Issue 736 - 19 Oct 2022

AN investigation by Exeposé has found that the University al located £180,000 to develop their rebrand and take the project to launch in September 2022. This inclu des the consultation process, website rebrand and new the signs that have been placed around campus. The inves tigation also revealed that the project is only being funded with University funds.

The University’s rebrand has led to a negative reaction from the majority of students who responded to our journo request. One student said that they “disli ke[d] the new branding” and another suggested that “it looks cheap and doe sn’t reflect Exeter university.” One stu dent stated that they think the new logo “looks basic” and gives the impression “a new one [University] that’s popped up recently.” Commenting on the price

of the rebrand a student stated: “I think it was a complete waste of money, why change the branding?!” One student said that they think “it’s a horrible colour and looks super corporate” and that they could have “made better in 10 mins on canva!”

The University had set up a consul tation process at the end of the 2021-22 academic year. When asked about the con sultation, students commented that the process “didn’t ask the right questions” as a result of it not being open “about the amount of funding with which the uni versity wanted to spend.” Students also recalled that they didn’t “remember ha ving any say in it [the rebranding consul tation]” and “didn’t hear anything about it before it happened.” Commenting on the choice presented, one student stated that “They got students to pick between 4 identical designs that were all bad.” It was also noted by one student that the process “wasn’t open for very long” and that they wondered “how many people had the op portunity to contribute to it.” One student

expressed their disappointment that “they spent our money on this” with another suggesting that there “should have been a vote between the old and new logos.”

Commenting on the process as a whole, a student suggested that they didn’t “think they [the University] were transparent about the costs or why it was needed, or how it would benefit us, the students.”

When asked about whether the Uni versity was right to prioritise its spending towards a rebrand, students were quick to state that the University should “spend its funds in supporting the students” and that the University should have “focused on lowering prices, scholarship[s], welfare etc.” One student stated that the rebrand was “not a very good use of universi ty money”. Another student stated that: “Actions speak louder than words (or branding, for that matter).” They went on to say that “The University would have been better served prioritising the issues which students continue to raise year after year, instead of meddling with the image

and sense of identity which so many stu dents hold so dearly. A rebrand should not have been placed at the top of the agen da.” Students were also asked what other things the money allocated for the rebrand launch could have been put towards. One student suggested that there were “lots of other things [the University] could have spent the money on” listing things such as “access to mental health services, stu dent facilities, subsidising food offerings on campus for students.” Another stu dent suggested that the University should be focusing on “other issues right now, such as teaching quality, cost of living cri sis affecting students and staff.” Another stated: “massive amounts of time, effort and our tuition fees have gone into this rebranding.” Commenting on afforda bility on campus, one student suggested that the rebranding “Shouldn’t have been prioritised” and that “cheaper meals need to happen even if we do all love a pret.”

Senior Editorial Team and Jake Bonetta

Images

Image: Kieran Moore

Editorial

Devonshire House, Exeter,

Editors

Print: Megan Ballantyne & Joshua Hughes

Online: Ana Anajuba & Clemence Smith

Deputies: Livvy Mason-Myhill editors@exepose.com

Executives

Social Media: Nancy Stitt

Events: Georgia Balmer

Chief Photographers

Rachel Cunningham Kieran Moore

News Editors

Print: Amy Rushton Online: Megan Haynes & Isabella Ankerson news@exepose.com

Features Editors

Print: Oliver Lamb & Austin Taylor

Online: Catherine Stone & Maggie John International: Maeve Fitzpatrick & Ryan Gerrett features@exepose.com

Comment Editors

Print: Anabel Costa-Ferreira & Connor Goddard Online: Izzy Langguth & Kristen Taylor comment@exepose.com

Satire Editor

Print Cleo Gravett Online: Archie Lockyer

Lifestyle Editors

Print: Pippa Bourne & Gracie Moore

Online: Ruth Hetherington & Charlie Nadin lifestyle@exepose.com

Arts + Lit Editors

Print: Ella Minty & Joshua Smith Online: Gwenllian Page-Gibby artsandlit@exepose.com

Music Editors

Print: Megan Ballantyne, Joshua Hughes & Livvy Mason-Myhill

Online: Mahnoor Imam & Lauren Jones music@exepose.com

Screen Editors

Print: Pollyanna Roberts Online: Matthew Bowden & Harvey Isitt screen@exepose.com

Tech Editor

Print: Harry Hawkins

Science Editors

Print: Daniel Pain & Hayley Power

Online: Daisy Scott & Imogen Poyntz-Wright sciandtech@exepose.com

Sport Editors

Print: Rob Worthington Online: Oliver Rickwood & Archie Rucker sport@exepose.com

Proofers

Joshua Hughes, Oliver Lamb, Lauren Walsh, Shagnick Bhattacharya, Benedict Thompson, Henry Clement-Jones, Holly Osbourne, Pollyanna Roberts Ayusha Pandey, Thomas Harris

HI everyone! Hope you’re all settling into autumn well and finding time for rest even as work ramps up. We're getting into the swing of things here at Exeposé , with our events calendar slowly filling up for the rest of the term — be sure to pop along to our big Xmedia Halloween Social on Thursday 27th October at The Monkey Suit to celebrate spooky season in style!

We have a great range of articles in the paper this week. You'll find lots of interesting news stories in this edition, from the University's six-figure rebrand to societies' disapppointment in the University's room booking system. Features takes a look at the increasing opposition Brazil's youth are showing to Bolsonaro's government ( page 8 ). In Comment we debate the new TP ticketing rules ( page 11 ) and our writers evaluate how the recent mitigation changes will affect students' wellbeing ( page 10 ). Satire pokes fun at the 'helpful' advice students receive for dealing with their finances in a cost of living crisis

In Exhibit we have a wide range of articles covering all topics from Lifestyle to Tech. In Lifestyle , we review the new sister cafe of Pura Vida, Sunset Society, and and discuss how to enjoy Halloween on a budget ( page 15 ).

Arts + Lit discusses how libraries can help us out during the cost of living crisis ( page 16 ) while Music looks over the history of Exeter's music scene ( page 20 ) and gives you a cosy autumn playlist ( page 21 ). In Screen we look at the controversial new movie Blonde ( page 23 ), while Tech takes a closer look at ticket scamming (page 24 ) and the bizarre world of deepfakes ( page 25 ). Science discusses some recent research which has come out of the University, including how bees identify patterns and some new insights into the Little Ice Age (page 28 ).

Finally, in Sport we discus the AU's decision to drop social 11 aside football, and Max Verstappen's Driver's World Championship ( page 30 ).

We want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has joined the paper and all those who came along for proofing. We hope you enjoy this edition and hope you've settled in well! From us and everyone at Exeposé , have a great week.

Josh and Megan

What about those voices we forgot?

Sunset Society: The new place to go?

MUSIC

Festivals and the environment

Bees, colours and patterns

University news home and abroad

Advertising editors@exepose.com

ANEW policy from Birkbeck, University of London, has blacklisted fossil fuel compa nies from attending student career fairs. The ban has risen from a campaign led by the student group, People & Planet, who aim to cut off fossil fuel companies' access to students, discouraging involve ment in the fossil fuel industry. Birkbeck is the first educational institution to make the ban, however the campaign is continuing to influence more universti ties across the UK. The university has stated it “will not hold relationships of any kind with oil, gas or mining compa nies”. The campaign is gaining traction, with the National Union of Students and the Universities and College Union both giving their support. Student protests have already focused on student career events, such as at Sheffield University, where a student sit-in protest was held prevented both BP and ExxonMobil events. In a statement to the Guardian ,

J Clarke of People & Planet stated Birk beck’s policy is “the first domino, which sets the precedent and shows that this is not only a reasonable demand, but an achievable one”, a hopeful example for other universities to follow this policy.

WITH the help of the Zimba bwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) students have requested an immediate court injunction requiring the University to halt an increase in tuition fees. The students contend in their applica tion that the increase is blatantly irrational and unjustified and that it was made outside the param eters of the UZ Act. Students claim that because their parents and guardians primarily work in the unor ganised sector as street vendors, small-scale farmers, international dealers, or teachers, they are unable to afford the new tuition. Although the UZ appeared to pon der the hike, ZLHR member and advocate, Tendai Biti, nonetheless filed the urgent plea on 15th September on behalf of UZ students. 14 people were then held by the Zimbabwe Republic Police on suspicion of taking part in the protest, and the next day, five more University of Zimbabwe stu dents were taken on the same suspicions.

THE US has been in the news this year for their controversial turn on abortion laws, causing several states to issue abortion bans. In a new wave of restrictions, universities in Idaho have been subjected to new regulations and procedures regarding student access to information about abortion. These rules include a discouragement for university em ployees to refer students to abor tion services, as well as prohibiting universities to provide a range of birth con trol measures. The new measures leave students with the limited option to ei ther get sexual health counselling or access to condoms to prevent STIs, al though at least one university even goes as far as not telling students how to ac cess birth control at all, even in emer gencies. All those procedures fall in line with the state’s new six-week-abortion ban modelled after Texas’ law, exclud ing emergencies such as rape or incest.

IRANIAN students have called for university boycotts following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on 16th September after she was arrested by the “morality police” for wearing her hijab “incorrectly”. Female students continue to take central positions at protests sparked by the incident, uncov ering their hair and burning their hijabs despite brutal police crackdown. Attempts by many Iranian universities to move their classes online during the upheaval have proved unsuccessful, as the authorities sporadically shut down internet access in efforts to censor protest propaganda. The Coordinating Council of Teachers’ Cultural Associations have responded to the widespread call for boycott by advis ing students to strike over the authoritative suppression of women and young protest ers. Iran's official media has stated at least 1200 people have been arrested in the pro test, though other estimates place it as high as 12,000 with over 240 deaths. Professors are now also supporting the calls for boy cott with Dr Ali Sharifi Zarchi announc ing on Twitter that he “will not hold any classes before detained students of Sharif University are freed to the last person”.

By Belle Law, Livvy Mason-Myhill, Manon Martini and Carden Cappi.

Fossil fuel recruiters banned from UK University careers service

Students in Zimbabwe take a stand over tuition fees increase

Idaho Universities issue instructions over abortion ban

Students in Iran protest over death of Mahsa Amini

Images (top to bottom): iconspng.com, Sunset Society, Kevin Lake @kevinlakephotography, Ivar Leidus Wikimedia Commons

Parents push for “Harry’s Law” legislation after death of Exeter student

Amy Rushton News Editor

over email that isolation had negatively af fected his mental health and exam perfor mance, but was not contacted face to face subsequent to the email, nor informed of his options to re-take exams or repeat the year.

THE parents of an Exeter student who died after taking his own life following third year exams last year, are pushing for new legislation which would require universities to publish the annual suicide rate at their institution.

Harry Armstrong Evans was 21 when he died in June 2021 after strug gling with mental health whilst isolating during lockdown and subsequently fail ing third year exams. An inquest into his death has revealed that there have been eleven suspected suicides in the last six years at Exeter, including from the same department as Armstrong Evans, Physics and Astrophysics. His parents have raised concerns over the lack of action taken by both academic staff and welfare services in not reaching out to Armstrong Evans.

Armstrong Evans informed his tutor

He wrote, “I have been in isolation in my virtually empty hall of residence”, add ing that “It really has had an adverse effect on my mental health. I really struggled to think straight and the exams for me were a horrible culmination of my stresses.”

Speaking to the inquest, his tutor said that he did not feel the student’s concerns were “exceptional” and so did not con tact his parents, adding that he did not receive formal guidance on spotting “red flags” and no training on suicide preven tion. Armstrong Evans’ mother, Alice, addressed the head of department, Tim Harries, stating Harry should have been contacted and told of his options, add ing “If Harry had all that knowledge, he would have felt wanted. I blame the academic staff. I blame welfare too.”

Concerns have been raised too over the role of welfare services, after it was revealed an IT error meant even though Alice Armstrong Evans contacted welfare on the behalf of her son, they didn’t reach

out. Alice Armstrong Evans called Exeter’s wellbeing services detailing her concerns. However, Mark Sawyer, head of wellbe ing and welfare services, stated that though the referrals were passed to a welfare prac titioner, issues with the case management system meant the logs were closed when the admin team asked for further informa tion. He said after being asked to attach a referral, “because of the technicalities and the challenges we face in utilising various aspects of the case management system, the practitioner utilised the wrong func tion to ask that question.” This meant the inquiry was closed. A similar technical dif ficulty meant Armstrong Evans’ second voicemail later that month, was similarly closed. Sawyer stated, “The university is willing to look at a different case record management system so that we can really not have these issues from the technicali ties associated with the current system.”

Alice Armstrong Evans told the in quest that her “faith in the statement someone would be in touch with him” was now “the biggest mistake of our lives”, adding that if he had been of fered support “My beautiful, kind, clever much-loved son would still be

alive with a future to look forward to.”

Harry’s parents have accused the Uni versity of shortcomings and are now push ing for the government to adopt “Harry’s Law”, under which universities would publish their annual suicide rates, with the Department for Education (DfE) given powers to investigate institutions where the suicide rate is above average, as well as introducing mandatory mental health awareness training for academic tutors.

A University of Exeter spokesperson said, “We are deeply saddened by Harry’s death and the family’s loss. The University is fully engaged with the Coroner’s inquest which will report the facts and it would be completely inappropriate to comment further until the inquest has concluded. We can say however, that we have invested significantly in student welfare and well being support in recent years and we are acutely aware of the current mental health challenges for young people. We provide support services seven days a week both on campus and in the community, includ ing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic all students were supported with a no disadvantage guar antee to ensure their assessment marks

didn’t suffer as a result of the difficult circumstances surrounding the pandemic. Student health and wellbeing is always the University of Exeter’s top priority.”

A Guild spokesperson stated “The Guild have a dedicated Advice team who support students on a range of top ics. One area includes assisting students to access the information and services they need to stay safe and manage their physical and mental health and wellbeing.”

“At present, we do not feel equipped to comment on ‘Harry’s Law’. However, we encourage and support continued im provements to provisions that support students’ wellbeing and work closely with the University on this. If you have been impacted by this or need to seek wellbe ing support for any other reasons, we en courage you to reach out to the University Wellbeing services or our Advice Team.”

“Global warming is a scam” — Calvin Robinson sparks controversy at Debating Society event

Megan Ballantyne Editor

AT a debate hosted by Debat ing Society on Friday Octo ber 7th entitled ‘This House Would Rather Warm Up the Planet than Cool Down the Economy’ Calvin Rob inson called global warming a ‘scam.’

The GB news presenter and Anglican Deacon opened the debate on the proposi tion, in support of the motion. He began his opening speech, by stating to the audience: “It’s a scam. Global warming is a scam.”

The debate also hosted The Former Leader of the Libertarian Party, Andrew Withers on the proposition, while the opposition was represented by Lord Teverson, Lib eral Democrat Peer and former MEP, and Tristan Allen, Local Climate Campaigner.

Calvin Robinson elaborated on his opening remarks by stating: “Dissenting voices [against climate change] are silenced. We only ever hear from activist scientists, who support the net zero agenda. What about the many, many accomplished scien tists who don’t have vested interests.” Stud ies have repeatedly shown that the vast ma jority of scientists agree that global warming

is happening and is a manmade phenome na, with a study published in 2013 by Cook et. al. placing this figure at 97 per cent.

Robinson went on to suggest that claims about the climate crisis had been exaggerated “I’m old enough to remem ber when all the scaring was about the ozone layer. Now the ozone layer forms over Antarctica every year, and it closes up every single summer — it’s no threat to our survival. Neither are the C02 levels.”

He suggested that individual action on climate change made little difference as C02 consists of a small proportion of the atmosohere and its “100 times less than salt in sea water, so you wouldn’t even be able to taste it, it’s that little”

Robinson also told the audience that dealing with climate change in the UK should be sidelined to protect the econo my. “We can work towards renewables in the long-term, but in the short-term they are inefficient and unrealistic. We’d be in a much better place if we take all the cli mate propaganda with a pinch of salt and work on saving our crumbling economy.”

He also suggested that, “Net zero dates are entirely arbitrary — what’s spe cial about 2030?” Lord Teverson rebuffed this remark in his opening speech, stat ing: “What our climate targets allow us to do is to have both a cooler planet in terms of what we might have otherwise, and economic growth — but the dif ference is that we get clean economic

growth if we move forward in the right way. I’m confused, because the propo nents seem to think that climate change does exist but that we can’t effect it.”

After the debate, Calvin Robinson up loaded a picture of attendees raising their hands in opposition of the motion on his Instagram story and called them ‘wet.’ The full caption read “Raise your hand if you’re a wet” — “Had a great time at Exeter.” VP Liberation Emma deSaram posted a picture of Calvin leaving the debate before closing remarks, due to rail disruption, and captioned the picture “Bye Calvin and your climate change denying views,” to which Robinson replied “the climate crisis is a scam.” The VP, also went on to congratulate Debating Society on the debate as a whole, saying, “Well done @debsocexeter for put ting on this debate tonight! Really engaging and great speakers. It was an overwhelm ing win for the opposition to this motion.”

A spokesperson for the Univer sity of Exeter said: “We are aware of the Debating Society event that was held on campus with the political commen tator Calvin Robinson. Events such as this allow participants to debate or con sider subjects that they may not neces sarily agree with, however the University of Exeter is committed to the protection of freedom of speech and events will go ahead providing they are within the law.”

A spokesperson for the Students’ Guild said: “We can confirm that Debat

ing Society correctly followed our Exter nal Speaker Framework for this event. This framework is designed to empower students to run stimulating, challeng ing and diverse opportunities for debate, discussion, and dialogue whilst manag ing the risks associated with such events.

Regarding the views expressed dur ing the event, we are committed to the principle that both debate and delibera tion should not be suppressed, and we encourage and support our members to engage, within the law, in both a construc tive and responsible manner to contest any ideas they oppose openly and vigorously.”

A spokesperson for The Debating Society said: “The University of Exeter Debating Society strive to foster a welcom ing and inclusive community for the ex change of ideas and ideals on campus. We believe that university should provide the opportunity to experience, and challenge, as wide a range of viewpoints as possible.

As is the same with every ‘public de bate’ that we run, we do not condone or refute the views of those that we invite to speak. Rather, we seek to bring together in teresting, relevant individuals from as wide a variety of backgrounds as possible. This debate provided members with the oppor tunity to challenge views from across the climate debate — with our members invit ed to raise points and question the panel.”

If

Speaking on the overall cost of the rebrand, one student expressed their concern over the long-term costs this could create for the University, stating: “I wonder how much more the university will spend over the coming years replacing everything — the existing cost isn't all there can be.”

A spokesperson for the University of Exeter said: “The University’s rebranding was an exciting opportunity to create a brand and visual identity that represents our values, allows us to

grow as an institution and reach new audiences worldwide, and align to our Strategy 2030. The initial rebranding process began a number of years ago, before a wider consultation process involving students, staff and alumni, as well as representatives from the wider community, was introduced earlier this year to ensure everyone’s perspective, thoughts and views were included. This included a series of brand galleries, which were available in person on our campuses and online, as well as an online survey, for students to offer their feedback

and express their preferences.

The initial rebranding process began a number of years ago, before a wider consultation process

Student feedback and preferences played an integral part of the rebranding, including the font, colour and the crest. The two concepts which were combined to create the final design were the most popular amongst students. All costs for the project were carefully managed and have no impact on student support measures in place at the University.”

A spokesperson for the Guild commented that: “The cost associated with the University rebrand is significant, however this is to be expected with a project of this importance and scale. The Officers were consulted during the rebrand and were give an early preview of the new brand. The Guild support the rebrand as we understand the University’s desire for a more contemporary brand that they feel better represents their long-term strategy.

Societies have been told they are not expected to update their stash immediately, regardless

of this, many societies change their stash on a yearly basis. Therefore, we do not foresee this as having a significant impact on our societies, however, we encourage any societies who have concerns to reach out to our Activities Team.”

Societies confused over new University room booking system

Megan Ballantyne Editor

SOCIETIES have been experiencing issues with the new University of Exeter room booking system. Society presidents and committee have testified to Exeposé that their bookings have been logged as ‘pending’ but not been approved even after weeks on the room booking system, and that email requests to book larger rooms have not been processed.

One anonymous Guild society president told Exeposé that the new room booking system is ineffective

and unclear: “The University has completely changed its room booking system from what it was last year, so previously you would simply email or go on the self service to book rooms, and it was very straightforward and it used to work.

which does events on campus can’t properly book rooms at the moment and there’s a lot of chaos.”

THE Devon Climate

Emergency Partnership has recently unveiled the Devon Carbon Plan. The plan, set out in twelve sections, aims to reduce Devon’s emissions to net-

Now they’ve changed the system, and they’ve not told us how it works. The Guild is trying to help us but there’s not much they can do anyway because it’s the University. Every society I know

Another Guild society president talked to Exeposé about how the room booking system’s faults particularly affected their plans for Freshers’ Week. “We looked to book a room for Freshers’ Week to do a presentation for our society, and at first we were responded to in the same week that we emailed. But then we lost contact a week after when we discussed finalising what date and what room we would book — so then we tried calling up and they said they’d help us out, but they didn’t in the end. We were able to find a backup plan and use the

M&D room, but it probably would have been better if we had a lecture room, because obviously they have a built in projector and the computer which you can upload footage to.”

The Guild stated in an email to Guild society committees on Thursday 13th October: “We are aware of ongoing issues with the University of Exeter booking system that is restricting the ability of our societies to book rooms on campus. The Guild is currently collating feedback from student groups to pass onto the University of Exeter, with the aim of facilitating change as soon as possible. Further updates regarding room bookings will be included in future newsletters.”

New net-zero plan set for Devon

zero by 2050 It also hopes to reduce emissions by fifty percent by 2030 compared to 2010 emissions. The plan establishes a range of short and long-term actions which include both large-scale projects, administrative changes and suggestions for the people of Devon to achieve netzero. The larger projects include the

development of carbon capture and storage technology, and the insulation of all homes (with 109,000 solid walls insulated by 2050). People in Devon will also be encouraged to help reach net-zero through the increase in Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure.

The Partnership advocates for the building of more EV charging

points around Devon and for local authorities with responsibility for taxi licensing to accelerate the adoption of electric cars for taxi fleets by mandating ultra-low emissions.

Meg Booth, Chair of the Devon Emergency Climate Response Group called the Plan “the best, perhaps only, opportunity for Devon to become

Overdue library charges removed

Joshua Hughes Editor

LIBRARY charges for overdue books have been removed after meetings between the Guild and the University. Charges had previously stood for books which had not been returned on time to the library. This now means that charges for late books will no longer be in place, in a move which aims to reduce the financial burden placed on students in the cost of living crisis. A spokesperson for the Guild commented that: “There were meetings with the University to discuss the financial barriers students face within academics, and the removal of library charges was championed by Jack and the other Officers. We’re pleased that this has now come to fruition and are grateful to the University for their support on this.” Commenting on the matter, Jack Liversedge, VP Education, stated that he believes “this is a real win for students. It’s important to me that we’re working with the University to reduce any unnecessary financial barriers to education. This ties in nicely with the Cost of Living, a campaign that is crucial to myself, the other Officers and your Students’ Guild.” A spokesperson for the University of Exeter said: "As of October 1 we have removed all remaining library charges and fines for overdue recalled items. We hope this will help to support students as the cost-of-living rises.”

net-zero by 2050”. The taskforce charged with drafting the plan was led by University of Exeter Professor and Director of ACCESS Professor Patrick Devine. Professor Devine aimed to focus on “what we can do now” and hoped to “make homes more efficient, transport cleaner and move away from fossil fuels”.

Continued from front page...

“The existing cost isn’t all there can be”

The University has completely changed its room booking system

Image: Joshua Hughes

Image: Rachel Cunningham

Image: Rachel Cunningham

Charlie Gershinson

Exeter celebrates Black History Month 2022

Megan Ballantyne Editor

THE University of Exeter and the Students’ Guild have been celebrating Black History Month this October. The theme for Black History Month 2022 is ‘Time for Change: Action Not Words,' and the University and Guild societies are hosting a variety of events throughout October to celebrate this occasion. These have included the Reflection Tree event which Students of Colour Association hosted in the Forum on 11th October, and a Painting Event hosted by the Guild 14th October.

A Guild spokesperson told Exeposé about the Guild’s plans for the month: “We’re excited to be working with students, societies and partners at the University to deliver a diverse programme of events and activities including poetry slams, book discussions, a

painting session, and movie nights to celebrate Black History Month.

We’re holding another Community Café on Friday 28 October which is a great opportunity for our Students of Colour and ally students to come along and meet each other.

We have also worked with local artist Patricia Dixon to create an interactive textile workshop — the finished piece (created by over 35 students) will be featured in DH1 very soon.

In DH1 (Devonshire House), we have a Lending Library where students can come along and borrow books; there are a variety of titles available related to Black History Month. We have also provided a longer list of recommended resources (including podcasts, TV series, films, documentaries and books) on our website — https://www.exeterguild. com/article-post/black-historymonth-resource-recommendations”.

Ahmed Yusuf, The Students of Colour Association President,

told Exeposé about the events his society is running this month: “The Students of Colour Association has organised a number of activities to commemorate Black History Month and to encourage discussion and reflection on what it means to be Black in Britain. We intend to stimulate conversation about how to foster an inclusive atmosphere among the student body through events like our Reflection Tree and our Black Business and Enterprise event.

SCA promotes the inclusion, welfare and social mobility of all minority students at the University of Exeter. While cultural societies exist, we are the only society which is uniquely dedicated to support ethnic minorities from all backgrounds and cultures — the proud character that defines who we are. SCA welcomes students from all backgrounds who share our concerns about prejudice, the lack of diversity and what we can do to combat their effects on the student body."

In an email to students and staff on 30th September entitled

‘Black History Month 2022,’ Vice Chancellor Lisa Roberts outlined the progress the University intended to make in supporting the voices of students of colour in Exeter: “In my message last October, I said I wanted to give greater voice to people of colour and to listen to their experiences within our community to help shape the changes required. Over the past 12 months, we have spoken to colleagues, students and alumni and some have taken part in films to tell their stories. In the coming weeks we will share their stories through a series of films leading up to an initial event on Wednesday 26 October where we will discuss the next steps we need to take, linked to our Race Equality Action Plan and the work of our Wellbeing, Inclusion and Culture Board. In the past 12 months we have improved our reporting and response system, enhanced the training and allyship approach and created more opportunities to discuss and inform action but we know we have much more to do.”

University of Exeter provides further details on new mitigation policy

Livvy Mason-Myhill Deputy Editor

FOLLOWING the University of Exeter revealing their changes to their mitigation and extension policies at the end of September 2022, the University have further elaborated on these changes in an email sent out to students on 5th October. The email stated how the recent changes were “informed by student and staff feedback, by 2022 National Student Survey responses, and by analysis of student performance in assessments over the course of the last academic year.” The email went on to further highlight that “the review has been conducted through open discussions with last year’s Students’ Guild and Students’ Union representatives.”

The email also went on to list the key elements of the University’s

mitigation and education policies. One of the main factors of the mitigation and extension policies that has been changed since last year is that students now “will have four opportunities to selfcertify extensions of up to 72 hours (three calendar days).” The previous extension period gave students a one-week extension for them to complete their assignments. However, the email did mention that “evidence-based mitigation will continue” meaning that students can “apply for an extension of up to two weeks (or three weeks in exceptional, severe and/or complex cases).” The Guild VP of Education, Jack Liversedge, has commented that “these changes are likely to have greater impact on students already facing challenging circumstances and the feedback that we have had from students confirmed overwhelming positive support for one-week extensions, so it is disappointing

to see the decrease to 72 hours.”

Another factor that was mentioned in the email from the University to students was the idea of self-certification. This means that students would not need to provide evidence to obtain an extension. To add to this, the University have also mentioned that students with Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) that support extensions are able to obtain “unlimited selfcertified extensions of 72 hours (three calendar days) and can use their ILPs as evidence to request extensions of up to two weeks.”

Furthermore, the University has also revealed that financial circumstances will be included as a reason for students to apply for mitigation this academic year. This decision was made following discussions with the Guild and the Students’ Union.

Additionally, there has been changes to the Timely Feedback

Policy for staff and penalties for late submissions for students at the University. The University have made these changes to ensure that students receive feedback quickly “(normally 15 working days after assessment submission).” The University have gone on to claim that these changes to the mitigation policy are needed to ensure that this Timely Feedback Policy is workable “(especially where correct answers and feedback must not be revealed until all student work has been submitted.”

Jack Liversedge, VP Education, elaborated: “The inclusion of financial circumstances as a justification for mitigation was something I championed as we are aware of the impact that finances can have on academic achievement. This was a particularly important addition with the Cost-of-Living crisis, and I am glad to see that this has been included in the policies”.

University of Exeter Professor Peter Stott shortlisted for Royal Society prize

Elen Johnston

PROFESSOR Peter Stott's and the Met Office's book 'Hot Air' about climate change and denial has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize.

The book details Professor Peter Stott's 25-year-long battle with climate change denial. Scott wrote the book in collaboration with the Met office.

In the book, he describes the growing evidence of the "fingerprints of humans" and their role in climate change along with how climate change deniers have 'weaponised doubt' in the service of the fossil fuel industry.

Professor Peter Stott said: "I'm thrilled that Hot Air has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize... I wrote my book because I think it is an important –and gripping – story that needs to be widely known, so I'm very grateful for this prestigious recognition".

It is an important and gripping story that needs to be widely known

Stott is a Professor in Detection and Attribution at Exeter alongside his role as Science Fellow in Attribution at the Met Office Hadely Centre for Science and Services. He has an international reputation in the field and Former BBC journalist and one of the competition judges described the book as "A compelling and incisive account of the long battle against climate change denial, made all the more urgent in the context of continuing attacks on climate science and well-funded global resistance to taking the action required to tackle the dangers of climate change"

Image: Exeter Students Guild

Image: Students of Colour Association

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BRAZILIAN president Jair Bol sonaro epitomises the global rise of far-right populism. A cli mate change denier, homophobe, antiabortionist and COVID conspiracist, he ticks pretty much every box in the alt-right textbook. His four-year rule has had very real impacts on Brazilian peo ple, especially Brazil’s youth, who have mobilised in record numbers against him.

Brazil went to the polls at the start

of October in the first round of elec tions widely seen as a referendum on Bolsonaro’s first term. Despite expecta tions that veteran left-winger and former president Lula would secure an overall majority, he narrowly missed out, forcing a second round at the end of the month.

Bolsonaro’s performance exceeded commentators’ expectations, and although Lula should still win the presidency, Bolson aro clearly still has a strong support base.

This support base is certainly not among Brazil’s youth, however. A poll in August showed that 51 per cent of Brazil ians aged 16-24 would vote for Lula, versus just 28 per cent for Bolsonaro. This mir rors patterns seen elsewhere, including the US and Europe, where young voters have led the charge against far-right populism.

Consequently, young Brazilians are massively engaged in this elec tion. There has been a 51 per cent

Free speech: Students in the crossfire

ASURVEY by King’s College Lon don (KCL) has found that 65 per cent of students believe free speech is protected at their institution. 80 per cent of students say they’re free to ex press their views at university, although this has decreased from 88 per cent in 2019.

free speech debate: polarisation and postmodernism. Some argue that students have become less tolerant of listening to oth ers’ points of view. But post-modernists believe that we are witnessing a rebalanc ing of the scales. Free speech, they argue, has historically existed only for white men. We should no longer give them free rein, and instead stand up for the rights and interests of marginalised groups.

described UK universities as “turning de bating chambers into echo chambers”.

Oliver Lamb and Austin Taylor

Bobby Duffy, the director of KCL’s Policy Institute, said the surveys showed a “large majority” of students believed that free speech was being protected, although an increasing minority of stu dents felt it was under threat. The survey also showed that a quarter of students have “often” heard of incidents at their university of free speech being impeded.

Two main factors are fuelling the

There is also the issue of hate speech to contend with within this debate. Hate speech, which is considered a hate crime by law, is recognised as hostility demonstrated on the basis of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity.

The debate on free speech, however, continues to rage on. Oxford Univer sity’s Vice Chancellor recently stated that “free speech and academic freedom must be preserved”. Meanwhile, Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, has

Last year, the establishing of Exeter’s Students for Life society, who are antiabortion, was met with fierce opposition. A student-led petition of close to 10,000 signatures called for the society to be banned, claiming that the society is a “di rect attack on women’s rights”. The Guild acknowledged students’ right to protest, but under their rules and guidance argued they had no grounds to disband the society.

Last academic year, Dan Peña also visited Exeter to give a talk hosted by the University of Exeter Public Speaking Soci ety. Peña’s past speeches could arguably be defined as hate speech, as he has expressed pride in attacking people’s race and gender, as well as admitting to assaulting an attend ee at one of his past talks. Partway through his talk in the Alumni Auditorium, he was interrupted by protestors who shouted at

jump in 16-17-year-olds registering to vote compared to 2018 (whilst vot ing is compulsory for 18-70-year-olds).

From an outside perspective, the most obvious reason for this trend is climate change. In the four years since Brazil’s last election, movements such as Greta Thun berg’s Fridays For Future have mobilised the global youth to call for immediate action to combat the climate emergency.

In Brazil, youth action against climate change is particularly significant. Brazil is home to the Amazon rainforest, known as ‘the lungs of the world’, as well as the Pan tanal, the world’s largest wetland area. The protection of both is vital to fighting climate change and protecting global biodiversity.

However, under Bolsonaro, environ mental protection laws have been torn up, with Greenpeace declaring in January that he “is a catastrophe for the environment”. In the last three years, there has been a 52.9 per cent increase in deforestation in the Amazon, and projections suggest a sec ond Bolsonaro term would lead to another 60,000 square kilometres of deforestation.

Although climate change is a defining issue for young people, an area less con sidered by outsiders is his domestic policy, particularly on education. Bolsonaro has made huge cuts to Brazil’s education sys tem, including blocking another US$192 billion for higher education earlier this month, threatening the existence of nu merous public universities. Bolsonaro’s first term has consequently been dogged by student protests, most notably in 2019, when he further alienated Brazil’s youth by deeming the protesters “naïve kids”.

Lula, whose previous presidential terms saw huge investment in public educa tion, is seen by some as the last hope to save the Brazilian education system.

LGBTQ+ rights have also come under attack during Bolsonaro’s presi dency: Although basic rights such as gay marriage and the right to change gen der are protected, Brazil has one of the highest LGBTQ+ homicide rates in the world, and it has risen under Bolsonaro. He is on record as saying that he would “rather have a dead son than a gay one” — an alarming statement for the 2.9 million or more LGBTQ+ people in Brazil. Many young people are voting in this election to protect their own rights.

Bolsonaro’s response to the COV ID-19 pandemic, which he consistently downplayed as “a little flu”, has also en raged young people, who suffered the worst economic impacts of the pandemic. Bolsonaro’s COVID mismanagement has gone hand in hand with his economic mismanagement, with Brazil’s youth un employment rate hitting 31.9 per cent in 2021, up from 28 per cent in 2018.

There remain a final few days of cam paigning before Brazil goes to the polls in the runoff between Lula and Bolsonaro on 30 October, and if, as expected, the former is victorious, he will owe a consid erable part of his success to Brazil’s youth.

him and held up a banner stating, “You’re not welcome”. An online petition against his visit was started by then history student Emma de Saram. However, the University agreed to let the talk take place, justifying this decision on free speech grounds.

48 per cent of students said that controversial speakers are avoided at their university because of the diffi culties of getting those events agreed. This has risen from 37 per cent in 2019.

The government is concerned that stu dents cannot speak their mind on campus es, and is in the process of passing through the Higher Education Bill, which would im pose requirements on universities to protect

freedom of speech for staff and students.

Opponents of this bill argue that the pressure placed on universities to protect freedom of speech sometimes fails to ac knowledge that inviting a speaker to address a large crowd of students is not only allow ing them freedom of speech, but actively platforming them. Additionally, the restric tions imposed by universities on speakers are often intended to prevent hate speech, with speakers who pose a ‘risk’ to stu dents often those not invited to campuses.

19 per cent of students say that they support the government bill, whilst 21 per cent opposed it, with 42 per cent neither supporting or opposing.

Benedict Thompson explores the debate over free speech on campus

Harry Craig looks at why younger voters could cost Jair Bolsonaro a second term

Engaged and enraged: Brazil’s youth turn out against Bolsonaro

Bolsonaro has made huge cuts to Brazil’s education system

Image: U.S. Department of State, Wikimedia Commons

OXFORD and Cambridge have been accused of add ing further obstacles in the way of state school students entering their admissions process.

Registration for Cambridge As sessment Admissions Testing (CAAT) has been brought forward by two weeks. The CAAT, which runs ad missions for key subjects in both universities, such as medicine and engineering at Cambridge, and maths and philosophy at Oxford, requires applicants to register by 30th Sep tember as opposed to the usual 15th October — already earlier than most universities. For Cambridge appli cants the tests will be sat earlier than usual, removing the safety net of a few extra weeks in which to prepare.

This decision will not affect all schools, or all students, equally. Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at Exeter University, states “We must be sure that we are not inadvertently creating new obstacles for disadvantaged students”. Private schools familiar with putting for ward numerous Oxbridge applicants, are able to prepare for the applica tion process months — sometimes years — in advance, and so will not be significantly impacted by the ear lier deadline. In contrast, many stu dents are now faced with a mad rush to decide whether to apply, and have less time to prepare for a test they may have had very little guidance for.

receive little support for their ap plications. According to a parlia mentary report, half of entrants to both universities still come from around only 150 schools/colleges. The CAAT decision is another ob stacle on a seemingly never-ending list of hoops poorer students must jump through to gain access to the same kind of education and oppor tunities as their richer counterparts.

Perhaps the largest obstacle, ex acerbated by the CAAT decision, is mental as well as material. Many poor er students face imposter syndrome and lack confidence when it comes to Oxbridge applications. For many, it is a last-minute decision rather than one they have planned in advance, and it’s often without the insider knowledge private school students have access to. By bringing forward the CAAT, Oxbridge further demoralises stu dents who may be on the fence about applying and gives them less time to prepare last minute applications.

This decision comes as Oxbridge receive acclaim for accepting an in creasing number of state school stu dents: 72.5% per cent of the Cam bridge cohort this October. However, this isn’t the success story it appears to be. Not only does it remain dispro portionate — state school students make up 93 per cent of the popula tion — but the private/state school distinction is an overly simplistic one.

Many of the state schools which send large numbers of students to Oxbridge are selective, such as gram mar schools, or are in affluent areas.

Students from lower income schools

Mike Nicholson, the deputy head of education services at Cambridge, has supported the change in deadline, stating “these aren’t tests you should be cramming for. Applicants are not meant to be revising particular topics”.

However, seeing as many students from richer backgrounds are receiv ing support and tutoring specifically for these tests, they have inadvertent ly become tests which require prepa ration, and without this tutorage, other students are disadvantaged. Ox bridge admissions remain a challenge even for privately educated students, but the process is nevertheless more straightforward to navigate if students have the time afforded only to those whose schools are equipped to handle applications, and so it’s no wonder that schools like Eton and Harrow remain assured of Oxbridge offers whilst others scramble for places.

Oxford and Cambridge continue to celebrate state school success while putting barriers in the way of poorer students. The admissions process, as it stands, benefits a select few rather than making education accessible to all.

NOT even a month old, the Truss-led Conserva tive government is in real trouble. A controversial, poorly com municated so-called ‘mini-budget’ has thrown the current government into extreme difficulties. No one is suggest ing Truss was dealt an easy hand; the cost-of-living crisis, the death of the Queen and an ongoing war in Ukraine following Russian aggression, all com bine to make for a challenging context for a new government to make its mark.

However, Liz Truss has fumbled on several occasions. The ‘mini-budget’ had rather major national implications and caused a notable reaction from the public. While the Daily Mail labelled it ‘a true Tory budget’, many Tory rebels believed Kwasi Kwarteng — who has since been sacked as Chancellor — was being reckless with the UK economy.

Mr Kwarteng set out his ‘Growth Plan’ on the 23rd of September which included huge tax cuts in all wage brackets as well as the cancellation of a rise in corporation tax, the reversal of the rise in National Insurance and, perhaps most poignantly in terms of political optics, the abolition of the 45 per cent higher rate of income tax. An increase to bankers’ bonuses, a freeze on energy bills and the setting-up of investment zones were also included.

In the days that followed the an nouncement, the Bank of England intervened with a £65 billion bond-

buying programme after pension funds faced the threat of insolvency.

The Guardian reported that UK Gov ernment bonds rose from 3.5 per cent to 4.3 per cent with the Bank of England’s announcement bring ing it back down to 4.05 per cent.

In essence, when the UK Govern ment bonds rise that means inves tors are less willing to own the debt.

The pound became historically weak following the ‘mini-budget’, with the pound trading as low as $1.035 according to the Financial Times . Sterling suffered significantly with global traders lacking faith in the UK economy, especially fol lowing a damaging OBR forecast.

decessor. The U-turn on a huge element of her government’s in augural economic announcement cer tainly does not reflect that attribute.

The PM knows the Conservative Party does not want another leader ship election, with the credibility of the party already very low. Although, she will be acutely aware of how small her personal mandate is, with her own MPs voting in favour of Sunak. Inci dentally, the former Chancellor spoke directly about the dangers of huge tax cuts during the leadership debate.

Politically, Liz Truss and her gov ernment faced immense backlash. Per ception matters in politics and a tax break for the highest earners during a cost-of-living crisis felt untimely. Such was the reaction, as the Conserva tive Party Conference began, Kwasi Kwarteng announced a U-turn on the 45p top rate tax cut, and stated that this policy would not be going ahead. Liz Truss has been known as a conviction politician, a claim which suggested she would gov ern with more clarity than her pre

For now, a further change in lead ership seems unlikely albeit not impos sible. Another Tory leadership contest would more than likely trigger a Gen eral Election due to constant political instability. With Keir Starmer’s Labour averaging 25 points more than Con servatives in polls, the Tories do not want this. Truss must settle in to her role, applying the aptitude and deliv ery that was somewhat evident in her Party Conference headline speech.

Truss will hope for calmer weeks and months ahead. After 12 years of Conservative governments, there is not much leeway. She will therefore have to be more politically savvy and com pelling if she wishes to be successful.

Amy Rushton, News Editor, looks at Oxbridge admissions and disadvantaged students Class, state schools, and the CAAT

Harry McPhail analyses the state of Liz Truss’s new government, whether it can go on, and what that might look like

Truss in trouble

Students are now faced with a mad rush to decide whether to apply

The pound became his torically weak following the ‘mini-budget’

A further change in leadership seems unlikely albeit not impossible

Many poorer students face imposter syndrome

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng with the Office for Budget Responsibility. Image: HM Treasury, Flickr.

Image: Graham Hogg, Wikimedia Commons

Comment

Mitigation matters

COMMENT EDITORS

CONNOR GODDARD & ANABEL COSTA-FERREIRA

Anabel Costa-Ferreira, Comment Editor, gives her take on the University’s new mitigation policy

AS the pandemic begins to turn (for many of us) into a faint memory, it appears that so have the past restrictions for learning. With the shift to inperson learning at many universities, access to online classes, and even the reopening of the ‘Lemmy’ club — Exeter are making sure to review and revise policies made amid the pandemic to ensure they are relevant in the current academic year.

Exeter are making sure to review and revise policies made amid the pandemic

Focusing on a more divisive matter self-certified extensions have been notably cut from the original 7 day period to 3 days. In an email (to the entirety of the student body) this specific change in policy was discussed and justified as ‘a result of staff and student feedback, and

by analysis of student performance in assessments.’ It is interesting to note that despite this mutual decision between the staff and student body, many are worried about what this change means for their studies and how much pressure they will face when the deadline season approaches.

To summarise the changes outlined: the self-certification period is now 72 hours, evidence-based mitigation can provide an extension up to two weeks (or three in more severe cases), financial reasons is now on the mitigation dropdown menu, those with ILPs keep unlimited self-certifications and finally, ILPs (individual learning plans) can be used as justification for requesting up to two weeks.

While one may argue that this encourages students to stick to deadlines more and organise their time, there are many underlying issues with this change. Though the addition of financial reasons

and pre-existing considerations for extenuating circumstances remain in place, there is a multitude of factors that impact a student’s ability to complete work that cannot be controlled. It may sound trivial but with the intense cycle of degree-level work, many are not a stranger to getting writer’s block.

This sort of struggle to start an essay or difficulty to complete it does not necessarily stem from a lack of effort or pre-reading, it can often be the result of perfectionism and imposter syndrome when you feel like each sentence is unsatisfactory and that you can do better. Yes, there is no disputing the University has endless educational support outlets from tutor office hours to study zone sessions and even Royal Literary Fund fellows who can help proofread — but giving students the week extension instead also gives them more time to access support, therefore reducing their anxieties

surrounding their assignments. Furthermore, students cannot help if their timetables or chosen modules have clashing deadlines which means two heavily weighted assignments are due within a day of each other. I for one can understand the fluctuating and sometimes unpredictable workload, as even in recent weeks I have seen the required reading go from almost 500 pages a week to 100 the next.

However, if we were to take a more optimistic view of this change, we might note the positive impact this change has on the Staff Timely Feedback policy. To ensure a student gets their paper marked in a timely fashion the more we can stick to a deadline the better. Another crucial factor to highlight is that in retaining the week-long extensions, we are hindering students who hand in papers early/on time as lecturers are unable to release answers or return summative work until each

How important are lectures?

Elen Johnston discusses the pros and cons of going to or missing lectures

BEFORE the pandemic it was the protocol for your lecturer to inform you that in order to get the most out of your studies you must attend lectures in person. However, once the pandemic hit all universities were forced to move to online learning and lecturers and universities found themselves in a tricky situation: They had to convince students that they were getting the same value of education through online learning and inform students that they will not be getting reduced tuition fees. Most of us can agree that while the circumstances were understandable this was not the case.

Online I might miss out on participating in lecture discussions

Online teaching has made many of us reconsider if it is important to go to lectures. I believe there isn’t a simple answer. Experiencing learning remotely has made several pros and cons clear that lecturers may not have considered prior to

the pandemic. Online learning can be more accessible for people that struggle to get to campus, need to study from outside of Exeter, and have other disabilities. Personally, I have ADHD and I find it easier to watch my economics lectures from a quiet room at 1.5 times the speed. However, I prefer to attend my philosophy lectures in person as they involve more discussion and debate. If I watched my philosophy lectures online I might miss out

on participating in the lecture discussions. However, even this is dependent on the University’s approach to online learning.

While studying at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome, Italy last year, I spent six months studying remotely from Edinburgh and six months in person in Italy.

Luiss Guido Carli did not simply upload recordings of the lectures online. They used Webex to allow students to join a call directly to

the lecture theatre, allowing me to participate in class discussions in Italy remotely from Edinburgh, Scotland. This hybrid approach to learning in person and remotely was standard at Luiss Guido Carli, and their implementation of technology allowed students not to miss out on discussion and debate when studying remotely.

Now that the university campus is open and lectures are being held in person again, I do enjoy attending

student has completed their work.

While at the current moment we can only wait to see how this change in policy will affect students (and subsequently their results) we must remember that change is not always the easiest to grasp and that support is easily accessible should you need to use it.

them; it feels like a core part of the university experience that I have missed out on after two years of the pandemic. Studying remotely is convenient, accessible, and effective (with the right technology) but it can be lonely. Returning to campus and seeing your lecturers and other students in-person is something I value a lot after being limited to studying in my room.

However, universities should keep the option of hybrid learning open because the claim made by lecturers prior to 2020 that you can’t learn effectively by watching lectures at home is simply outdated and inaccessible to many students. This way as students we can decide ourselves when we should go to lectures in person and when we need to watch them from home.

Image: Magharebia, Flickr

We might note the positive impact this change has on the Staff Timely Feedback policy

Image: Dave Morris, Flickr

Attending them in person, it feels like a core part of the university experience

TP’s ticket chaos

These ticket rules are unfair to the rest of students

TIMEPIECE (TP) on the 29th of September an nounced changes to their TP Wednesday ticketing systems. In the new system only one ticket can be purchased per person, no ticket trans fers would be allowed, and no screen shots would be accepted. TP further said that the AU would be advised of ticket release times and the AU can pass the message onto club captains.

While this measure can temporar ily solve the issue of people buying a bunch of tickets together and selling them for inflated prices on Overheard, it raises several other issues and takes away the opportunity for a spontane ous night out with friends. Remov ing FIXR ticket transfers means that anybody who did not manage to get a ticket will simply not be able to go out. Most of the time when students de cide to go clubbing is the day off and ticket transfers and screenshots allow them to have the chance for a night out without planning weeks in advance. TP Wednesday tickets usually sell out with in minutes of their release, not giving everyone the appropriate amount of time to get them and plan a night out.

Another issue these new measures

for the person buying the ticket.

Finally, the biggest concern that these new measures raises is that if TP is informing the AU of ticket re lease times, then the sports teams have an unfair advantage of getting Wednesday tickets and it creates a culture of TP being ‘reserved’ for sports societies on a Wednesday, and it may discourage others from go ing to TP on a Wednesday. With the tickets selling out within minutes of release, having all AU clubs know ing of the release time in advance will lead to only sports societies and their members being able to go out.

raise is the fact that if someone can not make it to TP on the day off, they cannot sell their ticket, and it goes to waste. With demand for Wednes day tickets being so high, wasting tickets doesn’t make financial sense

The intentions behind TP’s change to the ticketing systems are good, and in theory they stop the inflated prices of said tickets on Overheard. But this sys tem creates a whole other realm of issues.

A potential solution for this is sue is for TP to allow buyers to get a refund on their tickets within a given period, and then sell them again on FIXR — this would give people a fair chance to buy tickets closer to the date and not have to pay ridiculous amounts for the originally £2 ticket.

Ayusha Pandey

These rules will help to solve inflated resell prices

TIMEPIECE (TP) is known as Exeter’s #1 nighttime venue. For generations, TP Wednes days have been a defining feature of the Exeter University experience. In an age of social, cultural and eco nomic unrest — particularly with the current cost of liv ing crisis — it’s upsetting to see that such a heavy price tag is now fixed to this student rite of passage.

Whilst TP tickets are originally sold via FIXR for just £2, they have be come so desperately sought after that they often sell out within seconds before reselling online for up to £80. Although I am personally not much of a clubber, I watch weekly from a distance as the brutal scramble battle for TP Wednes day tickets unfolds, with students practically throwing their entire stu dent loans at strangers on Overheard to secure themselves a golden ticket. There simply seems to be too much demand, and not enough supply in the way of physical space at the club.

acknowledge that TP Wednesdays were originally meant as a night for sports societies. I would also urge you to con sider the eyewatering and ever-inflating price of memberships for these soci eties — surely, it’s only fair that AU members get some small perks from the extortionate membership fees they pay at the beginning of the year?

In order to tackle the ticket crisis and “put a stop to unfairly inflated re sale”, TP have announced that they will be trialing some new rules regarding their sales. Proposed changes include advising AU club captains exclusively of release times so that their members have priority in securing tickets. Whilst some feel that this is unfair, one must

Exeter’s renting rat race starts up again

Other rules being trialed include the banning of ‘screen shot tick ets’ and the enforcement of the x1 ticket per transaction rule. This es sentially means that a ticket is only valid for the person who bought it. I think these are also positive changes, as they will stop resellers mass buy ing tickets to make a criminal profit. Furthermore, the screenshot ban means that fewer people are likely to be swindled out of their money on line. The scamming has become such an issue that the Overheard page has a dedicated wall of shame for offend ing profiles, with one user comment ing that they “feel like a silly fresher [for] being scammed” and another saying that they “have been left with no valid tickets to enjoy [their] night” after being bamboozled by a fraudster. All in all, I think this is a step in the right direction towards mak ing nights out in Exeter fun again and not a stressful, disappoint ing gamble. Will the new rules work? Only time (piece) will tell.

Carden Cappi discusses the scramble for student housing in Exeter almost a year in advance

THROUGHOUT my almost three years at university, I have had great experiences. However, sort ing out housing has definitely not been one of them and has been an issue on my mind ever since being an innocent fresher back in 2020 and finding out I was expected to sort out my living situation for year two when I had barely even started year one.

While sorting it early has the benefit of not having to think about it for the rest of the year, having to find a place to live this early on is extremely stressful. Whether it is feeling pressured by letting

agencies, proprietors, and talk at univer sity to quickly agree to a contract due to high competition, to having to know who you want to live with for an entire year after barely having one month to meet people, it is the perfect recipe for poten tial disaster, house-wise and social-wise.

And if you think this isn’t bad enough, you have to invest considerable time in find ing a place and going to viewings on top of your studies with deadlines approach ing faster than you can possibly deal with.

There are a million and one re sources provided by the University and

along with word of mouth there just sim ply aren’t enough houses to go round. Also, the fact that Exeter students ex pect houses to go early means that in October-December there is a mad rush for housing and none left afterwards.

The situation cannot go on like this and people should stop panick ing at the start of the academic year as they are only worsening the problem.

For more resources on housing go to: https://www.exeterguild.com/movesmart

Manon Martini

Ayusha Pandey and Manon Martini discuss TP’s new ticket rules in response to inflated resell prices

It may discourage others from going to TP on a Wednesday

It ... takes away the opportunity for a spontaneous night out with friends

They will stop resellers buying mass tickets for a criminal profit

It’s only fair that AU members get some small perks

Image: Derek Harper, Wikimedia Commons

Image: University of Exeter Sport

Image: University of Exeter

Satire

Runner Up (that Forum Hill)

THE results are in and we have done it. After many long hours and a lot of hard graft, the University of Exeter is pleased to an nounce that it has won 2nd place in The Times Good University Ranking 2022.

As soon as the announcement was made, celebrations among students began immediately. That evening, po lice reported a large number of stu dents chanting “we’re number two” late into the night down Sidwell Street.

Vice Chancellor Lisa Roberts was quick to announce that there would be seven days of celebration taking place in the University, culminating in a grand ceremony with the presentation of the runner-up trophy; which would be displayed amongst the University’s other great achievements, such as most mullets gathered in one place and longest Pret queue outside of London.

Students will also be encour aged to wear silver medals to all lec tures and seminars for the rest of the year to mark this achievement.

When asked if the celebrations were a tad over the top, a University spokesperson said, “this is as big an achievement as England coming run ners up in the Euros last summer” and that “we still have a lot more planned to celebrate this momentous achieve ment. After all, the 1st place went to Imperial, and that’s just a 10 minute walk from campus, so as far as I’m con cerned it’s a double win for Exeter!”

Toby Brisley

EDITOR: Cleo Gravett

Vice Chancellor advises jacket potatoes and fewer showers during cost of living crisis

Manon Martini

AS calls for tuition fee reim bursement, following on from the pandemic continue to fall on deaf ears, the Vice Chan cellor has taken the opportunity to offer some words of unprecedented wisdom and guidance in response to the current cost of living crisis.

While many students agree that paying £9,250 a year to teach them selves a Bachelor’s degree in their bedrooms is a very fair and reason able price, the ever-inflating cost of food and rent is making it increas ingly difficult to make ends meet.

The University acknowledged their student’s struggles in an email last week, advising that if we stop clubbing, shower less, and buy their new Forum Kitchen super-duper saver jacket potato for £2.99 (£4 if you want beans), we’ll all be fine!

Thanks to this advice, many stu dents are now completely free of debt and can focus solely on their studies.

One student told Exeposé : “I smell aw ful and am deficient in most essen tial vitamins but I’ve never felt more financially stable.” Another student told us, “The advice phonelines were

a godsend. They told me just to get a job — who’d have thought!”

While reductions to fees and in creases in maintenace loans are still yet to be considered, the University have instead launched their course in ‘Resilience Management’ — an op portunity to reflect on whether or not you’re hardcore enough for poverty.

iExeter on strike

Mitigation period changed to 72 hours, or “24 if you’re ‘ard”

THIS morning, a union spokes person announced that iEx eter will be the latest union to announce strike action, following a growing trend of UK workers voting to walk out as the cost-of-living crisis bites. The mobile app created by the University of Exeter acts as a digital hub for students navigating university resources. The app has received wide acclaim at the university and it will sure ly be a heavy loss when it goes offline.

“It’s absolutely rubbish” said one undergraduate, “I don’t think it’s been updated since 2006”.

The developers released their lat est update on October 4th, which

took 4 days. The developers com mended the ease of strike action in the UK, “voting for strike ac tion was really easy, there’s only two of us working here so it didn’t take much”. The union voted 100% in fa vour. When asked about the motive for the strike, the developers blamed students. “Students are paying £9,250 a year for this app, which just isn’t enough when you consider the num ber of trust fund kids on campus”.

It seems as though most stu dents aren’t worried about the strike.

Undergraduate student Tilly had ac tually never heard of iExeter, and when asked for comment by Ex eposé , asked if it was a TP theme.

IT seems that students cam pus-wide are pleased to hear that the weak and fee ble mitigation system has finally been changed to the much more morally superior and academi cally stringent 72-hour method.

As students cheer the longawaited reform to mitigation, transforming the bulky and un necessary week-long delays to the much easier and bite-sized three-day version, Exeposé wanted to find out the reaction to this highly popular change in policy.

Our correspondent first inter viewed third-year politics student Gary Ardman, who was more than eager to air his thoughts on this recent change. “I am quite simply elated that the administration has at long last implemented this critical reform”, according to Mr Ardman.

“As someone who has turned up

to every single lecture, every single seminar and every single office hour possible (in the front row no less), I think it’s about time that these use less part-time students who have so-called ‘jobs’, or ‘private lives’, or apparently even ‘personal problems’ are shown how real-life works. After all, if you can’t balance four 3000word essays a term, weekend rugby fixtures and bi-weekly croquet tour naments, how can you truly expect to keep up in the outside world?”

Our correspondent then inter viewed a first-year student, who chose to remain anonymous, and who expressed concerns about how they would be able to balance their academic and personal lives. How ever, upon overhearing this inter view, Mr Ardman interrupted us and gently guided the first-year behind the bike stands on Forum Hill. Af ter reaching out to the first-year stu dent later in the day, they refused to partake further in our investigation.

Charlie Gershinson

Ben Alderson

This is as big an achievement as England coming runners up in the Euros last summer”

Images Flickr,

lifestyle

Exeter in-style?

Amélie Thompson talks about the impact of social media on fashion trends, particularly here in Exeter

FASHION is an ever-changing concept and from year to year, its evolution can be seen. The influence that TikTok has had on fashion around the campus cannot be overlooked, although it can also be confus ing, with the rise of contrasting trends like the androgynous and utilitarian ‘gorpcore’ com pared to the feminine and intricate ‘coquette’.

in 2019. Now, it is rivalling the dominance of the high-waist, although this remains divided for now — whilst some have welcomed the resurgence of the y2k staple, others firmly re main in support of their high-waisted jeans.

A few years ago, dominant trends included the ‘VSCO girl’, yet now, it is rare to see people donning shell necklaces and several scrunch ies. Even after a summer away, the impact that the app has on style can be seen around Ex eter. Items such as parachute trousers would have been seen as unusual and a statement, yet now are being worn and styled in a vari ety of ways, undoubtedly thanks to the inspi ration of the thousands of videos that feature them. The revival of low-waisted jeans would have been a concept completely foreign even

Yet, as some things change, others remain the same. There are some items that eve ryone will pass by in Exeter almost daily, or even own themselves. As soon as the tem perature drops, North Face puffers make an appearance again, most commonly in black, although blue, brown and purple are some of the other colours that feature on this well-loved jacket. The Nike Air Force Ones are also a classic that has sustained over several years, with their versatility lending itself to a plethora of outfits, and their com fort meaning that they become more and more popular as they are worn on nights out.

cieties and sports clubs is another constant, whether it be quarter-zips, hoodies or t-shirts. Trends change, but it is also important to note that personal fashion should not always have to be dictated by them. The rate at which cer tain items enter and leave what is deemed ‘cool’ results in microtrends, and clothes be coming unfashionable only months after they

are bought. So, although it is fun to sometimes follow what is popular, generally it is better not to buy into the latest changes immediately and over-consume to the point where clothes go to waste. Fashion can adapt throughout the years but keeping some staple pieces can be good for your wallet and the planet.

The merchandise (‘stash’) of Exeter’s so

First impressions

Lifestyle writers talk about their feelings towards university, a few weeks into lectures

THE start of university is both daunting and exciting, no matter what year group you are in. As a second year student, I under stood that this year would be a lot different to first year. Firstly, moving into a student house with some of my closest friends made me feel far more comfortable than I was living with my first year flat mates last year. The concept of living in a house is much more enjoy able and we have a lot more freedom. Although, living in a student house does come with increasingly scary bills and rent which forever remind us that we actually have to 'adult' sometimes. Workwise, sec ond year is more stressful than first year. As long as you can pass your first year, you didn’t have to worry too much about your work ethic, especially as your first year grades don’t go towards your final degree. However, in second year, you find yourself having a lot more late-night study sessions in the library as your grades now count. Even though it is important to do your coursework, being in second year or above should not stop you from trying a new society. I unfortunately haven’t had the time to try something new yet, but I’m busy with Exeposé So far, I’ve found myself trying to do as much of my reading before my seminars as possible as well as juggling being on the senior team of Exeposé and trying to have a social life. Even though I’m currently drowning in work that I have to do for my course, I’m thoroughly en joying doing my readings, mostly as the modules for my course this year are optional, so I chose modules that captured my interest. From what I experienced in my first year, I know that it takes a few weeks to settle into university life again and to get used to the workload. I am confident that I will eventually find a good balance and rhythm within my university life, even if it might take me a little while to get there.

Livvy Mason-Myhill, Deputy Editor

THE unlimited opportunity to socialise in Freshers' Week tran sitioning into a seemingly bottomless pit of reading is some thing that all freshers have faced recently. Despite this un known frontier, the best connections I’ve made with people have come from these sometimes annoyingly scheduled lectures and seminars; students here have a real sense of enthusiasm and energy that has often given me the extra boost needed. Asking somebody where they’re from and what they’re studying will never get old for me. Nor will the opportunity of learning and discussing ideas in a completely new and greatly exciting way. The forum of ideas and ex periences is the real benefit of studying at university as I view it so far.

Furthermore, introducing myself to societies I picked from Fresh ers Fair let me more confidently make friendships. Commentating as part of the TNS team of Xpressions FM on a typically exhilarat ing Champions League night was a new experience that I wouldn’t have dreamt of; I’ve never felt more at ease whilst trying to si multaneously guess Portuguese pronunciations and spot player names from a team I’ve never watched before. Nor would I have thought I could write for this newspaper; this article should be one of many that I aim to write over my studies here. Add in the run-around provided by Benchball society that gave me an hour of exercise, my initial experience here at Exeter has been enriched by societies, providing balance between studies and socialising. No better time to study PPE than a period of great politi cal and economic change (effects of this change notwithstand ing) — no better place to be, given my brief experience here.

Joseph Terry

IAM fully convinced that there is nothing quite as humbling as your first few weeks at university. From googling how to cook a jacket potato to how to do laundry for the first time…and that’s before you start on the academics! Seeing your parents drive off, the thrill of independence and new beginnings overcomes the first week. Then comes the (far from) basic art of survival, making friends, the dreaded freshers’ flu and the actual work. Finally it starts to sink in that this isn’t the same as any strange residential trip you may have had in year 7 — you’re not being picked up anytime soon. You’re crammed into this strange flat with three fridges, an abundance of cupboard space,10 bottles of washing up liquid and completely new people and expected to start a new life. It’s definitely a make-or-break situation, and I’ve been very fortunate. Coming to university I enjoyed a few drinks with some friends, but wasn’t very keen on going out. I think before you start, the university student stereotype can be quite overwhelm ing for some people (or at least it was for my flatmates and me). Fortunately, we get on extremely well — the first few days were full of game nights, celebrating birthdays, trips to Spoons, trying out local takeaways and exploring Exeter and its surroundings. From the get-go, there was absolutely no pressure to go out club bing, which was so reassuring for me. More than anything, I didn’t expect to make such strong friendships within a few weeks; I feel like my flatmates know as much about me as my close friends and family at home! I might come to regret that later…but I know that I can rely on them for anything; they genuinely already feel like a second family and I can’t wait to spend this year with them.

Annabel Jeffery

Image: Syahdannugraha Pixabay

THE NIKE AIR FORCE ONES ARE A CLASSIC

THE INFLUENCE THAT TIKTOK HAS HAD... CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED

Sunset Society: The new place to go?

Maximus Woodle discusses his recent experience at Pura Vida's sister café

SUNSET Society, the recently opened younger sister of Pura Vida, has drawn in the student crowds, with its inviting cosy décor and friendly staff. It’s rare to walk past the large street-fac ing windows and not see a student sit ting with their laptop out, coffee in hand.

time visit. Walking into the venue with two friends of mine, felt like arriving at a house party where you don’t know anyone, but the people there seem friendly enough.

coming in at a price of £8. The toppings were sparse, the same being said of my friend’s caramelised onion and chorizo pizza, but what was there was good.

makes for a nice way to catch up with friends or a change of scenery for a house night out.

Thursdays and Fridays play host to a pizza night, the perfect opportunity for my first

We traversed the three dimly-lit rooms and the back garden, a table out there for those brave enough to brace against the cold. The back-house kitchen and be hind the bar area were easily accessible to those walking aimlessly, but this contrib uted to the thrill of the unknown house party vibe, exploring the unrestricted and turning on your heels at the forbidden.

I ordered a bacon and mushroom pizza,

Live music was mellowly played in the room next to us but without any singing (thankfully) which would’ve overpowered the small café. Coupled with the cheap alcohol, pizza night

However, Sunset Society shines dur ing the day: their baked croissant French toast, topped with fruit and syrup, was sublime and neatly complemented by a perfectly adequate hot chocolate. Lap top in front of me, I was able to pass a few studious hours with pleasant ease.

I will be returning to Sunset Society soon, thirsty for knowledge and hungry for more.

WHETHER the season’s plans con sist of hosting a Halloween house party, going pumpkin picking, heading to Move for their Hallow een rave, or just making the most of the Pumpkin Spiced Latte season, a spooky time doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg.

ever, with Brits spending up to as much as half a billion pounds on all things Hal loween in 2018, it’s no wonder that some people are put off. But, where to start?

Now that Halloween has become one of the most celebrated days amongst teen agers and young adults, you would be missing out to let this day pass by. How

For most, the quick delivery and price comparison benefits of Amazon Prime takes the lead in the sales of Halloween dress and decoration. Especially if hosting a house party, items like banners, lanterns and fairy lights can work really well, and don’t require much effort in assembling and DIY skills (luckily!). Aside from this, B&M or The Range have a large selection to choose from. Sur prisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, the mid dle aisles of Aldi have a lot to offer too, and there's even more online. From fancy dress and face paints to Halloween crackers and light projectors all for under £10, your stu dent loan won’t be taking too much of a hit.

In terms of seasonal events, a top hit for a house trip is a visit to Darts Farm in Top

sham for a particularly wholesome after noon spent pumpkin picking. Prices are dependent on the size of the pumpkin that you pick, so if trying to stay on a budget, maybe steer away from the biggest! A carv ing competition with friends never goes amiss, but if you’re really not looking to spend too much money, and are in it more for the experience, it can be a good idea to buy a communal pumpkin! Opening dates for pumpkin picking at Darts Farm run from October 19th to October 31st, 10:00 – 16:30.

Or, if you’d rather have a boogie, Move nightclub are hosting their Halloween Rave extravaganza on Saturday 29th Oc tober. With last year’s event being a sellout and one of the most affordable op tions, there is no doubt that this year it will be just as popular, so make sure to buy tickets as much as possible in advance.

Pippa Bourne, Lifestyle Editor, talks about her advice for keeping 'Spooky Season' affordable Spooky Season on a budget

A SPOOKY TIME DOESN'T NEED TO COST AN ARM AND A LEG

THURSDAYS AND FRIDAYS PLAY HOST TO A PIZZA NIGHT, THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITYINVITING, COSY DECOR AND FRIENDLY STAFF

Image: Englishmum, Pixabay

Images: Sunset Society

Image: Pixaoppa, PIxabay

B&M OR THE RANGE HAVE A LARGE SELECTION TO CHOOSE FROM

arts + lit

What about those voices we forget?

Arts and Lit writers discuss their favourite forgotten voices of culture

Ken Saro-Wiwa

THE English literary canon is undeniably Eurocentric, erasing from history the voices and stories of those in the periphery. Ken Saro -Wiwa, an African writer and activist, was one of many authors who has worked in opposition to this silencing.

As a member of the Ogoni tribe in Nigeria, his private life was characterised by systematic oppression, racism, and violence under both capitalism and neo-colonial rule. Thus, on the one hand, his diary A Month and a Day & Letters sheds light on his harrowing and deeply personal experiences in prison, after fighting for political and environmental justice following the displacement of Ogoni people and the destruction of their land by multinational oil corporations. However, on the other, it acts as a medium of representation and expression for the rest of the Ogoni tribe, who simply do not have the means to speak out against such dominant powers. This powerful literary critique is not all doom and gloom — it is also an account of power and resistance, a celebration of culture and community.

In reading the likes of SaroWiwa’s work, beyond the Western canon, we can challenge this form of epistemic violence, taking it upon ourselves to learn about the lives of those who have been deemed unworthy of representation.

Likewise, publishing houses such as Penguin should be making a more conscious effort to include such forgotten voices. Some progress has been made, for instance, with the publishing of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , but there is still much more to be done.

Lottie Woods

Halldór Laxness

AMAGICIAN with words who weaves miracles out of Icelandic folklore, socialism, and the purity in human pathos. This is a writer who has been constantly rediscovered and forgotten about in history, though always remembered in the minds of those that have read his work.

Halldór Laxness’most famous work, Independent People, is a richly detailed understanding of the human spirit centred on the will of a farmer who renames himself Bjartur of Summerhouses, after buying the wretched farm following 18 years of servitude. No obstacle, divine or mortal, shall come between him and his independence, even if it means the destitution of his family in the journey towards keeping it.

Yet, at the centre of all this is a lyrical beauty unmatched in Nordic, nay, world literature. The most famous inheritor of an Icelandic literary tradition which is clad in the illustrious sagas of Snori Sturluson, his work reaches deep into the psyche of his home country and reveals the subtle crimples and imperfections of the human condition. Thus, it is no wonder that when Brad Leithauser published an essay on Independent People in The New York Review of Books calling it “the book of your life”, it sparked a revival of interest in the writer. Despite this, his work has been widely read, then not at all, then someone who reads it writes an article saying how utterly glorious and life defining his work is and the cycle begins again.

Joshua Smith

Sappho

IN one way, it is contradictory to talk about Sappho, the Ancient Greek poet, as a forgotten voice. Anyone who knows about Sappho knows that her work has been talked about for centuries on end, making her one of the most prolific female poets in history, despite hardly any of her poems remaining in their entirety.

What’s interesting with viewing Sappho as a ‘forgotten voice’ then, is how we fill in the gaps in the absence of textual completeness, and also how we read this incompleteness itself. Sappho’s poetry almost solely remains in fragments, and debates have raged on for centuries about Sappho’s sexuality. She is a lesbian icon in the modern day the origins of the words ‘lesbian’ and ‘sapphic’ are connected to her and home in Lesbos. But with little biographical evidence, comes much speculation.

In Classical Greek culture, Sappho was seen as oversexed, but her sexually was perceived as being directed towards men, while in the 19th and 20th centuries, critics frantically attempted to shut down speculation about Sappho’s attraction to women. They overcompensated, by repeatedly emphasising that the language of ‘love’ expressed towards women in her poetry was platonic. The fact is, Sappho’s writing about women was worthy of queer analysis, even though we will never truly know her sexuality. It was then, and still is today.

Alternatively, critics nowadays can lean close to seeming to ‘confirm’ Sappho’s sexuality and attraction to women. Sappho is a bold lesbian icon, and the queer symbolism derived from her history should never be destroyed. But by removing uncertainty from her incomplete body of work, we also end up losing some of the queerness of Sappho’s writing, and a little of its beauty. As Daniel Mendelsohn of The New Yorker says: ‘The very incompleteness of the verses can heighten the starkness of the emotions.’ Sappho will always be tied with queer and lesbian symbolism. But something about her incomplete laments, and pining voice from the past, are at their best when they are left to trail off just before their completion.

Megan Ballantyne

Libraries: Just for books?

ARECENT Guardian article proposes the transformation of local libraries into ‘warm banks’ in order to offer shelter to those suffering through the first winter of the cost of living crisis. The current crisis has meant that many families will struggle to afford to heat their homes, an issue which will worsen as temperatures drop. Chief Executive of Libraries Connected, a charity dedicated to improving the quality and functioning of libraries, Isobel Hunter, states that libraries are “ideally placed to help those most affected by the cost of living crisis this winter” as they are “warm, free and accessible spaces.” Consequently, they are proposing to introduce the following: providing extra recreational services such as games and crafts, serving hot drinks and installing extra desks and comfortable chairs to increase their capacity. This will provide a place of warmth and comfort for the most vulnerable members of society.

However, although 61 per cent of libraries who responded to a survey put forth by Libraries Connected are planning to provide additional activities, only four per cent of library leaders are expecting any extra funding from the government. In this way, although the work of libraries is undoubtably an altruistic one, it somewhat alleviates the government’s social responsibility, as now they are able to rely on the good nature of ordinary people as opposed to creating new policies to protect those at risk. This is in spite of the fact that Hunter states that a ‘relatively small investment… could have a huge impact’. This is because all of the hard work has already been done — libraries are already well located, well connected and spacious enough to be an ideal location.

However, the government’s refusal to provide any form of financial aid to this scheme shows their utter apathy towards those who will struggle during the winter months.

Furthermore, these proposed changes will also alter the very nature of libraries and their uses. Libraries typically act as a safe haven where readers can peacefully browse or sit and read at their leisure. Will this, then, be disrupted by the proposed changes? Some may argue that by building upon the social function of libraries, the fundamental purpose may be slightly thwarted. This is because the sense of escapism may be lost if libraries focus all of their attention on providing a place of refuge.

THESE PROPOSED CHANGES WILL ALTER THE VERY NATURE OF LIBRARIES

However, libraries themselves have always yearned to help those most in need in society since they have been established.

The very nature of providing books for free, as well as more recently providing computers with internet access, displays a clear purpose of improving education inequality by increasing accessibility. Therefore, how far are libraries really deviating from their original purpose? Perhaps it is better to say they are merely developing something which has always been integral to their function.

Although, whatever help can be provided by libraries during this time cannot be long term. As the cost of living crisis ensues, the number of vulnerable people will increase, and libraries alone will not be sufficient to counteract all of the problems. Therefore, although this charitable act is beneficial in the short-term, the only way to truly protect those most at risk is for the government to get directly involved via funding and policy changes to provide sufficient protection for those who need it most as opposed to relying on acts of charity from local public institutions.

Madison Sohngen explores how libraries might need to help out during the cost of living crisis

Joshua Smith, Arts and Lit Editor, explores Lucian Freud’s new exhibition at the National Gallery Freud, exposed

WHAT are we to say about Lucian Freud? Lucian Freud, the “Ingres of Existentialism” writes Herbert Read in 1951 — and he is correct. It is hard to place him, to view him in one specific time or place, yet it is so enticing to try and derive your own personal meaning from his work, to ponder for ages on each of his brushstrokes. Yet an individualising factor is a necessity for this existentialist soul pervading his works

as a collection, and in this case it is the body. The body is the centrepiece by which a collective significance can be derived from Freud. It is the main thing utilised to signify an ideology behind his work. Freud has always been concerned with the representation of anatomy,

analysing his figures with great subtlety, which is the least you’d expect from the grandson of Sigmund. At the National Gallery you see this preoccupation laid bare, literally and figuratively, with a deliberate lack of information placards forcing you to be confronted with

Speak, childhood

the artist as the artist, no strings attached. The work on display is a diverse array of works from across 65 private collections, including the infamous portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, said to have ‘brought court painting into the 21st century.’ What you end up confronting is one of the most volatile artists of the 20th century, stripped, 50 years after he himself walked around the gallery freely observing all the masters who came before him.

Annabelle Law explores the books which meant the most to her as a child

WHAT makes a good story for children? The answer is an experienced writer, and when it comes to authorial experience, Jacqueline Wilson is like no other. Wilson was the first author who sparked my absolute love for reading, but it was the different settings and backgrounds the children came from that made me, even at a young age, see the issues other children would be struggling with. From neglect, grief, eating disorders, divorce, grooming, there was no topic Wilson would

not touch. Though at the time I wasn’t going through any of the problems the children in her stories were facing, I still felt I could relate to them in imagining what I would do in their situation, and it gave me a new perspective.

One of her most famous works that stands out to me is My Sister Jodie, quite a daunting read in its content, with the rebellious Jodie falling out of a window at the end and breaking her neck, leaving her sister Pearl and her family to deal with the grief of her death. I remember Jodie as such a fun and

vivid character and reading it for the first time, felt her defiant nature throughout the novel. My Sister Jodie also tackles grooming and underage relationships, with a 14-year-old Jodie and a 19-year-old Jed, who are attracted to one another despite their five-year age gap.

Another work of Wilson’s is Lily Alone, which tackles child neglect head on. The young Lily must take care of her younger siblings when their mother abruptly decides to go on holiday with her new boyfriend, leaving the children to fend for themselves. We see

All the world’s a stage

UPON going to see a theatre show, most people would imagine going to, well, a theatre. However, that is no longer necessarily the case. In recent years, filmed versions of stage productions are becoming more and more popular for example the release of Hamilton on Disney+ in 2020, or the recent release of Heathers on the Roku Channel. And even outside of streaming services, filmed productions are beginning to take hold: National Theatre Live’s broadcast of Prima Facie starring Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer is the highest grossing cinema release since cinema closures in March 2020.

One of the primary arguments against such productions is that they stop audiences from going to the theatre to see the show in person, and therefore the actors, the creators and the theatre lose money. While this may be true in some cases, in my opinion it is still better than the alternative that many (particularly young) people interested in

theatre will turn to: bootlegs. That is, illegal recordings of productions, often posted on YouTube, from which no one profits.

Additionally, many filmed productions are not released until a significant amount of time has passed since the success of the original show, in order to allow the live show to make as much money as possible. Take, for example, Hamilton . The show opened to critical acclaim in 2015, and a filmed production was made in 2016, but the film didn’t come out until 2020. The week that Hamilton was

released, downloads of Disney+ increased by 72 per cent, thus showing that there is a huge audience for filmed stage shows. I also think that the belief that many people would not see a live show just because they have seen a filmed version of it, is false.

The atmosphere and experience of seeing a show live is so unique and so different to watching what is essentially just a film. This is exemplified by the boom in ticket sales experienced by Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera , when the show announced its closing after a 35-year run.

Lily who, although well trained in the role of mother for her siblings, is still a child herself and is terrified of being put into care. Lily does everything in her power to avoid a life in care, but ultimately the circumstance she is in is discovered. There will never be another writer like Jacqueline Wilson — she made stories for all children, but especially for children who were struggling. I can imagine that she made those children experiencing difficult situations feel a lot less alone in the world, but her books are for everyone.

An undoubtedly positive outcome of these filmed productions is that they allow theatre to become more accessible to a wider audience. Fans who, otherwise, would have to travel a long way (unless they are lucky enough to live in London or New York) and pay exorbitant prices for tickets and travel, are now able to see shows for relatively cheap prices. In comparison, if you wanted to see Matilda the Musical in London, the most expensive seats are £147, and the only seats that cost less than £50 are in the upper dress circle — about as far away from the stage as you can get.

Filmed productions, while making theatre more accessible, will never beat a live performance, so there is no need to worry about them negatively impacting the industry. Hopefully this means that we can look forward to more filmed theatre shows in the future.

Author of the week: Kamila Shamsie

MY author of the week is Kamila Shamsie; I particularly enjoyed her novel Homefire, which I read recently. Based off Sophocles’ play Antigone, it tells the story of a Muslim family living in Britain in the shadow of having a Jihadi father. It is a complex read in which every character is flawed, yet it forces us to question how power is concentrated

within society and the consequences of state power. Karamat Lone, the Pakistani Home Secretary in the novel, raises particular questions about identity in a British society, and is scarily relevant in today’s political sphere.

Shamsie is a Pakistani-British writer, and her newest novel reminds us of her roots in Pakistan released this September, Best of

Friends tell the story of two Pakistani girls as they move from childhood to adulthood, from Pakistan to London. Best of Friends is about modern Britain, power and how we utilise it, and what we owe to those who we love. Being an avid fan of Homefire, I was not disappointed: Best of Friends might even have been better than Homefire, which I didn’t think was possible.

She has been described as a cross between Arundhati Roy and Salman Rushdie, employing a playful yet descriptive prose style where characters experience heartbreak, love and powerful emotion, retaining a realness the reader can relate to. If you want a thought-provoking read, Kamila Shamsie’s writing is for you!

Ella Minty, Arts and Lit Editor

Lauren Walsh takes a look at theatre in a post-pandemic world

Image credit: Flickr

LIFESTYLE ARTS + LIT MUSIC STUDY BREAK SCREEN

TECH

A history of Exeter’s music scene

Harry Craig explores the musical heritage of Exeter

FOR a small city of 130,000 people, Ex eter has always punched well above its weight in terms of its musical heritage. Three of the biggest bands of the past 30 years can trace their origins back to Exeter in some way, and the city also houses plenty of iconic music venues, including Cavern and the Uni versity’s very own Lemon Grove. Consequent ly, Exeter houses many interesting, weird and funny musical stories throughout its streets.

Perhaps the best place to start is with arguably the biggest band of the 21st cen tury — Coldplay. Frontman Chris Martin was born at Whitestone House in Exeter, and was educated at Exeter Cathedral School, where he discovered his passion for music.

Thanks to Martin’s Exonian heritage, and despite the band not actually forming until the four members met at University College London in 1996, Exeter has remained an in credibly important place for the band. One of their earliest performances was at Cavern in 2000, a venue likely familiar to many students, and in 2009 they gave a charity concert at Ex eter Castle, where Martin referenced an es tablishment even more familiar to students, changing one of their songs to include the words “singing and dancing in Timepiece!”

Timepiece itself has its fair share of fascinating musical stories, thanks to its status as the place to be in Exeter. Aside

from Chris Martin, Will Young and Joss Stone have been known to frequent the nightclub, and in 2014 Snoop Dogg per formed at the club, to the shock of punters, who thought he was a tribute act at first.

1990s Exeter also produced another world-famous band in the form of Muse.

All three of the band’s members grew up in Teignmouth, just 15 miles south of Exeter, at tending the Teignmouth Community College where they formed the band as teenagers in 1994. Matt Bellamy and co have remained attached to their local heritage, performing at Cavern a record 36 times in their career, most recently in April 2022 where they déb uted new music from their latest album, Will Of The People, in their first post-COVID show.

Coldplay and Muse staying true to their Exeter roots is incredibly endearing towards the city that helped to make them. At a homecoming gig for Chris Martin in 2016, he told the crowd at Powderham Castle, "if you can’t go home, where can you go?"

Although now living in Los Angeles, Mar tin frequently returns to Exeter to cheer on Exeter City Football Club at St James Park, and in 2019 the band released the track listing for their eighth album, Everyday Life, in the local Express & Echo newspaper.

A third band, Radiohead, can also join the pantheon of Exeter’s music scene. The

band’s frontman Thom Yorke attended the University of Exeter, where he regularly DJed at the Lemon Grove. It is well-known that Yorke wrote the band’s 1992 début single 'Creep' in Exeter, allegedly in the Lemon Grove’s bathroom, in the late 1980s.

YORKE... REGULARLY DJED AT THE LEMON GROVE

Less well-known, however, is that Yorke helped to found arguably Exeter’s most iconic live music venue, Cavern, in 1991. Although less famous than its Liverpool namesake, it has witnessed performances from over 10,000 artists. Consequently, its history reads like a who’s-who of the British music scene in the last 30 years — perfor mances from Coldplay, Muse, Biffy Clyro, Tom Walker, George Ezra, The 1975, Bas tille, Kaiser Chiefs, Beabadoobee… this list could almost make up the entire article.

Nowadays, there are a plethora of live music venues in Exeter where you can catch a live performance, whether it’s the next Cold play on a Saturday night before Cavern’s Indie Club, or established artists like Blossoms at the University’s Great Hall. Next time you’re on a night out, you might just be setting foot in a place of incredible musical history.

Festivals and the environment — friends or foes?

MUSIC festivals get a terrible reputation in the media for their environmental impact. The before and after images of fields filled with tents and rubbish make it hard to argue that some festivals are good for the en vironment. However, a lot of festivals are adapt ing to the climate crisis in several ways behind the scenes. While these changes might not make headlines, they are making a positive impact.

Truck Festival is adapting to the climate crisis in many ways. Truck Festival advises people to use public transport or carshare, bring a refillable wa ter bottle, and reduce shower time to below four minutes. They also ensure that all food traders' packaging and cutlery are certified as composta ble. Glitter and bio-glitter are no longer available at Truck Festival, and they have urged festivalgoers not to bring any. Truck Festival 2022 used hybrid generators and GreenD + HVO across the site. They also ensured all lighting used LED lights. In 2022, they also introduced the reusable cup scheme for the first time. Since 2018 Truck has been a zero-waste landfill event that recy cles all waste or recovers energy from the waste.

Truck Festival was my first festival. Admit tedly, the scenes of litter were shocking, and I

have been to other festivals, such as GreenMan festival in Wales, where litter seemed to be far less prominent. Fallon MacWilliams, a D.J and pro moter in Berlin, told the New York Times: "There's pressure on festivals, especially because they are such large events... This year while touring I saw a lot of festivals changing the way they're doing things when it comes to plastic and en couraging artists to take trains to the festival."

However, Eilidh McLaughlin, founder of

Clean Scene, told the New York Times: "Any effort to advance sustainability is essentially green washing unless you are working to actively break the cycle and reduce your carbon footprint by touring more sustainably." While festivals like Truck Festival urge festival-goers to travel by public transport and arrange shuttle buses from the nearby train station in Oxfordshire, the car park filled with cars at the festival's entrance is indicative of the fact that not everyone will

attend these festivals via public transport.

It is great to see that festivals are trying to adapt to the climate crisis. Garrette Clarke, a UNEP sustainable lifestyle expert, said: "The live music industry influences the hearts and minds of people around the world. It offers an amazing opportunity to inspire and inform us on how we can all live better and lighter — addressing our increasing challenges around climate, nature and pollution... It can also engage us all in the advoca cy needed to ensure that governments and busi ness make sustainable living the default option.”

Music festivals have the potential to be a stage of change. Music festivals get a bad repu tation in the media, and skepticism towards industries' commitment to change in the cli mate crisis is important. However, festivals like Truck Festival are making positive changes to reduce their environmental impact. Next time you go to a festival, make sure to use the bins provided, travel there sustainably, and bring a reusable water bottle. Music has the potential to initiate change and inspire crowds everywhere; it's vital that we ensure we create and partici pate in events that are in line with the change we want to see and be a part of in the world.

Elen Johnston questions whether music festivals are environmentally friendly

Image: Derek Harper, Wikimedia Commons

Image: Rachel

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Lake

Autumn leaves falling down

Livvy Mason-Myhill, Deputy Editor, shares her autumn playlist

AUTUMN has finally arrived, as well as the return of the colder weather. This playlist is perfect for a cozy night in studying or whilst your walking onto campus, admiring the autumn leaves.

'There She Goes' — The La's "There she goes, there she goes again" The perfect way to start an autumnal day or your walk to campus.

'New Slang' — The Shins

"New slang when you notice the stripes" This is the perfect song to make you match the aesthetic of autumn with its soothing and addictive indie melodies.

'Dreams' — Fleetwood Mac "Oh, thunder only happens when it's raining"

A classic Fleetwood Mac song that ema nates the witchy vibes of Stevie Nicks.

'Mrs Magic' — Strawberry Guy "Mrs Magic to and fro, please give me one last show"

A song that is great for an autumn walk in the rain with its pop hooks and orchestral instruments.

'Reflecting Light' — Sam Phillips "And the moon's never seen me before, but I'm reflecting light"

Fans of Gilmore Girls will understand that Sam Phillips' music is essential for the au tumn months. Her music should be listened to with a good book and lots of coffee.

'Dreams' - The Cranberries

"And oh, my dreams, it's never quite as it seems, never quite as it seems"

This song always puts me in the best mood, encouraging me to get out of my cozy bed and conquer the colder weather.

'Stephanie Says' — The Velvet Underground

"Stephanie says that she wants to know why she's given half her life to people she hates now"

Anything by The Velvet Underground always gives off autumnal vibes to me, but this song in particular is one of my favour ites of theirs.

'1979' — The Smashing Pumpkins "Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time"

An essential alternative tune for your own autumn playlist.

'Amoeba' — Clairo

"Aren't you glad that you reside in a hell and in disguise" Clairo's dream-pop discography will help to comfort you and make you feel even cozier.

'Fade Into You' — Mazzy Star

"I look to you and I see nothing, I look to you to see the truth"

Mazzy Star carries a melancholy sweetness and adds a whimsigothic touch to their music.

'Vienna' — Billy Joel

A spooky soundtrack

"Slow down you crazy child, you're so am bitious for a juvenile"

One of the most beautiful songs ever to be written in my opinion. It holds the mean ingful message to not to rush into life and to stop and appreciate the present.

'cardigan' — Taylor Swift

"And when I felt like I was your old cardi gan, under someone's bed, you put me on and said I was your favourite"

Fellow Swifties will be listening to all of Folklore, Evermore and Red (Taylor's Ver sion) throughout autumn.

'These Days' — Nico

"These days I seem to think about how all these changes came about my ways" This song will always give me Wes An derson vibes (a director famous for his quintessential autumnal films). The song actually features in his film The Royal Tenenbaums.

'All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Tay lor's Version) — Taylor Swift

"Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place"

An absolute essential autumn song, spe cifically the ten minute version. The whole song just screams autumn and must be sung at the top of your lungs.

Manon Martini reviews the score of Bruno Coulais’s Coraline

WHETHER you prefer a Halloween house party, or a movie night, this time of the year is framed by the iconic and eerie music of our favorite spooky films. Whilst movies such as Scream (1996) and Halloween (1978) lay claim to some of the most quintessentially creepy soundtracks, one mustn't forget the terrifying tunes that accompany our childhood favourites.

From Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), to Ivan Reitman’s Ghost busters (1984), children's Halloween films seem often to boast scarier soundtracks than that of their adult counterparts. Whilst traditional horror tracks lean towards far cical dramatism by way of their shrieking violins and symphony orchestras, the film scores that we grew up with embody a familiar childlike innocence with a surre alist edge to produce a distinctly unset tling sound. No soundtrack demonstrates this spectral musical phenomenon quite as well as Henry Selik’s Coraline (2009).

Based on the novella by Neil Gaiman, Coraline is a stop motion film that follows the life of a young girl who is deeply unhappy with her bleak home life. When she discovers a portal to a flawlessly idealised version of her reality, she is forced to make some fright

ening sacrifices. A psychedelic and frag mented adventure, Coraline stays with many of us through childhood and into adult hood — in part due to its iconic soundtrack.

Musical director of the film, Bruno Cou lais adopts a range of alternative techniques, mixing children's choir and orchestra with Chi nese and African instruments to produce a spookily seduc tive and original score. Cou lais utilises his tracks to add a distinctive layer of doubt, familiarity or fear to the film's narrative, arguing that it is “not so interesting to say the same thing with the music as the story”.

Fan favourites from the soundtrack include 'Exploration,' 'The Other Father Song' and 'Mice Circus,' some of which are now also associat ed with TikTok trends that circulate this time of year. Sung by the mysteriously untraceable Mathilde Pellegrini, 'Ex ploration' is a strangely mesmerizing track of complete gibberish — despite what at first appears to be a French vernacular. The nonsensical yet oddly familiar words evoke an eerie sense

of dissociation, encapsulating the warped reflectivity of the ‘other world’ in the Coraline story. The soft, lullaby harp music with its periodic violin shrieks is emblematic of the way in which we look back longingly at our childhoods through rose-tinted glasses as the reality of our present demands to be acknowledged. 'Exploration' makes for a creepily tranquil track to relax or summon the spirits to — depend ing on how spooky you're feeling. favorite includes 'The Other Father.' The short but joyfully upbeat tune is sung by Coraline's button-eyed dad and is lyrically embedded with numer ous riddles and double meanings. In the film, the father remarks that he doesn’t play the piano, but “this piano plays [him]” — a line emblematic of his position as a pawn in the evil scheme of the pup peteer ‘other mother.' The frantic yet rhythmic pace of the piano em bodies this narrative of enforcement as the lyrics objectify Coraline as a “doll” and a “button” — seemingly endearing terms that also act as final warnings for the torture she might soon be

subject to. The repeated reference to "eyes" brings into question the morality of sell ing one's soul (or in this case their eyes) for what appears to be the perfect material life.

Finally, I'd like to point out the musical masterpiece that is 'Mice Circus.' Coulais uti lises traditional marching band instruments and children's toys to achieve a tone of child like triumph on the microscopic scale of a mouse. The use of alternative percussion and quickening tempo make for a frantically rigid piece. The score both enthralled and terrified me as a child — and continues to do so today.

Whilst it's important to analyse soundtracks as standalone pieces of art, it is worth acknowledging how this particular score complements the surrealist fever dream that is the Coraline literary and cinematic universe. The movie and its score hold such rich, gothic value and are worth revisiting in adulthood — especially during Halloween!

THE FRANTIC YET RHYTHMIC PACE OF THE PIANO EMBODIES THIS NARRATIVE OF ENFORCEMENT

Image: Brickset, Flickr

Image: Pexels, Simon Berger

screen

Blonde review

Annabelle Law reviews Andrew Dominik’s new biopic of Marilyn Monroe

MY expectations for Andrew Dominik’s Blonde were that it would be a celebra tion of the life and legacy of Marilyn Monroe, similar to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis that also came out this year. These expectations were not only sorely met, but completely and utterly dis mantled. Blonde is a film that not only continues to exploit the image of Monroe, but centres itself around the male gaze, fetishism, rape and infan tilisation of Marilyn that seems like the male fan tasy of the director. Of course, the film is based around Joyce Carol Oates’ Blonde, a book which fictionalises Marilyn’s life. However, with added rape scenes intertwined with the fetishized trau ma of Monroe, this film is instead a celebration of rampant misogyny and violence against women.

The almost promotion of anti-female agency in this film is astonishing. Twenty minutes in and Marilyn Monroe, portrayed by Ana de Armas, is already a victim of rape. From here, I could guess how this film was going to go, a mon tage of Monroe’s trauma and Monroe as a sex object. As I mentioned earlier, Luhrmann’s Elvis conveyed the powerful legacy of the musician, whereas Dominik’s Blonde insinuates Monroe’s legacy is due to her objectification by power

ful men in Hollywood, rather than based on any merit of her own. Ana de Armas’ acting in this film is excellent — with a lot of preparation clearly going into her character, she effortlessly captures the essence of Monroe. However, Ar mas’ beautiful performance did not make the fetishisation of trauma any easier to stomach.

Not only does this film embody the male gaze completely, but it grossly blames Mon roe for forced abortions and miscarriages, both of which are fictionalised. It is clear that Dominik has a desire to put female pain on screen for male pleas ure, and subsequently blame these women. Throughout the film, Monroe gets preg nant and we are forced to sit through un-consensual abortion procedures mul tiple times, a very trig gering watch for some viewers and an extremely disturbing watch for myself.

Monroe’s C.G.I. foetus, comical in its absurdity yet sickening to see, speaks directly to Monroe telling her that she “hurt” and “killed” her last pregnancy. In my eyes, this was a transparent anti-abortion message to viewers, by insinuating that abortion is murder and women are at fault. Dominik snide ly uses a fully-formed foetus for when Monroe is only a couple weeks pregnant in order to present

abortion in a distorted, negative light. The worst part was Monroe’s miscarriage, which I truly ad vise viewers to skip, Dominik invites us to see the grotesque bursting of blood vessels around the foetus, a final hurrah in the face of Monroe’s suf fering. If it wasn’t for my passion to write this re view, I would’ve stopped watching immediately.

Towards the end of Blonde, Dominik inserts another fictionalised rape scene, this time be tween President JFK and Monroe. The presenta tion of violence against women in this film becomes exhausting to watch, to the point where I can see its only pur pose is for a perverse male view ing. The dialogue in this film completely infantilises Mon roe, where she has an obses sion with finding her father and as a coping mechanism calls her lovers “daddy”. It is such a disappointment, that a sex symbol meant to em power women has been turned into a child-like, weak sex object. On a lighter note, the cinematog raphy in the film is stunning, from closeups that track movement and expression, to the panning that conveys Marilyn’s drugged-up consciousness, the shots are a creative delight to see. If only they were not paired with a film that has a near three-hour runtime to glorify female pain. The colour scheme in this film is also quite

Disney’s flop era

interesting, alternating between black and white for Monroe’s personal trauma and colour for when she is at the epicentre of celebrity culture.

Blonde could’ve and should’ve been a film for women, celebrating one of Hollywood’s most prolific stars and the strength she dem onstrated at the height of fame. It is disheart ening, to know that the desire for female pain rather than success is still present in Hollywood and society. I truly don’t know what Netflix was thinking in presenting this film to their viewers, a montage of brutality that, as a female viewer, makes me disturbed and angry. As far as I’m con cerned, Marilyn Monroe’s image should be laid to rest, and Blonde is merely an exploitation of her name rather than a film of any substance.

If

Orianna Xu questions the need and desire for Disney’s constant remakes

IN the world of Disney, there’s a Happily Ever After for every Once Upon a Time. Why, then, is Disney flipping back to Once Upon a Time when they could be seeking out new stories? I am referring, of course, to the series of live-action movies, most recently Pinocchio (2022), that attempt to revitalise the animated classics. Disney released its first live-action remake, Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, in 1994, but remakes were few and far be tween until about a decade later. Since 2014, at least one has been released a year, peaking in 2019 with five remakes! The trend is here to stay for now, with at least two more liveaction remakes expected in 2023 and 2024, begging the all-important question, why?

Are some stories too good to only be told once? Or are the profits just too good to pass up? The undeniable appeal and legacy of the originals guarantee that die-hard Disney fans will log in to Disney+ or turn up to the cinema with their loved ones in tow, feeding into a wider culture of nostalgia. After all, a remake provides the comfort of rewatching a familiar movie with the wow factor of star-studded casts, upgraded effects, and Beyoncé sing ing ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight?’ From a business standpoint, it makes sense for Dis ney to capitalise on their previous successes, rather than investing in more risky projects.

Conversely, have the classics been told

so poorly that they need remedying? Dis ney’s popularity has come with criticism, especially concerning the portrayal of prob lematic tropes, such as the damsel in distress and beauty as a virtue, as well as a lack of di versity. Remakes allow Disney to respond to these critiques; for instance, rewriting LeFou in Beauty and the Beast (2015) as the first ex plicitly LGBTQ Disney character and casting Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming Little Mermaid are moves to further representation. However, this strategy has the potential to backfire spectacularly, as with Mulan (2020), which set out to be more respectful of Chinese culture than its cartoon counterpart, yet still misrepresented the source material, and al most magically managed to upset everyone.

fore strike a middle ground that impresses, not offends, making it near impossible for the remake to surpass the original. Not to mention the former animators they may affront and the actors, special effects artists, etc. that may give their best and deliver outstanding perfor mances, only to have their work overshadowed by declarations that the original was better.

Devon

National

Using remakes to right old wrongs can also seem like too little too late for the simple rea son that the original remains; the remake will inevitably be held up to the light of a beloved classic — too similar, and the remake is ren dered pointless, too different, and fans of the original are disappointed by the absence of a wise-cracking dragon. Filmmakers must there

There is no shortage of stories to tell. The luminous Short Circuit films on Disney+ and the success of movies like Encanto (2021) in dicate that the issue is not one of insufficient imagination or talent within Disney’s walls but of failing to heed the resounding “Who asked for this?” on the Twittersphere that generally follows a live-action announcement. Rather than setting up remakes to flop, it may be advisable for Disney to fund original movies that speak to diverse audiences or at least more creative live-action movies that take the classics as a point of departure à la Cru ella (2021). To fly, Disney must follow its own advice: put faith and trust in its creative pow erhouses and sprinkle a little bit of pixie dust.

Image: Sam Shaw, Wikimedia Commons

HAVE THE CLASSICS BEEN TOLD SO POORLY THAT THEY NEED REMEDYING?

FILMMAKERS MUST THEREFORE STRIKE A MIDDLE GROUND THAT IMPRESSES, NOT OFFENDS

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS CONTENT RELATING TO RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, ABORTION AND MISCARRIAGES WHICH SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING

Stick to the day job Annabelle Law debates whether singers should try their luck on the big screen

AS Don’t Worry Darling hit the screen last week, Harry Styles has come under criticism for his acting skill in the lead male role in the film; the question on everyone’s mind is, should singers avoid Hollywood altogether? It seems in recent years, with stars like Lady Gaga starring in A Star Is Born and House of Gucci , singers seem to think their next challenge is the big screen. Even older singers, like Cher, are making appearances in our cinemas with her role in Mamma Mia Here We Go Again

My first watch of Don’t Worry Darling made me wonder if the general public opin ion was too harsh on Styles; with all the con troversy surrounding the film, it seems peo ple were biased even before entering the cinema. For one of his first major acting roles, I thought Styles put up a good performance, hardly Oscar-worthy, with his displays of anger often coming across as comedic.

However, when you’re put up against as powerful an actress as the brilliant Florence Pugh, the contrast of acting talent is stag gering. Florence Pugh is an absolute joy to watch, and carried Don’t Worry Darling to new heights when it would otherwise be steeped in mediocrity — or at the very least seem like a Black Mirror spin off. I think Styles could be a better actor with experience, but none theless if it wasn’t for his highly successful music career, he would’ve never got the role.

Despite this, I do not think singers should stick to their day jobs. Lady Gaga is clearly a very skilful actress despite coming from the music industry — it is no wonder, she stars alongside talent such as Adam Driver in House of Gucci. The film she received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for, A Star Is Born, established her polished acting capa bility, for which the screen now welcomes her with delight. The reason why I think A Star Is Born was so successful for Gaga is not just because of her new acting skills, but be cause of her already accomplished singing skillset that creates a beautiful soundtrack to co-exist with the film. This displays to me that singers do have their place on the big screen, which is especially evident when the film has significant musical elements.

One of my favourite films even has a singer as its leading role — 1986’s The Labyrinth may have set the trend for sing ing and acting to cross-over, with David Bowie playing the part of Jareth, the goblin king. The film simply would not be what it is today without Bowie, accompanied by

an amazing soundtrack which Bowie fea tures on. The songs and the film itself give me a childhood nostalgia that still holds up today. Bowie was one of the first ma jor singers to enter the acting world. Per haps in some way, he established a path for future singers to also make their act ing debut, and showed how to do it right.

Thinking of the pop stars who have crossed paths with acting, I do believe they have a rightful place on the screen, as they usually produce better soundtracks and are decent actors in their own right. Of course, in the case of Styles we can see there is much to be improved on, but he is still capable of giving a solid performance alongside the remarkable Florence Pugh.

Singers, in the majority of cases, would not have received their roles without their music careers, but their presence can height en the film viewing experience, to the extent I believe we should allow singers to flourish in acting, since there is even the possibil ity they could create something profound.

Dynamic duos

Screen writers discuss their favourite female duos in film and TV

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

AN all-time classic television programme that every Brit should remember was the iconic Absolutely Fabulous (or as most call it: “Ab Fab”). Growing up, I would watch Ab solutely Fabulous with my mum, and we would find ourselves laughing at the absurd and hi larious antics of the iconic duo Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley). This comedy programme shaped the 1990s and early noughties, with the humorous writing coming from the leading actress Jennifer Saunders and Vicar of Dibley star Dawn French.

One of the most memorable episodes to me was when Edina and Patsy went on a spontane ous trip to France for a wine tasting holiday. Only they find themselves staying in the wrong place and instead of staying in the grand chateau like they were supposed to, they stay in a rustic cot tage with no food or wine in sight. It turns out that an old Frenchman had tried to tell them that they shouldn’t be staying in the cottage and that they are expected at the chateau, but since nei ther of the duo understood what he was saying, Patsy ends up paying him to finally leave them alone. The duo ends up playing table tennis to gether. Patsy believes she is snorting drugs to make the game interesting, only she later finds out that the substances were harmless, leading to Patsy being mortified that she paid a huge amount of money for the drugs and that she ac tually enjoyed playing table tennis without them.

Watching Eddie and Patsy pull crazy stunts,

constantly being drunk and chain smoking cer tainly doesn’t make them role models, yet their ac tions being so questionable and, most of the time, extremely embarrassing makes watching them so addictive. The duo’s antics are also known to con sistently irritate Edina’s daugh ter Saffy (Julia Sawalha), who takes the role of being the Deb bie downer fig ure, attempting to bring the pair back to reality as their childish, ec centric ways al ways land them in trouble. Ab Fab was always a show I could rely upon to make me laugh and even though they are not ex actly saints, I was forever jealous of the bond shared between Edina and Patsy. The pair work so well together and prove how two friends can truly spend their lives doing stupid things, whilst looking fabulous in the process (of course dripping in Lacroix sweetie!).

Livvy Mason-Myhill, Deputy Editor

CRUEL INTENTIONS

WHEN considering female friendships, what better film to think of than Rog er Kumble’s Cruel Intentions. Just as in Netflix’s Do Revenge, the film examines female friendships within a high school context but with a more tragic edge in its moody lighting and explo ration of less healthy relationships. One of the most interesting aspects to consider in the context of mo rality and sexuality, is the friendship, if we can even class it as this, between the two central charac ters Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Geller) and Cecile (Selma Blair).

The friendship is infamous for its sapphic undertones; the chemistry be tween the two be ing enough to win them the MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Kiss in 2000. Despite the obvi ous chemistry, the toxicity bred by power and envy in female friendships is made just as ob vious in this film. When we remove the glam our and queer-baiting aspect, Kathryn’s use

of the young, sexually inexperienced Cecile within her vengeful scheme on an ex-lover is truly questionable. She not only destroys both of Cecile’s potential relationships, but also offers a false friendship under the guise of assistance. Kathryn’s innate cruel intentions mean that the model for female friendship is one that is neither wholesome nor didactic.

It is also interesting to consider this friend ship in the context of the film being an adap tation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, published 1782. The novel, like the film, explores revenge through letters between the characters that Kathryn and Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) repre sent, with Kathryn and Cecile’s letters being lit tered through sparsely. This begs us to question whether the expansion of female interactions from literature to film is due to the queerness and allure of female friendships when sex is involved? Is it because it is more exciting onscreen to see the direct interactions between two of the most attractive women of the 90s?

These are all questions we must con sider when looking at the dark, provocative thriller and what it tells of female friendship in cinema. In Cruel Intentions’ case, through the lens of the white, heterosexual, male director, producer, and editors there is no room for healthy female friendship when sex, and men to fight over, are involved.

Scarlett Cracknell

IF IT WASN’T FOR HIS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MUSIC CAREER, HE WOULD’VE NEVER GOT THE ROLE

BOWIE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST MAJOR SINGERS TO ENTER THE ACTING WORLD

Image: Lily Redman,

Commons

Image: Eva Rinaldi, Flickr

TECH

A guide to Fixr and scamming

Gracie Moore, Lifestyle Editor, gives advice on how to combat the Fixr scamming culture

WITHOUT a doubt, one of the biggest parts of university are the nights out, from society events to random Wednesdays at Timepiece. FOMO (fear of miss ing out) is a big problem for many students when they try to buy their ticket last minute and they’ve all sold out. This has (personally) led to many melancholy nights alone while friends live their best lives on the dancefloor at Latin night. The magic app that facilitates all of this is called Fixr, and navigating the app, as well as getting the timing right for purchasing tickets, can be an art form. Thankfully, there are many ways that using Fixr can be made easier.

GETTING THE TIMING RIGHT FOR PURCHASING TICKETS CAN BE AN ART FORM

It is important that you gauge beforehand how popular the event is likely going to be. More than anything, it’ll help you determine how stressed and focused you should be while making the purchase. Also, it is essential to know the time that the tickets are released for purchase because this will be paramount for securing yourself the ticket. For example, the memberships for Exeter’s Unileague Net ball were released at noon last Monday and the tickets sold out in six minutes. Of course, popular purchases like this, where hundreds of

students swarm to Fixr, cause the site itself to crash. Users often turn to persistently refresh ing, but this simply causes a longer waiting period, and by the time you are allowed in to retrieve a ticket, they are sold out. Evidently, this causes problems for the students who are left with no ticket and thus, the holy grail “Overheard” makes its grand appearance.

“Overheard at the University of Exeter” is a Facebook group where students who no

longer require their tickets sell them on to others who would like them. However, as one can imagine, this creates a culture of scam ming, as random people can access these Facebook groups, claim they have the tick ets, give fabricated evidence of said tickets, and receive money for nothing. Sometimes, these scammers are extremely clever and cre ate profiles that seem extremely realistic, as if they are genuine students at the University. As

much as this may scare you, there are many small tricks you can use to decipher whether the person you are paying is a genuine seller.

Firstly, upon seeing the message that this person is selling the ticket, interrogate their Facebook profile within the group. Have they ever posted in this group before? When did they join? If they have never posted in Overheard before, this doesn’t guarantee that they are a scammer, but if they joined the group within the last week and now continuously comment about having tick ets to sell, the alarm bells should be ringing.

The other important step is to check their normal Facebook profile. Do they have any mutual friends? Does their bio state that they study at Exeter? Do they have a name that matches their profile picture? Are there any photos they have posted that are pub lic? You can use these details to make a deci sion as to whether they are safe to buy from.

Finally, how are they asking you to pay them? If they persistently ask you to pay via PayPal Friends and Family, this is a massive red flag. Unless they are willing to compromise, the chances are that they should not be trusted.

Fixr and the idea of scamming can be stressful, especially for newcomers to the site, but these methods are fool-proof in ensuring that you can buy and sell tickets with ease (and hopefully not be scammed into spending your entire student loan on tickets for nights out).

Rover technology

IF you drove past Milton Keynes earlier this month, you might have seen something unu sual: a Mars rover strutting its stuff in a quarry.

At least, it was designed to be a Mars rover. In July, NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency) decided instead to use helicopters for the task of fetching Martian rock samples. Now the name — the Sample Fetch Rover — is obso lete as well as dull. But its makers, Airbus, keen to keep hold of the British engineers behind the SFR, are looking for somewhere else to take it.

NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the Moon this decade, holds the most promise. Next month, the Eu ropean Large Logistics Lander project (EL3) is expected to get the go-ahead. Its brief de livering supplies to astronauts on the Moon — suits the SFR’s capabilities. The rover’s de signers believe it could be useful for a num ber of other purposes, such as building lunar habitats and making dangerous journeys.

What sets the SFR apart from previous Mars rovers (besides the fact that it won’t be going to Mars) is that it travels “four or five times as quickly” according to the ESA’s David Parker, who was speaking on the day the rover was removed from the rock fetching mission.

This requires an enhanced autonomous

navigation system. During the quarry tests, rocks were scattered around to provide obsta cles. “We’ve been extremely happy with how it’s been performing,” said Warren Hamilton, a guidance, navigation and control systems architect. The only drawback is that the latest computer technology is not space-proof; consequently, the SFR’s sys tem is from the 1990s. The rover has to stop and assess the terrain every few metres.

Quarries are the closest thing the home counties have to an extraterres trial environment; even the Mars testing centre in Stevenage cannot match them. The navigation system will work on the Moon, too. Also transferable to the lunar envi ronment will be the SFR’s wheels. Indeed, their

unique design is inspired by the Apollo lunar rovers. Although the Moon’s terrain is differ ent from Mars’s, the wheels are flex ible in their very structure; the metallic mesh from which they are made conforms to the surface and helps the rover trav erse obstacles.

In other respects, the Moon will present major challenges. Whereas a Martian day is similar to a Terran one, the Moon’s is much longer, resulting in hotter and colder extreme temperatures.

During the cold nights — each 14 Earth days long — the rover will have to hibernate, and the engi neers must work out a way to power it up again.

There are further differences. Lunar dust is

abrasive and sticky. The Moon’s lesser distance from the sun will require the power system, in cluding the solar panels, to be redesigned. And there’s no atmosphere: making sure key com ponents can function is another challenge.

MAKING SURE KEY COMPONENTS CAN FUNCTION IS ANOTHER CHALLENGE

Whatever the fate of the SFR, the four years of work that brought it this far have not been wasted. Its autonomous navigation technol ogy “can be utilised in commercial applica tions, for autonomous vehicles and inspect ing infrastructure and down tunnels and in difficult terrains,” according to Adam Camil letti, who worked on the SFR in its early stages.

The SFR was supposed to follow the Ro salind Franklin rover. Under development (also by Airbus) for most of this century, its planned September launch was cancelled because of the rocket’s and landing platform’s Russian ori gins. The rover will now launch no earlier than 2028, whereupon it will search for life on Mars.

Oliver Lamb, Features Editor, looks at the future of the axed Mars rover

Image: WikiImages, Pixabay

Image: Pxhere

Deepfakes: Here to stay?

Shagnick Bhattacharya explores the benefits and drawbacks of deepfake technology

BRUCE Willis, the twice Emmy-winning actor who many of us will remember from his many memorable roles in vari ous movies, including the cult-classic film Pulp Fiction, had announced his retirement from acting in March this year. Now aged 67, Wil lis gave up acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a brain condition which affects his abil ity to speak as well as to comprehend speech. It therefore came as a surprise to many when the actor was recently seen again in a Russian commercial, even though the actor himself was not involved in the shooting of the scene.

The deepfake company 'Deepcake' came into the limelight after it was claimed that — in a first-of-its-kind deal — Bruce Willis had sold his image rights to the company, owing to which he would still be able to appear in movies even after his retirement from acting. However, even though it did not take much time for big media outlets like the Telegraph to pick up on this and celebrate the veteran actor’s return to the screen without actually having to be present on set, and despite 'Deepcake' promoting their work by claiming on their website that the actor liked the “precision” of how his character looked, Willis’s agent has outright denied the presence of any partnership or agreement between the actor and this company. This was followed by 'Deep cake’s' statement that the reports about them buying the rights to the actor’s face were wrong — that the rights to his face are “his by default.”

This confusion depicts the legal limbo

in which new technologies like deepfake lie within our current system, thus raising a lot of concerns surrounding its ethical use.

Deepfakes use artificial intelligence and ma chine learning technology to create realistic vid eos without the need for actual performances.

There is a lot of potential for its use by actors who

can no longer act, or by older actors who need to look like their younger selves for a role. And yet this technology comes with significant poten tial for having dystopian consequences on our world, leading to demands from many groups of artists for the technology to be used responsi bly. With just the samples of an actor’s voice and

face, AI can by itself generate content like auto mated audiobooks, speeches never delivered by the person in real life, or entire videos featuring that person. While AI-generated performances can be a useful creative tool, the artists they vir tually feature may not always be able to control how their image or voice is used, or their likeness may be used without consent (as is probably al ways the case when deepfakes end up as being pornoraphic content on the internet), or they might not receive adequate remuneration — it’s way cheaper to digitally create their perfor mances rather than to actually hire them for it.

As the technology advances, it becomes more and more difficult to be able to tell if a given video is genuine or not, making it a tool that can be easily used to defame, imper sonate, and spread disinformation. Among the shocking examples of such misuse seen of late was when a few months ago a deep fake video depicting Ukraine's president Zelenskyy surfaced on social media and was widely circulated, wherein he’s shown pub licly asking Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender to the Russian forces.

If the government doesn’t introduce regulations to ensure the use of deepfakes remains within certain ethical boundaries, and if some viable software to detect deep fakes can’t be developed in time, it might soon be the case that we’ll be living in an age where we no longer will be able to determine whether a medium's content is authentic.

THE billionaire CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, has unveiled the latest prototype of a humanoid robot being developed by his company. 'Optimus', which is named for its Au tobot cousin, walked on stage at a Tesla ‘AI day’ event in Silicon Valley and waved to the audi ence. Musk said that, although Optimus is still in development, it will be trialled in car facto ries, and should be on sale to the public within a few years. He aims for Optimus to complete menial and dangerous jobs around Tesla fac tories, and eventually for the robots to be used in homes — doing household chores, caring for the elderly, and even becoming sex part ners for humans. Of course, Tesla’s venture into humanoid robots raises the usual ques tions of this topic regarding the practicalities and economic viability of humanoid robots, as well as the ethical issues raised by them.

Indeed, shareholders have suggested that Tesla should focus on electronic cars rather than humanoid robots, considering its longdelayed self-driving technology. In 2019, Musk promised to have released one million driver less ‘robotaxis’ (without steering wheels or ped als) by 2020 — a promise he has failed to deliv er. Amidst an ongoing legal battle with Twitter following his failure to follow through on buy ing the social media company, investors would not be wrong to be concerned about the con

viction of Tesla regarding the humanoid robot.

There are doubts, too, regarding the prac ticalities of humanoid robots taking over hu man-operated tasks. “There’s so much about what people can do dexterously that’s very, very hard for robots. And that’s not going to change whether the robot is a robot arm or whether it’s in the shape of a humanoid,”

Jonathan Hurst, chief technology officer at Agility Robotics, a humanoid robot firm, told Reuters. Another significant problem for hu manoid robots is posed by legs. That is to say, it is difficult to build a robot that can balance on two legs, with wheels being much easier.

Nonetheless, Musk has claimed that it will cost around $20,000 to make each robot — that is less than it is to make a car, and so the cheap cost of production may make it viable.

Tesla’s venture into humanoid robotics has also raised the familiar ethical questions surrounding this subject. Increased reliance on robots and technology may allow humans to lose previously essential skills. There is the suggestion that this is the case with Tesla’s driverless cars, which lack both a steering wheel and pedals. Whilst driving may not be such a loss, replacing human care with that of robots may prove problematic — especially when it comes to children. Whilst the iPad is not quite an electronic nanny, ‘iPad kids’ are a

well-known part of this phenomenon within pop culture, and it will be worrying to see the increased role of robots in childcare, as well as in care for the elderly. The uncanny nature of humanoid robots is also problematic. Not only can it be disconcerting to see a robot become too ‘human-like’, but when robots eventually look and act very similarly to hu mans, they bring into question what makes them non-human at all, and the implications of this for how someone will treat other hu mans. Sex-robots, especially, could lead to in creased sexual objectification within society. Musk himself, furthermore, has even warned that artificial intelligence could become a threat to humanity, suggesting that he wishes to avoid the ’Terminator path’ in this regard.

Finally, with a rampant environmental and economic crisis, questions abound as to the appropriateness of Musk’s talk of a ‘fu ture of abundance’. Are elaborate humanoid robots what is needed now, or should, as its shareholders point out, Tesla finish rolling out its driverless car technology and work on making more affordable electric cars?

The success of Optimus in the cur rent economic situation remains to be seen, although it seems unrealistic to think that robot assistants will be mak ing our instant noodles anytime soon.

Austin Taylor, Features Editor, looks at the new humanoid robot unveiled by Elon Musk Humanoid robots: The future?

Image: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons

Image: SHVETS production, Pexels

Image: JD Lasica, Wikimedia Commons

LIFESTYLE ARTS + LIT MUSIC STUDY BREAK SCREEN

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CROSSWORD SUDOKU

Bees use patterns as well as colours to find flowers

ATEAM led by the Univer sity of Exeter have found that honeybees rely heav ily on flower patterns, and not just colours, when searching for food.

The team tested bee behaviour and built bee’s eye view simulations to work out how they see flowers.

Honeybees have 100 times low er resolution vision than humans, so they can only see flowers’ pat terns clearly when they are within a few centimetres of the plant.

But, in a series of tests carried out by the team, bees rarely ignored the

pattern of a flower, suggesting colour was not the only factor which led them to flowers. This may help explain why some colours that are visible to bees are rarely produced by flowers in nature.

Colour was not the only factor which led them to flowers

Professor Natalie Hempel de Ibarra, from Exeter’s Centre for Re search in Animal Behaviour, elabo rated: “We analysed a large amount of data on plants and bee behaviour.

By training and testing bees using ar tificial patterns of shape and colour, we found they relied flexibly on their ability to see both of these elements.”

Showing how insects see colour

and learn colour patterns is impor tant for understanding how pollina tors may, or may not, create evolu tionary ‘pressures’ on the colours and patterns that flowers have evolved.

Professor Hempel explained: “Our findings suggest that flowers don’t need to evolve too many different petal colours, because they can use patterns to diversify their displays so bees can tell them apart from other flowers.”

The research, by a team includ ing scientists from the Free Univer sity of Berlin and the University of Auckland, was funded by the Bio

technology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The pa per is called: “The role of colour pat terns for the recognition of flowers by bees.”

Our findings suggest that... bees can tell them apart from other flowers

It is published in a special is sue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

Ancient Mars’ atmosphere recreated: Hope for human settlement

ROBIN Wordsworth, born in Drumnadrochit, Scotland, is a researcher and profes sor at Harvard University, interested in the astronomy of our solar system and beyond. He has stated that his research group tends to “do a lot of different things at once”, from study ing the encasing of rocky planets in glaciers to exploring the size of al ien raindrops. His focus, however, is, “to understand what drives hab itability on planets through time.”

Habitability is defined as a planet’s ability to support life, and 20 habitable planets (other than Earth) have so far been discovered by astronomers. These conclusions are made via the construc tion of simulations of planets, and the

evolutions of their climates, with data collected from observatories, satel lites, and rovers. Climate is the main focus, as it determines a planet’s abil ity to harbour liquid water a ne cessity for all known forms of life.

do was build one-dimensional mod els which failed to replicate atmos pheric components, including clouds.

life might have emerged on Mars, and could one day assist humans with settling on the Red Planet.

of 50 degrees to allow for the presence of liquid water, making the possibil ity of growing crops more of a reality.

Mars’ river valleys and other geo logical clues suggest that water once flowed across the Red Planet. This has made early Martian climate a popu lar area of research among scientists searching for proof of alien life. For many years, this seemed impossi ble as all the best researchers could

Wordsworth and his colleagues have recently solved this issue using computer programming. They have presented a 3D model of the early Mar tian climate, including clouds and an atmosphere containing large amounts of carbon dioxide, key components for studying how the atmosphere may have reflected and trapped heat.

James Kasting, an astrobiol ogist, says “[Wordsworth] has been publishing the best climate calcu lations for early Mars. There’s re ally nobody else who is in his lane.”

These reconstructions may help us better understand whether

Today, most of Mars’ surface is too cold to sustain liquid water and the atmosphere is too thin to offer protection from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, making the planet unin habitable. However, Wordsworth and his group have proposed that deploy ing sheets of insulating silica aerogel over ice-covered areas may make sur vival possible, by filtering out 60 per cent of UVA and UVB radiation and almost 100 per cent of UVC rays ac cording to lab tests. This will still allow enough light to reach the surface of the planet for photosynthesis and may warm the air underneath by upwards

Wordsworth now aims to in vestigate how future settlers on the planet could use bioplastics or other renewable materials to be come self-sustaining, stating that “It’s just an incredibly exciting time!”

Study on the Little Ice Age reveals that the North Atlantic has reached a tipping point

ASTUDY on the Little Ice Age, a period of regional cooling especially in the North Atlan tic which ended around 1850, has of fered insights into how tipping points are triggered. With multiple tipping points potentially approaching world wide due to human-driven climate change, the study’s work is invalu able in helping us understand when and how tipping points are triggered.

A long-standing theory sug gests that initial cooling in this period was sustained by “sea-ice to ocean feedbacks,” where sea

ice expanded, slowing ocean cur rents, which in turn reduced the flow of warm water from the south.

The new study by the University of Exeter used the shells of quahog clams, which can live for hundreds of years, to understand how the ocean has evolved and responded to chang es over the last couple of centuries.

Lead author Beatriz Arellano-Na va, of Exeter’s Global Systems Insti tute, explained: “One way to tell that a system is approaching a sudden transi tion is that it becomes slow to respond to perturbations (external changes). In

other words, a system loses the abil ity to return to its average state, and can instead ‘tip’ into a new state.”

In other words, a system loses the ability to return to its average state

In the case of the North Atlantic prior to the Little Ice Age, this loss of resilience made the system vul nerable to an abrupt switch, “Poten tially heralding the transition to Lit tle Ice Age conditions” said Dr Paul

Halloran, who co-led the research.

The new study warns that vul nerability of the North Atlantic sys tem is a key issue today, with recent analysis suggesting it has destabilised during the last century and might be approaching a tipping point.

“Our latest analysis suggests that the system of ocean currents in the northern North Atlantic could be at risk of a tipping point again now due to global warming, leading once again to abrupt climate change over Eu rope,” said Professor Tim Lenton, Di rector of the Global Systems Institute.

SCIENCE EDITORS: Daniel Pain and Hayley Power

Megan Ballantyne, Editor, explores the research being carried out at Exeter regarding honeybees and their search for food

Science

Hayley Power, Science Editor, explains what the model of Mars’ atmosphere may mean for humans

Megan Ballantyne, Editor, explores the research being carried out at Exeter focusing on climate change in the North Atlantic

Image: Ivar Leidus, Wikimedia Commons

Image: USGS, Wikimedia Commons

Image: W.C. Alden, Wikimedia Commons

Habitability is defined as a planet’s ability to support life

Paleogenomics: new research unearths human evolutionary history

ASIGNIFICANT propor tion of modern humans carry DNA from archaic hu mans, such as Neanderthals or Den isovans. The prevailing theory to explain this is that genetic variants came over from them to the ances tors of modern humans when they interbred, which means that they must have been in contact at some point.

Denisova Cave, located in Si beria, is such a contact zone. Vari ous fossilised hominin remains have been found here at different depths. In a layer that formed roughly 200,000 years ago, Swedish geneti cist Svante Pääbo and his team were able to identify four hominin fossils.

Pääbo received this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in an exciting and rapidly evolv ing field which he helped to establish paleogenomics. This field deals with genetic information on extinct species.

But how was identifying these fos sils possible? The DNA in bones is long-lived, but it breaks down over time into smaller and smaller segments, un til after 6.8 million years, every single base pair is lost. Until now, it had been thought impossible to reconstruct DNA that is hundreds of thousands of years old. But after over a decade of

work, Pääbo and his team succeeded.

Until now, it had been thought impossible to reconstruct DNA that is hundreds of thousands of years old.

First, they determined which of the bones had belonged to the Homi nidae, the great apes. Using mass spec trometer analysis (ZooMS), crushed and treated samples of each bone were compared against known sam ples of that family. Five of the bones matched the family’s criteria, and as no chimpanzees, gorillas or orangu tans are known in the cave’s region, they could only be of human origin.

In the next step they extracted bone powder from the human fossils and used silica-coated magnetic particles to pull out short DNA molecules from them. Base sequences that were too short or didn‘t match expected com binations were sorted out. From this, they were able to reconstruct mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) sequences,

which they aligned and compared to complete mtDNA genomes of archaic and modern humans. Finally, they re constructed the mtDNA genomes of four of the five fossils. One of them matches Neanderthal mtDNA, and the other three match Denisovan mtDNA.

They were able to reconstruct mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) sequences, which they aligned and compared to complete mtDNA genomes or archaic and modern humans,

Now that the genomes of these archaic humans are available to us, they can help us answer long-stand ing questions about our evolution ary history. Why did some subspecies survive while others went extinct? How were they adapted to their en vironment? How did populations migrate and transform over time?

Understanding our genetic history and origins as a species is a massive achievement for modern medicine as

well. DNA which was passed down by our extinct ancestors has an influence on physiology, such as skin and hair colour, as well as on health. A timely exam ple for this is how varyingly SARS–CoV–2 affects humans.

In 2020, Svante Pääbo and Hugo Zeberg found that ge netic variants of one region of chromosome 3 increased the likelihood for its carriers to de velop a severe form of COVID–19. These genetic variants are found in humans with Neanderthal ancestors.

The potential applications for these new DNA extraction methods are wide-ranging. They could be used to sequence the genomes of samples previously thought not to be viable. Extracted ice cores or even museum ex hibits could finally reveal their secrets.

Cancer immunotherapy shown ineffective in patients of African and Asian descent

IMAGINE being prescribed with a medicine that is proved to be ineffective at treating your medi cal condition. Sounds ludicrous right? However, a 2021 study found that this is a harsh reality for many cancer pa tients of African or Asian descent.

The drug in question is called Pembrolizumab, an FDA-approved

immune checkpoint inhibitor used for the treatment of tumours with a high mutational burden (TMB). Now, this might sound like gibberish to a lot of you, but simply put, this drug stops a signal being sent to your im mune cells, allowing your immune cells to start killing the tumour in your body. The key point I want to make

is that this drug is only shown to be effective against tumours with a high TMB. This basically means that this drug is only effective in treating tu mours which have a lot of mutations.

So far this all sounds good, but the problem lies in the test to find out if a patient’s tumour has a high TMB. The test involves comparing the pa

tient’s tumour to a reference genome which comes from a genetic database containing genomes of thousands of individuals. However, and this may be unsurprising to many, these genetic da tabases have a bias towards European populations. For example, the genom AD database has nearly seven times the number of European sequences than African ones. And a 2016 study which sampled 5729 tumours from the Can cer Genome Atlas Respiratory found that 77 per cent of sequenced tumours were from European ancestry. This European bias in genomic data means that the test for high TMB is highly inaccurate when concerning patients from ethnic minority backgrounds.

cancer patients of African and Asian descent, even if they have a high TMB. Despite this, patients within those communities are still being prescribed this expensive drug, even when it is not going to help them in their treatment. I am sure almost all of you will agree that this is not okay.

African and Asian patients were approximately twice as likely to get false positives

The 2021 paper found that Af rican and Asian patients were ap proximately twice as likely to get false positives than their European coun terparts. More damningly, the paper showed that this immunotherapy drug is ineffective at improving survival of

The findings of this 2021 paper highlight a systemic problem in the scientific and medical community of racial bias and prejudice. The mistreat ment and exploitation of people of colour, especially those who come from African origins, by the scientific/medi cal community has been widely chron icled, the most well known examples being the Tuskegee Syphillis Trials and the case of Henrietta Lacks. Due to the rise of precision medicine, which uses genetics heavily, having more di verse genetic databases is essential in reducing racial disparities in health outcomes as the efficacy of drugs can vary between different populations.

Joshua Cremer unravels the mystery behind the exciting new field of paleogenomics

Rahul Anand sheds light on the pressing issue of healthcare disparity between differing ethnic groups

DNA which was passed down by our extinct ancestors has an influence on physiology

Image: PImixabay, OpenClipart-Vectors

These genetic databases have a bias towards European populations

Formula 1: A campaign of dominance from Red Bull

MAX Verstappen is a two time World Champion, de fending and reclaiming his title with a dominant lights to flag vic tory from pole position at Suzuka, Japan.

Navigating the treacherously wet con ditions that delayed the first representative racing laps by two hours with skilful car control and tyre management, a hallmark of his impressive rise since his debut into F1 at 17 years old, 2022 has undoubtedly been dominated by Red Bull. The squad edge closer to the Constructor’s Champion ship, possessing a clinical edge questioned in closest rivals Ferrari as strategy errors and reliability have exposed weaknesses within the Italian team. The Red Bull engine pack age this season has been a key factor to their success. Red Bull formed a partner ship with a team from Honda, producing a powerplant that has delivered the reliability lacked by Ferrari and the acceleration that the Mercedes engine has seemingly missed this year. The season results prove that Red Bull have engineered a car that is the fastest car on the grid, and that despite the factors of unreliability and poor performance from rivals, Red Bull have handed a champion ship winning package to Max Verstappen.

The 2022 season has been a season of change as a new set of regulations that has brought back ‘Ground Effect’ aerodynam ics (famously used to spectacular effect in the 1970s). This was introduced to pro mote overtaking and create a better specta cle for a fanbase that has grown greatly since the ascent of the ‘Drive to Survive’ series as a culturally powerful brand – a cultural significance proven by the expansion into the USA (a market previously seen as hos tile to F1 due to the threat of Indycar and NASCAR) by the inaugural Miami Grand Prix and a Las Vegas Grand Prix for 2023.

The regulation change has been shown to be an obstacle for Mercedes, who have fallen from the dominant position of be ing one lap away from a clean sweep of 9 titles with the 2014 and 2018 regulations,

to a squad looking to regain confidence: a chronic ‘porpoising’ problem (when the car bounces off the track and the chassis strikes the circuit) hampering any chances of Mer cedes copying Red Bull in continuing their title-challenging form early on in the season.

However, Mercedes have managed to find pace over the season which defines Mer cedes as a team that can be viewed as chal lengers next year — George Russell’s sec ond place finish at the Dutch GP showing that given a year or two of development, the Brackley based squad are still a leading team.

Furthermore, to distance themselves from the controversial conclusion of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, the FIA, the govern ing body, has looked to re-assert control.

The unstable beginning of the season via the termination of Nikita Mazepin’s contract with Haas, due to revoked spon sorship with sanctions imposed on Russian business, gave way to the stability of the hope for a title fight, as Ferrari presented a challenge to Verstappen through Charles Leclerc. However, despite the initial opti mism of Leclerc leading the championship up to round 4 at Imola, Ferrari’s form fal tered — with engine component failures at Spain, strategy errors at Monaco and an engine blowout at Azerbaijan all within four Grands Prix. Throughout the season, Verstappen pushed the limits of his RB18 to secure his title, culminating in his vic tory from 15th on the grid in Belgium that presented the harmony between team, car and driver that has stunted Leclerc’s title charge. Despite the clear failures of Fer rari to provide a basis for a Leclerc cham pionship, Verstappen proved his creden tials this year as a driver that has learnt his lessons from 2021 and is able to control races with a precision often attributed to Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

The ‘best of the rest’ battle this year has however provided a narrative of a ‘cat and mouse game’ between Alpine and McLaren that has contrasted the dominance of the leading drivers this year, separated by only

13 points before the US GP. The strong performances of Lando Norris have shone through as a driver that begins to look a more convincing Hamilton replacement at Mercedes — a podium at Imola and a fourth position finish at Singapore showing his raw speed in the MCL36. In contrast, the continuing struggles of teammate and fan favourite Daniel Ricciardo to unlock the potential of the car for the second year running (despite the promise of a new ma chine) has led to an admission by the Aus tralian of taking a year sabbatical before hopefully returning in 2024. Whilst I remain skeptical of his chances to re-enter F1 in 2024, I hope that Ricciardo gets the chance to showcase the pace and overtaking skills that we saw from him in his debut season at Red Bull in 2014 – his strong 5th place in the Singapore GP an example of the role Ricciardo can play for McLaren. Their rivals, Alpine, have been consistently scor ing points, at a relatively equal pace between teammates Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso (who in a shock, moves to a largely uncompetitive Aston Martin package in 2023) — however retirements (4 for Alonso,

for Ocon) have limited the potential of Al pine to stake their claim as ‘best of the rest’.

Given the positives of this season so far, discussions surrounding the credibil ity and capability of the FIA, as a govern ing body have contradicted the celebratory tone of this season. A popular perception of governmental incompetence within the fanbase has toxified many moments across the season, the most recent Japanese GP marred by a scary incident when an unsight ed Pierre Gasly nearly crashed into a tractor on the circuit, an incident that tragically ech oed the events of Jules Bianchi’s fatal crash at the 2014 Japanese GP. No other sport arguably places such an emphasis on inter pretation and understanding of regulations, therefore this scrutiny of the governing body is not unwarranted, it is necessary — even more necessary in an era when more people watch F1 than ever before. The philosophy of caution and deliberated deci sions employed by the FIA (in contrast to a potentially cavalier attitude to stewarding by ex-race director Michael Masi) alienates both new fans that are confused the race winner got a post-race penalty, and addi tionally alienates existing fans that value the competitive integrity of the sport. Ques tions over the effects of Red Bull’s however minor breach of cost cap regulations, could have been avoided had the FIA placed clear communication as a priority — the last thing F1 want are further questions of the legiti macy of Verstappen’s maiden title from a leaked document distributed by the media.

So, what does the future hold within F1 in 2022 and 2023 onwards?

Four races remain in the calendar: the US GP providing a technical challenge for drivers as they navigate technical hairpins and a first sector of esses that promote precision driving. The Mexico City GP an engineering challenge for engine special ists given the high altitude setting of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, all the while Mexico celebrates their hero Sergio Perez. The Sao Paulo GP showcasing the

overtaking opportunities of the Interlagos circuit that keep its F1 race for a year longer despite previous threats of a new Brazilian circuit to be constructed. The greatly im proved, however flawed, Yas Marina circuit of the Abu Dhabi GP concludes the season.

Furthermore, alongside the chal lenge of circuits that emphasise different qualities within cars (an important factor when analysing the ‘best of the rest’ bat tle of Alpine vs McLaren), Mick Schu macher sees himself in a battle to retain his Haas seat in a battle reported in the media against perennially underachiev ing yet experienced, Nico Hulkenberg.

Mick Schumacher’s season has been divided into moments of talent, such as a 6th place finish at the Austrian GP, and into moments of expensive mistakes such as a car-splitting crash at Monaco, that cost a smaller squad such as Haas who are fa mous for their cost-cutting measures such as buying parts from Ferrari. Mick’s future hangs in the balance – the second Haas seat one of only two vacant seats for the 2023 season. With all other business com plete in the driver transfer market due to a particularly frenetic silly season this year, Schumacher’s battle is a key talking point over the final rounds of the season: 2021 Formula 2 Champion Oscar Piastri debuts with McLaren in 2023 after an explosive exit from Alpine as Reserve Driver, Pierre Gasly moves to Alpine after 6 years at the Red Bull junior team AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso) that never earned him a substan tial and enduring shot at the senior team, Fernando Alonso moves to Aston Martin, while 2019 Formula 2 and 2020-21 Formula E champion Nyck De Vries earns a seat at Williams after an exceptional performance at Monza when he earned two points having only had seat time in FP3 of the Italian GP.

In summary, the 2022 F1 season has crowned Max Verstappen as the bench mark, a dominant champion and a cham pionship that may become the founda tion of an exceptional reign over F1.

Joseph Terry assesses the F1 season off the back of Max Verstappen's second World Championship win

Photo: Alex Prins: Spa GP

Photo: Alex Prins: Saudi Arabia GP

Taylor joins Rotherham — end of an era

Tom Picillo reflects on Matt Taylor's departure from Exeter City Football Club

MATT Taylor leaves Exeter City. It felt inevitable that the Exeter City manager, Matt Taylor, would depart the club eventu ally. Very few, however, believed it would happen now. After four years of Matt Taylor’s reign at St James Park, the Gre cians must now contemplate life without their inspirational figurehead at the helm. Taylor embarks on a new challenge at Rotherham United, and City are seeking a new leader to guide them through their first season in League One for a decade.

When many bookies had Matt Taylor as the favourite to replace Paul Warne at Rotherham United, City supporters were concerned but not overly worried. Tay lor had previously been strongly linked with the vacant posts at Lincoln City and Charlton Athletic during his tenure at Exeter, both of which he assumingly re jected. However, this offer did feel differ ent. The Millers were sitting comfortably in the Championship when their manager, Paul Warne, left them for a sleeping giant in the form of Derby County. The void left at Rotherham was one that needed to filled with haste, and after Cambridge United manager, Mark Bonner, rejected their approach, attention turned to Taylor.

When Matt Taylor joined the Exeter City coaching staff as under 23s manager, the once Grecians captain made it abun dantly clear that he had managerial ambi tions. Taylor spent most of his career as either a captain or a vice captain — it was little surprise that a player with a healthy dose of leadership in his veins would want to challenge himself in the hot seat. In May 2018, the Grecians headed to Wembley for their second consecutive playoff final. Tay lor was a key member of the coaching staff, assisting Exeter’s long-serving manager, Paul Tisdale. A calamitous second half in the capital saw Exeter defeated at the home of football once again. Fans were furious and it became clear, even to those with the most rose-tinted glasses, that Tisdale’s twelve-year tenure at the club was over. City wasted little time in replacing their outgo ing coach. The directors were adamant that Taylor could step into management for the first time and launch the Grecians back to League One. Taylor’s tenure saw the club survive the COVID-19 pandemic, reach a playoff final, and secure promotion to League One for the first time in a decade.

After a strong start to their League One campaign, confidence was running high. An emphatic 4-0 win over For

est Green Rovers, live on Sky Sports, got everybody talking about what Exeter City could do in League One. The first sign, however, that the City ship might soon be rocked was when Taylor was asked about the vacant post at Rotherham United. BBC Radio Devon Sport asked the Exeter boss, after their 1-1 draw with Bristol Rov ers, whether he had been offered the role at Rotherham. “Yes” replied Matt Taylor, an honest answer from an honest man who has been clear with his communica tion since day one. “I’ve got a decision to make, and I’ll be making that decision in the next 24 hours”, he told Seth Conway.

Forty-eight hours passed and we still awaited a confirmation statement — ex cept for one tweet from the Supporter’s Trust confirming Taylor’s departure which was quickly deleted. When I hosted the Greciancast on Monday evening I was still awaiting a statement. All we knew was that a press conference had been cancelled. Could this mean he was staying? After a sleepless night, a statement at last. “Ne gotiations are currently ongoing” wrote Nick Hawker, chair of Exeter City Sup porters’ Trust. Everything seemed to be adding up in favour of Taylor departing. Then, just two hours before Ex

eter kicked off under the floodlights, a confirmation statement arrived:

“Exeter City Football Club is now in a position to confirm that manager Matt Tay lor has left the club for Rotherham United.”

Heartbreak, devastation, and what might even be described as grief. The sun had set on the Matt Taylor era. Although the announcement was expected, few could comprehend that the day had finally arrived.

However, the world does continue to turn. Former Torquay United boss, and current U18 manager Kevin Nichol son was tasked with taking the squad into their first game without Matt Taylor since 2018. A win against Southampton U21s in the Papa John's Trophy was an encouraging start but attention soon fo cused on Barnsley away four days later.

Nicholson, the current caretaker man ager at the time of writing, sent his team to battle in South Yorkshire and his new play ers did not disappoint. A dominant 2-0 away win saw Nicholson’s stock rise, perhaps re inforcing a potential claim to the position on a permanent basis. However, a dramatic 4-2 defeat away to Charlton on Tuesday may have damaged his claim for the perma nent role. As things stand, Nicholson looks the favourite to take over from Taylor and

extend his interim position into a perma nent one. Former Crewe Alexandra man ager David Artell had looked the likely man to take the position but after struggling League Two side, Newport County, parted ways with their manager James Rowberry, Artell now lines up in pole position for the managerial role at Rodney Parade. Artell, who is renowned for his commitment to youth development, would likely align with Exeter City’s ethos, however a devastating relegation in his last campaign with Crewe has indefinitely damaged the Gibraltarian’s reputation. Although he’s had excellent success coaching in the academy, Kevin Nicholson’s managerial experience consists of assisting in Torquay United’s relegation to the National League South and manag ing the South West Peninsula League club Mousehole AFC, a Cornish village west of Penzance. However, neither Tisdale nor Taylor had EFL managerial experi ence when appointed and, although its a risky strategy, this formula has succeeded before and could well provide dividends for the Grecians once again. Time will tell what life looks like for Exeter City in this new era after Matt Taylor but for this sustainable fan-owned club you’d be un wise to bet against their continued success.

Exeter Chiefs maintain impressive start to season

WEST country derby. A phrase that up until recently was associated with titanic clashes between teams such as Bath, Gloucester and Worcester. However, from this region another contest has recently emerged which has captured the hearts and minds of many: Bristol vs Exeter. While some would contest the dubbing of the match as that of the West Country, few would challenge the notion of this game not being a derby. Of the past five encounters between the two teams, three had been won by Ex eter and two by Bristol, the average mar gin was 8.4 and of those five matches, two had been won by the home side.

Although this is the case, taking Exeter’s flying start into consideration, some could have suggested that the out come on Friday night was going to be an Exeter win. What few could have pre dicted, however, was the lopsided score line once the 80 minutes were up. The match began with a familiar sight, Ellis Genge, Bristol’s latest high-profile sign ing, tearing through tackles and bringing his team within inches of the line. The ball was shipped wide to Callum Sheedy who deftly chipped a cross field kick to Toby Fricker who had an easy run in the corner. At this point, many Bears fans were celebrating not only the try that

put them ahead, but also the openness of the game and what might have been in store for the next hour and a half.

Yet this did not materialise, with Chiefs expertly dominating the first half. The gulf between the two sides was no ticeable, Bears who generally play an ex

fullback. Tries from Jack Nowell and Ollie Woodburn sealed off a strong first half performance from the Chiefs. With time up, this was epitomised by some dogged defence on their own line lead ing to a knock on from Harry Randall — who missed the line by centimetres.

corner. The impact from the bench was also obvious with Luke Cowan-Dickie putting Jack Nowell in from a wonderful inside ball and the replacement hooker grabbing an intercept try with 20 min utes left on the clock. Bears’ sole re sponse was a try from Will Capon which

score line, some looked shocked, oth ers thought they had misheard, and I was in fact saying the score was 14-15. Each response tells the same story, the fixture between Exeter and Bristol wher ever it is held, whoever is playing, what ever the circumstance is generally a high scoring close game. While Chiefs have undoubtedly had a fantastic start to the season, putting away the likes of Leices ter and Harlequins (just), the Exeter vs Bristol has been a marker in recent years for both teams. It would prob ably be right to say that this result has put things in perspective for both teams.

pansive, ball-in-hand game were forced at many points to box-kick as a result of the Chiefs’ quick and brutal line speed. Certainly, putting the ball in the air was not at the top of the Bears’ list of pri orities owing to the fact that Exeter had decided to do away with the SkinnerSimmonds axis at 10 and 15 and instead start Scotland captain Stuart Hogg at

It would be difficult to say for sure what was said at half time, but what was evidently clear was that the denial of the try at the end of the first half left the Bears in a rut which they were ultimate ly unable to climb out of. The second half was a continuation of the first half dominance with Olly Woodburn cross ing again — finishing incredibly in the

summed up a poor performance in a fixture that has regularly brought out the best in the Bears. Chiefs had the final say when Richard Capstick took a cross field kick and finished off in the corner — a mirror image of Toby Fricker’s early effort. Final score Bristol 14, Exeter 50.

When friends asked me how the game was and I responded with the

Bristol, who managed to beat Bath, London Irish and Wasps but then lost to Newcastle need to seriously reassess their game plan and decide who is going to be their primary 10 (with Callum Sheedy and AJ Maginty competing for the shirt). They will also have to unfortunately compete without Harry Randall who was injured during the match. Chiefs on the other hand will have to think about how they sustain their momentum while los ing players during the Autumn Interna tionals. It’s evident that Chiefs have had a strong start to the season — their chal lenge now is making sure they keep their standards high, don’t get complacent and pursue the teams that have occupied their regular place at the top of the table.

Joshua Hughes, Editor, reports on a convincing Chiefs victory over Bristol amid Exeter's strong start to the campaign

Image: Derek Harper

SPORT EDITOR: Rob Worthington

Social footballers let down: 11-a-side league scrapped

G ETTING involved with football at Exeter, joining an intramural team is an excel lent alternative if you fail to be se lected for a competitive EUAFC team.

This year, EUAFC have been able to offer students places in 11 competitive sides, ranging from the EUAFC 1s to the 11s.

This differs slightly from last year’s set-up at the university’s football club. Previously, there were 8 competitive sides supported by ‘freshers’ teams.’

These teams were known as the EUAFC ‘Reds,’ ‘Whites,’ and ‘Greens.’ These teams offered a pathway for first-year students who failed to gain a place in the competitive teams into the upper echelons of the football club.

These teams would play in the intramural league on a Sunday along with fellow students who ei ther failed to get into a competi tive team, or instead chose to play socially instead of competitively.

This league provided students with an opportunity to play 11-a-side football at university at a pretty decent standard under very little pressure.

And as a first-year student, it also gave you an opportunity to make friends through football even if you weren’t interested in fully immersing your self in the university’s football club.

This year, the league does still exist, but in a format which has un derwhelmed many students at Exeter.

Due to facility constraints, the University haven’t been able to of fer students the opportunity to play social 11-a-side football this year.

Instead, a 9-a-side league has been created which will run in the same format as the 11-a-side divisions of last year. Given the sports facili ties on offer at Exeter, this has been viewed as something of a let-down.

Off the back of the success of last year’s intramural league, many students arrived back in Ex eter hoping to continue playing alongside those they played with last year in the intramural league.

Many have committed time, effort, and financial resource to wards creating teams with fairly bulky squads. Squads which are de signed for 11-a-side, not 9-a-side.

And due to the aforementioned facility constraints, there are limited spaces in the student sports leagues this year, and some intramural sides haven’t even been able to enter their squads into the 9-a-side league this term.

So, despite devoting a considera ble amount of time to planning, some 11-aside/9-a-side teams will have to settle with setting up their own friendlies and playing sporadically.

These teams have been hard done by. All summer, the ‘Social Sport Activity’ page on univer sity’s sport-dedicated website indi cated students would be able to en ter teams into an 11-a-side league.

Not only does that league not exist, but the places in the alternative league which has been created were signifi cantly limited. A huge disappointment.

And for the 1st year students who have entered social teams

and those who have gained a place in the 9s, 10s and 11s, they too may feel a little short-changed.

Many would have arrived at Exeter this year expecting to play 11-a-side football, and that op portunity simply isn’t there.

Instead, students have to pay the grand sum of £80.00 to purchase EU AFC’s ‘social membership,’ and play a version of football they haven’t played since they were in their early teens.

This in itself is underwhelm ing, and it would also suggest op portunities to climb the EUAFC ranks and gain the opportunity to play 11-a-side football in com petitive teams will be limited too.

It will be difficult for student foot ballers to prove that they are good enough to play competitively if their opportunities are constrained to a 9-a-side level. Playing in a team with just 2 less players in it might not seem much of a change, but tactically it is a very different version of the game.

And to make matters even worse, the 9-a-side fixtures will be played at

the University’s Duckes Meadow play ing fields, fair way away from campus.

Those involved with organising intramural 11-a-side football have failed Exeter University’s social play ers this term. A potential reversion to 11-a-side hasn’t been ruled out for next term, but no promises have been made.

And even if promises are made, it would seem the word of the organis ers cannot be trusted. To re-iterate, all summer it was suggested the 11-a-side league would go ahead, and at the last minute this proposal was scrapped.

Social football was something many second-years I have spoken to found incredibly useful last year in terms of making friends. It was a fantastic exemplification of what the university and its football club could offer social sport players.

However, students have had to settle. They shouldn’t have had to, but they have. That said, the university and EUAFC’s treatment of its social footballers shouldn’t be unnoticed. Social footballers have been let down.

Rob Worthington Print Sport Editor

Image: Rob Worthington