing space, yet all in

all, Iridescence has set the bar high for parts two and three of Brockhampton’s latest venture.

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epigram 08.10.2018

Music

Plans for city centre arena axed: what does this mean for Bristol’s venues?

After the arena decision, where next for Bristol’s venues?

Joe Gorecki Deputy Music Editor

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Populous

“The Bristol scene is built on these small venues and as the city changes, it is these venues that are on the front line and the first to be affected”

Above: An impression of what the arena would have looked like Below: The proposed site in September 2018

Epigram / Joe Goreki

t was finally announced earlier this month that Bristol would not be getting its city centre arena. The venue was to be located on Arena Island, just behind Temple Meads. Cancelling the £156 million project, Bristol Mayor, Marvin Rees, slammed the planned arena as a ‘vanity project’.

Despite also saying he ‘remained committed to delivering an arena for Bristol’, the announcement is particularly disappointing to Bristol’s many music fans who will continue to have to travel to Birmingham or Cardiff, which is preparing to build its second arena, to see the biggest international acts perform. For a city so steeped in its musical heritage, Bristol’s lack of an arena has become a bit of an oddity.

After such a bitter debate, which included interventions from Massive Attack’s Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja, it is worth remembering, however, that the success of the city’s music scene is not dependent on the success of the arena project. You could even argue that an arena in the city has never been a great necessity due to the local scene’s sheer diversity and grassroots strength.

However, this diversity and grassroots strength is under threat. In the past year alone Bristol has seen the loss of two venues, the Star and Garter and the Bierkeller, the near closure of another, Thekla, due to proposed nearby housing developments, and a 404% increase in the business rates paid by the Fleece. The Bristol scene is built on these small venues and as the city changes, it is these venues that are on the front line and the first to be affected.

One of the best parts of the M-Shed’s

excellent recent Bristol Music exhibition was an area inviting you to relive the clubs of Bristol’s past. After selecting a venue, the music that would have been heard in the club began playing, inviting you to dance while screens would come to light with old photographs and quotes from regulars.

Historic venues portrayed at the exhibition included the legendary Dug Out, where in the 1980s the Wild Bunch, who would become Massive Attack, would play what would eventually develop into the ‘Bristol Sound’. Here, you could also experience venues still going, like Lakota’s ‘90s heyday and Motion.

This was not just a celebratory recreation of past clubs. It highlighted how the closure of clubs and venues within Bristol has been an entirely natural part of the city’s musical ecosystem. This has worked and allowed the city to continue to prosper as other venues have opened to fill in the gaps and provided the musical outlets. As the number of luxury housing developments increases in the city and established venues become priced out, it is becoming increasingly unclear where Bristol’s new talent could emerge from.

The state of Bristol’s venues in 2018 is not all bad news: the scaffolding is now starting to come down on the Trinity Centre’s large scale refurbishment and work has now begun on the Colston Hall which will see it closed for two years while the interior of the hall is totally rebuilt and a new performance space created in its Victorian cellars. The Exchange is also in the midst of a campaign to turn it into what would be Bristol’s first community-owned venue.

In this environment, we, as students, can play an important role too. We should continue to support Bristol’s local music scene not just by going to gigs but also by getting our flatmates interested too. Don’t just stick to what you know, take a punt at one of the many gigs taking place every day.

In what was in 2010 called the UK’s ‘most musical city’ you can’t really go wrong.

Editors’ picks: Bristol’s best venues Thekla Alexia Kirov Music Editor

Black Honey: 13/10/18 Yellow Days: 22/1018 Snail Mail: 31/10/18 Kojey Radical: 18/11/18 The Wedding Present: 07/12/18

Epigram / Gruff Kennedy

Thekla is the most unique venue in Bristol – and perhaps the UK, too. Where else can you watch live music or go clubbing on a former cargo ship? The moored boat is now a harbourside icon, a staple of the Bristol music scene and of many a Bristol student night out. Unfortunately, like many independent venues have in recent years, Thekla faced the threat of closure due to housing developments last winter. For now, it’s still going strong with a great number of brilliant artists lined up to board its decks over the next few months.

Top gigs of the term

08.10.2018 epigram

Music 43

The Crofters Rights

The Crofters Rights’ gig space is just a small box of a room at the back past the bar, which you intially might not even know was there. Despite the unassuming outside, this intimate space plays host to a great and diverse selection of the many indie artists that visit Bristol.

Not just a space for gigs though, its massive disco ball gives away its use for some of the most interesting, low-key parties going on in Bristol from techno to afrobeat. The Crofters is part of a small selection of venues where the events are so consistently good that if you’re just having a drink of one of their many beers, it’s worth checking out if there’s anything going on out back.

Top gigs of the term Westerman: 12/10/18 Bloody Knees: 27/1018 Hembree: 30/10/18 Olden Yolk: 6/11/18 Nest Egg: 17/12/18

Epigram / Joe Gorecki

Deputy Music Editor

Epigram / Joe Gorecki

Joe Gorecki

The Louisiana Epigram / Bethany Marris

Top gigs of the term Puma Blue: 16/10/18 Blackwaters: 21/10/18 Swimming Girls: 31/10/18 All The Luck In The World: 3/11/18 Yazmin Lacey: 16/11/18

Bethany Marris Online Music Editor

With a micro-capacity of 140, the cosy first-floor stage of The Louisiana is perhaps Bristol’s most unassuming venue. Over the last two decades, the family run pub has provided a platform for names such as Florence and the Machine, Muse and the late, great Amy Winehouse. Boasting such a treasure-trove of past performances, which also include those from Coldplay, Placebo and The Chemical Brothers. Undisputedly, the venue has inadvertently supplied thousands with affordable world-class exclusives.

Despite this, however, The Louisiana is free from high-tech extravagance, and remains a humble, inclusive and warm destination for artists and audiences alike.

The Canteen Epigram / Joe Gorecki

Joe Gorecki

Deputy Music Editor A chill café and bar during the day, it’s at night when the Canteen becomes one of Bristol’s best loved music venues where every day there is a different act playing a free gig to an entranced audience.

With most genres regularly represented, the Canteen also hosts some excellent recurring jazz and blues sessions featuring some excellent local talent.

Based in Stokes Croft’s under threat arts hub Hamilton House, a lot of the joy of a trip to The Canteen is the serendipitous discovery of really talented artists. The fact they are able to have a gig every night is a testament to the strength of the Bristol scene and a real privilege.

Mac Seka: 9/10/18 Hippo 11/10/18 Strobes 18/10/18 Noya Rao + Mercy’s Cartel 26/10/18

Epigram / Matt Alderton

We are always looking for new writers and photographers.

Our contributors’ meetings are every second Tuesday, 6pm at the SU’s Balloon Bar. Next meeting: 16/10/18 No experience is needed, just enthusiasm - you can contribute as many times as you like, or just when your favourite band is in Bristol.

Last year, Epigram Music was one of the busiest student music sections in the country - we need your help to make this year even better.

Epigram / Matt Alderton

Want to get involved with Epigram Music?

Top gigs for October

Puzzles

If you need any help, contact the editor by email or through social media

Brain Teaser

Guess which number represents each letter! This week’s theme is ‘Around the Globe’.

Clue: Which South American country is named after a tree?

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17

14

9

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22 10

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14 26

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13 14 15 16 17 18 G E 19 20 21 22 23 24

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08.10.2018

puzzles@epigram.org.uk

Codeword 6

epigram

Editor: Ruby Rosenthal

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8

20

14

3

Find four consecutive letters in the alphabet which can be rearranged to spell a common word

Sudoku Fill the empty squares with numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and 3x3 box.

11

3 14

Mindfulness Colouring Take a break from work to colour in Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave Off Kanagawa’

Word wheel

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.

F R

I S

I

E

G 15= Average 24 = Good 45= Excellent

Normal sudoku rules apply, except the numbers in the coloured cells add up to the integer in the corner.

Just a phrase

Find the word which can come before each of the three words given, in each case giving a common two-word phrase e.g. LIFE line, LIFE time, LIFE less.

1. Lace, Rack, Horn 2. Boy, Stop, Driver 3. Mark, Shelf, Keeper 4. Pal, Ink, Led

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Killer Sudoku

Solutions will be posted online at: epigram.org.uk/tag/puzzles facebook.com/epigrampaper @epigrampuzzles If you would like to join the Puzzle Team email puzzles@epigram.org.uk

46 Sport

epigram 08.10.2018

UBAFC impress in dominant preseason After an outstanding preseason, Bristol’s footballers now set their sights on BUCS success Freddie Keighley Online Sports Editor

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“The 1s appear primed to build on a positive 17/18 season and are favourites to win the Western 1A this year”

Epigram / Freddie Keighley

ix teams will be entered into British Universities and Colleges Sport leagues by the football club in the 18/19 season after fruitful weeks of preparation which have brought victory in every friendly played.

The 1s have steadily built their form over three successive friendly wins, the first of which came in the form of a 1-0 win over Surrey on the Almondsbury 3G with a late Toby Thomas strike off the bench. Reflecting on his team’s performance, box-to-box midfielder Ed Mahoney believes that this was a dominant performance not rewarded by enough goals: ‘Although our finishing could have been a lot better, the fitness of the boys showed as we kept possession for long periods of time.’

A 5-0 thrashing of Warwick on their own turf followed, with goals from Al Harlington, Luke Downey, Matt Hinks and a brace from Tom Ryan. Despite the score line, Mahoney saw room for improvement in his side’s retaining of the ball: ‘It was a clinical performance, but not our best - an early indicator we can dismiss teams that disrupt our possession-based football. The change to 3-5-2 proved the difference as we finished them off early in

the second half.’

The icing on the preseason cake was definitely the recent 2-0 away victory over a Hartpury side which play in the Premier South, a league above, and operate in an academy style. A trademark ‘Panenka’ penalty by Al Harlington and a finish from Nyv Bogaire capped off what Mahoney describes as ‘the most complete performance so far.

‘We were more aggressive and better with the ball. The scoreline should have been more after sustained pressure during the first half, but the boys showed mettle in the second half to fend off any efforts by the opposition to get back in the game.’

The 1s appear primed to build on a positive 17/18 season and are favourites to win the Western 1A this year. A tactical change that has improved an already formidable side has been coach Alan Tyers’ decision to play Al Harlington, traditionally a winger or attacking midfielder, in the double pivot. This deeper midfield role has allowed him to see more of the ball and further impact the game.

Meanwhile, the 2s have also enjoyed preseason success, smashing Surrey 7-1 and then beating Warwick 5-2. Captain Jonny Willis has been impressed by what he’s seen so far: ‘The 2s’ preseason has been strong, and we’ve been by far superior to either of our two opponents which has led us to score 12 goals.

We have moved the ball fluidly through the pitch and dominated the midfield, leading to an abundance of chances.

‘Sam Pagano and Adrian Tong have teamed up impressively down the left, as well as wonder kid and new fresher Roberto Atkinson

being a revelation and giving us all hope for what is set to be a tough season ahead. Morale is high. Up the 2s.’

The 3s were also victorious against Surrey, with a 2-0 win, whilst the rest of the club has been getting up to speed with intra-club friendlies before the first round of BUCS fixtures on 10 October:

Bristol 3s vs Exeter 3s Bristol 4s vs University of Wales Trinity St David Carmarthen 1s Cardiff Metropolitan 5s vs Bristol 5s University of Wales Trinity St David Carmarthen 2s vs Bristol 6s

Bristol 1s vs Bournemouth 1s Bristol 2s vs University of St Mark & St John 1s

It’s sure to be an exciting season, so stay tuned to Epigram Sport for the latest UBAFC updates.

Bristol clubs guilty of gambling promotion The beautiful game is plagued by betting adverts. but we should not be blind to their impact Rory Mcnair Third Year, French & Spanish

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community’ in their official statements but dropping their previous Bristol-based sponsor - Lancer Scott Ltd - for a Swedish online casino has certainly raised a few eyebrows.

This in addition to Bristol Rovers now partnering with online gambling platform Football INDEX perhaps risks sapping all community feeling out of a city in which ties between fans, clubs and sponsors have been historically close-knit.

I can understand why you might be thinking, ‘Come on now, it’s a logo on a shirt. It’s not going to make a difference.’

But ultimately it’s those tiny things that our brains subconsciously digest that begin to shape how we see and treat the world

“Former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams spoke out against the presence of gambling sponsorships in football”

around us. When I proudly repeat the words of Ray Winstone on the TV it’s not, ‘please gamble responsibly’ that sticks with me but instead the catchy tagline, ‘Bet365. Bet in play, now.’ I am by no means denouncing gambling in all forms nor am I suggesting that we should boycott Bristol City football matches. All I am asking is that we be more conscious of the information that we absorb on a daily basis. When you lay down your 15 fold accumulator, appreciate that it’s not just numbers falling out of your bank account. When you proudly wear your Sunderland jersey with BetDaq displayed across your chest, appreciate that it is not just a meaningless logo for the world to see.

Flickr/ Ronnie Macdonald

ack in June, Bristol City Football Club revealed their new kit for the 2018/19 season and along with it their new shirt sponsor. No prizes for guessing what kind of company is behind that sponsorship.

Nowadays you’re hard-pressed to find a football club that doesn’t have some kind of link to a gambling firm. Bristol City’s new partnership with Dunder Casino shows us that they too are perfectly happy aligning themselves with these businesses, along with 16 other Championship clubs and 9 in the England’s top division. This is hardly shocking news but more and more people are questioning the danger of giving these brands the huge amount of visibility that they receive week in, week out.

In a recent interview with BBC Radio 4, former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams spoke out against the presence of gambling sponsorships in football. Adams compared the current situation to that of the 1960s, when tobacco and alcohol companies dominated this kind of promotion, arguing that much like in the past, a change of perception is needed.

When you look at the consequences of gambling and gambling addiction, it becomes easier to understand the dangers behind promoting this kind of activity to such a degree. Even ignoring the obvious

financial risks that come with irresponsible gambling, as a society we are seeing a rise in the number of ‘problem gamblers’ who are proven to be more vulnerable to problems such as mental health issues, high blood pressure, heart disease and drug abuse.

In February 2018, the Gambling Commission published its annual Gambling Participation and Perceptions Report for the year of 2017, revealing some interesting results. Football was revealed to be the most popular betting activity. 53 per cent of gamblers said they had been prompted to gamble by adverts, an increase of 7 per cent from the year before. Protecting children from gambling was most frequently chosen as the most important policy issue. While they have been hand picked from a range of conclusions drawn from the Commission’s report, these three results paint a worrying picture when it comes to gambling sponsorship in football. With the gambling population focused on football and the majority of those people succumbing to the influence of the advertising boards in front of them, surely we need to reconsider the significance of supporting this potentially dangerous practice?

The Football Association has taken steps to ‘protect’ children from gambling, in the form of banning gambling company logos on youth shirts and restricting promotional material directed at younger audiences.

However these efforts ultimately ring-hollow when you consider the amount of young people who are exposed to these logos and taglines in the stadiums and in the front of televisions every weekend.

You also have to consider the community aspect when it comes to making decisions on sponsorship. Both Bristol City and their new sponsor spoke of ‘investing in the

Sport 47

08.10.2018 epigram

Lacrosse club set to build on prior success UBMLC captain, Will Stallibrass, and treasurer, Harry Patchett, discuss what makes their society so great, before looking forward to an exciting forthcoming season Henry Edwards Sports Editor

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Trent in the National Cup.’ Increasing the performance levels and competitiveness of the second and third sides is another priority, but Patchett admits it is not all about results.

A major aim for the club, as he says, is to ‘get as many people playing lacrosse as we can. It’s such a great sport and it’s given us so much, so we want other people to enjoy it as much as we do.’

Lacrosse is a highly physical sport that demands fitness and speed. Both the members I interviewed admitted that upon first viewing, the sport can seem ‘pretty

“The sport itself is amazing and a real challenge, the socials are wild and the people within the club are the best”

crazy’, but this is surely a key selling point. If university life is about trying out new things – dipping one’s toes in the unexpected – then it is little wonder why so many students are such keen lacrosse players.

If you are at all interested in playing lacrosse, or indeed joining such a vibrant team, liking the ‘University of Bristol Lacrosse’ Facebook page is a good way to start. On there you can find dates for training and events, as well as information for you to learn more. I am assured that kit is provided, so do get involved.

Facebook/UBMLC

or the majority of new students joining Bristol, the sport of lacrosse may be something quite alien.

Nevertheless, the female, male and mixed lacrosse teams have developed an impressive reputation around Bristol University, not only for being successful on the field but also for their sociable ethos. I spoke to the men’s and mixed club treasurer, Harry Patchett, and club captain, Will Stallibrass, about what life with lacrosse is all about.

Discussing the best facets of the club, both club members agreed that the blend of priorities – sporting and social – was something that really helps to set the society apart. Harry Patchett celebrated the club’s capacity to strike ‘such a great balance between striving to be one of the best university lacrosse clubs in the country whilst also maintaining a massive sense of fun whilst doing it.’ Stallibrass echoed this sentiment: ‘The sport itself is amazing and a real challenge, the socials are wild and the people within the club are the best.’ Indeed, it appears the holistic nature of the society constitutes a crucial part of its undeniable

‘pull-factor’. According to Patchett, ‘the club has something for everyone, catering for people who want to play competitive and non-competitive sport and even those who just want to come to socials.’

Last season, the male teams experienced great successes in a variety of competitions.

The first team went undefeated in the Southern Premiership for an unbelievable second successive season, and reached the National Cup quarterfinals. Similarly, the second side was unbeaten throughout the season, winning their league, their cup and earning promotion in the process. The highlight, in the view of both Patchett and Stallibrass, came in the vital away victory at rivals Aberystwyth, which was hysterically celebrated both on the pitch and upon their return to Bristol. Even the newly formed third team surpassed expectations in their debut campaign: their victory over the UWE seconds in their first ever match will live long in the memory.

The club also hosted a massively successful Varsity within the ‘Friday Night Lights’ series, and is looking forward to having another event this coming season. In terms of the mixed team, more members signed up than ever before and the performance side finished a commendable fifth in the Imperial Cup. But despite the considerable successes across the board last season, Harry Patchett still feels there is more to come: ‘We want to build even further. Our aims are for our first team to continue to dominate the Southern Premiership and challenge the northern powerhouses of Durham and Nottingham

La Liga in America: a frightening precedent?

In a football world dominated by the flow of money, the proposed U.S. Spanish league game may still be a step too far James Hall Third Year, Law

Flickr / Camilo Rueda Lopez

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eal Madrid president Florentino Perez has insisted that the club will not follow Barcelona in playing a league fixture in the United States.

The news comes as another significant setback to La Liga boss Javier Tebas, whose 15-year deal with US company Relevant to ship Spain’s top division across the Atlantic has been marred by controversy. Last week the Spanish Players’ Association announced that it too would oppose the planned Girona-Barcelona fixture set to be played in Miami next January and stated that it could not rule out strike action if demands were not met.

The union joins a growing list of opponents that also includes the Spanish Soccer Federation, which three days prior cited TV broadcasting contracts as a major factor in their decision to withhold approval for the proposal.

Whilst refusing to condemn the fixture outright, FIFA’s Gianni Infantino likewise expressed uncertainty at the idea, suggesting that ‘teams should play a home match at home, not in a foreign country.’

Though admirers of the proposal claim that such a fixture is likely to provide significant financial incentives to both the league and its clubs, La Liga will doubtless have to balance them against the interests

of fans. Scores of supporters expressed their outrage at the eye-watering ticket prices for last-year’s friendly staging of El Clasico, where the cheapest seats in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium went for upwards of 300 dollars, enough to buy a season ticket at most Spanish clubs.

Using players as bargaining chips is nothing new in football, especially where international TV rights are concerned, despite comments to the contrary from several prominent players. Similar concerns were raised in England following the Premier League’s pitch to play a thirty-ninth fixture abroad. Previously thought to be in its death throes, the idea resurfaced following the success of the Relevant-hosted International

“The Spanish Players’ Association announced that it too would oppose the planned Girona-Barcelona fixture set to played in Miami”

Champions Cup, a tournament enabling nondomestic fans to watch their idols in person.

Executive chairman Charlie Stillitano last season pointed to the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United and NFL side Tampa Bay Buccaneers as potential supporters before referring to the success of a similar system whereby American football teams ‘[spend close to] half a season in England.’

Whether a parallel plan would translate to the English game remains to be seen.

Certainly, one there are arguments for both sides of the debate. Manchester United’s 2014 friendly with Real Madrid attracted a record crowd of close to 110,000, a figure higher than both participants’ home stadiums, leading many executives, including the

Premier League’s Richard Scudamore, to take a ‘build it and they will come’ approach to the beautiful game.

Others, numbering the likes of The Guardian’s Ed Aarons cite Scudamore’s imminent departure as the final nail in the coffin for the exporting of domestic football.

It certainly helps Aaron’s claim that the other heads of the league appear content to expand remotely through TV deals – figures in the hundreds of millions have been bandied about for the best part of five years and show little signs of stopping. The beautiful game, for all its traditions, is open to adaptation, but it remains to be seen at which price it can be procured. It is a debate which looks certain to rage on.

Sport

epigram 08.10.2018

Editor: Henry Edwards Online Editor: Freddie Keighley

Sky is the limit for UBBC women’s team Rowing coach Edward Bloomfield may hold the key to further successes for the female squad UBBC/ Alice Lovett

Charlotte Greenwood Masters, Contemporary Identities

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ver the first three years of the University of Bristol Boat Club’s development plan, the club has made its mark in an ever-growing industry of competitive UK university rowing centres. The aim to place Bristol as a high-performance rowing centre, a university that attracts not just for its wellearned academic reputation but its equal opportunity for sporting success, has been a drive for the boat club over the past 3 years. With the introduction of full-time coach Cameron Kennedy and assistant coach Edward Bloomfield, back in 2015, the club has made a rapid progression towards achieving this status, challenging other high performance centres in the process with multiple successes at head races and regattas.

Prior to 2015, the club had only one coach and the coaching team was increased with the introduction of full-time coach Cameron Kennedy, and Edward Bloomfield as Assistant coach. The pair quickly took on the challenge of taking the club in a high-performance direction. Cam, who had previously coached the women’s squad at Durham university, was shortly joined by Ed who had been coaching at Abingdon Boys School in Oxfordshire. Despite Ed’s position as Assistant coach, he quickly took on a role as Bristol Women’s coach in 2015 and began his journey of multiple success.

Having rowed as a junior at St Edwards

School in Oxfordshire, later rowing for Royal Chester Rowing club whilst studying at university to taking a coaching position in Abingdon, Ed’s experience as athlete, student and now coach have proved to be invaluable in his remarkable achievements since his introduction.

Spending the entirety of his contract at the boathouse, supporting athletes at weight and erg sessions at Combe Dingle and travelling the country to assist crews before and after racing, Ed definitely exceeds his job description. Taking on the monumental task of establishing a stronger and larger women’s squad, Ed coached the women to being the only university rowing team to have three crews enter the academic eights category at the prestigious Henley Women’s regatta in 2017 and the only university to have two crews to qualify for this same event.

As in 2018, a year later, the top women’s VIII reached the semi-finals at Henley Women’s as well as reaching the quarter finals in the women’s 4-. These achievements at prestigious events have not gone un-noted for Bristol’s impressive seasons and other

“Ed continues to lead the Women’s squad to achieving what once seemed unachievable”

rowing universities have commented on Bristol’s rapid successes. Yet, despite this success with the women’s programme, Ed’s quiet modesty has left his well earnt success slightly obscured.

Supporting Cam’s leadership throughout the past 3 years, Ed also monitored athlete Alice Davies, a novice rower when she joined Bristol in 2015, to this year taking a seat within the U23 Women’s GB VIII; an achievement for UBBC’s women’s squad that has never been done before.

It is, therefore, no large claim to assure that Ed is undoubtedly one of the best UK university rowing coaches over recent years. His careful execution of a tailored rowing programme has done wonders for Bristol’s now larger women’s squad and is an undoubted testament to Ed’s efforts and meticulous coaching style. Perhaps the most impressive achievement of his university coaching debut was his top women’s VIII placing 4th at BUCS Regatta in Nottingham in the Championship 8+ category in May this year. Whilst a 4th position may sound underwhelming, within this final heat,

Bristol beat Durham, a high-performance rowing centre that receives funding for its rowing programme. Bristol were placed within this competitive mix, taking a position behind three other high performance rowing centres in the process.

Being placed amongst these high performing rowing universities has not been limited to the UK, and Ed’s coaching saw his Women’s VIII take gold at the European University Rowing Championships in Portugal this summer - pipping the University of London at the finish line and taking a win over international crews from Germany, Norway and Croatia.

A superb finish to a remarkable few years with Bristol, Ed continues to lead the Women’s squad to achieving what once seemed unachievable. Taking his squad to international success, providing a strong challenge to other high performance rowing universities and monitoring an athlete to GB level - Ed remains humble and holds a key role in the goal for Bristol to achieve a welldeserved high performance status. With him in charge, 2018/19 could be equally fruitful.

Abundant opportunities for activity in Bristol If joining a sports club isn’t your thing, exploring the city wisely will help anyone keep fit Henry Edwards Sports Editor

F

but the views you get of the city make the exercise absolutely worth it.

Swimming, as you’ll know is a fantastic way to keep active and relieve the stress generated from university life. The pool in the Bristol SU building is perfect, reasonably priced and central. The University has its own gym, but that is not to say its your only option. You’re likely to be handed a flyer advertising some other gym when you go out to sightsee around the centre.

If you do have a bike, exploring the surrounding areas of the city is very simple.

Head up to Ashton Court for smooth surfaces and trails perfect for mountain bikers. The cycle path to Bath is wonderful on a sunny

“When you’re exploring, you’ll find that Bristol is not a huge city, but it is a moderately hilly one”

day. Perhaps for slightly more serious riders, road cycling to and over the Severn Bridge over to Wales – my neck of the woods – is perfect if routes towards rolling hills and forests are your cup of tea.

The best way I’ve stumbled across for keeping fit around Bristol is not in any club but through delivering food to people around the city on a bike every weekend. The University’s sport societies are absolutely fantastic, and do join one if your head is turned. But for all those who perhaps find that a club is just not for them – never fear.

There are countless ways to stay fit and entertained around Bristol. Now you know where to look.

Flickr/Andrew Gustar

or any new student to Bristol, it is very likely that you will have recently been bombarded by calls to join a sport society. Signing up to a sports team is undeniably a great way to meet new people and stay active, whilst engaging in a uniform sport.

However, sports societies are not for everyone. Some students may not have the time to be able to commit to training schedules, or equally may decide to dedicate their energy to other interests away from the sporting sphere. There are numerous other factors that could come into play here.

Because of this, I often wonder whether those students who refrain from signing up to a sports team may feel a little left behind when it comes to opportunities to stay active during university. In a completely new environment, and with a freedom many young people may never have experienced

before, it is very easy to fall into the trap of inactivity.

Bristol is a great place to live if keeping fit is on the agenda. Huge numbers of students will currently be settling into life in Stoke Bishop. To these people I would say this: take time to go up to the Bristol Downs. The vast expanse of green is right on your doorstep, and is a great place to go for a run or throw or kick a ball around.

Living in Stoke Bishop, there is often a tendency to assume that the bus is the oney way to get into the city. But riding a bike to and from university is a perfect way to get your heart rate up; plus, when you factor in waiting times, cycling may even be quicker.

During my time living in Stoke Bishop, I tried to utilise the sports facilities they had there as much as possible. I played quite a bit of tennis, but you can find spaces to play squash, football or basketball. Taking advantage of these free spaces is a must for first year students.

When you’re exploring, you’ll find that Bristol is not a huge city, but it is a moderately hilly one. Simply walking down to and up from the harbour will have you working up a sweat, while a stroll around Clifton should get your legs moving. Walking to the Clifton Suspension Bridge is a great idea that not enough students think to do,