‘We must help people who are excluded from education gaining access to our Universities’
Inside....
What is the value of Banksy’s shredding stunt? Arts pg. 39
The best - and worst - Spoons in Bristol
David Olusoga speaks to Ollie Smith
The Croft pg. 21
epigram
Features pg. 10
est. 1988
The University of Bristol’s Independent Student Newspaper
Fortnightly 22nd October 2018 Issue 330 Celebrating 30 years
Locals revolt ‘marauding bands of drunk and screaming students’ Lucy Downer
Deputy News Editor
Investigation • •
Noise complaints issued to the Uni have gone up by 54 per cent Local sets up ‘The noise pages’ blog report on loud house parties
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he number of noise complaints submitted to the University increased to 120 last year, a considerable rise from last year’s figure
of 80. Residents issued complaints particularly surrounding house parties and general noise during antisocial hours. The University has already received 34 noise complaints about student households so fare this term, a figure which, over the space of two
months, suggests that this problem is not going away. The prevalence of this issue has forced some local Bristolians to take matters into their own hands. ‘The Noise Pages’, a website founded by Andrew Waller, allows residents to log noise complaints about students in the Redland and Cotham areas. The website has split opinion in the student body. Speaking exclusively to Epigram, Waller described
why he felt the need to set up a blog and bring to light the issue of noise complaints; ‘In March of this year there were two very loud parties on consecutive nights a very short distance apart. It annoyed me that the first party was in a house that I had complained about previously, they had already been through the system with Joni Lloyd (Bristol University’s Community Liaison... Continued on page 7
Zoe Crowther
the legitimacy of a People’s Vote on Brexit. Some attendees were highly critical of an event which seemingly trivialised such an important and complex topic. A Labour source told Epigram ‘The night is a farce. Drunken 18-19 year olds shouting about things they know nothing about. This is a serious issue: people stand here and think they have an opinion when they don’t know what’s going on.’ As a member of the audience, Edward Anders gave his opinion on the night: ‘There is no censorship here on free speech to argue your point of view. I think it’s great they’ve been given the opportunity to do this: it’s all light-hearted, in a drunken environment.’ Continued on page 8
Sparks fly in divisive drunken EU debate
SU Correspondent • Division escalted on the issue of the Northern Irish Border • Greens and Lib Dems called for more diverse debators as panel contained just one woman • Event recieved with a mixture of laughter, enjoyment and criticisms of trivialising important issues
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peakers at the cross-party event on Tuesday October 16 received both raucous applause and strongly worded objections while drunkenly debating
Illustration by Cameron Scheijde
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epigram 22.09.2018
Editorial As this is my first Editorial, I should introduce myself. I am Cameron Scheijde, co-Editor of Epigram this year. I am a thirdyear Politics and International Relations student. I got involved in Epigram last year, and you may have read my not-so-well-thought-out opinions gracing the comment pages last year with my now coEditor, then boss Ed. A theme you may notice in my Editorials is that I have an unhealthy obsession with everything old: books, architecture (as displayed by the photo below), history. This obsession is apt as we enter Epigram’s 30th Year; it is, by the standard of most other Uni publications, old. I must continue this editorial with an apology for an error that was entirely mine. The last issue, as the eagle-eyed of you may have noticed, contained two spelling errors. One on the front page, and the same error on the front page of the Croft. Upon noticing this error, I was absolutely distraught. However, I am unsurprised that it occurred given the stress levels in Epigram’s office at the time we went to print two weeks ago; this job is nowhere near as simple as I thought it would be. This time of year is not easy for many students, least of all those entering the scary times of dissertations, deadlines and coursework. The days slowly loom in and the arguments with flatmates really ‘heat up’ as the boiler growls into action for the first time this year. It can be a time when everything slowly becomes intimidating and life seems to plough on leaving you in its wake. One of the most important things to do in times like these is to accept that student life can be difficult, intimidating, isolating and scary all at once, and that it is completely ok to feel stressed during these coming winter months. Ways to combat stress vary from student to student, but for me the best ways to destress include long walks in the cold. Not walking in any particular direction, to or from lectures, for example, but just wandering around with no destination in mind. Getting out of my room and into the beautiful city of Bristol is one of the most important things for my mental health and I’m sure I’m not the only one. My favourite walk to go on is around Clifton Village - which has the most beautiful architecture, views and green spaces in Bristol. Around the back of the Observatory by the Suspension Bridge are mansions like the Engineer’s House and the Lord Mayor’s official residence which are all musts for fans of Bristol’s architectural and historical legacy. Similarly, continuing the walk will take you past Bristol Zoo and Clifton College, all beautiful spaces right next to the Downs. Escaping from the confines of our student bubble really helps to take stock of what’s around us and how lucky we are to call this wonderful city home. Bristol’s status as one of the best cities in the world is well deserved, and exploring it is well worth your time. If you are based in the city centre, try out St Nick’s market and explore the amazing shops in the city centre that, particularly at this time of year, are closing in on Christmas (sorry). Speaking of this time of year, October is Black History Month. Inside this fortnight’s issue on the Features pages are two interviews with two incredible academics. World-renowned historian David Olusoga spoke to our Features Editor Ollie Smith about omissions from the history books and Black History after giving a talk to the SU. I spoke to Law Fellow Dr Foluke Adebisi after her fascinating Pan-Africanism, Afrofuturism and Decolonisation workshop as part of Black History Month. I study African Politics as my degree specialism so, apart from finding it fascinating on an academic perspective, I thought it was crucially important that ideas such as these get brought into our general academic discourse. It is very easy for us in our everyday lives to concentrate on our curriculum rather than crticially engaging with our reading lists and lectures. It is so imporant, especially for those who study social sciences or humanities, for us to critically question our reading lists and sources and ask what has been left out. Dr Adebisi said that one of the key actions one can take as an ally is to read and listen. In the talk, she recommended Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I am no longer talking to white people about race and Akala’s Natives. I hope you enjoy reading our paper this fortnight, and I would like to thank the entire team for their ongoing hard work, patience and keen involvement in our entire media operation. To our readers - it is your paper. You are more than welcome to do whatever you like with this paper. ‘Read it, write for it, smoke it like a joint’, James Landale didn’t say in his first editorial 30 years ago. See you in a month.
Cameron Scheijde co-Editor-in-Chief
co-Editors in Chief: Ed Southgate & Cameron Scheijde editor@epigram.org.uk Deputy Editor: Nikki Peach
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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), Kezi James (Puzzles) 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. The design, text and photographs are copyright of Epigram and its individual contributors and may not be reproduced without permission.
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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 22.10.2018
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Bristol West MP calls to remove Colston statue and rename Wills Memorial •
Will Charley Comment Editor
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a community station that is run for the Afro-Caribbean and BME community, primarily located in St. Pauls, north of Bristol city centre. Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire, who welcomed Corbyn to Bristol, spoke of how Bristol as a city must amend its association with Colston and colonialism. Debbonaire expressed a desire to see the Colston statue, located on Colston Avenue in the centre of the city, removed. Colston was a wealthy slave trader and has left a litany of schools, streets and buildings in his name. The Labour MPs new position goes against Bristol City Council’s recent affirmation that Colston’s statue will remain in place.
“Keeping the statue in the public realm encourages further debate about these important issues” Bristol City Council
Epigram / Will Charley
uring a visit to Bristol last week by Jeremy Corbyn, Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire stated a desire for Colston’s statue to be removed and Wills Memorial Building to be renamed. Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP attended an exhibition on the British Empire in Bristol’s City Hall today, as part of Black History Month. In Bristol, Corbyn announced this morning that Labour would ensure members of the black community would be better represented in the national curriculum, praising the work of Paul Stephenson, a civil rights activist who was central to the anti-discrimination Bristol Bus Boycott of the early 1960s. As part of his visit to Bristol West, Jeremy Corbyn also spoke to Ujima Radio,
Speaking in July this year, a spokesperson for the council said: ‘The view of the council is that keeping the statue in the public realm with the additional context provided by a plaque encourages further debate about these important issues concerning Bristol’s heritage’. There is no current plan for the statue to be removed. In 2014, in a poll carried out by Bristol Post, 56 per cent of respondents voted to keep the statue in place. However, Colston’s name and influence around Bristol has recently been downgraded and removed.
Epigram / Will Charley
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Jeremy Corbyn announces Labour’s plans to improve representation in the curriciulum MP Thangam Debbonaire supports the removal of the Colston statue
Colston Primary School reopened this September as Cotham Gardens Primary School, whilst in June this year, the Lord Mayor of Bristol caused controversy by removing a 316-year-old portrait of Colston that has hung in City Hall since it opened in 1953. Speaking in February this year, Ujima Radio presenter Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley said that she ‘would really like it if the statue was put in [a] museum’. Thangam Debbonaire MP also suggested today that the University of Bristol’s Wills Memorial Building should potentially have its name changed, given that Henry Wills was a businessman whose tobacco company and profits were the product of slaves in the Carribean. Debbonaire’s position goes against the University of Bristol’s decision to not rename the building as decided in July 2017. Responding to the then-SU officers calling for a renaming of the building and a student-led petition, the University of Bristol said that: ‘After much reflection, we do not think it would be appropriate to rename the Wills Memorial Building or other University buildings’. Although Thangam Debbonaire’s position to change Bristol West’s names and statues is new, there has been no official plans announced nor any detailed policy.
Bristol SU backs controversial drug-use guidelines Louise Cripps
Investigations Editor
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he University of Bristol Students’ Union has revealed in a statement to Epigram, that it supports Sheffield Students’ Union’s controversial drug guidelines and has confirmed that it will be working towards a similar goal over the next year. The University of Sheffield Students’ Union has been the recent subject of dispute, for providing its students with step-by-step instructions for drug safety. The information guides students in drug preparation and administration. Instructions include guidelines on cutting the right amount of powdered MDMA, as well as advising students to ‘never inject alone’. Whilst Sheffield University maintains a ‘zero tolerance policy towards drugs’, their Union Welfare Officer argues it is also ‘important we are realistic’. With two-in-five students now taking illicit drugs, according to a recent survey by the National Union of Students, it is
“It is crucial that universities are open and honest about what is happening on campus” Vanessa Wilson, Student Living Officer
important to ensure that students ‘are as informed as possible and take steps to take all reasonable precautions.’ There has been backlash to the approach from a variety of medium with both students and experts criticising the contentious policy. A final year Spanish student at Sheffield University, Sab Jones argued that the guidance advising students to
never inject alone, ‘is basically saying it’s dangerous, but do it with a friend’. She went on to say, ‘I’m ashamed that this policy is real and, on their website’. While David Raynes, spokesman from the National Drug Prevention Alliance, commented that the Union’s actions were ‘normalising drug taking’ by ‘creating a climate where there’s an expectation that students will use drugs’.
Despite criticism, the University of Bristol Students’ Union has revealed that it supports Sheffield SU’s policy. ‘The University of Bristol has a zerotolerance drug policy, however, as a Students’ Union we agree with the guidelines Sheffield Students’ Union have issued to their students.’ The Student Living Officer, Vanessa Wilson, has argued that, ‘It is crucial that universities are open and honest about what is happening on campus; we need to be realistic and we need to protect our students.’ Ultimately, the Union believes that ‘student safety should be the priority’. In line with this belief Bristol Students’ Union intend to implement similar plans, ‘We currently have an active policy on effectively countering drug misuse, so we will be doing some work towards this over the next year’. Following the negative reception, Sheffield Students’ Union have removed their information page. They now provide a link to The Loop’s drug guidance, as an alternative.
epigram 22.10.2018
4 News
Lakota’s end in sight as owners seek new opportunities •
Lakota owners to ‘explore new opportunities for the site’ Last year it was reported that Bristol clubs Thekla and The Fleece were under threat of closure The wider Stokes Croft area is undergoing development, with Hamilton House being sold to developers
• •
James Cleaver Online News Editor
Unsurprisingly, the announcement has already led to a petition addressed to Bristol City Council, asking them and the Burgess family ‘to consider other ways the club could survive.’ While Lakota’s future function has yet to be finalised, the Stokes Croft area around it is already undergoing large-scale change. Westmoreland House is scheduled for demolition while the Carriage Works are being converted into housing. Block C of Hamilton House has already
been sold off for development, and last month protestors gathered to try to save the community centre amid rising rents and an uncertain future. The news comes after an increasing number of clubs have come under threat in recent years, in Bristol and the UK as a whole. Last year, it was reported that both Thekla and The Fleece were under threat of closure, sparking campaigns for their survival. Almost half of the UK’s nightclubs have shut down in the past decade alone.
Burgess family, owners of Lakota
shrinkin’violet / Flickr
Epigram / Robin Boardman
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t has been a mainstay of Bristol’s nightlife since the 1980s, but the end appears to be nearing for Lakota after its owners announced their intention ‘to explore new opportunities for the site.’ In a statement, the Burgess family, who both own and run the club said: ‘We’ve been part of the city’s club scene, and the St Paul’s and Stokes Croft community, since the early 80’s and with so many years of running clubs and pubs in the area amassed we’ve decided that it’s the right time for us to explore new opportunities for our site on the corner of Upper York St and Moon St. ‘Working with community networks,
“It’s very much business as usual for the next few years”
residents and local business, we’re reviewing how best we can continue to support the neighbourhood that we’ve been part of for over 30 years and this includes looking at proposals to convert it into a mixed-use site, which will include residential accommodation as well as some business space. ‘Our plans will take time to develop. So, it’s very much business as usual for the next few years as Lakota will continue working with promoters to offer a range of club nights and events in the way it has always done.’
An ‘unprecedented opportunity to The pursuit of happiness: shape the University’s approach to Bristol launches its first mental health’ ‘Happiness Course’ •
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Bristol SU welcomes the decision saying that it is ‘critical’ Bristol students have a say in shaping the strategy Hugh Brady has admitted there is more the University needs to do
Imogen Horton News Editor
Laura Reid
Uni Management Correspondent
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he University of Bristol has launched an open consultation on a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The University is currently putting together the strategy and are determining their plans on mental health and wellbeing for the coming months and years. To date, the SU officers have been consulted on this, but now the University is opening up the strategy document to feedback from all students. Students are being given an ‘unprecedented opportunity to shape the University of Bristol’s approach to mental health’ SU Union Affairs Officer has commented. In a statement, Vice Chancellor, Professor Hugh Brady explained: ‘The first feedback period will run until 7 November, and I hope as many students and staff as possible will get involved and provide feedback to us.’ Having been involved in the preliminary stages of feedback, Bristol SU has responded positively to the consultation.
‘We believe that the whole student body must have an input into the direction and implementation of this strategy. It is critical that you, as Bristol students, have a say in shaping this strategy because it will directly affect your student experience and thousands of your peers.’ ‘At Bristol SU we will hold the University to account to ensure that the discussion around mental health stays at the top of the university’s agenda.’ The launch of the feedback process follows the release of the Support Our Services’ demands concerning wellbeing. Talking to Epigram, the University has indicated that they want to hear from as many students as possible, not only the Support Our Services group. In response to the demands, Professor Brady has commented: ‘We know there is more to do, and we need to take every step we can, working with our students, our staff, the city and health partners to ensure our community is as safe and supportive as we can possibly make it.’ The University is set to release the final version of the strategy in December, the document being highly shaped by the feedback of students. Students are able to complete the consultation online until Wednesday 7 November. They can also provide feedback in person at the Wellbeing Network Forum on Tuesday 23 October. Further details about the consultation and forum can be found online on the SU website.
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Course content is based on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology The course will run twice this year, once this term and again next term
Laura Reid
Uni Managment Correspondent
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“We know there is more to do, and we need to take every step we can” Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor
n World Mental Health Day, the University of Bristol became the first UK university to launch a ‘Science of Happiness’ course. Bristol announced a new 10 week course which will explore what happiness really is and how we can fully achieve it. The optional course is designed to help Bristol students achieve fulfilment and flourish, and aims to teach practices for happiness which can be easily applied in everyday life. The course is aimed at all students across the University, and is an exciting opportunity to delve into the science of what makes us happy. The course covers topics including: how our minds distort happiness, what role culture plays in influencing happiness and whether happiness is in our genes. It is based on the latest research in psychology and neuroscience. The University’s press release states:
‘Bristol’s new course was inspired by Yale University’s highly-successful ‘Psychology and Good Life’ course - the most popular in its history, with one in four students enrolling.’ The course will be led by Professor Bruce Hood, a leading psychologist. Professor Hood has said, ‘Ultimately, the aim of this course is to give students a greater understanding of what happiness is and how the human mind often sabotages happiness.’ ‘Greater awareness amongst the student body will equip students to pre-empt and improve the mental health of themselves and others.’ The course launched on World Mental Health Day, Wednesday 10 October. It comes at an important time for mental health at Bristol, alongside the University’s new support services and a growing demand for better wellbeing services. As a recent report from the IPPR has shown, 94 per cent of universities have experienced a sharp increase in the amount of people trying to access support services. Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Judith Squires said: ‘We’re really excited to launch this new course, which is pioneering in the UK. We hope it will be hugely beneficial to our students, not just during their time at university but throughout their lives.’ The course will be running again in second term, so those who missed it this time around can sign up next time.
epigram 22.10.2018
News 5
26,000 animals used in experiments in Bristol labs last year •
theirishtimes.com
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The findings include a number of suffering including mice being fed lard to study obesity, and then killed The University have responded by saying that research involving animals is vital for advances
Nikki Peach Deputy Editor
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ccording to the findings of Animal Aid and Animal Justice Project, the University used more than 26,000 animals in experiments in 2017, including cats, rabbits, mice, fish and guinea pigs. The groups claim that countless animals are being tested on and harmed for research that does not result in human lives being saved. Claire Palmer, Animal Justice Project Founder said: ‘Animal Justice Project has consistently raised alarm bells about crude, cruel, and pointless experiments at Bristol and yet again we find researchers to be wasting public funds and animal lives.’ ‘We challenge Bristol University to provide evidence that an experiment carried out here has saved human lives, and we urge students to opt out of inhumane research’. A statement from the organisations on the recorded suffering includes female rats being ‘instrumented’- their necks and abdomens cut open and a cuff inserted around their nerves to record bladder pressure as saltwater is infused into them. Six-week-old mice were also fed lard for
“We urge students to opt out of inhumane research” Claire Palmer, Animal Justice Project Founder
months to study obesity and then killed by having their necks broken. Other recorded suffering involves mice having circulation in their back legs repeatedly cut off to see if this protected their hearts from damage, the outcome of which ‘has failed to convincingly translate into clinical practice’ and mice being given bone marrow transplants and then killed six months later. The mice underwent monthly behavioural testing for six months – including trying to hold onto spinning rods – and were then killed afterwards. The authors of the experimental research state that ‘This procedure has been extensively studied in humans for other diseases, and it must be taken into consideration that, when used clinically, allogeneic transplantation carries significant risks of morbidity and mortality’. Supposedly, the authors of one paper did not know the name of the legislation under which they have been licensed to harm animals – calling it the UK Mice (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. They had been involved in giving mice opioids in various
ways such as injections, a pellet under their skin or via a pump inserted into their bodies – in order to investigate what happened. Jessamy Korotoga, Campaign Manager at Animal Aid said ‘The University of Bristol is not only involved in the shameful practice of animal experiments, but we have examples here of researchers conducting procedures in animals which have failed in humans, procedures in animals which are known to be very dangerous to people, and other researchers who don’t even know the name of the law which licenses this terrible suffering.’ He added, ‘This alone should be sufficient for prospective students to look elsewhere for a good education and for current students and staff to ask the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University what an earth is going on’. A University spokesperson has responded to claims: ‘The University of Bristol acknowledges that some people have concerns about the use of animals in research. However, we also recognise that research involving animals is vital for advances in
5
medical, veterinary and scientific knowledge that improve the lives of both animals and humans. ‘Wherever possible, our research relies on computer models, human volunteers or cells grown in the lab. However, these methods are not suitable in every instance. That’s why, when absolutely necessary, we support the principle of involving animals in research in order to advance our understanding of health and disease. ‘These include: cardiovascular and cancer research, research into diseases associated with infection and immunity as well as veterinary and agricultural research. ‘An example of this type of research is a revolutionary therapy that protects thousands of newborn babies from brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen at birth. This has since been provided by neonatal intensive care units across the UK since 2010 and saves 1,500 babies from death and disability each year. ‘We are committed to a culture of care where animals are treated with compassion and respect. All of our research involving animals is ethically reviewed and carefully regulated by the Home Office. ‘All of our scientists and technicians who work with animals receive specialist training to ensure that their work promotes animal welfare and complies with relevant legislation. ‘They are also committed to the 3Rs (replacing animals with non-animal alternatives, reducing the numbers of animals used and refining techniques that involve animals).’
University of Bristol and Bristol UCU commit to eliminate gender pay gap • •
The University’s pay gap is currently 16.2 per cent Although lower than the UK average, plans aim to reduce this
Lucy Downer
Deputy News Editor
T
he two organisations show a united front on reducing the University’s 16.2 per cent gender pay gap. Following the release of a joint statement from the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Hugh Brady and the President of the Bristol branch of University and College Union (UCU), Tracy Hooper, a new, united commitment has been made to eliminate the gender pay gap at the University of Bristol. According to the University’s 2018 Gender Pay Gap Report, there is currently a 16.2 per cent median gender pay gap at the University. Though below the UK wide
average of 18.4 per cent, this disparity is one which the University and the UCU are now committed to reducing.
Amongst staff, of the lower pay quartile 69 per cent are women compared to the upper pay quartile comprising of 41 per cent women. With a majority of female staff overall at the university at 55 per cent, the pay gap has been shown to be largely the result of a higher concentration of women in lower graded roles. Both the university and the Bristol branch of UCU have acknowledged the slow pace of change around the gender pay gap at Bristol, and are committing to further action. In their joint statement they said: ‘The University of Bristol and UCU recognise that, although the gender pay gap needs to be tackled across the whole of the University, there are a number of cultural, structural and policy issues which affect women academic staff in particular. For this reason, the University has agreed to engage in time-limited negotiations with UCU with a view to agreeing actions, including setting appropriate targets, to significantly reduce the gender pay gap among academic staff
within three years.’ The ‘actions’ and ‘appropriate targets’ have yet to be finalized or released, however, it is clear that intentions have been set to close the long-standing gender pay gap that exists within the University of Bristol. median gender pay gap at The statement went on to suggest a the University of Bristol school-specific response to the gender pay gap, stating: ‘The University of Bristol agrees to provide leadership across and within schools and to commit resources, support and guidance to achieve this objective.’ Again, specific resources, support and guidance have not yet been outlined, Epigram contacted the University for more information and they have said that as the project plan is not yet finalised there are no extra details at present. Negotiations are set to be complete by December 2018, with any agreed outcomes forming party of the University-wide Action Plan of the Gender Pay Gap Working Group.
16.2%
epigram 22.10.2018
6 News
‘Considerably beyond capacity’: Bristol SU struggles to provide space for societies •
Imogen Horton News Editor
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espite the SU fulfilling their pledge to give societies who are unable to use a free local space a minimum of two hours per week in the Richmond Building, some have been forced to hire external venues using extra funding. The SU has a complex process for room bookings, which is split into two categories: special events and regular bookings. In both cases, Stanford explained the SU is ‘oversubscribed relative to the space we have.’ For regular bookings, the problem has been worsened because, this year ‘as part of trying to increase the resource for student led special events we altered the availability of the Anson Rooms.’ Funding was therefore given to groups which had lost the most hours ‘relative to the hours they received last year’ or relative ‘to what they would have received if the Anson Rooms were still open to regular bookings’ BULABDS, Bristol University Latin and Ballroom Dance Society, has asserted they believe ‘the SU has moved to thinking
about students second. Their move to reserve more space in the SU for events is purely a financial decision by the University, who own the building.’ However, Stanford wants to reassure students that for any ‘revenue generated bookings’ the SU ‘prioritises events students would enjoy going to’. He also said: ‘If there’s one thing to hold the SU to account to, is that special events need to be about students, otherwise we’ve lost regular room space for no gain.’ Stanford also explained: ‘In the case of special events and in the case of regular room bookings, there is more demand than space, and that’s not new, it’s been the case for years.’ In response, Alasdair Peachy, President of BULABDS commented: ‘I am a little confused as to why the SU hasn’t recognised this drain on student societies and taken a long-term view of this issue and purchased additional buildings.’ There is a general grievance that external venues do not have the same space as SU rooms. Bristol Kickboxing Society admitted that ‘having access to the SU facilities does allow us to hold larger sessions of up to 100 members which is essential.’ Bristol Judo Society told Epigram another downfall of external venues is extra costs. As they are hiring a room in the University Sports Centre, members are required to have a sports pass, ‘an extra cost that may impact our membership numbers’. Bristol Muay Thai
“We may be forced to fold due to financial issues caused by lack of space in the SU” Alasdair Peachy, President of BULABDS
New research shows ‘educational inequality crisis’ in Bristol •
Bristol University aims to combat inequality through outreach schemes, such as Bristol Scholars, which help students secure places at the University
Imogen Horton News Editor
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esearchers have found a difference in progression rates to higher education ranging from 8.6 per cent in Hartcliffe in South Bristol to 100 per cent in Clifton in West Bristol. Statistics from the Office for Students have shown that in over half of Bristol’s wards students are achieving necessary GCSE grades for higher education, but not taking on this opportunity. In Hengrove, only 14.3 per cent of students access higher education, but, based on GCSE results, 22.2 per cent have the ability to. Professor Rosamund Sutherland, who led the research, explained that ‘Bristol has more areas categorised as being in the most deprived 10 per cent in England than other cities in the country. ‘Addressing these inequalities is a collective responsibility; everyone has a role to play, from the local authority to schools, FE colleges and universities.’ Key underlying factors are classbased and historic, as young people from
disadvantaged areas are more likely to receive poor advice about accessing higher education. These students are also likely to be the first in their family to go to university and so do not have the knowledge from their family to help them with the process. The University of Bristol runs several outreach programmes to help those from areas of lower higher education participation access university. Since 2006, the University has run Access to Bristol, a scheme to encourage pupils, who may not otherwise, to consider higher education. Over 3,500 students have taken part, resulting in 500 of these studying at Bristol University. More recently, the University has also started Bristol Scholars, a scheme which gives out guaranteed offers for ‘high potential’ students who have experienced educational or domestic disadvantage. Talking to Epigram, a second year Veterinary Medicine student who participated in Bristol Scholars explained how the scheme had benefitted her: ‘The Bristol Scholars programme meant that I had a guaranteed interview. The grade requirements were also lowered from AAA to AAC.’ ‘I missed my offer on results day, so I was given an offer for gateway to veterinary science, which I wouldn’t have gotten if I wasn’t a Bristol Scholar. If I wasn’t a Bristol Scholar, I would probably be studying animal science or animal behaviour.’
Epigram / Imogen Horton
Epigram has investigated reports that the University has outgrown the Richmond Building, talking to societies affected and SU Union Affairs Officer, Stanford
also expressed concern over the impact on membership: ‘we understand that the SU want to give all societies a booking, but it is frustrating that as a society that is growing exponentially each year in popularity we have had our hours cut so aggressively.’ For some societies the impact may be greater than a decrease in membership numbers. Spending approximately £5,500 on room bookings, BULABDS have accepted that it is a ‘realistic position that after over 40 years of the society at Bristol University we may be forced to fold at the end of the year due to financial issues caused by lack of space in the SU.’ Despite the negative feedback from the societies affected, Bristol Kickboxing Society highlighted the ability extra funding gives them to access specialist equipment: ‘The quality of our external training is actually better than in the SU because the floors in the Anson Rooms aren’t really suitable or safe for what we do.’
Number of student drinkers fall as young people turn away from alcohol • •
100% progression rate to higher education in Clifton, compared to 8.6% in Hartcliffe
‘Considering the limited space in the Richmond Building, the SU’s decision to financially support clubs in finding external venues has been a positive thing. It allows clubs to source their own, more suitable venues to train, and relieves pressure on the room booking system in the Richmond Building.’ Stanford also stressed he’s ‘working really hard to get some improvements to the situation’ and, ‘if students have feedback, that can go through me and I can try and manage that internally. If that balance is unsatisfactory for students, then they can pass policy on this at student council, but in either case, I would remind people that there is more demand than there is space.’ ‘The University are doing constructions and refurbishments, so I’m doing everything I can to try and maximise usable space by students in the refurbishment’. He also spoke of looking into how specialised spaces, such as for martial arts, could ‘potentially be put into some of the University’s new spaces’. ‘Some of the dream solutions are quite costly for the SU but they’re not implausible to the point of impossibility.’ As for the future, the SU will be holding a consultation with student group leaders about the room booking system. Stanford emphasised that the SU ‘are open to improvements’ and want to hear ‘if there’s a fairer way to do it, a more practical way, or a more efficient way’.
The increase in non-drinkers is across a range of socio-economic backgrounds Almost a quarter students believe there should be more events at university without alcohol
Maddy Russell
Second Year Politics and International relations
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he number of young people turning away from alcohol is rising, according to a recent study from University College London. The study found that the proportion of 16 to 24 year olds who do not drink any alcohol has increased from 18 per cent to 29 per cent between 2005 and 2015. The increase in non-drinkers has been found across a broad range of groups, including those living in the north and south of England, as well as those from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Dr Linda Ng Fat, lead author of the study, commented: ‘The increase in young people who choose not to drink alcohol suggests that this behavior may be becoming more acceptable, whereas risky behaviors such as binge drinking may be becoming less normalized.’
In a recent survey, almost a quarter of students believe there should be more social events at university that do not involve any drinking, according to the National Union of Students. This new data comes after calls for universities to introduce more ‘inclusive spaces’ for teetotal students. When asked to comment a Bristol University student stated: ‘I don’t not drink for any particular reason – it probably stems from a dislike of the taste and a fear of throwing up. I also feel that [some] people need to loosen up a bit, but I am happy to start dancing without it. ‘I don’t have any strong feelings about alcohol, I don’t mind heavy drinking on nights out but what does bother me is when people force others to, or call them names if they don’t do it.’
epigram 22.10.2018
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Official reopening of sports centre highlights the importance of exercise in wellbeing • •
The University and counselling service are planning to extend their ‘Healthy Minds’ programme The transformation is part of wider development of the campus Epigram / Imogen Horton
Laura Reid
Uni Management Correspondent
Imogen Horton News Editor
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ast Wednesday, 10 October, marked the official reopening of the Indoor Sports Centre, which has undergone a £4.9 million makeover. A key focus of the day was mental health, with the reopening including a 90-minute exercise class and a workshop with artist Fandangoe Kid, which explored how a sense of belonging and physical activity can support better mental health. Wellbeing advisors were also situated in the reception area of the gym with advice and information about where students can get support. Matt Birch, Director of Sport, Exercise and Health, said: ‘I am really proud that the sports centre is at the forefront of the positive changes in Campus Heart. ‘Our message is ‘We Are Bristol’ and if you are interested in getting fitter and looking
“It makes a real difference. It’s life changing for some” Matt Birch, Director of Sport, Exercise and Health.
after your mental health, sign up to a new class, join a club or take out a membership and we’re sure that you’ll meet like-minded people and have fun.’ As part of the transformation of the sports centre, the University are particularly focused on expanding their Healthy Minds programme which concentrates on how exercise can improve wellbeing. Talking at the official reopening of the sport centre, Matt Birch explained that for Healthy Minds ‘appropriate students are referred to the division [by the student counselling service], they receive free access to the facilities and to the activity
programmes and a mentor to support them. It makes a real difference. It’s life changing for some of them. ‘This building will allow that work to continue. We will grow it, we will work with the wellbeing advisor network and the residential life team and increase the referrals onto that programme as the capacity we have now, allows that to happen.’ Bethany Hickton, a third year PhD student, took part in Healthy Minds after she was diagnosed with clinical depression following a fall where she badly fractured her spine. Spending 16 weeks in a spinal brace
caused Bethany to experience ‘a lot of anxiety’ and she also suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) when returning to campus, as that was where her accident had happened. Healthy Minds was suggested to Bethany by the Student Counselling Service, and she claims that without it she would never have thought of trying sports. As part of the programme, Bethany started to lift weights, something she found she had an aptitude for. ‘Out of nowhere, I was good at it. It was such a joyous moment. I now judge my body on what it can do, not what it looks like. [Healthy Minds] was all about body confidence and having fun.’ Bethany is now a student support development coach, mentoring people on the Healthy Minds programme. The new changes aim to make the sports centre more welcoming and user-friendly. They are part of a larger ‘Campus Heart’ programme to transform the services and building on and around Tyndall Avenue, including a new library on the Hawthorns site. At the official opening for the sports centre, Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor, said that Campus Heart ‘aims to create a much more welcoming, identifiable heart to the campus, that is an asset not just for our students and staff but for the citizens of the city’.
Locals grow restless as noise complaints continue to increase Lucy Downer
Deputy News Editor
and the confrontational attitude that I have seen in certain places is very unhelpful for this.’ A University spokesperson said on the issue: ‘We take pride in the value our students bring to the community, but also recognise the impact of high density student populations in local residential areas, especially if they make noise during the night.’ ‘We deliver our ‘Move On to Move In’ campaign to first year students in residences, to prepare them for the transition into private rented accommodation. We then carry out our ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign at the start of the year, door knocking students in their new private rented accommodation and delivering welcome packs providing information on community living, including how to be considerate neighbours.’ ‘In the ‘Love Where You Live’, Community Liaison group meeting last academic year, it was revealed that there were a total of 258 complaints made to the University, with the large majority (134) of those coming from the Redland area. Interestingly, the majority, 40%, of those were about general noise, however, parties still took up 35% of complaints. 19 households received fines for holding parties and a total of 1,776 students were contacted. With a lot of conflicting interests and many different groups involved, it remains to be seen how a solution to this problem, that works for everyone, can be found.
Epigram / Luke Unger
Continued from front page ... Officer), in other words, they knew the rules.’ ‘So, by the end of that weekend I was pretty cross. I felt that a line had been crossed; you think, somebody has to do something about that, and then you realise, maybe that somebody is going to be me.’ Waller shared an anonymous message he received to his blog that described ‘marauding bands of drunk and screaming students … coming in waves all night long until 6am’. The message described ‘scarcely being able to sleep at all’ most nights; ‘I am literally being driven from my home by this problem’. He said that he found the Uni’s response frustrating at times; ‘The University has a process for dealing with complaints but I think that’s not the same as saying they’re trying to solve the problem, I think they’re trying to manage it in a kind of tick box sort of way.’ ‘This year they have tweaked the fines, the 100 pound fine still exits but they have increased the fine at the second level to 250 pounds The University introduced the fine with a fanfare, saying there were getting real about this, but at the end of last year we found out that the fine had only been levied in about 20 per cent of cases.’ Though Waller said that he had ‘no complaints’ with
the people he was dealing with directly from the University, he said: ‘I’m still left with the feeling that at senior level, the University as an institution is not prepared to take ownership of this problem.’ Whether ‘The Noise Pages’ might further the division between students and the local community has yet to be seen, the founder of site acknowledged this and said: ‘I’m open to suggestions, as I’ve said I would be quite happy to take contributions from students.’ Waller requests three things from the Uni in order to diffuse tensions between locals and students after hours. Firstly, he asks for a way of intervening and stopping loud parties from happening. Secondly, he asks that students have a clearer idea of local rules and community guidelines and know what is and isn’t acceptable. Finally, he asks that ‘we need as much as possible to foster good relations between the two communities’. Sarah Taylor-Knight, a 3rd year student and Community Liaison Ambassador, stated that ‘All complaints received are acted on. ‘There has been a remarkably low level of recurrence of issues, as most people who receive complaints are incredibly apologetic and were not completely aware of the effect that their parties can have on neighbours.’ Sarah works as an ambassador improving community cohesion, stating that ‘Although all complaints are taken very seriously, personally I think that this is a far more important part of my job as an ambassador,
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epigram 22.10.2018
Drunken EU debate causes a stir Zoe Crowther SU Correspondent
Continued from front page he Bristol University Conservative Association, Bristol Uni Lib Dems and Bristol Green Soc debated the motion ‘This house believes we are only now beginning to see the true effects of Brexit and a People’s Vote must therefore be called.’ Each society hosted separate pre-drinks events beforehand, with alcohol also sold at the venue. Discussions quickly became heated, particularly surrounding the issue of the Irish border. In response to an audience member’s point that the panel had failed to mention Northern Ireland, Oliver Briscoe, member of BUCA, responded: ‘NI doesn’t matter in the context of this debate. ‘They don’t matter to the remain campaign because they don’t need convincing. They are a tiny population and a tiny country. NI have a tiny voice in terms of the Conservative party as a whole.’ This statement was met with immediate uproar, with people in the audience urging the Chair to move onto a new question. One audience member voiced their criticism of an apparent lack of understanding of the Northern Ireland issue, exclaiming ‘can we get someone up who does know?’ There were also questions raised surrounding the legitimacy of a panel of six that was all-white, comprising of three Conservatives and only one female speaker. The lack of diversity was criticized by the
theirishtimes.com
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‘It’s very entertaining to watch’ Max Langer Bristol Uni Lib Dems
Green Soc panellist, Robin Tait. She said ‘I think it would be great if we could have a more diverse panel. ‘It’s perpetuating the echo-chamber. I’m happy to see student engagement, but its not going to feel accessible if it’s a homogenous panel that doesn’t represent everyone.’ Tika Endeladze, Treasurer of BUCA, said ‘the event was organised by Rob and he did such a good job. I do agree that there was a huge gender imbalance on the panel and i agree that there are definitely fewer girls than guys participating in political societies. As the conservative association this year we’ve really tried to increase the number of girls who have signed up, and if you looked at the audience members i would have said that it was more 60:40 boys to girls. ‘Obviously its an issue that has to be taken seriously but encouraging girls into politics by making more people be on the panel and take part in events would be something that societies would also have to consider.’
Some of those attending expressed their approval that such an event was taking place. Kira Treveil said ‘I voted remain but we’ve been saying we’ve been quite interested in hearing the leave campaign. ‘A lot of people have been shouting over the leave campaign, not really listening to what they’re saying. People in front of us are getting aggressive. It’s very entertaining to watch.’ Bristol Lib Dems President Max Langer commented ‘This is a great event bringing together lots of different views on Brexit. It did skirt around some major issues: it is ridiculous that the Irish border came out only in the penultimate questions.’ Members of Green Soc also gave their opinions on Bristol Labour Students’ decision to not partake in the event. Amy Heels, a member of the Green committee, expressed her disappointment: ‘It is a microcosm that has existed before. There are a lot of points we would agree on. It’s representative of Labour refusing to engage as opposition to the Conservatives.’ When asked about for the BUCA opinion
on the matter, Tory panellist Oliver Briscoe responded ‘It’s not about Labour tonight.’ The event, originally organised by BUCA, was promoted on Facebook as ‘Come watch six wannabe politicians ruin any potential political career by getting pissed and debating that famously uncontentious topic. Brexit. Audience participation is a must.’ With drinking games incorporated into the debate, feedback from the audience was largely positive, with most expressing that it was a fun way to engage in politics. Speaker Angus Goddard-Watts, said ‘I think it’s great fun. Even though people are heckling, it’s friendly heckling. That the crowd were friendly enough that I could go up there was great you know.’
Alumni donors contribute over £2 million to University for campus developments • •
Over 5,000 donors contribute millions to the University Donors come from 38 countries
Zoe Crowther
SU Correspondent
The report for 2017/18 has been released by the University, showing the quantitative results of benefactor donations. 5669 UoB donors, from 38 different countries, contributed £2.3m for campus developments. 37 PhD students in total were supported last academic year by alumni funding, as well as 43 sports clubs. Donors also funded 159 scholarships and bursaries. These scholarships include the new Think Big scholarship, which assists with the fee payments of some international students
and the Sanctuary Scholarships, which aim to provide HE opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers. The University invited alumni to visit and see how their support has been furthering research and developments. Examples included students who had benefited from sporting scholarships and family members of those who could be helped by medical research. In the report, Vice Chancellor Hugh Brady said ‘Bristol’s power is people: it’s people who make the research breakthroughs that put us on the world map, it’s talented people who come from all over the world to study with us, and people – like you – who support the University. ‘It’s people like you who make our University so special – your donations, expertise, and involvement are incredibly valuable. This report is just one way of saying thank you, and my opportunity to add my personal thanks to you.’
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Features
Editor: Ollie Smith Deputy Editor: Tom Taylor Online Editor: Emily Vernall Deputy Online Editor: Niamh Rowe
Histories of Bristol: Black History Month As part of a regular series exploring the history of our city, I explore the origins of Black History Month
Robin Connolly First year, History
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n Tuesday, historian and author David Olusoga gave a lecture at Bristol’s Students’ Union as a part of the Black History Month programme of events. He spoke about how black people have been overlooked within the British historical narrative, despite the roles they have played in shaping our nation. He argued that history is a place where we go to feel good about ourselves. So, although black history and British history should be synonymous, the dark pasts of slavery and racism in British history have been pushed aside, to avoid discomfort for the white majority. Much of the British history we were taught at school was glorious – of white conquest, victory and the strength of British values. This history is the one we know, the history which underpins our national identity. It is comfortable and easily glorified.
What is less comfortable is facing up to the fact that white history is inseparable from the history of black slavery in this country. It is perhaps easy to ignore history, to argue that it is irrelevant to our lives today, when we live in an age that encourages constant forward thinking and development. However, some of us will have had relatives who were slave owners, traders or who otherwise had investments in the trade of our fellow student’s ancestors. This makes our history mutual. This makes black history equally as relevant to those of all races in Britain, as we are all somehow associated with its forgotten past. Black History Month was first celebrated as Black History Week in 1926 in the U.S, before evolving into Black History Month in 1969. It was an attempt by historian Carter G. Woodson to reclaim these black histories that have been overlooked in textbooks and academic works. However, it wasn’t until 1987 that the first Black History Month came to the UK. Proposed by Ansel Wong of the Strategic Policy Unit and hosted by Linda Bellos, the leader of Lambeth Council, Black History Month was to be
“Black History Month was founded to highlight the unknown, undiscovered histories of black people in Britain”
distinctive from its sister month in America. Black History Month was founded to highlight the unknown, undiscovered histories of black people in Britain and to push for a revaluation of the histories we blindly accept as fact, without attempting to understand perspectives buried in the depths of the archives. There are so many of these voices which have been both lost and actively silenced through the traditional telling of white British history. For example, in Bristol itself, it has been estimated that between 1698 and 1807, over 2,100 ships which would come to transport over 500,000 Africans - more than the entire population of Bristol today - left the city’s Port en route to Africa before sailing the Middle Passage to the Americas. They were not considered people, but instead ‘black cattle’ on a stock exchange where livelihoods were traded for profit. Our geographical separation from the destinations of these slaves meant we could easily sweep the ugly truth of the origins of this revenue under the carpet – most British people saw the money without the blood. It is easy to see history in the same way – to celebrate the glory of the abolitionist
movement without appreciating the role our ancestors may have played in the international slave trade. Although Black History Month is as relevant as ever before, this year’s events are perhaps more accessible to the British public than in previous years. Prominent news stories such as the Windrush Scandal, discussions about statues such as that of Edward Colston and Cecil Rhodes in universities and the death of Aretha Franklin have created the perfect opening for us to engage with black histories, to immerse ourselves in what is not only black history, but a universal history. The history of black people in Britain is currently only available to those who go out of their way to seek such information out. One of the goals of Black History Month is to strive for a national consciousness that encompasses fully the racial past of our country. Bristol SU has a unique and wide range of events planned for this years Black History Month, from Monét X Change to a guided tour of Bristol’s slave trade, from Afrofusion dance to a discussion panel with some of the brightest black women in the creative industry.
Were students represented at the party conferences? An examination of where major political parties stand on student issues Second year, Politics and Sociology
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hree weeks ago, Britain’s major political parties held their annual conferences, with Labour going to Liverpool and the Conservatives in Birmingham. As well as being a chance to hear speakers and debates, these conferences also give members the opportunity to shape policy in the form of motions that are voted on.
Fees and funding Ever since the 2010 coalition government removed the cap on tuition fees, student loans and the affordability of higher education have been at the forefront of student politics. Until 2017, however, student activism concerning tuition fees wasn’t linked to any of the major political parties. The Conservatives and Lib Dems continued to back the policy and Labour merely promised to remove the cap, rather than scrapping fees altogether. However, when the Labour party made subsidised higher education a key part of their 2017 manifesto, the debate resurged for a while in mainstream politics. For Labour at least, this has showed no sign of slowing down. Whilst Corbyn did not mention fees in his speech, focusing instead on the recent anti-Semitism row, Brexit, and the economy, tuition fees were the subject of a fringe Labour event. Here, Labour MPs Rosie Duffield and Wes Streeting discussed opening up the debate
“20 per cent of university funding comes from the EU, thus a ‘hard’ Brexit would leave universities with a sizeable gap to fill”
on fees, with Duffield stressing that students in her constituency were ambivalent about fees, and Streeting advocating a graduate tax as an alternative to loans. Duffield argued that getting rid of student loans would reduce rather than increase social mobility, as poorer students would struggle to find the funding to reach university. Furthermore, it would cost 11bn, meaning that other important services, such as primary and secondary schools, would receive less funding – which would, paradoxically, be worse for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. For some, the idea of a graduate tax is attractive because it would get rid of the accounting ‘black hole’ created by student loans. which won’t count as expenditure for 30 years. However, the reintroduction of maintenance grants and the abolishing of tuition fees remains Labour policy, as the party works to develop a ‘National Education Service’ that takes care of public learning from cradle to grave. For the Conservatives, the debate remains closed: tuition fees are here to stay, and possibly not just because their true cost may only appear later. First, unlike Labour, the Conservatives neither depend on nor need to mobilise the student vote. This is not to say that all students are in favour of abolishing fees, athough this did give Corbyn a boost in the 2017 election. Second, it seems to be in the interests of universities to keep the fee system. This is because it removes the need for a cap on places, meaning that the only limit to university growth is the number of students. Furthermore, despite fears over student debt and the worth of a degree, student numbers show no sign of slowing down. This may be due to the fact that graduates continue to out-earn non-graduates, meaning that a university education is still
Wikimedia Commons / Sophie Brown
Ellie Brown
“Labour MP Rosie Duffield argued that gettting rid of student loands would reduce rather than increase social mobility”
attractive to young people. As well as this, universities are increasingly dependent on funding from international students, who pay higher fees. However, as evidenced by a fringe event at the Conservative conference, Brexit threatens to derail this model.
Brexit Unsurprisingly, Brexit was a major theme of the Conservative conference. As the March deadline for leaving approaches, the possibility of leaving without a deal rises. The effects of no deal on students and universities are, at the moment, unclear; no one can say with any certainty whether or not programmes such as Erasmus would still be able to run. Yet there is clearly the potential to lose these exchange opportunities for which membership of the EU provides. Some of these issues were debated at the Conservative conference. According to Professor Tickell of Sussex University, 20% of university funding comes from the EU, thus a ‘hard’ Brexit would leave universities with a sizable gap to fill. Furthermore,
Conservative attitudes to immigration, including the removal of post-study work visas, may discourage the international students which universities are so dependent on financially. Meanwhile, Tory peer and strong hard Brexit advocate, Lord Lilley, argues that fewer international students wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Lilley argued that British taxpayers fund EU students who don’t pay back their loans, while too many international students would make universities migration centres, rather than independent learning institutions. Because of this, he argued against the reintroduction of post-study visas, which have recently been rejected by a government committee, and if reintroduced would make it easier for international students to gain work experience here before returning to their home country. Yet Lilley didn’t provide an answer to the question of how universities would be funded without these students, who may be put off due to what is seen as an unwelcoming attitude. And Professor Tickell, while extolling the virtues of the British higher education sector, didn’t address the concerns of British taxpayers who probably don’t benefit from the high salaries paid to vice chancellors like him. Finally, while Labour didn’t directly confront the problems Brexit pose for Britain’s universities and students, they did pass an important motion on it. Labour policy is now officially to support a ‘people’s vote’ on the final Brexit deal, although Corbyn’s statement that ‘all options’ are on the table, and the party’s preference for a general election in the wake of a botched deal, indicates that a ‘people’s vote’ may actually be more of a last resort. However, whether this vote would be on a soft or hard Brexit, or if it would include the option to stay, remains unclear.
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epigram
Black History Month
22.10.2018
David Olusoga: ‘History cannot just be recreation for feeling good about ourselves’ Historian David Olusoga speaks to me about why Black History Month is important in modern Britain
Ollie Smith Features Editor
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s part of Black History Month, historian and television presenter David Olusoga gave a lecture titled ‘Black People in British History’ in which, as the name suggests, he shared his insights into black figures from our nation’s past. Olusoga has grown in prominence in recent years with shows such as Black and British: A Forgotten History, A House Through Time, and recently in the program Civilisations alongside Simon Schama and Mary Beard. Following his talk I sat down with him to discuss his views on Black History Month. Why is Black History Month important to you and why is it important we learn about it as a wider community?
What do you say to people who say “Why should we have one month for black history? Why not have it as part of our national history all the time?” ‘Well I am a professional historian and I would hate to study any history 365 days a year, we would go crazy. I think that in some ways that is a kind of odd argument … I have never heard anyone say let’s get rid of International Women’s Day, let’s not have Holocaust Memorial Day, let’s have holocaust memorial all year long. These are devices we use, they are landmarks we put in the calendar to remind ourselves to have conversations and they are really useful and it is one of those kinds of non-arguments, I hear it all the time and it is sort of yeah well so what? … Let’s not knock it, and I say that as someone who has criticised it in the past for a different reason but it is not broken, it helps, it means things happen, it has a utility.’ In the past you’ve talked about having books specifically on black history but you have said you would rather books with a national history where it is an obligation to talk about black history.
Where do you stand on renaming university buildings such as our own Wills Memorial? You mentioned in your talk you were in favour of renaming Colston Hall because he was a slaver so would you support similar action around a university like Bristol?
Why do you think that is though? Why has black British history been so forgotten until recent times? ‘Because I think we are one of the countries that see history as a place that we go to feel good about ourselves, to feel comforted, to feel a sort of warm glow. German’s do not go to their history to feel warm glows they go there to ask difficult questions and I think if you see history as a place that is like a warm bath where you go to relax you do not want there to be difficult, unpleasant moments in that that are actually morally challenging … because history has become recreation, we are uncomfortable and we just skip through the bits where we do not look good, where bad things happen. I think you have to ask yourself a question where one of two things could be true; either Britain is like every other country that has ever existed and has done both good and bad or we happen to have been lucky enough to have been born in the only country that has always been on the right side of history and which of those two things do you believe... is the most likely? … if it is the former where we have done good as well as bad then we have got to confront the good as well as bad and then history cannot just be recreation for feeling good about ourselves, it has to also be about difficult questions, difficult stories, tragedies, crimes, things that we lament happened but we need to confront that happened and we need to do it because it is the history that makes sense of the way our country operates, of the way we are today, it is the history of millions of our fellow citizens.’ The University of Bristol recently announced as part of its Past Matters project that as much as 85 per cent of the wealth that went into its founding was linked to slavery. The University of Glasgow has recently announced what it calls a program of ‘reparative justice’ because of its own links to the slave past. What is your opinion on this? ‘I think that this is a real moment for British universities. I think it is commendable that Bristol University has done this digging, again it is about having difficult conversations that they are easier not to have. But I think now is a real moment. We know that particularly African-Caribbean
“We are one of the countries that see history as a place that we go to feel good about ourselves”
“We talk about these half conversations in which the bits that connect what we call mainstream history to what we call black history are disconnected”
people in this country are enormously disadvantaged and badly served by the education system. We know that our schools fail, in all sorts of ways, young black people and that there are all sorts of programs that often do not have very much money, that are often struggling to try to write those wrongs and to give us something even approaching a level playing field. I think the knowledge that is now being brought out into the open about the money that was used to found these universities, the debt these universities owe to the systems that created that wealth. I think now is an incredible opportunity to combine that with what we know about the disadvantages that shape the lives of black people in this country and to provide this country with something which America has far more of than we do which is bursaries and schemes designed to get black people into university for people who are the descendants of enslaved people; it is an incredible opportunity. America’s system of historically black universities and bursaries and scholarships has created this incredible African-American middle class, it has created this African-American intellectual class. It means that you go to American
‘People will tell you that if you change the names of streets or buildings that you are erasing history. We do not learn history from the names of buildings. We do not learn history from the names of streets. I think it is an erroneous argument. If we learned history from the names of streets then everyone in this country could tell me all about the Battle of Portobello. There is a Portobello street, a Portobello area in Edinburgh, a Portobello market in London, no-one knows anything about it; People cannot tell me what year it is in, cannot tell me who fought it, they presume Britain fought it because we named a street after it, they cannot tell me anything. Name the generals, they cannot because we do not learn history that way... we learn history through education, through books, through television, through university courses. So these arguments against naming these things, most of them fall apart in your hands. The argument in favour of doing it is do you really want to honour people who did dishonourable things? We do not name buildings, put up statues for any other reason, we do it to honour people, statues are erected in honour of. Do we really want to give honour to people who live dishonourable lives? It is a question for the 21st century. Do we think a man who was a mass murderer in the late 16th and early 17th century should be honoured with a statue, should be honoured with a ceremony in a cathedral in the 21st century in a multiethnic, multi-racial city?
Epigram / Ollie Smith
‘Well I think it is not just about books, it is about conversations we have and I think there is lots of ways in which we talk about elements in British history and we take out the imperial, the colonial, the racial elements. What I was talking about tonight is when I was a kid I was brought up, taught about the industrial revolution, was not taught that
universities and there is this abundance, well probably not as much as there should be, but there is an awful lot more black faculty staff than there are in this country. I think it is still the case there are two black history professors in this country, two! We have done really badly, the areas we have done really badly in this country it is education, it is museums, it is the media, it is the places that are about the propagation of knowledge and we have not welcomed into those institutions all people of all backgrounds in this country. I think these universities have an incredible opportunity to use this new knowledge to begin a conversation about how do we help people who are excluded from education gaining access and use history as an impetus towards action.’
Epigram / Ollie Smith
‘I have been critical of Black History Month in the past because it has been too Americanised because it was an American import. I am a lot less critical now because it gets us talking, that is its fundamental use. It means that these sorts of things happen, it means we have these conversations … I get to come here and talk to you guys and have these conversations about things that I think, that a lot of people think, are really important so you can criticise it and I have and I was wrong but it makes us talk and we really really need to be talking at the moment because things are not going great in the world.’
the cotton that was Britain’s biggest export, the raw cotton came from America and was produced by slaves. You cannot talk about the industrial revolution without talking about American slavery, you cannot really talk about the Victorian age without talking about the scramble for Africa and we do, we do it a lot, we talk about these half conversations in which the bits that connect what we call mainstream history to what we call black history are disconnected and I think in all sorts of ways we just need to not do that. There was a documentary made a few years ago about William Beckford of Fonthill who wrote arguably one of the first gothic novels, who built this huge gothic folly in the West Country, it was an amazing documentary about this artistic figure; did not mention that he was the biggest slave owner in Britain. It is those non mentions that sort of tell every detail other than the one that actually relates to histories that involve black people, it is that sort of omission that is dishonesty by omission and we do it all the time.’
22.10.2018 epigram
Black History Month
Features 11
Pan-Africanism, Afrofuturism and Decolonisation: realising visions of freedom Law Fellow Dr Foluke Abebisi talks to me about pan-Africanism, Black History Month and allyship co-Editor-in-Chief
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anafricanism, afrofuturism and decolonisation’ was the title of Dr Foluke Abebisi’s workshop for one of the SU’s Black History Month events. All three are academic concepts rarely engaged with day-to-day in mainstream academia, let alone in general conversations on campus. Despite SU moves to ‘decolonise our curriculum’, talk of these concepts is sadly confined to the fringes. A teaching fellow at Bristol Law School, Dr Adebisi has just launched a new ‘law and race’ unit that aims to critically engage with the structures and institutions around which our lives are formed. I sit down with Adebisi to talk about pan-Africanism, discourses that get left off
“There is a long tradition of leaving certain things out of the history books”
Epigram / Cameron Scheijde
Cameron Scheijde
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
curricula, Black History Month and allyship. ‘There is the importance of the solidarity between black and brown people in the UK’, starts Adebisi when I ask her about Black History Month. ‘Because of the increasing influence of Black History Month in the US, the visions of Martin Luther King, it is really important that we talk about history. It is important, especially in University, and especially in a highly-ranked University, for us to talk more about history that is left out of the history books, especially black history.’ ‘There is a long tradition of leaving certain things out of the history books, and I think it’s important because it gives us the avenue to have these conversations that we don’t usually have’. I asked what the role of ideologies such as pan-Africanism had in our University setting, given how most students won’t have heard about them. ‘A lot of what we do in University is about ideology and schools of thought’, she says. ‘If you think about the racial and social formations of the world, and the theories that underpin them, the way in which the world is formed leaves certain theories out of it. It’s like the knowledge we are presenting is incomplete. One of the questions I pose to myself is “what is the University for?” If the University is a public good, where the point is to improve the world and make the world a better place, we cannot do that where certain histories, ways of knowing or epistemologies are left out.’ ‘One step is to unveil the hidden, and the second step is to ask, “what’s next” and I think Universities are the place to answer that question’ In her workshop, Adebisi focussed on critically analysing and questioning the structures around us and what that means for the historically oppressed. I ask how an academic institution can ‘decolonise’ their curricula. ‘Well, it’s very difficult! The way in which decolonisation has happened across the UK, in South Africa, Canada or the US, usually comes from the position of the students. Students get into this structure and then they realise things that have been left out, and then they begin to ask for them’ ‘That’s why I direct my first arguments
for decolonisation to students, because in the neoliberal university they’ve got a much stronger voice than academics. Academics too have a role to play; when we are asked to decolonise our instant reaction shouldn’t be “no”. We are steeped in our disciplines, we have learnt all sort of things that are the foundations, but then students who haven’t yet got their degrees are telling us that “these things are wrong or incomplete”, it’s a natural human reaction to say “no”. Academics should be open to learning things they are currently unaware on, and the structures of Universities have to be open to that as well’. I move onto ‘law and race’, the unit that, along with the School of Humanities’ ‘black humanities’ course, are new this year. After so much is said about ‘diversifying’ our curricula, I ask what new units such as these bring to our degrees. ‘I would quibble with the word “diversify”’ Adebisi responds; ‘because it’s not really about bringing more into the structure, it is about questioning the structure itself. If we use the word “diversify” then we think “the structure is fine, we just need to help those who are outside feel more at home in the structure’ ‘What those kind of units do is they shine a light on the structure and they help us to think about ways in which we can make the
world not as unequal as it is. If the role of a University is to improve the world, then we need to question the structures that have made the world unequal’. My final question is about allyship; seeing as 84 per cent of Bristol’s student body is white, what can white students do to not co-opt and be good allies to the BME community. ‘Read would be the first thing, but also listen. I’m probably less sensitive because I’m older, but a lot of students talk about being asked to be the teacher, but you can’t ask fellow students to teach you. I don’t think there’s any malice when people say “I want to know what to do and say”, but the problem is you shouldn’t ask people who are constantly having a certain lived experience of discrimination to be the teacher. There’s lots of good books out there’ ‘In the talk I defined allyship in the negative I said “if you advocate for something less than what you would expect for yourself then that is not allyship”. We have to keen reflecting on what we are doing, be critical of the structures that we have come to rely on. I think the first step is to read as much as possible, but also to learn and change’ Dr Adebisi is hosting the second “Forever Africa” conference, a conference celebrating pan-Africanism, this Summer. Her blog can be found at folukesafricanskies.com
Renaming Wills Memorial: The debate so far Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire has reignited the discussion surrounding renaming Wills, but how has the debate developed so far?
Ollie Smith Features Editor
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“This has been part of a wider debate both in Bristol and on a national scale”
the Yale guidelines on renaming, which emphasise that “the presumption against renaming is at its strongest when a building has been named for someone who made a major contribution to the University”.’ This has been part of a wider debate both in Bristol and on a national scale. Colston, for example, has been in the news this year after his portrait was removed from the office of the Lord Mayor and the music venue known as Colston Hall announced it would change its name whilst a plaque was placed below the Colston statue to better explain his slave past. At Oriel College Oxford there was a similar campaign known as ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ which called for the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes due to his colonialist past; ultimately the statue was not taken down. The University has since launched its Past Matters project which is intended to ‘help to make our historical links to slavery more explicit. Our next step will be a week of activities in the Wills Memorial Building in November 2018.’ For now, it seems, the debate is far from over.
Epigram / Tom Taylor
his week Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire remarked that a statue of Edward Colston in Bristol city centre should be removed and that our own Wills Memorial Building could have its named changed. This is due to both men having strong links to slavery with Colston in particular being a slave trader and Wills having made much of his wealth through tobacco which was linked to slavery. Debbonaire’s comments have re-opened a debate which had seemingly ended in July last year when the University announced
that Wills Memorial would not be renamed following an online campaign by Bristol students Asher Websdale, Shakeel TaylorCamara and Elmi Hassan that reached 706 signatures. In March 2017 Taylor-Camara told Epigram that ‘we feel that the building should be named after an individual that we, as an institution and city, can be proud of’. In response a counter-petition calling for the building not to be renamed was set up by John Goacher which, by the time of closing, reached more signatures than the original with 897. Henry Overton Wills was our University’s first Chancellor and gave significant financial contributions towards its founding with the Memorial Building, opened in 1925, one of several parts of the University built in his honour. In its July 2017 statement The University said ‘Bristol commercial families have made major contributions to the University, without which the institution would not have flourished. In our view, it is important to retain these names as a reflection of our history’. ‘This decision is consistent with
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epigram 22.10.2018
Grammar schools: a force for social inclusivity or division? Conservatives need a lesson in equality: grammar schools must go
First year, Politics
B
oris Johnson brazenly claimed that grammar schools are ‘a great mobiliser and liberator’. All hail the grammar school. Yet, when we consider that only around 3 per cent of grammar school pupils are from disadvantaged backgrounds, we start to uncover the gaping flaws in selective schooling. Generally, to gain access to a grammar school place, a child must sit their 11 plus exams. In other words, at age 11, we are asking children to sit an exam which determines their pathway through schooling and further. We are asking a child to separate themselves from their peers and ‘be the best’. To demand this of a child puts a huge amount of pressure on them- pressure that, at 11 years old they are not adept to cope with.
Epigram / Imogen Horton
Elisha Mans
This sounds like a ridiculous idea from the outset. These exams become outright ludicrous, however, when the children from rich backgrounds are being tutored from the age of five to succeed in their 11 plus exams. Of course, if you have the money to pay for your child to be tutored into a school that promises higher academia, you will pay for this tutoring and see your child gain a place in a selective school. This means it is near impossible to argue that the 11 plus exams truly give academic children from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to prosper when they are competing against children who have been trained at great expense to succeed. The pro-grammar school advocate, usually a member of the middle-class, will dispute this with claims that bright, disadvantaged children get the opportunity to gain a place to a school likely leading them to higher education; but this is evidently not the case. Take, for example, the fact that the average grammar school has fewer than three per cent of their pupils on free school meals, compared to an average of 14 per cent across the state sector. If grammar schools really are such strong mobilisers, then there should not be this sort of clear disparity. Grammar schools tend to be in the most affluent areas - Kent has one of the largest
Division / Grammar schools do not aid stuents from disadvantaged backgrounds, but promote wealth inequality
“Only around 3 per cent of grammar school pupils are from disadvantaged backgrounds”
proportions of grammar schools in Englandand this, even as a starting point, demonstrates the inequalities within the system. Yet, the problem with selective schools reaches further than just hindering social mobility. If Theresa May’s proposal to increase financial support for grammar schools becomes a reality, mainstream schooling would suffer funding cuts of around £2.8bn. State comprehensive schools are often
already stretched to breaking when it comes to funding and thus, as a country, can we really afford to take that money and give it to just the select few? Would it not be further disadvantaging the disadvantaged to give funding to schools which have predominantly middle-class pupils? Grammar schools, proposed by the rich for the rich, have no place in a society which claims to want to provide equal opportunities regardless of background.
Grammar schools ensure that education is tailored to the individual Inclusivity/ Education should be provided for all in a personalised way. Comprehensive schools are failing to do this Tim Bodey
Second year, History
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ur problem arises from the classic assumption that people are the same and they should have the same end
and bad options, but two good schools that are targeted at different people. Both should have aspects of each other’s curriculum but with very different focuses. We also must ensure that both school types provide solid paths to careers in whatever sector is appropriate. It cannot be an option of good education or no education: that would
“Comprehensive schools provide sloppy, masslevel education that is useless for one child and dull for another”
be unacceptable. I would aim for careers that people will be good at, and trained for from an early age. Surely, by thinking about the individual in education, we can improve everyone’s opportunities. Far from treating everyone as the same, grammar schools ensure our society will thrive.
Epigram / Imogen Horton
goal. It is seldom heard in high school that people love working. However, the societal pressure to attend university means that 37 per cent of 18 year olds applied to begin higher education in the September just gone. The university environment should be a high pressure one, with intense academia being carried out. However, because of the mass of less academic attendees, the environment is much more relaxed. If we have a broken university system, what went wrong? It all begins at education. Comprehensive schools, otherwise known as state schools, aim to include all and therefore tell people that they are all the same. This eliminates the difference which makes us thrive. In trying to make children uniform,
comprehensive schools provide sloppy, masslevel education that is useless for one child and dull for another. State comprehensives are a by-word for poor education. In my area, according to the publically accessible tables produced by the Department for Education, the bottom 20 schools - bar one private institute - are all state comprehensives. There are no grammar schools rated among the bottom 20, despite there being three in the top twenty, with mostly private schools for company. The comprehensive system creates poor schools, and a clear solution is to divide students between academic and vocational schools, based on their ability. Surely it would be better to tailor the education to the child? Grammar schools provide this answer - a space for those who thrive from academic challenge to be provided with it. The classical objection is that this could brand a child’s intelligence based on one exam, which has been the case previously. However, I would not advocate a single exam system. Rather, to best educate children for the world of work and academia, I would push for frequent tests that monitor a child’s progress, so that if they consistently demonstrate that they do not fit in at their school there could be a route to change. New grammar schools and comprehensive schools should not be treated as good options
Comment 13
22.10.2018 epigram
Student Workers’ Socialist Society is an unrealistic and unattended student movement
Jonny Fryer
First year, Philosophy
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admins- who were interested in attending the Panel Discussion hosted on Wednesday 10th, less than 10 people seemed to have actually shown their face at the event. The apathy of these socialist students is clearly provided on their Facebook event, made for the meeting. Although a Facebook page does not fairly represent the attendance of a meeting, the fact that nearly 200 invitees did not even to respond to the event shows the blatant lack of interest some so-called ‘members’ of this society possess. Clearly, this socialist society is suffering a case of apathy. This can only lead to the conclusion that the vast majority of these inactive members are individuals who, whilst having the highest of intentions, will end up voting
“The majority of socialist students have failed to embrace their left wing duty”
“This clear virtue signalling on behalf of the left is not simply a Bristol issue”
for the Conservatives thirty years down the line. To you and me, these people are called ‘champagne socialists’- and the SWSS is full of them. But it is not just the students’ lack of interest in attending one off events. The great number of those who do manage to attend exciting and flashy rallies is not mirrored in the efforts of a few to actually maintain constant activism in order to bring about real change. In the SWSS, it is all about looking like you are an activist. However, this clear virtue signalling on behalf of the left is not simply a Bristol issue and it would be misleading to point the finger at Bristol’s societies as the root of the issue. Bristol is not the only university guilty of harbouring champagne socialists. In fact, this sort of socialism is a recurring theme at universities nationwide: Liverpool’s Socialist Students Society brags 328 members, but only garnered the interest of five people on their most recent event. Nevertheless, in a city where the Bristol University Conservative Association has over 700 people interested in their event this week, the outspoken voice of the SWSS is in desperate need of a loyal and dedicated base of support and action. Instead, what they have are a small cohort of serious activists, surrounded by a sea of liberal leaning students who ‘have thoughts on social issues’, yet do not care about them enough to show up.
Epigram / Will Charley
ith Theresa May’s government faltering under the pressure of a Brexit deal and issues such as tuition fees and professors pensions at the forefront of campus politics; the idea of a student activist group calling for socialist values is not in itself repugnant. Students holding their government and university to account is an overwhelmingly positive idea, which will undoubtedly improve the quality of student life. However, the Bristol University Socialist Workers Student Society - or SWSS if you want to say it in one breath - is far from a serious organisation. Although there are some founding members who seem active in the local community and in national issues, it is clear that the majority of socialist students have failed to embrace their left-wing duty. Of the 116 members- not including
Epigram/ Will Charley Alex Mackay-Howse
Bristol’s Student Workers’ Socialist Society is an unrealistic political movement that only attracts virtue signalling students
Love at first ‘like’: freshers never get a clean slate Social media means freshers do not get to start anew at university- and that does not matter Tamara Obradovic
First year, Psychology
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quality of our first encounters with each other, we dirtied the promised purity of a fresh start. Whether we like to admit it or not, social media plays a huge role in creating reputations and opinions- no one can claim they never rolled our eyes at a status or raised our eyebrows at a photo. Whether using a perfectly colour coordinated Instagram feed, embarassing tagged Facebook photos from year seven, or pictures of pets to serve as a poor substitute for getting to know someone in real life, we rely too heavily on social media to form opinions of people. When myself and other first years decided to “get to know” each other on social media, we exposed ourselves to the temptation of judging complete strangers and subsequently gave others
Epigram / Ffion Clarke
upposedly, it only takes a tenth of a second to form a first impression, a tenth of a second determine whether someone appears worthy of future attention and company. People herald first impressions as moments so monumental and final that the actual lifespan of a first impression seems impossibly insignificant. Yet, the minute size of an initial judgement does little to alleviate the fear surrounding a first impression. Ultimately, despite the undeniable pressures and apparent shallowness of forming opinions on strangers, the idea of a first impression seems so perfectly unblemished and optimistic that people continue to rely on them heavily. Opportunities for first impressions arise daily, but I encountered the most intense bombardment of new faces during Freshers’ Week. In the weeks before arriving in Bristol, the prospect of leaving behind the refuge of my parents, old friends and reputation excited me and frightened me equally, but I always breathed a little easier whenever I reminded myself of the opportunity to introduce myself in the way I wanted-
a way untarnished and undetermined by familial ties, social obligations and cliques. Unfortunately, forming a genuine first impression is an impossible feat in today’s digital world. With Facebook groups, Instagram and Whatsapp, many of us first years naively thought we could give our friendships and social lives a head start by sending friend requests, following each other on Instagram and starting group chats with our future peers. Many of us, blinded by the mounting anxieties of finding a place, found ourselves herded into the trap of clicking “join group” or “follow” in the hopes of establishing a safety net when we finally made the transition to university. Many of us failed to realise that, in cheapening the
“The constant aim is to point out injustices wherever they may be and to fight them even in difficult situations”
the opportunity to make uninformed opinions based on our online profiles. So when move-in day arrived, the sad remains of our cherished fresh starts were merely occasions to confirm our online representations. First impressions possess such raw hopefulness and yet we belittled ours with so little thought. But perhaps social media does not destroy first impressions. Perhaps people idolise first impressions too much. Perhaps first impressions themselves do not serve as worthy means of forming opinions of new people. After all, a first impression lasts such an insignificant amount of time that it seems wrong to accept a split second evaluation as an accurate understanding of a person. I refuse to accept that a stranger can completely understand me and my individual complexities in one tenth of a second and I certainly do not consider myself capable of forming a halfway accurate insight in less than a second, or after a glance at a social media profile. I truly hope someone did not reject me on account of my poor Instagram photo editing skills or because of my unflattering hair on move-in day, and I would hate to think I disregarded potential friends because of some menial detail which happened to dominate a split second judgement. People give first impressions, whether online or in person, too much glory, and I look forward to the next three years of establishing ourselves beyond our social media.
epigram 22.10.2018
14 Comment
Bristol environmentalists should stop treating nuclear power as a solution
Jack Price-Darbyshire
N
o one would claim that nuclear power is perfect. Finding how to dispose of it safely and preventing disasters like Fukushima and Chernobyl are just some of the arguments against attempting to provide nuclear power. However, in the UK the overriding opinion of many politicians, scientists, and ordinary people has been that nuclear energy, despite having such potentially catastrophic flaws, is the only viable alternative. It is thought of as a necessary path to produce an affordable and reliable carbon neutral energy system, which can still supply our energy demands. In other words, nuclear power is considered a necessary evil to combat climate change. However, contrary to this opinion, new evidence on renewables as well as an array of disasters in the construction of a new nuclear plant 45 miles from Bristol suggests that nuclear power may be an impending avoidable disaster. Hinkley Point, when built, will be the first nuclear reactor in the UK since 1995. The plant is to the south of Bristol on the west coast,just a few miles from Taunton. If the construction of Hinkley Point
Flickr/ CND
Third year, Politics and Philosophy
has told us anything about building new nuclear power-stations, it is that it is a costly, administrative, health and safety nightmare. Yet, for some reason the Government still seems to be investing in a nuclear future with as much vigour as ever. When it is eventually completed, Hinkley Point will be most expensive power station in the world, with current estimates suggesting the total to be £20.3bn - twice as much as the 2012 Olympic games. This estimate is constantly rising, with suggestions made in July 2017 that it could mushroom to as much as £50bn. This immense cost to the British taxpayer has all been for an entirely new, untested design, which we have no guarantee will even work. Known as a Small Modular Reactor, there have been plans suggested to build a further six more after Hinkley. However, as if this was not bad enough, the program has also been severely delayed with no chance of significant operations beginning before 2025, as was originally intended. It does not have to be this way and the Government should not be treating it as the only option. A number of reports have come out showing that renewables, like offshore wind, could potentially be far more affordable. The added benefit to this economic saving is that these forms of energy also come without having to worry about nuclear waste. In fact, two firms have said they were willing to build offshore wind farms for a guaranteed price of £57.50 per megawatt hour for 2022-23. In comparison, the new Hinkley Point C nuclear plant has secured subsidies of £92.50 per megawatt hour.
While the government continues to treat nuclear power as a green solution, construction of a new plant near Bristol proves the need to look at alternative renewable
“Nuclear
power may be an impending avoidable disaster”
This fits in with other evidence that shows the production of renewable energy has plummeted in price, with global investment in these alternatives now already greater than for all other conventional generating technologies put together. Yet despite this, the UK Government gives nuclear energy 12 times as much funding compared to alternative renewables. Perhaps this is because many still believe that nuclear provides a larger proportion of energy, which is more reliable and that renewables cannot produce enough for the country’s needs. However, this is simply not in line with figures released by the energy analytics firm EnAppSys. These show that renewables have already overtaken nuclear for the next energy generation. In particular, the figures provide evidence detailing that wind, solar and biomass power stations supplied 28.1 per cent of energy across April, May and
June in the UK with nuclear at 22.5 per cent. This was the third quarter in a row that renewables have outstripped nuclear energy, all while receiving a twelth of the funding from the Government. When we also remember that power from nuclear generators will have been halved by 2025, due to a number of reactors needing to be retired like the two in Hartlepool, we can be certain that this proportion will only increase. Many people automatically believe nuclear to be the only viable solution to our energy problem. This however is a view not shared by many in the rest of the world and one not backed up by our own domestic evidence. Standing in a city that is proud of it’s commitment to clean energy, we can look across at the economic, environmental and efficiency mess of Hinkley Point and know that one thing is clear. It is time for a change in our approach to nuclear energy.
Renaming Wills is not a debate we should be having again The renaming of Wills Memorial Building is an old debate and resurfacing it will not - and should not - go anywhere.
Ffion Clarke
Online Comment Editor
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Epigram/ Will Charley
“The people of Bristol are very aware that the names of ‘Wills’ and ‘Colston’... are in no way a celebration of their past”
Colson’s statue should remain in place, with a new plaque discussing the philanthropist’s involvement in the slave trade. The University also decided against renaming the Wills Memorial Building in July 2017, following a student-led protest. Debbonaire’s suggestions therefore seem unlikely, with further discussion of the topic taking away from truly dealing with the complex and structural racism present in Bristol. The MPs announcement of this new policy seems more a blanket statement trying to prove to the public that something is being done for Black History Month, rather than a plan that will benefit the Bristol community. It is as dissapointing as it is dull that our MP has chosen to make a policy announcement that is unwieldy and unlikely to occur. While I agree it is important to do something, investing in further education on the topic or in specific projects would be more useful, realistic and ultimately better address the issues at heart.
he recently expressed desire of Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire to rename the Wills Memorial Building and remove the Colston statue opens up important conversations about Bristol’s negative past and is an admirable reflection of the city’s disgust at our colonial history. Realistically, it is also unlikely that removal of the names will end discussion of the city’s negative past as it has so far proven well equipped to keep these discussions alive. Bristol has numerous walking tours surrounding the history of slavery and it’s
University has units that consistently reflect the city’s relationship with slavery, where appropriate. But, for this very reason, it seems unlikely that the removal of the name will do anything positive for Bristol’s understanding of its colonial past. The people of Bristol are very aware that the names of ‘Wills’ and ‘Colston’ plastered around the city are in no way a celebration of their past. If anything, seeing these names make people continually aware and disgusted by the former trading port’s past. Renaming Wills Memorial Building would be utterly pointless. At the end of the day, the same building will remain and it will still have been built on blood money, whether it is named ‘Wills’ or not. So, the intended effect of making Bristol’s past less offensive is not even there. Prior to Debbonaire’s statements, Bristol City Council had already decided that
Science & Tech
epigram 22.10.2018
Editor: Bethany Harris Deputy Editor: Vilhelmiina Haavisto Online Editor: Caitlin Bromfield
Summer placement stress? Look no further... Looking for internship inspiration? Three students share their experience of summer placements Epigram / Vilhelmiina Haavisto
Vilhelmiina Haavisto Deputy Science Editor
Oliver Ryan-George
Third year, Computer Science
Ben Carwithen
Fourth year, Chemistry
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ummer internships are an excellent way to gain valuable skills and increase employability. However, they can be daunting and perceived as difficult to come by. Whilst it may feel like the year has only just begun, places in the University’s research labs do get snapped up quick as well as internships with outside organisations, therefore it is a good idea to plan ahead and secure a place as soon as you can. Vilhelmiina, Oliver and Ben discuss their experiences of summer placements and the skills they gained as a result, providing a little inspiration for those of you seeking a placement this summer. Vilhelmiina Haavisto, University of Bristol Life Sciences Over the summer, I was able to spend four weeks working in a lab under the supervision of Dr Eleanor O’Brien. She and her team are investigating how environmental and biological factors determine a species’ distribution in its environment, and how they might evolve in response to climate change. Their species of interest are various tropical rainforest Drosophila, or fruit flies, caught in Australia. They are particularly
“Overall, the internship was an enjoyable and relaxed, yet still well-paid experience which happened to come with a job offer at the end of it...Definitely worth doing”
interested in the flies’ wings, which are generally a good indicator of fitness, as large flies usually have large wings. The first few weeks involved a lot of microscope work. We separated male and female flies (which is surprisingly easy once you know what to look for), removed a wing from each, and mounted the wings on microscope slides. We also prepared fly pupae for later genetic analysis. Later in the month, we photographed the wings we had mounted, and landmarked them using various pieces of software, which provided data for calculations of wing size and further statistics. We also had the opportunity to attend lab group meetings, where we heard about projects that other researchers in the group are working on. I really enjoyed my time working in the lab - it was fantastic to be able to get hands-on experience in a real lab, and to get a feel of
what working in research might be like. Oliver Ryan-George, KPMG internship I spent a month at KPMG in Financial Services as a Technology Consultant. I assisted with the management of a data migration project for a multi-national bank. This involved report writing, schedule keeping, presentation making and daily phone calls. There were also sporadic training sessions and an intern project. It was a useful preview of the skills that make you successful in a large consultancy firm. The most notable skill was networking with colleagues. As no one was coddling you, this was the only way to be proactive in picking up work. Networking also enabled me to explore areas of the company that I wanted to work in after I graduated, as I got to venture into DevOps and CloudOps for a few days after meeting with colleagues. There were opportunities to socialise with
the other interns which included plenty of free alcohol. This allowed us to build relationships with each other, making work much more enjoyable. Overall, the internship was an enjoyable and relaxed, yet still well-paid experience which happened to come with a job offer at the end of it. This has taken the pressure off my last year of university. Definitely worth doing.w Ben Carwithen, University of Bristol Chemistry Department This summer I spent 12 weeks working in the Chemistry Department’s Laser Spectroscopy group. This was initially funded through the Royal Society of Chemistry undergraduate research bursary scheme that runs each year. The group use sophisticated laser systems to study the dynamics of molecules during chemical processes and my projectwnvolved a technique called Coulomb Explosion Imaging. The technique works by using an intense laser pulse to strip electrons from a molecule, leaving it with a high positive charge, which then ‘explodes’ under its internal repulsion. From the resulting data you can back out the structure of the molecule. I worked closely with a post-doc and a PhD student who were really helpful, giving me plenty of chance to ask lots of questions. As a result, I really improved my knowledge of quantum chemistry, and was also introduced to programming – I wrote a program which is now used in the lab by the other researchers to view and analyse data on the fly. As well as having a great summer, I’m now starting my MSci project within the same group, so I’ll be able to continue using the skills and knowledge I’ve gained.
Bristol neuroscientists explore a new focus University of Bristol research sheds new light on treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s
Naomi Berthaut
A
rguably one of the most pressing medical issues is the fight against neurodegeneration. With our ageing population, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia, is on the rise. The Alzheimer’s Society states that there are currently 850,000 people living with dementia just in the UK and this number is predicted to rise to one million by 2025 and two million by 2051. Neurodegeneration is a progressive loss in the functioning and structure of neurones, which often results in neuronal death in key areas of the brain. This affects different functions throughout our nervous system, meaning that some of our most important motor and cognitive skills can become impaired. Understanding mechanisms of neurodegeneration and digging into the potential therapies for protecting neurones from decaying has become a major focus of
“There are currently 850,000 people living with dementia just in the UK and this number is predicted to rise to one million by 2025 and two million by 2051”
Unsplash / Zoltan Tasi
Third year, Neuroscience
research in recent years. The trend in research has so far been to focus mainly on neurones themselves as drug targets for their own protection, but scientists are seeing an increasing potential in targeting other brain cells for therapies. The brain is made up of many types of cells that can be broadly divided into two categories: neurones and support cells, known as glial cells. Astrocytes are star-shaped glial cells that offer mechanical support to neurones, help transport of chemicals and contribute to the immune defence in the brain. On top of all these numerous roles, a potential role for astrocytes as protectors is now being unveiled. Researchers from University of Bristol’s School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience have made an interesting contribution to the field by further uncovering the role these support cells have in preventing neurodegeneration. A recent study led by Professor Sergey Kasparov and Dr Anja Teschemacher in the University of Bristol’s School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, revealed that astrocytes express specific receptors that are activated by a molecule naturally present in the brain, called prosaposin. Upon receptor activation, astrocytes were found to be more mobile. They were also found to protect themselves as well as protecting neighbouring neurones against harmful chemical reactions
that can lead to neurone degradation. When the receptors were suppressed, the protective functions of astrocytes were diminished, and these cells were less able to save neurones from damage. The authors of the study stated: “Academia and industry have been trying to find effective therapies against dementia and neurodegenerative diseases for decades, but progress been painstakingly slow. This might be because most of the proposed strategies are trying to directly target neurons to achieve a therapeutic benefit.” The research, published in the journal
GLIA, successfully identified the natural molecule prosaposin as an activator of receptors on astrocytes, triggering a pathway for neuroprotection. These promising findings could pave the way for exploring new drug treatments against neurodegeneration. Designing small molecules targeting the same receptors could help mobilise astrocytes to protect the brain in conditions where neurones are degrading. The study by Bristol scientists gives hope for the prevention of symptoms such as cognitive and motor decline appearing in a vast number of neurodegenerative diseases.
22.10.2018 epigram
Science and Tech
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Science sexism strikes Nobel laureate Donna Strickland finally gets recognition by Wikipedia.All it took was a Nobel Prize
Bethany Harris Science Editor
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you move up the academic hierarchy you see a significant shift to male colleagues. Even in our own school, the number of male professors massively outweighs the number of female professors. Whilst I do believe this ratio will change as new generations move upwards, there is still work to be done to tackle gender biases in science. Bringing about change will take multiple approaches, but I believe one of those is through education of our children and students about successful female scientists who are too often written out of history. I think it was a huge shame that Donna Strickland didn’t have her own Wikipedia page due to having not met the criteria, but I am very glad to see this has since been rectified.” In my opinion, the importance of female role models such as Strickland are often overlooked. There are many successful women who have made amazing contributions to science, yet still go unrecognised and
unappreciated. Talks and campaigns need to be put in place at a younger age to give the necessary advice and encouragement to women looking to break into research, as well as the opportunity to meet experienced female scientists. Time also needs to be invested into encouraging women to pursue their scientific passions, and efforts made to challenge the misconceptions, such as ‘women can’t do maths’ or ‘women are less intelligent’, that many individuals still hold. Personally, as a woman in science facing challenges of my own, I find Strickland’s attitude inspiring and rather comforting in that she has not let gender bias hold her back or shield her from success. Whilst women are breaking down the stereotype that ‘science is for men’ and are becoming increasingly included and represented amongst the scientific community, there is still a long road ahead before equality of opportunity is achieved. I am, however, optimistic.
Epigram / Cameron Scheijde Flickr / Adam Baker
o be a successful woman in science is still a rarity and akin to the struggle that women in business face trying to break the glass ceiling. Whilst it is common knowledge that women are hugely underrepresented in science, the reason behind this is somewhat unclear. Whether it be due to gender bias, fewer opportunities or a lack of female role models, the sad truth is that women are discouraged and disadvantaged in a male-dominated scientific community. As the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded this week, the debate surrounding women in science and the gender gap has once again been ignited. As the winners were announced, it was to my great delight to see the first female physics winner in 55 years, Donna Strickland, recognised and congratulated for her work on pulse lasers, along with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou. However, despite her achievements: president of the Optical Society; topical editor of Optics Letters journal and associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Waterloo, Strickland was not deemed important enough to warrant her own Wikipedia entry. The request to create a profile for Strickland by a Wikipedia user was denied back in March with the site’s moderator stating: “This submission’s references do not show that the subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article”. Whilst the denial to merit Strickland’s achievements on a platform where even the most bizarre topics are indorsed is shocking, what’s more disconcerting is that colleague and fellow prize winner Mourou was awarded his own entry in 2005. This again emphasises the marginalization of women in science
and the lack of equality that we are subject to in a world that requires us to work harder for recognition and prove our intelligence. That said, recognition was awarded to Strickland around an hour and a half after the prize was announced on Tuesday, so that finally her profile can now be found alongside other fascinating Wikipedia titles such as ‘Toilet paper orientation’ and ‘Fart lighting’. However, despite her poor recognition Strickland remained wonderfully optimistic, stating to the Canadian Press: “we should never lose the fact that we are moving forward. We are always marching forward.” Strickland shares her award with 205 physicists, only two of which are female, highlighting the lack of credit afforded to women amongst the Nobel committee. Interestingly, the committee is however aware of the lack of female prize winners. Göran Hansson, the vice-chair of the board of directors of the Nobel Foundation, said to The Guardian in 2017: “We are disappointed looking at the larger perspective that more women have not been awarded. I suspect there are many more women who are deserving to be considered for the prize.” With three female prize winners this year, compared to no female winners in 2017, perhaps representation and recognition is set to improve and there is truth behind Hansson’s above comment. If nothing else, Strickland’s win has opened our eyes further to the need for better female representation and inclusion, not only amongst laureates, but in the wider scientific community. Following her award Strickland conveyed that she hopes her prize may generate a milestone for young women endeavouring to become involved in scientific research. Dr Rose Murray, School of Biological Sciences commented: “Gender biases run deep in our culture and society today. This can be felt more strongly in the conventionally male dominated sciences of Physics and Chemistry, but even in the Biological Sciences. Biological Sciences actually has a female bias at undergraduate entry, but as
“With three female prize winners this year, compared to no female winners in 2017, perhaps representation and recognition is set to improve”
Under the Microscope: Hubble horror and mind-blowing memory
Vilhelmiina Haavisto... chronicles the Hubble telescope’s recent technical difficulties.
Flickr/ NASA Hubble Space Telescope
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Emily House... explores new research on our facial recognition capabilities.
Wellbeing Living Food Style Travel
Issue 3 / 22nd October 2018
Travel//
Tokyo World A student’s guide to Japan
Wellbeing // Briscrush and its affect on the LGBT community
Living// Bristol’s Spoons: which is best?
Style // Ethical fashion: should fashion reflect our morals?
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epigram / The Croft 22.10.2018
‘Dieting and weight loss should never be encouraged in the media’
Epigram Wellbeing are starting off a new series of debates surrounding mental health issues. In our debut, students Lucy and Rainha discuss the media’s involvment in dieting and weight loss FOR: ‘If our warped perceptions [...] are even partly down to the irresponsibility of the media then we should not be putting our health into its hands.’
Since 2006, Internet use has more than doubled and, according to the Office for National Statistics, as much as 69 per cent of women and 60 per cent men now use the Internet for social media purposes. Unfortunately, these platforms approach issues such as dieting and weight loss insensitively. We are bombarded by a very specific criteria of what constitutes the perfect person and it is always the same skinny profile that the blue light of a screen burns onto our retina. Branded by the perfect image, we are subconsciously aware that it is our look more than anything else that renders us a success.
The problem with today’s media is the platform it gives to those who do not use it responsibly. Kim Kardashian is an example of a social media ‘influencer’ whose role model status is concerning. In May 2018, she shared an Instagram post to her 118 million followers promoting appetite suppressant lollipops as a dieting tip, as if weight loss were a fashion trend rather than a health issue. This attitude underpins all that is wrong with the way the media addresses matters of health and wellbeing. However, it is not Kardashian that should be accountable for this, but our irresponsible media use for giving someone so underqualified the platform to address such issues.
Since 2005-6 the rate of inpatient hospital admissions related to eating disordershasincreasedbyaround7percentayearaccordingtothecharity
Lucy O’Neill Second Year, French and Spanish
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Instagram / Kylie Jenner
It is easy to belittle the gravity of this superficial attitude. Yet, whilst such ideas of course have no standing in reality, the power of these ubiquitous images against which one is constantly required to compare oneself is terrifying. Eating disorders are just one example of a multitude of mental health issues that the media has the power to trigger.
Thanks to modern media, dieting and weight loss have become buzz words now often associated with negative body image rather than healthy lifestyles. If our warped perceptions of wellbeing are even partly down to the irresponsibility of the media then we should not be putting our health into its hands. By instead giving this responsibility to the education system and the NHS, we could protect our mental as well as physical health. When it comes to the media, it seems it is time we recovered from the electric shock it has caused and began to learn how to treat our powerful new platforms with respect.
AGAINST: ‘Being on a diet DOES NOT mean that you hate your body.’
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Epigram / Jasmine Burke
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hy does dieting most often get associated with undesirable images? Supermodels starving themselves to meet the needs of a cutting-edge industry or the rude implication of someone being forced to go on a diet as an aftermath of body shaming. Being on a diet DOES NOT mean that you hate your body; it means that you are willing to give yourself the attention you require to be healthy. Dieting and diets should be encouraged in the media as long as it is in a healthy and controlled manner.
If an Instagram pop-up can help you to swap a donut for fruit, you are already making a beneficial change
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Epigram / Jasmine Burke
Having a healthy body promotes a healthy mind. And studies from the World Health Organisation to the NHS have shown that individuals who maintain a balanced diet, exercise regularly and sleep sufficiently are much more likely to live longer, healthier and happier lives. The media promotes most successful diet plans not because they are deliberately difficult, but because they have proven results and mostly aim to inspire you to better your body rather than condemn you for having the body that you have. Just like most things, diets should be followed in moderation and tailored to an individual’s capacity. By reading about diets in the media, you are mentally training yourself to make smaller changes in your life. And if an Instagram pop-up can help you to swap a donut for fruit, you are already making a beneficial change. The European Association for the Study of Obesity predicts that the rate of obesity has doubled in the past 40 years and poses the greatest threat to mankind now than ever before. With the correct use of diet
promotion in the media, obesity can be combatted successfully. Like anorexia, obesity is an eating disorder and must be treated as such. By promoting diets in magazines, websites and blogs, an isolation from emotional dependence on food is created and can assist on the road to recovery especially when broken down into short term goals, like 10kgs in 10 months.
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The problem with today’s media is the platform it gives to those who do not use it responsibly
Beating Eating Disorders UK, and a study into the correlation between Facebook use and disordered eating cited by anorexiabulimiacare.org draws a direct link between those who most frequently used Facebook and those who were at increased risk of disordered eating. Whilst hard to judge in exact terms, the impact of new forms of media on our mental health is undeniably present.
Unsplash / Jessica To’oto’o
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n recent years, our media sources have become simultaneously more accessible and less well-informed, with social media in particular providing a public platform for the sharing of unchecked and potentially harmful content. It is dangerous for such an influential platform to propagate content about dieting and weight loss when such delicate subjects should be dealt with by professionals who have authority to broach them.
At the end of the day, it is your choice on where you draw the line on what media is information and what is merely promotion
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The primary purpose of the media is to inform people. Diets specific to allergic requirements, religious requirements and healthcare needs can be found in various magazines, medical journals and websites that encourage, promote and inspire thousands of people to make a positive change in their lives. At the end of the day, it is your choice where you draw the line on what media is information and what is merely promotion. And if you can believe in the world ending in 2012, a soft Brexit or denim skirts making a comeback, you can believe in yourself to see a diet though until the end.
Rainha Passi Third Year, Cellular and Molecular Medicine Want to start arguing? These debates are going to become a regular feature of our section! If you would like to get involved and find out what the next topic will be, join our writers’ group. Search ‘Epigram Wellbeing Writers 2018/19’.
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22.10.2018 epigram / The Croft
B-eing-ME at uni
Food editor Laila Freeman shares her thoughts on being a mixed-race BME student in Bristol Stoke Bishop, the limited diversity amongst the student body was instantly noticeable in contrast to home in London or my experience in a multicultural expatriate community. But was this a bad thing? For me it certainly was not.
Epigram / Laila Freeman
It was through studying History at the University of Bristol that I developed a love for world history and learnt about my cultural history as an Asian for the first time. Whilst studying the British Empire is omitted from the British Curriculum in many schools, I found myself taking a compulsory module on the Empire in
I grew up abroad in the Middle East, residing in a largely British expatriate community, attending an international school with people from all over the world. Being an expat, for me, meant a firm sense of British, and specifically English, identity. Despite living abroad since I was one, at age 14 I still never viewed home as anywhere other than England. This makes sense considering that England is where I was born, where I returned to every Christmas and summer holiday, and where both my parents called home. However, whilst I was fully aware that my maternal grandparents were Pakistani and East African first-generation immigrants, I also never regarded myself as anything other than English.
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At the end of Year Nine I moved back to England. Ironically, being ‘home’ in England made me much more aware of my Asian cultural identity. I believe that this was due to a multitude of things. Firstly, I now lived 10 minutes away from my Asian grandparents, with whom my mother did not speak English, thus introducing a different language into my everyday life. Secondly, the patriotic ‘propaganda’ and sense of longing for good ole’ England that British school and the expat lifestyle had shoehorned into every aspect of life was lifted. Finally, not to be a stereotype of myself, but my mum suddenly took to cooking curry pretty much every day without fail.
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Epigram / Laila Freeman
East London, as the most racially diverse area of an already cosmopolitan city, never forced me feel ‘not white’. Bristol, conversely, told me that I was Asian
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It was in Bristol that, for the first time ever, I was aware of being a part of a minority population. Whilst this experience was probably lessened considerably for me, being equally a part of the majority population, it was nonetheless something that I was cognizant of, in a way that I had not been before. Particularly with a course like History and accommodation in
Whilst I did have that experience for the first time, I have found that living and studying in Bristol allows for a much more culturally diverse experience than what meets the eye
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To other BME students in Bristol, particularly those arriving from more diverse cities where being the only person of colour in a room is a new experience, please do not be put off by this. Whilst I did have that experience for the first time, I have found that living and studying in Bristol allows for a much more culturally diverse experience than what meets the eye.
With the abundance of cultural societies and what I have always experienced to be a broad and inclusive curriculum, BME students certainly should not be put off.
Laila Freeman Food Editor
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But as a mentally ill girl in the grips of an eating disorder, I took it as a failure. The eating disorder voice in my head was the only thing I listened to; it was the only thing I could hear. It told me ‘you aren’t good enough’, ‘you aren’t thin enough’. If I could tell the young me anything, it would be ‘you are sick enough’. Not conforming to the skeletal image of eating disorders creates a dangerous way of thinking, in particular thinking ‘I’m not thin enough to get help’. You do not need to be a certain weight for your struggles to be validated. The way your weight can change with an eating disorder, whether that be gaining or losing weight, is only a symptom of a larger problem. You deserve to live a better life and your weight does not engineer this. The world of eating disorders is an absolute minefield, especially on the internet. As a young girl embarking on the World Wide Web of eating disorders, I was met with a community full of support on the one hand, but one full of incredibly triggering and damaging ideologies on the other. A community of mentally ill people that regards weight loss as the ultimate success fosters the ugly competitiveness you can feel when suffering with an ED. The thinner you are the better you are. Haven’t got your period? Great! If you have a feeding tube, you’ve made it! Look how good you are at being anorexic! Sounds terrifying, but in the grips of the illness it’s a reality that actively prevents the recovery process.
That is what is so sneaky about an eating disorder; it engineers the way you think in a way that will allow it to thrive. In reality, eating disorders begin as a coping mechanism when your world is too hard to handle. But it quickly becomes so much more. It is an avenue for regaining a sense of control and in particular for me, a feeling of purity and cleanliness. Like most mental illnesses it creeps in slowly and before you know it, you are replaced by a lifeless, obsessed, miserable shell.
Epigram / Sarah Wilson
As a hormonal teenage girl I began interacting with my self and the world around me in a damaging way. I developed severe depression and anxiety, which manifested itself through OCD and disordered eating. For the last 12 years I haven’t experienced a day where I regarded food in a ‘normal way’. For a long time it has dominated my existence. Weight and calories became the only thing that mattered. I was in an endless cycle of restricting, binging and purging. After seeking help, I was diagnosed with EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). I did not fit into a specific eating disorder diagnosis, which is incredibly common.
The eating disorder voice in my head was the only thing I listened to, it was the only thing I could hear
East London, as the most racially diverse area of an already cosmopolitan city, never forced me feel ‘not white’. Bristol, conversely, told me that I was Asian.
Although I know that there are only a handful of BME faces on my course as a whole, in a way that makes it nicer to walk into modules on ‘Social Change in Modern India’ or ‘Transatlantic Slavery’ and see that the room is jam-packed full of students that want to learn about countries other than Britain and connect with a wider world history.
The ugly truth about eating disorders
ating disorders are as unique as the individuals who fall victim to them. They do not discriminate between gender, age, race and, yes, weight. The only thing an eating disorder needs to flourish is a vulnerable mind and a way in.
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The demographic of the place that I am in has often made me more conscious of being ‘white’ or being ‘Asian’
I imagine that for some, being a BME student in a very white city can be quite an isolating experience, but I personally have never felt this.
first year, enabling me to connect to my past in a new way. I learnt things that I never knew before and may not have ever become interested in otherwise.
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eing mixed-race, in my experience, means that your cultural identity can shift dependent on where you are living. Of course, I identify with both cultures, which I am lucky to do, considering the common mixed-race trope of identifying with not both, but neither culture. However, the demographic of the place that I am in has often made me more conscious of being ‘white’ or being ‘Asian’.
I want to see the ‘glamour’ of eating disorders eradicated from the media. I want to see a true representation of eating disorders. I want to see binge eating, bulimia, anorexia and EDNOS represented as the spectrum it is, instead of these well-defined stereotypes we have been exposed to. I want to encourage anyone who feels they are struggling with their eating to get help, regardless of what you look like or how much you weigh. For the last decade of my life I have been affected by my eating disorder in all possible ways: weight loss, weight gain, restriction, over eating, purging. Not being at a weight low or high ‘enough’ to raise a red flag has prevented me from truly seeing the damage it can do. Which is why it’s so important to raise awareness of the complexity of eating disorders so that someone just like me doesn’t have to wait 12 years to finally believe they are worth helping. Luckily I have now started Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and I am embarking on a journey of recovery and discovery.
Natasha Holt Third Year, Chemistry
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22.10.2018 epigram / The Croft
Briscrush and heteronormativity
Second year law student Matthew Lu discusses his experience as an LGBT student in Bristol and how pages such as ‘Bristruths’ and ‘Briscrush’ affect his time here
However, I have come to the realization that although being LGBT and a University of Bristol student are two ‘distinct’ entities, they are nonetheless complementary of one another. In short, the way that I experience being a student here is affected by me also being a member of the LGBT society. I would like to preface this by saying sorry if I say anything that may trigger people. I will graciously admit that I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to my own community. Everything written in this article is just my personal opinion and by no means represents what the community believes or stands for on a wider scale.
I’ve come to the realization that although being LGBT and a University of Bristol student are two ‘distinct’ entities, they are nonetheless complementary of one another
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I think that everyone has experienced loneliness at least once in their life. I have friends and am surrounded by people that I have made sure care about me and understand me, yet, sometimes, I will feel the loneliness when surrounded by them. I think this feeling stems from the fact that everyone experiences everything differently. There is no other person in the world that has gone through the experiences I have and, therefore, can relate to me. That is what makes us all unique human beings; no two people will have the same experiences throughout life that shape them into the people they are.
control over. The truth is that, yes, there are going to be issues that only pertain to an LGBT person, such as the lack of prospects in clubs and being scared to approach people you may fancy based on whether they like what you like. However, there is also a wide breadth of issues that can be felt by more than just the LGBT community. We are all human and we are all meant to feel.
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lthough I am a homosexual male that was assigned male at birth, it has never been something I have made a huge deal about or felt that I needed to broadcast to the world. It has always been just another aspect of my life.
World Mental Health Day: what does it mean to the editors?
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orld Mental Health day took place on 10 October 2018 and, if you are following us on social media - which you should be - you will know that we ran a mini campaign.
As well as this, Deputy Online Editor Kate Hutchison asked different members of the editorial team about why World Mental Health Day was important to them:
When I asked my friends what they thought of first when it came to Briscrush the buzzword ‘heteronormative’ came up quite a lot
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An interesting aspect of Bristol life that I believe, unsurprisingly, touches most of us is social media, specifically speaking, Bristruths and Briscrush. Briscrush has had a large impact on me and probably most of the LGBT community. Interestingly enough, when I asked my friends what they thought of first when it came to Briscrush, the buzzword ‘heteronormative’ came up quite a lot. The anonymity of the page is supposed to be a layer of protection, allowing people to feel comfortable to post on the page. In fact, I would argue that this is the backbone and crux as to why the page is so popular. But is the atmosphere created by the page inclusive of the LGBT community? The context the word was used in was mostly talking about how Briscrush perpetuates a heteronormative state of thinking and being. For example, the way in which most posts are made with a person’s initials or the clothes they were sporting make people automatically think that it is a ‘straight’ crush. I understand that only about 2 per cent of the UK population identifies as LGBT - about one in 50 people as of 2016. So, to a certain degree, this makes sense and for most cases it probably is a ‘straight’ crush being posted. However, what I find interesting is exactly how explicit or blatant people who post an LGBT crush have to be about it when they make a post.
Facebook / Briscrush
Epigram / Jasmine Burke
There are many posts where people will tag their friends knowing full well it is not about them but do it for giggles. This becomes far more frequent if it is a gay post. When the straight population jokingly tag their friends in gay posts, it becomes condescending and kind of hurtful. When read between the lines, these feel like jabs at the LGBT community. The comments often communicate that being gay is a joke or something to laugh about, or that our feelings do not matter. This joking culture begs the question as to whether the page subconsciously promotes inclusion or isolation of the LGBT community.
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When the straight population jokingly tag their friends in gay posts, it becomes condescending and kind of hurtful
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Just because someone is a part of the LGBT community, does not mean they are going to be able to connect with others that are a part of that ‘community’. This is the same way that not every straight person will form a connection with every other straight person. It is important to emphasize that the issues felt by an LGBT person do not just stem from the fact that these are something that they have no
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This entire idea has got me thinking of the breadth of the LGBT umbrella. The label in itself is supposed to be something that unifies a community, but I beg to ask the question: is this exactly what the term does? One could take the stance that instead of unification, it segregates society into categories and this misguided attempt to help people understand has actually marginalized people further.
Technically speaking, anybody is allowed to post on the page. However, sometimes I wonder whether, in practice, there should be a place for the community to post without fear of ‘joking banter’ with undertones of hate. I do not intend to victimize the LGBT community because, trust me, we have thick skin. However, what I hope is that everyone can be a tad more compassionate and understand that sometimes it is the smallest things that hurt the most.
This is not even just conducive of the LGBT community, but of everyone whether they are struggling with a mental health condition or have experienced certain things in their lifetime
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This is not even just conducive of the LGBT community, but of everyone whether they are struggling with a mental health condition or have experienced certain things in their lifetime. ‘Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.’ Dalai Lama.
Matthew Lu Second Year, Law
Though World Mental Health Day may be over, we should all have mental health and wellbeing on our mind every day. You never kow what other people are going through. Practice compassion everyday.
Jasmine Burke Wellbeing Editor
Editor Hope Riley
Deputy Editor Imogen Rogers
Online Editor
epigram / The Croft 22.10.2018
Josie Roberts
Epigram Living Writers 2018-19
The best - and worst - Spoons in Bristol Deputy Living Editor Imogen Rogers gives us her verdict on every students’ favourite pub right before your freshers’ deals expire W.G. Grace
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ocated on the Harbourside in a former transit shed, this is the largest of the city’s Spoons. With beautiful views and outside heaters, the exterior of the V-Shed is by far the best part. Once you step inside you are confronted with underage drinkers, creepy men and a severely understaffed bar. Although this does work in your favour as you will never be able to find the toilets here. If you do, watch out for the V-Shed ghost who lurks around the girls’ toilets in her kimono. Wait, you are still here? Well, then at 10pm the ground floor suddenly turns into a ‘club’. One minute you are eating your bangers and mash and the next thing you know strobe lights are causing epileptic fits and Ed Sheeran is on repeat.
A relatively nice Wetherspoons, the W.G Grace is conveniently located along Whiteladies Road, on your walk from Stoke Bishop to the Triangle. It has an outside seating area, a board game corner and is pretty clean and modern compared to the others. If you are organising a social, avoid the W.G. Grace as the tables are small and so there is little room for big groups of people. But, if you are looking for somewhere to use your freshers’ voucher booklet and claim your £2.69 hangover breakfast then this is the place. The service is fast, and it is quiet enough that you can actually sit down, have a conversation with the person next to you and nurse your headache.
Epigram / Imogen Rogers
The V-Shed
Epigram / Imogen Rogers
The Commercial Rooms The ‘classiest’ of Bristol’s spoons, The Commercial Rooms situated on Corn Street in the city centre has moved away from its historical legacy as the local prostitution haunt. Just out of reach of the regular student areas, The Commercial Rooms are quieter and cleaner than the other Spoons, and you can order a drink without losing your voice because you have been shouting at the bartender. Take your parents here if you want to show them a more ‘civilised’ version of a student pub or to remove the risk of bumping into a past fling. It is in a great location if you live in one of the city centre or riverside residences or are on your way out to SWX or Mr Wolf’s. But then again you could just have 2-for-1 cocktails at Turtle Bay instead.
The Berkeley “Why does this place stink of vomit?” a mature student asked me as we entered The Berkeley on Park Street. Good question, but one no one wants to answer. With the familiar sticky tables, awful choice of carpet and poor bar service, The Berkeley is ‘the’ Spoons of Bristol. A favourite for students but by far the worst Spoons in Bristol, The Berkeley is the epicentre of every bar crawl and sports social there is. Extracts from generous TripAdvisor reviews include ‘quite grim now,’ ‘not nice’ and ‘poo’, but I think that just adds to the charm of the place.
Imogen Rogers Deputy Living Editor
Aunt Aggie: ‘My housemates slept with each other and now won’t really talk’
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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.
22.10.2018 epigram / The Croft
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Myths of the student experience Online Living Editor Josie Roberts debunks a few of the common myths surrounding the firstyear student experience
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or those of you who did not feel the initial excitement about coming to university and were rather filled with apprehension or -in some cases- terror, this article is for you. Being a student, not just in the UK, but also in Bristol comes with a stereotype. The assumption is: students sleep all day and party all night… and the brand new textbook you forked out £30 for is still in its plastic wrapping in a drawer somewhere in your room. This means that when you go to university you believe that you are about to enter a world of drinking and staying out until the early hours of the morning every day. Whilst for some people this fills them with excitement and is their idea of fun, for others they may be coming to university for other reasons, and some are a combination of both. There are a lot of myths surrounding university and I wanted to go through them to set the record straight.
Epigram / Josie Roberts
this is, use your personal and module tutors as much as you can: get feedback, talk through essays and build the skills you need. A lot of the time, essay feedback can be tricky to navigate through, people then often can’t be bothered to find out what their tutor actually meant, and therefore they make the same mistakes again and again. I know it is tempting to think, “this doesn’t count towards my degree, therefore I’m not going to try” because I also had that mentality. The people that succeed are those that start early.
You will make all of your friends during Freshers’ Week. During Freshers’ Week you will have met a lot of people. When everything is new and chaotic and exciting, some of you will become best friends with too many people to count, and others will feel like they are drowning in new people. I remember experiencing a weird combination of feeling like I had made loads of friends, and constantly being with people, but at the same time feeling quite isolated. This isolation came from the fact that I had only known these people for a week but we were acting like we had been friends for years. It was a mixture I couldn’t quite get my head around. If you’re feeling like this now, I totally understand! Some of you may even feel like you don’t have many people at all. What I want to tell you though, as a final year student, is that your best friends in your final year may not be your best friends from Freshers’ Week.
First year does not count. Whilst it is certainly true that your first year (for most degrees anyway - I don’t know that definitively) does not count towards your final degree, that does not mean that it doesn’t count completely. You have to achieve a certain mark to pass to then progress onto second year, and some internships or graduate positions expect you to have shown academic strength throughout your degree, and if you don’t use your first year properly you risk falling behind in the years that count. What I mean by
You will be- or have to be- drunk all of the time. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve heard this from older family friends, neighbours and family members. They look over university culture and see a bunch of “youths banding together inebriated and rowdy”. Obviously when you’ve left school, you’re over 18 and wanting to have fun, university does give you the opportunity to get drunk and go out; however there is so much that outsiders don’t see. Studies, societies, charities, sports and talks only tip the iceberg of what going to university enables you to get involved in. Whether you are passionate about baking, love playing netball, want to join LGBTQ+ or campaign for Amnesty International, university gives students the platform they need to excel in whatever they want. I am not trying to put down going out and having a good time, just trying to dispel the myth that university is not just about how many ciders you can have at the Cori Tap before you pass out.
Josie Roberts Online Living Editor
It’s never too late to get involved with university life!
With the freshers’ hype dying down and welcome emails piling up in your inbox, Hendrike Rahtz encourages us to get involved with student life, whatever year you are in
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hile this article will not give you a ‘recipe for success’ like some self-help book, nor the magic combination of societies for non-stop socials throughout the week, it does aim to give some friendly advice, taking my own personal experience into
First year comes with a mixture of fear and excitement, moving into your new student accommodation, getting lost on campus, and of course, perhaps most frightening but exciting of all, meeting new people. Of course, you go to the Fresher’s Fair (a.k.a. the Wetherspoons and Dominos voucher free-for-all), where you will sign up for a range of activities and societies that you had never even realised existed. For many of us, we will sign up for so many societies that by the time we start recieving their emails we have forgotten why we were interested in the first place. You have made enough friends in your halls, and met enough course mates – unless you are continuing with a long-loved sport, societies seem just like a place to meet new people, and in the first few weeks you meet a lot. You have interests but for most, the biggest interest of first year is pubbing and clubbing. However, I watched flatmates go off and become involved in various societies and love it – but I always assumed I was too late to join anything, especially activities like the sports teams. Many
Epigram / Hendrike Rahtz
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students are reluctant to sign up for sports teams especially if they have never played the sport before. However there are so many new sports that many people try for the first time at univeristy, and even for the more popular sports the teams are so welcoming and more than willing to accept people with little experience! Also, if you do enjoy team sports but do not enjoy the competitive aspect or commitment of the univeristy
First year comes with a mixture of fear and excitement.
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teams then the intermural league is a great way to get involved. For me, through a friend, I started to submit articles to Epigram Music, which was fun, but I still did not meet anyone new. Once I applied for a role on the editorial team, that is when I thought maybe the idea of joining societies might be living up to its potential. I realised as a second year, attending the Freshers’ Fair, that actually it is never too late at all to join any society. Even though I had settled into my new flat, it was not like halls anymore – you no longer meet new people as regularly as before, be that a positive or a negative experience! I wanted to make new friends and start new activities. University is probably the best place to do both, and there can be much more to your degree than the course itself. There is a society for everyone. I joined yoga to improve wellbeing; I joined Epigram’s editorial team because I liked writing; I chose to volunteer to get involved in Bristol’s community. It is early days for me – but having various activities to take part in during the week provides a well-rounded structure that helps in taking a break from studying. I do recommend it – don’t be shy, whatever your year!
Hendrike Rahtz Living Sub-Editor
22.10.2018 epigram / The Croft
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Instagram pictures of the fortnight... Want to be featured? Tag @epigrampaper_ in your posts for a chance to appear!
An autumn daffodil is nestled among lamb’s leaves in Bristol’s botanic garden in Stoke Bishop.
Bristol Uni library staff show their support for #GoGreenforDislexia. Buildings around Bristol have been lit up green for the movement.
Autumnal colours take over Goldney Hall’s grounds as winter approaches.
Exhausted but fulfilled, our team finish a long fresher’s fair shift having given out every single newspaper.
Royal Fort Gardens show their colourful side with a seed pod display to mark the closing in of Autumn and winter.
Bristol Uni announce the retirement of cleaner Herman Gordon
Bristol SU’s first ‘coffee house session’ takes place in the Balloon Bar
Roots Community Gardening get involved in the #SeedstoSoup project
An autumnal shot over the Clifton Suspension bridge
Editor Laila Freeman @lunchingwithlaila
epigram / The Croft 22.10.18
Deputy Editor
Online Editor
Olivia Critoph
Nicole Abou-Abdallah
Epigram Food 2018-19
@epigram_food
Introducing: the Epigram Food vegan edition FoodEditorLailaFreeman,talkstoVegSocmembersaboutwhytheywentvegan Iso Hirst: ‘I watched Cowspiracy and realised that I could not go on supporting animal agriculture if I cared about the environment’
Julia Mtl: ‘When I ralised that we should not make a distinction beween so clalled pets and ‘farm’ animals it struck me: why love one and eat the other? You cannot call yourself an animal lover if you contribute to their pain and sufffering’
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ovember 1 is World Vegan Day: an annual event celebrated by Vegans from around the world. To commemorate this day, Epigram Food have decided to dedicate this fortnight’s edition towards shedding light upon veganism, which is a rapidly growing food and lifestyle choice, particularly amongst younger generations. We asked members of VegSoc to summarise their motivations for going vegan in one line. Here are some of their answers:
Sandy Gale: ‘Because I love animals so obviously will not eat them - I love dairy products but do not want to contribute to the death and suffering of cattle’
Prina Sumaira: ‘If it is not my mum, it is not my milk’
Sophie Gordon: ‘Because it is not possible for the planet to support industrial scale animal agriculture - to feed a growing populaiton and cut carbon emissions, we need to waste less food and eat more plants’
Mared Davis: ‘Because my body is not a graveyard’
Dharma Carlin: ‘I watched the Youtube video ‘Dairy is Scary’ Samyak Jain: ‘For the animals; for the planet’ Keira Brennan: ‘Because I want my children to live in a world which is no longer dying’
Laila Freeman
Food Editor
My vegan experience: why and how I adopted veganism
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Gail El-Halaby, sharesherpersonalexperienceofbecomingavegan
orld Vegan Day is a celebration of the formation of the Vegan Society back in 1944. Though we are still a minority, veganism as a lifestyle and movement has grown at an incredible rate in the last few years, with now over 650 million people in the UK being vegan. This adds up to a whole 7% of the population deciding to go meat free and cheeseless. For those of you who may not know much about this lifestyle, it consists of erasing the use and consumption of any animal products from your diet and lifestyle, so this includes: eggs, dairy products, fish, meat, poultry and any animal derivatives. For a lot of vegans this also means avoiding leather and animal skin products, plus items tested on animals. For many, this may seem like an extreme decision to make, with the most common responses I get being. “I could NEVER go vegan, I love cheese too much” ….. “But Bacon?!??!?”...... “Oh you must eat lettuce and leaves all day” and one of my personal favourites .. “Stop talking about being vegan” (even though it is usually not me who brings it up).
Many people may agree that these numbers are staggering and worrying, but for many taking the step towards veganism can be daunting and scary. I remember the first time I tried to go vegan I completely failed and caved in to a Domino’s margherita one week in. I had always thought veganism was extreme, I had already been vegetarian for a few years but in my head if I went vegan I would have to lose out on all my favourite foods and life would generally be
Educate yourself! For me this was the biggest turning point. The first time I switched to veganism I did not really know why I was doing it apart from the fact I thought killing and hurting animals was bad. But that was not enough to keep me going. Watch documentaries and educate yourself on the dairy and meat industry. Doing this will be a motivator for the switches you make. The two most influential documentaries/videos I watched were Cowspiracy and Gary Yourofsky’s ‘Best Speech You Will Ever Hear’. These were life-changing for me. Start slowly! At least in my experience going cold turkey is not necessarily the way to go and you will start missing things quicker. I started by quitting eggs, then replacing my milk and slowly easing into the full vegan diet. These days there are SO many replacements for things like yoghurt, butter, milk and even meat substitutes, it would be unlucky to not find a single one you liked.
Explore different brands and look up recipes and ingredients. A lot of people assume being vegan is expensive and timely and that they cannot afford it either. Of course it can be, just like being omnivore can be if you buy the most expensive meats and cheeses. However, these days all the biggest high street supermarkets, restaurants and cafes have started catering for vegans and it is easier than ever to go for a meal out with meateating mates. Also, a lot of staple vegan food is cheap such as beans, veggies, tofu, carbs and even a lot of meat substitutes such as Linda McCartney. Despite the stereotype, I actually found that I am now eating a much larger variety of food compared to when my diet was omnivorous. Join the University’s VegSoc. Joining the vegan/vegetarian society at the uni is a great way to meet other like-minded people, learning more about making the switch and also discovering new vegetarian and vegan orientated restaurants and cafes! Especially if you are just starting out or simply curious, it can be very comforting to have people who understand around to support you. Resist giving into peer pressure! It happens. I get teased all the time and I am always the butt of everyone’s jokes about eating lettuce or grass for dinner (when in reality it was most likely a pizza or a couple of burgers). It is going to happen. You are going to get judged but just go along with it and after a while it is something you do get used to!
Epigram / Laila Freeman
I will not deny that I used to be one of those people, but it is coming up to four years since I made the switch and I would honestly never look back. Veganism is not exclusive to us in the general population, even big names such as Paul McCartney, Ellen DeGeneres, Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus have adopted the lifestyle. But what is it that drives us “weirdos” to make this supposedly drastic change to our lives? The answer really varies, but for most people it tends to fall into the category of environmental, health or animal welfare. Just to throw a couple of statistics out there the meat industry is the number one cause of climate change across the world, if we continue fishing at the rate we do scientists fear that the aquatic ecosystem will begin to deteriorate in our lifetimes; we kill 2.7 trillion more fishes every year than humans that have ever existed; and every year in the UK alone over 950 million birds are killed for our consumption, most of which only live a fraction of their average lifespans.
an all around pain. In reality it really is not the case and for those of you considering going vegan I have compiled a small list of tips that may help you if you are thinking of making the switch, because it can understandably seem difficult and scary at first.
Most importantly, go vegan because you want to for yourself. I do not believe in the approach that some may take by attacking meat-eaters, in my experience it simply does not work. I would much rather inform people gently and thereafter let every individual build their own opinion and make their own choices. It is the best way to make a lasting impact. But for me, being vegan fits with my morals and there is no way I would ever go back.
Gail El-Halaby
VegSoc Committee
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22.10.18 epigram / The Croft
The thirstiest nut DeputyFoodEditorOliviaCritoph,deliversthelesserknowntruthaboutalmondmilk
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ith the growth of veganism in recent years, there is a growing variety of nondairy milks available in supermarkets. These milks - or ‘mylks’ as they are often spelt - are thought to be better for both our bodies and the environemnt.
The drilling of these new wells is incredibly costly for farmers, usually amounting to around 1 million pounds. However, according to Tom Philpott, farmers are making 2.1 billion pounds a year due to such a high demand in areas such as Asia and the United States. With such a high rewards it is no surprise these farmers continue to grow the nut.
Indeed, cows milk is incredibly harmful to the environment, requiring masses of land, water and fertilizer to produce. However, due to an increase in the many dairy alternatives (such as oat and almond milk) and the awareness of the impact of the dairy industry on both the animals and on the environment, the demand for dairy products have fallen massively.
Since 2000, farmers have had to triple how many almonds they reap to meet the high demand. This coupled with such expensive costs of production mean almond milk suppliers can charge consumers expensive rates. For example, Sainsburys’s own brand cows’ milk costs 48p/litre, where as Alpro charges around £1.70 per litre of almond milk. Meaning this nut is not only being costly on California’s water supply, but also incredibly costly for the consumer. So if you are a regular almond drinker due to environmental concerns, then there are some other more environmentally friendly alternatives which may be more beneficial. All other non-dairy milk alternatives seem to be better than almond milk. However, the milk which requires the least water, energy and pesticides, thus being the least ecologically damaging, seems to be coconut milk. Though it seems that, in general, much more research needs to be carried out to review how these new alternatives are really affecting the planet.
Epigram / Laila Freeman
The switching to alternatives is generally more ethical, healthier and ‘green’. An alternative such as almond milk is undoubtedly incredibly good for you being full of vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. Furthermore you do not cause any direct harm to an animal when procuring it! Despite these benefits, it is sadly one of the worst things for our planet. Almonds are very detrimental to the environment, as reported by Alex Park and Julia Lurie, 1.1 gallons of water is needed to grow one little almond. Additionally, 82% of almonds are grown in california, which is now entering its fourth year of record breaking drought. Due to the lack of water in the region, farmers continuously need to drill either deeper, or new wells, to access new water supplies, further depleting the already bare supply.
Other alternative milks that you could try include soya milk, cashew milkandoatmilk,whichareallreadilyavailableatallbigsupermarkets.
Olivia Critoph
Deputy Food Editor
The Great British Bake Off Vegan Week
Best Student Cookbooks Virginia Campbell, sharesher bestmealinspirations
Sub-Editor Erin Lawler, reviewsthisweek’sGreatBritishBakeOff
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s someone who is not a vegan and has never really considered plant-based alternatives, watching the vegan episode of Bake Off was as ever entertaining but also educational. Who knew you could swap eggs for chickpea water to make meringue? I guess it is true what they say, chickpeas are a vegan’s best friend. The signature challenge being vegan tartlets, the contestants had to grapple with vegan shortcrust pastry which is usually reliant on butter to give it its short consistency. For their pastry’s source of alternative fat, the bakers opted for olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable shortening, vegan margarine or avocado oil. Of course, a major thing missing from the vegan diet – or what I would miss at least – is the deliciously tangy flavour of cheese. This can in fact be substituted with nutritional yeast. I was astonished at how many alternatives there actually are and that all it takes to educate yourself is a bit of Googling.
Erin Lawler,
Food Sub-Editor
With two volumes of student cookbooks now under their belt, NOSH has been dominating the student food scene for sometime. And it is no surprise. Their recipes are easy, tasty and cheap. They have short ingredients lists, price breakdowns for each meal and helpful tips to ensure that you do not accidentally poison yourself. They even accommodate for veggies, gluten free and sugar free diets.
One Pound Meals by Miguel Barclay
Feeling shocked and betrayed by how much food costs? One Pound Meals is the book for you. Doing what it says on the tin, this collection of tasty recipes offers you all the nosh without too much of the dosh. The portion sizes may not be too generous, but doubling up would not hurt your bank balance too much.
Eat Well For Less by Gregg Walace and Jo Scarratt-Jones
This beauty is not marketed as a student cookbook, but that does not mean that it is not worth having on your shelf. Based off the popular television show, these recipes are hearty, healthy and good for a budget. Expect meals such as ‘Chicken Katsu Curry’ and ‘Cod Burgers’.
Student Eats: Fast, Cheap, Healthy by Rachel Phipps
Instagram / @britishbakeoff
With the last Showstopper challenge being a vegan celebration cake, I thought for sure the contestants would up their game, as vegan cakes are becoming ever more present in supermarkets and cafes. In order to get the all-important rise the bakers used bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Vegan margarine seemed to be a firm favourite among the bakers as well as oils and plant-based milks. However, these alternatives did not go to plan as Manon’s cake was not a great flavour and we know what happened to Jon.
Whilst the results of each of the challenges were not perfect or particularly show stopping - of course not counting the dramatic topple of Ruby’s cake - I learnt a lot and feel far more aware what alternatives are available. So, do not listen to Noel when he sings in the intro “It’s vegan week, chop up a leek” because vegan baking and food in general is a lot more than just plain vegetables.
Epigram / Laila Freeman
The technical challenge was a celebratory and very traditional dessert: the almighty Pavlova. At this point I was extremely sceptical as I have heard egg is the most difficult thing to replace and meringues are wholly reliant on the whisking of the egg white. However, my scepticism soon vanished when Prue explained that aquafaba or the water preserved from cooked chickpeas was used and whisked to form the stiff peak and we were shown her glorious fruit topped Pavlova masterpiece – a gorgeous taste according to Paul and the main difference according to Prue being its fragility.
Nosh
This cookbook has a very clear edge. Written by a recent graduate, Phipps has all the inside understanding of a true uni student. Her recipes are money savvy but also ingenious. A favourite would have to be the ‘Frying Pan Lasagne’ which is exactly as it sounds. She works with what you have, rather than having to go out of your way to buy something you may never use again. Cooking Apps For those of you that do not have enough cupboard space for a cookbook, or simply prefer online recipes, cooking apps can be a God-send. You can constantly access new recipes and save favourites easily. If you have a particular diet and find that cookbooks do not offer you enough variety, cooking apps may well be the way to go. There are many out there but highly recommended free cooking apps include Yummly and Cooking.com.
Virginia Campbell,
First Year Religion and Theology
epigram / The Croft 22.10.18
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Recipe: Stuffed Peppers
Avoca-don’t look now
FoodEditorLailaFreeman, examinestheshockingclaimthatavocadosarenotvegan
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question on BBC quiz show QI has left vegans across the country in shock. Contestants were asked which food, of a group of foods including our beloved avocados, was not vegan. The answer: none of them were. Yes you heard right, apparently avocados are not vegan. Queue a whirlwind of questions, mainly revolving around what to order at brunch now that avocado toast is off your menu. Let us understand what has prompted this awful news. The reason behind avocados not being considered vegan is due to the role of bees in the cultivation process. Whilst the nature of the eco system in general means that many plants rely on animals or insects to grow - after all even pollination of ordinary flowers relies on insects, or are gardens the next thing to be labelled non vegan? it is the way in which bees are used in the avocado farming process that causes the controversy. ‘Let’s call it an “unnatural way”’, stated Sandi Toksvig in response to her answer. So what is it that makes the use of bees in avocado farming ‘unnatural’? When used in commercial farming, beehives are transported across large distances and the bees are often brought into new and unfamiliar environments. For example, in order to cultivate avocados in California, bees have to be imported into the state, as not enough naturally inhabit that area.
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than last week’s QI episode, with almondsarenotvegan.com arguing for vegans to stop eating almonds. This blog asserts that 80% of almonds are produced in California and that pollination takes places over a 22 day span. In order to ensure that all the trees are pollinated, bees are imported from all over the country. This disrupts natural food chains and eco systems and subjects bees themselves to harsh conditions. However, many vegans seem to disagree with Toksvig’s bold statement. Speaking to Plant Based News, Dominika Piasecka, a representative from The Vegan Society stated: ‘We are aware that many forms of farming involve indirect harm to animals but it is unfortunately not possible or practicable to avoid the destruction of other animals in most farming at this time’. So it seems that avocado toast is, thankfully, not cancelled after all. Likening avocados, almonds and all the other listed fruit and vegetables to honey seems careless, as it is the fact that honey is a bee’s own food source, which humans are taking, which constitutes a considerable part of the reason why honey is not vegan. Thus, whilst vegans do aim to limit animal suffering as much as they can, there seems to come a point where this is not always possible and it is important to decide where you draw your own personal line.
Let’s call it an “unnatural way” - Sandi Toksvig
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Toksvig also drew comparison to the fact that many vegans do not eat honey, due to the fact that the commercial production of this substance harms bees. The argument against eating honey is twofold: first, that honey is a bee’s source of energy and that by harvesting it for human consumption we are denying them of this, and secondly that in commercial beekeeping, honey bees are bred specifically for the production of the food source. It is this second line of argument that can be applied to avocados too.
This claim can actually be found to have existed much earlier
Epigram / Laila Freeman
And not just avocados. Indeed several other fruits and vegetables were on Toksvig’s hit list that night. Almonds, kiwi, butternut squash and melon were placed alongside avocados in the list of foods that could not be considered vegan. To examine the claim against almonds, as the only nut in the list, it seems that the reasons are quite the same, with the mass transportation of bees being cited as proof for another vegan staple’s non vegan nature.
Laila Freeman
Food Editor
OnlineFoodEditorNicoleAA,sharesa recipethatissuretoimpress Here is a fun and creative recipe that is perfect for dinner parties and cooking for your friends. Not only is it a healthy dish, but it can be tailored for different dietary requirements! Serves: 4 Time: 50 mins
Ingredients: - 6 large peppers - 1/3 cup rice - 500g lean mince beef - Beef stock cube - 4 celery sticks - 1 onion - 3 cloves of garlic - 1 teaspoon smoked paprika - A handful of grated cheddar cheese - 2 tablespoons olive oil
Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius. 2. Heat a pan with olive oil. On a clean chopping board, chop the onion and add to the pan. Allow to brown for 7 minutes. 3. Chop the garlic and add to the onions and allow to soften. 4. Chop 2 peppers and the celery sticks, add to the pan and cook until soft. 5. Add the beef mince and allow to brown fully. 6. Add the rice to the mince and cook with 1 cup of boiling water. 7. Crumble the beef stock cube into the pan and stir. 8. Whilst the rice is cooking, chop a ‘hat’ off the tops of the remaining 4 large peppers. Using a spoon, scoop out the contents of the peppers and stand upwards on a baking tray - here, I would try to use a smaller baking tray so that the peppers can balance on each other. 9. Once the rice mixture has finished cooking, scoop the mixture into each pepper, packing it tightly. 10. Place the stuffed peppers in the oven for 25 minutes. 11. The peppers should come out soft, but still sturdy. 12. Garnish the tops of the peppers with cheddar cheese.
Nicole AA
Online Food Editor
Recipe: Paleo bagels - gluten and grain free IndiaMatthews,explainshowtomakebagelsthataresuretocatertoanydietaryrequirement
Flickr: rpavich
Method: 1. Melt the mozzarella and the cream cheese or dairy spread in the microwave. 2. Add an egg and the melted cheese to a food processor and blend until smooth. 3. Add all the dry ingredients and process until it becomes a doughy texture.
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. 5. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with parchment. 6. Remove the bagel dough from the fridge and roll the dough into a ring shape- this is easier if your hands are oily. 7. Place the bagels onto the baking tray and sprinkle on your desired toppings such as sunflower seeds. 8. Bake for around 15 minutes until the top is browned. 9. Once cooked transfer to the fridge to keep for longer.
Epigram / India Matthews
Ingredients: - 125g mozzarella - 2tbsp cream cheese or dairy spread - 1 large egg - 100g almond flour - 1tbsp baking powder
India Matthews First Year History of Art
Editor India Harrison-Peppe
Deputy Editor Jemima Carr-Jones
@e2style
Online Editor Ruby Gleeson
@epigramstyle
epigram / The Croft 22.10.18
Epigram Style 2018/19
Boycott Topshop- # PinkNotGreen Style Editor India Harrison Peppe argues that, if you consider yourself a feminist, you should be avoiding Topshop.
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The Oxford Street store was a haven to us, offering a days’ worth of delights; that is, if your day consists of getting your hair preened in its basement ‘blow dry bar’ or buying an overpriced cupcake from one of the stalls upstairs. It was a place of refuge for a teenage girl on a rainy day when window shopping trumped revising for A-Levels. It, therefore, broke my heart when I was informed about Phillip Green’s latest stunt. Having established a partnership with Penguin Publishing, Topshop had decided to feature a pop-up at the forefront of the flagship store selling ‘Feminists don’t wear pink (and other lies)’, a recently released anthology of essays curated by
I will now be taking a stand and boycotting Topshop
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Scarlett Curtis. However, Green, current chairman of Topshop, made the executive decision to disassemble the pop up only 20 minutes after it had been set up, stating that the book was ‘too controversial’ to advertise in-store. It strikes me as ridiculous that Topshop, as a retailer that focusses predominantly on its female customers, is perpetuating the message that feminism is not in line with its
‘production and creative standpoint’. I grieve for the innocent, halcyon days spent dedicating the little money I had on poorly made, 2-for-1 vest tops. Alas, no longer. I will now be taking a stand and boycotting Topshop on account of its treatment of Scarlett Curtis, not to mention the many women who were invested in the publication of this book. I cannot accept another mans attempts to extinguish the successes of women- no matter how small or how large that might be. It can be anything from the denigration of girls in school, made to feel that their male counterparts are more worthy of their teacher’s attention, to something as large as this: a male billionaire, oblivious of his responsibility as a figurehead of Topshop, trying to shrink the space that women occupy in a literary field. I now feel that we owe it to the multitudes of brilliant women who contributed to the anthology - which, by the way, I couldn’t recommend more highly - to not sit back and watch as the anger abates, having done nothing to help the cause. No matter how insignificant this might seem in the grand scheme of things, it highlights the issue at hand that feminism is still perceived by some as a bad word, dirty laundry pushed hastily to the back of your wardrobe, certainly not something to be aired in public- let alone the forefront of your precious store. In spite of this, it doesn’t hurt to mention that Topshop is currently selling a white t-shirt with the facile slogan ‘FEMINIST’ stamped across the chest. Come on Green: the dreaded ‘f-word’ here, strewn across a boring shirt in a pitiful attempt to show some degree of concern about your main demographic. If this t-shirt is in line with Topshop’s marketing strategy, then I find it hard to believe that Curtis’ book isn’t; especially when this plain white tee does not rise to the ‘creative standpoint’ that Green so obviously seems to aspire to. Can you really underestimate your target audience so highly that you believe that this product is more appealing to a group of young girls? This, more than a book created by women for women? Perhaps, things will change when we have people in power who are not attempting to understand the psyche behind a group of people that they can, in no way, identify with. Topshop is screaming out
Instagram/@ScarCurtis
e are all partial to a bit of Topshop every now and then. It was a staple choice of mine growing up. Going to school only minutes away from the flagship store meant that ‘retail therapy’ involved us going and scanning the rails. We feigned everything from doctors appointments to family emergencies during free periods just to run along the high street, convinced that a new top might distract us from the torment of personal statements.
for a massive upheaval and, dare I say it, a new chair(wo)man? So, where does my relationship with Topshop stand? At the moment, I’m pretty pissed off. I’m starting to see the brand for what it really is; it is no longer a safe haven of delights enticing me to spend despite my impending overdraft. In fact, Topshop is now emerging as something a lot more sinister. We might be able to pass this off as another fashion faux pas ,pardon the pun, but I think it’s about time that my fashion choices aligned with my morals. Topshop is just another sad way in which the patriarchy is successfully silencing women; another warped manifestation of male privilege triumphing over these empowered voices of a generation, a generation that is distinctly female. I, for one, will play no part in advocating that. So, in light of Scarlett Curtis’ book; feminists can definitely wear pink but they certainly should not be wearing Topshop.
India Harrison Peppe Style Editor
Mr Swanton’s Barbershop
Oliver Briscoe reviews Clifton’s finest traditional barbershop-giving an insight into an experience worth forking out for.
A single pane, glass and wood door is pushed open by a brass handle, and immediately one enters into an altogether different environment. A feeling of warmth and a veneer of a simpler time covers the place. The shop is deep and covered in dark mahogany panelling. To the right, there is a fireplace, a stuffed cat on a chair and the wall is covered by the heads of various animals. To the left, a small seating area, a wooden bench covered in maroon leather with a magazine stand: Beano, Men’s Health, Private Eye and Lonely Planet. The rest of the store is a line of three or four heavy barber chairs fixed in front of a marble counter and a mirror. The wall above is adorned with a collection of Victorian china pots and old postcards cover the bottom of the mirrors. Mr Swanton only ever uses the station closest to the door and never has more than one customer at a time. When the small doorbell rings, he turns away from his task and welcomes you in with a smile. He is an older man, in full Victorian dress, from his waistcoat to his whiskers. He has warm red cheeks and a small but full beard of snowy white. Though it might seem a bit Mayfair, there’s nothing of
the old boys club here. You will probably have to wait a few minutes for Mr Swanton to finish up, he likes to take his time, talk and see his customer out the door. He then calls you up with a welcoming hand, helps you into a cape and then you seat yourself in the comfort of a deep-set leather cushion. The haircut is secondary, but it is the first place to start. There is no doubt that Mr Swanton is an expert. After leaving Arts college in Twickenham early, he decided to do what his friends were doing and become an apprentice barber. First living in Hounslow in London, he has been running Mr Swanton’s here in Bristol for 38 years. He tells me that he moved down to Newquay to chase a girl, but when I turn to look at his wife, he winks at me and tells me knowingly that this was not her–a story for another day perhaps. The craft he learnt as an apprentice and those 38 years of experience really come through at the start. He knows hair, understands crowns and his technique is unrivalled. The first time I went he had me change my parting from the right side to the left, “it sits better and looks more natural” he explains. His style is personable and homely, an overall lovely manner that I have yet to see elsewhere in Bristol. The most important part of the cut at Mr Swanton’s or at any barber shop is the atmosphere, the talk, the sense of ease and retreat from the outside. Mr Swanton certainly provides that; talking to you for hours about the sport of your choice. I was there before the Winter Olympics, and sure enough, Mr Swanton could tell me everything about it, even though he has never skied a slope in his life. He can surpass any man in the knowledge of cricket and football, being a season ticket holder for Bristol City football and Bristol rugby clubs,
Allef Vinicius / Unsplash
A curiosity from the outside, Mr Swanton’s can seem somewhat daunting to the uninitiated- or maybe just to those who have never bothered to get a haircut over five pounds. Regardless of its apparent mystery, it is familiar to all those of the Clifton area, its gold lettering on the window ‘For gentlemen and their sons’, or the clock which hangs outside ‘Time cannot be regained’- it seems forever dark like a creaky shop of oddities with its badgers and safety razors on display. True to its name, Mr Swanton does indeed exist! And I can safely say he is the most skilled barber in Bristol.
explaining why the store abruptly closes at one on a Saturday, in his attempt to make it on time to the game. His conversation is varied, his topics ranging from the times he used to DJ the CHH and Manor balls back in the day, to anecdotes about his family farm. Whatever your interest, you sit relaxed, knowing nothing will go wrong and passing the time with fascinating chatter. The whole cut is convenient, and everything is accommodating– as it says on the board, ‘drinks and abuse are free’. Mr Swanton offers all your classic barbershop services from a simple cut to a full wet shave and is open Tuesday to Saturday. You might not be impressed by the Victoriana setting or fancy the idea of fostering a relationship with your barber but be in no doubt that for a couple of extra pounds - £15 for students - you will get a classic, expert and enjoyable cut. Safe to say, I always leave the shop feeling confident and renewed, something that confirms that my extra two pounds are undoubtedly worth parting with.
Oliver Briscoe Second Year, Law
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22.10.18 epigram / The Croft
Black History Month 2018: Fabric Africa, Stories Told Through Textiles Laura Mallinson visits Bristol Museum’s vibrant exhibition and speaks to World Cultures Curator, Lisa Graves, about how African textiles are being used in Bristol today.
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escribed as a ‘glimpse into the amazing world of African textiles’, this exhibition revels in the diversity of styles the different countries in Africa have to offer, through stories told by textiles. Stories of love, challenges, family movement and political change; all shown thorugh the dynamic medium of fabric for a display of heritage. This free exhibition focuses on the historical development of African fashion and brings to light the modern interpretations of current Bristol based African designers, who are bringing traditional textiles and styles into the contemporary fashion world. Designers such as Grace Ekall and Gloria Ojulari Sule, who are striving to shape these culturally rich and brightly colourful textiles into a new form of African fashion. As an interactive exhibition, which is full of personal examples, we can begin to unlock the significance of these fabrics as the designers themselves talk through their pieces. I also spoke with World Cultures curator, Lisa Graves, to help further understand the messages this exhibition holds and harness her expertise to illuminate the collection further.
So, what makes an African textile distinctly African? Fabric Africa poises this question by beginning to display an ounce of this medium’s vast and complicated history wherein, some of their origins link back to Europe. In the early 1800s, the Dutch massproduced a traditional hand-made wax resist cloth to take to their colony in Indonesia which wasn’t – in their opinion – in vogue; now a much-loved method, batiking, resulted in a crackling effect so timeless it’s still seen on today’s runway. Back in the 1800s, this unusual and exciting fabric did become popular with men from Ghana, who were employed or enslaved by the colonisers to police the region, and the African market grew; a fabric passion which thrived in the years after Africa’s independence from colonisation to see local textile industries flourish. In conversation with Epigram Style, curator Lisa Graves highlighted the importance of recognising the colonial impact on African countries and their styles, ‘African wax prints are a fusion of European and African interactions, good and bad, and it’s important to acknowledge those contexts as they impacted on what the fabrics look like and what they represent.’ This love of batiking fused with the native tribal traditions of placing symbols of communication into garments to express messages of tolerance, faith, or even political alliances; as seen in the Adinkra cloth on display. ‘Everything is included for a reason,’ says Lisa in an interview with Stylist magazine, ‘proverbs, morals and directions on how people should be living their lives. It’s not just pretty pictures. Everything tells a story.’ This brandishing of messages through the fabric is still a common African textile trait – go and spot Obama’s smile in amongst the cloth.
repetition; which is all pulled together with elaborate beadwork symbolic of high status and special occasions. A garment that brings Audrey’s Kenyan heritage front and centre in her marriage to fuse her two homes together. This message of celebration is one which is held up by students here at Bristol, as Mary Oki a Bristol BME representative says: ‘Your clothing is one of the main ways that you can portray your culture without having to utter a word, there’s power in fabric!’ Through African styles and bright fabrics, this power of expression sees no distance or border as each textile holds a story and is celebrated both in the exhibition and in our city. This is what curator Lisa tells me is her main aim in Fabric Africa: ‘to showcase the diversity, experience and wealth of creativity found in African textiles, to inspire people to listen to the stories and understand the different ways that textiles are used in African societies and try to reflect on how that works in their own lives.’
Laura Mallinson Style Sub-Editor
Epigram/Laura Mallinson
Epigram / Laura Mallinson
Stories of love, challenges, family movement and political change; all shown through the dynamic medium of fabric. This element of communication is a theme which runs throughout the exhibition, as designer Audrey Migot blends her Kenyan roots into her Bristol wedding, a celebratory message of heritage which is proclaimed through her hand-made wedding dress. A vivid, formfitting, modern dress which combines the Western style trend of ‘cut-outs’ with a vibrant African fabric centred around a design of
Editors’ picks Style Editor India Peppe has an... Unorthodox suggestion for what I’ve been loving this week, but I have to say it- acrylic nails are the new way forward. Yes, I’m probably quite late on the ‘fake nails’ bandwagon, but to quote Karen from Mean Girls, ‘my nail beds suck’. No more! After years of my habitual, compulsive biting, Galaxy Nails off of Whiteladies road has pulled through and provided me with a nice set of suitably sparkly acrylic gels. I’m trying to quash my sneaking suspicions that it’s not the healthiest option for nail growth with the consolation that they are really quite fun to tap on surfaces when I’m trying to look as professional and busy as possible, and all for not too steep a price! And they say that money can’t buy you happiness- or at least the illusion that you’re slightly more polished…
Sub Editor Laura Mallinson loves... The handy canvas Tote is the best friend you always needed: strong, versatile, funky, affordable and practical - it’ll see you through a heavy food shop and still look chic. As a win for both the fashion world and the environment, this future forward accessory will both perfect your outfit and save you the 5p carrier bag charge when you pop to the shops. So, waltz into a morning lecture with your textbooks lovingly held in a slogan tote for a practical style statement.
Style Online Editor Ruby Gleeson says that.... Winter is approaching- which for me, is a great excuse to update my coat collection. Throw it back to the nineties and invest in a snug, stylish bomber jacket. I’m particularly fond of this faux fur piece from Only, via trusty Asos. Embrace the Bristol vibe by balancing it out it with high-waisted flares and chunky Nikes for a Y2K-inspired take on a winter wardrobe. Though its cropped, its super cosy and with a 20% Student Discount, you’re practically laughing. Only/ Asos, £38
£30 For Acrylic & Gel 2 Cotham Hill, BS6 6LF
Etsy, Paperself Lashes Beauty Lover Canvas Tote Bag, £30
Editor Amelia Edgell-Cole
Deputy Editor Rachel Evans
@EpigramTravel
epigram / The Croft 22.10.2018 Online Editor Amelia Shoebridge
@epigram_travel
Spotlight on...Tokyo The ultimate guide to Tokyo on a student budget
Tokyo’s romantic side
Sophie Tupper reveals her top tips for exploring Japan’s capital
What to eat
Visit Tokyo’s cute, cool and crazy fashion district Harajuku was my favourite area in Tokyo. It is the centre of Japan’s most extreme teenage cultures and fashion styles and is home to hundreds of cool shops and cafes. Picture busy streets, wild fashion choices (anything goes here), giant stuffed animals, candy shops galore, flashing lights everywhere you look and hundreds of people. Takeshita Street is the focal point of all this. Just a few minutes’ walk away you will find Omotesando - a onekilometer-long, Beverley-Hills-vibe, tree-lined avenue featuring famous brand name shops, cafes and restaurants. This is very much not student budget friendly and is aimed towards highearning, fashion-conscious urbanites in their 30s and 40s instead, but it’s fun to window shop! Getting from A to B
Go to a ninja restaurant Yes, you read that right. This was very touristy, but I loved every minute of it. You will have to book this one quite far in advance, but boy is it worth it. From the outside of the restaurant, you knock on a door and are greeted by a ninja completely in character. From this moment on, you too are a ninja and everything is top secret - this means no phones and no pictures. You then go underground through various dark and secret passages until you reach a cell, which is where your five-course dinner is served, before you are escorted out and sworn to secrecy.
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Tokyo is not oppressive, it is welcoming. It wants you to tickle its leafy and all-encompassing arms, drink its nihonshu (sake) and smoke peach cigarettes in the warm evening air. Towering business districts give way to sweeping tree lined boulevards, and it is here where Tokyo demonstrates its subtle side. Neighbourhoods like Jiyugaoka and Nakameguro often feel as if they were kept in a perpetual state of ‘Sunday afternoon’.
Get high on an observation deck
Not literally...Tokyo has an amazing skyline that you would be nuts to miss out on. Some of the main tourist attractions in Tokyo are the city-viewing platforms: Tokyo Skytree and Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Skytree is the highest tourist platform in Tokyo and so, of course, is pretty expensive to visit. If you’re on a student budget, I’d therefore recommend the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building instead, which is free. Located in the heart of Shinjuku, the government building has great views of the city skyline and, being less popular than the other two attractions, is often far more peaceful. The toilets show you a good time Before going to Japan I thought the ‘musical toilet’ thing was a myth. But lo and behold, almost every toilet has an array of buttons that will keep you in there much longer than necessary. If you are like me, you will no doubt find this very entertaining and quickly find your toilet spraying water, blowing hot air or playing classical music while you do your business. It’s fun. Experience the culture Japan is filled with the most beautiful traditional architecture and the culture is fascinating. The places I found the most interesting were the Imperial Palace and Sensō-ji Buddhist temple. The current imperial palace is a short walk from Tokyo Station and is a set in a large park, surrounded by moats and massive stone walls. It is the residence of the Japanese imperial family. Sensō-ji is Tokyo’s oldest and most visited temple in the city. If you want to indulge in the really touristy novelties (which I did), you can even rent kimonos and wander around in traditional Japanese outfits.
Epigram / Sophie Tupper
Transport in Tokyo is quick and efficient, but is definitely one of the most expensive necessities you will come across. One tip for saving the ‘dolla’ would definitely be to buy a Japan Rail pass; this gives you unlimited travel across the whole JR network (Japan’s equivalent of National Rail), but does not work on the Subway. You can also get a IR pass, which is basically an Oyster Card that you can top up at stations. The buses are also a great option for short journeys and are clean and efficient. A typical 10 minute journey will cost you approximately £1 – not bad at all.
Public bathhouses were created when most homes did not have their own bathtubs and quickly became a soothing and peaceful haven for locals to relax in. They are still commonly used and are an amazing experience, so if you do get the opportunity to visit one, do it. The water is typically obtained from mineral-rich volcanic natural springs, which you bathe in completely naked with other people of the same gender. Initially, this was a rather odd experience, but you soon get used to it. Epigram / Sophie Tupper
Unlike Western countries, fast-food in Japan isn’t processed or deep-fried. Think steaming bowls of rice topped with veggies, miso soup, savoury meats and a side of green tea instead. Meals like these can easily be bought for about £1 and make a filling and healthy lunch option. ‘Button’ style restaurants are also a common cheaper alternative; these are basically vending machines where you select and pay for your meal based on the photos and prices listed on the machine. You then take your receipt to the chef and bam, you’ve got food. Personally, I became rather fond of this option simply because a) it was cheap b) it was fun and c) the language barrier was never an issue since ordering is as simple as clicking on a picture.
Go nude
f visiting Japan were just about ramen and bullet trains, Tokyo would serve suitably. That being said, what Tokyo really offers visitors is not neon or tempura, but a sanctuary for the urban dweller. Here we find modernity laid bare, elegance and class in abundance and a collected and calm atmosphere.
Sophie Tupper Third Year, Psychology
Back streets are filled with book shops and quiet bars, where one can find sanctuary from the stresses of life; or alternatively, find the bustle. Tokyo’s streets are also increasingly safe and clean. With Japan’s crime rate being one of the lowest in the world, Tokyo’s back-streets seem more inviting than those here in Bristol. Omotesandō avenue is home to the city’s more upmarket brands, although as you stroll along its tree-covered paths you would be forgiven for thinking you were in Europe. In this sense, Tokyo truly shines as a global city. I worry many Europeans are too blasé and quick to judge when considering Japan as a holiday destination. They consider Japan as modern and developed but fail to identify its rich and unique approach to modern culture. Tokyo is equally as romantic as Paris and Omotesandō is an exemplary demonstration of this.
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okyo is like a whole new world in itself and is an absolute must-see for any travel lover. From traditional temples to modern museums, there is nothing that this amazing city doesn’t have. Here is a quick guide to Tokyo (on a student budget), including a few helpful tips that I wish I’d known before I visited.
Callum Ruddock explores
Neighbourhoods [...] often feel as if they were kept in a perpertual state of “Sunday afternoon
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Other quiet areas cater to the thirsty and hungry. Tokyoites have developed a taste for natural wines. Along the banks of the mighty Tama river we find Lunatique Tokio Plage, a large and laissez faire French restaurant serving hearty home-cooked food and a very good glass of Japanese red, a surprising format for a city so steeped in tradition. Tokyo, however, continues in this manner by offering some of the world’s most vibrant cuisine. If you are looking for the best seafood outside of southern Italy, look no further than Tokyo’s central districts. For example, take Winestand Waltz in Ebisu, a standing-only affair. Salted river fish skewered on sticks go down well with plenty of cold Japanese beer. Rather than a design choice, the lack of chairs is a purely practical consideration. Japan’s designers have risen to the challenge of making space where no space exists. When it comes to Tokyo’s exceptional transport system, nothing rivals it in terms of scale and quality. Its flow is somewhat hypnotic and makes traversing the city’s more enigmatic spots a joy. Tokyo is the only city where I have seen adults snogging without shame in suburban parks, old folk smoking and giggling like children and kids marching themselves to school as if they were adults on their way to work. A city of 9.5 million (49 million living in greater Tokyo) often at times feels like no more than 10,000, although if you are looking for somewhere even quieter to escape the crowds try Denenchofu, Kiyosumi and Mitaka to name just a few. All things considered, perhaps the most significant quality that Tokyo has to offer is an abundance of wonderful people - I thoroughly recommend you get over there and meet them.
Callum Ruddock Second Year Politics & International Relations
22.10.2018 epigram / The Croft
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On the set of Call Me by Your Name
Xander Brett shares his experience exploring Creama in Northern Italy, the set of one of 2017’s most pivotal films
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all Me By Your Name (2017) was a commercial and critical success, grossing almost $42 million at the box office. It cemented director Luca Guadagnino’s place in the film industry as a visionary and made actor Timothée Chalamet a household name for his role as Elio, a boy coming of age. What made the biggest impression, however, was the film’s location: Crema in Lombardy, northern Italy - a sleepy town perfectly suited to the film’s narrative.
take in any of the film’s locations, but ended up doing so at every turn. I had an espresso on the same table as Elio and Oliver and walked the same cobbled streets as them in Bergamo.
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It was agricultural, and authentically Italian
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With the scale of a production team required by blockbusters descending on a town of just over 30,000 people for over 33 days, one would expect the locals to have become disorientated, confused, even angry at the disruption, rather than thankful for the publicity it provided. When it came to it, however, the people of Crema embraced the production. Locally-recruited extras braved poor weather to mingle in the background of shots and businesses, forced to close so their shops could be made to look more eighties-esque, were
Epigram / Xander Brett
Surprisingly, André Aciman, author of the 2007 novel, didn’t set his narrative here, but on the glamorous shores of the Italian Riviera instead. Guadagnino moved the setting to Crema so filming could be closer to his house. The cast rented flats in the town during shooting, frequently spending the evening at Guadagnino’s palazzo. It was in Crema that Chalamet met his co-star Armie Hammer for the first time, who plays Oliver, his older lover. As they had not been required to do a screen test together, the pair spent a month in Crema eating at local restaurants, touring the area and watching documentaries.
compensated for lost hours. In fact, the locals were so quiet about filming that the national press only found out two weeks after the first take.
When it came to it, the people of Crema embraced the production
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But despite the film’s success, and my excitement at discovering the sites, the locals still seemed rather passé about it. Though Sicilian by birth, Guadagnino has lived in Crema for years, and has been fully adopted by the locals. He eats in local restaurants, drinks in local bars and gets involved in community projects in his spare time. He is simply a friend to the people of Crema, not a saviour of its tourist board. But, as the film’s legacy is secured, visitor numbers are set to dramatically increase. Though much of Lombardy is culturally insignificant and often visually unappealing, Crema is a mere forty minutes from Milan, and well connected by road and rail, making it an easy day trip for fans. In fact, a Call Me by Your Name tour has already been launched. However, when I was there, tractors clogged the cobbled streets, the air smelled of cow dung, the food was fantastic and nobody spoke English. It was agricultural and authentically Italian. Having hopped from one overcrowded tourist honeypot to another, I relished it. I only hope that in a few months, as the masses descend, I still can.
I visited Lombardy last May as part of my gap year, travelling to Milan, Lake Como, Bergamo (where scenes for Elio and Oliver’s weekend away were filmed), Crema, Cremona and Brescia (near where the scene on Lake Garda was filmed). I had not intended to
Xander Brett First Year, French & History of Art
Summer in Beijing: navigating a mega-city
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Deputy Travel Editor Rachel Evans gives us her tips for surviving in one of the world’s biggest cities
here are no two ways about it, Beijing is huge. I was blown away by the sheer vastness of the place: a sprawling urban mass, housing 22 million people. For someone who has never lived anywhere larger than Bristol, this was hugely daunting. With a booming economy and an ever-growing amount of opportunity for English speakers, Beijing is becoming an increasingly attractive destination to Western tourists. However, before coming I found Beijing quite difficult to research, especially in comparison to many other Asian countries that have a wealth of information online. I am going to try and share with you everything that I have learnt. Setting yourself up feels like it takes forever
As you may be aware, the Chinese government have a firewall in place, blocking lots of the websites and apps we know and love, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Google. It took a very long time to get used to opening up the internet on your
In my first few days, one of my colleagues gave us some of the best advice we received in our whole time here: TimeOut Beijing and The Beijinger are your go-to for finding cool events. In Beijing, there are areas of traditional, courtyard style houses called hutongs. Recently, the Government had a crackdown on these and
forced many to close, however there are still some that exist, but are hidden away and have a cool speakeasy vibe. There are some much larger and more well-known bars as well in other areas; one of my favourites was called Heaven Supermarket – a supermarket that exclusively sold alcohol. You just buy your drink, mixers, ice, cups and straws, find a table and drink away. I was also very impressed with Beijing’s art scene. One of the best areas is called 798 Art District. 798 used to be an area of military factory buildings, however these have now been decommissioned, and the area now houses many fantastic art galleries and shops. The way they have converted the space is rather spectacular, and the area has kept lots of its original industrial identity. Many of the tourist sights are worth seeing once…but probably not twice Epigram / Rachel Evans
Your life depends on technology
Beijing has a lot to offer but you do have to know where to look
Epigram / Lauren Jeffrey
I had a pre-arranged internship before I came to China through the University Careers Service, which made it feel much less scary, as I knew there would be someone to pick me up at the airport and I had somewhere to live - which, in retrospect, I am so thankful for as I would have no idea where to start. Due to the strict laws, foreigners have to register when they first arrive, SIM cards have to be linked to your passport number, and your bank account also has to link to both your passport number and your Chinese phone number. All this means it takes at least a week before you feel properly established.
laptop/phone and not being able to instantly Google something. Due to this, China has developed many of their own amazing apps. The first (and most important) is WeChat. As well as being a messenger and being able to post statuses and photos, WeChat has a ‘Wallet’ function, which is what pretty much everyone uses to pay for everything. You sync your bank account and can transfer money in a message. Everywhere from supermarkets to vendors selling fruit on the beach accept it. You can order taxis, book cinema tickets, order food - do pretty much anything with it.
Being a city rich in history, and the home of many of China’s ruling dynasties, Beijing has lots of historical sites, such as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. It probably didn’t help that I was there over summer, but we often found that these were hugely crowded and the queues went on forever. They were interesting to see once, but I’m not sure I would pay them a second visit.
Rachel Evans, Deputy Travel Editor
Film & TV
epigram 22.10.2018
Patrick Sullivan Editor Luke Silverman Deputy Editor
James Turnbull Online Editor Miles Jackson Deputy Online Editor
IMDb / Captain America: Civil War / Marvel Studios
Sidekicks not heroes: how black characters have been used in films
Welbeing Editor
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ike any other person, I looked up to many film and television characters when I was younger. I wanted to be like them when I grew up, I wanted to dress and look exactly like them. But the older I got, the more I realised that none of these characters that I looked up to were black like me. It was not because I chose to gravitate towards white leading roles, but rather because black actors are often sidelined into supporting roles in major Hollywood films. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having role models of different ethnic origin to you. In fact, I strongly believe that you should look at role models from an objective standpoint, outside of their ethnic origin. But, when actors of colour are more often portrayed as the sidekick rather than the hero, it feels like they are not given a fair shot. This became clear the more I obsessed over popular films as a child. In High School Musical (2006), the two main black characters played the best friends to the protagonists. In Camp Rock (2008), there was a mixed-race girl as the best friend to the mean girl and two black drummers that were background
characters. The Harry Potter franchise (2001-11), whilst still a massively loved part of my childhood, has an undeniable problem with ethnic diversity. Does it mean that I did not enjoy any of these films? Of course not, I loved every single one of them. But it oh so slowly dawned on me that I did not have as much representation as some others. The issue with this trope is that it has a real risk of subliminally impacting the way that we live our lives. I spent a long time thinking that I could not audition for main characters in school plays, or that I had no choice but to be labelled as an ‘angry black girl’ or a ‘sassy best friend’ with no further depth. I am not the most outspoken person in the world and I, like many other black girls, do not fit the hand on hip, kissed teeth, ‘sassy black girl’ stereotype. As a child, however, I felt that if I ever wanted to go into the world of acting, that was all I could be. When I first saw Black Panther (2018), I was hit with an indescribable amount of pride. In fact, for a while I really did not know how to put it into words. This was a whole blockbuster film, with a majority black cast that not only broke many a box office record – including but not limited to ‘biggest solo superhero launch of all time’ – but broke free of the many stereotypes and sidelining that I had become so used to absorbing. I was met with strong and empowering black female characters; role models that I did not realise had been lacking from my media consumption until that moment. It showed the world that a film can have black leads and a majority black cast and still be seen as a major
Hollywood blockbuster, as opposed to a ‘black film’ which often seems to be interpreted as lesser. It did not show black actors solely playing characters of oppression, or marginalised stereotypes and sidekicks. It showed them powerful and in charge and that meant more to me and so many other black people than I can describe. In all honesty, I have never been one to be concerned with the lack of diversity around me. But it was not until I was presented with a film that portrayed black actors as the heroes and the leads that I realised how much I had needed that in my life.
“Black Panther showed the world that a film can have black leads and a majority black cast and still be seen as a major Hollywood blockbuster”
I am so happy that representation in film is finally becoming more common in mainstream media. Be it those films highlighting the brilliance of black actors like Moonlight (2016), Get Out (2017) or Black Panther, or those supporting other ethnic minorities like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) or Crazy Rich Asians (2018). We are finally enabling a narrative that shows that anybody can be a main character, regardless of their skin colour. It may seem like a superficial change to some, but trust me, it has more of an impact on those represented than you know.
Epigram / Patrick Sullivan
In light of Black History Month, Jasmine Burke discusses the role of black people in film and their common role as sidekicks rather than heroes Jasmine Burke
22.10.2018
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Film & TV 35
The cinema hosted a documentary double billing for Black History Month Lilia Sebouai 2nd Year English
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t Bristol’s very own Watershed, public intellectual, writer and historian Edson Burton introduced the two documentaries being screened at the special event for Black History Month. Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask (1995) and The Stuart Hall Project (2013), trace the impact of two of the foremost provocative and empowering voices in 20th century racial discourse: Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist Frantz Fanon and New Left cultural theorist Stuart Hall. Burton crucially identified a key thread between the two theorist’s studies as the examination of the shattering effects that colonialism has on its victims and their sense of identity. In Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask, black British filmmaker Isaac Julien doesn’t adhere to traditional modes of documentaries. He instead creates a interweaving collection of interviews and archive footage coupled with an actor dramatising and embodying the journey of Fanon’s life. Having already featured as a narrative voice in Black Skin, White Mask, John Akomfrah’s The Stuart Hall Project further illustrates the vast impact that the esteemed public intellectual Stuart Hall caused in cultural theory from the 1950s onwards. Akomfrah projects a mingling of video
“A major theme throughout the documentaries is the journey of the colonised to create an identity independent of their masters”
archive and provocative questions about identity to the soundtrack of Miles Davis, a beacon of the jazz movement and a figure who Hall said ‘matched the evolution of his own feelings.’ A major theme throughout the documentaries is the journey of the colonised to create an identity independent of their masters. Hall pinpoints the beginning and spread of globalisation as the crumbling of Empires across Europe in the wake of the post-War War, in itself marking a crucial strengthening of identities. However, once its victims were freed from the shackles of colonialism, they couldn’t simply shed their previous label of ‘other’. As in a colonial relationship, there is a complete denial of recognition towards the man of colour, as racism completely depersonalises. Yet in Black Skin, White Mask, Fanon comments that the form of racism that cut him deepest wasn’t the way in which he was treated, but the way in which he was looked at. He recalls a meeting with one of his French female patients, when he started politely asking her questions and she screamed: ‘I don’t want this black man to touch me! Take him away!’ He says that in this moment, he felt his sense of self-image shatter, he was no longer an autonomous self and all that he could feel around him was ‘a whiteness that burn[t].’ In The Stuart Hall Project, Hall draws upon a similar story told by Fanon, in which he was walking along the streets of France when a little girl pointed at him and said: ‘Look Mamon, a Negro.’ In 1951, Hall won a scholarship to the University of Oxford, however, despite his clear intellectual capacity, Hall realised
Watershed / The Stuart Hall Project / Smokings Dogs Films
Post-colonisation: Watershed looks back
that he couldn’t ever really be a part of the English education system because racism is something that is inscribed on the skin of the subject - it is literally visualised. This created the realisation that men and women would have to rebel and break social norms in order to create a new identity for themselves, as there wasn’t one for them to step into. In line with this, Fanon longed to create a freedom across society, free from racial barriers. When he arrived in Paris from Martinique, he realised that what they were missing was ‘egalité’, and equality must first be achieved before a true sense of self could be obtained. While still deeply involved with the politics of colonisation, Fanon fell in love with a white woman, Josie Fanon. Despite the racial backlash that he was forced to incur, Fanon simply stated that he was a free man and that whoever he chose as the object of his desire was nobody else’s business.
Hall also suffered similar oppression. He married Catherine Hall in 1964 and due to the whiteness of her skin, they experienced racism like never before, with Hall describing the experience as ‘traumatic’. In the current climate of the migrant crisis, these issues that were touched upon in the 1950s are still very relevant. Frantz Fanon famously said: ‘in the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself.’ This could be read as a plea against the rigid identity moulds issued by those in positions of colonial power. However, perhaps the intrinsic mystical nature of belonging and identity means that a true sense of self can never really be defined. In a world of constant demographic upheaval, our identity is ever-changing and ever-moving, and there will always be a constant struggle to create a final sense of self.
Editors’ Picks
IMDb / HBO
IMDb / FX Networks
iIMDb / Columbia Pictures
IMDb / The Weinstein Company
This week’s theme is Black History Month and we have picked films/shows by black creatives
Patrick Sullivan
Luke Silverman
James Turnbull
Miles Jackson
Editor
Deputy Editor
Online Editor
Deputy Online Editor
Atlanta (2016-)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Fruitvale Station (2013)
Insecure (2015-)
Before conquering the world with Black Panther (2018), Ryan Coogler treated us to Fruitvale Station, a poignant retelling of the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan) by California police officers on New Year’s Day, 2009. Brief footage of the actual killing of Grant, captured by a bystander at the eponymous Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland, is followed by an intimate glimpse of his final hours, as he makes mistakes, loses his job and negotiates life outside of prison in a world that should still be his oyster. By virtue of not being a cold, glossy hagiography, Fruitvale Station quietly but proudly celebrates this imperfect black man’s life, and, by focusing on how he lived, it makes his senseless death all the more tragic.
From its stunning opening montage - a flurry of images of Inglewood, California set to Kendrick Lamar’s Alright and directed by Melina Matsoukas of Beyoncé music video fame - Issa Rae’s Insecure announces itself as a show rooted in the AfricanAmerican experience. Yet the show’s hilarious, cutting depiction of life as a twenty-something in Los Angeles offers not only an acerbic insight into its specific culture, but a painfully honest relatability regardless of age, race or gender. Gleefully candid about sex, dating and ageing, the show amusingly exploits the messiness of modern day relationships from a perspective rarely considered in art of any medium, all delightfully dappled in bold blues and a sensitive attention to skin texture.
Donald Glover emerged as an actor and musician The Pursuit of Happyness - and yes, that is how unexpectedly even to himself a few years ago thanks the movie’s name is spelt - was one of the first films I to his role in TV comedy Community (2009-15) and had watched which, for me, highlighted the struggle his bold medley of musical genres under the moniker, of an African-American single father in modern Childish Gambino. His success allowed him to society. The film is based on the real life Chris produce his masterpiece, Atlanta, a two sided tale of Gardner’s story and follows his battle to make a Alicia Wakeling the rap culture being both celebrated and derided as living and support his son. Will Smith is exceptional Second as Year, & Television perennial underachiever Earn (Glover) tries to manage ChrisFilm Gardner, to say the least. Knowing the his old-school style rapper cousin, Alfred aka Paper powerhouse of comedy that Smith is, to see him in Boy (Tyree Henry), after his breakout eponymous a serious role blew me away, and still does. Smith is track. The two seasons so far feature some of the surrounded by a brilliant cast and Thandie Newton most daring, episodic storytelling in recent times as Linda Gardner supports Smith in a fantastic way. and have springboarded a group of emerging black Her raw emotion as she accepts her lack of fitness as actors in Hollywood including Zazie Beetz, Lakeith a parent is a rare and beautiful piece of acting. This Stanfield, and Bryan Tyree Henry. one is a real tear jerker, so keep the tissues close!
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Film & TV 36
Blindspotting is a harrowing insight into the African American experience “The film is styled with kaleidoscopic technicolour”
Spike Lee is the inspiration for this visually stunning rollercoaster Leah Martindale Watershed / Summit Entertainment
3rd Year Film
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arlos López Estrada’s directorial debut is a cinematic tour-de-force, storming through a ménage-à-trois of race relations, gentrification, and sidesplitting comedy with ease. A sumptuous feast of the senses, it inspires awe and heartbreak with every second step. Watershed’s wildly tone-deaf write-up of the film - ‘this timely and wildly entertaining story’ - left me entirely unprepared for the emotional rollercoaster I was boarding, which left me shaken mentally and physically. Miles (Casal) and Collin (Diggs), aka Commander Miles and Commander Smiles, are the best of friends, blood brothers in every way except genetics, and much like Cain and Abel, one violent and uncontrollable brother is the downfall of the other. Or, at least, has the potential to be. Blindspotting has the poignancy of Get Out (2017) and the colour-scale of Moonlight (2016). The fractious and often dangerous relationship between Miles and Collin is underscored by a world equally fragile, and in both macrosystems Collin falls prey to the violence of the white man. The film is styled with kaleidoscopic technicolour, opening with, and later reusing, a split-screen effect that showcases the highs and lows of Oakland’s multicoloured and multicultural landscape. The first 15 minutes are as lively and colourful as a music video
- if Notorious B.I.G. were alive in 2018, his music videos would be shot (pardon the phrase) by cinematographer Robby Baumgartner. One of the film’s final scenes, set in the graveyard where Collin has his daily morning run, is a visual spectacle from Baumgartner worth framing. Daveed Diggs is Collin: complex, multifaceted, and ultimately flawed. His identity as a casualty of the system is questioned and his culpability to Miles’ actions is debatable. He is at once a legitimate criminal, a statistic in an ever-growing list of mistreated African-Americans, and a man in desperate need of help. Rafael Casal is Miles: balancing beautifully his victimisation as part of a cultural identity inherently shades darker than his, the privilege of being a white cis male, and the complexities of raising a mixed race child in a world increasingly seeing us in shades of grey. His way with words is lyrical
and hypnotising, lulling the locals and the audience into a false sense of allegiance with this dangerous, enticing man. However, it is the women who truly bolster this narrative of Blindspotting. Janina Gavankar plays Collin’s long-suffering exgirlfriend and confidant, psychology student, and receptionist at his place of work. Of course, she got Collin the job. Her tender braiding of his hilariously permed hair is one of the most double-edged scenes of the film, and she constantly serves as his everignored voice of reason. Tisha Campbell-Martin’s cameo as Mama Liz is a welcome comedic respite, one of many strewn throughout the narrative, and Margo Hall’s performance as his stoic but disappointed mother is a amazingly three-dimensional characterisation for a relatively short appearance. Their roles inject a necessary, stable backdrop into the narrative to the farce that is Collin and
“Ultimately, it is Diggs’ stage co-star from Hamilton, Jasmine Cephas Jones, who stands out as Ashley”
Miles’ friendship. Ultimately, it is Diggs’ stage co-star from Hamilton, Jasmine Cephas Jones, who stands out as Ashley, Miles’ partner and babymama. Her metamorphosis between the roles of doting, down-to-earth wife and friend, and fiercely protective mother, is seamless and entirely human. One especially harrowing moment comes when their preschooler son discovers Miles’ newly acquired handgun, and Miles poignantly holds it against his own baby’s soft chin. Jones’ acting is fierce, showing the multifacetedness of a loyal wife and animal motherly instinct. Blindspotting has been likened to Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing (1989), but its climactic gut-punch comes, not in one moment, but in a series of hold-yourbreath, flinch inducing, stomach churning interactions that serve to show the true devastation of police brutality, gun violence, and racism. Much like another Lee film, Chi-Raq (2015), rap and freestyle rhyme are used to initially demonstrate the culture and music scene of the men’s surroundings, and later, as Collin explains, to punch home points with ‘pretty’ language. Do The Right Thing is my favourite film of all time. The comparisons set this film unattainable heights of expectation as far as I was concerned. Yet, Blindspotting is stunning, shocking, and spellbinding in equal measure, delivering in full force and earning a spot in the upper echelons of my film appreciation archives. Much like my darling Mookie, it is necessary, and unavoidable, to ask yourself after its finale whether or not Collin truly does the right thing.
Night School needs an education in exposition The original jokes dry up quickly in this Kevin Hart comedy Felicity Gardner 2nd Year Physics
IMDb / Universal Pictures
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ight School follows Teddy (Kevin Hart) as he gets a promotion, proposes to his girlfriend and as that all falls apart when the Barbeque shop he owns explodes, with him inside. His friend offers him a job as a financial advisor but to get it Teddy must first pass his General Education Diploma (GED). To do this, he goes to night school while telling his fiancé that he is already working as a financial advisor. There, he meets a group of oddballs and - together with the help of their take-no-bullshit teacher, Carrie (Tiffany Haddish) - they try and get their GEDs to improve their lives. The film starts well, the first few scenes having a couple of good laughs in each of them, but as the film goes on the laughs became fewer and more forced. Since the film goes on for so long, running at just under two hours, this becomes more of a problem and the last half is tiring to watch.
The film could have been shortened without losing any of the jokes by cutting out some of the irrelevant plot lines. The film is at its best when focused on Hart and Haddish, both playing well against each other, even when arguing purely by throwing sarcastic compliments at each other. It is particularly enjoyable when they make fun of classic Kevin Hart-isms, such as his height and high-pitched voice. Haddish especially manages to make the dull script
funny by bringing her own inimitable style to it. Ben Schwartz, of Parks and Recreation (2009-2015) fame, also gives an enjoyable performance, hitting the right comedic notes as Teddy’s closest friend. Problems with the movie arise when Teddy’s night school classmates, who are introduced as their comedic stereotypes, are not established well. Jokes based on their supposedly set up characteristics fall flat and it takes longer to realise something is
“The film is at its best when focused on Hart and Haddish, both playing well against each other”
supposed to be a running joke - especially when you don’t realise it’s a joke at all. We are led to believe the night school class bonded together, despite seeing little evidence of it. Any moment that is supposed to be sweet between the group is quickly ruined by a - usually not funny - joke. Not only does the comedy fall short, but the music also detracts from the eagerly anticipated, fast paced exchanges between Carrie (Haddish) and Teddy (Hart). The film could have been half-decent if the script contained more original jokes. Unfortunately, the script seems to have been written by someone who presumed none of the audience has seen any average sitcom, opting for jokes which are stale and dull. Overall the concept of the movie would work better as a TV series with many plot lines being separate and not overarching or adding to the overall movie. In a series, more time could be spent on characterisations and the sparseness of the jokes would be more forgivable. The movie is less slapstick than the trailer advertises and Tiffany Haddish features less than expected. The first half is what you want and expect from a Kevin Hart comedy film, but it stalls midway through and ends up being an underwhelming experience.
Arts
epigram 22.10.2018
Editor: Alina Young Online Editor: Avital Carno Deputy Editors: Anna Trafford & Gabi Spiro
@epigramarts @epigramarts
Warm up with some Autumnal poetry Don your scarf, make a hot chocolate, and sit by the fire (in your student house), before tucking in to these autumnal poems
Epigram / Jenny Benson
Rusted
After all, it is now with sweet beginnings gone that the pavement, coated with decay gives off its earthy hum Our laughs and footsteps make their way towards an orange streetlamp, slowly coming undone It is now, after all under a half-soiled moon that the evening stands before you and dares you to look back too soon We sprinkle jokes across the floor like leaves and we do not say ‘Do we dare?’ Instead you sing a Leonard Cohen song with a can in your leather-gloved hand and grease your hair But of course you turn around a silhouette in lamplight Your Famous Blue Raincoat sways about And dusk is sordid Everything we say is echoed by this light and we are rusted. - Claudia Valliamy, First Year Philosophy
A collection of short poems written collaboratively by the Poetry and Creative Writing Society The dusk is sordid. Leaves fill the ground with decay in orange lamplight. Wet footsteps fill the half light
Inside out brolly collecting the rain I don’t know who to blame The swirls of wind matching thought in my brain Above reflects a numbness of pain Battered and tired we retreat to a still lane
Skin wet, dashed by rain and sweat My pores burnt with rank weather I labour daily against this Another foul week concludes
Sewer overflow river of clean rainwater streaming down the hill Filling the holes in the ground Where the humans leave their mark
Stormy day, winds blow The sky sullen and shouty My umbrella broke The rain whispers me to go But I’m fixed by the autumn
Men search terrains There, beasts roar, howl and growl But men adapt well They become part of the land Faces shifted to monsters
Your sins stain the ground Rain is washing away chalk You bid them farewell A tearful goodbye, but still They probably won’t be long
The leaves are bleeding Weeping ink on to the road Summer down the drain The ink paints a new picture Summer weeps but Autumn smiles
Poems with that Autumn feeling ‘The Long Road’
‘Blackbird’
Patti Smith
The Beatles
‘We possessed a new radiance. Dew dropped from our noses. We boasted shining skin, shedding it without a sigh. Some raised their lanterns.’
‘Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly All your life You were only waiting for this moment to arise’
These lines from Patti Smith’s poem, taken from her collection Augries of Innocence, suggest a sense of new beginning and anticipation. The hazy, glowy imagery reminds me of the dewy stillness of early autumnal mornings, silent and yet perhaps waiting in expectation of the day to arrive. The collective pronouns seem to imply some kind of cosmic harmony, which I believe is manifested in the months of Autumn, as the world collectively shifts into a cacophony of seasonal reincarnation, the elements metaphorically walking in a light of their own as they continue onward through this annual paradigm shift. - Bryony Chellew, Third Year English
This is one of my favourite songs at the minute. The tune is really simple and the lyrics thoughtful. I can imagine the birdsong at the end belonging to a pale autumn morning. Autumn is a mixed season, as it brings about the decline of nature, and therefore is related to death. But life goes in circles; if Autumn is a time of change, it can be healthy change. The broken wings of the bird evoke a sense of current defeat or helplessness in ‘the dead of night’, but the lyrics reach toward the refrain ‘You were only waiting for this moment to arise’, which instils a lovely sense of regeneration. - Esther Bancroft, Third Year English
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The Banksy stunt: what’s the value of it? In light of the Banksy shredding, Arts Editor Alina Young discusses his motives and its implications for the art market Alina Young Arts Editor
“Was it a sincere protest or a genius PR stunt? Most likely, it’s somewhere in-between and perhaps it doesn’t even matter”
Epigram / Katy Hubbuck
matter. You only need to look at the comment thread for Banksy’s video to see the stunt has been characteristically controversial, leaving some delighted and others believing that the destruction was a shame. ‘Girl with Balloon’ was voted in 2017 as the nation’s favourite artwork, beating off the likes of Turner, Constable, Gormley, Hockney and Moore. It’s an image that teeters ambiguously between hope and heartbreak, as a child reaches for the heartshaped balloon. While it emotionally speaks to the public and is a nationally-recognised image, the new work has sparked something in our imaginations. The year when ‘Girl with Balloon’ went to auction, and was subsequently destroyed, feels oddly apt. In now titling the work ‘Love is in the Bin’, it feels like Banksy is not only tying it to the concept of rubbish, but throwing its feeling of hope into the trash. On 13 October, The Guardian published an article titled ‘Like Banksy’s artwork, the United Kingdom is shredding itself in public’; written by Ian Jack, who uses the work as a metaphor for discussing Brexit. There’s a sense of timeliness, which though unintentional, the public can relate to. The nation’s favourite artwork may no longer exist, but ‘Love is in the Bin’ is much more valuable. For the questions it provokes and its Dada-like attitude, the BBC’s Arts Editor Will Gompertz commented how ‘It will come to be seen as one of the
most significant artworks of the early 21st Century’. What seems to be missing from interpretations of ‘Love is in the Bin’, however, is that the work is not limited to just the shredded painting. ‘Love is in the Bin’ is a joke, a work of performance art, of conceptual art. It’s not the painting exhibited over the weekend at Sotheby’s; it’s our reaction to it. The look on the faces in the auction room, the media frenzy, the Facebook shares, the viral video, the woman still paying over £1m for it, the hordes waiting to see rubbish. The caption that Banksy provided for his video, which has 12,553,488 views as of Monday 15 October, quotes Picasso: ‘The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.’ Banksy destroyed so that he could create something which is worth more for its ability to make a statement for art in our time, and to force us to consider within which marketplaces – the auction room, the media – art exists. Yet, there’s no need to get philosophical about it. While ‘Love is in the Bin’ (2018) lives up to the complexity behind Banksy’s body of work, it speaks to something beautifully accessible. He’s given us not just a historical moment, but an anecdote about art to discuss over a beer or by your office coffee machine. He proved that contemporary art still has the power to surprise.
The Happy Place: feel-good art Welcome to our new feature, where we highlight the arty
Anna Trafford Deputy Arts Editor
First up is the podcast that inspired this section: Happy Place. Fearne Cotton hosts this delightful little series, where she interviews a different person every week about feeling blue and learning to find joy in the every day. Previous guests include Matt Haig talking about the power of articulating your feelings, Dawn French on the beauty of having some quiet time
and Paloma Faith on guilty pleasures. These open and honest conversations turn up a lot of gems, but my favourite insight comes from Desert Island Discs presenter, Kirsty Young. She says: ‘When a friend, a good, true friend, who knows you, who you trust, tells you something, really take time to listen to them because the chances are it will be incredibly good advice’.
Have you experienced something arty that’s made you smile recently? Share the books/ podcasts/ poems/ speeches/ art with us our Epigram Arts Writers’ page in time for next fortnight’s issue.
things that have made us smile this
Unsplash / Icons8 team
The hammer falls. Banksy’s ‘Girl with Balloon’ is sold to an anonymous bidder, who will pay in excess of £1m – more than quadruple the estimated price – for the stencil print. It’s the final lot of Sotheby’s esteemed Contemporary Art Evening sale and the heavy-weights of the art market are shifting to leave. A soft alarm sounds. A buzz is heard. ‘Girl with Balloon’ drops through its frame, and shreds itself. You’d be hard pressed to write a more perfect story into art history: high drama, big money, absurd events, and best of all, a two-fingers up to the establishment. So characteristically Banksy, the stunt encapsulates the flavour of his political humour in its boldness, wry taste and sharp perception. It combines, like much of his work, a striking, simple visual with a punchy message. And the messages he deals are intended to be understood by the masses, not just snobbish critics or savvy dealers. How deliciously simple this one is: ‘Going, going, gone.’ Watch the money rip. The dazzling confusion of the event prompted a myriad of questions from the media. What shredded it? Would the buyer go through with the sale? How did Sotheby’s security not pick up on it? Was Sotheby’s even in on the stunt? And, above all, was the work now worth less, or more? The first question was answered within 24 hours, on the 6 October, by Banksy himself. He posted an Instagram video revealing how he embedded a shredder into the frame of the 2006 work. It was revealed by Sotheby’s that Banksy had stressed the frame was a crucial part of ‘Girl with Balloon’, and they naturally obliged the artist and publicised the frame prior to the sale as ‘an integral element of the artwork chosen by Banksy himself.’ The video captions how he created the shredder ‘in case it was ever put up for auction.’ It’s a provocative statement against the private sale of art: fundamentally, even if you believe in the legitimacy of financially valuing artworks, owning art is mostly limited to the elite. Private ownership, by definition, takes the work away from the public. It’s not hard to see Banksy’s moral opposition. After all, he’s a street artist – the essence of his medium encourages mass engagement, and charges nothing. It’s an art form so public that it relies on no institution whatsoever. You don’t have to be an art lover who devotedly treks to galleries to appreciate his work as it’s on your way to the office, it’s opposite the bus stop. Despite his principled motivations, however, it’s undeniable that there are many benefits of auction sales for contemporary artists. Reaching a new record sale price for an artist, as this one did for Banksy, helps grow their reputation and allows them greater financial security when producing future works. Their work is granted a stage: it’s exhibited before the show, and while it may not be in the permanent collection of a gallery, it now has a definitive provenance
which allows galleries to request to exhibit it. Even for those artists who don’t care for the art market, perhaps on a personal level, they are glad that someone loves and believes in their work enough that they are willing to delve deep into their wallets for it. There’s a dark, brilliant irony to this infamous act of destruction. It’s now supposedly worth nothing as ‘Girl with Balloon’ has been shredded, torn into rubbish. But of course, that’s not the case at all, and Banksy knows it. In trying to provoke the art market, he fanned the media storm. He created a viral story, and now the work is not only famous as a cult image but as an important artistic and cultural moment. After the sale, two crucial announcements were made. The first, that the anonymous European woman who bought the work will go through with the sale, at the full price of £1,042,00. She recognised it as an opportunity to ‘end up with [her] own piece of art history.’ Can you own art history? It seems to be so. She owns more now than she bid for, and Sotheby’s has escaped a potentially tricky situation, the likes of which has never been heard before. The second critical moment came when ‘Girl with Balloon’ was authenticated by Pest Control, Banksy’s authentication body, as a new work: ‘Love is in the Bin’. Now, Sotheby’s can rightly claim that it is ‘the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction’, as Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art, Europe, commented. Sotheby’s exhibited the newly-born ‘Love is in the Bin’ specially across the weekend 13-14 October, with a shiny new title and hordes of visitors whose queue spilled out onto the street. Try the hashtag #loveisinthebin on Instagram, and you’ll see hundreds of photos showing people posing with it and encircling it with a wall of iPhones. If the auction is a stage, Banksy made full use of it. You don’t have to like him to see that his brand as a master of antiestablishment jokes has grown, and reputation is the best currency with which a contemporary artist can trade. He has undoubtedly benefited from the auction: his name is at the top of the headlines, he has caught the public’s attention anew, and his work will be valued higher – whether he’s morally against it or not – next time the auction comes around. How much higher is left to be seen, but it’s certain that the stunt has left a healthy monetary legacy. Considering this, the public is left questioning: was it a sincere protest or a genius PR stunt? Most likely, it’s somewhere in-between and perhaps it doesn’t even
22.10.2018 epigram
Arts
The Loovre - taking the piss? Epigram Arts Online Editor reviews new ‘gallery’, where new age pretentiousness becomes the butt of the joke Avital Carno Arts Online Editor
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Epigram / Avital Carno
ccording to the Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft (PRSC) website, on the 27th September, we could expect ‘the grand opening of Bristol’s newest and most exclusive art gallery’, revealing ‘an inspirational collection of original artworks situated in a stunning new art space’. The ‘distinctive gallery’, I read, would emphasise both the ‘originality’ of the works and ‘the character of their makers’. ‘Tell your friends!’, the website cheerily advised. Smugly, I told my friends. I even enlisted my Geography-studying, managementconsultancy-geared housemate to come along with me to ‘this really cool new
Epigram / Avital Carno
gallery thing’. When we arrived, PRSC’s The Space, a largeish room often used for exhibitions where I had expected the new gallery to be, was practically empty. A few people stood waiting in a cordoned off queue in front of a small door, which was guarded by a PRSC employee. When Gabi (Deputy Arts Editor), my housemate and I asked if we could go in as a three, we were told that only two people were allowed in at one time. How quirky, I thought. I wondered what immersive, artistic experience lay in store for us. When I asked how long the wait would be, the friendly woman standing at the door replied that there was a whole gallery for visitors to contemplate, so it could take some time. Eventually, two people slipped out from behind the closed door. Intrigued, I stepped forward into a toilet. Yes, you read that right - a toilet, a lavatory, a restroom, whatever you like to call it. I don’t mean some sort of artsy toilet, with a porcelain fixture in the middle of a gleaming black and white space; I mean a cramped, bog-standard (pardon the pun) toilet with a sink, a hand towel, (two!) rolls of toilet paper, a toilet brush next to some bleach and even a bin which, as my housemate noticed, hadn’t been emptied. Transcendent stuff, really. In all fairness, there was, at least, some art on the walls of ‘the Loovre’. (Good one, PRSC marketing team). I was too overwhelmed by the bizarre setting and the gradual realisation that the PRSC team were having a bit of a laugh at our expense (and maybe the artists’ too – the gallery website said that the space emphasised their ‘characters’) to look properly at the art, or take it seriously. In summary, however, artworks on display included a photograph of a urinal (so meta), a collage of the bearpit bear,
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“Eventually, two people slipped out from behind the closed door. Intrigued, I stepped forward into a toilet. Yes, you read that right”
some black and white photographs, and a few multi-media works in a sort of graffiti-style. On the lid of the toilet was a sticker with the words ‘Conservative Party Suggestions Box; leave us a message you think we’ll understand’ emblazoned on it. A nuanced political statement which felt perfectly at home within the sophisticated setting. Overall, would I recommend a trip to the Loovre? Definitely not, unless you really need to go (sorry). However, once the annoyance of a wasted walk to Stokes
Croft had worn off, I did see the funny side. I think that PRSC’s misleading advertising and deliberately underwhelming ‘gallery’ are an attempt to poke fun at the increasingly outlandish and occasionally ludicrous ways in which not only art galleries but restaurants, bars, shopping centres, theatres and cinemas attempt to engage and delight an increasingly jaded audience. Either that, or the Loovre is a just a publicity stunt, which this article is fuelling.
What’s on: the best events, exhibitions and shows of the fortnight Theatre
Get Involved / Art
Milk Poetry: New Bristol Voices Foyles Bookshop 26 October As part of the Bristol Literature Festival, Milk Poetry present a selection of the city’s brightest performance poets. Featuring Tom Sastry, Malaika Kegode, Tom Denbigh, Beth Calverley, Sam Grudgings and Rebecca Tantony.
Exhibition
Circus
Facebook / Milk Poetry
Spike Island
Instagram / Limerenceprods
No Show Tobacco Factory Theatre 24 October - 27 October TFT open their new studio theatre with this all-female contemporary circus show. No Show reveals what lies beneath the showmanship of circus performance - expect successes, failures, bruised bodies and egos as these women push themselves to their physical and mental limit.
Instagram / nhm_wpy
Literature
Strong Women: Stories of Women on the Move Arnos Vale Cemetery 26 October This event focuses on strong women on amazing journies. Author and comedian Becky Walsh interviews an all-female panel, including writer and explorer Jacki Hill-Murphy, biographer Jean Burnett, and writer and music artist Charmaine Lawrence.
Spoken Word
I Am Making Art: Moving Pictures Spike Island 27 October This free event involves creating assemblages based around Benoit Maire’s current exhibition Thebes. Visitors of all abilities are invited to try out new techniques and approaches to making art.
Tobacco Factory Theatres
Facebook / Arnos Vale Cemetery
Ginger Beer Wardrobe Theatre 23-25 October The Bristol graduate company Limerence Productions return to the Wardrobe with their 2017 Fringe success Ginger Beer. The play explores the difficulties of the gay male scene with vibrance, honesty and warmth. Think Gindr, chemsex parties and saunas.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 MShed 24 October - 24 Feburary From breathtaking animal portraits and dramatic landscapes to bizarre species, this exhibition showcases spectacular images of our natural world. This event is a staple part of the Bristol calendar and students go free on Wednesdays.
Music
Editor: Alexia Kirov Deputy: Joe Gorecki Online Editor: Bethany Marris
epigram 22.10.2018
Email: music@epigram.org.uk
Review/ Boy Azooga @ Thekla
Music Sub-Editor
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roovy baselines, Hawaiian shirts and a picture of the hilarious comedian, Paul Merton hanging from the keyboard. Boy Azooga certainly know how to have a good time, and it’s safe to say the bands headline show at Bristol’s Thekla was no exception. The band burst open proceedings with the infectious funk infused, ‘Taxi To Your Head’, off their 2018 debut album, 1,2, Kung Fu! Within a matter of seconds, sole songwriter, Davey Newington had invited the crowd to ‘boogie’. A call which did not fall on deaf ears, as the Bristol crowd were keen to head bop, foot tap and dance their way through the evening. An early outing for arguably the band’s biggest single, ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’ followed. The song’s hypnotic keyboard refrain pulsated throughout the audience, eventually culminating in a
crawling baseline that lead to an eruption of energy from the tightly packed crowd. Full of swagger and boundless joy, Boy Azooga represent a kind of indie rock music so infectious that you can’t help but dance to. Yet no indie rock band would be complete without a series of swirling bittersweet ballads, set to jangling guitar hooks. Luckily enough, Boy Azooga had these in abundance. Possibly their most radio friendly anthem, ‘Jerry’, had the entire audience in arms, singing along to its instantly catchy chorus. Another live hit entitled ‘Waitin’ also demonstrated Boy Azooga’s more contemplative side, as Newington’s gentle hushed voice met with rippling synths to a gorgeous and soothing effect. However, as soon as the audience had just about caught their breath and let their legs rest from continuous dancing, the band plunged back into their mammoth riffs and psychedelic funk jams. The band treated the Thekla crowd to a cover of a song by littleknown band The Table, which jolted back and forth, echoing the sound of fellow label mates, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Newington and Co. also took the opportunity to play a brand-new song, entitled ‘Go Out, Raise the Dead’, which perhaps gave an insight into the band’s awaited follow up, especially with its monolithic riffs and
Epigram / Guy Marcham
From funky riffs to ferocious garage rock: Boy Azooga lead a buzzing Welsh indie rock scene Guy Marcham
“Full of swagger and boundless joy...” distortion heavy style. The band wrapped up their gig with a rousing version of ‘Loner Boogie’, the song which first drew me to them. The pummelling garage rock song led to a rather raucous and chaotic finale, with a mosh pit bursting out and engulfing the entire Thekla dancefloor. The final ‘boogie’ of the night was definitely an energetic one.
On the track ‘Jerry’, Newington sings ‘Why does the song have to end?’ A question many in the audience asked themselves as the band quickly left the stage following their hour long set. Yet, with new songs already finding their way into the setlist, hopefully we won’t have to wait long for the boys return and for the songs to start over again.
Review/ Jorja Smith @ O2 Academy Bristol Jorja Smith proved how mainstream commercial success cannot taint raw talent Second Year, History
O
n Friday evening, Jorja Smith descended onto the stage of the O2 academy, for the second night of her tour, debuting the release of her first album Lost and Found. Smith’s performance went far beyond my expectations; her delivery was laid back and effortless, transcending that of her recorded voice on the album. Despite only being released in June of this year, Smith’s album includes tracks right back from the very start of her career, such as ‘Blue Lights’ and ‘Where Did I Go?’. They also happen to be the first songs of hers that I came across, both released some time into 2016. Yet, regardless of being written over a few years, this doesn’t compromise the sound of the album nor the unanimity of the tracks, This sentiment was certainly reflected in her live performance. Smith opened the show with the first track on the album, ‘Lost and Found’, in which its punchy chorus had everyone
Epigram / Francesca Frankis
Francesca Frankis
singing along. Her band smiled at her with a sense of admiration as she walked lengths up and down the stage; the saturated spotlight followed her around. A quick transition was made into ‘Teenage Fantasy’, a sort of nostalgic ballad, in which Smith’s face reflected the contemplative mood. Effortlessly, she was able to switch between more laid-back songs and loud heavy jazz influenced tracks such as, ‘Something In The Way’. Throughout, I could hear people around me anticipating which song would come next. The opening seconds of ‘Wandering Romance’ sent the crowd into a mini hysteria. As Smith smiled and danced along to her own music, displaying an expression of pure joy, she took the time to single out particular ly exuberant fans. She then flowed without hesitation into tracks such as ‘Lifeboats’ that illustrated her ability to freestyle, and ‘Where Did I Go?’ levelling out the set with it’s more gentle sound. Soon after, jazz band Ezra Collecitve came out on stage to join Smith. Their appearance is short but sweet; performing one track alongside Smith and her band, pumping excessive energy into the room. At moments throughout the night, but especially during this one track, the tone of Smith’s voice drives me to draw parallels with Amy Winehouse; at points I close my eyes and can imagine how similar a live Amy Winehouse during her ‘Frank’ days would have sounded. Smith openly takes inspiration from Winehouse,
“Jorgia’s perfomance was an example of how raw talent pays off...”
and this is clear in her live singing voice. She uses such influences to pay homage to the great artist she loves, yet mixes in her very own nuances. The set is brought to a close with the powerful track ‘Blue Lights’, which I believe was a true case of saving the best to last. Once the crowd roared for Smith’s final track, she quickly disappeared from the stage, only to reappear moments later for an encore. Finishing the night with the reflective tune of ‘Don’t Watch Me Cry’ and finally, the electric, chopped up track of ‘On My mind’, ending the set on a high. Smith blew kisses into the crowd and
revelled, rightly so, in the cheers from her audience, before exiting gracefully. Smith’s performance was an example of how raw talent pays off, her live voice exceeded my imagination and her presence was ethereal, and transfixed the entire venue. Her album delivers a clear message of the commitment and dedication to her craft. She left me somewhat in awe; at the humble age of 21 she has released a full-length record and is headlining her own tour. If she carries on in this fashion, there is no doubt in my mind that Jorja Smith will only continue her ascension to greatness.
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Music
epigram 22.10.2018
In conversation with Soccer Mommy Epigram / Kate Hutchison
Though Sophie’s life initially seems quite different to most students, she’s actually been through many similar struggles Kate Hutchison Deputy Online Editor
O
ne year ago, I interviewed a certain alt-girl group from Walla Walla for Epigram. I pushed conversation for thirteen minutes. In some ways, it felt like a lifetime. So, when I was allocated fifteen minutes with Sophie Allison (aka Soccer Mommy) I felt quietly confident. I’d ask everything I’d need to, from an individual I’d have no personal connection with, and leave with pretty bog-standard material. What I’ve learned? Don’t assume anything about interviewees - especially not about Sophie Allison. At the end of August, Sophie released a cover of Springsteen’s ‘I’m on Fire’, a tune which she’s played relentlessly on tour the past year. Trading the racing beat of Springsteen, Sophie adopts a personal take on pace, melody and within that - meaning. It forges something wildly different to the original, saturated in her increasingly trademark tone; reflective, soothing and troubled at times. ‘I’ve loved that song since I was a kid. That song specifically, especially in high school, was one that I’d always listen to - especially when I was going through my first relationship which I knew was ending. It was always an emotional song for me. It was a song about longing.’ Despite her first DIY release – For Young Hearts - hitting Bandcamp in 2016, Sophie has since released two more records: Collection and Clean. If you haven’t heard already, Clean is one of 2018’s most revered lo-fi, indie rock albums. Arguably her breakout record; this vulnerable and gritty composition is received widely as it was originally intended: a coming-of-age record deriving its lyrical emotion from Sophie’s personal experience; past relationships, longing, and frustrations. Exploring moments up to and including her time at New York University, the record gains its inspiration from life familiar to most 21-year-olds; study, change and confusion. But now? Sophie’s life doesn’t
“It’s great to get back to people who - not don’t care about your music - but that’s not why they know you and like you.”
seem so familiar; she’s touring the globe and had her previous life completely ‘uprooted:’ ‘My every day is totally different now. But I think the big things in my life aren’t different, and the new lifestyle brings inspiration and feeling, like missing home and friends in a way that I’ve never felt before. I don’t think the songwriting will change too much, but they’ll be new inspiration to it.’ Take ‘Your Dog’: essentially a breakup record, this biting tribute remembers a paralysing relationship meeting its inevitable end. It’s symptomatic of the heartache informing the overarching, clouded sensibility of Clean; pushing her success to these scary new heights. Expanding on different inspirations, Sophie talks with a throbbing sincerity about the difficulty life on the road posits: ‘Travelling is really hard. Even a year ago, it was even harder: I wasn’t making any money, sleeping on floors, touring all the time, eating shit food. It can be bad - you can’t see a psychiatrist if you need one. Healthcare can be difficult. You can’t have privacy - you can’t have a lot of things you might be used to.’ Our conversation moves to coping mechanisms. Besides the support she receives from fellow musicians – including alt heavyweights like Snail Mail and Phoebe Bridgers - Sophie describes time spent with hometown and college friends. Now, it’s no secret her new life hasn’t forgotten these people; Twitter is filled with tributes to them. But now I can understand why. Though admitting their lives reflect a complete contrast to her own, these friendships relieve the Soccer Mommy persona - helping Sophie to live out normality again. It’s a therapy,
almost: ‘Getting to spend time with both groups makes you feel like a normal person again. Because sometimes you don’t get to feel like a normal person. It feels like you’re being treated as your image - or whatever. It’s always great to get back to people who – not don’t care about your music – but that’s not why they know and like you.’ On Twitter, Sophie talks candidly about her life. Just days before we meet, she tweeted about her struggle with Body Dysmorphia – a psychological condition whereby a person obsessively focuses on envisioned bodily flaws. I ask whether she feels comfortable expanding on the subject. Sophie kindly agrees: ‘It’s hard. I think a lot of people struggle with it. It’s not an issue of low self-esteem necessarily. There are certain parts of you which you see as wrong, and you can’t unsee it. It’s like a morphed image, really. It’s hard day to day - especially on the road. You don’t have time to make yourself feel comfortable. It can affect your mood totally and can pick away at your sanity. It’s not something that’s easy to get rid of, especially when you don’t have time to do therapy for it.’ I ask how she copes with these feelings while touring, but Sophie doesn’t really have an answer. Not in a confrontational way - she’s just genuinely unsure and seems exhausted by it. She sighs: ‘I don’t know, you know. Sometimes you just trudge through it. It’s a subconscious, obsessive thing that you can’t really help. It’s a thought in your head which won’t go away. So yeah, I’m still figuring out how to deal with it, really.’ I thank Sophie for talking so openly about
her experiences. We move to discuss the ups and downs she felt while studying - before taking Soccer Mommy fulltime. Previously, she’s spoken of issues affecting lots of students when moving to university. In light of this, I ask her to give some Freshers’ advice: ‘You meet new people pretty quickly usually, but often, you meet people who you get along with but don’t really connect with. It takes a while to find your core group of people – even sometimes like a year. But it’s a growing experience. You spend a lot of time alone. While you’re trying to find the people who are more like you, you have to realise the kinds of stuff you’re interested to realise what you’re looking for in a friendship. And long-distance relationships? Sophie describes it as a difficult balancing act but resolves; ‘If it’s gonna work it’s gonna work. In the end, if you want to make it work you will. If you don’t, then you’ll be fine. You just need a couple months.’ We fast approach the end of my fifteen-minute slot. I’m amazed at how quickly the interview has gone, and slightly annoyed at myself. I didn’t get a chance to ask whether she had new material in the works (which, it turns out – she did) or her plans more generally. Despite this, Sophie’s honesty taught me something a little deeper than the usual insights retrievable from a fifteen-minute interview with a musician – never mind a complete stranger. Sophie got a record deal halfway through her second year - a reality pretty inconceivable for even the most creative of students. She broke into the industry ahead of many and bagged herself incredible recognition alongside. Despite these rare and distant circumstances, she’s experienced phenomena familiar to most of us. She found the move to university difficult, felt home comforts torn away and experienced a turbulent long-distance relationship. She’s also struggled with mental health and become one of many young people widening the conversation around it. But most importantly, she’s utilised her sound as a creative medium to channel – and combat – all of it. Surely, that’s something we can all forge a personal connection with.
Review / Black Peaks: All That Divides Matt Alderton Second Year, Physics
F
Epigram / Matt Alderton
or the uninitiated, Black Peaks are a four-piece progressive rock band hailing from Brighton and are currently hot stuff on the U.K rock circuit. Friday 5th October saw the band’s fourth album, All That Divides, released through Rise Records. Anticipation has been high following the release of three preceding singles; ‘Can’t Sleep’, ‘Home’ and ‘Electric Fires’. Much of the record is heavy-hitting melodic rock with math rock influences and lives up to the hype. Opening track and lead single ‘Can’t Sleep’ is an immediate standout, intermittently chopping between vocalist Will Gardner’s
clean vocals and harsher screams through the verses before Gardner laments his inability to eat, sleep, think or breathe in the anthemic choruses. Whilst Gardner’s vocal performances throughout the album are the highlight of the record, many of the album’s nine (lengthy) tracks feature extended atmospheric instrumental breaks. In some cases they overstretch some of the tracks yet they are a prime moment for some glitzy guitar work and some more varied rhythmic experimentation, particularly on midway mark ‘Aether’. ‘Across the Great Divide’ brings in the latter (and more varied) half of the album through opening with a Jeff Buckley Graceesque riff before the band descends into a darker atmosphere, fuelled through quiet vs loud playoff. Further highlight tracks ‘Eternal Light’ and ‘Fate I & II’ close the album.
The former is a frantic hard rock number with a driving, distorted bassline from Dave Larkin, keeping things heavy. Meanwhile, the latter track is a monster, clocking in at just under seven minutes. ‘Fate I & II’ displays everything brilliant about the band with imaginative riffs, tight-knit rhythmic backing and exquisite alternation of Gardner’s varying vocal techniques, including a brilliant outing of his surprisingly delicate falsetto. All said and done, All That Divides isn’t breaking any boundaries, but it certainly doesn’t need to. For lovers of the hard rock and math rock scenes, this certainly feels like the standout release of the year. If you only have 10 minutes to listen to the album, check out: ‘Can’t Sleep’, ‘Across The Great Divide’ and ‘Fate I & II’. All That Divides is out now.
Music
22.10.2018 epigram
43
Epigram’s Guide to Bristol’s Record Shops The vinyl revival is in full swing in Bristol and here’s our guide to the city’s best crate-digging spots Friendly Records
Alexia Kirov, Music Editor
Rough Trade Bristol Nestled in the heart of Bristol’s bustling centre, Rough Trade is an accessible hub for music geeks, book fiends and cafe connoisseurs alike. Glossy, sardine-packed records smothered by cellophane sleeves line the industrial shelves of the store’s immediate layout. From Solange Knowles to Led Zep to Snoop Dogg, Rough Trade offer a generous choice of genres and artists, old and new, catering for all musical preferences in excess. Entering cafe-side, or simply moseying through the aisles you’ll encounter tables stacked with coffee-table worthy literature. Quality background music, warm-mannered staff and like-minded customers shuffling around cultivates an environment in which it’s easy to lose yourself flicking between pages and browsing labels. Rough Trade are an established brand, and rightly boast
Epigram / Lauren Paddison
Little over two years since North Street’s Friendly Records opened its doors, it has already become a favourite spot for many a Bristol music fan. The shop stocks both new and used vinyl, and also carries some CD and cassette releases. The love and dedication of namesake and owner, Tom Friend is clear: the shop is beautifully set up and its atmosphere is - as the name suggests - very friendly. Whilst April’s annual Record Store Day has faced criticism in recent years for having lost its soul and having become more about big label reissues, its spirit is alive and well in the Bedminster shop. This year, Friendly Records marked the occasion with a ‘Record Store Weekender’, featuring a lineup including a live performance from Snails and a DJ set from local legend Big Jeff
that their stores provide ‘a shared place of discovery and congregation’. Enjoying a drink at the cafe-bar and attending a postopening hours gig are perhaps the best ways to exploit this sentiment. Despite being less than a year old, the store has seen a wealth or artists pass through their doors, and are continuing to welcome bands such as Eliza and The Bear and Frankie Stew and Harvey Gunn in the upcoming weeks. Provided by a company loaded with history and valuable industry experience, Rough Trade Bristol qualifies more as a destination than a record shop.
Bethany Marris, Online Music Editor
The Centre For Better Grooves The mission of the Centre for Better Grooves is pretty simple: stocking a great selection of vinyl including some of the finest jazz, soul and funk records out there. But the strict genre of the record isn’t as important as whether it’s got the ‘groove’ and the shop definitely has. Owner, Gordon Montgomery, is a real veteran of the UK record shop scene having founded chain Fopp (now owned by HMV) and been a director of Rise (whose Triangle store became Rough Trade Bristol). With the Centre for Better Grooves, however, you get the impression that Montogomery has given up the chain record shop life and is now much more interested in providing a small but personal experience for his customers, with his curation at the fore. Now based within Gloucester Road’s Paul Roberts Hi-Fi, the shop’s small size is more than apparent. The Centre for Better Grooves definitely proves that you don’t need mountains and mountains of stacked vinyl to be an excellent shop and it definitely is.
musical. The window is filled with various gadgets including a display of guitar pedals: a perfect way for any developing musician to evolve their sound without bearing the brunt of branded prices. The exchanges offered by PK also make it easier for musicians to build the rig they want. The insides are lined with PA systems with various instruments hanging from the walls, circling an impressive row of vinyl in the middle. Their record collection is massive, and something to be admired as I was met by a sea of vinyl on a recent visit to the store. The collection encompasses all manners of tastes and genres, from The Beatles to Beethoven. The collection even spills over into an added upstairs room. A ‘must visit’ for anyone looking to buy or exchange in the music trade.
Lauren Paddison, First Year, Music
Joe Gorecki, Deputy Music Editor
Idle Hands
PK Music Exchange PK Music Exchange, neatly slotted into the array of shops which make up Gloucester Road, advertises sell or trade of instruments, equipment and all things
Josh Vincent Third Year, English
Epigram / Alexia Kirov
Epigram / Bethany Marris
“Idle Hands acts as a communal hub: it is the place where stalwarts of the Bristol scene come to do their digging, and it maintains an incredibly un-pretentious, welcoming feel.”
Idle Hands began life as a record label started by Rooted Records employee Chris Farrell, and Punch Drunk owner and Bristol underground legend Peverelist. Following Rooted’s tragic closure in 2011, Farrell decided to expand the label into a store, in a bid to ensure that there would be an institution representative of Bristol’s forward-thinking dance music scene once again. In the years since, Idle Hands has established itself as the centre of Bristol’s underground electronic music scene, and an internationally recognised champion of boundary-pushing dance music. Overseen by the watchful eye of Chris Farrell, the diversity of records on offer is reflective of the label’s highly impressive back catalogue: grime, drum and bass and heavy-lidded techno happily sit alongside dubbed out house and serene ambient cuts. However, although it has primarily built its reputation as a dance music specialist, the store caters for broader tastes. The store is also a treasure trove of forgotten dub 7’’s and dewy-eyed northern soul, and it features a “Bristol Music” section stocking presses of essential classics from the South West: seminal records from the likes of Smith & Mighty, Portishead, and Massive Attack feature in abundance amongst the shelves.
The store acts as a communal hub: it is the place where stalwarts of the Bristol scene come to do their digging, and it maintains an incredibly unpretentious, welcoming feel. This is due in no small part to the kindly attitudes of Chris Farrell and his staff: Farrell has just as much a knack for picking great people as he does for picking great records. Former employees include Shanti Celeste, Kowton and WILF, whilst current employees Sam Hall, Yewande Adeniran (Ifeoluwa) and Sam Burke (Burke) are highly respected DJs, label owners and events curators in their own right. With so much collective expertise behind the counter, each trip becomes an opportunity to broaden one’s musical horizons: it is rare to walk away from the store without discovering something new. The store is also the site of frequent instore sessions, with the likes of Machine Woman, Giant Swan, and Bruce all featuring in recent months. Come to these with an open mind and your preferred tinny of choice: you won’t be disappointed.
Puzzles
epigram
Editor: Ruby Rosenthal
22.10.2018
puzzles@epigram.org.uk If you need any help, contact the editor by email or through social media
Crossword x Blockbusters
Word ladder
Can you get from top to bottom, changing only one letter from one rung to the next?
Across 5. What ‘F’ do you add to thirty-three to get forty-seven? (8) 9. What ‘J’ is the profession of collecting and writing news? (10) 10. What ‘M’ is the characteristic of being unassuming of your own abilities? (6) 13. What ‘C’ was Prime Minister in 1978? (9) 15. What ‘K’ are small decorative objects/bits and bobs? (5. 5) 16. What ‘I’ is a holy statue or picture? (4) 18. What ‘H’ is a musical instrument with bellows worked by the feet? (9) 19. What ‘M’ is the opposite of maximum? (7) 21. What ‘A’ is when you are physically and mentally dependent on something? (8) 23. What ‘N’ is a word for when something has no meaning? (8) 25. What ‘V’ is a female fox? (5) 26. What ‘S’ is another word for situation? (8)
Down 1. What ‘C’ is the vessel in which butter is made? (5) 2. What ‘B’ is a male pig? (4) 3. What ‘R’ is another name for a carousel or merry-go-round? (10) 4. What ‘L’ is another word for an attic? (4) 6. What ‘D’ was Britain’s first Jewish Prime Minister? (8) 7. What ‘M’ is the class of animals humans are in? (6) 8. What ‘P’ is a synonym for many coloured? (10) 11. What ‘E’ is the age at which you can vote in the UK? (8) 12. What ‘A’ is the flying or operating of an aircraft? (8) 14. What ‘N’ is the word for being famous or well-known typically for a bad quality? (9) 17. What ‘G’ is the inclination of a slope? (8) 20. What ‘T’ is another word for lukewarm? (5) 22. What ‘O’ is one of the competing teams in the University Boat Race? (6) 24. What ‘S’ is a secret agent? (3)
BEAR
LIVE
PAGE
BULL
MILK
RENT
Quiz
Do you know your thinking style? Find out with these three questions...
Sudoku Fill the empty squares with numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and 3x3 box.
If you got two or more correct: You have an analytic thinking style. You stop and think before figuring out the answer. People with this thinking style are more likely to attend a top university, less likely to cheat on tests or be religious, and more likely to be male (men and women get on average 1.5 and 1.0 answers correct respectively). If you got 0 or 1 correct: Oh dear, did you fall for the “obvious” trick answers of a) 10p, b) 100 minutes and c) 15 days? If so, you have an intuitive thinking style: you give the answer that just feels right. You have a tendency to let your heart rule your head. You are probably also an impatient person.
(Taken from The Guardian 11.10.2015)
Mindfulness Colouring 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 22.10.2018
Bold Southgate right to opt for youth The England boss deserves yet more praise for promoting the talents of Sancho and Mount Luke Sansom Fourth Year, Politics & French
Flickr/ Ben Sutherland
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or the Nations League clashes against World Cup finalists, Croatia, and Spain, Gareth Southgate named a youthful England squad, including some surprise names. Among six uncapped players, teenagers Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount stand out as Southgate’s boldest selections. Sancho, 18, becomes the first player born in the 21st century to be selected for the senior team, and has excelled in a remarkable start to the season at Borussia Dortmund, chalking up six assists in all competitions prior to his call-up. Providing an assist every 25 minutes in the Bundesliga this season, Sancho’s tally is the highest in the top six European leagues, and the former Manchester City winger undoubtedly merits selection. On loan at Frank Lampard’s Derby County from Chelsea, Mount has also enjoyed a fine start to the season, showcasing his superb passing range in a memorable Carabao Cup victory at Old Trafford. Players plying their trade in the Championship are rarely called up to the senior squad, but Southgate is clearly impressed with the performances and the potential Mount possesses. Leicester City’s £20 million summer signing James Maddison’s terrific start to the
Premier League campaign has earned him a call-up to the Three Lions squad. Registering three goals in eight appearances before the international break, attacking midfielder Maddison has been outstanding. Brighton defender Lewis Dunk, Watford midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah and Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli are also included and make up the rest of England’s uncapped inclusions. Despite the positivity surrounding Southgate’s exciting and youthful squad, the argument levelled against the Three Lions is that its midfield looks weak. It was the midfield that came unstuck in the heart-breaking defeat against Croatia in Russia. England simply do not possess any midfielders who can rival the ability of players such as Modric and Rakitic. Injuries to Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli, Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Adam Lallana have certainly opened up opportunities for a newlook midfield to impress. Mount and Maddison have begun the season in superb fashion but are both unproven at international level. Both Nathaniel Chalobah and Harry Winks are returning from long-term injury and have one England cap between them. The former has had very limited playing time in the lead-up to the Nations League fixtures and is perhaps surprisingly included over teammate Will Hughes, who has impressed so far for The Hornets. Ross Barkley has not featured for his country in over two years but has put in some good performances under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea. Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson are long-term features of
“He has rewarded players who have flourished in the early part of the season as well as young, promising talents who have previously excelled”
the squad, but have not proved themselves to be the creative, dominant centre-midfielders that England so badly need. Ultimately, England fans and manager Southgate are aware that the current midfield options simply cannot compare to the era when Lampard, Gerrard, Scholes and Beckham spoiled us for choice. However fans and spectators should be encouraged by Southgate’s picks. He has rewarded players who have flourished in the early part of the season as well as young, promising talents who have previously excelled. Two competitive matches against world-class opponents grant these players to prove their worth to the manager and earn a regular
place in the England set-up. Another positive is Southgate’s tendency to reward players in fine form, whether or not they play for one of the so-called ‘Big 6’. The inclusion of the likes of Dunk, Chilwell, Maddison, Mount and Chalobah will offer encouragement to both Championship players as well as those at smaller Premier League clubs. Questions marks will linger as to whether many of these players are good enough to take England to the next level, but Southgate should be trusted and praised for his bold selections and the faith he continues to show faith in youth. The future looks bright for England with Gareth as gaffer.
Ronaldo and his reputation in hot water As Ronaldo’s career enters its closing stages, will his legacy be derailed by this damning accusation?
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s of recent, the sporting world has been clouded by serious allegations from 34-year-old ex-teacher Katherine Mayorga, who claims Juventus frontman Ronaldo raped her when she was working at Rain Nightclub in Palms Hotel and Casino back in 2009. German publication Der Spiegel spearheaded these accusations with a piece containing a chilling account by Mayorga, opening up publicly for the first time since the incident occurred during Ronaldo’s Manchester days. Allegedly Ronaldo’s entourage danced with Mayorga and a friend before deciding to continue partying at the Portuguese forward’s extravagant penthouse apartment in Las Vegas. When Mayorga arrived, she says a jacuzzi awaited. Reluctant, but wanting to give her friend a good time during her short stay in the city, she accepted Ronaldo’s invitation to wear a swimming outfit he offered her, as she had none of her own. What ensued has the potential to destroy Ronaldo’s legacy. Mayorga explains her story in detail, claiming that Ronaldo walked in on her whilst she wore only her underwear and revealed himself to her before bluntly asking if she would touch his penis. Mayorga says she rejected his appeals, kissing him in the belief that it would ward him off. According to Mayorga though,
Flickr/ Ludovic Peron
David Thirkeld Third Year, History
Ronaldo was insistent and pulled her into his room, which was attached to the bathroom, proceeding to anally penetrate her against her cries of ‘no, no, no, no.’ She recalls in anguish driving home and every heartbeat being ‘a piercing pain.’ Upon confiding in a childhood friend over the phone, Mayorga decided to call the police to report the incident. Shortly after a call, logged at 2:16 P.M, June 13, 2009, she was tested using a rape kit which determined that her rectum had been penetrated and ejaculation had occurred in the assailant’s hands. Mayorga’s strongest evidence for this case is leaked documents, including a questionnaire formed by Ronaldo’s lawyers. When asked if Mayorga had raised her voice, screamed or called out, Ronaldo responded: ‘She said no and stop several times.’ If these documents are legitimate and not based on ‘stolen and easily manipulated digital documents’, as Ronaldo’s lawyer, Peter Christiansen, suggests, they will be the records that frame proceedings in the near future. Indeed, in Nevada the statute of limitations is yet to expire and the Las Vegas Police have declared their intention to reopen the case. One thing’s for sure: Ronaldo will need to engage in the accusations with more than a brief video dismissing it as ‘fake news.’ This is, indeed, an enormously serious issue with drastic ramifications. Since the release of these highly incriminating documents, news media have begun to take up the story with renewed fervour and Ronaldo’s family, sponsors and club Juventus have all had their say. However, not all have been as blasé in their response as Ronaldo, who remained composed after scoring the Old Lady’s second goal in a 2-0 win against Udinese last weekend. Sporting
“What ensued has the potential to destroy Ronaldo’s legacy”
giants Nike and EA both have lucrative endorsement deals with the athlete and have both submitted apprehensive statements saying they will be ‘monitoring the situation.’ The former could be especially hard hit by this case regardless of the outcome, having invested an enormous $1 billion ‘lifetime’ deal with Ronaldo in 2016. Save the Children seem even more concerned, expressing that they have been ‘disheartened by the news’; Ronaldo is their highest profile ambassador. As we have seen with articles concerning Casey Affleck’s alleged sexual abuse towards women, the public don’t forget such accusations. The response from Ronaldo’s new club Juventus differs significantly, and their celebration of the player has been widely and vehemently criticised. An official tweet from Juventus’ account waxed lyrical of Ronaldo’s ‘professionalism and dedication … which is shared by anyone who has come into contact with this great champion.’
Similarly, Ronaldo’s mother Dolores and sister Katia bolstered this image, calling for fans to post pictures of the striker in a Superman cape on social media. Needless to say, such reactions are highly inappropriate. Ronaldo’s incredible ability as an athlete and sportsman should be of no import to the spectacle that will be drawn out in the upcoming months. What is for certain is that these allegations obviously transcend business and football entirely. Set against a backdrop of the MeToo movement, which Mayorga admits being inspired by, long gone are the days of powerful public figures carefully shrouding their misconduct with troves of wealth. The accusations against Weinstein late last year have set in motion an unrelenting force, which has completely changed the landscape for the better. The memory of Ronaldo may well be permanently tarnished if the allegation of this abhorrent crime is found to be true.
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22.10.2018 epigram
Ugly uncertainty clouds UFC future The fallout from UFC 229 continues to unfold for McGregor and Khabib Freddie Keighley Online Sport Editor
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ays after the biggest event in Ultimate Fighting Championship history, Conor McGregor and UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov have been temporarily suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission after the brawl that erupted outside the Octagon following the fight, pending a full verdict. Those of us who woke up at 5am on 7 October to watch the fight from the UK were treated to little by the way of fighting variety, but the ugly scenes after the fight will be remembered for a long time. To discuss the events before the brawl first, UFC 229 had quite the build up. Hostilities between the two fighters, once admirers of one another, emerged following McGregor’s attack on a bus containing Khabib and other UFC fighters in April this year. Moreover, McGregor returned from his boxing hiatus with a new set of taunts, including comments concerning the undefeated champion’s Dagestani heritage which clearly antagonised matters further. Bad blood often exists between fighters
in the build up to their rounds inside the Octagon, but this was on a whole new level. There is relatively little to say about the fight in comparison to the events that built up to it and immediately followed it. The Irish supporters, famous for their loyal following of McGregor, were out in force as the fighters made their entrances and Bruce Buffer announced the fight between The Eagle and The Notorious. With the fight underway, the Russian thoroughly dominated McGregor, using his famed wrestling skills that have propelled him to a professional record of 27-0. The challenger’s takedown defence and groundwork simply wasn’t good enough on the day. Indeed, the fabled, devastating left hand of the Irishman never got going and his boxing prowess was simply negated by Khabib’s strategy and timing of his takedowns. A fourth round submission to a rear naked choke had been coming. It is the events that unfolded after the fight that will define this event far more than the contest itself. After McGregor tapped out to the choke, Khabib delivered an earful his way before launching himself over the Octagon walls and into Conor’s team. Meanwhile, members of Khabib’s team climbed in and attacked McGregor, who has also been filmed throwing punches. It took minutes before everything was cleared up, and afterwards, the visibly shocked and rattled UFC President Dana White refused to give the Russian his belt
“It is the events that unfolded after the fight that will define this event far more than the contest itself”
for fear of sparking more violence. Khabib is still waiting for his $2m pay cheque. The spectacle was unprecedented, unpleasant and the stuff of fantasy. So beyond belief, it evoked comparisons to the scripted nature of World Wrestling Entertainment, whereby a fight is written to boil over and the police are brought in to separate those involved in a mass brawl. The pay-per-view event headlined by the Lightweight Championship bout is thought to have smashed previous records, with UFC 229 thought to have been bought by 2.4m people. But the whole event will be marred by its violent end, and the action taken against the fighters will define the UFC going forwards. Khabib is threatening to walk over the UFC’s punishment of his team mate Zubaira Tukhugov, who punched McGregor upon entering the Octagon and is no longer fighting in the UFC, as it stands. Meanwhile, McGregor seems to want a rematch. Mystic Mac was able to beat Nate Diaz in 2016 on the second time of asking, but Khabib appears to be a whole different animal, once filmed wrestling a bear and boasting one of the greatest records in UFC. In the meantime, both fighters must wait on the permanent verdict of the Nevada Athletic Commission. The events that took place after their bout have taken the two stars’ control of their mixed martial arts futures out of their hands, and it remains to be seen when, or indeed if, we will see them take to the Octagon again.
UoB results 10/10/2018 Badminton: Women’s 1sts 6-2 Southampton 1sts Men’s 1sts 3-5 Oxford 1sts Basketball: Exeter 1sts 56-45 Women’s 1sts Cardiff 1sts 78-64 Men’s 1sts Football: Women’s 1sts 2-1 Bournemouth 1sts Men’s 1sts 2-3 Bournemouth 1sts Hockey: Cardiff 1sts 1-1 Women’s 1sts Oxford Brookes 1sts 2-4 Men’s 1sts Netball: Bristol 1sts 25-59 Exeter 1sts Rugby League: Cardiff Met 1sts 38-6 Bristol 1sts Rugby Union: Women’s 1sts 12-26 Swansea 1sts Bath 2nds 26-19 Men’s 1sts Squash: Exeter 1sts 2-3 Men’s 1sts Tennis: East London 1sts 10-2 Women’s 1sts Men’s 1sts 10-2 Southampton 1sts
Tour de Ned: a cringeworthy cash grab Cycling commentator Ned Boulting’s recent live show at the Bristol SU left me with one question: what’s the point? Henry Edwards Sport Editor
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most cringeworthy moments come when he impersonates Slovakian sprinter Peter Sagan, excruciatingly on numerous occasions. Boulting is, after all, a commentator before comedian, and, upon this evidence, he shouldn’t quit his day job. However, the most aggravating aspect of this lengthy and expensive evening was that Boulting routinely referenced the frustrations and difficulties associated with trying to get hold of athletes. For example, he expressed dismay in trying and failing to get Mark Cavendish’s number for ten whole years. I found this grindingly ironic, for my request for an interview with Ned Boulting – presumably a sports journalist who strove
“Why do we need a reiteration of an event the whole audience has already avidly watched?”
for experiences just like myself and other Epigram sports writers when he was starting out – was declined just a day before the event. Perhaps Boulting and his PR team were fearful that an interview with Epigram could potentially expose what this show really is: a depthless and transparent attempt to cash-in on the cycling phenomenon that has embedded itself in the passions of countless middle-aged and middle-class citizens. What was clear on Friday 5th October, however, is that these people will empty their pockets for anything even remotely bike-related, so brace yourselves for another predictably mediocre Boulting show near you in 2019.
Epigram/ Henry Edwards
TV 4’s coverage of the Tour de France has successfully brought swathes of cycling enthusiasts throughout the nation closer to the grand race. Aided by the recent dominance of British riders, including 2012 winner Bradley Wiggins and four-time Tour champion Chris Froome, road cycling as a particularly middle-aged male pursuit has reached dizzying levels of interest. My own father is as guilty as any; his sole activity on any social media platform involves him posting details of his most recent rides on ‘Strava’, often with a caption making reference to aspects such as wind resistance, who he was riding with or any mechanical issues faced along the route. This target-market are all surely religious followers of the yearly Tour de France, which is broadcast in both live and highlight form by ITV. Commentator Ned Boulting cannot have anticipated the level of interest the Tour would generate in the country when he took the role way back in 2003. And yet now in 2018, Ned finds himself flirting with moderate celebrity status. He is the voice behind some of the best three weeks of many people’s years. He is constantly immersed in the action, and entertains audiences with insightful, passing witticisms as he attempts to plug the holes of the tedious sections of the race. Obviously aware of his low-level fame,
2018 represents Boulting’s third successive autumn touring the country with a one-man cycling related performance. His show of the last two years – ‘Bikeology’ – was about a brief history of the sport and the bike itself. ‘Tour de Ned’, by comparison, is simply a summary of what happened at this summer’s Tour. You may be asking: ‘I thought Geraint Thomas only just won the race as recently as late July. Why do we need a reiteration of an event the whole audience has already avidly watched?’ I left the show with this question on my mind, and I am no closer to answering it. Ned’s show is remarkably of little worth to those who have enough interest in cycling to have watched the Tour this summer. Very little new information about the race itself is provided. In fact, the only bonuses to this show come when Boulting talks us through what the life of the commentator is like. He mentions that: there was travelling involved; he sometimes cycled a part of the route beforehand; he visited cathedrals; and we watched bits of the FIFA World Cup. I, and surely everyone else, could have guessed that these things happened without the performance explicitly pointing it out. At times I felt like I was a member of the Simpsons family, forced to endure one of Patty and Selma’s tedious slideshows detailing their monotonous vacations. And yet, paradoxically, ‘Tour de Ned’ is also inaccessible for people with only a fleeting interest in the sport. There are inside jokes aplenty, and even a section where he quizzed the audience to shout out the cyclist that flashed up on the screen behind him. To his credit, Boulting does have an abundance of energy, and he bounces round the stage working up a sweat. A substantial issue is that the vast majority of jokes fell flat. The
Sport
epigram 22.10.2018
Editor: Henry Edwards Online Editor: Freddie Keighley
UBAFC stumble to an undeserved defeat Bristol 1sts were unlucky against Bournemouth, but positives can certainly be taken forward
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he opening fixture of the 2018/19 Men’s Western 1A football league, though thrilling, did not go to plan for Bristol 1s as they fell to an undeserved 3-2 loss at the hands of Bournemouth 1s. After a positive second-place finish last campaign, Bristol enjoyed a successful preseason, and looked to build on this against a Bournemouth side who finished third last term. The match started quickly, with Bournemouth’s forwards looking particularly bright and Bristol fell behind in the sixth minute after the ball fell to Bournemouth’s striker, who fired into the top corner. Bristol were not fazed though and equalised in the ninth minute courtesy of Will Gale. Neat play down the left-wing freed Matt Hinks who squared for Gale who provided a great, low finish into the corner. The game continued in a frantic fashion with both sides trying to break through the other’s defence, which Bournemouth nearly did but for a great sliding interception by Bristol captain, Jack Haire. After fifteen minutes, Bournemouth regained the lead via a good finish into the bottom corner, which just beat Bristol keeper, Ross Cusdin, after the ball was given away on the edge of Bristol’s box. It got worse four minutes later when the ball deceived Cusdin as he was put under
UBBC/ Alice Lovett Epigram / Ed Hanton
Daniel Dyson Second Year. Politics & French
pressure from a free-kick, leading to a tap-in to make it 3-1 to Bournemouth. Following the goal, Bristol upped the tempo and had a flurry of half-chances, with Harry Cruttenden and Ed Mahoney both seeing their dipping, long-range shots fly narrowly over the bar. Bristol were forced into a substitution as Cam McEwan went down after a forceful challenge and was replaced by Nyv Bogaire. Bristol pressed heavily for the rest of the first-half, with Bournemouth’s only respite coming when they broke away with danger and were only halted by an outstanding lastditch tackle by centre-back, Finn Racadio. The quest for a goal before half-time resulted in a chance for substitute Bogaire, his header nearly looping over the onrushing goalkeeper. Haire, a constant threat from right-back, tested the keeper with a powerful strike, but Bristol were unable to find a goal before the action-packed first-half ended. Immediately in the second-half, Bristol’s keeper Cusdin produced a great save after a rapid Bournemouth attack. Then, the second-half continued how the first-half had ended, Bournemouth sitting very deep, allowing Bristol’s centre-backs to bring the ball out with ease and holding midfielders, Al Harlington and Mahoney, to dictate the play. Several Bristol attempts to carve out chances were thwarted but man of the match Will Gale beat his man on the leftwing and had a shot saved at the near post, before being subbed off for Toby Thomas ten minutes into the half. Yet more chances came after nice work on the edge of the box by Al Harlington, who fed Haire, who put a dangerous, low cross into the box, but numerous Bristol shots were blocked by desperate Bournemouth
“Bristol’s formation meant Bournemouth were unable to create many chances”
defending. Toby Thomas looked bright when he came on and saw his shot go just wide of the far post as Bristol struggled to find a final ball. Enter the final 25 minutes and after a Bristol corner was cleared, towering centrehalf Bertie Lloyd decided to stay up and was rewarded when the ball was worked wide to Hinks, who deliciously whipped it in for Lloyd to show striker-like instincts to convert at the back post, for Hinks’ second assist. Lloyd’s goal was met with huge celebration from the UBAFC faithful, and straight away, winger Jasper Harlington, who was lively and creative throughout, stung the hands of the keeper before Bournemouth went up the other end and forced another great save out of Cusdin. A tactical switch with 15 minutes remaining saw Mahoney, whose work-rate
was sublime, come off for Gabe Smith, who went into centre-back while Racadio was pushed up into centre-midfield. In the final 10 minutes, Bournemouth sat incredibly deep, but Bristol still managed to fashion chances, as Thomas shot narrowly wide and Jasper Harlington saw a fantastic free-kick sail just over. Despite their best efforts and sending Lloyd up front for the final few minutes, Bristol could not convert their pressure into a goal and will be disappointed to have lost to an inferior Bournemouth side. Nevertheless, there were plenty of positives. The ball was kept expertly, and Bristol’s formation meant Bournemouth were unable to create many chances, with the three goals conceded being very fortuitous. Bristol will hope to fare better in their next game, away to Cardiff 1s on Wednesday 17 October.
Bristol victorious in gritty UWE derby In a huge opening to the season, Bristol prevailed against their local rivals in an entertaining match Dan McNamara Third Year. English
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of their offence. Whether it was the countless turnovers for man of the match Owain Ellis, or the big hits coming in from captain Ollie Lyons and many of the other forwards, UWE rarely ventured into Bristol’s 22 during this period. Bristol eventually channeled this power into their attack, with Lyons crashing his way over the line to take the score up to 20-0 around the hour mark. Bristol stretched the lead further to 23
“The battle was very much being fought off the pitch as well as on it”
points following a penalty from debutant Will Sharp, as the home side looked to pull away from the battling visitors. UWE did not give up, and a build-up of late pressure forced an opening in the strong Bristol defence. Smooth hands from the UWE backline exploited an overlap and sent their winger over in the corner. This proved too little too late, as Bristol ended 23-5 victors; a solid start to their BUCS South A campaign.
SmifSports Photography
ristol’s 1st XV battled their way to a 23-5 victory against local rivals UWE in front of a boisterous crowd at Coombe Dingle. The game began in bruising fashion, both sides exchanging some heavy blows as they sought to break the deadlock. Apart from a scything break from winger Ollie Bluck, Bristol could not create many attacking opportunities, with UWE applying presssure and forcing Bristol back towards their line. A powerful maul from the visitors resulted in the ball over the try line, only for it to be held up by Bristol’s Ben Solomon. The home side kept UWE out, and got the game’s first score; a penalty from fly-half Ewan Evans from around 35m out. However, handling errors from the host’s backline restricted any attacking fluency in their play. UWE continued to probe Bristol’s defence but, thanks to their imperious forward pack,
spearheaded by back-rower Owain Ellis and second-rower Hywel Rose, they fought off any pressure that came their way. The battle was very much being fought off the pitch as well as on it. A seven or eight hundred strong crowd on the side-line, one of the biggest Coombe Dingle has seen in many years, created a fierce and lively atmosphere. Although the crowd was largely Bristol fans, the vocal UWE support played their part in a tense first half. Driven on by the fans, Bristol finally began to create some real chances, resulting in the game’s first try from debutant Ben Sykes. As the home side pressed UWE’s try line, the scrum-half showed quick thinking to pick and go from a ruck and edge over the line. The try was not converted but, with the score at 8-0 at the half hour mark, Bristol began to crank up the intensity. The home side’s scrum providing the platform, a fast break and slick offload from Evans set up centre Ali Greig to barge over the line for Bristol’s second try. This took Bristol into half-time with a 15-0 lead. The early stages of the second half were fairly even and, despite Bristol dominating possession, they were not able to capitalise on their momentum from the first forty minutes. However, Bristol’s brutal defence more than compensated for the shortcomings