Impact Magazine Issue 239

JANUARY 2016 ISSUE 239

“YOU HAD ONE EYE IN THE MIRROR...”

VANITY, PERCEPTION & SELF REFLECTION

WELCOME

EDITORIAL Recent national news has been dominated by stories regarding a lack of awareness as to what constitutes providing sexual consent. The Guardian, in October this year, released the documentary Sex, Lads and Grey Areas: What is Going on in UK Unis?, revealing a severe absence of education around what it actually means to say no to sex. The implication here is that ‘lad culture’ cultivated on university campuses is partly to blame for the blurring of boundaries.

Following this, in the last month, BBC 3 also released an ongoing strand of documentaries called ‘Breaking the Mould’, throwing gender politics into the foreground. Their programme Is This Rape, Sex on Trial, showed 24 students watching a drama about a sexual encounter and their decision making process on whether a sexual offence had been committed or if the woman had given consent. It was later revealed that the man had been charged for sexual assault however alarmingly, 46% of the people asked initially said that consent was given or that they did not know if a crime was committed.

With this in mind, our News team launched an investigation into consent on campus and tested your knowledge on sexual boundaries. Almost half of the students surveyed admitted that they did not properly understand what was meant by ‘consent’ and 69% confirmed The Guardian’s claims that young people aren’t educated on the topic as they said that they had never received sexual consent education. The problem is one that clearly manifests itself in secondary schools and then comes into fruition as people more readily explore their sexuality at university.

So can we change the culture? The University over the last year seems to have made some progress after facing a backlash as a result of sexist chants taught to freshers in their first weeks of university. ‘Week One’ for freshers has been renamed ‘Welcome Week’ and more emphasis has been placed on promoting non-alcoholic events in an attempt to combat ‘lad culture’.

In a similar vein, the #HeforShe umbrella campaign was launched on campus in September with the aim of promoting gender equality on campus. However, it appears that a lack of progress can be discerned since the campaign’s first launch and initial discussions. This leads us to question once again: has anything changed, or is it all just simply talk from the top?

Admittedly, there is not a solution that can be readily implemented overnight and maybe the opening of these dialogues is all that we can expect from the Union at this moment in time. I suppose there is something to be said for the act of getting people talking as it can, if nothing else, succeed in raising awareness and this itself, can eventually be a motor for change - but there is a long way to go.

BELINDA TOOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

INSIDE!

4 NEWS

“ACTION HAS TO TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER WORDS”

Consent on Campus

10 COMMENT

“STEAL OUR POLICIES!”

Impact Interviews the WEP founder

18 F E AT U R E S

CAMPUS VENUS IN FURS

Impact Talks to Kinkster Ms Nesbitt

22 T R AV E L

FADING FAST

How to Catch the Northern Lights

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24 SCIENCE

42 GAMING

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY? Microtransactions in Gaming

EXERCISE ON THE BRAIN

46

Interviewing Nottingham’s Neuroscientists

28

FILM & TV

SCENE WARS

Great Moments from a Galaxy Far Far Away

50

FOOD

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

Noël in Nottingham

ON THE COVER

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MUSIC

12X12

A Dozen Favourite Albums of 2015

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ST Y L E

“I BECAME OBSESSED” Life Without a Mirror

ARTS

EVIL IN EDUCATION Diaries of Fresher Villains

66

40 EXPOSURE

STUDENT SHOWCASE

UoN Student Photographers Showcase Their Work

SPORT

THE NEXT LAP 20 Future Years of Sport Envisioned

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IMPACT NEWS

A LOT OF TALK, NO ACTION SEXUAL CONSENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM WORDS BY MARCO DALL’ANTONIA, HANNAH EVES & TAMSIN PARNELL RESEARCH BY KAYLEIGH FLETCHER, STEVEN GREEN, AMY WILCOCKSON IMAGE BY GINNY MOORE

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University has traditionally been seen as the perfect arena to explore sexuality, notoriously a melting pot of brief relationships, casual sex, and experimentation. In light of growing national media attention and a call from various groups and the government, Impact News investigates the darker side of sexual experiences, if students themselves feel this space has been made unsafe by a growing prevalence of “lad culture”, and a perceived lack of understanding about sexual consent.

In a survey of over 200 students, Impact found that 49.5% felt that students do not understand what is meant by the term ‘consent’. Furthermore, when asked if they have ever felt ‘threatened by sexual advances’, 45% of students said yes. It is clear from the response and attention the issue has received that this is a key concern for Nottingham students.

The SU and the University have prompted discussion on the subject by launching the recent HeForShe campaign on campus.

This initiative builds on the movement started by the United Nations with the support of high profile media figures such as Emma Watson and Tom Hiddleston.

As a result of ongoing HeForShe meetings at the university, three working groups were established to address “lad culture” education, transgender awareness and gender fluidity, and sexual harassment, violence and consent. Sarah Pickup, SU Welfare Officer, has expressed her excitement about working closely with group members to “facilitate these campaigns”.

“We believe that opening a dialogue about consent is a vital part in educating a generation” In response to questions about the extent to which the Students’ Union plans to implement policies around sexual consent, Angharad Smith, SU President, and Sarah Pickup, stated that the SU and the University are in “conversation” about formulating a policy as a result of growing pressure.

Claire Thompson, Head of Student Welfare, told Impact: “The University is reviewing its procedures and advice around sexual consent and reporting. The outcome of this review will include an awareness raising campaign in conjunction with the Students’ Union”.

Despite these efforts to encourage discussions about sexual consent, 60% of University of Nottingham students questioned

by Impact felt that a lack of understanding regarding consent continues to be a problem at university.

When asked if they had ever received sexual consent education, 69% of Nottingham students revealed that they had not, compared to only 30% stating that they had. Moreover, 75% of the participants stated that more education about the rules of sexual consent would be “helpful for students”.

“Trying to educate those who will force themselves upon another aren’t the type to be receptive to education. Consent is an easy concept to understand” Rachel Hoskins, Communications Manager for UoN Feminists, told Impact: “We believe that opening a dialogue about consent is a vital part in educating a generation and will make a start on the lack of education which is the root of many cases at university”.

However, there is a minority of students who do not support the implementation of sexual consent education: “I don't think it's necessary at uni. If you don't know what consent is by the time you're at uni then your previous educators and parents should be ashamed. If you don't care about consent at uni you are a cunt”, commented Owen Morris, a second year Business Management student.

Furthermore, some have also argued that sexual consent education would be ineffective as it would be unlikely to reach those who are most likely to go beyond what is considered appropriate behaviour.

Jenna Peevor, a second year English student, told Impact: "I would say the issue is more cultural than educational.

Trying to educate those who will force themselves upon another aren't the type to be receptive to education.

Consent is an easy concept to understand. If someone says no or is unable to say yes then is it not consent”.

However, in practice what is considered consent is less clear cut. Under the Sexual Offences Act of 2003, “causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent” is defined as person (A) “intentionally caus[ing] another person (B) to engage in an activity” that is “sexual in nature” and in which person (B) “does not consent to engaging in the activity and (A) does not reasonably believe that (B) consents”.

544 such incidents were reported in England and Wales between July 2014 and June 2015, according to the Home Office and Office for National Statistics. These statistics show an 86% increase from the previous year, in which 292 incidents were reported.

Speaking to Impact, Ginny Moore, a second year English student, said: “I think generally people are aware of the issue of consent, it’s very simple, no means no. The problem is putting this into practice”.

On the back of these findings, revealed in October 2015, many UK universities have launched their own sexual consent campaigns. The University of Cambridge has made sexual

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consent workshops compulsory for all of their first year students, and The University of Sheffield is among several institutions to hold consent workshops during their Freshers’ Week.

However, students speaking to Impact stated that they did not know the Dignity Policy exists, revealing that it is not as well publicised as it ought to be. Some argue that this forms part of a more general problem that there has been a lack of tangible progress on both the issue of educating as well as helping those that have experienced a case of no sexual consent.

On a national level, the UK government has recognised the persistence of this problem and ordered an enquiry into the issue of sexual consent and ‘lad culture’ at UK universities. Under the proposed scheme, the task force will rate universities with a stamp of approval based on how well they handle complaints of sexual violence and sexism. They are expected to work alongside crime prevention officers to improve the complaint systems at universities.

Second year English student David Beamer told Impact: “I don't know the SU’s stance on incidents of 'no consent' and to be honest didn't know they had a specific policy relating to this”.

Speaking to Impact about what the University of Nottingham’s Students’ Union plans to do to address sexual consent, Angharad Smith and Sarah Pickup stated that any potential education would be gender inclusive, but they did not specify whether this would be obligatory or optional. Information regarding the classes and any future policies was limited at best to hypothetical promises for the future.

They did although highlight the University’s Dignity Policy, stating that it is the SU’s responsibility to have a simple, well publicised guidance document with regards to harassment, which “would include an incident of no sexual consent”. This policy provides protection for students under the Equality Act 2010 and by directing students to official institutions such as the police, but by nature, limits the University’s role to that of a mere facilitator on the issue.

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“I think Nottingham should make more of an effort to hold workshops and produce leaflets. Other universities have, and sexual consent is clearly an issue that is affecting people our age” He added: “I also think the SU needs to be careful that they aren't seen as merely wanting nothing to do with these situations by referring them to other institutions. The SU is the primary source for some students and therefore they should offer counselling at the very least. Some vulnerable students may feel uneasy to approach more formal institutions, especially in the very 'grey' areas of consent”.

Madeleine Green, a second year Zoology student at Nottingham, also suggested that the University needed to do more to clarify its position on sexual consent. “I think Nottingham should make more of an effort to hold workshops and produce leaflets. Other universities have, and sexual consent is clearly an issue that is affecting people our age. It’s a shame really.”

Considering these responses, Impact has discovered an overwhelming consensus among students that sexual education at the University of Nottingham is seriously lacking. Whilst the SU is taking steps in the right direction, most students interviewed feel that current policies do not go far enough, that action now has to take precedence over words.no means no. The problem is putting this into practice”.

SURVEY CONDUCTED IN NOVEMBER 2015, 216 RESPONDENTS

50% of our jobs are outside of London

We have 9,100 clients across our regional offices

Our regional practices are at the heart of PwC

68% of all 2015 promotions were outside London

We welcome all degree disciplines

We don’t look at UCAS tariff for our graduate roles

A career that takes you places You might be surprised at the types of projects you could get involved in with us. Not only will you experience a range of challenging projects and exceptional training and development, you’ll also get to work with our high-profile clients. With over 30 offices to choose from, we’re sure you’ll discover an opportunity that’s right for you. Whether it’s joining our Assurance business to provide decision makers with information they can trust, or one of our technology businesses to help our clients embrace emerging trends. With us, you can take your career in a direction that suits you.

Take the opportunity of a lifetime pwc.com/uk/careers

/pwccareersuk @pwc_uk_careers © 2015 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. All rights reserved.

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IMPACT COMMENT

BLOODY HOMOPHOBIA NOTTINGHAM STUDENTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST INJUSTICE WORDS BY BETH WEBB-STRONG IMAGE BY AMY RAINBOW Have you ever donated blood?

If so, you will realise the monumental impact your donation could have on saving the lives of patients who are in desperate need of transfusion.

If not, it’s likely that you have taken that opportunity for granted.

now in the process of building a legal case. They hope to shed light on the injustices surrounding the ban: both against those who are refused treatment due to the shortage of blood supplies, and those denied the opportunity to supply it.

Since the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, homosexuals have been unable to donate blood in the United Kingdom. Scientists previously believed it could take this window period for infected individuals to test positive. However, newer forms of testing - the p24 antigen and Nucleic acid methods - are proven to take around twelve days and are much more effective.

Clearly, the primary concern regarding using MSM blood is the higher risk of infected blood samples. The reduction in risk due to advancements in testing now means that saving lives should take priority.

Since 2011, the UK enforces a 12-month deferral period for men who have sex with men (MSM). Scientists previously believed it could take this period for infected individuals to test positive. However, newer forms of testing - the p24 antigen and Nucleic acid methods - are proven to take around twelve days and are much more effective.

“As a medical student and human being, I have devoted my life to helping people deal with their illnesses. The ban on MSM blood donation simply means that as a gay man, I cannot contribute to potentially saving someone’s life... It doesn’t feel right to promote blood donation for the sake of our patients and not to be able to do so myself”.

The ban is undeniably outdated. A student led group Voice Your Rights (VYR) are

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Only 4% of the population donate blood regularly and in England alone around 8000 blood transfusions are carried out every day.

As blood can only be safely stored for about 42 days, hospital stocks are in constant need of replenishment.

The ban is discriminatory in more ways than one: it limits an individual’s autonomy by restricting him from donating blood, and, further, it reinforces negative stereotypes about gay and bisexual men. In fact, not only is the ban discriminatory, it turns away eligible, healthy donors when supplies are so desperately needed in hospitals.

Dimitris Vichas, gay medical student and founder of Voice Your Rights, speaks about the human reality of the ban:

This discrimination is not global; Spain and Italy screen on the basis of risky sexual activity. This September, Argentina lifted the deferral period for homosexuals with the full support of Health Minister Daniel Gollan, who asserted the decision was “scientifically and technically accurate”.

The lack of media attention in the UK surrounding the ban highlights the ingrained norms that society has come to accept.

Without political mobilisation or successful litigation, the ban is not going to budge. But there is potential for change.

Andy Burnham, runner up in the Labour leadership election, challenged the current system. #PutTheRedBack campaign has begun to gather momentum with their removal of the red in the LGBT flag in honour of those unable to donate. There has also been proposals to consider allowing homosexuals in monogamous relationships to donate blood.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? The aim of the Voice Your Rights campaign is to raise awareness of the issue and to promote discussion. This political campaign has the potential for ground-breaking changes to the current outdated and discriminatory system. The more students who support the campaign, the greater impact it will have.

Support the campaign and keep up to date with its progress by following on social media.

9,100 50% of our graduate opportunities are based outside of London

In London, salaries are % higher on average, than other cities, but you pay 60% more to live there

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We don’t

look at

UCAS

tariff for our graduate roles

clients are based across offices outside of London, and this represents 2/3 rds of our client list

68% of all 2015 promotions were outside London

Our regional practices are at the heart of PwC

We welcome all degree disciplines

Internship opportunities •Summer internships •Business insight weeks •Career open days •Talent academies •Diversity in business •Undergraduate work placements •Graduate work placements

A career that takes you places Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems for our diverse range of clients. In our Assurance practice, our work might involve auditing local councils to make sure budgets are being spent wisely and for the benefit of the community, through to providing assurance that an online bank or retailer has the right controls in place to protect their customers’ money and data. It’s work that ensures the value we deliver has lasting impact for our clients and beyond.

You might be surprised to know that Assurance can take your career in all sorts of directions. Once qualified, you could deepen your knowledge in a particular industry, move into a new area and develop new expertise, or maybe go on a secondment abroad or with a client. Whatever you decide, it’s a great place to begin your career journey.

The range and variety of career opportunities we have is extensive – from Consulting to Tax; Assurance to Legal; and Technology to Actuarial – and our businesses welcome applications from people who don’t have business or finance-related degrees. In fact, 50% of our graduate intake studied non-business related subjects. Instead, we focus on whether someone can bring the kind of skills that will create value for our clients and lead to success in their career. Our roles aren’t limited to London – over half of our graduate jobs are regional and just like London, they have high-profile and diverse clients. So whichever sector you’re interested in, and in whichever part of the country you’d like to be, we have a huge number of opportunities on offer.

Take the opportunity of a lifetime pwc.com/uk/careers

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IMPACT COMMENT

INTERVIEW WITH CO-FOUNDER OF THE WOMEN’S EQUALITY PARTY

CATHERINE MAYER WORDS BY MADDIE WAKTARE

The politics of gender equality in Britain has undoubtedly seen vast improvements since 1918.

That year, the law was changed to allow some women - but not all - the right to vote. We didn’t realise quite what was missing from British politics until it came suddenly in the form of a party founded on a drive for gender equality. The Women’s Equality Party (WEP) opened membership on the 3rd of July 2015. Following an abundance of support over the summer, the party completed their first momentous policy launch earlier this October. Impact speaks to author, journalist and co-founder of the WEP, Catherine Mayer.

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What inspired you to found the WEP? Was it simply that you felt disillusioned with the lack of female representation in politics?

It’s not so much that I was disillusioned; rather that so many people seemed to be thoroughly disenchanted with the existing political parties. I remember having a conversation with Sandi Toksvig, in February of this year, about the worryingly high number of people, and especially women, who felt too alienated to vote. I may have been thinking about that conversation with Sandi at a Women of the World event a couple of weeks later, on March 2nd, when listening to three female MPs making promises about what their parties would do to advance gender equality.

One member of the audience after another stood up to express scepticism not just that these promises would ever be delivered, but about whether there was any value in voting. So I got hold of the microphone and said that maybe a new party was needed, a women’s equality party, and that if anybody wanted to discuss the idea I’d be in the bar.

“I got hold of the microphone and said that maybe a new party was needed, a women’s equality party” I wasn’t suggesting that I would found such a party, but quite a few people came to the bar and quite a few more contacted me on social media. The next day I rang Sandi who told me she was working on the closing event for the WOW festival and planned to propose a gender equality party called the Rescue Party. It seemed we both felt that some kind of rescue mission was in order, to rekindle faith in the political process. We were also both convinced that opening up the political system to greater diversity was a way to achieve this. And we were also appalled that we found ourselves in 2015 in a world in which women are at best second class citizens and we knew a lot of people felt the same way. So we decided to work together.

What are the major challenges you anticipate facing as a founder of this party?

How long have you got? Seriously, the political system in the UK was designed to achieve stability but instead maintains business as usual, a status quo that rewards machine politics and money.

It’s ridiculously expensive to campaign and run candidates.

Just to stand for London mayor, for example, requires a £10,000 deposit and another mandatory £10,000 for leaflets and so forth. No wonder so many of our elected representatives come from wealthy backgrounds or are funded by big parties and organisations. The Westminster elections are run on a first-pastthe-post system that in May gave just one seat apiece to UKIP and the Greens in return for their respective 4.3 million and 1.1 million votes.

So to make the change we want to see, we have to make tons of noise and raise shedloads of money and sign up oceans of members and supporters to win elections and make the other parties sit up and notice us. Which they are already doing because we represent both a challenge and an opportunity.

Our fast growth - we only registered as a major party in July and already we have 40,000-plus members and supporters and 65 branches across the UK - signals to the older parties that our platform is popular with voters. When UKIP started surging in the polls, the parties twisted themselves into knots trying to UKIPify themselves. We want all other parties to WEPify. They can either work with us to deliver gender equality or they can make themselves look more like us to gain support. Steal our policies!

We don’t mind provided you’re serious about implementing them!

“Unlocking the potential of women in the workplace would enable the economy to grow 10% by 2030” How will you try to involve men in the party and be sure not to alienate them?

We are the Women’s Equality Party because our goal is to achieve equality for the more than half the population that has never enjoyed it. But the issues we are addressing are not simply women’s issues but people issues. Politics and business are the poorer for the lack of women at all levels. The economy—and therefore all of us, of all genders—are missing out. Unlocking the potential of women in the workplace would enable the economy to grow 10% by 2030; businesses that foster and retain female talent outperform other businesses. Ensuring men can enjoy the opportunities and responsibilities of shared parenting and caregiving would make for a happier society. I’m glad to say many men are already joining us. They understand this is a party for them. They understand that gender equality is good for everybody.

Some people will say that the party merely operates as a pressure group. How will you convince people that the party can stand alongside others when it is a single issue group?

Gender equality is very far from being a single issue. We have six core objectives, around equal representation, equal pay and an equal opportunity to thrive, equality in and through education, shared opportunities in caregiving, equal treatment of women by and in the media, and an end to violence against women. These are huge and complex areas but we have clear and intensely practical policies to address every single one of them. And we are not a pressure group but a political party that is going to stand for election as early as May 2016 — and win.

For more information about the Women’s Equality Party, or to become a member, visit womensequality.org.uk

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IMPACT FEATURES

FRIENDSHIPS WITH YOUR EX AND THE OTHER SEX Impact features investigates one of life's constant yet ever changing issues; friendship. Is the matter actually as confusing as we make it out to be or can it be simply viewed in black and white?

WORDS BY SOFIA KNOWLES AND ROBYN TURNOCK IMAGE BY ‘DOCENTJOYCE’ VIA FLICKR

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When posed with the immature sounding question 'can you be friends with a boy?' (or a girl, or whatever gender someone may identify as) most would naturally scorn in derision. The answer is obvious, yes, yes of course you can.

Yet scientific studies, casual conversation and popular culture to this day focuses on this issue like it is one still to be resolved, and that a simple yes does not exist in response to this supposedly simple question.

The word ‘platonic’ derives from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato and his studies on love.

It defines the relationship between two people who are sexually orientated to one another's gender, yet do not share a sexual or romantic relationship. A very simple definition for a complicated topic.

“Men are more likely to experience sexual attraction toward their friend than females” Science shows that platonic relationships between two individuals of attracting sexual orientation are not as simple as they appear. Although we live side by side with one another, a 2012 study describes this as a ‘facade’, where we act as if we are expressing platonic love while suppressing sexual desire under the surface.

Interestingly, the study showed that with friendships between heterosexual men and women, men are more likely to experience sexual attraction toward their friend than females, as well as often falsely perceiving this attraction as mutual. If their female friend is in a relationship, this rarely prevents their attraction. A 2015 study puts this down to evolution, which may have created a tendency for men to observe sexual signals frequently and falsely.

Perhaps then, as science suggests, being sexually attracted to your friend cannot be helped and may be inevitable. What is interesting is that the area of the striatum in your brain which is associated with sexual desire is the very same area associated with drug addiction, and maybe this tells us why it is so easy for us to fall for our friends. This argues that to an extent, it is possible that subconsciously we are all addicted to sex and therefore, we will never truly be able to be platonic friends with the opposite sex.

“It is possible that subconsciously we are all addicted to sex” This is an extreme view. Yet it can be argued that attraction is a fundamental aspect to friendship. It is natural to be drawn to your friend on some basic level and this does not need to necessarily harm the relationship. Not many can honestly say that they are friends or even acquaintances with somebody whom they find physically or mentally repulsive. To be friends with someone surely some form of attraction is key, whether it lies within their humour or their physical exterior. So where is the line drawn between the attraction you feel for a friend compared to the level you feel for a romantic partner?

Third year history student Angelina Blake* argues the issue of attraction lies in when it or more importantly if it becomes sexual. She argues “platonic relationships can exist between two opposite sexes as long as you fail to be physically appealing to them. Otherwise you will flirt with this 'platonic' friend thus stepping over the line of having friends of the opposite sex”.

In a survey conducted by Impact the overwhelming majority of respondents (72%) answered 'Yes' to the question 'Do you think it is possible to have a purely platonic friendship with the gender you are attracted to?' 53% of respondents agreed that it is reliant upon the time spent together, 54% also agreed it depended upon the nature of the activities between the two people and 41% agreed whether or not each individual were in a relationship had some bearing on whether they could be purely platonic.

that the type of break up was essential in determining this.

A mere 25% counted initial space following the relationship as instrumental to becoming friends yet Angelina Blake disagreed. She argued that “It’s very difficult if you are around each other all the time, but if you give one another enough space and don’t see one another for more than 6 months I don’t think you can get back to being friends”.

Perhaps this highlights how varying experiences create completely different attitudes to the matter.

“41% of our survey respondees said that they are ‘not talking’ to their ex” These contrasting responses and ideas show how difficult it is to implement a universal rule upon something so indefinite and unique as a relationship.

Yet as long as people continue having interactions with one another, something generally considered as beneficial, then these debates will undoubtedly continue.

If the idea of having platonic friends can be concluded as a murky concept then this is only further confused when the issue of ex’s is applied to the situation. After interviewing a heterosexual male and a heterosexual female, their responses on the matter were fairly similar, as both agreed that distance and time were the factors that would allow friendship with your ex. Whilst the male expressed that you can only be friends with your ex “if it doesn’t end on bad terms”, the female disagreed: “Both my relationships ended on bad terms, but I’m friends with one because it was longer ago. The longer you wait, the easier it is to be friends with them, no matter how it ended. The only way I wouldn’t be able to be friends with an ex is if they cheated”. In terms of friendship with the other sex, they both agreed that it was not only possible but easy.

“To be friends with someone surely some form of attraction is key” A shocking 41% of our survey respondees said that they are 'not talking' to their ex. But more positively, 35% said that they are civil with each other and an even more optimistic 17% said that they have remained friends. So more than half agree that a failed relationship need not end in absolute hatred. Most agreed that this friendship depended upon certain factors, with 91% agreeing

* NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO PRESERVE ANONYMITY

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IMPACT FEATURES

BACK TO SCHOOL

With greater job uncertainty than ever before, Impact investigates whether more students are turning to the safety net of teaching…

WORDS BY JILL FORSDICK IMAGES BY MARCO KLAPPER AND BLONDINRIKARD FROBERG VIA FLICKR

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Regardless of degree, it seems to be fairly common at university for students to be uncertain about what they want to do in the future. This isn’t surprising, since a large part of university is taken up with careers talks and events, opening our eyes to branches of certain professions we never knew existed or didn’t quite realise involved certain aspects. There are clearly many opportunities out there, but it seems more and more uncertain students are turning to teaching, with 58% of University of Nottingham (UoN) students in a recent poll saying they were strongly considering teaching as a career, and 50% saying this was a result of uncertainty about other career paths.

“It seems more and more uncertain students are turning to teaching” The Department for Education are seemingly crying out for new teachers, offering staggering bursaries as incentives ranging from £4,000 for those with English degrees to as high as £30,000 for Physics graduates. This becomes understandable after talking to students about their considerations regarding the profession, as many seem to be put off by teaching as a career for a number of reasons.

In a recent study of UoN students’ opinions on teaching and factors which may make it an appealing career, only 10% regarded salary as an incentive. This is not surprising when we consider a starting salary for a newly qualified teacher is around £22,244. However, what more and more students

are realising is that, on average, an experienced teacher will earn around £37,400, and leading practitioners can earn up to £65,000. Of course, to reach these salaries years of experience and proven excellence in the profession is required, but considering how rewarding helping young people to understand and enjoy your subject as much as you do would be, in addition to twelve weeks of paid holiday a year, it’s safe to say that enrolling on the PGCE course is becoming a very attractive option for many undergraduates. The likelihood of getting a job also proves an enticing factor for some students worried about job security in other professions, with 20% seeing such security as a vital factor in their consideration of teaching as a career.

“Only 10% regarded salary as an incentive” Of course, there is also the stress of the job. Having to deal with perhaps many disruptive children all day every day undoubtedly requires a large

degree of resilience and determination. But a lot of students seem to be attracted to this career for the element of making a difference and helping young people, whether disruptive or trying to get a good education in these potentially demanding environments. More and more opportunities seem to be arising around this, with programmes such as Teach First specifically targeting lower-achieving schools in deprived areas as part of their two-year teacher training programme. Once qualified in the world of teaching, there are undoubtedly numerous and regular occasions where the guidance of a good teacher is needed by a disruptive or disillusioned pupil, but there are also countless incidences where this isn’t needed and teachers find themselves endowed with mountains of end-of-year gifts as gratitude for inspiring students.

“The likelihood of getting a job also proves an enticing factor for some students worried about job security in other professions” Still continuing to enjoy that familiar cycle of term time followed by holiday until/including the summer break is also another massive incentive for students wanting to become teachers, with almost 40% of UoN students surveyed declaring this factor to be the most appealing of the profession alongside favourable working hours. With school hours running mainly from 8:30am - 3:30pm, many teachers typically only end up having to stay until 5pm. Of course there is marking and lesson planning (which, admittedly, many teachers often complain of), but, not only do teachers have the weekends and holidays to prepare much of these things, as the years progress and they gain more experience, they accumulate lesson templates that can be easily built upon and skills which enable them to do this thoroughly and quickly.

Not only is teaching an exciting, variable profession with no two days the same and constant opportunities to make a positive difference to the education and lives of numerous young people,

but it proves one of the most secure and reasonably paid careers available, accompanied by attractive perks, such as a maximum of thirteen weeks paid holiday a year and a generous pension scheme.

Teaching comes with countless opportunities to climb the career ladder and increase your salary (whether that’s through promotions as a result of great performance to positions like Head of Department or through taking on extra responsibilities throughout the academic year). This is all whilst permitting a good quality of life, giving teachers the freedom to enjoy time with their families and achieve a work-life balance yearned for by city workers. Although not all students are naming teaching their first choice of career, it is clear more and more students are turning to this profession in search of complete job satisfaction.

INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION WEBSITE SURVEY CONDUCTED IN NOVEMBER 2015, 47 RESPONSES

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IMPACT FEATURES

TOILET ATTENDANTS A NO. 1 ANNOYANCE? We all see them on a night out in the toilets of the club. Some frequent a corner while others go the whole hog and take ownership of a large portion of the sink area. A lot of us might have chatted to them or even acquired a lollipop off them, but how much do we really know about these people? Have you ever wondered why they are there or how on earth they put up with us all?

WORDS BY DANNY WARD AND EMMA JOHNSON IMAGE BY SJOERD LAMMERS VIA FLICKR Clubs have various policies towards toilet attendants.

Some clubs pay them hourly to keep the toilets clean and allow them to sell products to supplement their income.

Others are less generous, only allowing them to sell things on condition that they keep the toilets looking presentable with no hourly wage. The latter, especially, seems unfair, especially when you consider how ugly the toilets can get as the night wears on. We asked various clubs about their arrangements with toilet attendants but sadly, they were reluctant to respond.

The attendant is likely to have to deal with swearing, drunken hysterics, vomiting and unfortunately the feeling of being completely ignored by all for what seems like very little reward. Many attendants reported finding the job humiliating and boring whilst others say that the drunken antics of students can be quite

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entertaining and that students, for the most part, are friendly enough. The bottom line, however, is that many do not see the job as a career but just as a way of providing for the immediate future. In a time of rising unemployment, some are in the unfortunate position of having to take any job that comes their way. We had a look at student experiences of toilet attendants in male and female toilets to see what they thought and whether there were any differences.

“Many do not see the job as a career but just as a way of providing for the immediate future” THE GALS:

Surviving the girl’s toilets in a club is a tough ask for anyone.

You walk in to discover it is almost more crowded than the

dance floor, not to mention warmer and noisier. You then have to wade through a sea of drunken girls to get to a cubicle, becoming privy to all kinds of random, occasionally disturbing, conversations in the process. The general aim for most is to get in and out as quickly as possible but the toilet attendants have to put up with it all night.

“Allowing them to sell things on condition that they keep the toilets looking presentable with no hourly wage” We asked a selection of female students what their thoughts were on female toilet attendants. Once we had got past the confusion of whether they had been asked about ‘attendants’ or ‘attendance’ we found a variety of different views. Some find them annoying and simply don’t appreciate being offered overpriced perfumes and moisturisers in the loos. One student even tentatively pointed out that, since we’re not twelve year olds, lollipops just aren’t appropriate. That is of course assuming that we’re not all children at heart.

Some felt uncomfortable and awkward in their presence, especially when the student is sober, and that one time when they’d had a few too many, students said they even felt judged.

One student believed that it was unfair to target drunk students and make money out of their vulnerability, especially as students are often the ones with the least amount of money to waste.

The majority however, said that toilet attendants were barely noticeable and very quiet. Most said they had never bought

anything off them and only really took notice of them if they were handing out paper towels to dry their hands on. Almost everyone asked said they felt sorry for them for having to deal with a continuous stream of messy students in a sticky, crowded room for hours on end. One quite rightly suggested, “We must be insufferable!”. Nobody asked had any idea about the one-sided arrangements that many toilet attendants have with the clubs they work for and naturally felt that this seems harsh to say the least.

THE GUYS:

On the other side of the gender spectrum, the attendants found in the men’s bathrooms are viewed slightly differently.

We found that guys generally experience the same feelings of awkwardness and discomfort that girls do. One student told Impact that “I don’t like to look at them because they start offering you their aftershave

and you feel bad for ignoring them”. However, it seems that male attendants can be more noticeable for both the right and wrong reasons. Some found them an amusing addition to a night out: “Most of them are nice enough guys; one at my local club is a legend because he constantly uses hilarious rhymes”.

Meanwhile another disagreed saying, “I personally find them [toilet attendants] invasive and all too often overly aggressive”. It’s clear that, just like the girls, there are some mixed opinions about attendants in the men’s toilets.

club, just keep in mind that there’s at least one sober soul in there who probably won’t appreciate your incessant chatter and ‘hilarious’ jokes as much as your friends do, so spare them from your drunken eccentricities if you can!

“It was unfair to target drunk students and make money out of their vulnerability” Whether or not toilet attendants are actually necessary is an issue up for debate. In some senses, they are there to ensure that everything remains (relatively) calm and in order – after all, it’s nice that there is someone there to make sure that no-one ends up collapsed on the bathroom floor at the end of the night. Plus, some do add a funny element to the clubbing experience – there are those in the men’s toilets who have their classic catchphrases such as ‘no spray, no lay’ and ‘no cologne, no go-home’ which are sure to draw a laugh from the groups of drunken boys who wander in. At the same time, it can be an uncomfortable experience to enter what is supposedly a private area and be greeted by someone forcing their products upon you and watching you while you do your business.

It’s important to remember that it is only the minority that end up resorting to aggressive tactics and most are just trying to earn a living. So the next time you make the trek to the toilets in a

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IMPACT FEATURES

We spoke to UoN student and kinkster Ms Nesbitt* WORDS BY DALE CLARIDGE IMAGE BY QUINN DOMBROWSKI VIA FLICKR Students at Nottingham represent the entire spectrum of sexual behaviour, encompassing voluntary (and involuntary!) celibacy, serial monogamy and extreme promiscuity. But some experiences still stand out. We spoke with Ms. Nesbitt, a UoN student and member of the BDSM community, to find out more.

What does being involved with the BDSM community mean to you?

The social aspect is important to me, because you can be a practitioner with your partner or a few close friends. But the actual community is social. You meet like any other social, where you don’t just talk about your mutual interest.

You get to know friends, some vanilla as well as getting to know friends with the same interests as you - friends you could possibly play with in the future.

“The social aspect is important to me” Is your relationship with your partner similar to a ‘typical’ romantic relationship?

We do both. We call it the more formal side of the relationship because it is usually more polite, even though it can progress into something more animalistic. We do all the cuddles and the ‘I LUV UUU’, as well as what people think of when you say BDSM. Some people in the community go home to a boyfriend or a spouse at the end of the play session and this is completely normal relative to what they’ve previously discussed in the relationship; it’s all about communication. So yeah, people can have the romantic side from one person and full side from the other.

Do many people meet for non-exclusive sexual activity through the community?

Some people come to the community solely to find partners for themselves and maybe withdraw from the community when they’ve

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found a partner. I met three guys last night who could tell me how to rewire a violet wand in under a minute. We can bond through the different aspects, not having sex.

There are specific play events where a group of friends would rent a club (there’s not a specialised one in Nottingham) and they would go straight and play and have fun. However, at some meetings people just go to the pub and chat about football.

“The potential is everything you’ve ever wanted sexually” Just like a university society?

Literally like. Everyone thinks of the stigma associated with being part of this community, it’s just orgies and sex.

Obviously that’s a big part of it.

But it’s not just all sex.

Within the BDSM community, do people move fluidly, or transition between certain roles?

It depends on the person.

This is where it gets really complicated. For me it depends if I’m with a boy or a girl. I haven’t played with anyone in between genders.

When I’m with a girl, 9/10 times I have a physical advantage so and that’s very important to me as a player. With a man, I like my men to be of a substantial build. The physical aspect suggests I would sub to a man 9 times out of 10. But some people will top all their lives because that’s how they like to be. Being a switch can be useful for seeing both sides but, like being bisexual, it can be frowned upon with people saying “You can’t decide.”

Is BDSM just fun, or can it be challenging?

Both, Usually. The potential is everything you’ve ever wanted

sexually. All your fantasies fulfilled. We have a list and we’re getting pretty close. The tension you mentioned can take its toll. I’ve seen people who’ve withdrawn from the community for decades because they were hurt by something they’ve seen or done.

Does this affect your student life?

No, when I think of my life and my studies, it’s very separate.

However it has given me a better understanding of people.

Can you be open with other students?

There are some people who wouldn’t even bat an eye. I would say “This is how we are.

Get over it,” and many of those would be very, very accepting.

But I think you get better at judging accepting characters. I think I’ve told roughly half my friends within my age group.

I deliberately hold back, not because I’m worried about what they think, but because it takes time to explain.

Are there many students? Do other members see you as a full adult?

I’ve not met many. I’ve met people who have just graduated. But I feel I am a real young member of the community. I think I know what I want in life and many people my age haven’t figured out what they want yet.

And yes, they do see me as a full adult. Anyone over age is accepted, so long as they are honest, like in any friendship.

Lots of people are quite young, under 30. But obviously the older you get, the more experienced you get. With the older people, we like to pick their brains. I’ve met kinksters who are 98. They might only go to one play event a month, but they are valuable the elders of the community. They usually know it all, have tried it all and got the T-shirt.

Are there potentially problematic members in the community for the wrong reasons?

There are problematic members, but reputation is quite important, especially for the professionals. You could possibly be playing with your life with really serious play scenes; you need some guarantee. If someone messes up they get shamed for it. Everyone will know. Knowledge is power.

What does ‘messing up’ mean?

Before you play you normally set out what you want to accomplish in a scene and what is not ok. You set limits, hard limits and soft limits. You might say “Oh, I want to have an orgasm six times in a row,” or “I want to see how long my body can withstand this current for”. If someone abuses that consent and agreement you make before you play, that is a breach of the contract and that is serious. Well, it can be serious, but that’s why there are hard limits and soft limits.

Are there any taboos?

Aside from one person I’ve met, everyone has set the hard limit at scat, watersports and vomit. I would personally consider animals and underage play not ok.

Does the community ever have a difficult relationship with the law?

Yes, if my play partner hits me, bruises me, breaks bones or whatever I’ve said I want, I could then go to the police and they would arrest him and there would be a case. The only thing standing between him getting arrested is my agreement not to go to the police.

Also playing in public - however I think it’s quite funny that it’s only against the law if the person watching doesn’t like it.

“I’ve met kinksters who are 98” What’s the most extreme scene you’ve been involved in?

At my first play date somebody was whipped until blood was drawn, which was hot. I expected maybe someone being limply whipped in the corner, but it actually does happen. It’s not just in porn.

Is this your general message from the BDSM community: “If you see it in porn, it’s not just in porn, it actually does happen”?

I guess so, to ‘everyday people’. I get asked “How have you managed to have a threesome?”, “How have you managed to have sex with her? She’s really hot”. You literally just have to ask. There are people who will say no immediately. With online communities if you look, you shall find. You just may have to be picky on the people you ask. * NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO PRESERVE ANONYMITY

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IMPACT TRAVEL

SPOTLIGHT ON

POLAND WORDS BY SANDRA PETER

scattered around the narrow, cobbled streets of the main town. Some also wander in and out of cafes, amber shops and intriguing museums. Although it’s an old city with a turbulent past, modern Gdańsk is an bustling tourist spot. With the best transport links in the north, it is also an ideal launch pad for much of the Polish Baltic coast and many other inland attractions. It is crucial that when visiting Gdańsk one must remember to buy some amber, a traditional souvenir.

Poland, a country precisely in the heart of Europe, has a past clouded by wars and devastation. However, this has led to a proud cultural heritage, one which many know. A typical journey through Poland begins at the North of the country by the Baltic Sea, heading down to the centre and finishing off at beautiful mountain peaks in the south.

Located by the Baltic Sea, Gdańsk is a town unique in its own way. One of the oldest cities in Poland, its history dates back a thousand years.

The town has roots in the Solidarity movement and is a symbol of resistance against the People's Republic. Together with neighboring Gdynia and Sopot, Gdańsk forms a large metropolitan area called Trójmiasto. Located on the coast, visitors can view a wealth of maritime history in between brews at dockside beer gardens. Gdańsk has been unceasingly shaped by centuries of maritime prosperity, being one of the most famous port cities in Europe. The inimitable architecture reflects the influence of wealthy merchants who shaped the town’s past, but also the consequences of WWII. It is a city more frequently discovered by international visitors who come to benefit from pleasure boat cruises upriver and to photograph churches and grand, elegant buildings 20

Heading to the capital city, it is not difficult to notice that Warsaw, even despite its capital status, is very different from the other cities and towns which are centered around their market squares.

The capital is rich in diverse, modern architecture (restored gothic, glass and steel) which extend over the entire city. Warsaw shows an imprint of Poland’s history and devastating past – suffering virtual destruction at the end of World War II – but it survived. This has resulted in a captivating collection of landmarks. Exceptional

museums situated in Warsaw creatively interpret the past of the country, from the joys of Chopin’s music to the tragedy of the Jewish ghetto.

Yet, focusing on the present, Warsaw’s restaurant and entertainment scene is the best in Poland. Lively bars and clubs stimulate the city while the cuisine here is refined and well established including tastes from all around the world and not necessarily at a high cost.

Further down south, the city with the most convoluted and

turbulent history is Wroclaw. In the past, it has been known under different names as it was passed from country to country (and preceding Kingdoms). There are three distinct areas in Wroclaw.

The first is the Old Town with a maze of cobbled streets, canals, bridges and church spires around the renovated central market square. This is where the majority of Wroclaw’s historical sites can be found, including museums and monuments, as well as many beautiful university buildings and churches. The Old Town also contains the District of Mutual Respect, which is an exceptional neighborhood southwest of the market square which includes places of worship of four different faiths, including the city’s only surviving Jewish synagogue. Finally east of the Old Town is a one hundred year old Centennial Hall which is a must see for all visitors. It is the sole UNESCO world heritage site in Wroclaw and an outstanding piece of architecture surrounded by picturesque parks and gardens – even a spectacular multimedia fountain and Wroclaw’s zoo for younger and more zoologically curious visitors.

Krakow is certainly a city of kings and tales, founded on the defeat of a dragon. Attractive and sometimes overwhelming streets and squares beam with a true mythical atmosphere. Even the most enthusiastic of visitors would spend weeks trying to visit all of Krakow’s monuments. In Kazimierz (the former Jewish quarter) synagogues are reminiscent of the past tragedies that shook the whole country. Wawel Castle, where the dragon tales began, is a major attraction for history fanatics, whereas Rynek Główny, Europe’s largest market square, is a site of entertainment and culture. Here and throughout the Old Town are hundreds of restaurants, bars and clubs. It is crucial not to overlook Wieliczka, a small town from the UNESCO’s World heritage list, just a few miles southeast of the city. Salt mines found 1,000 feet underground are undeniably a rarity; these rich mineral deposits have been a tourist attraction for six centuries. Perhaps only in Poland can you find a mine decorated with extraordinary sculptures and chapels, delicate Madonnas and whole cycles of

Biblical reliefs. However, there’s more to the former royal capital than history, nightlife and touristic attractions. Taking a stroll through the pebbled streets of the Old Town, you’ll sometimes find yourself overwhelmed by its harmony, and that is when the richness of the architecture can be fully appreciated. During those moments the true blend of the past and present is revealed.

Zakopane is hidden at the feet of the Tatra Mountains. It is Poland’s best-known mountain resort, which offers many attractions all year round. It’s an excellent base for hiking in summer and skiing in winter. The Tatra mountain range in Poland has an Alpine character that, for many people, is one of the main reasons for visiting Zakopane. Mountain hiking is well organized here, as are trips by cable car - the perfect form for sight seeing. The big and beautiful wooden villas dating back to the late 19th century are a perfect place to stay for people who want to immerse themselves in the Polish culture. All houses are constructed from wood without the use of metal nails and traditionally, every building has its own name. When visiting Zakopane it is crucial to try Oscypek - a smoked cheese made exclusively in the Tatra Mountains.

From historical and relaxing days in summer rays of sunshine up north to adventurous sports and traditional experiences during cold winter nights in the south, Poland is one of the most intriguing places to visit in Europe.

IMAGES BY ‘MR SEB’, ‘KISHJAR’, GIUSEPPE MILO AND ARIAN ZWEGERS VIA FLICKR 21

IMPACT TRAVEL

WORDS BY NICOLE TEH IMAGE BY BEVERLY & PACK VIA FLICKR Ancient Inuit folklore has it that that near the top of the Northern Hemisphere lies the passage to the True Heavens, and that dead spirits light up the skies to guide the new arrivals to their new home. While interesting, modern scientists have a slightly different take on it. Also known as Aurora Borealis, these lights are now known to occur when solar activity causes explosions on the sun to send charged particles towards the Earth’s atmosphere. These highly charged particles are pulled towards the Earth’s magnetic field and collide with the gas molecules in the atmosphere to release energy in the form of light. This causes the sky to glow in gorgeous displays of color in the ring surrounding the North Pole.

SWEDISH LAPLAND Abisko in the Swedish Lapland is a proven ideal viewing spot for the Aurora due to its unique microclimate. Home to the worldrenowned Aurora Sky Station, which boasts itself as the best place on earth to experience the Northern lights. Visitors take a chair lift up Mount Nuolja where there are few distracting sources of light and sound thus providing the perfect environment for Aurora gazing. It is an inviting option for independent travelers since one can fly to Stockholm then take a sleeper train to Abisko Turiststation. Whilst there, visitors can also stay at the famous original ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi made of natural ice and snow.

ICELAND For students looking for a budget friendly Aurora Borealis hunting trip, Iceland is a fantastic option for a low-cost holiday. It is easily explored both independently and on group tours. However, if traveling independently, it is worth noting that since the Aurora is best seen in remote locations, it is usually worth hiring a car.

Icelandair, Easyjet and Flybe all provide cheap flights from the UK to see the aurora. In particular, Icelandair provides an attractive option with its Reykjavik Northern Lights City Break package from £249 that includes flights, checked baggage and accommodation for a three night Northern Lights trip.

“What if we told you that nature’s most phantasmagorical light show is selling fast and finally running out of tickets, as their NORWAY next screening will only be a Its location right above the Arctic Circle makes Norway one of decade later?” the best places to view the curtains of lights. In particular, the What if we told you that nature’s most phantasmagorical light show is selling fast and finally running out of tickets, as their next screening will only be a decade later? Scientists have confirmed that after 2016, the Aurora Borealis is expected to dim for the next decade. The Sun’s solar activity functions on an eleven year cycle, alternating between periods of activity and dormancy, which in turn affects the intensity of the Aurora Borealis. It is currently the last phase of this period of activity before solar activity reaches the dormant stage.

However, to those seeking to catch nature’s best light show, fret not, as we are still in the midst of the best time of the year to catch the phenomenon.

Set your sights on these destinations which provide the ideal viewing conditions along with crisp, cold clear skies for the best views of the Aurora Borealis: 22

northern town of Tromsø in Norway is known for providing truly incredible views of the lights. Even if one does not get a glimpse of the Aurora, there are ample activities such as snowmobile tours, polar animal parks and ice sculpting that will ensure a good holiday for young and old alike.

CANADA The lights are not just a northern European feature, since some parts of Northern Canada lie within the Aurora belt as well. The Yukon territory along with the Canadian Rockies in Alberta and the Northwest Territories boast front-row seats of the dancing lights against Canada’s famed ethereal wilderness.

For £200 onwards, one can even stay in the “Aurora Village” in Yellowknife, Canada, where one can view the dancing lights from a comfortable heated viewing teepee while snacking on some traditionally made bannock.

With long cold nights ahead waiting for the Aurora to come out and dance, it is crucial to pack warm clothes such as those used during a ski holiday. Necessary items would include a boots, gloves, thermal underwear and a waterproof jacket.

IMPACT TRAVEL You'll never be short of something to do in Dublin, even a walk around the city centre will provide sights of beautiful architecture and you can really get a feel for the bustle of the city. Head down to O'Connell Street for street stalls and independent shops.

The Temple Bar district is the culture, art and entertainment hub of Dublin. Here you'll find vintage shops, musicians and plenty of places to eat. Be careful not to get lost in the winding streets alongside the river! Stay around this area at night for a busy nightlife of pubs, bars and nightclubs.

“You’ll never be short of something to do in Dublin” A good way to see a selection of the best is by joining one of the many organised bar crawls. There are even niche bar crawls that showcase the best traditional Irish music or literary heroes of the country, such as James Joyce and G.B. Shaw.

DUBLIN, IRELAND WORDS BY CHARLOTTE PALMER IMAGE BY RACHEL LEWIS It's reaching that time where deadlines are looming, so suggesting a holiday in Europe might sound ridiculous - but couldn't a weekend away be the perfect solution to unwind whilst not taking time away from those precious 9am lectures?

With airlines constantly pushing down their prices, it's becoming a more and more student-friendly budget option, so why not become more adventurous with your weekends?

With its proximity and lack of language barrier, Dublin, Ireland, is a perfect choice for students wanting a weekend getaway. It is known as a city of vibrancy for its music, history and nightlife.

Flights are also inexpensive, an East Midlands airport return flight from a budget airline costs a mere £40.69 and takes just over an hour. Following this a quick bus ride into the city centre will cost about €10 for a return journey.

If you're wanting to surround yourself with students then Jacobs Inn is a great place to stay. Prices vary depending on when you go but a dorm room for two nights over a weekend will cost €32, and there's also a free walking tour of the city included which quickly highlights what the city has got to offer.

Find out more about Dublin's past by visiting one of its many museums and art galleries.

Highly recommended is the National Archaeological museum which paints a vivid picture of Ireland's Celtic past. The art gallery also has a large collection of paintings by famous artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso.

Of course a trip to Dublin wouldn't be complete without an excursion to The Whiskey Museum. This provides an insight to history of the drink and access to a gift shop. The Guinness storehouse is another option with the opportunity to learn how to pull the perfect pint. Both establishments also offer taste tours for a slightly higher price.

Irish food has not taken much prominence on the international stage, but the hearty meals and stews are the best thing to keep you warm during these winter months and give you the energy to continue exploring. There is a wide variety of both traditional and foreign cuisine to suit any budget.

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IMPACT SCIENCE

RESEARCH AT YOUR UNIVERSITY

THE NEUROSCIENCE OF EXERCISE Impact discusses the latest work and debates the benefit of the new sports village on our education with Professors Gareth Hathway and Maria Toledo, who are both based in Neuroscience at the University of Nottingham

WORDS BY AMY GRIFFIN IMAGES BY ALEXANDRA FARZAD The price of an undergraduate degree at a prestigious university like Nottingham has rocketed in the last few years to a staggering £9000 per year. As a result, students are evaluating more than ever whether the rewards of university are worth the cost. Following the rise in the tuition fees, the university began investing £40 million in a state of the art Sports Village. The David Ross Sports Village will boast an impressive sports suite, 60 meter indoor sports track, fancy anti-gravity treadmills and infinite varieties of other equipment. Essentially this is a huge investment that will propel Nottingham into the top 5 universities for sports; however this comes at a significant cost and it’s difficult not to question if it would be more beneficial to invest the money in our education.

Impact spoke to two Neuroscience professors, Maria Toledo and Gareth Hathway, to find out whether the new Sports Village will benefit our 24

education. The relationship between exercise and the brain is often obscure, as much of the research on exercise has purely focused on improving physical health and fitness. Despite this, there is a growing area of research that both Maria and Gareth are contributing to, which investigates the impact of exercise on stress and memory.

It is well known that students with a better memory and greater stress resilience usually achieve higher grades. Maria has a particular interest in studying epigenetics – the environmental impact on genes. From this research she found that exercise can significantly alter our genes controlling stress and neurogenesis, leading to enhanced memory and stress resilience. In the adult brain, neurogenesis - the process of generating new neurones - is limited to select areas of the brain. The hippocampus dentate gyrus is an area of the brain important in memory and an area where neurogenesis can still occur. When we exercise, neurogenesis facilitates learning within the hippocampus, enabling us to store more information as memories. The implications of this research are huge and could enable one to improve academic performance from simply engaging in regular exercise. Maria therefore greatly advocates exercise, but both Maria and Gareth stress that finding an exercise that you enjoy is very important, as several studies on mice have shown that forced exercise can increase stress levels and impair learning.

Overall Gareth suggests that exercise could indirectly improve our learning and memory, by altering dopamine levels within our brain. It is these changes in dopamine levels which alter our mood, attention and motivation that inevitably impacts our work.

In his studies, Gareth translates laboratory-based research, like Maria’s, to explain human-learning within a classroom setting.

The findings of his research have led Gareth to suggest that exercise will have a greater effect on the memory of those who rarely exercise. Whereas students who engage in regular sports, need only maintain their current level of exercise, as neurogenesis is already working at its maximum.

The benefits of exercise on our body and brain are clearly extensive, and with the development of the new Sports Village this can only be improved further. Both Gareth and Maria emphasise that there will be great individual differences between students, but with the new David Ross Sports Village there will be an even greater chance to find a suitable sport for that could potentially improve the grades of all students.

IMPACT SCIENCE

THE BEST APPS FOR STUDENT LIFE

PUSHBULLET

Impact Reviews the best Apps to Make Your Life a Little Easier WORDS BY TOM BARRATT IMAGES BY ALEXANDRA FARZAD

Years after the Internet boom of the early 2000s, with the number of portable devices (be they desktop, laptop, or handheld) growing exponentially, people still found it difficult to comprehend the idea that these were anything but separate devices. A laptop was a laptop, a phone was a phone, and that, seemingly, was that.

In the past few years however, defining technology platforms has become more ambiguous. The concept of ‘The cloud’ has rendered Wordsworth’s poetic metaphor attached to loneliness obsolete. Almost every electronic device you own, from your phone to your tablet to your computer to your games console, can now be so intimately linked that anything you do on one of them can almost certainly be accessed, quickly and easily, by any of the others. Is this the swan-song for wired data-transfer? Need you bin that USB stick, because every essay or bit of coursework you write is now automatically stored online, ready to be accessed whenever you need it?

“Defining technology platforms has become more ambiguous” The answer is, not quite. For one, cloud storage, in its current form, is far from perfect. No doubt everyone can name a recent internet-clogging, mediafuelled exposé which highlights just how easy it can be for determined individuals to gain access to some very sensitive material, if it’s stored insecurely online. Until better security protocols are implemented it is a good idea not to upload or transfer anything particularly delicate via this method.

This shouldn’t put anyone off using online storage and transfer however, especially as this platform is going to

increase in popularity and usability in the future, to help make life a little bit easier. There are many apps currently on the market that facilitate this very successfully, but a particularly popular example is Pushbullet.

Available officially in app-form on iOS and Android (with community-developed versions for other operating systems such as Windows and Blackberry), it is very easy to transfer and upload files to the Pushbullet servers directly from your phone. Images, Office documents, and pretty much any other kind of file you can think of can be ‘pushed’ easily.

The real convenience, however, comes with Pushbullet’s browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Opera or Safari) and add-ons, as well as desktop clients, all of which connect to the same server to which you upload files. Sending a file from your desktop to your phone, from your phone to your browser, or from one phone to another is simple. Other apps certainly exist that allow similar functionalities, but Pushbullet definitely has an ease-of-use giving it a significant market and interface advantage.

A recent addition to the app is the inclusion of SMS functionality, which allows you to send a text from your browser, through your phone, to anyone in your contact list. You can even receive notifications on your laptop when you get a text, so you’ll be still be able to stay in touch even if you’ve left your phone downstairs, making actually getting out of bed a thing of the past!

With the ability for end-to-end encryption as well (requiring a password to access files at each end), Pushbullet really does allow you to utilise cloud storage and data transfer to its fullest extent, with a pleasant and user-friendly interface for phone and computer. The app certainly has the ability to make life as a student easier, even if it’s just another way of avoiding the panic when you go to give a presentation and realise you’ve forgotten to bring the Powerpoint with you.

25

IMPACT SCIENCE

SCIENCE FICTION’S

IMPACT ON THE FUTURE Impact looks at technology that science-fiction predicted before it was actually invented WORDS BY LUKE NORMAN IMAGE BY WILLIAM MURPHY VIA FLICKR Science Fiction media has always tried to impress its audience with futuristic technology that seems impossible at the time of its release. However, as time progresses and we start to reach the futures envisaged by these films, e.g. Back to the Future 2’s version of 2015, we may notice that many of these inventions seem to resemble our technology now. Impact takes a look at four examples of technology that science fiction explored first.

STAR TREK REPLICATOR - 3D PRINTERS

The Replicator was first formally used during Star Trek: The Next Generation and worked by dematerializing matter and reforming it into a new object that was desired by the crew. The process worked on a range of items such as clothes, food and spare parts but would not produce harmful items such as poisons. 3D Printers were first invented in the early 80’s but have since been developed further to produce objects quicker and superior to those of the early prototypes. They do, however, work differently to the replicator as they convert digital files into cross-sections which are stacked together to form a physical object. Nevertheless, the two inventions involve the same concept: putting data into a machine and producing a three-dimensional object.

“These assistants have become part of our everyday lives” CPU PERSONAL ASSISTANTS - SIRI AND CORTANA

Sci-fi makes heavy use of computers as personal assistants in its media, but programmes such as Red Dwarf emphasise faces and personalities. Holly, Red Dwarf’s on-board computer, has the capability to fly the ship and provide information to the crew boasting an IQ of 6000. Nowadays, mobile phones have software such as Siri or Cortana that are available to ask almost any question to and can provide answers within seconds via the

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internet. These assistants have become part of our everyday lives from being able to book our appointments to helping search for answers to questions we have.

SEASHELL RADIO - EARPHONES

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953, used the metaphor “little seashells in a woman’s ear” to describe the use of portable media through the ear. He describes thimble-sized radios producing music and voice, and thus predicting compact radios. Our modern-day equivalent, earphones, were popularized in the early 2000’s when Apple first released its iPod and they’ve become the everyday item we all carry with us. Their portability and discreteness compared to conventional headphones are what make them so popular to consumers.

NEWSPADS - IPADS

In 1968, Stanley Kubrick’s seminal science-fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey was released. In one particular scene the astronauts, whilst eating their dinner, have small, flat computer screens that display TV shows and also allow access to recent news articles. At a time when computers were still seen as scientific instruments, these “Newspads” were a revolutionary idea and provided ideas to many companies to make similar products.

In the present day, iPads are the most popular brand of modernday tablets and the app store they use contains over 1.2 million apps available to download at any time. Like 2001, users can access news articles and whole papers, as well as update social media and play games. Their popularity now extends all the way from child-friendly tablets which just have games to businesses, who use new software such as graphics design apps to aid their work.

IMPACT SCIENCE

THE SCIENCE OF STAR WARS With the release of The Force Awakens imminent, Impact analyses the science behind the beloved space opera WORDS BY STEPHEN KENNY & LUKE NORMAN IMAGE COURTESY OF LUCASFILM/20TH CENTURY FOX

TRAVELLING THROUGH HYPERSPACE

It’s the core method of crossing the galaxy; whether travelling from Naboo to Jakku or Alderaan to Hoth, hyperspace travel is the way to go. However, it does involve travelling at the speed of light and so we ask: could this type of travel ever be possible in our universe? To reach the speed of light, the ship would require infinite energy, this is due to the equation: E = mc2 / √[(1 – (v/c)2].

As the velocity (v) approaches the speed of light (c) the bottom half of the equation would equal zero meaning the energy would become infinite. Another one of the main issues with the idea is that even if the ships could reach the speed of light, it would still take them a long period of time to reach other systems.

For example, if two planets such as Endor and Tatooine were separated by a distance of 100 light years, then it would still take 100 years at lightspeed to reach one from another, which is a long time to travel - even if you’re Han Solo. The ships used in the Star Wars franchise overcome this problem by using hyperdrives fitted to their engines as a method for achieving speeds greater than the speed of light. They do this by breaking an energy barrier required to overcome physical relativity laws; if a spacecraft accelerates towards the speed of light its mass increases, but by breaking this barrier the Millennium Falcon can travel at hundreds of times the speed of light.

THE DEATH STAR’S LASER

Alderaan, the home planet of Princess Leia, met its untimely demise at the hands of the empire’s own WMD, the Death Star’s primary weapon (described in the Star Wars universe as a ‘super laser’). Lasers have long proven capable of maiming humans in the real world and can drill through the toughest materials, such as diamond. The problems arise in the minute details: the energy required to destroy a planet is 2.2 megawatts times a billion trillion, which is currently almost unobtainable - unless, that is, you combine all the world’s nuclear weapons in one go with an X-Ray laser. A further limitation is finding a material which can withstand the heating process in amplifying the laser light.

Such a material has not been discovered or invented. The British government may have to wait a bit longer before it can truly create the ultimate ‘deterrent’!

GREEN POLICIES OF THE EMPIRE

The Galactic Empire isn’t all bad; they are in fact highly environmentally conscious. If you look carefully the TIE Fighters and Bombers seen in the later episodes actually have solar panels on their wings, rather than relying on fossil fuels. Naturally this concept was taken from the then already established technology of solar panels invented in the 1950s. What is not clear is how this energy is stored, which is a current point of contention in the contemporary renewable technologies industry. Fan theories include the possibility that light particles are drawn into the combustion chamber which then supercharges the reactor, thereby creating a boost to the power output. Determining the true mechanism of operation would likely go a long way to solving the world's climate crisis so any explanation from the film’s design team would be greatly appreciated.

LIGHTSABERS

Comfortably the most iconic weapon in movie history, the lightsaber has captured the imagination since the series’ inception in 1977. Its combination of beauty, due to its luminescence in a variety of colours, and it’s satisfying hum as it is swung through the air is almost hypnotic. Conversely it is lethal, as it can dismember foes on mere contact. Unfortunately, they cannot be so easily replicated in real life. If lasers were indeed the energy of choice, the conundrum would be that either you couldn’t control where the laser ended and, even if you could and capped it using a reflective material, you couldn’t really hurt anyone with it. Its aesthetic appeal would also be lost, as lasers cannot be seen from the side. The humming noise would additionally just have to be produced by sound effect as lasers, alas, don’t produce sound waves. Similar to the Death Star’s laser, finding an energy source small enough that it wouldn’t overheat is currently an impossibility, more so as a lightsaber has to fit in a pocket. Plastic versions are however available, so until science catches up with Hollywood, the imagination will have to suffice.

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IMPACT FOOD CHRISTMAS MARKET

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

FESTIVE

FAVOURITES

Looking for somewhere different to try out for the upcoming celebrations? Here are our top picks for this Christmas season, including some new restaurants, classic places for house meals, and of course, the wonderful festive food events you need to check out in Nottingham.

If this is your first Christmas season in Nottingham, you’re in for a real treat.

Along with an amazing ice rink in the centre of Market Square, you will find plenty to appease those taste buds at the Christmas market. With wooden cabins full of food and flavours from all over the world, the city turns into a winter wonderland ready to tantalize your senses (and stomachs). Last year’s offering included a selection of German meats and fancy flavored fudge. This year there will be over sixty attractions, including many food and drink stands full of fair favourites, new and exciting bites and two ice bars.

OPEN NOVEMBER 20TH TO DECEMBER 24TH MONDAY - SUNDAY, 10:00 - 18:00 OLD MARKET SQUARE, NOTTINGHAM CITY CENTRE WORDS BY LYDIA ECCLESTON | IMAGE BY MIIA SAMPLE VIA FLICKR

YAMAS MEZE & TAPAS Christmas shouldn’t just be about stuffing yourself silly with roasts, mince pies and Christmas pudding. If you are looking for a Christmas on the Med why not look a little closer to home and head over to Yamas Meze & Tapas on Thurland Street instead. If you’re itching for more than just Greek food, Yamas also extends its Mediterranean reaches with Spanish Patatas Bravas and Moroccan Lamb Tagine, to name but a few dishes. But the highlight has got to be the Gambas Al Ajillo. Fresh prawns, garlic and a tingling of lemon, it’s like you were sitting along the Med eating the catch of the day.

Yamas also caters for different dietary requirements and offers a steal of a lunch; three tapas for £6.95! So if Christmas on the Mediterranean seems a bit of a stretch, Yamas might be your answer.

MONDAY - TUESDAY, 17:00 - 22:00, WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, 12:00 - 22:00, SUNDAY, 17:00 - 22:00 5 THURLAND ST, CITY CENTRE, NOTTINGHAM, NG1 3DR 0115 950 1000 WORDS & IMAGE BY CHEN MAN

TAMATANGA Tamatanga is another cracker for big meals with all your friends; it’s got plenty of vegetarian, vegan and not-too-spicy options for people of all tastes and requirements. The service is speedy and the staff are very accommodating to your needs, it provides an uplifting and vibrant setting for a good natter and generous servings of deliciously cooked authentic Indian curries. If you can’t choose just one curry, try out the Tamatanga Thali and share it with a friend for a bit more diversity. If you want a casual end of year meal with all your friends with little-to-no planning in advance then Tamatanga is your best option - you’ll be able to find a table without a problem. The drinks menu is also to die for; the pineapple and coconut juice is delicious, while the lassi, a yoghurt based drink, is a must have. For a full blown end of year meal out, Tamatanga is offering a brilliant selection of Christmas deals in collaboration with Nottingham Original Comedy Club. Make sure to book early for tickets!

MONDAY - THURSDAY, 11:30 - 23:00, FRIDAY - SATURDAY, 11:30 - 23:00, SUNDAY, 11:30 - 22:00 12 TRINITY SQUARE, NOTTINGHAM NG1 4DB 0115 958 4848 WORDS BY ISABEL JURY | IMAGE BY RUTH HARTNUP VIA FLICKR

OAKS Although the menu seems simple, primarily consisting of chicken, burgers and sausages, the flavour combinations are diverse and burgers such as the Angus Beef & Bone Marrow and Tempura Softshell Crab with Wasabi keep it exciting. Prices range from £6 for a quarter portion of ‘Freedom and Respect Chicken’ to £14 for King Prawns and there are five sides to choose from ranging from £2 to £3.50.

OAKS has succeeded in bringing together different flavour combinations and putting an exciting twist on simple meat dishes. All the dishes are cooked over sustainably sourced wood embers from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and a lot of time has clearly been put into putting together a menu that is versatile and offers something for everyone whilst avoiding ‘typical’ dishes. There is an extensive selection of craft beers, ciders and spirits as well as a good wine list and an interesting cocktail list. Staff are polite and friendly and live music performances later in the evening give it a really chilled atmosphere for dinner and drinks during the festive season.

MONDAY - THURSDAY, 12:00 - 23:00, FRIDAY - SATURDAY, 12:00 - 01:00, SUNDAY, 12:00 - 21:00 2 BROMLEY PLACE, NOTTINGHAM NG1 6JG 0115 947 7244 WORDS & IMAGE BY ROSA LEWIS

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IMPACT FOOD

RAPID RECIPES

WINTER WONDERS We all have our own way to make the festive classics, so here’s some original and delicious recipes we’ve come up with for you to try this year. All are quick and easy to make, perfect to whip up for a night in with friends before term’s end.

Ginger and Orange Carrot Soup INGREDIENTS one onion, diced 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 2 tbsp olive oil pinch of ground nutmeg pinch of ground ginger pinch of ground cinnamon 3 large carrots, peeled and roughly sliced 700ml boiling water zest and juice of one orange salt and black pepper small bunch of coriander, chopped

METHOD 1. Fry the onions, garlic and fresh ginger in olive oil over a medium heat until softened. Stir in the ground nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon.

3. Add the boiling water, orange zest and juice, stirring it all thoroughly. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down slightly and allow to simmer, with a lid, for around 30 minutes, or until the carrots are soft.

4. Turn off the heat and then blend the soup until smooth using a handheld blender, or transfer to a food processor once it has cooled a little and blend.

If the soup seems too thick, add some more boiling water until the desired consistency is achieved.

Baileys Rocky Road INGREDIENTS 50ml Baileys 100g milk chocolate 100g dark chocolate 100g condensed milk 25g butter 150g white (100g chopped and 50g melted for decorating) 6 digestive biscuits, crushed 100g mini marshmallows

METHOD 1 Melt the dark and milk chocolate, Baileys, condensed milk and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring continuously.

METHOD

WORDS & IMAGE BY ELISSA BURGOINE

Apple, Cinnamon and Dulce de Leche Tartlets

Vegan Raw Ginger Cookie Balls

1. Blend all ingredients, except the for dates, in a high-speed blender until fine.

4. Once it has set, melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the top.

WORDS & IMAGE BY RUTH PENGELLY

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

3. Pour the mixture into a lined tin and leave in the fridge for a few hours to set.

5. Season well with salt and black pepper and the chopped coriander and serve.

2. Add the carrots and cook for a further five minutes, stirring occasionally.

1 cup pitted dates 2/3 cup almond flour 2/3 cup rolled oats 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon cloves

2. Once everything has melted take the bowl off the heat and mix in the digestives, white chocolate and marshmallows.

2. Add in half of the dates and process until well combined, then add the remaining dates until you have a consistent dough.

3. Scoop dough out about 1 tablespoon in size, roll into balls or flatten with a rolling pin and use a cookie cutter to make desired shapes. Add decorations and you’re done!

WORDS BY ISABEL JURY IMAGE BY VEGAN FEAST CATERING VIA FLICKR

2 apples cinnamon sugar dulce de leche half a block of sweet shortcrust pastry/dessert pastry (or make your own)

METHOD 1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. 2. Peel and cut the apples into small pieces (don’t use the core) – you want to be able to fit a few of them into one mini tart shell.

3. Stew the apples by putting them in a pan with about 2 shots of water and cinnamon and sugar to taste. Leave on a medium to high heat for 5-10 minutes, until they give when you push them with a spoon, leave them to cool.

4. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a pound coin, use a cookie cutter just bigger than the size of the tartlet moulds in the pan to cut circles out of the pastry and put them into the pan.

5. Put some of the stewed apples in each pastry shell and dollop a small amount of dulce de leche on top.

6. If you have pastry left over then feel free to decorate the top of your mini tarts with shapes of your choice.

7. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

8. Leave to cool for a bit but eat while still warm.

WORDS & IMAGE BY ELISSA BOURGOINET

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IMPACT STYLE

CHANEL WEARS: JEANS - TOPSHOP, TOP - RAGGED PRIEST, SHOES - ASOS | MALENA WEARS: DRESS - WHITEPEPPER, BOMBER JACKET - WHITEPEPPER, SHOES - H&M | CHANELLE WEARS: VELVET JUMPSUIT - WHITEPEPPER, HAT - H&M, SHOES - ASOS | ANIQA WEARS: CO-ORDS PIECE - WHITEPEPPER JAY WEARS: POLOSHIRT - FRED PERRY, JACKET - FRED PERRY, JEANS - H&M, BOOTS - DR MARTENS | ANTHONY WEARS: JACKET - ZARA, T-SHIRT - NIKE, CAP - NIKE, JEANS - LEVI’S, SHOES - ADDIDAS | DALE WEARS: JUMPER - PRIMARK, JEANS - NEXT, SHOES - NEXT | DOMINIC WEARS: T-SHIRT - TOP OF THE WORLD LONDON, JEANS - ZARA, BOMBER JACKET - ALPHA INDUSTRIES, SHOES - NIKE AIR JORDANS

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LOOK AT THESE

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STYLED AND DIRECTED BY CHANELLE OLALEYE AND RAPHAELA RING | PHOTOGRAPHED BY ALEXANDRA FARZAD AND AMY RAINBOW MODELLED BY JOHNATHAN BOULTON, DOMINIC FRANCIS, ANTHONY CAMPBELL, DALE CLARIDGE, CHANEL BJÖRK STURLUDÓTTIR, MALENA WONG, HAYLEY BURROWS, ANIQA BAWA 32

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IMPACT STYLE

TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF …or not! One of our own went without a mirror for a month and lived to tell the tale.

WORDS BY IKE DENLOYE IMAGE BY AMY RAINBOW Yep, for the first week of this term I did not have a full length mirror, I was able to see my face but that was about it, I wasn’t even able to fit my hair into the frame. This experiment wasn’t exactly my choice - when I got back to Nottingham I was so busy with societies that by the time I got around to buying one it seemed as though there were none left in the whole city. I will not lie, the thought of living without a mirror was absolutely terrifying and that was before I knew how long it was going to be.

I’ll be the first person to admit I love clothes , the colours, textures, the fun of styling and re-styling outfits, getting inspired and making it your own but I have to confess I can be quite a perfectionist when it comes to getting dressed, so at first not being able to see my outfits drove me crazy. I’m the kind of person that scraps an outfit over the littlest thing, so unfortunately, a lot of the time I can end up wearing clothes that are quite boring and without a mirror this got worse. I constantly wore bland basic outfits to lower the risk of me not liking it.

Since I didn’t know what I looked like, I became obsessed with it, constantly thinking about whether my outfit made me look like an idiot. I even started wearing makeup on campus to distract people from how bad the rest of me might look.

“I became obsessed with it, constantly thinking about whether my outfit made me look like an idiot” But by the time I was a few weeks in, I was so used to it that I pretty much forgot I didn’t have a way to checking how I looked like. I started to experiment with my look, even in ways I never did before. I was able to concentrate on putting fun outfits together and since I couldn’t see them it couldn’t annoy me and began not to care about what it looked like because I was wearing pieces I loved. Since I was happy with the pieces I wasn’t bothered if anybody else liked them or not, concentrating less on what I look like and more on enjoying the clothes. The more time that passed the more normal it felt and the more comfortable I was. I even stopped wearing makeup to campus.

I would have never thought something so simple would have taught me so much; I realised that other people don’t really care about what I look like, the same way I never dwell on other people’s choice of outfit. The fact that I was getting in my own way, stopping myself from wearing clothes I really liked because of this need to look perfect - a concept that just doesn’t exist. I was missing out on the real fun that comes when you’re able to be as creative as you want which is what fashion is all about. I would definitely encourage everyone to give up a mirror even if it’s only for a few days, you’ll be surprised what it will do for you.

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IMPACT STYLE

, G N I R DA

M A L G E FESTIV

STEP AWAY A E K A T …

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IMPACT STYLE

I don’t really wear dresses very often, you are more likely to see me in jeans and a jumper, but this one I love. It’s the perfect item to smarten up your wardrobe and is really versatile depending on how you wear it - with the right accessories it can be worn day or night. The long boots are great for the wintery days ahead!

I don’t really have a favourite outfit as such, but scrolling through my tagged photos on Facebook over the past year betrays that this jacket has featured pretty regularly. I got it at the end of last summer on the cheap from Blue Rinse in Leeds, and it seems I’ve never looked back.

BELINDA

MUSIC EDITOR

EDITOR IN CHIEF

JAMES

My favourite thing about this outfit is the fact that everything you’re looking at beside the boots are second hand, predominately from charity shops. I think ethically, socially, used clothes are the way forward. Materials cranked out by corporate conglomerates are not good for your soul. As for the bolo tie – I saw Colin Farrell wear one on True Detective, and thought it looked badass.

LIAM

MUSIC EDITOR

I like the simplicity of this look and the way that it caters practically to the needs of this ever-changing season whilst retaining a degree of elegance. The thick turtleneck brings a layer of warmth as well as a more traditional sense of university style. However, I like to contrast this with some modern additions, in particular, a pair of old trainers and ripped jeans.

This creates a more relaxed feel and helps to strike a balance between old and new.

MARCO

NEWS EDITOR

WHY ARE YOU DRESSED LIKE THAT? We caught up with a few Impact contributors to talk about their favourite looks and what they mean to them.

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My outfit is a combination of items I am attached to for very different reasons but the jumper is probably my favourite: It used to be my mum’s pregnancy jumper (you could say that I have worn it all my life) and is by far the most comfortable thing I own.

Whenever I wear it, it’s like a hug from her - it is also the only item in my closet I will wear to bed as well as out.

RAPHAELA

STYLE EDITOR

The jacket is probably the most defining part of the look, mainly because it gives me a distinct ‘Kanye West’-esque feeling, and so I usually try and pair it with a range of things. I got it as a birthday present a few years ago and never really thought I could make it look that great until this year or so, but I think when I’ve got the right outfit it goes off without a hitch.

The hat is just one of my collection that I’ve been building since summer - everyone’s got those accessories that just dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

SHAUN

MUSIC CONTRIBUTOR

The outfit I’m wearing pays homage to two of my favourite styles, retro and street. I love the eccentricity of retro but the comfort and versatility in street. For me, a good outfit is something that is yours: something personal and unique. Most people don’t like to layer patterns over patterns, but I am a huge supporter of it; if they clash, all the better in my view!

CLAIRE

ARTS CONTRIBUTOR

I saw this cool pairing of jean jacket and black fur fillet afters scrolling through Tumblr and knew I had to try it! A vintage jean jacket is probably one of my favourite statement pieces so I really wanted to wear it as part of my best outfit. Underneath I’m wearing a classic black skater dress matched with chunky heeled suede Chelsea boots and some white frilly socks to give a pop of colour. Every winter a new pair of boots are needed, I definitely wear these most days - I think it’s the material which give those classic boots a new twist.

THERESA

IMAGES CONTRIBUTOR

STYLED BY LIAM INSCOE-JAMES, JAMES NOBLE, SHAUN BREWSTER, MARCO DALL’ANTONIA, CLAIRE ELIZABETH SEAH, THERESA AWOLESI, RAPHAELA RING AND BELINDA TOOR EDITED BY CHANELLE OLALEYE AND RAPHAELA RING PHOTOGRAPHED BY ALEXANDRA FARZAD, AMY RAINBOW AND ISOBEL SHEENE

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IMPACT STYLE

CAN ANYBODY HEAR US? Three Impact Style contributors put pen to paper and addressed those responsible for their beauty and fashion headaches.

To The Media, I want to cut straight to the chase: Why is popular media only actively supporting such a limited amount of ways of styling Afro-Caribbean hair?

Now, I don’t want to rant about how every black girl should be natural and only survive on shea butter and coconut oil. Truth is that a lot black girls do wear a weave, but not all. Personally I choose to protect my hair by wearing a weave, but if I’m honest with myself, I feel that decision has been influenced by popular media. Afros, Braids, dreads and many other protective hairstyles are rarely seen in the forefront of mainstream media. We have seen little glimmers of hope with celebrities like Zendaya rocking dreads on the red carpet, but unfortunately she received backlash from ignorant critics buying into stereotypes about those wearing dreads even though it seems as if cornrows are actually considered quite fashion forward at the moment.

However, natural hair styles are not a fad; they have been practiced for centuries and deserve that recognition. What I suggest is just that there be a more diverse image of black hair in the media. It allows the younger generation to see that there is a choice, and that all ways of protecting our hair are amazing. Black girls shouldn’t have to feel like they have to wear a weave to be sexy but on the other hand you also shouldn’t feel like you’re making a political statement if you do choose to go natural. At the end of the day it is just hair and it’s your choice what you do with it. All protective styles are beautiful and the media needs to portray this.

Your Truly Concerned Weave Enthusiast

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To All Drugstores,

Dear High-street Clothing Brands,

A few weeks ago I experienced the cosmetic-induced woe that is unexpectedly running out of foundation before a night out. Naturally, I legged it to Boots to replenish my depleted makeup bag, only to be told that the only drugstore foundation that had been close to my skin tone - bare skin foundation in ‘Earth’ by Sleek - had been discontinued.

I didn’t think finding an alternative would be a problem.

However, in the search for a new foundation to replace my holy-grail I realised that there are very few concealers, foundations, and nude lipsticks available for women of colour in drugstores.

Hello? Cast your gaze up a little (ok, a lot) and you’ll see me - a tall woman. Yes, I know we’re a rare breed but contrary to what your sparse (or totally non-existent) tall ranges would have people believe, we do actually exist.

L’oreal stocked one but it was more ‘Wotsit’ orange than medium brown whereas Rimmel and Revlon both called their lone efforts suspiciously ‘Caramel’. I was very close to going back to trusty Dream Matte Mousse - before I remembered that wasn’t a good idea in year nine and it probably wouldn’t be a good one now, at twenty one.

I am proud that women from different ethnic backgrounds are beginning to gain more international recognition in makeup and fashion industries – Maria Hidriss who recently became H&M’s first Muslim model in a hijab is a great example. But I can’t help but question why olive to dark complexions still seem to be near the bottom of the pile. It is saddening to think that even in a city as multicultural as Nottingham, full of aesthetically diverse women, western beauty is still the only standard that seems to matter. Change is slower than it should be and the ordinary darker girl on the street is still not portrayed as beautiful in today’s world.

For students this struggle is economical as well as one of representation – we often have to rack up cash we don’t have, to buy products truer to our complexions.

Brown girls of every shade deserve the option to wear make up for a reasonable price – drugstores don’t you think it’s time to recognise beauty doesn’t only come in one shade, and women can’t be palmed off with a ‘Caramel’ token?

I’ll let you in on another secret: like our petite peers, we love fashion too. We want style. Style that includes floor-sweeping trousers, and skinny jeans that wrinkle slightly at the bottom rather than clinging to our shins. Sometimes you try a little, but please don’t give us false hope by retailing ‘long’ leggings… in a 34 inch leg. That two inch sliver of skin above our ankle boots on chilly days is killing us. Please. Make it stop.

We get that you can’t always afford to devote an entire range to us, but can’t you at least make your skirts and dresses longer? For online retailers especially, you should probably consider displaying a ‘tall length conversion chart’. Maxi dress: ankle sweeper. Midi skirt: knee grazer. Mini skirt: micro… belt? Simple. But totally effective. It would save us the perpetual heartache of ordering and being forced to return dresses out of fear of being arrested for indecent exposure, not to mention countless remarks on how short our skirts are. (F.Y.I. They’re not… our legs are just long.)

According to Marilyn Monroe “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world”, but most tall girls would be pretty happy to just have access to a variety of footwear like everyone else. Enough of the token granny loafers in a size 9 - think ankle boots, ballet pumps, stilettos (yes, tall girls like heels too!)

Expanding your tall ranges would be win-win; we could gain some serious style points and there’s potential to boost your profits… if only you’d just include us. So please, let us in.

Don’t exclude tall girls from the style sisterhood.

Signed, A Frustrated Tall Girl, on Behalf of Her Fellow Tall Sisters

Best Wishes from Desperately Seeking ‘Mocha’, ‘Hazelnut’ or ‘Walnut’

WORDS BY THERESA AWOLESI, SOPHIA HARRIS & BLESSING-ZOE ZOE-SHAMAH ILLUSTRATION BY RAPHAELA RING & JOHNATHAN BOULTON

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IMPACT EXPOSURE

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IF YOU ENJOY TAKING PHOTOS AND FANCY GETTING INVOLVED WITH IMPACT DROP AN EMAIL TO IMAGES@IMPACTNOTTINGHAM.COM

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IMPACT GAMING

Microtransactions have got a bad rap in the gaming community. Mobile games such as Dungeon Keeper took old classics and then put ridiculous charges to actually play those games. We asked Ben Nakama and Tom Evans to discuss microtransactions, and if they are actually as bad as many gamers make them out be.

BEN ON LEAGUE OF LEGENDS We’ve all been there when that new ultimate skin gets released.

Whether it’s Spirit Guard Udyr, or Arcade Sona, everyone has that moment when their favourite champion gets a new skin. So when I discovered that Demon Vi was a soon to be thing, I immediately got out my wallet to get me some Riot Points.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time this has happened… Since I began playing 4 years ago, I have spent well in excess of £200. Yes, I know. But before you judge me and shake your heads in disgust whilst exclaiming “WHAT?” and “I could never spend that much money on a game”, let me explain how the clever boys and girls at Riot Games make it so darn easy!

First of all, the game is free! What could make a game more enticing that the fact it’s free to play?! This is Riot’s number one selling point (other than being addictive and exceedingly enjoyable to play). It’s free to download, and there is absolutely no compulsion to spend any money on the game at all. But it all comes down to microtransactions. Microtransactions are where a game will sell in game currency for real money – people might know this as Farmville coins, or FIFA’s Ultimate Team coins, whatever they are. They are ways for game developers to continue to make money from players, after they’ve purchased the game.

“we eventually enjoy the game enough to justify spending real money” Which brings me back to League of Legends (LoL)… The logic is fairly simple: by luring players into a free game, they eventually enjoy the game enough to justify them spending real money on the game. However, the culture and gameplay of League of Legends is very important to this idea too! Although you don’t realise it, skins are a sign of prestige normally, an indication that

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you have mastered a champion and that you are one of the best Riven players in the world. Of course this isn’t true in the slightest, but people think it is, which is what matters! Buying a skin is good encouragement for player to take up new champions, and so the cycle of buying continues.

The social aspect of skins in LoL is just as important to the success of the microtransactions as the actual designing of the game.

Skins add no tangible boost to your character, but the phrase “skins equals wins” is enough to show what a psychological impact having a cool and, importantly, different looking character is to how you perform in the game. Add this to the facility to gift fellow players skins as well, receiving a skin can be like Christmas!

So is it any wonder that so many microtransactions go on? With the ability to inspire different champion selection; intimidate opponents; be a signal of prestige or ability; or be a gift to a friend for playing well, skins are a massive part of what makes LoL so successful. It plays on people’s desire to set themselves apart from the crowd, be good recognised as the best Taric main EU. As well as justifying the purchasing of RP as fair remuneration for the use of such a fun game. Trust me, when you’ve played two weeks of game time, it’s very easy to say to yourself “well I do love playing Vi, she just had an amazing new skin released, and imagine if I had to pay for this game, surely spending five pounds is worth it, right?”

Microtransactions are important for good maintenance of the services we enjoy as players, however if you had asked me four years ago whether I would ever spend money on this game, my answer would have been a firm no.

TOM ON AWESOMENAUTS AND HEARTHSTONE For those still finding the idea of more than one person willingly spending their limited money on microtransactions for a video game crazy, it’s true! I’ve made similar skin purchases on Awesomenauts, a game that isn’t even free to play.

Awesomenauts skins change the style and maybe even the sound and visual effects of a character, making them a fun but expensive way to show your love for your favourite. Devout fans in a game’s community may want to further support the developers, so skins are used as another source of income. This is amongst the more justifiable excuses I’ve given myself, developers for these games (particularly the MOBA genre) often keep updating their games for years after their release, far longer than other games’ life cycle.

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games are not the only microtransaction giants in the industry. Online collectible card game Hearthstone is entirely free-to-play. Some of the world’s greatest players have indeed never spent real currency on the game. If this is the case, why would so many people spend money on the game at all? Firstly, the nature of the microtransactions must be understood. Cards can only be obtained through booster packs or adventure expansions, purchasable by collecting ingame currency or spending real money.

Each card pack contains at least one rare card, but most will contain cards that are weak competitively or you’ve already gotten. Some packs can have even rarer cards; the promise of the next pack giving you exactly what you want is an addictive hook.

Duplicate cards can be turned into a different in-game currency, tradeable for individual cards. Attributing even minor value to even the unluckiest of pack openings is enough to keep people engaged in the card pack system.

are considered crucial to high level decks and so are even more attractive to serious players.

All of the above microtransactions can still be bought with gold, so surely complaints of “pay-to-win” are exaggerated. However there is only a set amount of Hearthstone gold you can earn in one day, which will probably take an hour or two to hit your daily max. This can make initial and even general progress slow, as well as a large time sink. For some people, this pace is just too slow and must occasionally be accelerated with a minor cash injection.

“Some of the world’s greatest players have indeed never spent real currency” Hearthstone has also deftly made free-to-play more viable as the game ages and more of the player base have most of the best cards. Introducing new cards into the game shakes up the meta and introducing monthly rewards for ranked play make it less likely that microtransactions will turn people away from the game. This keeps the game thriving and also more people around the enticing prospect of buying extra packs. Finally, a whole mode of the game requires either gold or real money to play, an extra temptation to spend money in the game.

The microtransaction model has become a staple of so many games today, from FIFA Ultimate Teams on the AAA budget side to the so called “Freemium” apps for mobile devices. Some uses have been called questionable, many will see spending money on microtransactions as pointless, but it is ultimately down to the consumer. If thousands of gamers want to spend their money on something that increases their enjoyment of a game, then perhaps microtransactions are not as pointless as they seemed to me a couple of years ago.

Adventure expansions provide a single player experience along with a few specific pre-known cards. These cost even larger amounts of Hearthstone gold or money. Some expansion cards

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IMPACT GAMING

The system specs of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift are not actually that different. They share a resolution at 2160 x 1200 pixels, a frame rate of 90 fps, and 360 degree head movement tracking. The only difference realistically is the controllers used. Whereas the Oculus has a half-moon design with a trigger, one stick and two additional buttons, the HTC Vive uses two controllers that have a single trigger for the index finger and a wheel for the thumb which can be clicked in. The Vive’s controller has been shown off more than the Oculus one, so it is difficult to compare the two right now – but it seems the Vive controller is more functional, whilst the Oculus is meant to be more immersive.

The State of Virtual Reality Tech WORDS BY TIM SPENCER IMAGE BY SOPHIE RIDLER If virtual reality (VR) technology succeeds, 2015-16 will likely be seen as the founding year of VR gaming. Steam, HTC, Oculus (under Facebook) and Google have all created or adapted technology towards VR. Oculus was the first company that started the modern push towards VR tech. They have had two development releases, been acquired by Facebook since their Kickstarter goal achieved roughly $2,500,000 in funding and are nearly ready for a commercial release. Their website still says Q1 2016, but hopefully soon there will be release date, along with their controller, the Oculus Touch. It is unknown how much the motion sickness has been worked on since the development kits were released, but reports have said that this has got a lot better.

“It seems the Vive is more functional, whilst the Oculus is more immersive” The HTC Vive was an unexpected entry to VR. Their headset has got off to a much better start however, as it includes movement tracking as standard rather than Oculus where the individual has to keep themselves attached to a spot for the camera to track their head movements. They also partnered up with Valve to create SteamVR which means that they have a great deal of support from developers already built in. This might give the HTC Vive an edge on its competition, as the vast majority of PC gamers use Steam as their main access to videogames, so locking Oculus out of this could destroy it.

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The surprise for many was Google’s entry. Google Cardboard is literally a cardboard headset that the user sticks their phone into to create VR experience. Going for £3 on Ebay, and the ability for any company to make their own design for the headset could mean that it could win over. Obviously anyone using it has to have a modern phone, and importantly must be running Android – cutting out any Apple users from using it. Google have created a development kit for it, but it is unknown how successful this will actually be (especially since it likely doesn’t have a long playing time, and the headsets aren’t really built for it).

One benefit Google Cardboard has over its opponents is that it doesn’t need a powerful computer to run it. The Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive need computers costing estimated £950 according to TechRadar to even get the minimum specs, and adding onto the headsets, which are likely to cost around £400, it is a steep commitment to buy them.

For a phone that can run Google Cardboard it only costs the phone itself, the app being free. This means that there is already large numbers of people who have the capability to run this. Also, like the HTC Vive with Steam, Google Play is already well supported by developers who’d be happy to develop for VR Tech.

It will become apparent quickly if the HTC Vive usage of SteamVR and early release date will put it ahead of Oculus. It is less clear whether both the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift will be able to convince people to put up the cash for the devices and then the expensive computer to go along with it. Perhaps Google Cardboard’s low starting costs could make it the dominant platform. It is unlikely that Google is a direct competitor unless they create a PC link, and instead will compete for different audiences. 2016 will be an interesting year for VR, and hopefully it will stick.

IMPACT GAMING

“WHERE’S THE TRIGGER AGAIN?” DIFFICULTY IN GAMES GO HARD Some people like to play games on easier difficulties because they find a particular game too challenging. This is fine.

Developers put easier difficulties in games so that more casual gamers and tiny children can be pleased they’ve achieved something. There’s nothing wrong with playing a game on easy if you’re just not good enough. However, if you want to truly experience every aspect of a game you should really turn up the difficulty.

“It’s a challenge only for people who have lost the use of their arms” A good example of this is The Witcher 3 which has difficulties ranging from easy mode to ‘death march’. The easy mode is designed to let players get through the game with minimal effort and the ability to kill almost everything in a couple of hits.

It basically makes the game an interactive storybook to which players need to pay the barest attention and can finish fairly briskly. It’s a challenge only for people who have limited gaming experiences or have lost the use of their arms.

In contrast, the ‘death march’ difficulty mode forces players to explore the mechanics of the game and use potions and bonuses which would be necessary on lesser difficulties.

Essentially, a player experiences every aspect of the game which the developers have spent years building. It also invests the player more in the story being told. If a specific enemy is more difficult to defeat then a victory also means more. Even lesser foes run into in the wild pose a threat and force the player to work tactically and continually upgrade equipment.

Every mission completed feels like a success and adds to the development of characters, eventually leading to completing the game and feeling like something has been achieved and the story properly told.

In the end you should play a game on whatever difficulty you feel suits you best. But be aware if you’re not playing on hard you’re probably not getting the most out of it.

EASY DOES IT Of course, it makes sense. You want to play your games on hard so that you can impress all your mates. “I completed Dark Souls” you cry, as you are lifted onto their shoulders and carried in the general direction of Valhalla. It’s almost something to put on your CV, proudly italicised at the top of the page: you once completed Call of Duty: World at War on veteran.

Only it isn’t. It’s not even fun. I speak as someone who tried to complete Call of Duty: World at War on veteran. You stop playing the game, start crawling inch by inch, searching for an angle where you can kill the Nazis, but they can’t kill you. Then a perfectly placed grenade falls nearby and you’re obliterated. It’s not playing the game. It’s not fun. It’s not how it was designed to be played. That it is included as a playable difficulty is simply to cater to the self-confessed masochists, who will play on impossible difficulties for one of two reasons: trophies/achievements and bragging rights. Neither of these are particularly bad reasons, they just don’t justify the hundreds more hours of gameplay, the fury spawned by an overpowered AI.

“It is downright depressing when that goal is scored by a computer on steroids” On FIFA 16, playing legendary mode is actually impossible. The game predicts what you’re going to do with such accuracy it’s as if it’s watching your controller. The defence is too well orchestrated and the attackers always manage to pull off an insane move from 40 yards out which loses you the game. Of course the satisfaction of winning is huge, but then you haven’t earned the crushing defeat on the many other occasions. Is it fun to play? No. Is it fun at all? No. It is only satisfying - crucially different from fun. It is so frustrating and demoralising when nothing can be done to prevent the losing goal; it’s downright depressing when that goal is scored by a computer on steroids.

While epic hour long battles with particularly tenacious griffins are, I’m sure, thrilling, it just seems a bit needless. Is it truly worth it, once that griffin is slain? An hour of your life gone for the satisfaction of murdering a fictional pixel-griffin. Don’t get me wrong, I love gaming; it’s just that on the most obscene difficulties it stops being a game and starts being a tedious, grinding slog.

WORDS BY SEAMUS MCDONNELL WORDS BY AIDAN COLLETT IMAGE BY ‘BRING BACK WORDS’ VIA FLICKR 45

IMPACT FILM & TV

SCENE WARS Re-living the best moments from a galaxy far, far away

TATOOINE SUNSET A NEW HOPE

If there is one scene in the Star Wars saga that is simply perfect, it’s this one, when Luke stares into the binary sunset of Tatooine at the beginning of A New Hope. In the space of thirty-seconds we completely understand the character of Luke Skywalker and the universe in which the series is set.

The cinematography of the scene is stunning. Not only does it look great, but it establishes the alien world of Star Wars.

The rest is all Mark Hamill. Through just a few actions and facial expressions you see how much Luke wants to leave the planet he’s been stuck on for his whole life. You see how much he needs adventure, or just something different.

However, you can’t talk about this scene without mentioning the iconic score by the legendary John Williams. When the whole orchestra of ‘Luke’s Theme’ kicks in, it is difficult not to get the chills. It’s simply incredible, and it will always be my favourite scene in a series which is full of endless iconic moments.

WORDS BY DAN LYONS

DARTH MAUL VS. QUI-GON JINN THE PHANTOM MENACE

This was one of the first parts of Star Wars I watched as a child. I can’t remember whether I was watching the full Episode, or I’d walked in on someone else watching it - but this is the scene that has stuck with me as my first encounter with the saga, and I feel it is one of the best representations of the films.

The focus is a fight between the Sith Lord Darth Maul and Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ultimately, it results in the defeat of Darth Maul, but also that of Qui-Gon Jinn. It has lots of action, with flashing lightsabers and plenty of stunts, but also builds tension in the run-up to the final battle, with each of the combatants separated and waiting for the fight to restart. There is a balance between light and dark, as both sides suffer losses, linking to the overarching theme of the series. This scene also shows the power of the Force, and is important in that it eventually leads to Anakin Skywalker being trained as a Jedi. It has the triumph of good over evil, but also the shocking loss of a mentor. I love it.

WORDS BY ISOBEL SHEENE

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NO, I AM YOUR… THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Often misquoted, but nonetheless an amazing scene, and one I know you have been dying to read about. From Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back this has got to be my chosen favourite, just because it is so cliché - but so great. You know those moments in movies and TV shows where there is some big reveal that the protagonist doesn’t want to hear, followed by an over-dramatic ‘NOOOO!’ which lasts for what feels like hours? Well this scene witnesses the birth of that dreaded ‘NO!’ As we move from an excellent lightsaber battle, where Darth Vader flaps around like a clunky dinosaur before cutting Luke’s hand off, we reach what is possibly the biggest reveal in movie history. I’m really sorry Luke, but it’s true - you have been lied to your whole life and your father is just a tad evil.

WORDS BY LARISSA ROWAN

ANAKIN’S REALISATION REVENGE OF THE SITH

There is no question that the prequel trilogy doesn’t reach the heights of the originals, but it would be wrong to claim they are devoid of great Star Wars moments. Anakin’s acceptance of his destiny whilst in the Jedi Temple is a great scene, and possibly the strongest moment in the trilogy.

Anakin, plagued by visions of Padme’s death, is told to wait in the Jedi Temple whilst Mace Windu faces the newly revealed Darth Sidious. Believing that Sidious is the only way to “save the ones you love” we see Anakin’s doubts surrounding the Jedi come to the surface.

Unable to commit to the Jedi code he ultimately gives up on them. Through his love for Padme he gives in to the temptations of the Dark Side. The eerie music is mixed with Anakin gazing over the city landscape of Coruscant, a single tear rolling down his cheek, whilst Padme, miles away, looks back at the Temple. There are no lines of dialogue but this scene speaks more about Anakin’s fall than any other. This for me is the greatest scene in the prequels and one of my favourites in the entire saga.

WORDS BY LORENZO CALDER-SMITH

LUKE VS VADER, FINAL DUEL RETURN OF THE JEDI

The final confrontation between Luke, Darth Vader and the Emperor is the battle between the Light and the Dark that the entire saga has been leading towards.

Despite encouragement from Obi-Wan and Yoda to kill Vader, Luke refuses to do so. He goes before the Emperor hoping to turn Vader back to the light.

This leads to an exchange that is one of the greatest scenes in the Star Wars saga. As Vader taunts Luke, the camera zooms in on the pained expression on Luke’s face as one side is cast in shadow and the other in light, mirroring the internal struggle he has been fighting for two films.

It is only when Vader threatens Leia, with the same fate as Luke himself is facing, that he just loses it. All previous restraint is lost and he goes after Vader. The music is swirling, the lightsabers are clashing and Vader is put onto the back foot for the first time in the entire trilogy.

Even with Vader at his mercy, Luke composes himself, and refuses to kill him. He rises before the Emperor, casting his lightsaber aside, proclaiming that he is now... a Jedi.

WORDS BY GLENN TANNER

IMAGES COURTESY OF LUCASFILM/20TH CENTURY FOX 47

IMPACT FILM & TV

CAPITALIST CINEMA AT ITS FINEST Product Placement in Movies WORDS BY JOSHUA MALLALIEU IMAGE COURTESY OF NBC/PARAMOUNT Ever since a humble Hershey's bar made its first shameless debut as a key component in the narrative of 1927’s Wings (incidentally the first Best Picture Oscar winner), product placement has become a standard feature of mainstream movies. Sometimes you don’t need to look very hard for it, ideally you might not notice it was even there, however such a common and longstanding aspect of movie-going continues to provoke such ire in audiences.

In theory it should be seamlessly incorporated into the movie in a way that makes sense, blended in so subtly our little brains won’t even realise they’ve been had. But this is rarely the case, and now the term itself is more likely to conjure memories of annoyance toward particularly obnoxious examples than the wittier ones.

We’d like to believe that these giant companies would be above such shamelessness, and so it’s a strange juxtaposition when an especially overt example rears its head. No other scene in recent memory has been as immediately tarnished as the meeting between Bond and Vesper in the train carriage during Casino Royale. The brilliantly witty dialogue abruptly derails so Eva Green can drool over Bond’s beautiful Omega watch? Or was it a Rolex?

“The best examples usually occur in dystopian science fiction like Minority Report or The Truman Show, when making a comment on the invasiveness of advertising” Then you have films like Jack and Jill and its Dunkin’ Donuts fixation that aren’t so much bloated with product placements as extended advertisements in themselves. I am starting to suspect the productions of Adam Sandler’s company Happy Madison

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are birthed by chains approaching them with products, hotels or cruises to peddle with the subsequent movies. Michael Bay’s blockbusters since The Island have prostituted their scenes with promotions and it becomes a part of the experience.

“We’d like to believe that these giant companies would be above such shamelessness” The only way a film can really get away with it is if the reality of the setting (à la The Terminal) demands it, such as a well-placed storytelling prop or character, like existing real world toys making an appearance in Toy Story. The best examples usually occur in dystopian science fiction films like Minority Report or The Truman Show when making a comment on the invasiveness of advertising in the fictional (and by thinly veiled extension, our own) society.

If executed in nodding self-reference to the whorishness of it all, it can be one of the best parts of the film – Wayne’s World being possibly the epitome of this.

Maybe movies should adopt the style of old TV soaps, where every time a product appeared on screen a small P was displayed in the top corner. Perhaps the P could inflate over the screen engulfing the entire picture until it was all we could see, forever? It wouldn’t be any less subtle than Superman solving the plot with help from his iHop buddy before making his exit via a Sears parking lot to go and drink a couple more Budweisers.

IMPACT FILM & TV

TWEET THAT FILM How many more fish will get lost in the ocean? #StillCantRememberThatAddress The first installment of a prequel series to the film series based on a book series...Also, is anyone going to see the sequel play? #excited The war is heading to the stars - and this time it's a rogue one…

He looks a bit like a power ranger, but he's dead cooler than that...And much more sweary... #ItRhymesWithNoSchool

2016 is going to be a big year for film.

With so many huge releases are set for the next 12 months, it is going to be a very exciting year for cinema.

The Impact Film & TV team have condensed their most anticipated releases into cryptic tweets… Can YOU guess what they are?

Got any ideas of your own 2016 film tweets? Let us know at @impactfilm

Is there something strange in your neighborhood?

Sex change for the spook squad #whoyagonnacall Two iconic characters reduced to a dick measuring contest #Muststopfallingdownrabbitholesorthroughmirrors The dullest film ever made about sex gets a sequel #MakeItStop An Austentatious Zombie Movie #AndTheOscarForBestPictureGoesTo… Blue Katniss and her friends take on the guy who built the pyramids #theendofdaysiscoming The big question of the year: will Bill Murray take a chance on the fancy ants? And maybe try a few?

All crime is legal! Again!! What a great idea!! How could that possibly go wrong?!!

What do toys, cars, monsters and pets do when you’re not looking?

TWEETS BY JOE JONES, LUKE NORMAN, SARAH QURAISHI, LARISSA ROWEN, ISOBEL SHEENE, HENRY STANLEY, GLENN TANNER AND AMY WILCOCKSON 49

IMPACT MUSIC

Ought

IMPACT’S FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2015 To round off an iconic year, Impact’s writers talk about the albums they played the most.

Sun Coming Down In the follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut album, Ought find a more insistent drive and urgency behind their restless, anxious sound.

Singer and guitarist Tim Darcy, who speak-sings with an accent that at times sounds a little like he’s delivering a 1940s newsreel, takes the same kind of frenetic rants featured on More Than Any Other Day and allows them to reach new levels of intensity. ‘Beautiful Blue Sky’ is perhaps the best thing we’ve heard from the band so far. This isn’t exactly a relaxing listen, but it is a thoroughly engrossing one.

Ruth Wogan

The Internet

Ego Death

Waxahatchee

Ivy Tripp Katie Crutchfield’s third album under the Waxahatchee moniker is her most accessible to date. It’s still riddled with the intricate, bass-driven peculiarities of her earlier releases but bolstered by the addition of a full band, including an ear-bashing three guitars. Ivy Tripp wanders between the fidgety keys-led ballads of ‘La Loose’ and ‘Stale By Noon’ and the full-throttle 90s grunge of ‘The Dirt’ and ‘Under A Rock’. As ever, Crutchfield’s lyrical prowess is awe-inspiring; her tales of unrequited love and confusing matters of the heart always cutting that little too close to the bone.

The Internet are a Los Angeles based band, formerly members of the now disbanded creative alliance Odd Future, of Tyler The Creator fame. Ego Death is the first full body of work from The Internet that is enjoyable through and through: after searching for the last 4 years, they’ve finally found their sound. With beautiful guitar riffs, heavy bass lines and dreamy vocals from Odd Future’s very own Syd tha Kid, this album is phenomenal and did well to fill the Frank Ocean shaped void in my iTunes. (Seriously Frank, it’s been 3 years, I can’t listen to ‘Pyramids’ forever.)

Joshua Ogunmokun

Alex Neely

Beach House

Depression Cherry Beach House’s new album, Depression Cherry, showcases a return to simplicity; abandoning the booming drums and replacing them with strong melodies against Legrand’s dreamy vocals. Some of the standout tracks include ‘Space Song’ and ‘Beyond Love’, expressing melancholy and nostalgia in a most gorgeous way. The vintage feel and dreamlike essence that the record brings means only one thing: Beach House are back doing what they do best, and doing it better than ever.

Runah Begum 50

Jamie xx

In Colour Jamie xx has been on a mission to prove he is not a one-trick pony. From art exhibitions to ballet scores to club raves - it’s evident he has got it all and his debut album In Colour is no different. From the Caribbean vibes of ‘Good Times’ (with Young Thug and Popcaan) to the melancholic ‘Loud Places’ and the hypnotic ‘Sleep Sound’. As the album artwork suggests, there is no shortage of range or individuality in this debut solo LP.

Lok Yee Liu

Kendrick Lamar

To Pimp A Butterfly

Tame Impala

Currents A definite deviation from their predecessor, 2012’s Lonerism, Tame Impala’s latest full length is brilliantly produced and arranged. Currents has a disco tinge streaming through its 13 tracks, all of which consistently impress. Bursting with groovy synths, lo-fi bass and dreamy melodies, Kevin Parker adds unexpected tenderness in his lyrics. Midway through the first track ‘Let It Happen’ – seven and a half minutes of experimentation with loops and glitches making you question whether your record player is broken. Listening to Currents is like taking a trip to the past whilst peering simultaneously into the future.

Ellen Hutchinson

Real Lies

Real Life Real Lies are an electronic pop band from London, reminiscent of The Streets. Their debut album, Real Life, carefully navigates the harrowing nostalgia for last weekend, and the hard times England’s youth are currently being wrung through - while remaining hopeful for better times.

The message that underpins the collection is succinctly summed up in the first song, ‘Blackmarket Blues’, as frontman Kev Kharas proudly boasts “I love my friends more dearly than I’m allowed to say aloud.” The millennial generation are searching for fulfilment after a decade of economic and social unrest, and Real Lies emphasise community and friendship as being there when the dust settles.

Steven Green

Break

Simpler Times The Simpler Times LP shows that Break is forever at the forefront of drum and bass. Through 12 tracks he explores its plethora of subgenres, from his liquid tracks like ‘Simpler Times’ and ‘Hope’ that inspire a sense of euphoria to his heavyweight club stompers, such as ‘Regulate’ and ‘Flux’, with deep subterranean basslines. Break firmly cements himself as one of the leading British D&B producers.

Robert Barber

To Pimp A Butterfly this year has taken not just the rap industry, but the whole musical world by storm.

Kendrick delivers incredibly smart lyrics loaded with heavy insight, laying bare the racial divides that still remain in America today. The switch between floor filling hits such as ‘King Kunta’ to the personal and emotive ‘U’ shows a range with which very few of his contemporaries could compete. Mix in a dash of spoken word over jazz such as on the incredible ‘For Free?’ and you are left with a truly astonishing album which is impossible to tire of listening to.

Jack Smiddy

Shaun Martin

7 Summers Although an album that seems to have gone somewhat under the radar even in the jazz world, 7 Summers is a culmination 7 years of hard work, and musical growth for Martin. Every track on the album is something new, something fresh and different, and all of them are masterpieces of composition, with real soul. That is why for me, it is the greatest album of the year. It is an intimate work, and that is evident, but it is also a celebration of life in musical form.

Jacob Banks

Father John Misty

I Love You, Honeybear

In 2015: how do you make an album about love? I Love You, Honeybear is a guide to exactly that; into which Josh Tillman poured his heart, and made a complete mockery of it. Blending heady romance with political cynicism, highlights include the stunning ‘Holy Shit’ in which he questions “maybe love is just an economy based on resource scarcity.”

An instant classic, filled with supple piano, punk rock breakdowns and a mariachi band; Misty takes you on a witty and touching tour of his romances’ inception, crises and all the way back again.

Liam Inscoe – Jones

Turn the page to see our profile of the woman behind Impact’s pick for album of the year…

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IMPACT MUSIC

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COURTNEY BARNETT Sometimes I Sit And Think and Sometimes I Just Sit WORDS BY JAMES NOBLE IMAGE COURTESY OF MARATHON ARTISTS Topping our favourite albums of 2015 is the stunning debut album from Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. The Australian singer-songwriter’s first LP was revealed on a wave of tremendous anticipation, and the success and growing popularity of Barnett’s work throughout 2015 has demonstrated that the excitement surrounding its release was justified. Garnering rave reviews from music publications across the world, Barnett’s debut performed commercially very well too – the album reached the top spot on four of the US Billboard charts despite being released by her own independent label, Milk! Records in Australia. Her success and appeal has even warranted the recent release of a deluxe version of the album, and as she concludes another tour of the UK this December, Impact delves into why critics have endowed upon Barnett the notoriously provocative title – “the new Bob Dylan”.

“Her lyrics strike a chord with listeners on themes both mundane and profound” THE ETHIC In a tour documentary shot by Pitchfork earlier this year her touring support, another Aussie singer/songwriter named Darren Hanlon, discusses the entrenched prevalence of “Tall Poppy Syndrome” in Australian culture. This is a social phenomenon by which

people criticise or ostracise others of perceived success or talent once they are recognised for possessing such merit, genuine or otherwise. Whether this stems from personal resentment and envy or a broader, social scepticism towards the culture of celebrity idolatry, the phenomenon is apparently felt and executed much more acutely in Australia and New Zealand than elsewhere. Hanlon suggests that Barnett’s appeal at home, and exemption from the “Tall Poppy Syndrome”, is because “she comes from this DIY ethic, where there was no industry hype” in her rise to fame. Her home crowds, then, see she deserves her success because she worked for it. Having played in various bands across the Melbourne music scene since 2010, Barnett established her own record label – Milk! Records – in 2012, and independently released her debut EP I’ve Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris, to very positive reviews across Australia. She even draws her own record sleeves. Following the success of Sometimes I Sit And Think…, Milk! has helped to put other artists from Barnett’s label on the map, including the acclaimed debut LP from Fraser A. Gorman, Slow Gum. The ethic of individual effort, the retention of creative control and the mutual promotion of artist and the local scene that shaped them, all underline the success and integrity of Barnett’s work.

“Every other song is flecked with strains and imperfections” THE MUSIC Barnett’s sound draws from many diverse influences, but underscoring all her songs are stripped back, simplistic structures nuanced with catchy melodies and energetic riffs that demand attention. Whether the blistering garage rock of ‘Pedestrian At Best’ or the swaggering blues of ‘Small Poppies’, Barnett is adorned mostly with the tag of “slacker rock”, which says more about the aesthetics rather than the effort that goes into her song writing and performance. Equally striking about her sound are her unusual and melancholy vocals – marked in every sentence is her profuse Australian accent (something strangely rare in the international music market despite an abundance of famous artists from Nick Cave to Iggy Azalea) and every other song is flecked with strains and imperfections that only add to the charmingly authentic tone of the record. Overall, the vibrancy of the album’s shifting tones and momentum arrests your expectations, and it’s immediately clear that one listen through will not be enough.

resonated with listeners across the world. From shopping for vegetables on ‘Dead Fox’ and house hunting on ‘Depreston’ to spiralling internal monologues of painful selfawareness on ‘Pedestrian At Best’, her lyrics strike a chord with listeners on themes both mundane and profound.

‘An Illustration of Loneliness’ exemplifies this tendency – the seemingly negligible observations of an insomniac become poetically connected to the person she misses the most; the reason she can’t sleep. Barnett sees a dead seal and laments the pollution of the ocean, she apologies for “all her insecurities, but they’re just part of me”, and vocalises the frustrations of the working twenty-something who’d rather “rip off his tie” and “sit on the grass building pyramids out of Coke cans”. Reserved in person and interviews, Barnett has expressed she is far from seeing herself as the voice of a generation. It’s clear, nonetheless, that people find it easy to identify with her stories, empathise with her frustrations, and revel in the poetry through which she expresses these ideas.

THE LYRICS Perhaps her most celebrated quality, the observant and rambling, poignant and playful poetry that makes Barnett’s lyricism so unique is out in force on her 2015 release. Complementing the intricacy and sheer volume of her words is the grounded subject matter of her songs, which perhaps explains why they have 53

IMPACT MUSIC THE KICKBACK (SOUTH DAKOTA)

With origins in South Dakota, The Kickback was assembled through Craigslist ads in 2007, and has grown into a surprisingly cohesive rock band. Their debut release Great Self Love, recorded in 2015, is only four songs long, and leaves the audience craving more. The Kickback are nervy and edgy in style, often sounding hard and heavy, though they are not afraid to get emotional and personal with softer ballads following harder rock anthems. Often reminiscent of rock’s not-so-distant origins, Great Self Love uses bluesy guitar riffs alongside angst-riddled modern vocals.

ODD FOLKS (TEXAS)

College Station-based band Odd Folks are local favorites, with most of the members of the band being recent alumni to their own home university Texas A&M. The punk rockers have made a name for themselves in the area, with a nostalgic sound that is still modern. Odd Folks describe their 2015 album Monica as ‘the love child of inside jokes and the hysterical memories that…catalogue the development of our songwriting skills, friendships, and pure passion for making music.’ The album achieves that feel, with angsty vocals and energetic instrumentation that takes its audience on a journey with the band.

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A GUIDED TOUR OF THE US UNDERGROUND WORDS BY AUBREY RIEDER MAP OUTLINE BY ‘THESHIBBOLETH’ AT WIKIMEDIA For its relatively small size, the United Kingdom has a staggering variety of music to offer, with influential artists from each genre popping up from all over the nation. Yet, at five times as populous as the UK, the United States is possibly unparalleled in its musical diversity. Whilst most Britons are familiar with a great deal of American music, it’s usually those chart-topping-ly popular musicians such as Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, and Nicki Minaj. As part of our end of year review, Impact brings you some of the most exciting ‘hidden gems’ of US music in 2015, with enough to offer any music lover a new favourite. Read about the bands, then fire up the QR Scanner on your phone, and get linked to our Spotify playlist so you can check them all out!

REPTAR (GEORGIA)

Dance-rock band Reptar was formed in 2008 in Athens, Georgia, experimenting with the marriage between synthesizer and brass instruments to create dizzy and exciting tracks. After touring extensively and bringing their own brand of party across the nation, Reptar released their debut EP Oblangle Fizz Y’all in 2011. Their 2015 release Lurid Glow, much like their previous works, has a sound reminiscent of the 80s synthpop craze, with peculiar lyrics, distinguishable vocals, and punchy beats. The album is striking due to its interesting and unexpected combinations, giving its listeners more than one reason to jump up and dance.

AGAINST ME! (FLORIDA)

SCAN HERE TO LISTEN

The rich and angsty sound of Against Me! is extremely indebted punk revival, with heavy guitar riffs, harsh vocals, and gritty lyrics. The band—who started as a solo act in 1997—explore themes of mental illness, addiction, and death… all par for the course for punk rock. However, the 2014 album Transgender Dysphoria Blues addresses the hot topic of gender identity, and comes just two years after lead signer Laura Jane Grace came out as a transgender woman. In 2015, the band released a live album called 23 Live Sex Acts, which contain songs from Transgender and other records. Against Me!’s cutthroat sound and controversial themes are perfect for punk-rock-heads.

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ENTER SHIKARI

INTERVIEW IMPACT MUSIC

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Defining Enter Shikari’s musical style is no simple task. The band’s philosophy of “Abusing music’s worthless genre boundaries since 2003” is an indication of their desire to avoid association and conformity with a specific genre or scene, encouraging their audience to approach with an open mind, rather than a music based prejudice.

After a brief hiatus, the St Albans four-piece returned with the release of the critically acclaimed The Mindsweep, in February. With the recent release of The Mindsweep: Hospitalised – the same album remixed and reimagined by some of Hospital Record’s finest talents, and in the run up to a headline gig at Nottingham’s Capital FM Arena, we spoke to vocalist Rou Reynolds about the album, their inspirations and the creative process behind their work as a whole.

“We’ve definitely had our fair share of criticism. Usually it’s the right wing media” Do you think that the diversity of your music has resulted in a diverse group of fans?

Yeah I think so. Obviously our music is influenced by many different genres – we were really lucky I suppose to grow up around all sorts of thriving scenes, and other various influences from family and friends. So yeah, the reality of that is that people from different backgrounds, cultures and scenes can get into the music, and then the lyrical content as well tends to inspire unity and community. In the beginning it was perhaps very much a young crowd coming from the sort of alternative scene, but especially over the last few years we’ve really seen it open up. The ages can range from 14 - 50 years old; it’s all over the place which is awesome. Then you have people from different backgrounds and cultures coming in, and it’s really interesting for us to tour and meet these people.

With the release of The Mindsweep: Hospitalised and your upcoming DJ set at Hospitality London as an indication that you have fulfilled your mission of bringing together fans of hardcore punk and drum and bass?

Yeah, it’s something that we’ve hopefully been doing for most of our career. I’ve certainly met so many people who either used to predominantly only call themselves a raver and listen to that type of music and thought that all rock/metal was shit. Equally I’ve met metalheads who wouldn’t have even thought of listening to dance music who have now been introduced to that different world, so it’s really encouraging when you get that. I usually try and make the clumsy analogy of music as just like food; I presume people don’t just eat beans on toast every day for every meal.

“I grew up being very confused by the fact that people can define their identity by a musical niche” How does it feel to see your own creation reinterpreted by some of the finest names in drum and bass?

Ah man, it’s just so surreal. Drum and bass has been one genre I’ve been really involved in and a big fan of for so long. Rory’s brother was a drum and bass DJ (Pdex) when we were growing up. At the age of 15 and 16 we’d be crowding around the decks whilst he pumped out a set for us, so we were getting a very early education in that sound. Seeing the legends on the album – Danny Byrd, London Elelektricity, S.P.Y. is fantastic. I don’t think London Electricity has done a remix for three years so having him on, and hearing the stuff he said about the song was amazing.

But then also having the new school of drum and bass – Keeno and Etherwood particularly – that sort of almost orchestralinfluenced drum and bass is amazing. So yeah, I’m really happy.

Your song ‘Never Let Go of the Microscope’, encourages the appliance of the scientific method in order to question and criticise authority and tradition. Is this methodology a central part of your creative process, and if so, do you think it has helped to shape your unique sound?

Yeah absolutely… that’s an interesting question, I am not really sure where the approach initially came from. I presume it’s just because of the influx of the different influences and cultures that we grew up around. Obviously with growing up just outside of London I was kind of able to watch all sorts of scenes grow – from the dubstep scene of early 2006, and obviously drum and bass, as well as thriving ska punk and hardcore scenes. On top of that we had loads of Motown and northern soul DJs. I guess I grew up being very confused with the fact that sometimes people can literally define their whole identity around a very specific musical niche, and yeah I found that... almost a bit sad really, because I wanted them to get the enjoyment I did out of all these different types of music. I think that spurred, I guess quite organically, me on to write music that’s all over the place and defies the perceived boundaries that were out there.

Russian media as well made it quite hard for us to tour there. The broadsheets often described us in the early days as being young and naïve, and the things we were saying were dismissed. Then they would describe us as sixth form or university politics – you know, just trying to demean it, or that we were coming from a lowermiddle class background, so it was the politics of bitterness.

And then when we got older and more successful it was like, “Oh, well now they are hypocrites”. So basically they will always find a way of dismissing what you’ve actually got to say, which is really quite frustrating.

You have often mentioned your musical influences. Have you been inspired by any particular people or artists outside of music?

Absolutely. Especially with the lyrics - It’s normally writers and philosophers that will trigger a musical idea or a concept.

At the moment I’m reading Naomi Klein’s new book, This Changes Everything. It’s obviously kind of interesting to us because it ties together the two things we’ve been concerned with for a long time; the lack of action on climate change and how we need to move forward from capitalism, or at the very least introduce a sort of capitalism 2.0 or something that’s more social. And then there’s philosophy – everything from Bertrand Russel to the Athenians. Science is a big part of our influence as well – I love anything that combines art and science, because I think at the end of the day they are both expanding minds.

As a socially conscious band, do you ever fear that you will be victimised or censored by the media?

We’ve definitely had our fair share of criticism. Usually it’s the right wing media – the Daily Mail has had their fair share of pops at us. I can remember there was a poor young kid who committed suicide a few years back, and they did an element of research and found out that he was a fan of us and a few other bands, and managed to selectively quote some of our lyrics that made us sound like we were anti-community – it must have been a hard feat to do. So yeah I think we’ve made quite a few enemies – the

ROU WAS SPEAKING TO FRANK WILLIAMS

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IMPACT ARTS

THE ARTS APOCALYPSE IN EDUCATION With the government pushing arts subjects out of secondary education, and creative subjects under scrutiny, the stigma attached to arts and humanities within the university education system is under attack now more than ever. From arguments about minimal contact hours to lower graduate salaries, we insist that the arts are still valuable to education.

WORDS BY OLIVIA ROOK IMAGES BY AMY RAINBOW

When I first decided that English was the degree for me, my first thought was not: ‘is this going to increase or reduce my employability?’ Among the wide array of subjects I was made to take in my younger years, I always knew that drama and English were my specialisms, whilst subjects such as maths and science were endured with the help of the CGP guides. I loved picking apart Of Mice and Men, and later fell in love with Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This all may sound like one big English student cliché, but I genuinely have a passion for literature in a way I never will with photosynthesis or differentiation (whatever that is). The general consensus, however, among most arts students, whether they be scholars in English, Drama or Art, is that our chances of employability are noticeably slimmer than our long distance brothers: the STEM students. With the government throwing themselves at their feet in worship and The Telegraph admitting that “STEM [subjects] are increasingly the route to higher earnings”, the arts students are barely getting a look in.

One of the fundamental, and completely unfair, stigmas attached to arts degrees is that they are easy or ‘doss’ subjects.

The perception seems to exist that all literature students do is lie around in their pyjamas, occasionally dipping into a book before turning up to a seminar and waxing lyrical about pathetic fallacy for half an hour as a tutor looks on enraptured and bewitched by our creative minds. Whilst the pyjamas bit might be true, the 58

rest, sadly, is not. Having hit third year, a rather formidable pile of books stares at me from across the room and the terrifying fact is that these are only my primary texts. Preparing for a seminar does not involve sipping at a cup of tea and slowly flipping through a 200 page novel; it forces me to devour a dense 500 page book in a couple of days before moving onto the next mammoth task.

“If science students are allowed access to expensive university labs and their supplies for multiple hours every week, where is the arts student’s equivalent?”

Despite this more personal rant, I do understand some of the doubts surrounding an English degree. There is a huge question mark standing over modules, and indeed entire degrees, focused upon the perfection of creative writing. How can it be marked? Are not both the creation and the interpretation entirely subjective and separate? After taking a module myself in first year, I became rather disillusioned and thought the whole thing was a pompous exercise in ‘my work is more abstract than yours’.

However, it is more than likely that poetry just isn’t my forte. The debate has been explored by writers Hanif Kureshi, Lucy Ellmann and Matt Haig, the latter arguing that “like most art forms writing

is part instinct and part craft.

The craft part is the part that can be taught”. Whilst it is up for debate, therefore, whether a Creative Writing MA will help young writers secure a Man Booker prize, it is clear that they will be given an invaluable and deeper understanding of what makes our use of language so rich and diverse.

Past lecturer at the University of Essex and chair of the judges for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize, Marina Warner has established “if you’re teaching people to be articulate, if you’re teaching people about the traditions of the country and the traditions of their culture… that’s how people connect. If we diminish that, we will all be the poorer and I really do think you can put that in value terms.” An advocate of the need to keep humanities and arts subjects alive in a collapsing university system, Warner hits the nail on the head. Arts students can articulate and present themselves in a way which sees several of the STEM elite crumble as they hide behind their test tubes and

safety goggles. The reason graduate employers should love arts graduates is not because they can play the part of a tree on stage, or they can quote Jane Eyre’s famous speeches; it is because they have developed a set of transferrable skills, such as presenting, writing, interpreting, analysing and empathising, which will make them desirable in industry. Arts students don’t see things in black and white, they read between the lines and they are always open to multiple perspectives. For this reason, it is highly dispiriting to see that in The Telegraph’s article on the top 12 degree subjects for getting a job, not one arts subject features.

“Arts students can articulate and present themselves in a way which sees several of the STEM elite crumble as they hide behind their test tubes and safety goggles” And yet it is not just employers who need to be convinced of the value in arts students. Universities regularly seem to prioritise the sciences over arts and humanities subjects; as Warner explains, “the fees of students in cheaper subjects are transferred to support the cost-heavy sciences.” The age old question of ‘where does the £9000 go?’ is a point of contention for those who fail to reap the supposed benefits of their tuition fees. Whilst a friend of mine studying biochemistry had sometimes as much as 17 hours contact time a week, I never exceeded 9 hours. That’s almost double. Another friend studying History at Durham only has 5-6 hours in her third year. Sensing the imbalance? And my rage?

equivalent? Fighting over the last copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in Hallward just doesn’t cut it.

One piece of news recently gave me a deep sense of satisfaction. A friend told me about an ex-pupil from her old school who had applied to Cambridge with the subjects Drama, Music and Art. As predicted by most, he was rejected. Cambridge University, via The Guardian, explain that an applicant’s “A-level combination might rule them out for some, or even all, of our courses”. Despite achieving A*AA, the lack of a respected, formal essay subject was unnegotiable. This arts student is now the youngest performer in Gareth Malone’s Voices tour and is one of the country’s brightest young stars. Take that, Cambridge.

Every semester, English students are expected to fork out for a new set of literature books, often costing upwards of £70. That’s not to mention the textbooks if you select a language module.

Where is the support? Where is the funding? If science students are allowed access to expensive university labs and their supplies for multiple hours every week, where is the arts student’s

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IMPACT ARTS

DIARY OF A FRESHER VILLAIN Ever wondered what your favourite literary villains were like as a youngster? Or better yet – as Freshers?

From binge drinking to world domination, we present antics of several of these villains-to-be by dipping into their diary entries from their first week at the University of Nottingham.

IMAGE BY BARNABY DORFMAN

Le Chiffre

Sauron

Dear Diary,

Dear Diary,

Yesterday morning I arrived at the University of Nottingham to begin my Accounting & Finance degree. My aim: to become a banker in trade as well as name. I was full of self-certainty as I perused the innocent faces of the other students arriving in halls, full of energy and excitement. I, of course, did not fit in. Whilst they played 'One Direction' and danced down the hallway, I sat in my room and plotted. By my calculations, I worked out that I could con each and every one of them out of their student loans within the week; starting last night.

I can't believe I am only a mere freshman. It feels so unnatural to be at an institution where so many of its so called 'students' are drunken and party-obsessed idiots. I on the other hand, intend to use my degree to its fullest. My degree will be the one degree to rule them all, one degree to find them, one degree to bring them all, and in the darkness of Mooch, bind them.

I arranged an illegal gambling session, safe in the knowledge that the hall warden wouldn't dare to try to stop me. And if the hall warden wasn't someone to fear, the students, I determined, were sure to be absolute walk-overs! The poker stakes were for my deciding, and I decided they would be the participants' lives.

I had forgotten only one, mere detail. I'd forgotten that freshers aren't mere, gullible mortals. The game had barely begun when one stole my asthma inhaler, and then ran off with my tissues when my eye started bleeding. My evil, mastermind plan failed.

This banker is officially dealt out.

WORDS BY ISLA MCLACHLAN

I am studying the humans so, alas, have been reluctantly participating in their parties and drunken escapades. I have been forced to down endless shots of tequila, dance on Rock City's dance floor like some kind of demented Orc and, worst of all, I have been made to play the drinking game 'never have I ever'.

Students are filthy creatures. But soon, I will convert my studies into a masters in finance. I will have all the knowledge I need to be able to get into the minds of these creatures and manipulate them to my will and become the supreme ruler of the world. I am learning Chinese at the moment, for I know that to rule this planet is to rule the money that these filthy humans spend, and what better way to do that then become the leader of the most valuable company of all: The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Watch this space, I will be on top of the world very soon!

WORDS BY LARISSA ROWAN

Victor Frankenstein

Moriarty

Dear Diary,

Dear Diary,

What a wondrous city and campus I now find myself in. The rolling hills of campus, splendid in the evening moonlight, reflected against the tall tower of the Trent Building. To be able to study the art of Chemistry in such a location makes me joyous.

To study the elements that make up all that I survey, to tame and own them, brings me such happiness, that any thoughts of homesickness melt away. To be able to cross the threshold into the realms of the unknown and supernatural, I couldn’t have dreamed for anything greater.

It’s the end of week one. I have to say for a cripplingly ordinary university, life here isn’t bad – I’ve acquired a myriad of pens at any rate. I am rather pleased with my accommodation; Cripps has the grandeur I deserve but I’ve had to keep a low profile and as such I’ve binned my hair gel.

It is just a shame I am always interrupted in my studies by my insolent and frankly idiotic flatmates. Every time I settle, someone knocks to ask if I want to play some kind of ‘game’, normally involving the blandest of all drugs, alcohol. Do they not understand that I do not want to see or talk to them? I do not need friends. I don’t need to play this ‘ring of fire’, or go to the ‘Ocean’ (I thought Nottingham was in-land) to enjoy myself.

All I need are my books and my schemes, and the world will see just how much I can do.

WORDS BY CONNOR HIGGS

Sadly, despite the fact that Nottingham is known for its high frequency of burglaries, I haven’t met any criminals so far. Actually everyone seems worryingly nice. Boring, boring, students. You would think someone in this institution would try to be as clever as me. Nevertheless, I might take Harry from upstairs up on that offer of a ‘messy one at Ocean’ – vaguely promising?

I haven’t wasted my time here, while I can’t quite afford a £30 fare to Baker Street, dear Sherlock will probably mind palace his way to B block. I’m ever so considerate of his need for stimulation, I’ve set up a little fun at The Tower Building. I think a certain clever clogs detective is need of a little fall.

Update: It turns out a ‘messy one’ is nowhere near as malicious as you would expect – no organisational crime or blood spilt, just lots of Jägermeister. Disappointing. I need 5 gallons of water…maybe a swimming pools worth. That gives me an idea for a little game actually, god, I’m brilliant.

WORDS BY SOPHIA HARRIS

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IMPACT SPORT

With this in mind, is it a popular sport?

American Football has definitely taken off the past few years in the UK. The Wembley games and NFL Weekends in London, the BBC’s new contract to show games and highlights have all added to the popularity. American Football became a BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) in 2012 and since then most universities around the country have entered to compete in leagues across the year. It’s really nice to see.

How expensive is it to be a regular member?

WHAT’S ON AT YOUR UNI

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

We spoke to Gafar Kuku, president of UoN American football, to find out more about the sport.

WORDS BY JAKE WHARMBY IMAGES BY MARTIN SYLVESTER AT DGTL CONCEPTS Football, rugby and hockey all seem to be much more common in schools and colleges, so not many people have probably played American football before university. How much experience do you need to take part?

Most of our team hadn’t played prior to coming to university, but this year we had our biggest intake of players who had played before (at local level or at another university). It’s a sport people can pick up quite easily with hard work and commitment from beginner level upwards. That’s the same across the three teams across our club – the contact team, the women’s flag football team and the women’s contact team.

I was ambushed at the fresher’s fair by someone (that I now play alongside) on my way to the boxing stand with no prior experience and here I am just over two years later, a first string player and president of the club. Like with most sports and competition at such a high level, you need to be both mentally and physically strong.

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Our costs cover our specialized kit that members hire (helmet, shoulder pads, lower pads, training jerseys and gameday jerseys). There is also club membership, and a pre-season training camp weekend fee.

Combined with the UoN Sports Membership the uni require everyone to have, it comes to exactly £300 for the year.

What are the coaching staff like?

The coaching staff are fantastic.

We have eight coaches in total, one for each of the positional groups (Corners, Safeties, Linebackers, Defensive Line, Wide Receivers, H Backs, Running Backs, Offensive Line, and Quarterbacks). All of them have previous experience playing. If I had to estimate I would say we had just over seventy years experience between the coaches, three of whom are former players here at Nottingham. One of our coaches was the Captain and Quarterback for Swansea University. Our Head Coach has also coached in America at Adrian College and East Stroudsburg College. They really do work with us to make us better and finesse our techniques - making massive gains in our development.

What is the social side of the club like?

We have an amazing social sec this year - Carl Pickering - who is simply the man in charge of all things fun. We have Wednesday night socials in Crisis every other week, sometimes joint with women’s teams like Lacrosse. Most of them are fancy dress which definitely makes us identifiable. We’re all about enjoying ourselves, whether we’re in BCL screaming ‘Jumpman Jumpman Woo’ or in the main room dancing to Taylor Swift. The women’s teams do team breakfast at our women’s social sec Sarah Robert’s house before Saturday morning training. On Sunday nights we gather at The Ropewalk to watch games and highlights that anybody is welcome to join. We’ve also started doing socials on Fridays at Stealth to vary the nights our members like to enjoy and we have a Christmas and End of Season dinner each year. This year we’re excited it will be taking place at our sponsor venue, Alea Casino.

What would you say is the best thing about being part of the club is?

We train twice a week and play games on weekends during the regular season so that’s a lot of time spent around the same group of people. I can honestly say I’ve met some people I know I will be friends with years from now. The club is incredibly inclusive across our three teams and from day one you feel like family.

I’ve learnt about teamwork, communication and leadership and making it count for something in both on and off the field. There’s lot of impact and big hits in the game that are fun to watch as well as deliver to the opposition.

What should we look out for this year?

Definitely our home games on Uni Park 3G. We’re opening our season in a special way this year. For the first time ever we face Trent on University Park this Saturday at 7.00pm under the lights.

Our Super Bowl Party will take place in town on Sunday February 7th 2016 so be there or be square. It’s always so much fun and we can’t wait to release the details about it so keep it locked on our social media platforms. The Women’s Flag Team is hosting one of the four Opal Series Tournaments on Jubilee Campus 3G on 21st November 2014.

Who should we look out for this year?

Our lineman on both sides of the ball are looking strong and work a lot on technique so I’m excited to see how our oppositions rise to that challenge. Alex Boz (safety), Tom Morris (wide receiver), Josh Berry (linebacker) and Sam Wright (quarterback) are not messing around this year. These guys have shown some impressive skill in our preseason so they’re ones to watch. It’s the same with running backs Chris Morris and Jon Nutt. We’re also excited to have welcomed two scholars this year: Will Hobbs (running back, Team GB) and Nathan Hamer (running back, Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia).

How can UoN students get involved?

Make sure you like our Facebook page for all of our info as that’s where we’ll be posting details about our fixtures for people to come down and support. We recruit throughout the year so anyone who thinks they’d like to try it, come and join us at 7.00pm Tuesdays and Thursday in A48 for our team meeting, followed by a training session (so bring boots suitable for 3G). We also have volunteering opportunities for our field management and video analysis team so even if you don’t want to play you can still part of our community!

Be sure to check out the University of Nottingham American Football Facebook page for any updates.

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IMPACT SPORT

WHAT’S ON AT YOUR UNI

POLO

We also caught up with Betty Edwards, social sec of the UoN Polo team, to find out more about what she does.

WORDS BY JAKE WHARMBY IMAGES BY ‘LAND ROVER MENA’ & ‘PAUL’ VIA FLICKR

Playing a sport at speed on horseback is difficult in any circumstance, so how much experience is required to join the club?

As a club, we welcome people of any ability to come and play polo. You don't ever need to have played before, or even have sat on a horse. The facilities we train at caters to all abilities. In fact, some of our best players had never ridden until they joined the club.

The most important factors in learning to play are being able to work as a team and develop your hand-eye coordination and muscle memory - things anybody can develop.

With this in mind, is it a popular sport?

This year we have had a really large influx of members. We can say that at least as a uni sport it is ever growing more popular!

University nationals has over 50 unis entering on average 5 teams each to compete. Polo is an international sport that has a huge influence on British culture - although most haven't played it, they certainly have heard of it!

How expensive is it to be a regular member?

Membership is £40 for the entire year (significantly cheaper than lots of sports at uni). Lessons cost on average £37.50 and we try to run two lessons a week. However, we aren't strict on people religiously coming to training - we cater to people that want to get really good and train lots and to people who just want to try something new while at uni. Anyone who has researched polo lessons as a non-student will know that uni polo is the cheapest you'll ever get to play. This October/November the club was really lucky to be sponsored by the uni Engage programme -

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which meant we were able to run a month of lessons for newcomers for just ÂŁ15 without them having to have bought membership. It meant lots of people could get to have a go without feeling they had to commit too early!

What do you get from being part of the club?

Being part of the club entitles you to the obvious - being able to sign up for lessons, tournaments and socials as well as rule book workshops and club balls. But it also gives you the chance to be part of a really close-knit group of people from all backgrounds who love to get together and talk about the sport of kings.

What is the social side of the club like?

We like to have fun! We are chronic Crisis addicts but we also host lots of chilled nights in with pizza and movies. We often stay for weekends at out our training grounds, have a lesson and then go and have a massive pub lunch. But I think our biggest love is balls - any chance to dress up is a must!

What would you say is the best thing about being part of the club is?

For me, being part of a campus uni is great, but sometimes even a campus as beautiful as this can give you cabin fever! Playing polo is a great way to get off-site, see the outdoors and vent all course/housemate/relationship dramas out on a fast-paced and adrenaline-filled game where the braver you are the better!

What events will the Polo team be involved in this year?

This year we will attend all the major university tournaments - including University Challenge, Winter Arena Nationals and Summer Grass Nationals. This term we are running a Midlands University League welcoming Midlands uni-polo teams to come and play in friendlies. A number of our girls will be going to SB to play in the 'Boob-ball' tournament to support breast cancer awareness! And of course, you will meet members at all the major events - like Snowflake Ball and Refreshers’ Fair next term.

How can UoN students get involved?

We welcome anyone to join the club at any point in the year.

We also are introducing 'half- year' at a discount for those who did not get the chance to join the club this term or may prefer just to play in the sunnier months. We also have a purely social membership for those that prefer the gatherings to the playing.

We are planning on holding an evening polo workshop at the end of this month for those who want to find out a bit more about the sport.

Be sure to check out the University of Nottingham Polo Facebook page for any updates on lessons, fixtures and more.

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IMPACT SPORT

BACK TO THE FUTURE SPORT WORDS BY CONNOR HIGGS & MATT SMITH IMAGE BY THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF DENMARK With Back to the Future this year leaving everyone contemplating just where the human race will be technologically in 30 years, Impact Sport considers just where sport will be in five, ten and twenty years time.

Disclaimer: Any predictions made here are done so with very limited foresight, a little bit of irony and in good humour. Please do not hold Impact responsible for any shattered expectations.

WELL, IN FIVE YEARS TIME…

Five years is a long time in sport. Since the end of 2015, Liverpool’s resurgence under Jürgen Klopp has gone from strength to strength, with Liverpool finally ending their 28 year wait for a league title in 2018. Chelsea still languish in the Championship after relegation under José Mourinho, now manager at QPR. Harry Kane, the world’s most expensive footballer at £100m, lights up La Liga in the white of Real Madrid, leading an ex-Spurs line of Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Erik Lamela.

In cricket, Joe Root has taken just 5 years to beat Alistair Cook’s record as England’s highest test run scorer, at an average of 104.3. England sit at the top of the world rankings, having beaten Australia in every Ashes series since 2015.

In Formula One, Mercedes dominance was broken by the new hybrid technology of McLaren-Honda, allowing Fernando Alonso to gain the third world championship he had coveted for so long.

Upon his winning the title, he promptly retired, leaving Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo to fight it out for the open seat, which is certain to lead to a world championship victory.

TEN YEARS...

2025. The world of sport has yet changed further. With the growth of artificial intelligence in sport, race cars are now controlled automatically, with the Formula One World Championship now raced using remote controls. Referees in football matches are computers, which, despite its 99.99% accuracy rating, does not prevent players trying to contests decisions.

The growth in football player’s wages became so great that the money spent caused an economic crash, leaving most teams bankrupt and facing winding up orders. The skimping of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger turned out to save the club, who have 66

now won the last 4 league titles on the bounce, overcoming stiff competition from Brentford and Walsall for the Premier League title.

Tennis is now played on computer-generated courts, in simulated arenas. Centre Court at Wimbledon is now only used for special exhibition matches, with the sport no longer delayed by the weather. The same can be said of cricket, with the simulated sunshine in which Tests are played benefiting the teams from the Asian continent, with India and Pakistan now dominating the test scene.

TWENTY YEARS...

Arsenal manager, the robotic Arsene iWenger, is attending his 2036 end of season press conference, delighted with a record 38th consecutive Champion’s League qualification. However the mood is tense after USE manager Garry Monk called up four of his recovering young players to his United States of Europe Olympic squad.

“First cricket in the Olympics, and now this.” he mutters through his GoogleVoice mouthpiece.

His Arsenal side just finished their season with a 1-1 victory draw against Salford City FC in a game mired with controversy.

Despite 3rd place already firmly secured for the Gunners, iWenger was outraged when former Valencia youngster Felipe Neville equalised late-on cutting in from the wing, despite Touchline HawkEye clearly showing the ball ran out of play.

Asked if he is looking forward to watching the Olympics in Harare, he maliciously snaps back at Jim White Jr. controversially stating “after what Monk has done, I think I’ll be attending the Putin Festival of Sport.”

It is unlikely that iWenger will be allowed to watch the rival festivities in Moscow however, as nationals from IOC nations are banned since Russia was evicted for serial doping in 2017.

The Arsenal boss may regret causing controversy however, with rumours circulating that Piers Morgan is being lined-up to replace him after a Sky Sports’ poll showed him as the fan’s choice for next season.

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